The Calling of the Christian Prepper: Faith and Survival, by Axgrinder

This article will have little effect on the scoffer, whether a survivalist or not, but is directed toward the Christian who is also conscious of the value of preparation and the duty to provide for family in survival circumstances. It may also be effective for the mind a person who knows little of God but is open to investigate His existence. It is what God has laid on my heart as I read through the great articles and letters here in this forum. Keep up the good work. What I sense though, myself included, is that we, as humans, sometimes get too excited about details at the expense of the greater ideals. We tend to worry and live in fear which is sin.

First of all, what is a Christian?  

There are a lot people who profess to be a Christian, but there are a lot of different beliefs that people have.
A Christian trust in Jesus: that His blood sacrifice forgives our sins, covers our iniquity, justifies our coming into the presence of God, and secures for us eternal life.
“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” John 17:3
Eternal life is to know God. To truly know someone means that you must live in an interactive relationship with them. How true this is. You truly don’t know someone until you live with them. To truly know God is to live interacting with Him.
We are adopted as children of God, we are co-heirs with Christ. We are to interact with God as our Father and as full members of His family. Being a co-heir carries with it responsibility and thankfulness.

Now, to be a Christian you must believe that the Bible is inerrant, infallible, and inspired by God (Holy Spirit) in its original form. This is a key factor; yet, many who claim to be Christian do not hold this view which leaves them to arrange their idea of reality and truth as they see fit, not as God has revealed. Without a proper belief in Scripture, people, essentially, create a new belief system, a new religion. The Bible is not merely a set of Laws and fantastic stories; but, as I said above, it is a revelation from God. The Bible reveals Laws that reveal what God cares about and what His character is like. The Bible is a whole work, and bits and pieces cannot be disregarded while others are accepted without changing the whole revelation; this is removing from authority God-breathed Scripture to usurp authority for your own. There are interpretive difficulties in Scripture and disagreements regarding meaning (which we must make every attempt to get right through reason, study, debate, and prayer), but for the most part what God is revealing to us in Scripture is plain and effective. The basic truth of God’s character and what He cares about is clear. What God, the only true and Living God – Creator of all things – expects from us is clear. The Father blesses us as He reveals to us what we can and need to know. Our Lord Jesus Christ tells us to love Him by being obedient. The Holy Spirit lives in us and guides us in our relationship.
The Christian is called to rectitude, repentance, and revival. Conformity with your heart in it.

As Christians we are called to:
-Disillusionment
People will let us down, we should not expect otherwise. God is the only truly reliable promise keeper. This being true does not mean that we as Christians shouldn’t make every effort to be like God. Even though people let us down we must not become cynical and hopeless. In Christ people can be transformed. What we should do is allow God to transform us into disciples.
-Peace and contentment
Christians should be at peace and joyful in all circumstances. It is a sin to worry. It is a sin to be greedy. It is a sin to be selfish.

-At one with Creation
Christians are reinstated as stewards of God’s garden, all creation. We were made for that duty which is to our pleasure.

-Mark of a Christian – LOVE
If you can get a copy of “The Mark of a Christian” by Francis Schaeffer please do read it through carefully. Love is the mark that proclaims the truth of the Gospel to the world, the fruit of righteousness. When Christians love one another as Christ tells us to, with agape love, then the world knows that He truly is Christ. What a huge responsibility; what a great privilege.

-Trust God
As Christians we trust God through all circumstances. We do all things for the glory of God because we know through faith and experience that God is faithful. There is a Hebrew word that I love; hesed, which is translated in different ways with difficulty because there is no English word to do it justice. The NRSV translates it lovingkindness. This word has as part of its rich meaning the idea that the strong party in a relationship does whatever is needed to help the weaker party make the relationship successful. We can trust that God works in our life with unlimited power and perfect love regardless of how it may seem.

“Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.”  – Hebrews 12:28-29 

-3 Ideals the Christian survivalist should live by:

Matthew 6:19-21
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

This does not mean that we are not to prepare and store things up that we need. Jesus is saying that we should be more concerned about spiritual treasure than earthly treasure. In the Eastern culture who was the audience fine linens (moth) and coins (rust) were the treasures, the wealth of the day. People put their trust in these perishable things instead of God. The things were not the problem but what their hearts treasured. I really like my SCAR 17, but I treasure my relationship with God.

As we prepare for survival scenarios we must not forget that God is in control; God is sovereign! We must not forget that we have eternal life; we will live with God’s family forever. We must not forget to love God above all and love our neighbors as we do ourselves (God values every life). 

 [Jesus] said, ” ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’
“This is the great and foremost commandment.
“The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’
“On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”         Matthew 22:37-40

To clarify, (we must always seek clarity of terms, people use words that we think we understand, but of which they have totally different meaning, i.e.: “Christian”), what does Jesus mean by love? We turn to Scripture. A good rule of Biblical interpretation is that “Scripture interprets Scripture”.

“…earnestly desire the greater gifts. And I show you a still more excellent way.
If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”       (1Corinthians 12:31-13:7)

Love is about humbly serving others, self-sacrifice; without love as a motive, what we do is nothing. Yet, if I do love God in the Biblical sense I have great rewards and benefits. I am transformed into a joyful, complete, mature, secure, and strong person. This happens when I experience eternal life (interactive relationship with God), know God. Then I am able to truly love others as myself (because I do love myself in the Biblical sense). There is a proper order here for success in the Christian life; love God, love others.

Matthew 20:25-28
“But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’”

As we prepare we do it with the intention of being community leaders. Christian leaders are servants who love. Our whole life is to worship God. “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:1-2). We prepare to represent and worship God through any disaster or “crunch” situation. Circumstances never change our responsibilities as co-heirs with Christ. We should include in our prepping: insight, investment, and labor in order to help meet community needs. We should be prepared to help victims and those less capable to prepare.

Matthew 28:19-20
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

As Christians all are days are filled with the intention to share with others the Gospel. We are to always be prepared to teach those who seek answers (make disciples). As we prepare our cache of supplies, let us include resources for evangelism and discipleship. Let us include resources for our own personal study and growth. Along with my cases of ammo I should have cases of Bibles and Christian books. We should maintain resources that will help us to maintain solid doctrine and good theology. Keep sets of sermons by your favorite preachers; get all the G. Campbell Morgan you can get!

Survival is important. As Christians we are guaranteed survival. Still, God expects His faithful followers to be His remnant when society crumbles. We are to remain in Him through all circumstances. God makes His appeal to the lost through His people by showing them their great need of Him, there needs to be freed from the slavery of sin, by the lure of love; it is God alone who can save them, redeem them, but He uses us to bring them to see their need and turn to Him. It is the Christian who preaches and serves as we abide in Christ love.

There is so much more that could be said, but I think this is enough to ponder for now. I would love to hear how you personally apply these ideals as Christian “preppers” and survivalist.

For the Christian living in faith is survival at its best, the best we can do toward survival is to live in faith. Let us plan accordingly. Let us plan according to God’s Word, the Bible. Let us plan in accordance with Biblical love as a Church and as evangelist. 

I’ll close with a new acronym for SurvivalBloggers to ponder: Forsaking All I Trust Him (FAITH)



Letter Re: A Few AR-15 Full Capacity Magazines Found Available

Sir:
I noticed yesterday that one of your readers (and I’m assuming many others) are looking for AR-15 magazines.

While I haven’t yet tested the Israeli E-Lander magazines personally (I have six of them on order), the reviews seemed positive albeit the magazines are slightly heavy compared to a PMAG. Beggars can’t be choosers in this [current political and market] environment. A few people noted they were not fitting in MEGA lower receiver magazine wells, and were very tight in some other receivers, however the majority of users had no issues. I believe the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) use these magazine. I wanted to let your readers know of their availability, as they claim they are ‘In Stock’ and receiving shipments weekly, however they are estimated to ship within 21 days. I placed my order today (1/10/2013) and it went through just fine.

With the potential forthcoming ban on normal-capacity magazines this may be the most expedient way to stock up on some, at a reasonable price.

As an added tip, the coupon code “ARFCOM” will get a small discount and the code “FREE-GRND” will get you free shipping if the order is more than $100. Both codes can be used at the same time.

Regards, – Nick in Ohio

JWR Replies: At around $18 each, those are a relative bargain, it today’s frantic market. Watching some recent Gunbroker.com auctions and the ongoing sales at Buddy’s Board, I’ve logged a few data points: Glock pistol magazines have gone up in price 3X or even 4X (jumping from around $19 each to $60 to $80 each), PMAGs are up 4X, USGI alloy M16 magazines are up 3X, steel FN-SCAR (M16/AR-15 compatible) magazines are up 4X or even 5X, FN-FAL magazines are up 2X, and Beta Company 100 round CMAGs are also up 2X. The real bargains are HK alloy G3 (HK91 compatible) magazines and Steyr AUG magazines. Those are both up only 10% to 20%. My advice: Stock up before an import ban is declared via Executive Order, folks! I’ve been warning you since 2007: Almost as important as food storage, magazines are critical items for every well-prepared family’s program of Hamsterungen.



