Wouldn’t it be Great if Someone Made… (A List of Needful Gear)

I love dropping hints. Wouldn’t it be great if someone made any of the following products? (Some of these might already exist.) A set of stencils designed for camouflage spray-painting rifles and other field gear to replicate popular camouflage patterns, such as Woodland pattern. Custom checkered wooden grips or molded checkered plastic grips at a comfortable Glock/1911 grip angle, to solve a problem that has existed since 1896. A Kydex holster that would fit a HK 26.5mm flare pistol. Kydex belt pouches shaped to fit all of the most popular Leatherman tool models. Kydex belt pouches for FN FiveSeven pistol …


Pat’s Product Review: Solarbag Water Purifier

Sometimes, I’m just beating my head against the wall, when it comes to trying to explain to some folks, how important it is to have a source of clean, pure drinking water. I have an old friend back in Chicago – we’ve known each other since 1975, and it is just impossible to make her understand that, in due time, the water from her faucets will stop running, and what will she do when that happens? I’ve tried to get her to store a couple of the large blue water containers, that the big box stores carry, all to no …


Letter Re: Rabbits for a Stable (and Staple) Protein Source

Hello, I enjoyed the recent blog article Rabbits for a Stable (and Staple) Protein Source, by S.F.D. in West Virginia.  With all the rabbits running around this year I have been thinking about giving this a try.  I had a couple of questions after reading though and hope you or S.F.D. can answer them.   1. Food pellets won’t be readily available after the stores shut down.  What would you recommend for easily replenishable year-round rabbit food? 2. The temperature swings here in the South between seasons can be drastic.  Is there special care needed in extreme cold or heat? 3. Is there …


Recipe of the Week:

Sunshine Buttercup’s Oriental Green Beans I make this dish whenever I have a surplus of green beans. Everyone who has tried it says it’s tasty and a great way to liven up green beans. Ingredients     1 lb green beans, trimmed     1 teaspoon sesame oil     1 teaspoon vegetable oil     3 cloves garlic, minced     1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated     Crushed red pepper flakes (to taste)     1-1/2 teaspoons light soy sauce     2 tablespoons water     1 teaspoon sesame seeds, toasted, garnish Directions     1.    Steam beans for only a few minutes, you want them crisp. …


Economics and Investing:

Foreign Holders Dump A Whopping $40.8 Billion In Long-Term Treasuries Gold Trader: “Big Money Is Now Trying To Get In—On A Violent Regression To The Mean” Items from The Economatrix: Fitch Rings Warnings On Canadian Banks Uninsured next year? Here’s your Obamacare penalty. The Smart Money Is Leaving the Building


Odds ‘n Sods:

For folks with a large stream on their property, a Pelton Wheel system like this is fantastic: Algonquin Eco-Lodge – 12 kW Micro-Hydro Turbines    o o o Why we face grave danger from space: The discovery that a colossal solar flare hit Earth in the Dark Ages reminds us that catastrophe could strike at any time, says Michael Hanlon.    o o o .50 BMG shooters might find this reference page on specialty military rounds of interest.    o o o Mike Brown is planning to build a new generation of reliable 8 horsepower steam engines that will be …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"In the end, more than they wanted freedom, they wanted security. They wanted a comfortable life and they lost it all – security, comfort and freedom. When the Athenians finally wanted not to give to society, but for society to give to them; when the freedom they wished for most was the freedom from responsibility, then the Athenians ceased to be free." – Edward Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire



How to Wake People Up: A Time-Travel-to-the-Year-1970 Gedanken, by Joe Snuffy

Many preppers and survivalists have tried to convince family members and friends about our current predicament, being the long-term collapse of industrialized civilization. As intellectual survivalists, many of us have studied the works of Dr. Joseph Tainter (The Collapse of Complex Societies), Dr. Nate Hagans (Peak Oil / environmental economics), John Michael Greer (catabolic collapse theory), etc. Many of us collapse theorists have performed a form of fusion between these noted theorists, as well as noting significant events ourselves, since the early 1970s, in particular. How about a neat little Gedanken (a thought experiment) or role playing game during a …


Economics and Investing:

India Bans All Gold Coin Imports, Increases Capital Controls Carolina Jim recommended an essay by Paul Rosenberg: The Blow That Killed America, 100 Years Ago. Dire Consequences Await As U.S. Debt Nears A Tipping Point. Items from The Economatrix: That Which Is Incapable Of Reforming Itself Disappears How To Prepare For An Economic Depression US Consumer Bankruptcies Jump By Most In Three Years; Third-Party Collections At All Time High


Odds ‘n Sods:

G.G. sent this: Ten Years Later, How Have We Avoided Another Mega Blackout? And this: Failure is Not-an Option Unless We’re Talking About American Energy Infrastructure    o o o Ban on carrying loaded guns absent a concealed-carry permit is upheld by Oregon supremes. Reading the decision, it appears that it was the court rather than the defendant that was acting “recklessly.”    o o o Bellingham to pay $15,000 to man who wore gun in park    o o o A Mikey Bloomberg nightmare: Virginia gun crime drops again as firearm sales soar.    o o o British-produced food …



Notes from JWR:

This weekend only, (August 16-18, 2013), Camping Survival is having a 10% off sale on all Honeyville long-term storage food products. Use coupon code: “honeyville10”, at checkout. — 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 choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses …


Extending Your Vehicle’s Driving Range, Without Cost, by Steven B.

A while back, I remember reading a tantalizingly titled but substantively misleading news article about a group of junior high school students who built a “car” that attained a fuel efficiency of 150 mpg. After reading the story, my skepticism was confirmed that a bunch of junior high school students “out-engineered” those who engineer automobiles for a living, or more succinctly for profit. The vehicle they built was little more than a soap box racer with a Briggs and Stratton lawn mower engine; more of a go-cart instead of a practical conveyance. What I did discover in reading the article …


Letter Re: Save Your Disposable Lighter Flints

Hello, Mr. Rawles: I’d like to share a hint with you and your readers: Save all of your empty (discharged) disposable lighters, such as “Bic” brand lighters. They contain flints that you can use in your Zippo lighter. [These lighters can have their striker mechanism quickly broken down with a pair of pliers.] These are longer than the replacement flints that are sold in stores. They also work well in the older Coleman lanterns equipped with flint strikers.