A Rural Community Retreat, by Scott L.

Location is the most important thing to consider when developing a plan for long-term habitation in a TEOTWAWKI setting. Of primary concern are Community, Safety, Water, Food, Sustainability, and Natural Resources. It is absolutely imperative to find a locale with a well or fresh water spring. You will need fertile ground that is within distance of easy irrigation. The safest places will be those that are away from major highways and population centers; however, these small rural communities are typically suspicious of outsiders. You will need certain natural resources available as well to guarantee you are not reliant on trading …


NBC’s Upcoming “Revolution” Television Series

Several readers have written me to mention the trailer for the upcoming NBC (US television network) post grid-collapse TEOTWAWKI series: Revolution. (“After 15 years of darkness, an unlikely group sets out to save the world.”) The four-minute trailer was interesting. Watching it felt like a count the memes and homages contest. Predictably, “militias” are made out to be the bad guys. There are far too many reminders of both S.M. Stirling’s Dies the Fire sci-fi novel series and the movie The Postman in the trailer for me to think that NBC’s screen writers hadn’t been influenced by them. The editors …


Three Letters Re: Battery-Powered House Interior Lighting

Sir: I enjoy your blog and support you in a small way with the 10 Cent Challenge.  After reading your response to the Battery-Powered House Interior Lighting letter, I want to add some information that I learned at a FAA seminar that I attended.  The FAA is now endorsing blue or green lighting in the cockpit of all aircraft (general aviation and commercial).  The green and/or blue takes less energy output for the eyes to see details.  Also, red lighting can be seen from further away than blue/green (red is used to designate towers and tall buildings at night, where …


Letter Re: An Arrow Re-Fletching Project

Dear JWR: The writer about traditional projectile weapons seems to have missed the most used feather for fletching arrows.  The best ever used that I am aware of is the turkey feather. They are known to stop 12Ga. birdshot pretty successfully.  That is why turkey loads are more powerful, and contain larger shot sizes. Lesser pellets flatten out and fall off the bird. Good fletching.  The American Indians then used a fiber (perhaps of hemp?)  to wind them to the shaft of the arrow, after splitting and shaping, of course. Not sure if there was any other kind of adhesive …


Economics and Investing:

Several readers sent this: Merkel tells Greece to back cuts or face euro exit Here is a sobering quote: “What will prevail are armed gangs with Kalashnikovs and which one has the greatest number of Kalashnikovs will count … we will end up in civil war.” G.G. sent this: 49% of Americans saving zilch for retirement Also from G.G.: 50-State Small Business Tax Friendliness Survey Michael H. spotted this: California facing higher $16 billion shortfall. Items from The Economatrix: Stocks Close Down 1% on Bank, Europe Worries Gold Drops to 4.5-month Low as Euro Sinks Oil Falls as Greece, China …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Texas 11-year-old shoots back at home invasion robbers. (Thanks to Randy in Maine for the link.)    o o o My recent interview on The SGT Report video blog has now been archived.    o o o Prepper Central reviews the RIBZ Front Pack    o o o A recommmnended post, over at Modern Survival Online: Imagine for a Moment – The Reality of an EMP Event Part One


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“It is not the goal of the Fed or the politicians to pump up the prices of real economic goods of any description. Since “inflation” is conventionally held to be rising prices of the essential goods which make or break real economies, the prices of these essential goods must be held down by any and all means. And foremost amongst these goods is anything that can or has been used as a medium of exchange in the past. Gold (and to a lesser but still considerable extent, Silver) are the curse of all interventionists. They are the alternative to the …


Note From JWR:

Our mid-year 25%-off sale on the SurvivalBlog Archive CD-ROM ends on May 31st. The latest six-year compilation includes as a bonus my nonfiction book “Rawles on Retreats and Relocation” in digital format. (In hard copy, that book sells for $28.) At the sale price, the CD-ROM is just $11.25 and the Digital Download is just $7.50. Be sure to order your copy before the sale ends.


