The Ice Walking Survival Stick, by Carmen G.

As we start to age, we have to compensate for arthritic knee joints, arthritis, and the inability to balance oneself on level ground, never mind walking on a wooded trail.  When finding myself in the situation of not being able to work as a Building Inspector, I decided to do something about it.  My problem was not being able to walk on uneven or ice-covered ground in order to inspect construction sites.  Those sites were the equivalent of an Appalachian trail minus the view in my mind.  My solution was to use a broken rake handle and insert a Philips …


Vision Preps for Disasters, by Josh D. in Georgia

As anyone who makes preparations for the survival of themselves and their family knows the number of things you have to take into account when planning is truly vast and can be overwhelming at times. Food storage, reusable resources, home defense, and do-it-yourself medical care are just a few of the things that must be researched, prepared, and enacted to ensure that you are safe and ready for whatever may come. The number of articles giving advice and urging action are equally numerous throughout dozens of blogs, web sites and books. Within all of this however I have seen almost …


Letter Re: The Google Earth Threat to Retreats

Dear SurvivalBloggers: So you think that your residence, bug out location, or retreat are going to be easy to hide? See this news article: Police: Burglar used Google Maps to case upscale suburban homes Think operational security (OPSEC)! I’ve noticed in my neighborhood who had “photo roofs”, who ran a generator during the recent Hurricane Irene, and who has “interesting” bulk food boxes put out for recycling.  Now I’m not going to be part of the Golden Horde. I’ll be dead of a stroke if TEOTWAWKI happens. (Never been right before in my predictions.) But if I see this stuff, …


Economics and Investing:

Commodities Are Down, But Far From Out Tulare County [California] walnut farmers fight theft. (Thanks to Sean B. for the link.) Kevin S. sent: A new supply risk index for chemical elements or element groups which are of economic value Items from The Economatrix: Silver Soars 26% In 26 Hours Denninger:  I Hope You Have Taken the Last Couple of Years to Prepare 10 Million More Mortgages Set to Default, Expert Says Global Financial Meltdown:  Investors Dump Nearly Everything Amidst Worldwide Market Crash Oil Wavers on Weak Home Sales


Odds ‘n Sods:

Bob G. mentioned: Flower Pot Fridge. This incredibly simple “old school” evaporative refrigeration technology could be a life saver for diabetics, to keep insulin refrigerated in the event of a grid power failure.    o o o Michael Z. Williamson (our Editor at Large) pointed me to this: Things I Learned From My Patients. Mike describes it: “Emergency Room stories of interesting, frightening, horrific, educational, creepy and even disgusting things.  Very educational.  Language safe, but certainly some very adult references.” This web page is not for children!    o o o James C. noted that a classic Army training film …



Notes from JWR:

We’ve just added several new items to the SurvivalBlog Amazon Store, including Dakota Alert passive intrusion detection systems, a Grundig Yachtboy shortwave radio, and some more optics including light amplification (Starlight) and thermal night vision gear. For anyone not familiar with our store, here is how it works: If you click on one of our Amazon links and then either search or “click through” to order ANY product from Amazon.com (not just the ones listed in our catalog), then we will earn a modest sales commission. Please shop with our our paid advertisers first. (See the ads in the right …


Building a Fire in a Post-Collapse World, by Entropy

Recently (based on a suggestion by a SurvivalBlog reader) I began a Meetup Group for Emergency Preparedness.  One of the Meetup events that I’m soon to host is entitled “To Build a Fire”.  Hosting this Meetup which I originally conceived as simply a fire building class has forced me to think logically about tactical fire building in a WTSHTF scenario where you are forced to build a fire for survival purposes.  I’ve synthesized these ideas into this article. By “tactical” what I mean is “low observability” because technically no true definition of tactical perfectly fits this discussion.  However people should …


Survival Philosophy 101: The Caveman Survival Index, by Andrew M.

I still remember the first day in my Philosophy of Religion class back in the good ol’ college days.  My professor started the class with the question, “what is philosophy?”  Of course, being the smart-aleck that I still am today, I eagerly raised my hand and responded, “Philosophy is where you think really hard about something, and when you’re done, you know less than when you started.” I got a few laughs (and some angry looks from the philosophy majors), but I was only half joking.  There is some truth to that statement.   What it really means is that, until …


Letter Re: Avoiding Vitamin Deficiency Illnesses in Societal Collapse

Dear James Wesley, In regard to intake of Vitamin C, many people overlook sweet and hot peppers [as natural sources]. Red sweet peppers have the highest amount of C that is found in vegetable versus citrus fruit. Red peppers have more than green peppers. It seems that freeze drying or dehydrating does not substantially degrade the level of C in the vegetables.  Other good sources in vegetables are broccoli, Brussels sprouts, tomatoes, dark leafy greens and cabbage and sauerkraut. The last two vegetables were very important to Northern European people who had no easy access to citrus fruits. I’m talking …


Economics and Investing:

Chris D. recommended this piece over at Don’t Tread on Me: 12 Reasons Not To Fear September’s Gold And Silver Price Smackdown. JWR’s Comment: In this piece, Scott Wolf notes that the COMEX governors just raised margin requirements on gold, silver and copper again. They can keep manipulating the rules in the futures market, but they cannot stop the demand side of the physical market. In the long run that is what will prevail–even if the futures market is destroyed by outrageous margin requirements–a la Silver Rule 7.) G.G. flagged this: Fed Vice Chair: Economy worse than you think. Also …


Odds ‘n Sods:

K.A.F. sent this: U.S. Government Used Taxpayer Funds to Buy, Sell Weapons During ‘Fast and Furious,’ Documents Show    o o o Safecastle has updated their Freedom Awards contest blog post.    o o o Michael Z. Williamson (SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large) sent this: Police disciplined for throwing football with boy. Mikes’s comment: “Yeah, God help us if cops actually interact positively with citizens…”    o o o A video by an Idaho congressman has been getting a lot of play: The Agenda – Grinding America Down.    o o o There was an interesting post over at Radio Free …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"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


Notes from JWR:

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 …


Baby Steps to Preparedness, by Holli S.

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 …