Odds ‘n Sods:

How many times must we shout it, folks? OPSEC, OPSEC, OPSEC! Man’s life savings stolen after daughter leads friends to it. (A hat tip to F.G. for the link.)    o o o Kevin A. wrote to mention that he liked a five minute TED video: He Went Broke, Then Found Himself. Kevin says: “Interesting information that may spark interest in the SurvivalBlog community. He earned a Ph.D. But with no practical skills, he thought he was useless. So he started a farm — and stumbled upon a revelation.”    o o o M.E.W. sent a link to an interesting …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” – Matthew 1:23 (KJV)


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 …


Greenhouse Heating, by Inda Woods

We now have indoor plumbing and a Wal-Mart, along with the millions of acres of wooded wonderland. Some of our forests are so dense and vast that even the DNR officers have become lost. We are alive with moose, wolf, cougar and black bear, to name a few. My husband and I are in our mid 50s and bought our 40 acres of forest in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula 20 years ago. Can you believe it; we paid only $13,000 for our woods and small cabin? Back then, no one in his or her right mind wanted to live in this …


Letter Re: How I Survived an Attempted Murder

Hi James, In reference to A.’s recent article “How I Survived an Attempted Murder”, we lived in Guayaquil, Ecuador in the early 1990s. I taught at the American School in Guayaquil called The International Academy. We bought an Isuzu Trooper and drove over 20,000 miles during our stay there. We visited many areas on the frontier with Columbia and Peru that were described to us a bandit country, often drove out into the mountains to distant villages that seemed to have hardly had any contact with Europeans or Americans. Several times drove all the way east of Quito over the backbone …


Economics and Investing:

G.G. suggested this from James Turk: More Deficits, More Debt Also from G.G.: Are Guns & Ammo The New Gold? Why More Americans Than Ever Before Are Arming Themselves Zero Hedge: Did The Fed Quietly Bail Out A Bank On Tuesday? Items from The Economatrix: The Top 100 Statistics About the Collapse of The Economy That Every American Voter Should Should Know The Harsh Reality is that The EU Has Already Failed If Europe Is Cured, Why Are Central Banks Preparing For Its Collapse? Economy Shedding Debt But Shackled By Pessimism 2012 Economic Outlook:  Countdown To The End Oil Prices …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Adam W. sent us a piece about a very expensive lesson in OPSEC: On December 9, 2011, Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a report of a residential burglary. A list of the stolen property includes: 7,000 – 1 ounce 2011 American Silver Eagles Coins in plastic sleeves 12 – [$1,000 face value] bags of 1920-1963 Silver Coins at 5, 10, and 25 cents 15 – South Africa Krugerrands, 20 – 10 pound bars of silver, 20 – 5 pound bars of silver, 30 – American Gold Eagles with Canadian Maple Leaves 10 ounce and 6 ounce bars …



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 …


Barter, Post-TEOTWAWKI: The Micro Store

I’ve been a faithful reader of SurvivalBlog and several others for several years. I have downloaded the archives onto my Kindle and am about halfway through those, too. I am simultaneously fascinated, entertained, and horrified by what I have read. I have learned a lot, been totally confused/overwhelmed by everything electronic, amused and entertained by the fascination with firearms and ammunition, and all over the scale on 1,001 other issues. Can anyone ever be “fully prepped?” Probably not, but we are all working on it or toward it. This article is about how you can simultaneously help other “survivors” while helping yourself. Let’s …


Letter Re: Advice on Sleeping Bags

CPT Rawles: I have read with interest all the good advice on sleeping bags and how to stay warm in very cold weather.  Most of the writers speak about a specific area they lived in, or traveled in, as a basis for the post.  There is a lot of good, sound advice out there by these writers.  I thought I might contribute my own personal opinion as well, since my own experience ranges pretty much across all weather extremes, and was under conditions far harsher than hiking, camping or hunting – at least for the most part.  I spent 29+ …


Economics and Investing:

U.K. stores sell out of reindeer meat. (Thanks to loyal contributor F.G. for the link.) Reader F.B. suggested: The Coming Collapse of Bitcoin? Realtors: We Overcounted Home Sales for Five Years Most American’s Still Have No Idea How Bad the U.S. Economy Is Items from The Economatrix: Why All Signs Point to Chaos Dow Dumps 100 Points; BofA Dips Below $5 Stocks Knocked Down By Weak Banks, Europe Uncertainty US Stock Losses Double on EU Statement


Odds ‘n Sods:

To temper this sensationalistic news reporting on the man-made H3N2 flu variant, consider: On Research Ethics    o o o A reminder to readers in the US that you have less than one week left left to purchase Primatene Mist Inhaler(s) over the counter, after 12-31-11 it will no longer be available. As most of you know, this is nothing more than Epinephrine in an inhaler and can be used for any type of anaphylaxis. The cost is around $21.    o o o NYT Smears Gingrich Over EMP Threat Comment. (Thanks to Yishai for the link.)    o o …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Each man of the three companies bore a rifle-barreled gun, a tomahawk, or small axe, and a long knife, usually called a ‘scalping knife’, which served for all purposes, in the woods." – John Joseph Henry, An Accurate and Interesting Account of the Hardships and Sufferings of That Band of Heros, Who Traversed Through The Wilderness in the Campaign Against Quebec in 1775


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 …