Notes for Monday – May 04, 2015

On May 4, 1970, Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on anti-war protesters at Kent State University, killing four students and wounding nine others. Also on this day in 1994, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat signed an accord on Palestinian autonomy that granted self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho, creating what the world believed would be peace at last in the Middle East. Of course, the Palestinians, then as now, threw away the peace agreement and resumed hostilities towards Israel.

Scot’s Product Review: Quantum Harvest Model 120

This review is part of my continued exploration of backup power during disruptive times. Life without electricity, even for a few hours, is unpleasant and could even be life threatening. I was reflecting about this during our last Scouting campout as I saw how many battery-operated devices were in evidence. It was mostly flashlights, but there were also two-way radios for communications, cell phones for emergencies, and the like. We are supposed to leave entertainment gadgets behind, but I admit to having a book reader on most trips, and I keep copies of first aid guides and similar materials on it as well as the book du jour I’m reading. This was only a two night trip, so there was little issue with battery life for any of this. However, if it had been a week long trip, I would have needed a way to charge stuff.

Then there is the issue of interruptions to service, whether short-term ones following thunderstorms or long-term ones after hurricanes or worse situations. Generators have their appeal and offer a lot of power for the buck, but they have major drawbacks. The biggest one is their thirst for fuel, but running a close second is the amount of noise most of them produce. Unless you put a lot of effort and money into quieting them, they can be heard for blocks and blocks, attracting highly unwanted attention. A better solution, in my mind, for as much of your grid down electrical needs as you can afford is solar. Once you pay the steep upfront costs, solar is free and quiet. It may provide a visual signature with reflections from the panels, but with effort that can be screened and reduced.

Besides the cost, there is another problem with solar, which is that it only makes power when there is sunlight. To have power after dark or on cloudy, rainy days, you have to have a way to store power, which means batteries. Ideally, we want to have batteries that can handle deep discharges and lots of recharge cycles. It is also nice if they require little maintenance. There are many battery technologies, but one of the ones with a sweet spot for capacity, life, and cost are deep cycle, sealed absorbed glass mat lead acid batteries. You often find this sort of battery in the uninterruptible power supplies that many of us use on computers and other sensitive electronics to protect them (and our data) from the fickle nature of grid power. Among the several advantages of AGM’s are that they seldom leak and don’t need to be topped off. They are often touted as being usable in any position, but I get nervous about having them upside down.

While my goal is to be able to go completely off grid with a vast array of solar panels and a huge bank of batteries, the reality is that I don’t have the means to do it. I do have the means, however, to come up with something more modest that can at least power some communications gear, lighting, and perhaps some small appliances. Quantum Harvest, a company in Athens, Maine, provides just the sort of gear that can handle these types of needs. They were kind enough to loan me one of their Quantum Harvest Model 120’s for a review. They have also been generous enough to offer one of these units as a prize in the SurvivalBlog writing contests. It goes for $340.99 with shipping.

The Model 120 is their entry level unit and provides the owner with USB and 12-volt power outputs. It is a full service kit that comes with a 27-watt, folding, solar panel and AC charger as well as a power pack that contains a 10 amp AGM deep cycle battery. They sell an array of similar but more capable products, too. The more expensive ones also include AC power inverters.

In my mind, the most important part is the folding solar panel. It weighs 2.5 pounds and only takes up 11.5x8x2 inches when folded. It unfolds to 36×8 inches for use. It provides two USB charging ports as well as a cord that can provide up to 18 volts, depending on how bright the sun it. It is the cord that plugs into the power units to keep the battery charged. In my bright, southern climate, it can charge the power unit in about 6-8 hours, though Quantum Harvest says that in Maine, it will take all day.

The solar panel itself has one limitation; it does not have a charge controller, so you can’t just connect it directly to a battery and leave it alone without risk of overcharging the battery. There is no need to worry, however, as you can plug it into the port on the back of the power pack and charge its battery since the power pack includes a 3 amp charge controller that prevents damage to the battery.

The power pack is housed in a sturdy 8.75x4x5.75 inches aluminum case. The case itself is actually a bit smaller, but I included the folding carry handle and the protrusion of the connectors as well as the rubber feet on the bottom of the case in my measurements. The handle and rubber feet are nice additions by the way, giving you a convenient way to carry it as well as protecting your furniture. It weighs about 10 pounds.

As well as the port for an external charger on the back, there is a circuit breaker to protect the unit from overloads or short circuits. The breaker is far better than having a fuse as inevitably, when things are going wrong, you won’t have the right size fuse.

Moving to the front, you will find an on-off switch that has a blue LED that indicates when it is powered up. There is a row of LEDs that, when it is turned on, indicate how much power is left in the battery. If the first LED in the row comes on, it tells you the battery is discharged, so please stop trying to use it. Another LED lets you know if you are charging it. There is also a button you can push when the unit is off to get the LEDs to show you the remaining power.

The best parts, of course, are the ones that let you power stuff. There are two USB outlets along with a cigarette lighter socket for 12-volt devices. Both have covers to protect them from moisture and dirt. The USB outlets are marked as a product of Blue Sea Systems, which make marine grade gear. I didn’t see any labels on the other components, but they also looked to be moisture and dirt resistant and of high quality.

I looked inside the unit and liked what I saw. It was clearly hand assembled– the way electronics used to be made– and done with good craftsmanship. The solder joints were clean and bright with no globs of excess solder anywhere in sight, proving that I clearly was not the fabricator. Everything looked right. The wires were cut to provide room to get to serviceable components without excess wire to get tangled up. There was a sturdy bracket to keep the battery from shifting and damaging any of the components, and I found foam padding to protect the parts. Insulation was provided to prevent connectors and circuit boards from touching the conductive case.

Another feature I highly approved of is the use of a readily available 12-volt battery of the type used in computer uninterruptible power supplies. This means you can easily replace it when necessary. Quantum Harvest expects you to get several hundred charge/discharge cycles, but how you use it affects that. If you continually run it flat, it won’t last as long as it will if you take care of it. My research and pestering people who are smarter than I am indicates that never pulling out more than ½ of the power before recharging it will provide close to maximum life from this sort of battery. Certainly an occasional deeper discharge won’t be much of a problem, but do it day after day and you will be buying another battery sooner than if you can control your need for power.

