Category: Storage Spaces

Two Letters Re: Preserving a Digital Library

James, Regarding the article “Preserving a Digital Library” written by “H335”: Windows XP requires [remote] activation [from a Microsoft server]! If XP runs at all after a fresh install, it’ll only be for a few days.  If you find yourself reloading XP on a computer in any sort of a grid-down situation, you’re not going to be calling up Microsoft to get your fresh install of XP activated.  Without activation, you can’t even log in to Windows XP. If you want to run a Microsoft operating system, I’d suggest Windows 7.  I’ve been running a copy unactivated on a laptop …


Letter Re: How to Convert an Ammo Can into a Faraday Cage

Sir: I have some of the larger military surplus ammo cans and would like to build my own Faraday cages to store my spare electronics [to protect them from EMP or a severe solar storm]. Do you have any sources to guide me? OBTW, I just finished reading your novel “Patriots”. That was a great read and I could not put it down. Regards,- J.L. (Former NYPD Officer) JWR Replies: What you plan to do is is pretty simple, since the can and lid are already great Faraday shields. The only issue is the gap where they join. That joint needs to …


Letter Re: In-House Storage Lockers or Cabinets?

Captain Rawles, I have a question about military wall lockers. I have searched high and low trying to locate some military wall lockers for gear storage but have been unable to find any as you mentioned in your novel “Patriots”. I was just wondering if you had any ideas where I might be able to find some. Thanks for any help you can give me in this area or any alternatives you can suggest.  Thanks, – Tony from Texas  JWR Replies: Any large steel lockers or cabinets with solid backs and tight-fitting doors will do.  The crucial thing for storing your …


Letter Re: Advice on Shopping for CONEX Shipping Containers

Hello Mr. Rawles , I enjoy your site. A good idea if you are in the market for a used CONEX shipping container would be to take a container inspection form that you could get online from numerous sources, American Bureau of Shipping to start. A proper inspection form could help you to assess your container. Thanks, – Ed B. JWR Replies: Thanks for that advice. I just found this detailed inspection guide available online. I also found a more brief Army inspection procedure in FM 55-17.


Letter Re: Advice on Shopping for CONEX Shipping Containers

Jim: I have read over every article with the term CONEX in it on survivalblog.com and have determined that we need to find a CONEX container that we can pack stuff into, get moved to a new location and store things in. How do you evaluate potential sellers of CONEX boxes?  I followed the links on this SurvivalBlog article, …which led me to: ContainerAuction.com …which led me to a container company in Kansas City, Missouri. I have now found this site that sells containers closer to where I need one: ChuckHenry.com. My question to you: How do I know if …


What a Flash Flood Can Do To Your Preps, by Skylar

Last week I returned home, after being away for a few days, to find a good portion of my preps under 30 inches of scuzzy water due to a flash flood that hit my neighborhood.  They were stored in my unfinished basement that also housed a permanent sump pump installed in one corner which was supposed to prevent such flooding. When I started down the stairs to the basement I was met with a really strong musty smell.  I couldn’t get down the last 3 steps due to the high water.  I noticed a couple of my #2.5 cans of freeze dried food …


Ammunition Caching: A 20 Year Real-World Experiment, by Cache and Carry

           Introduction: Twenty years ago in 1993, I had already been collecting paramilitary style firearms for over 15 years. I remember purchasing my first HK91 rifle in the late 1970s and being so excited about the Galils, Uzis, Valmets, FN/FALs and the other varieties of collectable rifles that were available to a firearms enthusiast in that period of recent American history. Being a collector of arms also made me interested in collecting the ammunition that was abundant in that era. Shortly after getting married in the 1980s, my lovely wife asked, “Why do you need to keep all this ammunition?” …


