You may have noticed that the spot price of silver jumped another 20
cents yesterday. Take a few minutes to read these two interesting analyses
that recently ran
at
Gold-Eagle.com: http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_05/stein012706.html and, http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_05/murphy012806.html
In the latter article, it is noted that the silver 60 date lease rates
just went into an upright spike. This is a clear sign that alarm
bells have sounded at the COMEX and they are
trying desperately to suppress the galloping spot and futures silver
prices. (Some futures contracts are presently pushing $12 an ounce!)
But unless
the
COMEX
does a repeat of its 1979-1980 shenanigans and changes
the margin requirements for the futures market, then they won't be
successful at holding down the spot price of silver. I suspect
that a total desperation move like that won't happen until Kodak and
the other big industrial users start to whine. You can expect
that to happen once silver crosses the $40 mark. But by then it won't
matter. Even if they slap a 100% margin requirement on silver
futures contracts (like they did a quarter century ago, to stop
the Hunt Brothers , it will be too late. Why? Because by then, the
Generally Dumb Public (GDP) will have finally woken from their slumber
and will be swarming to their local coin shops to plunk down
some of their spare cash to get some 1 ounce silver rounds or pre-1964
junk silver. At that stage, "junk" silver will probably
be selling at 20+ times face value.
I predict that this market is going to completely get away from the
COMEX and Wall Street manipulators. Today (January 31st) they will
probably do their best to push the metals prices down temporarily. After
all, they wouldn't want to cast a bad light on either the President's
State of the Union address or upon Ben Bernanke's first few days
at his
new central bank job. They'll sell enough to keep the price down for
a few days or perhaps even for a few weeks, but inevitably it will
be like trying to stop a a rising tide. The mainstream media will
probably
refer to this as "Bernanke's
first management crisis." Given the fanciful underpinnings of
the U.S. Dollar (which has a REAL value that approaches ZERO), this
will doubtless be the first of several Volker-esque crises
for "Helicopter
Ben."
The futures markets for gold and silver are getting frantic. I suspect that
there will be a massive short squeeze in the near future. The run up in prices
may take all but us die-hard silver bears by surprise. Mark my words: Silver
could double in price and then double again, all within the span of a month,
once the perma-shorts realize that something has changed fundamentally and
they have to cover their short positions, fast. As I've mentioned
before, the silver market is very thin compared that of gold, and
hence tends to be more volatile. After a short term correction,
look for some volatile moves
upward in the near future!
Today's Daily Reckoning had
some extensive quotes from Dr. Kurt Richebächer.
Here is just a brief snippet:
"You know what amazes me most is that Americans have come to believe that
consequences
no longer exist. They think they can do whatever they want for as long as they
want...and nothing will ever go wrong." This is probably the first generation
of Americans to believe that savings don't matter. It is also the first generation
to believe that America
doesn't really need to make anything; it can buy what it needs from abroad. But
where will it get the money? "That's the thing," Dr. Richebächer
went on. "They think
the bubble
economy will never end, but bubbles always end. This one will end, too. And there
will be consequences, and not very pleasant ones. This is not
something the Fed can manage..."
The Gold-Eagle pundits summarized Dr. Richebächer's conclusion thusly: "According
to
Dr. Richebächer, our nation's "recovery" is largely a matter of
the short-term transference of money from people's home equity, secured and unsecured
loans and credit cards into consumer-level retail purchases - into the hands
of
financial institutions or the risky realm of
speculative investment."
If you have the time, read Dr. Richebächer's full report: "Your Choice: The Truth - Or The Consequences" See: http://www1.youreletters.com/t/332871/7796936/783705/0/
Hi Jim,
When TSHTF it is nice to
have a lantern that can use almost any flammable liquid for fuel, including
used motor oil. Also, one can mix the present
fuel with whatever else is available to fill the lantern and continue
to use it.This German designed lantern has been around since the [early[
1900s. It is now in its fifth generation and the fifth generation is
the only
Petromax
lantern to be tested and listed as a truly multi-fuel lantern. Please
note, all previous generations are not truly multi-fuel lantern although
that claim is advertised. Caveat emptor! There are
many places to purchase a Petromax lantern on the Internet, survival,
hardware and other stores.
One has to be careful since some do not have the thick glass globes
that can withstand rain drops without shattering and some have cheap
parts that wear out quickly. There are many impostor such as the cheap
Chinese spin
offs
selling far below the price of the fifth generation Petromax. Some
of us, if not most, have been down this road before: purchasing a cheaper
copy cat item only to find out we got taken to the cleaners.
Not only is this a multi-fuel lantern, it can be easily adapted to be a multitasking tool to light, heat (50 square feet area) and cook at the same time by purchasing the accessories. It takes only a minute to convert it. One does have to have the lantern operating in order to cook. If light discipline is not an issue this is a great setup for saving fuel. I have two of these setups with extra globes, mantels, bicycle EZ-PUMP adapters, EZ-COOK adapter and rebuild kits in my survival supplies. BTW, the rebuild kits and instructional video were free when I purchased the lantern. I researched for about two months before deciding to purchase mine. As a general rule, if time permits I call a prospective place of business to see if they are knowledgeable of the item(s) I am interested in, if they keep a current inventory of spare parts, and gauge their professionalism. That is the reason I chose to purchase from Britelyt Multi fuel Products http://www.britelyt.com/. They also sell methanol lanterns. Methanol can be used inside with less worry of carbon monoxide and it stores indefinitely. If you have never used one of these lanterns, then the video is a must. They sell a multi-fuel stove weighing 4 pounds that runs 5-6 hours on 1 quart of fuel, producing 8K-to-10K BTUs. - Find1
Howdy Jim,
For those with sufficient storage space, an item worth considering
is the UHT (Ultra High Temperature) pasteurized milk products.
In one-quart containers at around $1.40, they are available in whole
milk and the 2% variety. The manufacturers give a shelf life of 6 to
10 months and the product requires no refrigeration until opened.
UHT dairy products have been on the shelves in Europe for more than
20 years. They were previously unavailable to the U.S. consumer because
the government felt their availability would "disrupt the milk
support program." Sure beats powdered milk! - Dutch in Wyoming
JWR Replies: For a short term supply (up to six months), UHT Retort -packaged milk makes a lot of sense. For longer term, you should store nitrogen-packed canned powdered nonfat milk from a competent and reliable vendor such as Ready Made Resources or Walton Feed. I have found that the nonfat variety stores the best because it is the butterfat in whole milk that goes rancid, significantly shortening the shelf life. (BTW, the powdered milk sold at grocery stores that comes in foil-lined boxes goes rancid far too quickly--at times it is borderline rancid even when bought in a brand new package!) The Memsahib has been drinking retort packaged rice milk for about five years now. Rice and soy "milks" store even longer than cow milk. Like any other storage food, be sure to store retort package "bricks" in the coolest (but not ever below freezing) part of your house, and away from vermin. (It is amazing what rats will chew on.) Never stack individual retort bricks horizontally more than five bricks high, or vertically more than seven bricks high, or in cardboard cases (of vertical bricks) more than five cases high.
Jim:
Shooter wrote: "as Instructor Greg
told me last night, armed citizens will probably draw their weapons
more
times
than
they
will
shoot them
in a potential lethal force encounter." I've been carrying
for over 40 years now and have always gone by the rule if you show
your weapon to your opponent, it's as you are firing
it. To do otherwise
is "brandishing" and giving away your advantage. I also carry a $20
wrapped around a matchbook with a rubber band. [This is the "throwaway" concept
popularized
by self defense writer Massad Ayoob.] Several
years
ago, in
Aurora, Colorado, I was sort of accosted by a Hispanic group. Having identified
the leader,
I threw him the $20 and suggested that he "Go buy the boys some drinks on
me."
They
left. That was a lot cheaper than explaining why I killed the three of them.
They never knew how close they came and it was none of their business. Just my
two cents worth. Regards, - The Army Aviator
Note from JWR: The following letter is a reply to the excellent series of informative letters on various dog breeds that ran in December of 2005. Refer to the SurvivalBlog Archives for those letters.
James:
I would like to mention the cur breeds as dogs that could be
useful in a retreat situation. The Blackmouth cur, mountain cur,
catahoula, and blue lacy would all make good choices. These were the original
homestead dogs, used by the pioneers to work livestock, hunt and
trail game, and to protect the family from Indians, bandits, and wild
animals.
These breeds are still common in many parts of the rural south and
are used by many people to hunt wild hogs and work cows. They range
in size from 30-50 pounds (blue lacy and mountain cur) to 60-100
pounds (blackmouth). Because they haven't been used in show breeding programs
these dogs
are relatively free from most health problems, although the catahoula
is becoming popular and starting to develop problems in some strains.
If I didn't have a dog and was looking to get one for a retreat I'd ask
around
feed stores and sale barns and find somebody who's dog
had puppies. You could
get an idea of it's parents demeanor and what it was used for. Don't restrict
yourself to purebreds, I have a heeler/border collie mix that can blood trail,
work cows or goats, bay hogs, and is willing to fight anything that walks
if it threatens my family or any child. He also stays alert and as
long as he's
around nothing can sneak up on me. Thank you so much for your website, I
am fairly young and have learned a LOT from it about topics I had never
even
considered until recently. I just
got
Patriots in
the mail yesterday and this is the first time I've put it down, between
that and reading [the shareware novel] "Lights Out" I have really
changed my mindset a lot in the last few weeks. Keep up the good work.
- K.I.
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 flu pandemic ran on Oprah last week.
Even the U.S. Government is now recommending storing food for "several
weeks" instead
of the "three day supply" mantra that they have been chanting
for decades. Think this though: If and when the A.A.
flu jumps species lines into an easily transmissible form, suddenly
EVERYONE is going to want storage foods so that they can hunker down
in self-quarantine. Consider that if
just five percent of American families increased their food storage
larder
by
one or
two
weeks, it
would devastate
the
supply chain for long term
storage
foods. Quit just "considering it", folks! Stock
up. Please take a look at the web sites for our advertisers that sell
storage foods. They
have a wide selection and some great prices. By patronizing any of
these vendors, you will help support SurvivalBlog:
Survival
Enterprises
Freeze Dry Guy
JRH
Enterprises
Ready Made Resources
Safe Castle
Safe Solutions
o o o
There is a new blog at http://NoNAIS.org to educate people about the upcoming USDA's National Animal Identification System regulations that will harm small farmers, homesteaders and pet owners as well as raising the prices of food for consumers.
"The average man's love of liberty is nine-tenths imaginary. It takes a special sort of man to understand and enjoy liberty -- and he is usually an outlaw in democratic societies." - H.L. Mencken
Greetings JWR,
A few words about the article that David sent you on fire suppression:
While I admit my wildland fire fighting experience is limited, as
a member
of private forest industry we do a lot for fire prevention. My
associations with fire run deep. David recommended talking to state
and Federal forest entities...look up your local private industry forester.
Often these people are happy to give advice and know contacts of people
with the equipment and knowledge to do the work at reasonable rates.
First, do not wait to make a clearing around your house...make one
around your property. Two of the best fire breaks are roads and clear
cuts. The ideal situation is a backhoe or Cat[erpillar tractor] line
around your property with
no trees (ideally) within 1-1.5 tree lengths of the fire line. As David
mentioned, properly thinned forests are key as well. Crowns should
have air around them, such that crowns are not touching. Spacing should
be increased the drier your property is--dependent on rainfall and
aspect (i.e. slope: south, north, etc. facing). It's wise to research
what species are fire resistant in your area and select for them [to
remain] when thinning. Fire that is on the ground is fire that can
be controlled. So keep the ladder fuels (i.e. smaller trees that lead
up to bigger trees) thinned out. Multi-story management is alright
as long as spacings are still observed and crowns do not touch crowns.
Roads or skid trails (taken down to bare mineral soil ) in key defensible
locations like along ridge lines can be used to your advantage. Remember
that roots burn as well, so hack all those bad boys off and clear the
trail. During a worst case scenario, a couple people could run along
a ridge line and with chain saws dump the trees into the fire side
away from the skid trail. This is not necessarily advisable while the
fire is at your door step but if there is one burning in your general
direction it may be necessary. Fire lines around your property can
be easily maintained with a back pack sprayer and Round Up [herbicide].
This also comes in handy since under burns have to be reburned every
couple years, depending on vegetation types. Good and well-maintained
fire lines keep your fire off your neighbors land as well as their
fire off yours. Heavy woody debris or brush can accumulate over periods
of 4-5 years before having to be burned. Grass needs burning more frequently.
Personal observations of excess vegetation will be required.
Fire can also be fought with fire. While burning your own property,
play around in small areas with black lining ( or burning fuel in front
of the fire so that it cannot go further ) and learn what works best...i
e. heat is drawn to heat et cetera. I burn my grass field every spring
as soon as the grass will hold a flame and try something different
every time I can, just to learn and see what will work best.
It might be handy to invest in a diesel drip torch ["dribbler."]
I've found that this is the best tool for managing under burns--it
is easy
to use...
walk
along [with the tip held out to the side of your path] and drip. It
does all the work. Forestry suppliers will carry this item.
Regarding Boots: I spend A LOT of money on boots as they are vital to my livelihood. "Whites" are no longer "the best" in my experience and opinion. "Nicks" (located in Spokane, Washington) is a smaller company started by an ex-Whites employee who wanted to make boots the way "Whites" used to make boots. A new pair starts at about $375.00. As long as the uppers stay sound you can have them rebuilt for about one hundred seventy-five bucks, usually a 3-4 month wait for them, so order early. Vibram soles for fire, but for everyday woods stomping I like calked ("corked") boots, unless, of course, there is a lot of rock in an area. Expect to rebuild them every 1-2 years with HEAVY use. On any boot designed like the "Whites: Smoke Jumper" the spot that I've found will wear and crack first, is the instep by the arch support--design makes it difficult to grease this area and keep it supple. I recommend Obernaufs...it is good for greasing your boots. I like to bake it in- then I take a bees wax ring (the ones used for toilets) and smear that over the top and bake 'em little more. Be careful, however, the wax is a drying agent (I have cracked leather using pure wax.) Be sure and use your grease first, before applying the wax. Laces are also a problem--- Leather with the heavy wet dry action, tend break a lot. Most of the fiber ones seem to fray and are pricey as well. I have started using parachute cord as a cheap alternative...seems to work great. Thanks much - E.B. of N. Idaho
Mr. Rawles:
I was researching lanterns a couple of months
ago and came across information that it is possibly hazardous to use
gasoline in Petromax type lanterns.
http://lampguild.org/QandApage/archives/Q0002790.htm
http://lampguild.org/QandApage/archives/Q0001491.htm
http://lampguild.org/QandApage/archives/Q0002492.htm
http://lampguild.org/QandApage/archives/Q0002487.htm
I also found that Coleman makes a "kerosene only" pressure
lantern http://www.coleman.com/coleman/ColemanCom/subcategory.asp?CategoryID=1025 and
two British companies make kerosene pressure lanterns Tilley http://www.tilleylamp.co.uk/ and
Vapalux http://www.bairstowbrothers.co.uk/vapalux/index.htm. The
Vapalux lamps carried in the USA by Garret Wade http://www.garrettwade.com.
Best Wishes, - C.H.
Jim,
I should probably put a disclaimer at the top of my next article. Let me say
that "B.B." is right. We should all be aware of our local laws
and regulations with regards to use of lethal force. That being said, as
Instructor Greg told me last night, armed citizens will probably draw their
weapons more times than they will shoot them in a potential lethal force
encounter. It is my hope and goal in writing these articles for the Survivalblog
readership that we all operate under the same fundamental techniques. Not
that I want to re-invent the wheel, but, rather, create a better one with
tips and techniques learned from accredited instructors. Just remember that
I am providing tips, tools, and techniques to make you a better and stronger
warrior in TEOTWAWKI times.
Another trick we learned in class to help remember we live in a 360 degree
world is to count how many fingers that someone standing behind you is holding
up. Everyone in the class practices this while on the firing line. By shouting
out the number of fingers, you verbally confirm that you have scanned the threat
area behind you.
B.B. reminds us all that keeping the finger in register and off the trigger
is a good habit to have. He's absolutely right! You want to keep that finger
as high in register as possible so when they play the cheapest and grainiest
convenience store surveillance footage, your intentions are perfectly clear
to the jury. I can't stress the three rules enough:
1) Keep your finger off the trigger.
2) Keep your #$%& finger off the trigger.
3) Keep your #$%& finger off the &$%# trigger.*
*unless sights are confirmed and it is safe to shoot.
Best Regards, - Shooter
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 views on other topics.
o o o
The folks at PolySteel (http://www.polysteel.com) just sent me a nifty CD-ROM with a video--only about 10 minutes long--about their Insulated Concrete Forms (ICFs). They send copies of this CD-ROM free to anyone that is considering building with ICFs. BTW, there are at least eight different competing brands of ICFs these days, so you should shop around before you buy.
o o o
SurvivalBlog reader "False Muzzle" tells me that Morocco is perhaps the world's the best bargain for someone who wants to retire overseas. I'm not sure how Morocco would rate in terms of self-sufficiency or friendliness toward ferengi in the event of TEOTWAWKI, but it is certainly getting popular with French retirees. Would you believe the equivalent of USD $37.50 per month for a multi-bedroom apartment, or $100 per month to rent a three bedroom house? Or how about $2-to-$3 a day for a maid, and $1 a day to have someone do your shopping and run errands for you? Just some "Food for Thought and Grounds for Further Research." (FFTAGFFR) False Muzzle also mentioned an interesting web site for would-be expatriates: http://www.expatfocus.com BTW, one of my favorite sites that is along the same lines is: http://www.escapeartist.com
o o o
A reader alerted me to an interesting site on survival topics: http://thesurvivalist.tripod.com/index.html
"We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth...For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it. I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided; and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging the future but by the past. Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves longer." - Patrick Henry, 1736-1799
The letters stating that only trained people should suture wounds
are absolutely correct, you must be trained and it definitely falls
into the category of a "skilled intervention."
Clearly, I did not stress this enough.
A good way to get an basic level
(non-skilled) orientation to using medical skills is ride along with
fire and EMS, Hospitals
may allow observers in the ER and
other wards if you can find a good reason. A good way to form a relationship
with health care providers in this situation is to do research for
writing a book. After the releases are signed you will (with due respect
for privacy) possibly even be allowed to photograph stages of treatment
along with taking notes for yourself. Hospitals have a
secondary purpose it is continual training of the doctors, nurses,
techs, and staff so expect a many good teachers. Many fields of work
from engineering to forestry are happy to allow on site interviews
and research if you know how to ask and approach in a professional
manner. These interview notes sessions must be taken for what they
really are
skin deep looks
at these vital highly skilled interventions and hopefully a motivation
to put in the effort to obtain proper certification verifying to the
world (and yourself) that you are qualified in the skills you claim
to posses as well as protection under many state good Samaritan acts.
JWR Adds: I concur that SurvivalBlog readers should
get as much medical training as possible. The time may come when you
folks reading
this have
a
major trauma patient laying before you (for example a gun shot wound,
knife wound, or a farm tractor accident) and no doctor
available to help you for
hours or days. Two of the most crucial skills are learning
how to stop bleeding and how to treat for shock. OBTW, I highly recommend
a new product designed to stop bleeding called Traumadex. It comes
with an instructional DVD that is amazing. (The DVD shows Traumadex
being
applied
to induced
wounds on pigs--even stopping bleeding from a femoral artery!)
Traumadex is now available from Ready
Made Resources and just a few other vendors.
Greetings Mr. Rawles,
I may be able to offer a bit of information on the Petromax lantern
to the readers. I purchased one prior to Y2K.
I have used mine off and on during power outages over the years. One
thing to remember about
the Petromax is that their startup procedure is a bit different than
Coleman lanterns. So any new owner must read the instruction manuals
from cover to cover, and make sure anyone who would be charged with
operating the lantern be fully aware of the startup procedure. A bit
of a funny story was when we were hit by a power outage a couple years
ago. I retrieved a flashlight just to see where I had packed back the
Petromax in the bug out equipment. After unpacking the Petromax I proceeded
to fill and start up the Petromax, and since it had be a long while
since I fired it up I thought that I remembered the
procedures. I always startup any liquid filled pressure lantern or
liquid portable
appliance
outside of the house, just in case. Well, I did not remember the procedure
as I thought I had, and I had created a very good flame-thrower! Not
too good! My wife was standing at the door saying something to the
effect, "Boy, you are going to burn the hair off your face!" WHOOSH!
She was right, no eyebrows and one slightly damaged moustache! So to
anyone who wants to use one of these re-read the directions
if you think that you have any doubts about startup procedures.
I mention this bit of comedy because if I had not followed my own procedure
of starting
liquid fuel lanterns outside, and making sure they were performing
as they should before entering in the house or garage; the results
could have been catastrophic. These are great lanterns, but as with
all things safety first, and read directions or re-read them if it
has been awhile since you have operated any equipment.
My personal opinion is that any group needs to have at least on of
the 500 CP lanterns. I
purchased it not only for general lighting but I saw a situation where
you would need very bright white light in special
circumstances such as repairing equipment at night and most importantly
for medical, i.e. surgical procedures. With the hanging options, and
reflector for the Petromax you have a perfect OR, or
medical treatment light when there is no electricity. The large lantern
when hung higher
will allow lighting of a large area. As a table or room light the 500
CP is extremely bright. But the Petromax people, being forward thinking,
have provided a solution. They have a frosted chimney to cut down on
the harshness of the mantle's light. That is next on the 'to buy' list.
See:
http://www.britelyt.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=BPP&Product_Code=500F
At one time they had an amber chimney to keep bugs away for when the
lantern is used outside, but I have not seen this chimney on their site.
If
you want to include this additional chimney you may need to ask if
they still offer them.
One extra item that I purchased was the Easy Pump Valve. This valve
allows you to attach a hand bicycle pump or a CO2 cartridge
to pressurize the lantern. Using the standard hand pump can really
do a job on your
thumb, especially for older people like me. But this resolves that
problem quite nicely.
http://www.britelyt.com/pump1.htm
For the 150 Lantern there is an Isopropyl Alcohol Conversion Kit, see: http://www.britelyt.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=BPP&Product_Code=ISPA-150CP
There is also a kit for the 500CP and 350 CP lantern to burn Isopropyl
Alcohol more efficiently. http://www.britelyt.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=BPP&Product_Code=ALC-3350
I will not part with my Petromax, and plan on purchasing one of the
smaller variants. To my knowledge this is the safest pressure multi-fuel
lantern on the market for indoor use (excepting propane lanterns).
There may be others out there I am not aware of. If there is, someone
chime in and let everyone know. These are built to pass on to the next
generation and can be rebuilt from ground up if needed during a time
of disaster, providing you have spare parts. Purchasing the parts most
susceptible to wear out or break at time of initial purchase is the
way to go. I hope this helps, and remember, read all instructions on
firing these puppies up. OBTW, here is Tech Link to Petromax Lanterns
for those who have lost the instructions or for new people who want
to
read up
before plunking
down the bucks: http://www.britelyt.com/technical.htm -
The Rabid One
Jim,
I am a professional financial planner and portfolio manager and I share
your feeling that the price of silver is going up. However, I do not
believe that the Silver Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) will
be approved in the near future. The problem is that there is
not enough physical silver readily available
to be able to fund it at any reasonable level. In other words, approval
of the ETF would be way too disruptive to the market at the current
time and I think the regulators realize this. I got the impression
from reading your post today that the ETF is a done deal, but I give
this a maybe 10% chance of happening in 2006. I do predict that silver
is headed into the $12-$15 range in the next 12 to 18 months (I just
saw a report that [silver] futures contracts are being sold at $12
[per troy ounce] now.) Perhaps by then the short sellers will have
been weeded out of the
market and
new production will step in to fill the void.
On a side note, check out the price on uranium – the spot price
is up almost 500% in the last four years and is in a screaming up trend.
Obviously you can’t buy a 100 ounce bar and stick in your safe,
but you can buy the shares of a couple of the major producers and leverage
the gains. I’m a firm believer that future power generation will
have to be nuclear – there is no other viable, economic choice.
- D.S.
"Like gold, U.S. dollars have value only to the extent that they are strictly limited in supply. But the U.S. government has a technology, called a printing press (or, today, its electronic equivalent), that allows it to produce as many U.S. dollars as it wishes at essentially no cost...A money-financed tax cut is essentially equivalent to Milton Friedman's famous "helicopter drop" of money." - incoming Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, Deflation: Making Sure 'It' Doesn't Happen Here (Remarks to the National Economists' Club, Washington, DC, Nov 21, 2002)
Note From JWR: We will be announcing the winner of Round 2 our non-fiction writing contest on February 1st. The prize is a four day course certificate at Front Sight.
I greatly appreciate your e-mails, folks. Please keep them coming. They are what make SurvivalBlog great. Your collective knowledge is phenomenal.
Yesterday on SurvivalBlog (27 Jan.06) , I posted my take on the Iran situation
and correlated it to the precious metals market--and silver in particular.
Since
then I've
had
two
different
readers e-mail to ask why I'm so sure about an
imminent jump in
the price
of silver. Here
is some useful background:
World silver inventories have fallen to less than 600 million ounces--far
below the 1.4 billion ounces that was on hand in 1991. The silver market
is incredibly thin compared to the gold
market. That is one reason that silver prices trend to be more
volatile that gold prices. For perspective, consider that together,
the two big gold Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)
hold around six million ounces of gold. The current ratio of silver
to gold prices is around 57 to one. Hence, if the new silver ETF
(or multiple ETFs) were hold an equivalent value in silver, that
would mean 342 million ounces. That well exceeds the entire
world's silver market inventory! As my maternal grandfather
used to say in his fractured Spanish: "No ay ningun possibilidad." ("There
ain't no way.") This data leads me to the conclusion
that even if the new silver ETF has perhaps only 1/4 the cash value
of the Gold ETFs, then the silver market will still explode.
Mark my words: Even in the absence of international tension with Iran
and other contributing factors, there
will
probably be a huge short squeeze in the silver market in the near future.
The upside potential is astronomical.
Here is an update on my retreat community land deal in the Inland Northwest: We could not come to agreement over terms of the sale. The seller has decided he wants a cash offer. If the situation changes, I will post an update. At this point, all that I can hope for is that a "white knight" will step forward and take over the project, or lend me the cash needed. But for now, the land development project is on the back burner.
Jim:
This time I'm the one asking questions: Petromax lanterns. Okay, I
know about the upgrades all the way thru BriteLyt, etc. One comment,
based on what I read at the Walton
Feed website: http://www.waltonfeed.com/petromax.html.
They don't recommend the cooking surface that fits on top of the
lamp. Best
to read their comments directly.
Now there are some good, should I say copies?, but what I'm
curious about
is the Candle Power/Lumens of the various lamps. The 500 generally
is considered to be equal to a 100 watt light bulb. There is a 350
candle power (CP)
mantle and a new improvement replacing the ceramic
jet with a stainless steel one. There is also a smaller one that doesn't
get much press: The 150 CP version. This is what I'm curious about.
I know, being American, I'm
supposed to buy the big lantern that is bright as heck. BUT I tend
toward lower light levels. I never did like the Coleman gas lanterns.
They
always seemed like a bazillion watt stadium light to me. Anybody using
the Petromax/Britelyt 150? I assume that the fuel lasts longer and
it puts out less heat but still a fair bit of light. Any good stories
or bits of advice? I'm probably picking up a couple of the small ones
(yes, of course, along with spare globes, pump kits, and lots of mantels)
next week along with the metal lampshade things and the tree hanger
with
the chain. Does anybody have opinions on the side reflectors? Thanks,
- The Army Aviator
JWR Replies: I'm an old-fashioned Alladin lamp diehard, so I don't know much about the Petromax lanterns and their clones. However, I do recommend getting shade kits, because those lamps are incredibly bright--as in retinal-burning bright! Hopefully a SurvivalBlog reader will e-mail me with their collected wisdom about these lamps.
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 news for FN/FAL builders.
You've probably heard that the BATFE created
a shortage of barrels with their arbitrary decision to restrict import
licenses on military surplus semi-auto parts kits. To remedy this situation,
Gun Parts Guy has
started producing U.S.-made FN-FAL and L1A1 barrels. See: http://www.gunpartsguy.com/
o o o
Mainland China will be introducing its "Geely" economy car into the U.S. market in 2008. How charming. I suspect that the low sticker price will be based on fact that most of the parts will be produced in China's lao gui prison factories. Those commie bast**ds!
o o o
The folks at The
Pre-1899 Specialist report that just as they were about to run out
of Turkish contract pre-1899 (no FFL)
Model 1893 Oberndorf Mausers, their persistence paid off and they found another
small batch. The bad news is that these ones
cost them a lot more than the previous lot (since the supply in the U.S. has
virtually dried up). But the good news news is that these latest
ones are in fantastic condition! (The importer had apparently
been "saving
the best for last.") This is your chance to get a high pressure 8 x57
Mauser (suitable for re-barreling for many modern chamberings) delivered
right to your doorstep without filling out a Form 4473. There is no
stinkin' paperwork required because these rifles are Federally classified as "antiques" and
hence entirely outside of Federal jurisdiction. (Consult your
state and local laws before you place an order, naturlich.)
o o o
On Jan. 31st: America will say Goodbye to "Mr. Magoo" Greenspan,
and get introduced to "Helicopter Ben" Bernanke. See Adam
Hamilton's insightful
commentary on "The
Greenspan Legacy" at: http://www.gold-eagle.com/gold_digest_05/hamilton012706.html
"Your failure to be informed, does not make me a whacko." - John Loeffler, host of the Steel on Steel radio program
I've had more than a dozen e-mails from SurvivalBlog readers in
recent weeks regarding Iran's plans open a new oil bourse in March
that will be denominated
in Euros. Meanwhile there is lots of saber rattling going
on, regarding Iran's nuclear program--leading to the prospect of
an Iranian
oil embargo, which could of course mean very bad things for the U.S.
economy. I have no idea how these two semi-related situations will
play out. I'd be a fool to say that I knew. Aside for a few
Ayatollahs, nobody knows. All that I can
tell you is that these situations spell instability and uncertainty.
