Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“To every [thing there is] a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up [that which is] planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?
I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
He hath made every [thing] beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

I know that [there is] no good in them, but for [a man] to rejoice, and to do good in his life.
And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it [is] the gift of God.
I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth [it], that [men] should fear before him.
That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.
And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, [that] wickedness [was] there; and the place of righteousness, [that] iniquity [was] there.
I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for [there is] a time there for every purpose and for every work.” – Ecclesiastes 3:1-17 (KJV)

Notes from JWR:

Some more good legislation to support: Rep. Thomas Massie has sponsored H.R. 133, which would repeal the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 and amendments to that Act. Please ask your congresscritters to support it!

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January 11th is the birthday of the late Gunnar Fridtjof Thurmann Sønsteby. (Born 1918.) He was the most decorated hero of the Norwegian resistance to the German occupation of Norway in WWII. I am prompted to mention this because of his recent death. Sønsteby died May 10, 2012.

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Today we present another entry for Round 44 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, 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), and F.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo. and G.) A $200 gift certificate, donated by Shelf Reliance.

Second Prize: A.) 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. B.) A FloJak FP-50 stainless steel hand well pump (a $600 value), courtesy of FloJak.com. C.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $300, D.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, E.) Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value) and F.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 value).

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.) A Commence Fire! emergency stove with three tinder refill kits. (A $160 value.), and E.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 44 ends on January 31st, 2013, 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.

Ropes and Rope Making, by B.E.

Disclaimer: The knowledge below is not comprehensive, but is included to the best of the authors understanding. New research is being published continuously on the subjects below and the author and/or publisher can take no responsibility in the safe or unsafe application of the knowledge included. If you are using ropes for life-support or other dangerous applications please get qualified instruction, and follow all manufacturer’s guidelines! That said…

There are several items, though while not indispensable, can make living through hard times much more comfortable and safe. Ropes can make the hardest of tasks easier and safer when used correctly, from felling trees and towing vehicles to tying up your shoes. Making the most of your ropes and cordage/paracord, practicing safe long-term storage of rope, and even making your own rope are things that anyone can learn and benefit from, and should be a consideration for prepared individuals.
A rope is a tool, and like any other tool it must be taken care of or it will fail when you need it most.

My background comes from using ropes in life-support situations. My life depends on the rope I use on a daily basis, regularly having to hang over 50 feet above the ground. I have a vested interest in keeping it well maintained. The same can be said for anyone who uses a tow strap on a vehicle, a block and tackle pulley system, and any other situation where a failing rope can mean damaged equipment or injured people. I want to offer an overview on the various types of rope, their construction, and safe long term storage. I will also touch on making your own rope with natural materials, either naturally occurring in the wild or even from crops grown specific to the purpose, though these should never be used for life-support applications.
In simplest terms, there are mainly three types of construction: laid ropes, braided ropes and kernmantle ropes, which consist of a braided sheath around a core of inner strands. There are generally three levels of elasticity for ropes: high-stretch ropes, low stretch ropes and static (no-stretch) ropes. Finally, there are two main classes of rope making material: natural fibres and synthetic fibres.

Construction
Laid ropes are the twisted type commonly seen in the cheap yellow nylon camping ropes. They are useful, cheap, and can be made by yourself at home (see below). The trouble with laid ropes is that they can unravel (as you may know if you ever spun around on a tire swing as a kid) and when untwisted they lose much of their strength. For this reason they are no longer commonly used for life-support systems or to hang or lift heavy, free hanging objects. Braided ropes are more often seen in synthetic fibres, and do not unwind, though they are still not generally used for life support systems. They are commonly used in boating and rigging, and can be found in most camping departments in the form of thin white ropes for tying up tarps. They come in all sizes. Lastly, there are kernmantle ropes which is the style most used in life-support systems because of the strength and abrasion resistance of the style of construction. Paracord is a good example of a kernmantle rope, with a braided outer sheath surrounding the core of strands inside. However, paracord is not rated for life support systems! There is endless Internet chatter about whether you can rappel using paracord, and my answer to the question is NO. Although it technically has a breaking strength of about 500 lbs of force, and average 150 lb person can generate upwards of 900 lbs of force when on rappel. Add to that the chance of abrasions and reduced strength due to knotting and the math does not look good.

Elasticity
The elasticity of a rope is a result of its materials and construction. Laid ropes stretch a little by nature of construction, but are not usually rated to a level of elasticity. Braided and kernmantle ropes vary widely, and each level of elasticity has a different use. In general terms, cordage (small diameter, non –life-support rope) is low stretch or static. Only larger diameter kernmantle ropes are able to effectively made as high-stretch ropes. High stretch ropes are used in life-support systems to absorb the shock of falling and weighting the rope (like a bungee cord). These are not very suitable for towing or lifting, because they tend to ‘bounce’ due to their stretchiness. A little give is ok when lifting and towing, a lot is not so good. Most cordage and rope a prepper would purchase for daily household use will likely be low stretch or static in nature.

