This region is on the east side of the Blue Mountains
Statistics (for La Grande):
Average high temperature in August: 85.
Average low temperature in January: 23.1.
Average snowfall in January: 6.7”.
Growing season: 160 days.
Advantages: Proximity to good hunting and firewood sources in “The
Blues.” More plentiful water than in many other parts of eastern
Oregon. Fairly diverse agriculture. Grande Ronde Valley crops are primarily
wheat, hay, and barley, with some oats, apples, cherries, sugar beets,
and beans.
From the Oregon Blue Book: “The Grande Ronde Valley in Union
County is nearly table flat and is covered with the rich silt of an
old lake bed. Highly
diversified, with an annual rainfall of twenty inches, the valley
boasts of never having had a general crop failure. The county's 1,092 farms average
473 acres a unit.”
Disadvantages: A major interstate freeway (I-84) passes
through the region, so look for places that are away from the freeway. Downwind
from Seattle if the winds are atypical.
Grid Up Retreat Potential: 2 (On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1
being the best)
Grid Down Retreat Potential: 6 (On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the best)
Nuclear Scenario Retreat Potential: 4 (On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the best)
Jim:
I am an non-denominational Christian, (not a Mormon), but
I do appreciate the fairness you exhibit on your blog. The Mormon
man's
recent comments
were good reading and I hope his view is representative of all Mormons.
Thank you for your fairness and honesty.
ABOUT KNIVES: I have found that the Cold Steel "Recon Bowie" with its 5/16' thick blade is an excellent field knife which can be used like a hatchet and it is quite tough. It's big brother - the Trailmaster Series is also another great large knife.
ABOUT OLIVE OIL: I purchased a three liter can of Bertolli Brand "Classico, Full Bodied & Mild" olive oil in July of 1998. It was stored in a dark cool place in the basement (average temperature about 60F). I opened this can in late 2004 and the oil was fresh, and is still fresh now at the bottom of the can after using it for the last 11 months. God Bless you, and your sweet family. - Christian Souljer
JWR Replies: I definitely prefer using and storing olive oil rather than vegetable oil. The vegetable oil sold in stores goes rancid very quickly--in fact it verges on being rancid even when it is sold freshly bottled. Olive oil is more healthy to use in cooking and baking and as you pointed out, it has a long shelf life.
Hello from a long-time fan. With some of the discussions going
into how to build a home that will be designed with survival in mind,
I’d thought that the following
may be useful (If you haven’t seen this stuff already).
I’ve been researching extensively differing home structures and
came across what the owners of this home call “The Ultimate Secure
Home” See: http://www.ultimatesecurehome.com/
Now I’m not advocating anyone buy this place, but it is chock-full
“Secure Home”. What scenarios to consider like plague, economic collapse,
fire, and items dealing with water support, off-grid power, communications…etc.
Also the unique dome-structure itself that has inherent security features
which led me to a company called Formworks Building Inc. See: http://www.formworksbuilding.com/ They
are experts in designing thin concrete-shelled Earth homes using a
unique steel reinforcement structure that (according to them) will
cost no more than a standard framed home. Best Regards, - R.G.
Mr. Rawles,
I realize you are busy, and appreciate any response you can supply.
I am residing about 20 miles out of St. Louis, Missouri. I realize
my close proximity to
such a large urban area is far from ideal, but I do not have the financial
security to quit the job and move out to a less populated area. Now, my question
is not in regard to my specific area. Rather, my question is regarding the
rest of Missouri. I have friends owning land in central Missouri in a small
community that have extended an offer to allow me to bunk with them if worst
comes to worst. I do not see Missouri on your Top 19 list, and I wonder how
it ranks up in your personal opinion? I can certainly research my state's ranking
as compared to other states, but any opinion you could share on Missouri would
be appreciated. Thanks! - B.J.
JWR Replies: As mentioned in previous posts, I don't consider
anything in that portion of the country to be survivable if and when things
get truly Schumeresque.
(Too much population density and is downwind of too many nuke
targets.) Read my posts from early August, 2005 in the Archives for
details.
I am not familiar enough with Missouri to make any specific locale
recommendations. All that I can say with relatiive certainty is that
its population density makes it marginal for a grid down situation.
Some
rural parts
of the state might pull through in a grid up situation. But once the
grid goes down, all bets are off. With that much population you would
have devote all your manpower to security. Then who is going to handle
the gardening?
Perhaps someone who reads the blog who also lives in a rural portion
of Missouri will send me an e-mail and
enlighten us.
Hello Jim,
I really enjoyed Buckshot’s post on eating wild game. Like him
we eat “off
the land,” on a regular basis. There is bear, beaver, turtle, pheasant,
muskrat, rabbit, squirrel and venison in our freezer right now. We recently
tried canning up some blue gill with great success.Free food is out there for
the taking and it is good. Get started now and find out for yourself, which
is the best way to fix game to your tastes. By the way we like to brown the
cut up muskrat, place it in a roaster, make gravy in the frying pan and pour
over the meat. Put some dressing balls on top the meat and cook it for a couple
of hours at 350 degrees. (This will tenderize the meat if you are cooking an
older animal) Make some mashed potatoes and you have a feast. Remember folks,
anyone that will eat chicken will eat anything! Just follow a chicken around
for a day and you’ll know what I mean. I should add
that I have not eaten everything in our AO though.
I killed a opossum one day, with the intention of cleaning it, but it was so
ugly I decided that I was
not that hungry (at least at that time). We keep a number of traps around our
house. A double spring conibear (a step up from the 110 size) has a 7” opening
and will work it’s magic
on most of the “small deer” that Buckshot was referring to.
As an FYI, here is a link for vitamins that are advertised to store for 10
years.
http://www.nitro-pak.com/product_info.php/products_id/1022 I
use these vitamins myself and would recommend Nitro-Pak. Their customer service
is excellent. Keep up the great work, and God Bless. - John & Abigail Adams
"Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous
sea of liberty.”
- Thomas Jefferson
Note from Jim: When you patronize any SurvivalBlog advertiser, please tell them where you saw their ad.
The agricultural Umpqua River Valley is one of my most highly recommended
regions in Oregon. Unlike the Willamette Valley--Oregon's largest
agricultural region, which may get swarmed by the masses from Portland
and Salem,
the Umpqua River
Valley
has relative
geographic isolation. However, the proximity of the major population
centers of northern California are troubling. The Umpqua valley wraps
around
west
from
Roseburg, Oregon.
Concentrate on small towns like Melrose, Cleveland, and Umpqua.
According to Oregon State University (OSU)’s School of Agriculture,
Umpqua River Valley crops include: snap beans, beets, head cabbage,
cantaloupe,
carrots,
cauliflower, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, medicinal and culinary herbs,
onions, green peas, peppers, pumpkins, squash, sweet corn, tomatoes,
melons, and various vegetable seed crops.
Statistics (for Roseburg):
Growing season: 217 days.
Average snowfall in January: 3.5” (6.1” annually).
Median residential home price in Roseburg: $129,940.
Advantages: Very long growing season and very diverse agriculture.
Upwind from all anticipated nuclear targets except for Roseburg, which
might be a tertiary target in a full scale exchange. From
Oregontravels.com: “Extremes
of heat and cold are rare. The summer humidity is low and snowfall
is rare on the valley floor. The normal growing season is 217 days.
Roseburg enjoys one of the lowest average wind velocities in the United
States.” Good small mouth bass and steelhead fishing in the South
Umpqua River.
Disadvantages: Proximity to California. Large seasonal population of
migrant farm workers.
Grid Up Retreat Potential: 2 (On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the best)
Grid Down Retreat Potential: 5 (On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the best)
Nuclear Scenario Retreat Potential: 1 (On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the best)
"I could never eat that!" I can't tell you the numbers of times I have heard that one! With normal grocery-store-plastic-and-foam-to-grill crowd I can understand that statement. But from hunters? I have seen people look down their nose at suggesting eating wild game but mention other animals and they freak out. Mention eating muskrats and people look at you like you are from Mars and have two heads. They have that "Stay away from my children" look. I find it amusing. Muskrat (a.k.a. Marsh Rabbit) is said to have a rat tail. But true rat tail is round whereas a marsh rabbit's tail is flat on the sides.)
This reminds of old western
movie I saw with Paul Newman. A lady says "I could never
eat a dog." Paul Newman replies " Lady if you
were really hungry I mean really hunger not just missing a meal but
not
having a meal in three days. You would gladly eat it and fight over
the bones to suck the marrow out." In a lot of ways I feel like
Paul Newman if you were really hungry you would gladly eat it.
For many years in Louisiana have been called "marsh rabbits" think
about it you are hunting rabbits miles from anywhere around a small
farm pond you shoot a rabbit. I bet that rabbit would be good eating,
right? Now take it one more step in the pond is muskrats they live
and feed on
almost the same kind of food, plant life. How come the rabbit is a
prize and the muskrat is scorned? Program response because people have
been
lead to believe
that anything with the word "Rat" in it is unfit for human
consumption. I remember the time when I was single and sharing an apartment
with two
other guys. I spent a day making jerky. They came home and the kitchen
table was covered with finished jerky that was cooling before packing.
They
ask if they could try some. I said sure why not. They were eating and
raving about how great it was. After both had eaten 3 or more pieces
they ask what kind of
meat it
was. I smiled and said guess? Tasted like farm raise beef kind of lean.
Maybe an old bull that was why it was chewy. Nope, snapping turtle,
I reply. One guy immediately ran to bathroom to puke. The other guy
grabbed another piece and said that it was great. You see it was all
psychological
for the guy who puked. Just seconds before raving about how good it
was until he found out what it was.
Muskrat is the same way. Sometimes when a person becomes brave enough
to try it they will gut a muskrat inside the house. This I will warn
is a big mistake. Muskrat live a long time underwater and for some
reason they really smell when you open their guts up. Make sure
you clean them outside. Or if you just want to try it skin it leave
the guts in and cut off the back legs. I did this last year on the
back legs
of m'rats and we BBQ on the grill. I can say with all honestly it was
the best marsh rabbit I have ever cooked. How does this fit into a
survival plan will you can easily trap them with 110 conibears, or
if you are heading to a retreat you can make a multiply catch trap.
