Day: May 3, 2013

Notes from JWR:

Happy birthday to Pastor Chuck Baldwin (born 1952), of Kalispell, Montana. He has done yeoman service as a pastor. Many of his sermons are available online. I commend him for promoting the American Redoubt movement. He has exhorted hundreds of families to relocate to Montana. — Ready Made Resources is running their semi-annual 25% off Mountain House Sale. This includes all Mountain House long term storage foods nitrogen packed in #10 cans. The sale ends on May 6th, so order soon. — Today we present another entry for Round 46 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this …


Traditional Skills: What Value are You to Other Preppers?, by Blacksmith Tom

Prepper communities and compounds rely on each members worth to their group, cooking, sewing, carpentry, leatherwork, gardening. There is one skill that cannot be over looked as one of the most valuable skills/trade for a prepper to possess.  Blacksmithing.  All other crafts and trades will require once again the skills of a blacksmith to replace stolen, broken tools.  In addition to making these tools a blacksmith can also make weapons, swords, axes, daggers, spears, arrow heads.  But how would one go about obtaining these skills?  Look in your local areas for classes offered, some community colleges are now offering blacksmithing …


Letter Re: IED Awareness

I received the following from an embedded mil-blogger friend.  His personal information has been redacted: Sir,  If I may, I would like to share some information with you.  Some is based on personal experience, and some comes from experts I know and trust.  What you do with this is up to you, but I wanted you to have it to think about just in case.   First, I can commend an I-phone app (should be available for other platforms as well) that the Army had suggested to me called IED Aware.  It is actually pretty much the basic Army awareness course …


Letter Re: Penny and Nickel Debasement Bill Introduced in U.S. Congress

Sir, I often received assorted mail in flat rate VHS videotape-size USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes.  I found that these will hold 27 rolls of nickels. Not near as heavy as a .30 caliber ammo can when full. Folks (like me, over 60 and female) that find the .30 cal ammo cans a bit heavy might like to use these boxes.  I just use strapping tape and run a band around the box horizontally, fill it with the nickels and then run two bands of tape around it to seal it.  They stack nicely and I can move them …


Economics and Investing:

The perception of currency inflation is derived through the contextual prism of our daily lives. For my neighbors who burn a lot of gasoline commuting more than 40 miles each way every work day, the perceived inflation rate is more than 30%, per annum. And for my #1 Daughter, who’s main commercial interaction involves .22 cartridges, the perceived inflation rate is more than 200%, per annum. And for almost everyone, the fact that 32GB iPods are deflating in price because of economies of scale is a meaningless abstraction, when groceries have risen around 20% since last year. We don’t buy …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Building Your SHTF Gunshot Survival Kit    o o o Here is a new online publication that might be of interest: The Preparedness Review. Their latest edition includes an excerpt from my novel “Survivors.”    o o o Some good news from an anti-gun state: The Connecticut State Police today released their training memorandum regarding the open carry of firearms in the state. This is a significant concession in a Nanny State where up until now many police have treated Open Carry with contempt and high suspicion, and often with unjustified detainment. (Thanks to H.L. for the link.)    o …