Economics and Investing:

An excellent piece by Dr. Gary North that gets to the heart of the preparedness mindset, even when disasters are personal rather than national: Budgeting for a Lifestyle Contraction

Anthony Wile of The Daily Bell: The Trillion Dollar Coin Is a Great Idea!

Items from The Economatrix:

The Economic Implosion Of Europe Is Accelerating

Economic Forecaster:  US Has Gone Over The “Demographic Cliff.”  Market Crash Will Start In Summer

“Dr. Doom” Faber Sees A Possible 10% Gold Correction



Odds ‘n Sods:

Large Cities All Over America Are Degenerating Into Gang-Infested War Zones. Meanwhile we read this madness: Connecticut Democrat state senator Edward Meyer pushed for Barney Fife Law. That eastern Nanny State idiocy is balanced by this news story from Texas: HPD: Witnesses shoot robbery suspect. Be sure to watch the video. Kudos to the vigilante Texas dog, too.

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Safecastle has announced a big “The Food Abides” sale. Check out their selection and prices. Included in this sale are: Yoder’s meats, a dairy variety pack and cases of bacon, cheese, butter and ghee.

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Reader Will T. suggested this bit of old-time technology that could be re-created, if needed: Before Maw Bell – Rural Telephone Systems in the West

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Chris P. spotted this: Utah town makes arming households a top priority

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Seed for Security is now featuring their Flint Indian Corn in a 3/4-pint vapor proof pouch. Enough to plant 285 hills. Plant corn 4 or more rows together for excellent pollination. See it on their Products page. Seed for Security is offering a bonus packet of Flint Indian Corn (approximately 300 seeds) and a bonus packet of Provider Beans (approximately 150 seeds) for customers ordering $75 or more.



Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan.
And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:
And there came a voice from heaven, [saying], Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” – Mark 1:9-11 (KJV)



Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 44 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) a $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any of their military surplus gear, E.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $300 value), and F.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo. and G.) A $200 gift certificate, donated by Shelf Reliance.

Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training. Together, these have a retail value of $589. B.) A FloJak FP-50 stainless steel hand well pump (a $600 value), courtesy of FloJak.com. C.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $300, D.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, E.) Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value) and F.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.), B.) A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206, C.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value, D.) A Commence Fire! emergency stove with three tinder refill kits. (A $160 value.), and E.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 44 ends on January 31st, 2013, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.



The Case for the Bitcoin Cryptocurrency, by J. McG.

A major theorem of cryptography is that anything that be done with a trusted authority can be done without1 a trusted authority.  This theorem can be applied to currencies, too. Anything that can be done by a central bank can be done without a central bank .  The central bank for the United States of America, as you probably already know, is the US Federal Reserve.  The stated dual mandate of the US Federal Reserve System is:
 
“The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Open Market Committee shall maintain long run growth of the monetary and credit aggregates commensurate with the economy’s long run potential to increase production, so as to promote effectively the goals of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates.”

To state this in other words, the dual mandate is:
1.  Stable prices
2.  Maximum employment
 
However, the real dual mandate for the US Federal Reserve during the past five years has been :
1.  Bail out the US Government.
2.  Bail out the Big Banks.

The US Federal Reserve System is the trusted authority that is now losing the trust of the average American and people worldwide.  The US Federal Reserve System has been monetizing the debt of the US Federal Government and buying the toxic mortgages being held by major US banks.  Debt monetization, quantitative easing, discount window lending, or whatever new name that the Federal Reserve comes up with, it simply means more money printing.  This results in price inflation for real things, such as food and gas. Debt monetization is advanced warning that a fiat currency is about to die or a government is about to go bankrupt and renege on its obligations.  The US Dollar is a fiat currency just  like all the other worldwide central reserve currencies.  Fiat currencies have no intrinsic value except the value that is forced by the government upon the people.  Sooner or later, all fiat currencies revert to their true value of zero.

