Letter: Shopping for Storage Foods at COSTCO

Dear Jim,
I just returned from COSTCO on big “stock up” trip for my retreat. (My family retreat/cabin is 155 miles away, and COSTCO is less than 20 miles away from my house.) Aside for maybe driving over 300 miles to Salt Lake City to buy from one of the big storage food companies, is there any better way to stock up, without my UPS driver knowing [what I’m getting]? Am I missing something, or is COSTCO the way to go?

Thanks, – L.D.M.

JWR Replies: As I mentioned in the Rawles Gets You Ready Preparedness Course, shopping at Big Box stores like COSTCO is indeed one of the most time-efficient and cost-effective ways to stock up on staple foods. I still highly recommend that. In recent years, COSTCO has expanded their line to include some specialized long term storage foods in large #10 cans. Some or them are certified organic, and some are gluten free. But there are of course lots of bargain prices on rice, beans, sugar, flour, pancake mixes, and may other foods that are packed in sacks or boxes. My preparedness course describes exactly how to re-package bulk foods to maximize their nutritive shelf life, and protect them from mice.

Two Letters Re: Route Security

Route Security by Chuck S. was a good article, but I would add a few things:
 
–          Newer cars will have daylight running lights and some basic tools may be needed to disable them for real covert night travel.
–          If you can afford them, and practice using them, NVGs are great for covert night travel.
–          Relying on Fuel en route is a gamble. Ideally, carry the fuel you need to get to your destination. For that, you should have a fuel supply stored and rotated. Use proper storage containers and procedures for safety. Use fuel stabilizer to ensure freshness of fuel and protect your engine.
–          Have tools and experience siphoning gas from abandoned cars.
–          Plan to use up to double your normal fuel consumption in a car evacuation due to:
o   Detours to avoid road blocks and traffic
o   Engine running in idle in a traffic jam situation
o   Higher than normal vehicle weight due to supplies carried
o   Charity fuel donation to stranded strangers (exercising proper operational security)

–          Carry tools and equipment to clear obstacles from roads:
o   Good bolt cutters
o   Chain saw and tow chains
o   Broom for glass or nails removal
o   Shovel
o   Snow removal equipment or chains if appropriate to your environment

–          Add a battery jump-starter with air compressor to the tools list
–          Plan for a good balance of persons to vehicles. You don’t want to overload your vehicles and if you can, you should have redundancy in case a vehicle becomes disabled, however you do not want to stretch your gas supplies to the limit just to have vehicle redundancy. For example, a family with 3 drivers and 3 smaller kids may want to leave with 2 vehicles instead of squeezing into one.
–          If possible, travel in a group of vehicles (Convoy) to increase security and provide redundancy. Ensure communications that do not rely on the grid (CB, or even better – FRS/GMRS with privacy codes). Perform proper briefing to establish procedures and responses to various events.
–          When bugging out of an urban area, traffic gridlocks are your biggest enemy. LEAVE EARLY! Having vehicle, equipment and personnel ready to go will make all the difference. Any advanced signs or warnings, interpreted correctly, will give you an advantage over the panicked masses. 1 hour can be the difference between getting to a safe destination or spending the night inside your car with hungry, panicked masses all around you. While the grid is still up, use traffic and road status data sources such as online/mobile navigation software to identify problems on route. Assess your urban area’s ability to evacuate on a large scale.
–          Do not rely on GPS – as mentioned in the article, paper maps are a required backup to any electronics that can be damaged or disabled.
–          Be able to leave your vehicles if needed and still survive and travel effectively. Packing your cars with supplies doesn’t mean that a bug-out bag or bug-out stroller is not needed. You should be able to leave your car, carrying or rolling supplies on foot, on a moment’s notice.
–          Do your best to camouflage your supplies. Towing an open trailer with a cornucopia of goodies such as water tanks, gas tanks and boxes of food just shouts “rob me”. Try to use closed trailers, tarp covers, or other more creative methods to disguise your supplies and eliminate yourself as a juicy target.
–          Many of us spend 1/3 of our lives at the office. Route planning, communications and supplies for travel from the office to your house are just as important as bugging out from your house to a bug out location. – H.P.

