Anderson Powerpoles: The Legos of DC Electronics, by Dan in Alaska

To say that I’m a neophyte in the electrical world, or as we say here in Alaska a “Cheechako”, is making a big understatement.  So, a couple years back my co-worker and friend got me into Amateur Radio, also affectedly known as Ham Radio.  I studied my ARRL Technician book and passed my test, but it just barely rattled what I had in my head 20 years ago from my only electronics class I had back in High School where we studied Ohm’s law, identified a resistor, and made a strobe light.  So, I’m on a big learning curve. 

I searched around and studied lots of reviews and settled on a nice hand held radio, a Yaesu VX-6R.  It works great for VHF and the 2M repeaters that I have in my town.  As with anything, you always strive for bigger and better!  Must be the Tim “The Toolman” Taylor gene that all guys have (emphasis on the Toolman grunt)!  So, I’m studying to upgrade my license from a Technician to General and get into HF.  Not only am I doing this to get more into my hobby, but I feel this is part of prepping that is just as important as beans and bullets.  Besides studying to upgrade my license, I have been assembling gear for my “shack”.  Again going around the net (great review site for Ham related stuff is www.eHam.net) and talking with fellow Hams, I decided to get a radio that is not only good for a base station, but mobile.  I ended up getting another Yaesu, a FT-897D.  That turned out to be the easy part, the rest of the gear list is probably going to be never ending and always changing.  This brings me to what I wanted to write about, the Anderson Powerpole.

From what I read and have experienced so far is that the Anderson Powerpole is the gold standard for 12VDC power connection.  There are probably people reading this and saying “Whoopee, who cares about connecting wires”!  I was there too at one time, being upside down hooking up trailer lights by twisting 2 wires together and wrapping them with electrical tape.  The genius with Powerpoles is not only the ease of installation, but the mobility and adaptability of this product.  One of the best features of the Powerpoles is that they are genderless, no male or female fittings.  One reviewer called it a hermaphroditic plug.  Because of that several emergency groups like RACES and ARES make Powerpoles a standard for equipment so everyone has the same ability to hook up all their equipment into various power sources.

So, I went to Powerwerx and bought several sets of Powerpoles, a roll of 12 gauge red/black zip cord, extra clips, a RIGrunner (more about that later), and a few other sundry items.  A set of Powerpoles are 2 plastic housings, one red and one black (for positive and negative wires), 2 metal clips, and a roll pin.  Now came the important question, to crimp or solder?  Well, I tried both and found that solder worked the best foe me.  I didn’t buy the fancy crimping tool for the Powerpoles and ended up deforming a couple of clips, and deformed clips won’t fit into the plastic housing.  The lockup for the clip and housing is very precise.  Same with over soldering the clips, if you have a blob of solder on the outside of the clip, it won’t lockup, but at least one can correct that easily.  There are several great sites for assembling Powerpoles like from the Powerwerx web site and Youtube.  What worked for me was to put the zip cord, whoa what is zip cord? It’s basically just like the power cord on your lamp at home, two wires side by side, but in this case they are red and black and can be pulled apart if need be.  So, zip cord in my vise straight up and down, and a great tip.  RED on RIGHT!  It will help keep the poles in alignment.  Place a clip, straight on top, with the “tongue” away from you.  I stripped off about an 1/8 of an inch more than needed to wick the solder, bottom up, into the wire.  Let it cool and click into the plastic housing.  Now after getting both housings done, you will notice that there are tongues and grooves in the sides of the housing.  If you want, you can take the red and black housings and join them together to make a “plug”, and to make it lock up just push in the roll pin in the hole provided by the joining of the two housings.  Again there are awesome videos on Youtube showing how to assemble Powerpoles, both crimping and soldering.

