Note from JWR:

The bidding is still at $500 in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction, for a scarce pre-1899 antique Finnish M39 Mosin Nagant rifle from my personal collection. This rifle was rebarreled by Valmet during WWII, and is in excellent condition. It comes with a replica bayonet, original sling, and original muzzle cap. Since the receiver for this rifle was made in 1898, it can be mailed directly to the winning bidder’s doorstep, with no FFL paperwork! The auction ends on October 15th. Just e-mail us your bid.


Distinguishing Wants from Needs in Preparedness Planning

My consulting clients often ask me for advice on their preparedness purchasing programs. Some of the items that I’ve see them purchase in the name of “preparedness” make me wonder. For example, a family that recently relocated from Michigan to Idaho’s Clearwater River Valley purchased matching snowmobiles for every member of the family. But they now live in a climate where in some years they only have snow that “sticks” for two or three weeks. In most years they will have to put their snow machines on trailers to get up to the high country to use them much. Another …


Letter Re: A Reader’s Perspective on Assembling a Survival Firearms Battery

James I am a 10 Cent Challenge subscriber and daily reader of SurvivalBlog.com. I have found much helpful information provided by you and other readers and appreciate all of the work you do. Having read the articles concerning self-defense weapons, It seems that many readers get side tracked I have owned, fired, hunted with and reloaded numerous caliber’s over the last forty or so years and although I by no means consider myself an expert I am very experienced and well informed. That being said I would like to talk about weapons and calibers relating strictly to the purpose of …



Odds ‘n Sods:

Speaking at the Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole, Wyoming conclave in August, Yale University Professor Dr. Robert Shiller said that residential house prices might fall as much as 50% in some former real estate boom areas. As evidence, he cited how much home prices have escalated in comparison to rents. Personally, I think that 50% is an optimistic figure. Given the pendulum-like nature of macro market swings, I think that prices in some cities like Phoenix and San Diego may drop at much as 65% from their peak. And it may take five or six years before prices hit bottom. I …



Note from JWR:

A reminder that the special “six pack sale” for autographed copies of my novel “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse” is still underway. The sale price of a box of six books is now just $90, postage paid. (Normally they are $22 per copy, but during this sale you get six autographed copies for $90, mailed in a Priority Mail Flat Rate box, sent to anywhere in the United States, including APO/FPO addresses.) This sale ends on October 31st. This is your chance to buy some extra copies for Christmas presents.


Letter Re: BBC/Discovery Channel Documentary on Asian Avian Flu

Hi Jim, Last night I watched a superb two hour documentary on one of the science [cable television] channels about the coming avian flu pandemic. It was a co-production of the Discovery Channel and the BBC, so I’m sure everyone with cable television will have a chance to see it. The documentary weaved between the predictions and projections of top epidemiologists, and a fictionalized account of the breakout in Cambodia, and its spread worldwide. The 1918 Spanish Flue pandemic was also used as a major point of comparison. All of the experts on the show said it is not a …


Letter Re: Home Alcohol Distillation

Jim– I have been fascinated by the material in the book “Alcohol Can Be a Gas!”. My first walk-through was a bit disappointing because of what I thought was a lot of fluff until I got to how to use alcohol as a fuel. Then I went back and read about distilling alcohol. Then I realized the author was saying alcohol is a by-product (he uses the term “co-product” to show all the products have value). Then he explains how a small farm operation could be self-sustaining, power, heat, fuel and food. Sounds like a survivalist’s dream. I’m anxious to …


Letter Re: Silver as an Inflation Hedge

Hi Jim, First of all please pardon my English but this language is hard to learn, especially being from Cuba. Let’s talk about silver. As a survivalist one of my tools is silver and at this time I am using that survivalist tool. At this time my cost per gallon of gasoline is of $1.21 and the reason for that is that I pre-paid for my gasoline for the next two years in one oz silver rounds. Back in 1972 I paid $4.90 per ounce for my silver and in 1980 I sold it for $63.65 per ounce. I started …


Cold Weather Survival Tips, by David in Israel

James, Winter is coming [in the northern hemisphere]. An important skill is treating and preventing cold exposure, especially if a person is disabled and on the ground. The ground steals heat through direct conduction and by absorption of moisture. Always go out well fed, include plenty of protein, copious warm hydrating liquids, and fats. Together these break down in a heat generating reaction as well as providing large amounts of energy for more heat generation. Have a way to make a warm drink. A Thermos is skimping, better a small stove that is easily lit and kettle that will let …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Writing in the September, 2007 issue of The American Rifleman magazine, Walter J. Kuleck reports that there is a logistical support problem for the thousands of M14 rifles that have been issued to US troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Kuleck writes: “…there is essentially no support available through Department of Defense channels–no parts, accessories, magazines, tools or documentation beyond a new Preventive Maintenance [PM] Magazine comic book and a 40-year-old manuals printed from on-line PDF files. The Army has made some efforts to buy back parts surplused decades ago and to purchase new walnut stocks, for example. Most components, …



Note from JWR:

The bidding is still at $500 in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction, for a scarce pre-1899 antique Finnish M39 Mosin Nagant rifle from my personal collection. This rifle was rebarreled by Valmet during WWII, and is in excellent condition. It comes with a replica bayonet, original sling, and original muzzle cap. Since the receiver for this rifle was made in 1898, it can be mailed directly to the winning bidder’s doorstep, with no FFL paperwork! The auction ends on October 15th.. Just e-mail us your bid.


Letter Re: Night Vision Gear for a Long Term Collapse

Sir: I’d appreciate your advice. I am in the process of getting my family dialed-in for a long term collapse. (My main concern is a post-Peak Oil economic collapse.) Since I expect “the problem” to last at least 5 or 10 years before the economy gets reorganized (at a much lower level, and prolly much more dispersed and localized), I have worries that if I get a Starlight scope or goggles that they will be inop[erative] within three or four years, given constant use. From all that I’ve read, even the best [light amplification] tubes eventually burn out. I’m also …