Category: Odds ‘n Sods

Recommended by F.J.: HomemadeTools.net    o o o An interesting documentary: We The Tiny House People: Small Homes, Tiny Flats. JWR’s comment: Simplicity is laudable, but tiny houses leave no room for long term food storage. 🙁 How about Plan B: A tiny house with minimal living space to heat but adjacent to it build a big un-heated barn/shop/root cellar building?    o o o The reach of the Internet is amazing. Even obscure acronyms that I created just for SurvivalBlog can now be found far and wide.    o o os Beware the signs of the times, even in …

Joe K. liked this Rodale piece: 12 Low-Tech Tools You’ll Always Use    o o o Reader Jeremy I. sent us an item to file under Emerging Threats: Infamous mountain man burglar caught on video, still roams free. (Do not leave supplies cached in unattended wilderness cabins and expect them to be immune from burglary. It is important to build undetectable wall or floor caches for your valuable weapons, ammunition, optics, and electronics.)    o o o The Knob Creek machinegun shoot and plein air gun show will be held again this coming weekend. One of these years–when my writing …

Just in time to get people thinking about the consequences of the upcoming election, the movie Atlas Shrugged, Part II will be released on October 12, 2012.    o o o For those with an interest in monitoring the severity of solar flares, J.E.B. in Missouri tells me that the Rice University Web Site site has excellent up-time and has the most consistent and timely, moment-to-moment updating of solar flare data.    o o o SurvivalBlog’s Back Country Editor, Mat Stein, has several book signings and workshops scheduled in Reno, Nevada, on October 13th and 14th.    o o o …

Don J. recommended this: Prioritizing Every Day Carry Gear for Personal Defense.    o o o Ralph N. was the first of several readers to send this Los Angeles Times article: Many drugs are just fine years after they ‘expire,’ study finds    o o o Of interest to folks in western Oregon: The Oregon City Emergency Preparedness Fair will be held Saturday, October 20, 2012. Free admission! 10 am – 4pm. Location: 14340 S. Donovan St. Oregon City, Oregon. Lead speaker : James Roddey, former Director of Communications of the Red Cross 1pm-2pm “Quake Up Call”. Also speaking will …

Reader F.G. suggested this: Coyotes, bears, and lions: the new urban pioneers?    o o o James C. suggested this great little anthology at Popular Mechanics: The 110 Best DIY Tips Ever    o o o SurvivalBlog’s Editor At Large Michael Z. Williamson sent this: 10 Coldest Temperatures in U.S. History. It is notable that several of these records were set in American Redoubt states, but take a look at the elevations. These are not spots where most folks would want to live!    o o o Claire Wolfe’s latest commentary: Your right to sell your stuff.    o o …

SurvivalBlog’s Editor At Large Michael Z. Williamson sent: Lunch lady slammed for food that is ‘too good’. (This is like something straight out of Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron”, from his Welcome to the Monkey House collection of short stories.)    o o o Some fun shooting up a lot of Uncle Sam’s ammo at Yakima: Special Forces A Team practices with M-ATVs equipped with CROWS.    o o o James C. liked this collection of photos: A Long-Term Survival Guide – Hidden Storage and Secret Compartments    o o o The latest from Montie Gear: Gloveshot. (The “Detailed Images” page …

R.B.S. mentioned: Hay thefts and intentional intrusive grazing in New Mexico.    o o o Bob G. suggested: The Grey Man approach to personal protection    o o o Reader Joe K. spotted this: Emergency uses for Paracord    o o o Do you carry a gun openly? What are your legal rights during a police stop?    o o o Do you carry concealed and/or in your car? Be aware of “Must Inform Officer” state laws. (No such laws in any of the American Redoubt states, where the gendarmes all rightly assume that most of the vehicles they pull …

