Letter Re: Currently Available QRP Radio Kits

James, I’d like to discuss a couple of low power (“QRP”) ham radio transmitters. The first kit is a 10 Watt 75M SSB transceiver appropriately named The Survivor. For the modest sum of $140 you get all the parts required to build a practical rig with a digital frequency readout capable of making voice contacts at night out to a range of 200 to 300 miles using simple (low to the ground) wire antennas in NVIS mode. Another ham radio operator provided some additional tips and advice on building this kit on his blog. The second kit is a crystal-controlled …


Letter Re: Recommending Todd Savage of Survival Retreat Consulting

Hello Mr. Rawles, Just a note of thanks to you and your site for leading me to Todd Savage at Survival Retreat Consulting (SRC.) I read your novel Patriots and that gave me the incentive I needed to pursue a retreat for my family.  I researched the means available to obtain my retreat and that included SRC’s ad on your SurvivalBlog.com site.  I was impressed with Todd’s well thought out process and the advantage that his own experience in making the journey with his own family brought to the process.  With your recommendation as a tail wind, I hired Todd and …


Letter Re: Basic Mechanics Skill and Knowing Vehicular Limitations

Jim, If I might add my two cents to Albert’s comments on Basic Mechanics Skill and Knowing Vehicular Limitations:  I was also inconvenienced with lug nuts being over-torqued. I bent the factory lug wrench in the process.   My dear spouse would have never been able to loosen one, much less five lug nuts. So I vowed to never again be put in that position again.  I made the assumption that the tire store torqued the lug nuts to factory specifications. They went far beyond that number. Apparently, many do.   My solution was far less high tech, EMP proof, and far less expensive: a 24-Inch …


Letter Re: House Window Blackout Materials

James, I heard you in your recent interview on the SGT Report podcast talking about [the need for] interior blackout material [to stop light from escaping windows when the power grid is down.]    What is the name of the material and tape and where can I purchase it? Thanks, Paul Z. JWR Replies: You will find the information you need in these archived discussions in SurvivalBlog. Also see this theatrical supply company, and specifically this blackout fabric and this blackout tape.


Recipe of the Week:

Mr. Anon’s Southwestern Corn Pudding   Ingredients:   1 14-oz can cream-style corn 1 14-oz can whole kernel corn or niblets, drained 1 to 3 4-oz can(s) diced green chilies, to taste  (or sub 1 can diced jalapeños for one of chilies for more spice, or sub lightly sauteed fresh diced peppers if available, to taste) 6 large eggs 1-1/2 cups soft fresh cheese (ricotta or quark) 1/2 cup sour cream 1/2 lb to 1 lb diced or shredded pepper-jack cheese, depending on your taste and calorie requirement (or sub medium cheddar cheese for part of pepper-jack cheese.  Using all …


Economics and Investing:

File under: Omens, Bad: NYSE Margin Debt Is Rising Once Again. (Thanks to Bob in Manassas, Virginia for the link.) Peer-to-Peer Economy Thrives as Activists Vacate the System Items from The Economatrix: Wal-Mart Nails The “Consumer Recovery” Coffin Shut CFTC Concludes Long-Running Silver Manipulation Investigation, Finds Nothing Wrong New Homes Sales Climb 8%


Odds ‘n Sods:

Dallas County Now Has Its Very Own Bulletproof, “Mine-Protected” Military SUV. JWR Adds: An anonymous reader in Oregon wrote: “Yesterday I was driving by the Clackamas (Oregon) County Shops and Motor-pool and saw one of these MRAPs, identical to the one pictured in the article. Same paint too. It was sitting in the “repair or modify” area next to the road department trucks and sheriff’s department boat, across the street from the sheriff car storage area. I doubt it’ll stay tan for long.”    o o o Jeff Ayers of Booklist posted this announcement and mini revew of Expatriates: “Rawles’ …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Jump down the shelters to get away The boys are cockin’ up their guns Tell us General is it party time? If it is can we all come? Don’t think that we don’t know Don’t think that we’re not tryin’, no no no Don’t think we move too slow It’s no use after cryin’ Sayin’ ‘It’s a mistake, it’s a mistake It’s a mistake, it’s a mistake.’” – Men At Work, “It’s A Mistake” (Lyrics by Colin Hay.)


Notes from JWR:

Today is the birthday of Ludwig von Mises. (Born 1881, died October 10, 1973.) — 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 normally cost $795, and C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted …


A Year of Starvation: My Experience, by K.S.

Though food shortages and malnutrition are popular discussion topics for preppers, I doubt that many of us have experienced a real, prolonged lack of food. Certainly we’ve all had a day or two – maybe even more, for the gutsy– with minimal or no food, but often those days happen by choice and are for practice, with a set end in sight. How many of us have gone weeks, months, or more on limited rations? How many of us know what to expect and how we’d feel? How many of us are ready for the surprises and challenges that prolonged …


Letter Re: Thoughts on Barbara Tuchman and System Fragility

James, I was reading Tuchman’s seminal work The Guns of August last night and found this quote, where she describes the emphasis in 1910 by author Norman Angell in his book The Great Illusion on how the increasing connectedness of business and nations would assuredly preclude future conflict: ‘By impressive examples and incontrovertible argument Angell showed that in the present financial and economic interdependence of nations, the victor would suffer equally with the vanquished; therefore war had become unprofitable; therefor no nation would be so foolish as to start one.’ This cited work was published in 1910, just prior to …


Economics and Investing:

G.G. flagged this: Stockton Farmers Say Walnut Crops Are Prime Targets For Creative Thieves B.B. sent this: Credit card firm cuts off nation’s No. 1 gun store — for selling guns Items from The Economatrix: Over at Zero Hedge: QE Worked For The Weimar Republic For A Little While Too Cyprus-Style Wealth Confiscation Is Now Starting To Happen All Over The Globe US Economic Confidence Slumps To Six-Month Low Oil Rises Above $103 A Barrel On US Data


Odds ‘n Sods:

RBS recommended this fascinating article: Six Months in the Middle Ages: Surviving the Moscow Winter    o o o F.J. suggested this: Vintage Machinery Website    o o o H.L. liked this one: What to do when your Dominant Eye Differs from your Dominant Hand    o o o The 1911 Pistol Is Its Own Toolbox! (Thanks to K.T. for the link.)



Notes from JWR:

Happy birthday to L.K.O., SurvivalBlog’s Rocky Mountain Regional Editor. — 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 normally cost $795, and C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy …