Long Term Storage of Household Batteries, by OhioGalt

Several years ago, I began purchasing Lithium Batteries in AA and AAA sizes for long-term storage in case of some event where batteries were not readily available. I was also using them in several trail cams around the property because they would last roughly 10-to-12 months before replacement. I recently went to buy another couple of 48-packs and found the price had significantly increased. The cellular cameras I use offer a rechargeable lithium pack and comparing to lithium AA I found I could pay for the rechargeable pack in less then two sets of AA lithium batteries. Unfortunately, you cannot safely charge AA or AAA lithium batteries as they are designed as single-use items.

Since I also kept a supply of Lithium batteries on hand for household uses (radios, flashlights, range finders) I began looking at other options for batteries. Several years ago my wife had bought me a set of Eneloop batteries and charger in a case.

They are Ni-MH ‘Low Self Discharge’ and claim to be good for up to 2100 recharges. They provide a nice storage case , charger, several AA and AAA batteries with adapters for C and D size that hold a AA battery inside. They have been great and we use them at the cabin but I wanted to replenish my Lithium supply and found them the Eneloop batteries a little pricey as well. The other issue I had with the Eneloop charger is it was only 120 volt powered and I wanted something I could also charge on 12 volt DC system if need be.

Researching other Ni-MH (Nickel-Metal Hydride) batteries and charges I found another well-rated battery by “Geilenergy” AA, 600 mAh, 1.2 volt. To be fair, the Eneloop claims to hold up to 2000 mAh and I did not do any battery tests to compare the two brands. There is probably some truth in you get what you pay for here but I was not looking for high-performance batteries for my flashlights and AM FM radios. Possibly at a later date I will run a capacity test on the Eneloop and Geilenergy and compare values. I also noted that my charger is only rated for 1000 mAh so I will have to include the chargers in the test as well.

My Ni-MH charger has the option of running on standard 120 (100-240) volt household power or 12 volt DC for charging. I’ve had this charger a few years and a quick search I could no longer find a reseller for the unit. A search on Amazon did reveal several manufacturers of chargers with dual AC and DC voltage inputs.

I store my charged batteries in a small plastic container and label the lid the last recharge date, usually about once a year.

Important Safety Note: I do not store 9-volt batteries loose in the container unless they have a band of electric tape over the terminals to prevent them from shorting and potentially starting a fire.

There are some fancy battery organizers available with included testers for those who desire more organization. Hopefully, this brief article will give others some thoughts and ideas on keeping extra batteries on hand for safekeeping at minimal cost.

JWR’s Meme Of The Week: 

The latest meme created by JWR:

Meme Text:

That Face You Make When…

Your Arrest Was 99% Political

News Links:

Notes From JWR: Do you have a meme idea? Just e-mail me the concept, and I’ll try to assemble it. And if it is posted then I’ll give you credit. Thanks!

Permission to repost memes that I’ve created is granted, provide that credit to SurvivalBlog.com is included.

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;

Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:

How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.

For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.

Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.

For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,

Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.

Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.

And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;

For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” – Hebrews 9:11-28 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — August 26, 2023

August 26, 1946 was the official release date of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm.”

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Today we present the fifth and last installment of SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Emeritus Pat Cascio’s autobiography.

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We are in great need of entries for Round 108 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $840,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. We recently polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 108 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Making It Count – Part 5, by Pat Cascio

(Continued from Part 4. This concludes the article.)

My first meeting with Colonel Applegate

As I’ve mentioned before in SurvivalBlog, from 1990 to 1993 I worked for the late Colonel Rex Applegate as his assistant, on numerous projects. I also maintained his gun collection. He had more than 850 guns – many were prototypes and one-of-a-kind. It was a great honor working for the good Colonel. He taught me a lot about a lot of things, especially when he served in WWII for the military. He told me a lot of things that he said that he’d never mentioned to anyone else. He also taught me a lot about point shooting and knife fighting.