Jim:
A recent article on Route Security by Chuck S. in your blog mentioned:

“Road Atlas / Maps:
Purchase a large road atlas and use wet erase or permanent markers for marking of primary and secondary routes using different colors.”

I have a problem with that statement. 
 
After a High School football game a family discovered their car had been broken into.  One of the items stolen was the car’s GPS.  When the family arrived home they discovered the house had been burglarized too.  It was theorized that the thieves pressed “Home” on the stolen GPS which lead them straight to the car owner’s house!  Instead of entering your home address in the GPS as “Home” I would recommend entering the local Police Department or in my case the small town three miles from my house.
 
Having a road atlas with your destination clearly marked could lead undesirables straight to you!  What I would suggest is ending your marked route at the town before your BOL or at least 20 miles before.  Then if your map is taken from you [or circumstances force you to abandon it], the marked location will take the thieves to where you are not. – Robin in Indiana

Recipe of the Week

Kathy H.’ s One Pot Stuffed Pepper Stew:

1 lb. burger
1 small onion, chopped 
3 bell peppers cut into 1″ pieces (I like all different colors)
1 T. olive oil

1. In 5 qt. Dutch Oven. Saute all above ingredients until meat is browned about 5 min. Do not drain meat.   

1 c. rice (I used Mahatma Jasmine)
1 1/2 c. beef broth
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes (don’t drain)
1 tsp. seasonings of your choice.  basil, oregano, etc.  

2.  Add rice, broth, tomatoes, and seasonings. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover.  Cook rice for recommended time on package 15 min. (Until liquid is absorbed)

1 28 oz. can tomato sauce or 2-14 oz. cans
1-2 T. brown sugar (Start with 1 so it doesn’t become too sweet!)

3.  Pour sauce over mixture,stir, add brown sugar and warm.

This only takes about 20-30 min. to make.  This dish will continue to absorb the sauce and will get very rich and thick.  It is a great change of pace from chili.

Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

Stuffed Bell Pepper Recipes

Dad’s Stuffed Bell Peppers

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

Economics and Investing:

CNBC’s Rick Santelli tells Obama he can’t redistribute wealth if there is no wealth

The biggest export from America? The middle class. The tradeoff for cheap goods and financial cronyism is coming back in a big way.

Items from The Economatrix:

The Level Of Economic Freedom In The United States Is At An All-Time Low

When A Dollar Store Is Too Expensive: Growing Class Of Poor Americans Unable To Afford Items At Dollar Stores.

Disabled Veterans Get Back Pension Raises

Odds ‘n Sods:

Here is yet another great post from preparedness bloggers Frank and Fern: Baby Chicken Wrap Up.

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Reader D.C. suggested a fine essay over at Sipsey Street Irregulars: The Firearms and Ammunition of “Alas, Babylon”

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I’ve heard from several readers about the relatively new Remington Model 770 rifles, as a low-cost alternative to the better-known Model 700. These use 6-groove button-rifled barrels. Model 770 rifles can be found new and factory equipped with a 3-9×40 variable scope for less than $375, or less than $500 in the more weather-resistant stainless steel variant with a camouflage stock.  The scopes are already bore-sighted at the factory.  One of these rifles, along with a few spare 4-round detachable magazines is effectively an “off the shelf” counter-sniper rifle capable of 500+ yard shots on man-sized targets. For caliber commonality and a manageable recoil, most folks will want to buy one chambered in .308 Winchester with a 22-inch barrel. But if you live in elk, moose, or caribou country, or if you desire a very long range countersniper rifle, then experienced shooters might consider buying a second Model 770 chambered in .300 Winchester Magnum, with a 24-inch barrel. That would be a 700+ yard capable rifle, in well-trained hands. (For long range shooting training, I highly recommend Holland’s of Oregon.) – JWR

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Mark J. suggested this video by MainePrepper: Aladdin lamps–an introduction

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For a limited time, Camping Survival is offering a free LifeStraw as a bonus with the purchase of every Katadyn Pocket Water Filter. Just add a lifestraw to your cart before checkout, the discount will be applied automatically.

