Letter Re: Stocking Up on Reusable Plastic Plates and Bowls

Jim, Something just occurred to me as far as an overlooked essential: food plates and bowls. The glass mixes (Corelle, etc) are far better than the stoneware for cleanliness and durability, but they can still be broken. I found out recently that the cheap, media tie-in dishes that extol Disney and various other children’s movies are not only unbreakable plastic, but are immune to gun cleaning solvent–I used an old one, figuring to throw it away when done. But a quick rinse with a dab of soap and it was clean–impervious to the chemical, not even the cartoon image was …


Letter Re: Positive Feedback on Two SurvivalBlog Advertisers

Good Morning Mr. Rawles, I just wanted to say how pleased I am with the services provided by your advertisers. I recently bought four 8×57 pre-1899 Turkish contract Oberndorf Mauser’s from the kind gentleman in South Carolina [The Pre-1899 Specialist]. I got two of the first batch, and two of the second, nicer rifles. I have to say I was very pleased with the first two, and the second two are in fantastic condition. I also received excellent service from Vic [at SafeCastle] in purchasing some more freeze dried food supplies. The most important point for me in using your …


Letter Re: Source for Reflux Still Building Plans

Sir: In the letter titled “Stocking up on Copper Tubing/Pipe”, the writer mentioned wanting to build a still. For those interested, here is an excellent step-by-step guide to building a reflux still: http://designer-drugs.com/pte/12.162.180.114/dcd/pdf/still.pdf I would be interested in hearing of any potential uses for a still other than making alcoholic drinks. I don’t use alcohol or any other drugs, but I am fascinated by the reflux distillation process and its potential uses [for fuel, disinfectant, chemical/formulary processes, et cetera] following a collapse. <>< – Stephen


Odds ‘n Sods:

U.S. Army Dragon Skin body armor test have been delayed.    o o o Oil and natural gas industry analyst Dr. Joe Duarte reports of Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez is taking decisive steps to turn off the oil taps to the U.S. He says that Venezuela’s state owned oil company PDVSA has inked a key deal with India, taking the first key step away from the U.S. as its major oil buyer.    o o o SurvivalBlog reader Scott M. told us about a novel “Send A Brick” congressional mailing campaign has been launched in the U.S., designed to a …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“We will continue to make our greatest efforts with the utmost sincerity to seek the prospects of peaceful reunification. Meanwhile, we will never tolerate ‘Taiwan independence’ and never allow the ‘Taiwan independence’ secessionist forces to make Taiwan secede from the motherland under any name or by any means.” – Chinese President Hu Jintao’s speech to CPPCC members on cross-straits relations, March 14, 2005



Angst, Life in Turbulent Times, and Preparedness

Many of my recent consulting clients have mentioned the same feeling of unease about the coming years. Perhaps it is just the general predisposition of my consulting clientele, but they nearly all say things to the effect of “I’ve always been well prepared, but now I consider myself under-prepared, because I feel like something big is coming.” One American client summed it up best when he told me, “I get the impression that I’m living on September of 1929 or November of 1941. Something macro scale is approaching, and I want to be in the right place and to be …


Odds ‘n Sods:

The latest murmurings from Wall Street and the Chicago Board of Trade are that the commodities markets have not nearly reached their peak. If anything, the traders say, we are in the opening stages of a secular bull market that will likely continue for several years. As I’ve stated on previous occasions, the second half of the Aughts will probably look a lot like the second half of the 1970s, with rising interest rates, consumer price inflation, international tensions, and galloping commodities prices.    o o o We just returned from a family trip down to California. (Which explains the …



From the Deep Archives: JWR’s Comments on Silver and Gold

Note: I posted the following to the Usenet newsgroup “misc.survivalism” on July 17. 1997, in response to an ongoing thread about gold and silver. OBTW, at the time, gold was selling for around $320 per ounce, and silver was around $4.25 per ounce. [LOTS deleted] RE: > Gold coins frequently are only some part gold – in actuality an >alloy comprised of MOSTLY gold, but not always.  Different gold coins have >different gold contents and it’s not always clear what percent.  For >instance, did you know that the US RARELY minted a .999 pure gold coin? >That’s why Kruggerands [sic] …


Letter Re: Stocking up on Copper Tubing/Pipe

I have been following the metal’ and copper in particular, as it is a very necessary part of our modern existence.   One of the things I envision, is a shortage of copper tubing. I have been buying a little extra every time I go to the home store. Some of it I plan use for making a still– for making alcohol, other sizes are for my propane tanks and last but not least, I still have copper [water] pipes in my house that are going on 30 years old, so I have been buying some to replace that.   …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Cowabunga! Spot silver is over $14 per ounce, and gold is at $621. The shorts are heading for the hills! There may be some fright inducing pull-backs along the way, but I think that this bull market is just getting started. Consider any deep dips your best buying opportunities.    o o o Richard Kiyosaki on “The Coming Oil Crisis“    o o o From the Second Amendment Foundation: More than seven months have passed since New Orleans residents were forcibly and illegally disarmed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and starting Monday, April 17, the City of New Orleans …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"We have counted the cost of this contest, and find nothing so dreadful as voluntary slavery. – Honor, justice, and humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us. We cannot endure the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding generations to that wretchedness which inevitably awaits them, if we basely entail hereditary bondage upon them." – John Dickenson and Thomas Jefferson, Continental Congress, July 6, 1775, Declaration of Causes and Necessity for Taking Up Arms


Responding to the Ongoing Middle East Crisis

There are a great many imponderables that have surfaced with the current saber-rattling situation in the Middle East. But one thing is clear–the uncertainty is rippling through the commodities markets. I guess you’ve all seen the higher prices at the gas pump, and the precious metals are spiking. For example, see the charts at Kitco. (To get the big picture, click on the one year chart, down at the bottom of that web page.) Silver was over $13.50 per ounce yesterday afternoon! What can you do? 1.) Pray for peace. Please pray for the survival of the people and nation …


Letter Re: A New Breed of Feral Dogs, by Buckshot

Mr. Rawles, The most vital point, I think, of Buckshot’s piece is not that feral dogs will eat us all alive, but that [applying] current attitudes in future scenarios CAN GET YOU KILLED!   You’d better get you mind wrapped around the hard decisions now the best you can.  Buckshot is exactly right: if you’re making decisions on the fly as a situation unfolds, you’re dog food.  The same goes for any, shall we say, less-than-polite social encounters with humans.  ARIES (Autonomic Response In Extreme Stress) is an acronym we used when I taught self-defense.  Most guys would pooh-pooh the …