Alex Jones: Elite Buying Underground Shelters in Record Numbers    o o o Safecastle’s last Mountain House sale of the year ends soon. The 25% discounts on many of the most popular #10-can entrees end on October 7th. OBTW, they also have Mountain House freeze dried strawberries at 33% off. And they also offer additional member incentives to Safecastle Royal club members. Order soon!    o o o For those who enjoy hilariously campy movies: Iron Sky has finally been released on DVD in the North American DVD format. Judging from the trailer, it looks like it was worth the …

Reader E.M. mentioned Congressman Allen West’s recent pro-gun speech, in which he recites some great quotations from our founding fathers and later statesmen.    o o o Hacking Survival: So, you want to compute post-apocalypse? (Derbycon 2012)    o o o Bosko spotted this: 14 Interesting Tidal Islands    o o o Tom B. mentioned a piece over at The Art of Manliness on clothing options for concealed carr.: The Stylish Man’s Guide to Concealed Carry

News from the Lost Cause that was once the glorious California Republic: Governor Brown signs law banning open carry of unloaded long guns. Concealed carry of handguns was banned in California in 1923. (One of many states to enact the “Uniform Act to Regulate the Sale and Possession of Firearms”–which was originally aimed at part in disarming “uppity” black World War I veterans.) Then, in 1967 open carry of loaded guns on public streets or in motor vehicles was banned (one of then Governor Ronald Reagan’s darkest days), out of fear of a few dozen “uppity” Black Panthers. More recently, …

H.L. suggested this: Meet the largest [private] landowner in America    o o o Dentist Dr. Tom Loomis will be teaching another two-day Field Dentistry Class, in Sweetwater, Tennessee on Nov. 30, and Dec. 1, 2012. Enrollment is limited to just 12 students. The class costs $400 per person. To register, send $200 by check or money order to Tom Loomis DDS, P.O. Box 510, Sweetwater, TN 37874. Phone number: 423-371-1073, or e-mail: tom.loomis@yahoo.com The class will be held at the Magnuson Hotel in Sweetwater at exit 60 off of Interstate 75. Rooms are $35 plus tax if you ask for …

Reader R.B.S. metioned an indie film that looks low on budget, but yet highly thought-provoking: Dragon Day. The film is nearing completion.    o o o The folks at DumpDC make a Redoubtable suggestion: Secession and Money. (Thanks to R.B.S. for the link.)    o o o James C. mentioned a use for a Stovetec rocket stove: Endless hot water from firewood.    o o o Freeze Dry Guy has announced a special for the month of October: a 144 Day Meat Variety Pack for $272.64 that contains a total of 144 1?2 Cup Servings of Mountain House freeze dried …

Download, print, fire: gun rights initiative harnesses 3D technology    o o o Alternatives To A Bugout Location – What You Should Consider    o o o The Most Often Forgotten Survival Preparations    o o o G.K. in western Washington mentioned yet another reason to avoid social media sites.    o o o Here are links to a couple of my recent radio interviews: EMPAct Radio and Time Monk Radio. (The latter is more than two hours long.)

SurvivalBlog’s Editor At Large Michael Z. Williamson spotted this: Mapping the World’s Population by Latitude, Longitude. Mike’s comment: “An interesting pair of charts, but it is skewed a bit by China and India.”    o o o Reader R.B.S. sent us this: San Francisco considers 220-square-foot micro-apartments    o o o Reader W.C.P. forwarded a link to a diatribe by the West Point Academy’s Director of Terrorism Studies (an Assistant Professor at the Department of Social Sciences) in which he parrots the SPLC‘s Party Line and tars survivalists with a very broad brush, equating us with skinheads, the KKK, and …

I must mention that there have been several bad reviews of my latest novel “Founders” posted at Amazon.com. Several of them seem to be from people who haven’t even read the book. If you have read the book, then I’d appreciate seeing your reviews. In “Founders”, in response to more than a dozen requests from readers, I expanded the story of Ken an Terry Layton’s cross-country trek with a lot more detail. (Their journey had been just briefly described, post facto, in my first novel “Patriots.”) But now a few folks are hammering me for being “repetitive”–even though I obviously …