(l. to r.) John Taffin, Rex Applegate, and Pat Cascio

 

It was Applegate who introduced me to my favorite gun writer, Chuck Karwan. Chuck used to help Applegate with some projects. Chuck and I became close friends. Chuck helped me with my magazine articles and I helped him with several of his books and magazine articles. Whenever Chuck had a question about combat shooting he would call me, and when I needed help with military weapons, then I’d call him.  Applegate and I also worked with gun writer John Taffin.Continue reading“Making It Count – Part 5, by Pat Cascio”

Editors’ Prepping Progress

To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make both long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug-out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year.  We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in your e-mailed letters. We post many of those –or excerpts thereof — in the Odds ‘n Sods Column or in the Snippets column. Let’s keep busy and be ready!

Jim Reports:

I spent one full day traveling, early in the week.  Consulting work is never boring, but it can be hectic.

I’ve just about finished my firewood cutting for the year.

I finally got back to working on my novel manuscripts for the second two novels in the Counter-Caliphate Chronicles (“Land Of Promise“) series. I had intentionally put those manuscripts on hold for several years, to see what would become of the Islamic State (IS). I also want to see the end result of the coronavirus pandemic. Not surprisingly, it was more government and absurdly higher levels of public debt. So I’ve made just a few adjustments to the storylines.  Sorry, but I haven’t yet set release dates for either of those books.

Now, Lily’s report…Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“And after this it came to pass that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them: and David took Methegammah out of the hand of the Philistines.

And he smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground; even with two lines measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive. And so the Moabites became David’s servants, and brought gifts.

David smote also Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates.

And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: and David houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for an hundred chariots.

And when the Syrians of Damascus came to succour Hadadezer king of Zobah, David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men.

Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus: and the Syrians became servants to David, and brought gifts. And the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went.

And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem.

And from Betah, and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, king David took exceeding much brass.

When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had smitten all the host of Hadadezer,

Then Toi sent Joram his son unto king David, to salute him, and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer, and smitten him: for Hadadezer had wars with Toi. And Joram brought with him vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass:

Which also king David did dedicate unto the Lord, with the silver and gold that he had dedicated of all nations which he subdued;

Of Syria, and of Moab, and of the children of Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

And David gat him a name when he returned from smiting of the Syrians in the valley of salt, being eighteen thousand men.

And he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom put he garrisons, and all they of Edom became David’s servants. And the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went.

And David reigned over all Israel; and David executed judgment and justice unto all his people.” – 2 Samuel 8:1-15 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — August 25, 2023

August 25th is a birthday shared by novelist Frederick Forsyth (born 1938 – pictured), humorist Bret Harte (born 1836), and the late American humorist Patrick F. McManus (born 1933).

Forsyth was the author of The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, The Fourth Protocol, The Dogs of War, The Devil’s Alternative, and many others.

Pat McManus was born and raised in Sandpoint, Idaho, so his books could be classified as American Redoubt humor.

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I just heard that Ready Made Resources is running a sale on U.S.-made Photonis Echo AN/PVS-14 monoculars (Normally $3,350) for $2,999 each.  These are the nice ones: Autogated, 4G White Phosphor Photonis tubes to Echo specification, with individual data sheets!  They can be used hand-held, weapon-mounted, or helmet-mounted.

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We are in need of entries for Round 108 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $840,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. We recently polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 108 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

 

Making It Count – Part 4, by Pat Cascio

(Continued from Part 3.)

In 1989, I took a job as the police chief in a small town in Eastern Oregon. I had also completed my training with Executive Security International (ESI) at that time, the world’s best place if you wanted to do bodyguard work. I had completed their 650-hour home study course and then needed to complete two weeks at their school. There, I met John Farnam, who taught the firearms training portion, and to this day, I honestly believe that Farnam is probably the best firearms trainer there is. At the end of my training, I was offered a position as a personal bodyguard to “Elizabeth Taylor’s best friend”. They wouldn’t tell me who it was – but I knew that Taylor’s best friend at that time was Michael Jackson. There is no way that I would have worked for him. Still, that training was the best in the world and I’m certified as a Protection Specialist in Colorado.Continue reading“Making It Count – Part 4, by Pat Cascio”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. In this column, JWR also covers hedges, derivatives, and various obscura. This column emphasizes JWR’s “tangibles heavy” investing strategy and contrarian perspective. Today, we look at some market moves triggered by the Jackson Hole, Wyoming conference.