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Hooray! The filming of Part 3 of the Atlas Shrugged trilogy is scheduled to begin today. It is scheduled for release in mid-September, 2014.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“The Progressives, as Marxists like to call themselves, have had it pretty much their way for a hundred years now. Wilson’s era brought us the Federal Reserve and the IRS, and took state representation away from the Senate. Franklin Roosevelt’s era brought us the welfare state, “rule by commerce clause”, big unions and the military-industrial alliance. Since then we’ve seen the War On Poverty, which we lost, the War On Drugs—or Prohibition II which we’re also losing in the same way we lost Prohibition I, a debt-backed dollar and a huge, ever more coercive and entrenched government with an unhealthy liking for crisis, reckless spending, police-state methods, unconscionable corruption and seventy years of undeclared wars.” – Ol’ Remus, The Woodpile Report

Notes from JWR:

January 19th is the birthday of the late Carla Emery (born 1939, died October 11, 2005.) She is well known in self-sufficiency circles as the author of The Encyclopedia of Country Living. (Which was re-released in a 40th Anniversary edition.)

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Today we present another entry for Round 50 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $9,700+ worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course. (A $1,195 value.) B.) 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, and C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) a $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any of their military surplus gear, E.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $300 value), F.) A $300 Gift Certificate from Freeze Dry Guy. G.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo. H.) A roll of $10 face value in pre-1965 U.S. 90% silver quarters, courtesy of GoldAndSilverOnline.com. The current value of this roll is at least $225, I.) Both VPN tunnel and DigitalSafe annual subscriptions from Privacy Abroad. They have a combined value of $195. J.) 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. and K.) APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit.

Second Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training. Together, these have a retail value of $589. C.) A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100 foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com. D.) $300 worth of ammo from Patriot Firearms and Munitions. (They also offer a 10% discount for all SurvivalBlog readers with coupon code SVB10P.), E.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials F.)A full set of all 26 of the books published by PrepperPress.com. This is a $270 value, G.) Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value). H.) EP Lowers, makers of 80% complete fiber composite polymer lowers for the AR-15 rifles is donating a $250 gift certificate, I.) Autrey’s Armory — specialists in AR-15, M4s, parts and accessories– is donating a $250 gift certificate, and J.) 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.

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.), B.) 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, C.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value, D.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security., E.) A MURS Dakota Alert Base Station Kit with a retail value of $240 from JRH Enterprises. F.) Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances, and G.) Ambra Le Roy Medical Products in North Carolina is donating a bundle of their traditional wound care and first aid supplies. This assortment has a retail value of $208.

Round 50 ends on January 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.

When The Schumer Hits (Literally), by Prepper EMT

Many things will change in a SHTF scenario but one of the most life altering will be the lack of 24/7 medical care.  Many people today take little to no hands-on care of their own personal health, and they are more than happy to let the doctors and nurses at their local doctor’s office or hospital take care of it for them.  Unfortunately, the day when local healthcare services will not be available could be closer then a lot of us think.  With the ObamaCare debacle in full swing, it’s high time each and every one of us begins to take an active role in the management of our health.

As has been mentioned many times on the Survival Blog, making sure you are in shape is the single best thing you can do for your long and short term health.  Everything in your body works better when you are in shape.  You will be able to work better, heal faster and avoid all sorts of health problems from heart attacks to back injuries.  Everybody should also get some sort of medical training.  I recommend that every prepper take a basic EMT course.  You can usually find them at your local fire station or at convenient locations throughout your state.  Being an EMT gives you a good all around foundation in medicine.  You will be able to control bleeding, set bones, and give basic meds.  You can also volunteer with your local fire department which is an amazing way to meet the locals and help out your community.  It also gives you a great in with the local emergency services which will come in very handy WTSHTF. 

When most people think of medical problems they might encounter in a grid down situation, they usually think of broken bones, gun shot wounds and uncontrolled bleeding.  The reality is usually much less exciting, but just as deadly.  One of the single biggest causes of death in areas without medical care, such as third world countries, is diarrhea.  According to the WHO, diarrhea causes 4% of all deaths.  There are nearly 1.7 billion cases of diarrheal disease every year. Diarrheal disease is the second leading cause of death in children under five years old.  It kills over 760,000 children every year.  The worst part is that a significant proportion of diarrheal disease can be prevented through safe drinking-water and adequate sanitation.  In a world without clean water or food refrigeration, our country could quickly degenerate into a situation not unlike third world countries.

