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Two Letters Re: Observations on a Tour of a Telephone Company Central Office
James:
The batteries are why the phone still works when the power goes out. That
is if you still have an old style (hard wire) phone and not all cordless
phones. The cordless phones need 120 VAC power to run the base station. You
should maintain at least one all wire somewhere in your house.
I believe the [common design for COs is that the] whole building is built in
such a way that it is a big Faraday
Cage. It would take a pretty close proximity
EMP to take one
out.
The
EMP
danger is in the above ground wiring [and antennas].
Most of this kind of engineering is done for lighting protection, but it is
something of an EMP protection as well. That is [on reason why they are continuing
to switch to underground wiring, even on expensive long[er] distance routes.
The switch to fiber optics helps here also, even though the main rationale
for its adoption was capacity and cost.
The phone companies are some of the most engineering conservative utilities
in this country. When I worked with them, everything was "double built". 100
percent redundancy.
And they are learning a lot fast about “hardening” their properties.
Some of the upgrades I have seen done inside those little brick buildings spread
around the country make them into pillboxes. - Keith S.
Hi Jim,
I saw the stuff about phone Central Offices (COs) and thought I would contribute
a bit as well since this is a part of my area of specialty. Many times
people have
these nearby and are unaware of them. They look like a generic office building
- most have few or no windows and are most often brick, concrete or concrete
block. They are generally unobtrusive and sometimes do not even have the
company logo on them. They are made this way because they house what is considered
critical communications infrastructure and because they are supposed to be
semi-secure
and protected against all but the very worst mother nature can dish out.
They
are also a desirable target for terrorists, etc. As far as I know it is a
Federal felony to disrupt the operations of one of these buildings so batteries,
generators,
and so forth would be strictly off limits in all but a true TEOTWAWKI situation.
This link has
pictures of COs. If you look at the Kansas page you can see the COs that might
exist in a small town - where they may serve at most a few hundred customers.
The one's
listed
under California (619) might serve a few thousand customers. These buildings
will generally not be more than about 3 to 5 miles apart in suburban areas
and even closer in urban areas so they are quite common, but most people
do not have
a clue where or what they are.
They do have large battery back-ups and larger one's have generators. The
larger one's will also have fuel reservoirs of either diesel, propane or
gasoline
depending on the location, company policy, etc. These are required to keep
the system up
if the grid goes down - however they are only meant for a few days operation
at best on generators. They do change the batteries our regularly because
they have to keep the grid operational. [Their surplus battery sales are] a decent way to get good, used
deep
cycle batteries. The best money can buy. Regards, - Tim P.
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Letter Re: Observations on a Tour of a Telephone Company Central Office
Hi Jim,
I just came back from a tour of one of our local phone company’s central
office (CO) and this is what I learned: Besides finding out how our phone
lines work, I found out that the hardware there runs on 48 volt DC power. There
is a large battery bank in the basement and the batteries are charged by the
grid. It is made up of large clear cylinders and you can see the acid level
and the plates inside. In the case of the grid going down it has a generator
back up. Many of these offices are unmanned. I also found out that there are
many small remote units around that run on a couple of deep cycle batteries
for back up power around town. In the case of a prolonged power outage the
technicians will cycle through the remote units with generators to charge up
the batteries.
I was also surprised at all the circuit boards. An electromagnetic pulse
(EMP) would easily take out [these microcircuit boards, and hence wipe out]
all the phone circuits.
I know that society would have to totally break down in order to make use
of these resources but I bet not too many people know about the battery banks.
Just something to keep in the back of your mind because every town will have
something like this. - Adam in Ohio
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The Precepts of My Survivalist Philosophy
In the past week I've had three newcomers to SurvivalBlog.com write and ask
me to summarize my world view. One of them asked: "I could spend days
looking through [the] archives of your [many months of] blog posts. But there
are hundreds
of them. Can you tell me where you stand, in just a page? What distinguishes
the "Rawlesian" philosophy from other [schools of] survivalist thought?"
I'll likely add a few items to this list as time goes on, but here is a general
summary of my precepts:
Modern Society is Increasingly Complex, Interdependent, and Fragile. With
each passing year, technology progresses and chains of interdependency lengthen.
In the past 30 years, chains of retail supply have grown longer and longer.
The food on your supermarket shelf does not come from local farmers. It often
comes from hundreds or even thousands of miles away. This has created an alarming
vulnerability to disruption. Simultaneously, global population is still increasing
in a near geometrical progression. At some point that must end, most likely
with a sudden and sharp drop in population. The lynchpin is the grid. Without
functioning power grids, modern industrial societies will collapse within weeks.
Civilization is Just a Thin Veneer. In the absence of law
an order, men quickly revert to savagery. As was illustrated by the rioting
and looting that accompanied disasters in the past three decades, the transition
from tranquility to absolute barbarism can occur overnight. People expect tomorrow
to be just like today, and they act accordingly. But then comes a unpredictable
disaster that catches the vast majority unprepared. The average American family
has four days worth of food on hand. When that food is gone, we'll soon see
the thin veneer stripped away.
People Run in Herds and Packs, but Both Follow Natural Lines of
Drift. Most
people are sheep ("sheeple").
A few are wolves that prey on others. But just a few of us are more like sheepdogs--we
think independently, and instead of
predation,
we are
geared toward protecting and helping others. People naturally follow natural lines
of drift--the path of least resistance. When the Schumer hits
the fan, 99% of urbanites will try to leave the cities on freeways. The highways
and freeways will soon resemble parking lots. This means that you need to be
prepared to both get
out of town ahead of the rush and to use lightly-traveled back roads.
Plan,
study and practice.
Lightly Populated Areas are Safer than High Density Areas. With
a few exceptions, less population means fewer problems. WTSHTF, there will
be a mass exodus from the cities. Think of it as an army that is spreading
out across a battlefield: The wider that
they
are
spread,
the less effective that they are. The inverse
square law hasn't been repealed.
Show Restraint, But Always Have Recourse to Lethal Force. My
father often told me, "It
is better to have a gun and not need it, than need a gun, and not have it." I
urge readers to use less than lethal means when safe and practicable, but at
times there is not a satisfactory substitute for well-aimed lead going down
range at high velocity.
There is Strength in Numbers. Rugged individualism is all
well and good, but it takes ore than one man to defend a retreat. Effective
retreat defense necessitates having at least two families to provide 24/7 perimeter
security. But of course every individual added means having another mouth to
feed. Absent having an unlimited budget and an infinite larder, this necessitates
striking a balance when deciding the size of a retreat group.
There are Moral Absolutes. The foundational morality
of the civilized world is best summarized in the Ten
Commandments. Moral relativism and secular humanism are slippery slopes.
The terminal moraine at the base of these slopes is a rubble pile consisting
of either despotism and pillage, or anarchy and the depths of depravity. I
believe
that
it takes both faith and friends to survive perilous times. For more background
on that, see my Prayer
page.
Racism Ignores Reason. People should be judged as individuals.
Anyone that make blanket statements about other races is ignorant that there
are both good and bad individuals in all groups. I have accepted The
Great Commission with sincerity."Go forth into all nations" means
exactly that:
all nations. OBTW, I feel grateful that SurvivalBlog is now read
in more than 100 countries. I have been given a bully pulpit,
and I intend to use it for good and edifying purposes.
Skills Beat Gadgets and Practicality Beats Style. The modern
world is full of pundits, poseurs, and Mall
Ninjas. Preparedness is not just about
accumulating a pile of stuff. You need practical skills, and those
only come with study, training, and practice.
Any
armchair
survivalist
can
buy a set
of stylish camouflage fatigues and an M4gery Carbine
encrusted with umpteen accessories. Style points should not be mistaken
for genuine skills and
practicality.
Plentiful Water and Good Soil are Crucial. Modern mechanized
farming, electrically pumped irrigation, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides
can make deserts bloom. But when the grid goes down, deserts and marginal farmland
will revert to their natural states. In my estimation, the most viable places
to survive in the midst of a long term societal collapse will be those with
reliable summer rains
and rich
topsoil.
Tangibles Trump Conceptuals. Modern fiat currencies are generally
accepted, but have essentially no backing. Because they are largely a byproduct
of interest bearing debt, modern currencies are destined to inflation. In
the long run, inflation dooms fiat
currencies to collapse. The majority of
your assets should be invested in
productive farm land and other tangibles such as useful hand tools. Only after
you have your key logistics squared away, anything extra should
be invested in silver and gold.
Governments Tend to Expand their Power to the Point that They Do Harm. In
SurvivalBlog, I often warn of the insidious tyranny of the Nanny
State. If
the state where you live becomes oppressive, then don't hesitate to relocate.
Vote with your feet!
There is Value in Redundancy. A common saying of my
readers is: "Two
is one, and one is none." You must be prepared
to provide for your family in a protracted period of societal disruption. That
means storing up all of the essential "beans, bullets, and Band-Aids" in quantity.
If commerce is disrupted by a disaster, at least in the short term you will
only have your own logistics to fall back on. The more that you have stored,
the
more
that
you
will have
available for barter and charity.
A Deep Larder is Essential. Food storage is one of the key
preparations that I recommend. Even if you have a fantastic self-sufficient
garden and pasture ground, you must always have food storage that you can fall
back on in the event that your crops fail due to drought, disease, or infestation.
Tools Without Training Are Almost Useless. Owning a gun doesn't
make someone a "shooter" any more than owning a surfboard makes someone a surfer.
With proper training and practice, you will be miles ahead of the average citizen.
Get advanced medical
training. Get the best firearms
training that you can afford. Learn about amateur radio from your local
affiliated ARRL club.
Practice raising a vegetable garden each summer. Some skills are only perfected
over
a period
of years.
Old Technologies are Appropriate Technologies. In
the event of a societal collapse, 19th Century (or earlier) technologies such
as a the blacksmith's forge, the treadle sewing machine, and the horse-drawn
plow
will be
far easier
to re-construct than modern technologies.
Charity is a Moral Imperative. As a Christian, I feel morally
obligated to assist others that are less fortunate. Following the Old Testament
laws of Tzedakah (charity
and tithing), I believe that my responsibility begins with my immediate family
and expands in successive rings to supporting
my immediate
neighborhood
and
church, to my
community, and beyond, as resources allow. In short, my philosophy is to "give
until it hurts" in times of disaster.
Buy Life Assurance, not Life Insurance. Self-sufficiency
and self-reliance are many-faceted. You need to systematically provide for
Water, Food, Shelter, Fuel, First Aid,
Commo,
and, if need be, the tools to enforce Rule
308.
Live at Your Retreat Year-Round. If your financial and family
circumstances allow it, I strongly recommend that you relocate
to a safe area and live there year-round. This has several advantages,
most notably that will prevent burglary of your retreat logistics and
allow you to regularly
tend to gardens, orchards, and livestock. It will also remove the stress of
timing a "Get Out of Dodge" trip at the11th hour.
If circumstances dictate that you can't live at your retreat year round, then
at least have
a caretaker and stock the vast majority of your logistics in advance, since
you may only have one trip there before roads are impassable.
Exploit Force Multipliers. Night vision gear, intrusion
detection sensors, and radio communications equipment are key force
multipliers. Because
these use high technology they cannot be depended upon in a long term collapse,
but in the short term, they can provide a big advantage. Some low technologies
like barbed wire and defensive road cables also provide advantages and can
last for several decades.
Invest Your Sweat Equity. Even if some of
you have a millionaire's budget, you need to learn how to do things for yourself,
and
be willing to get your hands dirty. In a societal collapse, the division of
labor will be reduced tremendously. Odds are that the only "skilled craftsmen" available
to build a shed, mend a fence, shuck corn, repair an engine, or pitch manure
will be you.and
your family. A byproduct of sweat equity is muscle tone and proper body weight.
Hiring someone to deliver three cords of firewood is a far cry from
felling, cutting, hauling, splitting, and stacking it yourself.
Choose Your Friends Wisely. Associate yourself with skilled
doers, not "talkers." Seek out people that share your
outlook and morality. Living in close confines with other families is sure
to cause friction but that will be minimized if you share a common religion
and norms of behavior.You can't learn every skill yourself. Assemble a team
that
includes members with medical knowledge, tactical skills, electronics experience,
and traditional practical skills.
There is No Substitute for Mass. Mass stops bullets. Mass
stops gamma radiation. Mass stops (or at least slows down ) bad guys from entering
a home and depriving its residents of life and property. Sandbags are cheap,
so buy plenty of them. When planning your retreat house, think: medieval
castle.
(See the SurvivalBlog Archives for the many articles and letters on Retreat
Architecture.)
Always Have a Plan B and a Plan C. Regardless of your pet
scenario and your personal grand plan of survival, you need to be flexible
and adaptable. Situations and circumstances change. Always keep a G.O.O.D. kit
handy, even if you are fortunate enough to live at your retreat year-round.
Be Frugal. I grew up in a family that still remembered both
our pioneer history and the more recent lessons of the Great Depression. One
of our family mottos is: "Use
it up, wear it out, make do, or do without."
Some Things are Worth Fighting For. I encourage my readers
to avoid trouble, most importantly via relocation to safe areas where trouble
is unlikely to come to visit. But there may come an unavoidable day that you
have
to
make a stand to defend your own family or your neighbors. Further, if you value
your liberty, then be prepared to fight for it, both for yourself and for
the sake
of
your progeny.
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The ABCs of WTSHTF, by Mark B.
The ABCs of When the Schumer Hits the Fan (WTSHTF.)
aren’t what you have prepared, acquired or stowed but even more basic
in the preparation processes that we sometimes take for granted.
The A is the ability to learn, to adapt and to try. No matter how
many classes we take or how much we have stored away there is the potential
that we might have missed something or prepared for one scenario and ended
up with another. We may be in the middle of TEOTWAWKI and
not be fully ready but guess what, we aren’t scheduling it. Ability is
not only applying something that we’ve learned but troubleshooting or
working through something that we don’t have a clue about. We may not
get it right the first time that we try something new but we have the ability
to learn from our mistakes and go back to try again. We have the ability to
learn from others mistakes and we have the ability to make changes or corrections
that work for our scenario.
The B is the brains that we have to reason with to store our morals
our life lessons and the memories that make us who we are. The best tool that
we have at our disposal is our brain. So many people in day to day life just
go on auto pilot and don’t think about what they can do to improve how
they do something. In my line of work I hear that “I’ve done
it that way for 20 years”. My response is that you’ve been doing
it wrong for 20 years. We just get in the habit of doing things a certain way.
We eat our meals at the same time even if we aren’t hungry just because
it is the time we are conditioned to eat. We go to bed at a certain time and
we get up at a certain time. As a culture we have stopped utilizing what we
were born with. In my opinion that is a large part of why we are where we are
today. The sheep just keep waiting for someone to lead them or fall prey to
the ones that use their brains without the use of morals. If we just think
about what we are about to do instead of just doing it we can prevent personal
injury or emotional pain. A simple example would be when a loved one has done
something that upset you and you just respond without thinking of how it would
affect them or why they did it the way they did. The words are already spoken;
you can’t take them back, or you’re cutting something with a knife
and slice your finger or hand because you didn’t think about what you
were doing. We should try to learn and practice as much as possible so it will
at least be familiar if not second nature but if we haven’t seen or done
it before it is still doable because we can reason and solve problems. The
human race has faced challenges for thousands of years and we have always improved
because we have the ability to think.
The C stands for two things, first is choice. Most of the dialog that
I’ve seen on SurvivalBlog shows that we have made a choice to
not be led into a place where we no longer have a choice.
We all are at different stages in the process but our choice is to survive
whatever we are dealt. The choice is yours for all situations, you may not
be able to control the overall aspect but you make the choice of how you let
it affect you. Have you ever been driving and had someone cut you off? You
don’t have control over the other driver but you do have the ability
to make the choice of letting the incident infuriate you or brushing the whole
situation off. We all make choices of whom if anyone will be invited into our
confidence or where our retreat will be. We make the choice of what type of
armament we will utilize or the type of food we will store or grow. Some things
are dependent on location or availability but it is still a choice. Our choices
are a large part of what makes us who we are. The choice to have faith, the
choice to be ready, and the choice to have morals are some choices that most
of us here have made. Remember that no matter what the influences are the final
choice is the one that you make. Right, wrong or indifferent it’s the
choice that you will have to live with.
The second C is composure, always maintain your composure. If you
keep your wits about you then you stand a better chance of surviving the situation.
When you lose your composure you lose your ability to reason and react rationally.
In an emergency situation time is critical and if you remain calm you will
have a higher probability of doing it right the first time. In an emergency
situation maintaining your composure could mean the difference between life
and death. I don’t mean you have to become cold or callous but you can
deal with your emotions after the situation subsides. If you don’t maintain
your composure you might not get that chance.
I would like to thank my brothers in arms from all the services; they have
helped me learn these lessons and have given me the opportunity to use what
I was born with and strived to refine it and help it grow.
Remember that we started out without clothes and shelter. We started out without
the ability to communicate over great distances without traveling them. We
can now travel and communicate in space or around the planet all because we
use our ability, our brains and by the choices that we make.
In my opinion we should absolutely continue to learn, store and prepare. We
should choose who we will coexist with before, during and after the coming
collapse, we should do that even if the collapse doesn’t come during
our lifetime. We should continue to grow as an individual and as a group. We
should not over analyze the solution to whatever problem we face. We should
not assume failure if we missed something or we didn’t get the opportunity
to get everything that we wanted. We should be thankful for what we have. We
should remember how far we have come. We should use our brain to think the
solution through. We should use our ability to reason and we should stay calm
to prevail.
I have learned a great deal since I started reading SurvivalBlog and utilizing
the links and resources available here. It has provoked the thought process
of things that I hadn’t thought of or had a different approach about
something.
There are many things that the survivalist practices that have become a lost
art so to speak such as canning and the ability to survive without modern conveniences.
We are in a society that does not know how to function without cell phones
and computers but I can remember when we didn’t have them. We communicated
either by land line telephone or my goodness how archaic, snail mail. Farther
back in our history there was the Pony Express and even couriers.
[The author of the] Heartbreak Ridge [screenplay (James Carabatsos)]
stated it best:" Improvise,
adapt and overcome."
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Letter Re: Alternative News Sources When The Grid Goes Down
James
In the early 1990s--before Internet was ubiquitous--I remember a well-connected
VHF packet
remailer network that was nearly on par with the old Fidonet dial up network.
Unfortunately while many hams played with packet 15 years ago, the complex
mailbox routing networks are now mostly replaced by the Internet. I don't expect
any data network resembling the Internet to evolve if the grid goes down. This
is not to say that local networks using sound card data modems on CB or FRS radio
or with Wi-Fi gear
might not spring up, but it would be a low priority in both electricity and
time.
HF amateur radio and shortwave radio will be the way to get your world news
if the grid goes down. Buy a radio that will receive upper and lower sideband
(USB/LSB) or you will be limited to megawatt commercial AM stations. (SSB is
used by the power poor.) Set up a proper antenna length for the band you are
listening
to, an antenna tuner is not good enough. Even if people do not want to obtain
their amateur licence it is advisable that they obtain PSK-31
sound card software and a connector cable to decode low power PSK data signals.
PSK-31is nearly
as good as Morse code for punching through noise, much better than voice mode.
For those operating out of a backpack look at this
PSK terminal device. No laptop needed!
Amateur satellite (AmSat)
is fun and a great way to talk worldwide without needing HF gear
but if the grid ever fully went down I would expect satellite tracking stations
to lose control of their satellites as the employees are
detained protecting their families. Most AmSat gear is piggybacked on commercial
satellites and is powered from the main buss, amateur controllers have no way
to maintain the main systems on the host satellite.
Look a few months back in the SurvivalBlog archives for the article on Earth
Moon Earth (EME or "moon
bounce") propagation for an exotic and often difficult
alternative to HF radio.
My plug for getting your license in the United State is: There is
no longer a Morse Code test requirement! Anyone can memorize the
question pool and easily pass the tech and general
exams now, what possible reason could any survivor not want to get licensed
and on the air.
Worried about expensive gear? while I put down the
tuna can transmitter for
use as a survival set, it is a great way for a family to build a first transmitter
But if you want an actual usable Morse-only radio transceiver with even minimal
long range survival utility, but easy and small enough for every member of
the family to build and hide
in a Tic-Tac breath mints box for under be $10 the Pixie
takes the prize. If you search the net there are several sources for
the pixie kit. - David in Israel
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Letter Re: Surplus Ambulances as BOVs
Dear Mr. Rawles,
Perhaps an overlooked, but wonderful option for a BOV is
an ambulance. You can often find used ambulances on eBay or at [fleet dispersal]
auctions. They
often have fairly low miles, have been well maintained and are most often
diesel.
They
come with
lots of storage compartments and equipment built in, as well most have propane
fuel systems, generators, inverters etc. There is usually at least one "bed" in
them as well. The outside storage compartments are often ready to go for the
prepper as they are often diamond plate on the interior and have webbing for
securing items in place. They are easily "hardened" and easy to drive.
It is easy to remove the outer lights and replace them with other more TEOTWAWKI appropriate
choices. You will of course want to have it painted....LOL.
We have taken our lovely BOV to the ATV park
here and put it through some serious tests. I personally love the looks I received
when driving a muddy ambulance
(pre-paint job)....but like most prepper wives I am not your average soccer
mom. It has some disadvantages as it is a pretty heavy beast, but I feel very
confident in its capabilities. We also have a 4x4 Durango that we are currently
working on for a second BOV. However, the ambulance is by far and away our
favorite. - Prepper Mom in Washington
JWR Replies: When shopping for a surplused vehicle such as
an ambulance at auction, look for one that is built on a pickup truck frame
rather than a cargo van frame. Not only are they more sturdy, but the chances
are much better that you will find one that came from the factory with
a front differential to provide four wheel drive (4WD).
(I am leery about buying a van that was converted to 4WD unless I know the
details about who did the conversion. There are a lot of unqualified "shade
tree mechanics" out there!
Needless to say, all of the usual caveats and disclaimers about buying at
auction apply.
If
you
aren't
familiar
with inspecting vehicles (checking for leaks, inspecting tires, hoses and
belts, checking for exhaust system leaks, examining dip stick colors, et cetera)
then
bring someone that is experienced along with
you for "advice and consent" before bidding.
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Letter Re: Alternative News Sources When The Grid Goes Down
Sir,
I have been hooked to your blog for weeks now and have a topic suggestion
for you.
The only news I can trust comes from independent blogs with communities of
users working together to bring critical information to light. Web sites like The Housing Bubble Blog have
saved me tens of thousands of dollars by being months ahead of the mainstream
media (MSM) and by reporting honestly.
With
the internet we have the means to organize grassroots efforts to support candidates
like
Ron
Paul.
We can be kept up to date with the latest injustices and know when our fellow
citizens are taking a stand against a corrupt government. Most importantly
we have time to react.
We cannot be dependent upon the Internet in a SHTF scenario,
yet we will all be in desperate need of quality and timely information regarding
future government/societal
moves. It would seem to me that we need to establish a pre-internet means of
communication or at least a self-sufficient internet community networking through
their own dedicated satellite!
What steps are you and your readers taking to provide "foreign intelligence" on
operations outside their retreat location? - Daniel L.
JWR Replies: Although the Internet is designed to be high
resilient (a carryover from its original design as a US military network),
it cannot expect to survive
a grid-down situation. The best that we could hope for in those circumstances
is a combination voice and data packet network, via High Frequency (HF)
shortwave. (Perhaps the
Army
Aviator
or one
of our
other readers that are senior
ham operator
would care to chime in on how a quasi-Internet could be piecemealed
together using packet modems and HF ham gear.
At the very minimum, to gather local, regional, and international intelligence,
weather data, accurate time of day, and to maintain overall situational awareness
you should own at least two radios, neither of which need be very expensive:
1.) A general
coverage AM/FM/shortwave receiver. Most of these cover all the way
from 500 KHz all
the way up to 30 MHz.
This includes the AM and FM broadcast bands, many of the
amateur
bands, the international HF broadcast bands (for stations like
BBC,
Radio Netherlands,
HCJB, WWV, and so forth), and the Citizen's Band (CB)
channels. The inexpensive Kaito KA1102 radios are ideal for anyone that
is on a budget. These are
available from
Affordable
Shortwaves--a
SurvivalBlog advertiser. If you have a bigger budget, I would suggest (in sequence
of price) the following
The Sony
ICF-SW-7600G (around $195 to $210, new.)
The Sony
ICF-2010 (Discontinued, but used ones are available for around $175 to $275
on eBay.)
This
model
was
replaced
by the ICF
SW-77, but a lot of listeners prefer the controls on the ICF-2010.
And if you have a "The sky is the limit" budget, get a Drake
R8A (around $1,100
new, or $750, used.)
BTW, even if you eventually buy a more "spendy" receiver, I recommend
that you keep a couple of the little Kaito KA1102 radios as spares, preferably
stored in metal ammo cans to
protect them
from EMP.
2.) A VHF police/marine/aircraft/weather band scanner. Try
to get one of the more recent models that can demodulate trunked
traffic. One relatively inexpensive "trunked" model is the Bearcat
BC898T. They sell for around $240. If you have a big budget, get a
digital model, but expect to pay at least $500. OBTW, nearly all scanners
cover the NOAA weather bands.
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The "Come as You Are" Collapse--Have the Right Tools and Skills
In the Second World War, the United States had nearly two full years to ramp
up military training and production before decisively confronting the Axis
powers. In the late 1970s, looking at the recent experience of the 1973 Arab-Israeli
War, the Pentagon's strategic planners came to the realization that the next
major war that the US military would wage would not be
like the Second World War. There would not be the luxury of time to train and
equip. They realized that we would have to fight with only what we had available
on Day One. They dubbed this the "Come as you are war" concept.
In my opinion, the same "come as you are" mindset should
be applied to family preparedness. We must recognize that in these
days of rapid news dissemination, it may take as little as 10 hours before
supermarket shelves are cleaned out. It make take just a few hours for queues
that are literally blocks-long to form at gas stations--or at bank branches
in the event of bank runs. Worse yet, it may take just a few hours before
the highways and freeways leading out of urban and suburban areas are clogged
with traffic--the dreaded "Golden
Horde" that I often write about. Do not make the false assumption
that you will have the chance to make "one last trip" to the big
box store, or even the chance to fill your Bug Out Vehicle's fuel tank. This
will be the "come as you are" collapse.
The concept also applies to your personal training. If you haven't learned
how to do things before the balloon goes, up, then don't expect to get anything
but marginal to mediocre on-the-job training after the fact. In essence, you
have the opportunity to take top quality training from the best trainers now,
but you won't once the Schumer hits
the fan. Take the time to get top-notch training! Train with the best--with
organizations like Medical
Corps, WEMSI, Front
Sight, the RWVA/Appleseed
Project, the WRSA,
and the ARRL.
Someday, you'll be very glad that you did.
The come as you are concept definitely applies to specialized manufactured
equipment.You are dreaming if you think that
you will have the chance to to purchase any items such as these, in a post-collapse
world:
razor
wire, body
armor, night
vision equipment,
advanced
first aid gear, tritium
scopes, dosimeters
and radiac meters, biological decontamination
equipment, Dakota
Alert or military surplus PEWS intrusion
detection sets, photovoltaics,
NBC
masks, and semi-auto
battle rifles.
Think about it: There
are very few if these items (per capita) presently in circulation. But the
demand for them during a societal collapse would be tremendous. How could
you compete in such a scant market? Anyone that conceivably has "spares" will
probably want to keep them for a member of their own family or group. So
even in the unlikely event that someone was even willing to sell
such scarce items, they would surely ask a king's ransom in barter
for them. I'm talking about quarter sections of land,
entire strings of
well-broken horses, or pounds of
gold. Offers of anything less would surely be scoffed at.
Don't overlook the "you" part of the "as
you are" premise.
Are you physically fit? Are you up to date on your dental work? Do you have
two pairs of sturdy eyeglasses with your current prescription? Do
you have at least a six month supply of vitamins and medications? Is your body
weight
reasonable?
If you answer to any of these is no, then get busy!
Even if you have a modest budget, you will have an advantage over the average
suburbanite. Your knowledge and training alone--what is between your ears--will
ensure that. And even with just a small budget for food storage, you will be
miles ahead of your neighbors. Odds are that they will have less than two week's
worth of food on hand. As I often say, you will need extra supplies on hand to
help out relatives, friends, and neighbors that were ill-prepared. I consider
charity my Christian duty!
I have repeatedly and strongly emphasized the importance of living
at your intended retreat year-round. But I realize that because
of personal finances, family obligations, and the constraints of making a
living at an hourly or
salaried job, that this is not realistic--except for a few of us, mainly retirees.
If you are stuck in the Big City and plan to Get Out of Dodge (G.O.O.D.)
at the eleventh hour, then by all means pre-position the vast majority of your
gear and supplies at your retreat. You will most likely only have one, I repeat, one G.O.O.D.
trip. If there is a major crisis there will probably be no chance to "go
back for a second load." So WTSHTF will
truly be a "come as you are" affair.
With all of this in mind, re-think your preparedness priorities. Stock
your retreat well. If there isn't someone living there year-round,
then hide what is there from burglars. (See the numerous SurvivalBlog posts
on caching and constructing hidden compartments and rooms.) Maintain balance
in your preparations. In a situation where you are truly hunkered-down at
your retreat in the midst of a societal collapse, there might not be any
opportunity to barter for any items that you overlooked. (At least not for
several months. ) What you have is what you got. You will have to make-do.
So be sure to develop your "lists
of lists" meticulously. If you have the funds available, construct
a combination storm shelter/fallout shelter/walk-in vault. It
would be virtually impossible to build something that elaborate in the aftermath
of a
societal collapse.
A closing thought that relates to your retreat logistics: The
original colonial Army Rangers, organized by Major Robert Rogers during
the French and Indian Wars of the 1750s had a
succinct list of operating rules. The version of the "Rules of Ranging" recounted
in the novel "Northwest Passage" by Kenneth Roberts started
with a strong proviso: "Don't forget nothing." That
is sage advice.
« Odds 'n Sods: |Main| Letter Re: My Preparedness Plans Just Took an Unexpected Turn »
Letter Re: AA Cells and Mobile Power
There was a discussion about batteries a few days back on SurvivalBlog. The
writer advocated using AA NiMH cells almost exclusively, with adapters for devices requiring C and D cells. While
I do agree that this is a good approach for some devices, there is certainly
some merit to having full size 10 Amp Hour (10,000 MAH) batteries in high [current]
draw or long term use devices. Not only is capacity
significantly higher on larger cells, but the maximum safe current draw is
higher too.
Good NiMH C cells have 2-to-3 times the capacity of AA cells, and NiMH D cells
have 4-to-5 times the capacity of AA cells. They can be charged in a reasonable
timeframe on a good quality charger like the MAHA MH-C801D. If you shop carefully
you can find 10AH NiMH low self discharge D cells for around $10 each (As an
example, see Overstock.com). Thanks, - BR
JWR Replies: I recommend that SurvivalBlog readers be very
careful when shopping for size C and D NiCD and NiMH batteries. Many of the
batteries on the market have no more capacity than a size AA. (With those,
essentially you are getting the same "guts" used in a size AA cell,
but just in a bigger "can.") Look carefully and the MaH ratings before
you buy! Also, be sure to buy only brands (such as Sanyo's
ENELOOP) that have "Low Self Discharge" (LSD) rates.
« Letter Re: Keeping a Low Profile is Crucial for Preparedness |Main| Notes from JWR: »
The Big Picture -- Grid Up Versus Grid Down--Oil, Soil, and Water
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.
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 those
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 National Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS)
desk. (The NRCS was formerly called the Soil Conservation Service or SCS.)
« Letter Re: Best Items to Store for Barter and Charity? |Main| Note from JWR: »
From the SurvivalBlog Archives: Start With a "List of Lists"
Start your retreat stocking effort by first composing a List of Lists, then
draft prioritized lists for each subject, on separate sheets of paper. (Or
in a spreadsheet if you are a techno-nerd like me. Just be sure to print out
a hard copy for use when the power grid goes down!) It is important to tailor
your lists to suit your particular geography, climate, and population density
as well as your peculiar needs and likes/dislikes. Someone setting up a retreat
in a coastal area is likely to have a far different list than someone living
in the Rockies.
As I often mention in my lectures and radio interviews, a great way to create
truly commonsense preparedness lists is to take a three-day weekend TEOTWAWKI Weekend Experiment” with your family. When you come home from work on
Friday evening, turn off your main circuit breaker, turn off your gas main
(or propane tank), and shut your main water valve (or turn off your well pump.)
Spend that weekend in primitive conditions. Practice using only your storage
food, preparing it on a wood stove (or camping stove.)
