Category: Odds ‘n Sods

Quoting AllAfrica.com, economist Richard Daughty (a.k.a. “The Mogambo Guru”) commented on the dire straits of the hyperinflated Zimbabwean dollar: “…in local currency, ‘current gold producer price stands at Zim$16,000 per gram.’ This is the producer price, which works out to Zim$497,655.63 per ounce.” The Mogambo notes that the Zimbabweans that invested in gold back before the currency inflation began in earnest are now thankful for their foresight. My observation: Someday you may be similarly thankful. Just plan ahead. If you haven’t done so already, diversify your investment portfolio into gold and silver. Sleep soundly.   o o o S.F. in …

As mentioned over at The Claire Files, there is a family in Pasadena, California, that feeds themselves with just the produce from a garden on their small suburban lot. They even have excess to sell to restaurants!   o o o Reader RBS mentioned this commentary from Pastor Thomas Horn: Does God Have An Emergency Preparedness Plan?    o o o Hawaiian K. recommended “A good, puncture-resistant bike tire.”

In a recent e-mail, frequent contributor Michael Z. Williamson noted that the Rock River Arms AR10 (The “LAR-10”) variant accepts inexpensive FAL magazines–both metric and inch pattern (L1A1), and is reasonably priced. He also mentioned that despite the looming specter of the H.R. 1022 Federal ban, there are still some bargains in military surplus.308 rifle magazines. Notably, Mike found a source for used FAL magazines for just $5 each, and I found used HK91 (G3) steel magazines for $7.99, and alloy magazines as little as $1.20 each! (HK G3 magazines will also fit CETME rifles.) Stock up, folks! o o …

Reader T.L. asked where he can get Castile Soap via mail order. It is available from Survival Enterprises. They sell the same Dr. Bronner’s Brand soap that I’ve carried on my backpacking trips since the 1970s. (Castile soap is ideal for backpacking, because a little bottle goes a long way!) The microscopic type “ABC-1-2-3” labels make interesting reading. (Odd doctrine, but hey, the gent has the freedom to put whatever he wants on his bottles and packages.) BTW, I heard that Survival Enterprises also still have a good supply of a few remaining varieties canned long term storage foods.   …

From WorldNetDaily: “The most extensive study of the effects of nuclear detonations in four major U.S. cities paints a grim picture of millions of deaths, overwhelmed hospitals and loss of command-and-control capability by government.”   o o o SurvivalBlog readers in Pennsylvania should be aware that there has been a draconian firearms registration bill introduced in he state legislature. If this is a concern, please contact your legislators!    o o o Kurt mentioned this nifty web site about big game hunting with air rifles.

Michael Z. Williamson sent this: Jakarta Floods Linked to Illegal Construction. Mike notes: “Something to watch out for in a collapsing or collapsed society is failure of drainage and other infrastructure. Floods are messy and spread diseases.   o o o RBS sent this story of a local government running roughshod: Brooksville, Florida proposes to foreclose homes and seize cars over less than $20 in parking tickets.    o o o Rourke (the moderator of the Yahoo Jericho Discussion Group) pointed us to a web page that shows how to convert a typical drill motor into a hand crank generator. …

Hawaiian K. mentioned an article about a piece of “appropriate technology”: Multimachine — a truck-parts-based machine shop for Africa    o o o Any of you that have copies of my recent non-fiction books should update them with our new mail forwarding address. Please see page 207 of Rawles on Retreats and Relocation (Appendix B) and page 239 of SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog – Volume 1 (Appendix A)–they should both get penned with this new mail forwarding address: James Wesley, Rawles c/o Elk Creek Company P.O. Box 303 Moyie Springs, Idaho 83845 USA I have just updated the …

