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Letter Re: Home Hot Water Heater Tanks as an Emergency Water Source?
Dear Jim,
In all the posts I have been reading about storing water, I wondered if a typical home hot water heater could be used as a source of stored water in an emergency or TEOTWAWKI. Containing about 50 gallons in a glass enclosure, could that be considered a source of water, if [civic supply tap] water was not available or had run out? I’d be interested to hear your readers’ responses.- Diane G., Springfield, TN
JWR Replies: Yes, the water in your home's hot water heater is a good source of emergency water, if your utility water is ever disrupted. (Or, if you are on a private well, and you don't have access to a backup generator that can power your well pump.)
You can drain the water from the hot water heater, using a standard garden hose (or the cut-off stub of a garden hose), that has the female hose fitting. OBTW, it is a good idea to drain the rusty sludge out of the bottom of your hot water heater at least once per year. Not only will this mean that you will have cleaner water available from the tank in the event of an emergency, but it will also extend the life of an electric hot water heater. (Typically, the bottom electric heating element will burn out, once the sludge level eventually works it's way up to the bottom element.)
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Two Letters Re: Experience with a Shallow Well Hand Pump
Two Letters Re: Experience with a Shallow Well Hand Pump
Mr. Editor:
Jim W. in Indiana did a wonderful thing, he became utility independent for his water. Not to be critical but constructive, I didn’t see where he made any mention of drilling a small (1/8”) hole in his drop pipe down into the casing about five feet down, to allow for water to drain out of the top section of the pipe to avoid the water from freezing within it. One would think that Indiana might experience some below freezing temperatures. Without drilling the relief hole, one could experience some unexpected problems.
On another note that may be a tad critical, I might question the wisdom in the use of pressure treated wood anywhere near my water supply. While one may have to get some help in the construction of the base, I think a steel or aluminum base may be a more prudent and safe installation. Having said that, Congratulations to Jim! , - Fatboy
Hi James,
I'd advise the contributor of the hand pump article to separate his pump from the pressure treated lumber. I noted that he used stainless steel bolts for mounting, but if his pump is cast iron and is in contact with the PT wood he may be severely disappointed in the results in just two or three years. The current formulation for pressure treated lumber (ACQ--commonly called "copper-quat) is much more corrosive than the old chromium-arsenate formulation. I fully expect a raft of class action lawsuits after an earthquake/hurricane/tornado knocks a bunch of recently built homes off their foundations and it is discovered that all the foundation hold-downs have disintegrated. For the most part the general public is unaware of this problem, and likewise many contractors. Very few folks are opening up five year old walls to check on hardware. Some folks are coming across the problem however, and the word is starting to get out. This letter to the editor of The Journal of Light Construction (July, 2009) is consistent with my own experiences with this material.
I would advise the contributor with the pump to separate the pump (and any other metal which may be in contact at the well) from the pressure treated lumber with a piece of SST sheet metal. Alternatively, instead of using the pressure treated lumber, use Ipe wood. Ipe is becoming more readily available due to its popularity for decking material. It is so dense it will not float, and it is exceptionally durable material. However, it does require pre-drilling before you attempt to put a screw in it.
Thank you for the blog. Please keep up the good work. - Tom F.
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Letter Re: Experience with a Shallow Well Hand Pump
Mr. Rawles,
I consider myself adequately prepared for whatever events that may happen in regards to a break down of society. I live out in the country and have never been one to rely on local government or social infrastructure for immediate needs. I've had too many occasions where I have had to fend for myself because of a tornado, snowstorm, flood or other event that causes disruption in services. I have a good supply of storage food from canning, dehydrating and past hunting seasons to last for a while. I've got all the hand tools necessary to keep going if it comes to that. Also have ordered from Vic at Safecastle, got some stuff from Ready Made Resources and Lehman's along with Sportsman's Guide, Cheaper Than Dirt and a bunch of other places. These are items that I may need when the SHTF. Overall, I consider myself and my family mostly self-sufficient until I consider the magnitude of life without electric power for an undetermined period of time. My biggest concern is potable water.
I have three ponds on my property, two small ones and one that is fairly large. We have a well for water and a septic for a sewer system. We have a Berkey filter system that I have used in the past when power has been out for an extended period of time to purify pond water. The way we do it is, scoop the water out of a pond in 5 gallon buckets, filter it through some T-shirts into a pot, boil the water then pour into the Berkey and after it is filtered, drop in some bleach and we have good clean drinking water. A lot of work for drinking water but an absolute necessity when faced with a prolonged period of power loss. I got to thinking a while back that there must be a better way to get drinking water than from my ponds when I have a perfectly good well.
I did some research on hand pumps for a water well and saw that it is possible to incorporate a hand pump along with my electric pump. I already have a well bucket that I got from Ready Made Resources and it works great but I felt that a hand pump would be even better. I work private security and as you can imagine business has been booming lately so I don't have much free time. I called a local water well driller and they quoted me $2,500 to install a hand pump to my well. Way too much for my taste. Another place quoted me $1,250 minimum. Still beyond my budget. I decided it was up to me to get it done.
After a ton of research, I decided to pop the cap off my well to find out the static water level in my well. It was a huge effort to get the cap off because it hadn't been off for many years. After a bunch of WD-40 I was able to get the bolts loose. Once the cap was off I sunk a rope into the well and found gratefully that the water level was only 9 feet below the well pipe (We have a high water table as you can imagine with three ponds on my property). Research showed me that a shallow well pump would pump water from a depth of 20 feet. A quick search showed that shallow pumps were within my price range. I ended up ordering a Heller-Aller Pitcher Pump from Lehman's for about $250. The pump is plumbed for a 1-1/4” drop pipe. I got the PVC drop pipe, brass couplings, foot valve and male fittings from Lowe's for about $60. The PVC pipe came in 10' sections and I got 3 pieces. I struggled putting 2 of the pieces together with couplers with help from a block of pine wood and a sledge for a total of 20' of pipe. Thinking ahead, I added a large turnbuckle with a big eyelet about 2' down the top of the pipe attached with two U-bolts that I attached a hooked tow rope to use to tie off onto a fixed object so if the pipe got away from me it wouldn't fall into the black hole of the well where I couldn't retrieve it. I'll save the extra 10' section to add when the water drops below a point my 20' section doesn't pull the water up.
With the drop pipe finished, I focused on mounting the hand pump to my well pipe. I had two sections of pressure treated 2x4 cut to 2' lengths that I bolted to the base of the pump with 5/16”x2-½ stainless bolts to stabilize the pump on my 6” well pipe. With the wood base attached to the pump I was ready.
Putting the 20' section of drop pipe down the 6” well pipe was not as bad as you may think, it only weighed about 15 pounds. I had the rope attached to the turnbuckle so I wasn't worried about dropping it. When I got the pipe into place my wife held the pump with wood base about 2 feet over the pipe so I could screw the drop pipe brass male fitting to the pump. (A note to consider – When the pump was manufactured, they sprayed the red paint onto the threads that the drop pipe screws into. If you don't remove this paint before installing – you'll never get it connected.) Once we finally got it connected, I had to prime the pump from the top while we pumped it to get the water flowing. Once the water started flowing I realized that $500 (as opposed to $1,200+) I had just spent was probably the best money I ever spent as far as my survival preparations went. The pump spout even has a notch built in to hang a bucket. What a wonderful thing.
I'm praying for your family due to your recent loss of your wife. A good friend of mine is music director at our church and his favorite song is – When We All Get to Heaven What a Day of Rejoicing It Will Be! Keep that in mind, my friend. - Jim W. in Indiana
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Lessons Learned from Hurricanes Ike, Rita, and Katrina, by TiredTubes
In September, 2008, Hurricane Ike--a Category 4 hurricane--pounded the Gulf Coast of the southern US. Some coastal communities like Crystal Beach no longer really exist. Inland, life was severely disrupted. For those of us on the South Coast hurricanes are a frequent reality. We were quite well prepared, but used the disruptions and dislocations as a test and opportunity to tune up our preparations.
1. Be ready to help others and to accept help We didn't need much during Ike, but the power went out before a neighbor finished boarding up his house. My 1 KW inverter, hooked up to his idling truck provide the juice for a Skilsaw and a few lights; allowing him to finish. Usually it is skills and not "stuff" that helps others and yourself. Besides strengthening a neighborly friendship, the number of damaged houses was probably reduced by one.
2. Keep your stuff squared away.. I repaired a few generators during and after Ike. I observed that every one suffering from lack of use; i.e. gasoline that resembled turpentine in the carburetor. People were at a complete loss to understand this. My daugher-in-law owned one of the generators that I repaired. She ignored my admonition to change the dirty oil ASAP and then once every 50 hours. Early in the next week it [ran out of oil and] threw a rod. She was in the dark for another week. Just a $2.99 quart of oil would have saved discomfort, ruined food, etc.
My portable genset, loaned to my daughter, was ready to go; fresh oil, filters, valves set, exercised, load tested. It started on the first try. I came to check it and change it's oil as soon as it was safe to travel. The first thing that I did was turn it so the exhaust faced away from the house! She had placed it so that the starter rope was in a convenient spot. At least she had, like I had asked, chained and locked it to a foundation pier.
After every hurricane Darwin gets a few through accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. Don't join them. If you have a generator, get a carbon monoxide detector in case the wind changes and wafts exhaust in your windows.
Our own [permanently-installed] genset uses natural gas (a tri-fuel generator)
which in the majority of cases is superior and much cheaper to operate. Over the 11 days that we didn't have power it consumed $100 worth of natural gas. I estimate that an equivalent amount of gasoline would have cost more than $300. I stopped it every 75 hours for oil and filter. If your genset doesn't have an hour meter, then add one. There are some inexpensive self contained hour meters made for lawn equipment that work very well and require no hard wiring. It's really the only practical way to keep track of operating time, without which, intelligent maintenance is impossible.
I noticed that many generators, some still in the box, on Craigslist following Hurricane Ike at bargain basement prices. I recommended to a friend he latch onto one of these and purchase a dual-fuel gasoline/natural gas carburetor] kit. Ants can profit from short-sighted grasshoppers.
It goes without saying have all your vehicles filled up and serviced so they can be depended upon with out much attention. Pay particular attention to cooling systems, oil changes, tire pressures, belts and battery terminals.
Develop a pre-event SOP: When we hear of a hurricane in the Gulf, we pick up loose items like branches that can be thrown by high winds and cause damage (aviators call this rubbish FOD), trim trees, check prescriptions, recharge everything rechargeable, treat the swimming pool with "shock" chlorine, get all the laundry and dishes done, get all the trash out for pickup, take “before” pictures, etc., etc., etc.
3. Have backups for your backups. The portable generator above was our backup to the natural gas-fueled genset. Then an inverter and ups. After that is a 100 Watt solar array I've been tinkering with to provide power for security lighting,etc.
My daughter spent up to two hours a day foraging gas, mostly waiting in lines. She found out that the problem with gasoline-fuel generators is gasoline! It's expensive, in short supply (when it is needed most), and it takes gas to go and get gas! Needless to say I rounded up the parts and the portable is now a dual fuel machine. Had it been able to use natural gas then she could have stayed home and been one less person waiting in line. And the machine still retains the capability to burn gasoline!
Since gasoline became hard to come by (it was impossible to get for a week after Rita) but diesel fuel was plentiful we did any necessary traveling in my old diesel Mercedes (which is EMP proof, BTW).
One important word on generators: Treat yours like it is the last one you'll ever get. Try and get a good one, I prefer either a Honda or Briggs Vangard engine. My Vangard portable is approx 10 years old and absolutely dependable. The difference is methodical maintenance. Keep the manuals, and read 'em ! Keep the oil changed, keep a fresh spark plug, keep spare [oil, air, and fuel] filters. Most importantly run it under load once a month. Unless it's new, pull off the cowling and clean all the dirt and dust from fins on the cylinder jug. Closely examine the starter rope, the fuel lines, et cetera. Replace 'em if they ain't perfect.
If you get a permanently installed generator carefully consider installing a manual transfer switch and other upgrades. With the exception of automatic "exercising" fully automatic generators these add a layer of complication and cost.
Don't store gasoline in the machine other than enough for one periodic test run. Develop a ritual on test runs: such as every other payday, or the last Saturday in the month, to reduce it to a ritual. I run mine monthly whilst cutting the back yard lawn. (The mower makes more noise.)
For storage between test runs: On portable gensets [with the ignition off, slowly ] pull the cord until you can feel that the engine is at the top of the compression stroke. This is where the engine feels like you are pulling it through a "detent". It puts the piston at the top of the bore and closes both valves. This protects the cylinder from moisture. If you store gasoline then use stabilizer, after six months burn it in your car and replace it. Few experiences are worse that trying to clean out a carburetor by a dim flashlight whilst being consumed alive by salt marsh mosquitoes. Trust me on this. BTW, I've had better results storing "winter" blended gas, since t has more light fractions and starts easier year round.
If you use gas cans; stick with metal, preferably safety cans. Plastics are slightly permeable and it will go bad much faster in a plastic can. On that note, [in humid climates] don’t keep spare spark plugs with the machine. This is because in outdoor storage the insulators can absorb moisture [and the metal parts can corrode]. Keep them inside or in a sealed can with some silica gel. An old one-quart paint can is ideal.
If you have a dual-fuel machine, then break the engine in on gasoline and make sure it operates properly on both fuels under load. Keep the necessary connectors for gas operation on the machine so that you don't have to go searching for that 3/8ths-inch pipe nipple with a flashlight.
Use high quality oils, and have enough. Don't forget to also store plenty of 2-stroke [fuel mixing] oil and chain oil if you intend to use a chainsaw. Maybe store some extra for your neighbors that are less prudent. I use Rotella brand synthetic oil and Wix brand filters, and have had good results with them.
Make sure you have enough oil, filters and plugs for at least two weeks (336 hours), or longer. Don't forget about your equipment after the crisis is over: There are valves to set, oil and plugs to change, etc. Even if you own two generators and have enough flashlights, automatic emergency lights, et cetera, things can, and may likely go wrong. Small children usually do not take kindly to being plunged into total darkness. Unless it is TEOTWAWKI, keep the candles in the cupboard, especially if there are small children about.
4. Double your plans for helping other people. Several relatives from coastal areas evacuated to our house (approximately 50 miles inland). I keep a 55 gallon drum of stabilized gasoline to fill up their cars to get them home. This was a lesson learned after the Rita evacuation cluster. How much food you will go through will surprise you. It finally dawned upon us that we almost always eat dinner (lunch to you Northerners) and sometimes breakfast away from home. So what we consumed whilst hunkered down seemed out of proportion.
We also sent some food home with people to hold them over. I was able to "lend" a retired neighbor enough generated power to keep his freezer, television, and fan going. He was genuinely happy. This also meant that he was one less person in line for ice, food, and so forth.
5. Keep a dial up phone line around, after 24 hours the cell phone tower generators started running out of propane, the cable modem (and the cable) went down with the power. Remember how to make that dial-up modem work.
If you're not a Ham radio operator, then find out where the local hams conduct their emergency nets, and listen on your shortwave radio (HF) or scanner (2-meter and 440 band) and you'll know a lot more that the local television news truck can find out.
If you have cable television, then keep a traditional antenna handy. If you live near a major market the local AM news station, then it is probably a good bet. Have a good UPS, plug the computer and the desk lamp into it. If you have a cordless phone, plug it into the UPS too. The UPS will take the "bumps" out of the generator's power; your computer will thank you. Make sure you test the UPS periodically by plugging in a 100 Watt lamp and pulling the plug on the UPS. I find I need to replace that UPS battery about every 2-to-3 years.
6. Plan for the guests. Have plenty of soap, have a small flashlight (preferably with rechargeable batteries) for each guest. Have things other than television to keep youngsters occupied. Try and get plenty of rest. You'll probably be plenty busy after you can poke your head out again. In this vein don't forget dishwashing supplies, laundry supplies, baby supplies, etc. If it's a predictable event such as a hurricane, have all the dishes and laundry done. before it hits.
A television in a room by itself will keep the racket contained from those who want to read, play games or just sleep. If you have the space, then a “quiet room” where people can just rest, read, be alone, have some privacy or get a fussy to baby to sleep cuts down on contagious stress.
7. Make sure you are medically prepared. Have a rather complete first aid kit that includes a backboard and splinting materials. There will be plenty of cuts,scrapes, bruises, sunburns and sore muscles in the aftermath. Have Band-Aids, 4x4s, neosporin, peroxide etc. Have plenty of acid reducer and immodium on hand (stress and unfamiliar cooking), have at least two weeks of prescription drugs on hand [and preferably much more for any chronic health issues]. Have a good assortment of Tylenol, cold and sinus preparations, BenGay [muscle ointment], good multivitamins, etc.
8.Be extra, extra, extra careful. You getting sick or more likely injured can really mess things up for everyone you have prepared for. Not to mention that the local fire/ambulance is probably already overtaxed. Be extremely careful handling fire and fuels. A lot of us are not entirely fluent in using chainsaws, small engines, fixing roofs, trimming trees and moving debris.[JWR Adds: safety equipment including heavy gloves, kevlar chainsaw safety chaps
, and a combination safety helmet with face shield and muffs
are absolute "musts"!] Don't get in a hurry unless there is a threat to life. Be hyper cautious, be very aware of your surroundings and things that can go wrong. Don’t toil alone. Make sure you have a clear path to beat a hasty retreat if things go wrong. Wear those gloves, safety glasses, boots and maybe a hard hat.
Don't overtax yourself. Getting a fallen the tree off of the roof today avails you little if it triggers a heart attack or heat stroke. Ask God's assistance and start over tomorrow.
Keep fire extinguishers near the gas generator, in the kitchen, and near the camp stove.
Avoid using candles at all costs, and absolutely prohibit smoking indoors for the duration. Have more than enough battery smoke detectors around.
9. Be ready to make temporary repairs.. The missing shingles, damaged windows, etc. Have some plywood, a few 2x4s, some Visqueen polyethylene sheeting, batting boards, duct tape, a tarp, some nails, and so forth around. If you happen to have a good cordless drill, then you'll find sheet rock and deck screws are very superior to nails. If you're squared away then you already have this stuff , but a neighbor might be in need, so buy extra.
Debris creates flat tires for quite some time after many events. Have a tire plug kit and a 12 VDC compressor in each vehicle. Repairs to structures, especially roof repairs guarantee nails in tires. Be ready for them..
Have everything rechargeable recharged. Make sure you have some traditional non-power tools, I have a handsaw that I've had for decades, a good bow saw, ax, maul, sledge and an old eggbeater style hand drill still get regular use.
10. If I had my choice of just one utility it would be running water. Fortunately where we reside is served by a well run rural utility district which has prepared well for hurricanes. Failing this, in addition to stored water I have a portable gas utility pump (Robin brand) that can pressurize our water system from our pool and has sufficient capacity for a fire line. The pool got a good jolt of shock a day before the storm hit.
11.Keep some cash money handy. For a few days [with no utility power] there were no functional ATMs, and no way to use credit or debit cards.
12. Keep a low profile. About a week after Ike a passerby indignantly asked "How'd you get your lights turned on?" This showed his ignorance on several levels. He seemed to think someone just had to flip a switch downtown and "shazam!" his lights are on. I couldn't make him understand there has to be an unbroken physical link between a power plant and consumer, this seemed to aggravate his obvious helplessness. Telling him that we had been making our own juice seemed to irritate him. I wonder who he voted for? People with this mindset (that the world owes them something) could be a genuine liability in a real catastrophe. (BTW on a news show during a piece about energy, I actually heard a lady refer to natural gas as “just another dirty fossil fuel”) and not be challenged on the facts. Little minds scare me. I think that the hyper-liberals would love to use the heavy hand of government to force the ants take care of the grasshoppers. Keep a low profile. The best advice I ever heard on the subject (I believe it was Howard J. Ruff
) was to "keep your principles public and your actions private".
13. Keep a notebook, keep a record of what happened, but especially keep a record of preps you overlooked or screwed up, or stuff you ran out of, or skills that need to be added or honed. That's where most of the preceding information came from! Also keep tabs on what's scarce after an event. Gas was scarce, but diesel plentiful after Rita. In contrast, after Ike there was plenty of fuel, but few operating stations due to lack of power. (There was a "mandatory evacuation" during Rita which turned out to be a fatal traffic jam for a few poor souls which quickly emptied the filling station tanks.) Out our way the local Wal-Mart made a heroic effort and opened up on locally-generated power, two days after Ike. The sheriff’s department was there to “maintain order”. (Let’s just say that they actually wear brown shirts here.). This event was a lifetime opportunity to study the varied behaviors of people under stress.
There were plenty of canned goods and auto supplies. But fresh fruits and veggies were a little thin, no meat due to lack of refrigeration for a few days, batteries, Coleman fuel, trash bags, paper plates, disposable diapers, formula, and nails evaporated. The pharmacy was closed.
Even with the numerous mistakes we made, we were able to stay safe, secure and comfortable and help others while "victims" were standing or idling their car engines in lines. It was an opportunity to try things out under more or less controlled conditions. WTSHTF there will not be controlled conditions!
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Perspectives on Roughing It and Covert Car Camping, by Jolly
I was a Boy Scout, and later did a fair amount of camping when I toured the US by motorcycle in the late 1980s. My tents started floorless and without mosquito netting; progressed to canvas umbrella tent with both. Later still, I was able to go to ripstop nylon "pup" style tents. Advancing, finally, to modern shock-corded aluminum poles and nylon.
After a long gap of 20+ years, my son is now a scout, and I'm on the "no-other-parent-can-go-and-we'll-have-to-cancel-if-you-don't-volunteer" rotation for his troop.
I just completed my second camp-out, and have noticed a few things that both dismay and encourage me.
Following is a stream-of-consciousness review of my reentry into the roughing-it world. Please bear in mind that emergency preparedness has been on my mind for a couple of years, and I didn't go into this a complete neophyte. That said, I didn't actually do anything other than car-camping since about 1993.
Buy a backpack one size smaller than you think you need. It's amazing how much crap a backpack can hold - inside and out. If you actually physically cannot cram another gizmo into the pack, then you'll have to leave that gadget behind. That will always focus your mind on what's truly important.
The single most important article of clothing you need in an emergency is a hooded rain poncho. Even in mild temperatures, you can lose a lot of body heat when you're wet. A rain poncho will help against wind and rain, and can double as a tarp if necessary. I have found two good sources: Jacks-r-Better and Camping Survival's "GI Plus". You should spray both with silicone to enhance their water repellant properties. Don't rely on cheap plastic or vinyl ponchos. During testing I quickly destroyed both of these varieties.
Second most important article of clothing is hiking boots, followed closely by a full brimmed waterproof hat. I have the Tilley nylon winter hat, with retractable ear muffs.
Craigslist is the best place to get camping gear cheap. To date this year, I have picked up two tents, a backpack, a Coleman stove, camp kitchen, tarp, and several other things. Usually, the price is about 10-25% of retail. In the case of the Coleman stove, it's an older model (1973) and built much better than the modern cr*p (which I also have). A $15 repair kit, and $20 for the stove, and it's in brand-new condition. I got a $300 North Face tent for $75 - and it was brand new with original price tags.
Craigslist is a wonderful resource, but there are some rules you might try. First, look for a solid month before offering to buy anything. That way, when a bargain shows up, you'll know it instantly.
Second, if the item is really hot - don't make any arrangements to pick it up more than a day out. I lost the chance to acquire a pair of Wiggy's brand sleeping bags because I tried to schedule pick up four days away. The lady sold them to somebody else because he offered her a deal she couldn't refuse. That's $1,000 worth of sleeping bags I could've had for $50 and I was too cheap to just pick them up ( about 80 miles away ).
Third, as hinted at above - when purchasing from Craigslist - calculate your time & mileage into the price of the items. A bargain that's 50 miles away becomes much more expensive with gas and driving time tacked on. Ask if the seller can meet you half way.
And fourth - generally low ball an offer on the item unless it's already too-good-to-be-true priced.
Break in your emergency / hiking boots. I have two pair of excellent quality boots that I've had for about eight years. I've worn them on occasion, but never really broken them in. This weekend, I pulled down a pair and used them on this trip. Socks were too thick for one thing - these are Goretex and Thinsulate boots, and a bit thicker as a consequence. My feet were miserable yesterday as the socks were too tight, and I ended up hobbling about like an old man by the end of the day. Today I went without socks (as my second pair of socks were just as thick as the first), and was much better, but had the other problem of rubbing the wrong spots you'd expect to have when going sans socks.
Test your equipment. Every camp-out is a test bed for my equipment. This particular trip I tested a Craigslist-purchased North Face one man tent ( Canyonlands ), and a newer sleeping pad ( Thermalite Prolite Plus ). The tent was wonderful. Bigger than my small nylon tent used when motorcycle camping (though not by much ), and an excellent performer. It's my current favorite. The mattress also was quite nice - and made in USA.
That said, I think I understand the popularity of inflatable camp pillows. My older head and neck didn't appreciate the stuff-sack-filled-with-a-towel-and jacket pillow that worked adequately 20 and 30 years ago. I had a nasty headache when I awoke this morning, and I know I was head higher than feet on the gentle slope. My 18 year old sleeping bag, however, worked well.
Sitting down is the main problem for old knees and feet - especially in the rain. I don't want to sound like a whiner, but it gets tiresome standing around with a coffee cup because the ground is too wet to sit, and there aren't any rocks nearby. I'm open to suggestions to fix that. On my first trip, I had cut a section of the closed-cell Thermarest pad ( they're green and purple, and do not compress well at all). It helped a lot placed on a rock. This time, I didn't have that, as I was using a different ( more comfortable )pad.
Erect a tarp so you have a dry place to work. Tarps are cheap, light, small to pack, and generally easy to erect. If it's raining, put up your tarp first so you can unpack necessities where it's dry. You might even need to erect your tent under one. Later, you can cook under it, and generally live under it until bedtime.
Put lanyards on everything. A recent fetish of mine is parachute cord. I get mine from Supply Captain in 100-foot lengths. I put lanyards on my pack zippers, multi-tool, flashlights, LED lanterns, etc. I use different colors and locations to help me know which of the myriad zippers it's attached to. For example, to get to my emergency whistle, I can tug on the blue & yellow one. For my tactical light - the olive drab. Multi-tool is black, et cetera.
There are different sizes of nylon cord. Get the smaller stuff for many jobs. If I wish to erect a tarp, use a 100 lb test cord instead of the 550 paracord. It's far smaller, lighter, and easier to work with.
There's a tension when purchasing emergency equipment. Bright-and-visible vs camouflage. Bright orange equipment, or ACU digital camo? Or something in between? Currently, I've been getting innocuous black or green equipment. If I need to be seen - I can always whip out mylar space blanket, or build three fires, or use the whistle, etc..
Anybody who thinks that anything more than bare-bones survival is feasible with a shiny space blanket hasn't actually used one in the woods. I'm very ambivalent about these things. I can see a use for them, I guess, to help reduce heat loss, but can't imagine they're effective in most situations I'm likely to encounter, with one exception.
That exception would be as a blanket put on a injury victim to prevent or mitigate shock. Any animated person is going to tear the damn things or find they're too small to really do anything well. They really are just barely useful. Especially for big people such as myself.
I'm going to experiment with a sleeping bag version put out by Adventure Medical called a "Heat Sheet." I probably should've tried it last night, but I had too many other tests going on, and didn't want any more variables. The next trip is early November, and might already be too cold for a decent test. I hope to have my Wiggy's winter bags by that time.
The Heat Sheet is interesting because it's a full sleeping bag and you don't have to worry about coverage. I'm a big guy and coverage is important. I've heard it's warm but keeps moisture trapped inside.
Lower that pack weight! Did I mention that people try to carry too much crap? One of the younger scouts packed two tents (actually a Hennessey Hammock and a Sierra Designs Tengu 3!), plus one of those nylon full-sized camp chairs. His pack weighed a ton.
One patrol had so much stuff, they used a child's wagon to carry what wouldn't fit in their ( giant ) packs. Part of this is not their fault - the Scouts don't allow liquid fuel stoves, and therefore, the scouts have to use propane. Of course when I was a kid, we used only wood. But, many camping areas do not allow campfires any more.
Carry only one extra set of clothing, except, maybe, socks. In addition, carry two layers, or more for winter. If you get one set of clothes dirty or wet, then just clean and dry them while wearing the other set. I prefer nylon and polyester. Believe it or not, Boy Scout pants and shirts are among the best I've found, for a decent price. They come in sizes up to XXXXL, too. Just ensure that you have very high quality and tough clothes.
Don't take any mess kits made out of plastic. Use only metal so it can double as cooking equipment. I hate to say this - I bought the entire family colorful mess kits. Each had their own color, and they come with plate, bowls, spork, cup, etc. And for car camping, they're great! But, for hiking / camping, they can't do double duty as cooking equipment, so they're leaving my pack. I'm replacing the set with a stainless steel mug of 20 oz, and a lidded 600 ml pot that can be used as plate and bowl. Less equipment = less weight.
Did you know that you can take a prophylactic dose of Ibuprofen to minimize swelling when you know you're going to hit the trail [on an arduous hike]? I learned this from a doctor at an Appleseed event. It's very effective, but don't drink alcohol 48 hours before or after the dose. Ask your doctor for specifics.
Take a hike with a full pack. I'm good for about three miles before I worry about getting an infarction. Part of the problem are the shoes, but general lack of fitness is kicking my butt. I used to ride a bicycle 300 miles a week in the 1980s, but the last twenty years I've been a software engineer and my fitness has plummeted.
How are you going to cook food? Planning for an emergency, you have to ask yourself questions such as, "What will I be cooking? How long in the woods? How many people? Car camping? And so on.
My cooking plans are pretty extensive. If I'm staying put in my house, the main plan includes a Coleman stove. My wife actually prefers cooking on one of those to our electric range. It's also useful for car camping. One gallon of Coleman fuel will last an amazingly long time. Refills are available at most gas stations with yellow-bottle Heet. A single burner camp stove is great for motorcycle camping.
Next tier down is wilderness camping - for that I prefer alcohol burners / stoves. There are myriad choices, and I won't go into all of them. I even tried to invent my own and found that I couldn't do a better job of it than a dozen others I've purchased. The best, in my opinion, is the Trangia "Spirit Burner" from Sweden. Not pressurized, no moving parts. Built like a tank, but pretty light to carry, too. About $10.
My own system marries a "Sterno" stove with a Trangia burner, and I get a full-sized pot and pan platform with a windscreen for about half a pound. I use two of these side by side for two burners to cook most anything. Total cost for both is about $35. Buy some denatured alcohol and cook some meals on your porch to get the hang of it. That is part of fully testing your equipment. Please note that there are two kinds of Trangia burners. The military surplus version fits the Sterno stove perfectly. The civilian version requires support. I use a tuna can. If you invert the tuna can, the burner is closer to the pot. I don't do that myself, and have found the heat transfer to be completely adequate. You can also just use a Sterno can, obviously.
A lot of people prefer "canister" stoves - using butane, propane, isobutane, or other variants. Yes, these are great. They work anywhere. But, they are expensive to fuel and it's harder to find refills. Also, most butane systems have tiny pot stands, making them very easy to knock over. And if you're cooking with large pots or pans - they're almost unusable.
Whatever you decide upon - stock up on fuel, and place that fuel in several caches, both cars, bug-out bags, etc. If you're using volatile fuel, such as white gas, ensure you insulate the can against high heat. In cold weather, keep a 4 oz bottle of alcohol inside your jacket to ensure easy lighting.
Buy a windup radio that charges cell phones. These are down under $50 and will give you two types of communication. I have the Eton FR360. These also charge any USB device, including iPods and most music players. This weekend I used it to keep my iPhone charged, and while a bit tedious - it worked.
How to Covertly Sleep in Your Car
I'm fairly frugal. Several times I have worked out of state. I hated giving upwards of $100 / per night to hotels so I developed a system for sleeping in my car that ensures that I would not be noticed. The first vehicle I used was a pickup truck with a bed camper top - not a real camper, just a top with windows on the side. The second vehicle was Chevy Suburban. Both vehicles were reputable looking, and not too new or old - completely innocuous.
Cover all the windows on the inside with large sheets of butcher paper (white) or brown wrapping paper. Both can be found for cheap at Wal-Mart. It's important to do a neat job of it so there are no wrinkles, holes, or other damage. I use clear wrapping tape, and cut to fit. On both vehicles, the windows covered were tinted, and only a close look would you even notice they were blocked off. They just look - blank.
On the Suburban, I bought a bungee cord and tan curtains for $10 - again from Wal-Mart. String the curtains on the bungee cord. Then, attach the cord to the coat hanger hooks behind the driver's and passenger seats. Make sure they hang straight and neat. There will be a gap at the top of the curved roof, but it's nothing to worry about.
The last step is to turn off your car's interior light if you can. On many newer cars, this is done with a switch on the driver's console. Other cars have a switch on the light itself to prevent the light coming on with an open door. If all else fails - disconnect the light bulb.
The hard part is finding a place to sleep. Here is one time when you cannot sleep in Wal-Mart's parking lot. You're not driving an RV, just a car. And "empty" cars will be scrutinized by flashlight-wielding security or police.
In a large metropolitan area, the best places are large apartment complexes, preferably straddling a street. Park in the street right behind another car already there. I did this for well over a year without any problems at all.
In the drive-in apartment complexes, ensure there's a lot of extra spots, and that the one you pick is not marked in any way. Usually, I try to pick a spot that the front of the car faces a wall, or the garbage dump area. You don't want to face a park or sidewalk. You want your car to be one among many. Don't park way off to one side - dog walkers may be too common and wonder about the car with curtains.
Small office parks are another good choice. Here, the opposite of apartment complexes is wanted. Park the car as far from the building entrances as possible. Here it's easier to face a wall or line of bushes. People will do anything to shorten their walk to work.
Going to sleep is not normally a problem - I usually went to sleep well after midnight. Whatever you do, don't dawdle when entering your sleep area. There may be people that notice a slow-moving car driving slowly through a parking lot more than once. Scope several places in advance, and have a primary and secondary location for the night.
The two most observable times will be going to sleep and getting up. Usually, you'll be more visible during daytime, obviously. But, getting noticed depends on what time you're leaving and where you parked.
If you can wiggle into your driver's seat without getting out of the vehicle - you have it made. Neither time was I able to do that. I had to leave the car to get into the driver's seat.
I left small flaps in the paper on both cars and would open them to look in all directions (as necessary) for pedestrians and security vehicles. When you're sure you're clear - make a very fast exit, and get your feet on the ground. After that, if required, you can pretend you're retrieving something, and take a leisurely pace. Unless somebody was looking directly at your car when you exited, they will almost assuredly assume you just opened the door, rather than popped out of it.
In an office park, ensure your exit is on the opposite side from the office buildings. Imagine a bored secretary staring dazedly out the window. Suddenly - a scruffy looking man with wild hair pops out of a car door, walks quickly around the hood and drives off. Not good. In my favorite park, I was between a wall and a tree break. Though I finally got noticed after six months, and had to use backup.
Do not stretch, or scratch your head, or hang around at all at this time. Get into your car seat. Start it, and leave at a normal pace. I don't know about you, but it you're like me - you'll be way too scary an apparition for most people. You should have also designated a place to go in the morning to do the ritual wake-up duties such as bathroom, teeth, hair brushing, etc. I usually use McDonald's. I then repaid them for their facilities by buying breakfast.
Other items to remember are ventilation and security. The pickup was no problem - I just left the windows open a crack, including the back panel. This allowed me to hear my surroundings pretty well, too. On the Suburban, it was more problematic. One inch on each window was left open at the top, and I didn't leave the back open. I also engaged the car alarm.
Unfortunately, one morning I forgot about the car alarm, and opened the door causing it to go off. I had the key in my hand, and stopped it very quickly, and I was sure the whole world had noticed my faux pas. Alas, nobody even hears car alarms anymore, and I didn't have to abandon that spot.
Never, ever go to rest stops on the interstate to sleep. While traveling, if I couldn't find an apartment complex or office park, or other suitable location, I'd park on the onramp of a highway - many times between trucks doing the same. I got rousted three times by cops over the years. Technically, it's illegal to park there. Each time I told the truth - I was very tired, and unsure I could proceed to the next motel location. Two of the three times, the cop said that's fine, and go ahead and stay. The third time, he helpfully noted that the very next exit had a motel.
If you have a regular route, other considerations might come into play. For me, sleeping in a tiny Honda Civic, I would have problems with biting insects - and very warm nights. Both problems were solved with an onramp location in an extremely windy spot next to San Francisco bay. (Parish Road off of I-680 in case you're wondering ). My pattern was to arrive about 2 am on a Sunday night and sleep until 7am Monday morning. I then proceeded across the bridge and went to a Burger King in Walnut Creek. I was rousted twice in a six month period.
I have less experience in rural areas. Though extreme familiarity with a route can help by allowing you to identify good spots during the daytime for possible use on another trip. For example, I used to drive between Oregon and Pahrump quite often (on my way to attend training at Front Sight). I spent one whole day identifying likely spots for impromptu camp spots.
One spot, south of Tonopah was a short road that led to some kind of a relay station. I'm pretty sure it was a microwave station, but it doesn't matter. The small fenced-in building was partially hidden behind a hill from the main road, and clearly was not visited very often. The road leading to it went further around the hill, leaving a nice void hidden from the station itself.
Between Tonopah and Hawthorne, I identified two spots very similar to the first, though both were very windy. North of Hawthorne, Walker Lake had parking spots that I felt comfortable enough to use without hiding.
Rural terrain will dictate your choices, too. In South Carolina, I identified two spots on US-25 north of Greenville that looked pretty good. Their characteristic? They were both old houses that had been completely covered in kudzu! I could literally drive under a canopy of kudzu and hide the entire car.
Finally, etiquette inside the car. I always wore gym shorts and T-shirt in a sleeping bag. Never anything resembling underwear. I never used a flashlight or listened to the radio. I was there strictly for sleeping. I didn't eat, cook, brush teeth, or anything else except sleep. The human eye is especially tuned to see movement. Even with covered windows, a brief movement might catch a dog-walker's attention enough to wander over and look at the car. Not a good thing.
I estimate I've saved more than $10,000 in motel bills over the years.
