SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Round 40 Prize Winners — and a New Prize Announcement

And the winner is… First Prize goes to Barefoot Yankee Gal for Kitchen Cupboard Medicine, which was posted on Tuesday, April 3, 2012. She will receive: 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 …


Founders Sample Chapter — In The Footsteps of Josephus

Author’s Notes: Founders is scheduled to be released in September, 2012. Please wait until the release date (“Book Bomb Day”) to order your copy. That same day, there will be simultaneous releases of the e-book and audio book editions. The cover art was created by Tony Mauro, Jr., who also created the cover for “Survivors.” The Founders cover depicts Ken and Terry Layton on their cross-country journey. Spoiler Alert: This chapter includes passages of the novel that you may not want to know about before reading the book from beginning to end. So skip reading this sample chapter if you …


Guest Article: The Best Free Medical References for Preppers, by Greg Ellifritz

It could evolve as systems are stressed after a natural disaster.  It could be caused by a terrorist attack.  It could even be the result of a societal or economic collapse.  Have you ever thought about what might happen if our current health care system (EMS, Doctors, Hospitals, and Pharmacies) ceased to function normally? What would you do if you couldn’t go to your doctor, all of the hospitals were shut down, all of the pharmacies closed, and no one answered the phone when you called 911?  You would be on your own.  You would have to take care of …


Economics and Investing:

The Start Of An Economic Collapse In Europe, But It Will Deeply Affect The Entire Globe C.D.V. sent this: Germany Has A Generous Proposal To The Broke PIIGS: “Cash For Gold” Also from C.D.V. : Cramer: Europe Has Become a Black Box More monetization ahead: Early Fed Move Will Boost Gold Spain faces ‘total emergency’ as fear grips markets Money flies out of Spain, regions pressured Items from The Economatrix: When The Derivatives Market Crashes (And It Will) US Taxpayers Will Be On The Hook Consumer Confidence in the Economy Plunged in May A No-Confidence Vote For Obamanomics May Jobs …


Odds ‘n Sods:

The book NOLS Wilderness Medicine is available free, for today only, from Amazon.com.    o o o I heard about a good article on bug-out RVs and camping trailers.    o o o Lee M. suggested: 51 Free Tools to Stay Informed and Invisible on the Internet    o o o Now approaching 100 active listings! There are some great retreat properties available at our spin-off site, SurvivalRealty.com. For example, one of the most recent ones is a 212-acre ranch property in Montana that would be ideal for a group or extended family retreat. In addition to the main house, …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“In the brief span of my lifetime, we have gone from a nation where kids could order a .22 [caliber rifle] in the mail (with their parents’ permission) and go to Sears and buy a kit for casting their own lead toy soldiers to a nation where they are protected from ‘dangerous clothing’ [with drawstrings] and would be expelled from school for drawing a picture of a toy soldier.” – Tamara, Editor of the View From The Porch blog


Note from JWR:

Today is the last day to order the SurvivalBlog Archive CD-ROM during our mid-year 25%-off sale. The latest six-year compilation includes as a bonus my book “Rawles on Retreats and Relocation” in digital format. Having an offline archive is the only sure way of knowing that you will have access to SurvivalBlog’s content, regardless of what happens to the Internet. At the sale price, the CD-ROM is $11.25 and the Digital Download is just $7.50. Be sure to order your copy before midnight, May 31, 2012. — Today we present the last two entries for Round 40 of the SurvivalBlog …


Buying a Used Wood Stove by Sid S.

Near the top of the List of Essentials is is keeping warm. One surefire way to do that is with a wood-burning heat stove. Wood stoves are reliable as a main source of heat or as backup but can cost between $1,000 and $2,000 new, so buying used is a practical way to go. Before you buy however, there are a few things you should know. First of all, you need a good, certified wood stove. Why certified? Because they use less than half the wood that the previous generation of wood stoves used, don’t exhaust clouds of unburned soot …


Beyond The Four Pillars, by Adam H.

Obviously it’s fun talking about boom sticks and charging in to save the day. But here are some other items for your consideration for the other 23 hours in the day when the castle is not under siege: FOOD & WATER – Your body can last 30 days without food, and only 3 days without water. What are you doing to secure a minimum of a gallon/day for each member of your family. Remember, in a grid down scenario, it will NOT take long for industrious groups to recognize that water will be more valuable than gold. Plan on making …


Letter Re: Commercial Scale Organic Farming and Ranching

Hi Jim, I wanted to let you know about an interesting visit I had last week.  Part of my job is to evaluate start-up companies for potential early-stage investments.    Ran across an interesting one last week.  Located in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, they have embarked on a totally sustainable commercial scale organic farming/ranching enterprise.  They have about 1,000 acres in Oregon and another 1,000 acres in California in the Central Valley.  Here’s their process to convert regular farmland to sustainable organic agriculture and ranching: 1.  First, they acquire standard farmland, usually tilled. 2.  They convert it to pasture …


Letter Re: FTX Games for Developing Recon and Perimeter Security Skills

JWR, Thought I’d pass on some field training exercise (FTX) grunt games that we used to use for training. It’s an excellent way to evaluate your rural home or retreat security, and develop reconnaissance skills. I don’t know if the military still encourages this kind of training, but during the Cold War, there was a game we used to play to try and keep sharp. If I remember right, both my army reserve unit and later, my regular army mechanized infantry units both practiced this. It costs about nothing, but hones critical skills. The premise is simple: To send a …


Economics and Investing:

Pierre M. sent this: Debt crisis: a $46 trillion problem comes sweeping in Pierre also suggested this by John Rubino: Welcome to the Currency War, Part 1: Iceland and the Tragedy of the Commons Insight: European firms plan for Greek unrest and euro exit. (Thanks to Sue C. for the link.) Ex-employees punish JPMorgan via CDS derivatives trades Food stamp Usage Remains at All Time High, Record Number uf Households Receive $277 in Poverty Assistance Monthly Items from The Economatrix: Home Prices in US Fell at Slower Pace in Y/E March Consumer Confidence in US Fell in May to Four-month …


Odds ‘n Sods:

A reminder that the ongoing Radio Free Redoubt podcast series is now available on iTunes.    o o o Simon Black brings us news of the latest absurdity from Nanny State Britannia: Trust me, this is good news. (OBTW, one of the comments to that article mentioned a parallel event, in California.)    o o o Almost half of new veterans seek disability    o o o G.G. flagged this surprisingly well-balanced article from The Guardian: Indian women turn to firearms against threat of violence. (Notes on the Video: The family in the opening sequence seriously needs to get some …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“While the majority of Americans are oblivious to the warning signs around them, recent actions taken by our government and the governments of other industrialized nations suggest The Powers That Be know very well where we’re head. They are and have been taking steps for quite some time to prepare for what is coming next… …When it hits the fan, and things go critical, the recent actions of our government demonstrate that it is only capable of responding in one way – through brute force and tyranny. Everything they have done in recent years with respect to liberty-restricting legislation, the …


Notes from JWR:

Our mid-year 25%-off sale on the SurvivalBlog Archive CD-ROM ends tomorrow (May 31, 2012.) The latest six year compilation includes my book “Rawles on Retreats and Relocation” in digital format, as a bonus. At the sale price, the CD-ROM is $11.25 and the Digital Download is just $7.50. Be sure to order your copy before the sale ends. — Today we present three more entries for Round 40 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. …