Category: Odds ‘n Sods

It was nice hearing the President mention in his recent State of the Union address the need to reduce our dependence on Middle East oil and his goal to get ethanol production into high gear. Hopefully this won’t be just more of the same empty “essential need for energy independence” rhetoric that we’ve been hearing from Capitol Hill and the White House since the Jimmy Carter regime    o o o The U.S. Northern Command recently “hosted representatives from more than 40 international, federal and state agencies for an exercise designed to provoke discussion and determine what governmental actions, including …

I spotted two interesting articles on the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) threat faced by our deployed troops, and some prospects for IED countermeasures: http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0131/p01s03-usmi.html and: http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:hqHuuDmRiN8J:www.opencrs.com/getfile.php%3Frid%3D44184+IED+countermeasures&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=6    o o o The Buckminster Fuller Institute has an informative web page that highlights dome building.  (For the sake of weatherproofing I prefer monolithic domes, but a lot of principles are common to both both geodesic and monolithic domes.  See: http://www.bfi.org    o o o It has been reported by the U.S. Commerce Department that the U.S. consumer savings rate has recently dropped to NEGATIVE 0.5 percent. Collectively, we are “spending it all”–and …

Reader M.W. recommends: http://www.trackertrail.com/survival/fire/cokeandchocolatebar/index.html   o o o A reader wrote to mention that in a controlled, independently reviewed study published in the Journal of Trauma, a comparison of Traumadex and Quickclot in a porcine model (severed femoral artery) showed that Quickclot was much more effective.   o o o Several long term storage food sellers report that storage food sales have been brisk–even to the point that there are now shortages of some varieties of freeze-dried foods. A lot of customers are citing concerns about the Asian Avian Flu, especially after the segment about how to prepare for a …

The folks at “Big Secrets” have updated their web page on alternative shelter. See: http://www.bigsecrets.cc/shelter.htm  Most of these techniques will not meet building codes, but should suffice “When the Schumer Hits the Fan.” (WTSHTF) and you have precious few alternatives to house refugees in a hurry.     o o o For some interesting commentary on precious metals, including some substantive details about those rumors we’ve been hearing about another gold confiscation, see: http://www.conspiracypenpal.com/columns/paper.htm  Note: I have not yet had the opportunity to listen to any of the MP3 files, so I cannot vouch for Mr. Steele’s background or his …

The U.S. Army plans to introduce new “Compressed Meal” (CM) freeze dried MRE alternatives. These will be about 2/3s the size and weight of the current MREs. See: http://www.dcmilitary.com/navy/seaservices/10_53/national_news/39293-1.html   o o o There was a recent report that the strain of Asian Avian flu that has made its was to Turkey is alarmingly similar to 1918 strain. See:http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=34224cff-120f-4d19-bd6c-526d264833f7&k=15148   My advice:  In case this bug mutates into s strain that is easily transmitted from person to person, be ready to self-quarantine for six months or longer, folks!  This will require a big pile-O-logistics!     o o o Some good …

“Eric”, a former charter airline pilot and computer programmer publishes an interesting albeit sporadically updated self sufficiency blog: http://www.selfsufficientfamily.com/   o  o  o If you fall into the Club of Rome school of thought on the potential for a major whammy multi-generational societal collapse (See Roberto Vacca’s  book “The Coming Dark Age“), then you might find this site interesting: http://anthropik.com o  o  o Two interesting web sites with some useful MicroHydro power info were recently mentioned in a discussion over at the Survival and Preparedness forum at The FAL Files.  See:   http://microhydropower.net/index.php and http://www.utilityfree.com/hydro/ (Scroll down to see their …

Defense Aerospace reports: “Future of US Nuclear Arsenal in Flux after Peacekeeper Missiles De-Activated”  See: http://www.defense-aerospace.com/cgi-bin/client/modele.pl?prod=66020&session=dae.17150781.1138033046.Q9UBgsOa9dUAAGt1mV8&modele=jdc_1     o  o  o Reader OSOM (“Out of Sight, Out of Mind”)  recommends the recent Popular Mechanics magazine article on “Worst Case Scenarios”  See: http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/worst_case_scenario/   o  o  o Check out http://www.FreeCycle.org. If you have the storage space, this is a great place to pick up free items for charity or barter.     o  o  o Some details and commentary on “Getting Ready for a Nuclear-Ready Iran” prepared by the US Army War College. (plus a PDF link to the original document) …

