Note from JWR:

I encourage you to continue to spread the news about SurvivalBlog. Our readership is growing fast, but there are still millions out there with web access who have never heard of it. A brief e-mail to your like-minded friends or mention of SurvivalBlog when calling in to talk radio shows would be greatly appreciated! Every friend that you help motivate to get prepared represents one less person that you’ll find sheepishly begging on your doorstep, come TEOTWAWKI+1. Instead of being part of the problem, they’ll be part of the solution.


From The Memsahib: Asian Avian Flu and the Home Poultry Flock

Here at the Rawles Ranch the chicken-loving Memsahib couldn’t help but be dismayed when her DH suggested the immediate sale of her sizable flock of terribly cute and tame chickens.  So off to the internet in search of answers… Wild birds can be the carriers of Avian Flu to domestic chickens and turkeys.  Bird flu can be spread from country to country by migratory birds.  Waterfowl can carry avian flu without clinical signs of infection. With that said, how can any government in the world keep the Avian Flu from reaching their shores? To prevent Avian Flu infecting your home poultry …


Just What is ‘Survivalism’ Anyway? — By “Warhawke”

This question causes a lot of confusion for people who are new to survivalist movement. The mass-media has always portrayed people in the survivalist movement as paranoid nuts. Either they show us as racist killers waiting for the day when the ‘mud-people’ can be put in their place, or religious freaks praying for the end of the world, or cold-war nut cases who think the Russians are coming to steal their women and rape their cattle. In truth, the run-of-the-mill survivalist got his start as an average person with an average job who simply looked around and didn’t like what …


Letter Re: Investing in Tangibles vs. an IRA Account

Hi Jim, I have been a big fan of yours for several years since I read your book [Patriots]! I was very excited to find your blog (via Claire Wolfe’s blog) and have been reading it and recommending it since day four. My husband and I have been busy socking money away into retirement accounts to prepare for the future but after listening to your interview with Geri Guidetti we decided to take the money we were putting away in Roth IRAs and spend it instead on survival preparations. There are several reasons for this decision: 1) Roth IRA money …



Note from JWR:

Today we feature another entry for the SurvivalBlog writing contest. The prize is a transferable four day course certificate, good for any course at Front Sight. Enter your non-fiction articles via e-mail by the end of November to be considered for the contest.


On Preparing Your Children

Introduction Let us review the basics of child rearing. Children are a gift from God and we are to bring them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord. All preparedness means nothing if we have prepared our children for the eternal fires of hell. God, in His eternal wisdom and grace, providentially provided His son Jesus to restore us to a loving relationship with the Almighty. God provides covenantal blessings for those who obey Him and curses for those who don’t. With that being said it is imperative that all our worldly preparation be first and foremost spiritual …


Letter Re: Pandemics–Winners and Losers

Jim, I think your estimations on the results of a pandemic are … incomplete. Say the worst case scenario happens…say 1/3 of the population of the US dies. That is 100-million or so people, out of 300 million or so.We really don’t know what segments of the population H5N1 will attack. In Asia, it’s attacking the very young mostly but they’re also the ones that have the most contact with the infected fowl. The 1918 Spanish Influenza killed mainly young to middle aged, very healthy people, but that was from secondary infection that couldn’t be treated (today we have antibiotics …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them." – Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story (Appointed by James Madison)


Pandemics–Winners and Losers

I have been studying the implications of a possible Asian Avian Flu pandemic.  In a “worst case” scenario, what would be the long term effects on the economic infrastructure in the event of a 20%, 30%, or 40% de-population of the planet? The only historic parallel that comes immediately to mind is the “Black Death” plague pandemic in Europe. The resultant de-population caused massive labor shortages in subsequent decades. And that of course was in a non-technological and largely agrarian society. What happens to a highly technological, highly interdependent society with extremely long chains of supply? What are the full …


#1 Son’s Review–Leatherman Super Tool 200

This is one one the latest of the well-known Leatherman line of multipurpose folding tools. Think of it as a Leatherman on steroids. This model includes: 2.5″ knife File 2.5″ serrated knife 2.5″ saw Phillips screwdriver Can opener 3 sizes of standard screwdrivers Awl Pliers (heavy duty semi-needle nose with two types of gripping surfaces) Wire cutters Lanyard ring 9″ standard and metric ruler The sheath is stiff black-dyed leather with a metal snap closure. It slides onto a normal belt fairly easily and fits the knife well. One of the best features of the Super Tool 200 is the …


Archives of JWR Radio Interviews on Pandemic Preparedness Available

For two successive weekends, I was interviewed by Dr. Geri Guidetti of The Ark Institute on her shortwave/webcast radio show. The topic of both of these two hour interviews was family preparedness for a potential influenza pandemic. These interviews are available for free download from Republic Radio in a variety of audio streaming formats at: http://mp3.rbnlive.com/Geri05.html


Letter Re: James K.’s Survival on a Budget Letter

Hi Jim, I enjoy the blog very much! I have your advertisers in mind when looking to purchase. I read your answer about the Remington 7400/7600 models, what is your opinion of the 7600 Police model with the heavy barrel? Thank You, – Frank JWR Replies: A heavy barrel 7600 would be slightly better, but they still are not made to military specifications.You can expect slightly better accuracy–since the barrel has more thermal mass–but the same functioning/chambering problems will be encountered during extended strings of rapid fire. Consider that for about the same price as a new Model 7600 Police, …


CIA’s “Q” Department Invests in Mobile Solar Power Project

This story is fairly novel, and serves as food for thought and grounds for further research (FFTAGFFR.) If the CIA finds such technology appropriate for Third World living conditions, shouldn’t we also, as individuals–for the event that the U.S. economy is somehow, someday plunged to that level? See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20051018/ts_csm/aplugandplay_1


Yahoo Story: Wood Stoves Back in Vogue Ahead of Costly Winter

Perhaps it is the sharp memory of Hurricane Katrina working on the collective psyche, but the mass media is finally starting to warm to the concept of greater self-sufficiency. Take, for example, this story that recently ran in Yahoo: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051019/lf_nm/bizfeature_woodstoves_dc_1