Year: 2013

Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader J.H. sent an fascinating video that illustrates why so-called dry washes can be so dangerous: Amazing Flash Flood / Debris Flow Southern Utah. J.H.’s comments: “The amazing thing is that the heaviest rain fell 40 miles away from the film site and the peak rain came six hours before the wave passed through. Local weather conditions give no clue as to what is about to happen. Swimming in the trash laden water is an absolute non-starter. Pity the camper who has one of these walls of wet wood squash him while he is wrapped in a sleeping bag, zipped …



Notes from JWR:

August 13th is the birthday of my old friend who was the basis for the “Jeff Trasel” character in my novel “Patriots.” — Camping Survival has started a Wise Foods and Berkey water filter bundle sale. Check it out! — 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. …


A Family Bike Camping Experience Sheds Light on Bug Out Treks, by J.E. in St. Paul

My experience this past weekend camping with two of my friends and all of our children reminded me of the difficulties that one would have in a TEOTWAWKI situation.  To begin with I have two friends that I have known since jr high or longer.  We have, since that time spent lots of time together camping, hiking, biking, canoeing and any of a number of other outdoor adventures.  We have climbed over 12,000 foot passes while backpacking and ridden our bikes for hundreds of miles, camping along the way.  When we began having children we decided that we would do …


Letter Re: How to Convert an Ammo Can into a Faraday Cage

Sir: I have some of the larger military surplus ammo cans and would like to build my own Faraday cages to store my spare electronics [to protect them from EMP or a severe solar storm]. Do you have any sources to guide me? OBTW, I just finished reading your novel “Patriots”. That was a great read and I could not put it down. Regards,- J.L. (Former NYPD Officer) JWR Replies: What you plan to do is is pretty simple, since the can and lid are already great Faraday shields. The only issue is the gap where they join. That joint needs to …


News From The American Redoubt:

Uh-oh! Some New Yorkers have caught wind of the Redoubt, and might swarm in and Damage Our Calm. See: Your Own Private Idaho. Even worse, there are some nice photos, as the New Yorkers say, “to go with.” Quick! Give all those Easterners a zap from The Flashy Thing. (Well, at least those ones who aren’t conservative, law-abiding, gun owners.)    o o o Census Bureau: Oregon’s largest counties grow while rural areas empty. (Eastern Oregon still has plenty of elbow room, but with its weak economy, it is best to be self-employed before moving there.)    o o o …


Economics and Investing:

IRS Needs AR-15s for “Standoff Capabilities”? (Ay, ay, ay…) Bill Fleckenstein: Too-easy money makes market too risky; The liquidity-fueled rally of the past 9 months is easy to like. But recent history tells us higher prices based on easy money carry extreme dangers, so a violent drop could lie ahead. Items from The Economatrix: If Housing Is Booming – Why Do We Need Another Fix? Bank of England 0.5% Interest Rates for 7% Unemployment, to Result in 7% Inflation, Ongoing Savings Theft Peter Schiff On The Half-Full Economy


Odds ‘n Sods:

F.G. sent: Marines and Army deploy new helmet designed to stop Rifle Rounds    o o o H.L. recommended this article and video: Build a $300 underground greenhouse for year-round gardening    o o o Bob P. wrote to reiterate one of SurvivalBlog’s long-standing recommendations: “Zippo Lighters are American-made. They are manufactured by the Zippo Manufacturing Co. in Bradford, Pennsylvania. Even though I don’t smoke I always kept a Zippo lighter handy since I was in the Army in the 1960s.  I keep one in my BOB and one in my ready pack in my pickup.  Zippos will burn just …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“We believe in high quality of content, design and production of books, thereby, we approach highly academically established authors, as well up coming up writers to encourage their research and writing skills. Our books are printed in latest printed machines. In addition, our aim is costumer satisfaction, prompt delivery of our products to domestic market as well over the globe. Our organisation, professionally committed and devoted team of editors, proof reader to look after and ensure each detail before sending for printing.” – From the web site of Global Vision Publishing House of Daryaganj, Delhi, India. (Copied and pasted with …


Notes from JWR:

I was sad to hear that Eydie Gormé passed away on August 10th. Though her talent was often wasted on ballads with sappy lyrics, she had an amazing voice. Now she is singing with the angels. — Two readers wrote to ask me about an e-mail that they had received from one of my publishers. This was a legitimate e-mail, and it had my blessing. The e-mail offered a free mini-report about water storage, which is available to everyone. (You don’t have to be a subscriber to Sarah Stafford’s site or be a buyer of the Rawles Gets You Ready …


Pat’s Product Review: Removable Operator Pack

I have to confess, at one time, I had a huge CFP-90 pack, that was my own personal BOB, and I had so much stuff in it that I could hardly get it on, much less hike any distance – it probably weighed in at 50-pounds or more. But I was good to go, for a week or two without having to resupply, except for a source of water. What was I thinking? My only excuse was, I was young and dumb, and I was actually a lot younger, but a lot stronger back then, too. Today, I have a …


John Hawkwood’s Book Review: A Failure of Civility

Back at the dawn of time, when I was commissioned in the Army Infantry, I reported to Fort Benning, Georgia for my officer’s basic course. As part of our processing, each lieutenant received two large boxes of books. There were many books on weapons systems; from the M16 and M1911 to the .50 caliber Browning Machine Gun. Not forgotten were mines, demolitions, and rocket and missile systems. There were also manuals for vehicles and maintenance, first aid and hygiene, and books for subjects I no longer can recall. Most interesting to me were the Field Manuals (FMs) for tactical operations. …


Letter Re: Tor and the Illusion of Privacy

JWR; I had noticed some mention of Tor and I believe there was some mention of alternatives to Tor as well, to better protect one’s privacy on the web.  I really hate to say this, but, anonymity on the net really only exists as fiction these days.  Tor has had problems with it’s exit nodes for a very long time and there was a lot of talk in the “penetration testing” community about the FBI using Tor to set up stings last summer.  One can use a VPN (virtual private network) that claims to keep it’s users secrets secret, but …


Recipe of the Week:

H.D.’s Homemade Bannock Bread Dough This is for a flour-based equivalent of traditional Bannock. Ingredients: 1 cup flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 tablespoon sugar (or any other sweetener from honey to Splenda . . . ) Pinch of salt 1/2 to 3/4 cup water Oil Mix the dry ingredients together. You can put them in a Baggie (or I put them in a crystal light container after I’ve used up the packets that come in it). Add 1/2 cup water and mix well. You should have a very stiff mix. Slowly add the remaining water until you get a …


Economics and Investing:

Ding, ding! It is noteworthy that Spot silver spiked to $21 per Troy ounce at the opening of the NY Globex market at O-dark-hundred, GMT on Monday morning. Perhaps the summer doldrums will end early, this year. G.G. suggested: Food-Stamp Use Rises; Some 15% Get Benefits Also from G.G.: Bank of Wausau, WI, Closed by Regulators – 18th Bank Failure of 2013 Peter Schiff – FED Will Continue To Ruin And Cause The US Economy To Collapse! Items from The Economatrix: Here’s The Real Unemployment Rate The American dream myth: Income mobility; 4 out of 5 Americans struggle with poverty, …