Category: Current Events & Politics

Flu and Antibacterials, by David in Israel

James I constantly see recommendations for people to use hand sanitizer especially every time the flu-de jure becomes a problem. Over my years as a firefighter/paramedic many of my co-workers used hand sanitizer on a regular basis, the most frequent users often ended up with cracked skin and infections or scabs at the corners of their fingernails. These users even ended up occasionally spreading the fungus to me and other non antibacterial users due to their compulsive wiping of antibacterial compounds onto steering wheels and other surfaces. Your best protection is not to nuke your own protections and hope any …


Letter Re: Caught Between OPSEC and a Hard Place

Jim, A friend of mine had a recent encounter with the police that illustrates the importance of Operational Security (OPSEC), even for the tiniest details. My friend is a survivalist and keeps both an SKS (unloaded but with ammo nearby) and a CZ handgun (loaded) in the cab of his truck. This is basically what Boston T. Party and others recommend: a handgun instantly at the ready and a rifle nearby. My friend does not have a CCW permit and in Washington State you must have a permit to have a loaded gun in a vehicle. He was pulled over …


The Mexican Flu and You

In the past 24 hours I’ve received dozens of e-mails from SurvivalBlog readers about the emerging Mexican Flu. Some news stories have included cryptic comments from heath officials, implying that the mechanism of infection makes this particular virus “very difficult to contain.” This leads me to conclude that those infected have a long latency period during which they are infectious, yet, they do not display frank symptoms. This does not bode well for any hopes of containing the spread of the virus. Then we hear a CDC official stating: “The swine flu virus contains four different gene segments representing both …


Letter Re: A.P. Reporter Seeks Newbie Preppers in SoCal for Interview

JWR’s Introductory Note: I got the following from a legitimate reporter that has promised a fair and balanced article. Of course the usual OPSEC considerations apply… Hello. I am a reporter with The Associated Press and I am working on a story about the growing number of people taking steps to stock up on emergency food, water and other supplies because of concerns about the recession and the stability of the networks that keep our grocery stores stocked up and our power running. I interviewed Jim Rawles last week and he suggested that I post here to find people who …


Letter Re: Rethinking Uncommon Rifle Chamberings

Mr. Rawles- I read “Patriots: A Novel Survival in the Coming Collapse” a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed it. Thank you. I wanted to mention: I try to follow conventional wisdom about caliber choices for SHTF weapons. Interestingly, in the current ammo shortage, it’s still somewhat easy to get ammo for oddball calibers. For example, if one needs 7.5×55 Swiss, 7.65x54R Russian or 7.5×54 French, many online dealers have it in stock, while 9mm, 45 ACP, 12 gauge buckshot, 308, 223, 7.62×39 etc., are very hard to come by. For people who don’t have the budget to stockpile a …


Letter Re: The Mexican Drug Wars Come to the United States

Jim, As the economy gets worse, crime of this sort will only increase. Small towns that have secondary and tertiary highways are not immune. Often these secondary routes parallel the primary highways that have the heaviest enforcement which leads the traffickers to use the secondary routes to evade Law Enforcement. We have had first hand experience with interstate drug traffickers in our Midwestern town of 1,300 people that has a parallel secondary highway running through it. I shudder to think what will happen to our borders, cities, and towns when bankrupt states and cities are forced to confront the stark …


Cooper’s Color Codes and Bugging Out Before the SHTF, by H.I.C.

Colonel Jeff Cooper once wrote that he was born in another country. Born and raised in the US before the Great Depression, the country of his youth was no longer. It had been hijacked by pointy headed socialists with academic degrees and not a trace of common sense. At 50 years of age I not only agree, but maintain that the “New America” based upon a globalized economy, Federalized powers, and an Urban-centered society is dying. Our great country is dying and our great cities will burn in the funeral pyre. Most Americans know that survival in our great cities, …


Three Letters Re: Why Survivalists Should Buy Local Organic Food

Mr. Rawles, Yesterday, you posted Chad L.’s submission concerning buying “organic” and/or locally produced food. In it, Chad made a few statements that are simply wrong. This is an example: “…factory farming requires the use of fertilizer made from oil, largely derived from the Middle East. ” This is a wholly ignorant statement, ignorant because if the author had bothered to check, he would have found that the USA produces nearly all of it’s nitrogen fertilizer from natural gas. Even if we did use oil as the source for ammonium nitrate, OPEC only accounts for about half of the oil …


Why Survivalists Should Buy Local Organic Food, by Chad L.