The main thing is to have people assume the car is empty, and belongs to somebody nearby. Obviously, in a serious crisis, extra thought may be necessary to keep below the radar of both security and nosy people.
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Water, Water Everywhere?, by David in Israel
James,
I think it important to remind the readers of survivalblog to assess their water supply situation in the event of a local or national emergency. Much of the western united states even the well irrigated areas are actually truly considered high desert and could nor supply even 10% of the population should access be lost to the water supply infrastructure. Unfortunately many people have lived their whole life with functional first world plumbing and the clear knowledge that magical faucets, toilets, and shower heads will always have a supply of clean potable water.
It is imperative that anyone planning a retreat have redundant water supply plans including water table maps and locations of springs and open bodies of water. Planning must include which water tables are affected by drought.
The best sources of water are existing deep wells or open un-dammed bodies of water, plans must include how to pump or transport the water to your retreat.
Since water is probably the most important strategic asset to a retreat there must be plans to protect and access remote water sources especially in the face of bandits who might attempt to monopolize this asset. Pre-crisis would also be a good time to secure and possibly purchase a clear legal share or long term lease to water rights on nearby properties. - David in Israel
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Experience With Bicycle Commuting and Touring, Hammocks, and Stoves, by David in Israel
Since June of this year when my new Dahon Speed 8 folding bicycle arrived I have greatly increased my bicycle mileage typically doing about 120 miles a week commuting instead of taking the bus in. The Dahon is a 20" wheel folder so I have the option of bagging it up throwing it in the back seat or trunk and catching a ride with friends or taking the inter-city bus if I am tired, this hitch-hike-ability could be an important to a survivalist trying to cover long distances, perhaps even beating out the larger harder to stash 26" wheel folding bikes. The better Dahons come equipped with Schwable super long life tires, they have significantly longer wear life than most bicycle tires. Since this bicycle is ridden around four hours a day comfort is key, a quality narrow spring seat, alloy pedals, hand grips and multi position "horn" bar ends were upgraded since these were the places that my body interfaced with the machine. Good fenders and aluminum cargo racks front and rear let me carry my backpack on the front with the extra pack strap length secured with recycled inner tube rubber bands. I had straps added to my pack to secure my pack onto the front rack where I feel I have the best control. A useful feature of some Dahons is the seat post air pump which gives a long stroke floor pump inside the long seat post shaft. As for spares I carry an extra tube, LED headlight, tire levers, Rema Tip Top patches(by far the best), and a Crank Brothers folding bicycle multi tool, additionally I have 4mm and 6mm Allen wrenches on my key chain next to my Kryptonite bike lock key. During regular times I wear a bluetooth headset for my mobile phone and white LED forward headlamp and red rear LED flashers attached to the helmet, a yellow reflective safety vest makes me even more visible to drivers. A Glock Model 17 and two spare mags in a padded Michael's of Oregon ("Uncle Mike's) holster on my heavy leather belt is comfortable and has shown no complaint to my regular sweating on summer rides. During a two hour afternoon ride I consume about two liters of water and occasionally gulp down some salted honey I keep in a sports gel flask for an extra boost before a hill. Regular mountain commuting will wear on your brakes, a complete set of brake pads is a good idea to keep in your repair kit.
I have made several five day to one week trips in the last few years and in addition to the regular stuff I carry for commuting I also include:
-Stuffable semipermiable rain/wind jacket
-Two pair of wool socks
-Hennessey asym hammock
-MSR Whisperlite International stove
-Kerosene fuel bottle
-MSR cook set
-Military nesting silverware
-MMR-40 40 meter QRP kitted radio
-15deg F lightweight sleeping bag
Everything fits in a mountaineering day pack.
I find that beans and lots of rice supplemented by eggs for dinner and fresh fruit especially bananas for snacks keep me running strong all day if I am careful to pace myself, I also try to remember vitamins. Since I know that I will be eating large portions it makes sense to pack larger camp pots. Strong coffee seems to boost my cycling strength especially when traveling uphill, but a person should know how late in the day they can drink caffeine before it affects their quality of sleep. Caffeine also causes you to urinate more requiring additional water supply. Along with the Norwegian and Swedish armies, I use the fold-a-cup coffee cup. It is unbreakable and flexible.
Hydration is key, for commuting my regular 2/3 liter bottle and a 1.5 liter soft drink bottle is enough for commuting 1.5 to two hours with about 200 meter climb in the hot sun. More water bottles for longer trips can be carried in tight panniers on the rear rack. There are times where a very dilute fruit juice makes gulping down water easier. I refill my bottles at every opportunity. I carry an Aquamira filter squirt bottle for my bike bottle and purification tablets for using questionable irrigation or spring water.
I have previously in SurvivalBlog extolled the virtues of kitting together the very small (2/3 the length of a 600 page paperback book) and inexpensive MMR-40 radio. It provides 6 watts for CW or SSB PSK-31 digital mode has a range of up to several thousand miles [with favorable ionospheric conditions].
The Hennessey hammock is a wonder of simple engineering. The asymmetrical design lets a large person lay off-axis on his side without being forced into the parabolic curve of the hammock. Entry is through a slit in the bottom which snaps shut from the weight of the camper and a tough bug net is sewn to the whole hammock. There is a cord keeping the bug net off of the campers face hung from this is a mesh pocket for your glasses, phone, or headlight. The rain fly when attached kept me warm and dry through a few downpours, but if there is a possibility of strong wind the rain fly cords should be staked or weighted with water bottles else they might blow a flap of rain fly open to the rain depending how the hammock is hung. If it is cold more insulation or a sheet of closed cell foam will make up for the compressed insulation heat losses on the bottom of the hammock. The Hennessey hammock also makes a nice swing seat, if you have no big trees available. The instructions also show how to use the hammock as a one man tent using walking stick or saplings. As with any hammock be sure you are tied into live trees and not dead rotted snags which could fall and crush you. On the upside you need not worry about how steep the incline or rockiness of the terrain as you are hanging suspended.
I used to carry a small Triangia cook set including a brass alcohol stove, which is a tougher sealable version of the DIY soda can stoves. I have found these to be useful in their weight but the hazard of a tip over burning fuel spill combined with the price of alcohol fuel at the paint store lead me to keep this for ultralight expeditions and instead to use my MSR stove. The MSR Whisperlite
is designed for easy field maintenance as are most MSR products. The one main weak point, the pump stop, which has failed in a non critical way on all of my older MSR stoves, could allow foreign objects into the pump mechanism or loss of the piston, this has been upgraded to a much stronger design in recent years by MSR. I use kerosene due to the higher energy content over gasoline and the cleanest flame of fuels easily available to me in Israel. I carry a small bottle of alcohol to prime the stove, this leads to much less carbon accumulating on the stove, and quicker startups. (A tablespoon of alcohol fuel into the primer cup is enough to prime the stove most of the time.) Using the wind guard (very heavy aluminum foil) wrapped tight to keep the heat in the stove it primes and is ready to cook much faster, then the wind guard keeps the heat on my pots. I must also mention that MSR makes a repair/service kit
with most of the parts and tools to fix and maintain your stove even on extended outings. - David in Israel
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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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Squeezing Efficiency Out of Every Second of Your Workday to Provide Quality Relaxation Time, by KAF
Yes, I actually said relaxation. Are you finding yourself overwhelmed with chores, or frazzled and just flat out fatigued trying to accomplish everything you must do in a workday on the homestead?
I have recently lost my right arm support on my homestead. As all of you know who are practicing “prepper’s” of self-sufficiency, the Fall season, which by the way is my favorite, is almost equal to that of Spring in the number and intensity of the tasks and chores that must be performed in order to keep your slice of heaven on earth in sequence of the time cycle of Mother Nature. It’s time to close the garden and fields, and plant green fertilizer legumes or over-seed it with clover for the spring, overwinter and greenhouse enclose any vegetation you intend to keep through the next planting season, fertilize the fruit bearing trees in your orchard and prune back vines, the fruit bearing bramble bushes and your blueberries. Then there is the winter prep for animal housing, feed, mineral and fodder storage for wintering, getting that hay put up into the hay loft from the field, cut and stack cords of firewood, and attend to the fuel stores required that will be used over the long colder days which are approaching in short chronological ordering.
By that loss of support, I mean that my best half of my marriage partnership has unexpectedly been called to work performing medical duty on a base which is unreasonably too far to commute home daily. Thus, I am winging and carrying out the normal daily chores and tasks which had previously utilized 75% of my available waking hours already in performing productive homestead work. With his absence, I am now electing to pick up the difference of all the seasonal chores as well. At first, I admit with no shame, I was panicked and overwhelmed at just the thought of undertaking all our homestead chores alone. I prayed as I worked. Allot. I asked the Lord our God for strength, for physical durability and mental application of my wisdom and knowledge, and for fortitude. I set out on this journey to come up with a written task sheet showing myself exactly what must be done, when, and set realistic expected dates of target completion. What I have learned, and am still learning, with every step and breath I take, is that there are many useless, inefficient steps that we take every single day. We do them over and over because that’s the way we’ve always done them. Or, that’s the way a husband did them who could lift twice what I can, did them. Here are some examples of time and work saving issues I have addressed and corrected so far in this learning and revision process. This has really been a experience of self observation and revision of old work habits. Now I can say, “Yes, it can and will be done.” I have been sole paddling this canoe over and through the rough waters for 4 months now. It was not possible without reworking some old work habits and practices.
The initial first days and weeks I noticed just how many actual footsteps and trips I made going back and forth to the feed containers. It was numerous, a wasteful expenditure of my body energy and time consumptive. I never noticed it before, because there were two of us splitting that energy by half. I was also doing it in a leisurely manner. I immediately set out to rework the setup of my animal chores from what I observed and learned. The first revision made was physically moving those numerous 32 gallon galvanized containers of different feeds from one central feeding location, to the external walls next to each of the separate animal housing areas of our dairy goats, both nanny and bucks, which are separated by paddocks across a large field, and also for our guard dogs pen. This also included the poultry, duck, geese, and guinea fowl pens. We have separate securely penned housing for all the poultry, a “nursery” and their mama’s, due to the annual history of high fowl losses by predation of red foxes, and coons in the Fall. So, they all get penned up in the late summer and for overwintering. This one revision action has saved me 10 trips back and forth to one central feed location. I also used individual scoopfuls before for serving up each of corn, scratch grains, and sunflower seeds. I observed the pen floor. All those grains ended up mixed and thrown together by the poultry anyway. Why was I still scooping grain individually? Revision two, the grain, and seeds, and pellets, all go into one large 5 gallon bucket. One trip. Completed. Now my extra time is spent in observing the animals and pens for actual or potential problems that I need to address for them.
The poultry watering is obtained by a central well head pump and hose which is 30 feet from the pens in any direction. Each time I had to untangle a central hose and drag it around the yard to get to the pens. A 100 ft. run of Rubber hose is heavy! I installed a 5 head, split manifold on the spigot with a master shutoff. This now allows me to have numerous shorter hoses, (I cut the 100 footer into three shorter hoses using mending kits) at each pen location. No more carting 7 gallon waterier containers across the yard. [JWR Adds: For providing livestock water, getting an inexpensive automatic float valve
for each livestock tank is a tremendous labor saver. In warm climates these can be used year-round, but in cold climates, you'll have to remove them for the coldest months to prevent cracking in sub-zero weather.] Next, I installed an overhang shelter to protect each of the feeding stations. It keeps the rain, and snow which sometimes comes in winter off of me, and also shields the open feed containers from the weather while I’m scooping into the buckets. It also has given me an area to hang the tools that I use for each set of animals and I can keep a reserve bale of hay there as well. This saves me numerous trips and energy going back and forth to the barn. I installed a T-post pole mounted liquid soap dispenser at each of our watering locations. They used to be attached on the outbuildings. I attached a short hose extension to one of the vacant manifold outlets with a shutoff switch. This is used only for hand washing.
I observed and made instant mental note, as to how many footsteps I was taking to avoid or sidestep an object, large rock, or bush in the field or paddocks, or how many times I tripped over that same old stump sitting out the ground. Or, how many times I needed to open and close a gate latch. All of these can be revised or removed. I had the stumps ground. I moved field hay feeders closer to the fence, same with mineral blocks. I took out bushes.
The examples of revisions I have made toward a more efficient workplace are numerous and too many to list here. I hope you get the gist of this message in this process, so you can observe and create your own revisions of inefficient work habits or routines. It is truly an ongoing process and perpetual and continually refined and never static, toward an end goal target of your homestead efficiency success. Keenly observe what you do with your energy and time. Make each and every step you take count toward productivity and efficiency of both your physical energy and time expenditure, and you will find that you will get everything you must get done completed. After four months of reworking some old habits, practices, and farmstead layouts, we now have quality time left for us. When hubby does get to come home for a long 3 or 4 day stretch off in his schedule, we do some quality enjoyment functions and enjoy some relaxation together, or we tackle a planned project that absolutely requires two efficiently operating people to get it done.
Remember, and honor what the Lord God said, Genesis 2:2, "And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made".
Rest and Relaxation is the reward for all your hard earned work. Make plans for that rest as well as your work. May you all have a God Blessed and Happy Fall season!
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Bug Out and Refugee Considerations, by Brad T.
I'd like to shed some light on what it might be like to move across an unfamiliar area without money or adequate supplies. This might come in handy when you have to bug out following a natural disaster or other societal disruption. It might provide tips on how to avoid apprehension or detection while traveling. In addition, it might help you in determining a place for your retreat and anticipating refugees. Finally it might prepare you for some of the emotional and physical stresses you will face if you find yourself bugging out.
I live on the US Mexico border and there is a constant flow of illegal aliens and drug smugglers passing through and around my city. I live in the busiest area for smuggling drugs and people in the United States. Being a Border Patrol agent I also have up to date information on the trends and tactics illegal aliens and drug smugglers use to avoid detection and move to the interior of the United States. I have also tracked and apprehended countless groups of illegal aliens and drug smugglers. I will try to pass on some of my knowledge of how these people move from Mexico to the United States.
Most illegal aliens are extremely poor and are willing to walk through the desert for days or weeks, sometimes with small children. There are exceptions to this; most of these are drug smugglers. They have plenty of money, support vehicles, scouts and communication equipment. My focus in this article will be aliens that jump the fence and walk across the desert.
They mostly move at night without flashlights. During the day they sleep in clumps of trees or rocks or in caves. They seldom travel alone. Most are in groups of two to twenty. The guides have developed networks of trails and hiding spots to move through the desert. Some larger groups have several guides with one or more on a high ridge top to provide information about the movements of the Border Patrol or other people that will inform law enforcement of their location. The guides use cell phones or two way radios to communicate. They guide their groups to water in cattle tanks or streams. The groups can go for days without eating. When we apprehend a group in is common for them to tell us about dead bodies they passed on their way. They also tell us of injured or sick aliens that were left behind. Most of the apprehended aliens ask for food and water right away. When we give them food they eat ravenously.
In most cases the guides follow natural and manmade landmarks. The most obvious are game trails and dirt roads. They also follow canyons, natural gas lines, electrical power lines, railroad tracks, rivers and fence lines. For example a group will travel 50 yards off to the side of railroad tracks in thick brush. (This might be a factor to consider when choosing a retreat location. You don’t want groups of refugees traveling near your retreat because they are following railroad tracks or electrical power lines.) They seldom travel on high ridges because our cameras and radar will pick up their movements. They usually walk down trails with thick trees and bushes providing cover. They like to move through deep canyons with sandy washes at the bottom. Many trails military crest ridges where our cameras cannot see. When they must travel through flat open areas they might wait for hours until all the Border Patrol vehicles clear from the area before they continue.
During the summer they travel at night because it is cooler. If they have enough water they will continue during the day and only stop when they absolutely have to sleep or if they get heat exhaustion. Heat exhaustion affects your judgment and can lead to heat stroke and death very quickly. The best way to prevent this is to get out of the heat, drink plenty of water and reduce your physical activity. For some reason people with heat exhaustion remove their shoes. It does not occur to them to drink the rest of their water. I once found an alien under a tree nearly dead with a full bottle of water. When EMS arrived they had to give him four IV bags before he finally had to pee. It just shows how heat exhaustion can affect your judgment. Another time we found an alien sitting up with his legs crossed in the middle of a paved road with his shoes removed. He died sitting there waiting for a car to come rescue him. He probably did not realize that the blacktop in the sun is one of the hottest places for him to stop.
During the winter they walk at night because it is too cold to sit still. When there is no cloud cover the temperature can drop well below freezing. We use long range FLIR cameras and thermal imaging to locate groups. These cameras show small changes in temperature and you can actually see the cold air collected in valleys on still nights. A cow or rabbit shows up as a bright white spot on the screen because it is so warm compared to the surroundings. When groups stop on cold nights they usually stop at the military crest of a hill because the air is warmer at the top of a hill. During the day they sleep in areas hidden by trees and bushes. They huddle together to keep warm and many of the women get raped or assaulted. We find the "lay-ups" littered with empty food containers, water bottles, clothing and backpacks. There are some lay-ups that are so filled with junk it looks like you stumbled onto a landfill. This is also a common area to find dead bodies.
Part of my job is to search apprehended aliens for weapons or drugs. I have noticed they all carry the same items with very little variance. They are all wearing two or more pairs of pants and several shirts. I assume this is to avoid stickers and thorns and to keep warm. In the winter they have three or more pairs of pants and long sleeve shirts, sweatshirts and beanie caps. Their clothing is almost always dark colored. Most of the clothing is cotton and is very worn out. I have never caught an alien wearing Gore-tex or down. I can count on one hand the number of aliens I have caught wearing gloves.
Some of them have backpacks with meager supplies of food and water. The food is usually tortillas, bread and sometimes canned food. I have also seen quite a few aliens with Pedialyte. Other items include a cigarette lighter, plastic bag with raw garlic, identification cards, money and toilet paper. I am not sure what the garlic if for, maybe to keep mosquitoes away. When I ask them they usually just shrug and say they eat it. Some carry religious articles like rosary necklaces or virgin Guadalupe candles. This always amazes me they would carry a 2-pound candle for miles when they could have packed more food or water. Other items I find but not as often include cell phones, kitchen knives, medicine and pictures of family members. I have never found a flashlight, multi-tool, compass, GPS, duct tape or other items usually associated with a bug out bag. Most of the backpacks are very poor quality with one or more zippers broken. You would be amazed at how they patch, wire and tie backpacks closed when the zippers break.
The water containers you could find at a gas station, anywhere from quart to gallon size. If the aliens do not have a backpack they carry the bottles in their hands. Sometimes they tie two of them together and sling them over their shoulder. Some of the water bottles are painted flat black so they cannot be seen at a distance. If I catch the group far enough north where they have refilled their bottles from tanks or streams the water is very dirty. I don’t think they have the time or perhaps even the knowledge to filter it through a shirt. I have actually seen tadpoles and small water creatures swimming in water bottles of apprehended aliens.
One thing I will never get used to is the smell of twenty people that have traveled a week through the desert without a shower. I have located and apprehended a group at night using only my sense of smell. I am not joking. When we pile them in our transport vans the smell is overwhelming.
Most of them are dehydrated and most have cuts and scratches. By the time we catch them the cuts are infected. I once chased a group through a field of jumping cholla [cactus] at night. When I caught them they were covered in cactus spines. They had no tools to remove the spines so they were using fingers and teeth to try to remove them. Twisted and broken ankles are also common. Many of the women are pregnant. If they can get into the United States to have their children then those kids will be United States citizens.
It is amazing how many husbands leave their wives and children behind when their group gets chased by Border Patrol. The hardest thing to see is finding small children that were left behind. One day we found a six year old boy wandering through the desert because he became separated from his mom the night before. If was cannot find the parents the children are returned to Mexico and will end up in an orphanage. This kind of thing happens almost every day.
Another time we found a guy wandering around and he was almost delirious. He could barley talk and looked dazed. When we finally got him back to our station he did not want to eat or drink. He just sat on a bench and stared at the ground. He later told us that a week earlier he paid a guide to get him and his wife and three year old daughter into the United States. Once he crossed the border the guide hit him on the head and disappeared with his wife and daughter. He had spent the following week wandering around looking for his wife and daughter. I think that under such circumstances I would be a wreck too.
Some of the lessons I have learned from them: You can do much more than you think you can with much less. Using guides in unfamiliar areas is very valuable to avoid detection but don’t trust them. Also carry basic medical supplies and drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration. Finally don’t waste your money and time on useless items. If you have never hiked a trail at night without a flashlight you need to try it. It is amazing how much you can see and hear when hiking at night. Stop frequently and listen for 30 seconds at a time. One night I heard a noise that was over 30 yards away from me. I judged by the amount of noise it was a group of people. I went over to investigate and was surprised to find a slow moving tortoise walking over dry leaves. It is amazing how much sound a person walking makes.
I also have learned by experience that certain pieces of gear are essential for my job. Some of these I would discard if I was traveling cross country in a bug out scenario. I think weight would be the primary factor. When I go out in the field I always wear gloves to avoid scratches and cuts on my hands. I also wear eye protection, even at night. I once saw an alien that had his eye jabbed by a branch at night. It was horrible. I almost always have scratches on my face from walking down trails with thorns and branches coming across the path. I never use a flashlight unless I am tracking, and then it is only briefly. I carry small electrolyte packets with me and plenty of water. I wear long sleeve shirts. I also carry a GPS receiver, electrical tape, pocket knife and plenty of extra ammunition.
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Letter Re: Should I Buy Camouflage Web Gear?
Sir,
I’m looking at various load bearing equipment (LBE), spurred by today’s writing contest entry and several pro-gun friends who have been harping on my lack of LBE. They make the same point as you do – if you can’t carry it, why have it?
I see a lot of very nice, military or military-looking LBE equipment. Like a tactical vest with magazine pouches and hydration bladders and so forth. And I can get nice military or military-looking clothes (in [digital camouflage] ACU [pattern], for example). I drool over the cool looking gear.
However, other than the magazine pouches, most of the same equipment (hydration, backpack, medical kit, et cetera) can be bought from outdoor equipment stores. In non-military-looking forms. Think REI vs. ACU. [JWR Adds: For our foreign readers: REI is a major chain of outdoor gear stores that caters to the Sierra Club backpacking crowd, that sells lots of backpacks and parkas in colors like red and royal blue.]
So here’s my question: In a TEOTWAWKI situation, where you are moving to a safe(er) place because you had to leave your refuge or you are out gathering supplies/trading/patrolling, do you really want to look like a well-put together military man in matching ACU clothes and gear? All nicely kitted out in black, olive drab, or ACU ninja wear™… Or do you want to look like somebody in a civilian outdoor camping/survival clothes that just happen to conceal a LBE with mags etc.? Same even goes for your rifle – the all black ninja AR-15 is a nice useful gun (I love mine!), but can you dress one up to look more like a bolt-action hunting rifle?
It just struck me that perhaps being all Rambo looking has its downsides. Upside is you might scare bad guys off, downside is if I was observing from concealment, nervously, Commando-man vs. REI-man I might just rather shoot Commando man in the head from as far away as I can and I might just want to observe/talk to REI man first, all other things being equal. Not 100% rational, but certainly real… Less extreme, looking more ad-hoc put together in your equipment and dress certainly helps not imply you have plenty of food, ammunition, and other supplies hidden away somewhere. (That is, you look like less of a target…)
Doubly so if it’s not all the way to post-apocalypse TEOTWAWKI and I’m a law enforcement officer. - Hugh
JWR Replies: When buying CamelBaks
, rucksacks and various pouches, flat earth-tone colors are almost as effective as a printed camouflage pattern. I agree these solid color items are less likely to attract attention when walking down the street in "normal " times. If need be, you could always spray paint a few blotches and streaks of contrasting color, after the balloon goes up. OBTW, I avoid buying black nylon gear just as much as a I do red or blue, since solid black is not a color that is often found in nature. Remember to stock up on some cans of truly flat (no gloss) brown and green spray paint!
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Preparing for Uncertain Times--A Simple Guide to Getting Ready, by Mr. and Mrs. Joe Patriot
Introduction
Imagine this situation: All of the media outlets have gone to commercial-free coverage. They are reporting that the Dow has dropped 2,000 points and trading has been suspended on Wall Street. The Chinese, along with other countries have transferred their reserves from the US Dollar. Oil futures climb $50 a barrel in hours. A national bank holiday shuts down the financial system on Main Street. Within 24 hours the grocery stores are cleared out of all food stocks. The gas pumps dry up in 12 hours. Trucks delivering goods are stuck at truck stops waiting on fuel that may not be available in days; 18-wheelers that have enough fuel to get back home are doing so, with the trailer left on the side of the road. Inner city areas are turning into war zones with looting and random acts of violence occurring between rival gangs. The Interstate System becomes a parking lot with the suburbanites trying to “get out of Dodge” (G.O.O.D.). With no more fuel supplies people become stranded and forced to flee on foot, with panicked people who are usually rational and moral, now acting immorally and irrationally; doing what it takes to get their family to perceived safety.
Moral of the story is simple – given an emergency where you will be cut off from the comfort of the complex supply chain, utility grid, and police protection, could you take care of you and your family? Could you do it for a week, for a month, or even a year?
I know this has more than likely unnerved you. Do not panic! Simple planning can help you get where you can take care of yourself and your family. We are going to try to guide you step-by-step in your path to peace of mind. Look at this plan as purchasing an insurance plan. You pay hundreds per month to insure yourself and your belongings, and investing in preparations may be the best policy you ever purchase. This will be covered in several areas:
- Money
- Food Storage
- Security
- Self-Sustaining Lifestyle
It may be advised to keep your preparations confidential. Use discretion as much as possible when you make your acquisitions. Also note that there will be some sacrifice in making your targets. The items we are suggesting to buy in this document are costly, but remember what we said earlier about this being an insurance policy for the safety and security of your household. Try to think of others that may join you if they are displaced by a disaster. We will cover this in detail throughout this work.
Money/Finances
Most of the families in this country are trying to figure out how to make ends meet in these troubled times. The first thing you need to do is do a household budget with your family. You should put a total of what is coming in and the fixed bills that have to be paid out monthly. Write out your variable expenses for six months and see what you can cut to contribute to your monthly “insurance” expenses. There are many plans out there to help you with this. There are many ways to cut corners; you just have to be creative. 25-50% of the “insurance” fund should be used to pay down debt, with the remainder directed at your preparations. Use one month’s “insurance” allotment to purchase 90% pre-65 silver coins, which have intrinsic value with the silver content in them, or 1 oz. silver rounds from a recognized mint.
Water
Water is crucial for healthy living and survival. 80+% of the human body is water and must be replenished regularly. I human being can go on weeks without food, but without water, a person will perish in days. Each person will need three gallons of water per day to stay cleaned, fed, and hydrated. Invest in a high-quality gravity water filter. The British Berkefeld or Berkey Light (starting around $200) is recommended for its timeless design and filtration level. Rain collection and other sources of water must also be considered.
Food
In today’s just-in-time society, our logistics system is so finely tuned that the slightest hiccup in the system could cause massive trauma to the supply system. 3 days of delivery delays could interrupt the system for a month. How much food should be stored in reserve? Well, as much as space in your house and your pocket book will allow. 60 days will be your starting point. Remember to eat the elephant one bite at a time. Allocate an extra $30 per week to your grocery budget. Sit down with your family and make a list of what foods they enjoy to eat. Make a menu and look at the ingredients needed to make the dishes. Create a special storage area in a closet or basement for food storage. When you go to the grocery store by double the ingredients and put the excess in your storage closet. Keep an inventory and check off items when you meet your goal level for that particular ingredient. A starter list is included in this work.
If you have the funds, try to stock your shelf with freeze-dried foods designed for long-term storage. These are items are pricey, but worth it on that rainy day. If you have a Mormon contact, you can go to the Provident Living centers to can food at a reduced cost compared to other commercial sources.
Two Month Supply for Two People of Shelf Stable Grocery Store-Purchased Foods:
Starches (daily: 6 servings, 2 people/60 days: 720 servings)
12 boxes (10 packets ea.) instant oatmeal (120 servings)
6 lbs. rice (120 servings)
8 lbs. pasta (120 servings)
3 boxes instant potatoes (60 servings)
60 cans starchy vegetables (beets, carrots, corn, lima beans, sweet peas) (180 servings)
15 lbs flour (for baking bread) (120 servings)
Vegetables (daily: 4 servings, 2 people/60 days: 480 servings)
160 cans non-starchy vegetables (or 120 cans veggies & 20 jars spaghetti sauce)
(artichokes, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, green beans, yellow beans, wax beans, mushrooms, okra, spinach, tomatoes)
Fruit (daily: 3 servings, 2 people/60 days: 360 servings)
120 cans fruit (no sugar added)
Meats/Legumes (daily: 4 servings, 2 people/60 days: 480 servings)
30 (6 oz) cans tuna (90 servings)
12 (15 oz) cans salmon (90 servings)
15 (12 oz) cans chicken (90 servings)
15 (12 oz) cans turkey (90 servings)
15 (5 oz) cans ham (30 servings)
30 cans (or 7 lbs. dry) beans (90 servings) (kidney, navy, great northern)
Dairy (daily: 3 servings, 2 people/60 days: 360 servings)
6 (25 oz) boxes non-fat dry milk (enough to make 12 gallons)
or 16 (12.6 oz) cans NIDO brand dry whole milk (can be found in ethnic foods section)
6 lbs. Velveeta cheese
12 (12 ounce) cans evaporated milk
Other:
10 lbs. sugar
20 packages active dry yeast
4 (26 oz) containers salt
2 lbs. popcorn
4 jars peanut butter (40oz)
4 (32 oz) bottles vegetable oil
shortening
syrup/molasses/honey
jam/jelly
nuts
dried onions, garlic & other spices
large bottle of Multi-vitamins
Security
This is where people tend to get a little uneasy. Except for the sociopath and serial killer, humans instinctively do not want to harm their fellow man. However, in times where there are challenges, people will be likely divided into two categories:
- Good guys that work with their neighbors and others survive
- Bad guys that will do anything it takes to survive.
You must be prepared to handle the second group, either though evasion, repulsion, or attack. The only way to do this effectively meet this task is to arm yourself with knowledge and of course – the hardware needed for the job.
Firearms
First and foremost, firearms need to be looked at as tools. They can hurt you if you are not safe! Just as a chainsaw, ladder, or tractor, like all dangerous tools, firearms must be handled with respect, with all the safety guidelines followed. Firearm selection can be complicated, so here are some easy guidelines in selecting a firearm.
Calibers
Caliber refers to what round the firearm is chambered to shoot. It is recommended that you purchase firearms listed in the primary category:
- Handgun – 9mm; 45ACP
- Shotgun/Survival – 12 gauge;.22L
Secondary Calibers:
- Rifle – .30-06; 7.62x39mm
- Handgun – .40S&W; .357 Magnum(also shoots .38 Special)
- Shotgun/Survival – 20 gauge;.17 HMR
A lot of people who are new to firearms, or who have never thought of needing defensive firearms can get confused with all of the choices out there in the gun market. We will use the primary caliber list above as a starting point. If you own firearms, make a list of the caliber and type you have. Then inventory the ammo you have on hand for each firearm. Sell excess firearms that are not in the primary caliber list to create some extra funds to get what you really need in your defensive toolbox. Keep firearms chambered in Secondary Calibers as barter items or handouts to extra “help.”s
For those on a budget and new to firearms, purchase a used 12 gauge pump shotgun and a used .357 Magnum revolver from an individual if possible. Guns have service lives measured in tens of thousands of rounds, so it makes sense to buy used guns, to save money. Also, by buying used guns from private parties, in most states you can avoid creating a "paper trail".) Find a friend or coworker that is knowledgeable in firearms, do your homework, and get these guns first. The 12 gauge has quite a recoil (“kicks”) with heavy loads, but can be used on any critter with wings or legs (2 or 4); make sure to get a model of shotgun that can have an extended magazine tube installed on it. As for handguns, the .357 revolver is a formidable self-defense pistol and can also shoot the [less powerful and slightly less expensive] .38 Special cartridge. Make sure you also have a holster and some speed loaders. Along with 100 rounds each of Buckshot and .357 hollow points, purchase low-cost clay load 12 gauge shells for the shotgun and bulk packs of .38 and to inexpensively learn how to use your firearms. Practice safe use and handling of all firearms, and make sure all chambers are clear or cylinders empty while stored in a secured safe or metal gun cabinet. Always make sure a firearm is clear before handling, and not in the physical grasp of untrained/young children.
After you have your “starter” guns, make sure you have plenty of food for a couple months and water filtration, then start adding to your defensive tool box. Acquire firearms that are more suited for defending your perimeter and neighborhood. This can be pricey, but remember, you do not want to skimp on an item that might save your hide!
- Rifle – a rifle should be a magazine fed, self-loading weapon that can be easily handled and maintained by the individual.
- AR-15 Lightweight Carbine with M4 or Magpul stock
- 10-to-20 magazines per weapon
- Minimum 1,500 rounds of M193 ball per weapon
- Springfield M1A
- magazines per weapon
- Minimum 1,000 rounds of ball
- Handgun – Remember that a handgun is just to get you back to your rifle and to defend yourself in situations where a rifle is not appropriate.
- “Safe-acton" style in 9mm or .45ACP
- Glock
- Springfield XD
- Smith and Wesson M&P
- 1911 Variant in .45ACP
- Kimber
- Springfield Armory
- 50 magazine loads worth of ammo and 6-8 extra magazines per weapon
- Specialty – If you have the skills and the funds, it is wise to have a Varmint rifle handy for long range targets. There are many excellent choices out there, and is this is a custom weapon to the person; however, the author recommends .308 (7.62mm NATO) or .300 Winchester Magnum for the caliber
Equipment
You must have adequate gear to carry your extra magazines and survival gear. A plastic grocery bag just won't fit the bill. This is called load-bearing equipment (LBE). Purchase gear that fits you and your environment. Some manufacturers of high-quality gear include: Tactical Tailor, Spec-Ops Brand, and Maxpedition
24 Hour Kit – this is the equipment that is your base equipment you will wear while doing security patrols. It should sustain you for up to 24 hours in the field.
- Load Bearing Vest with appropriate pouches for your gear
- Rifle and 6-12 magazines
- Sidearms and 2-3 magazines
- Camelback hydration carrier – 2 liter
- FRS/GMRS Radio
- Survival Gear Pouch
- Gloves – Cold Weather and Heavy-Duty Leather
- Small Bible
- 24-hour food supply
- Water purification tablets/Water filter
- Mosquito net
- Poncho
- Gun cleaning kit (Otis Universal Recommended)
- 2 pairs of socks
- Camouflage bandanna
- Signal mirror
- Emergency blanket
- Small fishing kit
- Sewing kit
- Batteries
- Fire Starting Kit
- Matches in waterproof case
- Magnesium starter
- Starting Tender (dryer lint or cotton balls soaked in petroleum jelly)
- Camouflage face paint kit
- Knife Sharpener
- Quality surplus USGI pistol belt (usually attached to vest)
- Tactical Pistol Holster (optional)
- USGI Canteen (empty), with cover and cup
- Quality Fighting/Utility knife
- Quality LED flashlight with colored filters
- First Aid Kit
72 Hour Kit (Also known as the Bug Out Bag) – This is in addition to your 24 hour kit. As with the vest, his should be ready to go at all times. Rotate times that need to be rotated and do a gear check on a monthly basis.
- Small or Medium Daypack or Rucksack
- 3 MREs or similar trail-type food
- Spare ammo
- 1 – Set of clothes (camouflage for your area)
- 2 – Black, Drab Green, or Brown T-shirts
- 6 – Pairs of Socks
- Toiletries
- Mess Kit
- Sleeping bag – Winter
- Poncho liner – Summer
- Entrenching Tool
- Plastic Bags
- Scenario Specific Equipment
- Advanced Medical Supplies
- Bolt Cutters
- Long Distance Two-way Radios
- Entry Tools
- Heavy Wire Ties
- Large Wire Cutters
- Rappelling Line and accessories
- Barter/Charity Goods
- Hatchet/Machete of some type
Make sure first off the pack you select fits you well, is durable (no Chi-com knockoffs), Drab in color (florescent colors and reflective stripes are a no-no). Make sure the straps are of modern ergonomic design and you have a chest and belly band the fits you will over clothing. The better the fit of the bag, the less fatigue you will endure.
Put your gear on and make sure it fits well. Go to a private location and test your gear out. Try to simulate being in the field. 99% of your activity in a disaster is gathering food and keeping yourself going, however you will need to periodically do a scouting patrol around your property to see what is happening, check on distant neighbors, etc. You need to make sure you can haul on your person every item you need to operate in the field for 72 hours.
Wearing this kind of gear around is very fatiguing. If you are not in shape now, you will get in shape when the time comes. Make sure you can eliminate weight at every opportunity. Examples include carrying hotel size soap bars or slices of soap instead of a whole bar; a lightweight one-man tent instead of a three-man tent; sawing a toothbrush in half; etc. Anything to lighten the load, do it.
Self-Sustaining Lifestyle
If you made it through this work so far without throwing it in the trash or deleting it from your computers, thank you. I bet the wheels are turning in your head. Do not panic or get overwhelmed. The point of this work from the first letter is to give a broad overview of what steps you need to take to become a more self-sufficient American. I know that the cost of items freak you out. Think about it as spending your money while it is worth something. A simple breakdown in the monetary system could invalidate years of savings. Make it where you are comfortable in the future and do not become a casualty. The biggest issue faced in a disaster situation is comfort. However, if you have a comfortable place to sleep, food to eat, and water to drink you will thrive in hard times.
Shelter
A survivalist thinks they will hit the woods and live off the land. A good majority of these people will not make it due to exposure and lack of clean food and water. A thrivalist makes plan A to go to the well-stocked retreat (which may be home) and ride out the storm. The thrivalist can also live in the woods, but it is strictly plan B. The best place to remain is in what you know intimately – your home and surrounding area.
Bug Out or Stay In?
This will be a difficult choice for you to make. This is strictly the opinion of the author, but you should plan to avoid major cities during this time of crisis. In other words, if you live in an urban/suburban area become good friends with someone like mind and a tank of gas away or if you live in the country, plan to stay in and make room to have extra permanent guests if a catastrophic event happens to our nation. Whatever choice you make, you will need more people than just yourself. You will need a team of folks to sustain your Area of Operation (AO). This is where the purpose of this document ends. You have to use the gifts God gave us – intuition, critical thinking, gut feeling, etc. – to plan out exactly what you are going to do.
