Sir,
Mr. F. has written a very good article on a subject often neglected by many. As a fire service professional working for one of the largest municipal agencies in the country, I must warn against the use of candles whenever possible. Paranoid? Not after seeing burned up children, loss of property, etc. If you must, please place them well away from any combustible materials, and never carry one when lit. - SplitHoof.

JWR Replies: I generally discourage the use of candles, but if and when they are used, my advice is to: 1.) Never let them burn unattended, and 2.) Over-engineer their supports. Don't just use a cup-base candlestick holder. Place candles in the middle of a large cookie sheet or a broiler pan. (Look for well-used ones at thrift stores and at garage sales.) That way, even if a candle were to burn unevenly and tip over, there would be no risk of a fire.

Mr. Rawles-
The subject of fire safety is seriously overlooked in preparedness, as evidenced by the large losses of life and property we experience even in "normal" times. Mr. F's piece is a needed wake-up call.

Allow me to add that there is good reason for owning the proper fire extinguishers in the event of an attack on your retreat/home.

Those of us that remember the 60's will recall that the Molotov Cocktail was a favorite weapon used by rioters and general trouble makers. These were generally gasoline filled bottles with some primitive ignition device like a fuel soaked rag. Some had more sophisticated ignition. Generally they were not good weapons and not too effective. However if one lands in your living room it can at least distract you from more important matters.

A portable fire extinguisher rated as ABC for the three classes of fire in the 10 to 20 pound range is sufficient to quickly take care of one of these improvised incendiary. I have both demonstrated this and seen it demonstrated in more controlled tests. A few extinguishers at the ready can do dual duty in peace and war. Consider them as you would firearms and get them big enough and in quantity. - Palmetto

 

Mr. Rawles,

I'd like to add a quick aside to Mr. F's excellent article on Survival Fire Safety:
I've always had an interest in firefighting, but not so much that I ever considered it an appropriate career option. About a year and a half ago, we moved out of a major metropolitan area to the outskirts of a very small town (census population less than 100) a few hours away to establish a retreat and small family farm where we now live.

Shortly after moving here, I realized that most all the fire departments were staffed by volunteers. I asked around, and eventually got in touch with the chief of our local volunteer fire department. Long story short, I went through a few dozen hours of state-funded training and am now an active member of our local department. I was issued a full set of structural firefighting protective gear (boots, turnouts, gloves, Nomex hood, and helmet) which stays with me at all times. I was also issued a pager, and a radio is soon to come. There are ongoing training opportunities available, including medical training which I plan to take advantage of later this year.

Over the past six months, I've responded to a number of fire calls—ranging from very minor to one recent call where a just-vacated house burned clear to the ground in the middle of the night, having progressed much too far by the time a neighbour discovered there was even a fire. To say I've gotten valuable real-world training and experience in even this short time span would be an understatement. It's made me re-evaluate how and where we store liquid fuels, more closely monitor our woodstove/chimney and electrical system, and generally be more cognizant of combustibles in and around our home and how we should respond in the event there is a fire. We've always kept fire extinguishers on hand and maintained smoke alarms, but I'm now much more deliberate about these important items. Our department historically deals with quite a few brush/woodland fires in the warmer months, so I'm anticipating those learning experiences to come as well.

What's more, in addition to now being trained and equipped, I'm on my way to becoming a much more active and recognised member of the community. My wife's family has been here for generations, but we're new and our name was previously unknown. Now, I'm serving my community in a unique and important way, getting to know folks, and in the process getting valuable training and access to gear which no doubt will help me serve my own family in a SHTF scenario.

If anyone has a similar interest, I would highly recommend at least looking into it. - CH

Mr. Rawles,
I would like to add too your posting on this subject, I am a member of a volunteer fire department in Tennessee. For chimney fires, we use what we call an "One Pounder" to put out this type of fire. A One Pounder is a plastic bag (zip lock, lunch bag,or a a thin small plastic bag) that weighs an about 1 pound after the dry chemical fire extinguisher powder has been put into the bag. (Baking soda has been used as well, but it takes more of it). We get on the roof, throw the bag down the chimney, the bag melts and release the powder, and the fire goes out. Some what clean and simple, please don’t get buried and/or fall of the roof. If the fire does not go out, in goes another one, but that is very rare this has to happen.

Always check with your local fire department on their process for putting out this type of fire. Support your local Volunteer Fire Department.

Have a good day. - Jason B

Dear Jim,
I have some comments on the comments regarding batteries:

Nickel Iron (Ni-Fe) batteries do indeed have very long shelf and operating lives. But they also have some significant downsides. Similar to NiMH cells (they are not the same) they have a very high self-discharge rate. In some cases approaching 40% per month. If you have a large solar array that is always making excess power, you are all set. But if you are charging with a generator, and have a large bank to keep power available for extended periods, you will waste a lot of the generator's output on self-discharge.

Ni-Fe batteries also do not like high charge/discharge rates, which means you may need a larger bank of them for the same type of service. This effect gets worse as the temperature drops. If you have a big bank, you will also need to waste more energy keeping them charged. Basically, there is a penalty for having your battery bank too big for the application. You would want to make the bank last you no longer than a week or so of typical service, thus limiting the amount of energy wasted to keep it charged.

On the plus side, you can leave the battery discharged for long periods without any problems and they will not freeze (in any sane temperatures). That's good for a little used location. There is only currently one importer in the US that I know of.

There's no conspiracy to keep them out of the market, it's just that most applications work better, smaller or cheaper with lead acid. As the cost of electricity goes up, no one wants to use them for standby applications anymore due to the energy cost with keeping them charged. But as photovoltaic solar power becomes more common, perhaps there will be a revival of the technology.

Regarding lead acid cells with no acid, there are several issues with drying out a new battery for storage. If any acid is left it will cause undesirable changes to the plates. If you attempt to air dry the battery, the air pumped through the battery to dry it out will lead to oxide forming on the plates, ruining the battery in the drying process. There's at least a few patents out there to address some of these issues, but none of them are ideal. Realistically, you would need to discharge the battery, then partially re-charge it, dump and flush the acid and then use inert gas to dry out the plates. Probably not worth the effort, and the required discharge/charge levels would vary based on
interior construction. Not likely to be economical or produce reliable results.

It's too bad that none of the manufactures sell "green" batteries that have not yet been converted, but the required acid mixture and charge cycles to form the plates are most likely a proprietary process that they have no interest in sharing.

You can make your own batteries, but they won't have anywhere near the capacity of a commercial product. Consider that the standard car battery has dozens of square feet of surface area and has been optimized over years of experience. Home made batteries, especially large ones, can lead to seriously unpleasant accidents. Having seen smaller batteries explode due to internal shorts, I would want nothing to do with a 5 gallon bucket of H2SO4 and rolled up sheets of lead.

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned simply not using batteries at all. If you live in a sunny location, one can simply use electricity when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. Not perfect, but virtually guaranteed to work even after sitting idle for 10 years. Regards, - Cactus

James Wesley;
I found an interesting short video linked at Silver Bear Cafe about Nickel-Iron Edison Cells--a design battery I hadn't about previously. I thought you might enjoy it. Thanks for the web site and all of the information. Regards, - Joe

Sir:
Monday's post mentioned the Nickel-Iron Edison battery. During its evening broadcast on 1-29-10 The Intelligence Report described a method to build your own Ni-Fe battery was discussed in the second half hour of the 8 PM broadcast. It was also mentioned where one could get Nickel without having to resort to melting nickels. At The Intelligence Report's web page, click on "archives" in the left hand part of the screen. Scroll down to 1-29-10 then click on the "8PM" to download the mp3 file.

Great job with the blog! Thank you for the work you are doing. - Mr. C.

Dear Jim,
There is new info on the Aladdin Lox-on mantle shortage that was mentioned in SurvivalBlog. The new post on the Aladdin site is dated February 10, 2010. It indicates that there are still a number of issues to overcome before production can begin. According to Aladdin's web site pre-production is possible at the end of February with production runs in March and deliveries in April. I hope they have solved their issues and can get this important component of their wonderful kerosene lamps back on the shelves. Thanks for getting this news to those who need to know. - Jay H. in Ohio

Jim,
I have been following with interest over the last several days this thread on batteries and feel I have some information to share. To begin with, the only solution to a long term lead-acid battery bank is to make your own cells. Lead has a perpetual shelf life and oxidizes very little over time if protected. Contrary to the confusion established by the battery manufacturer cartels, both plates begin as simply pure lead (Pb). It is only after the initial charge is applied that the positive plate changes chemically due to the sulfur ion action. While home made cells will not have the high ampacity to pound ratio of commercial cells, they would have qualities most suitable to the long term prepper; namely serviceability and parts replacement. In addition, the positive plates could be made as thick as one wanted to prolong their life span. One could make them in 3 gallon HDPE buckets using standard stud mounted battery posts on the lids. The electrolyte is simply 30% sulfuric acid to 70% water. The plates need maximum surface area exposed to the electrolyte so one must drill many holes or corrugate the lead sheet to increase the surface area. Older plumbing stores still sell large sheets of lead for roof vent stack flashing. Or if one is handy with metal fabrication, a grid plate mold could be fashioned from steel and lead cast into it. Wheel weight lead-alloy will work too. Additional compounds such as antimony are not essential in a home made cell when you have a room full of replacement plates stacked up. They can be either coiled or flat plates. Do not expect the performance of a commercial cell from these, but when sustainability is all important, performance can be compensated for. Just add more cells to the array bank.

However, the real solution to perpetual deep cycle sustainable battery power for the long emergency lies not at all in the lead-acid cell. It lies in the lowly Edison cell. A little known fact is that there are still banks of Edison cells in deep cycle applications today over 80 years old. Edison cell plates are nickel and iron and use lye and water for the electrolyte so they are alkaline and not acid cells. The plates do not corrode over time and they can be stored dry forever before filling and charging. All those nickel [US five cent coin]s that everyone is saving could [conceivably be melted down to provide the material for] the nickel plates for your grandkids batteries if you are wise today. Edison had over 50 patents on these cells and at the turn of the century entire fleets of delivery trucks used these day in, day out hauling massive loads with electric motors running on Edison cells. They were in direct competition with standard oil and big oil plans for gasoline vehicles so they had to be stopped. The electric car industry was eradicated as gas vehicles could go so much faster. Exide eventually bought all the dies and machinery and was still making them until they sold everything to china some years ago. The only importer now from that china plant to the U.S. is a company called beutilityfree.com which is where I bought mine. They only order like 4 times a year and it takes 3 months to get here and they are pricey, but I personally felt the investment was justified and truly multi-generational for my family. Companies like Eveready began several years ago making what was touted as "new technology" and called the cells "nickel-metal hydride" or NiMH as we all know them today. When they first hit the shelves, I just laughed and told my wife, "Look honey Edison cells in AA size". - Dad4Him

Hello Jim -
I took interest in your response to the post by Steven J S "Letter Re: Some Real Life Battery Data" and the concept of storing "dry batteries". From my long and intensive research on this, you are absolutely correct. Finding a true dry battery (one that was not flooded and then emptied) is nearly impossible. Perhaps some other SurvivalBlog readers can provide some help on this topic, but I have found that in order to truly get a dry battery - one that has never been flooded with acid - one would almost have to work at the manufacturing factory or component supply level - i.e. be an insider in the industry. My interest in this topic, as I am sure most of your readers', is in the area of deep cycle and commercial batteries. I do have a small solar generation system, and would love to be able to buy shelf-stable batteries to put up for the future. I find that I get about seven years out of my Trojan L-16s [before they sulfate to the point that they will not hold a charge.] It frustrates me that I can't store extra batteries for future use. Really, most all the companies (Including Trojan) that I have talked to tell me that they can not (or will not) sell true dry batteries to the general public.

So here is the question I have for the chemists out there in your readership base. Would it be possible to buy some freshly manufactured batteries, and then remove the acid yourself and store separately? How difficult is it to evacuate a battery? Can the plates then be neutralized by adding an alkaline solution to stop the small amount of sulfation that has/would take place if the batteries plates were not neutralized? Should the battery then be flushed with fresh water? There has to some way to accomplish this and produce a shelf stable storage strategy for what will become very precious assets in the future. Any help your readers could offer would be much appreciated, and of course, all the safety precautions you mentioned in your first must be strictly adhered to when doing this type of work. Thank You, - Fullclip

Dear Jim,
I was trying to buy an Aladdin Loxon Mantle #R-150 for my Aladdin kerosene lamp and found that all suppliers seemed to be out of stock. Even Lehman's Hardware here in Ohio was out of stock and showing an April delivery. I spent some time searching and found some very expensive ones on eBay but that was all. I then did a search for "Aladdin mantle problems" and found a cached press release from the Aladdin company. It looks like we have a major problem for Aladdin Lamp owners. From a loyal reader, - Jay H.

JWR Replies: Hopefully this situation will be resolved soon. An aside: My parents thought that I was going overboard, when I bought three spare Aladdin wicks and a dozen spare mantles, back in 1979. In those days, an Aladdin lamp cost around $60, and spare mantles were less than $2 each. I still have a few mantles remaining from that first batch. As with most of my other Alpha Strategy tangible investments, items bought early on and stored properly have proven to be better that money in the bank!

Battery technology has come a long way in the last 10 years since Y2K. Back in the late 1990s, I stocked various types and brands of batteries for long term storage or use. Batteries ranged from store purchased alkaline, rechargeable alkalines, NiCd, generic deep cycle marine
batteries, gel-cell sealed lead acid, lithium and even the ubiquitous flooded lead acid Trojan T-105 floor scrubber batteries. I wrote dates on all the batteries and rechargeable batteries had logs kept of use and maintenance.

In most cases enough batteries were purchased to allow for a reasonable statistical sampling, thus providing a real level of confidence in the results. Note that the word battery and cell are often used below in singular, even though the same test was repeated multiple times on
different units. All voltages and times are given as composite averages of the tests, removing clear outlier data, such as an obviously failed cells that leaked electrolyte during storage.

10 years later, most of those batteries were still in my possession, untouched (with a some exceptions) and I decided to run controlled experiments on them to see how they fared. Each battery type is discussed by type and brand if applicable. Finally, as technology has
provided for improvements, some additional battery types are discussed that have only received short term testing due to being recently brought to market.

All batteries were stored in 60-to-75 degree F conditions with <50% relative humidity.

Generic Alkaline
These are what you find at most stores on the shelf, having virtually eliminated the old carbon-zinc batteries that were still sold in the 1990s. An extensive selection of all standard sizes was tested, including Energizer, Energizer commercial use (not sold via retail) and
Duracell. The cells offered 2-4 year lifetimes based upon their expiration dates. All were stored for 10 years, with the exception of the commercial Energizer D cells, which were 12 years old at the time of testing.

Several of the Energizer cells (2 out of a lot of 50) had developed leakage failures during storage, in one case contaminating a co-packaged battery. This matches my anecdotal experience with this brand, with several case leak failures damaging equipment that had Energizer brand
batteries left in them for longer time periods (1-2 years). I expect these are design related failures since even newer batteries of this brand leaked, spanning a sample period of five years.

Interestingly, the commercial Energizer batteries, of which I had over 50, did not have a single failure. They also performed slightly better even though they were older. No failures were seen with the Duracell alkaline batteries, but there was a smaller sample available (20 of each
type).

The aged batteries were tested on a constant resistance tester that tracked battery voltage until the cells were completely depleted, to a voltage of 0.2V, which would not provide even the smallest amount of usable light in a flashlight. Initial current drain of approximately
1/20th of manufacturer recommended maximum was used. (12 Ohms for AA cells, 2.75 Ohms for D cells)

The output voltage of the 10 year old batteries started out at approximately 0.1V different from a brand new battery and maintained this difference until the battery chemistry failed, leading to a rapid decline in voltage. For AA batteries, the usable lifetime (to the 0.9V mark) was 18 hrs for the 10 year old battery vs. 22 hrs for a brand new cell. The voltage discharge curves tracked each other with the noted 0.1V difference. At the 18 hr. mark, the old cell dropped to under 0.2V a matter of minutes. The new cell soldiered on, declining slowly from
0.9V at 22 hrs to 0.2V at 27 hrs.

The commercial Energizer cells matched their retail cousins almost identically to the 0.9V cut off. However, they did not exhibit the sharp 20 minute decline to 0.2V once the battery chemistry started to fail. Instead they provided another 5 hours of possibly usable output with a slow decline between the 0.8 and 0.2V marks. This would be indicative of a slightly longer life span in an intermittent on/off usage where the voltage would creep back up to a more usable range during the off cycle.

When batteries were tested at high loads, the 10 year old units showed excessive voltage droop very quickly. This matches with published manufacturer recommendations that alkaline cells should not be used in high current draw applications.

All working cells showed an open cell voltage of 1.4V before being connected to a load.

Conclusions:
Alkaline batteries are usable well beyond their expiration dates.
Alkaline batteries properly stored for 10 years will still provide functional capacity of 75-80 percent with lighter loads such as flashlights and radios.
There will likely be a fallout rate with some percentage of cells showing complete or partial failure during storage. Thus large packs of batteries should be broken up into smaller packs to limit the amount of damage one leaking cell can do and extra batteries should be purchased to take into account such failures.
Batteries sold for commercial use may be built better and will last longer than stuff sold into the general retail market.
If the battery shows a voltage of 1.4V or so after storage, it's still probably usable.

Nickel Cadmium Rechargeable
The entire lot of 1990's era NiCd batteries were found to be unusable, showing shorts or inability to take a charge of any capacity. This technology has drastically improved over the last ten years, although such batteries are still of limited long term storage use due to rapid self discharge and not having a design criteria for long life. There are also many variables that affect the durability of NiCd and NiMH, both from a cycle life and long term storage standpoint. My anecdotal evidence points to cheap batteries not lasting long (as little as 0-3 months for cheap no-name brand packs) and expensive brand name cordless tool packs still going strong after eight years of light use. The well known self-discharge and memory problems are still issues with this chemistry.

Conclusions:
Not suitable for long term storage.
Expensive portable tool packs might have long life spans with periodic use and charging.
Probably acceptable for daily use, but there are better alternatives available in NiMH.
Cheaper than other rechargeables.

Rechargeable Alkaline (no longer made)
A group of Eveready rechargeable alkalines were also tested. This technology was produced for a few years but never really saw commercial success. The batteries had low self discharge, thus being ready to go after longer storage periods but could also be re-charged. The recharge
cycle was unusual in that if the battery was heavily discharged it's recharge cycle life was very short, only 16 cycles or so. With shallow discharges, the battery could be "topped off" hundreds of times. Looked like a perfect fit for long term storage, provided that could be topped
up once a year.

The 10 year old AA and D cells were fully charged before testing. All fell significantly short on both voltage and life, even compared to 12 year old alkaline cells. Starting voltage was only 1.2V and within minutes was 0.2V lower than the 10 year old cells. The cells chemistry failed at the 22 hr mark vs. 28 hours for the 10 year old cells.

Conclusions:
Be careful with new untested technologies.

Nickel Metal Hydride
No Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) cells were used in the long term test due to their very high self discharge and the technology being in it's infancy in the 1990s. However, this chemistry deserves mention due to some recent innovations. Although NiMH batteries have higher capacity and most of
the memory effect has been overcome, they continue to suffer from very high self-discharge. A fully charged battery can be at 50% in under a month of sitting idle. In general, the higher the capacity of the cell the faster the self discharge.

Recently a new internal construction was designed that allows NiMH cells to retain up to 80% of their initial charge up to year later .[JWR Adds: These are also sometimes marketed as "Low Self Discharge (LSD)" batteries.] I have been extensively testing these over the last year with very good results. No outright failures to date, good capacity compared to alkaline batteries, very good tolerance for high current drains such as radio transmitters and good shelf life.

These cells are often sold as "pre-charged" or long shelf life NiMH. Duracell Pre-charged and Eneloop are the two most commonly available brands.

Conclusions:
A technology to watch, may replace alkaline batteries in many applications.
Long term life span is currently unknown or unpublished.

Lithium primary batteries
Non-rechargeable lithium batteries are the king of long term storage. They have been around for decades and are well understood, with devices still working 20 years after installation. There are many different chemistries that are used, with the actual type not disclosed to the consumer, so be aware that not all lithium batteries will have long shelf life.

The CR123A battery size almost always comes in a chemistry that will allow for 10+ year storage without a problem. I'm still using up my 12 year old batteries and even in bulb style Surefire lights they last so close to a new cell that it's hard to tell the difference. No tests were
performed on this stock of batteries since they are so well understood and quantified.

I had a limited stock of AA lithium cells from the 1990s and they too appear to be at 80+ percent capacity. When they reach 15 years I will test a few and see if the group test should be put at the 15 or 20 year mark. Note that the 1.5V batteries use a different chemistry than the 3 volt CR123, thus they may have a shorter life span, but that remains to be seen. At 10+ years, they are still the top choice with the exception of price.

Conclusions:
Low weight.
High capacity and high current.
Best for low temperatures.
Extensively verified 10+ year shelf life.
Available in AA, AAA, CR123A and various non-consumer sizes.
Industrial/commercial availability in 9V but metal body versions are slightly oversized.

Lead acid gel cells
Gel cells are a type of truly sealed lead acid battery. They are commonly used in backup devices such as emergency lights and alarm systems. Typically seen as 6V or 12V batteries with connecting tabs, but available commercially in over a hundred different sizes, shapes and
voltages.

The small batch (5 units) of lead acid gel cells I had from 1999 all died various deaths over the last 10 years. All were 12V 7Amp Hour packs of the commonly available 5.94 X 2.56 X 3.70 size. All showed degraded performance (over 10% capacity loss) after the 5th year, even packs that
were 100% unused and one pack that was under a constant charge. All were trickle charged at least once a year to 13.8V to make up for any self discharge and four of them were used intermittently for various purposes from charging a motorcycle battery to powering GPS in aircraft. None were
ever subject to severe discharge cycles or overcharging.

Each cell was charged and then test discharged to 50% once a year to check remaining capacity. Charging was done by constant voltage to 14.2V and discharge test was done at 1/20 capacity, constant resistance to 50% state of charge, as indicated by voltage.

At the seven year mark the first cell had a complete failure. The last unit, which had been installed in a trickle charging backup application failed this month.

Conclusions:
Realistic safe life span of five years.
After the five year mark, sudden failures may take the battery out of service without warning.
Require yearly charge maintenance due to self discharge.
Very high current capacity, allowing for use to minimally re-charge much larger lead acid batteries.
Often used inside of car self-jumpstart packs and for backup batteries in alarms and lighting.

Flooded lead acid batteries
I'm going to skip right past car starting / dual use batteries as they are 100% unsuitable for any long term application. While I have had certain vehicle starting batteries last eight years, there has never been any consistency between brand, size or use. I consider any car start battery over 2 years old to be suspect. The fact that they can be seriously degraded or destroyed by a single deep discharge makes them worthless in any situation where one must depend upon them. Even the consumer branded "deep-cycle" batteries are suspect from my experience.

The long term test batteries encompassed two large deep cycle "maintenance free" Energizer batteries from Wal-Mart and a bank of 24 Trojan T-105 6V industrial units. All were maintained as they would be in an industrial setting with water level, specific gravity and voltage checks each month.

The Trojans were connected to a grid-tied solar system and kept at peak charge for the first three years of their life. They were more heavily discharged at least once a year during power outages or for testing. In 2002 the system was converted to use the batteries each day for a period
of 6 hours, with cycling to 25-50% depth of discharge each day. Although their capacity is currently at about 60% of rated and there has been one hard cell failure in the bank, they continue to function.

The deep cycle batteries from Wal-Mart didn't make it past two years. They were used a few times a year to power tools and lights through an inverter. Note that "maintenance free" often means that there is just a slightly larger reservoir of water and acid in the battery. If you want
to try and use these, cheap batteries you should pop off the top caps with a screwdriver and re-fill the water just like any flooded lead acid battery. I consider any such off the shelf consumer batteries as a poor choice and false economy compared to a commercial battery such as the
Trojans.

Conclusions:
Buy true commercial/industrial batteries.
They cost more, but even my bottom of the line T-105s lasted five times longer than the cheap "deep-cycle".
Flooded batteries require maintenance (water & charging) or they will fail.
Note: Flooded batteries make hydrogen gas and a fine mist of sulphuric acid when being charged. These must be vented to prevent explosions and corrosion of battery terminals other any nearby items.

AGM
Absorbed glass mat (AGM) batteries are a type of true maintenance free lead acid battery. They have no ports to add liquid and will re-combine any generated gas internally. The military and aircraft industry use this technology due to low self discharge (1-3% per month) and no liquid to
spill.
They have only recently become widely available, both in starting applications and for deep cycle use. My actual test time with them has been limited to only two years.

I have three units in starting applications. All are in vehicles that sit for extended time periods (6-12 months), but then get used frequently, thus creating a cycle of many starts followed by long periods of inactivity. I have had one internal cell failure on the most used
battery in it's first year. The two others have worked perfectly, allowing me to start a car that had sat idle for six months as if I had been driven the previous day.

One unit was subject to a severe discharge, showing less than 3V when disconnected. The unit was charged overnight on a commercial bulk charger and then load/capacity tested back down to 10V. All indications were that the battery suffered no damage and it was returned to starting
service.

Current specifications for heavy industrial AGM batteries and accelerated life tests indicate life spans of 20+ years even under heavy use. This would not seem unrealistic given that old industrial telecom backup batteries are often sold after 20 years of service with buyers reporting acceptable capacity of these 20 year old batteries.

There are many cheap imports being labeled as AGM. As it's difficult to tell the difference between a gel-cell and AGM battery from the outside, stick with brands that have been making AGM for commercial use.

Conclusions:
Expensive.
May be the best longer term / large capacity battery technology if weight, space and price are not an issue.
Stick to name brand and industrial battery makers.
Heavy industrial AGM batteries are very expensive but will offer a real 20+ year life.

Contact Corrosion
When batteries are placed inside and object that is subject to motion, and left there for extended periods of time, there is the strong possibility that atmospheric oxidation various types of corrosion will occur. Basically the contacts will become dirty and poor overtime,
leading to the dreaded weak or intermittent flashlight output that magically restores itself when you bang the light a few times. Even sealed flashlights will develop this problem, especially if subject to temperature cycles or vibration, such as storage in a car.

This can be addressed in several ways. The batteries can simply be replaced every year. The contacts can be gently cleaned once a year or whenever low output is noticed. Never use an abrasive to clean contacts, as you may scrape away any protective coating that has been
plated on. Coatings such as gold, silver or nickel are often very thin. The contacts can be safely cleaned by rubbing with with a pencil eraser or clean sheet of paper. The batteries contact areas can also be cleaned in this fashion. Finally, you can place fabric or paper barriers between the batteries and the contacts to prevent metal to metal contact until you want to use the device. Note that this can be useful if you have devices such as radios that slowly drain the battery even when powered off. Some newer electronics use solid state ON/OFF switches or run a clock or memory retention device from the battery, thus slowly draining it. You will want to verify that any any stored settings on the device are saved even without a battery present before disconnecting the battery in this way. If the settings are stored for two weeks, it should be okay to leave the battery out indefinitely.

Dear Editor:
With regards to the battery powered carbon monoxide (CO) detector, I just want to second that. When my family went through the Nov. 2007 ice storm that took out the power to half of Oklahoma, we were running off our generator for two days. The first night I put it outside, but close to the house to help shelter it from winds. Our CO detector went off in the middle of the night. We ended up having the fire department come out and check things. It was determined that the CO came in through either the dryer vent, which was close to where the generator was, or through the attic. Our home was built in the 1960s and has attic vents on the sides. We ended up moving the generator about 10 feet farther away from the house and didn't have any problems after that.

We've also found that one of the plastic kid pools works well with some duct tape to provide a temporary shelter for a generator in case of rain. Thanks for running the site, it's a wonderful resource. - Chad in Texas

 

James;
I really enjoyed reading "Lessons Learned from an Ice Storm", by G. in the Zarks. I went through a similar experience when I first moved to the hills, and resolved to buy a generator so I wouldn't lose all my perishables (not to mention my mind).

Connecting the generator to the home electrical system was easy enough: simply purchase a transfer switch or a "double throw switch" or a "break before make switch" to the tune of about $200 bucks at any contractor supply house. These handy devices are mechanical switches that route your generator power directly to your home electrical system, and physically separate this source of power from commercial power, thereby preventing the generator's electricity from feeding back into the power company's lines and injuring their linemen trying to restore the system after a power outage. Plus, you don't have to worry about tripping over all those pesky extension cords running to your refrigerator or freezer or whatever.

Next, hire yourself a licensed electrician to install said switch. This cost me under $200, but this was over 10 years ago, so YMMV. Knowledgeable, experienced electricians able to do this work are common in the Ozarks, as many make their living installing transfer switches on chicken houses.

When I bought my generator, all I could afford was a 6,500 watt gasoline-powered screamer. I wish I could have bought something bigger and better (read: diesel), but just couldn't come up with the bucks. Consequently, I am unable to power everything in my (unfortunately) all-electric house simultaneously. This necessitates careful load management. For example, I can run a couple of lights,my well pump and hot water heater at the same time, so hot showers are possible. Once showers are done, the well pump and water heater circuits are turned off and the refrigerator or freezer or what ever else needs doing are turned on.

Not the best situation, but until I can come up with the money to buy a larger generator, it sure beats sitting in the dark and cold praying the power comes back on soon. - L.H.

 

Mr. Rawles:
Re: The article "Lessons Learned From an Ice Storm, by G. in the Zarks" in the Friday, February 5th posts of SurvivalBlog, can I offer the some lessons I've learned in 40+ years as an Ozarker?

First, I listened and learned as much as I could from the fast-dwindling group of Ozark natives when I moved here. Second, I learned to watch the weather and know something about it. I didn't waste my time with the media weather female meteorologists or guys outstanding in the rain. I looked at the weather maps, remembered my years of experience here, and the stories told me by those whose experience preceded arrival of power lines and pavement. About 8:00 the morning the big ice storm was to hit the Ozarks, I committed to not being here when it did. Experience told me I'd be iced in for some time and the come-latelys would be in the ditches or otherwise draining the resources of our overtaxed and under-staffed sheriff's deputies, volunteer fire, and EMT crews.

It took me just two hours to load up and be on the road in my 16 year old conversion van, further converted to a self-sufficient home on wheels kept well stocked. That included preparing the house for what was ahead too. RV antifreeze in all drains and traps including washing machine and dishwasher, drain the water lines and shut off the electric water heater. Since the house is primarily heated by wood, two electrical strips were left on at low level to keep the inside above freezing. Six inch walls and a modest size make my house easy to keep above freezing and at adequate food storage levels, even in below zero times.

I called my sister-in-law, who lives a few miles away, and told her to drop by when conditions allowed to clean out the refrigerator as appropriate, and check for damage from trees in my 10-acres of hardwoods that surround and hide the house. She did, about a week later when the others who live down my road had cleared a path. The storm had given a war zone background to the beautiful mountains and valleys, but nothing hit either my house or two metal-clad outbuildings. A melted quart of ice cream was the worst clean-up problem.

I met the leading edge of the storm about 75 miles south of home, on the crest of our mountain range, where ice began appearing on the antennas on the van. I was out of danger on the flat land another 25 miles south and headed toward Texas via the shortest and fastest route. Once there and rested up after an overnight in a state Hospitality Center parking lot, I began a leisurely 30 days in the Lone Star State's state parks and other favorite and cheaper Texas camping places. With middle seats removed, my van contains a bed, 40-quart chest-type Engel 12 and 120 volt refrigerator with efficient rotary compressor. I can cook on either microwave or propane stoves. There's a Porta-potty tucked under the table holding the microwave, and food, water, coo ware and other
necessities in cabinets made from Sauder kit furniture units all bolted together and anchored to the mounts that held the middle van seats. Plastic storage units fit elsewhere for other supplies. Solar power panels, discreetly mounted inside the luggage rack on the roof to be invisible to any but someone climbing the van's ladder, keep the refrigerator going through a deep cycle battery. The 190 watt solar system also powers a 750 watt modified sine wave 120 volt power supply that runs the microwave for limited cooking such as my 2-minute oblates, 60-second brown and wild rice and meals. The 120 volts can run the laptop computer's TV module when TV stations are in range. Its own batteries handle e-mail. Some Texas State Parks are sources for free Internet hookups.

The van also is outfitted with three amateur radio and two scanner radios and antennas, to keep friends advised of my whereabouts beyond cell phone range or need, and keep me appraised of what is going on around and above me.

What I've learned from my resourceful and self-sustaining Ozark native friends is not to rush out and stock up after the first warning from the Weather Channel but to be ready to adapt to what ever may be coming, and to know if and when it is coming by experience, monitoring the real news sources of public service and other early warning media.

"Lessons learned from an ice storm?" Really be prepared. Prepared in priority. Power outages, winter storms and summer tornadoes or hurricanes, New Madrid acting up, heat, cold, rain or snow; I can ride them out or bug out in hours or less. Financial collapse, civil unrest, madness spawning something else; look for me gone in these less-likely but slower moving crises. I'll be out there somewhere, identifiable from the next vehicle only by license plate, if you happen to come upon me camping or rolling down some highway or back road. - Vern M.

Dear Editor:
The Oklahoma Ice Storm of 2010 is now melting away and as usual there were lessons learned.   Many of these should have been “known” before but we are never as prepared as we should be.  In that vein I am going to rehash several things that went right, a few that went wrong, and others that we can improve on the next time that “life as usual” is not.

First, the setting: I live in Southwestern Oklahoma and have been here for almost three years.  About January 22nd we started getting word of an impending ice/snow storm scheduled to hit on about January 28th.  As the storm came together we received updates that refined the details.  The reports of January 27th were remarkably accurate to what we would receive as well as the specific times that each type of precipitation would start to fall.

In our town it started to rain at about 7 a.m. on January 28th.   As the temperature dropped that rain froze on metal objects, then on trees and plants, and finally on roads.  At approximately 3 p.m. the rain changed over to sleet and ice pellets and by 9 p.m. we were getting snow.  Unfortunately an inch+ of ice and two inches of sleet/ ice had already destroyed many trees and power lines (both the small distribution lines in town and the major transmission lines into town) were down.
 
Electricity went out about 11 a.m. and was restored by 3 p.m.  It went out again at 4 p.m. and would remain off at our house for the next six days.  This power outage was universal for every house in town and every town within a 30 mile radius.  I should mention that throughout the storm we had full water, sewer, and natural gas service.  There was concern at one point that the sewers would back up, (the sewer lagoons are at an elevation where the sewage has to be pumped to them) and those concerns brought about the possibility of the city turning off the water to prevent sewer backup but power was restored before this eventuality.

Second, the good news list.  Now that we are settled into what we hope is our last home, we keep on hand sufficient food to last for approximately six months.  With reasonable rationing we could go even longer.  We have a good rotation system and keep on hand about four months worth of food that we eat every day and two months worth of emergency type rations.

We enjoy camping and backpacking and have all the equipment to do both activities year round and be comfortable.  This includes lighter weight stoves, packs, tents and sleeping bags and water purifiers to campsite sized Coleman cook stoves, lanterns, Dutch ovens, tents, cots and heavy sleeping bags.  While most of this equipment was not used it was comforting to know that if the situation continued to deteriorate, that we could adapt.

We bought a standard frame house with brick veneer when we moved to Oklahoma which is approximately 35 years old.  We haven’t spent money on kitchen, bathroom or carpet upgrades but we have put 20 inches of blown insulation throughout (to include over the garage and the porches) and we replaced all of the original double pane aluminum frame windows with energy efficient vinyl frame windows.  Realizing that it is possible to do better, we were still pleased that during one seventeen hour period without any heat source in the house, outside temperatures from 17 to 26 degrees, and 20 mph winds, the temperature in the house only dropped five degrees from 67 to 62.

The house has two hot water heaters-one electric that services two bathrooms and one natural gas that services the kitchen and laundry room.  It was very easy to take hot water to the bathtubs and perform personal hygiene.  Showers were courtesy of the two gallon watering bucket that my wife uses to keep the sun room flowers fresh.

The regular phone system remained operational throughout the storm and recovery period.  However, folks that only had cordless phone systems could not access the lines.  In some cases phones with integrated answering systems could dial out but the phones would not ring if the ringer depended on plug in electricity.  We have one of the old style rotary phones that works perfectly on the telephone line current and were able to send and receive calls.

We topped off all the vehicles and gas cans a couple of days before the storm.  I anticipated trouble getting more fuel trucks to town.  What I did not think about was the gas station could not pump gas without electricity anyway.  Ultimately one old fashioned gas station in town hooked up a generator and could run receipts in his office.  Credit cards did not work so cash or an established charge account with the owner was the way to do business.
 
Third, what we can do better.  We have a lot of candles.  I have not done an inventory but there are boxes of them.  We discovered that candles that are about an inch in diameter are optimal.  Larger candles, 2-1/2 to 4 inches burn down in the center and leave a candle rim that blocks light. Ultimately they just shine a small circle of light on the ceiling.  We also learned that the best candles put out very little light.  We have a couple of antique oil lamps but they are for decoration and did not have wicks in them.  We are going to acquire more oil lamps, maintain them, and keep sufficient oil on hand for 4-to-6 months.

In the brain dead category we have Coleman stoves and lamps that are dual fuel.  Unfortunately I gave all of our Coleman fuel to the Boy Scouts so we failed in “Being Prepared”.  We shifted to our propane stoves.  I need to point out that these stoves should not be used indoors.  We cooked outside on the patio.  When we do get around to remodeling the kitchen I am going to replace the stove top with a gas appliance.  While we did not bake, we did have the capability by placing a Dutch oven on the propane stove.

In the final analysis we look at the Oklahoma Ice Storm of 2010 as being the most lavish camping trip that we have ever been on.  We never felt as though there were any true hardships and after the initial storm period we spent a lot of time outdoors enjoying the snow and volunteering at the local Red Cross warming/feeding center doing whatever was asked of us.  We look forward to implementing a few changes and the next opportunity to test our preparedness.


Hello!
I am new to reading your blog and love it! I wanted to comment on the ice storm post. I live in Oklahoma so we know all about these ice storms. I started reading a lot of blogs on prepping and storing food during the holidays. I decided to make a menu and strict food budget so I could afford to buy extra food for long-term storage. I bought a month's worth of food this January. I also bought my first water storage container - a 7 gallon Aqua-Tainer from Wal-Mart. Last year, I had a gas heater mounted on my dining room wall, preparing myself for the next inevitable ice storm. A few days before the storm, I bought emergency candles and I am so glad I did! We didn't lose power (thankfully!), but our little town was cleaned out of generators, candles, Coleman stoves, propane, kerosene....everything. I went to Wal-Mart a few days later (when power was still out all over the county) and the shelves were completely empty in some areas. That was a wake-up call to me. In just a few short days, stores can be emptied. It is wise to not wait until the last minute. I am a single mom and a teacher and I know how difficult it is to come up with extra money to help become better prepared. I am doing a little each month and will sleep soundly knowing that my kids will be warm and fed if anything happens. By the way, the ice storm hit seven days ago and people are still without power.

Thanks for the wonderful blog and such useful information! - Kay in Oklahoma

While watching the local weather over the last few days, it has become apparent that a winter storm is heading for our part of the world, bringing with it the distinct possibility of not just snow, but significant amounts of ice. As I pondered this, it brought to mind our recent experiences with ice storms over the last few years, most notably in January 2007. I thought some of our “lessons learned” were worth sharing with others.

We had been blessed with several years of reasonably mild winters leading up to the 2007 storm. Unfortunately, the good times often seem to lull people into a state of complacency, characterized by an artificial sense of well-being and overall lack of awareness. This is, of course, what the late Colonel Cooper referred to as Condition White.

I freely admit to being somewhat guilty of the “All is Well” syndrome where the weather was concerned also. While I have spent my entire adult life trying to make sure my family is prepared for the myriad of difficulties we experience, I must confess that when the weather man said “Chance of ice,” I didn’t really take him all that seriously. I failed to properly evaluate the nature of the threat. In that particular instance, I didn’t think through the potential ice storm scenario to any great degree, because I considered myself and my family to already be prepared for this event. At the very least, I should have gone through the mental exercise of “what if” and reviewed the supplies I had in contrast to what I was likely to need in this situation. In a real emergency, “All is Well” can get you killed.

The ice came. In the early hours of the morning I awoke to find the power had gone off. This was, frankly, no surprise to me. Temporary interruptions in the grid caused by weather are far from unusual here. What I couldn’t know at the time was our power would not be back on for 8 days. Neighbors not far from us were out for 13 days. In contrast, power in the closest town was only out for hours.

Upon waking, I immediately got up, woke my wife and told her the power was out, and took a hot shower before the water in the tank had a chance to cool. My wife did likewise. A hot shower can become an unbelievable luxury in a surprisingly short period of time when the power is out. (Yes, our hot water heater is “gasp!” electric.) Also, I filled the bathtub and several buckets with water in case the generators failed at the local water district. I already had several cases of drinking water and approximately 200 gallons in drums in the garage as well. These are standard precautions on our part, regardless of the time of year.

Heat was the next issue we tackled. Our home is all-electric, but we supplement the electric furnace with portable kerosene heaters in order to keep utility bills manageable. I isolated the living room, which is where we spend most of our waking hours, by stapling blankets over the doorways leading to our hallways and kitchen. This five-minute modification allowed me to more efficiently heat the living room with a kerosene heater, and minimized heat loss into the unused areas of the house. I used the same “compartment” approach at night when heating the bedroom. Of course, kerosene heaters should never be left unattended for any period of time, and a battery-powered CO detector is a must.

A second important lesson regarding heat is to have ample fuel supplies on-hand to handle an emergency. We were burning kerosene on a daily basis before the storm. When the weather forecast seemed ominous, I asked my wife to pick up an extra container of kerosene on her way home from work, since I work long shifts and would not be away from work before the station closed. She forgot, and we faced the storm with less than 5 gallons of kerosene. On the heels of the ice came painfully low temperatures for several days. It became clear that we would not have sufficient fuel for our heaters to last throughout the cold snap. Furthermore, a large percent of the local population had turned to kerosene heaters in the absence of electricity. Local suppliers soon ran out of kerosene. As a result, I eventually found myself standing in line for approximately four hours in order to purchase 10 gallons of kerosene, when it became available. Fortunately, I did have enough cash on hand to make the needed transaction. ATMs were only intermittently operational. The wait, outdoors in single-digit temperatures, with a few hundred other unfortunates, was by far the most valuable lesson I received during this time. The helplessness, anxiety, and shame associated with my lack of preparation have impacted me deeply. By the way, I now buy kerosene in 55 gallon drums. No more queues for me.

That covers water, shelter, and heat. Our next issue was light. I keep several Dietz lanterns and two Aladdin lamps along with several gallons of high-grade lamp oil on hand. Illumination was not a problem. In addition, I have a wide variety of Surefire brand flashlights and spare lithium batteries for nighttime chores around the house. All of the above were put to good use. I was even able to supply some of my neighbors with Dietz lanterns and oil during the time we were off-grid. Several valuable lessons concerning light were learned. First, the Aladdin lamps are excellent, albeit somewhat expensive. They are bright when used according to the instructions. So bright, in fact, that I recommend anyone planning on using them also spend the extra money for lamp shades. They are definitely bright enough to read by without undue eyestrain. They also give off significant amounts of heat, which was helpful in the cold temperatures. They would be less pleasant to utilize in hot weather, however. I was actually able to boil water by holding a metal cup over the top of the chimney for a brief time. This was an excellent technique for preparing some of the freeze-dried Mountain House food we ate during the event. Buy at least twice as many mantles and chimneys as you think you will need, as these are the most fragile parts of the lamp. Also, read the instructions.

Dietz lanterns are excellent tools for the money, but are significantly less bright than the Aladdins. They are easier to use when you are moving around as they have handles and can be carried while lit. All the standard precautions apply when using anything that is actively burning while you handle it.

Surefire lights are also outstanding illumination tools. The major shortfall is battery life. I discovered that when you are using them as a primary illumination source, you will go through a surprising number of batteries. The good news is the batteries generally have a shelf life measured in years, so you can afford to stock up without worrying too much about discharge rates. Don’t buy CR-123 batteries from places like Wal-Mart; they are too expensive there. Instead, order them directly from Surefire’s web site. You can get them in bulk for less than $2 per battery. The battery life problem can also be mitigated somewhat by buying the newer generation of LED lights, as opposed to the older ones with the xenon bulbs.

Food was not an issue due to pre-existing stocks. All our cooking was done outside on a propane burner from a turkey fryer. Coffee prepared in an enameled percolator was definitely the biggest morale-booster from day to day. We even had friends over for “Mountain House night” to provide a little levity and fellowship in an otherwise dreary situation.

The same morning that the power went off, I removed all perishables from the refrigerator and stored them in a Rubbermaid tub in the cold garage. That food was prepared and eaten first. The freezers were left closed as much as possible, and wrapped with blankets for additional insulation. I keep a 5kw generator with the tank drained along with several gallons of stabilized fuel (religiously rotated) and sufficient oil. My only purpose for the genset is to keep the freezers frozen in just such situations. Only one of my freezers in indoors, the others being outside. It was only necessary to run the generator for a couple of hours every two to three days to maintain the integrity of the frozen food. In retrospect, it would be advisable to have the ability to connect the genset to portions of the house (with the appropriate safety measures, of course) for added flexibility in using a limited number of electric appliances.

During the crisis, I had two different coworkers whose homes were “cased” by potential thieves. Each home was rural and isolated, with no neighbors in direct line-of sight. Fortunately, in both cases, when the armed homeowners confronted the would-be thieves, they wisely ran away.

Keep in mind that, while the power was off for several days, this was in fact only a pseudo-disaster. Roads remained passable, and within a day, Wal-Mart was open for business. Within hours they sold out of bottled water, candles, lamps & lamp oil, manual can openers, flashlights, batteries (D-cells were the most in demand), milk, bread, and most foodstuffs that don’t require preparation. Over the course of three days, I watched my closest neighbor make at least two trips to Wal-Mart per day, returning with armloads of white plastic bags each trip. Also, within days, there were enterprising individuals selling small generators out of the back of tractor-trailers. You could hear the rattle and hum of Briggs & Stratton engines in almost every direction.

On a personal note, the experience was also a validation of the preparedness mindset for my wife. While she has always been supportive of my efforts to prepare, she was from time to time also prone to grumbling about the amount of space occupied by our preparedness supplies. More than once during the storm, she would say something like “Gee, it would be nice if we had…” upon which I would go to the back room, rummage around and return with the item she was requesting. By the end of the storm, her most frequent comment was, “I’m glad you’re my husband.”

Lessons Learned:

• An "All is Well" attitude will get you killed. Take threats seriously.
• Have your water taken care of now. It will be one less critical thing to worry about in an emergency.
• Keep fuel in sufficient quantities for emergencies.
• Batteries, batteries, batteries.
• Be able to cook outside.
• Thieves and looters will come, even in rural areas.
• It’s not really a disaster if you can still go to Wal-Mart.

I have just returned to my house after 6 days without power. I Thought I was ready. I had plenty of beans, Band-Aids, bullion and bullets. What I didn’t have was the stuff I needed to get through the first week of a massive power outage. We still had water, even though I had an additional 50 gallons of fresh, treated water for myself, The Beautiful Wife (TBW) and the pets. We had enough short term food that we were able to provide a chili meal for some of our friends and coworkers that were doing without. We had more money of all kinds than we needed. What I hadn’t planned for, was the first week. We had enough flashlights, but a headlight would have served much better. Cooking with a flashlight leave the cook one hand short. I knew that I had a Coleman propane camp stove, but I had neglected to put the propane and the connector hose with the stove. I had a Coleman lantern for light, but I had used the last pair of mantels and had not replaced them, you know, I’ll get them on sale or when we go to town next. And then I forgot! I would have paid three times what the cost just to be able to read after dark. Same thing for the propane, I had one for the grill, one for the stove (Oh, yea, I don’t know where that one is), and a spare. Oh, the spare is in the travel trailer, and has an inch of ice over the storage door. Hummmm! Thank goodness for deicer. Oh, yea, I had to go dig that out of storage in another box.

Have a list! Know what things you need to rotate, replace, use up, whatever. Make sure your BTW or your closest friend knows where that list is, and what it means. Abbreviations on a list that have meaning to you, are worthless to your partner, unless they know what they stand for.

Drill! Work with your partner to fine tune the list. We both knew where the spot flashlight was, we thought! We had moved less than a year ago, and the spot flashlight we both thought we knew the location of, well that was in the old house. We found it in the travel trailer on the fourth day. Have a scavenger hunt and find random items on the list. Where is the fire extinguisher, the spot flashlight, the propane for the stove? What do you need to splint my broken arm from a fall in the ice? How am I supposed to get you to a medical facility without a phone?

I have been reading SurvivalBlog for a year now, and I thought I was doing pretty good. Boy, was I wrong!

Keep up the good work and God Bless. - Ray B.

James,
Your readers recently bring up good points about the advantage of battery powered tools with solar recharging. The advice to use an inverter connected to a 12v deep cycle battery and regular corded AC tools was good advice also, since the batteries may not last very long.

Having just recently purchased a set of Ryobi one+ tools myself, I found a seller on ebay selling an adapter for the one+ tools. It plugs into the tool in place of the battery then you can plug an AC DC power supply into it. This will give the best of both worlds. Use of the Ryobi batteries, then once the batteries no longer hold a charge, you can connect an AC/DC power supply to your 12v deep cycle battery and basically have a corded tool.

Search eBay for "EX-One use AC adapter replace Ryobi One+ P103 Lithium" or seller "lcdpayless". The adapter is only $20 but doesn't come with the AC/DC power adapter. I am not the seller and I haven't ordered one of these yet. I just thought your readers with Ryobi One+ tools might be interested to learn of this possibility for backup power for their tools. - D.L.

Sir:
A clarification for your readers on the article titled: A Simple Off-the-Shelf Solar Power System and Off-Grid Power Tool., The “Bill of Materials” for this project included; “Interstate Marine/RV 12 volt battery #27DC-1 ($68 from Sam's Club)” I spent some time on the internet trying to find exactly what this battery was, given that there aren’t any Sam's Clubs nearby.

A search of Interstate’s web site leads me to two conclusions:

1) The part number cited is a Sam’s Club number and not likely to be useful elsewhere.

2) Interstate only makes (in Group 27) Start Only duty or Start/Deep Cycle duty batteries for marine use, neither of which is optimal for this application.

The best type of marine/RV battery to use for this application is one rated for true “Deep Cycle” duty. Deep Cycle batteries tolerate more frequent and deeper (more than 10%) discharge without early failure. These are not often found in warehouse stores. My local BJs had one this week, but this is the first time in over two years that I’ve seen one there and I live in a “seaside community”. Deep Cycle only batteries are not often found for under $100.

James-
Thanks for the interesting article on the Ryobi 12v solar setup.

Just wanted to chip in some advice on Ryobi batteries: Of the name brand cordless tools, Ryobi seems to have the worst NiCd battery quality. When used carefully, they will work well for a couple of years. If pressed hard, they will die a much earlier death. I have found that some packs will have a bad cell, dramatically shortening the entire pack’s life after only a few months. I’ve experienced this with 9.6v, 14v, and 18v Ryobi setups. Even the healthier packs, when pushed hard, particularly with a high drain device like a circular saw, die a quick death. To maximize the useful life, do not push them to the point where the battery pack gets hot and is completely drained. Such hard use guarantees the pack will lose capacity and cease to hold a charge for extended periods of time.

Ryobi’s latest 18v sets (“ONE+”) can be powered by either their lithium or NiCd packs. If the purchaser can afford the lithium setup, it is a better investment, as the lithium packs last longer in use, hold a charge longer, and have much better shelf life. If you cannot afford the lithium battery packs with the initial purchase, consider adding them later, as the same 18v charging setup you describe will work with either type of battery.

Also, Home Depot’s Rigid cordless tool line currently come with a lifetime warranty that includes the lithium battery packs, and they will replace the batteries if they fail to hold a charge, regardless of the reason. The Rigid line may be a good alternative for those purchases who intend hard use for their cordless tools. The Rigid line is typically twice as costly as the Ryobi line, but they do occasionally go on sale and represent a better value for people who wear out their battery packs. Regards, - Rich S.

 

Sir,
With regards to A Simple Off-the-Shelf Solar Power System and Off-Grid Power Tools, I must object to a portable tool solution based on short ("2-3 years") rechargeable batteries which are fundamentally non-replaceable after TSHTF as opposed to a contrasting setup using inverters to operate 117 VAC-conventional power tools - all other parameters being identical. Just skip the 18 volt rechargeable tools and batteries and DC-to-DC chargers and stick with regular AC tools.

In order to prolong the deep-cycle lead-acid batteries into the "unlimited" range: stay within the top 10% of the battery capacity. Not only will you not have to worry about replacing high-technology 18volt portable batteries every three years, but you won't even have to worry about replacing deep-cycle lead acid every seven years neither. - R.S.

JWR Replies: I agree with the simplicity of your approach.

Sadly, there is no such thing as a "forever" or "unlimited life" lead-acid battery. Even if they are kept fully charged, they will eventually sulfate. That chemical reaction is inevitable, and can at best just be delayed. One evidence of this telephone companies spending millions of dollars rotating their deep cycle batteries that they they use for backup at the Central Offices (COs). IIRC, they are replaced once every eight years. And those batteries only rarely get drawn down. ("Cycled.") If there were some way to make lead-acid batteries have unlimited life, the phone companies would have implemented it long ago.

This article is written for those who have no experience with solar power and would like to set up a simple beginner system. I have been using this system for over a year and have found it to be efficient. My goal was to put together a system which is easy to use and does not require a lot of technical knowledge.

EQUIPMENT LIST:
1. BatteryMinder #SCC-015 Solar Charger 12 volt with 15 watt solar panel ($150 from Northern Tool and Supply)
2. BatteryMinder #BC2410 battery clip assembly ($10 from Northern Tool and Supply)
3. Interstate Marine/RV 12 volt battery #27DC-1 ($68 from Sam's Club)
4. Battery box for group 27 size battery ($10 from Wal-Mart)
5. Vector #VEC005 12 volt battery clips with accessory outlet ($6 from local hardware store)
6. Ryobi #P130 18 volt vehicle battery charger ($40 from Home Depot)
7. Ryobi #P824 18 volt tool starter kit with drill, circular saw, two 18 volt batteries, house current battery charger, and case ($89 from Home Depot)
8. A two or three level heavy duty shelf

Obviously, you can purchase your equipment wherever you like. If you would like to support SurvivalBlog, you can purchase the BatteryMinder solar charger and battery clip assembly from Northern Tool by starting at the "Affiliates" link on the SurvivalBlog main page, left side, third item from the top. Northern Tool also carries a number of battery powered tools. While at the blog's the "Affiliates" page, you may also want to look at the Allbattery.com site to see what is available in the way of rechargeable batteries and chargers which may be used with this system. The aforementioned equipment reflects the exact hardware that I use, so I know it works. The prices give you an idea of what your system could cost. I have listed Ryobi brand tools because I've used them for a number of years and found them to work well. You could use other brands such as DeWalt, Black and Decker, etc. I suggest you purchase tools which use at least 18 volt batteries.

SETUP: Begin by reading and heeding the instructions with all of the listed equipment. Let's start with the BatteryMinder Solar Charger (item #) and follow the instructions on setup. The instructions are four short pages on how to wire the system, position the solar panel, and how the system works. I leave my system set up 24/7 so that when sunshine is available the system is charging/maintaining the 12 volt deep cycle marine battery and even on a cloudy day some charging activity is going on. I positioned the solar panel near an exterior door of my garage so the wire from the solar panel to the charge controller can be run under the door to a three level shelf just inside the door. This way, the charge controller and the battery condition indicator are not exposed to the weather. I placed the BatteryMinder charge controller and battery condition indicator on the shelf one level above the lowest shelf.

Next, place the Interstate 12 volt marine battery (item #3) into the battery box (item #4) and place both on the bottom level of your shelves. In order to use battery clamps do not place the box top on the battery. The battery comes with two types of posts on the positive and negative sides, one post is larger, smooth sided, and designed for a battery clamp and the other post is threaded. The BatteryMinder's battery connections are the spade style with holes, these can be fastened onto the threaded posts, remember red to positive, black to negative. Northern Tool offers an optional accessory, item #2 in the Equipment List, which replaces the spade style battery connectors with battery clamps. These make it quicker to disconnect the system from the battery. I use the battery clamps instead of the spade style connectors. I connect the clamps to the large, smooth sided posts, again, red to positive, black to negative.

At this point, you have assembled the BatteryMinder system and hooked it up to the 12 volt deep cycle marine battery. When the sun is shining the battery is being charged/maintained. Now you are ready to hook up the Vector 12 volt battery clamps with accessory outlet jack (item #5). It's easy, just hook the Vector battery clamps to the unused post on each side of the battery, in my case, I use the threaded posts, again, red to positive, black to negative, I know, it's getting repetitive!

Last step - place the Ryobi vehicle charger (item #6) on the shelf above the bottom shelf. It needs plenty of space for air circulation because it puts out some heat when in use. Just plug the Ryobi charger male end into the Vector accessory female outlet.

OPERATION: With the Ryobi vehicle charger hooked to the 12 volt deep cycle battery just plug an 18 volt tool battery into the vehicle charger and wait until the green light comes on. Ryobi says a cold tool battery could take about 1 hour to charge. With the 12 volt deep cycle battery at full charge, you will have no problem charging 4 to 6 tool batteries without discharging the 12 volt deep cycle battery too much. That number of fully charged batteries would be able to do more work than I care to do at one time. If you charge a number of 18 volt tool batteries at one time, be sure to use the battery condition indicator to check the 12 volt deep cycle battery. If the indicator says "Good" you are okay, but if the indicator shows "Fair" or "Poor" you should stop charging tool batteries until the BatteryMinder has had time to catch up and fully charge the 12 volt deep cycle battery. On the battery condition indicator "Good" means the 12 volt deep cycle battery is holding a charge of 12.5 to 13.2 volts, "Fair" is 12.0 to 12.5 volts, and "Poor" is 11.5 to 12.0 volts. My BatteryMinder maintains a full charge on the 12 volt deep cycle battery of about 13.1 volts. Be sure to disconnect the Ryobi tool battery charger when not in use, it does use electricity when not charging a tool battery.

Use of tools - I have found that I use the drill the most, followed by the circular saw, reciprocating saw, and jigsaw. With occasional daily usage, the drill battery will last 2-3 weeks on a single charge. I have found these tools so useful I packed away my corded drill and circular saw. Ryobi and others have a number of other tools which use the 18 volt batteries.

Other uses - Of course you can use this charging system for other things besides charging 18 volt tool batteries. Anything that calls for a 12 volt DC car charging source can be charged, i.e. cell phones, rechargeable batteries, laptop computers, MP3 players, etc. You can also use this system to run 12 volt DC gizmos, just remember, use the battery condition indicator so that you don't too deeply discharge your 12 volt deep cycle battery.

MAINTENANCE: Not much. Other than checking the condition of the 12 volt deep cycle battery the only other thing to check is the level of water. Just fill according to the battery instructions using distilled water. If you were to use a sealed battery you can forget the distilled water. The 18 volt tool batteries last about 2-3 years with fairly steady use so they will have to be replaced. Once this system is placed into use you can stagger your purchases of new 18 volt tool batteries so that all of your tool batteries don't die at about the same time.

CONCLUSIONS: With careful monitoring, I expect the 12 volt deep cycle marine battery in this system to last seven years or more. There are no moving parts so unless an electronic part fails, the rest of the system should last a long time. BatteryMinder says you can maintain 2 parallel connected medium sized 12 volt batteries at the same time. Also, you could rotate any number of 12 volt deep cycle batteries, one at a time, to maintain a bank of fully charged 12 volt deep cycle batteries. The ability to have power tools available when there is no grid power could prove to be very useful. Even if you have a generator, it is very handy to have fully charged tool batteries available without using the generator to recharge the tool batteries. In the event that there were no new 18 volt tool batteries available, with proper battery management, you could still have the use of power tools for several years.

Dear James,

I recently was walking through Ikea with my wife here in Minneapolis and came upon a candle sale. They are currently having a sale on red 8 inch, Unscented Christmas candles rated at 70 hours for 99 cents. I promptly filled the cart with 40 or about 2,800 hours worth of candlelight for 39 dollars. Not wanting to recommend anything I had not already tried I promptly lit one to see how long it would last and right now it is still burning on hour 85 – will probably be done between 90 and 100 hours. Thought your readers might appreciate a good buy on candles. Kind Regards, - Troy

JWR Replies: I'm also a proponent of stocking up on candles, but keep in mind the obvious fire hazards. In a disaster situation where candles might be left unattended, burn candles only on a steady surface, with a deep cookie sheet or or broiler pan beneath. Also, be advised that many of the decorative candles on the market are not truly long-burning. "Large" doesn't always equate to long burning. Unless candles have an hour rating marked then avoid them, or you may be wasting you money on fast-burning candles made of wax with a low stearic acid (aka stearin or octadecanoic acid) content. (The higher the stearic acid content, the better.)

Dear Jim:
First, thank you for your informative site. I know you`ve helped me, and many others fill in the gaps in knowledge for preparation for times to come. I live just three miles from the San Andreas Fault , so even if the Schumer doesn`t hit the fan, "the big one" could come at any time. Thus I`ve been prepping for many years, but it was a wind storm that helped me think of this trick.

The local utility power recently went down and the girls broke out some candles,while I grabbed a couple of battery powered lanterns. Candles are great, and would not be with out them, but have inherent fire danger, I had just purchased a dozen solar yard [pathway] lights, on close-out sale for about $30 [for all 12]. With all the lights down in the neighborhood they seemed very bright all of a sudden, so I twisted off the fat Frisbee-shape tops ,and brought them inside. I started placing them throughout the house, and was able to bring a little light to each area, they are not bright, but you could walk around the entire house,with out bumping it to anything ,without any other supplemental lighting.

I started playing with improving the lighting produced by them when I realized what a great safe reusable alternative they could be. One easy way is to set them on top of a glass,and set a piece curved foil behind them, or place them in front of a mirror, I even made a little chandelier with four of them that was bright enough to play games under. I became so enamored with them that we use them every night now instead of leaving any lights at all on to make your way to the bathroom, et cetera. Another use they have is you can recharge your size AA batteries for flashlight or radio with them, they also are not going to attract a lot of attention, people may think you have a couple candles going, and [that you] are [just] as unprepared as they are. Meanwhile, you'll save on propane and white gas.

I hope this is of help to others. If you give it a try then I'll bet you`ll put a few in the house at night. Thanks for everything you do Jim, and may the Lord bless you , your family, and your readers, - Steve K.

Jim,

I've recently read several of your books and found them both interesting and educational. I would like to offer some personal insights based on my experiences from living in a small rural town one of the larger Caribbean islands. Most of my notes are cheap solutions used by people in developing nations all over the world. There may be better ways, but these work and cost next to nothing.

Water:

There is something especially disturbing about opening the faucet and hearing a sucking air sound. Not being able to shower, flush, or wash dishes is the worst.

One or more 55 gallon drums and 5 gallon plastic buckets are essential items to have. When you see that hurricane on the news, put the barrel it in the shower and fill it up right away. Add a few capfuls of bleach to make it keep longer. Expect the quality of water from the town water supply to drop. Rainwater collection should be set up right away. If possible the roof should fill a large cistern with a pressure pump. A gravity tank should be put on the roof.

Washing up from a bucket is easy enough. A small plastic cup and a five gallon bucket makes is easy. If the water is cold don’t try to heat up all the water. Bring a good sized cooking pot to a near boil and add it to the cold water. A person can wash easily in 2 gallons of water.

Pouring about two gallons of water rapidly into a toilet from a 5-gallon bucket will flush a toilet.

Washing dishes from a bucket without using gallons of water is tricky. It takes some practice to do it right. If you don’t stack your dirty plates and wash them right away, you only have one dirty side and no dried food.

It is very easy to contaminate your water supply. Dirty bucket bottoms and careless bathing are common causes, be vigilant.

Food:

Our community is an exporter of meat, milk, eggs, rice, vegetables and we have a 365-day growing season. Most families have a garden plot to supplement household food. Storing food is always wise but not nearly the problem it is in some other locations. Much of our farming is done with hand work.

Power:

We have daily blackouts here and most houses have invertors with battery backups. Since we have occasional power most people do not have generators but just charge when the lights are on. Most businesses have diesel generators.

A 2.5 KW inverter system with 4 deep cycle batteries will keep a few lights on, a laptop and a fan or two for about two days and costs about $2,000. The better systems run on 24 VDC. Here we are all very aware of vampire appliances [aka "phantom loads."]. All those VCRs, TVs, microwaves, wi-fi boxes, alarm systems, clocks, all pull a significant load. You need to learn your house circuits and unplug and turn off the breakers for things you don’t need. Low wattage bulbs are essential.

Running a generator for about 4 hours will charge most battery systems. Your generator will need to be at least twice the capacity of your inverter. Operating like this you can have basic lighting for the cost of about 2 or 3 gallons of gasoline a day. Running a refrigerator off a battery backup system is just not cost effective. Many people have put up both solar and wind systems as a way to produce some additional power to keep the batteries topped off.

A few simple solutions: Computer UPS systems usually operate on a 6 or 12 V battery. It is very easy to open one up and connect a large battery by running wires through the back of the case. This will give a much longer run time. While you have the case open, take a pair of pliers and crush the annoying power alarm beeper. The charger on these systems is very small and will take a very long time to reach a full charge. An off the shelf battery charger will speed things up. Alternativel,y your car can be used to charge the batteries (12 VDC only)

Guns:

While being armed is important, life is so much easier when there isn’t a conflict in the first place. Some people always seem to have problems wherever they go and need to pull out weapons while others seem to walk through the valley of death without a care in the world. Spend some time researching body language, and read books on interpersonal relationship skills. Besides improving your life right now, it could change a potential fatal firefight into a new friend.

Police:

When we have a crime wave, the police set up road blocks coming into and out of town. Rarely does this cause any real problems for honest people but you do need to have your paperwork for your car or firearms on hand. A smile and a friendly face makes things go much smoother. Acting aggressive or angry will get a messy and thorough search of your person, passengers and your car at a minimum. Knowing your local police makes a big difference. Sometimes we are asked to “help them out” which is code for a bribe. Either pay it with a smile, say sorry but you can’t today, plead poverty, or turn back. Fighting it just is not worth the trouble.

Crime:

Most traveling gangs are small and short lived. They rarely survive an encounter with police. It is very hard for a crime group to survive outside of their own neighborhood where they have local knowledge, a place to sleep and the support of family and friends. On the flip side the crimes committed by these people are usually the most brutal.

Local criminals gangs are much harder to control. Often these are well-connected individuals or gangs who are very good at remaining undetected. Some of them are drug smugglers, cattle thieves or burglars. Persons who are well liked and respected in the community are usually left alone. If you see large gangs forming, seriously consider leaving the country as it is a no-win situation.