The single biggest cause of death from diarrhea is from dehydration.  When a bad bacteria gets into the large intestine, the body tries to move things on through quickly.  The small intestine comes first and is where the body extracts most of its nutrients.  Then the food matter travels into the large intestine, which is where the body absorbs most of its liquid and electrolytes.  Since the body can tell that there’s bacteria in the large intestine it tries to keep everything moving through, so it doesn’t have have time to absorb liquid.  Instead of absorbing for example, 90% of the liquid passing throughout the colon, now it only has time to absorb 10% of the liquid passing through.  This leads to acute dehydration and potentially death within several days. 

So, what can you do about diarrhea?  First, as with most things, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  As was said above, most diarrhea is caused by infectious agents, so you need to be very careful about the food and water you consume in case they contain bacteria.   All water should be boiled and then put through a Berkey water filter.  This will both kill most bacterial/viral particles that maybe in the water as well as removing any contaminants such as pesticide residue.  It tougher to make sure food is safe to eat.  Of course mold or decomposition is a dead give away, but it’s also important to take special consideration of food that’s left out for any amount of time, even if there is no external sign of spoilage.  If you are unsure about the condition of the food you can drink a teaspoon of raw apple cider vinegar (Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar is what I recommend) mixed with ½ a cup of water after each meal.  Apple cider vinegar has great anti bacterial properties and drinking a small amount after a meal has shown in some studies to help avoid food born illness.

Realistically, you will not be be able to avoid all bacteria, and eventually you or your loved ones will get diarrhea. How do you properly care for this illness?  The first issue that diarrhea causes, which is dehydration, is easy to remedy.  Give the patient lots of fluids!  The second, loss of electrolytes, is more serious.  First off, what are electrolytes and why are they a big deal?  Electrolytes are chemicals that become ions when they dissolve into a solution and become able to conduct electricity.  The proper ratio of fluid to electrolytes is critical to the proper functioning of cells and organs.  There are four main electrolytes that are important for us to consider, sodium, potassium, chloride, and bicarbonate.

Sodium is a major positive ion in the fluid outside of cells.  Sodium regulates the total amount of water in the body and so an imbalance in sodium results in either to much or too little water in your system, either of which can be fatal.  The movement of sodium in the brain, nervous system, and muscles helps in generating the electrical signals that these systems rely on for their operation and communication.  An imbalance in sodium can cause catastrophic organ failure and death.

An elevated level ratio of sodium in relation to water in the blood is called hypernatremia, this can be caused by many different factors including kidney disease and dehydration, but one of the very common causes is diarrhea.  Since the body is trying so hard to move everything in the large intestine along to help get rid of the virus, it cannot absorb enough liquid and hypernatremia results.  A decreased level of sodium in relation to water in the blood is called hyponatremia, and can be caused by many things including congestive heart failure or by drinking lots of liquid (water) without replenishing your sodium.  This is common in athletes and is why drinks such as gatorade are popular as they replenish sodium in the body.  A normal blood sodium level is 135 – 145 milliEquivalents/liter (mEq/L), but levels are hard to measure unless you get a doctor-ordered lab test. 

The next important electrolyte is potassium.  Potassium is the most important positive ion inside cells.  Potassium regulates the heart beat and muscle function, as you can imagine both critically important to the body.  Extremes in the potassium levels can effect the nervous system and increase the chances of irregular heart beats especially in older people or people with preexisting heart conditions.  Again, although hard to measure without a doctor ordered test the normal potassium blood levels are 3.5 – 5.0 milliEquivalents/liter (mEq/L).

Chloride is the major negative ion in the fluid outside cells and in the blood.  Like sodium, chloride helps the body maintain the proper balance of fluid and so extremes in the blood can have deleterious or fatal consequences. 

Last but not least is Bicarbonate.  Bicarbonate ions act as buffers to maintain normal levels of acidity in the blood and other bodily fluids.

