Notes from JWR:

We were saddened to hear of the passing of Col. Jeff Cooper yesterday. He was a fine American, a true Patriot, and a master at his craft. Our condolences to his wife Janelle. Round 6 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest ends in three days! 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 6, e-mail us …


Maximizing Food Storage Life, by R.E.M.

Well, I guess it is safe to say that we have successfully dodged the Y2K bullet (still not completely sure though), which means that a lot of us that implemented food storage programs in its anticipation in 1998 and 1999 are now looking at rotating stock. This, coupled with current events, has me refocused on restocking. I have some tips to share that may be of value to readers that find themselves in a similar position. First, when evaluating how to go about restocking food supplies, consult the Excel spreadsheet that you created when you first started to get serious …


Letter Re: Questions on the Pickup Truck as a Multi-Purpose Retreat Vehicle

Dear Jim and loyal SurvivalBlog readers: I have been researching pickup trucks as my next logical purchase in preparation for the inevitable short or long-term SHTF/grid-down scenario. I have decided that I will purchase an older (pre-1990/EMP-resistant), diesel, 4 x 4 pickup truck, probably a Ford, but maybe a Dodge or GMC/Chevy. The truck will need to be powerful enough to tow whatever (trailer, boat, camper) as well as be able to effectively plow snow (living here in snowy New England after all). My decision is based on reading the many postings on SurvivalBlog regarding the best G.O.O.D. vehicle to …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Our friend Simon mentioned this article at WorldNetDaily: The city of Cooper City, Florida, has given itself the power to seize residents’ personal property in times of emergency.    o o o The bidding is still at $180 in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction for a fully tested and recently professionally calibrated U.S. government surplus Civil Defense CD V-717 fallout survey meter with remote sensing capability. The meter was donated by Ready Made Resources (one of our first and most loyal advertisers). This auction ends on October 15th. Please submit your bid via e-mail.    o o o The big sale …




Derivatives–The Mystery Man Who’ll Break the Global Bank at Monte Carlo

When I do radio interviews or lecture presentations, I’m often asked: “Mister Rawles, what do you see as a likely ‘worst case scenario’?” People expect me to say “a full scale nuclear exchange in World War III” or, “a stock market crash”, or “a flu pandemic”, or “a sudden end to the current real estate bubble.” But most of them are surprised when I respond: Economic collapse triggered by the popping of the derivatives bubble. Many people that are involved in the periphery of the investing–including most small investors–have never even heard of derivatives. They may have heard of ‘hedge …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader D.M. mentioned this site on anonymous web surfing. I personally recommend these tried and true tools: Anonymizer and StealthSurfer.    o o o I have a good friend that is an attorney who specializes in privacy, trusts, and incorporation. If you’d like to contact her, just send me an e-mail with “Trust Attorney” in the title, and I will be happy to forward it to her.    o o o Courtesy of “akfanatic” at the FALFiles, here is a U.S. Army web site comparing commercial portable water filters.


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors; they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men." …


Rethinking Global Oil Reserves by Michael Z. Williamson

Ah, oil. It’s close in everyone’s minds because we rely on it absolutely. It fuels our vehicles, some houses, provides lubricants, is used for all our plastics and in many industrial applications. The first major factor in the chain is surveying and drilling of crude. As recently made the news, a massive reserve in the Gulf of Mexico has increased our domestic supply by 50%. There are also newer technologies coming on board for extracting oil from tougher resources (Shales, sands, deep wells, from under permafrost) and also manufacturing oil from organic waste, in a process called Thermodepolymerization (TDP). The …


Letter Re: Walking Blood Banks and Interceptor Body Armor

James, Here’s a link to an e-mail written by a Marine Corps Intelligence officer in Iraq. It’s humbling to read first hand the sacrifices our troops endure for us. But in all dark clouds, there is a silver lining (in this case from a preparedness perspective). In the near future, there are going to be a lot of medical personnel returning to civilian life that know exactly how to treat gun shot wounds and conduct “walking bloodbanks”. May the Lord bless you with one near your home. Other stray thoughts: keep an eye out for the new [Interceptor] body armor …


Odds ‘n Sods:

You gotta love Idaho: It has been proposed that every household in Greenleaf, Idaho have a firearm as part of a larger emergency preparedness requirements. Sounds good to me.    o o o Moriaty told me about a great site with articles and essays on Renaissance weapons.    o o o John the Bowhunter mentioned this amazing series of posts over at Archery Talk: A youngster has taken 77 big game animals with a 42 pound bow. With that bow he got penetration “to the feathers.” Notice the picture of the boy next to pro-gun and pro-archery rock-n-roll legend Ted …



Letter Re: Some Light on the Subject–An Amazing Coincidence

I had major dental surgery yesterday. Sure, I could have ignored it, but most animals are dead when they can’t eat. I consider dental health an excellent investment. In any case, I digress. I brought a flashlight in with me and the office staff and doctor looked at me like I was nuts. “What happens if your power goes out and there I am with a mouth full of blood, power tools and incisions and you can’t see how to stitch me back up?” They told me they hadn’t lost power in over 10 years but I put my flashlight …


Two Letters Re: Swords and Bows for that Dreaded Multigenerational Scenario

Jim, This is the first time I’ve written. I have been following with interest the posts regarding the use of archery for multi- generational thinking that surely someone else would bring this up, but that appears not to be the case. I’m fairly surprised that no one has yet mentioned the chu-ko-nu (see: It is commonly know as the Chinese Repeating Crossbow and is essentially a semi-automatic crossbow. It was used extensively in warfare as late as the 1890’s against the firearms of the Japanese to a fair amount of success. It is legendary for being rugged on the battlefield …