Pat’s Product Review: SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt

If there’s one thing I stress in my firearms classes, it is safety! Any instructor who doesn’t stress safety in their classes or on the range, isn’t doing his job. Students are always asking me about different ways they can practice without going to the range. Of course, one of the best things you can do is dry-firing. Needless to say, you have to make absolutely sure your firearm is unloaded, before undertaking dry-fire practice. More than one person has shot a hole in their wall with an “unloaded” gun. When you dry-fire, you are accomplishing a couple of things. …


Letter Re: Recommendation for eReaderIQ

James, I’d like to share a great resource with your readers: www.eReaderIQ.com. The site does two things: first, it tracks the price of ebooks on Amazon so if folks have a book list they want to purchase they can add that list and purchase them when they go on sale. The second advantage (and this is what I primarily use it for) is that it tracks all of the ebooks that have gone from a paid price to free. I check it every morning and normally pick up about fifteen books a week. Many of these I’ll get ten pages …


Letter Re: A Low Cost Source for Fresnel Lenses

Jim: By coincidence, I just opened Saturday’s post to find the link to the Fresnel lens YouTube video.  What are the odds? On Friday I went yard sale shopping.  (A rare day of freedom for me since I normally work that day.  We are down for two weeks for factory work and in preparation of the new potato crop.)  At this sale was the Fresnel lens from a scrapped out projection television set on the front lawn. It was leaning up and in the open.  I told the lady that is not a good idea an explained to her the …


Letter Re: New Large Sunspots Generating X Class Solar Flares

James: [ Sunspot] 11515 started out squirrely, was and remains same. The X-output has actually started to resume a slightly more regular decay at this point, not completely but still at least a change in the right direction. I was actually typing a brief update on the “Fading” 11515 and the newly enumerated 11520 ( old 11504) after the M-6.9 earlier when the output rose, fell back, and then rose again. THIS is not the behaviour we’d be expecting just after the previous flare. We would be expecting a precipitous drop  (a spike type) or alternately a long steady, concave-up …


Recipe of the Week:

Notutopia’s Tomato-Corn Pie This is a quiche-like pie. Makes 8 servings. Ingredients 3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil 5 tablespoons cold water 3 large eggs 1 cup milk 1/2 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, divided 2 medium tomatoes, sliced 1 cup fresh corn kernels, about 1 large ear, or canned or frozen 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme, or 1/2 teaspoon dried 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper Recipe Steps: Preheat oven to 400°F. To prepare pre-baked crust: Combine whole-wheat flour, …


Economics and Investing:

Cordelia Hebblethwaite of the BBC asks: The US penny: Should it be scrapped? [JWR’s Comment: The real solution is to admit the chronic inflation since 1933 and revalue the Dollar, by dropping a zero. Gasoline and milk would both then sell for around 33 cents a gallon, and a bottle of sodapop would again sell for a dime. This move would restore realism to the values of our pocket change. I also predict that it would spur a short term economic revival, since everything would seem inexpensive.] Items from The Economatrix: Signs We Are Approaching a Zombie Economy Exposure of …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Pierre M. recommend two great outdoors primer sites: Edible Wilds and Identifying Trees in Winter: Bark, Buds, Growth Patterns, and Lingering Seed Pods    o o o Our SurvivalRealty.com spin-off site just had nearly a dozen new retreat property listings added, bringing the number of active listings to 112. Check it out.    o o o Some great classes in Akron, Ohio. Your choice of preparedness classes and days: Survival Medicine with Doc Cindy (July 17-19), Outdoor Survival Skills with Midwest Native Skills Institute (July 13-15), and Homesteading Skills at Stone Garden Farm (July 16 and 20, 2012). These are …



Note from JWR:

Today we present another two entries for Round 41 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 of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) a $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for …


Drinking Water Disinfection by Jim Mc.

Water from open sources must always be treated before use. The lack of proper attention to water quality can be life threatening. By a review of the literature there appears to be no one way to treat water to make it safe. As I went through the Blog I found numerous authoritative sounding articles that contradicted other equally authorities articles. Unless we can get EPA experts or similar authorities to talk about water quality in WTSHTF conditions and not 4 acre treatment facilities you have to pick your experts and go with them, understanding that none of us have ever …


Prepping? Water Above All Else!, by David R.

As I type on my photovoltaic-powered desktop computer and consider the most important preparation I’ve made to “survive and thrive,” undoubtedly, it has been procuring sizable amounts of potable water. Think about it. Yes, you need defensive measures (got ‘em). Yes, you need food (got that too), but none of us can survive, let alone thrive, without a bare minimum of a gallon of water a day per person. That’s a lot of water if you are shooting for a year’s supply or more. For the average family of four, that’s nearly 1,500 gallons a year!  That is just to …


Letter Re: An Inexpensive Approach to Underground Rainwater Storage

Hi, I know that you have had stuff on about rain harvesting over the years. I thought I would add my $0.02 worth. I live in a dry climate in the west. We’ve had many fires this summer so water is an issue here. We get rain in the summer, but it can be sporadic and voluminous when it does come. So, in order to even things out I wanted to be able to capture some of it for future use. I was trying to figure out how to do it inexpensively. I wanted to bury whatever I did for …


Economics and Investing:

Reader Ian R. sent this: Japan to go broke by October? Standoff threatens to ‘collapse’ budget Some fascinating reading: Monetary Laws. Items from The Economatrix: A Crash Warning Has Been Issued for the Economy:  Buy Gold and Silver IMF to Cut Growth Outlook as Global Economy Weakens Jobs Selloff Erases Wall Street’s Gains for the Week Dismal Hiring Shows Economy Stuck in Low Gear


Odds ‘n Sods:

A bahl tidrick–kimmies pike by moshe to Boont! The Not-So-Simple Living Fair, a weekend of hands-on workshops and demonstrations on rural living and homesteading skills, is returning in July 27, 28, and 29, 2012 to the Mendocino County Fairgrounds in Boonville, California. (I should mention that Boonville is best known as the birthplace of the disappearing American lingo called Boontling. It was also the home of my branch of the Rawles family, starting in 1858, following their overland journey by covered wagon.)    o o o The latest BHO Executive Order: Assignment of National Security & Emergency Preparedness Communications Functions …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable: A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit …