Notes from JWR:

Today is the birthday of Dr. Cynthia Koelker, SurvivalBlog’s Medical Editor.

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This is also the birthday of Frederick Selous (born 1851, died 4 January 1917.)

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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.

Diabetics in Disasters, by Meir L.

(Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and I do not have anything to do with the medical field. This is strictly my personal experiences, and the following does not constitute medical advice.)
 
Introduction
As an 18 year old type 1 diabetic, I am a very active person. I enjoy hiking, biking, climbing, etc. Two years ago, in September of 2011, I started going to the bathroom a lot, drinking like crazy,  becoming very fatigued, and feeling poorly much of the time. Since I am related to multiple Type 1 diabetics, I knew the signs of a developing diabetic, and I was kind of waiting for this to happen. Two days after I started showing the signs, I called my father and I told him my fears. That weekend I went to the hospital and I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

The month that I was diagnosed, many people asked me if this was “annoying” or “life changing.” Since I am related to so many diabetics (more than 5), I was exposed to diabetes since I was born, and therefore it really was not such a big deal. The only things I was really upset about was food, hiking, and the army. I really eat a lot of food and I enjoy eating. I love backpacking and hiking and I was afraid that since I became diabetic, I would not be able to do these activities. The reality is that this is not true, and if a person is responsible, it is very safe, providing that you monitor your blood sugar. Additionally, I was upset because I always envisioned joining an elite nit in the army, and because I became diabetic, they would not let me in. But I soon found out that diabetics can lead a completely normal life, and I have been doing hikes, bike rides and many adventures.

Since 1 in 16 people in America have diabetes, I think this post can help many people out. In this post I will use my adventure and day to day experiences to try to help diabetics (and diabetic’s relatives) understand how to prepare for a survival situation and general everyday life events.

Insulin

A. Understanding diabetes and insulin

Any diabetic can tell you that insulin is the most important supply for living with diabetes. In a normal person’s body, the pancreas performs many functions, one of which is the production of insulin. In a diabetic person’s body, the body’s immune system recognizes the insulin producing cells as a foreign microbe, and it targets them like your immune system would target a foreign bacteria. Therefore, a diabetic person’s body does not produce insulin, and he needs to provide it for himself.

B. Different Types of insulin

There are two types of insulin that I use: Long term (I use Lantus), and short term (I alternate between Humalog and Novolog – same thing). The insulin that the doctor prescribes come in 2 sizes: vials and pens. I like using vials because vials require syringes, and syringes are completely manual. Therefore there is no room for error that pumps and automatic injections have. I have a friend who was on the pump, and every few days he had to get something reconnected, parts replaced, and batteries changed. In my opinion, the less tech is involved, the less room for error there is. Insulin pens can be good for mobile, on the go situation. The biggest problem about insulin (which I will get back to), is that it can spoil due to hot weather (80-90F). If a vial spoils, it is a loss of 1000 units. If a pen spoils, it is a loss of 300 units. So with pens there is less risk. Though pens are manual also, to some degree they are automatic, and you are not completely in control of the injecting process. Many a time I will not be sure if the insulin went into me or not. So pens and vials are basically equal, and until a short time ago, I mostly used vials.

I am not going to talk about insulin pumps, since in a TEOTWAWKI situation pumps are incredibly non practical (batteries, supplies, potential for infections, etc.).

C. Ideas for stockpiling insulin           

A few months ago I realized something important. When the doctor sends in a prescription for insulin, they ask you if you want vials or pens. Then they send in to the pharmacy to give you how ever many units you need a month. The minimum amount of insulin that comes in a vial is 1000, and the minimum amount of units that come in a pen is 5 pens of 300 units each, which comes out to 1500 units. I realized that I use approximately 500-700 units a month, and if I request pens, they will give me 1,500 units a month instead of 1,000. I also think it cost the same amount of money in the co-pay. Because of this, I have over 5000 units of insulin (and counting) in my refrigerator, and every single month I add my surplus of 700-1,000 units. If you get more than 1,500 units a month, request pens, and they will give you 3,000.
Additionally, you can ask your doctor to increase your monthly prescription, although I am not so sure how legal that is.

D. Keeping insulin at a good temperature
For exact temperatures and brands, here http://www.isletsofhope.com/diabetes/care/tips_insulin_chart_1.html, although I do not trust the shelf life they prescribe, since insulin actually lasts longer in my experience.

I. High temperatures
The biggest problem with insulin is refrigeration. Insulin should be stored at 36 to 46 F. The higher temperature it is stored at, the faster it will go bad. If you store sealed insulin at the recommended temperature, it can last until the specified date that is on the container, usually 3 years. Hopefully before three years, the survival situation will pass by and you can resume your supply. If you store opened insulin at the prescribed temperature, it can last more than 3 months. If you store it at room temperature, it will last approx. 1-2 months. Before going on a 3 day summer hike in Vermont, I found a great solution. There is something called Frio packs. It is some technology that if you place the container into water, it can keep the pack cold for more than two days. I also realized that based on this, you can probably store insulin in cold water (in a Ziploc bag), and as long as you change it every day, you can probably make the insulin last a long time. I have heard a good strategy is to leave it in the tank of your toilet.  If this does not work, hopefully you have a generator, and you can power a small fridge with it. Additionally, you can buy a solar powered fridge, although I am not so sure how reliable they are.

These are the different methods that diabetics can store their insulin:
1- Frio packs
2- Storage in cold water (tank of toilet)
3- Solar powered fridge
4- Propane powered fridge
5- Generator
6- 12v fridge that can be plugged into a car
7- Root cellar
8- Bury in the ground (similar to root cellar)
9- Zeer Pots (Evaporative coolers, using clay pots and sand.
10- Any other alternative energy source

II. Low Temperatures
I have written about storing insulin at high temperatures, and I will now go to storing insulin at low temperatures. Apparently (never experienced this), if you store insulin lower than 36F, it will freeze and become unusable. About 3 weeks ago I did a 3 day winter hike in the White Mountains in New Hampshire. At times, the temperature dipped below 0F.  The best way to store insulin in cold temperatures is with body heat. Put the insulin in your pocket, and it will stay warm as long as you stay alive. If for whatever reason you can’t do this, you can keep the insulin in a warm room, though it is not so reliable. If you have farm animals, you can keep it by them, since a cow can generate more body heat than a human. If you have a privy, you can keep it next to the place where the excrement is kept since it can also generate a lot of heat. In the same vein, you can store it by animal dung which is the same as a human’s.

Testing Strips and Glucometer

Different machines
When I first became diabetic, the doctor gave me a OneTouch glucometer. I love gadgets, and I immediately set out looking for different glucometers. I checked out the Bayer USB, the freestyle lite, etc. I realized that the fancier the machine is, the less reliable it is. Take for example the One Touch mini and the new, advanced OneTouch Verio. Forgetting about cost (the Verio is 1.5 times the price for testing strips), the Mini’s batteries can last months, while the Verio’s battery is rechargeable, and therefore it lasts less than a week (I am being generous). The Verio has a cool color screen, gold testing strips, and it is a sleek white color. The Mini is small, compact, and reliable. It gives correct readings, has a long battery, and is not fancy at all. You are better off getting a cheaper, reliable, long lasting battery glucometer than a cool fancy one. In a survival situation, you might not have electricity to recharge your glucometer, while batteries are mostly reliable and long lasting. Maybe as a precaution you should keep one rechargeable glucometer in case of a battery problem. Since for some reason hospitals always give you an OneTouch glucometer when you are first diagnosed, it is worth it to always have one of those, since many people will have the same one and you can barter or share testing strips.
It is very important that you have more than one glucometer. I can’t say how many times I got a suspect wrong reading from one glucometer, compared it to a different glucometer which would give me a different reading, and take a third glucometer to see which one wins.

Cold Weather
When you are in cold weather, sometimes your glucometer will give you an error message (less than 32F). When I went on this winter hike, this happened to me a few times. If it is not a momentary concern, you can put it by you armpit (or somewhere warm on your body), and it will take a few minutes to work. If it is important for that moment, you can breathe on it, and it will warm up fast.

Expiration date
As far as I know, there is no expiration date on a glucometer, while there is an expiration date on testing strips. I think that the expiration date for the testing strips is bogus. My cousin has used testing strips past their expiration dates, and the readings are correct. It is most probably a company ploy to get you to buy more testing strips. If the machine gives you trouble, move the date on the machine back to accommodate the date on the testing strips.

Extra batteries
This is pretty obvious, but you need to have many batteries stocked up. As I said before, all or most of your glucometers should be battery powered.

Stockpiling
As with insulin, you should always keep a very big stock of testing strips. Ask your doctor to write a prescription for 10 tests a day. This should give a nice amount of extra testing strips a month.

Syringes
This can be a very touchy subject, but when it comes to survival, you don’t have a choice. Reuse, reuse, reuse. Even now, when everything is normal (Thank G-d), I disinfect and reuse syringes because I am thrifty. I think the reason why it is so controversial to reuse syringes is because drug addicts share syringes. Sharing syringes can be a problem since it can spread diseases. If you use a syringe that only you have used, I don’t think it should be a risk. I personally use a syringe around 5-10 times before I throw it out (only because it becomes to blunt). But I know someone who uses a syringe for a really long time before he throws it out. I think he might use it for a month or longer. He still as the same prescription from 2005. This is an extreme, but it shows how you can reuse syringes without a problem.

Ketones

Definition (via ADA)
“Ketone is a chemical produced when there is a shortage of insulin in the blood and the body breaks down body fat for energy. Ketones in the urine are a sign that your body is using fat for energy instead of using glucose because not enough insulin is available to use glucose for energy.”

Symptoms

  • Your blood glucose is more than 300 mg/dl
  • You feel nauseated, are vomiting, or have abdominal pain
  • You are sick (for example, with a cold or flu)
  • You feel tired all the time
  • You are thirsty or have a very dry mouth
  • Your skin is flushed
  • You have a hard time breathing Your breath smells “fruity”
  • You feel confused or “in a fog”

How to Test
You can get a ketone test form your local pharmacy. This can be prescribed and is usually covered by health insurance. Depending on the brand there are different instructions. Some glucometers come with a blood ketone test. Novo Nordisk Max comes is one of those.

Results
Small or trace amounts of ketones may mean that ketone buildup is starting. You should test again in a few hours.
Moderate or large amounts are a danger sign. They upset the chemical balance of your blood and can poison the body. Never exercise when your urine checks show moderate or large amounts of ketones and your blood glucose is high. These are signs that your diabetes is out of control. At this point you are in danger zone. If no doctor is around, take the necessary steps to bring your blood sugar under control (insulin).
Drink a lot of water to flush out the ketones.

Adjusting your insulin dosage
I don’t want to advise people on this, since it is used in everyday life, and I have no medical credentials to give advice. Here is a good link that works with me: http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/images/issues/2011/Jan/adjusting_your_insulin_dose.pdf

Alternative insulin
I have researched alternatives to getting insulin from the pharmacy, and I found that there is no formula for making a “chemical” insulin readily available, although I really hope somebody gets one out there. What I did find was a primitive way to get ready made insulin from an animal. During WWII, a Jewish couple who fled to Shanghai from Czechoslovakia worked out a process for extracting insulin from Buffalo pancreas. The woman, Eva Saxl, became diabetic and though they knew nothing about insulin beforehand they worked out the process based on a medical text “Beckman’s Internal Medicine”. They were generously given access to a chemistry lab. Eva eventually tried the insulin and then began distributing it to other diabetics; by the end of the war she had supplied insulin to over 400 people. It was at least four years that they used that method.

Animal insulin formula (via a comment at TSLRF, I can’t vouch for his post, but there is no reason to not believe him)
“Extracting insulin from very fresh sheep or pig pancreases is fairly easy, if you have the required equipment, consumable supplies, and knowledge. I recall doing it in (I think) high school science labs – but we didn’t actually use it. It is somewhat time consuming, as well.
One US patent for extraction is number 2779706; another is 2637680.
One key concept is that the very fresh pancreas needs to be kept very cold during most of the processing…if you don’t have water ice to keep the process in an ice bath, you won’t get good insulin. On the other hand, it has to be water ice – if the pancreas freezes the tissue is too damaged to use.”
For the exact formula go to http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=33479

Problems with this method
a) You have to sacrifice an animal for the process, which you might need for other things (meat, fur etc.)
b) The insulin is not as good as what people are now used to (all of which is made by bacteria genetically modified to make pure human insulin)
c) Animal insulin isn’t the same as human insulin, varying by 1-5 amino acids depending on the source animal. Even with real (made) human insulin, diabetics have problems, they had more problems with animal insulin. It was used decades ago but they stopped for a reason.
d) Using sheep or cows as sources can theoretically lead to spread of prion diseases (mad cow disease, scrappy, new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease).
e) Bioanalysis so you know how much insulin you need (which will vary with each batch) is difficult to do and probably not realistically possible in an austere setting. Get a stronger than expected dose of insulin and you can die quickly, get a weaker than expected and you can still die, just not quickly.

Conserving and stretching your supply
If you need to conserve your supplies there are many ways to do it. In terms of testing strips, you can just test less per day. As I explained before, syringes can be reused. In terms of insulin, there are a few ways to conserve your insulin supply.

Exercise- Doing exercise can bring down blood sugar. I find that the more you sweat, the faster it comes down.
Eating less carbs- This is an obvious choice. As long as you keep this within reason, you can limit your carb intake, thus needing less insulin.
Give the long term less often- This is for a real survival situation. You don’t want to starve your body of insulin, but if you really need to, you can give the long term less often. The doctor told me the official time that the Lantus will last is 18 hours. Everyone waits 24 hours. There have been times when I was first diagnosed, and I wasn’t so good with remembering, I would by mistake give at 30 hours or more. Even now, when I give by bedtime, sometimes my bedtime is later than others. I have done this with no ill effect. Ask your doctor before doing this, as I am not a scientist.

Have a diabetic pack ready

Always be prepared. Besides your regular stock, have a package of an ample supply of diabetes supplies that you might need at moment’s notice. Here is what you should have in this pack:

  • Two glucometers
  • Many, many test strips
  • Insulin- long and short acting
  • Sugar, high carb foods. Also pack complex carbs
  • Lancets with extra needle pricks
  • Syringes (pen or regular)
  • Ketone test
  • Glucagon
  • Some kind of insulating cooler for insulin (I recommend Frio)

For the companion: The difference between lows and highs (and what to do about it)
There is some confusion of non- diabetics when it comes to the difference between a high and low blood sugar. Whenever I give myself insulin in front of my little brother, he always complains, “Meir has low numbers!”

High blood sugar (otherwise known as Hyperglycemia) is when a person’s blood sugar is too high, and he needs insulin in order to lower it. Stress, carbs, and sleep can all cause one’s blood sugar to rise. Besides the long terms effects, if one’s blood sugar is too high, he can go into a coma. A high blood sugar is over 150, and it becomes short term dangerous when it goes past 400-500.

Low blood sugar (otherwise known as Hypoglycemia) is when a person’s blood sugar is lower than 75-80. This can happen because one gives himself too much insulin, is too active with no food, and is not eating carbs. In order to raise it, one needs to eat sugar and carbs. If one’s blood sugar goes to low, he can become unresponsive or unconscious. In order to get one out of this, he needs to be injected with glucagon. I am not sure what the deal with trusting expiration dates on the glucagon pens are, and I am also not sure how to extend the life of one.

Getting insulin when you don’t have
I know that a zombie apocalypse will probably not happen, but I enjoy watching The Walking Dead. When the group needed to go to the animal hospital to get meds, it got me thinking that they also probably have insulin. One of my relatives has a bunch of cats, and one of them is diabetic. Every day she injects it with insulin. I looked online, and insulin made for humans have been used for animals. So it makes sense that it goes the other way around. I think you may have to adjust the dosage though.

You can barter for insulin. When someone is completely dependent on insulin, you need to have viable barter items if the need arises.
In an absolute worst case depopulation scenario, you could possibly scavenge in abandoned hospitals. I think empty nursing homes would have more, since there are more older people who are diabetic.

Recent Innovations
These are different innovations that can make a TEOTWAWKI situation easier.

Artificial Pancreas —This new system ties together existing technologies so that type 1 diabetics are freed from constantly monitoring their blood sugar levels. Instead, a computer handles it by combining an insulin pump worn outside the body, with an implanted continuous glucose monitor (CGM). Special software allows the two to talk and automatically regulate the person’s blood sugar. Not only does this make management easier, but it also helps avoid the sugar level highs and lows that can lead to complications.

Inhaled Insulin—Taking the place of injections, this [“dry insulin”] lets type 2 diabetics breathe in their insulin. Not only is it a more desirable delivery method, but it’s also faster-acting and has less of a risk of low blood sugar levels. While previous attempts at inhaled insulin have failed, this drug is showing fewer potential risks. (Via AgingResearch.org)

A new [variety of] insulin does not require refrigeration.

Conclusion
I am not going to tell you how if SHTF you probably won’t survive. That is your calculations to make. Just understand that most survival situations usually won’t last long. With proper care, you can live out most TEOTWAWKI situations. Even if it is a non-recoverable TEOTWAWKI, you still have the option of getting insulin from animals.

Letter Re: Use of the Title Architect

James,
You have recently run two posts (my article and D.C.’s reply letter) and have dug into the ugly underbelly of the building design world.

I think there needs to be some clarification of D.C.’s points.  I will dissect it to indicate that this is the type of person that I would describe as an “elitist” and they are why we are in the predicament that we are in right now in this country.  I mean simply stated: Why would using the term “architectural, Architect, or Architecture” be a misdemeanor?  Sounds like a little government overreach to me. 

First things first.  Notice the three states he indicated.  California, Oregon and Illinois.  Those are three state that epitomize the Nanny State mentality.

Now if you put that aside let me describe my credentials. 

I am a practicing Designer in the field or Architecture. (An Architectural Designer.)  I can use this term because I work under the guidance of a licensed Architect.  I have 15 years of Design experience under licensed architects, I have designed buildings from $5,000 house additions to $30 million school buildings. I have completed all my IDP requirements, and have only one exam of seven left.  So basically the only thing stopping me from calling myself an “architect”, which I did not do, is one last exam.  I also have a side business building home additions (as a contractor).  So I think my qualifications speak for themselves.

Now onto his mischaracterizations:  (With quotes from his article are indicated as best I could)

“1.  Formalized education at an  NAAB accredited college leading to a degree recognized by a state board as valid for licensure. (My Bachelor’s degree at U. of Illinois was enough for some states but not enough for many states so I had to go back for a Master’s)”  (quote from D.C.’s letter)

This is not true and a line used in every school run by elite professors who often try to teach architecture because they failed at practicing it.  They try to scare students into “school training” they do not need.  The states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin (14 total) all allow a person to acquire their “architect” license without an NAAB-rated degree.  They can get it based on experience alone. (It’s called working not schooling).  See this link for licensing requirements, per state. 

It should also be noted that NCARB has what they call the BEA program.  It is a way for a Non-NAAB degree holding “Architects” to get a license in another state after they work as a licensed “Architect” in a certain jurisdiction (state).

“2. Completion of  3 to 5 years of internship, depending on level of architectural degree, (Masters vs. Bachelors) validated by the national  NCARB Intern Development Program (NCARB IDP)  for verification of multi-thousand hours of experience, in over a dozen specific categories, signed off by licensed architects,”  (quote from D.C.’s letter)

True, yet not true.  Every state has its own requirement.  Again see the aforementioned link..  The range is from 2 years to 13 years of work under an “architect” and the IDP requirements can be met in as little at 2-½ years, as in my case. 

“3. Achieve passing scores on all  8 parts of the national NCARB Architectural Registration Exam (NCARB ARE). Until this exam was computerized in 1996, it was 4 long lays of testing with the final day being a 12 hour long Charette to design an entire building, which passes all codes, based on being provided just a written program requirement and site plan” (quote from D.C.’s letter)

What does it matter what the exam was in 1996? (17 years ago.) The exam was modified in the last few years to ARE 4.0 and will again transition to ARE 5.0 in 2016.  The ARE 4.0 version has only 7 parts.  It can be taken, as each part, at its own separate time and at different locations if needed.  The Charette is not 12 hours long but broken up into separate time frames based on which exam you are taking at the time.  The exam is not as hard as he makes it sound either.  If you have been working in the field then it is rather easy.  Again experience trumps education.

“4. Pass any local state exam, which for some states is none to easy, for others is notorious.” (quote from D.C.’s letter)

He got that right.  Some localities and states have additional exams.  California being one, based on seismic design.

“5. Applied to and been accepted by that state’s Architects Review Board, passed a criminal background check, including domestic child support payment status, (sometimes with additional candidate interview process) paid the annual fees.” (quote from D.C.’s letter)

Close enough to not argue.  Hmmmm…  Annual fees to use the term “architect”.  You’ve got to love the government.

“6. Going forward, once licensed, continuing to provide annual or biannual proof of continuing education especially Health Safety and Welfare (HSW) ed[ucational] units.” (quote from D.C.’s letter)

True yet not true.  Each state is different.  You need 36 hours of continuing education credits in 3 years time frame.  I know “Architects” that will not do any for 2 years and then roll them all into 1 year.  Also these credits can be as easily attained by have a sales rep from Pella Windows come in and do a 1 hour lunch seminar and sales pitch. (That qualifies as 1 hour continuing education).  Not what I would call Continuing Education.  Let’s see the architect’s office schedules 36 free lunches that the sales reps pay for, and they get their continuing education.  That sounds hard doesn’t it?  It’s a joke.

So as you can see D.C. does have some “facts” wrong. 

It is true that the term “Architect” is considered a Professional term and in so has been regulated beyond what should be in modern society.  It has become a way to require people in most places to pay for drawings that are not really needed.  It is a racket equivalent in my opinion compared to any lobby group, mob organization and/or political activist group attempting to limit capitalism and free market economics that built this country.  It all based on the perception on making society safer for the general public. 

The AIA that he indicates (in his title) is a guild group that has manipulated the government and regulation system to try to make money for themselves and manipulate the system.  They hurt the general public with all the excessive regulations.  Let’s let the free market decide who they want to design their home or business.  If someone want to have a local handymen build him a pole barn then let him do it.  Why does an architect need to design it?  They have been being built for over a hundred years.  Why now do you need a stamped architect or engineer drawing?  It’s called over-regulation!  The best part of it is that I am going to be an “Architect” soon and I am fighting for essentially less work for myself!  I believe that if someone feels they need a building designed for their personal well-being then I will be there to help.  If someone wants to have a bathroom addition added to their home then by God let them build it themselves if they choose.

I am an individual trying to navigate a corrupt system to provide people with valuable advice based on my experience.  I will be a licensed “Architect” shortly and in my opinion the ones who fight against trivial things like using the term “architect” are the ones to be very afraid of.  They will charge you thousands of dollars for something that should cost you a few hundred because they feel privileged to have their knowledge. 

Now that attempts to clarify the ramifications of the elite trying to judge everyone.  Onto the more important items that should be brought up.  How does this rant affect me?  In truth it does not unless your local government dictates it. 

I get a lot of jobs from local jurisdictions that have passed regulations for people to need architectural stamped drawings for a Pole Barn, a bathroom addition or a garage.  Now it’s kind of like biting the hand that feeds you because I make money off these but I hate doing it.  So we do it as inexpensively as possible.  We will do a pole barn design for $200.  Basically we cover our insurance costs to stamp the drawings.  Why? Because it’s not fair to the people to have to pay it.  We can make our money on the big projects that need real design work.  The local [private homeowner]s should not need it. 

If you are looking to build a Home, and addition or any type of structure it should be up to you for who you trust.  I would recommend talking to a multitude of local contractors.  Give them a written idea of what you want.  Have them give you a quote.  Then call friends, Neighbors, and anyone else you know and ask how you feel they are as a contractor.  The final thing you do then is call your building inspector.  Ask them what the requirement are for your project.  Do you need plans or do they trust the contractor to do the work right.  Remember the building inspector has to certify buildings.  They know who does a good job and who does not. 

My previous post indicated that Knowledge as a very important item on the list.  This again comes into play here.  The knowledge to know when people are taking advantage of you.  Use the book I indicated in my previous post and anyone can build an addition to their house.  It’s not rocket science but poster D.C. wants you to think so.  Your knowledge will be beneficial in so many ways that this is what you should be most concerned with.  Not what a title someone uses is.  You study that book and think about your project and you will know if what is being built is right or wrong. 

Also, having the knowledge to navigate the current system and get around the “elites” will help you save money know that can be used for other more important preps.  Use your knowledge to avoid the pitfalls of regulations and government overbearing.  If you live in a rural area you will most likely not be affected by these issues.  If you live in the suburbs or urban area then question all government officials. – Paul W.

JWR Replies: Rather than have this degenerate into a protracted feud, I will leave this topic with just these posts. You’ve heard both sides of the argument, folks.

Where do I stand? I’m a libertarian with a conscience. Granted, I’ve seen countries where concrete buildings are erected with barely a scrap of re-bar, and sure enough, people die whenever there is an earthquake. But I must also mention that I live in a frontier county of an un-named western state where there is no formal building code enacted and where there are no permits required to build a house, a shop, or a barn. (Only septic system permits are required.) You can also cut down trees, erect a bridge, install a culvert, or construct a pond on your property without any permits. I like it that way!

There are indeed some entrenched guilds and elitist organizations in our nation. Statist attitudes have sadly become the norm. Under their we/they paradigm, stiff penalties have been created, by government decree. But even as an ardent libertarian, I must concede that there is a need for a modicum of public safety. I personally draw the line at distinguishing between private and public buildings. In my opinion, there should only be non-binding published guidelines for constructing private dwellings, but there should be more rigid standards for public buildings, overpasses, and bridges, especially in earthquake country.

Never forget: The definition of a license is a special grant of immunity from the state, for a fee, to do something that would otherwise be illegal. Who defines “legal”? It is our elected representatives. If they exceed their authority–as they often do–then they imperiously make that which should be inherently legal into something illegal or something that requires a license. (Witness, for instance: Educating our children, operating a private motor vehicle, owning a gun, dog licenses, buying and selling alcohol, et cetera.) Often, that comes down to the quest for government revenue rather than legitimate concern for public safety. I am writing this because I want you to carefully consider what is happening in our modern society. People regularly go along with new government edicts without ever stopping to question whether or not these laws are justified and the proper exercise of legitimate authority. So…. Be vigilant. Question authority. Demand your rights. Rebel against tyrants, but submit to good and legitimate government. (Per Romans Chapter 13.) Our Founding Fathers must be rolling in their graves, to see the bureaucratic monster that we’ve created for ourselves. If we don’t speak up frequently and loudly, then we are destined to live under the tyranny of total government.

News From The American Redoubt:

Spokane man falls from rooftop while taunting negotiators

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I just learned from reader Jason P. that a great small family business is up for sale: Bullpacs.com. Jason says: “They make a nearly indestructible pack frame the even works with a USGI ALICE pack. I have nothing but good things to say about their frames and their customer service. They are located in Lewiston, Idaho. I thought one of your readers might be interested in this for a home business.”

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From North Idaho: Some politicians see fit to support our constitutional rights

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Richard Celata (already well-known for his 60% “no FFL” AR rifle receivers from KT Ordnance and his precision fly cutter milling tools) has launched a new business: Celata Aircraft, in Dillon, Montana. His new GP-4 lightweight kit planes offer exceptional fuel-sipping performance. Their recent e-mails advertised:

“Our GP-4 Kit is CNC machined parts for a perfect fit, every time.
Would you like a fast, 240 mph cross country aircraft?
Would you like one that will go 1,200 miles on one tank of fuel?
Would you like one with a 24,000′ ceiling?
From Boston to Dillon Montana in 7 hours (2,058 miles) with one fuel stop (101 gallons @ $606).”

Celata Aircraft can be reached at: (406) 834-3611

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In eastern Oregon: Protesters get mega-loud

Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Debra P. suggested a good article on medieval agricultural planting cycles

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Reader J.B.G. sent this sad news from one of the eastern Nanny States: Connecticut Gun Owners Wait in Line to Do Something Many Gun Owners Hope They Never Have To. My congratulations to the men who didn’t line up to register their birthright for future confiscation. Non-compliance with the unconstitutional new law will undoubtedly be rampant. Le mala, lex nulla!

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Super hoarders of Utah: Inside the huge warehouses used to store food as Mormon faith fuels state’s insatiable desire for disaster preparation

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B.B. suggested: ‘Military-Style’ Raid on California Power Station Spooks U.S.

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Citizens take law into own hands after cash-strapped Oregon county guts sheriff’s office

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National ID Law Takes Effect In 2014

Note from JWR:

Today is celebrated as the birthday of Rudyard Kipling. His writings about Afghanistan have sparked a modern-day revival of interest in Kipling among British, Australian, and American officers and NCOs deployed to Afghanistan.

Review of 2013 Self-Reliance Expo, Denver, Colorado, by L.K.O.

The National Self Reliance Organization (NSRO) sponsors the Self-Reliance Expos. The expo returned this year to Denver, Colorado on October 4-5, 2013. I also toured the prior Denver Self-Reliance Expo on Sep. 16-17, 2011 here and one last year (May 18-19, 2012) in Colorado Springs. Prior expos have been held in Salt Lake City, Utah (October 7-8, 2011), and during 2012 at Dallas, TX (July 27-28), Hickory, North Carolina (September 14-15) and Mesa, Arizona (October 26-27). Upcoming expos in 2014 will be held in Mesquite, Texas and back in Denver, Colorado. The next upcoming expo is featured here.

As usual, several of the vendors at the expo were SurvivalBlog advertisers. d

Multiple Expo Vendors

These expos showcase a diverse assortment of avid and amiable survival, self-reliance and preparedness presenters and vendors. Many of the companies showing their wares and services there are devoted SurvivalBlog advertisers and readers. I enjoyed meeting several new vendors for the first time as well as those who had been at the September 2011 Denver expo or May 2012 Colorado Springs expo or both. The vendors listed in this paragraph have had a presence at this expo as well as the prior two we’ve reported on. (Note that some of the vendors listed were listed on the web site, but might not have made it to the show.) Chelsea Green Publishing is always adding new titles to their books on sustainable living, such as From the Wood-Fired Oven New and Traditional Techniques for Cooking and Baking with Fire. Backwoods Home Magazine continues to add new issues which build on their  and popular back issue inventory; we appreciate Dave Duffy’s welcoming hospitality and enthusiasm at these shows. Other returning vendors included: American Preppers Network (self-reliance education), Daily Bread (food storage, including freeze dried), DoTerra (doTERRA essential oils), EnerHealth Botanicals (cocoa, coconut milk, meal powder, etc.), Life Sprouts (sprouters with a diverse assortment of sprouting seeds), Directive 21/LPC Survival (water filtration, storage and many other survival products), New Millennium Concepts (Berkey water purifiers), Project Appleseed (Revolutionary War Veterans Association, marksmanship clinics), School of Natural Healing (herbalist education, courseware), Shelf Reliance – THRIVE (food storage, racks, emergency kits), Solar Gadgets (solar phone chargers, flashlights), Sun Oven (solar cooking appliances; they introduced a new model of their popular solar oven, which features sun tracking indicators, larger size to handle larger baking pans, thicker glass, a leveling rack that hangs to minimize spills, and a wind-resistant alignment leg with ground stakes), and 4 Everlight- UV Paqlite (reusable glow sticks–these have been mentioned by several SurvivalBlog readers, and reviewed by Pt Cascio.).

Double Expo Vendors

The vendors listed in this section were attendees of the Colorado Springs 2012 expo as well as this most recent Denver 2013 event. In the arena of Alternate Energy, Lighting and Fuel, returning vendors included ARC Solar Systems (compact portable power systems with a flexible PV component that rolls up into a storage cylinder slightly larger than a sleeping bag) and GO Solar (portable solar power systems). Currency and Exchange exhibitors included Ann Haney Ministries (Living In Abundance Couponing and Swiss America (gold, coins). In the Education, books and media category, we saw returning exhibitors American Preppers Network (self-reliance education), Doom And Bloom (medical preparedness; Survival Medicine Handbook), and Sea Cadets (US Navy cadet programs). Food, Food storage, stores, and distributors were represented by Grandma’s Country Foods (foods, spices, milk, preparedness, storage containers, kitchen appliances, contract packaging), My Patriot Supply (heirloom seeds/seed vaults, water, fire, food, survival gear, canning, books), Texas Ready (Liberty seed banks), and Tower Garden (aeroponic vertical gardening system). Shelter and Real Estate entries featured Cedar Log Systems (custom designed cedar log homes). In the Weapons and Defense department, there was Snake Blocker (knives, clothing, DVDs).

A few vendors were at both the Denver expos (2011 and 2013) we’ve reviewed but not the 2012 Colorado Springs expo reviewed here. These include: Tattler Reusable Canning Lids and Ullrich Insurance.

New Vendors

Numerous new vendors to the expo (at least new relative to those we’ve reported on within prior expo reviews in SurvivalBlog.) They included: A&E Building Systems (energy efficient building products), Angry American, Aircraft (ArtCraft?) Sports, Atlas Survival Shelter, Attack Pak (balanced load distribution packs/kits), Bar-Ricade (door security bars), Bear Claw Sharpening (tool, saw, knife, scissor sharpening), Big Smoke (Primitive Fire Making), Bill of Rights Press, Bridgford (meat and breads), Ceres Greenhouse (greenhouse renovations, controls, monitoring, consultation), Coast 2 Coast Communications, Colorado Aquaponics (sustainable fish/plant permaculture food production systems), Colorado Custom Sheds (serving Denver metro area), Colorado Cylinder Stoves (collapsable pack/tent stoves, accessories), Colorado Log Furniture Company, Colorado Mountain Man (budget survival/emergency preparedness items), Colorado Safe Outlet (gun safes), Colorado Solar Energy (alternative energy solutions), Coyote RV Inc./Phoenix Pop Up (Custom Campers), Doomsday Preppers Casting, Dragon Heaters (low emissions, high efficiency Wood Burning Rocket Stoves and Heaters), Family Shooting Center, Farris Survival (food, medical kits, water filters), Free Water Systems (rain capture equipment), Genesis Communications Network, Grape Solar (portable power, appliances, small off-grid, residential solar), Greg Brophy For Governor, Handy Sharp (pocket sharpener, magnesium fire starter), Hayes Military Outdoor (1911 pistol grips, camping and survival products, canteen and hydration systems), Health Force Nutritionals (superfoods, rejuvenation, longevity, immunity, cleaning, detoxification, education), Hesperian Health Guides (nonprofit health information and health education source), John Pierre (nutrition & fitness consultant), Just Water (Emergency, Disaster, and Survival Water Filters), Legacy Tractor, Life Straw, Lights Out Saga (motion picture), Liteye Systems (high resolution head mounted displays, micro imaging viewfinders, thermal surveillance systems), LS Tractor (compact and utility tractors, attachments, service), Lustre Craft (waterless, lifetime warranty cookware), Manifold Design and Development (certified passive house consultant), Midsouth Gold (gold, silver, platinum), MinuteMan Rx (life saving medical products used in battlefield or first-responder situations), Modern Harvest (canning labels and jar accessories), Peak 10 Publishing LLC (informational guides/videos on Survivalist, DIY Energy, Health and Financial topics), Penguin Publishing, Protec Sales, Provident Metals, Ready Made Water (home water storage), Republic Monetary Exchange (Gold, Silver, Gold IRAs), Rescue Tape, So Delicious Dairy Free (coconut milk), Top Pack Gear (emergency preparedness kits), Right to Thrive (Front Range backyard farms), Rockin Feet (liquid orthotics), Rocky Mountain Miners, Shelter Works (organic wall/building materials: insulated wood chip-cement forms), Silverfire (very efficient, clean-burning stoves), SunReady Power (portable solar power systems in rugged transportable trunks), Thrive Life (food, food rotation, food storage, emergency preparedness), Tony Dardano, US Navy – Sea Cadets, Vitamix (blender/food appliance), Water Pure Technologies (water storage/treatment kits, accessories), Wilderness Medicine Outfitters (classes: first responder, first aid, specialty), Youngevity (nutritional products), and Young Living (essential oils).

Upcoming Expos

The next scheduled Self-Reliance Expos will be at the Mesquite Convention Center, Texas, April 4-5, 2014 and also back again in Denver at the same venue as this year’s event at the National Western Complex, Denver Colorado, Nov 7-8, 2014. These are worthy pilgrimages for anyone within driving distance to these events.

Exhibitors for the next expo (April 4-5, 2014 Mesquite Convention Center, TX) include – lots of familiar vendors and a few new ones: American Preppers Network, Doom and Bloom, doTerra, EnerHealth Botanicals, HarvestRight (geodesic domes and portable shelters), LPC Survival (Berkey Water Systems, accessories, food storage, heirloom seed banks, books, mills, tools, etc.), MinuteMan Rx, New Millennium Concepts (Berkey water purifiers), Project Appleseed, School of Natural Healing, Storm Dorms, Swiss America (precious metals, numismatics), Vitamix (high end blender/food appliance), and Young Living.

– L.K.O. (SurvivalBlog’s Central Rockies Regional Editor)

Precious Metals Month in Review: December 2013, by Steven Cochran

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, by Steven Cochran of Gainesville Coins. Every month, we’ll take a look at the “month that was” in precious metals, covering everything from price action, to the information that’s driving the numbers.

