Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader U.G. sent this: The Ten Biggest American Cities That Are Running Out Of Water    o o o The latest over at Armageddon Medicine: The Challenges of Medical Preparedness in a High-Tech Age    o o o Robert Downey Jr. May Star in Emergency!: This Book Will Save Your Life







Note from JWR:

Today we present two entries for Round 31 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round will 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 between $500 and $600, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A 500 round case of …




Survival and “The Right Stuff” Thoughts on Guns and Medicine, by Matthew R.

Survivalism in our age represents a gamut of knowledge in diverse subject areas. Expertise in a specific subject area can be a rare and valuable find. But anyone who claims to be a “general expert” is an oxymoron at best. I have been serving in the Army Reserve and National Guard as a medic for seven years now; and I am an OIF veteran. That makes me an expert in a very limited area of combat medicine. It also makes me generally knowledgeable in areas of basic soldiering. Based on these experiences, I believe I knowledge and skills that could …




Insight on TEOTWAWKI from Quilting, by Don L.

Life offers us inspiration in the oddest times and ways. My wife is a third generation rag rug weaver but also has many other endeavors, such as baby quilts. She has a craft show coming up and wanted to finish the three quilts she had started. My occupation stems from working in the operating room and I have developed a fairly fine sewing skill so I offered to help. Little did I know this would give me insight in the preparations I am currently working on. As I was running a fine invisible stitch on the inside of the seams …




Letter Re: A Technique for Decanting Oil Into Small Containers

Sir: I found many years ago that oil by the gallon like WD-40 is cheaper than small cans of three in one. But, how to get the oil from the gallon jug to the small can? I took about four inches of surgical tubing, and pressed it onto the end of the squeeze can. Hold the small can with cap up. I took a small pill bottle, and filled it from the big gallon jug. Hold the small can upright, and put the end of the surgical tubing into the small bottle of fluid. As I squeeze the small can, …




Economics and Investing:

Forbes: Nitty Gritty Numbers Suggest Downward Spiral Gold Will Outlive Dollar Once Slaughter Comes: John Hathaway Reader John L. mentioned a piece by Doug French: Bank Failures in Slow Motion Items from The Economatrix: Imminent Big Bank Death Spiral Piercing The Mystery of the Gold Market Shipping The Housing Market Overseas The Coming Silver Shortage Moody’s: US Companies Hoarding Almost $1 Trillion In Cash ForeclosureGate Explained: Big Banks On The Brink The Tipping Point Has Arrived




Inflation Watch:

Gonzalo Lira: Signs Hyperinflation Is Arriving The market is ‘baking in” significant inflation. Investors are buying United States government bonds that effectively had a negative rate of return, because these bonds offer a guaranteed protection against inflation. (TIPS). The investors who took part in the $10 billion auction are betting that inflation, now at about 1 percent annually, will rise to a level that more than compensates for the premium they paid. The Inflation ‘Genie’ Unleashed: “By reducing real interest rates and trying to break the psychology of ‘Why spend today when I can buy goods cheaper tomorrow,’ they are …




Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Edmond H. notes: “An item I like is the Pak-Lite flashlight. It is perfect for the pocket, pack, purse, or in the car or truck. It is essentially a 9Volt battery with two LEDs and a switch mounted on top. A strap was included on mine. I purchased one for each for every member of the family. It often takes the place of my Surefire which is overkill for many simple chores. It has a dim and a bright light setting. If the battery ever goes dead, just pop on a new one. Their web site says [each battery …







Note from JWR:

Today we present two entries for Round 31 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round will 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 between $500 and $600, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A 500 round case of …




My Lessons Learned From a Recent Tactical Shotgun Class, by Greg C.

I recently took part in a Tactical Shotgun class with the US Training Center and learned a great deal. I am obviously not an operator and have not engaged dozens of insurgents, but I feel the training I received was logical and correct. I’ll skip all of the obvious safety and protection comments which were part of the training and very well covered. I’ll also not discuss the media hatchet job performed on their earlier incarnation “Blackwater”. Here are my lessons learned from the three day class: Tactical does not mean cool looking, adorned with a plethora of accessories or …




Training Sources for TEOTWAWKI, by Christopher E.

The reality of the situation is that tactical combat, survival and self defense training is not something that can be mastered in a week or a month.  Training needs to be consistent to the point where the drills become as a reaction that you don’t even have to think about it…. The point is that terrorists and threats to you have been in serious training for a long period of time while many of us still see the concept of learning the inner workings of firearms as being premature. Private survival training in the present day has often been seen …




Five Letters Re: ARs as Survival Combat Weapons

Sir: I just read Dan in Missouri’s article “ARs as Survival Combat Weapons, by Dan in Missouri”/ I learned you need to take an AR-M4 and do all sorts of upgrades, buy a $250 chamber reamer, and about $400 worth of backup parts, and you evidently cant pull one out of the box and depend on it – what a sad commentary on the design being inherently flawed and constantly in search of an upgrade. With the AK, one can fire assorted qualities of ammo, neglect cleaning or maintenance for thousands and thousands of rounds, and generally ignore the weapon, …




Economics and Investing:

Peter Schiff: Bernanke’s QE 2 Will Sink Just Like the Titanic 30 Reasons Why People Should Be Getting Really Nervous About The State of the U.S. Economy. Your Savings Will Be Funding ForeclosureGate Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: The Fed’s impending blunder Items from The Economatrix: AP Survey: Painfully Slow Economic Gains Into 2011 A Visual Representation Of The Wall Street-Main Street Disconnect Fed to Avoid “Shock And Awe” Stimulus