Pat’s Product Review: Deep Concealed Carry Holster

Back in the day, when I lived in Chicago, I worked as a Private Investigator for a lot of years. I usually carried either my S&W Model 686 4″ barrel revolver, or my Ruger Security Six 4″ barrel revolver – both .357 Magnum guns, plus a couple spare speed loaders. I found that I could more easily conceal those big revolvers in shoulder holsters instead of belt holsters under my suit jacket. I also packed some kind of .38 Special snubby revolver in an ankle holster as a back-up. Unlike the police, I couldn’t call for back-up if something went …


Letter Re: Battery-Powered House Interior Lighting

James Wesley: We have frequent power outages.  We bought a [deep cycle] marine battery from Bass Pro Shops that was intended use with a trolling motor.  We keep this battery continuously trickle-charged.   A small inverter from Radio Shack provides 120 VAC for three strings of white LED Christmas lights attached to the uppermost part of the most important wall.  A charged trolling motor battery will keep these efficient lights on for a very long time.  All we have to do is to plug the lights into the inverter socket. Very safe. – Anonymous JWR Replies: It would be much more efficient …


Letter Re: Commercial Storage Space Thievery

JWR, Not to share my misery, but this is a warning to anyone that has items in a climate-controlled rental storage unit.  My unit was hit and no one knows when it and all the others were hit until one guy noticed some items missing and filed a police report.  The facility owners chopped off all the locks to all of their climate-controlled units and put their own locks on it.  Then they started calling the owners and verified what was in each unit.   Here is what happened: The robbers chopped the locks off, burglarized many items, and then …


Letter Re: The Real Housing Market Bottom

Dear Jim, In reference to the recently mentioned “housing bottom” article: Most of the articles we’ve read from the various real estate analysts say that housing prices haven’t actually hit bottom yet because the peak of the adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) resets aren’t done until January, though most are done by this August. Throw in financial inertia, as homeowners balk at their new mortgage rate in the face of their home having lost half its value in many cases due to the economy and the prior bubble, and we should expect a surge of foreclosures over the next 18 months. …


Letter Re: Feeding The Redoubt: The Painted Mountain Corn Project

Dear SurvivalBloggers: For all who are called to the American Redoubt: Secure your food and preserve your freedom of action! If you don’t have a place to grow your own healthy food, support those who do. Go in for shares. Help them every way you can. Growing all your own food now may not be economically viable, but secure sources of food are your lifeline in the future. Our goal should be not only to survive, but to thrive! My brother and I were born and raised in the American Redoubt and grew up living the life of “preppers” and …


Recipe of the Week:

Angela in Eastern Oregon’s Stuffed Green Pepper Soup:   1 Lb ground Italian Sausage or 1 can LTS Ground Beef 8 Cups of Boiling Water 1 1/2 Cups White Rice 3 tbls dehydrated Onion Flakes 1 tbls dehydrated diced carrots 1/4 cup dehydrated Celery 1/2 cup dehydrated Green & Red Pepper Flakes 3 tbls Dehydrated tomato powder, add water until it has a paste consistency. 2 tbls Beef Bouillon 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper flakes (optional) 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder   In skillet brown the Italian Sausage (breaking into bite sized pieces), some will want to drain of the excess grease …


Economics and Investing:

G.G. sent this: ‘High Inflation Causes Societies to Disintegrate’ Thanks to Jeff W. for this one: Greece Exit, Euro-Zone Collapse, Spain and Portugal Will Follow Within Six Months Facebook Co-Founder Saverin Gives Up U.S. Citizenship Before IPO. (OBTW , the earlier report of Michelle Bachmann earning Swiss citizenship has already been overcome by events. She has declined it.) Chartist analyst Willem Weytjens predicts: 20 Years From Now: Gold @ $12,000 & Silver @ $1,000? Another from G.G.: Regulators Close Florida Bank; Failure Toll Rises to 23 in 2012 Items from The Economatrix: Drop In Jobless Claims Eases Labor Market Fears …