Notes from JWR:

The bidding is still at $460 in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction, for a scarce pre-1899 antique Finnish M39 Mosin Nagant rifle from my personal collection. This rifle was rebarreled by Valmet during WWII, and is in excellent condition. It comes with a brand new replica bayonet, original sling, and original muzzle cap. Since the receiver for this rifle was made in 1898, it can be mailed directly to the winning bidder’s doorstep, with no FFL paperwork! The auction ends on October 15th.. Just e-mail us your bid.

The recent query about burying CONEXes sparked a large flurry of replies. You may recognize the writer of the last letter posted below–“Doug Carlton”–as one of the characters from my novel “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”. The character was loosely based on a real life friend for mine that I have known since college. We went through ROTC together, in the early 1980s.

Nine Letters Re: Questions on Underground CONEXes

Dear Jim And Readers,
As Jim said, [CONtinental Express] CONEX containers are not designed to be buried. They will stress out and leak. (I know of an [illicit] drug lab that was in a buried Conex container, it did not do well.) Having said that, a better choice is a buried culvert pipe. You can use 8 foot or 10 foot diameter. Remember the Roman Arch. “Earth Arching” will make it strong. There are a lot of buried culvert pipes in the world that have survived decades of heavy traffic. Weld end caps on the ends of the culvert pipe and use smaller diameter pipe for an entrance. It is easy to put in a wood floor to store cases of #10 cans underneath the floor. How to bury it? Go to your friendly Caterpillar Rental Store. Rent a backhoe or a excavator (“Track hoe”). They will deliver. Never operated one before? No problem. They will give you a quick lesson. By the end of a day of digging you will have it down. Remember not to have your vehicle or house within range [of the bucket arm] when you first start out!

We also dug a few holes and dropped 36″ diameter used culvert pipe vertically about 8 feet deep. Back fill it with dirt and with a base of railroad ties, you can build a dandy outhouse that will hold lots of Schumer in case of emergency!

As far as building a house we use Structurally Insulated Panel (SIP) construction. Structurally Insulated Panels are three times as strong as stick built homes for earthquake. You can go all the way up to a 12″ thick panel that exceeds the insulation value of a straw bale house. Better insulation means less fuel to heat and cool your house. You can get them in a kit. I would never build a stick built house again. You can get the walls up in a day or two.

Keep up the great work that you do, Jim. – PED

 

James:
Burying a CONEX container will collapse (or in my case partially collapse ) the side walls of the container. If you use insulated concrete forms (ICFs) and pour a modest side wall and reinforce the top using the incredibly strong corners as support then you can bury one to at least four feet. The insulated forms will greatly mediate condensation problems but the site must be well drained. All in all it would have been much cheaper for me to just build a concrete storage site but I got into the “In for a penny,in for a pound mindset” and things just got out of hand. My next underground facility will be a large septic tank waterproofed inside and out buried to stash very long term food and munitions. The condensation problem is exacerbated by opening the doors and letting warm moist air into the very cool dry interior of the Conex. I suppose that I could build a double door entrance and greatly reduce the condensation. The idea of successfully burying a CONEX still appeals to me if the cost and effort could be reduced. – East Tennessee Hillbilly

 

Jim:
A thought: Containers are stackable, but load bearing is in question.
A ground level container on a property is hardly uncommon.
A second container [hidden] underground beneath it, acting as support for the first… – The Hushmailer

 

Jim:
I have personally done such a project. It was quite involved. I wouldn’t do it again. between the cost of the container $1000 cheapest available from Newark NJ, then transport $600, then the railroad ties and wood to form for a concrete roof, then steel, then $800 for crete; the because the sides bulged in when backfilled; I had to mineshaft it. $1000 worth of lumber(large dimensional native sawn oak) and two days of my time. The CONEX must be placed on a level reinforced footing: or it goes out of square easily and doors won’t shut.
If I had it to do again: I’d simply rent the forms and pour the whole structure out of concrete. I never spanned more than 8′ anywhere in the project due to railroad ties 8’6″ length ($4 each) and the fact that they have to support a 6″ concrete roof and 2-to-3 feet of fill.
The corners aren’t the whole story in CONEX containers: the walls are integral and support weight. The roof is the flimsiest thing: I suggest anyone who thinks they can bury one unmodified to merely walk on the roof before they buy it: when it buckles under your own weight that bell should ring in your mind. My design utilized lots of free billboard vinyl tarps and professionally cleaned 12,000 gallon double wall fiberglass fuel tanks (already designed to be buried, plus they are free).

