Note from JWR:

Today we present the first article for Round 16 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. 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 Homemade Alcohol Stove and The Wonder Box, by LeAnne

In any situation, small electricity outage, or large-scale grid-down disaster, a simple homemade alcohol stove and a Wonder Box slow cooker can simplify your life and add the comfort of cooking and warmth. Why alcohol? Alcohol is the one fuel that can be burned indoors without any chimney or any objectionable fumes. The only byproduct is water. [JWR Adds: Keep in mind that for safety, even with an alcohol stove, some ventilation is needed, sine the combustion will consume available oxygen.] Isopropyl alcohol (70%) is cheap. A couple of quarts can be purchased for about $3.00 at Costco or Sam’s …


Letter Re: Some Offshore Retreat Considerations

Mr. Rawles, A good set of links on finding a homestead that may be useful to your readers can be found at The Mother Earth News web site. I also agree with Jason in North Idaho’s comments. Relocating to the developing world for the purpose of long term survival is not something I would recommend. I am presently living in the developing world because I work here–at least for the time being. I probably have this in common with many of your readers who work as security contractors. My long term goal is to return to return to my home …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader “Suz” recommended United States Plastic Corp., in Lima, Ohio as a supplier for food grade HDPE storage buckets. Although they are a large-scale manufacturer, they are willing to take fairly small orders directly from the public. Suz said that it was a pleasure doing business with this “God-owned” company.    o o o KAF mentioned this piece on rethinking and revisions in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR).    o o o Mark C. flagged this: UBS Gives Haircuts on Auction Rate Securities    o o o Thanks to Hawaiian K. for finding this: Analyst Predicts Corn Rationing in 2008


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“The primary fear we entertain today is that our “slaves” (machines) may be about to run out of “food” (oil) and our intricate civilization will come sputtering to a stop. There are lots of arguments about this, with wide differences of opinion about when the oil will run out, how fast we are using it up, and how much unknown oil remains hidden in the Earth’s crust. It really doesn’t matter. No one argues that the oil will not, in fact, run out sooner or later. It will. Certainly no one disputes that the Arabs, who have the largest reserves …


Notes from JWR:

I’ve never been much of a trickster, so please don’t analyze today’s posts, looking for April Fools Day tricks. There are none. We have finished the judging… The winner of Round 15 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. is Paul C., for his article “My Seven Favorite North American Edible Wild Plants”. He gets the top prize–a four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificate. These certificates are worth up to $2,000! Our thanks to Front Sight’s director, Naish Piazza, for generously donating the course certificate. Check out the Front Sight web site and take advantage of their great training …


Letter Re: Learn How to “Roll Your Own” Ammo

James; One skill that will be in great demand by almost everyone in a post-TEOTWAWKI environment will be a skilled and resourceful ammunition reloader. Equipment is relatively inexpensive and downright cheap if you know where to look. Pawn shops almost never buy reloading equipment because it is slow and, or difficult to move. I have made arrangements with a few pawn shop owners and when a batch of reloading stuff comes available from estates they just give them my number. No matter how much gear there is, a pawn shop will only offer, if they even make an offer about …


Letter Re: Sword Ban Begins on April 6th in the United Kingdom

James: In the past you have recommended that SurvivalBlog readers in the UK to get a samurai sword. Well, they are banning them now. As of the 6th April 2008 it will become illegal to manufacture, import or sell (but not own) all swords with a curved, single edged blade over 50 cm in the U.K. Although they can still supply such weapons for “permitted activities”. These activities include; Historical re-enactments and Sporting Activities. The legislation does not mention samurai swords. It only mentions single-edged curved swords with a blade length of 50cm or over. As per the document, it …


Letter Re: A Special Antibiotics-By-Mail Offer for SurvivalBlog Readers

Jim: Many SurvivalBlog readers have expressed an interest in obtaining antibiotics for emergency use, for example t be prepared for another 9/11-style anthrax attack (for which ciprofloxacin has been recommended in the past by the FDA and Centers for Disease Control) or a flu epidemic. The gentleman who owns a discount pharmacy has agreed to a solution. From now until April 30, 2008, The Medical Center Pharmacy, located in the lobby of The Hillman Medical Center at 2116 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19103, will offer for sale sealed stock bottles of 100 Ciprofloxacin 500 mg tablets in their original packaging …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Our recent mention of Backwoods Home magazine‘ prompted reader RJV to note: “Don’t miss some of the gems from their [extensive] archives, such as this piece on do-it-yourself steam power.”    o o o Eric found this: Diesel thefts on the rise; demand increases for locking caps. Eric’s Comment: “As someone with a rebuilt diesel BOV that includes 70+ gallons of on-board diesel fuel I too am thinking about putting locking fuel filler caps on my truck. I also came across an interesting installable anti-siphon device that might be of interest to some.” JWR Adds: I generally discourage installing an …



Note from JWR:

If you find any SurvivalBlog articles or letters that you think would be of interest to your friends or relatives, just click on "Permalink" beneath any blog entry. Then you can copy and paste the URL from the displayed Permalinked page, and e-mail it. Many thanks!


News from Wall Street and Capitol Hill–The Mother Of All Bailouts Begins to Grow

Last week, the mainstream media described the latest expansion of the Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB), but they politely refrained from calling this what it is: socialism, plain and simple. The grand plan, as it stands now, is to bail out not just consumer banks, but also investment banks, with taxpayer dollars. They are effectively making our life savings and our future earnings surety for a bunch of idiotic contrapreneurs‘ loans on everything from flat top duplexes to McMansions. These were houses that the contrapreneurs bought, that they could never really afford unless the market continued to rise at an …


Lessons From Fiction–A Critique of “I Am Legend”, by Michael Z. Williamson

I finally had a chance to see [the 2007 movie] “I Am Legend“, and analyzed it as a writer, and from a technical perspective. I’ve seen a lot of discussion over his [use of a] M4 [Carbine as his primary weapon]. I have to say for that type of fighting, I’d prefer a shotgun. However, a shotgun doesn’t reload fast enough. He might be better off with a good .308 self-loading carbine, if he can find adequate soft-point ammo. In New York City, that’s unlikely. National Guard armories would only have ball ammo, and likely wouldn’t have anything other than …


Letter Re: Advice on Long Term Ammunition Storage Techniques

Mr. Rawles: You recently wrote: “Oxygen absorbing packets would have no efficacy for ammunition storage. (These are designed just for killing insect larvae in storage foods).” Sorry, Jim, but that’s not quite correct. Oxygen absorbing packets come in a variety of sizes and do their job very well. Their job? Absorbing oxygen. They are placed in packets of food such as jerky to reduce amount of oxygen which degrades the flavor of the food. That they also make life more difficult for bugs is a side-effect. The ability to absorb nearly all the free oxygen in an enclosed space makes …