Now I mentioned a RIGrunner.  This is another little gem I discovered in this adventure produced by West Mountain Radio that uses Powerpoles in a central power distribution box.  Basically it’s a little metal box with several Powerpole connector outlet stations (the number dependent on model) that uses standard ATC fuses like in your car.  All the stations are the same, both input and output.  All you need to do is attach a power source like a 12v battery and your equipment like a radio and antenna tuner and you are in business.  Make sure to use the proper fuse with what is coming in or out.  I have a 40amp fuse for the power in and 20 amp fuses for my radio and tuner.  The model I got also included two USB charging ports for phones and pads.  So, what does all of this do for me?  Well, I have a very clean and safe setup for my “shack”.  All my power cords are in plastic housings, ran through a box with fuses, and are very adaptable and mobile.  Adaptable?  Let me explain.  My current power source for my radio is a box that plugs into a standard wall plug, so it converts 120 VAC to 12 VDC for my various equipment.  If the power goes out, then what?  I made a few adapters with my Powerpoles. I got a set of battery clips from Radio Shack, just like the ones you see on battery chargers.  At the end of the wires I installed a Powerpole set, so now I can use a 12VDC battery from my truck or camper.  I also got both male and female cigarette lighter plugs with Powerpoles on each end to either attach to a battery or insert into an existing adapter.  I also made a six foot extension cord.  The amount of adapters is dependent on your imagination.  You can set up inline fuses, filters, splitters, and so on.  Mobility?  I picked my radio just for that.  So, let’s say its bug out time.  All you need to do is just pull plugs and go.  I have most of my adapters in a canvas bag and pelican case for my radio.  So, aside from my antenna and coax, I could be unplugged and ready to go in a couple of minutes and have the ability to hookup to just about any 12VDC source.

Well, there are probably people out there saying “what good is that for me”, or “I’m not into Ham Radio”!  Let me expand on that.  I just recently moved from one place in Alaska that measured snow in feet to another place in Alaska that measures rain in feet.  Now driving on snow isn’t that bad, driving on ice is just plain horrible.  There is no steering out of it, or braking.  It’s just hold on for a terror of a ride, which happened to me on my little hill of a driveway.  So, I grabbed a few bags of salt and did my best impersonation of Johnny Appleseed and hand tossed out all the salt.  That wasn’t very easy or efficient!  So, after rummaging around the garage and shed, I found a hand held/hand cranked grass seed broadcaster.  That worked a little better, but still wasn’t what I was looking for.  So, I remembered seeing an ATV mounted broadcaster once on a hunting show.  They were putting in food plots for deer, and why wouldn’t that work for salt?  I found a not too expensive one on Amazon and placed my order.  In about a week I got my seed broadcaster, and I put it together.  Now when they said universal mounting, they were being very liberal with that statement, but I got it together.  This is basically a tub with a 12VDC motor that spins a segmented disk around and you control the spread by the size of the adjustable hole by the hopper.  Now came a problem, the power hook up was with a 12VDC cigarette lighter, and I don’t have one on my ATV.  I pulled off the seat and looked at what was a standard motorcycle battery, so I came up with a solution.  I cut a length of zip cord and soldered on battery connectors and bolted them to the battery.  I installed a set of Powerpoles to the other end that terminated right near the edge of the cowling and ran it under the seat near the engine zip tying it to the frame.  I also used some heat shrink tube near the Powerpole plug and zip tied both ends to give it some tension relief.  So, it’s all protected somewhat from the elements.  I made another female cigarette adapter with a longer piece of zip cord and now my problem is fixed.  Yeah, I know, not the most efficient, and I could have gone direct to the battery!  Tell me, who doesn’t have at least a couple of items that run on a cigarette lighter?  With this set up I can use my salt spreader in the winter and then take it off during hunting season without a huge hassle.  I also gained another 12VDC power source for my equipment.  A couple of tips, I bought some end caps to seal up the plug when not in use, a great item!  Also, a clip that locks two plugs together, so that they don’t rattle apart.  Another great item!  I just want to mention that I have no affiliation to any items, businesses, web sites, and nor do I receive any compensation.  Just one man’s opinion about a great product.

I hope this Cheechako in the electrical world was able to show you a great little component that I consider to be the equivalent of duct tape.  When I first opened my box and saw the bag of Powerpoles my first thought was, “what is this, Legos?”  Well it’s just like Legos, they snap together and with a little imagination you can build just about anything.
73, – Dan from Alaska

Letter Re: Marksmanship

Sir:
That was an excellent article from Josh B. on Marksmanship. But as Gary D. pointed out, following those principles under stress can be a challenge. I thought I’d recommend a few stress inducers that I practice, which have improved my shooting skills.

Before I begin, I’d like to note that I’m an US Army Infantry veteran. That should not imply that I am an expert. In fact, the more I practice and learn about shooting, the more I’ve come to realize how little I learned back then. Yes, the taught me the fundamentals, but I’ve since realized there is always so much more to learn.