Some suggested helpful links:
Survivalblog.com
Alpharubicon.com
Frugalsquirrels.com
efoodsdirect.com
Readymaderesources.com
Freezedryguy.com
AWRM.org
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Real-Life Inspiration for Preparedness, by K.P.
Background Information:
My interest in preparedness started in earnest really just a few months ago. Before that, I had been an avid backpacker, rock climber, and other sports which require self-sufficiency and forethought. I am also a Red Cross volunteer. I was at hurricane Wilma, and I have done local search and rescue, amongst other things. This February I was dispatched to the south-western region of Kentucky for the Ice Storms. What I learned there changed me in a lot of ways.
I was aware of the pending economic collapse, but hadn't really thought of practical things to do until then. As a pre-1840s Re-enactor, I was pretty sure I could comfortably live in a pre-industrial setting. A little hubris, maybe, but at 23 sometimes that goes with the territory.
While we drove into Kentucky, parts of it looked like a war-zone. Downed trees and power lines, roofs collapsed, the whole deal. It was a long drive, and it really set in for us how serious this was. People's lives were on the line.
There were three FEMA gas depots throughout the State, but FEMA did next to nothing to help here. Without electricity, the pumps at the gas station will not work. Some place had hooked up diesel generators to power the pumps if they could, and very few business that were still open would accept anything but cash.
When we arrived in the small town to which we had been dispatched, we found that the Red Cross volunteers at the shelter had not slept for any normal amount of time in close to 8 days. At the height of the storms our shelter slept 150 people.
We gave the local volunteers a needed break, and worked 20-hour days. It was rough; but anyone who has been in that situation knows it can very rewarding as well. We served 800 hot meals a day, gave out pallets upon pallets of MREs and uncounted bottles of water.
The grid-water had been contaminated, so bottled water was really all the people could drink or wash with if they didn't have a very, very deep well, even then they were on a boil-alert. If your house did not have a wood burning stove, then you were sleeping with us. All together the power and gas were out, in some places, for more than 20 days.
That's the background and the quick version of events which eventually led to my interest in this area.
On to the practical details that I learned. First and most important was this: when the trucking lines break down, within two or perhaps three days, every store will be sold out of all dry food. That means, that if you don't have at least two weeks worth of food stored up, you'll be visiting me at the Shelter.
We slept (at out busiest day) 150 people in the shelter. No electricity, no gas, no water. We're talking serious survival kind of situations. In talking with the people there, excluding the elderly, the main reason people could not stay in their homes was heat. If you had a wood burning stove, you were basically fine. You could get by.
FEMA had a recording when you called them, that gave the residents the Red Cross local number. They did such unhelpful things as tell people we were giving our generators, gasoline, and kerosene. Things that to my knowledge the RC has never done, and we were not doing. FEMA had fliers telling people the could free food if they needed it. Supposedly they actually gave out about 1000 meals, but after that they referred people to us.
Lesson learned here: Do not, under any condition, assume FEMA or any other government agency will help you. Help yourself, and help your neighbors.
When I got back from Kentucky, I started to put the things I had seen in order. I started to mentally make lists of the things I would need when this situation came to my neck of the woods. I did not want to be in the shelter when (not if) something happened near me.
The main reason I saw in this specific situation was heat. So I planned on picking up at least two working wood burners. Then came water, then came food, and in a long-term scenario: barter.
Heat:
My house has a fireplace, and although that is not very efficient, in a pinch it would do until I can find the kind of stoves I really want. So I moved on to next item.
Water:
Water was pretty easy. I have a couple of streams on my property, and I can collect rain water. Some friends and I built a gravity-fed purification system. We modified two used beer kegs that we bought very cheap to hold water on top and bottom. We connected them with a 4 foot long stainless steel pipe with a very fine metal mesh at the bottom and filled with activated charcoal. When the water is first put through a matrix of gravel and varying degrees of fine sand, then through this system, you get very, very pure water. We believe it to be near laboratory-grade water. In fact, this system is just a scaled up version of a purifier at out local pharmaceutical company.
The benefit of using kegs is two-fold. First, they are readily available almost anywhere, and two they are stainless steel. I suppose you could also pretty easily convert this into a still if you so desired, for barter or producing barter-goods.
I have been working on something called an Archimedes' Screw to help move the water. It is basically a screw inside a cylinder. When a mechanical force is applied to the screw to turn it, either by hand, modified bicycle, or wind turbine, the screw pulls water up the cylinder, from a low place to a high place. This is not finished yet, so I cannot give it 100% clearance, but the theory seems sound.
Food:
Food takes a bit longer. I started by ordering some 6-gallon mylar bags and a couple packages of 500cc oxygen absorbers. I went to the local Big Box store, the kind that has a bakery inside, and asked if I could have their used 5-gallon buckets with lids. They were happy to help; and they were free. I cleaned them by alternating a bleach wash, a salt wash, and a vinegar with lemon juice wash. That got all of the icing smell out of the buckets. That step was more my OCD then a necessity, since the mylar will keep anything from being contaminated. Although I thought this might reduce the likely hood of insects poking around my buckets...
Place a mylar bag in a 5-gallon bucket. You want 6-gallon bags so you can press all the air, and seal the very end. This allows you to re-use the bags several times. Fill the bag with about 5 gallons of rice, beans, powdered milk, lentils, noodles, red winter wheat... whatever you are storing. Seal about 9/10's of the bag with a clothes iron being sure to leave room for your O2 absorbers to fit though; I like to make a two-inch seal. Grab the bag and lift it and shake it a bit to allow the contents to settle some, pressing the air up towards your seal.
You'll want to do several of these at once, because as soon as you open the O2 absorbers, they start working. I put the unused one in a zip-lock bag which I suck all the air out as I seal it. I also put in the tester pellet that comes with the absorbers so I know if they are good or not.
So let's say you are putting up five buckets. Each bucket gets ~2000cc worth of O2 absorbers. If you bought 500cc packs, that would be four per bucket for a total number of 20. Feel free to err on the side of caution here, if you are using some stored in the zip lock bags. The extra costs of the materials is drastically outweighed by the value of the stored food. If I have had the O2 absorbers exposed to air more than once, I toss in an extra one, more than twice, I toss in two extra, and I have never had any done more than that.
You want all your buckets prepped for final sealing before you open your O2 absorbers, for obvious reasons. I usually ask for a hand with this next stage to allow me to move as quickly as possible with as little exposure to general environmental air for the absorbers.
So, toss in your 4 absorbers, press out as much of the air as you can, and finish off the seal. I like to make my seals 2 inches thick, and again I use a clothes iron. I use a large dictionary with a wooden cutting board on top to make this seal. Snap down the lid of the bucket.
The bucket is necessary to protect the mylar. Although the mylar bags are strong in the sense that they can bear a lot of weight, pressure, or vacuum, they are highly susceptible to puncture.
Once all your buckets contain O2 absorbers and are sealed with lids on, take clear packing tape and put a long strip on the lid. I write the date I packed the bucket, the approximate storage life, the contents, and the weight/volume. I stack the buckets off the ground three-high.
Keep in mind that every dollar you spend here is worth many multiples of that in the future. Even if we are all wrong on the possibility of Schumeresque Scenarios, think of the money you will save just because of inflation.
Now, speaking of money. If you spend $20 for 50 pounds of rice today, and three years from now, you could sell it for $100; if you did not do your storage well, you're out $100 plus the cost of storage materials, not $20. So make sure that you do it carefully. You can also rotate out and in new stock.
Bartering:
No one (or at least not me) has the resources/time/etc to put into long-term storage everything they need for the rest of their lives. Eventually bullets and beans run out. So, you will need something to trade.
I like [non-numismatic pre-1965] junk silver, and one-ounce silver coins/bars. In my mind, these would work for direct bartering: things like mason jars, food, animals, ammunition, whatever. Flea markets are a great place to pick up small amounts of junk silver if your budget does not allow for larger purchases, like $500 or $1,000 face-value bags.
If we find ourselves in a prolonged period of hyperinflation like the Former Yugoslavia experienced (more on this later), then we might want to hedge our bets. You could buy a few 10-ounce silver bars, with the intent to sell them for the hyper-inflated currency before the bottom drops out to purchase needed items. Just a thought.
One could lay up, mason jars, paraffin, salt, sugar, alcohol, tobacco; lots of things for barter. There is also the good old stand-by, ammunition. My concern with ammo for barter, is that you might not know what that ammo is going to be used for, nor know for sure it will not be used against you or someone else. I do see the incredible versatility and all the good reasons for an ammo-based barter system. So do what you like.
The other event that really sent a lot of this home for me was a 6-week stay in Serbia. Listening to stories about how people would smuggle in gas during the embargo, buy any solid good while the money was worth something, and generally do everything they could to survive really had an effect on me. At the height of the crisis, they had 37% inflation per day culminating in the issue of the 500 billion Dinar note. This was of course fifteen to twenty years ago, but the scars are still visible. Belgrade did not demolish or clean up any of the damage done during the 1999 NATO bombing. The Serbs see that every day.
There is a quote I like, that many of you may know that I feel is appropriate here:
"History has shown us that government leaders often ignore the fundamental fact that people demand both dignity and freedom. Stripping motivated people of their dignity and rubbing their noses in it is a very bad idea." - John Ross, Unintended
Consequences
[JWR Adds: This otherwise excellent novel was marred by some vulgarity and
gratuitous
sex scenes. Beware!]
Back to the practicals...
People stocked up on silver, charcoal, wood burning stoves, anything that could be a store a value and increase their chances of survival. Another interesting happening was the use of checks. Checks in Serbia and the Former Yugoslavia are all printed with a maximum amount. Usually 5,000 Dinars, (about $70 in today's Dinar/ Dollar exchange rate). So, if you had a business, you are issued a certain number of checks each month. What happened during the crisis is interesting. The checks were spontaneously monetized.
Here is and example of what I mean. I write a check for 5,000 Dinars, but I don't address it to you. You give me the goods for the check. Then, instead of cashing the check at the bank, you give it to someone else for your needs. This usually went on, especially in very small towns for up to four months before my account was drawn for the amount.
This also had the benefit of me being able to write a check I might not have had the money to back it right away, so it was like credit for me, and cash for you. This doesn't happen anymore in Serbia, by the way.
Although I imagine I'm preaching to the choir, I know from my own experiences that it's easy to get down, and disheartened. But don't fret. Get to work, lay in your stores, and every day do at least one practical thing that increases your and your family's chance of survival. Keep your powder dry.- KP
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Letter Re: Advice on Water Barrel Pumps
Mr. Rawles,
Thank you for the blog and the consistency of information that you provide on a daily basis, it is greatly appreciated. In response to the inquiry of water barrel pumps: I have had good luck with this rotary drum pump. They are extremely smooth and easy to operate and I am able to empty a 55 gallon drum of water in quick time. I can not speak as to its longevity since I have not had it long, but it appears to have been constructed well. I recently ordered the one I own to try out and am planning on buy a couple more since we all know that two is one and one is none.
Thank you again for your work with the blog and our prayers are with you and your family. May God's peace and love be evident and sufficient during this time. - James W. in Houston
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Letter Re: Advice on Water Barrel Pumps
Hello,
I am in Houston, Texas, and I just purchased two 55-gallon plastic drinking water drums here semi-locally, but my problem is that the pumps were not included! I am wondering if you have some you are selling, or you could tell me where to get several of them. The threaded openings are 2 inches in diameter, and the drums are just short of three feet deep. I'm looking for hand-operated pumps, of course, not electric! Could you please get back with me on this? Thank you! - Donna C/
JWR Replies: I've had good experiences with Pacer drum pumps
. BTW, I've heard that the less expensive pumps that are widely available are not nearly as sturdy, and are far more likely to crack and fail.
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Preparedness Beginnings, by "Two Dogs"
I am a retired Marine Corps officer and Naval Aviator (jets and helicopters), commercial airplane and helicopter pilot, and most recently, an aircraft operations manager for a Federal agency.
I graduated from numerous military schools, including the U.S. Army Airborne (“jump”) School, U.S. Navy Divers School, Army helicopter, and Navy advanced jet schools. In addition, I have attended military “survival” courses whose primary focus was generally short-term survival off the land, escape from capture, and recovery from remote areas. Like most Marine officers, I attended The Basic School, an 8-month school (only five during the Vietnam era – my case), which is still designed to produce a second lieutenant who is trained and motivated to lead a 35-40 man platoon of Marines in combat. This course covers everything from field sanitation to squad and platoon tactics, artillery and other ordnance delivery, communications, reconnaissance, intelligence, firearms training, and much more. Later, I attended the Marine Amphibious Warfare School and the Command and Staff College, both follow-on schools and centered upon the academic study of tactics and strategy as they applied to the missions of the Marine Corps. I flew helicopters offshore in the Gulf of Mexico and across the U.S. I found out first hand how thoroughly corrupted is the federal bureaucracy and the government, in general. Not a pleasant experience. I’d rather have been flying. I have bachelor's and master's degrees.
As a result, my wife of forty years and I seem to have been moving endlessly from place-to-place. Nevertheless, I have tried in each place to do what I could to maintain a level of self-sufficiency for my family that varied greatly with locations and personal finances. My intention here is to try to share some of the less-than-perfect ways that I have tried to accomplish that end.
Only in the last few years, primarily as a result of the political and fiscal situation in the U.S., have I begun reading some of the huge amounts of literature about how one can prepare for serious long-term off-the-grid survival. I have found that the preparation required to be ready for that contingency seems to be endless. I do not want to talk about all of those preparations. Others have done so very well, and besides, I’m not there, yet. What I would like to do is to talk to those, perhaps like me, who are not true survivalists in the commonly referred-to sense, but who are genuinely concerned about the future of this country, and might desire, like me, to begin to prepare. Perhaps my elementary and simplistic efforts might be of help to someone else who is beginning to think about the subject of preparedness. There are many scenarios that might require this, but the two that I am thinking most about are economic collapse and electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack. I’m building small Faraday boxes, but not doing much else for EMP.
My thinking on begins with my own estimation of the basic problems: shelter, water, food, fuel, and security. I view these as the most critical needs, whether living in a tent or other outdoor shelter or here in our rural home in West Virginia. Here I have and often take for granted what I have -- shelter, well water, a small stream, a pond, a rain barrel; canned, dried, frozen, and freeze-dried foods; fuel for the generator and portable stoves, kerosene heater and lanterns; factory-made and reloaded ammunition for any one of several firearms. Edible plant books. Gardening books. Encyclopedia of Country Living-type books. Reloading books. Hunting books. Tracking books. A few novels devoted to the “what ifs” of the future, including Jim Rawles' excellent "Patriots:
A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse"
, for example. Books to fill an entire bookcase. The Boy Scout Field Book sits right there next to the military survival manuals, as do Tom Brown's Field Guides, the The Foxfire Book series, a canning book, field medical books, and quite a few others.
Those are the basic things about which I think. I have been thinking about them for quite a while, in fact, longer than I even realized. Perhaps I’ve been thinking about them ever since I was a young lad. For example, my very first “survival book” was the Boy Scout Field Book, the original of which I still have (circa late-1950s edition). It is still a great reference if one is looking for an all-in-one manual for starting fires, making simple shelters, recognizing game tracks, tying knots, and much more. I note that it is still available on Amazon.com. (It’s probably been scrubbed to favor the politically correct, but don’t know [JWR Adds: Yes, I can confirm that unfortunately it has been made politically correct--with the traditional woodcraft skills showing any injury to innocent and defenseless trees duly expunged. So I advise searching for pre-1970 editions!] ) One does not necessarily need the SAS
Survival Handbook
or the U.S. Army survival manual. I have them and have read them. They do cover security problems, but then don’t cover other topics. Alas, there appear to be no “perfect” manuals, and the Boy Scout Field Book is no exception. But it’s not a bad beginning. And so I was beginning the journey even before I knew that I was.
I think that my first education in “survival” came at about fourteen. That’s when I first shot a .30-06, an old [Model 19]03 Springfield. It pretty much rattled my cage. Mostly, my older brother and I used to track and shoot small animals in the deep woods of Missouri as youngsters. We were “issued” ten rounds of .22 LR ammo by our father, a retired USAF pilot, to be used in a bolt action, single shot, .22 rifle with open sights. One would be surprised what that meager handful of loose ammunition could do for one’s choice of shots, one’s ability to be patient in waiting for the shot, and for one’s great satisfaction at having brought home six or eight squirrels for the cooking pot, having used just those ten rounds – and sometimes, but not often, less. My point is that the knowledge of firearms is, in my view, basic to the notion of preparedness and in surviving in the wild. And it need not be exotic or overly complicated in nature. One can surely attend modern schools that will teach one to double-tap a cardboard target or silhouette at seven yards with a semi-auto pistol, as well as basic and advanced tactical rifle courses, but very basic survival skill with a rifle can be had without much cost if one is committed to learning the skill and if one disciplines oneself. Start with only one round, and work up from there. As Col. Jeff Cooper used to say, “Only hits count.” In a purely off-the-grid survival scenario, I can envision that .22 LR rounds would be very precious, indeed.
Consequently, and even though I own handguns and rifles that will shoot .45 ACP, .44 Magnum/.44 Special, .357 Magnum/.38 Special, .380 ACP, .223, .25-06, .270, 7mm-08, .308, .7.62x39, .30-30, .30-06, and .45-70/.457 WWG Magnum (a wildcat), I shoot a .22 rifle and pistol more than all of the others, combined, and normally at least twice a week. And I’m hoarding them, as well as shooting them. I have the capability to reload all the calibers (except .22 LR/Magnum, of course) above, as well as shotgun ammo in 12 and 20 gauge. I wasn’t really thinking of “survival” when deciding to do this about twenty years ago, but was interested only in having the capability to shoot more, and to do it more cheaply. Yet it appears that much of that ammo could be used for barter. I had never even considered this until reading some of the recent “survival novels.”
My apologies. I’ve wandered into the weeds here, as I could do forever on my favorite subject. Suffice it to say that whatever firearm one chooses – and make no mistake, one is necessary in my opinion -- there are all kinds of reasons to choose one over the other, depending on the situation and the person. One must endeavor to shoot it well. Owning a firearm is of almost no consequence, at all, unless it is properly employed. Personally, I prefer a M1911 .45 ACP pistol and a 7.62 M1A SOCOM, while my wife is comfortable with the milder .38 [S&W] revolver and 20 gauge. pump shotgun. I won’t even begin to get into the debate over .223 vs .308 and 9mm vs. .45 ACP. Suffice it to say that in Vietnam I had the opportunity to see the effects of all of these, and I chose for my own security the .308 and .45 ACP.
Having got my favorite subject out of the way, I’ll talk about one that is likely even more important. Water. It is amazing how complicated this can be, and how many choices one has to solve this problem. I have not yet solved it. I have put up a rain barrel, and plan to get a couple more. It’s amazing how rapidly a 55 gallon barrel will fill in even a moderate thunderstorm. I got mine from Aaron’s Rain Barrels. http://www.ne-design.net/. I’ve camo-painted the first one to make it recede into the bushes that surround it.
We have a very shallow stream down the hill that I need to dam so that it keeps only about a foot-or-two deep pool for gathering some water. It flows into a large pond, of which we own half (The owner of neighboring property owns the other half.). But that’s over a hundred-yard trek downhill with empty buckets, and the same distance uphill with full ones. Now, while that is okay for a backup, in my thinking, because I’m going on 63 years, I prefer to have something closer. So my next “big” purchase will be a Simple Pump that allows one to drop a pump and pipe though one’s existing well casing down to below water level and extract water by means of a hand pump or DC motor attached to a battery which, in turn, will connect to a solar panel. This is much, much cheaper than a Solar Jack. At $1,200 for the hand pump capability (I’ll add on the DC and solar later), it’s a bargain, for me. See: http://www.survivalunlimited.com/deepwellpump.htm.
I’m not recommending it for anyone, yet, as I haven’t got one. It has plenty of good reviews, and I’m willing to try it. My apologies, but I am just talking about how I, for one, intend to solve my “water problem.”
I’ve also started collecting clear plastic soda bottles for use in Solar Disinfection (SODIS), see; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_water_disinfection. I’ve set up a rack for putting out the bottles in a sunny place. Again, that’s a backup, but I’ll use it.
I have bought three different water filtering devices, the best of which is the Swiss-made, all-stainless Katadyn Pocket Microfilter. It works wonders in that shallow stream and pond down the hill.. [JWR Adds: The same Katadyn filter model is available from several SurvivalBlog advertisers. They deserve your patronage first, folks!]
With the exception of the Simple Pump, these solutions are relatively cheap and effective, if not producers of great volume. So far, they are what I’ve come up with.
I won’t go much into the food problem. It isn’t quite as complicated as the water problem. I’ve either got to have it [stored], grow it, or kill it. I’ve started storing all kinds of Mountain House freeze dried #10 cans (with expiration date dates in 2034), two-serving meals from Mountain House (expiration dates circa 2016), and numerous grocery store-type canned foods (expiration a couple years), in addition to dried beans, rice, Bisquick (sealed in plastic bags with desiccant inside), salt, sugar (Domino, which are sold in one-pound plastic tubs), olives, peanuts, wheat, etc. Basically hit-or-miss, so far. I need to get this “food problem” organized and do it right. But it’s a start. I think we’ve got only about a 60-day supply now, for two.
I’ve got two Coleman two-burner stoves. One is a butane stove, and the other a dual fuel (white gas or unleaded gas), as well as several small backpacking stoves, the best of which is a MSR Whisperlite International
, which uses virtually all fuel (unleaded, white gas, kerosene, diesel, and maybe even corn oil). I was heavily into backpacking when we were stationed in Hawaii in the late 1970s, and still have all the gear. After having one knee replacement and hedging doing another, I’ll not be backpacking if I can help it. Nevertheless, I have two bug-out bags with essentials in them, ready to hit the trail if need be. I’ve saved up and bought two good Wiggy's bags and a couple of his poncho liners.
Concerning backpacking stuff, I can recommend a book that I read back then called The Complete Walker, by Colin Fletcher. I haven’t read it in at least a decade, but its import is such that I remember much of it. He emphasizes simplicity in gear. That is to say, don’t pack a tent if you can get by with a tent fly – which you cannot in cold weather. I’ve still got my old three-season tent, but am saving up for a four-season. And he emphasizes: don’t worry about pounds – worry about ounces. That is to say, if one is packing tea bags, remove the labels from the bags. Ounces. Remove all packaging material unless it is absolutely necessary (usually never). Don’t carry a “mess kit,” nor a knife, fork and spoon set. A spoon will do (I’ve done it) along with a pocket knife. Now I have so many knives of so many types that I can’t remember them. Personally, I’d go for a multi-tool. But it’s heavy. I never used to carry a weapon while backpacking. Of course, it was (and is) illegal in Hawaii, but I think one would be remiss in not doing so today. There was so much good advice in that book that helped me in the USMC, if nothing more than when packing my helicopter before a mission, or a car, trailer, or truck to move across the country. “Think ounces, not pounds.” I always think about Mr. Fletcher’s advice when I pack.
Anyway, I think I’ve got the camping stove angle covered in spades. That is, until the fuel runs out. Same goes for kerosene heater and lanterns (5). My plan is to pull out our pellet stove and replace it with a free-standing wood stove. Pellets are nice, but they must be bought, and the price is getting exorbitant, according to my pocket book. They likely will be non-existent in a crunch.
I connected a 12,000 Watt/50amp gasoline generator when we moved into this house nine years ago, as I have with every house in which we’ve lived for the last two decades. I’ve got it wired through a transfer box to the circuit-breaker panel, a job that I did myself. It works, and it’s safe. The main reasons for having this were to run the 220V[olt AC] well water pump and to run the refrigerator and our free-standing freezer during power outages. But I’ve got it wired, anyway, to nearly every circuit in the house, except the other 220V appliances – water heater and heat pump. It is somewhat selectable. That is to say that I can choose which circuits I want to power by engaging or disengaging the switches on the transfer box. The problem is that it uses gasoline. So in a long-term outage it would soon become useless. I’ve had the propane gas company come out to estimate what it would cost to get a dedicated 100 gal propane tank for the generator. It would be about $500, but then, in addition to the 50+ gallons of gasoline, butane tanks, and white gas that I keep stored in a separate outbuilding, it would make a great explosion when hit with a tracer round.
Which brings me to the subject of security. We live in a split-level home on about ten acres of forest. The property is surrounded by other similar-sized properties of seemingly like-minded individuals. I gleamed this because everyone out here shoots. The sweet sound of gunfire can be heard at times in a full circle. West Virginia, at least, has still got its priorities straight in this regard. But I digress. This is a frame house with half of it below ground in front, but framed in back, which faces the forest. The forest, itself, is a maze of downed pine trees blown over by the wind, interspersed with small saplings, vines and low brush. Not a likely avenue of approach for anyone but the most determined. For those who are determined, the downed trees would make excellent cover and concealment. So I have a security problem to solve there, as well as at the front.
I’ve started buying rolls of barbed wire and baling wire. Unfortunately, I do not have access to dynamite, which we used to be able to buy in a hardware store in the 1960s. We used it back then to blow stumps while clearing the land for our house. I am thinking of buying a bunch of used railroad ties to build cover in the back; I’ve thought also of bricks and sandbags. Problem is we’re reaching the point in all of this where the house would begin to look like a fortress, of sorts, to all but the most ignorant observers. So there’s a line here concerning security versus “normalcy” that I must cross sooner or later. Inasmuch as my wife is a few years older than I and is on constant medications, I’m afraid that finding a retreat (if we could even afford one) would be out of the question, as access to doctors, hospital and pharmacy are a necessity. Nevertheless I’ve got the bags packed and gear ready to throw into the pickup (Toyota 4x4 – like to have one of those older model American trucks, but I think they are getting rare, at least around here. And what there are will likely go to the Cash for Clunkers Program….grumble, grumble. What will they think of next?).
So it looks to me as if we are here for the duration of the crisis, or sooner, if they try to take the guns from my cold, dead hands. Speaking of, I still have to build a cache or two for guns and ammo and a few other necessities.
And since I’ve more-or-less made that decision (here for the duration), I’ve thought of organizing the apparently gun-loving neighbors. I’ve begun to buy walkie-talkies, if not field phones and commo wire. I’ve got solar panels and several batteries (need to get a mega deep cell or two, however) to run the small battery chargers and the CB radio. My shortwave is up and running.
I will have to wait to talk to the neighbors, whom I rarely see, much less know. I can just imagine the words that would come out of their mouths if I were to mention to them the notion of forming a security “company” and establishing a perimeter. “That old retired Marine down the road is nuts!”
So that’s what I’ve got to say. I do hope it at least stimulates some thought for those who are starting out trying to prepare, as I am. All of this shows me that one “problem” in this “survival” business leads to several more, and they in turn lead to even more problems. Lots to do. So I’m glad I’m retired. I’ve got time to think about it. If I were rich, I could do a lot more and likely in a far away place, but as it is, we do with what we have. I have to use the lessons taught to every Marine: Improvise, Adapt, Overcome.
Long Live America. Keep the Faith. - “Two Dogs”, Col. USMCR (ret.) in West Virginia
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Community Disaster Recovery--Asking the Right People the Right Questions
I was pleased to see this post over at the Mountain Steps blog: A letter to our county commissioner about emergency preparation for hyperinflation. It is commendable to make such inquiries, but it is essential to ask detailed questions. Especially when contacting elected officials, vague, general questions tend to elicit vague, general answers, and hence most likely no action will be taken.
It is also essential that you do some research first, to direct your inquiry letter or phone call to the right individuals. Flunkies don't create or change policy, they just implement it. You need to direct your letter to someone that has the authority to make policy, and has the budget to implement it. (In some cases, this will mean separate contacts to whomever controls the purse strings.)
I recommend that you ask detailed questions, such as:
Do you have a back-up generator, and how many days of fuel do you keep on hand? What is your contingency plan to implement before that fuel runs out?
Can you continue to operate without grid power? If not, then what contingency plans do you have?
Is the city's water supply gravity fed, from end to end? If not, then what contingency plans have been put in place to provide water to utility customers, in the event of a grid power interruption longer than 48 hours?
And ask:
Are electrically-pumped filters used, or traditional gravity filters?
Then, if you discover that the water system is mostly via gravity, but it uses electric pumps only for pressurized filtration, then ask: If electrically-pumped filters are used, then has a disaster contingency waiver been established with the USEPA, (for turbidity and other standards), to allow bypassing of filters in the event of a grid-down emergency situation?
Similarly detailed letters or phone inquiries should be made to your local irrigation district, your fire department, power utility, phone companies (both cellular and land line), refinery, hospital, kidney dialysis clinic, coal mine, National Guard, grocery store, et cetera.
Do not expect the grid to magically stay up and running, Assume the worst case, and plan accordingly.
OBTW, one key word to search for when estimating the resiliency of your community's infrastructure is co-generation. Find out where the co-gen plants are, and their capacity!
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Letter Re: Water Storage and Filtration Preparedness Pays Off
Mr. Rawles;
Well, it happened without warning. Loud knocking on the door, insistent, and then again. A man from the local water utility was there, telling us late in the morning that we had a broken underground pipe that is flooding the neighborhood, and he is now cutting off our water supply.
We immediately called our plumber who arrived a couple of hours later with a crew to dig the big hole. The story, though, is how we felt with the water cut off: "Just fine, thank you."
Our preparations include:
1. Bottled water: 42 one-liter bottles, 75 half-liter bottles
2. 22 one-gallon and larger glass and plastic jugs filled with water and bleach drops added (glass sangria jugs with handles are the best)
3. Portable Katadyn water purification system
4. 30 water purification tablets
5. Family size water filtration system
6. 2 full rain barrels
7. 3 gallons plain bleach
8. 30,000 gallon in-ground swimming pool
9. Several cases of baby wipes
10. Many hand sanitizer dispensers
Naturally, the above consumables get rotated and replaced as needed. I'm not mentioning all the soda, juice, powdered drink mixes because those are extras.
I will mention that I grabbed one of those huge empty pickle jars, filled it with swimming pool water, placed it in the bathroom to use for flushing as instructed by a SurvivalBlog reader a few months ago. Thank you for this knowledge.
We had already made the two wash and rinse buckets with brand new plungers for washing clothes without electricity, as directed by another SurvivalBlog reader. What a great idea. We have a couple of old washboards, but the bucket idea is superior.
I now just need to get the hand wringer from Lehman's. In addition, another minor purchase will be one of those portable solar camping showers for bathing.
We weren't expecting this event, but it provided a nice dry run practice and had us thinking. We were without water for only a few hours, so the inconvenience was minimal. However, I can't begin to express the total calm and assurance that came from knowing that having the water cut off was really a non-event in our lives and that we were ready.
Many thanks to all the SurvivalBlog contributors who share so freely and to Jim for hosting the site.
Now, let's see how we do with a blackout. - Elizabeth B.
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Survey Results: Your Favorite Books on Preparedness, Self-Sufficiency, and Practical Skills
In descending order of frequency, the 78 readers that responded to my latest survey recommended the following non-fiction books on preparedness, self-sufficiency, and practical skills:
The
Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery (Far and away the most often-mentioned book. This book is an absolute "must" for every well-prepared family!)
The Foxfire Book
series (in 11 volumes, but IMHO, the first five are the best)
Holy Bible
Where
There Is No Dentist
by Murray Dickson
"Rawles
on Retreats and Relocation"
Making
the Best of Basics: Family Preparedness Handbook
by James Talmage
Stevens
The
"Rawles
Gets You Ready" preparedness course
Crisis Preparedness Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Home Storage and Physical Survival
by Jack A. Spigarelli
Gardening
When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times by Steve Solomon
Tappan
on Survival
by
Mel Tappan
Boston's
Gun Bible
by
Boston T. Party
Seed
to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners
by Suzanne Ashworth
Survival
Guns
by
Mel Tappan
Boy
Scouts Handbook: The First Edition, 1911 (Most readers recommend getting pre-1970 editions.)
All
New Square Foot Gardening
by
Mel Bartholomew
When Technology Fails: A Manual for Self-Reliance, Sustainability, and Surviving the Long Emergency
by Matthew Stein
Back
to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills, Third Edition
by
Abigail R. Gehring
Preparedness Now!: An Emergency Survival Guide (Expanded and Revised Edition)
by Aton Edwards
Putting
Food By
by Janet Greene
First
Aid (American Red Cross Handbook) Responding To Emergencies
Making
the Best of Basics: Family Preparedness Handbook by James Talmage
Stevens
Nuclear War Survival
Skills by Cresson H. Kearney (Available for free download.)
Cookin'
with Home Storage
by
Vicki Tate
SAS
Survival Handbookby
John "Lofty" Wiseman
Root
Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits & Vegetables
by
Mike Bubel
Outdoor Survival Skills
by Larry Dean Olsen
Stocking Up: The Third Edition of America's Classic Preserving Guide
by Carol Hupping
The
American Boy's Handybook of Camp Lore and Woodcraft
Emergency
Food Storage & Survival Handbook by Peggy Layton
98.6 Degrees: The Art of Keeping Your Ass Alive
by Cody Lundin
Seed
to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners by Suzanne Ashworth
Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life by Neil Strauss
Five Acres and Independence: A Handbook for Small Farm Management
by Maurice G. Kains
Essential Bushcraft
by Ray Mears
The
Survivor book series by Kurt Saxon. Many are out of print in
hard copy, but they are all available on DVD. Here, I must issue a caveat
lector ("reader
beware"): Mr. Saxon has some very controversial views that I do not
agree with. Among other things he is a eugenicist.
How to Stay Alive in the Woods by Bradford Angier
The New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman
Tom Brown Jr.'s series of books, especially:
Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival
Tom Brown's Field Guide to Nature Observation and Tracking
Tom Brown's Guide to Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants (Field Guide)
Total
Resistance
by
H. von Dach
Ditch Medicine: Advanced Field Procedures For Emergencies
by Hugh Coffee
Living Well on Practically Nothing
by Ed Romney
The Secure Home
by Joel Skousen
Outdoor Survival Skills
by Larry Dean Olsen
When All Hell Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need To Survive When Disaster Strikes
by Cody Lundin
The Last Hundred Yards: The NCO's Contribution to Warfare
by John Poole.
Camping & Wilderness Survival: The Ultimate Outdoors Book by Paul Tawrell
Engineer Field Data (US Army FM 5-34) --Available online free of charge, with registration, but I recommend getting a hard copy. preferably with the heavy-duty plastic binding.
Great Livin' in Grubby Times
by Don Paul
Just in Case
by Kathy Harrison
Nuclear War Survival
Skills by Cresson H. Kearney (Available for free download.)
How to Survive Anything, Anywhere: A Handbook of Survival Skills for Every Scenario and Environment
by Chris McNab
Storey's Basic Country Skills: A Practical Guide to Self-Reliance
by John & Martha Storey
Adventure Medical Kits A Comprehensive Guide to Wilderness & Travel Medicine
by Eric A. Weiss, M.D.
Rodale's Ultimate Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening: The Indispensable Green Resource for Every Gardener
Special Operations Forces Medical Handbook (superceded the very out-of-date ST 31-91B)
Wilderness Medicine, 5th Edition
by Paul S. Auerbach
Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long
by Elliot Coleman
Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills, Third Edition
by Abigail R. Gehring
Government
By Emergency
by
Dr. Gary North
The Weed Cookbook: Naturally Nutritious - Yours Free for the Taking!
by Adrienne Crowhurst
The Modern Survival Retreat
by Ragnar Benson
Last of the Mountain Men
by Harold Peterson
Primitive Wilderness Living & Survival Skills: Naked into the Wilderness
by John McPherson
LDS Preparedness Manual, edited by Christopher M. Parrett
The
Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging
Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century
by James H. Kunstler
Principles of Personal Defense - Revised Edition
by Jeff Cooper.
Survival Poaching
by Ragnar Benson
The Winter Harvest Handbook: Year Round Vegetable Production Using Deep Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses
by Eliot Coleman
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Net Producer-Net Consumer Equations for Self-Sufficiency: Getting Out of the Pit
In a recent phone conversation with one of my consulting clients, I was asked why I placed such a large emphasis on living in the country, at a relatively self-sufficient retreat. I've already discussed at length the security advantages of isolation from major population centers in the blog, but I realized that I've never fully articulated the importance of self-sufficiency, at a fundamental level.
In a societal collapse, where you are in "You're on Your Own" (YOYO) mode, it will be very important to be a net producer of water, food, and energy. This will mean the difference between being someone that is comfortable and well fed, and someone that is shivering, hungry, and thirsty, in the dark.
If you were to create computer models of a typical suburban home as compared to a small farm, they would probably present two very different pictures:
A typical suburban home is an energy pit. It generates hardly energy other than a bit of garden waste that could be used as compost, or fuel. A farm house on acreage, in contrast, can often be a net producer, especially if the farm includes a wood lot. (Standing timber that is suitable for use as firewood.) Properties with near-surface geothermal heat, coal seams, or natural gas wells are scarce, but not unheard of. I've helped several of my clients find such properties. For some further food for thought, see this article by Lester Brown over at The Oil Drum web site: The Oil Intensity of Food
A typical suburban home is a food pit. Just picture how many bags of groceries you tote home each week, month, and year. Compare than with the net volume of food produced by a small farm, or the meat produced by ranch. (For the latter, a ranch that is large enough to produce its own hay and grain is ideal.)
A typical suburban home is also a water pit, dependent on utility-piped water. But with a spring, or with well water and a photovoltaic or wind-powered pump, you can be a water exporter--charitably providing surplus water to your neighbors.
There are are of course some work-arounds for these limitations, such as installing photovoltaic power systems and rainwater catchments cisterns. But it is nearly impossible for a family to be a net producer of water, food, and energy, when living on just a small city lot.
Consider the inherent limitations of life on a "postage stamp" lot:
Limited acreage means that your house will always be a net importer of home heating fuel. Unless you live on acreage where you have a wood lot for firewood, you'll end up on the wrong side of the production-consumption equation. Photovoltaics are practical for lighting and running some appliances, but the big energy loads like space heating, hot water, and kitchen range cooking exceed what PV panels can produce, unless you are a millionaire. Yes, there are substitute energy sources, but most of those--such as propane-but those-are also "imported." Hmm... Perhaps it is worth the extra time and effort to find a retreat property that has a natural gas well, a coal seam or that is in a geothermal zone. At least buy a property with a wood lot, so you can heat your home and water with firewood.
