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Letter Re: Advice on Ammunition Storage
Jim,
What is the best way to store handgun ammo? I have a military surplus ammo can with a good rubber seal on it. However would it be a good idea to wrap it in plastic before putting it into the ammo box.
Also is there anything I should keep it away from while in storage. Thanks, - Motor Oil Man
JWR Replies: The two crucial things to remember for storing ammo in milsurp cans are:
1.) Use an ammo can with a nice soft gasket, and,
2.) Drop in a commercially-made silica gel packet (or a homemade equivalent) in the can if you live in a humid climate. This will dry the air that is sealed inside the can.
Some additional guidance:
DO NOT coat cartridges with oil or grease. This can cause a dangerous pressure condition if you forget to remove the lubricant before loading and firing a cartridge. As has been documented by the good folks at Box O'Truth, the oft-mentioned risk of "deadening primers of loaded cartridges" with oil or oil vapors has proven to be erroneous, with some recent scientific tests. BTW, I must admit that I was guilty of spreading this dezinformatsaya myself, until reading the test details.
Plastic wrapping the boxes has little utility, that is unless your expect the ammo's cardboard boxes to become collector's items in a few decades. (Wrapping the boxes will keep them looking pristine.)
Just be sure to keep your ammo cans in a fairly dry place, so that the exteriors don't rust. (For this, salty water is the worst offender.) If left in puddles, ammo cans will eventually rust through, given enough time. In a humid coastal (high salt) climate, it might just take a scratch through a can's paint bring its eventual ruin.
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Letter Re: Space-Efficient Shelving Systems for Retreat Storage
Hello Mr. Rawles,
I am new to your blog but after reading "How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It" and currently reading "Patriots". I am an active reader of your blog. I am an Eagle Scout and by living the Boy Scout motto, Be Prepared. I have already been living the lifestyle without even knowing it. However, there are things that I still need to work on which is also complicated by the fact I am currently in the military and some of the areas are lacking due to the complex issues this create for myself. For example, moving every two to three years makes it difficult to stock pile on some things and I find that I have stuff spread across America in storage units, with family and friends.
Today, I saw something that would be beneficial for many people. Storage is a huge issue because many of us do not have unlimited funds and adequate space available but by being prepared this requires us to turn any space into storage space. If you have a garage, basement or other large storage facility you should consider installing a sliding shelf system, similar to the ones you see in hospitals for storing medical records. The shelve slide around on runners and only two shelves can be accessed at any one time however you can slide the shelves as necessary to access any of the shelves as needed. This makes it possible to maximize storage space but also allows you to maximize organization. Since the shelves slide together like books in a book case you can then post load diagrams as well as packing list of what is in stock, when it expires and even the shortages that need to be filled. I would also recommend that you also hang a note pad and pen to write notes of what is added, used, or even list of items needed.
These shelving systems are not cheap brand new. Therefore, I recommend that you keep an eye out for clinics and hospitals that are upgrading there current system and try to purchase the old shelving units. However, you could also install heavy duty, high quality caster wheels on your current, homemade or new shelving. Without having the runners it will be imperative to have handles mounted on the outside to assist with maneuvering the shelves. Do not go cheap on the wheels because a broken wheel could quickly make such a system difficult to use. In fact, as with everything else, buy some spare caster wheels so that they can be replaces as needed. If you buy the extras when you purchase the original set you know that they will fit perfect when it is time to replace them. Also, by having caster wheel installed you lift the shelving units off the floor which helps prevent moisture damage, which leads to rust and also will help reduce rodent and bug issues. You will be able to place traps and bait stations below the shelves.
Be Prepared, - S.K.
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Letter Re: Which Items Need a "Cool Dry Place", and Which Don't?
Mr. Editor,
It seems that when we have to store anything it is always recommended to store in a cool dark area with low humidity. What things can we store in less than favorable spots like attics or outside sheds where the temps and humidity varies greatly? Thanks for all you have done for us. - Bill H. in Delaware
JWR Replies: Humidity can be problematic, but some items that can tolerate fairly high temperature inside a shed include salt, ammunition, paper products, and many cleaning supplies and lubricants. (But do your homework on potential leaks and fire danger, especially for items in liquid form, or that are packaged in aerosol cans!) If you live in a humid climate, then be sure to keep your eyes peeled for airtight containers--the bigger the better. Five and six gallon plastic buckets with gasketed lids have become ubiquitous. If you are creative, you can store a surprising variety of items in these buckets. For example, I found one brand of meat butchering paper that come in 10" diameter bulk rolls, that when turned on end fit perfectly in a 6 gallon bucket, with just an inch to spare at the top.
Also note that in addition to the tried-and-true milsurp ammo cans, some military surplus stores sell airtight shipping containers that were originally made for military electronics--made variously of metal, plastic, or fiberglass. I've see these up to nine cubic foot capacity! In the "Rawles Gets You Ready" family preparedness course, I describe using silica gel desiccant packets, as a well as Golden Rod Dehumidifiers. OBTW, these days, the least expensive source of bulk silica gel, is the new variety of "crystals" unscented odor -absorbing cat litter, such as Tidy Cats Crystals and the Amazing Cat Litter brand. (OBTW, these cat litters are often sold in three or four gallon rectangular HDPE buckets, which can be re-used for storing non-food items.
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Comments from Michael Z. Williamson Re: Storing Food in Commercial Storage Spaces?
Dear Jim,
Several years ago my wife and I were resident managers of a self-storage facility. Here are some useful facts:
Check them out first with the Better Business Bureau. The company we worked for, sad to say, was and still is rated very poorly for failing to respond to customer complaints. They operated on a model of "Get every penny they have." The rent was reasonable, and we were on site as "Security" with the usual corporate garbage that we never have anything resembling a weapon in the office or on duty.
The problem came with late fees. As soon as the doors closed at the end of the three day grace period, the computer would apply a penalty. On the 15, another penalty would apply. After 30 days, a "Collection fee," and rent, and more fees. A month late would cost a customer about $100 (in late 1990s dollars) in addition to rent for each month. Their lock would be cut to determine if the space was abandoned, and then overlooked, with a fee to have the lock removed. (All this was handled by the corporate office. We had no choice and no authority or ability to help anyone on hard times.) We were not allowed to provide any contact info except the P.O. Box number to complainants, who'd of course sometimes threaten to "inform our bosses" who made it clear they didn't want to talk to customers. They would never respond in any fashion to a customer unless lawyers were involved.
At one time they stripped and auctioned property through a local auction house, then switched to the "Bid on the open box" plan. So the result of three months lost rent, lots of filing, certified letters, late fees and loss of the use of the space in the meantime would typically be $20 or so.
Keep in mind that almost every place writes leases from the first day of the second month and pro-rates the remainder of the first month. So if you move in on the 20th and pay a full month's rent, you will owe the pro-rata for ten days (20th to end of month) on the 1st. If you miss that you will be in arrears.
Be aware that even the reputable ones do not provide trash service. If you are caught tossing trash into their dumpsters, you will be fined. Obviously, you shouldn't be paying to store trash, but it's amazing what we cleaned out of abandoned units:
A mo-ped
A laserdisc player
A new recliner (Still wrapped)
A new microwave
A case of mixed liquor, sealed bottles
Various tools
Furniture
A full set of fine china
Car stereos
Construction materials
Literally tons of good clothes, shoes and books. (Which we donated to the local Goodwill.)
All of which were left in unlocked, unpaid units, often with the customer's blessing to help ourselves.
Which would be my last point: don't fall into the trap of just tossing stuff into the warehouse. Get the smallest one you need and plan for (as you mentioned) cold, heat, wet, vermin, and occasional fires. Never store anything crucial with personal value or legal value in one.
I can concur that property stored at these facilities is generally safe. Most of what is stored is not worth stealing, and what is worth it is too hard to sort. However, keep in mind that in grid down or other disasters, the facility may be closed, or wrecked by rioters. And once the first goblin figures out there's "Free" stuff, then all such properties are at risk. So I would not recommend using them except on a short term basis, while transporting your gear to a more secure location. - Michael Z. Williamson, SurvivalBlog Editor at Large
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Three Letters Re: Storing Food in Commercial Storage Spaces?
Mr. Rawles,
I have a small follow up question/suggestion to your response regarding commercial storage spaces. In my area, I have a solid 4-to-6 hour drive in good conditions to get to my safety location from my greater metropolitan area home. After having to do this drive last year with the chaos of an incoming Hurricane, I decided to take advantage of your "Doug Carlton" suggestion from your novel "Patriots"
. I decided to rent a small storage unit (5'x5') at what I considered the half way point between my city and my objective location. I pay $20 per month to store a small cache which consists of 20 gallons of stabilized gasoline (ventilated), 7 days of freeze dried food, and bottled drinking water. All in all, it consists of about $100 in supplies.
I do not consider this a long term solution, but at $20 a month it is an insurance policy that almost guarantees I will not have to be walking to my retreat. I'm sure you can find many testimonials online from people who had to evacuate Houston and Brownsville last year due to increased Hurricane activity in the Gulf. Many places were completely sold out of gasoline, food and water with in the first six hours of evacuation activities.
Do you consider this a good stop gap solution when it comes to utilizing self-store units? I understand that this is no excuse for procrastination or apathy. I am not diluting myself into thinking it has long term security for more than 24-to-48 hours of storage pending a catastrophic event or break down of civil service. Thank you for your time and advice. - Matt in Texas
Mr. Rawles,
I am the resident manager of a small self storage facility, and have been for over seven years. And yes I am a prepper and a woman.
Among my tenants I can count about a dozen or so who are also preppers. They consider this a safe place to store their preps while they are finding land to move to. I am always happy when one comes in to give notice that they are moving to the country (as they say).
We (my staff of two, and I) have a written plan in case of a situation and after practicing it and working out the bugs; we can lock this place down in less than five minutes. If I am here by myself it takes about 7 minutes to secure the premises and have my weapon and clipboard in hand. I realize that my tenants will want to come get their possessions as quickly as possible and that is part of our security set up, thus the clipboard with tenant info.
If any of your readers are thinking about storing their goods at a self storage facility here are some suggestions to make sure their items are secure.
1. Check out the location: in person and check with the local police force to see if the facility has had break-ins.
2. Is the property well lit and well fenced? (first step in security)
3. Only rent where there is a resident manager (a layer of security)
4. Gated with an electronic gate and limited hours. 24 hour facilities have more break-ins than those with limited hours. Electronic gates usually record the gate activity. (more security)
5. Is there video cameras recording the activity on the property? (security again)
6. Talk to the manager and staff – get to know them – you can do this without telling them what you are storing. You would be surprised how many people will tell you exactly what they are storing.
7. Does the staff make themselves present on the property?
8. Is the facility clean and well-maintained?
9. What types of locks are on the doors? Round locks for which only you hold the keys to are the best. Are the empty units locked also? (this is a sign that manage takes security seriously) Is there an extra lock on the door? Ask the management why. Most facility requires only one lock so they can lock out a tenant that doesn’t pay their rent.
10. Speaking of rent: Do you pay with credit card or can you set up a continuous pay with your bank or can you pay in advance with the Self Storage sending you an invoice the month you prepaid is up?
11. Read the rental agreement and understand it.
12. Check on your goods frequently.
13. Remember most self storage facilities do not allow food stored in any type of container that a four-legged critter could chew through. Canned goods, and round plastic food grade buckets are good. Make sure when storing food or clothing that you have clean hands. Residue of that hamburger you ate on the way will leave traces that will attract that four-legged critter.
14. Store in Rubbermaid plastic totes, well labeled on all sides including the top and bottom.
15. As far as extreme temperatures; yes it can happen, but if the units are well insulated you should not have any more of a problem than storing at home. You can do the insulation yourself by choosing the containers you store in.
16. Pallets are a great idea and I whole heartily recommend them for everyone.
17. If you don’t want people to know that you are storing your preps, choose totes and containers that will not give you away.
Mr. Rawles, thank you for being a guiding light for so many of us. You and your family are in my prayers. Blessing to you and yours. - N.J.
JWR,
You have a great site, I watch it carefully.
In the recent article on storage spaces you answered a question about storage units being used to keep your food for a time. I run over 3,000 units of storage in a climate that has burning heat and freezing cold, and the answer to this problem is: climate controlled units. For only a few dollars more per month you might be able to find a unit in a climate controlled space. There temperatures will usually be held somewhere between 60 and 80 degrees. Perfect for storing food. These units are less likely to be broken into as they are interior and usually have higher levels of security covering them.
The drawback is that still just an emerging market, and hence climate-controlled units are not available in may rural areas. However, they are much more common the past few years. I just added climate control to a facility right here and though the facility in an area that is mostly farmer’s fields. I also know that the little town of Haley, Idaho has a storage company with climate controlled space. I also know of climate controlled storage scattered [in small numbers] across across Utah, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. Readers might not be able to find one right where they are going, but for the general public’s knowledge – climate control is out there and becoming more available all the time
As for losing your stuff for non-payment, yes it happens – all the time. I am constantly amazed at the valuables that people lose just because they didn’t pay their bill. But any reputable storage site is going to offer automatic payment options, either by credit card or checking withdrawals. That can make life much easier.
Yes, plan for possible water damage, and a possible rodent visit. Both are easy to handle. And lastly have some spare keys made for your lock. That one issue has tripped up too many people too many times. Thanks, - Luke H.
JWR Replies: I wholeheartedly agree about spare keys! In addition to the key that you keep on your daily-carry key ring, put one in each of your main bug-out bags, and one in the glove box of each of your vehicles! Someday, you might have to hurriedly depart for your retreat in unusual circumstances.
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Letter Re: Preparedness for Families that Move Frequently
Mr. Rawles,
Just finished reading your book "How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It. I finished it in one long sitting, and have plans to go over it again with highlighter and pen and paper to take more detailed notes. Great work!
As a member of the Armed Forces, I face a difficult dilemma in that I understand and can clearly see the need to prepare/plan ahead, but my family and I feel hamstrung by our relatively transient lifestyle. I've been in the service for just over four years, and in that time I have been relocated every 18-24 months. This makes it extremely difficult to build up a deep larder and establish a self-sufficient infrastructure and a live-in homestead. How do we work around this?
We have a few things going in our favor:
- We are debt-free, with about $60,000 squirreled away in a Certificate of Deposit (CD) that will mature next year; we intend on using that to purchase a piece of fertile land in a quiet corner out west, and are working with some like-minded family members to pool our resources for collaboration and (hopefully) get a better deal. One thing we have discussed is that there are some very good deals on land in Canada - would could by twice or three times the amount of property than we could buy stateside with the same amount of money. In your experience, do you see any advantages/disadvantages in buying in the US or Canada?
- After all the bills are paid, we have enough left over to put about $1,000 away in long-term savings and another $500 left for preparedness purchases. I have a running list of prioritized items (firearms/ammunition, long-term food/water storage equipment, etc.), and as the money comes in I purchase them.
- We are currently renting a small farm property (seven acres) in New England near my duty station. While here, we are taking the time to use it as a practice ground for growing a vegetable garden and small-scale haying for livestock. This will give us valuable experience once we do have a piece of land to call our own. We are coordinating with several friends to learn canning, cheese making, and small scale home brewing to improve our self-reliance.
- We do have two horses, mostly for pleasure riding; I intend on trading out at least one for a larger Draft cross - much more practical for farming/homesteading. My landlord also agreed to let us keep some poultry, so I will use the winter to build a coop for some chickens.
- Deer are abundant in our area, and several wander through our backyard on a regular basis. I'm going to pick up a deep chest freezer this week, and hope to put one or two deer in the freezer this fall/winter.
In summary, my two questions are then:
1) Canadian versus US land?
2) How to build a deep larder in a nomadic lifestyle?
Thanks for everything, and keep up the great work! - MPJ
JWR Replies: Yes, your situation is a challenge, but you are not alone. The good news for you is that the weight allowances for military PCS moves go up, as you gain rank.
Given an option, I generally don't encourage retreats in Canada because of their more stringent gun control laws. It is fine if you already live there, and have structured a firearms battery that takes full advantage of some loopholes. For example, buying M1 Garand rifles. (The only semi-auto that is an exception to the absurd 5 round rifle magazine capacity limit.) But to voluntarily move from a country that has fairly favorable gun laws to one that does not, just doesn't make sense to me.
For folks that move often, I generally recommend building up two stockpiles of food: A larger one with very long shelf life food s(such as hard red winter wheat and Mountain House(or similar) canned freeze dried foods) that is kept your intended retreat, and a smaller one with shorter shelf life foods that you will keep with you, as you move from place to place.
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Letter Re: Storing Food in Commercial Storage Spaces?
Hi Jim,
What do you think of storing food at commercial storage sites until you can get the your retreat? Do you think these sites will be targeted and vandalized when TSHTF?
We will be moving north as soon as our house sells. I was wondering if we should move preps to a storage site closer to where we will be moving?
I hope you and your family are able to find comfort in your memories of the Memsahib. Thanks, - Kimberly
JWR Replies: In most of North America, commercial "U-Stor" storage spaces with roll-up doors are not a good choice for storing your food supplies. Inside temperatures temperatures that can exceed 120 degrees F in summer months. This will greatly decrease the shelf life of most storage foods. Traditional warehouses with interior doors have less extreme temperatures, but there you are more likely to have access problems when the Schumer hits the fan. There are some exceptions, in places like Maine, but even there, you have to wonder about stored foods being subjected to repeated freezing and thawing.
Commercial storage spaces are statistically quite safe from burglary. The biggest risk that I've seen is people losing track of their storage contract pre-payments, and losing the contents of their storage spaces! (State laws vary widely. In some states, only one notice needs to be sent via mail before forfeiture proceedings can begin. OBTW, in my travels, I've seen several storage companies that are co-located with antique furniture stores. I consider that no mere coincidence. Obviously, their are a lot of forgetful, unfortunate, or just plain flaky people that have forfeited the contents of their storage spaces! In my 20+ years of doing guns shows, I've met several dealers that regularly bid on the contents of abandoned storage spaces, essentially sight unseen, with varying degrees of success. Typically, the bidders gather, the door is rolled up, and the bidding commences, with the bidders not allowed to enter the storage space. They must base their bids on what they can see through the open door.
Another risk for the contents of commercial storage spaces is flooding. Make sure that you pick a company that has their building on "high and dry" ground, not on a flood plain. But even then, there is always the risk of ruptured pipes, or a malfunctioning fire sprinkler systems. So positioning a layer of inexpensive (or free) wooden pallets under your stored good is cheap insurance.
Ideally, you should store your gear and grub in the climate-controlled home or cool basement of a trusted friend that lives their year-round
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Letter Re: Gear that is Hidden in Plain Sight
James,
I have built a series of Hidden in Plain Sight (HIPS) bird house caches that can conceal a Seahorse Waterproof Case
. These cases are similar to a Pelican brand case. The Seahorse company has cases developed for pistols, so I have built a birdhouse. It is a 4-place birdhouse.Two of the spaces are real bird houses, but the other two are dummies, with the top on hinges. The Seahorse case fits nicely inside. My thoughts on this were, for instance, say an intruder breaks into your home in suburbia, your space is compromised, you have enough time and thought to get you, your wife, and child out through a window or back door. You'd then go to the HIPS box retrieve your track phone and your Colt .45, call 911 and have your pistol in the event that the malefactors come after you. I am considering applying for a patent of sorts on this type of home security devices. They come in different configurations colors and made for different birds specified for regional "fit" for the back yard Thanks for all that you do, it is really appreciated. - Gary
JWR Replies: That is a captivating concept, Gary. OBTW, I concur with concept of having a Model 1911 in hand before dialing 911. ("1911 before 911.")
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Letter Re: Where to Store Food When There is No Simple Answer
Mr. Editor:
Like Margy, I also found myself building an 'above ground cellar' for temperature stable storage of food and other goods. Working with a detached three-car garage that had just a two-car door, I converted the extra 'bay' to a bonus room. With standard framing and insulation I noticed that that room remained noticeably more even in temperature throughout the day.
I also have warm summers, 100F and occasionally more. Winters rarely drop below freezing for more than a day or two.
I did some research once on passive temperature control and learned that water has a high specific heat and in significant quantity can stabilize the temperature of a given space. I acquired several 55 gallon plastic drums and placed them in a row along the interior wall of my room. I filled them in place with water I treated with bleach and sealed them. Within days I noticed that the temperature remained nearly constant regardless of time of day. The barrels are about 3' high by 2' deep, and it is easy enough to construct shelving above them.
I improved on this further by adding more barrels and increasing the insulation. I bought 2" thick foam panels at Home Depot, the kind with reflective metal coating. These I cut to shape for the windows and blocked them off. I also bought a box fan and some furnace filters. This I mounted in a window on a clock timer. The fan pulls cool night air into the space, pulling air through a furnace filter and an exterior screen. Now that the summer has passed I have disabled the timer and will cover the fan assembly with an insulation panel as the temperature drops. I may even use it to pull warmer afternoon air in during winter.
With these steps and no significant heat sources inside the insulated envelope I have found that with no energy consumption I have managed a cool place for long term storage.
Water is cheap and readily available. Once purified, it requires no maintenance when properly stored. - Vlad
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Where to Store Food When There is No Simple Answer, by Margy
It’s been almost two years now since I became serious about preparing for TEOTWAWKI. In that time I’ve followed the instructions of the Lord upon the death of my husband to “shore up and seal up my house” but there was always one haunting question. That was, where would I have enough space to store adequate food for my family that I could control the temperature.
Living in a mild climate in the heart of America, we have long hot summers that sometimes kiss the thermometer in excess of 105? making outdoor storage of any kind almost impossible. I’ve always stored extra paper products and a few canned goods in the garage but due to the heat, I knew I couldn’t successfully store food there for a long period of time. Soil in our region consists of a high content of clay so digging a root cellar is not a fruitful enterprise.
Although I have a relatively large three bedroom home, I wasn’t willing to fill closets with survival food, plus I wanted it to be hidden from eyes that didn’t have a need to know. I worried about this at length, feeling that I had been instructed by the Lord to make preparations for my family of eight.
A friend of ours who is a construction person often does odd jobs around the house for me. He is someone I trust like a brother and whom I attend church with. We were standing in my garage one day as I expressed my dismay over the food storage situation when he pointed to an alcove in the garage and said, “You have a closet right there. All you have to do is wall it off.”
I
couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen it previously, but the moment he said that it became very clear this would be “the” place. Within in a few days, I had my son in the garage with a measuring tape, pencil and paper and we figured the supplies I would need to make the closet come into fruition. He went to work and I went to Home Depot to arrange for a delivery of 2 x 4s, sheet rock, insulation, electrical boxes and wiring, light fixtures and screws and the complete list to make a well constructed, insulated closet with electrical outlets and ceiling fixtures where tool laden shelves once stood.
The process of moving all of the shelving and items stored on the shelves was exhausting, but I could see the benefit of this project and knew I would either get rid of what was stored there or find another place to put it. Luckily, most of the shelving was the heavy duty steel shelving on casters that we had bought at Sam’s a couple of years before. They were easily rolled across the garage and out of the way of the construction crew, their contents in tact.
The next weekend, my son and his friend came with tools in hand and began a long day of construction on a simple closet, fifteen feet long by five feet wide. Once their equipment was brought into the garage, the door went down and stayed there during the construction process. Although my neighbors are nice people, they are not on the same political thought process I am and I didn’t think they needed to know what was happening in the garage, nor did the city inspectors!
Two by fours were affixed to the concrete garage floor with a Ramset HD 22 single shot hammer device. Once the 2 x 4s were securely fastened to the floor where they would serve as the grounding base for the wall studs, the 2 x 4s for the studs followed and were stabilized by being attached to the ceiling. Next came the exterior sheet rock wall and insulation. I did hire an electrician to do the wiring of the closet as well as additional dawn to dusk lighting around the perimeter of the house. In addition to the extra lighting in the ceiling of the closet, we added two outlets in the interior and one on the exterior wall of the storage closet so I would not lose the capacity to plug in extension cords for electrical outdoor tools. The closet door I selected was a metal exterior door already set with a lock and key arrangement.
We installed a silvery [Reflectix] insulation that was about 1/4" thick with bubbles sandwiched between the aluminum-looking [mylar] layers. We completely wrapped the walls of the storage closet with the insulation in hopes that it would solve any temperature problems. We lined the room with it as tightly as if we were hanging wall paper, stapling it to the walls with an electric, heavy duty stapler. It looked good, clean and professional. My nine year old grandson stepped into the room and asked “Wow. What is this place for.” We dubbed it the “beam me up Scotty” room and have jokingly referred to it as that ever since. I put two thermometers in the room – one at each end – and watched with dismay as the red line continued to hold at 90?. This was a problem that would only shorten the longevity of the stored food.
Once the closet was done my other son came to begin building shelves. My original plan was for wooden shelves but he wasn’t long into the project until he convinced me to buy metal shelving from Home Depot. We purchased three sets of Workforce Five Shelf Heavy Duty Steel Shelving Units that would hold up to 4,000 pounds. These free standing shelves were easily put together, very strong, and by using two units, I could make them tall enough to go from the floor to the nine foot ceiling. Each unit cost around $89 which was a little more than I had originally budgeted, but now that they are in I’m thrilled with them and very glad we went to this plan. The shelves are clean, smooth and without splinters and I don’t worry about weight loads plus the shelves are adjustable if I so desire.
My hot water tank is housed in a small closet inside the food storage room. I knew we had put the tank in almost immediately after we had moved into the house eleven years previously and it was a ten year tank. While I had not had any difficulty with the tank and found it still supplied me more than adequate hot water, I felt as though it would be prudent to have the tank replaced now, before the closet was full of food and shelving units. Also, I didn’t want to take a chance on the tank going out over a weekend or some other rushed time and I would be at the mercy of an unknown plumber to come fix it. Instead, I bought the tank and hired my construction friend to install it at his leisure, knowing full well I could trust him to be discreet about the contents of the closet.
Continuing to be concerned about the lack of control on the temperature inside the closet, my son and I climbed into the attic and put a roll of pink panther R-20 insulation in the area immediately above the food storage room and then a layer of pressed wood over that for flooring, thinking it would also work as additional insulation. Because of the layout of the roof line and the fact that the support beams for the ceiling of the garage ran crosswise instead of lengthwise, we weren’t able to get the insulation into the low lying areas under the eaves of the house. This worried me and I stuck as much of the blue polystyrene foam insulation back into the small crevices as possible.
As the weather began to get warmer, my concerns for the temperature of the closet room grew. Although my son had heavily insulated the new wall when he built it and I had a circulation fan going in the room at all times as well as the added insulation in the attic and on the exterior walls, the thermometer was showing an increasingly large red line. I knew enough about the longevity of dried food to know this was not good and I would have to take evasive action.
My next venture was to add a stand alone room air conditioner. I did my research on line and bought one from a company in Austin, Texas. It looked like a great idea but looks weren’t enough! The information said it needed to stand near a window so it could be vented out like any other air conditioner. While I didn’t have a window in the room, I figured we could cut a hole in the wall of the water heater closet, run the venting tubing through that closet and up and out the vents in the attic.
My sister and I set about making this happen. In the early morning hours, before it got hot, she crawled into the attic with tools in hand and began cutting an opening through the ceiling of the hot water tank closet and pushing a very long length of flexible insulated dryer venting through the hole and then through the new hole we had cut in the wall of the closet. Pulling fifty feet of insulation isn’t an easy task, but we worked hard at the project and got it pulled through and affixed to the wall with metal brackets so it would be stable.
We followed the instructions on the stand alone air conditioner and attached the venting system to the flexible dryer vent and rejoiced when we turned on the unit and it dropped the temperature two degrees, almost immediately. We congratulated ourselves, went into the house and cleaned up and crashed in the family room. We were both very hot and exhausted but feeling good about our accomplishment as we drifted off to a well deserved nap.
A couple of hours later we went out to check our handiwork and were frustrated to find the room hotter than it had been before we began the project with the thermostat on the air conditioner showing 93?. We checked all points on the venting system to make sure nothing had come undone. I turned off the unit and set the fan back in the room; she went home. I thought about it over the weekend and tried to figure out what we could do to solve the problem. I had spent over three hundred dollars on the stand-alone unit that was only adding to the problem. Not only could I not afford that, it was maddening to think about.
After further research I came to the conclusion that the stand alone unit really is only a supplemental unit to be used in an area that already has some air conditioning but not enough. I’m sure it would work very well in that situation, but not in ours. On Monday, I called the company in Texas and told them I was returning the unit only to be answered by a Brian who wasn’t very nice about it and informed me that not only would I have to pay for the shipping back, which I expected, but I would now have to pay for the shipping to me as well since I wasn’t buying another product from them. That turned out to be about one hundred dollars down the drain. An expensive lesson in futility.
We were able to repackage all of the venting materials we used and return them to Home Depot for a refund, accompanied by a smile. At least they were nice about it which reinforces the virtues of buying locally.
Several years before, I had added insulation to the attic of my home so I called that same company and had them come out to add more insulation, this time to the area above the storage closet in the garage as well as the original garage walls. To do so, they had to drill holes in the walls but I didn’t think that mattered - the idea was to keep the room cool enough to prolong the life of the food. It was an arduous task to remove all of the food, shelves and supporting items from the closet into another part of the garage, cover them with thick plastic to hide the contents from unwarranted eyes. Once the insulation project was done, I had to reverse the process and put everything back into the room.
Even with the added insulation, the room still wasn’t maintaining temperature below 90? on the hottest days. Although this was frustrating, I now knew I had to install a wall unit in the room. I decided the only acceptable thing I could do was to cut a hole in the new wall and put a small, one room, 120 VAC air conditioning unit in. I felt this was a gamble as well, but I now had several thousands of dollars worth of food in the closet and I didn’t want to gamble with losing it and not having food for my family.
Adding the 120 VAC unit was the smartest move of all. While they, too, are designed for windows and to be vented outside, we’ve been able to make this work. The condensation from the unit drains into a small plastic pan I placed on a shelf under the unit on the garage side of the wall. After a period of accumulation I pour that water into an empty recycled bottle, mark it “distilled” and set it aside for my iron. I’ve hung a small clip-on fan on the metal shelves, also on the garage side of the wall, next to the air conditioner. The fan blows across the unit and downward where the hot air is picked up by a larger fan and blown toward the garage door that I keep raised about two inches for circulation.
All in all, the addition of the closet is amazing. I learned a lot of hard lessons along the way but knowing what I know now, I would have started with additional insulation as the second step in the entire process. The room is maintaining a temperature of 60 to 70? now, depending on how much I run the little air conditioner, which is normally shut off at night. I’m trusting by the end of September I won’t have to run it at all.
The closet has been constructed in such a way that I can completely disguise it by rolling steel shelves that we purchased at Sam’s several years ago in front of it. Those shelves are loaded with my husbands tools, chain saws, porta potty and anything else that is necessary for a normal life. In as little as five minutes, the garage can be made to look like a normal American messy garage where nothing could be found easily. Unless someone is looking for the closet with a metal detector, it would be very difficult to find.
The addition of the food storage room has cost me approximately $500 for building materials; $375 for additional insulation; $150 for wiring; $400 for shelving; $100 for air conditioning; $100 for shipping back the stand alone air conditioner, but the peace of mind is priceless.
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Is Prepping an Insurmountable Task?--The Beginner's Primer, by Gary T.
Once you realize the importance of being prepared for coming hard times, you may ask yourself, “How can I possibly prepare for any scenario? This is an insurmountable undertaking.” The more you ponder this, the more the reality of this seems to be confirmed. Let not your heart be troubled. As with almost any endeavor, the road to success begins with the first step and continues one step at a time. Consistent, prioritized, careful preparation over a period of time, preparation built around what your personal situation (budget, job, family, medical needs, etc.) will allow, can get you in a position in relatively short order to weather the scenarios that are most likely to occur. The mere fact that you have considered the possibilities of what may lay ahead can very quickly put you ahead of the vast majority of the population.
Consider the possible scenarios whereby preparedness would prove to be literally a lifesaver. These scenarios range from very geographically localized events, either natural or man-made, to the proverbial TEOTWAWKI. The likelihood any of these events occurring generally becomes decreasing likely in a given time frame as the geographical scope and severity of the event increases. Therefore the occurrence of a total multi-generational societal collapse, requiring the maximum amount of preparation is far less likely to occur over the next year or two or five than relatively local, relatively short term events such as tornados, hurricanes or floods, or even some major terrorist events, all requiring far less preparation than TEOTWAWKI situation previously mentioned. This should be considered in the early stages of preparation as priorities for investment are made.
Therefore, your preparation should follow a well planned, measured, prioritized process that enables you to be positioned to go through the most likely scenarios first followed by progressively increasing severe scenarios. Ongoing preparation will build on the past. No effort goes wasted. This should be encouraging to the beginning prepper.
How should you start? Start with a careful analysis of the most likely localized events that may occur in your area or region, or events from another region that may impact your local area (remember passenger air service after 9/11). Shutdown of transportation systems, especially trucking and rail should be of paramount concern. What is the probable time frame that these events may cause you to rely on your own resources? Make a list of all the items and quantities you will need to get through that period of time. This constitutes the Phase I physical resources preparation plan.
Prioritize the list and within the constraints of your budget begin to acquire the items you have listed. Keeping an Excel spreadsheet makes this task much easier and allows you to see at a glance exactly how much physical resource preparation you have achieved, how much you still need, the value of those resources, the cost to complete your initial Phase I purchases, etc. Your spreadsheet should include rows listing each item with columns for:
- Priority
- Category or subcategory
- Quantity Needed (for the given preparation Phase)
- Quantity on Hand
- Difference Needed vs. On-Hand (Calculated Value)
- Cost Each
- Acquisition Cost (Calculated Value)
- On Hand Value (Calculated Value)
- Total Value (Calculated Value)
- Percent Complete for the Item (Calculated Value) – you can color code this Red/Yellow/Green for and at a glance dashboard view
- Subtotals as you feel appropriate for each Category or Sub-Category
In the same way you used Excel to track your Phase I resources preparation status, use your spreadsheet to list categories, sub-categories, items and quantities that you wish to acquire for future Phases, up to and including a Phase for TEOTWAWKI. This allows you to systematically build your level of preparedness a Phase at a time. As you start with Phase I, you can also see how well you are gearing up for future Phases as well. Remember, on-hand quantities, pricing, etc, can carry from the Phase I sheet to the Phase II through Phase “n” sheets so redundant data entry isn’t required! Don’t forget to make hard copies of your files and save them in a three ring binder.
Additional Tips for getting started.
So you have determined what you need to acquire and have begun to do so. But prepping isn’t just about acquiring tangible goods.
It is also about skills. It is especially about skills. Even what I have called “Phase I” preparation should include training in the plan. A diversity of skills within your group (which may start out as just your family) is important. Take advantage of any relevant training available to you at low or no cost. Programs available in many communities include CERT, First Aid, CPR and similar. Use these opportunities to increase your skill base. These are great skills to have in normal times and are great skills to build upon. Even these basic courses could prove to literally be lifesavers in “normal” as well as tougher times.
Learn to garden. Even if you don’t have a retreat with the space, perfect soil, and water supply, you should garden on a smaller scale in your city or suburban back yard. This will give you a head start in knowledge and experience (i.e., harvesting and saving seeds for future years) when you are able to move to that retreat location. Plus, fresh garden vegetables are healthier and taste so much better than what you purchase from the store, especially if the store bought vegetables are poured from a can! Nothing beats enjoying a hand picked, vine ripe tomato fresh from the garden (and I confess, I take the salt shaker out back with me!).
Put away the foods you eat today. Nitrogen packed survival foods are expensive and likely should and may be a part of your plan. However, many foods that you eat today can be more immediately utilized to kick start your storage pantry at moderate cost while you save for other more expensive longer term options. You can buy or easily build out of plywood a FIFO rotation canned goods rack, set it in a pantry or closet and start loading it up today with the foods you already eat. This accumulation can be done for little perceived cost if done over time. Simply buy a little extra of what you already purchase each time you are at the store. You will be amazed at how quickly you can build up a 30, 60, 90 day supply of canned goods that will never go bad because they are what you currently eat so you rotate them via the FIFO system into your daily meals. Canned vegetables, meats, soups, fruits and sauces can all be stored in this simple way. All at very moderate expense.
Learn about your firearms. Practice with them as much as you can afford to. Get professional instruction. Basic courses for novices are available at moderate expense. There are NRA sanctioned courses for basic safety, handling and shooting skills. Work toward completion of an NRA course or equivalent in self defense in the home and self defense outside the home. If you are or once you get to be more advanced, get even more advanced training. If your budget doesn’t initially allow this, do the best you can but plan for more advanced tactical training in a future Phase. The key now is to get what you can afford and build on that. Practice, practice, practice.
