Year: 2015

Letter Re: Emergency Lighting

Good afternoon, Hugh, Two recent experiences drive me to write– a recent overnight house guest and a link today on Instapundit about surviving disaster (http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150128-how-to-survive-a-disaster). My house guest commented on the number of my night lights and the fact that I have a floor lamp powered by a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply), which is a “battery backup” typically used for computers. First, the night lights are what I prefer to call “target identification lights”. They’re not used just in the bathrooms; they are positioned to ensure anyone moving through the house must either cast a shadow or be silhouetted. This …


Economics and Investing:

The Legacy of Debt: Interest Costs Poised to Surpass Defense and Nondefense Discretionary Spending. – G.G. o o o The largest bracket of tax payers in the United States is made up by those making $15,000 a year or less: Half of all federal taxes paid by those making $250,000 or more. Sample $50,000 budget. o o o Items from Mr. Econocobas: Worker Pay in U.S. Rose at a Slower Pace in Fourth Quarter Why Central Bankers Around The World Have Lost Control David Stockman: History In the Balance: Why Greece Must Repudiate Its “Banker Bailout” Debts And Exit The …



Odds ‘n Sods:

Spokane Washington’s Spokesman Review newspaper recently ran an interview with JWR: Always Prepared. o o o 8 Unexpected Uses for a Mountain House Pouch . – J.C. o o o SurvivalBlog reader D.S. sent in this link about 4 big retailers accused of selling herbal formulas containing no herbs. This size of the “fraud” is scary and begs the question of who can you trust when buying these items? If you have a “safe” supplier, we would love to hear about it. o o o It’s always good to go over the basics. K.W. sent in these two links on …



Notes for Tuesday – February 03, 2015

Ready Made Resources has a new shipment of LP powered, 19 Cubic Foot refrigerators that will run for about 13 weeks on just a 100lb propane cylinder. o o o Today, we present another entry for Round 57 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $12,000+ 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.) …


Bartering for a Living, by J.J.

Just as we will need people with blue-collar skills, like farmers, carpenters, mechanics, welders, and so forth, society will also need entrepreneurs who have the inventory and negotiating skills required to open stores and to restart local economies in the event of an economic collapse. In such times, it will be mutually beneficial for a farmer to let the local trading post sell his produce as a middle man while he is working the farm rather than spending precious hours each day trying to sell that produce himself. Most preparedness articles talk about the importance of having extra items on …


Two Letters Re: The Weakness in Your Defense Plans

HJL, I want to say thank you to T.S. Your article helped reinforce the attitude I had to re-condition myself and the way I see and think. I completely understand because that is precisely what I had to do when I finally purchased a gun. That was five years ago. Further back in time (I am in my 50’s now), I worked in a retail store that sold pellet handguns. Once, alone in the back stock room I took one out of the box. The feel of the gun, the weight, and that sense of power was kind of exciting. …



Economics and Investing:

‘Secret’ Gold Repatriation: The Banksters’ Newest Bullion Scam o o o Interview: The Quickening with Jim Willie o o o Items from Mr. Econocobas: Which Central Bank Will Shock Markets Next? Will Gold Ever Top $1,300 Again? – Just had to include this article.. The entire premise of this article is based around a recovery that is largely an illusion and that the U.S. can sustain interest rate hikes. How Americans Are Spending Their Windfall From Cheap Gas- Kind of sad.. Obama’s $4 Trillion Budget Sets Up Fight with Congress


Odds ‘n Sods:

For any readers located in or around Germany, you may want to look at Outdoor Army. Nice, easy to navigate website and a pretty comprehensive inventory. o o o Russian Bomber Over Channel Was Carrying Nukes. – RBS o o o Not Joking: 4th Grader Suspended for Making ‘Terroristic Threat’ with Magic Ring from ‘The Hobbit’ Movie. – H.L. o o o Squatters move in, stop home sale. – D.S. o o o An unbelievable violation of human rights: Mother-of-six with learning disabilities could be sterilised after authorities ask court for permission to force entry into her home . – …



Notes for Monday – February 02, 2015

February 2nd is the birthday of Ayn Rand (born Alisa Zinov’yevna Rosenbaum in 1905, died March 6, 1982). She is of course remembered for her novel Atlas Shrugged, which is considered a Libertarian classic. While we sharply disagree with her views on religion (since she was an atheist), we admire both her skill as a writer and her ability to articulate some core precepts of human liberty. o o o SurvivalBlog welcomes two new prize sponsors starting with Round 57 of the Writing Contest: In the first prize awards is a Model 120 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest …


Round 56 Non-Fiction Writing Contest Winners Announced!

First prize goes to I.S. for “Motorizing a Country Living Grain Mill for 12-volt Battery and Solar – Part 1” & “Part 2”, which were posted on January 21st and 22nd. He will receive the following prizes: 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, DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 Nato QD Billet upper with …


January In Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran of Gainesville Coins

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover the price action of gold and silver and examine the “what” and “why” behind those numbers. Gold had a wild ride to start the year, with plenty of economic and political turmoil to power the roller coaster price action. We saw prices move from $1,170 to $1,305, as turmoil rocked Europe, only to crash back to near $1,250 after a Federal Reserve policy meeting that the market makers deemed hawkish. Even so, gold had its …