Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the Government’s purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.”- Justice Louis D. Brandeis, U.S. Supreme Court Judge. Source: Justice Louis D. Brandeis, dissenting, Olmstead v. United States, 277 US 479 (1928)


Note From JWR:

Don’t forget to send you entries for the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best contest entry will win a “Gray” (first-timers) four day course certificate at Front Sight. (An up to $2,000 value!) The deadline for entries for Round 3 is March 31, 2006.


Right Out the Window, by Rourke

Windows give you natural light and solar heat gain, but they are also the most strategically vulnerable part of your home or retreat and largest source of heat loss in conventional construction. The R value (measuring insulation or resistance to heat flow, the higher the more insulting something is http://rvalue.net ) may be an incomplete, and “apples to oranges” number as pointed out by David South of Monolithic Domes http://www.monolithicdome.com/plan_design/rfairy/ but, for my purposes here it does give us a reasonably quantitative basis for comparison. Remember, the higher the R number, the higher the degree of insulation. Here in Wisconsin, …


Letter from The Army Aviator Re: PAL Lights, NiMH 9VDC Batteries, and Fire

Jim: I’ve been really busy lately, which is good. A fair bit of information from your great blog parallels my experiences and here’s some hopefully helpful information which I have gleaned: 1) PAL lights: Have several and always been pleased with them. [See: http://www.buckshotscamp.com/Flashlight-PALight-Sales.htm] I found a great rechargeable 9 volt NiMH high capacity battery. Wow, they really do have JUICE! Once fully charged several times, they outlive any non-rechargeable battery I’ve found and they work well with solar charging. One 9V NiMH 250mAh Rectangular NiMH Rechargeable Battery —Ultrahigh capacity http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1995 (BTW, I have purchased a lot of NiMH batteries …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Late last year, a buck goat reportedly attacked Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe. This was during a gas station stop while the presidential motorcade was en route to the mountain resort of  Nyanga. The attack injured Mugabe’s scrotum and lower bowel. Apparently, the local livestock has more gumption than the local populace.  The citizens of Zimbabwe should learn from this goat.    o o o I just heard that George at The Pre-1899 Specialist just got in another small batch of pre-1899 Turkish contract 8 x57 Oberndorf Model 1893 Mausers. He says that these are in the nicest condition 1893s that …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"The paper money disease has been a pleasant habit thusfar and will not be dropped voluntarily any more than a dope user will without a struggle give up narcotics… I find no evidence to support a hope that our fiat paper money venture will fare better ultimately than such experiments in other lands…" – Nebraska Congressman Howard Buffett, 1948 (The father of Warren Buffett.) As quoted in Financial Reckoning Day.


Letter from Sweden Re: Public Anxiety Over Asian Avian Flu

Hi Jim! Long time no answer. Sorry about that! I’ve been reading you blog for a while now, and find features like the Claire Files Forum very readable and useful. The Retreat Areas, Profiles and Survival Guns sections are my favourites! You guys have been doing a great work putting you blog together. Right now here in Scandinavia there is a lots of focus in the media on AAV H5N1 Birds are flying north and bringing the virus with them! And many are really afraid of mutation of that virus! And local authorities have not readiness enough if something happens. …


Letter Re: Sources for PAL 9VDC Flashlights and Ultra-Long Life 9VDC

JR, Please let us know more about the 9 volt PAL light, where can we purchase these? Thanks. Also, if a reader is concerned about shelf life of the battery, a very long lasting 9 Volt battery is made that was designed to be used in smoke detectors, it also works in AC-powered alarm clocks that have a battery back up when the power goes out… Sorry, I don’t remember off hand the exact name or what they are called but they are common enough to be purchased at the local Radio Shack…….they cost about $8 a few years ago …


Letter Re: A Second Silver Exchange Traded Fund

Mr. and Mrs. Rawles, I just read this article today and thought it would be of interest to the Survival Blog readers: http://www.resourceinvestor.com/pebble.asp?relid=17672 The gist of it is that a silver backed exchange traded fund (ETF) is quietly being opened in London within the next month. Note, this is NOT the silver ETF that Barclays’ is trying to get past the SEC right now. Upon reading closer one can note that the claim of being “backed” by silver is erroneous – “We buy a security from a third party…and supply the matching contract, and investors won’t have to worry” about …


Letter Re: PTR-91 Clones of HK91 Rifles

I was wanting some info on the PTR-91 Rifle made by JLD Enterprises, I saw this rifle on Atlantic firearms website, but I know nothing about it. Do you or any of the SurvivalBlog readers have any knowledge or opinion as to the worthiness of this rifle. It looks great and I would like to own one but hesitate to fork out that kind of money on an unknown. Thanks, – Steve JWR  Replies:  I can’t comment because I’ve never owned or even shot an PTR-91 clone. Perhaps a SurvivalBlog readers has some first hand experience with them.



Note From JWR:

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Letter Re: More Backup Generator Advice

Hi Jim,. Hurricane season is just around the corner here in Florida and I am getting ready to buy a backup generator for my home. To be better informed, I have gone back and re-read all the past survivalblog entries on generators, so I am pretty much up to speed on it. My last step is to decide what size generator to buy. One additional piece of information that would be helpful to me, and probably others, is to have an idea of how much wattage it takes to run each of the various typical appliances in a home ranging …


Odds ‘n Sods:

The Army Aviator spotted this one for us: The Sun’s next 11-year cycle could be 50 percent stronger. See: http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyid=2006-03-06T204858Z_01_N06327000_RTRUKOC_0_US-SPACE-SUN.xml&rpc=22   o o o This page is very nicely done:  An on-line survival quiz: http://www.spicolisbarleybin.com/games/survival.swf   o o o Walter Jefferies at NoNAIS.org found an article in which the FDA admitted that the measures already in place are enough to protect against BSE. See: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~comm/bsefaq.html