Don’t think you must necessarily purchase a complete set of new firearms right out of the gate for your survival armory. Conventional wisdom suggests .45 ACP pistols for carry, .308/7.62 NATO semi-autos for your MBR (with expensive red-dot optics), a good .308 bolt action for long range and / or large game hunting, and perhaps a more expensive shotgun than you have budget for. If you already have 9mm pistols, that AR-15 you bought a few years ago “because you wanted one”, the scoped .303 you inherited from Dad and an old but functional Remington 870 Express in 12 gauge, you are good to go for now, as a beginner prepper. Make sure that adequate ammunition is part of your plan, but with this or a similar adequate set of calibers and shotgun you are set for your initial Phases of preparation. Early on, food, water, medical supplies and the like are likely a higher priority than new firearms. You can upgrade in a future Phase. Focus on firearms training at this stage. It’s about prioritization. Besides, later phases prepare for scenarios that will be more likely to require the capabilities of upgraded firearms.
A basic principle. Standardize. If you pick .45ACP for your personal carry weapon, it is advantages for all members of your group to do the same. The same principle applies for your MBR, self defense and hunting shotguns, etc. Ammunition and magazine plans will appreciate this. Try to standardize on 1 or 2 battery types for your battery operated devices. Or more correctly standardize by using devices requiring only 1 or 2 battery types. You don’t want to have to store and/or maintain charges on AA, AAA, CR123, C, D, N and CR2032 batteries, when you could be more efficient and effective with perhaps using only AA batteries. This principle applies to anything that you have more than one of. Radios, flashlights, etc. Remember the axiom, two is one and one is none. Standardization means simplicity, efficiency, spares. There may be exceptions, but take standardization into consideration when you develop or modify your plan. Initially, you may have to have a wider assortment of devices depending on the devices you currently have, but have a strategy to standardize.
Plan to read or more correctly, to learn by reading. Whenever you come across a useful article, print it out and save it in a three ring binder with other useful articles you have saved. Even if it is something you can’t purchase or do or use until a future Phase, save it now and add it to the plan now. There is an incredible amount of useful information in SurvivalBlog.com. Read and save (and purchase through Jim’s site when you decide to purchase goods from one of his advertisers). Jim helps us so we should help him where we can.
If you have relatives or friends in a rural location that you can get too and who are willing to take you in during appropriate events, have a G.O.O.D. plan. This includes hard copy maps with routes and alternate routes. Practice all routes before the big day. Practice your load out plan, again, prior to the big day. Search SurvivalBlog.com for loads of information on G.O.O.D. There are many concerns related to evacuation in certain scenarios. Educate yourself and make educated decisions.
This article is the tip of the iceberg with regards to beginning prepping, but hopefully it has a few pointers to get you thinking and to get you started and is an encouragement that this can be done, that you can successfully prepare for the future. You don’t have to purchase all nitrogen packed long shelf life survival foods or the perfect arsenal with one of every conceivable firearm type for every circumstance (in fact limiting (standardizing) models and calibers has some clear advantages) in order to successfully prepare for the likeliest of scenarios. Remember, methodical, prioritized preparing is the way to go for those of us on a budget. Start small, build your knowledge base, supplies and skills, and very soon you will be in the enviable position of weathering the most likely calamities to occur in the next few years. If you continue this methodical, ongoing process, you will continue to improve your situation and continue to put your self in a position to weather increasingly more severe and longer lasting scenarios. The important thing for those on a budget is not to wish you could do it all now by immediately trading cash for all the tangibles and training you need, but to start and to start now and to consistently build to our plan as we can afford to do so.
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Letter Re: Fireproof Document Boxes, Mold, and Rust
Dear Editor:
The suggestions of where to hide money prompted me to write about my experiences with storing cash. I keep on hand a few hundred dollars in small denominations in the event of an interruption of cash supply . I keep the cash in a small home fire/water proof lockbox from Sentry (just large enough on the interior dimension to fit an 8.5x 11 sheet of paper, and about 2 inches deep) along with other papers I want to protect from fire. The small size obviously offers no theft protection so to secure it, as well as up the fire protection, I put the lockbox into a fireproof gun safe. I always felt that this was the best way to store it until I ran into a little problem.
I infrequently open the lockbox just because the nature of what’s in it isn’t needed often. Once after a couple of months I opened it to find that the currency had molded (not mildewed) while sitting in the lockbox. It was my first experience at laundering money.
I take two steps to avoid this problem. First I place the money in an envelope and vacuum seal it. Secondly I place in the lockbox, about a half cup of silica gel desiccant, with indicating beads, in a coffee filter and check the condition every few months replacing as needed.
I’ve never had any corrosion problems with any of the firearms in the safe so I have to assume that the issue is with the lockbox. In my mind either the rubber seal allowed the currency to draw moisture from the humidity in the air, or the currency had enough moisture in it to cause problems when it first went into the lockbox.
I thought this was something that could save someone a little heartache. - Kentucky Possum
JWR Replies: If your document lock box is marked "fireproof" then it probably has a moisture-bearing insulation, typically Calcium Silicate. The moisture is part of what makes it fireproof.) This insulation BTW, will eventually induce rust on your guns if stored in the same vault, unless you take precautions. Place in the vault either a large (1/2- pound) bag or canister of Silica Gel
(rotated by drying in an oven or in a food dehydrator 
at 160 degrees F overnight, four times a year), or use a Golden Rod dehumidifier
, continuously.
The same types of linings are used in "fireproof" file cabinets at gun vaults. And coincidentally, because these linings eventually lose their moisture, their "fireproof" ratings expire after a few years.
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Letter Re: Grid Beam Construction
Hi Jim, Memsahib,
"Gridbeam" is a building system that's been getting some attention recently among do-it-yourselfers. I've seen references to it on Kevin Kelly's Cool Tools and the Makezine web site. Gridbeam is described as a sort of "Erector Set system for adults". It's simply a length of squared wood, aluminum or steel with precisely drilled holes [at regular intervals] along its length. Holes are drilled in both directions so that they intersect in the beam's middle. Sections are simply cut to desired length and pieced together. Additional pieces can be designed and added on to connect pieces at different angles; otherwise all of your constructions are going to have a very square shape to them.
Although the proponents of the system seem to be suggesting that all sorts of things can be made from it, I see it as being most useful for basic functional constructions and low-tech prototyping.
Pros:
-Can be used for basic furniture, shelving, workbench.
-Prototyping of "ideas" for construction: build something, take it apart, re-size it. When it's put together how you like it, leave it as-is or take measurements to build a more aesthetically pleasing version.
-All pieces can be re-purposed later if needed.
-Design is non-proprietary and patent-unencumbered. The originator of it is simply trying to get the word out. You can take the idea of Gridbeam to any machine or woodworking shop and ask them to make it for you; if you're handy, you can make it yourself.
-Assembly of pieces is fairly simple.
Cons:
-Most of the things you'd make with this aren't going to be especially attractive.
I haven't used this myself at all, so I can't provide any sort of informed review. Take it for what it's worth. A quick web search will show other references to it.
Keep up the good work on the site, and have a nice day. - Brian
JWR Replies: I'm also a fan of grid beam for prototyping. The basics are a stack of grid beam stock, a bucket of nuts and bolts, a socket set, and a Sawzall
.
(Or a hacksaw if you aren't in a hurry). Just keep in mind that because of the perforations, the lateral (bending) strength of gridbeam is a bit less than that of standard square stock of the same dimension. As I mentioned in the blog last month, the reader-generated KK Cool Tools web site has posted a review of the recent book How to Build with Grid Beam
. This echoes my advice on building a very versatile stationary bicycle frame for generators, grain grinders, and even meat grinders. While welding is a great skill that I consider a "must', with grid beam you can fairly rapidly reconfigure prototypes.
Oh, and I'd also add one item to the "Cons" list: Sharp corners and protruding hardware. Be sure to file or grind down any rough edges and the protruding ends of any bolts--especially those that have been shortened!
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Letter Re: Storage Underground or in Humid Climates
Hi;
[In response to the comment on varnish steel food cans,] I
have some experience with long term storage and especially underground storage. Since there aren't any books that I could ever find on this subject, trial and error is how you learn (or maybe you get lucky and the subject is covered on SurvivalBlog!).
Metal cans eventually will rust and especially if in an underground shelter or root cellar. Moisture is always in the air, no matter how well your structure is built. This may not be true if you have the means to have something professionally designed and built, for for everyone else, expect some moisture. Sometimes cans will have a tiny dent in them and the edges of that dent will be weak and rust through right there. So glean out any dented cans, and check them periodically, just because they weren't dented when you bought them does not mean they aren't dented now. If one can rusts through the liquids inside will leak out onto other cans and provide sticky moisture that will rust those next.
The best way we found to store cans is inside food grade buckets or barrels. As long as there is no moisture in that bigger container, you will be safe. But, if you put in a dented can and it springs a leak, then all that moisture will be trapped in your bucket and every can in there is doomed if not found fast. Watch those dents. Buckets are also nice because you can grab the handles and move a bunch of cans fast. If you need to, they can be buried and hidden. If buried the metal handles will rust/rot and be ruined, so after digging them up moving them will then be harder.
Plastic totes are worthless. They are too thin and do not have a waterproof seal. When stacked with anything heavy the ones on the bottom will collapse. We stored toilet paper in these and plastic trash cans and ended up with a lot of soggy and worthless toilet paper. No, duct taping the lids on won't avoid this. Don't use totes for anything.
Army surplus medical chests are a gem if you can find them. They split into two [clamshell] sections and will hold a lot of cans (or weapons, gear, etc). They have a big rubber seal to keep them air and water tight. These are great for #10 cans. They are made out of aluminum so they won't rust, but the 4 handles are steel and will rust. If you tar those handles these can be buried for a nice cache. Or you can stack these in a shelter to protect your food or anything. Need to bug out fast? Moving these will be heavy if loaded with food, although not bad for gear, blankets, etc.. These can be moved and dumped into a forest fast. They are OD green so they blend in. There is a scenario in "Patriots" where this would be an obvious advantage. (I don't want to post "spoilers" that would ruin the book for anyone that has not read it yet.)
You can sometimes find large plastic [or fiberglass] crates that are military surplus. These are also [usually] water and air tight, but harder to find. They can be found up to 4'x4'x4' and come in all sizes and shapes. Check these for cracks and splits. Make sure that their rubber gaskets are not torn.
I've had people tell me that they store food in ammo cans. Ammo cans are great for some items, but I would avoid them for food. Some cans have a residue of gun powder [or other chemicals] inside them, and they may have been used by the military to store something else after the ammo was emptied out. A chemical in a can that touches your food or food container and ends up in you could make you sick or worse.
Metal 55 gallon barrels work well, too. Just make sure what used to be in them won't poison you and have them completely cleaned. You want ones with removable lids. They are steel so they may rust after a long time.
Watch for mice and rats, they will wiggle into any shelter you can build. They will chew up all kinds of supplies and may chew through plastic containers. I've never had them chew through buckets or barrels, but they have chewed through plastic totes. Metal medical chests will stop them.
We had metal cans of lantern fuel stored and after about 10 years every can developed a tiny pin hole somewhere. The result was once that pin hole developed, the fuel evaporated out. So while the cans looked fine, some were 1/2 full. No odors from the fuel to warn us.
Batteries should never be left installed in the item you need them for. If they get too old they will leak acid and can destroy a critically needed item. I would store batteries in a way so that if one leaks it won't contaminate all the others. You can try zip lock bags to separate a dozen or so.
If you are considering storing fuel to cook or for heat, consider coal. All oil-based fuels will eventually go bad. Wood rots after awhile (I'm talking long term here), so you can't cut a 10 year supply and have it last. Chainsaws make noise that may attract people and require gas and oil. A chainsaw cut to can be deadly or at a minimum it will take some medical care. But coal is basically a rock. It doesn't go bad, evaporate or require a noisy dangerous saw to produce it. [JWR Adds: But coal should be stored out of the rain to prevent deterioration.] You can buy wood/coal cook stoves and heat stoves from Lehman's
in Kidron, Ohio. (They also stock spare parts and know about what they sell so they can answer questions) You can buy as much coal as you can afford and stockpile it. If you want to hide it you could dig a trench, fill it in with coal and bury it. If it's fine sized you might want to line that trench, but if the pieces are big you might not need to. Or you can fill big culvert pipes. Use your imagination.
If you are burying containers you will want to defeat metal detectors. It isn't practical to dig to China with a backhoe to go real deep, someday you want to dig that back up, and then you might only have a rock to scrape the dirt. So your cache may be found unless you can fool the detector. Consider burying your cache in a junk area full of scrap metal. A few junk cars with old pipes, barrels, anything strewn about will help. Bury some metal around as well. Nothing obvious, just a few pieces of junk to discourage people from looking any deeper. Stacks of old pallets, lumber, all kinds of junk can make a good junk pile as a distraction. You could even stash some old tools [hidden above ground or buried just below the surface] to help dig up your cache!
Hopefully this will help someone and save them spoiled supplies. - Don in Ohio
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Letter Re: Preventing Steel Food Cans from Rusting in High-Moisture Environments
Hello James and Memsahib!
Greetings and prayers for you both. In the Saturday August 8th blog there was a report of damage to underground storage food, with cans rusting.
When we traveled for years on our sailboat we varnished our canned goods to prevent rusting. We removed the labels, wrote the contents of the can with a permanent marker, then varnished each can. We never had a can rust with this protection. Our cans were exposed to salt air and an occasional dousing from bilge water.
B.B. thought that waxing his cans would help. That may work but any contact against the wax may remove some protection and defeat the purpose.
We read your blog daily and have learned much. "Patriots" is being read by all family members and we are praying for your bride.
With warm regards, - Ray & Vickie
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Two Letters Re: Advice on Storing Precious Metals
Sir,
Our prayers for you and your family continue daily.
My grandfather has six 12"x12" square wooden posts on his farm house's front porch. Each one has held various caches for over 55 years and no one has ever been aware. It was not until 20 years ago that I was painting the posts and felt the need to replace a split board that he let me in on the secret. By the way, if a cache needed changing, it was usually done every few year as the posts were scraped, primed and painted along with the porch.
For almost 16 years, our home has had PVC pipe caches inside our aluminum porch pillars/posts. Similar porch posts can be easily purchased at home supply centers or you can make them from wood like Pappy's porch on the farm.
I realize this is not necessarily convenient for frequent changes in contents and they're not perfectly secure from fire or tornadoes, but they have been effectively hidden from hundreds of people: family, strangers, etc. who have climbed, leaned, touched, and passed by them unaware, for years.
Better than a safety deposit box so far and I personally know of no one else than Pappy with a longer, successful track record of hiding and accessing caches. Please withhold my name and email as I'm giving away a family secret after much prayer for the benefit of others. Sincerely, - S. in Ohio
Jim,
Here is an idea on another place to hide cash or coinage at home: Take an old coffee can or two and put your valuable in the bottom of the can, fill it about half way. Then, on top put in a bunch of old nuts and bolts and fill to the top. Put these cans on a work bench in the garage or utility room with similar cans. Most thieves will not even touch them or look twice at cans of "junk". Then just hope your wife never decides to "clean out your junk!" - Rick V.
JWR Replies: Your comment underscores the importance of letting trusted family members know the location of keys, caches, and vault combinations. The large number of abandoned safe deposit boxes each year is indicative that too any people err toward too much secrecy within their families. Ditto for caches of cash found in walls or found in attics, often decades after someone passes away. And who knows how many hidden (but undisclosed) valuables have ended up in landfills.
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A Vault Full of Hedges: Tangibles, Tangibles, Tangibles!
My gun vault down in Jim's Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) is now full. It is a large vault (a Zanotti ZA-III modular six-footer) but it isn't big enough. For more than 30 years, I've been accumulating barterable tangibles: guns, full capacity magazines, precious metals, optics, and knives. Each of these represents a fairly compact and liquid asset. They all have practical uses, although the coins and ingots are more of a medium of exchange rather than something intrinsically useful in and of themselves. (Oh, I suppose the silver could be melted down, cast into bullets, and put to good use if the ranch is overrun by lycanthropes. What if silver someday mysteriously becomes nearly worthless? If cast into buckshot, if propelled by just a wrist rocket slingshot, as Mr. Spock once said, "they would make formidable projectiles" to slay garden pests.)
I rest well at night, knowing that the vast majority of my net worth is either in the form of productive land, or useful tools. The US Dollar could get devalued or wiped out by inflation, and yet that would only hit about 3% of my net worth. This is because I convert my greenbacks into tangibles at the first opportunity, and only keep modest bank balance to pay my monthly bills.
I'll admit that I may have gone a bit overboard. Do I really need a half dozen spare Swiss Army Knives
(of various models), or four spare Cold Steel Knife Voyagers
? Probably not, but there they sit, new, stacked up in their factory boxes. But I don't expect their resale value to go down anytime soon. Do I truly need a stack of HK93 magazines, or Glock 17 magazines, or M14 magazines, when I don't even own any of those guns? Probably not, but they sure do make great barter items. And why do I have so many stainless Colt M1911 .45 semi-auto handguns? After all, I can only hold two at a time. But perhaps a day will come when my descendants can no longer attend a gun show and walk home with what ever they please, sans papier. And again, I don't expect them to go down in value.
I suppose that I'll soon have to buy a second vault, and bolt it down, right next to the existing one. Someday in the future, after I've joined the Choir Invisible, my children or grandchildren will have a quite a day, sorting though the contents of my vaults. And something tells me that my heirs won't be disappointed, or consider it "junk" that they are dividing up.
None of the foregoing is meant to brag. Rather, I hope that you will emulate my approach at investing diversification to prepare for the tumultuous decade ahead. Think: Tangibles, Tangibles, Tangibles!
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Letter Re: Wringers for Hand Washing Clothes
JWR:
For those who are planning to wash clothes in case of power outage or loss of delivered water I have two suggestions.
First is the wringer to get excess water out of washed clothes. Use an industrial mop wringer, such as the kind available through Lowe's stores. It is made of heavy duty industrial plastic, and, of course, is dual use. Wring out your mops or your clothes. It is less expensive than a traditional roller type wringer.
Second, for washing clothes in small batches you might consider a foot moved (adapted to hand crank on rollers) drum cement mixer of the kind marketed by Sportsman's Guide. It is made of poly plastic and is easily cleaned. Once again, it is a dual use item. Mix your cement (60 lb. sack capable) or in an emergency use it as a clothes washer. Due to its tight seal it could also be used as a storage container if need be, instead of a five gallon bucket. If you choose, you could get multiple buckets for storage use and then after the manure hits the spreader, when the drums are empty, use them as barter items.
One final item: Sealable plastic drums with removable tops of the 55 gallon variety are a good way to store sacks of cement and keep them dry until they are needed. Bag each cement sack in heavy duty plastic bags before storage, as a "just in case", so that if one bursts it does not make a mess. Plastic drums used for soap --like that used by car washes (or auto dealers)--can sometimes be purchased fairly cheaply from the car wash owner. (They have a return fee to the distributor of between $10 and $20.) These type of drums have two small caps in the top and are easily cleaned and reused to collect runoff water for gardening, toilet flushing, or could be adapted for use as mini-septic tanks with exit holes drilled on one third of a side (properly called vaults) or cut a hole in the bottom, install a toilet seat and use it for an outhouse (but don't forget to cut out the top and set it on a base layer of large gravel prior to use).
Just a few thoughts for the "adapt, reuse and recycle" minded. - Bob W., in West Virginia
Influenza Pandemic Update:
1918 & 2009 H1N1 Similarities Confirm Recombination "...the growing list of similarities between 2009 pandemic H1N1 and 1918 pandemic H1N1 continues to cause concern."
UK: Swine Flu Vaccine to be Cleared After 5-Day Trial (How can they eliminate the risk of pathogenicity so quickly? Your Editor is dubious.)
WHO Says Health Workers Priority for H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccine
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Letter Re: TEOTWAWKI, Right Next Door
Jim:
Last Sunday night my family drove home to the sight of a pillar of smoke that looked like it was coming directly from where my house should be. It turned out to be the next door neighbor’s home. The blessing is that no one was home, so no one got hurt. The downside is that no one was home so everything owned was lost. I mean everything – clothes, food, water pump, furniture, bedding, cash on hand, tools, toys, games, appliances, equipment, books – everything.
The Red Cross put the family in a hotel for a few days. But after that they came home with a rented shipping container that they are sleeping in. Did I mention they lost everything? The local churches have provided clothes, the neighbors are providing meals. The local funeral home director of all people is donating an old trailer as temporary housing. They will eventually rebuild. But in the short term it is a post-SHTF situation that we can all learn lessons from. Here are the top three:
#1 for me is a profound sense of gratitude and appreciation for everything I own that might have been lost had it been my home. We shouldn’t take our blessings for granted. The end of the world as we know it could happen on a personal level at any time.
#2 This is the opportunity to share supplies meant for starting over in a post-SHTF world. You learn by doing. No matter how much I thought I was ready, I failed to think through the details. For instance one of the things I gave them was boxed mac and cheese with a kettle to boil it in. They had no stove to cook it on, or milk or butter that the directions call for. My bad. I just didn’t think it through.
#3 Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. I can not get over the idea that if my home had burned while we were away – they only possessions that we would have left would be what was stored away from home. If you don’t have a couple of caches. Get them in place ASAP.
Prayers for those in need are never wasted – thanks in advance for them, - Mr. Yankee
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Two Letters Re: Prefabricated Garden Sheds as Instant Shelters and Storage Spaces for Retreats
JWR:
Just a comment on the bit about the sheds for bug-out retreats.
I have designed plans for a number of such shed sizes, as well as living quarters for larger barns.
A couple things to mention, one, is that if you do a sloped shed roof on your shed instead of a peaked roof...from the air, it looks like a loafing shed for your critters, this is in case it is in a
more rural farm like area, instead of timber country. Another thing, the window problem: On our barn (which we are building living quarters in right now) the front door and a nice sized window can be covered by using a large barn-type slider that covers the [man] door and window. And or you can use regular dutch doors or livestock slider doors to make it look like an outbuilding. We have two windows, one for the bathroom that is actually behind the top half of a dutch door and then the front door and window that is covered, when need be, by the barn slider.
I actually designed a 16' x 24' shed, that is really nice We hope to build it out in the middle of our fields. With a simple livestock water trough at the back of the roof line to catch run off, from a distance it will look very much like a livestock shelter. [A "loafing shed."]
And if you know someone who has a portable mill, you can have boards cut that are actually 2" or 3" thick to use like board and batten. This will help to make your shed look simple but pretty safe from bullets. At least if they are coming at you from a distance. You can go another step further and build this shed over a concrete root cellar or a square concrete cistern that can be accessed through the floor of the shed. A ladder down through the top and with all the options they build in them for knock outs for pipes (in this case vents) they can be a pretty nice underground bunker of sorts.
We read your site regularly to keep up on what is being written but hidden in obscure papers. You guys are providing a great service. Keep it up! - Toni in the state of Washington
James Wesley:
I built many quality sheds (for my business) years ago. It is much easier to build a shed in four foot (or less) panels in your shop and then transport the panels to your retreat. It takes a little planning to do this, but in this way just two people can assemble the whole thing in a day, and transporting the shed usually takes just a 3/4 ton, long bed pickup [rather than a large truck.]
In many states you can build a shed up to 200 square feet without a permit. 12'x16' is a common larger size, but 10'x20' is much simpler to build (that 2 extra feet wider is a pain with roof and trusses). I recommend that you use deck screws to screw the panels together, including the cap plate. Build your roof trusses in your shop too. See Backwoods Home magazine for a really excellent article on how to build trusses and a really strong building.
Build the floor system on site, not as panels. Build the wall panels so that your full 4x8 sheets overhang on floor system by 4" and 1.5" on the top for your cap plate (ties it all together for strength). Offset your 4x8 panel 3/4" to the left side to keep the seams centered on a stud. This keeps it weather tight, if you caulk. Make sure your roof overhangs at least 6" (12" is better) on all 4 sides or rainwater will get in.
Cut your studs to 87.5". The 96" stud minus 4" (bottom overhang) minus 1.5" (bottom plate) minus 1.5" top plate minus 1.5" cap plate = 87.5". Make sure your cap plate is one piece of lumber for each side to tie the panels together on top. Take the scraps with you to your retreat, they will be handy.
Every panel uses one extra stud. It is well worth it. For Heaven's sake, make sure the floor is level and square, and that every panel is square on its own! This is the difference between a lot of fun building, and a disaster. - Brian W.
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Letter Re: Prefabricated Garden Sheds as Instant Shelters and Storage Spaces for Retreats
This article is not intended to promote the Tuff Shed brand per se. Any of Tuff Shed’s products can be built from scratch. This is just one way to obtain “instant” shelter at a reasonable price. Tuff Sheds come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. For the sake of this discussion I will limit myself to the rather plain-looking Tall Ranch Tuff Shed model because, unless you happen to be short of stature, you will probably need a tall shed. In Portland, Oregon the Tall Ranch model is available in sizes ranging from 6’x6’ to 16’x24’. This idea will not be practical in an area prone to flood, hurricane, or tornado. Much of what’s in this article is just common sense. I like to think of it as food for thought.
The great thing about this idea is that many county building codes will allow the construction of a shed without obtaining a building permit, although this often depends on the size of the shed. (Of course they don’t expect anybody to actually live inside one.) So, you can put one on your “bug out” site without notifying anybody in most cases. If you purchase a ready-built shed that is only 8’ wide it can be moved on a flatbed trailer without an oversized load permit. For the purpose of a simple survival shed I would consider the 8’x12’, 8’x14’, or 8’x16’ models. These sell for around $2,500-$3,000 new in Portland, or about the same price as a good used travel trailer. The shed doesn’t come with any insulation, wiring, plumbing, or interior walls however. This is good because it makes it easy to install these features exactly the way you want them before you deliver the shed to your site. The shed is usually sold with a window, but it can be easily omitted. I would order it without any windows and, instead, I would install peepholes on all four sides. Not having any windows means that a light can be kept turned on inside without alerting anyone that passes by.
I would install three or four electrical receptacles and stub the wiring out in a corner where the inverter and batteries will go later. I would also install one low power-consumption, but bright, LED light in the center of the ceiling with a quiet DC switch located where it could be reached in a hurry. For heat I would install a vented propane heater of the type used in recreational vehicles and install it through the wall at the back of the shed. After I had done all of the wiring, and installed the heater and peepholes, I would thoroughly insulate the shed so that it could withstand the most severe winter weather with only minimal heat. All of the work would be done at my leisure in my own back yard before the shed is ever moved to my “bug out” site. For the walls I would use oriented strand board (OSB) instead of drywall because it’s tougher and lighter. Also, it’s easier to mount various accessories on the OSB later on, with screws. The OSB can be painted with interior house paint. I would use a thick rug or carpet on the floor so that it wouldn’t make much noise when walking around inside. Just before the shed is to be delivered to the “bug out” site I would paint the exterior with two or three coats of good quality house paint in an earth tone color similar in color to the “bug out” site [soil or foliage].
Ideally, I would place the shed on my site where it is surrounded by brush and/or trees or, even better, in a low spot between some knolls. In any case the shed’s foundation would have to be elevated 6” to a foot above the grade to avoid rainwater infiltration. I would be sure that the rainwater drains away from the shed. Once the shed has been set in place I would repaint the outside of it to closely mimic its surroundings, camouflaging it that it cannot be seen from any direction by anyone less than 25 yards away. The roof would be similarly camouflaged with paint and/or local vegetation. The shed would have to be well hidden to avoid detection because it’s a hideout, not a fortress! For water I would use a two-gallon water cooler and refill it from a spring or creek (with proper filtration of course.) For a restroom I would use a portable chemical toilet. A pit could be dug at some distance away from the shed for waste burial. Bathing would have to be done in a creek.
For electricity I would use a couple of deep cycle 12-volt batteries, a solar panel, and a 120-volt power inverter. The inverter need not be large. In fact a small one would help to conserve battery power. It would only need to be large enough to run a couple of lights and a radios. The solar panel would not be mounted on the roof. It would be portable so that it could be hidden inside the shed when it isn’t being used. It would be placed outside during the day when I was around to keep an eye on it. Harbor Freight and Northern
Tool & Equipment
both sell 15-watt solar panels for about $60. A couple of these would easily keep the batteries charged. I would spend most of my time outside of the shed during the day and only use it at night or during inclement weather.
This “bug out” shed or cabin would suffice in an emergency to provide a relatively safe hideout for up to several months. The trick would be to keep it secure when I was not there to watch it. It might make better sense to bring along most of the needed supplies when retreating to the shed. - Mr. E.
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Pest Prevention and Control Measures for Food Storage, by Elk H.
Something you may not have given much thought about in your planning for long
term food storage is Pest Control. All the hard work, preparedness and money
spent on stockpiling and storing food can be quickly ruined by pests. You need
to protect your investment. As a former exterminator I have seen my share of
these pests and can share my experience and knowledge of control measures.
While some of these measures are just ordinary common sense, we all know that
common sense isn't all that common.
A few things to consider:
Most infestations come home from the store with you. You would be surprised
to learn what I've found in the average, clean looking big name grocery store!
Dry pet food is notorious for being infested. Pet food is not processed and
packaged with the same standards as "people food".
90% of Stored Product Pest Control is not about chemical treatments. We will
use poisons sparingly and effectively.
Some, but not all, pests are disease carrying.
While there are hundreds (or thousands!) of individual species of pests you
could have to deal with, we will focus on the three main problem pests when
it comes to Food Storage: Pantry Pests, Rodents and Cockroaches.
PANTRY PESTS
Pantry Pests generally include Moths, Beetles and Weevils. There are too many
species to list individually, but luckily the identification, prevention and
control measures are all similar enough to lump into one category. Most Pantry
Pests have a similar mode of action: the adult bores a hole into the grain/kernel/meal,
lays its egg and repeats. The larva hatches inside the grain/kernel/meal, then
eats it's fill until ready to pupate. The pupa hatches out of the grain/kernel/meal
as an adult, and the cycle repeats itself.
They usually appear after bringing home a product from the store that was already
infested, however some indigenous species do infest crops, and so may infest
the grain in the field first.
If you spot moths, beetles or other stored product pests in your home or food
storage areas, it's already too late. As mentioned above, the adults are not what will be eating your food, it's the young inside your rice, corn or wheat
that is destroying it. While it's fine to eradicate the adults you see, the
real problem is in the food itself. Once cut off from the food source, the
adults will die off without having reproduced.
Inspection
All stored product should be removed from storage and inspected for infestation.
Do not skip over anything just because it's an unopened box or what you think
is an airtight container, go through it all. You may see webbing (like flat
spider webs) inside a heavily infested product. You might see active adults
working to lay their eggs, or holes bored through packaging like waxed paper
and plastic bags. If you can afford to, throw this infested product out. While
not the most economical approach this is what most homeowners will do.
Sanitation and Exclusion
Once your cupboards are bare it's time to get cleaning. All cracks, crevices
and corners should be vacuumed clean of dust, flour and food stuffs that may
have fallen in. In absence of a vacuum, wipe out everything you can with a
wet rag, then blow out the voids and repeat until as clean as possible. You
can treat the cracks and crevices with a general purpose pesticide at this
point if you like, but it is not necessary. The cracks and crevices should
now be filled with caulk, or something similar. This serves the dual purpose
of both sealing out future food spills and pests, and sealing in anything you
may have missed.
Control
As mentioned above, throw out all known or suspected infested product if you
possibly can. If that is not an option, there are things we can do to kill
the critters inside without losing the grain. Please note that while these
bugs might seem disgusting to us, and they are eating your food, you can eat
them without adverse consequences as most are not disease carrying. How shall
we cook them? Let's bake!
An oven set to 130 degrees for four hours is the minimum standard for killing
the larvae and adults. No promises on the eggs as they can be extremely tough.
A slightly higher heat and more time will likely net better results, but use
caution not to damage the grain.
Freezing the grain can also kill the larva and adults, and again, no promises
on the eggs. This method is not as effective as baking, and may be impractical.
A professional will use fumigation to treat a large amount of infested product,
say a grain silo full of weevils, but it’s very expensive, and may not
always be available to you. In any case, you can’t just go pick it up
off the shelf, you need a Pest Control Operators License to purchase the chemical,
and rightly so, it is highly toxic.
Storage
The packaging your food comes in from the grocery store is not good enough.
These pests can bore a hole into the toughest shell nature can provide, do
you think a cardboard box or waxed paper will stop them? Of course not. The
best containers are glass or metal and airtight. Tupperware/Rubbermaid type
containers are second best. Ziplocs and plastic bags are not acceptable for
long term storage at all. It's not a bad idea to store bulk food in many small
containers rather than one large one. Don't put all your eggs in one basket!
Finally...
Check your food stuffs regularly. Periods of dormancy are a part of an insect’s
life cycle. Just because you don't see them now, that doesn't mean they're
not there!
RODENTS
Mice and Rats are some of the most damaging creatures we have to deal with.
They eat what we eat, live where we live and carry parasites like lice and
fleas. Because they are very similar to us biologically (one reason they are
used extensively in research laboratories) it is easy for them to transmit
disease to humans.
Luckily, control is actually very simple.
Identification
The only important reason to differentiate between a rat and mouse problem,
is to choose what trap to use. A rat trap is just too big to effectively kill
mice (something akin to killing an ant with a sledgehammer), they sometimes
completely miss the mouse, and mouse traps only serve to make the rats mad.
The telltale signs of mice and rats are holes chewed into objects and food
packaging, droppings, odors and noise.
As with all rodents, both mice and rats have large incisors (front teeth) that
never stop growing. Because of that fact, they must constantly chew anything
and everything in order to keep them ground down (I've seen pictures of a rat,
not allowed to chew at all in a laboratory, whose lower teeth grew up over
his head and into his skull!). You may see two parallel scrape marks in some
materials from these teeth, the size will tell you if it's a mouse or rat.
They will chew electrical wiring, and are the cause of a surprising number
of house fires (they are actually attracted to wiring because it looks and
feels like one of their natural foods, grass shoots).
They both leave droppings wherever they go, black in color, tube shaped like
a grain of rice. Mouse droppings are about the size of a grain of rice, and
rat droppings are naturally bigger than that, about a half inch long by a quarter
inch wide. Both species also urinate everywhere they go, and so will leave
urine trails and odors behind.
A sound at night like someone scratching their nails lightly on the wall indicates
a mouse problem. People with rats in their homes describe it as sounding like "elephants
in the attic". You may not hear anything at all, though, and still have
a problem with either pest, sounds are just an indication. Rats love to nest
above the water heater and furnace where it's always warm, especially in winter.
There is usually a screen vent above those appliances, where you may see nesting
materials like candy wrappers and snail shells (a favorite food). Rats do,
but mice do not drink water, they get all the moisture they need from their
food.
You may mistake a baby rat for an adult mouse, you can tell the difference
by the tail, a rats will be thicker and almost as long as its body. A baby
rat will have very large feet as well, all ages of mice have small, delicate
feet.
Exclusion
Exclusion is the first step. Seal any and all openings into the house. A rodent’s
skull is the only solid part of his body, if he can squeeze his head through,
he can flatten the rest of his body out to squeeze through, too. A mouse's
head is about the size of a dime, or you're little finger. If you can fit a
finger in a hole, seal it up. The smallest rats head is about the size of your
thumb, but we're going to seal up all the holes we find anyway, right?
Check and seal all vents to the crawlspace, especially around the air conditioning
tubing, with steel wool, expanding foam or other inedible material. Do likewise
to the soffit (attic) vents. You don't have to make it bulletproof, just enough
to discourage them. The bottom of a side garage door is almost guaranteed to
be a problem, it's required building code -to allow carbon monoxide gas from
cars to escape. While I would NEVER suggest you break the law or bypass any
safety measure, some people install a weather-stripping door sweep to keep
the mice and rats outside where they belong. Trim all tree limbs that overhang,
or worse, touch the house, as this is the Roof Rats favored method of entry.
Anyplace two roof lines come together, climb up and seal the gaps in the soffits.
Clothes lines and the like should not be attached to the house in any way.
Ensure that any fences or other structures don't come within several feet of
the roof, rats are excellent jumpers. Think of squirrels, they are basically
just cleaner rats with furry tails. Keep ground-cover, especially ivy, trimmed
back from the house, at least 2 feet. Wood piles should not be stacked against
the house, you're just inviting trouble. Check the entire footprint of the
house for tunnels, Norway Rats like to tunnel in, I've found many getting in
that way.
Rats and mice do not live exclusively in your home, they come and go as they
please.
Once the structure is sealed up, one of two things has happened: You have sealed
them out, or you have sealed them in. If you've sealed them out, great, you're
done! If you've sealed them in, how should we get rid of them?
