Odds ‘n Sods:

Several items of gun news were sent to us by Cheryl: Firearm Sales Surging Since Obama’s Election — Gun Ownership Growing, Following National Trends — Shortage of Guns, Ammo Reported    o o o Cheryl also mentioned an interesting piece over at Steve Quayle’s site: Raising Catfish In A Barrel    o o o Some encouraging news: Gary in Montana mentioned that the recently-enacted “Made in Montana” Federal gun law exemption (Montana HB 246), is now being emulated in two other state legislatures: Alaska HB 186 and Texas HB 1863. I expect this trend to continue, especially in southern and …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“The bulls will buy stocks believing that we have another bull market on our hands. After having lost 50% of their money since 2007, they’ll lose another 20% – 30% when this rally collapses. The bears, meanwhile, are convinced that there is worse to come. They think the stimulus spending programs will cause inflation. So they’re buying gold and commodity stocks sure that when inflation comes, it will cause mining and oil stocks to soar. Maybe it will eventually. But the first big move will probably be down. They, too, will lose big. That could be the Big Surprise of …


Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 22 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The contest prizes include: First Prize: 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 22 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for …


Save Money, Get Prepared, and Eat Healthier with Intermediate Term Food Storage, by Travis A.

In any emergency or survival situation food is a primary necessity. So naturally there are many discussions and advice here and on other forums concerning food and food storage. There is a lot of great information and products available for long term (10-15 year) food storage. I have read many articles comparing the various MREs available, poured over blog posts about the best freeze dried foods, and watched Google videos on the proper storage of whole wheat grains. Popular vendors such as CampingSurvival.com and other SurvivalBlog sponsors offer freeze dried meals and canned food with extended shelf lives such as …


Six Letters Re: Bicycles as Bug-Out and Utility Vehicles

Six Letters Re: Bicycles as Bug-Out and Utility Vehicles James Firstly I wish there were at least as many bicycle articles and questions on SurvivalBlog as gun posts. As a gun maker, gunsmith, firearm owner, and combat user I still put a fancy semi-auto combat rifle below a decent bicycle for most people’s survival purchase priorities. Let me offer a contrarian viewpoint on the priority of complete firearm battery in your survival shopping list. Obtain some snares, a quality .22 semi-auto, and a few thousand rounds of ammo, a few months of food and cooing fuel, basic camping/shelter gear and …


Two Letters Re: Pedal Power for Electricity Generation and Water Pumping

James: As for using a bicycle as a PTO device, imagine being asked to pedal uphill for hours on end, going nowhere, summer or winter, until the power comes back, this is the slavery of powering off of your bicycle, it works to provide some feeble current, but there are much better ways to spend your man hours and food calories. Notable exceptions are using a small wheel generator for bike lights or small battery charging like mobile phones as you travel, BTW you will need to add a rectifier and voltage regulator circuit since bike generators produce AC power, …


Economics and Investing:

Allen C. sent this: Most Bailed Out Banks Reduced Lending Since Getting Funds KAF sent this bit of news on the continuing nationalization of US banking: U.S. May Convert Bank Bailouts to Common Stock Items from The Economatrix: GM to Cut 1,600 Jobs in Next Few Days Bank Bailout Plan’s “Stress Test” Already Causing Stress Recession Pits Small Banks Against Big Banks Drivers Paying Highest Gas Prices So Far in 2009 Expect another 20 cent rise for the summer. Geithner Defends Bank Rescue Program Amid Warnings GM, Chrysler to Get $5B More A Backdoor Nationalization: The Latest Treasury Brainstorm Will …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Even the leftist San Francisco Chronicle couldn’t deny the good news is a recent 9th Circuit Court decision: Citizens can challenge state, local gun laws. (Thanks to Skip for the link.) And speaking of guns, don’t miss this analysis of current events, over at Tamara’s blog: Some more ruminations on the ammo shortage.    o o o Thanks to KAF for finding this: Gun foes fight over assault weapons.    o o o JHB recommended this: Taking a close look at Facebook. JHB’s comment: “Don’t be paranoid but you are being watched.”    o o o FerFAL has published a …



Note from JWR:

Please keep The Memsahib in your prayers. Her health is still in peril, but as Christians we have total faith in God, and we look at things on the eternal time scale–that makes this earthly life just a blink of an eye. We never lose sight of the fact that God’s grace is amazing.


Letter Re: Transmission of Odors to Bulk-Packed Storage Foods

Dear Mr. Rawles, I made a food storage mistake that I would like to share with other SurvivalBlog readers. Last summer I purchased a plastic food grade bucket, filled it with pasta, lentils, beans and candy mints, and sealed it up. I opened the bucket last week and discovered that I now have mint-flavored pasta, lentils, and beans. Even though the mints were individually-wrapped and packaged in a plastic bag their odor was so strong that it permeated just about everything. I’m sure the pasta, lentils, and beans are safe to eat, but they’ll just taste a bit strange. Lesson: …


Letter Re: Rethinking Uncommon Rifle Chamberings

Mr. Rawles- I read “Patriots: A Novel Survival in the Coming Collapse” a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed it. Thank you. I wanted to mention: I try to follow conventional wisdom about caliber choices for SHTF weapons. Interestingly, in the current ammo shortage, it’s still somewhat easy to get ammo for oddball calibers. For example, if one needs 7.5×55 Swiss, 7.65x54R Russian or 7.5×54 French, many online dealers have it in stock, while 9mm, 45 ACP, 12 gauge buckshot, 308, 223, 7.62×39 etc., are very hard to come by. For people who don’t have the budget to stockpile a …


Letter Re: A Flat Tire as Learning Experience, by Rock O.

James, My truck and my wife’s van both have extensive “WTSHTF” kits, for use in case of an emergency. The following was a simple, unexpected yet common occurrence that was the real eye opener for me. At 5:30am the other morning. I decided to drive my fairly new diesel VW to a gun show in the area. We only use it for around town drives and it is garage kept. Halfway to the gun show, on a major highway, I had a blowout. ‘No big deal’. I’m thinking. I’ve changed lots of tires in my 64 years. Wrong! Pulling off …


Letter Re: Choosing Antibiotics to Store for Emergencies

Mr Rawles, I have been reading Survivalblog for a couple of years now and want to thank you for providing such a wonderful resource. I also participated in the April 8th Amazon book bomb and just finished reading “Patriots: A Novel Survival in the Coming Collapse” for the first time. I couldn’t put it down and read it in one sitting. That being said, I must point out one potentially harmful error in your mention of tetracycline. I am starting my final year of pharmacy school and have been working in my family’s drugstore for 25 years. Tetracycline is the …


Letter Re: Thanks for SurvivalBlog

James, I’d like to thank you personally for maintaining SurvivalBlog. Until last year, I’d always thought of my survival skills as important to have, but didn’t think I’d ever truly need them. Now that the bottom has fallen out of the economy (in exactly the way you predicted!), I believe everything I value is truly at risk. To see the danger that America is in, just turn on the news for ten seconds. To see the danger that the culture of true service to God is in, do a Google search for “De-baptism” or “Santa Muerte.” The world’s situation has …