Letter Re: Jumper Cable Gauge

Hugh, The Prep Your Ride recommends 4-Gauge jumper cables, but I say 2 Gauge is the minimum, and the lower the better. The power is Current Squared over Resistance, so your 800 Amps / 14 V at your end might end up under 6V, under 300A at the car you are trying to jump. It is going over 10-20 feet so even what seems a trivial resistance causes lots of power loss even if the cables don’t heat up. At least a half dozen times, with one car racing the engine and the other failing to turn over, I swapped …


Recipe of the Week: Chinese Pepper Steak, by G.C.

Ingredients: 1 to 1 1/2 lbs round steak 2 Tbsp oil 1 clove garlic, minced 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper 1/4 cup soy sauce 1 tsp sugar 1 cup fresh or canned bean sprouts, drained 1 cup canned tomatoes, cut up 2 green peppers, seeded and cut into strips 1 Tbsp cold water 4 green onions, sliced Directions: Slice steak into narrow strips. In skillet or slow-cooking pot with a browning unit, brown steak in oil. Combine with garlic, salte, pepper, soy sauce, and sugar in slow cooking pot. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours. Turn control to …


Two Letters Re: The Common Discussion

HJL, I would like to add one statement to this discussion. The door going in and out of the USA swings both ways. Is it a matter of my way or the highway? In a word, no. However, I am begging for any liberal of any stripe to please tell me where it is so much better to live on this planet, and once stated, why are you not there? I am a firm believer in voting with your feet. I and many others have done it, and so can anyone else. Quit your complaining. – C.N. o o o …


Letter Re: The $1,000 Kennedy Half Dollar Roll Search

Yes, this is true. However, while I have not searched a lot of boxes of halves, pretty much I have found at least one or two per box searched with the most being 12. Yes, getting them back to a bank can be a pain, but they can be spent or brought to a counter. It’s kind of fun to search and find the silver at face value. ?- DSV


The Common Discussion, by R.K.

The conversation begins in a variety of ways but usually goes something like this: Bob: why do you need a fancy gun that shoots so many bullets….? Me: Do you need to drive a car that produces more than 120 horse power? That’s more than enough power to move you from point A to point B in a timely, economical, environmentally responsible, and safe matter. Therefore, should we not outlaw all cars that produce more than 120 HP? All you need is 120 HP. Think of all the things in your life that you don’t actually need. When we open …


Letter Re: The $1,000 Kennedy Half Dollar Roll Search

James and Hugh, I stopped searching about eight years ago; I found that I used 1000 bucks eleven times. I found zero silver coins. (I’m not saying it’s all gone, just that I had bad luck.) My luck was bad enough that I decided that the only thing I was finding was a lower gas gauge on my little car while driving from my pickup bank to my dump bank. I did manage to get part of a walking liberty half book filled the year before. I’m just saying that the guys doing coin roll hunting for halves have a …


Prep Your Ride- Part 3, by J.U.

Situation: “Normal,” Everyday, Routine, and Your Vehicular Operations What is “normal,” everyday, or routine? Most people in America assume that these words mean orderly peacefulness, a lack of chaos and violence, and a Merry Christmas to all. They think that way because for so long that was “normal” in this country. Anyone who watches the news at all knows that these are things that can no longer be taken for granted; those sentiments do not represent the “realities on the ground” in our current state of affairs. Post “event,” what will become the new “normal” will likely be far different …


Letter Re: EPA to Sub-Freezing Alaska

JWR and HJL, Sadly, we are about to experience the same bureaucratic wisdom here in NY’s North Country and Adirondacks. Recently a well known engineering school had a student research panel present similar concerns in a public forum. I’m not quite sure how I’ve lived as long (or as warmly!) without their expertise. The old adage of “…wood heats four times” is still true. – RJH


Prep Your Ride- Part 2, by J.U.

3. A Generic Car-Emergency Kit: Most of these car emergency kits come with a basic tool set (that usually borders on worthless), but most have jumper cables, reflective triangles, a good bag to use to carry your own custom kit, and a cigarette lighter powered tire pump (which can prove useful if you’re not going to spring for the Powerpack or a unit of similar capability.) I bought my car-emergency kit for the bag and then built my own kit into that bag. The useless tools from the original kit make great presents for your brother-in-law. What To Put Into …


Letter Re: Harbor Freight Motion Alarm

Gentlemen, I have been reading the comments on the Harbor Freight motion alarm in the past few entries. I have had one of these units monitoring my driveway for the last 10 years or so. It works flawlessly. I had an old plug laying around that fit the receiver, so I only use batteries in the monitor. You can see in the attached photos that I spray painted it brown to camouflage the look, although I moved it from a more brown colored tree to a more grey colored one after my neighbor got a dog, which kept setting off …


December in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran of Gainesville Coins

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover the price action of gold and examine the “what” and “why” behind those numbers. What Did Gold Do in December? Gold started December at $1,177 an ounce, a 10-month low. The Trump Rally in both stocks and the dollar showed no sign of slowing down, with precious metals and bonds taking a hit. Gold fell 1% after the far-right candidate’s loss in December 5th’s Presidential election in Austria eased safe haven demand in Europe. The …


Letter Re: Perimeter Security

HJL, Regarding the recent articles on perimeter security, I’d like to add my two bits. Get a solar powered motion detector light from Harbor Freight, Instead of driving the light, have the unit power an HF frequency clock chip like this. When the security light detects motion, it will power the RF transmitter, sending signals to your HF receiver. All that is needed is the chip, 5.1 volt zener diode with load resistor or 5 v regulator like 7805 or two diodes in series to drop the 6V to 5V just, and an antenna. – MH in Texas


Prep Your Ride- Part 1, by J.U.

“The best gun is the one you have with you when you actually need it.” We’ve almost all heard or read that old saying at some point in our lives. It is such a common saying because we all recognize the simple truth inherent in those words. It doesn’t matter how many “tacti-cool” guns you have at home in the safe if you’re miles or just blocks from where you live when you suddenly need to defend your own or someone else’s life. The gear you have with you (or close at hand) is the stuff you’re going to war …


Letter Re: Growing Pineapples

Mr. Hugh, This is a very good post on growing pineapples. We have grown them in similar manner for several years. We don’t root ours in water but place them in large (3 gallon) pots with very moist potting soil. They are repotted as needed into larger pots to complete their growing time. Be sure to let the base of the “top” dry out as G.J. says. We prefer raising them in the pots because they can be moved easily to a warmer location as needed, weeds aren’t a problem, and the moisture is better controlled during times of drought. …


Recipe of the Week: Chocolate & Fudge Candy Cane Cookies, by C.S.

Do you have leftover candy canes after the holidays? Do you really want to store them until next year? This recipe is a yummy way to use up candy canes that weren’t eaten! Besides, since they are baked and a calorie is a unit of heat, the calories are just baked right out of them! (Editor’s note: The wife isn’t buying that, but at least I tried.) Cookie Ingredients ½ cup butter, soft 1 cup sugar 1 egg ¼ cup milk 1 tsp. vanilla 1 ¾ cup flour 1/3 cup baking cocoa ½ tsp. baking soda ½ tsp. salt Icing …