Year: 2015

Notes for Sunday – October 25, 2015

Safecastle is now in the last day of their “big Future Essentials Sale” with up to 38% off of 65 varieties of coffee, smoothies, LRRPs, pilot crackers, and more. o o o Today, we present another entry for Round 61 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Tactical Self-Contained 2-Series Solar Power Generator system from Always Empowered. This compact starter power system is packaged in a wheeled O.D. green EMP-shielded Pelican hard case (a $1,700 value), A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate that is good for any …


Soothing the Savage [Beast], by Captnswife

It’s easy, when preparing for the worst, to concentrate only on material needs and ignore the less tangible but vital elements of health. Music, and the ability to produce it, will be an extremely important salve on the mental, emotional, and even physical wounds of a diminished lifestyle, should the SHTF. Modern science has shown us that there are tangible physical benefits of listening to music, including the ability to help in healing illness and injury. We must remember it’s only been in the most recent decades that the Western musical experience became the passive listening of professional recording artists. …


Letter Re: What We Lack In Training Can Be An Advantage- Part 2

HJL, There was a comment in the article by R.W., “What We Lack in Training Can Be An Advantage“. It is tough to put pen to paper and generate something of value, and I would like to complement their efforts; for the most part I have no issues. However, sometimes what may seem reasonable and practical can in fact be more dangerous. Regarding the use of gas masks for respiratory protection, it stirred some memories from back in the days when I went to NBC School in the Army, from 30+ years ago. One of the things I remember was …


Economics and Investing:

SurvivalBlog reader CPL sent in the link showing IRS inflation adjustments for 2016 taxes. o o o Items from the Economics Team: China Cuts Rates for 6th Time Since November (Fox Business) Reflections on Venezuela’s Economic Miracle (Mises Institute) Hint: Don’t expect a follow up from Salon Wall Street Investment Banks may be about to Lose one of their Best Customers (Business Insider) Hint: Banks have been cashing in on the price of your prescriptions in a big way for a long time! Why China’s Rate Cut Won’t Slow Its Economic Decline (Zero Hedge) Hint: The cake has already been …


Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalBlog reader T.P. sent in a link to some nearly unbelievable footage of a Slovenian police helicopter filming Croatian police officers directing thousands of migrants to Slovenia across the green border and the Sotla River. JWR’s Comment: This Golden Horde actually looks white. (FLIRs typically show heat as white.) o o o Another reason to abandon Facebook: A picture of you from Facebook could be a part of this facial recognition database – as if you didn’t need one already. Sent in by D.S. o o o Bill Whittle again on how Hillary Clinton’s lawlessness gets ignored: Got Law?, sent …



Notes for Saturday – October 24, 2015

October 24th is the anniversary of the firing squad execution of Norwegian traitor Vidkun Quisling, in 1945. His ignominious place in history was to have his surname become a noun. “Quisling” is now a moniker synonymous with treason and alliance with an invading army. Something tells me that the popularity of “Vidkun” as a boys’ natal name in Scandinavia dropped precipitously after about 1942. Ditto for “Adolf” in Germany and “Benito” in Italy, after 1944. o o o I was glad to see that Amazon.com has finally updated their list of my published works, including my soon-to-be-published novel, Land of …


Howdy Folks, And Welcome To Our Neighborhood!, by ShepherdFarmerGeek

I’ve been working on this article for a while and maybe now’s the time to share it. I would like to have a page of orientation information to post at our bugout encampment or in our neighborhood after we’ve implemented the Community Action Plan and the dust has started to settle. So this is my best attempt to put together some foundational ideas that should apply to every situation. I’ve deliberately tried to keep it conversational, simple, and friendly (maybe even slightly humorous), because there are a lot of “don’ts”. I’m looking forward to seeing what else the SurvivalBlog community …


Letter Re: The Harsh Truth About Bugging Out of Cities

HJL, A very short but pointed book is How Do You Kill 11 Million People?. If things collapse, there will be radio broadcasts or just assumptions that rescue will come. The Jews were told by the Nazis that the trains were to take them to safety so they didn’t fight until they couldn’t. I’ve been through two major “grid down” situations in an urban setting. The first was an ice storm in southeastern Michigan, where there was no power for two weeks. The second was the east coast blackout about a decade ago. In the first case, it was just …


Economics and Investing:

SurvivalBlog reader sent in this article about Russia’s response to the oil crises and sanctions: Russia retreats to autarky as poverty looms Items from the Economics Team: China: Red Capitalism is the New Black Swan (Zero Hedge) U.S. Pensions Slowing Waking Up to Risk (Reuters) The Two Income Trap and the Myth of High Wages (My Budget 360) Puerto Rico: Another Bailout Coming (Zero Hedge) o o o Items from Mr. Econocobas: Peak Prosperity – Has The Market Trend Shifted From Bull To Bear? Debt Prioritization Bill Comes to a Vote as Borrowing Limit Looms – Every time the “debt …


Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalBlog reader T.P. sent in this link about Los Angeles considering a billion dollar “toilet to tap” water program. Hey, the astronauts do it; what could possibly go wrong? Ummmm, lets see… Typhoid, Cryptosporidium, Hepatitis A, Giardia, Leptospirosis (yikes!), Taeniasis, HPV, Rotavirus, Norwalk, Dysentery, Poliomyelitis… Have they forgotten that astronauts are screened for these things and are healthy? See Wikipedia for Waterborne diseases. o o o Mexico is getting hammered by Hurricane Patricia. It’s a category 5 storm with 200mph winds being recorded upon landfall. Keep them in your prayers today. Thanks to T.P. for the NOAA link. Reader JBG …



Notes for Friday – October 23, 2015

Today, we present another entry for Round 61 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Tactical Self-Contained 2-Series Solar Power Generator system from Always Empowered. This compact starter power system is packaged in a wheeled O.D. green EMP-shielded Pelican hard case (a $1,700 value), A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate that is good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value), A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. …


Energy, Efficiency, and Frugality, by Redoubting Thomas

There are many considerations when worrying about a “grid down” situation. Here are some thoughts worth considering: Frugality “Black Friday” is coming shortly, so you might want to make a wish list and maybe even store it in the “saved for later” section of your Amazon shopping cart; you will get a notification for price changes. Sometimes an item will drop 30% for a sale or no known reason. Do the same with your “prepper wish list” but also have a budget and price point in mind. If things fall apart soon, this might be a last chance to stock …


Letter Re: SurvivalBlog E-Mail List

Hi, I am curious if you have a sign up for the SurvivalBlog to come to my e-mail? Thank you, – S. JWR Responds: For the privacy of our readers, we keep NO lists! So that you don’t miss out on new posts, I recommend that you make SurvivalBlog your web browser’s home page, since SurvivalBlog is updated daily, without fail. HJL adds: You can also use your web browser or other RSS feed reader by pointing it to our RSS feed and adding it to your bookmarks.