Category: Storage Spaces

Letter Re: Advice on EMP Protection for Electronic Gun Vault Locks

Jim: I haven’t noticed this discussed on your blog, or any other for that matter. Is there anyway to protect a gun safe that uses the electronic key pad instead of the standard dial combination lock from electromagnetic pulse (EMP)? I wasn’t thinking along those lines when I purchased it several years ago. I enjoyed “Patriots” immensely and will be re-reading it soon. Thanks for the terrific blog. – Bruce H. JWR Replies: I mentioned this about a year ago in SurvivalBlog, but it is worth repeating: A steel gun vault body itself makes a decent Faraday cage. (Although a …


Letter Re: Property Owning “Refugees” on Adjoining Property

Mr. Rawles, Thank you for putting so much effort into your blog and your writings. I bought your novel “Patriots” a few years back, dog eared it, and passed it around. To my wife’s consternation (and my to the consternation of my brothers’ wives), you’ve started to make a difference in how we look at life. Your blog is a daily “must read.” Since I live 200 miles from my brothers in Iowa (my most likely doubling-up partners) I have to consider a retreat farther north in Wisconsin. There are large tracts of federal, state, and county forest, plus the …


Two Letters Re: Build Your Fallout Shelter From Barter Goods, by Mr. Yankee

Jim: Regarding Mr. Yankee’s article: Salt in some water softeners is potassium chloride, not sodium chloride. Both are ‘salts’ but they behave differently. Be sure you are storing the sodium chloride variety.- SF in Hawaii   Mr Rawles, Hope this finds you and your family doing well. I’m not sure if this link has been disclosed in the past, and I am certainly no expert in this field, but this seems like a well thought out presentation for a fallout shelter. Keep up the good work, – R.C.


Three Letters Re: Build Your Fallout Shelter From Barter Goods, by Mr. Yankee

Hi Jim. Just felt the need to re-emphasize the point you made with regard to Mr. Yankee’s ideas about an improvised fallout shelter. First, I applaud his view that one should not count on being able to pull together an adequate expedient shelter when the need arises. As simple in theory as it seems, in practice, few would end up with a shelter they would want to rely on to save the lives of their loved ones. Second, as far as the point you made, Jim, it is indeed very important to over-engineer any sort of structure that will be …


Build Your Fallout Shelter From Barter Goods, by Mr. Yankee

I am just paranoid enough in this uncertain world to think that I’d be better off with a fallout shelter than not. Oh sure, you can throw together an expedient shelter in a few hours, but I think I’d be farther ahead adding some mass to the ceiling and walls of a basement room. Here’s how I plan to do it and I think the plan will work for anyone with a similar situation. My basement is of poured concrete with no interior walls. My shelter will be created by converting the most earth shielded quarter of the basement into …


Letter Re: Long Term Underground Storage of Guns

What do you consider “long-term? If it’s anything over a year and you expect to store the guns in a damp climate, you will have to protect them from more than just ordinary conditions. Way back in 1999, when everybody was worrying about Y2K I conducted an experiment in gun storage. First, I bought a four-foot long piece of 6” dia. ABS pipe. I know, most people think PVC is best, but I’ve seen too many pieces of PVC that have cracked when hit or bent over a piece of rock. ABS is much more flexible and resistant to such …


Letter Re: Uses for CONEXes at a Retreat

Jim, Here are a couple more thoughts on CONEX containers . . . or shipping containers in general. If you are using them for storage, be aware that uninsulated containers (more abundant) tend to sweat and cause moisture damage to the items being stored. My solution was to buy only insulated refer trailers, which can sometimes be purchased for even less money than 40 ft. shipping containers. In either case, it’s very important to waterproof the roof as much as possible. Sometimes a secondary roof is advisable. Another method to secure as much as storage space for the dollar is …


