Sewing, Mending and Altering Your Clothing After the Ball Drops, by Belle

My husband, children and I live in a largely off-grid community in the desert southwest.  We live on forty acres with solar power, a water well and water catchment.  We garden and live with chickens and are adding skills to our new life style all of the time.  My husband does not like for me to be too specific, but I outlined some of our lifestyle changes in an article on trash in July 2012. This article is about clothing.  It is about sewing and mending and altering.  I know you’d rather read about AR-15’s, but IMHO, clothing is going …


Letter Re: One Year Food Supply at COSTCO

James, What is you opinion of the “30,144 Total Servings 4-people 1-year Emergency Food Kit” now at the COSTCO website? Are the shelf lifes realistic? (Are they really long term storage kinds of foods?) What can you tell me about the company that makes them? Are they legit? Is this price realistic? I appreciate your sage counsel. Thanks, -Walt G. JWR Replies: The THRIVE brand foods are packaged by Shelf Reliance, a very reputable company that has been a SurvivalBlog advertiser for many years. Unlike many of their competitors, they do their nitrogen packing under controlled conditions. (Tests have shown …


Letter Re: Building Cabins on a Shoestring Budget

Dear CPT Rawles, This letter is provided as a reply to your reader who wrote in about “Building Cabins on a Shoestring Budget”. There are two viewpoints to this reply, one from the vantage point of an architect with a couple dozen years of real world design and construction experience as though one of my clients was cabin builder whom I was trying to advise, solely for a cost effective, build – as-you-go, off grid home solution. The second vantage point is that of a fellow prepper, former Army National Guard Infantry Lieutenant, and in my present role as an …


News From The American Redoubt:

Now it’s Oregon Senate’s turn to vote on gun laws. If the ban on private party gun sales is enacted, it may prove to be “The last straw” and trigger a partition of the conservative counties east of the Cascades.    o o o Errant gunshot’s shrapnel wounds two men at Idaho gun show.    o o o Ban Idaho! (Thanks to Ben H. for the link.)    o o o There are still several pro-gun pieces of legislation pending in Montana, including permitless concealed carry. Montanans should contract their representatives, to encourage the passage of these bills. The Wyoming/Arizona/Alaska/Vermont-style …


Economics and Investing:

This confirms my assertion: The Spot Price of Precious Metals Is Becoming Irrelevant Pete H. sent this from Paul Farrell: 10 investing rules for the coming bond crash The drawn out impact of quantitative easing on real estate: Japanese real estate continues to struggle while Bank of Japan expands monetary base. JWR’s Comment: Back in the 1930s, folk comedian Will Rogers was famous for saying: “Buy land: They ain’t making any more of it.” The modern-day corollary is: “Avoid Dollars: They can make as many of them as they want to.” Items from The Economatrix: Jim Willie: Physical Gold Premiums …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Stopping the Common Core curriculum freight train    o o o A clever new product with a seven year shelf life: New Ovaeasy Pop and Cook Eggs at CampingSurvival.com. You can order them here.    o o o Today Marcus Hook Pennsylvania Mayor James “Jay” Schiliro is scheduled to get his first day in court. He is one of many hypocritical members of Mayors Against Illegal Guns who is in serious trouble with the law. In his case it was providing alcohol to someone under 21, attempted homosexual seduction, and unlawful imprisonment, at gunpoint. Mayor Bloomberg certainly has collected a …



Notes from JWR:

Ready Made Resources just started a 25% off sale on Mountain House canned long term storage foods. Check it out! — The volatility in the precious metals markets is continuing, with some dramatic intra-day swings in spot prices. My long-standing advice has been “buy on a dip day”, but perhaps presently it should be: buy on a dip hour. Once silver resumes its bull charge–past $30 and then the $40 per troy ounce, you will be glad that you “bought low.” OBTW, sales have been very strong for the new American Redoubt .999 fine silver coin. These very attractive 1-ounce …


Pat’s Product Review: Ruger SR556E

I’ve always been a big fan of Ruger firearms – all of them! There’s many reasons for my liking Ruger firearms, first of all, I find their firearms robust, strong and well-designed. Ruger doesn’t simply copy some other designs for the most part – instead, they are innovators in many ways. I still remember when the first Ruger P-85 9mm handguns came out, and everyone thought they wouldn’t last because they were made from “investment casting” aluminum frames- Ruger proved everyone wrong.   A few years ago, I tested the Ruger SR556 piston-driven AR-style rifle, and loved it. Everyone was …


Harry’s Book Review: After the Snow by S.D. Crockett

Book Title: After the Snow Author: S.D. Crockett Copyright Date: 2012 Publisher: Feiwel and Friends ISBN: 978-0-312-64169-6 Audio, e-book or foreign translation avail? Yes–Kindle Suitable for children? Teens probably. When you find a story predicting that the future is another ice age you know you have found an author who is thinking outside of the box. The global warming crowd is not going to be pleased if this is our future. Not only do we get an Ice Age, but the solar farms and wind farms are a complete failure. Nuclear is king and coal is the next best alternative. …


Letter Re: CCW Permit Holders are The Good Guys

JWR, One topic that has come up recently is that license holders are more law-abiding than the general population, presumably because they’ve undergone background checks by the state.    The reality is that this has been shown in multiple case reviews.   A 2011 study in Texas concluded that CCW/CCL permit holders generally do not use guns to commit crimes and they commit crimes of any nature much less frequently than the general population of Texas.   According to an article by the Beaufort Observer concerning the study:  “The Texas Department of Public Safety published a list of crimes committed in …


Recipe of the Week:

C. in Florence’s Sandwich Spread Recipes Cottage Cheese Sandwiches 1 cup cottage cheese 1/4 cup chopped peanuts 8 slices brown/wheat bread 4 tablespoons margarine 1 egg 2 tablespoons cold water Covo (cottonseed and peanut oil) or your favorite frying oil Mix the cheese and nuts together. Spread on 4 slices of bread. Cover with remaining bread. Beat egg and mix with water. Dip sandwiches into egg and water mixture and fry in hot oil until golden brown. Serve with chips.   Peanut Honey Sandwiches 6oz. Cream cheese 1/3 cup Honey 12 slices Brown/wheat bread peanut butter, creamy or chunky Mix cheese and …


Economics and Investing:

Gold Forecast 2013: On the Verge of a New Monetary Order and Gold’s Rise H.L. sent: Syrians Turn to Backyard Refining as War Reaches Oil Gold & Silver – War Unofficially Declared on 12 April 2013 Items from The Economatrix: David Woo Warns Of Major Market Re-alignment Deflation:  A Three-Act Play Jim Sinclair:  Swiss Bank Just Refused To Give My Friend His Gold Physical Gold & Silver Shortages Are Accelerating; Premiums Exploding


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader J.B.G. sent: News from England: Big brother to switch off your fridge: Power giants to make millions – but you must pay for ‘sinister’ technology    o o o I can remember back in April of 1980 I was quite concerned that Zimbabwe (the former Rhodesia) had been taken over by Comrade Robert Mugabe, a quintessential African Dictator. Sadly, the passing of 33 years has not seen freedom and justice prevail in Zimbabwe, nor here in these United States. Yes, all these years later, Mugabe is still in power, and we now have our own would-be African Dictator, with …