A “TEOTWAWKI Weekend Experiment” will surprise you. Things that
you take for granted will suddenly become labor intensive. False assumptions
will be shattered. Your family will grow closer and more confident. Most importantly,
some of the most thorough lists that you will ever make will be those written
by candlelight.
Your List of Lists should include: (Sorry that this post
is in outline form, but it would take a full length book to discus all of
the following in great detail)
Water List
Food Storage List
Food Preparation List
Personal List
First Aid /Minor Surgery List
Nuke Defense List
Biological Warfare Defense List
Gardening List
Hygiene List/Sanitation List
Hunting/Fishing/Trapping List
Power/Lighting/Batteries List
Fuels List
Firefighting List
Tactical Living List
Security-General
Security-Firearms
Communications/Monitoring List
Tools List
Sundries List
Survival Bookshelf List
Barter and Charity List
JWR’s Specific Recommendations For Developing Your Lists:
Water List
House downspout conversion sheet metal work and barrels. (BTW, this is another
good reason to upgrade your retreat to a fireproof metal roof.)
Drawing water from open sources. Buy extra containers. Don’t buy big
barrels, since five gallon food grade buckets are the largest size that most
people can handle without back strain.
For transporting water if and when gas is too precious to waste, buy a couple
of heavy duty two wheel garden carts--convert the wheels to foam filled "no
flats" tires. (BTW, you will find lots of other uses for those carts around
your retreat, such as hauling hay, firewood, manure, fertilizer, et cetera.)
Treating water. Buy plain Clorox hypochlorite bleach. A little goes a long
way. Buy some extra half-gallon bottles for barter and charity. If you can
afford it, buy a “Big Berky” British Berkefeld ceramic water filter.
(Available from Ready
Made Resources and several other Internet vendors. Even if you have pure
spring water at your retreat, you never know where you may end up, and a good
filter could be a lifesaver.)
Food Storage List
See my post tomorrow which will be devoted to food storage. Also see the recent
letter from David in Israel on this subject.
Food Preparation List
Having more people under your roof will necessitate having an oversize skillet
and a huge stew pot. BTW, you will want to buy several huge kettles, because
odds are you will have to heat water on your wood stove for bathing, dish washing,
and clothes washing. You will also need even more kettles, barrels, and 5 or
6 gallon PVC buckets--for water hauling, rendering, soap making, and dying.
They will also make great barter or charity items. (To quote my mentor Dr.
Gary North: “Nails: buy a barrel of them. Barrels: Buy a barrel of them!”)
Don’t overlook skinning knives, gut-buckets, gambrels, and meat saws.
Personal List
(Make a separate personal list for each family member and individual expected
to arrive at your retreat.)
Spare glasses.
Prescription and nonprescription medications.
Birth control.
Keep dentistry up to date.
Any elective surgery that you've been postponing
Work off that gut.
Stay in shape.
Back strength and health—particularly important, given the heavy manual
tasks required for self-sufficiency.
Educate yourself on survival topics, and practice them. For example, even if
you don’t presently live at your retreat, you should plant a vegetable
garden every year. It is better to learn through experience and make mistakes
now, when the loss of crop is an annoyance rather than a crucial event.
“Comfort” items to help get through high stress times. (Books, games,
CDs, chocolates, etc.)
First Aid /Minor Surgery List
When tailoring this list, consider your neighborhood going for many months
without power, extensive use of open flames, and sentries standing picket
shifts exposed in the elements. Then consider axes, chainsaws and tractors
being wielded by newbies, and a greater likelihood of gunshot wounds. With
all of this, add the possibility of no access to doctors or high tech medical
diagnostic equipment. Put a strong emphasis on burn treatment first aid supplies.
Don’t overlook do-it-yourself dentistry! (Oil of cloves, temporary
filling kit, extraction tools, et cetera.) Buy a full minor surgery outfit
(inexpensive Pakistani stainless steel instruments), even if you don’t
know how to use them all yet. You may have to learn, or you will have the
opportunity to put them in the hands of someone experienced who needs them.)
This is going to be a big list!
Chem/Nuke Defense List
Dosimeter and rate meter, and charger, radiac meter (hand held Geiger counter),
rolls of sheet plastic (for isolating airflow to air filter inlets and for
covering window frames in the event that windows are broken due to blast effects),
duct tape, HEPA filters (ands spares) for your shelter. Potassium iodate (KI)
tablets to prevent thyroid damage.(See my recent post on that subject.) Outdoor
shower rig for just outside your shelter entrance.
Biological Warfare Defense List
Disinfectants
Hand Sanitizer
Sneeze masks
Colloidal silver generator and spare supplies (distilled water and .999 fine
silver rod.)
Natural antibiotics (Echinacea, Tea Tree oil, …)
Gardening List
One important item for your gardening list is the construction of a very tall
deer-proof and rabbit-proof fence. Under current circumstances, a raid by deer
on your garden is probably just an inconvenience. After the balloon goes up,
it could mean the difference between eating well, and starvation.
Top Soil/Amendments/Fertilizers.
Tools+ spares for barter/charity
Long-term storage non hybrid (open pollinated) seed. (Non-hybrid “heirloom” seed
assortments tailors to different climate zones are available from The
Ark Institute
Herbs: Get started with medicinal herbs such as aloe vera (for burns), echinacea
(purple cone flower), valerian, et cetera.
Hygiene/Sanitation List
Sacks of powdered lime for the outhouse. Buy plenty!
TP in quantity (Stores well if kept dry and away from vermin and it is lightweight,
but it is very bulky. This is a good item to store in the attic. See my novel
about stocking up on used phone books for use as TP.
Soap in quantity (hand soap, dish soap, laundry soap, cleansers, etc.)
Bottled lye for soap making.
Ladies’ supplies.
Toothpaste (or powder).
Floss.
Fluoride rinse. (Unless you have health objections to the use of fluoride.)
Sunscreen.
Livestock List:
Hoof rasp, hoof nippers, hoof pick, horse brushes, hand sheep shears, styptic,
carding combs, goat milking stand, teat dip, udder wash, Bag Balm, elastrator
and bands, SWOT fly repellent, nail clippers (various sizes), Copper-tox, leads,
leashes, collars, halters, hay hooks, hay fork, manure shovel, feed buckets,
bulk grain and C-O-B sweet feed (store in galvanized trash cans with tight
fitting lids to keep the mice out), various tack and saddles, tack repair tools,
et cetera. If your region has selenium deficient soil (ask your local Agricultural
extension office) then be sure to get selenium-fortified salt blocks rather
than plain white salt blocks--at least for those that you are going to set
aside strictly for your livestock.
Hunting/Fishing/Trapping List
“Buckshot” Bruce Hemming has produced an excellent series of videos
on trapping and making improvised traps. (He also sells traps and scents at very
reasonable prices.)
Night vision gear, spares, maintenance, and battery charging
Salt. Post-TEOTWAWKI, don’t “go hunting.” That would be a
waste of effort. Have the game come to you. Buy 20 or more salt blocks. They
will also make very valuable barter items.
Sell your fly fishing gear (all but perhaps a few flies) and buy practical
spin casting equipment.
Extra tackle may be useful for barter, but probably only in a very long term
Crunch.
Buy some frog gigs if you have bullfrogs in your area. Buy some crawfish traps
if you have crawfish in your area.
Learn how to rig trot lines and make fish traps for non-labor intensive fishing WTSHTF.
Power/Lighting/Batteries List
One proviso: In the event of a “grid
down” situation, if you are the only family in the area with power,
it could turn your house into a “come loot me” beacon at night.
At the same time, your house lighting will ruin the night vision of your LP/OP pickets.
Make plans and buy materials in advance for making blackout screens or fully
opaque curtains for your windows.
When possible, buy nickel metal hydride batteries. (Unlike the older nickel
cadmium technology, these have no adverse charge level “memory” effect.)
If your home has propane appliances, get a “tri-fuel” generator--with
a carburetor that is selectable between gasoline, propane, and natural gas.
If you heat your home with home heating oil, then get a diesel-burning generator.
(And plan on getting at least one diesel burning pickup and/or tractor). In
a pinch, you can run your diesel generator and diesel vehicles on home heating
oil.
Kerosene lamps; plenty of extra wicks, mantles, and chimneys. (These will also
make great barter items.)
Greater detail on do-it-yourself power will be included in my forthcoming blog
posts.