If I haven’t dissuaded anyone yet from burying a CONEX and they want to go ahead anyway: some sound advice I would offer is be wary of what [type of] CONEX you buy. I tried hard to buy a galvanized one; but [they are] hard to come by and very pricey as they are usually used for a “refer” box with attached refrigeration unit. Secondly don’t forget to buy some zincs for sacrificial anodes to slow corrosion. And most important ; seek out a CONEX made of Corten steel [aka Weathering steel]: it is a very special steel alloy. Most of the good European based shippers like Hapag-Lloyd, P&O, et cetera use them. Bridges that will never be painted in the US utilize Corten steel: it [surface] rusts immediately; but then corrosion slows to close to nil for some very long time. Google it. The container I used was made from Corten, although it was nearly 18 years old; it had almost no rust. I have seen some half that age that were turning into piles of scale.
After I buried mine I coated it with liquid asphalt [aka “asphalt emulsion”], then tarps, then isocyanate roof insulation board I got for free from local roofing supply houses (they left them outside for too long turning them yellow and no longer salable), then more tarps then careful backfill. Burying the CONEX is easy; but what do you do for an entrance? That is where you will spend considerable thought, time, effort, and money. I have no issues with condensation. here we we are in the Northeast; temperature stays a constant 53 degrees inside there year round: ideal for food storage and other critical goodies. My main reason for its construction: hidden, insect proof, rodent proof, secure, water tight. Hope this info is of some significance. – John E.

 

Editor:
Regarding camouflaging vents from an underground storage/living area, there is are some pictures and ideas here [at the Walton Feed web site]… along with another alternative to the CONEX idea.
– JFC in the Ozarks

 

Hi Jim.
I saw the post about shipping containers underground. I don’t have data, but our real-world experience (and our builder has hundreds of in-ground installations of steel shelters–all engineered by a certified structural engineer) is that any shipping container going underground as is will fail and does–period. It’s very dangerous and foolish to think that it can be a shortcut to providing a safe place to go in time of need. Above ground would be a different matter as there are not the lateral subterranean forces at work there. But similarly, I would not want to be in one above ground, even if it was anchored in concrete in a serious wind storm. Think mobile home. And of course, above ground is not going to do you any god in terms of being a fallout shelter.

Reinforcing the container/structure every two-three feet on each of the structure’s surfaces with heavy gauge channel bracing and possibly adding steel plate around the walls may do the trick–but that is no easy or cheap job. And of course, you also need to be talking about moisture sealing/corrosion-proofing the structure externally to be sure it won’t suddenly fail you a few years down the road, even if you do all the needed buttressing.

Another alternative would be to use the shelter as a form for heavily rebarred concrete to be poured around and over it–again with some reinforcement to ensure the wet concrete does not cause a structural failure.

In my experience, those who post on the internet of plans for shipping container shelters do not have real-world qualifications in the matter.

This much I can plainly tell you that should tell a lot–we would (as would our competitors) love to be able to offer cut-rate shelters to customers if it could be done, using shipping containers. But it can’t be done economically. If you are actually looking for a safe refuge, do not do this. Shortcuts in building/engineering cost you in the long-run. At the front end, such a DIY project might save you a few bucks, but not that much over what is available out there that is certified to do the job you need it to do. Longer term, it could end up costing you dearly.- Vic at Safecastle

Jim-
About two years ago I “planted” a couple of CONEXes for use of as a goat barn for a lady acquaintance of mine A few things to consider:
1) If it’s damaged, fix it! Any ding, dent or gouge can (and will, over time) precipitate a stress riser, and the wall may collapse, usually in spectacular fashion;
2) The walls need to be braced from buckling inward. If they want to bow outward, not a problem. The earth packed around them will hold them in place;
3) Corners are strong; tie the walls to them (we used 3″x3″x0.136″ tubing for bracing, and welded it securely to the sides). Same going with passages cut between the containers;
4) Set the containers 1′-2′ apart. The ensuing “box” you build to bridge that gap as you cut doorway will serve as a pilaster to strengthen the middle of the structure, both laterally as well as in compression (holding up the roof). Also, make your doorways all the way to the top of the wall(s);
5) Insulation, ventilation, drainage, condensation: for brevity sake, I refer you to two sources: “Earth Sheltered Houses” by Rob Roy (the old hippie, not the 17th century Scottish patriot!), published by New Society Publishers; Rocky Mountain Research Center. I can attest to the efficacy of information provided in both of these, as the abode I’m sitting in was built using them, and I’m wearing T-shirt and drawers, it was in the mid-30s last night and I haven’t built a fire for two days, and that was to bake bread in our masonry brick oven (demonstrating the value of thermal mass; more on that in the books);
6) And finally, using more steel tubing, we built a grid work to hold rebar , and had concrete poured onto the roof (my lady friend wanted a patio garden). Depending on the bracing you add to the roof, you can bury your tin cans as deep as is practical (read with particular interest chapter 8, Earth Sheltered Houses, on “living roofs”), and pay particular attention to proper overall drainage.
Yes, it can be done, it’s not terribly difficult, it’s really not very expensive (YMMV depending on what work you do yourself), but it does require a lot of planning and attention to detail. Remember, you will be living there. The little dip in the floor may not bother you now, but may drive you nuts the thousandth time you stumble in it. Hope this helps, keep the faith, – Bonehead

 

James:
[What Robert in New York suggested is] not a good idea. The weight of that much earth would cave in the sides.
Better to carve a hole in the woods, use camo paint and park it [a CONEX, aboveground.].