Now, because of the Internet, there is an alternative currency called Bitcoin.  Bitcoin takes the basic theorem that anything that be done with a trusted authority can be done without a trusted authority and applies the theorem to the combined fields of cryptography and currency, which is now known as cryptocurrency.  Bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency that exists today. The best way to start learning about Bitcoin is to download the free application at the following link:
 
http://bitcoin.org/

A good definition of Bitcoin can be found in the Intro part of the readme file in the download.
   
Bitcoin is a free open source peer-to-peer electronic cash system that is completely decentralized, without the need for a central server or trusted parties.  Users hold the crypto keys to their own money and transact directly with each other, with the help of a P2P network to check for double-spending.   
 
The application costs nothing to download and it is available for the major operating systems (OS):  Linux, Windows, and Mac OS.  The download takes a short time depending on the Internet connection speed.  However,  it may take over a day for the application to fully sync up with the Bitcoin system. Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer application.  There is no central infrastructure, server, or database.  Each user is both the client and server.

In Bitcoin, blocks are the files that contain all the transactions. The first time a user downloads the app there will be tens of thousands of blocks to load. However, once these blocks are loaded, a user just has to load the recent transactions. On a average day, there are about 200 blocks to load. The app is fully synched when all blocks have been loaded. The green check mark reflects the app is in sync.
 
The units of currency are called bitcoins (BTC).  Bitcoins have value because work is needed for its creation.  Bitcoins are mined.  The mining is done virtually by miners throughout the world with computers that have fast central processing units (CPU) and powerful graphics processing units (GPU).  However, the average users can just buy bitcoins through various exchanges and sites located on the web just as one would buy gold or silver coins. One of the main benefits of Bitcoin is that a user can transfer cash from one user to another user.  A user can buy things from various vendors located anywhere in the world by way of the Internet.  All of this can be done without using a bank,  money order, Western Union, or even PayPal.  The file that holds the bitcoins is called wallet.dat in Windows.  The wallet.dat file is just like a real wallet. If a user loses the wallet or the wallet is stolen, then the cash is gone, too.  Multiple backup wallets can be created and stored; however, Bitcoin prevents double spending. In Windows, as seen in the screenshots below, wallet.dat is located under Users ->Username -> AppData ->Roaming ->Bitcoin. The backup copies of the wallet should be stored at various locations, such as on a secured cloud server or a on a flash drive. The wallet.dat file should be encrypted before its stored. Bitcoin advises that encryption passwords and the wallet passwords should be at least 20 characters long containing uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters.

“Your Bitcoin Address” that reflects the unique identifier for each Bitcoin owner. Each wallet can have multiple addresses. The benefit of anonymity is that a person can buy things or send money to people or organizations without anyone knowing their identity. Just for practice or as a learning experience, you can send bitcoins between two addresses on the same computer. Or download Bitcoin on two computers, and send money between the two addresses. Also, you will see that bitcoin transactions usually takes seconds to occur between the sender and receiver.

Bitcoin has now adapted to furnishing the app for Android cell phones. Now, users can transfer and make transactions with bitcoin using Quick Response (QR) codes. As seen below, QR codes are the checker board barcodes that also represent the Bitcoin address in a different format than the alpha-numeric format. An Android handset with the Bitcoin app can scan QR codes. 

Bitcoin is not just for computer nerds and crypto-geeks. Survivalists apply the basic cryptography theorem that anything that be done with a trusted authority can be done without a trusted authority to many aspects of daily living. Unfortunately, the US Dollar and the Federal Reserve System penetrate all areas of life for the average American. The average American struggles paycheck to paycheck, year after year, due to the actions of the US Federal Reserve System, which is creating more and more US Dollars every year. Bitcoin provides a viable alternative to the US Dollar and the US Federal Reserve Banking System. Year to date, Bitcoin has gained over 100% in value versus the US Dollar and the other major world currencies. Bitcoin was launched back in January 2009 by a person or persons named Satoshi Nakamoto. At this time, the total market value of all bitcoins is approximately $125 million. There are over 10 million bitcoins in circulation with each worth at around $12.25. The total amount of bitcoins that will be mined is 21 million and the mining operations will stop in the year 2140 by designed. Anyone can be a miner or a person can be a member of a mining pool like Bitminter. There are many mining pools on the Internet. Mining pools combine the computing power of individual miners in order to mine more efficiently. Mining can be costly due to the mining rig that a user may have to set up as well as the electricity to power the rig. So, each user will have determine if its cost effective to become a miner.
  