Home Security:

This is a very safe country, but it is safe because people here do no depend on the police and protect themselves. With that in mind I have noted some of the more common security precautions here.

My experience here is that a house with lights on and occupied is the house that is left alone. Your best defense is to be the least interesting but hardened house in a occupied community. Vacant houses attract soft criminals and people who need a place to sleep. Most Dominicans always have someone home in the house. Night time home invasions are rare but they do happen. People who do this time of crime are extremely dangerous experienced and hardened criminals.

Isolated houses are at the worst risk for the most serious attacks. A gated community, walled yard, electric gate, bars on the windows, dogs, even armed security guards are all common place here. Country people live in small groups of three or more houses with the fields surrounding them.

Your most vulnerable time is being ambushed entering or leaving your home or car. When designing your landscaping, don’t build easy ambush points for attackers. This sort of thing doesn’t happen much in a small town.

Protests/Strikes/Riots:

Occasionally when the power or water is out too much, the citizens will organize a protest/strike/riot. Often the organizers are union leaders or other non-governmental community leaders. The usual format is to shut down the with road blocks and burning tires. Much of the bad behavior is more for show than reality but trying to pass the road blocks will result in getting your vehicle wrecked by the strikers. It is important to know why people are protesting and to be sympathetic to their cause (in many cases it is well justified). Their intention is to cause just enough of a disruption to get government the government to resolve the problem without getting arrested. Trying to pass the roadblock means that you are disagreeing with the reason they are striking. Know your local area for alternate routes and don’t try to travel during strikes.

Dogs:

Good dogs are essential. A pair of large dogs of a known breed are a very significant deterrent. Rottweiler, Doberman, German Sheppard, pit-bulls are recognized and avoided. Dogs differ widely in personality. Be sure yours matches your needs. Be aware and realistic of their shortcomings. I know too many people who depend entirely on a easily circumvented dog for security. Professional thieves routinely outmaneuver, poison, or shoot dogs.

Don’t overlook the value of small "yippy" and intelligent dogs like Chihuahuas. They are light sleepers, a second set of eyes and ears and are cheap to feed. They often work well with the bigger dogs.

Watch your dogs. If your dogs suddenly become sick, it may mean they were poisoned and you should expect a robbery that coming night or the following day. Look for your dog before you pull into your drive or get out of your car. If there has been an intrusion it may be hurt, nervous, missing or dead. This will often be your first indication of an awaiting problem.

Community

After a disaster (hurricane, flood, earthquake) the best thing for everyone is to keep the community together. Building a good reputation and personal relationships with neighbors and community leaders will make all the difference when resources are scarce and people are scared. The people who are capable leaders and community contributors often get first dibs on any help that does arrive and the right to make decisions on how goods are distributed.

Filling sandbags, organizing relief, passing out information, providing power, clearing roads, etc will make friends and build relationships that are not soon forgotten. This sort of thing can really bring a community back together in a hurry. We all depend on each other and leadership through positive action is a great way to rebuild. Just as looting is contagious, when people see others working together and helping, they are apt to join in. I have seen this numerous times here.

Transportation

Propane is subsidized here and is significantly cheaper than gasoline. Many people have adapted cars and trucks to run on both fuels using a special carburetor. As propane stores well this is a good emergency option for transportation, cooking, and power generation. Additionally propane machines can run on biogas and syngas.

While horses are very common here there would be a shortage if things really went bad. They did become proportionally more valuable as the price of fuel shot up.

I rarely see wood gasification mentioned as a alternative fuel supply. (See the Wikipedia page on wood gasification) This is an excellent modification that was used heavily in Europe in the 1940s. In my opinion, for most people this is the best solution to combustion engine power after a complete breakdown. Both alcohol and biodiesel require working farmland and refineries.

Post crash employment:

Anyone who can provide alternative sources of food, power, fuel or light will do well. A little Google work will show what technologies work on a small scale and provide business opportunities both now and after. Additionally, people here who can repair things never seem to make much money here but they always have work and food on the table.

Currency and hyperinflation:

After a major bank failure here, the currency here devalued by a factor of four in about two years. As the slide begins there are lots of opportunities to buy up things at old prices as many people price things based on what it cost them, not what the replacement value is.

As prices shot up, wages lagged way behind. Interest rates sky-rocked. Food prices shot up. Skilled labor prices went through the roof. The economy stopped dead because it becomes impossible to price things and nobody wants to work.

At the end of the slide the asking prices for everything got just crazy high, and the bid prices so low that almost no transactions took place except as acts of desperation.

Three years later, the currency has stabilized. Interest rates on loans are still slowly retreating. Merchants learned to price goods on replacement cost. Prices are often quoted in USD instead of local currency. Asking prices never really came down, but bid prices slowly rose up and as the spread reduces the economy starts to move again. Salaries are paid in local currency, but pegged to the USD for stability.

I wasn’t expecting to write such a long letter but maybe some of this will help people prepare and know what to expect. Sincerely, - S.H.

In September, 2008, Hurricane Ike--a Category 4 hurricane--pounded the Gulf Coast of the southern US. Some coastal communities like Crystal Beach no longer really exist. Inland, life was severely disrupted. For those of us on the South Coast hurricanes are a frequent reality. We were quite well prepared, but used the disruptions and dislocations as a test and opportunity to tune up our preparations.

1. Be ready to help others and to accept help We didn't need much during Ike, but the power went out before a neighbor finished boarding up his house. My 1 KW inverter, hooked up to his idling truck provide the juice for a Skilsaw and a few lights; allowing him to finish. Usually it is skills and not "stuff" that helps others and yourself. Besides strengthening a neighborly friendship, the number of damaged houses was probably reduced by one.

2. Keep your stuff squared away.. I repaired a few generators during and after Ike. I observed that every one suffering from lack of use; i.e. gasoline that resembled turpentine in the carburetor. People were at a complete loss to understand this. My daugher-in-law owned one of the generators that I repaired. She ignored my admonition to change the dirty oil ASAP and then once every 50 hours. Early in the next week it [ran out of oil and] threw a rod. She was in the dark for another week. Just a $2.99 quart of oil would have saved discomfort, ruined food, etc.
 
My portable genset, loaned to my daughter, was ready to go;  fresh oil, filters, valves set, exercised, load tested. It started on the first try. I came to check it and change it's oil as soon as it was safe to travel. The first thing that I did was turn it so the exhaust faced away from the house! She had placed it so that the starter rope was in a convenient spot. At least she had, like I had asked, chained and locked it to a foundation pier.

After every hurricane Darwin gets a few through accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. Don't join them. If you have a generator, get a carbon monoxide detector in case the wind changes and wafts exhaust in your windows.

Our own [permanently-installed] genset uses natural gas (a tri-fuel generator) which in the majority of cases is superior and much cheaper to operate. Over the 11 days that we didn't have power it consumed $100 worth of natural gas. I estimate that an equivalent amount of gasoline would have cost more than $300. I stopped it every 75 hours for oil and filter. If your genset doesn't have an hour meter, then add one. There are some inexpensive self contained hour meters made for lawn equipment that work very well and require no hard wiring. It's really the only practical way to keep track of operating time, without which, intelligent maintenance is impossible.

I noticed that many generators, some still in the box, on Craigslist following Hurricane Ike at bargain basement prices. I recommended to a friend he latch onto one of these and purchase a dual-fuel gasoline/natural gas carburetor] kit. Ants can profit from short-sighted grasshoppers.

It goes without saying have all your vehicles filled up and serviced so they can be depended upon with out much attention. Pay particular attention to cooling systems, oil changes, tire pressures, belts and battery terminals.

Develop a pre-event SOP: When we hear of a hurricane in the Gulf, we pick up loose items like branches that can be thrown by high winds and cause damage (aviators call this rubbish FOD), trim trees, check prescriptions, recharge everything rechargeable, treat the swimming pool with "shock" chlorine, get all the laundry and dishes done, get all the trash out for pickup, take “before” pictures, etc., etc., etc.

3. Have backups for your backups. The portable generator above was our backup to the natural gas-fueled genset. Then an inverter and ups. After that is a 100 Watt solar array I've been tinkering with to provide power for security lighting,etc.

My daughter spent up to two hours a day foraging gas, mostly waiting in lines. She found out that the problem with gasoline-fuel generators is gasoline! It's expensive, in short supply (when it is needed most), and it takes gas to go and get gas! Needless to say I rounded up the parts and the portable is now a dual fuel machine. Had it been able to use natural gas then she could have stayed home and been one less person waiting in line. And the machine still retains the capability to burn gasoline!

Since gasoline became hard to come by (it was impossible to get for a week after Rita) but diesel fuel was plentiful we did any necessary traveling in my old diesel Mercedes (which is EMP proof, BTW).

One important word on generators: Treat yours like it is the last one you'll ever get. Try and get a good one, I prefer either a Honda or Briggs Vangard engine. My Vangard portable is approx 10 years old and absolutely dependable. The difference is methodical maintenance. Keep the manuals, and read 'em ! Keep the oil changed, keep a fresh spark plug, keep spare [oil, air, and fuel] filters. Most importantly run it under load once a month. Unless it's new, pull off the cowling and clean all the dirt and dust from fins on the cylinder jug. Closely examine the starter rope, the fuel lines, et cetera. Replace 'em if they ain't perfect.

If you get a permanently installed generator carefully consider installing a manual transfer switch and other upgrades. With the exception of automatic "exercising" fully automatic generators these add a layer of complication and cost.

Don't store gasoline in the machine other than enough for one periodic test run. Develop a ritual on test runs: such as every other payday, or the last Saturday in the month, to reduce it to a ritual. I run mine monthly whilst cutting the back yard lawn. (The mower makes more noise.)

For storage between test runs: On portable gensets [with the ignition off, slowly ] pull the cord until you can feel that the engine is at the top of the compression stroke. This is where the engine feels like you are pulling it through a "detent". It puts the piston at the top of the bore and closes both valves. This protects the cylinder from moisture. If you store gasoline then use stabilizer, after six months burn it in your car and replace it. Few experiences are worse that trying to clean out a carburetor by a dim flashlight whilst being consumed alive by salt marsh mosquitoes. Trust me on this. BTW, I've had better results storing "winter" blended gas, since t has more light fractions and starts easier year round.

If you use gas cans; stick with metal, preferably safety cans. Plastics are slightly permeable and it will go bad much faster in a plastic can. On that note, [in humid climates] don’t keep spare spark plugs with the machine. This is because in outdoor storage the insulators can absorb moisture [and the metal parts can corrode]. Keep them inside or in a sealed can with some silica gel. An old one-quart paint can is ideal.

If you have a dual-fuel machine, then break the engine in on gasoline and make sure it operates properly on both fuels under load. Keep the necessary connectors for gas operation on the machine so that you don't have to go searching for that 3/8ths-inch pipe nipple with a flashlight.

Use high quality oils, and have enough. Don't forget to also store plenty of 2-stroke [fuel mixing] oil and chain oil if you intend to use a chainsaw. Maybe store some extra for your neighbors that are less prudent. I use Rotella brand synthetic oil and Wix brand filters, and have had good results with them.

Make sure you have enough oil, filters and plugs for at least two weeks (336 hours), or longer. Don't forget about your equipment after the crisis is over: There are valves to set, oil and plugs to change, etc. Even if you own two generators and have enough flashlights, automatic emergency lights, et cetera, things can, and may likely go wrong. Small children usually do not take kindly to being plunged into total darkness. Unless it is TEOTWAWKI, keep the candles in the cupboard, especially if there are small children about.

4. Double your plans for helping other people. Several relatives from coastal areas evacuated to our house (approximately 50 miles inland). I keep a 55 gallon drum of stabilized gasoline to fill up their cars to get them home. This was a lesson learned after the Rita evacuation cluster. How much food you will go through will surprise you. It finally dawned upon us that we almost always eat dinner (lunch to you Northerners) and sometimes breakfast away from home. So what we consumed whilst hunkered down seemed out of proportion.

We also sent some food home with people to hold them over. I was able to "lend" a retired neighbor enough generated power to keep his freezer, television, and fan going. He was genuinely happy. This also meant that he was one less person in line for ice, food, and so forth.

5. Keep a dial up phone line around, after 24 hours the cell phone tower generators started running out of propane, the cable modem (and the cable) went down with the power. Remember how to make that dial-up modem work.

If you're not a Ham radio operator, then find out where the local hams conduct their emergency nets, and listen on your shortwave radio (HF) or scanner (2-meter and 440 band) and you'll know a lot more that the local television news truck can find out.

If you have cable television, then keep a traditional antenna handy. If you live near a major market the local AM news station, then it is probably a good bet. Have a good UPS, plug the computer and the desk lamp into it. If you have a cordless phone, plug it into the UPS too. The UPS will take the "bumps" out of the generator's power; your computer will thank you. Make sure you test the UPS periodically by plugging in a 100 Watt lamp and pulling the plug on the UPS. I find I need to replace that UPS battery about every 2-to-3 years.

6. Plan for the guests. Have plenty of soap, have a small flashlight (preferably with rechargeable batteries) for each guest. Have things other than television to keep youngsters occupied. Try and get plenty of rest. You'll probably be plenty busy after you can poke your head out again. In this vein don't forget dishwashing supplies, laundry supplies, baby supplies, etc. If it's a predictable event such as a hurricane, have all the dishes and laundry done. before it hits.

A television in a room by itself will keep the racket contained from those who want to read, play games or just sleep. If you have the space, then a “quiet room” where  people can just rest, read, be alone, have some privacy or get a fussy to baby to sleep cuts down on contagious stress.

7. Make sure you are medically prepared. Have a rather complete first aid kit that includes a backboard and splinting materials. There will be plenty of cuts,scrapes, bruises, sunburns and sore muscles in the aftermath. Have Band-Aids, 4x4s, neosporin, peroxide etc. Have plenty of acid reducer and immodium on hand (stress and unfamiliar cooking), have at least two weeks of prescription drugs on hand [and preferably much more for any chronic health issues]. Have a good assortment of Tylenol, cold and sinus preparations, BenGay [muscle ointment], good  multivitamins, etc.

8.Be extra, extra, extra careful. You getting sick or more likely injured can really mess things up for everyone you have prepared for. Not to mention that the local fire/ambulance is probably already overtaxed. Be extremely careful handling fire and fuels. A lot of us are not entirely fluent in using chainsaws, small engines, fixing roofs, trimming trees and moving debris.[JWR Adds: safety equipment including heavy gloves, kevlar chainsaw safety chaps, and a combination safety helmet with face shield and muffs are absolute "musts"!] Don't get in a hurry unless there is a threat to life. Be hyper cautious, be very aware of your surroundings and things that can go wrong. Don’t toil alone. Make sure you have a clear path to beat a hasty retreat if things go wrong. Wear those gloves, safety glasses, boots and maybe a hard hat.

Don't overtax yourself. Getting a fallen the tree off of the roof today avails you little if it triggers a heart attack or heat stroke. Ask God's assistance and start over tomorrow.

Keep fire extinguishers near the gas generator, in the kitchen, and near the camp stove.

Avoid using candles at all costs, and absolutely prohibit smoking indoors for the duration. Have more than enough battery smoke detectors around.

9. Be ready to make temporary repairs.. The missing shingles, damaged windows, etc. Have some plywood, a few 2x4s, some Visqueen polyethylene sheeting, batting boards, duct tape, a tarp, some nails, and so forth around. If you happen to have a good cordless drill, then you'll find sheet rock and deck screws are very superior to nails. If you're squared away then you already have this stuff , but a neighbor might be in need, so buy extra.

Debris creates flat tires for quite some time after many events. Have a tire plug kit and a 12 VDC compressor in each vehicle. Repairs to structures, especially roof repairs guarantee nails in tires. Be ready for them..

Have everything rechargeable recharged. Make sure you have some traditional non-power tools, I have a handsaw that I've had for decades, a good bow saw, ax, maul, sledge and an old eggbeater style hand drill still get regular use.

10. If I had my choice of just one utility it would be running water. Fortunately where we reside is served by a well run rural utility district which has prepared well for hurricanes. Failing this, in addition to stored water I have a portable gas utility pump (Robin brand) that can pressurize our water system from our pool and has sufficient capacity for a fire line. The pool got a good jolt of shock a day before the storm hit.

11.Keep some cash money handy. For a few days [with no utility power] there were no functional ATMs, and no way to use credit or debit cards.

12. Keep a low profile. About a week after Ike a passerby indignantly asked "How'd you get your lights turned on?" This showed his ignorance on several levels. He seemed to think someone just had to flip a switch downtown and "shazam!" his lights are on. I couldn't make him understand there has to be an unbroken physical link between a power plant and consumer, this seemed to aggravate his obvious helplessness. Telling him that we had been making our own juice seemed to irritate him. I wonder who he voted for? People with this mindset (that the world owes them something) could be a genuine liability in a real catastrophe. (BTW on a news show during a piece about energy, I actually heard a lady refer to natural gas as “just another dirty fossil fuel”) and not be challenged on the facts. Little minds scare me. I think that the hyper-liberals would love to use the heavy hand of government to force the ants take care of the grasshoppers.  Keep a low profile. The best advice I ever heard on the subject (I believe it was Howard J. Ruff ) was to "keep your principles public and your actions private".

13. Keep a notebook, keep a record of what happened, but especially keep a record of preps you overlooked or screwed up, or stuff you ran out of, or skills that need to be added or honed. That's where most of the preceding information came from! Also keep tabs on what's scarce after an event. Gas was scarce, but diesel plentiful after Rita. In contrast, after Ike there was plenty of fuel, but few operating stations due to lack of power. (There was a "mandatory evacuation" during Rita which turned out to be a fatal traffic jam for a few poor souls which quickly emptied the filling station tanks.) Out our way the local Wal-Mart made a heroic effort and opened up on locally-generated power, two days after Ike. The sheriff’s department was there to “maintain order”. (Let’s just say that they actually wear brown shirts here.). This event was a lifetime opportunity to study the varied behaviors of people under stress.

There were plenty of canned goods and auto supplies. But fresh fruits and veggies were a little thin, no meat due to lack of refrigeration for a few days, batteries, Coleman fuel, trash bags, paper plates, disposable diapers, formula, and nails evaporated. The pharmacy was closed.

Even with the numerous mistakes we made, we were able to stay safe, secure and comfortable and help others while "victims" were standing or idling their car engines in lines. It was an opportunity to try things out under more or less controlled conditions. WTSHTF there will not be controlled conditions!

Mr. Rawles,
I am enjoying your "How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It" book, which I purchased on Friday and have read most of it by now. I have something to offer to you by way of experience regarding votive candles as good emergency candles. We are practicing Roman Catholics and, as such, have lots of experience with the 10" candles that you recommend for emergencies or even small-scale food heating. While they cannot be beaten for long-term service ( a week to 10 days per candle), the amount of light and heat you obtain from the candles deteriorates significantly after the 4th day. I believe it has to do with the narrow cylinder of glass the candles are encased in allowing lower and lower amounts of oxygen in the "throat" as the candles burn, leading to smaller and smaller flames. By the 9th day or so, the flame is a tiny 1/4 of an inch high. Good for devotional purposes to be sure, but not for any kind of light or heat. I would recommend the smaller 4" tall votive candles which are constructed the same way but whose shallower depth allow more oxygen at the base of the candle. God Bless, - Tim in Miami

Mr. Rawles,
To counter the ridiculous prices of heavy duty lined upholstery fabric and pre-made retail offered curtain panels with "supposed" 99% light blocking out fabric liners, or the use of fabric remnants of odd sizes and black dye, this alternative suggestion beats the cost of other approaches hands down. They can be put up in a hurry with two staples or my preference is to apply them up with screws at both chord ends using para-cord through the holes, which will allow them to be cinched open and closed during daylight hours, if you chose to do so.

I purchased the darkest-colored shower curtain liners from a local dollar store in bulk. I started with tan colored ones. They are heavy duty plastic with weights embedded in the hem bottom to keep them straight and taut. I hung them up on an outdoors clothes line, (yeah, remember those?), so that I could have access to both sides. I spray painted them with non-toxic latex flat black paint, (which I also purchased at the dollar store), and also found para-chord there as well.

Once thoroughly dried, these blocked even the sun which was shining bright that day to dry them in the wind.
I let them hang out in the sun one more day after they were found dry to the touch, to cure the paint and also rid them of the plastic shower curtain new smell. I then rolled them up individually, marked them by number which was assigned to each window on each building and corresponds to a master log sketch picture sheet which also depicts the same numbering system on our OPSEC house "security plan", and stored them away in the closet of each room. They are now ready for a TEOTWAWKI day that they will be hung up in a flash.

The end cost to do all my windows in the house, barn and outbuildings was 1/4th the price of what it would have cost to hang newly purchased rolled black visqueen material in the widths that I needed.

The second alternative suggestion for economy and successful black out affect, for kitchen windows, or use on those short, small windows, is to go to your local variety store and look for heavy Black bath towel blankets. They are oversized like a beach towel, plush, and very black. They were found on sale now at our local Wal-Mart for $5.00. I used these and made "cut to custom" width and length covers for those odd-sized windows that are used for house perimeter monitoring and are designated "target ports", and the curtains have no signature sound "rustle" when you pull them open.
Again, this was far less expensive to complete this project, than starting with base materials. It was a fast, efficient use of goods, effective for blocking out light, ( we tested them) and inexpensive project and the materials are available right now. - KAF

JWR Adds: For any new SurvivalBlog readers that are wondering why they might need opaque window coverings, consider this: In a disaster situation where the utility power grid goes down, there will be very few people that will have have electric lights for more than a few days. Most SurvivalBlog readers have either a photovoltaic power system, or a propane-fueled backup generator. But having your house lit up might attract the attention of looters, in search of lucrative targets. So it is wise to be prepared to black out your windows, and perhaps even add a "light lock" foyer (similar to a photographic darkroom entrance), just inside your house's main entrance. (In a disaster situation, that will most likely be the utility room door.) Once you've set up your blackout shutters or drapes, be sure to check for light leaks, preferably with a starlight scope or goggles. Add opaque duct tape to any glaring cracks, as needed.

In a recent phone conversation with one of my consulting clients, I was asked why I placed such a large emphasis on living in the country, at a relatively self-sufficient retreat. I've already discussed at length the security advantages of isolation from major population centers in the blog, but I realized that I've never fully articulated the importance of self-sufficiency, at a fundamental level.

In a societal collapse, where you are in "You're on Your Own" (YOYO) mode, it will be very important to be a net producer of water, food, and energy. This will mean the difference between being someone that is comfortable and well fed, and someone that is shivering, hungry, and thirsty, in the dark.

If you were to create computer models of a typical suburban home as compared to a small farm, they would probably present two very different pictures:

A typical suburban home is an energy pit. It generates hardly energy other than a bit of garden waste that could be used as compost, or fuel. A farm house on acreage, in contrast, can often be a net producer, especially if the farm includes a wood lot. (Standing timber that is suitable for use as firewood.) Properties with near-surface geothermal heat, coal seams, or natural gas wells are scarce, but not unheard of. I've helped several of my clients find such properties. For some further food for thought, see this article by Lester Brown over at The Oil Drum web site: The Oil Intensity of Food

A typical suburban home is a food pit. Just picture how many bags of groceries you tote home each week, month, and year. Compare than with the net volume of food produced by a small farm, or the meat produced by ranch. (For the latter, a ranch that is large enough to produce its own hay and grain is ideal.)

A typical suburban home is also a water pit, dependent on utility-piped water. But with a spring, or with well water and a photovoltaic or wind-powered pump, you can be a water exporter--charitably providing surplus water to your neighbors.

There are are of course some work-arounds for these limitations, such as installing photovoltaic power systems and rainwater catchments cisterns. But it is nearly impossible for a family to be a net producer of water, food, and energy, when living on just a small city lot.

Consider the inherent limitations of life on a "postage stamp" lot:

Limited acreage means that your house will always be a net importer of home heating fuel. Unless you live on acreage where you have a wood lot for firewood, you'll end up on the wrong side of the production-consumption equation. Photovoltaics are practical for lighting and running some appliances, but the big energy loads like space heating, hot water, and kitchen range cooking exceed what PV panels can produce, unless you are a millionaire. Yes, there are substitute energy sources, but most of those--such as propane-but those-are also "imported." Hmm... Perhaps it is worth the extra time and effort to find a retreat property that has a natural gas well, a coal seam or that is in a geothermal zone. At least buy a property with a wood lot, so you can heat your home and water with firewood.

Limited acreage and a location inside limits usually means restrictions on raising livestock. You might find a property that has been exempted or "grandfathered", but without the room required to grow animal feed crops, you will still be a net importer. (You will be forced to buy hay and grain, rather than grow it yourself.)

In many jurisdictions, it is illegal to have a private water well in a neighborhood that is served by a public water utility. This usually has more to do with maintaining a monopoly, rather than any genuine worries about a public health issue. There are of course exceptions, such as older houses with wells, that pre-dated the advent of a water utility. In many jurisdictions, the owners of these wells benefit from grandfather clauses. If buying such a property, make sure that the grandfather clause exemption is transferable. (Otherwise, you will have to cap the water well.)

One of the great ironies of urbanized life in modern-day America is that there has been a great inversion. In 1909, it was dirt poor farmers that lived on acreage, while wealthy people lived on city lots. But now, in 2009, owning acreage is something that most people only dream of, for retirement. In the more populous coastal states, the price per acre of land that is within commuting distance of high-paying jobs has been driven up to astronomical prices.

Have you ever stopped to think why there are large Victorian-style houses falling into disrepair in some Inner City ghettos? This is because at one time, those neighborhoods are where rich people lived. They were nice, safe neighborhoods, and were conveniently close to work, shopping, and schools. But times (and neighborhoods) change. These days, most of the wealthy have long-since moved to suburbs or to the country.

If you decide that you must stay in the suburbs, then I recommend that you at least relocate to a stout masonry house that is on the largest lot that you can afford. When you search through real estate listings, some key phrases to watch for are "creek", "grandfathered", "mature fruit trees" (or "orchard"), "secluded", and "well water." Another key word to watch for is "adjoins". It is advantageous to own a property that adjoins park land.

As I've often written, I recommend moving to a house on acreage in the country--that is if you can afford it, and your work and family situations allow it. But I'll close with one admonition: Don't bite off more than you can chew. There is no point on living on acreage if you have a large mortgage, and no working capital remaining to build up the infrastructure for genuine self-sufficiency. In fact, that would be "the worst of both worlds", since you would have higher commuting costs, a bigger mortgage, and perhaps even a bigger annual tax bill. Owning non-productive land may be worse than owning no land at all.

Dear Mr. Rawles,

This sale ends Saturday so maybe it's too late to share it, but True Value Hardware stores around the country are selling boxes of six (6) solar powered pathway lights for $11.99.


These would be great to use for an extended power outages - just bring them in inside each night without the pole. There's two LED lights in each one, and they will shine for 8 hours. I tried them out last night and was able to read with two of them. Using all six lights in the box lit up my small house enough to where I wouldn't need a flashlight or lantern to get myself safely around.

I just thought I'd share since the price was so low. Wouldn't this be great for those living in apartments? - Rod McG. in Virginia

Jim:

I saw the following post concerning Gober ("dung") gas, dated 27 April, 2009, over at Michael Yon's web site:.

"During breaks from tracking training – I was sweating like crazy in the jungle heat – I asked many questions about Afghanistan and Nepal, and he talked about a simple way to make many of the Afghans lives easier. Most Afghans don’t even have electricity. When he was about fifteen years-old, his dad installed a “Gobar Gas” (methane) generator next to the house in Nepal. The generator is simple: the owner just collects human and animal waste, and through a fantastically simple process, the contraption creates methane, which is then used for lighting, cooking, heating in the winter. It also creates excellent fertilizer, all while improving sanitation. What’s the catch? None that I’ve heard of. He said that his dad made the first Gobar Gas system in his village, and today it would costs maybe $300 total investment. Between their own toilet and four cows, they create enough methane to cook, heat and light the house. More than two decades after his dad made it, the thing is still working and doesn’t cost a single rupee to operate. When the other villagers saw it work, hundreds of Gobar Gas systems popped up around the village. I’ve seen these systems in use in Nepal, and photographed one about five years ago. It worked like a charm. But this Nepalese man, a British soldier, never saw a Gobar Gas system in Afghanistan, but he is certain that the idea would take hold in the villages. My guess is that the only real disadvantage is that the idea is incredibly effective, simple and cheap, and so we probably wouldn’t want to get involved."

Wikipedia has an entry on Gober Gas.

Regards, - Larry

JWR Replies: The usual safety (for piped explosive gasses) rules apply, and of course the usual sanitation rules must be enforced, but this looks like a great set-up for anyone that keeps livestock. Aunty Entity would be proud.

Jim,
None of us here can know the hour when 1 Thessalonians 4:16 -17, will come to be. There are Prophesies that seem to indicate that that time approaches. But we don't know. We are not Prophets ourselves. We can just know to be ready. But until that time comes, there are also many other possibilities for which to prepare. We are in the early stages of a world-wide economic meltdown. As that grows worse, it can lead to all sorts of interesting events. Unemployment will likely lead to increased crime and even food riots. That can lead to the break down of systems. And that can cause the loss of health care, electricity, sanitation, water and so on. And that will inevitably lead to epidemics.

The Sun is the "quietest" it has been in many, many years. The last time Earth experienced so little sun spot activity, hundreds of thousands died from cold and lack of food because it snowed during the summer. The Yellowstone Caldera, a super volcano, is 40,000 years overdue to blow. When it does, it will spread ash across the entire US and block sunlight for years. There is an undersea volcano off Africa that is in danger of collapse. That could cause a tidal wave that would take out the entire east coast of the US. ...And then there is the ambitions of our governments "new friends" in Venezuela and Iran, and Al Qaeda and N. Korea. An EMP attack will surely make us all take notice that being "friendly" and acting weak is no solution to bad behavior by evil people. ..Not to mention what the closing of the Hormuz Straits will cause, if certain folks decide they can get away with it.

And all that is just some of the possibilities as televised on PBS shows in the last week. Not even alarmist conspiracy theory or doom and gloom, just Public TV science and reporting.

I am of the opinion that the "first world" industrial societies are so complex, that they could collapse fairly easily. It's just like my tractor. For lack of grease, the bearing spun. For lack of a bearing, the field didn't get plowed. With no turned earth, there was no garden and no food.

In these kinds of economies, small events can have remarkable consequences. Several years ago, a tree fell against a power line in Ohio. That small outage spread. Power went off in parts of Canada and as far away as New York. A couple more trees, and there could be no power anywhere. And then who would there be to help Florida or Texas, after a hurricane.

So what are we to do? Certainly reading survivalblog everyday is a great start. Acquiring knowledge thru books is absolutely necessary. Getting training and practical experience at such schools as Front Sight and Midwest Native Skills Institute is crucial. You can also volunteer at any of many the open air museums, and learn about appropriate non-electric skills and tools. But, there is more. We really need seven day, everyday, experience.

For example, there has been a good bit of discussion lately about "city retreats". Some folks believe they can make it in a well equipped "abandoned" factory or warehouse. They will hide in plain sight. That may work for a time, but what happens when the power goes out, and your stored fuel is used up? You might have bullets and food stored to last three years, then what? In my opinion, if you are concerned enough to be reading survivalblog, you ought to be realistic enough to get where you need to be to survive. And, IMHO, that ain't the city. You simply won't learn the practical skills needed to be self-sufficient, if you live on cement

It is remarkably complex to be self-sufficient. Without daily experience, you are unlikely to make it. It can easily take three years to successfully cultivate and grow an organic garden. It can take years to really learn to save seeds or prune a fruit tree. If the electricity goes out, you'll need to be able to do that and much more. If you can't, your children will suffer. It may take you a season or two to learn to get your fences built before the deer eat your crops. (They can clear a garden in one night). It can take years to learn what you actually need to run a farm. Little things like having lots of nails and screws on hand. If the big box stores close, how are you going to build shelter for city family refugees if you don't already have the supplies? And do you know construction? Do you have the tools? Or, without lots and lots of files and hack saw blades, how will you work metal when the gas runs out? It takes more than just having an anvil and hammer. Do you know the simple things like stacking hay bales on their sides, instead of "strings up"? If the hay gets wet, the water will run through the bale if it's on its side. The hay will much more likely mold if you store it with the strings pointing up. Right now, we all have the time to make such mistakes. It's not yet life or death. But soon, it may be.

In a crisis, being efficient also becomes much more important. You'll waste all kinds of time until you learn to carry a tool box on your equipment when you go to the field. It can be pure aggravation to need a wrench, screw driver or piece of wire, and have to walk all the way back to the barn. A simple fix can easily turn into a wasted hour, if you don't have the experience and tools to know better. And an hour lost is a job undone. That can be very costly.

It's taken me quite some time to learn to consistently keep certain things lined up by the back door. If I turn on any lights at night, a raccoon or coyote going after the chickens will run. I've learned, if I hear a noise, to get up in the dark, put on my boots, which are always where they need to be, have the other necessaries in easy reach, and to get out the door, silently, to take care of business. That's not something learned easily or quickly. Just developing night vision and how to see in the dark, and how to listen to the sounds of night in the country, can take a lot of time. Not knowing that can mean losing half your chickens in one night. It happened to me.

It can also take some time to learn which neighbors are reliable and which farm equipment dealerships are best. You don't want to buy major equipment from a dealer that has poor service and inventory. And asking for help from the wrong neighbor can be worse than no help at all.

