Building A Survial Library

Wolverine

There are a couple of good posts on building a survival library over at Michigan Preppers Network. My friend, Wolverine, usually posts some great stuff on Thursday night or Friday morning each week. So whether you're just starting out in your preparedness efforts or are a dedicated prepper, check out his posts on building a survival library. There's a lot of info out there and a good place to keep it is in a survival library.

You can read Wolverine's posts here:

http://www.michiganpreppersnetwork.com/2011/02/building-survival-library.html

http://www.michiganpreppersnetwork.com/2011/02/building-survival-library-part-two.html

Be aware. Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker

Survival Spotlight - Brenham Texas

The people in Brenham are very down to earth and friendly. It is some of the most beautiful country you will find in Texas. There are rolling hills with outstanding and beautiful views, along with many outstanding cultural features and plenty of recreational opportunities.

Brenham is known as the "Birthplace of Texas" and is located in Washington County. The Texas Declaration of Independence was signed by General Sam Houston in Washington County near the Brazos River. Washington County also began the first Independent School District in Texas.

There are many state parks in Brenham including Washington on the Brazos State Park and Museum where visitors can see the history of the area. It is also a great place for family gatherings and offers great educational opportunities for both the young and the old. Lake Somerville is also located a short distance from Brenham and is surrounded by more than 6 parks for camping, fishing, water sports or just plain old relaxation.


Facts on the Economy of Brenham, Texas (as of 2007)

1.) The unemployment rate in Brenham, TX, is 3.30%, with job growth of 0.33%. Future job growth over the next ten years is predicted to be 19.03%.

2.) Brenham, TX, sales tax rate is 8.25%. Income tax is 0.00%.

3.) The income per capita is $17,773, which includes all adults and children. The median household income is $36,528.

Facts About the Weather in Brenham, Texas

Brenham, Texas gets approximately 42 inches of rain per year. The average rainfall in the US is 37 inches per year. Snowfall is approximately 1 inch per year. The average US city gets 25 inches of snow per year. The total number of days with rain averages 94. On average, there are 205 sunny days per year in Brenham, Texas. The yearly high temperature is around 95 degrees and generally occurs in July. The average low temperature is 40 degrees and generally occurs in January.

For additional information go to:

http://www.brenhamtexas.com/

Be aware. Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker

Survival Spotlight - Atascosa County - South of San Antonio

Atascosa County is south of San Antonio on Interstate Highway 37 in the Rio Grande Plain region of south central Texas. Jourdanton, the county seat, is located on state highways 16 and 97 in central Atascosa County thirty-three miles south of San Antonio and 100 miles northwest of Corpus Christi.

The largest city in Atascosa County is Pleasanton with a population of approximately 8,266 persons. The population density is approximately 31 people per square mile. The median income for a household in the county is approximately $33,081. Other cities include Poteet (pop. 3,305) and Charlotte (pop. 1,637).

The county covers 1,218 square miles of level to rolling land. Elevation ranges from 350 to 700 feet. The soils are generally deep with loamy surface layers and clay subsoils. In Atascosa County, the subtropical dry land vegetation consists primarily of cactus, weeds, grasses, thorny shrubs and trees such as mesquite, live oak and post oak. Approximately 40 to 50 percent of the county is considered prime farmland.

Wildlife in Atascosa County includes white-tailed deer, javelina, turkey, fox squirrel, jackrabbits, foxes, ring-tailed cats, skunks, and possums. The main predators are bobcats and coyotes. Ducks, cranes, and geese migrate across areas of the county. Many stock tanks are stocked with catfish, bass, and sunfish.

Mineral resources include clay, uranium, gravel, and oil and gas products. Other minerals and products include caliche, lignite coal, construction and industrial sand, and sulfur.

The climate in Atascosa County is considered subtropical. The winters are generally mild and the summers can be very hot. The average annual temperature is 70°F. Temperatures in January usually average a low of 40° F to an average high of 65°. and in July range anywhere from 74° F to 97°F. The average annual rainfall is approximately 27 inches. The average relative humidity normally ranges froma low of 51 percent to a high of 86 per cent. There is no significant snowfall that occurs in this county. The growing season averages 282 days a year. The sun shines an average 65 percent of the daylight hours which is good for solar power applications.

Major highways in Atascosa County include Interstate 37, U.S. Highway 281, State Highways 16, 85, and 97.

Additional information about Atascosa County can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atascosa_County,_Texas

Be aware. Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker

Survival Spotlight - Andrews County on the New Mexico Border

Andrews County

Andrews County is located in the southern High Plains. It is bounded on the west by New Mexico, on the north by Gaines County, on the east by Martin County, and on the south by Winkler and Ector counties. The center of the county is at 32°18' north latitude and 102°50' west longitude, 110 miles southwest of Lubbock. Andrews County encompasses 1,504 square miles of level, rolling prairie land typical of the southern High Plains. The city of Andrews is the county seat of Andrews County and the population was 13,004 at the 2000 census.

Sandy soils predominate except in the east, where red clay loam soil types are found. The elevation varies from 3,000 feet in the south to 3,400 feet in the north. The average annual rainfall is approximately 14.5 inches. The temperatures range from a January average minimum temperature of 30°F to a July average maximum temperature of 96°F. The growing season is 213 days.

Livestock production accounts for roughly two-thirds of the $11 million average agricultural income in the county. Crops of cotton, sorghums, grains, corn, and hay account for the rest of the county’s agricultural production. Approximately 8,000 acres of land is in irrigation for crops. Oil and gas production and its related services produce the majority of the county's income.

