Notes from JWR:

I just heard that Jan Lebaron of Healthy Harvest died suddenly yesterday, due to an undisclosed illness. Please keep her family in your prayers. To help the family with upcoming funeral expenses, purchases from their web store would be greatly appreciated. (It is a small, family-owned company.) — Today we present another two entries for Round 36 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three …


You Are At Your Retreat — What Now?, by D.H.

Many of us have plans to get our family and friends to a retreat once the Schumer hits the fan (SHTF). Many of us have written down plans that tell us what things to grab before we leave (so we don’t forget something important), but how many of you have written down plans for what to do once you’re there, at your retreat? Why write them down? Well, because even though you may know everything you’re going to do once there, maybe the others don’t. For some unforeseen reason, you may not even make it there. Will your family know …


Basic Rifle Marksmanship–Is It That Basic?

To be the best at something we must start out at the basics.  But in marksmanship, what are the basics?  The basics don’t start when we put the magazine in our rifle.  The basics start well before we fire the first shot.  We don’t want our first marksmanship test to be when we absolutely have to fire a shot in defense or necessity.  Marksmanship is something that many don’t come by naturally.  It must be worked on.  For those who it comes naturally to, practice makes perfect and some things need to be discovered in practice before they are discovered …


Review of Self-Reliance Expo, Denver, Colorado by L.K.O.

I recently spent a day at at the Denver Self-Reliance Expo. It was held September 16-17, 2011. The expo showcased a variety of friendly and enthusiastic survival, self-reliance and preparedness vendors and presenters. Several of the companies there are loyal SurvivalBlog advertisers. It was great meeting many of them in person for the first time. Just one example was meeting Dave Duffy of Backwoods Home Magazine. I had been reading his columns for many years, so it was about time! In the arena of weapons and security, vendors included 5280 Armory, Hilltop Safes, Smart Product Technology (underground security pods), On Sight …


Economics and Investing:

I noticed over at The Daily Bell: EU – Britain Wants Out? Rolling Sovereign Debt Defaults and Euro Break-Up Ahead? Veteran content contributor K.A.F. sent this: J.C. Penney to Close Stores, Exit Catalog Business Items from The Economatrix: Stocks Rally On Hopes For Fed Stimulus Measures August Home Building Fell 5%, Slide Continues Oil Rising on Expectations of Fed Stimulus Eight Arrested as Third Day of Wall Street “Rage” Protests Clog NYC Sidewalks


Odds ‘n Sods:

K.T. mentioned a piece over in the new Survival and Prosperity blog about Nanny State Massachusetts: Boston Businesses May Soon Need A License To Sell Knives    o o o Drew W. spotted this: How to Survive a Gunshot Wound    o o o Nathan A. suggested this: Life After An EMP Attack: No Power, No Food, No Transportation, No Banking And No Internet    o o o Nichole R. mentioned this: Infographic: How Big a Backyard Would You Need to Live Off the Land?    o o o Secret recordings raise new questions in ATF ‘Gunwalker’ operation



Note from JWR:

Today we present another two entries for Round 36 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $300 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo, and …


Everyday Carry Items, by J.C.R.

As I watched this past weekend several different television shows chronicling the events of September 11, 2001, a thought crossed my mind.  Sometimes events happen so fast in our lives that we don’t have any time at all to prepare and all you are left with is what you have on you and what you know.  Most often that “event” is not life-threatening but more of an inconvenience than anything else.  There have been lots of times when having something as simple as a safety pin would have made all the difference in the world. As I watched people not …


Making Your Water Filter Last, by F.J.B.

Making Your Water Filter Last, by F.J.B. When my four boys were young, we did a lot of backcountry hiking. Usually the trip was only a day or two and didn’t require a lot of gear to pack. Each of us carried our own water. I remember one hike we took in the middle of August. It was a two-day trip with daytime temperatures nearing 110 degrees. We were out surveying on a huge western ranch. My wife was concerned about our having enough water (in the high desert). To address her understandable concerns, I took along an Indian water-tank …


Two Letters Re: Beans, Bullets, Band-Aids and Hygiene

Mr. Rawles,  Another comment on home made laundry soap. There is a difference between Sodium Carbonate and Sodium Bicarbonate and using the wrong one will make a difference in the quality/effectiveness of your product. If you are having difficulty locating Sodium Carbonate you may want to consider checking with your local swimming pool supply store. Soda Ash (sodium carbonate) is a commonly used chemical to raise the pH in swimming pools. – W.V. Willard Mr. Rawles: There are several easy solutions, and a few economical difficult ones. I make my laundry soap out of grated Ivory bars, Borax, generic Oxy-Clean, and …


Economics and Investing:

Reader Larry W. recommended this commentary from Howard Gold: Lehman Brothers II crisis is coming soon John R. sent us several links to some recent Zero Hedge articles: Interactive Infographic of the Doomed European Financial System   DSK Says Greece Is Done   Is September 20 Greek Default Day?   Items from The Economatrix: Is China Ready To Pull The Plug? Is Revolution Hitting US Streets Tomorrow? The Economic Collapse – Part 1 Mayor Bloomberg Predicts Riots In The Streets If Economy Does Not Create More Jobs


Odds ‘n Sods:

Gail H. recommended this over at The Art of Manliness: How To Shave Like Your Grandpa    o o o Jonathan B. was the first of several readers to send this: Farmers flee as world’s deadliest volcano rumbles    o o o Another sign of the times: Father and daughter burned in alleged electrical theft.    o o o F.G. sent this: Smoking Bans Are No Match For New Yorkers    o o o Jasper recommended some practical advice over at Lew Rockwell’s site: Journey to the U-Pull…



The Home Medical Kit Revisited, by Dr. Bob

Medical supplies are an essential part of survival and planning can really save you some headaches. You cannot have too much gauze nor too many Band-Aids. Seriously, if you have the room then keep buying them. Sterile gauze is worth having a small amount of, and non-sterile a much larger amount of. band-Aids of all shapes are recommended, I really like the Nextcare tattoo type because they stick so well and help with blister protection as well as all sorts of small cuts. I am not really a big band-Aid person as I like blood and scars, but to each his …