Year: 2014

Economics and Investing:

Anatomy of a failure: Tulving Post Mortem – J.E. Too Big To Fail Is Now Bigger Than Ever – D.B. Items from The Economatrix: Financial War Will Lead To Real War: Visa Bans, Asset Freezes Are Next: Europe Announces Three Step Sanctions Against Russia Ukraine-Desperation To Save The U.S. Dollar-Dr. Jim Willie 20 Facts About The Great U.S. Retail Apocalypse That Will Blow Your Mind: As You Read This Article, Approximately A Billion Square Feet Of Retail Space Is Sitting Vacant In The United States. The Potential For U.S. Economic Growth May Be Just 2%, Morgan Stanley Economists Say Quarterly …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Big guns: Army soldiers to get powerful new Swedish-made tank-stopper o o o G.P. – Shatter a Car Window with a Sparkplug in an Emergency HJL Adds: Although this works, who wants to carry around small pieces of sharp ceramic in your pocket? As an EMT, this was one of the first extraction tricks we were taught. You really don’t want broken glass flying everywhere when you break the window, especially if your patient has open wounds that you need to deal with or has their face close to the window. You can simply take a folded pocket knife (or …



Notes from HJL:

Today we present another entry for Round 51 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $11,000+ worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: 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 certificate …


The Ice Hits the Fan in South Carolina, by Gadget

This is the story of my family’s experience during the ice storm that hit the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) of South Carolina and Georgia. My family and a network of friends, who live in the area, are reasonably prepared for any problems that may come our way with food and water storage, shelter, generators, et cetera. When the “ice hit the fan” in our area, we had a very real test of our preps that lasted five days, and some families were still without power seven days later. First, a little background on our area. The Central Savannah River …


Letter: Gluten in Cattails

Hi James, I’ve read in so many places that cattails (bulrushes here in Australia) contain gluten. You’ve just mentioned it, but everywhere else it looks like a quote word for word from a single source. I can’t find any information outlining the type of gluten it has or a site with a specific breakdown on its proteins. As a severe coeliac, I don’t eat any grains whatsoever, but I’ve never come across tubers or rhizomes that contain gluten. As you can understand, to avoid coeliac shock, I’m reluctant to try eating my crop of cattails. I’m wondering if you might …


Letter Re: Used 5-Gallon Buckets for Storage

Dear SurvivalBlog, Can I use a bucket that had paint in it to store food, even if I use mylar bags? – L.J. JWR Replies: No. The seals on mylar bags are too iffy. HJL Adds: Additionally, plastic is permeable to many chemicals. You really don’t want any of those chemicals to end up in your food products. You would especially hate to store a food product and then need that food product, only to find it was unusable due to some paint chemical contamination.


Letter: Request for Reader Advice

Mr. Hugh, I am a long-time reader of Survival Blog. A recent diagnosis requires a lifetime commitment to receiving IV medication every month in a hospital setting. This does not bode well for my long-term survival, when the world falls apart. I am right with God, so no worries there. My children think my views about prepping are somewhat eccentric. I am okay with that too. I am ready to move forward to help the grandchild generation. Would you ask your readers to comment on tasks I could complete to accomplish this? – J.G.


News From The American Redoubt:

Now this is worth drooling over! – Colt M2012 Bolt Rifle – Cooper Arms of Montana o o o H.L. spotted this evidence that attitudes are different west of the Cascades: An Oregon man riding a public bus was arrested and booked into the Multnomah County Jail Tuesday for allegedly mentioning firearms during a conversation. Man Arrested For Talking About Guns o o o An interstate highway through the middle of the Redoubt! I-11 & Intermountain West Corridor Study o o o Two links from opposite sides of the “wolf” story: How Wolves Change Rivers -and- Idaho Fish and Game …



Odds ‘n Sods:

Not bad for a prototype: Watch a Fully Automatic Electromagnetic Pulse Rifle Demolish a Laptop – RBS o o o S.C. sent these two articles in with the statement: “I realize that there are many factors that affect both situations. However, I think that these two articles give a good idea as to the twisted views of our country. I feel ashamed to live in a country who will not allow a seven year old boy, who is fighting for his life, the medication that he needs. While, on the same day, the attorney general pushes for a drug to …



Notes from HJL:

Today, Safecastle (A SurvivalBlog advertiser) is starting their first Mountain House Sale of the year. This sale will only run until the 15th, so visit their site soon! o o o Mike Williamson (SurvivalBlog’s Editor At Large) sent in a link to an interesting book I am currently listening to: Army Life in a Black Regiment. It’s about some of the adventures of the First South Carolina Volunteers, the first slave regiment mustered into the service of the United States during the late civil war. It makes for more interesting commuting. o o o Today, we present two guest articles …


Guest Article: Staying Mobile in a Collapse Situation, by M.C.

Staying Mobile in a Collapse Situation by Matt Conner I have seen countless disaster movies set 30+ years after the collapse of society where, somehow, people still have gasoline and diesel fuel to run their vehicles. I am a professional diesel mechanic, operating two vehicles retrofitted from their original gasoline engines to run on older mechanical diesel engines. I feel I could stay mobile longer because I would not be dependent on service stations to provide me fuel, and I could make my own. I would like to share my methods here with fellow like-minded readers. The concept I will …


Guest Article: Pemmican, by D.D.

Food seems to be a most popular subject for Prepper’s and Survivalist’s, and why shouldn’t it be? We all live to eat and eat to live. In an effort to expand my knowledge of shelf-stable food, I started thinking about the way indigenous peoples in different areas of the world survive, or survived, without refrigeration, dehydrators, or freezers. What I found was very interesting and helpful in my shoring up of shelf-stable foods for my family’s security in a SHTF situation. There is one thing, more than the rest, that I really have enjoyed researching and implementing. Of all the …