It would be safer and more cost effective to use steel culvert. My friends thought I was crazy until an F5 tornado leveled Jarrell, Texas

Depending on your budget, an 8 or 9 foot diameter culvert with the ends welded up makes an excellent shelter. Weld angle iron about a foot from the bottom along both sides of the interior. 6 foot 2×12’s then rest on the angle iron to make a sturdy floor. Entrances and vents can be cut and fitted to please. During final touches we had a fully loaded cement truck parked on top.

As is, culvert is not water proof. A coating of automotive under-spray would be nice.

Pricing is by the foot for both diameter and length. Installation is easily handled by a track hoe. – Jon in Texas

Jim,
Here’s some info on the inverted shipping container idea.
The principle of an inverted CONEX as a shelter comes from military use as such. A military CONEX is 8x8x6 and not the conventional shipping container that most people see or have access to. To confuse matters more, the military has also used the same commercial containers since they came out as well, so the word “CONEX” usually attaches some confusion as to what is meant. As far as the Army is concerned though, throughout it’s publications on using one as a shelter, it refers only to the GI CONEX (8x8x6). So while you can take good ideas and make them better, the readership should
understand that there may or may not be a difference in actual use between the commercial shipping container and a CONEX.
The purpose of inverting the CONEX is to have the stronger floor become the roof. This is done primarily because it provides better ballistic
protection. Obviously the secondary effect of inverting is that the now stronger “roof” can hold more material for improving on that ballistic
protection. FM 5-103,”Survivability” 10 June 1985, has an explanation and illustration of use of the CONEX as a shelter. There was an earlier edition to this manual that had a much better explanation and actual pictures, but I haven’t seen a copy of that edition in decades. Either way it doesn’t matter much.
The preferred way to dig one in is to invert the box in a hole that is about half the depth of the box (i.e. 4 feet). Then cover the half that’s sticking out with earth, etc. The illustration shows over 5 layers of sandbags, or a great deal of dirt, so they can indeed take a lot of weight.
Remember this is the GI one and not the commercial container, but the same principle would apply. While the FM is pretty shy on details as to how much you can pile on, since most people would not be using the GI container illustrated and would be using a commercial container, any numbers would simply be wrong for that type of container, so it’s probably better there
aren’t any given to begin with. I wouldn’t use this exact method myself.
If I were to use a commercial container, I’d generally follow the Army FM but with some changes. Since you aren’t really going to be moving this thing around to keep up with a mobile Army, you can afford to do better site preparation. I’d dig a hole half as deep as the container, and then add in some drainage, such as weeping tiles and waterproofing. Just burying a metal box in the ground may work for a while, but eventually you’re going to have a rusted-out buried metal box if you don’t do something to protect it.
I’d make sure the hole floor has a slight grade to it, and place the inverted container in the hole with the door at the downhill side. A sump would go in on that end and the weeping tile would lead to the same sump as well. Across the sump would be the stairs leading down from ground level.

Digging into the side of a hill makes drainage easier, but you still need to take steps about drainage. If you don’t, you’ll end up with a rusted out metal box full of water. Look at the level of work as being about the same as installing a basement and that should give you a good idea of the work involved.
Instead of just burying the top half under a mile of Earth, I’d consider just what the ballistic protection factor really needs to be. You aren’t normally going to need artillery or air strike protection. If you do, then
by all means build a better bunker, but most people will simply need to stop [rifle caliber] bullets. Since we only have to stop direct fire, you don’t really need anything piled on the box itself unless your site has some other terrain feature that is higher near enough to be used by shooters who would then be able to shoot down at you.
Piling dirt or sandbags directly against/on the box has the advantage of not needing as much material, and easier to conceal. Nothing says you have to do it that way. Since only half the box is above ground, it’s pretty easy to build berms, or a sandbag standoff that will give you direct fire protection, and allow movement inside the “perimeter” of the site. It all depends on what’s best for you and your site.
You can easily see just how much work and resources could go into one of these sites. But you can start off with just the container sitting on the ground, and slowly improve it over time. Just carefully plan in detail what you are doing and think over all the small details. Don’t just take “military wisdom” as the best way for you either. “Think outside the box” there. What works for the big Army may or may not work for you. Often people mistakenly think that if the Army does it this way, then that’s the best way, but the Army’s job is different and takes into account many different factors that survivalists may not. There are other factors that the survivalist has to take into account that the military doesn’t (like cost, first of all).
The inverted shipping container is viable, but it just needs to be thought out. See Ya, – “Doug Carlton”

Letter Re: Digitized Data for Your Bug-Out Bag

Jim,
First, thank you for the work you have done. Your blog site will surely save many lives. Also, thank you for your books. I’ve just started on “Patriots” and am thoroughly enjoying it.

I’m very new to ‘long-term’ survival and much of the political and economic machinations that are going on that potentially may lead to SHTF. Living in hurricane country (Florida) I’ve always been better prepared than the average family and I’ve maintained my preps year round due to fears of terrorist attacks and bird flu pandemics. However, I’m completely shocked, horrified actually, about what I’ve learned over the past few months on how bad things could really get, and why!