Materials
Almost all ropes and cordage sold today are synthetic, usually made of nylon or polyester, and sometimes of more specialized patented materials such as Spectra and Dyneema. Natural ropes are less common, as they are generally more susceptible to the elements and less uniform, and are generally made from plants such as hemp, manila and sisal. Each type of material has its own storage concerns, pros, cons, strengths and weaknesses.

Synthetic Materials
Synthetic materials are resistant to moisture, moulds and mildews, unlike natural fibres. They are the materials most commonly used in commercial production of ropes and cords, because they generally outperform natural fibres in most of the categories that matter. The most common synthetic material is nylon, and as such I will focus on nylon the most. Other synthetics are for more specialized uses, such as polyester and polyolefin’s (i.e. Polypropylene).

1. Nylon is a by-product of petroleum refining, and its production was patented in 1938. It created radical new uses and opportunities, ranging from waterproof jackets to the development of working parachutes, to rope making. It is the material used in paracord and most ropes, and is the most versatile of the synthetic materials.

a. Nylon is somewhat susceptible to UV light, and if you are storing it long term it should be kept out of direct sunlight. I have narrowly missed serious injury when, attempting to climb to a tree stand platform, I casually grabbed a cheap yellow nylon camping rope left out in the sun for two years. Thankfully, before putting my full weight on it several body lengths off the ground, I carefully pulled on it, gradually adding my body weight. It slowly stretched like a rotten elastic band and broke with only the pressure of pulling it with one arm. Needless to say, cheap yellow camping rope is not good choice for life-support applications!

b. Nylon is very susceptible to acids and moderately susceptible to alkalis, even the alkalis from curing concrete in basement floors. Nylon ropes should not be stored directly on concrete or near any other acids/alkalis, such as car batteries in the trunk of a car, or near chlorine (i.e. Bleach or pool shock) and other bleaching agents like hydrogen peroxide, or near phenols, xylenols (used in pesticides) and cresol (used pesticides, deodorizers and disinfectants – I.e. Lysol).

c. Nylon is susceptible to heat, even the heat produced from friction. An interesting demonstration can be done using nylon mil-spec webbing (commonly used for creating tie-offs and anchor points to attach to a rappel rope) and a kernmantle rope. Simply tie up the webbing to a beam or hook in a loop, pass the rope through the loop, and move the rope back and forth like a saw, pulling down with your bodyweight. The nylon webbing will be cut by the rope like butter with a warm knife. It is a sobering demonstration. Yet nylon, in general, has higher heat resistance than other synthetic fibres like polyolefin’s. Its melting point is around 480 degrees F, slightly lower than that of polyester.

d. Nylon absorbs water, up to 5% of its weight. It loses up to 15% of its strength when wet, and also shrinks. When it dries it will generally resume its original qualities, all else being equal.

e. Nylon sinks in water, has good strength, and most importantly has excellent shock absorption qualities, which is why it is used so often in climbing ropes and other high-stretch ropes. Because of this, nylon is the clear choice for most ropes out there. But it should be noted that the weave construction of the rope can be as important or more important than the materials used, and there are ropes made of nylon that do not absorb shock very much at all (low-stretch and static ropes). Its abrasion resistance is good compared to other synthetics.

2. Polyester: Polyester is gaining in popularity in low-stretch ropes because of its resistance to UV light degradation and to acids.
a. It absorbs less water than nylon (less than 1% of its weight) and loses less strength when wet (about 2%). It is useful in wet environments, such as boating and yachting, although it does not float.
b. Polyester has about the same heat resistance as nylon, with a melting point of about 500 degrees F. Friction heat still applies, and can slice through polyester easily!
c. Polyester has much poorer shock absorption than nylon, and as such it is mostly used in low-stretch and static ropes.
d. Polyester had excellent resistance to acids, but is very, very susceptible to alkalis. The “keep off concrete” rule is even more important with polyester.
e. It has excellent resistance to UV light.

3. Polyolefins: These are generally specialty ropes, and are used in river and water rescue as throw bags, and industries where acids and alkalis are common. Varieties include polypropylene and polyethylene, among others.
a. Polyolefins have high resistance to acids, and good resistance to alkalis.
b. Polyolefins float, making them very good for life-guarding, river rescue, boating, and any other water application where you do not want a rope to sink.
c. They have average to poor susceptibility to UV light, worse than both nylon and polyester.
d. They have a relatively low melting point (about 300 degrees F), much lower than polyester and nylon.
You may also come across specialty rope materials like Spectra or Dyneema, which have been developed for life-support systems. They are generally used as secondary materials in cordage, rather than in a life-support rope, but have their uses. They have virtually no stretch, absorb little or no water, and generally have very good resistance to UV, acids and alkalis. However, they are expensive and specialized. They are hard to work with – you need wire cutter to cut them! They do not melt and scissors are hopeless on them! Unless you have a specialty need for them, nylon will suffice in most applications, and is by far the more affordable option.

