Day: December 26, 2013

Notes from JWR:

Some very sad news to report: Our Backcountry Editor Mat Stein’s wife Josie passed away on December 22nd. Please keep Mat in your prayers. You can visit Josie’s memorial page and leave your condolences at her Memory Book page. — For those of you pondering a year-end tax deductible donation, please consider one of our favorite charities: Anchor of Hope. (A mission school in rural Zambia.) — Today we present another entry for Round 50 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $9,700+ worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good …


New Writing Contest Prize From Dri-Harvest Foods

The fine folks at Dri-Harvestfoods.com in Bozeman, Montana have announced that they will now sponsor the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest with an additional $333 prize bundle that will bring the combined value of the three prize packages to more than $9,700. Starting with Round 50 et sequitur, the winner of the Second Prize package will receive Dri-Harvest foods gift certificates for: One Mixed Case: Kidney Beans, Lima Beans, Buttermilk Powder (2 of each) / Case of 6- #10 Cans  valued at  $68.86 One Montana Hard Red Wheat 5 Gallon food grade bucket, valued at  $44.95 A mixed case of Lemon, Peach …


A Contractor’s Preps: Materiel Storage, by Paul W.

I’d like to discuss my perspective on family preparedness, from the perspective of a architectural design and building contractor. There are four categories to this aspect of preparedness:  Materials, Tools, Knowledge and Usefulness I read a lot of articles about things to stock up on when TEOTWAWKI situations occur.  One thing I do not hear discussed as much is keeping a well stock material shed at your bug out location.  Now keep in mind this is not a Bug out bag list.  The is a Bug Out Destination or Home list. Coming from the world of Architectural Design and Contracting …


Letter Re: Anderson Powerpoles: The Legos of DC Electronics

Jim, While it’s true that Anderson Powerpole connectors can be soldered, this is usually not a good idea, for several reasons: 1) Soldering is weaker than crimping because it interposes a soft metal– and possible air voids– between the copper of the wire and the copper of the terminal. A properly crimped connection places the wire in compression and the surrounding terminal in tension, ensuring a mechanically strong joint. 2) Soldering adds resistance to the connection. In a properly crimped connection, there are no gaps at all between the wire and the terminal. However low the resistance of solder, it’s …


Economics and Investing:

The Hidden Motives Behind The Federal Reserve Taper. [JWR’s Comment: The renewed talk of the Fed tapering from the current $85 billion per month of Quantitative Easing (QE) money creation is balderdash. Presently, I can see only two possible solutions for the Fed’s quandary: 1.) They find another excuse not to taper Fed purchase of MBS derivatives and other securities. or 2.) They do taper the current QE program, but meanwhile surreptitiously create another form of monetization that is just a big, or even bigger. (This might involve foreign central banks, in a mutual back-scratching arrangement, whereby we’ll buy their …


Odds ‘n Sods:

In rural America, secessionist sentiment stirs    o o o A reminder that CampingSurvival.com has a 5% off coupon code “sb1” available for all of their merchandise, aside from special sale items.    o o o Over at Mac Slavo’s blog: Experts Fear Nuclear Famine: “A Disaster So Massive in Scale that No Preparation is Possible”    o o o Rutherford Institute Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Ensure that Lawful Gun Ownership Is Not a Trigger for ‘No-Knock’ Police Raids    o o o Reader R.G. forwarded some news from the chairman of Minnesota Gun Owners about more outside influence …