Anyway, here is something I’ve been doing as part of my preps. I hope it is something you might find useful and possibly worthwhile enough to pass on to your readers. (I’ve copied the following from a post that I made on WarRifles.com.)

I’ve seen lots of posts on what to put in your Bug Out Bag (BOB). And what not to. But I’ve never seen this mentioned so my apologies if someone somewhere has. An SD, or similar, memory card. They are small (size of large stamp), featherweight light, and can pack a lot of data.
Get a scanner and store all your financial and legal documents. Be sure to encode everything to thwart prying eyes. Copy your driver’s license and passport. Birth, death, and marriage certificates. Life/health/house/auto insurance documents. Property deeds. etc. Someday, post-SHTF government may be up and running and people with access to this info may be a step ahead of the crowd.
It’s also great for personal & sentimental info. Most BOBs don’t have room for that shelf of photo albums so scan them in. Digital cameras even save that extra step. Save those videos of your son’s first steps or your daughter’s first recital. Your favorite music or movie. Those are just a few suggestions.
If you want, you can pack a USB SD reader/writer as they’re about the size of a keychain light. If not, SD cards are ubiquitous enough you should be able to find something later on.
Make several copies, vacuum seal them in mylar bags and store in various places – one in pocket, one in fanny pack, one sewn into secret BOB pouch, whatever.
Once you walk out that door, you may never have easy access to that info again. If you later decide you don’t want or need it then so be it. Until then at least you have that option.
Also save your survival library to one just in case the hard copies are lost, stolen or damaged. – Florida-40s

Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Nathaniel noted that Netbank, a major online bank, just went under due to problems with subprime loans and other issues. Not a good sign…

   o o o

“Florida Guy” mentioned a piece posted at This is London: Tom Cruise building ‘£5m bunker to protect against alien attack’

   o o o
SF in Hawaii mention this product as a valuable aid for teaching centerfire rifle and shotgun shooting for folks not yet accustomed to stout recoil.

   o o o

The ever-vigilant Stephen in Iraq mentioned these two related news articles: Citigroup Sees 3Q Earns Down 60 Percent and Swiss bank UBS warns of big losses, blames US housing crisis

Notes from JWR:

We’ve finished the judging… The winner of Round 12 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. is “Polar Bear” for his article “Converting Diesel Vehicles to Run on Waste Vegetable Oil”. He gets the top prize–a four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificate. These certificates are worth up to $2,000! Our thanks to Front Sight’s director, Naish Piazza, for generously donating the course certificate. Check out the Front Sight web site and take advantage of their great training opportunities.

Second prize goes to Brian in Wyoming for his article “Running Chainsaws on Ethanol”. His prize is is a copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, generously donated by Jake Stafford of Arbogast Publishing.

I’m also sending out two honorable mention awards to Dixie for her article “The Refrigerator Box Method for Easy Survival Gardening”, and to Michael G. for his article “A Trip to the Yucatan–Observations of Mayan Primitive Living.” Both of them will be sent an autographed copy of my novel “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”.

Note to all the prize winners: Send me an e-mail to let me know your snail mail addresses, and your prizes will be mailed to you shortly. Thanks gents, and congratulations!
Today we start Round 13 of the contest. Send your non-fiction articles via e-mail for a chance to win some great prizes!

We are pleased to welcome our newest advertiser, CGW. I’ve been doing business with Rich Saunders for more than five years. He is an outstanding gunsmith with great attention to detail. (He custom built three of the L1A1 rifles that we use here at the ranch. In addition to his gunsmithing services, be sure to check out his great line of optics (including Trijicon), knives, packs, and field gear.

Hedge Funds–A Disaster Story that Could Unfold in Quarterly Episodes

One of the consequences of the collapse of the credit bubble and the subprime lending fiasco in particular is with hedge funds. There is a substantial risk of uncontrollable instability in hedge funds that could potentially be disastrous for investors. This instability will likely be seen in waves of bad news that will come roughly once a quarter.

First, let me provide a bit of background:

1.) Most hedge funds have rules that allow only quarterly redemptions (“cashing out”) by by their investors. (A few hedge funds even have only one annual redemption “window.”) Typically, the redemption requests must be filed 45 days before the end of any given quarter.

2.) Most hedge funds have rules that allow them to suspend redemptions, at the discretion of the fund manager or their board of directors. This is just what Bear Stearns did with their funds that went under. United Capital Asset Management did the same back in July, for their Horizon Fund L.P., Horizon ABS Fund L.P., Horizon ABS Fund Ltd. and Horizon ABS Master Fund Ltd. (“Horizon”).

3.) Hedge fund portfolios can change radically, almost overnight. This can be either good or bad. If back in the middle of the year a fund manager was wise, he would have minimized or eliminated his Collateralized Debt Obligation (CDO) positions. But, on the other hand, if he was willing to take a risk, to increase yields he might have have increased his CDO holdings in chosen tranches that didn’t have exposure to sub-prime real estate lending.

