.22 Handguns and Other Options For Self Defense, by R.F.D.

No one, myself included, would recommend a .22 caliber handgun as the ideal defensive weapon. For that matter, I wouldn’t recommend any handgun at all as the ideal defensive weapon. We carry handguns because most of us find it a tad inconvenient to carry a tactical shotgun, or main battle rifle as we go about our daily lives, and most folks tend to get a little upset when you get on the bus with one. If I knew a fight was coming my way, my preference would be a crew-served weapon, preferably with the ‘crew’ in tow. So, a handgun, …


A Haphazard Approach to Vehicle Outfitting and Risk Mitigation, by W.A.

My new Nissan 4WD Frontier is pretty well equipped…and conspicuous. Maybe it’s the 102” steel CB radio antenna whip that tipped the balance. Yeah, they make smaller ones, but for my first foray into CB, I wanted the best money could buy…my money anyway. And it turns out that you spend more money to go smaller and the reduction in size can challenge the optimized reception with respect to the wavelength of the transmission signal(i.e. in many respects, bigger is still better). Were it not for that tall waving wand in the sky, perhaps the addition of the two sets …


Letter Re: Natural Gas “Drip” Condensate

JWR, I noticed your description of “drip” as an alternative fuel in your novel “Survivors”. Many years ago I was on a task force in Farmington, New Mexico to catch and convict “drip thieves”. I was then a Special Texas Ranger and worked along with New Mexico Highway Patrol, local law enforcement officials and the then Tenneco Oil Company Security investigators. Theft of drip was very big then, as probably now due to the high cost of gasoline. I will share with you some of what we learned from the experts, the actual thieves we caught. First of all it …


Economics and Investing:

G.G. sent us this: The Upside of Government Default Reader G.P. sent this from The Slog: A timetable for Greek Default? Courtesy of Michael W.: Dollar Gets No Respect Despite Economic Gains. JWR’s Comment: Genuine money is made of silver or gold. And honest paper money substitutes are redeemable on demand for silver or gold coinage. Anything else is trash. Thus, all of the world’s fiat paper currencies are trash. Some of them are just trashier than others. I would characterize the U.S. Federal Reserve Note as like an aging, gap-toothed syphilitic harlot that is dressed in shabby green dress …


Odds ‘n Sods:

This company near Denver, Colorado might be of interest: RainyDayRootCellars.com. They make pre-cast concrete shelters that are multipurpose: root cellars, storm shelters, nuclear blast/fallout shelters, and storage vaults. OBTW, if you are wondering how to make a detached underground shelter disappear… just pile part of your supply of firewood over the hatch.    o o o Please note that my novel “Survivors” is not just available from Amazon.com. It is also available from Barnes & Noble, and several other Internet vendors. There is also a network of local independent bookstores, coordinated by IndieBound.com. Give the other guys some business, too! …



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 …


Ready for “Slutet På Världen Som Vi Känner Den” in Sweden

The migration of SurvivalBlog’s web server to Sweden is complete. The new dedicated server is now humming along nicely with 5 Terabytes of available bandwidth, utilizing very fast dual-quad core processors. The kinks have nearly all been worked out. Now that the DNS propagation has been completed, SurvivalBlog is also back to a #1 ranking when you search “Survival Blog” in the major search engines like Bing, Yahoo, and Google. We are now down to just one sticky issue with McAfee anti-virus software displaying a false malware warning when SurvivalBlog is visited. This is because our server’s IP address falls …


A Wannabe Homesteader, by Brenda K.

Some of my long-time friends can’t believe me now.  I was definitely a “city girl,” but now I’m a “wannabe homesteader.”  We’re living in the country now and I’m having fun learning to do a lot of “new” things.  Some of these things are just ordinary, every-day chores for people who grew up on farms, but for me, it’s a whole new way of life.  I’ve really enjoyed making butter and yogurt from the fresh milk we buy from the local Amish.  The first day I bought a gallon of milk from them, I told them I’d never had fresh …


Urban and Suburban Preparedness, by ChemEngineer

A recent conversation prompted this article. It seems that friends in urban and suburban homes feel that there may be little hope for them in case of disaster, since they have no “retreat” set up in a rural area as a destination. This article points out similarities in all disaster preparedness, as well as possible differences in strategies and tactics to make surviving in urban and suburban locations more likely. None of these are new ideas, just slanted toward those who are urban/ suburban dwellers and that do not have a rural retreat location. While not detailed in scope, below …


Two Letters Re: Powering Vehicles and Machinery Without Gasoline

James, Thanks again for doing everything you do.  It is with great pleasure I write to you again to contribute some of my knowledge. I mean no offense to Caspar d’Gonzo, but after reading his article I have the notion that he has not yet actually constructed a gasifier based on the FEMA instructions.  Though his article was very good about covering the theory and basics. I was first fascinated with gasification when I saw them make a gasifier on The Colony.  I read about it and planned to build one.  Not long after I almost wrecked my Jeep while …


Economics and Investing:

This set of charts says it all: The day of reckoning for global total debt – total credit market debt up from $28 trillion in 2001 to $53 trillion in 2012. Bob L. sent this: Richard Russell – A Bitter Pill to Swallow, Austerity or Inflation Items from The Economatrix: True UK Jobless “6.3 Million” Jim Sinclair: The Lonely Road We Take Together “Poor America” – How The Broke Are Surviving Mortgage Settlement Will Plunge Real Estate Values


Odds ‘n Sods:

Ian R. sent this one: How Weather Impacts the Dinner Table    o o o AmEx (American Expat) sent this: Decision time for researchers of deadly bird flu    o o o Also from AmEx: Special Report: Towns go dark with post office closings. This is of particular concern for those of us who live way out in the hinterboonies.    o o o Some sage advice from Ol’ Remus: Preps.    o o o Bryan E. sent a link to this not-so-new “Russian Inwention”: The AK-12. The latest incarnation of the reliable Kalashnikov action, quite predictably now wearing a …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“By many indicators, Greece is devolving into something unprecedented in modern Western experience. A quarter of all Greek companies have gone out of business since 2009, and half of all small businesses in the country say they are unable to meet payroll. The suicide rate increased by 40 percent in the first half of 2011. A barter economy has sprung up, as people try to work around a broken financial system. Nearly half the population under 25 is unemployed. Last September, organizers of a government-sponsored seminar on emigrating to Australia, an event that drew 42 people a year earlier, were …


Note From JWR:

Today we present a short guest article and 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 …