Trapping
Trapping is hands down the preferred method of killing them. There is no better
mouse trap! The standard mouse and rat snap traps are exactly what you need,
and they can be used over and over again. Use a very small amount of peanut
butter underneath the trigger for best results. A big glob will soon dry up
and a crafty rodent can just gently pick it off. Smear a little underneath,
and he has to jump up there with both feet to dig at it and, well, you get
the rest. An old trick is to use a wire twist tie to secure a nut or a snail
to the trigger for an especially tricky rat. Both size traps should be slid
in perpendicular to the wall (skinny end with the trigger goes against the
wall), mice and rats both travel in straight lines against the wall (they use
their whiskers to feel their way along in the dark). Trapping also insures
that you control where the bodies will be for retrieval and disposal. You can
place traps anywhere you've had activity that is convenient for you. The mice
and rats sealed in will eventually get hungry enough to explore and find your
trap, I promise.
Do not bother with live traps or glue traps, you risk getting bit and infected,
and if released from a live trap they will probably just come back anyway.
Maintenance
Once you have stopped catching mice and rats, and you're very sure the problem
is solved, then you can consider using baits (poisons) as a prevention measure.
If a rodent somehow gets in later, he will take the bait, which are all slow
acting (several days) and leave when he starts to get sick. Mice are small
enough that they don't cause too many problems if they die in a wall, they
just don’t have the body mass. Rats, on the other hand are horrible to
deal with in a wall. If you don't follow my advice about trapping and go right
to using a poison with a rat, I promise you will regret it, I've learned this
the hard way. The stench of death (rotting meat in your walls), the brown goo
leeching through the drywall, the flies and maggots will remind you of these
words.
Be extremely careful using baits outdoors. In fact, I don't recommend it. There
is nothing you can do to keep pests out of your yard, all you can control is
the structure of the house. Most baits today are pretty safe, but I have had
a customer kill her own dog by not following my advice and putting her own
store bought bait under a wood shed. Can you imagine if a child had gotten
into it? When a professional has to bait outdoors, he uses a tamper-proof metal
or plastic box. These can be purchased if needed.
This last statement is going to upset some people, but cats are NOT the best
rodent prevention and control measure. Yes they will kill mice and rats, and
they can thin the herd, but they will never eradicate them all. Mice are a
staple food to scores of predators like birds of prey and snakes, and the mice
still manage to be the second most successful mammal on the planet! Have all
the best mousers you like, they will help, but follow my advice above for best
results.
And please, don’t leave pet food out at night! Keep dry pet food and
the like in metal cans with tight fitting lids, and far from where you store
your own food.
COCKROACHES
Cockroaches are filthy, disease-ridden creatures. All species thrive in unsanitary
conditions. They breed incredibly fast, that's part of the problem. A male
and female German Cockroach, given an ideal environment can produce 1,000,000
offspring in one year. They are typically brought home from somewhere else
like the grocery store, in someone's luggage, etc.
In the old days they were extremely hard to get rid of, today, it's a piece
of cake.
Identification
There are many species of cockroach, but we will gear our attack toward the
German Cockroach, as he is the main culprit in ruining foodstuffs. Outdoor
Roaches like the American or Oriental are not usually an infestation problem
inside the house, they are just a nuisance.
The German Cockroach is about a 1/2 inch to 3/4 of an inch long. Tan or brown
colored, usually with two distinct black parallel lines on its head. They will
hide in cracks and crevices under a sink, in cabinets or the baseboards, behind
wall paneling, etc. (in the wild, they live under rocks and tree bark). As
with other pests, it's not a bad idea to fill these cracks and so eliminate
their habitat. They will leave droppings that look something like black pepper,
egg sacks after hatching, and their shells after they molt (shed their skin,
so to speak). They avoid light, and will scatter for cover if you turn on a
light while they're out.
Sanitation
Clean grease and spills thoroughly, especially under the stove, oven and sink.
Be sure to clean all surfaces well, including the cracks and crevices. Keep
your food in pest proof containers. Do not give these guys an inch. Without
proper sanitation it is impossible to get rid of them, you must take away the
food sources (clean up spills)!
Control
Do not bother with any kind of spray, use a Bait Gel. It's safer and much more
effective, in fact, in my opinion it revolutionized the Pest Control Industry.
It will come in a mini syringe with the active ingredient Hydramethylon. My
experience is that it kills about 75% of a population in 2 weeks. Then 75%
of what's left in another 2 week follow-up visit. After 6 weeks, I can call
a job done. For contrast, using conventional sprays, I could kill about 10%
of a population per visit, and slowly make ground on them over many months.
CONCLUSION
It would be wise to stock up on pesticides just as you would medications. They
are just not something you can replicate yourself. None of these products are
terribly expensive, you can probably pick up everything you need for about
$100. Note that these products do have a shelf life, so use them or give them
away before they expire, and replace as needed.
You can see that 90% of Pest Control is not about chemical warfare, it's about
common sense and cleanliness.
Here's the top ten things I recommend you stock up on:
1. General Purpose Pesticide like Malathion or Diazinon. Try to find a "Wettable
Powder", it keeps longer and can be mixed to whatever strength required.
It also sticks better than liquids after application. In addition to a powder,
try to find a Granular product, it is applied with a seed spreader and activated
by water.
2. Ant Bait Gel with the active ingredient Fipronil. Combat brand is a good “over
the counter” choice. The ants will carry it back to the nest to feed
the other 99% of the ants you don't see, including the queen, workers, soldiers
and the "babies".
3. Wasp Spray aerosol cans. This stuff shoots a stream about 10 feet away and
will drop them dead in the air. Use on wasp nests, yellow-jackets and bees.
While not specifically labeled for them, it will kill just about any insect
you don't want to get too close to (like Black Widows and scorpions). Any brand
will do.
4. Flea Spray. Fleas are tough. Bathe and treat your pets first, clean your
carpets and then treat the house.
5. Bug Bombs. These are not terribly effective, even the "prescription
strength" ones in the industry are not that great. Still, I'd keep a few
in stock.
6. Snap Traps for rats and mice. A dozen or two of each size should last many
years, maybe forever. Try to find the ones with the big, yellow triggers. Much
safer to set than the older metal ones, trust me, I've broken a finger setting
a rat trap, they are no joke.
7. Rodent Bait. Decon will work, but the Combat brand (big, waxy blue blocks
with the active ingredient Bromadiolone, an anti-coagulant) are better. It
keeps longer and can be thrown into far corners of attics and crawlspaces.
8. Roach Bait Gel. Maxforce or Combat brand, active ingredient Hydramethylon.
9. Termiticide. A liquid will kill more than just termites and so is more versatile,
but the commercially available baits (wood stakes impregnated with a stomach
poison) are much more effective.
10. Building Repair Materials. Screening, caulking, steel wool, foam, etc.
Please, follow all warning labels on each product you use!
« Letter Re: Sale on Inexpensive Solar Rechargeable Lights |Main| Note from JWR: »
The Information Junkie, by Dan H.
I've been working on getting prepared for about 20 years now. During that time,
I've collected a large amount of information. Let's face it, there's a lot
of information out there, and to this day I'm still collecting. I currently
have four sets of encyclopedias (including 1947 and 1954 editions). I
have a fairly good library of books that encompasses a wide variety of topics
and, of course, I have lots of information from the Internet. First, I'd
like to tell you why I collect it (and why you should too) and then the “what
and how”.
One reason why I collect information is because the source of the information
may not always be there. How many of you trust that our government will always
allow information to flow about freely? Do they now? How many of you can get
information about how to build a nuclear weapon? I can't, and I don't want
it. That information wouldn't do me any good, but in a worst case scenario,
information on building a small IED may be very valuable. What happens if that
information is censored between now and TEOTWAWKI? Also, when TSHTF, the power
grid and therefore the Internet may be down. Libraries and bookstores may be
closed or burned to the ground. You get the picture.
Another reason why I collect information is that I may not be alive when the
stuff hits the fan. Most of my preparations have been so that I can keep my
family
safe. If I've passed on before, or maybe while the stuff hits the fan, then
having the information available (in a handy location) for my family may help
them survive. Maybe it won't help my wife or kids, but maybe my grandkids or
my greatgrandkids.
The third reason why I collect information is that I can't remember everything.
(hard to believe, isn't it?) I try to remember the type of information that
can quickly save a life and I practice those skills. The quicker it can become
life threatening, the more you need to know the skill (like emergency first
aid or armed self defense). However, things like how to construct a foxhole,
how to make hard tack, what radio frequencies to listen to, how far apart to
plant cabbage, etc., can all be documented and the information retrieved when
it is needed.
As a word of caution – Just because you have the “information”,
doesn't mean you are prepared. Collecting the information, and making sure
it is available when it might be needed, is just a small part of the preparedness
process. Remember to actually learn those skills that may instantly save lives
and remember to gather the supplies that can keep you and your family alive
over the long haul.
Okay, now you may want to know “what” type of information you might
want to collect. I break it down into groups, just like you would with your
preparedness supplies. With the supplies, you can think “worst case scenario”,
but it's not always possible to be “supplied” for the worst case.
In other words, most of us can't buy a 400 acre ranch, with a totally underground
bunker, which is supplied with goods and equipment to keep your family and
friends in safety and comfort for a year or more. It is, however, feasible
to gather most of the “information” you might need for any worst
case that you think you could possible survive. With that in mind, I focus
my information on food, gardening, shelter, water, transportation, defense,
energy, medical, and communication.
Most often, I ask myself questions about how to do something. If the answer
is not very obvious (and most of it isn't) then I collect information on it.
I don't just ask if the answer is obvious to me, but is it obvious to everyone.
I must remember that the information might be needed and used by my children
or their children.
Often, when you've gathered the information to answer your question, it will
bring to your attention an additional item you may need to purchase, or another
skill you need to learn. Consider the following questions, as starting points
for your research and information archiving project:
FOOD – What do I need to eat to meet my nutritional needs? What type
of recipes might I need? How do I make a meal from what I have stored? How
do I make the very basic breads? How do I make sourdough? How do I make yeast?
How about other ingredients? Can you make your own mustard if needed? What
are refried beans made of? How do I make oil for cooking? How do I make jerky?
How do I make pemmican? How do I make a root cellar? How do I dehydrate food?
How do I trap animals? How do I hunt and fish? How do I butcher an animal?
What parts can I eat? What native plants are edible? Can I plant a garden (see
below)?
GARDENING – What seeds grow best in my area? What changes should I make
to the soil? How do I compost? What plants are the most nutritious? How do
I keep pests away? What plants yield the most food? When should I put seeds
into the ground? What plants produce the food that I can store for later? What
can I use for fertilizer? How do I use urine as fertilizer? What tools do I
need? How do I save seeds? How long will my seeds stay viable? How do I keep
weeds to a minimum? How much area do I need? What plants give me seeds that
I can extract oil from? What tools do I need?
SHELTER – How do I make a shelter from a tarp? How do I make an effective
Foxhole? How do I shelter from radiation? How do I build an underground shelter?
How do I make a perimeter alarm? How do I build or maintain a shelter with
no power-tools? What hand-tools should I keep? How is my shelter protected
from fire? How do I secure my shelter from intruders? How do I keep my shelter
warm? How do I keep my shelter cool? Do I know basic carpentry, welding or
electrical skills?
WATER – How many places can I get water? How can I transport it? How
can I store it? How can I make it safe to drink (from bacteria, viruses, chemicals,
or radiation)? How do I dig a well? How can I pump water?
TRANSPORTATION – If I have a retreat, what vehicle should I use to get
there? Which route should I take? What are alternate routes? How do we get
there if the vehicle breaks down? Can I hot-wire a car? Do I know basic mechanics,
or even how to change a tire? If I travel across wilderness, how do I find
my way? Do I know how to use a map, compass and GPS? Do I know how to pack
a backpack? What items should I take, given the type of transportation I have
available?
DEFENSE – What do I need to defend against? What guns might I need? How
much ammo do I need? How do I store it all? How much force can I legally use?
Do I know unarmed combat? What intermediate threat weapons do I need (pepper
spray, etc.)? Do my morals justify my use of force? How do I maintain my weapons?
Do I have schematics for them? How do I make an “early detection” alarm
system? How do other common weapons operate? How do I use camouflage? How do
I use cover and concealment? How do I communicate? How do I make a booby-trap?
How can I successfully block a road? How can I avoid a confrontation at all?
ENERGY – How can I make electricity if there is no “grid” power?
Do I know how to operate and maintain a generator? Can I build a windmill?
Can I make a mini-hydro out of an automotive generator? Can I construct a solar
electric system? How do I maintain a bank of batteries? Can I make a solar
water heater? How do I disconnect my house from grid power? How do I store
extra fuel? How long will stored fuel last? Do I know how to make a small steam
engine?
MEDICAL – What items should I have in a properly stocked First Aid Kit?
Should I have an advanced medical kit? If so, how do I store antibiotics? How
long will they last? What are the dosages for each medication I have stored?
How do I suture a wound? How do I start an IV? How do I put in a catheter?
How do I give an injection? How do I deliver a baby? How do I diagnose an illness?
How do I sterilize instruments? How do I help prevent illness in the first
place. How do I meet basic sanitation needs? What maintenance medications does
my family need? What is the blood type of all my family members?
COMMUNICATIONS – Do I have written plans for my family? How do we communicate
if we become separated? How many ways can we communicate? What hand signals
should we learn? What Ham frequencies should we listen to? What local (police,
fire, etc.) frequencies should we listen to? Do I have a written list of relatives,
and their contact information, in my three-day pack? Do I have supplies to
educate
my grandchildren if they are no longer public schools?
Other Considerations
Think through how you will collect and store your archive of useful information.
First, I'd highly suggest that you try to get your information from a wide
variety
of
sources,
so you
can
be more confident the information you've stored is accurate. So what sources
should you use? I use just about everything but the radio.
Books are a great source. If you can buy them, then that's great. Maybe you
can only check them out of a library. If that's the case, then maybe you can
photocopy the parts you really need. Better yet, scan and print those parts.
That way you can have a digital and a hard copy of the information. Sometimes,
with some topics, the only information you can find is from very old books.
Information you find in an old encyclopedia might be left out of a newer set.
Another source of information is the Internet. Not only can you find lots if
it, but often it's free. If you look hard enough, you can find entire books
that can be downloaded. Because some of the information you store will be in
digital form, don't overlook the value of video clips. There are programs such
as Replay Media
Catcher that can automatically capture a video as it's being
played from a web site, such as YouTube.com. You then have a “stand-alone” file
that you can play in your media player, even when the Internet is down.
If you wanted, you could record information from the television. Programs such
as Survivorman have a lot of good information.
Don't underestimate the information you get from direct contact with a person.
I'm lucky enough to have a very qualified emergency room doctor as a close
friend, who has the same preparedness mindset as me. He has given me valuable
information. If it's given to me verbally, then I go home and write it down
so I can preserve it. The information might come from a hunting buddy, your
mechanic, or your grandfather. There are lots of people out there who have
a lot of expertise in their field. Take advantage of it.
Regardless of where you get your information, make sure you store it so it's
there when you need it. My system is to try to keep as much, as reasonably
possible, in a printed form, especially the important stuff. Keep the bulk
of that at the location you plan to need it. For instance, you don't need printed
information about how to insert a catheter or snare an animal at your home
in the big city, but you will probably need it at your mountain retreat, where
you have those supplies located. All printed material needs to be properly
stored so rodents or moisture don't destroy it. Be sure to put some of the
information you've printed into your Bug Out Bag (BOB).
Tons of information can be stored, digitally, on your computer and on a DVD.
Don't keep it only on your computer or you may loose it if the computer crashes.
With the information on a DVD, you can keep copies at your home, in your BOB,
and at your retreat. The DVD is fairly easy to store and common sense should
tell you where to keep them.
Clearly, the type of information you gather is up to you and your individual
situation. Again, keep in mind that the information you don't think you'll
need, may in fact be what you need in an unforeseen future. That information
may not be easily available at that time, or you might not be the one who actually
needs the information.
JWR Adds: Keep in mind that there are now nearly
7,000 archived SurvivalBlog articles and letters. The blog content
is copyrighted, but it all available
free of charge. I strongly encourage SurvivalBlog
readers to make electronic copies of the posts that you find useful, or print
out
hard copies,
and organize them by topic in a file folders. In essence, as long as it is
not being sold or being re-used without proper attribution, then I am glad
to see the information from SurvivalBlog put to good use. If you find it too
time-consuming to delve into the archives and do umpteen "copy and paste" operations,
then keep in mind that I self-publish the book SurvivalBlog:
The Best of the Blog - Volume 1. That book covers the crucial first
six months of SurvivalBlog, where I covered lots of "core" topics.
Also, be advised that in October, 2009, Penguin Books will
be releasing my new book "How
to Survive the End of the World As We Know It. That 352-page book
is also sourced primarily from my writings in SurvivalBlog, over the past four
years. BTW, it
also
includes
a special chapter on medical topics, most of was guest-authored by numerous
subject
matter
experts
in the medical field.
It is noteworthy that the price of non-volatile memory USB
Flash Drives
(commonly called "pen drives", "thumb drives",
or
just "sticks")
has
plummeted in the past couple of years. (I was recently astounded
to see USB
thumb drives for under $4 each). So there is no reason why you can't
buy four or five 2-Gigabyte capacity
sticks
and
store
copious
quantities of reference information from SurvivalBlog and other web sites,
for your
personal, non-commercial archive. If possible, keep three
copies: One at home, one at your retreat, and one in your Get Out
of Dodge (G.O.O.D. backpack.)
« Economics and Investing: |Main| Letter Re: Recommendation for the Book "One Second After" »
Letter Re: Lessons Learned by the Victim of a Home Burglary
Jim,
I’m writing you today after our rural home/retreat was broken into while
we were at work. I thought it would never happen to me, Oh, was
I so very wrong. First things first, thank you for convincing me to purchase
a safe and after reading the suggestion many times in you blog I eventually
bolted it down. This is the only thing that saved me from losing the
safe and all of its contents. The Sheriff told me of another burglary
where the didn’t have his very large ("they can’t
move it--its too heavy") safe bolted down and they took the whole thing.
After much thinking, online research and discussions with the local locksmith/safe
dealer with 40 years of experience, I have some suggestions that may be of use
to my fellow SurvivalBlog readers:
ANCHOR YOUR SAFE!!! I cannot stress this enough. I had a fairly
low end safe and they were not able to get into it (they almost did) nor were
they able get it out of the house. The Sheriff's deputy estimated they worked
on it for two to three hours to no avail. These thieves tore a wall out to try to gain more access to it.
I have decided that a safe is my final line of defense from a burglar.
First thing, put gates at the entrance to your retreat and lock them as I now
have. Put all tools out of sight as the thieves used my hammers, pry bars to
work on the safe. Reinforce the door jambs in your home. I have added 3-inch
screws to the door hinges and a steel plate behind the striker plates with
3 inch screws. If your budget permits add an alarm with an outside strobe light.
This may or may not help depending on where your home is located. We are on
a paved county road with our retired neighbor who has a line of sight to our
home a quarter mile away. If it would happen again our neighbor would be there
in short order. As for dogs, I don’t know, I have three and they did
not stop them. From what I have gathered unless you have a trained security
dog they don’t help
much, they just kick them out the door and go about their business. Don’t leave
keys/combinations in your home while away. They opened every cabinet door,
drawer, trunk, dresser, night stand, picture frames and closet in the house
and emptied them. There was only one cabinet door they didn’t open which
was the one with my truck keys in it which was in the driveway.
Don’t put anything in or under the beds, ours were all flipped upside
down. Don’t leave any firearms out and loaded while away, you don’t
want to come home and be confronted by your own weapon in the hands of a criminal.
Do what you can now before a burglary to make your home less inviting
to a thief. If they want in they will get in
given enough time. I feel bad saying this but if your neighbors’ home is less secure than yours they will go visit your neighbor. My worry now
is they have been in my home, will they be back since they know I may have
something worth getting.
After a lengthy discussion with the locksmith/safe technician. The strongest
way to secure to concrete is the Powers/Rawl brand wedge bolt +. Don’t
use the lead "bullets" or drive in anchors. He told me a story of removing
16 safes for a chain of stores that were bolted down with these style anchors.
If you can get a pry bar started under one corner you can pull them right out. The wedge bolts cut threads in the concrete with no inserts.
He stated you will pull the floor out of the safe before the anchors pull out.
If you’re anchoring to a wood floor and you have an unfinished basement
you should use a steel plate. Use 1/8” or 3/16” [thick] flat steel
plate large enough to catch at least three floor joists. Screw the plate to
the bottom
of the floor joist. Use an extra-long drill bit to drill down from the safe
thru the steel plate. Get hardened bolts long enough to be installed from the
bottom, cut a piece of pipe slightly larger than the bolt but shorter than
the floor joist is tall and slide it over the bolt as you are installing it.
This will make it very difficult to cut the bolts as the pipe will spin freely
on the bolt. Be sure to "double nut" them inside the safe. The last step is to weld the bolt heads to the steel
plate.
Thanks for all the good information on your blog. I hope maybe someone reading
your blog my find some of this info useful and maybe prevent someone from entering
their home. I didn’t sleep well for a week, the
wife and I are still a little on edge and everyone who drives by is suspect!
This makes you feel very insecure knowing someone has been in your home and
went thru all your things. I wish I would have made our place more secure before
and maybe this would never have happened! The Sheriff told me this is getting
much more frequent and I agree it will get worse. God Bless, - Jason in Missouri.
JWR Replies: Thanks for that letter, Jason! Hopefully it
will motivate folks to up their level of home security and vigilance. I agree
that the home gun safe should be the last line of defense. One intermediate
line
of
defense
is concealment.
Burglars cannot attack a safe if they don't know it exists. See
the SurvivalBlog archives
for a variety
of articles and letters that discuss hidden rooms, such as this
one, or this
one, both from
2007.
« Economics and Investing: |Main| Letter Re: A SurvivalBlog Reader at Front Sight »
Letter Re: Successfully Trolling Craig's List
Mr. Rawles,
At the risk of turning on my local competition to the positive aspects of the
free section of Craig's
List,
I thought I would mention a few of the things I've picked up in the past
couple of weeks. These include:
A new round oak dining table and four oak chairs
Three boxes of canning jars with lids
A commercial fishing net (40' x 60'), to be used for keeping birds and other
critters out of the garden
36 Concrete cinder blocks (approximate value $130)
Remington electric chain saw (yes, it works!)
30+ wooden pallets (can be used for the usual "pallet" stuff, or
for use as firewood/kindling)
Commercial nursery went out of business; so I got more than 1,000 plastic seed
starting pots in 3 or 4 sizes (filled my pick-up to the brim).
5 Commercial toilets (out of a church - they were remodeling; two for my current
residence, and two for our retreat, plus one spare, for parts)
4 Large two-drawer cabinets
A 25 foot fifth-wheel insulated trailer for moving gear and supplies up to "der
bunker", and subsequent use for weather tight storage. (Try to get insulated
containers versus single wall, as there is almost no "sweating" inside)
The list goes on. . . .
As this current economic crisis gets worse, more and more folks are going
to be displaced, and not having the money to move their possessions they either
just
abandon
them,
or place free ads on Craig's list or elsewhere.
In addition, Craig's List is a good source for many other items at very reasonable
prices.
Keep your eyes open. On the more valuable items you have to be quick, sometimes
responding within minutes. On many items we realize as survival oriented, most
folks don't have a clue, so you might have more time.
One thought I had on the pallets for firewood/kindling is that while they are
readily available now, in the future they may be less easily found. Now they
can be cut into smaller pieces with a skill saw and/or electric chain saw,
stored in fifty-gallon plastic trash cans for next winter, or whenever you
might need them. Once TEOTWAWKI happens,
going outside to hunt firewood may not be such a good idea.
So, if you have Craig's List in your area, keep checking the free section every
now and then. There is no telling what you might find. - Chet
JWR Replies: I'm also a big believer in Craig's List. One
important note: In the long run, Craig's List only works if folks "return the
favor." Be
charitable whenever you have things in profusion--even when it is
just zucchini
squash.
« Three Letters Re: Some Thoughts on the Survival Vehicle |Main| Note from JWR: »
The 19th Century Home Retrofit, by Y. Cornelius
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.
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Some Thoughts on the Survival Vehicle, by OddShot
I recently had the opportunity to read JWR's novel "Patriots" .
As a former professional automobile mechanic with 25+ years of experience and
having a similar history building, restoring and racing
British sports cars (MGBs), I became intrigued with a certain aspect
of his book: the preparation of a “survival vehicle." This is intended
to be a vehicle rugged enough, durable enough, and simple enough to be an important
part of anyone’s survival program.
My first consideration was to define this vehicle. Next, I set out to list
a number of modifications to this vehicle that would increase it’s simplicity,
strength, and usefulness of this vehicle as a survival tool. The following
that I listed a number of tools and spares important to the operation of this
vehicle.
Survival Vehicle Selection and Modification
For reasons of strength, durability and utility the vehicle needs to be a truck.
For load carrying considerations I would recommend a Pickup Truck over a SUV type, such as a Blazer or Bronco.
I think the truck should be of American manufacture. Although some foreign
makes might be suitable in terms of ruggedness and durability, the parts availability---both
used and new--for American made trucks makes them the winner, hands-down.
Also parts for “high-survivability” modifications are plentiful
and cheap for American vehicles.
There is a reason that America’s largest selling vehicle for the last
50+ years has been the Ford F150 pickup truck. They may be low on creature
comforts and fuel economy, but they more then make up for those sacrifices
with ruggedness,
dependability, ease of repair, and parts availability. Chevy and Dodge make
great trucks, but there are millions more Ford
Pick-up trucks out there. Parts are still available and junkyards and rural
back yards are filled
with
them.
Older vehicles (1970 or 1980s vintage cars and trucks) with older technology
are better in the survival situations than newer, lighter, hi-tech vehicles.
Carburetors, distributors with breaker points, and generator charging systems
may not be the most fuel efficient…but they are simple, rugged and reliable.
They can be rebuilt and maintained very easily. Fuel Injection and High Energy
Ignitions systems have very limited life spans, are difficult to diagnose and
dead without spare parts.
One drawback is that NOS parts for really old vehicles (1960-1975 +/-) are
getting somewhat harder to find, even finding used stuff is getting
tough. You don’t need much…but if you can’t get it now…you
won’t
be able to get it later. If you can stick with an 1980s vintage +/-
American pickup. As I said before, parts are still available
and junkyards and rural back yards are filled with them.
Choose one with a 302 V8 (minimum), with a [traditional] carburetor! Backdate
the engine by installing a distributor with ignition breaker points and condenser. No electronic
ignition. The electronic ignition is a [reliability] weak link of all Ford
V8s. Just look in the glove box or under the seat of most of them and you’ll
find a spare “spark box” or Ignition module. Ford used points and
condensers on their V8s through 1974. A little digging through Craig's
List or most junk yards should yield a good useable distributor. New ones
are available at most speed shops.
Make sure you get a truck with a manual transmission, and try to get four wheel
drive. Avoid automatic transmissions. If for no other reason:cars
with automatic transmissions can not be push-started. Also, with a
manual transmission …if
you can get two gears to mesh…you can keep rolling. Once an automatic
transmission starts to slip, the party is over.
With a manual transmission you can adjust a clutch unless you’ve burned
it up. In the middle of nowhere you can replace a burned clutch (and even reline
the disc if you really had to), but the rebuild of an automatic transmission
requires an expert with lots of spares and spotlessly clean working conditions.
Also, with a manual transmission, were the clutch linkage give up, there are
techniques you can learn to take off and shift without using the clutch pedal.
Because this vehicle should be multi-terrain and multi-use Do not put
great big tires or lift kits on it. I would beef up the rear springs to carry
more
weight but would not raise the height of the rear. Don’t use air shocks
or air bags either. These are just something else that will break
and “let
you down”. [JWR Adds: As is taught at executive protection
driving schools, airbags should be disabled if anticipating inimical situations
where you might
have to play "bumper cars".]
I’m thinking of lowering my Ford a couple of inches to make it easier
and faster to get into and out of. Lowering the truck will also make it handle
better on asphalt…and maybe even make it a bit more aerodynamic for some
fuel savings. The extra road clearance is nice but how many times are you going
to use that advantage? Not as often as you might need to get in and get going
as fast as possible.
You’ll want the ruggedness of 6 ply truck tires. Choose
ones that have a “mildly aggressive” tread pattern allowing a good
mix of on-road and off-road use. Unless you are considering moving way out
in the woods then avoid strictly off-road tires. They will not give
you the wear and handling needed for use on asphalt [and they are quite
noisy at highway speeds].
Up grade the charging system to a 65 Amp. alternator, minimum. You’ll
want the amps to power other electrical devices. Install two batteries wired
in parallel (for 12 VDC,
many amp. output). One battery should be a “Deep
Cycle” type. This battery can power 12 VDC lights, radios, tools etc.
Also, if the alternator dies while on a long drive, this battery set up can
power a V8 ignition system for a long time. The batteries should have
their ground
wires
connected with “marine” type terminals. Simply disconnecting (unscrewing
the wing nut on the Marine Terminal) the ground side of the batteries [or installing
a battery disconnect switch from JC
Whitney]
can prevent them being discharged by shorts or [unexpected] draws. It can also
somewhat reduce the risk
of vehicle theft.
Consider removing the ignition/steering column lock switch. If you don’t…you
could loose your keys…and “hot wire” the ignition/starter
circuits and get the truck running….but imagine your chagrin when you
realize that the steering is locked! A heavy duty DC toggle switch will take
care of the ignition and a [momentary] pushbutton [DC switch] will handle the
starter. Mount them in a hidden, out of the way place.
Remove the very complicated emission control carburetor and
replace it with the simplest Holley 2 or 4 barrel that you can find.
I prefer gasoline engines. Diesels are okay, but I don’t think
there will be a lot of diesel fuel around. You may not always be able to get
diesel or even cooking oil. Consider converting your truck to a multiple fuel
vehicle using both gasoline and propane. LPG is
still very easy to get and easy to store at home. A conversion to propane is very doable …and
not real expensive, especially on an engine equipped with a carburetor.
There are number of sites on the web that discuss this.
A good number of pickup trucks have two fuel tanks…if yours doesn’t,
consider installing another tank. There is a lot of room under most trucks.
Build in onboard storage for 20 gallons minimum…or and extra 250 mile range.
Remove all emissions control equipment, at least the catalytic
converter. [Of course, first consult your state laws before doing so.] Remove
the metal cooling fan and install electric fan for engine cooling. If you take
a hard
front hit,
then those metal bladed fans will destroy a radiator.
You can do this with a junk yard fan unit…or find something in the JC
Whitney catalog,
or any auto parts store. As a side benefit, you may see some improvement in
fuel
economy, due to the reduction of parasitic drag.
Wire
this
electric fan with sensor and a manual override switch on dash.
Consider installing an oversized radiator and coolant overflow tank. Trucks
that came with air conditioning generally have the biggest radiator. The more
coolant you have in the cooling system is the further you can go if the radiator
gets a hole in it and you just can’t stop to fix it right away.
Install a Class 3 towing hitch. Its good for both towing and for ramming [--
with the ball removed from the hitch extension plate, to back up and pierce
another vehicle's
radiator].
Make sure you carry both popular sized hitch balls. Remove the chrome piece
of garbage
that passes for a front bumper and install a heavy duty store bought or home
built. Again, the front bumper should be sufficient for towing or ramming.
Install hooks for towing on both the front and rear bumpers.
A cap or bed cover should be in place over the truck’s bed to allow space
for sleeping, shelter and dry, secure storage. This can be as elaborate or
as simple as you’d like but due to rearward visibility concerns, make
sure that its not higher or wider than the roof of the cab. Due to weight and
height considerations [adversely affecting center of gravity] I would avoid
campers that install in the bed of a pickup.
You might consider finding a used tool box like the ones you see on the back
of pickups used by plumbers and electricians…this would be the ones
that replace the entire pickup bed and have 5 or 6 compartments on each side.
The Reading brand tool bodies are well-made. These have tremendous utility,
secure and dry storage and are all very strongly built. With a little ingenuity
you
could
configure
a knock down tent over the top of one of these giving you dry off-the –ground
shelter. Again, the deep cycle battery can provide 12 VDC for lights and heat
in this area.
Install commo [and communications scanning] gear as appropriate
to your mission. At least be sure to have a good, strong basic AM & FM
radio. [JWR
Adds: At
wrecking yards, you
can sometimes find a Becker
or Blaupunkt brand "Europa", "Mexico" or similar model
AM/FM/Shortwave radio pulled
from a European car such as a Mercedes Benz, for under $50. These are not only
very
reliable
radios,
but will also give you the opportunity to get WWV time
signals and some international broadcasts.]
Install quartz halogen headlights in the front. I wouldn’t bother with
driving lights but I would install fog lights…mounted in a way as to
light to the immediate front and to the sides for cornering. In the rear, I
would mount driving lamps or fog lamps as back up lights, work lamps or rearward
spot lights. Wire all auxiliary lighting with switches on dash.
Remove all electrical systems not necessary to mission. No power windows
or door locks. Remove the air conditioning system. Electric windows,
door locks, fancy [add-on] heating systems
and
other
fancy
electric doo-dads are to be avoided at all costs.
As I said before, automatic transmissions should be considered a liability.
Put in Bucket seats, especially in a pickup. They are easier/faster to get
into and out of…and will create more storage space in the cab. Gun racks?
If desired, make them solidly mounted and as far out of sight as possible.
Onboard tools will be important to keep your survival vehicle
operational. All should be secure and hard-mounted.
Carry an appropriate workshop manual with wiring diagrams.
Study it carefully and know how to reference its various sections.
Complete Automotive hand tool kit.
Heavy duty jack, jack stands and wheel chocks.
An onboard portable compressor, even a small 12 VDC model has a lot of usefulness.
If you can afford a larger one, then you can run pneumatic tools with it.
Portable generator. As much and as good as you can afford. Its just plain worth
it.
Tow Chain, shackles and tow hooks, various rope and line.
1-1⁄2 ton power winch or chain hoist or block and fall. I would consider
something that is not hard mounted so you can use it from the front or rear
of the vehicle…or not even need the vehicle at all.
Propane torches and solder/rosin for soldering wires and radiator repair. Learn
how to solder!
Electric wiring, electrical crimp connectors, electrical tape, spare switches,
heat shrink tubing, nylon wire (cable) ties.
Onboard Axe, shovel, pry bar.
12 VDC mechanic's drop lamp.
Additional fuel, lubricants, brake fluid, silicon sealant, adhesives (especially,
JB-Weld and Goop), duct tape, grease gun, thread tape, emery paper (2) spare
tires, potable water, fan belts, Radiator hoses, heater hoses, hose clamps
and tune up parts
One properly inflated spare in good condition is good, but having two
spares is even better.
Keep tire repair equipment! Six cans of Fix-a-Flat, a radial tire plug
kit and about 50 plugs. Find or make tools for breaking down and mounting tires.
Fuel
transfer pump for getting fuel [from one vehicle to another or from] out
of in-ground tanks. A hand-operated barrel pump with extensions for both the
suction
side
and the
discharge side.
Spot light (hand held)
A volt/ohm meter and mechanics test light.
Very Important: Drive your survival vehicle regularly. Use
it. Go
get plywood and shrubs and groceries in it. Work it. Houses
and vehicles need people using them. When either is not used they
deteriorate very quickly. Hard
use will keep you thinking about repairs or modifications you might want to
make. By date and mileage keep good repair and maintenance records.
A rugged dependable vehicle should be part of your survival gear. As long as
you can get fuel there is freedom in mobility. The above is not a definitive
list or the “end all to be all” one size fits all solution.
Consider
this article a starting point and add your own ideas. - The OddShot
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Burying a Shipping Container or CONEX, by Danny Papa
Back during the first Gulf War we used excess shipping containers for underground
storage and protection. Out first few attempts to make use of these containers
met with disaster. Although they will support a huge amount of weight, in
the range of 400,000 pounds directly on top, It must be place directly over
the load-bearing corners. The sides and top are vulnerable to flexing, if
they flex they can and will collapse. With all of this in mind let’s
go through how to bury one the right way, so that it will be ready and usable
when the time comes.
First let us start with container preparation. Most of these containers have
spent years at sea covered with salt water. This means rust. Very simply the
rust needs to be removed as best as possible. A drill with a wire brush does
this well.
This is a time consuming job but it will add years of life to your container.
Grind off all of the rust and then paint everything [with specially-formulated
rust-resistant paint], and I mean everything.
Don’t forget underneath. For safety, I have rolled these containers over
on their sides to do this step, it would creep me out to jack it up and crawl
underneath
one. A little grinding and paint will help protect your investment. Once the
container is ready be sure to let the paint dry for a couple of days before
burial.
The hole needs to be 16 feet wide 55 feet long and 8 feet deep.
