Category: Fuel Storage & Distilling

Two Letters Re: Escape From (Fill in Your City Here), 2009

JWR: I liked JC in Oklahoma’s reply to Escape From (Fill in Your City Here), 2009 but with all due respect, I would not cut someone else’s lock. Most gates that I have seen around where I live, have a chain with a lock. I would advise cutting a link out of the chain and attaching your lock, like a replacement link. This way you keep the owner somewhat happy and still accomplish the task of passing thru the gate as well as being able to cross back through. Now I need to get out and check what routes I …


It Will Be Skills, Not Gear That Will Count in TEOTWAWKI, by Chris M.

The topic I will cover is one I have not seen on SurvivalBlog. Everybody is caught up in the equipment side and not concentrating on the training. I have two examples several months back our dryer started squeaking & we had to stop using it. I am a trained air conditioning technician. At first I thought about going out and purchasing a new dryer and then I had a thought: I have fixed multi thousand dollar air conditioning units, how hard could it be? After two days it was back up drying clothes and for a lot less money than …


Two Letters Re: Walking Tractors and Similar Powered Farming Implements

James, I just wanted to respond to the recent article on small tractors. In 1981 my wife and I bought 12 acres and started market gardening, selling produce locally. I grew about 3 acres of produce each year and put up hay for animals. Our first big investment at the time was a BCS 725 machine with the tiller and sickle-bar mower attachments. We used that machine, and used it hard. Today it’s 2009 and I just finished cutting hay and putting in my green bean patch, using that 725. It’s still on the original engine, which has never been …


Letter Re: Walking Tractors and Similar Powered Farming Implements

When I saw the Basic Utility Vehicle (BUV) mentioned in SurvivalBlog, I couldn’t help but notice how similar it was to the rigs used by a lot of farmers in Thailand (and I would assume a lot of other places in Asia). When traveling around Thailand I couldn’t help but notice what appeared to be effectively motorized donkeys. Men had them rigged to trailers. A little research showed that they are known as “Walking Tractors”, are made all over the planet, the and serve the same function as the BUV. One thing that I like about the idea of using …


Learning to Cook on a Wood-Fired Stove by Deborah

When my companion and I began our 18-month transition period of moving to and living in the woods, we also began a period of education. We discussed and planned much. We bought books and magazines and took classes on everything from solar collecting to gardening. One subject evaded me: cooking on a wood-burning stove. Every time I saw a magazine that flashed headlines on wood stoves, my hands would tremble in anticipation as I reached for it. However, the wood stoves in question were for heating, not for cooking. Since we were looking at a self-sufficient lifestyle and wood on …


Wood, the Alternative Energy for the Rest of Us, by Bill S.

Solar and wind electric generation systems are affordable and efficient, but there are a many areas of the U.S. where wind systems are not feasible, and few localized areas where solar systems are not feasible. A diesel powered generator with a large underground tank is reliable, but under adverse conditions the tank could run dry. Fortunately there are two systems capable of generating electric power with wood, a fuel readily available in most parts of the country. Gasification is a process of burning wood or other solid biomass in a specialized combustion vessel (basically an upside-down wood stove) that generates …


Letter Re: Prince of Wales Island, Alaska as a Retreat Locale?

Sir: I understand your comments on Alaska’s [poor] potential for survival retreats .Your logic is sound and I have to take seriously someone who has thought about these issues longer than I have. But there is always a but…What about Prince of Wales Island, Alaska? Backwoods Home magazine published an article written by a Jon Stram that I have not got out of mind. The article sold Prince of Wales Island very well, so [for counterbalance] I need an unbiased, expert opinion Thank you, – Russell: JWR Replies: You aren’t the first to suggest that locale to me. it. I …


Letter Re: Home and Ranch Methane Gas Generators

Jim: I saw the following post concerning Gober (“dung”) gas, dated 27 April, 2009, over at Michael Yon’s web site:. “During breaks from tracking training – I was sweating like crazy in the jungle heat – I asked many questions about Afghanistan and Nepal, and he talked about a simple way to make many of the Afghans lives easier. Most Afghans don’t even have electricity. When he was about fifteen years-old, his dad installed a “Gobar Gas” (methane) generator next to the house in Nepal. The generator is simple: the owner just collects human and animal waste, and through a …


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, …


From The Werewolf: New Flex Fuel Ethanol Motorcycle Now Available in Brazil

Jim, I´m very proud of the new Honda´s motorcycle in the Brazilian market:he first full “flex fuel” bike in the world! You can use gas and alcohol, in almost any ratio. (Well, on cold days, you´ll need 20% gasoline minimum to start the engine…). It´s the ultimate survival bike! I know you don´t read Portuguese, but here is the link. And here is an article about it in English: Honda CG150 TITAN MIX: world’s first flex-fuel motorcycle. Best Regards, – The Werewolf in Brazil


Letter Re: Home-Made Super Cat Alcohol Stoves

Dear Mr. Rawles, First, I would like to commend you on your “Patriots” novel. It is a “must read” for any American who believes in our Constitution and Bill of Rights. I bought the book a few months ago and have read it twice so far. The “crunch” scenario outlined is self-evident today, and a very real possibility. I have never been of the “survivalist” mindset, however with the NWO now upon us – and my becoming ‘awake” as to the threat of the NWO and TEOTWAWKI – I am starting my preparations in earnest. Your book, and others, are …


Backpackers of the Apocalypse: Selecting and Ultra-Lighting Your Bug-Out Bag, by John the Midwestern Hiker

When in the course of human events it becomes necessary to get out of Dodge, a decent respect for the integrity of one’s spine demands that every item in your bug-out bag be submitted to a candid evaluation. Forgive me for cheekily paraphrasing the Declaration of Independence, but it does make a point that every preparedness minded individual needs to consider: if and when you need to get out fast with only the items you can carry on your back, what are you going to take, and what are you going to carry it in? The first major consideration that …


Is it Enough?, by Axman

I remember the Great Gas Crises of the 1950s. I filled several metal five-gallon cans with gas and put them behind the seat of my 1941 Plymouth 6-cylinder Business Coupe. I got 21 miles per gallon with that peppy little car! When Kennedy’s Cuban Missile Crises came about I dug a foxhole in my Mother’s back yard — which she later filled in and used as a flower bed. Then the Cold War with Russia, where we rattled ballistic missiles at each other. I actually built an above-ground fallout shelter out of a retired metal dumpster and a piece of …


Disaster Preparedness–Of Lists and Preparation in Depth, by Ed C.

I would like to offer my own experiences in the hopes that they may provide some small amount of practical advice to others. Here in Oklahoma, of course, we face tornadoes, but many do not realize we have also suffered from paralyzing ice storms – three within the past ten years. Lessons gleaned from practical experience are: Have inventory lists; Have ‘Oh-Schumer Lists’ of items and chores for each type of contingency situation (tornado, flood, ice storm, etc.) Prepare ‘in depth’ for each major need, such as heat and light, food, water, shelter, and protection Calmly think through scenarios on …


Letter Re: Jared Diamond Predicts the End of Cheap Oil and an 85% Global Population Decline

Mr. Rawles, I found this article informative. A quote: “Cheap, plentiful fossil fuels discovered in the last hundred years (or so) spurred a food bubble, which led to a population bubble. Cheap oil, in other words, created the temporary conditions necessary to support a runaway population explosion that is, without question, unsustainable without cheap energy.” Here is another quote: “complex civilizations are quite fragile, and short-terming thinking can easily doom a society or civilization to irreversible collapse.” The author believes that world population will be reduced to 1/7th of its current size in a post-oil economy. BTW, there are lots …