Fuels List
Buy the biggest propane, home heating oil, gas, or diesel tanks that your local
ordinances permit and that you can afford. Always keep them at least two-thirds
full. For privacy concerns, ballistic impact concerns, and fire concerns,
underground tanks are best if you local water table allows it. In any case,
do not buy an aboveground fuel tank that would visible from any public road
or navigable waterway. Buy plenty of extra fuel for barter. Don’t overlook
buying plenty of kerosene. (For barter, you will want some in one or two
gallon cans.) Stock up on firewood or coal. (See my previous blog posts.)
Get the best quality chainsaw you can afford. I prefer Stihls and Husqavarnas.
If you can afford it, buy two of the same model. Buy extra chains, critical
spare parts, and plenty of two-cycle oil. (Two-cycle oil will be great for
barter!) Get a pair of Kevlar chainsaw safety chaps. They are expensive but
they might save yourself a trip to the emergency room. Always wear gloves,
goggles, and ear-muffs. Wear a logger’s helmet when felling. Have someone
who is well experienced teach you how to re-sharpen chains. BTW, don’t
cut up your wood into rounds near any rocks or you will destroy a chain in
a hurry.
Firefighting List
Now that you have all of those flammables on hand (see the previous list) and
the prospect of looters shooting tracer ammo or throwing Molotov cocktails
at your house, think in terms of fire fighting from start to finish without
the aid of a fire department. Even without looters to consider, you should
be ready for uncontrolled brush or residential fires, as well as the greater
fire risk associated with greenhorns who have just arrived at your retreat
working with wood stoves and kerosene lamps!
Upgrade your retreat with a fireproof metal roof.
2” water line from your gravity-fed storage tank (to provide large water
volume for firefighting)
Fire fighting rig with an adjustable stream/mist head.
Smoke and CO detectors.
Tactical Living List
Adjust your wardrobe buying toward sturdy earth-tone clothing. (Frequent your
local thrift store and buy extras for retreat newcomers, charity, and barter.)
Dyes. Stock up on some boxes of green and brown cloth dye. Buy some extra for
barter. With dye, you can turn most light colored clothes into semi-tactical
clothing on short notice.
Two-inch wide burlap strip material in green and brown. This burlap is available
in large spools from Gun Parts Corp. Even if you don’t have time now,
stock up so that you can make camouflage ghillie
suits post-TEOTWAWKI.
Save those wine corks! (Burned cork makes quick and cheap face camouflage.)
Cold weather and foul weather gear—buy plenty, since you will be doing
more outdoor chores, hunting, and standing guard duty.
Don’t overlook ponchos and gaiters.
Mosquito repellent.
Synthetic double-bag (modular) sleeping bags for each person at the retreat,
plus a couple of spares. The Wiggy’s
brand Flexible Temperature Range Sleep System (FTRSS)
made by Wiggy's of Grand Junction, Colorado is highly recommended.
Night vision gear + IR floodlights for your retreat house
Subdued flashlights and penlights.
Noise, light, and litter discipline. (More on this in future posts--or perhaps
a reader would like to send a brief article on this subject)
Security-General: Locks, intrusion detection/alarm systems, exterior obstacles
(fences, gates, 5/8” diameter (or larger) locking road cables, rosebush
plantings, “decorative” ponds (moats), ballistic protection (personal
and residential), anti-vehicular ditches/berms, anti-vehicular concrete “planter
boxes”, razor wire, etc.)
Starlight electronic light amplification scopes are critical tools for retreat
security.
A Starlight scope (or goggles, or a monocular) literally amplifies low ambient
light by up to 100,000 times, turning nighttime darkness into daylight--albeit
a green and fuzzy view. Starlight light amplification technology was first
developed during the Vietnam War. Late issue Third Generation (also called
or “Third Gen” or “Gen 3”) starlight scopes can cost
up to $3,500 each. Rebuilt first gen (early 1970s technology scopes can often
be had for as little as $500. Russian-made monoculars (with lousy optics) can
be had for under $100. One Russian model that uses a piezoelectric generator
instead of batteries is the best of this low-cost breed. These are best used
as backups (in case your expensive American made scopes fail. They should not
be purchased for use as your primary night vision devices unless you are on
a very restrictive budget. (They are better than nothing.) Buy the best starlight
scopes, goggles, and monoculars you can afford. They may be life-savers! If
you can afford to buy only one, make it a weapon sight such as an AN/PVS-4,
with a Gen 2 (or better) tube. Make sure to specify that that the tube is new
or “low hours”, has a high “line pair” count, and minimal
scintillation. It is important to buy your Starlight gear from a reputable
dealer. The market is crowded with rip-off artists and scammers. One dealer
that I trust, is Al Glanze (spoken “Glan-zee”) who runs STANO
Components, Inc. in Silver City, Nevada. Note: In a subsequent
blog posts I will discuss the relationship and implications to IR illuminators
and tritium sights.
Range cards and sector sketches.
If you live in the boonies, piece together nine of the USGS 15-minute maps,
with your retreat property on the center map. Mount that map on an oversize
map board. Draw in the property lines and owner names of all of your surrounding
neighbor’s parcels (in pencil) in at least a five mile radius. (Get boundary
line and current owner name info from your County Recorder’s office.)
Study and memorize both the terrain and the neighbors’ names. Make a
phone number/e-mail list that corresponds to all of the names marked on the
map, plus city and county office contact numbers for quick reference and tack
it up right next to the map board. Cover the whole map sheet with a sheet of
heavy-duty acetate, so you can mark it up just like a military commander’s
map board. (This may sound a bit “over the top”, but remember,
you are planning for the worst case. It will also help you get to know your
neighbors: When you are introduced by name to one of them when in town, you
will be able to say, “Oh, don’t you live about two miles up the
road between the Jones place and the Smith’s ranch?” They will
be impressed, and you will seem like an instant “old timer.”
Security-Firearms List
Guns, ammunition, web gear, eye and ear protection, cleaning equipment,
carrying cases, scopes, magazines, spare parts, gunsmithing tools, targets
and target
frames, et cetera. Each rifle and pistol should have at least six top quality
(original military contract or original manufacturer) full capacity spare magazines.
Note: Considerable detail on firearms and optics selection, training, use,
and logistic support are covered in the SurvivalBlog archives and FAQs.
Communications/Monitoring List
When selecting radios buy only models that will run on 12 volt DC power or
rechargeable nickel metal hydride battery packs (that can be recharged from
your retreat’s 12 VDC power system without having to use an inverter.)
As a secondary purchasing goal, buy spare radios of each type if you can afford
them. Keep your spares in sealed metal boxes to protect them from EMP.
If you live in a far inland region, I recommend buying two or more 12 VDC marine
band radios. These frequencies will probably not be monitored in your region,
leaving you an essentially private band to use. (But never assume that any
two-way radio communications are secure!)
Note: More detail on survival communications gear selection, training, use,
security/cryptography measures, antennas, EMP protection, and logistical support
will be covered in forthcoming blog posts.
Tools List
Gardening tools.
Auto mechanics tools.
Welding.
Bolt cutters--the indispensable “universal key.”
Woodworking tools.
Gunsmithing tools.
Emphasis on hand powered tools.
Hand or treadle powered grinding wheel.
Don’t forget to buy plenty of extra work gloves (in earth tone colors).
Sundries List:
Systematically list the things that you use on a regular basis, or that you
might need if the local hardware store were to ever disappear: wire of various
gauges, duct tape, reinforced strapping tape, chain, nails, nuts and bolts,
weather stripping, abrasives, twine, white glue, cyanoacrylate glue, et cetera.
Book/Reference List
You should probably have nearly every book on my Bookshelf
page. For some, you will want to have two or three copies, such as Carla
Emery’s "Encyclopedia of Country Living". This is because these books
are so valuable and indispensable that you won’t want to risk lending
out your only copy.
Barter and Charity List
For your barter list, acquire primarily items that are durable, non-perishable,
and either in small packages or that are easily divisible. Concentrate on
the items that other people are likely to overlook or have in short supply.
Some of my favorites are ammunition. [The late] Jeff Cooper referred to it
as “ballistic
wampum.” WTSHTF, ammo will be worth nearly its weight in silver.