From my perspective shooting falls into two categories: short and long range. The definition between short and long range may vary between different people, but what I am talking about can be summed up as: snapshot vs time for getting into a natural point of aim. Training for each is very different. Most of what Josh B’s article refers to is establishing a Natural Point of Aim (NPOA), controlling breath, squeeze, etc, so I won’t rehash what he already wrote. BTW, when I talk about ‘snapshot’ I extend the definition into the type of target engagement that is usually covered in IPSC.

Let’s start by knowing the baseline. For snapshots, and for NPOA shooting, before adding stress, it would help greatly to identify how you shoot without stress. How long does it take you to shoot accurately? Write it down, with times and average MOA of groups. You should not rely on the feeling of improving. You should be able to see the numbers as you improve. X seconds quicker target engagement, Y MOA more accurate, and Z difference between stress and non-stress situations.

Stress training for NPOA shooting, can be as simple as picking a range lane next to the local ‘Rambo’ trying to shoot as many .308 rounds as possible while you try to shoot sub-MOA. Another stress could be added by having a friend randomly smack/tap you while shooting. Or better yet, have your wife tap you every time she thinks you are about to pull the trigger, and ask if it’s time to go home yet? If you can shoot sub-MOA with that going on, you’re a better man than me.

For snapshots, a buzzer really helps. Personally, I randomly have a snapshot target – about the size of the B zone in a IPSC target, placed from 25 to 100 meters out. Now, if you are using a buzzer during a busy range day, that can cause issues with recording the time difference, and at minimum it can just be darn unfriendly to your lane neighbor. A friend can better help with a tap and a timer, but there are other methods to improve snapshots.

If your range is limited, try the appleseed challenge targets at 25 meters. But if you are lucky your local range has a version of IPSC. That will be about some of the best practice that you can get. My local range has a version of IPSC that only allows for rifle or pistol at one time (different days). These challenges often include a change of target layouts, good guy/bad guy targets intermixed, different starting points including having to pickup and load a rifle after the buzzed rings, reloads, and other challenges such as having to pie a corner, or week side drills, often within the same target set. All of them are timed, and points taken off for misses and other procedural issues.

Under these IPSC like conditions you really get to see how much time is consumed via a messed up reload, or what stress does to your overall times. What’s your balance between speed and accuracy? Are you faster with your M1A or your HK91? Does a week and hold over the barrel improve your shooting, or hurt it? These things might be rifle dependent, but without real comparison times you are up to ‘guessing’ at the answer. In addition you can see how much you improve in time and accuracy when making gear changes.

Now a days, there’s probably more written about how to shoot, and how to improve shooting, than any other time in history. I don’t agree with everything written, but studying up on different styles of shooting, and trying them, can help you improve your overall rifle/pistol skills.

Here a are a few books and videos that I recommend:

1. Magpul Dynamics DVD series (Precision rifle, carbine, and pistol)
2. The Home Schooled Shootist: Training to Fight with a Carbine – by Joe Nobody. (There are some really great drills in this one. I just wish I had the land available to do them all); I’m also a fan of his ‘Holding Their Own’ novel series.
3. The Art Of The Rifle by Col. Jeff Cooper
4. Leather Sling and Shooting Positions by M/SGT James R. Owens (Ret)
5. Sight Alignment, Trigger Control & The Big Lie M/SGT James R. Owens (Ret)
6. Combined Arms Operations in Urban Terrain, FM 3-06.11. (A good overview of room clearing, and other urban specific shooting challenges) – BTW – great FM/ATTP for us veterans who still remember what the Berlin wall looked like. There’s been lots of advances in urban tactics since the good old days. And this manual covers many of them.

What kind of practical results can you expect? Since I started seriously studying, and practicing, a number of the drills from the list above, my results went from the middle of the pack in my local IPSC, to what is now usually between third and first place. That’s usually a jump of 15-20 positions. IPSC doesn’t focus too much on the use of cover, so it is important to remember that, and scarifies time for cover (in my opinion).

More important to me is that I have learned where I need to improve, and specifically how to improve. For example: my hardest target to get a A zone hit is after I have shot one target and have to transition to a second at a distance greater than about 2 meters. Even if there are more than one transition targets, it’s almost always that first transition that gets me. I just keep either over or under compensating. But I’ve gone from a “mis” to a D zone, to a C-B zone hit, within the same length of time. Dry fire transitions help the most here. Getting your body to stop on the second target, and have that stop point be sight aligned, turned out to be quite effective. Now I just need to time the trigger pull correctly.

