Letter Re: Advice on When to Sell Silver?

Dear Mr. Rawles, I read on The Claire Files that you think silver will be going to $40 an ounce. My spouse and I can’t agree when we should sell our 8,000 ounces of silver. I think we should hang on to it all until it gets to $20 and ounce then sell. But my spouse thinks we should start selling now. What do you think? By the way, we purchased most of it at $5 an ounce in the form of 100 ounce bars. We also have about a bag and a half of “junk” silver dimes.- F.L. JWR …


Odds ‘n Sods

I’m down in Reno this weekend for the The Big Reno Show. Quite a gun show! All quality gear–no flea market Schumer. I dropped by the table run by Darryl Holland (of Holland’s of Oregon), and sent him home a Browning A-Bolt bolt action rifle for “the usual” treatment:  I have him thread the muzzles of all of our hunting rifles with 1/2″ x 28 threads for a Holland’s muzzle brake. The same threads can also be used for Smith Enterprise Vortex flash hiders. This way the rifles can serve double duty as tactical guns. I highly recommend that you …



Letter Re: Question on Dried Foods Versus Dehydrated Storage Foods

Jim, Is there any difference between dried food and dehydrated food, and if there is, what is the difference? – G.P. JWR Replies: I’m glad that you asked that, because it is often a point of confusion. Although semantically they mean the same thing, the difference is that “dehydrated” storage foods typically are dried to a greater extent than typical dried foods–such as the raisins and other dried fruits that are sold at your local grocery store. However, due to their lower moisture content and because they are usually sold in sealed, nitrogen-packed, cans makes them store for several years …


Letter Re: Alternative to Creosote for Preserving Wood?

James: I have taken a leave and am now caught back up on the blog. I was away and talked to my wife every night and she always stated that I must be going crazy not reading SurvivalBlog every night! She was right! Upon returning home, did I return my calls, e-mails, or mail first,.hardly, it was a crash course of GBID (get back into Dodge) mentally by reading what I had missed on Survivalblog. A few topics have arisen that I wanted to comment on (FWIW). FENCING/CREOSOTE/TELEPHONE POLES- I have had the benefit of picking the pocket of an …


Letter Re: PTR-91 Clones of HK91 Rifles, and Set Trigger Modification

Mr. Rawles: In answer to the question from Steve (posted on March 9, 2006, the PTR-91 clone is considered one of the best on the market, I have original 1980s versions of the factory HK91s and I think that they compare well. Williams Trigger Specialties provides a modification I would highly recommend. I have the set “paddle” trigger on all of my HKs and the work is excellent and the results are amazing – a crisp set trigger breaking at 4 pounds. Lower than the 5 to 6 pounds advertised. Worth every penny. Their site: http://www.williamstriggers.com/page4.htm They state: “WTS PSG1 …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Rourke mentioned this cool site about hidden storage and passageways. (Best viewed with a broadband connection.) See: http://www.hiddenpassageway.com/    o o o A firm in Utah that offers the ultimate in off-site records storage–inside a solid granite mountain: http://www.perpetualstorage.com/index_home.htm    o o o Bulk ammo shortage?  See; http://urbansurvival.com/week.htm    o o o Doc at Big Secrets  (www.bigsecrets.cc) recommends this site on how to build your own small battery charging generator: http://theepicenter.com/tow02077.html    o o o Talk radio host Steve Quayle cites this piece from the Washington Post:: http://www.stevequayle.com/News.alert/06_Money/060309.retirement.fund.html    o o o SurvivalBlog reader “gman” recommends this source for inexpensive …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the Government’s purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.”- Justice Louis D. Brandeis, U.S. Supreme Court Judge. Source: Justice Louis D. Brandeis, dissenting, Olmstead v. United States, 277 US 479 (1928)


Note From JWR:

Don’t forget to send you entries for the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best contest entry will win a “Gray” (first-timers) four day course certificate at Front Sight. (An up to $2,000 value!) The deadline for entries for Round 3 is March 31, 2006.


Right Out the Window, by Rourke

Windows give you natural light and solar heat gain, but they are also the most strategically vulnerable part of your home or retreat and largest source of heat loss in conventional construction. The R value (measuring insulation or resistance to heat flow, the higher the more insulting something is http://rvalue.net ) may be an incomplete, and “apples to oranges” number as pointed out by David South of Monolithic Domes http://www.monolithicdome.com/plan_design/rfairy/ but, for my purposes here it does give us a reasonably quantitative basis for comparison. Remember, the higher the R number, the higher the degree of insulation. Here in Wisconsin, …


Letter from The Army Aviator Re: PAL Lights, NiMH 9VDC Batteries, and Fire

Jim: I’ve been really busy lately, which is good. A fair bit of information from your great blog parallels my experiences and here’s some hopefully helpful information which I have gleaned: 1) PAL lights: Have several and always been pleased with them. [See: http://www.buckshotscamp.com/Flashlight-PALight-Sales.htm] I found a great rechargeable 9 volt NiMH high capacity battery. Wow, they really do have JUICE! Once fully charged several times, they outlive any non-rechargeable battery I’ve found and they work well with solar charging. One 9V NiMH 250mAh Rectangular NiMH Rechargeable Battery —Ultrahigh capacity http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1995 (BTW, I have purchased a lot of NiMH batteries …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Late last year, a buck goat reportedly attacked Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe. This was during a gas station stop while the presidential motorcade was en route to the mountain resort of  Nyanga. The attack injured Mugabe’s scrotum and lower bowel. Apparently, the local livestock has more gumption than the local populace.  The citizens of Zimbabwe should learn from this goat.    o o o I just heard that George at The Pre-1899 Specialist just got in another small batch of pre-1899 Turkish contract 8 x57 Oberndorf Model 1893 Mausers. He says that these are in the nicest condition 1893s that …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"The paper money disease has been a pleasant habit thusfar and will not be dropped voluntarily any more than a dope user will without a struggle give up narcotics… I find no evidence to support a hope that our fiat paper money venture will fare better ultimately than such experiments in other lands…" – Nebraska Congressman Howard Buffett, 1948 (The father of Warren Buffett.) As quoted in Financial Reckoning Day.


Letter from Sweden Re: Public Anxiety Over Asian Avian Flu

Hi Jim! Long time no answer. Sorry about that! I’ve been reading you blog for a while now, and find features like the Claire Files Forum very readable and useful. The Retreat Areas, Profiles and Survival Guns sections are my favourites! You guys have been doing a great work putting you blog together. Right now here in Scandinavia there is a lots of focus in the media on AAV H5N1 Birds are flying north and bringing the virus with them! And many are really afraid of mutation of that virus! And local authorities have not readiness enough if something happens. …


Letter Re: Sources for PAL 9VDC Flashlights and Ultra-Long Life 9VDC

JR, Please let us know more about the 9 volt PAL light, where can we purchase these? Thanks. Also, if a reader is concerned about shelf life of the battery, a very long lasting 9 Volt battery is made that was designed to be used in smoke detectors, it also works in AC-powered alarm clocks that have a battery back up when the power goes out… Sorry, I don’t remember off hand the exact name or what they are called but they are common enough to be purchased at the local Radio Shack…….they cost about $8 a few years ago …