Natural Fibres & Rope Making
Natural fibres are not common in commercial ropes, because they rot and degrade over time, even in ideal storage conditions. They are susceptible to mildew, absorb water and are harder to construct ropes commercially due to their limited length. A molten nylon thread can be extruded to any length; a natural fibre is limited by the size of the plant, and must be twisted to form a thread.
The main benefit of natural fibre ropes is that you can make them yourself, and rather simply at that. Natural fibre ropes are almost exclusively “laid” ropes, sometimes called hawser-laid, which is the twisted-style found commonly in the cheap yellow camping ropes I mentioned earlier. It is one of the oldest methods of making rope, and works quite well, but as mentioned before is prone to unwinding which causes a loss of strength. Laid ropes can be made out of many local materials (from thistle to wolf willow to yucca) by hand. To do so, you twist fibres in your fingers or roll them along the top of your leg until it makes a rough string, adding bits of material as you go along to make the string longer. It doesn’t matter if the string is pretty, that will smooth out later. Then take the string and bend it in half, and start twisting it tighter and tighter until it starts to buckle and bend in the middle. Keep twisting and the two halves will bend around each other to form a two-strand laid cord. If you add another string, you can twist and work it into the cord to make a three strand laid cord, which is the most common style and quite strong for its size. You can make it out of anything. Tree bark, grass, heck – the Mythbusters television show even made one out of toilet paper to demonstrate ways of ‘breaking out of prison’. It even held a person’s body weight for ‘most’ of the descent down a multi-story building. Though I wouldn’t recommend that last one.

Adding a step up in technology, you can increase your ropemaking efficiency by using simple bushcraft and homesteader techniques such as a pendulum spinner or a rope making machine.
I made my first spinner years ago out of a piece of firewood and a stick, by shaping a chunk of wood into a board with a hatchet. I made a hole near one end with a knife and mallet, and whittled the stick down so it would slide almost all the way through the hole, but stop before going through. It looked like a noise-maker from a football game. Using a twine like sisal, or some other natural fibre, it is easy to make a rope long enough for binding and lashing logs together, and they can be made to quite long lengths with some helping hands and ingenuity. I will leave it to the boy scouts to describe it further here. A professor I knew actually tested breaking strength of sisal rope made this way, and found his rope (although you should not use this as a rule of thumb!) had a breaking point of about 900 lbs, with a safe working load of much less, of course. An interesting idea would be to use paracord (which generally has a 500 lb limit) and make a 3 strand laid rope from it, which would have a 1,500 lb limit when untwisted and un-knotted. Its twisted strength would be greater due the friction in the laid construction, but without knowing exactly how great, the minimum known safe working limit should be adhered to. But your mileage may vary, and practice caution when creating franken-ropes.

A rope making machine is more complex, closer to a cottage industry than bushcraft, but they are easy to construct out of plywood from plans online. I found it best explained here, but there are certainly other plans that are equally as good.
One final consideration in making your own rope is finishing the rope ends with a whipping or a knot. If they are left unfinished the rope will unravel with the mildest use. In my experience I have found this to be the best and tidiest looking method of whipping rope ends, but there are others as well.

To Conclude
Whether you store synthetic rope for future use in the form of rolls of nylon paracord, want to make a replacement bowstring from dental floss, or need to make that fire-bow drill string out of shoelaces or tree bark for an emergency fire, knowing the safe storage techniques and practicing the skills can be the difference of having and having-not. Look at your stores, see where they are kept, and organize your storage for the best long term results of your materials. The conditions of storage for nylon and polyester ropes are also applicable to the storage of nylon and polyester tents! So if you have materials they are lying around on bare cement or right next to the bleach, you may want to think twice about your organization of equipment. Take care of your tools!

Letter Re: Advice on Washing Military Utility Uniforms

CPT Rawles:
The product that I use is half Twenty Mule Team Borax (contains no brighteners) and half Baking Soda (removes all scents). Military snipers use the same as they can’t warrant be sniffed out by an animal and giving away their position. I use it for hunting purposes for the same reason, and it works great. It also a little less expensive than paying big dollars for Sport Wash.
Regards, – James R.

Economics and Investing:

After the Fall: What Do You Do When You Conclude America Is (Temporarily or Permanently) Kaput?(Thanks to Linda U. for the link.)

