Letter Re: A Severe Storm Provides a Valuable Lesson

Hi Jim, I’m a long time reader. I wanted to relate to you a recent experience I had, which may be of value to SurvivalBlog readers. I live in a state that is prone to tornados and severe weather. We recently had a storm tear through our area, causing several million dollars in damage across much of the state, my neighborhood notwithstanding. My wife and I went to bed Wednesday evening, expecting only scattered thunderstorms. What we awoke to at 3:30am was much, much more than a thunderstorm. As I looked out our bedroom’s open window, I saw and heard …


Letter Re: Advice on Home School Curriculum Resources

Dear Editor: We are fed up with the public schools. At the end of the current school year, we plan to pull our children out of public school and homeschool them. What curriculum do you recommend? Thanks, – W.J.   The Memsahib Replies: It is difficult to recommend just one brand or type of curriculum. There are many different learning styles as well different teaching styles. We really like using materials that have a Christian perspective such as . We use the Alpha Omega course books as our core curriculum. But, I also enjoy pulling in other resources to reinforce …


Odds ‘n Sods:

More fallout from the global liquidity crisis: GE Plunges as Profit Misses Estimates, Forecast Cut, and Airlines Face New Cash Challenge, and G7 Economic Powers Endorse Plan to Try to Avert Financial Crises. There will be far, far more fallout in the months to come, as the numerous industries and even national governments are starved for cash.    o o o Rick M. suggested an excellent article by attorney Ellen Brown: Credit Default Swaps: Derivative Disaster Du Jour. Her article keys in nicely with the background piece that I wrote more than two years ago: Derivatives–The Mystery Man Who’ll Break …



Notes from JWR:

We are pleased to welcome APack–our newest advertiser. They make excellent MRE-equivalent civilian storage foods. Today we present another article for Round 16 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best non-fiction article will win two valuable four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificates. (Worth up to $4,000!) Second prize is a copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, generously donated by Jake Stafford of Arbogast Publishing. Round 16 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entries. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival will …


Your Vehicle and TEOTWAWKI, by TD

I have seen some (sort of) like minded people who are actually driving around in brand new vehicles. This would not be so bad if they were even in the least bit mechanically inclined, but they’re not. So on top of, they can’t fix it themselves, they haven’t even begun to buy the extras they will need when the SHTF. I honestly think that if you can’t lift the hood of your car and name at least ten components, you are in over your head. The first thing I learned was get a Chilton’s Manual for your year, make and …


Letter Re: Advice on the Most Versatile Bicycle for Schumeresque Scenarios

Mr. Rawles, I need to snag bikes for my wife and myself. We are both young and relatively fit, but we live in [Washington,] DC and take [the] metro [subway system] everywhere. We [presently] don’t have bikes, and I have no knowledge about them. The [SurvivalBlog] section on guns was helpful, I was wondering if y’all had something on the most versatile bikes, by price point. Thanks. – Jordan H. JWR Replies: These days, I generally recommend folding bicycles. Prices have come down substantially, so they are not much more expensive than standard bicycles.They are also just a s robust …


Odds ‘n Sods:

I recently got an e-mail from reader Terrence G., who claimed that the national debt figure was “meaningless” because the Federal Government could merely “create” money, at will. But I have a dose of reality: That debt is real, it is increasingly held by foreigners, and debts must be repaid. Worst of all, it is growing at an alarming rate (See: The National Debt Clock.) OBTW, after you are done reading the rest of today’s blog, hit “reload” at that same site, and see how much debt our nation has accumulated in just those few minutes. Someday, our grandchildren will …



Note from JWR:

Today we present another article for Round 16 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best non-fiction article will win two valuable four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificates. (Worth up to $4,000!) Second prize is a copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, generously donated by Jake Stafford of Arbogast Publishing. Round 16 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entries. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival will have an advantage in the judging.


The ABCs of WTSHTF, by Mark B.

The ABCs of When the Schumer Hits the Fan (WTSHTF.) aren’t what you have prepared, acquired or stowed but even more basic in the preparation processes that we sometimes take for granted. The A is the ability to learn, to adapt and to try. No matter how many classes we take or how much we have stored away there is the potential that we might have missed something or prepared for one scenario and ended up with another. We may be in the middle of TEOTWAWKI and not be fully ready but guess what, we aren’t scheduling it. Ability is …


Letter Re: Caustic Chlorine Troubles, and Using Dry Chlorine for Water Treatment

Dear Jim: As you know, ordinary chlorine bleach is an item with a multitude of potential uses in survival situations. In addition to its common use in the laundry to brighten our whites, it can also purify drinking water and serve as a general disinfectant to sanitize food preparation areas and control the spread of disease causing bacteria. Liquid chlorine bleach, however, is inconvenient to store. Only about 5.25% – 7.5% of each eight pound gallon is active sodium (or calcium) hypochlorite; the rest is just water. Yet because of the potency of its active ingredient, and the flimsiness of …


Odds ‘n Sods:

I was glad to see that gold touched $940 per ounce yesterday morning. The fact that it did so, just one day after announcement of a 403 ton IMF gold sale was quite encouraging. At this point, I don’t think the central banks will be able to stop the precious metals bull market without doing something drastic. The banksters will start to get nervous once gold passes $1,200 USD per ounce. And at $1,580 (which roughly equals €1,000 Euros per ounce), they will get truly desperate. At that point, both the Dollar and the Euro will be recognized as the …



Note from JWR:

After more than two years without a change, we recently increased our advertising rates by an average of 20%. The good news is that our readership has more than quadrupled in the past two years, so our advertisers are still gettng a real bargain. (Especially when you consider that some other blogs with readership of the same scale charge up to $1,500 for banner ad!) When shopping for preparedness gear, please patronize our paid advertisers first. If they don’t have what you need, then check out our Affiliate advertisers, such as Nitro-Pak, Lehman’s, and Northern Tool . With any of …