Diarrhea causes all these electrolyte levels to get out of whack.  Sodium and Chloride levels often increase while Potassium and Bicarbonate levels frequently decrease.  The result is that many of the most important chemicals for the proper functioning of the body are not in the proper proportions, and this causes the body to begin shutting down.  Not good, especially when you are already compromised by a bacteria which is the root cause of all this. 

So, what can you do to prepare for diarrhea WTSHTF?  The most important thing you can do in the absence of medication to eradicate the infectious cause, and a lab to properly measure blood electrolyte levels, is to replenish the bodies store of fluids and electrolytes.  Preppers could store commercially available drinks such as Gatorade, especially the powder form but while such drinks are okay at replenishing liquid and electrolytes, they can be relatively expensive, and they have a lot of artificial colors and flavors which have bad long term health effects.  I recommend making a homemade electrolyte drink which is both easy to make with readily available ingredients, and will provide a good balance of electrolyte and nutrients that your sick body needs. 

The perfect recipe will have lots of water, salt, and citrus in it.  This is the recipe which I recommend, but feel free to experiment and modify it as you see fit.

Electrolyte replacement drink:

1 liter of water
1 teaspoon of salt
¼ cup of lemon juice
¼ cup of lime juice
1 tablespoon of honey
1/4 cup of dried, shredded coconut (optional)

In a survival situation there are much bigger ramifications to eating food that is tainted because the result will be a lot more severe then a quick trip to the doctor and a couple of sick days in bed.  If you or your loved one gets diarrhea, the best thing you can do is to give small doses of diluted apple cider vinegar three times a day, and keep hydrated with water and an electrolyte replacement.

Letter Re: Composition of U.S. Five Cent Coins

Hello,

I just read your article about stocking up on nickels.
You suggested requesting new “wrapped” (fresh Federal Reserve Bank issue) rolls but then there were updates regarding the [potential] change to steel nickels. I did additional research and it appears that the nickel is still made of 25% nickel and 75% copper. Correct?
So the suggestion would still be valid today. Correct?
Or is it better to not request “new” nickels?

Thanks, – Patrick F.

JWR Replies: To the best of my knowledge the composition of U.S. has NOT changed since 1946. Although there are tentative plans, there have not yet been any steel nickels minted in the U.S. (Although there are many steel nickels in Canada, including the current mintings. Be sure to search the SurvivalBlog archives for details, since the composition of Canadian nickels has changed dramatically over the years. For example, you will find articles like this: Advice on Canadian Nickels.)

Presently (as of January, 2014), when you request rolls of nickels in the United States they will all be 75% copper and 25% nickel, unless you get lucky and a roll might include one or two War Nickels. Those are composed of 56% copper, 35% silver and 9% manganese, and they will be dated 1943, 1944, or 1945. They are also recognizable by their extra-large mint marks on the reverse. It is quite rare to find any War Nickels still in circulation.

Letter Re: How To Use Your IRA /401k to Fund a Survival Retreat Property

Hello,
One of your letter writers about IRA funding of retreat property said that “you can’t distribute half a house,” therefore the distribution could be a big tax hit. You cannot use or live in an IRA owned property until you take 100% distribution and take the tax hit at tax time, it is true. However, you can take gradual partial distribution over time to make the tax hit more tolerable.

I have an IRA property that is a rental and the IRA ownership is currently 100%. I will start taking small distributions when I must at 70 and 1/2 years, if the rental income is not enough to qualify for the required percentage of withdrawals (this is dependent on your life expectancy per IRS tables). For example I could take 10% personal ownership of the property annually and the 10% value of the house is added to my taxable income for that year.

This may not help people who need to move to their retreat suddenly, but hopefully explains that distribution of property can be taken gradually. – A Colorado Reader

Economics and Investing:

Economy shows signs of sputtering

Marc Faber Warns “The Bubble Could Burst Any Day”; Prefers Physical Gold To Bitcoin

Items from The Economatrix:

The Number Of Working Age Americans Without A Job Has Risen By Almost 10 Million Under Obama. JWR’s Comment: Of course Obama would like to believe that even even the law of Gravity does not apply to him. But the truth is that there really are fewer Americans working now, than when he first took office.

Low Wage Capitalism With A Dab Of Cronyism: Of Job Sectors With The Highest Growing Raw Number Of Positions 9 Out Of 10 Will Pay $35,000 A Year Or Less With Little To Non-Existent Benefits.

