OPSEC When Traveling Abroad, by Picaro Actual

After reading Some Safety Advice for the U.S. Military (an Atlantic article linked from Odds ‘n Sods in the July 22, 2011 SurvivalBlog posts), I was compelled to finish part of something that I’ve written on for some time. While Jeffrey Goldberg’s piece specifically addresses military personnel and contractors, personal OPSEC is an absolute must for civilian travel abroad as well. On that note, I would also draw attention to Survival Blog reader O.P.’s SurvivalBlog article “Emergency Prep for Travelers” from June 27, 2011.  In brief, I’ve lived and worked outside the US for the past six years in several …


Bicycles for Bug Out Drayage, by Light Dragoon

There have been plenty of essays written on the art of “Bugging Out”, many of them concerning the various vehicles which the authors are fond of for every specific condition which one might face.  In particular, there are several good essays on the use of bicycles as “bug out” vehicles.  This note is going to be a bit different, for I’m not going to even consider the use of a bike as a mode of personal transportation, but rather as a “mule” for transporting one’s kit instead. There are plenty of bike options out there, and plenty of experts more …


Letter Re: Body Armor Bans in Australia and Canada

Dear James: There is a nasty trend to require a government permit to possess body armor.  This is very disturbing because the right to protect yourself is the most basic of human rights – the right to life.  It is  a slap in the face to deny law-abiding people protection that is [in itself] purely passive and harmless. Australia has “led the way” in telling citizens that they need state  permission to protect themselves – armor is illegal to import without permission, and illegal to own “without authorization” in several Australian states. Now this evil idea has caught on with …


Three Letters Re: COMSEC: One Time Pad Generation

Sir: I agree with the response posted, and your reply. While older versions of Perl used relatively poor pseudo-random number seeds, the original author’s use of a time (at runtime) index as a pseudo random number (PRN) generator seed is a reasonably “secure” method of generating a series of PRNs. That was the first thing I looked for in his code, and such a method would be secure given the caveats you suggest. (That is, it won’t be up against true high-power cryptanalysis). If applied with random letters instead of words as suggested, (like a “real” one time pad), it …


Letter Re: Physical Fitness for TEOTWAWKI Preparedness

James: After reading the BYU Kid’s excellent article on physical fitness for TEOTWAWKI, I had to respond.  I had to take exception to his statement that Crossfit wasn’t recommended because it’s “Metabolic conditioning is not conducive to the ultimate goal of being useful, functional and simple.” The heart of Crossfit is in fact functional fitness for Law Enforcement and our Military.  I’ve been involved in fitness all my life due to my chosen occupation as a police officer (now retired) and my current occupation as a protection specialist which is what most people refer to as a bodyguard.  I’ve been …


Economics and Investing:

Check Out This Industry Catalog and Price Sheet for FABRICATED Foreclosure Documents. (Thanks to Jeff B. for the link.) John R. recommended this: The Dollar, Gold And The Quality Of Money F.V. sent a link to some commentary by Stephen Hadley: Solve the Next Crisis Before it Happens. Slate asks: Are We Broke Yet? This article has a couple of great graphs. (A hat tip to Yishai for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: White House Veto Threat on Debt Sends Stocks Lower Deal Or No Deal?  US Downgrade Looking Likely White House Privately Telling Banks US Won’t Default Greek …


Odds ‘n Sods:

John K. mentioned a simple chart to aid in the practice of learning Morse code.    o o o Reader Henry M. recommended the new TNT cable television sci-fi drama, “Falling Skies“, starring Noah Wyle. Henry says: “It is actually pretty good viewing and has some common survival strategies in each episode.  It has not really hit it’s stride yet, but has great potential.  I would enthusiastically recommend the show, with the caveat that it will probably be Big Brother and not aliens that comes to take our kids away.”    o o o Swampfox, MD recommended a video from …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“In a larger sense, we want very badly to believe that we have evolved beyond the implacable rules of the veldt, the iron law of tooth and claw. But in reality, the veldt is always with us, along with the knowledge that some in our pack, our extended family, are irrevocably broken. Rather than listen to his message, or endlessly ponder what series of events or severed synapses led to his rampage, or agonize over greater meanings, the Norway shooter should be put down like the rabid animal he is and let the human beings get on with mourning their …


