Year: 2013

Odds ‘n Sods:

H.L. liked this: The Freest Place in the World. JWR’s Comment: Don’t assume that economic freedom equates to full liberties in all other aspects of life. Argentina is a MerCoSur (Mercado Común del Sur) treaty signatory, and hence (like all the others) they are gradually clamping down firearms ownership under a “harmonization” accord. (Harmonization is statist-speak for: “Let’s equally oppress all of our subjects, to the lowest common denominator.”) Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela are full MerCoSur members, and Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru are associate members. Just as with gun rights, I suspect that banking privacy will …



Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 44 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, 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 for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) a $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any …


Into Bear Country, by George F.

As a result of moving into remote retreat areas, you may begin to have encounters with North America’s bear population. Even in suburban/urban areas, a lack of hunting and the return of forests has seen bears make a comeback, raising the likelihood of a bear-human encounters. Even if you live somewhere with a low likelihood of bear encounters, you should know the proper actions and make preparations, because bears can turn up anywhere. I’m going to outline the steps for bear camping, keeping your homestead secure from bears, traveling in bear country, tactics for a bear encounter, and bear defenses …


Letter Re: Firearms Feeding Frenzy

Dater JWR: I am a retired police officer, SWAT team member, firearms instructor, armorer, First Aid CPR/AED instructor, and consider myself and my wife into prepping at a moderate level. While we do not have everything that I would like to have in my arms and accessories I know I am so far ahead of many of my friends that my confidence is high on that point. I must tell you I was shocked when we visited a Southwestern Ohio gun store  about a week ago. My friend, an employee and also retired law enforcement officer, looked at us like …


Letter Re: 3D Printing Rifle Magazines

Hello, James. I was wondering about something. If it is possible to build an entire lower assembly for an AR-15 (though a bit more fragile than what most people are aware of) using a 3D printer, wouldn’t it also be possible to program that same printer to make composite construction 30 magazines (or larger) for AR series rifles. All that you would need to do then is buy the springs. Everything else can be produced using the printer. Sincerely, – Gerald H.   JWR Replies: Unfortunately, with current technology I don’t think that the plastics used have the requisite tensile …


Economics and Investing:

Diana V.: suggested: Storing Nickels by David Hathaway Rick in New York recommended a 46-minute documentary: Overdose: The Next Financial Crisis Fiscal Cliff: The U.S. Debt Ceiling Is The Real Issue Still Ahead Venezuela’s Inflation Rate Hit 19.9% Items from The Economatrix: A Massive EMP Blast Could Collapse The Economy In A Single Moment Happy New Year Middle Class:  The Fiscal Cliff Is Going To Rip You To Shreds 16 Things About 2013 That Are Really Going To Stink


Odds ‘n Sods:

‘Black swan’ predictions for 2013 include solar storm    o o o Gun Grabbers Call For Re-Education Programs In Public Schools    o o o A reminder that Italian Gun Grease (all American-made products, but their chemist is Italian–so they thought it would be a catchy name), has some very good products for long term storage of pistols, rifles, and those now precious spare magazines. They are offering a special 25% discount for SurvivalBlog readers. Enter the coupon code RAWLES25 when you check out. Full disclosure: They offered me a 10% “piece of the action” for mentioning their products, but …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“The cops are the experts on the current criminal trends. If they have determined that a “high capacity” semiautomatic pistol and a .223 semiautomatic rifle with 30-round magazines are the best firearms for them to use to protect people like me and my family, they are obviously the best things for us to use to protect ourselves and our families.” – Massad Ayoob, writing in Backwoods Home magazine


Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 44 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, 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 for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) a $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any …


Annual Reminder: Ten Cent Challenge Subscriptions

I only post one reminder each year about beginning or renewing your Ten Cent Challenge subscription to SurvivalBlog, and this is it. These subscriptions cover our domain registration, web hosting, utilities, and ISP bandwidth costs. All of these costs are substantial, because we have to maintain servers in three countries. (To explain: We were subjected to a couple of vicious DDOS (“ping flood”) hacker attacks last year. To be ready for any future attacks, we needed to establish automatic failover redundancy.) We don’t subject our readers to endless whining pledge drives like PBS. This is the one and only annual …


Long Distance Bug Out Planning, by J.B. in Georgia

There is a plethora of good, sound information and articles on SurvivalBlog.com that I have researched, absorbed, and adapted into much of what we have done to prepare.  I would like to personally extend my gratitude to all the contributors of this subject and let them know that the information they have freely shared has been very helpful.  In addition, there are countless other informative sites, books, and organizations gained from this web site that has also been very useful.  This article describes our particular situation, the challenges, and planning to make our escape from the crowded suburbs of Atlanta …


Letter Re: Wireless Internet in Remote Regions

James, As your readers pointed out, Internet service in remote places can be a challenge, but also delivering this connectivity to various locations on your property presents other difficulties, too.   If you have a voice telephone line, you’ve got most of what you need for dial-up Internet capability, which is painfully slow, but you will be able to pick up and send email and if you turn off all videos, images and javascript, you could do very limited web browsing.  Cable and DSL are out of the question if you live at the end of a long road with …


Letter Re: AR-15 Rifle and Pistol Legality in the U.S.

James, Please let your readers know this is dangerous ground, as ATF considers converting from rifle to pistol to be a felony. If you buy a stripped lower receiver to build into a gun, you have to decide whether to buy it as a rifle or handgun when you fill out the 4473. If you buy it as a rifle, you cannot change it later, as it violates the NFA. If you buy it as a pistol and decide to build it as a rifle, you cannot go back, as this also violates the NFA. Building it as a pistol, …


Economics and Investing:

Michael Pento: It Would Be More Surprising If Gold Didn’t Go To $10,000. s(Thanks to B.B. for the link.) Anthony Wile: The Invisible Hand Strikes Back Items from The Economatrix: Economy Weighs On Shoppers In Final Holiday Weekend Dash To The Mall US Economy Is At Depression-Era Levels:  This Slow Motion Economic Collapse… Beyond the Obvious — Mountains Of Deficit And Debt.  It Is About Polarization In Washington And Dysfunctional Structure Of The Current US Economy  “Fiscal Cliff” Deal Reached Between White House, Lawmakers