Year: 2014


Notes from HJL:

On this wonderful Resurrection Sunday, I was blessed by a letter sent in by SurvivalBlog reader A.W. I’d like to share it with you too: Hi Hugh, I discovered “How Can I Keep From Singing?” in Rawles’ novel Patriots and have been curious about its origin. His book says it’s a Shaker hymn and other sources claim it’s a Quaker hymn, so I was surprised to learn [by a determined google search] that it was actually written in the mid 1800s by Robert Lowry, a Baptist minister, who also wrote “Shall We Gather At The River” and three others that …


An Eye for Eyes, by B.A.

Dear Reader, As a person who has been blessed with not needing reading glasses, I am usually happy to read lists on prepping that tell the readers to make sure that they have extra prescription glasses in case they break their everyday glasses and cannot get new ones due to unforeseen circumstances. It’s one more place I can save a few dollars. That’s great, but is it really that simple? Many times I have glossed this fact in my mind. I wear sunglasses everyday. They are cheap and available everywhere, which is a good thing because I am a little …


Letter Re: Reloading Ammo

Hugh: I was a little surprised at your comment “It is tough to reload cheaper than bulk ammo for pistol though” in your reply to CR’s letter. As an example, I reload .45ACP under 15 cents a round using 200 grain lead bullets from Missouri Bullet Company. The bullets are under 10 cents each, add a primer for 3 cents and 2 cents of powder, and there you are. I crank these out at 300-400 per hour on my progressive, at a leisurely pace. I checked on ammo prices at the local farm store this afternoon and .45ACP is running …


Economics and Investing:

How many Americans live paycheck to paycheck? A nation living precariously close to the financial edge. o o o Gold Doomed or Resting? Gold vs. Major Currencies; Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley Reiterate Sell Signal Gold Doomed or Resting? Seldom is sentiment so bad for something that still appears to be a long-term bull market. When in doubt, it pays to take the opposite side of what Goldman Sachs publicly says. Goldman has a history of not only being wrong but betting against its own recommendations. – P.S. o o o Items from The Economatrix: It’s Time To Ditch The …


Odds ‘n Sods:

New York gun owners shrug off tough new rules: What happens now?. – G.G. The more people who standup to the tyranny, the more others will join them. o o o First Connecticut Arrest for Unregistered Assault Rifle? – I expected that there would be an arrest at some point, which might trigger a valid challenge to the law in a court system, but illegally shooting squirrels in front of two police officers and then admitting to owning banned weapons wasn’t what I expected. o o o IRS Among Agencies Using License Plate-Tracking Vendor . – PLC As we expected …



Notes from HJL:

April 19th marks the multiple anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord, known as “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World”. This first battle, leading to our nation’s independence, was the then-dictator’s (United Kingdom King George III’s) FAILED attempt at “gun control”– an act being carried out in too many parts of our USA RIGHT NOW. This first gun control of the colonies was a failure, because of the will and determination of a small part of the population (about 3% actually fought for our Independence actively with many others supporting) to stand up to an oppressive controlling government (England). …


A Different Look At The Tactical Flashlight, by D. Hacker

There are many aspects of survival and many different scenarios you may need to survive. It does little good having three years of food saved up, if you don’t survive a gun battle during the first week of TEOTWAWKI. With this article, I hope to give you an additional skill you may use to help you survive one type of survival situation. This is a situation where you have to use a handgun to defend yourself in a no light or low light environment. Before we get too involved here, let’s review the four important firearm safety rules: All guns …


Letter Re: Ammo Storage and Reloading

Gentlemen; I have a question about storage of reloading supplies in relationship to total ammo storage. On page 236 of “How to Survive The End of World As We Know It”, JWR recommends certain inventories for each weapon category. He goes on in the next paragraph that three times those level makes some folks more comfortable. In trying to reach those levels, do you gents recommend a ratio of ready ammo to an amount of reloading supplies to achieve the three times amount? Given the current ammo shortages and the expense associated and the fact that reloading supplies are still …



Odds ‘n Sods:

Ready Made Resources has a Gas pistonupgrade for your AR-15. Switching to a gas piston operating system from a direct gas impingement one leads to a cleaner and cooler operating rifle. This should lead to fewer malfunctions and considerably more time between cleanings. The OPS-416 kit is a true drop-in gas piston conversion, installing easily in a few minutes with a minimum of tools or technical expertise. o o o Krayton Kerns , DVM on “Environmentalism as our national religion”. o o o A SurvivalBlog reader reports that he has received a recall notice from Remington for his Model 700 …



Notes from HJL:

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. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value), A $300 gift …


How And What To Grow For Food In A Survival Situation, by T.K.

I have lived all my life in rural areas in the mid-south United States. Ever since I was little, gardens, orchards, vineyards, poultry, livestock, beekeeping, hunting, fishing, and trapping have been a way of life for me. Now, that is not to say we are off the grid or don’t buy any food from the grocery store, but all this supplements the life we live. Both the family I grew up in and the family I now have are large families, by today’s standards. Like my father, I have a job in town to pay for land and a home …