The speculative side of the precious metals market is driven by fear,
and I think that there will be plenty of fear in the coming months.
Therefore, I can foresee a spike in the price of precious metals.
The biggest gain will surely be in silver, which has been undervalued
for
years. In fact, silver could jump to over $90 an ounce. How? Here
is one scenario: What if the recently-announced silver exchange traded
fund (ETF) goes "live" at
roughly the same time as either a.) a dollar crisis
(precipitated by the new
oil bourse), or b.) an Iranian oil embargo, or c.) military
action in Iran--most likely an attack on their nuclear reactors. It
could even be a combination of all of the above.
Consider that silver ran up to $50
per ounce
during
the Hunt Brothers short squeeze/buying panic in the late 1970s. Adjusted
for inflation that
would be the equivalent of around $80 per ounce these days.
I can't overstate the significance of the Iran situation. For some
more background, see: http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_05/willie012506.html
I'm just glad that I bought nearly all my Engelhard 100 ounce bars
back when spot silver was around $4.40 an ounce!
Back in February of 2001, I stuck my neck out and "called the
bottom" publicly when spot silver dipped to $4.55 per ounce.
In that same post I predicted a possible further price sag to "as
low as $4.25." In fact it actually
bottomed a few months later, at around $4.16. Okay, so I missed calling
the exact the bottom, but on a
macro scale I fairly accurately called the end of a 15+
year bear market and the beginning of the current bull market. BTW,
if you think I'm making this up, see the Usenet newsgroup archives: http://groups.google.com/groups?q=Rawles+Calls+Bottom+Silver&hl=en
The
long term charts at Kitco.com are a real eye-opener.
Buckle your seat belts, folks. We are in for quite a roller coaster ride.
A SurvivalBlog reader in Montana recommended that I take a look at the new compact "ScramKits" being offered by Safecastle. I must say that I'm impressed. They pack a lot of survival gear into a very small space. Their "Responder Personal" kit is in effect a miniature "Get Out of Dodge" (G.O.O.D.) kit or "bug out bag" (BOB) that you should keep in your car's glove box or center console box at all times. This kit fits in its own heavy duty belt pouch (available in three different colors) with ALICE/MOLLE attachments I think that the ScramKit makes the ideal "core" of a more comprehensive G.O.O.D. kit. Add a tube tent and/or a couple of heavy duty space blankets and you have shelter for longer duration. Add a canteen and a day pack full of MREs, retort packaged, and/or freeze dried food to that, and you've got sustenance for a week. Add a whompin' big sheath knife, and...
Here is what the kit contains:
* Maxpedition™ M5 waistbag in your choice of
black, green, or khaki (as available)
* Personal-size first aid kit (in separately-removable bag)
* Pocket Survival Pack™ (in waterproof bag), from Adventure Medical Kits,
which contains a treasure trove of goodies:
o Rescue Howler™ whistle
o Emergency signal mirror
o Fluid-filled magnetic compass
o Fire starter kit
o Duct tape (2" x 26")
o Scalpel blade
o Stainless steel utility wire (6 feet long)
o Nylon thread
o Nylon braided "paracord"
o Fishing gear: hooks, sinkers, swivel, nylon line
o Heavy-duty aluminum foil (1 sq. yard)
o Large sewing needle & safety pins
o Waterproof paper and pencil
* Tool Logic SL3™ folding knife with integral whistle
and fire starter rod
* Tool Logic Ice Card II™ credit-card multi tool
system
* Tool Logic T1 Tech Light™ LED clip-on flashlight
* Emergency mylar "space" blanket
* 2 earloop face masks (surgical grade) in separate ziplock bags
* 2 pairs of nitrile exam gloves (non-sterile) paired up into separate ziplock
bags
* GP4L digital shortwave radio with built-in regulated LED flashlight (includes
earbuds) in a crush-resistant plastic case
* 16-foot windup antenna for the GP4L radio.
The Responder Personal kit provides the following capabilities:
* Basic first aid
* Basic respiratory protection (biological)
* Moderate emergency response
* Basic lighting (redundant)
* Basic fire starting (redundant)
* Basic tooling & gear repair
* Moderate communications (reception only)
The bottom line: I highly recommend this kit. Yes, you could assemble your own comparable kit, but that would take a lot of research and placing six or seven separate mail orders. And because of economies of scale (since Safecastle no doubt buys all of the components in quantity and hence commands lower prices from their suppliers) you wouldn't save much money by doing the piecemeal purchasing yourself. One important proviso: Don' t take one of these kits on a commercial airplane flight unless the kit is inside of your checked luggage. (The pocket knife, snare wire, fire starters, and stainless surgical blades would be enough to give the TSA screeners fits of apoplexy!)
"The world is not the way they tell you it is." - Adam Smith, 1723-1790, economist and philosopher
You may have noticed that yesterday gold briefly touched $565 per ounce and silver hit $9.44 per ounce and stayed there. Methinks this bull market is just getting started! Aside for some doldrums this summer (since summers are typically quiet for the metals markets), you can expect a choppy but generally upward (stair-stepping) path for the precious metal prices through the rest of the year. The 90 and 120 day moving averages (DMAs) point to the bull market trend to continue WELL in excess of the rate of inflation. There is even the chance of on "upright spike" in the event of a dollar crisis. I've said it before and I'll say it again: On a macro scale, the second half of this "Aughts" decade will probably resemble the second half of the 1970s. I just hope that the Federal Reserve's new chief ("Helicopter Ben" Bernanke) can crank up his bubble machine fast enough to avert simultaneous stock market and real estate market collapses. This could get very interesting, folks. I expect that the U.S. real estate bubble will burst, sometime around May of '06. There are already signs that the bubble is starting to lose some of its hot air. For example, see: http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/19/real_estate/home_money_0602/
For those with a real retreat in the forest or high desert a more pressing
need than complete firearms battery is fire suppression. If
you miss my point here, I believe that many survivalists confuse
their gun
hobby with serious survival preparations.
If the massive combined fire suppression ever stops for even a year
massive fires will rip across the United States. Fuel loading from
over 70 years of fire suppression and no natural burn-off has made
conditions ripe for fires never seen before in North America. Even
if your only survival concerns are foreign invasion or occupation expect
fire to be used (as was
attempted but failed during the Vietnam Agent Orange defoliation ops)
to clear insurgents out of unsettled areas and deny them cover and
natural resources.
This is a massive topic and this post can only give you areas to begin
study.
1-Thin the vegetation as far as you are practical able to in the area
of your home/retreat ideally this would be a county or community effort
and the USFS or State Forestry
Agency may be able to assist. Ideally, undergrowth would be burned
off and trees closer than 5-10M to another
would be removed to slow spread through a forest crown fire.
2-Create a perimeter around your home grass must be mowed to a stubble
and raked off, no trees can be within 10M of the house any building
or fuel tank.
Try to eliminate flammable trees in the nearby areas to your home and
plant less flammable types.
3-Switch to a non flammable roof now, shake roofs are tinder and
are almost a guarantee of a burned home in a fire
4-Make active suppression preparations:
-
Install a irrigation
system, include the roofs and under the eaves of your buildings in
this sprinkler installation
- Install a swimming pool or cistern to provide a large supply of water
- Have a portable or installed gas powered water pump 250gpm is a good
rate more will support more hand lines but any is better than none
have a store of 1.5" supply line as well as 1" fire and 3/4" fire
(with garden hose fittings) types, nozzles, adapters, splitters etc
will round out the hardware. Standardize [fittings] with local
fire or fed/state agencies who would respond. BTW, it is best
to mark [with a distinctive bright paint color] all of your hardware
to prevent
theft
after a
fire by the crews.
A excellent preparation to keep you whole home with pressurized water
in the event of a prolonged outage is making a water tower and relying
on head pressure to feed both your home and fire suppression systems.
This is as simple as hanging plastic barrels on a tree trunk or as
complex as complex as having contractors install a proper water tower.
For the improvised tower remember the filled weight of your water (1
gal = 8.33 lbs. and 55 gal = 458 lbs.) and fence around the tower in
case of collapse so that nobody is injured.
Here in Israel I have seen the same "pumpkin" tanks that
we used in the Forest Service, but built to larger dimensions and more
aesthetic colors
and sold as swimming pools. Above
ground or in ground is a matter of your pocketbook but be sure that
you are able to properly draft to supply your fire operations.
Clothing
Nomex is best, USFS surplus
or military flight suits are good as long as no metal zippers contact
skin, the next best is cotton, Never wear synthetics or synthetic
blends for use around fire.
Boots/Gloves
Never wear steel toe boots for fire fighting, because the steel will
hold heat. Kevlar laces do not melt or burn. Keep boots and gloves
dry to prevent steam burns. White's brand were
the best in my day this may have changed. Good leather gloves light
enough to work in, do not oil them keep them dry buy as large a supply
as possible, kevlar stitching and double palm is a plus.
Gear
Buy a fire shelter for every family member plus extras, have several
fire shovels (different than cheap garden/work shovels) and Pulaskies
(hoe/axe tool), a helmet should always be worn during heavy work, and
possibly
blagger bags will help mop up after a fire has gone through. Also,
a chainsaw adequate for cutting the local timber and the skills
to use and maintain it are a must.
JWR Adds: David speaks from experience. Heed
his advice. Most of you may not be aware, but before he emigrated
to Israel, David
worked in the U.S. for many years as a full time fireman, and
later as a paramedic.
My $.02
worth on fire suppression/fire fighting: If you are building
a retreat from scratch or if you are replacing an existing water
system,
I recommend that you spend
a little bit more an put in a large cistern, preferably
with gravity feed with a substantial head, and put in a 2" diameter
Schedule 40 service line
to the
house. Just
outside of the house put in a "T" on the two inch line
with a 2"
gate valve. (Downstream of that "T" is where
you can reduced to 1" or smaller lines for your house.) Those
2" gate valves are outrageously expensive--around $50 each), so
shop around--perhaps buy them used. At
the big gate valve you can attach a proper high volume fire fighting
hose rig. Effective firefighting is all about dispensing a
large VOLUME of water,
fast. Anything smaller than a 2" diameter
line will not suffice! (Okay,
perhaps 1.5 inch line if you are on a tight budget.)
Jim:
Two words say it all: SHOE GOO. I snipped the following description
from a retailer online: "Shoe
Goo is a clear adhesive and sealant that easily and permanently repairs all
types of footwear. Apply it directly from the tube to worn out areas, allowing
it to harden overnight. Shoo Goo adheres to all kinds of materials, so use
it to mend rubber soles, tears in canvas or leather tops or to stop shoelaces
from fraying. It dries to a waterproof, flexible rubber, so it will repair
waders and boots without breaking or cracking under stress. Commonly used to
cover pitching toes on baseball or softball cleats, mend worn outsole areas
especially on running & skateboarding shoes, and repairing
loosening outsoles." See: http://www.weplay.com/Shoe/Goo/ Expect
to pay around $6 per tube. Wal-Mart sells it, as well.
Shoe Goo is not as durable as the original sole on running shoes, but you can
easily double the life of your footwear. And it is easier to pack a tube of
Shoo Goo than extra boots. - OSOM
"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 Pelton Wheel offerings)
Note From JWR: Things are progressing well with my proposed "Paratus Farms" retreat community. (See my post on Saturday, January 21, 2006.) One gent tells me that he wants to purchase between two and four of the parcels. That will leave at least three more parcels, but these will sell out quickly. Don't hesitate, folks. Additional details are available upon request, via e-mail.
James:
After reading David in Israel I had a few further suggestions.
All open wounds do not have to be sutured, in fact most wounds that
are
dirty
should not be sutured but allowed to drain, and heal by "secondary
intention" or basically healing from within. Not all soft tissue
wounds need to be cleaned, and dead and nonviable tissue trimmed away.
Abscess and further extension of infection can occur with a dirty wound
that it sutured closed. Wash with copious amount sterile water, dilute
betadine, or dilute hydrogen peroxide. Non dilute solutions often can
cause more damage to the tissue than necessary. Straight bleach, rubbing
alcohol, vinegar are all too strong and will cause additional damage.
Oral or IV antibiotics
may be needed during this time. Now organ lacerations are a different
animal,
particularly with bowel wound, these need
to be isolated and repaired. Obviously only a well trained person will
be able to do "surgery" to this extent. Leaving sutures in
can scar, so a rule of thumb is 10 days for most wounds, 7 for thinner
skin, and 3-5 on the face. Obviously scar formation is less of an issue
in a SHTF case, and some
wounds may need to be over sutured in order to transport a patient
over rough terrain etc, but these will need
to be followed closely and even allowed to drain.
Staple guns work great, and pretty much anyone who has had surgery
recently has seen how widespread they are used. Highly vascular skin
heals just as well with staples as sutures.
Dermabond or cyanoacrylate works great for small wounds, I have even
seen some ER docs use this over suture which I do not recommend as
it is very difficult to remove the sutures, but makes for a strong
barrier. - Mike M.D. in MO
Jim:
David in Israel gives some unfortunately common, and bad advice
about suturing. Unless you know (like a physician or physician
assistant/nurse practitioner) what is UNDERNEATH the skin, and how
to suture them back
together,
untrained people should NOT close wounds.
The body is made of layers of different tissues - skin, fascia
(underlying tough fibrous tissue), muscles (in several layers,
usually) and other
things, like blood vessels, nerves, and organs. Each of these layers
has different ways of being sutured, requiring different types
of suture materials and needles, and just sewing the skin closed
will
allow blood
to leak out of vessels and decay, causing infection.
The best thing for the untrained to do if there is a deep wound
is to wash it out (as David in Israel said) with clean water or
saline
solution (a teaspoon of table salt per quart of water), maybe with
some Povidone/iodine (Betadine solution (not scrub), and
then pack the wound loosely with gauze and let it heal from the
inside
out. Such healing will take much longer and leave a worse scar,
but closing
prematurely can be disastrous.
Other closure techniques (glue, staples) are great within their
limitations. Glues should not be used on wounds under stress, and
staples are
great for small skin or scalp lacerations. Neither addresses closing
the
underlying tissues.
Even in normal times, a minor wound that has gone for more than
a few hours (six hours, in my hospital) is left open for at least
a few days,
to make
certain that no foreign materials are trapped in the wound, and
are closed after 48-72 hours. The skills for suturing itself are
quite
simple - the knowledge to know when to and to NOT suture is not. -
Flighter
JWR Replies: Suturing does have its purpose under some circumstances. I recommend that you stock up on suturing materials, as part of a comprehensive set of medical supplies for your retreat. OBTW, I recall that the folks at Ready Made Resources (one of our advertisers) has pre-loaded surgical staplers in sealed sterile packages (tres cool) available for sale.
