Note From JWR:

Tomorrow will be the First Anniversary of SurvivalBlog! Thanks for making the blog such a great success. Please continue to spread the word. Jake Stafford tells me that he will be making a special announcement tomorrow, regarding the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course. Stay tuned.


Three Letters Re: M1911 Pistol Modifications

James: First, the 1911 was designed to make you take it out of your firing grip to release the slide – this way it won’t accidentally be released. Second, a la the Clint Smith school of gun fighting, if you are using the slide release you are wrong anyway. He teaches that you take your support hand, reach over the top of the pistol and pinch the slide between your four fingers and the bottom of the palm of your hand, then “tear the slide off” by jerking the slide back until it is pulled from your grasp. This way …


Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalBlog reader Rourke mentioned in a recent e-mail: “It’s coming” as some Aussie’s say. China is taking concrete steps here, to pardon the pun. We know they won’t try anything until after the 2008 Olympics. We also know they want Taiwan; and the fear is that the day comes when the person in charge of China thinks he can take it.”    o o o The real Federal budget deficit is measured in trillions of dollars.    


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“But war, in a good cause, is not the greatest evil which a nation can suffer. War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. When a people are used as mere human instruments for firing cannon or thrusting bayonets, in the service and for the selfish purposes of a master, such war degrades a people. A war to protect other human beings against tyrannical injustice – a war to give victory to their own ideas of right and good, …



Letter Re: Solar Panel Shortage — Caused By Oil Price Shock

Hi Jim. Just a quick one on [photovoltaic] solar panels. My brother and I had to put an order in for three 80 Watt Sharp brand panels that are usually just sitting on the shelf here at a major distributor. A container full arrives in two weeks but it’s already sold out! We have to wait a month. I did a little investigation with Google and found that the shortage is worldwide, is due to people, mostly Europeans, gearing up due to energy/oil cost. Silicon [photovoltaic panel] demand is beginning to outstrip supply and the foundries are running at maximum …


Letter Re: Six Versus Eight Plies for SUV and Light Truck Tires

Hello, I’ve been enjoying reading your blog for several weeks now and wanted to add a bit on truck tire ratings from the perspective of somebody who used to own a small tire shop in truck country (rural Alaska). The whole thing with rating a tire by the number of plies dates back to the days of bias ply tires when the tires actually were load rated according to the number of plies. That system has been obsolete for years with the advent of radial tires, which are not constructed the same way to achieve the same strength. The letter …


Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalBlog reader R.H. recommended this site with product reviews on flashlights–both traditional and LED type.    o o o It is nice to see that gold have silver are bouncing back from their summer doldrums, with gold at over $650 per ounce and silver at around $12.10. I believe that this coming fall and winter may show some impressive gains in precious metals prices.    o o o Front Sight is currently running its own writing contest. The prize is a Front Sight lifetime membership! For any of you that who would like to put your thoughts about Front Sight, …



Note From JWR:

We just returned from a trip to Yosemite Valley to attend a family wedding and dinner at the Ahwahnee Hotel. I can’t think of a more beautiful place than Yosemite for a wedding. What a magnificent slice of God’s creation! I’ve just received another 14 books from the same estate that I previously mentioned. All are survival, preparedness, and practical skills titles. I will also be selling an Original Swedish Contract Oberndorf Mauser Model 1894 carbine, made in 1895, chambered in 6.5 x 55 Swedish Mauser. (Antique, No FFL required!) See my catalog web page for details.


Three Letters Re: Six Versus Eight Plies for SUV and Light Truck Tires

Jim, For the reader wanting 8 Ply tires, get a floatation light truck tire with D, (8 ply) E (10ply) or F (12 ply) load rating. Get a BF Goodrich All Terrain KO (that’s what I have on my 4WD Xterra) for all around 4WD use. For more rocks and mountains he may go to a BFG Mud Terrain. Mickey Thompsons for bigger budgets. But the BF Goodrich tires are great tires. Go to an off-road shop instead of Wal-Mart for the tires and talk to somebody knowledgeable. – Tim Mr. Rawles: The issue of course is better side walls, …


Letter Re: Advice on M1 Garand 7th Round Jams?

Sir: I’ve been experiencing a few “7th round jams” where after the 6th round is fired and the bolt is starting to go forward to pick up the 7th round out of the clip, the entire clip just jumps up part way (like it does after the 8th round) and the bolt stops against it. The only solution is to pull the bolt back, and push the clip and 2 remaining rounds back down and continue firing. JWR Replies: The same thing happened to me with my DCM Garand. The offending part turned out to be the “follower arm” (the …


Two Letters Re: Preparedness Course Errata: Vitamin B Versus Vitamin D

Jim: Just wanted to give you a little clarification on vitamins and livers. It’s not Vitamin D that has the problem with overdosing by eating livers. It’s Vitamin A, which builds up primarily in polar animal livers (not just Polar Bears- there was even a case of people overdosing from eating their sled dogs) because animals in polar regions tend to eat a lot of high fat fish. Most bear livers won’t be a problem. I imagine that if you get a black/brown bear liver at the end of the Salmon run, and eat a lot of the liver that …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Richard Celata (of KT Ordnance and Promised Land Products) recommends: The recent commentary by Franklin Sanders (audio, 45 minutes) titled “Real Versus Fake Money,”    o o o SurvivalBlog reader S.H. recommends a site with a neat set of photos of Swiss mountain bunkers. He notes: “Many are very clever in their design elements. roofed and painted to look like log homes or even stands of trees. Some great ideas here for the serious retreat.    o o o U.S. heat wave continues