It can take many seasons to learn the weather of your farm. I know that there is always a dry week in April when I can till the gardens. If I miss it, and it rains, it may be May before the ground will again dry out enough to plow. And when snow comes from certain directions, it may mean I need to clear a roof before it falls under too much weight. ..It's happened.

It's taken me some time to learn to put a broody chicken in wire cage inside the hen house. I put as many eggs under her as will fit, put in a bit of water and food, and shut the door. I've had many a hatch of eggs go bad because the chicken got up and didn't find her way back. With this little trick of confining the chicken, I get chicks every time. That's not something you learn just bugging out from the city.

It's also taken some time to learn that its hard to read by candle light. An oil lamp is better, it can give between 2.7 to 4.4 candle power, depending on how wide the wick is. And having an oil lamp with mantle, which gives 40 candle power, (or the equivalent of a 60 watt bulb), is really important if you have any medical needs at night. I know I much more appreciate sewing myself up when I can see where to stitch, instead of kind'a poking around by candle light.

And so it goes. We all know something is coming. Most of us believe it in our cores. We wouldn't be here otherwise. So, what are you going to do? I believe the time has come to take action. It may not be comfortable to leave the city and a well paying job. But you have so much to learn, and so little time. You really need to get moving. Because the mistakes you will certainly make today, just may do you in, tomorrow. - Jim Fry, Curator, Museum of Western Reserve Farms & Equipment, Ohio

By now most SurvivalBlog readers have gone about your preparations for your ideal home or retreat cabin, all storage food and tools acquired, fuel stored, generators ready, PV panels carefully concealed and hooked up to the battery bank. You and your family or group are ready to handle the coming collapse, but are you really? Are you ready to do without? Without that generator when the fuel runs out, or a critical piece is worn out and a new one cannot be had? At some point your supplies will be used up, storage fuel consumed and there may not be any to refill your tanks or more realistically you may be priced out, or it will be too dangerous to “run-the-gauntlet” and get more. Can you manage in your place without electricity? Can you cook with wood? Do you have space enough to process the abundant food you grow and must preserve either by canning or other means? Can you move throughout your buildings without being seen from the outside?
My point, is your place set up to function as a 19th century homestead?

My wife and I bought an old New England farmhouse many years ago, it is nothing fancy and looks like so many others in our area, it is a traditional connected farmhouse meaning that the buildings are all linked-up, yet they have different roof lines and are of different sizes. It is best summed up as a “Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn” and this is the title of a wonderful book written by Thomas C. Hubka which details the reasons for the ways structures developed. (If you want a leisurely read on the history of these buildings, I highly recommend this book.) Anyway, we bought this type of farm house and have been in the process of renovating it over many years, although the renovation could more reasonably described as going back to the future. One of the many wonderful things about an old house, and when I say old I mean over 150 years old, is the ability to reuse much of the lumber in the walls, floors, and ceilings or the masonry whether it is brick or stone, Ours is a timber frame with some masonry on the exterior and is incredibly well built and has a brilliant house plan. I realize that many people are not up to the task of going through this sort of process, but you could build your current retreat or home to some of these specs. Our home for example was built just after the War of 1812 it was fully functional for a family of eight with room for boarders/labors and or relatives. The kitchen is large while many of the adjacent rooms are small (less space to heat) all the rooms are situated around two large central fireplaces and have thimbles to allow for a small wood stove in each, the rooms can be closed off when not in use, thus not taking valuable heat from other areas. In the basement there is a large hole in the floor; it was a cistern, but was allowed to fill in with junk, perhaps it was considered a “sump hole” by later inhabitants since there was evidence of long overworked pumps in under the silt and gravel. I have cleaned this up and now have a source of water right in the house, (this water will still need to be treated since it is technically surface water being only ten feet below grade), but it still offers water for cleaning or for our animals.

There is a large “root” cellar to store food stuffs and canned goods. (It could double as safe room or vault if needed and may well have been at one point since the opening is nondescript and hidden from plain sight). Also there is a summer kitchen, at first I wondered why this was necessary, it appeared to be redundant, but further study enlightened me to the fact that this area was a vital part the home complex. First it served to allow a large un-insulated cook area that was necessary during the harvest time to allow heat to escape from the constant fire in the cook stove during the canning, it was also a place that field labors had their meals prepared and ate without having to clean themselves up much and not dirty up the regular kitchen. The buildings between the summer kitchen and barn (sometimes it is one long building divided only internally or there are up to three distinct roof lines and end walls that divide them) any how these areas were used in a variety of ways to allow a small cottage industry to occur, in-fact these were simply work areas that were sheltered from the often harsh and wild weather we experience. One could be for wood storage, for tools (a sort of machine shop), or areas for processing wool from sheep. The point is not to recreate that lifestyle but to utilize that mindset and build similar multi-purpose structures.

Our Home:
We have “renovated” our home to fully function without electricity. Now, we have multiple generators, a significant storage of fuels and food. I and am currently finishing up with the PV panels and battery bank/inverter set-up, going through all the motions to secure some sense of normalcy; but in-fact we do not “need” those items to exist here, they are an extra. We can heat with wood and with a solar hot water system connected to baseboard radiators as well as a copper coil running through the wood fired furnace [for when there is not solar gain or during a heavy snowfall]. (The hot water moves via thermo-siphon no electricity needed only check-valves to keep the hot water moving in one direction). Our kitchen is “modern” but if the power is out we can cook on our wood fired cook-stove, it is about 120 years old and with a little “TLC” is now fully functional not to mention beautiful to look at. We can also bake in a bee hive oven built into the massive central chimney which I rebuilt and lined with modern flues. I left one of the original fireplaces, installed airtight doors and an exterior air vent, while on the other side made the other fireplace into a large wood storage container.

Overall, your retreat needs to be functional without electricity, things will eventually break, or you simply run out. Focus upon knowing how to live your life with little to no electricity or “conveniences”. The primary goals must be on heating your home and preparing food without petrochemical fuels, most modern homes are particularly horrible in this area. Change your mindset; you cannot store enough for the really long haul.

We may soon depend on all of what we have learned over the years. Putting all of the threads of knowledge together into a tapestry of self-sufficiency, and survival capabilities, is part of the lifelong quest for our family’s security. We learn from many sources and experiences such as: family, church, friends, teachers, teammates, co-workers, reading books and SurvivalBlog, and hopefully from our mistakes.

Preparedness Skills from our Grandmas and Grandpas

The foundation for preparedness begins with my childhood in Michigan. We lived in Lansing where my great-grandmother was next door and my grandmother lived next door to her. My father was born in great-grandma’s house after the family moved to the city during the early 1900s. My sisters and I spent weekends and summers alternately at my mom’s family dairy farm, which was just outside of the city, and at my dad’s family cabin “up north”. These were the richest times of my life. We knew all of our grandparents and some of our great-grandparents very well. My great-great-grandfather still lived in the old log cabin when I was born in 1956. We have been fortunate to have had five generations alive consistently from then until now. The wealth of love and knowledge you gain from your extended family is irreplaceable.

The “old timers” told stories of hardship during the great depression and the dust bowl era (we live an area that was the largest prairie east of the Mississippi.) Memories of crop failures with tales of early and late frosts were passed down. There were also hunting and fishing stories passed down as we learned to hunt and fish with older family members. There were bigger than life lumberjack stories and stories from Prohibition and the World Wars. I learned to safely handle and accurately shoot a .22 rifle with peep sights when I was six or seven years old. I walked the roads with my grandpa squirrel hunting. We ice fished on local lakes and went to Tip-Up Town USA every year. All of this adds to ones persona and the early experience helps awaken the necessary “survivalist” traits.

On a working dairy farm you rapidly learn about life (and death). Animal husbandry and caring for the land lead to sustainability. Animals do become food and harvesting the crops sometimes seems little reward for the hard work. The milking must be done every day and chores do not wait. As a kid I learned to drive tractors and pick-ups to and from the fields. We mowed, bailed and then stacked the hay in the mow. Alfalfa, oats and corn were the field crops. Pigs, chickens, and sheep were raised along with the dairy cows and we cleaned the barns and spread manure.

Knowledge is passed down from generation to generation such as when to plant, where to plant, when to harvest, and how to raise the animals. There were many topics of conversations at the Sunday breakfast table. Many things are debated and discussed after chores and before Church. Most times the conversations continued outside the Church after the sermon. It was the only time you saw the other farmers. When you are a little guy you tended to be quiet, pay attention and learn.

Grandpa was a farmer and Grandma was a one room school teacher. Grandma also taught vacation bible school during the summer break. Us kids learned how to tend good gardens and helped preserve the food we raised. We took care of the barn animals while the uncles milked. We hauled water to the bull pen and helped milk as we got older. Survival skill sets from the farm come from being part of a close knit community with a solid work ethic. There are strong religious underpinnings with good people engaged in caring for one another as well as the animals and the land.

Preparedness from "Roughing It”

The log cabin “up north” had a well-house for getting water and an outhouse for getting rid of water. There was a wood fired cook stove for heat and kerosene lamps to play cards under. There was a red checkered oilcloth on the table with cane chairs around it. The place was originally homesteaded by my great-great-grandfather in the late 1800s (a few electric lights were added at some point.) We used to go up on Friday night after Dad or Grandpa got out of work. The next morning started with an awakening trip to the outhouse and then fetching a bucket of water from the well house and kindling for the wood stove. On a cold morning you stepped lively until the fire was going.

Once the stove was hot, Grandma would cook buttermilk pancakes on a griddle that my great-grandmother had used in the lumber camp. Eggs and bacon sizzled in a cast iron skillet. Clothes were washed on a washboard in a wash tub and then hung out to dry. You took a bath in the river. During the summer we would fish morning and evening and water ski on the nice days. The family summer vacation was spent camping in a tent along the river or at a state park. The old cabin was also used for small game hunting in the early fall and deer camp in the late fall / winter. We would take walks in the woods and look for morels and other edible things like may apples, hickory nuts or raspberries and huckleberries. Animal tracks were learned and followed with hopes of a glimpse. Life was considered sacred unless needed for food and being a part of nature became obvious. A leave no trace and waste nothing ethic was being born.

Opportunities for further wilderness and pioneering skill development were provided by Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. My mom and dad were actively involved in Scouting when I was growing up. Teamwork and sharing responsibilities for the group were learned. Outdoor cooking and keeping things sanitary were heavily emphasized. Food poisoning is no joke – we had one patrol that damn near killed us with their meal. We learned to wash our hands and boil the crap out of everything. Hiking and backpacking skills were beginning to be developed in the Scouts. We day hiked a 20 miler once a year on the Johnny Appleseed Trail - the Scouts version of the death march. You had to carry a full pack if you wanted the patch. We also hiked the Pokagon Trail in northern Indiana and learned to camp in the winter.

While living in Pennsylvania (later in life) I started winter backpacking with a few of my buddies. We went in the winter both for the solitude it offered, and to learn the special skill sets required for survival in the cold. There are beautiful views from Seven Springs and other spots along the Laurel Highlands Trail during the winter. This experience then led to the development of technical mountaineering skills. The books Basic Rockcraft, Advanced Rockcraft and Knots for Climbers were memorized along with study of the book Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills. Skills were practiced and ingrained.

My first solo backpacking / climbing trip came in the summer of 1980 in the Organ Mountains of southern New Mexico. I later solo climbed most of the 4,000 and 5,000 footers in New England (many in winter). I met a like minded climber on one of those hikes and we made a summit bid on Mt. Rainier in June of 1998. I also began the solo circumnavigation on the Wonderland Trail that year. I set the first tracks both that year and when I completed the circuit in June of 2001. Map and compass skills were required. Primitive camping while carrying everything you need to survive for two weeks is a tough proposition. It was tough in my 30s and 40s. It’s even harder now that I am in my 50s. G.O.O.D. to the deep woods is doable but it would be a hard life.

Responsibility and Teamwork

We learned to be responsible and self-sufficient during our childhood. We learned to play without other kids around and had chores to do for our allowance. I learned to gather the wood and light a fire as soon as I was old enough. You pumped the water and filled the reservoir if you wanted warm water for washing up. You learned to use guns and knives as tools while you learned hunting techniques and cleaned the game for the table. Being a responsible hunter meant taking ethical shots and using what you kill. Catching and cleaning fish, then cooking or smoking them were all part of being a good fisherman. To go along with these survival skills you also need the ability to share knowledge and work as a team.

Most of the skills you learn will help you to fend for yourself one way or another. The only problem is summed up with the statement “no man is an island”. You will need others sooner or later. My sisters and I developed basic teamwork skills while setting up camp. The girls helped mom and I helped dad. We had a “system”. This was carried further in Scouting. Some Patrols set up tents while another set up the kitchen. These valuable lessons were used later in life as I went through boot camp and during service in the military. I served on small boats as part of a search and rescue team in the USCG.
Teamwork helps to overcome the steep learning curve and high risk of being a self-sufficient survivalist. You can do things as a team exponentially quicker and safer than you can by yourself. Your bunkmate becomes your partner in boot camp and later becomes your shipmate. You learn “one hand for yourself and one hand for the boat”. As a team you can survive what would kill you alone. In a bad storm someone has to steer while someone bails out the boat. One person couldn’t do it. Avalanche in the back country is another perfect example - by yourself you are probably dead. Doing things alone is great - but it may cost you your life. Skill and knowledge can’t cover your a** like a buddy. It’s nice to have someone else on the rope with you; they are your only hope.

Teaching everyone at least something you know and learning from everyone something you don’t know can only make the group stronger. If someone gets sick or is tired someone else can step up. CPR is a good example here. In the back country one person can’t help himself. One person helping may bring back the life but it better happen quickly. Two people allow you to send someone for help while rendering aid until you are too tired to continue. Three people allow almost indefinite support. Two can alternate CPR while waiting for the one who left for help to return with the defibrillator. If help is real far away, then it’s done. There is a point of no return. Remote locations usually cross that point which is a distinct disadvantage (unless the SHTF).

Without teamwork you will usually die if something bad happens. Everyone has to be a good shot. Everyone needs to be able to render first aid. The group is only as strong as the weakest link and precious resources are spent covering someone’s a** that’s not up to speed. Teach and learn and cross train. Remember what you did as a kid and don’t sell the kid’s of today short. Teach them the skills they need and allow them to grow into the responsibility. Being part of a team or extended family that functions like a team is fun. The action of being responsible for one another is at the root of any team.

The Prepared Family

The family is the primary source of knowledge. Some survival skills to learn right along with reading, writing and arithmetic are: swimming, knot tying, fire building under all conditions, where to get water and how to make it safe to drink, safe gun handling and accurate shooting, hunting in fields and the woods, fishing in rivers and on lakes, first aid, camping, boating, gardening, making things “homemade”. You can’t start learning or teaching these things too soon.

10 years ago we moved back home to Michigan after living all over the USA. I had come home for my Grandpa’s funeral and was returning to New England. Something was wrong and I couldn’t put my finger on it. That’s when the light came on and as I drove it became apparent that I was going the wrong way – both figuratively and literally. We were chasing the so called “American Dream”. Losing my grandfather and returning to the north woods had shown me where home really is. It is with family and God and where your roots are. I had drifted away from the true values I had learned early in life.
I resigned my position, cashed out the 401(k), and bought the homestead from grandma. We planted 24 fruit trees and installed irrigation systems for the gardens. We pruned the grape vines back and tended to the asparagus beds. My wife renewed the old flower beds and I have replaced the split rail fence. We re-roofed everything. The folks put down another well up the field and had another septic system installed for their travel trailer. We had a 100 amp power drop installed and we also buried a power cable from the field to the trailer for a 12 volt system (small scale solar and wind).
I once again could use guns after living in the tyranny of Massachusetts. (I refused to get an Firearms ID card so my guns never left the house in 16 years.) I taught a niece and nephew to shoot with the same .22 that grandpa used to teach me with almost 50 years ago. My nephew, now an 8th grader, got his first deer this past year. No one believed him when he came home and told them. He did it on his own.

Things have now come full circle in our life. My grandma lives with us in her old house through the summer. My sisters are both Grandmas themselves now and they are taking care of our mom and dad. The kids have great-grandparents and a great-great grandmother. My understanding wife of thirty years and I live here on the homestead as stewards of the family heritage. The whole family gets together up here once or twice a year. We know how to provide for and take care of each other. If the SHTF my sisters and the rest of the family will head up here to the homestead and once again adopt the ways of our Great-Great Grandpa and Grandma. Everything we have learned through our lives will serve us well. Skill sets from the north woods and from the farm are derived from living simple, living manual and living with nature as part of nature.

We used to fall to sleep on a feather tick mattress while listening to rain tapping over our heads in the loft of the old log cabin. Bedtime stories were told as we drifted to sleep and the whippoorwills sang into the night. We didn’t think that the day would come that just about all of what we learned from our family and from our life would come into play. Thank God for our tight family and all of the distilled knowledge passed down to us. I now live in a home built over the site of the original log cabin and now we have 7 generations since my great-great grandparents first cleared this piece of land. It looks like we will be talking of another “Great Depression” soon and the complete cycle renews. Do we learn from our mistakes?

Preparedness Skills and Materials

We’re preparing for the future and I hope to teach what I can to as many people as I can before it’s over. We can survive well if we draw on one another’s strengths and knowledge. It starts with the family and moves out to the extended family then to the neighbors and on to town folk and into the blogosphere. Many people have grown up in similar circumstances and have similar experiences. We must practice our learned skills and trades all of the time to stay fresh and perpetuate our way of life. We must keep acquiring new skills and more materials for survival. Preparedness is a constant quest.

Survival trades that I've learned:

ASE Certified Master Auto Technician
Journeyman Machinist and Apprentice Welder.
Experience with all aspects of house construction from framing to finish work, including house wiring and plumbing for water, gas and DWV systems.
Professional ditch digger and home brewer of beer.

Survival tools, equipment, and material acquired over the years:

Comprehensive set of Snap-On hand tools, diagnostic equipment and garage.
Several redundant computers and complete wi-fi coverage with satellite internet.
All of the carpentry, plumbing and electrical tools needed to build a house.
All of the tools required to garden both manually and with gas engines.
Fence building tools and supplies.
5,500 watt gas generator.
Wood stove and saws, axes, mauls, wedges.
Stores of food, bits of gold and silver, books and manuals, and lots of lead.

Survival firearms battery:

Auto-Ordinance Model 1911A1 .45 ACP (I qualified Marksman in USCG)
Stag Arms AR-15 with 20” Bull barrel, 5.56 (I qualified Expert in USCG)
Marlin .22 WMR (squirrel / varmint gun)
Mossberg .22 LR (shot this since 1962)
Ruger M77 Mk II .270 Win. (my deer rifle)
Winchester Model 94 .32 Win. Special (got my first deer with Grandpa’s gun)
Mossberg 12 ga. 3 -1/2” Ulti-Mag in Camo (turkey / duck / goose gun)
Winchester Model 1897 12 ga. 2-3/4” (I've shot this gun since 1969)
Reloading equipment and supplies (loads for Barnes Bullets)

Survival Quest 2009 (the final pieces I'll need for grid down and "zombies"):

Ruger M77 Mk II .300 Win Mag with optics
A manual water pump (the old pump is gone)
Wind turbine and photovoltaic panels for water pumping and power generation.
Battery bank and inverter
More kerosene lamps
Night Vision for the AR-15
Radios

Preparations
In January, 2008, the outlook for people in the United States appeared bleak. I told my wife that we needed to stock-up on food because I felt that the supply lines were thin and vulnerable. I began my preparations by Internet search. I found JWR's SurvivalBlog and I bought a copy of his novel. In the meantime, I started buying cases of canned goods. I bought food that we generally ate. I looked at the expiration dates of every purchase. I tried to buy what would last through 2011. Not much would, so I bought with the idea of buying more later, looking for one year at a time.

The pantry was full. I had read Jim's book, and had found many links on the SurvivalBlog that helped me know how much of what to buy to be balanced. I bought a freezer at Sam’s Club and filled that also. I noticed that food prices were increasing at an alarming rate in August. They were up 18% on same item purchases, on average. Later that figure would reach 35%. I only talked about this to a trusted few. My wife was starting to wonder about me.

Soon thereafter, a Harbor Freight store opened in Jonesboro, Arkansas, my home base. There, I purchased several more items I saw as essential. I got a two burner propane stove with a center grill feature. I bought some LED flashlights, ropes, staple guns, and other miscellaneous items. Being a hunter and former U.S. Army officer, I had a lot of camping (survival equipment) on hand. Sleeping bags were there, polypropylene long johns, butane lighters, three 20 gallon and one 100 gallon propane tanks were filled. I use them for my barbeque grill. I told my wife that we should buy a generator. She said that if I thought we should buy it, that I should. I didn’t.

I found some water barrels at a local food processing plant. I now have eight 55 gallon drums. I found 4 red 35 gallon chemical barrels that were set aside for gasoline. I had about six 5 gallon gas cans to operate my 4 wheeler, fishing boat, and sundry other small engines like lawn equipment and field water pumps.

Day to day, I am an NRA certified training counselor/instructor. Starting in November 2008, my business started to boom. I had a 300% increase in Arkansas concealed carry classes. That hasn’t stopped to this day. I have a 35 acre facility that is a former bean field, surrounded by thousands of farmland acres and two liquor stores. I have a 1,200 square foot building for classroom and office space, a 52 foot trailer for storage. My plan for survival guns was simple. All guns were to be military calibers. Handguns would be .45 and .38 calibers. Rifles would be .22 rimfire, 7.62x39, .308 and .30-06 calibers. Shotguns would be 12 gauge. Stocks of ammunition were increased starting early in 2008.

Shelter, food, security. What is left? Communications. I bought a set of 25 mile range pair of Motorola hand held communicators with recharger on sale for $38. Stores of batteries were laid in. Cell phones. Transportation was what we already had. 2001 Dodge Durango 4x4 and a 2005 Chevrolet 4x4 extended cab pick-up.

The Storm
January 28, 2009. KAIT –TV weather in Jonesboro, Arkansas is forecasting a wet winter storm cold front with frigid weather following out of the Northwest. When it began, the outside temperature was about 27 degrees Fahrenheit. Freezing rain collected on everything in near biblical quantity.

I was awakened in the early morning of January 29th and you could hear branches starting to snap with a sound like gunshots. Outside, you could see flashes of light as one by one, the transformers on the light poles blew out. The power was off. It was time to go to work. First, open the flue and light the gas logs in the fireplace. Inside the house, the temperature had quickly fallen to about 40 degrees. I thought to crack a window for ventilation draft to reduce the chances of carbon monoxide poisoning. Then I set up a propane heater and went about blocking off all rooms except the den and kitchen, which were adjoining. I used 4 mil plastic to cover two entrances to the den. The temperature quickly found about 62 degrees. We placed a carbon monoxide detector in the room to keep us from being statistics. The propane stove was set up over the electric range for cooking and a 20 pound bottle of propane was connected to it. I started thinking about how I should have bought a generator.

By morning, we felt isolated in our home. Very few vehicles were moving. The world outside looked like a war zone with ice-laden limbs and the things they crushed. With no electricity, the phones didn’t work. We ate breakfast normally. The whole world became our refrigerator. No cable TV so we cranked up the radio and began to listen to the results. Reports of some break-ins started coming in as people abandoned all electric homes for the designated shelters in town. Outlying areas quickly ran out of gasoline and propane. Stores emptied out their goods and shelves became bare. Generators and flashlights were nonexistent. Batteries and power supplies followed suit. Many businesses were unable to sell anything as their computers were down and lights and heat were out. Sadly, no one has a backup plan for how to sell anything without electricity. Gas cans were a faint memory. I checked on our neighbors to make sure they were coping, and to exchange cell phone numbers. The telephone system actually works without outside electricity if the type of phone you use doesn’t need 110 volts from the grid. We had one emergency phone for that reason, and it was operational. I wondered how many people knew about that?

The day passed relatively uneventfully. We had everything we needed to exist in a minor disaster. Some people didn’t. A few died for their lack of preparedness.
After the passing of the first day of “survival,” tree limb removal became the priority, while everyone fought what southerners call severe cold. It was the 30th of January. The temperature was unrelenting with nighttime lows of 9 degrees and daytime highs of 20. I was able to venture out for things that would be nice to have, like a generator. You see, with a generator, our gas furnace would work. All you need it for is the electric blower. It was the only hole in the preparations. I went in to the local Lowe’s, after checking a couple of other stores. In the back of the store there was a line of about 13 people. I asked why they were there. There was a truck inbound with 75 generators. I got in line. Twenty minutes later I was in the electric department buying the necessary wire nuts and power cords needed to hook my [newly-purchased] generator to the power panel in my house.

When I got home, the first thing I did was to disconnect the house from the grid by turning off the main breaker, outside the house. You must do this before attempting to connect a generator to your power panel. Failure to do so could kill workmen repairing downed power lines and connecting transformers. To get things operational quickly, I used the cord provided with the generator, which used four grounded plug outlets. To operate the [selected] areas to connect, I bought 10 gauge wire. We turned off all appliances and I pulled out the circuit breaker for the selected rooms. I disconnected the wire from the circuit breaker and wired it directly to each wire with a male plug on the other end to mate with the wire from the generator. I did this for the heater circuit, the den wall circuit, the kitchen wall circuit, and the master bedroom wall circuit. The heater kicked on.

I offer one final note about using a generator. The operation book has a chart in it showing the watts used by each type of appliance. You must calculate the [load] amount used by your appliances. It has to add up to less than your generators running wattage rating.

We were on a main highway in town, and we had our electricity hooked to the grid after spending only a few nights without. Many in town were without electricity for three weeks. In outlying areas, some are still not connected. The line crews working to restore power were fantastic. Limbs still line the highways and yards a month after the event began.

Lessons Learned
It was nice to be confident in the preparations that we had made. It was also easy to see the holes in the plan. I now have the generator that I knew I would need when the grid goes down. After the fact, I also bought the connections necessary to hook up the generator just by turning off the main breaker, plugging the generator to an installed wall socket, and cranking it up. Cell phones go down after only a few days without a charge. I bought a portable power battery for that purpose. If we had been out of power long term, the generator would have had to have been used on a part time basis, at night. That means that daytime operations would have been using only one or two rooms, again. When power goes down, the best fallback is natural gas, if you have it. I am in the process of planning where to install additional natural gas stubs for appliances that can be added. The natural gas hot water heater was a blessing. It was on from the start. The warmest place in the house was the utility room where the water heater is located. Remember to have books and games for those evening hours when you would have been watching television. Make sure all of your gasoline cans stay filled and stabilized. Make sure all of your propane bottles stay charged. Make sure you have plenty of batteries for radios and flashlights. Make sure you have enough essential medicines. Roger’s Rangers rules #1 rule is "Don’t fergit nuthin!"

I may have missed a few issues, but I want to talk about future plans. I am going to install photovoltaic panels to run an emergency LED lighting system. This would be a small solar panel, probably 45-60 watts [and a deep cycle battery], as a precursor to getting a more comprehensive system. LED lights use very little electricity and they are very long lasting. More technology will be added as it becomes available. Reducing reliance on the grid is the ultimate goal.

Final Words
You can war game and "what if" emergency situations as much as you like. It is good to exercise your plan. The problem is that real situations have a way of waking you up to the holes in your plans. Do not wait to begin planning for the next disaster. People in tornado and earthquake zones know about being ready for these things, but Mother Nature will have a surprise for you no matter where you are. Prepare for the worst and pray to God that it doesn’t happen.

Hi Jim,
Here are a few links for Beeswax survival "cooking" candles. They burn cleaner and longer than paraffin and are also considered safer. (Though they may not be the best choice for burning outdoors in bear country!)

Pheylonian Survival Candles
Pheylonian eShop
Zen Stoves

- All Grace, No Slack, Really-Reformed Kris

I sat down to see what I could offer to share with other SurvivalBlog readers. Many topics have already been covered, so I will attempt to go somewhere new.
I am a law enforcement officer by trade, and hope to provide a unique perspective as such. I have seen shootings, stabbing, burglaries, robberies, etc. I have served both search and arrest warrants. I work in the southwest US, and have worked in very affluent areas as well as very poor areas. What follows are some observations of my time on the job, relating to a few different areas and crimes that occur. Hopefully some people will get something out of this. None of this is to be construed as legal advice, strictly observations. All are very applicable to everyday life, and will be highly applicable at TEOTWAWKI .A good teacher once said “I am not showing you the way, only A way.” I apologize in advance if I jump around between topics:

1- SHOOTINGS-
Of all the shootings I have seen, whether officer involved or not, shot placement has been the key to success (success being the death or incapacitation of attacker). Regardless of bullet or weapon type, a solid hit will end a fight. I have seen Black Talon .45 ACP ammo through the stomach fail to incapacitate someone, as well as .223s with poor shot placement fail to stop an attacker. Both subjects lost a lot of blood, but were able to continue to fight. A few recent shootings involved 9mm FMJ ammo. All were fatal, and all were solid hits to the heart/lung area. The take home lesson is that shot placement is key to survival, regardless of caliber. Obviously, proper ammo choice with proper shot placement is best. (I know it has been discussed before, but bird shot is not an effective defense load)
So how can we improve our shot placement? Shoot more. Dry fire. Practice. Then practice some more. If you do not shoot, learn. Whether you are a beginner or advanced shooter, do not forget to work on the basics- sight alignment and trigger control. There is no substitute for trigger time and fundamentals. 22 conversion kits are widely available for many guns for practice at reduced cost. AR-style sights are also available for 10/22s if you prefer that route over a conversion kit. Shorter, more frequent practice sessions are more beneficial than infrequent longer sessions, whether live or dry fire.

After improving static shooting skills, focus on stress shooting. Attend a training course. Practice what you learn in the course. A 2-4 day course will expose you to a lot of new ideas. It is up to you to reinforce them [with practice] when you return home. Only through repetition will these movements become second nature. Join a local IDPA league. The stress of competition will help. Become physically fit. Studies with police and simmunition/judgmental shooting scenarios showed that the more physically fit an individual, regardless of all other factors, the more likely they were to succeed on the simmunition portion and the less mistakes they made on the judgmental portion. (Think about how sports teams make more mental errors late in a game when fatigue sets in) All subjects showed an immediate increase in heart rate and blood pressure. The more fit individuals showed a more rapid return to normal levels, often before the end of the scenario. Combine physical exertion with shooting. Try doing sprints/pushups/jumping jacks, then shooting. Use your imagination.

Learn to clear a malfunction on your weapon. All guns will jam at some point. Ejected shells have bounced off walls and landed back in an open recoiling action. Strange things happen. Know your chosen weapon’s action of arms. Learn to do so with economy of movement. You can purchase dummy rounds or assemble them from spent cases. Throw a few into your magazine next time you shoot, and clear the malfunctions as they happen. It will also show any flinching problems. Teach someone else to shoot. You will be amazed at how much you will learn teaching someone else.

2-BURGLARIES

A-Points of entry-
Residential burglaries are an all too common occurrence. The most common points of entry I have seen are door and open windows. For some reason, crooks have an aversion to breaking windows on houses, though it will happen. (Perhaps the Broken Window Theory is true…) “Smash and Grab” activity does happen, but tends to be more vehicle related. (Practice good OPSEC in your vehicle. Do not leave valuables in plain view. Do not place gun stickers on your vehicle, etc)

A few bad guys that have been willing to talk have mentioned that you can shut a door after kicking it in, but a broken window is harder to hide from neighbors. Go and look at your front door. Find your lock plate. When a door is forced, this is the part to give, with the plate coming loose and breaking the trim. Get a screw driver, and remove one of the screws. Realize that this is what is securing your front door. Now go buy longer screws, and replace them immediately. A security door is also a huge plus, as it opens out and requires different techniques to remove. They are not fool proof, but do more to make someone choose another house which is the ultimate goal.

Open windows are the other really common method of entry. Any time any work is done on your house, check all of your windows. It is disturbingly common for workers or anyone in your home to leave a window open in a unused room, or unlock a seldom used door and then return later. Follow workers when they are in your house (Side note on this… I recently had a water heater replaced. I would have done it myself, but it was still under warranty and was free. While chit-chatting with the worker, he asked if I was a cop. I told him no, then asked why. He replied that the only people who watch him work tend to be cops. Just like you are observing others, do not forget that you are being watched as well.) Sterilize your house prior to allowing workers in. Do not leave out firearm accessories, bank statements, etc. Bars on windows are also effective in limiting possible points of entry. They may be against fire code (check your jurisdiction), and reduce points of exit as well. Roll shutters are another really good option here. Many newer homes have a window to the side of the front door. Consider a metal grate or something similar inside to prevent breaking the window, then undoing the locks. These windows, even when frosted, also provide a visible indicator about how many people/when someone is coming to the door, eliminating surprise.

B- What is taken
Cash, firearms, jewelry, electronics, tools, credit cards, personal info, bank statements. Anything that they can pawn or trade for drugs. If you go on vacation, take your spare vehicle keys with you. A recent trend has been to load up the second car parked in the cover of the garage, then drive it away with all of your stuff. Buy a gun safe, preferably a heavy one. Don't forget to lock your safe (No, I am not kidding about this.) Bolt your safe down. I have seen studs cut from the wall to remove a safe. I personally have not seen one pried from the floor yet, although I am sure it has happened. Bolt it to both floor and walls and be safe. Write your serial numbers down also, especially for firearms. (Be very careful with this list, for obvious reasons, especially with private party gun sales. Keep a copy somewhere other than your safe also) It is very hard to prove ownership or log an item as stolen without the serial number.

