Letter Re: Massive Explosion and Fire Rock San Bruno California

JWR: Here’s an example of quick reaction in a disaster: Massive Explosion and Fire Rock San Bruno. Move decisively and quickly. It highlights why your G.O.O.D. plan has to be “pre-loaded”. Your car must have your 72 hour or 1 Week kit in it. There may not be time to do anything other than run for your life. – F.J.




Letter Re: A Visual New Zealand Earthquake Web Site

Hey Jim It has been a while since I’ve written, but we still read you every day. Have a look at this site, with a map that show the recent Christchurch New Zealand earthquake and it aftershocks. It provides a very graphic ‘time to relocate’ signal for anybody with a little common sense. Regards, – Joe Ordinary Voortrekker




Letter Re: Airsoft for Survival Training Adventure

Jim, You nailed it with your caveat to the guest article “Airsoft for Survival Training Adventure”. I work at a military college with ROTC cadets, and unfortunately have to spend a lot of time “unteaching” the deadly habits they developed with paintball and Airsoft. I’ve seen the same in the military, especially when conducting urban training- people grossly under-estimate the penetrating power of modern small arms. Examples are soldiers attempting to engage a tiny exposed portion of a target, when the rest of the enemy soldier was concealed behind an interior house wall, or a storage shed, or a similar …




Economics and Investing:

Rosenberg: Here Are 13 Signs That We’re Actually in a Depression Right Now. (Thanks to P.D. for the link.) Greg G. sent us this: Michael Burry is Long Farmable Land, and Agrees With Paulson on Gold (But Not the Other “Recovery” Themes). (Greg’s observations: “Michael Burry, a famous hedge fund manager has stopped investing other people’s money altogether and has gone ‘all in’ on farmable land with water on site and physical gold. I think that this guy is a undercover prepper.”) Americans Saving More as Debt, Job Worries Mount. Steve K. mentioned the “I Want Your Money” Official HD …




Odds ‘n Sods:

M.O.B. sent us a link to an article about MREs: A Taste of Home in Foil Packets and Powder    o o o An easy-to-make and free project for survivalist time-telling: The Ring Sundial. (Thanks to Jeff S. for the link.)    o o o M.& K. sent this: Asteroid Near-Misses Actually Common, Scientists Say    o o o The Nanny State Run Amok: Toy guns will have to be licensed in Queensland under new firearms laws. My advice to Australians: Take The Gap.




Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things. Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength. Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first [month]. And the floors shall be full of wheat, …




Notes from JWR:

Today marks the ninth anniversary of a dark day in history. I’ll be flying my flag today. I cannot help but ask: Has our nation adopted a substantive civil defense preparedness program, since 9-11-01? No. Have any individuals? Yes. But we are in the minority. — Today we present another entry for Round 30 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 …




My Family Preparing for TEOTWAWKI, by Peter B.

Five years ago I really started watching the economy and the way the whole world was going. I started preparing then. I recently purchased two of JWR’s books. Both are great resources for those who have no idea of how to do things in a back to basic scenario. Being a former Eagle Scout, military man and a current Law Enforcement Officer (LEO), I already have skills to rely on. I never thought that being high tech was good, so I have centered on a low tech plan. “KISS” (keep it simple, stupid) is my motto. The easier the better …




Letter Re: Why We Chose the Springfield Armory XD .45 Pistol

Mr. Rawles, May I first say that my firearms experience is extensive, but not conclusive. I have owned many firearms, and have simply found what works the best for myself and probably our group, considering current budgetary constraints. We have adopted the Springfield Armory XD45 as our group standard sidearm. While a personal firearm choice can vary much like boots to an individual, the “Extreme Duty” (XD) line of pistols has overwhelming pros and minimal cons. To begin with, I would like to say that when it first came out I scoffed at it and blew it off as a …




Letter Re: What I Learned on My Summer Vacation

Dear Sir: I believe I represent the younger group of your readers. I’m 28 years old, third year medical student. I have no wife, kids or major responsibilities beyond school at the moment. I have a Facebook account which I mainly use for socializing with classmates of friends back home. Also as a relatively young adult/student I enjoy the long summer vacations many of my contemporaries do not due to work or other obligations. However unlike many of my classmates and friends I was born and raised up to the age of 14 in the former Soviet Union and have …




Letter Re: Bug Out Vehicle – Re-Inventing the Car Trunk

Hi SurvivalBloggers, I just watched this video: Bug Out Vehicle – Re-Inventing the Car Trunk (more of a slide show) that was mentioned in SurvivalBlog. I see a couple of obvious problems. Firstly; If he is going through all of this trouble to provide space for emergency/survival gear in case of emergency, why is he leaving the small donut spare tire in there? They are not rated for high speed, heavy loads, or extended distances. Go pick up a spare rim and tire! Yes, a full size spare weighs more, and takes up a bit more room… but in my …




Economics and Investing:

After a two week interlude (including a Holiday weekend), the FDIC Friday Follies have resumed, with the announced closure of Horizon Bank, Bradenton, Florida. OBTW, have you noticed how bank failures have become so commonplace that they are hardly even mentioned by the mainstream media? Treasurys Tumble Following Weak 30-Year Sale. The rate of return on Treasury paper are bound to rise, and that will push up prevailing interest rates, and that in turn will further slow the economy, including home sales. We are poised to enter a death spiral, folks. Watch interest rates and the US Dollar Index (USDI) …




Inflation Watch:

Grocery Shrink Ray Minimizes My Brownies. “At least it’s less embarrassing and diet-damaging to devour an entire pan of brownies with the rebooted, withered Betty Crocker Turtles.” Getting ready for more inflation? One can only wonder why the US Postal Service now requires SDR valuation calculations for insured international shipments.




Odds ‘n Sods:

Marie K. flagged this: Nine Years After 9/11, Public Safety Radio Not Ready    o o o Reader Matt R. wrote to mention that sites like ft.com (frequently cited in our Economics and Investing column) require user registration. For the sake of privacy, there are free sites like BugMeNot.com that provide login usernames/passwords to these newspaper sites that would otherwise require registration.    o o o “Kron” spotted this useful item at Low Tech magazine: How to tie the world together: online knotting reference books    o o os The military and firearms manuals formerly housed at the Survival Bound …