YouTube is a good source of information and education about Bitcoin from users around the world. Most of the content is very informative and straightforward. Be careful if a video, or some company, states that it can double your bitcoins if you just send your bitcoins to them. This is the equivalent of someone saying, “Send me an ounce of silver and I will send you back two ounces of silver the next day.” This is a common scheme which appeals to the greedy as well as the naive user of Bitcoin. Please remember, there is no chargeback system with Bitcoin as there is with debit and credit cards. Once the bitcoin is sent, then its gone. The below video is a good start for a beginner. There are more detailed videos at YouTube as you become more comfortable with Bitcoin and have more questions that need to be answered.
  
Cited Works:

Dan Boneh,  Stanford Online Cryptography Course:  Introduction-Course Overview (Stanford University)
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago,  The Federal Reserve’s Dual Mandate, (October 2012)



Economics and Investing:

Real estate horror continues with ‘zombie foreclosures’

Peter Schiff: ‘The Dollar Is Not The King Of Anything, Except Maybe Depreciation

Zero Hedge reports of the bigger, deeper crater that once was Greece: Greek Unemployment Soars To New Record, 56.6% Of 15-24 Year Olds Without Job

Items from The Economatrix:

Highest Ever One-Day Sales For American Silver Eagles?

BofA Freezes Gun Manufacturer’s Account

Cracking The 2013 Tax Code



Odds ‘n Sods:

Steve H. wrote to report: Now they’re coming for our wood burning stoves: Reduction in Air Pollution from Wood Stoves Associated With Significantly Reduced Risk of Death

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File under Preposterous Pedantry: Make guns smart. While you are at it “Jeremy”, why don’t you petition Microsoft to add a sanity checker to supplement their existing spell checker so that their software can’t be used to create crazy editorials. (OBTW, I always thought is was priceless that Microsoft Word’s spell checker thought “Schumer” was a typo, and suggested “Schemer” as the correction. Touché.)

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Egg Membranes Can Be Used as Natural Bandages

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Reader Bob C. sent: Richard and Rachel Lane Turn School Bus Into Energy-Efficient Home

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Wild dogs kill 4 in Mexico City park; police trap 25 animals



Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“To every [thing there is] a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up [that which is] planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?
I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
He hath made every [thing] beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

I know that [there is] no good in them, but for [a man] to rejoice, and to do good in his life.
And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it [is] the gift of God.
I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth [it], that [men] should fear before him.
That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.
And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, [that] wickedness [was] there; and the place of righteousness, [that] iniquity [was] there.
I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for [there is] a time there for every purpose and for every work.” – Ecclesiastes 3:1-17 (KJV)



Notes from JWR:

Some more good legislation to support: Rep. Thomas Massie has sponsored H.R. 133, which would repeal the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 and amendments to that Act. Please ask your congresscritters to support it!

January 11th is the birthday of the late Gunnar Fridtjof Thurmann Sønsteby. (Born 1918.) He was the most decorated hero of the Norwegian resistance to the German occupation of Norway in WWII. I am prompted to mention this because of his recent death. Sønsteby died May 10, 2012.

Today we present another entry for Round 44 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) a $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any of their military surplus gear, E.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $300 value), and F.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo. and G.) A $200 gift certificate, donated by Shelf Reliance.

Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training. Together, these have a retail value of $589. B.) A FloJak FP-50 stainless steel hand well pump (a $600 value), courtesy of FloJak.com. C.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $300, D.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, E.) Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value) and F.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.), B.) A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206, C.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value, D.) A Commence Fire! emergency stove with three tinder refill kits. (A $160 value.), and E.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 44 ends on January 31st, 2013, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.



Ropes and Rope Making, by B.E.

Disclaimer: The knowledge below is not comprehensive, but is included to the best of the authors understanding. New research is being published continuously on the subjects below and the author and/or publisher can take no responsibility in the safe or unsafe application of the knowledge included. If you are using ropes for life-support or other dangerous applications please get qualified instruction, and follow all manufacturer’s guidelines! That said…

There are several items, though while not indispensable, can make living through hard times much more comfortable and safe. Ropes can make the hardest of tasks easier and safer when used correctly, from felling trees and towing vehicles to tying up your shoes. Making the most of your ropes and cordage/paracord, practicing safe long-term storage of rope, and even making your own rope are things that anyone can learn and benefit from, and should be a consideration for prepared individuals.
A rope is a tool, and like any other tool it must be taken care of or it will fail when you need it most.