Note from JWR:

My upcoming novel “Survivors: A Novel of the Coming Collapse” (a sequel that is contemporaneous to the action in “Patriots” ) is now past the Second Galley milestone, and soon will be readied for printing pre-release review copies. The new cover is nearly finished, and it looks stunning. The novel is being published by Atria Books, a division of Simon & Schuster. Please delay ordering your copy of “Survivors: A Novel of the Coming Collapse” until October 4th. By concentrating all of the orders on just the release day (also the designated “Book Bomb Day”), we hope to help propel …


The Prepping Imperative, by A.L.T.

Three years ago, my husband and I had never heard the terms “prepper”, “survivalist” or “bug out”.  We were blissfully unaware of our country’s and world’s dire circumstances and didn’t know how to do much of anything truly useful.  This is a chronicle of the journey that brought us to where we are today, and I have included some of the specific books, resources and equipment that are the fruit of much research and thought.  We didn’t have much to spend on equipment or commercially packed stores of food, but through providence and thrift, we are much better able to …


Letter Re: Antique Kindle E-Books as Useful References

I have found a lot of free Kindle e-books available through Amazon.com. Most of these public domain books are older, out of copyright [pre-1923] or out-of-print but may still have some useful information in them that could supplement your survival bookshelf. Just go to Amazon.com and download the appropriate Kindle Reader application for what you are using–such as PC, Mac computer, iPhone, Android, Blackberry–or if you are inclined you could buy a dedicated Kindle reader. The priced I haven’t tried this, but another SurvivalBlog reader might, see if a Kindle app can be downloaded and used from any computer via …


Letter Re: COMSEC: One Time Pad Generation

Hey Jim: I am a little concerned about yesterday evening’s post by B.R. regarding the generation of one-time pads. It claims to generate a “pad” using a random selection of dictionary words. A properly generated one-time pad requires a truly random selection of letters; it is only as strong as the source of entropy. Using a dictionary of English language words, acronyms, etc. does not seem to be very wise. Additionally, while I am not terribly familiar with Perl, I know that a lot of languages have built-in “random” functions that are not as random as one might hope for; …


Letter Re: Physical Fitness for TEOTWAWKI Preparedness

JWR: In his recent article, The BYU Kid offered some pretty solid advice regarding physical fitness, but neglected to mention a couple things that are important for some of the exercises he mentioned.  1.) The pushup should be done slowly – most people when doing pushups tend to rush through them as fast as they can. While there is something to be said for explosive power training, for the purposes of functional strength the pushup should be smooth and controlled – two seconds for the descent, hold at the bottom for a second, then two seconds for the ascent. Make …


Economics and Investing:

In case you missed it, spot gold touched $1,620 per ounce yesterday, and silver got to $40.91. I’m glad that so many SurvivalBlog readers took my advice and bought silver back in 2005 when it was under $7.25 per ounce. For those that didn’t: There is still the chance to buy on the dip days, since the bull market is likely to continue for several more years. The Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB) continues to grow: FHA May Be Next in Line for Bailout: Delisle and Papagianis Dow-to-Gold and Greece-to-Gold The American Thinker asks: Is Your IRA Going To Be …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Were the Bavarian Erdstallen dug by 6th Century preppers? Experts Baffled By Mysterious Underground Chambers. (Thanks to Lamont for the link.)    o o o James C. mentioned a new tiny and tough USB drive. Too bad that they are so expensive. (I think that I’ll wait about a year until they are available less expensively.)    o o o Loyal content contributor K.A.F. mentioned that an Idaho real estate has posted a wealth of web links and phone numbers for those who are considering relocation to northern Idaho.    o o o Several readers mentioned this: DHS Video Characterizes …