Category: Retreat Logistics

Letter Re: Stocking Up on Augmentin–the Antibiotic of Choice

Jim: I’m somewhat reluctant to offer blanket medical advice to non-patients, but after reading SF in Hawaii’s comments about Augmentin (Amoxicillin-clavulanate) bears comment. There is no ‘one best antibiotic’ for all purposes. Antibiotics have to be administered based on the specific type of bacteria causing an infection. Administering the wrong antibiotic doesn’t just not work, it causes bacteria that are not killed outright to become resistant to it – which can cause problems down the road. People have pathogenic bacteria in and on them all the time, when something causes them to go out of balance and cause disease. At …


Four Letters Re: Comments on High Capacity .45 ACP Pistols

James: You asked for comments on the Taurus 24/7, so I thought I would give you my opinion. The major appeal of this gun to me was the price. I got mine for about $315 brand new with three magazines. Aside from price, the other deciding factor was the ergonomics. With the Ribber grip, the gun is very comfortable to hold and to shoot. Since I bought the gun for my wife, who has small hands, this was a major factor. The manual safety was also important to my wife, although I don’t find them necessary if you know what …


Letter Re: Honey–Storage Life, Crystallization, Storage Quantities, and Medicinal Uses

Jim: I was at Costco this week and paid particular attention to the bulk honey supplies they had . (I was buying a few 96 ounce jugs of Clover brand honey – good stuff). I had last purchased some of the same honey two months ago. It is now up nearly 80 cents from that time. In speaking to a friend who is involved in honey sales and production of bee related product, waxes, etc, they are very concerned about Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and declines in the [bee] populations. They agree with points made at Survivalblog that prices will …


Letter Re: Advice on a High Capacity .45 ACP Pistol

Jim, Tell me, what is your view on the Glock 21 platform? I made an election to go with this as opposed to a 1911 platform…mag capacity, accuracy, etc. The only down-side to the Glock 21 or any of those platforms, is the absence of a manual safety. It must always be holstered. For $450, they tend to outshoot their contemporaries; at 13 rds per magazine they pack a payload of punch.Your feedback? – Matt JWR Replies: I think the Glock 21 is a fine pistol. As I have mentioned in SurvivalBlog before, if I hadn’t 30+ years of “muscle …


Letter Re: Stocking Up on Augmentin–the Antibiotic of Choice

Jim: I finally bit the bullet and bought 100 tablets of Augmentin (Co-Amoxiclav), the survivalist’s antibiotic of choice (or so I’m told). It was a tidy sum and unlike the rest of my supplies, it is not something that will store indefinitely (18 month expiration date, but I’d use it at twice that date as it is being stored in a refrigerator), nor is it something that I can rotate though and use like food. On the way back from the pharmacy I showed the kids what I’d gotten. “But dad, I thought you hated antibiotics.” my eldest said. “I …


Letter Re: From a USFS In-Holding in Colorado’s High Country–Snowed-In!

Mr. Rawles: I just wanted to send you a thank you note for your novel “Patriots”, your “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course and for SurvivalBlog.com. We’ve been having a winter weather adventure, which I’ve chronicled in this thread at The Claire Files. If I hadn’t found SurvivalBlog.com some time back in late 2005, it might have been a very different story than the mainly humorous tale I was able to relate. Catching up on some of your entries that I missed over time, I found one that was particularly pertinent to our situation. On February 14, you did a …


Two Letters Re: Kanban: America’s Ubiquitous “Just in Time” Inventory System–A Fragile House of Cards

Jim, I recently shared “Letter Re: Propane Shortage and Rationing in the Frigid U.S. Northeast” with several friends. Surprisingly, a new friend who does not know that I am into “Prepping”, sent back the following. – Douglas in C. in Connecticut Hi Douglas, I work in the grocery industry. I can tell you first-hand that this industry (as most others) has expended incredible amounts of time and energy over the last 20 years into streamlining the supply chain. More than anything else, this means reduction of inventory held within the system – starting with the raw materials on the manufacturing …


Letter Re: Stocking up on Horse Tack

Jim, If there were an EMP event, what would be the primary mode of transportation: shank’s mare; the bicycle; horses? Likely all three would rate pretty high on the list of most likely. Accordingly, are most prepared? I would anticipate most have the necessary footwear. A bicycle would be viable for personal and logistics transport…if one has an appropriate unit and the maintenance supplies…in fact, this would be a practical way to move young children from one location to another as they already have their bikes. But what about the eventual and likely need for horse transportation? While it may …


Four Letters Re: One Common Caliber for Retreat Rifles and Handguns?

