Odds ‘n Sods:

Six Ways to Separate Lies From Statistics – JBG

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Justice to count feds’ guns. It will be interesting to compare the resulting numbers with those of 10 years ago. I suspect we are in for an eye-opener.

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Government Agency Scraps Employee Ratings To Avoid ‘Discrimination’. Because your rating system just can’t be accurate if it rates minorities below the average. Some ideas are just worthy of a face-palm. – Mike Williamson, Survivalblog Editor At Large.

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Why War Is Inevitable — Paul Craig Roberts. – B.B.

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And here another showdown begins between personal liberty and public safety. Every driver who refuses to blow is strapped to a table, put in a head lock, blood forcibly taken. (video). What keeps the police from fabricating the claim for the warrant just to get you in the system? How far will they take this concept? Injections of RFID? – T.P.

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“The early American knew that freedom was nothing more than the absence of external restraint on behavior; the government could not give you freedom, it could only take it away.” – Frank Chodorov

Notes for Monday – May 26, 2014:

May 26th is the birthday of Randall Hank Williams (Hank Williams, Jr.). He was born in 1949. When not touring, he lives somewhere in Montana, so he qualifies as a Redoubter. He reportedly has a large gun collection, which is heavy on Sharps rifles and rifles that have factory letters showing that they were originally shipped to Montana. His song A Country Boy Can Survive is of course practically a survivalist anthem. His father was just 29 when he died, and despite a couple of close calls, Hank Jr. is now 64, so he may yet live to a ripe old age.

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Another Memorial Day is upon us. It’s a day established to remember and honor those who have paid a price for freedom, including my freedom to write this blog today. While I have not served in the military, I am deeply moved by those who have sacrificed much, whether it is only two to four years of their lives in service or those whose marriages struggle because of a career-long commitment. I am especially moved by those who made the ultimate sacrifice for my freedom. It is with much sadness that I watched as Walmart was mobbed by families with grocery carts full of barbecue and chips this weekend, as they head to the lake or mountains, treating this honorable day as just another long weekend to party. I don’t begrudge them their escape from the rat race, but I only wish they would slow down and take the time to reflect on why they have that ability to have fun.

I do, however, hold a grudge against the politicians of our time, who so willingly throw our young men and women into danger, risking their lives for no discernible moral high ground as they sling mud at one another in this election year. Krayton Kerns, DVM says it very eloquently in his blog: My Melancholy Memorial Day.

Have a good time with your family this memorial day but do take a moment, at least, and reflect upon the sacrifices made by those who protect us from the evil within this world, praying for the solace of their families and friends.

Guest Article: Kleptocracy and Capital Controls, by William Lehr

It never ceases to amaze me the lengths that the psychopathic, controlling oligarchs will go to in order to strengthen their grip on humanity.  Control and power are the weapons of these few.  While weapons, they will also serve as their demise.  You see, we are not boiling frogs, despite all the fluoride and GMOs we are force fed.  We, the rational minded, can see through the scam.  We are waking up and growing tired of being pushed into the corner.  Awareness of the controlling power mechanism is what is driving us for a better tomorrow.

When we first wrote about the IRA LLC on SurvivalBlog, we generated quite a bit of interest from the community.  As people discover the ability to take home delivery of IRA gold and silver, it changes the game.  Through this process we are encountering skeptics, evangelists, and outright government tyranny.  

After the recent events at the Bundy ranch in Nevada, overreaching government oppression is on the mind.  What we do here, at Perpetual Assets, may seem trivial to modern day Lexington and Concord moments.  I will not argue against that; there is little comparison available to the valor of the men, women, and III percenters who stood with the constitution and people against government tyranny.   However, our fight with financial oppression is real.  

As a facilitator of IRA LLC rollovers, we experience the worst of government control of private assets.  Our clients come to us because they want to “jailbreak” their hard-earned retirement savings.  Most come to us because they have learned they can take gold and silver purchased with their retirement account and store it at home.  Many of them have an existing IRA that they plan to rollover, but some are trapped in 401ks or similar defined benefit plans. 

401ks and like plans allow the employee to contribute a portion of pretax income to the account, similar to the option an individual has with less restriction in an IRA.  The benefit of the 401K plan is the often matching employer contribution.  Here the employer matches the employee’s contribution, up to a point, and adds those funds to the employee’s account.  It is important to envision this accumulated fund as the individual employee’s property.  If you ever paid into one, I bet you’ll agree.  I liken these types of plans to a group health insurance plan, only financial in nature.  This is a plan type whereby the individual funds the account but participates as a member of the group.  The group contracts with a third-party plan administrator and has a series of funds and investment options, but each individual has his or her own account inside the greater plan.  

The problem with these plans is the tyrannical and outright fascist restrictions on capital– your capital.  If you leave the company for whatever reason, it is no problem; you can roll the accumulated funds out into an IRA.  Therein lies the catch. If you want to access your money, you must quit your job!  That’s right, the corporate, banking, and government powers have all merged to withhold the control of trillions of dollars in 401k retirement plans.  It’s a complete racket.  I had one client tell me the words of his plan administrator were such that he had to die, quit his job, or pay penalties and taxes to get his own money back.  Keep in mind that not all employers provide matching contributions, meaning the entire accumulated fund would be paid in by the individual.