Yes, this trap can catch up to 10 in one night but most customers report
back they get between 3 and 5
a night.
But what other animals can you get? Learn to snare "small deer". What
the heck are small deer? Raccoons, ground hogs, beaver, etc.. Even
in most suburban areas there is plenty of animals running around like
raccoons, ground hogs (woodchucks) squirrels, rabbits, marsh rabbits,
etc. Raccoons
are easy to snare once you learn how. Now raccoon are a very important
survival food because 2 lbs of roasted coon meat equals 2500 calories.
As US
ROG stated 1 raccoon can provide a soldier 4 days worth of food. How
you cook raccoons is very important they are very greasy but if you
grill or roast them
over a fire so the fat can drip off they are truly excellent. Another
way is to par boil allowed to cool and strip the meat off and then
make
a stew.
Beaver another excellent food source. In fact they are one of my favorite
wild game I like it better then venison. They taste real close to
beef. My Survival Snaring and Water Trapping videos both cover catching
these animals in detail. As one customer told me. "I took the
back legs off and decide to roast it at work one day. Place two back
legs in
roasting pan pour over the meat 1 cup of Lipton onion soup and baked
for 1 hour.
Guys
at work were at first real hesitant to try it. But finally they did
and before I knew it almost all of it was gone. Afterwards everyone
was asking when
I was bringing more in."
I always hear that "all the animals will be
wiped out". I smile when I hear this one. Please keep believing this
more food for the rest of us.
I have read hundreds of account of trappers who made it through the
Great Depression. You can't hunt all the animals out like beaver and
marsh
rabbits--you
need traps for that. You still should have store food but what if you
can add 25-100 animals each year. Sure would stretch your food supply,
won't
it? By the way, I trapped in Michigan back in the late 1970s and early
1980s. That was when some counties had unemployment at 25% (same as
the Great Depression) I caught plenty
of animals.
One last thing Pre-Y2K I was working a show selling conibears traps
and snares. Two Air Force enlisted guys in uniform walk by and I ask
if they want any traps they said "no I could never do that to
an animal." I
just smiled. The conibear trap was rated as one of the most humane
traps for quick kills on the market. Just a different kind of mouse
trap. But when these folks come back day, after day, after day, after
day with
no game from hunting they will wish to God they would have bought some
trapping supplies. In a True TEOTWAWKI happens with no resupply possible
and
you are hungry for three days straight sure would be nice to whip out
some traps and snare) and go catch dinner. But only if you can get
over your programming
of "I
could never eat that!" - Buckshot
Hey Jim,
A gent recently wrote you regarding the reliability of the AK. This
is something I can attest to first hand. Kind of a long story so
I'll
try to keep
it short. My nephew had used one of my Polytech AK's one weekend he
was visiting, cleaned it and gave it back. Let me preface this by saying
that I've had this particular weapon almost 20 years now and have had
no less than 30,000 rounds through it. And yes, the barrel is pretty
shot out at this point, accuracy is about 1/3 of what it originally
was. Anyway, the next time I used the rifle was for let's say a defensive
rifle shooting competition. This involved engaging targets at varying
ranges up to 200 yards under more than a little stress, movement, etc.
Right from the start the action of the rifle felt "slow." I
hesitated for a second cause I knew something was wrong with the rifle.
I completed that course and was 90% through the next course of fire
(about 400 rounds total) when the bolt locked back on the weapon. I
went through the normal malfunction drill and the bolt would not move.
It was stuck about halfway. I covered the last few targets with pistol
fire to complete the course. I disassembled the AK to get the tension
to release on the bolt and to figure out what had happened. It seems
my nephew got the receiver cover to fit in UNDER the notch on the rear
sight assembly (I didn't know that was even possible!) I mean the notch
that the receiver cover is supposed to fit OVER. I found a broken piece
of metal jammed next to the bolt carrier in the receiver. Upon further
inspection I found HALF OF THE TRIGGER gone (it had broken off). The
best I can figure is that the receiver cover forced the bolt carrier
down into the receiver and somehow it sheared off part of the trigger.
I put the weapon back together (now with HALF a trigger), checked the
barrel and proceeded to shoot another couple hundred rounds that day.
The trigger held up fine, it's one of those two leg type triggers.
The hammer springs on those weapons are also double wound and designed
to function at 90% even with one of the springs broke!
FWIW, I was really stupid at 17 years old. A friend and I used
to bury our AKs in mud, sand, two feet of water and pull them up and
fire them. This was back when they were $265 for an original Chinese
AKS. It truly is a reliable weapon, I've seen it first hand. -
Mr. Sierra
Just a little more information on Google Earth (also available for free from Google if you type "Google Earth" in Google.com) and Google Maps satellite view (also free) maps.google.com - you can use street addresses any time - usually easiest done in 100 Main Street, 42276 or some similar fashion. It's also very easy with lat/long coordinates in the search field. There is a ton of information for free there. Also consider http://virtualearth.msn.com for older but more complete satellite maps. - L.C.
James,
I came across a website advertising a food storage calculator for $18.
Here's a free one from the LDS Church.
http://www.providentliving.org/emergencyprep/calculator/0,11242,2008-1,00.html
It invites you to identify the gender/ages of family members to produce
the custom report. By reading carefully, you will note you can
manually change the suggested quantities to reflect your family's
preferences. It's pretty complete and lets you calculate quantities by
quarters
(3 months, 6 months, all the way out to 3 years). One thing for
sure: it will make you realize that money and proper
storage area are important issues to deal with. Maybe most folks
would be starting with a 3-month's supply and then adding as money
and storage
shelves etc. become available. OBTW, I think the water amount in
a "family
report" from the LDS Food Storage Calculator is only for preparing
these foods. The amount of water at a gallon/day/person would quickly
become impossible to store. So, a running water source is crucial,
as you have regularly counseled. Better get started now. Remember
the mantra: beans, then bullets. - B.B.
Hi Jim,
Our first mountain snow of the season here in Wyoming has re-vitalized
our preparation efforts. We took a good, hard look at the homestead and
made
some substantial improvements this past week or two.
Transportation - I took my EMP-proof 1984 diesel 4X4 in for the new
steering gear that has been on the back burner for some time. The
new engine is now broken in, so I installed a dual filter system
and switched
to synthetic diesel-grade motor oil, which will only require semi-annual
changes.
Backup Heating - We already had a wood burning stove in the lower
level of the main house. Added a wood stove to the outbuilding
that houses
the pantry. To insure a long term supply of fuel, I called a
local logger and ordered a logging-truck load of logs... specifying nothing
larger than 10 inch diameter. A load costs about $1,000 and provides
approximately 20 cords of wood. I replaced my old chainsaw and
stocked
up on extra chains, oil and supplies.
I ordered a 500 gallon tank of propane that will be used to fuel
a backup generator that is on the planning board for next summer.
In
the interim, We can use it to heat the pantry with that high efficiency
furnace (that my heating-contractor brother is trading me for an
Elk hunt.)
(We keep between 2 and 3 years supply of food in the pantry and want
to be sure it is protected from freezing should the balloon go
up in mid-winter. Redundancy, Redundancy)
Bartering - Bought a few rolls of silver dimes to augment the one
ounce silver rounds on hand. Added to reloading supplies. Inventoried
the
plexiglas, plywood, screws, nails, rolls of plastic, baling wire,
barbed wire, twine, hand tools. Noted a dearth of alcoholic beverages.
We're non-smokers, but a case or so of cigarettes might be useful
Wampum.
Medical - Checked expiration dates and bought extra vitamins, aspirin,
topical antiseptic and prescribed prescription medications.
Clothing - Found that my Carhart insulated coveralls had somehow
shrunk. Replaced them and wonder how many pairs of Sorel insulated
boots We
live on high plains of Wyoming) I should have. Sometimes it's
hard to visualize a world without Wal-Mart and Cabela's.
Books - Printed and audio... Can you imagine a snowy afternoon without
books?
Keep the Faith, - The Regulator
My personal taste runs towards magazines like Backwoods Home and Countryside & Small Stock Journal. However, the once great Mother Earth News (now sadly yuppified) occasionally runs a great article. David in Israel recommended this one: http://www.motherearthnews.com/library/2001_April_May/Top_20_Homesteading_Tools
"If wisdom's ways you wisely seek,
Five things observe with care:
To whom you speak,
Of whom you speak,
And how, and when, and where."
- Caroline L. Ingalls (Mother of Laura Ingalls Wilder)
Concentrate on small towns that are off of Interstate 5, such
as Gold Hill and Jacksonville.
Josephine County crops: Hay, corn, tomatoes, potatoes, apples, cherries,
grapes, peaches, pears, berries, garlic, and herbs.
Statistics (for Central Point):
Average high temperature in August: 90.
Average low temperature in January: 30.8.
Growing season: 165 days (1st of May to mid-October).
Average snowfall in January: 3.2”.
Median residential home price: (Rogue River): $145,000.
Median residential home price: (Gold Hill): $135,000.
Advantages: Mild climate with a long growing season. Upwind from all
potential nuclear targets in CONUS.
Disadvantages: Proximity to California' s Golden Horde. All of Oregon
suffers from the creeping Nanny State mentality that emanates from
Salem.
Note: The valley of the Rogue was the late Mel Tappan’s preferred
home/retreat locale.This
region might be a good one to consider for someone who has strong business
or family
ties
to
Northern California.
Grid Up Retreat Potential: 3 (On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the best)
Grid Down Retreat Potential: 6 (On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the best)
Nuclear Scenario Retreat Potential: 1 (On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the best)
Front Sight, America's premier firearms training
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Just following the blog for the past few weeks it seems the biggest
discussion is EMP. I have to say that the idea of an EMP far enough
away from Air Force One to not blow the wings off will at worst disrupt
HF radio for a few days/weeks as the ionosphere recovers from
being charged up beautiful aurora would be expected. commercial aircraft
would likely also be not adversely affected. The EMP myth started with
the day after and grew massive, how much EMP is a car expected to
survive before we consider
it safe for survival purposes. When we consider risk we must consider
aperture and sensitivity. A radio with a 100 meter wire antenna has
both a large aperture to generate voltage as well as a very sensitive
detector mechanism that can pick up micro changes in the resonant voltage
on a given frequency. Your cars under hood electronics has neither
long runs of wire (they are also partly shielded in a nice metal
shell)
nor are they sensitive, in fact they are designed somewhat hardened
since they are subject to proximity to several thousand volt spark
discharge nearby. As always ground everything that has an antenna,
surge protect everything that connects to grid power and look for long
wire runs like cable TV and telephone lines.