A handy website for retreat location research can be found at: http://www.city-data.com/   o  o  o A SurvivalBlog reader mentioned that nationally syndicated radio talk show host Derry Brownfield has been talking about NAIS for years. See: http://www.derrybrownfield.com/   o  o  o There are some great links at:  http://www.bigsecrets.cc/prepare.htm   o  o  o The Pre-1899 Specialist reports that they have been going fast (since SurvivalBlog readers have been cleaning them out), but they still have a few Model 1893 Oberndorf Mausers available. They are considered Federally exempt “antiques”, so no FFL is required!   o  o  o As reported by …

Can anyone in this country do anything without their cell phone? Today a co-worker told me that her husband refused to keep a date to go out to dinner because he had misplaced his cell phone. Instead of spending a romantic evening together, they spent two hours frantically searching for his cell phone. They finally found it in his car, where they had searched twice before. If I recall correctly, life was possible before everyone had a cell phone.   o  o  o The RWVA’s Spring Appleseed Tour series of rifle training sessions/matches is shaping up. They have shoots scheduled …

There is some very useful information on battlefield survival skills at this static web site: http://www.survivethewar.com.  Much of this info is applicable for preparedness-minded folks like you and me. Take a look.   o o o Gary North quoted sage economist John Templeton as stating that when the housing bubble pops, real estate house prices might decline as much as 90%.  Dr. North is less pessimistic. My personal view is that as the housing bubble collapses, “Helicopter Ben” Bernanke will be simultaneously cranking up the printing presses. The net effect will be that your house won’t go down significantly in dollar …

The mainstream media is finally starting to pick up on the Iran nuclear threat. I’ve often said that this decade of the “Aughts” will end up looking a lot like the 1970s. The parallels have already been evident: the rising price of oil, rising commodity prices, unstable stock and currency markets, mass inflation, rising precious metals prices, and a protracted counterinsurgency campaign overseas that is causing friction with european governments. And now, heightened tensions with Iran. (Do you remember the Iran hostage crisis in the late 1970s?) Consider this FFTAGFFR, folks!   o  o  o The price of silver just …

The hens at the Rawles Ranch are starting to lay early this new year. One year it was “every elk recipe known to man.” This year, I suspect, it will be: “every recipe containing eggs known to man.” o o o I just heard that KT Ordnance is offering 10% off of all orders (all 80% complete frames, not just 1911s), that come from SurvivalBlog readers from now until the end of January. The sale pricing excludes tools and jigs. This is a great way to get yourself guns with no paper trail, since 80% complete receivers that you finish …

There is some interesting data on how to run a self-sufficient farmstead on a tight budget at: http://www.eartheasy.com Yeah, they’re tree huggers, but that does not detract from their useful knowledge. Anyone that can make a living like that deserves some attention.(The editors live on next to nothing in British Columbia.) They publish a free e-newsletter.    o o o The gent who operates Freeze Dry Guy recently updated his website (http://www.freezedryguy.com).  And BTW, we just updated the link from his ad on SurvivalBlog.  (The link formerly  was to e-mail him.  It now goes directly to his web site.) Check …

SurvivalBlog reader Dr. Sans Paine recommends the www.epocrates.com web site as a great compendium on pharmaceuticals, including some very useful data on drug interactions. In addition to their “by subscription” service, their free download data is surprisingly complete and updated frequently. o o o I was thoroughly disgusted to see that our local electronics store had a large display of Winchester brand knives, complete with the famous Winchester factory logo. That would be great, except that they were all made in mainland China! For example, the pocketknife/white LED flashlight combo pack (both with prominent Winchester logos) was priced at just …

I just noticed that our compadre “Warlord” over at the Alpha-Rubicon site posted a very handy article last year about how to construct a “fan in a can” for a home fallout shelter. See: http://www.alpharubicon.com/basicnbc/safefanwar.htm   o  o  o Noah Schactman at the Defense Tech blog mentioned an interesting briefing that is available in PDF about some recent non-lethal weapon developments: http://www.smallwars.quantico.usmc.mil/programs/NLW/JNLWPRefBook_feb2004.pdf  Ya gotta love those caltrops!   o  o  o The folks at the AUSurvivalist site (in Australia) have some interesting documents available for free download. See: http://www.aussurvivalist.com/downloads.htm