Don’t set the office on fire yet.  Some employers (about 16%) allow a little-known maneuver called an “in service” withdrawal.  If you have one of these plans and want to roll the money out to an IRA or IRA LLC for even further benefits, you may be eligible.  Some employers are more lenient and allow you to withdraw your own money at age brackets with percentage limits.  For example at age 50 you may be eligible to withdraw 80% of your balance, and at age 55, you can withdraw up to 90%, and so forth.  If you have attained age 59.5, you should be free to take taxable distributions with any plan or roll the balance out into a friendlier platform.  First check with your human resources representative or plan administrator to inquire about your options.

It is our mission to free individuals and their hard-earned money from the tyrannical grip of overreaching government.  If we can assist in any way we certainly will.  Feel free to reach out to us with questions or if you want to learn more about the IRA LLC concept and its benefits.  

Trust Yourself!

Will Lehr of Perpetual Assets

Scot’s Product Review: Grain Mills

Some call bread the staff of life. To make it you need flour, and that usually comes from wheat. Wheat is nutritious and can be turned into many tasty foods. Some argue that wheat made the original Old Testament cities in the Mideast possible, since it could be transported and stored so easily. Storage is of special import to a prepper, and many of us keep wheat as a key item in our long-term preparations.

The part that we use is called the wheat berry. That’s the kernel. Most of the time, it is milled into flour. Keeping the kernels intact, however, is the best way to store wheat, since flour deteriorates fairly quickly. While wheat can be used without milling into flour, it would get really boring after a while. This means that if we are going to store wheat, we really need a way to mill it.

Beyond storing it, a big advantage of milling your own flour is that you will have healthier flour. A lot of the nutrition in wheat is in oils that turn rancid if not separated from the flour. Commercial millers remove these oils, since their flour must sit on shelves in stores. Since we are going to use our flour quickly, this isn’t an issue. We get to keep all the nutrition from the wheat berry and put it in our bread. There are also a lot of things, in addition to bread, we can make with wheat once we mill it. Pasta and pastries come to mind, along with cereals and biscuits.

Choosing a grain mill will depend on your goals for your wheat. If are buying a mill solely for a SHTF grid down situation, you want a manual one to stash with your wheat. If you plan to make all your own flour starting now (a good plan in my view), an electric is very alluring. Flip a switch, do some other chore in the kitchen and come back to fresh flour. A very strong case can be made that it is good to have two, one electric and the other manual, just in case. If you have the funds, that is probably the best plan.

Be sure to mill some wheat, even if you don’t plan to regularly make bread before the SHTF. You want to be sure it works. You also want to be aware of how long it takes to make flour and how much energy you need to do it. Hand milling flour involves work. You also want to be sure you can successfully make bread. It does take some practice. It is also good for your family to know what a hearty, full-flavored loaf of bread tastes like. Most people like it, but for some, it is a bit of a shock.

I’m primarily dealing with milling wheat in this review. Both of these mills will, however, grind other stuff, but

the manual grinder is far more versatile. That might make it good to have, even if you have electricity.

WonderMill Electric Grain Mill

The WonderMill Electric Grain Mill is on loan from the nice folks at WonderMill. It is going to be very hard to send back. It is stunningly fast and makes flour in one pass without problem. It will even make ultra-fine pastry flour in one quick run. WonderMill claims it can mill over 100 lbs. an hour. I didn’t try that, but it milled four cups of flour for a loaf of bread in what seemed an instant.

The WonderMill does heat the flour when it mills. Some folks are disturbed by mills that heat the flour, fearing a loss of nutrition. Although I’m not a nutritionist and have no means of conducting scientific tests, I don’t worry about it. After all, I’m about to pop it into a 350 degree oven. I might be concerned, if I were going to store the flour for any length of time, but a driving reason for milling one’s own flour is that fresh flour is better flour. Why store it when you can mill so easily with the WonderMill?

The WonderMill uses teeth on revolving plates to micronize the grain. It can handle most dry grains, legumes, and lentils. They have a page to show everything it can handle. Small grains require an attachment to feed properly through the mill. It cannot be used with oily or wet materials, so no coffee beans.

A REALLY nice feature of the WonderMill is that it catches the flour in a separate canister, and it catches EVERYTHING that comes from the mill except air. I’ve been used to mills that liberally spread flour and bits of wheat around the kitchen. As one who hates cleaning, it is a big plus to stop this mess. There is even a filter so that the air pushed from the canister by the mill doesn’t carry dust into the kitchen. They give you a spare filter, too.

The flour, by the way, made an excellent loaf in our elderly Hitachi bread machine. It had a pleasing crust and a soft, finely textured interior. It made great toast and sandwiches. A problem for many of us in using home ground flour is getting it fine enough for this sort of bread. I enjoy coarse breads, but they don’t work well for toast and sandwiches, so this is a big plus.