During the megaton Starfish Prime space blast that opened our eyes
to EMP only grid power was affected because of the large aperture of
running lines. Even the Intel 386 processor was EMP rated and military
EMP rating is for close-in battlefield bursts. It is important to point
out that most of the EMP radiation reaching the ground would be longer
waves
typically below 30 MHz this means long antennas to get a good resonance.
The rules for shortwave radio apply to EMP, you need a real antenna
to fry electronics.
.I
need to get further information from my old E.E. professor (who was head engineer
for aftermarket
ignition parts design firm, after working designing systems for the
F-111/FB-111) for further info and will get back to you with more mil-spec
to civilian brand EMP resistance comparison info. For everyone reading
they must know losing their car/truck to carjack, nuclear strike, mutated
wombat hordes, or no fuel is not the end of the world. After your no
power/gas/water tests do a no car test week. Take a bike/donkey/bus/walk
to work, not every scenario starts with EMP, I place EMP in the same
category as dirty bomb, it has never happened but there is so much
FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) surrounding the mythical EMP demon
that any discussion automatically reverts to the scary movies and books
you have seen.
JWR Replies: I agree that the EMP threat is widely misunderstood and misstated in the MSM. I have studied EMP off and and on for many years. (My first article on the subject was published in 1989 in Defense Electronics magazine.) The EMP threat is real, not mythical. It is true that the greatest risk is from EMP coupling to unintentional antennas such as phone lines or power lines. Keep in mind that the "antenna effect" is cumulative. The microcircuits that operate so many of our modern conveniences are installed in devices that are connected to grid power--and that constitutes an EMP antenna that stretches for hundreds of miles. It is also true that the 386 processors if the 1980s were specifically designed to be EMP-hardened. However, most microcircuits that have been made since then are very vulnerable--with gates (gaps between transistors) that are almost 1/10th that size. (To illustrate the significance of scaling on logic transistor density: The 386 generation chips had 1.0 micron width gates, 486s had 0.8 micron gates, Pentium Pros had 0.25 micron gates. The latest Pentium 4s have only 0.13 micron gates. And now 0.08 micron and even smaller gate-size chips are going into production.) With each generation of microcircuits, the vulnerability to EMP has steadily increased. The rise time for EMP is even faster than lightning. I do agree that the risk to vehicular ignition and fuel ignition systems might be overstated. However, a full scale EMP-optimized attack on the U.S. might do considerable damage to vehicular electronics. The extent of this damage will not be fully known until after we see that bright flash high in the sky. Prudence dictates that we prepare for the worst case. IMHO, each family should have at least one EMP-proof vehicle.
Sir, here is a short bit of advice about EMP: The older diesel farm tractors would probably be usable after an event because they have no chips or transistors to burn out, either in engines or transmissions. They'd be slow but still usable for as long as you have fuel with either gravity flow or manual pumps for fueling. Hook one to a trailer or former motor home and welcome to the post 21st century nomads. They could also power most PTO driven generators if the generator circuitry has escaped the EMP. In our area a lot of people collect old tractors for parades and farm shows, including townsfolk. Just a thought. Thanks, - Jim.
Jim,
Another very neat -very free resource that is out there is the Google
Earth program. It is available through www.downloads.com.
Many of the aerial photos that are used are substandard or old. However
much of Eastern Washington
and a lot of Northern Idaho contain the most up to date and detailed color
aerial photos. This program also allows you to drop down to above the Earth's
surface and move around like you are flying. It also uses some topo functions
to view the surface in relief. This tool may be very handy and useful for
many scouting out the terrain. The only negative is that you must navigate
from town centers. No legal [townshup and range descriptions]
or street addresses can be used. It will teach you the skills of photo interpretation
fairly quickly as you try and figure out where you are. Thought I would let
you know. - EHB in North Idaho
Hi,
As you say, the northeast is not so good for a variety of reasons. However,
if one has to stay in that area for family, work or any number of other reasons
there are areas where one can be more secure than you might expect. For example,
I live in Central New York State. Our place is more then 40 miles in any direction
to an interstate highway. The entire county has a population of just over 51k
and a population density of about 57 per square mile. Most of this is concentrated
in a few larger towns at least 18 miles away with 7k-8k of people. The town
I live in has about 1000 inhabitants and a population density of about 12.7
per square mile. The area is very hilly and densely forested. The local economy
is based on agriculture - mostly dairy, but some beef and a fair number of
small holders with sheep, goats, chickens, etc. However, there are high tech
operations as well such as aerospace, pharmaceutical, etc. within easy commuting
distance. Of course there are 2 smaller cities (Syracuse and Binghamton) within
50-60 miles. NYC is about 230 miles away while Rochester is about 90 and Buffalo
about 200.
In a slow slide scenario people will stay where they are and get whatever handouts
they can get from government. In TEOTWAWKI scenario, in a few minutes of quality
time with my chainsaw I can close off the road and make it difficult for anyone
to approach my house. If my saw isn't working I can still do it with a handsaw/axe
- although it will take more time ;-) I'd imagine that this would happen everywhere
so vehicular travel anywhere but on the interstates (they are a bit wide to
drop a tree across!) would become difficult quite rapidly. Not even ATVs can
get over a decent log snag.
Another thing that one has to remember is that in a TEOTWAWKI situation, for
about four months out of the year in this area - unless you are equipped -
you aren't going anywhere. Also, if you aren't equipped, you ARE going to die
from
the cold. I am amazed by the number of people in this area who have lived here
all there lives who do not have appropriate winter clothing, have no backup
heating system, etc.! If TSHTF in the winter most people will die off before
they get out of the city because they do not have the proper gear. Even if
they do, walking through anything more than a few inches of snow is more than
even a fit person can handle for much distance. So, in TEOTWAWKI scenario,
for about 1/3 of the year we would be isolated by mother nature. Anyhow, these
are my thoughts on the matter. Hopefully not too delusional. One must make
the best of one's own situation. BTW I do enjoy SurvivalBlog
and read it virtually every day. Sincerely, - T.P.
Dear Mr Rawles:
Greetings from the UK. Thanks for the very interesting website. I have
your book which I've read a few times now. I must admit to a certain
envy with the
potential you have over there to prepare for the possible difficult times ahead.
Just as an exercise and to make some of the people living in even the most
restrictive states feel not quite so bad I thought I'd do a run down in your
style for England the 'state' in which I live. As you will know the United
Kingdom is made of (leaving aside the anomalies like the Channel Islands and
the Isle of Man) the countries of England, Scotland, Wales and the province
Northern Ireland.
England
Population: 60.8 million.
Population Density: 1211 per square mile
Area: 50,193 square miles
Average car insurance cost: £757/yr. (NB Today £1 = $1.78)
Average home insurance cost: £203/year
Crime Safety Ranking: probably worse than you think.
Boston T. Party’s State Firearms Laws Ranking: 0.0001%. (approx!)
Average per capita income: £34,197
ACT & SAT Scores Ranking: ?.
Plusses: The countryside is still beautiful. Tradition and history still takes
some beating. Still contains vestiges of our once greatness if you look really
hard.
Minuses: Very dense population, (2nd only to the Netherlands in Europe) Very
little in the way of personal freedoms, you know about the complete ban on
private ownership of handguns. All other firearms are subject to government
licensing. You can still own an air gun (just!) as long as it is less than
12 ft/lbs (rifle) or 6 ft/lbs (pistol). Illegal to carry any knife with fixed
or lock blade or longer that 3” blade folding knife. England cannot be
recommended for anyone with a hope to survive a TEOTWAWKI situation. Very little
space to escape the teeming hoards that will flee the
cities, and realistically nothing much in the way of defensive firearms to
protect what you have. Of course the bad guys will always be able to get guns
so the law abiding won’t stand a chance, humanly speaking. We have to
remember that God is sovereign and still in control despite what we see around
us and my hope is that he will guide us to prepare as best we can within the
limitations.
Bob’s Combined Retreat Potential Ranking: 51 of 19.
Mr. Rawles,
Here is a link to a site which provides extensive nuclear war survival info.
They will provide a free CD I believe your blog readers will be interested
in:
http://www.webpal.org/freecd.htm
Please keep up the excellent work. -Echo Mike
"The right of self-defense is the first law of
nature; in most governments it has been the study of rulers to confine
this right within the narrowest possible limits. ... and [when] the
right of the people to keep and bear arms is, under any color or pretext
whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on
the brink of destruction."
- St. George Tucker, Virginia Supreme Court Judge, 1803
I've completed the "State by State" level analysis series that I posted earlier in the month. For ease of reference, this data is now archived at the Retreat Areas static page. (See the new button in the SurvivalBlog navigation bar.) I'm now moving on to providing detailed retreat locale recommendations. While I'm posting these, please give this some serious thought. Particularly for those of you living east of the Mississippi and for our overseas readers, I would appreciate you sharing your expertise. If you know of a particular region with retreat potential, please e-mail me the details, and I will post them.
To begin, a great site for surveying the extent and type of agriculture in various regions can be found at: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/cropmap
My post for the next few weeks will include listings of my most highly recommended regions in the western United States to consider for survival retreats. Note: I will likely add to or delete from these posts, based on substantive input from readers. (SurvivalBlog readers never hesitate to tell me when I’m mistaken—and I’m always willing to defer to those with more knowledge!)
Notes on My Sources (These were also used for my State-By-State
analysis):
Most of the tax and real estate price data is from 2003 or later references.