So, how much power can this thing provide? Quantum Harvest provides a chart that lists 17 charges for an iPhone, 38 AA batteries, or three charges for an iPad 3. This is pretty much running the battery flat, so it would be better to cut those in half, but that’s still a good deal of power. I found the ratings to be pretty accurate as I charged Android tablets, a Kindle book reader, and a bunch of AA and D cell batteries. I didn’t have any of the Apple products to test, but since watts are watts, I would expect you to get the rated number of charges for your iDevices.

If you are charging stuff during the day, you could certainly get more by connecting it to the solar panel, which has a nice 16-foot long cord enabling you to put the panel outside and keep the electronics inside and out of the sun, heat, or an unexpected shower. While I wouldn’t want to get the panel wet either, it is better protected than the power pack and the typical cell phone or tablet.

Speaking of protection, I would probably use some low residue, electrical tape to cover the joints on the power pack, just for peace of mind. A small tool bag from one of the home stores would hold the pack and the panel and also offer some protection to both while traveling.

When storing the pack, Quantum Harvest recommends just leaving it connected to the solar panel. You can lay the panel in front of a window that gets a lot of light and it will do a good job of maintaining the battery. You could also leave it connected to the 2 amp AC charger for the unit that can charge it in six or so hours from a low state of charge.

To get the most out of the solar panel, you will need to put it outside and keep it oriented at a 90 degree angle to the sun. If you are draining the power pack at night, you will want to do that in the morning and reorient the panel several times during the day.

Quantum Harvest makes units that are expressly designed to resist EMP events, but you have to spend more money to get that protection. That said, however, they feel the 120’s aluminum case provides some protection against an EMP. They also say that there is a consensus in the industry that solar panels are fairly resistant to EMP, so the combination probably gives you a chance to get through an EMP and still have some power. There would be more concern if it is connected to grid power for charging when it happened, though.

The included instruction manual was quite clear and provided all of the information I needed to use it. The solar charge controller is covered by a three year warranty. The battery is covered by a one year warranty, while everything else is covered for five years. A nice feature of the warranty is that Quantum Harvest covers the shipping both ways. Another neat provision is that should something fail after the warranty expires, there will be no labor charge to fix it. Reasonably, none of this covers misuse or carelessness.

I am really going to regret sending this back, but I don’t have the funds at the moment to buy it. I did ponder assembling something similar myself and decided that while I might be able to beat the price, I couldn’t approach the quality. My version would look like something from Dr. Frankenstein’s castle and would probably be less reliable. I am going to have to save some money up.

Armasight Spark CORE Update

My review of the Armasight Spark CORE night vision device should have run by the time this publishes. While I am still very happy with the unit, I am disappointed and perplexed with their customer service. I had hoped to borrow some of the accessories for the unit for an additional review. I also had several questions, and they have not replied to emails or phone calls. I approached them both as a reviewer for SurvivalBlog as well as a customer. I received no response whatsoever. While I can’t hold their apparent unwillingness to provide products to review against them, I can rationally be annoyed with not getting questions about the product and its use ignored. This may speak poorly of getting service, should you ever had need. I still plan to review some of the accessories for the unit, but I now have some reservations about recommending Armasight products to readers.

– SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor, Scot Frank Eire

Pat Cascio’s Product Review: Cold Steel’s Battle Shades

Whenever I teach a firearms class, I require my students to bring three things. One is a baseball cap to prevent hot brass from falling on their face, while the other two things are hearing protection and some type of eye protection. These last two things require no explanation, right? Wrong! Most students show-up for a training session with no eye protection, for some reason. I simply don’t understand this at all. Nevertheless, it happens, so I keep extra pairs of eye protection in my shooting box along with extra ear plugs for those who don’t think their hearing is important. Like many life-long shooters, I have some hearing loss. My wife will say I have a lot of hearing loss. Because of shooting so much, even with the use of hearing protection, you can still lose some of your hearing, so be advised.

I even keep a pair of welders glasses (not a helmet) in my shooting box. These are polymer glasses that appear to be regular old sunglasses, until a student puts them on. They are extremely dark to protect eyes for the blinding light from welding. I use these “sunglasses” to simulate low-light shooting skills to a student, as many shootings take place in low-light conditions. Putting on these welder glasses instantly turns bright daylight into very, very low light so that it simulates night time!

I have several friends who are blind– some from birth, some through tragic accidents, and some from medical conditions. They would do just about anything to have their eyesight back. So, it just puzzles me as to why so many people come to my firearms classes without some type of eye protection, even after I tell them to bring eye protection. Look, it’s real simple; when you lose your eye sight, the only way to get it back is through a transplant. Isn’t is smarter to do all you can to protection your vision?

My long-time friend and an all around good guy, Lynn Thompson, who owns Cold Steel Company is a guy who takes things to extremes in his business. Lynn doesn’t take any short cuts when it comes to his products. Thompson has been known to reject entire shipments of knives, after inspecting them. That’s how picky he is. We, the consumer, benefit from this. You really need to visit his website and watch some of the extreme testing he has done on his products, because no other company even comes close to this sort of testing. Again, we as consumers benefit from this, and quite honestly it’s a lot of fun watching the testers try to destroy some of the knives and other products that Cold Steel sells. It’s both entertaining and informative.

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Recently, Cold Steel came out with a line of sunglasses they call Battle Shades, and these are not your dollar store sunglasses. Thompson’s customers are folks like you and me, as well and military and law enforcement, and we demand the best. To be sure, Cold Steel’s Battle Shades are made to the same exacting standards as all of their products.

Let’s take a quick look at the invention of sunglasses. In 1929, Sam Foster, of the now famous Foster/Grant sunglasses fame, sold his first pair of sunglasses on the Boardwalk in Atlantic city, NJ. By 1930, sunglasses were all the rage across the USA. Prior to Sam Foster inventing the modern sunglasses, there were attempts in the past to smoke glass lenses for several reasons, including to aid in keeping the bright sun out of our eyes; it was common sense. One thing I learned was that Chinese judges back in the 1300s wore smoked glasses in their court rooms to conceal their eye expressions. Strange, huh?

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Sunglasses serve a special purpose. No, it is not to wear on top of your head, behind your head, or on top of your baseball cap so you look cool or at least so that you “think” you look cool with your sunglasses on top of your head. Honestly, I don’t know how many people– men and women– I’ve seen who were out in the bright sunlight wearing their sunglasses on top of their head! Can you say “duh”? Let’s not forget many rock ‘n roll personalities who wear sunglasses all of the time. Well, it’s not really about the sun, is it? Many are on drugs and any sort of bright lights hurt their eyes, because their pupils are dilated from the drugs. It also drives me crazy when I see people wearing baseball caps backwards on their heads, but that’s for another story.

Back in the 1930s, Baush & Lomb was commissioned by the Army Air Corp to produce spectacles to protect pilots from the bright glare of the sun while flying their planes at high altitudes. During WWII, Ray Ban designed an anti-glare aviator type of sunglasses using polarized lenses that not only shaded the eyes but also protected them from the UV rays of the sun, and they popularized the “drooping” lenses that are still extremely popular today. Let’s not forget how Hollywood popularized sunglasses, especially for women, by using them in TV commercials to hide their seductive eyes until the sunglasses were removed and we could see their beautiful eyes. Go figure?

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Okay, that’s enough history on sunglasses. Let’s look at Cold Steel’s Battle Shades. To be sure, they are NOT simply sunglasses; they are eye protection, and there is a difference. Many sunglasses simply protect your eyes from the UV rays of the sun, which is a good thing, but they do nothing to protect your eyes from the effects of a rock being thrown at your face, or from flying, hot brass fired from a gun, or from a KaBoom firearms accident, or even from severe wind. In my humble opinion, if sunglasses don’t offer you some sort of UV protection from the sun’s rays, why are you wearing them? In the past, I’ve experimented with sunglasses that have UV protection and those that don’t. On long drives in the car, my eyes would easily tire with the sunglasses without UV protection, and those sunglasses with UV protection made long and even all day drives much easier on my eyes.

Right off the bat, I will readily admit that the Cold Steel Battle Shades do offer that cool factor, and I’m here to tell you that everyone who sees my Battle Shades wants their own pair, including my own wife, and my wife is a woman who asks for very little in this world. So it really surprised me that while she was serving as my photography model for this article and was wearing my Battle Shades that she said she wanted them. Um, nope! I had to order her a pair of her own from Cold Steel. The only thing my wife requested was that they didn’t send her a camo pair. Cold Steel has at least 11 different types of Battle Shades on their website.

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Lynn Thompson made sure that his Battle Shades would look good on you, whether in the hunting field, on the battle field, while driving, or out for a walk, and especially when out shooting. The lenses are made to tough Mil-Spec high impact standards, and the polycarbonate lenses not only offer 100% UV (A, B, and C) protection, but they also meet Military Standards for impact resistance. Some models also offer protective shields on the side of the sunglasses that are fully removable when you don’t need the side protection.

One thing you won’t see with many sunglasses is the way Cold Steel packages their Battle Shades. They come inside a cardboard box, and inside the cardboard box is a tough poly-style carrying case, and inside the carrying case is a soft microfiber case where you’ll find the Battle Shades. The hard carrying case has straps on the back so you can carry your Battle Shades on your belt, attached to your purse, or on your MOLLE vest. Inside the carrying case is also a small zip pocket, where you can conceal a small folding knife or some extra money or some ID, like a driver’s license. Even the nose piece on the Battle Shades has been carefully designed so as to not cause any hot spots on your nose, and I know you all know what I’m talking about if you’ve worn sunglasses all day long. We are talking total comfort when you put on a pair of Battle Shades.

I knew that the Battle Shades were going to be super tough. I had other sunglasses to compare them to, but I had no idea just how tough the Battle Shades were, until I watched the torture test on the Cold Steel website. The Cold Steel tester did things I wouldn’t have thought of doing to these cool shades, trying to destroy them. Please, do yourself a favor, and watch the video on the Cold Steel website; you will be blown away at what is done to these shades, and the tester couldn’t break the things. The lenses popped out of the frame a few times, but the lenses didn’t break. Even a pellet gun was fired into the lenses, and they didn’t break. Now, before I get nasty e-mails about this, yes, you can break the lenses if you fired a bullet from a firearm into them. They are not bullet proof, so be aware of that. However, for most of your uses for which you’d employ Battle Shades, they will stand up to the toughest you can throw at them, all the while protecting your eyes from things that could take away your vision.

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I have a good friend who is a loyal SurvivalBlog reader– Jack from Arkansas. Jack is totally blind, and like most blind folks he wears sunglasses all the time. Jack gave me a call one day and said he had heard about the Cold Steel Battle Shades and wanted to know if I heard about them. Luckily, I received my pair for testing a little over a week before. Jack said he was sick and tired of buying regular sunglasses, only to have them break in short order. He wanted to know how tough the Battle Shades were, so I told him my findings. Then, Jack wanted to know if he would look cool in a pair of Battle Shades and if they were big enough to cover his ugly face! LOL! I explained to him, that only a welders mask would cover all that ugly. LOL! Jack bought a pair of Battle Shades and loves ’em.

I saved the best for last, and that is price. As I’ve said numerous times in my articles, if you buy junk, you buy junk over and over again. If you buy quality, you only have to buy quality once. The Cold Steel Battle Shades don’t come cheap, nor would I expect them to. We are talking super high-quality eye protection, not just sunglasses that you can purchase any place. Battle Shades, depending on which model you buy, run from $99.99 up to $149.99. Some may complain, saying they cost too much. Have you ever checked at your local eye care provider for some of their sunglasses, and I don’t mean prescription sunglasses but just sunglasses? We are talking upwards of $300.00 and sometimes even more than that. So, my question to you is, what is your vision worth?

– Senior Product Review Editor, Pat Cascio

Recipe of the Week: Chili in An Electric Crock Pot, by D.D.

We spend a lot of time talking about off-grid living, so I try to balance the endless chatter with gear tests. It’s better to learn now whether a clever scheme actually works when there is no consequence for failure.

Cooking is a big deal and one that I’ve given much thought to, both here in my city house (bug in location) and at our secret lair in the base of an inactive volcano (bug out location). Solar cookers are fun but of limited OPSEC, and they only operate when the sun is out. I had it in my mind to see where I could go with electric cooking, like an upgraded Easy-Bake Oven. Fortunately, much of this leg work has been done and is conveniently for sale at truck stops all over the country: 12V portable cooking systems.