The only problem I have with the WonderMill derives from our cramped kitchen. It is a bit large, compared to some other mills. The detachable canister system that catches the flour and dust adds to the bulk, but I think it is worth the space.

WonderMill gives a limited lifetime warranty on the unit. Their web pages list a number of endurance tests and cases of people using them commercially to grind prodigious amounts of flour. I suspect the average family will have trouble wearing this thing out.

The unit comes with a nice instruction book. It says not to start the mill with grain in it and to not stop while grain is being milled. A video on their site, however, says this is ok. I checked with WonderMill, and they say the older version of the mill had a weaker motor. The current motor can handle stops and starts, though it is still best to keep it running until all the grain in the hopper has been milled.

Wonder Junior Deluxe

The Wonder Junior Deluxe mill uses a totally different strategy to mill wheat. You are the motor, not Mr. Electricity. This is important. It takes time and energy to convert wheat to flour with any manual mill. I get some help from my nine-year-old, but he runs out of steam about half-way through making the four cups of flour we use in most of our loaves. The hand cranking is good exercise, though. There are some options to motorize it that I will cover later, but primarily, this is a manual tool.

You can make the crank easier to turn by running things through twice. The first time breaks it into chunks; the second time makes it fine. It obviously takes longer to do it this way, and I think it consumes the same amount of energy overall, but the crank is easier to turn. This might help someone with low strength and high endurance. My nine-year-old prefers this, but he doesn’t want to stick around for the second pass.

I complained earlier about mills that spread wheat and flour about. WonderMill came up with a guide that fits around the stones on the Junior Deluxe. It does a great job of guiding the flour into a wide mouthed cup. Things don’t stay quite as clean as with the WonderMill, but it is far better than the other two mills I’ve used. A smooth steady pace helps with this. My son can get jerky, which causes more spreading of food bits.

The flour guide is a bit fussy to fit. You have to hold the crank pushed in while attaching the burrs, holding the guide in place, and screwing in the adjustment knob. It took me a couple of tries to get it down, but you can do it solo.

The Junior uses stones that rub together to mill wheat and other dry grains into flour. It is even more versatile than the WonderMill, though, thanks to the set of steel burrs included in the Deluxe kit. With the steel burrs, you can grind oily beans and even make peanut butter. It worked quite well for coffee. You can grind coffee all the way down to an espresso grade if you like. To see everything you can do with the Junior, check out the “what will it grind” page in the manual.

One of the other things I really like about the Junior is the clamp system it uses to hold it to a counter. You can bolt it down, but it’s nice to be able to move it out of the way when not using it. The clamp makes that easy. More important, though, is that it keeps the mill solidly mounting while you are using it. A lot of force is generated when cranking it, and a lesser clamp allows the mill to come loose and fly off the counter. I had that problem with another manual mill before making a better base for it.

The Junior can be used with alternative power. There is an adapter to allow you to turn the mill with the power of a drill (though it needs to be a pretty powerful one). WonderMill also sells a pulley that replaces the handle, and with some ingenuity (as shown in the videos they post) you can connect the mill to an assortment of power sources. Electric motors are one route, while others have used bicycles. The bike seems like the best plan to me, as it would work in a grid down scenario. Legs are stronger than arms, so you should be able to get more wheat milled with leg power than by hand cranking.

I made good bread with the wheat I ran through the Junior. I think that the flour from the WonderMill was a little better, but I haven’t spent enough time futzing with adjustments on the Junior. I think I could get the flour slightly finer, once I learn the machine better. Part of my problem is fear of setting it too tight and damaging the stones. I suspect I am being too cautious.

Incidentally, the WonderMill site is worth poking around on. They have a number of videos and articles that are very helpful. There is an excellent one on adjusting the Junior.

Overall, I am very impressed with both mills, and I’m planning to buy them. That means a negative profit from writing this review, but my preps will be better. So it goes. – SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Scot Frank Eire

Recipe of the Week: Beef Strogannoff

How to Make that Meat Go Further

People can be very picky eaters, but down the road that may not always be an available luxury. People will also start in a litany of “I don’t eat mustard, or onions, or garlic, or mushrooms, or whatever.” (This is not to be confused with a legitimate food allergy!) Remember, a recipe is a combination of pleasing ingredients that impart delightful flavors and textures. Think about liquid vanilla extract. It smells out-of-this-world, but it tastes like nothing you would want you eat. Sugar must be added to make it edible.

The following recipe uses meat extenders, so you can feed a small family with filling, nutritious ingredients. Onions and mushrooms are associated with beef and can be used to make servings larger. I’ve read that very strict Hindus will not eat onions because they are so closely associated with beef– a forbidden and sacred animal.