Think about this if you dig a hole it will eventually fill up with water.
So we either need to build a sump in the bottom or trench it out to day light.
I prefer the latter, since it requires no electricity or manual labor to pump
it dry.
Let’s presume we have trenched it to daylight and go from there.
Line the bottom of the hole with foundation plastic, heavy duty black plastic.
At least two feet up the sides. Place French drain pipe with silt shield in
bottom of hole and out to daylight. Stake it in place where it will not be
directly
under the edges or corners of the container. Drive a t-post every 8 feet around
the edge of the hole through the plastics within 6 inches of the sides. Place
6 inches of gravel in bottom of hole.
Now comes the hard part, getting the container in the hole. .
You want the container centered to the back of the hole within 42 inches of
the back wall. A big track hoe can move these containers but make sure with
the owner when renting one that it can pick up at least 8,000 pounds if not
you may need a small crane. I could go into many different ways to get it into
the hole but the key is to get it onto the gravel with out it digging in, where
it needs to be and level.
Next, we will discuss Gabions or HESCO baskets. This is basically a wire basket
with a liner to hold rocks and sand that will bear the load for the sides of
the container. This wire basket wall will be built completely around the containers
to support the sides from both lateral pressure and water. To save time and
explanation, see the Wikipedia pages on gabions and
HESCO
bastions.
Here is a shopping list for "do it yourself" basket materials. Please realize
that this is that this is the Army way which means expensive. I will go over
alternatives
later.
24 - Hog panels. These are welded wire 34 inches tall by 16 feet long.
34 - Cattle panels these are welded wire 52 inches tall by 16 feet long
20 - 8 foot long T-posts which are used in the bottom of the hole
Hog ring pliers and a large sack of heavy gauge hog rings (these are to hold
the baskets together).
2,240 square feet of chicken wire with 1/2" size mesh
56 - 3 ft. pieces of 3/8 rebar, with one inch bent down on each end.
28 - 3 ft. pieces of 3/8 rebar, with one end bent into hooks
The hog panels are the bottom middle and top support for the baskets the
cattle panels. Place hog panels over t-post and let them to ground where panel
is
flat on the ground. Line them up end to end with one across the back of the
hole.
Place the cattle panels in between the T-post and the wall of the hole. Use
the hog rings to tie the bottom together at least one every 6 inches. Take
the hooked rebar and drive into the ground every four foot between t post.
Now place a cattle panel on the other side of the hog panel and tie them together
along the bottom.
Do this all the way around the container. Here is where a little experience
is helpful. Build the one in the back first. Put the bottom and the sides and
cut a hog panel to the right length for the ends of the basket. Nest do the
long side this will be 48 feet long. Now do the other side but we will do it
a little different. Once you are four feet past the end of the container cut
off the cattle panels and hog panels and build end for the basket. Then build
another small basket that goes at a 90 degree angle to the middle of the hole
forming an "L" for the doorway.
Now you have the baskets. Cover the outside cattle panel with landscape fabric
to keep silt from filling between the rocks then line the entire inside of
the basket with chicken wire--use the 1/2" inch mesh variety. Make sure the
basket walls are straight up and down. Use the rebar with the bent ends to
tie the
sides together. Now fill the baskets with rocks any rocks will do as long as
they are packed in and do not leave a bunch of gaps I like rocks about the
size of a baseball, the key is that they have to be big enough to not go though
the wire mesh. Now put the top on the basket which will be the bottom of the
next row. And then build the next layer of baskets. Once the wall of baskets
is built then use what ever you have to reach from one wall of baskets to the
other.
In Saudi we use these wood floor pieces that they made for our tents which
were a sheet of 1/2 inch plywood on a 2x4 frame it took two of them to get
across but once we put them in place and covered them with plastic we would
pile a
layer of sand bags on top of them at least three sand bags deep. Then cover
the whole thing with another sheet of plastic and top it off with a layer of
sand.
On the end where the door is I had you build an L shape this is a basic entrance
for any bunker over this end you need to use heavy timbers to support the sand
bag covering we used old cross ties from one basket to the other not sure if
this is a good idea considering the creosote on the ties.
Now this would take a squad about two days to build but once completed right
they will last for decades. Before rotating out of the country, we had a bull
dozer drive across one, just to see what would happen. Other than crushing
the wooden panels
supporting
the
sand
bags there was no damage to the container. Now, to do this the way a civilian
could do it...
For the Gabion/HESCO baskets there are many alternatives, such as:
- 55 gallon
drums filled with sand and anchored together with metal strips.
- Old tires
stacked and filled with sand but keep these at least 8 inches away from
the side of the container.
- Sandbags
Sandbags are very labor intensive and again
need to make sure there is a gap between them and the container they have a
"slide"
effect that is hard to overcome without experience. You can even just use
packed sand in the basket if you line it completely with landscape material
or fabric that will keep the sand in the basket.
Another point of experience: I have had people ask why not use bailing wire
or concrete ties to hold the baskets together the simple answer is that rust
will eventually destroy this light-gauge wire. You can use this
but I would advise that paint the wire after it was twisted it together and
don’t
expect it to last as long as the hog rings.
Also remember that many things can happen when you are underground, so always
keep equipment in the container that can be used to break your way out. Ax,
saws,
a pick ax, and a hydraulic jack.
To sum it all up you just have to remember three key things. Rust removal and
prevention, keep it dry, and alleviate any lateral pressure.
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Letter Re: The Impact of FDIC Insurance Rate Increases on Small Banks
Mr. Rawles,
We live in mostly rural northeastern Oklahoma. Our local newspaper
just printed an informative editorial about FDIC changes which result in huge fee
increases for member bank. Here is an excerpt from the editorial Oklahoma
banks paying price for bailouts:
"Imagine paying $500 per year for your car insurance and then being told
it had gone up to $4,000 even though you have been a perfect driver with no accidents,
no moving violations. That’s the magnitude of premium increases local
bankers are facing. The local banks I spoke to had no part in the sub-prime
loan implosion and did not receive one cent from the bail out. However, they
were not expecting large “assessments” in addition to huge premium
increases. The first assessment, due September 30th, will likely be 4 times
larger than all of the premiums each bank paid in 2008. Another assessment,
half that size is anticipated before the end of 2009. To put this in perspective,
a bank that paid, for example $250,000 in total for 2008 would pay nearly
$500,000 per quarter this year, have an additional $1 million assessment
in September,
and another half million later in the year for a total of $3.5 million for
2009. So, if your bank fails, the Government takes your bank, if you operate
a fiscally responsible bank, the FDIC will now take a big chunk of your bank’s
money." [signed] Bailey Dabney, Publisher, Claremore Daily Progress
- Kevin A.
JWR Replies: A recent news story makes it clear why the FDIC
was forced to increases their rates: FDIC’s
Bair Says Insurance Fund Could
Be Insolvent This Year. (A hat tip to SurvivalBlog reader "Hin" for
the link.)
After the much-publicized Northern Rock bank run in England, the FDIC
felt obliged to double the insurance coverage for depositors. Without that
grandstanding move to set people at ease, bank runs might have started in the
US. But
despite increased insurance and greater scrutiny of member banks,
the fundamental flaw of fractional reserve banking remains: Only a small portion
of your deposits
is available for withdrawal at any given time. If public confidence collapses,
there will be large scale withdrawals, precipitating full-scale bank
runs. Be ready,
folks. If
bank
failures spiral out of control--and there is now a substantial risk of just that---things
could get very nasty,
very quickly. The
"final guarantor" for the FDIC is of
course the American
taxpayer. Promises will be kept, even if there are huge bank runs. Helicopter
Ben has plenty of paper and ink. It just may take a long time to print that
many greenbacks and set things back in order. But
in the
short
term,
if
there
is
a
banking
panic,
depositors
may
have
to wait six months or longer, to be reimbursed.
Keep a cash reserve
at home. Maintaining up to two month's wages, mostly in $20 bills, would be
prudent--if you can afford it! But don't just sit on a pile of greenbacks, diversify.
You should also keep some liquid tangibles on hand. By tangibles,
I mean
pre-1965
mint
date
circulated
"junk"
90% silver US dimes, quarters
and half dollars,
and
perhaps
a few
fractional gold coins. (Buy gold coins only after you have $1,000
face vale in silver for
each family member. The silver can act as your barter reserve.) Store your
coins in hidden
wall and door caches. You might also consider leaving a small
"sacrificial"
portion
of
your
coins
in your home gun vault--just in case you are forced to open your vault at gunpoint,
in the
unlikely event
that you are caught off guard in a
home
invasion robbery.
DO
NOT store
your precious
metals in a bank safe deposit box! In the event of "bank holiday",
you will not have access to your coins. I wouldn't be surprised to see all
safe
deposit
boxes
sealed, in the event that BHO channels FDR and
there is another 1933-style
gold confiscation. (Presumably, the box holder's first
access following a banking holiday would only be allowed under the watchful
eyes of authorities.) There are just a few private safe deposit companies that
are
not bank-owned, like
this one in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Those might be
immune from the depredations of grabby politicians, but don't count on it.
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Letter Re: Hunkering Down or Storing Gear in a Commercial Building
Mr. Rawles,
As always I enjoy the site and the support you provide. I would like to mention
a few items that have come up lately here in South Florida with regards to
survival in an urban area. This may be of particular concern to any of your
readers that live in urban areas or for those that are not yet at a point
in their preparations, or lives, to be able to move to a better, less populous
location.
First, as has been mentioned on this web site, in your novel "Patriots",
and by every credible “prepper” in the world, a person retreating
to a safer location must have a primary, alternate, contingency, and emergency
plan.
The method of getting out of urban areas during an emergency is problematic,
particularly if you did not leave when you could (i.e. Hurricane Katrina).
This can lead to your routes being miles long roadblocks. However, if you live
near a coast, inlet, canal, interior waterway, river, creek, or major city
(above ground) drainage system, you may be able to use them in a boat, canoe,
kayak, zodiac, dingy, on foot, or with duck-waders to find better routes. Obviously
in the case of inclement weather these may not be options on the worst days,
but may be excellent routes during the ‘lemming run’ to get out
of the area. Many concerned people in my area include these routes of escaping
the city and urban sprawl in their plans.
Second, the wide availability of commercial property for use (particularly
in the current economy) is staggering. A simple examination of the properties
available for use by your close friends and family may surprise you. Over several
planning sessions and field trips we found many urban cache locations, significant
shelter options, and overwhelming amounts of storage space in places that were
rented, leased, and sometimes owned by members of our group. With these locations
it is always good to fully understand the government restrictions on use, function,
zoning, storage, and occupation of commercial property. That being said, some
commercial sites offer significant security advantages over homes in neighborhoods
(not to mention apartments!), can easily be ‘hardened’ without
letting the nosey neighbors knowing, and are often full of useful storage space,
accesses, exits, entries, storage space, subterranean layers, and did I mention
storage space? One of our associates has a commercial building with a separate ‘hidden’ space
inside in which a fully stocked “bug out vehicle” waits for action
in a regularly maintained state. This vehicle has its own locked bay which
can only be opened from the inside after a trip into the basement or via a
large air duct to gain access to the room. His regular business operates on
the other end of the building so none of his road-crew employees spend enough
time to even know the building has a bay on the other side. The other end of
the building faces a small maintenance path for the phone company box and is
fenced in and has plenty of “junk” camouflaging its true purpose.
Other examples of commercial property use is in the planning of cache locations
and in situations where you may need to bunker down with your family or “prepper” network
during trying times. Warehouse districts that are not contiguous to shopping,
tourist, entertainment, or government buildings offer potential safety during
riots, looting, government action, or general unrest. These warehouse districts
often see little or no activity during even the most destructive of riots.
If one has access to these types of areas, it is a relatively simple operation
to put up an innocuous name on the fence and receive deliveries (or just bring
stuff yourself) and have no one bat an eye. The districts may even have enough
24-hour traffic to mask late night movement if you are only using the warehouse
space as a pre-positioning and construction site for your burial cache boxes,
tubes, and such, since the neighbors may get a bit nosey with you burning the
midnight oil in your workshop/garage with your ‘survivalist nonsense.'
Third, unless you are have never heard of OPSEC,
commercial properties can allow you to hide in plain sight. If someone has
a TEOTWAWKI need
or economic-depression reason to operate in an urban location, you can easily
blend in with local traffic and business populations if they exist. If you
are in a manufacturing or construction area wear some roughed up ‘Dickies’ work
clothes and have a dirty pickup truck. In an office complex, have some light
business attire with a jacket/blazer so as not to stick out. If you happen
to be in a meat packing district or medical complex, have some ‘scrubs’/lab
coat or coveralls available. As long as no one is looking for you,
visit the local ‘roach coach’, ration station, trading post, or
gas station so you can keep aware of local government, gang, crime, or quisling
activities and be able to be ‘seen’ as a local (if being seen is
an option or necessity). You should be able to move any vehicle inside buildings
to hide them or work on them and to keep them out of view from outside observers.
You may be able to set up extensive security systems, passive/active surveillance,
power devices, and even communication systems. Some locations even offer the
ability to tap into sewage, storm drain, and other access points.
Fourth, if you have some property available you may be grow food (this must
be carefully done if industrial chemicals are in the area). If outdoor
growth is not a viable option, try indoor crop growth with lamps, skylights,
or
mirrors. As growing things indoors can be difficult at first, it may
be good to practice
this well in advance of the need to do it for your life.
Finally, let me say that none of the aforementioned tips can replace a move
to less populous, rural locations, far from those who will become
mindless mobs in an emergency. These ideas/tips are only presented as limited
alternatives for those, like me, who are months or years away from
realistic retreats to safer environs and for those unlucky few who may get
caught up
behind the wrong side of a line during hard times. Regards, - I.S.
JWR Replies: That is an interesting approach. I might add
just one proviso: If you plan to hide supplies (or even yourself) behind a
"blank" roll-up
door
in a chaotic situation, then do not leave the ignition key in the
company forklift, or leave a pallet jack outside of your storage space.
Either of those could be used by goblins to quickly use leverage to their advantage
in prying-up
the door!
« Economics and Investing: |Main| The Long Arm of the Lawless, by Fred Burton and Scott Stewart »
Ten Letters Re: 3-in-1 Home Workshop Machines
JWR:
One of your readers asked: "I want to buy a 3 in 1 machine. Does anyone
have any experience with them? Perhaps a brand to recommend or stay away from?"
Having considered that choice extensively myself, my home shop amateur opinion
is to recommend separate machines. Now that I see what a real mill table looks
like, I realize there isn't enough table space on the 3-in-1 to set up anything.
Instead, get the cheapest lathe you can stand, and the best mill you can afford.
If you still want a combo for space reasons, get one of the lathes with the
vertical mill attached at the back center of the bed, like the Grizzly G0516.
As one example of a machine combination, I would propose the 250 pound Harbor
Freight 8x12 (8x14+, actually) lathe, and the 700 pound Enco Rong-Fu 45 clone
(square column, geared head). I've found real-world machine capacities are
better described by weight than work envelope.
Budget spending twice as much on tooling as you do on the lathe and mill. If
you can only afford one, get the lathe. People did clever work with a lathe
for hundreds of years before the vertical mill was made practical by cheap
end mill cutters. Machine tools are only as clever as the user, but others'
cleverness is recorded and available inexpensively in books from Lindsay
Books.
Of course all this equipment is made in China. The EPA, OSHA, and the unions
have made it impossible for industry to be competitive in the US. Thanks to
what remains of free trade, you are better off being able to get Chinese iron
than to get nothing at all. The purpose of autarky is to be able to starve
a population into submission; see also
Curtain, Iron. Buy soon while you can still buy at all.
Chinese machine tools tend to be a fix-up project from the start. There are
lots of little details which will want to correct, which you wouldn't be willing
to pay the manufacturer to have done right.
Popular machines have deep user communities on the Internet.
Here are some suggested vendors and places to get ideas:
Lathemaster.com
Grizzly.com/products/G0516
Littlemachineshop.com
Varmintal.com/alath.htm
Use-enco.com
Harborfreight.com [JWR
Adds: Beware! Nearly all Harbor Freight products are made in Mainland
China, and mostly junk with scant spares or warranties!]
ihcnc.com
Lindsay Books
Regards, - B.B.
Hi James,
I have had a Shoptask 3 in 1 for 6 yr's now. As far as I can tell, the Harbor
Freight designs are [clones of the] older designs of the Shoptask machines.
Grizzly also makes a similar
machine,which in my opinion looks better, but I have no firsthand knowledge
of that. My experience with any of these machine's is that out of the box,
they are junk. These do not have high quality metal, hardened surface's and
such.
The belt drive's are poorly designed, extremely noisy, and prone to breakdown.
The best thing to do with one should you purchase it,it to tear it apart, clean
and adjust everything! Mine came with casting sand
all over, and inside! Everything was sloppy or loose. If you have any mechanical
background,these can be made
into a decent machine ,but with lot's of sweat and time. These are great for
making odds and end',or quick repairs,but not heavy duty stuff. They
are not,and will never be, intended for 8 hour a day use. For a home
hobby machine,they can be handy, but not for true business use. The switches
are junk, the motors
are junk, the bearings are junk, the belts are made of old rubber bands
or somesuch! The milling portion of it is nothing more than a drill press,
and just as inaccurate.
If your an experienced machinist, I have 30 year's worth,they can be a handy
machine, given time and effort. I personally have three other older machines,
two CNCs and
a
chucker, each one cost about the same as a new Shoptask. If room is an issue,
I'd
prefer
to get a Harbor
Freight machine, as it need's the same amount of work to be decent,and cheaper.
My experience with Shoptask was less than stellar,as it took 8 months to arrive,
a really slow boat from China! If shop floor space isn't an issue, I'd prefer--and
wish I
had bought--an older full size machine. Even an older "worn out" production
type
machine would have been less effort than this was! - Dean
Sir,
In response to your letter regarding 3-in-ones:
The ones you see for sale are a combination machine tool that combines a metal
lathe, drill press and vertical milling machine. They are used a lot by hobbyists
here, and I have heard that in Vietnam and similar locales, they are the
#1 machine for small motorcycle rebuilding shops.
I have been using a Smithy 1220 for about 5 years, and here are some observations:
Most of these machines are built on a pretty heavy lathe bed that uses a
small milling table as the platform for bolting the lathe tooling to. As
a lathe,
they are pretty stout. Most of them lack a back gear for slow turning operations
(such as threading) and you'll want to check on whether they have a split nut,
power feeds and a thread dial. The basic 1220 I have does not have a thread
dial or a slow speed, which basically means threading is done [by 'hand-spindling"]
with the lathe powered off. The upgraded Smithy models have more of these features.
In general, these machines do a good job as a lathe. Be sure to get a 4-jaw
chuck with the package, as you will need this for gunsmithing or any precision
work. The import 3-jaw chuck you will get with most is not anything I would
use on work that needs to be repeatable.
In drill-press mode, they will all work fine. They are really overbuilt compared
to even a good drill press, so you will have no problems locating and drilling
precision holes, countersinking, etc. I recommend tossing the import drill
chuck that comes with these and purchasing a proper American-made Jacobs, as
they are much better.
The main weakness in all of these machines is the milling aspect. The table
is usually fairly small, most do not have a knee for raising/lowering the table,
and they are not that rigid. Your work envelope will be quite a bit smaller
than a full-size Bridgeport or even a tabletop mill. Get rid of the vise that
comes with these and pick up a Kurt or a good import knockoff of this design.
Also, build a heavy-duty table to bolt the unit to, and it will run with much
less chatter. I made a stand for mine out of 2x2" steel tubing filled
with concrete. I can mill steel if I use good US cutters (pick these up on
eBay) and modest feed speeds.
From my experience, I would say that the Harbor Freight model is probably
the least desirable, in terms of initial quality and aftermarket support. The
Grizzly is better, and they generally stand behind their products and offer
replacement parts for sale. My Smithy has been okay in terms of quality, and
I would say that their support is excellent (reasonable prices on parts/accessories
and excellent US phone support). I do not have any experience with the Shoptask,
but I hear good things about the machine and its capability.
If you want more first-person accounts, sign up for the
Yahoo 3-IN-ONE discussion group. Cheers, - JN
Jim--
In response to the questions about 3 in 1 machines. The two most common brands
are Shoptask and Smithy. Both are imported, quality is pretty similar from
what I can tell. I have owned and used a Shoptask for more than a decade.
Both machines have real limitations. For a neophyte or hobbyist who wants to
make the odd part for a motorcycle restoration or old gun, they're fine. If
you're trying to scratch out a subsistence living with a part time job as a
machinist, you'll never make it. The mill/drill function of the machine is
extremely limited in the "Z-axis", which
is the "up and down" motion. There are other limitations as well.
I bought one because I knew I would be moving 5-10 times in a decade, and would
have to put it in a basement or utility room. They are somewhat "portable" and
take up less room than three proper machines. You can do decent work on them,
but it's slow and tedious and takes more skill. But to do really good
work, and do it efficiently enough to make a living on, you just have to have
a real
lathe, a real milling machine, and a real drill press.
If you shop around, you can get both a used lathe and a used milling machine,
probably with some tooling, for around $5,000, give or take. Occasionally there
are terrific deals around and you might get the job done for half that amount.
A real lathe and a real milling machine could produce parts at about 10 times
the rate of any combo machine.
Don't forget that it is entirely possible to spend as much on tooling as you
do on the basic machine, so the initial lower price of the 3 in 1 machine isn't
as great a deal as you might first assume, compared to a used machine with
goodies included. Sure, there are worn out junk machines on the used market,
so you have to know what to look for there. It's not an automatic slam dunk
that all used machines are better than all new 3 in 1 machines.
If you bought new Grizzly equipment, you could get a small mill/drill machine
and a modest size lathe for $5,000 including shipping. If you decide you really
have to have one, stick with either the smithy or the Shoptask. Many of the
off brands are junk. Some of them can't even cut threads, which is a key
function of a lathe. HTH, - Troy
Dear Editor,
Personally, it has been my experience that no one, unless you
are a "hobbyist",
should use one of these machines. They are fine for very small parts only,
and parts made of either plastics, brass, or aluminum. Why? They cut really
fast, easily, and require no specialized tooling. No extreme pressures, but
the speeds are up there, about 1,200-1,800 rpm.
It all comes down to one word: Rigidity! If it isn't
solid, you have wasted time, money and energy. You cannot get gold, from junk.
1) A lathe was made to turn 'rounds', period.
You can dress them up with a number of additions, to make a lot of items not
easily made by the lathe itself. (everything you do, costs more money!)
2) Mills are what they are, and anyone that has ever operated one, knows what's
their most important feature/factor.
Not just weight, but the rigidity of the entire unit, from the "quill" to
the bed, to the knee, (if it's that type of mill).
You cannot do much with a small lightweight machine, it's like trying to mill
on a drill press! (It just Won't work!)
Like I said, those smaller combination units may work ok, but not for
any serious metal turning or milling, especially of steels. It is comparable
to soldering-versus-MIG or TIG welding!
You have to have the right machine for the correct operation.
I own a "very well used" circa 1939 metal lathe, belt driven, 9-12" swing,
and 32" length material capacity. Geared head and has a range of 12 speeds.
It still, holds within .002"-.005" accuracy, and I've never "adjusted" it
so far.
It weighs in at 400+ lbs. With the small 3/4 horse 115 volt ac motor, it can
make anything I want it to. It only cost me $800!
(With that being said, 1 collet chuck cost me $600, alone! Then there were
the collet sets and such, as well as the replacement 3 and 4 jaw chucks that
ran around $280 each) Not cheap to get into, and not for just anyone! If
you don't know what you are doing, in this area, then get some knowledgeable
help!
BTW: they can, and they do, tear people up, if you make "1" single
mistake!
Stay away from a lot of imported stuff, unless you know it's a real "brand
name" that you can easily get parts and tooling for .
A machinist friend of mine bought a "Jet" lathe a few years back,
then discovered it was smaller than what he thought...It had a swing of only
3 1/2 " and a material capacity of 11-3/4 ".
He paid over $600 for it, and it only weighed about 45-47 lbs! It was great
, if you were making model aircraft or train components... He has it sitting
on
his
desk, as it's only 18" long, and makes an interesting
paperweight!
Look for the stability, and "serviceability" of the tools you select
for the "proper" job.
In other words don't use a chisel in place of a screwdriver, and vice-versa!
There are quite a few older models out there today, and...not all Chinese made
tools are that bad either.
For example, a mill I used a lot in aerospace manufacturing , was an old "MaxMill",
a big old "boat-anchor", that wouldn't quit. The writing on it's
electric motor was in Chinese, and I never did know much about it! We also
had an "X-Cello". (I have no clue [about its origins],) but it was
a good solid machine!
For "our" lathes, nearly all were made in China, as the really older
ones made in Japan were deceased by then. My personal favorite was the "WEBB" or "Takisawa" (same
same), the guys in the shop called it the "widow maker"...It had
a broken detent, that allowed it to drop into crossfeed mode at it's own whim.
Once it was repaired, I'd have paid $5,000 for that old junker! (Cost to
replace the detent: $0.10).
Note: Most of the older DOD contract requirements mandated that any
part made for them or by use in any military equipment, had to be made on a
machine
based
in the
United States only!
That meant out of our shop's six mills, we could only use three of them (the
Bridgeport's) and of our lathes we could only use one, the "Hardinge".
(A nice toy if you have the money.).
That included all manual mills lathes and all CNC machines. We had machines
from Germany, Holland, China,and Japan.
Today, thousands of these older 'dinosaurs', are on the market... You can get
an older "Southbend Lathe", for a song and a dance, and
with all the tooling! You'll need a lot of guys and maybe a forklift to move
it though! Bridegports are the same way!
Stay away from all of the CNC machines, unless you know programming!
In the machining business, you have to figure it this way: "Weight is
equal to quality and accuracy"! - Bill in Phoenix
Jim,
Go to Sherline.com. They are the best American-made machines
(for lower cost) available. Their only limitation is [their small] size, which
is true of any machine. - Mr.
XYZ Axes
Mr. Rawles,
Any multi-task machine is a trade off. They do nothing well,but do save space.
When ShopSmith brought out theirs in the early 1970s, I saw many demos and
was about to buy one. I am glad I didn't.Wood or metal working is the same
basic concept.
I would recommend that a person buy the tool they need most and add "toys" later.
If you need a mill, buy a mill. But if you only do a little mill work but do
a lot of drilling, get the best drill press available. You can put an end mill
in a drill press chuck and do light milling. See my point. As for things made
in China, almost all tools that have a high cast content like vices, anvils,
clamps, drill presses, and such have been made in China or India for over twenty
years. One good place to find tools and machinery is school district auctions.
They upgrade the shops from time to time. Also, government auctions are worth
looking into. I know the depot in Columbus, Ohio has had some good deals recently.
It's a sad state of affairs that our government lets this happen since China
will not let an item be sold there that's not made there. Then they scream protectionism
if we add a tariff or restriction.
Thank you for your blog, it is very good. - BKM
James:
Grizzly.com industrial has good quality stuff from taiwan, including
mill/lathes 3 in 1s
Smithy.com has been around a long while. (only 3 in1s) (made in China)
Sherline.com is from USA but they are specialized for tiny things.
kbctools.com has Chinese stuff, but is better than nothing, they have good
customer service.
STAY AWAY FROM HARBOR FREIGHT! Most everything they sell is
shifty shady and breaks fast. (it is soooo tempting though) I haven't used
their machine tools,
but to their credit, I have seen their smallest mill in three separate catalogs.
Harbor Freight micrometers have some merit. My machine shop teacher had a few
sets,
but when things really needed to be precise he whipped out his Etalon
micrometers.
I have been disappointed by every purchase from Harbor Freight I've made. I
stopped buying from them awhile ago.
If two is one and one is none, [when buying from] Harbor Freight [, the ratio]
is 10 is one and 9 is none.
Real machine shops give a wiiiide berth to the multifunction machines.
It's like the AR-15 with every attachment you can think of . They get in each
others way.
But they're much better than nothing.
Mainland China and Taiwan are the most common machine tool builders. Korea
and Japan make better ones--and of those, Japan the best. Germany makes them
too (real good). Italy a
few.
Basic machine tools from the USA no longer exist. Only the super precision,
extremely large, specialized, and a few CNC.
Again, Moore, Hardinge, HAAS Sandvik. Moore machines can cost millions, Hardinge/Bridgeport
cost tens of thousands (not pure USA either) and HAAS is only CNC, (great machines
though--when they break, their software tells you what to fix!) Sandvik is
super specialized.
Get used to working High Speed Steel. (HSS) It is more robust and cheaper than
carbide, it does fine. It just likes slower speeds.
Dig through this
Thomas link, and you'll find next to nothing in USA-built
machines.
Measuring:
Kannon is a good middle of the road (hard to find)
Fowler is hit and miss (mostly hit), but reasonably priced
Mitutoyo (expensive), Starrett, Brown and Sharpe, and Etalon (expensive). You
get what you pay for with these.
Stay away from any plastic/fiberglass/resin measuring devices. they loose accuracy
fast when temperature changes. - Tantalum Tom
James
To the reader in Hawaii looking for a 3 in 1 machines, he might check out Grizzly.com.
They have four different machines listed in their 2008 catalog. I bought
a Shoptask 3 in 1 machines about 12 years ago. The he lathe part of it
is fine, but the mill leaves a lot to be desired and I have had to repair
the multi position switches several times. I am not a machinist, but a master
machinist
has thought me the basics and beyond over the years. I still use the Shoptask,
but I also needed larger machines. Bridegport machines were out of the question
as simply too expensive for just hobby work. In my search several years ago
I found Grizzly.
The main reason I went with Grizzly is that they make large
machines in 220 V single phase. Most other companies that sold similar machines
of those larger sizes were all 3 phase motors and I didn't have 3 phase and
I didn't want to buy a phase-o-matic system to convert from 3 phase to single
phase. I have a 14" x 40" lathe and a 2 h.p. horizontal/vertical
mill with a 9-1/2" x 39-3/8" table. Both machines are outstanding.
I also liked Grizzly because it is a large company, with help line, and replacement
parts are no problem. I am not affiliated with Grizzly. I just like their
products. I have also bought a large wood planer and a large joiner from
Grizzly. Again, they have outstanding pieces of machinery, but it is made
in China. -Regards, - John in Montana
JWR;
As a non-professional amateur hobby pseudo-machinist that likes to play
with machinery. My suggestion is don't buy a 3-in 1 unless you have very little
space or will do very little machining. I know there are many that won't agree
with me. The problem is you will have a project set up and then want to work
on something else. then you will loose the first set-up to make another set-up.
I started with a 6" Atlas lathe 30 years ago and used a hand held drill.
later was added a new bench top drill press (Taiwan built) then 4 years later
I found a 16" Jet mill/drill that came from a burned-down fabricating
shop. I've since added a 13" Enco lathe (Taiwan built) and many Taiwan
and Chinese made add-ons. They are not the highest quality tools but they are
what I can
afford. I did add a strong magnet to the lathe gear box to catch chip. Without
imports, I and a lot of others could not afford this type of machine. I have
had to redesign some things on the machines but the machines allow me to do
it.
Don't get me wrong, I would have a Bridgeport and an American made lathe and
drill press if I could afford it.
Keep in mind, a lathe is the only machine capable of reproducing itself. It
can drill, mill, bore and turn metals and wood. The skill and imagination of
the operator is what determines what it can do.
Used machines do sometimes become available, both import and domestic. A lot
have been abused, some well cared for. If space is not a concern then consider
separate machines, and take care of them. - Frank from Indiana
JWR Replies: The current economic downturn will mean that
hundreds of small prototype and production machine shops will go out of business
in the next two to five years, particularly in and around Detroit, Michigan.
There will be some genuine
bargains found at auction. Watch your local sale papers closely. Some high
quality US and German machine tools, bits, dies, jigs, brakes and so forth
may sell
for pennies on the dollar!
« Letter Re: Real World Observations on Fighting Crime and Criminals |Main| Note from JWR: »
Depression Proof Jobs for a 20 Year Depression - Part 2: Developing a Home-Based Business
Yesterday, in Part1, I discussed the "safe" and counter-cyclical occupations
for the unfolding economic depression. Today, I'd like to talk about one specific
approach:
self-employment
with a home-based business.
I posted most the following back in late 2005, but there are some important
points that are worth repeating:
The majority of SurvivalBlog readers that I talk with tell
me that they live in cities or suburbs, but they would like to live full
time at a retreat in a rural area. Their complaint is almost always the same: "...but
I'm not self-employed. I can't afford to live in the country because I can't
find work there, and the nature of my work doesn't allow telecommuting." They
feel stuck.
Over the years I've seen lots of people "pull the plug" and
move to the boonies with the hope that they'll find local work once
they get there. That usually doesn't work. Folks soon find that the most
rural jobs typically pay little more than minimum wage and they are often
informally
reserved for folks that were born and raised in the area. (Newcomers from
the big city certainly don't have hiring priority!)
My suggestion is to start a second income stream, with a
home-based business. Once you have that business started, then
start another one. There are numerous advantages to this
approach, namely:
You can get out of debt
You can generally build the businesses up gradually, so
that you don't need to quit your current occupation immediately
By working at home you will have the time to home school your children and
they will learn about how to operate a business.
You can live at your retreat full time. This will contribute to your self-sufficiency,
since you will be there to tend to your garden, fruit/nut trees, and livestock.
If one of your home-based businesses fails, then you can fall back on the
other.
Ideally, for someone that is preparedness-minded, a home-based business should
be something that is virtually recession proof, or possibly even depression
proof. Ask yourself: What are you good at? What knowledge or skills
do you have that you can utilize. Next, consider which businesses will flourish
during bad times. Some good examples might include:
Mail order/Internet sales/eBay Auctioning of preparedness-related products.
Locksmithing
Gunsmithing
Medical Transcription
Accounting
Repair/refurbishment businesses
Freelance writing
Blogging (with paid advertising) If you have knowledge about a niche industry
and there is currently no authoritative blog on the subject, then start your
own!
Mail order/Internet sales of entertainment items. (When times get bad, people
still set aside a sizable percentage of their income for "escape" from
their troubles. For example, video rental shops have done remarkably well
during recessions.)
Burglar Alarm Installation
Other home-based businesses that seem to do well only in
good economic times include:
Recruiting/Temporary Placement
Fine arts, crafts, and jewelry. Creating and marketing your own designs--not "assembly" for
some scammer. (See below.)
Mail order/Internet sales/eBay Auctions of luxury items, collectibles, or
other "discretionary spending" items
Personalized stationary and greeting cards (Freelance artwork)
Calligraphy
Web Design
Beware the scammers! The fine folks at www.scambusters.org have
compiled a "Top 10" list of common work-at-home and home based business scams
to beware of:
10. Craft Assembly
This scam encourages you to assemble toys, dolls, or other craft projects
at home with the promise of high per-piece rates. All you have to do is
pay
a fee up-front for the starter kit... which includes instructions and parts.
Sounds good? Well, once you finish assembling your first batch of crafts,
you'll be told by the company that they "don't meet our specifications."
In fact, even if you were a robot and did it perfectly, it would be impossible
for you to meet their specifications. The scammer company is making money selling
the starter kits -- not selling the assembled product. So, you're left with
a set of assembled crafts... and no one to sell them to.
9. Medical Billing
In this scam, you pay $300-$900 for everything (supposedly) you need to start
your own medical billing service at home. You're promised state-of-the-art
medical billing software, as well as a list of potential clients in your
area.
What you're not told is that most medical clinics process their own bills,
or outsource the processing to firms, not individuals. Your software may
not meet their specifications, and often the lists of "potential clients" are
outdated or just plain wrong.
As usual, trying to get a refund from the medical billing company is like trying
to get blood from a stone.
8. Email Processing
This is a twist on the classic "envelope stuffing scam" (see #1 below).
For a low price ($50?) you can become a "highly-paid" email processor
working "from the comfort of your own home."
Now... what do you suppose an email processor does? If you have visions of
forwarding or editing emails, forget it. What you get for your money are instructions
on spamming the same ad you responded to in newsgroups and Web forums!
Think about it -- they offer to pay you $25 per e-mail processed -- would any
legitimate company pay that?
7. "A List of Companies Looking for Homeworkers!"
In this one, you pay a small fee for a list of companies looking for homeworkers
just like you.
The only problem is that the list is usually a generic list of companies, companies
that don't take homeworkers, or companies that may have accepted homeworkers
long, long ago. Don't expect to get your money back with this one.
6. "Just Call This 1-900 Number For More Information..."
No need to spend too much time (or money) on this one. 1-900 numbers cost money
to call, and that's how the scammers make their profit. Save your money --
don't call a 1-900 number for more information about a supposed work-at-home
job.
5. Typing At Home
If you use the Internet a lot, then odds are that you're probably a good
typist. How better to capitalize on it than making money by typing at home?
