Notes from JWR:

Today is the birthday of historian Barbara Tuchman (born 1912, died February 6, 1989.) She wrote some of the most engaging history books that I’ve ever read. — Today we present another entry for Round 44 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, 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 …


Rules For Living and Rules For Staying Alive, by Arizona Slim

Survival can certainly include situations that are a bit short of, and a bit more mundane than TEOTWAWKI. And as much as we wish it were otherwise, I know a lot of us are in a suburban or even urban environment. We find ourselves in a great many situations with the potential to become survival scenarios on a smaller, more personal scale. We are also subject daily to a million ridiculous rules and laws and prohibitions and warnings and  statutes and such that most of our rural brethren can go for long periods of time without even having to consider. …


Letter Re: Sugar and Spice Will Always Be Nice

Dear Editor: My father worked for many years at a sugar factory, and I can tell you there is no such thing as a natural “brown sugar”.  Brown sugar is simply post-production white sugar with molasses added.   As you make your recipe, use slightly more than the called for amount of brown sugar–maybe an extra teaspoon or two, and then add molasses.  If the recipe calls for light brown sugar, add a little molasses.  Dark brown sugar? Just add more molasses.    Also, because you’re storing the components separately, your “brown sugar” never gets hard as a rock, because you mix it at …


Letter Re: California as a Precursor: Thoughts on Feinstein’s Ban Bill

JWR; First, I must mention that the Feinstein bill is remarkably similar to what we live with already in California, other than some additional models being added and some language changes. With all of Feinstein and colleague’s rhetoric about the California bullet button loophole, I notice that in her Federally proposed bill, if you have a fixed magazine (al la the California bullet button feature, which makes the magazine fixed) your (military) features are not limited. You are, however, limited to a 10 round fixed magazine capacity. Once you have a removable magazine, the “Military” (scary looking) features come into …


Economics and Investing:

SBSS has launched a new “Liberty Girl” one-ounce .999 silver coin. ‘Wall St.’ flees NY for tax-free Florida The Disappearing Gold Dr. Gary North: Fed Will Buy $1.1 Trillion in Bonds. Then It Will Buy More. Items from The Economatrix: IMF’s Lagarde Says US Leading Economic Role At Stake The Endgame Is Being Played Out:  World Plunges Into Currency War, Economy Underperforming Again, US Banks Shaken By Biggest Deposit Withdrawals Since 9/11…The Collapse Will Begin New Homes Sales Slip:  Jobs Are The Key To Housing Recovery


Odds ‘n Sods:

Scott G. mentioned this in The New York Times: The Preppers Next Door    o o o Here is a SHOT Show report: Gun Tote’n Mamas Concealed Carry Purses for Women    o o o Alan S. sent us the latest news from Oz: Floods cause Brisbane drinking water shortage. (Any family that does not own a high quality, high volume ceramic water filter is foolish!)    o o o H.L. forwarded this: Drought Seen Worsening in U.S. Plains and West Midwest


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Gun registration does nothing… can do nothing… to curb gun violence. All it can do is tell you who the gun belonged to at some point in in the past, should you happen to find it dropped at the murder scene, next to the cooling body. At best it’s a placebo to the perpetually fearful, while at worst (and historically it’s nearly always been worst) it’s a prelude to confiscation.” – Tamara K. in her View From The Porch blog


Notes from JWR:

I’m pleased to report that the expanded SurvivalBlog 2005-2012 archive has been selling at a fast pace, both via digital download and on DVD. This new archive collection has expanded bonus material (a digital copy of my book Rawles on Retreats and Relocation–normally $28 in hard copy–12 Firearms Manuals, and 14 U.S. Military Manuals), an improved user interface (with the same look and feel of the SurvivalBlog web site), and of course one more year of the blog content. The digital download and DVD both include the archives in HTML (10,131 pages) and PDF (7,923 pages). The blog archive is …


Sugar and Spice Will Always Be Nice, by Vic in Iowa

Many of the things we love today, and take for granted, will probably be very hard to come by, if things fall apart. This long list certainly includes condiments. You may be ready to grow your own food, and purify your own water. I hope you are. And you hopefully have tons of wheat and rye and rice and beans packed away, to fall back on while you learn to produce all the food you need. (I figure it may take me 3 years to get self-sufficient, and have stocked up accordingly.) But even if your pantry is stocked deep, …


Unarmed Defense in the Apocalypse, by Tony C.

Many people today are preparing for TEOTWAWKI in various ways. Much discussion and planning for a host of apocalyptic scenarios is underway and justifiably so as many factors converge to seemingly plunge the world into a looming sense of impending doom. We all hope for the best but must prepare for the worst in hopes of survival for ourselves and our families. Self defense is a cornerstone of prepping for the seemingly inevitable collapse of our modern societies. The procurement and use of firearms is the obvious and most effective means of protecting ourselves and our emergency supplies which we …


Letter Re: Canadian Pennies No Longer Issued After February 4th

Mr. Rawles, The window is closing to pick up Canadian pennies is quickly closing. The Royal Canadian Mint will no longer ship pennies to banks on February 4, 2013 and at the same time, banks will no longer “sell” pennies to their customers.  I did a run on about a dozen banks today, and some already out right refused to sell them to me. It’s worth noting that unlike the American government who debased their pennies in 1982,  the Canadian government fully debased the Canadian from 95% copper to copper washed zinc in 1996, so a circulated box of Canadian …


Letter Re: Another Recommendation for Todd Savage

Greetings from the American Redoubt!   Thank you for the time and expertise that you put into your blog site.  Like many, we consider your web site, books, and archived blogs on DVD to be a critical component to our preparedness planning.   We appreciate the articles that you and others write; they are very educational and  help us focus our time and other resources in the right directions.  Because of this education, we made the decision that it was time to move to the American Redoubt, relocating from a very congested Southeastern city.  The ads on the right side of your …


News From The American Redoubt:

Yakima County sheriff says he opposes assault weapon ban    o o o A Washington State Republican in effect says: “If it is good for the Goose…” Rep. Joel Kretz introduces wolf relocation legislation. (Thanks to T.C. for the link.)    o o o I’ve been told that Bitterroot Valley Ammunition & Components (in Stevensville, Montana) has expanded again, and is still doing a tremendous volume of manufacturing, making cartridges all the way up to .50 Browning.    o o o Idaho lawmaker wants to mandate cursive handwriting    o o o The NRA has warned: “Last week, a group …


Economics and Investing:

You read about this first in SurvivalBlog: Shale gas boom now visible from space The Real Story Of How ‘Untouchable’ Wall Street Execs Avoided Prosecution. (Thanks to Jim W. for the link.) Scam complete: the US government takes a page from Diocletian’s book… Items from The Economatrix: Gold Bank Run Accelerating In Europe Royal Canadian Mint Rationing Silver Coins Britain’s Economy Flirts With Triple-Digit Recession


Odds ‘n Sods:

Here at the Rawles Ranch we’ve kept busy the last couple of days assembling Kushnapup bullpup stocks for two of our Saiga 12 shotguns. The manufacturer had a two year delay from the original pre-sales announcement, but they appear to have been worth the wait. For “host” guns, we had already slightly modified two Saigas with Galil-style charging handles. The Gun Control Act of 1968 dictates a minimum barrel length of 18 inches for shotguns and 16 inches for rifles .There is also a minimum overall length requirement of 26 inches, for either. We opted to leave our barrels at …