3-ROBBERIES
Robberies occur all the time, everywhere. Situational awareness is the most beneficial for preventing these. You are most vulnerable at times of preoccupation. Fumbling with keys, exiting/entering a car or residence, running with your headphones on, etc Carry bags in a manner to leave your gun hand free, assuming you are carrying concealed. Pay attention. Pause before entering exiting anywhere. Stop, look, and listen. Take a few seconds to do this anytime you enter or exit anything. Make it a habit. You see all the time on surveillance footage of people walking into a liquor store as it is being robbed. Try to stop, look and listen before you enter the store. After you enter, step to one side and do it again. Park in well lit areas. When in your vehicle, keep your doors locked. Do not pull up directly behind the car in front of you and box yourself in. Know where exits are in restaurants and businesses. Listen to your hunches. Home invasion robberies are increasingly common as well. Security doors pay huge dividends here. Even a highly trained SWAT team either has to pry or yank these with a vehicle, before dealing with the interior door. This buys you time. Time equates to distance and options, which equate to safety. Have a dog, and lock all of your gates. See above about window bars. A fenced yard helps. Most states have laws that recognize fenced yards as having a higher expectation of privacy than a non-fenced yard, and a corresponding reduced standard for lethal force action inside said fence. (i.e. the "reasonable person" test, an intruder climbing over a locked gate into a yard with a dog would be expected to be a greater threat than an intruder that was at the front window of an unfenced yard.)

It is not unreasonable if the “police” come to your door to ask to see a badge, preferably a commission card, as these have an officer’s photo. Look though a different window and see if a car is outside. Call the agency they say they are from and verify they are who they say they are. If in doubt, wait and verify. Keep your doors locked when you are home, not just when you leave or before bed.
Police are not trained to look for "bad guys." They are trained to analyze behavior and patterns. When something looks out of place, it is cause for concern.

4-BUILDING CLEARANCE/HOME DEFENSE

A-Offensive
I work nights, so most of this section will be related to this. I have approached many houses. Let me walk you through what is typical for my squad. Hopefully it will grant some insight into the mind and method of potential attackers.It starts outside of the residence, down the street. Turn off your vehicle lights before you turn onto the street. Park your vehicle so it is not in plain view. Take advantage of other parked cars, as well as the shadows in between street lights to conceal your car. Exit the vehicle quietly. Do not slam your doors. Turn of/disable your vehicle dome light prior to opening your door. Secure any loose or rattling equipment. Stop, look, and listen while still at your car. Let your eyes adjust. Identify the target residence. Depending on the threat level of the suspect or call type we number anywhere from two to six. Approach the house, again taking advantage of lighting and concealment. At the house, stop, look and listen. Are there motion lights? Video cameras? Is there a fence? Is the entire yard fenced? Is the gate locked? Are there cars in the driveway? Are the hoods warm? Most residences have an exposed front and a fenced back yard, so we will assume that is the case. Is there an alley? If so, send one or two people to cover points of exit/look through rear windows. What do you hear? Television? Fighting? Screaming? A shower? A racking shotgun? Whispering? Is there a barking dog? (Pepper spray is effective and commonly used to silence barking dogs. Many SWAT teams now carry suppressed weapons strictly for this purpose. Many cops also carry dog treats.) Look at windows. Can you see through the blinds/curtains? Do an experiment at your residence. Turn on an interior light in a room, and go outside to the window. How much can you see in? Can you see through the corners? What about where the curtains are supposed to come together at the bottom? Do this for all the windows. What do you see inside? How many people? Men, women, children? Are they calm? Are they armed? At the front door, we unscrew light bulbs, adjust cameras, cover them with rubber gloves if they do not move. Spray paint would be effective also at taking care of cameras that do not move. Consider installing a light fixture with a completely surrounded bulb, one that takes a screwdriver to change, or mounting it higher up.. When you knock on the door, move away to a position of cover. Again, stop look and listen. Does the television go off? Who yells to who to get the door? Corners of buildings provide more “cover” than the middle of a wall, as most construction backs multiple 2x4 or 2x6’s up at this location. Have someone watching through a window. Usually by shadow or change in light you can tell when someone is coming to the door, and often how many.

When entering a house
The most common mistakes when clearing a residence are noise discipline and speed. Slow down. Do not move faster than you can take in important details. Be as quiet as possible. The idea is to catch them before they catch you. They are waiting for you. Do not give them any advantage.
There is much debate about building clearance, and many schools of thought. Here are some universal points to all methods:

You need at least three people to be safe. Never search by yourself. More people are better. Cover reflexive angles of one another. Smooth is the goal. Do not stand near the walls. You do not want to risk giving away a position by running your equipment against a wall. This also gives you more options should you engage and have to move. Move slowly (one minute per hundred square feet is not unreasonable). When “pieing” [or "pie slicing"] a room, examine each new degree of the pie from top to bottom , and back again. Hunters will understand this better, but you are not looking for a whole person. You are looking for parts. A toe, an ear, an elbow. Likewise, when clearing, have your upper body move before your lower body (i.e., lean and clear, then move your feet underneath you….repeat….practice with a friend/spouse or a mirror [with and absolutely cleared and double-checked firearm]) and keep your elbow tucked under your weapon, so the first thing the bad guy will see is half the barrel of your gun and half of that eye. (Notice I said “that” eye. Learn to shoot with your off hand, and practice. It is impossible to safely clear a house with the gun in one hand the entire time.) Practice house clearing. Get a friend, family member. Go through your home. Go through theirs. Take turns being the good guy/bad guy. Do it during the day. Do it at night. Repeat. People hide in all sorts of places. Cupboards, washing machines, inside couches, between mattresses, etc. Do not move past anything you have not cleared. You do not want to be worried about something behind you while clearing. If a door is locked and you have to bypass it, get creative. Lean something up against the door so you will know if it is opened behind you. Tie it shut. Do not make more noise than you need to. Do not be afraid to kneel or squat when pieing. People are expecting certain things. Think outside the box.

As far as lights go, there are two schools of thought. The first, turn on lights as you enter the room. You can see, but the enemy can also. The second, use a weapon mounted or handheld light. You can illuminate an area, kill the light, then move. Try both and see what you prefer.

B-Defensive Measures
Consider all of the proceeding section of what attackers do. Apply this to your home. Imagine you are at home, watching television. The neighbor’s dog starts barking, or your's does. The dog suddenly stops. You still get up to investigate, wisely. You go to turn on your outside light, and the bulb does not work. At this point in time the hair on the back of your neck should be standing up. Pay attention to all of the small things. You check your security camera, and suddenly it’s looking at a view of the wall. If a security camera is not working, blocked, etc, lights not working, dog stopped barking (or still barking like mad) these are clues to put on your vest and load your weapon. (You do always put on your vest and grab your weapon when you go to investigate bumps in the night, right? )

Look at your home. Put up a fence around your entire yard. Build a full size fence, not a half one. Clear an area for 8-to-10 feet on either side of the fence, the entire way around. Do not take the time to put up a fence and then provide an easy means over it. Lock the gate. Get two or three large dogs and let them have free roam of the yard. They make “shake” alarms for fences that will go off when the fence is disturbed. They can be made to ring your cell phone (As in your phone rings, you answer, a computer voice states "You have a fence activation on the north side of your property."). Look at your outside lights also. Where are the dark spots? Where are blind spots that you cannot see from your windows? Consider discrete mirrors in strategic locations to check blind spots. Mount your lights high so they cannot be unscrewed, and get fixtures that protect the light bulb. Install security cameras. Consider a few camera pointed towards your house, possibly under eaves or overhangs that will be easy to miss. Where are your children’s rooms in relationship to yours? Where are the bullets that you may be shooting going to be flying? What walls can be made bullet resistant? I have been in homes where the people literally filled the half walls at the top of the stair case with sand/sand bags to provide a fortified fighting position for the family. Other ideas include surplus vests, Kevlar sheeting, etc stuffed in this area. Another option is to fortify your children’s rooms if they are on the other end of the home, but this also provides an intruder with a potential stronghold. Consider interior flood lights. The same people with the sand bagged half walls had flood lights above the stairs, facing down. With the positioning of the lights, it blinded everyone to the defenders at the top of the stairs.

Every home has ambush spots. When you are practicing clearing your house, think about what spots give you problems. Blind corners or multiple doors in close proximity are nightmares while clearing. Find a spot on the far side of the room or down a hallway where you can view these problem areas. One where you can view a problem area and fortify is an ideal location. Stairwells make good options. While you are practicing clearing your house with someone else, take turns being the “bad guy.” See where you want to hide, where you have the best advantage.

I hope this helps. People often talk about hardware versus software. In these tough economic times, hardware is not easy to come by. Software is cheap. Try to still obtain what you can when you can, but focus on learning skills--any skills. Plant a garden. Change your oil. Help someone with a construction project. Read a book. Learn to bake bread. Learn to distill alcohol. Reload. Take a first aid course. Cook with your food storage. Volunteer somewhere where you can learn something. Practice bartering your skills for goods or services. YouTube is an amazing resource out there if you are unsure how to do something and don’t know anyone that can teach you. If you already have skills, teach them (while still learning new ones.) Spread the word to those that will listen. Post a youtube video about preparation, or about any skill that you have. Teach someone to shoot. You can pick up a surplus Mosin-Nagant rifle and 500 rounds of ammunition for around $150, depending on where you live. Encourage everyone you know to buy one or two.)

TheBoxOTruth.com is a great resource also regarding questions about ammo ("I wonder what happens if I shoot layers of sheet rock with "X" caliber...") Show your friends SurvivalBlog. Sow the seeds of preparation in all you come across. Continue to prepare, pray, and be safe. - Eli

Mr. Rawles,
Although being an avid reader, this is the first time I have written your site. The letters posted on your site today respecting Alaska as a retreat locale raised a few possible issues in my mind. First of all, let me say that Alaska is my favorite place in the world, and I wouldn't have it any other way. However, as a retreat locale, one may want to think twice unless the situation forces their location there. Also, it is important to remember that the conditions and terrain in Alaska are very wide ranging, depending where you are. The climate can range from arctic in the north to relatively mild in the south. I have heard the climate in the south compared to that of the mid-Atlantic states on the East coast.

Most parts of the state are totally without agriculture, but there is some in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley. The growing season is usually around 100 days long, and can produce huge vegetables because of the length of the days. Some vegetables do well there, such as potatoes, carrots and cabbage.

Therefore, if one intends to do any kind of farming in Alaska, the "Mat-Su" Valley is where it is possible. However, there is a major drawback to this fact, from the perspective of retreat logistics. The Mat-Su valley is one of the most densely populated areas of the state. It has, as of late, been converting to suburban communities for workers who commute to Anchorage. As we all know, the suburbs are a bad, bad place to be WTSHTF. And even if one were to build a retreat in a section of the valley not yet suburban, there is no way to know that it would remain so for the next five years or more.

Prepping before the SHTF is made more difficult by the state's isolation. Building materials, fuel, food, guns, ammo, medical supplies and any other product must be shipped in from the [continental] US or elsewhere. This makes these products not only more expensive, but generally less available, especially outside of the urban centers. Ordering off the web makes them easier to get, but the shipping is still expensive. Fuel of any kind is the most expensive in the nation, and ammo is pretty over-priced, too.

Fuel, as one letter pointed out, is a major problem. Getting by without fossil fuels is a main goal of most preppers, and it may prove more difficult in Alaska. Solar is out, at least during the winter. Not only is there very little light, but it is less intense than elsewhere, due to the oblique angle at which it hits the state (as it is so far north). I don't know a lot about wind, so that may be a possibility. If it was, any parts would be difficult to get. As K.L.'s letter says, firewood is a possibility, but this raises three issues.

As he says, with no gas or diesel = no power tools to cut [and haul firewood]. Any broken hand tools would be irreplaceable, and even having extras is likely not enough when you plan to cut by hand and burn firewood for a very extended period of time. Hand cutting firewood is also time consuming.

Since it would need to be done in the summer, it would take up time for farming and other chores. This might not be a problem if you are part of a large retreat group, however. Also, felling trees, in any way, especially by hand, is extremely dangerous. I would strongly recommend a logger certification class for anyone planning to possibly use firewood as a retreat fuel. Although the course will focus on mechanical forestry, the safety principles are the same universally.

Third, unless one has a retreat on a very spacious lot, it is possible to run out of firewood to cut. Trees grow much slower in Alaska People who do not heat their homes in this manner would be surprised at the amount of fuel a wood stove can use in a winter. For instance, to heat the house on my family farm, it takes roughly 10 to 15 cords to get through the winter, with a little to spare for safety's sake. And that is back in New York, not Alaska. Imagine cutting that much firewood on a 25 acre lot for five years or more. One may be able to cut off of their property, but that is a bad way to meet the neighbors, especially after TSHTF.

This letter ran much longer than I planned, and I would like to go on further, but time prevents me from doing so. In short, think twice about a retreat in Alaska. It is absolutely possible, but would present much greater difficulties than other feasible places. In the lower 48, one can find the same type of isolated area, but with:

Better farming conditions
Lower prices in general
A climate not requiring huge amounts of fuel for the winter
Ability to travel through the US without crossing international borders (If they still exist after TSHTF)
And so forth...

If you think you can do it, then go for it. My wife thinks I'm trying to keep it all for myself. - J. Galt

JWR Replies: Thanks for that input. I have my doubts about the viability of the Mat-Su Valley in worst-case collapse. Its proximity to the hungry, teeming masses of Anchorage is troubling. Alaska cannot feed its population, even in today's economy, and one can only wonder what it would be like grid-down, with no fuel available.

I encourage anyone serious about living in Alaska to look at the Delta Junction area, in Alaska's interior. I haven't been there since the summer of 1980 (when I attended the U.S. Army Northern Warfare School), but it struck me as a very productive agricultural region.)

Lighting systems in a retreat home (not connected to the grid).

My home does not fit the definition of a retreat. I built it about 30 years ago in the UP (Upper Peninsula of Michigan) when the idea of a retreat location was not on my radar screen. Only by coincidence has my home worked out to fit a retreat definition, better situated them many, not as good as some. It is quite secluded, the only house at the end of a dead end dirt road. It has never had grid power run to it. The utility company wanted as much money to run the power lines through the woods back to my cabin as the cabin cost me to build. It’s not that I didn’t know that when I built the cabin, I just did not think it was anything I needed to have at the time. This is not that unusual in the UP as it may seem to most people. There are lots of homesteads too far off the beaten path to have grid power connected up here in the UP. The cabin is 2000 sq. ft. with three bedrooms, two baths, living room, kitchen and dining room. Also a full basement, not included in the square footage above. It is as modern as most houses today except for how every thing works. I will only concentrate on lighting in this essay. In later essays (if anyone is interested) I can explain cooking, refrigeration, heating, electricity, etc. I hope you don’t mind my folksy/personal writing style; it’s just the way I am.

Today we are heading into a monumental depression of historic magnitude. No one truly knows how bad it will get or how long it will last. I think it was Benjamin Franklin that said “prepare for the worst and hope for the best” and that’s as true today as it was over 200 years ago. I know the subject of lighting may seem somewhat mundane and even silly to some, put a few candles away and we will be OK, they hope. But without sustained, reliable lighting, day to day life can get pretty difficult at best. It’s important to try to keep your home as normal as possible in the hard times ahead for you, your family and whoever may be seeking refuge with you. All lighting systems take energy of some form just as cooking and heating do, this is the first thing to keep in mind when planning for your lighting systems.

As Mr. Rawles has said in the past “two is one and one is none”. I have learned this the hard way, by experiencing a failure in a system. I have four, separate, distinct and independent (from each other) lighting systems in the house. So a failure of one or even two will not make my lights go out.

The first lighting system is AC electric. The cabin is fully wired for 110/220V AC power, normal household electrical current. Supplied via gas generator, wind generator, and inverter/charger battery bank system, again if anyone is interested I can go into greater detail about the electrical systems in another essay. For the most part the electric lights in the house are compact fluorescent with a few exceptions. One of the exceptions are the under-cabinet 10 watt halogen lights in the kitchen. Ten watts is not much but there are 13 of them under the cabinets. I must admit that they are nice to have on and 130 watts is not all that much either, however I tend to forget about them being on and along with the TV and lights on in the living room, bathroom and a bedroom (kids, you know how that is) the batteries are drawn down much too fast. Well I can’t use the kids excuse anymore, it's grandkids now. We all know how electric lights work; you flip a switch and the lights come on. That is true with inverter power also, as long as you use the right inverter system.

Just to be clear about electricity, it is by far the most convenient and at the same time the most susceptible to failure of all the lighting systems I use. I have run out of gas, aggravating at the time but not a major problem, unless gas becomes unavailable? I have had generator and/or inverter system failures; yes even the best will not last indefinitely. The worst electrical failure I have experienced was lightning hitting the phone line coming into the cabin. The phone lines are underground but the lightning hit it anyway. It followed the line into the house, blowing every phone jack off the walls and ruined all three of my phones. It also crossed over to the electrical wiring and fried most every thing plugged in to wall outlets. NOTE: I have plug strips supposedly with electrical breakers built into them, so I can turn off the TV, stereo, and the like so they will not run down the batteries. All modern electronics and appliances use power even when there not in use. [JWR Adds: These are so-called "phantom loads", typically caused the microcircuits for clocks and other sub-modules.] The lightning went across these plug strips as if they were hard wired in. This was a major system failure. My homes owners insurance covered all repairs and replacements. However in a TEOTWAWKI there would be no insurance and no repairs or replacements unless I fixed them myself and, spare parts would be out of the question.

My second lighting system is propane gas. The cabin is plumbed for gas lights in most of the main rooms down stairs and the master bedroom and bathroom upstairs. These are gas mantle lights. To light them I use a Bic lighter under the mantle and turn on the gas, and I have instant light. When I first installed the gas lights, I would use a kitchen match (wooden matches), to light them. I soon discovered I was very good at poking a hole in the mantle with the match; I soon switched to a Bic lighter. Mantles cost about $7.00 each. They are about as bright as a 65 to 70 watt incandescent light bulb. I have two styles of gas mantle lights in my home. The first and the ones I started with are Humphrey gas lights; I only have two of them. These are good dependable well made lighting fixtures of sheet metal construction; the only drawback is there a little homely. As far as I know there is only one style, a wall mount fixture. Humphrey gas lighting fixtures can be found at most propane distributors and country hardware stores.

The second gas lighting fixture and the one I prefer is Falks gas lighting fixtures. These are a much more elegant lighting fixture made in Canada out of solid brass. There are three styles of Falks lighting fixtures to pick from. A single mantle wall mount, double mantle wall mount and a double mantle chandelier, I have all three styles in my cabin. Both the Humphrey and Falks gas lights use the same globes and mantles. I have several spare mantles and globes on hand at all times. Falks gas lights can be ordered from Lehman's. The cost for the single Falks gas light is about $80 US and $75 US for a Humphrey gas light. Gas lights are just as bright as electric lights.

When I installed the gas lights I used 1⁄2” soft copper tubing for main runs and 3/8” soft copper tubing off the main run for a single lighting fixture. If you put in gas lights never use hard copper tubing that requires soldering the joints. Only use soft copper tubing and flare fittings that are designed for gas applications. Use a soap swab to check for gas leaks at every connection. Never use a match to check for leaks. If there is a leak (and there will be some) at a connection you can have an instant blow torch on your hands, and that blow torch can just as well be in your face. If you do not know how to install gas fixtures have a licensed plumber do them.

Both Falks and Humphrey gas lights use about .085 lb of gas per hour per mantle. I think a little math is in order here.

One gallon of propane weighs about 4.23 lb.
A 20 lb. propane tank (type for gas grills) contains somewhere in the neighborhood of 4.7 gallons of gas. If you did the math you will find that it isn’t exactly 20 lbs., the numbers aren’t carried out properly to the last decimal place.

Therefore a 20 lb. propane tank will run one mantle light for approximately 234 hours of continues use. If you ran a gas light for 5 hours a night one 20 lb. tank will last for 47 days. However refilling 20 lb. tanks is the most expensive way to buy and store propane gas.

A 100 lb. tank will run one mantle light for approximately 1,176 hours of continues use. And if you ran a gas light for 5 hours a night, one 100 lb. tank will last for 235 days more or less. I’m sure someone will check my math to see if it works out and that’s Okay, I make lots of mistakes.

I have a 500 gallon propane pig (tank) for gas, which is kind of a lot for just lighting. I also use propane for other things in my cabin. The last time propane was delivered last October it cost $2.49 per gallon. At that price it cost approximately $0.05 per hour to run one light. Also propane will store for ever with no degradation of the gas (it doesn’t "go bad"). You can’t say that for gasoline, kerosene or diesel. A side note: I am told that we are in a deflationary spiral, but the only things that I can see going down in price is real estate and gasoline. Food, clothing, repairs of anything and the stuff you need day to day haven’t gone down at all. (Just a little whining).

My third independent lighting system; kerosene lights. I use two types of kerosene lights in the cabin. The first is Aladdin lamps. I have four Aladdin lamps, one is a Majestic Table lamp, and three Genie III shelf lamps one of which is in a hanging fixture in my bedroom, and the two others are on each end of the fireplace mantle. Aladdin lamps can be a bit temperamental to operate. All Aladdin lamps are mantle lamps similar to Coleman Lanterns however they use a round wick like an old kerosene lamp. The temperamental part, the wick must be trimmed evenly all around the top. If it is not you will get flame spikes (I call them horns) coming up into the mantle and if, (not when), these little fiery horns touch the mantle it will start building up with carbon. All you have to do is turn down thee wick so the horn is not touching the mantle and the carbon will burn off the mantle. However if you don’t turn the wick down, the mantle will continue to build up carbon and eventually put out copious amounts of lovely black soot, to coat your ceiling and fill the air with a witches' brew of noxious gas and smoke. On the bright side, Aladdin lamps will generate the equivalent of a 50 watt incandescent light bulb and at the same time will put out about 2,700 BTU’s of heat, that’s a lot of heat in the summer time from one lamp. In the evenings in the fall and spring of the year, I can heat my cabin with nothing but Aladdin lamps (if it’s not too cold out). A log cabin retains heat very well, and all my windows are triple glazed. If you would like to try Aladdin lamps they are available at many country hardware stores and Lehman’s by mail order. After making it sound awful, I like my Aladdin lamps, it just takes a little practice to learn how to use them. If you are going to use Aladdin lamps you will need to stock up on Aladdin Chimneys, Mantles and Wicks. There are two types of Aladdin Chimneys. The first is the Lox-On Chimney; I’ve had them last for years and also had them break in a week. In my opinion the Heel-Less Chimney is superior, it allows the glass to move as it heats up and cools off without breaking. For about $12.00 a Gallery Adapter will convert a Burner to use a Heel-less Chimney. Newly manufactured Aladdin Lamps come with Heel-Less Chimneys.

I have several table and wall mounted old fashion kerosene lamps. I also have one very ornate Victorian hanging library lamp in my dinning room. It is solid brass with a ruby red hob nail, glass shade, and lots of prisms. If it sounds like my cabin is old fashioned, it is. One rule of thumb in lighting any kerosene lamp, light the wick with a low flame and let the lamp and kerosene in it heat up. As the kerosene gets hotter its viscosity goes down and flows much faster. As the kerosene flows faster the flame will get bigger and bigger. There is no reason for the chimney to soot up if you just start with a low flame and let the lamp heat up. After the lamp is hot you can adjust the brightness. If you plan on using kerosene lamps stock up on wicks and chimneys. The wicks are consumables and no matter how careful you are chimneys break. Almost forgot, every time the lamps are filled the wick should be trimmed, I trim the wick just to clean it up flat across its top and I cut a small 45º angle off each end of the wick, so the flame will have a domed appearance. If that is not clear just experiment with it, you will learn as you go.

How mush kerosene should be stored? I am told that kerosene will last for about 15 years before it goes bad. In 2008 I used about 30 gallons of kerosene; I use more in the winter then in the summer. In a TEOTWAWKI I would be mush more conservative than I am right now. If you’re going to use kerosene as one of your lighting systems I would suggest storing from 100 to 200 gallons in 55 gallon plastic drums.

The last lighting system is just old fashion candles. Several years ago I was able to acquire about 200 pounds of wax from a company I worked for. The company applied wax to one of the products they manufactured. When they had a product change on the coating machine they had to purge all the wax out of the machine and put in a different formula for the changeover. The purged wax was pumped out into five gallon buckets and discarded. It is amazing how much stuff is thrown away that could be used in a grid down situation. All this wax I have stashed will someday have to be made into candles. There are two basic ways to make candles. The first is to mold (cast) them in a candle mold. I have had one of these for a very long time; it casts 8 candles at a time. The candle mold is simple to use. Just feed a pre-waxed string (wick) through the hole in the bottom of each candle mold, bend it over so it will not come out. Tie the other end to a rod across the top of the mold and fill the mold with wax. Let the wax solidify, dip in hot water and pull out the candles. Trim the string off the bottom of each candle and store in a cool place until needed. Candle molds can be made fairly simply to just about any length and diameter you desire. I have made 1” diameter x 14” long candle molds. Use hard copper tubing, or PVC plastic pipe would work also. Cut to the length desired and chamfer both ends inside and out side (de-burr it). Take a cap that fits over the end of the tubing and drill a hole in the center of it to fit the size of wick you have, or make. Use the same procedure for casting candles above. After the candles are cast and hardened put the molds in vary hot water to loosen the wax from the mold. Remove the mold from the water and using a wooden rod with an end on it that fits the full diameter of the candle push the candle out of the mold and let cool. The ends of the candle will be flat, but this is not a drawback in my mind.

The second way to make candles is by dipping them. This way is a little more cumbersome [and time consuming] and I don’t recommend it. But if anyone is interested in hand dipping candles, just Google the subject to learn how.

One more safety concern, never melt wax in your house and never on your kitchen stove. Melted wax is highly flammable. A wax fire is almost impossible to put out with water; it just spreads the fire over the kitchen and all over you, and anyone that is with you at the time. Do not take this warning lightly. I make candles outside away from any buildings on a nice summer day. - The Old Yooper

Our family lives full time in our camping trailer and have found out there would be many advantages to keeping one in any situation. I am not talking the big 5th wheel or the ones with a motor, just a plain travel trailer [with a traditional vehicle hitch].

Our trailer is 27 feet long and weighs in at 9,500 lbs empty and almost 11,000 lbs full. It is a bunkhouse model and can sleep up to 11 people. It has a 40 gallon fresh water tank, 40 gallon black water tank (waste) and a 40 gallon gray water tank (drain off water from tub and sinks). It has 12 volt battery backup which power lights and the water pump when power is unavailable. The stove and hot water heater run on propane, with the fridge working on both.

Storage can be short, but there is some – under the bottom bunk, the full size bed in the bedroom, under the seats in the kitchen, 2 closets (very small) and cabinets in the living area and bedroom.

Our heater will heat up enough hot water for an eight minute shower and the tub is the size of a 10 gallon bucket. When we are parked in an RV park with power included in the lot fees, we heat our trailer with electric heaters. This saves us money on propane. If we just cook and shower using the propane, then we will go through two 35 pound tanks in just under one year.

We have been buying or having a friend collect empty older propane tanks and then we have been trading them in at Wal-Mart for under $18.00 each. Small solar panels were purchased from Harbor Freight Tools for under $40.00 each, they will [slowly] recharge a 12 volt battery. We will be purchasing more panels as we go so that our entire trailer could be run off them.

We have inline water filters and portable ones, we have potable aqua tablets and shock. Our water tank can be filled by hose or in a pinch by bucket and funnel. After Gustav most of the water here was very bad (boil water order for all of our parish, even for bathing in some areas). When some of our neighbors had no hot water for their special needs family member they came to us and we hauled hot water for them (we were they only ones in an RV to come right back within 72 hours of the passage of Hurricane Gustav). We also have an external shower.

We do have a propane burner for outside, most people here use those for crawfish. We have one very cheap charcoal grill and a good supply of charcoal. We can make our own if need be.

After Hurricane Gustav we were without power for two weeks and used our interior 12 volt DC lights for night time only and for about 20 minutes at a time. Our battery gauge didn’t indicate any voltage drop.

When we do our shows and are in practice we can be ready to move out within 1 hour and we are still working to par that time down even further. What this means for us is that here we could drive out quickly with our home or even put it on a platform on numerous pontoons making our trailer into a riverboat. We live near a very rural area and large uninhabited waterways, where you can go out all day and not see of hear anyone at all.

Our retreat will have a home and a large barn that will house our RV, keeping prying eyes away from it and also giving us a place to go to if heating ever becomes an issue. When the SHTF we can camouflage the RV in another location for a further retreat position, still have shelter and a way to keep everyone fed.
Our trailer is a 1995 and we bought it for under 5,000. You can get them very cheap further north during the off season and move them fairly cheap now that gas has come down a lot. We went smaller because of the towing needs. No matter what you still need to haul it, even if it’s to your retreat.

Granted, it would be more difficult, but not impossible, to utilize in colder climates. Good windbreaks and insulation in the under compartments helps tremendously. Plastic on the windows with the exception of the vents also helps.

In some states that get a lot of hurricanes also are places a lot of people actually live in trailers year round. What sometimes happens when they are lived all the time is they get stripped out to the bare walls and customized. They are cheaper and easier to reinforce that way. A 40 foot trailer stripped out can run you about $1,500 to $2,000 dollars. Most people here take out the kitchen area which I wouldn’t do. They also remove the fresh water tank and if anything I would make the fresh water tank larger than 40 gallons, leaving in the electric pump. With full solar capability you can leave the power system intact and go from there.

In our closets we added small shelves that will hold two weeks of clothing for each of us, four all together. The fridge and freezer will hold 1 gallon of milk, a weeks worth of leftovers, four dozen eggs, one 2-quart juice pitcher (from Camping World, made for trailer size fridges), condiments and the freezer will hold more than one week's worth of meat. The cabinets will hold three weeks of canned goods, spices and what we need for baking for six months. Under the little counter extension we have flour, sugar and rice (large storage containers from Wall-Mart), those last us about three months. We also have food stored under one bed and under both seats in the kitchen. By the garbage can we keep a one month supply of dog food for our 90 pound German Shepherd cross.

To keep our space requirements smaller, we went small flat screen television, a cheap and tiny DVD player and low profile PC tower. Movies are not kept in single cases, they are kept in DVD folders with zippers. Our children are limited to what toys they can have and it must all fit in toy hammocks or collapsible toy boxes at the end of their beds. Our guns are easy to stow in the trailer and are always within reach. On hand we also keep quite a bit of ammo and buy more weekly. We do maintain an inexpensive storage unit elsewhere, and we keep the bulk of our SHTF supplies there for under $80 a month.

There are a lot of extras you can buy for your RV, including wheeled containers to drain black and gray water into for disposal. Pots and pans made for smaller areas, heavier dishes that will last through everything including travel. RV size washers and dryers or the all in ones, which are no bigger than an RV stove. Shower organizers can be installed easily to increase your bathroom storage.

One of the biggest things to like about an older trailer is that no one even looks twice at it, people who don’t own one have no clue how self sufficient you can be in one. It’s not new enough or dressed up enough to get a second look from a trouble makers and family never wants to come stay, none of them can figure out why you would want to trade down and live in something so small. It also makes it easier if you have others that will join you when the SHTF and you are running out of places to put people.

Hi Jim.
I have been a long time reader of your blog and have spent quite a bit of money with many of your terrific advertisers. I am writing to tell you about the serenity of my day in the midst of the hard hitting ice storm up here in New England. Thanks to the information you present in your blog and the preparation that I have taken over the last few years, all I had to do to prepare for this storm the day before was two things - fill the fire wood box and fill the bath tub for toilet flushing water.
I already had food stocked up. I had drinking water available. I had heat via a wood stove. I had a generator. I had plenty of fuel for the generator. (I was even able to loan a spare generator and fuel out to a friend.) I had fresh batteries for the flashlight and radios. I had a scanner to listen to all the emergency calls in the area. (You will realize how under-prepared your neighbors are by all the assistance calls.) I had plenty of alternative lighting (candles and LED lights). I had sufficient quantities of ice melt and sand on hand.

The great thing was that I wasn't stressed out before, during or after the storm. My family mentioned over and over how terrific it was to be prepped. I was fortunate that they were on the "let's get prepped" band wagon with me over the last few years. I got to enjoy the ice sculptures of the day and was able to help out someone else, too. The simple fact of all this is that by being prepared you get to relax a bit during a potentially stressful time. This wasn't an end of the world scenario but nonetheless the preparation was almost the same. Being prepped for any emergency isn't that hard to do and the resources you collect over time are useful in nearly any condition. It was actually a bit fun to see all this preparation fall nicely into place. Thanks for all you do! - Relaxed in New England

Hi Mr. Rawles:

In your comments to the family living in Trinidad & Tobago, you wrote: "As your budget allows, buy a small solar charger for your AA and AAA NiMH batteries."
Do you have personal experience with any of these solar chargers? Can you recommend any? Many thanks, - Larry T.

JWR Replies: Depending on your budget, solutions can run from "micro", to "mini", to "maxi." These inexpensive solar chargers sold by Ready Made Resources (one of our long-time advertisers) work fine as a "micro" solution., but be advised that they are not waterproof. I recommend setting these up on a windowsill, inside a south-facing window. In my experience, it is best to buy at least two of these chargers, since they charge slowly, via "trickle charging".

Moving up to the "mini" solution, there are these 6.5 watt flexible (amorphous), photovoltaic (PV) panels. Even modest-size PV systems with a small deep cycle battery bank can make a huge difference in providing small scale lighting and battery charging for crucial security measures such as radios and night vision equipment. There are so many LED lights, battery charging trays, and various pieces of electronic gear available that will run directly from 12 VDC or from a DC-to-DC converter, that you might be able to skip the expense of a full-up system with a large AC inverter.

