Letter Re: Preparedness Advice for a Law School Student

Hello, I am a law student in Oklahoma.The recent ice storm really opened my eyes. I lost power for a week in freezing temperatures (as did many thousands across Oklahoma) I had no fuel in my car (a Ford Focus) and no food. It really opened my eyes. I am currently heavily in debt and have little extra funds but would like to start getting prepared. I have a dog (a Welsh Corgi) and a cat. My girlfriend thinks I have gone insane and does not like to talk about things like this. I live in a rented house in …


Letter Re: Countrywide Turns Off the Home Equity Lines of Credit Tap

James, I just received an email from my Countrywide Account Executive that they are suspending further draws against Home Equity lines [of credit]. They have reportedly started mailing suspension letters last week to 122,000 borrowers. Who knows how many more could get those based on the markets and Countrywide’s present situation. If you know someone who has [a home equity line of credit] and is going to need the funds, they might want to draw out the money right away and put it somewhere safe. A lot of people use home equity lines as emergency funds. – MB in Boise …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Florida Guy recommended this YouTube video: Gangs are gearing up for war against Americans–And bragging about it. Florida Guy’s comment: “If this shocking video doesn’t underscore your family’s need for serious tactical training, then nothing does. Caution: The video includes some foul “street” language.”    o o o John in Montana suggested a thread over at the Survival Monkey Forum: Some first hand experience – A brief story of Argentina. John’s comment: “In view of what is happening in our economy, the article has some good heads-up info. It is long but worth the read.”    o o o I …



Notes from JWR:

I’m posting this a couple of days early, due to technical difficulties at my small town’s ISP. Life in the hinterboonies does have its drawbacks! There are now SurvivalBlog readers all over the planet. The readership growth in Europe has been phenomenal. Thanks for continuing to spread the word about SurvivalBlog! Links to SurvivalBlog in your personal web page and/or in your e-mail footer would be greatly appreciated.


Letter Re: Advice on Potential Uses for a Disused Underground Cistern

Hello Jim, Thank you for your blog, it is a great source of information. My new house is a ranch with an unfinished poured foundation basement. Adjacent to the basement is a poured foundation cistern that lies underneath the attached garage. The cistern does collect a little bit of water via a drainage channel in the front of my garage that is at the end of my downward sloping driveway. This cistern is roughly 10’x12′ and at least 8′ deep. I do have access to the cistern via an drop-in entry in the garage floor. The cistern is obviously sealed …


Letter Re: Bivouac Bags

Hi. As I read “Prepare or Die” I thought of one other item that could be very useful which is a Bivouac (“Bivy”) sack. I recently purchased one of these from Campmor for my Bug Out Bag (BOB). It takes the place of a tent. It is basically a waterproof, breathable sack which will entirely enshroud your sleeping bag. Mine was only about 1 pound and under $100. It takes up very little space when packed and according to the REI web site a bivy sack can add 10 degrees more warmth to the rating of your sleeping bag- an …


Letter Re: Lessons Learned from Finland’s Winter War

Dear Jim and Family, I got notice through Amazon about an interesting novel: “The Winter War”, by William Durbin This sounds like it would be a good choice for historical fiction, though its listed under the Children’s section. The Winter War (Taalvisota) in 1938-39 details the invasion of Finland by communist Russia. I’ve studied it extensively and its a depressing tale, though heroic, because the Finns eventually lost and the Russian incompetence spurred Hitler to invade Russia, thinking it would be an easy victory and give him access to oil. Hitler might have held on longer if he hadn’t tried …


Letter Re: “Forever” US Postage Stamps as an Inflation Hedge

Sir: Something occurred to me while addressing an envelope today that I thought might be of value to your readers. One small way to beat inflation is to purchase US First Class Liberty Bell “Forever” stamps that guarantees a mailed envelope in the USA forever. They may or may not be available at your post office so ask for them. I bought about $200 worth of stamps before the prices went up and plan to hold on to them for a while. I don’t know if these are still being sold but I think we may have yearly or bi-yearly …


Two Letters Re: Radon Poisoning

Jim, After reading a few more snippets about Radon poisoning and checking a few sources via Internet. I hypothesize that this may be another hoax along the lines of “global warming”. There are more medical professionals saying lung cancer is [caused by] diet or smoking and general abuse of the body. If Radon has been present and naturally occurring since God created the earth, then its being blamed for illness is similar to skid-marks being blamed for car-wrecks. Global warming is increasingly being proved a hoax by the most respected meteorologists and climatologist’s who say the minute temperature changes have …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Eric sent us this: US recession will dwarf dotcom crash    o o o KMA found this one: Peak Oil Coming Sooner Than Previously Expected    o o o Three readers mentioned this article on The Torch flashlight. At the rate this thing eats batteries, I have serious doubts about its practicality, especially when living in Grid Down times!    o o o More for fun than for preparedness: Geometric pumpkins and squash. Well, at least it is an excuse to grow some unusual heirloom squash varieties, and practice saving seeds.



Note from JWR:

Because of some power outages and power spikes at our ISP, we’ve been having some serious problems accessing the Internet for the past couple of days. So rather than keeping you waiting for your daily dose of SurvivalBlog, I am posting a couple of days worth of posts in advance, whenever our connection sporadically comes up. So don’t be alarmed if in the next few days you see a future date on any posts.


Letter Re: A Reader’s Tale of Survival on Alaskan Rivers

In reading your last few days posts on preparedness for disaster, etc, it brought to mind an experience I had twenty plus years ago in Alaska’s wilderness. I am only here to relate this story for one reason – I listened to my father as a young man, one of the few times that I did, but it saved my life. In 1985 I was on a moose hunting trip on a river boat with a close friend, whose nickname is Dangerous Don. We had put in our boat at the town of Nenana and proceeded up river to a …


Two Letters Re: A Warning on Kelly Kettles

Jim: I finally heard from manufacturer. They wrote: “Firstly, my sincerest apologies for the delay in coming back to you – I was traveling a lot over the past week so apologies again. All of our kettles are manufactured by skilled tradesmen. During the spinning process a small amount of grease is applied to one side of the aluminum sheet to make spinning easier – particularly when attaching the spout for pouring. This greasy side should be the outside of the kettle and this is subsequently wiped clean. I have seen two occasions within the past two years where this …