Odds ‘n Sods:

Mike P. suggested this well-reasoned 12 minute video by Josie The Outlaw on America’s Groupthink indoctrination institutions: A Prison By Any Other Name. Other than her advocacy of “Unschooling”, it is a great video. (Homeschooling has a superlative track record, by comparison.)    o o o S&K sent this from Hackaday: Build a Tape Measure VHF Yagi Antenna    o o o I heard about a quite clever new product that is made in Sonora, California (up in the Sierra Nevada mountains): Siege Stoves. The video on their home page explains it best. These stoves are 100% made in USA.    …



Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 50 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $9,700+ worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course. (A $1,195 value.) B.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) …


How to Travel as a Prepper When You are a Road Warrior, by S.S.

I grew up in Omaha, Nebraska and remember spending many afternoons in the basement due to tornado warnings and watches. Several times a year, we saw homes across town destroyed by the tornados. Seeing homes destroyed up close as an eight year old made an impression. After our first winter blizzard, Mom started prepping and established a corner in the basement with our food stuffs, books, toys, radio, flashlight, water and a mattress for us to sleep on.   About two years ago, I gave up on living in the suburbs and moved 20 miles away in a rural area …


Letter Re: Experiences With A Gamo Whisper Air Rifle

JWR, I began looking into purchasing 1,000 fps air rifles after muskrats dug a huge pit in my front yard and a few other places.  As I’m inside the city limits, there is a “no shooting” ordinance (air and BB included), except during duck season, where land owners may hunt ducks as long as they’re shooting out over the water, and not causing other problems other than noise.   Around my house, the above ordinance is very loosely adhered to, as there’s water on two sides, and plenty of room to shoot air guns.  I always control the starling and …


Letter Re: Cybersecurity: A Systemvault Primer

Dear Editor, It’s nice that you published an article about system and data security. People need to be aware. Overconfidence in encrypted communications however is a disaster waiting to happen. The author wrote: “Another benefit of the way Linux deals with encryption is that any information that is read or written is directly transferred between RAM and the container: any piece of information that exists outside of the computer’s memory is always encrypted.” This is flawed logic as demonstrated by recent attacks on target and other retail giants. RAM scraping is actually pretty old news. I also heartily disagree with …


Economics and Investing:

I told you so… Is America ready for a brown nickel? Note that if there is a distinct color change, then Gresham’s Law will kick in even more quickly, driving the old cupronickel Nickels out of circulation in less than two years. I should mention that one statement in the article is incorrect: “In 1965, rising silver prices forced the Mint to switch the nickel, dime and quarter to a mostly copper composition.” The nickel DID NOT change composition starting in 1965. It has been 75% copper and 25% nickel ever since 1945. (The nickels minted with some silver were …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader R.B.S. suggested this handy tool for finding cellular phone coverage–or avoiding it: Antenna Search.    o o o F.J. spotted yet another useful piece at Instructables: Mukluks for Christmas    o o o Former Mayor Noramine Jasmin will soon go on trial, on corruption charges. Once again, another one of Mayor Bloomberg’s “crime fighting” anti-gun mayors may be headed to The Big House. Meanwhile, we read of another gun-grabbing mayor with an apparent oral fixation: Ex-Marcus Hook mayor sentenced to 10-20 months. Note that with this felony conviction he can no longer own a firearm for the rest of …



Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 50 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $9,700+ worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course. (A $1,195 value.) B.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) …


Soap Making Before And After Interesting Times, by Laura and Jim Fry

Over the years there have been occasional posts on SurvivalBlog about making various “homemade” soaps using easily found commercial ingredients. These often include store-bought washing soda, Fells Naptha, Zote soap, baking soda and such. Simply grate them up in the right proportions, mix and there you go. There have also been posts going a step further that explain how to make soap from easily purchased oils, meat counter fat or suet, commercial lye and fragrances. It’s just not that hard if you make use of the ingredients and instructions easily found these days. But what do you do in TEOTWAWKI if the stores close, either from lack of product to sell or from looting? What if …


Letter Re: Toilet Facilities for Plan B

James Wesley; In building our retreat, we will have multiple modern bathroom facilities in various buildings. The septic system was recently installed. However, we are thinking for long-term situations that a more primitive back-up would be desirable just to have on the property. So, the question is: Which is better: An outhouse that could utilize fireplace and oven wood ashes and simply relocate as time dictates or a composting toilet? We have researched both outhouses and composting toilets. We can see reasons to have either. Interestingly, this old property only ever utilized cesspools. They are dried up and have composted …


Economics and Investing:

Reader Chris G. suggested a piece by Patrick Barron: We Will Be Told Hyperinflation is Necessary, Proper, Patriotic, and Ethical Institutional Buying: The Coming Silver Game Changer Items from The Economatrix: IMF paper warns of ‘savings tax’ and mass write-offs as West’s debt hits 200-year high Prices At US Pump Expected To Stay Flat U.S. Job Growth Falters As Cold Weather Grips Nation Baltic Dry Index Crashes 18% In Two Days


Odds ‘n Sods:

H.L. suggested: Drinking Water and Garden Irrigation During Drought or Crisis    o o o An interesting discussion: Security Risks of Embedded Systems    o o o I recently mentioned off-center feed (OCF) ham transceiver dipole antennas. A reader then suggested this one as a more durable and lower-cost alternative.    o o o “Cool, by accident.” Three-wheel $6,800 car gears for 2015 US launch. (Thanks to George S. for the link.)    o o o Seed For Security has announced a new bonus that will be mailed with each Super Survival Pack that you order: A Practice Kit of …