Year: 2016

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“The right to keep and bear arms is neither granted by nor guaranteed by the Constitution. The Second Amendment merely names and acknowledges the right and confirms government pledges not to infringe on that right. Just as we don’t gain the right to be armed by any document, nor do we keep it or lose it by any document, nor does any document confer validity or any other particular quality to it, nor can any document expand or reduce it. A document is an incidental artifact, it may be reinterpreted or altered or even withdrawn, but the right it attempts …



Pat Cascio’s Product Review: Beyond Locks – Door Security

For much of my life I’ve been involved in law enforcement, security, K-9 security, private investigations, and security consulting in one form or another. It’s been a fairly diverse and exciting career, to be sure. I’m hardly ever bored on most days. I still do some security consulting these days and training, mainly in the firearms field, as time permits. For a guy who is supposed to be at the very least semi-retired, I find myself busier than I care to be most days. I don’t know what happened to my retirement dreams of hunting, fishing, and sitting on the …


How to Use Old Cooking Oil: The Floating Wick

A few months ago, one of my consulting clients mentioned that she had over-stocked her supply of vegetable oil. She had also neglected to store it in her freezer, to extend its storage life. The result after four years was 10 quarts of corn oil and two quarts of olive oil that had gone rancid. She asked if there was anything she could do with the oil. (She bemoaned the fact that that olive oil was particularly expensive.) My reply: Buy some floating wicks, and burn up that oil as a source of light and heat, during power failures. Floating …


Recipe of the Week: Quick Texas Chili, by Sawyer

No self-respecting Texican would ever put mushrooms or beans in chili. You can serve chili with beans, but never Beans in chili. Ingredients: The easy way is to use Wick Fowler’s Two Alarm Chili Mix, I have never been able to make it better myself. However, you can duplicate it yourself if you are averse to buying a pre-packaged mix: 2 lbs ground beef, ground for chili (I prefer a mixture of Venison and Wild Hog/fat back myself) 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce 2 cups water 2 teaspoons paprika 4 teaspoons cumin 1 tablespoon dried onion flakes 1?4 teaspoon …


Letter Re: Making a Final Run

Dear Hugh, In regards to the final run concept, I have to add my contrarian view and say, don’t do it! I have witnessed first hand the competitive spirit of people at a Walmart prior to a weakened hurricane making landfall. It made Black Friday look calm. Any perceived event that would be seen as significant enough for the general population to panic and flock to stores will be extremely dangerous. Why risk physical danger to the “runner”, damage to that person’s vehicle, exposure to any illness being carried by members of the general population, (which could be the reason …


Economics and Investing:

Fingerprints for Food: Venezuela Rolls Out New Plan to Keep Shelves Stocked. “…critics warn that the scheme — which is not mandatory for the moment — will be one more way for the state to keep tabs on the population, or might be a precursor to rationing.” Submitted by T.A. o o o ‘Look out, we are heading for a crash again’, warns William White, the central banker who predicted 2008 crisis – G.G. o o o Items from Professor Preponomics: US News Food Stamp Beneficiaries Exceed 45M for 55 Straight Months (Washington Free Beacon) Excerpt: “The USDA has been …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Anyone looking for a large, defensible property on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee should take look at this new listing on our SurvivalRealty spin-off site: Copeland Mountain. This 540 acre tract with numerous springs would be ideal to subdivide for a large group retreat community. The $1.75 million price tag might seem spendy, but if it were broken into 10 subdivided parcels of around 54 acres apiece, that works out to $175,000 per parcel. – JWR o o o Submitted by SurvivalBlog reader T.A.: 2 people walking across Golden Gate Bridge hit by blow darts The blowgun, while being a …


Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“Movement is not necessarily progress. More important than your obligation to follow your conscience, or at least prior to it, is your obligation to form your conscience correctly. Nobody — remember this — neither Hitler, nor Lenin, nor any despot you could name, ever came forward with a proposal that read, ‘Now, let’s create a really oppressive and evil society.’ Hitler said, ‘Let’s take the means necessary to restore our national pride and civic order.’ And Lenin said, ‘Let’s take the means necessary to assure a fair distribution of the goods of the world.’ “In short, it is your responsibility, …


Notes for Sunday – February 14, 2016

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 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. …


Keeping Battery Devices Running In An Austere Environment, by Snaketzu

We all have at least a handful of battery-powered devices that can be very handy in an emergency or even a TEOTWAWKI situation. Weapon sights, flashlights, GPS, handheld radio, a tablet loaded with books and PDFs, night vision gear, and possibly even a cell phone are all things that could be very useful. Although everyone must be prepared to do without these devices, depending on the scenario there is no good reason to believe that these items must be discarded after the initial battery charge fails. Counting on scrounging more batteries or a power source to charge with is a …


Letter Re: Making a Last Run

Thank you so much for what you’re doing here. I don’t understand people who say they want to prep but won’t put this website on their daily reading list. In reference to Making a Last Run, at first I was appalled that any prepper would go to the store to stock up on even more food at the last minute. At the time I thought, “Why take away from those who didn’t prepare in advance? Let them get what they can. We already have enough.” Then I read the letter stating that with a 10-year larder it wasn’t necessary for …


Economics and Investing:

Alternate Unemployment Charts 25percent sound good – B.B. o o o The world can’t afford another financial crash – it could destroy capitalism as we know it – S.B. o o o Items from Professor Preponomics: US News Four Horsemen of the Economic Apocalypse (Business Insider) Excerpt: “It’s getting impossible to ignore all the risks… We know how leveraged banks are… If they get in trouble, then that money is gone. People have been avoiding thinking about it.” Yellen’s Dilemma: A Downturn with No Easy Response (Reuters) No right answer, and there’s no way out. In my opinion, there were …


Odds ‘n Sods:

The Columbus Gyro Restaurant Rampage “Random Attack”: A Somali man named Mohammed comes into a restaurant called “Nazareth” and asks about the religion and national origin of the owner. He is told that the owner is a Christian Arab emigre from Israel. So Mohammed comes back a half hour later with a machete and a murderous rage. These two lines in the CBS news article come as no surprise: “It remained unclear what sparked the attacks. ‘Right now there’s nothing that leads us to believe that this is anything but a random attack’ “ No motive? Random? A real puzzler. …