Eric S. mentioned: India Mark II extra deep hand pump by Suksha Exports   o o o Reader RBS sent us this bookmark: The California real estate meltdown begins: Foreclosures up 79% and “short sales” up 10 times from last year’s figures.    o o o Speaking of foreclosures, reader JLM sent this: Foreclosure Wave Bears Down on Immigrants. It includes this frightening statistic: “Nationally, 375,000 high-interest-rate loans were made to Hispanics in 2005, and nearly 73,000 of them are likely to go into foreclosure…”

Ron L. mentioned the Steve’s Pages web site, which has a wealth of free firearms and reloading information. In particular, don’t miss his plethora of free reloading data, his many free firearms parts lists/exploded diagrams, his guns and reloading books archive, and his free downloadable military manuals. Thanks Steve, for putting together so many great resources! If you find Steve’s site as useful as I have, then please send him a donation.   o o o PNG recommend this piece: Lessons From Off The Grid: Important Personal Finance Lessons My Childhood Taught Me    o o o They’re in Deep …

For those considering relocating, I found some interesting statistical data on various cities at Sperling’s Best Places. I may be quoting them in the next edition of Rawles on Retreats and Relocation   o o o The dehydrated squirrel meat advertised by Best Prices Storable Foods is causing a bit of controversy. The vendor created this page as a joke, but it does raise a valid issue. I find is odd that many folks in the politically correct crowd think that eggs from a hen that has never seen the light of day are “yummy”, and some even consider box-raised …

I was doing some web wandering on the topic of night vision gear, and I came across this video tutorial on How to Transform Your Webcam Into An Infrared Cam, (This has possibilities for retreat security.) Because the price of infrared LEDs has plummeted, it is now affordable to use arrays of IR LEDs as the light source. Think of the possibilities. And for those of you are aren’t electronics do-it-yourselfers, battery-powered IR motion detector camera systems are available from Ready Made Resources   o o o A reader mentioned that because of a scheduling conflict, he had to cancel …

Reader “6xddx6” e-mailed us to say that he created a simple solar charging system for his Kenwood TK2100 MURS radios that he got from $49 MURS Radios (one of our advertisers.) For this project, he used an inexpensive photovoltaic (PV) panel from Northern Tool & Equipment. (One of our Affiliate Advertisers.) At Northern Tool’s web site, search on Item # 339973.   o o o Chester M. sent this news story: New Orleans Residents Arming Themselves Chester’s comment: “Better late than never, I guess.”    o o o Any SurvivalBlog readers that homeschool their kids–or that plan too–should visit the …

The Green Mountain Gear “SurvivalBlog Group Buys.” for brand new-in-the-wrapper military specification C-Products M16/AR-15 30 round magazines at less than $10 each ends at close-of-business tomorrow. (Monday, March 26th.). See my original post on this for details, including the special Group Buy coupon codes. Don’t miss out! If the pending Federal ban is enacted, these magazines will suddenly be $30 each.   o o o The 2007 Idaho “Boomershoot” is now just over a month away. It is not too late to make a reservation. You just gotta love Idaho. There aren’t too many places where shooting at high explosives …

The Nanny State run amok: The California state legislature is currently considering AB 1634 — the “California Healthy Pets Act” — which would make it illegal to possess an unfixed dog or cat unless you obtain an “intact permit” from the state. Failure to comply with the law within 75 days would be punished by a fine of $500 per pet per 75-day period, with the only exceptions permitted being guide/service dogs and police dogs. I find it humorous that this is in California, where the populace was emasculated intellectually and politically decades ago by the PC crowd’s vocal whining …

“The Army Aviator” mentioned: Scott at American MilSpec has a really good phosphorescent paint for $12.50 per bottle. He says that it works best if you lay down a thin coat of white, then the Phosphorescent paint then a coat of clear. “It’s so cheap, I got two bottles, painted everything and have hardly tapped the first bottle. Stuff goes a long ways. Also handy on light switches, flashlight mounts, locks, or any other place you might need a quick reference in the dark. I figured it’d be Bravo Sierra but the dang stuff works!+   o o o Hawaiian …