Letter From #1 Son on SurvivalBlog Publishing Structure Suggestions

Dear SurvivalBlog Readers: We are in the early stages of transitioning to new content management software for SurvivalBlog. I’d appreciate input from any of our readers who have experience in content design, on making the site even more useful. For our general readers, don’t worry, there won’t be any major changes in the blog. You will still have the same daily posts. In the seven years that SurvivalBlog has been running, we have built a massive archive of nearly 17,300 posts. This includes many daily items, such as notes, odds ‘n sods posts, and quotes of the day. Then we …


Letter Re: Thoughts Trailers and Towing Capacity for Times of Fuel Scarcity

Jim: InyoKern’s comments [about living in trailers] are right on. My brother is [living] in a 21.5 foot long toy hauler and it is built stronger than a conventional trailer and you can haul a lot in it. It is very comfortable and has extra large storage capacity for fuel, water etc. He has 200 watts of photovoltaic panels on the roof and four 6 -volt golf cart batteries cabled together to provide most of his electrical needs. I have a 9 foot truck camper and though its good the trailer is much more versatile for moving about from city …


News From The American Redoubt:

A “2nd Right” rally is scheduled in Helena, Montana on February 8th. Montanans are urged to meet at their state capitol at 10 a.m. on February 8th. The meeting will be north of the Capitol Stairs, beside the statue. (Similar events will be held at the same local time, at state capitols nationwide.) Note that no weapons are allowed on Capitol Grounds in many states, but participants are encouraged to wear an empty holster, as a subtle message.    o o o Wyoming House Approves Bills Exempting State From Federal Gun Control Measures and Allowing Concealed Carry on Campus    …


Economics and Investing:

G.G. sent: Argentina freezes prices to break inflation spiral. JWR’s Comment: Wage and price controls never work. I explained why, back in 2007. Greek Isles Cut Off From Mainland For Sixth Day As Strikes Return With A Vengeance Why has US Oil Consumption Steadily Fallen since 2004? “Slay the messenger!” S&P says U.S. to file civil lawsuit over ratings Items from The Economatrix: Gold Run?  43 Tonnes of Gold Stand Ready for February Delivery on 1st Notice Day Economy Adds 157,000 Jobs; Rate Up to 7.9% January Jobs Report Offers Something for Everyone


Odds ‘n Sods:

Freeze Dry Guy has begun their 2013 Warehouse Blowout Sale, with a couple of great specials on LRP rations and freeze dried ice cream.    o o o Some wisdom from T. Mark Graham: Combat Load: How do I carry this stuff?    o o o Report shows UN admitting solar activity may play significant role in global warming. (Thanks to Lee M. for the link.)    o o o The Kindle edition of Alex Smith’s new book on get home bags, everyday carry kits, and related topics titled Getting Home is on sale for just 99 cents at Amazon.com, …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Corruption, like a cancer … eats faster and faster every hour. The revenue creates pensioners, and the pensioners urge for more revenue. The people grow less steady, spirited, and virtuous, the seekers more numerous and more corrupt, and every day increases the circles of their dependents and expectants, until virtue, integrity, public spirit, simplicity, and frugality become the objects of ridicule and scorn, and vanity, luxury, floppery, selfishness, meanness, and downright venality swallow up the whole of society." – President John Adams


Note from JWR:

Ready Made Resources begins their bi-annual on sale on Mountain House freeze dried #10 cans, today, Monday February 4th. This is a sale on Mountain House freeze dried foods in #10 cans, discounted the maximum-allowed 25%. Mountain House is allowing an additional 10% discount for select varieties including Diced Chicken, Diced Beef, Ground Beef, Cottage Cheese, Raw Egg Mix-Uncooked, and Scrambled Eggs with Ham and Peppers, for a total of 35% off those items. In addition, since they warehouse most of their inventory, Ready Made Resources is willing to mix and match entrees, so that customers do not have to …


Mahaffey’s Book Review: The Disaster Diaries

The Disaster Diaries: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Apocalypse Reading level: Hardcover: 384 pages Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The (January 24, 2013)ISBN-10: 1594205272, ISBN-13: 978-1594205279 This book goes way beyond the beans, bullets and Band-Aid counsel. In fact, he’s kind of ‘out there’- in one of the finest ‘structured’ swashbuckling adventure sprees that I have read in a long while.  The Disaster Diaries is fun, rousing, thoughtful, and provocative.  Zany (can that word be used today?) might describe more of the unconventional catastrophes depicted in the storyline. The dark humor orientation is evident by the Dr. …


Pat’s Product Review: Infidel Body Armor

In the past, working as a police officer, security officer and private investigator, I used to wear soft body armor – it only made sense to give myself every advantage available, and to afford myself a better chance of going home safely at the end of the day. Body armor isn’t anything new, I believe it was used as early as the 1920s – in a more modern form than the armor that knights used to wear into battle. Richard Davis, who started Second Chance Body Armor (now out of business) paved the way for much of today’s soft and …


Letter Re: Thoughts Trailers and Towing Capacity for Times of Fuel Scarcity

Dear Jim, I’ve been having blinding flashes of the obvious lately that I wanted to share.   A friend of mine just got a few AS degrees in IT, not realizing just how FUBAR the business world is for his new profession. IT professionals are no longer employees. They’re contract workers, rarely working in a position more than a year, and often a lot less. They don’t get benefits or retirement packages. They get specific tasks, get done, get paid, and get shown the door. This is not conducive to stable living. The career has changed so much that they …


Letter Re: Cooking the Farmyard Fowl

James, I really learned a lot from the Cooking the Farmyard Fowl article by Irishfarmer.  My chicken flock is reaching an average of two years of age and they are laying fewer eggs.  It is time to learn how to put them into the stew pot. I had two questions raised from that article.  How do you make a killing cone, and how do you kill and process a chicken?  I found good information at the following links: How to Make a Killing Cone  It includes sizing information ranging from bantams to turkeys.  That page referred me to How to Kill …


Recipe of the Week:

OkieRanchWife’s Cowhand Soup This doesn’t freeze well but I doubt there will be any leftovers to freeze. In an emergency situation this great because the liquid comes from the cans. 2 pounds of ground beef or bison 1 medium red or sweet onion, chopped, (can use dried) 3 cloves of minced garlic, (can use dried or powdered) 4 stalks of green onion, chopped, (can use dried)                3 cans of Mexican style tomatoes (Rotel) 2 14 ounce cans of ranch style beans 2 14 ounce cans of red kidney beans 1 14 ounce cans of whole kernel corn 2 4 ounce …


Economics and Investing:

Schiff Report: Dow 14,000, GDP, Jobs, Fed, inflation, treasuries, & gold. Peter Schiff observes: “All of this is an illusion created by inflation.” Gold Leasing: The Case Of The Disappearing Gold. (Thanks to G.G. for the link.) Americans Rip Up Retirement Plans Items from The Economatrix: Gasoline At Highest Price Ever For This Time Of Year Fed Officials See Brighter Global Economic Outlook Why The Dow Will Hit New Highs Before Crashing 50%


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader B.H. wrote to mention: “I’ve found it helpful to use WalMart.com as a locator for ammunition (at November, 2012 prices!)  Search for the product (“223” for instance) at WalMart.com and click on the links for the products that interest you. If it’s not available in your local store then you can “find in area stores” using Wal-Mart’s live inventory updates.  This morning I surprised a local clerk who was convinced that she didn’t have any .223 ammo in stock for the past six weeks, but she didn’t realize she’d been resupplied overnight.  The web site also offers to e-mail …