Month: August 2013

Letter Re: How to Convert an Ammo Can into a Faraday Cage

Sir: I have some of the larger military surplus ammo cans and would like to build my own Faraday cages to store my spare electronics [to protect them from EMP or a severe solar storm]. Do you have any sources to guide me? OBTW, I just finished reading your novel “Patriots”. That was a great read and I could not put it down. Regards,- J.L. (Former NYPD Officer) JWR Replies: What you plan to do is is pretty simple, since the can and lid are already great Faraday shields. The only issue is the gap where they join. That joint needs to …


News From The American Redoubt:

Uh-oh! Some New Yorkers have caught wind of the Redoubt, and might swarm in and Damage Our Calm. See: Your Own Private Idaho. Even worse, there are some nice photos, as the New Yorkers say, “to go with.” Quick! Give all those Easterners a zap from The Flashy Thing. (Well, at least those ones who aren’t conservative, law-abiding, gun owners.)    o o o Census Bureau: Oregon’s largest counties grow while rural areas empty. (Eastern Oregon still has plenty of elbow room, but with its weak economy, it is best to be self-employed before moving there.)    o o o …


Economics and Investing:

IRS Needs AR-15s for “Standoff Capabilities”? (Ay, ay, ay…) Bill Fleckenstein: Too-easy money makes market too risky; The liquidity-fueled rally of the past 9 months is easy to like. But recent history tells us higher prices based on easy money carry extreme dangers, so a violent drop could lie ahead. Items from The Economatrix: If Housing Is Booming – Why Do We Need Another Fix? Bank of England 0.5% Interest Rates for 7% Unemployment, to Result in 7% Inflation, Ongoing Savings Theft Peter Schiff On The Half-Full Economy


Odds ‘n Sods:

F.G. sent: Marines and Army deploy new helmet designed to stop Rifle Rounds    o o o H.L. recommended this article and video: Build a $300 underground greenhouse for year-round gardening    o o o Bob P. wrote to reiterate one of SurvivalBlog’s long-standing recommendations: “Zippo Lighters are American-made. They are manufactured by the Zippo Manufacturing Co. in Bradford, Pennsylvania. Even though I don’t smoke I always kept a Zippo lighter handy since I was in the Army in the 1960s.  I keep one in my BOB and one in my ready pack in my pickup.  Zippos will burn just …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“We believe in high quality of content, design and production of books, thereby, we approach highly academically established authors, as well up coming up writers to encourage their research and writing skills. Our books are printed in latest printed machines. In addition, our aim is costumer satisfaction, prompt delivery of our products to domestic market as well over the globe. Our organisation, professionally committed and devoted team of editors, proof reader to look after and ensure each detail before sending for printing.” – From the web site of Global Vision Publishing House of Daryaganj, Delhi, India. (Copied and pasted with …


Notes from JWR:

I was sad to hear that Eydie Gormé passed away on August 10th. Though her talent was often wasted on ballads with sappy lyrics, she had an amazing voice. Now she is singing with the angels. — Two readers wrote to ask me about an e-mail that they had received from one of my publishers. This was a legitimate e-mail, and it had my blessing. The e-mail offered a free mini-report about water storage, which is available to everyone. (You don’t have to be a subscriber to Sarah Stafford’s site or be a buyer of the Rawles Gets You Ready …


Pat’s Product Review: Removable Operator Pack

I have to confess, at one time, I had a huge CFP-90 pack, that was my own personal BOB, and I had so much stuff in it that I could hardly get it on, much less hike any distance – it probably weighed in at 50-pounds or more. But I was good to go, for a week or two without having to resupply, except for a source of water. What was I thinking? My only excuse was, I was young and dumb, and I was actually a lot younger, but a lot stronger back then, too. Today, I have a …


John Hawkwood’s Book Review: A Failure of Civility

Back at the dawn of time, when I was commissioned in the Army Infantry, I reported to Fort Benning, Georgia for my officer’s basic course. As part of our processing, each lieutenant received two large boxes of books. There were many books on weapons systems; from the M16 and M1911 to the .50 caliber Browning Machine Gun. Not forgotten were mines, demolitions, and rocket and missile systems. There were also manuals for vehicles and maintenance, first aid and hygiene, and books for subjects I no longer can recall. Most interesting to me were the Field Manuals (FMs) for tactical operations. …


Letter Re: Tor and the Illusion of Privacy

JWR; I had noticed some mention of Tor and I believe there was some mention of alternatives to Tor as well, to better protect one’s privacy on the web.  I really hate to say this, but, anonymity on the net really only exists as fiction these days.  Tor has had problems with it’s exit nodes for a very long time and there was a lot of talk in the “penetration testing” community about the FBI using Tor to set up stings last summer.  One can use a VPN (virtual private network) that claims to keep it’s users secrets secret, but …


Recipe of the Week:

H.D.’s Homemade Bannock Bread Dough This is for a flour-based equivalent of traditional Bannock. Ingredients: 1 cup flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 tablespoon sugar (or any other sweetener from honey to Splenda . . . ) Pinch of salt 1/2 to 3/4 cup water Oil Mix the dry ingredients together. You can put them in a Baggie (or I put them in a crystal light container after I’ve used up the packets that come in it). Add 1/2 cup water and mix well. You should have a very stiff mix. Slowly add the remaining water until you get a …


Economics and Investing:

Ding, ding! It is noteworthy that Spot silver spiked to $21 per Troy ounce at the opening of the NY Globex market at O-dark-hundred, GMT on Monday morning. Perhaps the summer doldrums will end early, this year. G.G. suggested: Food-Stamp Use Rises; Some 15% Get Benefits Also from G.G.: Bank of Wausau, WI, Closed by Regulators – 18th Bank Failure of 2013 Peter Schiff – FED Will Continue To Ruin And Cause The US Economy To Collapse! Items from The Economatrix: Here’s The Real Unemployment Rate The American dream myth: Income mobility; 4 out of 5 Americans struggle with poverty, …


Odds ‘n Sods:

The political realm is not that different from my horse corral or my hen house. Periodically, the Schumer gets so deep that you can’t just continue shoveling a bit off off the top or around the edges. Merely covering it up with straw is no longer sufficient. The smell becomes too much to bear. What you really need to do is to roll up your sleeves and start shoveling, and do not stop until you’ve scraped right down to bare soil or bare wood. Une zone totalement dépeuplée. To do it right, you leave no media for the germs to …



Notes from JWR:

Patrice Lewis’s blog Rural Revolution (www.rural-revolution.com) is involved in a domain name problem with Blogger, the hosting site. Until such time as this issue is resolved, the blog can be seen at: www.PatriceLewis.blogspot.com. Please spread the word in prepper forums about where her blog can now be found. — I just realized that our queue of Recipes of the Week has opened up. Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? If so, then please send it via e-mail. Thanks! — August 11th is the birthday of SurvivalBlog editor “The Werewolf” in Brazil. Feliz …


Considerations for Gardening at the Retreat Farm, by Tony K.

The context in which this article is written is to attempt to give guidance and provoke thought and inspiration to those determined individuals who wish to be as self sufficient as possible by growing as much of their own food as possible. Everything in this article has been tried and to varying degrees produced results for my family. Our little farm rests just below 7,000 feet in elevation with much sun, wind and deep spring snows, with temperatures in winter falling briefly to 15 or so below zero to highs in the upper 90’s and even the 100’s for at …