Here's
how it works: After sending the fee to the scammer for "more information," you
receive a disk and printed information that tells you to place home typist
ads and sell copies of the disk to the suckers who reply to you. Like #8,
this scam tries to turn you into a scammer!
4. "Turn Your Computer Into a Money-Making Machine!"
Well, this one's at least half-true. To be completely true, it should read: "Turn
your computer into a money-making machine... for spammers!"
This is much the same spam as #5, above. Once you pay your money, you'll
be sent instructions on how to place ads and pull in suckers to "turn
their computers into money-making machines."
3. Multi-Level Marketing (MLM)
If you've heard of network marketing (like Amway), then you know that there
are legitimate MLM businesses based on agents selling products or services.
One big problem with MLMs, though, is when the pyramid and the ladder-climbing
become more important than selling the actual product or service. If the
MLM business opportunity is all about finding new recruits rather than selling
products or services, beware: The Federal Trade Commission may consider it
to be a pyramid scheme... and not only can you lose all your money, but you
can be charged with fraud, too!
We saw an interesting MLM scam recently: one MLM company advertised the
product they were selling as FREE. The fine print, however, states that
it is "free
in the sense that you could be earning commissions and bonuses in excess of
the cost of your monthly purchase of" the product. Does that sound like
free to you?
2. Chain Letters/Emails ("Make Money Fast")
If you've been on the Internet for any length of time, you've probably received
or at least seen these chain emails. They promise that all you have to
do is send the email along plus some money by mail to the top names on
the list,
then add your name to the bottom... and one day you'll be a millionaire.
Actually, the only thing you might be one day is prosecuted for fraud.
This is a classic pyramid scheme, and most times the names in the chain
emails
are manipulated to make sure only the people at the top of the list (the
true scammers) make any money. This scam should be called "Lose Money
Fast" -- and it's illegal.
1. Envelope Stuffing
This is the classic work-at-home scam. It's been around since the U.S. Depression
of the 1920s and 1930s, and it's moved onto the Internet like a cockroach
you just can't eliminate. There are several variations, but here's a sample:
Much like #5 and #4 above, you are promised to be paid $1-2 for every envelope
you stuff. All you have to do is send money and you're guaranteed "up
to 1,000 envelopes a week that you can stuff... with postage and address
already affixed!" When you send your money, you get a short manual
with flyer templates you're supposed to put up around town, advertising
yet another
harebrained work-from-home scheme. And the pre-addressed, pre-paid envelopes?
Well, when people see those flyers, all they have to do is send you $2.00
in a pre-addressed, pre-paid envelope. Then you stuff that envelope with
another flyer and send it to them. Ingenious perhaps... but certainly illegal
and unethical.
From all that I've heard, most franchises and multi-level marketing schemes
are not profitable unless you pick a great product or service, and you
already have a strong background in sales. Beware of any franchise where you
wouldn't have a protected territory. My general advice is this: You will probably
be better off starting your own business,
making, retailing, or consulting about something where you can leverage
your existing knowledge and/or experience.
---
In closing, I'd like to reemphasize that home security and locksmithing are
likely to provide steady and profitable employment for the next few years,
since hard
economic times are likely to trigger a substantial crime wave. After
all, someone has
to keep watch on the tens of thousands of foreclosed, vacant houses. (If not
watched, then crack cocaine addicts, Chicago syndicate politicians, or other
undesirables might move in!)
« Letter Re: Christianity and Self-Defense |Main| Jim's Quote of the Day: »
Product Review: Shelf Reliance Cansolidator - Addendum, by Michael Z. Williamson
After my successful test of ShelfReliance's Cansolidator,
I acquired their full-size Harvest
system that holds up to 600 cans.
The Harvest comes in two cartons, a tall heavy one with the metal structure,
and
a big,
double-walled
carton
with
the
can racks. The instructions are included, and quite straightforward. One or
two pictures weren't as clear as they could be, but a look at the components straightened everything out.
While I was able to put the system together myself, I'd recommend have a second
person to assist. It's not particularly complicated, just large. The steel
frame slots together
with keyhole fasteners, and they're quite snug. I used a rubber mallet to get
them together. This is a good thing, in my opinion; it means it won't come
apart easily. The tracks are thick, rigid
plastic. You'll want to ensure you have plenty of space to assemble this beast:
it takes access from at least two sides to get the racks locked in, lined
up and properly spaced, and I recommend the caster upgrade--Once it's in filled
and in place, it is not going to move otherwise.
This system is well-designed. It takes most standard sizes of can, small, medium
and #10, and can be customized to take various proportions of them. It adjusts
for cans as short as tuna cans, and for the tall ready-to-serve size soup cans. It takes standard peanut butter and
condiment jars, too. I would recommend a padded underlayer if you plan to store
glass jars,
just in case. Each rack holds about 15 standard cans (the larger racks being
proportionally deeper), but I was able to bump the rear cans on the feed rail,
and double
stack a couple of extras. The tracks are very
strong.
Included is a set of magnetic labels for most common canned products, plus
some blanks for making your own, plus some specialty ones for canned long term
food (shelf life up to 30 years) that Shelf Reliance sells. (I haven't tried
these yet, but their prices are quite reasonable and competitive and their
quality so far in my tests is excellent.) This, and the open design makes it
very easy to find what you need, and keep track of the amount on hand. First
In, First Out (FIFO) means all you have to do is see what's low, buy more and
feed it in from the
front.
Pluses:
Well-designed, modular, adjustable for most cans and several other containers,
sturdy, compact, easy to use, easy to assemble, fairly clear documentation,
made in America, half the price of some competing systems. Shelfreliance is
happy to customize parts for you if you want to store more #10-size cans, or
more standard cans, or fit the unit into a narrower or shallower space. They
also sell component pieces individually for expansion, and have "scratch and
dent" sales for those on a budget.
Minuses:
No actual negatives so far. Just be aware that it takes a while (a couple of
hours) to put together just because it's so large--there are 31 racks on
the standard model. You really should buy the casters if
you ever plan to move it. - Michael
Z. Williamson
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Product Review: Shelf Reliance Cansolidator, by Michael Z. Williamson
The following are my experiences with a product called a Cansolidator. My
order for two Cansolidators was
filled very promptly, and they arrived within the week.
These racks are a common concept for people storing canned goods in bulk.
This is a first in, first out (FIFO) rack. New cans go in the top, old cans
dispense
out the bottom.
The Cansolidator is modular, made of a very sturdy and flexible plastic, and
the rails are numbered to make it easy to set consistent widths. Each unit
contains four top and four bottom rails, and five vertical rails/spacers. You can extend the rails to make wider units, and use
additional bottom rail sections to build vertically. It was just slightly too
tall for my kitchen cabinets--it wouldn't quite fit under the shelf, but may
fit in newer ones. It's also fairly deep. Shelfreliance
also sells smaller units intended for inside cabinets, and larger, freestanding
units up to "The Harvest" that
will hold up to 600 cans, and can be adapted to fit a smaller number of #10
cans.
I managed to adjust the unit to fit three slots for standard cans and one
for smaller cans (fruit cocktail and beanie weenie sized cans). A standard
modular plastic shelf system will fit a Cansolidator section six cans wide, with enough room atop to fit a flat of additional cans between
it and the next shelf up. This dramatically improved the cubic efficiency of
our canned goods storage.
My only criticism is that a basic unit is not quite wide enough, by about 1/2
inch, to fit four rows of regular cans. I will definitely be getting more of
these, and one of the larger freestanding racks, to improve our food storage.- Michael
Z. Williamson
« Letter Re: Do-It-Yourself FIFO Canned Food Storage Bins--Made From Cardboard |Main| Note from JWR: »
Letter Re: Way Points for G.O.O.D. Routes?
James,
I finally have my bugout location found and purchased. Plan to start building
a small home there later this year. Cabin first, house will wait till I see
how the economy runs. On the east coast, as I have family here and really don't
want to leave this area. I am outside a small town, on a dirt road off a local
rural highway. I have near nine acres of woods and one acre of pasture (garden
and orchard) space. One acre of the land is separated from the rest by a four
foot wide surface creek. It has a nice cleared area I plan to develop into
a picnic area at the creek. The majority of the land is heavily wooded.
I am considering offering the space as an overnight primitive camping stop
for bugout travelers. One night to one week maximum. You know, rest up and
recoup or reunite with stragglers while en route. Good idea or no?
How should I let fellow survivalists know about the location? I would have
to meet traveler in some nearby town to get to know before showing them the
location,
for personal security.
Or should I hole up on my land and let everyone else fend for themselves? Your
thoughts are appreciated, either as an e-mail or a post on your blog. Thanks,
- S. in Alabama
JWR Replies: I can foresee a few potential problems with
your plan:
First: Vetting someone for suitability and trustworthiness for such an arrangement
is time consuming. Unless you could properly vet someone before they
were told the exact location of your retreat, then it would be a huge OPSEC risk.
Worst case: Your retreat ends up on some outlaw motorcycle
gang's "shopping list."
Second: If anyone asks if they can cache supplies at your retreat,
there could be legal implications, especially if they are less than honest
about what they are
burying on your property. (I've heard a couple of horror stories from consulting
clients about the antics of some their erstwhile "friends" that turned out
to be flakes or criminals.)
Third: In times of Deep Drama, it might be difficult to persuade "stay-overs" to
abide by their contractual obligation to move on. (I can just hear the whining:
"But I'm
sick with the flu". or, "But my wife has a badly sprained ankle and can't walk...",
or, "I'm not leaving until my brother arrives. We're supposed to meet-up
here.")
Fourth: "Signing-up" a large number of stay-overs is an egregious violation
of the "need to know" rule. Each person that is told about the retreat location
represents one more person that could get careless and blather or boast of
it to friends. Repeat that risk 20 or 30 rimes, and sure enough, on TEOTWAWKI+
1 or TEOTWAWKI+2 you'll wake up in the morning to find that a hundred tents
have sprouted in your pasture, most of which will be occupied by newcomers
that
you know nothing about.
(This factor, BTW, is why The
Memsahib and I have taken some extreme measures
in
guarding the location of our year-round retreat.)
In summation, I think that such an arrangement is more trouble than it is
worth. To do it right would requite plenty of vetting. And if you are going
to that much trouble, then it might as well be to approve someone
that will be a full-fledged member of your retreat group.
« Two Letters Re: How to Approach Shooting |Main| Letter Re: Way Points for G.O.O.D. Routes? »
Letter Re: Do-It-Yourself FIFO Canned Food Storage Bins--Made From Cardboard
Sir;
I thought that your readers would be interested in this
link to a blog where this woman's grandfather engineered plans to make canned
food storage
bins
out of cardboard! She says they are going on 13 years of use. She
has the free PDF of plans for them on her site .I'm having my husband make
me
a
few of these!
Thanks for all that you do! - A. in Texas
« Letter Re: Recommendation for the Movie "Defiance" |Main| How to Approach Shooting, by M.J.M. »
Letter Re: Military Surplus Watertight Containers for G.O.O.D. Vehicle Boxes
Dear Jim:
I'm a 10
Cent Challenge subscriber with an idea that may help folks
with their storage items.
I was out the the shed looking for my box 'o bullets to catch up on some reloading
and came across an empty 81mm
rocket box. Sprayed it off with the hose and
let it dry and started thinking that it looks like the same height of a #10
can, I tried it and it was. So since I dislike storing survival items in
cardboard, not sturdy enough or water proof, started loading it up and lo
and behold the
Mountain House freeze dried cans fit also. So far so good.
Also looked to be the right size (~14" wide, 25" long and 7" high)
to make a 'go' box. That would be a box with a variety of items that one could
just grab and go [or Get Out of Dodge (G.O.O.D.)] in a hurry, or give it to
a needy, unprepared relative or some other poor unfortunate that was in need
of charity
and then
tell them
to 'Go'. Grab, as in not having to search around looking for different things
such as matches, which food to take/give, and items like toilet paper, light
source, fuel, etc.
So this is what I came up with, one sturdy metal box with the following items:
Five liters of water, P38 can opener, 12 hour Chemical Light sticks (4), Plastic
forks (4), Bic Lighter, 2 books of matches, one roll of toilet paper, Trioxane
(4 boxes, 3
bars each) 66 oz can of Tuna, #10 can of freeze Dried Chicken/Rice, #10 can
Freeze Dried green beans, two #10 cans (that’s over 12 pounds!) of Costco
Cattle Drive Chili with Beans (yum!) box of 64 feminine light day pads
(also works as bandage) small bar of hotel soap, mylar blanket, candle and
a small
knife.
Should keep a couple of people set with the basics for a week or so if they
are able to forage additional water.
I'm sure I can tweak the contents with this and that but overall I'm happy
with it! Take care and may God Bless you and yours for all the good work
you do. - Cactus
Jim
JWR Replies: Although they are very space and cost efficient,
I generally do not recommend buying humongous containers of wet-packed foods--such
as
the cans of tuna
and chili that you mentioned for that purpose. Unless you are feeding
10 or more people at once, there is too much risk of spoilage in all but the
coldest
of weather.
Most of us with small to medium-sized families should stick
with smaller wet-pack cans for our G.O.O.D. kits!
« Letter Re: Bulk Diesel Fuel Antibacterial and Stabilizer |Main| Note from JWR: »
Letter Re: Advice on Grungy Military Surplus Magazines
I took your advice and ordered some FN-FAL magazines
from What-A-Country,
and they were promptly delivered. However, I was surprised to find that the
military surplus magazines were quite dirty with what appeared to be black
sand, and slightly oily. Is that common for used magazines? As a first time
battle rifle owner making my first military surplus purchase. I don't know
if this is common practice or not. If it is,
what is the best way to properly clean the magazines so they can be used? Any
advice or a link to a web site with additional information would be appreciated.
- SteelerFan
JWR Replies: That isn't very unusual. When buying military surplus,
I'd much rather get oily or greasy mags, because that indicates that an effort
was made to protect from rust in all
those years
of storage.What-A-Country imports
most of their magazines from Israel. And the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)
has almost always done a good job with storing weapons and accessories. (For
example, I've seen Lee-Enfield rifles that had been in storage in an Israeli
warehouse for 50 years that
still looked arsenal-new, once the grease was removed.)
I once bought a large batch of Thompson SMG magazines
that were practically pumped full of grease. Yeech! It took a lot of time to
degrease those.
OBTW, if the magazines that you bought are grungy inside, it doesn't take
long to disassemble them. If there is a lot of grease, you'll need to use a solvent
(such as Birchwood
Casey Gun Scrubber), otherwise just wiping them down with
paper towels will usually suffice. But again, be sure
to examine their interiors. (Needless to say, the usual safety provisos on avoiding
skin contact and inhaling vapors of Tri-Chlor-based
solvents apply!) One you've cleaned the magazines inside and out, wipe them
down with a light coat
of oil, or perhaps a heavy coat if you live in a region with high humidity. and
for long-term storage in a damp climate, RIG is
ideal. (But then, of course someday you'll be back to square one--removing
grease, before use.)
« Letter Re: Seeking Advice on Assembling Web Gear |Main| Jim's Quote of the Day: »
Letter Re: Home Invasion Robbery Countermeasures--Your Mindset and Architecture
Dear Mr. Rawles:
First and foremost thank you for your novel "Patriots" which
I am currently reading.
I live in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex. As of late there seems to be a rise
in the number of "home invasion" type of crimes in this area. Every
morning that I go to work I hear about a new incident in the metroplex. This
has led me to put inside locks on my bedroom doors and purchase my first gun.
I consider myself one of those "know enough to be dangerous" people,
but am planning on taking a handgun safety course . I'd like to know your thought
on preparedness for these "home invasion" crimes which are on the
rise. Once again thank you for your novel which has opened my eyes to just
how unprepared I am. Sincerely, - Geoffrey T.
JWR Replies: You've surely heard the phrase "caught
off guard." In
my opinion, almost the entire American citizenry has been systemically "off
guard" since
the end of the US Civil War. There are two fundamental weaknesses that make
American homes vulnerable to home invasions: a condition white mindset, and
appalling
architectural weakness. I'll discuss each.
Condition White Mindset
First and foremost is an almost universal Condition White mindset. This refers
to the Cooper
situational awareness color code for "unaware and unprepared".
The vast majority of the urban and suburban population spends 90% of their
daytime hours in Condition White. They do a lot of idiotic things, like failing
to keep their doors locked at all times, and failing to keep loaded guns handy.
Most folks lock their doors only just before retiring each evening. So most
daytime and early evening home invasion robbers simply stroll in to
unlocked houses and catch the occupants flat-footed. By adopting condition
yellow as your norm, and by taking the appropriate security measures, you will
tremendously lessen
you vulnerability to violent crime, including home invasions.
Architectural Weakness
Secondly, 150 years of relative peace, stability, low crime rates, and cheap
energy have worked together to push American residential architecture toward
very vulnerable designs. Modern American homes are essentially defensive
disasters. They have huge expanses of glass, they lack barred windows
or european-style
security/storm shutters, they lack defensible space, and they often have
no barriers for the approach of vehicles. Another ill-conceived innovation
is the prevalence of floor plans that situate the master bedroom at the opposite
end of the house from the children's bedrooms.
For the past 25 years, one of the hallmarks of "bad neighborhoods" in
the US has been the prevalence of barred windows and beefed-up doors. These
are neighborhoods where
the prevailing
crime rates have pushed the majority of the population into Condition Yellow
as a full time baseline mindset. Given the upswing in crime rates that will
undoubtedly accompany the coming depression, I wish that everyone in the ostensibly "good
neighborhoods" had this same outlook. I don't find
it all surprising that criminal gangs now specifically target wealthy suburbs
for
home
invasions,
for two reasons: A.) That is where the good stuff is, and B.) These
residents
are sheep for the slaughter (given the prevailing condition white mindset.)
One of the most chronic defensive lapses is American suburban architecture
is exterior door design. Typically, entrance doors either have widows immediately
adjacent, or set into the doors themselves. Even worse is the ubiquitous
sliding glass door. Nothing more than a
brick or a paving stone tossed through the glass and bingo, instant access
for home
invaders,
with
the fringe
benefit of instant fright and surprise for the occupants just inside, who will
likely be startled by the crashing noise and flying glass. SWAT and MOUT trainers
call this a form of "dynamic entry". There are umpteen variations.
You may recall the use of a piece of patio furniture in Robert
DeNiro's dynamic entry of Van Zant's
house in in the movie Heat. Another
is the vigorous application of a 5- or 6-foot length of steel pipe
or a
more specialized tool, in (the proven "break and rake" technique
preferred by the British SAS and SFOD-D
(commonly called "Delta Team") to quickly clear any protruding shards
of glass).
America in the Near Future = Welcome to South Africa
In South Africa, the crime rate has been so high for so long that it has changed
the way that people live in a day-to-day basis. Every stranger is viewed with
extreme suspicion. Automobile drivers regularly refuse to pull over if they
are involved in a minor traffic collision, for fear that it is a pretext for
a car jacking.
Threat Escalation and Proactive Countermeasures
Modern military planners often talk in terms of threat spirals. In
essence, a given threat escalates and it inspires a defensive countermeasure.
The ideal
situation is "getting inside your opponents threat spiral"--meaning
that your
anticipate your opponent's next escalation, and proactively take
countermeasures, insulating yourself from the future threat.With that in mind,
here are some
thoughts on potential home invasion threat escalation and countermeasures
(perhaps some SurvivalBlog readers would care to add to this list):
1.) More frequent home invasions. The worse the economy gets, the more crime
we can expect. Home invasions and kidnappings are likely "growth" areas.
2.) Use of dynamic entry tools by home invaders. We can expect them to use
commercial or improvised door entry battering
rams and Hallagan
tools--like those use by
police.
This
means that just standard solid core doors by themselves will be insufficient.
Switching to steel doors and.or adding sturdy cross bars will become common
practice.
3.) Possible use of vehicle-mounted battering rams.
4.) More frequent and elaborate police
impersonation by home invasion gangs.
5.) Larger, better equipped, and better organized home invasion gangs. Larger
gangs will be able to invade a home--conceivably even when there is a party
in progress.
6.) The potential use of cell phone
jammers.
7.) More elaborate ruses as pretexts to get homeowners to open their doors.
For example, not only will the "point man" be dressed as UPS driver,
but there will be a very convincing looking UPS truck parked at the curb.)
8.) More home invasions at any time of the day or night.
9.) More use of pepper spray and other irritants by home invaders.
10.) Use of large diversion such as explosives to draw law enforcement to
"the other side of town."
11.) More elaborate intelligence gathering by home invasion gangs--researching
exactly who has cash, fine art, gemstones, precious metals, or jewelry in
their homes. (BTW, this is just another reason to practice good OPSEC.)
Given these possible threat spiral escalations, you might consider
building a dedicated "safe room". I can think of no better way to
get inside the bad guys' threat spiral. Such a room could serve multiple
purposes,
including "panic
room",
gun and valuables vault, storm shelter, and fallout shelter. (And hence, provide
you family with solutions for multiple scenarios. The folks at Safecastle (and
other specialty contractors) can build these both
aboveground or underground, with special order inward-opening vault doors.
You mentioned putting a lock on your bedroom door. This is usually insufficient,
since most interior doors are hollow core, they typically use lightweight
hinges, and they have insubstantial strike plates. Most of these doors can
either be knocked
down or knocked though, in very short order. I recommend replacing your bedroom
doors
with
heavy
duty exterior type
doors (preferably steel) with heavy duty hinges and one or more deadbolt locks.
If your house has all the bedrooms isolated on one hallway, then I recommend
adding a heavy duty
door
at
the end of that hall, and keeping it locked at night. (Basically a "safe
wing"
for your house) Then, inside of that safe wing, you
should have a far more secure dedicated safe room that your entire family can
retreat to, before
the outer layers of defense succumb to physical attack.
Redundant communications
are important, so you can solicit outside help. Both the master bedroom and
the safe room should have hard wire ("POTS")
telephones that are serviced by underground lines with no visible junction
boxes. Be sure to test using a cell phone, as a backup, from every room.
Having a CB radio in your safe room also makes sense. OBTW, one of my consulting
clients in New Mexico intentionally installed a vertical
3"-diameter
air exhaust vent from the ceiling of his safe room/fallout shelter to his
roof. Using
a broomstick,
he
can pop
the slip-fit flapper valve loose, and then use the pipe as a conduit
for flares from his HK P2A1 flare 26.5mm flare pistol! He reported that he
has tested shooting meteor flares "up the spout",
and
it
worked fine. Very clever.
The Ultimate Solution: Designing for Security from the Ground Up
I most strongly recommend that the next time that you move, that you buy a
brick or other masonry house and upgrade its security, or better yet, start
with a bare lot,
and custom build a stout house with and integral safe room, from scratch. As
previously discussed in SurvivalBlog, two good starting points for house
designs are Mexican walled courtyards and building with square bastions (also
known as Cooper
Corners). These projecting corners eliminate the "blind spots" that are
common to typical square or rectangular houses.
For greater detail on this subject, I recommend Joel Skousen's book "The
Secure Home." My novel "Patriots:
Surviving the Coming Collapse" also has some detailed design
description for ballistically armored window shutters and doors, as well details
on constructing neo-medieval door bars.
If you are
serious about custom building or retrofitting an existing house for
increased
security
and/or
adding a safe room,
then I recommend
the architectural consulting services of both Safecastle and Hardened
Structures.
« Two Letters Re: Comparing the Big Three Battle Rifle Chamberings in the United States |Main| Call Me Delusional, by Edgar J. Steele »
Letter Re: A Prescribed Burn in North Carolina to Find a Fugitive's Weapons and Ammo
Howdy James,
I thought that this
article was interesting in the fact that the US Forest Service is calling
for a prescribed burn [in order] to locate weapons, ammo, and explosives (sounds
like reloading powder) that a fugitive may have stashed around his camp site.
This got me to thinking, how safe are your caches? You will want to make sure
any caches you have are buried well if they come looking for your cache and
burn the area. Also consider that those landmarks/trees that were there
may be gone after a burn, so locating it again may be difficult if you are
basing it on 'sight' only! Be sure to have other methods to recover your cache.
Later, - Mark in North Carolina
« Letter Re: Some Disaster Preparedness Information for Asthmatics |Main| Letter Re: Essential Oils for Survival »
Letter Re: Food Items in Non-Food Grade Buckets?
Hi Jim,
I’m an avid reader of your blog but I have a question: Can I store vacuum
sealed wheat in regular buckets (not food grade)? I like the idea of having
10 lb bags of vacuum sealed
wheat for simplicity
in retrieving when needed and for distributing as charity if needed. I realize
it wastes space in each bucket (being in a vacuum sealed block) – but
my question is whether it’s safe to use the less expensive buckets or
will potential out-gassing eat the vacuum sealed bags?
Your books (I have all of them) are very helpful to me. Between my father and
I, we’ve probably bought several dozen copies of "Patriots" over
the past five years to give to people. I have my 20 acres in one of your
recommended areas and will break ground in the spring for the retreat. I just
hope I have
enough time to prepare as it seems things are moving fast.
Also, how do you store other consumables? Metal wall lockers (as in "Patriots")? Is
there a more mobile solution I can use for the time being until I get my retreat
built?
Thanks for all you do. - Rob S.
JWR Replies: I'm not a food safety
chemist, so I can't give you a definitive answer. As
discussed in SurvivalBlog previously, the issue is the toxic injection
molding release compounds used in making some buckets that are not
marked as NSF, USDA or "Food Grade" certified.
These mold release chemicals can contaminate food. My advice is to err or
the side of caution and to use your utility-grade buckets for
storing
non-food items (ammo, clothing,
field
gear,
etc.),
and only certified food grade buckets, for food. Even if food items are
in a sealed food grade plastic package, you never know when the integrity
of that inner packaging might be compromised with pinholes.
Most of my consumables that won't fit in our kitchen, pantry, and laundry
room cupboards(Castile soap, cleansers bandages, paper products, etc.) and
most of my field gear items
are
stored
in big green
plastic Rubbermaid
Roughneck storage
bins with
snap lids. They are great for "grab-'n-go" situations. Just keep
in mind that a determined rat, given enough time will be able to chew a hole
through
these containers. They are fairly expensive if bought new in stores, and expensive
to ship if bought via mail order, so watch and wait for them to be offered
at a sale price. BTW, you might also
try placing
a
local "Wanted" ad on Craig's
List.
« Odds 'n Sods: |Main| Gardening and Seed Saving, by Carolyn W. »
Letter Re: Seeking Advice on Storing Guns and Magazines
Mr. Rawles,
I have taken your good advice and purchase a few rifles and a
number of full capacity magazines as an investment,. Now how do I store them
for the long term? Should I spray them with something first? Please continue
to help. - James B. (a "Ten
Cent Challenge" participant)
JWR Replies: The precautions that you need to take depend
a lot on where you live. If you live in a high humidity climate, then you need
to be particularly vigilant with your guns, magazines, and other tools. In
essence: the higher the humidity, the greater the degree of protection required,
and the greater the frequency of inspection for rust.
I generally recommend wearing lightweight cotton gloves when you do your gun
maintenance. This is particularly important if you have sweaty hands. My college
roommate was notorious for inducing rust on guns because of this, and he has
always had to take special precautions.
A light coat of gun oil such as Rem
Oil will suffice in dry climate. Although
exotic lubricants such as Break
Free CLP are great for lubricating, in my experience,
they leave so little residue that they are actually inferior to traditional
gun oils for preventing rust. In damp climates, I recommend Birchwood Casey
Barricade (formerly sold under the product name "Sheath".) Rem Oil
and Barricade are both available from a number of Internet vendors including Brownell's.
And even Amazon.com
now sells Barricade.
For long term storage all metal parts (inside and out) especially the bore,
chamber, and breech face should get a coating of grease. There is always the
tried-and-true USGI "Grease,
Rifle". (This product name was humorously spoken "Grease Comma Rifle" by
American soldiers for many years, before the advent of the M16). While it will
suffice,
I prefer Rust Inhibitive Grease (RIG),
which is available from a number of Internet vendors including Brownell's.
Even though you will know how the gun was treated before storage, someone else
in your family might not. I therefore strongly recommend attaching
a special warning note: "Warning: grease coating--bore, chamber
and bolt face! Remove grease before firing!!!"
Small quantities of magazines stored inside a humidity-controlled gun vault
(with a Golden
Rod or similar de-humidifier) or stored in sealed ammo cans
with a large packet of silica
gel desiccant probably won't need more than light
coat of oil and annual inspection. Any larger quantities of magazines that
are stored outside of your vault in non-airtight containers should probably
be rubbed down with RIG. In most cases this requires disassembling magazines,
to get at their innards. OBTW, even if a magazine is made of polymer and has
a plastic follower and floorplate, don't forget that its spring needs
rust protection!
« Letter Re: HF/VHF/UHF Amateur Radio for Preppers |Main| Note from JWR: »
Letter Re: Retreat Locale and Firearms Selection Questions from a Newbie Easterner
Jim,
I am a new reader of SurvivalBlog but I am already hooked. I realize that I
am woefully unprepared to defend and care for my family if and when TSHTF.
I live in New Jersey and commute to New York City every day, and work in finance.
After 9/11, when I lost several dear friends, I took some steps to prepare
for a
short
(several
days to a week) disruption or an attack. I purchased a generator, several hundred
MREs, bottled water, and iodine pills. I even applied for a firearm purchase
permit but never bought a weapon.
Working in the capital markets, I have see firsthand over the last
few month show how close we have come to a complete breakdown in the monetary
and payments
system.
As a person who is generally a free market advocate and non-interventionist
it troubles me deeply that the government has had to step in to try and salvage
the banking system. However, I can say that in the days before some of these
programs were announced, we were probably much closer than people think to
a severe systemic financial collapse. I saw firsthand the panic and fear that
prevailed on Wall Street in those few days, and it was real.
Hopefully we will be able to pull out of this current crisis. But in the spirit
of preparing for the worst, I realize that I have much to do in order to get
ready for TEOTWAWKI. So I do have a few questions that I hope you can answer.
While I am sure some of these have been answered for previous newbies, I would
greatly appreciate your opinion and advice.
What is your suggestion for a retreat location for someone living in New Jersey?
I have read your "Recommended
Retreat Areas" section and it looks
like most of us east of the Mississippi are in some trouble. However, I am
tied
to my
current
location in terms of my employment and extended family. I am relatively blessed
in terms of financial resources, so it is potentially feasible for me to purchase
an out of state second home to use as a retreat. I do worry about access in
a SHTF scenario.
Highways potentially clogged, gas in short supply, etc. Is a 2-to-3 day drive
by car or longer escape location feasible? There are relatively rural
areas within 2-5 hours by car that we could choose, but none approach the remoteness
most on this site seem to favor.
This also seems to be a common question but what about firearms? New Jersey
is quite restrictive. The permit I got after 9/11 expired so I recently reapplied
and
should get my new permit in a couple months. I am not a complete neophyte but
pretty close. I have hunted a few times with friends and have done some target
practice at the pistol range. I know I need training. I also fear that the
new administration may impose even more restrictive legislation limiting access
to firearms so I want to move relatively quickly in assembling what I need.
Here is what I am thinking:
handgun: there is no concealed carry in New Jersey so for home defense I am thinking
something on the larger side, maybe a S&W Night Guard in .357 Magnum? Or does
an
autoloader with a higher capacity (maximum 15 round magazines in New Jersey)
make
sense?
Maybe
the
SIG
P220 in .45 ACP?
.22 rifle Suggestions? Id like something I can also teach my son on (he is 7)
in a few years. What do you think of the US Survival .22LR? How big should I
go?
I don't think I'm going to need
something for very big game but who knows. Is a .308 sufficient or should I look
for something
heavier
like a .338 Lapua or a .30-06? Should I also have a tactical rifle? Remember
that New Jersey has a pretty broad definition of "assault rifles" that
are
banned.
Shotguns: Likely would like to have at least one "riotgun" type and
at least one for hunting. Suggestions?
Ammunition: How much is enough?I have seen that Cabela's sells reloaded/remanufactured
rounds in bulk. Are these a good deal or are factory rounds superior to the point
that the bulk reloads should not be considered?
Training: I am planning on taking several of the NRA courses that are available
in my area for each of the weapons types I purchase. I have read the glowing
reports on Front Sight and will try that as well if I can get the time. Any other
suggestions?
I know I have a lot to learn in many areas such as food gathering/storage and
basic survival. I have learned a lot from you already. I appreciate all you do
on this blog, Jim. You provide a great service.
God Bless. - S. in New Jersey
JWR Replies: You are in a difficult locale, but I quite regularly
get similar questions from
consulting clients in Washington DC, Baltimore, and New York City.
I recommend that if you can afford it, that you buy a rural retreat,
and stock it very well. If you prefer a warmer climate, then
I recommend eastern Tennessee. If you don't mind cold and snow, then consider
the Upper Peninsula
of Michigan. Pre-position 90% of of your tools and logistics at your retreat.
If you are worried about burglary, then rent a commercial storage space that
is
near
your
retreat.
As I've mentioned in blog many times, I recommend that you keep always enough
gas in cans on hand for one trip "Outta Dodge"--to get you
to your retreat. (This
ties in with the need to pre-position nearly everything at your retreat.)
In answer to your question on handguns: In New Jersey, your best bet is probably
either a Springfield Armory XD in .45 ACP
or perhaps a Glock Model 21 ( also .45 ACP.) BTW, you should take advantage
of Front Sight's Gun & Gear & Training
offer--that
includes essentially free XD pistol. BTW, low
cost firearms training is also available from the RWVA in the east and the
WRSA in the west.
In answer to your other questions:
>.22 rifle Suggestions? I'd like something I can also teach my son on (he
is 7) in a few years. What do you think of the US Survival .22LR?
The US Survival .22 LR--like all of it predecessors including the original
Armalite AR-7--has a tendency to jam. It also has a fairly rudimentary peep
sight that
in my opinion has an overly-large rear aperture. I recommend that you instead
buy a Rogue
Rifle Company Chipmunk .22
single shot rifle for your son.
Depending on his maturity, you can probably start training him with it under
very close supervision at
age
7. (The Chipmunk
is a tiny rifle. It is made to the minimum dimensions allowable under
Federal
law.)
For the rest of the family, buy a stainless
steel All-Weather Ruger 10/22. Once
your son is about 10 years old,
you can
buy a
spare stock
for
the
Ruger
and saw off about two inches from the butt to provide a shorter length of
pull, for
transitional
training. Slightly used "takeoff" standard birch wood stocks are readily
available
for
under $15 each,
since
Ruger
.22
rifles
are
often used as gun rebuild platforms, typically using fancy laminate target
stocks.
> How big should I go?...
The .308 Winchester will suffice for everything two-legged or four-legged in
North America with the exception of grizzly bears and moose.
>
Should I also have a tactical rifle?...
Keep an inexpensive .308 bolt action in New Jersey and .308 battle rifle (as
well all your magazines over 15 round capacity) in a wall cache at your retreat
in a
free
state. As previously noted in SurvivalBlog I
generally recommend the FAL, L1A1, HK91, AR-10 or M1A. And, FWIW, up until
a week ago, I would have also recommended waiting for the about-to-be-released
Kel-Tec
RFB .308 or the Rock
River Arms (RRA) LAR-8 .308 Caliber, in Mid-Length. However, in today's
market, beggars can't be choosers. Buy whatever .308 battle rifle you can find,
but be sure to line up at least eight spare magazines first.
(You don't want to be stick with a rifle with one magazine!)
>
Shotguns: Likely would like to have at least one "riotgun" type and
at least one for hunting. Suggestions?
Buy a Remington
870 Express 12 gauge Combo set. (These come with both a
bird barrel and riotgun barrel. It takes less than two minutes to switch
barrels. BTW, Mossberg
also produces a quite similar "Combo" set, that is very reasonably
priced. The only drawback is that the Mossberg 500 Combo's bright blued
steel is more prone to rust than the phosphate finish on the Remington
Express
models.
> Ammunition: How much is enough?
"Enough" is a subjective term, depending on the depth and duration
of the situation that you anticipate, how much bartering you plan to do, and
how much
trouble you expect to encounter.
(In an urban or suburban area, you might have to fire hundreds of
warning shots to repel looters. But here at the ranch, we are in the process
of filling at least five deer and elk tags this season, but we'll likely fire
less than 10
cartridges.) If anything, err on the side of larger quantities.
Any ammo that excess to your needs will be worth its weight in gold for barter
and
charity.
>...I have seen that Cabela's sells reloaded/remanufactured
rounds in bulk. Are these a good deal or are factory rounds superior
to the point that the bulk reloads should not be considered?
Bulk reloads are fine for target shooting but only can be depended on for
self defense shooting situations if they come from a reputable maker,
such as Black Hills
Ammunition.
