Month: November 2012

Pat’s Product Review: DPMS AR-15 Lower Receiver Group

As I’ve mentioned before in my SurvivalBlog articles, I’m am swamped with requests to do firearms articles on particular firearms. While I would love to accommodate all the requests I get, it is impossible. I know a lot of folks believe that gun writers get guns for free to write about, that simply isn’t the case. We have to request a firearm from gun companies, I either have to return it, or buy it when I’m done testing them. As much as I’d love to purchase all the firearms I write about, I can’t do it – my finances don’t allow …


Letter Re: Lakota Warehouse Bank?

James Wesley: Can you provide any insight on the banking services and the Lakota [copper, silver and gold] coins from the Lakota Bank? Thanks, – Bryan E. JWR Replies: They are to be commended for their pluck, but their fees are high. More importantly, their arbitrary Cu/Ag/Au ratios (2/50/5,000) will certainly come back to bite them.  (Fixed ratios are a bad idea! The silver-to-gold ratio is constantly changing. I expect to see a 10-to-1 ratio by the middle of this Century. Anyone that locks themselves into a fixed bimetallic ratio is sowing the seeds of their own downfall. The Liberty …


Recipe of the Week:

Steve in Rhode Island’s Dish With No Name Here’s a recipe I’d like to share that’s both inexpensive and nutritious. It’s been around for years and I’m sure it goes by lots of different names. It was passed down to my Mom from my Grandmother and she fed four of us kids back in the day when prepping and just getting by was a way of life and had no name. I raised my two daughters on it and now that they are grown and it’s just the youngest and myself I still make it.   The great thing about this …


Economics and Investing:

And you thought the upcoming 39.8% Federal tax rate sounded bad… Did you see this cliff coming? Ranchers, farmers brace for ‘death tax’ impact. The exemption drops from $3.5 million $1 million, and the rate jumps to a confiscatory 55%. B.B. sent: Peter Schiff: Dollar Collapse Before Obama’s Out I missed this when it aired last June: CNBC pundits admit we’re all slaves to the central bankers. Items from The Economatrix: Ron Paul On Secession No Surprise!  Jobless Claims Up 78,000 Week After Election; Pennsylvania, Ohio Worst Hit John Galta:  Gold Will Move $500 Per Ounce Per Major City Europe’s …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Don’t miss this: Mother Lode: Big caches of free and legal TEOTWAWKI downloads    o o o Reader Dave G. wrote to mention: “If ‘Superstorm Sandy’ was just a Level 1 hurricane, then how well will FEMA and the state-level disaster agencies cope with a Level 3 or Level 4 in the same region? I’ll never move back to the coast! And I’m avoiding tornado country, too. American Redoubt, here I come…”    o o o Preppr Bawb sent a link that he found to a UN manual on drying meat. It is only a few pages but very detailed. …



Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 43 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) a $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any …


Muscovy Ducks: Sustainable Food for Post-TSHTF by Joe M.

Finding a good sustainable food supply post TSHTF has been a difficult and long journey. It’s going to be a lot more than storing dehydrated food, water and having some seeds. Eventually you will run out of food and will need a way to feed your family in sustainable way.  What are the best options of doing this? A remote retreat with several different types of livestock and a large garden all sound very nice but is it practical? Let’s go thru all of the options. In a post TSHTF situation we might have to consider mobility. Fire, radiation, large …


High Level Fitness, by Greg K.

There are plenty of times through my day I thank God for allowing me to have a physically capable body.  Appreciation for working out, building strength and mobility to the point I don’t have to think about the movements my body goes through.  For example, carrying a laundry basket up and down stairs is something everyone should be able to do without a concern they will injure themselves. Will I be able to perform the tasks I need to in order to survive? How long will it take me to cover the 12 miles, on foot, that are between my …


Economics and Investing:

2.5 million jobless adults living with their parents G.G. sent: U.S. Postal Service on a ‘Tightrope’ Lost $15.9 Billion Gary Shilling: This Is Not just A Temporary, Bear-Recession Dip. But A “Deeper Depression-Style Slow-Growth Likely Till The Election Of 2020″ Items from The Economatrix: Wholesale Prices, Retail Sales Fall In October US Bank Run Imminent As FDIC Expanded Deposit Insurance Ends December 31st. (The 100% coverage expiring, it goes back to the limit.) Financial Markets Second Shoe About To Drop? How Shadow Banks Rule The Worlds


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Mark H. suggested and an interesting web site for digital mode ham radio (such as PSK31) mapping worldwide. He also sent a video link of an operator making trans-Atlantic contact with less than half a watt, ERP.    o o o After a hiatus, Granny Miller’s blog is back up an running. Great stuff.    o o o The Survival Doctor: What to Do for Pneumonia    o o o File Under: COMSEC Comedy: Taliban accidentally CCs everybody on its mailing list. “Moxxu gazma! Use blind carbon copy, you idiot!”    o o o Michael W. sent this article: …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not …


Notes from JWR:

Safecastle is continuing its extended series of Repel The Chaos sales offers. The offers for Week 12 are particularly attractive, with bonuses including Mountain House Essentials Buckets and even Nuk-Alerts. — Today we present another two entries for Round 43 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, …


How Necessity Became the Mother of Invention, by Sandra W.

I’ve always been a “glass is half full…when life hands you lemons you make lemonade…” kind of person.  So despite a divided nation after this recent election, geopolitical unrest, and our nation on the brink of financial collapse, I still see the silver lining.  My husband and I purchased a small 900 square foot home, because it was all we could afford.  It was near the height of the housing bubble so we bought high.  We then spent the next four years, remodeling the one bathroom the tiny kitchen and living room to suit our needs.  After investing tens of …


The Folly of Hubris — A Cautionary Tale, by Mrs. S.

How do you balance the secrecy needed when prepping with letting your friends and relatives know that you are a prepper and encouraging them to become one too? Because when SHTF, you want your loved ones to be safe too. Wouldn’t it be wrong to prep in secret and not afford your favorite people the opportunity to prep like you? I know it is not wise to advertise to non-preppers that you are a prepper. But I did it anyway. I just wanted to start a conversation about prepping with my best friend. I was excited about prepping and I …