Year: 2012

Buying Silver and Gold as Part of Our Preps, by Jeff in Upstate New York

Let me start by saying that I am not a professional financial advisor.  Nor am I someone who wants to sell you anything, or give “investment” advice.  I am a science teacher.  I had some experience working on Wall Street in my previous carrier.  I have had personal experience trading stocks.  I also have had experience saving money in precious metals.  Many of the questions that I had when I started buying silver and gold are the same ones that you may be asking as well.  You may ask questions like: how and from who, or what kind, or what …


Two Letters Re: Your Kidneys in TEOTWAWKI

Dear Mr. Rawles,   Dr. Bob is 100% accurate in telling people subject to kidney stones to give up coffee, tea and cokes (a.k.a. calcium oxalate).  As a man who has given birth to 14 stones in 10 years, 2 by litho., I am glad to say I am stone free for two years and show no signs of having more stones.  Part of my Southern heritage is enjoying sweet-tea.  But it had to go, along with my morning coffee and afternoon Coke.  I had a headache for 6 days before the caffeine left my body.  Still, I can look …


Economics and Investing:

Poor and Elderly: The Five Worst States to Grow Old In. (It should come as no surprise that most of The American Redoubt states are at the opposite end of the list–those with the smallest income gap.) Greek default looms as voluntary debt deal looks set to fail. Central banks’ $9 trillion is global economic lifeline How Much Gold Do You Need to Pay Yale’s Tuition? The Same as in 1900 Items from The Economatrix: “Plan For An Economic 9-1-1”:  Analysts Warn Americans to Buy Guns and Gold, Predicting Market Crash and Street Riots Within A Year


Odds ‘n Sods:

Jeff R. was the first of several readers to send us this: Blast it or paint it: Asteroid to threaten Earth in 2013?    o o o Fellow ham radio DXers might find this of interest: International DX Convention, Visalia California, April 20-22. (Thanks to Mrs. R.L.B. for the link.)    o o o A reminder that the free “SurvivalBlog Reader” App is available for those that use Android phones.    o o o I recently had a talk with one of my teenage sons about how he will eventually find a good wife. I of course stressed the importance …



Notes from JWR:

Please keep the residents of Tellico Plains, Tennessee in your prayers. That is the small town nearest Ready Made Resources. (SurvivalBlog’s very first advertiser.) The tornado missed the Ready Made Resources buildings, but I heard that about one third of the town was flattened. For any readers that have orders pending in the current Ready Made Resources’ sale on Mountain House canned freeze dried foods, be advised that there may be some brief shipping delays, but rest assured that you will get your products. Once again, please pray for those that were in the path of the tornado. — I …


How You Can Help Defend South Sudan

An event happened last summer that was hardly noticed by the global media. Following a lengthy civil war and free elections, the new nation of South Sudan was born. This fledgling nation has some tough challenges ahead of it. Marauding Islamist guerillas (the Janjaweed) from the north have had an ongoing campaign of burning villages, wholesale murder, and rape. The raiders even still take some slaves. The Janjaweed has been supported by the Sudanese government in Khartoum. After terrorizing Darfur and creating millions of refugees, according to intelligence analysts they are expected to next turn their attention to South Sudan. …


Pat’s Product Review: Columbia River Knife Tool / Crimson Trace Tool

As many SurvivalBlog readers know, I like getting as much value for my hard-earned dollars as I can. One of my favorite knife companies that provides value for my dollars is Columbia River Knife & Tool (CRKT). CRKT has been value driven since their inception about 16 years ago. Their owner, Rod Bremer, continues along those lines today. On top of it all, CRKT has one of the biggest selection of knives and tools on the market today, just check out their latest catalog of more than 95 pages of goodies.   Another thing I like about CRKT is the …


Product Review: FLIR Scout PS24 Thermal Imager, by Kip R.

The price of thermal imaging has dropped to the range of Gen III night vision – about $2,000.  My bug out location has a valley with a stream at bottom and a wooded hillside, plus surrounding pastures and woods.  I wanted the tactical advantage to be able to tell if predators (particularly 2 legged) were in the trees at night.  I purchased an FLIR PS24 handheld from Sportsman’s Guide, member price $1979.97, and shipping is often free if you wait for a coupon code sale.  After waiting about five weeks, it shipped factory direct from FLIR.  My darling wife asked: …


Your Kidneys in TEOTWAWKI, by Dr. Bob

Kidneys are pretty important, and often an underdog in the grouping of organ systems.  Without functioning kidneys, none of us can live for more than about a week, making the kidneys pretty important from a survival standpoint.  Seems interesting that a person can literally be brain dead and survive–but without kidneys you can’t.  Kidneys often get lumped into the “random organ” category and people often think of them like their gall bladder and appendix.  Kidneys are more like lungs if you are looking for a good comparison.  You can live with one, you can’t live without two, and you really would prefer …


Chased Far From Reality: A Super Bowl Nuke Conspiracy Theorist Run Amok

I feel compelled to respond to some recent disinformation by David Chase Taylor, a fringe conspiracy theorist: Alex Jones Cancels Speaking Tour 3 Days After Exposure As Possible STRATFOR Double Agent. This is an atrocious hatchet piece and a good candidate for a libel or defamation lawsuit. Not only does it unfairly and inaccurately libel Alex Jones, but it attempts to put me in a bad light, as well. To begin, Stratfor is not an “Israeli intelligence agency” nor a “private Zionist intelligence agency” as Taylor claims. It is simply a private intelligence analysis service that covers global events, run …


Letter Re: Upgrading Your House Window and Door Security

Mr. Rawles: Although filtered HVAC systems make for comfortable and healthy inside air quality, even the most efficient draw heavily on AC mains. Insulated airtight walls and windows reduce heat loss and in windy areas reduce dirt infiltration. I would never consider powering a cooling system with solar power but heater blower motors can be so powered. This works well for dual stage furnaces that switch from heat pump to natural gas or propane for emergency heat. Fireplaces are as old as houses but rather than just building any old firebox, I researched fireplace design. When building my ranch headquarters …


Letter Re: Earthquake Resistant Residential Architecture

Hello James: Attached is an e-mail I sent to my daughter.  Her boyfriend is from Honduras and she dreams of doing missionary work there.  I thought it may be of interest to some of your readership.  I left out a great deal of information on building site selection (her boyfriend already owns five acres) and foundations.  There seems to be differences in opinion regarding firmly anchored and sand-bed isolation between footings and walls.  Most of my information was gleaned from the book Technical Principles of Building for Safety (Building for Safety Series) by Coburn. Dear X.: I did a little …


Recipe of the Week:

Keri’s Whole Wheat Bread 1 ½  cups hot tap water 3 Tablespoons oil ¼ cup honey + molasses to equal 1/3 cup       (or about 1 ½ Tablespoons molasses) ½ Tablespoon salt 4 cups whole wheat flour ½ Tablespoon **active dry yeast Put ingredients in the order your bread maker requires. Dry ingredients first or liquid ingredients first.  I use the dough setting and then bake in the oven.   When dough is ready to shape,  pour out dough and stretch into a rectangle.  It will be a little sticky.  On floured board, roll up loaf like you do …


Economics and Investing:

Trillion Dollar Fraud: SEC could seek global MBS settlement Barnhardt: On Money, Banking, and Men Bank Rate Bomb Will Destroy the Smallest and Weakest. (Thanks to M.E.W. for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: Fannie And Freddie Drop The Ball Stockton, California Could Become Biggest City to Go Bankrupt European Funding Sows Seeds of Next Crisis Soaring Oil Prices Will Dwarf The Greek Drama