My background comes from using ropes in life-support situations. My life depends on the rope I use on a daily basis, regularly having to hang over 50 feet above the ground. I have a vested interest in keeping it well maintained. The same can be said for anyone who uses a tow strap on a vehicle, a block and tackle pulley system, and any other situation where a failing rope can mean damaged equipment or injured people. I want to offer an overview on the various types of rope, their construction, and safe long term storage. I will also touch on making your own rope with natural materials, either naturally occurring in the wild or even from crops grown specific to the purpose, though these should never be used for life-support applications.
In simplest terms, there are mainly three types of construction: laid ropes, braided ropes and kernmantle ropes, which consist of a braided sheath around a core of inner strands. There are generally three levels of elasticity for ropes: high-stretch ropes, low stretch ropes and static (no-stretch) ropes. Finally, there are two main classes of rope making material: natural fibres and synthetic fibres.

Construction
Laid ropes are the twisted type commonly seen in the cheap yellow nylon camping ropes. They are useful, cheap, and can be made by yourself at home (see below). The trouble with laid ropes is that they can unravel (as you may know if you ever spun around on a tire swing as a kid) and when untwisted they lose much of their strength. For this reason they are no longer commonly used for life-support systems or to hang or lift heavy, free hanging objects. Braided ropes are more often seen in synthetic fibres, and do not unwind, though they are still not generally used for life support systems. They are commonly used in boating and rigging, and can be found in most camping departments in the form of thin white ropes for tying up tarps. They come in all sizes. Lastly, there are kernmantle ropes which is the style most used in life-support systems because of the strength and abrasion resistance of the style of construction. Paracord is a good example of a kernmantle rope, with a braided outer sheath surrounding the core of strands inside. However, paracord is not rated for life support systems! There is endless Internet chatter about whether you can rappel using paracord, and my answer to the question is NO. Although it technically has a breaking strength of about 500 lbs of force, and average 150 lb person can generate upwards of 900 lbs of force when on rappel. Add to that the chance of abrasions and reduced strength due to knotting and the math does not look good.

Elasticity
The elasticity of a rope is a result of its materials and construction. Laid ropes stretch a little by nature of construction, but are not usually rated to a level of elasticity. Braided and kernmantle ropes vary widely, and each level of elasticity has a different use. In general terms, cordage (small diameter, non –life-support rope) is low stretch or static. Only larger diameter kernmantle ropes are able to effectively made as high-stretch ropes. High stretch ropes are used in life-support systems to absorb the shock of falling and weighting the rope (like a bungee cord). These are not very suitable for towing or lifting, because they tend to ‘bounce’ due to their stretchiness. A little give is ok when lifting and towing, a lot is not so good. Most cordage and rope a prepper would purchase for daily household use will likely be low stretch or static in nature.

Materials
Almost all ropes and cordage sold today are synthetic, usually made of nylon or polyester, and sometimes of more specialized patented materials such as Spectra and Dyneema. Natural ropes are less common, as they are generally more susceptible to the elements and less uniform, and are generally made from plants such as hemp, manila and sisal. Each type of material has its own storage concerns, pros, cons, strengths and weaknesses.

Synthetic Materials
Synthetic materials are resistant to moisture, moulds and mildews, unlike natural fibres. They are the materials most commonly used in commercial production of ropes and cords, because they generally outperform natural fibres in most of the categories that matter. The most common synthetic material is nylon, and as such I will focus on nylon the most. Other synthetics are for more specialized uses, such as polyester and polyolefin’s (i.e. Polypropylene).

1. Nylon is a by-product of petroleum refining, and its production was patented in 1938. It created radical new uses and opportunities, ranging from waterproof jackets to the development of working parachutes, to rope making. It is the material used in paracord and most ropes, and is the most versatile of the synthetic materials.

a. Nylon is somewhat susceptible to UV light, and if you are storing it long term it should be kept out of direct sunlight. I have narrowly missed serious injury when, attempting to climb to a tree stand platform, I casually grabbed a cheap yellow nylon camping rope left out in the sun for two years. Thankfully, before putting my full weight on it several body lengths off the ground, I carefully pulled on it, gradually adding my body weight. It slowly stretched like a rotten elastic band and broke with only the pressure of pulling it with one arm. Needless to say, cheap yellow camping rope is not good choice for life-support applications!

