Jim’s Quote of the Day:

My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and …


Note from JWR:

Today we present another 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 HAZARiD Decontamination Kit from Safecastle.com. (A $350 value.), and D.) A 500 round case of …


Suburban Survival, by The Suburban 10

I am a public school teacher with five kids and one income. There is little in the way of extra cash to protect the family, but I will do my best to prepare for TEOTWAWKI. If you want to plan well; plan as if it was a lesson plan and you are going to teach it to a class. My class is my family the the goal being not to get anyone panicked (Refer to # 9 below). Having a receptive audience is difficult, because of what I deem…complacent comforts. These are built into the core and routine of our …


Letter Re: Home Brew Biodiesel Versus Vegetable Oil

Greetings James! I just completed your book “Rawles on Retreats and Relocation”. Thank you for putting so much effort into this resource. I would like to make one point: You talk about [several] alternative fuels [including] Vegetable oil and Biodiesel. As a point of clarification, Biodiesel is significantly different than Vegetable oil. Biodiesel is created by putting vegetable oil through a conversion process where by the glycerin is removed. This process creates a much cleaner fuel, burns more completely in the vehicle and does not require a separate fuel system to preheat the fuel to 170 degrees, as does Straight …


Three Letters Re: Meet The Saiga Family

James Wesley: I absolutely love my Saiga-12. With the 20 round drum it is a walking talking claymore. I have tried the 30 round magazine and it is just too bulky. Unless you plan to deploy the Shotgun with some type of shooting sticks then 20 is the way to go. Much more manageable. As to the magazines: I prefer the 10 rounders. While having two more shells in the magazine is nice, the added length (an additional 3 inches) is a little comical. Not to mention the problem of finding some tactical pouches that accommodate the longer magazines. TheVestGuy.com …


Economics and Investing:

Leland suggested this blog series by Kellene Bishop: Hard-Core Financial Preparedness B&T sent us this from Shadowstats: Actual March unemployment 21.7%. (“March Employment Gain of 162,000 Was 114,000 Net Result of Temporary Census Hiring.”) Carla sent this scary bit of news: Petrol $9.00 a gallon in UK. Thankfully that is per Imperial gallon (1.2 US gallons) but that still works out to $7.67 per gallon. Items from The Economatrix: Santelli: $4 Gas, $150 Oil Coming this Summer Unemployment Benefits Expire for Thousands The Line Of Doom (The Mogambo Guru) What Does it Mean to be Middle Class in 2010? UK: …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Neal spotted a web site for an interesting camping stove that has an integrated thermoelectric generator (TEG), to provide a draft. Given its design and the materials used, I have my doubts about its useful working life, but the overall concept is captivating.    o o o Israel distributes biochemical war protection kits to civilians.    o o o An expensive lesson on Big Bears and Big Government: Alaska man who fed wild bears pleads guilty. (A hat tip to RBS for the link.)



Note from JWR:

I will be a guest on Lan Lamphere’s Overnight A.M. talk radio show this evening, for the first hour of the show (10-to-11 p.m. Eastern time.) If you have the time, please listen in. — Today we present another 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 …


Lessons Learned on Standardizing the Home Firearms Battery, by Thomas N.

In the last few months I started the process of better preparing my family for emergencies. Like many SurvivalBlog readers I was more prepared than most but could be better prepared. I had already laid in some provisions and equipment. When I started volunteering for the Sheriff’s Department, we were all encouraged to obtain Red Cross 72 hour bags for all family members and to make a family G.O.O.D. kit. My wife and I realized after reading “Patriots” that we had much more work to do. The focus of this article is my efforts at standardizing my home battery applying …


Letter Re: The S-250 Vehicle Shelter

Letter Re: The S-250 Vehicle Shelter Dear Editor: Now available from your local Federal Government through GovLiquidation.com is what is commonly known as the S-250 shelter. In essence, this is a highly sought after, well constructed, insulated truck shelter used by the military as a radio shack or electronics shelter.  [They were designed to be mounted in pickup beds, but more recently have been mounted on Humvees.] When looking online you’ll find most of those seeking these shelters at auction are either military vehicle collectors or those seeking a super heavy duty slide in truck camper.  Thirdly you’ll find some …


Economics and Investing:

Hugh D. suggested this, by the ever-cheery Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: Sovereign debt crisis at ‘boiling point’, warns Bank for International Settlements Brett G. suggested this: Report: Panicky Investors Pull Cash Out of Greek Banks Also from Brett G.: California’s $500-billion pension time bomb. D.S. sent this on: World stocks drop as Greek debt crisis intensifies. A comment from D.S.: “I had always thought the “Greek Solvency” issue had never been solved, and this article shows that I was correct. This is another example to add to the folder of Main Stream Media (MSM) using cheap plaster to hide things from the …


Odds ‘n Sods:

GG sent this: Ham Radio Growing In The Age Of Twitter    o o o Greg C. liked this piece by Dr. Gary North: Oldspapers and the Crisis of the Establishment    o o o These surveillance videos illustrate the enormity of the illegal immigration problem in the US: Border Invasion Pics. (Thanks to reader D.V.D. for the link.)    o o o I heard that Freeze Dry Guy has extended their freeze dried fruit special for the entire month of April. They are selling a 108-Day Fruit Unit for $170, with a free Sparkie and free shipping in CONUS. …



Note from JWR:

Today we present another 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 HAZARiD Decontamination Kit from Safecastle.com. (A $350 value.), and D.) A 500 round case of …