Letter Re: The Yellowstone Super-Volcano and the American Redoubt States

Dear Mr. Rawles,   I am heeding your advice about looking at Idaho Montana, Eastern Washington, and Eastern Oregon for my retreat.  But I am very concerned about the potential super volcano beneath Yellowstone National Park. I have researched the past eruptions and their ash falls.  I see from those maps that these areas are very much in that zone.  I’m concerned not so much for my generation but for my children and my children’s children.  I want my retreat to be viable for generations to come.  What is your thoughts regarding this threat?   Thank you! – Guy JWR …


Letter Re: Another Instructables Reader

Hi Mr. Rawles, Instructables.com is one of five web sites I visit on a daily basis (second to yours, of course), and I love seeing links to it from your blog.  I don’t know if you’ve seen the following entries, but they’re certainly handy in a pinch: Emergency Duct Tape field stretcher Paracord Rifle Sling Paracord Bandoleer Of course purpose-built stretchers, slings, and bandoleers would serve one best; but once the Schumer hits the fan, the next best thing might just be made from stockpiled duct tape and parachute cord! Best Regards, – Skip H.


Letter Re: EMP Protection for Photovoltaics

Mr Rawles, I have been reading survivalblog.com for about eight months now and have been considering trying to go off the grid so to speak. I have been reading many, many very helpful and interesting articles about “how to” setup and or make your own solar panel system. There is one question that I hope that you can field to your contributors of this subject. How you you protect your solar panels and system from a HEMP should one occur? I have not found info on how to protect against this kind of attack. It does not seem practical if …


Letter Re: Moving to The American Redoubt

Hi James, We read SurvivalBlog often and stumbled across your article about the American Redoubt and found it very interesting, especially after watching the movie “Atlas Shrugged.” I wasn’t sure what it meant to us or what we could do with the info you provided. We decided to randomly search for jobs. We live in Arizona and have always wanted to move out of state, summers here are brutally hot. After reading your article about relocating we decided we really didn’t want to be in Arizona when it all goes down, with the lack of water and you know the …


Economics and Investing:

G.G. flagged this bit of government spending orgy news: Federal budget deficit on track to eclipse $1 trillion for third year. How long do they think they can continue to do this without destroying the U.S. Dollar? L.M.W. sent this: Why We Are Facing an Inflationary Depression Hathaway Confirms Gold to Trade in the Five Digits An interesting piece over at FOREX Crunch: We Have A Volunteer For Greek Losses Items from The Economatrix: Example How Gold Can be a Debt Protection China Warns US Debt-default Idea Is Playing With Fire US Hurtles Toward System Failure Death By Debt Global …


Odds ‘n Sods:

NASA Internal memo: Family/Personal Preparedness Plan    o o o I heard from CPA Mara Helland that now that tax season is over, she now has the bandwidth to accept just a few more clients. I have been very satisfied with her work on my taxes for the past three years, and I highly recommend her. She is based up in Montana, but has clients in many states. I can vouch that she handles long-distance clients wonderfully.    o o o Carolina Readiness Supply is hosting the “Sensible Mountain Preparedness Seminar” on June 18th in Clyde, North Carolina. (Near Asheville …



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 …


Bug In, or Bug Out?, by H.C.

I am a double transplant recipient who is 50 years old and in fairly good health but with restrictions as to what I am physically able to do.  My household consist of myself, my wife, and our 8 year old son. I also have a grown daughter that lives three hours drive to the west but she is not a major factor in emergency plans. I don’t say this to be heartless or imply I love my daughter less but,  from my standpoint, she is now on the periphery of my planning as is any other family member who is …


Letter Re: Extreme Coupon Prepping

Jim, I’d like to share my recent experience with grocery discounts using the controversial discount cards that stores issue. First of all, I’ve never filled out a customer-information form for any such card, and since I pay cash nobody knows who I am. So since my name is not connected with the discount cards, I gladly use them to take advantage of every possible discount. There are three Kroger stores in my area, and one day recently I was on the canned vegetable aisle and noticed a tag that said that a certain brand of diced tomatoes was priced at …


Letter Re: Beyond Outdoor Survival

James,     As someone who has taken multiple week-long backpacking trips in the Rocky Mountains, I noticed a couple of things in this article that I would like to address.  The first is the author’s advice on mountain shelters.  First of all, if you do decide to pick a cave for shelter please be aware that mountain lions are plentiful in the mountains and one may have already decided to make that cave its home.  I have literally walked within feet of a mountain line that was laying in its den in the middle of the day, a very unnerving …


Economics and Investing:

I predicted seeing ads once the base metal value of nickels hit two times their face value (“2X face”), but not this soon: BoxOfNickels.com. I’m confident that you can expect to see more such nickel entrepreneurs in the near future–especially once the base metal value exceeds 1.5 times face value. (7.5 cents for a nickel.) Speaking of changing valuations (in this case, deflation), have you seen the chart showing the change Bitcoin values in the past three months? It now takes more than $15 USD to buy one BTC and in a brief spike the rate got up past $30. …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Washington residents warned of ‘bloodthirsty’ dog pack    o o o Reader K.A.F. mentioned Quizlet, a web site with free downloadable flash cards and a study games. Great for homeschoolers!    o o o These had me laughing…    o o o Courtesy of Kevin S.: Deadly Fungus Strikes Joplin Tornado Survivors, Volunteers    o o o I heard that Camping Survival just received a large new supply of Yoder’s canned meats, including some canned bacon. They also have canned cheese and butter available. Camping Survival is presently offering a 5% off sale on every order, with coupon code “june2011promo“.  …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward [is] with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed [are] they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into …


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 …