Last, I’ve learned that when I think I shot way too slow, I usually end up with my best times, and best groups. That’s all about learning to compensate for adrenaline, and how it impacts your perception of time. There’s no way I could have identified specific skill set issues, and develop a plan to improve them, without practicing within a stressed environment.

Merry Christmas to all, – Robert from North Carolina

Economics and Investing:

K.A.F. sent a link to some fascinating maps: America’s Wealth Is Staggeringly Concentrated in the Northeast Corridor. (But take a look at the Bakken region of eastern North Dakota.)

Reader Tim R. suggested this article: Gun Stocks Soar, Gun Control ‘Dead as an Issue’

Pierre M. sent: North America to Drown in Oil as Mexico Ends Monopoly

Items from The Economatrix:

Proposal On Capitol Hill Would Nearly Double Federal Gas Tax

The Economy: What’s Ahead In 2014

Improving Economy: Is It For Real?

Odds ‘n Sods:

Eric Peters on Bug Out Vehicles. (Thanks to OSOM for the link.)

   o o o

Video: Former mayors discover membership in Bloomberg’s anti-gun group was kiss of death.

   o o o

R.B.S. sent: The Most Corrupt County In America (Dave Hodges)

   o o o

Chris M. sent: Google Acquires Boston Dynamics. (After all, what is Skynet without the hardware “to go with.”)

   o o o

B.B. suggested: Gun control: ‘What if we say no?’ – National Conservative

Notes from JWR:

This is the birthday of Charles Wesley (born 1707, died 29 March 1788.) He wrote more that 1,700 hymns. Today is also the birthday of Jørgen Haagen Schmith (born December 18, 1910, died October 15, 1944). He was better known under the codename Citron, was a famous Danish resistance fighter in occupied Denmark. His biographical sketch at Wikipedia describes his death, after he was tracked down by the Nazis: “German soldiers arrived at the house to arrest or kill Schmith. He fought for hours against an overwhelming force of enemy troops killing 11 and wounded scores of other before the house was set on fire and he was shot attempting to escape the flames.” His exploits were dramatized in the movie Flame and Citron.

—

Today we present another entry for Round 50 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $9,400+ 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 25 of the books published by PrepperPress.com. This is a $250 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, and I.) Autrey’s Armory — specialists in AR-15, M4s, parts and accessories — is donating a $250 gift certificate.

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.

In It For The Long Haul, by Java-Powered

I first got serious about prepping in 2006, when I realized the U.S. Dollar was on its way down.  I had a young son at home, and I wanted to make sure he would be safe if civil unrest occurred. I built a home on some acreage in the country in 2007 and started getting setup to be self-sufficient. I believed 2008 was going to be a bad year, and I wanted to be ready. I installed a wood stove in my home and purchased a hand pump for my well. When I moved my chickens out to the new home, I felt we were right on target to survive the coming turmoil. In this article I am going to share some of the things I have learned.

As the years have passed, I have continued to perfect my small piece of heaven into a full scale food-producing compound. I have leveraged tax advantage from my sale of all natural meat, poultry, and eggs. I have learned many things about sustainable food production. And meanwhile, my son grew up and joined the military. He is thousands of miles away, and here I am still maintaining the refuge I had envisioned would be for him. I have had some trying emotional times learning to deal with a situation where I am no longer needed by the child I was trying to protect.  And then it occurred to me that there are many young people who are barely able to put food on their table, let alone make preparations for an uncertain future.  So I continue to live the lifestyle of a prepper and believe I may be sharing my knowledge and my stuff with people who didn’t have the time and resources to be ready.

The Tax Man Cometh
I have been able to use many of the expenses for developing my little farm on my income taxes.  Fences, buildings, irrigation installation, vehicle expenses, equipment, etc.   Because my goal is to make a profit by selling the food I raise, the costs associated with its production are tax deductible. The deduction has been very useful in keeping more of my hard-earned cash so I can invest it in the development of a farm. Each time I need to make a big purchase, I strategize how it is associated with the farming production, so I can properly account for it in my income tax return.

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors
When I first moved onto my acreage, there were no fences.  My German Shepherds would wander off to the neighbors at times. The neighbors’ dogs would help themselves to my chickens. The coyotes and foxes had my place on the top of their list of great places to score a meal.  And then one day, I heard a chicken in distress and ran with my dog to find the chicken in the tall weeds.  My dog got there first.  The scoundrel attacking the chicken was a small dog belonging to a neighbor. My dog killed it.  It nearly became an International incident.  The neighbor was furious. He threatened to kill my chickens if they crossed onto his land.  It was a tense time.

