Year: 2013

Letter Re: Motorcycles as Bugout Vehicles

Hi James, After seeing and living through the nightmarish traffic jams and rerouting during the Colorado wildfire last summer, I started thinking about the wisdom and utility of having a motorcycle in SHTF scenarios.   There are pros and cons to it that I can think of, but I’d like other’s opinions.  An off-the-top of my head list:   Pros: 1)  Bypass traffic jams and stalled/out of commission cars. 2)  Saddle-bags can carry a lot more than than a human 3)  Much faster than on-foot bugout. 4)  Handles off-road with suitable tires 5)  Fewer people could drive it compared to a …


Letter Re: Be Prepared to Fortify

Jim: A few comments on Mountain Man Virgil’s letter titled “Be Prepared to Fortify.” I would like to offer a few alternatives to his plan to “hide security measures in your garage until you need them.” I am assuming that he is referring to items such as barbed wire and sand bags. There are many things one can do which offer very good security and still blend in with the neighborhood. Large decorative rocks, strategically placed or large treated logs as garden or flower beds can offer excellent cover and concealment. Large livestock water tanks of metal or heavy plastic …


Economics and Investing:

Reader B.B. sent: 10,962,532: U.S. Disability Beneficiaries Exceed Population of Greece Record Number of Americans (Including Hamid Karzai’s Brother) Renounce Their Citizenship Frequent content contributor Jim W. sent: Bix Weir – You Can’t Trust The Paper Price Of Silver and Time is Running Out To Get Physical Items from The Economatrix: Robert Shiller:  Home Prices To Remain Stagnant For The Next Ten Years Gary Shilling:  The Disconnect Between Weak Economies And Strong Markets Won’t Continue No Bank Deposits Will Be Spared Confiscation


Odds ‘n Sods:

Paul B. suggested this at Nature Bats Last: The irreconcilable acceptance of near-term extinction    o o o F.G. liked this: Snell: Waking the dragon — How Feinstein fiddled while America burned    o o o The Nanny State run amok: European Commission to criminalize nearly all seeds and plants not registered with government    o o o Some near future conjecture by Bill Buppert: The Fourth Strike of the Match (at Zero Gov.)    o o o US Government Takes Control of 3D Printed Gun Makers Files/Website



Notes from JWR:

Camping Survival’s Mountain House Sale begins today, and will run for just one week. They are offering Mountain House nitrogen-packed cans at 25% off and their pouches and long term storage HDPE buckets at 15% off. — Today we present another entry for Round 46 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The 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. (Excluding those restricted …


Surviving TEOTWAWKI in Hawaii, by M. in Honolulu

Hawaii is in a special situation in a potential emergency.  The island chain has seven inhabited islands (of eight major islands) that support a total state population of 1,392,313, a land area of 6,422 square miles, with an overall average density of 217 persons per square mile (11th highest in the U.S., just above Virginia, Ohio and Indiana).  Most of the population (70% or 976,372) is concentrated on Oahu with an area of 597 square miles, an average density of 1,635 per square mile.  The urban core of Honolulu has an estimated population of 340,000 (ranked 55th by population, just …


Letter Re: Sewing, Mending and Altering Your Clothing After the Ball Drops

Dear James, As a former professional seamstress, I have a comment on using woolen materials for quilts.  They can successfully be washed, provided that the woolen material was previously washed before making a quilt of it, whether the wool is used as the top layer, or as the batting. The wool should be washed in hot water, and then dried on high heat in the dryer.  It will shrink, which has the double advantage of:  1. making it much warmer; and 2. washed wool becomes somewhat felted, which makes it much sturdier and less prone to wear and pulling of …


Economics and Investing:

Reader R.B.S. sent some more coin debasement news: Stivers proposes using steel for all U.S. coins – not just pennies and nickels. The compromise that the Congresscritters reach might be just dropping the penny and switching the nickel to stainless steel. The days of nickel made of copper and nickel are numbered, so stock up! Jim W. liked this: Gold – You Better Hold It Also from Jim: How Your Purchasing Power Was And Is Destroyed. “The fraud you’re being sold is exactly identical to going into a bakery and ordering a sheet cake.  The baker asks you how many pieces …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Michael Z. Williamson (SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large) found a link to a great video, profiling an old school, multigenerational machine shop: Central Texas Tool Co.    o o o A long-standing joke is that a lot of dead people cast votes in the eastern seaboard states. Not to be outdone, deceased anti-gun mayors sign petitions from the grave, again and again. In more recent news: Another one of the Bloomberg Crime Fighters goes to the Big House, for corruption: Hamilton, New Jersey Mayor John Bencivengo. And another, Former Brownsville Mayor Pat Ahumada, has just been charged with operating an illegal …



Notes from JWR:

May 8th is the birthday of American missionary and military intelligence officer Captain John Birch. (Born, 1918, died August 25, 1945.) He is considered by many to be the first American casualty of the Cold War. — John Bush (of The Dealer Warehouse and other ventures) recently posted this sad news: “Long time machine gun and gun importer Edward Faust passed away this weekend. [He] literally imported thousands of machine guns into the US, many of you probably have a gun marked “IA CO SAC CA” which was the import mark found on the ARMEX guns. Worked with most everyone …


Fats and Rancidity: A Food Storage Problem, by L. Joseph Mountain

Many of the dehydrated “food storage units” available these days specify that you need a certain amount of fats or oils to supplement their unit. You probably know these units, they generally sell as “1 person, 1 year” type of packages and they contain a variety of grains, legumes, fruits and other essentials. They are generally put together with the help of nutritionists that try to deliver a certain amount of calories and essential nutrients per day. You might wonder why they don’t just include a container of oil to complete their units. Or even why we need them. Fats …


Three Letters Re: Kevlar Chainsaw Chaps

James, Thanks to George H. and George W. for their input on chainsaw safety. Yes, buy Kevlar chaps and use them.  Once getting your hands on a pair, don’t expect them to function like body armor because they have Kevlar in them.  From personal experience, they work by the chain’s cutters tearing through the outer fabric of the chaps, then pulling out Kevlar fibers, that then bind up the saw and almost instantly stop the chain from moving. Chain stops and you don’t get cut. Then the penance you pay for your lapse in judgment is taking the cover off …


Economics and Investing:

Jack Spirko (of The SurvivalPodcast) has produced a fascinating behind-the-scenes video tour: What’s Going on at Mulligan Mint? Jack Spirko and I agree that Mulligan Mint is reputable. By setting up redundant manufacturing processes, they have overcome their production bottlenecks. They’ve also cleared the backlog of SBSS orders and they are about to release Jack’s Sentinel coin. This is the same mint that is producing the American Redoubt silver coin. Items from The Economatrix: The Biggest Price-Fixing Scandal Ever Hiding The Unemployed: Disability And The Politics Of Stats Gold & Silver — War Unofficially Declared on 12 April 2013