Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“The concept of ‘necessity’ is almost always dangerous and insidious in political matters. Asking whether vanilla is necessary for a specific cupcake recipe is very different from asking whether guns or tobacco or beer or soda or cocaine is ‘necessary’ for a person’s life. People place different values on different things, and it is supremely arrogant and insulting for a person to look at a particular product and think that he can decide for the rest of humanity whether it is ‘necessary’ to own. It is true that certain guns are not ‘necessary’ for human beings, in the sense that …


Notes from JWR:

Today (September 17th) we celebrate Constitution Day in these United States. Let’s fight to retain the rights that we have left and to regain those that have been eroded. — Until October 15th, the SurvivalBlog 2005-2012 Archive DVD is sale priced at just $11.99. — Today we present another entry for Round 48 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The 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 …


Waterproofing and Long-Term Storage of Small Arms Ammunition, by Nebraska Farmer

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Did you ever wonder just how waterproof your ammunition is?  Over the years I’ve seen ammo stored in everything from cardboard boxes in the attic to sealed ammo cans in the basement, to fruit jars in the refrigerator.    Case corrosion and propellant degradation can occur as a result of exposure to elements, oxygen, and extreme fluctuations in temperature and humidity.  Think of the times when both you and your ammunition were exposed to the elements…wouldn’t it be nice to add one more layer of reliability to your primary weapon system – by ensuring waterproof reloads?  Okay, I’m not going to …


Letter Re: Advice on Water Storage

JWR, I’m looking for any insight regarding regarding discreet water storage in a suburban neighborhood.  My family is most certainly amateur peppers living in a suburban neighborhood just north of Des Moines, Iowa.  We have security, food, medical supplies along with other essentials.  The one thing we don’t have is near enough water.   My main hesitation from just going out and getting 55-gallon water barrels is how conspicuous they would be. However that said, that may be the best solution. Are there any other solutions that I should consider? Great site and invaluable information.  Thank you! – J.P.H. in …


Letter Re: All-American Sun Ovens

James, I have a short comment on today’s article for “Pat’s Product Review: All American Sun Oven”.   My wife and I bought the $399 model at a Dallas Prepper show a couple years ago and used it in order to make sure we knew how to operate it. After several weeks of use, my job took me to a long overseas visit and the oven went onto a shelf in the garage. It sat for six months without anyone using it. Yes I cleaned and dried it out. Upon returning from my trip I got it back out to …


News From The American Redoubt:

Cheryl N. sent: A Map Of America’s Future: Where Growth Will Be Over The Next Decade. Not surprisingly, the “Inland West” (which includes much of The American Redoubt will benefit from conservative transplants from other states. It is all about personal freedom and opportunity. Here is a quote: “From 2003 to 2013, [the Inland West] enjoyed the most rapid population growth in the nation: 21%. It is expected to continue to outgrow the rest of the country over the next decade, as the area boasts the highest percentage of young people under 20 in the U.S.”    o o o …


Economics and Investing:

Billionaire Eric Sprott: Gold is going to $2,400 by next summer Israeli government reportedly mulling Bitcoin tax For a limited time, Northwest Territorial mint is offering their divisible “Stagecoach Silver” coins for as little as 65 cents over spot. G.G. suggested: ‘Follow the Money’: NSA Spies on International Payments Items from The Economatrix: Jobless Claims Fall To 7-Year Low, But … Foreclosure Crisis Drawing To A Close


Odds ‘n Sods:

G.G. flagged this: Imagining a Cyberattack on the Power Grid    o o o Reader F.G. sent me a link to some eye candy: Herra Kuulapaa: High speed ballistics photography. (The Guy Fawkes mask was a nice touch.)    o o o Bob K. and his wife recommended the classic short story: The Machine Stops, by E.M. Forster, written in 1909.    o o o Activity On The Sun Flatlines: Bitterly Cold Winters Ahead?    o o o 14 Civilian Disarmament Bills on California Governor’s Desk


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Trillions were created so that a system choking on existing debt could issue more debt. But you can’t lose sight of the creation process, created isn’t ‘out of thin air’, it’s never out of thin air. Created is loaned into existence. We are issuing debt in order to transfer debt in order to ‘free up credit’ which basically means to create more debt. This is how our monetary system works.” – Post comment by “kridkrid”, at Zero Hedge


Notes from JWR:

The continuing floods in Colorado underscore the importance of having both Get Out of Dodge (G.O.O.D.) kits and Get Home Bags (GHBs.) See: Officials to flood-hit Coloradans: Leave now or face weeks without supplies. — Today is the birthday of “Mad Jack” Churchill. (Born 1906, died, March 8, 1996.) He was a world class eccentric. He went to war in WWII armed with a broadsword and a longbow. (The latter was successfully used to dispatch several German soldiers.) He later became a devoted surfer. He was truly an original character.


Pat’s Product Review: All American Sun Oven

It goes something like this, “one is none, two is one, and three is two!” No, that’s not new math – although these days, it could be with all the insane things they are now teaching in public schools. What I’m talking about relates to survival. If you have one of “something” and it breaks, you lose it, or whatever happens to it, you have none. If you have two of “something” and one goes south, then you still have one. If you have three of “something” then if one stops working, you still have two to fall back on. …


Embarrassing Truths: An Example of Why You Shouldn’t Trust Wikipedia

As I’ve mentioned before, Wikipedia’s editors have strong leftist and statist biases. This is evidenced by the way that they selectively delete content and gradually push the Point of View (POV) of articles to match their world views. According a SurvivalBlog reader in Switzerland, the following section was deleted from Wikipedia by members of an anti-gun Wikipedia cabal on August 14, 2013. (It had been part of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns article): Members convicted of illegal activity   Some members of MAIG have been convicted of crimes. They include:   Baltimore, Maryland – Mayor Sheila Dixon   Hartford, Connecticut …


Letter Re: Advice on Firearms Caching

Hi James, After a firearm has been oiled up with RIG grease and vacuum sealed, I want to put it into a rifle length mylar bag as well and then put into a 6″ PVC tube.  Should I simply use a Hot Hands hand warmer inside the mylar bag and then another one inside the PVC tube?  I should not have to worry about moisture if it is vacuum sealed? right?  I do have some silica gel packs but did not know if you can mix the two together. I tried to do a search on your site but could …


Letter Re: Preserving a Digital Library

James, Concerning the recent posts (all good) about a digital library: I admit I didn’t read every word, but as a fairly long time (23+ years) IT professional for the same company, I would be remiss to not identify the problems we have had. First off understand, technology always marches on! And whiles many times I have successfully restored rewritten 20+ year old data, there have been many failures. As densities of storage medium grows the physical size of the actual stored information shrinks! So the actual stored magnetic 1’s and 0’s are written is in smaller and smaller spaces, …


Recipe of the Week:

Naomi’s Chili With Fresh Tomatoes I don’t use tomato products that are in cans because of my concerns about BPA, an endocrine disruptor found in the plasticized lining of canned food cans, which is particularly bad in tomatoes.  However, this poses a problem when making chili, because most recipes call for canned tomatoes or tomato paste. I developed this recipe to use fresh tomatoes in making chili.  It does involve a jar of salsa (which is in glass) and frozen veggies, but those can easily be substituted for fresh stuff or omitted all together. Chili from fresh tomatoes Ingredients 2 …