Precious Metals:

Ex-JPMorgan Gold Traders Get Prison for ‘Prolific Spoofing’.

o  o  o

Efforts To Protect US Intensify Amid Global Shift From Dollar.

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Kelsey Williams: Gold And The Shrinking Money Supply.

Economy & Finance:

France24: BRICS summit of emerging economies gets under way without Putin.

o  o  o

David Haggith: It’s Happening: Bond Yields Soaring, Banks Sliding, BRICS Busting. Haggith’s article includes these cogent points:

“As the Fed continues quantitative tightening, the amount of money held in bank reserves automatically lowers because the Fed is no longer refinancing US debt. Therefore, the government has to find other buyers. The money those buyers commit to government bond purchases gets transferred from the barks’ reserve accounts directly to the government’s Fed bank account to buy the bonds. Banks have to either sell bonds or use cash they hold in reserves to make those transfers.

At the same time, the government has to attract a lot more buyers to replace the Fed who is out of the Treasury scene for a good while to come. That typically means paying higher interest rates to expand the buyer pool unless a flood of buyers comes along for other reasons (such as flight of capital all of a sudden from other nations). Those rising rates further devalue the existing bonds banks hold in their reserve accounts at the Fed.”

o  o  o

Linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: The Drunken Sailor Economy/ America gets a downgrade courtesy of President Biden.

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At Zero Hedge: Solid 20Y Auction Prices At Highest Yield On Record.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — August 24, 2023

On August 24, 79, Mount Vesuvius in Italy erupted, destroying the ancient cities of Pompeii (pictured) and Herculaneum. The excavations of these sites in the mid-18th century precipitated the modern science of archaeology.

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On August 24th, 410, Rome was overrun by the Visigoths in an event that symbolized the fall of the Western Roman Empire. This is a moment in history that we would do well to remember. An empire that ruled the known world was corrupted from the inside to the point that they could not defend themselves from a much weaker enemy.

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My #1 Son, Jonathan Rawles, who operates SurvivalRealty.com, has just produced a free mini e-book.  Here is how he describes it:

“As I’ve talked with hundreds of people contemplating a move out of the big city, a few topics have come up repeatedly. To help answer some of these recurring questions, we’ve released a short e-book as a free pdf download.

The five key factors considered are:

    • Survivability–how do you choose a location that will be least affected by disaster or societal collapse?
    • Sustainability–how do you select an area robust enough to survive economic catastrophe and infrastructure failures?
    • Politics and culture–what about the impacts of government and local culture?
    • Long-term outlook–where are things headed in your region, and how will that affect your plans?
    • Personal factors–what about external ties and family or career needs?

You can download the PDF free of charge, here.”

Making It Count – Part 3, by Pat Cascio

(Continued from Part 3.)

I dated one girl at our store and her sister who worked at the other store, and they didn’t seem to mind it in the least that I was dating them both. Yes, I was a horrible womanizer, and I’m ashamed of myself for that. If I could only change the past – that is one of the things I would change. One girl I was dating worked in the back room, in accounting. I didn’t even know her name when I first asked her out – and didn’t really care. Sadly, I ended up marrying her. That was a huge mistake. The first time I went out with her, she introduced me to her mom and dad. He was a really nice guy, when she introduced me to her mother, she said – and she was right in my face, to say: “I don’t think I like you.”  It never got any better, after that. I was dressed well and was polite – but her mother didn’t like me.

After I married that girl – my third marriage, I worked a lot of Private Investigations jobs – many times I was working two full-time positions, so I wasn’t home much. One gig involved working undercover for a retailer called Alden’s. They had a store that sold returned merchandise. The two weeks leading up to Christmas – found six of us Investigators working plainclothes and two off-duty Chicago cops, as backup. We averaged 25 arrests per day for shoplifting – we kept busy. I was staying with a fellow Investigator overnight, rather than go home after a 12-hour shift, and it was a 50-mile drive to get home. This went on for two weeks, and when I did manage to get home, when I opened the front door, I found all my clothes and guns in a pile on the living room floor. My wife had left me! When I called her at her parent’s house – she told me that she still loved me, but she and her mother decided that we should get divorced, but that we could get together again later. Talk about playing a mind game!