Letter Re: Uses for CONEXes at a Retreat

Jim, You mention using CONEX overseas shipping containers as an improvised house. I have been planning on putting two 40′ containers parallel to each other, cut some openings between containers (to “open” up some room) and cutting holes for windows/doors-using the cut outs as shutters over the windows/doors. I bought “one way” containers as they are near perfect, not 7-to-9 year olds being sold cheaper-with holes, dents, rust and doors that won’t open. Forest fire and theft were my reasons for using all metal outside. Do you or any of your readers have any suggestions before I light the cutting …


Letter Re: Preparedness Lessons Learned from The K.T. Ordnance BATFE Raid

Jim, I thought I would give you an up-date on my raid. First, I’m not in jail, nor have I been charged with any crime. Everything that can be written has been written at this time.[JWR Adds: For example, see the discussions at the AR15.com Forums, at LibertyPost.org, 1911Forum.com, et cetera. ] In retrospect, there are some things I should have done, but that I didn’t. (I pooh-poohed some of your preparedness ideas, shame on me. Learn from my mistakes.) 1) Did not stash my extra arms and ammo, and now I don’t have them. 2) Should not have been …


Letter Re: Advice on Firearms Caching

Mr. R.: We started playing around with this eventuality in the 1990s.  A few observations: We buried old guns and cartridges in 155mm howitzer tubes (M82) in our garden, where they were regularly watered over. End-result ? With dessicant tins inside, they were A-OK after 6 months. Others buried out in the boonies, without regular water-challenge, were A-OK after 12 and 18 months. No rust. Cartridges went bang. Guns functioned flawlessly. We’d prepped them with ProLix, a non-petroleum based cleaner/lube/protectant. ( ProChemCo, ph. 800-248-LUBE ) I’ve tried most products and this is superior. I’ve cleaned scrupulously (can you say “OCD”? …


Two Letters Re: Advice on Firearms Caching

James: You mentioned using sonobuoy shipping containers for caching. I used to work as an engineer at a company that built sonobuoys. We would routinely reject fairly large numbers of these tubes for either mold defects or physical damage that would result in a leak. At one point, I and another guy in my group went to the plant (after getting the necessary paperwork) and carried off a large truck load of them. All had to be repaired, but they were usable. Just be sure to check them carefully and be prepared to do some patching if needed. As an …


Two Letters Re: Advice on Firearms Caching

Good Evening JWR: I want to safely hide guns and ammo at strategic locations on my wooded property without placing them in buildings, in the chance situation I could not get into my home. Do you have any suggestions on safe storage? Thank you, – Rus Jim, I have been thinking, perhaps someone with expertise in this area may want to post on your blog about long term firearms storage. I have stocked up firearms in the spirit of your book “Patriots”, to give to a friend who has none, or to group standardize for a group that doesn’t exist …


Letter From Rourke Re: The Vault Room: Preparedness in Tornado Alley, and

Jim: A vault door may not be necessary unless you really need a blast door or you are very worried about theft. If you are far enough from a likely ground zero and able to at least somewhat hide your door, a steel fire door will probably suffice nicely. For bargains, look for commercial demolitions, or contact people or companies who do this. Tell them you are looking for a swinging conventional doorway sized steel fire door, preferably with the steel frame, dent and scratch is fine. If you must buy new, find a 90 minute rated steel fire door. …


Letter Re: The Vault Room: Preparedness in Tornado Alley, and Beyond

JR- Safes and safe doors are a statement of the times. I have to laugh and gasp when I see those old glass fronted, wood gun cabinets of our grandfathers generation. Today they make good bookshelves or curio cabinets… with that in mind, I would really appreciate it if you could sometime look into finding someone or some firm that makes an affordable "do it yourself" gun safe or a walk in safe door. Lets face it, many of us are on a shoestring budget, long on talent and time but short on money. Short of stumbling upon an absolute …


Letter Re: Hidden Safes

I thought you readers might be interested in this. Here is a news report that details the hidden safes. The third video is the important one about the safes.  See: http://www.wreg.com/Global/story.asp?S=4159822 Here is the home page for the company that put the safes in the cars:  http://www.hiddensafes.com/index.htm I was impressed. – Cube