Canes, Walking Sticks, and Umbrellas for Street Self Defense

  The topic of striking weapons for street self defense has been brushed on in SurvivalBlog, but has never addressed directly or at length. I highly recommend training to use a cane, walking stick, or a traditional full length umbrella. This is particularly important for our readers that live in gun-unfriendly nations. Ditto for our readers that live in states like California, New York, and New Jersey where is is very difficult for mere mortals to get a carrying concealed weapon (CCW) permit. And even if you are a concealed firearms permit holder, you should learn these valuable skills. Why? …


Odds ‘n Sods:

The 2010 U.S. census will record GPS coordinates of every household’s front porch. Charming.    o o o Reader JB in Nashville mentioned that another mirror site has been established for the e-book of Mel Tappan’s Tappan on Survival. It is such a great read, I recommend that you also buy a hard copy. New or used copies can often be found through Abebooks.com, BooksAMillion.com, or eBay.com    o o o Reader JCS suggested this site on battery technology on battery technology. He noted, “For a long term survival scenario I’m starting to think that Ni-Cd would be better than Ni-MH …



Note From JWR:

Jake Stafford forwards the following letter from “down under”. It came from a reader of the free Special Report “The Desperation Shopping List: the Seven Critical Items That Are Guaranteed to be Stripped From Store Shelves When You Need Them Most in a Crisis.” You can get the report free when you visit the Ready For The Worst web site, even if you are not yet ready to buy the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course. (Jake has the course on sale at a deeply discounted price, perhaps for the last time, until August 11th.)


Letter Re: The Most Overlooked Preparations

Hi Jake, Thanks for the info. Most of the things described (in your Special Report) were actually on my lists but in a slightly different order. I think this is due to a different focus. Given a total TEOTWAWKI when the supplies run out, they’ll be out for good, so I’ve focused on the required knowledge you need to be able to re-make/replace them. For example in my basic survival kit (for bushwalking) I have a small high quality water filter but for the long term stuff I am focusing on learning how to ‘make’ a water filter. Also my …


Poll Responses Re: Best Places for Retreats in the Eastern U.S. and Overseas?

Jim, For those of us stuck in the Northeast due to family and or business reasons, I suggest the the area in New Hampshire north of the White Mountains and east of the Connecticut river. Generally from Woodsville, NH to Lancaster, NH. Including the area around Lisbon, Littleton and Whitefield in the Ammonoosuc River valley. Distance to Boston is approximately 150 miles, and Montreal 170 miles. – Art   Dear Jim, For retreat sites east of the Mississippi, one of the most uninhabited areas is in West Virginia south of the WV Turnpike down through the eastern corner of Kentucky …


Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalBlog reader JCS suggested the Lindsay Books site. It has something for everyone from Aircraft Welding to Hide Tanning. They have lots of books that belong on the survivalist reference bookshelf.    o o o Blog reader S.H. mentioned that our friend Noah over at the DefenseTech blog ran an article about a dune buggie/powered parafoil combo, for the ultimate in high mobility.   o o o From the Washington Post: DOE Report Identifies Areas of U.S. Power Grid Congestion Here is a brief excerpt from the story: “This study identifies the most critical areas of congestion,” said Kevin Kolevar, …



Five Letters Re: M1911 Pistol Modifications

Dear Jim, Consider getting a copy of Tiger Mckee’s The Book of Two Guns. You won’t be disappointed. (I happened on it quite by chance and it’s been on my what-to-get-for-the-shooter-who-has-everything list since.) With respect to “injured shooter drills”: The slide on a 1911 may be racked using the rear sight and your belt, provided you’re not equipped with Novaks. Hook the rear sight on the upper edge of your belt, strong side, and you’ll find you can actuate the slide very rapidly and without difficulty. Novaks are, IMAO, a nice fashion feature, but little else. (Heresy!) If you consider …



Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"The preacher man says it’s the end of time And the Mississippi River she’s a goin’ dry The interest is up and the Stock Markets down And you only get mugged If you go down town I live back in the woods, you see A woman and the kids, and the dogs and me I got a shotgun rifle and a 4-wheel drive And a country boy can survive Country folks can survive I can plow a field all day long I can catch catfish from dusk till dawn We make our own whiskey and our own smoke too Ain’t …


Note From JWR:

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Polling the Blog Readership: Best Places for Retreats in the Eastern U.S. and Overseas?

I’m in the final stages of writing my upcoming nonfiction book, “Rawles on Retreats and Relocation”. In it, I give my recommendations on retreat locales in 19 western states. As you know, I am not a proponent of retreats east of the Mississippi River, due to the higher population density of the eastern states and their downwind location. That would make them vulnerable to a full scale nuclear attack. And I’m the first to admit that I’m biased toward the Western U.S., since I like my “elbow room.” But for those of you that do choose to stay in the …


Letter Re: RFID Chip Hacking and RFID Chip Skimmer Technology

  Dear Jim, Here’s a link on RFID that you might find interesting. I think the implications for NAIS are obvious. Here are plans for a low-cost RFID “skimmer” that can read chips surreptitiously. The clear implication is that it would be a simple matter to capture codes and clone fake RFID chips. Also, an RFID “blocker” chip that floods the interrogating transmitter with garbage. Of note, current RFID transmitter software is likely to be vulnerable to malicious code (“viruses”) transmitted by altered chips. I submit it’s only a matter of (a very short) time before we see security disasters …