The Ultra Light Bug-Out-Bag By “Springmtnd”

Can you carry your bug-out-bag (BOB)? If your vehicle breaks down or the roads are impassable can you carry on your back the BOB that was intended to be carried in your vehicle? Just having shoulder straps on your car BOB doesn’t do it. The BOB in your vehicle is not optimized for carrying on your back. This article will introduce you to some of the techniques ultra-light back packers use, techniques that you can use to create ultra-light BOBs for you and your family members if you need to travel by foot. These will be subsets of your vehicle …


Letter Re: Peak Oil and Self-Sufficiency Web Sites

Mr. Rawles: I very much enjoying reading your blog. Keep up the good work. Here are two articles that you might find interesting: How to Plan for [Post] Peak Oil on a Limited Budget http://www.survivingpeakoil.com/article.php?id=limited_budget Very simple plan on what you need at bare minimum…attitude and mind set. Our Village http://www.survivingpeakoil.com/article.php?id=our_village “A few years after the Soviet Union collapsed, I spent some time living in a small Russian village where my wife’s side of the family owns a house…” – S.H.


Odds ‘n Sods:

I spotted two interesting articles on the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) threat faced by our deployed troops, and some prospects for IED countermeasures: http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0131/p01s03-usmi.html and: http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:hqHuuDmRiN8J:www.opencrs.com/getfile.php%3Frid%3D44184+IED+countermeasures&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=6    o o o The Buckminster Fuller Institute has an informative web page that highlights dome building.  (For the sake of weatherproofing I prefer monolithic domes, but a lot of principles are common to both both geodesic and monolithic domes.  See: http://www.bfi.org    o o o It has been reported by the U.S. Commerce Department that the U.S. consumer savings rate has recently dropped to NEGATIVE 0.5 percent. Collectively, we are “spending it all”–and …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Of course, our failures are a consequence of many factors, but possibly one of the most important is the fact that society operates on the theory that specialization is the key to success, not realizing that specialization precludes comprehensive thinking." – R. Buckminster Fuller, Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth, 1963


Note From JWR:

And The Winner Is… It was tough judging all of those great entries, but we reached a decision on the winner of Round 2 of our non-fiction writing contest. Congratulations to “EMT J.N.” who wrote the excellent article: “Getting Your Group to Buy In: The $20 Medical Kit.” (This article was posted on Friday, January 13th.) J.N. wins the contest prize: a “gray” fully transferable four day Front Sight course certificate. These certificates can be worth up to $2,000 each! Start writing and sending your entries for Round 3 of the contest. This contest round will again run for two …


A Biblical Defense of Preparedness, by N.

Before we get into this, a few folks may ask “Why prepare? God will take care of us.” If one wants to approach preparedness from a scriptural point of view, consider history when the Pharaoh of Egypt dreamed there would be seven plentiful years followed by seven years of famine. Pharaoh was instructed to store corn “that the land perish not through famine.” The Pharaoh was told by God, through Joseph, to set food aside. In the Gospel books Matthew, Mark and Luke we see famine is once again predicted. If we follow God’s previous instructions, perhaps it is time …


Letter Re: David in Israel on Fire Suppression and Fire Fighting

Mr. Rawles, The Ben Meadows catalog is a great place for all kinds of outdoor equipment. The print catalog is a few hundred pages long, with everything from soil testers to firefighting gear and arborist supplies. I consider it recreational reading as well as a supply source. Their website has a “Wildland Fire Management” page: See: http://www.benmeadows.com/refinfo/wildlandfire.htm?cid=W51206  Regards, – TFA303


Letter Re: S.F.’s Letter Re: Medical Kits

Jim, In regards to S.F.’s letter regarding medical kits, suture/wound closure, and use of Ipecac… 1. I would not recommend the use of Syrup of Ipecac to anyone without proper training in airway management, i.e.: intubation/suction equipment on hand .The airway problems far outweigh the gains, you have to know what can come back up without problem also, leave this to the trained and save your money for other supplies. 2. Wound closure, “to be or not to be closed,” again if you do not have the supplies or the know how ALL wounds can close from secondary intention, that …



Still More About Silver’s Imminent Price Explosion

You may have noticed that the spot price of silver jumped another 20 cents yesterday. Take a few minutes to read these two interesting analyses that recently ran at Gold-Eagle.com:  http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_05/stein012706.html and, http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_05/murphy012806.html In the latter article, it is noted that the silver 60 date lease rates just went into an upright spike. This is a clear sign that alarm bells have sounded at the COMEX and they are trying desperately to suppress the galloping spot and futures silver prices. (Some futures contracts are presently pushing $12 an ounce!) But unless the COMEX does a repeat of its 1979-1980 shenanigans …


Letter Re: Questions on Petromax Lanterns (and Clones Thereof)

Hi Jim, When TSHTF it is nice to have a lantern that can use almost any flammable liquid for fuel, including used motor oil. Also, one can mix the present fuel with whatever else is available to fill the lantern and continue to use it.This German designed lantern has been around since the [early[ 1900s. It is now in its fifth generation and the fifth generation is the only Petromax lantern to be tested and listed as a truly multi-fuel lantern. Please note, all previous generations are not truly multi-fuel lantern although that claim is advertised. Caveat emptor! There are …


Letter Re: Storing Retort Packaged Ultra High Temperature Pasteurized Milk

Howdy Jim, For those with sufficient storage space, an item worth considering is the UHT (Ultra High Temperature) pasteurized milk products. In one-quart containers at around $1.40, they are available in whole milk and the 2% variety. The manufacturers give a shelf life of 6 to 10 months and the product requires no refrigeration until opened. UHT dairy products have been on the shelves in Europe for more than 20 years. They were previously unavailable to the U.S. consumer because the government felt their availability would “disrupt the milk support program.” Sure beats powdered milk! – Dutch in Wyoming JWR …


Letter from The Army Aviator Re: Follow-Up Letter From “Shooter” Re: The Draw Technique, or “Shooter’s Five Steps to Keeping Ten Fingers”

Jim: Shooter wrote: “as Instructor Greg told me last night, armed citizens will probably draw their weapons more times than they will shoot them in a potential lethal force encounter.” I’ve been carrying for over 40 years now and have always gone by the rule if you show your weapon to your opponent, it’s as you are firing it. To do otherwise is “brandishing” and giving away your advantage. I also carry a $20 wrapped around a matchbook with a rubber band. [This is the “throwaway” concept popularized by self defense writer Massad Ayoob.] Several years ago, in Aurora, Colorado, …


Letter Re: The Best All-Around Dog Breed for a Retreat?

Note from JWR: The following letter is a reply to the excellent series of informative letters on various dog breeds that ran in December of 2005. Refer to the SurvivalBlog Archives for those letters. James: I would like to mention the cur breeds as dogs that could be useful in a retreat situation. The Blackmouth cur, mountain cur, catahoula, and blue lacy would all make good choices. These were the original homestead dogs, used by the pioneers to work livestock, hunt and trail game, and to protect the family from Indians, bandits, and wild animals. These breeds are still common …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader M.W. recommends: http://www.trackertrail.com/survival/fire/cokeandchocolatebar/index.html   o o o A reader wrote to mention that in a controlled, independently reviewed study published in the Journal of Trauma, a comparison of Traumadex and Quickclot in a porcine model (severed femoral artery) showed that Quickclot was much more effective.   o o o Several long term storage food sellers report that storage food sales have been brisk–even to the point that there are now shortages of some varieties of freeze-dried foods. A lot of customers are citing concerns about the Asian Avian Flu, especially after the segment about how to prepare for a …