Store all of your ammo in military surplus ammo cans (with seals that are
still soft) and it will store for decades. Stick to common calibers, get
plenty of .22 LR (most
high velocity hollow points) plus at least ten boxes of the local favorite
deer hunting cartridge, even if you don’t own
a rifle chambered for this cartridge. (Ask your local sporting goods shop
about their top selling chamberings). Also buy at least ten boxes of the
local police department’s standard pistol cartridge, again even if
you don’t own a pistol chambered for this cartridge.
Ladies supplies.
Salt (Buy lots of cattle blocks and 1 pound canisters of iodized table salt.)
(Stores indefinitely if kept dry.)
Two cycle engine oil (for chain saw gas mixing. Gas may still be available
after a collapse, but two-cycle oil will probably be like liquid gold!)
Gas stabilizer.
Diesel antibacterial additive.
50-pound sacks of lime (for outhouses).
1 oz. bottles of military rifle bore cleaner and Break Free (or similar) lubricant.
Waterproof dufflebags in earth tone colors (whitewater rafting "dry bags").
Thermal socks.
Semi-waterproof matches (from military rations.)
Military web gear (lots of folks will suddenly need pistol belts, holsters,
magazine pouches, et cetera.)
Pre-1965 silver dimes.
1-gallon cans of kerosene.
Rolls of olive drab parachute cord.
Rolls of olive-drab duct tape.
Spools of monofilament fishing line.
Rolls of 10 mil "Visqueen", sheet plastic (for replacing windows,
isolating airspaces for nuke scenarios, etc.)
I also respect the opinion of one gentleman with whom I've corresponded, who
recommended the following:
Strike anywhere matches. (Dip the heads in paraffin to make them waterproof.)
Playing cards.
Cooking spices. (Do a web search for reasonably priced bulk spices.)
Rope & string.
Sewing supplies.
Candle wax and wicking.
Lastly, any supplies necessary for operating a home-based business. Some that
you might consider are: leather crafting, small appliance repair, gun repair,
locksmithing, et cetera. Every family should have at least one home-based business
(preferably two!) that they can depend on in the event of an economic collapse.
Stock up on additional items to dispense to refugees as charity.
Note: See the Barter Faire chapter in my novel "Patriots" for
lengthy lists of potential barter items.
« Odds 'n Sods: |Main| Letter Re: Deciphering HK Magazine Date Codes »
Letter Re: Gauging Interest in Dakota Alert MURS Radios
Hi Jim,
I am looking to gauge interest from your readers for the Dakota Alert MURS Base and Handheld radios. If there is enough interest in a
special group purchase, I can offer the M538-BS MURS base station for $69 (plus
shipping) and the M538-HT MURS hand held for $74 (plus shipping). Interested
readers can e-mail me if they would
like to be part of this group buy. (see the
MURS Radio web site.) Thanks! - Rob at Affordable
Shortwaves
« Odds 'n Sods: |Main| Letter Re: Getting Yourself--and Your Rifle--Fitted for Body Armor »
Letter Re: Constructing an Improvised CB Radio Antenna
Jim,
Regarding the recent blog article "Constructing an Improvised CB Radio
Antenna", here
is a site that has good construction info and a few graphical images of custom
built CB antennas This site by
Signal Engineering adds some antenna theory for those inclined
to learn more about CB antennas.
If you are into experimenting with antennas, I recommend getting an
antenna analyzer from MFJ. They are fairly
inexpensive (as far as test equipment go) yet will yield very helpful tuning
and optimization information. You can purchase one for use in nearly any radio
service (ham, CB, VHF/UHF. etc).- Rob at Affordable
Shortwaves
« Letter Re: Ballistic Protection of Straw Bale Houses? |Main| Note from JWR: »
Constructing an Improvised CB Radio Antenna, by Dim Tim
I have put a great deal of the info I have
gleaned from SurvivalBlog to good use in my own preps. To reciprocate, the
following is one of hopefully many bits of survival information that I plan
to pass along to all the readers,
in the hope that it will help someone
else.
A short time back I read a few posts on some survival communications issues,
and found them to be very helpful. They also got me to thinking about something
that I did back around the start of the eighties,
that I believe would be a great piece of survival gear for the folks using
Citizen's Band. (CB or 11 meter ) and some 10 meter users.
One day, I came upon the thought that if the radio still worked, but the antenna
became lost or damaged, what would I do then? How would I be able to talk to
my group, let alone listen in to
any other chatter. Having a bit of electronic knowledge ( two year tech. degree
in industrial electronics ) I set about to make an
expedient antenna system from inexpensive, and commonly found materials. The
result was a simple
antenna that would work in a pinch, and was easy to transport, and would be
as good as, or better than a commercial one. Enter the simple dipole antenna.
A dipole is a pair of wires or conductors connected to the "ground" and
the center conductor of the coaxial antenna cable, and stretched out either
in a vertical or a horizontal position. Most "whip " style mobile
antennas are around 102" in length ( this is the number that antenna designers
use in their standing wave ratio (SWR) to
frequency calculations, to match an antenna to a particular
radio to achieve maximum efficiency ). Using this
as a reference point, I bought a 25' roll of solid aluminum clothesline wire
at the hardware store, a small package of solderless, crimp style connectors,
a small package of 1 1/4" wood screws, and a roll of electrical tape.
The only other things you will need are a couple lengths of 550
paracord, two lengths
of 1 1/2" dia. ( about 4-5" long ) dowel rod, and a 2x4 block about
6 to 8" long. To start, take the 2x4 block and 2 wood screws, and screw
the wood screws only a couple of turns into the wood, placing one at each end,
about an inch or so back from the ends. Next, take the coaxial antenna cable,
and carefully strip back the outer jacket about 6" and undo the braided
wire, and twist it into one individual length. Next, strip back the insulating
jacket over the center conductor about 1/4". Attach a crimp connector
to each wire, preferably by soldering, or by securely crimping with a pair
of electrician's crimping pliers. Next, take and wrap the
exposed,
twisted,
braided
wire with a bit of the electrical tape.
Next, take a pair
of wire cutters, and cut two 102"-long pieces of the clothesline, and
make an eye hook at one end of each, and unscrew the wood screws on the 2x4
and
attach one wire "eye" to each ( do not screw the screws down all
the way yet.) Next, take the dowel rods, and drill a hole through the side
about 1 1/2" from the end, and then the other, repeating the same for
the other dowel. The holes should be large enough to thread one of the clothesline
ends through one, and a piece of the paracord through
the other for each one. Now, connect one of the coaxial antenna wire connectors
to the
wood
screws
on the 2x4 block and tighten the screw down so that the connector will not
pull loose. Do the same to the other. Next, take the loose clothesline wire
end that is connected to the braided wire and pass it through one end of one of
the dowel rods and wrap around the dowel and a couple of turns around itself
so it will not pull back out of the dowel.
Before attaching the other element,
place an accurate SWR meter in the antenna line to check
the match.
Thread a length of the 550 Paracord cord through each of the dowel insulators.
Now thread the other clothesline (the one connected to the center conductor of
the coaxial
wire) through the dowel about 4-6" and make an L-shaped bend so it won't
pull out of the dowel. Set the SWR meter to check your match according to the
meter's instructions. If the match is too high, then take a pair of wire cutters,
and trim the end back just 1/4" at a time until you get
the lowest [reading] match you
can possibly achieve.
Important note: Care must be taken when trimming the antenna,
because you can't put the cut pieces back! Once you have the best match you
can get,
finish
off the end of the wire the same as the first. Now stretch it up between
two sturdy objects, and try it out. I have been able to get the same
range
as a commercial one with mine.
JWR Adds: Some provisos: Be sure to waterproof all connections
with RTV silicone,
or something similar. Be sure to have an antenna connected whenever transmitting,
to prevent damage to your transceiver. Since nearly all CB radio transceivers
are set up with vertically
polarized antennas,
it is important that you rig your antenna vertically. (This way, the
geometry of your transmitting
wave will match the vertical geometry of the receiving antenna.) This
may seem counterintuitive when you are looking at a dipole, but trust me, you
should set it up with the two elements running up and down.
And, of course, all of the usual antenna
safety precautions apply.
« The Precious Metals Bull Charges Onward |Main| Note from JWR: »
Sources for Free Survival and Preparedness Information on the Internet, by K.L. in Alaska
Recent comments in SurvivalBlog provided excellent advice on using the public
library. You can gain lots of knowledge with no expense, then purchase only
those books you want to keep on hand for personal reference. Also, many colleges
and universities loan to local residents, so you can use them too, even if
you aren't a student.