My personal prediction is that for at least the next year, there will be successive quarterly waves of hedge fund redemption suspensions and perhaps some spectacular hedge fund collapses, with the news breaking in the first two weeks of each quarter. (The first two weeks of November, the first two weeks of January, the first two weeks of April, and so on.)

Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD)
The investors in hedge funds place a tremendous amount of trust in the fund managers. This is because the fund managers are generally given free rein to regularly re-invest all of the fund’s assets in the most profitable investments. Sometimes a hedge fund can be almost totally re-invested in a different venture very quickly. For example, investors might assume (based on the previous quarter’s report and the manager’s newsletter) that the fund’s portfolio is heavily in European bond derivatives and the Yen Carry trade. But then then when the next newsletter issue is released, they may learn that 80% of the fund portfolio was shifted into corporate stock derivatives, during a leveraged buyout (LBO). The current economic and finance climate is so darkly clouded with Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD), that it is likely that a substantial number of hedge fund investors will make a hasty exit, while the exit door is still open. I suspect that news of these redemptions will inspire additional investors to also cash out, in a cascading effect.

I cannot say with certainty that there will be a hedge fund panic, but ever since the Bear Stearns meltdown, the likelihood has definitely increased.

For any SurvivalBlog readers that hold hedge fund investments with any CDO exposure: If you aren’t sure about your hedge fund’s exposure, then you are better off getting out, pronto. (You probably should have submitted your cash out order in before August 15th.) If you wait for a quarterly report, it will probably be too late, since your quarterly redemption window will probably close before you see the report. And before the next redemption window opens the fund might suspend redemptions.

Letter Re: A Security Contractor’s Convoy Experience in Iraq

Dear Jim,
A friend of mine who is a contractor sent this. It’s been posted elsewhere. Foul language warning. – Michael Z. Williamson

Info from Iraq From Someone Who is Doing the “Run and Gun“

Yesterday a friend of mine who runs a small security company here in Iraq emailed me. He is standing up a protection detail and wanted my opinion on tactics and equipment running the roads of Iraq; Tactics, SOPs, hard car or soft? I have been giving it some thought and here is where I am at.