Limited acreage and a location inside limits usually means restrictions on raising livestock. You might find a property that has been exempted or "grandfathered", but without the room required to grow animal feed crops, you will still be a net importer. (You will be forced to buy hay and grain, rather than grow it yourself.)
In many jurisdictions, it is illegal to have a private water well in a neighborhood that is served by a public water utility. This usually has more to do with maintaining a monopoly, rather than any genuine worries about a public health issue. There are of course exceptions, such as older houses with wells, that pre-dated the advent of a water utility. In many jurisdictions, the owners of these wells benefit from grandfather clauses. If buying such a property, make sure that the grandfather clause exemption is transferable. (Otherwise, you will have to cap the water well.)
One of the great ironies of urbanized life in modern-day America is that there has been a great inversion. In 1909, it was dirt poor farmers that lived on acreage, while wealthy people lived on city lots. But now, in 2009, owning acreage is something that most people only dream of, for retirement. In the more populous coastal states, the price per acre of land that is within commuting distance of high-paying jobs has been driven up to astronomical prices.
Have you ever stopped to think why there are large Victorian-style houses falling into disrepair in some Inner City ghettos? This is because at one time, those neighborhoods are where rich people lived. They were nice, safe neighborhoods, and were conveniently close to work, shopping, and schools. But times (and neighborhoods) change. These days, most of the wealthy have long-since moved to suburbs or to the country.
If you decide that you must stay in the suburbs, then I recommend that you at least relocate to a stout masonry house that is on the largest lot that you can afford. When you search through real estate listings, some key phrases to watch for are "creek", "grandfathered", "mature fruit trees" (or "orchard"), "secluded", and "well water." Another key word to watch for is "adjoins". It is advantageous to own a property that adjoins park land.
As I've often written, I recommend moving to a house on acreage in the country--that is if you can afford it, and your work and family situations allow it. But I'll close with one admonition: Don't bite off more than you can chew. There is no point on living on acreage if you have a large mortgage, and no working capital remaining to build up the infrastructure for genuine self-sufficiency. In fact, that would be "the worst of both worlds", since you would have higher commuting costs, a bigger mortgage, and perhaps even a bigger annual tax bill. Owning non-productive land may be worse than owning no land at all.
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Four Letters Re: Brumby Compressed Air-Powered Well Pumps
James,
Your comments about the relative efficiency of compressing air with a windmill are spot on. Most of the energy would be lost. In the real world, air compressors are only about 10 to 15% efficient at best. This is because air heats when it's compressed. In fact, since more energy is converted to heat than to mechanical energy, a compressor is actually better at heating and cooling a house as a heat pump than it is at compressing air. So unless you could figure out how to drive the Brumby well pump and utilize all the waste heat at the same time, a wind-driven compressor would not be the way to go. - Kenneth L.
Hi Jim,
Here is a link to Airlift wind pumps. I have not used one of these but I have seen a lot of them in Arizona. It seems like a good idea. Regards, - Paul
Jim:
I found the following over at Amish News: "Almost any electrical appliance can be adapted to work off of alternate power, such as compressed air. Some Amish women have been using compressed air to power blenders in the kitchen for years. In one house, compressed air powers a water pump, sewing and washing machines, and drills and saws in the shop. Some Amish businesses have as their specialty adapting such appliances so they can be powered by compressed air."
From: the Unity College web site: "This particular plant will make small-to-medium turbines for farm-scale installation, each turbine connected by an air hose to a large compressor tank. By both saving lots of air in storage tanks, and by scheduling manufacturing and other shop work for breezy days, the Amish can have compressed air without doing what they normally do, which is run a small gas engine to run the compressor. Gas has been expensive lately, and not all Amish church meetings allow the use of gas engines, so there's reason to think that wind compressors will be welcome additions to the Amish toolkit."
From OtherPower.com: "There are many tools that can be run on compressed air. Many of the Amish use compressed air for kitchen appliances, fans, shop tools etc. A no-longer-certified propane tank makes a great air tank with large capacity.
Why not make a windmill that powers an air compressor? By storing compressed air I could reduce the size of the battery bank I need. Air tanks have a far longer service life than batteries and cost much less to purchase. Used tanks can be acquired for next to nothing."s
I suppose that to obtain the higher pressures a reduction system would need to be used to obtain enough torque to drive the compressor. But what if a sail type windmill similar to the Dutch pump mills was used. I imagine those huge sails generate incredible torque. Here is a small mill that only generates up to 30 PSI intended for aeration of a pond.
And here is an air lift pump for pumping from a well. (But there is no data on the pounds per square inch generated).
Regards, - Len S.
Sir,
Regarding Mike B. in Florida's question on compressed air and wind turbines, I recommend that he research the combination of a Trompe and a Savonius wind mill. A trompe produces compressed air from falling water. A wind mill may be used to lift surface-stored water (pond or tank) to a suitable height to produce the falling water. I suppose any wind mill design would suffice, but I recommend researching the Savonius as it is supposed to perform well in areas with low wind speed such as Florida (ignoring the occasional tropical storm and hurricane). I do not know how much water must be lifted to what height to produce the quality of compressed required, but it may be worth looking into. Both devices are relatively simple (a trompe has no moving parts) and very reliable. - d'Heat
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Letter Re: Brumby Compressed Air-Powered Well Pumps
Dear Captain Rawles,
Are you perchance familiar with Brumby Well Pumps? They work using compressed air and are being manufactured in Australia. From what I can tell, this is a good idea if you can get compressed air to the pump. This leads to the next question: Is there a practical way of operating an air compressor with either a wind turbine or a mechanical means not requiring the grid or a gasoline engine of some sort?
When I lived in Germany I saw a number of old Volkswagen air-cooled engines that had been converted to serve as air compressors. (These operated off of two cylinders and compressed air with the other two). That would work if you had gas, but after the Schumer hits, gas will be too valuable if it can be found at all.
I'd appreciate your advice and maybe some of the readers are familiar with a means of compressing air, off the grid. I know that you have extensive experience at water wells, pumping etc.
Best Regards, - Mike B. in Florida
JWR Replies: The Brumby design is fascinating. I don't yet have any experience with them, so perhaps some readers that do would like to chime in.
In answer to your question: Yes, it is conceivable that an air compressor could be powered by a wind turbine, but that might require a gearing arrangement to achieve the requisite compression. And I can't help but wonder about the relative efficiency of compressing air with a windmill to drive a Brumby pump, rather than using traditional direct drive to raise and lower a sucker rod. My gut level instinct is to opt for simplicity, and my suspicion is that adding another energy transformation is almost certainly less efficient--due to friction losses, if nothing else.
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Letter Re: Last Minute G.O.O.D. Versus Well-Considered Early Relocation
James -
We think along similar lines, as my wife and I relocated to Central Idaho in 1995, raising and homeschooling our four children here. We're electrically functioning off the grid, engage in animal husbandry, grow what vegetables we can, and stock up on essentials we cannot produce and always meticulously rotate the stock. And we hunt, big time.
I read the entry on your site today about the fellow who intends to travel ore than a thousand miles in a blink of an eye, and use this blur to make a life-changing decision based on distorted glances at sixty miles an hour. Though I agree with essentially every bit of advice regarding location considerations, and in particular what to avoid, perhaps you should suggest to this fellow to split his trip into two or three, perhaps even four excursions so he can really evaluate what he is looking at.
I've lived in the west my entire life, a witness to the destruction of Colorado as we finally fled the far reaches of the West Slope for here. Knowing that one simple mistake in terms of selecting a location can be fatal in and unto itself, we began looking in 1993 and through 1994 before making our selection. Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. Distance from population centers was number two on our criteria list, but as you well know, the number one priority must be water.
People in the cities haven't really a clue as to its relative scarcity. Turn on the tap. Our criteria was "live, year-around creek" on the prospective dirt, or it was scrubbed from the list. At 8.37 pounds per gallon, you can't realistically haul enough any distance for survival if survival means growing food if TEOTWAWKI actually occurs. Maybe not enough to use just to satiate thirst if you are too far from the source.
Let's face it. If people have to actually "Bug Out", the "End" is happening, right there and then. Think: water, water, water, and location, location, location.
I wrote a piece about "relocation" a few years back for a Peak Oil web site that generated several thousand comments, the vast majority of them were positive. The negatives were from the Gold's Gym-type jerks who thought I was trying to come off as some kind of tough guy, which I wasn't. "Realism" offends people. You cut one cord short on firewood before winter and the snows get hip-deep, you are dead. Sometimes you have "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" with large critters equipped with teeth and claws. I killed a damned lion at six feet inside my barn who was upset that I was upset that he had killed my milk goats. A bear at thirty feet on top of one of our sheep who was none too happy with me either. The wolves are here constantly, and that's just a time bomb waiting to go off. We've had jerks from cities show up on the place acting, and to be kind here, just a little "weird". Occasionally and unfortunately what followed were "in your face" armed confrontations, required to convince them getting the hell out of here was a damn good idea.
Which leads to another situation that is always notably absent from writings about "Getting out of Dodge". Why isn't it mentioned that people are already "out there", and even if a person chooses to relocate before the fan is blowing manure that it takes a couple of years before the indigenous outlanders accept your presence. These pre-existing folks, as you well know, traded off the easy living the cities offer for a harder lifestyle that almost guarantees austere living. The F.N.G. is a newcomer, and no one knows whether her/she is a curse or a blessing. The number of drug-laden scum that has floated in and out of here over the years is pretty amazing, let alone the flood of retirees who ain' t worth knowing. A third of them want sidewalks along Forest Service Roads.
And then when things go south, some guy, regardless of what color collar he wore to work, abandons his 52" widescreen HDTV, his Budweiser and the N.F.L. Package, throws his "Git-R-Done" stuff in the 4-Runner. Off he goes, carrying just enough with him to guarantee that where he ends up, thieving and murdering is going to be happening. Why? Because he's in a panic regardless of how "cool" he thinks he is. In truth, if you don't already live "out there", you aren't prepared. City folk are waiting to run, and they are running to nowhere. For that matter, half the people who are already "out there" aren't really prepared. But City Folks simply cannot take with them what is needed long-term to survive, and even short-term if winter is upon them. So, he is going to become a thief and a murderer. Where he's headed he doesn't own dirt, has no roof over his head, and he hasn't got the food to last a month. The most moral man in the world will become the worst of sinners when facing starvation. Add a man with his woman and a passel of kids, and you've got a desperate man. "Honey, I starved the kids!" I don't think so.
So, what do you think folks around here are thinking anyway? Putting out the "Welcome Wagon" for an exodus of people who refused to sacrifice ahead of time? Those who have been living easy and going to Applebees every Friday night? The wife blowing money at the mall every Saturday with the rest of the "girls"? People who thought, "I'll stay here doing the 9-5 because the woman insists, and then we'll go if we have to." Here's another good one: "We didn't want to move and have to change schools. The kids really liked it there."
The foregoing mean that the "Old Lady" and the "kids" have been dictating his life anyway, right? You ever seen these women go through "Mall Withdrawal"? Good God, it's a terrible sight to behold even under good conditions! At least when things are "normal" they can head over the pass for a methadone-like "Mall-Fix" up in Missoula or head to Idaho Falls. Shoot, you go and "Cold Turkey" a mall-dependent woman and h**l doesn't even begin to describe the price that must be paid! It's viral too, I swear.
Seriously though, is there some assumption that such "exodus scenarios" aren't discussed by the locals down at the cafe's in Salmon, Challis, and Elk, Bend, and North Fork over morning coffee, as well as at the Sheriffs Departments around here? My understanding is that the roads in and out of here are to be closed, which is fine by me. There isn't much bounty here to begin with, and adding a bunch of instant vagabonds will simply be making meager pickings that much slimmer.
Fools rushing for the hills. There's a steep learning curve and most aren't going to make it. Best regards, and keep up the good work - John M.
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Seven Letters Re: Advice on Deep Water Wells in a Grid-Down Era
Hi James,
There is a mission-oriented web site with a tutorial on making valve leathers at this site. There is other useful water well-related information on the site, too.
Where John C. is living, if the static level is 400 ft., then he will be looking at needing a fairly deep well. If he gets by with less than drilling a 500 foot well I'd be surprised. Water wells here locally have a 350-400 foot static level and run 700-800 feet deep. The depth, quantity, and quality of water you find all depends on the area you live in, the underlying geology, and hydrologic conditions within the aquifer.
I agree that the submersible pump is the best choice for a deep well. In a grid down situation, a wind mill is probably your best bet. It is possible to install both systems in one well. Basically, you set the submersible some distance below the wind mill's pump cylinder. One thing you'd need to do is adjust the submersible pump so that the water level in the well is not drawn down past the top of the pump cylinder. One very important aspect to keep in mind when using a deep well with a sucker-rod type pump: use a open top pump cylinder (working barrel) where you can pull the rods, replace valve leathers and/or work on the pump valves, without pulling all of the tubing from the well.
As you mentioned, pulling up 400+ feet of 2-inch pipe from a well by hand is a challenge. It can, however, be done. Keep in mind that a 400+ ft. deep water well is actually much deeper than many early-day oil wells. Searching through old oil field related documents, photos, and museum displays can provide a wealth of very basic, mostly home built, technology that a water well owner can utilize.
Need a derrick to pull rods or pipe from your deep well? Check out what the Canadians used.
Tripod derricks were used in Canada and the U.S. in early oil fields. They were made from peeled trees, power poles, or pipe. Simple winches were used to hoist the rods and pipe from the hole.
Need a pumping jack to lift the rods in your deep well? You can't get much simpler than these or these.
Once the jack is balanced, it doesn't take a whole lot of power to lift the rods and pump the well. - Jeff B.
Hi Jim;
My wife and I are the founders of Woodhenge, an intentional community in the northern, rural part of New York State. We practice and teach self-reliance skills. One of the products that I've designed is a deep well hand pump that can be built from mostly off-the-shelf parts found in a hardware store. I sell the complete instructions for $20 and a pre-machined parts kit for $250. The kit contains all of the parts necessary for the 2" PVC cylinder and the modified pitcher pump. One of the things that makes this pump unique is that it doesn't use a rod to connect the piston in the lower part of the well to the handle but
a stainless steel cable and return spring. I do not include the cable or draw pipe...I don't know the depth of the well. I do not know if my pump design could handle the static depth of 400', but it easily handles depths of 150'. I recommend that the draw pipe diameter be reduced to keep the weight in the column of water to a manageable amount. I recommend that shallower deep wells (over 30' to the static level of the water) use 1-1/4" draw pipes, over 100' dropping to 1" diameter, etc. I will offer a big discount to the guy with the 400' well if he wants to experiment with my kit. The frictional losses of water in a smaller diameter pipe are the only factor I don't know how to calculate. My pump easily delivers about a cup of water per stroke. Further information on my pump as well as other things
we're trying to do are available on our Woodhenge web site.
I am "the King of Scrounge" mentioned in your blog a few months ago. My book "The High Art and Subtle Science of Scrounging" is now available through me. Inquiries and information are available by contacting me at jsjuczak@gisco.net. Thank you for what you do. - James S. Juczak
James,
I've a reasonable amount of experience in electrical engineering and pumps in general so perhaps could give John C. some additional advice on deep wells.
First just a general note:
The work an electrical pump or any other electrical device needs to do requires a certain amount of electrical power which is Voltage X Current measured in Watts. As James correctly points out, a 24 volt pump requires considerably larger wires than does a 240 volt pump (to deliver the same amount of work) since wire size is determined by current (amperage). In this case figure a 24 volt system would need roughly 10x the circumference of the wire that a 240 volt system would need. Note: It's the circumference of the wire that's at issue not the area since current flows mostly along the outside of the wire. A simple way to think of electricity is to compare it to a river. The speed of the river flow is the voltage. The size of the river bed is the amperage. Both together determine the power.
Now, regarding deep wells:
Most deep wells in the west have low infiltration rates so my advice is to use a fairly small size 110 or 220 volt AC submersible pump of good quality (Grundfos make the best). The water pumped out of the well goes directly into a cistern which can be most any tank of a few hundred gallons. Mine was a 1,000 gallon fiberglass tank in the basement, which I installed before the floor was put in. Anyplace is fine as long as freezing temps are taken into account.
A simple automatic fill system is installed in the tank to turn on the submersible when you use some part of the tank up. This system allows the well to refill and also allows the pump to work better and last longer by avoiding frequent starts.You also have a ready source of stored water, if needed. You have to know your well infill rate and the depth of water over the pump inlet to determine how much to pump at any given time. Never allow a submersible pump to run dry and always install protection in the pump start control.
Since the cistern tank is unpressurized [, unless you can position it up on a hillside] you'll have to provide a centrifugal pump to charge the household lines. You can then either pump out of the cistern tank into a small pressure tank or use a demand system that turns on a small centrifugal pump every time you open a faucet. Either way works fine and all of it is cheap to buy and easy to get at to maintain.
If there are any bacterial contamination issues a small ozone generator can be installed in the cistern. They killed 100% of bacteria and spores such as Giardia when I used one to clean a Colorado stream water source. They add nothing to the water itself since the ozone turns back to oxygen within seconds of it's being generated. An ozone system does need constant power, but it's a very small amount. Essentially it's just a small UV light in a box with a tube into the water. A venturi off of a tiny pump like those used in ornamental fountains pulls the ozone into the tank.
In this system the submersible pumps into the cistern tank at "zero head" and you can get away with a smaller pump motor than you would normally use for a pressurized system. That's not only a cheaper pump, but it's easier to pull if needed. Also, since a well pump is frequently the largest power requirement in a household if you go off grid a smaller pump means a smaller generator- or something like this http://www.solarpumps.com.au/category7_1.htm.
Don't forget that a pump requires a larger starting amperage than its nominal rating. Again check with the supplier. It's important to have the pump operating in it's ideal range which is based on total lift (head ) and water (GPM) required, so check that yourself too. The charts are easy to read.
In John C's case, the water is at 400', so he'll need a well that's around 500'. Put the pump at the bottom and that's a safe 50 gallons of water available to be pumped.
Based on a 5 minute Internet search, a Grundfos 10SQ 1/2 HP pump costing $600 retail would give around 6 GPM pumping into the cistern. A 1,200 watt generator could drive it. Add a 400 gallon tank, 1/4 HP centrifugal pump for pressure, controls and it's a done deal. The well itself is going to cost around 10 grand, and hopefully you'll find water down the bottom of it.
Kind Regards, - LRM, Perth, Western Australia
JWR,
I have some experience in this area in that our well has been solar powered for 5 years at our off the grid ranch.
We elected to put our well on top of a hill about 120 feet in elevation above the house. I did this because I did not want to pump my water twice and deal with a pressure tank in a separate building that I would have to heat and use additional solar power to keep up the pressure. Our four water tanks, 2,600 gallons each, are on a step, just below the well. A Pitless Adaptor allows water to be pumped into the water tanks at a depth of four feet underground for freeze protection. All pipe on the ranch is 3 feet underground, with freeze proof hydrants at key locations. There is enough thermal mass in the tanks that they do not freeze. There is 50 pounds of pressure at the house from gravity. Remember, it is always cheaper and easier to store water rather than electricity. Big water tanks are a good thing.
Our well is 300 feet deep and the pump is set at 240 feet. Static water level is 185 feet.
Having said that, a 400 feet deep well on solar power is no problem. There are two types of solar pumps I would recommend, www.lorentz.de/ and www.grundfos.com . I have a Lorentz pump. The Grundfos is also a very good pump. The Grundfos has the advantage in that besides solar power, you can hook up a wind turbine and have both wind and solar power going to the same pump. There are plenty of solar dealers selling these pumps. I have been served exceptionally wall by Dennis Austin at Solar Power and Pump Company. He always has time to help you out via phone with any questions. He does not publish his prices because they beat everyone else.
The controller on the Lorentz pump converts the DC power from the solar panels to AC power to go down the well to the pump. I am not sure how the Gurndfos system operates. Both these pumps are used extensively by aid organizations around the world to provide clean drinking water for less fortunate people in third world countries. They are pretty fool proof.
One additional consideration is that putting your solar panels on a dual axis solar tracker, will increase water output as much as 40% in the summer when you need water the most. We have a Wattsun dual axis tracker from www.wattsun.com . Their company has been around a long time and since they are active trackers with gears, they are not affected by wind like the Freon-balanced trackers.
Thanks Jim for all your hard work in helping us all out. - PD
Sir:
My water has been off the grid for 12 years and while my well depth is shallower I offer my experience. The system described provides 5 GPM at 50 PSI for household laundry, bathing, and kitchen needs but I would not recommended for lawn or garden use.
I have 360 watts of solar panel and 340 amp hour of batteries [storage capacity]. The head of my well is 160 feet and I use a Sunpump SDS series well pump that draws 2 gallons per minute (at 0 pressure) to fill an 1,100 gallon cistern. The current draw is 2 amps at 24 volts. The current price for the pump is approximately $900.
The matching pump controller/current booster is a must. Note that the Sunpump SCS series is rated for 700 feet. The good news is the water pipe is ½” plastic roll pipe, bad news is the pump will need major service after about eight years.
The house is pressurized by a Dankoff Flowlight booster pump that draws from the cistern. Standard well system pressure tanks and switches complete a very reliable system. You can find the recommended 10 micron intake filters here.
The Cistern is a tank made of potable water grade plastic (made from the same mold used for septic tanks). This gives me 1,100 gallons of water that is not hot in the summer, freezing in the winter, safe from bullets, and was a fraction of the cost of an elevated water tank.
Extra battery power feeds a Magnum Energy inverter that saves some on the electric bill. - Jon in Texas
Hey Jim,
I would like to throw in my thoughts on pumping water in a power grid down situation.the wide variety of situations with water sources makes for a wide variety of solutions. I am a retired water well contractor, over twenty years residential, farm and public supply, doing both the well drilling and pumping equipment installations.
First off, if no one reads further, the best [short-term] solution is a generator powering your present system, it's how it's done, by the homeowner, farmer, by contractors, and small utilities. Larger utilities use a direct drive to the gear head on a line shaft turbine, but you won't see that on smaller systems.
To get to the situation discussed in the article, a 400' water table is considerably deep, so many times, folks think that the depth of the well is related to the depth of the water table, that's just not so, I have drilled wells 300' with static water levels 20 or more feet above the well head, hence, a naturally flowing well, and by contrast, 300' wells with 150' water tables, but generally, most levels in the 60' range in deep wells in my neck of the woods. However, water wells are as varied as the land and aquifer you are looking to get the water out of.
So to go after the logistics of getting water out of the ground and then out of your faucet, you'll have to start with the source, deep well, most common for private water systems, and the subject here, but don't write off shallow wells, cisterns, lakes and rivers or rain catchment, it's just that water out of a deep well will be free of organic compounds and safe to drink, but you should have it tested, another subject all together.
Well depth is part of it, but most important for using that well is the water table and capacity in gallons per minute. The diameter of the well will affect production to a certain extent, but mostly the diameter will determine what pumping equipment you can use, deep wells for private use will tend to be 4' or 6' steel or plastic casing, with open hole in the rock below that picking up water by capillary action and fissures, or even a screen for loose formations that produce water. A typical well install for me would be around a hundred foot of 4' well casing, down to the bedrock, then open hole down into the floridan aquifer, ending up around 200', to produce 20 gallons a minute or better with a water table about 50' and a submersible pump set at least 10 feet below the water table, and another variable, if you pump more water than your well delivers, called "drawdown", you'll be setting your pump below that drawdown level of the water table.
Submersible pumps are a great way to get water out of your well, they "push" the water to the surface, and produce good "head" with their many impellers, "head" translating to how far up the pump is pushing the water from the water table, to theoretically how far above the point of use is, that's your water "pressure"a pump that makes 300' of head will pump from a 100 foot water table and be able to pump 200' more feet above ground level, that would be more than enough to provide you with 50 or 60 pounds of pressure in your tank and at your faucet. Very efficient, generally run on AC current, and either filled with FDA-approved oil or sealed with epoxy and such to keep the electricity isolated from the water. I have heard of DC submersible motors, but never saw one, let alone installed one, something to research, I guess, may be as much to do with having an AC power grid as the the drawbacks inherit in DC motors in general. Last word on that is submersible pumps can pump from very deep water levels and are reliable, but replacement would be tough without specialized equipment,
Above-ground pumps are less efficient, but easier and cheaper to fix, especially for the do-it-yourselfers, which would be very important in a grid down economy. most common are jet pumps, one or two impellers and a jet either installed below the water table or on the face of the pump if the water level is within 30' of the surface, very important distinction there, you can only lift water, "suction" 33 feet "'one atmosphere"} vertically. Beyond that, the vacuum required will cause air bubbles to separate out of the water and you'll lose the ability to pump the water. So, the "jet" a nozzle and venturi are placed in the well, with the pump cycling most of the water thru it, lifting an additional amount of water and producing the head pressure at the same time. I could envision a DC motor on a an above ground pump, imagine they're available, if even to have one as a standby, but then again, do the math, if you're wanting run a one horsepower DC motor that'll turn the needed 3,400 rpm and to do it on twelve volts, you'll soon see the cost and sizing differences are huge.but at least everything is right there where you can work it. again, a generator or a very large solar or wind system would work as well.
In a grid-down situation, a properly sized generator would run it, but to look to solar or wind power, just do the math, I did, by the time you size something that will start and run that pump, you've got a ten thousand dollar or more system, if you want to do your house or other uses, you could use the same system to power your pump when the need arises.
If you are lifting the water less than thirty feet, the possibilities wide and varied, a straight centrifugal pump or positive displacement pumps, such as diaphragm or piston, etc. which don't need the rpm's of the impeller pumps and can even be hooked up in multiples or series, depending on power source or what you want to do with the water. To have the ability to pump out of a shallow well, or even a surface water source, this would give you water, if only for irrigation or other uses, or to be purified and then used for drinking water, "potable water".
The most viable pump system in a grid down situation, in my opinion, would be a sucker rod pump, or a pump jack, I worked on many of them, but generally just pulling them out and replacing them with submersible or jet pumps, or to abandon the well by pumping it full of grout. They are the pump systems you generally see under the old Aermotor windmills, the tall long levered hand pumps, and the much larger pump jacks used in the oil fields. The smaller sucker rod pumps are very simple, the up and down motion of the rod is transferred down the well and into [a pump cylinder under the static level of] the water, where it lifts the water one stroke at a time, very simple, with multiple power options, directly from the wind, human power, or motor driven electrically, or other, which could include about anything you could dream up as you only need to turn a pulley, the amount of power required would be widely varied as the rpm can be varied so much and it'll still pump, less water, but water. One particular model I was looking for, but didn't find is the old Crane Deeming pump jacks, a staple on the old farms, designed more for a power source other than the windmill or pump handle, although you could hook it up if the power was off. it would run on about any motor you hooked to it, as far as horsepower and rpm, "revolutions per minute" within reason, including electric, piston, or even the power take off (PTO) from your tractor. Also of consideration is that with a very low yield well, the ability to pump to a cistern or other holding device, and then to pressurize the water from there with another pump, old technology from when people made do, before our era of throwing technology and money at it till you're happy.
Here's a link to an article on building a pump jack. It drives the sucker rod that's in the well, but depending upon where you're at, the terms are kind used interchangeably. Go to the home page, browse around, or do your own search, lot's of choices out there.
My thoughts on this, if I wasn't going to use a generator if the power is down, is to have a separate well with a pump jack, or if you have a six inch well or larger, with a submersible pump in it, install a pump jack right beside it, no, I have never done that, and the easy way would be to call your local well driller or pump man, but dual pipe well heads are available, and the two systems shouldn't interfere with each other, the two possible problems would be with the submersible pump itself, or the power wire to the pump, but then, I imagine I would set the submersible pump and then the sucker rod and pipe above it,
Anyway, if you're wanting alternatives, they are out there, sounding complicated, but actually quite simple, especially if you prepare in advance, the simplest power alternative is still the generator, I know I said it again, but I also have six solar panels at 175 watts each, and a wind generator at 400 watts, with all the controllers, battery bank six by 120 Amp Hour 6 volt and a 2,400 watt inverter, which would not be adequate to run my 1hp 220 volt submersible, but a 1/4 horsepower motor on a pump jack would work, too bad I didn't keep any of that old stuff, but anyway, short of the generator, or fuel for it, would have to go with the pump jack, or for shallow water, a positive displacement pump. Would be willing to continue this discussion, if you'd like. - Mickey
JWR,
I am a recent "convert" to the survival mentality. Thank you for this blog. All I can say is that it is excellent. On to my point: I too am grappling with this conundrum of how to pump water out of my deep well for my house water, although mine is more shallow (200ft). I currently have a 220 VAC 1/2 HP Gould deep well pump with a 33 gallon pressure tank to round out my water system. I've been researching the deep well pump made by Grundfos. The model is called the SQFLEX. According to the manufacturer, it can run on either AC or DC and will pump from depths of 650ft. Whole systems can be bought here http://solarwellpumps.com/solar.htm . I'm not sure if these are the real deal or not, but they have definitely piqued my interest. I spoke with one of the reps and she indicated that these pumps are used for residential use with a pressure tank (mine is 30gal). The pressure tank is also a problem. I would rather have an elevated storage tank like you recommend. The only problem with that is, for "flat-landers" such as myself, those who live in the midwest without hills. Then what do you do? Do you build a tower for all your neighbors to see (forget about OPSEC) or do you use a water storage tank and place it amongst your house rafters/trusses (which definitely won't hold up because they are of 2x4 construction and once you cut a large "idiot hole" [for post-construction passage of a large tank] you lose the structural integrity). So there I am. Not sure what to do. I would like to hear some thoughts. "Patriots" was an excellent and fast read. Sincerely, - JJ
JWR Replies: My only brief comment on installing a water tank in an attic is: watch out! When you calculate the weight of just 55 gallons, at 8.33 pounds per gallon, that is 458.15 pounds, not counting the weight of the tank itself! Definitely consult an engineer before installing any tank of substantial capacity.
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Letter Re: Advice on Deep Water Wells in a Grid-Down Era
James,
I know that I have seen posts about deep water wells, but when I search I really don't see that many applicable posts. I am looking at a property where water [static level] is about 400 feet down. In a "grid-up" scenario, this isn't really a problem, but I am looking for "grid-down" options for using a well at this depth. Not knowing much about the specifics of wells, I am not having much luck searching with Google, either. Would you be able to cover some deep well basics and some options for grid down/solar/backup pumping, specifically for deep wells?
Thanks so much for the blog. I have been an avid reader (pretty much daily) for two years and have several copies of your book to loan out to friends. - John C.
JWR Replies: As per your request, here are a few deep well basics:
Solar and wind power are the best solutions for deep wells in a grid-down collapse. If you live in an area with reliable winds, a windmill used in conjunction with a large gravity-fed tank or cistern, is relatively inexpensive and trouble-free. Photovoltaics are getting less expensive with each passing year, but system complexity is an issue, especially with systems that use a battery bank. (To maintain water pressure during hours of darkness, you will either need to store water in a gravity-fed cistern, or you will need a battery bank, so that you can operate your well pump. )
Deep wells can be pumped with submersible AC pumps, but not submersible DC pumps. This is because the "line loss" (voltage drop) in DC cabling is tremendous. Even with fat, heavy gauge DC cables, if you start out with 24 Volts DC (VDC) at your battery bank, you will likely be down to just two or three volts at 400 feet! Given that sad fact, there are two good solutions:
1.) Use a DC-to-AC inverter top-side, and run AC cabling down the well shaft to an AC well pump. (Note: Many of these pumps require 220 VAC, so you will either have to use a much more expensive 220-capable inverter, or replace the pump with a 120 VAC model. (You may be an electrical neophyte, and asking "What type of pump do I have?" Take a quick look at your AC circuit breaker box. If the breaker labeled "Well Pump" is a pair of breakers that are ganged-together with a wire loop so that they'll be actuated simultaneously, then the chances are 99% that you have a 220 VAC pump.)
or,
2.) Install a jack
("cricket") type pump or a windmill to
actuate the sucker rod pump cylinder. Traditionally, sucker
rods were made from hardwoods
such as white ash.
More recently they've been made with metal or fiberglass. Even with ash wood,
their service life is measured in decades. The pump cylinders are made of brass
and
will last
many decades.
However, the pump
leathers will eventually wear out, so you should consider buying a
couple of spare sets and storing them someplace safe from mice and moisture/mold.
Unfortunately changing all of the leathers on a down-hole sucker-rod actuated
pump means yanking the entire sucker rod and then the
weight of all 400 feet of your service line. That is a lot of
weight, requiring a heavy duty hoist and of course all the usual "mind your
head, fingers and toes" safety precautions and protective
gear. Lifting a 1-1/2"
or 2" diameter 400 foot long
pipe is no problem for a pump company, but it would be a challenge for a typical
rural
family working with an improvised hoist. I recommend that you watch your
pump company man carefully as he installs the pump in your well for the first
time. You will notice that the crucial piece required is the flange that catches
the
pipe
unions
on each 20+ foot long section of service line pipe as they are raised or lowered
in the well casing.
I've previously owned a jack type pump, and in my experience I
found them problematic. I would much rather use an AC
submersible pump.
Shallow wells (say, 50 feet or less) can be pumped with a DC submersible pump. I generally advise my consulting clients to "hang" both an AC pump and and a DC pump, one above the other in the same well casing, for the sake of versatility an redundancy.
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Letter Re: Diverters and Pre-Filters for Roof Rainwater Catchment
Mr. Rawles,
Regarding the filter design suggested by "Dim Tim": Consider replacing
the modified stockpot with a sink. A deep stainless utility sink would
be ideal, would require little alteration, and could be
set up outdoors
at the downspout to drain directly to a retention barrel or bladder. In a
SHTF scenario,
an existing indoor sink could be modified by removing the trap underneath
the sink. Collected
water
can then
be poured
into
the sink,
filter through, and drain underneath (a food grade plastic five gallon bucket
fits quite nicely.) Regards, - Tamara S.
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Diverters and Pre-Filters for Roof Rainwater Catchment, by Dim Tim
I have had this idea floating around in the back of my mind for some time
now, and with all the posts on the subject here lately, I decided it was time
to share it with everyone. I hope some of you find it useful.
What got me started to thinking about this was a movie on DVD that I watched
recently, titled Twenty
Years After. (2008) It is about
people that have survived a nuke war, the disease and death that follow, and
the hope that humanity will still survive. It is not the best post-SHTF movie
that you can watch, but as I watched it, I had little flashes of insight to
some aspects of survival and preparedness that I thought would be useful, and
this is one of the ones that I want to share today.
In the movie, a mother, and her very pregnant daughter, have claimed a house
for their place, only to find that the owner has returned to claim some of
his things. He makes his presence known to them by pouring a bit of water down
a downspout that they have rigged up to send the rainwater to their living
space in the basement, where they collect it and store jars of water on some
large shelves.
This got me started thinking about the subject of rainwater catchment, and
I have a good number of files on the subject, so I did some extra reading on
the subject. There is a lot of information out there on it, and all the commercial
products that go with it, but what do you do when you have ZIP to start with
?
Start at the beginning.
So, the rain falls on the roof of a building, it runs down the roof to
the gutters, then down the downspout to be flushed away from the building.
And now you decide to catch the runoff, and put a barrel at the end of the
downspout to catch the extra water. So far so good. But what about the bird
poop, asphalt chemicals, etc, that are going to be in the water, not to mention
all the other germs and nasty pathogens that occur
naturally ?
This is where the diverters come onto play, you divert the first couple minutes
of the rain water, to get rid of the grit, dirt,etc, and then divert it back
to catch the rest. I see this as a waste of water that could be used to keep
you and your family alive a bit longer.
You will most likely be filtering the water to drink anyway, so the dirt and
germs are going to be dealt with in the filtering process. The filter will
only be able to deal with so much in the way of contaminates, so there are
a lot of folks who agree that a pre-filter is a good idea to extend the life
of the main filter itself, and here is where my idea came from. I know that
there are commercial pre- filters that may be a whole lot cheaper to buy from
the point of view on the cost of this subject, but this is about constructing
your own from found, scavenged, and recycled materials in a SHTF type situation.
The list of materials that you will need is as follows :
A large stockpot.
Cheesecloth or fine mesh nylon or brass window screening.
A dozen bags of kids marbles or flat marbles used for decoration.
A couple shovels full of builders sand. ( Children's sandbox sand is a different
type of sand, and has some questionable chemicals in it, so do not use this
type of sand. Builders sand is just that, SAND. so be sure to use only this
type for your pre-filter )
And a good supply of charcoal.
Tools that you will need are:
- A drill, and a good assortment of drill bits.
- Center punch.
- Heavy machinists hammer or a small, one-pound or two-pound sledgehammer.
- A
piece of 2x4 scrap lumber, about two feet in length.
- A good pair of safety
glasses [with side guards]. This is the most important piece of equipment
you should have when you build this, because your
eyesight is
very
important
to your survival. Wear them!
- Four bricks, or 2x4
blocks.
- A large funnel.
To start, place the stockpot on the bricks or 2x4's like you were going to
build a fire under the stockpot for cooking or heating water.
Then, take the two foot 2x4, and your hammer, and place one end of the 2x4
into the center of the inside of the stockpot and give a couple of good sharp
blows to the top of the 2x4 to make a depression in the center of the pot to
allow for complete drainage of the filter. A slight depression of the base
is better than a flat bottom, because it will allow the water to drain at the
lowest point and not to run all over the bottom and drop off the edges instead,
Now, take the stockpot, and turn it over so that the outside bottom is now
face up. Take your box of drill bits, your center punch, and your drill, and
use the center punch and your hammer, to make a punch in the approximate center
of the stockpot. Now take and punch six or seven more around the center, remembering
to space them about an inch and a half apart from each other. These will be
drilled out with a half inch drill bit to form the drain for the filter, and
the whole thing needs to have an area of holes about the size of one of the
downspouts. This will allow for good and proper drainage of the filter. Once
all the holes have been drilled, take a larger bit, and use it to ream out
the holes, so that there are not any sharp edges or metal shavings to cut your
fingers, etc, and the screen material.
