Three Letters Re: A Treasure-Hunting Prepper

Hi James. I only have a few comments on Greg’s treasure hunting article. First! All people new to metal detecting need to know the first rule is: what ever you dig- fill in your holes, please fill in any holes you make, learn to dig a ‘plug’. You Tube has a ‘how to’ do it the right way video. (Note: He’s using a Mine Lab detector in the video) Damaging the grass in your own yard isn’t a big deal, but if a million people (since Greg posted on a very popular blog, and people might rush to buy a …


Economics and Investing:

Reader Tom C. wrote to mention an inflation data point: He noticed that half gallon bottles of lamp oil selling at Wal-Mart just jumped from $4.97 to $5.97 in one week–about a 20 percent increase. Morgan Stanley borrowed the most in financial crisis. ($107.3 billion in one month, with no public disclosure!) Gil Morales and Chris Kacher QE3: Top 8 Reasons Gold Goes Higher. (Thanks to Steve H. for the link.) US Government Asset Seizures On The Rise. (A tip of the hat to Stephen M. for the link.) Over at Fierce Finance: Layoff misery on Wall Street just getting …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Free Food To Go is organizing a Preparedness Fair in Boise, Idaho on August, 26 and 27, 2011.    o o o Why the rebels finally reached Tripoli    o o o The folks at Directive 21 wrote to mention that they now have a limited supply of Crown Berkey Water Filter Systems in stock, ready to ship. (These are the six gallon system–the largest Berkey system available. )    o o o Kevin S. wrote to tell me about the Fluid Nexus web site. “Fluid Nexus is an application for Android phones and desktop computers enabling exchange of messages without …



Notes from JWR:

Because Kunaki.com (the vendor that makes our five year archive CD-ROM) is presently moving from high tax New York to low tax Nevada (they deserve congratulations on voting with their feet!), you can expect a one week delay for any orders that are currently in process. Thanks for your patience! — Today we present another entry 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 …


One Big BOV, by KC-4-JC

In my prepping, one of the hardest things for me currently was the bug out vehicle (BOV), so as with any prepping activity I made my list. I first made my list for a “normal” BOV; 4×4, diesel, four doors, trailer hitch front and back, winch front and back, spare rims and tires, and enough storage for our stuff. Since we currently do not have a retreat location, we would have to be able to carry a large amount of supplies and equipment to the location we will be hunkering down at. Continuing the thought process I decided we would …


Letter Re: Following Counsel–Some Experience With 7.62mm NATO Battle Rifles

James, First, thank-you for the tip about the alloy G3 (HK91-compatible) magazines that CheaperThanDirt sells for just 97 cents apiece.  I placed an order for one hundred of them and shortly three big boxes arrived.  I’ve checked them out and surprisingly, many of them are still new in the wrappers, and the rest are in really decent shape.  I’ve never bought a rifle backwards (buying magazines first, then buying the rifle to match), but since I like the .308 Winchester round and have a few other rifles in that caliber this seemed like an interesting preparedness exercise.  I started looking …


Letter Re: Vignette of an Eastern U.S. Earthquake

Hi Mr. Rawles: I want to share with you today’s events in Washington DC. I came home early from school and decided to go to the gym to burn off some of those summer pounds. As I was walking to the gym (two blocks away), listening to my iPod. All of the sudden I heard some crashing and screaming. Since this is DC, everything happens so I kept on walking. I finally realized that something was definitely wrong when I saw people pouring out from every building including a rather overweight man wearing only a bath towel  that was way …


Letter Re: The Bias of Financial Analysts and the Mainstream Media

James: If you read the mainstream media, you;ll see how the Dow Jones average ‘soars’ when it breaks its downward spiral and posts a 2% gain – when the ‘good’ news is out of Germany and China – never mind that the market is still down 12.5% from where it was a month ago. But, in contrast Gold ‘tanks’ – ‘is at the top of a bubble’ – ‘isn’t money’ – when it pulls back 1.5% at the top of a rally that saw prices up 19% over the same time period. Paper promises of debt aren’t money, and ‘securities’ …


Letter Re: American-Made Field Gear

Hola Mr. Rawles, ¿Qué tal? I enjoy your blog, and I appreciate what you are doing. In the latest daily edition I noticed the mention of SpecOps Brand gear as being high quality and American made. It is, and I have been very satisfied with all of the Spec-Ops brand gear I have had over the years. It is good stuff.  Their clearance section is just the icing on the cake. Are you also aware of the Tactical Tailor brand gear?  They are just outside of Fort Lewis, Washington.  It is designed and made in the USA, and it’s extremely …


Economics and Investing:

G.G. sent this: Marc Faber readies for hyperinflation, dollar’s demise and civil unrest Frequent content contributor John R. sent this: A banking system built on lies and deception–Hiding commercial real estate losses by laundering bad loans through the Federal Reserve. Trillions of dollars in bailouts were made while banks told the public all was well. Items from The Economatrix: Chinese Think Tank Implies America May Be Falsifying Its Accounting, Says US on Its Way to Default Gold Soars to Record Near $1,900 on Economic Woes $5,000 Gold, $200 Silver Predicted The Great Collapse Has Officially Begun Moody’s Downgrades Japan’s Debt …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Matt in Colorado Springs, Colorado sent us this: Can you survive if you’re YOYO? Commissioner preaching preparedness    o o o SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large Michael Z. Williamson wrote to mention that he will have eight tables at the Indy 1500 Gun and Knife Show this weekend (August 27th and 28th) in Indianapolis. SurvivalBlog readers are welcome to drop by to chat. Look for 8 tables of swords, knives and other edged tools, toward the back right of the hall. I assume that he’ll have some of his notorious famous WWF Panda T-shirts with him.    o o o Richard …



Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry 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 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.) …


A Treasure-Hunting Prepper, by Greg R. in Indiana

If you have been following the precious metals market lately, and you either have been or are considering the idea of investing in silver or gold, you fully appreciate the degree of value both metals have increased to. Market volatility is sparking renewed interest in precious metals as a means of protecting investments. Historically, civilizations understand the value and rare properties gold and silver offer. Regardless of what Ben Bernanke thinks, gold is money, and has been a form of currency, more so than the fiat currency that he continues to run off the printing press. The problem is that …