Letter Re: Motorcycles as Bug-Out Vehicles

Dear James: Since I am tied to the outer edge of a major metro area for business and family reasons I have been wrestling with an alternative to a car or truck as a bug out vehicle (BOV).I am very worried about an EMP strike sooner or later – it just makes too much sense from an enemy’s point of view, so EMP-proofing is critical in my book. By the way, the Lights Out online novel about an EMP strike is a very good read, and it gets you thinking of many factors that are not obvious at first glance. …


Letter Re: The Vault Room: Preparedness in Tornado Alley, and Beyond

JR- Safes and safe doors are a statement of the times. I have to laugh and gasp when I see those old glass fronted, wood gun cabinets of our grandfathers generation. Today they make good bookshelves or curio cabinets… with that in mind, I would really appreciate it if you could sometime look into finding someone or some firm that makes an affordable "do it yourself" gun safe or a walk in safe door. Lets face it, many of us are on a shoestring budget, long on talent and time but short on money. Short of stumbling upon an absolute …


Odds ‘n Sods

A BBC crew is filming a documentary on life at a Fairhaven Hutterite settlement near Ulm, Montana. See: http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/03/03/news/state/55-hutterite-filming.txt o o o Col. Jeff Cooper’s Commentaries are now available at: http://harris.dvc.org.uk/jeff/ o o o Fox News warns of housing bubble pinprick: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,187831,00.html o o o I just heard from Vic at Safecastle (one of our advertisers) that there has been a rush of large orders for Mountain House freeze dried foods because of Asian Avian Flu preparations. Order fulfillment timetables are now two months out, as many of the Mountain House foods are now out of stock. However, Vic can …



Note From JWR:

Special Thanks to SurvivalBlog reader Doug H. who out of the kindness of his heart utilized some arcane scripting voodoo to add an anchor to each entry in The SurvivalBlog Glossary. Henceforth, clicking on each link to the Glossary will result in a specific entry being displayed. For example, try clicking on: “TEOTWAWKI.” Note that it will take us a while to go back through and retrofit all of the existing Glossary links, to make them properly “targeted.” Thanks for your patience.


The Vault Room: Preparedness in Tornado Alley, and Beyond

The recent string of tornados in the Midwest clearly illustrate that point that every family should have a very sturdy vault/safe room. Just a standard basement will not suffice as a shelter.The following newspaper quote came in the aftermath of a tornado in 2005: “…According to Rizzo, Harold O. Orlofske, 54, who died in the Stoughton tornado, had properly sought safety in the basement of his home but was killed when the chimney collapsed onto him…” (See: USA Today Article) If properly constructed, one room can simultaneously fill several vital roles: Walk-in gun vault, storm shelter, fallout shelter, and panic …


The White House Warns: Time to Stock Up on Food! We Can’t Stop the Advent of the Asian Avian Flu

As ABC news reported: “In a remarkable speech over the weekend, Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt recommended that Americans start storing canned tuna and powdered milk under their beds as the prospect of a deadly bird flu outbreak approaches the United States…” See: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/print?id=1716820


Letter Re: Advice on Long Term Moth-Proof Clothing Storage?

JR- A great deal of discussion regarding emergency kits, bug out bags, and general storage of necessities always dominates survival and preparedness related literature, web sites and blogs. I was wondering if anyone had any knowledge of the best way to pack clothing for long-term storage. Ideally, vacuum sealing of individual items as well as a complete days worth of clothing would be best, however in the absence of a close to anaerobic environment that would keep out moisture as well as most fiber eating insects such as moths from staying alive to eat holes in your clothes, what can …


Letter Re: Asian Avian Flu, Storage Food, and the Current Bulk Ammo Shortage

Mr. Rawles, Katie bar the door, get your beans and bullets, now. Driving into work I heard the supreme potentate Sean Hannity himself say that he had a stockpile of food as well as a separate broadcast facility closer to his house with generator back-up and its own satellite feed for when “times got bad.” His caller was giving Sean the Mormon guide to foodstuff stocking per adult per year. I don’t know what the lead in for this discussion was about, it might have been Asian Avian flu or the Iran situation, but I thought it was interesting that …


Odds ‘n Sods:

A 50/50 chance of mutation and then up to 50% of the world’s population dead?Yikes! This one is a must read: http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/AvianFlu/story?id=1724801 o o o Arab Central Banks Switch Some Assets from Dollars to Euros. See: http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article351127.ece o o o I just heard thatReady Made Resources has received some scarce late issue digital TA -1042A/U U.S. military field telephones, brand new in the box. This is the current issue type requires a four conductor wire (or two runs of standard WD-1 commo wire.) The good news is that you can talk in full duplex! Any 12 volt power source works …


Jim Quote of the Day:

“Thou [art] my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word. Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God. Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope. Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually. Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for their deceit [is] falsehood. Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth [like] dross: therefore I love thy testimonies.” – Psalm 119:114-119 (KJV)


Note From JWR:

Special Thanks to SurvivalBlog reader Doug H. who out of the kindness of his heart utilized some arcane scripting voodoo to add an anchor to each entry in The SurvivalBlog Glossary. Henceforth, clicking on each link to the Glossary will result in a specific entry being displayed. For example, try clicking on: “TEOTWAWKI.” Note that it will take us a while to go back through and retrofit all of the existing Glossary links, to make them properly “targeted.” Thanks for your patience.


Letter Re: Home Dehydrating and Home Vacuum Packing

Sir: As a “very long time” survivalist, I read everything I can get. I also enjoy your website as it is the most informative one out there! Now for my problem: I was diagnosed with what is called Celiac Sprue. This is a horrible allergy to anything that contains Gluten, such as wheat, barley, and rye. What this means is that if I were to eat anything that contained Gluten I will come down with extremely bad cramps, diarrhea, nausea, and fever. Basically, It feels like I have the flu but ten times worse. As you can see this makes …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Check out the outdoor survival and land navigation resources at Survival Monkey. This is are also a site where you can read the full text of the EMP web novel “Lights Out.” See: http://www.survivalmonkey.com/ (OBTW, Survival Monkey is not to be confused with Trunk Monkey. I love those commercials!) o o o Mr. Bravo mentioned that prices are falling on lithium batteries for Surefire (and similar) high-performance flashlights and lasers. The batteries do not have to be expensive (up to $10 each at the camera department!) There are many discount online sources that sell them in bulk for not much …