Note From JWR:

Get your entries in soon for Round 7 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best non-fiction article will win a valuable four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificate. (Worth up to $1,600.) Second prize is a copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, generously donated by Jake Stafford of Arbogast Publishing. If you want a chance to win Round 7, start writing and e-mail us your article. This round will end on November 30th. Remember that the articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival will have an advantage in the judging.


Letter Re: The Varroa Honeybee Mite Threatens U.S. Crop Production

Letter Re: The Varroa Honeybee Mite Threatens U.S. Crop Production The Varroa mite, Varroa jacobsonii, is an external parasite of honey bees. It feeds on the hemolymph of both brood and adult bees. The entire life cycle of these mites is spent with the bees. The Varroa mite originated in Southeast Asia where it is a parasite of the Eastern honey bee, Apis cerana. It was first discovered on the Western honey bee, Apis mellifera, in 1960. The crossover resulted from beekeepers intermingling the two species, and further spread has been encouraged by beekeepers transporting colonies. No one is sure …


Three Letters Re: Military Surplus Gasoline Cans–Questions on Cleaning Procedures and Venting

Mr. Rawles The man who bought the military gas cans with the latches and no vent hole, sounds like he [might have] bought five gallon military water cans. That also could explain why he found unknown liquid instead of gasoline in the cans. Love your site. OBTW, I’m a Unimog survival vehicle owner. J.P. in Montana   Sir: Joe is probably referring to the German style fuel cans! They are a very well designed can that vents with a passage from the cans opening up though the handle to the humpbacked air chamber on the back of the can behind …


Letter Re: Storing Coal for Home Heating at Your Retreat

Jim: Regarding he recent thread on coal storage, old factories and military installations that used coal (some barracks were coal heated and still have bins outside) often have large amounts (suitable for the survivalist or amateur blacksmith) of coal that’s not cost-effective for the operation to do anything with. If one offers to clean it up, it might be available free. I know there’s lots of anthracite coal outside old barracks at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin. Perhaps someone in the area would be able to salvage it. I’d appreciate a load for my forge for the referral if anyone does this. …


Odds ‘n Sods:

John the Bowhunter sent this one. The housing slump continues. From Sacramento, California: Now house prices are noticeably declining.    o o o Jason pointed me to this story: Brazilian granny who shot thief to get Rio medal, but may go to jail for “gun crime”    o o o Business booms for fallout shelter industry in Japan following North Korea’s nuclear test. My question: Since Honolulu, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles are all now reportedly inside the radius of North Korean nuclear missiles, why aren’t shelter builders in the Western U.S. just as busy? A tip of …



Note from JWR:

It is gratifying to see the global readership of SurvivalBlog expanding so quickly. I’m particularly surprised to see how our readership has grown in India and throughout South America. Welcome, folks! (Swaagatam, Bem-vindo, and Bienvenidos!)


Letter Re: Military Surplus Gasoline Cans–Questions on Cleaning Procedures and Venting

Hi Jim. I recently bought several used five gallon military gas cans over the Internet. Since they are used, they arrived with some remaining liquid residue in them. I don’t know what it is, other than it is not gasoline. Also, the lids are the kind that close down securely with a latch and don’t appear to be vented like the gas cans bought in a hardware store. I have several questions. (1) Do you have any suggestions for cleaning them out so that I can store gasoline in them? (2) What is the purpose of the cans being unvented? …


Letter Re: Advice on Ammunition and Precious Metals for Barter?

Mr. R.: Years back a good friend – a “tech incubator” and investment banker – asked me “What would make a good, easily portable medium of exchange ?” He was referencing some WTSHTF, post apocalyptic scenario. Good question. We thought about it and came up with answers, none of which were a pretty, malleable, ductile, shiny metal. Same with diamonds. Pretty. How do they taste when brewed up in the coffee-pot ? … oh yeah, they don’t! Wanna barter ? You’d better be bringing something to the table that has functional value. Food. Water. Shelter. Fire. Things that go bang. …


Odds ‘n Sods:

North Korea defiant, amidst fears of second nuclear weapon test. In other headlines, North Korea say that the recent UN sanctions resolution is a “declaration of war.”    o o o The U.S. is beefing up security on the Canadian border, deploying air assets–including drones.    o o o The U.S. Special Forces SCAR rifle acquisition program moves forward: The SCAR has unique specifications that allow the same receiver to be used for both .223 (“SCAR L”) and .308 (“SCAR H”) variants. Hmmm…The army finally gets back on track, nearly 50 years after the T44 versus T48 rifle trials, and …




Letter Re: Earthquake in Hawaii

Jim: I woke up last Sunday to the sound of my house shaking. Yup, an earthquake and wow, a really big one. Calmly and firmly I ordered the kids out of the house and waited until the shaking stopped. When we went inside my 6 and 8 year olds had already gotten their little mini-survival packs out (emergency mylar bags, flints, tinder and Swiss army knives) and were working on getting their heavier survival backpacks out from the closet (food, clothes and sleeping bags) while I swept up the broken glass on the kitchen floor. They did me proud. No …


Letter Re: Prospects for the UK after TEOTWAWKI

Sir: On 10 Oct 06 you wrote: “Ironically, the risk of getting murdered here in the US is higher than it is there. But England clearly has higher rates for nearly all other crimes–both violent and non-violent”. In fact England has more murders than the US. It is all to do with how they work out the numbers. You would think to be classed as a murder someone would have to be murdered but it does not work this way. In the US the way to class a death as murder is if the police case starts of as a …