Carney on coin gambit: ‘There is no backup plan’. [JWR’s Comment: This is beyond bizarre. It is now obvious that we are entering the fiscal Twilight Zone.]

Items from The Economatrix:

Inflation By Any Other Name-Central Banks Around The World Increase Balance Sheets From $2 Trillion In 2008 To $6 Trillion In 2013

This Will Cause Oceans Of Paper Money To Panic Into Gold

Consumer Credit Rose In November On US Auto, Student Loans

Odds ‘n Sods:

Backwoods Home magazine is having a two day free ebook and emagazine giveaway on January 10th and 11th, 2013.

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H.L. sent: Teachers In Ohio, Texas Flock To Free Gun Training Classes

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L.C. sent this: How to make strike anywhere matches

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Reminder: Blog readers in Florida should plan to attend the Life Changes Be Ready Preparedness Expo and Gun Expo on Saturday January 19, 2013. I will be a guest speaker, via teleseminar. The event will be held at the Volusia County Fair and Expo Center in DeLand, Florida.

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One Million PMAGs on Backorder!

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Interesting info: 8 Abandoned Arctic Islands. Too bad that they are all still under sovereign territorial claims… (Wrangel Island is under multiple claims.)

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Any single man must judge for himself whether circumstances warrant obedience or resistance to the commands of the civil magistrate; we are all qualified, entitled, and morally obliged to evaluate the conduct of our rulers. This political judgment, moreover, is not simply or primarily a right, but like self-preservation, a duty to God. As such it is a judgment that men cannot part with according to the God of Nature. It is the first and foremost of our inalienable rights without which we can preserve no other." – John Locke

Notes from JWR:

Congressman Steve Stockman has introduced H.R. 35, the Safe Schools Act of 2013. This a bill to allow principals, teachers, and staff to possess firearms in order to defend their students. Please contact your congresscritters and say NO to all “gun control” (civilian disarmament) bills and YES to H.R. 35.

Also, be advised, Vice President Joe Biden hinted that executive orders on guns might be coming quite soon. Two likely actions: An import ban on 11+ round magazines (except for the military and law enforcement), and perhaps reclassifying the Saiga 12 shotgun as a Destructive Device. If you need any spare magazines for any of your imported guns, them buy them ASAP!

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Yippee! 50 million unique visits! Thanks, folks.

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Today we present another entry for Round 44 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, 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), and F.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo. and G.) A $200 gift certificate, donated by Shelf Reliance.

Second Prize: A.) 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. B.) A FloJak FP-50 stainless steel hand well pump (a $600 value), courtesy of FloJak.com. C.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $300, D.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, E.) Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value) and F.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 value).

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.) A Commence Fire! emergency stove with three tinder refill kits. (A $160 value.), and E.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 44 ends on January 31st, 2013, 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.

Water Cistern Facts, by Rex X.

Cisterns have been used for water storage for thousands of years and continue to be used today.  A cistern is a large water storage container that is often underground.  Many of you will remember Masada where the Roman Legion had the Jews besieged.  This mountain top fortress was able to hold out for as log as they did, in part, because of the large cisterns where they stored rain water.  In fact without cisterns this would have been nothing other than another uninhabited mountain.

These water storage tanks can range up to thousands of gallons, or liters if you prefer.  The size of your cistern should be determined by your water usage and the water source.  If your water source is seasonal then a large enough capacity to get you through the dry spell would be real nice.  A cistern can be above ground, below ground or partially buried.  This storage is something of a midpoint in you water system sitting as it does, between the collection and distribution systems.

I grew up in a community where thousands of homes collected their water off the roof and stored it in a cistern.  I have seen, used, and built many different cisterns.  The first one I actually put together was an inexpensive above ground pool.  We made a level spot near the eve of the roof and ran the down spouts from the gutter into the pool.  While today I might question whether the plastic liner was appropriate for potable water, back then the question never came up.  We drank from that pool for years and it didn’t affect me… affect me… affect me.  Actually because of the price and ease of installation this type of cistern became fairly popular around the community for a couple decades.  While they will last for a few years the plastic eventually deteriorates in the sun or the thin metal sides rot out so this is not a permanent solution.  In a SHTF scenario your down spouts could be run to your in ground pool to collect what ever rain you do get and replenish what you have consumed.  If this becomes part of your plan you might want to secure and store adequate downspout and/or pipe.

Another popular way to build a cistern is with a ten foot length of culvert.  The suppliers would nest these starting with an eight foot culvert inside a larger and larger culvert till the largest was about twelve feet across. This greatly reduced shipping cost.  Since the freight company cubes something like this you are essentially paying freight for only the largest culvert.  The culverts need to be manufactured in such a manner as to have water tight seams.  Delivered laying on its side  it could be transported on the road with little problem.  When placed on a low trailer the twelve foot height would fit under the power lines and the ten foot width was legal.  The process is to dig a flat spot larger than the culvert to a depth that the top of the culvert will be lower than the eve of the house.  You then make a form for your concrete and place reinforcing inside the form.  Pour and level your concrete.  Tip the culvert into the wet concrete and vibrate it to create a seal.  The culvert should set so that it is four to six inches into the concrete.  After a week or so the concrete has cured enough to start filling your tank.