Ingredients:

  • 6 oz ground beef
  • 1 small can of mushrooms stems and pieces diced into small pieces, saving water in can
  • 3 tbsp olive oil, more if desired
  • 1/2 onion diced
  • 1 clove garlic diced
  • 1/2 carton sour cream
  • 1/2 cup or more of catsup
  • 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Sauté onion in olive oil until golden.
  2. Add garlic and sauté only 1 minute, so it won’t burn.
  3. Now add drained, diced mushrooms and sauté for 3 minutes on medium heat. Remove from heat and set aside.
  4. At this point, people in the house will ask, “What’s for supper?” because it smells so wonderful. Brown ground beef until totally crumbled and cooked through.
  5. Now, combine onion and mushroom mixture with ground beef.
  6. Stir in catsup, mushroom water, and sour cream.
  7. Completely mix until well-coated. Add a little water if mixture is too thick. Your entree has now doubled in size from the original 6 ounces of meat.

Serve over noodles or toast or oven roasted potatoes. By using a wheat product, like noodles or toast, the total protein in the meal is increased. Wheat has amino acids but is an incomplete protein. By combining with a complete protein, like the beef, it becomes complete and the meal is even more loaded.

Serves 2-4, depending on portion size

Storage and pantry application:

  • Freeze dried or dehydrated onion
  • Freeze dried ground beef or your own canned ground beef, if you are into that
  • Dried sour cream
  • Dehydrated or canned mushrooms

From the garden: Garlic, Onion, Potatoes

On hand: Condiments

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Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlogreaders? Please send it viae-mail. Thanks!

Letter Re: The Little Things, by Claymor

Hello Hugh,

In the recent post entitled “The Little Things“, writer Claymor mentions the importance of water and of providing for a means of treating non-potable water. I certainly agree with this, however he goes on to assert “If you’re lucky you’ll die from dehydration before giardia takes claim.” This may not be the case.

Every reputable survival school in the country teaches the same thing– if faced with the choice between drinking questionable water and suffering the effects of serious dehydration, you should (almost) always err on the side of drinking the water. The reasons for this are several: the negative effects of severe dehydration are rapid and immediately dangerous and will progress rapidly. Further, if the water source is merely questionable (as opposed to confirmed to be contaminated), then there is the chance also that it is safe. However the result of not drinking it (dehydration, possible death) are certain. Finally, even if your chosen water source is contaminated, many of the enteric pathogens people fear (giardia, hep A, cryptosporidium, et cetera) have an incubation period of days to weeks. That means you may be without symptoms for that amount of time, giving you time to: #1 survive the immediate crisis of no water and #2 prepare for the possibility that you may come down with some unpleasant diarrhea. Invasive diarrhea is no laughing matter to be sure, but it is treatable and at least in the healthy and strong, very survivable even with minimal medical infrastructure. Treatment of invasive diarrhea is a topic for another day (or a search of the SB archives), but it is done every day in the developing world. Lastly, there is a surprisingly large percentage of the population which may be exposed to giardia, even colonized by it, and even become a carrier of it, without ever developing symptoms. Death by dehydration, however, is symptomatic for everyone.

Surely treating your water and preparing ahead of time for that possible need is best. But lacking the means to do so, don’t be like the desert visitor who dies next to a water hole because he lacks the means to purify it. All the best, – j

Letter Re: Generators And Their Proper Implementation During TEOTWAWKI/Disasters

Excellent article about generator usage. I might mention that when using a portable generator there is a better option than running an extension cord to an outlet and then cutting off the main breaker. You can buy a manual transfer switch that will allow you to wire selected circuits in your breaker panel through the transfer switch. After plugging up and starting the generator, you flip breakers on the transfer switch. This transfers the selected circuits to the generator output and isolates them from the main incoming power. These switches are readily available at almost any home improvement store or electrical supply store. These switches are easily installed with basic electrical knowledge. This is a much safer option and will protect both the homeowner and the lineman working on the outage. Thanks, – S.R.

HJL Replies: That is an excellent idea and one that the blog has covered many times in the past. All it takes is one careless moment to put a utilities lineman at risk for electrocution. These transfer switches should be standard in any home that is using any form of backup AC through the regular wiring.

Economics and Investing:

What does $600,000 buy you in Southern California real estate? A look at Pasadena, Arcadia, and Torrance. Some boomers cashing in their housing lottery ticket.

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Items from The Economatrix:

This Is Why Hewlett Packard Just Announced Another 16,000 Job Cuts

Why Are Boomers Cashing Out In Droves? Because “Everyone Understands The Market Went Crazy Last Year”

Richard Russell – More U.S. Lies As The Public Is Going Broke

Video: Peter Schiff: Brace For Impact!

Odds ‘n Sods:

If the grid fails, will you die?. So you think that we will simply revert to the 1800 and move on with life? Try the early middle ages instead.

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U.S. Media Bias: Three large media outlets reporting on the shooting/stabbing in California, CNN, Boston Herald, and NY Daily News, and not one of them mentions the three stabbings, only the shootings. I have to find out about it in the UK based Daily Mail. – T.P.

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Physical Limits to Food Security: Water and Climate – J.W.

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Tampa welcomes “Invasion Force” – T.Y. An interesting news report on a Special Forces convention and the mock invasion performed for an audience. I do hope the news reporter learns the difference between an “Apache” helicopter and an “MH-6 little bird” at the convention though.