Secure Storage Facilities Planned in The American Redoubt

Todd Savage of Survival Retreat Consulting is developing two secure storage projects in the American Redoubt–one in north Idaho and one in Northwestern Montana. The facilities will give private members access to several storage options to store their preparedness gear until they can relocate. The undisclosed locations will feature various sizes of climate controlled vaults and safe rooms, featuring underground bunker construction and redundant security features. These facility can eliminate a prepper’s quandary: having all their crucial preps stored in one location with no ability to move it to their safe haven quickly. A retrofitted facility should be available for …


Letter Re: Oppressed Owners Storing Their Guns Out of State

Hey Mr. Rawles, So I’m stuck in The People’s Republic of California. I can’t get out. We would basically have to walk away from a business we have been running since 1978 with nothing. As I’ve noted in the past, I do have a mountain retreat that is ready to go. But here is my question – With all these new California laws which will surely be passed and signed by the governor, I’m obviously a little concerned about my semi-auto long guns. I know folks talk about burying them in tubes and such. But would this be a viable …


The Secret Prepper, by M.D.L.

(Why I prep, and how I do so in a family that thinks I’m crazy.) In the summer of 1977 my mother dragged me to see my older brother’s Cub Scouts meeting.  I was closing in on my sixth birthday and she informed me in no uncertain terms that I would be joining.  My mother was one of the multitudes of single mom’s in my part of Brooklyn.  A neighborhood where at the time crime was high, money was tight, and involved dads were few.   The only place for many boys to find any kind of positive male role model …


The Many Uses of Vacuum-Sealed Bags, by L.E.

The Many Uses of Vacuum-Sealed Bags Late spring and early summer are the times to buy the Seal A Meal or Foodsaver machines. They are both made by the same parent company and can be found at any major grocery or department store in the kitchenware section-the Seal A Meal is the less expensive version that can be found for under $30 on sale, and the bags to go with it will cost you about the same again. You can make this a game or a family activity like an assembly line, just have all your items stacked in little …


Letter Re: CONEX Shipping Container Problems

James: A good friend who has own three acres at the end of my dead end road rented two 40 foot-long shipping containers eight years ago, paying $250 a month for the pair, and filled them completely up with stuff that he moved from Ohio.  I recently built a two-storey barn for him. When we opened the containers, which had been sealed for eight years [to shift the contents to the new barn] we found that holes had rusted through the top of the containers and everything inside of them was totally ruined.  Nothing inside was salvageable.  He is depressed and …


Letter Re: Advice on In-Home Caches

James Wesley: A thought about securely storing valuables: Have several hidden storage areas/caches with the bulk of your valuables and some smaller “bait” caches.  If ever overwhelmed by thieves or the government, give up the smaller stashes to satisfy the varmints.  In the case of registered firearms, a government grab will expect to find all the registered weapons and some associated ammo so it is imperative to acquire (legally) never registered weapons and ammo for the long term if you do not already have “free” weapons. Of course in the case of thieves, the best option is vigorous self-defense. Thanks …


Two Letters Re: Keeping Cash and Tangibles at Home

Sir: We have had cash on hand since Y2K, which became 9/11 cash, then 2008 crash cash. I agree with the author to be careful, because depositing/withdrawing or spending large amounts of cash can trigger a report to the authorities due to the Patriot Act, or cause other problems. My own example is: In 2008 I withdrew $7,500 and closed an account at a failing bank. This money sat “under the mattress” so to speak, until just  a few months ago when I decided to purchase a small second home, using this cash as part of the down payment. I had about $5,000 left of the cash …


Letter Re: A Newbie’s Perspective on Raising Chickens

To follow up on chicken coop design article “A Newbie’s Perspective on Raising Chickens“, please consider:  My first coop had chicken wire all the way down to the ground.  The possums would get one on each side at night, bounce the chickens from side to side (chickens are stupid at night) and then they would grab one through the wire and extrude them through the wire eating as they went.  Within a month they were all gone.  The whole thing was very disturbing. My new coop has plywood sides with hardware cloth (1/2″ squares) on the upper part.  As in the …