I know the name of the woman who raises the chickens that lay the eggs that I eat. Do you? I know about her daughter’s college plans and her vacations and how she got into the business of raising chickens. This might not seem so important from a survivalist perspective, but I think it is and I’ll explain why in the following paragraphs. Now think about where you get your eggs. Chances are they come from a big chain grocery store. That means they are raised in a huge factory farm, staffed by underpaid workers of questionable legality, and overwhelmingly …


Two Letters Re: Knob Creek Report on Ammunition, Magazines, and Parts

Jim, I also have been a regular attendee of the Knob Creek gun show in Fort Knox, Kentucky for the past 8 years and would like to add a little more insight. I always attend the October show and occasionally attend the April show. Times being as they are I made an extra effort to attend last week and bring some first timers with me. The shock started Friday morning when the booths opened at 9:00am. My first encounter was Hi-Tech Ammunition (St. Louis) table. They were already out of all rifle and pistol powder. Only remaining was some military …


Old Frontier Forts as Alternative Bug Out Locations?, by R.D. in Wyoming

I wish to present an alternative prep situation that I have not really seen talked about on your blog and at other other sites. First a small bit of biographical background and anecdotes to explain my reasons for what I (now recently we) are doing. Ten years ago, I retired from the military (26+ years, Life Scout (in a younger form) and an ex-scout leader (both Boy and Girl Scouts), fixed income with a part time job, never lived at one address longer than three years (requirement of military lifestyle), hobbies oriented to colonial/fur trade eras (see anecdote), recent earnest …


Letter Re: Paying Off Debts with Inflated Dollars?

JWR, I understand when you say that hyperinflation will make the price of things go up and up, like a ten dollar or hundred dollar loaf of bread. But what happens to a financed item, specifically the home [that is] mortgaged? Can the lender change the interest rate or the length of loan? What about other financed items like a car loan? If nothing changes then a person would be paying back the loan with inflated dollars, which might be a good thing? Please explain. Thank You, – RenoFlyBoy JWR Replies: To begin: You had asked: ” Can the lender …


Letter Re: An Impromptu SurvivalBlog Meet-up at Front Sight

There was a bit of a ‘covert’ Survivalblog gathering at Front Sight recently. Along with Tim R & Tantalum Tom I was also in attendance earlier in March. I have two grown sons, both of which had expressed a desire to have a handgun for home defense. As a law enforcement officer and former SWAT team member I am familiar with the operation of and responsibility with owning a gun. I am confident in my training and ability to defend my home and family through that training. My two sons, however, had barely even held a gun, let alone fired …


Letter Re: Ammunition Shortages in U.S. Might Become Chronic

Hi Jim, A man with the Customer Service department at Midway explained that backorders are expected to continue and there appears to be no reduction in demand. Browsing their web site, I see ‘expected’ delivery dates pushing further into the future, and up to six weeks delay for the less expensive and common caliber hunting bullet, mostly .30 caliber bullets. Many premium bullets are also on ‘back order’ since my last visit. And now, even less common caliber bullets are backordered as well as other reloading components and reloading tools. The shortage at Cabela’s also continues. The Civilian Marksman Program …


Letter Re: Private Gated Communities May Not be Gated After All

Dear Mr. Rawles, I read Brad S.’s letter with interest today. About ten years ago I was working in property management for an apartment community in Lakewood, Washington. Not exactly a low-crime area, to say the least. One of our selling points was the gates at each entrance of the community. My manager and I took over the property not knowing the sort of people the previous management team had rented to. Over the course of four months, we evicted dozens of tenants for being months behind on rent, among other things. When this process began, we noticed that we …