Letter Re: Rescue Repair Tape

Mr. Rawles: You recently posted this: Jeremy Pavleck over at Cool Tools recently recommended Rescue Repair Tape. It is a fusing silicone repair tape that has umpteen uses. It can even be used as a temporary patch for leaking radiator hoses. I recommend buying a roll for at home, and one for each of your vehicle tool kits. Jeremy is correct! This stuff is beyond awesome. It is waterproof. It insulates from electricity. It is heat resistant. It is easily removable but doesn’t come off unless you want it to. I have used it to improve grips on firearms (it …


Economics and Investing:

B.B. was the first of several readers to send this article: China Has Divested 97 Percent of Its Holdings in U.S. Treasury Bills. here is a key quote: “Most of the U.S. national debt is made up of publicly marketable securities sold by the Treasury Department and I.O.U.s called ‘intragovernmental’ bonds that the Treasury has given to so-called government trust funds—such as the Social Security trust funds—when it has spent the trust funds’ money on other government expenses.” Talk about a Ponzi scheme! The Sky Is Falling, It Is Time To Panic And The U.S. Economy Has Fallen And It …


Odds ‘n Sods:

A reminder: Ready Made Resources is seeking entries for their Preparedness Video Contest. Instructional (nonfiction) videos on any topic related to family preparedness are sought. The prizes are a brand new Rock Rivers Arms (RRA) Elite Comp M4 (AR-15 series compatible ) complete Barreled Upper Receiver and a Trijicon Reflex sight with a combined retail value of more than $1,400. Please keep your privacy in mind when you create your videos. (Don’t mention any surnames or towns). You may post up to three videos to YouTube for consideration in the judging. Videos up to 10 minute long that are your …



Notes from JWR:

Please pray for the folks in the path of the large wildfire in Northern Arizona. — 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 …


Extreme Coupon Prepping, by Y.M.

Two years ago, after intense research, my husband decided to talk to me about the possibility of an economic collapse or terrorist attack.  He also described to me in detail the steps that we would have to take in order to prepare for such events.  We made lists prioritizing emergency preparedness goals, such as bug-out-bags, water and food storage, a medical supply kit, water purification methods and home defense,  to name a few.   I have to admit that at first I was confused, completely freaked out, and at times angry at the thought that the world as we know it …


Letter Re: National Academies Publication Now On-Line

Dear Mr. Rawles, I was just made aware that on June 2nd, the U.S. National Academies (e.g., National Academy of Science, National Academy of Engineering) made their publications available for free on-line.  http://www.nap.edu/   Documents can either be reviewed on screen, downloaded as a PDF (need to register with site to download files) or hard copies can be ordered (although at substantial cost). Publications cover a broad range of topics from Agriculture, to Engineering and Technology, to Conflict and Security Issues. Although much of the material may be of little direct value to a prepper, there may be some value …


Letter Re: Keeping Your Communications Private

Jim, I would like to offer a suggestion and a word of caution concerning F.J.B. suggestions for secure and private communications. The suggestion is the computer media containing the data.  Instead of trying to find a small thumb drive or a thumb drive in some nondescript package, one should look at the MicroSD card.  These generally come with an SD card carrier and SD card writers are inexpensive and small.  Once removed from the carrier, the MicroSD card measures only 11x15x1 mm (.43x..59x.04 inches) and is available in sizes up to 64 GB.  This extremely small gadget can easily be …


Economics and Investing:

When Faith In U.S. Dollars And U.S. Debt Is Dead The Game Is Over — And That Day Is Closer Than You Might Think. Wayne Root: Why the Greatest Depression of All Time Has Begun How Gold Could Reach $13,644 An Ounce And Silver $843 An Ounce Reader K.A.F. sent a link to and article that illustrates that the implication of metals stripping can go far beyond crack heads electrocuting themselves: CSX train derails in Taunton; police investigate theft of railroad tracks Dulce et decorum est: Bank of America Gets Pad Locked After Homeowner Forecloses On It. (Thanks to Greg …


Odds ‘n Sods:

We’ve mentioned “seasteading” several times in SurvivalBlog, and my #1 Son attended their first planning conference. Here is the latest news: Patri Friedman makes waves with ‘seasteading’ plan. (Thanks to Georgia Mom for the link.)    o o o I just heard that for just the month of June anyone order more than $150 of any merchandise from Ready Made Resources will receive a free DVD copy of the excellent Urban Danger DVD.    o o o Jeremy Pavleck over at Cool Tools recently recommended Rescue Repair Tape. It is a fusing silicone repair tape that has umpteen uses. It …



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 …


Survival Electronics, by M.B. Ham

As an electronics and computer engineer for the past 30 years my personal skill sets are of limited but interesting value after TEOTWAWKI. Given that there may be very limited electricity, and/or the fact that CME/EMP may destroy most electronics devices, the need for these skills may be rare. I feel that these skills will be mostly useless unless you are part of a sustainable group of retreatists that have electricity and devices that use it. I plan to be part of such a group, and so I am planning ahead to make sure that my skills can be applied …


Initial Experience With a Slide Fire AR Stock

Courtesy of one of my consulting clients, I recently had the opportunity to shoot more than 120 rounds through an AR-15 equipped with an SSAR-15 SlideFire Solutions stock. These are legal “bump fire” stocks that slide 1/2-inch, allowing you to very rapidly re-press the trigger, under recoil. The effect sounds just like full auto. It takes a few minutes to get accustomed to controlling the length of bursts. The trick is using a slight forward pressure on the foregrip. As with full auto, don’t expect much accuracy after the second shot in a burst. (I was able to keep two …


Letter Re: Tips on Buying Physical Silver Locally

JWR, Thank you for your site, I read it daily. I would like to point out that local coin auctions are another good place to pick up some silver. I came across an ad in the classified section of the local paper for a coin auction that was being held at one of our local auction houses. They had a web site that listed all of the coins that were to be for auction that following weekend. There were over 500 lots of coins for auction that day. I picked up several 40% Ike dollars for $3-$5 less than what …