That is when I invested in good fencing. My fences are 5-foot high predator-proof mesh.  They keep dogs, coyotes, foxes and other neighbors out, while the chickens and turkeys are usually more interested in staying in.  I had a gate constructed with the same mesh.  My dogs patrol the acreage and anything that manages to get in, soon decides it wasn’t such a good idea to get in.  The gate is locked so some unsuspecting “visitor” doesn’t just open the gate and come in.  My chickens and turkeys free range and we seldom have a predator incident. The dogs are quite aggressive in protecting our turf.

Garlic Cures Everything
I need to get a good garlic garden planted, because I have so many uses for the stuff that I simply haven’t been growing enough of it. I have an astute neighbor who is also a prepper.  She noticed my need for garlic and planted a bunch to barter with me when things get dicey.  I put the garlic cloves through a hand-cranked juicer. The pulp is mixed in with corn for my sheep, cows, and poultry.  It helps flush out internal parasites, keep the lice and fleas away, and builds the immune system.  I also mix garlic into my dogs’ dinners sometimes to combat internal parasites. 

Garlic is a natural antibiotic and anti-viral.  The juice is potent stuff. I keep some on hand in the refrigerator all the time. If I feel a cold coming on, I can spread some of the juice or pulp on toast with butter and the cold almost always goes away within an hour or so.
When I had triplet lambs this past spring, one apparently didn’t get her dose of colostrum. She suffered an acute onset of e-coli within the first 24 hours and was near death.  I added garlic juice to some warm water and gave it to her with a syringe. I continued to administer the water with the garlic and honey every 10 minutes or so for a couple of hours. Three hours later, she was up and nursing. I have been told even with antibiotics, that kind of recovery is pretty much unheard of.

I have a small herb-garden in my kitchen.  Recently I noticed the basil was being killed by tiny gnats.  I mixed some garlic juice with some olive oil and put it in a small spray bottle.  The gnats apparently don’t like garlic, because they are gone and my herb garden smells like an Italian dinner.

There’s A Lot of Poop
Raising produce without the help of commercial fertilizers is tricky.  I started vegetables indoor this year with an “organic” fertilizer I bought at Home Depot.  They did very poorly and many of them just keeled over dead after a while.  I bought the fertilizer because, at the time, everything was frozen solid outside, so I couldn’t collect poop to make the poop water I usually start them with.  Lesson learned.  This year I have some poop set aside in a place where it won’t freeze so I can start my plants indoors with something I know works. I have also mixed some soil that I have ready to use.

Chicken poop is not ideal for gardening, but I have been successfully using it for several years. When I clean the chicken coop in the fall, I spread the stuff over the garden area, so it can be rained into the ground over the winter.  I till more manure in with my spring tilling.  This year, I did not use enough and I experienced poor potato yields.

Food Cooked on the Woodstove Tastes Better
I installed a regular woodstove (not a kitchen stove) in my home.  It has a removable rounded top that leaves a nice flat surface for cooking.  If I need to oven-cook something, I use a Dutch Oven.  Last winter I slow cooked Salisbury steak in a Dutch Oven and it was heavenly.  I have also found that potatoes have a completely different moist flavor if I wrap them in foil and put them in an area of the stove that isn’t in flames.  There have been weeks passed in the winter where my kitchen range was never used. It conserves energy and provides a warm glow to cheer through those gray winter months.

Cute Little Children Become Teenagers
It is a fact – those sweet little munchkins we build our lives around eventually turn into teenagers.  Mine became increasingly resentful of my prepping.  I have heard it said that teenagers become so ornery because it is God’s plan for us feel better showing them to the door when they grow up.  Shortly before my son left home, he decided it fit for him to list all of my personal defects which ailed him.  At the top of his list was my “paranoid” belief system that something bad could change our lives in big ways.  He made it clear he was unhappy with that belief and that he would be carrying on his life without such worries.  So far, so good.  He is traveling abroad and living a good life. I still believe I would rather be ready and wrong than not ready and starving to death.

The Lifestyle Is Very Attractive
Many people see my lifestyle and want to come join in.  Well, not join in the work, but join in the food and the fun and all the nice resources I have.  Over and over my generosity has been stretched and taken advantage of.  I have learned there are many lazy moochers out there who talk the talk and then lay around in my house watching useless television programs while I carry on with the chores.  And they feel the food is “free” because I raised it myself, so they have no urge to contribute.  My new policy for anyone visiting my farm is that they will be asked to participate in chores.  I will work them out of their fantasy about how great it is to live like I do.

