Year: 2013

The Cycle of Prepping: One Man’s Approach, by Steve in Wisconsin

Although I’m sure far wiser people than I have said it before, I certainly subscribe to the notion that prepping is a road, not a destination.  In other words, although the pace may vary, I’m continually prepping and always will be.  Possible exceptions to this rule, to one degree or another, are the folks who have the means to simply take one of the “list of lists” available and write a big check to cover virtually all of their needs, but even that will require some ongoing maintenance.  I am certainly not in that camp and I think it’s clear …


Three Letters Re: Hand Wood Splitting Tools

James, Here’s a wood splitter that I’ve been using for years.  The Woodwiz Splitter is easy to using and safe way of splitting wood and it’s made in the United States. Respectfully, – Tim McC.   Jim In my experience, over several decades of processing hardwoods for fuel in the lake country of mid-Ontario Canada, I found no maul which can out split the venerable “chopper 1”.   With or without operational springs on the wedge face, these axes, usually marketed with a tough composite handle in Canada would be my candidate to recommend as the “American made splitting tool …


Economics and Investing:

Alt-Market reports: International Monetary Fund Recommends Stealing Americans’ Wealth Now! 3D Printed Gun Inventor Embarks on New Project: Dark Wallet Today, America’s Foodstamps Program Gets A 6% Haircut: What Happens Next? (Thanks to B.B. for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: Medicare docs face 24% pay cut … again Manufacturers Shake Off Effect of Budget Impasse Manufacturing in U.S. Expands at Faster Pace Than Forecast


Odds ‘n Sods:

Next on my reading pile is Richard J. Johnson’s book Redoubts: Paleopopulism at Twilight. Though ranty in spots, this looks like a cogent collection of essays.    o o o Several readers mentioned a propaganda piece in the Washington Times that quotes Chinese military planners boasting about their nuclear strike capability on the United States. In my estimation this blustering is more about China’s economic goals than it is about actual military plans. China aims to crush the United States economically in the long term, but in the near term they need the American consumer market, to keep their many …



Notes from JWR:

Wow! The benefit Redoubt silver coin auction for Orange Jeep Dad in the aftermath of his traumatic house fire brought a high bid of $1,709! My sincere thanks for everyone’s generous bids. Since the bidding was so strong, I threw in a lot of bonus items, plus an hour of free consulting. — Today we present a guest article by Dr. Philip J. Goscienski. I’m sure that this article will be controversial, because there are two sharply divided camps in American prepperdom regarding vaccines. The continuing threat of vaccine contamination and the strange side effects (which are sometimes sudden) and …


Immunization: Your First and Last Defense at TEOTWAWKI, by Philip J. Goscienski, M.D.

If the nation’s infrastructure should crumble at TEOTWAWKI more than two centuries of medical advances in immunology will go down with it. The loss of the power grid in a massive solar flare or EMP will eliminate our capacity to make vaccines that protect us against serious, often fatal illnesses. The physicians who survive will face infectious diseases that they have never seen because they have been eliminated by vaccines. Survivalblog readers are aware of the need to stock up on beans, Band-Aids and bullets but it is vital to acquire a supply of immune substances within the body. We …


Letter Re: Hand Wood Splitting Tools

James, I concur with your desire to purchase items made in America, but I have had some trouble finding wood splitting items made here that are of the same quality as made in Europe.  I also split my wood by hand and I have found these items very helpful:   This great maul, and   this Gränsfors splitting maul, and   The spiral twist in this wedge makes it very effective with increased mechanical advantage.   If you know of any American made wood splitting devices that are of the same quality as these, please let me know, because I …


Letter Re: Advice on Family Preparedness

Sir, I’m a suburbs dweller, living about 25 miles out of Milwaukee. I’ve gotten my mom–who lives nearby–into prepping. (Loaning her my copy of your “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It” book worked!) So what do I do next, to get her farther down the road [to prepping]? I bought her a Kat[adyn water] filter. She has no clue about storage of foods. (We aren’t one of those “canning” families.) I bought myself a bunch of MREs and Mountain House foods, but she can’t afford to [do likewise], since she’s a retired school teacher. …


News From The American Redoubt:

Fascinating Maps: Deserted America: The maps that show how 60 years of white flight and brain drain have sucked the population from the Midwest. It will be interesting to see migration patterns in the next 20 years. I predict that most of the Redoubt will continue to benefit from net in-migration.    o o o Reader Tom L. mentioned: Mayor Mike Bloomberg sends $1,000 campaign contribution to Moscow. (Idaho, that is.) Needless to say, Chaney, who is running for re-election, is one of the handful of members of Mayors Against Illegal Guns in the American Redoubt region. I’m tired of …


Economics and Investing:

Ed in Michigan suggested: Paul Singer: Obamacare rollout a ‘fiasco’. (In a recent parody, even Hitler was furious.) Man throws away $500,000 in gold to spite ex-wife Meet the American Nomads of Walmart’s Plentiful Parking Lots Items from The Economatrix: Are Constitutional Conservatives Really The Boogeyman? Weekly Consumer Comfort Index Tumbles To Lowest Since October 2012 Initial Claims Miss As California Catches Up With Claims Backlog


Odds ‘n Sods:

Sometimes, the “crude, but effective” approach will work: How to open a can without a can opener    o o o Diana V. pointed out this important article: In United States v. Bond, The Supreme Court Could Be Ruling On The Safety Of All American Rights    o o o Does this look familiar? “Strawberry” sent us a video link, showing a couple of carags casting off. (You can skip the first minute or so.) A carag is of course featured in my most recent novel, and shown on the cover. Note that gas engine carags tend to be much …



Notes from JWR:

Last day! The benefit Redoubt silver coin auction for Orange Jeep Dad in the aftermath of his traumatic house fire ends today at 2:58 PM PST. ( Monday, November 4, 2013.) You can be assured that 100% of the gross proceeds will go to OJD’s family. The auction ends at 2:58 PM PST on Monday, November 4, 2013. Thanks, folks, for your very generous bids for this worthy cause. Note: Once the bidding got up above $1,200, I decided to also include three autographed books and two of the SurvivalBlog Archive DVDs as bonuses for the winning bidder. UPDATE! Monday …


Choosing a Retreat Locale: Dela-Where?

I was recently hired by a consulting client from Wilmington, Delaware. Like most of my other clients, we had our conversations by phone. He spent a lot of time quizzing me about various towns and microclimates in The American Redoubt. He was stunned when I mentioned that the county where I live has less than 20,000 residents, yet it is larger than the entire state of Delaware, which has around 917,000 residents. To put the demographic differences in focus, the following are some comparisons. For privacy reasons, instead of my own county I’ll use Idaho County, Idaho as a point …