If you have a bigger budget, Ready Made Resources (RMR) and other vendors can also supply larger pre-packaged PV power systems, either with or without an AC power inverter. (Without an inverter, they will provide only 12 volt or 24 volt DC power.) RMR even has experience designing "maxi" systems--6 KW or larger. (BTW, they offer free alternate energy system design and consulting.)

Keep in mind that starting January 1st, grid-tied PV systems will be eligible for a 30% Federal tax credit in the US. Many states also offer their own tax credits. In some states such as Florida and California, the combined Federal and state tax credits may reduce your expense by as much as 70%, when all is said and done.

Here's a beginner's list I made for my [elderly] father today:

Food
{Brown pearl] rice does not store well. Neither does cooking oil so that needs to be fresh. No, Crisco doesn't count.
Coconut oil would be your best bet.
Wheat berries - 400 pounds - bulk order at your local health food store
Beans - 400 pounds - bulk order at your local health food store
Mylar bags
Spices
Salt
Country Living grain mill
propane tanks, small stove and hoses to connect
freeze dried fruits, vegetables, eggs and meat if you can find them.
Water
500 gallons of water [storage capacity. Rainwater catchment is a common practice in Hawaii]
Water filter

Cooking
Cast Iron Cookware

Firearms
FN PS 90

10 PS 90 magazines

5.7 handgun

10 FN 5.7 handgun magazines

5.7 ammo

Training: Front Sight four day defensive handgun course. (Note: eBay sometimes has course certificates for $100!)

Body armor: Nick at BulletProofME.com

Medical
Personal medications
Augmentin antibiotic
Up to date dental work
Painkillers
Bandages
Iodine
Anti-fungal spray

Finances
$10,000 cash in small bills
100 one-ounce silver coins (GoldDealer.com or Tulving.com)

Transport
Gasoline in 5 gallon cans or better yet, this.
Gas stabilizer
Mountain bikes
Air pump

Miscellany
Flashlights
Rechargeable Batteries
Battery charger
Hand held walkie talkies
Topographical map of your area
Spare eyeglasses
Shortwave radio
Home generated power
12 volt battery system
Good backpack
Good knife
Good compass
Good shoes
Bar soap
Toothbrushes
Dental floss
Toilet paper
Fishing kit
Salt licks
Connibear traps

Regards, - SF in Hawaii

JWR Adds: The following is based on the assumption that SF's father also lives in Hawaii: Because of the 10 round magazine limit for handguns, I recommend that Hawaiians purchase only large bore handguns for self defense--such as .45 ACP. Both the Springfield Armory XD .45 Compact or the Glock Model 30 would both be good choices. The "high capacity" advantage of smaller caliber handguns is not available to civilians in Hawaii, so you might as well get a more potent man stopper, given the arbitrary 10 round limitation.

My preparedness journey began when my mother in law was dying, and we had to get out of the house for a while. At a flea market, on the bottom shelf, was a book titled “Making the Best of Basics”. The cover caught my attention, and before we went home that night, I had read and re-read the book. I am a union electrician, subject to layoffs, and my husband is a self-employed painter. The idea that I needed to prepare came easy for me. I thought I had done well, always buying extra for the pantry. But water? Oops. I hadn't thought about that one. So, I started doing the things in the book, and my mind was always going, and the lists got longer.

When I started to realize that I had a lot to do, I shared my thoughts with my best friend. Instead of laughing, she got on board. We discussed my home as the retreat. Although it doesn’t fit every need, it has a lot to offer. We are on a gravel, lightly populated road, about 20 minutes from a medium city. We have a well, and two acres. Our home has a basement, where we are working to get things organized. We know most of our neighbors, and have a community here. One neighbor plows our drive when it snows, and has for two years now. We treat him to his favorite brew on occasion to thank him, and I have even taken him a bowl of hot soup when he arrives.

Worst case scenario, we could have as many as 30 family members here, with varied skills, but it is a momentous task to try to prepare for that many people.
Last spring, my friend and I built raised garden beds that are still producing. We used recycled bleachers for the boxes, old shelving and other “trash” for the trellises. An old hog waterer with the waterer cut out, set in the ground at the proper angle, with a double pane window on it, became a cold frame. We also have the supplies to expand the garden next year. It is actually a very pretty garden!
I have dried tomatoes, onions, cabbage, apples, mushrooms, eggs, plums; canned anything that I had time to, and jellied, with new recipes for dandelion jelly, zucchini jam, and cantaloupe jam. My three garage sale dehydrators run most of the time. I have studied new and old methods of drying. I keep sodium metabisulfite, but also use the older method of using salt and vinegar rinses to preserve color. I have learned a lot, and my family is scrounging for jars for me. The supply is dried up here, mostly due to the awakening of some of the sheeple.

After consideration of a generator, it was decided that the best route for us was to just ready ourselves to be off grid. Second-hand shops have provided hank crank blenders, food processors, meat grinders, and other kitchen helpers. A friend helped build an Amish [summer canning] kitchen from some table legs, wood, and a Freecycled propane cooktop. One plus to this that we didn’t consider—the stove is lower in height, which is helpful when working with canners. One thing that we did consider—a hundred gallons of propane will work this stove, or the propane stove in the kitchen, for a year and a half. A couple of extra tanks are on the list to obtain! By putting the cooktop outside, we don’t heat the house up, which now helps the air conditioning bill, and will definitely help later, when it is just hot, and there is no air conditioning. We can also use it in the barn or basement if the weather necessitates. We also have propane heaters, and for emergencies, canned heat. (The latter is a 1-quart steel paint can, with a roll of toilet paper with cardboard liner removed, 16 ounces of alcohol. Directions for making these can be found on the LDS preparedness sites [such as www.ProvidentLiving.org.].)

We have been learning to save our own seeds, and I have been studying some animal husbandry, expecting to get some small livestock. We also have laid in a supply of sprouting seeds, and use them.
I now store water, and using the PACE system means that we have several means of getting more. For now the well is primary, the hand pump is alternate, the stored water is contingent, and the rain water, pond water, etc. would be the emergency. However, we also have our eyes on a pump that would be inline, and pressurize the tank. This will happen soon if things hold out a while! Although I store drinking water, I also started saving detergent bottles for non-potable water. I don’t even rinse them. When we are without water, and have dishes or laundry to do, those bottles will work perfectly, even offering up the remnants of the soaps in them.

Solar and human generated power are ideas that I am investigating, and if time permits, we should have minimal power, with minimal outlay. I hope that my electrical abilities will help here! Several years ago I installed some solar powered flood lights on my parents’ home, and now plan to put some both on and in my home. I do understand that during the probable turmoil, their use would be limited to avoid the target on our backs. However, eventually things will settle, and they would be of great use. By eliminating the motion sensor and photo-eye, and direct-wiring a switch, these lights could work in the house as well, and would need only a path for the solar cell wire, i.e. through a window. This would be fine as a temporary fix until more permanent work could be done.
I was able to find a supplier locally for wheat, where I am the only customer. Not only do I grind flour, making our own breads when time permits, but we sprout it for both us and our dogs. Incidentally, our older dog was having some health issues, and I started adding sprouts to the dog food. Within a couple of weeks, he was acting like a puppy, and his chronic halitosis had vanished.
I also found a neighbor who grows corn, who took my order for about 10 bushel, when the moisture content is down and we can store it. Guess some cornbread with all those beans would be a welcome thought.

I found an article for a vacuum pump, which is worth sharing. I had seen build-it-yourself pumps, but with all the preps, building one was not in the time allotment. However, you can go to your local auto store, and get a brake bleeder, with a gauge and several attachments, very reasonably. I obtained the mason jar sealers, and now seal all my dehydrated foods with vacuum on them. Just put the conical end on the bleeder, press it into the jar attachment, and pump away. When you remove the pump, the jar seals. A mason jar will hold 20 inches (Hg) of vacuum, which, by the way, will collapse a five gallon bucket. Don’t ask me how I know. Seal your buckets with a little less vacuum!

My friend and her mom got on board early, and are both also prepping. We are in the process of getting a community inventory, so we know what we all need to work on. My mother was supportive, but not overly helpful until this month. Along with jars, tins, and the usual things on my list from garage sales, she has started getting winter clothes, socks, etc. She also gave me a nice check to help with whatever we need, and pledged to give more. My husband has become more supportive as the economy teeters, and is also now actively engaged in the OPSEC end of our needs.

Our children are like most kids, struggling to survive. However, they also pick up an extra bag of rice or can of beans when they can, and send it. I have given them ideas on putting things away when you can barely afford to eat. Every week, get at least one item. Even on a bad week, you can afford a box of salt, rice, beans, pudding, or a can of milk. They also know (thanks to SurvivalBlog) what they need to look for, and when to get headed home.

If you had told me 10 months ago how very many hours I could find in a day, week, or month, to do all these things, I would have laughed. Now I look at the garden, and see not only hours spent with my best friend, laughing as she learned to use a drill, but the many meals we ate, and will still eat, from our bleacher boxes. I walk to the basement, and see the supplies there. I see the full jars of home processed foods, and enjoy just looking at the fruits of my labor. I see the first aid box, and the many other medical supplies, and feel some peace. I look in the closet in my office, and find sleeping bags, blankets, and other items to help out family when they are forced here.

I don’t throw anything out any more, without asking myself if it has another purpose. My family has lists of things that they are to watch for, and I often come home from visits with the car full of goodies.
Remember, having all your supplies means nothing if you don’t know how to use them. Eat wheat, sprout seeds, grow a garden, learn to use the canners, and lay in a supply of jars and lids. Learn to cook with your essentials, stay warm with less heat, and amuse yourself without television.

Are we ready? Not by a long shot! The more I know, the more I know that I don’t know! But knowledge is power, and I do know that when things happen, I am much more prepared that most, and we have a plan. Your blog site has been invaluable, and as times become more unpredictable, you are the first thing I check when I log on. Although I struggle with the fears of not having enough done, I know that we will not panic. What we have begun is a new way of life that takes what we have today, and builds on it for tomorrow. Lists will be filled, and peace grows. God is good, and gives us much. It is our responsibility to use it wisely. He can only guide our steps if we start walking. Then we have to count on Him to take care of the things we can’t. Thanks again for what you do! Sparky

Jim,
As this is not a competition entry, it has not been reviewed by an outside set of eyes yet, and I'm sure its kind of disorganized, but this is some info about third world life, as I can see it here, after things stabilize.

My wife is from Peru. She was born during the Peruvian hyperinflation and transition to its next fiat currency, the Nuevo Sol. (Yeah, we're young whippersnappers) She recently started to help out in getting ready. What helped her was comparing the current economic climate here to Peru. This allowed her to correlate things that occur in her former patria with our situation. She is a source of info on the Third world medium sized city way of life.

In Third world Peru, everyone cooks with propane camp stoves, with big seven gallon bottles. There is no space built for an American style range, even in nice houses. All water is boiled before ingestion, except [commercially] bottled water. Trucks come with semi-clean water and people line up to fill up their buckets for washing and drinking. (after boiling) Hopefully you have a big tank on your roof to gravity feed it through your pipes, as the power goes out regularly, and your personal well and pump wont work.

Everyone had bars on every window and door. Houses not made of cement block are broken into through the walls. They're also too cheap/poor to put enough steel in the buildings, so they fall down easily in earthquakes. Re-bar is [used] only in the corners. Nobody has an exposed to the street yard. A courtyard inside larger places is the norm, off street parking, if you can afford a vehicle, is a must, or you wont be parking anything soon. Inyokern told me this concept: When things go really sour, everyone steals everything so often that everyone ends up with the same trash that nobody wants to steal anymore. e.g. I have a nice bike, it gets stolen, I get a new bike but not as nice as the first, it gets stolen, I buy the worst looking bike I can find. It stays. This is very true. People with nice hats walk around with a hand on their head. Political corruption is the norm. Most any government official can be bought for a couple hundred nuevo sols. Farmers carry guns. People walk on your roof at night.

Just about everyone is self employed. Selling food in the streets, tricycle and moto-taxis, home based Liquor stores, etc. Often if you sell higher "dollar" stuff, your customers don't even come in your building, money and product are exchanged though the door bars. Keyed locks on both sides. There is no such thing as a big box store. Even disposable diapers are bought one at a time.
People wear sandals called yanki. These are said to be made out of used car tires, but most tires I know of are steel belted, and you can't cut that with a knife. My two pair are made from rubber mining belt I think, as the tread pattern is cut by hand. The poor wear them, and they supposedly last a loooooong time.

In Peru, the power goes out all the time. Candles are common. People don't stock up there, the stores I guess have sufficient on hand to handle the outages and subsequent candle runs. The stores here are obviously not prepared for that.

Traffic in her small town is nearly non existent, but traffic in Lima is suicidal. Regards, - Tantalum Tom

Hi Jim,
I'm a long time reader of the blog and I liked your novel. I have been amazed at your ability to acutely foresee coming events. More and more yours is the first site that I read every day. I noticed your article on glow sticks and I have an excellent upgrade for your readers.

Forget using glow sticks and graduate to Krill lights. Now glow sticks still have their place, but 98% of the time this will be a better item to use. I have purchased several of these over the years and have always been impressed. They work like giant [electro-luminescent] Indiglo watches. They run for what seems like forever on AA batteries, comes in different colors including infrared (IR), they have 360 and 180 degree models, flashing models are available, all at greatly reduced cost verses equivalent glow sticks. I am rough on equipment and have yet to destroy one of these tough little lights. Your friend, - Kevin S.

Hi Jim,
I just read your novel "Patriots" and studied the Rawles Gets You Ready" preparedness course, and both are excellent. [In them,] you talk about chem lights (otherwise known as glow sticks) for in your car for changing tires, handy around campsites, and what not. The shelf life on these, as you mentioned, is very short (couple of months in a car [in a hot climate]) and they are not cheap (or maybe just I am cheap). I found this video on making an LED version of them that is reusable.

Seems to me like a good idea for recycling the older ones that are now dead. You can buy LED glow sticks as well which may be cheaper and easier from places like this. I have no affiliation with them and have never bought from them, but just wanted to show an example.
Thanks, - Rutger (Temporarily in Costa Rica)

JWR Replies: Perhaps the easiest method for creating a glowing wand was suggested by The Gun Plumber over at The FALFiles: "After the light stick is expended, cut the end off, dump the liquid and glass ampoule [and discard safely], then tape the plastic tube to your Mini MagLite flashlight to make an IR wand--the plastic tube is the IR filter! As previously mentioned in SurvivalBlog, there are some huge tactical advantages to using infrared light sticks if you own any Starlight-type (light amplification) night vision gear.

Hi Jim,
I figured I’d better write about my experience with PetroMax (BriteLyt) Kerosene lanterns.
I’ve had their 150CP (Candle Power) (100 watts of light) for a couple years now and really like it.
BriteLyt is now providing their 500CP (400 watts of light ) to the US Government as Model MR-2 with a federal stock number.
BTW they also make a nice 11,000 BTU kerosene stove which they are also making for the government.
So I got two of the new USG MR-2s and tried them out. Right away I had a problem!

As you know, I’m [living and own a retreat at] at 6,600 feet MSL and 9,800 feet MSL. (I should have picked up on this earlier. Altitude! Lack of air! Ha!) Okay, sometimes I can be slow witted.

Anyway, I had a miserable time of it with these two lamps. If I’d have been at sea level, I wouldn’t have had any problems.
Working with BriteLyt, I used the jets for their 150CP lamp and now the MR-2s series work great at my altitude. I’m going to try their 350CP jets (a little bigger gas flow) and see how they work. More light should be the result. Actually, I like the way the 150CP jets work.

How great are these lamps? Really great.
Nice light! Absolutely. [Because of the intense glare,] I highly recommend the lampshade style reflector.
Burn anything. Gasoline, Paint thinner, kerosene, diesel, JP-8. What do you have, I’d probably try it in these lamps.

The word I’ve got from my research worldwide is “If you have a PetroMax that works well, it’ll be a thing of joy for a lifetime.”
BTW, repair parts are really inexpensive and worth putting in a supply if you get these lamps. As you know, the [US] military has geared up for exclusively JP-8 and done away with gasoline, except for those darned never-worked-right gasoline lamps. Now one more thing is JP-8 capable. A lantern that burns JP-8 diesel.

I heard we had some boys freeze to death in Afghanistan last year and the inclusion of the kerosene stove will make sure that doesn’t happen again. With the kerosene stove in a pit under a tent or tarp, you’re not gonna freeze.

All in all, for a good prep, I recommend these lamps. However, as with all technology, toy with them and learn the little quirks that they have. Overall, I’m well pleased especially with the [large quantity of] diesel I have put away.

I’ll update you when I get the 350CP jets and also when I can get one of their stoves. - The Army Aviator

It was June, 1998. Y2K was a salient topic of conversation. It got my attention. When the electricity went off and there would be no water to drink, and no fuel to move food to the JIT grocery stores, I could see things getting very ugly. I had been willing to fight for this nation as a member of the US Army. Now it was time to fight for my household. I bought a Springfield Armory M1A. I bought a safe to store it in. I bought another M1A (for the spousal unit of course!) I bought ammo. Lots of it. I bought gear. I bought food. I became awakened to the idea of being self-reliant.
That was 10 years ago. Y2K didn’t cause a global melt down. (Although I have a friend in the service that sat in a command bunker holding his breath at Y2K – the government didn’t know what was going to occur.) I have not had to live through or endure Hurricane Katrina. No participation in the 9/11 attacks. In fact, I can’t claim a campaign ribbon for any disasters. Am I upset or sorry that I have changed my life to follow a path of self-reliance? Most definitely, absolutely not!

Let me share with you the good and the bad of what I have done in the last ten years. So often, people new to self-reliance are like ants at the foot of a mountain staring up with their head touching their back wondering how in the world they will ever be able to replace modern society and be able to take care of themselves WTSHTF. Well, truth be told, you can’t do it overnight unless you’re Warren Buffet. I am walking, talking living proof, however, that you can make significant progress. Let me show you!

In order to show you that you do indeed have cause for hope, let me share a few of my screw-ups. How about the initial purchases I made while in a state of “marked concern” when I became “self aware” with regard to self – reliance. The money I invested in self-reliance was my spousal unit’s “down payment on a house”. Do you think this view of “my nest” versus “the world may end” led to some intense “discussions”? You bet your last dog flea it did. For much of the intervening 10 years I have been the one prepping while my wife harbored a severe grudge against the entire topic because I spent our money for the house down payment on crazy self-reliance materials. A grade of “F” to me for consensus building. She is just beginning to come around in the last two years. Poster child example of a bucket of wet sand. (If two guys fight, they belt each other like two crazed wolverines. Eventually they realize they were stupid for fighting, shake hands, forgive and are back to being friends. Kinda like a cow urinating on a big flat rock – big splash and splatters, but it dries up pretty quickly. Get in an argument with a gal and it is like pouring water into a bucket of sand – the surface may dry after a bit, but it stays wet down in that bucket for a long time.)

I very religiously squirreled away Gillette Atra razors because that is what I used each day. The handle that you click onto the blade cartridge gave up the ghost after many years of faithful service. The stores don’t sell them anymore! Now I have three dozen packs of five cartridges with no way to use them to shave! Fortunately, I did find a second/spare handle in my stores and will be able to use them up. Did I re-learn some valuable lessons? You bet!

Two is one, and one is none.
You need to see what you have (inventories!)
Store what you Eat/use – I did great on the cartridges, but forgot spare handles!

In the run-up to Y2K I bought a dozen 6 volt golf cart batteries to be able to set-up some kind of power system in the house. Great intent. No photovoltaic panels No wiring until last year. They have been “stored” sitting on pallets in a friends storage building for 9 years because I have not been able to get to the replacement power system yet. I could have used that money for a higher priority item.
The spousal unit and I built our home last year. We did many things very right. Some learning experiences occurred, however. Maybe chief amongst them is my underestimation of the massiveness of the size of this endeavor! I joke with friends about not being free from the To Do list to be able to get into trouble for at least five years! Fix the septic pond berms. Sort out the “scrap” lumber. Put a deck on the back of the house so the [building] code Nazis will give us the permanent occupancy permit. Fix the leaking pressure tank in the basement. Fix the DR mower. Mow. Clear 30 trees dropped to get the septic pond clearance (not done with that one yet). Cut and split and stack firewood. The list goes on. Don’t get me wrong – I would not trade my homestead back for city living for anything. Was I able to foresee the "second & third order effects” of the change to a country homestead? Nope. Not even having read Backwoods Home magazine for 8 years. Thank God I listened to my in-laws and did not try to finish the upstairs interior construction while living downstairs!

Prior to Y2K I tried very hard to create a group. It failed in many ways. Had Y2K caused the feared problems, we would have been road kill. Okay, we would have been the third or fourth critter on the highway run over by life, but we were nowhere near ready to deal with WTSHTF/TEOTWAWKI. The Yuppie Queen and her husband went right back to spoiling their princess/daughter, buying Jaguars, clothes, and hair implants. You know - living the typical American city life. The other couple moved out onto 20 acres in a very rural county and raise goats and chickens. I am on 20+ acres and moving in a self-reliant direction. Two out of three ain’t bad!

I endured the gauntlet of multiple careers trying to find a fit for who I am. Thankfully, my spousal unit was trained well by her farmer parents. We never carried any debt other than the mortgage. One thing we did do smart was under-buy on our home with a condo (sixplex) in town. No car payments. No credit card payments. We kept 3-6 months of expenses in savings. One business venture was as a franchisee for Idiotstate. Massive mistake. Four years with no income for me and a net loss of $60,000 overall. What preps could you get done with an extra $60,000? I am certainly not happy I put one in the “L” column. I am not proud of failing. I am proud of jumping into the fight and giving it my 110%. As they used to tell me in the military, “What an opportunity for character building!” Learning lesson for me was that I should never have stopped Soldiering. I simply have green blood. I have returned to the Army by working as a tactical/leadership contractor at a nearby Fort and getting reappointed into the National Guard. Will a deployment take me away from directly protecting The Lovely Spousal Unit (TLSU)? Yes. Does staying employed doing what God designed me to do mean we’ll have a steady income? Likely. Does a pension check from age 65 on make us better able to care for ourselves? You betcha. The world may not disintegrate in 30 days. It may actually remain fairly normal. One has to prepare for that contingency as well.

By now you have to be thinking “What a knothead! This guy couldn’t find his fourth point of contact if you put one hand on a cheek!” Well, not so fast there Skippy! I have a thing or two that should go in the “W” column. I should give you a massive dose of hope! Let me describe to you in a quick overview where I have come to in my 10 year quest to become more self-reliant. First, about our home…

Home
Your home is your castle, right? Well mine actually kinda is. It sets on a chunk of land that is 20+ acres. The terrain is rolling and 95% wooded. It butts up against a cemetery to the north, a 900+ acre conservation area to the south, a river to the west, and a section line to the east. The home is an Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) structure. The walls are 1” of concrete fake rock veneer, 2.5” of foam, 8” of reinforced concrete, 2.5” of foam, 5/8” of sheetrock. It is “round”, being made up of 12 wall sections each 8 feet in width. Two stories with a basement. About 1,800 square feet of living space. (2,700 with the basement, however, that area is not finished yet.) Geothermal heating/cooling and a soapstone wood stove. Metal roof. No carpeting – oak floors and tile. The wellhead is inside the home so I don’t have to worry about winter breakdowns or freeze-ups, nor losing access WTSHTF. We are running at top speed towards the 20% equity checkpoint in order to get rid of the bankster-invented Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) extortion racket. (We have a credit rating of 804, so the “risk” the bank incurs by carrying our note is a freaking joke!). It suits our lifestyle very, very well. Our intent was to have a very low maintenance home. Having lived here one year in two more weeks, it looks like we have a very big check mark in the “W” column. More details on the design/floor plan in a future article!

Weapons & Training
We have an M1A set-up for combat, and one set up for long-range precision work. The Glock 21 [.45 ACP] is the base pistol for the household, with one for each of us and a G30 [compact Glock .45 ACP] as back-up. The Lovely Spousal Unit (TLSU) doesn’t carry a rifle or carbine, just the pistol. (More on that later.) Training for both of us includes Defensive Handgun 1 and Team Tactics with Clint and Heidi Smith at Thunder Ranch. I have also had General Purpose, Urban, and Precision Rifle with Clint. I completed a special symposium at Gunsite (pistol, rifle, shotgun, carbine). I am an NRA Certified pistol, rifle, and home defense instructor. I have several other weapon platforms as a “Dan Fong” kind of guy. The two rifles with accoutrements, and the four pistols with same were certainly not cheap. Nor was the training. I do, however, know how to properly employ them now.

Food & Supplies
The spousal unit & I could stretch the on-hand food to cover two years. Canned freeze dried is 45% of it, bulk buckets is 45%, and “normal use” food is the last 10%. We have built a rolling rack set of shelves for the 3rd part to ease rotation of the canned goods with each grocery store trip. No, I haven’t found the secret spy decoder ring sequence on how to rotate the bulk and freeze-dried stuff with our normal, both of us work, lifestyle. The sticking point for this area I see is that WTSHTF, Mom & Dad in-law, Sister-in-law, Brother-in-law with wife and two princesses (one with hubby), and my Mom & her husband will show up on our doorstep. That makes for an even dozen mouths to fee

Security
Now for a bit more detail. First topic up, IAW my military training, is Security. The base of everything here is God. I have chosen to bend my knee to Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I can amass all the weapons, ammo, food and “stuff” you can imagine, but He is the one ultimately in charge. I am charged to be a prudent steward of His possessions - my family, property, vehicles, food, weapons, ammo, etc.. I am definitely striving to be the ant storing things for the winter. If you ain’t right in this area, it will really matter in eternity.

Part of your security is weapons. There are sheeple, wolves, and sheepdogs. I am definitely in the 3rd category. In today’s world your “teeth” are your firearms. I plan from a Boston T. Party paradigm of having a battle rifle. Hence, the M1A. Were I starting over today, I would likely go with a FAL, but now "I will dance with the one that brung me". Or maybe just accept the brilliance of the M1 Garand at $620 delivered to your doorstep from the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP). I do have two of these. Hard to argue with .30-06 ball. I renovate Mausers as my hobby and so have a .35 WAI scout rifle. A second one in the more common 7.62x51 chambering is in work now. I laos have a Mossberg 835 [riotgun], two Ruger 10/22s (one blued, one stainless), Ruger MKII stainless .22 LR pistol, S&W 625 pistol in .45 ACP/.45 Auto Rim, a few Enfields, and a couple of Mosin-Nagants round out the field.

Let me detail for you the path to get to the Glocks. I think it may save you some of your money. I received a Colt Gold Cup [M1911] .45 ACP pistol from my Dad as a graduation gift from the Hudson Home For Boys [aka USMA West Point]. Great intent. A weapon as a gift – how can you ever be wrong in doing this?! However, a terrible choice as a combat weapon. The Gold Cup is a target pistol. Tight tolerances. Feeds only hardball, and that can be tenuous proposition. I carried it on the East-West German border leading patrols. The rear sight broke twice. The front sight shot off once and tore off twice. It was a jammomatic. I hated it. Sold it to a guy that wanted to target shoot.

Took that money and bought a stainless Ruger P90DC. Sack of hammers tough. always goes bang when you pull the trigger. Inexpensive as far as handguns go. After some marked de-horning, you could even make it run in a fight without shredding you at the same time. One marked problem. Two [different weight] trigger pulls [for first round double action versus subsequent round single action.]. This started to teach me to throw the muzzle down as I pulled the trigger in double action. This nasty habit caused a problem when you were firing the 2nd through X rounds, as now it operates as a single action. TLSU had a heck of a time with it at Thunder Ranch. Clint loaned her his G21. No more trigger problems.

Still bowing at the altar of the 1911, I bought a Kimber Compact to carry instead of the Ruger. (I still have the Ruger – it is still “the gun that my Dad gave me” and no one buys the P90 used for anywhere near it’s initial cost, so I can’t sell it without taking a significant bath on it.) The Kimber was going well. Then I got a little too aggressive at slamming magazines home in the shortened grip and jammed it. Then the recoil rod unscrewed itself during an IPSC run and seized the gun while messing up the trigger. Off to Kimber. Free warranty work and 48 hours without my self-defense pistol. Now I have no confidence in the pistol. I Loc-Tite’d the recoil rod and staked it so it wouldn’t come undone again. Then I sold it.

Glocks cost roughly one-half of what a Kimber does. Crummy factory sights, but all my pistols wear tritium anyway. No ambidextrous safety required. My short fingers are mated to big palms, so I can handle the grip. TLSU has been trained on the Glock Model 21 (G21). It ain’t an issue of psychological derangement like many guys get about their 1911/Glock/H&K/Springfield, but it is a comfortable and working relationship between Glock & I. I have a G21 and a G30 for both of us. They always go bang accurately and they have never rusted. I am not pleased with Gaston [Glock]’s refusal to take responsibility for any mistakes they make in manufacturing. No problems with the G21 however. A pistol is what you use to fight your way back to your rifle, which you shouldn’t have laid down in the first place.
M1As hit my safe because it is what I knew from the service. They also fire a full power cartridge, 7.62x51. It makes cover into concealment. I don’t have the other 10 guys in an infantry squad fighting with me so I can maneuver under their covering fire. I have to hit the bad guy with a powerful blow once and move on to the next wolf/bad guy. Mouse guns firing rabbit rounds don’t scratch that itch for me. To each his own. My two are old enough to have USGI parts and good quality control. Here are the mods I made to my “combat” M1A. Maybe they will help you:

Krylon paint job to disrupt the "big black stick" look
M60 [padded] sling
Front sight filed down so that zero is achieved with the rear sight bottomed out
Handguard ventilated
National Match trigger group, barrel, and sights (came as a “Loaded” package from Springfield)
Rear aperture drilled out to make it a ghost ring
Skate board tape on slick metal butt plate
For the “Surgical” M1A (it shoots1/2 minute when I do my part):
National Match loaded package
Trigger assembly additionally tuned at factory
Unitized gas system
Factory bedded
Stainless barrel
Swan rings and QD bases
Leupold M3 3.5-10x40 scope
Handmade leather cheekrest

Other weapons - I have two M1 Garands. Both were bought from the CMP. One is stored offsite with a "Bug-In Bag" (BIB). One is a Danish return, less wood, that I re-stocked. TLSU has claimed this one as hers. Ammo from the CMP is cheaper than any other cartridge out there, save the communist surplus stuff. An M1917 Enfield (also from CMP) is in the safe, along with a 2A, a #3, and a #4. A VZ24 is stored offsite. The first Mauser I renovated is sitting there as an additional .30-06 with a Trijicon 3-9x40 tritium-lit scope. A Remington 700 with Leupold VX-II scope is in the safe, but likely to be sold soon. A Mosin-Nagant (M44 or M38) ride in each vehicle.

I formerly had [Ruger] Mini-30s. I could never find any 20 or 30 round magazines that would function reliably. I sold them and got SKS carbines. When I quit holding out for TLSU to become a Warrior and carry one, I sold them off to fund other toys. I am pondering the purchase of an AK folder because it is a sack of hammers tough and can be transported discretely. I don’t know if I have ever come out on the positive side when selling a gun. Now I have to re-buy an AR-15 to have one for training purposes. The SKSs could be useful for arming the family showing up on your doorstep. Hindsight being 20/20, I would caution against selling any gun you buy. (The 700 mentioned above is a 2nd precision weapon and I have no AK to train with. Still deciding.)

Ammo is required to feed these weapons. I have over 10,000 rounds of 7.62x51. I have over 10,000 rounds of .22 LR. No, I don’t think these amounts are enough. Now that the costs of ammo have risen to heart stopping levels, I really don’t feel like I bought enough in the past! I need to plus up the quantities/smatterings of other cartridges that I have like .30-30 Winchester, .270 Winchester, .40 S&W.

The location of my home is the best I could get balancing competing requirements. It is as far from the city as we can get and still stomach the drive to work. It is between two major line of drift corridors – 12 miles to the major one, 8 miles to the secondary one. It is bordered by neighbors on only one side. The folks in the cemetery don’t say much. The critters in the wildlife area are more vocal - the ducks, turkeys, geese, hoot owls, loons, coyotes sound off regularly. We don’t mind. About 95% of the property is wooded. A few hickory, lots of oak. walnut, (unfortunately) locust trees are all there. The local river comes out of it’s banks about every other year and blocks our driveway for several days, but never comes near the house. The German Shorthair is long in the tooth for security, but she is there. A new pup is in the pipeline.

I would feel a great deal more secure if the homestead was picked up and dropped into Idaho or Alaska. It is about as good as we can do, though, staying near a major city so we can have decent paying jobs. There are some improvements we can make though. I just bought a weather alert radio from Cabela’s today. Tough to hear tornado sirens when you live miles away and have 1 foot thick walls! We need a driveway monitor/alarm. Again, the superior insulation of the walls means we hear nothing outside. I can see the utility of sandbags if things got really ugly. Some more land line communication assets would be useful. I think an AR-15 for training people would be useful, as would an AK. Overall, I think we have done pretty well in the security arena.

Our Home
We started the 10 years in a condo. It was part of a six-plex set on a small pond. I hate Homeowner’s Associations and their covenants! We could afford the mortgage on one of our two paychecks. Good thing! I didn’t get a paycheck for four years. We scraped by. Two years after re-entering the job market we built our house. We worked on the plans for five years. Beware! Finding a property piece and building a non-shoebox home on it is not for the feint of heart! You effectively are funding the construction of a mini town. You build and maintain mini roads (your driveway). You must build and maintain a mini sewage plant (Your septic system/pond). You must build and maintain a mini water plant. (Your well.) You must perform mowing and tree removal for the mini parks of your town (Your “yard”/acreage). I will write a separate article detailing our construction woes.

