Odds ‘n Sods:

Be advised that the 25% off special on Mountain House and Alpine Aire freeze-dried foods in #10 cans at Ready Made Resources is just a short term sale. This sale ends on February 14th, so be sure to get your order in soon! Ready Made Resource was the very first advertiser to support SurvivalBlog, and they have loyally been with us continuously since our first week of publishing, in 2005. They deserve your business.    o o o Bryce pointed out that Newsweek recently had an interesting article on survival in emergency situations titled: What it Takes to Survive.    …



Notes from JWR:

I was saddened to hear that “Barefoot” Bob Hardison passed way on Saturday. He was a Korean War veteran, a patriot, an outspoken A.A. member, and an influential figure in the preparedness movement. Over the years, many SurvivalBlog readers have referred to the Barefoot’s World web site. I just heard that Bob’s site will be maintained by our friend Michael H., as a lasting legacy and tribute to Bob’s amazing collection of lore, Constitutional history, and practical skills. — We’ve completed the judging for Round 20 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. . And the winner is: George S. for …


The Community Retreat, by Kathy Harrison

Establishing a retreat seems to be the dream of many survivalists but realistically, evacuating to a retreat is not a proposition that is readily available to very many. There are generally problems with finances as well as family commitments to contend with. Many folks, like me, have spent years in establishing perennial food plants, compost piles, garden plots, building small businesses and, most importantly, forging important community ties that would not be easily broken. Therefore, we would be well advised to explore how to approach ways to turn our own residences into retreat communities. The location of the community is …


Letter Re: Mobs of Young Beggars on the Streets of Baghdad

Jim I definitely look forward to reading your blog every morning as I begin my day here in Baghdad. I wanted to share some perspective on what I see on a daily basis as an American GI patrolling the streets of Baghdad on the topic of begging. I think your readers might eventually come face to face with this type of behavior and it might not be pleasant for them if not dealt with correctly. When my team stops at a project site or we conduct patrols throughout the various neighborhoods of Baghdad, we are besieged by Iraqi children asking …


Letter Re: The Weekly Bank Failure Hit Parade

Greetings! Three more down, and waaaay too many more to go, most likely. SurvivalBlog readers and everybody else ought to keep looking at The Weiss Research ratings regularly – – just to keep tabs on their own bank, investments, insurance companies, etc. I’ve gone from checking once a month, to once a week, to a couple times a week now -all in the span of a year! – Bob M. JWR Replies: The situation in the banking world has become so fluid that the ratings from Marty Weiss, et al may not be timely enough to be of great value. …


Odds ‘n Sods:

B.R.H. sent an item from The Guardian that I suspect was inspired by the remake of the series “Survivors”, (which the BBC aired last Fall): Life after the apocalypse. The article begins: “What if the doomsayers are right … what if society, as we know it, really is about to collapse? Do you have what it takes to make it in a world without electricity and running water? Tanya Gold offers an essential survival guide.” There is a fairly lengthy accompanying video clip of the reporter getting trained. B.R.H. commented: “A member of the ‘Golden Horde’ gets a taste of …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“It was good to be back in the wilderness again, where everything seems as peace. I was alone — just me and the animals. It was a great feeling — free once more to plan and do as I pleased. Beyond was all around me. My dream was a dream no longer. I suppose I was here because this was something I had to do — not just dream about it but do it. I suppose too I was here to test myself — not that I had never done it before but this time it was to be a …


Note from JWR:

Today we present the final entry for Round 20 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The contest prizes include: First Prize: The writer of the best contributed article will be awarded two transferable Front Sight  “Gray” Four Day Training Course Certificates. This is an up to $4,000 value! Second Prize: A three day course certificate from OnPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. Third Prize: A copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, from Arbogast Publishing Round 21 begins tomorrow, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember …


Building a Low-Cost, Low-Profile Shortwave Dipole Antenna, by Jerry the Generator Guy

First, you decided to get your own shortwave receiver. You wanted to be able to listen to unfiltered worldwide news. Applause, and a pat on the back, for taking a positive step. However, an unexpected problem may soon surface. Any internal ferrite or wand/rod antenna, like what the radio came with, will only effectively receive strong signals. Unfortunately, it can’t do a good job on weak signals. The obvious solution is to add an external antenna. But it may be spotted by the neighborhood or local “whiners” may complain that your obnoxious visible antenna is interfering with their television or …


Letter Re: Advice on AR-10 Rifles (Updated)

Mr. Rawles: I’m thinking about buying a Bushmaster AR-10 type rifle that comes with with one clip. What features should I look for, especially these days? Are the magazines an issue? Thanks, – C. in Oregon JWR Replies: Let me start with a pet peeve. The terms clip and magazine are not synonymous. A clip holds cartridges only at one end, whereas a magazine complete surrounds a cartridge. In the context of modern detachable magazine battle rifles, a clip is what is used to fill a magazine. Please do not call a magazine a clip, especially around children. They are …


Four Letters Re: More Predictions for 2009, by Roger Wiegand

Mr. Rawles- In response to “More predictions for 2009”, reader Jeff K writes, “There has never, ever been hyperinflation with deflating real estate prices.”. This is simply false, and a surprisingly common misperception. Zimbabwe is hardly a ‘red hot’ market for residential (or commercial) real estate, yet that country is an example of extreme hyperinflation. When Turkey went through its period of massive inflation it too suffered declining real estate values. South America, plagued with inflation during much of the past century was also a black hole for real estate investment. Ditto for [much of] Africa. Weimar Germany, a famous …


Odds ‘n Sods:

In Texas, they wouldn’t call this a “weapons cache”, rather they’d describe it as a “a good start at a gun collection”: Weapons Cache Found Near Home of Former N.J. Cop (A tip of the hat to Hawaiian K. for the link.)    o o o Florida Guy sent us this bit of anticipated news: Zimbabwe abandons its currency. So it seems that that via hyperinflation, Comrade Mugabe and his cronies have effectively fleeced the entire life savings of virtually everyone in that once-prosperous nation. The only value the Zimbabwean dollar now has is as a novelty item for currency …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“I figured out when I was a little kid that it was better to be a pessimist than an optimist. You see, when you’re an optimist, the best that happens is that things go as you planned, and half the time you’re bitterly disappointed. But when you’re a pessimist, the worst that ever happens is that things to exactly the way you were prepared for them to go, and half the time you’re pleasantly surprised.” – Massad Ayoob , January 1, 2009


Note from JWR:

Because we phased out our old Earthlink e-mail address, we’ve had to update our PayPal account. Our new PayPal account address is: james@rawles.to Please use this new PayPal address for any 10 Cent Challenge voluntary subscription payments or advertising payments. (I’ve updated the relevant links.) As I’ve mentioned before, I strongly prefer AlertPay or GearPay because they don’t share PayPal’s anti-gun political agenda. Our AlertPay address is: rawles@usa.net Our GearPay address is: rawles@usa.net We are also gradually transitioning to our Tonga (.to) domain for our primary e-mail address: james@rawles.to. Please update your address books. Thanks!