Once you have this done, take the stockpot, and turn it right side up again.
Now take the cheesecloth or screen, and mold and form it to fit in the bottom
of the pot, and going up the sides, and over the top, to form a sort of inner
bucket of screen.
Now you are ready to fill the filter with the filtering medium.
Start by grinding up the charcoal to make charcoal powder. !00% pure charcoal
should be used only. If you lay in a supply of bagged charcoal, then you will
have to determine how much that you will need for further replenishment of
the filter, as well as the other materials needed to make it, so that you will
be able to replace or repair any of the components as time goes on. If you
don't have a good supply of charcoal laid aside, you can always make your own
using these sites to help you.
Place about 3-to-4 inches of the charcoal in the pot, tamp it down firmly
and evenly as you go. Then once you have that done, form another set of screen
material like the first one for the charcoal, and place it in the pot on top
of the charcoal filter medium. Fill the pot with 3-4 inches of the sand, just
like you did with the charcoal, tamp and level as you go. Now, make one more
screen set to go on top of the sand, and place it in the pot.
Now you are ready to add the marbles. Same thing as with the charcoal and sand.
Place enough in the pot, to get about 3-4 inches of marbles on the top if the
filter mediums.The marbles break up the churning action of the water as it
hits the system, and the sand and charcoal act as the filtering agents. By
separating all the component mediums with the three screen elements, you are
able to lift the materials out separate from each other for refill and repair
as needed.
Now that you have the filter completed, you are ready to install it into your
system. You can install it at the front of the system, where the downspout
pours into the marbles, and the drain fills into your storage barrel, or the
barrel drains into the filter, before you send it to the main purification
filter. Either way will work fine, and if you want to, you can make two of
these and do both. It is your choice on this one.
When you set the filter into place for either one, you can take the large funnel,
and set it under the pot to catch and direct the water draining off the filter,
so that you catch every drop.
After you have filtered the water through this pre-filter, you can then send
it on to the main filter, and know that the main filter will not have to try
to strain out the extra dirt and germs that would come without doing this pre-
filter first. A good one like the Berkey filters will last a lot longer before
you have to replace their filter elements, just by making and using one of
these. The most important part to remember about this filter construction,
is to use as fine a screen material as you can find. Double or even triple
up your cheesecloth or screen if you have to, or even use a combination of
both if you want. It is up to you, but you need as fine a screen as you can
get.
Here are a couple of sites that I found for material source reference. These
are not set in stone type of suggestions, they are for visual aid only, to
give you an idea of what to look for. Marbles can be found in all sorts of
places, and the same goes for the pots. Stainless steel would be the best choice.
The ones to stay away from are the ones with the non-stick surfaces.
A source for marbles:
Glass
Gems & Marbles from Wholesalers USA
A source for stockpots:
Stainless
Steel Stock Pots @ Yahoo! Shopping
When you use the pre-filter, remember to change the sand and charcoal in
the system from time to time.
A recharge every 1-to-3 months should keep everything working fine, and you
should be able to make the thing work and last for a very long time to come.
Hope
that this helps some of you out there doing the rainwater catchment thing
to add to your survival and preparedness plans. Watch for a couple of other
posts
that I will send later, on some other thoughts that I had for some other
items that will come in handy after a SHTF event.
Be Prepared! - Dim Tim
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Letter Re: A Practical Tip on Using Roof Catchment Rainwater
Mr. Rawles-
I sincerely appreciate your site and all of your efforts. In researching rain
water collection recently, I came across a
manual on rain water harvesting published by the Texas Water Development Board. While some of the
data is Texas-specific, I found the overall information and descriptions of
various harvesting systems to be extremely helpful. I suspect some of your
readers may as well.
In addition, I have received notice from the good folks at Safecastle that
their next Mountain House [long term storage food] sale will take place between
May 23 and June 5 and will include a 25% discount for [Safecastle Royal] members.
I have done business with Safecastle
in
the
past, and was quite pleased. Please note, I will not receive anything for making
this sale known, so I have nothing to gain. Respectfully, - Hunkajunk
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Two Letters Re: A Practical Tip on Using Roof Catchment Rainwater
JWR:
In response to today's post, I would like to offer an alternate method
to avoid going outside in the rain to flip the value after five minutes.
Cut the down drain pipe into about 5 feet from the discharge elbow. At the
elbow end install a blank over the opening. Drill a small hole in the blank,
perhaps 1/8th inch diameter, and reattached the outlet ducting to a container
to catch the runoff.
At the above cut in the drain pipe, install a "T" and an ell to move
the water downward into a barrel.
[During each fresh rain shower,] the pipe that is blanked off should hold the
initial water that would contain bird droppings and other unpleasant things
before
it starts
to
run
out the "T" above
into the clean water receptacle. This method gives you clean water for drinking
and dirty water for the garden. Of course run your clean water through the
Berkey before drinking.
I wish I could take credit for this method, but the thanks will have to go
to Mel Tappan. - JH in Arkansas
Jim,
I found a rainwater diverter that
looks interesting.
It can be turned on and off in seconds so you can let the first few minutes
of rain wash the bird poop off the roof before you start collecting water.
I imagine with a rain sensor and a little effort, it could be made to start
diverting water automatically a few minutes after it starts raining. - Matt
R.
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Letter Re: A Practical Tip on Using Roof Catchment Rainwater
Jim
There are simple old time solutions to the possible problem of collecting and
using "polluted" roof gathered rain water.
Add a splitter, (an upside down Y shaped piece of pipe), to the downspout before
the pipe runs into your cistern or rain barrel. One side of the "Y" goes
to your catchment, the other to the ground or drain. Add a simple flip value
to the inside of the splitter. During the first 5 minutes of any rain, turn
or flip the valve to run the water out onto the ground or into the usual drain.
Once the roof and gutters, (and air), have been washed clean of any dirt, debris
or pollution, flip the value over to fill the rain barrel or cistern. Keep
the barrel or cistern tightly covered so animals or mosquitoes can't get in.
At least once a year completely drain the barrel or cistern and scrub clean
with bleach and water. Rinse well and drain. Then refill. This ensures a clean
supply of "soft" water that should be safe to drink, (and incidentally
is especially good for using in steam irons and washing hair ). - Jim Fry,
Curator, Museum of
Western Reserve Farms & Equipment, Ohio
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Letter Re: Concerns About Toxicity in Water From Roof Catchment Rainwater
Mr. Rawles,
I searched the forums to no avail on this topic. In the Pacific Northwest,
a common roof setup is untreated wood shakes with copper ridge caps and flashing.
The rain hits the copper which leaches chemicals onto the wood shakes to inhibit
moss growth.
On other sites I'm reading conflicting thoughts on whether this amount of
copper renders the water unsuitable for rain catchment into a water barrel
for vegetable garden irrigation or a cistern for human consumption. Some folks
seem
to think there is more danger from the concentrated nitrogen in the water (bird
droppings, raccoon feces) than the minute traces of copper. Others believe
any amount of copper renders the water useless, no matter what purification
steps
one might take (filters, Aerobic 07, etc). - What is your take? - Scott J
JWR Replies: The copper itself is not the issue, since after
all most residential water pipes are copper. But if lead solder was used for
any
joints,
that would be
cause for concern.
Personally, I'd be much more concerned about any wood preservative treatment
chemicals impregnated in the shingles. Some of those chemicals, such as copper
naphthalate,
are nasty!
But
if your roof was built with plain, untreated cedar shingles and copper sheeting
without lead joints, then the catchment water should be fine for domestic use,
once it is properly
filtered
and treated
for microbes.
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Letter Re: Learning the Details of Self-Sufficiency
Jim,
I'd like to add an additional perspective on the letter on "Learning the Details
of Self-Sufficiency" -- the conscious
competence learning model. I'd like to pull back the shade a bit on why 'just
buying stuff' and reading books isn't going to cut it when the balloon goes
up.
Many folks are 'buying things', reading books, searching the internet with
the thought that when the time comes, they will begin living the self-sufficient
lifestyle in the country. The aforementioned letter points out the folly of
this approach. I just want to take a step back and look at why so many people
are taking an unproductive approach -- it has to do with how people assimilate
new skills.
With a new skill set (like self-sufficient living in this example) a person
at first is unconsciously incompetent (stage #1). Here a person doesn't even
know what they don't know. They certainly don't understand the ramifications
of not having mastery of the things they don't know. Most people stop right
here. They feel safe. In fact, it's not until they go a bit further into consciously
incompetent (stage #2) when they begin for the first time to understand some
of the things at which they are incompetent; and begin to realize the impact
of their incompetence on their desired outcome.
Stage 2 lasts a long time because the more a person learns, the more necessary
skills they uncover, which skills they have no experience whatsoever. It's
not until you actually eat the beans you've canned, which were stored in the
root cellar you made; which beans grew in your garden, which garden you protected
from insects, which plot you cleared from the forest, fenced from the deer,
amended the soil, selected the correct variety of bean seed, planted at the
correct depth,with the correct spacing, at the right time of year, with the
proper sun exposure, etc. Then and only then will you have begun to
have some gardening experience -- for beans. Then you can begin to appreciate
that beans
are not carrots. Carrots have different needs, and hey, wow, I wonder if all
these different vegetables, grains and fruits have different requirements?
Gee, what would happen if I grew my garden in 'compost' I bought from a local
garden center and the entire crop failed, and I couldn't buy my veggies from
Wal-Mart? Last example was a true story for me as a local nursery sold me 10
yards of 'compost' which [later] tested almost zero for N, P, & K. My crops
bolted and died within three weeks.
Stage 3 is conscious competence. This is when you can perform a skill reliably
at will. I can put up more beans this year, I know how to do it; I know how
many rows of what dimension and how much seed I need. I want to put up some
dilly beans, I know how to do that too. I can cook using the blanched and frozen
beans I grew last year.
Stage 4 is unconscious competence. This is where you aren't even aware of the
skills you are using to produce the desired result. People who reach this level
of expertise often can't teach another person how to do what they are doing
because so much ability (not knowledge -- big difference) is assumed. Have
you ever seen a craftsman produce a beautiful result, and make it look easy?
Then you
tried and found, "Hey, this is harder than it looks!" That's what
stage 4 is, and where you need to be before you risk your family's life on
homesteading in the midst of a crisis.
We've only talked about beans so far; how about production quantity gardening
for the 20 or so veggies, fruits, and grains you're going to need? How about
producing pork? Chicken? Rabbit? Lamb? Can you breed, select, grow, cull, harvest,
process, store, and prepare all of these? How about dairy operations? Retreat
security? Redundant water systems in place? Redundant power systems in place
and functioning? Productive relationships with neighbors? Suppliers? I'd like
to give you a more complete list, but I've been doing this for years now, so
I don't even know all I know!
If you aren't doing these things right now, then you won't be any good at them
in a time of need. The only way to gain new skills is by doing.
Take advantage of whatever time we have left before things get much worse,
and go do it! -
Mr. Kilo
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Letter Re: Some Preparedness Lessons Learned
James,
The need for usable skills in tough times, goes without need for embellishment.
The grand question is: which skills are the most valuable? In any situation
the basic needs are obvious – food, shelter, and clothing. Choosing what
I would concentrate on learning, became predicated on what I could do, and
what the community could provide in stressful times.
I moved some time ago from the gulf coast to Tennessee to retire and begin
preparing for the coming events. I moved into a community which is pretty much
self sufficient, mostly by religious choice. Livestock husbandry ranges from
cattle (mostly for milk), goats to chickens, hogs and horses.
I began to raise goats several years ago, starting with Boer cross. After several
discussions I have crossed them with a strain of milk goat to reduce the size
(and therefore the quantity of meat to be preserved) and gain the benefit of
milk products. I researched the process of cheese making and using products initially
supplied from New England Cheese Makers, learned the processes. It was very interesting
to discover that the rennin (for assisting in cheese making) actually comes from
the stomach of ruminators, another by product of the goats.
Preserving meats became my next concern. When talking to many folks, they believe
that they will just run out and kill fresh meat when needed. Not only will the
game be decimated in no time, but without a method of preservation it is wasteful.
Preferred methods around here are smoking, honey and salt boxes for curing and
preserving. The use of honey as a preservative turns out to be one of the very
best. Honey has a natural bacteria inhibitor, and curing smoked meats in honey
just makes life better. This in turn has determined the need for bees – My
neighbor already has a couple of hives which produces enough for now. The use
of honey reduces the dependence on obtaining sources of salt. In addition they
are many maple trees in the area which folks tap during the winter and early
spring. Many families have ponds a raise fish, which are canned by cold packing
or salting and drying.
Having fresh water is a paramount concern. Even with a spring the water quality
can change with the amount of rain causing algae blooms. These can range for
digestive distress to just foul taste. The stream water cannot be used without
treatment, as we have otters, beavers, coyote, foxes, and a whole range of other
critters, so amoeba type problems are probable. Boiling water is the surest,
but is often not the most practical. Any numbers of excellent water filters are
available, but the Big Berky is the most popular here. In any case the water
has to be pre-filtered to remove organic matter. This can be done by straining
through
a clean cloth, then passing through/over a disinfecting agent such as a silver
compound, or the addition of non-detergent bleach. The next best is a cistern
collecting rain fall, but even this can have issues as it tends to clean smoke
dust and pollen from the air on its way down.
As for the vegetable gardens the goats do help with the fertilizer which is composted
and added to the garden. The area I live in is pretty much a “rock farm” so
there is a constant need to remove the rocks from the garden areas and add in
soil from the hills behind us. This soil is usually pretty acidic with all of
the hardwood trees. Most folks use lime from the feed stores – haven’t
found a good substitute yet.
Clothing is one of the details that I have struggled with. The ability to produce
cloth is beyond most of us. Wool makes for great outer wear, but lousy underwear.
Goat hair can be made into quite durable garments, somewhat at the expense of
comfort. We have chose to use GI surplus wool socks, sweaters, BDUs
(because they are very durable) and purchase and store long and regular underwear.
We
do have a real cobbler in the community that does make very nice shoes/boots,
but I still have a back up pair. Many women here weave or quilt (using discarded
clothing as well as new cloth). I do keep some “unisex” clothing
on hand for whomever – mostly in the form of overalls. They are fairly
cheap and commonly worn in the area, and during the cold weather are an additional
layer. We have had most days at or below freezing and night down to zero. I have
looked into tanning leather – it is a noxious process and can be done.
I am choosing to have the hides tanned while I still can and store them against
the future need as clothing.
Our cabin is solid cedar timbers, and smells great! The downside is that there
is a constant need to stay on top of the chinking and calking, to reduce drafts – I’ve
used 22 tubes already this winter. We thought that pellet stove would be a great
idea – wrong. First it requires electricity. With the
power out you have to fire up the generator which is noisy and uses expensive
fuel. Second the stove
can burn corn or compressed hardwood pellets. Corn is food or the animals and
us, and tough enough to grow enough as is. Besides using the corn leaves the
odor of burned popcorn as exhaust. Compressed wood pellets are used on an average
of 80# per day at a cost of ~$9.00 / day. Pulling the stove this spring and going
to a straight quality wood burning stove that can be used to cook on. To back
up a wood burning stove an axe, buck saw, splitting wedges or a maul, and or
chain saw are required based on how much free time you can devote to it. Setting
aside wood requires a year round effort to keep from killing yourself. Although
we have electricity I do have a pitcher pump ready to install in the event it
is needed. And have simple kerosene lanterns for light. I prefer the straight
wick models, as the mantels have become very had to come by recently.
Health concerns in rural living also means, that you have to have a working knowledge
of first aid and basic medicine. The Red Cross has good courses on first aid
and the older Boy Scout manuals give an acceptable knowledge as well. Around
here there is a good deal of herbal medicine practiced. This is good for preventive
and minor issues. I have chosen to invest in some older college texts on anatomy,
physiology, and pharmacology, and a physician’s desk reference. These books
help in diagnosing, but will be of minimal help if/when the main line drugs are
not available. They are great for showing how to stitch and bandage wounds more
severe than the first aid books cover. We keep a well stocked medicine chest
with off the shelf medicines, and rotate them as needed. As we find local remedies
that are effective, we also include them (i.e. willow bark tea as a substitute
for aspirin).
I have learned rudimentary blacksmith skills, and collected some of the tools
as well as books on the subject. I can fashion horseshoes, wheel rims, forge
weld, make cut nails and a few other tasks as required. There are many better
skilled in this community and it will be more time efficient to trade/buy their
services.
I have a full time gunsmithing business which has been sorely needed in this
area – seems like everyone has one that they need fixed. So much for a
retirement business….
The acquisition of books, and how to reading material can spell the difference
between existence and some degree of comfort. In addition it is my considered
opinion the education of young people is severely unbalanced. The possession
of text books, classics, and recreational reading allows one to educate children
when contact is limited. The community has a long history of home schooling.
These kids routinely pass the high school exit exams (same tests as the state
requires for graduation) with higher scores, and at an earlier age. Most parents
seek out folks whom are well versed to teach the children. Oh yea, one by product
is that the kids are very respectful, and thoughtful.
In conclusion I thought that preparation for tougher times meant more beans,
bullets, and bullion. As it turns out, the retraining of my mind and attitudes
has presented the larger challenge. Understanding how you store food, is nearly
as important as what you store. What you can make is as important as what you
can do without (toilet paper?) Knowing that one person cannot do all that is
required, only means that you learn the skills to assist your community which
will supplement everyone’s survival/ quality of life. I thought that being
retired would allow me to kick back and enjoy some good libations. It has turned
out to be the greatest learning curve of my life – and I love it. Jim’s
preparedness course is a great place to start. But the real preparedness is in
the doing! - Dennis S.
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Letter Re: A Source for Potable Water Storage Tanks
Jim,
I enjoy your blog. Recently a few friends and I started to look for potable
water storage tanks for long term storage. Most tanks either were not designed
for long term storage
or the retailer does not have enough information. (Ever since the bottled water
cancer scare, the composition of the plastic has taken on a new importance.)
Wanted to pass on to you a link to WaterTanks.com,
a company that has really been great leading us through the process and willing
to sell us 1 or 100 tanks. Our sales rep is James Opferman.
We are going to pick up the tanks ourselves and save on the sizable shipping
costs. I thought your audience might be interested. They also have a cool rain
barrel configured with a nice strainer on the top. Keeps out the roof debris
and bugs.
I'm off, to read more of your site. - Jerry A
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Letter Re: Hardening a Home Against Small Arms Fire
Sir,
I wish to inquire about hardening a home .I n a firefight, when in a "normal" home,
shots would traverse the walls. Being a simple farmer here in southeastern
Idaho I am a little concerned about the current turmoil and possible Golden
Horde.
I know
that when I was in Rhodesia, we built earthen berms around the home like big
flower boxes along with 2"x4" mesh wire to stop RPGs.
We also had built two perimeter fences and placed crushed white stone inside
the two fences ([each] nine feet high).
Also I am interested in how to pump water here when there is no grid power
for myself
and family and 30 head of animals. I have some supposed "no freeze" hydrants
now but they do freeze. Go figure. I have only been in Idaho for two years.
Thanks for any help. Also, I wanted to say that your novel was great. Sincerely,
- Charles B.
JWR Replies: Retrofitting a house for ballistic protection
can be an expensive proposition, if it is done in a manner that is aesthetically
pleasing in the present day. Sand bags are inexpensive, but as one of my distaff
consulting clients noted, "There is a big difference between Better
Homes and Gardens and your Harder Homes and Gardens.")
I generally recommend starting with a masonry house with a metal roof.
They are nearly fireproof, and aside for their windows, quite resistant to
small
arms fire. As I described in detail in my novel "Patriots:
Surviving the Coming Collapse",
given sufficiently heavy hinges and stout hinge mounting points, steel shutters
can be added to windows, and then wood veneer added, to make the shutters look "decorative." Adding
steel plate to doors overstresses their hinges, so it best to build bullet-resistant
doors from scratch. Again, that is described in my novel. And the novel even
includes a formula for calculating the weight of plate steel. (It does add
up quickly. Parenthetically, special safety precautions must be taken when
lifting and positioning plate steel. (See: ANSI A10.13-2001.) The oft-quoted
"32 feet
per second-per second" of acceleration is a law not to be trifled with! Watch
your fingers and
toes.)
Water pumping is best accomplished by a
traditional Aermotor windmill if you
are in a windy region, or via photovoltaics elsewhere. In either case, I recommend
constructing a large cistern to provide gravity flow for domestic use, gardening,
livestock, and firefighting. OBTW, the folks at Ready
Made Resources offer
free consulting on photovoltaics and other alternative energy systems.
Regarding your frost-free hydrants. They were possibly installed incorrectly.
Since the valve body is buried below frost depth, they should not freeze is
buried at sufficiently deep. (This depth varies, depending on latitude and
solar exposure.) Properly, they should have at least a cubic foot
of gravel around the base, where
the valve's weep
hole drains
the water
from the standpipe portion of the hydrant, each time that that the water is
turned off. It is uncommon, but the weep hole can become plugged,
especially by heavy clay soil. It is also possible for frost to be "driven
down" to unusual
depths by
the proximity of vehicular traffic or even large livestock tromping around
a valve. BTW, be very cautious if you decide to excavate to check to see if
there
is
enough
gravel
there.
It
is easy
to
break
Schedule
40 PVC pipe
with a hand shovel. (I speak from sad experience!)
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Bloom Where You're Planted, by Gertrude
I write this to encourage everyone to begin preparing right now, whatever your
financial situation and physical location in life. We are one of the many
families that don’t live in a sparsely populated western state and
don’t
have a retreat that is fully stocked, off-grid and off-the beaten path. But
we are very aware of the precarious situation that our country is in and we are trying as best we can to be prepared. Doing a little
bit consistently every day will add up very quickly and you will be better
prepared every day as you go along. Doing this will also do wonders for your
mental outlook.
To give a little background: our household consists of my mother and myself,
along with four cats, three dogs and a flock of chickens. My mother is 79 years
old and I’m a retired 57-year old woman. My sister and brother-in-law live about a half-mile
away and our niece and her husband live next door. Both of my parents grew
up on farms and we always had a big garden and plenty of fruit trees when I
was a child. We live in a semi-rural area about three miles from a small town.
There are no interstate highways nearby.
The people here in our community are pretty self-reliant. People still hunt,
fish, and grow and preserve their own vegetables and fruits (although not as
much as in the past). We have about five acres of land with a small fruit orchard
and garden area. We don’t have any mortgages or car payments to worry
about, but we also don’t have the financial resources to retreat to another location. Are we fully prepared? Of course not. I don’t
think anyone is ever fully prepared, but we are much better prepared than we
were last year and we were better prepared last year than we were the year
before
that. This is because of consistently doing something every day to prepare.
As I sit here typing this, our supper is cooking on the wood stove while my
mother is in the living room quilting and our alarm systems--our three dogs--are
outside keeping an eye on things. The coffee pot is ready to go on the stove
for supper later. The chickens are happily occupied in their area. Our pantry
is stocked with wheat, rice, beans, store-canned goods as well as home-canned
vegetables, fruits, and meats and various other food and non-food items. We
have another separate storage area for paper products, medical supplies, batteries,
cleaning supplies, etc.
We didn’t have the wood stove, chickens or bigger-than-average pantry
storage a few years ago. Back then I would have said we were above-average
in “preparation mentality” but my eyes were opened when I began
doing research on the subject of preparedness. It began when I wanted to be
prepared
to
survive a possible flu pandemic. I quickly learned of other things, such as the possibility of EMP strikes,
electric grid
going down in general, Peak
Oil problems, you name it. My first reaction was
one
of panic, but that subsided as my mother and I began “putting feet on our
prayers.” We started small, buying more food each week when grocery shopping.
Then we decided to go “whole hog.”
The first thing we did was buy a wood stove. We now have three heating systems:
[a heating] oil furnace, gas logs operated on propane and the wood stove. We
use the wood stove most of the time in the winter now. Although it’s
not a [broad-top] cook stove, we do very well cooking meals on it. We perk
the coffee for supper most nights even if we don’t cook the main meal
on it. We have lots of wood on our land, but aren’t physically able to
cut the wood ourselves so we buy it locally, and my brother-in-law has supplied
us with wood (my sister and he have a wood stove too). We have three able-bodied
men in the family (brother-in-law, nephew-in-law and nephew) who can and will cut wood if need be.
The next thing we did was install a manual well pump. We’re on well water
but we needed a way to get the water if the grid goes down. I began researching
manual
well pumps and my brother-in-law installed one for us. Last summer, we
worked on what has probably been the biggest project of them all: building
a chicken house and fenced-in chicken yard. Our chickens are what I suppose
you’d call semi-free range. They have a 24x24 foot yard to roam in. My
mother was the chief architect. She designed the chicken house herself. We
first had to clear the land, then we prepared the foundation for the house.
After that came the actual building of the chicken house.
Although we have a pick-up truck, my nephew was using it at the time, so I
would go to the local Big Box building center and buy as much wood as I could
fit into the car and bring it back. We’re proof that you can pretty much
do what you set your mind to do if you’re determined enough. We worked
steadily every day except Sundays at building the chicken house and got it
done. Then we had to clear the land for the chicken yard, and after doing that
we began digging the holes for the fence posts. The only thing we had any outside
help with was installing the poultry wire for the fence. We needed my niece
and her husband to help us get that pulled tight enough. We finished the entire
operation by putting netting over the entire chicken yard to keep out hawks.
We now have a great flock of chickens. As I write this, we have about eight
dozen eggs in the refrigerator. We share [the eggs] with my sister and husband,
my
niece and her husband and my nephew and his wife. The dogs also get a scrambled
egg dinner about once a week. We haven’t bartered any eggs yet, but we
know that’s a possibility down the road if economic conditions warrant
it.
Somewhere in the midst of all this preparation, we bought a Country
Living grain mill (the manual kind). Mother has done most of the grinding
so far. She’s baked whole-wheat rolls and loaves of bread with the wheat
we bought and ground ourselves – yummy!
Our garden suffered last summer, because we were so busy getting the chicken
flock project set up. Our goal for this summer is to have as big a garden as
we can manage. We do have a stock of garden seed laid back. We’ve already
stocked up on lots of canning jar lids. We already had a good supply of canning
jars and rings but I plan on stocking up on those, as well.
One of the big things we need to do next is prepare in the area of self-defense.
We have a rifle and recently bought a S&W 9mm handgun. We also have my
late father’s 38 Special revolver. We have magazines and ammo and plan
on stocking more ammo. My brother-in-law (a former Marine) is going to train
me on the handguns and rifle. If there is one thing I regret in life it is that I didn’t take advantage of the fact that my
late father, who was a police officer, wanted to train me in the use of firearms,
but I was a wimp. I’ve always believed in the right to bear arms, but
was actually a little afraid of using guns, mainly because I’m so nearsighted.
But I’ve gotten over that now. After one very short session with my brother-in-law
going over firearm basics with me, I’m excited about getting proficient
in their use because I can actually understand how the darn things work now!
I believe we’re doing pretty good at blooming where we’re planted.
We can garden, sew, quilt, cook (don’t laugh – a lot of people
don’t
know how to do that!), crochet, can and preserve food, and we’ve don
pretty well at carpentry. In addition to my retirement pension, I also have
a second
stream of income doing manuscript typing at home.
To summarize, I encourage anyone who feels paralyzed by current events to
get up and get going. Start small: buy a few extra groceries each time you
shop; stock up on non-perishables; prepare a first aid kit; and take a first
aid course. Pay attention to what’s going on around you. And, most importantly
of all, never stop learning. Before you know it, you’ll be a lot more prepared than you ever knew you could be. - Gertrude
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Solar Water Disinfection and Pasteurization, by Ariel
This article describes so me simple and practical methods for providing drinkable
water in disaster situations. They fit with my motto: "Keep calm, and carry
on!"
According to the EPA, if you can’t
boil water, you can disinfect it using household bleach. Do not use non-chlorine
bleach
to
disinfect
water.
Typically, [when freshly-purchased] household chlorine bleaches will be 5.25% available chlorine. Bleach will kill
some, but not all, types of disease-causing organisms that may be in the water.
If the water is cloudy, filter it through clean cloths or allow it to settle,
and draw off the clear water for disinfection. Add 1/8 teaspoon (or 8 drops)
of regular, unscented, liquid household bleach for each gallon of water, stir
it well and let it stand for 30 minutes before you use it. Store
disinfected
water in clean containers with covers. There are two big disadvantages of treating
water with chemicals. First chlorine can be potentially dangerous if used improperly
and it may not be readily available when you need it. But there is a safe, chemical-free, and inexpensive option
for disinfecting your water.
Cardboard and aluminum foil are unlikely tools for disinfection water until
you factor in sunshine. Solar water pasteurization uses the heat of the sun
to raise the temperature of water to a point where microbial pathogens are
destroyed. Disease-causing organisms in water are killed by exposure to heat
in a process
called pasteurization. Water that has been heated to 165 degrees F is free from living microbes including Escherichia
coli, Rotaviruses, Giardia and the Hepatitis-A virus. [JWR Adds: The water need not be "held" at a boiling point for ant period of time. Just make the water reach 165 degrees F, and it is done]
Although traditional fuels can be used to pasteurize water, on sunny days
solar energy is the better choice. A major problem with boiling water for
disinfection
is its energy consumption in relation to cost and availability of the fuel
supply. If you do not have electricity you might not be able to sanitize your water..
With full sunshine, it can takes up to two hours to reach 165 degrees F pasteurize two liters of
water. In order to determine when water has reached pasteurization you will
need to
invest in a simple device called a Water Pasteurization Indicator (WAPI).
The WAPI is a simple reusable device containing a special soy wax. The wax
melts
at the same temperature as the water is pasteurized. The tube hangs on a
string inside the container with the wax end up, and once the water around
it becomes
hot enough to kill the bacteria the wax melts, running from the top part
of the tube to the lower end. Although it is designed for solar pasteurization,
the WAPI can be used for pasteurizing over most fuel sources including gas,
wood, and charcoal. WAPIs generally cost between $5 and $10.
As described previously in SurvivalBlog, SOlar water DISinfection (SODIS)
involves filling clean PETE (Polyethylene
Terephtalate) transparent plastic bottles with
water and exposing them to full sunlight for six or more hours. [JWR
Adds: Do not use polycarbonate water bottles,
such as those made up until recently by Nalgene, since that type of plastic
blocks ultraviolet (UV)
light!] The combination of UV-A radiation and raised water temperature disinfects
the water.
There
are a few drawbacks to this method. SODIS efficiency depends on the physical
condition of the plastic bottles, with scratches reducing the efficiency of
the SODIS process. There has
been some concern over the question whether plastic drinking containers can
release
chemicals
or toxic
components
into water, a process possibly accelerated by heat. A solar cooker will make
the SODIS process more efficient.
While pasteurizing will solve a lot of disease problems, it does not remove
other things found in the water such as chemicals, pesticides and heavy metals.
You can purchase elaborate solar cookers or build one using simple materials.
You can find a large number of solar cooker building plans at SolarCooking.org.
I have included instructions for a simple windshield shade solar cooker as
an addendum to this article. I have also included instructions from Needful
Provision, Inc. on how to
construct a simple solar water-distilling unit.
Building and testing a solar cooker also makes an excellent school science
project. The last project I worked on with my child was, “Can you bake
cookies in a solar oven in North Carolina in the month of January?” The
conclusion was yes. Solar cookers should certainly be one the items at the
top of the list for TEOTWAWKI. They
are portable, use only the sun as an energy source and they work!
This is one of the easiest cookers to make
and it works great. You can make it for less than $10:
Kathy Dahl-Bredine's Auto Windshield Shade Solar Cooker
Materials Needed:
Reflective accordion-folding car sunshade
Wire frame or grill)
4 inches of Velcro
Black pot
Bucket or plastic wastebasket
Plastic baking bag
1. Lay the sunshade out with the notched side toward you.
2. Cut the Velcro into three pieces, each about one inches long.
3. Stick or sew one half of each piece, evenly spaced, onto the edge to the
left of the notch. Attach the matching half of each piece onto the underneath
size to the right of the notch, so that they fit together when the two sides
are brought together to form a funnel. If using stick-on Velcro, you can
align the two pieces easily like this: Stick down one side of the Velcro, then
press
the two pieces of Velcro together, fold the shade into the funnel shape and
stick down the second side.
4. Press the Velcro pieces together, and set the funnel on top of a bucket
or a round or rectangular plastic wastebasket.
Place a black pot on top of the rack, placed inside a plastic baking bag.
A standard size rack in the U.S. is 10 inches. This is placed inside the
funnel,
so that the rack rests on the top edges
of the bucket or wastebasket. Since the sunshade material is soft and flexible,
the rack is necessary to support the pot. It also allows the suns rays to
shine
down under the pot and reflect on all sides. If such a rack is not available,
a wire frame could be made to work as well.
Tips:
1. The funnel should be tilted in the direction of the sun.
2. A stick placed across from one side of the funnel to the other helps to
stabilize it in windy weather.
3. After cooking, simply fold up your “oven” and slip the elastic
bands in place for easy travel or storage.
Source: SolarCooking.org (A
modification of a design by Kathy Dahl-Bredine, Oaxaca, Mexico)
[JWR Adds: As Reader William B. pointed out, distilled water is NOT good for you, for any length of time, as the minerals your body needs, have been effectively removed! Consider it a very short term contingency method!]
The Needful Provision Solar Water Distiller:
Select a place with good access to sunlight. Dig a hole in the ground about
the size of 2-bushel basket, then smooth the bottom of the hole, and add
about an inch of sand as necessary to cover any objects that have sharp edges.
Line
the hole with black plastic (10 mil if possible), and leave about 10 to 12
inches of the plastic around the outside edge of the hole. Use rocks, gravel,
or course dirt to hold this edge to the ground. Fill the hole half-full of
polluted water (or salt water). Then float a clean, potable water-tub, with
open top, on the water. Use ropes and ground-anchors to secure the tub in
a center position while floating on the polluted water.
Once the preceding steps are completed, place a siphon-type tube (suitable
for potable water) so one end is anchored on the bottom of the tub--and
one end
extends
a few feet beyond the edge of the hole. Now add a clear sheet of plastic
over the hole, and allow enough plastic to extend 6 inches beyond the black
plastic
around the edge of the hole. Place a small, round rock in the center just
over the above-described tub, so that the top plastic sags to within 4 to
6 inches
of the tub. Now seal the edges of the top and bottom plastic using a layer
of dirt at least 6 to 8 inches deep. Cut a circle of white cloth, or similar
material, a few inches larger than the collection tub, and then place this
over the tub, on top of the plastic, and under the rock (this covering should
act to shade water in the tub).
By means of solar water distillation, pure water vapor collects on the underside
of the clear plastic where it re-condenses and forms water droplets. The
water droplets slide down the plastic, and fall off into the collection tub
just
below the rock. The siphon tube is then used daily to drain-off the daily
ration (1 gallon per person day) of potable water. Hole sizes may be adjusted
to meet
the water demands of a particular family, as well as adjusting for changes
in climatic conditions. If the same water distillation hole is to be used
on a regular basis, then a tube and funnel system should be included to add
more source water daily, without the need to move dirt or the plastic cover.
Pure, potable water was the result of all our prior uses. We do know that there
are
2 or 3 chemicals that may evaporate at about the same temperature
as water.
If such chemicals were present in the source water, then potable water may
not always result.
Source: Needful Provision, Inc.
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Letter Re: Lessons from the January Ice Storm
Jim:
The Ice Storm that just plastered Kentucky brought some reminders of just how
bad things can get and how being prepared - in advance - is critical. Within
a few hours, everything became coated with a half-inch to an inch of ice:
roads, cars, trees, power lines - everything. Throughout the night, we heard
crashes as our neighbor's trees lost massive limbs. We knew it was only a
matter of time before trees limbs (which are not properly trimmed back by
our utility company in an attempt to cut costs) collapsed on power lines
and caused widespread outages. In the morning, everything had turned to crystal.
About a quarter million people were without power in our county, but almost
everyone in the western half of the state had lost power.
Our county actually did a good job of plowing and salting roads. Unfortunately,
it didn't help as hundreds of traffic lights weren't working. Traffic was snarled
badly and travel times easily doubled. Hundreds of businesses are closed and
loosing money every day the power stays off. Looking for a generator at the
local big box home and garden center? Forget it, quickly sold out. Ice scrapers,
gone. Gas cans, gone. Driveway salt, gone. Snow shovels, gone. The sales guy
told me they weren't going to get restocked for the rest of the season.
My daughter called from the university she attends about a four hour drive
to the West. Their whole city was without power and water. The university asked
students
to leave, if possible, and those who couldn't were sheltered in the campus
auditorium. They didn't have any cots so you had to sleep on the floor or in
the auditorium chairs. She wanted me to come pick her up, so as I headed out
the next morning on a full tank of gas, my plan was to stop at each significant
town on the way to check their power and gas pumping status. Each stop was
the same as the next - dead. As I neared the half-way point on my gas gauge,
not one city on the way had electricity. It's as if a nuclear ice bomb had
been dropped on the state. I turned back.
It's amazing when you fully realize how dependent our society has become on
electricity. We are being told it will take up to 7 days to completely restore
service in our county, which is completely urban. Out in the rural areas, they
say it will be two weeks or more. Temperatures have been dropping into the
teens at night. Lots of people I know have no alternatives to heat their homes
or cook food. Fireplaces, like mine, are electrically controlled gas logs.
I can't even light it manually. I've learned a lesson: get
what you need before you need it. Get extra. I will be buying a dependable
generator once this crisis
passes. My next home will be better equipped with alternative sources of heat
and power. - J.S.
JWR Replies: Events like the recent ice storm underscore
the need to be self -sufficient: Think things through, and prepare systematically:
Wood or coal fired
stoves with a horizontal cook top. Kerosene lamps and plenty of fuel, a backup
power
generator,
again
with
plenty
of fuel. Extra stored fuel for your vehicle (which would have allowed you to
make that 8 hour round-trip). Often overlooked in winter is the need for a
backup water supply, and water filtration,
even
if it mean
melting
buckets
of snow--which
is
agonizingly
slow and laborious.
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Letter Re: Colonial New England Community Blockhouses as a Historic Precedent
Hello Jim,
Mosby's description of defense tactics was common all along the
frontier in the 18th Century including western Pennsylvania. As defense
against indian raids, a small blockhouse was
built on a farm in a central location. A spring [or shallow well] for water was a necessity.
