Category: Emerging Threats

Prepping From My Purse by S.M. in Arizona

Triple-decker mint brownies are one of my favorite treats.  The base is a thick, chewy brownie.  Next, a layer of green mint filling is spread on the brownie which is then topped off with a thin layer of creamy, chocolate glaze.  When I think of these delicious brownies I think of prepping.  The thick, chewy brownie on the bottom represents the base of my preps.  This is long term, shelf stable food, water, security, sanitation, first aid, communications, and all the other things which are the foundation of being prepared.  This is by far the largest layer.  The mint layer …


Emergency Preparedness: 101, by Jennie From the Flats

Wakeup Call  It was 2 o’clock in the morning when our two year old toddler woke me with a terrifying scream. She was just across the hallway, but I was disoriented for a moment and couldn’t figure out why I was blind.  As I realized the power was out, I looked for the battery-powered lantern I keep beside the bed only to find it missing.  The three year old had probably been playing with it again.  I felt my way around the house and hoped the lantern would still have power.  It clicked on and what a blessed sight that …


Letter Re: How to Convert an Ammo Can into a Faraday Cage

Sir: I have some of the larger military surplus ammo cans and would like to build my own Faraday cages to store my spare electronics [to protect them from EMP or a severe solar storm]. Do you have any sources to guide me? OBTW, I just finished reading your novel “Patriots”. That was a great read and I could not put it down. Regards,- J.L. (Former NYPD Officer) JWR Replies: What you plan to do is is pretty simple, since the can and lid are already great Faraday shields. The only issue is the gap where they join. That joint needs to …


Prepping for Our New Reality, by D.&M.

[Editor’s Introductory Note: I sometimes receive quite lengthy articles that are mix of great practical information and extended political narratives. In such cases I sometimes opt to edit out the particularly ranty sections. Where I have done so, you will see: “[Some deleted, for brevity]“. My apologies, but to make an article of this length readable, editorial discretion is a must. Furthermore, I have to recognize that all politics are local. Since SurvivalBlog is a publication with an international readership, I feel obliged to chop out political discourses that would be of little or no interest to my readers in …


Letter Re: Privatizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?

Sir, It occurs to me that the sudden desire to “privatize” Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae is simply a way to deploy the wet ink dollars out of the Fed and big banks without overwhelming the money supply. We all know what would happen if those dollars entered the mainstream market place. This just seems to me to be yet another ploy to stall the inevitable, but I haven’t seen anyone else talking about that. Am I missing something? – Big Jon JWR Replies: You are essentially correct. The majority of the U.S. Dollars that have been magically created by …


The Constipated Hordes at TEOTWAWKI: A Pharmacologic Strategy, by Anon, M.D.

In a situation that will be characterized by, among other things, gutted pharmacies and unmanned hospitals, the remaining population at TEOTWAWKI will be required to provide their own medical care and to meet their own pharmacologic needs.  While there have been numerous helpful articles outlining the importance of antibiotics in the context of TEOTWAWKI there has been very little addressing the importance of an overall pharmacologic strategy. Some of you—especially those who take daily prescription medication—have likely considered this problem before.  But perhaps you are young and healthy, unburdened by any medical diagnosis.  There should still be a pharmacologic component …


Safer in the City? Statistics Don’t Lie, But They Can Obfuscate

Several readers sent me a link to a study by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania recently published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine that had some surprising results: They concluded that big cities are statistically safer than small towns. This study, titled Safety in Numbers: Are Major Cities the Safest Places in the United States? has a number of flaws. First, it treats deaths by intentional violence equally with accidental deaths and deaths related to the use of alcohol and illicit drugs. This is not quite fair, because the former are not nearly so avoidable as the latter. If …