« Letter Re: Life Imitates Art--Moscow, Idaho Style |Main| Letter Re: Selecting and Storing Bargain Barter Items »
Letter Re: Pre-Paying Utility Companies in Anticipation of Worsening Banking Disruptions?
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Rawles,
Thank you for your excellent blog. My husband and I are benefiting tremendously
from the hard work you have put in to this valuable resource.
My question: With banking integrity a growing uncertainty, would it be prudent
to devote our rather limited capital to build up a credit balance with our
utility providers (water, electric and natural gas) in anticipation of possible
interruptions in bank transactions? We do have modest contingency back-up systems
for all three supplies but as long as the grid holds up we will use the utilities.
Sincerely, - Mrs. T. from Idaho
JWR Replies: I do not recommend pre-paying utilities, at
least not under the current circumstances. By pre-paying the utilities, you
are effectively
giving them an interest-free loan. For the sake of flexibility, you are far
better off setting aside an equivalent amount in greenback cash. This is what
is commonly called "mattress money". (But you'll need a much
safer place for it. (See my "Through
the Looking Glass" wall cache
post from August, 2007 for detailed recommendations
on constructing hidden caches in your home.)
With greenback cash on hand,
you will still be able to make payments directly at the utility offices,
or of course simply mail them money orders. Even in the event of a major banking
crisis (complete with bank closures or perhaps even a national "banking
holiday"),
money orders will likely still be available from the US Postal Service and
from
drugs
stores
or
convenience
stores, and will still be accepted in payment.
If the economic situation deteriorates--for example if inflation jumps to
double digits (or more), and the postal service becomes unreliable, then that
is the time to consider pre-paying your utility bills and perhaps even
pre-paying your property taxes.
« Odds 'n Sods: |Main| Two Letters Re: Advice for City Folks on a Budget? »
Letter Re: Questions on Short Term Survival in an Urban Office Building
Dear Mr. Rawles,
First off, I just want to say that I really appreciate what you're doing with
your blog site. I've learned so many useful things and feel that I am beginning
to have a basic understanding of how to prepare for and live in and a survival
situation.
Second, I'd like to give you a quick bit of background about myself so you
can hopefully help me with my dilemma/question...
I am a young adult working on the 9th floor of a large building in Manhattan
[on Long Island, New York City, New York]. I do not own a car and so I use
public transportation, typically the subway. My apartment is about a 30 minute
walk from work. In my
apt I have
started
building
up my survival gear, food, Bug Out Bag, etc...But I realize that I spend most
of my days not in my apt but in my office, working. So I've decided to start
planning
my office survival gear because if Manhattan was ever attacked with some form
of nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons, and I'm still alive, I don't believe
there would be time for me to get back to my apt before being affected (as
subways, buses, and foot traffic will be clogged and slow). I figure my best
bet for survival would be to hunker down for the first 48-to-72 hours in my
building probably the library.
What are your thoughts/advice on staying in the building??
Also what kind of survival gear can I bring to work that would be discreet
but really help me in my first 48 hours of survival?
This is what I have so far, which my employer has provided in a fanny pack
for everyone:
[Mylar] bags of water. (We also have water coolers)
flashlight and batteries
goggles
emergency blanket
small first aid kit
mask
whistle
Any advice would be appreciated and thank you for your time. Regards, - Flora
in New York City
JWR Replies: Hunkering down in an urban environment can
be difficult. We've
addressed that before in SurvivalBlog.
Your office or cubicle
probably has a locking desk, file cabinet, and/or a credenza. Typically,
with
the high
turn-over
rate
in
most corporations, keys for furniture gets lost. Ask your
facilities
department to either re-key your locks, or have them cut new keys for them,
based of their manufacturer's code numbers. (Typically stamped in small digits
next
to the lock key way.) With this semi-secure storage space available, there
is no reason why you cannot gradually build up a substantial supply of food,
and
have a place store items such as a flashlight, sleeping bag, foam mattress
pad,
and
so forth.
Even the interior of modular cubicle walls have a remarkable amount of space
for items up to two inches thick. (One advantage of being an over-worked
technical writer for many years was that it gave me a lot of late night
hours to explore
such possibilities. You would not believe what I stored inside my cubicle
walls!)
Keep in mind that in a blackout, your building will be quite cold, at least
for half of each year So be sure to store an insulated pad, down jacket, a
pile cap, and gloves in your office.
Buy a USGI protective
mask (preferably an M40 or a recent USAF MCU series) and at least four spare
filter canisters, from a reliable vendor such as JRH
Enterprises. Since these only filter the
available air, they are not nearly as capable as a compressed air system
like firefighters
typically use. The latter will operate even in oxygen-deprived environments,
but a mask will at least increase your chance of getting out of a
high-rise building alive, in the event
of a fire. One trick, BTW, is attaching two filters simultaneously
(on both sides of the mask), to increase the available air flow during heavy
exertion.
Find out where any extra bottled water for your building is stored.
There, or near there, is the logical place to find your "hunker down" room.
Scout out your building thoroughly. It might be worthwhile getting to know
someone on your building Facilities Department staff. Buy him lunch, and have
a chat. Find out where the roof accesses are, and if they are kept locked.
See if there are
any
back
rooms,
machinery
rooms,
or
passageways that are not well known. These rooms are often kept locked. One
little-known method if gaining access to such spaces is to climb up through
a suspended (or "drop") acoustic panel ceiling, go over a partition,
and climb back down into the locked room. You might even keep a small
folding
ladder
such
as a QuikStep
ladder handy for just
this purpose. (Tres Batman.) For some ideas on discovering unused spaces
in buildings, see the Web
Urbanist site, and related "urban exploration" web sites and their forums.
(Of course, all the
usual
legal
disclaimers apply.)
Weapons
that are legal to possess in New York City have been discussed previously
in SurvivalBlog. If nothing else, you should keep a cane or stout full-size
umbrella in your office at all times. BTW, it is also wise to carry either
of these
whenever you are on city sidewalks or on the subway. They will look quite
innocuous, but with the right training will give
you
a great
advantage
in a
brute force
fighting
situation. For training, start with the Gordon
Oster DVD, and the book "Raising
Cane" by
Octavio Ramos. Then take a FMA
cane
fighting class. Those would all be money well spent!
« Odds 'n Sods: |Main| Survival Medicine and Ditch Medicine, by Josh in Montana »
Letter Re: Some Storage SNAFUs
Jim:
Why do the incredibly robust "cheap" imported AKs have chrome lined bores ,
yet some of the expensive and finicky American-made ARs not chrome
lined? Well, if you live in a humid climate, it makes a difference. I
made
the classic
error of storing my guns in gun cases. In fact, that's the worst way to store
them as the humidity accumulates inside. One of them had nearly rusted
solid in three years.
Thanks to the ministrations of another firearm enthusiast, all my guns are
being de-rusted, dipped in preservative oil and mylar bagged along with oxygen
absorbents, rust inhibitor tabs and desiccants.
I don't want to talk about what happened to the barrel of my M21 so just don't
ask. If you live in a humid climate, then consider the PS90. Mostly plastic,
hi capacity, very ergonomic.
I also learned about the weight limitations of gamma seals. I just noticed
that when I put ammo in five gallon buckets with Gamma seal ls on them, if
I go over three buckets high, the bottom seal breaks and falls into the bucket.
Now I limit it to two high and only lightweight buckets on top. - SF in Hawaii
JWR Replies: Thanks for being so frank. Perhaps other readers
learn from your mistakes and avoid some costly problems.
A humid climate
dictates
extreme vigilance for gun storage. Here is my general guidance:
1.) Clean thoroughly, lubricate heavily, an a inspect frequently.
2.) If storing guns in a vault or a wall cache, invest in a Golden Rod dehumidifier.
But don't expect it to be a miracle panacea. Mark your calendar with reminders
for
monthly inspections!
3.) Never, ever use a muzzle cap for more than an hour or two. They are for use
in the field, not for storage!
4.) R.I.G., silica
gel, and and VCI
paper are your friends.
5.) If you use grease or a heavy coating of oil in a gun bore and/or its chamber,
then be sure to tag the gun with a prominent reminder to yourself
to remove the
grease
it
before
firing.
(Not doing so can be a safety hazard!)
5.) Do NOT use oxygen absorbing packets for gun storage!
These are designed specifically to kill insect larvae in stored food. These
packets
use
a chemical reaction of moisture, salt, and ferric oxide (rust!) to consume
the oxygen in a confined space. These packets can be bad news for stored
guns.
Instead, I recommend that you use silica gel to prevent rust. Silica gel packets
also
have
the
advantage
that
they
can
be re-used many times if you dry them out in an oven or a dehydrator overnight.
(Since they employ a chemical reduction process, oxygen
absorbing
packets
can only be used once.)
« Letter Re: New High Performance .410 Shotgun Slugs for Self Defense? |Main| Note from JWR: »
Letter Re: How to Store All Those Saved Nickels
Mr. Rawles:
I diligently read your “nickels”article and
archived follow-ups, but nowhere do you mention which size ammo
can it is that cubes rolled nickels
for storage most efficiently?
I have cleaned out my children’s bank accounts slowly over the last
few weeks and am walking into random banks and grocery stores converting the
cash
into
rolled nickels. ”Havin’ a yard sale, don’t ya know.”.Wink.
It keeps the Stepford bank weenies from asking unnecessary questions.
- Laura C.; Hiding in Plain Sight, Somewhere Deep In The People’s Republic
of Northern
Virginia
JWR Replies: In my experience, the USGI .30
caliber ammo cans work perfectly for storing rolls of nickels. Each
will hold $180 face value (90 rolls of $2 each) of nickels. The larger .50 caliber
cans also work, but when full of nickels are too heavy to carry easily. Speaking
of weight, several bags of "junk" silver coins or ammo cans full of nickels
coins make great "ballast" for the bottom of a gun vault. This makes it more
difficult for a burglar to haul away a vault intact. (But of course gun vaults also need
to be securely bolted to a floor, for the same reason.)
« Letter Re: A Tasmanian's Perspective on Preparedness |Main| Note from JWR: »
Letter Re: Using 20mm Ammo Cans as Contingency Caches
Hi Jim,
After reading "Patriots:
Surviving the Coming Collapse" a second time (and this time tabbing
the pages) and making note of the ROTC cadet's
story, I acquired some 20mm-sized
ammo
cans. I thought I'd put together at least one contingency box [for an underground
cache], in the event of losing everything else, due to being overrun by bad
guys, etc.
First off, instead of pavement/roadway emulsion, I took two of these cans to
a Line-X
[spray-on bed liner] shop, to have them painted with their material. They
were happy to help, since they were shooting a metal surface with the stuff,
and
not plastic
or fabric.
Here's my list so far, for one can. Some of this is stuff that I have excess
quantities:
-One AUS-8 Stainless Recon Tanto knife (I have a bunch of other knives, along
with some in Carbon V steel, that I'm currently keeping for barter)
-One Swiss Army knife
-Toothbrush, dental floss, and toothpaste.
-One one-quart canteen with purification tablets
-One two-serving Mountain House meal (I was considering an MRE,
but there's too much candy and excess packaging. Also, an MRE may not store
for as long
.)
-Lighter and matches
-One earth-tone set of T-shirt, underwear, and socks
-50 rds. .22 rimfire ammo
-50 rds. 9mm Parabellum ammo
And if I can fit them: One 10 rd. box of 12 gauge shotgun shells, and / or
a pair of combat
boots. Regards, - Jerry E.
« Odds 'n Sods: |Main| The Grand Illusion: G8 - 1 = Cold War II? »
Letter Re: Advice on Preparedness for Travelers?
Mr. Rawles,
I just picked up two rugged
4GB USB memory sticks at a
rather good price of $15 each. ($19.99 less a mail-in rebate of $5.)
Your readers
might consider them for their emergency kits to store scanned in copies
of their legal documents, insurance, investments and personal records and
photos.
This isn't bullets and butter but might just prove more valuable than
both when trying to get a replacement social security card or passport. The
10 year
warranty
is awfully nice so keep your receipt. Maybe you should scan that and save it
on the memory stick too!
If your
readers would also be interested in a free encryption software they should
consider trying TrueCrypt for Windows,
Mac and Linux. - Neal
« Two Letters Re: Advice on Versatile Pasture Fencing |Main| Note from JWR: »
The Summer Kitchen, by Boltlady
Reality set in when I received a copy of JWR’s novel "Patriots"
from my sister. I was hooked. I could see not only the possibility, but the
likelihood
of what could happen. The sheer realization of how pitifully unprepared I was
for any type of disaster launched me into high gear. I organized the bug-out-bags,
bought the camo & the ammo, and stocked an emergency medical kit. You know
the drill.
But now that the basic preparations are in place and the panic has subsided,
my thoughts have turned to the retreat. What does happen when the world as
we know it comes to an end? When there is no electricity and those without
solar-power are long-term without any power? Well, when the MREs are
long since gone and retreat life has become…well, life…, I envision
spending time in my summer kitchen.
The concept of the summer kitchen literally dates back a thousand years, yet
these practical outdoor kitchens are still used today all over the world. Its
purpose historically was quite simple – prepare food during warmer seasons
without heating up (or burning down) the house. However, for a retreat setting,
you could benefit greatly by expanding its duties.
Drawing upon a number of these older ideas and uses, this new summer kitchen
goes well beyond the original ‘cook-only’ area, to a multi-purpose
building that includes a smokehouse, a root-cellar, and a wood shed. Because
of the strategic importance of the kitchen, this should be one of the first
structures built in a retreat. While our family is still praying and saving
for our retreat property, the limited population in the area where we would
like to buy suggests that we will purchase land without any existing buildings.
Given the versatility of the Summer Kitchen, we could easily sustain ‘camp’ with
it on weekends while working on the rest of the property.
Whether you’re building on a distant site, or adjacent to your existing
home, careful consideration should be given to the positioning of your summer
kitchen. Choose a site that will allow a cool summer breeze to pass through
the kitchen, as well as carry away any smoke from the cook-stove.
The design I have determined to be best for my summer kitchen is a three-part
building. The center section, which houses the kitchen facilities, is approximately
20’L x 15’W, and is flanked on the right and left by a pair of
6’ x 8’ rooms. The three sections share a common wall at the back,
with the pitched (gable) roof-line over the center section rising about a foot
higher than those of the end rooms. Buried directly beneath the main kitchen
lies the root-cellar. The balance and form of the structure lends itself well
to the retreat setting. Click
here to see a drawing of this floor plan.
Materials for your Summer Kitchen should be chosen based on function – not
style. Although it is often easier to scavenge wood materials, I have chosen
to build my summer kitchen primarily out of masonry block. For me, masonry
materials are not only durable, but simple to maintain. (Note: If you have
a block manufacturing plant in your area, try contacting the manager to inquire
what they do with the seconds – that is the less than perfect, but still
perfectly usable blocks. You may be able to purchase these at a reduced price.)
The roof-line, composed of stout 2” x 6” trusses, rests upon the
block walls. Here in the Northwest, a metal roof is a must. Metal works well
to shed the often heavy snow-load in winter, and reduces the risk posed by
forest fires during dry, summer months. Topping off the roof of the summer
kitchen is a small cupola. While the cupola may appear as an unnecessary extravagance,
its true function is realized through added ventilation of heat and smoke.
Let’s take a virtual tour. You enter through symmetrically located, 36” doors
on either the front left or front right quarters of the kitchen. The large
doors provide smooth access even when carrying a sizable load. Running along
the entire length of the front wall, between the doors, is a 28” deep
counter top. All the counter tops in the Summer Kitchen are concrete. When
poured and polished, concrete counter tops are incredibly durable, surprisingly
attractive, and affordable if you do it yourself. The cupboards below store
pots and pans, dishes, and canning supplies.
At the far end of the counter, near the left-side door, there is a dumb waiter.
This pulley-driven, counter-weighted, mini elevator lifts or lowers your canned
goods, and other finished products, to and from the root-cellar for easy storage.
The box, (a 32” square, 36” high) which resembles a cupboard itself,
has a load capacity of 100 pounds, and is manually operated by a handle on
the side.
As you step through the right side door, just to your right is a wrap-around,
28” deep counter extending to the back wall and then left approximately
ten feet. Centered in the counter along the back wall is a deep, stainless
steel, double sink. The sink utilizes a high arching faucet that swivels flush
against the wall allowing easy access for even the largest items.
Food preparation and clean-up require an adequate water source. The water supply
to the sink can be provided for in several ways. Options include gravity-fed
plumbing from an external water source, or from a 55-gallon drum on a stand
outside the back wall. It may even be possible to mount the tank in the rafters
above the kitchen. Since the water tank is filled using a hand-crank transfer
pump, the positioning of the tank is quite flexible. Hot water may also be
achieved by plumbing a line from the reservoir on the wood-burning stove.
Beyond the end of the counter, in the back left corner of the main room, is
the heart of the kitchen – the wood cook-stove. It is coved in masonry
block to reduce the space required between it and the walls while minimizing
fire hazard. (You should always follow recommended clearances when fitting
your stove.)
For those of us who follow recipes with instructions like “bake at 350 degrees˚” or “simmer
over medium-heat”, cooking with wood-heat may prove to be a challenge.
For this reason your choice of cook-stove is vital. One of the best stoves
for a summer kitchen is the ‘Pioneer Maid’ wood burning stove available
at Lehmans.com.
(Situated in Amish country, Lehman’s is a fantastic
resource for functional, non-electric items.) This stove is not some dainty,
long-legged beauty meant to invoke nostalgic memories of yesteryear. This
is the workhorse of Amish country cook-stoves. With its oversized, temperature-controlled
wood box, an eleven gallon reservoir, warming oven, enameled cook-top and oven
lining, and more than half of its weight made up of stainless steel, it will
be the hardest worker you have come canning season. With all its amenities,
yet high price, a frugal builder may spend more on this stove than the entire
structure.
In the center of the kitchen you will find my beloved want-ad find – my
36” square, maple butcher’s block. This serves as the perfect prep
counter. It is well-suited for butchering small livestock or dressing out an
elk. For the retreat setting, or even your local gardening co-op, you should
prepare for a ‘canning party’ of six or more people. By forming
an assembly line of friends to complete large tasks, mundane retreat chores
should become much more bearable.
Next, there are the adjacent rooms. The room to the left, nearest the stove,
is firewood storage. A large sliding door gives easy access when putting up
wood. It will hold two to three cords of wood, cut and stacked. When the time
comes to fire-up the cook-stove, wood can be transferred to a small rack just
inside the left side door of the summer kitchen.
And on the right, we have a smokehouse, in perfect company with our kitchen.
When you enter the smokehouse through the insulated, sheet metal lined door,
you find that the interior is very simple; a concrete slab floor with a smoke
pipe in the middle, a removable workbench, a barrel of salt, and several adjustable
hangers overhead. Multiple vents are designed into the soffits surrounding
the smoke house. Extending four feet further right, and connected by a 6” concrete
pipe, you have a 30” x 36” firebox lined with firebricks. A 24” diameter
tapered concrete plug forms the lid, which forces the smoke up the pipe and
into the smokehouse.
Finally, on the backside of the building you will find the access door leading
down to the root cellar. The concrete stairs land in the middle of the room.
One side of the cellar has a poured concrete floor. The other side remains
open to the earth and is then covered with 6” of gravel. The exposed
area lends coolness to the room. Along the block walls, lining the concrete
foundation stands ample shelving for canned goods.
While I have included here a general idea of the design for my root cellar,
the subject of root cellaring would easily fill a book. Many things must be
taken into consideration regarding your particular location. Humidity, temperature,
ventilation, annual rainfall, ground water, and the types of products to be
stored, are all factors that influence the type of root cellar that would be
best for you.
Like any aspect of preparedness, if you do not plan ahead, the logistics could
be anywhere from difficult to impossible. So if you already have a retreat,
I suggest building a summer kitchen. Equip it. Practice in it. Enjoy it. When
you remember that God provides you with everything you need, self-sufficiency
is a truly fulfilling journey.
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Letter Re: Rampant Inflation in Steel Products
Hey Jim,
I used to make my living as a construction electrician and had several big
steel Greenlee
brand tool boxes with my tools. There is usually one in the back of my
truck all the time.
Price of gun safes has continued to rise, so I took one of my boxes and cut
out a plywood rack for my guns, then filled in around the rack with polyurethane
foam. After it was set and cured, I painted the urethane foam flat black.
The fit and finish on my Greenlee tool box/gun safe is good enough to protect
my weapons, keep them locked and secure. It also has the advantage of handles
and skids so it can be loaded into a pickup or bug out trailer to get to the
remote retreat in a hurry. If necessary, I can load it with a forklift, or
a chain hoist, or muscle it on with three other men.
Anyway, I thought you might be interested in my improvised gun safe.
The steel tool boxes can still be bought from Lowe's [hardware store] for $199.
Regards, - Lawrence, editor of SurvivingTheDayAfter@yahoogroups.com
JWR Replies: Thanks for that cost-saving suggestion. Just
keep in mind that "portability" works both ways. It is essential that you secure
your vault, box, or chest to a floor or a very sturdy wall, to prevent
burglars from hauling off "The Whole Shebang." Be sure to use heavy duty lag bolts!
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Two Letters Re: Tomorrow's Headlines? -- A Nationwide Banking Panic
Hi James,
First, thanks for sharing Mike ["Mish"} Shedlock's recent article with the
SurvivalBlog.com community. Like you, I've grown to trust his observations
and analysis and
I read his work as often as I read yours - daily.
I wanted to add a couple of comments, which will strengthen both Mish's and
your viewpoints concerning your observations on the potential for a nationwide
banking panic.
First - is that [as mentioned,] the
FDIC is preparing for this crisis right now, by hiring back some retirees, with specific experience
in dealing with bank failures, as they are expecting a large number of banks to fail. This is, of course,
very big news and we all know the obvious reasons why this announcement was
so poorly lit by the mainstream shills.
Second, FDIC is no longer capable of insuring all of the coming bank failures,
so it is astonishing to me that they can actually raise their limits on how
much they can insure. This seems like a desperate attempt to head off a panic
state. At this point in time, I see very little chance that this crisis can
end without at least several major failures. Once everyone learns that FDIC
cannot insure all which they claim they can, then it may be game over and a
gargantuan panic far beyond anyone's wildest expectations could, indeed, unfold.
They will reap what they sow. Regards, - HHH
Sir:
I earn my income from two primary sources, one from a "dot.mil" source and
the other from a "dot.edu" source. I have made moderate progress on preps
and other
issues,
but
have one external factor that I cannot control very much, short of an unrealistic
change in jobs (I will have earned my retirement in another five years, for
example, from one of the jobs).
Both of my income sources require the use of [payroll] Direct Deposit. I cannot
change that without changing my employer. I have some savings, cash and precious
metals,
but my regular income flow is purely electronic. Are there reasonable steps
in
that
area I can take to protect myself from a banking crisis? Are there special
vulnerabilities I should be aware of for this type of pay method? Thanks! -
Todd in Virginia
JWR Replies: Anyone trapped in a "direct deposit only" payroll
system has limited options in the event of a banking
panic. If the banking panic is widespread or if there is a nationwide "bank
holiday" declared, I suspect that many employers will revert to paper paychecks
within a few weeks after the crisis begins.
The best thing that you can do is to have your direct deposit sent to a checking
account that is in a relatively safe bank that has minimal exposure to subprime
mortgage debt. For many years, I have recommended Weiss
Ratings (now part of TheStreet.com) as an information source for judging
the safety of banks and insurers, for my consulting clients. Marty Weiss
and his staff do excellent research and, unlike Standard & Poors, they are truly
independent and objective.
The only other thing that comes to mind is keeping the equivalent of three
months worth of rent and important expenditures on hand in greenback cash
or in very liquid
assets (such as precious metals), at home, as a reserve.
I realize that A.) Few readers have that sort of cash available, B.) You will
be foregoing
any
interest income
on the cash,
and leaving it fully vulnerable to inflation, and C.) It will be vulnerable
to theft. To minimize that latter risk, construct
a Rawles "Through the Looking Glass" wall or door cache, or
something similar.
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Letter Re: Advice on Storing Bulk Grain at Above Optimum Temperatures
Mr. Rawles,
First, I'd like to thank you for your blog. It's well worth the
10 Cent
Challenge [voluntary subscription]! My question is about grain storage.
We live on the outskirts of a big city
and recently bought an old trailer on 25 acres in the country. It's a three
hour drive from where we are now and we can't live there full time because
of my
husband's job. I moved half of my bulk storage buckets (about 10) up there
and during the winter it was fine but now it's hot (in the 90's) and humid
during the day. We can't leave the air conditioning running because the trailer
is old and
very drafty. With the country in the shape it's in I'm really
undecided if I should bring the buckets back or just leave them there. Will
the heat really
damage them or just shorten the life? In an emergency situation we may or may
not be able to transport everything from point A to point B. We may be lucky
just to get there with the clothes on our backs and it would nice to have supplies
already positioned. What are your thought on this? Thanks and God Bless, -
JM
JWR Replies: Grain suffers far less from heat than other
storage foods. But the loss of nutritive value will accelerate, shortening
the storage life. Wheat causes the least worries, but anything else--especially
with a
high oil
content (such as brown
rice)
is at risk of going rancid at higher temperature. Those items should probably
be moved back to where you can store it below 80 degrees. (Ideally, under 50
degrees, but few of us have even basements that stay that cool.) OBTW, the humidity
should not be much of an issue if you are using properly sealed buckets (with
o-rings in the lids.)
In the long
term, unless there is a high water table at your retreat, you should put a priority
on constructing a large root cellar at your retreat. Ideally, it should double
as a fallout shelter. Because your property is not occupied regularly, your
best
bet is camouflaging the cellar entrance and exterior air vent(s) rather
than trying to make a burglar-proof door. Given enough time, someone will bring
a cutting torch and get through just about any door. Camouflaging a door with
a large
rubbish
pile or a stack of old rotted cordwood usually works well. Your goal
is to get the miscreants dismissively thinking: "There is nothing worth stealing
here..." You can leave your almost empty trailer as bait, to distract their
attention.
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Letter Re: An Inexpensive Source for Bulk Silica Gel Desiccant
Jim:
You wrote in reply to a
recent e-mail from "Billfour": "JWR
Replies: That
is a great suggestion. Just beware of any desiccant that has any additives,
dyes, or scents. A perfumed desiccant would be fine for tool storage, but potentially
a disaster for food storage."
I've just been through this. Tidy Cats Crystals has perfume, which I discovered
after getting it home and opening it. (I'll use it for my stored ammo.)
The brand that I have found that has no perfume is the Amazing
Cat Litter brand. It only
has silica gel as the stated ingredient on its Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS).
Also, the chunks of silica gel are larger, with much less dust. I used twist-ties
and brown coffee filters to wrap-up an ounce at a time, which is the approximate
amount needed for six-gallon pails. - Ham
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Letter Re: An Inexpensive Source for Bulk Silica Gel Desiccant
Hi, James
There is always a need for desiccants for various uses, be it food storage, caching,
or other projects. Most who need such things already have a favorite supplier,
but I'll make another recommendation for the sake of saving a few bucks. Any
local grocer, pet supply dealer or Big Box store carries silica-gel cat litter
in amounts from 3 to 30 pounds: Tidy Cats Crystals is one such product,
though there are many. A rounded tablespoon place in a square of mesh fabric
purchased in a craft/hobby department (where it can be bought by the yard--think
about the bird seed packets at weddings) and securely tied [or sewn shut] will
work well when
placed in the desired container; depending on the need, they can also be spooned
directly into the bottom of the vessel. Note that I'm suggesting the clear-blue "Crystals-only" type
which are pure silica; one doesn't want the silicate-clay "Blend" which
is also offered.
Being silicate, they have
the potential for re-use by oven drying. Compared to the cost of individual
commercial [silica gel] packets, this is a bargain. Regards, - Billfour
JWR Replies: That is a great suggestion. Just beware of any
desiccant that has any additives, dyes, or scents. A perfumed desiccant would
be fine for
tool storage, but potentially a disaster for food storage.
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Three Letters Re: Hiding Things in Plain Sight
Jim,
I have very carefully concealed my gun safe but in order to fool potential
crooks, but I also have an old one that is very poorly hidden. It has stickers
on it from
my favorite firearms manufacturers. Once the [burglars] get it back to their
den and peel it open, they will find themselves the proud owners of
five large sandbags full of gravel. - Andy B.
James,
My
wife and I were recently discussing hiding places - what about inside
a bucket of paint? Securely wrapping "the valuables" up in appropriate
containers (likely several layers of Ziploc sandwich bags) and just dropping
it in. If the valuables aren't heavy enough to sink, a rock or piece of metal
should be added to keep them at the bottom. Hey, you could even write "Treasure" on
the bucket of paint and people would just think it's the name of the paint
color, but it would
help you remember which one has the stash.
Jim:
Take a look at Habitat
For Humanity’s ReStore directory. ReStore
only accepts new paint or stain donations, so you don’t have to worry
about buying some toxic brew some schmuck dumped off. I buy from here because
the only thing I care about is that it is water based latex paint, and that
it is in five gallon buckets. I don’t care about the brand, or color,
and it’s inexpensive and the money goes to what I happen to believe
is a laudable effort. Never mind Jimmy Carter.
I then go to another hardware store and buy new, metal one gallon paint cans
and lids. The ones that have the lids that fit into the center of the can,
and have to be hammered down, and then pried up with a screwdriver. The plastic
ones don’t work that well, so don’t bother with them.
A suitable amount of paint is removed from the five gallon can.
I place my gold, and silver into the one gallon cans along with a desiccant,
hammer the lid on, and then submerge them into the five gallon can. Each five
gallon container will hold two one gallon containers without any problem.
More than that, they get a little heavy, and the paint doesn’t always
conceal what is inside the can if the lid should be opened.
I only use this technique for things I will not need to get at readily. It
might be good for long term hiding of small handguns, and ammunition as well.
Your site is a welcome find. Have fun! Sincerely, - JTH
JWR Replies: It is interesting that two readers both mentioned
the same idea. Because steel paint cans might rust when submerged in water-based
paint, I'd recommend
using
only
plastic
containers.
One of my favorite "in plain sight" caches that can be used outdoors
is a length of 4" diameter PVC pipe,
with a glued-on cap on one end, and a threaded cap on
the other end. The pipe is buried vertically, with the threaded end cap
left protruding from the ground, looking just like a typical septic
clean-out cap. Unless
you hire someone to pump your septic system or to "snake" your drain pipes,
it
is highly
unlikely
that
anyone
would
ever
disturb
one of these caches.
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Three Letters Re: Preparedness Considerations for College Students
Dear Jim:
A suggestion for storing preparedness supplies while in college: Get a small
self storage unit at a local self-store. I had one all through college, which
made it much easier to move from apartment to apartment, as college students
often do. It was very reasonably priced.
I made sure it was in a storage facility that actually locks and closes at
night. The unit was on the north side of the building, so it did not get as
hot as other units. Nowadays, many cities have indoor, climate controlled facilities
that are even more secure.
The advantages are that your gear is all in one place, ready to go. I consider
the facilities more secure than dwellings. They are certainly more anonymous
than dwellings, as no one except who you tell will know anything about your
personal business, and what is stored there. And as stated before, it makes
moving much easier. - Mark R. in New Mexico
Sir:
My comment on the college student who advises petroleum geologist as a
post-TEOTWAWKI career
and advises against anything to do with electricity. My advice would be the
opposite. Anything to do with oil requires a huge infrastructure of refineries,
financial institutions et cetera, while small hydro,
wind and solar
will still be going and still viable. The current production output dictates
that there will be electric heaters, motors, computers etc available and
anyone who can make or keep them operational will be in demand. I live in an
area
where almost all of the current production is hydro and because the plants
are so old (50-90 years) they would still operating, especially
small ones in out of the way places that are either not on the grid now or
can be configured
to run off the grid. - Karen L.
Hi -
Regarding Sam's recent comments to avoid any career involving a computer,
I believe that to be unwise advice. As with any career choice, there are
sub-specialties within a given field that can be very lucrative. I've been
an I.T. security professional for over 15 years, and I can say firsthand
that choosing anything to do with networks or better yet information assurance
and security would be a very, very wise choice.
Demand for skilled, intelligent computer and network security professionals
is at an all-time high, and is increasing steadily. Further, the quality of
the people graduating and the quality of those who have been in I.T. for 3
years or more is steadily decreasing. This is creating a "perfect storm" of
high demand and low supply which translates directly into increased income,
basically allowing a skilled I.T. security pro to name their price. On my team
alone we have had two openings that we cannot fill and we've been interviewing
so-called candidates (I use the term loosely since these folks barely qualified
at any level) for months.
Information security is an even better choice if, like Sam and many others,
you subscribe to the long, slow decline theory rather than the cataclysmic
event theory of preparedness. As society slowly disintegrates, the demand for
information security pros by large corporations, governments and even well-to-do
individuals will only increase. People and companies will always want to make
money...think of the TV series "Jericho" to see what I mean.
The trick is to keep your skills and training up to date, and to keep yourself
from getting locked into any one position or company (or even geographical
location) for any length of time. Stay mobile...a "hired gun" or troubleshooter,
for example. A solid information security pro can easily command a salary in
the $100,000-$200,000 range even in the Midwest. With the right combination
of certifications, experience, and skills, a good pro can make even more working
for a large company
or law firm on the coasts, in the South, or even overseas.
A frugal prepper working as an infosys security pro for 3-5 years or so could
sock away a serious amount of money, more than enough to buy a sizable chunk
of productive land outright and stock it with everything needed to go off the
grid. The point is not to over-react to what you think will happen...leverage
your skills to make as much income as possible while you can, live well below
your means, and use the difference to launch and establish the lifestyle you
really want.
Another group in the I.T. industry that is in high demand are the business
continuity and disaster recovery specialists, as well as facilities management
professionals. Again, as things get worse in our society, the demand for people
who can help ensure business continuity (and business security) for a large
corporation can make a very respectable salary. In my experience, companies
like GE, Proctor&Gamble, Wal-Mart, pharmaceutical companies, et cetera
will do everything they can to keep making money no matter what, even if it
looks
like
the world is ending, and they will pay handsomely for people who can help them
do it. - JT
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Preparedness Considerations for College Students, by Sam
I am presently a sophomore at a small, private, liberal arts college, in the
northeastern United States. First, I will start with the important criteria
[for survivalists] in choosing a college (after the decision of a major and
program you want to
be in), which
I followed in High School three years ago:
1. Do not choose a school in a heavily urbanized/suburbanized area.
2. Choose a school in a small city or town, ideally with less than 50,000 people
and ample farming in the region. (places like Ithaca New York, Burlington Vermont,
Amherst Massachusetts, and other small-city sized college towns, their population
increases significantly
when school is in session and should be avoided.)
3. Look over the area around the school. If it looks bad, it probably is.
4. Look at the local crime rate, economy, etc.
5. After the admissions tour, walk around the campus on your own with whoever
you are touring with (Parent, Friend, etc.) and talk to students. The admissions
department is excellent at making a college appear better than it actually
is.
6. Drive around the city/town where the college is located and see how it feels.
7. If you are in a state like Utah, see what the school's policy is on weapons,
do this by reviewing the handbook. Even if there is a weapons ban on campus,
there are ways around this.
8. The school handbook, should also have information about crimes committed
on campus. This is legally required under the Crime Awareness and Campus Security
Act of 1990. If the information is not found, it can be located online.
9. If the school is a public school, you probably have the same rights about
searches by police and school officials as a regular citizen. [JWR
Adds: Check
the local and state laws,as well as the school's policies.] At many private
schools your
room can be fully searched at any time for any reason. In fact, I signed an
agreement of full understanding and giving the
school greater rights to search because I live on an "alcohol and tobacco
free"
floor.
Once one is at school, there are some things that can be done for the sake
of preparedness. Sterilite or Rubbermaid plastic storage containers that are
opaque and have lockable handles (such
as these) can be used to store food, bug-out gear, etc. They
blend in perfectly with college settings and do not stand out, I have one large
container with
my BOB,
winter weight sleeping bag, hunting gear, food, and weather specific clothing.
If I had to, I could carry it down seven fights of stairs to my SUV and
be out of the city with 10 minutes warning. There are a few places that it
can
be
stored.
I keep the main storage bin in open sight, two other bins are on top of it
and I use them as a table for my shower stuff. If I didn't have my bed bunked,
I would have my bed up on cinder blocks and store them under the bed. No one
will second guess storage containers in a college setting.
Weapons are banned from almost every college campus. A weapon is generally
defined as anything that can be dangerous to another person or look dangerous.
My school has banned: airsoft guns, BB guns, air rifles, paintball guns, all
knives of any type, bows, crossbows, machetes, swords, guns, disassembled guns,
guns that are incapable of firing ammunition, all replicas of any weapons.