I am willing to speculate I’m as well traveled in Iraq as anyone I’ve met. I’ve been just about everywhere between Kuwait and Iran, all points in between. And I’ve traveled every way possible.
I’ve gone in military convoy up armored hummers at 40 MPH. I’ve run the Fallujah Baghdad gauntlet in a 15 truck convoy, thin skinned white F350s. I’ve rolled all over in blacked out Pajeros in local dress. Diplomatic convoys with armored suburbans and helo cover.
I’ve done the whole hide the guns and smile a lot all the way to showing just about everyone the front sight post.
I’ve done 140 KPH up MSR Tampa and weaved through Sadr city at a near standstill.
I, like nearly everyone have made mistakes and been lucky to be here writing this.
I think the most important and neglected aspect of survival in theatre is training. Every freaking day your crew should practice “actions on” – At least do it on a dry erase board. Actions upon anything and everything. What usually happens is we start going through the “what ifs” and all the sudden every guy in the crew has a different idea of what should happen. After all we come from many different backgrounds. After about 30 minutes of that we all end up scratching our head debating which idea is best and say “let’s get chow.” Decide on some fundamental concepts. And stick to them, but of course always remembering that the plan is just something to deviate from anyway. As long as we all know the end goal and work towards it. i.e. If the vehicle is stalled in the ambush, driver flicks it in neutral so the rear car can ram us out and we prepare to un-ass the vehicle on the opposite side of the contact.
So rehearse and practice – Which is easy to say because I am the first to admit that a knock on my hooch at 7AM with, “Hey, man, let’s rehearse this” makes me grumble.
I’m sure we can all agree that debating your actions on is best done at the hootch rather than on the side of a road in Tikrit while your car is being remodeled by a PKM.
PMCS your vehicles all the time. Being broke down in Iraq is like a scene on a bad movie. Been there done that. Check tires, oil, fluid, etc… And don’t overdrive your car. My friend VC managed to put a Pajero upside down and backwards on Tampa once because we pushed the cars past their controllability.
Every IC you meet will tell you he is a great driver. Just because you drive fast and haven’t hit anything yet doesn’t mean you’re a good tactical driver. Go to BSR or some other school. And if you haven’t let the guy who has drive. Conduct driver training. Get the best guy to teach everyone else. OJT.
Practice changing tires. There are a couple guys reading this email right now who know exactly what I am talking about. Realizing you’ve packed 300 pounds of gear on top the spare while on the side of a road in Ramadi is a self loathing I’d like not replicate. Make sure you have a tow strap in every vehicle. Loop it through the rear bumper so it’s already attached. that way you swing in front of the busted car and they hook up. Gone in 60 seconds or vice versa… Get a good jack, it’s worth the money. Make sure everyone knows where all the tow, change, repair gear is in every vehicle.
In the glove box keep your stay behinds. A frag, Smoke, CN. The rule is. Never f*ck with the pin unless you have the grenade outside of the window. Hit a bump and it drops on the roadside. Minimal drama. Inside the car? Party foul. Use CN and Smoke. If you’re caught in traffic and you have a bad feeling about a car behind you, toss the smoke. Most motorists will stop or at least give you a lot of space. It works and it’s harmless. Can use more sparingly and never while in tight traffic. Watching that cloud blow towards your car faster than you can drive is not fun. The CN is rough stuff and I only would use it on those rare situations where it just has to be done. And the frag? Well we all know when those need to be used.
Put a rubber band on your sling so it doesn’t get caught on stuff while getting out of the car.
Always do a proper route plan. Common sense here. And another note, we are always trying to be sneakier and cleverer than everyone else. Avoiding MSR’s and roads frequented by convoys you know the deal. Well before taking a road you see on a map that isn’t used by the Army. Go see the G2, ask them why. It may be for good reason.
Think about fuel consumption. Plan your stops for fuel and food. Always carry a gas can, just in case.
Always have spare batteries for the GPS, Always have a map and compass just like when we were E1’s. Do a map study; make sure everyone in the crew knows the route plan.
Carry as big a gun as you can. Keep it clean. Keep it hot.
Carry lots of ammo. On April 4th I went through 14 mags and never would have thought that a possibility before then. Carry more ammo, stage spare mags everywhere. Like the freakin Easter bunny.
I will never go without wearing a helmet again. If there is a Kevlar helmet, it’s going on my head. A dude standing right next to all of us on the roof was dropped from a head shot. Spend the money get a good MICH or the like. The more comfortable and low profile the more likely it is you’ll wear it. Wear a helmet. Watching Alcon get blasted in the noggin was a SOP changing experience for all of us here.
Wear your armor. Period.
If you sleep in a trailer or hootch, know where the nearest bunker is. Trying to find it at 4 AM while scared sh*tless isn’t the answer. And yes everyone runs for the bunker. The Delta dude who is always giving the evil eye will probably be the first one there followed immediately after by a SEAL in flip-flops. 120mm mortars make us all very humble.
Shoot a lot. Keep training. If your company won’t get more ammo, make them dry fire. Practice mag changes. Focus on cheek weld and front site. The basics win every time.
The three guys shot on the roof here were all either changing mags while standing or weren’t moving to different firing positions frequently – all were regular military and not contractors. They were doing standard Army range sh*t. And got dropped for it…
You remember when Sam Elliot said “If I need one there will be plenty laying around” in the film We Were Soldiers Once, in regards to the rifles? He was right. If you’ve seen those pictures of us on the net Chip was on a SAW and I had a M203. There were weapons strewn about the roof by wounded and those who elected to not play on the two way range. No sh*t. By the end of week two here we all had our choice in weapons. No sh*t. We fired RPK, AK47, PKM, MK19, M249, M203, M4, Dragunov, and M60 at bad guys between the eight of us… That was unreal.
This brings me onto this – Train on all weapons. If you don’t have access at least read the FM or TM on them. You never know when you’re out of 5.56 and someone will hand you a PKM. Get familiar with them.
Practice shooting out to 800 meters. I know, nearly every fight is within 150 [meters] but we were trying to bang a mortar crew that was pounding us at 800 meters. And it happened more than once.
In terms of shooting. Practice as you did on active duty. Always scrounge ammo.
I will ALWAYS take a hard car over a soft. Its just common sense at this point. If I have a soft car I will sandbag the floors and jam steel and spare plates everywhere I can. Bolt on armor is sh*t, but better than nothing. Remove the Lexan windows from the gun trucks. Just like in the old days nothing breaks contact quite like returning accurate, violent fire.
The rear vehicle is always most likely to be hit. Put your best shooters in there, biggest guns.

