Letter Re: New Zealand as a Retreat Locale, and New Zealand vs. U.S. Gun Laws

Dear Mr. Rawles, You wrote the following lumping NZ in with two other countries “The downside in all three countries is that their citizenries are unfairly subjected to draconian gun laws. (At least by American standards.) If you can live with registering all of your guns and some ridiculous restrictions on full capacity magazines, then by all means take a look in New Zealand. By reputation, the real estate firm to consider there is Bayleys”. I would like to clarify a few points. First of all our gun laws are better here than some of your cities and states. There …




Two Notes Re: Inexpensive Fallout Shelter Construction Method?

SurvivalBlog reader J.C.S. recommended a site by a gent that used school buses to build a fallout shelter: http://www.webpal.org/webpal/index.htm Doc at http://www.bigsecrets.cc recommended this site: http://www.undergroundhousing.com/  Doc says: “The author of “The $50 Underground House Book” did not start out to design a livable fallout shelter, but that is what he did.”




Odds n’ Sods:

Rev. R.J. Rushdoony on the Biblical Gold Standard: http://www.chalcedon.edu/articles/article.php?ArticleID=281    o o o JPFO Talkin’ to America recently interviewed Fred of Fred’s M14 Stocks regarding the RWVA Appleseed Project educational program. For downloadable audio, see: www.jpfo.org/talkamerica.htm    o o o A “must read” piece of economic analysis:  “Central Banks, Weimar Germany and Gold” by Richard J. Greene. See: http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_05/greene033106.html    o o o Interesting article about possible societal responses to terrorism in the USA (written by an ex-SOG(?)commander) : http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/103/essay-security.html    o o o Peak Sugar, Fuel, or Food? http://www.eurotrib.com/story/2006/3/30/174434/223







Odds ‘n Sods:

A professor at the University of Texas proposes that a plague wiping out 90% of Earth’s population would be a good thing. (I’m dubious.) See: http://story.seguingazette.com/drudge.html, and  http://www.sas.org/tcs/weeklyIssues_2006/2006-04-07/feature1p/index.html    o o o I just heard that Ready Made Resources is now offering free shipping on their freeze dried food!    o o o To our U.S. readers: Just enter your zip code in the site below, and it tells you which gas stations have the lowest (and the highest) gasoline prices in your zip code area. It’s updated every evening. Be sure to scroll down after getting a map of …







Letter Re: Out-of-Print Bushcraft Book Now Available Online

James: I just found my way to this site and thought it would be another good source of survival information for your readers, especially as it had been compiled with military rescues in mind at the time. I have no affiliation with the site, author, etc. Just wanted to pass on a link: http://tions.net/CA256EA900408BD5/vwWWW/outdoor~03~000 Here is a snip from the site: “The section is home to an on-line edition of a classic text that is sadly now out of print, ‘The 10 Bushcraft Books’ by Richard Graves. Richard Harry Graves was born 17th July, 1898 (some sources list year of …




Letter from Michael Z. Williamson Re: Black Powder Replica Revolver Cartridge

Jim, Here’s one of at least two commercially available conversions for black powder to cartridge: http://www.kirstkonverter.com By installing one of these cylinders, one is legally manufacturing their own weapon, so no paperwork is involved. [Under the Federal law] as long as the components are shipped separately, it can be mailed to any adult per federal law. Note however, that some states and localities will have differing laws. – Michael Z. Williamson    




Letter Re: Inexpensive Fallout Shelter Construction Method?

Hi Jim, Boy, is your blog the “cream of the crop”! I’ve read it daily, almost from the very beginning, and am always amazed by the breadth of knowledge within. Great job! I fully recognize the need for a suitable fallout shelter for my family in these trying times. By suitable I mean more than just an expedient shelter. We may need to be sealed off for several weeks in a worst case scenario. Don’t get me wrong, an expedient shelter will save lives but may not be the most desirable conditions for a wife and toddler. In doing much …




Odds ‘n Sods:

A professor at the University of Texas proposes that a plague wiping out 90% of Earth’s population would be a good thing. (I’m dubious.) See: http://story.seguingazette.com/drudge.html, and  http://www.sas.org/tcs/weeklyIssues_2006/2006-04-07/feature1p/index.html    o o o I just heard that Ready Made Resources is now offering free shipping on their freeze dried food!    o o o To our U.S. readers: Just enter your zip code in the site below, and it tells you which gas stations have the lowest (and the highest) gasoline prices in your zip code area. It’s updated every evening. Be sure to scroll down after getting a map of …




Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"This course is dedicated to the idiotic proposition that you can be taught the fundamentals of Organic chemistry, Inorganic chemistry, Qualitative analysis, Quantitative analysis, Physical chemistry, and Biochemistry all in one semester. The odds against any of you passing this course would be staggering to contemplate if there were any time for contemplation. However, there is not. Get out your notebooks." – Max Shulman in The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis




Note from JWR:

As previously mentioned, I will be writing SurvivalBlog full time, starting April 7th. Quitting my “day job” is a huge leap of faith. To make a living at this, I will need far more 10 Cent Challenge contributors. I don’t intend to place “guilt trip” on anyone, nor do I want to sound like a beggar, but ponder the fact that less that 2% of the folks that read SurvivalBlog weekly have ponied up 10 cents a day. All that I ask is that if find what you read here valuable, then please pitch in. Thanks! Today we present the …




From #1 Son: Asian Avian Flu Cannot be Prevented by NAIS

The USDA is now claiming that the NAIS (National Animal Identification System) is necessary because of Asian Avian Flu. It would is pointless, because the flu could carried by wild birds. See this article in the Seattle Times. Mike Johanns (Secretary of Agriculture and one of the major advocates of the NAIS) said, “None of us can build a cage around the United States. We have to be prepared to deal with the virus here.” The NAIS program is clearly an attempt by the big agri-corps to remove competition and open foreign markets, or if you are more conspiracy minded, …




Your Mind is Your Primary Tool for Survival, by Warhawke

Let me tell you a little story. It was January 1978, my sister was 8 and I was 11, and we were standing in front of the window in my parent’s front room. Outside the world was being covered in ice, or at least the slice we could see from there. The trees, the streetlight, the cars, even the recent snow had a pretty sheen that we thought was beautiful. Mom and Dad didn’t seem to share our enthusiasm, but heck, we knew that the old fogies didn’t know what cool was. Then of course, the lights went out. No …




Letter Re: Military Strobe Light Batteries

James: Regarding’s Dave’s recent mention of the Firefly strobe: “…the PX32 can also be used in an adapter for the old “Firefly” strobe…” I just thought that I’d mention the solution I found for military strobe batteries. Actually, I may be thinking of another strobe, the military SDU-5E orange rescue strobe.An amazing gentleman, Brooke Clarke, has simply done so much for so many at his site: http://www.pacificsites.com/~brooke/ . Be it a military radio, or a cool battery facilitator, Brooke is simply amazing. Here’s the URL for his adaptors: http://www.pacificsites.com/~brooke/PRC68COM.shtml or directly for the strobe adapter: http://www.pacificsites.com/~brooke/5BA.shtml. I know he made …