The tank off an old water truck was a quick answer in that it only required a flat spot.  I would expect an old milk truck tank to work as well.  A local mill had been serviced by a four foot diameter wooden water line. We wound up with a twenty foot section and built ends in it.  

A friend of mine built a tank out of plywood and put a plastic liner in it.  He started with eight sheets of plywood.  Standing up two on each side he attached 2X6’s every foot from the bottom past midway up then spaced them further apart.  The 2X6’s were laid on their side, run past the plywood and bolted to the intersecting 2X6’s.  This is a relatively inexpensive tank but be aware that eight feet of head generates quite a bit of pressure at the bottom so do quality work.  Stringers tying the bottom sides together are essential as well as the top.

The newer systems often choose the plastic tanks made for that purpose.  The largest of these are cylindrical.  A buddy of mine had room to place two, five thousand gallon tanks behind his house.  There was a small ledge on the hillside next to these that allowed him to place another two thousand gallon tank.  With twelve thousand gallons available they can go quite a while without rain.

My personal favorite is to build the cistern as part of a concrete foundation.  This requires a foundation of at least four feet tall to get adequate volume.  A full basement would be even better.  If this is the way you go I strongly suggest that you design the house so that no sewer lines run above the water tank.  This leaves your entire water system accessible inside the house and protected against freezing.  

One of the problems with outside water storage is the possibility of freezing.  I had an eighteen hundred gallon plastic tank freeze solid one winter with no apparent damage.  It was not in current use and had been filled without my knowledge so I did not know to empty it.  This tank had also been sprayed with four inches of insulation so it took over a month for it to thaw completely in the spring.  Insulating a tank can help as can putting it in a shed.  Two or three wraps of PEX pipe around the outside near the bottom before you spray the tank works well if you have a boiler.  Your outside water storage could then be another zone off the boiler.  My outside tank has seen -40°F with no problem.  Okay, maybe a few problems but I worked them out.  

 If you do not have really severe winters a heat tape on a Hula Hoop will keep your tank from splitting.  Just a heat tape on the water line will leave an open passage that allows the water to escape out the top if the ice expands reducing pressure on the tank walls.  You still lose that volume of water that turns to ice.  At least until it warms up.  We had a particularly long stretch of cold weather this year and a neighbor of mine ran the water from his water heater back into his tank to melt some of the ice and reclaim some of the lost volume.  You can also put a purpose made electric heater in your tank.  If the bottom of the tank is buried below the frost line freezing problems are greatly reduced.  These are some of the heat sources at your disposal if you opt for outside storage.  

You might also want to consider PEX for your water line especially outside or any other place that is likely to freeze.  PEX has a memory and will return to its original shape after it thaws.  Copper will stretch until it ruptures, usual between the first and third freeze.  Not only is it expensive to replace water lines but the time required is a factor as well.

If you collect rain off your roof the roofing material is an important part of the system.  Metal roofing is the best as it sheds water faster and does not retain as much as other materials.  Three tab works but it holds a surprising amount of water and in a light misty rain it takes a bit before it starts dripping, where a metal roof might shed some water in a fog or when a frost thaws.  Some three tab shingles are also built with chemicals that I am uncomfortable with but most of the roofs that I have seen collect drinking water are of this type.  Cedar roofs are of particular concern.  Cedar is toxic so special care must be taken with a cedar roof.  I lived in an area with heavy rain.  Those people who wanted to collect from their cedar roof waited for over a year with a new roof to allow the rain to flush most of the oil from the surface of the wood.   This community is in the middle of a rain forest with thousands of homes collecting rain water.  

While I have run into people who look at me like I have a third eye, when I discuss drinking rain water, I consider rain water generally safe.  What I like to call God distilled water (rain) is generally free of contamination with some rare exceptions.  Were I down wind of a frisky volcano or a forest fire I might redirect my down spouts for a while. City water can become contaminated as well.  How many times have you heard news reports where the community has been told to boil their water.  I worked with a man who was replacing his copper water lines because his wife was having a reaction to the copper.  As long as reasonable care is taken with the construction, material selection, and maintenance rain collection and a cistern is a viable option in many climates.  

I have seen cisterns filled by wells and wind mills.  If you had a hill above your house you could also place your cistern at a useful height to provide water pressure for your home.  If you have a stream on the property you could use a hydraulic ram pump/water hammer pump (clacker) to fill your cistern.  This system could give you water and suitable water pressure with no electricity. 

