Notes from JWR:

I just heard from Micah Wood of C.R.O.S.S. Ministries that he is flying to South Sudan on January 29th. During his first week there, he will have a host in Aweil who is with the South Sudanese national government who will be introducing him to key decision makers. Please pray that his vital ministry succeeds. Micah is a former Front Sight firearms instructor. His ministry in South Sudan will be both sharing the gospel and training the citizenry in marksmanship, to defend their villages. It is one thing to just protest Sudan’s ongoing genocide against the South Sudanese, but it …


Update: SurvivalBlog Archive 2005-2012

The expanded SurvivalBlog 2005-2012 archive has been selling at a fast pace, via digital download. The DVD version of the archive should be available in another 6 or 7 days, after we’ve had time to test some prototypes. The DVD will be priced $2 higher than the digital download. Thanks for your patience. 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 …


Americans are Voting with Their Feet

It should come as no surprise that at the same time that Statists agitators are vociferously calling for more People Control that freedom lovers are heading for the exit doors in greater numbers, to wit: The American Redoubt movement, Glenn Beck’s announced Independence Park community (in Texas), calls for state secession (which has been going on longer than most people realize), the ongoing but sadly polarized Free State Movement (in which Free State Wyoming has the best chance of success, demographically), the quiet expatriation of thousands, primarily to various Central and South American countries, and the more splashy celebrity exits. …


The III Citadel Controversy

The name “III Citadel” came into the limelight last weekend, when The Drudge Report posted a prominent link to a CNS article by Gregory Gwyn-Williams, Jr.. In a nutshell, a man identifying himself as “Sam III” who is somehow loosely associated with III Arms (a legitimate company, in West Virginia) started a patriot community building project, somewhere east of St. Maries, Idaho. When I first heard about it in November, I made just one short and noncommittal “this sounds interesting” mention in my blog. (A post which I just removed.) Two days ago I was quite troubled to learn that …


Pat’s Product Review: SIG Sauer Adaptive Carbine Platform (ACP)

SIG Sauer is always coming up with new and innovative firearms, they are on the cutting edge, and their products are always in great demand, too. To wit: many times I have to wait weeks and months, to get products to test from SIG – they are back-ordered quite often, and that attests to the popularity of their firearms. However, for this article, I didn’t test a firearm, instead, I tested the ACP – Adaptive Carbine Platform, this is not a firearm, it is an “accessory” if you will, that you can adapt to many full-sized handguns.   Some explanation …


Letter Re: One Approach at a EDC Get Home Bag

Hi James, I have gone through many variants of a BoB or EDC Bag over the years, and feel that I’ve found a really good setup for a “covert” EDC bag that can function as a get home bag (GHB) more so than a BoB.  It doesn’t draw unwanted attention to carrier, but provides what I think is essential to EDC.   As a summary, I am using a 5.11 Covrt Backpack as my bag.  It provides all the needs I want in a “tactical” bag but doesn’t scream “HEY LOOK!! I have a MOLLE bag with a bunch of …


Recipe of the Week:

Mama June’s Amish Brown Sugar Pie I have been making this pie for holidays since I was 14 years old. It’s inexpensive. easy and tasty. It’s from an old Amish recipe, brown sugar pie, and sets up rather like a caramel custard. The bonus here is the pie crust recipe, which is flaky and delicious and eliminates rolling! the Amish cookbook called it a “pat-in-pan” crust. Add a little garlic salt and flax or wheat germ and it’s the perfect crust for quiche! (My preferred way to use up our eggs.) 2 cups flour, white or wheat, more as needed …


Economics and Investing:

Washington state bank closes; first failure of 2013 H.G. flagged this: New data show 1 in 4 children on food stamps in FY 2011 Greeks Raid Forests in Search of Wood to Heat Homes. (Thanks to H.L. for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: Powerful “Indicators” Suggest A Stock Market Sell-Off And Inflation Could Be Just Around The Corner Beware The Bond Bubble In 2013 US May Default On Its Debt A Half-Month Earlier Than Expected, New Analysis Shows


Odds ‘n Sods:

An interesting new food grade container: Jolly Tank. Needless to say, it is not DOT-approved for carrying fuel in a vehicle, and of course such containers should be discarded after use to carry anything toxic or biohazardous. But I can see umpteen potential uses.    o o o California legislator plans to further tighten the screws on gun owners: New ammunition purchase regulations. See also: California testing limits of gun-control rules in wake of Newtown shooting.    o o o Biden Hints at Outlawing Unregulated Gun Sales. Of course there is NO FEDERAL JURISDICTION for private party intrastate sales of …



Notes from JWR:

Colorado alert: 14 to 20 New Anti-Gun Bills at the State Capitol. (“A ban on an undetermined number of semi-automatic firearms (No grandfather clause) A ban on magazines of over ten rounds (No grandfather clause) A ban on private sales by requiring universal background checks. A waiting period on background checks that will kill gun shows…”) — 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 …


The Calling of the Christian Prepper: Faith and Survival, by Axgrinder

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This article will have little effect on the scoffer, whether a survivalist or not, but is directed toward the Christian who is also conscious of the value of preparation and the duty to provide for family in survival circumstances. It may also be effective for the mind a person who knows little of God but is open to investigate His existence. It is what God has laid on my heart as I read through the great articles and letters here in this forum. Keep up the good work. What I sense though, myself included, is that we, as humans, sometimes …


Letter Re: A Few AR-15 Full Capacity Magazines Found Available

Sir: I noticed yesterday that one of your readers (and I’m assuming many others) are looking for AR-15 magazines. While I haven’t yet tested the Israeli E-Lander magazines personally (I have six of them on order), the reviews seemed positive albeit the magazines are slightly heavy compared to a PMAG. Beggars can’t be choosers in this [current political and market] environment. A few people noted they were not fitting in MEGA lower receiver magazine wells, and were very tight in some other receivers, however the majority of users had no issues. I believe the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) use these …


Economics and Investing:

An excellent piece by Dr. Gary North that gets to the heart of the preparedness mindset, even when disasters are personal rather than national: Budgeting for a Lifestyle Contraction Anthony Wile of The Daily Bell: The Trillion Dollar Coin Is a Great Idea! Items from The Economatrix: The Economic Implosion Of Europe Is Accelerating Economic Forecaster:  US Has Gone Over The “Demographic Cliff.”  Market Crash Will Start In Summer “Dr. Doom” Faber Sees A Possible 10% Gold Correction