Category: Book, Movie, and Web Reviews

T.M.’s Book Review: The Worst Hard Time

The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl, by Timothy Egan © 2006 Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston MA ISBN 9780-618-34697-4 (Hardback) Available at your favorite bookseller in paperback and e-book formats. If you remove the dust jacket on a hardback edition of this book and you see two hard faces staring back at you. They are a man and a woman enduring the drought of the 1930s in what is now known as the Dust Bowl of America. It is also known as the worst manmade environmental disaster in our history. The …


S.A.’s Book Review: Apocalypse Chow

Apocalypse Chow: How to Eat Well When the Power Goes Out, by Jon Robertson Publisher: Simon Spotlight Entertainment, Copyright: 2005 ISBN-13:  978-1-4169-0824-1 ISBN-10:  1-4169-0824-2 Available on Amazon or eBay for under $10 We often say that “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” and that holds true for this little gem.  Measuring about half the dimensions, length and width, of a regular book, you can see Apocalypse Chow doesn’t follow the rules and isn’t the usual heavy tome full of hundreds of recipes.  The recipes begin on page 112 and there are less than 70 of them.  Apocalypse Chow …


Pat’s Product Review: New Buffalo Bore Ammunition Loads

I’ve been shooting Buffalo Bore brand ammunition for about two years. The owner, Tim Sundles, never ceases to amaze me with all the new loads he comes out with – not just for self-defense, but great loads for hunting as well. What I also like about Buffalo Bore is that Sundles doesn’t use special pressure barrels to test his velocities, he uses his own guns, from his own collection, so you are getting real-world velocities. Additionally, Sundles lists the various firearms he tested his ammo in – I’m not aware of any other ammo maker that does this. First up …


Pat’s Product Review: DPMS AR-15 Lower Receiver Group

As I’ve mentioned before in my SurvivalBlog articles, I’m am swamped with requests to do firearms articles on particular firearms. While I would love to accommodate all the requests I get, it is impossible. I know a lot of folks believe that gun writers get guns for free to write about, that simply isn’t the case. We have to request a firearm from gun companies, I either have to return it, or buy it when I’m done testing them. As much as I’d love to purchase all the firearms I write about, I can’t do it – my finances don’t allow …


Harry’s Book Review: The World Ends in Hickory Hollow

The World Ends in Hickory Hollow by Ardath Mayhar Copyright 1985 and 2007 Publisher: The Borgo Press, An Imprint of Wildside Press Audio, e-book, Nook & Secure PDF available Suitable for children? Yes, by age 10+, depending on the child? (I recommend that parents read it first to evaluate.) There are two things about this book which strike me as remarkable for the genre: First, this is a book written by a woman and told from a woman’s point of view, and second, this book is very concise. With regard to the first point, I noticed that there was recently …


Pat’s Product Review: Bear & Son Bold Action Folders

I was more than a little anxious to get to the new Bear OPS “Bold Action” automatic folder for SurvivalBlog. For those who may not be aware of who Bear & Son Cutlery are, they have been around since 1991 and have a very extensive line of knives and tools for everyday tasks, as well as for survival, hunting and for collectors. Be sure to log onto their site to see their complete line-up. However, for this article, we’re only looking at their new division of Bear OPS. The stated goal of Bear OPS is to produce the “best knives …


Pat’s Product Review: Cold Steel Hold Out I

Make no mistake, given my druthers, I’d rather pick a large knife over a smaller knife. Now, you can get by with a smaller knife, but a larger knife can do more chores than most smaller knives can. When it comes to survival, on the streets, in the wilderness or in a SHTF scenario, my choice would be a larger knife for my needs, especially on the mean streets in our country. My long-time friend, Lynn Thompson, who owns Cold Steel is a firm believer in big knives – either folders or fixed blade – and I can’t really find …


