Letter Re: In Defense of Bolt Actions

Dear Jim and Family,   I have been shooting for a dozen years and I learned some things, going from BB guns and .22s to proper hunting rifles. I got started on .22s, to learn to shoot properly with them, and worked my way up to .223, which is an excellent teaching tool for marksmanship and as a backup firearm since its a milsurp caliber (5.56×45 NATO) and good for taking groundhogs, bunnies, squirrels, and coyotes at range. Mostly, its a [transitional] teaching round, same as a .22 LR. Its also useful in a proper length carbine, but its limitations must be …


Letter Re: Fuel Refining, 19th Century Style

James, Please have a look at this series of photos! If the link doesn’t work, it’s at Flickr under “Traditional Oil Drilling, Indonesia” If these guys used a ox, instead of the engine, to power the bailer (their “pump”) this set up would be exactly the same as was used in Canada and eastern Europe 150 years ago. The simply thermal-cracking refinery they’re operating, or a variant of it, can produce not only diesel but gasoline, kerosene, and lubricating oils as well. I was simply dumbfounded to see these pictures. This would be like finding a Cavalry company mounted on …


Economics and Investing:

More Investors Position for Possibility of U.S. Default Commentary from Spengler, over at The Asia Times: Food and Failed Arab States “First, they ignore you, then they ridicule you…” Now we seem to be getting to the ridicule stage: How Much is a Nickel Worth? More than Five Cents, Says Michael Lewis. (Thanks to Randy F. for the link.) I spotted this over at Zero Hedge: Ron Paul to Ask Fed Why After Trillions in Free Money, Unemployment is Still Sky High Items from The Economatrix: Bernanke Speech Helps Push Stocks Higher   Shoppers Shook Off the Snow in January, …


Inflation Watch:

Episodes of Hyperinflation Reader Erik K. wrote: “I have to thank you for your post in SurvivalBlog on August 22, 2010 regarding a coming scarcity of sugar for 2011. After I read the article my wife and I went to our local big box store and purchased enough sugar to last our family for several years to come. We vacuum sealed the sugar in 5 gallon buckets using our iron, vacuum and mylar bags with oxygen absorbers. The buckets we used were free from a bakery and the cost of mylar and oxygen absorbers were $2.40 for each bucket. A …


Odds ‘n Sods:

The folks at Next Level Training (one of our writing contest prize donors) have created a coupon code just for SurvivalBlog readers. Your code is: survivalblog to get a special reduced price of $399 on SIRT Glock form factor laser training pistols. These are amazing training tools that will help keep you in top shooting form, even when ammo prices are sky high.    o o o “A violent turn for the worse” in Cairo    o o o Yishai sent a link to powerful photo: “Abandoned vehicles litter northbound Lake Shore Drive on Tuesday morning.” E. Jason Wambsgams, Chicago …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Nobody has ever argued that the government deficit-spending and all the rest of the heroic, last-ditch, pull-out-all-the-stops monetary excesses would not make statistics of economic activity blip upward. The argument is whether or not it will eventually destroy the economy. I say it does. The rise in the price of gold says it does. The decline in the dollar says it does. All of recorded economic history says it does.” – Richard Daughty (aka The Mogambo Guru)


Notes from JWR:

Please keep those who are in the path of major storms in your prayers. There’s Cyclone Yasi (Category 5!) in Australia, and monumental snow storms in the American Midwest and northeast. There are some secondary global implications, so pray hard and get your own family prepared, even if your aren’t in the path of a storm. We will each see a storm of some sort, in our day. Hopefully, not a lead storm. — 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 …


Planning for Training, by B.D.

