Odds ‘n Sods:

Eric S. recommends the following story from PhysOrg.com: UK conservation agency launches plastic beehive    o o o From Karen H.: Wind Promises Blackouts as Obama Strains Grid with Renewables    o o o Federal Judges Order California to Release 43,000 Inmates. The streets of California may soon get a bit more mean.    o o o Mr. Cleans for Hire Tasked with Tidying Foreclosed Homes. (Thanks to Jeremy L. for the link.) OBTW ,SurvivalBlog readers should take note, and consider this a “growth” industry for the next decade. It fits with my recommendations of setting up a recession-proof small …



Two Letters Re: Advice on Storing Precious Metals

Sir, Our prayers for you and your family continue daily. My grandfather has six 12″x12″ square wooden posts on his farm house’s front porch. Each one has held various caches for over 55 years and no one has ever been aware. It was not until 20 years ago that I was painting the posts and felt the need to replace a split board that he let me in on the secret. By the way, if a cache needed changing, it was usually done every few year as the posts were scraped, primed and painted along with the porch. For almost …


Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 24 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.) and C.) A HAZARiD Decontamination Kit from Safecastle.com. (A $345 value.) Second Prize: A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing …


Underground Survival Shelter Construction and Security–Learn from My Mistakes, by B.B.

In the summer of 1995 I decided to build an underground multipurpose survival shelter. I purchased the book Nuclear War Survival Skills by Cresson H. Kearney and went to work. If you want to know about shelters and what it will be like living in one, then purchase his book. My brother helped me for a while with the construction, but I did the majority of the work alone and it took me two years to complete the project. Let me say up front that I’m an amateur who used a brilliant book to build a shelter. Along the way …



Economics and Investing:

Several readers sent this: About half of U.S. mortgages seen underwater by 2011 This was linked over at the Total Investor blog: China Warns Developed Nations of Inflation, Currency Threats Straycat sent this one: Hunger Hits Detroit Items from The Economatrix: Cash for Clunkers Gets $2 Billion Refill Job Losses Slow to 247,000; Jobless Rate Dips AIG Reports 2Q Profits, First Since 2007s Oil Rises Over $72 as Job Loss Slows Fannie Mae Loses $15 Billion, Seeks $10.7 Billion in Aid After 2Q Loss The Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB) will not stop growing for at least a decade! Mish …


Odds ‘n Sods:

What varmint is killing your chickens? Ellen F. suggested this informative predation web site.    o o o Slate conducts a thought experiment: The End of America 2009: How it will happen.    o o o In case you missed it when it aired in June, the US ABC television network’s “what if” documentary Earth 2100 has been posted to YouTube. Although it has plenty of Al Gore-style guilt-ridden “we ruined the environment” hand-wringing, it is still worth watching.    o o o Some rules of civilization (outside of a handful of cruel exceptions like the Ik tribesmen) are almost …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“How quiet, calm, and solemn, not at all like when I was running,” thought Prince Andrei, “not at like when we were running, shouting, and fighting; not at all like when the Frenchman and the artillerist, with angry and frightened faces, were pulling at the swab – it’s quite different the way the clouds creep across this lofty, infinite sky. How is it I haven’t seen this lofty sky before? And how happy I am that I’ve finally come to know it. Yes! everything is empty, everything is a deception, except this infinite sky. There is nothing, nothing except that. …


Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 24 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.) and C.) A HAZARiD Decontamination Kit from Safecastle.com. (A $345 value) Second Prize: A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing …


Preparedness on a Very Tight Budget, by Shane M.

I see it several times a week: What gun should I get? How much ammo should I have? How big should my garden be? Should I get gold or silver? And on and on it goes, week after week. More and more people are becoming “aware,” and are seeking the advice of those of us who have “been there, done that.” There is so much great information out there to answer the plethora of those types of questions. Invariably, someone eventually asks, “how do I afford that?” There are other variations of this question as well, but it all boils …


Two Letters Re: Advice on Storing Precious Metals–Are Safe Deposit Boxes Safe?

Hello Jim, I think the problem with the links readers sent you about how and where to hide precious metals, cash, etc., miss the most important point–it’s not the hiding place itself, but how inaccessible or well-concealed the hiding place is. Given enough time, anyone who knows what kind of faux storage containers to look for (e.g., a can of soup) will naturally check there first. Unless items are stashed away in your bug-out location, burglars will typically want to get in and out of a house as quickly as possible.My recommendation would be to not only install a floor …


Economics and Investing:

Yikes! CBS Advertising Net Income Plunges 96% (Thanks to frequent content contributor F.G. for the link.) Tom G. mentioned this piece by Karl Denninger: Blatant Monetization Uncovered: Federal Reserve bought back half of the seven-year issue this week. I ‘ve warned you that monetization (and inflation) are coming. This is just the begriming! Reader Karl in PDX asks: Do you remember in the 1990 [gangster] film Goodfellas, by Martin Scorsese, when one of the robbery team goes out and buys a pink Cadillac for his wife with the proceeds? Robert DeNiro’s character has to step in. “Now, what did I …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Steve W. and Brian M. both mentioned that there will be an EMP risks and risk mitigation conference in Niagara Falls, New York in September: EMPactAmerica. For a conference of this nature, registration is reasonably priced. The “early registration rate” deadline is August 8th. As with other public events where preppers congregate, if you attend, then wear or carry SurvivalBlog or Bennington Flag meet-up gear. You never know who you might bump into!    o o o Patton sent this: 34 Million Americans on Food Stamps    o o o From GG: More ask to carry concealed weapons; Political, economic …