Jim,
I’d like to add three observations to Shooter’s otherwise
outstanding tutorial on weapons drawing and presentation - "Shooter" on
The Draw Technique, or "Shooter's Five Steps to Keeping Ten Fingers".
First, it is absolutely critical to be aware of your state’s
protocols for use of lethal force in armed encounters. The most common
elements that must be
met to protect yourself legally is opportunity, ability and jeopardy. Go to
www.packing.org and review your own state’s statutes. Second, I highly
recommend that prior to reholstering and reversing the steps of the draw stroke
which Shooter outlined, the weapon is brought from extension to the midriff
pointing perpendicular from your body in the same two handed position and you
conduct a 360 degree scan without moving your body to assess any additional
threats and then you reholster WITHOUT looking at your holster (this will take
some practice). This 360 scan must become a habit for the rest of your life
whenever your reholster. The intensity of focus and tunnel vision common in
these “Condition Black” encounters can insulate the shooter from
being alerted to any additional threats that may be around or emerged during
the shooting. You will never exceed your highest level of training. Third,
register or indexing of the trigger finger is critical for safety and efficiency.
There is never a reason to do otherwise until you are ready to fire. This probably
accounts for most negligent discharges ("NDs")
in police departments as a result of sympathetic flinch on the trigger during
stressful situations or
reholstering
with the
finger
on the trigger. In conclusion, seek professional training in tactical shooting
from a local school or a nationally recognized marquee like Thunder Ranch or
Gunsite. Training dollars should become a household budget item. Cordially,
B.B. in North Idaho
Dear Mr. Rawles,
I was very interested in the blog on the $20 medical kit. I was thinking
of the situation where in the event of a major storm, hurricane,
blizzard, fuel
crisis, nuclear attack or where transportation and communications are severely
disrupted over a wide area for an extended period, it may not be possible
to get to the doctor or pharmacy or if one could get there, it may
not be open
due to a lack of electric power or severe damage to the facility.
Instead of discussing a group buy, a more practical approach may be the development
of several master lists of the items needed or names of the drugs, the approximate
cost of these items, a place to buy them and the primary use of the drugs.
Some obvious things needed were not included such as hydrogen peroxide to
clean wounds, Pepto Bismol for indigestion, [syrup of] ipecac to induce vomiting,
colloidal silver
for internal and external use, a thermometer to take temperature, blood thinner
for circulation problems, and curved needles and nylon thread for suturing
wounds. Information to help identify and overcome dehydration issues would
also be helpful. The $20 price cap may be too low. Is there a source where
the general public can buy Novocain to deaden teeth for dental work, dental
pliers to pull teeth, and some type of pain deadener to inject into an injury
to kill the pain while the suturing is being done? Most people could not
think of all of the things that may be needed and would not know where to
get them
if they did have the list. What is the answer to the problem of an inability
to refill prescriptions because the pharmacy is no longer open? Are there
substitute drugs available? Some people with heart problems, diabetes, kidney
problems,
and other major health problems may be at serious risk if their drugs are
no longer available. Is buying drugs in advance from Canada or Mexico a realistic
option considering that mail and parcel services may no longer be available
after the disaster? I am talking about people with the resources to purchase
these items and it would be a disservice to not include them in an effort
to
stay below a specific dollar limit. Does anyone know of any hospital supply
companies that sell to the general public in small quantities? Some of these
items are readily available without a prescription if the person can know
that the item would be needed in an emergency and think to buy it before
it is needed.
It may also be desirable to develop different lists to reflect different
situations. The man hunting in the woods or cutting wood with a chainsaw
has a totally
different risk and needs situation as compared to the elderly lady who may
never go into the woods or the pregnant woman who is expected to deliver
within the next six months or the person on antidepressant medications.
Would some medical types, EMT,
nurse, retired medical doctor, or other types familiar with these issues
be willing to develop a comprehensive list to
cover one or more of these situations or to provide links to other sites
that may
include such information to be posted here for the benefit of your readers?
It would be greatly appreciated and could greatly assist people surviving
in a future emergency.
It appears that most of the medical articles and books are too general and
tell you to provide fluids, clean the wound, and see the doctor etc without
specific instructions on what to do if the doctor and pharmacy are not available.
Any information on low cost books on these subjects that provide the necessary
details would be greatly appreciated. People hate to buy the book and later
find that the specific drugs needed are not listed or are not available.
- S.F.
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) can be found at The Belmont Club. See: http://fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com/2006/01/coming-of-bomb.html
"For earthly princes lay aside their power when they rise up against God, and are unworthy to be reckoned among the number of mankind. We ought, rather, utterly to defy them." - John Calvin, 1509-1564
Note from JWR: Please mention SurvivalBlog.com
whenever your are a caller or a guest on a talk radio show. Keep spreading
the word. Thanks!
James,
Here are some shoe and boot making resources that I've book marked:
http://www.simpleshoemaking.com/index.html
http://www.walrusshoe.com/books_home.htm
http://www.thehcc.org/
http://home.earthlink.net/~lizjones429/shoe-advice.html
http://www.florilegium.org/ (See
"Clothing")
http://www.bootmaker.com/dwswb.htm
Regards, - Parmenio
Jim:
I've done a lot of experimenting on this and offer my take:
Rule Number One: The U.S. Government is monitoring domestic internet
traffic. Anybody visiting Survivalblog is already suspect by the
government because of it's very subject matter. Assume that you are
being monitored.
Let's not be naive here please.
Anonymizer is obviously monitored by the Government because it maintains
logs of in/out IP Addresses.
Tor...the Onion Router is the best way to go if you have DSL or Cable
high-speed internet connection because there is no central logging.
I use it.
CCleaner [Cache Cleaner] at http://www.ccleaner.com/ is
the very best way to keep your computer free of what snoops want. It
is FREE, tiny,
fast,
easy,
and
I click on it after every internet surf. It instantly removes all
tracking cookies. It also instantly removes all those useless internet
temp
files that clog/slow your computer. Download it FREE right now. -Book
James:
You mentioned that your readers might be interested in
a brief write up of privacy on the Internet and how to keep yourself off
of
the radar.
I'll try to oblige.
First some background: My company and I do Information Security for
small businesses, so we and I have experience in keeping private things
private in the real world. What I'm doing is basically putting into
text the Security Speech that I give any client who I consult for (and
will sit still long enough to hear it). I'll stay away from technical
terms and specific products/'solutions' until the very end where I'll
describe a few different levels of 'security' in real-world examples.
Specific privacy stuff is further towards the end.
Rule Number One: There Is No Such Thing As A Secure Computer (or Anything
Else)
Perfect security is impossible. Computer security researchers are fond
of saying that the only secure computer is one that's unplugged from
the network, turned off, sealed in a vault and protected by well-paid
guards, and they're only partially joking. (Yes this is what passes
for humor in the computer security profession.) No matter what steps
you take to keep your stuff secure, someone, somewhere can break into
it and steal them; given sufficient time and money all computers are
vulnerable. The only thing you can do to an attacker is slow him or
her down. All of modern security is devoted to slowing attackers down.
This has two effects: it makes you less appealing to casual attackers
and it frustrates determined attackers.
In WWII the Germans used
an encryption device called "enigma" to
send secret messages to their troops. They thought it was unbreakable.
The allies broke it. The moral of the story is that what we think is
'secure' today will be as tough as tissue paper in fifty years.
Rule Number Two: Security Is Not A Product.
What I mean by this is twofold: one, anyone who sells you a "secure" widget
is lying. Widgets, computers, servers and networks are not secure or
insecure by their nature; they are merely tools. Any tool can be used
for good or ill, just think of the climate concerning guns. This is
a continuation of the first rule; not only is there no such thing as
a secure computer, any steps that have been taken to create a more
secure computer can be blown away by the mentality of the user. This
rule probably should read Security Is A State Of Mind, but this way
I can combine two rules into one. In a nutshell, every system is only
as secure as the users of that system are willing to make it.
The canonical example of this is a hospital. Hospitals have insane
oversight in terms of confidentiality of patient information and they
can get in real trouble for letting the Wrong People see certain files.
So the natural step is to make each level of access have a separate
password and each user must login to separate authentication levels,
blah blah blah. Its a 'very secure system.' End result? Nurses get
tired of remembering so many passwords and write them down on sticky
notes on the monitor. Security that is too hard to use will be defeated.
Rule Number Three: Your Computer Is A Castle.
Traditional security is a good analogy to computer security. Things
that people would never do in the real world they don't think twice
about doing online. When you open an attachment you're not expecting,
its like licking your neighbor's doorknob. When you blindly click 'OK'
on every pop up window, its like walking around in a bad neighborhood
with a roll of hundred dollar bills poking out of your pocket. Remember
the Trojan Horse? Trusting everyone online will get you in trouble,
just like in real life.
Likewise, when you evaluate a system for security the first place you
look is the place where security is the weakest. If you double-encrypt
everything and lock your computer in a safe but your password is 'secret',
you're not really secure. Always look at the big picture and don't
lose the forest for the trees. Likewise, if you have an uber-secure
locked-down machine but its in an office where the cleaning staff have
physical access, you're not secure.
Rule Number Four: Security is Boring
This is the hardest thing to get right. The best way to be secure online
is to do the little things all the time. Boring things like keeping
your security updates up-to-date and getting an anti-virus. Being paranoid
about your email and choosing the right software go a huge way towards
keeping your stuff safe. Have a legal copy of all your software, especially
your anti-virus. Pay for it. If you don't want to pay for it, AVG anti
virus is free and damn good. More detail later.
That's it for the theory, there will be a quiz on Thursday. Now the
practice. There are a few things that you can do to keep yourself secure
and protect what little privacy you still have.
The first thing to know is that email is not secure. Think of email
as sending a postcard, there's nothing to stop anyone who touches
it from reading it. Email is hard but not impossible to anonymize, but
there are few remaining anonymizers left. Any old Hotmail or other
free account will work for certain values of 'anonymous' but they
probably will not stand up to a legal search warrant unless you are very careful.
Gmail is not a good provider for anonymous email because of the invite
system. Unless you can get an invite anonymously anyone tracing it
can simply look up who invited you and compel them to spill the beans.
Another thing is that any site you visit on the web can get a huge
amount of information on you that your browser just sends out on its
own. Things like your IP address which can be traced to a rough location
and if the government gets involved can probably be traced down to
whoever pays the bills. This can be mitigated by using anonymizing
proxies, Tor and privoxy. More detail further on
Yet another key facet is that anything that is on your computer is
something that you are trusting fully. If you follow good protocol,
you are trusting Microsoft with all of your data, and you are trusting
whoever makes your anti-virus or firewall with all your data. There
is precedent for law enforcement using the anti-virus update to compromise
the computer of a group that was holed up in their cabin to prevent
them from emailing out. In case I wasn't clear, this has happened and
will happen again.
Now for some details and the all-important links:
In terms of an operating system, Windows is the default and there's
no budging most people from it. With good practices and by keeping
up to date you can keep windows tolerably secure. I would trust it
for mildly embarrassing data but not critical data. Please upgrade
to at least Windows 2000. Windows XP with Service Pack 2 is best. I
know its expensive, but Windows 95, 98, and ME are outdated and not secure.
Since no one has access to the code that makes Windows tick, there
is no way to determine for sure that there is not an easy back door
that could be leveraged against you. I cannot recommend keeping
mission critical data on a Windows machine. If you have
a bit more freedom about what you run, I heartily recommend getting
a
Macintosh. The new Apple OS X
is built upon a very secure BSD base
and it strikes an excellent balance between usability and security.
Any version of Linux or BSD can be
made secure, but if you're running those you probably know how to
secure it.
Web browsers: There really is only one. Firefox is the best that has
come along yet. It can be setup for decent everyday browsing and keep
a good rein on your cookies and history. In the firefox settings,
you can exercise very fine control over what sites are allowed to set
cookies on your machine and when to expire them. Please do
not use Internet Explorer on ANY OS. It is not secure in any
way. A good addition is Privoxy and/or Tor.
A must-have extension for Firefox is Adblock Plus and "Filterset.G"
Email client: I recommend either Mozilla Thunderbird, but basically
anything but Outlook (Express) is acceptable. Outlook is massively
insecure, Please do not use it.
Anti Virus: They're all equally mediocre. I use AVG which is free
for personal use. Pick one and keep it updated.
Firewall: Again, the windows firewall cannot be trusted. I recommend
Kerio Personal Firewall, and I use it myself. Tiny Personal Firewall
is good too. Zone Alarm is less powerful and Black Ice is worthless.
Proxies: Privoxy is a nice semi-anonymizing proxy that runs on your
local machine. It can't hide your IP but it will strip out a lot
of identifiable information. Its pretty easy to set up too.
Tor is a very clever
onion routing network that passes your traffic through a few levels
of other machines so that theoretically not only
does the site you're visiting not know who you are, nobody could
trace your connection back to you. An added benefit is that Tor servers
are
encrypted so your traffic is harder to snoop on as well as being
more anonymous. The disadvantage is that this is SLOW.
Encryption: BestCrypt can create secure images that can be viewed
on Windows and Linux.
Below I'm going to outline three levels of security and what they
should be reasonably protected against.
The first is an easy to use everyday machine. You will be protected
from most common automated and non-directed attacks but a determined
attacker will still be able to penetrate as will a governmental entity.
If there is demand I can work up a similar profile for a Mac.
Microsoft Windows 2000 or XP.
AVG anti virus or similar.
Kerio Personal Firewall of similar.
Firefox, Adblock Plus and Filterset.G set to only allow same-domain
cookies.
Privoxy
The second is more anonymous but it sacrifices speed. You will use
this if you want to do something that you wouldn't want broadcasted.
The same as above except Firefox is set to expire cookies on close,
and keep no disk cache or history. Privoxy is also connected to Tor
for anonymization.
For email, Thunderbird and Enigmail can be setup to encrypt your
email to a very strong degree, as long as the recipient has a similar
setup.
New Enigmail versions are very user-friendly in this regard.
Also, it is possible to have two different "profiles" of
firefox on one machine, one that simply browses normally with sane
cookie rules, and another that passes through Tor/Privoxy and keeps
no history or cache and clears cookies on exit. This is simple to do
and a good mix of usability and the ability to be more anonymous if
desired.
One note: Remember that today's "uncrackable" will be a joke
in fifty years. Also, encrypted traffic will probably raise a certain
level of awareness among those doing the spying. Legally this poses
no problems but if you're doing something you wouldn't like discovered
sending encrypted e-mails to osama@alqaida.com it is probably a bad
idea.
A Proviso: The above two systems rely on closed
code and trusting updates. They would be very vulnerable to any form
of
governmental intrusion
and nothing can be done to mitigate this. IF YOU ARE GOING TO DO
SOMETHING ILLEGAL, DON'T USE ANYTHING CLOSED-SOURCE TO DO IT WITH.
If you
do intend to do something illegal, or even if you're just paranoid
like
me, a good idea would be to have a second machine. This is similar
to what the NSA does internally: Classified machines cannot talk
to Top Secret machines, and none of them can talk to Unclassified
machines.