The Crime Safety Rankings quoted are based on 2003 data compiled by the Morgan
Quinto Awards. This ranking compares six crime categories: murder, rape, robbery,
aggravated assault, burglary, and motor vehicle thefts. This data is plugged
into a formula that measures how a state compares to the national average for
a given crime category. See http://www.MorganQuinto.com for details.
The population density data was calculated by my #2 Son
The health insurance rate data was courtesy of Web M.D. See: http://my.webmd.com/content/article/74/89117.htm
For current information on home schooling laws in various states, see: http://www.hslda.org/laws
For current information on home birth laws in various states, see: http://www.cfmidwifery.org/states/
Concentrate on small towns north of the reservation line, such as Bigfork,
Creston, Proctor, Rollins, and Somers.
On Staying Outside the Reservation: Much of the lower elevations in this region
are inside the boundaries of the Flathead Indian Reservation. The united Salish
and Kootenai (“S&K”)
tribal government has been forcefully asserting its sovereignty in recent years,
affecting both tribal members and everyone else living inside the reservation
boundaries. (Even deeded property owners!) If you want to buy land in this
region, buy land that is beyond the reservation boundaries but that is still
at low elevation. This you will have to look for properties north of Dayton.
(Dayton itself
is just
inside the reservation.)
Statistics (for Kalispell):
Average high temperature in August: 80.2.
Average low temperature in January: 13.9.
Growing season: 140 Days (Typically May 9 to Sep. 27).
Average snowfall in January: 17.1”.
County Median residential home price:
Advantages: Well removed from any urban region. Fairly diverse economy. Excellent
fishing and big game hunting. Plentiful firewood.
Disadvantages: Much of this region lies inside the Flathead Indian Reservation
boundaries. Cold climate. Relatively high land prices.
Grid Up Retreat Potential: 3 (On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the best)
Grid Down Retreat Potential: 4 (On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the best)
Nuclear Scenario Retreat Potential: 4 (On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the best)
It has been said that nothing is inevitable except death and taxes. But personally, I add inflation to that list. Inflation is an insidious hidden form of taxation
We've been robbed! According to The Inflation Calculator, what cost $100 in 1905 would cost $2052.36 in 2005. The U.S. dollar has lost 95% of its value in that time. (If you were to buy exactly the same products in 2005 and 1905, they would cost you $100 and $4.87 respectively.) The inflation rate jumped considerably in the 1960s and 1970s. It is no coincidence that the U.S. Treasury stopped minting real silver coins in 1964.
Even it this current era of supposedly"low" inflation, the depredations of inflation are inexorable-- but just slower. It is like watching a 50 pound ice block sitting in the sun. The real rate of inflation is presently about 6.5%. Thus, you need to make at least 6.5% a year on your money just to keep pace with inflation. In the long term the concept of "saving" for retirement is almost fallacious, especially when you consider the bouts of inflation that are likely to occur in the next 20 years. The twin deficits--budget and trade--will inevitably lead to much higher rates of inflation in the years to come. Perhaps we'll even experience a full-blown hyperinflationary currency crisis that will wipe out the value of all of our dollar-denominated investments in just a few months. I've said it before, but I'll say it again: If you want to protect yourself from inflation, then buy tangibles. My late father used to be fond of saying: "There are three kinds of people in the world: People who make things happen, people who watch things happen, and [the majority of people,] the people who wonder, 'What the heck happened?'" Inflation is a process that is so subtle that the majority of people do not recognize it for what it is.
It is safe to assume that inflation will continue, and will only get worse, especially with commodities. Oil will likely double in the next 18 months. So that means corresponding increases in gas, diesel, and home heating oil. Wheat, rice, and other commodities will also jump up in price. They too, may double soon. Protect yourself from inflation. Stock up on tangibles. Not only is it wise to be prepared physically, but you can also consider these tangibles a prudent investment.
Hello from Pleasanton, California! I too look at the hills and
envision the populations of Hayward, Oakland, et al. swarming over
into our
little valley in the event of disaster. So we have a "ten-year
plan" to purchase and stock a "vacation home" in NE
Oregon. I have been looking long-distance at the Wallowa Valley. Do
you have any particular objection to planning on freshwater lakes as
a fallback source of water? (I am thinking of Wallowa Lake.) Just wondering
what may have pushed you to choose the Grande Ronde valley over the
Wallowa.
You may wish to link to the below: a fantastic collection of 3-D aerial
topographic maps. They can really help to visualize a region, and complement "flat" topo
maps. This is a very nice tool for folks like myself who do not own
topo map software. See: http://130.166.124.2/panoramas1.htm
Best, - D.M.
JWR Replies: I'll have details on both the Grande Ronde Valley
and the Wallowa Valley sometime in the next two weeks.
Mr.
Rawles:
Glad I found your site...it is a daily read for me. I watched a show
that was on Discovery (I think) channel this past weekend, about a
special police force in South Africa. Relevant here is that part of
the show where they went to destroy certain arms caches left from a war
decades ago. The arms were buried under massive rocks,
far from civilization. At one point it show a truly nasty AK-47, rusted
and just looked like garbage. One of the officers poured a can of oil
over it, and in it, worked the bolt a few times, jammed a magazine
in it, and fired 10-12 straight shots into a target set up 20 or so
yards
away. It was an eye-opener. Keep up the great work. - Bruce
"Make preparations in advance... You never have trouble if you
are prepared for it."
- Theodore Roosevelt
Note From JWR: Please continue to pray for the folks who suffered damage from Hurricane Rita. OBTW, your support of efficient (low-overhead) Christian charities providing relief to the area would also be greatly appreciated.
Warning: Today's blog posts will exceed your recommended daily allowance of Gloom 'n Doom.
Before selecting retreat locale, It is crucial that you decide on your
own worst case scenario. A location that is well-suited to surviving
a "slow-slide" grid
up scenario
(a la the deflationary depression of the 1930s) might not necessarily
be well suited to a grid
down situations.
As stated in my post on August 15, 2005, a grid down situation will
likely cause a sudden onset variation of TEOTWAWKI with
a concomitant mass exodus from the big cities resulting
in chaos on a scale heretofore
never seen in modern memory. (See below.)
My own personal "best case" scenario is an economic depression,
with the grid still up, and still some semblance of law and order.
Things would be bad, but the vast majority of the population would
live through it. Living in a rural agricultural area won't ensure that
you'll always have a job, but probably will ensure that you won't starve.
My personal "worst case" scenario takes a lot more description:
A rogue nation state launches three or four MIRVed ICBMs
with high yield warheads simultaneously detonating at 100,000 feet
over America's
population center, preferably in October or November, to maximize the
extent of electromagnetic pulse (EMP) effects. With only six warheads arriving "time
on target" (synchronized for simultaneous detonation) over, for
example, Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Seattle, and
Los Angeles,
more
than 90% of
the U.S.
population would fall within the footprint of EMP. With such an attack
there would be hardly any initial casualties aside for a few thousand
people unlucky enough to be traveling on that day. (Since EMP would
disable electric flight controls, causing any modern aircraft to go
out of control and crash, and the sudden loss of engine power in automobiles
at the same time as a blinding flash would likely cause thousands of
high speed car crashes.) A high altitude air burst would impart no
blast or radiation effects on the ground. Nothing other than just EMP.
But
what an effect! Think of the full implications.
As previously stated, the higher an nuclear air burst is detonated,
the wider the line of sight (LOS), and hence the larger the footprint
of
EMP
effects. With an EMP-optimized attack, as I just posited, EMP
would be coupled to nearly all of the installed microcircuit chips
in the
U.S., southern Canada, and northern Mexico. In a enormous
cascade this
would take
down all of the north American power grids, and cripple virtually
every vital industry and utility: Natural gas production and
piping, municipal water systems, telephone systems (hardwire and cellular),
refining,
trucking, banking, Internet services, agricultural machinery, electrically-pumped
irrigation systems, you name it! 95% of cars and trucks would be inoperative.
With the dependence of the power utilities on computers, I have my
doubts that they would be able to restore the power grid for weeks,
or months, or perhaps years. And with the chaos of society disintegrating
around them, they might not have the time or opportunity to restore
the grid, even if they would otherwise have the means to do so. This
would mean TEOTWAWKI on a grand scale. The words "dog eat dog" do
not even begin to describe how things would become in the cities and
suburbs. Soon after, as the cities became unlivable (without power,
heat, water,
sanitation, or transportation of foodstuffs) this would cause a massive,
involuntary exodus from the cities and suburbs, almost entirely on
foot, comprised of countless millions of starving people. With
winter coming on, this would result in a
massive die-off, perhaps as much as 70% of the American population. It
would not be until after that die-off that some semblance of order
could be restored.
This crush of humanity will of course head for any agricultural regions
that are within 50 to 75 miles of the major cities. Hence, I would
not want to be a farmer living in Pennsylvania's farmlands, California's
central or Imperial valleys or Oregon's Willamette valley. They will
simply get swarmed and overwhelmed.
Surviving a Long Term a Grid Down WTSHTF Situation
Even in the absence of EMP, any set of circumstances that would bring
down the power grids (for example a major war, a fuel embargo, a cyber
attack on power utility Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA)
software, etc.) would be devastating, and have a similar result. The
biggest difference
would be that the Golden Horde would
have functional cars available--at least as long as their gas lasted.
This would and Lets say that you've already moved to a lightly populated
agricultural region that is more than 150 miles from any major city.
Assuming that you can avoid the ravages of the Golden Horde by virtue
of geographic isolation, you will then have to contend with producing
food. If the region that you selected is dependent on electrically-pumped
irrigation water, then you'll be out of luck. That is why I emphasize
the importance "dry land farming" regions. (Regions where
consistent seasonal rains are sufficient to produce crops.) A small
scale "truck" farmer in such as region, producing a wide
variety of vegetables will be sitting pretty. Even with horse drawn
or hand cultivation, he will have large quantities of excess crops
available for barter and charity. By teaming up with neighbors and
hired hands (paid in barter) for "strength in numbers" he will
be able to defend what he owns. With copious produce available, he
will be able to barter for harvesting manpower, horses, tools, and
so forth. IMO, a man in this position and locale is the most
likely survivor of TEOTWAWKI.
