Chimney Construction, by PrepNow

I would like to offer some information about my experience with chimney construction and creosote build up. This information does not apply to the typical suburban open fireplace. What I’m talking about is a wood-burning stove designed to heat your home or shelter. There are a number of manufactured fireplaces available that are designed to regulate the amount of combustion air traveling into the firebox and consequently the control the actual burn. These are the most efficient and are the type that we would be using in a structure designed to ride out the future storm. Construction of the chimney …


Letter Re: Macroeconomic Implications of Large Scale Ethanol Production in the U.S.

Hi Jim I have run across some information that I thought might be of interest. I am in the food business and come in contact with a lot of people in the food industry. One of my associates is in the frozen fruit and vegetable business. He has been telling me the effect that W’s ethanol incentives are having on the agriculture industry and it is quite alarming. I have not researched this, so don’t have facts and figures to back it up, so take it for what it is worth. This situation seems to have mysteriously stayed out of …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Eric S. mentioned: India Mark II extra deep hand pump by Suksha Exports   o o o Reader RBS sent us this bookmark: The California real estate meltdown begins: Foreclosures up 79% and “short sales” up 10 times from last year’s figures.    o o o Speaking of foreclosures, reader JLM sent this: Foreclosure Wave Bears Down on Immigrants. It includes this frightening statistic: “Nationally, 375,000 high-interest-rate loans were made to Hispanics in 2005, and nearly 73,000 of them are likely to go into foreclosure…”


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

A Woman’s Ode to Survivalism, by Deborah (Moderator, JerichoCBS Forum) I’m not into fashion I like camouflage I got surveillance equipment Stashed out in my garage I don’t wear many skirts I kinda like my jeans And they go so much better with My bullets and my beans. Now don’t be thinking that I’m crazy, Not a sociopath, not even mean, But if you come a knockin’ Keep your hands where they are seen….. I got a Smith & Wesson, AK and Mossberg too, One Colt, two Berettas, A Kel-Tec.. Hmm that one’s new I don’t know when the SWHTF …


Note from JWR:

Our blog site visit statistics keep growing! There were more than 31,600 unique visitors to SurvivalBlog in the last month, running a whopping 63 gigabytes of bandwidth. (Up 30% from just four months ago!) But, even so, there are still lots of folks that have never heard of SurvivalBlog. Please keep spreading the word. I hope that you will consider adding a linked SurvivalBlog banner or logo to your e-mail footer and/or to your web pages. Many thanks!


Letter Re: Advice on Camouflage Clothing

Hi James, When considering camouflage at your retreat what are some of the things you have taken into consideration. I’m just starting to research this and the choices available are a bit overwhelming. Here are my thoughts as they currently stand. The first choice is whether you want to go with a military pattern or a commercial pattern such as RealTree, MossyOak, or similar. Then there are the in-between patterns like MultiCam that were developed for the military but not yet adopted so they are commercially available, at a premium price. I’m leaning more towards the commercial patterns as their …


Retreat Locale Analysis of Maryland, by Al in Maryland

Here are a few personal observations about the state of Maryland and Montgomery County in particular, where I live. Since I didn’t know where the statistics used for the other states analyzed on SurvivalBlog came from, for the cost of housing, car insurance, etc; I didn’t want to dig up any off the wall numbers, so none are listed. The only exception is for firearms ranking by “Boston’s Gun Bible 2005 ed.”, which I have. I only discuss the main part of the state of Maryland and not the western part which is not as developed. The western part of …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Ron L. mentioned the Steve’s Pages web site, which has a wealth of free firearms and reloading information. In particular, don’t miss his plethora of free reloading data, his many free firearms parts lists/exploded diagrams, his guns and reloading books archive, and his free downloadable military manuals. Thanks Steve, for putting together so many great resources! If you find Steve’s site as useful as I have, then please send him a donation.   o o o PNG recommend this piece: Lessons From Off The Grid: Important Personal Finance Lessons My Childhood Taught Me    o o o They’re in Deep …



Note from JWR:

The high bid is now up to $425 in the current SurvivalBlog benefit auction for several items (including an EMP-proof antique radio, four books, and a copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course) that are being auctioned together as a lot:. The auction ends on April 15th. Just e-mail me your bid. Thanks!


Letter Re: Michigan’s Upper Peninsula as a Retreat Locale

James, I have been looking for 1-to-200 acres in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. Ouch!!! I think that they think there is gold in them mountains. Right now I sit on 47 acres north of Dallas, Texas. Since land is so high I have moved my sights to other areas. Currently I have looked at land in Upper Peninsula (“U.P.”) of Michigan. It is very remote, very few people, gets up to 100″ of snow, has good forest, has water and just a good out of then way place. I have also been told they are firearms friendly. Land is cheap. …


Letter Re: Advice On Retreat Locales in Nevada

Jim, I wanted to comment on the retreat areas in Nevada. I’m a native rural Nevadan. I fully agree with your last reader on the [Big] Smoky Valley. I have lived and worked in that area in past years. He was dead on about Tonopah. I want to share a little about Ely and Elko. Ely has one of four maximum security prisons. Ely also has two medium security prisons–also called “Honor Camps”. Ely the town has been under the direction of the State. They are bankrupt. Also, there is a fair amount of mining going on in the area. …


Letter Re: Advice on Magazine Duplexing Systems

Dear Mr. Rawles – Hello again from Baltimore, Maryland, where I believe spring may have finally decided to stay this time, in spite of the inch of sleet and ice we received last week. Sounds like your family is dealing with your mud season as well. The good news from Maryland is that the state’s bans on assault weapons has died in committee. a 5-5 deadlock has prevented the bill from moving forward into the house, so the issue is dead once again for this year. The bad news is that the federal ban still looms on the horizon. I …


Odds ‘n Sods:

For those considering relocating, I found some interesting statistical data on various cities at Sperling’s Best Places. I may be quoting them in the next edition of Rawles on Retreats and Relocation   o o o The dehydrated squirrel meat advertised by Best Prices Storable Foods is causing a bit of controversy. The vendor created this page as a joke, but it does raise a valid issue. I find is odd that many folks in the politically correct crowd think that eggs from a hen that has never seen the light of day are “yummy”, and some even consider box-raised …