A good Classified or Top Secret machine might look like this. This
machine should be reasonably secure against anything but a direct,
physical attack.
BSD or Linux OS, properly configured (details are outside the scope
of this article. I will be happy to provide further information upon
request).
A solid, encrypted file system or BestCrypt for any user data.
Not connected to the network. Use a USB flash keychain/thumb drive
for getting data off of it.
Again, none of this is any good at all if your master password is
your birthday.
I hope someone finds this useful and I'm happy to answer any more
detailed questions either via SurvivalBlog or directly. - Paedrig
Hawkwing (PaedrigHawkwing-at-gmail.com--change
the "-at-" to an @ symbol)
JWR Adds: Our web statistics show that 19% of our readers now use the Firefox browser, up substantially from the 16% when we started SurvivalBlog back in August of Aught Five. My advice: DUMP that back-door ridden, data mining Microsoft Internet Explorer. Firefox is free!
Hi Jim,
Another option for anonymous web browsing is to install
Tor, an "onion routing" package that sends your data
through 'layers' of different servers before reaching your desired
destination.
After
I first installed Tor, I visited Google and was surprised to see
it looked a little different -- Google detected that I was coming
from
Austria (since the last server 'layer' was located there) and presented
me with "Google Österreich"! Tor is free and easy
to setup. The EFF has instructions for Windows ( http://tor.eff.org/cvs/tor/doc/tor-doc-win32.html)
and OSX (http://tor.eff.org/cvs/tor/doc/tor-doc-osx.html ). Regards,
- MP
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 Voice
of America (FWIW, since it is produced by the U.S. Government), Israel
has hinted
at possible military action against Iran.
"There is always an easy solution to every human problem -- neat, plausible and wrong." -- H. L. Mencken
One of the most used high skill medical interventions is suturing.
In times of disaster when qualified medical practitioners
are not available, suturing can be performed easily as
long as it is not
in
nerve rich
areas
such
as
the face
and hands. (Sutures
in
these areas could cause debilitating nerve damage and should only
be attempted by a person that is specially trained.)
1- Suture. I will not attempt to describe the knot
in writing but practice with forceps and pre-threaded suture packs
on raw chicken or turkey skin on the bird (sew then eat). Keep Ethylon
5 and 3 as well as chromic gut 3 in your gear. Generally, gut is used
for internal sutures and Ethylon
for removable [external] sutures.
2- Surgical Staple Guns. For surgical closure,
staple guns are
an easier but messier way to close a wound. Stapling can even be performed
one handed.
3- Glue A close chemical relative of cyanoacrylate
"super glue" (2-octyl cyanoacrylate) is available from veterinary suppliers
as vetabond. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanoacrylate
Super glue cyanoacrylate is an irritant, so sensitive tissues especially
need the dermabond/vetabond formula. For the face and hand wounds just
butterfly closures or glue [instead of sutures], unless you have special
training in nerve and vascular location.
Wounds needing suture must be fully cleaned, preferably with betadine
and even then they still have high risk of infection. If there is sign
of infection open and drain. Consider systemic antibiotics.
I can remember when 1984 was a scary book. Today, it seems
that we worry only about those things that we're told to worry about,
and accept
the answers that
are given to us, no questions asked. On September 11, 2001, three passenger planes
were crashed into the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon, while a
fourth came to fiery rest in a Pennsylvania
field. Less than a month later, the USA PATRIOT Act was introduced in Congress,
to be signed - more than 300 pages of it - on October 26, 2001 with few objections
from the public or its elected representatives.
I am not about to join those conspiracy theorists who claim that an agency of
the United States government was responsible for the 9-11 attacks, but it does
seem clear to me that the USA PATRIOT Act had been already prepared, waiting
in the wings for just such an occasion.
United States citizens were happy to trade in their rights for the sense of security
offered by this Act.
Certainly the 9-11 attacks justified the media frenzy that followed it, but it
also served a number of purposes that our government took full advantage of.
But that's not what this article is about.
Over the past couple of years, we've been subjected to a series of media scares
relating to our meat supply. From Mad Cow, to swine flu, to e.Coli, to mutant
flesh-eating viruses, and now the Avian flu, we've been led to believe that if
we don't act immediately, we're all going to die.
Enter the National Animal Identification System, a governmental program which
utilizes public-private partnerships in an attempt to identify and track every
animal in the United States.
And despite the fact that we haven't had a single case of Mad Cow or the
Avian flu transmitted to humans in the United States, and that the NAIS couldn't
possibly
do a thing to prevent contaminations of our meat supply occurring after the meat
has been processed, we're all expected to expel a deep sigh of relief.
Uncle Sam has come through for us again.
But at what cost?
The National Animal Identification System will force farmers, hobbyists, and
even pet owners to register each animal they own, and tag that animal with an
identifying tag, band, or implanted electronic chip, for the purpose of tracking
that animal through the food chain whether or not it even enters the food chain.
When fully implemented in January of 2009, the NAIS will require two types of
mandatory registration: registration of the premises, and registration of the
animal.
Anyone who owns even one horse, cow, pig, sheep, chicken, pigeon, or any other
livestock animal will be required to register their home, including the owner's
name and other identifying information, along with the address of your farm or
home, to be keyed to global positioning system (GPS) coordinates in a federal
database under a 7-digit "premises ID number."
Additionally, each animal will have to be identified with a 15-digit ID number,
also to be kept in the federal database. Even if you are raising your own food,
your animal will be required to have an ID number if it is to be sent to a slaughterhouse.
Animals that do not have an ID number cannot be bought or sold, or used to obtain
stud service.
Any animal that leaves the owner's premises for any reason will be required to
have an ID number, and be tagged. This includes animals that are shown, as well
as horses that may be ridden off of the owner's property.
The costs of this program are to be shared by the animal owners and the larger
base of taxpayers, meaning that there are likely to be significant fees connected
with full implementation of the NAIS program.
Large-scale meat producers are on board with the program, perhaps because they'll
be given a break. Large herds of cattle, pigs, or other animals raised and processed
together can be identified by a single group ID number, while farmers and ranchers
with small groups of animals will, in most cases, have to identify each animal
individually for purposes of breeding, sale, or slaughter. If you own two cows,
a horse, and twelve chickens, each would require an individual ID number if the
animal is ever to leave your property for any reason, or have any contact (commingling)
with any other animal.
The form of identification will most likely be an ear tag or implanted microchip
containing a radio frequency identification device (RFID) which can be read from
a distance. In addition to RFID tags, some industries may require the use of
retinal scans or DNA identification for all animals.
The costs associated with this program may well be beyond the reach of small
farmers and hobbyists, and make it impractical, from an economic standpoint,
for people to raise their own meat.
The costs are not only economic, but time consuming as well. Within the system,
animal owners will be required to report the birth date of each animal, including
chickens, as well as the application of the animal's ID tag. Every time the animal
enters or leaves the premises, this will have to be reported. When a tag is lost
or replaced, this will need to be reported. If an animal dies, or goes missing,
there will have to be a report. These events will have to be reported to the
government within 24 hours.
With full implementation of this program in 2009, the USDA intends to ensure
compliance with NAIS regulations in a manner not yet specified, but which could
be expected to include fines or seizure of animals.
Another possible reason for the enthusiastic support of the NAIS program by large-scale
meat producers is that, as stakeholders in the program, they will likely have
control over much of it, perhaps putting them in a position to exert economic
pressures on competing small farmers and homesteaders.
Will implementation of the NAIS make our meat supply safer? Probably not, and
it's not likely that we'd know if it did. It's not like people are dropping like
flies from Mad Cow disease, as it is. The NAIS might be compared to using a cannon
to hunt black flies in February.
The NAIS is likely to drive small meat producers out of business, placing an
unfair economic burden on the traditional American businesses that have fed us
since we've existed as a nation. Once the program is established, animal owners
will bear the costs associated with the requirements for registration, identification,
and reporting.
Costs to large-scale producers of meat will be absorbed by consumers, raising
the cost of living for all of us.
The NAIS will prevent many people from raising animals for their own food. The
NAIS is said to be necessary in order to make our food supply secure against
disease or terrorism, yet what can be more secure than raising your own food
or buying from a local farmer who you actually know?
What of those, such as the Amish in Smyrna, who may have a religious objection
to participating in a system of electronically numbering and identifying their
animals? When fully implemented, the NAIS is a compulsory registration with the
government of all people who wish to raise their own animals for food. As written,
the NAIS will force these people to make a choice between abandoning their livestock
or violating their religious beliefs.
As I read the documentation put out by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and
as I have searched for additional information on this program, I was struck by
the fact that so little has been said about it in the media. Search engine results
yield almost exclusively web sites put out by various federal and state agencies,
and associations of large-scale meat producers, all of whom are enthusiastically
supporting this program.
Sadly, it seems that opposition to the program appears to be limited to the Countryside & Small
Stock Journal, published in Wisconsin, and someone in a forum on the Mother
Earth
News site.
Further information about the National Animal Identification System can be found
online at www.usaip.info/. Please read it through for yourselves, but the scariest
stuff that I found came from the USAIP's own FAQs. You'll find that when they
ask a question and answer it no, the text often goes on to explain that, when
the plan is fully implemented, the answer will be yes.
Never one to pass up federal funds or to neglect an opportunity to make government
bigger, the State of Maine has implemented its own program, funded in part by
a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Its web site can be found at
www.maine.gov/agriculture/idme/.
Although it seems to be slow in coming, there is yet time for an outcry over
this program to have some effect. Small farmers and landowners can take action
to oppose implementation of this plan.
First, do not participate in the "voluntary" state program to register
either your farm or your animals, as they'll use your willingness to participate
in the program as justification for making it mandatory for everyone in the near
future. If state or federal officials urge you to register either your premises
or your animals, ask them whether your participation is voluntary or mandatory.
Ask to see a copy of any legislation that gives them the authority to require
compliance.
More importantly, contact any farming, breeding, or other associations that
you might be a member of, asking them to oppose the NAIS. Ask these organizations
to sponsor letter-writing campaigns to elected officials, both state and federal.
Individually, you can write to your state and federal legislators. Letters sent
via the postal service carry more weight than emails or form letters, but anything
is better than nothing.
The United States Department of Agriculture plans the issuance of a NAIS rule
for public comment in July of 2006. Be aware of this when the time comes, and
be prepared to submit an individual comment opposing this rule.
Also, you should be aware of any state rules that might mandate earlier compliance.
For example, Maine farmers are already being encouraged to voluntarily join the
state's ID program, and it intends to implement mandatory registration of livestock
premises by March 7, 2005.
I am surprised, and discouraged, that there isn't already an outcry over this
program.
"
... and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one
who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name." --
Rev. 13:17 (NASB)
National Animal Identification System Timeline
This article was reprinted with permission from "All Maine Matters" which can be found online at www.allmainematters.com.
Mr. Rawles:
The two links listed below provide good basic information
to supplement the low cost medical kits previously discussed on your
site. This information
is available free for downloading and printing. This link is to the
Virtual Naval Hospital which is being discontinued due to a lack
of funding. It was set up for use by military medical
personnel: http://www.vnh.org/
The link below is another free link that was mainly for use where there
is no doctor and pharmacy available and would be helpful in an emergency
situation. One example of a good source of information is Chapter 7
which provides information on the types of antibiotics and things
to consider before using them. See; http://www.healthwrights.org/books/WTINDonline.htm
These two links
provide information that information that should be made available to
assist people in an emergency situation when there were no doctors
or pharmacies are available
due to a loss of power, lack of fuel, or a major disaster Regards, -
S.F.
"The people of the various provinces are strictly forbidden to have in their possession any swords, short swords, bows, spears, firearms, or other types of arms. The possession of unnecessary implements makes difficult the collection of taxes and dues and tends to foment uprisings." - Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Lord Chancellor of Japan, August 1588, the order that instituted "The Great Sword Hunt"
Note from JWR: Please spread the word about SurvivalBlog. Just a brief "bcc-ed" e-mail to the folks on your e-mail address list would be greatly appreciated. Remember: Every friend, neighbor, and co-worker that gets squared away logistically will be one less individual that comes begging on your doorstep, come TEOTWAWKI+1. So it is in your own best interest to let them know about SurvivalBlog.
Part of being a prepared individual is keeping a low profile. I
don't heavily emphasize privacy issues on SurvivalBlog, but I do recommend
that you learn how to fly under the radar, just on general
principle.
My philosophy: Don't leave big paper trails or bit
trails. An interesting article recently appeared at Wired
News, titled "How to Foil Search Engine Snoops" See: http://wired.com/news/technology/0,70051-0.html?tw=wn_tophead_2
For greater privacy, the author recommends using either the Firefox PC
browser or the Safari Macintosh
browser. He states: "In Firefox, you can go into the
privacy preference dialog and open Cookies. From there you can remove your
search engine
cookies
and click the box that says: "Don't allow sites that set removed cookies
to set future cookies. In Safari, try the free and versatile PithHelmet
plug-in.
[See: http://culater.net/software/PithHelmet/PithHelmet.php]
You can let some cookies in temporarily, decide that some can last longer or
prohibit
some
sites, including third-party advertisers, from setting
cookies
at all."
He also recommends: "If you are doing any search you wouldn't print on
a T-shirt, consider using Tor,
The Onion Router. [See: http://www.onion-router.net/]
An EFF-sponsored
service, Tor helps anonymize your web traffic by bouncing it between volunteer
servers."
The article also mentions
the tried and true (but slow) Anonymizer.com. See: http://www.anonymizer.com.
OBTW, if any of you techno gurus would be so kind, I'd greatly appreciate
a summary article about Internet privacy to post on SurvivalBlog.com.
You might even win our non-fiction
writing contest.
(The prize is a four day course certificate at Front
Sight!)
In my last article (posted on SurvivalBlog on Thursday, January 5,
2006), I discussed some basic range manners and the only three rules
I live by. I hope it serves as a starting point for good gun handling
skills. After reading the recent letter about loaning out weapons to
'untrained' neighbors during times of crisis, I thought best to move
along to the second lesson we all must be concerned with when dealing
with handguns. You can use this and the first lesson I wrote about
to help bring your neighbors up to speed when the need arises.
The basic handgun draw has five simple steps. In about an hour, Instructor
Greg had me drawing like a pro and safely putting my gun in play. Going into
the "Tac Tuesday" class with my handgun skills was humbling to say
the least. As mentioned, there are five steps to drawing a handgun. 1) Master
Grip, 2) Lift and Clear, 3) Rock 'n Lock, 4) Hands Merge, & 5) Extension.
Let's examine them step by step:
1) MASTER GRIP: As we train during Tac Tuesday, the class either assumes the
'interview stance' (or as I call it, the two handed French Salute), or just
practices with hands at their sides. On command, Master Grip is achieved by
placing the web of your strong hand firmly against the butt of the pistol grip.
This should be as high up as possible to attain the maximum effective grip.
Wrap your fingers around the grip, remembering to place the trigger finger
in register. [Extended straight out, outside of the
trigger guard.]
2) LIFT AND CLEAR: After Master Grip, lift the gun straight up and out of the
holster. Don't try and bring it away from the body or move it towards the target
just yet. Muzzle should still be down at this point and just clear of the holster.