I started with a Crock-Pot for a couple of reasons. First, its pot-like structure contains the food, minimizing mess. Second, it is ceramic, which makes cleanup much easier. (Don’t forget that is a boon when you’re in grid-down land.) Third, it exudes the “fire and forget” ease that I was after.

I started with a 1.5 quart slow cooker, the RoadPro RPSL-350. It’s about $32 on Amazon.com. The helpful user reviews suggested that the cigarette plug tended to melt, so the first thing I did was cut that sucker off and replace it with a couple of Anderson PowerPole connectors. That’s what my 12V gear runs on anyway.

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I also stopped by the local Dollar Store and picked up a bunch of potholders. My goal was to form a “thermal cozy” around the unit to increase the temperature inside. Since there is no thermostat on this unit– just on and off– the maximum temperature inside will be based on the ambient temperature outside, the amount of power put into it, and how much heat escapes. I could really only control the last component.

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Now that the outside of the pot was more insulated, it was time to get down to some cooking. This recipe came from my buddy’s mom in Missouri, and it sure tasted fine over the campfire a few weeks earlier. It’s scaled down for the size of this pot.

Ingredients:

  • Lean ground beef,
  • ½ lb. sweet onion, or what you desire (I love onion so it all went in)
  • 1 can of baked beans (with bacon and brown sugar)
  • chili powder, to suit taste
  • black pepper, to suit taste
  • paprika, to suit taste (I suggest a lot of paprika)

Directions:

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    1. Add the hamburger, plug it in, and start the clock!The initial current draw of the unit was 6.3 amps with 12.7 volts sourced by my battery. The ambient temperature in my garage was 88°F. This is a big deal with the small amount of insulation I have on the cooking environment and the low power input.

       

       

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      T+ 0:40 – The meat is browning. This is a good sign of the utility of the unit.

 

 

 

 

    1. After an hour and ten minutes, add the onion; recover.
      3T+ 1:10 – The meat has browned, now adding in the onion.

 

 

 

 

  1. Add beans and seasonings; recover.
    5T+ 1:35 – The meat and onion are sizzling! Time to dump in the can of beans and seasonings.

     

     

     

     

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    Now re-cover and go do some chores.

    T+ 2:40 – The entire contents are bubbling. Current draw is still at 6.3A with Tamb = 95°F. A thermocouple probe into the chili reads 191°F.

    T+ 3:20 – Enough simmering, time to eat! It was more than enough dinner for my girlfriend and I, adding in a few tortillas to round it out.

Conclusion and notes:

  • The power demand was around 80 watts. That’s about the same as two off-road headlights on your 4×4. So, you could cook this on a 3½ hour trip on the way to somewhere.
  • I should have pre-heated the can of beans in the sun to cut down the simmering time and drained some water off before adding to the pot; there isn’t an overabundance of heat to boil it off like atop a gas stove. When using battery power, every watt counts.
  • You can of course use an 8oz tin of beef and rehydrated onion from your food stores (see below).
  • This was yummy! It’s easy to cook at night, during a storm, or other time, and is ideal OPSEC.

If you would like to repeat this exercise from dehydrated/freeze-dried ingredients, here are the suppliers and their product numbers from my friend:

Total project success!

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

Odds ‘n Sods:

From our friends Frank and Fern: Winter of Our Demise

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The IRS continues its abuses, despite claims to the contrary. IRS seizes rural convenience store owner’s career savings in another horrible abuse of civil forfeiture. – T.P.

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Two suspects killed, officer injured after shooting outside Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas. B.B. There also seem to be suggestions at this time that they were Islamist extremists and that they took credit before the attack via social media.

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U.N. Official Reveals Real Reason Behind Warming Scare – To destroy evil capitalism, of course. – T.P.

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Violent Partisans Will Destroy the Constitution

Street Combat – This Ain’t No Game! – Part 5b of 9, by Pat Cascio

[Street Combat – This Ain’t No Game is a SurvivalBlog exclusive.]

Chapter Three (continued)

CASE STUDY: Three Determined Power Plant Thieves

At one time or another, both Ralph (who we called Lo-Lo for some reason that I don’t recall) and Rudy worked for me when I was a supervisor at a detective agency. This story deals with Ralph.

At this point in time, Ralph hadn’t completed his 30-hour training course in order to be an armed security officer in Illinois. So, Ralph was working unarmed at a very remote location. He was supposed to protect an old Commonwealth Edison power plant, but how you protect property without a firearm is beyond me. The plant was scheduled for demolition. In the meantime, the plant was loaded with a huge fortune of copper wire. It was not just your regular copper wire but copper wire as thick as your arm. People were taking saws and axes, using them to cut the wire into smaller pieces, and selling it to scrape metal yards.

As a supervisor, I drove a company car all of the time and was on-call 24 hours a day. I also handled the K-9 units and was always dropping-off or picking-up K-9 units from guards and remote locations where we would place a dog at night and pick them up in the morning, before the places opened for business. At least I usually remembered to get the dog out before they opened for business, but that’s another story for another time.

I decided to place Max with Ralph at his guard site. Max was a huge, purebred German Shepherd, weighing in at over 125lbs. Max hated other dogs, too. You couldn’t place him in the same car with another dog.

Ralph had been having some problems with three guys who kept trying to break into this building he was guarding. The building probably took up a full square city block and was located right along the Chicago River at the end of a deadend street. It was extremely difficult for one man to guard this remote area, so a dog helped.

After Ralph had scared these characters away a few times with the help of Max, I decided to keep Ralph company one night. These three idiots came back that evening with a dog of their own, which was a big mistake! We turned Max loose on their dog, and he went at it. They left with their injured dog, and I should have used the two-way radio in my car to call our dispatcher for the Chicago Police, but I didn’t.

A short time later, these same three idiots returned with a gun and fired several shots at Ralph and me. Unlike Ralph, I was armed with a Smith & Wesson Model 10, .38 Special revolver. I returned fire (over their heads), and they ran off and never did come back. I then decided to report the incident to the police, since you gotta cover your behind when things turn to shooting.

LESSON LEARNED:

First of all, I think all security officers should be armed. If things are serious enough that a company thinks they need a guard, then it’s serious enough that the guard should be armed! I can’t make it any clearer than that.

Secondly, I should not have placed Ralph in such a remote location without a two-way radio or a firearm. This was stupid on my part, and it could have cost Ralph is life.

Third, the sheer size and location of the old power plant was such that it required several armed guards under contract. There was no way one man could adequately protect a building that large all alone. I had no control over this aspect, but the security company should not have taken the job using only one guard.

TECHNIQUE USED:

Giving Max to Ralph was a good first move; it helped even the odds out a bit against those three morons and their attack dog. Still, things didn’t end there, either.

I was justified in firing my gun in defense of myself and Ralph. I should have fired at these guys instead of over their heads. In retrospect, I was only carrying the ammo that was in the gun– just six rounds. Never, ever, only carry the rounds that are in your firearm! Always carry at least one spare magazine (for an autoloader) and at least one or two spare speedloaders for revolvers. Even loose rounds in your pants or jacket pocket are better than just the rounds in your gun!

The final “technique” used was deadly force! These three leaders of the brain trust clan knew I wasn’t fooling around when I returned fire. They didn’t know that I was firing over their heads. All they knew was that I was firing back at them.

This next case study comes from my good friend, Eugene Sockut, who lives in Israel. Gene’s book, Secrets Of Street Survival – Israeli Style (Paladin Press) is must reading. Street survival is a fact of everyday life in Israel.

CASE STUDY: Unfortunate Harry Abrams

An interesting self-defense case recently occurred in Israel that provides a good example of why it is good street smarts to have a non-lethal weapon option on you when carrying a handgun.

Harry Abrams is 62 years old and what one would call a man of small physical stature; he’s 5′ 4″ tall and weighing under 150 pounds. Harry, an accountant, is an easy going sort who is not out on the street looking for trouble. Harry carried a S&W Bodyguard .38 Special with 158 gr. Winchester Lead Hollow Points for use against terrorist attack. It never occurred to Harry that one day he would have to use his handgun against a fellow Israeli.

Harry’s nemesis was one Burt Chameleon. At 27 years of age, Burt is a burly 6′ 2″ and 210 pound construction worker and was given to hard drink. Why Burt hated Harry is known only to Burt. Being Harry’s next door neighbor, one can only surmise that Burt thought the leaves from Harry’s tree blew into his yard. Who really knows the real reasons one dislikes someone? Maybe Burt was jealous of Harry’s new car. Anyway, Burt let it be known on numerous occasions that one day he was going to kick the feces out of Harry.

Lesson #1. TAKE ALL THREATS SERIOUSLY!

One night, Harry walked out to his car and heard swearing behind him. To his utter amazement, it was Burt, who was drunk enough to be angry but not drunk enough to stagger. Burt rushed at Harry with clenched fists, shouting he was going to break Harry’s neck. At this, Harry, got into his subcompact car and rolled the windows up. Burt proceeded to smash in the car’s roof and buckle the door.

Burt’s girlfriend was trying to control him, but this was as good as spitting in the wind, as Burt wasn’t about to be controlled by anyone.

It was out of character for Harry, but something just snapped. Maybe it was the sound of his new car being pounded into junk, but at any rate Harry exploded and jumped out of his car, telling Burt to cease and desist or he would pull his handgun. At this, Burt shouted that he was going to batter Harry worse than he did his car. Breaking away from his hysterical girlfriend, Burt made for Harry, daring him to shoot.

Harry pulled his S&W and shouted for Burt to stop. Now from here, all goes into utter confusion. Burt claims he hit Harry’s hand and the revolver fired. Harry, being even more confused, told the police that he pulled the trigger. At any rate, Burt got a single bullet that plowed into his guts, and he went down for the count. An artery was cut, and blood was flowing.

Fortunately, the paramedics came, and Burt went to the hospital on the brink of death. Lucky for him (and Harry), Burt survived.

LESSON LEARNED:

The prosecutor, being of an anti-gun sort, decided to make a test case out of all this and asked for attempted murder charges against Harry and not Burt. In these parts, this means a sentence of 20 years. After a time, this charge was dropped to aggravated assault with attempt at severe bodily harm, which meant seven years. Then, after a plea bargain, it would be reduced to two years.

Harry’s lawyer knew the system and told Harry that it would be a waste of money if it went to trail, since the sentence would be the same as if he plea bargained anyway, and the lawyer would rather argue the case for mercy (for Harry) in front of a more friendly judge, especially since the only witness was Burt’s girlfriend, who wasn’t exactly a friendly witness for Harry.

The lawyer said the doctrine of disparity of force meant that Harry’s size (compared to Burt’s) would not wash in an Israeli court, since after the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin, guns were more feared than ever by certain politicians. (That sounds a lot like American politicians, doesn’t it?) There is no Second Amendment Right in Israel.

Harry’s lawyer was right. In a closed hearing, the judge handed down a sentence to Harry of six months public service and one year probation.

Harry is now learning to defend himself with a walking stick and wishes he had that option the night Burt attacked him. The prosecutor admitted that even if Harry picked up a rock and brained Burt, it would never had been prosecuted. However, a GUN? No way, Jose!

Lesson #2. A non-lethal response (option) is important in certain circles (read Liberal), as firearms are viewed as “atomic weapons” not suited for conventional warfare.

Burt is now back at home and was never even charged with assault. Burt plans to sue Harry. (Again, this sounds like America, doesn’t it?) Burt originally asked for one million dollars, but now has compromised and only wants one hundred thousands dollars from Harry.

Harry changed neighborhoods and has lost his job. The only good thing to come out of this is that Burt has as much chance of getting paid by Harry as a snowball in hell. Court and lawyer costs have cleaned out Harry’s bank account.

TECHNIQUE USED:

First of all, I want to thank Gene Sockut for sending me this story. This can happen to anyone at any time! Neighbor disputes account for a large percentage of police emergency calls. I know; I used to be a cop.

Harry’s technique could have been improved upon. First of all, Harry should have notified the local police that he was having a problem with Burt and that Burt had threatened him. This might have gotten Harry off the hook when it came down to the attack Burt launched against Harry.