When news of local raids spread, people
would gather as many possessions as possible and head to the blockhouse for
the common defense. This is an instance where much can be learned from history.
While these small forts where rarely overrun, the abandoned farms were wide
open to burning and pillage. Destruction of property, livestock and crops
were the norm and could cause food shortages. Also, often the danger of raids
would
last for months at a time and while forted up this made it difficult to tend
to any crops and livestock not destroyed. Groups of people would travel to
abandoned farms for short periods to try to work the land as much as possible.
Some providing security while others worked. What goes around comes around
but I hope things never get this bad again. - Jeff in Ohio
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Hurricane Lessons Learned and Some Advice on Getting Prepared, by Ken on the Gulf Coast
Sometimes it is not an option to relocate so you have to get prepared wherever
you are located. I am located on the Gulf Coast 60 short miles from New Orleans,
Louisiana. We were ground zero for Hurricane Katrina, so I have a first hand
experience of what can happen I will describe some things that I did right
and some things that I did wrong.
We were unable to relocate to a place like Idaho as we had elderly parents
who could not and probably would not relocate to a more appropriate survival
area.
My mother was born in 1930 the daughter of a sharecropper in the Louisiana
delta. They lived a survivor lifestyle as a matter of everyday life. She instilled
in me a fear of having absolutely nothing. Until her
death in 2007 she refused to run a dishwasher or air conditioner. She could
not bring herself to waste electricity, water, or anything for that matter.
She would not waste anything.
Although not as dedicated to thrift as my mother, I did inherit her fear of
hunger, and vulnerability to the unexpected. She died in fear of depression
era conditions returning. When she died I lost a valuable
source of survival information.
Because of my mother's influence, the day after Hurricane Katrina, we were
one out of 75,000 or so who had lights and running water 36 hours after the
storm. The following is what most people did wrong:
A lot of people had generators, the problem was that they only had a couple
of cans of gas. So they were all without power in less than 24 hrs. All of
the gas stations were disabled. No gas means no
power!
Nobody had enough food, they recommend three days, it took almost three days
just to get the roads clear.
No guns! I had friends who did not "believe in guns" that ended
up borrowing some weapons.
No dogs! Without dogs, you have no warning of intruders. Alarm
systems don't work after the batteries are dead.
The following is what I did right:
I had a natural gas generator installed. I was up and running less than 36
hours of the storm. It was also a mistake to select natural gas as a fuel source.
Upturned trees broke gas lines all over the region, it was only blind luck
that left me with gas pressure. A propane system would have been better.
I had drilled a water well. I was able to provide water pressure to my house,
city water was out for weeks. I tied the system back to the house by a simple
water hose going from a faucet on my pump to one on the house.
I had lights and water. Here is what I did wrong:
I evacuated the elderly mothers and dogs to an area 100+ miles north. Electricity
was out over the entire state, my motor home generator powered my sisters house
where I left our parents and dogs. I left the dogs at my bug out location before
I returned to the disaster area.
Mistake #1:
I sent my dogs elsewhere.
The other thing I was unprepared for were refugees. I call them refugees because
they would have gone hungry without the food in my pantry and freezers. I was
totally unprepared for the 16 families looking to me for
food and direction.
Some other things I did wrong:
I did not have enough food. I fed a lot of people. In a real end of life as
we know it scenario, I would have been forced to choose who I would have to
turn away. It's one thing to take care of people when you know help is on the
way, quite another when there is no help in sight.
Weapons: I loaned my old shotguns to all the people who did not believe in
the private ownership of guns. When gangs of illegal aliens and welfare recipients'
were roaming the streets, the folks who didn't believe in guns didn't hesitate
to request assistance.
I did not have a fuel source independent of the grid.
The following are changes that I have made:
I now have a Bluebird Bus motor home. It has a huge fuel tank that I can use
to run the house if the natural gas generator quits. It’s diesel generator
can put out 12 kw for a long time.
I have a much larger store of food.
I have a photovoltaically-powered water supply.
I have a bug out vehicle that has a 1,200 to 1,500 mile range. It has a propane
refrigerator. It has a water
system that can provide water pressure to my house.
I have dogs. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, thieves were cranking up
lawn mowers and pushing them up next to running generators after the storm.
They would then shut down the running generators and leave the running lawn
mowers while they absconded with the generators. You cannot stay awake
24 hours a day. Dogs do not miss much if anything. I can’t recommend
a breed of dog, but the following work for me: Miniature Schnauzers, Australian
shepherds, Catahoula Curs. If you live in the south and have some land you
cannot beat a Catahoula Cur. An Australian Sheppard is a close second for all
climates.
I have ten acres and good soil, I am putting in a very large garden. However,
I do not feel that I can overcome the huge welfare population we have here,
If things get out of hand, I plan to bug out. I now have an RV that has a tremendous range. It has a propane refrigerator, and full facilities.
I can literally live on the side of the road for weeks or months. It is equipped
to pull a full-size 4WD with
trailer. I have several bug out locations within four hours where I can evacuate
to. When I leave I will have dogs, food, tools,
and arms. I also have shortwave radios.
You have to develop a survival mentality,
you have to add to your preparation everyday. Each trip to Wal-Mart is an
opportunity to add to your supplies. The one thing I learned is that when the
storm hits,
its too late to think about being prepared. You have to think: if
a disaster strikes, how long can you feed and protect your family? I add
to my provisions
every day.
Start to prepare now. Think: food, food, and more food,
ammo, bandages, and unless you can
go without sleep 24 hours a day don't forget the dogs!
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Field Gear on a Shoestring Budget: Ten Project Examples, by George S.
The following are some hopefully useful field expedients, substitutes and
spares, all
of which can be had for a buck to about ten bucks each:
#1: Drywall Saw: if you don’t have one of those all-purpose $49.95 survival
knives or field shovels from Gerber or Glock with the accessory root saw, or
you’ve found that the finger-length saw blade on a Swiss Army folder
leaves a lot to be desired when cutting a 2x6 [board] down to size? A bow saw
or flexible survival kit saw are a couple of possible candidates that may be
up
to the
task, but so too is an inexpensive drywall "stab" saw. The blade
on the one I got for a buck in the closeout tool bin at my local Big Box store
hardware department has a blade just a smidgen under 7 inches long and saw
teeth that cut on the push stroke on one edge and reversed teeth that work
on the
draw stroke on the other. It also has a sharp enough tip on the blade point
to poke through drywall or thin wood paneling, hence the term "stab" saw.
The handle on mine, made/distributed under the GreatNeck
brand, P/N 4932, is
hard plastic and black rubber, comfortable enough to use for repeat cutting.
Though that handle included a molded-in flap pierced for a lanyard or hang
cord, the handle itself is stout enough to be drilled at the butt end for a
hole for a wrist lanyard or dummy cord. So I modified mine to eliminate any
chance of the cord tearing through the molded flap. I also did a little reshaping
of the handle on my saw with a file to get it to better fit my hand, so there
is enough material molded around the blade at the handle end for personal modification
to suit.
In addition to the obvious uses for field carpentry, mine’s proved useful
on the rib cage and pelvic bones when field dressing whitetail deer. There
are certainly other times in the woods when a nice quiet saw is to be preferred
to noisier if sometimes quicker tools like machetes or hatchets, as well as
being lighter in weight. A drywall saw is easily carried in a homemade or improvised
leather or nylon web belt sheath, or a short length of metal tubing can be
squashed flat and the saw blade inserted, both for protection for the blade
from other residents in a toolbox and to keep the saw from chewing holes in
a pack or rucksack pocket. Mine also fits in a scabbard meant for an M7 bayonet
for an M16 rifle,
which I picked up for a couple of bucks in the junk box at my favorite army-navy
surplus store. That has the total cost for my saw under
five bucks, so I went back and bought two more, one for a pal and one as a
spare for myself. Using a saw to cut those little figure-four release triggers
for small game snares or dead
fall
traps beats doing that task with most knife
blades, by the way, though setting snares in the cold is not real high on my
list of fun things to do. But if
you’re going to try it, I suggest you first practice setting the things
when it’s warmer out...and using a saw instead of a knife to build your
hare-trigger releases. (Yes, that spelling was intentional!)
#2: Snow Camo Overwhites: I live in snow country where sets of military over-white
trousers and parka can be useful during the white time of the year, and yes,
I have a good set. But my back-up plan consists of a large white vinyl trash
bag that can either be used for its intended purpose or can instead have neck
and arm holes poked into it in a pinch, then to be worn to help keep drizzle
and sleet off. It’s considerably more glossy and shiny than I care for,
which can be cured either with a few vertical stripes of flat white automotive
spray paint, or an XXXXXL white t-shirt can be added over it- unless, of course,
you are a XXXXXL T-shirt size as is, and you have to use a white pillowcase
or kiddy bed bed sheet substitute instead. Really large used T-shirts go for
50 cents each at my local Goodwill thrift store, and since I’m not planning
on wearing these against my skin, I’m not the least bit squeamish about
getting one that’s been used. And while I was there I found a pair of
much-dripped-on white painter’s pants for a buck, too, oversized and
baggy, just right for wear over warmer trousers underneath. A few shots with
the ol’ 99-cent can of flat white spray paint, and I was right in business.
Admittedly, they were still loose enough on me that I needed a pair of elastic
carpenters’ suspenders to help hold them up, and those suspenders were
available only in blue or red, not white. Out came the flat white spray can
again, which took care of that, backed up by a wrap or two of white athletic
bandage tape over the too-shiny buckles, which both locked them in place and
ensured there wouldn’t be any giveaway shine even if the paint flaked
a bit. It didn’t hurt to have that pair of short lengths of tape handy
should they be needed for other uses, either. That white spray paint also works
real well on surplus store desert helmet covers to whitenize them for winter
wear, then useable either as field jacket or parka hoods, or as, of all things,
wintertime helmet covers.
#3: Inexpensive Lockblade Folding Knifes: I like nice pretty folding knives,
both factory and custom, and some are so pretty and beautifully crafted that
it seems like sacrilege to drop one in a pocket, let alone open it up and actually
use it; the one I got as a present a couple of years back is like that. So
in my pocket rattling against my keys instead is the cheapie $1 lockblade folder
I picked up in the sporting goods/camping supplies department at my local Wal-Mart.
Packaged as "Ozark Trail #3074," the knife’s 31⁄4" blade
is jinked (partially "sawtoothed) along the rear third of its belly
edge, is marked "stainless," and is retained by a screw, making sharpening
and other maintenance simple. The knives’ handles/scales are a hard black
plastic that’s sufficiently impact resistant that of the dozen or so
examples I have none have yet suffered breakage or cracking, though one that
came in contact with a hot Jeep exhaust manifold melted and blurred a bit.
Now that one’s a "parts queen" donor for any of the others
that might have a blade chip or snap a point. That hasn’t happened yet,
the only replacement so far needed on my stable of cheap Chinese folding pointy-sharpie
things having been that of a replacement blade pivot screw that came loose
on one and got away in my pocket. The scales are a little squarish for my taste,
easily fixed by rounding off the edges and corners with a file or sandpaper,
and yep, there’s a well-placed hole for a dummy cord lanyard or key ring.
One so equipped resides on a spare bootlace that goes around my neck when I’m
kayaking in the summertime, and twin brothers of the cheapie Wal-Mart folder
live in the glove box of each of my vehicles, my tool boxes, in one pocket
or another of most of my rucks and daypacks, on my key chain and there’s
one in the drawer of my computer desk where it does double duty as letter
opener and box tape slicer. There are some users who don't care for the idea
that the
knife can be disassembled and have concerns that parts can become
unattached and lost. I haven't had that happen yet, but I figure screw tightness
checks are routine maintenance,
and I will use a threadlocker if I think it's necessary.
#4: Singlepoint Balance Sling: I had always wanted to be a high-speed, low
drag, tactical operations operating operator, but had never been able to come
up with one of the $35-$50 3-way HK or
Vickers slings that all the gun shop commandos and SWAT Team
guys who’ve never fired a shot in a real world
gunfight keep insisting to me that all the real professionals use. Adding a
center-of-balance attach point for a centerpoint sling is a simpler alternative,
and can be accomplished with nothing any more complicated or expensive than
a screw-in eyebolt at the point where the wrist of a shotgun’s butt fits
into the gun’s receiver, an expedient that goes at least as far back
in historic use as Doc Holliday’s sawn-off double-barreled scatterguns.
For the sling itself I used a five-foot length of black 1-inch wide tubular
webbing as used for rock climbing harnesses, also very useful for belts and
regular weapons slings. The advantage of using the tube web in this application
is that the tube web is hollow inside, and inside went a 48-inch-long elastic
bungee cord. The hook of one end of the bungee’s elastic shock cord was
then crimped to the front snaploop of a very used AK-47 sling
that had pulled out the oil-rotted threads holding it on, though all sorts
of alternate snaps
and swivels [or a 550-cord loop] could be used instead. The ones found on $2
surplus Swiss gas mask bags are especially excellent, with or without the bag
strap attached. The hook then attaches either to an AK or other rifle’s
front sling swivel, or at the new midpoint location if the hardware for that
application is installed. A friend who saw and tried my centerpoint sling on
my AK wanted one for his new M4 configuration
AR-15, and since he already had a sling attach point installed as the stock
locking plate of his CAR-15,
all I had to do was add the sling’s body loop and the strap with the
swivel snap. In his case, that snap was made from a pear-shaped key ring mini-caribiner,
after threading a short piece of clear plastic gas line tubing over it to keep
it from scratching the rifle finish and keep potential rattling silenced.
At the other end there’s a loop just large enough to go over the user’s
shoulder across the chest front, again with the elastic cord keeping it snug.
With the sling snap attached at the midpoint I can hold my rifle in both hands
and extend it out to arm’s length in front of me, and the elastic and
slightly muzzle-heavy weight with a loaded mag in places returns it to a muzzle-down
port arms position. This allows a fast transition from carbine to handgun,
handheld radio/cell phone, or my ice cream cone, depending on my priorities
at the time. I really prefer to have web or leather slings on weapons that
may be fired enough to get more than a little warm, since nylon slings can
melt through if they come in contact with a hot barrel. I’ve also had
my doubts about the general utility of balance point slings, but this is my
opportunity to try one out for a while, and there do seem to be two situations
in which mine has proven useful for me. One is while standing around with the
weapon at ready for long periods of time, as when at a guard post or waiting
to hit the firing line on a hot range, probably why they’ve been so popular
with some troops in Iraq. The other is when aboard a motorcycle, snowmobile
or ATV and the right hand is occupied with operating the vehicle, which would
be a really nice time to have a shorty bullpup weapon instead. But when what
you’ve got is what you’re going to have to use, I’ll admit
the springy sling may be worth being fitted.
#5: Gear/Armor Carrier Vest: Now that I had my new SWATzie sling I now needed
a black tactical vest and armor plate/pad carrier to go with it, and $2 seemed
to be a good price to give for the basic start for one. That was for two of
the polycloth black shopping bags from my local Wal-Mart store at a buck each,
offered as an alternative to the usual flimsy plastic variety. Aside from the
low cost, their big attractions were their 12" x 12" square size,
and the pair of 11⁄4" wide straps that serve as the bags front and
rear handles. Cutting away the stitching that held the end of one strap at
the mouth of one bag left an attached double strap that was long enough to
go over my shoulder and connect the first bag worn in front to the second one
across my back. The other strap was similarly modified, but on the other side
of the handle, giving a strap on either side to connect to the other bag, one
on the front left side of the front bag, and the other on the right rear of
the same bag. The straps on the other bag were modified the same way, but alternated
in mirror-image reverse, so that the outside left strap of the front bag’s
strap connected to the outside left of the rear bag, and the inside straps
likewise went to the attach points of their respective counterparts. In my
case, just the straps of one bag worn draped over my neck probably would have
been enough to position the front bag high enough in front that the bag’s
open top came to about the height of a field jacket’s front collar button.
That configuration is very similar to the old Military Armament Corporation
(MAC)
Ingram M10 submachinegun carry bags [made of then military-standard olive drab
canvas] that unfolded for wear beneath the user’s neck, the inside
of the MAC bags being lined with a Kevlar pad. I wanted protection and other
features
in back, though, so initially went with the twin bag approach. The bag in back
rode high enough that it too left just enough room for a jacket or shirt collar
to fit beneath it, and it covered my upper back and shoulders nicely. Both
bags rode high enough that an equipment belt can be worn underneath, and the
belt can be put on either first or after the vest is in place; others of different
body sizes may find they’ll need more of the adjustment provided by lengthening
both shoulder straps. Alternately, a set of padded shoulder straps salvaged
from a day pack or ALICE ruck
shoulder straps could be used instead.
Inside the rear face of my front bag went a used and expired Kevlar soft vest
obtained in a trade from a retired cop neighbor of mine. Inside the front face
of that same pouch went a military SAPI plate,
hopefully capable of withstanding rifle fire--or maybe not as effectively as
desired:
the military
has been replacing them with a newer E-SAPI version--an enhanced SAPI plate.
I also added a "kangaroo pouch" extension extending from the bottom
of the front bag, [made from a third black cloth shopping bag folded in half
top-to-bottom, giving a 6-inch extension and raising the basic cost of the
rig by another whole dollar. The Kevlar padding from another soft vest went
in the bag in back. I can add yet another "kangaroo" drop pouch location
on the bottom of the rear bag, should another 8" by 12" SAPI or E-SAPI
plate come my way and I feel like spending yet another dollar, and depending
on whether I want the extra SAPI protection low over my kidneys and spine,
or higher at my shoulder level. Until then the ballistic pad from a vest fired
into for testing rides at a height in between, sealed in a large vinyl pouch
to prevent the pad from becoming soaked if I get caught wearing the vest outside
in the rain, or go for an unplanned swim. No, you shouldn’t use expired
or damaged vest inserts or material. Yes, you ought to spend the bucks for
the very best body armor you can afford, and if you’ve developed tastes
based on personal experience, go with it. But if all you have on hand is less
desirable material, it may be better than nothing, so long you’re under
no illusions about its lessened effectiveness.
At the bottom edge of both the front and rear bags’ exterior I added
a left and right-side horizontal black nylon strap [sections left over from
building the sling described in section #4 above] and quick-release buckle
to connect the front and rear bags at my waist. The buckles came in a package
of three from the craft section of my local fabric shop, and one had been used
on a holster project, leaving the two I needed. I notice, however, that these
not only appear identical to the ones used on grocery shopping cart kiddy seat
belts and will fasten with the cart buckles just fine, but also are even identified
as having been made by the same manufacturer. [Ask nicely at your grocery when
they change their shopping carts’ seatbelts for newer ones less frayed
or for ones with a newer advertising message and you may get a grocery bag
full of the old ones for free.] In any event, the bottom straps do a fine job
of keeping the bottoms of the vest bags from flopping around, and mine can
be adjusted for anything from t-shirt weather to opened up enough to fit over
a parka or field jacket with winter liner. Velcro attachments would probably
work just as well.
Upgrades and enhancements: I also added velcro at the edge seams of the bags
to help the bags maintain their flat and square profile when other items like
my cheapie overwhites and poncho are added inside between the ballistic panels.
Likewise I added matching facing velcro straps to the former cloth handles,
now over-the-shoulder straps, which helps them stay together to be slid through
the adjustment buckles for them, which are former metal sling adjustment keepers.
The Velcro came from the craft department at Wal-Mart in a strip about 3⁄4-inches
wide by 3 feet long for a little over a buck. Yes, there are uses yet to come
for the leftover hook-and-loop pieces.
I wanted a way to carry ammo and other goodies with my cheapie vest, and since
they’d be a bit difficult to get to with the vest padding inside, that
meant pouches for them on the outside surface, leaving the bag interiors to
function as a drop pouch for empty magazines or clips or other non-disposable
novelties. The solution to hanging external pouches or other accessories was
easy, and all it took was a bunch of 12-inch long black nylon inch-wide straps
laid out in horizontal rows across each bag’s outside face, separated
by about a half inch. If that sounds like MOLLE rack
webbing, it should because that’s a good approximation of what it
is, though spaced primarily for ALICE gear
rather than MOLLE. Accordingly, the
critical dimension is not the
spacing between the straps, but the distance from the bottom edge of each lower
strap to the top edge of the upper strap, which should be from about 2-1⁄4
inches to no more than 2-3/8 inches, the inside height of an ALICE fastener.
The front face of my vest wound up with nine rows of webbing, seven at the
bottom and two at the top for first aid packet or compass pouches. On the back
outside face, it’s also covered top to bottom with nine rows of the webbing,
allowing anything from a Camelbak canteen pouch, a couple of 2-liter GI bladder
canteens or ammo pouches to be fitted. The spacing for the vertical stitches
that hold the straps to the fabric is approximately 1-3/16ths inch apart each
and I made up a spacer from a narrowed wooden paint-stirring paddle to keep
them in a reasonably uniform vertical line. Note that the metal ALICE clip
fasteners will chew through web straps fairly rapidly, since they’re
really meant for use on the heavy- duty web of a pistol or LBE belt.
One answer for this is to use the commercially available and relatively inexpensive
ALICE
strap-type adapters; another is the old airborne unit trick of replacing each
ALICE clip with at least two separate loops of parachute cord, knotted tight
and with the ends at the knot fused by heat to prevent the knots from working
loose. Now if you come across a military vest or armor carrier with the MOLLE
straps worn through, you’ll have a good idea as to the likely cause,
and how to prevent a repeat if you adopt the vest and repair the damage.
As an added benefit, the resulting ALICE/MOLLE web slots are just large enough
to allow the body of a 12-gauge shotgun shell to fit, with the shell’s
rim keeping the round from dropping through. That inspired me to build a second
vest primarily for use with a shotgun. Lacking the bottom extensions it’s
accordingly shorter and more compact, and so can be worn reasonably concealed
beneath a GI field jacket. The old Second Chance Z9 that was the first vest
I owned back in the 1970s rides in front in this one, and I’m still looking
for another castoff vest for the back pouch. Additional boxed ammo carried
in pouches in back helps balance the load on my shoulders, and helps prevent
me from kicking myself for not bringing more ammo along for those parties that
last longer than anticipated.
A third, similar vest was made at the request of a friend for carrying .50
caliber rifle ammo, among other items. It’s similar to my second "shotgun" vest,
with a few variations described later. Other specialized applications may well
come along, and I expecting that vests to serve as at least temporary expedients
for dealing with them can be launched at a cost of around two bucks each, for
a start.
The triple-magazine ALICE pouches
for M16 magazines fit very nicely at the bottom corners of my first "rifle" vest,
though M16 magazines aren’t
what are in them. With the two inside top anti-rattle strap tabs that separate
the three magazines removed, an M16 pouch is just right for an 8-round M1
Garand clip of .30-06 ammo laid flat. Alternate the bullet ends left to
right as more loaded clips are added, and they’ll hold eight clips, nine
in some if an extra one is crammed up into the pouch cover before snapping
it shut. I’ve
got two pouches so filled on the back bottom corners of my long vest and another
up front, [and a holstered handgun where a fourth ammo pouch could go] giving
me 192 rounds in 24 clips carried in three pouches. Conveniently, my Garand
ammo is stored in 192-round cans, in clips; isn’t it splendid how such
things sometimes work out?
A load like that with the added weight of vest pads and plates can get heavy
after a bit, so I added some of that black nylon webbing along either side
of both of the adjustable straps to help spread the weight; padded pack straps
are a possible solution for this problem, too. Those leftover short sections
of Velcro strip were added to three of the webbing rows approximately centered
on the front panel on the third, fourth and fifth rows from the top. Their
mating sections were added to the back of a largish US flag patch, which I’ll
continue to consider wearing so long as this country and its Constitution remain
at least partially workable institutions. Since situations in which wearing
a bullet-resistant tac vest with a couple of hundred rounds of Garand ammo
are not only possible but appear to be becoming more likely of late, there
may be some question as to how long that "workable" consideration
will last. Others may find flags of state or local jurisdictions, their religious
or veterans organizations, or family or group identification symbols or name
tapes to be more suitable or to the point.
Oh yeah: the black Wally-World bags come with the motto "Paper or Plastic?
Neither", and "Wal-Mart" printed across their front. Various cures for this
can be as simple
as just facing those slogans inward, turning the bags inside-out placing the
lettering in the inside where it won’t be seen, to a few shots with the
trusty 99-cent spray paint can, the flat black one in this case. I found that
the paint solvents softened the bag lettering enough to allow the printing
to be scraped away, but turned one inside out for better access to the stitching
of the handle straps anyway. If you don’t care for the black colored
bags, blue ones from Kroger grocery stores can be used instead, or bright orange
ones from the Big Lots retail chain. I’m sure that the selection can
vary depending on what stores are in a particular area; I haven’t found
suitable bags in winter white yet, but either a white cover can be added to
the front and rear faces of the pouch sections, or that ever-handy can of flat
white spray can be again called to duty. An inexpensive camouflage bandanna
can be used as a sewn-on cover before ALICE or MOLLE
webbing is added instead, for those wishing to match their other field gear
or maintain uniformity with
group camo; likewise the remaining material from the back of a camouflage shirt
blouse or lightweight T-shirt could be used. I've also found that the
JoAnn Fabrics shop chain offers
a very similar bag in a Loden/British Racing Green for a buck each, and a few
of them may be the beginning of my next project.
Those who’ve seen how glaringly black vests fluoresce in current night
vision equipment seem to be less enthusiastic about using all-black gear, but
television and movies have done their best to condition their zombie audiences
to accept those in the black tac vests as being the ultimate in authority figures.
That
kind of mass conditioning may be helpful to domestic concentration camp guards,
but the cowering habits of sheep-like GDP en
route to the slaughterhouse may also be utilized in making one’s
exit from such locales by other individuals or groups wearing the black vests,
at least until the urban inmates discover that many of those in the black outfits
may not have their best interests at heart.
As for sourcing components, I happened to get a deal on a couple of a hundred
18-inch sections of nylon strap from the industrial surplus outlet of a manufacturing
plant. New web from commercial sources can be used instead; one pal of mine
used a couple of cheap nylon dog leashes to make his, and inexpensive import
nylon slings are another source of alternate potential raw material. Those
wanting olive drab straps instead of black can use the material from the Swiss
military web straps offered by Sportsman’s Guide, 6 of them 31 inches
long and 14 that are 66" each, all with plastic pinch-release buckles,
and
under $15 for all 20, their item # 124510. Sportsman's Guide also offers 1-inch
wide nylon strapping in 125- yard rolls as their item
# 132816,
but you don’t get any buckles with that deal. My ballistic pads and inserts
have been collected from a variety of sources and applications over the years,
but those looking for their own suppliers of those components should check
with the offerings of BulletproofME.com or UsedBodyArmor.com as
possible sources.
Previously I’ve never cared for vests for much other than the specialized
ones for aircraft survival gear, [which can be slung over flight deck seats
when not in use] M79/M203 ammunition or photographic gear. The polyvalence
of having body armor and ballistic plate carriers do double-duty as attach
points for web gear is too obvious to avoid, however, particularly since the
armor carrier makes the use of web gear or LBE suspenders underneath both hot
and uncomfortable, and can restrict access to gear carried underneath. Two
bucks [or four] for a pair of shopping bags as a starting place for an armor/gear
carry vest seems like a good bargain to me, though you’ll have considerable
time and hand work putting one together after you decide just how you want
it arranged.
The vests made from 12"x12" bags front and rear work out a little
short so far as complete lower torso coverage goes, but that can be an advantage
for those who expect to spend lengthy periods seated in vehicles or elsewhere.
Adding the extensions like those I used for my SAPI plates provides an additional
6-inch deep pocket that runs horizontally completely along the front of the
vest, long enough inside for double-taped "royal" AK or RPK magazines,
full-length Sten, Swedish K or Thompson SMG magazines,
or for use as a "drop
pouch" for expended magazines or recovered clips in the case of my Garands.
Those without such concerns can use the long horizontal space for chem-lights,
highway flares or pop flares, pistol mags or a gas mask or night vision device,
as available.[JWR Adds: I do not advocate taping rifle of
SMG magazines "end for end" . This often results in the downward-pointing
magazine getting jammed full of mud when you jump down prone. So instead, tape
the pair together parallel (with both tops pointing upward.) You can
use a short length of dowel, and a pencil, or even a couple of thicknesses
of MRE spoon
handles between
the magazines, to make them angle apart from one another, to provide the necessary
magazine well clearance.]
Those who are really tall might want to consider the possibility of stacking
two bags piggyback, front and rear- four bucks worth, again. Alternately, that
open space beneath the rib cage not well covered by a single bag [or the small
of the back, for the rear bag] can be used for a front- attached drop magazine
pouch or reversed fanny pack, or in back, for an extension for a poncho or
sleeping bag carrier that rides below the 12" x 12" dimensions of
the bags. If a fanny pack is used low across the back, the waist straps from
it can be used for the waist/belt line connecting straps between the front
and rear bags, saving the separate addition of those components. It’s
also a common feature on commercial vests to include multiple belt loops extending
beneath the vests’ bottom edge at the belt line, allowing an equipment
belt to be supported by the vest itself. Such can be added and used if that’s
your preference.
One additional word of warning: the allegedly recycled plastic-weave material
from which the raw material shopping bags are made does not seem to be especially
fireproof or fire-resistant, and the nylon straps added for gear attachment
certainly are not. A dunking of the vest in one of the commercially
available fireproofing chemical mixtures could be a wise final finishing step
once the vest is completed but before other equipment is installed. That may
be more of a consideration if you’re an armored fighting vehicle crewman
or plan to hang around the exhaust downdraft on either side of a CH-47 "Chinook" helicopter
exit ramp, but do be cautious when close to campfires or other open flames,
and try not to excessively antagonize anyone operating a flamethrower.
#6: Too-big, worn-soled Moccasins fix: I’d been watching for a decent
pair of mocs for most all of last year’s yard sales, but all that turned
up [at the last yard sale of the season, of course!] was a pair that was way
oversize and had both soles worn through. No worries, for 50 cents for the
pair, they were a bargain, just a quarter apiece. I spent part of the winter
cutting away the worn-through bottoms and peeling off the glued-on strip of
finest plastic beading in the decorative native pattern of the Made in China
tribe. On Memorial Day weekend, off I went to the Buckskinners' and Revolutionary
War Reenactors’ Rendezvous where the sutlers and craftsmen had set up
their booths and tents on Sutler’s Row. I found the guy I was looking
for, a leathersmith who offered a resoling service for mocs, with buffalo leather
soles for $2 per sole. That gave me a pair of newly-resoled slightly oversize
mocs for just under 5 bucks. I added a pair of glue-in padded insoles, let
them dry, and then checked their fit: still floppy. The next addition was a
pair of $1.98 cotton booties, which I installed by wrapping my feet in plastic
shopping bags and then putting on the booties, and then liberally slathering
rubber cement over the booties and the places inside the mocs I could reach,
pretty much everywhere once I had them turned half-inside-out. Insert glue-coated
bootied foot in moccasin, allow to dry, and then repeat on the other foot.
While I was waiting for the second foot’s new addition to dry, I carefully
removed my other foot from the first one, leaving the bootie and plastic bag
inside. I then had at it with my paramedics’ shears and cut away all
of the former bootie that showed outside the edges of the moccasin, then slowly
and gently began peeling away the remains of plastic bag from the moc’s
interior. Again, by the time I had finished with the first foot the glue had
set up enough for me to begin on the second. I set them aside to cure up overnight,
and as it turned out, they had all weekend. When I tried them on again, the
fit was just right, tight enough to stay in place without flopping or raising
blisters, and loose enough I could nudge one off with help from the toes of
the other foot.
The insulation from the cold provided by the cotton bootie bottoms was a nice
feature, but one I’d have rather avoided for extended summertime wear
or for wear in situations in which the things were likely to get soaked. If
I hadn’t had the services of the rendezvous craftsman, I could have likely
have done a fair job of resoling them myself, or could have let a local shoe
repairman- getting harder to find nowadays- do the job. But he did a very tidy
job, had materials that were unavailable to me, and the skilled experience
he had at doing dozens of pairs of mocs at each of these events he attended
far outweighed the cost of his very reasonable price. Interestingly, that leatherworker
who did my resole work had another pair he was working on when I picked mine
up. Belonging to a big feller pushing over 350 pounds or so, the addition to
his mocs included the bottom of a pair of flip-flop shower shoes added as a
cushion to the underside of his mocs before the buffalo skin retread went on
and concealed that decidedly non-period padding. That combination would indeed
help keep ground dampness from morning dew or a light rain off the bottom of
one’s feet, though, and if needle and flax or waxed linen shoemaker’s
threads weren’t available, at least some similar work could probably
be managed with a tube of shoe-goo and/or some staples. And maybe an old pair
of cast-off donor flip-flop shower shoes.
Yeah, during this year’s yard sale season, I kept my eyes open for any
more good deals on moccasins, with no real sweet finds. But now I’m happy
to find any good deal on mocs whether they’re my size or if they happen
to be a bit bigger, and smaller ones go into a "trade goods" bucket.
Any time I can get a pretty good pair of mocs for under a couple of bucks,
I figure I’ve done okay; I spend a lot of time in the things, indoors
and out, so spending another five dollars or so on a pair to extend their service
life and improve their fit seems like money well spent. That’s not only
much less than what a decent pair of even imported lined mocs will run new,
but I suspect those buffalo hide soles are going to last me a good long while.
And interior padding added to a pair of oversize shoes or boots when nothing
else is available could save someone an awful lot of blisters.
#7: Fifty Caliber Spare Ammo Carriers: When a pal of mine managed to scrape
up the bucks to get the .50 caliber long-range rifle he’d wanted for
some time, he came to me for advice and counsel on ammo and accessories, since
I’d gotten myself one as a 50th birthday present a few years back. Could
I make one of those two-dollar tac vests [#5 above] for him, but set up for
.50 x 99mm Browning MG ammo for his Big Rifle instead of shotgun shells or
MOLLE gear? Why sure, I told him, it being just a matter of having three rows
of loops per row of shells, the one at the bottom consisting of smaller bullet-diameter
loops to keep the cartridge cases from dropping through, the rimless but bottlenecked
.50 cases not being as well retained by the top row of webbing as rimmed shotgun
shells are. I believe it would have been no great problem to space rows of
eight cartridges across the 12-inch space available, but he was happy with
a pair of rows of six shells each, with a little extra space in front, a configuration
that does make removing them from the loops a bit easier and keeps the vest’s
weight down. On the back, he specified an all-web covering, giving him the
option of carrying additional ammo in pouches, or canteens, Camelback water
bottle, or other useful goodies back there. I don’t expect he intends
to do much crawling beneath barbed-wire fences for long distances, especially
on his back, while he’s equipped with his big long-range noisemaker.
A dozen rounds is a good beginning for an ammo load out for the big loud rifle,
but a way to easily increase that amount by double or triple was still needed.
In the big box in one gun shop I visit pretty regularly all sorts of used holsters,
pouches and cast-off accessories from trade-in guns can be found. Though I’d
pawed through the contents before and noted an odd trio of residents therein,
I’d never had a use for the particular items I had encountered and had
no immediate use for them. Apparently, other customers had felt the same way,
because there they remained, despite price tags of five bucks each. Now they
had suddenly become useful; I paid for the three and picked up a fourth one
new in the packaging, at a cost more than the three used ones combined. The
items in question were vinyl plastic "Sidesaddle" 12 gauge shotgun
shell holders meant to be bolted to the side of Mossberg 500 series scatterguns;
similar models are available for the Remington 870 and Winchester 1200 guns,
and several other models. The problem is that with the aluminum receiver of
the Mossberg guns, the receivers can be warped inward if the sidesaddle attaching
bolts are overzealously tightened. The previous owners of the guns traded in
with their spiffy tactical ammo holders still mounted had apparently found
that out the hard way.
One simple answer if using the things on a shotgun, especially if it’s
a gun other than the model the device is meant to be mounted upon, is to attach
it to the stock instead, using wood screws and/or multiple wraps of tape. In
this case instead, the ammunition holders were fitted up to each other, back
to back, with a short section of seat belt webbing removed from a junked car
mounted in between as a spacer. The spacer web extends just far enough from
either end of the two shell carriers to allow a pair of grommets to be added
at the corners of both ends. This allows a carry strap with snap hooks to be
hooked to them for carry in either a vertical or horizontal position. The strap
I favor for the purpose is the one that’s used for the U.S. military
2-quart bladder canteens, since it’s wide, adjustable and comes with
a snap hook at either end; the Israelis are also real fond of using these as
top-mounted M16A1 rifle slings. Since the ammo being carried is a dozen rounds
of .50 caliber instead of a dozen lighter-weight shotgun shells, the wide strap
is advisable since it helps spread the load across the shoulders.
With the six-.50 rounds of one carrier facing forward and the others pointed
to the rear, [or up and down, if a horizontal carry position is used] it’s
a simple matter to peel off individual rounds as needed, either to load the
noisy rifle, top up a magazine, or refill the vest loops. If the user prefers
to have them all face in the same direction, they can be inserted in that way
instead. There’s a possibility that rounds could drop out or be knocked
off inadvertently, since the .50 rounds are much longer than the shotgun shells
that were fully covered when in the carrier slots. That leverage of the longer
ammo can be taken care of by having a pouch on the belt into which the carriers
can be dropped when on the move, one on either side, or velcro or snap-on covers
can be made and installed.
Those who don’t have a .50 but are looking for a means of carrying a
dozen extra reload rounds for a shotgun may also find that fitting two of the
sidesaddle carriers mounted back-to-back is a suitable way of doing so, especially
if an over-the-shoulder strap is added. That allows a quick "grab-and
go" procedure of quickly taking up the shotgun by its sling in one hand
and the dozen-round ammo carrier in the other, then tossing the ammo carrier’s
strap over a shoulder to free up the hand with the ammo for other purposes.
#8: Knife Handle Repair: While at the local thrift store looking for really
big undershirts, white painters’ pants and worn-out, torn or ugly belts
[a buck each, and dandy material for knife sheaths or reinforcing cheap import
book bag/backpack shoulder straps for more severe duty] I made my usual search
of the used kitchen cutlery box; this time I struck pay dirt. With items ranging
from 25 cents to an extravagant $2.50, I zeroed in on a 7-inch blade Ontario
Knife Co butcher’s knife, with a 50 cent tag sticker on it; when
I picked it up I found out why: the wood around the rivets on the starboard
side grip
scale had split and required repair or replacement. Can do!