Remember to keep your elbow and arm close to your side (I had chicken wing
syndrome when I first did this).
3) ROCK N' LOCK: Like the old gunslinger of the West, rotate that gun 90 degrees
and point it at the target. From here you can go Braille Method (touch index)
against a very close in target and still count lethal hits. Don't forget to
think about weapon retention! Like the chicken wing elbow, the gun should stay
close to your body in case of a CQB situation.
4) HANDS MERGE: The strong hand should be moving close against the body to
the 'anchor position' to join the weak hand. Remember how you open a jar of
pickles? Keep that gun close against the body to allow for the strongest retention.
If you let that gun get away from your body, someone is very likely going to
be able to take control of it. Don't let that happen!
5) EXTENSION: You should have the weapon in both hands now. Press through the
target with your gun and bring sights on target. Don't tomahawk chop, overhand
sight, throw the gun out there, sweep the floor to the ceiling...just press
the gun smoothly towards the target and align the sights. One smooth and fluid
motion will help prevent any pitched shots.
I did not gain confidence in my draw until I practiced for an hour or so each
evening. As I have heard, 'slow is smooth,and smooth is fast.' I practiced
this by calling out each step in turn. I didn't speed up until I felt confident
in each phase of the draw.
There are a couple of points to remember when working on your draw. One is
the 'Laser Rule.' Pretend that the muzzle of your gun is shooting out a high
power laser. Nobody wants to be sliced with one of these, so naturally, you
don't want it pointed at you. That being said, keep all excess appendages away
from said laser beam. With that in mind, during steps ONE through FOUR, the
support hand should be FLAT AGAINST THE BODY!!! Unless you have a body like
mine, then it is not merely flat, but dome shaped. Keeping the support hand
against the stomach will help keep extra appendages away from the muzzle of
the gun. Practice and follow through on this step and during the heat of battle,
you will not succumb to any self-inflicted injuries.
When your hands merge, take a moment to examine how you grip the gun. The thumbs
should be resting next to each other along the slide rail and not overlapping.
This takes stress off the hands and presents a calmer sight picture. The support
hand should be wrapped around the strong hand doing what it is intended to
do, support. If you know of anyone who "tea cups" their grip (support
hand under the gun), after explaining that what they see in the movies is bunk,
correct their grip so they improve their shooting. Be sure to correct anyone
else you see who uses the support hand to brace their strong side wrist. I
don't see how this is an effective technique. Chances are, you will run across
the one or two people who think that "lobster clawing" with their
support hand is good. "Lobster Clawing" is when someone stretches
the support hand all around the gun with the thumb firmly planted behind the
slide. You will know of those who've learned their lesson by the sizable chunk
of flesh missing from their support hand thumb.
Re-holstering your weapon is the exact opposite of the draw. Pretty simple,
just go through the five steps in reverse. When the muzzle is ready to be placed
in the holster, move your thumb up to press against the back of the slide (I
am assuming, of course, that we are all using some form of Tactical Tupperware,
or one of John Browning's wonderful inventions, circa 1911). Keep the thumb
against the back of the slide to prevent the gun from coming out of battery.
If you are forced to draw again, in the heat of the moment, you may find yourself
inventing new expletives when the bang button only CLICKS. It is a
tried and true method for all people because we all don't have the same holster.
I am a Kydex man myself, but there are others out there with dead animal skin
or someone's recycled leisure suit (cordura nylon) that won't hold its shape.
Remember, Mr. Murphy is always out there to foul up your plans. Pay attention
to the details, for they may save your life.
This is the second course of instruction for those who wish to teach their
neighbors and friends about proper gun handling. Follow it step by step, and
they will quickly come up to speed and be as proficient as you.
In regard to Matt's statement in his letter on survival footgear: "BUT,
you cannot fake or approximate footwear!" Don't be so sure about
that. See: http://www.indigenouspeople.net/tarafeat.htm I
have yet to scale a 10,000 foot peak in tire sandals or moccasins,
but I'm going to give it a try one of these days: http://www.hollowtop.com/sandals.htm Less
along the lines of "field expedient footwear" and more
along the
lines of "Post-TEOTWAWKI skills," here's a link to a site that deals
with making "medieval style" shoes: http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/shoe/SHOEHOME.HTM
If things ever get bad, having the skills to make well-fitted shoes could make
one a welcome addition to any community. Regards,
- Moriarty
"Nothing just happens in politics. If something happens you can be sure it was planned that way." - Franklin Delano Roosevelt
After years of intensive searching I have found the perfect retreat property. This fertile land is in a lightly populated region of the Inland Northwest. It is surrounded by National Forest, yet close to a small town with post office, library, grocery store and schools. It is only a 45 minute drive to the county seat, and one hour from an airport with daily commercial commuter flights.
Now here is where YOU come in. There is enough land for my family and no more than seven other families to have adjoining 40 to 50 acre farms. (Local regulations don't allow anything smaller than 40 acres.) I am now gauging interest in this project which will culminate this summer.
It is a great piece of tilled farm ground with some timber. This gently rolling plateau with incredibly deep and rich topsoil is extremely defendable and the ultimate in privacy! Fantastic hunting (including deer, elk, moose, grouse, geese, pheasant, Hungarian partridge, quail, and wild turkeys). The adjoining National Forest and state forest land has year-round creeks and a river with great fishing. A million acre backyard!.
Some reasonable CC&Rs will apply, most notably restrictions on any further subdivision, restrictions on any permanent trailer homes, and annual road maintenance dues. The parcels will range from $5,100 to $6,500 per acre, depending on the timber and water attributes, as well as the number of sides that each parcel adjoin USFS or state forest land.
Improvements that I will provide include licensed surveys for each parcel, an electric security gate at the common entrance, as well as rocked roads, underground power, and phone lines to the edge of each parcel.
For the privacy of both ourselves and our eventual neighbors, I am planning to never publicly announce the locale of the ranch. Only sincere buyers with their own financing will given the details. If you are sincerely interested, and can afford to purchase a parcel this summer then send me an e-mail with "Paratus Farms" in the header. Please be patient. It may be several months before the purchase of the ranch is complete, and keep in mind that this is not yet a "done deal." Thanks!
A tip of the hat to Noah at the
DefenseTech Blog, who alerted me
to a recent Washington Post story. Apparently some 24 submarine-launched
Trident missiles will be converted to carry improved conventional munitions
for a "global
strike" capability See: http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2006/01/a_bad_weapon_in.html#more.
According to the story, some observers suggest that a launch of any
of these retrofitted
missiles
(which
could carry up to four MIRVs each)
might cause a false alarm in
trigger-happy nuclear nation states like North Korea. That could create the excuse
for
a
retaliatory strike with nukes, which would of course be a very bad thing.
Hi Jim,
As always, SurvivalBlog is the top of my morning reading list. Great
discussion today about arming your unprepared non-shooting neighbors
during
or after TSHTF. I have always considered the training of non-shooters
to be almost a sacred duty. Just as we do not turn away the repentant
prodigal son from church when he awakens, we must gratefully take
the opportunity to train and arm our neighbors when crisis hits.
This is an example of enlightened self interest at work, for as you
say, it is hard for a family to protect four quadrants. Much better
to have semi-trained "flankers" out, even if they only
provide a trip wire or early warning. In time, they can be trained
to a higher level.
On to my idea of today: shoes for survival. I would advise folks
to hang onto their halfway worn out shoes. Just store them somewhere
that they
won't rot. After TSHTF, survivors will be able to fake or make do for
most clothing articles. You can wear clothes that are far too big,
you can hitch up big britches with a belt, you can cut a hole in a blanket
and call it a poncho. BUT, you cannot fake or approximate footwear!
Going about with rags wrapped around your feet (think Valley Forge
or the rebels at Appomattox Courthouse) will afford us ample opportunity
to wish that we had not thrown out our partially worn out shoes! I
have saved a few "worn out" pairs of sneakers that I would
not be seen wearing in public for filthy jobs and yard duty, and it's
surprising how much "life" they usually still have in them,
often as much after being "worn out" as they had before.
Sometimes they just keep going and going for an incredibly long time
before actually falling apart. So my suggestion is to never
throw out any partially worn out shoes. They may be ugly in
good times, but they will sure beat rags and cardboard wrapped around
your
feet in bad times. Of course, it goes without saying that when you
find a good pair of
shoes or boots for sale on closeout or at discount prices, don't buy
just one pair! But a few extra pairs and store them away unused in
their boxes for a time when good footwear in your size may simply be
unavailable anywhere at any price. - Matt
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 for North Carolina and Kentucky (both in March), Indiana (in April), and Wyoming and possibly Wisconsin (both in May.) It is dirt cheap to attend, so don't miss it. "Goooood training!" OBTW, I've also found that the marksmanship targets that they sell are a great training aid for youngsters and newbies--and a good refresher for older shooters.
o o o
Warren Buffett has issued a new warning on the trade deficit, saying that it does not bode well for the economy. See: http://www.forbes.com/2006/01/18/buffett-deficit-economy-cx_cn_0118autofacescan02.html
o o o
Winchester, now owned by a foreign conglomerate, has just closed its last U.S. plant. The Winchester lever action --"the rifle that won the west" will be dropped from the line, and the remainder of their line will be made exclusively off-shore. Signs of the times. See: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/manufacturing/2006-01-18-winchester_x.htm
o o o
Aerial IEDs? Those insurgents are getting crafty. See: http://www.defensetech.org/
o o o
The folks at the Sniper Country website now offer free on-line instruction. Their long range shooting and field craft techniques have some applicability to folks interested in preparedness, so take a look. See: http//www.snipercountry.com/training.html
o o o
The RWVA's Spring Appleseed Tour series of rifle training sessions/matches is shaping up. They now have shoots scheduled for North Carolina and Kentucky (both in March), Indiana (in April), and Wyoming and possibly Wisconsin (both in May.) It is dirt cheap to attend, so don't miss it. "Goooood training!" OBTW, I've also found that the marksmanship targets that RWVA sells are a great training aid for youngsters and newbies--and a good refresher for older shooters.
Note from JWR: There are just eleven days left in Round 2 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best contest entry will win a four day course certificate at Front Sight. (An up to $2,000 value!) The deadline for entries for Round 2 is the last day of January, 2006. I also have some good news: Thanks to the generosity of Naish Piazza (the founder and director of Front Sight), we will be extending the writing contest for at least one more round! Round 3 will begin February 1st and end on the last day of March. We've already had plenty of motivational pieces submitted. Please keep your contest entries focused on practical skills. So start writing, folks!
If you know anyone that sells preparedness-related good or services, please ask them to advertise on SurvivalBlog. Thanks.
I have been watching the U.S. Government surplus auctions for ultra-cold
medical storage freezers. This one ("KELVINATOR, MDL: UC50RFMS,
LAB REFRIGERATOR") recently sold for just three hundred bucks.
See: http://cgi.govliquidation.com/auction/view?id=743367&convertTo=USD
Not a bad price at all. I hope that it went to some frugal individual
who will be using it for long-term storage in the event of TEOTWAWKI!
I've become hopelessly addicted to the
govliquidation.com site. Keep up the good work. A 10
Cent Challenge check
is headed your way. - T.K.
The following are some excerpts from some commentary by Eric Roseman
that was included in a recent issue of The Sovereign Society's
Offshore A-Letter: When the rate of return for short
term investments exceeds that of long term investments (the yield
curve "inverts"), it is generally a sign of bad economic
times ahead.
Over the last two years, investors have barely kept pace with inflation
in benchmark intermediate term US Treasury bonds. After enjoying a
massive rally since 2000, bond yields hit a 40 year low in 2003 at
3.3%. Despite thirteen Federal Reserve rate hikes since June 2004,
bond yields have actually declined twenty basis points (0.20%), a worrisome
signal Chairman Greenspan called a "conundrum" last fall.
Yield curve inversion is a dangerous anomaly because it portends to
economic weakness; the last three inversions all resulted in economic
recessions.
Indeed, the bond market might be signaling big trouble for the US economy
in 2006. The benchmark yield curve, or the difference between the two-year
and ten-year Treasury yields, inverted in late December. An inverted
yield curve occurs when short-term interest rates yield more than long-term
interest rates. This phenomenon is a rarity in bond markets and typically
indicates that bond investors think the US Federal Reserve is tightening
the monetary screws too aggressively. If this is the case, then there
is a good chance that the United States might suffer a recession later
this year, especially if the yield curve stays inverted. - Eric N.
Roseman, Montreal, Quebec. Editor, Renegade Investor E-mail: enr@qc.aibn.com
Web site: http://www.eas.ca
JWR Adds: If you do not yet already subscribe to The Sovereign Society's Offshore A-Letter, then I highly recommend doing so. Subscriptions are free. See: http://www.sovereignsociety.com/
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 terms, but those dollars won't buy even half as much in another five years. Charming.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: The second half of the "Aughts" will be a lot like the second half of the 1970s, with plenty of inflation.
o o o
In a recent commentary, economic pundit Doug Casey recommends: "Stockpile beans, bullets, bullion, booze and barter items." See: http://www.kitcocasey.com/displayArticle.php?id=485
o o o
The Daily Reckoning reports that personal bankruptcies have hit an all time high in both the U.S. and England. But they tell us that we are in the midst of an economic recovery. So how many bankruptcies will there be in the next recession?
I found some very interesting commentary recently posted
at Gold-Eagle.com about the true (inflation-adjusted) value of precious
metals, by Adam Hamilton.
See:
http://www.gold-eagle.com/gold_digest_05/hamilton011306.html
Mr. Rawles,
I enjoy reading your blog. It is full of useful information. I have
a couple of suggestions to add to the 1-13-06 letter by EMT J.N. Alacer
(the makers of "Emer'gen-C") has an prepackaged instant
electrolyte mix available. Just mix with water and drink. 'Electromix'
is available
at most health food store. It costs about 35 cents per packet. I
also would not want to be without aloe vera for burns. Small
tubes or bottles
are not that much, but it is amazing stuff!! Some Aloe
vera products have colorings and such in them; the ones without are
much
better especially for those who might have allergies to the additives.
- Otto
JWR Replies: Electrolyte mixes for rehydration (a.k.a. Oral Rehydration Solutions) are crucial for treating stomach flus. If and when there is ever an influenza pandemic, dehydration caused by diarrhea will probably kill more people than the flu itself.
Along with Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) and Valerian (Valeriana officinalis), Aloe vera is one of the medicinal herbs that every family should grow at home.
Dear Jim:
Straightblast brings up an excellent point about the many pitfalls
of loaning weapons to untrained neighbors, after a crisis has hit,
and thus potentially arming bad guys.
He wrote:"Frankly, it scares me. I look at it this way...if the
neighbor has no guns (right now), and no gun skills...and the bad guys
come to visit...what
are the odds that he / she will prevail against them? I think close
to zero." It scares me too! But I beg to differ that the
chances for your neighbor are "close to zero." Remember
your average gang or criminal has not had any formal training. An untrained
gang
with some weapon
experience versus an untrained neighbor BEHIND COVER is a least in
the same ballpark as a fair fight - and looters are not looking for
fair
fights! And if, God forbid, the gang did overcome the neighbor - well
the gang already had firearms, so one more gun is probably not that
big a deal.
