Budget Preparedness–Survival Isn’t About Stuff, It is About Skills

I often stress that a key to survival is not what you have, but rather what you know. (See my Precepts of Rawlesian Survivalist Philosophy web page.) In part, I wrote: Skills Beat Gadgets and Practicality Beats Style. The modern world is full of pundits, poseurs, and Mall Ninjas. Preparedness is not just about accumulating a pile of stuff. You need practical skills, and those only come with study, training, and practice. Any armchair survivalist can buy a set of stylish camouflage fatigues and an M4gery Carbine encrusted with umpteen accessories. Style points should not be mistaken for genuine skills …


Letter Re: The Importance of Storing Vitamin C

Humans along with a few other creatures do not produce Vitamin C. (We also do not make uricase [Urate oxidase] so are prone to Gout, a human disease). As such we must get Vitamin C from our diet. We have already discussed the need of vitamin C to prevent scurvy. Since it is water soluble and [unlike Vitamins A, D, E, and K, is] not fat soluble, we must take it continually. One important time that you need Vitamin C is in the case of trauma or infection. Animals that make their own Vitamin C increase production immensely in these …


Letter Re: An Inexpensive Source for Bulk Silica Gel Desiccant

Jim: You wrote in reply to a recent e-mail from “Billfour”: “JWR Replies: That is a great suggestion. Just beware of any desiccant that has any additives, dyes, or scents. A perfumed desiccant would be fine for tool storage, but potentially a disaster for food storage.” I’ve just been through this. Tidy Cats Crystals has perfume, which I discovered after getting it home and opening it. (I’ll use it for my stored ammo.) The brand that I have found that has no perfume is the Amazing Cat Litter brand. It only has silica gel as the stated ingredient on its …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Rourke suggested this video clip for readers that are in tornado or hurricane country: How Pre-cast Concrete Walls help protect your home.    o o o Barbara W. sent us this Reuters new story link: Food price “catastrophe” feared on eve of summit    o o o David D. sent this Wall Street Journal article link: Lofty Prices for Fertilizer Put Farmers in a Squeeze.    o o o Several readers sent us this: Researchers Secretly Tracked 100,000 Cell Users Outside U.S. for Six Months



Notes from JWR:

Today we are pleased to welcome our newest advertiser, Healthy Harvest. They are a food storage vendor headquartered in Vancouver, Washington, but they ship throughout the US and Canada. Be sure to visit their web site and order some items from their amazing “deep and wide” product line. The following is another article 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 …


From WTSHTF to TEOTWAWKI: Cleaning Up After the Grim Reaper, by “Sarah Connor”

“Death is still a fearful, frightening happening, and the fear of death is a universal fear even if we think we have mastered it on many levels.” – Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, M.D. We have nothing to fear but fear itself, as the saying goes. The basis of much fear is simply the unknown. As a society, we have distanced ourselves from death. Hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, and funeral homes do all the “dirty work” and cemetery’s are neatly hidden behind fences and walls, trees and hedges. We pass by on a daily basis, unwilling to acknowledge what lies beyond those barriers; …


Two Letters Re: How To Adapt To High Gas Prices

Hello, I am a daily SurvivalBlog reader from France. I’m writing this in response to Joel Skousen’s article on “How to Adapt to High Gas Prices.” I own a Volkswagen with a diesel engine (TDI). Here in France (and elsewhere in Europe) common rail [diesel engine] technology became really popular (about 60% of the new cars that are sold here use common rail technology) since it provided better mileage and better performance than conventional gasoline engines. However, there is at least two drawbacks to common rail: Firstly, the diesel fuel quality has to be super high. It passes through a …


Odds ‘n Sods:

JCR mentioned a MSN web page that identifies the best gasoline prices, by postal (“ZIP”) code.JCR says: “Just enter a ZIP code at this web page, and it tells you which gas stations have the least expensive prices (and the highest) on gas in your ZIP code area. It’s updated every evening.”    o o o The WRSA has another Practical Medicine course scheduled. This one will be in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, June 20 to June 22. This is excellent, very affordable training that is taught by an Emergency Room doctor with many years of practical experience. The course is …



Note from JWR:

Today we present a guest article from Joel Skousen. Joel is a former Marine Corps fighter pilot who is very well known in the preparedness community. He is an economic and political commentator, and the author of several books on survival retreat construction and strategic relocation. (All of them highly recommended.) He is also the editor of the excellent by-subscription newsletter World Affairs Brief. This article appeared in the May 30, 2008 issue of his newsletter.


How To Adapt To High Gas Prices, by Joel Skousen

In one of the most outrageous examples of price gouging ever witnessed, fuel prices have risen almost 10 cents per gallon per week now for more than a month. The American consumer is being held hostage to an economic and personal lifestyle that was established a century ago based upon an abundance of cheap oil and is now locked into our economic infrastructure. Most people have no ability to escape what is now upon us and getting worse. All of our cities are developed around the commuting lifestyle, allowing Americans to live in rural or suburban openness to escape pollution …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Chris T. recommended this Time magazine article by Amanda Ripley: How to Survive A Disaster    o o o BulletProofME.com (one our loyal advertisers with a great reputation) has just started a one-month special sale on Interceptor Body Armor and Kevlar helmets. The sale price is just for SurvivalBlog readers: $500 for a mil-spec Interceptor vest in Woodland Camouflage or 3-Color Desert Camouflage. (That is below wholesale – only possible because of a military contact overrun in these colors. So te special sale price only applies to those colors. (They do offer a 15% discount on other colors.) They are …



Notes from JWR:

I got the following note from a reporter named Alison, at one of the big “Three Letter Acronym” television networks: “I”m a reporter a looking to do a story about how some people are becoming “survivalists” as our energy prices skyrocket. I am looking to profile someone, or a family, in the New York region, preferably in the New York Metro area, including the tri-state region. If they wish to remain anonymous, we can also call them different names and not give away where they live.” If any SurvivalBlog readers are interested, send me an e-mail, and I will forward …