Harry could have driven away (in his battered car) and reported the incident to the police. Instead, Harry placed himself in jeopardy by getting out of his car and confronting Burt. I can certainly understand Harry taking the action he did. It was a new car, and Harry was fed-up with Burt’s threats and his attack.

Faced with disparity of force, Harry was right in firing at Burt (if that’s what actually took place). Remember, the details got a bit fuzzy, and both Burt and Harry had different stories to tell about the shooting.

All things considered, Harry lived to tell his tale, and that’s the bottom line.

I want to list one more case study before closing this section, and I think it applies today as well as it did back in 1983, when it happened.

CASE STUDY: The Bumper Bump

My wife and I had the misfortune of moving to Chicago, IL in 1982. While I was born and raised there, if I never had to see a big city again it wouldn’t hurt my feels. I prefer country life these days.

I was the Investigations Manager for a very large Detective Agency in those days, and I was on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. So, I always carried my gun with me. In those days, I usually carried a S&W Model 586 with a 4″ Bbl. This is a rather large .357 Magnum revolver, to be sure.

We were traveling north bound on North Lake Shore Drive. We were in a moderate flow of traffic doing about 45-50 mph when out of nowhere a car rear-ended us. Now keep in mind that we were moving with the flow of traffic; we weren’t coming to a stop or anything like that.

I signaled for the driver of the other car to pull off the traffic lanes and onto the shoulder. He nodded his head in compliance. I had my S&W 586 on my right hip, with my badge attached to my belt– right where anyone could see it. When I got out of the car, I swept my jacket back, revealing the gun and badge. Needless to say, the fellow who bumped us took notice.

LESSON LEARNED:

Never, ever assume that someone hit you by accident. There are gangs as well as individuals out there who do nothing more than bump other vehicles, and then when they pull over they’re robbed.

I could tell that the above character had other things on his mind by the stupid grin on his face after he bumped us. I, on the other hand, had other plans for him. If you are bumped from behind by another vehicle, never assume it was an accident.

If you have a cell phone, call 911 and wait for the police to arrive BEFORE getting out of your vehicle. Make sure you drive with your doors locked, too. If you don’t have a cell phone, then drive to a gas station. Then, in front of other people, get out of your car and talk to the other driver.

Whatever you do, don’t pull over to the side of the road and get robbed, raped, or murdered. The damage to your car can always be repaired. The physical and emotional damage that you receive may never heal.

TECHNIQUE USED:

The mere presence of a gun put to flight any thoughts this idiot might have had about robbing us that day. I could tell he was surprised to see an armed man get out of the car.

I informed him that I was a private investigator, and I was working a case. This guy couldn’t wait to right me a check (on the spot) for the damage to my rear bumper. I informed him that if the check bounced, I would track him down ASAP. The check cleared his bank.

A few comments about knives and knife fighting are in order before closing this chapter. For personal reasons, I’ve chosen to list only a few incidents that I was involved in. I have witnessed several other people in knife fights over the years. The fights are usually over pretty quick. As mentioned, the sight of your own blood has some kind of psychological effect on you. You really don’t want to see any more of your own blood.

There are numerous martial arts schools out there who teach knife fighting skills. First of all, I question their own training and more importantly experiences as a knife fighter.

I’ve also seen a lot of books and videos out there on the subject of knife fighting. I’m often amazed at the thickness of some books on the subject. It would take several life times to master the techniques they present.

In the next chapter, I outline handgun training for Close Quarters Combat shooting– CBQ. Much of what I present is based on techniques presented by a good friend, the late Col. Rex Applegate. His system is based on real-life combat shooting, not some gun guru’s idea of combat.

I could devote a chapter to knife fighting with a folding knife, but I’d only be repeating some of the techniques outlined in Col. Applegate’s book, Combat Use Of The Double-Edged Fighting Knife, (Paladin Press). While the book is devoted to the use of a double-edged fighting knife, most of the techniques described can be applied to the use of a single-edged folding knife.

A few words about pocket-type knives for self-defense. I think lock-back folding knives are a real improvement over non-locking blades. While most of what I teach my students about knife fighting is based upon Applegate’s techniques, I do teach a little bit about reverse-grip knife fighting. If you hold most lock-back folding knives this way, you can every easily apply pressure to the locking mechanism and the blade will fold on your fingers.

I prefer the liner-lock system on folding knives; they are much, much stronger than lock-back styles. Col. Applegate joined forces with Gerber Legendary Blades (P.O. Box 23088, Portland, OR 97223, 503-639-6161) to produce one of the strongest production, liner-lock folding knives I’ve ever seen. These knives are the Applegate Combat Folder, and the Applegate-Fairbairn Covert Folder, which is just a smaller version of the Combat model.

Without a doubt, the strongest liner lock folding knife that I have seen is produced by custom knife maker Chris Reeve (11624 W. President Dr., #B, Boise, Idaho 83713, 208-375-0367). Chris is producing two models called the Sebenza Integral Lock. This is basically a liner-lock, but the entire side of one handle is the locking mechanism.

Custom knifemaker Ernest Emerson (Emerson Knives, Inc., P.O. Box 4325, Redondo Beach, CA 90278, 310-542-3050) also makes a very, very stout line of folding fighters with a strong liner-lock system. I have adopted his Raven line of knives as the official knife for my martial arts students.

You can’t go wrong if you lay claim to one of the above listed knives for self-defense purposes. With that said, I’ll close this chapter.

Remember, this is Street Combat – This Ain’t No Game!

Letter Re: Google Almighty

HJL,

Do I speak blasphemy? Do I speak heresy against the almighty, all-knowing, all-seeing Google? Yes, I do and proudly proclaim my disgust with Google and their we-know-better-than-you mindset. In fact, they have accumulated so enormously and stupendously much data that they have concluded they know everything, and since they know everything they can decide what you should know and what you should not know.

That’s right. Google has decided to filter the search results it presents to you in the name of Internet quality, and I can’t argue that they do not have a right to do this, but it’s dishonest, and it shortchanges its customers. When you look at your results from Googling something, be aware that you may not be getting the whole picture. Yes, there may be a few pieces of the puzzle missing because a “quality censor” decided that was not the right answer and it just did not meet Google standards. What you will get is a Googlized view of the answer.