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Wyden: “Every American Has The Right To Know When Their Govt. Believes It Is Allowed To Kill Them” – H.L.

Notes for Sunday – May 25, 2014:

Today we present another entry for Round 52 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $11,000+ worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course (a $1,195 value),
  2. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  3. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any of their military surplus gear,
  5. A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $300 value),
  6. A $300 gift certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
  7. A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
  8. A roll of $10 face value in pre-1965 U.S. 90% silver quarters, courtesy of GoldAndSilverOnline.com, (currently valued at around $180 postpaid),
  9. Both VPN tunnel and DigitalSafe annual subscriptions from Privacy Abroad (a combined value of $195),
  10. KellyKettleUSA.com is donating both an AquaBrick water filtration kit and a Stainless Medium Scout Kelly Kettle Complete Kit with a combined retail value of $304,
  11. APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit, and
  12. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $300 gift certificate.

Second Prize:

  1. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  2. A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100-foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
  3. Acorn Supplies is donating a Deluxe Food Storage Survival Kit with a retail value of $350,
  4. The Ark Instituteis donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package–enough for two families of four, seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book “Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times”, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate– a $325 retail value,
  5. $300 worth of ammo from Patriot Firearms and Munitions. (They also offer a 10% discount for all SurvivalBlog readers with coupon code SVB10P),
  6. A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials,
  7. A full set of all 26 books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
  8. Two cases of meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value),
  9. Autrey’s Armory – specialists in AR-15, M4s, parts, and accessories is donating a $250 gift certificate,
  10. Dri-Harvestfoods.com in Bozeman, Montana is providing a prize bundle with Beans, Buttermilk Powder, Montana Hard Red Wheat, Drink Mixes, and White Rice, valued at $333,
  11. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $150 gift certificate, and
  12. Organized Prepper is providing a $500 gift certificate.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security,
  5. A MURS Dakota Alert Base Station Kit with a retail value of $240 from JRH Enterprises,
  6. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances, and
  7. Ambra Le Roy Medical Products in North Carolina is donating a bundle of their traditional wound care and first aid supplies, with a value of $208.
  8. SurvivalBased.com is donating a $500 gift certificate to their store.

Round 52 ends on May 31st, 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.

Generators And Their Proper Implementation During TEOTWAWKI/Disasters, by RKM

I want to share useful generator information so that serious and possibly dangerous pitfalls can be avoided and tactical efficiencies can be realized.

Outside Only: First, there is an important warning– generators MUST be run and exhausted OUTSIDE! Carbon monoxide can and will kill you with no warning. Carbon monoxide has no smell or taste. Of course there are things you can do to run one inside, but that involves technical issues not covered here. Be careful and plan accordingly!

Our emergency implementation: On August 23rd of 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck Southeastern Louisiana and Mississippi. Fortunately, I was living in Southwest Louisiana, and I was no longer a Louisiana State Trooper that had to worry about going to New Orleans to help. In the following two weeks, though, all of the people pitched in at churches to send things to help out the disaster victims. Our churches in Lake Charles and the surrounding communities were also taking in some of the refugees (and later other cities outside of Louisiana did the same).

On September 18th, though, things changed; Hurricane Rita formed and was headed our way. In a family meeting on that Wednesday, it was decided that we were evacuating. As a former Louisiana State Trooper, I knew evacuation was going to be as dangerous as staying; the roads would be packed (think TEOTWAWKI), and drivers would be tired and fuel scarce. Within one hour though our entire plan to evacuate changed. My (now) ex-wife’s company– a major gulf coast helicopter provider– had forgotten about ten pilots that had come in for training and now had no way to leave with the airport quickly closed down. Feeling responsible for these people, we offered our home and made preparations to ride out the storm.

Fortunately, I had already located and purchased a 9KW Troy-Bilt generator (13K surge) that someone coming into the area had picked up for me in San Antonio, Texas, on their way into my area. (Southeast Texas was still in the “cone of impact”, and all of Southeast Texas was sold out of generators.) I started gathering fuel cans and filling them, cutting plywood, boarding up windows, and gathering what supplies were available in the area stores, which soon dwindled to nothing after the first day of being “in the cone of impact” for Rita. I then made contact with all of my neighbors to determine what their plans were. I quickly found out we were the only ones staying, but my neighbors gladly donated their refrigerator contents to us. They really didn’t want to deal with the mess post-hurricane after power outages. One neighbor had just purchased a side of Black Angus beef! Most had milk, eggs, and bacon. We ate very well on the Friday of Rita’s landfall! I grilled steaks and fried bass, red fish, and catfish. We boiled shrimp. My refrigerator and extra freezer were full.