Look At This Chart: 91.8 Million…That’s How Many People Are Not Working In America

Odds ‘n Sods:

There are a couple of very interesting new posts over at the Paratus Familia blog: Bee Venom Therapy – Pain Relief from Your Own Back Yard, and Apple Cider Vinegar – Good for What Ails You

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SIG Sauer is Asking Us to Rethink the Polymer Striker Fired Pistol with the P320—SHOT Show 2014. My question: Will the new Model 320 accept SIG P250 magazines? I hope so, but I suspect not.

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Several readers mentioned some great commentary from Mac Slavo that ties into a recent news headline: Why I Cannot Support Concealed Carry Weapons Permits (And Why You Shouldn’t Either!) JWR’s Comments: I agree wholeheartedly. I’ve said it here a couple of times, but it bears repeating: Whenever someone must buy a license or pay a fee to exercise a right, then it is something less than a right. It is in fact a mere privilege, subject to the whim of petty bureaucrats. Fundamental rights are not abstract tokens that are given or sold by other men. They are in fact primary liberties bestowed upon us by God, our maker. Rights are not substantially secured by asking, “Mother may I?” of any government agency. Rights are more properly demanded or boldly seized and then conspicuously exercised regularly. This secures the liberties that have legitimately belonged to us since birth. If need be, lost rights can and must be restored through proscriptive use. If you live in a land where your rights have been marginalized into privileges, then it is either time to change your government, or to change your address. Much like a muscle that atrophies with disuse, any right that goes unexercised for many years devolves into a privilege, and eventually can even be redefined as a crime.

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I just heard that the folks at Survival Still are now accepting Bitcoin as an option for payments.

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If you enjoyed Firefly, then here is a sci-fi novel for you, in movie script format: The Stars Came Back, by Rolf Nelson. It is presently available for Kindle only, but the price is right!

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” – Romans 5:12-21 (KJV)

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 50 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $9,700+ worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course. (A $1,195 value.) B.) 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, and C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) a $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any of their military surplus gear, E.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $300 value), F.) A $300 Gift Certificate from Freeze Dry Guy. G.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo. H.) A roll of $10 face value in pre-1965 U.S. 90% silver quarters, courtesy of GoldAndSilverOnline.com. The current value of this roll is at least $225, I.) Both VPN tunnel and DigitalSafe annual subscriptions from Privacy Abroad. They have a combined value of $195. J.) 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. and K.) APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit.

Second Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training. Together, these have a retail value of $589. C.) A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100 foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com. D.) $300 worth of ammo from Patriot Firearms and Munitions. (They also offer a 10% discount for all SurvivalBlog readers with coupon code SVB10P.), E.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials F.)A full set of all 26 of the books published by PrepperPress.com. This is a $270 value, G.) Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value). H.) EP Lowers, makers of 80% complete fiber composite polymer lowers for the AR-15 rifles is donating a $250 gift certificate, I.) Autrey’s Armory — specialists in AR-15, M4s, parts and accessories– is donating a $250 gift certificate, and J.) 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.

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.), B.) 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, C.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value, D.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security., E.) A MURS Dakota Alert Base Station Kit with a retail value of $240 from JRH Enterprises. F.) Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances, and G.) Ambra Le Roy Medical Products in North Carolina is donating a bundle of their traditional wound care and first aid supplies. This assortment has a retail value of $208.

Round 50 ends on January 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.

Firearms: Understanding the Performance of Your Rifle Through Trials and Tribulations

Many times, we get so caught up in buying our toys and getting them out of the package to play that we don’t pay attention to the fine details that really matter. It’s no surprise that prepping has generally been all about more, bigger, and better firearms and ammunition. Yet, there is so much to be learned about the proper use and care of your firearms that becomes lost on the average person. Many times we buy the gun, we get it out of the package, throw all of our tacti-cool stuff on it, maybe shoot it a few times, and then we lay it in a closet without another thought. We check off the box for “protection” and move on. Yet, this is the piece of the puzzle that we rely upon to save our lives and protect our families and belongings. When the time comes, whether it’s for protection or for providing, will you know how your rifle performs? Will you know how to care for it? Perhaps most importantly, have you ironed out all the potential problems that use in the field can throw at you? This is a complicated piece of equipment and the chances of you getting it all correct the first time through are very slim. Once you are in the field, trying to figure out why your rifle can’t hit something you are aiming at is too late. 

