Notes from JWR:

Camping Survival has begun their semi-annual sale on Mountain House foods. They are offering 25% off #10 cans and kits, and 15% off all pouches. Order soon! — Today we present another entry for Round 45 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course. (A $1,195 value.) 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 …




The Water Filter Quest, by Scott H.

Living in a rural southern area of the eastern United States I am keenly aware that we are usually the first to lose power and last to regain power in any natural calamity.  A few years ago, we lost power for over a week.  With recent environmental catastrophes like Sandy et al, I have been reminded of a significant deficiency in my family survival preparations, water filtration.  I am not getting into the nitty gritty of the micron levels of filtration (most units reviewed were .2 microns or better) or the science of the systems.  This is a layman’s attempt …




Michael Z. Williamson on the New DHS “Non-Traditional Threat” Pistol Targets

Apparently, this server is straining as news of the DHS targets is spreading virally. A friend wrote to ask: “Don’t these people have any devil’s advocate types on staff who might say, “Gee Bob, I’m not sure this is the best idea…” Description: [Note: cut and pasted, all typos and bad grammar original to these Protectors and Servers of Freedom] Non-traditional threat dipicting [sic] a hostile young mother surrounded by childred [sic] on a playground. Background is faded further highligting [sic] and highlighting the threat. Full Color realistic target. Size: 23″ x 35″ Site is overloaded.  Target shows an armed …




Letter Re: Diesel Fuel Storage and Dyed Diesel Issues

Greetings, In a short response to Simon S. from “Across the pond” and his letter about using heating oil for diesel vehicles, please let me add one small bit of first hand advice;  The heating oil that you buy for your home is not only dyed differently for tax reasons, it isn’t filtered as well either.  I also live in Europe and I got the idea to burn heating oil in my diesel vehicle once most people started converting (wrongly I might add) to Natural Gas from Russia.  The people who converted were expected to pay a lot of money …




Economics and Investing:

The latest scary chart, over at Jesse’s blog: The Fed is increasing its monetary base aggressively again. G.G. flagged this: Fiscal trouble ahead for most future retirees Manny Pacquiao KO’d by 39.6% Tax Rate, Refuses to Fight in U.S. US Jobless Rate One Of The Worst In Industrialized World (Thanks to C.N. for the link.)




Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Elaine K. sent a link to a very recent report commissioned by the Commonwealth of Virginia that provide some great state-level statistics. This could be useful in choosing a state for relocation. Note that the Per Capita Income statistics are skewed because they don’t reflect the value of barter transactions (“I’ll trade you hay for firewood”), and because traditionalists (Mormons, Amish, Catholics, etc.) tend to have large families.    o o o Good for the Gander…: Olympic Arms Joins Magpul and LaRue Tactical and Tells New York Government to Pound Sand. And in related news: York Arms Cancels All …