Year: 2014

Another Option for Emergency Power, by Freedom Loving Texan

I’m a long-time reader of SurvivalBlog, and like so many others I am deeply concerned about the choices our country has made in the last twenty years and the as yet unfelt repercussions. We seem to be living in a season of grace, but the day of reckoning will come, sooner or later. With this thought in mind, my family has been steadily pursuing the ability to care for ourselves (and perhaps some of our neighbors as well). Like many others have done, I have read and researched many methods of generating enough power to live on. Today, most Americans …


Letter Re: The Circular File

HJL, I noted with amusement your reaction to all the requests for info on property you owned 15 years ago. I own a farm in Ohio and got numerous requests and demands for data on my operation in years past and and submitted them all to the circular file. After a few years of this, I received a number of calls culminating with a threat of jail time. My response was that they should give me a few days notice before they hauled me away. Never heard from them again. – Al in Ohio Hugh Adds: I’m glad to see …


Letter Re: Preparedness For Teenagers

Hello, In response to the terminology used in firearms, I would like to relate an interesting use of a politically correct term that is being used by the FBI. I attended a citizens academy sponsored by the FBI. The day came when the participants were taken to the range for a live “Fam Fire” or firearm familiarization. All of the participants were briefed on the different types of firearms used by the FBI to include Semi-auto pistols, shotguns, MP-5 sub machine gun sniper rifles, and the M-4. After a safety brief, and with the assistance of the firearms instructors, the …


Economics and Investing:

The following stunning graph of the United States national debt (since 1950) reveals not only the surge in debt since Nixon canceled the direct convertibility of the United States dollar to gold in 1971, but it shows in horrifying detail how the situation has proceeded to get much, much worse since the 2008 meltdown, as the nation’s dollar debt soars up the steep incline of what looks like an exponential curve… This United States National Debt Graph Is Surging. – J.W. o o o 17 Facts To Show To Anyone That Believes That The U.S. Economy Is Just Fine. – …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Researchers uncover clues to deadly 1918 flu pandemic. – M.M. o o o State warns on EMP: ‘There’s no help coming’. – H.L. o o o Meet the Israeli Christians who actually want to be drafted – T.Y. First they passed legislation allowing the mandatory service draft of “ultra orthodox” Jewish men who have always been exempt from the service regulations. Now they allow non-Jewish men to volunteer. One might get the impression that Israel is getting serious and feels they may need the extra manpower. o o o Bundy Ranch Advisory for April 29 2014 – This report deals …



Notes from HJL:

Today is the birthday of sci-fi novelist Larry Niven, born April 30, 1938. Along with Jerry Pournelle, he co-authored the survivalist classic Lucifer’s Hammer. April 30th is also the birthday of Ed Yourdon, born 1944. o o o Today we present another entry for Round 52 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $11,000+ worth of 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), A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. …


Bug Out Bag Strategy, by S.G. – Part 2

Vehicle Bug Out Bag You’ve just headed out the door after being told to evacuate and driven a short ways. All of a sudden, whamo!, you’ve blown a water hose, and you lose all your engine coolant. It’s late in the day on Highway 88 near Silver Lake, California, or some other similarly remote area, and you realize that the normally light traffic is nonexistent today. You’re probably stuck overnight. To make matters worse, it’s very cold, with rain that’s starting to look more and more like snow. Are you and your vehicle prepared? If you’re like a lot of …


Letter Re: Fire Suppression

HJL, I’ve been thinking more and more about possible fire suppression methods (a.k.a. “Fire Traps”) for SHTF, and I was wondering if you ever considered pre-staging fire-retardant materials in high-risk areas. This is just a theory, but have you considered hanging or placing materials that would dispense fire retardant if an actual fire broke out? This could be something like a bag or bucket hanging in a tree, so when the fire hits it, it melts the bag and dispenses the material. I realize in SHTF scenarios, you neither have the resources to fight a huge forest fire nor even …


Economics and Investing:

America’s Race to the Bottom o o o From a SurvivalBlog reader: “Watch out for your Wells Fargo clients with safe deposit boxes. Wells Fargo has gone up 50% on their prices for a safe deposit box. Mine was $80 for a year; now it is $120 from bill received today. Those with automatic withdrawal will be surprised too late.” – J.Y. o o o The Elephant In The Room: Deutsche Bank’s $75 Trillion In Derivatives Is 20 Times Greater Than German GDP – E.B. o o o Items from The Economatrix: McWages For The McAmerica Job Recovery: The Scorecard …


Odds ‘n Sods:

You have known this for some time, but here it is again: They want to know who you are, what you have – H.L. It’s all about control of weapons, food, transportation, et cetera. . . I’m still getting questionnaires from the Dept. of Agriculture over property that I sold nearly 15 years ago. They want to know how I use the property and what it produces. I routinely throw the notices away and refuse the telephone calls. So far, they have threatened me with arrest and jail, both through the mail and over the phone but no warrants have …


Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“If a secular table reconciles men to one another when they meet together, why should not the table of Christ effect this the more? Since the wildest beasts are tamed by food, why are men not made gentle by this heavenly food? If treaties and covenants are usually sealed by food and drink, why do not the children of God establish peace and friendship among themselves by communicating together?” – Peter Martyr


Notes from HJL:

For those who have eyes like mine, don’t forget to check out this SurvivalBlog post for the instructions on how to set your iPad/iPod/iPhone to work with our new format. Your eyes will thank you. For anyone who has a Windows tablet or Android device, I’d appreciate if you would send the instructions for the zooming function to me, as I don’t have access to one of those devices. o o o Today we present another entry for Round 52 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $11,000+ worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Gunsite Academy …


Bug Out Bag Strategy, by S.G. – Part 1

It’s the middle of the night, and you get a call from the local authorities that a mandatory evacuation has just been ordered because of a major fire. You’ve been given 10 minutes to evacuate because no one expected the fire to turn your way so soon, and you have no time to do anything but grab what you can and jump in your vehicle to head out for parts unknown. What’s a BOB? Let’s start with a simple definition of what a bug out bag is. It’s some form of bag or backpack you’ve prepared that you can grab …


Two Letters Re: Preparedness For Teenagers

Hugh, Preparedness For Teenagersjust once again brought to my attention a matter– we should ALL get a vocabulary change in place. He states getting a shot gun.. then to ‘graduate’ to rifles and ASSAULT rifles (emphasis mine). Please, can we STOP calling them ASSAULT rifles. They are DEFENSE rifles. This is NOT directed to A.H. It is directed to ALL OF US. Stop playing the gun control crowd’s games. Terms and words DO matter. DEFENSE rifles (as opposed to what the “crowd” considers HUNTING rifles, yet WE know any firearm, be it a 306, a 30.30, or a .45, can …