To get power to the house from the generator, we rigged up an electrical cord that we ran through the dryer vent and plugged it into the dryer outlet (with that breaker switched off), safely connecting it to the electrical panel. The other end connected to another heavy-duty extension cord and then to our new generator. I had the generator in the back yard, away from the house, to keep the noise level down in the house. I had figured out which breakers needed to be switched off once we went on to generator power and labeled them. IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTICE: Once the power goes out and before you run or engage your generator, you MUST shut off the main breaker, normally at the top of the panel and labeled “main.” This prevents “back feed” to the utility lines that could easily kill an electrical company lineman. (You would certainly not want to be responsible for that!) Once the power went out, we simply had to throw the appropriate breakers– open the main thereby disconnecting the home from the incoming utility line, open all of the non-essential breakers, and then close the dryer outlet breaker allowing the generator to feed the house through the electrical panel. Then we had to start the generator, and we would be set. We had two rooms in the house that had small 110 volt air conditioners that could keep the room cool for sleeping (from Sears).

My step-son and I made one trip out on the town that Friday afternoon around 1 pm. The winds were low at this point, but the clouds in the sky were swirled as the outer band of the hurricane approached. The streets were completely barren. I could have used Interstate 10 east and west for a tank gunnery range! One gas station in our town was open and running. I topped off the truck, filled up two more five-gallon cans, and chatted with the owners as to their plans. They were riding it out and bringing the station on-line after with a generator. My in-laws, at this point, had been on the road evacuating since Thursday morning. They traveled 20 miles in twelve hours! By Friday afternoon they had made it to a friend’s apartment in Monroe, Louisiana after driving 20 hours total! This is normally a three and a half hour trip, at most. At one point in the trip my father-in-law had fallen asleep at the wheel, but since they were all only traveling about 2-3 MPH nothing was hurt other than his pride when he rear-ended the car in front of him. If they had left Friday morning, they could have made the trip easily in the two and half hours it normally takes. You just had to have some place to go though as every hotel in Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and east Texas were full. They reported there were no gas stations open, or they did not have gas. When my father-in-law ran out of gas at one point (after only 75 road miles from our community) and pulled to the side of the road, he lucked out because a good friend of his was a few cars behind and gave him two spare, five-gallon cans of gas.

The hurricane force winds started hitting too hard to stay outside around 9pm that Friday evening. The power stayed on until around 11pm. In anticipation of losing the power, I had run the A/C full blast to keep the house cool through the night. Once the power went out, the generator could not run the house A/C units (due to the small size of the generator and heavy starting load of the A/C units). All we would have for A/C would be the two small units in the bedrooms for who knows how long. The waiting began, and everyone tried to settle down and relax, but the noise outside was a persistent roaring noise with the noise level growing by the hour.

I eventually fell asleep in my bedroom, while my (now ex) wife and the children hid in an interior bathroom on a mattress for fear of a building collapse or tornado impact. I’ll never forget the noise at 2 am. When I awoke, one of my neighbor’s little metal storage building went airborne and hit the roof right over my head! It was, you know, the kind you bought at Sears for storing your lawn mower. That impact caused all of the water damage my house suffered as it peeled off a huge patch of both shingles and tar paper. I had quite a few patches on the roof where one, two, or even three shingles flew off, but that did not cause any more than a drip or two. I was now awake and alert. The noise level continued to rise to a peak at around 3:30 or 4:00am. It was incredible. Each burst of wind seemed to intensify as it hit the boarded up windows. My home seemed to be doing very well with its brick veneer. Even though we were on a water well, there was enough pressure in the air bladder tank that we had water for toilets and the sinks though the storm. With the power off, I had multiple electric lanterns in each room, and everyone had a flashlight. It was too warm to even think of using a gas lantern, so I kept them in their cabinets.

Around 7am the next morning (Saturday), the wind was still blowing steadily at around 40mph but low enough to peak out at the neighborhood. It was ugly! One neighbor has lost his entire roof down to the plywood. (It had rained about twelve to fourteen inches by this point.) One neighbor had several tree branches and a couple of 2×4’s sticking out of the windward side of his windows. My next door neighbor’s metal storage building was in my front yard, and I had lost a willow tree in the front yard as well. My wood panel fence was down in the back yard as well as every other neighbor’s, so I now had a great view into many of the yards surrounding mine.

At 9am the wind had died down enough that we could go out and remove the plywood off of the windows to start letting light in. My front door was recessed about five feet and had also been covered to protect the glass panels in it. As we removed this I went back out into the front yard. I immediately noticed an unfamiliar car parked in the middle of the street between the first two homes on our street. (We lived on a dead end street.) I saw two of the occupants get out, and one each go to the first two neighbor’s homes. I ducked back into my front door alcove and had my step-son hand me my lever action .444 rifle. As I came back out of the alcove, the driver saw me and started leaving with his two buddies running hard to catch up. I did not shoot either in the back; I never saw them again. I waited two hours on the side of our main road for a deputy sheriff to drive by. When they did, both deputies stated that the sheriff wanted all looters shot! Our 911 service and most cell service was still down at this point. It was weird. Verizon was out as well as AT&T, but Sprint could get calls in but not out.

The day after impact, I started checking with neighbors to my rear and several streets over. We started hearing about multiple generator thefts. I had already locked mine up with a long cable with swaged (looped) ends and a very large padlock that I had. I locked it to a brick post at my shop in the back yard. We later heard that the thieves would start your lawn mower and leave it running, so you wouldn’t notice the generator shut off. Since there were no fences anymore, we lost a bit of security and privacy. You could easily see three blocks over in most cases.

