Letter Re: Taking Out the Trash: Secure Deletion

HJL, Technically, short of physically destroying flash media, there is no way to insure that something is securely erased. This applies to USB drives, SD cards of all sizes, and even SSD disk drives. It applies less so to magnetic hard drives. Hard drives can drift so there can be a thin shadow of old data, but that is something only someone with very deep pockets can recover, and it would be hit and miss. With flash drives, data is eventually erased, but what normally happens is the prior place the data was stored is mapped as “obsolete, erase when …


Should I Bug Out or Survive in Place?- Part 3, by Jonathan Hollerman

“I can’t afford a survival retreat and I have nowhere to go!” I hope the information I’ve imparted so far—scrutinizing the source of your prepper information and determining the worst-case scenario to prepare for—has the wheels turning inside your head. Maybe you’re not totally convinced that you should abandon your current plans to survive in place yet, but you admit there’s at least an inkling of truth to what I’m saying. Your biggest roadblock may be financial, and that may seem insurmountable. Most of us aren’t millionaire businessmen who can afford a fully-stocked survival retreat to bug out to. I …


Should I Bug Out or Survive in Place?- Part 2, by Jonathan Hollerman

So, what SHTF scenario should I be preparing for? In part one, I cautioned you to be diligent to only follow the advice of credible prepping experts with real-life experience and a true understanding of human psychology in desperate circumstances. Before I can give my advice on the Bug Out/Survive in Place debate, we must first determine what scenario you are preparing for. In my opinion, the most likely threat today is a natural disaster, like a hurricane or tornado or maybe a days-long blackout in a localized area. However, preparing for these things is common sense and being able …


Should I Bug Out or Survive in Place?- Part 1, by Jonathan Hollerman

Where are you getting your prepping advice? Why? Should I try to survive in place or should I bug out? This is a hotly debated question in the prepping community with many people firmly entrenched on both sides of the aisle. There are numerous articles discussing the topic, but most are only a handful of paragraphs that never really explain how or why they arrived at their recommendation. To answer the “Bug Out” or “Bug In” question effectively, we must discuss essential background information and context. I will break down the discussion into three sections: your source for prepping advice, …


Rainwater Harvesting: An Easy and Efficient Build, by L.R.

With spring finally here, many a homesteader is turning their thoughts to this year’s vegetable garden. Whether their garden is large or small, experienced gardeners know the successful garden begins well before the seed is planted. Many gardeners diagram on paper where they want to plant what vegetable, how many rows of each, and calculate how many bedding plants or how much seed they will need. Then, it’s off to the seed catalogs or local nursery to stock up. For many of us who have been raising gardens for a long time, there’s nothing quite like planting seeds in grow …


Letter Re: Transporting Documents – Empty the Trash!

Hugh, The files that you think you deleted from your portable drive using the Windows “delete” command or the Mac “move to trash” command are still there; you just can’t see them. Learn how to securely delete files from the .trashes and hidden files from thumb drives by doing an Internet search on the topic of .trashes file and how to securely delete old files from them. This is a must do for anyone using a USB thumb or SD card. If you have a Windows computer and can find the option to “show hidden files” you should do that. …


Letter Re: Coin Rolls – Roll Your Own

Editor: I decided to make my own coin rolls instead of spending any coins for them. I started with paper, but it turned out like origami gone wild. So I put on my thinking hat and asked, why not aluminum foil (for the coin rolls, not the hat)? But does silver and aluminum react? Apparently, it does in a good way if you add a baking soda solution. So I rolled away and am quite pleased with the outcome. That’s $100 face value in quarters in a pint-size vacuum sealed bag. What do you think? – R.T.


Letter: Venues for Learning Morse Code

Dear Editors:There is a good Morse Code practice group in the Pacific Northwest every morning on 3.970 mhz LSB at 8:00 PST. The guy sends Trivia questions to the others using Morse Code. Each person who checks in gets to take a turn on a rotating list. The code is sent at the speed each person is comfortable with. Once the question is sent and received, that person repeats the question by voice to confirm they copied it correctly. But if they can’t ANSWER the trivia question, anybody can jump in and try to answer it. This way of learning …


Letter Re: Bundys in Nevada

A recent letter regarding the Bundy family claimed, “[The Bundys] don’t own the land; they lease it. If they won’t abide by the terms of the lease, then they can and should be given a chance to meet the terms of the lease, but if they won’t then the landlord (in this case the BLM) has the right to evict them and try to collect back rent.” This reflects a common misconception. If the assertion were true that the land is in fact leased, the logic would of course be unassailable. However, BLM grazing allotments are *not* leases (at least, …


Key Elements for Self-Sufficient Gardening – Part 4, by B. C.

Element Number Five: Permaculture and Perennial Crops Annual crops may make up the bulk of your food and take the most of your labor when you are survival gardening. However, a critical part of our sustainable farm is the use of perennial crops, which actually give you more return on your investment than the yearly planting and production of annuals. The great thing about most perennials is that you plant them once, and they produce for several years. You don’t have to worry about what time of year the apocalypse starts; they are there waiting for you year after year. …


Letter Re: Bundys in Nevada

Hi Hugh, I found your blog a few days ago and really enjoy reading it. I would like to comment on the sentiment expressed in one of the links you posted in “Odds ‘n Sods” today– Judge Openly laughs at Bundy Ranch Defendants Rights. First, I agree that our courts are corrupt, many judges are openly undermining our Constitution and Rule of Law, and denying a defendant’s rights and then laughing about it is inexcusable. What I disagree with is the idea that the Bundy family is a bunch of “patriots” standing up to “the tyrannical state.” In my opinion, …


Key Elements for Self-Sufficient Gardening – Part 3, by B.C.

Element Number Three: Irrigation A downside to growing in greenhouses and high tunnels is that you have to have access to water and a way to irrigate these crops. That can be a positive, as it motivates you to build a system that you can use for your field crops as well. Even in the eastern U.S. where we farm, our irrigation is used every year. Rainfall seldom comes exactly when you need it, and having a way to irrigate your crops is the difference between being subject to droughts and being able to produce a crop every single year. …


Letters Re: The Human-Powered Veggie Garden, by J.A.

HJL, To be successful, the gardener needs to know about their local soil. We have taught vegetable gardening down in South Florida. Often it is more manageable to build a raised garden. Since our soil is about 2” to 4″ before we hit coral rock, we are more successful with the raised garden. This also applies to other poor soiled areas. And if the soil quality is controlled, so are pests. The better the soil, the sweeter the yield. – ebec.usa o o o Hugh, The only thing that I would add is to include a spading fork to the …


Key Elements for Self-Sufficient Gardening – Part 2, by B. C.

Heating the Greenhouse (continued) We’ve got a small solar system on one of our chicken tractors that can be switched over to control the thermostat on the heater and the exhaust fan if we lose electricity long-term in the greenhouse. If we need to, we can move the woodstove back in, but for now this system works well. No matter what kind of heating system you choose, having a backup plan makes you sleep easier at night. At minimum have a kerosene heater and a few cans of fuel on hand that you can move into the greenhouse for a …


Letter Re: The United Airlines Passenger Dragging Incident

JWR, I am a loyal reader, but your reference to the officers who removed this nut case off the plane as “goons” was uncalled for and unfortunate. With your military background, I would think that you would have been more inclined to view a “lawful order” as one that should be complied with and then questioned later. This disreputable, defrocked, drugs-for-sex doctor obviously has mental problems, and he refused to comply with federal law and the officers who were merely doing their duty. Were I there in an official capacity, he would have had even more problems. – E.M. HJL’s …