That wife was pregnant, and she wouldn’t even let me know when she had the baby. Two weeks later her doctor called me to let me know I had a baby. However, per my wife’s instructions, he couldn’t tell me if I had a son or daughter. It wasn’t until two weeks later that I got a copy of the birth certificate to find out that I had a daughter. While we fought in court, I was given visitation rights, but every time I tried to visit with her, no one would let me in the house. I finally gave up. Then, just a few short years ago, my never-before-seen daughter decided to find me. I was never hard to find. I paid to fly her out to Oregon to meet me, but I learned she was nothing more than a con artist, and I haven’t seen her since.

As an aside, I used to love riding motorcycles, and many times I could take part of the summers off and just ride. I wrecked practically every bike I had – always doing dangerous and stupid stunts. In 1975, my third wife and I finally divorced. I spent way too much time drinking and doing some light drugs with my old buddies in my old neighborhood – that lasted until 1977.

EMT and PA Work

From 1975 until 1977 I took a job as a truck driver – wanted something different to do. During this time I was going to school, studying to become an EMT. I loved working on an ambulance crew. Besides working on a Chicago Fire Department ambulance I also worked on a private ambulance for quite some time. I was watching the Jim Bakker show on August 17th, 1977 that I became a Christian. Say what you will about Jim Bakker, but it was through his ministry I came to The Lord. I stopped drinking and taking drugs that very day.

At one point, after I had become qualified as an EMT, I asked my family doctor if he had any work for me. The next day I was working for him, screening patients. He also had three nurses working for him. fairly soon, they all quit and it was just me working for him. I had no idea how hard the work was going to be. He worked from 11:00AM until as late as 2:00AM — I kid you not. I got a full medical education working for him for close to two years. We’d leave the office – very early in the AM, and go to the hospital and make rounds after we had just an hour or two of sleep.

I even assisted him with two baby deliveries. I also delivered a couple of babies on my own – while waiting for the ambulance to arrive – both were in the doorways of department stores. I even learned to do some suturing – that was harder than I thought it would be.

After I stopped working for the doctor, I opened up a clinic right across from his office. We did house calls for the doctor. At one point the Illinois National Guard came and asked if we would do enlistment physicals for them. They promised we’d be paid within 30 days after we submitted the bill for the physicals. But it was five months after we went out of business when we saw our first check for those physicals.

Meeting Mary

In 1979, I saw an ad in a Chrisitan magazine, recruiting summer camp counselors. It sounded good to me – they sent me brochures showing a swimming pool, hiking trails, campfires, and various sports. I applied and was interviewed over the phone and was hired. I flew out to Portland, Oregon. I had never been to Oregon before this. The camp looked great. And shortly the campers arrived. Now, they forgot to mention that we had to entertain kids all summer long – it was quite a job, to be sure.

During my stint at this summer camp, I became friends with everyone. But one girl in particular, Mary, became more than a friend.  We kept our romance so secret that most of the staff were not even aware that we were seeing each other. In October of that year, we were married. Yes, it was a short courtship. However we worked together every day, and on our brief days off, we spent time with each other. I was a guy from the big city (Chicago) and she was from a rural farm/ranch in Southern Oregon. How could this ever work out? Well, it did, and we are coming up on our 44th wedding anniversary, believe it or not. And, that’s not to say, we haven’t had a few bumps in the road – and a few big bumps. But here we are, all these years later, with two wonderful daughters.

I spent a lot of time studying for the ministry. The Salvation Army, who ran that summer camp several times promised me different ministry positions. But none of them ever came through. But we still tried to attend their “Officers” school so we could work for them. That never happened. One big excuse we were given was that I had “multiple” marriages in my past. Well, I had two of those marriages annulled. Still, they wouldn’t take us into their ministry. Such is life!

During our early married years, we traveled all over the country, trying to find where we might fit in. When we were first married, the Salvation Army gave me a job as a lifeguard at one of their youth centers in Portland – that wasn’t about to make do. At $3.35 per hour, it wasn’t enough for a newly-married couple to make ends meet. I was also working as a short-order cook at a retirement home.

