Odds ‘n Sods:

Stephen M. sent this: A One-Horse Town Down to Two People    o o o My “Taking the Gap” interview on Radio Free Redoubt is now available as an archived podcast.    o o o The publicized drug shortages expand to old standbys like Tetracycline. (Thanks to Damon S. for the link.)    o o o I heard about a company in Florida called Rainwater Warehouse that markets American-made rainwater harvesting equipment such as downspout diverters and rain barrels.    o o o Vince W. wrote to note that Dave Canterbury has been doing a series of YouTube videos called …



Notes from JWR:

The stats are in, showing the tremendous growth of SurvivalBlog ‘s readership in the past six years: Unique visits in December, 2005: 42,482 Unique visits in December, 2006: 107,089 Unique visits in December, 2007: 218,931 Unique visits in December, 2008: 507,176 Unique visits in December, 2009: 837,727 Unique visits in December, 2010: 1,101,755 Unique visits in December, 2011: 1,336,959 We have had consistent growth of around 30% per year! While I expect our web stats to start to plateau, 37 million unique visits have been logged, and we have readers in 190 countries. The blog is also ranked in Alexa’s …


Wildcrafting Healing, by Peggy S.

When TEOTWAWKI comes, there isn’t going to be a CVS or Walgreen’s pharmacy open and stocked for very long afterward. So, what to do when you get a nasty cut, burn or some other infection? First, as common sense tells us, wash it off with soap and water or use some stashed vodka to kill any possible germs or even the old time remedy of kerosene. The kerosene was also an old time remedy to keep fleas off your dogs, just pour a thin line of it down their backs like you do with modern flea drops. Just remember to …


Letter Re: The Importance of Foot Care

Hello James: I stumbled across some excellent advice for foot care.  The advice targeted diabetics.  Diabetics need to be especially mindful of their feet are more susceptible to circulation difficulties.  Foot problems can rapidly escalate.  This advice is also very sound advice for after the Schumer hits the fan.  It is likely that we will all be putting more miles of pounding on our feet. – Joe H.


Letter Re: Keeping Honey Bees for Survival

I just read the SurvivalBlog writing contest article on keeping honeybees.  It was an excellent primer for someone to read and get started working with honeybees.  I have a few tidbits of information from my experience keeping bees.  We have had bees at our home for three years now, and it’s been one of the most amazing things I have ever done.  We got started with a local supplier, and stood up two full size langstroth hives, and then brought the two “nucs” home (driving with 30,000 bees in a minivan for an hour and a half is exhilarating to say the …


Economics and Investing:

G.G. flagged this: John Williams: The US Has $100 Trillion in Debts & Obligations R.B.S. sent this one: Nation’s largest welfare state makes deep cuts. Over at Alt-Market: New Asian Union Means The Fall Of The Dollar Items from The Economatrix: Signs Of The Times: Metal Thieves Steal 26 Train Wheels Will Gold Deliver Another Glittering Year In 2012? Budget Collapse:  Too Much Free Money The Case For Austerity


Odds ‘n Sods:

Bob. G. sent this: American civilization could be next to collapse    o o o K.A.F. forwarded a link to a useful PDF: Tactical Combat Casualty Care Guidelines    o o o Bryan. B. spotted this: Urban Fruit Trees and Food Security. [JWR Notes: Out here in the Hinterboonies, we wouldn’t be quite so open to “registering” our fruit trees. OBTW, our biggest concern for fruit thefts is black bears that have a bad habit of breaking limbs. Nothing that a .308 won’t cure, usually followed by congratulations on the nice rug. I suppose that the legalities for stopping two-legged …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see,s and believe thee? what dost thou work? Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh …


Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 38 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 $275 …


Keeping Honey Bees for Survival, by Michael J.

Why Keep Honey Bees? Wandering into the woods and staying lost for months is something I love to do. I have been an Urban Guerrilla Survivalist for 24 years, and have been keeping bees for more than 10 of those years. With these experiences under my belt, I have begun to teach people how to be a survivalist, and one subject I focus on is the art of beekeeping. Before I tell you the benefits of having bees and some cheap ways to keep them, I suggest that you find a book about beekeeping to help you understand the terms …


Letter Re: Holly as a Substitute Caffeine Source

James, Many people in North America wonder how they would survive in a world without caffeine [since coffee and cocoa are both imported].  An alternative to coffee could be Yaupon holly tea.  The Yaupon holly is used as a tea by various Indian tribes, and it has been studied as a commercial herbal tea drink. According to my local colonial history book, colonists also raised Yaupon tea leaves for trade. It is related to yerba mate, a holly used to make a caffeinated tea in South America.   The Wikipedia article is rather confused on this point, but it is believed …


A New Organization Replacing Medical Corps (PRNMed)

I received the following note from Chuck Fenwick, the director of Medical Corps   “As I posted on my site, Medical Corps will no longer be organizing classes.  Our Lead Instructor, David Turner has agreed to take care of all the logistics of teaching the Medical Response in Hostile Environments class [under the new company name, PRNMed.] David, having completed nursing school during a two-year furlough, will be back teaching the class too.  I will also be teaching, but only have to show up and instruct.   Medical Corps did not bring forward our extensive student list because sharing e-mail lists is against …


Economics and Investing:

Depression in 2013? Jim Rogers: “100% Chance” of Another Financial Crisis That Will Be Worse Than 2008 KAF sent us this: Congress ends corn ethanol subsidy 40 Hard Questions The American People Should Be Asking Italian Bonds Return To 7% / Markets Plummet / Raid On Gold And Silver “There Will Be Violence, Mark My Words” Items from The Economatrix: Economists Make 2012 Predictions China And Japan Plan Direct Currency Exchange Agreement Unrelenting Global Economic Crisis:  A Doomsday View of 2012 Sears to Close Up to 120 Kmart, Sears Stores


Odds ‘n Sods:

Big American Brother gives hints on how to spot citizen terrorists. Since when did paying in “Legal tender for all debts, public and private” morph into something suspicious and “weird”?    o o o From the SHTFPlan blog: What To Expect From The Government After Collapse    o o o Some incisive commentary on Attorney General Eric Holder, over at the View From The Porch blog: The cheek of the man is unbelievable.    o o o T.C. mentioned a piece by MSN: Best places to live off the grid    o o o A short and sweet video clip …