With the aforementioned in mind, you can see than importance of finding
the right retreat locale. Ideally, it will be far removed from
metropolitan regions, have a fairly long growing season, plentiful
rainfall, rich topsoil, a reliable domestic water supply that us not dependent
on grid power (preferably spring-fed), nearby sources of firewood or
coal, and a light ambient population density. If you combine all of
these factors--visualize them as map overlays--you will end up with
only a few regions in north America that are wholly suitable for "worst
case" retreats. Start with a photocopy of a climate book with
maps of America's farming regions. Mask out any farming regions that
are depending on grid-power pumped irrigation water. Then take a compass
and start drawing radiuses around all of the cities with
a
population
greater
than 200,000 and shade them in.
Depending
on your level of pessimism about the scenario and/or your estimation
of the depravity of human nature, you may be drawing some pretty large
circles!
Hurricane Katrina was a wake up call. I cannot imagine how anyone could
watch the television coverage of the aftermath of Katrina and not come
to the conclusion that we live in a highly interdependent technological
society with enormously long lines of supply and just
a thin veneer of civilization, as documented in countless newspaper
stories.
It doesn't take much to disrupt those interdependencies, nor to expose
what lies
just
beneath
that
thin veneer. Like an onion,
what
lies beneath is not very pretty smelling.
Get to Know the NRCS Man!
You will note that I specifically mentioned topsoil in the preceding
discussion. The importance of soil quality in the event of a true "worst
case" must be emphasized. As S.M.
Stirling so aptly described
it in his science fiction novel "Dies The Fire",
soil quality is not crucial in modern mechanized agriculture. If an
acre of ground
produces
5 bushels
of wheat versus 12 bushels of wheat it is not of great consequence
when you are cultivating hundreds or even thousands of acres from inside
the cab of an air conditioned $40,000 tractor, or a $70,000 combine.
However, if someday you are reduced to traditional pre-industrial manpower
or horsepower, where cultivating just a few acres will require monumental
exertion, then
the soil
quality will make a tremendous difference between feeding a community,
and starvation. Therefore, have the soil analyzed before you
buy a retreat property! Determining
the
soil
types
within
a region should be your first step--in fact even before you talk to
the first real estate agent. Buying lunch for the soils specialist
at the
local
Agricultural Extension office might be a valuable investment. On
your first scouting trip to
your proposed retreat region, call the USDA Agricultural Extension
Office,
and ask to talk to a soils specialist at the NRCS (National Resources
Conservation Service) desk. (The NRCS was formerly called the Soil
Conservation
Service.)
James Wesley--
I admire and deeply appreciate the detailed counsel you have been giving
about self-sufficiency and defense. After I borrowed "Patriots" from
the library, I went ahead and paid $50 for a used copy. We became "First
Family" members at Front Sight on your say-so, even though we
are in Hawaii and can't even attend Front Sight until 8/2006. So
I think I merit being heard with respect to your musing that being
a non-Mormon in a Mormon community might make you "expendable".
To the contrary, the unbelievably magnificent efforts in time, people
and materiel of the LDS Church in the Katrina disaster and the pre-positioning
by the LDS Church of additional goods and resources for the impending
Rita disaster give the lie to your insinuation that the Mormons look
after themselves first.
In fact, I think you have the situation backwards--American history
shows that when "push comes to shove" it's the Mormons who
have been expendable. In fact, the first Americans to suffer for defending
the rights of "free
men of color" were the Mormons. For their defense of civil rights
in Missouri, the Mormons were burned out, many beaten, some raped,
and a number murdered. Finally, the shameful Missouri Governor's Extermination
Order threatening that if the Mormons didn't leave the state at once
the state militia would kill them makes it abundantly clear who considers
whom to be "expendable". [JWR Comments: Out
of fairness, one should distinguish between the mid-19th Century and
the early 21st
Century.
As a "gentile"
I cannot be blamed for those atrocities any more than I can be blamed
for the institution of slavery in America. We are several generations
removed from
those events and all of those involved in them.]
It might be enlightening for you to know that the first people to defend
themselves against an illegal and immoral invasion by the United States
Army were the Mormons. Self-serving politicians sought to gain votes
by sending the Army to put down a so-called "rebellion" by
the Mormons in Deseret. Thank God, the military leadership refused
to be used in such a way and entered an abandoned Salt Lake City peacefully,
their commander riding through the streets at the head of his troops
with his head uncovered honoring the people he knew to be maligned.
I truly believe that, unless you are like the heroes in "Patriots" and
are taking care of yourself, the absolutely best place to be in a crunch
will be in a rural community with a heavy Mormon majority. And that
is true, not insignificantly, because the Mormons believe the Constitution
of the United States of America to be a divinely inspired document--and
have shed blood defending its principles.
Now on perhaps a lighter note about "who is my neighbor":
When we moved to a little island in Washington state some years ago,
a neighbor,
getting acquainted, said, "Oh, Mormons! Good. I'll
know where to come when I need food." I answered (and I meant
it): "Yes Ma'am, I don't have food for one family for 24 months;
I have food for four families for six months."
Now you've got me on a roll. This same family: husband an attorney,
wife an elementary school teacher, her dad an MD were stuck, like us,
in an ice storm on Thanksgiving day some years ago. Everybody's turkeys
were cooling in the ovens. The phones weren't affected so the neighbor
called over to borrow my Coleman stove to heat up some water for coffee.
Why not, we had our free-standing iron stove doing its job for us.
I sent a daughter over with the, admittedly, ancient white-gas stove.
After a quarter hour, the neighbor called back to say the stove didn't
seem to work and could I help. I was embarrassed: here I am the local "how-to-hack
it" guru and my dumb stove is DOA. So I went over to apologize,
and beat a retreat with my Coleman antique. There they were in their
family room huddled around the stove in blankets with burnt out matches
on the floor--and with the gas canister still undeployed inside the
stove! I realized that had these folks got their fingers on the red
knob and opened it, they might well have burnt their home down--and
maybe mine too!
It never occurred to me that they were expendable.
I hope you will take the opportunity in your blog to "lighten
up" on your castigation of Mormons. I have never checked out my
neighborhood to see if any non-Mormons were around that I could get
rid of in a crisis. I have held important positions in LDS Church administration
in Salt Lake City, California, New Zealand, Washington, and Hawaii,
and have never heard any such notions from any of my brothers and sisters
in the Church. - B.B. in Hawaii
Jim--
Just a few nits to pick (grin), RE: "A draconian business gross
receipts tax of 2-to-3%. Marginal gun laws.
Very high sales tax. (8.8%)"
Can't disagree with draconian. Can disagree with the B&O rates, slightly.
They depend completely on the type of business. My business is taxed at 1.5%.
Sales taxes vary per county over a very wide range.
Gas tax is $0.28 per gallon.
Just for fun, check out this link for "major" taxes in the Evergreen
state. Yikes.
http://dor.wa.gov/content/taxes/MajorTaxes.aspx
There are also more than a few badges (not obvious, but there nonetheless if
you know what to look for) at our local gun shows at the County fairgrounds.
Keeping an eye on who, what, and how much. Not particularly comfortable about
that one. Best Regards, and keep up the good work. - T.S.
Greetings Jim,
I'm writing to give you more information on Iowa. While it's true we're too close to Chicago there are only a few handfuls of bridges to cross the Mississippi. These can be blocked by backing semi-trailers onto the spans and abandoning the trailers in rows. Crossing a bridge blockaded in such a fashion, guarded by a few dedicated snipers, makes removal of the barricades a more than interesting proposition! No mob is hard-core enough to attempt removal, or crossing on foot for more than a few minutes, before moving on to a new path of lesser resistance. Field implements with folding hydraulic "wings" can also be used in such instances. Once in place, without the proper equipment, their tonnages are impossible to move, easily or quickly. As for food production, their are many farmers markets during the growing season, that sell everything from fruits & vegetables, to pastry's & pies, to homemade crafts, (quilts to cupboards). These can be roadside stands to county courthouse parking lots. Usually every Saturday till they sell out of goods. We have good wells with fresh water, most have been tested for contaminants and have passed. We have a good work ethic and have lately been adding solar & wind farms to the economy, plus the expansion of the ethanol industry is helping to get Iowa energy independent. Corn turned into ethanol can still be fed as mash to cattle, the cobs burned to heat the distillers, soybeans turned into bio-diesel for the fleets of semi's to move grain & goods also improve grain prices, i.e., local economies. Plus we're far enough away to avoid the problems of the Yellowstone caldera [JWR Comments: I beg to differ! According to geologists, the last time that a super-caldera blew up in the same area, locations as far down wind as what is now Virginia ended up under 15 feet of ashfall!] , and the recently developing 4 Sisters,(soon to be 5?), bulge. Whatever that may entail. The hunting season this year for the first time will also add rifles to the already legal shotgun, handgun, & bow hunting deer hunts. A bonanza of deer & trophy deer being available. Also we are now finding that we have feral pigs in numbers & weights up to 400 lbs. in some timbered areas of the state. I've probably missed some other highlights, and hopefully others can fill you in on the price and performance of corn burning stoves, etc., that I have glaringly left out from ignorance. Thanks Jim! Best wishes on this exciting new blog. A fervent devotee, - K.H.
"Harry: Look sweetheart, for the next few weeks survival is
going
to have to be on an individual level.
Ann: What do you want to do, write off the rest of the world?
Harry: When civilization gets civilized again, I'll rejoin."
- Ray Milland, Panic in the Year Zero
Note From JWR: Today's SurvivalBlog post has been
put up 24 hours early, due to the communications disruptions that are
expected to
be caused
by
Hurricane Rita.
I'm glad that most of the SurvivalBlog readers stocked up on liquid fuels long ago. Here are some details on the wholesale oil supply reductions. This comes from an oil industry insider newsletter report (dated 22 September):
HURRICANE RITA UPDATE
Recent forecasts place Hurricane Rita directly over Galveston [now
OBE], threatening
the Houston area, home to almost 25 percent of U.S. refining capacity.
