Month: March 2016

Backup Electric Power Design Considerations- Part 3, by Duliskov

Batteries can generate, without damage, several hundred amperes of DC current for short periods of time. In fact, you can arc weld using a battery. There are welders designed to run from battery power alone or able to run either from internal batteries and/or supplementing utility power with internal battery power. Though the Hobart Trek 180 welder, which I recommend, may have been discontinued or currently unavailable, it is useful if you wish to achieve higher amps than is possible via a single 120V household outlet. The higher the battery’s amperage, the easier the battery can start a car engine, …


Letter Re: Long-Term Gas Storage

Dear Hugh and Jim, Here is my anecdotal knowledge relating to long-term storage of gasoline. I grew up on my family’s dairy farm in northern Wisconsin. My dad had a 300-gallon steel gas tank that sat on a stand about six feet off the ground in the shade of a White Pine tree. He refilled it every year or two, and that gas powered our two Allis Chalmers WD 45 tractors and the other gas-powered engines, lawn mowers, etc., on the farm. So far as I know, he never used any stabilizers and we never had any fuel-related problems. Of …


News From The American Redoubt:

Idaho: House Suspends Rules, Passes Concealed-Carry Bill. JWR’s Comments: While not a perfect bill, this is still great news for the Constitutional Carry movement. The governor is expected to sign the bill into law. The Montana legislature is expected to follow suit, when it comes back into session. (They meet only in alternating years.) Montana’s Democrat governor has twice vetoed permitless carry bills, but the legislatures plans to send him another bill with a veto-proof majority. o o o Elias Alias (of The Mental Militia Forums) has produced a new documentary, filmed in northwestern Montana: This Land is Our Land. …


Economics and Investing:

DOW JONES vs SILVER: Trading Volume Says It All o o o Central banks are already doing the unthinkable – you just don’t know it – G.G. o o o Items from Professor Preponomics: US News Including the Ocean Floor, the Feds Own Much More Land than You Think (Mises) Excerpt: “Is US land ownership heavily socialized? Let’s begin answering this question by considering the states with the largest percentages of government-owned lands.” The next post is a commentary from Judge Andrew Napolitano from 2014. It’s an older post, but it’s well worth reading in the context of the broad …


Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalBlog reader B.B. sent in this TED talk on software that can take an ordinary video and magnify nearly invisible motion and sound. If you don’t have time to watch the entire 12-minute video, at least fast forward to the 10-minute mark and observe them recover usable audio through soundproof glass by merely videotaping an empty potato chip bag. Michael Rubinstein: See invisible motion, hear silent sound o o o The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that electric stun guns are Constitutionally protected. o o o Reader T.P. sent this in: Nevada Assemblywoman: If You Were at Bundy Ranch and …



Notes for Monday – March 21, 2016

Just three days after Hessian mercenary forces assaulted the local New Jersey militia at Quinton’s Bridge in 1778, the same contingent surprised the colonial militia at Hancock’s Bridge five miles from Salem. In what became known as the Massacre at Hancock’s Bridge, at least 20 members of the militia lost their lives, some after attempting to surrender. The Loyalists reputedly exclaimed, “Spare no one! Give no quarter!” as they stormed the occupied house. Judge Hancock and his brother (both Loyalists) were bayoneted in the melee by the attackers, even though they were both staunch supporters of the crown and were …


Pat Cascio’s Product Review: Survival, Escape & Evasion

Back in November of 1969, during my infantry school at Ft. Lewis, WA, we were afforded a one-day Survival, Escape & Evasion training course. The entire day was spent learning how to forage food and cook it, along with learning to read the sun during the day and the stars at night, for navigation purposes. We were also taught how to escape and evade capture by enemy troops, who were played by soldiers from other military units. During our training, we were shown a map of where we were. It also showed some of the terrain we had to cover …


The Long and Short of Bolt Action Rifle Magazines

I often hear from consulting clients and other SurvivalBlog readers with bolt action rifles who are looking for a magazine with more than the standard 3 or 4 round capacity. (“Just in case”, they say.) Thankfully, there are now several aftermarket extended detachable magazine systems available. Here are some examples: Remington M700 Most Model 700 Remington rifle owners are probably already familiar with the Accuracy International Chassis System (AICS) detachable magazine bottom metal and magazines, available from Brownells and several other vendors. (Note: The steel magazines are fairly expensive, but the great news is that MagPul now makes both long …


Letter Re: The Fallacy of Hunting as a Survival Technique

HJL, In the article he omits two important points: Are you willing to leave your safety, family, and supplies to wander out into an “anything goes” environment? You can bet there will be no one wearing fluorescent orange. You are not the only one “hunting”. You are also “game”. When you are dragging home your equipment, weapon, and your kill as well as possibly a few bits of yourself, who is going to stay home and guard your door? When it goes up, all bets are off. All the “rules” are no more. Better to store than go out in …


Recipe of the Week: Pumpkin Nut Bread

Ingredients: 1½ cups flour 1¼ tsp soda 1 tsp salt 1 tsp ground cinnamon ½ tsp ground nutmeg 1 cup canned pumpkin 1 cup sugar ½ cup buttermilk 1 egg 2 tbs soft butter 1 cup chopped pecans Directions: Sift flour, soda, salt, and spices. Combine pumpkin, sugar, buttermilk, and egg in a mixing bowl. Add dry ingredients and butter; beat until well blended. Stir in nuts. Spread in a well-greased and floured 4 to 5 cup mold or a 1-lb coffee can; cover with foil. Place your rack in your slow-cooking pot. Pour 2 cups of hot water in …


Economics and Investing:

Social Security Administration Beneficiaries Top 60,000,000 – B.B. o o o Subprime Auto Delinquencies Soar Past Crisis Levels, Now Highest In 20 Years – G.G. o o o Items from Professor Preponomics: US News We Need the Pain that Comes with More Saving (Mises) Jacques: When Will the Sky Fall for Detroit Public Schools? (Detroit News) Excerpt: “The district’s latest emergency manager, former bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes, is trying to strike fear into lawmakers this week about the impending cash flow woes, in the hopes that the April 8 deadline will force the Legislature to pass bills to send an …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Clinton says Supreme Court ‘wrong on the Second Amendment’ – She also criticized the NRA during this fundraiser: “I’m going to speak out, I’m going to do everything I can to rally people against this pernicious, corrupting influence of the NRA,” she said. “And we’re going to do whatever we can.” – T.P. o o o For those who don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars to upgrade their old computer hardware, or perhaps are looking for an inexpensive alternative for a 2nd computer: Endless Mini – $79 computer. It’s not blazingly fast, but it does the job. – P.S. …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“The ability to refer to a document (or a person or any thing else) is in general a fundamental right of free speech to the same extent that speech is free. Making the reference with a hypertext link is more efficient but changes nothing else. . . . We cannot regard anyone as having the “right not to be referred to” without completely pulling the rug out from under free speech. . . .It is difficult to emphasize how important these issues are for society. The first amendment to the Constitution of the United States, for example, addresses the right …


Notes for Sunday – March 20, 2016

March 20th is the birthday of Mel Tappan (born 1933, died 1980). His perennially popular survivalist books Survival Gunsand Tappan on Survivalhave a well-deserved following. o o o Today, we present another entry for Round 63 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 …