Letter Re: Upgrading Your House Window and Door Security

Mr. Rawles: Although filtered HVAC systems make for comfortable and healthy inside air quality, even the most efficient draw heavily on AC mains. Insulated airtight walls and windows reduce heat loss and in windy areas reduce dirt infiltration. I would never consider powering a cooling system with solar power but heater blower motors can be so powered. This works well for dual stage furnaces that switch from heat pump to natural gas or propane for emergency heat. Fireplaces are as old as houses but rather than just building any old firebox, I researched fireplace design. When building my ranch headquarters …


Letter Re: Earthquake Resistant Residential Architecture

Hello James: Attached is an e-mail I sent to my daughter.  Her boyfriend is from Honduras and she dreams of doing missionary work there.  I thought it may be of interest to some of your readership.  I left out a great deal of information on building site selection (her boyfriend already owns five acres) and foundations.  There seems to be differences in opinion regarding firmly anchored and sand-bed isolation between footings and walls.  Most of my information was gleaned from the book Technical Principles of Building for Safety (Building for Safety Series) by Coburn. Dear X.: I did a little …


Recipe of the Week:

Keri’s Whole Wheat Bread 1 ½  cups hot tap water 3 Tablespoons oil ¼ cup honey + molasses to equal 1/3 cup       (or about 1 ½ Tablespoons molasses) ½ Tablespoon salt 4 cups whole wheat flour ½ Tablespoon **active dry yeast Put ingredients in the order your bread maker requires. Dry ingredients first or liquid ingredients first.  I use the dough setting and then bake in the oven.   When dough is ready to shape,  pour out dough and stretch into a rectangle.  It will be a little sticky.  On floured board, roll up loaf like you do …


Economics and Investing:

Trillion Dollar Fraud: SEC could seek global MBS settlement Barnhardt: On Money, Banking, and Men Bank Rate Bomb Will Destroy the Smallest and Weakest. (Thanks to M.E.W. for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: Fannie And Freddie Drop The Ball Stockton, California Could Become Biggest City to Go Bankrupt European Funding Sows Seeds of Next Crisis Soaring Oil Prices Will Dwarf The Greek Drama


Odds ‘n Sods:

Several readers mentioned this over at Wired: 1 in 8 Chance of Catastrophic Solar Megastorm by 2020 Dr. Cynthia Koelker is leading a disaster medicine training conference March 29-31, 2012 in Akron, Ohio.  Tuition is $350 for three full days of hands-on training. The trainers will include Dr. Koelker, Tom from Midwest Native Skills Institute and Jim from Ohio Farm Museum. The training is oriented to training laymen that will be the only source of medical care available, without access to hospitals, doctors, or other health care professionals. Classes will include Clinical Procedures Without Electricity, Suturing and Minor Surgery Splinting and Casting, and …



Note From JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 39 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 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 …


Generational Preparedness, by S.D.

Articles written as personal memoirs always have a special way of reinforcing why preparedness is so important to me. They inspire me to continue learning, and make me proud to call myself a prepper. Hopefully my story of growing up to live among the modern generation of preppers can do the same for you. I remember my high school shop teacher, and the day he wheeled a television into our room and turned it on. His face was flushed as he changed the channel to a news station, and we watched as thick smoke rolled out of the World Trade Center. …


Letter Re: Cap and Ball Revolver Options

James, There are many states and cities where people are not allowed to have modern pistols, without massive red tape by state and local governments. But replicas of old frontier pistols of the cap and ball type slip under most restrictions and can still be ordered through the mail, and no BATF paperwork is required. (Be sure to check you state and local law before ordering one!) But what most people don’t realize is the fact that most of these good quality reproductions of the old cap and ball revolvers of the mid-1800s are very accurate and potentially as deadly as …


Economics and Investing:

From G.G.: Inflation: Not as low as you think Also from G.G.: U.S. closes 12th bank of 2012 One more from G.G.: David Stockman; You’d Be A Fool To Hold Anything But Cash Now Items from The Economatrix: Fed Officials Flag Soft Economy But Mum On Easing Wall Street Slips But S&P Up For Third Straight Week How Gold Rises Over $5,000/oz. But Is Only Worth $500 Fractal Gold Projection Of $3,500 Into Mid-Year Remains Intact


Odds ‘n Sods:

Jim S. sent this to file under: First Amendment, Goodbye, Kiss: House Passes Bill That Will Make Protesting Illegal at Secret Service Covered Events    o o os This interactive map might prove useful in your search for a retreat locale: Mapping the 2010 Census.    o o o A bit of Dr. Strangelove, in real life: the Mertvaya Ruka automated launch response system. (Thanks to Troy H. for the link.)    o o o Cheryl N. recommended this by “Selco”: Living With Snipers: The Reality Of Collapse    o o o Bob G. suggested a useful aggregation of educational …



Note From JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 39 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 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 …


Your Earthquake Audit, by M.B.S.

We are survivalists who live on a hobby farm within The American Redoubt. In the 23 years we have lived in this region I have yet to feel the ground shake beneath my feet. That’s welcome news speaking as a former Californian who has been through two “big ones”. Yet, for whatever reason (the Holy Spirit, possibly) I began thinking about earthquakes two months ago. Because of this mind set, when three earthquakes, southeast of us, occurred in Utah around the 13th of February and the next day a magnitude 6.0 quake hit off the coast of Oregon. That got …


Five Simple Steps to Prepare for TEOTWAWKI, Today, by S.B.

I have recently been introduced to survivalism, preparedness, and TEOTWAWKI – The End Of The World As We Know It.  It was my father who first got me interested in the subject (although I had stumbled upon a survivalism web site years ago when web searching, of all things, how to cook and eat giant salamander – more on that later, possibly).  I have, over the past couple months, picked up lots of cool skills.  For example, I can now cook food that didn’t come in a box! That is a big deal. I have also learned to shoot the …