When you’re training, your main goal should always be to improve tactical and technical proficiency.  Combat is a contest of skills and abilities, and without tactical & technical proficiency you’ll surely lose this contest, going from survivalist to speed bump before you know it.  Let’s start by defining these terms.  Technical proficiency is obtained from the experiences you gain from training whatever equipment you plan on using, whether it be an AR-15, a field dressing or a compass, to name a few.  Tactical proficiency is best gained through experience training with your team, such tactical movement exercises, drills for reacting …


Survival: The Five I’s That Might Keep You Alive, by Dino

Survival: The Five I’s That Might Keep You Alive, by Dino If you read the title carefully, you’ll notice the word might. Regardless of preparation, situations sometimes spiral out of control faster than we can react to the. In a TEOTWAWKI scenario of indeterminate cause, all the plans in the world go out the window, literally in some cases. Ask any senior military officer about mission planning, and invariably they will tell you that from the time a briefing starts until it ends, the situation has evolved to make the plan need adjusting. The film industry has some of the …


Two Letters Re: Prepping Pays Off in Midwest Winter Storms

Hello, I just wanted to write you about an experience I had recently. First of all I own a very dog eared copy of your novel “Patriots“ that was given to me by someone who I look up to a lot. This individual was the first person to expose me to the “bug out” bag concept. As a result I’ve always been a preparedness type of girl. In high school and college I always kept provisions for myself wherever went and as a result I’ve been able to rise to the occasion many times when things got tough. As a …


Letter Re: Multi-Lens Eyeglasses Sets

Dear Sir,        Just to let you know during the last few days we have received an overwhelming number of responses to an online customer survey we performed from SurvivalBlog online readers since your brief mention in the Odds n-Sods section of your blog about our “Multi-Lens TEOTWAWKI Vision System“.   We asked your readers what we could to earn their business and what they felt we could do to improve our packages in hopes of making them more accessible to everyone.   Your readers provided us some profound feedback to which we have quickly responded to. Here is what we have done …


Two Letters Re: First Aid Kits Are Not Enough

James Wesley; As a First Aid instructor trainer (I teach teachers how to teach First Aid) for Emergency First Response Corp., a subsidiary of the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) , I read with great heartache the letter “First Aid Kits are not enough” and felt deeply for it’s author. We teach the importance of self reliance in an emergency situation because there are times, like the one so eloquently shared here, that EMS just isn’t coming. I applaud his courage and level-headedness. One of the things I ask my students is if they have a “well stocked” First …


Economics and Investing:

‘Too Early to Declare Victory’ Fed May Not End Bond Buying. (Thanks to Jonathan C. for the link.) Phil F. flagged this: Which will it be, inflation or deflation? Maybe neither, maybe a run B.B. suggested: Bernanke, BLS Lie About Inflation: Dr. Doom Faber Former Treasury Secretary is A-Scared; Should You Be? Items from The Economatrix: Stocks Mixed a Day After the Dow Tops 12,000   Oil Prices Fluctuate On Egypt, Growing US Supplies   Winter Storms Expected to Slow US Economy Slightly   Gold and Silver Set to Resume Upward Trajectory   Donald Trump:  Things in the US Could …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Texas imposes rolling blackouts as mercury drops. (A tip of the hat to Sue C. for the link.)    o o o DocLiberty and Yishai both recommended this gem: The Real Life Civilization-Building Kit. “For two years, a group of engineers has been working on the Global Village Construction Set, a collection of 40 DIY machines that can build a small, modern civilization anywhere with sun, soil, and water. Sounds like hard work.”    o o o Kevin W. suggested this CNN piece: A scene of violent chaos in Cairo. Kevin’s comment: “What lesson can be learned by preppers? Violence …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Saturday was indescribable. Nothing that I write can describe the utter state of lawlessness that prevailed. Every Egyptian prison was attacked by organized groups trying to free the prisoners inside. In the case of the prisons holding regular criminals this was done by their families and friends. In the case of the prisons with the political prisoners this was done by the Islamists. Bulldozers were used in those attacks and the weapons available from the looting of police stations were available. Nearly all the prisons fell. The prison forces simply could not deal with such an onslaught and no reinforcements …