From David In Israel: How Freeze Drying Works

James: I am sure the readers are interested in the way that industrial produced freeze dried foods are made. I was a kashrut masgiach (kosher supervisor) at a major freeze dry producer in the United States before I emigrated to Israel. Mashgichim are flown all over the world to places where there is no Jewish community to certify the kosherness of foods for consumption by Jews. (The laws of kashrut are much too complex to describe here). The plant I certified had two major types of chamber one that was bus-sized and another that was the size of a minivan. …


Letter Re: Canadian Source for Long Term Storage Food?

Hi Jim, I just recently found your blog and love it! I was hoping you might be able to help me out. I’ve been trying to find Canadian sources for bulk food/storage supplies and had no luck. Do you happen to know of any? Thanks! – Kim JWR Replies: I don’t know of any major storage food packagers in Canada. Most are just distributors for U.S. packaged storage foods, and they tack on a substantial mark-up. They offer no real value added except for being on the far side of those pesky Customs Canada minions. To minimize shipping costs, you …


Letter Re: Making Farm Field Water Runoff Water Drinkable

James: I’ve considered as an emergency water supply the steady runoff from the cornfield behind us. It’s always at least a steady trickle even in the driest part of summer. Will a Katadyn filter or similar remove pesticides or other chemicals from it? Or should I plan on a small water still? – Mike JWR Replies: If working with field runoff, first use a pre-filter to remove sediment. Just a couple of thicknesses of T-shirts over a five gallon bucket works fine as a pre-filter. Using pre-filtered water will greatly extend the life of your primary filter. Next, to filter …


Two Letters Re: NiMH Batteries

Jim: If left idle, a NiMH battery loses up to 1% of its original capacity per day. (This doesn’t mean that it loses 100% in 100 days; rather, it means that after day one, it is at 99%, after day 2, it may be at 98.01%, etc. — it will theoretically never reach 0%) I bought a Grundig/Eton FRS250 hand crank radio a year ago. I used it every day for about two months and it would run for two or three hours on a two-minute crank. I then left it idle for about 8 months, after which time it …


Odds and Sods:

More silver ETF news: The Street.com o o o Update on Peak Oil: http://mondediplo.com/2006/03/03oilfields o o o I’ve heard that there is now just one slot left for the next specialized Tactical Lifesaver Course. This class will be held on April 15-16, 2006, in Douglas, Georgia. A Iraq war vet Physician’s Assistant (PA) will teach you a lot of skills that the American Red Cross doesn’t. (Such as: how to prep an intravenous infusion, how to insert and orthopharyngeal airway, wound debridement, suturing, how to treat a sucking chest wound, and much more.) Don’t neglect taking this course. See:http://www.survivalreportblog.com/Tactical_Lifesaver_Course.html Because …



Letter from Rourke Re: Safe Room Doors on Budget

A vault door may not be necessary unless you really need a blast door or you are very worried about theft. If you are far enough from a likely ground zero and able to at least somewhat hide your door, a steel fire door will probably suffice nicely. For bargains, look for commercial demolitions, or contact people or companies who do this. Tell them you are looking for a swinging conventional doorway sized steel fire door, preferably with the steel frame, dent and scratch is fine. If you must buy new, find a 90 minute rated steel fire door. They …


Letter Re: A Bucket Clothing Storage Idea, and the Importance of Lanyards

Sir: I think that you could use the five gallon bucket to put your clothing in and treat it like we store the wheat–with a dry ice or nitrogen purge. Lanyards are a great idea for a lot of gear. For example, I use foam ear plugs with string between them for less chance of losing them. At the retreat I use them in conjunction use the ear muffs over the ears. The uses of the nylon cord are limitless when you are out in the boonies: “Where are my glasses? For gloves, run string between them just like our …


Letter Re: Choosing Between a Shotgun and a Rifle for Retreat Defense

Hi, I was wondering if the following items that I already have are a good start on a survival kit and what else would be good to add on. Ruger .22/45 pistol, two 10 round magazines, stainless steel blade fishing knife with regular blade, gutting blade, small scissors, probe, and flashlight, cell phone with flashlight, Savage Arms .22 bolt action rifle with scope, salt packets, duct tape, cold cereal in a good sealed case, and a standard military issue canteen. Also, I was looking at a 12 gauge pump action over a .30-06 bolt action. Which would be better? Thank …


Odds n’ Sods:

A gent on the FALFiles Forums recommended some potential sources for Surefire 123A lithium batteries: Amondo Tech: http://www.amondotech.comt Lighthound: http://lighthound.com/ Battery Station: http://www.batterystation.com/ Battery Junction: http://www.batteryjunction.com/index.html o o o How the Asian Avian Flu May Affect Your Life: ABC News o o o I mentioned last weekend that I had dropped by the gun show table run by Darryl Holland (of Holland’s of Oregon), and sent him home a Browning A-Bolt bolt action rifle for muzzle threading with 1/2″ x 28 threadsand installation of a Holland’s muzzle brake. I was delighted to see that the barreled action arrived at our …



Note from JWR:

We are gradually moving all of the existing SurvivalBlog posts into Moveable Type format, so that they will be full searchable archives. Until then, all of the posts up to March 15th will remain available as static archives at our old Archives page. Thanks for your patience! Today we feature another entry in Round 3 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best contest entry will win a four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificate. The deadline for entries for Round 3 is March 31, 2006. We have upgraded our ClustrMaps account, so that you can …


The Year Without A Summer (a.k.a. “Eighteen Hundred and Froze to Death” and “The Poverty Year”) By Tim P.

Since moving to Chenango County, New York in 2001, I have tried to do a bit of studying on the history of the area. My father lived in Fulton – North of Syracuse – as a boy and I spent the first 12 years of my life in Rhode Island with trips to the Upstate region for camping, family visits, etc. so I was not completely unfamiliar with the area. However, I had never really studied the history of the region and some of the things that I have found surprised me. I have always been fascinated by the catastrophes …


Letter Re: Advice on Silver Investing?

Jim, I’m just curious to your thoughts on this. Like you, I believe silver is going to gain a lot of momentum in the near future. The wife and I are out of debt and sitting on some paper investments that I’m unable to move out of for various reasons. I’m thinking of taking a home equity loan (our house is paid off) out and purchasing approximately $30,000 in silver and turning around and selling throughout what I feel will be the climb in silver prices. Of course we would pay off the loan but hope to reap the profits …


Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalBlog reader J.K. mentioned that FEMA has a very informative booklet available, “Taking Shelter From The Storm” See: http://www.fema.gov/fima/tsfs02.shtm. This booklet includes case studies and engineering drawing for several different safe room locations. o o o SurvivalBlog reader Overhill spotted this Asian Avian Flu planning guide from Uncle Sugar: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/planguide/ o o o And you thought that the U.S. 1994 “Assault Weapons” ban was dead and buried–or at least “sunsetted”? Guess again. The ultra-liberal wing of the U.S. Senate has re-introduced it, as new legislation. (S. 645) The sponsors are mostly “the usual suspects”: Lautenberg, Corzine, Schumer, Boxer, Kennedy, Durbin, …