Year: 2014


Notes from HJL:

Today we present another entry for Round 50 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $9,700+ 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 Joy of Canning, By DDR

Food preservation through canning is a skill still practiced extensively in the rural areas of the United States, but people who live in the cities rarely consider canning because it is no longer a part of the urban culture. Most city dwellers wouldn’t have the first idea about how to start canning, much less how to develop a viable food storage program through processing their own food. Canning is a skill that is not only important to our lives right now, but it will become even more important in the event of TEOTWAWKI, because there will likely be no more …


Letter: Hard Tack

Dear Editor, We are all aware of hard tack as a long term storage food supply. A pound of flour can make a large quantity of hard tack, which (correctly made and stored) can last for a decade if not more. I would think that whole wheat flour would improve the nutritional qualities of the hard tack, but there are some online references that state that the fat found more so in whole wheat flour may go rancid with time. It leads you to wonder if there was white flour in Civil War times or in sailing ships? Or if …


Letter: Drought

Dear James, The biggest current threat to the U.S. food supply is the extraordinary drought that has had a relentless grip on the western half of the country. If you check out the U.S. Drought Monitor, you can see that drought conditions currently stretch from California all the way to the heart of Texas. In fact, the worst drought in the history of the state of California is happening right now. And considering the fact that the rest of the nation is extremely dependent on produce grown in California and cattle raised in the western half of the U.S., this …


Economics and Investing:

G.G sent this in: The Taxman Driveth: In the future, Your Car May Rat You Out to the Tax Collector. Santelli Slams Central Bank Policies – P.M. B.B sent in this link about just how badly the American People are messed over by their elected officials. Record One-day Withdrawal of Gold from JP Morgan G.C. sent a link to his video about the HSBC debacle Standing out in the video is this quote: “As this was not a change to the Terms and Conditions of your bank account, we had no need to pre-notify customers of the change,” And the …


Odds ‘n Sods:

A commentator who is better known for his science videos observes: The Problem With Facebook. His cogent arguments are just a few more reasons to avoid Facebook and other social media. – JWR o o o Connecticut doesn’t know how to deal with non-compliance to their anti-2nd amendment laws. So here’s their latest scheme. – MDL o o o Several readers reported this: Newspaper conglomerate considers building massive database of gun owners o o o This is certainly a novel way to deal with landmines – Mike o o o M.K.P sent in a link to this multitool. A bit …




Training for Survival, by Warm Winds

During a survival situation, being able to do a task with a good amount of stamina can get things done much faster. As an example, a recent survival blog entry was about how bikes are very valuable during survival. If one has no stamina, bikes can be pretty useless. Even if one has a limited amount of stamina, biking can be very exhausting and require a very long time to get from place to place. As a personal example, yesterday there was a big snowstorm where I live. My younger brothers and I decided to shovel snow for money. I …


Letter Re: Short Term Conflict Versus Long Term Conflict

Hugh, First of all, welcome to the blog. I was impressed by your credentials and have enjoyed reading your comments these past few days. However, I do have a bone to pick. Gee, no grace period? In the Friday, Jan. 24 issue of SurvivalBlog you said, “If our civilization reaches the point of collapse, the lawlessness will, by necessity, be relatively short lived.” In a devastating collapse, I would expect a couple of waves of large-scale “die-offs” fairly early. I think that this is where your theory comes from. However, to say that lawlessness would be short lived doesn’t take …


Letter Re: Myths About Income Inequality

Dear Editor, In your post under Economics and Investing, you said: “It’s important to understand that when a person creates wealth, they are not taking more of the pie from you; they are actually creating a bigger pie. It’s really only government that forcibly takes from you.” I wish to respectfully disagree. If a merger and acquisitions corporation, such as Bain capital, buys out the company you worked for (Dade Behring, where I worked for over 17 years), slices and dices, sells off the profitable parts to foreign companies, makes you train the new foreign employees (which I had to …


News From The American Redoubt:

Photos: Boise woman’s tiny house o o o Two Gun bills have been posted on the Oregon Legislative website that may interest our readers there. SB 1551 which deals with an expansion of gun registration legislation, and HB 4068 which deals with people who have had convictions for small amounts of marijuana or who had those convictions before Oregon reduced the penalty to apply for CHLs. o o o Sandpoint ranch raises Budweiser Clydesdales o o o R.B.S. sent these three videos in. I especially like the all-terain wheel chair. Paralyzed vet gets all-terrain chair complete with gun rack Senators …


Economics and Investing:

D. B. sent in this link asking if it is The Beginning of the End for the U.S. Dollar? S.E. sent in a link showing how many Americans feel about the financial future. And M.R sent this email warning of the coming Global Financial Meltdown caused by China’s crdit bubble. Items from The Economatrix: 20 Early Warning Signs That We Are Approaching A Global Economic Meltdown Celente – The Entire World Is Now Unraveling Before Our Eyes JPMorgan’s Gold Vault Has Biggest One-Day Withdrawal Ever Bank-Run Fears Continue; HSBC Restricts Large Cash Withdrawals


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader B.H. sent this news headline, which reads like something out of a novel: Indonesia Moves Warships to Border For some background in the recent growth of Indonesian military power, see this article from The Jakarta Post: TNI gears up, sets sights on foreign threats o o o For those intereted in light weight rifles this one sounds like it has quite a bit of promise. o o o G.G. sent this news report in onNew Hampshire Thieves Raiding Woodpiles For Firewood. o o o Disturbing news that the US Government may have been colaborating with the Sinaloa drug cartel …