Letter Re: Some Observations From a Texas Winter Storm

Jim, In late January-early February of 2011 Texas got hammered two weeks in a row by serious cold temperatures and dangerous ice. The cold was so severe that many power plants went offline and we had rolling blackouts that lasted up to 45 minutes in some places (not at the Super Bowl however!) Over 50 power plants in Texas shut down at some point because they could not take the record cold temps on Feb. 2. While my home seemed to have missed the rolling blackouts, the place where I work had to go to emergency generator power for a …


Economics and Investing:

Commentary from Barry Eichengreen in the Wall Street Journal: Why the Dollar’s Reign is Near an End. (Thanks to Jeff E. for the link.) Also from Jeff: Muni Default Estimate: $100 Billion. A site that maps gasoline prices, by county, has been mentioned here before: Gas Buddy. So much for the “recovery”: February planned layoffs highest in 11 months: Challenger Items from The Economatrix: Can you feel the artificial stimulus trickling down? US Auto Sales Jump 20% In February. (Perhaps people are out shopping for more fuel-efficient cars.) Oil Prices Jump On Middle East, Bernanke Comments   Manufacturing Growing at …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Italy gets over-run: More Than 140,000 People Flee Libya. Where will you be, when America’s cities are disgorged? Avoid living along refugee lines of drift!    o o o Because of some recent supply difficulties with Yoder’s, CampingSurvival.com has recently switched to Keystone brand canned beef, chicken, and turkey meat and broth.    o o o They’d better include some Kevlar: Bam! Pow! Superhero Groups Clash in an Epic Battle of Good vs. Good. (Kudos to F.G. for the link.)    o o o Reader R.P.B. sent this link: Rural Survival.    o o o Daniel H. mentioned that Pastor …



Notes from JWR:

There are several new properties listed at our spin-off web site: SurvivalRealty.com. My #1 Son has enjoyed great success in connecting buyers with sellers of rural and truly remote properties, both on-grid and off-grid. Ads there are still just $30 per month, and there is no commission charged to either the seller or buyer! — 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 …


Minutes Mean Miles, by Jerry the Generator Guy

Most of us do not have the option of being able to live in our “bug out” location.  I have noticed that there are several common limiters for being able to quickly exit a locale; Time spent deciding on and gathering items to take. Time spent physically loading the vehicle(s). This sort / load time issue is the same regardless of the quantity of stuff to be loaded. The same issues apply whether this is “the big one” or if the need is strictly for a local issue. The “prep” time, if done now, is a no dollar or low …


The Scottish Snowstorms of Winter 2010-2011

In November, it started to snow in the British Isles.  I remember this date well because on the way to Edinburgh from Manchester, my car hit a patch of black ice and skidded at roughly 60 miles per hour. The car was wrecked; I staggered away unhurt.  I wasn’t the only one to have a nasty accident on the first day and I was certainly one of the lucky ones.  There were many injuries and deaths on the first day. Matters only got worse over December.  There was an unprecedented level of snowfall in Britain.  The roads were jammed up, …


Letter Re: Off-Grid Living on an Alaskan Island

Hello, Many US military personal who serve on an isolated duty station, in effect live off grid.  For example I was in the U.S. Coast Guard and stationed at Cape Sarichef, Alaska for a year. [It is at the end of Unimak Island.]           We had three large Caterpillar generators.  We got our water from a reservoir that was filled from mountain runoff.  I would go the reservoir when needed and start a small hand pull pump (during the winter could take almost 30 minutes to get started.) This would pump the water along a buried pipe line, with …


Two Letters Re: Nickels as an Inflation Hedge

Jim, Just another data point for you about Nickels, from North Carolina.  My bank continues to order boxes [of $100 face value in nickel rolls] for me, but they were told by their supplier that 20 boxes was the new limit per week (I had asked for 55 boxes).  The funny thing is the manager said they would simply order me 20 boxes/week until I had what I wanted! They also noted a strong uptick (from essentially none) in customer requesting nickels for the same reason I am getting them – base metal value.  Though none more than a couple …


Economics and Investing:

At last report, Spot Silver was at $34.65 per Troy Ounce. I told you so… Ben S. mentioned: Is the U.S. dollar still a safe haven?   Ben notes: “One opinion in this article is that the dollar is overvalued by 8%.  If this is true, wouldn’t the US Dollar Index also be overvalued by the same, thus resulting in an index of approximately 71?”  Peter Schiff: “We’re in the Early Stages of a Depression” Items from The Economatrix: History Tells Us That A Surge In Fuel Costs Makes A US Recession Likely  Silver Squeeze to Continue   The Silver …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Anyone who owns a FAL or an L1A1 rifle and wants to do any at-home gunsmithing should own one of these.    o o o Roman sent us news of a fascinating development in monolithic dome building technology: Basalt Roving Dome. Imaging this scaled up, and a few additional layers? Talk about blast proof! (Dome-shaped buildings also have Bernoulli’s Principle going for them–they don’t “catch” wind” like slab-sided buildings.)    o o o Lily spotted this over at Paratus Familia: Practical Preparedness – Pharmaceuticals    o o o Seed for Security is offering a free gift for a limited time. …



Notes from JWR:

I just heard from my publisher that “Survivors” (the first of two sequels to my novel “Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse”) will have its first press run in a hardback binding, followed by a trade paperback, and then possibly a mass market paperback. The books will be published by the Atria and Pocket Books divisions of Simon & Schuster. “Survivors” is now in the final stages of editing, and I’m meanwhile busy writing the second sequel, which is tentatively titled “Citizens”. As I’ve mentioned before, the sequels will be geographically distinct but contemporaneous with “Patriots”. We …


From Cartridge to Target: A Bullet’s Flight and Impact, by HardWalker

Lots of care and time are taken to select the appropriate firearm. A precisely crafted piece of machinery primarily designed to do one thing, send a chunk of metal downrange and high speeds with the intention of killing someone or something. There are many ways of doing this and many types of bullets designed for many different purposes. We all can gather the hearsay of what round is the best, which manufacturer has the furthers traveling, hardest-hitting or bang-for-buck ammunition. So when it’s all said and done, understanding what happens to that piece of copper, steel and lead once it …


Letter Re: LED Lighting Discount for SurvivalBlog Readers

Mr. Rawles,   I have been a follower of SurvivalBlog for about a month now and have found great resources, deals and most importantly, useful information with your blog.   As a business owner that has a focus on lighting (and energy efficient lighting of all sorts), we would like to offer SurvivalBlog readers a 20% discount coupon on any purchase from us for LED Lighting.  This discount does not apply to already discounted or clearance products.   Pretty simple – on any order of 10 bucks or more, your community can use coupon code: prepared-sb20 for 20% off their …