Odds ‘n Sods:

I was recently interviewed by Doug Belkin, a reporter with The Wall Street Journal for an article that he is writing about the growth of the preparedness movement. He mentioned that he is interested in hearing from preppers that are in unusual “outside the box” careers such as chiropractors and midwives, to ask them about why they are preparedness-minded. Send him an e-mail, if you are interested. For your privacy, I would recommend that you use a pseudonym.    o o o I heard about another nice review of my novel “Survivors”.    o o o Frequent content contributor F.G. …



Letter Re: Sanitation Concerns for Grid-Down Disasters

Dear Mr. Rawles, I have an indelicate question that I’d like to ask you and your readers:  In a Schumer Hits the Fan (SHTF) situation, literally, what happens to the aforementioned waste products in our sewer?  If a sewer plant loses power, does it all back up and exit through all our residential toilets connected to that pipe?  Does it back up and enter nearby streams and rivers that we would be relying on for water?  Once trapped in a backed up sewer drain, could explosive methane gas be formed to further complicate the disposal of waste and even be …


Notes from JWR:

A reminder that Sunday, January 15th is the last day that Safecastle is offering the maximum allowed 25% off on in the their two week sale on all Mountain House can varieties. Order soon! — Today we present another two entries for Round 39 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) 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 …


Getting Home When TSHTF, by Flasher

I’d like to start off by expressing my appreciation for this blog – I’ve learned a lot from everyone here. I’m fairly new to prepping and I am by no means an expert. In this article, I will be putting together some of the things that my group and I are doing to raise the odds that we will get home when the Schumer Hits the Fan (TSHTF) and referencing other articles that I found helpful. Like most people, I commute a long distance to work. I do this because there are few to no jobs in my field that …


Intelligence Preparation for the Intelligent Prepper, by L.R.

Preppers consciously devote a great deal of time and resources toward their families or groups, preparing to defend themselves, building better stocks of supplies, creating communications links, and planning for contingencies. It’s not a coincidence that these all mirror elements of a military staff; they’re the essential elements of surviving and operating, whether under the best of circumstances or the worst. In normal life, they can be fulfilled without much conscious thought. Your personnel (J1) are your family, coworkers, neighbors, and friends. Your daily operations (J3) are your work or other activities that you build your day and life around. …


Letter Re: A Safe Way to Carry Extra Gasoline in a Vehicle

I’ve been struggling with an age-old problem trying to find a safe way to carry gasoline in my vehicle. I found a way I would like to pass along. Typical five gallon plastic or metal cans don’t cut it. I’m a former EMT, so I’ve seen what a collision does to a vehicle carrying a five gallon can in the trunk, and it’s not pretty. I want a metal shell around a plastic bladder filed with aviation foam.  Paranoid?  Yes.  Possible? Absolutely! It turns out you can get fairly low cost racing fuel cells from several sources that meet the …


Economics and Investing:

Reader RBS mentioned this great piece in Coin World: Strangeness in the 1960s–1964, 1965 like day and night SurvivalBlog’s own Pat Cascio sent this: Hungary Folds, Ready To Change Its Laws To Get European Bailout Money A reader sent this: Food inflation done quietly: Same store, same shelf, same price. Smaller package. 1.2 Billion Indians signing life away for biometric ID cards   Items from The Economatrix: Fed Officials Signal More Action May Be Needed. (Warm up that helicopter and monetize, Ben!) Crude Nears $103 $9 Gallon Gasoline Will Crash World Economies if WWIII Starts


Odds ‘n Sods:

K.A.F. suggested this: How to Plan a Vegetable Garden    o o o A reminder that Safecastle’s Freedom Awards Finalists are now posted on Safecastle’s blog site for public viewing and voting. One of the finalists is K.M., for his article “What is a Well-Stocked First Aid Kit?” (that appeared in SurvivalBlog.) Please post your vote on your favorite article or video before January 20th.    o o o Folks in Northern California will find this of interest: Nevada County’s 2nd Annual Sustainable Food and Farm Conference will be held the weekend of January 21st and 22nd.  The conference will …



Note from JWR:

Today we present another two entries for Round 39 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) 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 C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a …


The TEOTWAWKI Tool Guy, by K.D.C.

I have been prepping for over two decades now, although some would say I have been prepping my whole life. Both sets of grandparents instilled into my parents the need to be prepared, and in turn they did the same for my siblings and me. I am the only one of my siblings who has taken it to this high a point, even though they are probably more prepared for a major event then 99% of the rest of America. My definition of prepping is, I think, a little different than most. I define my families prepping as being prepared …


Survival Fishing 101, by Captain T.

Many of us have, within our Bug Out Bag some kind of basic survival fishing rig (like those sold at Ready Made Resources or Camping Survival) be it a simple hook, line, and sinker tucked away in a plastic case, in the handle of a survival knife, a pill bottle, plastic pack or metal tin, or a slightly more elaborate setup that might include a small fishing reel and telescopic rod or a small Yo-Yo fishing reel.  Regardless of what rig you possess at the time TSHTF, it is important to have some general knowledge and ability in order to …


Letter Re: 2012 National Agricultural Classification Survey

James: I got one of the USDA’s surveys, too, and had an interesting discussion with whoever responded to their “contact us” email address. I noted that my paper form claimed very clearly that response was required by law, but the web site version of the survey said it was voluntary. So I asked which was true, and was told that Public Law 105-113 “authorizes the [USDA] to conduct an agricultural census every five years,” and explained the form was to help them save time in some further census process. The response said nothing about whether my response was required or …


Letter Re: Converting a 1973-1991 Suburban to Cummins Diesel

JWR: Regarding the recent link in in SurvivalBlog to the articles on Converting a 1973-1991 Suburban to Cummins diesel engine, I have experience with the B and ISB series Cummins engines in several applications and believe they are fine powerplants. However, this swap IS an electronic engine and transmission, as described. And it is not necessarily something easily fixable in the kind of situation you envision. I would suggest that a mechanical engine (which does include the earlier 12-valve B Cummins sixes and its four cylinder sibling the 4BT) and a manual transmission might be more suitable. Several possibilities exist …