Category: Odds ‘n Sods

“No sheep in the house!” In recent weeks we have been pasturing our small flock of Jacob sheep inside the fenced acre right near our house, to work the grass down. (The goal has been to minimize wiildfire danger.) While here at the house, the sheep have been getting into a little mischief. Yesterday our ram developed a taste for the leaves on our grape vines. So I’ll have to put up a small protective fence. They’ve also decided that our front porch is the safest place to sleep. So every morning we get to sweep the “Rasinets” off the …

I recently heard the following sad tale from a reader: “My retreat property in Oregon burned to the ground last year. I had a friend call and tell me he saw [footage of] my chimney on Fox News. Fortunately, I didn’t have much [stored] in the house, and my four forty-foot (CONEX) storage trailers came throughout without a scratch, praise God. Regarding our planned rebuilding, we anticipate purchasing a manufactured house, which has concrete board siding and a fiberglass composition tile roof, which is fairly fireproof, but not able to stop anything with any velocity. We anticipate going underground for …

The White House warns: a weak strain of Asian Avian Flu may already be in the U.S.    o o o SurvivalBlog reader MP dropped me a line and mentioned that Orson Scott Card, the author of the military sci-fi classic “Ender’s Game,” has posted the first five chapters for his newest book, “Empire.” From the description on Card’s web page: “The American Empire has grown too fast, and the fault lines at home are stressed to the breaking point. The war of words between Right and Left has collapsed into a shooting war, though most people just want to …

SurvivalBlog reader Alfie Omega mentioned this news story: Global Food Supply Near the Breaking Point. The story begins: “The world is now eating more food than farmers grow, pushing global grain stocks to their lowest level in 30 years. Rising population, water shortages, climate change, and the growing costs of fossil fuel-based fertilizers point to a calamitous shortfall in the world’s grain supplies in the near future, according to Canada’s National Farmers Union (NFU).”    o o o Four interesting pieces of economic analysis/commentary have recently been posted at Gold-Eagle.com: The Calm Before the Storm, by Aubie Baltin, Money and …

SurvivalBlog reader S.H. pointed us to a web site that describes an interesting house with an extensive 45 foot deep fallout shelter, currently for sale in Blaine, Washington.    o o o Cathy Buckle in Zimbabwe reports on the ongoing currency exchange. (Due to the hyperinflation, they are issuing new bills, sans three zeroes.) This one is a must read!    o o o The Whiskey and Gunpowder e-newsletter mentions: “Lenders see a 10-20% tumble in home prices Yes, you heard right: A 10-20% loss nationwide, according to a poll of American mortgage lenders. And much bigger losses in the …

It is nice to see that SurvivalBlog is gaining ever wider readership. The latest hit map shows readers in North Africa, of all places.    o o o I recently mentioned canes and walking sticks for self defense. This product looks very well made.    o o o A reminder that the special Cast Iron Cookware and Soap Combo Pack Offer from PromisedLand Products (Mentioned on July 20th) ends on August 15th. To place your order, send a $300 Postal Money Order with the notation “SurvivalBlog Combo Pack” to: Promised Land Products 382 Adams Lane Dillon, Montana 59725 Phone: (406) …

SurvivalBlog reader “Alfie Omega” spotted this article: New, Simple, Make-It-Yourself Water Filter Promises Clean Water for Millions It begins: “A handful of clay, yesterday’s coffee grounds and some cow manure are the simple ingredients that could bring clean drinking water to developing countries around the globe…”    o o o “Smart Pigs” Don’t Lie: The BP Prudhoe Bay pipeline closure may last for months. Stand by for higher gasoline and home heating oil prices.    o o o Panicky refugees at a shelter in Northern Israel.  

The 2010 U.S. census will record GPS coordinates of every household’s front porch. Charming.    o o o Reader JB in Nashville mentioned that another mirror site has been established for the e-book of Mel Tappan’s Tappan on Survival. It is such a great read, I recommend that you also buy a hard copy. New or used copies can often be found through Abebooks.com, BooksAMillion.com, or eBay.com    o o o Reader JCS suggested this site on battery technology on battery technology. He noted, “For a long term survival scenario I’m starting to think that Ni-Cd would be better than Ni-MH …

SurvivalBlog reader JCS suggested the Lindsay Books site. It has something for everyone from Aircraft Welding to Hide Tanning. They have lots of books that belong on the survivalist reference bookshelf.    o o o Blog reader S.H. mentioned that our friend Noah over at the DefenseTech blog ran an article about a dune buggie/powered parafoil combo, for the ultimate in high mobility.   o o o From the Washington Post: DOE Report Identifies Areas of U.S. Power Grid Congestion Here is a brief excerpt from the story: “This study identifies the most critical areas of congestion,” said Kevin Kolevar, …

Rourke recommends this great site for NBC preparedness. It has a lot of useful maps, target structure data, and details on how to survive a nuclear attack.    o o o Jake Stafford mentioned that copies of the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course currently at a special sale price are starting to fly off the shelf. The sale ends August 11th.    o o o AK in Costa Rica mentioned this article about safety and security for ex-pats living n Panama. AK notes: “This guy may not be a security expert, but his article presents some interesting issues about …

SurvivalBlog reader Jim K. sent us a link to this interesting tale from the web: A lucky fellow in New York City has the notebook in his jacket pocket stop a bullet.    o o o Michael Z. Williamson pointed us to a site that proves that Glocks can take a lot of abuse and still function.    o o o Zimbabwe’s hyperinflated currency follies continue: They are lopping off three zeroes. Now (at least for a few days) a loaf of bread costs only $1,000 instead of $1,000,000. To solve the fundamental problem, some observers in Harare suggest that …

I just got the latest issue of Disaster Recovery Journal in the mail–their special Avian Flu issue. It seems that the Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity community has caught on to some of the bigger issues related to a pandemic–at least things like absenteeism, telecommuting, and crisis communication. For their spin on a possible flu pandemic as well as some useful links to the CDC and other sites, see: http://www.drj.com/special/avian    o o o Richard Celata (of KT Ordnance and Promised Land Products) recommended this vendor site: http://www.shooterready.com/    o o o Iran warns of $200 per barrel crude oil if U.S. …

SurvivalBlog reader Rourke mentioned in a recent e-mail: “It’s coming” as some Aussie’s say. China is taking concrete steps here, to pardon the pun. We know they won’t try anything until after the 2008 Olympics. We also know they want Taiwan; and the fear is that the day comes when the person in charge of China thinks he can take it.”    o o o The real Federal budget deficit is measured in trillions of dollars.    

SurvivalBlog reader R.H. recommended this site with product reviews on flashlights–both traditional and LED type.    o o o It is nice to see that gold have silver are bouncing back from their summer doldrums, with gold at over $650 per ounce and silver at around $12.10. I believe that this coming fall and winter may show some impressive gains in precious metals prices.    o o o Front Sight is currently running its own writing contest. The prize is a Front Sight lifetime membership! For any of you that who would like to put your thoughts about Front Sight, …

Richard Celata (of KT Ordnance and Promised Land Products) recommends: The recent commentary by Franklin Sanders (audio, 45 minutes) titled “Real Versus Fake Money,”    o o o SurvivalBlog reader S.H. recommends a site with a neat set of photos of Swiss mountain bunkers. He notes: “Many are very clever in their design elements. roofed and painted to look like log homes or even stands of trees. Some great ideas here for the serious retreat.    o o o U.S. heat wave continues