Letter Re: Some Overlooked Risks

Jim; In a recent post, Harry T. mentioned that “Fido” will be competing with humans for food should we return to a hunter-gatherer schema. He is absolutely correct in addressing the newly-wild domestic dog as a threat. I have been treed twice in my life by life-threatening critters. Once was by a huge wild hog while I was fly-fishing on the North Carolina-Tennessee line. Apparently I entered his domain and he felt I was a threat to be dealt with. I’ve encountered bears and rattlesnakes who were far less aggressive than that tusker. The other time I had to climb …


Letter Re: Some Overlooked Risks

I appreciate what Havoc had to say.  As I read survival fiction I often find myself thinking that the authors are being optimistic about the situations they write about.  I couch that with my own understanding that if the authors were to write the stories as I fear they will play out then no one would want to read those stories.  Reality can be ugly. I think Havoc does well to mention the four horsemen, and it is worth noting that the rider of the pale horse (Revelation 6:7-8) is given authority to kill a fourth of mankind with sword, …


Some Overlooked Risks, by Havoc Pondering Prepper

I’d like to discuss some planning concerns for when the world really starts to unravel that you might have overlooked: Quite a few authors write about situations which probably only constitute a partial collapse of society as we know it. Such situations include those where there still exists some semblance of trade or even transportation of some goods. Perhaps some vestige of government is even functioning. What if a disaster happens and we are left with even less than that. At the risk of being criticized for being too much of a pessimist, I would suggest that a thoughtful prepper …


Letter Re: Pre-TEOTWAWKI Survival is All in The Numbers

Dear James: It occurred to me while training kids on water safety, that some of the most basic elements of surviving everyday life are perhaps neglected by many of us while focusing on worst case scenarios.  We can be so wrapped up in getting through TEOTWAWKI that we neglect first surviving to TEOTWAWKI. It doesn’t do any good to be fully prepped for TEOTWAWKI if you, or a loved one, dies in the meantime from one of the statistically most likely causes of death – namely disease and accidents. By the numbers, if you are younger an auto accident may …


Does America Need to Build New Misprison Prisons?

You may have heard about the BHO administration regime’s expanded “Insider Threat Program,” which amplifies Executive Order 13587, published back in 2011. After a brief flurry of media attention earlier this month, this has been thoroughly soft-pedaled. (“Nothing to see here, move along.”) But these new policies have been laid down and the penalties for noncompliance have been established. Without an act of Congress, these policies are now effective. Rather than re-hash the details, I will quote the first part of a well-written McClatchy News Service article: “In an initiative aimed at rooting out future leakers and other security violators, …


Two Letters Re: How Consumer Debt Collection Works

James, Regarding the article on debt collection, I would recommend these web sites which give some advice on how to deal with debt collectors:   CreditInfoCenter.com   DebtorBoards.com   There are consumer protection laws that prohibit offensive behavior on the part of debt collectors.  These sites explain how to use them.   I recognize you may not agree with these site’s positions, but, just as the debt collector who wrote in says, good people sometimes get into bad situations.  And, sometimes, if your state’s exemptions are too low, bankruptcy is not an option.  So, yes, I consider fighting debt collectors …


Pro-Gun or No-Gun America, Which Saves More Lives?, by Skvez

While discussing the potential for a gun ban in the United States I realized that the pro-gun-ban people genuinely believe that banning guns will save lives. In an attempt to facilitate debate I discovered that getting down to the numbers helps discover where their math is different from the pro-gun position, it is these points we can focus on to help them see the light. I put this sequence of equations on a spreadsheet but you can talk someone through them without one. For each value get the person you are speaking to, to give you their value. I’ve using …


Letter Re: The Dark Side of the New Illinois CCW Law

Dear Jim, I’m hoping that you will help me get the word out nationwide on this: As many celebrate the passage of Concealed Carry in Illinois it comes with a very heavy price. Municipalities have 10 days from the law’s enactment to pass their own “Assault Weapons” bans. Many of us in the suburbs of Chicago will face a choice in 90 days to move our weapons somewhere else, render them permanently inoperable or turn them over to the police. Lets call it what it is, Confiscation! No grandfathering, straight up outlawing of previously lawfully owned rifles and standard capacity …