Nobody would really notice unless they were really interested in search engine results or they had a web page or web site that suddenly disappeared without a word. Yes, that’s where I come in. I have a personal bone to pick with Google. Not that it will matter, but I kick the shin of the Goliath Google with my tiny worn out boot. The giant laughs it off and swats at the lowly amateur webmaster and goes on deciding what’s best for everybody else.

They don’t own the Internet! Some of the Internet is still free. I’m quite sure Google would love to someday be contracted by a future government regulatory agency. Who knows, maybe the FCC will take on such a role in the name of Internet neutrality and the greater good. Google is just getting the mechanisms of censorship in place so they can ramp up operation if given the wink and nod.

What is my beef with Google? I have an article that I published on my website, which resides on an Internet backwater, unknown to almost everyone. It was my first article in 2007 on a subject that was neglected and largely overlooked by the prepper community, so I addressed it with this article. It somehow caught on with the public through the magic of the Internet. I did very little to promote it, except mention in on a few forums, but I got dozens of readers each day and at times hundreds of readers, until Google decided it was information unfit for your eyes to see. Now, only a trickle of visitors find it and mostly from the many links other websites and forums have made to it.

Well, the article and the website are still there because Google still can’t get rid of it because at least some of the Internet is not controlled by those who know better than us. There is much information available on the subject now days, though not so much in 2007. Awareness has grown thankfully, and I think in small measure I had something to do with that.

HJL Responds: I’m undecided on Google’s primary purpose in life. I can’t quite figure out if they are a for-profit company or if they are just a front for the NSA (or other such alphabet security agency from the government). Possibly, they are both. In any case, their suspected ties to those who would gather personal information on you for nefarious purposes is enough to encourage me to use other search engines. Currently, my preference is http://duckduckgo.com, but there are a number of others available as well that do not record your searches. I might also add that avoidance of all things Google is my current policy. That includes the android operating system, Chrome web browser, and anything else with clear ties. I highly recommend the Prism Break web site.

As to your article on EMP protection and using an ammo canister for a Faraday cage: Make sure that you use some form of conductive material to bridge the rubber seal in the lid. (This might be rolled metal window screen, aluminum foil, et cetera.) You will also need to make sure that the paint along the edge of the can is removed, so that the foil can make contact with both the lid and the can. Without that, the can will leak EMP significantly. It’s relatively easy to check the effectiveness of any Faraday cage. Just throw your cell phone in it and call it. If the phone rings, the cage leaks too much radiation.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Obama blocks Iraqi nun from describing Christian persecution. – T.R.

o o o

Looters just wanted to play video games at home, but unemployment won’t let them, says black activist. – B.B.

o o o

CDC Report: 35,369 Vehicle Accident Deaths, 505 Gun Accident Deaths. – JBG

o o o

Environmentalists to Plunge Manhattan into Darkness to Protect Mating Frogs. – T.P.

o o o

Up to 400K Children Born To Illegal Immigrants in U.S. Annually, One In 10 Births. – B.B

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.” Luke 11:1-4 (KJV)

April In Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran of Gainesville Coins

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover the price action of gold, and examine the “what” and “why” behind those numbers.

April was an up-and-down month for just about every asset class, and gold was no exception. After big boosts in the first part of the month to briefly touch the $1,220 mark, gold bounced in a tight range on either side of $1,200. After ending the week at a three-week low on the 24th, it came roaring back the next Monday to gain over $20, and built upon that. First quarter GDP showed that the U.S. Economy only grew at 0.2% from January through March, causing stock markets and the dollar to fall, and gold to hold on to gains. This was reversed at the end of the month when first-time jobless claims dropped to the lowest level since the peak of the dot-com boom in 2000.

Precious Metals Market Drivers in April

SAUDI ARABIA vs IRAN

One driver for oil prices, and to a lesser extent gold prices, has been the expanding conflict between Iran on one hand, and Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf oil kingdoms on the other. The ayatollahs of Shiite Iran have filled the power vacuum in Iraq after the U.S. military left, and are supporting the Shiite government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. This forms a “Shiite Crescent” between the Sunni oil kingdoms on the Arabian peninsula and markets in Europe.

For its part, Saudi Arabia has been the major financier of Sunni rebel groups in Syria, including Al Queda and ISIS, and is fighting Iran to determine who will be the major Muslim power in the region. However, like the mad scientist bent on ruling the world who sees his creation turn against him, Saudi Arabia is now dealing with the very real threat from ISIS to its own existence.

The Sunni vs Shiite regional conflict took a new turn when a Saudi-led Arab coalition began bombing rebel positions in Yemen. The Shiite Houthi rebels had seized power, chasing the Yemeni president to Saudi Arabia for asylum. The Saudis accuse Iran of funding the Houthis, in an attempt to encircle them with hostile regimes. The situation in Yemen is complicated by Al Queda in the Arabian Peninsula and ISIS (both of whom are financed by Gulf oil kingdoms) fighting both the Yemeni government and the Houthi.

The U.S., which had been operating in conjunction with the now-overthrown Yemeni government to conduct drone strikes against Al Queda, sent an aircraft carrier to block an Iranian merchant ship convoy that was taking aid to the rebels. Later, the Iranians attempted to send a cargo plane to the Yemen capital, but Saudi Arabian fighter jets bombed the runway as the plane was on final approach.

While Saudi Arabia may be thwarting Iran in Yemen, the Persians have scored some victories of their own. Using the successful framework agreement between Iran and the major nuclear powers regarding Iran’s nuclear program as cover, Russia has agreed to send advanced S-300 anti-air missiles to Iran. These mobile anti-air systems would make any Israeli or U.S. airstrikes against Iranian nuclear facilities difficult, if not impossible. Russia, who was a major trading partner with Iran before international sanctions were imposed, is eager to beat Western oil companies to the punch for when sanctions are lifted. These missiles may also change the dynamic of the negotiations themselves, as it reduces the threat to Iran of Western attacks if an agreement isn’t reached.

GREECE

Money printing by the European Central Bank is helping EU stock markets, but the inability of Greece’s new leftist government to come to an agreement with its creditors over receiving additional bailout money is weighing on the markets (and increasing gold demand among Greeks, who fear government seizure of their bank deposits.) The Syriza party in Greece, who won January’s elections, want to maintain and even expand the nation’s welfare state, and refuses to privatize state-owned industries.

