Muddying The Waters on EMP–Jack Wheeler and the BLOS Imponderable

SurvivalBlog reader Joe. K. mentioned in a recent e-mail that one of my heroes, Dr. Jack Wheeler, posted a dismissive article about the EMP threat, back in June. (It was posted at Wheeler’s excellent “To The Point News” subscription website: http://www.tothepointnews.com/  )  Wheeler is a fascinating fellow. Back in the 1960s, he swam the Hellespont, climbed the Matterhorn, and went tiger hunting as a civilian in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. All of this before he was 25 years old. He also spent a lot of time living with head hunters in the Amazon jungle. But I digress…  Wheeler’s article, …


David in Israel Re: Firearms for Survival

James: I’ll start with a confession: It is hard for me, a true “heavy battle rifle/ M1911 .45/ one shot is all it takes” kind of guy to advocate hosing down and running. Reading posts about the tinkering and modding is fun but as I hear the Arabs across the wadi from me get all fired up and shoot into the air (I hope). I realize it is not about looking cool but staying alive. Attacking the most controversial issue, let’s sit back and watch the flames spread from this! 1-Concealment and deception. Be “The Gray Man” (see my post …


Letter Re: Potential for Earth Strikes by Large Asteroids

Jim: See: http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/ A sub part of this site was mentioned in the article that you posted Friday, but I’d recommend posting this main page of the site. People forget we had an asteroid pass very close to us last year, just 2/3 the distance to the moon. (Called a lunar distance or “LD”). Let’s look at two more things. 1.) NASA just recently proved they can hit an asteroid with a satellite. Doesn’t that strike you as at least a little odd they would spend the money to do that just for researching the impact? 2.) Now, did you …


Letter Re: Faraday Cage Grounding

Mr. Rawles, I have been enjoying reading your excellent blog. Some thoughts for you on the post from Rourke and the troubles presented by EMP. The only circuit breaker that could possibly open before an EMP surge could do damage are some large (400+ pounds) industrial types and they start at about $40,000. Be quite the installation. Any breaker you can get for less than that just ain’t nearly fast enough. You want to be a bit careful about installing a grounding system in your house that isn’t connected to the house’s grounding system, if it has one. The National …


Letter Re: Online Sources for Military Manuals

Jim, Most all of the current US Army field manuals (FMs) are available for download directly from the Army at: http://atiam.train.army.mil/soldierPortal/appmanager/soldier/start?_nfpb=true&docGroup=official&_pageLabel=rdlservicespage Note: Some are restricted access to those with a .gov or .mil address, but many can be downloaded by anyone. BTW, the Army for some reason decided to ‘modernize’ the numbering system and the 5-series manuals are now 3-series. Generally, though, the older manuals (some of which are available, as mentioned, from globalsecurity.org or FAS.org) are also useful. The newer manuals are more technology intensive than the older ones. It’s good knowing the current state of the art though. …


Odds ‘n Sods:

I just discovered that SurvivalBlog reader Matt C. has his own blog: www.parallaxadjustment.blogspot.com. Matt’s blog centers on his tactical firearms training. He is a regular shooter at a weekly class taught by a certified CHL/Lethal Use of Force trainer. Matt chronicles these lessons and passes on some great pearls of wisdom. Be forewarned that he uses a bit of off-color humor and language, but I recommend his blog. Good stuff. … Some disturbing reading on GWB’s opinion of the Constitution: http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7779.shtml … I heard that George at The Pre-1899 Specialist has put some of his hand selected Model 1893  8x57mm …



Making a Faraday Cage, by Rourke

Electromagnetic pulse (EMP), is now a commonly know effect thanks to movies showcasing the nuclear version such as Goldeneye (James Bond) and the remake of Ocean’s 11 which shows a non-nuclear version. The real question for survivalists is: what is EMP actually going to do to my valued equipment and what can I realistically do about it? Let’s start with lightening since it is very well understood. We know that lightening will tend to seek out the highest conductive point that is grounded and then seek to flow through a conductor, often back and forth a few times, until the …


Letter Re: More on “Harder Homes and Gardens”

Dear Mr. Rawles, On 5 Dec. ’05 you recommended the “5-” series Army Engineer Corps manuals. [Some of] these manuals are on the net to download at http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/index.html More U.S. military manuals can be downloaded from links at:http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/index.html .   And BTW, http://www.globalsecurity.org/index.html is a very good site to see what the military is planning for a influenza outbreak. – Simon.


Letter Re: Rourke on The Stealth Survival Retreat

Jim, Beware of a second pouring to thicken a concrete shelter lid for added fallout protection. It is essentially a dead load that causes the lid to get closer to it’s stress limit. Thickness adds strength only when it is part of a single pouring, with all the needed rebar integrated. I would advise consulting an engineer before adding unforeseen load to a concrete span. – Mr. Bravo JWR Replies: Thanks for mentioning that! I have just added a proviso to my original post.


Letter Re: New FINCEN Regulation on Precious Metals/Gemstones Transaction Reporting

Jim, It looks like our rulers are going to tighten the noose on reporting requirements for bullion purchases to chip away at anonymous buyers effective January 1, 2006. See:  http://www.fincen.gov/faq060305.pdf   FDR started the ball rolling in 1933. See: http://www.the-privateer.com/1933-gold-confiscation.html. This FINCEN ruling may be the precursor to the next confiscation coming down the pike. Instead of “hoarding”, the new buzzword is now money-laundering prevention. As with guns, the strategy is to attach names and addresses to potentially confiscated goods to facilitate asset seizure and forfeiture.- Bill in North Idaho


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power government has is the power to crack down on criminals. When there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.” – Ayn Rand, from the novel Atlas Shrugged


Potential for Earth Strikes by Large Asteroids

The statistical chance of a large asteroid striking the Earth in any given year is very small–in fact almost statistically insignificant–since such events occur on average only once in more than 10,000 years. However, the consequences if such an event were to occur would be tremendous–perhaps even an “extinction level event.”  Recent advances in astronomy have led to the realization that a large number of Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) that have true “Earth-crossing” orbits was far greater than was originally estimated.  See: http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/cfa/ps/mpc.html The Tunguska, Siberia event in 1908 and the Curucá incident in Brazil in 1930 (in both of which …


EMP Threat to U.S. Presaged in a New Book

The World Tribune recently published some interesting excerpts from the new book, “War Footing: 10 Steps America Must Take to Prevail in the War for the Free World“, by Frank J. Gaffney and Colleagues, reprinted with permission from the publisher, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland. OBTW, I had the privilege of meeting Frank Gaffney, back when I was on the editorial staff of Defense Electronics magazine. I was favorably impressed with both his acumen and his common sense. For the full text of the review, see:  http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/05/front2453711.9284722223.html