Yep, I could have just whittled and sanded a twin of the good one, drilled
out the remaining rivets, replaced them, and it would have been almost as good
as new. I could even have just epoxied the old handle back on, good for at
least a short-term fix, but probably a repair that wouldn’t survive hard
use. Instead I took some of that black nylon web strap material left over
from building those $2 tac vest/ armor vest insert carriers, and cut a section
long
enough to go from the back of the blade’s edge along the handle where
the grip scale had been, wrapping around the butt of the handle at the end,
then back again along the other side to match where I’d begun, but on
the other side. Then I cut another one, same length. Mine worked out to just
over 91⁄2 inches long; shorter or longer handles would of course require
shorter or longer sections. The point, though, is that the length of strap
material that covers both sides is made from one continuous strip of web.
The next step is to liberally coat both sides of the knife blade where the
handle rests with epoxy [knives that have a short tang instead of full-blade-width
material for grip attachment get a different fix, discussed later] and to press
the web, not along the sides of the grip where the wood scales
had been, but along the top and bottom, again, wrapping around the butt. When
the epoxy has
tacked up sufficiently to keep the web in place, fold the material sticking
out to the sides down against the handle area. Don’t worry if there’s
a gap, but if a dry test fit before applying epoxy shows any overlap, you may
want to trim a little off the edges so that they neatly butt against each other.
At this point I begin wrapping the handle area with plastic shopping bag material
cut about a half-inch wide, overlapping each wrap just snug enough to hold
the webbing tightly against the handle. When you get up to the end try to tuck
the section wrapping around the handle’s end in as tightly as you can;
if it won’t cooperate, there’s a cure for that after it’s
dried.
Once you’ve completely covered the handle with the plastic bag material
wrap, you’re ready for the next step, which is a single-layer wrapping
of more of the bag material around the entire handle. At this point, I add
a pair of corrugated cardboard pads over the handle area- you may not need
it. I then put my handle in a vise and tighten that sucker good, squeezing
the epoxy into the nylon web and getting a good bond to the metal beneath.
I let it set up overnight at least, a weekend if possible- the directions for
your epoxy, room temperature and your experience with your favorite flavor
of epoxy may vary. When it’s nicely set up and cured a couple of days
later, I peel away the plastic bag strip, and if necessary I’ll then
hold that butt section momentarily over a candle if needed to get a good fit
on that back-end fold. The idea here is to heat the material just enough to
soften it, not for it to catch fire. Again, squashing it in a vise while it
cools may help, but if you don’t have a vise, you can do about as well
by setting the handle on the edge of a brick on it’s side, using another
brick on top for pressure, and adding a concrete block on top of the upper
brick for
additional weight.
The next step is a repeat of the first, but using that second strap you cut
to size, except that this time the web will be placed flat on the handle sides
instead of the edges the first strip covered. This time you do really want
as good a fit as possible at the back edge of the handle, and this time, since
the epoxy is going to bond web-to-web, my first wrapping to secure the web
in place while it sets up is a covering of black nylon fishing line. Then I
add the plastic bag strip, then squish that feller real good in the vise, and
go away for a day or two. Or three.
Unwrapping the bag material is like Christmas, I’m surprised almost every
time, sometimes good, sometimes not. If the repair is to your satisfaction,
good on you. If not, some more carefully applied heat, a little more epoxy
here and/or there, and some more of that fish-line wrap may fix your problem.
If not, you can always get out the rasp or a wire wheel on a drill and start
over. Or use leather from those cheap thrift store belts instead, though it
doesn’t wrap around the ends as well and heat won’t help shrink
it to fit- you may be better off cutting a separate piece for each side’s
handle if you use leather. I’ve repaired the handles of around a dozen
knives and one hammer using variations of this method, some of ‘em toolbox
knives that get knocked around and rattle in the box quite a bit. So far, I
haven’t had to redo any of the ones I’ve reworked this way, and
some of those repairs date back to 2000. Though some folks like to use a loose
wrap of cord around the handle so that it can be unrolled and used for alternate
purposes in an emergency, I’d rather have the most secure handle possible
and carry spare cordage wrapped around a knife’s sheath and as a sheath
tie down. That personal preference is up to the user, but I’ve yet to
run out of cordage and regret not having access to that epoxied to my knife
handle.
As for those knives with narrow tangs or less than full-length material where
the handle attaches: I’ve done the same sort of thing with a cord-and-epoxy
repair, except that in this instance I use heavy nylon cord [trotline cord
from the Sporting Goods department] instead of flat web. If there’s a
hole through the tang from a previous attach rivet or screw, I start on one
side there, go through any existing or added hole to the other side, and then
both radial wrapping and back-and-forth linear runs of cord begin. Once it’s
built up enough to act solidly enough as a handle again, a cover made of a
short section of that black hollow-center tube webbing can be used if flattish
grip sides are preferred. If not, just go at it with more and more trot line,
and again, finish up with a finer fishing line or even heavy carpet thread
in the color of your choice if desired.
The application of composite cord/epoxy handles is not limited to knife blade
repairs of course, but may also be of use to those looking for a way to utilize
hacksaw or Sawzall blades made for cutting metal as emergency hand tools. The
back-up plan to this application is to use a pair of vise-grip locking pliers
as an expedient handle for a metal-cutting saw blade, allowing later use of
the blade in the tool for which it was designed if desired or possible, but
the added permanent handle is certainly more comfortable for extended in-hand
use. Neither should the possibility of adding a handle to a worn-out or broken
saw blade reground to a knife edge be overlooked; power hacksaw blades are
particularly nice for this application. Those who wish to build their own survival
knife with saw teeth on the blade spine and a sharp belly edge can begin with
a new power blade, rework that blade to the length and shape they prefer, and
add a handle as per the above. Their resulting tool will be at least reasonably
capable of either whittling or cutting metals.
#9: BugOut Bag folding fork and spoon [or "Spork".] This one is an
idea that’s
neither new nor original, but like the others is one that’s been further
modified to fit my particular needs and the material available to start the
project.
In this case, I wanted a compact fork and spoon for use with both my personal
bugout bag, as well as extras for the 30-day supply bags carried in my vehicles.
My first attempt consisted of simply shortening a pair of the utensils in question,
then drilling a hole in their shorter handles for a connecting lanyard or key
chain. But they rattled.
During the Second World War, some German troops were equipped with a
mess kit fork-and-spoon combination that had the handles of the utensils shortened
even
more, then were joined by a rivet that served as a pivot, allowing them to
fold and nest into each other nice and compact. When folded out, the opposing
tool became the handle end for its partner, allowing shorter handles than if
they had been separate items. I cut the handles of
my first-draft unit down further, drilled them for the pivot and joined them
together. Opened, the utensil’s fork was sturdy enough to assault combative
peas, or, with the other end, the spoon was ready for the annihilation of soups.
Folded, the unit was compact enough to slip handle-first into the side of a
first-aid or compass carry pouch, through one of the webbing loops of a tac
vest or armor plate carrier, or, temporarily, in the top of one’s boot
if the cuffs are bloused into it.
I began my initial limited production run of enough of the folding utensils
for my BugOut Bag, 3-day pack and 30-day packs, plus one each for the glove
boxes of each of three vehicles, and a couple of spares. Improvements/additions
included grinding a flat screwdriver tip on the end of either handle just past
the rivet, one that is narrow enough to service M1911 grip
screws and my pocketknife blade pivot screws, and the other a bit wider. Adding
a second pair of smaller
holes further down the handle with another rivet set into one handle so that
the rivet’s head acted as a detent into the mating hole in the handle
of its partner made the lockup of the unit more positive when in the open position.
And naturally I added a small hole for a dummy cord lanyard to prevent loss
either from dropping or absent-mindedly setting it down and forgetfully walking
away from it. This is why they’re called dummy cords.
It turned out that the first dozen I built for myself weren’t enough:
others who’ve been around me when I’ve been using mine have asked
me to build one or more for them too. I’ve also got a simpler variation
that simply consists of a fork-and-spoon pair riveted together end-to-end but
doesn’t fold. That version goes along with bulk packages of food in storage,
along with a P-38 military folding can opener. The two items can be connected
together by key chain, one of the ubiquitous mini-carabiner snap links or a
chain repair link, or on a lanyard cord long enough for the useful tools to
be carried or temporarily draped around a user’s neck.
#10: Shoestrings. Speaking of hanging things on a cord around one’s
neck: I frequently keep a quarter-sized "button" compass and small
pocketknife around my neck on a spare bootlace; and some of us old-timers include
a military
P-38 C-ration can opener as well, even though the days of the issue of C-rats
are long gone. This used to be a common practice when I was in the military,
threading the bootlace cord into the plastic protective tubing we put over
our dog tag chains to keep the cold chain off our bare skin. I’ve yet
to really need these minimalist survival tools, though I’ll be glad enough
to have them if I do suddenly have a critical use for them, but the extra boot
lace has come in handy numerous times. Sometimes that’s actually been
as a replacement for a shoelace that’s broken on a shoe or boot, but
there’s a swell flash of realization when you really need a short length
of strong cord and then remember you’ve got one handy right around your
neck.
Variations on this idea include using braided nylon #550 pound test parachute
suspension line, also known as "parachute cord" instead, or using
fisherman’s
twisted cord trot line, both of which are available in a variety of colors
and sizes/strengths. The #18 twisted nylon cord I use is rated at 113 pounds
test, and the thicker #36 cord is listed as good for 320 pounds; if anything
stronger is required I reach for my roll of parachute suspension line. Short
sections of any suitable cordage are useful as "dummy cord" lanyards
for weapons, knives or other critical gear, especially when in or around boats,
snowmobiles, or motorcycles. Cord can be such an excellent replacement for
the metal ALICE equipment clips for U.S. belt equipment that some military
users pitch all their metal fasteners; just be sure and use at least two separately
knotted cord loops as the silent and nonmetallic replacement for each ALICE
clip if you do this- and three per is better.
I’ve also known one trooper who used military issue WD-1/TT commo wire
as replacement boot laces in a pinch; the civilian-world equivalent would be
stereo speaker wire. Clearly, he didn’t have an extra bootlace worn around
his neck...
.
Final thoughts: My adaptations, field expedients, and shade-tree modifications
are ones that were suitable for the tasks I’ve had at hand, the tools
I’ve had available, and the skill levels and experience I’ve got
at working with the tools I had for what I was doing. Changing materials or
methods may be perfectly suitable for your needs, you may conclude that some
of the items or modifications just aren’t worth the trouble, or that
the expenditure of a few more bucks on more specific-purpose items is a better
idea- and for you, that may well be. For others, some of these adaptations
may be the only gear that fits a minimalist budget, or that allows the purchase
of other necessities. In other cases, some of the items presented here may
serve as spares, with better top-grade [and top-dollar!] equipment better used
for the job at hand until it fails from overuse or is otherwise expended- and
my low-bucks methodology may give you a back up plan to turn what might have
been a disastrous shortage into an inconvenience. As with all things, your
mileage may vary, and remember that all of my demonstrations have been performed
by a professional on a closed course.
Way back in the early days of World War Two, when wartime shortages and
rationing began to affect stateside consumers, a motto appeared by which many,
perhaps most of those recent survivors of the Hoover-Roosevelt Depression lived.
Some thirty-five years later it was revived and applied to those living in
politically [and physically] embargoed Rhodesia, also engaged in a war, theirs
simultaneously against foreign invaders, domestic terrorists and sellout politicians
[in England and] within.
Now there may be another resurgence of the applicability of that motto, and
we may soon be in a much better position both to more clearly understand and
appreciate the creativity and resourcefulness of those who lived by those words
earlier, as well as finding a few of their earlier methods and techniques useful
in our time as well: "Fix it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!"
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Letter Re: Precipitation and Growing Season as Retreat Locale Criteria
Sir,
Regarding your Retreat
Areas recommendations: I grew up on a small multi-crop
and livestock farm in north western Iowa, with 24 inches of precipitation
and 180
frost free
days.
I have been living in California Eastern Sierra since 1982 , but soon will
be leaving.
I respectfully submit that your assessment of the agricultural capability
of many of the low precipitation/low humidity areas of the western US is vastly
overestimated. Western states such as Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico
are not farmable
by amateurs using conventional means available during any TEOTWAWKI scenario.
Obtaining water rights and controlling large scale irrigation is not some thing
you can learn after a crash. Northeastern Oregon, Southeastern Washington,
and the Snake River plain of Idaho are exceptions.
Your frost free growing season data [at state level over-generalizes] for
many states. For example, eastern Oklahoma has 200 - 220 [frost-free] days.
For the vast majority of readers, Interstate 90 should be their northern limit
if they wish to grow any more than a small garden and areas south of Interstate
80 would be preferred.
If you plan to grow enough row crops to feed yourself, or if you want to trade
with the local farmers, you will need an absolute minimum of 18 inches [of]
precipitation
(preferably during mid spring and summer) and 140 frost free days.
JWR Replies: I
have always recommended that readers do detailed study of micro-climates before
relocation. Start with the Gale Publishing Company book "The Climates
of the States" (in the reference section of many libraries), and
then do detailed climate and soil studies using data from the
NWS,
NRCS, and various online resources.
My general guidance is to avoid areas that require irrigation, with the exception
of the very few locales that have an end-to-end gravity fed irrigation
infrastructure in place. As I've mentioned many times, if and when the power
grids go down, many parts of the western US will quickly revert to desert.
Hence, my preference is for "reliable rain" or "dryland farming" regions--that
is, areas where crops can be reliably grown with regular spring and summer
rains. But here is the rub: Many of those regions are heavily populated and
might might not be safe in the event of a major societal disruption. So your
choices will be narrowed to ""a subset of a subset", if you
are looking for an ideal retreat local. There are just a handful
of places that
I consider ideal lightly-populated locales
for
retreat
self
sufficiency.
Two
notable ones
are
the Palouse Hills
region (straddling the border of eastern Washington and north-central Idaho),
and the Montpelier, Idaho region. So, taken together with other important criteria
like crime, taxes, gun laws, and so forth, it is no wonder that Idaho
is at the
very top of my list for retreat locales.
With the exception of the immediate
riparian tracts, I do not recommend Idaho's
Snake River Plain, because the
majority of the region depends on electrically-pumped irrigation water, much
of it from deep wells. When the grid
goes down, that area will revert to sagebrush. That, by the way is a clue
to remember: When
you are traveling in search of potential retreat properties, observe the
native vegetation on the non-irrigated hillsides. What you see is what you'll
get, when the grid goes down. Again, in much of the West, the only exceptions
will the
few and far-between places with end-to-end gravity fed irrigation. And
BTW, if you plan to live "in town" the same logic applies to municipal water
supplies. Very few of these are gravity fed from
end-to-end. (Ironically, the City and County of San
Francisco is one such locale. (Its water comes from the Hetch Hetchy reservoir,
high in the Sierra Nevada mountains. But given its population density, San
Francisco can hardly be recommended!)
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Letter Re: Small Volume Water Purification with UV from Sunlight
Jim,
I recently learned about a water
purification system that is being promoted by Rotary International for
Third World areas without safe drinking water. Simply put: fill a plastic bottle
with water, and leave it in the bright sun for six hours. The ultraviolet (UV)
light kills the pathogens, and the water is safe to drink. [JWR Adds: This
method only works well with fairly clear water. UV light cannot penetrate very
murky water, and it will not sterilize any plant matter suspended in the water.
So be sure to use a pre-filter when treating water from open sources such as
ponds, lakes, or streams. ]
Sound too good to be true? The Swiss-developed system has been saving lives
for 17 years. It is fastest in the tropics, where increased water temperature
assists the process. Winter use in temperate zones may want to consider using
solar ovens or greenhouses to achieve adequate water temperature. Even in bright
cloudy weather, the process is effective after two days.
I might not want to make this my first potion, but if stranded in the wilderness,
of stuck for an extended period without a reliable water supply, I’d
give it serious consideration. Regards, - Ben
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Letter Re: Seeking Advice on Assembling Web Gear
I love the questions on web gear. Best advice I can give, having gone through
multiple iterations of trying this and that, is to divide up your load. What
do I mean by this?
In the military they have a “combat load” and an “approach
load” concept. Your “combat load” is the web gear that you
see troops with all the time – their “battle rattle.” On
the other hand the “approach load” is similar to what we would
refer to as a survival load (roughly).
The major problem with web gear is that it does not work with any backpack
that has a waist belt unless you set it up to not carry anything on the pistol
belt unless it is carried with a drop leg (thigh) type of setup. Oops, no ammo
pouches or canteens on the pistol belt. That means that forget the cheap ALICE
gear etc. unless you plan on walking only for a day and not even spending the
night in bad weather. You have to go with a vest type setup right out of the
gate if you want to use a large backpack.
Personally, I have used an Enhanced Load Bearing Vest (ELBV)
and H-harness that can carry eight M16 magazines in chest mounted pouches,
or a no-name (custom
made)
survival vest that carries magazine pouches on the belly with some success.
I prefer the ELBV as
it can take all the cheap ALICE gear in a pinch. It also does not dig into
me when I go prone like the other vest (which I only use
when I am out hunting any more as it makes the perfect day pack with minimal
survival gear – which is what it was designed for). I then have my pistol
in a drop leg holster so that it rides below both the pistol belt and the backpack
waist belt. On the other side I have a knife in a drop sheath and pistol magazine
pouches in a drop leg configuration (holster and magazine pouches from Black
hawk).
Water is in a hydration bladder inside the backpack as well as two one quart
canteens (you can’t beat the old canteen cup and canteen cup stove with
any modern gear) and two two quart canteens in or on the backpack. I would
recommend
people look at the Kifaru line of backpacks – they are rock solid (mine
has survived three trips to the Middle East and one swing through Afghanistan)
and built by the guy that started Mountain Smith. They are pricey but they
don’t fail in the field and wear like a dream.
I also carry on the outside of the backpack a Camelbak hydration pack with
100 ounces of water. It has just enough carrying capacity to make up for the
butt pack that I used to carry on my pistol belt (poncho, some food, and SERE gear).
In a fight I can ditch the backpack in under a minute, get the Camelbak on,
get one of the two one quart canteens clipped on, and shove the Russian
Spetsnaz shovel into the loops on the Camelbak (designed to carry
ice axes) after I take it off of the larger backpack. So, while not perfect
it is the
best thing I have found to date.
A couple of tips no matter what brand/setup you go with. First, go prone and
roll around on the ground. Your magazine pouches should not dig (try to land
on one if it digs into your diaphragm …) and at least some of them should
be accessible regardless of the position you are in. Second, you should be
able to roll over and over and low crawl with the rig. I saw one kid with a
ton of gear not be able to get low enough behind a street curb one time and
he ended up a casualty. [JWR Adds: One reason that I prefer
traditional pistol belts and suspenders is that by simply unbuckling the
pistol belt latch, any pouches in the front can be pushed to the sides (putting
all the weight on the suspenders), allowing the wearer to low crawl effectively.]
Remember that hard objects in your backpack become shrapnel when hit by bullets.
Third,
when
you
jump up and down you should
not
make any noise.
When you are done with your web gear buying and backpack buying and you start
to load up, keep this in mind. On your web gear you only want those things
that you will need in a fight.
The Colonel that was portrayed in the movie “Blackhawk Down” now
has an infantry battalion in Iraq. Because of his experience with the [Mogadishu] “Blackhawk
Down” affair
he now never leaves his compound without having at least 30 loaded
magazines on him. Plus he carries a combat lifesaver kit. This
outfit has the best ones on the market today. - Hugh D.
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Letter Re: Seeking Advice on Rainwater Catchment and Filtration
Sir:
I am an environmental
engineer. You posted a
letter that inquired as to whether a ceramic water filter
was capable of removing chemicals that leach from plastic containers. The
answer is no, a ceramic microfilter will not remove the chemicals.
Aside from reverse
osmosis, which requires pressures that are too high [for treating large volumes
of water] in a survival situation, the best choice for treating water with
chemical contaminants is
to use activated
carbon. Activated carbon is very cheap, widely used by municipal water treatment
plants, and is highly effective at removing many organic contaminants (through
adsorption). I am not sue about the specific compounds leached from plastic
containers, as some compounds are not removed well by activated carbon. In
general though I would highly recommend it. A simple web search for activated
carbon will yield some suppliers. Please note that the starting material
the activated carbon is made from will effect its properties, such as pore
size.
A good water purification strategy is to chlorinate the water, filter through
the microfilter, and then filter it through activated carbon. If the water
is very dirty I suggest chlorinating after microfiltration but before activated
carbon filtration, as the chlorine can react with compounds in the water
forming harmful disinfection byproducts. The activated carbon will remove the
chlorine
also. I have a Katadyn hand held ceramic microfilter that also has an activated
carbon cartridge accessory, but it is a bit expensive. - Jorge
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Two Letters Re: A Vehicular BoB
Mr. Editor:
I have been a reader of this blog for a little while now and one of the earlier
postings I read caught my eye: In regards to a vehicle “bug out” kit.
That list was certainly a good place to start, but it was missing a few items,
so I thought I would put my “two cents” worth in.
To give you a little bit of background, I would describe myself as essentially
being a realist. I watch the news, I read the papers. I know what is going
on around me. I am aware of today’s political and economic climate, and
I understand what that does (and can) mean; not only for today but for tomorrow
as well. In my opinion preparation and knowledge are the keys to not only surviving,
but for nearly anything in life.
I have worked both white-collar and blue collar jobs. I have been a soldier
(an NCO – I
worked for a living), and I have been what I term a “survivalist” for
a little over a decade now. Along the way I have managed to learn some of the
lessons the easy way; reading books, talking to people, experimenting, and
practice, practice, practice. While other lessons were learned at the school
of “hard-knocks”; try sitting on the side of the road in the middle
of a blizzard for six hours on Christmas Day with three children praying for
someone else to come along to help (I’m not kidding about that one) – all
because you thought “it could never happen to you”. I am an active
outdoorsman; camping, fishing, hiking, small game, etc. To date I have been
lucky enough to live through them all. Sometimes with a few bumps and scrapes
along the way, and sometimes with little more
than a bruised ego; but I have survived nonetheless. Not surprisingly on my
journey I have picked up a few things: “must have” items, advice,
knowledge, and most of all experience.
As for geography I have lived in the cold and wet of Washington state; the
extreme cold of Colorado; the hot and dry of West Texas; and now the hot, wet
and hurricane-prone area of East Texas; and this list contains items that have
literally saved my life on more than one occasion, while making crisis situations
a whole lot easier to deal with in others.
While I am not going to lay claim at being an expert on the subject of survival
or preparations; I have seen a done things that may genuinely surprise some
people (while possibly boring others) and could probably go on for hours on
end; but that is not my point here today. I now possess [what I feel] is enough
knowledge that I can speak with at least some authority. My point in this
is to allow others to learn from
my own mistakes
in the hopes that they don’t find themselves forced to repeat the same
errors that I have made. Learn from others – that is the point in all
of this.
As I write this I am proud to say that none of my vehicles are ever without
the bare essentials. In my opinion it is one of the things that everyone should
do, survivalist or not. I rank properly equipping my vehicles right up there
with having them registered, insured, and inspected, to me it is simply a necessity,
a requirement. In an attempt to make sense of this I broken the lists down
into four basic areas:
Vehicle Supplies
Personal Supplies
Glove-Box Miscellaneous (loose throughout the vehicle)
General Miscellaneous
While there is some repetition between the 4 areas, this is done so for a reason – it
is always a good idea to have a backup.
1. Vehicle supplies (most will fit in a small “duffle” or reasonably
sized “tool bag”, kept in trunk, cargo area, or under the seat)
Jumper Cables (get the good ones)
Tow Rope (at least 1)
2 cans of “fix-a-flat”
Air compressor (cigarette lighter plug in)
Roll of Duct Tape (if you can’t fix it, duck it)
100ft of parachute cord (550 cord)
X style lug-wrench (more torque, safer, and more versatile than the ones that
come with cars today)
2 1⁄2 ton bottle jack (again safer, and more versatile than the ones
that come with cars today)
Roadside Flares (3 minimum)
Hand-held spotlight, plug in type is fine
Electrical Kit with:
Spare Fuses – vehicle specific
Spare Bulbs – vehicle specific
Small roll of Red Wire (14-16 GA)
Small roll of Green Wire (14-16 GA)
Small Assortment of Butt Splices
Circuit tester (Screwdriver type)
Electrical tape
Spare belts – vehicle specific
Spare hoses – vehicle specific
Spare thermostat – vehicle specific
Assortment of hose clamps, at least two large enough for your coolant hoses
Flashlight (2 minimum – generator type are best, LED Generator types
are better)
Spare batteries – 1 set for each flashlight in the vehicle (if needed)
Tarp (8 x 10’ is usually sufficient)
Hand Tools:
Screwdrivers (4 minimum, 2 standard 2 Phillips-head)
Crescent Wrenches (2 minimum, 6” and 12”)
Slip-Joint Pliers
Needle-Nose Pliers
Wire Cutters
Channel-Locks (12”)
Socket set (basics only, 3/8” drive, SAE and Metric)
Combination Wrench set ((basics only, SAE and Metric)
Allen Wrench set
Small Hammer
Hatchet (axe)
Folding Shovel
Plastic Trash bags (2 minimum)
Coffee Can full of Cat litter (with lid)
Basic First Aid Kit, with the following additions:
Aspirin
Tylenol
Motrin
Antacid Tablets
Water purification tablets
Small tube of Neosporin
Additional alcohol pads
Additional band-aids (common sizes)
Cravat
Razor blade
Matches
Can of Sterno (large)
Wire coat hanger
Roll of bailing wire
Box of matches (at least 1 box)
Cigarette lighter (disposable, spend the buck and a half and get the Bic brand,
you can’t beat them)
Water bottle
Pen(s)
Small notepad
A small stash of cash ($50 to $100)
Spare compass
Rain poncho – 2
Emergency Blanket (foil type) – 2
Candles – 6
Sunscreen
Basic Fishing kit:
Hooks
Sinkers
Fishing Line
Bobbers
2. Personal Supplies (with a little patience and forethought, this will all
fit inside of and/or attached to a medium sized book-bag, i.e. backpack)
Basic First Aid Kit – duplicate of the aforementioned kit
1 pair of socks
Flannel shirt
Windbreaker
Baseball cap
Multi-tool
“Swiss Army” knife
Fixed blade knife
Basic Camping Mess Kit
Travel Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Toilet paper
Tissues
Sunscreen
Flashlights (2 minimum)
Compass
50 ft of parachute cord (550 cord)
Can of Sterno (small)
SPAM – 1 can
Tuna fish – 1 can
Rice – 1⁄2 lb
Lintels – 1⁄2 lb
“Gorp” (Trail mix) – 1⁄2 lb
Packet of powdered Gatorade
Zip-lock bag with:
Sugar packets
Salt Packets
35mm film canisters full of All-spice
Tea bags
Bullion Cubes
Vitamin Pills
Energy bars (3 minimum)
P-38 can opener
Rain poncho
Poncho Liner
Tarp – 5 x 8” is usually sufficient
Candles – 3
Matches
Cigarette lighter
Emergency blanket (Mylar foil type) – 2
Signaling mirror
Basic Fishing kit:
Hooks
Sinkers
Fishing Line
Bobbers
Small Hikers Trowel
Plastic trash bag (2 minimum)
A small stash of cash ($40 to $50) [JWR Adds: I recommend that be
in rolls of Quarters, so you can also use pay phones.]
Water purification tablets
Canteen
Canteen cup
Web Belt
3. Glove-Box Miscellaneous (kept loose in the glove box, in the vehicles console,
or in door pockets)
Package of Tissues
Cigarette Lighter
Small Multi-tool
“Button” or other small compass
Map of local city you are in, and the state(s) you are traveling – or
expect to travel.
Small tube with a mix of aspirin, Motrin, and Tylenol.
Pen(s)
Small notepad
A small, durable pocket-knife
Small Flashlight
One $20 bill
4. General Miscellaneous
Fuel can – store empty; you never know when you will run out of fuel
two miles form the nearest gas station. If you are evacuating, fill up as you
leave – this will reduce your risk of fumes/explosion.
One gallon of potable water
1 Qt Engine Oil (minimum)
1 Qt Transmission Fluid (minimum)
1 Pt Power Steering Fluid (minimum)
Assortment of “bungee” cords
Now I am sure that I have probably missed a few items here, but this list is
fairly comprehensive. Please feel free to add items to it – I am always
eager to learn more.
If you look through it, you should be able to think of one (and most of the
time multiple) uses for each and every item on this list. With this setup you
basically have what you need whether you are accompanied or alone and whether
you stay with the vehicle, leave the vehicle, or are for some reason forced
to separate your party (never a good idea – remember there is always
strength in numbers). But you get the point.
In colder climates, add more food, and more warmth items (sleeping bag, snow
boots, candles, or a heavy coat?). In warmer climates add more fluids and more
shade (bottled water, additional hats, or maybe an umbrella?).
On to the next topic – How much does all of this cost? Well that can
vary widely. Many of these items can be had at the local dollar store, while
other may take a little bit of searching. Check Wal-Mart, your local Military
surplus dealer, the flea markets, and pawn shops. You might be surprised just
how far you can make your dollars go. Plus don’t try to do it all in
one shopping trip – you will just frustrate yourself. Keep your eyes
open when you are at the grocery store or out doing your normal shopping; pick
up a few items here and there, and just slowly equip your vehicle. Within a
month or two you will suddenly find your vehicle is much better equipped than
it ever was before.
As to the vehicle preparation mentioned in the earlier post, this is all good
advice. But again I would add to it. Create yourself a short checklist of items
that you check weekly and monthly. Follow the owners manual that came with
the vehicle, they tend to be fairly comprehensive.
Some tricks I have learned include:
Remember to check the air pressure in your spare tire regularly. A spare doesn’t
do any good if it is flat too.
Don’t forget to check the brake fluid, power steering fluid, and windshield
washer fluid too, these are often over looked.
Never, ever overfill any of your vehicle’s fluids.
Keep all of your lights clean, headlights, brake lights etc. The better they
work, the better you see, and are seen.
Whenever adding accessories to your vehicle: make additions that work, and
that matter before you worry about “pretty”. Think of it this way
- which is more important (and useful) on a full-size truck – a good
trailer hitch, or a pair of fancy mud flaps? You get my point.
When adding electrical accessories, always use the next heavier gauge wire,
it will handle to load better, last longer, and prevent not only short circuits,
but fires as well.
A good CB is
always a wise investment, but make
sure that it is installed properly.
Engine and Transmission oil cooler can extend the life of your vehicle – and
mean the difference between getting there and getting stuck – especially
in hot weather and heavy traffic. They are definitely worth the money.
Own a truck, van or SUV? Look into an oversized fuel tank and/or a spare fuel
tank with a transfer pump. It may be expensive, but it will pay for itself
over time; between having the ability to fuel up for a cheaper price per gallon,
combined with the extended range the vehicle will now have – it is definitely
worth at least considering.
Consider installing an aftermarket, oversized fuel filter. Cleaner fuel means
longer engine life. Plus some of the newer vehicles don’t even have an
inline fuel filter – they are mounted inside the tank itself. Who was
the genius that came up with this gem anyway?
If your vehicle doesn’t have them, install tow hooks both front and rear.
They do not have to be conspicuous, but they need to be there.
Don’t skimp on wiper blades, buy the good ones and replace them often.
If you can’t see, you can’t drive.
Keep the engine bay clean – it makes finding a leak a whole lot easier,
and makes life a whole lot more pleasant when making repairs.
It also it isn’t a bad idea to add seasonal items to your kits. For example
if you live in area prone to snow, you should probably have a set of tire chains/cables
with you in the colder months, but then why would you want to carry them in
July?
Lastly a few words of advice:
First: know how to use everything you put in your kit. Practice with it before
you put it in the vehicle – few tools are as dangerous as the ones in
the hands of the uninformed.
Second: check your local laws on exactly what is considered a weapon,
and what is considered concealed. You may want to think twice before you run
out and buy that shiny Rambo knife with the 12 inch blade and have it strapped
to the outside of your back pack sitting under your seat.
Third: in regards to knives, multi-tools, hand tools and the like – you
generally get what you pay for. That cheap knife at the flea market is normally
just that – cheap. It may be better than nothing at all, and the truth
is that if that is all you can afford – then fine. But understand that
up front.
Fourth: when choosing the storage bags to put these items in – think
about the size, shape, and color of the bag you buy. There is not a right or
wrong here, get what fits your situation. And think about the straps. There
may be a situation where you find yourself forced to carry these bags, so good
shoulder strap are important. And just as with knives and hand tools – you
generally get what you pay for.
Lastly, a word about any and all foodstuffs you keep in your kit: remember
that all food expires sooner or later – a even water can only sit for
so long before it is no longer fit to consume. Trust me when I tell you that
yes, even SPAM can and will go bad with time (you really, really don’t
want to know how I know that). So rotate your foodstuffs regularly.
The long and the short of it is that some sort of vehicle kit really should
be in each and every car, truck, SUV, or van on the road. With a little bit
of thought and not a whole lot of money we can all prepare ourselves better.
No traveler should be without what they consider to be the basics. - David
H. in Southeast Texas
[JWR Adds: Thanks for those great lists! The only additions
that I'd make to your lists are a fire extinguisher, and depending on whether
off-road travel is anticipated, more robust pioneer tools. These should include
an ax,
pick,
shovel,
and if space permits, a Hi-Lift jack.]
Jim,
Hugh D. sent in a good letter about using his trailer as a large bug-out kit.
The concept isn't bad (as long as he's on the road and off again before the
masses figure out something is wrong) but then he said this:
"This has been overcome with careful planning on our part. First, we have
mapped out likely hide spots for ourselves and the trailer – mostly campgrounds
on National Forest lands," and then regarding some cabins near the campground, "...we
can move into a nice, if rustic, survival retreat."
No offense, but I wouldn't exactly consider this careful planning. If Hugh
doesn't think that for every marked camping site in America there aren't 100
guys (who also own guns) already thinking about that same site, he's crazy.
Worse, he has no claim of "right" when it comes to those cabins.
He is no more entitled to a cabin there than the next guy that comes along
and wants to evict him and take it for himself. Furthermore, he's got kids
in diapers (I do too) - he isn't going to be able to defend both his family
and his "stuff" in a public campground whose location is published
on every map and travel guide in America.
I'd suggest that Hugh reconsider his plans. The trailer is good but find somewhere
else to go. As an example, I live in the Dallas area and have friends who own
a ranch about three hours away in central Texas and can be reached using a
number of combinations of country roads and state highways. It's on 500 hilly
acres twenty miles from the closest town, whose population is a couple thousand
people. You can't see a single building on the ranch from the state highway
- you have to drive a winding county dirt road a few miles to get to the houses
and barns. My friends who own the ranch think I'm nuts (they aren't survivalists
by any means, but retired city folk who wanted to run a peach orchard in retirement).
Nonetheless, they have agreed that if I need to get out of town I can come
down there with no prior notice. - Matt R.
« Letter Re: South Dakota as a Retreat Locale |Main| Jim's Quote of the Day: »
Letter Re: A Vehicular Bug-Out Kit
One thing that I have not seen properly addressed anywhere online is an appropriate
kit for the bug out vehicle.
You folks in snow country can reply to this with some recommendations for that
scenario. Please do.
I survived five hurricanes , one of them in the Virgin Islands, over the years
so I consider myself an advanced student of the Bug Out Vehicle.
First and foremost.
Cars are useless without fuel. They make a decent shelter but they're tough
to carry with you. I haven't seen a backpack that would hold one.
Get yourself as many large cans as you can fit reasonably in (or on)
the vehicle and keep them full at all times. [Because of fire hazard in the
event of a collision, if your car has a gas engine, these cans should normally
kept at home, in an outbuilding. Consult your local fire code.] Rotate your
fuel. Fill the car and cans one week and the next time
you
need
gas, then
empty
some
of
the cans
(say
2
out of
4
six gallon
cans) and refill them immediately. My kit includes 5, six-gallon
cans of diesel and one full of water in case of radiator problems and to provide
drinking water. I have a roof rack so they're a non-issue.
Cars are very hard to drive on flat tires. I recall after Hurricane Andrew
in 1992 the chaos at
any store that had anything in stock. There was no electricity for weeks so
no gas
available, for the most
part...or much else.Oh, and remember that no electricity = no credit cards.
Got your cash stashed
?
Having all of my supplies already (always have-always will) only saw a
need for one very important thing that I had overlooked.
Nobody else saw it since they were focusing on food, water, plywood,Coleman
goodies etc. They looked at me like I was nuts when I got to the checkout.
What was the one thing ? Tire repair equipment ! Yep. I bought two cases of
Fix-a-Flat, a radial plug kit and about 50 plugs.
Glass, metal, roofing nails, wood, you name it was everywhere on the roadways.
I used that all up and more over the following month. Get some!
Cars with automatic transmissions can not be push-started. Even if your battery
is fairly new, go buy yourself a top notch, deep cycle battery and install
it. The other one will make a good spare.You can also carry it with you and
use
the
deep cycle battery [at home] at night, running an inverter, to watch a television,
use a computer or whatever. One of my cabins runs all night (8-10 hours) with
television,
VCR, and
3-to-4 Compact fluorescent bulbs on a deep cycle battery that is solar-charged.
Belts. Repeat the above scenario and make sure you have tools in the car at
all times to change belts. If you don't know how and what tools you
need , then hire a mechanic
to teach you. Don't forget the jumper cables .
These are the basics. My kit is more extensive but I live in the middle of
nowhere in Central America (I've already bugged out) so I cant raid a junkyard
in case of an "event". Oh, and don't forget the guns. Pura Vida!
- Mr. Tico in Costa Rica
« Letter Re: Seeking Advice on a Self Defense Handgun Purchase |Main| Note from JWR: »
Letter Re: Seeking Advice on Rainwater Catchment and Filtration
Mr. Rawles:
When constructing a
rain-catch such as this one, which the good folks at Lowe's [--a major
hardware store chain in the US--] suggest for economically watering your garden,
is
there any instance where it would
be
okay to use this as a backup for drinking water?
