Year: 2013

Spice Up Your Food Storage, by Linda P.

As a wife, mother, cook, and gardener, I find that articles on long term food storage, are basic and practical.  But when I study the recommended lists for storage items, I wince at the lack of thought that goes into flavor, texture and variety. This article is dedicated to those nurturing souls who know that in a TEOTWAWKI situation, a delicious meal will be one of the most simple of earthly comforts that we can provide to keep others healthy and happy.   Although basic food may keep you alive, food fatigue can be a real problem. Variety is the spice of life, and in …


Letter Re: Basic Mechanics Skill and Knowing Vehicular Limitations

JWR,  Keep up the good work! Now that everyone knows the woes of removing a tire, does anyone check the spare tire to see if it holds air etc? Most people don’t check the tires on a road trip, let alone daily driving or the condition of the spare tire. I would ask everyone to make sure the spare tire is not only inflated, but holds air for more than a day or two! This should go before the first post: Do you have a proper (working) and weight-rated jack to lift the vehicle, and do you know where to …


News From The American Redoubt:

I heard that Christian war correspondent Chuck Holton has produced a great news segment on The American Redoubt for The 700 Club television show on the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). There are several brief interviews in this segment including one with Todd Savage of SurvivalRetreatConsulting.com. That segment should first air in the next two weeks, and will be repeated for several months.    o o o Reader Doug C. let me know about  Made Right Stoves, an innovative maker of woodstoves in Kalispell, Montana.    o o o John W. sent a link to a nice picture of the Palouse …


Economics and Investing:

The release of the latest anti-counterfeiting edition of the U.S. $100 Federal Reserve Note is scheduled for today. The new bill has lots of pretty gold-colored elements on the right side, but like its predecessors ever since 1963, it has NO gold or silver backing. So this is just the latest in fiat funny money. I’m often asked by readers if they should gradually replace their stored cash when new currency is released. The general answer is yes, since there may come a day when the older bills are repudiated. (After all, what is the point of anti-counterfeiting features if …


Odds ‘n Sods:

How To Make A Super Secret Safe – For Less Than $3    o o o Yet another Kickstarter project… This one is for the Third Atlas Shrugged movie.    o o o Exactly as planned: Connecticut ammo law creates frustration and confusion    o o o I noticed that our SurvivalRealty spin-off site (operated by my #1 Son) has blossomed to more than 145 listings! (Do some zooming in on the map of current listings. It is amazing.)    o o o F.G. sent: New NFL rule forbids Off-Duty Cops from carrying sidearms into stadiums. [JWR’s Comment: A terrorist’s …



Life in the Year 2020: America With 20/20 Hindsight

By the year 2020 we may be in the midst of (or in the early stages of recovery from) a major depression or perhaps even a full-blown socioeconomic collapse. An old saying is: “Hindsight is 20/20.” So here is a gedanken: What will people observe in the year 2020, with the benefit of hindsight? The following is my conjecture on what folks will cite when asked: “What went wrong?” Profligate government spending at all levels Multigenerational welfare Rampant food stamp dependence (1/6th of the populace, as of 2013!) Loss of American competitiveness Declining academic standards and performance Decline in manufacturing …


Pat’s Product Review – X Products Drum Magazines

What is “fire power?” That has been a source of debate with many gun writers and shooters for a lot of years. Now, while I’ll readily agree that, no handgun can really give you “firepower” – I believe a semiauto rifle, like an AR, AK, M1A and many other similar rifles can lay down a deadly stream of bullets towards the bad guys. Some gun writers believe that only a select-fire or full auto rifle or light machine gun can lay down some firepower, while others believe an Apache attack helicopter or jet fighter equipped with 20 or 30mm automatic cannons …


Colorado Flooding Aftermath: A First Hand Report, by Roger I.

I lived in Jamestown Colorado until three weeks ago, and was prepared for various disasters, mostly fire, and I always expected a road system to exist.  Wrong-o! I have a more keen sense of the Lord’s blessings, and they are amazing. The outpouring of support from the various communities that I’m in has been amazing.   I am walking in abundance, but not everybody is. My life has had a hard reboot – I was in some middle-aged doldrums – no more! I anonymized my name and corporate affiliation in the narrative, otherwise, it’s unedited, and reflects my understanding of the …


Letter Re: Living Off The Land: Delusions and Misconceptions About Hunting and Gathering

Jim, This letter is in response to your link to a post by Ross Gilmore: Living Off The Land: Delusions and Misconceptions About Hunting and Gathering.  It’s a well-written article and I’d like to expand upon it. I’ve been teaching Stone Age skills for 29 years and I’ve spent most of my adult life in the backcountry of Idaho and British Columbia.  I never purchased meat or fish from a store for about 20 years, though I consumed a lot.  I’ve lived Stone Age for short periods of time, living completely off the land using only the skills and tools of …


Letter Re: Camouflage Utility Uniforms

Mr. Rawles: You made mention of the Army adopting some Multicam variants for standard [field utility] uniforms; I’m not too surprised by this. The Army’s move from BDUs (and DCUs for deployments) to ACUs, and finally Multicam, has an enjoyable history of stupidity and corruption (hard to imagine with the military, I know). Having worn ACUs in both garrison and deployment/combat, they’re wonderfully light to wear…and get easily torn up and ripped up, unlike BDUs/DCUs. ACU are also terrible at actually camouflaging the wearer, unless you spent all your time in a grayish pastel quarry….which, of course, are rarity in …


Economics and Investing:

Sue C. suggested this: What would a U.S. default look like? The FBI’s Plan For The Millions Worth Of Bitcoins Seized From Silk Road H.L. sent: Property owners in Lake Mead forced to leave their own homes until government shutdown ends. [JWR’s Comment: I’ve often warned about the risk of being a “inholder” on Federal land. Here is one implication that has come to pass.] Items from The Economatrix: ‘You Should Be Concerned’: Obama Warns World Markets There Is No Guarantee U.S. Will Avoid Defaulting On Its Debts Jobless Claims Rise, And Hiring Remains Slow The Rise Of A Semi-Employed …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Fires prompt recall of 15 million surge protectors. (Thanks to H.L. for the link.)    o o o The NPR affiliate in Charlotte, North Carolina reports on The Rise Of ‘Prepper’ Culture, in a 51-minute roundtable discussion. They spend some time semantically hairsplitting between the terms “prepper” and “survivalist.” But based on their definition, many of the “Doomsday Preppers” featured on the National Geographic show of the same name would actually be survivalists.    o o o Seeing “art” like this tripe makes me feel ill. What would be more appropriate would be a sculpture made out of the tens …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"It is our duty to endeavor always to promote the general good; to do to all as we would be willing to be done by were we in their  circumstances; to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before God. These are some of the laws of nature which every man in  the world is bound to observe, and which whoever violates exposes himself to the resentment of mankind, the lashes of his own  conscience, and the judgment of Heaven. This plainly shows that the highest state of liberty subjects us to the law of nature and  the …


Notes from JWR:

Today is the birthday of science fiction author David Brin. (Born, 1950.) He wrote The Postman, which was very loosely the foundation of a movie by Kevin Costner. — Today we present another entry for Round 48 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 for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint …