Letter Re: Infant Nutrition

Hello,

After reading the infant nutrition article and several responses to it, I could not help it but add something to the discussion. Dental caries and especially childhood dental caries is the most widespread disease in United States. The science behind it is that it is a bacterial infection, meaning the cavities are caused by bacteria in the mouth. Kids are not born with that bacteria but acquire them during childhood. DNA testing has shown that in 90% of the infection cases, the source is the primary caretaker, mainly the mother. Ways of infection are sharing utensils, kissing on the mouth, and you guessed it, pre-chewing the food. Research has also shown that the later the child acquires that bacteria the less likely he will have cavities for the rest of his life. Now, I understand that in a SHTF scenario, feeding the child will take a precedence above all else. However, we don’t want to discount dental decay in kids. Tooth aches, infection, swelling, inability to eat and even death can result from a simple cavity. Google the name Deamonte Driver for an example of possible consequences. Currently, a dentist is a short drive away. I doubt it will be that easy once normal society breaks down. Antibiotics will slow down the infection but will not cure it until the source of it is gone. This is something for those advocating pre-chewing the food to consider. – BG, Pediatric Dentist

Economics and Investing:

Items from Mr. Econocobas:

China Welcomes IMF Backing to Make Yuan World Reserve Currency

Car Loans Hit $1 Trillion for First Time

Japan Relapses into Recession in July-September, a Blow to ‘Abenomics’

Items from Professor Preponomics:

Nordstrom: The Religion of Consumption Has Proven Unfulfilling (Market Watch)

It’s Official. Obama Wants to Help You Manage Your Retirement Savings. (Zero Hedge)

Jury Finds Ernst & Young Liable for Millions in Damages Related to the Madoff Ponzi Scheme (Reuters)

Postal Service Tallies $5.1B Loss Even As Revenues Rise (U.S. News)

100 American CEOs Have More Wealth Than 116 Million Americans (My Budget 360)

Smaller Bonuses on Wall Street and 2016 Doesn’t Look Promising Either (Business Insider)

12th Obamacare Co-op Closes After Receiving $71.5M in Taxpayer Funded Loans (Daily Signal)

Managing Your Money the Old-Fashioned Way (Clark Howard)

Save Money on Thanksgiving Dinner (Frugal Living)

A Lighter, Simpler, More Beautiful Holiday (Becoming Minimalist) Thought to Share: What a wonderful way to make Christ the focus this and every Christmas.

Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalBlog reader D.E. writes in with the comment: “It’s a sad day in the land of the free and home of the brave when Microsoft must move it’s data centers to Germany to give their users a smidgen of data privacy from their own government.”

o o o

From D.S.: Texas warns Obama: No Syrian refugees here! – The lines are being drawn. Texas, Idaho, New Mexico and others are saying no; Washington says yes. Which state did you want to live in?

o o o

B.B. sent in this link to an excellent article on the average Americans response to Paris: Pamela Geller, Breitbart News: The West Has Lost the Will to Live.

o o o

Ever wonder why SurvivalBlog always chooses “Made in (pretty much anywhere)” over “Made in China” when possible? Why Home Depot is not your best choice for quality products This is just a minor reason compared to the slave labor issue. Sent in by P.M.

o o o

Going hand-in-hand with the latest article on SurvivalBlog on antibiotics comes this warning: ‘Dangerously high’ antibiotic resistance levels worldwide: WHO Sent in by G.P.

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“Humans are pattern-seeking story-telling animals, and we are quite adept at telling stories about patterns, whether they exist or not.” – Michael Shermer

Notes for Monday – November 16, 2015

November 16th is the birthday of Michael D. Echanis (born 1950, died September 1978), a former United States Army Special Forces and 75th Ranger Battalion enlisted man. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star with “V” device as a LRRP in the Vietnam War. He was born and raised in eastern Oregon. Echanis was killed while working for the CIA in Nicaragua in 1978 in a plane crash along with his colleague, Charles Sanders, and members of the Nicaraguan armed forces. There was conjecture that the plane was destroyed in flight by a saboteur’s bomb. JWR’s novel Survivors includes a minor character from Oregon with the surname Echanis, as a small homage to Mike Echanis.

