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 …


An Overview of NFA Gun Trusts, by Patrick Stegall

The last few years have seen the development of an interesting legal mechanism called the gun trust. Gun trusts use estate planning law to deal with, and in some cases legally circumvent, arcane and restrictive federal laws that regulate the use and possession of certain types of firearms. These federal statutes make up the National Firearms Act (NFA), a series of laws that require registration of guns such as machine guns, short barreled rifles and shotguns, and sound suppressors (aka silencers). They are often referred to as Title 2 weapons because they are regulated under Title 2 of the 1968 …


Planning for Shingles Symptoms in TEOTWAWKI, by M. Matriarch

The chicken pox vaccine was not licensed for use in the US until 1995, which means a lot of adults today may have had chicken pox. That also means that a lot of us are susceptible to developing shingles, a painful potential recurrence of the same virus that infected us with chicken pox. I remember when my great grandmother had shingles in the early 1960s. She experienced great pain and disability for at least a couple of months, and was left much less ‘able’ than before the disease.  Medicine has come a long way since then. This contribution is to …


Powering Vehicles and Machinery Without Gasoline, by Caspar d’Gonzo

World War II has always fascinated me. I spend a great deal of time reading and researching a wide array of books, articles and Internet sites about this period. To the conquered peoples of Europe and Asia, it must certainly must have seemed like the end of the world as they knew it. One of the most fascinating aspects of my studies is discovering how individuals and groups in Axis-held countries survived behind enemy lines.  Valuable lessons can be gleaned by looking at the tactics and techniques of underground and partisan groups in France, the Philippines, Yugoslavia, China, Norway, Belgium …


Letter Re: Some Transportation Alternatives

Hi Mr. R.: I worked in a bike shop for five years up until two years ago and my better half continues to work in a bike shop to this day. I have to say having a road (or “racing”) bike for when the SHTF is a really bad idea. Road bikes are kind of like the sports cars of the bicycling world. They are not meant to beat upon, you run over or hit the wrong thing on the road or whatever–even gravel–and you could be walking. They eat tires and tubes. I have changed hundreds, maybe a thousand or …


Economics and Investing:

Adam B. sent: An agency-by-agency guide to Obama’s budget. JWR’s Comment: That doesn’t look like much “deficit slashing”, to me! By way of Ol’ Remus at The Woodpile Report comes a link to some food for thought by Charles Hugh Smith: Why Is Gasoline Consumption Tanking? Why I’m Taking Gold Double-Eagles On My Next Trip To Utah Over at The Daily Bell: Now EU Kicking Spain Out of EU? Items from The Economatrix: There’s Talk of an Exit – But Default Would Have Catastrophic Consequences Japanese Economy Shrank in Fourth Quarter The Economy Relies on the Suspension of Disbelief Greece …


Odds ‘n Sods:

AmEx (American Expat) sent this: Report: Russia Nuclear Disaster Narrowly Averted In Submarine Fire    o o o Over at Alt-Market: Going Off Grid – Montana Style!    o o o South Carolina bill would make home invasion a specific crime. (Thanks to Sue C. for the link.)    o o o Alan H. pointed me to a portable, easy to build 8’x12′ greenhouse for under $150. JWR’s Comment: Ah yes, hog panels, 101 uses…    o o o My wife Avalanche Lily alerted me to to an object lesson that went viral: The Dad Who Shot Up His Daughter’s …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“A wild boar stood under a tree, and rubbed his tusks against the trunk. A fox passing by asked him why he thus sharpened his teeth when there was no danger threatening from either huntsman or hound. He replied, ‘I do it advisedly; for it would never do to have to sharpen my weapons just at the time I ought to be using them.’ To be well prepared for war is the best guarantee of peace.”  – The Fables of Aesop


Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry 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 $275 …


Making Your Own Gear, by Caleb E.

Our society today–the society that I grew up in–no longer has a need and in many cases no longer has the desire to be self-sufficient. As the recent turmoil expanding across these United States and across the globe is proving every day, most people would rather have some central authority provide everything for them. There are a few who adhere closely to and act upon the belief that their well-being is only granted through their own hard work, knowledge and preparation, and they are known adequately as “Preppers”. The Prepper mindset revolves around the idea of self-reliance or self-sufficiency, recognizing …


Letter Re: Surviving The Cold

Dear Mr. Rawles: n reference to the recent SurvivalBlog article “Surviving The Cold”, by The Other D.B.: It is never repeated enough: wet cold kills.   The advice to test your rain gear with a garden hose is priceless. A piece of kit that I have found invaluable exercising or working in the cold is the Neck Warmer / Head Wrap. This is a simple tube of stretch polypropylene or polyester fleece or wool.  Critical to better protect the vascular area where you lose the most heat–our head and neck. You can see some examples at these three vendor sites: SpecOps …