Year: 2012

News From The American Redoubt:

Washington’s wolf packs are spreading west to the Cascade mountain range. [JWR’s Comment: I predict that it won’t be until wolves start snatching dogs, cats and perhaps kids out of back yards in western Washington that the state legislature takes action.]    o o o Election maps show “shrunken” Redoubt. These maps illustrate how light the population density is here!    o o o A reader told me about another prepper-friendly church in Idaho: Grace Sandpoint Church.    o o o Montana lawmaker asks to be paid in gold. His request was very quickly denied.    o o o A …


Economics and Investing:

Paul Krugman suggests a 91% top income tax rate. (If this happens, the congresscritters will see a million or more Americans go Galt.) R.M. sent a link to article that serves as a word of warning for those who run businesses that have large cash customers: Williamsburg gun business, owner, punished by feds. R.M.’s Comment: “This is a fine shop, with great husband and wife owners.  The shop is in the lower floor of their home in tiny Williamsburg, Iowa.  Great people getting trampled by the government.” The System Will Collapse, It Must Collapse FHA Red Ink May Be $32.8 …


Odds ‘n Sods:

November is the month of the year that new phone books are released in most of the country. Take this opportunity to lawfully collect un-used or lightly used copies of obsolete phone books that would otherwise be recycled or hauled to a landfill. A stack about 6 feet tall would make a good paper reserve for a typical family. The paper in phone books has many uses including kindling or ersatz toilet paper.    o o o 32 dead. They have serious cattle rustlers in Africa, and they are obviously willing to kill, to protect their food source.: Kenyan Police …



Note from JWR:

The fine folks at Pantry Paratus have announced a Buy One, Give One (BOGO) product offering to benefit Christian Reformed Outreach, South Sudan (C.R.O.S.S.). The BOGO product offering is the Stronghold Haywire Klamper. For each one that you buy, an identical one will be sent to distribute free of charge to villagers in South Sudan. I encourage other gear vendors to do likewise. Particularly needed are earth tone or Multicam magazine pouches (AK and HK-G3), canteens with covers, hydration packs, rifle slings, and rifle buttstock pouches.


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