People Hate Rules
When I have had to travel for business, I have also had to rely on friends to help with the farm.  I have found that, regardless of the careful instructions, they always think they have a better idea and do it their own way.  It has cost me animals and it has cost me having to retrain my farm to the correct behavior for my ecosystem to function.  It is frustrating. But it has taught me that I will probably have this problem if we have a SHTF scenario where people will be coming to me for safety and food.  And I don’t expect they will be thankful as long as they will be trying to change my life to fit their own view of how things should be.  It is human nature. I will have to be very strict and it could lead to confrontation.  I anticipate that will probably be unavoidable.

Counting the Tables You Put Food On is Rewarding
Last year, I put meat, eggs and poultry on the tables of 14 families.  Counting those families at Thanksgiving was a very satisfying experience.  Although this year it has been fewer because I haven’t had beef ready, I still feel grateful to play a role in many family meals. I have contributed to the lives of many people I didn’t even know.  I have sold products of my farm, the income from which has enabled me to continue on my adventure.

Life Just Keeps On Going
If I had poured everything I had and taken big risks when I first started prepping, I wouldn’t be prepping today because I would have lost it all. I truly believed 2008 would be a year of disaster – and it nearly was.  But the powers that be found a way to kick the can on down the road. And they keep finding ways to kick it down the road again.  Life is amazingly easy right now in the artificially secure world we have to live in here in the USA  I am so blessed to have good employment from home in an area where people are often trying to live on minimum wage. Technology has brought about enormous opportunities, while it has also let us be monitored 24×7 by not only the government, but also large corporations like Google, who track everything you do on the Internet and keep the data indefinitely (I prefer Duckduckgo.com because they claim not to track).  While I hope it all keeps hanging on, I really can’t see how it can.  We are living in an unmaintainable sphere of reality that is rapidly growing more unmaintainable.  I have chosen to continue to be “paranoid” and prepare to feed people in an uncertain future.  The difference now is that I realize I will probably be helping people I never planned to help and I have learned some good lessons on how to deal with them appropriately.

Poll Results on SurvivalBlog’s Web Design

The vast majority of readers voted in favor leaving SurvivalBlog the way its is–predominantly text, for minimum bandwidth. I did learn that man readers would like more links to off-site graphics and videos. I also learned that I need to warn folks when a link is to a video, so that their mobile devices aren’t overwhelmed or “blow their budget” on bandwidth . So henceforth I will try to include the word “video” in those text links,

Letter Re: Firearms Selection for Times of Ammunition Shortages

Dear JWR,
Last spring, with the ammo shortage clearing the shelves everywhere, I found myself in a position to expand my collection.  I decided on a Ruger .44 Magnum Super Blackhawk, with the 7" barrel.  Legal for whitetail in my state, you see.  Having neglected to actually check the retail supply, I assumed that the shortage would be primarily the military calibers (9mm Para, .45 ACP, 5.56mm NATO, .308, and 7.62x39mm) with the civilian calibers being readily available.

Experienced wheelgunners are already laughing.  Took me a month to track down 100 rounds of basic .44 Magnum.  Eventually, diligent checking at Wal-Mart (I work nights, what else is open at 5 AM?) landed me another 200.  Over the rest of the summer.  Usually buying the one remaining box of 50 rounds.

Things started to loosen up a bit here, and I picked up a S&W in .357, as a friend had laid in 500 rounds of reloads a couple years back, and gave me  a box of leftover factory .38 Special.  I find it amusing that a box of 100 .38 Special costs about the same as 50 of .44 Magnum! Also, the local farm supply carries .38 Special and .357 Magnum, but not .44 Magnum or .44 Special.

Through this whole business, I have been impressed by the fact that the much-derided .45 Colt has been readily available at Wal-Mart, including a combination pack of 25 rounds of .45 Colt and 25 of .410.  My congratulations to anyone who had the foresight to buy one of the combination .45/.410 pistols.  That and .40 S&W were the only pistol ammo continuously in stock at Wal-Mart since April 2013, when I started looking.  Many of us originally chose 9mm pistols and 5.56mm or .308 rifles for for long-term ammo availability–ammo in military calibers is supposedly plentiful.  Lately, this has proven false.  Any first-time pistol buyers this year who purchased .45 Colt revolvers showed more foresight than I had. – Ethan A.