James: I would like to add a comment on the viability of the “same caliber pistol and rifle” concept. The .357 Magnum offers an interesting choice for a survival rifle. In a revolver, the .357 is certainly powerful enough to be considered a defense caliber by most folks. The 16″ barreled Winchester or Marlin lever action rifles can push out a 180 grain slug at close to 2000 fps with handloads, making it usable on deer out to 150 yards or so. Loading up light .38 special loads makes this rifle capable of taking small game without destroying all the …


Letter Re: Kanban: America’s Ubiquitous “Just in Time” Inventory System–A Fragile House of Cards

Jim, I’ve heard many, many people bash our ‘just in time’ distribution model. but, I’ve never heard of even a single military official from any other country brag or boast of the same assertions. Our ‘just in time’ delivery of goods is one of the most survivable, re-configurable and defend-able supply chains ever in the history of mankind. It can grow to surge resources into a disaster area, it can shrink to conserve fuel, it presents fast moving small targets of no individual strategic significance, it can bypass destroyed cities, it can use improvised warehouses, it can cluster around railway …


Wound Care: An Emergency Room Doctor’s Perspective, by E.C.W., MD

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Arguably the most important factor in wound healing is the potential for infection. Ever since Semmelweis and Lister demonstrated that strict hand washing made a tremendous difference in reducing the incidence of postoperative infections and puerperal fever after childbirth, health care workers have tried to refine methods for decreasing bacterial contamination of wounds in an effort to avoid infection. Thus we have some practitioners who still soak wounds in betadine solutions lengthily even though more modern research has shown that this kills viable tissue and makes wounds less amenable to suturing. For the concerned individual who must deal with a …


Letter Re: Save Your Wine-in-a-Box Mylar Inserts

Dear Jim, For the ‘Survival Minded/Preparedness Bent’ all the things we use daily should be reconsidered for alternative uses. For my part, I drink wine, the good stuff mind you. It comes in a box! Interesting thing about it is that each box that is consumed leaves behind another useful tool for any ‘rainy day’ event. The bladder in the box that holds the wine is about 15″x15″. It is quite durable and contains a very efficient valve. The valve is self sealing and easily removed from the bladder itself. When the wine is gone, I remove the [box insert …


Letter Re: One Common Caliber for Retreat Rifles and Handguns?

Jim, In trying to standardize equipment for a retreat, what do you think of .40 S&W in handguns (already own) and the various [semi-auto] carbines that can be purchased that shoot that [same] round .(Like Ruger [Kel-Tec, and Marlin.] )? I know they (.40 S&W) are slower than the .223 or .308, but still effective. I know the smaller magazine capacities (like 10 rounds) might be an issue. The major “plus” would be a complete compatibility of ammunition for all the guns so that you only have to worry about stocking and carrying one type (except for the .22 [rimfire]s …


Letter Re: Kanban: America’s Ubiquitous “Just in Time” Inventory System–A Fragile House of Cards

Jim, Having both worked in a hospital and worked for hospitals for the last 18 years I must loudly concur with “Mike the MD in Missouri”. As a service specialist in an un-named Level 1 trauma center I had access to almost every inch of the facility(s) including the warehouses where we stored our unused equipment and all the patient care products. Naturally I was able to assess the on hand stock versus the use and replenish rates at a glance. I was always amazed at how little there actually was for a hospital in a city of 150,000 people. …


Letter Re: Kanban: America’s Ubiquitous “Just in Time” Inventory System–A Fragile House of Cards

James: This “just in time” thinking has transformed the medical industry, especially hospitals. The “Central Supply” or stockpile in hospitals has disappeared and in its place are vendors with same day and next day shipping. This includes band-aids, medications, ventilators, equipment etc. In the business setting it makes sense, but in the medical setting it often falters on a day to day basis. In a crisis medical event, surge capacity is limited to how fast the vendors can respond. In a contained disaster, vendors can shift needed supplies to a hospital in as little as several hours. But, in a …