Notes from JWR:

Don’t miss out on the special $99.95 sale for my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course. This is the first time that it has ever been sold for 1/3 off the regular price. The sale ends tomorrow, so place your order ASAP! Today we present another article for Round 12 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best non-fiction article will win a valuable four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificate. (Worth up to $2,000!) Second prize is a copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, generously donated by Jake Stafford of Arbogast Publishing. …


Survival for the Disabled, by Hegh

To survive one must be physically fit! This statement has been said and written over and over, time and again. To say that Survival is for this group of individuals exclusively has strong weight when it comes to a TEOTWAWKI scenario. How ever I would disagree with this assessment. Granted, total invalids could pose a problem but that is not the focus of this article. The focus is on those individuals who are disabled but can still function to some degree and contribute to a TEOTWAWKI scenario. During the fall of the twin towers on September 11th there were 31 …


Letter Re: Geo Metro 3-Cylinder Gas/Propane Engines for Retreat Generators?

James, Farmer John asked for some input on his Chevy Sprint engine project. I had a Sprint years ago, along with several other very-small engine autos – including a 1969 Subaru 360, Fiat with an 850 cc engine, a two-stroke-cycle DKW, and even a car with a 650 c.c. Royal Enfield motorcycle engine. The Subaru had a two-stroke-cycle gasoline engine with 25 horse. On an absolute flat highway at 55 MPH and no wind, it could get 65 MPG. My Sprint could get close to 50 MPG on a flat highway, and dropped to the high 30s on highway with …


Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalBlog reader Chuck accurately notes that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is in a predicament. At this juncture the Fed can neither raise nor lower interest rates without powerful macro level repercussions. Chuck mentioned that Mad Money host Jim Cramer made a passionate plea to Ben Bernanke to consider cutting interest rates that would in turn help the market and the people who are losing their jobs on Wall Street. More liquidity via lower interest rates might mean a brief respite for the battered US residential real estate market as well as the equities markets. But if Mr. Bernanke lowers …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Half an hour. [Pack just] one bag, plus the guns. I’ll make pancakes.” In the next scene: “Every family has rules, and we had ours: Keep your head down. Keep yours eyes up. Resist the urge to be seen as important or special. Know your exits.” – Lena Headey as Sarah Connor, The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Pilot episode screenplay by Josh Friedman.)


Note from JWR:

The publisher’s special $99.95 sale for my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course ends in just two days. This is the first time that it has ever been sold for 1/3 off the regular price. I’m not sure if and when the sale will ever be repeated, so get you orders in soon! If ordering by mail, be sure to have your letter postmarked no later than Wednesday, August 8th.


Letter Re: Advice on Generators?

JWR: A few comments in regard to fuel choices, in response to what is posted on your web site. There is mention of the legal difficulty of getting a 1,000 gallon tank of diesel installed at a homesite. I guess I have to ask, what is the difficulty? I’ve lived in several rural areas in the northeast, and it’s never been a problem here. Where I live now in central New York state, anybody can have up to 1,000 gallons per tax-map parcel without any interference, permits, etc. Many homes in my area have dual 275 or 500 tanks inside …


Letter Re: Charity Begins at Home–At Least in the U.S.

Jim, As usual, I found this article [from London, Ontario, about national differences in charitable giving] while browsing something unrelated. I read through it, thought you and possibly the blog readers might benefit from it. I offer a small text extract, to whet your whistle: “Brooks also found a strong and specific correlation between political ideology and charity. In both the United States and Europe, conservatives who believe in limited government are far more likely to make charitable contributions than are liberals who think government has a responsibility to reduce income inequality. Note the irony: Liberals who support the governmental …


Letter Re: Late Blog Posts and Supporting SurvivalBlog

Mr. Rawles: About noon on Friday, I was starting to write a mean e-mail, because y’all were late in the putting up the blog posts for the day. You see, I’ve been a daily reader of SurvivalBlog since about April of 2006, and I’d gotten used to you putting the posts up like clockwork, right around (or before) midnight for the next day. It has become my habit to read the blog while having my morning coffee and waiting for my employees to arrive. (I run a lawnmower and power tool shop in a fair-sized city in Georgia, and I’m …



Note from JWR:

Today is the Second Anniversary of SurvivalBlog. Thanks for making the blog such a huge success, worldwide. (See our global hit map.) Our readership is still growing. I greatly appreciate so many readers sharing their knowledge in their letters and articles. Please continue to spread the word about SurvivalBlog to your neighbors, friends, co-workers, and church brethren. Adding a SurvivalBlog graphic links to your web pages and e-mail footers really helps. Many Thanks!


Two Letters Re: Providing Crucial Fats and Oils in Your Diet

Dear Mr. Rawles – I need some advice on storing fats and oils. I have read that the shelf life these essentials can be extended by keeping them in an air tight container, and avoiding exposure to heat and light, but even then the shelf life of these products is no more than a year or so. Shortening, which used to have a shelf life of up to ten years, is no longer sold in metal cans, giving it a much shorter shelf life. How are others dealing with this problem? Also, I have thought about other sources of oils …


Letter Re: Ammunition Prices in the Future?

Jim: [Regarding your reply to the recent letter about military surplus ammunition prices,] cheap ammunition is indeed a thing of the past. The reasons for this are several; 1) Under new UN small arms treaties, many states are now committed to destroy small arms ammunition rather than allow it to fall into the hands of “Unapproved Users” (which does not include psycho dictators, just civilians). 2) US small arms ammunition is now going “Green” with lead replaced with Tungsten-Tin, Tungsten-Polymer and other non-toxic materials, which means they cannot be sold to civilians as they fall under “Armor piercing handgun ammunition” …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Don’t miss out on the special $99.95 sale for my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course. This is the first time that it has ever been sold for 1/3 off the regular price. The sale ends on August 8th, so place your order soon!   o o o Ben L. sent us this: Water Tables Falling and Rivers Running Dry    o o o I just heard that the prices of most of the SurvivalBlog t-shirts will be increasing soon. (The maker had previously been charging the same for shirts printed only on the front and those printed both front …