[JWR Adds: While .45 Colt (commonly but erroneously called ".45 Long Colt") is a fine cartridge ballistically–with plenty of power for self defense (especially if you handload), I generally recommend .44 Magnum for anyone desiring a large bore handgun. The key problem with .45 Colt is that it has a relatively narrow cartridge rim. So, when shooting swing-out cylinder revolvers with a typical rim extractor "star", you will occasionally get a cartridge rim stuck underneath the extractor, when you make the fired brass ejection stroke. This is a mere annoyance when target shooting, but it could prove deadly if it were to happen in the midst of a serious shooting affray.

The .410 shotshells (with buckshot or slugs) are a poor choice for self defense. So if you own one of the new pistol/shotshell long-cylinder revolvers, my advice is to keep it loaded with .45 Colt jacketed hollow points. Only load it with shotshells when shooting grouse or garden pests.]

Odds ‘n Sods:

Ken W. suggested: Proper Field Dressing in Today’s CWD World

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Frequent content contributor F.J. sent this from MIT Technology Review: How Remote Places Can Get Cellular Coverage by Doing It Themselves
With Swedish telephone numbers and a tree-bound base station, a remote Indonesian village runs its own telecommunications company.

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H.L. sent: Rhode Island town voting on recall after gun-permit row

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Construction of secret hiding places. (Thanks to Pete S. for the link.)

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Video: J. McC. mentioned a 1950s Special Forces training film (now on YouTube) which hypothesizes insurgency actions in the U.S. by Green Berets after Communists concentrated in the Yeasty East have caused the country’s balkanization.  Although there are a lot of little details that bother—big hand movements, sub-optimal choker-hold, muzzle-sweeping, the film still offers much of interest, and its host site offers many more similar works.

Notes from JWR:

Today marks the birthday of Simo Häyhä (born 1905, died April 1, 2002.) He was the world’s most successful sniper. Using an iron-sighted Mosin–Nagant in Finland’s Winter War, he had an astounding 505 confirmed sniper kills.

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Today we present another entry for Round 50 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $9,400+ 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 25 of the books published by PrepperPress.com. This is a $250 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, and I.) Autrey’s Armory — specialists in AR-15, M4s, parts and accessories — is donating a $250 gift certificate.

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.

Protecting Your Church, by Wandering Will

The service has ended, we say goodbye to our friends, wait for everyone to leave then lock up the church.  The drive home takes only a few minutes and when we arrive my wife and I take off and secure our weapons and conduct a debrief on any problems we encountered during the service.  Not exactly the Norman Rockwell version of a day in church.  I realize that the fact that someone would carry a weapon in church is appalling to many people.  However, before you begin stereotyping Christians as right-wing radicals, ask yourself a few questions.  When you were growing up, how many people did you know who were the victims of some type of crime?  In the last year, how many people do you know that have been the victim of some type of crime?  If you are at least forty years old, you can easily quote the numbers, and the increase is significant.  Whereas crimes against property, institutions, and people have increased dramatically ( regardless of what the local media tells you), unfortunately the church has been given no exemption. 

My journey into the world of church security took the proverbial long and winding road, but I will condense it down to the basics.  A chance encounter a couple of years before had introduced us to a couple who were like-minded, great people.  We kept in touch and became close friends.  As the situation in the country continued to deteriorate we, like many “preppers”, recognized that going it alone in hard times was not a good option. Clearly, our new friends were the ones we wanted watching our backs so we relocated to a city in the southeast to join forces with our friends to form a safe haven for “old geezers”.  After all, we had four senior citizens and a .22 rifle, what could possibly go wrong?   Soon after settling in, we began a search for a church.  After several unsuccessful visits to area churches we found a small country church and sat down to listen.  One sermon and we were pretty sure this was the right place.  The pastor minced no words when delivering the message. Obviously this guy was not going to win any awards for political correctness.  Plain and simple this man spoke the truth.  We began regular attendance and I noticed that each time the pastor did the announcements that he would warn about some act which had occurred at the church, i.e. acts of vandalism, panhandler’s accosting elderly women as they walked to the church door, and other problems.  God began speaking to me and said you know what you need to do.  As usual, I procrastinated.  One day I timidly sought out the pastor to inquire further about the incidents, but he was corralled by other members and I could not talk to him.  The very next week, another incident occurred and as I sat in the pew God was very direct with me, get off your butt and do it.   After we returned home I spoke to my wife and told her my plan, she was in total agreement.  That day I wrote the pastor an e-mail simply stating that I have a number of years of experience in the security field and that if there was anything I could do to help let me know.  The Pastor’s reply was quick and direct; I want you to set up a security team to protect the church.  Well, I guess I’m in it now!  Right on schedule the devil put the doubts into my head. I am brand new at this church I don’t know anybody, nobody knows me, why would a team follow someone they don’t know, etc.
Again, cutting to the chase, the team was formed.  The program launched and we continue to improve.  What I would like to do is offer some of the lessons learned from our startup to folks who are recognizing the need to protect their church.

