Category: Odds ‘n Sods

The Memsahib mentioned something interesting that she stumbled across when reading some ancient history: The ancient Schythians, when traveling, would kill wild cattle for food, or slaughter one of their own cattle herd. They would strip the carcass, use the rib cage as impromptu firepit grill and the stomach stuffed full of beef as a cooking container.    o o o SurvivalBlog reader Rob a.k.a. (“Salsafix”) is the editor of the excellent Surviving the Crash blog. He recently penned a list pairing great depression era quotes with modern day bubble quotes. (See his September 12 posts.) He quipped “I’m not …

The online magazine Slate recently featured a piece on surviving a terrorist nuclear attack.    o o o The price of oil has sagged, (down to $66 per barrel!), dragging gold and silver down a bit. So this dip might be a great time to buy metals if you have been dragging your feet. I’m still predicting substantially higher silver and gold prices before December.    o o o We’ve been driving a lot of back roads in recent days, looking for property on behalf of a consulting client. Yesterday, we drove past a ranch that had set up a …

I was told that Ready Made Resources (one of our most loyal advertisers) has just received a large shipment of U.S. Army surplus battle dressings. These are typical Carlisle type dressings, but in the latest mil spec packaging. (Very tough and waterproof.) The size is 8″ x 7-1/2″ They are marked “Dressing, First Aid, Field, Camouflage” and were manufactured by Ellwyn, Inc. (“Red color indicates back of dressing, put other side next to wound….”) NSN 6510-00-201-7430. They will have about 500 available and will be selling them for just $2.50 each. Buy a bunch!    o o o Rourke flagged …

While on the road yesterday we were traveling though horse country. Every little herd seemed to have at lest one Paint or Appaloosa. I think that what we were witnessing was the collective maneuvering of umpteen rancher’s daughters. Obviously they all convinced daddy of their fond desires.    o o o Today we are looking ar some real estate on behalf of a consulting client. The criteria list is extensive. In this case we are looking for a remote property that is well off any expected refugee lines of drift. The property must be at least five acres and it …

Reader M.M. mentioned this scary news article from England: Six Years of Below Average Harvests, Globally. He commented: “Harvests are less than the population eats for the sixth straight year and the warehoused surplus is almost gone. Famine or serious and aggressive agriculture are the two potential outcomes. If it goes like it has for the oil, the free food is over and the price of food will be bid up until demand is destroyed, such as a poor country doesn’t get its shipments. And that is that for them…” Meanwhile, reader Ben L. sent this corroborating piece from Rense.com. …

The bidding is now up to $125 in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction for a copy “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course. The course was kindly donated by Jake Stafford of Arbogast Publishing. Please submit your bids via e-mail. This auction ends on September 15th.    o o o An international climate panel revises global warming forecast: climate change now thought to be less severe.    o o o Reader S.F. in Hawaii e-mailed us: “The other day I received some bank notes (Marks) that I had ordered from a collector. These were from the Weimar Republic dating 1917 to 1923. …

Back to school week: Refuting the argument that home schooling leaves children insufficiently “socialized.”    o o o The Intelligence Summit web site has some interesting analysis and commentary on emerging threats. Some of it qualifies as serious “Food for thought and grounds for further research” (FFTAGFFR).    o o o Richard from KT Ordnance sent a pointer to this interesting site on Kia (South Korean) military vehicles. He also bemoaned Jeep dropping the planned Gladiator 4WD Pickup from their product line queue, stating: “I’m sorry to see Daimler-Chrysler take such a short sighted view of Jeep’s future by killing …

Rourke e-mailed us a link to a table of U.S. Metro home price changes: The level terrain before the precipice.    o o o Michael Z. Williamson sent a link to this handy reference page that gives the bullion content of older European coins. You never know what you might be offered in a Post-TEOTWAWKI, barter transaction–French “Roosters”, , British Sovereigns or perhaps even native gold nuggets… In the absence of the Internet and your local coin shop or jeweler, you must be the expert. Without this expertise, you may end up the victim of a swindle. So it is …

Reader T.P. mention this editorial: some common sense on preparedness, coming from the journalistic mainstream.    o o o I just saw that Rich Saunders at Century Gun Works (CGW in Gardnerville, Nevada–not to be confused with Century Arms) has revamped his web site. This gent is a fantastic gunsmith that specializes in FAL, L1A1, AR-15, and Glock work. He also does custom gun refinishing with very durable weatherproof coatings such as CenTac 9H. I can personally vouch for the superb quality of his gunsmithing and finishing work. Rich built three of the L1A1s that we use here at the …

It is interesting to see that the price of crude oil has drifted down to around $70 per barrel and because of growing supplies (there is actually a shortage of storage space!) it is expected to drift lower still in coming months. Meanwhile, the price of gold is holding solidly over $620 per ounce and the price of silver is advancing past $12.70. But wait a minute… The “experts” tell us that oil and precious metals have their prices “tied.” Obviously the silver and gold prices are telling us a different story. I think that the coming year will see …

I heard that James at Gun Parts Guy (one of our advertisers) is running a big Labor Day sale on FAL and L1A1 parts and manuals. There are some great items such as complete metric replacement spring sets, bolts and bolt carriers, scope mounts, and stock furniture. The sale ends on September 6th. If you own a FAL or L1A1, or clones thereof, then stock up! OBTW, for owners of other .308 Winchester / 7.62mm NATO rifles: one of the items that James has on sale is .308 ruptured case extractors. You should have one of these for each rifle …

Richard from KT Ordnance pointed us to this WorldNetDaily article: America’s Infrastructure Fire Sale.    o o o And reader Ben L. mentioned this one from CNN.com: Getting Real About Real Estate. All that I can say is “I told you so.”    o o o Frequent SurvivalBlog content contributor Jim K. told us about a belt drive bicycle motor that uses regular gas and gets 225 m.p.g “Not a bad idea for long bicycle commutes in a Peak Oil scenario.”

Seeing our hit map each month is gratifying. The SurvivalBlog readership keeps on growing, globally. What I want to know is, who are all these readers that I see scattered across Asia? I had no idea… I get a few e-mails from soldiers stationed in Afghanistan and South Korea. But who are all the others? Mystifying.    o o o 13 Plague Cases Reported in U.S. As long as there are rodents with fleas, the plague will be lurking in the background.    o o o Reader Joe in Florida mentioned that: www.alarmclocksonline.com has a fine selection of wind-up movement …

Randy in Utah mentioned to me that Dan’s Ammo currently has a great deal on brand new, unissued Hensoldt Z24 scopes with STANAG claw mounts, in the original military carry cases. These are $375 each, postage paid. Once this batch of Z24 scopes at Dan’s is gone, I’m fairly certain that they will jump back up to the normal market price of around $600 each.    o o o Cliff C. alerted us to this article: IBM and Tekvet team to remotely track and monitor the health of millions of cattle. One would hope that this doesn’t get integrated with …

I just finished watching a review copy of Larry Wick’s DVD: Split Second Survival: First Strike. It teaches some truly no-nonsense practical self defense. Highly recommended! It emphasizes unarmed defense, and devastating defense techniques with always close-at-hand objects such as pocket combs and ballpoint pens. I’ll post some detailed comments in a subsequent blog entry.    o o o SurvivalBlog reader “Flighter” recommends this US Army web site on water filtration. He notes: “It has an analysis of a variety of water purification filters and disinfection methods, all commercially available. It is interesting stuff.”   o o o The eighth …