Desert Survival, by Amy H.

Every year, a group of my friends go on a week-long camping trip in a Nevada desert.  Sounds silly, right?  No trees, plants or animals, no running water. Not even roads–usually the nearest hospital is well over an hour away, sometimes two, and that’s if you don’t get lost by trying to cut across an impassable part of the desert trying to get to it.  But, it’s a good test to see if we can be self-sufficient for even just a week.  Also, in a bug out situation, some people may just find themselves having to cross through barren desert …


Traditional Archery in a TEOTWAWKI

I felt prompted to write to point out some advantages to traditional archery, especially for those that might not be all that familiar with archery as a family sport. First, a little about me. I am 56 years old and have been an archer since I was 14. My dad was an avid outdoorsman who introduced me to a .22 rifle when I was six years old. I still have that rifle and used it to teach my wife how to shoot when we first married 36 years ago and am now using it to teach my nephews to shoot. …


The 2005-2010 SurvivalBlog Archives Now Available on CD-ROM!

The five-year compendium archive of SurvivalBlog articles and letters on CD-ROM (in both HTML and PDF) is now available! This CD-ROM, optimized to laptops, is now orderable through Lulu.com, for $19.95. Even if the Internet goes down, you will still have all of SurvivalBlog’s archives at your fingertips, with all posts fully searchable. And if you are online while using the CD-ROM, the links to external web sites are fully functional. The blog’s archives are immense. (If you were to print out the entire PDF, it would take 5,504 sheets of paper!) Order your copy today!


Red Dawn Goes Korean: Digitally-Manipulated Political Correctness

They call it the “dream factory”. Hollywood, they say, is where any dream can be made to appear to come true. Apparently that is still the case: The Los Angeles Times just reported that MGM has magically transformed the villains in the soon-to-be-released remake of the legendary John Milius film Red Dawn from Chinese to North Korean. The change in bad guys was accomplished by creating a new opening sequence summarizing the back story, by re-editing two scenes and by using digital technology to transform many Chinese symbols to Korean. All this cost only about $1 million in additional post-production …


Economics and Investing:

F.G. suggested this: Golden Years–People have had a fascination with gold for thousands of years. Here are some milestones along the way. C.D.V. sent this bit of gloomage: Mandatory Spending to Exceed all Federal Revenues — 50 Years Ahead of Schedule. From John R.: Europe debt risk hits $2.5 trillion Items from The Economatrix: The Silver Door Is Closing Sprotts On Silver — The Door Is Closing      14 Reasons Why The Economic Collapse Of Japan Has Begun   Around The World Graphs 


Odds ‘n Sods:

This headline may remind readers of a prescient article that they read in September, 2010 in SurvivalBlog: Spent nuke fuel pool may be boiling, further radiation leak feared. Note that most spent fuel ponds are typically NOT housed the same heavy duty containment vessels as reactors. Thus, they pose a greater contamination risk than reactors!    o o o Reader Troy H. sent this: No looting going on in Japan. Troy’s comment: “I think this article gives credence to your idea that having a morally unified community (e.g. your fellow retreaters, your small rural town, etc.) increases your chances of …



Note from JWR:

Today we present another two entries for Round 33 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 round case of 12 Gauge Hornady …


A Firearms Battery on a Budget, by J.J.K.

There has been a lot written about firearms in a SHTF scenario. Plenty of information about which firearms are the “best” and which calibers are the “best” and so on. I have no interest in proceeding on that same tack. If you have the money, you can make any firearm choices you want, and if you have the time and authority, you can coordinate with those who are likely to show up to your retreat. Neither of these is possible in our personal situation. My wife and I have both been unemployed for well over a year. My unemployment is …


Prepper Turnout Gear, by Vincent H.

When I use the term turnout gear what does that mean to you?  If you’re a fire fighter this brings to mind the boots, pants and coat you don before you battle a fire.  If you’re at your retreat, or even your home, this is the gear you quickly throw on to address an unexpected problem.  In this post I hope to cover some gear I have decided would be beneficial to have under these circumstances and what I have acquired to use in this situation. The best example I can use to reference this problem to everyone is well …


Letter Re: Preparedness at Your Workplace

Mr. Rawles, As a regular reader of your blog, I have seen little mentioned about one obvious “bug in” solution that most people overlook, which would be their office or work site. This will not work for everyone but please allow me to provide you with my own experience. We have a small warehouse/office operation of about 2,000 square feet. There are 2 offices, a basic bathroom, and a small room previously used as a lunch room for the employees of the other tenant. These rooms take up about 400 square feet of space from the total 2,000 square feet. …


Letter Re: Low-Light Tactics and Options

Officer Tackleberry’s recent article was a rarely touched upon subject in the tactical world. People like to train what they are good at and not what they aren’t so good at. Low-light takes a lot more work for a variety of reasons. I hope to add a bit to Tackleberry’s very useful article. I will attempt to not be too redundant, as Tackleberry did a very good job of describing techniques and principles… perhaps we can overlap in a beneficial way. When activating your tactical light, be it handheld or weapon-mounted, always have the light pointed at, or nearly at …


Economics and Investing:

The latest at Dr. Housing Bubble: The financial psychology of negative equity – 1,880,000 California mortgage holders have no equity in their homes. California home prices will fall 15 to 25 percent in the coming years. 1 out of 3 California mortgage holders at risk of walking away or defaulting. What’s the Difference Between 1 Gold Karat, 1 Diamond Carat and 1 Troy Ounce? Ben S. suggested this: Normal Interest Rates Would be a Disaster for U.S. Debt Items from The Economatrix: Fears of a Slowdown in Japan Push Stocks Lower   Quake Selloff Wipes $287 Billion Off Tokyo Stock …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader J.B.G. sent this: Panic Buying Adds to Shortages After Japan Quake. JWR’s Comment: I predict that next they’ll try to cast blame on folks that stocked up before the earthquake. (True “hoarding” is something that occurs after a the onset of a crisis.) Meanwhile, in Tokyo: Japan’s nuclear emergency prompts panic buying in Tokyo    o o o Don’t miss this essay by Victor Davis Hanson: The Fragility of Complex Societies. (Thanks to Z. for the link.)    o o o Six Lessons for Preppers from the Japanese Earthquake / Tsunami / Nuclear Meltdown Disaster    o o o …