Warren Buffet replies that maybe Greece leaving the EU would be an object lesson, showing that debtor nations need to get their act together and not depend on living off the taxpayers of other nations perpetually. Portugal, who went through the same tough bailout terms as Greece and is actually repaying bailout loans early, has urged Athens to take its medicine, reduce waste and corruption, and get its economy back on track. But the abrasiveness of the college professor who is now Greece’s finance minister has alienated his counterparts in the rest of the EU, to the point where he was told to his face what they thought of his threats and lack of any real plans. This led the Greek prime minister to pull him from direct negotiations in an attempt to get a deal done before the government defaults.

The national government in Greece has resorted to seizing the cash of local governments in an attempt to cover welfare, government salaries, and debt payments, after draining the state-owned businesses of cash. The Central Union of Municipalities and Communities of Greece vehemently opposes Athens seizing the money of towns that have managed to stay solvent (translated from Greek.)

Greece right now is surviving on emergency liquidity assistance that the European Central Bank has been doling out to private Greek banks, leading the German finance minister to call Greece a “bottomless pit.” The ECB, realizing that the Greek government is using these funds to play for time against the EU in bailout negotiations, has been which will allow the collapse of the Greek banking sector.

Despite the assurances of EU governments that a Greek default and exit from the Eurozone can be “contained,” analysts expect a rush into gold by people looking to protect their money from bank failures or government seizures should the worst happen.

MANIPULATION

Big currency brokerages have adopted voluntary, unenforceable guidelines for behavior, saying “everything’s fixed now, there’s no need for government regulation of currency markets.” But James Rickards says “Until you start actually arresting people, putting some CEOs in jail, you’re not addressing the cultural issues that are at the heart of this.”

This “promise to behave, you don’t need to watch us” comes as the Justice Department goes after a criminal felony plea from Citigroup’s U.S. currency operations, which would destroy 70% of the Too Big To Fail bank’s revenue. In related news, Deutsche Bank paid a $2.5 BILLION fine for manipulation of the LIBOR rate. If they were willing to pay that much to stop a criminal probe, one wonders how much money they made.

Some precious metals analysts are suspecting that Citibank recently manipulated gold prices downward during negotiations with Venezuela’s central bank for a $1 billion gold swap deal. Gold hit a five-week low the day the deal was inked, then jumped $24 an ounce.

STOCK MARKET TOPPING OUT

More and more people are taking their money and running away from the stock market, as prices keep climbing. Investors are bailing on stocks at a rate not seen since the height of the financial crisis in 2009. Check out this chart showing the drop in liquidity. Ronald Reagan’s budget director, David Stockman agrees, calling this the most leveraged stock market in history.

He isn’t alone in this assessment. Mohamed El-Erian, one of the biggest names in Wall St, has pulled almost completely out of the stock and bond markets, saying they’re too expensive.

On The Retail Front

Gold imports in India more than doubled in March to 125 tonnes from a year ago.

The Hindu festival of Akshaya Tritiya – considered by many in India to be an auspicious time to invest in gold – was celebrated on April 21 this year, with one major jewelry retailer recording a 30% jump in gold sales compared to last year’s festival.

Australia’s Perth Mint, a major player in the bullion markets, announced multi-month highs for sales in the first quarter.

A daring armed heist in Mexico against a McEwen gold mine saw $8.5 million in gold concentrate trucked away. The company’s CEO expressed confusion over the robbery, noting that the company had an understanding with the local cartels.

Market Buzz

Russia purchased 1 million ounces of gold last month, as it continues stocking up. It isn’t just Putin’s government buying up the yellow metal. The margin requirements for paper gold contracts in Russia have almost doubled, as more and more people pile into the market.

The other Big Red Nation, China, is set to break gold import records for the first quarter.

Back in India, the government is trying to convince Hindu temples to lease out some of the billions of dollars worth of gold that have accumulated in their vaults over the last few centuries. Seeing as how that would probably require the temple offerings to be melted down, and the temples would not receive the same physical pieces of gold when the lease was over, there is a growing opposition to the measure. How would you react if your church said it was going to melt down the gold cross your grandfather donated, in order to make money off of leasing it?

One large jewelry corporation in India is looking to secure its supply chain by buying entire gold mines.

The day before this month’s horrible GDP report, someone put a huge $6 million bet on a spike in gold prices by mid-June. Guess this is one time we’re rooting for the speculators.

The governor of Arizona vetoed a bill that would make gold legal tender, citing concerns that the state would no longer be able to collect sales tax on gold transactions. The Texas legislature has stepped up to the plate, with its own bill introduced that would make gold and silver legal tender in the Lone Star State.

Casey Research notes that gold has been up in almost every currency except the dollar this year, and the fact that it was able to advance in the face of a huge dollar rally bodes well for the yellow metal. “At $1,200/oz, gold is quite reasonable considering all the black swans flying overhead. As we often stress, owning physical gold for wealth preservation is a must in our fiat-currency world.”

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers says the US has lost its role as economic superpower with the world’s embrace of China’s Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

Ned Schmidt says that gold is at its cheapest point relative to stocks since 2007, and expects it to snap much higher. Gold prices more than doubled between 2007 and 2011, before the current correction began.

The big question everyone is asking this week is, “Why has JP Morgan increased its physical silver holdings by 11 times to 55 million oz?”

Doug Casey says, “I think what’s going to happen is that the world, not soon, but in the next generation, is going to go back to using gold as money.”

Are the Central Banks about to get blind-sided by a spike in inflation? Crude oil-fueled deflationary fears are subsiding, with oil up 40% in three months. Recovering crude prices will combine with central bank stimulus and money printing to cause a sudden spike in inflation, and force governments to cut spending and social benefits as the costs of borrowing climb.

Looking Ahead

A very contentious national election in Britain is scheduled for May 7, which could lead to a major crisis in UK and European financial markets that would doubtlessly spread world-wide. What would happen if Greece AND Britain leave the EU at about the same time?

We end this month with a question: Which would you rather have, 8 ounces of 24K gold, or an Apple Watch?

– Steven Cochran is the Content Manager/Editor for Gainsville Coins