Letter: 2016 U.S. Census Implementing Massive Invasion of Privacy

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Dear Sir, Last year we were contacted that we were chosen to be a part of the 2016 U.S. Census. This is a year-long census where you are contacted at intervals throughout the year. It is monthly and then there is a break of a few months and then back to monthly. Some months they come to your home for 20 to 30 minutes of questioning and other months they call you for follow-up questions. We now have three more to go. Last night was the most invasive to date. I was shocked at the personal questions I was being …


Water Safety: Prevent Deaths by Drowning!, by M. in Canada

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Summer Vacation Around Water Summer is a wonderful season and one that requires knowledge of water safety to prevent deaths by drowning. The weather is warm, sunny, and even cold in areas of the country. Children cheer their happiness and excitement for the last day of school. Everyone is dreaming of summer vacation when they go camping, set up a tent in the cool shade of a wooded camp ground with a nice sandy beach by the shore of a lake with its refreshing waters. What could be more perfect? They look forward to a vacation at the sea on …


Letter: Best Homeschool Materials for TEOTWAWKI

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Hugh, Here’s a theoretical question I’d like to as SurvivalBlog readers. If you had all the money you wanted to spend on homeschool materials  right now, but never had any more money to spend on it later, what would you buy for your children to ensure that they had a complete K-12 education? I am looking for a curriculum that works for almost everybody, contains almost no consumables, and doesn’t require electronics. Just dreaming here, but would like your ideas. – E.


Passing on Family Prepping and Gardening Experience, by J.L.

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Continuous Learning I officially became a prepper during the Y2K experience, but upon reflection I have been prepping most of my life. I have always been fascinated with how things work. Learning became a lifelong occupation. I sometimes wish that I could focus on one discipline and become an expert. But looking back at the age of 61, I suspect that I’ve always had a little ADD (attention deficit disorder). Because of that, over my life, I have been involved in most phases of construction. I’ve been a welder, an instrument technician, a tree worker, an environmental analyst, and a …


Letter: Heating Oil and Kerosene Uses

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Hello Jim: I wanted to write a note about an idea for heating. We use a Nestor-Martin as well as a napoleon oil stove to heat. These are very, very efficient. They burn one and a half to three gallons maximum per day and can heat a 2000 square-foot home. They require no electricity in their gravity fed from oil tank. I’ve heated with wood most of my life. (There is nothing like a wood fire.) To give you an example of how much the world has changed, in the late 70s and 80s as a Boy Scout our troop …



Letter: Kitchen Water Filter Advice

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Hi, I listened to JWR on yet another interview (making the rounds) and wanted to know if you (or Hugh) would be able to suggest a water filter I could use for my kitchen sink.  I live in an apartment. Management informed me that a Water-Filtration System (as in reverse osmosis) is not allowed. Is there anything, not super duper pricey, that I could attach to my faucet? Thanks! – T.N. HJL’s Comment: Many of our readers use a Berkey water filter. You can get these for under $300 from many of our advertisers. The advantage of the berkey type …


Killing the “HAKA”, by The Recovering Feminist

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Pushing Too Far Have you ever wondered why God spared Job’s wife? Have you nagged? Ladies, can I ask you a few personal questions? It’s a question about nagging. Have you ever nagged a man so much that you pushed him too far? Basically, have you nagged him to the point where you regretted it? I’m not going to discuss the topic of abusive male aggression here or domestic violence. On the contrary, I’m hinting at the reality of how we, as women, have the innate ability to nag men. We all know how to do it. Some are more …


Letter Re: The Practical Application of Tactical Gear, Load and Weight Considerations

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Hugh, I’ve been reading the MAX V articles about practical application of tactical gear, et cetera. This spurred me to add my .02 cents. During a 2014 deployment to Kandahar with the Air Force Reserve, I had an ankle injury that wasn’t serious enough to send me home but serious enough to slow me down for my entire tour. I had brought with me a Tactical Tailor H-harness and belt set, which I set up to wear under my armor. (Once the armor was on, I never felt it.) I kept one magazine pouch and a small admin pouch, used …


The Good-Enough Cheapskate Garden, by J.D.

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Easiest, Cheapest, and Quickest Gardening Option You have some garden options that include a “good-enough cheapskate garden”. You could buy a bunch of stuff, get special ground covering, and mark it every two inches. Then you could buy poles, and notch then five feet up, and then prepare your soil by double digging. (Make sure to plant at the setting sun, and on and on.) Even if I had the time, money, strength, and patience for all the instructions I have read over the years, I’m just rebel enough to try the easiest, cheapest, and quickest way to get it …


Guest Article: The Practical Application of Tactical Gear, Load and Weight Considerations- Part 2, by Max

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The intent of this continued post is to tie in the related, practical application concepts of tactical gear, fitness, teamwork, logistics, and tactical loading, in order to present a realistic and logical way to approach the subject. There are a number of related factors at play here. Part 1 covered the mission, logistics, tactical load, physical conditioning, transport, and ballistic plates along with a note urging people to avoid heavy steel plates. Team In order to be able to conduct any sort of patrolling/security operation, you are going to need a team. This means numbers of trained personnel. You cannot …


Letter: Debt After SHTF

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Hugh, I’m looking for some justification of some prepper advice I’ve seen. More than a few articles recommend getting out of debt now before SHTF. I say, “Why?”. In the event of TEOTWAWKI the banks will be shut down anyway. Who’s going to process the repo paperwork? Who’s going to come enforce the repo? The local Sheriff is going to have more important things on his plate. That is assuming that he’s even still performing the duties of LEO. On top of that, I’d be willing to bet that when things started to get “back to normal” past debts will …


Guest Article: The Practical Application of Tactical Gear, Load and Weight Considerations- Part 1, by Max

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The intent of this post is to tie in the related, practical application concepts of tactical gear, fitness, teamwork, logistics, and tactical loading, in order to present a realistic and logical way to approach the subject. There are a number of related factors at play here. Mission We often utilize the military terminology of “METT-TC” in order to analyze our mission and thus apply it to the gear that we may carry. Factors such as weather, duration, and the specific mission that you are conducting play into considerations of what to carry. We must be realistic in what we plan and …


Understanding Water Filtration, by Old Soldier

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The understanding of water filtration requires a look at various filtration methods as well as contaminants. Let’s take a look at these. Water Filtration Methods Carbon/Activated Carbon Filters Activated carbon chemically bonds with and removes some contaminants in water filtered through it. Carbon filters vary greatly in effectiveness. Some just remove chlorine and improve taste and odor, while others remove a wide range of contaminants, including asbestos, lead, mercury, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). However, activated carbon cannot effectively remove common “inorganic” pollutants, such as arsenic, fluoride, hexavalent chromium, nitrate, and perchlorate. Generally, carbon filters come in two forms– carbon …


Growing Potatoes From True Potato Seeds, by ShepherdFarmerGeek

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Take a quick look at this clever video (1:47) describing the advantages of growing potatoes from potato seed. Advantages of Growing Potatoes From Seed Using traditional cross-breeding techniques, a company in the Netherlands named Solynta (So-lynn’-ta) has developed a line of potatoes that reliably produce “true potato seed” (“TPS”). Most potato seeds have a lot of genetic diversity, which is not a bad thing for home gardeners. They produce potatoes with varying sizes and colors, so they’re unsuitable for commercial production. Less than one ounce of their seed can be planted in place of 5,500 pounds of “seed tuber” potatoes …