Letter Re: Stocking Up on Shoes and Boots for Survival

In regard to Matt’s statement in his letter on survival footgear: “BUT, you cannot fake or approximate footwear!” Don’t be so sure about that. See: http://www.indigenouspeople.net/tarafeat.htm I have yet to scale a 10,000 foot peak in tire sandals or moccasins, but I’m going to give it a try one of these days: http://www.hollowtop.com/sandals.htm  Less along the lines of “field expedient footwear” and more along the lines of “Post-TEOTWAWKI skills,” here’s a link to a site that deals with making “medieval style” shoes: http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/shoe/SHOEHOME.HTM If things ever get bad, having the skills to make well-fitted shoes could make one a welcome …



De-Nuked Tridents?

A tip of the hat to Noah at the DefenseTech Blog, who alerted me to a recent Washington Post story. Apparently some 24 submarine-launched Trident missiles will be converted to carry improved conventional munitions for a “global strike” capability See: http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2006/01/a_bad_weapon_in.html#more. According to the story, some observers suggest that a launch of any of these retrofitted missiles (which could carry up to four MIRVs each) might cause a false alarm in trigger-happy nuclear nation states like North Korea. That could create the excuse for a retaliatory strike with nukes, which would of course be a very bad thing.


Letter Re: Stocking Up on Shoes and Boots for Survival

Hi Jim, As always, SurvivalBlog is the top of my morning reading list. Great discussion today about arming your unprepared non-shooting neighbors during or after TSHTF. I have always considered the training of non-shooters to be almost a sacred duty. Just as we do not turn away the repentant prodigal son from church when he awakens, we must gratefully take the opportunity to train and arm our neighbors when crisis hits. This is an example of enlightened self interest at work, for as you say, it is hard for a family to protect four quadrants. Much better to have semi-trained …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Can anyone in this country do anything without their cell phone? Today a co-worker told me that her husband refused to keep a date to go out to dinner because he had misplaced his cell phone. Instead of spending a romantic evening together, they spent two hours frantically searching for his cell phone. They finally found it in his car, where they had searched twice before. If I recall correctly, life was possible before everyone had a cell phone.   o  o  o The RWVA’s Spring Appleseed Tour series of rifle training sessions/matches is shaping up. They have shoots scheduled …



Note from JWR:

There are just eleven days left in Round 2 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best contest entry will win a four day course certificate at Front Sight. (An up to $2,000 value!)  The deadline for entries for Round 2 is the last day of January, 2006. I also have some good news: Thanks to the generosity of Naish Piazza (the founder and director of Front Sight), we will be extending the writing contest for at least one more round! Round 3 will begin February 1st and end on the last day of March. We’ve already …


Letter Re: Surplus Ultra-Cold Medical Storage Freezers

I have been watching the U.S. Government surplus auctions for ultra-cold medical storage freezers. This one (“KELVINATOR, MDL: UC50RFMS, LAB REFRIGERATOR”) recently sold for just three hundred bucks. See: http://cgi.govliquidation.com/auction/view?id=743367&convertTo=USD Not a bad price at all. I hope that it went to some frugal individual who will be using it for long-term storage in the event of TEOTWAWKI! I’ve become hopelessly addicted to the govliquidation.com site. Keep up the good work. A 10 Cent Challenge check is headed your way. – T.K.


Eric Roseman’s Commentary on the Inverted Yield Curve

The following are some excerpts from some commentary by Eric Roseman that was included in a recent issue of  The Sovereign Society’s Offshore A-Letter: When the rate of return for short term investments exceeds that of long term investments (the yield curve “inverts”), it is generally a sign of bad economic times ahead. Over the last two years, investors have barely kept pace with inflation in benchmark intermediate term US Treasury bonds. After enjoying a massive rally since 2000, bond yields hit a 40 year low in 2003 at 3.3%. Despite thirteen Federal Reserve rate hikes since June 2004, bond …


Odds ‘n Sods:

There is some very useful information on battlefield survival skills at this static web site: http://www.survivethewar.com.  Much of this info is applicable for preparedness-minded folks like you and me. Take a look.   o o o Gary North quoted sage economist John Templeton as stating that when the housing bubble pops, real estate house prices might decline as much as 90%.  Dr. North is less pessimistic. My personal view is that as the housing bubble collapses, “Helicopter Ben” Bernanke will be simultaneously cranking up the printing presses. The net effect will be that your house won’t go down significantly in dollar …


Jim’s Quote of the Day

"On every question of construction, carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed." – Thomas Jefferson



Letter Re: Getting Your Group to Buy In: The $20 Medical Kit, By EMT J.N.

Mr. Rawles, I enjoy reading your blog. It is full of useful information. I have a couple of suggestions to add to the 1-13-06 letter by EMT J.N.  Alacer (the makers of “Emer’gen-C”) has an prepackaged instant electrolyte mix available. Just mix with water and drink. ‘Electromix‘ is available at most health food store. It costs about 35 cents per packet. I also would not want to be without aloe vera for burns. Small tubes or bottles are not that much, but it is amazing stuff!! Some Aloe vera products have colorings and such in them; the ones without are …


Letter Re: Arming Your Untrained Neighbors

Dear Jim: Straightblast brings up an excellent point about the many pitfalls of loaning weapons to untrained neighbors, after a crisis has hit, and thus potentially arming bad guys. He wrote:”Frankly, it scares me. I look at it this way…if the neighbor has no guns (right now), and no gun skills…and the bad guys come to visit…what are the odds that he / she will prevail against them? I think close to zero.”  It scares me too! But I beg to differ that the chances for your neighbor are “close to zero.” Remember your average gang or criminal has not …


Letter Re: Suppressors and .22 LR Conversion Kits for Rifles and Pistols

The Colt version for the 1911, chopped to Detonics length, on an alloy frame, recoils just as much as full size and with 9mm, saving you 10c a shot. An alloy compact 9mm 1911 variant recoils just as much as a full size and weight .45 ACP. This is great for training, saving you 10 cents a shot. A .223 AR-15, “wearing” an 8″ long, 12 ounce sound suppressor is every bit as “tame” sounding as the Ciener .22 LR unit without the suppressor. [Shooting .22 LR in training] saves you nearly 20 cents a shot, and permits practice at …