Year: 2012

Odds ‘n Sods:

F.J. pointed me to the latest over at Instructables: Build Your Own Electric Motorcycle.    o o o Two months without food: Swedish man survives for months in snowed-in car. (Thanks to Wally for the link.)    o o o Oh, but here in the States we have our own self-selecting candidates for snowy suicide: Couple survives three days stuck in snow on Girl Scout cookies, peanuts. Here is a key quote, that sounds all too familiar: “Searchers say it was difficult to find the couple because they were searching in the wrong area. The couple did not tell friends …



Note From JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 39 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 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 …


Living Through the Real Estate Crash and Bankruptcy, by Brad C.

My experience with a tax audit, real estate crash, rental house woes, foreclosures, layoff and bankruptcy:   In a nutshell, we went from a 4,000 square foot home, worth more than $1 million, a vacation home, new RV, Mercedes convertible, Jeep, $50,000 SUV, 20 rental properties, a property management company and a great full time job…   To living in a modest rental house in the middle of nowhere. Beginnings I am a computer guy, have been since 1991. I bounced around a few companies gaining positions and knowledge.  Eventually I rode the dot com wave as a security and infrastructure consultant. …


Letter Re: Planning for Shingles in TEOTWAWKI

Dear Mr. Rawles: Although the personal account of shingles yesterday served to communicate the degree of discomfort and event disability the disease can inflict, the writer was in error when he communicated that the vaccine for chicken pox (varicella) will provide immunity against shingles also. To the contrary, it appears that vaccination against chickenpox actually increases the rate of shingles in a population by about 40%. When one contracts chickenpox, the virus remains in a dormant form in spinal nerve roots; when an immunological weakness permits, it may reemerge as a shingles outbreak. (This is very similar to what happens …


Letter Re: .22 Handguns and Other Options For Self Defense

James: R.F.D. is spot on with the write-up, on .22 LR and to take this a step further,  everyone should do their own “field tests”. Most people (My estimation) can not or will not spend enough range time to be proactive in having the hands on experience to get not only the right weapon but equally important the right caliber for them and/also the first hand knowledge of what they can do to both living tissue or objects.  I have over my learning period of 50 plus years and hundreds of thousands of rounds shot, understood that I wanted several calibers and types of …


Economics and Investing:

John Stossel: We are on the road to bankruptcy As The World Revolving Door Turns: Former Obama official’s revolving door leads to hedge-fund defense project Reader Tracy A. suggested this commentary from Mish Shedlock: Obama Wants Cheaper Pennies and Nickels; Why Not Do Away With Both [JWR’s Comment: My solution would be to 1.) Balance the Federal budget and 2.) Revalue the U.S. Dollar, knocking off two zeros, and 3.) Begin minting real silver coinage again. But sadly, that probably won’t happen in my lifetime.] How Could Silver Short Sellers Cover Their Positions? (Thanks to Diana for the link.) Tyler …


Odds ‘n Sods:

M.E.W. sent us this: Police ‘Tank’ Purchase Riles New Hampshire Town    o o o Reader Steven S. wrote to mention that there is a new link to the free PDF of John Pugsley’s now classic book, The Alpha Strategy. And while you are at, put a copy of Nuclear War Survival Skills on the same thumb drive. (Thanks to Rocco for the latter link.)    o o o Sheriff Paul Babeu: Fast and Furious scandal is far from over    o o o The streets of Syria are starting to look… Libyan.    o o o KAF sent a …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore …


Note From JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 39 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 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 …


.22 Handguns and Other Options For Self Defense, by R.F.D.

No one, myself included, would recommend a .22 caliber handgun as the ideal defensive weapon. For that matter, I wouldn’t recommend any handgun at all as the ideal defensive weapon. We carry handguns because most of us find it a tad inconvenient to carry a tactical shotgun, or main battle rifle as we go about our daily lives, and most folks tend to get a little upset when you get on the bus with one. If I knew a fight was coming my way, my preference would be a crew-served weapon, preferably with the ‘crew’ in tow. So, a handgun, …


A Haphazard Approach to Vehicle Outfitting and Risk Mitigation, by W.A.

My new Nissan 4WD Frontier is pretty well equipped…and conspicuous. Maybe it’s the 102” steel CB radio antenna whip that tipped the balance. Yeah, they make smaller ones, but for my first foray into CB, I wanted the best money could buy…my money anyway. And it turns out that you spend more money to go smaller and the reduction in size can challenge the optimized reception with respect to the wavelength of the transmission signal(i.e. in many respects, bigger is still better). Were it not for that tall waving wand in the sky, perhaps the addition of the two sets …


Letter Re: Natural Gas “Drip” Condensate

JWR, I noticed your description of “drip” as an alternative fuel in your novel “Survivors”. Many years ago I was on a task force in Farmington, New Mexico to catch and convict “drip thieves”. I was then a Special Texas Ranger and worked along with New Mexico Highway Patrol, local law enforcement officials and the then Tenneco Oil Company Security investigators. Theft of drip was very big then, as probably now due to the high cost of gasoline. I will share with you some of what we learned from the experts, the actual thieves we caught. First of all it …


Economics and Investing:

G.G. sent us this: The Upside of Government Default Reader G.P. sent this from The Slog: A timetable for Greek Default? Courtesy of Michael W.: Dollar Gets No Respect Despite Economic Gains. JWR’s Comment: Genuine money is made of silver or gold. And honest paper money substitutes are redeemable on demand for silver or gold coinage. Anything else is trash. Thus, all of the world’s fiat paper currencies are trash. Some of them are just trashier than others. I would characterize the U.S. Federal Reserve Note as like an aging, gap-toothed syphilitic harlot that is dressed in shabby green dress …


Odds ‘n Sods:

This company near Denver, Colorado might be of interest: RainyDayRootCellars.com. They make pre-cast concrete shelters that are multipurpose: root cellars, storm shelters, nuclear blast/fallout shelters, and storage vaults. OBTW, if you are wondering how to make a detached underground shelter disappear… just pile part of your supply of firewood over the hatch.    o o o Please note that my novel “Survivors” is not just available from Amazon.com. It is also available from Barnes & Noble, and several other Internet vendors. There is also a network of local independent bookstores, coordinated by IndieBound.com. Give the other guys some business, too! …