Let me highlight some of the self-reliant features of the house for you. We did not want to spend a constant stream of Federal Reserve Notes [FRNs]on maintenance. We used insulated concrete form (ICF) construction for the structural strength and the energy efficiency. The metal roof should outlast us. The geothermal and the R-50 walls of the ICF are paying us back the initial investment in construction costs. We opted for no carpeting due to the track in mud nature of the property, having a dog, and me having allergies. Wood and tile floors don’t hold dirt like carpets do. Less fire hazard as well. We used commercial steel doors for the exterior and security-need spots. They have ASSA [high security] locks. They have peepholes.

The basement has a 10’ square root cellar for the storage of canned produce from the garden. It also has a safe room/shelter. 12” of concrete overhead. The well head is enclosed in it. Land line telephone and power service into it via buried lines. Food stored in it. DC wiring in place to the attic for when we get to the photovoltaic [PV] system. We also ran DC wires to each room in the house for the use of LED lighting off of a battery system. The soapstone wood stove augments the electrically driven geothermal. (In spite of several damaging thunderstorms this past year, we have not lost power so far – great job juice Coop!)

The stairwell was kicked out onto the W/NW of the house. This shields the house from the hottest part of the day’s sunlight, and the coldest winter winds. We made the stairwell an extra foot wide. What a huge nice difference that foot makes to walking up and down each day, not to mention moving stuff up or down them! The mud porch/entry was set up for coming in with muddy boots, or for snow covered coats. We should have made it 1’ wider, as it can be a little tight. The bench is great for donning/doffing boots. The tile is easy to clean the muddy paw prints, human or canine, off of.
Windows were one of the few areas that caused some fireworks. TLSU wanted a green house in order to take advantage of the great view of the property. I wanted firing ports to defend against mutant zombie hordes. I am still hugely uncomfortable with the nakedness the windows leave us with. Yes the view is great, but what about when we experience incoming rounds, or more mundanely, when someone comes out to the property while we are away from the house all day at work and they help themselves to our stuff? Some relief is in sight, however. We are pricing Shattergard vinyl film for the ground floor windows.

Things That are Still Need on the Home
The great thing about the R-50 ICF walls is that they are R-50 and pretty tough. The bad thing is that they are R-50 and pretty tough. We can’t hear anything without a door or window being open. Hence the just purchased weather alert radio for us from Cabela’s this week. It is kind of eerie waking up at 0200 hours and having no idea if the thunderstorm is just a thunderstorm or if it is a tornado. The television is useless when the rain is so heavy that the dish won’t get a signal. With regard to 2-legged varmints, a driveway MURS Alert system is on the purchase list as we have had multiple invited guests show up, beat on the front door, and have to walk around to the living room windows to get our attention so they can be let inside. Okay for invited guests – certainly too close for uninvited varmints!

The entry hallway was one of TLSU’s “must haves” in the house layout. It has worked out well in terms of traffic flow and such. The security door at the foot of the stairs is a tough choke point to deal with at 0500 in the dark. No light installed there means nothing is visible through the peephole. I will have to install a camera and/or light so I don’t open it to let the dog out in the morning and get rushed by 2-legged varmints.

So far, the only commo needs are between myself and TLSU. When the sister-in-law, brother-in-law, parents-in-law and my Mom show up and we start pulling security, we will need to be able to talk more. I have an old set of TA-312 [field telephone]s and wire for the primary LP/OP, but obviously will need more in this area. Just not a sexy/fun area to spend FRNs on for a combat arms kinda guy, but I am working on the self-discipline needed.

We did look ahead and sink the FRNs into running 12V wires in the home for future installation of PV panels and batteries. Obviously things like the Shattergard film, more food, more Band-aids, etc., are of a higher priority though. We are working our tails off to reach the 20% equity mark to get rid of the PMI extortion as well. I still have an ASSA lock to install on the shelter door, and one to put into the basement door. Other projected door enhancements include armor plates for the front, outside basement, shelter, and outside storage doors. There just never seems to be enough $ to go around, does there?

The other major source of fireworks during the home design/build was on-demand water heaters. Having taken a 30 minute hot shower with one in Germany for 5 marks while on an FTX, I well understand what a brilliant piece of technology they are. TLSU, having never been outside of CONUS cannot give up on the electric water heater. She still doesn’t believe that the electricity will ever go out for more than an hour or two. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to draw hot water at the kitchen sink, and take a hot shower from a propane fired on-demand heater? She doesn’t get it yet. Obviously not something to break up a marriage over. We really did very well on the whole house building thing. The opposite of what everyone warned us about. I am pretty proud of that performance!

Food
We started a garden this spring. So far, it is an endeavor run by TLSU. Spinach, onions, carrots, lettuce, potatoes, beets, and some herbs. I have not been able to convince her to expand the size. She wants to learn in steps and I am the whacko that orders 100 seedlings at a time from the conservation department, which then overwhelms us in the planting department. For example, the first iteration of this tree-planting endeavor, we got them the Thursday before Easter weekend. Friday night and all day Saturday we planted our buns off. TLSU was indeed a great Trooper about it, planting right along with me. Sunday was spent at church and pigging out at family’s homes for Easter. Monday I had shoulder surgery to grind off bone spurs and remove cartilage chips. Too much, too fast. But at 7 FRNs per 12 seedlings, how can you argue? I have to admit though, that after two years of the 100 seedlings, I am ready to give it a rest. This year we settled for seven apple saplings. Initial inspection of the cherry, pecan, oak, walnut and persimmon seedlings around the house reveals about an 80% survival rate. Only another 10 years and we will be getting food from them!

The initial freeze dried and bulk storage food needs to be rotated. Anyone figured out how to do this kind of at home cooking when the two of you work? The canned/”normal” food is now being rotated with each grocery store trip. We have canning jars for this year’s veggies and the root cellar has a robust collection of shelves to store them on. How much is enough? I don’t know. Four geographically separate and secure stashes of three year’s worth of food for all of the family? Who knows!?

Medical
I have Boo-boo kits just about everywhere now. You know, the band-aid and antibiotic salve with ibuprofen kit that handles 90% of life’s issues in this area. Now comes the high-dollar investment stuff. The combat blow-out packs for gunshot wounds or serious car wrecks. I did go along on a buying trip to a medical warehouse and got some catheters, sutures, gauze pads, etc.. I did get in on the last great iodine buy before our loving big brother government banned the sale of iodine to us mere citizens. (It is a stewable ingredient to make drugs, you know – “we must deprive/punish all to protect you from a few. Oh, well, you don’t need to be able to sterilize water anyway – we’ll take care of you on that too….”)

TLSU and I eat very healthy food – locally raised beef with no antibiotics or growth hormones. No growth hormone dairy products from a local dairy. Spinach from the garden. There are sugar detectors on the doors. Also, no chips allowed. We get to the dentist regularly. We both do Physical Training (PT) . She jogs 3 miles, 3-4 times per week. I run over lunch at work about 4 miles, 4-5 times per week and lift weights twice per week.

“Needed Still” list includes: Blow out kits, more bandages, more hospital type stuff, more medicines, syrup of ipecac, more antibiotics, more feminine stuff (think of a vaginal yeast infection with no drug store open), drinking alcohol, poison Ivy soap and remedies, athlete’s foot cream, more baby wipes, more hand sanitizer, all forms of baby stuff, get the bone spur ground smooth in my other shoulder and the cartilage chips taken out, get rid of the cat (allergies).

Vehicles
We still have the same vehicles we had in 2001. A 1998 Toyota Corolla bought with 30,000 miles, and a 1999 Ford Explorer bought with 45,000 miles. Both were paid in full when bought. Both avoided the 25% loss of value when driving a new car off the lot. The Corolla gets 37 MPG. I hate it. Every bit of plastic on it has broken – the car door locking mechanisms, the trunk lock, the ventilation system fan. It gets 37 MPG. I can’t find anything to touch that. The Ford is too big to get decent mileage, and too small to really be a useful truck. It is paid for and has AWD/4WD. It always starts. Both vehicles have BIBs and gas masks in them. Both have trunk guns. Both have roadside gear to help ourselves out of a jam. We are saving for the replacement of them both. We are going to be saving for quite a while. We need more cash in the BIBs and Bug Out Bags (BOBs)

All of the preps in this section were done via Cabela points. I bought gas and paid for business expenses - everything I could pay for with a credit card was paid for with the Cabela’s credit card. You get points at some sickening rate of $.01/FRN spent, $.02/FRN in the store. However, when you buy $6-8,000/month of stuff between personal and business stuff, it adds up! The gear for the BOBs & BIBs, weapons gear and parts – a significant percentage – 85%+ - came from Cabela [credit card bonus] points. When I got birthday or Christmas monetary gifts I spent them on self-reliance items. We did this never incurring any interest penalties because we zero the balance out each month. Our BOBs are set-up to sustain us for 10 days. They are packed in Cabela’s wet bags for load out in five minutes. Originally I sought to wear a tactical vest and ruck. After two unsuccessful winter BOB campouts where I could barely waddle one mile with both of them on at the same time, I dropped the vest. TLSU’s back is in tough shape due to scoliosis, so she is not humping any mammoth rucks with the extra three mortar rounds and can of 7.62 linked. We also decided that the G21 was what she could carry and dropped the SKS and chest pouches of 10 round stripper clips. Her ruck is a Camelback Commander. That is as big of a ruck as she can hope to carry without killing her back. We are not leaving home to go on a combat patrol in Hit or Fallujah. We are fleeing some kind danger and have every intention of avoiding additional entanglements, to include government hospitality suites in stadiums.

The Lovely Spousal Unit (TLSU)
I started self-reliance the wrong way. No consensus development. I saw a danger and acted. I am a male/sheepdog/warrior type. I am not sure that I could have ever persuaded her to participate in any meaningful manner before Y2K. She has only recently begun to do so after eight years of seeing me provide for and protect her. I was, however, stubborn/strong enough to do what I thought was the right thing and to heck with what was popular. Most “males” check their gender specific anatomical gear at the wedding alter and continue on in sheeple status. I get that females are the nurturers. I get that they work from an emotional starting point, not logical. Not wanting the tornado to destroy the house or the hurricane to wreck your and the adjoining three counties is, at best, the French method of addressing life. TLSU is finally helping me to rotate food via the grocery store purchases. She no longer rolls her eyes or sighs disgustedly when I spend my Cabela points to buy gear. Once I explained to her that I was planning to shelter and feed her parents and siblings and that our one year of food wasn’t going to feed all of them for very long, she started to get on board. She even likes spending the points off of her Cabela’s card now. She is running 3-4 times per week and gets some PT from work outside in the garden. She has come a long way. As best as I can tell, she will not ever be a warrior. We have come a substantial distance from sleeping on the couch each time a self-reliance topic hits the table of discussion though. A definite and growing check mark in the “W” column!

Skills
Skills that I have acquired:

Rifles – renovating Mausers and training at Thunder Ranch helps your ability to use these tools immensely.
Soldering – fixing plumbing leaks myself vs. paying a plumber $200 to show up and start billing me for work
Building – I invested 13 full work weeks of time during the building of our home helping the contractor. Some of it was the nubby work of cleaning up the scrap and sawdust. Some of it was banging in joist hangers. I laid all the tile and 95% of the wood flooring in the house.
Fix-it – the DR Brush mower has long passed it’s warranty period and while performing quite admirably, does need attention every now and then. The 1974 F100 demands attention regularly. Each of these repair work challenges teaches me a little more about mechanical items and taking care of things myself.
Sewing – Yes, my dear Grandmother taught me to sew buttons, and my Mom taught me to survival sew/repair things. A 1960 gear driven Singer sews nylon gear though!; )
Skills still needed:
More First Aid – it appears that a first responder or wilderness 1st aid course may be in the cards for this year.
More Hand to Hand – my goals and objectives list has had this goal on it for several years. Good news – I got started on knocking it off the list. Bad news, it revealed an “old man” shortcoming in my shoulder. Good news, I am getting the shoulder fixed (hopefully) during “normal” times versus after Schumerization. I just may get ambushed and not have my trusty M1A in hand. Having unarmed defense skills means never having to be a steak dinner/victim.
More riflesmithing – each birthday or Christmas gift of money has been partially apportioned to the purchase of gunsmithing tooling. I need more practice with the tools I have. I still need more tooling. I recently secured Parkerizing gear, but have not gotten the metal stands for the tanks built. Still, progress is progress and I can already do more to maintain weapons than 95% of the population.
Knife making – I just cringe at the idea of spending $300 for top quality knives. CRKT is my friend. Even better is learning to assemble the scales and blank myself. Eventually, knowing how to forge blanks myself would be useful.
Mill lumber – with 95% of my property wooded, I have the material to be self-reliant with regard to my lumber needs. I need a way to saw the tree into lumber though. First, the mill, then the skill to use it. Then I have the gear to diversify my income and help others.

Have I always done the smartest thing? Absolutely not! Much to the crazed satisfaction of a former operator buddy, I have cycled through the “best/high dollar” gear approach to the “sack of hammers USGI/AK” school of self-reliance. Don’t get me wrong – I ain’t surrendering my Kifaru rucks anytime soon! However, there were a great number of FRNs spent on those self-reliance tuition payments! Have I learned a lot? Absolutely, yes! Am I better able to maintain my independence and protect and provide for my family? Absolutely, yes! Could you do better than I did? Good chance. Have you done as much as I have in the last 10 years? Only your freedom, loved ones, and the quality of your life post-TEOTWAWKI depend on the answer to that one.

Sir;

I was wondering: How many batteries should I store for all my radios, flashlights, smoke detectors, and so forth? I'm also planning to get night vision goggles, soon. I assume rechargeables, right? If so, what kind [of rechargeables], and who has the best prices? - T.E. in Memphis.

JWR Replies: I recommend buying mainly nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries. Stock up plenty of them, including some extras for barter and charity. Unlike the older Nickel Cadmium (NiCd) technology, NiMHs do not have a "memory" effect. (The diminished capacity because of the memory effect has always been one of the greatest drawbacks to NiCds batteries.) The best of the breed are the latest Low Self Discharge (LSD) variants, such as the Sanyo Eneloop.

One discount supplier with a very good selection that I can enthusiastically recommend is All-Battery.com. They also have great prices on "throw away" batteries, such a lithium CR-123s.

The power grid is down… maybe forever

There are hundreds of scenarios which can cause the loss of electrical grid power. These include everything from a faulty relay to a strategic EMP strike that would precede a full scale nuclear war. There are, however, several inexpensive things which can be done in preparedness that could make the difference between life and death. Before explaining, “exactly what to do”, there are a few simple rules to keep in mind.

1) If you die, it’s your fault.
2) If you don’t have the gear, you will probably need it.
3) Be flexible. No battle plan survives first contact [with the enemy]

My wife and I live on 40 acres in southeastern Ohio near its border with West Virginia . Our nearest neighbor is a mile away, so being prepared for emergencies comes with the territory. Even though we have incoming electricity from rural electric, it is not to be counted on and is notoriously intermittent. From the beginning we installed solar panels, batteries and a generator as a primary energy source with the co-op being the backup. Recently I took the solar panels and inverters off line to upgrade the system. The job took a week and sure enough [soon after I disassembled the alternate power system] the co-op grid went down.

I decided that it was a good time to test out my emergency lighting by firing up a kerosene lamp. I have propane lanterns, but I wanted to use the lamps to see how well they function. I filled the lamp with some spiffy blue fuel and lit the wick. After a few minutes the wick turned to ash. I looked at the label of the spiffy blue odorless lamp oil and found that it was odorless because it was not kerosene. It was paraffin. I tried several different things to make it “wick” properly, but the result was that eventually the wick would burn up. Great, my spiffy blue fuel didn’t work. Doom on you Wal-Mart.

Well, I had flashlights and those propane lanterns, but I wanted to use something cheap, like a candle. That’s right, [I had] no candles. Doom on you, Chuck.

Finally the electricity came back on and I turned off my propane lantern and made a shopping list. I bought real K1 kerosene and 244 count 15 hour votive candles with more matches and a package of butane lighters. I even tested the 15 hour candles and [determined that yes,] they really burn for 15 hours so I now have 3,645 hours of votive candle light available.


Light

Candles.
Buy some. Then buy some more. Store them with matches and/or butane lighters. Any candle will do, however, votive candles are cheap when bought in boxes of 12 or more. 36 count, 15-hour votive candles will provide over 500 hours of light. You can even cook with them and they do provide a little heat.

The good: Candles are cheap, EMP-proof, with a little effort a low tech society can make them, they won't tip them over and spill fuel, their shelf-life is indefinite and they are the most portable of all lights. They are EMP proof.

The bad: Their light (lumens) is low; they are useless in wind and rain unless they are confined. Use caution. Candles are an open flame and can start a fire. Stored in dampness, they are not waterproof because the wick can absorb moisture. [JWR Adds: Also, in the aftermath of an earthquake or landslide, open flames are a bad idea because gas lines may have been broken. My top choice for household emergency candles are Catholic devotional jar candles. There are cylindrical glass jars, about 11 inches tall and 2.5 inches in diameter. Like other votive candles, their candle wax is formulated for long burning. (A formulation that is high in stearic acid.) Watch for these on sale at discount stores. The paper labels can quickly and easily be removed by immersing them in water for an hour.]

Kerosene lanterns and lamps.
Lamps are the next step up from candles and should be in everyone’s home. Most have a ribbon-like wick and some have two wicks. Others have a shaped burner which will greatly magnify the burn surface, producing more light. They have been used successfully for over a hundred years and some, like the Aladdin are quite decorative and burn brightly.

Kerosene (K1)

A lamp uses fuel. The better fuel is Kerosene. Pure kerosene has a strong odor, but refined kerosene like K1 has less odor and still wicks properly and burns brightly. Another fuel is the odorless paraffin lamp fuel. It does not wick (climb the wick from the reservoir) properly unless the reservoir is at least half full.

The good: Kerosene lamps are an excellent reading light compared to a candle. They are fairly portable depending on the way they are designed, and are reasonably inexpensive to operate. They are EMP proof.

The bad: Most are quite fragile because of the glass used in making the globe or chimney. They can also spill their fuel creating a fire hazard.

Lanterns
Lanterns burn brightly because they have a mantle (something akin to a little silk sock) which when lit produces a bright white light. Used mainly for camping they are either powered by white gas or unleaded gas. Another type uses propane gas that comes in a screw-on cylinder. The Coleman North Star has a much longer mantle which produces more light and uses less fuel. It is a good idea to have at least one of each type of lantern. [JWR Adds: The Aladdin brand mantle lantern burns kerosene. All mantle lamps have very fragile mantles, which are little more than a meshwork of ash after they have been burned for the first time. Don't use mantle lanterns in any application where they will be subjected to jarring or heavy vibration.]

The good: They are extremely bright, efficient and inexpensive. They are EMP proof.

The bad: The liquid fuel has a limited shelf-life and if spilled is dangerous. The propane fuel is explosive if it leaks. The lanterns are quite noisy making an escaping air sound.

Flashlights
Flashlights come in numerous sizes, shapes and brightness. Some can be recharged from an outlet, some require replacement batteries. There are even wind-up and shake-up powered flashlights. A flashlight is absolutely essential for the home, car or when camping. Two notable hand-held lights are the MagLite and the Surefire. The MagLite most used is the one like a policeman carries. It has a large adjustable beam and the MagLite bulb has a long life span. The Surefire comes in several sizes too, but the Surefire L2 Digital LumaMax LED is surprisingly bright. The L2 uses lithium batteries which have a shelf-life of several years.

The good: Flashlights are a time-tested life saver.

The bad: Good flashlights can be expensive and battery replacement can be costly. The LumaMax is not EMP proof.

PS: There are dozens of different types of flashlights. There are headlamps and lights that attach to the belt. Some are made for mounting on the barrel of a gun and ones that divers use. I only named two different types. There are stores on the Internet that specialize in flashlights. Do some research and choose a couple of different types that would suit you and your lifestyle. - Chuck Fenwick, Medical Corps

Hello Jim,
I am a prepper who is trying to do so on a very tight budget (wife, four kids, and two jobs just to make ends meet-you get the idea). Here are some random ideas that others might find useful.
1) Try drying your own fruits and vegetables for food storage. Whether homegrown or bought. This can be done inexpensively and dried food takes up very little storage space.
2) Consider making your own biodiesel. I am in the early stages of doing this myself. It's not that hard. Just pay attention to detail and do it right. Besides saving a lot of money now this will also allow you to build up a large amount of fuel storage for vehicle and generator use inexpensively. This will become much more critical as fuel prices skyrocket in the future.
3) You need a diesel vehicle to use the biodiesel in. In addition to a diesel truck, think about getting an older Mercedes Benz diesel car for an everyday driver and second BOV. Don't laugh. The W123 chassis cars, specifically the 240D and 300D models made from 1977 to 1985 are built like tanks, lots of space and they are fairly simple to work on. I am not mechanical at all and plan on doing all the work on mine. DieselGiant.com has great pictorials and do-it-yourself DVDs to help you. These cars have no computers so they should be EMP-proof.
4) If you have a high quality roto-tiller such as a Troy-Bilt or BCS brand (and you should if your serious about food production) it could be used to earn money/barter. If things get really hard gardening will make a dramatic comeback. Most people don't have tillers and there should be a good market tilling ground for people. Assuming you have enough fuel/spare parts this could make you indispensable in a small town.
5) A recent [SurvivalBlog] post talked about a vehicle as an improvised generator. While probably somewhat inefficient in terms of fuel consumption versus electricity produced it sounds perfect for someone on a budget.

I have two questions: Will running the inverter straight from the battery prematurely wear out the starter battery in the car or should the inverter be wired directly to the battery cables? Will using this set up overwork the alternator and cause early failure?

Some Useful Web Sites:
UtahBiodieselSupply.com
B100Supply.com
MercedesShop.com
DieselGiant.com
Look at the eBay Motors listings if you want to see what these Mercedes vehicles look like.

This is just my little contribution to the blog and I hope others find it useful., - Jeff S.

JWR Replies: I recommend having at least one diesel tractor, one utility pickup or quad, and one diesel car at every retreat. Although they are fairly scarce, in my experience, a pre-1986 Mercedes diesel 300D series station wagon (on the W123 chassis) is worth looking for. These share a common drive train with the much more common 300D series four-door sedans, so parts are readily available.

Ready Made Resources (one of our most loyal advertisers) offers an affordable small-scale biodiesel making system. The recent spike in diesel prices will give you a big advantage in bargaining for a price when buying any diesel vehicle.

In answer to your questions: As long as the engine is left running at low to moderate RPMs, then using a vehicle's alternator as a power source--for either DC loads, and/or to run a small 120 VAC inverter--will not cause excessive wear and tear on your battery or alternator. You may have to rig a manually-controlled set-throttle. Just keep in mind the usual safety precautions, such as carbon monoxide venting, and making sure that the transmission lever does not get bumped into "drive". To conserve your precious fuel, it is probably best to buy a bank of deep cycle ("golf cart") type batteries that you can charge whenever you run the engine.

Rather than using jumper cable clamps, for safety it is best to attached heavy gauge battery cable and terminal lugs, Use a detachable high-amperage-rated 12 VDC polarity-protected "Pigtail" block connector, in parallel with your vehicle battery cables. That way you can quickly disconnect and still be able drive your vehicle without a time-consuming cable un-bolting procedure. Ideally, your battery bank will be the heart of an alternative power system that will also--as your budget eventually allows--include some photovoltaic panels. (This online primer is a good starting point.) As previously mentioned, in SurvivalBlog, for 12 VDC devices "downstream" from your battery bank that draw 30 amps or less, I recommend standardizing with Anderson Power Pole connectors rather than flimsy cigarette lighter plugs and jacks.

Note from JWR: The discussion of use of force in retreat security (and "Less Than Lethal" means) has elicited large number of e-mails from readers. For the sake of brevity, and since so many letters covered the same ground, the following are just three of them. The first of these is from "FerFAL". He is SurvivalBlog's volunteer correspondent in Argentina.

 

Hi James,
I’m glad to see that you are advising people to have non lethal weapons [in addition to guns] and (when the situation allows it) deterrent approaches when dealing with trespassers.

Some situations require immediate lethal action, but that does not mean you’ll never require non lethal solutions on occasions. Life isn’t always black and white. On the contrary, most of the time it’s a plethora of shades of gray.

This is awful common in these parts, I’ve often seen people fire warning shots, fired a few myself on occasions when visiting my friend’s farm. On one occasion it was just kids stealing some fire wood. A few .22 LR shots sent them away.

Not long ago we saw some poachers well within my friend’s land, too close to the house. I shot a couple of .44 Magnum rounds and they got the message, changed direction immediately.

People, as James warns, this is a last resort, or almost last resort alterative. Be careful of the legal consequences! Over here it is common practice but it’s still serious business, be ready to explain the cause for such action.

I keep a couple of Less Than Lethal rubber pellet 12 ga shells in my Mossberg's 500 stock shell holder, ready in case I need a Less Than Lethal alternative. As you explain, it portrays you as a humane person that cared enough to at least have the non lethal alternative, even if lethal action was required afterwards.

Another word of caution, "Less Than Lethal" 12 ga ammo [such as rubber pellets and beanbag rounds] can be lethal. The one I have is military ammo designed for riots and clearly states that it can be lethal if shot directly at the target at less than 10 meters.

The knock down power of these rounds, even against healthy, robust adults is pretty impressive.

God bless you and your family during these special days, take care. - FerFAL

 

Dear Jim:
As a proud 10Cent Challenge subscriber, I know that the recent subject of Levels of Force could be argued back and forth for a long time. What may help all your subscribers and readers are articles on the defensive use of firearms by Massad Ayoob. I found them at FindArticles.com, for example, and any internet search should come up with them. He gives excellent practical advice on gun situations, what to do, not do, as well as what to say and not say. The reader in Maine who fired a warning shot would know this is never done by law enforcement, too much liability. If one is involved in a shooting, tell law enforcement something like "...I was afraid for my life (or another's) and had to fire my weapon to save a life, I want to clear this up as much as you do but I need to speak to an attorney first..." and then SHUT UP, which is exactly what they would do in the same circumstance.

People need to know the use of a gun is serious, life is not a movie, and shooting people, even those that deserve it, is not glorious. Folks will come back and get revenge, either with a civil or criminal complaint or violent ambush at a later date.

Living here close to the Mexican border, being once mugged at knife point by three illegal aliens (for $1.30 in my pocket), working all hours in these mean streets, I have never had to pull a gun on anyone, thank goodness, and survived many altercations none the worse for wear. My job with the power company for the last 30 years has me on occasion cut electrical service for non-payment at the pole or junction box when the tech's cannot cut it at the meter because of access, dogs, etc. Having encountered angry biker gangs, meth labs, and all other sorts of bad people and bad situations, the use of a gun has always been kept as a last resort. My truck has reverse to get away from most problems and luckily I'm paid by the hour and not by how much work I do. (-:

The point is pulling a gun will get you in a lot of trouble, shooting a warning shot will get you arrested, shooting someone may very well cost you everything you have worked for up to now in your life. Your home, retreat, guns, food reserves, retirement account, everything. I would definitely shoot if my life or another's life were in danger, but that is indeed very rare and most situations can be avoided with a little education, forethought and by setting aside one's ego. Take Care and God Bless. - Cactus Jim

 

James;
I'm assuming that many patrons of this blog who read and digested the two letters referred to in the subject line have never served on active duty in a combat arms branch and/or never served as a law enforcement officer. Because of those two letters, many are possibly over thinking self defense reactions to would be criminals/trespassers/thieves? The effect on law abiding citizens who choose to possess firearms for defense is that they subconsciously and automatically hesitate to defend themselves because of all the legal discussion and, 'it happened to me' type cautionary statements. Police officers are guilty of the same thing because of legal double talk (i.e: I don't want to get sued so I better wait as long as possible to ...a real disaster for us cops since it's either our lives or possible jail time). In order to clear the air, as I believe many readers are confused and probably have reached out to the closest friend or co-worker they trust for clarification. What and when to do something is not complicated. I hope to eliminate the ubiquitous 'what if' in so many people's minds (including cops, former military who have returned to civilian living).
OBTW: I have been serving as a law enforcement officer for 18 years, and I served five years active duty with the US Army. Most of my army experience was as an Airborne Ranger and served in the Middle East for 13 months. No, I don't know everything about the subject but have spent the majority of my working life considering all these issues pre 9-11 and post-9-11.

1. The cops are not your friends (see: letter by Gary B in Maine who shot off a warning shot with a 12 gauge). Cops are for one thing: to prosecute you. That's it. They are resources for the state's attorney, period. Sure, the other guy may be guilty, but until proven guilty, you are right there with bad guy facing charges involving firearms. Not good, especially with so many anti-Second Amendment types in office. So, in such scenarios, do you spill your guts to the first cop who shows up while other guy tells lies because as a criminal he knows what to say?
2. If you are threatened, you're threatened. What else is there to know? (a threat is a situation where you 'feared for your life or feared serious bodily injury'. Using lethal force because somebody stole/attempted to steal your XYZ isn't justification for lethal force. However, read on...). If threatened, then immediately go to the next level and take care of business at that level. Make sure you can articulate that you were threatened. If in doubt as to how to articulate that, just do an Internet search engine on lethal force. As an 18 year officer, I tell you that if someone refuses to obey a legal and clear command to do something, they are resisting (and they know it). Because a subject resists, I know that I am permitted to take it to the next level. Said bad guy will continue to resist until you do something about it. If you don't do something that gives you the upper hand, he's got the upper hand. Better to maintain the upper hand and act from that position versus from the other. Waiting spells potential disaster. As a citizen just trying to protect themselves and their retreat, if it comes to that, it isn't any different. In my mind the big difference is if you/me were in a survival times situation, are you really expecting some cops to respond? They'll probably be more concerned with their own property, family, neighborhood, garden plot, et cetera.
3. The more training you have, the more your confidence will rise.
4. Sending your dogs after an intruder(s) who have entered your property is stupid. If your dogs were trained for such things, the intruders wouldn't have intruded. Sending an aggressive untrained barking dog into the the field/yard where you feel intruders pose a threat (a real threat, after all, you have the guns, night vision, IR floodlights, ....) is an great way to get them killed. If the dogs barked while they were in the house, you were alerted. So why send them out? They did their job, [now] you do yours. If you have trained dogs in protection (and related skills), that's a different scenario. Most people don't have that kind of dog. If bad guy kills one or all of your dogs, now you have a less secure retreat than you did before. The only 'threat' to fear, is the one who poses a 'real threat'. He'll take those dogs out if they aren't trained to threaten him. - Flhspete

James:
First, thank-you for posting my question on SurvivalBlog. Second, thank-you for posting your thoughts. They are well thought out and very well presented.
Your response sparked an additional couple of thoughts:

Dogs have been man's early warning and engagement system since the dawn of history. A barking dog tells the potential visitor that he lost any advantage of stealth and that he is facing a team. Two barking dogs are even better. Dogs over 50 pounds also represent a physical threat.

The second thought is to split the axis (axes?) of confrontation.
Killing flies by clapping one's hands over them is a great parlor trick. Flies, and other vermin, have very highly developed strategies for dealing with threats that come from one direction. That is why they are almost impossible to slap with one hand. However, it is comical how they lock-up when confronted with a threat from two directions. You actually have to slow down your "clap" so they can become airborne. They are almost paralyzed.

Confronting men with evil intent from a single direction does not present them with much of a dilemma. They would level their arms and start shooting. Good-bye lights, good-bye dogs, good-bye people who are down range, good-bye to people and objects in unhardened buildings.

I think the ideal situation would be to have a couple sets of flood or spot lights pointing inward from different corners of the garden/stock corral/asset to be protected. Then release the dogs from one point (another family member would very helpful here) and post-up with a shotgun at a good strategic point that is in a different position than where the dogs were released from. Lights, dog, shotgun should push the bad-guys down a reasonable line of retreat. That is, it should push them toward the road or where their vehicles are. Most opportunist will gladly bail out if they are not cornered.

A couple of key points:
-I don't want to paralyze the intruders, just like I don't want the flies to freeze.
-I want them to leave if they are opportunist.
-If they do not leave, then they reveal evil intent or extreme stupidity
-The overload of stimuli gives me strategic advantage

Thanks, - Joe and Ellen

JWR Replies: If you want to throw attackers off balance, there is nothing quite like the flash and sound of explosions on multiple flanks. Some Tannerite might prove useful.

Spotlights and floodlights are very vulnerable to rifle fire. If you are using them to distract, then only turn them on for about five seconds each. If you mount any floodlights on your occupied structures, then use only the IR variety, which only give off a very faint glow to the unaided eye.

There are a variety of fireworks that can be used to create distractions or diversions. Keep in mind that many fireworks can be set up to be ignited electrically, using model rocket igniters (such as Estes "Solar Igniters"), which are available from most hobby shops. The flash and sound of M-80 firecrackers (aka "cherry bombs") is not too much unlike the sound of rifle fire.

For the full psyops effect, don't discount the effectiveness of voices or music on amplified loudspeakers to un-nerve your opponents. At the risk of sounding trite, might I suggest a little Johnny Cash or some Credence?

Jim,
I just read the letter regarding use of force. Since I'm a cop, in Colorado, and a trainer of lethal and non-lethal force - it might help to know that the use of force model is moving away from the escalation principle and towards the 'toolbox' principle. You pull the appropriate tool out of the box for the job at hand. For instance, in many many areas of the country an officer need no longer justify his actions concerning use of force by explaining the escalation from the typical 'command voice' to use of potentially lethal force.

