Month: December 2013

Odds ‘n Sods:

Ken W. suggested: Proper Field Dressing in Today’s CWD World    o o o Frequent content contributor F.J. sent this from MIT Technology Review: How Remote Places Can Get Cellular Coverage by Doing It Themselves With Swedish telephone numbers and a tree-bound base station, a remote Indonesian village runs its own telecommunications company.    o o o H.L. sent: Rhode Island town voting on recall after gun-permit row    o o o Construction of secret hiding places. (Thanks to Pete S. for the link.)    o o o Video: J. McC. mentioned a 1950s Special Forces training film (now on …



Notes from JWR:

Today marks the birthday of Simo Häyhä (born 1905, died April 1, 2002.) He was the world’s most successful sniper. Using an iron-sighted Mosin–Nagant in Finland’s Winter War, he had an astounding 505 confirmed sniper kills. — Today we present another entry for Round 50 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $9,400+ worth of 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 three-day civilian courses. …


Protecting Your Church, by Wandering Will

The service has ended, we say goodbye to our friends, wait for everyone to leave then lock up the church.  The drive home takes only a few minutes and when we arrive my wife and I take off and secure our weapons and conduct a debrief on any problems we encountered during the service.  Not exactly the Norman Rockwell version of a day in church.  I realize that the fact that someone would carry a weapon in church is appalling to many people.  However, before you begin stereotyping Christians as right-wing radicals, ask yourself a few questions.  When you were …


Letter Re: Any Escape from Obamacare?

Mr. Rawles, Is there any way that I can avoid enrolling in Obamacare? (I believe that abortion is sinful and there’s no way I want to support it.) Thanks, – Debra L. JWR Replies: As currently enacted, the Affordable Care Act (commonly called “Obamacare)” contains a special exemption provision for members of healthcare sharing ministries. One of the best of these is called Medi-share. A similar plan–and even less expensive per month–is available from Samaritan Ministries.


Letter Re: Berkey Water Filters Work!

Dear Editor: I live an in area that is considered to have excellent water, however with time and age the delivery system is having some issues.  I am a great water drinker so this is an important matter to me personally, not withstanding any kind of a meltdown.  A friend of mine recommended that I buy a Berkey brand water filter.  So I researched and of course found that they are not cheap.  Being one that does so much with alternative purchases such as yard, estate type sales I almost choked when I heard the price.  I contacted LPC Survival …


News From The American Redoubt:

Gary Marbut (one of the originators of the now famous “Made in Montana” guns law) has proposed novel legislation: The Constitutional Settlements Commission of the States    o o o R.B.S. sent: Lt. Gov: In rural Idaho, quite a lot of hostility.    o o o A larger American Redoubt? PPP Poll: Colorado Getting Redder . (A hat tip to to H.L. for the link.)    o o o He never even really had to apply or interview… Harsin agrees to five year $6.5 million contract with Boise State. (So…. Does the extra advertising and scholarship revenue of a “winning” …


Economics and Investing:

Reader Tom H. sent: Price of silver could double because of Apple Washington & Wall-Street: The Death of Money. (Thanks to both Gregg P. and to Jeff in Texas for the link.) C.D.V. sent this: Yet Another Massive Nail In The Dollar’s Coffin Items from The Economatrix: Richard Russell – US May Destroy The World Monetary System The One Topic No One Is Discussing Congressional Odd Couple Finally Strikes a Budget Deal 


Odds ‘n Sods:

Here is a clever new product, from Israel: The Recover Grip and Rail “skin.” Note: These won’t be available until after SHOT Show but you can pre-order.    o o o Gregg P. mentioned this great example of trans-national dependencies and the JIT food supply chain: Map shows what it takes to make one single jar of Nutella    o o o K.T. recommended this great reference site: Exterior Ballistics    o o o I’ve warned you about Common Core. Beware the “New New Math” in CC math textbooks. (I suppose these should be called “Al Gore Rhythms,” since Gore …



Note from JWR:

Today is the birthday of Philip K. Dick (born 1928, died March 2, 1982.) He penned a remarkable number of sci-fi novels and novellas that have been adapted into movies including Blade Runner, Total Recall, Screamers, Impostor, Minority Report, Paycheck, A Scanner Darkly, Next, and The Adjustment Bureau. Though he had a troubled personal life (with drug use and several failed marriages), his captivating books certainly had a knack for envisioning potential futures.


Precious Metals — 2013 Year in Review, by Steven Cochran

This year saw a battle for the direction of precious metals waged between speculators and short-term “paper gold” traders in the West, against record-breaking physical demand in the East. That physical demand from Asia reached new highs in 2013, underpinning a market that saw the outflows from precious metals ETFs eagerly snapped up by the Chinese and Indians. Gold and silver ended the year about where they ended 2010, while platinum was down only slightly from 2012. Palladium was the big performer, doing even better in 2013 than last year, but not as well as the all-time high reached in …


Pat’s Product Review: CMMG Mk9 T 9mm M4 Carbine

Every once in a while, I’m fortunate, in that, I get a gun sample, that no one else has, and when that happens, I jump on testing it, and follow-up with an article. Such is the case with the new CMMG Mk9 T – and you won’t find this one on their web site yet, it’s not due to be released until the SHOT Show at the end of January 2014. I’ve owned a couple of the CMMG M4gery carbines over the years, and I still have one, and found them to be great shooters, and priced below what other …


Letter Re: Which Ammo to Stockpile?

Dear Sir, When stockpiling ammo, should one focus on FMJ and soft nose/hollow points or FMJ only?  FMJ is a better value per bullet, plus it’s supposed to be a lot more accurate and reliable than SP/HP, but of course, it sometimes comes at the cost of stopping power. I’m packing a semi-auto in 308/7.62×51, and to my knowledge, there haven’t been many complaints about the stopping power of the 7.62×51 ball cartridge in military circles; many complaints come mainly from the kick and weight.  Add to that the fact that after TEOTWAWKI, shooting through cover and mass fire will …


Letter Re: Taking My Taxes Personally

James Wesley, My wife needed a new car (SUV to be exact), and that got me looking into the fiscal situation in detail to come up with a price range. I first detailed the expense side of the balance sheet down to monthly average activities and dining out costs, but my world was shaken when I looked at the income totals. Like a growing number of men, my wife makes more than me, her career being much more in demand these days. This I knew from the start; we’re not that far off but there is, as the left would …