Letter Re: Criminal Gangs in TEOTWAWKI — Understanding a Potential Threat

Sir, I have one minor correction to Ryan’s excellent article. This quote is seriously out of date: “Outlaw motorcycle gangs rule the distribution of meth.” I beg to differ: the Mexican cartels now rule the distribution of meth. In the 1980s, the biker gangs employed some of the Mexican gangs to produce meth to avoid the repeated law enforcement arrests of its very visible members. Then in the 1990s the Mexicanns expanded out of the biker’s control and the biker gangs bought Meth from the Mexicans to redistribute. Why? Less LEO (law enforcement officer) detection an much less expensive meth. …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Paul D. sent us a link to an article that profiles several families that have built extremely energy and water self-sufficient homes. Their elaborate do-it-yourself efforts and expertise are commendable, but: What is it about the Peak Oil crowd that makes them so incredibly naive about present day burglaries, and the potential for future home invasion robberies–to the point that they blithely mention their street addresses to newspaper reporters? My advice is to learn to be circumspect around reporters. Your stock answer should be: “For the privacy of my family, I’m not at liberty to discuss that topic.” Most reporters …



Note from JWR:

SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction ends Saturday night. The high bid is now at $660. This auction is for a mixed lot that includes: 1.) A huge lot of DVDs, CD-ROMs and hard copy nuclear survival/self-sufficiency references (a $300+ value) donated by Richard Fleetwood of www.SurvivalCD.com 2.) A custom-made, fully-stocked EMS Medic Bag from Cajun Safety and Survival (a $212 retail value) 3.) A NukAlert radiation detector donated by at KI4U.com (a $160 retail value) 4.) A case (6 cans) of Mountain House freeze dried foods in #10 (96 ounce) cans donated by Ready Made Resources (a $160 value) 5.) An autographed …


Letter Re: Michigan’s Upper Peninsula as a Retreat Locale

I am new to SurvivalBlog and have found it very interesting. I thought I would comment on what it’s like living in the Upper Peninsula (“UP”) of Michigan. I built a 1,920 square foot log cabin on 20 acres here, about 30 years ago. I see that you have recommended the UP as a possible retreat location for people in the eastern U.S. I should give you a little personal background before I get started. I moved to the UP several decades ago from southern Michigan. Most of my children were born here and therefore are native Uoopers [or “Yoopers”] …


Letter Re: More About the Derivatives Bubble

James: It appears [corporate, hedge fund, and bank funds managers] have been playing a modern day Enron game with the OTC (Over The Counter) derivatives market. They have been taking their bad debts, and credit default swaps (CDSs), failed commercial loans, and construction loans and moving them to this unregulated and unlisted market to hide the true size of their toxic debts. Half of the financial monstrosity is projected to be in this “hide the bad debt” game. The [aggregate notional] number is so surreal, it is mind boggling. I may have missed you posting the recent article in The …


Three Letters Re: Advice on Sources for Sandbags and Sandbag Filler

Jim: Here is a very low cost supplier of new-manufacture “poly” sandbags: eSandbags.com. Regards, – TinCan   Mr. Rawles, Here in Ohio, (and other places, I suspect), the feed stores formerly bought back used feed bags for 50 cents a piece. They no longer do. (If a used bag got bugs while on the farm, the bugs ended up going back to the mill.) All those good, heavy, plastic weave bags are now being thrown away. For those of us wanting cheap or free sand bags, just ask farms and stables on your area to save them for you. – …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Mike O. e-mailed us to mention a dangerous omnibus package of Federal land grab legislation that will soon come before the US Senate: HR 5151.    o o o The latest wreckonomic news and commentary from Cheryl: Wall Street Ends Up Almost 553 Points — Budget Deficit Hits Record; Jobless Claims Surge — Soros Says Deep Recession Inevitable, Depression Possible — Who Will Bail Out The Fed? — UK on Brink of Meltdown — Hedge Funds Lose $100 Billion In October Alone (I hope that readers took JWR’s advice posted in September of 2007 and exited hedge funds) — Abandon …



Notes from JWR:

The high bid in the current SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction is now at $600. This auction is for a mixed lot that includes: 1.) A huge lot of DVDs, CD-ROMs and hard copy nuclear survival/self-sufficiency references (a $300+ value) donated by Richard Fleetwood of www.SurvivalCD.com 2.) A custom-made, fully-stocked EMS Medic Bag from Cajun Safety and Survival (a $212 retail value) 3.) A NukAlert radiation detector donated by at KI4U.com (a $160 retail value) 4.) A case (6 cans) of Mountain House freeze dried foods in #10 (96 ounce) cans donated by Ready Made Resources (a $160 value) 5.) An autographed …


Criminal Gangs in TEOTWAWKI — Understanding a Potential Threat, by Ryan S.

This is a brief introduction to criminal gangs and gang culture. It is important to understand gangs as a potential threat that your retreat group could face. I have not intended this to be comprehensive. It would be a very daunting task to list and detail every gang or disruptive group occurring in the U.S. What I intending to do is make you aware of something you may have overlooked. I would like to enlighten the blog readers about another aspect of their situational awareness, namely gang recognition. This could be very important information for many people not just in …


Three Letters Re: Frequency of Firearms Practice

James: I’m writing in response to the woman who has enrolled in the Front Sight “Get a gun” [training, gun and gear] deal. My wife and I (and our two kids) all went to Front Sight in June. I have always been a prepper wannabe. bought several firearms and all kinds of holsters and web gear. My wife really wasn’t interested in firearms.The Front Sight instructors were great. They really took extra time with my wife. She is very proficient now, we practice once a week “dry practice” in the basement when the kids are at school. then about every …


Odds ‘n Sods:

FFF mentioned this interesting forum thread: Going Off Grid in East Tennessee    o o o From our volunteer Economic Editor: Disheartened Wall Street Plunges For Third Straight Session — Paulson Says Troubled Assets Will Not Be Purchased — Best Buy (US #1 Consumer Electronics Co) Slashes Forecast Due To Consumer Slowdown — Bailout Already $3.5 Trillion; Expected To Get Much Bigger — Citigroup Freezes US Home Repossessions — Fannie, Freddie Ease US Mortgage Payments — Oil Falls To 20-Month Low — Dow Could Reach 5,000 By January 2009 — Gloom Commentator Gerald Celente Predicts Revolution — Possible Gun Ban/Increase …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Thank God every morning when you get up that you have something to do which must be done, whether you like it or not. Being forced to work, and forced to do your best, will breed in you temperance, self-control, diligence, strength of will, content, and a hundred other virtues which the idle never know." – Charles Kingsley (1819 – 1875)


Letter Re: Frequency of Firearms Practice?

Mr. Rawles; I took your advice and signed up for the Front Sight Gun (XD), Gear & Training special. I’ll be taking my classes in January. I’ve shot my boyfriend’s Glock .45–a “Mini” Glock Model 30– several times out in the desert. Oh, and BTW, I don’t know why the .45 [ACP] got such a bad rep[utation] for “heavy” recoil. It is not bad at all. My conclusion: The 9 Milly is not a “lady’s gun” [caliber]–its actually a round for training children. So I’m getting the .45 version of the [Springfield Armory] XD. My question is, after my boyfriend …