Maintenance: The generator required three oil changes in the one week (every 100 hours plus the initial break in period) that we had to run it. I had purchased oil filters, 30 SAE oil, and two extra spark plugs that Thursday before the hurricane hit, so oil changes were not a problem. My generator has a 4.5 gallon tank, but that is only good for 7.5 hours of run time at a heavy load. For refueling, you had to shut it off, as you cannot chance any accident during a crisis, and it’s prudent to avoid one at anytime. (The gasoline can instantly ignite if dropped onto a hot exhaust manifold.) I would check the oil, refill the tank, and look over the generator for any faults during refueling. After using 130 gallons of gasoline, I decided on the spot that I would convert my generator to propane. There are good quality kits on the Internet for propane conversions. I went with pure propane instead of tri-fuel and never looked back. The kit was easy to install, and I have not had any problems. The best thing is that I never have to preserve gasoline again. I can never go back to gasoline though, which is a consideration. In this day of food fuel, aka ethanol, most small engines are not designed to burn ethanol. They do not have the correct materials to resist the ethanol. This may not be a short-term problem, but long term (I still have the same generator) you may experience carburetor and fuel line problems. Another concern during our post-hurricane experience was gasoline storage. I had twenty 5-gallon jugs of gasoline in my back yard. Locking the generator up was easy, but I did not have another cable to lock the gas cans up. I did not want to store them in my shop, nor could I just leave them outside. I ended up erecting a lean-to with sections of my downed fence. Propane does not have this problem if you have an in-ground tank. I now have a 500 gallon in-ground tank, and I have plumbed off a line just for my generator. I have had zero starting or storage issues with this setup.

After action review: One act that really helped us out immensely was taking in a boarder. After Hurricane Katrina we took in a friend of my step-daughter from the affected New Orleans area; she had to attend school somewhere for her scholarship eligibility to not falter. We took her in to help her out. After Hurricane Rita hit, her father was able to bring in another 100 gallons of gasoline and a couple of other essential items. Remember how hot it was– 97 degrees in the shade? Cold drinks on ice really were refreshing.

Caring for your generator-post disaster: Rather than run my generator weekly, I have properly stored it. I had previously drained the gas (pre-propane days), then added Marvel Mystery Oil to the tank (just a few ounces), and then run the generator dry. After that, I removed the spark plug and then misted the piston chamber with Marvel Mystery Oil. (I used Mercury outboard storage oil once too with good effect.) I then turned the motor over a couple of cranks to work the oil in, put the spark plug back in, and reconnected it. I purchased and hooked up a trickle charger and plugged that in. Now I run the generator about every three to six months (on propane) and put a load on the generator. This keeps the generator in good order. I then re-mist the piston cylinder. I don’t have to re-do the carb with Marvel as I am using the propane now.

I have since replaced the tires with solid rubber wheels. Unless you have a permanent mount, there are times when it is really convenient to roll your generator around, for example to the shop for repairs. It is much cheaper to bring a generator to someone than have them come to you. I have also used mine for my camper (using a small propane cylinder) and to reach jobs that were too far for an extension cord.

Another tip I learned for security is to paint my generator bright orange and put my name and phone number in several places. I also recorded the serial number. It might not keep it from getting stolen, but it makes it harder to pass on in quasi legitimate transactions. Right after Rita passed, quite a few characters showed up in shopping mall parking lots with generators for sale. Our local police and sheriff department shut them down for moving stolen property. The generators all looked “nearly new”, so were probably stolen from other areas and moved in just for the occasion.

Whole house generators: A friend of mine purchased a whole house generator after Rita. Her mom stayed in her home while my friend went on vacation for a week. Right after my friend left there was a thunderstorm that knocked out some power lines. Her mother thought everything was great as the generator kicked on and was large enough (17 KW) to run the A/C units for four days! When my friend got her propane bill at the end of the month, she almost passed out; it was $1000 for four full days! If you use a whole house generator, the key is to run the generator at night to run ceiling fans and lights, tankless water heater, 110 volt A/C’s, et cetera. This keeps your refrigerator (if you lower its thermostat as well) cold enough to keep your food stored at a safe temperature during the day. Also, mind to keep people from opening the refrigerator door frequently for snacks.

Tactically, generators are a non starter. My generator now has a muffler from Tractor Supply on it. It is still LOUD. In my U.S. Army days the 10 and 40 KW generators were deafening. It will be like a flame for the moths if you are the only one with a generator. Either use a solar power/battery setup or my suggestion in this case is to buy a small one, like a Honda 1000 watt generator, since they are very quiet; they’re not silent but good enough if you live out in the country, like I do. Honda and other brands also have propane-powered generators, so you can keep it on the same fuel. My home has a tankless water heater and a new refrigerator, so a 1000 watt generator can run all night and do the very few things I need it to do. If I need to run an A/C (Louisiana is hot during the summer/fall hurricane season!), then I have to run the larger generator. If you have a regular water heater then now is a good time to go tankless, since the big electric ones use a lot of electricity and pull a heavy amp load to heat water. The tankless propane heaters only use a very tiny amount of electricity to run the igniter (12 VDC). I also do not recommend the combination welder-generators as one friend got one (it was all he could find at that point). His drank even more gas than mine and was even louder.

More safety reminders: Do not run your generator in the garage or in your home! Between Katrina and Rita, several people died from carbon monoxide poisoning. In each case people did not want their generators stolen but got more than they bargained for. I also keep a 40lb fire extinguisher with my generator. When I am using the generator, I place the fire extinguisher near the generator. I can use it for the generator if need be.

Other considerations: Right now heavy extension cords are not cheap, but they are essential and easy to find. Figure out where you will post your generator, and then get at least a 10-gauge cord of the appropriate length to connect to the house. Unless you understand electricity perfectly, you need an electrician to wire up a 220 volt outlet on the outside of your home near where the generator will be placed. Why 220? Well, most large generators can produce 220 volts. Send this to your home electric panel and let your breaker panel decide what is and is not energized. There may be a reason why you need to run your 220 volt dryer. (I have a propane dryer that runs off of 110 volts.) You may have a 220 volt well pump. Whatever, it gives you flexibility. If not, make sure there is a 110 volt outlet near your generator location. Then take an extension cord and cut off the female end and attach a male/pronged end to it. This will allow you to plug one end into the outlet on the outside of your home and one end to the output outlet on your generator. This is the safest method I have seen of hooking a generator to your home in a temporary manner. A whole-house generator permanently wired in with automatic switches is the safest method. Don’t forget to buy heavy locks and cables with swaged (looped) ends for securing your generator. Now they are cheap, but if your generator is stolen your whole game plan must change. Lastly, have fuel cans or propane bottles/an in-ground tank. Get them and fill them on a dollar-cost average basis. Rather than fuel up at once (both propane or gasoline), take the long look and space it out. You can order 25-35 gallons of propane a month as part of a route pricing with your local company. Pretty soon that 500 gallon tank will be full, regardless of the pricing of propane; the same goes with gasoline. Use Pri-G to preserve all of your gasoline and rotate it. I used to put the oldest in my suburban and then refill the empty gas can and re-preserve it. Where I am at now (North Carolina), I do not have the option to buy non-ethanol gasoline (another good reason to convert to propane). Make sure your preservative can handle ethanol gasoline (as well as your generator) or get a preservative that can.

Generator quality: You get what you pay for! Honda, Briggs and Stratton, Koheler, Genset, and Generac are but a few of the quality manufacturers out there. Right now is the time to research and find a quality generator that will fit your needs. On a Field Training Exercise (FTX) I was walking near a 5KW commercial generator that blew the head off as I walked by. It had the gasoline tank mounted across the top of it (so the evidence of what a hunk of junk it was would burn up). Most of the popular brands are or have multi-fuel capabilities. Whatever you buy, make sure you buy the proper consumables: filters (air and fuel), oil, spark plugs, et cetera. Do not forget these items. Also, remember that “one is none and two is one!” If you do not have the repair parts and skill, then once your generator stops you can be in trouble and have to change your whole game plan! Plan accordingly.

Lastly: SAFETY ALWAYS! Hearing protection! Wear it when you are around your generator. They are loud, and your home’s walls reflect the sound which can make it worse. GASOLINE AND PROPANE ARE FLAMMABLE. Act accordingly!

I hope this helps. Get ready now before bad weather or bad events happens to prevent making costly mistakes.

Letter: .22 Training Ammo Availability

Hello Hugh,

Just wanted to offer this information about the availability of .22LR ammo for training purposes for youth under 18. As many readers of the blog are aware, the Appleseed Project is a leader in rifle marksmanship education and telling the story of the history, choices, and sacrifices made by the men and women of the founding generation on April 19th, 1775 (first battle of the Revolutionary War). The value of the knowledge gained, both in practical skill gain using a rifle and in increased knowledge of our shared heritage, cannot be overstated, with the price for a weekend of instruction at only $60 for adults , $20 for youth, and free for active military, law enforcement, and elected officials.

For the last year or so, however, attendance at Appleseed shoots nationwide has plateaued to some extent, due in large part to the difficulty in obtaining .22LR ammo. (For time’s sake most of the shooting takes place at 25 meters using scaled down targets representing ranges out to 400 meters.) This year thanks to grants from Federal and CCI ammunition makers, many state Appleseed chapters now have access to .22 ammo for use by youth (under 18) shooters at Appleseed events. If you know any young people who would benefit from hearing the stories of the founding of this country and learning the safe and effective use of a rifle, there has never been a better time, since with their ammo more available, it is that much less you need to scrounge for your own use! Just make sure you contact your local state Appleseed coordinator prior to signing up to make sure there will be ammo for you at the shoot you wish to attend.

The Appleseed Project is the primary focus of the Revolutionary War Veteran’s Association, a 501(c)3 education non-profit. – J.S.