If your local libraries participate, a great resource is Worldcat. It lets you search for books from home,
then go check them out, or get them through interlibrary loan.
What will happen to the Internet when the SHTF?
There's no guarantee it will survive. Even if the World Wide Web endures in
some form, most of the individual computers connected to it will not. Hopefully
by then you will have already downloaded all the free info that's going to
help you cope with the new world.
You may want to download a copy of information
on this web site or any other web site with useful content. It would be a shame
to face some disaster when all the resources of the internet are no longer
at your fingertips.
In preparation for a worst case scenario,
it's a good idea to begin now to collect the knowledge that will come in handy
later. You can download whole books, save them to jump drives, and keep an
entire library in a very small space. All kinds of free manuals, guides, tech
tips, and schematics are available on the internet; for everything from firearms
to furnaces to computers to appliances.
All of the downloads listed
here are in the public domain or allowable for copying. Stay away from sites
that may involve copyright infringement. If you use a file-sharing site such
as Limewire, Kazaa, or any site that uses bit torrents, you are not only downloading,
but also uploading. Your participation involves automatically uploading to
other users. If the file is illegal, you are distributing illegal material,
not just downloading it. Stay away from these and stick with the legitimate
sites listed below.
Keep in mind that some of this information you
download might be illegal to use at the present time. You can't practice dentistry
on your neighbor just because you have the book. Nevertheless, you have the
right to possess this very vital information. After TEOTWAWKI,
all bets are off. The information you collect today might save your life or
the life of somebody you love.
Many downloads are in Portable Document Format
(PDF) form, so to read them you must have a suitable program such as Adobe
Reader, which is the free version of Adobe Acrobat. There are alternatives
to Adobe that can read PDF files, if you prefer. Some of these files are very
large. If your internet connection is slow, it's better to right click and
download rather than try to read a huge file online.
Some documents you may want to print out. Others
you can just leave on disc. Just be sure to store your drives safely. Not included
in this list are the many web sites that are very good resources in themselves.
Rather, these are the files you can download for offline viewing at a later
time. Download them while you still can!
Project
Gutenberg was mentioned as a good place to go for eBooks.
The Smithsonian
Institution is another great resource. They have digitized many older
books, maps, and documents in their collection.
Wikisource has
a nice collection of free eBooks.
One way to search for books no longer in copyright is to use Google
Book Search. Check "full view." If it comes up in the search,
it can be downloaded as a PDF file.
A good alternative to Google is the Internet Archive which includes books,
images, audio, and more. The Internet Archive also hosts the Wayback Machine,
which archives copies of an incredible 85 billion pages from the internet of
years past.
Over 100,000 free eBooks can be accessed through Digital Book Index
2020ok is a directory of
free online books and free eBooks
The British Columbia Digital Library has an impressive Collection, including
dictionaries, encyclopedias, and most importantly, the Holy Bible. It also has a Guide to other digital libraries.
Scribd is an online document
library of free research articles, eBooks, and other content.
A great resource for home schoolers is the Internet's largest
directory of free audio & video learning resources maintained by LearnOutLoud.com.
Check out the postings of Home Schooling
On-line Resources on the The Mental Militia Forums, as well as the "Must
Have" Books/reference material topic.
More than 3,200 pages related to the U. S. Constitution can
be downloaded from The Founders' Constitution
Firearms For any
firearm you own or plan to own, you should have a drawing of its Exploded View,
which will help identify parts and how they fit together. One of the most comprehensive
collections of Exploded Views is the paper edition of the Numrich Arms Catalog, which
in itself is a gold mine of information and very inexpensive for a volume of
over 1200 pages.
But if you only need certain Exploded Views, there are many
places on the internet where you can download them for free:
Gunuts is a good place
to start with hundreds of drawings. Another source is The Okie Gunsmith Shop, which
is apparently no longer operating, but you can still download drawings and
parts lists from its web site.Big Bear Gun Works has
another good list. For pre-WWII firearms, check out Gunsworld. For examples of specific
firearms manufacturers, see Remington, Browning, and SKB Shotguns
The book, The Defensive Use Of Firearms by
Shane C. Henry is available as a download from rec.guns. An enormous amount
of additional gun information is available on the rec.guns web site.
There are several good sources for Military Publications: GlobalSecurity.org has
a huge collection of Military manuals.
Try Integrated Publishing for
access to millions of pages of engineering manuals and documents.
The U.S. Army Materiel Command maintains the LOGSA web site for access
to thousands of Army technical manuals.
The U.S. Air Force maintains the Air Force e-Publishing web site.
As mentioned recently, The
Small Wars Journal has a Reference
Library of downloadable military documents.
The Brooke Clarke
web site has a good guide to accessing military field manuals
Surviving War and Nuclear
Attack For a basic guide, download How
To Survive A Chemical Or Biological Attack.
Nuclear War Survival
Skills, along with some other very interesting books, can be found on
the Oregon
Institute of Science and Medicine web site. This book includes plans
for the Kearny Fallout Radiation Meter (KFM). If you have not bought a radiation
meter, you should at least download the book for future reference. You can
also get the Free
Plans from The Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Nuclear War Survival Skills is also available on the KI4U web site as an online
book, but not as a download.
The Equipped To Survive web site
has some free ebooks, as well as books for sale: Survival,
Evasion, and Recovery and U.S. Army Survival Manual FM 21-76.
The Volunteer Center of Marin County, California has prepared A Guide to Organizing
Neighborhoods for Preparedness, Response and Recovery which you
can copy from their web site.
Medical Resources The Disease
Net has a library of downloadable manuals on survival, weapons, emergency
medicine, and less serious subjects.
Virtual Naval Hospital is
a digital library of naval, military, and humanitarian medicine
The very important field manual, First Aid For Soldiers FM 21-11 can be downloaded here.
One of the best medical handbooks available is the U.S. Army Special Forces Medical Handbook ST31-91B.
It can be downloaded free (as well as additional essential guides) from Delta Gear, Inc.
A newer version of the Medical
Handbook, plus more great material can be downloaded from NH-TEMS
(New Hampshire Tactical Emergency medical support).
The
American Red Cross has some of their disaster guides online for download.
For most of their material, you have to go to the local office. Some of it
can be copied from the Earth
Changes Media Survival Tips page.
The Red Cross Book, First
Aid in Armed Conflicts and Other Situations of Violence
The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency book, The
Ship Captain's Medical Guide
Hesperian makes
available free downloads of its books for medical treatment in primitive conditions.
Two highly respected guides it publishes are Where There Is No Doctor and Where
There Is No Dentist.
Here is a direct link to the must-have book Survival and
Austere Medicine: An introduction. Australian Survivalist Online
has several additional Files
for downloading.
The Department of Agriculture has
a treasure trove of information for free download. This agency maintains The
National Agricultural Library, a collection of free information on Agriculture,
Food and Nutrition, and other related subjects.
Another USDA web site is the Cooperative Extension
Service. Click on the map to navigate to various Extension offices around
the country. Don't limit your search to just your own state. Many of them
have invaluable information on animals, crops, construction, food preparation
and much more for free download.
The
USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) offers downloads about preventing plant and animal diseases,
among other topics.
The USDA Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) offers Fact
Sheets about food handling and preparation, and emergency preparedness.
Other Important Reference
Resources The classic outdoor guides, The 10
Bushcraft Books by Richard Graves are available on the Chris Molloy web
site. Free manuals for electronic equipment can be downloaded from eServiceInfo.com. Another source is UsersManualGuide.com. For Ham Radio
and Test Equipment Manuals, the KO4BB web site has Free Downloads, as well as LINKS to many other web sites with free downloads. A few examples
of repair information for outdoor equipment are Penn Reel Schematics,
and Mercury outboard
parts.
Paid Services In
the unlikely event that you can't find free information on the Net to fix that
generator or whatever you need to repair, there are web sites that charge for
information. As a last resort, you can check Sam's PHOTOFACT service manuals,
or RepairManual.com. Hopefully,
that won't be necessary.
The foregoing just begins to scratch the surface. Some of
these free downloads are also available as books or CDs from eBay, Amazon or
from some of the survivalist web sites. That is fine. Sometimes it is easier
to just pay the money and buy the book. But nobody can afford it all, and downloading
gives you access to millions of pages - much more knowledge than you could
acquire through any other method.
