Thoughts on Medical Training For TEOTWAWKI, by Lumberjack

Many people both on this blog and elsewhere in the prepping community have advocated some form of professional medical training prior to encountering a disaster situation.  While I agree with this sentiment, this article is meant to discuss the limits of some medical training for lay persons in a post-TEOTWAWKI scenario, as well as review the options and advantages of the various training programs available for lay people.  That my qualifications may be known, I am an emergency room RN, an EMT, and an instructor of the Wilderness First Responder and Advanced Wilderness Life Support curriculum, with experience in wildland fire …


Letter Re: List of Countries by Real Population Density

James,   I love the work you are doing, keep it up!  I know since the early 1990s when we first communicated via e-mail I have turned hundreds of people on to your writing and your work and yours is still the most comprehensive and easiest to understand approach for newcomers to the prepping community.   I really enjoyed the “Real Population Density” chart (List of countries by real population density (based on food growing capacity) link posted in your blog. But i would like to point out a couple of things that people need to keep in mind.   …


Letter Re: Free Heirloom Seeds

Dear Mr. Rawles, First again thanks and kudos for your interesting and illuminating blog. I would like to remind you and your readers about a web site that SurvivalBlog has mentioned before concerning seeds. I checked the web site Wintersown.org and I sent them a [self-addressed] envelope with two ounces postage (by the way, they mention using two 44 cent stamps, but you only need one 44 cent stamp and one 23 cent stamp for the additional ounce). So, for about a dollar (including the stamp to send the [self-addressed] letter to them) here is what they sent to me: …


Economics and Investing:

From Peak to Valley. Dr. Housing Bubble reports: Beverly Hills real estate selling for 1989 price levels. Home sold for $920,000 in June of 1989 and has a pending sale at $920,000 in 2011. [JWR Adds: So much for oft-touted “buy and hold” strategy! Oh, by the way, how much did the owner(s) of that house cumulatively pay in mortgage interest, property taxes and insurance, for those 22 years? Doubtless somewhere north of a million bucks. And how much has the purchasing power of the Dollar declined in those 22 years? So… Cui bono?] J.B.G. sent this: Government Has Borrowed …


Odds ‘n Sods:

F.G. sent us a list of some regions not to live in: The 11 Most Dangerous Cities. Reading that list should make folks yearn to relocate to truly safe places.    o o o Mark Levin Goes Nuclear Over Obama Destroying the Country. (Our thanks to John R. for sending the link. This might be a good link to forward to your congrescritter’s office.)    o o o At Clinton Speech: Military and CIA Veteran Bloodied, Bruised and Arrested for Standing Silently. And how would have the JBTs reacted if fifty people in the audience had simultaneously done the same …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“These six [things] doth the LORD hate: yea, seven [are] an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness [that] speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” – Proverbs 6:16-19 (KJV)


Notes from JWR:

A Beta Glitch. 🙁 We’ve discovered that some of the 47 beta testers of the SurvivalBlog 2005-2010 Archive CD-ROM may have been accidentally mailed blank CD-ROMs by the publisher. Yikes! If your v0.5 Beta CD-ROM was blank, then please e-mail our archival guru, and we will put you on the list to get a free replacement copy. Our apologies! We are hoping to have the Version 1.0 CD-ROM orderable by everyone on or before March 10th. Thanks for your patience. — Today we present another entry for Round 33 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round …


Review of the USSA Tactical Shotgun Course, by Bubba Man

Here is my review of the USSA Tactical Shotgun #220 course, conducted in December, 2010. I started out with about 850 rounds of #7 bird shot, 150 rounds of 9 pellet 00 Buck and 50 slugs. I should have brought more slugs as I wound up borrowing about 10 from one of the other students. When I was done, I had about 200 rounds of #7 birdshot and 50 rounds of 00 Buck and no slugs. First let me get this out of the way; Those of you who know me, know that I am currently a fat, out-of-shape, somewhat …


Letter Re: Preparedness on a Tight Budget

Mrs. R.J., I rejoice to read of your plans to prepare. It’s good to know you’re in Arkansas. The Christians at Ark Haven believe that is a protected area for many reasons, physical and spiritual. Three generations on one piece of property is definitely getting back to the old ways. Two acres is great — focus on compact crops and animals; Jeavons lists crops by square foot yield and calorie count so you can be sure you’re getting the correct amount in his book “How To Grow More Vegetables” (read it free here). (And yes, it appears this free book is …


Two Letters Re: Investing in Nickels, in Quantity

Jim, Thanks for the blog. I’m a huge fan, and your blog is literally a rock-solid anchor for me and my family during all this turmoil. I took “Rick in Kentucky’s” claim that he could get $190 worth of nickels into an ammo can as a challenge. My ammo is flat green can has yellow paint on it which reads as follows: “200 CARTRIDGES, 7.62 MM, NATO 0 M80…” I took out a full can that I have where the coins are arranged laying down, dumped out the rolls, and started stacking vertically as described by Rick. It was quite …


Economics and Investing:

Loyal reader “OSOM” (“Out of Sight, Out of Mind”) pointed us to an eloquent piece by Bill Bonner (of The Daily Reckoning) titled: “Where to Be When Black Swans Appear” OSOM’s comment: “This is a great introductory article for those folks who don’t yet read SurvivalBlog.” Daniel H. flagged this evidence of flight from the U.S. Dollar: China sells $34.2bn of US treasury bonds. Jon R. mentioned this at The Daily Reckoning: The Food Crisis is a Dollar Crisis The latest FDIC Friday Follies: Regulators shut two small banks in Georgia; makes 20 US bank failures this year. (Thanks to …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Lynn G. sent a link to a web page on nuclear EMP.    o o o Attention SurvivalBlog readers in Colorado: Reader James A. just alerted me that Classic Mustangs in Denver, Colorado recently bought 100 U.S. Army surplus CUCV diesel pickups and Blazers at auction. (I assume these came from Fort Carson, Colorado.) They are offering them either semi-restored (with custom paint jobs and engine block heaters) or essentially “as-is” with their original CARC paint..    o o o John B. sent this: NRA-ILA :: Senator Grassley Presses BATFE On Project Gunrunner    o o o Reader Pierre …



Note from JWR:

Today we present an article by Dr. Cynthia J. Koelker. Regular SurvivalBlog readers will recognize her as a frequent contributor to SurvivalBlog and the editor of ArmageddonMedicine.net. She was also just named SurvivalBlog’s Medical Editor.


Seven Antibiotics to Stockpile and Why, by Cynthia J. Koelker, MD

Assuming your personal physician will help you stockpile antibiotics for TEOTWAWKI, which should you request?  Is there a logical reason to have amoxicillin on hand rather than doxycycline?  Here’s what I would suggest and why. No antibiotic is effective against every type of microbe.  Certain ones will kill aerobic bacteria, others are used for anaerobic bacteria, still others are effective against resistant strains, and certain people are allergic to or intolerant of various antibiotics.  The following are all generics, running about $10 for about a month’s treatment.  Amoxicillin is the old standby for most respiratory infections (probably most of which …