If you decide to haul your water in a large tank in the back of your truck or on a trailer make sure the tank is full.  If your vehicle won’t haul the weight of a full tank get a smaller tank or larger truck.  Most tanks are built without baffles and when you get the weight of the water slamming back and forth you can have all sorts of problems so it is best to travel with a full tank.

We used bleach about once a year to kill what ever might be growing in the cistern.  The chlorine smell for the next two or three days was a bit much, but it worked.  I preferred in the summer when we ran low and a truckload of city water was purchased.  This was already chlorinated so the tank was sterilized but with far less odor.  

While a gravity collection system is preferred I have put smaller collection containers (50 to 200 gallons) under the down spouts and then used a sump pump to fill the larger tank.  This method is most often incorporated when adding an out building to the collection system or when the tank can’t easily be placed below the roof line.  I’ve seen the power go out and pumps get old but somehow gravity keeps working so that is my preferred method whenever possible.  

Letter Re: Gasoline Available in a Pinch at the Big Box Store

Hi James,
I was recently at the chainsaw shop and saw cans of something called TRUFUEL. It is basically one quart metal cans of gasoline, with most versions premixed for 2-stroke engines.  However, they also have a 4-stroke version that my chainsaw dealer tells me is simply 92-octane gasoline with stabilizers and other additives that would be perfectly suitable for running a car or other vehicle.  Haven’t tried it myself yet, but if plausible, big box hardware stores, power tool dealers, and some auto parts stores could have fuel available in a pinch (and I imagine for only a short time) if gas stations were out of fuel or out of service.  The company web site lists several big hardware stores that carry their products. Relying on it for any significant amount of fuel is going to cost you anywhere from $25-$35 a gallon, but under the right conditions, that might be worth it.  On the upside, the web site says that it has a two-year shelf life, although my chainsaw dealer indicated five years. Something in between is probably the real number.  For the record, I have no financial interest in TRUFUEL nor any connections to the company or their products. – Sean B.

Three Letters Re: Why Civilian Disarmament in the U.S. is Just a Statist Fantasy

Mr. Rawles, 
I love the SurvivalBlog site and what you do. Many thanks to you and all contributors! I have some remarks on the letter: A Call to Action: The Impending Weapons Ban, by James M.
I agree on the fundamental points made regarding firearms, but it does sound like a re-hash of the red-herring debate from ’91 with the only “Call to Action” being that Congress should ban something else.  Maybe they should ban Murder. Oh, wait that’s been done…
 
I personally don’t think our Congressional leaders should really be banning anything at all, and when the subject of mental capacity & banning comes up together (within the context of forced medication or incarceration), my main question/concern becomes,….  who gets to determine which of us is mentally ill or unstable?   I already know that everyone is somebody else’s weirdo, and apparently we preppers are all completely nuts.  But, on the serious side I have a problem with limiting anyone’s rights based on thought crime or any interpretive means where there is no victim (especially where the result would be forced medication or detainment for “potential” criminal activity).

So, an interesting scenario to consider based on my perspective described above.    Let’s say some Psychologist/government agent convinces city council or some judge that Christianity is a mental illness.  You are now required by law to take powerful medication that most likely would ruin your quality of life.  That kind of control over anyone’s life is a terribly bad idea, because we all know that  it is unethical and wouldn’t stop there.
 
I also am getting frustrated with people saying our rights are granted by the Constitution.  That is completely wrong.  Our rights are God given and don’t change regardless of what the Constitution says (The document may still fail to list them all in some cases).  It was simply written to generally explain and provide a reminder to elected officials of what the people already have and what cannot be infringed upon.  In the case of slavery and women’s rights, I believe it was errant of the original crafters of the Constitution to have not recognized these as inherent rights for all people at that time.  So again, the “document” is just an imperfect representation of what God has already provisioned.
 
“There are certain principles that are inherent in man, that belong to man, and that were enunciated in an early day, before the United States government was formed, and they are principles that rightfully belong to all men everywhere. They are described in the Declaration of Independence as inalienable rights, one of which is that men have a right to live; another is that they have a right to pursue happiness; and another is that they have a right to be free and no man has authority to deprive them of those God-given rights, and none but tyrants would do it. These principles, I say, are inalienable in man; they belong to him; they existed before any constitutions were framed or any laws made. Men have in various ages striven to strip their fellow-men of these rights, and dispossess them of them. And hence the wars, the bloodshed and carnage that have spread over the earth. We, therefore, are not indebted to the United States for these rights; we were free as men born into the world, having the right to do as we please, to act as we please, as long as we do not transgress constitutional law nor violate the rights of others… Another thing God expects us to do, and that is to maintain the principle of human rights… We owe it to all liberty-loving men, to stand up for human rights and to protect human freedom, and in the name of God we will do it, and let the congregation say Amen.” – John Taylor, 1882,
 
The best thing for Congress to do in this case is nothing at all.  The only change needed is to allow the free responsible peoples of the USA to provide for their own defense – as was intended by God.  (Current rules apply with regard to all levels of assault, making threats with a firearm, etc.),  which would simply serve to reinforce responsible fire arms use by those who choose to carry.
 