One way around this is fairly simple if you've got a car, just park your car
on public property, such as street curbside. I have had friends that hunt leave
their hunting rifles/shotguns, bows, etc. in their truck/car. In some states
this
is illegal, and even if not illegal, is very risky because a car cannot be
secured. Disclaimer: This is extremely risky. Even if the gun
is a locked in a bolted-down container, since the entire vehicle could be stolen.
It might
also
be illegal
in some states or localities. It
would
be better
to
live in an apartment off campus to circumvent any laws or policy restrictions
about guns on campus entirely. However, some schools require that all students
live on
campus.
Living
on campus for a certain time period (freshman year) is required on many campuses.
One important thing is that one must have a plan to get home or to a more permanent
location. College campuses will be less-self sufficient than even someone living
in a condo in New York City. Dormitory dining halls bring in
workers
from the surrounding area to make the food for the college. If the Schumer Hits
the Fan, these people will not come to work, and if they do it will be most
likely to
take
food for themselves. Forget about growing food on the grounds of campus. It
is naive to think that some else wouldn't steal it. It is prudent to
live within half a tank of gas driving distance to home
or a retreat location
and have alternative routes. I live several hundred miles from home and must
cross the Hudson River, Connecticut River, and many other choke points that
will be filled with the Golden
Horde and/or are in urban areas because of the
interstate highway system. I have planned accordingly, and have extended family
members who own a farm that live within 50 miles. I can walk there if I
must, but there are numerous alternate routes that I have scouted.
Having a car at college is very important if one's finances allow for it. I
am fortunate enough to have a father who provides a car and fully maintains
it. I'm not going to go into much depth about a car, because that is a subject
in itself for another article. Basically, an SUV
is preferable because it allows for being comfortable when driving places with
friends, carrying more stuff for moving into and out of school every year,
and it is generally a good BOV compared
to passenger cars. They also blend in with other vehicles in most parts of
the country. If you've got control
over the type (all this is from my experience), try to avoid any luxury brand
SUV, it rubs people the wrong way to see a late teen/early 20something driving
a car that was clearly expensive, agitates the population around the school,
gives people the wrong judgment of you as a person, stands out to people that
you want to ignore you, and will stand out like a sore thumb when moving to
the retreat location.
Socially at college, avoid drinking alcohol. Many drink in their freshman year,
but over time those who continue drinking will prove them to be morally bankrupt
individuals, and just because "everyone does it", it does not make it right.
It is a colossal waste of money, and time. It is not Christian (if that is
how you are inclined), and can lead to leaks of information. Alcohol just leads
to terrible decisions, such as compromising OPSEC,
and should be avoided. I no longer drink at all, mainly for religious reasons,
but also common sense reasons.
It is unhealthy and a waste of time.
Keeping religion in the picture at college is also important. I go to a secular
school, but continue to maintain Christian lifestyle, more so now than any
time before in my life, being exposed to social liberalism and people who lack
morals tends to make one realize how lucky they are and to offer prayer for
those who have not come to Christ. Religiously affiliated colleges in the northeast
tend to be just as socially liberal as secular schools. In my experience,
being at school has made me more religious.
Additionally, in regards to friends at college, it is important, at least in
my experience, to be living in a [dormitory] building that has a reputation
of being academic in nature. I made most of my friends this way, getting along
with
your roommate
is very important. Going to school at a small campus is very cliquish, so one
may find it to be easier to find quieter/like minded students on a small campus.
One mention about cliques is that drama will probably develop. Ignore it. I
am the middleman in half a dozen instances of drama between my various groups
of friends.
It
is petty. Just try to make people understand that there are more important
things in life.
If your school offers Army ROTC courses,
enroll in the courses for the minimum of two years that do not require a commitment.
Sophomores are now being taught
the combat life saver course and given other types of training. A career in
the military is a viable alternative, they will pay for tuition, and give out
monthly stipends, and issue participants gear on loan. I was enrolled in ROTC
for one year, and highly recommend it. am planning on joining
Army or Air Force ROTC
wherever
I go to graduate school and serving in the reserves. [JWR Adds: In
my experience, the ROTC Basic Camp, which is available without any
contractual obligation, is much more valuable for learning "hands-on" survival
skills than the ROTC classroom instruction, which emphasizes theory and military
history.]
Try to spend as little money off of your meal card as possible. At the end
of every semester spend the surplus down on items the school sells at the store.
I have been able to buy about a week's worth of food this way each semester.
It just keeps piling up at home, obviously, buy food that is energy dense and
that has a long shelf life.
Work hard, academically. I slacked during my freshman year and could have really
boosted my grade point average. The early classes are always easier than the
upper
level classes and now I am finding myself working twice as hard to make up
for the mistake.
For
the
record, I am writing this while I am on break, otherwise I would not have had
enough time.
Choosing a major [course of study] is important depending on one's planned
[scenario for] survival. I'm more of a slow-decline Peak
Oil, dollar collapse
(leading
to
a further
collapse)
and general preparedness believer, so I decided on a major accordingly. It
is possible to have a major that will give one a career, post-TEOTWAWKI.
To name a new professions that will still be around (depending on the severity
of the crash) are doctors, writers, dentists, some engineers, merchants,
and store owners. Being a petroleum geologist could be very lucrative in a
slow-decline
peak oil situation. The more specialized a major is, the less career opportunities
will be available. Don't major in anything requiring a computer or electricity,
such as electrical engineering, Management Information Systems (MIS), [or fields
such as] biology,
foreign relations, marketing, history, English, et cetera.
JWR Adds: I guess that things have changed since I was in
college in the early 1980s. There was a "no guns on campus" policy, but it
was largely
ignored. My dorm
room often resembled a
Peshawar workshop. It was where my shooting buddies
would congregate for gun cleaning and for gun assembly. I lost count of the
number of M1911s
and AR-15s
that we parted together in that room. We even had a miniature Unimat lathe
in the dorm room for one semester. (It was a Unimat DB200, if I remember correctly.)
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Letter Re: A Severe Storm Provides a Valuable Lesson
Hi Jim,
I'm a long time reader. I wanted to relate to you a recent experience
I had, which may be of value to SurvivalBlog readers. I live in a state
that is prone to tornados and severe weather. We recently had
a storm tear through our area, causing several million dollars in damage across
much of the state, my neighborhood notwithstanding. My wife and I went to bed
Wednesday evening, expecting only scattered thunderstorms. What we awoke to
at 3:30am was much, much more than a thunderstorm. As I looked out our bedroom's
open window, I saw and heard wind and rain, the likes of which I've never witnessed
in all my 45 years. I nudged my wife and simply said "closet". Now,
she knows her husband as the guy who, instead of going for shelter, he usually
goes outside to observe and satisfy his unbridled curiosty. When she heard
me say "closet", she knew it was serious.
Within four minutes, we were hunkered down in the closet, with everything we
needed, including our surplus Kevlar helmets (the wife no longer thinks I'm
nuts for making that purchase). I thought we were going to lose the house.
We lost only trees and fences, but we learned a very valuable lesson. We were
very ill prepared for that experience. Now, I pride myself on being one of
the better prepared families in my neighborhood, if not the best prepared,
but four minutes is unacceptable. We now have in place a setup that puts us
in
the closet with everything we need in under thirty seconds (assuming the cat
can be efficiently herded).
This got me to thinking; What if we had to actually bug out and leave our home?
Are we prepared? I know that I'm still extremely unprepared for such an event,
so that plan is now underway.
My point is this. Never, ever, under any circumstances, should we underestimate
the need to be prepared for an emergency. My experience that night could have
been much worse (60 hours later we got our electric power back, but we were
very well prepared to go very long lengths of time without power), so I was
lucky this time. You've devoted your life to hammering this home for your readers,
so I thank you, once again, for the wisdom you provide. Now, it has become
very real for me to actually heed that wisdom and put it into practice. A year's
supply of food means nothing to me, if its scattered over a square mile of
my neighborhood. Thanks, Jim, and thank you once again for
SurvivalBlog.com. God Bless, - HHH
JWR Replies: Thanks for relating that experience. Anyone
living in Hurricane or Tornado country should invest in a reinforced shelter,
if it is financially feasible. Ideally, it should be designed to also serve
as a security vault ("gun vault") and as a fallout shelter. One of our advertisers,
Safecastle,
has extensive experience in building such shelters. These are usually-equipped
with gun-vault type doors, that open inward. If you live in an area
with a high water table, they can be constructed aboveground. If
you can
afford
to
build
an entire house that is highly storm resistant, then you might consider building
a monolithic
dome home. One monolithic dome home contractor in the Midwest that I
recommend is Bill
Fraley of Global Dome Builders. Phone: (715) 926-3668.
« Odds 'n Sods: |Main| Your Vehicle and TEOTWAWKI, by TD »
Letter Re: Advice on the Most Versatile Bicycle for Schumeresque Scenarios
Mr. Rawles,
I need to snag bikes for my wife and myself. We are both young and relatively
fit, but we live in [Washington,] DC and take [the] metro [subway system]
everywhere. We [presently] don't have bikes, and I have
no knowledge about them. The [SurvivalBlog] section on guns was helpful,
I was wondering if y'all had something on the most versatile bikes, by price
point.
Thanks.
- Jordan H.
JWR Replies: These days, I generally recommend folding
bicycles.
Prices have come down substantially, so they are not much more expensive than
standard bicycles.They are also just a s robust as most mountain bikes. The
latest generation of folding bikes are quit versatile. When folded, they
can fit
in an apartment
closet,
or
in
the trunk
of a car.And,
depending on your local laws, when folded they can also be carried onboard
most trains
and busses. (Using an opaque carrying case seems to remove most objections.)
The Montague
Paratrooper bike is an excellent choice.
For Get Out of Dodge (G.O.O.D.) purposes, you
might want to get panniers and perhaps cargo trailers for both bikes. Detachable
pannier bags can be kept pre-packed as G.O.O.D. kits, and clipped on very quickly.
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Time For Retreat Logistics Stage Two--The Soft Items
If you are a regular SurvivalBlog reader, the odds are that you already have the majority of your key logistics squared
away, like food storage, tools, guns, communications gear. So
now it is time to stock up on "soft" and perishable items. These
include over the counter medications, vitamins, chemical light sticks, matches,
paper
products,
cleansers, spices, liquid fuels, and so forth.
You need to exercise caution when stockpiling soft items, for several reasons:
1.) Shelf Life and Deterioration. Some items like pharmaceuticals,
batteries, and chemical light sticks are best stored in a refrigerator. Keep
in mind that items like
matches
are
vulnerable to humidity. (BTW, do not store matches in Mason
type glass jars! Resist the urge, or else you'll inadvertently make a glass
shrapnel bomb! Instead, use a vacuum sealer,
such
as
the
Tilia FoodSaver sealers sold by Ready Made Resources. This is also a great
way to keep rubber bands (including elastrator
bands) from deteriorating. Exposure to sunlight, or heat, or moisture can
all be deleterious to soft goods.
2.) Bulkiness. Paper products like paper towels, toilet paper,
and paper napkins are extremely bulky, per dollar value. If you have limited
storage space then you will need to budget that space carefully.
3.) Flammability. You should think of your stored paper products
as house
fire tinder, and your stored liquid fuels as potential fire accelerants
and explosives. One mistake that that I've heard mentioned is storing numerous
gasoline cans at home, in an attached garage. Most garages have a hot water
heater, often
fired by natural gas or propane. Uh oh! Store gas cans, oil-based
paint cans, and bulk lubricants only in a well-ventilated outbuilding that
is well-removed
from your residence. Be sure to check your state and local fire code for permissible
limits.
4.) OPSEC risk. The aforementioned bulk of stored paper products
also makes them obtrusive to casual observers. This present s an OPSEC risk.
If you have 500 rolls of toilet paper and
paper towels in your garage, someone is likely to notice. OBTW, one item that
I've stored as a potential barter item is sheet plywood. Those extra plywood
sheets, if
properly positioned can keep prying eyes away from your stockpiles.
5.) Abundance-Inspired Waste. Human nature dictates that
when something is scarce, it is used frugally, but when it is abundant, it
tends to get used more wastefully. I've seen this happen with my children,
in target practice with .22 rimfire ammunition. If they know that they have
just 50 rounds apiece available for a shooting session, they make every shot
count. But if there
is a full "brick" of ammo sitting there, it soon starts to sound like a day at
Knob Creek.
In his book The
Alpha Strategy, John Pugsley mentioned some friends that "invested" in
stocking their own home wine cellar. They determined that it would be less
expensive to
buy wine by the case. But they soon had so much wine that they got in the
habit of having a bottle with dinner
almost
every evening. So even though the per-bottle cost decreased,
their monthly expense on wine actually doubled! OBTW Pugsley's The
Alpha Strategy is highly recommended. It
is
available for free download, but I recommend also
picking
up a used
copy,
for
reference. They are often available through Amazon.com for less than
$5.
« Odds 'n Sods: |Main| Lessons From Fiction--A Critique of "I Am Legend", by Michael Z. Williamson »
Letter Re: Advice on Long Term Ammunition Storage Techniques
Mr. Rawles:
You recently wrote: "Oxygen absorbing packets would have no efficacy
for ammunition storage. (These are designed just for killing insect larvae
in storage
foods)." Sorry,
Jim, but that's not quite correct. Oxygen absorbing packets come in a variety
of sizes and do their job very well. Their job? Absorbing oxygen.
They are placed in packets of food such as jerky to reduce amount of oxygen which
degrades the flavor of the food. That they also make life more difficult for
bugs is a side-effect.
The ability to absorb nearly all the free oxygen in an enclosed space makes
them uniquely qualified for preservation of a variety of things - including
guns and ammo. Back when Y2K was the big issue, I enclosed an SKS [carbine],
a hundred rounds
of ammo and several oxygen absorbing packets in a plastic tube with and glued-on
caps. I stored it outside for a year before I opened it up to check it out.
When I made my initial cut into the pipe I was rewarded with a "hiss" as
air entered the pipe. Since oxygen comprises about 16% of our sea-level atmosphere
and since it was now tied up in the packets I was left with a partial vacuum
inside the pipe. Upon reassembling the rifle, I loaded it with the ammo it
had been stored with and fired it.
I need to point out that this experiment was conducted in Oregon, a fairly
wet climate, and that after close inspection of the rifle, I found no rust
on any of the metal. Obviously, oxidation of the steel couldn't occur when the
oxygen
wasn't free to combine with the iron. - D.Y.
JWR Replies: I should have been more thorough
in my reply to that letter, when I mentioned Oxygen
(O2) absorbing packets.
Instead of dismissively writing "...have no efficacy for ammunition storage" I
should have written
"...are not the best choice for ammunition storage". (I will update
that post.) I will elaborate:
If you are the "belt
and suspenders" type,
then by all means use both desiccant packets (such as silica gel) and O2
absorbing packets. But of the two,
desiccants are much more reliable. The formation of
rust takes two ingredients interacting with ferrous metals: moisture
and oxygen. Ditto for oxidation of copper and brass. Without moisture present,
corrosion will not occur with typical
atmospheric oxygen levels. Hence, O2 absorbers are not "uniquely qualified",
as you asserted.
Both types of packets will work in protecting guns or ammunition is sealed
containers, but desiccants have far more reliable efficacy. The biggest
problem with typical
food grade
O2
absorbing
packets
is that there
is no easy way of insuring
that they
were
handled
properly
before
they
came to you.
The O2 absorbing packets that I have seen all have gas-permeable coverings.
If the seal on the outer package that the packets
were shipped in was compromised, or if they were removed from their original
packaging and later
re-packaged, then they will have virtually no usefulness. They are effectively
"used
up"
when they come in contact with
a large volume of air for more than a few hours. And once used, these packets
cannot be reactivated at home. You have to buy new ones.
But unlike O2 absorbing packets, if you use silica gel desiccants, you can
reactivate them by simply putting them in a dehydrator (or in a kitchen oven
on a 150 degree F setting) overnight. Using this method, they can be used over
and over. This
is vastly superior, especially in the context of a survival situation where
regular commerce is disrupted. And, as I've mentioned previously in SurvivalBlog,
in the present day, desiccants are often available
free for the asking. Just make a few phone calls. Piano shops often
get musical instrument shipments that include large desiccant packs. Most
of these get thrown away.
So if you are going to depend on one of the other for firearms and ammunition
storage, in my opinion you should choose silica gel desiccants rather
than O2 absorbers. OBTW, beware of re-using any packets that you find
in jerky packaging. These sometimes include an integral moisturizing packet,
to prevent jerky from
becoming too dry. Those packets would of course be counterproductive, for ammunition
or gun storage. Again, only use O2 absorbing packets that are factory
fresh, and preferably that come vacuum shrink wrapped. Otherwise,
you have no way of knowing whether or not they have already been chemically neutralized.
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Letter Re: Advice on Constructing a Secure Underground Shelter
Sir:
I have read your web site and thanks for posting it. I am presently purchasing
seven acres in Wyoming with an existing log home. We are going to build a
new home
on the same property and would like to
invest in a good attached underground bunker. Can you please tell me where
I can find decent plans and specs for
a bunker to sustain five adults and three
children? I would like to branch it off of our new basement. I would really
appreciate it. God Bless, Mel
JWR Replies: I would recommend Safecastle.
They have lots of experience with both aboveground and underground shelters.
They work with
local contractors
from coast to
coast. They use their blueprints (tailored to your specifications, on request),
and supply key components such as inward-opening vault doors and HEPA air
filters (assuming that you want your vault to double as a fallout shelter).
The rest of the supplies
(rebar, forms, concrete, etc.) are sourced locally. They have a nice four
color brochure that they mail to SurvivalBlog readers, upon request. But
first, see the
Safecastle web site.
« Letter Re: Lack of Large Animal Vets Even in Rural Areas--Be Prepared to Do It Yourself |Main| Letter Re: Choosing a State for Relocation »
Letter Re: Advice on Long Term Ammunition Storage Techniques
Sir,
Could you address storing ammo? Regarding ammo cans, vacuum sealing, and
what that actually accomplishes? Also would 02 absorbers or silica
gel be in any
way useful? I'm currently using vacuum pack on my surplus after I inspect them
and remove any surface dirt/corrosion,then into ammo cans for storage. I also
like the idea of vacuum packing small amounts, any thoughts on that? Thanks,
- SP
JWR Replies: Be sure to buy military ammo cans with rust-free
interiors and seals that are still soft and free of any cracks. This will provide
an essentially
air
tight seal. Adding a 1 to 4 ounce bag of silica gel desiccant is definitely
worthwhile, to remove
any
moisture
from
inside
the can.
As I have mentioned twice before in the blog, DO NOT vacuum
seal loaded ammo. Doing so can unseat bullets! A very light vacuum
might be acceptable, but even a home vacuum packing machine such as a Tilia
FoodSaver, can achieve enough of a vacuum to unseat bullets that are not crimped
into cartridge necks.
Oxygen absorbing packets are not the best choice for ammunition storage. (These
are designed to kill insect larvae in storage foods.) If you are worried about corrosion, it is much more practical and cost effective to use silica gel desiccant packets.
« Letter Re: Advice on Gold and Silver Coins as a US Dollar Inflation Hedge |Main| Note from JWR: »
Two Letters Re: Using Natural Caves on Private Property
Greetings Jim, Memsahib, and Readers,
I wanted to mention a couple things regarding caves for shelter or storage.
Many years ago, in my youth, I became interested in Spelunking (Caving) and
was lucky enough to explore caves in Tennessee with seasoned Spelunkers with
fifteen years experience. Depending on your climate you will not only get
a 'wet
season' where you have to deal with a lot of dampness but you may actually
face the cave being almost totally under water. We found this out the hard
way when on one trip the cave we were going to explore a lower chamber we
found was totally submerged from the previous week's rains. We did manage
to explore a upper chamber that was well above the water line. Even though
the cave we explored was well hidden, as the one Linda H mentioned, others
had used the entrance chamber because of discarded beer cans and trash left
behind. And, yes, we packed out other's trash. Once we left the entrance
chamber signs of others having frequented the other chambers faded away.
But if you are curious about a cave, you can bet someone else has been curious
also. After our trek of nearly six hours into the mountain we thought we
found the end of the chamber's run. As all humans like to put their mark
wherever they go I found a name, that was not very legible, and a date of
1784 carved (heavily scratched) into the rock. After looking around we located
another chamber through a very small opening that had remnants of an old
hemp rope leading through what would have been the ceiling of the extended
chamber below us. Yep, we were reluctant to go farther or look to closely
into the chamber just in case we found the remains of the person who explored
before us.
To safely utilize a cave you have to have a very good knowledge
of yearly rainfall patterns, and it is best to have a compilation of several
years to give you a baseline of rainfall, and have a good knowledge of the
variations of the water table in the area. Using a cave for shelter or storage
in its natural state is one way to utilize a cave. However if the size of
the chamber is large enough you may want to expend a bit more energy and
expense if you intend to pass on the property to family later on. The perfect
example of the best utilization of a cave for long term shelter and or storage
is the old NORAD Cheyenne
Mountain [Command and Control] Complex. Within the natural cavern is built
a shelter system with all the comforts of home, and a few I wish
I had. Of course our tax dollars built it and to go to those lengths would
be problematic at best. But the basic concept of a shelter within a cave
is not a far stretch and would provide a lot of comfort and protection for
the occupants provided the cave is deemed habitable for the long term after
compiling the climatic data. You would have to weigh such construction against
not only costs but also to factors such as:
1. Would enlarging the entrance to accommodate construction materials, tooling,
and manpower (even immediate family only) compromise the location?
2. Would the cave/constructed shelter be susceptible to flooding during prolonged
rainy seasons?
3. Would the cave provide a source of water, or is there a close source of
water that could provide the needed water or water storage for the shelter?
4. What type of power could be provided? The cave we explored could potentially
provide hydropower if properly set up.
5. What are the range of temperatures through the seasons, and would prevailing
winds impact the cave's temperature ranges; especially during winter months?
You would have to consider ways of mitigating winter winds whipping through
the cave.
6. Will the cave need a ventilation system to make sure that you don't have
a buildup of carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide when occupied full time?
7. Does the cave, consistently or periodically, capture and retain any gases
such as methane or other harmful gases that can be emitted from deeper in the
earth from the geologic formation? And it would be a good idea to know the
basic geology of the area so you know the stability of the cave. A cave in
even with a constructed shelter within the cave could still pose a serious
danger. And you may want to reinforce the cave ceiling just in case the geology
slightly active (small tremors).
8. Is there an alternate or secondary entrance that could be utilized as an
emergency exit or could it prove to be an access point for others to enter
during a crisis.
9. If there is no other entrance or exit point, is it possible to construct
one as an emergency exit? I would be reluctant to have a single entrance and
exit point. If you have to dig an emergency exit you will need some very specialized
equipment and skills to prevent a cave in, or suddenly finding yourself flooding
the cave by hitting an underground spring or other high volume water source.
It would be too easy for an adversary to simply block a single entrance and
either starve you out or to fire on your position and use the rock walls to
ricochet around until they hit someone, or to build a fire at the entrance
to smoke you out. And a worse scenario would be for an adversary to cave in
the entrance and seal you in until you died of suffocation.
10. Could the shelter or the cave provide any method of hydroponic gardening?
If your shelter is the cave proper you will have to have access to an area
where you can garden if you intend to occupy the shelter over a protracted
period of time as the result of a nuke exchange or protracted pandemic.
These are just a few questions that come to mind and there are others that
must be answered depending on how you want to utilize the cave. If you want
to really kick your 'creative engine' into overdrive and see how mankind has
utilized natural and man made underground structures then watch the History
Channel program "Cities of the Underworld". It is absolutely amazing
how people through the centuries utilized natural underground formations, and
expanded them or built and utilized underground spaces. Mankind has covered
over entire cities over the centuries as new construction has been built over
old. Some of these underground areas have been done as far back as the Celtics
of Ireland and Scotland as well as through the Middle Ages and Renaissance
as well as the modern eras. There is one common thread, of different iterations
but a singular concept, which runs through all of the construction techniques
from the beginning; whether utilizing natural features or new construction
over old cities. And this thread is utilized today. But I'll leave that to
you to discover for yourself. - The Rabid One
Hi Jim,
The best way I know of to camouflage stuff (entrances, equipment, traps, etc.)
with respect to its environment is to paint it with spray-on adhesive, the
same kind that automotive upholsterers use, then simply take dry dirt and sprinkle
it all over the painted areas (some moving parts, etc. you would of course
want to mask-off, just like regular painting).
This provides an excellent base coat, even for things attached to trees, buildings,
etc.
I still think the best book on the subject is the US Army "Camouflage" field
manual (FM
5-20) from 1969: Regards, - Jerry E.
« Getting it All Together, Or, The Worst Pencil is Better than the Best Memory, by Sled238 |Main| Note from JWR: »
Letter Re: Using Natural Caves on Private Property
Sir:
My friend has a piece of property that has a cave. The initial opening
to the cave is circular, about four feet in diameter. Inside the cave
is a large room with a 20 foot tall ceiling and an approximately 70 foot long
floor.
We have
been inside three
additional smaller [side] rooms. Also, we have found a source of water
deep in the cave. We spent the night in the cave about two weeks ago. It
got
cool
at
night, but
no
bats or other animals joined us.
The biggest potential problem I can think of is the relatively small
opening. However, due to its small size, my friend and his wife walked
by the cave
hundreds of times before they realized it was an opening.
Would this make a good retreat when the stuff hits the fan?- Linda H.
JWR Replies: Caves do have their uses, particularly as expedient
fallout shelters. Finding a cave with an unobtrusive entrance on a piece of
privately-owned land that is under your control is very fortunate. I'm surprised
that it wasn't mentioned by the previous owners at the time that your friend
bought the property. Keep in mind that caves are far from vermin proof,
so you would need to store
anything
inside in sturdy, waterproof containers. Many caves are seasonally wet, so
waterproof containers put up on at least 4x4 wooden blocks are also a must.
The existence of caves is often
widely known by locals, so don't consider anything you store there
truly secure.
It might
be worth
your
time to make
a "rock" door to camouflage the entrance. Start with a wooden framework of
2x2s, covered by doped fiberglass with a highly irregular "hilly" shape. Then
prime, coat, and seal it to match any nearby rock outcroppings.
There are now some amazing rock texture paints---pioneered by Zolotone--that
look
quite
natural. One of the popular brands is "Roller
Rock", made by Daich Coatings. When applied with a rough-textured
roller, these coatings can be very natural looking. These paints
can be custom tinted. It is probably best to bring a sample of the local
rock to the paint store, and
have them
match
the color)
Before storing anything of value in the cave, leave your camouflaging
"rock" door
in place
for at
least a full year,
using a telltale. (A twig wedged into the doorjamb--if
it
has
fallen
you'll
know
that
the door
was
disturbed.)
Storing anything in the cave without
taking
that
precaution is an invitation to theft. You might want to set up a Dakota
Alert (or similar passive IR intrusion detection system) to see if anyone
goes near the cave entrance. If you have welding skills, or you have a trustworthy
friend
that
knows how
to weld,
then you might want to install a locking steel security door or barred gate
back behind your "rock camouflaged"
door. Just keep in mind that given enough time, a determined burglar
can reduce nearly any barrier. (At this juncture I should
mention that I get one or two e-mails a year from readers that have had
their CONEXes
broken into by thieves with
bolt
cutters
or cutting
torches.) But at the very least a locked security door will slow burglars
down. It will also tremendously reduce your risk of an attractive
nuisance lawsuit.
« Odds 'n Sods: |Main| Letter Re: Using Natural Caves on Private Property »
Getting it All Together, Or, The Worst Pencil is Better than the Best Memory, by Sled238
If you are even moderately past the first stage of becoming prepared, you have
(or will have) the experience of finding things you had forgotten you had bought.
Yeah, Christmas! I thought, until it occurred to me that if I had needed that
item really, really badly, I would have just screwed up, big time. Cancel Christmas.
After the third – or was it sixth? – time reading "Patriots:
Surviving the Coming Collapse", it occurred
to me there was one thing I wish had made it into the book: the Gray's notebook.
Their preps notebook, to be more specific. Only thing I remember is the lists
on the
chipboard
Jim has been kind enough to share an abundance of gifts. In my opinion, one of
the
greatest
of these gifts is the List
of Lists.
What I had, was a pile of papers, which is not really useful
at all. So, I just got a bunch of clean paper, some pens, three-ring binders,
and here is what
I
did,
and how it got done:
Print out the Rawles List
of Lists, writing the title of each at the top of a
sheet of paper.
This page will be the rough draft page, and the info put on it will be used on
a separate template with the same name.
Lay out each rough draft paper where you can see it (I had the entire dining
room table, couch, and coffee table covered).
Go through your giant pile of disorganized papers, placing each article, story,
list, clipping, on the appropriate sheet, being sure not to cover the heading.
(Some files are really big (Flu pandemic PDF files
come to mind); set these aside
to be put in a reference binder – but make a note that you have this reference
On the page with the heading.)
Now, for those of you with awesome PC skills, format a template page as follows
(if no PC skills, pencil and ruler for you! LOL):
Heading, bold capital letters at top. WATER, for example.
Under this, make a section about one third of the sheet of paper (this section
is called info/notes/goals). Leave space for hand written notes, and make a horizontal
line at the bottom of this (again, this is about one third the way down the page).
Below this, the remaining two thirds of the page has two columns:
On the left: next steps, with a numbered list below.
On the right, three sections one atop the other:
Short term, with room for a few listed items;
medium term, with room for a few listed items;
long term. with room for a few listed items.
Something like this:
WATER
==================================
Info/ notes goals
==================================
Next steps short term
1 1
2 2
3 3
4 Medium term
5 1
6 2
7 3
8 Long term
9 1
10 2
11 3
(With a vertical line between the two columns.)
Print one of these forms for each list subject heading.
The real work begins.
We have a rough draft sheet with WATER written on it in pen, and also a template
with WATER in the heading.
I took the rough draft page, and really quickly, listed every thought I had about
water as it concerns my preps. Something like …I have about 8 big water
cooler bottles in the basement; have two hand water filters, one is not made
anymore, the other I can still get filters for; have a base camp filter, do not
remember what type of replacement filters it takes; want a big berky filter,
need to find best price; can you drink swimming pool water? I need to stock more
bleach, can you use dry bleach as well?...
This is your rough draft page, questions page, and brainstorming page.
Do this with every heading.
So, now, on my fancy template, in the first section, is info about drops of bleach
per two liter bottles for purifying. Also, is a reference to a PDF form about
sand water filter construction, kept in a bigger, separate binder called Reference.
In the bottom right section, under short term, I have listed the amount of water
I have on hand or have immediate access to.
Under Medium term (middle box), I have my various filters listed with prices
for replacement filters.
Under Long term, I need info on a manual pump for my well, possibly a solar powered
setup, if feasible.
Move to the left, to next steps.
I know I have to rotate the stored water, so I write "Enter water rotation
date on master yearly calendar list". I also know I need a little more bleach,
so I note that. I might put in a note to price filters, and one more to see how
much power my well requires to pull up water, so as to further develop or drop
the solar power train of thought.
Now, do this with every heading.
With a new sheet of paper, flip through the notebook, taking at least two next
steps from each heading, and make a quick and dirty "Next Steps" list.
This will not be pretty, because you will, I am sure, be crossing off the next
steps in a lively and methodical fashion. Those of you in the know will understand
how this list can become a "thickly padded clipboard". (An inside joke,
if you have not yet read "Patriots".)
Pretty simple, I know.
I would say "The end", but we all know we are just now entering the
beginning.
Now, go and execute your next steps. - Sled238
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Letter Re: Consider Volunteering at a Homeless Shelter
Sir;
I once had an opportunity to volunteer at a homeless shelter in Denver, Colorado.
What started as a chance to be of service, turned out to be a lesson in survival.
I was surprised to learn that many of the "guests" at the shelter
had become experts at existing comfortably, on a permanent basis, without benefit
of a home. Here are some of the things I learned:
1) The first lesson is - The quality of your bags determines the quality of
your life. If your possessions are contained in fragile garbage bags, you are
limited in how much can be carried and how far it can be carried. The first
step up is a simple sports bag, and better yet is a backpack. Next up is a
backpack along with a wheeled carry-on bag and collapsible handle. With such
equipment, you stop looking homeless, and if you and your clothes are clean,
hitch hiking is easier. One creative fellow used bungee cords to lash the luggage
handle to his belt, so the luggage became a trailer of sorts.
On another level was a bicycle messenger who equipped his bicycle with a trailer
for his worldly possessions and panniers for making package deliveries. Before
you dismiss such an arrangement, consider this: His vehicle was paid for,
he had
no mortgage or rent to worry him, a steady job, and a large circle of friends
in the shelter community. He always had money, a smile on his face, no stress,
and time to help others. Can many of us say the same?
No doubt many readers of this blog have seen a "Sidewalk Winnebago" as
the homeless sometimes call them. This is a grocery cart filled to overflowing
with everything the user owns. If you can gain the trust of the owner, perhaps
he will show you what is in the bags. It may amaze you how well equipped they
are to survive whatever comes their way.
2) Staying Clean - Walgreen's sells a shower head on a short hose with a rubber
adapter to connect to a faucet. They are meant for cleaning pets or dishes
in the sink, but can also be used to shampoo your hair in a convenience store
bathroom. The homeless man who showed me this trick said that if your hair
is clean, you appear clean. This helped him find temporary jobs.
3) Self Defense - One man carried a sports bag with a Ka-Bar sheath knife inside.
He could hold the sheath through the bag with his left hand, while drawing
the knife through the open top of the bag with his right hand. Yet another
had a Colt .45 in his bag.
4) I was told that a roll of toilet paper soaked in lighter fluid, charcoal
starter, or alcohol makes a good improvised cooking fire.
5) Another guest showed me his cache that was buried by the river. It was a
pair of five gallon plastic buckets, buried by rocks and hidden behind some
trees
in
a remote area. One was filled with food, the other with cooking utensils. I
doubt that this was his only stash.
Consider volunteering at a homeless shelter. You may be surprised what the
residents there can teach you about survival. The most important lesson I learned
is: I should be more grateful for what I have, and I should give thanks more
often. What a precious lesson. - Doc. S.
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A Flooded Basement - Friends You Can Count On, and Lessons Learned
Mr. Rawles,
Once again, thank you for your research and SurvivalBlog posts.
I have been a [10
Cent Challenge] contributor for a couple of years and have gotten more
than my money's worth. Thank you.
Last night my group and I met at my home. Here in New Hampshire we received
a record amount of snow fall this year. (Over 108 inches!) That is the fourth
largest
every
recorded.
Yesterday it was warmer then normal there for a lot of snow melt. Last night
it rained.
As the group was getting ready to head to the range for night shooting I went
to my basement to get my ammo. I found 18 to 24" of water down there.
All the water was running in off the roadway and into my basement.
Thank you for your writings. [Because of advice in SurvivalBlog] everything
was in Mylar bags in five gallon buckets, floating. I went to turn on my submersible
pump
that
I have not
had
to use
for years
and it did not work. I started bailing with buckets. We attempted to get a
siphon going with out success. My son went to Home Depot--one of the few stores
still
open--and was
able to rent a large 2" diameter pump. That emptied the basement in about two hours.
The hot water heater was damaged. I had sand bags that we used in the basement
to keep the water in one area once it started to rain again. It was like a
water fall coming in the basement at time. The sand bags worked great creating
a pool in that area for the pump to work. We dug a trench out side in the driveway
to get the water to go into the back yard. Using spades, shovels and axes that
we had on hand. We dug out the culvert that that the highway department should
have kept opened and that I should have kept checking. Once that was open it
stopped raining
but it should keep the water out with everything else we did.
One of the members of our group is a tech for a propane company and he was
able to get the hot water heater up and going with the tools and supplies we
had on hand. He was able to make sure the furnace was going well.
A couple of lessons: You need good people that you can trust.
We were going over our bug out plans and storage plans for the retreat prior
to heading to
the
range. You have to plan for the future but live in the here and now.
We have different people with different skills. Once is a propane tech, one
is a mechanic, one an administrator, one good in first aid and one security
- defensive
person. All of them have various skills that are needed. I had a stash of cash
on hand to purchase or rent the pump and anything else needed last night.
Having a good working pump would have been invaluable. I have a stream that
flows all year long in my yard and I could even use a good pump for fire control
if needed. That will be on the list now.
I once again thank the Lord for his providence. - New Hampshire Hillbilly
« Letter Re: Consumer Price Inflation is Upon Us |Main| Note from JWR: »
Impassable Freeways and Highways in an Eleventh Hour "Get Out of Dodge"
Jim,
I found some depressing analysis on G.O.O.D. for
those of us near US population centers: Read
this PDF.
For further information on the ineffectiveness of G.O.O.D. when times get
bad, US DOT generated this report: Using
Highways for No-Notice Evacuations.