I'm more concerned about unsafe weapon handling, negligent discharges,
and/or "friendly fire" from my neighbors than [I am about]
the gang getting one more weapon.
In a really bad situation I would rather have one HASTILY TRAINED neighbor
for fire support, than to be badly outnumbered by a gang with no fire
support. (It is kind of tough to watch four quadrants with two people!)
I think that a contingency plan so you have SEMI-trained, armed neighbors
is a better option. (This assumes that a suggestion to do some "Tactical
Crisis Training" would get the same look as if you just grown
an extra head! ;-)
Here are my thoughts on a contingency plan:
1. Invite your neighbors - and/or their kids - out for a social day
plinking at the range. You can at least get basic gun safety and sight
alignment concepts out. They might even get interested in shooting
- reactive targets like falling plates, balloons or just tin cans are
a blast. If this invitation gets a disgusted reaction, maybe moving
now, or bugging out later, is a better option. Who needs gun-phobic
neighbors?
2. Have some inexpensive, EASY TO USE, low-recoil firearms, magazines,
ammo, AND web belts with mag pouches for your new "Neighborhood
Watch on Steroids." Pistol caliber carbines and .223s would be a
good low recoil choice.
3. You might consider selling or bartering them the weapon "package" instead
of giving it away, as gifts are often not treated with the same care
as purchases. This also weeds out those who are not sufficiently motivated.
Selling at a fair PRE-crisis price would be an act of charity which
might just be appreciated.
4. Have a plan for a crash training [program for] your neighbors so that
they can SAFELY handle their new weapon, and at least shoot from a fixed
position,
behind cover, to include:
* The four rules of gun safety
* Loading and unloading
* Malfunction clearance
* Basic sight alignment and trigger control
* Understanding cover versus concealment
* Be sure of your target and backstop!
Any more suggestions or comments would be appreciated, especially from instructors
who deal with novices. Regards, - "OSOM" - Out of Sight, Out of Mind
The Colt version
for the 1911, chopped to Detonics length, on an alloy frame, recoils
just
as
much
as full
size
and with
9mm, saving
you
10c
a shot. An alloy compact 9mm 1911 variant recoils just as much as a
full size and weight .45 ACP.
This is great for training, saving you 10 cents a shot. A .223 AR-15, "wearing" an
8" long, 12 ounce sound suppressor is every bit as "tame" sounding
as the Ciener .22 LR unit
without the suppressor. [Shooting .22 LR in training] saves you nearly
20 cents a shot, and permits practice at indoor ranges, and other
places
where the 223 would not be a good idea.
[For those of you with AR-15 family rifles and carbines], be advised
that the .22 unit is not very accurate in an AR with 1 in 7" rifling,
is okay with 1 in 9" rifling (the most versatile) and it typically
shoots nice 2" groups at
50 yards with 1 in 12" rifling. The point of impact (POI)
with 22 LR is plenty close enough (within 3" at 50 yards) to
that of the .223 to make it a fine training tool, and usually, it's
close
enough
for
foraging small
game. There's
a way to make the POI of the two [almost exactly the same], too,
since the AR has two different "legs" on
its [L-shaped flip] rear sight.
If it's SHTF time, how
will you know when it's okay to have nothing more than a bolt action,
a shotgun, or a .22 LR? Suppressors are superb
aids in such conditions. I'd much rather have nothing more than ONE
10
round magazine and a suppressor for the CAR-15 (and the .22
LR unit) than all the spare mags in the world, with a noisy gun.
With a scope, trigger job, free float tube, forend mounted bipod,
and 69 grain HPBT match
Sierra bullets, at 2500 FPS,
[a CAR-15] gets more hits than misses on a 12"x24" torso
at 400 yards. Not bad for an Uzi-size
and weight combo. With the assault sling, it need never be out of
reach.
Our forefathers found
ways
to always have 15 lbs of Flintlock, powder horn, and possibles bag at hand.
The CAR-15 is concealable when disassembled. It comes down in 5 seconds,
and can be assembled and firing in 10 seconds. The caliber swap is
20 seconds.
With the 10.5" barrel, (5.56 chamber) I use 27.0 grains of AA2520 to get
the 60 grain Nosler Partition soft point to 2600+ fps, for 900 foot-pounds.
I favor a pair of lightweight compact pistols for SHTF times. One is a Beretta M21 .22 LR with an OAL of 9", including the 3 ounce suppressor. The M21 is 11 ounces, with a .5" longer barrel, available from GunsNStuff. The other pistol is a pocketable 9mm, rebarreled to 356 TSW, using a special, 55 grain AP bullet, at 2200 FPS, for 590 foot-pounds of energy. The "canned" .22 goes in the leg pocket of my BDU pants The centerfire always rides in a Kydex front pants pocket rig, with Velcro to secure the rig in the pocket. The total weight of the two pistols, holster, spare mags, and ammo, is 38 ounces. Since that's lighter than an empty .45 Government Model, and the two guns offer much more versatility, they are a much better deal.
If a critter is so close that I can't swap out to .22 LR, I can hit it with the Beretta. The M21 has been fitted with a PT22 Taurus mag, better sights, and an extractor. The pop-up barrel is a feature [of the] gun, courtesy of a pin thru both the frame and the barrel's underlug. Take care. - P.P.L.
JWR Replies: Thanks for your knowledgeable comments, P.P.L. SurvivalBlog readers should be advised that there is a $200 Federal transfer tax for firearms sound suppressors (often incorrectly called "silencers"--they do not completely silence any gun), selective fire (fully automatic) guns, and short barreled rifles and shotguns here in the U.S. There are also additional state-enacted restrictions on full autos and suppressors in many states, such as California and Washington. Readers are strongly advised not to purchase or construct an unregistered suppressor. The risk of doing so is the loss of you gun ownership and voting rights for life, and many year behind bars. Don't take that risk! Keep in mind that purchasing a registered suppressor will raise your profile, both locally (since it will be your local sheriff or chief of police that will sign off on your license) and at the Federal level. So you need to carefully weigh the risks versus benefits of doing so. Proceed down that path only after considerable thought and prayer.
Sir:
I thought I would let you also know that
Sambucol works incredibly well. My youngest daughter started feeling
bad last Wednesday night. It was the situation where she remarked
that she felt a bit more tired than usual. Her physical activity
is very good, and swim team practice was a bit more rigorous than
usual because of an upcoming swim meet that was scheduled for Saturday.
When she woke up Thursday morning she was running a fever and listless.
Wednesday
night I had talked to a friend who had used Sambucol and it helped
his case of the flu. By about 2 PM Thursday afternoon her fever was
103.8! She took some Tylenol and I went in search of Sambucol, not
expecting to find it because our town is somewhat small. I did find
it a local organic market much to my surprise. I gave her the first
dosage about 3 PM or so. Before I gave the dose to her I took her
temperature and her fever had only dropped by a few tenths of a degree
after the Tylenol. After the dose of Sambucol I took her temperature
about and hour and a half later. Her temperature had dropped to about
101.6. A little later in the evening she got up and ate a little,
and remained up for about two hours. By morning her temperature had
dropped to about 100.8. I kept following the dosage directions and
she actually sat up most of the day Friday. By Friday evening her
temperature was normal. She had received only the one dose of Tylenol
on Thursday. I kept giving her the Sambucol per directions throughout
the day. On Saturday morning she said she felt that she could swim
in a couple shorter events. I gave her the last dose of Sambucol
before the swim meet as a ‘just in case’ measure. She
said her energy was lower than normal, which was to be expected,
but she did manage to swim in the meet. I know that scientifically
this would be called anecdotal evidence. But if this is any indication
of the effectiveness of Black Elderberry extract [Sambucol] on the
immune system’s
ability to fight off a flu virus, then it is definitely the most
effective medication/nutritional supplement I have ever seen. I am
definitely keeping a supply on hand, probably in lozenge form because
of the expiration date is longer. As for the taste of Sambucol, if
my daughter will take it willingly then no one should have a problem
getting his or her kids to take it. It has a very light taste she
said that reminded her of grape juice. While I took care of her I
took one teaspoon on Thursday and one on Friday as a preventative
for me. And I never got the feeling I was coming down with the flu
from being in so close a proximity to her. Thanks for your time Mr.
Rawles, - The Rabid One
Jim:
I’m glad that
one of your readers wrote in to advise against stretching magazine
springs. I can also add that when a replacement of any weakened (shortened)
coil spring is not available, there is an alternative: Find a rod to
use as a mandrel within the spring, and tap with a hammer to slightly
flatten the coils against the rod as you work your way around. This
will lengthen the spring, without creating the kind of strength-impairing
deformations that stretching will cause. - Mr. Bravo
"A nation of well informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins." - Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790
Note from JWR: Please take the time to visit the web sites for all of our advertisers. They sell high quality products and services that are particularly suited for folks that are interested in preparedness, at competitive prices. These advertisers showed enough faith in SurvivalBlog to purchase advertisements, so please take the time to look at what they have to offer. Also, keep in mind that their product offerings do change, so be sure to re-visit their sites regularly to see what is new, and any special sale pricing. Thanks!
I can not seem to get my wife focused on what needs to be done [for preparedness] and accomplished. I think that she, at some level, believes that change is in the wind but for some reason she doesn’t see the need for a timely accomplishment of tasks. - "Indiana Jones"
The Memsahib Replies: Your wife no doubt has seem
the signs of decay: the ever increasing bureaucracy taking away our
freedoms, the moral debasement of the culture, and no doubt you
have been pointing out to her the signs of economic chaos. Yes, she can intellectually agree
with you that America is changing for the worse. But, does she want to believe
that it is actually collapsing? NO! Which is why she doesn't see the need
for a timely accomplishment of preparedness goals.
But, why won't she face reality, you wonder? She may say that it is only YOUR
reality! She has lots of reasons for not internalizing YOUR reality.
First, your view goes against what her parents and community have taught her
since she was a child: That America is the greatest nation on earth and that
everyone
can achieve the American dream of wealth, peace, and security. She was looking
forward to a house with the white picket fence and a rose garden. You want
her to trade it in for a bunker with steel shutters! To accept
your reality is to
give up on a cherished dream of a life of ease and contentment.
Secondly, her family probably thinks you are a little nutty or maybe even a
real whacko depending on how much you've shared with them. Her family has no
doubt
questioned some of your choices. They may have even counseled her that she
can't depend on you to make rational decisions. To go along with your world
view is
to forsake the approval of her parents. (My own father once said to me, "You
don't really believe that do you? You're just going along with it to humor
Jim, right?")
Third, maybe she is secretly afraid that if she encourages you, then you won't
know where to stop, and you will move the family to a Unabomber shack with
no phone,
electricity or running water. Have you gone overboard in the past with preparedness
purchases when she has offered the slightest encouragement? It might help if
you had a finite list of supplies you plan to buy so that
your wife could see that your survival purchases are not endless. Some husbands
freak their wives
out when they buy supplies as if they are stocking the whole neighborhood,
and not just the family. When a friend of ours mentioned to his wife that he
was planning to buy some ammo, his wife pictured three or four boxes, instead
he
purchased
twelve battle packs (1,920 rounds!) Your wife might be afraid if she gives
an inch you'll take a mile!
Be mindful of all that you are expecting of your wife when you ask her to accept
your view that this is the end of the world as we know it. She is giving
up on her
dreams and giving up the approval of her family. And finally let her know that
she can trust you not to go overboard or surprise her with your preparations.
Hi Jim,
You may already know about this, but if not, I think you and your readers
will find it useful. The following link http://www.mercola.com/2001/feb/7/drug_expiration.htm tells
of a study the U.S. Air Force requested 15 plus years ago to determine
the shelf life of it's inventory of medicine. The USAF was
concerned about having to dump and restock millions of dollars worth
of pharmaceuticals.
The upshot is, the study proved most medicines are still good way beyond
their printed expiration date. This was good news for one of my sons,
who requires a daily prescription for his condition. I have researched
his prescription in detail and discovered that his medicine is still
viable for two years past the expiration date. As
a result, I have stocked up on several weeks of his medicine to see
him
through
should something
happen to prevent us from replenishing his prescription. What really
irks me was the FDA's attitude
about not pushing Drug companies to extent the expatriation dates to
benefit the consumer: "It's not
the job of the FDA to be concerned about a consumer's economic
interest." It would be up to Congress to impose changes, he says. As things
stand now, expiration dates get a lot of emphasis. For instance, there is a campaign,
co-sponsored by some drug retailers, that urges people to discard pills when
they reach the date on the label." Talk about your planned obsolescence
for making a profit!
Of course, one should be very careful about storing and using any drug past it's
expiration date--Certain antibiotics can be dangerous. Exposure to heat, moisture,
etc., can degrade medications [shortening their shelf life.] Be sure to check
with
your
physician,
keep
a
record
of
what the medication is used for, and store them properly. All in all, it's good
to know that you can keep leftovers from certain prescriptions as part of your
emergency preparedness gear. Keep up the great site!
- R.S.
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 took a profit-taking dip to $9.00 per troy ounce on the spot market yesterday. (Tuesday, Jan.17, 2006.) Meanwhile, gold has dipped to around $552. This could be your last good chance to buy before the bull resumes his charge. According to some analysts, the weakening dollar, the ongoing trade and budget deficits, and the nascent saber-rattling tension with Iran point to a target of $10.20 silver and $607 gold for April of 2006. Silver is definitely the better buy of the two. Yes, it is much bulkier than gold, but it is far more likely to double in price than gold. If you have been doddling, then it is high time to call Swiss America, or one of the other reputable precious metals dealers, and stock up.
o o o
If any of you readers have not yet visited the KT Ordnance web site, then you should. Richard sells gunsmithing goodies with an interesting angle: He makes 80% finished rifle and pistol receivers, as well as jigs, tools, and instructional DVDs that detail how to complete them. Under the Federal law, these are NOT considered "firearms", and can be legally completed as semi-autos by private individuals for their personal use WITHOUT completing a Form 4473! (Consult your state and local laws before ordering.) OBTW, Richard is currently running a special 10% off of all orders (all 80% complete frames, not just Model 1911s--but excluding jigs), just for SurvivalBlog readers. Check it out! This sale ends on January 31st.
o o o
I recently learned that Loompanics
Unlimited is going out of business. For
many years, they've sold an eclectic panoply of books that you can't
find anywhere else. I was sorry to hear that Mike Hoy is shutting
his
doors. :-( The
only good news is that Mike is blowing out his remaining inventory
at 50% off. Check out his online catalog. There are
some great book titles there!
"A little change in your life is a good thing. A significant change to your body temperature is not a good thing." - James Wesley, Rawles
Don't miss the recent letters about Zimbabwe from Cathy Buckle on her Africa's Tears site. See: http://africantears.netfirms.com/ (In the left hand bar, click on December 2005 and January 2006 Archives.) It is sad to see a once prosperous nation slide into an economic shambles due to an incompetent and utterly corrupt communist government. Key infrastructures are crumbling, crop production is steadily declining, and the currency is still suffering from hyperinflation. Mugabe and his henchmen need to be handed one-way tickets to somewhere!
