Letter From Rourke Re: Insulated Concrete Forms for Home/Retreat Construction

This is in response to a letter from B.V. (posted 1/12/06) on Insulated Concrete Forms (ICFs) and http://www.polysteel.com. As I said in my 1/7/05 letter, the major shortfall of this type of construction is the roof. Otherwise, this a good idea, in particular to insulate the concrete wall from the elements so it acts as helpful thermal mass for heating and cooling efficiency. Also, reinforced poured concrete is far superior to block, just try drilling through each sometime. There are several companies that make these systems. I happen like the hanger system (for joists and trusses, etc.), and the system …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. This gives exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise, and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball are too violent for the body and stamp no moral character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be the constant companion of your walk." -Thomas Jefferson


Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 2 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. This one is excellent. Don’t just read this article, folks. Implement it! The writer of the best contest entry will win a four day course certificate at Front Sight. (An up to $2,000 value!)  The deadline for entries is the last day of January, 2006.


Getting Your Group to Buy In: The $20 Medical Kit, By EMT J.N.

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Overview After the Katrina fiasco, a lot of my friends started to get interested in preparedness. Having some experience as an EMT and SAR volunteer, I decided to take the initiative and organize a group buy on medical supplies. This article is intended to help others who would like to put together low-cost, practical medical kits, particularly for a group. For the short version, skip down to The Kit: Part I. Otherwise, read on. Background For any kind of preparedness project, it’s best to have a set of goals in mind at the outset. The goals I came up with …


Letter Re: Survival Gun Selection

JWR: As to your post on “Survival Gun Selection” in reference to having spare parts. If you have one or two of the same “tool” and have spare parts, it would be best to check that the spare parts fit. Make sure they both fit and function. It would be best to do your fitting beforehand whenever possible. Richard, KT Ordnance JWR Replies: If any of you readers have not yet visited the KT Ordnance web site, then you should.  Richard sells gunsmithing goodies with an interesting angle: He makes 80% finished rifle and pistol receivers, as well as jigs, …


Five Letters Re: Poor Man’s Generator Power Transfer Switch

Note from JWR: Posting all five of the following letters is probably over kill, but I’m doing so to illustrate the power of the collected wisdom represented on this blog!  You folks really know your stuff. Dear James and all concerned, I believe that a safer and more efficient way [than the backfeed rig suggested by Monty is] to power a home via generator is to build a cord much the same way as was previously posted, but instead of having a male plug on both ends, ( which is extremely dangerous and also requires more wire to reach the …


Note From JWR:

If you enjoy reading this blog and you have have your own web site, then please establish a link to our site. Doing so will help promote the blog–both directly and by raising it in search engine rankings.  (The search engines give the greatest ranking weight to sites that are heavily cross-linked by other sites.) We will be happy to reciprocate, at our Links page. Thanks!


Three Interesting Recent Economic Commentaries on Gold-Eagle.com

When doing some recent web research, I ran across three very interesting commentaries posted by the fine folks at at Gold-Eagle.com. The first was by Peter Degraaf.  See: http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_05/degraaf010806.html The second was by Emanuel Balarie on The Real Estate Bubble. See: http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_05/balarie011006.html The third was by Kevin DeMeritt, the president of Lear Financial, titled: “Greater Fools, Stocks, Real Estate and Gold.”See: http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_05/demeritt010906.html


Letter Re: Insulated Concrete Forms for Home/Retreat Construction

James, Have been reading your Blog on Dome Homes. Was wondering if you have considered/ reviewed Insulated Concrete Forms (ICFs). They appear to have several uses, good thermal factor, ballistic protection, and they look fairly do it yourself. See:  http://www.polysteel.com. Can you comment on these? – B.V. JWR Replies:  ICF is an excellent construction method.  ICF houses are very well insulated and offer above average ballistic protection.  There are several competing makers, of whom PolySteel is the best known.  See the Survival Blog Archives for previous discussions on this topic.  


Letter Re: Poor Man’s Generator Power Transfer Switch

I am a newbie to your blog, also to blogs in general. Awesome job!!! You can power your home with a generator easily and Safely as follows: If your home has a electric dryer and your generator output is less than 30 amps (i.e. Coleman 5000 Watts = 20 amps) Kill your main inbound voltage, main breaker/ disconnect et cetera.Use a male twist lock NEMA plug that fits the outlet from the generator, use appropriate cable (10/3 S.O. cord) size it to the amperage output of the generator (10 AWG  / 30 amps) for short lengths. Use a male dryer …


Two Letters Re: Truck, Auto, ATV, Motorcycle, and Bicycle Tire Repair

Hi, I am no tire expert, but I always have a tire repair kit on hand with self vulcanizing plugs. I have put these in my radial tires and driven thousands of miles with them. They work with any tubeless tire (even small tractors, etc) and I have never had one fail on me yet. They work for punctures such as nails, thorns, etc. For tears or rips it’s either a new tire or a larger internal patch. These plugs will work on the side wall too, but tend to fail after a while. It is better to replace that …


Letter Re: The Ten Cent Challenge

I am thankful you started the Survival Blog in August of 2005. I firmly believe we must support those who educate and advocate what is correct and true.  People purchase newspapers and magazines, donate to others asking for different organizations on the side of the road. We give. I would like to appeal to all of the other readers out there. Please be honest with yourselves. If you come to this site at least once a month, and find the material of interest, motivational, compelling, as well as a resource full of other sites to cross-reference to, if this site …




Survival Gun Selection

In my survivalist novel “Patriots”, I included lots of descriptions of firearms used in various situations in order to illustrate that there is no single “perfect survival gun.” Different situations are best handled by using different firearms. There are several requirements that must be considered in selecting guns for use on a farm, ranch, or survival retreat. First, and foremost, they must be versatile. A single gun might be pressed into service for shooting crows or starlings at 10 yards, rabbits or coyotes at 100 yards, or rattlesnakes at five feet. While there is no single gun that can handle …