December in Precious Metals

December is traditionally a slow month for precious metals, and the second-best month for stocks. This trend was amplified this year, as we saw lots of good economic reports from Europe, China, and the U.S. The stock markets, already hitting highs fueled by central bank money printing, sucked cash out of bonds and the precious metals market as everyone tried to get a piece of the action. This had gold around the $1,250 level to start the month.

The second week of December saw the U.S. Mint ship out the last of the 2013 Silver Eagle bullion coins (nine days earlier than last year) to cap the best year ever in sales; and the U.S. Congress actually come to a budget deal of sorts. It didn’t touch Social Security or other hot button issues, but everyone proclaimed it was proof that Congress could actually get something done. Precious metals shot to their high point of the month on the news, even as the dollar also advanced (usually a drag on commodity prices.) Stocks took this as pretty much clinching the chances of the Fed deciding to give Chairman Ben Bernanke a taper as his retirement gift.

The Fed followed through on the 18th, and reduced the $85 billion a month in “money printing” by $10 billion. That’s only a 12% reduction, but as the Congressman once said, “a few billion here, a few billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money.” Precious metals hung tough in wildly oscillating trading immediately after the announcement, but was later sucker punched to the $1,200 level, where it spent the rest of the month.

Stocks worldwide went berserk, setting new records, because the Fed promised over and over to keep benchmark interest rates at or near zero at least through 2014, even if unemployment dropped under 6.5%. It was about this time that rumors started swirling over Stanley Fischer being named to the #2 position at the Fed, when Yellen moves into the chairmanship. Fischer was Bernanke’s doctoral thesis adviser, and also taught ECB Chairman Mario Draghi and many other central bankers.

Most recently the head of the Bank of Israel, Fischer has also held top positions at the IMF and the World Bank. He is noted as an expert on hyperinflation, which may be one reason Obama offered him the copilot’s seat at the Fed.

Market Buzz

Rumors are increasing that the Indian government will ease import restrictions on gold, even as the 10% import tax remains in effect. The domestic jewelry industry has almost been wiped out, and smuggling is bringing in hundreds of tons of gold that the government is not collecting taxes on. National elections are in May, and the ruling party is now about as popular as Congress is in the U.S., so this would be a logical action to take to improve their chances of staying in power.

Supporters of “hard money” are standing by the fundamentals, as Western quick-money speculators sell their physical gold to China. Eric Sprott for example, said in a recent interview “If you believe you’re right, and the data says hold your ground, you hold your ground. Normally, there’s a pretty big payday at the end.” Some industry watchers are speculating that China’s central bank will reveal how much gold they really hold next year, as it seems they do so every five years. The last official report was for 1,054 tonnes in 2009, so 2014 would mark five years from that report.

On the Retail Front

Even though all the talking heads are going on about how no one wants to buy precious metals any more, the story on the streets is much different. Retail investors have pushed the sales both the American Silver Eagle and Canadian Silver Maple Leaf coins to new record highs this year. The U.S. Mint has announced that the 2014 Silver Eagle will not go on sale until January 13th, and that supplies will be allocated (rationed.)  Pre-orders for Silver Eagles are already a best-selling item.

The Royal Canadian Mint has brought new security features first introduced on the Gold Maple Leaf in 2013 over to the Silver Maple Leaf for 2014. The Mint recently won a Coin of the Year award for implementing similar features on their circulating $1 and $2 coins. In addition to the micro laser-engraved security mark (what some people are calling a “privy mark”,) the entire background of the new Silver Maple Leaf will have a radial line design constructed to make counterfeiting much more difficult. You can see images of the new Silver Maple features here.

Looking Ahead

Looking at the fundamentals ahead, this is what we see:

Asian demand for gold was sated in large part by outflows from Western gold ETFs in 2013. The amount of gold sold by ETFs for the year equaled 800 metric tonnes, 25% of global production. This is a trend that physically cannot continue, because the ETFs have a finite amount of gold. Since that gold is being sold to China and India, it will not come back onto the market. Where will these ETFs get gold once the price starts to rise again?

Another drag on gold supply next year will be the fact that gold prices are now at or below the all-in cost of production for many mines. Expect more mines to reduce production or even close unprofitable mines. This will lead to severe labor unrest in nations with high labor costs, like South Africa.

This may also lead to China buying even more gold mines in 2014. Chinese companies, using loans from the government, have bought up $4 billion worth of gold mines and mining companies in the last two years. While other mines are reducing production, these Chinese-owned mines are expanding production on orders from Beijing, and shipping it all back home to China. This reduces the amount of gold on the open market, but still does not satisfy all of China’s gold demand. China is now the world’s largest consumer of gold, even though it is also the world’s largest producer of gold.

A third factor that may reduce global gold supplies is the law passed recently by Indonesia’s parliament, demanding that all ore be smelted in-country instead of being shipped out raw. This presents a problem, as there is only one copper smelter of any size in the country, and Indonesia is the world’s largest producer of tin and copper ore. The Indonesian executive branch knows that this law is suicidal for the country, and is trying to find ways to help the mining companies work around it. Freeport, which runs the world’s largest copper mine at Grasberg, said that production will fall to 20-30% of maximum if the law is not amended or repealed, meaning the loss of 30,000 local jobs. Grasberg produces 3.2 million oz of gold a year as a by-product of copper mining, and this law may mean a shortage of 840,000 oz on the global gold market.
We see retail investment demand for silver continuing to grow, after a record year in 2013. If someone tells you “oh, that’s because of the price crash,” remind them that the U.S. Mint sold out of Silver Eagles in EIGHT DAYS when the new 2013s were introduced in January. That was 7.49 million ounces of Silver Eagles sold when silver spot price was above $30/oz.

Inflation will be the “monster in the box” in 2014, as the Fed seems blind to the fact that it is its own policies that have the Big Banks holding on to quantitative easing money, instead of lending it out. Since the Fed has artificially suppressed benchmark interest rates, the Big Banks have parked some $2.5 trillion in QE money back at the Fed for a guaranteed return, instead of lending it out. The big Wall St. banks earned $6.25 billion last year in interest from the Fed, on cash the Fed itself printed in the hopes it would improve the economy.

Instead of fixing the problem at its source and getting the banks to actually lend that money, some economists at the Fed want to try and raise the inflation rate on purpose, thinking that they can make it stop rising when they want to.

Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher was shocked by the idea, telling a crowd “the idea of ramping up inflation expectations from their current tame levels strikes me as short-sighted and even reckless.” Fisher said that the long-term inflation dangers that the Fed has already caused “will surely test our capacity to manage policy going forward.”

As far as official inflation rates, they have been changed in the same way as unemployment rates have, in order to hide the true condition of the economy (Check the old U6 unemployment rate, which includes unemployed people who can’t find a job, and compare it to what the government reports.)  Brent Johnson of Santiago Capital recently told people “If you believe in math, buy gold.” He explains that inflation is nested in the stock market and real estate bubbles.

More and more people are expressing concern over the stock market and real estate bubbles based more on euphoria and greed than fundamentals. In addition to Reagan’s budget director David Stockman, this year’s co-winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics Robert Shiller warns of bubbles in both real estate and stocks. Shiller is famous for predicting the “dot com” crash and the real estate crash.

The taper is a tiny drop in the bucket, and the budget deal in Washington did nothing to fix any real problems. With ever-expanding national debt, and a China that is signaling it really doesn’t want to keep buying U.S. debt, dollar devaluation grows closer.

