Situational Awareness, Instincts and “Wargaming”, by H. Hunter

The recent SurvivalBlog article on a home invasion robbery reminded me of a situation I experienced a couple of months back. I attribute my successful evasion of a possibly harmful or even deadly situation to my preparations, long before the fact. Part of my work involves the inspection of in-service bridges to ensure they are structurally sound. This is by far the most dangerous work that I do because many of these bridges are in bad neighborhoods and I am sometimes by myself. I have been in dangerous neighborhoods before and observed literal word of mouth travel up the block …


Letter Re: Criminal Gangs Gaining Military Expertise

James: Thank you for your great blog. I have learned a lot from it and it has been a motivator in getting friends to begin to prep. I just wanted to share this article with you: ‘Scary’ growth of gangs in war zones. It talks about Gangs in the war zones of Afghanistan and Iraq. It specifically mentioned gang members being arrested recently that had military service and had brought back their manuals. If the stuff hits the fan we may not be faced with untrained, sideways shooting gangsters but with gang members who at least have some training and …


Economics and Investing:

Bobbi-Sue and G.G. both suggested this piece over at Seeking Alpha: The One Economic Chart That Really Matters Thanks to readers Brett G. and “Tanker” for this link: Bernanke: Further Easing Hinges on Jobs KAF flagged this: Central bank official suggests move away from dollar as benchmark Another news item from G.G.: Bank failure tally passes 100 for the year Items from The Economatrix: Leading Indicators Drop in June as Recovery Slows Mortgage Rates Hit New Record Low Elevated Jobless Claims Point to Weak Labor Market UPS Raises Outlook for Year Despite Mixed Economy


Odds ‘n Sods:

Several readers mentioned this: Report Blasts Military For Not Being Nuke-Proof.    o o o Tam over at the View From The Porch blog provided a link to an interesting news segment on Navy SEAL riverine training on the Pearl River in Mississippi. Tamara wryly notes: “We now know where NAVSPECWAR conducts the crucial ‘Sunglasses Selection Phase’ of training.”    o o o Seed For Security is offering a promotion that will run through the end of August, 2010. They will be enclosing one free pint of Rye grain and a free packet of Bloomsdale spinach seeds with every order …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"In the first place, it is to be remembered, that the general government is not to be charged with the whole power of making and administering laws: its jurisdiction is limited to certain enumerated objects, which concern all the members of the republic, but which are not to be attained by the separate provisions of any." – James Madison (Federalist No. 14, 30 November 1787)


Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 29 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 …


Low Cost Preparedness, by J.E.

We, in the U.S.A., live on a knife edge.  Most of us take our life of ease (compared to the rest of the world) for granted, The ones who don’t are preppers and survivalists.  The television and radio give almost instant notification of the latest earthquake, hurricane, fire, or whatever and that makes many of us casual about disaster.  We get used to hearing about it so we ignore it beyond a “Gee that’s too bad!”  After all, disasters only happen to “the other guy.” Prepping for the individual and the way we go about it is different in almost …


Letter Re: Recurve Bows for Survival

Dear Jim, First let me say that I really enjoy SurvivalBlog.com! I faithfully read it daily even if it is very late when I get the chance, I read it daily. I pastor a church and much of my day is spent running around, so sometimes I don’t get the opportunity to “research” the news like I want to; SurvivalBlog readers do a good part of that for me. Thanks for all you do and for all they do. About two months ago I stepped into my local archery shop and purchased a bow. I bought a recurve with 50 …


Letter Re: An Arizona Traffic Jam Provides an Object Lesson

Hi Jim, On Wednesday (July 21st) I drove 90 miles down I-17 to Phoenix to have a enclosed shell “cap” installed on the bed of my pickup. “No big deal; the cap arrived early, and I should be to town and back by mid-afternoon….” …so I thought! The trip to town was easy, and the installation went smoothly. On the ride home I stopped for a gigantic Coca-Cola (one of my little habits). As I left the north side of the Phoenix metro area, an electronic highway sign said “Car fire – ten miles, I-17 North closed.” Okay … since …


Letter Re: Riots and Civil Unrest in America

CPT Rawles: One thing that was not mentioned by B.B .was that it was Federal [Active Duty] troops that had to come in and help put the rioting down. The 7th Infantry Division (Light), which I was with at that time, and Marines from Camp Pendleton. I can assure you that we had plenty of ammunition. We too were passing out ammo to both the police and the National Guard. Our Rules of Engagement (ROEs) were very strict we could not fire unless fired upon, and we had to have a visual on the bad guy. Also were going out …


Economics and Investing:

G.G. flagged this: Marc Faber expects a return to massive quantitative easing by October China: The US is “Insolvent and Faces Bankruptcy” (Our thanks to B.B. for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: Stocks Surge on Upbeat Earnings, Forecasts It’s TEOTWAWKI Filibuster Broken, Jobless Benefits May Flow Soon Jobless Rates Improve But Many Have Given Up Looking The Retirement Nightmare: Half of Americans Have Less than $2,000 Saved for Retirement Intrigue Builds in the Comex Silver Pits Penniless Idiocy (The Mogambo Guru) US Housing Starts Drop to Lowest Levels Since October Fed to Push Rates Lower? Some Traders Betting on …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Chris in Virginia sent a link to a site with information on oil presses. Chris notes: “The ability from seeds grown on your own property should be of interest to many who want independence. Based on the data provided on line, a patch of sunflowers could provide significant amounts of oil for both culinary and fuel usage.”    o o o JRH Enterprises is sponsoring started a new survival message board/forum: SurvivalAndPreparedness.com. Check it out!    o o o Reader J.S. mentioned that even Yahoo now recommends stocking up. J.S. notes: “The comments following are even more enlightening.”    o …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"There is no difference between communism and socialism, except in the means of achieving the same ultimate end: communism proposes to enslave men by force, socialism—by vote. It is merely the difference between murder and suicide." – Ayn Rand, “Foreign Policy Drains U.S. of Main Weapon,” The Los Angeles Times, Sept. 9, 1962


Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 29 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 …


An Alternative Approach to Lists For Beginning Preppers, by Margaret G.

All preppers rely on lists to a greater or lesser degree and each person’s list will be different according to the length of time they have been prepping, their location, their climate, their family needs and their financial situation. For those who are relatively new to prepping – better late than never – the amount of “stuff” needed to survive can be daunting and it can lead to purchases or acquisitions made on an ad hoc basis and without a great deal of thought. One way of getting rid of the feeling of being overwhelmed is to start small. Make …