Month: April 2013

Notes from JWR:

As the western world mourns the loss of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, America’s shooting fraternity mourns the loss of Rock River Arms co-founder Mark Larson. R.I.P. — Today is the birthday of Jim Bowie (born 1796, died March 6, 1836 at the Battle of the Alamo.) The Bowie knife–essentially a small short sword–was his lasting legacy. — Today we present another entry for Round 46 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 …


Bartering Via Craigslist, by George H.

Building up a skill set can easily be argued the most critical survival ability available. One skill set often overlooked is bartering. Trading a good or service for another. Looking at tangible items, one recent item everyone has noticed is the new price for ammo and certain rifles. The adage “buy low sell high” still applies if you can do so and still maintain your own needed stock. About four and a half years ago AR-15s were roughly the same inflated cost as today (after BHO was elected), there was a massive panic and parts were scarce. It took four …


Letter Re: Acquiring Local Topgraphic Maps

Dear Jim: A reminder to folks who don’t have good topos of their local area – get some. Just went to get updated topo maps of my local area in the 1:24,000 scale.  Little did I know that the 1980s vintage map I currently have is superior to the current maps!  The US Geological Service, decided in their <sarcasm on> “infinite wisdom” to update topos with roads added since the 1980s, but delete much of the vital information like pipelines, fencelines, gravel pits, radio towers, etc., etc. that make a topo useful.  It must have been just too difficult to …


Economics and Investing:

Dallas Fed President warns about the consequences of Too Big to Fail policies. Portugal Considers Paying Public Workers In Treasury Bills Instead Of Cash New Trouble for Euro in Portugal H.L. sent: 30,000 Greek Households Lose Electricity Each Month. Items from The Economatrix: Jim Willie:  Economy Will Implode Get Prepared For Economic Catastrophe: You Are Being Sacrificed To Save The Too-Big-To-Fail Banks It No Longer Pays To Go To Work


Odds ‘n Sods:

Attention Texans: April 26 to 28 there is a Self Reliance Expo in Arlington, Texas. Marjorie Wildcraft, Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy are among the many speakers.    o o o Some commentary by Claire Wolfe over at Backwoods Home: Can the U.N. Ban America’s Guns?    o o o Sad news from Oz: Queenslanders handing in 500 guns a week. Of course what is not mentioned in the article is that there are millions of unregistered guns in Australia, including hundreds of thousands of now contraband semi-auto and pump action guns. Recognizing their long standing right, many Aussies have …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Military analysts pretty much agree Japan lost the war in the Pacific because they were playing chess while we were playing checkers. Overthinking all but guarantees failure. Engineers will tell you complexity increases as the square of the subsystems involved, or near enough, something survivalists should keep in mind when they attempt to replicate their ‘normal’ life. And no, being a nice, deserving person with good intentions won’t make failure modes go away. The cost of maintaining complex systems eventually exceeds the value they provide and fail when they become too complex to effectively manage. A trivial glitch that won’t …


Notes from JWR:

I just heard that Tattler Reusable Canning Lids is offering select items up to 30% off, through midnight April 9th, 2013. And if you enter the coupon code “100days” when checking out, you can take another 5% off your order.   — Today we present another two entry for Round 46 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 …


Winter Outdoor Survival Lessons Learned, by Jim N.

Darkness was rapidly settling in, I was soaking wet, and the temperature was falling as fast as the snow.  There were still about 8 miles of very rough country between me and my truck and I was flat out smoked from hiking all day in deep snow at high elevation.  I realized I could not hope to navigate by headlamp the many blow down trees and steep canyon walls that separated me from my truck in my current condition.  While I realized the seriousness of my situation, I was not particularly worried and silently thanked the Lord I had practiced …


Letter Re: Hard Copies of Rawles Gets You Ready Preparedness Course?

Dear James, To follow up on your comments to getting a printed version of the Rawles Gets You Ready Preparedness Course binder/book, I would strongly recommend taking a memory stick (thumb drive) into one of these stores to retrieve a hard copy, if you don’t have a moderate capacity printer at home.  The Online Printing offered by FedEx Office, The UPS Store, and others put your request into a national database and relay your order to the store you choose – the store then accesses your print job on the national data base to print the project out. While you …


Letter Re: UVPaqlite Forever Lite

Jim, Just an FYI, regarding Pat’s Product Review of the The UV Paqlite Forever Lite: I got two of the UVPaqLites from Wiggy’s several months ago and they are great. I got the largest rectangular sheet ones and I can attest that they do indeed work well. When not in normal use, They hang on the bathroom window. All night long, no need to turn the lights on in the bathroom. All in all, pretty nice and it supports Jerry Wigutow–a SurvivalBlog advertiser. – The Army Aviator


News From The American Redoubt:

Spokane Grandmother of 10 Holds Burglar at Gunpoint at Her Home    o o o The latest from Montana legislator Krayton Kerns: The Naked Gun    o o o Here is an article that quotes SurvivalBlog. The included map is instructive: America’s Death Zones: Where NOT To Be When It Hits the Fan. (Note the map’s inverse correlation to the American Redoubt.)    o o o Even the Redoubt isn’t immune from some crimes: $28,000 worth of copper wire stolen in Kootenai County. (Thanks to Russell in Idaho for the link.)    o o o Damon and H.L. both sent …


Economics and Investing:

Reader Andre D. sent us this: Rehn: big bank depositors could bear cost of bank failure: People with big deposits could suffer a ‘haircut’ under planned European Union law if a bank fails, the EU’s economic affairs chief Olli Rehn said. Reader H.L. sent this: Obama Proposes Retirement Account Limit In First “Wealth Tax” Salvo Rhode Island’s tallest building will soon go dark. Dirty Harry to World Savers “You’ve Got To Ask Yourself… – Do You Feel Lucky? Items from The Economatrix: Sinclair:  This Will Create The Mother Of All Financial Crises Economic Apocalypse Is Here! Gigantic Miss: Just 88,000 …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Congress returns to try to reach final deals on major issues of immigration, gun control. Please contact your Senators again!    o o o Kansas Governor Sam Brownback Signs HB 21 – Recognizes All States’ Concealed Carry Permits. Hopefully this will be a trend setter!    o o o Dawn S. in Texas wrote to mention that just found a large variety of flower, vegetable and herb seeds in Mylar packaging at her local Wal-Mart. She notes: “Some are heirloom varieties. Although the product is listed with a “sell by” date of 12/13, it is hermetically sealed. This is a …



Notes from JWR:

April 8th is the birthday of the late Ian Smith, the former Prime Minister of Rhodesia. (Born, 1919, died November 20, 2007.) Ian Smith’s government was far from perfect, but it was much preferable to that of his successor: Comrade Mugabe and his thugs. Mugabe has absolutely wrecked and systematically looted the country and have made almost everyone’s lives miserable. Once residents of the prosperous Bread Basket of Africa, Zimbabweans now face starvation. The Rhodies have a saying: “Rhodesia didn’t die. It’s just fallen asleep and is having a bad dream called Zimbabwe.” Remember Rhodesia. — This is the last …