As reported in Defense Aerospace, the
U.S. Air Force recently
announced: "The 1st Fighter Wing held
a ceremony here today to celebrate the F-22A Raptor's initial operational
capability. The IOC declaration proves the F-22A is mission ready.
The base now has 19 Raptors..."
Strike up the band! The F-22 is finally operational.
First, some background; I'm very familiar with the history of this
procurement. Back in July of 1987, I visited
Wright-Patterson
AFB to interview Colonel
Fain, the System Program Office manager
for what was then dubbed the "Advanced Tactical Fighter." This
interview was for a feature article in Defense Electronics magazine.
(See Defense Electronics, September, 1987, p. 61.) What Col.
Fain was preaching
sounded like real Hotel Sierra to
me. This plane, he promised, was going to be a real dandy fighter,
with an awesome engine that would allow "super
cruise" (the ability to fly faster than the speed of sound without
afterburner), and awesome avionics. But I understood that I had to
be patient...
Development on the ATF actually began way back in 1981,
and the concept stage started several years before that.
Assembly of the first aircraft didn't begin until 1991. First flight
of a prototype was in September of
1997. (For a timeline of ATF development, see http://www.f22fighter.com/timeline.htm)
And now, 24 years later, the first squadron of F-22As
has finally been declared operationally ready. A 24 year development
cycle? Incredible!
If the War Department had had a development cycle for major weapons
systems that was that long back in the 1930s, we would still be slugging
it out with the Germans in North Africa. The U.S. military procurement
system has become so bureaucratically convoluted and hidebound
that it barely functions. For the good of the taxpayers and especially
for the sake of our troops,
something has to change.
James:
In reference to your January 16th post, have hunted extensively with
side-by-side (double barrel or "SxS") shotguns throughout my life.
They are my first choice
for
upland game
and waterfowl.
There are many brands of SxS shotguns. Some are valued at a price higher
than most reasonably priced homes with 10 acres of ground, others are
priced in a race to the bottom. I like the Spanish doubles as a mid-priced
SxS. Mine have proven to be as reliable as a hammer, and have good
fit for the money spent.
Be warned though, double guns of all types have inflated rather dramatically
in price over the last decade. Since I am not writing this for a hunting
site, but rather, a survival site, I will focus on a couple things
I believe relevant:
1. Ease of use. A working double (with internal, NOT external hammers)
is almost as easy to get acquainted with in short-time as a single
shot. The brand I have chosen for around the farm, and for 95% of my
hunting, is the Ugartechea. (See: http://www.doubleshotguns.com/ugartechea.htm)
A simple slide up to fire safety on the tang, double triggers (a must,
in my opinion), and ejectors that will toss spent casings so quickly
that one-handed reloading is a cinch, these are good quality guns that
are easy to get used to using, and easy to master
for muscle memory sake. I consider the external hammers to be dangerous
in the woods in a "ready to fire" mode...in a stalking scenario.
In cowboy action shooting though, many folks can really make them sing.
I don't like them for my purposes.
2. Reliable. They work. I have never had a misfire, and have probably
shot 100,000 shells through these over the years.
3. Easy to break-down. It is basically a 3 piece gun (not counting
internal working parts), that can be disassemble into those 3 pieces
in what, 5-7 seconds? Push a button on the splinter forend, pull down,
then push lever to open gun as if to load...and the barrels fall into
your hand. This also makes the guns a cinch to clean.
4. Value. An excellent shape Spanish double of good origin will cost
$750 up. Many times, it is $1,000 up. Working value is not that of
an 870. But, my doubles were bought new for slightly less than that,
and, I will pass them as dead-on reliable guns to my children one day...so they
have been worth it to me.
One warning though to those who believe a double can be handed off
to the little old lady down the road, who, for whatever reason...has
little or no training. Shotguns of normal legal length are not the
perfect solution to a "kitchen sink to backdoor" encounter.
At a range of 6-10 feet it will have a spread of nearer a rifle than
what we think of when
we think of shotguns. It will no doubt bore a hole in one side and
out the other at that range, and is wickedly deadly, but it requires
aimed fire at all ranges other than point blank---no different than
a pistol. Recoil is subjective...to an extent. It can range from heavy,
to extreme (on the little old lady scale) depending on chosen rounds.
A 12 gauge high brass round? Even tough guys won't shoot many in a
t-shirt...and I have seen the recoil almost dislodge the shotgun from
some unsuspecting folks hands. Indoors = lots of blast and noise.
Bottom line: I like the double gun, and I can make it function well
in all conditions I have been in, including freezing rain that has
created problems with pump guns used by friends. However, I train with
these. Without training? Well, I don't consider that an option
that makes any shooting weapon good. Grandma either learns to
shoot, and shoots until a competent shootist, or, she does not get
one of my guns. Hard but true.
This brings me to my final (off topic point). There seems to be a bit
of fantasy floating around the community that we can have extra weapons
on hand to provide the neighbors who have none---after the crunch.
Have we really thought this through? Doesn't it require us to assume
that an offer to train the neighbor was made during good times, and
it was refused? Then, trouble comes knocking and they see the light?
We may have to do this...but it would be my absolute worst case scenario. Frankly,
it scares me. I look at it this way...if the neighbor has no guns,
and no gun skills...and the bad guys come to visit...what
are the odds that he / she will prevail against them? I think close
to zero.
So now, if that happens, they have our neighbors house, and our rifle
/ shotgun?
I have made a decision only for my family: I will teach any person
I trust. I will provide them with training ammo, they can train on
my range on the farm, I will do whatever is necessary to get them to
the level they can reach...and have done so many times. BUT, if this
thing snaps and we are up against it? I will not provide a shooting
weapon to someone who has no idea how to use it. Quite simply, I don't
want to face any of my weapons...and I don't want my children facing
my weapons. If you have neighbors, know them. If you can trust them,
train them. If you cannot trust them, move. Best to all, - Straightblast
JWR Replies: I agree that doubles are a good investment. When I was in college (in the early 1980s) I had the chance to buy a nice boxlock Greener 12 gauge ejector gun with fluid steel barrels. It even already had its chambers deepened to 2-3/4 inches. The gent was asking just $350 for it. I'm still kicking myself for not buying it. That Greener would be at least a $2,500 gun today--possibly much more. As I wrote in my novel "Patriots": "Hindsight is 20/20."
"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored." - Aldous Huxley, 1894-1963
Note From JWR: Wow! 5.5 million hits and nearly 200,000 unique visits in less than six months. Thanks for making SurvivalBlog such a great success. Please continue to spread the word!
Mr. Rawles,
I wanted to run a few observations of mine by you and then pose a question.
I am working in Afghanistan as a security contractor. I don't have
a normal security contractor job (i.e. doing PSD work
for dignitaries), and I get to see a lot more of the country, frequently
by myself. I
see things turning in the wrong direction here, and while we could
take the upper hand again, I don't think the powers that be will make
the right decisions. The U.S. will be turning over control of the violent
south and east to ISAF soon,
and ISAF troops and leadership are not equal to their U.S. counterparts.
2005 was worse than 2004, and I think
the trend will continue to worsen in 2006. I can't speak with any deep
authority on Iraq, but the political reality of it seems to be poor,
even if the military could do the job if turned loose and properly
led. In short, I think these situations will result in a black eye
for the U.S., and as a result the U.S. economy could take a beating
this year. This is an extreme simplification of a complicated situation.
My question is about some money that I have invested in some standard
mutual funds and a few stocks. They are managed by my local Edward Jones
broker,
and while he urges me to keep them there, I feel the market could take
a beating soon. I've found some land over in Montana (This parcel is
112 acres for asking price of $128,000. [When not in Afghanistan,]
I live in Eastern Washington,
and land there
is much
more
expensive than I am finding in Montana) and the invested money would
make a nice down payment on that land. What do you think about my fears
of money in funds, and would you agree that the land might be a good
move? I already have a good lay in of food, weapons, et cetera and
own a fair bit of gold and silver bullion so buying property has some
appeal
to me right now. Any input you have would be much appreciated. Thanks
very much. - J. in Afghanistan
JWR Replies: In my opinion stocks are currently seeing a brief up tick in the overall bear market that began in April of 2000. It is essentially a sucker rally. I strongly recommend that you dump most or all of your stocks and (and stock mutual funds) and re-invest in tangibles. Which tangibles? Even at over $9+ an ounce, silver is still a relative bargain. Productive land--good farm and ranch land--is also worth buying, particularly in lightly populated regions that have plentiful water and that are well-removed from major population centers. Unlike urban and suburban real estate on the coasts and in resort regions, which is grossly inflated (read: a bubble waiting to burst), productive real estate in places like the Intermountain West is still affordable. When the real estate bubble does burst--most likely in the Spring/Summer of Aught Six--I anticipate that the over-inflated regions will suffer at least a 30% price decline, and perhaps even as much as 60% in outrageously over-priced areas like San Diego, the San Francisco peninsula, and Miami Beach. In contrast, the more affordable regions may see as little as a 10% price drop. So if buying there, your downside risk is minimal.
Be advised that although the best real estate bargains in Montana are in the eastern half of the state, that it is also the region that is downwind of scores of nuclear ground burst targets such as Malmstrom AFB and hundreds of missiles silos. For maps of U.S. military nuclear targets, see: www.nukewatch.com/pathfinder/20053fall/page2.pdf So unless you see a nation state nuclear exchange as only a remote possibility, then I recommend that you only buy property that is is at least 40 miles upwind of any of Montana's nuke targets.
Take good care of yourself in Afghanistan. May God Bless You and Yours!
Dear Mr. Rawles,
I know you are a big fan of the book Where There is no Doctor. (English
International Edition by D. Werner ISBN 0-333-51651-6 Published by
MacMillan), and Where There is No Dentist (by M. Dickson ISBN 9-780942-364057.)
Published by Hesperian, but did you know that there are three more
books in the same series that I believe would be helpful if TEOTWAWKI happens?
These are:
Where There is No Psychiatrist by V. Patel ISBN 1901242757 Published
by the Royal College of Psychiatrists - Survivalists are unlikely to need psychological
help
for mental illness from the stress but a lot of the sheeple will.
Where Women Have No Doctor by A. Burns, R. Lovich, J. Maxwell & K.
Shapiro. ISBN 0-333-64933-8 Published by MacMillan - this is a health guide
for women
and girls to help them identify common medical problems and treatments. Covers
sexual and mental health, diseases, pregnancy and childbirth, nutrition, disabilities
and injuries. Uses clear simple language and hundreds of drawings.
Where There is No Vet by B. Forse ISBN 0333588991 Published by MacMillan
- this should be of some help in looking after the goats et cetera.
I should say I have not yet got my copy of these three books yet. I know these
book are publish by different publishers but they are all publish for TALC
(http://www.talcuk.org)
which is a UK charity set up to help health care in developing countries particularly
Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. This link is
a good source for information but may not be the best place to buy from as
it is in England. I hope I have been some help and I hope that no one ever
needs
to use these books. Yours Sincerely, - Simon.
Sir:
Over the years I, like all shooters, have heard theories on magazine
springs and how to treat them. A few years back I took a tour of
the Sandia National Laboratories and I spoke with a metallurgist
who was also a shooter and he had some noteworthy insight on the
issue. As he said, "if the spring was made of the right materials
and heat treated properly, leaving it loaded will not cause the spring
to weaken." Leaving a spring compressed will not weaken it,
it is compressing and relieving the spring a lot that causes them
to weaken through use. He added that any failings are usually due
to poor materials or bad heat treating.
This is yet another reason to buy only the best. If
you have magazines of questionable manufacture it may be worthwhile
to stock some spare
magazine springs at the very least. Wolff, Wilson and others make
quality springs for this purpose.
Ever since my conversation with the man at Sandia I always got a
kick out of hearing about people who rotate their magazines "so
the springs can rest". Never made sense before that, steel does
not rest and recover like muscle tissue, but hearing the science
behind it was an education. Same with downloading magazines a round
or two. It won't save the spring any (but it will make the bolt/slide
strip
the round out a bit easier but that should only be an issue if there
are problems with that weapon.) If you want to rotate your magazines
by running rounds through the gun that is great. Practice is never
wasted
and it will field test those magazines.
One more word of warning is that you should never stretch magazine
springs, this is at best a short term fix. They will weaken
again, even faster than before. Replace them when they go bad, don't
stretch
them out in hopes they will still give good service. - Jake
at The Armory
Mr. Rawles;
What do you think of the double-barrel coach gun as a weapon for less-frequent shooters? I'm thinking this might be a good choice to give to the older lady next door, or the wife who doesn't shoot as a hobby. It's easy to use (few controls), intimidating, and has manageable recoil, when used with the right buckshot loads and possibly a quality recoil pad. - John in California
JWR Replies: Coach Guns (a.k.a. side-by-side double-barreled shotguns or "luparas") are an antiquated design, but they do fill a couple of useful roles in a retreat firearms battery. Their greatest attributes are their extreme shooting longevity (there are some British side-by-side shotguns have been documented to have fired literally millions of shotgun shells), and their ability to digest loads that would cause most repeating shotguns to "hang up." Ancient ammo, cruddy ammo, overloads, you name it, and they will shoot it. Secondarily, like their single-shot cousins, double barrels have far greater versatility than repeaters, because they can accept cartridge adapters and barrel inserts, such as the famous "Savage .410-ers" and the more recently produced "Chamber Mates." The most commonly found side-by sides--such as those used in Cowboy Action Shooting have exposed hammers, which must be manually cocked, and simple extractors rather than ejectors. The exposed hammer guns look quaint, but they are considerably slower to operate than internal hammer models with ejectors such as as the discontinued Browning B-SS (These thankfully are still widely available on the secondary market.) I strongly recommend that you look for an internal hammer model, particularly if you plan to use your coach gun for self-defense. Your primary shotgun should probably be a pump or a semi-auto. You might consider getting a coach gun as a secondary gun for self defense and for taking game. In my experience, 23-inch barrels are a good compromise between compactness and muzzle velocity/patterning. I'd only opt for 18 or 20 inch barrels if you only want a self defense shotgun. Notably, in locales that have restrictive gun laws (such as England) , where getting permits can be difficult, a coach gun might be a viable option. (Since they are among the most likely to get permit approval.) As for the suggestion that you hand one to "the older lady next door", I don't think that is realistic unless you give granny a light recoil 20 gauge model with a thick recoil pad (such as a Pachmayr Decelerator or their new Ultra Soft) and a lot of training.
"Most people, sometime in their lives, stumble across truth. Most jump up, brush themselves off, and hurry on about their business as if nothing had happened." -Winston Churchill, 1874-1965
For other previous SurvivalBlog posts, see the Archives
Copyright 2006. All Rights Reserved by James Wesley, Rawles - www.SurvivalBlog.com™
The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.