Month: November 2015

What’s a Dime Worth? Bartering with Junk Silver, by H. North

“Brother, can you spare a dime?” is one of the best-known American songs of the Great Depression. The question was commonly asked by drifters hoping to be able to use the dime to buy a meal or two as they wandered the country looking for work. However, that was the 1930’s. Thus, it begs the question: in today’s economy, what’s a dime really worth? Is it still worth just a meal or two? Up until 1965, most American coinage was comprised of 90% silver, which is commonly referred to today as “junk” silver. Starting in 1965, the U.S. Mint diluted …


Letter: Of Batteries and Jumpers

HJL, My truck’s battery was discharged (forgot to unplug something), it was COLD, and I couldn’t find anyone to give me a jump, at least not quickly, and it was about a half mile away. I have 2-gauge jumper cables in the truck. Over a half dozen times these would start other cars being jumped that would barely turn over when the thinner “economy” cables didn’t. I literally just swapped cables and it would start right up. And these, which aren’t that much more expensive, can carry 600 cold-cranking amps over the distance. The typical thin ones make 13.5 volts …


Economics and Investing:

Are Millennials as broke as the media says they are? The answer is a resounding yes for the following reasons. o o o Fourth Turning – Social & Cultural Distress Dividing The Nation – Sent in by J.Q. o o o Items from Professor Preponomics: Britain Sets 2018 Deadline for Claims in Country’s Costliest Bank Scandal (Reuters) European Banks Sitting on $1T in Bad Debt (Contra Corner) Switzerland is about to Launch a HUGE Experiment in the “War on Cash” (Business Insider) Commentary: The Swiss and the Swedes make for a very interesting contrast in the view of cash vs. …


Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalBlog reader T.Z. has an excellent idea on where to send the ISIS infiltrators refugees bound for the American Redoubt. Let’s take up a collection and send them to his Mansion. Michael Moore Launches #MyHomeIsOpen Website to encourage Americans to House Refugees o o o Since we’re all thinking of a yummy Thanksgiving dinner and leftovers this holiday weekend, Mr. and Mrs. Frank and Fern Feral wrote a very appropriate article which asks ourselves probing questions of our abilities to obtain food in a long-term TEOTWAWKI situation. Would you be able to grow and store food for your family? Please …



Notes for Friday – November 27, 2015

November 27th is the birthday of both SurvivalBlog’s Field Gear Editor, Pat Cascio, and sci-fi novelist L. Sprague de Camp (1907 – 2000). o o o Black Friday Sales: JRH Enterprises is offering New Third Gen Pinnacle Autogated PVS14 Night vision devices all ITT/Exelis tubes and complete with all accessories and a real 10 year warranty from the manufacturer. In addition to the sale price, JRH is giving the higher specification P+ tube units for the Black Friday sale price of $2799. Smart Living Shopper is having the best prices they’ve ever offered on the Survival Still. Apex Gun Parts …


Start Growing Your Own Food Now, by Piper in Virginia

It’s now been six years since I heard JWR on one of the big talk radio shows plugging one of his books, How to Survive the End of the World As We Know It. I had never been exposed to this type of rationale before. The more he spoke, the more it made sense to me. Since I’ve been known to get too much forward progress before my mind engages, I took a look at the website you are now reading and asked my consigliore (aka: beloved wife) if I was missing something. She undertook a few days of research …


Letter Re: Eating after TEOTWAWKI

HJL, I get excited to read each daily posting. I think how I could make it better and more applicable to my “plan”. I read another very thought provoking article, Eating after TEOTWAWKI, where the author talks about growing a garden and some environmental issues he has run into. What to grow and how much of each is certainly a question all of us have. JWR and many others in this blog have addressed sweat equity and the idea that one knows more not by reading but through experience. In my ten years of gardening, I’ve also experienced my fair …


Economics and Investing:

Reader P.M. notes: Premera Blue Cross may have laid off over 300 people, and yet won’t talk about it. They are also rumored to be losing money on the individual line of business. The fallout from the poor design of Obamacare continues. o o o Items from Professor Preponomics: A Shocking Number of Americans Don’t Have a Toilet (The Week) When Financial Bubbles Burst: Real Estate Values are Plunging in Canadian Heavy Oil Patch (Contra Corner) Interest Rates to Stay Low Longer, Household Debt Remains a Concern – Says the Bank of England (The Telegraph) Glencore’s Oil Deal in Libya …


Odds ‘n Sods:

World’s first 3D printed self-loading revolver revealed: Washbear can fire eight .22 bullets and be made on ANY home 3D printer – Sent in by JBG o o o While willfully ignoring current immigration law, the White House has sent a stern warning to states about the refugee battle: You don’t have power to stop refugees. Sent in by T.P. o o o R.C. sent in this link: As the immoral drone war continues in the Middle East, Drone Pilots have Bank Accounts and Credit Cards Frozen by Feds for Exposing US Murder. o o o According to Bill Whittle, …



Notes for Thursday – November 26, 2015

From the SurvivalBlog Family to yours, we wish you a happy Thanksgiving. Despite the crises in this world and the mounting pressures, we give thanks to our LORD that you are are still here, you are still prepping, and that He will never forsake us. November 26th is the birthday of both gun inventor Eugene Reising (born 1884, died February 21, 1967) and the late Barton Biggs (born 1932, died July 14, 2012). Biggs was a money manager known for his pro-preparedness stance. o o o Today, we present another entry for Round 61 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. …


Eating after TEOTWAWKI, by Midwest Prepper

I just want to say upfront, this article is not all inclusive by any means. I am not a master gardener, and there is so much information out there that can be gathered and much of it is at your fingertips right now, so use the time we have left wisely. I realize that everybody’s definition of how much you are going to eat is different. I am just using examples here. When you were in school and found out about a test coming up, did you start studying as soon as you could or did you just cram the …


Letter Re: A Solid Solution On Securing Home Defense During A TEOTWAWKI Situation, by B.M.

HJL, Home safety is an assumption that you need to fully analyze, being just 40 miles out from a city. I’m two hours away from NYC and about a 40 minute drive from the NY border, yet I see NY plates all of the time. (They often come here, day in day out, to escape their city lives for whatever reason.) Cars/mobility make it possible; a tank of gas will get you around 350 miles in a small car. Some of the people here have roots in NYC, meaning when things get bad the relatives will appear. Being only 40 …


Economics and Investing:

Video: SPROTT MONEY & SRSROCCO INTERVIEW: Where Does Silver Go From Here? o o o Podcast: Negative interest rates to hit the US o o o Items from Professor Preponomics: We’re Now Just One Big Shock Away from a Global Downturn (Zero Hedge) What Does It Cost to Produce a Barrel of Oil? (CNN Money) Expedia Lays Off 40% of Orbitz Staff in Chicago (Seattle Times) VA Spends Millions Promoting Obamacare (Washington Examiner) Figures on Government Spending and Debt (AP via CNS News) United Health’s Obamacare Reckoning (Wall Street Journal) Insurer’s Warning Signals Troubles with Obamacare (USA Today) The Secret …