Letter Re: Radiation Protection Factors for Dummies

James: Just read Radiation Protection Factors for Dummies – by L.H. on your blog. These types of articles always talk about shielding of radiation. Is there any substance that REFLECTS radiation instead of absorbing it? JWR Replies: It has been nearly 20 years since I took the Army NBC Defense Officer’s course, so forgive me if any of the following betrays my faulty memory:  Any of the materials described will reflect or absorb alpha or beta radiation, and absorb highly energetic gamma rays. Because they are a ray (think of it as a flash from a flash bulb, or the …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"One of these days, one of these (rogue) governments fabricates one or two nuclear weapons, and gives them to a terrorist group…The group brings one of these bombs into Baltimore by boat, and drives another one up to Pittsburgh. And then the message comes into the White House. Adjust your policy in the Middle East, or on Tuesday you lose Baltimore, and on Wednesday you lose Pittsburgh. Tuesday comes and we lose Baltimore. What does the U.S. do?" – Ambassador Robert Galucci, Former U.S. Arms Negotiator, Dean of Georgetown University School of Foreign Service


Note from JWR:

Don’t forget to send your entries for the SurvivalBlog writing contest. The prize is a transferable four day course certificate, good for any course at Front Sight. OBTW, I recently heard from Naish Piazza that the prices for all of the Front Sight courses will be increasing by 25% in 2006, so this will make the contest prize even more valuable–as much as $2,000 for a four day course. Oh, by the same token, you might want to buy some course certificates or a Front Sight membership to beat the price increases.  (And BTW, check out their new “Lifetime Challenge …


Heirloom/Native Seed Source

Thanks to Kirsten over at the Survival/Gulching Forum at The Claire Files for mentioning the Native Seeds/SEARCH seed bank. See: http://www.nativeseeds.org/. Here is a quote about their specialized heirloom seeds for desert environments: “Today, the Native Seeds/SEARCH seed bank houses approximately 2,000 different accessions of traditional crops grown by Apache, Chemehuevi, Cocopah, Gila River Pima, Guarijio, Havasupai, Hopi, Maricopa, Mayo, Mojave, Mountain Pima, Navajo, Paiute, Puebloan, Tarahumara, Tohono O’odham and Yaqui farmers. Over one-half of the collections are comprised of the three sisters — corn, bean, and squash. An additional 48 species of crops and wild crop relatives wait in …


David In Israel on “The Gray Man” Survival Approach

In a survival situation you must clear the military mindset from your head, since you are not backed by 300 million citizen western economy and trillions of dollars in supplies. Walking about the land with a AR-15 and BDUs could be one of the best ways to be shot on sight. To the causal observer you will be instantly branded as both clearly dangerous as well as covered in priceless gear.   What is the “gray man”? The gray man mode operates much like a spy, a recon team, or a sniper does. If the gray man is noticed he …


Letter Re: .40 S&W to 9mm Conversion Barrel for a Glock Model 23?

Mr. Rawles, I read somewhere that there was a .40 S&W to 9mm conversion barrel for a Model 23 Glock. This would not only save me the cost of another pistol, but would give me more versatility with a pistol I am familiar and comfortable with. I assume the barrel would have to be slightly thicker in overall diameter than a standard Glock 9mm barrel to fit a 23 slide. I have been unable to find this conversion barrel. Do you know anything about it? (I realize that a 9mm magazine must also be used.) Thanks for a great web …



Two Letters Re: More Web Resources on CONEXes

Jim: See these sites: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/01/shipping_contai.php (Site with some info on how containers can be used for living.) and, http://www.containerhouse.com/ (Site with interesting pictures of container conversions, including door systems.) Regards, – B.A. Jim: You might be interested in this site about CONEX containers: http://www.undergroundcontainer.com/  Keep up the good work! – J.F.


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“At the end of the 17th century, Marshal Vauban, a French military engineer, developed modern fortification to its pinnacle, refining siege warfare without fundamentally altering it: ditches would be dug; walls would be protected by glacis; and bastions would enfilade an attacker. He was also a master of planning sieges themselves. Before Vauban, sieges had been somewhat slapdash operations. Vauban refined besieging to a science with a methodical process that, if uninterrupted, would break even the strongest fortifications. Examples of Vauban-style fortresses in North America include Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland, Fort Ticonderoga in New York State, and La Citadelle …



Oil and Lubricant Storage in Retreat Planning

Several of the recent letters on barter and charity items mentioned motor oil and chain saw fuel mixing oil.  That reminded me about a subject that I’ve meant to address on the blog: key considerations of oil and lubricant storage.  It is important to think through all of your oil and lubricant needs–everything from motor oil and transmission fluid to firearms lube. Figure out what you use in a three year period, and stock up.  Then anticipate what you might need for barter and charity, and stock up even more. Because most families do not store any substantial quantity of …


Letter Re: Insider Tip On Asian Avian Flu

Mr. Rawles: Today one of the honchos at [name deleted], a major east coast Medical Center where my wife works told her that a epidemiology research group has finished a modeling study that predicts, based on the mutation rate of the Avian Flu, that sometime within 18 months it will become transferable in human-to-human contact. (Whereas now it goes only from birds to humans.) – "Mr. Not For Attribution"


Poll Results –What are the Best Items to Store for Barter and Charity?

Here is the second increment of responses to our barter/charity items poll.  Please keep them coming, and I will post subsequent increments in the days to come.  Many thanks! Teresa suggests: Having recently survived in central Louisiana (the place where all the Katrina and Rita people evacuated too) I have paid attention to what items disappeared from store shelves first. This is a list from my area… Baby formula Baby Food Diapers Gas Cans Ammo and guns –the Wal-Marts in the area refused to sell any guns or ammo once the levees broke. This freaked everyone out so the hunting …


Odds ‘n Sods:

I’ve run across some interesting news stories on the Internet in the past few days… President Bush’s recent Asian Avian Flu speech: http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/11/1/120104.shtml http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/11/01/D8DJLB180.html http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/11/01/D8DJPD9O0.html H5 Asian Avian flu virus (but thankfully not the dreaded H5N1 Strain) has been found in wild birds in Canada: http://www.breitbart.com/news/na/051031210450.5y8rg6u2.html Some interesting commentary by Jason Hommel on the emerging silver shortage: http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_05/hommel102505.html On the absurd heights of the Housing Bubble. How about buying a small, run down, flat top house in a bad neighborhood for only $1.2 Million?: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9870962/