IF, our leaders are serious about the value of a Gun ban, then I suggest they set the example and demand that their personal security force switch to Mace as their primary means of defense.  Lead by example or shut your mouth!
 
IF, a ban is passed we still have options:  Our judicial system was meant to provide protections from such unjust law, so we would still have the Sheriff (elected), Judges (also elected) and the jury (free peoples), who can respectively;  1) refuse to enforce, 2) refuse to try, 3) refuse to convict.  If that message is made clear in local government no State prosecutor would dare bring a case in the first place. [JWR Adds: All Americans should familiarize themselves with the details of jury nullification. This may prove crucial, in the near future.[

“Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?” –  Henry David Thoreau
 
You can only voluntarily give up/refuse to partake of your God given right (or blessing, but you can never ethically take away someone else’s (that is infringement/tyranny).
 
Thank you, – D.P. in Pittsburgh

Mr. Rawles,
The Letter Re: Why Civilian Disarmament in the U.S. is Just a Statist Fantasy written by Michael W. is a perfect example of the insidious nature of government over-reach.  They will take our guns the same inexorable way they stole the purchasing power of the dollar. And they will continue to press the gun issue until they succeed – even if it takes a hundred years.  Our inability to recognize and stop the fed over the last century, portends a similar outcome for weapons. – BigTexMarine

 

Jim:
To make sense of this issue, consider the following in support of the percentage of compliance that can be expected if the Feinstein ban bill is enacted:

This is not The Truth. This is not even ‘back of the envelope’.

The following contains a bunch of assumptions, whose justification is feeble at best. Since almost all ‘assault weapons’ are rifles, I will ignore shotguns and handguns that bother CA.

Suppose, for discussion, that Californians bought rifles (that the state erroneously defines as ‘assault weapons’) in a number proportional to the share of the US population. Since this is just a guess, might as well use the current value: 37 million of 310 million, 12%. There’s no reason to believe this is true – California gun owners may actually buy more or fewer, and the distribution of the kinds they buy may be different from other states or the national average. And the year-to-year proportions may be very different. (I can easily get the CA/US proportion for all the years, but with such poor guesses, there’s no value to being more precise.)

And suppose the bulk of those were purchased between 1970 and 2000, when SB 23 did the ‘ban by feature’. I picked 1970 because the M16 went into service in 1963, so maybe 1970, just post-Vietnam for a lot of servicemen, would be a good place to start. Years that end in ‘0’ attract the eye.

I cannot easily find import numbers just now, so I’ll ignore them; they’re no doubt significant with AKs and FALs and HKs and such.
ETA perhaps Bloomberg is not entirely useless. There is a document giving some info on imported rifles here: www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/…/Commerce_in_Firearms_2000.pdf, “Commerce in Firearms in the United States”. Imported rifles total a bit under 10 million 1970 – 1999. I suspect I could eventually get the export data by country, but I won’t bother.

ATF has the US manufacturing reports on line at the AFMER page. For each of 1998, 1999, and 2000 the manufactured number of rifles was about 1.5 million. Total long guns includes shotguns, and that adds about a million a year, so about 60% of long guns are rifles in those 3 years.

Kleck has numbers from the same source; the ‘net addition to stock’ for long guns is about 2.5 million per year, 1980-1994, so again, it is not entirely unreasonable to guess that about 40% of those were shotguns. 1970-1979, the numbers were over 3 million per year

So, for 31 years 1970-2000, something like 77 million rifles were manufactured in the US. (Some were exported – let’s ignore that detail, too.)

Using that 12% proportion, around 9 million of those might have gone to California [to match their proportion of the national population].

But, what proportion of those rifles were not lever actions and bolt actions and semi-autos that did not meet “Assault Weapon” (AW) standards?

I’m going to make a further guess by using the 1998 AFMER data. Toss out Winchester and Remington and Marlin and Weatherby and Ruger – but not Colt, oh, no! – and guess that most of the rest could have been AW types, and take that proportion. Very shaky, but anyway…

Throwing out those big non-AR-type manufacturers covers about 900,000 – about 60% of the 1.4 million in 1998. Let’s use the remaining 40% as the maximum possible proportion of the US production of rifles that might be AW types. That’s surely too high a proportion, but for a guess it’s a nice even number. (Again, numbers that end in ‘0’.) (I could look at more AFMER reports, but the recent proportion of AW types seems to me to be increasing, so the more recent data would seem to skew the results even more than I am certain they are already.)

