Month: February 2013

Letter Re: Low Sulfur Diesel and Refinery Shutdowns

Dear Jim, I wanted to provide a technical article to explain to your readers why refineries have to shut down more often than they used to. There’s a good reason for this, and its not greed.   A few years ago I went to welding school. I wanted a post-oil survival skill that would make me money and have real value. During the course of my education I learned how to weld stainless steel, and one of the key components of welding stainless is something called the Heat Affected Zone. It turns out that when welding stainless steel you can …


Two Letters Re: Plan B: Key Phrases to Memorize for Citizens’ Reservation of Rights

JWR, I am a 14-year veteran of one of the “top 10 by size” police departments in the US. My whole career has been within this department so my perception of this issue is only that of a large urban city department. I want to comment on your article “Plan B: Key Phrases to Memorize for Citizens’ Reservation of Rights.” In my earlier days I can unfortunately admit I probably may have been one of these officers that would try to find something to turn a civil violation traffic stop into a felony arrest. I will add though that I …


Letter Re: Report on the Dulles Gun Show

James, The recent letter from a reader about about the gun show had some comments about pricing so I thought it would be helpful to remind readers some basic economic principles.  Prices are a natural function of supply and demand and higher prices, especially during periods of high demand, perform the needed function of allocating scarce resources to the optimum number of customers. For example, a dealer at a gun show receives a limited number of cases of ammo.  If he were to sell it at historical prices people would buy 2-3 cases each.  Now we have higher prices due …


Economics and Investing:

B.B. suggested an excellent presentation by Stefan Molyneux: There Will Be No Economic Recovery. Prepare Yourself Accordingly. The charts he shows and the statistics he cites are staggering! Show This To Anyone Who Believes That “Things Are Getting Better” In America Biggest Bubbles In History-Stocks, Bonds, Dollars-Paul Craig Roberts Items from The Economatrix: Watch The Financial Markets In Europe Do Wall Street Insiders Expect Something Really BIG To Happen Soon? John Williams of Shadowstats:  How To Survive The Illusion Of Recovery World Currency System Moving Towards Catastrophe


Odds ‘n Sods:

Bob B. sent a link to a NOAA web page that calculates updated map magnetic declinations. If your topographic maps are more than two years old, then you should check! (In my region, the magnetic declination has changed about 6 degrees, since 1950.)    o o o One of the members of my local shooting club recently received a large order from the cleverly-named vendor United Nations Ammunition, in Arizona. He was very happy with his order, summing it up: “Great ammo and competitive prices, with fast shipping and quite friendly service.” My friend bought the linked USGI .308 ammunition …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"A standing military force, with an overgrown Executive will not long be safe companions to liberty. The means of defence against foreign danger, have been always the instruments of tyranny at home. Among the Romans it was a standing maxim to excite a war, whenever a revolt was apprehended. " James Madison, June 29th. 1787, Debates in Federal Convention


Notes from JWR:

I’m pleased to report than more than 10,000 copies of the First Revised Edition of Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse have been sold since its release on November 26, 2012. This is the first time that the book has been printed with a cloth (hardback) binding. I updated the book slightly to remove some temporal incongruities that had built up in the course of previous editions, and added a new introduction. As with the later paperback editions, it includes a glossary and index. — Today we present another two entries for Round 45 of the SurvivalBlog …


Addictions That Could Be Your Undoing, by Z.T.

I have tried to think about things that you may not have thought of, in regards to The End of the World as We Know It (TEOTWAWKI.) And maybe not just fresh ideas for readers, but even for those that write about these things. And, it’s possible that you may even think that I am going waaaay out there to bring you fresh ideas. But I’m not. I bet you haven’t thought of how silly and secret addictions can really hurt you. Have you? While the effects of hard drugs, even seemingly minor alcoholism, have their own withdrawal symptoms that …


Preparing Your Mind, Body and Spirit for TEOTWAWKI, by K B.

Preparing Your Mind, Body and Spirit for TEOTWAWKI, by K B. I have met many great survivalists from all over this great country.  I have heard a lot of good advice on food preserving, silver and gold purchasing, ammo stockpiling and medication/first aid preparation.  I have further read numerous books and taken part in numerous survival training programs provided by the United States Army, that have taught me how to protect my family, my community and myself when the Fit Hits the Shan (FHTS).  I have utilized learned skills first hand during my tours with the army in Afghanistan and …


Letter Re: Buried Cache Retrieval

I recently found an old issue of American Survival Guide magazine (now defunct), with an article that described a cache that had been buried 20+ years earlier, and how well it had fared. Extremely well so the article went, but the land and landmarks had changed over that length of time and it almost wasn’t recovered. For long-term storage like that, remembering where you stashed your cache could be a concern. You might find that a fire has removed all of the trees, and erosion removed any other landmarks you may have used for a benchmark. Or the area has …


Letter Re: Observations on Winter Storm Nemo

Mr. Rawles, In the past few days, I have noticed many articles and threads from preppers regarding the northeast and our recent  snowfall. The general feeling is that we (from New England/New York) did not learn anything from Hurricane Sandy, and were again caught unprepared. Multiple news clips and sound bites  seem to support this. What the rest of the country seems not to realize, is that empty grocery stores, power outages, and blocked roads are a way of life here in New England, and have been for as far back as we can recall.  The prepper community is always speculating …


Four Letters Re: A Prepper’s Guide to EMP

Jim: That was a very good article by Chris C. to get people up to speed on EMP threats and mitigation, there is one very simple thing to add that was shared with me by a former military contractor who was involved in EMP work.   While it’s possible to protect equipment in place with shielding, grounding and specialized electronic components, the most economical solution is to store spares.  This has the advantage of protecting (remember, “two is one”) with backups from ANY type of equipment failure, EMP or otherwise.  This method uses readily obtainable and very economical materials.  There’s …


News From The American Redoubt:

A Montana television station’s regular programming was interrupted by news of a zombie apocalypse…    o o o FAA Releases New Drone List. (Note that there are just a few airports in the American Redoubt, compared to other parts of the country)    o o o Oregon-collared wolf killed by Idaho Hunter    o o o I heard that Armageddon Armory in Nampa, Idaho still has some firearms inventory available, and they just took delivery of a large batch of TAPCO polymer magazines. Many gun shops across the country have empty shelves. So it is nice find one that still …


Economics and Investing:

Putin Turns Black Gold to Bullion as Russia Outbuys World Reader Jim W. sent: Silver Coin Dealers and the New Premium Paradigm The coming pension crisis: States face a $3 trillion funding gap. Only about 10 percent of Americans now covered by pensions. G.G. sent: Americans Are Tapping Into Home Equity Again Venezuelan Devaluation Sparks Panic. (Thanks to R.C. for the link.)


Odds ‘n Sods:

MagPul Industries issues a Colorado legislative alert and says “we may have to move.” Needless to say, they would be enthusiastically welcomed here in the American Redoubt!    o o o Chris G. sent this: Department of Homeland Security Raids Gun Collector Who Didn’t Violate the Law    o o o Nuts! Jericho creator confirms Netflix in talks to revive series    o o o A reader mentioned a mail order company that is worth checking out: 1st Army Supply.    o o o Anthony Wile of The Daily Bell recently interviewed constitutional lawyer Edwin Vieira about his new book …