b. Nylon is very susceptible to acids and moderately susceptible to alkalis, even the alkalis from curing concrete in basement floors. Nylon ropes should not be stored directly on concrete or near any other acids/alkalis, such as car batteries in the trunk of a car, or near chlorine (i.e. Bleach or pool shock) and other bleaching agents like hydrogen peroxide, or near phenols, xylenols (used in pesticides) and cresol (used pesticides, deodorizers and disinfectants – I.e. Lysol).

c. Nylon is susceptible to heat, even the heat produced from friction. An interesting demonstration can be done using nylon mil-spec webbing (commonly used for creating tie-offs and anchor points to attach to a rappel rope) and a kernmantle rope. Simply tie up the webbing to a beam or hook in a loop, pass the rope through the loop, and move the rope back and forth like a saw, pulling down with your bodyweight. The nylon webbing will be cut by the rope like butter with a warm knife. It is a sobering demonstration. Yet nylon, in general, has higher heat resistance than other synthetic fibres like polyolefin’s. Its melting point is around 480 degrees F, slightly lower than that of polyester.

d. Nylon absorbs water, up to 5% of its weight. It loses up to 15% of its strength when wet, and also shrinks. When it dries it will generally resume its original qualities, all else being equal.

e. Nylon sinks in water, has good strength, and most importantly has excellent shock absorption qualities, which is why it is used so often in climbing ropes and other high-stretch ropes. Because of this, nylon is the clear choice for most ropes out there. But it should be noted that the weave construction of the rope can be as important or more important than the materials used, and there are ropes made of nylon that do not absorb shock very much at all (low-stretch and static ropes). Its abrasion resistance is good compared to other synthetics.

2. Polyester: Polyester is gaining in popularity in low-stretch ropes because of its resistance to UV light degradation and to acids.
a. It absorbs less water than nylon (less than 1% of its weight) and loses less strength when wet (about 2%). It is useful in wet environments, such as boating and yachting, although it does not float.
b. Polyester has about the same heat resistance as nylon, with a melting point of about 500 degrees F. Friction heat still applies, and can slice through polyester easily!
c. Polyester has much poorer shock absorption than nylon, and as such it is mostly used in low-stretch and static ropes.
d. Polyester had excellent resistance to acids, but is very, very susceptible to alkalis. The “keep off concrete” rule is even more important with polyester.
e. It has excellent resistance to UV light.

3. Polyolefins: These are generally specialty ropes, and are used in river and water rescue as throw bags, and industries where acids and alkalis are common. Varieties include polypropylene and polyethylene, among others.
a. Polyolefins have high resistance to acids, and good resistance to alkalis.
b. Polyolefins float, making them very good for life-guarding, river rescue, boating, and any other water application where you do not want a rope to sink.
c. They have average to poor susceptibility to UV light, worse than both nylon and polyester.
d. They have a relatively low melting point (about 300 degrees F), much lower than polyester and nylon.
You may also come across specialty rope materials like Spectra or Dyneema, which have been developed for life-support systems. They are generally used as secondary materials in cordage, rather than in a life-support rope, but have their uses. They have virtually no stretch, absorb little or no water, and generally have very good resistance to UV, acids and alkalis. However, they are expensive and specialized. They are hard to work with – you need wire cutter to cut them! They do not melt and scissors are hopeless on them! Unless you have a specialty need for them, nylon will suffice in most applications, and is by far the more affordable option.

Natural Fibres & Rope Making
Natural fibres are not common in commercial ropes, because they rot and degrade over time, even in ideal storage conditions. They are susceptible to mildew, absorb water and are harder to construct ropes commercially due to their limited length. A molten nylon thread can be extruded to any length; a natural fibre is limited by the size of the plant, and must be twisted to form a thread.
The main benefit of natural fibre ropes is that you can make them yourself, and rather simply at that. Natural fibre ropes are almost exclusively “laid” ropes, sometimes called hawser-laid, which is the twisted-style found commonly in the cheap yellow camping ropes I mentioned earlier. It is one of the oldest methods of making rope, and works quite well, but as mentioned before is prone to unwinding which causes a loss of strength. Laid ropes can be made out of many local materials (from thistle to wolf willow to yucca) by hand. To do so, you twist fibres in your fingers or roll them along the top of your leg until it makes a rough string, adding bits of material as you go along to make the string longer. It doesn’t matter if the string is pretty, that will smooth out later. Then take the string and bend it in half, and start twisting it tighter and tighter until it starts to buckle and bend in the middle. Keep twisting and the two halves will bend around each other to form a two-strand laid cord. If you add another string, you can twist and work it into the cord to make a three strand laid cord, which is the most common style and quite strong for its size. You can make it out of anything. Tree bark, grass, heck – the Mythbusters television show even made one out of toilet paper to demonstrate ways of ‘breaking out of prison’. It even held a person’s body weight for ‘most’ of the descent down a multi-story building. Though I wouldn’t recommend that last one.