I am sure you have heard it said about your carry gun, usually some variation of: “Don’t rely on it until you try it.” What’s that mean? Take it out shooting. Know how it performs. Learn how to compensate for it. Know what ammo it likes. Yet in a TEOTWAWKI setting, the rifle is infinitely more useful and important, though much more complex to take care of and learn. The average person doesn’t have a place where they can practice with a rifle, especially not at distances greater than 50 yards or so, making it hard to fully understand the performance of their life-saving tool. Luckily, millions of American’s are hunters, so they have learned the ins and outs of setting up, maintaining, learning, and successfully operating their rifle. Even so, it has become obvious to me that using a rifle more than a few times a year is almost a necessity. There is only so much you can learn by shooting your rifle 5 times a year. Sometimes potential problems don’t show up with 1 shot a year. I want to talk to you about a problem I have faced this year.

I don’t remember if I addressed this a few weeks ago on my deer hunting post, but something had happened this year that had never happened before. On my first hunt of the year, I had a relatively long shot at a doe, who was walking across a field about 180 yards from me. I had a good rest and I took the shot, but nothing happened other than she scurried away. 

I was pretty upset about it, not having missed a shot since my very first hunt when I was 13 years old. But the shot was fairly long and the deer was moving, so I just assumed that it was my time. A few days later, I was sitting in the exact same shooting house and the exact same deer came out. She walked the same path as the one days before, so I took aim and shot. And I shot again. And again. No luck.

At that point I knew something was wrong. How could I miss that many shots by that wide of a margin? Of course, that caused me to start thinking analytically on how the performance of my rifle could be degraded or at least affected by a handful of variables. It was amazing how many different things I could come up with that were all plausible. Perhaps the crosswind was too much. Maybe the change in ammunition had a greater effect than I thought. Had my gun been dropped at some point or the scope somehow been knocked? Any and all of these things were possible. There was only one thing to do: check out the “zero” on the gun. 

Because my shoulder didn’t need repetitive knocks, my dad took the gun and sighted it in. He reported back that it was shooting 6 inches low at 60 yards, but it was fixed. Yet, the windage was excellent. I thought that was odd, but didn’t really think about it too much. We just assumed that either the scope was knocked off or the change from a 160 grain to a 180 grain bullet accounted for the massive ballistics change. Either way, the gun was back on and I could go back to hunting. 

I took it hunting the next day and had a fairly simple 75 yard shot, which resulted in a nice kill. 

Just a few days later, I took the gun back out. Very close to dark, I was presented a shot. It was a decently long shot, and it was near dark but I took it. The deer had nearly no reaction to the shot other than to scamper a few yards closer to me. I took a second shot. The deer came even closer to me, just under 50 yards. I tried for a 3rd shot and missed again. 

Frustrated as I have never been while hunting, I stormed home. When I got home, I took the gun inside and inspected it. That’s when I noticed this:

Do you see that scrape just above the rings? Well, that brought back some memories. So, let’s talk about them. Initially, I had a cheaper scope on this gun with a 30mm aperture, which limited my visibility in low light conditions. The scope also had cheaper rings on it, but they worked. After deer season last year, we swapped the old scope for a Nikon Monarch, but kept the old rings. After sighting it in, I did notice that the scope seemed to have slid “forward” in the rings. Actually, what happened was the momentum of the  gunshots had pushed the gun backwards and was unable to transfer the momentum to the scope, but slipped in the rings. But, the gun was sighted in so I tightened the ring bolts as tight as I could and went on about my life. The first time I fired it after sighting it in was the aforementioned miss you read about earlier. 

Obviously, there was something that needed to be changed. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I knew I couldn’t simply tighten down the screws on the rings anymore. In fact, not only was I worried that squeezing the tube could cause some sort of refraction or misalignment of the glass inside of the scope, but I was doubtful that I could even get the screws out without stripping them. 