Obviously, one would be foolish to drink directly from containers that are
not food-grade or if the water has been sitting for too long a time. But, my
question is does that change if you plan on running the water through a purifying
process such as through a Berky or this
economically priced alternative.
It looks like these filters might not last as long as the Berky filters, but
are quite a bit cheaper and have a higher flow rate (this is what I was told
- YMMV). A representative of the manufacturer claims to train the "second
largest disaster relief organization in the world" who "use this
filter exclusively" and that it is used by missionaries in 38 countries
around the globe. I was also told that it was nominated for a World Health
Humanitarian Award for 2008. Also, it supposedly outperformed the Berky in
a trial run by Johns Hopkins University, but I have been unable to verify that
claim. I can verify that Johns Hopkins University did give it a passing
grade; as did the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) under Standards 42 and
53, AEL Laboratories, Analytical Food Laboratories, British 5750 Quality Standard,
and England’s Water Research Council standard.
So, my two questions are:
1.) Is it safe to drink rainwater caught in a non food-grade vessel, provided
you filter it through a sub-micron apparatus first?
2.) What are your thoughts on the aforementioned filter? Thanks, - J.S.C.
JWR Replies: In answer to your questions: Rainwater catchment for domestic water is very popular in Hawaii. There, most families do little more than use a sediment filter and bulk chlorination. You should of course
never re-use something like a fuel tank or a toxic chemical tank for a water
barrel.
As
I explained previously in SurvivalBlog, the issue with "non-food grade"
HDPE plastic
buckets and barrels is that some of them are manufactured using toxic injection
molding release compounds. Whether or not a ceramic water filter would remove
any
such trace
chemicals goes beyond my expertise. Perhaps a chemist or a water quality
specialist amongst the SurvivalBlog readership could enlighten us.
We have a Big Berky here at the ranch, and love it. The two-bucket ceramic
filter that you mentioned is remarkably similar to the
improvised Berky clone that I detailed in a SurvivalBlog post back in May.
Both their design and mine have similar cost, similar do-it-yourself labor
requirements, and they will process a comparable volume of water. This isn't
like comparing
"apples to oranges".
It
is more like
comparing
Bartlett Pears to D'Anjou Pears.
« Letter Re: Deflation Possibly Followed by Mass Inflation? |Main| Notes from JWR: »
Letter Re: A Suggested Checklist for Preparedness Newbies
Here's a beginner's list I made for my [elderly] father today:
Food
{Brown pearl] rice does not store well. Neither does cooking oil so that needs to be fresh.
No, Crisco doesn't count.
Coconut oil would be your best bet.
Wheat berries - 400 pounds - bulk order at your local health food store
Beans - 400 pounds - bulk order at your local health food store
Mylar bags
Spices
Salt
Country Living grain mill
propane tanks, small stove and hoses to connect
freeze dried fruits, vegetables, eggs and meat if you can find them.
Water
500 gallons
of water [storage capacity. Rainwater catchment is a common practice
in Hawaii]
Water filter
Cooking
Cast Iron Cookware
Firearms
FN PS 90
10 PS 90 magazines
5.7 handgun
10 FN 5.7 handgun magazines
5.7 ammo
Training: Front Sight four day defensive
handgun course. (Note: eBay sometimes has
course certificates for $100!)
Body armor: Nick at BulletProofME.com
Medical
Personal medications
Augmentin antibiotic
Up to date dental work
Painkillers
Bandages
Iodine
Anti-fungal spray
Finances
$10,000 cash in small bills
100 one-ounce silver coins (GoldDealer.com or Tulving.com)
Transport
Gasoline in 5 gallon cans or better yet, this.
Gas stabilizer
Mountain bikes
Air pump
Miscellany
Flashlights
Rechargeable Batteries
Battery
charger
Hand held walkie talkies
Topographical map of your area
Spare eyeglasses
Shortwave radio
Home generated power
12 volt battery system
Good backpack
Good knife
Good compass
Good shoes
Bar soap
Toothbrushes
Dental floss
Toilet paper
Fishing kit
Salt licks
Connibear traps
Regards, - SF in Hawaii
JWR Adds: The following is based on the assumption that SF's
father also lives in Hawaii: Because of the 10 round magazine limit for handguns,
I recommend that Hawaiians purchase only large
bore
handguns for self defense--such
as .45
ACP.
Both the
Springfield
Armory XD .45 Compact or the Glock Model 30 would both be good choices. The "high
capacity" advantage of smaller caliber
handguns
is not available to civilians in Hawaii, so you might as well get a more potent
man stopper, given the arbitrary 10 round limitation.
« Two Letters Re: Adapt to Survive, by Elizabeth B. |Main| Home Security Lessons Learned: An: Unwelcome Intruder, by R. in Utah »
Letter Re: Mexico as a Retreat Locale and Advice on Water Filters
Hello Folks,
I just completed going through a portion of the SurvivalBlog archives and look
forward to exploring the site further. I especially liked the animation about
Libertarian
philosophy. Very well done with excellent points to consider.
I have recently returned to the US after having spent four years in a small
village in Mexico outside of Guadalajara. I am an artist and teacher of art
and semi-retied there after having had my medical insurance increased a number
of times to the point of being ridiculous. I just got fed up and moved south.
Two years earlier I had spent a year or so living on a boat in the Sea of Cortez
and so had some language and culture skills.
I had
one of the Berky models sent to Mexico and proceeded to use it as my primary
source of drinking and cooking water. I also used the 24 oz. portable version
when traveling. I used the system for four years and was so confident that
I began distributing them to local orphanages through a local Rotary Club.
I liked the idea of not being dependant on electricity or a plumbing hookup.
I lived on a lake and on occasion would use lake water if the municipal system
was not providing water, which was quite often or if the utilities would not
provide electricity, which was quite often. Although the Black Berky filter
is classified as a water purifier by the manufacturer, it does not remove viruses.
I would add either iodine or chlorine to the water to kill viruses. The filter
would then remove the iodine or chlorine from the water.
I read an article in your blog about adaptation as a primary means of coping
with changing circumstance. Mexicans are extraordinarily adaptive. Living with
a history of political and societal instability for generations and with strong
roots in indigenous cultures, they are experts at finding ways at making one
thing substitute for another. I remember one time coming back to San Diego by
sea from the Sea of Cortez, I was running low on fuel and had to stop in Turtle
Bay about half way up the west side of the Baja Peninsula. I didn't have enough
cash
and Turtle Bay was way way off the beaten path. I had to hitchhike 125 miles
through
the
baja
desert on a seldom used road to get to a bank to get the cash. One the way back
I hitched a ride in the back of a pickup truck traveling with an old semi carrying
supplies. The semi got stuck in a place where the road turned into a salt flat
and while stuck, one of the tires went flat. We discovered the only spare was
also flat and un inflatable. If you've ever tried to re-inflate a semi truck
tire you know that it is not easy without a means of keeping the tire against
the rim. We had nothing with which to do that. Instead, the Mexican driver had
his
compadre get some gas while he got the tire off the truck, patched and ready.
He had the
compressor hooked up and running and had his partner sprinkle gas on the inside
of the tire and throw in a match. The tire blew up with a whoosh, sealed the
rubber against the rim and the inflation began. All we had to do then was get
unstuck--which is another story.
My ancestors on my mothers side were Mennonites and I have spent some time on
the colonies. Surviving since the 1500s in small groups throughout
the world, they have devised a system of cooperation that leaves them able to
adapt easily to the winds of change. I'm sure there is much that could be learned
from them and look forward to spending more time on their farms. Last time I
was there they were making home-made root beer that was like nothing I've ever
tasted.
Well, anyway, congratulations on a great blog site and for all the valuable
information. Best of everything to you both, - Daniel N.
JWR Replies: I highly recommend Big Berky water filter.
They are just about idiot proof. However, as they come from the factory in
gleaming stainless steel, they are fairly expensive. Especially for your circumstances,
I recommend manufacturing your own to sell or to distribute for charitable purposes.
I
described how to do this in a SurvivalBlog post a few months ago.
« Letter Re: Advice on Driveway Alarms for Retreat Security |Main| Notes from JWR: »
Letter Re: 11th Hour Preparations: It is Not Too Late to Start
Jim:
It is not too late to prepare for the hard times that are coming. But
time is short, so I am going to be brutally blunt. Prices are going up. If
you don’t
already expect double digit inflation, you haven’t been paying attention.
If you are just realizing that you need to prepare for the future, forget buying
barter goods. Forget precious metals to swap for what others may be willing
to sell.
The idea of buying things so that you can swap them for other goods or services
later is bad policy. That’s right. I’m advocating that you buy
no precious metals and no barter goods. Instead- you need to prioritize purchases
of things that you need right now. Sitting on a pile of sewing needles, can
openers, or thousands of dollars of face value in gold or silver is not going
to stop you from starving to death, freezing to death, or dying gasping in
your own fluids.
This is not a slam on Mr. Rawles' excellent advice to invest in tangibles.
It is not even a criticism of his recent post on barter items to acquire, or
of
his advice to invest in precious metals. JWR is a voice of reason in a world
gone mad. This letter is a reminder that all those things are good advice only
after you have squared away your personal needs. Only after you have
duplicate sources of potable water, shelter, a substantial food supply, a deep
medicine
chest, and ample supplies of sturdy clothing and footwear should you invest
in barter goods or precious metals.
Here are your priorities:
You need breathable air to live. Most of us expect that to be available for
free. Your next priority for sustaining life is shelter from extreme elements
(your home and a way to heat it during winter), then potable water. Let me
make this explicitly clear. Unless you have clean water to drink, you will
die in a matter of days. It is not the government’s job to make sure
that you stay alive. It is your responsibility to care for yourself and your
dependants. You are responsible to ensure that you have access
to clean drinking water or a method to filter, boil, or collect it. If you
have no method to
do so, go get one. At the very least, plan on a way to boil water over an outside
fire.
After air, shelter, and water – you need food. Come what may, you and
those who you love will need to eat. Buy food. The cheapest food that you can
get will keep you alive, but my advice is to buy extra of what you already
eat. Oatmeal, grits, rice, pasta and potatoes are all relatively affordable
and life sustaining. Potatoes will store for months. The others will store
for years if properly packaged. Yes these alone would make a very bland diet.
Use them to stretch your regular grocery meals while the other supplies last.
What next? Get over-the-counter medicines. Diarrhea will kill you. The stomach
flu will kill you. Pneumonia will kill you. Allergic reactions will kill you.
There may not be any 911 to send help. There may not be an emergency room to
flee to as a last resort. There may not be a pharmacy with inventory to sell
at 3 a.m.. Buy vital medicines now. Look in your medicine cabinet. If you do
not have the medicines to treat an allergic reaction, stomach flu, and a chest
cold; go buy them today. $10 spent on medicine could save
your child’s
life. It won’t if you can’t give it to them. Go buy it before you
go to sleep tonight.
If you can avoid getting sick that’s even better than treating illness.
Hygiene is critical to health. Buy toilet paper and tissues. You will need
them, why don’t you already have them?
You should have sturdy warm clothes and footwear for each member of your family.
And yes, you should also have a means of defense and forage. A simple shotgun
and shells for it will let you defend your doorway and harvest birds and bunnies
if need be. If you are contemplating buying your first firearm then I strongly
recommend that you take an NRA-sponsored firearms safety course as soon as
possible. Firearms are a vital tool, but whether you ever
need to defend you home, you
will need to drink, sleep in a dry place, eat, and stay healthy. God has given
you the resources and wisdom to prepare, the rest is up to you. Now pray for
wisdom and go take action. - Mr. Yankee.
« Letter Re: Cheap is Good, But Free is Better |Main| Note from JWR: »
Letter Re: Water Storage and Crash Course Advice
Jim,
First off let me say I continue to enjoy everything you post on SurvivalBlog.
I believe that, given, recent events, my extended family is coming around
and is wanting to finally start getting prepared (let us hope its not too
late).
Second, in reference to the WaterBOB that
someone cited recently: what preferred method of treatment do you recommend
in storing the water in the mentioned
device for long term?
Third, what 'crash course' advice can you offer for those who may be too little
too late in getting prepared for WTSHTF? Or for those recently converted who
want make it through the tough times ahead?
And lastly, I am sure myself and others will continue to look for your insight
and input in the days ahead, as events unfold and the Schumer really does
hit the fan.
Please expect a long and very overdue 10
Cent Challenge voluntary] soon. God Bless,
- Zach
JWR Replies: The WaterBOB is not designed for long term use.
But it is food grade, so if you find a used bathtub (perhaps through Craig's
List) and can
store it someplace dark (like
in a basement), then a WaterBOB in a bathtub should work fine. About 2 teaspoons
of plain (unscented) Clorox bleach would be about the right amount to add for
that amount of water.
Inspect
it
once every six months (visually, and a sniff test). The water should store
for several years.
I may be biased, but I recommend that you get a copy of my "Rawles
Gets You Ready" preparedness course. Coincidentally,
for the first time in nearly a year, it will
be offered at 1/3rd off, starting on Monday. The course is centered around
the concept of stocking up for a family, by making well-planned trips to a "Big
Box" store.
« From FerFAL in Argentina: A US Crash that Will Parallel Argentina's? |Main| Notes from JWR: »
Letter Re: Some Practical Notes on Third World Living
Jim,
As this is not a competition entry, it has not been reviewed by an outside
set of eyes yet, and I'm sure its kind of disorganized, but this is some
info about third world life, as I can see it here, after things
stabilize.
My wife is from Peru. She was born during the Peruvian hyperinflation and transition
to its next fiat currency, the Nuevo Sol. (Yeah, we're young whippersnappers)
She recently started to help out in getting ready. What helped her was comparing
the current economic climate here to Peru. This allowed her to correlate things
that occur in her former patria with our situation. She is a source of info
on the Third world medium sized city way of life.
In Third world Peru, everyone cooks with propane camp stoves, with big seven
gallon bottles. There is no space built for an American style range, even
in
nice
houses. All water is boiled before ingestion, except [commercially] bottled
water. Trucks come with semi-clean water and people line up to fill up their
buckets
for
washing and drinking. (after boiling) Hopefully you have a big tank on your
roof to
gravity feed it through your pipes, as the power goes out regularly, and your
personal well and pump wont work.
Everyone had bars on every window and door. Houses not made of cement block
are broken into through the walls. They're also too cheap/poor to put enough
steel in the buildings, so they fall down easily in earthquakes. Re-bar is
[used] only in the corners. Nobody has an exposed to the street yard. A courtyard
inside
larger places is the norm, off street parking, if you can afford a vehicle,
is a must, or you wont be parking anything soon. Inyokern told me this concept:
When things go really sour, everyone steals everything so often that everyone
ends up with the same trash that nobody wants to steal anymore. e.g. I have
a nice bike, it gets stolen, I get a new bike but not as nice as the first,
it gets stolen, I buy the worst looking bike I can find. It stays. This is
very true. People with nice hats walk around with a hand on their head. Political
corruption is the norm. Most any government official can be
bought for a couple hundred nuevo sols. Farmers carry guns. People
walk on your roof at night.
Just about everyone is self employed. Selling food in the streets, tricycle
and moto-taxis, home based Liquor stores, etc. Often if you sell higher "dollar" stuff,
your customers don't even come in your building, money and product are exchanged
though the door bars. Keyed locks on both sides. There is no such thing as
a big box store. Even disposable diapers are bought one at a time.
People wear sandals
called yanki. These are said to be made out of used car tires,
but most tires I know of are steel belted, and you can't cut that with a knife.
My two
pair are made
from rubber mining belt I think, as the tread pattern is cut by hand. The poor
wear them, and they supposedly last a loooooong time.
In Peru, the power goes out all the time. Candles are common. People don't
stock up there, the stores I guess have sufficient on hand to handle the outages
and subsequent candle runs. The stores here are obviously not prepared for
that.
Traffic in her small town is nearly non existent, but traffic in Lima is suicidal.
Regards, - Tantalum Tom
« Letter Re: AVGAS as an Alternative Source of Gasoline During Spot Shortages |Main| Letter Re: Some Practical Notes on Third World Living »
From FerFAL in Argentina: A US Crash that Will Parallel Argentina's?
Hi James,
These are hard times, indeed.
The parallels between the days before our own economy [in Argentina] collapsed
and what’s
going on today in America today are very hard to ignore.
Our local television seems to be getting some kind of sick kick out of all
this.
They showing the comparisons, even editing politicians and economists speeches
showing how similar they were to the ones the American politicians and economists
are using right now. In some cases, they even said the exact same line, the
only difference being the language.
About the article “Letter Re: What Are the Economic Collapse Indicators
to Watch For?” I’d like to make a few comments.
Some of the signs we could actually verify during our own 2001 crisis;
*Limits to withdraw amounts per day. This happened just one or two days before
banks actually closed.
*Sudden inflation. A few weeks before, but careful, it only turned into hyper
after banks closed.
*Rumors of default. Those had been going on for a while and that’s when
we slowly started investing elsewhere and slowly moving the money out of the
accounts.
*Limits to moving fund out of the country
*Limits to the transactions. At the end you could just withdraw like $250
per week, if you found an ATM with money. Otherwise
you had to suffer the terrible lines at he bank.
It’s just impossible to know exactly when it will hit, when banks will
say bye bye, but careful, timing is everything.
In my case, we had dropped by the French Bank and asked for $2,000 USD.
The employee talked to the manager and the manager came to us looking nervous
and said they didn’t have that kind of money right now, to come back
tomorrow.
“Wait a minute.. you’re telling me you don’t have 2,000 lousy
dollars, in the entire bank?”
”No.”
That same day we went down town to other banks, closed the couple accounts
left and one or two days later the crash hit and banks closed their doors.
Just a few days later, my wife’s father lost a 6 digit figure, their
fallback life savings.
He was an elderly man, but the bank didn’t care at all of course. He
died without seeing that money returned to him.
Do not expect any kind of mercy or sympathy from banks. You wont be getting
any.
People needing medical treatment have died in this country before court orders
came out demanding the bank to give the money to the person because of life
or death situations.
Some people have died of heart attacks at the bank’s closed doors, hitting
them with pans and fists.
Not trying to be dramatic here, but it did happen that way, and it’s
important for people to understand how serious this is.
I know a run in the banks is something you’d like to avoid. But remember,
that money is yours, and banks won't be giving it back to you if they
close, you’ll loose a rather big percentage, and if the economy goes
down, it will only be returned to you after months, even years.
Maybe it would be a good idea to take another look at the
Wikipedia page that summarizes our 2001 economic crisis.
People should try to remain clam, but take the necessary precautions given
the circumstances.
Take care James. God bless you and all the readers, grant them the peace of
mind needed in these
trying times. - FerFAL
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Letter Re: Recommendation for Water BOB Bathtub Water Storage Bladder
Dear Mr. Rawles,
All the stories recently about power failure and storing water in bathtubs
have encouraged me to write to you about the WaterBOB.
It's a heavy duty plastic bladder that you put in your bathtub and then fill
with clean water from the tap. It comes with a siphon so that removing the
water is easy. IMO, The greatest advantage of this product is that the water
remains potable, even though a bathtub is generally not suitable for storing
drinking water. The WaterBOB holds 100 gallons.
Prices have increased substantially since I first bought mine a year or so
ago, but if purchased in quantities of 20+, the price drops significantly and
shipping is minimal. A group could order together, or someone might want extras
for gifts.
I recently ordered a quantity shipment for family birthdays, Christmas gifts,
some upcoming anniversaries, and wedding/housewarming gifts. It's a pretty
sure thing that most folks don't already have one!
Thanks so much for all you do. And our prayers continue for your Memsahib's
complete recovery. Sincerely, - SaddleTramp
« 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!
« Letter Re: Making Alternatives to Commercial Chemical Light Sticks |Main| From The Memsahib: Saving Your Life and Saving Your Relationships--Don't Drive Your Loved Ones Away »
Letter Re: Advice for an Unprepared Greenhorn
Hello Mr. Rawles!
I love your blog, and visit at least weekly, more often
daily.
The current economic situation is sickening. I mean, actually making my
stomach hurt, as I am not prepared. I just recently was hit
on the head with
the motivation
to get prepared. The only problem with that is that I don't even know where
to start. Food? Weapons and Ammunition? Medical supplies? I am the patriarch
of a family of 4. My wife and I, and our two children, both 10 and under. What
I could use your advice on is just what I mentioned before, where does someone
like me start. We have very little money, we live in the city, and we have
no supplies except a Remington 870 Express [12 gauge shotgun] with a couple
boxes
of
ammunition and food from the grocery store for a couple weeks and our camping
supplies
which amount to a couple days in the woods. I'm extremely worried that I simply
won't be able to help my family survive the coming collapse. I want to be prepared,
and I'm motivated.
Thank you for any time you could donate with your advice! - MWS
JWR Replies: Start out by getting a good quality water filter
such as the Katadyn VARIO currently on sale at Ready Made Resources and
stocking up
on canned foods.
If you don't yet already have one, buy a
spare riot "Police" length
20" barrel with rifle-type iron sights for your Model 870, with "IC" (improved
cylinder) choke, or better yet the "Rem Choke" removable choke tubes.
These
barrels are
available
with
a
durable
finish
to match your "Express" variant.
Buy at least 200 rounds of #4 buckshot, 25 rounds (five boxes of 5) of rifled
slugs, and when you can budget for it, a case of #6 birdshot shells for bird
hunting
and
small
game
hunting
Since your resources are limited, your greatest opportunity to increase your
chances of survival will
be
teaming up with like-minded folks in your area. For some suggestions, see my
static page on Finding
Like-Minded People
in Your Area.
Be sure to take advantage of low cost training through the American
Red Cross,
the Appleseed Program, and the WRSA.
Pray hard, study hard, and train hard.
« A Girl Scout Troop Leader Wants to Get Her Girls Prepared |Main| Letter Re: Home Canning and Stocking Up »
Letter Re: My Hurricane Ike Experience
Dear Mr. Rawles,
First of all, my heart goes out to all those who truly suffered with loss of
life or property as a result of Hurricane Ike. I only had the minor inconvenience
of being without electricity in Houston for five days. (There are still over
one million in Houston and the surrounding area without power.) So I had a
taste of what it is like to be off-grid and learned a few things to share with
your readers. It seems a lot of people here had generators which burn lots
of precious gasoline. But after a few days the gasoline runs out. We toughed
it out. I did have small camping-type battery powered fans and several flashlights
but can't imagine what we'd do in a situation without power for the long term.
You can have only so many batteries and then what? We had water drawn in bath
tub to use for flushing toilet, as water plants use electricity to pump water.
Also had many frozen plastic milk jugs in freezer and big igloo to keep some
things cold for a couple of days. Ice was very hard to come by. Grocery stores
were closed for a couple of days and there were lines just to get into the
stores when they did open. They let in a few people at a time for crowd control.
I was lucky to have my nonperishable food stockpile. Remember to have extras
for relatives. Gas stations were slow to reopen and had hours to wait when
they did open. (Many buying gas for their generators). We had full tanks in
advance of the storm. One important item we used was the car charger for the
cell phone. Be sure to have one that fits your current phone model. Also, many
don't realize that cordless land line phones use electricity so you need to
have a standard corded phone (which I had) if you want to even find out if
your land-line works. To heat water for coffee we used sterno called Canned
Heat and it worked very well. I know this is merely a temporary solution to
heating. I told my husband recently that I wanted to buy a camp stove and now
he may agree with me. And of course no television or computer which is really
tough. I used my television band radio a lot to get information.
I am now more afraid than ever of what it is going to be like if the power
goes off frequently or stays off in a worse-case scenario. Luckily I didn't
see civil unrest, but what if power stayed off longer? If there was any way,
I would move out of the city. Since I can't leave, I will continue to prepare
the best I can. Please continue to remember the trapped-in-the-city dwellers
when you post ideas for survival. I think we need the most help. Thanks for
all you do, - Nancy B.
« Letter Re: Finding a Mineshaft or a Gemeinschaft |Main| Even Chuck Schumer Thinks that We Might Be in Deep Schumer »
Letter Re: An Expedient Toilet Flushing Method for Grid-Down Situations
Salutations,
[In a recent letter to SurvivalBlog,] Jeff in Ohio mentioned filling the toilet
tank with water in order to flush it, however, this is not necessary. You
can
flush
by pouring
about
a gallon
directly into the bowl. (Don't dribble it in, but also don't get carried away
and slosh it in at once . . . unless you really want to use more water to mop
the floor.) I learned this from my military service in Okinawa in the late
70s where we had water rationing with running water only every other day. On
water days we filled 55-gallon drums with water and then used one-gallon coffee
cans to flush the rest of the time. (If you live in an area that tends to lose
power, you do fill your bathtubs with water prior to storm onsets, right?)
Give it a try today, for the sake of familiarity. There's nothing like indoor
plumbing, until you lose it. - Home's Cool Mom
« Odds 'n Sods: |Main| Letter Re: Recommendation for the Cool Tools Web Site »
Three Letters Re: Tropical Storm Ike's Devastation Works its Way North to Ohio
Hello Jim,
This note is in reference to the letter from Melanie and Rick in
Columbus about the woman who never thought of using the grill to cook. I had
a similar experience with my mother-in-law. While we had power and water, she
had lost hers. I offered to bring buckets of water to her house so she could
manually refill the toilet tank to flush with(she has septic).
Not only did she not think of that, she couldn't understand the concept. She
ended up going to a hotel for a couple of days. People like this will not last
long in a prolonged crisis. Just goes to show the most critical piece of gear
is your brain and knowledge. Take care, - Jeff in Ohio
Hi Jim,
I just finished reading Melanie and Rick's letter and what they faced during
their 'hurricane' event in Columbus. The conditions they experienced sound
very similar to what I related to you was occurring in Cincinnati a few days
ago. I just wanted to make a few comments regarding the need for self-defense
and owning a gun to do so. Rick was concerned about someone who was driving
by coming back to 'liberate' his generator. That would concern me too, so here
are a couple of my thoughts on the situation. First, it is a good idea to conceal
the fact that you have power when the rest of your neighbors don't and it's
pretty obvious at night. So close the blinds, black out the windows and do
what you can to conceal the fact that you have power. Second, do what you can
to muffle the sound of your generator with sound baffles or a soundproof enclosure.
Third, "nail it down" and secure it as Rick did with chains and locks.
Now to the more important issue, protecting the generator using deadly force.
A couple of years ago when concealed carry was first permitted in Ohio, I completed
the required course to get my permit. While not a lawyer, I do remember the
most important lesson taught regarding the law in Ohio is this; you can use
a firearm to protect human life, but you may not use a firearm to protect private
property. So to Rick's point, if he did have a gun and used it to protect his
generator from a would be thief and actually injured or killed them during
the event, he could be prosecuted should he cause injury or death to the intruder.
It does go without saying however, if Rick was threatened and feared for his
life or the life of someone in his family while and intruder was trying to
steal the generator, he could defend his or their life with deadly force. Personally,
I always feel my life is in immediate danger anytime someone invades my home,
regardless of their intentions, but simply threatening someone with bodily
harm using a firearm is also currently illegal and depending upon the circumstances
and the court and lawyers involved, one could potentially face some time in
state provided accommodations. There have been a few cases reported where people
defended their property by shooting a fleeing intruder in the back while trying
to escape and were found guilty of assault with a deadly weapon. For someone
to be attacking you they must be facing you. However, one could certainly detain
the intruder for the police if the police could be successfully contacted (communications/availability
might be an issue) and would actually show up to make an arrest.
With this said, I believe everyone should own and trained to safely use a firearm(s).
When the defecation impacts the rotating oscillator the laws may not change,
but the circumstances will definitely change for the worst...so when you have
only seconds to make that life-or-death decision you will be more likely to
successfully do so while waiting for the cops are just minutes, hours or even
days away!
It is essential to be prepared for the worst, but hope - and more importantly,
pray for the best. - Larry in Cincinnati
Sir:
I am an ex-cop, who served in St. Tammany Parish, just above New Orleans.
(On the other side of Lake Pontchartrain). I was there during [Hurricane] Katrina.
Believe me when I say I have many stories to tell, and I am sure I will,
eventually.
However, I have been lurking on your web site for a while, and I had to comment
in a recent post.
The people in Ohio who almost had their generator stolen made me remember a
looter we had in Post-Katrina St. Tammany Parish. He would bring a lawn mower
in the middle of the night, turned on and throttled down, to your house. He
would put it near the generator, and over the course of 10 or so minutes, throttle
it up. Then he would simply turn off the generator and trundle away with it,
leaving a similar noise behind. The cold air from air conditioning would last
long enough for his get-away. If I remember correctly, he stole about 36 generators
before being caught.
We even had a gennie stolen from the Sheriff's LEC (Law Enforcement Complex),
three nights after Katrina. And one of the jail's large generators was given
to the hospital when theirs died. Essentially, hide them, do not use them at
night if you can avoid it, and think about putting a muffler on it to hide
the sound. And buy a gun.
Any questions? Thanks, - Joshua
« Odds 'n Sods: |Main| Observations on a Life on the Gulf Coast During the Hurricane Season »
Letter Re: Some Thoughts on Practical Preparedness -- Things That Work
Jim:
To follow-up on the last two e-mails that you posted from me, here are some
random thoughts that I'd like to share on preparedness for when the Schumer
Hits
the Fan
(WTSHTF):
Use an eyeglasses "leash" (lanyard) to prevent the loss of glasses and reduce
the risk of damage.
Buy janitorial-size rolls os toilet paper, without perforations. Each roll
is 1,000 feet long, and a box of 12 rolls measures about two feet square.
These take up just a fraction of the room required to store the same length
of toilet paper in standard household rolls.
Use a kiddie-type pool to collect water from rainwater downspouts. The pools
with hard-plastic sides and vinyl bottoms are fairly durable. A six foot diameter
pool that is 15 inches deep holds 211 gallons of water.
Light-emitting diode (LED) lights are superior to traditional [filament] bulb
designs. They last much longer and are much more resistant to impact. When
used LEDs, batteries last much longer. LED headlights are close to ideal for
doing chores, since they keep your hands free. Tactical use requires a hand-held
or
weapon-mounted
light [with an intermittent switch.]
Krazy Glue [cyanoacrylate adhesive] is great for closing small cuts [after
they have been properly cleaned.] Steri-strips are the next step up in holding
ability.
Water Filters - Culligan's
new EZ-change Level 4 [under-sink] filter [cartridge]
is rated to treat 500 gallons. That is five time the volume of most compact
backpacking filters. With a self-contained design, it would be easy to attach
a pump. The are available for $38 through Amazon.com. Most [other] under-sink
filters could be used the same way, but the Culligan design is preferable because
it is fairly compact.
For "ready made" backpacking filters, I prefer the First Need brand filters.
These are rated to remove viruses and radioisotopes.
Ball-shaped pin on magnetic compasses are compact, but they are more fragile
that the type designed to clip on to a watch band, such as the Brunton and
Suunto brand compasses.
Dental health is very important for long-term survival. Wal-Mart now sells
a dental kit including a mirror with scaling tool and pick, from Dentek. They
also sell Temparin temporary filling repair kits. These come in three-application
containers.
Temparin is far superior to the old standby of packing a lost filling void
with zinc oxide.
A big part of survival is preventing injury. In a post collapse word, an injury
will reduce available manpower, and something that would be considered just
relatively minor in the present day could prove fatal. Proper safety equipment
and training in the safe use of hand tools is crucial. Gloves, eye protection,
preventing falls, fire safety, and so forth should be stressed. Hygiene and
proper sanitation are equally important.
I believe that a good foundation for long-term family preparedness is learning
the basics of wilderness survival. Having a solid understanding of the first
four critical basics--water, food heat and shelter--helps set priorities in
developing a larger plan for long-term preparation. It is also the final "fall
back" position [in the event that you are forced to abandon your retreat or
in case you never make it there]. These basics are also foundational in making
important decisions.
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Letter Re: Some Thoughts on Fuel Conservation WTSHTF
Jim:
To follow-up on my last e-mail, here are some random thoughts that I'd like
to share on fuel conservation, for when the Schumer Hits the Fan (WTSHTF):
Water Pasteurization Indicators (WAPIs) - Often used in the Third World
to save fuel and time when treating drinking water. Water that is heated to
149 degrees for a short time is free from living microbes. Water does not have
to be boiled for 10 minutes. A WAPI is a simple, small and low cost tube with
a special soy wax that can show that water has reached a safe Pasteurization
temperature. These are available from SolarCooking.org.
(By
the way, they also several nice solar oven designs.)
Solar ovens and Solar Showers - For cooking, water Pasteurization, and hot
water for hygiene needs. There is also a "solar puddle" design available
on the Internet for large scale water Pasteurization.
Oven and Meat Thermometers - Prevents waste of fuel [and nutritive value]
by cooking foods to higher temperatures than necessary.
Pot Cozys - These are insulated wraps for cooking pots. You heat the pot and
contents to a desired temperature and then set the pot off to the side, wrapped
in a pot cozy. Thus insulated, the food continues to cook until done. [JWR
Adds: For more on this topic, see KBF's
article in SurvivalBlog on Thermos cooking.]
Reflective Wind Shields - When used for cooking on a stove indoors or outdoors,
these will shorten the time [and hence reduce fuel use] required to reach the
desired temperature. - Doc Anonymous
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Letter Re: Tropical Storm Ike's Devastation Works its Way North to Ohio
Good Morning, Jim,
And yes it is a good morning at that. I'm here in the suburbs
of Ohio between Dayton and Cincinnati. Our power has returned. I read Larry
in Cincinnati's post this morning, and I know his thoughts and feelings all
too well. Like him, we had the preparedness mind set already in place, and
fared a bit better than some of our neighbors. I only caught the tail end of
your interview on AM 700 WLW in Cincinnati in my truck as I was heading to
work ( the company I work for is on a different power grid and was up and running)
Monday, and I could not help but think of some of the posts since I have been
coming to SurvivalBlog, and some of the things that you have discussed on the
site.
Like Larry, I hope this will be a wake up call to folks, but sadly, I
know that only a small portion of them will get it. One of the things that
I found to be spot on, was the part about the things that were stripped from
the shelves of the few stores that were open. I did not see them first hand,
but a few of my neighbors had gone to them, and they were an exact carbon copy
of the list. One even told of folks heading to the toy department, to snap
up all the Hannah Montana kids' flashlights. Yep, batteries, camping stoves,
lanterns, canned goods, candles, etc; Like I said, the list was so dead on
it gave me a shiver. As I stated earlier, we were a bit better prepared, so
we had no need of anything to get us through this minor inconvenience left
over by the storm.
Folks down in Texas are going to be without power, water,
food,
and other needed supplies in some areas for many weeks to come, so our prayers
go out to them more than the folks down the block who lost a small bit of food
in their refrigerator because the power has been off for a little less than
48 hours. There was some talk of the possibility that it could have been out
for a whole week, and this would have been a pretty bad thing for sure, but
the thing that I voiced the most concern to my neighbors about, and the one
that none of them had thought of was, that if it did take that long, there
was a good possibility that the water tower that sits on the hill above our
house would run dry, and without power to run the pumps to refill the tank.
But, we were okay here, because we had filled half of our five gallon water
cooler jugs
a few days before this happened, and I had gone to the grocery on Friday, and
had bought a case of 20 oz. bottles for my son to take in his school lunches.
Cooking was not a problem, we have a charcoal grill,and I have a Coleman white
gas fuel stove and a good supply of fuel for emergencies such as this. Plenty
of flashlights, a battery powered lantern, spare batteries, oil lamps and oil,
and candles with good sturdy candle holders for light, and a couple very good
multi-band radios, and plenty of batteries for them as well.
I hope that
others here in our tri-state area that were affected by this will see the need
to prepare for things like this. I know that a few of my neighbors will be
a bit better prepared for things by talking to me, and seeing how we were set
up at my house for this. Now this is not to say that I was totally prepared.
I saw a few "flaws in the slaw ", but preparing for these types
of things is a constant and on-going process, and we do the best we can with
the hand we have been dealt. The rest, we can adapt if we put our minds to
the problems and keep a cool head. - Dim Tim
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Letter Re: Some Thoughts on Water Conservation WTSHTF
Jim:
Here are some random thoughts that I'd like to share on water conservation,
for when the Schumer Hits the Fan (WTSHTF):
Latex or nitrile gloves - Minimizes the use of water for cleaning up after
a dirty chore. The nitrile gloves sold by Costco seem to be the strongest and
do not oxidize like latex. [JWR Adds: The cost of nitrile
gloves bought in bulk is so low, that they are well worth using. They are particularly
important to use when handling dyes, paint, strong acids (such as during battery
maintenance),
strong bases (such as when making soap or when putting lime in an outhouse
pit or a carcass pit), pesticides, herbicides, fuel (filling kerosene lamps
or transferring gas to or from cans), or motor oil. (Used crank case oil is
of particular concern, since it has been identified as a carcinogen.)
Reynold's Oven Bags - Use inside a cooking pot to minimize clean-up. They
can also be used outside a solar cooking to to retain moisture and heat. These
shorten the cooking time for both solar and conventional ovens. hey are strong
and thin. They can also serve as an impromptu canteen. (Put a couple of them
in each outdoor survival kit.)
A small rubber primer bulb for out bard motors - Use as a foot pump for tubing
from a water source to a water basin.This provides controlled"one person" water
delivery. I use vinyl tubing connected to piece of 1/4" diameter copper
tubing that was bent nearly 90 degrees for the "faucet." This uses
just a small fraction of the water that is normally expended with a traditionally-plumbed
sink.
Funnels. - Buy several of these of various shapes and sizes, to reduce spills.
Garden pressure sprayer - Buy a new, clean one (not contaminated with chemicals)
to rinse kitchenware. BTW, we found that they had too fine a spray for use
as a bathing shower.
Clothes wringer - Efficiently wrings gray water out for wet clothes. This
water can be re-used for toilet flushing.
Basins - Use plastic basins to wash and rinse dishes or to hand-wash small
batches of laundry .This again saves gray water for re-use.
Whitewater Rafting Dry Bags - Can be used to prevent items from getting wet,
or can be used as a "clothes washer." Add hot water
and powdered laundry detergent and agitate.
- Doc Anonymous
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Letter Re: Recommended Preparedness Focus for a Dentist in Kansas?
Dear Sir,
It was James Howard Kunstler who alerted me to the problems that has cau