Andrews County ranks among the leading counties of the state in median annual income. It is also one of the leaders in annual oil production. The oil industry is a major source of employment. By the end of 1982 the county had produced over two billion barrels of oil.

The county's road network includes Highway 385 (north-south), Highway 176 (west-east), and Highway 115, which bisects the other roads at Andrews. Communities include Andrews, Frankel City (pop. 1,344), and Florey (pop. 25). Prairie Dog Town and the Oil Museum are two of the county's most popular tourist attractions.

You can find additional information about Andrews County here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrews_County,_Texas

Be aware. Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker

Survival Spotlight - Angelina County in East Texas

ANGELINA COUNTY

Angelina County is on U.S. Highways 59 and 68 northeast of Houston in the East Texas Timberlands region of northeast Texas. Lufkin, the county seat and largest town, is ninety-six miles northwest of Beaumont and 120 miles northeast of Houston, at 31°20' north latitude and 94°43' west longitude. The county is bounded on the north by the Angelina River and on the south by the Neches River. It comprises 807 square miles of gently rolling terrain and is densely forested with pine and a great variety of hardwoods.

The altitudes in Angelina County range from 200 to 380 feet above sea level. The Angelina River drains the northern and eastern parts of the county. The Neches River drains the southern and western parts. The largest body of water in the county is Sam Rayburn Reservoir. It is located on the Angelina River. The reservoir extends into Jasper, Sabine, Nacogdoches, and San Augustine counties. It covers approximately 114,500 acres and affords residents in the county good boating, fishing, and swimming. It also provides resources for municipal water storage, agricultural, and industrial needs. It is also used for flood control and to supply electric power.

Most of the county is surfaced by sandy soils containing lignite and bentonite. This soil underlies rangeland and cropland and is used for mineral production. The northernmost edge of the county, the area north of Lufkin, is covered by thin to moderately thick clay type sands over steep slopes and rolling hills. In the piney woods area, longleaf, shortleaf, loblolly, and slash pines provide excellent timber. Hardwoods in Angelina County include several types of gum, magnolia, elm, hickory, and oak.

Anywhere from 20 to 30 percent of the land is considered good for farming purposes. The major mineral resources are natural gas and oil. Average annual temperatures range from an average high of 94° F in June to an average low of 39° in January. Rainfall averages approximately 43 inches per year. The growing season generally lasts for 244 days.

More information on Angelina County, Texas can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelina_County,_Texas

Be aware. Be prepared. Be informed.

Riverwalker

Surviving In The South Texas Coastal Plains

Generally speaking, I wouldn't advise trying to survive a SHTF scenario down here, but the Karankawa did manage to scratch out a living.....

Water will be your biggest problem. The Nueces River does run down here, but it is brackish all the way to the low water dam at Labonte Park, just as you enter Corpus Christi from I-37. Oso Creek also runs along the southwest side of Corpus Christi, and it too is brackish for quite a distance upstream.

The area is considered "semi-arid", and rightly so. The average annual rainfall for the area is only 32.26 inches, with September being the wettest month at 5.03 inches on average, and that moisture usually being of a tropical nature. January is typically the driest month at an average 1.62 inches. I wouldn't rely on rain catchment for water here.....

That being said, directly on the coast the water table is fairly high, only 3 or 4 feet in places. Ranchers on Padre Island watered their cattle simply by digging pits a few feet down. This can be done in my back yard in Flour Bluff on the Encinal Peninsula as well (though it is against city "code"). Areas north and west of Corpus Christi Bay typically receive more rainfall, as do the Kingsville and Rio Grande Valley areas.

Land right on the coast is typically sandy loam, with large areas of clay as well. Crops grow well a few miles inland in the rich, brown soil. There is little tree cover from the north shore of Corpus Christi Bay and the Nueces River southward, mostly huisatch and mesquite. North of the bay, live oaks proliferate.

South of the Encinal Peninsula, the King, Kennedy, Yturria, and El Sauz ranches cover most of the land between the Laguna Madre and US 77, all the way to Port Mansfield, about 80 miles as the crow flies. The lone exceptions are Riviera Beach and Loyola Beach on the western end of Baffin Bay, near Kingsville. North and west of Kingsville is brush land, lots of smaller ranches, and little to no surface water.

On the plus side, fish are plentiful! Speckled trout, red drum, black drum, and southern flounder are the major varieties, along with sand trout, golden croaker, gafftop and hardhead catfish, the occasional snook, pompano, and offshore species like whiting, bluefish, king mackerel, spanish mackerel, wahoo, yellowfin and blackfin tuna, red/gray/vermilion/mutton/mangrove/and yellowtail snappers, amberjack, jewfish, strawberry/warsaw groupers, scamp, cobia...... We also have plentiful stone crab, blue crab, oysters, scallops on occasion, brown/white and Gulf species of shrimp, and more.

Migratory birds love this place as well. Many species of ducks and geese winter here, or at least stop by for a while (I hear mesquite grilled whooping crane is delicious! Heh heh heh....). There are many, many resident species of birds here. It's a bird shooter's paradise (both gun and camera).

And there are plenty of game critters here. Cotton tails galore, red squirrels, white tail deer out the wazoo, feral hogs, javelina, cows...... Oops, cows ain't game critters (and shootin' one of those is likely to get you shot back!) ha ha. Anyways, there you have it. South Texas Coastal Bend in a nutshell.....