Two Letters Re: A Vehicular BoB

Jim: There was some interesting commentary posted to your blog about a vehicle bug out kit and how to keep your vehicle running during a time of troubles. Most of us concentrate on using the vehicle for a short period of time to get out of Dodge and then [if need be] plan on walking from there. I would suggest that we also look at using the vehicle as our bug out kit. At least at first when we have to get out quickly, and if we don’t have a longer term farm/ranch that we are planning on going to. …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Montana real estate agent Viola Moss sent us an interesting snippet from The Christian Science Monitor, that illustrates that while most residential real estate is going down in value, some agricultural rural real estate is going up: “Farmland is hot property these days. Nationwide, it is up nearly 9 percent from a year ago. Iowa farmland has increased in value 18 percent. South Dakota’s value has risen 21 percent. The rise reflects rising profits from agriculture. The use of corn to create ethanol has driven up the price of corn and beef cattle that feed on corn. The U.S. Department …



Note from JWR:

The high bid in the SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction is now at $1,050. The auction is for a large mixed lot that includes: A.) 15 brand new 30 round M16/M4/AR-15 magazines from JWR‘s personal collection. These include four scarce and desirable brand new HK steel “Maritime Finish” magazines, and 11 new USGI alloy magazines made by Center Industries. (Note that most of these were made during the 1994-2004 Federal ban, so most of them have restriction markings, but those became null and void after the ban sunsetted.) Even if you don’t own an AR-15, these magazines are great to keep on …


Letter Re: Food Storage Versus Expecting Manna Falling from Heaven

Dear Sir, Thank you so much for your insightful and educational blog. I highly respect your opinion and I am e-mailing you today to ask for your advice. My husband and I are both conservative Christians who are totally committed to being prepared. Our problem is that we have encountered other conservative Christians who believe that manna will literally fall from Heaven if famine comes upon the land. I was personally told by my former pastor that I was “stupid” for storing food and owning guns. He also told me that by being prepared I was demonstrating a “lack of …


Letter Re: Montana Bound–Recommended Sidearm for Rural Living?

Mr. Rawles, I was able to buy 20 acres in Montana, and wanted to get your advice on a sidearm to carry while out on the property. I have a S&W K19 .357 Magnum revolver, SIG Sauer P220 in .400 Cor-bon, and a Beretta 96 in .40 S&W. I am sure that the .40 S&W is not enough to stop any large animal unless the shot is perfect. The same probably goes for both other rounds. I would prefer a semi-auto over a revolver, and wanted to get your thoughts on a Glock 20 with a barrel in 9 x …


Letter Re: South Dakota as a Retreat Locale

My spouse and I lived in South Dakota for about 18 months in the Sioux Falls area. People might be interested to know that there is only one place other than New York City where the United Nations flag flies on US soil and that is at the EROS Data Center just outside of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. They might also like to know that not everyone in South Dakota welcomes “outsiders” as folks are called who are not of pioneering stock to the area — of either Norwegian or German ancestry. Once when I was in the checkout line …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Sean M. spotted a New York Times article on the recent theft of solar panels. Sean’s comment: “With the economy the way it is, crime will increase.” JWR Adds: If your retreat is unoccupied for long stretches of time then your photovoltaic (PV) panels should be dismounted and either locked up securely or hidden in a secret room or cache. If your panels are roof mounted, then I should mention a clever option that was revealed to me by one of my consulting clients in Arizona: camouflaging PV panels underneath well-aged black plastic pipe solar hot water panels. The latter …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Our currency’s fiat status is old news; it’s been completely unfettered from the discipline of the gold standard for nearly forty years. A gold standard is one of the things that keep governments in check. Without it, governments tend to do really evil and stupid things…like setting up a central bank that creates “money” at will, simultaneously destroying the savings of the citizenry and subsidizing unproductive businesses, practices and people. Okay, now this really is starting to sound familiar The bad news: Our currency is probably going to collapse completely and we are probably seeing the very first days of …


Letter Re: A Vehicular Bug-Out Kit

One thing that I have not seen properly addressed anywhere online is an appropriate kit for the bug out vehicle. You folks in snow country can reply to this with some recommendations for that scenario. Please do. I survived five hurricanes , one of them in the Virgin Islands, over the years so I consider myself an advanced student of the Bug Out Vehicle. First and foremost. Cars are useless without fuel. They make a decent shelter but they’re tough to carry with you. I haven’t seen a backpack that would hold one. Get yourself as many large cans as …


Letter Re: South Dakota as a Retreat Locale

I read your statistics. They are pretty accurate for West River (west of the Missouri), but not so accurate for East River. East River has a steady population growth, especially south of Sioux Falls. This is mostly due to the explosive growth of the medical industry. Much of it is zone 5 for growing, with some zone 6 (and zone 4) microclimates. They have excellent rainfall, lesser amounts of snow and more moderate seasons. Winter nights rarely reach -20 F. There is a cold period usually in January that lasts about three weeks. At this time, temps can reach the …


Letter Re: Some Technologies for Retreat Security

JWR: In regards to reader Erik’s setup of his “trap” gun: This setup is very very risky business [and an invitation] for a lot of very bad litigation. I am a law student at a top ten law school (yes, there are some of us who are not so elitist to think government will solve everything!) and know for a fact that trap setups are highly illegal [in most jurisdictions] and will subject you to 100% liability even if the injured of deceased trespasser was in the process of committing a felony–even murder! Traps cannot be used as recourse for …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Inyokern flagged this: Pandemic Planning Reveals 30-Day Power Plant Coal Supply    o o o I recently updated our Affiliate Advertisers page. Please shop with our our paid advertisers first. (See the scrolling ads in the right hand bar of the main blog page.) But if they don’t have what you are looking for, then please shop with our affiliate advertisers here in the U.S. as well as in Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and the UK. (When you shop with our affiliate advertisers, SurvivalBlog will receive a small commission on each purchase.)    o o o Mike …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“People who object to [privately-owned] weapons aren’t abolishing violence, they’re begging for rule by brute force, when the biggest, strongest animals among men were always automatically ‘right.’ Guns ended that, and social democracy is a hollow farce without an armed populace to make it work.” – L. Neil Smith


Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 19 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The contest prizes include: First Prize: The writer of the best contributed article will be awarded 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 19 ends on November 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. …