Indeed, that was the case. The more force I applied to the allen wrench to get the screws out, the more it looked like I would have to take drastic measures else the screws would just strip. So, I got creative. I used a C-clamp and compressed the edges of the rings in order to take the pressure off of the screws. They came out fairly easily.

When I inspected the inside of the rings and the outer diameter of the scope tube, it seemed that there was remnants of some sort of fluid. I figure it was either oil left over on the scope’s packaging or perhaps some loctite from the installations of the screws. Additionally, I started thinking about why this scope was having problems but I never had any problems with the other scope. I thought about the installation of the scope itself.

I recalled that it was a cold day and I was in a hurry to get it installed and sighted in. I also recall that I didn’t level the scope out entirely, which caused the crosshairs to not be quit flat. Is it possible that in my rush I had made a fundamental error? Perhaps I didn’t sequence the tightening of the bolts properly? While the bolts would appear to be tight, the ring itself may not have had the proper contact patch from the uneven tightening. Perhaps it was simply because the rings themselves had form-fitted to a different scope that had, at best, the same dimensions but different tolerances. It could be that the scopes were entirely different sizes or shapes.

Regardless of the why and how, the fact is, the rifle was useless in this condition. After every other shot, the zero was completely lost. Like I stated above, it could be my own fault from a lack of attention to detail or it could have been bad luck. But, I was determined to crunch the variables this time around and ensure that this gun would become reliable. So, I bought new (and better) rings. I really wanted to go with a complete set of Leupold bases and rings, but unfortunately, they don’t make a set that fits my Marlin and the Nikon scope. So, I had to use the bases that were on it plus adjustable Leupold rings.

I started out by wiping down the mating services with alcohol, removing any debris or fluids.  

I then leveled up the rifle itself.

Then, after cleaning the scope and rings thoroughly, I placed the scope in the rings and leveled the scope in both directions. 

Lastly, I placed the ring caps on the scope and tightened them down. First, I tightened them until they were snug, then I alternated tightening in 90 degree turns on each screw until they were tight. 

Now, understand that there is a lot more that I could do to install this scope to even better standards. With a quick search, you can find all kinds of ways to properly install and sight in a scope. However, I don’t have the setup to do that, so this is the best I can do. Furthermore, this post isn’t about teaching how to do what I have done so much as it is for you to learn that you can’t learn much about a gun by throwing it in your Bug Out Bag. I am just as guilty as the next person. I built my budget AR and have yet to fire it. I would go so far as to say that you don’t know your gun by firing it five times a year. However, if that’s what you are going to do, at least make sure that you sight it in each year before you take it hunting the first time. 

Hopefully your luck will be better than mine, but there are other things to consider. Have you practiced with your gun with different types of ammunition? Like I alluded to earlier, I didn’t think about the effects of going from 160 grain ammo to 180 grain ammo until it was too late. Ultimately, that wasn’t why I missed the deer, but the bullet drop from 100 to 300 yards between the two are substantial. While ballistics charts are readily available and great, it isn’t for your gun and for your situation. Plus, the experience stored in your mind will be a lot faster than digging out a ballistics chart. Additionally, there are the effects of windage, again, something that you can only understand by shooting your gun in that situation. Do you know the effect on your gun by taking repeated shots? Deer hunters rarely take more than 1 shot at a time, but in the event of taking consecutive shots, do you know how the warming of you gun will effect ballistics? What about problems during firing such as jamming? You may not know until you fire it in a rapid fire setting. Could you figure out how to solve it as we talked about in our Light Handgun Repair post?

So many variables to consider just with shooting. It’s better that you have all the other ones crunched before you get into that situation. The fact is, had I not shot this gun and missed 7 shots this year, the mark on the scope wouldn’t have shown up. Its perfectly plausible that, had I had shorter shots which would have been possible, I might not have made the connection for years. But, I pushed the gun to limits I hadn’t done before and it showed me what needed to be done. I’m just glad it was deer hunting and not a situation with life and death hanging in the balance. Whether it’s an AR-15 that you have laying in the closet for TEOTWAWKI or a deer rifle that gets shot once a year, make sure that you bring that gun out and do your due diligence whenever possible. Better to iron out your problems at the range than against a foe or starvation.