Day: April 28, 2008

Notes from JWR:

A couple of readers have told me that they heard my recent interview on Australian ABC Radio about the global grain shortage. The reporter described me as “a secretive survivalist, speaking from an undisclosed location.” OBTW, I was also interviewed last week by the BBC, but I don’t know if that one has aired yet. The high bid in the current SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction is now at $230. This auction is for four items: A FoodSaver GameSaver Turbo Plus heavy duty food vacuum packaging system (a retail value of $297) kindly donated by Ready Made Resources an autographed copy of …


Letter Re: What Determines if a Storage Bucket is Food Grade?

Mr. Rawles, I recently purchased some five gallon buckets at Wal-Mart that I thought would be considered food-grade. I’m afraid these are probably the paint buckets you recently warned against, but I read elsewhere on the web that if there was a “2” inside of the recycle-symbol on the bottom of the bucket, the bucket would be considered food-grade. If these are unsuitable, do you mind going into a little more detail as to why? Thanks, – Ben J. JWR Replies: The number 2 (with the number inside the “chasing arrows” symbol) refers to HDPE, but not all “2” marked …


Letter Re: Observations on a Tour of a Telephone Company Central Office

Hi Jim, I just came back from a tour of one of our local phone company’s central office (CO) and this is what I learned: Besides finding out how our phone lines work, I found out that the hardware there runs on 48 volt DC power. There is a large battery bank in the basement and the batteries are charged by the grid. It is made up of large clear cylinders and you can see the acid level and the plates inside. In the case of the grid going down it has a generator back up. Many of these offices …


Letter Re: Fuel Rationing as a Deciding Factor in Activating a Remote Retreat

Sir: Living in North Dakota, I am always amazed at the number of 300 gallon fuel tanks that are for sale at farm and ranch auctions , usually with the angle iron stands . Hard to disguise but effective on retreats if they can be secured. [Used] underground tanks are a lot tougher to find. [They should be carefully examined before purchase, to be sure that] they don’t rust out and leak fuel into the ground. I found your site from a link on on Michael Bane’s Down Range TV web site. – G.L. in North Dakota


Letter Re: Food Shortages at COSTCO and Sam’s Club Stores

James, I visited COSTCO store in Woodinville, Washington Saturday morning, right at the store’s opening time. I had my doubts about the reality of the shortages, and needed to shop, anyway, so I thought I’d check it out for myself. They had eight big warehouse guys escorting two pallets of rice out to the showroom floor just about the time I arrived. Six of the eight then stayed with the rice, handing it out to customers as needed. Both pallets were completely sold out by the time I left the store about 45 minutes later. I talked with two of …


Letter Re: Ammunition Reloading for Survival

James, You might want to mention that reloading for semi-auto rifles requires an extra measure of care. After sizing, cases should be checked with a Wilson or Dillon case gauge to make sure they are are sized correctly. Maximum overall case and cartridge lengths have to be adhered to [Clint McKee,] the owner of Fulton Armory is very "down" on reloading for semi-auto battle rifles, and I believe most of the [bolt out of fully-locked position] Kabooms with AR-15 type rifles have occurred with reloaded ammo. While one should be very careful when reloading ammunition of any type, one must …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader C.T.H. wrote to ask me if I thought that the Springfield Armory XD pistol offered in Front Sight’s Front Sight’s “Get a Gun” training and gear package offer was worth adding to a family gun collection. The answer is an enthusiastic yes, and I’m not the only one that is enthusiastic about these pistols. But I must add one proviso: Spare parts are currently hard to come by. Ironically, this is because of Springfield Armory’s exceptional lifetime warranty program. (Because of the lifetime repair warranty, there is little impetus for gunsmiths in the US to do XD repairs.) So, …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“One day you will need people like him, and you will forget that you once thought he was worse than a criminal.” – Rabbi Irving Chinn, explaining to some of his congregation why he gave his blessing to as student who chose to pursue a career in gunsmithing rather than rabbinic ordination. (As quoted at Musings of a Geek with a .45, originally posted at The High Road)