OPIS estimates that by noon on Friday (9/23), refinery closures could impact
as much as 3.8 million bbl/d of refining capacity. Current confirmed closures
will affect approximately 2.7 million bbl/d of refining capacity.
Information is still being gathered on other potential affects of the storm,
such as disruption of tanker shipments of crude oil and refined product barges.
The following is the latest information from OPIS on refinery closures:
CONFIRMED CLOSURES
Flint Hills, Corpus Christi, 305,000 bbl/d
ExxonMobil, Baytown, 580,000 bbl/d
BP, Texas City, 460,000 bbl/d
ConocoPhillips, Sweeny, 228,000 bbl/d
Marathon, Texas City, 76,000 bbl/d (anticipated)
DECISIONS PENDING
Valero, Texas City, 215,000 bbl/d
Valero, Houston, 85,000 bbl/d
Astra, Pasadena, 103,000 bbl/d
Lyondell-Citgo, 283,000 bbl/d
Shell Deer Park, 340,000 bbl/d
PIPELINE SHUTDOWN
Teppco is shutting down its Seaway crude pipeline, Baytown terminal
operations and four pipelines from Texas City, Houston, Red Bluff and
Baytown.
Dixie – Mont Belvieu facility shut down.
Port of Houston – closed as of 5 p.m. today.
STILL DOWN FOLLOWING HURRICANE KATRINA
ExxonMobil, Chalmette, LA,190,000 bbl/d
ConocoPhillips, Belle Chasse, LA, 260,000 bbl/d
Murphy, Meraux, LA, 125,000 bbl/d
Chevron, Pascagoula, Miss., 350,000 bbl/d
There is no way to estimate how long refineries will be offline due to Hurricane
Rita. Fortunately some of the refineries are on higher ground than those affected
by Hurricane Katrina, although storm surges of 20 feet resulting from Rita are
currently predicted. Also, electricity outages could hinder the refineries’ ability
to get back online, as well as personnel issues. Some 800,000 bbl/d have been
lost due to Hurricane Katrina.
PRODUCTION
Offshore companies are continuing to evacuate facilities in Gulf
of Mexico. MMS reports 469 platforms and 69 rigs have been evacuated.
This represents 1,097,357
bbl/d of crude oil, which is 73.16 percent of daily Gulf Coast oil production.
POTENTIAL AREAS AFFECTED BY PRODUCT SHORTAGES
Areas served by these three major pipelines:
Colonial/Plantation (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South
Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, West Virginia, New
Jersey, New
York, Pennsylvania)
Teppco (Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan
and Ohio)
Explorer (Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois)
Excellent blog, sir. I read it every day. I've also read Patriots several
times, I'm on my second copy.
I live in Illinois. (I know,
I know, I'm working on it.) I wouldn't even ask how low Illinois was
rated, if it were me doing the rating it would be near the bottom for
many reasons; gun laws,
high taxes, corrupt politicians, terrible roads, and overcrowding anywhere
near Chicago. High insurance rates of all kinds, high crime rate, and
the weather stinks. There is a pretty long growing season, more than
some of the western states you discuss, and there used to be plenty
of work here. That's not the case anymore, due to many reasons you're
no doubt aware of from your research. On to the main reason
for my post: In regards to the dual fuel letter from The Army
Aviator, these kits are still available from several
dealers. I just bought and installed a tri-fuel kit for my 5 KW genny.
I can now run it on gasoline, natural gas, and propane--either the
large tanks or 20 pound tanks. Total cost was
about $220 shipped. The conversion took about 1 hour, but could probably
be done a little quicker. I took my time and made sure I didn't miss
anything.
The conversion
can be done with gasoline in the tank, no problem. I tried it on propane
from a 20 pound tank, and it works great! The genny runs smoother on
propane than it did on gasoline. And of course propane stores much
safer and longer
[than gasoline]. I bought my kit from U.
S. Carburetion, but there
are several other suppliers.
Google or other search engines will find them.
James:
The flu of 1918 killed more people than World War I. The Black Death
(bubonic plague) was a leading cause of death during the middle ages.
The ban on DDT and the resultant rebound of malaria has caused more
death
than Stalin and Mao and the Austrian corporal (may their memory and
name be erased).
History is filled with the tragedy caused by intentional and unintentional
microorganism-caused deaths. Plans need to be made for dealing with
disease vectors that can carry these microbes. Rodents can carry
plague and many other pathogens, cats are good but may carry the
pathogen from their prey into your home. Traps and poisons may get
domestic animals or children. Mosquitoes may carry malaria and West
Nile. Acquire mosquito netting, repellents, and bug lights (low power
versions are available even battery powered.) People infected with
any type
of malaria other
than P falciparum most likely can be treated with chloroquine (Aralen)
or mefloquine (Lariam). Most people can tolerate these oral drugs.
Or you may initially be treated with quinidine (Quinalan, Quinidex,
Cardioquin, Duraquin), a related heart medication that also kills malarial
parasites. P falciparum drug resistance to chloroquine is widespread,
especially in Southeast Asia, South America, and East Africa (the latter
spreading westward). Those infected with P falciparum malaria, or if
the doctor does not know the specific type of malaria, are likely to
be treated with IV quinine (Formula Q). Quinine bitters were initially
popularized as a treatment for malaria last century, now quinine has
become a prescription only medication
in the last few years. The quinine levels in modern tonic water is
below therapeutic values. Malaria was a scourge in both the southern
and western USA. Wetlands laws have allowed mosquito breeding areas
to remain but mass planting of eucalyptus can dry up some swamps.
Fleas, ticks, and lice carry Lyme disease, Bubonic plague and other
diseases as well as opening the skin to infection. Pet dips, soaps,
and repellents may be considered but watch for reactions or allergies.
Massive consumption of garlic has been known to repel these parasites
as well as mosquitoes in many humans and animals. Reductions in infrastructure
and public health work from natural or man made disasters could cause
a return of pestilence to first world
nations. Be prepared!
JWR Adds: "David" is the pseudonym of SurvivalBlog's volunteer correspondent in Israel. He is a former EMT, now a rabbinical student. Living in that troubled land gives him a a particularly insightful perspective. I greatly appreciate his posts!
Jim, I am enjoying your blog site a lot. I am a big fan of your work, and I especially enjoyed your novel, Patriots. I appreciate the advantages of the western states when the balloon goes up; but some of your readers are going to be tied to the populated east coast and mid-western states. Please take some time after your western state series to give some advice to those of us who will (or must) stay for family, as well as other reasons in the less advantageous areas of the country. Sincerely, - C.G. in Ohio
JWR Replies: I'm glad that you enjoyed my novel. Most folks find it both exciting to read and a useful reference to keep around. I will do my best to cover retreat regions in eastern states, but as a westerner I will be depending on the expertise of SurvivalBlog readers. Please e-mail me your suggestions!
Hi Jim,
Your novel Patriots was
revisited in New Orleans! I thought I would fill you and your blog
in on the Blessings
For Obedience ministries mission
to Mississippi, and Louisiana this past week, It all started
with a question to Kelly Coleman our president like... "Are we going
to do anything for the stricken area?" Kelly and Tina were fishing in
central Texas at the time, and having a nice time I shouldn't have disturbed
them with such a question. Sorry Tina. After about twelve hours of
communications with the FCC, the head of
the FCC decided it would be a good thing
to issue an emergency FM Broadcast license
for New Orleans. I think the FCC deserves a big kudos for what they did,
and
the heroic work to approve the license in such a short period of time, this
is definitely un heard of in normal times, Our call sign is (KS5XAE) It took
one week from the day of the approval to get funding, plane tickets, tools
and equipment. Canada paid for and shipped 800 Gal-Com go-ye radios for 107.9
FM and a 250 watt transmitter. We filled the bill with a mixer, mikes, CD,
and tape player, antennas coax[ial cable], et cetera.
Next was to get a location to install the station, FEMA tried
to help us get a location on top of some big hotel in New Orleans but it
didn't work
out, after much prayer after we dropped off food and supplies at the Salvation
Army distribution point in Biloxi MS and getting a real education of the
death and
destruction. Destruction I might add would not be equaled by a hundred tactical
nukes or more, I watched the Salvation Army do most of the serious work,
and the "Red Curse" get a lot of their credit. I have no love for
the Red Curse, in case you hadn't noticed.
We traveled west on I-10 toward New Orleans, only to have The Lord open every
door. When we got to the major check
point our little convoy went right through without even being asked what
we were doing. We drove over a huge bridge down
into the
big lake area and Slidell, such devastation I have never seen, even in Viet
Nam. Those poor people, rich and poor alike lost everything.
there was the smell of decaying bodies all along the way. Going over the
causeway bridge, the power lines were normally about
80 feet above the lake water. About three places I saw where boats had caught
the power wire and pulled it into the water, just holding on by something
on
the boat. There must have been either flying boats, or really high water.
At the end of the bridge thing we came into a village probably fishing and
arts
crafts
place
buildings, (totalllllly destrooooyed), stench of body decay all the way through.
Then further from the lake, was less and less destruction. We needed directions
so we stopped at a girls' school where the Army had taken up residence, they
told us how to get over a huge bridge on I-10 into New Orleans so off we
went over the river and through the (woods) flooded, but not as much destruction
we were on the elevated I-10 all the way through New Orleans no people cars,
etc just some police, army and a few semi trucks bring supplies. You could
drive any lane you wanted without using a blinker light. It was really weird.
I listened to AM radio in the way into the area, and the N.O. station being
what
it is was cursing the military, FEMA, and everyone who was there to help,
I got sick of their tripe, and tuned to a station in Gretna, where we wound
up going to a pier and huge warehouse. That radio station was praising
their Mayor, police chief Lawson, the Army, etc, and all the helpers who
came in. What a change, we got to the pier, and who was the first person
I met (the Mayor). He seemed like a person who really cared for his community
and its people. He ask what
we were going to do, and I told him we were going to give him an emergency
FM broadcast station. Which we did, we linked up with FRIEND SHIPS ministries,
and the ship HOPE where we installed the first FCC licensed emergency FM
broadcast station ever licensed in the United States. God sent a young man
named Lynnie
to volunteer to run the station, and God couldn't have made a better match,
He had not only the right loving, caring spirit, but some fine skills, He
had never been on radio before. God don't make no junk. The station plays
Christian
music, to sooth and comfort, news, location announcements, "help me
find" messages,
and praise for the people, the military, police, etc. The police and military
are being fed at the same location, along with a huge distribution center
being located there. God owns Gretna, and the signal is covering 22 miles
across
the river to N.O., and 14 miles into the Gretna.