Nuke Security

I ended up taking a security position. I worked 12 hours per day, over the weekend, and they paid me $5 per hour – that was decent money in 1979. I also took a job as a security officer at the Trojan nuclear power plant, outside of Portland. My shift was Monday through Thursday and it was from sundown until sun up.  This paid $10 per hour and we had a K-9 partner. That was a great job until the owner of the company wanted us to patrol outside the perimeter fence wearing camouflage face paint and crawling around in the mud. He just went bonkers. So I quit that job.

It was hard for us, Mary had just finished school to become an elementary grades teacher – but there we no openings. I got an FFL and started selling firearms and that helped us make ends meet for a while. I was also a partner in a new Private Investigation business, and I took on a partner in the gun business. In short order, both partners stole from me. One of them stole at least $10,000 that we could account for, and the other one, I learned, was buying and selling stolen guns.

We moved around a lot after that, taking whatever jobs we could find. Mary was working at a daycare – way below her level of training. We moved all over the place, after that. I spent two years back in the Chicago area, where Mary worked in a Christian book store and I worked for a big Detective Agency as their lead investigator.

The owner of the aforementioned company was spending more money than he took in. Quite soon, he had our headquarters building burned to the ground for the insurance money. However, I put two and two together and figured in all out. I got one of the arsonists to turn state’s evidence and I was promised a ten thousand dollar reward. In 1984 we moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado. The BATF had me come back to Chicago to testify in the arson trial. Then the BATF told me that they wouldn’t pay me the ten grand. I was to testify the next day, and told them that my memory wasn’t as good as it used to be without the money that they had promised me. They didn’t put me on the witness stand, and they lost their case.

While in Colorado, I met a guy who sold guns at gun shows. He turned out to be a great friend, and we applied for an FFL and sold guns at gun shows as well as through his gas station as a storefront.

Back to Oregon

In 1988, Mary and I moved back to Oregon. And worked at several jobs, while waiting for our second daughter to arrive. We lived in a tiny shack – and it was a dump of a shack – and paid $125 per month rent. We ended up moving to Klamath Falls, Oregon after that, and I worked for the Salvation Army once again at their youth center. Mary was working with the kids on their homework, and I operated the center.

Gradually, I got into writing. Over the years I’ve been a writer for a lot of publications.  These included: Guns & Ammo, Guns, Gun World, American Handgunner, American Survival Guide, Knives Illustrated, Combat Knives, Knife World, We The People (a newspaper), and several Christian magazines.  I’ve also written for annuals produced by Guns, American Handgunner, and Guns & Ammo. And, of course, since March of 2011, I’ve been on the paid staff of SurvivalBlog.

(To be continued in Part 4.)

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods. This column is a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from JWR. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats, and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. In today’s column, another look at the threats posed by Artificial Intelligence (AI).

AI Poses Extinction-Level Threat to Humans

CBS reports: AI poses extinction-level threat to humans, study suggests. The article’s intro:

“A new study published by Stanford University’s Existential Risks Initiative has identified five major threats to humanity by the year 2075. Runaway artificial intelligence is considered one of them. “

Yellow-Legged Hornets Detected in Georgia

Reader D.S.V. sent this news from The Blaze: Live yellow-legged hornet said to have been detected in the open U.S. for the first time.

Those Flaming E-Bikes!

B.G. sent this: Exploding E-Bikes: Lithium Battery Fires Spread In New York And California. Here is an excerpt:

“Lithium-ion batteries have sparked hundreds of fires across New York and San Francisco this year, injuring dozens and resulting in the death of a few individuals, triggering worries about ongoing public safety.

In New York, “fires caused by Lithium-ion batteries have grown exponentially every year since 2021,” Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said on Friday during a public safety briefing. “We are now, unfortunately, seeing more and more of these kinds of extremely fast-moving, very powerful fires with some regularity in the city. As of this week, there have been 131 fires, 76 injuries, and 13 deaths caused by these Lithium-ion batteries.”

This is a significant jump from 2021 when there were 79 injuries and four deaths from such fires. In 2022, there were 142 injuries and six deaths. The 2023 death toll has already exceeded the past two years combined with roughly five months remaining in the year.”

Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”