Pat’s Product Review: Warrior Trail Training Body Armor

Many firearms instructors, myself included, have a saying that goes something like this “train the way you fight.” Meaning that, if you’re training isn’t related to real-life scenarios, you’re
doing something wrong. Outside of my basic NRA handgun classes, my other (limited) firearms training classes are geared to real-life training. When on the range, we don’t train you to stand there, squared off to a target, at a pre-determined range, and just stand there and shoot. No! Instead, my training consists of on-the-move training, as well as firing at a 180-degree area. We shoot right to left, and front to back. We shoot on the move, too – as well as from behind cover, and in the prone and kneeling position. In a real-life active shooter situation, you can’t just stand there and square-off, and keep shooting – if you don’t move, you’ll die – simple as that.
 
After the first shots are exchanged, you should be seeking cover, or changing your plane, and reloading and looking for other threats. While there’s nothing wrong with learning basic Marksmanship skills; sight picture, trigger control and follow-through, in a real-life deadly shooting, you need to be on the move, and make good use of cover and concealment if possible. Look, this isn’t the Old West, where you and an opponent stand face-to-face, and see who can draw their weapon the fastest. That will get you killed. You have to train the way you’ll fight – be it in the military, law enforcement or as a civilian gun owner. This also means using the weapon and equipment that you’d be using on the streets or on the battlefield.
 
Uncle Sam issues hard body armor to our troops, and it’s really good armor – it’s made out of ceramic and compressed aluminum (I believe), and it is designed to trap the rounds fired into it – thus, breaking-up the ceramic/aluminum plates – they are meant to be some what fragile – it’s the way they absorb the rounds – by breaking apart. However, one serious drawback to this type of hard body is that, when worn in training, these plates take a beating, and they can break or fracture when you go prone, or for that matter, if you accidentally drop you body armor carrier on the ground. Some law enforcement agencies actually have their had body armor (ceramic-style) x-rayed yearly or an CT scan used – very expensive procedures for ensuring that you hard body armor plates haven’t been damaged.
 
Today we consider Warrior Trail, a company manufacturing a patented type of hard body armor training armor – please read that again, this isn’t hard body armor, instead it is TRAINING body armor. It is designed and manufactured to the same size, shape and weight as ceramic-type hard body armor plates. If you’re on a SWAT team, for instance, you will be training the way you’ll fight – and that means wearing your hard body armor – if your department issues it. Only problem is, if your training is real-life training, your very expensive hard body armor plates can and will get damaged. You may not see the damage visibly, but the damage might be there, and if you take a hit during a call-out, from a high-powered rifle, your plate might fail – causing serious injury or death.  Training can get very expensive, if your department has to keep inspecting your body armor plates, via x-rays, CT scans or ultrasounds, and in this day and age of budget shortfalls and restraints, it can cut down on your equipment budget rapidly.
 
I received several training plates from Warrior Trail – and once again, keep in mind, that these are not actual hard body armor plates, they afford you NO ballistic protection – they are designed to be inserted into your body armor carriers – after you’ve taken out your real body armor plates. Then you can proceed with real-life training scenarios, where you can go prone, and just totally train the way things would happen in real life – without the fear of damaging your real body armor. Warrior Trail training body armor plates, are the same size and approximately the same weight as ceramic type hard body armor plates are – I know, I have hard body armor plates, and I compared them to the Warrior Trail plates – they are almost identical. Keep in mind that, different companies who manufacture hard body armor plates will have slightly different variations from one company’s plates to another company’s plates. However, all things considered, the Warrior Trail plates will feel just like your real hard body armor plates when you insert them into your vest.
 
Now, just to remind the purchaser, the Warrior Trail training plates come with a warning on them, alerting you, that you have no ballistic protection, and there is a hole drilled in the plate – this should be enough to alert the wearer that this is not real body armor – even though it looks like and feels like the genuine article.
 
Warrior Trail training body armor plates are manufactured out of a proprietary polymer material, and it is tough stuff. I did place it in a carrier, after removing the real body armor plates, and I couldn’t tell or feel any difference between the real body armor and the training body armor plates – felt the same. I also totally abused the training plates, threw them on a concrete walk, threw them down my gravel driveway – and even skidded them down my driveway, as well as throwing them against trees. While the training plates took a beating, they didn’t fail. In a “train as you fight” training exercise, you’ll think you’re wearing your real body armor plates in your carrier. Now, as an aside, make sure you switch out the training body armor plates for your real plates when you are done training. Might be a good idea for your unit or buddies, to do it all at the same time, and inspect one another’s carriers – to make sure you have put the real body armor plates back inside your vest, instead of the training plates. You can also place a Velcro patch – supplied by Warrior Trail – on your carrier, right on the front of it – to alert you that, you still have their training plates inside your carrier. PLEASE! This is important, don’t forget to switch the training plates out for your real plates!
 
If you’re a Prepper, out training with some friends, it’s a great idea to have these training plates inside your vest, instead  of the real plates – you don’t want to have the added expense of having to have your real plates inspected yearly, to know they will still provide the ballistic protection you want. Also, these training plates are a good idea if you are in a ROTC college training program, basic military training, Military Academy, National Guard unit, police, sheriff, FedGov law enforcement agent, etc. Also, they are a good idea to have when making an airborne jump, practicing water survival with your gear on, land navigation – just about any place where you’d be training wearing your real hard body armor, is where you can wear the Warrior Trail training plates in your vest.
 
Warrior Wear has a motto of their own, and it is “train as your fight – at a fraction of the cost” – and that’s something to keep in mind. Hard body armor doesn’t come cheap, and you don’t want to damage your real body armor, while out training – and not even realize you’ve damaged it. Warrior Trail training plates start at $59 per plate, and goes up from there, depending on the size. Still, this is a worthwhile investment – save your real hard body armor, for a call out or military operation – and use the Warrior Trail training plates for all of your training purposes. Don’t take a chance, you have a lot of money invested in hard body armor ceramic plates, spend a little money now, for some training plates. 

Harry’s Book Review: Emotional Intelligence

Book Title: Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ
Author: Daniel Goleman
Copyright Date: 1995
Publisher: Bantam
ISBN: 978-0553383713
Audio, e-book or foreign translation available:  Audio and Kindle available
Suitable for children: No.  Reads much like a college text book.  Not quite as dry, but not a book for a child.

Let me open with the qualifier that this book does not match the normal criteria for the books I typically review for SurvivalBlog.  I sincerely doubt Daniel Goleman ever had this audience in mind.  However, I think many in this audience would be well served by reading this book.

Two relatively recent posts on SurvivalBlog brought this book to mind for me. “Anticipated Traumatic Stress in TEOTWAWKI” by F. B. (11/23/13) and “We Who Are Left Behind” by M.D.L. (11/26/13) both provided great examples of how our own emotions come into play during a stressful situation.  From the “freeze” response of the strapping farm boy with a machine gun to the lack of a will to live after losing your loved ones, there are things which our own bodies do with which we must figure out how to cope.

When things go wrong with our skeletal structure or our muscles we can see and feel the problems.  Or at least with X-rays and MRIs we can.  We can usually tell exactly what caused the problem and we can create a plan to resolve it.  It is not so with our emotions.  Yet our emotions have the potential to be every bit as debilitating as a broken limb.

If anyone thinks emotions will not play a major role in TEOTWAWKI they are deluding themselves.  Unless you are one of the very rare few who are incapable of feeling you may well find yourself in an emotional mess unlike anything you have ever encountered in your life.  And you can pretty much guarantee that the majority of people you have to deal with will also be emotional basket cases. How do you prepare for that?

I will suggest that step one is developing a good relationship with God.  I know there are many who don’t want to hear that, but if you look into those who survive the worst that life can throw at them (POWs for instance) you will find that faith makes a big difference.  Even this book, Emotional Intelligence, which builds its foundation on evolutionary theory, includes a quote on the value of a belief in God.  (More on that later.)

