"The fearful danger of the present time is that above the cry for authority, we forget that man stands alone before the ultimate authority, and that anyone who lays violent hands on man here, is infringing eternal laws, and taking upon himself superhuman authority, which will eventually crush him." – Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Just one week from today (Tuesday, October 4th) is Book Bomb Day for my new book “Survivors: A Novel of the Coming Collapse”. Please wait until October 4th to place your order, so that we can get a big move into Amazon’s Top 10. Thanks! — Today we present another two entries for Round 36 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 …
While TEOTWAWKI may or may not happen soon, one can never be too prepared. Loss of job or illness can happen any time. Being prepared can lessen the stress in your life and also lead to strengthening your family bonds. Not everyone has the financial or physical means to opt out or bug out at a moments notice. What we can do is start with Baby Steps and work our way up to where we want to be. • Research • Plan • Schedule • Execute • Learn to be thick-skinned • Follow up and be flexible. Change can sometimes lead to opportunity. • Try new things …
I am not like most people; mainly because of the way I was raised as a child. Hunting, fishing, trapping, and outdoor/survival skills were not only practiced but often encouraged by my father. In hindsight I can say it wasn’t necessarily that he thought I might need the skills someday. I think it was more because it was a good way to keep me and my brothers out of trouble. It seemed to work. My father was always the type of guy to take us out of school for the important things in life. The opening day of fall firearms …
Dear Jim: Recently, while doing some genealogy research, I discovered that my great aunt died at age 22 in Sunderland, England. She had married in 1906 and died in 1907. We all assumed it was childbirth related. Not so. The death certificate says: “Scurvy septicaemia”. This is certainly not anything I have heard of before. I did some reading and found that Scurvy is is a lack of Vitamin C with symptoms of weakness, spongy and bleeding gums, and hemorrhages under the skin. As scurvy advances, there can be open wounds filled with pus, loss of teeth, jaundice, fever, neuropathy …
Several readers mentioned a video that caused some jaw-dropping by the newscasters: Trader on the BBC says Eurozone Market will crash Reader R.J. wrote to mentIon: ” So just how is ‘Operation Twist’ supposed to fix the economy? One positive from it: It gave me a chance to buy some relatively cheap silver.” J. McC. pointed me to this: The €2 trillion fund to save the euro: The numbers keep getting bigger. When the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) was created in May last year it was underwritten to the tune of €440bn (£384bn). Marty Weiss: Twelve (12) Giant U.S. …
A “Strong To Severe” geomagnetic storm is expected for up to 36 hours, starting tonight. Get ready for some pretty aurorae. Disconnecting the power cords and antennas for your primary radios and full Faraday cage protection (trash can with tight-fitting lid) for your spares would be wise. This is good practice, if nothing else… o o o F.J. found this gem: Box food dehydrator o o o Camping Survival’s Paracord Giveaway ends soon. Describe your favorite paracord project, or list some of your favorite uses for paracord and how you execute them, and you can win a 1,000 …
“There is the moral of all human tales; ‘Tis but the same rehearsal of the past. First freedom and then Glory – when that fails, Wealth, vice, corruption – barbarism at last.” – George Gordon (Lord Byron), “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage“, Canto IV
I’m sure that most of you noticed that gold and silver took deep dips on Thursday and Friday. (Spot silver declined nearly 20%–almost $9 per ounce!) Then an odd thing happened last weekend: I attended a gun show deep in the American Redoubt. I was happy to see that there were four coin dealers that had rented tables there. I had brought some cash with me, hoping to buy some more silver. I also brought a few fractional gold coins to swap for silver, or perhaps even platinum. (Since spot platinum is presently priced below gold!) But my more realistic …
Okay, I admit it, I’m a Prepper. The first time I read the Boy Scout Motto “Be Prepared”, I was hooked. “Be prepared for what?” someone once asked Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting, “Why, for any old thing.” said Baden-Powell. My real awakening with the Boy Scout Handbook was my first introduction to fire. Learning to make a basic campfire, a cook fire, bonfire and camp-fire television were the first tastes of what would prepare me for the future. I camped, earned merit badges and worked my way to First Class and Patrol leader all the while putting an end …
OB? Not bad if you need one. CB? Good times on the road. PB? Quite tasty–with or without J. BB? Good training gun for kids to start with. TB? No thanks. Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The disease is poorly understood in the US due to rare infections until the last 20 years or so, TB went nuts here and peaked in 1992. New York City was in some areas more than three times the national average for infections per 100,000 population. There were many reasons listed for this spike, but the two biggest were immigration and AIDS. …
James, I’m looking for info on the range (radius) of direct electromagnetic pulse (EMP) effects from a nuclear detonation. If you could point me in the right direction, I’d be most appreciative. Sincerely, – Todd H. JWR Replies: I have discussed this before in SurvivalBlog, such as in my reply to this letter posted in 2009.
Hi Jim, I’ve been chasing some practical technologies that have proved useful to me. I hope that you find them useful as well. As you know, power usage in an off-grid environment is a purse to be tightly controlled. After all, when you make your own, you cautiously guard it’s use. I‘ve been using LED strings from Inirgee.com for the past number of years at the off grid ranch and have been well pleased. I’ve used the warm white and the cool white and learned I like warm white inside and cool white outside. Recently I …
Mr. Rawles: In a recent SurvivalBlog post, Alan W. wrote: “It has a 400w inverter with a modified sine wave output. During Hurricane Irene the only thing that I could get it to power was a standard lamp with an incandescent light bulb! It wouldn’t run tools or electronics.” I believe he is drawing the wrong conclusion from this experience. Instead of blaming the (admittedly inferior) “modified sine wave” inverter, he should have blamed himself for not testing his equipment before the emergency struck. I own a number of inexpensive inverters with “modified sine wave” ranging from 175 watt to …
Pierre M. sent this: Bank of America is Becoming a “Counterparty Risk” Like Bear and Lehman Over at Fierce Finance: Banks downgraded, but is too-big-to-fail really over? G.G. sent a link to a noteworthy news article dated September 19th that I had missed: Israel Has Dumped 46 Percent of Its U.S. Treasury Bills; Russia 95 Percent Also from G.G.: Virginia regulators closed another bank, bringing the nationwide tally of bank failures to 72 for the year. Items from The Economatrix: Oil Falls Below $80 On Demand Concerns Global Leaders Struggle to Calm Recession Fears Signs of China Slowdown Add to …