The Golden CONEX box. It ain’t coming dude. If I had a nickel for every time I have been told “Oh yeah man, we ordered ten of those and they should be here in three days” Or my favorite “don’t worry, it will meet you in country.” If you don’t have good guns, ammo, armor, or comms, just say no like Nancy Reagan used to say. Some companies are total pieces of sh*t and will leave you in Iraq with a busted ass stolen AK and two mags. Some will do you better than a tier one unit. Personally, I just want the above mentioned items and the rest to go to my bank account. If I want a three hundred dollar backpack Ill buy it.
Bottom line. Remember what gear is critical. Demand it be the best and take proper care of it.
Medical equipment. It’s expensive. It has saved lives. The company I currently work for spent a gazillion dollars outfitting each crew with great mad gear. I’m sure the bill was hard to swallow. I sh*t you not it saved three people’s lives, all had life threatening injuries. The med kits and our 18Ds saved them. The Army had a few bandages and an IV. That was it. You know who you are, thank you for spending the money…
Do remedial med[ical] training. Can’t say anymore on that issue. Do it.
Wherever you go carry lots of booze. It’s the most valuable item you can have. If I wrote a list of things I have managed to swindle with a bottle of Jack [Daniels whiskey] placed in an E8’s hands you would cr*p you’re pants.
Don’t get drunk and stupid. Be drunk or stupid but never both at once.
Never let the client convince you “it’s safe, I do this all the time.” If it’s stupid it’s stupid.
On the same note. Remember if we hamper our client’s ability to do their job too much. Our company can get sh*tcanned. It’s a fine line. Yeah, your client thinks it’s cute to drive to some Hadji’s house at midnight for tea, sometimes you just have to do it.
Learn to deal with all the clients. Some truly think that all Iraqis are great people and that the US Army is the enemy. Some will encourage you to shoot bicyclists who hog the road. I’ve seen both sides. Keep their agenda and egos in mind. Don’t make your own life miserable.
Aimpoints are great. The Eotech is okay. TA31 ACOG is the best by far. The Aimpoint battery lasts six months. The Eotech is a little too bright for my taste. Remember that the dot is like 3 MOA in size so they aren’t any good past 300 or 400. The ACOG is the heat.
Buy short M4s. They will save you’re ass. I carry a 18″ upper on me with glass so when we reach our destination I flick it on the lower receiver and I now have a decent long gun. It’s like having two guns to choose from.
If you’re doing Green Zone PSD a mag or two may do you but if you’re in the party zone? Twelve.
Speaking of which, weapon, twelve mags, pistol, three mags, Med kit, GPS, map and compass, radio, spare battery, $500 [in] US dollars, MRE , water bottle, NVG, armor. It’s a lot. It’s hot but f**k it, if its too heavy get membership at the gym. This job isn’t for everybody.
In your vehicle. Put a US flag on the visor so nobody can see it until you approach a checkpoint, then flip it down. On the passenger side do the same with a VS17 panel. G.I. Joe will shoot your a** just as soon as a Hadji will.
Carry MREs and water in your car.
NEVER throw food or candy to kids. there are many reasons why. But at the least it encourages kids to jump in front of cars, smashing a kid would ruin your trip here.
If you find yourself trusting the locals its time to take a vacation.
Walk the fine line. Don’t be too conservative and don’t get blown up.
Listen to your intuition. It has saved a guy who is on this mailing list and not listening to it killed a friend a month ago.
Once you make contact … Finish it. If you shot a guy and he is limping to cover he can still get there and return fire. Just finish everything you start.
A car door is not cover. In fact a car is not cover. Cement is.
While doing the work-up for my last deployment we did live fire IADS and movement from vehicles. It was the best training I have done and the most useful. On that note we did many Simunition [practice] runs with vehicle ambush scenarios. We found that without a doubt the single most important factor in surviving is getting out and away from the car. Getting behind it as though it was a concrete barrier and playing HEAT will get you killed.
Don’t work for a company that doesn’t vet its ICs. Check their creds, call the references, and put them through a ten day selection course. Just because a guy was a SEAL in Vietnam doesn’t mean he maintained his skills. On that note the best shooter in my training class was Vietnam SEAL. Some of the best guys were 22 year old Rangers and the worst 38 year old SEALs. My point it’s the individual that counts.
But we don’t have time or money to bring a regular Army kid up to speed. You have to have the fundamental skill sets. We can’t introduce you to live fire Australian peels. We should just review and coordinate verbal commands and simple sh*t.
Just because somebody is a good dude isn’t good enough. If he can’t shoot, think, and move – leave him home. Big boy rules.
If a guy doesn’t work out in your crew but has talent and skill send him elsewhere, don’t sh*tcan him. Personalities clash. Especially when you’re living together 24/7 for six months. Eating every meal together all that. If I hear the same stupid story from a guy forty times? That’s cool. It’s the 41st that’s gonna be drama. You guys know what I’m talking about.
The contractor community is a sewing circle for men. Remember the Dyncorp guy who shot the principal in Baghdad last winter? The story in its most recent telling over cheap Turkish beer involved a diplomatic cover up, a magazine change, and several deaths.
Throwing a flash-bang into the team leader’s hootch at 3AM while drunk is not a good practical joke.
Remember how much money you’re making. Nobody wants to clean the sh*tter on a Wednesday morning but keep in mind you’re the highest paid janitor in the world that day.
Keep a sense of humor. Keep funny people around, they make sh*tty situations tolerable and are like Prozac when you need it.
Have thick skin. Your friends will ask for naked pictures of your wife on deployment and yes they may take them to the bathroom with them. Take criticism. If you suck at something ask for training.
Always remember that you were once a young dumb*ss E1. You made $450 a month and weren’t allowed to fart without a permission chit ran up and down the chain of command. Keep this in mind when you’re bitching because you’re only making $17,000 a month when guys at the other company are getting $17,500. And when the bosses back in the states email you to have a clean shave? Do it. you never know when you’re going to be on some stupid newspaper.
The soldiers around us are deployed for a year sometimes more. They make a fraction of the pay. And are ordered to do stupid, dangerous sh*t everyday. Keep that in mind when you are upset that instead of 60 days you’re extended to 68.
And keep that in mind when dealing with soldiers. Treat them well, nobody else does.
Yes, we all work for ourselves at the end of the day. At the same end, never f**k over your company or teammates who have to stay behind and clean up your mess. Business OPSEC is one thing but always share your info on intel and tactics. We are all Americans and most of us will work together one time or another. Some of the “business secret” stuff is corny. If you hit an IED on ASR Jackson yesterday, e-mail your colleagues to stay away.
That’s it off the top of my head. Stay Safe, – Ben

Odds ‘n Sods:

Five different readers sent us this: Alabama City Reopening Fallout Shelters

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NFA sent us this link: A spike in the germination failure rate for commercially grown seeds?