Schrade SCHF3 Survival Knife – By Pat Cascio

It’s probably been at least 20 years since I owned any sort of Schrade knife, and the last one I had was a fixed blade hunting knife. It worked just fine, near as I can recall, dressing out a deer. Schrade has been around for a long, long time, well, sorta. Schrade is now owned by Taylor Brands, and I’m not sure when this takeover took place. As far as I know, all Taylor Brands cutlery is produced in China. I could be wrong, but I don’t think so.

I recently purchased a Schrade SCHF3 fixed blade survival knife for testing. You can find it on the Taylor website; however, I purchased it through Amazon.com and only paid $36 for it with free shipping. The knife retails for close to $80 on other websites.

100_6357

A quick look at the specs of the SCHF3 is in order. The blade is 6.4-inches long and made out of 7CR17 stainless steel that is black powder coated for additional protection from the elements. The handle material is polish Micarta that is a combination black/brown/green in color and nicely sculpted; it fits the hand nicely. The blade is clip point– a good all-around style, and it comes in a Nylon sheath with a plastic liner to protect the blade from cutting through the sheath. The sheath is a nice addition. The blade weighs 22 ounces, and the steel is 1/4 inch thick, unlike many other large fixed blade knives that have a 3/16th-inch thick blade. The blade is partially serrated; however, you can get one that doesn’t have the serrations.

After reading a number of reviews on the SCHF3 that were most favorable, I actually made the purchase and hoped for the best. When the knife arrived, I was impressed with how well ade it was. The grind lines were perfect as was the Micarta handle, albeit a bit thick. Many may not like how thick the handle feels in their hands. There is also a nice lanyard hold on the butt of the knife with a para cord lanyard attached. The sheath also has para cord on it with a nice, large pocket on the front for a sharpening stone (not included) or for carrying a spare handgun magazine or multi-tool.

100_6359

All-in-all, I was impressed with the knife, except for the sharpness of the blade. It needed some serious work to bring it up to my standards of sharpness. I hope they all don’t come this way. Then we have the serrations on the back/bottom of the blade. I never saw serrations like this, and after testing them I found them to be totally useless for what you’d normally use them for. One of the cutting tests I perform is on poly rope. The serrations did nothing to aid in cutting this slick rope, nor did it help cutting any other rope. Forego the partially serrated version, and get the plain blade version.

As to the sheath, it’s very thin nylon, and I don’t see a long life with it. I’d elect to have a Kydex sheath made for this knife, if I were to carry it long term. I can see the sheath ripping or wearing out and falling off your belt, without knowing it, and you’d lose the knife. These days, you can even obtain Kydex material and form your own sheath. I would also place a sharpening stone in the front pocket on the sheath.

100_6361

I actually did quite a bit of testing with this Schrade knife. I was more than a bit concerned with the low price I bought it for. Sometimes money is well spent on some items, when you can find them “on the cheap”. Other times, you get what you pay for; you get junk! I live in Western Oregon, where we normally get a lot of rain, and don’t you know, we are in a bit of a drought these days with not much rain. However, I did place the SCHF3 on the patio table when it rained and left it there for several days. There was just a hint of rust on the knife’s edge, where it’s not protected with the black coating. In the test of the knife, I had no problems with rust at all.

I chopped on some dead and downed trees on my little homestead with the SCHF3 and found it to be a fairly good chopper, other than the thick handle. While it felt good in my hand, when actually using the knife to chop with, it tended to twist in my hand for some reason.

100_6363

One test I always perform when possible is slicing through blackberry vines, which are some tough stuff. The SCHF3 failed me, even with the sharp edge I put on it. I was more than a little disappointed in this test, and I don’t think working the edge over again would give it any better slicing power.

The wife used the knife around the kitchen, where it performed very well slicing meat and veggies. Even with the thick blade, it worked very well. The wife is picky when it comes to knives (and guns), so I was surprised she liked it, other than the thick handle scales, which were too thick for her hand.

Every chance I got, I pulled out the SCHF3 and used it for cutting chores. For the most part, it worked just fine and better than some other knives I’ve tested in the past. I also stabbed the knife into stacked cardboard, and I could easily stab it up to the handle with some effort on my part. (Skinner knives work better in this respect.)

100_6364

So, in the end, is the Schrade SCHF3 a good buy? Well, it depends on what you plan to use it for. For long-term survival, I’d have to give it a “no-go”. For camping and hunting chores, I’d say “yes”, and it would be a great blade to toss into your survival box in the trunk of your car and forget about it until you need to pull it out and use it. For carrying around the ranch or farm, yep, it would work just fine, so long as you replaced the flimsy Nylon sheath with a molded Kydex sheath; you don’t want to lose the knife, even if it is inexpensive.

All things considered, I was a little surprised that this inexpensive, large, fixed blade knife performed so well, but I would like Schrade to put a better edge on it. While I didn’t have to touch-up the blade during my testing, it was getting dull. In the end, I gave the knife to the manager at the gun shop I haunt, so he could give it to his son, who is into collecting knives lately.

Still, for the money, this isn’t a bad knife. Just know the limitations and don’t buy it if you want it to be your one and only survival-type knife. Instead, get something a little better.

– Senior Product Review Editor, Pat Cascio

Recipe of the Week: Native Persimmon Pudding, from OkieRanchWife

Hello, Jim and Hugh! Here is another recipe for the blog. It is a great time of year for preserving the harvest, whether it is planted or foraged.

I am fortunate to have numerous native persimmon trees, Diospyros virginiana, on my property. It’s free foraged food, and this year I was able to get to them before the deer, coyotes, or the cows. If you have not ever tried a ripe persimmon, the best description I can give you is to imagine a honeyed apricot. The taste is fantastic. Always be certain that it is a ripe persimmon. Green ones are so astringent that it will take your breath away. They are the last fruit to ripen in the fall. They are also a good source of Vitamin C, having 16.5 mg in every 25 grams of pulp. It is best to process the persimmon for pulp before you intend to use it. It does take a little while to separate the flesh/pulp from the seeds.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 1 cup persimmon pulp
  • 2 whole eggs, beaten
  • 1 cup milk
  • ½ tsp lemon zest
  • 2 Tbsp butter, softened

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Butter and flour thoroughly an 8x8x2 baking dish.
  3. Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and sugar. Add the persimmon pulp, beaten eggs, milk, lemon zest, and butter. Mix thoroughly.
  4. Turn out the mixture into the greased and floured baking dish.
  5. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, depending upon your oven.
  6. A toothpick in the middle should come out clean. Allow to cool slightly before serving. It can be served with whipped cream.

o o o

Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? Please send it via e-mail. Thanks!

Letter Re: Multi-Caliber Firearms

Hugh,

I was wondering what were your thoughts on rifles capable of shooting multiple calibers? Examples are the Sig Sauer SIG556xi and Colt MARC 901. I can see the utility of pistols having this capability, but I was wondering if you thought the extra investment would be worth it for rifles?

HJL responds: I haven’t tried any of the new offerings on the market, but the Thompson Contender has long been a staple of my collection. I have both the original frame and an Encore frame with a barrel for each caliber for which I reload. I use it as the platform for working up loads, because I can attach strain gauges to the barrel much easier than to nearly any other firearm (especially those of the semi-automatic variety). It is also an excellent platform for accuracy and for calibers that you want to try but don’t want to invest heavily in until you know for sure. I’m not sure I could do without it at this point. While it does not serve on a front-line status for home defense or hunting, it certainly is an integral part of my system.

That being said, I’m not sure that I would want a multi-caliber firearm that served as a primary weapon. While I have no direct experience in either of the platforms that you mention, I have long held the philosophy that when ultimate reliability is demanded, single function is a requirement. I’ve heard the arguments about being able to shoot your ammo as well as that of your enemy, but it’s probably easier to pick up his weapon to use as well, and proper planing negates that need altogether. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, and I am currently admiring the Detonics Defense STX, though I haven’t pulled the trigger on one yet.

Economics and Investing:

Americans are buying tons of gold November 12 Sent in by G.P.

o o o

Despite their own economic woes, the Chinese continue to chip away at the U.S. dollar dominance on the world scene: China welcomes IMF backing to make yuan world reserve currency – P.S.

o o o

Items from Professor Preponomics:

Four U.S. Firms with $4.8B in Debt May Default at Any Time: Energy Sector Losses Continue (Zero Hedge)

Social Security: The Long Slow Default (Mises Institute)

Obamacare’s Co-op Failure Contagion (Wall Street Journal)

ECB Says Further Policy Easing is Coming to European Markets Next Month (Reuters)

Acceleration in the Upward Movement of Property Values: Projections for Home Values in the United Kingdom (Business Insider)

Apple’s Chief Tech Exec Says Next Generation Won’t Know What Money Is (The Telegraph)

Odds ‘n Sods:

J.C. sent in a link to an interesting article on gardening in Colonial America: How Americans Gardened 260 Years Ago

o o o

You are probably already aware of most of this content, but while the media wants to claim that ISIS came out of nowhere, the truth is far more concerning. U.S. policy has direct links to its creation. Video: Origin of ISIS. Sent in by J.C.

o o o

Still not convinced that all of Islam is bad? How about hearing from their own lips that there is no such thing as Islamic Extremists; there is only Islamic: Video: Extreme Islam is Islam, according to Islam.

o o o

US Senate Passes Bill Approving Mandatory Vaccinations for Veterans – Sent in by J.H.

o o o

It’s kind of basic, but Popular Mechanics has an article on 7 ways to protect yourself from a home invasion that is worth reading. – D.S.

Notes for Sunday – November 15, 2015

Please keep the families of the victims of the November 13th Paris terror attacks in your prayers. For some background, see: Is ISIS Behind New Attacks & Shootings in Paris? Yes, their goal is to impose a global Islamic Caliphate.

Infectious Disease in the TEOTWAWKI World- Part 6, by Militant Medic

Let’s Treat Some Patients (continued)

5) Your other grandson (again with no vaccinations) has broken out with a fever, runny nose, and rash, which consists of small fluid-filled blisters on bright red spots on his skin. They itch and when one area gets better another bunch crop up elsewhere.

Diagnostic features: fluid-filled blisters on red skin occurring in crops, non-vaccinated.

Diagnosis: Chickenpox

Treatment: Viral illness- no cure. Supportive care with spontaneous resolution without complication in 99% of kids (80% of adults).

6) Your third grandson (again with no vaccinations) has headache, vomiting, muscle aches, a fever of 104.2, and weakness of his left leg muscles. Ten days ago you chastised him for drinking untreated water from a creek. He didn’t know, but it was downstream from a big FEMA refugee camp.

Diagnostic features: CNS signs (headache, vomiting, muscle weakness), high fever, water contaminated with human waste, non-vaccinated.

Diagnosis: Polio

Treatment: Viral illness- no cure. Illness will either progress to death (2-5%), or he will recover with a permanent weakness of the muscles of the affected nerve pathway.

7) Your neighbor’s wife has a fever, abdominal pain, and vaginal drainage. You know she was raped on a trip to the farmers market one week ago.

Diagnostic features: Sexual trauma, unknown pathogen, pain, fever, drainage.

Diagnosis: Pelvic Inflammatory Disease

Treatment: Doxycycline plus (Clindamycin or Metronidazole)

8) A farmhand seemed okay yesterday but woke with a fever to 102.9, chills, coughing, body aches, runny nose, and a headache. His nasal drainage is yellow-green.

Diagnostic features: Rapid onset, fever, coughing, body aches.

Diagnosis: Influenza

Treatment: Viral illness- no cure. Supportive care leads to complete resolution without complications in 80%. If symptoms persist past seven days, consider treating for pneumonia.

9) Your teenaged daughter has not been drinking enough since you ran out of “flavor enhancers” for your water. Now, she has a fever of 101.5, painful urination, urinary frequency, and urinary urgency. Her urine smells “strong”.

Diagnostic features: Inadequate fluid intake. Pain with urination, urgency, frequency. Fever.

Diagnosis: UTI

Treatment: Bactrim or Cipro

10) Your prepper neighbor (who has a special filter to remove the fluoride from his city water) has been struggling with a toothache for a few days, but now he can barely open his mouth. He has a fever of 102.3, jaw pain, and swelling on the right side of his face. He says he can taste a foul drainage from the base of the tooth. He took some penicillin he had stocked, and it seemed to help a little but then his symptoms got worse.

Diagnostic features: toothache that progressed. Facial swelling. Fever, puss, failure to respond to penicillin.

Diagnosis: Dental Abscess

Treatment: I&D plus Clindamycin or Metronidazole

11) Your neighbor ran out of food a while ago and has been shooting and eating prairie dogs out of desperation. He was okay yesterday but woke in the middle of the night with fever and now has fever to 103.7, headache, chills, muscle aches, and diarrhea. He also says his “glands” are swollen in his neck, armpit, and groin. (plague)

Diagnostic features: prairie dog exposure, rapid onset, swollen armpit and groin lymph nodes.

Diagnosis: Bubonic Plague (Yersinia pestis)

Treatment: Doxycycline or Cipro. Even with antibiotics, there is an 8-10% mortality rate.

12) Another neighbor was out hunting when he drank untreated water from a creek. Upstream he found a beaver pond. He presents with four days of abdominal pain, copious (8-10 stools daily), watery (non bloody) diarrhea, and a fever to 102.2.

Diagnostic features: Water contaminated with mammal feces, abdominal pain, frequent watery diarrhea

Diagnosis: Giardia

Treatment: Metronidazole (or supportive care; without treatment will resolve spontaneously in up to six weeks)

13) A boy from down the road was caught looting a house and was hit in the abdomen with three rounds of 00 buckshot as he ran away. This was two days ago. He presents with a swollen painful abdomen that is rock hard and fever to 105.6. He is incoherent and having hallucinations. The buckshot is still in his body. His father begs you to save him, and he says he will give you his cherry 1965 Mustang fastback if you do. (If he hadn’t spent so much time and money on that car he might have been able to get some preps of his own and wouldn’t have had to resort to looting houses for food.)

Diagnostic features: penetrating abdominal trauma, rigid abdomen, fever

Diagnosis: Peritonitis

Treatment: Cipro or Metronidazole (Regardless of treatment, this child is likely to die. The holes in his intestines will constantly be spilling bacteria into his abdominal cavity; without surgical closure of the intestinal perforations, it is only a matter of time before he dies. Might want to save your antibiotics to use on someone who has a greater chance of recovery. Look up “Triage- Black tag”.)

14) Your neighbor’s son presents with fever, fatigue, headaches, vomiting, and diarrhea, and has been unable to sleep. Dad hoped it was just a virus and would pass, but this morning he had a seizure and the father brings him to you. Two months ago the child found a bat in their grass in the middle of the day. He picked it up and got bit, but the wound seemed to heal without complication.

Diagnostic features: bite from mammal acting oddly, CNS signs (headache, vomiting, seizure), long incubation time

Diagnosis: Rabies

Treatment: Viral illness- no cure. Supportive care until child dies. 99.9% fatal (only a handful of documented cases of recovery in the history of mankind, and these all required days in the ICU and drugs you don’t have).

15) Your aged mother has had a sore throat, low grade fever of 100.6, and stuffy nose for four days. There are white patches on her tonsils. It hurts a little to eat or drink.

Diagnostic features: runny nose and cough. Exudate (white patches). Brief duration.

Diagnosis: Viral URI (likely Rhinovirus)

Treatment: Viral illness- no cure. Supportive care. If symptoms persist out beyond 12-14 days, consider examining/treating for sinus infection or pneumonia.

16) A farmer from down the road (whom you don’t like very well) tells you he has been trading food for sexual favors from the desperate unprepared women of the nearby town. He says there is an ulcer on the head of his penis. Otherwise he feels fine. It does not hurt, but he is worried he might have “picked something up from one of those whores!”

Diagnostic features: Painless chancre in sexual active adult.

