Odds ‘n Sods:

Several readers sent us this: MIT develops way to bank solar energy at home    o o o Eric forwarded this: America’s house price time bomb – Walkaways. I predicted this phenomenon, first mentioning it back in 2005.    o o o Nearly a dozen readers sent us the link to the recent New York Times article on Suburban Survivalists. Coincidentally, the subject of the article is a SurvivalBlog reader. In an e-mail to me yesterday, she mentioned: “I must tell you something, funny or sad, depending on one’s perspective. The copy editor [from The New York Times] called several …







Note from JWR:

We’ve completed the judging for Round 17 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. First prize goes to Thomas G., for his article “The Tomato Rebuild–Machining Technology is Crucial to Modern Society”. He’ll receive two valuable four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificates. (Together, they are worth up to $4,000!) Special thanks to Naish Piazza–Front Sight’s founder and director–for his generosity. Be sure to check out their web site and class calendar. The Memsahib and I can both vouch for the quality of their training, from personal experience. It is amazing! Second prize goes to Ryan S., for “Packing The …




Letter Re: Remote Rural Retreats Versus Living in a Small Town

Dear Jim: I found an interesting article that argues against a remote, rural retreat for an urbanite. He reasons: 1. local kids with time on their hands will sniff out your retreat in their exploring 2. Any road to your place will get checked out eventually by kids, a utility employee, a hunter, etc., etc. 3. A remote place gives a thief all the time in the world to break into a cabin or recreational vehicle, pre-disaster. 4. When you are at a retreat, post-disaster, you are on the defense, the offense (potential looters) gets to choose the time of …




Letter Re: Vision Care, Post-TEOTWAWKI

Sir: Have you covered vision care in a TEOTWAWKI scenario? Eyeglasses, contacts, etc? I currently wear contacts and it’s super easy to stock up on extra contacts and a spare pair of glasses but it’s one more thing we take for granted. I guess Lasik is probably not worth it unless your insurance helps or you have the money to burn since that much money could go towards better preparations. Thanks for your site! – Ben in Tenn. JWR Replies: Corrective eye surgery was discussed in SurvivalBlog in December of 2006, in this excellent article: Lasik Versus PRK Eye Surgery …




Odds ‘n Sods:

Frequent content contributor Cheryl N. sent this. How Wall Street Wrecked Your Retirement. Cheryl notes: “Our dysfunctional financial system hit a new low last week when Citigroup, the hopeless wreck of Wall Street, announced it had lost $2.5 billion in the past three months–a cheer went up, and so did the Dow. Only $2.5 billion; people were afraid the losses would be much higher. Happy days are here again.” Meanwhile, President Bush very quietly signed a massive bailout bill, for individual mortgage holders, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. Just as I predicted, we are witnessing the near-continuous growth of the …







Note from JWR:

Today we present the final entry for Round 17 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best non-fiction article will win two valuable four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificates. (Worth up to $4,000!) Second prize is a copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, generously donated by Jake Stafford of Arbogast Publishing. Round 18 (which runs through the end of September) begins tomorrow, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entries. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival will have an advantage in the judging.




Preparing for a Dam Breach, by A.B.S.

Many of my fellow Tennesseans awoke to headlines the other day that two of the Corp of Engineers dams in our area that are supposed to protect the people from floods and provide water and electricity are in danger of failure. Built more than 50 years ago, the Wolf Creek Dam and the Center Hill Dam overlook several hundred thousand people in central Tennessee, and are leaking significantly. The Wolf Creek Dam has been classified as being at high risk of collapse. The Wolf Creek Dam is located on the Cumberland River 190 miles up stream from Nashville. The dam …




Letter Re: Converting Gas Engine Vehicles to Propane

James; I haven’t seen much discussion to date in SurvivalBlog on Propane-burning vehicles as a retreat / bug out / EMP-proof vehicle. From what I understand, Propane combusting vehicles are not as popular in the USA as they have been in Canada, not to say we have a large amount of them running on streets, however, they are here and they are available. I’m looking at a EMP proof vehicle right now which happens to be a 1985 Chevy, 4×4, 1/2-Ton which has been converted to propane. Are their any issues with this that you may or may not be …




Odds ‘n Sods:

Andrew Hankinson, a journalist at FHM magazine in the UK, e-mailed us to mention that he is looking for a survivalist in the US to spend a few days with. There would also be a photographer. He’s looking for someone who lives somewhere remote, hopefully in a survivalist community. The idea is to sample life as a survivalist. It is a serious piece coming on the back of much Peak Oil debate in the UK. If anyone could help – it would need to happen sometime in early August. lease contact him via e-mail.    o o o Cheryl N. …







Note from JWR:

The high bid in the current SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction is $500. This auction is for a big mixed lot: a NukAlert radiation detector, donated by KI4U–a $160 value), a DVD of 480 E-books on Alternative Energy (donated by WK Books–a $25 value), and the following package of survival gear all kindly donated by CampingSurvival.com: One case of MREs, one pack of water purifications tablets, a bottle of colloidal silver, a fire starter, a bottle of potassium iodate tablets, an emergency dental kit, a pack of “Shower in a bag” bath wipes, and one messenger bag to pack it in. The …




Letter Re: Advice on Versatile Pasture Fencing

Mr. & Mrs. Rawles, Following the guidance in your “Rawles on Retreats and Relocation” book, I. recently bought a 20 acre retreat in southeastern Oregon that backs up to BLM land, with some good ground for pasturing [livestock].(But most [of it] is too rocky for cutting hay.) There is an old fruit/nut orchard with some amazing big trees. (It is half of what was originally an 1880s homestead.) There is both a well and spring. The spring only puts out 1.3 gallons per minute, but I plan to have it fill a big cistern that I’m soon to be building. …




Letter Re: Opening a Non-Dollar Denominated Offshore Bank Account

Mr. Rawles, My wife and I have a Certificate of Deposit (CD) at 5.25% of $425,000 that will be maturing in December. She is all fired-up to travel to Canada in September, and with an interest-only withdrawal using $20, 000 to open bank account using converted US Dollars [(USDs) to another currency] as a hedge against the falling value of the USD. I have a bad feeling about this. From reading your site for several months, I suspect that you would suggest buying tangibles but, I fear that my wife will not agree to spending that kind of money on …