Day: September 30, 2013

Note from JWR:

This is the last day to place an order and take advantages of the September Mountain House sales. For the month of September, five of our advertisers have been offering special sale prices on Mountain House foods in #10 cans. They are all offering deep discounts and most of them are offering free shipping: Camping Survival – Up to 54% off. Emergency Essentials – 40% to 50% off. Freeze Dry Guy – Meats are 40% off. Everything else (entrees, fruits, vegetables) is 25% off. Ready Made Resources – 45% to 70% off Safecastle – An average of 49% off, in …


Expatriates Release Day Tomorrow

You might as well call me “James Wesley, Wrong”, since a printing error at E.P. Dutton resulted in several thousand copies of the First Edition, First Printing of Expatriates having the hardcover spines (underneath the dust jacket) emblazoned: “John Wesley, Rawles.“ Here is how the correct dust jacket spine looks: And here is how the misprinted hardback spine (underneath the dust jacket) looks: This error wasn’t discovered until Friday night (September 27th), when our family friend “Enola Gay” (the editor of the outstanding Paratus Familia blog) happened to look under the dust jacket of the copy that I’d given her. …


Pat’s Product Review: CORE15 M4 Rifle

It appears, at least for the time being, that AR-15 style rifle manufacturers are starting to catch-up with demand. Not all makers are caught-up, but a few are – the companies that specialize in making AR-15 style rifles only, appear to be the ones catching-up with supply to meet demand. Although some ammo makers are making some progress in manufacturing more .223 Rem and 5.56mm ammo, the great ammo drought of 2013 is far from over. As I mentioned before, my inside sources – at ammo companies – not gun shop clerks, or Internet warriors – tell me that it will …


Letter Re: Currently Available QRP Radio Kits

James, I’d like to discuss a couple of low power (“QRP”) ham radio transmitters. The first kit is a 10 Watt 75M SSB transceiver appropriately named The Survivor. For the modest sum of $140 you get all the parts required to build a practical rig with a digital frequency readout capable of making voice contacts at night out to a range of 200 to 300 miles using simple (low to the ground) wire antennas in NVIS mode. Another ham radio operator provided some additional tips and advice on building this kit on his blog. The second kit is a crystal-controlled …


Letter Re: Recommending Todd Savage of Survival Retreat Consulting

Hello Mr. Rawles, Just a note of thanks to you and your site for leading me to Todd Savage at Survival Retreat Consulting (SRC.) I read your novel Patriots and that gave me the incentive I needed to pursue a retreat for my family.  I researched the means available to obtain my retreat and that included SRC’s ad on your SurvivalBlog.com site.  I was impressed with Todd’s well thought out process and the advantage that his own experience in making the journey with his own family brought to the process.  With your recommendation as a tail wind, I hired Todd and …


Letter Re: Basic Mechanics Skill and Knowing Vehicular Limitations

Jim, If I might add my two cents to Albert’s comments on Basic Mechanics Skill and Knowing Vehicular Limitations:  I was also inconvenienced with lug nuts being over-torqued. I bent the factory lug wrench in the process.   My dear spouse would have never been able to loosen one, much less five lug nuts. So I vowed to never again be put in that position again.  I made the assumption that the tire store torqued the lug nuts to factory specifications. They went far beyond that number. Apparently, many do.   My solution was far less high tech, EMP proof, and far less expensive: a 24-Inch …


Letter Re: House Window Blackout Materials

James, I heard you in your recent interview on the SGT Report podcast talking about [the need for] interior blackout material [to stop light from escaping windows when the power grid is down.]    What is the name of the material and tape and where can I purchase it? Thanks, Paul Z. JWR Replies: You will find the information you need in these archived discussions in SurvivalBlog. Also see this theatrical supply company, and specifically this blackout fabric and this blackout tape.


Recipe of the Week:

Mr. Anon’s Southwestern Corn Pudding   Ingredients:   1 14-oz can cream-style corn 1 14-oz can whole kernel corn or niblets, drained 1 to 3 4-oz can(s) diced green chilies, to taste  (or sub 1 can diced jalapeños for one of chilies for more spice, or sub lightly sauteed fresh diced peppers if available, to taste) 6 large eggs 1-1/2 cups soft fresh cheese (ricotta or quark) 1/2 cup sour cream 1/2 lb to 1 lb diced or shredded pepper-jack cheese, depending on your taste and calorie requirement (or sub medium cheddar cheese for part of pepper-jack cheese.  Using all …


Economics and Investing:

File under: Omens, Bad: NYSE Margin Debt Is Rising Once Again. (Thanks to Bob in Manassas, Virginia for the link.) Peer-to-Peer Economy Thrives as Activists Vacate the System Items from The Economatrix: Wal-Mart Nails The “Consumer Recovery” Coffin Shut CFTC Concludes Long-Running Silver Manipulation Investigation, Finds Nothing Wrong New Homes Sales Climb 8%


Odds ‘n Sods:

Dallas County Now Has Its Very Own Bulletproof, “Mine-Protected” Military SUV. JWR Adds: An anonymous reader in Oregon wrote: “Yesterday I was driving by the Clackamas (Oregon) County Shops and Motor-pool and saw one of these MRAPs, identical to the one pictured in the article. Same paint too. It was sitting in the “repair or modify” area next to the road department trucks and sheriff’s department boat, across the street from the sheriff car storage area. I doubt it’ll stay tan for long.”    o o o Jeff Ayers of Booklist posted this announcement and mini revew of Expatriates: “Rawles’ …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Jump down the shelters to get away The boys are cockin’ up their guns Tell us General is it party time? If it is can we all come? Don’t think that we don’t know Don’t think that we’re not tryin’, no no no Don’t think we move too slow It’s no use after cryin’ Sayin’ ‘It’s a mistake, it’s a mistake It’s a mistake, it’s a mistake.’” – Men At Work, “It’s A Mistake” (Lyrics by Colin Hay.)