We saw a lot of sad things, but most of all we walked with our LORD JESUS
CHRIST through the valley of the shadow of death, and feared NO evil. HE
was with
us. and with His eye guided us every step of the way, Oh ! The ship HOPE
is just across the river from the IWO JIMA where the rescue HQ is. I might
add
that a MARS message email I got
passed on to me from the Captain, reflects his close walk and dependence
on our LORD JESUS too. God is taking back something
that satan took.
My report to the LORD is: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED, LORD! I am convinced
that He only sends people who will accomplish the mission and when he provides
all
the funds and opens every door in one week, it is very obvious that His hand
is on you an will be with you, We did carry one weapon. It was never even
opened up. But then the Lord said the night he was betrayed that the disciples
only
need two for twelve men, who never had to use them either. Just the devil
needs a little convincing now and then, He the Lord sent in the ARMY and
police to
do that.
Some other observations: I noticed while on my mission trip to install the
Radio Station in N.O. were that generators dried up almost immediately,
even from
stores in the Dallas/Fort Worth area were we combined our team before
deployment. We did find a 5.5 KW at
Sears for half the price of Home Depot, and lots of gas cans at smaller
hardware
stores,
around
the area. On the way down the middle of
Mississippi
on the inter state, about a third of the piney trees had blown over or were
broken in half, making them harder to cut down, the road for about 150 miles
had been cleared in 4 days to allow convoys to get south, there was a good
reason it took a while to get help into the area, the road was being cleared
by every logger, chain saw handler in the country, what a massive undertaking.
You sure don't hear much praise of them and the power crews restoring power,
so people can get electricity back , and re-start commerce.
The American people are resilient and strong. Rich and poor, they want commerce,
and as soon as possible they got back up and running.
Ham radio was the only communication in or out of the area for days, GET
YOUR HAM LICENSES, AND LEARN TO USE THE RADIOS YOU BUY, I can't say this
loud or
long enough. Learn who your friends are. Most people are very civil, and
thankful that your there to help. Americans don't tolerate criminal disobedience,
looting.
etc. There were signs everywhere: "LOOTERS WILL BE SHOT", and people
carrying guns to do it with.
I am proud to say we live in a strong country, but we are woefully ill-prepared.
We must get our neighbors up and running before the Big One here where I
live in California. It will devastate major metro areas, and small towns
alike. We
must get
ready
and prepare like never before. Encourage people to get prepared! Blessings
to all who read this. Our ministry is located at www.bfoministry.org -
David Martin e-mail: martronics@tcsn.net
JWR Adds: The Blessings
For Obedience ministry deserves your support, folks! Like most small
Christian charities, it operates with minimal overhead, so virtually all
of your contributions
will go directly to radio gear and direct travel expenses for the volunteer
radion station installers.
I noticed that one of your readers requested information on retreat
architecture. I'm off the grid and in the process of building
a house. Before designing
it, I investigated several different types of architecture, including
straw bale, insulated concreted form (ICF), adobe, corn cob, concrete
and earth-bermed.
All of these have wonderful advantages, but one major drawback:
nearly all literature
and materials available to novices are dedicated to mainstream stick-built
homes.
I've found few books or other resources that give step-by-step instructions
on building in alternative materials, although I've found many for stick-built.
Home Depot carries lumber, insulation, windows, etc designed to be used
in stick-built homes. Even sub-contractors for concrete, electrical,
and plumbing
look askance when asked about alternative building.
End result: I'm building a standard frame house, despite its many drawbacks.
Those who wish to pursue alternative building designs should be aware
that they'll need to be either very experienced, or very stubborn in
the face
of obstacles. :) - JD
Jim:
Regarding your statement: "A lot of people are starting to wake
up and recognize the fragility of our society." I really wish
I had your optimism. I'm afraid I don't give the sheeple any credit
any more. By sheeple I mean the general public. I just
don't have any respect for the sheeple left at all. They could cry
that they "didn't know" before 9/11 but they have no excuse
in my book now a days. I think Paul describes today's people pretty
well in his epistles. To be honest, I fear for our Country.
One of the biggest problems IMO is TV. People were starting to prepare,
store a little food, buy gas masks, etc. after 9/11. Then a month
later the TV was bashing them for it. Once it was "out of the
norm" again, the sheeple gave
up. I can't imagine living my life based on TV influences. We stopped
watching TV when we moved
in 99 and it has been great. We selectively watch movies, that's
it.
Freeing oneself of the mental chains put on by TV/media is one of
the biggest problems I see with survivalists now a days. Whether
they realize it or not, a lot of "there" opinions come directly
from the talking heads, "opinion polls" and the news. You
see it all the time on the message boards. People who say they are
conservatives but espouse liberal thinking and attitudes.
Survivalists need to re-learn how to think for themselves. I've met
so many who were good people, motivated, etc. but just could not
think outside the box to solve any problem. Survival situations are
going to require outside the box type thinking. One of my favorite
movie lines is: "Improvise, overcome, adapt!", from Heartbreak
Ridge.
I think every survivalist should go one year without watching regular
TV and note the change in his attitude, mental and physical abilities
(hard to sit on your butt drinking beer and watching TV if their's
nothing to watch!). It tends to bring the Family closer also.
Long rant, sorry. Once again, thanks for your efforts! - R.H.
Jim,
Excellent Survival Blog T-Shirt! It arrived in the mail the other
day and I wore it to work and my fellow employees wanted to read the
quote on the back. My boss said he always wanted to see if he could
survive
on a remote State of Maine island with just some parachute
cord, a fish hook, a tin can, matches, fire starter and space blanket
for a
few
days.
I said why not try something a lot easier, and just shut the electricity
off on some Friday night at your house, and turn it on again on Monday
morning and see how
you can manage two small children, wife, food preparation, entertainment,
etc... He sighed and said, "Now that would be
tough!" - Mr.
Sierra
"It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry,
Peace, Peace--but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The
next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash
of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand
we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have?
Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price
of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course
others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
- Patrick Henry March 23,1775
Note From JWR: Our prayers are with everyone on the Gulf Coast. One last warning: The chances of nationwide fuel shortages in the wake of Rita are 90%+.
Today, I'm covering Wyoming, the last of 19 western states, in my rankings of states by their retreat potential. This series will be followed by some detailed recommendations within these 19 states. OBTW, I'd appreciate hearing from easterners with their specific recommendations for good retreat locales outside of my "top 19 states" list.
Wyoming:
Population: 493,780.
Population Density: 5 per square mile (Rank 19 of JWR’s top 19
states).
Area: 97,800 square miles (rank 9 of 50).
Average car insurance cost: $646/yr. (rank 44 of 50).
Average home insurance cost: $484/yr. (rank 20 of 50).
Crime Safety Ranking: 7 of 50.
Boston T. Party’s State Firearms Laws Ranking: 93%.
Per capita income: $27,372 (rank 28 of 50).
ACT & SAT Scores Ranking: 16 of 50.
Plusses: Low population density, very low crime rate, no income tax.
Low car insurance rates.
Minuses: Brutally cold winters, especially at higher elevations. Minimal
growing season. (Snow
has been reported in every month of the year in every county
in Wyoming!) There
are missile
fields (see map) in the southeast corner of the state.
(Part of the large array of missile sites that overlaps into northern
Colorado
and
parts of Nebraska.) These ICBM missile
silos would be primary targets in the event of a full scale nuclear
exchange.
Wyoming is not recommended for a survivalist with a small
to moderate budget. However, if you are someone who is wealthy and
who can stand
the cold, Wyoming should be bumped up to your top choice. Taxes will
be a big
issue for you—and Wyoming has no income tax. As someone “of
means” you will be able to afford lots of food storage, voluminous
fuel storage, and a large greenhouse to make up for the severe climate.
Look for natural gas producing areas so that you can run your vehicles
on “drip oil.” Anyone
considering relocating to Wyoming should read Boston T. Party’s
novel Molon
Labe, which depicts a Libertarian political coup in the state,
as part of the nascent “Free States” migration movement.
Two related groups are currently encouraging libertarians to move to
New Hampshire
and Wyoming to create a political sea change. See: www.freestatewyoming.org
and www.freestateproject.org.
Note: I probably should have given Wyoming a higher ranking, due to
its favorable gun and tax laws. However, its severe climate and minimal
growing season pushed it down the list. If you can stand hard
winters, by all means consider Wyoming a top choice.
JWR’s Combined Retreat Potential Ranking: 5 of 19.
You may have noticed that I only write sparingly about economics and investing. I do follow economic trends closely, but I don't consider myself an expert. If you want to categorize me, then you could say that I fall into the "Guns and Groceries" school of survivalism rather than the "Krugerrands and Plane Tickets to Offshore Havens" school. My current advice is fairly terse: Concentrate on buying tangibles. (Namely: productive farm land, storage food, practical tools, guns, and common caliber ammunition.) Then after you have your retreat fully squared away with logistics, it is time to consider buying some gold and silver. For the record: I consider gold at anything under $500 an ounce and silver at anything under $8 an ounce as genuine bargains. In the long term the dollar and all other paper currencies will be relegated to their proper use, as kindling. The other reason that I don't write voluminously about the markets and investing because these topics are already well covered at a variety of great "hard money"-oriented web sites. For commentary and analysis, my favorite of these sites is Gold-Eagle.com. So for me to add my (pre-'64) $0.10 worth would just be redundant.
Part of my daily routine is reading economics
newsletters. Parenthetically, you
can subscribe
to
many
of these e-mail newsletters free of charge. Some
have daily issues while others are e-mailed weekly. These include: The
Daily Reckoning and its sister publication
The Rude Awakening, Whiskey
and Gunpowder, The
Sovereign Society Offshore A-Letter, What
We Know Now (from Casey Research),
and Dr.
