Inventory, Organize, Adapt and Overcome, by T.C.

My wife and I live in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina and we have been in serious preparation mode for about a year now. Let me explain what I mean by serious preparation: I am talking about creating a defend in place (bug-in) plan and a bug-out plan along with identifying and obtaining the necessary resources to carry them out. Understanding how to Hunt, fish, trap, raise livestock, garden, can and preserve food along with the necessity of having an alternate heat and readily available water sources are still a way of life in the Appalachian Mountains. …


Letter Re: Cascading Chains of Events

An early winter here in the Pacific Northwest reminded me that cascades can get you into trouble and potentially kill.   “Cascades” are what I call the series of events that take us farther and farther from the safety of home and hearth.   Let me explain what happened to me just yesterday:   Yesterday, the temperature warmed to just above freezing for the first time in about three weeks.  During those three weeks, about two feet of snow had fallen.   My tractor developed a leaky rear tire, so I took it off to take it to town to …


Letter Re: Pre-1899 Antique Guns and The Black Letter Law

Hello Mr. Rawles,       I’ve been using your Pre-1899 FAQ web page to advise many auction sellers from whom I buy [Federally exempt] antique guns. You invited comments or questions so here is my latest problem: An auction gallery in Indiana offered a pre-1899 S&W .32 Hammerless for sale. I won the item at auction and the gallery owner is of the opinion that State law prevents him from mailing the item to a non-FFL holder because it uses a currently available metallic cartridge even if it is pre-1899. But when I go to what seems to be the state …


Letter Re: Cold Weather Inbound for Eastern United States

Jim,   Hope all is well!  Hopefully everyone reading your blog will already be prepped for what is inbound….but in case some are not aware, AccuWeather is predicting incredible cold for much of the East and Southeastern US…all the way to Florida.   Everyone needs to be sure to have water, warm clothes, boots, blankets in their vehicles…especially for those transporting children.  Batteries and water pumps often fail in cold weather and to have such a failure in extreme cold can be life threatening if one is not prepared for the event!    Water in the fuel lines of vehicles …


Letter Re: Get Your Soil Ready For TEOTWAWKI

JWR, I’d like to add a couple of things to C.J.’s recent article about getting your soil ready. As C.J. says, adding organic matter to the soil is vital for gardening success.  He also mentions that this is has to be an ongoing task as organic material continually breaks down and has to be replaced. One of the most effective and quickest ways to do this for a garden of a few thousand feet or larger is to buy soil amendment in bulk form from a commercial landscape supplier.  You can have it delivered in their trucks or buy a …


Economics and Investing:

The Wall Street Pentagon Papers: Biggest Scam In World History Exposed – Are The Federal Reserve’s Crimes Too Big To Comprehend? (Thanks to Timothy R. for the link.) Reader L.V.Z. sent this bit of conformation for the long-standing SurvivalBlog advice to buy physical precious metals and keep them at home: Jim Rickards: At Least One Swiss Bank Has Started Refusing to Hand Over Physical Gold to Clients. From the article: “All you need is a government order and ‘gold’ becomes something that isn’t to be backed by real gold. At which point you’d be wise to have real gold in …


Odds ‘n Sods:

El Jefe Jeff E. suggested this amazing video: A time lapse view of the World. Of course, what the narrator fails to mention is that all that wonderful health and wealth cane aboutr as a result of inexpensive and plentiful petroleum. The post-Peak Oil crash will put nearly everyone back down in the dreaded “lower-left corner.”    o o o E.J.J. wrote to mention that he liked the copious useful content at the Practical Answers web site.    o o o Deb J. sent us this interactive map: Diabetes on the March. It is further proof that some regions are …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“If anything, the private conversations of diplomats and security professionals paint a world even more dangerous than the one we usually allow ourselves to describe publicly. And there seems to be more consistency with this American worldview on the part of our friends and allies than is generally admitted. Quite an exposé. ” – Gen. Michael V. Hayden (US DCI, 2006-2009), describing the 2010 Wikileaks Cablegate disclosures


Notes from JWR:

It looks like my Rawles Gets Your Ready Family Preparedness Course, currently on sale, will soon be going out of print for an indefinite period.  Jake Stafford, the owner of Arbogast Publishing (which publishes the course) tells me that after the current sale exhausts their remaining inventory, they will not be doing a new print run, and the course will be officially out of print.  This is due to Arbogast relocating its order fulfillment operations, and because of the very small volume that this publication generates. Because of the urgency to get your food preps squared away, and because there’s …


Protection From Falls, by Big J. in Wisconsin

I have been reading SurvivalBlog for some time now, and I have seen several articles on fire protection, and some mention of chainsaw safety, as well as other notes on being sure to safely use tools.  I have not seen, however, any topics regarding fall protection.  In the post-SHTF we will be doing more repairs ourselves.  Things like patching the roof, modifying the gutters and downspouts to collect water, maybe installing those PV panels you bought.  In addition, more folks will be hunting, which can mean using tree hunting stands or elevated hunting blinds.  These situations present prime opportunities for …


Letter Re: The 31 CONEX Dream Home

JWR: A fellow citizen of the Great White North is building his house, off-grid, out of CONEXes (commonly called sea cans). Check his web site out, and his YouTube videos (from local television news channels). My understanding is that he’s only 75% done, but what an effort!  (I’ll bet that having two metal towers on your house would be good for a couple of LP/OP positions..) God Bless, – J. in the Great White North


Letter Re: Municipalities Raising Revenue by Stepping Up Traffic Violations

Many of your readers have been sending links to articles explaining how bad the economy has been and how much worse it may get.  Some of us have little recourse but to bite the bullet and make do, do without or downsize.  Municipalities across the U.S. also face hard economic times but they have a recourse you and I do not have.  They can raise revenues by fees and fines.  Cities across the country have been increasing fines for such things as traffic violations and many have decided to enforce laws on the books to raise revenue.    In my …


Letter Re: OPSEC Issue: Geotagging on Pictures from Smart Phones

Dear Mr. Rawles, With the proliferation of smart phones, as well as advanced cameras with GPSs installed, people may be giving away more information than they intend to when they snap and distribute pictures. This can be an operational security (OPSEC) issue. Embedded in the Exchangeable Image File (EXIF) data on the picture, the GPS coordinates of the picture location may be stored for anyone to access. This is especially a problem as people post these pictures online (for social networking, emailing to friends/family, or for online sales, etc.). This embedded GPS data can reveal the exact location of your …


Letter Re: Making Low Profile Bulk Food Purchases

Sir,   Your comment to the article on Budget Survival strategies cautioned about the use of grocery store club cards, as potentially allowing your purchases to be tracked.  For those concerned about this, there are simple work-arounds, and the cost savings of using club cards is usually in the order of 30% to 50% or more.    Club cards are usually available at the store through a quick sign-up process, and fake names, phone numbers and addresses can be used.  (I signed up for my first club card under the name Georgina Orwell; and with Sherlock Holmes’s “221b Baker Street” address. I’m …


Economics and Investing:

Bond Prices Plunge for Second Day on Deficit Fears. (Thanks to B.B. for the link.) Nancy B. suggested this insightful piece by Max Hastings: We’re all doomed!!! We still haven’t woken up to how much poorer the West is going to be in the future… Fleeing the U.S. Dollar: IMF sells 200 metric tons of gold worth $6.7 billion to India’s central bank Here is a piece by my mentor, Dr. Gary North: U.S. Facing Federal Debt Cataclysm, The Establishment Is in Despair Ferd flagged this: The Fed Has a $110 Billion Problem with New Benjamins The Federal Reserve covered …