Notes from JWR:

November 16th is the birthday of Michael D. Echanis (born 1950, died September 1978), a former United States Army Special Forces and 75th Ranger Battalion enlisted man. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star with “V” device as a LRRP trooper in the Vietnam War. He was born and raised in eastern Oregon. Echanis was killed in Nicaragua in a plane crash along with colleague Charles Sanders and members of the Nicaraguan armed forces. (This was while Somoza was still president.) There was conjecture that the plane was destroyed in mid-flight by a Sandinista time bomb or barometric …




Digging a Root Cellar/Storm Cellar, by Marlene in Indiana

We decided that our family needed a root cellar for maintaining root crops, cold storage and for more extensive water storage, here is our story. Hopefully, others can learn from us and not make the same mistakes. One Sunday afternoon, we went out to the yard and sized up the area we wanted, and marked our spot. Our property borders Federal land that occasionally has people lingering around, we have even caught people in our other shelters on the back of our property, so I wanted to keep this one as close to the house as possible. When we purchased …




Letter Re: Anticipated Refugees Flows in a Grid Down Collapse

Mr. Rawles,   I’m currently trying to do a cogent analysis of the lower 48 and where my optimum safety location/region might be. I’ve read your articles on the great redoubt, rankings and ratings etc… I can respect your criteria and agree with most of it. The question that I’m pondering however, is that in a serious SHTF scenario, how will mass migrations occur. The “head for the hills” mentality will motivate millions to escape die off zones desperately seeking life’s basics. I agree that in a scenario of seriously “grid down”, a great many Americans will die. In contrast …




Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Tim R. suggested this by Matt Phillips of Quartz: One chart that tells the story of US debt from 1790 to 2011 G.G. flagged this: Silver price to ‘increase 400 percent in three years’ Marc Faber: ‘The Great Reset Is Coming!’ The “Sell Off” Has Already Begun Which Could Soon Turning Into Panic Selling Everything Is Lining Up For A Huge Future For Farmland Items from The Economatrix: Stocks At 4-Month Lows As Fiscal Cliff Looms The Fiscal Cliff Is A Mole Hill Compared To The TAG Program Expiry Silver’s Outperformance Over Gold To Be Staggering In The Long …




Odds ‘n Sods:

I heard about a new blog that might be of interest: Tactical Tales.    o o o Michael Z. Williamson (SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large) recommended this instructional video: Racking a Slide Like a Lady    o o o After a three year wait while MGM nearly went though a full-on bankruptcy and laughably the villains were digitally changed from China to North Korea (just for the sake of boot-licking political correctness), the re-make of Red Dawn will finally be coming to theaters on November 21st.    o o o K.T. mentioned a snow track system for 4WD trucks that is …




Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“You do not examine legislation in the light of the benefits it will convey if properly administered, but in the light of the wrongs it would do and the harms it would cause if improperly administered. ” – President Lyndon Baines Johnson (Ironically, Johnson was the principal architect of the flawed and failed Great Society programs.)