Adding Massage to Your Knowledge Base, by Becca, LMT

This article isn’t your normal food and ammo stockpiling type of article.  I believe those things are extremely important or I wouldn’t be reading this blog on a regular basis.  I do, however, believe that this subject matter is as important as stockpiling food, ammo, medical supplies.  Stockpiling our knowledge base may be even more important than stockpiling these other items, because no matter how prepared you are you never know where you will be when the SHTF.  One aspect of your knowledge base that I would like to suggest you increase your stockpile is in the areas of therapeutic …


Letter Re: Free Air Filter Radiation Testing From KI4U

Jim, Many are increasingly concerned about elevated radiation levels in their own local areas, but without any way to check & test for local radiation contamination many of them are worrying needlessly, especially about minute, non-dangerous, increases over background radiation levels. At KI4U we will for no charge test any submitted used air filters from SurvivalBlogger’s vehicles or homes. Here at the lab we are utilizing state of the art isotope identification spectrum analysis with dose rate determination and will e-mail lab analysis results back to any that send in their used air filters. Full details on these tests can …


Economics and Investing:

John R. sent this: 647,762,000,000,000 Reasons to Worry: The Derivatives Time Bomb. Food is the New Oil, Land is the New Gold. (Thanks to Bob G. for the link.) Reader J.B.G. sent this: Pharmacy queues show price Greeks are paying for credit breakdown L.M.W. suggested some more great commentary from Karl Denninger: On “Austerity” and False Gods Items from The Economatrix: AIG Chief Sees New Retirement Age as High as 80 After Crisis. Shenandoah:  A Fascinating Editorial From A Chinese Economist On The US Dollar The Dark Financial Clouds Engulfing Europe


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader “Bullseye” sent this: Some Families are Choosing a More Old Fashioned Lifestyle    o o o Bob G. send this video link: Deceptive Practices of Big Food – Doctor Siegel analyzes the ingredient list of “Oatmeal To Go” bar. He found that there were lots of sugars, fats, and fat emulsifiers. Be sure to read labels carefully!    o o o Mega marketing has now reached survival expos: 2012 Survival Expo. (The event is being held in Las Vegas, naturlich.)    o o o The new Duracell has a10 year shelf life. (Thanks to Bob T. for the link …



Note From JWR:

Today we present another entry 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 any …


Prepping with Natural Gas From My Own Well, by Y. Sam

Like many people, I was a prepper long before I ever heard the term.  I grew up on a farm and learned the value of hard work and ingenuity at a young age.  I never liked being in debt or the feeling of having others in control of my well being.  The following topic may not be of any interest to many people but for those of you who are thinking about moving out of the city to a place in the country it may give you one more thing to add to your retreat wish list. In 1998 my …


Letter Re: Evaluating Military Surplus Generator Sets Before Bidding at Auction

James, I wanted to offer a few more thoughts on DoD generators.  Most of the generators I found on Government Liquidations were Mil Std Generators.  This family of generators was designed in the 1970s and manufactured into late 1980s to early 1990s.  The DoD is selling of the generators because they are old, and compared to newer DoD generators they consume more fuel, require more regular maintenance (PMCS), are less reliable and are more expensive to repair if you can get the parts.   The Mil Std Family are tough generators designed to run in environmental extremes.  They are not …


Economics and Investing:

Nearly everyone who has bought residential real estate in the U.S. as “an investment” since 2005 can now call themselves contrapreneurs. The seasonally-adjusted Case-Schiller data for Q1 of 2012 shows that new lows have been reached in many markets. FWIW, I’ve been reading “The bottom is near”-themed articles since 2008, but I’m not holding my breath. In some markets, the majority of sales are either short sales or “bank owned” (foreclosed) properties. It may be another decade until the real bottom is reached. Regular content contributor Pierre M. sent this: BIS warns global lending contracting at fastest pace since 2008 …


Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalBlog reader S.S. in Mississippi found a comprehensive permaculture course taught by Professor Will Hooker from North Carolina State University available free, online.    o o o Nissan ‘Leaf to Home’ charger can power Japanese homes with a car battery during outages. (Thanks to James K for the link.)    o o o Chris C. bookmarked this one: Which VPN Providers Really Take Anonymity Seriously?    o o o R.C. sent this: NYT: Reducing salt consumption may be hazardous to your health    o o o One drawback of southern state retreat locales: Those nasty, tiny chiggers. (A hat tip …



Note From JWR:

Today we present two more 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 …


Weapons Maintenance — A Missing Element, by Odd Questioner

Over the years, as I’ve been perusing the pages of SurvivalBlog and various other sites, one thing had been missing the whole time, and to my own mind, I completely missed it too. It wasn’t until this weekend that the point was driven home quite clearly. You see, I was out shooting with friends, and taking in a glorious day. In the course of plinking cans and putting various sheets of paper out of their misery, my favorite M1911 light-framed .45 ACP jammed. The slide was nearly locked solid, and after finally clearing out the cartridge and the magazine, I …


Letter Re: Storage Life of Brown Rice

Hello, First, thank you for all that you do. You have made a huge positive impact on a lot of people in my life. Second, I have been doing some pretty careful observation of our long term brown rice supplies. This started with me doing quite a bit of reading in books and on the internet about long term storage of brown rice. Most sources say that brown rice starts to go rancid around 6 months. I was disapointed with this number and so I decided to test it out for myself. In February of 2010, I put brown basmati rice into two food grade five gallon buckets lined with …


Letter Re: A Home Purchasing Guide for Rookies

Mr Rawles, I read the article “A Home Purchasing Guide for Rookies” and the response to it. A few additional points occurred to me: Taxes: “Almost all counties publish their tax rates on their public web sites.” In fact, while they do publish their rates, and their rates can be taken as accurate, those rates do not reflect the whole picture. Buyer beware. Research carefully and thoroughly. Follow through on due diligence. While looking in a place where I’m now no longer looking — for this very reason — I found that the property taxing authority first decides how much …