Gary's North's Reality Check. If you have the time to do
some reading, then I highly recommend all of these newsletters!
But if your time is limited and you need to pick just one, then make
it The
Daily Reckoning.
"A billion here, and a billion there, and pretty soon you're
talking about real money."
- Senator Everett Dirksen
Note From JWR: You will notice that there are several new advertisements in our scrolling "ad bar." And even more ads will be posted there in the next few days. Vendors have gradually come to the realization that SurvivalBlog is the place to be to attract customers! Some advertising space is still available at our low rates, but be advised that there will be a rate increase on October 1st. This is the "last call" to lock in an ad contract (for up to six months) at the current rates.
Today, I'm covering Washington, the 18th of 19 western states in my rankings of states by their retreat potential. This series will be followed by some detailed recommendations within these 19 western states. I'd also appreciate hearing from easterners with their specific recommendations.
Washington:
Population: 5.9 million.
Population Density: 86.6 per square mile (Far less in the eastern half
of the state!) Very high population density (by western U.S. standards.)
(Rank 3 of JWR’s top 19 states).
Area: 68,100 square miles (rank 20 of 50).
Average car insurance cost: $803/yr. (rank 19 of 50).
Average home insurance cost: $428/yr. (rank 31 of 50).
Crime Safety Ranking: 30 of 50.
Boston T. Party’s State Firearms Laws Ranking: 57%.
Per capita income: $31,230 (rank 11 of 50).
ACT & SAT Scores Ranking: 10 of 50 (tied with Oregon).
Plusses: Low property taxes in some of the eastern counties. (But rising!)
Whitman county Washington taxes rose 80% from 1988 to 1995. In 2002,
the annual tax bill was $3,047 on a $200,000 home. (Second highest
in the state.)
The median home value in 2000 for Washington was $168,300, up 38 percent
since 1990, adjusted for inflation. The average statewide property
tax rate in Washington is $13.53 per $1,000 of assessed value.
Minuses: Creeping Californication. Highly regulated home schooling.
Fairly high crime rates in the Western counties and in the larger cities
in the eastern half of the state—such as Spokane, Yakima, and
the Tri-Cities (Richland/Pasco/Kennewick) region. A draconian business
gross receipts tax of 1.5%-to-3%. Marginal gun laws. Very high sales
tax. (8.8%)
Parts of the state are recommended. (See my detailed retreat locale
recommendations posted starting September 24, 2005.)
Note: I probably should have given Washington a lower ranking, due
to its mediocre tax and gun laws. However, like Oregon, its favorable
climate and growing season pushed it up the list.
JWR’s Combined Retreat Potential Ranking: 4 of 19.
A Reader in Washington Adds:
Just a few nits to pick (grin), RE: "A draconian business gross receipts
tax of 2-to-3%. Marginal gun laws.
Very high sales tax. (8.8%)"
Can't disagree with draconian. Can disagree with the B&O rates, slightly.
They depend completely on the type of business. My business is taxed at 1.5%.
Sales taxes vary per county over a very wide range.
Gas tax is $0.28 per gallon.
Just for fun, check out this link for "major" taxes in the Evergreen
state. Yikes.
http://dor.wa.gov/content/taxes/MajorTaxes.aspx
There are also more than a few badges (not obvious, but there nonetheless if
you know what to look for) at our local gun shows at the County fairgrounds.
Keeping an eye on who, what, and how much. Not particularly comfortable about
that one. Best Regards, and keep up the good work. - T.S.
In the 1970s there was a well-publicized "Back to the Land" movement. Hundreds of thousands of America's young generation wanted the freedom of self-sufficiency. But most of them eventually returned to urban life. We can analyze their failures to avoid making the same mistakes. Happily, someone else has already done this for us! Eleanor Agnew's book Back From the Land is a fairly detailed analysis of why the "Back to the Landers" went back to the big cities. Here is a summary of some of the conditions that led to their failures:
1. The realities of rural life were much harsher than those portrayed on television or in popular books or magazines.
2. Farming and raising livestock was not profitable, so they either lived in extreme poverty or had long commutes to jobs in town.
3. Local "town" jobs were low paying.
4. Poverty was not as genteel and romantic as portrayed in books and movies.
5. The harsh realities of rural life put undue stress on marriages, especially when the spouses were not in agreement about living self-sufficiently.
We moved to Idaho in 1992. I observed all of these conditions among
our neighbors who moved to rural Idaho in preparation for Y2K in
1998 and 1999.
(Yep, we
experienced
a couple of these ourselves, as
much as I hate to admit it!)
In our part of rural Idaho, we observed that the vast majority of families
that departed post Y2K left for economic reasons. Most of the local jobs
available
were
minimum
wage. The local economy was depressed. Start-up businesses that required
the patronage of the local population failed.
Suggestion: Make sure that your income does not rely on the local economy
and that you will have enough income to sustain a standard of living not
too
far below
your urban standard. If the drop in your living standards are too drastic,
your spouse and children are likely to rebel. Even though you may be preparing
for a time in the future when the grid is down, and you'll have to be totally
self-sufficient, don't insist that your
spouse
do without the modern conveniences in the meantime. (Okay, maybe the washer
and dryer are going to be giant paper weights if the balloon goes up. But
I don't
want to start washing clothes by hand one day sooner than I have too!) If
you make life drudgery for your family, the contrast of how the rest of
America lives will be so great that they may question your sanity!
Eleanor Agnew's Back From the Land tells it like it really
is. If you are contemplating a move back to the land, you should read
this book!
Back From the Land by Eleanor Agnew, Published by Ivan
R. Dee, Chicago, 200. Hardback, 274 pages. Cover price: $27.50 ISBN 1-56663-580-2
Just a recommendation for Robert Henry of JRH
Enterprises and his
wife. Good man, dependable and fair. His merchandise is always a
good product.
Whenever I've dealt with him, I can only say it was "always a
pleasure".
Oh, for your PVS-14, they finally came out with something
handy and servicable.For $44 U.S. Tactical sells PVS-14 hard case for
your belt.
Fits with the mounting arm attached and has capacity for two spare
AA size batteries. I'll let you know how well it lives. Regards, -
The Army Aviator
Greetings Jim,
Thanks for an outstanding blog--it is on my "must read" list
everyday. Doug Carlton's article on concealed carry is right on target.
One of his best points is to practice the way you carry. I try to do
this often to hone my skills. Being a practicing pharmacist I am exposed
to all kinds of people. The ones that concern me are the thugs/pill
heads/stop-'n-rob types whose desperation has risen to new heights.
But, I do have the luxury of wearing a white lab jacket while working,
which nicely conceals my carry piece from prying eyes. I routinely
practice drawing from concealment with my lab coat on to simulate a
work-place encounter of the worse kind. I've never had to unholster
my weapon, but you just never know. My philosophy is "They need
only be right ONCE, I have to be right EVERY TIME". One other
point I might add is to keep the fact that you carry concealed
(especially in the workplace) to yourself. No one else needs to know. Keep up the
fine work! - S.P.
Jim:
I just found a waaaay cool web site. A lot of Civil Defense stuff. See: http://southernradiation.com/ -
Fred "The Valmet-meister"
"Our institutions were not devised to bring about uniformity
of opinion; if they had we might well abandon hope. It is important
to remember,
as has well been said, 'the essential characteristic of true liberty
is that under its shelter many different types of life and character
and opinion and belief can develop unmolested and unobstructed."
- Justice Charles Evans Hughes
Note From JWR: Please pray for all those living on the Gulf Coast of Texas. Hurricane Rita looks fearsome! Most of you have surely already done so, but don't neglect to stock up on fuel. (Fill your gas and diesel storage tanks, fill all you car/truck tanks, and order a "top off" of your propane and/or home heating oil tanks.) I predict that there will be widespread fuel shortages after Rita does her damage. OBTW, the PRI-G and PRI-D stabilizers are available from Ready Made Resources (RMR) and several other vendors.
Today, I'm covering Utah, the 17th of 19 western states in my rankings of states by their retreat potential.
Utah:
Population: 2.23 million.
Population Density: 26.2 per square mile (Rank 11 of JWR’s top
19 states).
Area: 84,900 square miles (rank 11 of 50).
Average car insurance cost: $718/yr. (rank 32 of 50).
Average home insurance cost: $378/yr. (rank 43 of 50.)
Crime Safety Ranking: 14 of 50.
Boston T. Party’s State Firearms Laws Ranking: 76%.
Per capita income: $23,436 (rank 44 of 50).
ACT & SAT Scores Ranking: 7 of 50.
Plusses: A great state to live in if you are a LDS
(Mormon)
Church member. On
average Utah has the best prepared families in America.
(By church doctrine, one year of food storage is considered mandatory.)
That is
commendable. The norm for home construction in the state is to include
an extra large pantry to accommodate storage food. (Commonly called
a “fruit room” in LDS parlance.) Nearly every LDS
ward has its own food storage cannery. Fairly low crime rate. (Utah
has two of the safest metropolitan areas in the country: Orem, ranked
#7, and Provo, ranked #9.) The only significant street crime is on
the west side of Salt Lake City. Low car insurance rates.
Minuses: Ground water is scarce in parts of the state, so check on well water
before buying. Utah might be a
poor
retreat/relocation
choice
if
you
are
not
a
LDS Church
member. Non-LDS members of any religious persuasion are derisively called “gentiles.”
If you are not LDS, you might be ignored or perhaps even seen as conveniently
expendable
when
push
comes
to shove. In practice, many LDS families
do not have a true full year of storage food. Highly regulated home schooling.
JWR’s Combined Retreat Potential Ranking: 6 of 19.
Dear Mr. Rawles,
Having read your retreat advice I'm planning a road trip through Montana
and Idaho for November to scout around for a new home and maybe a
new job (I'm a high school history teacher). Still, I can't help
but wonder: with the increasing profile of the blog and its ever-greater
circulation, won't greater numbers of survival-minded people moving
to the ID/MT area degrade its qualities and reduce it to the same
mess
we're all trying to escape/avoid? I got t