Adding a step up in technology, you can increase your ropemaking efficiency by using simple bushcraft and homesteader techniques such as a pendulum spinner or a rope making machine.
I made my first spinner years ago out of a piece of firewood and a stick, by shaping a chunk of wood into a board with a hatchet. I made a hole near one end with a knife and mallet, and whittled the stick down so it would slide almost all the way through the hole, but stop before going through. It looked like a noise-maker from a football game. Using a twine like sisal, or some other natural fibre, it is easy to make a rope long enough for binding and lashing logs together, and they can be made to quite long lengths with some helping hands and ingenuity. I will leave it to the boy scouts to describe it further here. A professor I knew actually tested breaking strength of sisal rope made this way, and found his rope (although you should not use this as a rule of thumb!) had a breaking point of about 900 lbs, with a safe working load of much less, of course. An interesting idea would be to use paracord (which generally has a 500 lb limit) and make a 3 strand laid rope from it, which would have a 1,500 lb limit when untwisted and un-knotted. Its twisted strength would be greater due the friction in the laid construction, but without knowing exactly how great, the minimum known safe working limit should be adhered to. But your mileage may vary, and practice caution when creating franken-ropes.

A rope making machine is more complex, closer to a cottage industry than bushcraft, but they are easy to construct out of plywood from plans online. I found it best explained here, but there are certainly other plans that are equally as good.
One final consideration in making your own rope is finishing the rope ends with a whipping or a knot. If they are left unfinished the rope will unravel with the mildest use. In my experience I have found this to be the best and tidiest looking method of whipping rope ends, but there are others as well.

To Conclude
Whether you store synthetic rope for future use in the form of rolls of nylon paracord, want to make a replacement bowstring from dental floss, or need to make that fire-bow drill string out of shoelaces or tree bark for an emergency fire, knowing the safe storage techniques and practicing the skills can be the difference of having and having-not. Look at your stores, see where they are kept, and organize your storage for the best long term results of your materials. The conditions of storage for nylon and polyester ropes are also applicable to the storage of nylon and polyester tents! So if you have materials they are lying around on bare cement or right next to the bleach, you may want to think twice about your organization of equipment. Take care of your tools!



Letter Re: Advice on Washing Military Utility Uniforms

CPT Rawles:
The product that I use is half Twenty Mule Team Borax (contains no brighteners) and half Baking Soda (removes all scents). Military snipers use the same as they can’t warrant be sniffed out by an animal and giving away their position. I use it for hunting purposes for the same reason, and it works great. It also a little less expensive than paying big dollars for Sport Wash.
Regards, – James R.



Economics and Investing:

After the Fall: What Do You Do When You Conclude America Is (Temporarily or Permanently) Kaput?(Thanks to Linda U. for the link.)

Carney on coin gambit: ‘There is no backup plan’. [JWR’s Comment: This is beyond bizarre. It is now obvious that we are entering the fiscal Twilight Zone.]

Items from The Economatrix:

Inflation By Any Other Name-Central Banks Around The World Increase Balance Sheets From $2 Trillion In 2008 To $6 Trillion In 2013

This Will Cause Oceans Of Paper Money To Panic Into Gold

Consumer Credit Rose In November On US Auto, Student Loans



Odds ‘n Sods:

Backwoods Home magazine is having a two day free ebook and emagazine giveaway on January 10th and 11th, 2013.

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H.L. sent: Teachers In Ohio, Texas Flock To Free Gun Training Classes

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L.C. sent this: How to make strike anywhere matches

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Reminder: Blog readers in Florida should plan to attend the Life Changes Be Ready Preparedness Expo and Gun Expo on Saturday January 19, 2013. I will be a guest speaker, via teleseminar. The event will be held at the Volusia County Fair and Expo Center in DeLand, Florida.

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One Million PMAGs on Backorder!

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Interesting info: 8 Abandoned Arctic Islands. Too bad that they are all still under sovereign territorial claims… (Wrangel Island is under multiple claims.)