Year: 2016

I’m Not In The Position To Right Now- Part 2, by D.D.

Food “My brother has a farm! We’ll have plenty of food.” When I hear this I ask, “What kind of farm?”. You can get any kind of answer here. Most people don’t realize that most professional farmers are specialized; they only grow one or a few things. There are farmers that raise only cattle, or corn, or fruit trees, et cetera, sometimes with smaller sets of supplementary crops. Farms that can be lived off of completely, which are very rare, are almost always small and provide for a small number of people. Each crop or type of livestock take special …


Two Letters Re: Dehydrators

Hugh, The article about dehydrating foods was very well written, thanks. Subsequent comments about preventing small foods from falling through the trays prompts me to offer my solution. I use an ordinary American Harvest dehydrator with stacking trays. I line the trays with parchment paper that I have ventilated by punching holes through the paper, using an ordinary hole punch with the paper folded prior to punching, like making paper “snowflakes.” I lightly oil the paper with coconut oil, and find I can reuse them many times before they need to be replaced. Thanks for all the very informative articles. …


Economics and Investing:

Can The Various Pension And Benefit Ponzis Survive The Coming Wave Of Baby Boomer Retirements? – H.L. o o o Four more mega-banks join the anti-dollar alliance – G.S. o o o The US National Debt Load is Second-Worst in the World – M.N. o o o Viktor Shvets: ‘The Private Sector Will Never Recover’ – C.F. o o o SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.


Odds ‘n Sods:

Where are the BOB bags? Italy earthquake: 159 dead, many missing as magnitude-6.2 tremor wipes out towns – A.S. o o o Venezuela Will “Purge” All State Workers Who Sign Maduro Recall Petition – H.L. o o o Here’s a video that shows you just never know when TSHTF. Stop for gas, end up in the middle of a gunfight, and get wounded. It’s a crazy world already, and society hasn’t even “collapsed”! The terrifying moment a woman bystander is caught in the crossfire of terrifying machine gun shootout at Atlanta gas station – T.P. o o o The American …



Notes for Wednesday – August 24, 2016

On August 24th, 410, Rome was overrun by the Visigoths in an event that symbolized the fall of the Western Roman Empire. This is a moment in history that we would do well to remember. An empire that ruled the world was corrupted from the inside to the point that they could not defend themselves from a much weaker enemy. This could conceivably be the beginning of the dark middle ages. o o o Today, we present another entry for Round 66 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: …


I’m Not In The Position To Right Now- Part 1, by D.D.

Bring up disaster preparedness and you’ll get a variety of reactions, everything from concern to amusement. Awhile after you start this discussion you’ll usually receive a comment like “I’m coming to your house.” This last declaration being an entirely different issue in and of itself, it’s a statement to the effect of “I don’t have to do anything because you’re doing it all for me. I will continue on my merry life while you make the sacrifices necessary to save me if anything goes wrong. You save, you train, and you go without. We’re friends, and I’m special.” Here are …


Letter Re: Dehydrating Food – A Low Tech Method

Hugh, Just wanted to mention that in the absence of electric power to run dehydrators, you can also dehydrate leafy greens and salted tomatoes in the back seat of a closed car on a hot day. I have had good success using a muslin dishtowel placed on a cookie sheet (do not allow greens and tomatoes to touch metal during the drying process as this will turn them brown and icky) and just place the washed and patted dry greens (preferably not touching each other, place each leaf or slice singly not overlapping) and put the tray(s) on the back …


Economics and Investing:

Barack Obama may have finally destroyed America’s #1 advantage o o o China Plans To Slash Crude Demand By 250,000 Bpd o o o Scottish economy to see 2-11 billion pounds Brexit hit, government says o o o Sweden Warns U.K. Against Aggressive Tax Cuts Amid Brexit Talks o o o SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.


JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

Books Crisis Preparedness Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Home Storage and Physical Survival by Jack A. Spigarelli Preparedness Now!: An Emergency Survival Guide (Expanded and Revised Edition) by Aton Edwards Fiction Vandenberg by Oliver Lange (Invasion scenario. Note: It was later republished under the title: Defiance: An American Novel) Movies Amazing Grace (Biography of the abolitionist William Wilberforce) The Thing (Has some horrific scenes, but it is thought-provoking. NOT for kids!)


Odds ‘n Sods:

The Pentagon Takes Aim at Bomb-Carrying Consumer Drones o o o ‘They’ll kill for it’: Ramen has become the black-market currency in American prisons. Alternative currencies are fascinating. Chocolate, cigarettes, silk stockings and now Ramen noodles. Who knows maybe some smart debt bound college student will find his niche on campus and pay off their student loans. – RBS o o o Something Has Gone Wrong – B.B. o o o Situational awareness is becoming more important, including some form of legal EDC. Knife attack in Virginia – P.S. o o o Bingo hall raid turns up ‘doomsdayish’ cache of …



Notes for Tuesday – August 23, 2016

August 23rd is the anniversary of the declaration of the independent state of “Franklin” in Eastern Tennessee by the settlers there in 1784. Unfortunately, the Continental Congress rejected it, so the state of Franklin never became a reality. In 1833, Britain abolished slavery in the colonies and 700,000 slaves were freed. I can’t help but wonder; Had Abraham Lincoln allowed the political process to run its course, as it did in England, and slavery was abolished by the will of the people, as it would have been, rather than executive order, would we have the racial tensions we have today?


Guest Article: SHTF Intelligence – Getting Started- Part Three, by Samuel Culper

This is the third article in a series about using intelligence for preparedness. I’m starting from square zero in order to introduce a new crop of Americans to the concept of using intelligence, to prove that there’s a need for intelligence and to get readers quickly up to speed on how to incorporate it into their security planning. For a better foundation, be sure to read Part One and Part Two and check out the Ultimate ACE Startup Guide, too. Brief Recap In the first article, we established that prepared communities need intelligence because they’re going to have blind spots …


Letter Re: Dehydrating Foods

Hugh, In regards to what to use to keep your small foods from falling through the cracks of the screens, I have an answer that may or may not be safe, but I’ve have years of good luck. I put tin foil on the screen, then put a spritz of Pam cooking spray, then use a bit of paper towel to make sure the foil gets covered. I don’t spray the foil completely because I don’t care for the oily texture that remains after dehydration. When I use foil, I only use every other tray giving my machine ample air …