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)


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

Sir, Yesterday I went to COSTCO to check out the rice situation (and grab a cheap lunch). Today, a friend said he wanted to go, so being that he doesn’t have a [membership] card I went with him. Not only was all the rice gone except for a few very small bags of some long grain nasty stuff, but where there had been pallets of rice 24 hours earlier, now there was other items (macaroni and cheese and something else). I overheard about a dozen people complaining about the rice situation, and all of them just wanted “a few bags …


The Value of Coupon Clipping in Stocking Up

Our family has always maintained a substantial pantry in addition to our “deep storage” items. One way we keep our pantry stocked is by taking advantage of grocery store sales and using coupons. This does take a bit of time on my part, but definitely pays off in the long run. I utilize www.coupons.com, www.smartsource.com, www.couponbug.com (these sites allow you to print each coupon two times. We have two computers so that = 4 times each) as my mainstays. But recently I have become a reader of MoneySavingMom.com. She posts deals that I would have normally not found on my …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Several readers sent me this: Unpaid utility bills soar as economy sags    o o o Reader Al C. sent this: Economist: Housing slump may exceed [The Great] Depression    o o o Inyokern found this article: The Peak Oil Crisis: The Case for 2008    o o o Reader “Redclay” forwarded us an excerpt from the latest bulletin from the US CMP (formerly–and more familiarly to some of us dinosaurs–called the DCM Program), which included this: “During the past 60 days we have experienced a ten-fold increase in orders for [Greek military surplus] HXP .30-06 ammunition. This activity has …



Notes from JWR:

FOX News has now posted the video clip of the rollicking tag team interview that they did with me and Brett Arends, yesterday. Look for the video titled: “Load Up the Pantry?” Today we present another article for Round 16 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best non-fiction article will win two valuable four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificates. (Worth up to $4,000!) Second prize is a copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, generously donated by Jake Stafford of Arbogast Publishing. Round 16 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing …


Ammunition Reloading for Survival, by NC Bluedog

Ammunition storage is one of the survival planning trinity: (“Beans, Bullets and Band-Aids”). But what happens when you run out? You can’t plant a garden for 7.62mm NATO or cut up old sheets to make .45 ACP. In this case you need to at least consider the practice (some would say art) of ammunition reloading. Speaking from a perspective of more than 10 years experience, I can honestly say that reloading is no more difficult than repairing a leaking faucet and baking a loaf of bread. It is very similar to making up a recipe with a few mechanical interventions. …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Two readers e-mailed me to ask me if the recent drops in the prices of gold and silver were “disconcerting” or if I planned to change my predictions on the metals market. My answer: NO, I consider the recent price drops as evidence of market manipulation in what is otherwise a long term bull market for the metals. Look at this drop as a buying opportunity. I have warned SurvivalBlog readers numerous times that there would be some scary pullbacks in the market. Market manipulation by The Power That Be works in the short term, but it cannot change the …