Month: December 2005



Resources for Going Off-Grid

One of the most important steps that you can take toward self-reliance is developing the ability to produce your own electricity. Alternatives for off-grid power include: Photovoltaics Wind Power Micro-Hydro Systems Photovoltaic (“PV“) power generation systems use large panels that generate DC voltage. The most durable panels use monocrystaline solar cells in large arrays in weather-sealed panels with glass covers and metal frames. These are designed to last a lifetime with just minimal care, and do not suffer any significant degradation in output over time. They are made with outputs from 5 to 100 watts. They are easily wired in …


Four Letters Re: The Best All-Around Dog Breed for a Retreat?

James: Dogs are something I know a little about. I’m glad to finally be of some potential help to readers. I have owned dogs, and raised dogs, for as long as I can remember. The dogs we have been blessed with run the gamut of breed, from German Shepards, to Australian Shepards and Blue Heelers, to Rottweilers and various hunting dogs ranging from English Setters to Redbone coonhounds to Plotts, to the dog I am going to recommend: The Drahthaar. As many have probably not heard of this dog, I have included a link so that it can be studied: …


Letter Re: Critical Capabilities for Retreat Defense: “Move, Shoot, and Communicate”

Dear James, A couple of things to ponder: IR Cyalume sticks are costly and have a limited shelf life. High intensity IR LEDs can be easily built into an “intrusion illumination” system that can be actuated by a number of means (trip wire, seismic, passive motion detection, command, etc.) LEDs are cheap and a simple, reusable, battery powered unit with indefinite shelf life can be cobbled together for a few dollars. Visible and IR LEDs can be made into lights for a variety of uses including illumination and signaling. See: http://www.trailquest.net/TQaltgear.html#LED Years ago, I had an odd dream. I dreamt …


Two Letters Re: Rourke on: A Mouse in the House? Retreat Pest Control

Jim: There’s a product called “Tomcat” that’s a solid bar of coumarin poisoned feed. It’s less messy and more convenient than D-Con and can be placed outside with little or no risk to non-rodent wildlife. (BTW, coumarin is effectively the same as “Coumadin” – that is, warfarin anticoagulant. The way it works is diabolically clever. The mice eat it and it slowly anticoagulates them until they hemorrhage internally. This induces thirst and they often leave the area in search of water before they die. As another aside, I remember hearing about a rancher in Ely, Nevada who was too cheap …


Letter Re: The Importance of Firewood or Coal Storage

James: My brother in law in New York uses a coal pot belly stove to help keep his heating bills down. He usually buys a ton of coal in june of every year and stores it in his garage in a coal bin that he built. He buys it in June because the price of coal in cheaper in June, imagine that. As for storing a three year supply of coal, why couldn’t someone dig a trench, fill it with coal and then put something like two inches of dirt on top of it. It’s not like the coal will …


Jim’s Quote of the Day

"The slowness of one section of the world about adopting the valuable ideas of another section of it is a curious thing and unaccountable. This form of stupidity is confined to no community, to no nation; it is universal. The fact is the human race is not only slow about borrowing valuable ideas — it sometimes persists in not borrowing them at all. Take the German [Masonry] stove, for instance — to the uninstructed stranger it promises nothing; but he will soon find that it is a masterly performer. The process of firing is quick and simple. At half past …


The Best All-Around Dog Breed for a Retreat?

I’m curious to know what breeds of dogs are recommended by SurvivalBlog readers. I’d like to hear your opinion on the ideal the “All-Around Retreat Dog” breed–one that is a good watch dog with a strong sense of territory, loyalty to its masters, distrustful and vociferous when intruders approach, large enough to be taken seriously by intruders, protective when confronted by bears or mountain lions, and alert to poisonous snakes. Ideally, it would also be versatile enough for other responsibilities such as guarding livestock and perhaps killing mice and rats. Secondarily, it would be advantageous to have the same dog …


The Memsahib on The Proposed PAWS Legislation

The hunting and security dog breeding world is about to be stood on it head: Many of the same congressmen that have been after your guns are now after your dogs. Proposed legislation called called The Protection of Animal Welfare Statute (PAWS) designated S. 1139 / H.R.2669 would make hunting dog breeders and sellers subject to Federal (USDA) licensing. Under the legislation’s incredibly loose wording, the term ”dealer” means any person who buys or sells any dog for hunting, security, or breeding purposes If this bill passes, breeders who sells even just one dog of a “hunting breed” will be …


The Memsahib’s Quote of the Day

"Likely terrorist EMP targets are key financial centers such as Wall Street, The City district in London, or the Paradeplatz in Zurich. This would cause incalculable damage to computer hardware and software associated with stock and commodities markets, banking, international currency  exchanges, and pension funds." – James Wesley, Rawles, from a feature article on High Technology Terrorism,  Defense Electronics magazine, January, 1990.


Rourke on: A Mouse in the House? Retreat Pest Control

If you are stockpiling food and supplies, you should have a system of pest control in place. Mice are probably your first and most serious concern, but rats, other vermin, and of course insects also come into play depending on what types of food you are storing, in what containers, and where you are. If most your food is in #10 steel cans, you may only have to worry about other supplies, like toilet paper, which can make a nice nesting ground for them, and incredible mess for you. As when with dealing any foe, you need to understand the …


Letter Re: Military Installations as a Factor in Retreat Location Selection

Hey, I just wanted to write in to comment on what seems to me like a missing element in your survival location analysis. Military installations across the United States are presumably not all evenly distributed, and the presence of these bases not only affects your location in the event of a NBC scenario, but if the Schumer] really hits the fan, even well disciplined American servicemen and women will attempt to ensure their own survival even at the cost of local civilians. Now I assume that it would take a world ending event for our military to act in that …


Letter Re: HK91 Magazines Inferior for Barter

Jim: Military surplus HK91 alloy magazines have been available for several years in the $1-to-$3 price range. It seems to me that the only people who should buy them are HK rifle owners who own less than 50 magazines. Before buying HK magazines as barter items, consider that the market has already been flooded with far more than are needed for the limited number of existing rifles. The German military torched most of their rifles, but sold most of the magazines. Other mags (such as for AR-15) may be great future demand, but I would not bet on the HK. …