Year: 2014

Letter Re: Officer Survival Initiative First Aid Materials

Scot, I enjoyed your article entitled Product Review: Officer Survival Initiative First Aid Materials. I am a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School and a three-time graduate of the Wilderness Medicine Institute’s Wilderness First Aid Course (a re-certification is required every two years). I have three points: First, Wilderness First Aid has a different orientation than regular Red Cross First Aid courses. The latter are quite practical for most of us who live in cities and towns and focus on assessing and stabilizing a victim, while an ambulance is on its way. In the back country when help is …


Economics and Investing:

Where Is The U.S. Economy Headed? – D.B. o o o 77,000 Foreign Banks to Share Tax Info with IRS – H.L. o o o Items from Mr. Econocobas: US Money Slump Flashes Warnings as Economy Contracts The Velocity Of Money In The U.S. Falls To An All-Time Record Low Ben & Janet’s Swell Housing Recovery: Sales Booming For The 1%; Heading Down For Everyone Else Four More Signs That A Market Top Is Nigh America’s Insatiable Demand For More Expensive Cars, Larger Homes And Bigger Debts


Odds ‘n Sods:

On this anniversary of D-Day, SurvivalBlog reader C.T. sent in this link to an interesting article comparing the Normandy beaches in 1944 to 70 years later. D-Day Landing Sites Then and Now o o o Dr. Ben Carson: Obamacare More Damaging Than 9/11 – H.L. o o o SurvivalBlog reader R.B. in Washington state writes in: Now Washington state is seeing detainment of motorists for roadside “surveys”. The online news video was edited from what actually was broadcast. One broadcast version has the same reporter saying (paraphrased) that a reluctance to participate in the survey might be an indicator of …



Notes for Thursday – June 05, 2014

Today we present another entry for Round 53 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 …


Livestock Breeding Strategies For When SHTF – Part 2, by S.W.

The goat is called the poor man’s cow. They are inexpensive, easy to handle, and eat a wide variety of vegetation. They are basically browsers, meaning they eat leaves and stems from shrubs and trees. They are the most efficient animal to convert browse to lean meat. When commercial feeds become unavailable, they would be the most likely survivors. They are also easily trained as pack and cart animals, able to pack 20 to 40% of their weight and pull five times that. They can negotiate more difficult terrain than any other pack animal and continue with only the water …


Two Letters Re: Moving Females in SHTF Scenario

HJL, Regarding C.B.’s article on moving females, I have a few suggestions. I have long, thick hair that goes to my waist and for many years had the constant frustration of trying to figure out what to do with it when I was getting dirty (hunting, butchering, cleaning the barn, ect.). Tucking it into a hat never worked for more than 20 minutes at a time. First, the cap or cowboy hat or what ever was in constant danger of being knocked off my head because of the extra mass under it or blown off by our wonderful winds in …


Economics and Investing:

Barclays Manipulated Gold as Soon as It Stopped Manipulating Libor – G.P. o o o ‘Gold Prices Under Fire’ o o o Items from Mr. Econocobas: U.S. Retailers Missed Estimates By Most in 13 Years Bad Trend Breaking: Why Retail Results Are Not Better Than Expected, But Worse Than Ever! Headlines Contradict the Reality of April Home Sales World Bank Sounds Alarm on Rising Global Food Prices


Odds ‘n Sods:

One more reason to dump social media networking! Secret Service Requests Software To Track Social Media Trends, Detect Sarcasm – JBG o o o West ponders how to stop – or fight – a new Great War – T.J. o o o Krayton Kern’s latest ramblings about a political process. Sharp! Advisors o o o It looks to me like the President expected that people would celebrate the release of an American POW, no matter what the cost. How typical that they would ignore the lives lost in a search for a known deserter. My personal feeling is that the …



Notes for Wednesday – June 04, 2014

On this day in 1944, United States Navy Task Group 22.3 captured U-505, a German submarine, and with it an intact Enigma cypher machine. This was first time since the USS Peacock seized HMS Nautilus in 1815 that the USN had captured an enemy vessel at sea. The sub, reunited with its periscope a decade ago, is displayed at the Museum of Science and Industry, in Chicago. o o o CampingSurvival.com is offering SurvivalBlog readers free shipping for everything on their site from June 4th through June 6th. When checking out, use the Coupon code: SB-June. o o o Today …


Livestock Breeding Strategies For When SHTF – Part 1, by S.W.

Since my high school days, I have dedicated my spare time to breeding quality creatures– parakeets, gerbils, rabbits, cats, and canaries. As I see my country disintegrating, I am adding skills in heating with wood and growing fruits, vegetables, meat, and eggs. I currently enjoy breeding and showing canaries, and I think about how hard it will be to keep these beautiful but impractical creatures going when so much time and effort has to go into human survival issues. How few pairs can I retain to keep a strain or variety going without loss due to inbreeding? Actually, this question …


Letter Re: Moving Females in SHTF Scenario

Dear HJL, I’m a female and had some thoughts regarding C.B.’s letter on moving females. On one level, I was a little surprised that we needed special handling but agree that there are predators who do look for the most vulnerable victims out there, whether it’s TEOTWAWKI or not. I think my concern is that if someone is attempting disguise and the expectation is conveyed to them that they will be more vulnerable, it may pump up the fear level in them and that fear will show. I don’t think it is all that easy to truly disguise a female …


Economics and Investing:

Real Heroes: The “Justes” and the Good o o o Russian Roulette – Derivative Style. – G.C. o o o Items from Mr. Econocobas: Japan Inflation Quickens to Fastest Since 1991 Japan Monkey-Hammered By Abenomics: Goods Inflation Up 5.2%; Vehicle Sales Down 63% Video: Interview with John Williams of Shadowstats ‘Fed Will Prop Up System Until it Falls Apart’ Boom: Q1 GDP Revised Downward to -1.0%


Odds ‘n Sods:

Some disjointed thoughts from the Emergency Management of the Oso Mud Slide. Some things worked, and some things didn’t. Those of you involved in Emergency Management may be able to pick up a few things from a non-fire related incident. – R.J. o o o ATF’s purchase reporting requirement gives lie to ‘military features’ test. – B.B. o o o Holder announces task force on ‘homegrown’ terrorists – B.B. HJL adds: I have concerns over this administration’s willingness to declare domestic violence perpetrators “terrorists”. Case in point, the Feds still won’t call Army Major Nidal Hasan’s assault on Fort Hood …