Earthquake Retrofit an Old House, by Greg E.

2011 was a year of deadly and devastating tornados, and an earthquake that shook the east coast.  One of the largest tornados hit a suburb in my county in the Birmingham Alabama area. We are also only one state over from the New Madrid earthquake zone that starts in the Memphis area.  After taking several closer looks at the foundation and basement of our 50 year old house, I realized we were living with a false sense of security. After researching online, I learned that in certain large events, mainly earthquake, but also from high winds, if the house gets …


Three Letters Re: A Single Mom’s Desire to Relocate

Dear Mr. Rawles, I love your blog and visit it daily. You recently recommended a lady consider North Dakota (in Letter Re: A Single Mom’s Desire to Relocate), saying “You might also consider the Oil Patch of North Dakota, which is presently booming and has a considerable surplus of bachelors.” My wife and I have been considering going there only because we’ve been out of work for quite some time and things are looking bleak. Researching the area we found at least one negative: there is some significant concern that a highly toxic material called Erionite has been used as …


Economics and Investing:

Some recent data on the income decline in America illustrates that we are indeed in the early stages of an economic depression. There is an ocean of red ink that needs to dry out. And that might take two or three decades, folks. Diana was the first of several readers to mention this: Vatican urges economic reforms, condemns collective greed Mark L. pointed me to a new piece by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard that has some positive comments on investing in America. Yes, Things are so fouled up in European financial circles that they even make the U.S. look relatively safe and …


Odds ‘n Sods:

A recently-released map showing gang presence in the United States adds further credence to the American Redoubt concept. (Thanks to Karl K. for the link.)    o o o C.J. Chivers, one of the few mainstream newspapermen that really understands small arms had some great commentary on modified and re-purposed guns in the hands of guerillas: Afghan Gun Locker: Battlefield Ingenuity, and a Weapon’s Longevity    o o o F.J. suggested this over at LifeHacker: How to Make an Improvised Backpack    o o o $1 Billion of your tax dollars at work: Libya’s liberation: interim ruler unveils more radical …



Notes from JWR:

Now that many SurvivalBlog readers have had the chance to read my latest book “Survivors: A Novel of the Coming Collapse”, I would greatly appreciate it if you would post your reviews on the Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble web sites. Just a brief paragraph or two would be great, thanks! — Today we present another entry for Round 37 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) 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 …


Weekend Homesteaders, by R.M.H.

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This is the story of how two middle-aged city dwellers became weekend homesteaders, and how we bumbled our way through planning and building an off-grid survival cabin. Top to bottom, the project took about two years to complete, working only on weekends. We started out naïve but ambitious, and learned everything as we went along. Our off-the-grid plans actually began with an intriguing documentary. The program posed a series of questions: What would you do without power for two days? For two weeks? For two months? The show went on to explain how incredibly fragile the power grid is, and …


Letter Re: Establishing a Neighborhood Watch

Recently a neighborhood watch was created by the initiative of a lawyer who had many thousands of dollars worth of equipment stolen from his property in broad day light, while members of his family were home, with a trailer that had been stolen from across the street.  He saw he need for a greater sense of alertness and vigilance among our residents, who for the most part feel we live in a nice area and don’t have to worry about crime.  (Mostly this is true).  We don’t have gangs or violent crime, but if the picking seem easy enough for …


Letter Re: Sorting Canadian Pennies

Mr. Rawles, Regarding the letter “Sorting Canadian Pennies“, I wanted to correct some errors for those Canadian nickel collectors out there.  The nickel from 1922 onwards to 1982 was made from – you guessed it – nickel (99.9% Nickel to be exact; with the exception of some years in the 1940s and 1950s when they were made of a either copper-zinc alloy (tombac) or chrome plated steel.  This was because nickel was in short supply for the various war efforts. The Canadian nickel’s composition changed in 1982 to the cupronickel composition used presently in the US (75% copper, 25% zinc); …


Letter Re: TEOTWAWKI Fitness Planning

Dear JWR: Well, hallelujah for Dr. Bob’s practical attitude toward fitness!  I’ve been working our homestead for almost 20 years, now, and I’ve been amazed at what the workout crowd can’t do, hurting because they had to shovel manure and those particular muscles weren’t on the look lovely list.  I’ve worked many a man into exhaustion, although I do pay when it’s time to try to buy a dress that fits – women aren’t supposed to have biceps.  For years I’ve wondered about spending big bucks to go to the gym when the push lawnmower and a few other practical …


Economics and Investing:

Top hedge fund manager: Decade of doom ahead. “Ray Dalio, founder of the largest hedge fund in the world (Bridgewater Associates), said the world debt is so large it will take 10 years to de-leverage it — and “there are no more tools in the tool kit” to postpone the inevitable reckoning.” JWR’s Comment: I think two decades might be more accurate. Ben S. sent this: Purdue expert: Cost to grow crops to surge in 2012 Fed’s Yellen: QE3 May Be Warranted. JWR’s Comment: Of course they’ll do it. Free money is more addictive than crack cocaine. Over at Fierce …


Odds ‘n Sods:

I heard about a web site with some useful data on Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants.    o o o F.G. sent this: Couple are forced to demolish their £300k four-bed home after it was invaded by Japanese knotweed    o o o News from the Oil Patch: America’s Boomtown: North Dakota housing crunch    o o o Sour Grapes Department: Is the US Declaration of Independence illegal?    o o o In SurvivalBlog we’ve been warning you about SCADA vulnerabilities since September, 2005. The mainstream media is finally catching on: U.S. fears science fiction-style sabotage in new wave of …



Notes from JWR:

They say that Internet posts and forwarded e-mails often take on lives of their own. This certainly rang true with me this morning, when a reader forwarded me a piece that began: “Due to the large number of jobs moving from California to Texas, Texas has compiled a “Californian to Texan” translation guide…” But that was a piece that was originally written by “Dan X.” and first posted in SurvivalBlog, back in January of 2011, as “The California – Wyoming Travel Dictionary”.  The part therein about “reintroduced wolves” doesn’t make any sense for Texas, but it does for Wyoming–which is …


TEOTWAWKI Fitness Planning by Dr. Bob

First, I must state that I am not a licensed physical therapist or personal trainer.  You may be expecting some type of disclaimer of “consult a physician before starting an exercise program” fame.  Nope.  The way I look at it is, I am that physician giving out helpful, free medical advice for prepping–so take it or leave it.  Much of this article references my life and personal experience, and for that you will either be impressed by the thoughtful, personal example; or you will be disgusted and bored by my shameless self-talk.  For this I am sorry; but I try very …