SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Winners — Round 28

We’ve completed the judging! And the winners are… First Prize goes to C.F., for A Southwesterner’s Experience in Family Preparedness, posted on April 2nd. He will receive: 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.), and D.) …


Guest Article: Sea Salt–An Indispensable Commodity for Uncertain Times, by Roxanne Griswold

When we think about setting aside emergency supplies, most of us would agree that preserved food and purified water are the essentials and everything else is secondary to these. Some might even choose to incorporate things like a manual grain mill, a water purifier, a food dehydrator, a solar cook stove and so on. But who would ever consider something as simple and humble as sea salt as an indispensable necessity and commodity in the tumultuous days ahead? I would even go so far as to say if sea salt is not a part of your survival provisions, it’s time …


Letter Re: Desert Water–Where is It?

James: I live in Prescott, Arizona about 80 miles north of Phoenix. We are at over 5,000 ft. altitude, in the mountainous high desert, where the temperatures are usually about 20 degrees F lower than down in the valley. The local creeks still have some water flowing in them from the rain and snow we received this past winter, but the flow is now down to a trickle and they will cry up completely soon. We actually get some decent rain storms during the local monsoon season, usually around July, but we’re not allowed to trap it in reservoirs because …


Letter Re: Storage Options–Hidden in Plain Sight

Dear SurvivalBlog Readers: How do you conceal resources so an intruder won’t see them? Try storing things in plain sight. An old soft drink machine, the kind that looks like a large refrigerator and dispenses cans, makes a great weapons locker. Anyone looking through your shop or garage would walk right past a machine like that, if it’s not plugged in and shows no sign of active use. The great thing about these is they are very difficult to break into and when all the can distribution stuff is removed, they can hold a lot of guns, ammo or food. …


Economics and Investing:

El Jefe Jeff E. spotted this: Bankruptcy talk spreads among California muni officials Reader A.P. liked this article over at Fox Business: Is the World Broke? Entitlements, Spending May Spell Doom Reader J.H. sent a link to a piece by Jim Jubak: Euro crisis is tip of the iceberg; What we see is scary enough, but the hidden part is something virtually every nation will have to navigate around during the next couple of decades Items from The Economatrix: Gulf Oil Spill Impact Will Be Long-Term New, Giant Sea Plume Seen in Gulf Storms Could Cross Massive Gulf Oil Spill


Odds ‘n Sods:

This isn’t news to most SurvivalBlog readers: American Family Farmers Feed 155 People Each – 2% of Americans Farm. (A hat tip to Josh for the link.)    o o o SurvivalBlog readers in the Pacific Northwest will find this of interest: A new store that specializes in survival gear, compact storage food, and bullion coins is opening today (June 1st, 2010) in Kalama, Washington: The Survival Bunker. They are located at 447 North First Street, Suite 110, Kalama, Washington 98625. (It is about 30 miles north of Portland, Oregon, just off I-5. The usual sales tax breaks for Oregon …



Note from JWR:

Today we present the final entry for Round 28 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.), and D.) A 500 round …


The Un-Secret Garden–Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Grow my Garden, by Jason A.

For a lot of survival-minded folks, gardening is one of the first, most logical steps to take toward self-sufficiency.  Most of us agree that when the Schumer hits, the thin veneer of society will be removed so fast that in weeks we won’t even remember it was once there.  Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that during hard times, a garden could become a prime target for theft, destruction, raids or other attacks.  The most discussed hypothetical garden raids include a Golden Horde or Mutant Zombie Bikers who, like locusts would descend upon your garden and rip it to shreds, …


Letter Re: Ammunition and Magazines for Barter

James Wesley: The idea of using ammo as currency has been ridiculed by many. “It’ll never happen.” they say. “It would take an economic catastrophe for ammo to be used as money.” Not so. Today some friends of my wife came over (we were moving) and asked what we had for sale. One gentleman jokingly asked if I had any ammo (.22, .223 and .308) or magazines (Ruger 10/.22 or SKS) for sale. I looked at my wife and she nodded. Okay, she knows them well enough to feel comfortable with the exchange. I don’t need to sell any of …


Letter Re: I Thought that I Had a Clue

JWR: Regarding livestock, I recommend long horned cattle. During the U.S. Civil War, cattle in Texas were left to fend for themselves. By the time the men came home from the end of the war there were over one million wild cattle taking care of business on their own. Many of these cattle were rounded up the next few years, making for the cattle drives north to Kansas and Missouri. If cattle are left feral and have access to water, they are pretty successful in foraging on their own. There is no comparison in maintaining cattle and goats, or sheep. …


Economics and Investing:

The following recently ran in The Daily Bell, published in Appenzell, Switzerland: Euro Crisis to Set One World Currency? (OBTW, subscriptions and RSS feeds to The Daily Bell are free. I read it often, and recommend it.) Reader “Two Dogs” sent this interesting analysis: ObamaCare’s Economic Dominoes David R. sent us an op-ed by David Einhorn: Easy Money, Hard Truths. Here is a key quote: “According to the Bank for International Settlements, the United States’ structural deficit — the amount of our deficit adjusted for the economic cycle — has increased from 3.1 percent of gross domestic product in 2007 …


Odds ‘n Sods:

K.T. recommended this insightful piece over at the Western Rifle Shooters Assn. (WRSA) web page: Lessons From Lithuania    o o o Some of us may have watched a few too many old westerns. For those in the Cowboy Action Shooting fraternity, you’ve gotta check this book out from you library, or get your own copy: Packing Iron: Gun Leather of the Frontier West. The book has a whole chapter devoted to H.H. Heiser, one of my favorite gun leather makers that I discovered back in the days when I rented gun show tables.    o o o I’ve often …