Another Perspective on Dairy Goats, by Milkmaid

My foray into the world of self-sufficiency began with two animals and a dream: two Nubian dairy goats, to be exact, and a whole load of criticism and laughter from those who thought I was crazy! “What do you know about raising goats?” , and “Why bother, isn’t it easier to just go buy milk at the store” Smirk, smirk. Little did they realize, this made me ever more determined to have the last laugh. My husband was grudgingly tolerant, and my children were excited and blindly trusting their mother to know exactly what she was doing. After all my …


Letter Re: Beans, Bullets, Band-Aids and Bibles, by Michael G.

No matter what your level of preparation, it is important for you to include a well-bound, large print, red-letter edition of the Authorized King James Version (KJV) Bible at your location.  Besides its uses as a riser or as reading material, it is the only reliable source for knowing God’s will on a subject.  The KJV is a solid translation and has all the essential information needed to verify God’s direction for your life.  The large print enables low-light reading.  The red-letter passages record God speaking.  In a TEOTWAWKI situation you may need to know how to activate this Book …


Four Letters Re: Homemade Powder Solvent For Gun Cleaning

JWR: There is a great reference for barrel cleaning and break-in procedures that is available free on web, courtesy of Krieger–a well known barrel maker. It is a reference worth printing out. – J. McW. Jim, Just a quick note on the letter about home made gun solvent. He mentions that “All of these solvents comes in colored glass to keep out sunlight.” He goes on to mention hard liquor bottles as a possibility. My problem with them is their size. You can get the “pocket flask” but most often you see 750 ML and 1.5L bottles. Common old beer …


Economics and Investing:

Those pesky derivatives, again: IMF advisor says we face a Worldwide Banking Meltdown. (In this case, it is credit default swaps.) J.B.G. was the first of several readers to mention this sign of the times: Thieves steal from community garden KAF sent this: Moody’s Cuts Rating on 12 UK Financial Institutions G.G. sent this: Regulators Close Two More Banks, bringing the nationwide tally of bank failures up to 76 for the year. Also from G.G.: CBO estimates $1.3 trillion deficit for 2011 Keely spotted this new item: Bold thieves steal bridge in North Beaver, Pennsylvania. Nestle Chief Warns of Food …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Bill N. sent a news story that has a pointed lesson. Bill notes: “A homicide suspect was killed when officers set up ambushes on trails. This reminded me of something that the [fictional character] ROTC cadet Doug Carlton mentioned in the novel “Patriots“: ‘Trails are for people that like to get ambushed.’”    o o o SurvivalBlog’s G.G. flagged this: Tuvalu Goes Dry    o o o Gunwalker: Fast Leaks, Furious Congressmen. (Thanks to Thomas F. for the link.)    o o o I just “bumped into” the forums at the small but growing BumpFire.net. You will find some interesting …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly [places] in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of …


Note from JWR:

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 government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $300 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo, and E.) …


Guidance for Prospective Goat Ranchers, by Pamela B.

A friend of mine was thinking of getting into the meat goat business.  Since I have been raising goats for several years now, she asked me a few questions to which I responded with the following.  I thought that preppers considering adding a goat or two to their menageries might be interested in these thoughts as well.  In the past five years I have learned a lot and it has taken five years to become really competent. First off, it is important to get your goats from a reputable source.  I got mine at auction, which meant that I was …


Letter Re: Horsemanship for Preppers

Mr. Rawles; Greetings from a new fan.  On the subject of horses, I can recommend the video from Pat Parelli titled The Seven Games. I have ridden horses for years but when I bought my own horse I got a few Parelli lessons from the owner.  It completely changed 30 years horsemanship almost overnight.  My horse is my friend now and much easier to train since I know how to communicate with him.  The cd’s and the Parelli method is great.   Yes, horses do require your time they are not an ATV that can be parked and left behind.  They …


Letter Re: A Shopping Trip Glimpse of Human Nature

Did I witness a normal day in Texas or a warning of panic without access to food? I was at my local grocery store the other day to pick up a few things on my way home from work.  It was about 3 p,m. and I was ready to checkout in the 10 items or less lane.  As the cashier scanned my last item and I was ready to swipe my card the power went out.  At first everyone in the store was fine and nobody panicked.  About 10 seconds later some of the lights flickered on again from a …


Letter Re: The Mainstreaming of Survivalism

Dear James: Your commentary on the mainstreaming of survivalism reminds me of something I would like to share.  One statement, particularly, rang true:  “… surely you witnessed (your grandparents) carrying on with the rest of their lives being very thrifty, avoiding debt, and wasting nothing.” A few years ago, it became apparent that the economy was heading south and that family finances would be impacted.  My wife and I sat down with our three teenage children for a brainstorming session on how to cut unnecessary expenses.  We live in a community with all of the modern conveniences of prosperous upper …


Letter Re: How to Butcher a Squirrel

Dear Sir, I write to correct a glaring omission in the now-archived SurvivalBlog article "How to Butcher a Squirrel", by B.T.: There was no mention of scraping the "Vel" from inside the skin as this is the only fat available on a squirrel or rabbit.   Eating only lean meat protein can take a lot of energy to digest and if under cooked it may result in it taking more energy to digest it than you get from it so you deplete your reserves instead of adding to them.   Without this fat you have wasted the energy held within. Many …


Economics and Investing:

Silver Prices Beaten Down By a Strong Dollar Chris G. recommended this: California and Bust . Chris notes that this article was recently referenced by Rush Limbaugh and in Zero Hedge.   Quick Fix In Europe? Dream On   Items from The Economatrix: The End Of The Inflation/Deflation Debate There is No Plan to Fix The Economy Economists Agree:  We Are in a Depression From California to New York, the Tide of Protests Keeps Rising Some observations (circa 2007) from the late Derry Brownfield: Our Land is Collateral for the National Debt. Occupy Wall Street:  The Word is Getting Out …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Absolute OPSEC Stupidity: Hiding Gold in All the Unusual Places. A reader in Nevada wrote to mention that he found Chad Venzke’s home address in Wisconsin in less than a minute with an internet search. Even worse than waking up to find his yard dotted with holes would be waking up to see a pistol in his face, and a demand to “Take a little walk, with a shovel.”    o o o For anyone that is considering moving to North-Central Idaho, be sure to check out the latest ultralight flying video by “ttabs”. It looks like most of it …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“And David spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day [that] the LORD had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul: And he said, The LORD [is] my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; The God of my rock; in him will I trust: [he is] my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence. I will call on the LORD, [who is] worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from …