Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. The focus is usually on emergency communications gear, bug out bag gear, books and movies that have any tie-in to disaster preparedness, and links to “how to” self-sufficiency videos. There are also links to sources for both storage food as and food storage containers. You will also note an emphasis on history books and historical movies. This week the focus is on ambulance conversions to campers . (See the Instructional Videos section.)
Books:
Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times
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Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
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DVD & BluRay:
Making Herbs Simple Volume I, and Making Herbs Simple Volume II
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I just noticed that the extended cut is now available in BluRay format: The Patriot
Instructional Videos and Vlogs:
Ambulance Conversion Built Out By Retired Boat Captain and Teacher. JWR’s Comment: If you decide to do this, then be sure to start with a high roof model that has a pass-through door to the cab. And rather than removing all of the red square exterior lights, just change them to clear covers, and voila, you have selectable flood lights, for camping.
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The latest from Sam Culper of Forward Observer:
How an Intelligence Analyst Prepares for SHTF – Part 1
and,
How an Intelligence Analyst Prepares for SHTF – Part 2
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Mike in Alaska sent us the link to an old Royal Canadian Air Force training film: Antenna Theory Directivity
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This 45-minute presentation at INFOSEC is very useful for planning your retreat’s physical security measures: I’ll Let Myself In: Tactics of Physical Pen Testers (Warning: Has some foul language.)
Blogs & Vlogs:
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L. Neil Smith’s The Libertarian Enterprise
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Gear & Grub:
Palmetto State Armory is wrapping up its big sale on complete AR-15 lowers this week. Just for today, they have their classic lower with a 6-position stock on sale for $119, and their MagPul MOE Edition lower for $149.
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Reader Robert X. recommended this inexpensive (yet useful) gizmo that wraps around a standard disposable Bic lighter: The LighterBro.
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4′ X 5′ Knotted Ghillie Netting (Tan499)
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Mountain House Biscuits & Gravy
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Guns,Germs and Steel was made into a video series for PBS was available for free from library.
The tea balls are also useful with herbs in soups and stews,put the herbs in the tea ball put it into the liquid and pull it out when done(no more searching for herbs before serving)
Didn’t get to watch the full video yet but I’m liking the ambulance to RV conversion. I drove and rode an ambulance many times as a volly firefighter for many years. They’re built like tanks, have tons of light & can be had cheap with low miles as FD’s rotate them out. Very cool…
Great reading list as usual, but Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel is a bunch of equalist leftist nonsense. There’s a detailed refutation by The Alternative Hypothesis on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvaxPH3ftUQ
I carry a knife, an led flashlight with a 14500 battery, and a bic lighter in my pockets at all times, even when wearing my suit at weddings and funerals. They do evrything the lighter attachment does, only better. In fact, the only reason I carry the bic lighter is to light the occaisional cigar, and to open beer bottles. Here in Germany, we don’t have twist off caps, and the lighter opens the bottle by having it under the edge of the cap, and over your index finger near the knuckle, and by flexing your fist, it pries the cap off. That fancy joberdoo for the lighter would remove the lighters main function in my EDC bic. 😉
Yeah, worked for more than twenty years for ATCEMS (city and county EMS service for Austin Texas) we ran those units into the ground. They would auction them off after many years of use with 200,000 plus miles in them. They wouldn’t even get the opening $500 bid most of the time. Guess why no one has made a business converting them before? Because it’s a horrible idea. If you want an RV buy a RV not an ambulance.