Now, guess how many were ‘assault weapons’ if California definitions might be applied — 40% of 9 million rifles in California is 3.6 million. Only 166,000 are known to be registered.

Around 4.5% actually registered might be a supportable number.

With an estimated 10 million total imports, 12% for California is 1.2 million. 40% of those as ‘assault weapons’ (Too high? Too low? No information!) is 480,000. 166/4,180 is still only about 4% registered.

Economics and Investing:

Peter Schiff: Even if you raise taxes to 100%, we couldn’t pay it off. We’re going to default.

Dr. Gary North details the latest legislative travesty in Illinois, the Land of Lincoln Obama: A Bill to Register Buyers of Gold and Silver Coins. Just as with guns, they have it down to a science: they register, they tax, and then they confiscate.

Federal Reserve May Pause Quantitative Easing. JWR’s Comment: Yes, and your local crack head may try to kick his habit by going cold turkey. They’ll both have about the same chance of success.

Hedge funds face suspicious activity reporting requirement

Items from The Economatrix:

Cracking The 2013 Tax Code

Gold and Silver Prices Are Down – So What, Buy More: Peter Schiff

Rising Wages A Balm For US Workers Facing Payroll-Tax Shock

Odds ‘n Sods:

Blog readers in Florida should plan to attend the Life Changes Be Ready Preparedness Expo and Gun Expo on Saturday January 19, 2013. I will be a guest speaker, via teleseminar. The event will be held at the Volusia County Fair and Expo Center in DeLand, Florida.

   o o o

Randy K. came across a series of YouTube videos by a young woman who made a comprehensive switch to a homesteading lifestyle. Randy describes it as “…quite lively and entertaining. Unlike some of the run-of-the-mill stuff out there, she makes these videos personal and shares little bits of herself and family history. I thought you might be interested in seeing how she goes about doing things. What I’m personally finding very interesting is how she does sourdough. Just getting into bread making myself, her description of wild yeast capture took me quite by surprise. I’m looking forward to starting a ‘mother’, and seeing how long I can keep her going. On a more serious side, we are transitioning to making all of our breads and pastas. With a store of various grains, we can wean ourselves off the commercial garbage and into healthy carbs done at our pleasure. Her travel into that realm has me amped.”

   o o o

Matt Bracken: Dear Mr. Security Agent. (Thanks to Clark H. for the link.)

   o o o

Two readers (H.M. and M.U.) both wrote to mention that Old Grouch Surplus still has German surplus aluminum alloy G3 magazines in good condition for $4 each. The folks at KeepShooting.com are presently sold out, but they tell me that they have another 150,000 G3 mags due to arrive in March.

   o o o

The long march to justice: China set to abolish forced labour camps. Finally? Really?

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Collectivists believe in collective guilt, unsurprisingly. They believe this as deeply and unquestioningly as any Bolshevik commissar or medieval inquisitor. They reveal themselves when they say the NRA ‘refuses to accept blame for the Sandy Hook massacre.’ The people manning the solar observatory at Sacramento Peak also refuse to accept blame, or would if asked, and rightly so. Absent evidence the perp had accomplices, or was under direct and actual control of others, blame attaches to the shooter alone. The proposition is simple and of unassailable provenance. As with all crime, guilt lay with the perpetrator. Hence the term, perpetrator. What would those who blame “society” for crime have us do instead, arrest cab drivers in Toledo and call it a good start?” – Ol’ Remus, The Woodpile Report

Notes from JWR:

I was shocked to hear that Keith Ratliff, the manager of the video blog FPS Russia was recently found murdered in Carnesville, Georgia. His relatives sound dubious about the reported details.

You’ve probably seen some of the very popular YouTube videos featuring Keith’s buddy Kyle Myers demonstrating various exotic weapons. (In the videos, Kyle mimics a Russian accent and uses the stage name Dmitri Potapoff.) FPS Russia is reportedly the third most popular video channel on YouTube.

His death comes as very strange news. If it was indeed a robbery (as some claim), then why were so many guns found in the same room? Perhaps the GBI autopsy will provide some answers about the circumstances of his death. Please keep Keith Ratliff’s family in your prayers.

—

Today we present another entry for Round 44 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, 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), and F.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo. and G.) A $200 gift certificate, donated by Shelf Reliance.

Second Prize: A.) 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. B.) A FloJak FP-50 stainless steel hand well pump (a $600 value), courtesy of FloJak.com. C.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $300, D.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, E.) Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value) and F.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 value).

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.) A Commence Fire! emergency stove with three tinder refill kits. (A $160 value.), and E.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 44 ends on January 31st, 2013, 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.