Letter Re: Constructing a Permanent Underground Cache

James Wesley: I appreciate your survival ideas over the years. Here, in the Caribbean, we use cisterns for water recovery quite a bit. I’ve had occasion to make a cache lately from one of the smaller plastic cisterns, such as this one. The tanks that come here (Cayman Islands) are black and configured somewhat differently, but same basic idea. They employ a screw-top opening, which can be weatherproofed against all but profound water pressure. I set mine — a 750 gallon tank — in the sandy loam and made sure that the bottom third was all clean fill, especially under …


Six Letters Re: Gardening Lessons Learned

James, I just read [Chet’s article in] the blog on urban and suburban gardening. I wanted to suggest something because I’ve been seeing people want to be more self sufficient by growing their own gardens. I don’t want to come off as a salesman for these two products made by the same person. I’m not someone that sells these items. But to give credit where credit is due, I’m impressed with buying both of these items. I picked up a DVD from Linda Runyon about a year ago, and bought her “Wild Cards” card set for identifying wild plants. The …


Economics and Investing:

Note the fait accompli tone of this NPR article that of course inevitably leads to the conclusion that there will be either massive tax increases, or mass inflation in the near future: The Federal Debt: How To Lose A Trillion Dollars. (Thanks to Gedan for the link.) Frequent content contributor Chad S. flagged this important article over at Zero Hedge: Treasury Redeems A Gargantuan $643 Billion in Treasuries in April. Want a good belly laugh? If so, then read this item from Chad S.: Corporations ride a consumer spending spree to better earnings as recovery gains steam. Here is Chad’s …


Odds ‘n Sods:

By special request from a SurvivalBlog reader, the folks at Shelf Reliance have kindly extended the 10% discount on their Food Rotation Systems. Use coupon code: SBM10. (The special discount price is not shown at their web site.) This offer now ends June 4, 2010, so order soon.    o o o Yet another local disaster shows the fragility of civility: Crews race to fix break in Boston’s water supply after major main breaks. Here is a quote: “There also were economic and social concerns: Restaurants in suburban Lexington shut down Saturday night, unable to wash dishes or serve customers …



Gardening Lessons Learned, by Chet in Michigan

I have been a reader of SurvivalBlog for some time now and have slowly moved into the preparedness mindset. I have been trying to increase my supplies, but this year I decided to try to grow a substantial amount of my food. I have grown small gardens in the past, but this is my first large scale project. The final results remain to be seen, as it is still quite early in the growing season, but I’ve already learned some invaluable lessons. I hope I am can offer some new insight, and not just repeat what others and experts have …


Letter Re: The UAE’s Planned Three Month Food Stockpile

Jim, In response to the recently-linked article about the UAE’s planned food stockpile: Having worked in Dubai and Abu Dhabi off and on for the last five years I can tell you that during the best of times the food supply is iffy at best. When you go to the market you might get one item one day and not see it again for a year. And I am not talking about seasonal or exotic items — trying to get the same type of flour twice in a row is a task in and of itself. And try to tell …


Economics and Investing:

Chad S. sent this: Credit-rating agencies under fire in Europe crisis.Chad’s comment: “I wondered what the real problem was–is it that credit-rating agencies are skewing the truth or is it that governments are just trying to soft-pedal how bad their self-inflicted financial mess is.” Riots, Violence Break Out at Greek May Day Rallies. (A hat tip to KAF , for the link.) Eric S. sent this: After the IMF Bails Out Europe, the U.S. May Have to Bail Out the IMF Items from The Economatrix: Greek Debt Crisis Rattles Asian Markets, Sends Oil Price Tumbling Spain Downgrade Sparks European Sell-off; …


Odds ‘n Sods:

K. in Vermont sent this Trunews link: Grasshopper plague in Plain States this summer    o o o More evidence that Peak Oil might be real: Kuwaiti study: Conventional oil to peak in 2014    o o o Niklas sent this link that could be useful in evaluating retreat locales: Preliminary Spreadsheet of Eruption Source Parameters for Volcanoes of the World    o o o How Al Gore is reducing his carbon footprint, and preparing for the dramatic sea-level rise that he predicted: Al Gore, Tipper Gore snap up Montecito-area villa; The Italian-style home has an ocean view, fountains, six …



Notes from JWR:

Please say a prayer for the folks affected by the “worst case scenario” oil spill on the Gulf Coast. OBTW, if George Bush were still in office, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the use of a Plowshare device, to stop this spill. I don’t think Barack Obama would have the nerve. — 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 …


Note from JWR:

The following is the second half of a draft chapter from my latest novel, tentatively titled “Veterans”, now in development. (Part I was posted on April 30th.) It is a sequel to “Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse”. Unlike most novel sequels, the storyline will be contemporaneous with the first novel. This sequel novel is scheduled to be released by the Atria Books Division of Simon & Schuster in early 2011. Thanks for your patience. I’d appreciate your feedback.


Novel Sample (Draft) Chapter From “Veterans” (Part II)

Just before they stepped out of the Mercedes, Ian straightened his borrowed silk tie.  Blanca whispered: “Bring your video camera. My papa will want to see pic-tu-ers.” After the maid ushered them in, they met Blanca’s father on the screened patio.  Haltingly, Ian made a formal introduction in Spanish. He did this fairly well, since he had practiced it with Consuela, but he was obviously nervous. After shaking hands, Aurturo Araneta asked: “So, Lieutenant Doyle, My daughter tells me you are a pilot of F-16 fighting planes.” “That’s right, sir. Pointing to the rucksack on his shoulder, he said:  “I …


Two Letters Re: Preparedness Digital Archives

Hi Jim, On Friday, Angus suggested downloading the different sections (Body Armor, Sanitation, etc) of SurvivalBlog for keeping on a USB drive. May I suggest that people download by the month instead of [by the topical] section. This way, when JWR has archived a months’ worth of articles, you can easily update your archives on your USB by downloading the most recent month, rather than updating every different section. I love the Blog! – Ryan in BC, Canada   James, When I make a backup of SurvivalBlog, I use the following command: wget –recursive –no-clobber –page-requisites –html-extension –convert-links –restrict-file-names=windows –domains …


Economics and Investing:

Steve H. recommended this article: Era of paper assets may be winding down Reader S.K.F. recommended: While the Greece Fire Spreads, a Trade War Begins A.C.L. mentioned some frightening charts published by The Chicago Tribune: A Tsunami of Red Ink. JWR Adds: I can remember back in 1977, writing fervent letters to my congressman, urging him to help keep the National Debt under $1 Trillion. Now the debt is 20 times that! BTW, that congressman who ignored my letters was Fortney “Pete” Stark, (Democrat) of California. He is still is Washington D.C. (a 37- year incumbent!) And Stark is still …