Accompanying this is a simplified assessment of the threat at hand. With alarming results, police officers are trained to expect the worse case, take action to neutralize it and de-escalate their use of force, rather than use the stair step approach to using greater and greater force. It revolves around the Saucier v. Katz supreme court decision. Wherein "The Court plainly stated that while uses of force by police occur that are clearly excessive or clearly appropriate, a gray area remains in between. The Court went on to say that when an officer's use of force falls within this gray area, deference must be paid to the officer and qualified immunity granted." There are essentially three other court cases that apply in determining whether an officer used excessive force - but Katz is the most applicable to the question of how we train police officers in deciding what force to use, it was a precursor to the 'toolbox' approach.

One of the pivotal elements of determining in what constitutes excessive force for anybody is what they perceived at the time of the threat, and what training they had in recognizing a threat. Pre 9/11 a box cutter was just a simple slicing weapon, now it's considered a 'terrorist threat' to possess one under the right circumstances. [JWR Adds: In the aftermath of any use of force, do not hesitate to admit that you were frightened. If you can honestly say "I was very scared!", and "I was afraid that he was trying to kill me!", then do so, repeatedly, for the record. This may carry considerable weight at a later date, if you ever have to go to trial--either criminal, or civil.]

Rather than concentrate on the use of force of any kind, I would recommend people seek training that helps them recognize threats of all kinds and more importantly how to articulate their perception of the threat. It's true that most people who misuse force, in my experience, could probably have avoided criminal prosecution if they had just known/learned how to articulate their assessment of the threat. The examples are endless really, I won't go into illustration here.

While a multi-generational SHTF situation is in your opinion unlikely, I must point out that our mere technological advancements do not preclude this, I think it simply makes us more complacent because of our perception of the layers of social and technological protection we believe insulate us from it. Rome probably believed itself the pinnacle of modern civilization, I would imagine that the fall that preceded the Dark Ages had it's own 'it will never get that bad' detractors also.

I have a different view of things. I'm pretty certain that the three people running through my orchard armed with knives were shouting, "Kill them!" and not there to cut fruit. In Colorado, for instance, our 'Make My Day Law' from which the Castle Doctrine seems to have sprung, states that deadly force may be used when a person believes that the person about to commit the illegal entry is there to commit any level of harm to the occupants of a dwelling - and most importantly, it takes away the burden of proof from the citizen to substantiate why they believed it.

Less-lethal (no such thing as non-lethal (pepper spray has [on rare occasions] killed, Tasers too, beanbag rounds improperly used are 'deadly', etc.) force being available the most important thing to remember about their deployment is that no police force ever deploys less-lethal force unless another officer is ready to use lethal force if the less-lethal does not stop the threat. If you're in a tussle and the taser is what you use, then it's what you use - but if two officers (or more) are confronting someone and a Taser is deployed - one officer is designated [as] the backup in case lethal force is needed. - Jim H

JWR Replies: The Castle Doctrine actually got its start in Florida. Since then, many states including Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas have adopted similar laws. It is not surprising that the majority of the states are in the South or the West, where individualism and respect for property rights are part of the culture.

 

Jim,
About 15 years ago, I bought a house on 70 acres that was rural, but not remote. As I worked on the place, painting and getting it ready for me to move in, I was distressed that every time I went to the house, the door had been kicked in. Replacing the trim got to be an irritation so on Halloween, 1993, I drove down to my house and found the lights on. As I gunned the truck and drove over the front lawn, I saw two people run from my house. I got out with my Winchester Model 12 and yelled, "You get the hell out of here and don't come back or I will kill you" and blew off a round of 12 gauge in the ground.
I searched my house and found a six pack of beer, some wine coolers and a blanket. Apparently, some kids were using my house for their love nest. I slept at the house that night in case someone were to come back and burn down the house. At about 11:30 pm, there was a knock at the door. Two County Sheriff's deputies were there with the lights flashing. I invited them in and said, "There is the wine and beer, there is the blanket." Things then took a turn.
"So you fired a warning shot," he asked?
"Yes", I said.
"So you shot at them?" he probed
"That isn't what I said." And then they jumped me, threw me on the floor and handcuffed me. I was dragged to the cruiser where I was strapped into the back seat. "We got him," the County Mountie crowed to the neighbors assembled at the end of my 250 yard driveway. I was taken to the county jail where I was booked for reckless conduct with a firearm, a felony here in Maine.

For the next two years, I was in legal hassles with the County. The District Attorney didn't want to press charges. The Sheriff's Department didn't want to back down. And I was wondering what country did I live in where the victim could become the criminal so fast. It all worked out in the end. But I would counsel your readers to think twice about firing shots. I know this about myself, I will pull the trigger. I just know better when to do it. The thing about it was that for the next 12 years that I lived there. No one came down my driveway uninvited, and nothing was ever disturbed in my house, garden or barn. - Gary B., in Maine

Jim,
My sincere thanks for your response to Joe and Ellen's letter on "Rules of Engagement." Most of the so-called preparedness experts out there talk only about "guns, guns, guns." (Well, 'cept for the "I'd never own a gun" uber-naive liberal-granola crowd.) Your are absolutely right about using less-than-lethal means, when [it is] safe and practicable. It sure beats getting your *ss sued off. by some ambulance-chasing lawyer. You truly are the survivalist voice of reason, following in the footsteps of Mel Tappan.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge in SurvivalBlog, Jim. I often feel like I'm getting free consulting. Oh, BTW, I'm re-upping my 10 Cent Challenge subscription for another two years! - C.T.M.

Hello Jim and SurvivalBlog Readers:
I have enjoyed reading the vast knowledge shared on this topic and the awakening you have brought to us about our fragile economy! How can one put a price on a wake up call?,… well, it’s easy, renew your 10 Cent Challenge! Admit it, your year is probably up, but the education is still coming to you!

I have not seen any talk on your site about a "miniature" diesel genset. My thought is that while the large Lister type genset's are proven to last, ... their will be a time when running something with a much lower noise signature, vibration signature, and fuel consumption will be necessary to survive. It seems foolish to fire up 5KW,10KW, 25KW, etc... Watts of power, when you may only need enough to run your furnace and the freezer. Fire up the big boy for pumping water and what not once a week, and pump as much as you can into storage containers. Not to mention that diesel engines last longer when left running, not starting and stopping all the time. Whereas the gas unit would not know the difference.

My thought is this,. at today's price of diesel, one could afford to buy a 1,000 or 2,000 watt Honda portable unit with the savings of storing 200 stabilized gallons of gasoline vs. diesel. The Honda units are totally amazing! Almost silent running, easy to start, easy to throw into the vehicle, and the 1,000 watt unit will easily run a freezer and furnace for a day on less than a gallon of gasoline. Use your head and run the generator only as needed, (10 minutes or so several times a day to keep the freezer going), and you just greatly extended the days in which you will have portable power. Since the freezer is so important, it will be worth considering super insulating your freezer when not running.

In a post-SHTF scenario where we would be very vulnerable early on, and while gasoline is fresh, we could consider using the little guy first, expend your gasoline fuel supply, barter off the genset after that, then use caution and go with your primary Lister type genset. At the rate of one gallon of gasoline per day, you would have 200 days of run time before even really counting on your diesel genset. Use your head and run the gasoline genset 6-10 times a day for shorter duration, and you could have 400 days of gasoline portable power.

Given the cost of gasoline versus diesel, it appears that you would obtain more kilowatt hours per dollar in this scenario. It seems like the big genset could be very valuable in offering you the ability to weld, etc... at a time when most will have already been wearing out their big gensets and consuming their fuel. Here you sit with everything fresh and ready to go. Might make a fine job opportunity to be able to [arc] weld, run 220 VAC equipment, etcetera, all many moons after the onset of TEOTWAWKI.

I know this thought defies what has been discussed, but a few hundred gallons of gasoline stored almost pays for the Honda generator in savings over buying diesel [fuel] at today's prices. Thought I would put it out there for thought, of course, run the figures with an expert to make sure you are not starving the electric motors which would prematurely burn out the appliance.
All the best! - The Wanderer

Let there be light. We take it for granted these days, but in the woods on a dark night, during a power outage, or--most importantly--in a long-term survival situation, you'll quickly learn just how important light is, and how important it is to choose your illumination tools wisely.

My purpose here is not to recommend specific lights. There are web sites that can better help you make that decision. I'll include a few links at the end to get you started. What I want to do is offer my opinions about what I think makes for a good survival light. Other people will have other opinions. While I don't consider myself a flashlight expert, I own over 20 of them and have put a lot of thought into using flashlights in long-term survival scenarios. Following are what I consider the most important criteria in evaluating a survival flashlight (not necessarily in order of importance).
1. Small and lightweight is better
Bigger flashlights are usually bigger (or longer) because they hold more or larger batteries than smaller flashlights, which usually translates into increased light output. On the other hand, they're also heavier and more unwieldy than their smaller cousins, and do not necessarily enjoy a longer runtime than lights using fewer or smaller batteries. Ideally, a survival light uses just one or two batteries, and is small and lightweight enough comfortably carry in your shirt or front pants pocket. This gives you more carry options and makes carrying the light for long periods of time more comfortable.
2. Uses a common battery size
Currently, the most common flashlight battery sizes are AAA, AA, and D cells. Very few lights use 9-volt batteries (though there are some that would make decent back-ups, such as the PALight or PakLite), while most D-cell lights are too big and/or heavy for consistent, comfortable carry. That leaves AA- or AAA-cell lights as the most logical choices. Using a common battery size is important for obvious reasons. Many new battery types and sizes have hit the market in the last few years, and while these are (slowly) gaining in popularity, they're still not as common as AAs and AAAs. They also tend to be more expensive. Remember, we're talking about serious, long-term, dedicated survival lights, not the fancy whiz-bang or cheap-o flashlight you keep by your bedside, in your glove box, or take car camping. Depending on the severity and duration of the survival scenario, it will probably be easier to either purchase or barter for AA and AAA batteries than the newer, more exotic sizes. In fact, if possible, it might be wise to standardize all your survival-related electronics so that they use AA and/or AAA batteries.
3. Uses a variety of battery types
It's important that survival flashlights be able to function whether using alkaline, lithium, or rechargeable batteries--especially rechargeables (along with a portable solar recharging system), since you could be facing a long-term survival situation. Each type has its own particular advantages and disadvantages. Most lights will function using all three types, though some manufacturers don't include lithium primaries in their list of recommendations. That doesn't mean lithium batteries will harm your light, but don't assume there won't be a problem using any type of battery that the manufacturer doesn't specifically recommend. Find out exactly what batteries your survival light can tolerate before you purchase it, or test the batteries in your light before you have to rely on them.
4. Fewer batteries is better
Obviously, the fewer the batteries needed to operate the light . . . the fewer batteries you'll need to operate the light. This is a good thing in a survival situation, even better in a long-term survival situation. Your two-cell light may get a total runtime of 60 hours compared to just 40 hours for my one-cell light. But I'll get a total of 80 hours using two batteries compared to your 60 hours. Of course, comparisons like this don't always apply: run times vary greatly between different manufacturers and models depending on the type of light source and the electronics employed. Still, as a rule, a survival light should use no more than two batteries, preferably just one. Currently, there are many one-cell AA lights on the market that not only produce a lot of light (for their size), but also enjoy excellent run times. Twenty-plus hours of usable light is not uncommon, and even longer run times can be found. There are also a few 1xAAA lights available that might make adequate primary or excellent back-up survival lights.
5. Simple to operate
There are lots of fancy lights out there that sport multiple output levels, including SOS and strobe modes. Some are even computer-programmable. While that's not a bad thing in itself, when it comes to survival lights (as with most survival gear), simple is usually better. A light with just one medium-intensity level will usually suffice, or perhaps a two-level light with low and high output levels. In
the end, it doesn't matter how many light levels or modes your light offers, just so that it's dirt simple and intuitive to operate.
6. Reliable operation mechanism
" Twisty" or "clickie," that is the question. Which is more reliable? There is no definitive answer, because operation reliability depends more on the quality of the light (and its constituent parts) than on the particular mode of operation. And even a good company can turn out the occasional bad light. I've heard of $200+ Surefire lights having clickie malfunctions. I've also heard of twisty lights failing because the circuit board was displaced after repeated use, or by using too much torque while tightening the bezel. Most clickies have the on-off mechanism on the rear of the light, while some have it on the side (e.g., Maglite). Most twisties are operated by turning the bezel (head) or tail cap. And there are also hybrid models utilizing both twisty and clickie operations. If at all possible, obtain spare clickie mechanisms and/or twisty bezels (depending on the type of light) to use as replacement parts. [JWR Adds: Changing a MagLite "clickie" switch assembly require the use of an Allen (hex) wrench. Thankfully, MagLite sells large maintenance & repair spare parts sets at a very low price, considering the number of parts included in the sets. I have been told that they sell these parts sets at near their cost, to keep their biggest customers (such as police and fire departments) happy and loyal to the brand.]
7. Well constructed
Look for lights where the bulb is reasonably protected within the bezel, that are shock resistant and water resistant/proof, and that won't accidentally turn on while in your pocket or backpack. Clickies are most prone to accidental activation. This can usually be prevented by rotating the bezel or tail cap (depending on which end the batteries are inserted into) counterclockwise while the light is on until the power cuts out, then clicking the clickie button off.
8. LED versus incandescent
No contest here. A flashlight that uses an incandescent (or similar type) bulb is simply not a primary survival light. Period. If the bulb itself can burn out or malfunction due to shock (broken element), then you don't want to trust your life to its operation. While light emitting diode (LED) "bulbs" technically don't last forever, a 5,000- to 10,000-hour use life is close enough to "forever" for survival purposes. And no, LED bulbs are not impervious to shock, but they're a heck of a lot tougher than other bulb types. Over the last few years LED technology has improved exponentially, to the point where they now favorably compare to or out-perform most other lights in almost every category, including output (brightness). There are still brighter bulb types out there, but the newest and brightest LEDs are more than bright enough to meet virtually every basic need you'll have for a flashlight. The older Nichia brand LEDs, still commonly found on store racks (it takes time for new technology to trickle down to the retail level) emit a slightly bluish tint. Many people find this tint objectionable, though it's really a matter of aesthetics. I still rely on a relatively dim Nichia LED as my primary survival light (a CMG Infinity Ultra, now redesigned and marketed under the Gerber name), and am more than willing to put up with the bluish tint due to its superb runtime (80+ hours of usable light on just 1 AA battery). My current back-up survival light (an old Arc-P 1xAAA) is also a Nichia. Other people are not so forgiving of the tint. Not to worry. The newer generation LEDs (e.g., the so-called Cree lights, and others are on the way) boast a lily white tint--or maybe even whiter than lilies. The bottom line is, go with LED technology.
9. Good compromise between output and run time
Other than the "LED versus incandescent" issue (which is actually a non-issue), this is arguably the most important criterion, and it's what separates most lights from true survival lights. Look for a run time of at least seven hours to 50% output (which would probably translate into 8-12 total hours of usable light). This is the minimum that you should settle for. The longer the run time, the better. Let's make sure you understand that last point. The longer the run time, the better. Don't get hung up on the whole output (i.e., how bright it is) thing. Super-bright "tactical" lights are great for impressing your friends, but will usually suck batteries dry much more quickly than less powerful lights (although improving LED technology continues to give us brighter lights and better run times.). Also, the darker your environment, the less light you need to see well enough. Brighter lights can actually be a disadvantage, because they more readily attract unwanted attention, and can also impair your night vision more than moderate-output lights. These are important considerations in a survival scenario. Again, we're talking about survival lights here, not tactical (super bright) lights. While it might make sense to also take along a super-bright light for "tactical" use (e.g., disorienting or disrupting the night vision of a potential threat), in most cases these lights will not meet the necessary criteria to qualify as true survival lights. And to repeat: the darker your environment, the less light you'll need to perform most essential tasks.
11. Quality of light beam
What this refers to is the illumination pattern, or beam characteristic, of the light. It's sometimes referred to as "spill." For survival lights, a wide spill beam is usually preferable to a tight, bright spot beam.
While the former won't illuminate specific objects as well, it provides illumination to a wider area, facilitating a broader picture and better peripheral vision. The latter will illuminate specific objects or smaller areas much better, and will have greater (longer) "throw," but will also tend to draw your line of sight inward, so that you focus more on what's illuminated in the spot beam than on what may be around it. Tight, bright beams are also more detrimental to night vision than wider, dimmer spill beams. A few lights seek a compromise between the two, claiming to offer both a bright center beam as well as decent spill. Some are more successful at accomplishing this than others. Personally, I prefer lights that do one thing or the other over those that take a "Swiss Army Knife" approach to illumination, though you may feel otherwise.

If you happen to choose to also carry a more powerful "tactical" light, just in case it's needed, you'll probably prefer that it have a bright, fairly narrow beam. But for a general purpose survival light, you want a wider, more diffuse beam, allowing you take in more visual information at one time.
12. Lanyard hole
The lanyard hole is just that--a hole [or loop] in the light [body or tail cap] through which you can attach a lanyard (cord) or a split ring, to which the lanyard can be attached (I prefer this setup). The lanyard can then be tied around your wrist, for example, or through a belt loop to prevent the loss of your light. Instead of a hole, some lights employ other means for lanyard attachment, and some have no dedicated lanyard attachment at all--except, perhaps, a (removable or screwed-into-place) pocket clip under which you could thread a cord. Unless you choose to forgo the lanyard and attach your light to a key ring along with other needed items (which I advise against, though that might be a viable option for a small back-up light), Always use a lanyard and secure it to your person, your clothing, or your gear, even when not in use. Your survival light is an essential, life-saving, possibly irreplaceable tool, but it will do you no good if you lose it. To be honest, I don't think I'd buy a light for serious survival that did not feature a dedicated, foolproof lanyard attachment, preferably a hole through some portion of the body.
13. Pocket clip
Most smaller lights these days come with pocket clips. They are usually detachable (slide-on, slide-off), and are useful for securing the light to the inside of a pocket, or for clipping it to your clothes, gear, or hat brim while performing tasks that require both hands. (I would always use a lanyard in addition to the clip). Pocket clips are nice to have. If your light doesn't come with one, it would be worthwhile to find a clip from some other source (such as another light of the same diameter) that fits snugly around your survival flashlight.
14. Can stand on its tail
This is not an essential criterion, and I certainly wouldn't reject a light simply because it isn't designed to stand upright on its tail end (and FWIW, my current primary survival light doesn't), but lights that can do so add an additional level of functionality. They are especially useful when you desire ambient (rather than direct) light, such as when reading or dressing in your tent. Of course, you can always prop your light up or clip it to something to get the same effect, but it's not quite as handy.
15. Caring for your light
Other than lubing the bezel and/or tail cap threads with an appropriate wet or dry lubricant, and avoiding cross-threading when attaching the bezel and/or tail cap, flashlight maintenance is pretty simple. Don't put the battery(ies) in backwards, keep it dry, don't drop it, etc. I'd suggest keeping your survival light empty of batteries until needed. Otherwise, keep lithiums in there. Alkalines can leak and ruin your light.
Q: What about headlamps? Can these be used as survival lights?
A: Very handy items to have. The light shines right where you look. Including smack dab into the face of the person you're looking at. Maybe it's just me, but I don't much care for light in my eyes when I'm trying to preserve my night vision. They might also make a handy head-shot target for hostiles. Let's put it this way. While most small flashlights can usually be rigged to serve as makeshift headlamps (with the aid of a pocket clip or headband, for example), most headlamps cannot readily be used in the same manner as one might use a flashlight. Headlamps could possibly serve as back-up survival lights (if they use only one or two batteries), but I would not recommend them as primary survival lights. A flashlight will, in most instances, prove more versatile.
Resources
1. The best flashlight resource on the Web is Candle Power Forums
. Lots of traffic and more info about flashlights than most people would ever need to know. Also a good source for obtaining custom lights.
2. One of the better flashlight review sites is FlashlightReviews.com. It's no longer updated regularly, but many of the lights still being sold are reviewed at the site.

JWR Adds: I agree with W's recommendation to get white LED flashlights. Here at Rawles Ranch, we mainly use the older late 1990s-vintage C. Crane Company blue-white LED lights that are compatible with NiMH rechargeable AA batteries. I realize that many SurvivalBlog readers have a lot invested in incandescent bulb flashlights. Rather than selling them at a loss, keep in mind that LED replacement heads now available for most or the major brands including MagLite and SureFire. OBTW, if you decide to transition to LEDs, save those original incandescent light bulb components. You never know when someday you may need a lot of light--for example for impromptu surgery out in the field. The other exception is truly SHTF tactical use. While I do not advocate using a visible light flashlight or rail-mounted weapon light where you are up against and armed opponent. (Since they provide your opponent with a convenient point of aim.) They are fine for shooting marauding bears, but almost suicidal when confronting two-legged predators. However, I do advocate using the same lights with an infrared (IR) filter installed, in situations where you have night vision goggles (or a Starlight scope) and you have a high level of confidence that your opponent does not. This will give you a tremendous tactical advantage in low-light fighting. In these circumstances, for short periods of time you will want all the light that you can get! For this purpose, I keep the original incandescent light heads for my Surefire lights handy. I also keep a 50 piece box of the standard Panasonic brand CR-123 lithium batteries in my refrigerator, as a "tactical reserve." These have a 10+ year shelf life. Our current box, (which, BTW, was generously donated by a reader in lieu of a 10 Cent Challenge subscription payment), won't expire until 2018.

Regarding lanyards, I recommend using a long, stout lanyard that is a full loop, preferably with a ball-shaped spring button slider. I mainly use olive drab paracord. The longer the better, for the sake of versatility. If the lanyard is too short, then there is not enough slack to loop the flashlight through (in a Girth Hitch--a.k.a. Lanyard Knot) to be able to hang a light from a branch, belt loop, tent d-ring, or other object.

Jim -
Great blog! I wanted to point out an important calculation everyone missed - internal combustion engines produce less power at higher elevation. Generators are (of course) rated at sea level. It's important to de-rate generator capacity by 3.5% per 1,000 feet of elevation or your generator will be undersized. (A 5,000 "label watt" generator is [effectively] only a 4,000 watt generator where I live at 6,000 feet.) Density altitude on a warm summer day can easily be 2,000 feet higher than that. My rule of thumb: after sizing for load, size generously for elevation or you'll be buying twice. Hope this helps everyone...
Other food for thought: You don't need to run all your big loads simultaneously. If the grid stays down, it'll be a blessing just to have refrigeration - it doesn't need to be like today where we run everything at once while blow-drying the dog! There's no reason you can't shut off the freezer if you need the well pump. The simplest transfer switch allows you to control power to various loads, and this allows you to use a smaller generator to accomplish everything. My genset is home built using a Listeroid (Lister clone) diesel engine and generator head purchased separately. This generator (significantly oversized to run a MIG welder, lathe, mill or compressor/plasma cutter combo) cost me less than $3,000 including truck freight and welding up a stout steel frame (probably $4,500 now, given the weak dollar, steel prices and current shipping rates). Based on decades of British Empire experience with these beasts in third world countries, I expect it will give 30,000-to-50,000 hours of service with minimal maintenance. It gingerly sips fuel and is easily operated on biodiesel or waste vegetable oil without modification.
Regards, - Fred H.

Mr. Rawles:
I saw that you recently posted my question to the blog, so I thought I'd update you. I ran the tests again and got what I believe to be a more accurate assessments.

My second test showed the refrigerator consuming right at 2.7 KWH (2,700 watts) over a 24 hour period for an average of 112.5 watts-per-hour. Now mind you, that includes all the hours we were asleep and so no one was opening the door, using up ice, etc.. During hours of heavy usage it was using about 150 watts-per-hour.

Test #2 for the chest freezer yielded the following results: KWH usage for the full 24 hours came to 1.02 KWH or 1,020 watts. This is an average of 42.5 watts-per-hour. Mind you, this freezer basically only gets opened once per day when we take out whatever we're defrosting for dinner. All in all, I'm pretty happy with those results.

The next step is to test our other refrigerator and our upright freezer and to calculate the Amp Hours required (how many deep cycle batteries I'll need) to build my homemade UPS system.

FYI, I found a really good deal the other day on a 4 KW emergency gasoline genset, and went ahead and bought it. My next big purchase will be a tri-fuel conversion kit from US Carburetion, so I can run her on propane. I know you guys usually endorse diesel as a primary genset/retreat fuel, but I really like the stability and shelf-life of propane - in my area, I can rent a 300-gallon tank (I own two 100-gallon cylinder tanks) from the propane provider for around $50 per year and fill it a little at a time as opposed to making an expensive all-at-once fuel purchase. My logic there being that I can dump a little in each month, so that it'll be full when I actually need it to be. - JSC in West Virginia - A "10 Cent Challenge" Subscriber

 

Dear JWR:
I was catching up on SurvivalBlog this weekend and noted the article on generator set sizing. The main issue here is that there is a significant difference in the average electrical energy consumption of an appliance and its peak usage. This issue is compounded by electrical devices such as motors which are not purely resistive (i.e. inductive load) and thus have up to 3 times the energy demand to start as opposed to running. This is commonly referred to as “starting current” verses “running current”. When sizing an electrical generator, one needs not only to calculate the total energy consumption of all electrical appliances one anticipates to be running simultaneously, but also to cover the starting current for the item with the heaviest draw. Most electrical motors are labeled with their electrical current needs, commonly listed as starting or peak current and continuous current. In regard to an appliance which doesn’t list this information (such as a refrigerator), the owner needs to use his Kill-A-Watt [meter] to determine the current used while running (typically 3-5 amps) and multiply this by 3 to get a good estimate of the starting current demands.

The process should be to add up the total draw for all the appliances, and then double the highest one and add that also to the total. This will give a rough estimate of the peak current draw, in Amps. To convert Amps to Watts, one simply needs to multiply by the operating voltage (typically 120 or 240 Volts). This assumes that no more than one heavy draw appliance starts at the same time, but to cover all the starting currents would require a much larger generator.

Several years back, during an ice storm, we were living off of an emergency generator rated at 5,000 Watts (6,200 peak Watts ). One should disregard the “peak” rating of typical portable emergency generators since they are uniformly overrated (I have noticed that recently, peak rating is what is listed, look for the “continuous rating”). Our water heater (a purely resistive load, hence no “starting current”) consumed 4,500 Watts. In order to take a hot shower, we needed to turn off all other circuits and allow the water to heat up. After an hour, the water heater was disconnected to allow the well pump to be operated to provide water through the water heater to the shower. This constant switching of loads was a real nightmare.

As a caveat, typical consumer portable electrical generators are not up the rigors of continuous use. Their fuel economy is atrocious; our 5 KW unit uses about 5 gallons of gas in an 8 hour period. They are also typically powered by the equivalent of an air-cooled lawnmower engine. Consider taking your lawnmower into heavy wet grass and mowing continuously for 200 hours. After a week of trying to keep this loud and hungry beast fed, thankfully the power came back on-line. We went with a diesel powered 15KW unit which would even cover the arc welding unit and it uses about 1/4 gallon of fuel per hour during typical household test uses. The gas generator seemed to use virtually the same amount of fuel regardless of the load, but the diesel unit just sips fuel when it is just loafing along, with consumption roughly linear with the load.

When choosing a generator for long term use, I would make several recommendations:
First, if you pump water or want to run a welder or air conditioning unit, you will need at least 10 KW and 120/240VAC capability.
Second, get a unit with double windings so it can run at 1,800 rpm instead of 3,600 rpm (to make up 60 Hz AC power). This vastly improves fuel economy and noise level as well as longevity.
Third, the unit needs to be water cooled. While some air cooled units are built for longevity, they are the exception.
Fourth, think of fuel storage requiring long-term stability. This effectively rules out gasoline, and leaves us with NG/LPG or diesel.

While electrical generators are very useful and highly recommended, their Achilles’ Heel is fuel availability. We store adequate diesel fuel to run the generator full time for approximately two months use, which would extend to one year or more with limited part-time use, but it is still a finite resource. They can be useful as a bridge for short duration (till the power comes back on or we learn to live without). Except in the hottest climates, running a refrigerator or freezer a couple of hours twice a day is adequate with limited door opening. Once the foodstuffs in the freezer and refrigerator are used up, you will still need a manual pump for your water well in TEOTWAWKI. Hope this helps, - NC BlueDog

 

Sir,
The Kill-A-Watt meter is a great tool but [KSC] really didn’t give it a chance to work. If you want to find out how much power your refrigerator uses over the course of the day leave it plugged into the meter for a few days at the minimum.

Most watt meters have the option to see how much power is currently being used by whatever is plugged into it. You’ll want to look at that while the appliance is cycled on. The refrigerators and freezers that I’ve dealt with generally don’t use more than about 150 – 200 watts while running, figure they use about three times that during startup.

In your situation, figure 600 watts startup power, times four appliances would be around 2,400 watts. I’m guessing that there will be other things that you will want to run also (lights, grain mill, battery charger etc.) so you may want to go with a 3,500 watt generator but as long as you aren’t looking to power your whole house from top to bottom with it you don’t really need a huge generator. - MercCom

 

Jim-
Here's a helpful site for figuring power requirements.

By the way, we all have useful generators sitting in our garages--in our car and/or truck. An inverter will let you tap that power. COSTCO has a 1,000 watt inverter for $65. If you use good sense in using power, and keep your vehicle tank(s) full, you can ride through a temporary power failure. Not bad for $65. But you also will have to buy or make up a pair of cables that will clip to your battery. The provided cables have useless terminals (closed end type) for the battery end of the cables. - Bob B.

Jim,
I don't know if this has been posted here or not. I have finished watching a series on the Science Channel called "Invention Nation". The show primarily feature inventors who are inventing ways to "go green". Many of these inventions and ideas fit in perfectly with being self-sufficient. Some of the topics are; used cooking oil for diesel engines, solar power technology, passive solar for heating homes and water, bicycle generators, etc... The series will rerun starting in March and may be worth a look for the preparedness minded. See the Invention Nation web site. Thanks to you and your family for all you do. - Randy G.

Mr. Rawles:
In attempting to size an emergency generator for my home, I have run across some interesting questions that I hope you and/or your other readers will be able to help me with. I lived through the blizzards of the 1990s here in the southern West Virginia coal camps, and I will never forget us and all of our neighbors being without power and unable to get out of our own driveways for 23+ days in 1993.

It marked the very beginnings of my awakening to the necessity of being properly prepared. With that in mind, I am attempting to set my home up with the ability to keep a bare minimum level of electrical appliances running in the case of a long-term outage; namely 2 refrigerators w/ freezers, a chest freezer, and an upright freezer (all just a few years old, so fairly energy efficient).

I am gauging the power being used by these appliances using a Kill-A-Watt. And, honestly, I'm afraid that I am doing something wrong. My number seem awfully low.

The first test I ran was on my chest freezer; after two hours of measurement, the freezer had consumed just 0.05 KWH or 50 watts of power at 25 watts per hour. I was surprised, but not terribly because the lid was not opened during the span of the test.

Next, I tested the refrigerator in my kitchen. It is a an Energy Star compliant Whirlpool brand 25.55 cu. ft. model with water and ice in the door. As a result of the chest freezer coming in lower than I expected, I purposely skewed the refrigerator experiment with the hopes of over-estimating the true usage. To that end, I was sure to be a bad boy and do things such as holding the door open and staring in like a goober for five minutes. I also refilled the dog's water bowl from the door (forcing the pump into action) and virtually emptied the ice bin as crushed ice through the door (a big cup of ice water is yum!) to force the ice maker to have to run and make more. But, even with all that, my two hour test yielded a cumulative KWH usage of just 0.13. A measly 130 watts at 65 watts per hour.

Researching this online, I'm finding sites that estimate the typical household fridge uses between 150-250 watts per hour with peaks upward of 700+ watts. Am I doing really well on efficiency or am I missing something? I'll wait to hear back before I run the remaining tests. Thanks! - JSC

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.

Sir,
I clicked on this link from your site, JOTW - Home Made Vegetable Oil Lamp. This got me to thinking about something I read about and tried once, some years ago. Take a tangerine, and using a knife, cut the nub off of the top, to expose the fruit, and using a spoon, separate the fruit from the peel and the segments from each other, leaving the sting like " pith " that runs from top to bottom, down the center of the segments, connected to the bottom. After letting the thing dry a bit, the pith is cut a bit to act as a free standing " wick ", a bit of olive, vegetable, or corn oil is put in, leaving about 1/4" of the pith above the oil to light. If it soaks up the oil enough, the lamp can be made to last quite a while for survival needs.

If you go to the extreme in a survival situation, a lamp could be fashioned from natural clay like the ones seen in the Middle East that have been made the same way since biblical times. . Many thanks to Hawaiian K. for the link. I like to try some of these type preparedness do-it-yourself projects from time to time to learn a new skill that may help me and my family some bad day. - Dim Tim

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.

Throughout my life I have been caught unprepared several times and while nothing seriously bad happened, it easily could have.  I have been lost hiking.  My car has broken down in very bad neighborhoods - twice.  I have been close enough to riots that I feared they would spread to my neighborhood, been in earthquakes, been too close to wildfires, been stuck in a blizzard, and have been without power and water for several days after a hurricane.   I managed to get myself out of each situation, I thanked God, and tried to learn from my mistakes.  I could have avoided these situations or made them much less unsafe and worrisome if I had been more aware and prepared.  I have also tried to learn from the mistakes of others so as to not learn everything the hard way.  One group I assisted was a two hour drive into the mountains, out of gas, wearing tee shirts, and had empty water bottles (at least they kept them) (I have made each of those mistakes but not all at the same time).