Letter Re: Surviving Severe Winter Weather in Ireland

Good Afternoon Mr. Rawles, I thought you might like to know how the so called severe weather is treating us here in Ireland. We have had snow and ice on the ground for the past two and a half weeks. We live a couple of miles out of town and our local road resembles a skating rink, very easy to drive down the hill but not so easy to drive back up. But driving is not much of a problem as my wife is from the American Midwest and I spent five years living in the highest town in North …


Letter Re: The Upcoming “Book of Eli” Movie

Hi Jim, I received an email from Grace Hill Media regarding the upcoming movie “The Book of Eli.” From the looks of it, it’s your standard post-apocalyptic, TEOTWAWKI story, but there’s a twist that the main movie trailer doesn’t really address – the “book” is the last known Bible on earth. I learned this because there’s a Web site with clips from the movie and sermon notes as part of the movie’s marketing campaign. While I’m not really a supporter of turning the pulpit into a marketing tool for Hollywood films, the material might provide a starting point for Christian …


Economics and Investing:

Frequent content contributor GG spotted this piece over at Zero Hedge: The Fed Is Preparing Quantitative Easing 2.0, MBS-Only Edition El Jefe Jeff E. sent this: Pending Home Sales Tumbled in November Joan mentioned this at Zero Hedge: US Avoids Technical Default By Three Days Items from The Economatrix: Robert Rubin: All Hell Could Break Loose Because of Huge Government Debt Something Evil This Way Comes Mortgage Demand Near Six-Month Low as Rates Jump Private Sector Sheds 84,000 Jobs in December If The Fed Missed that Bubble, How Will it See a New One? ECB’s Stark: No Bailout for Greece …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Rob C. mentioned this item: Barton Biggs: 1 in 10 Chance of Anarchy in the U.S. That should get insurance actuaries quaking in their boots, and SurvivalBlog readers loading stripper clips!    o o o Reader Paul B. mentioned The Photographer’s Ephemeris. Paul’s description: “This is a free application that, although designed for photographers, would seem to have many uses for people hunting, fishing, or otherwise engaged in outdoor activities, [including the tactical variety.] Basically, you put in the date and your location and it pops up a google map showing you the direction of sunrise/sunset/moonrise/moonset, time for twilight (civil, …



Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 26 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. 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 Fiocchi 9mm Luger, 124gr. Hornady XTP/HP ammo, …


A Guide to Domestic Water Wells, by Olive

The recent post regarding the found well inspired me to write a note that I’ve been meaning to share. I work in the water well industry, specifically the troubleshooting of problem wells.  The thing that continues to surprise me is the wide range of beliefs and lack of solid information on well systems. I say systems because an owner/operator must view a well as a sum of parts, more than just a hole in the ground. The first issue I’ll address is testing. Most states and local health departments have settled on the coliform test as the only means to …


Four Letters Re: Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TC3) for the Survivalist

JWR, I’ve just done First Responder training because the school I go to, a good one, won’t let me jump right into EMT training without taking First Responder first. A gold-digging measure? You decide! I think it may be, but it’s a good policy too. I urge your readers to take a First Responder, a.k.a. CPR + Advanced First Aid. My course was $300. A cheapie way to do this would be to go on Amazon and get the book, but I highly urge a course. I plan to do EMT-1 then EMT-P and don’t expect to get paid for …


Economics and Investing:

From GG: Personal Bankruptcy Filings Rising Fast Also from GG: Global Boom Builds for Epic Bust: Peter Boone and Simon Johnson Items from The Economatrix: BRIC to Rebuild New Economic World Order Banks to Blast Customers with New Bank, Check Fees US to Lose $400 Billion on Fannie, Freddie China’s 2010 Gold Rush Year-End Gold Charts 2010 Will Be Worse


Odds ‘n Sods:

Dave B. suggested this New York Times article: Broadband, Yes. Toilet, No.; Alaskan Couple Turns Yurt into Shelter in the Wild    o o o Tom from MA suggested St. Dalfour Gourmet-to-Go products. He commented “They are small tins with meals in them which bear a striking resemblance to the French RCIR rations. I’m wondering if they are made in the same plant? I found them next to all of the other tinned meats and tuna. They have a 2-3 year ‘best by’ date and seem to be a good addition to any bug out bag, or just as a …



Notes from JWR:

My sincere thanks to the dozens of readers that renewed their voluntary Ten Cent Challenge subscriptions subscriptions today, or signed up for new ones. It is gratifying to see that so many of you feel that they get your daily ten cents worth from SurvivalBlog! — Today we present another entry for Round 26 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. 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, …


Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TC3) for the Survivalist, by Cowpuncher

The SurvivalBlog thread on wound-clotting agents got me thinking about this subject and its apparent lack of dissemination amongst the “survivalist” community. I decided I would write about it. I know the recent military vets will probably have heard about it, and some (most) will have practiced it. Many will have used it in action. For the record, I received Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC or TC3) training in the beginning of the program, so any new information I have gleaned since 2002 is based on studying the protocols as presented in the SOF Medical Handbook and the Ranger Medics …


Economics and Investing:

Chad S. spotted this: Lower home appraisals appear to be up; Deals get killed as foreclosures, short sales make valuing property difficult. JWR’s Comment: The continuing waves of house foreclosures are bound to ratchet down both sales prices and in turn assessed valuations. This will lead to more state budget crises. The bottom line: If they can’t raise your home’ assessed value, then they’ll raise property tax tax rates. A corollary exists with income taxes. As more people lose their jobs or have their payroll hours cut back, then states will be forced to raise income tax rates. The 50 …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Panic room saved artist Kurt Westergaard from Islamist assassin. (Mentioned by numerous blog readers.) Every home and retreat should have a stout room that can be a place of temporary refuge against home invasions.    o o o Dale W. was the first of several readers to mention this: Court upholds police pointing gun at lawful carrier. [JWR Adds: This is a bad legal precedent, but the main underlying problem is prevailing attitudes. If you don’t live in a region where open carry is legal, and where concealed carry is considered normal, then you are living in the wrong state–or …