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Bill N. came across this web site for women with guns. Has some good information for any woman that may carry a gun.

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A hat tip to Desert T. for sending this from The Wall Street Journal: Historic Surge In Grain Prices Roils Markets

Note from JWR:

We note with humble thanks that we’ve surpassed 2,000,000 unique visits. Congrats to SurvivalBlog reader “Stealth Neighbor”, who as the two-millionth visitor. (He even sent us a screen capture to prove it.) I’ll be mailing him a special gift.

Letter Re: Question on Two Cycle Oil Mixing Ratios

Dear Mr. Rawles,
Perhaps you could help me understand the mixing ratios for two stroke oil.
I remember buying the old Homelite oil, you could either buy it in a can to mix with one gallon of gas or a can to mix with two gallons of gas.
Most of the new two stroke oils I have seen recently state that they are 50:1.
Is this mixture acceptable for my old Homelite Super XL chainsaw and other two stroke equipment?
The rep at the Stihl store by us said that the new oils are so much better formulated than the old oils, that 50:1 is good for all two stroke equipment–old and new. Does he know what he is talking about? – Mark G.

JWR Replies: While it is true that some of the pre-1990 manufacturers’ manuals called out a 32:1 or even 24:1 mixing ratio, with modern name-brand mixing oil, there is no problem using a 50:1 ratio in just about all two cycle chainsaws and other two cycle power tools that are marked 24:1 or 32:1 (such as leaf blowers, weed trimmers, ice augers, et cetera). The modern mixing oils provide plenty of lubrication at a 50:1 ratio. You can use more oil if you’d like, but it would be a waste of oil, and will also produce more smoke.

OBTW, I discovered that there is an interesting thread of conversation on this topic over at The Arborist Site Forums.

Dip Sealing Tools for Storage

Jim,
I don’t know if you are familiar with this product already but I thought it couldn’t hurt to bring it to SurvivalBlog readers attention. It is called “Dip Seal” protective removable coatings, peels off like a banana [skin]. It is, from the company’s own description two or three different types of plastic seal, “Type one coatings are the most commonly used for corrosion protection. These coatings leave an oil film on the protected part. A relatively hard coating that is excellent for long-term storage and protection from rough handling. Part numbers, UPC codes, etc., can be easily seen through any of the transparent Type One colors. Recommended dipping temperature for all Type One coatings is 350° F.”

I thought this type of seal could be used as a part of a redundant system of sealing parts, etc. for long term storage. I’ve used the product myself and like it very much. If one is peeling off the seal it’s rather easy not messy at all and leaves no unwanted residue or particles as long as you check to make sure its all been removed. They have different types of seals some with oil and some without, so the user would want to be aware of what was okay or advantageous to seal with which type of Dip Seal product. For what it does it’s a safe product to work with and not pricey either. – John T.

JWR Replies: Thanks for that recommendation. It is a precaution that is particularly appropriate in damp climates. Just be sure to start with tools that are free of rust, since in some circumstances oxidation can continue even underneath dip sealing.

Letter Re: Low Light Shooting Techniques

Mr. Rawles:
Anyone who carries a sidearm for protection should watch these three videos by Surefire: One Two Three. The first one covers principle of using light and flashlights to your advantage. It also discusses the Harries and Rogers Surefire techniques for shooting and advantages and disadvantages of both. The second one covers the FBI and neck index methods of shooting. The last covers clearing techniques in a building. I personally don’t like the Rogers Surefire technique because it requires a specific flashlight and will not work if the switch is not properly adjusted. – Bill N.

Odds ‘n Sods:

There is an interesting thread in progress titled: “Popular Mechanics new take on Heinlein’s skill list“, over at The Mental Militia Forums (formerly called the Claire Files Forums.) I agree with the consensus view there. Parenthetically, I’m glad that I’m raising our kids out in the hinterboonies in a largely self-sufficient lifestyle with plenty of “do it yourself”–mostly by economic necessity but partly by choice. A boy should know how to build a field fence just as well as a web page.

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From Bloomberg: U.S. New-Home Sales Drop, Prices Fall Most Since 1970

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At The Economist web site: The turning point–Does the latest financial crisis signal the end of a golden age of stable growth?

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SF in Hawaii recommended this site: You Grow Girl–Make Your Own Pop Bottle Drip Irrigation System