Letter Re: Blood Transfusion Equipment Available

James, I am a fan of your work and am glad that you are now doing a regular blog. I found something that might be of interest to your readers while going through my regular slew of catalogues in the mail today. I remember reading in your novel Patriots about how one of the characters jerry-rigged a person-to-person blood transfusion setup. I noticed that Deutche Optik, a militaria surplus dealer, is carrying a new in the box German surplus person-to-person blood transfusion device. I went ahead and ordered one, on the off chance I may need it one day and …


Letter Re: Silver Coinage and Ammunition for Barter

Dear Jim: I am thoroughly enjoying your web site and appreciate very much all of your quality information. Recently you had an article about storing coins and ammo for barter and trade purposes. I would like to ask several questions about this subject. 1.) You mentioned pre-1965 silver dimes, but what about silver quarters and half-dollar coins? 2.) Do you recommend gold coins? I understand the inherent problems with gold bars and bullion, but what about .10, .25, and .50 ounce gold coins for barter? 3. What types and quantities of .22 ammo do you suggest? Stingers, hollow points or …


Letter Re: Relocating to Arizona

Hi, Jim, Just adding some thoughts on your assessment of Arizona. There are two Arizonas, the lower half at an average elevation of less than 3000 feet, and the half up on the Colorado plateau at 5000-8000 feet, and the two are totally different. You are absolutely correct about Southern Arizona being too populated, too close the border, and too much crime, almost all of which is in metropolitan Phoenix. If ones does their research (and I am not going to spell it all out here), there are some locations that come in very high. First check your groundwater availability, …


Reader M.H. Forwarded This Letter To Dealers From SIGArms (USA)

Dear Nationwide: SIGARMS® is responding to emergency requests from law enforcement in the hurricane ravaged areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama and is expediting orders to agencies in those states. Already SIGARMS has shipped extra pistol magazines for the Louisiana State Police who carry the P220 pistol, and at the agency’s request will be sending all available remaining P220 magazines. As a result, SIGARMS has suspended sale of the P220 pistol magazines to the commercial market. Commercial sales are expected to resume in October. Additionally SIGARMS is working closely with officials at the ATF to expedite required paperwork for law …



Note from JWR:

My #1 Son has added a new “Link to Us” button in our navigation bar. This makes it easy for you to add a SurvivalBlog.com image link to your web page/site. Many thanks for helping to spread the word! Today, I’m covering Colorado, the fourth of 19 states in my rankings of states by their retreat potential.


State By State – Colorado

Colorado: Population: 4.3 million. Population Density: 41.3 per square mile (Rank 8 of JWR’s top 19 states). Area: 104,000 square miles (rank 8 of 50). Average car insurance cost: $881/yr. (rank 11 of 50). Average home insurance cost: $571/yr. (rank 12 of 50). Crime Safety Ranking: 26 of 50. Boston T. Party’s State Firearms Laws Ranking: 74%. Per capita income: $32,434 (rank 7 of 50). ACT & SAT Scores Ranking: 15 of 50. Plusses: A low “total tax burden” of 8.4%. Has a high rating in “education freedom” for home schooling (ranked #8 of 50). Minuses: Fairly high population density …


Letter From “Buckshot” Bruce Re: Feral Dogs, Post-TEOTWAWKI

I started writing about this topic after reading that there are 100 millions dogs in America, back in the fall of 1998. Every year people e-mail with more true dog attack stories. Since that time I have put them in my newsletter. The first three articles are still posted here: www.survival-center.com/buckshot/dogs.htm Now, in today’s climate of terrorist attacks, hurricanes that could cause an economy collapse changing America into chaos I think it might be something interesting to share. The premise is the majority of the people in bad times would let their pets go to fend for themselves. These pets …


Letter from The Army Aviator Re: Katadyn Versus Berkefeld Filters

Here are some useful specifications: Katadyn Drip Filter 0.2 micron ceramic depth filter (Note: This is the ABSOLUTE filtration specification, NOT the Nominal filtration rating.) British Berkefeld Big Berkey With filtration rating efficiencies of >98% down to 0.2 microns >99.9% at 0.5 microns >99.99% at 0.9 microns (Spectrum Labs). Note: Berkefeld’s ABSOLUTE filtration specification is 0.9 microns. (See the above line.) I ‘ve watched the PR advertisements regarding Berkefeld and just sat there shaking my head. I was sent some Berkefeld filter replacements which were touted as equal to Katadyn’s but a much better price. NOT! When I read the …



Note from JWR:

Today, I cover California–the third of 19 states in my rankings of retreat potential. I would appreciate your help finding more advertisers for SurvivalBlog. If you know of someone that offers goods or services related to preparedness (such as tools, water purifiers, guns, gunsmithing, custom knives, first aid kits, photovoltaics, communications equipment, food storage, web gear, et cetera) please let them know about SurvivalBlog.com. Currently, small ads are just $40 per month!


State By State – California

California: Population: 34 million+. Population Density: 214 per square mile (Rank 1 of JWR’s top 19 states). Area: 158,706 square miles (rank 3 of 50). Average car insurance cost: $765/yr. (rank 23 of 50). Average home insurance cost: $592/yr. (rank 9 of 50), Crime Safety Ranking: 39 of 50. Boston T. Party’s State Firearms Laws Ranking: 30%. Per capita income: $32,149 (rank 8 of 50). ACT & SAT Scores Ranking: 37 of 50. Plusses: Mild climate and a long growing seasons in most parts of the state. High wages. Minuses: Excessive population density, high crime rate, copious smog, high cost …


Letter Re: Missouri’s Retreat Potential

Jim: I see that Missouri is not on your list.  There are a lot of good things to say about the Ozarks of Southern Missouri (and Northern Arkansas).  Self reliant culture which is pro gun and private property and which respects people’s privacy.  There is very low population density in many counties (such as Shannon population 8,300, Reynolds 6,700, Oregon 10,300, and Carter 5,900). Very low cost of living and a very homogeneous population (mostly Scotch-Irish). You find people from California moving to Missouri since they can live on just their Social Security there. Regards, – “Nearnorth” JWR Replies: Your …


Letter Re: Large Volume Liquid Fuel Storage

Mr. Rawles, Many thanks for an excellent web site!  I read it daily with much anticipation.  Your book Patriots is a first-class work as well.    Storing fuel is a must for a survival retreat.  Having said that, how do you get delivered several hundred gallons of diesel (or gas) without raising eyebrows?  I live in the rural Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina on a mountain top.  Very private and quiet, but not a farm.  Maybe it is easier than I presume and nothing would raise flags to delivery folks filling a couple of above ground tanks.  Is there an …