Two Letters Re: Beyond First Aid–Where to Learn Medical Skills

James, It’s funny how life gets in the way. I was in the process of writing a fairly long (I stopped at 15 pages) discussion of pandemics and medical care at home when the report in Chest came out. Suffice it to say that the wind was somewhat taken from my sails. And my take-home messages would have been 1) Hospitals are terrible places to be in a pandemic so stay away (I plan to), 2) Since you’re not going to the hospital, people at home better learn how to do basic nursing care (so finding older nursing textbooks and …


Choosing an HK91 Clone Versus the M1A for a Primary Battle Rifle

Hello Mr. Rawles. My Father bought me your novel “Patriots” and I read it and it really inspired me and woke me up to becoming more of a survivalist. I live in the country just about 50 miles out side of Chicago (pretty much the worst place to be if the SHTF, well even if it doesn’t, it still sucks, LOL), but never mind that we have other places to go, thank God. I have always been around guns. I have been shooting probably since I could walk. Anyway, I am wondering why in your book you chose to [show …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Yishai suggested a Hack-n-Mod video clip on how to make thermite. Warning: Some serious safety precautions must be taken, because thermite burns at temperatures hot enough to liquefy steel, and once ignited, it is almost impossible to extinguish. (It generates its own oxygen.) Note the minor accident near the end of the video. He’ll also have some serious explaining to do about that back porch slab.    o o o Kevin a recommended this piece by Marty Weiss: Brace yourself! The U.S. government could be understating the Consumer price Index by 7.6%!    o o o Frequent content contributor Michael …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“[T]he Clinton administration launched an attack on people in [Waco,] Texas because those people were religious nuts with guns. H*ll, this country was founded by religious nuts with guns. Who does Bill Clinton think stepped ashore on Plymouth Rock? Peace Corps volunteers? Or maybe the people in Texas were attacked because of child abuse. But, if child abuse was the issue, why didn’t Janet Reno tear-gas Woody Allen? – P.J. O’Rourke


Letter Re: The Modern Conception of “Hard Work” Versus a Traditional Farmer’s Tasks

Sir: I recently finished trenching and running a few hundred feet of irrigation pipe on land that has been in my wife’s family for a few generations. We are the proud recipients of this small farm in the Southeast US. My Mother-In-Law was helping, and getting various tools and such out of the 100 year old barn (still standing and strong). We found an old hoe that was worn so that over half of the tine was missing. She said that her father and grandfather had used this hoe to manually weed and till every bit of the 50 acres! …


Letter Re: Positive Feedback on Front Sight’s Self Defense Training

Hi, Jim! I want to thank you for having SurvivalBlog support Front Sight’s current special of $1,199 for the class [with a XD pistol and other extras included.] I took advantage of it, along with my son, aged 20, a couple of weeks ago, and had a great time down there. This was my third time down there, my son’s first. One thing people may want to do is rent one of [the Springfield Armory] XD pistols in 9mm for $100, for the class. This gives you much more control on target, especially for someone (like my son) who hasn’t …


Letter Re: Martial Arts Fact Versus Fiction

Mr. Rawles I just found this blog after checking out Steve Quayle’s web site and links. I must say this discussion is a breath of fresh air. My experience is much different than many who have posted; I have little training in the martial arts, and never been in the military. I don’t even watch those Ultimate Fighting shows. I work with kids in state juvenile facility here on the West Coast of the US. Most of the “residents” as they are called are 14-20 years of age, and usually very aggressive and violent gang members. Unlike adult corrections in …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Wes at WK Books has been working on an index/reference of known U.S. Military manuals and publications. It is hard to find a comprehensive list of military manuals to get an idea of what is out there and what you may want to add to their personal reference library. Please do not confuse this index with his product (the 1600 U.S. Military Manuals, Government Manuals, and Civil Defense Manuals, Firearm Manuals). When printed out, the index of known U.S. Military manuals is 15 pages long and includes the last publication/updates by month/day/year. Wes told me that it is current as …




Triage In Financial Markets, by Darryl Robert Schoon

Global financial markets are in extreme triage following the credit contraction of August 2007. It is believed central bankers are trying to restore markets to help the economy. In truth, they are like life insurance companies fighting to keep a wealthy patient alive so the high premiums will continue to be paid and the large death payout will be postponed. It has been only nine months since credit markets unexpectedly froze in August 2007. The central bankers who were surprised by the summer 2007 credit contraction now hope the danger has passed. But they are about to be surprised again …


Letter Re: Beyond First Aid–Where to Learn Medical Skills

Jim, There has been a recent thread on learning medical skills. Studying the disasters like the recent Chinese earthquake, Myanmar storm and Tsunami teach us that in mass casualty situations like these, you can go a long way knowing how to deal with broken bones, lacerations and infections. Imagine the help you could be if you could: Apply a cast Run an IV Clean and dress a wound Do minor suturing Administer antibiotics from your medical kit These skills can each be learned in a weekend. Sure, knowing how to manage an airway, insert a chest tube, decompress a pneumothorax …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Brent F. suggested this article from Australia’s Courier Mail newspaper: Drivers face fuel ration shock.    o o o CDO Debt Could Pose Renewed Danger for Banks. (A hat tip to RBS for the link.)    o o o Nick recommended the text of a recent speech by geopolitical analyst Richard Maybury: You will be either a winner or a loser, there will be no middle ground. FWIW, I have been following Maybury’s writings for more than 10 years, and I’ve found that he is right far more often than he’s wrong. He was issuing dire warnings about the Islamic …



Note from JWR:

The high bid in the SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction. is now at $600. This big auction is for any of you that are gun enthusiasts. It includes 17 items: A four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificate, which was kindly donated by Naish Piazza of Front Sight (worth up to $2,000), a $200 gift certificate from Choate Machine and Tool Company (the makers of excellent fiberglass stocks, folding stocks, and shotgun magazine extensions), $450+ worth of full capacity magazines from my personal collection including five scarce original Ruger-made 20 round Mini-14 magazines, and an autographed copy of the book “Boston’s …