Year: 2016


Notes for Sunday – January 24, 2016

January 24 is the birthday of Tamara K., the editor of the View From The Porch blog. This is also the birthday of René Barjavel (born 1911, died November 24, 1985). This prescient French science fiction author wrote several books with survivalist themes, including Ravage, which was titled Ashes, Ashes in its English translation. o o o Today is the day we move to our new server! We expect a few hiccups along the way in the move but hope to be stable by tonight. o o o Don’t forget that we are nearing the end of Round 62 of …


Bug Out Boats Revisited, by P.J.C.

As more and more prepper books and articles are written to address the issue of what one should do in order to have a viable bug out plan, most primarily focus on having a physical location, such as a cabin or small house in a remote area within reasonable driving distance of your present home. Somewhat surprisingly, far less attention has been given to the alternative idea of having a bug out boat to use for the same purpose. Once carefully examined, a “proper” boat will have certain advantages over a remote physical location, not the least of which is …


Letter Re: Letter Re: Root Cellaring Potatoes

It is very possible to grow potatoes from true pollinated seeds. I have been doing it for years. Potato seeds store for a long time, if kept dry. Enough seed to plant a large garden can fit into a small seed packet. Something like 85% of commercial varieties are sterile and thus don’t produce seeds. On my farm I have chosen to only grow varieties of potatoes that routinely produce seeds, and I store the seeds from them even if I most commonly grow from clones. Regards, J the farmer.


Economics and Investing:

Nearly $8 trillion wiped off world stocks in January, U.S. recession chances rising: BAML – B.B. o o o Items from Mr. Econocobas: David Stockman- 700 Days In No Man’s Land – Why They Can’t Keep It Up Venezuela Default Imminent Items from Professor Preponomics: US News Moody’s Puts 175 Energy and Mining Companies on Downgrade Watch (Financial Times) Excerpt: “Several of the world’s biggest oil and gas groups— including Royal Dutch Shell, Total and Chesapeake Energy— are among 175 energy and mining companies at risk of rating downgrades following a collapse in crude and other commodities markets….” Bonner: The …


Odds ‘n Sods:

I had to chuckle a bit, seeing the news reports from the east coast. You see, we get five to eight feet of snow most winters here in our part of the American Redoubt. And it is not unusual to get two feet of snow with just one two-day storm. When we do, we just throw another log on the fire, top off our livestock water tanks, and our kids have an excuse to slack off on their homeschooling to do some extra sledding. But we certainly don’t call it #SNOWMAGEDDON, and the local police chief doesn’t threaten to arrest …



Notes for Saturday – January 23, 2016

January 23rd is the birthday of John Moses Browning, born 1855. He was the brilliant designer of dozens of guns, including the M1911 pistol, Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), and the venerable M2 .50 Caliber Machinegun. The latter is still in service in at least 95 countries, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it is still in service in 2075 or even 2100. o o o Today, we present another entry for Round 62 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 …


Market Garden Tools, by J.B.

At the top of everyone’s prepping list is an abundant food supply. Gardening is an essential part of making that food supply as resilient as possible. Maintaining a garden does take a substantial amount of time and energy, both of which may be in short supply in a TEOTWAWKI situation. As a farmer running a market vegetable farm, there are a number of tools that I have come to rely on, many of which would be similarly helpful on a non-commercial scale as well, allowing you to spend less time maintaining the essential food source that is your garden. The …


Letter Re: Starting a Small Business, by T & BR

HJL: I admire their enthusiasm. As an independent insurance agent I work with lots of successful businesses. Those successful business people have one thing in common and that is focus. If there is a second commonality, it is unequaled knowledge which would be a product of the first. Sure, those people are branched out in other endeavors with a goal of income diversification and asset preservation but only after significant success in the first. Rarely are the alternative investments as lucrative as the first, but they make up for that with security. Knowledge of how to get a job done …


Economics and Investing:

Strange and Crazy in the Financial World! o o o Reader B.B. Sent in this article: New Arizona Bill Would Give Tax Break To Gun Owners HJL’s Comment: While it seems at first glance that this bill is a good thing, a deeper look reveals that it is not. On July 29, 2010, Arizona’s Constitutional carry law went into effect. This means that if you are legally able to own a firearm and you are 21 years of age or older, you can carry concealed in the State of Arizona without a concealed weapons permit. (You still have to abide …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Good news for those living in the deep south…Reader G.P. sent in this article to an interesting invention. It’s a self-filliing water bottle that converts humidity to drinks.. Now if only they could invent one of those for the arid southwest. o o o Staying Warm During the Polar Vortex – Submitted by T.A. o o o Sent in by D.S.: Is D.C. megastorm Jonas a ‘gift of God’. While it’s probably not judgment from God, “Snow-pocalypse”, as many are calling it, can at least be looked at as an excellent time to practice putting those preps to work. A …



Notes for Friday – January 22, 2016

Between 1861 and 1865, more than 50,000 civilians died as a direct result of the American Civil War. In the years between 1914 and 1918, more than 7,000,000 innocent civilians died as a direct result of World War I. From 1939 to 1945, more than 23,000,000 innocents died as a direct result of World War II. (This number includes the 11 million deliberately killed in concentration camps.) Between 1905 and 1941, Stalin purged Russia of anyone whom he considered a threat or disloyal, murdering somewhere over 25,000,000 innocent people. Mao Tse-tung murdered more than 45,000,000 people from his own country …


My Truck Gun and How I Chose It, by M.M.

I don’t care how many times you get into a discussion about guns, there are at least as many points of view as there are people talking. Exponential growth in opinions happens when you talk about ammo, especially calibers. Yet, for all the vast sea of opinions, there are good ideas and empirically verifiable facts that can help us narrow down our list to which firearms we ultimately go with. For this article, I will share with you my primary criteria and then go through my thinking process for how I landed on the truck gun of my choice. Your …