Year: 2013


Basic Mechanics Skills and Knowing Vehicular Limitations Part 1, by “Zachary Taylor”

Basic mechanical knowledge and skills are something that any person who hopes to be successful in TEOTWAWKI must have. I am not speaking just about vehicles, but vehicles are an excellent avenue to learn them. I can only talk with authority on my own past, but I know that the wealth of much of my knowledge comes from my extensive background in working on cars. I won’t claim that any of this post is going to be something that you have never read before. Heck, I am willing to bet that you heard much of this speech by a parent …


Three Letters Re: Natural Gas Powered Generators in a Disaster–Their Compressors, and Yours

JWR, Thank you for letting your readers know about [public utility] natural gas system compressor stations. I, for one, was was blissfully ignorant about them, and had just assumed that natural gas was “always on.” So, now knowing that, I can now see that a tri-fuel generator that can quickly be changed to propane or gasoline would be best. Thanks also for mentioning the capacity limits of generators. That I was aware of, but I hadn’t ever looked at the specs on my GE refrigerator/freezer. Now I can see that I need to do a “load budget”, to determine what …


Economics and Investing:

I recently had the opportunity to see the 2010 documentary titled “Inside Job“, via a rented Netflix DVD. It describes the background and aftermath of the 2008 global credit crisis. I highly recommend it. We are still paying for the mistakes (and crimes) described therein, as the bailout of the financial sector and bubble re-inflation continues, to the tune of $85 billion per month, via Quantitative Easing (QE). Regulators have done nothing to rein in the risk created by the global derivatives casino, which is now even bigger than in 2007. The Fed and the Treasury are busy re-inflating the …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Oregonians warned to prepare for the ‘big one.’ (Thanks to R.B.S. for the link.)    o o o I noticed that DemCAD has posted a video review of my upcoming novel Expatriates.    o o o Reader B.C. mentioned seeing some stirring words, over at From The Trenches: To Those Who Would But Ask    o o o Some useful reading, over ar Guerillamerica: Information Operations, Part Three: Operational Security    o o o Signs of the times: Soldier hit and dragged 3/4 mile by car. (Please make a donation, if you can afford to.)




News From The American Redoubt:

I heard about another prepper-friendly church in the American Redoubt: Marble Community Fellowship. They are located at 3383 Hwy 25 N., Northport, Washington, 99157. (Northport is in the remote, sparsely-populated north-east corner of Washington.) They are 100 miles north of Spokane, on the Columbia River and are seeking conservative, patriotic families to relocate. They presently have only an event web site: MarbleCountry.com, but a brochure PDF titled “A Time for Solutions” is available upon request. Contact: Barry Byrd.    o o o A coin dealer that I can recommend is: American Coin and Vault, in Spokane, Washington. They are located …


Economics and Investing:

IRS: Cheapest Obamacare Plan Will Be $20,000 Per Family. India’s coin shortage worsens. Gresham’s Law is showing its hidden hand. (Thanks to Diana for the link.) Peter Schiff – Whatever the Fed Does, Gold Will Rally! US Economy Already Ruined. Schiff posits that the current “recovery” is artificial and the that Fed will increase Quantitative Easing. In the long run, interest rates must rise. Schiff foresees more QE, larger deficits, and another currency/sovereign debt crisis, so he is quite bullish on gold. G.G. flagged this: U.S. disability rolls swell in a rough economy Items from The Economatrix: How The Fed’s …


Odds ‘n Sods:

AmEx (American Expatriate) sent: U.S. Military begins rolling on airless tires    o o o Pierre M. spotted this: Venezuela orders temporary takeover of toilet paper factory    o o o The Rawles Gets You Ready Preparedness Course is now priced at just $19.97.    o o o F.J. suggested this instructive article: Choosing and Using the Right Shovel.


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Right now, the FOMC has ‘a tiger by its tail’ – it has lost control of monetary policy.  The Fed can’t stop buying assets because interest rates will rise and choke the recovery.  In short, today’s decision not to taper was driven by unimpressive economic data, the fear of a 3% yield on the 10 year Treasury and gridlock in Washington.  If the economy cannot handle a 3% yield on the 10 year, then the S&P 500 should not be north of 1700.  It is remarkable that the equity market continued to buy into easy money over economic growth.  QE3 …


Note from JWR:

There are now just eight days until the release of my novel Expatriates. Please wait until the release day to place your order. That way you will get the best possible price, and we might see the book up in Amazon.com’s Top 20.


Pat’s Product Review: CRKT Parasaw

Every now and then I run across one of those, “Gee, why didn’t I think of that…” products – and kick myself for not thinking of it. Anyone who has been around knives at all, probably know who Ken Onion is. He’s not only a very talented custom knife maker, but he has collaborated on a number of different knife designs, with various knife companies. I once did an article about Ken Onion, and one of his designs for Knives Illustrated magazine, when I was the West Cost Field Editor. Ken and I had a great talk on the phone …


Jim’s Product Review: Brad Thor Alpha Jacket

Most SurvivalBlog readers have heard of Brad Thor. He is a contemporary novelist who is a master of the techno-thriller genre. Several of his books have become bestsellers, and one of them reached #1 on the New York Times Bestsellers list. Brad recently teamed up with the clothing maker Scottevest, to design a quite versatile concealment jacket that they call the Alpha Jacket. Brad arranged to have them send me one of these for test and evaluation. When the jacket arrived I was impressed from the start. The only disappointment was seeing “Made in China” on the tag. Like so …


Letter Re: Natural Gas Powered Generators in a Disaster–Their Compressors, and Yours

James, Thanks for the information you deliver every day. I have recently gone on Social Security Disability and have some money to further our preps. My wife and I will hunker down in place, that being said, we have done what we can to make this as easy as possible. We can heat our home without electricity, but still need a solution for limited electric needs in the event of power outage. We are looking at the Honda EU2000i portable generator with the multi-fuel upgrade. In our years here we have never lost our natural gas supply, but have often …