Step two should be educating yourself about yourself, and I believe that this book offers a good start.  I don’t find it to be the perfect book, and in fact I would love to hear from other SurvivalBlog readers if they are aware of better resources.  I can imagine that either law enforcement or the military should have developed materials more appropriately focused on this element.  However, lacking a book focused on TEOTWAWKI, this is the best I know of for an analysis of what makes a person tick on the emotional side.

The book opens with discussion of the physical side of emotions, from facial expressions and blood flow patterns to the anatomy of the brain.  A good portion of this part is given evolutionary credit where I personally believe the hand of The Designer is at work, but however you got there, what you have is what you have.  This part only skims the surface and does so in easily understood terms with lots of anecdotal examples.

Goleman goes into depth on the subjects of 1) Knowing one’s emotions, 2) Managing emotions,  3) Motivating oneself, 4) Recognizing emotions in others, and  5) Handling relationships.  All of these will be very necessary skills in the event of a system collapse.

Emotions which are addressed with some detail include rage/anger, anxiety, melancholy and fear.  On the opposite side are discussed optimism and “flow”. Flow is an interesting subject all in itself.  “Getting in the groove” might be a reasonable synonym.  It is the state of mind in which one is performing at their peak level, doing a task for which they are well prepared, but which involves a degree of challenge.

There are also several pages on the subject of emotional wounds and PTSD.  This material will likely be very applicable to a TEOTWAWKI event.  The healing process discussed may be very valuable knowledge, particularly given that what seems to work best is not what I would call intuitive.  One of the best techniques used by children appears to be the reliving of the event through role play, but with a better outcome.  While parents and educators don’t want the children to even think about the event, the children are making a game of it, and apparently that game has healing potential.

Applications discussed for emotional intelligence include such things as education, marriage, management and medicine (emotion plays a role even in healing after surgery).

It should be noted that this is not a book to plan on reading through in one sitting.  To extract what is needed one needs to plan to spend a good deal of time in introspection and consideration section by section.  There was at least one part of this book which I had my wife read and consider how well it applied to me.  Expect to find out things about yourself as you read this.  Plan on spending time thinking about the ramifications of those findings.  It can be good or bad, but regardless of which, you will be better off if you know what you are working with.  If need be, you may be able to make changes now in order to be more emotionally fit for the future. One of the last sections is “Temperament is not Destiny.”  There are things you can do to alter your emotional condition.

As I mentioned already I believe there could be better books out there for this audience.  I did not read this book with the idea in mind of reviewing it for SurvivalBlog.  When it occurred to me that this book might be a candidate for a review I had to put some effort into refreshing my mind about the book.  I had been struck by the mention of God when I first read the book, and that in part because it seemed so incongruous to the rest of the text.  Indeed, I went hunting for that reference just to make sure I was not in error in mentioning it.  There is an index at the back of the book.  God did not rate an entry.  However, “Guns, danger of” did rate an entry, and that reminded me of this tidbit from the book, speaking of children born during the 1980s:  “These teenagers are the first generation to have not just guns but automatic weaponry easily available to them…” I couldn’t make heads or tails of that nonsensical statement, but I suspect it speaks to the author’s perspective and his degree of understanding on matters near and dear to this audience. s

JWR Adds: Harry is correct in pointing out the author’s apparent bias and unfamiliarity with firerms facts. Mr. Goleman is woefully under-informed. Here is a dose of truth: Fully automatic weaponry has never been “easily available” to teenagers, but semiautomatic guns have been in American homes since the early 1900s. Semi-automatic rimfire rifles were introduced by Winchester in 1903, and centerfire semi-auto hunting rifles have been quite popular ever since the introduction of the Remington Model 8 series rifles, in 1906. It is also noteworthy that semi-auto shotguns have been in common use since FN introduced the Auto-5 shotgun in 1902. Detchable magazine semi-auto rifles have been very popular in civilian use since just after World War II, when large numbers of M1 Carbines came home in dufflebags. (And there were nearly a million more sold to civilian shooters by the DCM in the 1960s.) The ratio of semi-auto rifles to traditional repeaters (pump, lever action, and bolt action) in civilian hands hasn’t changed appreciably in the past 30 years, although semi-auto handguns now clearly predominate over revolvers. What Mr. Goleman and assorted leftist do-gooders fail to recogniize is that even though per capita firearms ownership in America is now at an all-time high, both the violent crime rate and the rate of accidental deaths with firearms have been on the decline for several decades. (Although the percentage of homes with gun owners has gradually declined, the total number of guns has increased, indicating that the average size of private gun collections has increased.)

Letter Re: Cryptocoins and Prepping

James,
The more I learn about cryptocurrency, the more it reveals itself as a Godsend that could save us all from the tyranny of a central bank manipulated currency. I see this now as a revolution in civilization itself, nothing short of what penicillin or the internet has meant to us. It is new and undiscovered, just as America was in its beginnings, it is an unfolding wonderment.

When Bitcoin was starting up a few years ago, I fooled around with it on my computer trying to mine some coins, but it became apparent that I needed a lot more compute power to be able to mine very many coins at all. So I gave it up and de-installed the software. 

I certainly wasn’t going to buy any of these coins on the MtGox exchange at about $6 a coin if remember correctly. It seemed like a scam, not worth even buying 10 coins.

What I didn’t see was that the developers who designed this system had figured it all out and they foresaw what I did not, that this was going to be big, really big. I am now beginning to see what they saw. They have true genius and vision. They also love freedom.

I missed the boat with Bitcoin, if I had just bought a hundred or so coins, I could sell them today and be $60,000 richer. People are skeptical, but you can not argue with success. Bitcoins are worth something whether we like or not, or whether the government or the central banks likes it. The truth is they can’t stop the avalanche now. It’s world-wide and totally private. Even taking down the entire internet may not stop the use of crypto currency as long there are computers and thumb drives, coin can be exchanged.

I think Bitcoin is too expensive to get into, like gold at $2,000 at per Troy Ounce, so I am presently looking into mining and investing in some alternative crypto coins such as Litcoin now selling for $16.35 per coin. There are many others now, such as Peercoin, Primecoin, and Worldcoin.

Some will succeed like Bitcoin and some will fall by the wayside as the gold rush into crypto currency begins. There is room for competition, Bitcoin is limited by design in the number of coins it can produce and many have already been mined and are expensive.

There is room for other systems and the same visionaries who brought us Bitcoin are busy designing new systems as I write this.

In the near future I will be writing more about crypto currencies and will post it on Set2survive.com/crypto-coins.  Also check out the many cryptocurrency forums by doing a Google search for cyptocurrency.  – Tim T.

Letter Re: A Contractor’s Preps: Materiel Storage

Dear Mr. Rawles, 
Thank you for the article by Paul W. about contractor’s preps.  Free building supplies can often be found at Freecycle.org, there are local groups in most cities.  Also, don’t forget Habitat for Humanity re-sale stores, which have very inexpensive supplies.
Thank you, as always. – Carol D.

Letter Re: An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure for TEOTWAWKI

James,
K.M. in Ohio’s post “Ounce of Prevention…” warns that “If the needles are 1 per hole, that’s NOT Pine” is not true. The warning about Fir needles being toxic is valid, but there are one needle pines. The state tree of Nevada is the Single Leaf Pinyon, Pinus monophylla. It is found almost exclusively in The Great Basin with two subspecies in California and Arizona. Besides the needles being a source of vitamin C as with other pines, it produces nutritious and delicious pine nuts. (It also makes the perfectly shaped Christmas tree!) – David in Carson City, Nevada