Diagnosis: Syphilis

Treatment: Doxycycline. In the modern world, we would try to track sexual partners and treat them too.

17) A coworker has shown up for help. You had talked to him about prepping, and he was on the path when the balloon went up. He presents with bloating, watery diarrhea that has streaks of blood in it, abdominal pain, and a fever to 104.7. He says the diarrhea smells like horse manure. He also says he recently had a suspected strep throat and took Clindamycin for it (its the only antibiotic he had. While the throat got better, the diarrhea (which he suspected to be from the antibiotic) has been present for nine days now and is getting worse.

Diagnostic features: bloody diarrhea, abdominal pain, high fever, recent broad spectrum antibiotic use, long duration

Diagnosis: C. diff colitis

Treatment: Metronidazole

18) A neighbor’s child has been struggling with an illness for a few days but over the last 24 hours has worsened significantly. She awoke this morning with a very stiff neck, high fever, severe headache, and severe nausea. She also has broken out with a blotchy purplish rash on her lower extremities that does not go pale (blanch) when you push on it. Father is here begging for help.

Diagnostic features: stiff neck, high fever, severe headache, purpuric rash

Diagnosis: Meningitis (purpuric rash is classic for Neisseria meningitis)

Treatment: Cipro and Ampicillin (even with treatment with IV antibiotics there is about a 6-8% mortality rate, and even with recovery between 30-50% will have permanent neurological complications with deafness being the most common). In approximate order of greatest CNS penetration to least CNS penetration for your antibiotics: Metronidazole–>Cipro–>Ampicillin–>TMP-SMX–>Doxycycline–>Clindamycin –>Penicillin–>Amoxicillin–>Keflex.

19) A neighbor has been ill for about five days. Started with two days of non-bloody vomiting and then evolved into watery non-bloody diarrhea. Had a fever of 101.3 at the beginning of the illness but does not have one now.

Diagnostic features: non-bloody vomiting evolving into non-bloody diarrhea, short duration, no fever

Diagnosis: viral gastroenteritis (common causes include Norovirus, Enterovirus, Rotavirus, Astrovirus, and Adenovirus)

Treatment: Viral illness- no cure. Supportive care including fluids to avoid dehydration. Imodium okay as long as the diarrhea is not bloody.

20) A neighbor ran out of food a few weeks ago and has been out foraging in the forest. He has pulled a lot of ticks off his body. He presents with fever to 102.5, muscle aches, a headache, and a rash on his thigh that looks like a bullseye with concentric rings of redness.

Diagnostic features: Bullseye or target lesion, tick exposure, fever, body aches.

Diagnosis: Lyme disease

Treatment: Doxycycline or Amoxicillin

So now you are the hero (except to that one family). You have provided sound medical advice and treated 19 of your 20 patients. Your understanding of the causes of illness and how to treat them using nothing more than pet antibiotics gives you a real skill that can be used in the world you now live in after the TEOTWAWKI event. Whether you use this skill to help just your family of an entire neighborhood is up to you. Also up to you will be how you “bill” for your services. Your skill and your antibiotics are an incredibly valuable bartering commodity.

Good luck.

Letter: The Free Rider Problem

Hello,

Your Nov 10 blog entry contained a link to Wikipedia’s “free rider problem“. That article in wikipedia is extremely biased. I’d like to suggest you also provide a link to this article as well.

I had one experience that might be illustrative. I lived on a gravel road with eight other families. Eventually, we decided (after a lot of discussion) that we wanted it paved with asphalt. The decision was that everybody should pay equally. As we went around to get contributions, it turned out one would not pay and another would only pay $1000. The first was understandable, because the owner had no home there and no prospect for one due to changes in county zoning. The second simply said he didn’t mind gravel and the asphalt was only worth $1000 to him. The rest of us then decided to spread these unmet costs among the remaining families. We had “free riders”, but we paved the road anyway because each individual decided it was worth it. There was no need for any coercion or government action. Free riding was not a problem at all but just individual decisions about what to do. If the others had not wanted to take on the extra cost so that the road was not paved, that would have been an acceptable outcome as well. – P.B.