Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret [sins] in the light of thy countenance. For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale [that is told]. The days of our years [are] threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength [they be] fourscore years, yet [is] their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, [so is] thy wrath. So teach [us] to number our days, that we may apply …


Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 35 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 Alpine Aire freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $400 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo, and E.) …


Practical Tips on a Cross-Country Move, by P.J.G.T.

We are moving from the East coast to the Northern Rocky Mountains, and here I sit in a Midwestern state at my cousin’s house waiting for a part for our car to be shipped in. So, I thought I’d take this opportunity to put down on paper the best answer I have come up with to a question I had before the move: How do we move our family across country with limited funds, lots of stored supplies and more than a handful of tools? My husband and I are walking a fine line to make this move the best …


Pat’s Product Review: Century Golani 5.56mm Rifle

I have a good friend, Gene Sockut, who lives in Israel. Gene was the chief firearms instructor for the Israeli army for something like 26 years, so when he speaks about firearms, I listen. Gene is also the author of several books and videos on close combat with firearms, as well as being a much sought after speaker on self-defense. He is also a sniper instructor for the Israel Border Patrol – Gene knows about guns and gunfighting, so I respect his thoughts on firearms. Sockut thinks very highly of the Galil. The Israeli Galil rifle was used for several years …


Letter Re: Firearms Stopping Power

Jim: Thanks for posting that link to the best article ever on stopping power! (An Alternate Look at Handgun Stopping Power.) I am completely re-thinking the role of my .22 [rimfire] in light of these results (i.e., The incapacitation percentage is much higher than I would have thought). Apparently the lowly .22 [rimfire] has a place in defense after all. – Neo JWR Replies: Just keep in mind that this study was an abstract view that doesn’t distinguish the circumstances of each incident tallied. For example. .22 rimfires are more often that not rifles, rather than handguns, and they are …


Two Letters Re: Beans, Bullets, Band-Aids and Bicycles

Mr. Rawles: Our young family has some experience with bike trailers and biking with young kids to share.  First, the about the actual trailer, make sure that the hitch can easily switch between bikes.  Another family we bike with occasionally has a trailer that requires a mount be attached to the bike.  We have a Burly bike trailer that we have used for about five years with our three children which will mount on any adult bike.  That allows it to be switched off from adult to adult easily so that no one person gets too tired.  I can vouch …


Letter Re: How to Live Longer Now and After TEOTWAWKI

James: I love the blog and a lot of the articles. I am a dermatologist and wanted to comment on the Vitamin D article posted on July 21, 2011. Despite what you might read on the Internet, you cannot get a significant amount of Vitamin D from sunlight. This is a huge misconception. Even if you tanned for 8 hours, you would only get about 3% of your daily Vitamin D. You would also cause a lot of sun damage which increases your risk of skin cancer. I realize a lot of information says otherwise, but if you check with …


Economics and Investing:

Farmer John suggested this article: 20 Cities Where Housing Prices Are Still Dropping Like A Knife Air Conditioning, Cable TV, and an Xbox: What is Poverty in the United States Today? (Thanks to K.A.F. for the link.) John R. sent another big bunch-o’-links: The Fed Is Now More Leveraged That Lehman Brothers Was  (Graham Summers)   Global Economic Crisis: Finance is the New Mode of Warfare (Michael Hudson)   Portugal Joins Spain and Greece in Lying About its “Colossal” Deficit (Tyler Durden)   Five buys, Five sells for 10 long years of no growth—Commentary: Recession hits in 2012, and things don’t …


Odds ‘n Sods:

G.G. mentioned a piece over at The Volokh Conspiracy: Foot Voting for Freedom    o o o Some thoughts on the sad demise of the Space Shuttle program, made worse by stifling the commercial manned ventures with heaps of bureaucratic paperwork: Be Careful What You Wish For… (Thanks to Greg C. for the link.)    o o o Reader David M. mentioned that there is an extension for Firefox browser called “ShowIP” that displays the IP address of the page being browsed in a small window in the status bar. Handy for making your backup web page bookmarks. (OBTW, please …



Note from JWR:

Today we present another two entries for Round 35 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 Alpine Aire freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $400 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo, and …


How Does Your Garden Grow? (After TSHTF), by Tom from Colorado

Gardens will supply a large portion of our food after TSHTF. Those who already garden know that, in many cases, additional amendments and plant foods/fertilizers are necessary for a good crop. While a compost pile will help a great deal in keeping your soil in good shape, there are many other sources for fertilizers/plant foods that will be easily accessible after TSHTF. I’ll detail several of them and the manner in which to make and/or use them in this article. The Acronym NPK stands for Nitrogen/Phosphorous/Potassium. I’ll include NPK where applicable for more experienced gardeners wondering about the values. Human …


How to Live Longer Now and After TEOTWAWKI, by Kevin D.

Many people take a multi-vitamin.  Some people take multiple supplements.  However, an often overlooked vitamin deserves your closer scrutiny – vitamin D.  New research indicates that vitamin D has holistic effects on the body that cannot be replicated by any other supplement.  These positive effects include, but are not limited to, reduced cancer rates, reduce incidences of heart disease, lower blood pressure, reduced incidences of influenza, and more.  Best of all, for most people, obtaining the proper dosage of vitamin D is incredibly safe, simple, and inexpensive.  In fact, some researchers believe so strongly in the benefits of vitamin D …


Letter Re: The Thinning of The Horde by Matt B.

Dear Survivalbloggers: I just finished re-reading JWR’s novel “Patriots“. Anyone who has read it knows that in Chapter 21 a number was given on the percentage of the population that perished during the Crunch. This has allowed me to open my mind. There will undoubtedly be a Golden Horde, but as you will read, it will quickly and overtime diminish considerably.   This last semester I took a human geography course which I found especially relevant to the way that a ‘Horde’ would move. In the course I have learned that in a typical East Coast suburb, there are about …


Letter Re: Economic Solution?

Mr. Rawles: You, and numerous other hard money advocates–like Ron Paul–spend a lot of time talking about the problems created by the Federal Reserve. You are right in calling it a private banking cartel–because, yep, that it exactly what it is. But what is the solution? Thanks, – Ralph in St. Louis JWR Replies: In essence the problem is our reliance on debt-based funny money. (Take the time to watch the Renaissance 2.0 video series. While I don’t agree with all of its creator’s conclusions, overall it is excellent.) My emphasis on hard goods (barterable tangibles) and hard money (Nickels …