Pat’s Product Review: Crimson Trace MVF-515 Laser

I know that over the years, and in many articles, I clearly stated that when lasers for firearms first came on the market, they were mostly considered “toys” by most professionals, myself included. The lasers back in the day, were big and bulky, cost a lot of money, and the battery run-time was short. Additionally, there really wasn’t any way to holster a handgun with a large laser on it – no one made holsters to fit the cumbersome handgun lasers. So, for the most part, lasers didn’t catch-on, at least, not right away. They were a rich man’s toy. …


Letter Re: A Wikipedia Offline Reader

Hi James, I am a big fan of yours way over from Czech Republic. I want to thank you for all the so valuable information you share. You really changed my view, in fact you opened my eyes. Lately I was thinking about the offline Wikipedia and its importance in a prolonged grid-down scenario with no access to the internet. The text Wikipedia dumps are great and I started to think about how to get them in a Kindle-like reader. It seems someone did it already (WikiReader Pocket Wikipedia) and since I haven’t found it mentioned anywhere on your blog, …


Pat’s Product Review: Ruger’s 10/22 Takedown Rifle

I’ve received numerous requests from SurvivalBlog readers to review the new Ruger 10/22 Takedown .22 LR rifle. I literally lost count of the number of e-mails I got from SurvivalBlog readers, but it was probably close to a hundred requests. Now, I hate to admit this, but I never (personally) owned a standard Ruger 10/22 rifle of my own – my wife and youngest daughter owned them, and I shot them, but never owned one myself. So, this was a good time to lay claim to a sample for this article. I’ve recommended the Ruger 10/22 rifle to untold numbers …


Letter Re: Lindsay Technical Books Quitting Business

I’ve just received the last catalog from Lindsay Technical Books. I said the last catalog, not the latest one, the last one. The publishing owner has announced his coming retirement beginning the day after February 28, 2013. So the company is going the way of Loompanics. This is a shame. For those of you who don’t know, this is a book company which published books on how to make and build stuff, some from scratch. Mostly focusing on metalworking, blacksmithing, some woodworking, basic electrical stuff. Even some stuff on how to make booze. – Jim B. JWR Replies: I am …


Pat’s Product Review: CRKT Foresight Tactical Folder

I’ve been writing about Columbia River Knife and Tool (CRKT ) products for about as long as they’ve been around. They started out small, with just a few really cool tactical knife designs. They were all were quality-made, and priced right. I’ve watched CRKT grow steadily, year after year, but adhering to their roots, to provide quality products at affordable prices. Some folks denigrate the idea of knives made in Taiwan, but I’m not in that group. You get as good as you want in a product, no matter where it might be made. I know that Rod Bremer, who …


Pat’s Product Review: Spartan Blades Horkos

I’ve been around knives all my life, and I’ve literally had thousands of knives pass through my hands. For about 18 years I wrote for Knives Illustrated magazine, and for several years, I was the West Coast Field Editor at Knives Illustrated. During the course of my duties, I had the opportunity to tour a number of knife factories and companies, to see how knives are manufactured and designed. To be sure, I’ve designed quite a few knives myself over the years, and had them produced by custom knife makers, as well as factory produced versions. So, I believe my …


Mahaffey’s Book Review: Bugging Out to Nowhere

Bugging Out to Nowhere a novel by Paylie Roberts  (ISBN 9781470010447 Published in June, 2012.)  “During the height of economic collapse in the US, Rachel and Tom flee for the countryside a day too late. With the comforts of city life unlikely to be seen again, they are determined to survive on their own out in the middle of nowhere.”  (From the jacket cover) This fictional work is told from the first person perspective, set in the very near future. Rachel and Tom are ordinary folks just trying to make ends meet. They struggle with everyday needs while preparing for what …


Pat’s Product Review: The 180 Stove

If many of you are like me, and are from the old Army school, you know all about canteen cup cooking. The old-style canteen cup had a locking “L” handle, that made it perfectly suitable for heating water in your canteen cup, as well as heating meals, or even cooking in that little cup. Today’s canteen cup that the US military issues has dual folding wire handles, that are not conducive to placing it on a fire – the handles are too close to the heat source. Sometimes “newer-er” doesn’t equate to “better” in my book. When you have something …