In addition, there is no shortage at the US DOT web
site of well-intentioned and theoretical research reports on disaster planning.
For many of us, last minute G.O.O.D. plans are likely to be characterized by
a high probability of failure along with its associated human costs. One might
guess that the chance of failure is an exponential function of the distance
to the retreat. I need to remind myself that it is not a simple matter of just
getting in the car or BOV and heading out to the safety of my retreat. Might
work, probably won't.
Thank you again for your hard work, - The DFer
JWR Replies: I concur that "Eleventh Hour" G.O.O.D. is a
bad idea. Even if you have 90% of your gear pre-positioned at your retreat,
there is the prospect of never making it there safely. (Or, arriving days or
weeks late, on foot, only to find your retreat occupied by armed squatters
that are gleefully eating from your carefully planned deep
larder.) As I illustrated
in my novel "Patriots:
Surviving the Coming Collapse", being forced to abandon a vehicle
and traveling on
foot is a dicey proposition, at best. I strongly recommend that
readers live at their retreats years round--even if it means giving up a
high-paying big city job.
You mentioned: "One might guess that the chance
of failure is an exponential function
of the
distance
to the retreat." I would qualify that by saying: "...the distance that you
need to
traverse in a high population density region to get to the retreat".
It is best if one can get away from urban regions fairly quickly and then
take secondary or tertiary back roads. For those that are forced by circumstances
or family
obligations to live a long distance from their intended retreat, I recommend
doing some detailed map studies, and then some test drives with a GPS receiver in hand, to establish
five or more G.O.O.D. routes--some quite circuitous--to stay away from high
population
regions and expected refugee lines of drift. Needless to say, always, always, have enough
fuel on hand, to make the drive from your home to your retreat without buying
any
fuel. Depending on the fire code in your town, that might necessitate caching
some fuel along your route. (Ideally, with relatives or friends.) Along with
that comes the further complication of systematically rotating that cached
fuel.)
If and
when "The Day" comes, do
not hesitate!
You need to get out of town well ahead of The
Golden Horde, while
roads are still passable. It is better to be ultra-cautious
and run the risk of burning up some of your hard-earned vacation hours in
the event of a few false alarms, than to be complacent and thereby end up
stuck in traffic, staring at the tail lights
and back bumpers of the enormous horde that left town ahead of you.
(Just ask the folks that tried leaving the Gulf Coast cities just before
Hurricane
Katrina
arrived. It was a monumental traffic jam.)
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Letter Re: Keeping a Low Profile is Crucial for Preparedness
Jim,
My missus and I have been into "prepping" for about 15 years. Our
house has a basement and it is practically wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling
with shelves--with just narrow aisles in between. The shelves are chockablock
with storage food (all labeled and organized "FIFO"-style),
medical supplies, assorted "field" type gear, tools, barter/charity
stuff, ammo cans, propane cylinders (that fit our camp stove and camping lantern),
reels of field phone wire, paper products, and so forth. Following the example
of Mr. Whiskey (from your "Profiles")
we have recently built up 27 sets of designated "charity duffles",
each packed in a cheap Made-in-Taiwan nylon duffle bag. Each of these contains
a Dutch Army surplus wool blanket, a Chinese knockoff of a Leatherman tool,
a pair of gloves, a pile ("watch") cap, a half dozen pairs of socks,
a thrift store man's jacket, room for four days worth of food (which we would
pack from our FIFO inventory, as needed), a collapsing plastic water container
(the type that Campmor sells), a waterproof match container, a tube tent, and
a hand line fishing kit. ("Teach a man to fish...")
When we moved back to California in 1998, we picked our house specially because
it was built in the 1940s. It is the oldest and sturdiest house on the block.
(The neighborhood built up around the house, when the property was subdivided
in the 1960s.) It has a basement and its own water well, which
is now "off the books"--since the house is now on "city" [metered]
water, but the well is still functional with a 24 VDC submersible
well pump. I have four flush roof-mounted Kyocera PV panels
(cannot be seen from the street) and six deep cycle batteries. The cables are
run series-parallel to provide both 12 VDC and 24 VDC outputs.
Even though we live in a standard suburban neighborhood, none of out
neighbors are any the wiser about our preps. At the core, I
consider my preparations my own business. When the time comes to
hand out the charity duffles, we will do so through an intermediary,
like our church. (We are Methodists.)
After seeing what
happened to that guy in Norco last year, I am glad that I keep a low
profile. The specific measures that we have taken to keep a low profile are:
1.) We take no UPS deliveries
at our house. Nearly all of our mail-ordered goods are sent to our private
mail box at the local UPS Store (it was formerly a "MailBoxes, Etc.")
From there, we take the boxes home in our minivan.We are always sure to unload
the van from inside my garage, with the garage door shut.
All of the empty boxes have the "to" and "from" address
labels cut out with a box cutter knife. I discard the flattened boxes in the
cardboard recycling dumpster behind the office where I work. (I'm a sales engineer
for a medium-size company.)
2.) We don't subscribe to any shooting or hunting magazines. We get all of
the gun information we need online. To "stay in the fight" politically,
I do make regular anonymous contributions to the GOA, JPFO and
CRPA [The California Rifle and Pistol Association, a firearms rights organization],
via Post Office Money Orders. (BTW, I do the same for the SurvivalBlog [10
Cent] Challenge. Shame on any of you that read this blog regularly but
don't pony up the 10 pennies a day!)
3.) We access all web pages via Anonymizer,
with no exceptions.
4.) Most of of our preps purchases are either made F2F,
with cash, or with Post Office Money Orders if ordering by mail. This eliminates
the "trail of paper" from writing checks or using a credit card.
We buy a lot from Nitro-Pak, Ready
Made Resources, Major
Surplus, and Lehman's.
5.) All of our guns, ammunition, gun gadgets, targets, and cleaning supplies
are bought "private party", mainly at SoCal [(Southern California)]
gun shows. Also, needless to mention, these are greenback transactions
only! In
California, we can still at least buy rifles and shotguns that are more than
50 years old
without having to buy through a [licensed] dealer. We have two [M1]
Garand rifles, and a FN.49, also [chambered] in .30-06. I'm still looking
for one or two more of those, but they are scarce, and even harder to find
private party. We also have three [Winchester] Model 12 pump[-action] 12 gauge
shotguns, two of which have had their barrels shortened to 18.5 inches. Handgun
buys in California all require paperwork, but by Divine Providence
I bought several Glocks
and [Colt Model] 1911s when
I was living in Arizona for a couple years, back in the late '90s. [JWR
Adds: That loophole was recently closed for Californians. Anyone moving
into the state must now register their handguns. Drat! But at least there was
a grandfather clause.] There is isn't much to do out in the desert except shoot,
so I bought a lot of guns when we were there.
6.) We signed up for an identity theft and credit report checking protection
plan three years ago. I noticed that SurvivalBlog just started running an ad
from Comprehensive Risk
Solutions. Their service has more bells and whistles and a lower subscription
cost that our current provider, so we will switch [to them] when our current
subscription lapses. [JWR Adds: I highly recommend this service.
It is cheap insurance to prevent what would otherwise be a very costly incident.]
7.) We use a TracFone
whenever
calling a mail order vendor. (No calling history paper trail.)
8. ) We don't mention our preps to anyone outside of our family.
We have coached our kids from an early age to keep their lips zipped.
9.) Whenever we have anybody visit our home, the basement door stays closed
and locked. (It is a keyed deadbolt lock.) The basement has
no windows. Most of our friends and relatives don't realize that we
even have a basement. (Basements are actually rare in California
tract neighborhoods.) To anybody that visits, the basement door just looks
like a locked closet.
10.) We don't leave anything "suspicious" out where it can be seen
in our house and garage.
These precautions might seem kinda "over the top", but put yourself
in my shoes. In the People's Republic of California it pays to be a bit of
a Secret Squirrel. I does cost me about $300 per year to get my mail and packages
at the UPS Store, but I consider that a small price to pay for my privacy.
I plan to retire to the mountains of central Nevada in nine years, but for
now, I am making do in my present circumstances. - F.L. in Southern California
« Odds 'n Sods: |Main| Letter Re: Is Grain Sold as Seed or Animal Feed Safe to Eat? »
Three Letters Re: Advice on Uses for a Disused Underground Cistern
James,
If the location is right, install what looks like access to a septic
system. I'd use it for a big cache or a root cellar. Seal the entrance with
concrete which can be busted out with a sledge hammer, or perhaps use lumber
or brick to cover the walls of the entrance and use the original access for
another purpose to hide it's original intent such as a cache of lesser importance.
- E.L.
Jim,
You wrote: "In particular, ideas on camouflaging the entrance trap door
would be appreciated."
I wasn't able to clearly visualize the trap door in the garage. But if the
trap door is near a wall, or is recessed at or just below the floor level I
might cover the area with one of those 1/8 inch thick oil drip catching sheets
of metal available at most auto stores, etc.
If I didn't need regular access to the entry, I would add some Kitty Litter
to the metal sheet and perhaps set a push lawn mower on top of that.
A little easily-visible used oil added to the kitty litter for effect would
probably help too. - KMA
Sir,
The first thing I would do is make sure this is not an old converted septic
tank. If it were I'm sure you would already know that! If it is going to be
an occupied shelter: The first thing I would do is to make an emergency exit
to the 'room'. Dig a tunnel from the outside of the garage down to the room
about half way up a wall from the yard and fill with sand. About a foot down
from the yard hole place pressure treated plywood then dirt then grass. Keep
a small axe, a sledge hammer, cold chisel, hack saw with metal cutting blade
and a small folding shovel in the room at all times. If you ever get trapped
in
there
you
can break
the wall out, let the sand fall out in the room, dig some sand out, and escape.
You must always have an alternative exit an any situation.
The second thing I would
do if its a room is coat the walls, floor, and ceiling at least twice with a
waterproof sealer.
The third thing I would do is run a six inch PVC pipe
out one wall and have it come out in the yard, screen the yard end and place
a large planting pot
over it with false bottom with holes in the pot. For heavier safety you could
build a cement planter with holes that look like weep holes. Place a false
bottom in it, and fill with plants. Inside the room you can add a hand crank
squirrel cage blower. [JWR Adds: And a HEPA filter if
you want the space top double as a fallout shelter.] You will need to repeat
the same for exhaust air. What comes in must go out. Air,
water, food goes in and comes
out!
The fourth thing I would do is stock it up: water, food, blankets, sleeping
bags, guns, ammo, sealable drums for poop bags, first aid and all the goodies.
The fifth thing I would do is start spending nights in it--first one, then
two, then three. Make it familiar. You may find you freak out after a few days,
and yet
it takes
weeks for radiation half life to dissipate. Get used to it, you don't want
to do that under stress.
The main entry can be concealed with a lightweight fake shelf made from balsa
wood. A metal plate can be hinged, fastened to the floor, covered with a rubber
mat, and the light shelf bolted to the metal door from below. You can glue
stuff to it to make it look like a used shelf. Rings can be welding to the
under side of the metal door so chains can be installed to hold it down to
keep the 'bugs' out. Just a quick thought. - Jesse
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Letter Re: Preparedness for Active Duty Military Personnel
James:
Great blog! I also bought the latest edition of your novel "Patriots:
Surviving the Coming Collapse". My older edition is in storage
somewhere, (see below) and I really like the updated
material,
it almost seems like a new book.
I don't know if you have ever discussed survivalism from the perspective of
families that need to move often. For those of us in the military who move
every few years with weight limits the supply situation becomes more complicated.
For most of us, idea of a fixed homestead is a dream for post retirement.
The biggest problem I have had to deal with is moving our guns and hazardous
materials (fuels, ammo, etc.). It has also caused me to focus on trying to
compartmentalize and organize. Another big issue is when moving overseas deciding
what to take (especially books), what to let the government store, and what
to leave with family or in a self storage locker at another location.
I am sure I am not the only reader that faces this predicament. - Dave
JWR Replies: You definitely are not the only reader in that
situation! SurvivalBlog has a lot of overseas-deployed readers, both military
and civilian contractors.
(For example, just
look
at our
hit map for Africa and Southwest Asia. Most of those are servicemembers,
English speaking ex-pats, and a few consular employees.)
I often get e-mails from readers like yourself that are torn as to what preparedness
items they should keep on hand overseas, and which to leave at home in storage.
Two of them have mentioned that they are praying for promotions in rank, not
for the extra pay but because their moving weight allowance for
each Permanent Change of Station (PCS)
will increase!
I recommend that at a minimum you keep your 72 hour kit with you wherever
you are stationed, and an abbreviated version thereof even when you take a
Temporary Duty (TDY)
assignment. Regarding books, I recommend that you leave most of your hard copies
at (or near) your
eventual retreat. There are hundreds of books available online. For links to
find those, see: K.L. in Alaska's article "Sources
for Free Survival and Preparedness Information on the Internet".
And as a military service member you of course have access to the entirety
of the Army Knowledge Online (AKO)
database, which has hundreds of military field manuals and technical manuals.
I also recommend that anyone in your situation
purchase a set of the "1000 Books Homesteading Library" CD-ROMs,
often available for $35 to $50 on eBay from sellers with
the eBay usernames "prciousisthelord".
and "covenanter1599". This compendium of book PDFs
on 27 CD-ROMs includes a treasure trove of public domain books--mostly
19th Century classics (with expired copyrights) plus some modern texts that
have been opened up to public domain such as "Where
There is No Dentist", "Where There is No Doctor" and even "The
Owner Built Homestead" and "The Owner Built Home" (both by
Ken Kern). BTW, a smaller collection of many of these same titles are available
for free download at The
Librums's PDF Collection.
The next time that you buy a laptop, you might consider getting one with an
extra-large hard disk drive. (500 GB or larger.) You can then keep many
of the PDFs of many of the most important references on your laptop at all
times.
One temptation for preparedness-minded individuals on active duty is attending
on-site DRMO and
other military surplus dispersal auctions. If you decide to bid on any
items, be sure that you have enough moving weight
allowance for you next PCS
to cover the extra weight. Also be sure that you have the requisite storage
space available. (I have one acquaintance that kept an "auction bargain"
Army surplus Ahkio
snow sled through the course of three PCS moves, two of which
were warm climates!) It may be heartbreaking, but you may have
to skip bidding on those nice 8 KW gensets that
might sell for
less
than
$100
each.
One sad story that I hear repeated over and over again, particularly
from folks that have been living overseas, is that they have suffered break-in
burglaries of their retreats in their absence. Assuming that you can't find
someone to "house sit" at your retreat year-round, there are essentially
only two viable ways to mitigate this: 1.) Rent a relatively secure commercial
storage
space nearby, or
2.) Construct very-well hidden caches that cannot be detected--even
by someone with a lot of time on their hands. (The worst case is that
your retreat house becomes a "crash pad" for drug addicts for a period
of weeks or even months.) See the
SurvivalBlog Archives for some suggestions on building wall caches, door caches
(such
as my design), and hidden rooms. (In the " Categories" list,
click on the "Storage
Spaces"
category.
« Odds 'n Sods: |Main| Note from JWR: »
Prepare or Die, by J. Britely
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).
I aspire to be more prepared the
next time. My preparedness
includes many different aspects.
In my opinion, the most important thing I have done is to learn as much
as possible about what to expect and how to deal with those situations. The other important thing that gives me
some piece of mind is that I carry
and stock away water, food, ammo, books, and other tools and equipment that
should help me survive a bad situation.
Be prepared!
The other inspiration for my
preparations is my family. Seeing
my family suffer from lack of water or food would be very hard for me,
especially if some easy and cheap preparations could have made a big
difference. Recently, a few
friends and family have asked me about my preparations and how they might
prepare. I didn't have a good
short answer because I have spent years learning and stocking away. I thought of myself as more of a
student than a teacher in this area, but now I think I do know enough to give
some basic advice and refer them to good sources for more. Hopefully, they (and you) can learn
from my mistakes without having to waste time, energy and money on things that
don't work. Of course, I haven't
been through every situation or disaster but I have made it through a few tough
spots without losing my head. My
advice is based upon what I know to work and also what sounds like it would
work with the minimum fuss. I
always prefer the cheap, easy, home-made solution, but
sometimes it is worth the cost to get a quality item that is just too hard to
improvise or where the manufactured solution is much better (such as a
knife). Keep it simple stupid
(KISS) when you can. With
persistence you can get a lot done $20 at a time.
The purpose of this document is
to give an overview of preparedness and the first steps to take. I focus more on the why than the what
so that you can tailor your preparedness to your own situation and budget. I will also cite the best sources I
have found for more information.
There is a lot of information out there in books, classes, web sites,
and forums. Most of it is good but it is also really repetitious and
overwhelming. This document is
only about 15 pages printed out (you are printing important information (not
necessarily this) aren't you - since in an emergency you may not have power and
need to take the information with you).
I try to keep my important preparedness documents in an expandable file
folder with a tie inside a plastic crate.
What are you preparing for?
No one really knows what will be
the next survival situation they will face or how it will play out (will it get
worse before it gets better?). It
could be getting lost hiking, the car getting two flats in the middle of the
desert, a hurricane, a home invasion, an earthquake, or a terrorist
attack. You must assess your own
situation and determine what you need to prepare for. Of course some preparations will be useful in many
situations including everyday life, and these are the best type.
In order to get an idea of what
to prepare for, look at the types of situations that you or people similar to
you have been through. Also,
assess where you live or spend a lot of time such as work and vacation. We need to learn from the past but
without fighting the last war.
I like hiking and being
outdoors, so for me learning how
not to get lost and how to stay alive in the outdoors are high
priorities. These skills may also
come in handy if I need to walk to safety during a terrorist attack because all
of the roads and public transportation are closed. Living in your house without power or water isn't too
different from camping
except for the nice roof over your head and all of your stuff. I have also taken a first
aid class. It is pretty
limited in coverage but still useful in a variety of situations.
To assess the likely dangers to
where I live and work I used several sources including FEMA (free guide), DHS, Disaster Center, Emergency
Essentials, Two
Tigers and CBS. Also, find your local emergency
response office. But don't
rely on the government too much for planning or for help. As we relearned with the Katrina
response, their information and advice is far from perfect. And FEMA has always said it will take
72 hours to respond. So the way
I
look at it, during Katrina, FEMA (and
local governments) failed to live up to
its own low expectations. But even
if FEMA had been able to provide more food and water, you would still be much
better off taking care of yourself.
Do you really want to be told what possessions you can hold, when to
eat, when to sleep, and live in close quarters with thousands of
strangers? Sounds like prison to
me.
It's
A Disaster is a good book that will get you started on a plan for most
disasters. Some of their plans are
a little passive for me (don't take any risks and follow all FEMA directions)
and their kits lack some important things like knives. Still, it is a very good book and a
great start. Family and friends
should be included in your planning and preparations as much as they want to
be, but be careful about telling people who you do not trust or know well. You do not want to become a target in a
crisis.
I
think one of the best sources for thinking about what you are preparing for
and what does and doesn't work is news and
first hand accounts. These are some of the best ones I have
found. A few of them seem kind of
glib and bravado but the advice seems sound.
True Stories of Survival
Hurricane Katrina: http://www.frfrogspad.com/disastr.htm
Argentina thread 1: http://www.clairewolfe.com/wolfesblog/arg.html
Argentina thread 2 (some
swearing): http://www.survivalmonkey.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2715
Airplane crash: http://www.equipped.com/waldock698.htm
Ground Zero: http://www.equipped.org/groundzero.htm
Karen Hood's Survival Journal (a week in the wilderness) http://www.survival.com/karen1.htm
Sailing to Hawaii http://www.equipped.com/0698rescue.htm
Tsunami http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/c1187/
Alaska http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Rapids/8017/index2.html
A list of stories
Priorities
The survival Rule of Threes:
- It takes about three seconds to die without thinking
- It takes about three minutes to die without air
- It
takes about three hours to die without shelter
- It
takes about three days to die without water
- It
takes about three weeks to die without food
- It
takes about three months to die without hope
- Try to
have at least three ways of preventing each
of the above (a backup to your backup).
So the priorities are thinking,
air, shelter, water, food, and hope.
These are rules of thumb and approximations. Also, you will likely start feeling really bad before you
die so you need to be proactive in addressing these needs.
Thinking
Basically, don't panic
and do
something stupid. This is easier
said than done, but you can build your thinking skill and confidence by playing
“what if” games. After reading about the risks to your area and the survival
stories above, think about what kinds of things could go wrong and how you
would deal with them. The more
detail the better. What would you
do if a cat 5 hurricane was projected to hit your house? Where would you go? What would you take? Would it all fit in your car? Do you have enough gas to get there if
the gas stations are closed? What
if you don't have time to leave? What room in your house is safest (can you
reinforce it easily)?
If you are facing a serious
situation but no immediate threat, take the time to consider your options
before rushing into a course of action.
Take an inventory of what you have on hand and what is around you. Think of how each item could help solve
one or more of your priorities.
Thinking about these things may
be scary but it will be less scary when it actually happens if you have thought
it through. Focus on what you can
do to improve things and not on what you cannot change. Thinking can also be
more long term as in learning and planning. I suggest you read some of the sources below and then come
up with a plan for several types of situations that you are likely to
face. But don't delay, you can take
some first steps outlined below, such as storing water, right now. You can then read more, take classes
and collect useful items.
Preparing is a process not a one time event.
Air
Having breathable air is not
something you usually have to worry about, but it is an immediate priority if
you do. First aide can help with
choking and bleeding (which causes the body to not get needed oxygen). Hundreds
of people die from carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide poisoning
every year because of gas leaks and cooking
or heating indoors. Being at
altitude can also make it harder to breath. Finally, a terrorist attack could put dust, chemical,
biological, or nuclear contamination in the air or force you into a shelter
that needs ventilation. Be aware
of these dangers and have appropriate detectors if possible (smoke, carbon
monoxide, etc.). A wet cloth or
hand wipe (carry on airplane) to breathe through can help for dust or smoke.
Shelter
Shelter is mainly about staying
dry and the right temperature, but you also want to avoid sunburn, bugs,
animals and other dangers. Your
house is your usual primary shelter but it could become damaged or you may have
to evacuate. You should have
emergency repair items on hand such as tarps, lumber, shovels, nails, plastic
sheeting, crowbars, and a saw.
Your clothes are your first and
most important layer of shelter outdoors.
Clothes protect you from heat, cold and abrasions. In general silk, wool, and synthetic
materials are better than cotton especially to keep you warm in cold wet
weather. I find cotton more comfortable especially in hot weather, so I
compromise and wear a cotton shirt and shorts, but carry a better shirt, pants
and socks
in my bag, as well as additional layers and a change of underwear. This makes my pack a little heavier,
but I have been cold and wet in the wilds and that is miserable. For me, a hat and sunglasses are
indispensable. I try to always
carry at least a light water resistant jacket or poncho (with a garbage bag as
a backup). For me, boots are the
only sensible walking shoes. Find
some that are rugged and comfortable.
Have extra laces and a backup pair.
You can carry a tent, a tarp or garbage
bag for resting and sleeping.
A tarp can make a simple shelter or
an elaborate one. Rope, twine and tape are also
useful. You can carry some type of
staff
or tent
poles or make them with an ax or saw.
Mosquito netting is necessary in some places.
You should have many ways to
start a fire since most are cheap and compact. At least have a lighter, matches,
and flint. You can also build a firebed to sleep in if you have
inadequate shelter from the cold.
Water
This is a crucial area that
can be helped a lot with very cheap and easy actions before The Schumer
Hits The
Fan (TSHTF). This is probably the
thing
you can do with the highest payoff for amount of effort. The only problem with water is that it
is heavy and can take up a lot of room.
If you have storage room and are staying home this isn't a problem but
if you are on the move it can become a driving factor in your progress. Long term solutions are also difficult
if your primary water source (city water or well) goes out and you are not near
a river or lake.
Used plastic soda bottles and
orange juice jugs with screw tops make very convenient water storage containers. Just rinse them a few times with hot
water. Old liquor bottles and wine box bladders work well too. I also have several canteens and rugged
5
gallon containers with taps.
The five gallon containers weigh about 40 pounds each and are about as
big as can be easily moved (larger drums can go in your basement or garage or
under a rain spout). A few collapsible
containers might also be useful because they can be stored and carried
empty. Tap water can last for
years without going bad if kept in a cool dark place. But you should check water that has been stored for clarity
and odors. If in doubt, treat it
with one of the methods below. You
can also freeze the plastic soda or orange juice containers (these do crack sometimes
when freezing) and use them in a cooler to keep food cold if the power goes out
before drinking it. If you know
a
disaster is coming fill up any container you can including the coffee maker,
crystal vase, bucket, bathtub, sink, and kiddy pool (some of these could be
spilled or contaminated but hopefully some will make it).
Most sources recommend about a
gallon per person per day. People
consume about 2 quarts in cool low activity environments but much more if hot
or active. You should have at
least 2 weeks worth per person in your primary residence (but why not have
months worth if you have the room).
If you are traveling by car, three days worth per person is minimum
(more for bathing), and if you are walking take as much as you reasonably can
carry but at least one days worth (several small bottles are better for
diversification if one leaks and also to let you know to start looking for more
water before you are on your last bottle). I also store extra water for washing and bathing. Here the container doesn't matter quite
as much. I use old liquid
detergent jugs. You should also
have at least two methods of sterilizing water.
The first step in sterilizing
water is to get the water as clear as possible. If it is cloudy, strain it with coffee filters, a clean
cloth, or sand. Or you can let it
settle and pour off the more clear water.
The primary and most reliable
method of sterilizing water is boiling.
You actually do not need to boil the water just heat it past 145 degrees for long enough. But
if you don't do it right you can get sick. So to be safe, boil it for 5 minutes if you can. If you are
walking, a metal cup (enamel or stainless) or a converted tin can is easier to
boil than a full pot. You can
carry a backpacking
stove or a Kelly Kettle. You can
use solar power to sterilize
water (in a soda
bottle) if no cooking is possible.
Other stoves are suggested below under food.
To sterilize water
with bleach use 2 drops of plain unscented
bleach per quart of water (or 8 drops per gallon or 1⁄4 tsp per 2 gallons). If you don't have a dropper you can wet
a paper towel and then drip it (wear gloves). Let the water sit for 20 minutes and then smell it. If it smells like chorine then its good
to go. If it doesn't, repeat with
the same amount of bleach. If that
doesn't work try to find other water.
(Really bad water or salt water requires a still.) Bleach is cheap but does not last forever - rotate. Dry Calcium Hypochlorite {sold as "pool
shock" bleach) stores
much
better
than liquid bleach but requires an
additional step of mixing a solution. (It provides a very inexpensive long
term
solution
to
water treatment).
There are also Potable
Aqua iodine tablets that are more
compact for sterilizing water. You
can also use Tincture of
Iodine. Iodine and chlorine
are poisons so be very careful (kill the
bacteria not yourself. [Avoid ingesting chlorine or iodine crystals!])
Any of the chemical treatments
can make the water taste funny.
You can use drink mixes to make it taste better. I'm not sure if sports drinks are
really better, but Gatorade seems more thirst quenching to me than water. The powder form is more convenient and
cheaper. You can also make your own sports drink
(1/4 tsp nu salt (potassium chloride),
1⁄4
tsp
salt,
3-6 tbsp sugar (to taste), juice of 1 lemon (or orange), and optional flavoring
(Kool-Aid) per gallon of water) or switchel.
Of course you can spend money for water if you
want to. You can buy prepackaged water or expensive
filters. There are backpacking
filters but I have found these to be temperamental. A water
bottle with a filter would be a good backup or a straw.
You can also go the more expensive route with a good gravity fed filter like
this: http://www.doultonfilters.com/gravity.html. This is a great looking solar still but doesn't appear
to be for sale right now.
If you are a homebrewer (or like beer), you can add some
dry malt extract, hops, and dry yeast to your
stash. Beer is boiled as part of
the brewing process. Then the
alcohol and hops act as a natural preservative. For the long term you can get some sproutable barley, grow some hops, and culture yeast. If you or someone with you doesn't
handle alcohol well, skip this.
Food
Providing food can be as
easy or
complicated as you want. The
easiest thing to do is simply buy
more of any food you normally buy that stores well. By store well, I mean does not
spoil. Foods like fresh milk, meat
and bread do not store well. Other
foods like rice, dried beans and pasta all store well and are cheap. They eventually lose some of their
nutrition but this is gradual and will not make you sick from eating “expired”
food if you forget to rotate. I
do
not list exact rotation schedules because every source is different. Some sources say grains only last one
year but most sources say 10 plus years and other credible sources say hundreds
or thousands
of years. It all depends upon how
it is packed and where it is stored which is discussed below (vacuum packed,
cool and dry are best) Canned meats, fruits and vegetables store okay and are
more expensive.
How much food you want to have
on hand depends on what type of situation you expect and how much you want to
spend. Buying a month' worth of rice, beans,
salt, and pasta will not cost much (and
is a good start). You will be a
lot happier if you add:
- canned or dried
meat (Costco and BJs have multipaks of Spam, ham, tuna and chicken for
under $10)
- canned or dried fruits and nuts
- canned or dried vegetables
- dried potatoes
- canned or dried sauces (for
pasta, chili, etc.)
- soup mixes (bean soups are
cheap) and bullion
- dried onions
- parmesan cheese
- cooking oil
- ramen noodles
- peanut butter
- mayo
- vinegar
- sugar and honey
- powdered milk
- bread crumbs, stuffing, oatmeal,
cereal
- flour, pancake mix, biscuit mix
- baking soda
- cocoa, instant coffee, tea,
drink mixes, juice mixes (cranberry)
- lemon juice
- dry yeast
- spices
Some of these can be eaten
without cooking or water if you have to.
Costco is great for the rice, canned goods, bullion, yeast (2 pound
box), cooking oil and spices. Don't forget a can opener and other
utensils. Of course you can do the
drying (wood
or solar) and canning yourself
for better quality and lower cost.
The oil, flour, baking soda and yeast (refrigerate the yeast if
possible) do not store well and have to be rotated more frequently than the
rice, beans and pasta. You will
be
healthier if you add some multivitamins. There are also luxury items like
Powerbars, powdered eggs, powdered cheese, powdered butter, food tabs, and meals
ready to eat (MREs).
To decide how much you need, you
can simply scale up recipes
and meals (print some simple recipes that use your stored food). How much rice and beans would you eat
at a meal or in a day if that was all you ate? A lot probably (make a meal as a trial). Now multiply that by the number of
people and the number of days and you have a ball park of how much to
store. The problem is that you
could end up feeding more people than your immediate family. Who else would you not turn away?
(Anyone you wouldn't want to live with normally is not someone you want to be
stuck with in a crisis. That said
there is some family I wouldn't turn away even if they deserve it). Start with the cheap stuff (rice,
beans, pasta, salt) and then slowly keeping adding and rotating the other food
until you have at least one months worth.
Do an inventory at least twice a year.
Store everything in
airtight/waterproof containers inside a tough container in a cool, dry, dark
place. Some things come packed
pretty well and can just go in a plastic
bucket or crate (cans can
be dipped in wax). Other items
should be vacuum
packed in small bags or large mylar bags with oxygen absorbers and
then put in the plastic bucket with a lid or crate (with a solid latching
lid). If you don't have shelves,
you can make shelves out of the buckets or crates and 1”x12” lumber. Put 2”x4”'s under the bottom shelf to
keep it off the floor.
For years
worth of food instead of months worth of food we need to move to grain and grain grinders. The Church of Latter Day
Saints are the experts
here. They also have storehouses that will sell
to the public if you are polite.
Of course you can buy online
but the shipping will be as much or more than the food. I went cheap and was able to get about
six months worth of food for one person for $100. I stuck to grains (400 lbs/year), beans (40 lbs/year), soup
mix (20 lbs/year), and milk (16 lbs/year) (I already had sugar (60
pounds/year), salt (10 lbs/year), oil (5 gallons/year), baking soda and yeast). I borrowed some of their equipment to
pack some of the food, the rest I packed at home in the mylar bags and buckets
described above. The milk is a
sticky powder and very messy (think of spilling flour and multiply by 100),
repack it outside if possible. I
also bought a hand operated
grain grinder to make flour from the wheat. Then I can make bread
(scale this recipe up to one loaf per day for a year as a cross check for a
year's supply). This would be a
pretty miserable diet but I think it would keep me alive and healthy if I had
enough vitamins. Because of the
sack size I have more of some things than others so towards the end I may be
eating paste. I hope to upgrade later. For infants you need more milk, oil,
sugar, and vitamins from which you can make an emergency formula (breast
feeding is better, then you give the extra
food to the mother).
For even longer food solutions
you need to farm. Supplementing
your food with a garden
or sprouting would also make
things last longer and provide some healthy variety. Its best to have some non-hybrid seeds on
hand or save
seeds from your garden.
Serious (expensive) seed packages are here. Have some fertilizer and pesticides on
hand but in the long run organic
is the way to go.
For cooking you can use a wood
burning stove, barbeque, or camp
stove in the short run (have some extra fuel on hand). The Petromax
lantern is pricey but well made and also has a stove attachment. If you don't have one of these or run
out of fuel you can build one: a coffee can
stove, a bucket stove
(avoid galvanized metal),
a alcohol stove, a collapsible stove, a tin can stove (simple
version), solar
oven (portable version),
or a clay
stove (print directions for making at least one of these). This is also a good commercial stove for those with cash
to burn. These are much more
efficient than an open fire. You
need a good pot or dutch oven for
boiling water and cooking. For
more portable food you can go with MREs, make your own
or stock what ever you would normally backpack with.
Hope
Hope is different for
everyone. It can be safety,
comfort, companionship, or normalcy.
For me it is mainly hope that there is light at the end of the
tunnel. I can work hard and
persevere if I know eventually things will get better. This means long term planning. So I want to have what I need in the
short term but also have some hope for the long term (so I have gardening tools
and seeds in addition to rice and spam).
You also want comfort items such as a book, Bible, game, coloring book,
pictures, beer, tea, or warm
shower. Some of these can be
dual purpose such as a book about hiking or gardening, survival playing cards,
or a novel about survival and perseverance.
Equipment
There are lots of things you can get, but you can also
just organize what you have already. The number of lists
seems endless and what you need depends upon the situation, your skills, and
your budget. Here is what is wrong with
the DHS kit I have already
mentioned several items above and list some others here but being comprehensive
would take a lot of space (read the links and references for more). Here are some basics.
All types of camping equipment
and tools come in handy but can be
expensive (shipping can be expensive too so you may want to make your own, try your
local yard sales, craigslist,
sporting goods or hardware store first).
You may want a small tent to carry and a larger tent to put in the car. Sleeping
pads are as much for insulation as for comfort (learned the hard way—you
don't want to be in the cold without some insulation between you and the
ground). A hammock
can be multipurpose. You can
try your local hardware store for lanterns or Lehman's
(they also have candle making supplies).
I suggest four knives for anyone
responsible enough to have one (in general you get what you pay for, but start
cheap and upgrade later): a folding
lock blade knife (buck and gerber are both good reasonably priced brands), a
Swiss army knife (with saw blade) or leatherman type knife
(pliers are handy), a
solid full tang knife, and a machete or short sword for brush. A kitchen knife can work until you get
any of these. A hatchet would also
be useful. Keep them sharp.
You need several maps (local,
state (small scale and large scale), neighboring states, topographic and road)
and a compass. A GPS
is optional but very handy. There
are usually welcome centers along interstates and in some cities that hand out
free maps. The USGS is a good source for reasonably
priced maps but sometimes it is a bit hard to find what you are looking
for. They have a catalog
for each state that really helps. They are also very friendly by phone but
still prefer if you order online.
You should have at least one non
portable (plug in) phone that can be used with the power out. Medicine, diapers and feminine products
will be hard to get. A generator
is great but can be expensive and you must have enough fuel (I don't have one
but want one). Solar
powered battery chargers are really slow but might be the only option.
Change your attitude, don't be
wasteful, and you can reuse many items. A tin can becomes a cup or pot with
a
little work. Use both sides of a
piece of paper and then use it as insulation or tinder. Waste not, want not. This also minimizes trash as there may
be no trash pickup.
Organize your equipment and supplies into different
levels and packages
Stuff you almost always carry
You should make a small kit that
fits in your pocket or
around your neck. This should include:
- ways to make a fire (matches,
mini bic, flint, etc.)
- a button
compass
- a small knife or razor blade,
broken hack saw blade, small file
- Swiss Tech Micro-Tech
6-in-1 Tool
- led light
- small candle (light or fire
making)
- a saw
- short piece of wire
- parachute cord (as much as will
fit)
- iodine tablets
- sturdy needle and thread
- individual salt servings
- food tabs, hard candy, bullion
or individual parmesan cheese/sugar (if space permits)
- freezer bags (water)
