Letter Re: Ballistic Protection of Straw Bale Houses?

Jim, I love your blog site and appreciate the service that you provide. I stumbled on SurvivalBlog several months back and quickly ordered your novel [“Patriots”]; loved it and found it to be life changing event. I am a former Infantry Marine of 13+ years medically retired from wounds received in Fallujah in November of ’04. Needless to say, I have had some pretty major paradigm shifts (in the line of preparedness and government encroachment) since I retired in August of ’06. On with my question: I have done quiet a bit of ballistic demonstrations on the usual and conventional …


Letter Re: U.S. Climate Data Available Online

Jim: Some comments on studying climates and microclimates: I do a fair amount of this professionally, and there are a couple more things worthy of discussion: 1) when looking at a specific area, in which a subject property is located, pay particular attention to low areas where cold settles. These areas will freeze first. Crop performance will vary widely. Study not just the winds, but the exposure–the microclimate. Solar, wind, rainfall and snowfall patterns. 2) Do not build with haste. We encourage people to live with a property in as-is conditions for a year if they can, so that they …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader “FFF” recommended some commentary from Patrick Buchanan: Subprime Nation    o o o For any of you that have been dragging your feet on taking a course at Front Sight: they just announced their biggest freebie offer ever. The Memsahib and I have both taken the Four Day Defensive Handgun course at Front Sight, and we can vouch that it is absolutely top notch training, even for experienced pistol shooters. And BTW, the Springfield Armory XD .45 that is included in the offer is a fine choice for self defense. Here in the States it is now just as …



Note from JWR:

Congratulations to Kevin B., the high bidder in the recent SurvivalBlog benefit auction for an HK Emergency Flare Launcher and 28 flares. Today we begin a new auction. This one is for a Brunton Solarport 4.4 watt photovoltaic panel, kindly donated by Ready Made Resources (a $140 retail value) as well as seven other items: A set of Michael Z. Williamson’s sniper trilogy books, a copy of the latest edition of “The Encyclopedia of Country Living” by the late Carla Emery (a $32 retail value), an autographed copy of my novel “Patriots” (a $23 retail value), an autographed copy of …


Letter Re: U.S. Climate Data Available Online

Jim, I’m not sure if this has been covered here before, but here are a few links to Government climate data and maps in the US. Microclimate data are represented as well, to a degree limited by the number of stations: Climate Maps of the United States – Lookup Page Monthly Station Climate Summaries – By Station U.S. Climate Normals For those interested in wind speeds and patterns across the USA for whatever reason, the map link above can be supplemented with the data for the major population centers. Thanks again for your hard work, – The DFer JWR Replies: …


Letter Re: Snap Shooting Skills

Sir; The recent SurvivalBlog article on snap shooting was great. I think that there is one useful thing to mention and that is how body armor vests (particularly thicker ones with rifle plates) change the way you shoot. The first and most obvious change to the proper way to shoot both rifles and pistols is to always face the target with your body armor! This means facing your chest directly towards the enemy, it really changes the way snap shooting works. Bringing rifles on target while keeping your chest straight toward the target is something that needs to be practiced …


Letter Re: The Value of a Dollar as Currency Unit

Howdy Jim, Regarding the quotation by Dr. Walter E. Williams wherein he writes about “dollars as being ‘certificates of performance’” it reminds me of discussions years ago of the nature of money. Perhaps it may be condensed down to something such as, “Money is a measure of life energy.” Whether it is fiat paper currency, or silver or gold coinage currency, or electron-charged cyberspace currency, what it measures and thereby accounts for is life energy. As an example consider the different measures of value we accord to an ounce bar of pure silver and an ounce coin of the the …


Feedback on the “Maxed Out” Consumer Credit Documentary

Sir, Today I went through some of the links on SurvivalBlog that I might have otherwise passed over, for whatever reason. I came across the Google Video link: Maxed Out. Normally I would not have taken the time to watch an hour-and-a-half video on the computer, but I was curious just because you would take the time to post it up on your site. I knew that credit cards would one day become a problem, but even in my wildest dreams I never could have imagined anything even close to what is contained in that video. For those of you …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader E.L. recommended that we look at some of the YouTube clips of economist Peter Schiff. This Neal Cavuto segment aired back August, 17, 2007, when the Dow had “dipped” 7% below its 14,000 high, silver was around $12.70 per ounce, and the US Dollar Index was around 81. Most of the the pundits were downright bashing on Peter Schiff and calling the subprime crisis “a buying opportunity” for financial stocks. But given recent events–with the Dow now in the 12,700 range, silver around $16 per ounce, and the US Dollar Index down below 76, it seems that it was …



Note from JWR:

This is the last day in the current SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction. The bidding is now at $540. The auction is for a scarce original 1980s-vintage Heckler und Koch 19mm Emergency Flare Launcher (EFL) aka “Notsignalgerät“ from my personal collection. It comes with three magazines and 28 scarce original German 19mm flares–10 red, 10 white, and 8 green. Together, this package is worth at least $400. It is not classified as a “firearm” under Federal law. (Consult your state and local laws before bidding.) Sorry, no overseas bids will be accepted for this auction. Please e-mail us your bids, in $10 …


The Countrywide Bailout and the Macroeconomic Picture

As I mentioned a few days ago, Bank of America (BofA) is buying out troubled Countrywide Financial (a home mortgage lender) for more than $4 Billion, and taxpayers are going to help them finance the buyout. This is good news for Countrywide (whose CEO is being given a ludicrous $110 million going away present), but bad news for the economy as a whole, and for taxpayers. I should mention that it has been rumored that BofA felt obliged to acquire Countrywide, because the two firms had some large derivatives contracts, and if Countrywide had folded, BofA would have to write-off …


Snap Shooting Skills, By Robert R.

Snap shooting is something I learned a few years ago that can make one well trained, aggressive shooter, able to defeat many lesser-trained opponents. The idea of snap shooting is to present as small a target as possible while quickly peeking out and delivering accurate fire, and then returning to your cover. In the movies you always see the bad guy will put his back against a corner, using it for cover. He then turns the corner, exposing his entire body, raises his weapon to take aim, and is promptly shot dead by the good guy. Snap shooting aims to …


Letter Re: Home Defense Tactics for the Disabled and the Infirmed

Dear Jim, I want to endorse Flashlight Outlet who has provided great products, prices and customer service. Larry helped me track a missing package I sent to Hawaii, and offered to replace it if it didn’t show up (it did). My new acquisition is the OLight T20. I wanted something as bright as my Surefire, but to be able to dial it down when I didn’t need quite that much light. The OLight T20 is even brighter than the Surefire [when set] at max, 160 lumens, with four times the battery life with the same C123s (90 minutes vs 20 …