Clearly state and understand your mission – When I tell people about our program the first thing they say is why does a church need a security program?  My first response is Proverbs 22.3 A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it. A quick internet search will produce an astounding number of crimes directed at churches.  Most people remember the church shootings in  Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Knoxville, Tennessee, but harbor the same delusion that it could never happen at their church.  When you decide to start a security program, clearly define what it will and will not cover and get buy-in from the governing body of your church.  Nothing says that you cannot expand your program at a later date, and you probably should. More on that later.
 
Do your home work- Before you start worrying about whether your team should carry  .44 magnums or 9mms you need to understand what most police officers already know, most of the job is paper work.  Ah man, that’s no fun! Sorry people, but it’s the truth. You will be dealing with vulnerability assessments, threat assessments, job descriptions, operating procedures, architectural drawings, and on and on and on.  Don’t panic if your knowledge in these areas is limited, there is help out there.  Tina Lewis Rowe Training has some really excellent material on building a program and this fine lady allows you to use the material free of charge, just respect her copyright and follow her agreement. 
 
Pick your team (carefully) – When I started our program my team was chosen for me, and it could not have worked out better.  I got men of the church who were well known by the congregation, mature and level-headed.  Most were veterans ranging from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan.   Later,  two ladies joined the team and if there were any doubts as to their abilities (which I doubt there were) they were quickly dispelled during a team trip to the range. All of  these team members were clearly a blessing, but the chances of you being handed a team of this quality are rare.  Choose your members using established criteria, look for mature folks who have good decision-making skills, avoid those who volunteer because of the “cool” factor.  Also, recruit younger members who you can train and have ready to replace people as they leave, and don’t get your feeling hurt because people will leave.  Establish a clear chain-of-command and impress on your volunteers how important the job is.
 
To carry or not to carry – This is one of the most controversial decisions you will have to make.  The church I attended before my move was partially governed by a group of elders.  Although we had no formal security team, a few of us stepped up when a threat was made against our pastor.  To our surprise some of the elders simply would not stand for anyone having a gun in church regardless of the fact that these men were police officers and concealed-carry holders.  The solution to this problem was obvious, smile, drop the subject, and do a better job of concealing your weapon.  After a lot of research and prayer, the firearms policy at my present church was formed and we tried to keep it simple.  Those who had valid carry permits were allowed to carry while performing their assigned security duties.  It is our belief that you must be as well equipped as those who seek to harm you if you are to have a viable defense.  However, each team member is made well aware of the legal and moral and financial hazards should they be forced to use a firearm.  If you have a church attorney, consult with them.  If you do not have an attorney, I recommend you read two books before deciding: Evil Invades Sanctuary by Carl Chin and  God, the Gunman & Me by Jeanne Assam.    
                      
Build a comprehensive program- Please understand you must have a program that covers more than security.  If you protect the pastor from a mugger but the church burns down because you did not do routine fire extinguisher inspections, then your program has failed.  Your program must have many aspects including but not limited to security, fire protection, emergency evacuation, executive protection, and weather emergencies.  One of the first things we did was to install locks on numerous storage and maintenance areas, you do not need a kid playing with electrical cable. Do not alienate the congregation, once you start implementing rules no matter how correct and necessary they are, people will be offended.  Ask for input when practical, gradually implement new procedures.  When we first fielded our team, some church members were uneasy with these “security people“ hanging out at different locations.  After a few weeks of these “security people” holding umbrellas for people getting out of their cars and escorting the ladies to their cars when they parked in a dark area of the lot, sentiment changed. Write well thought out and researched procedures, practice those procedures, and drill on those procedures. 

In conclusion I would like to add if you hear the call that your church needs your talents, step up.  I was standing in the parking lot one cold rainy night and I realized that my years as a fire fighter, SWAT team leader,  and emergency manager were all preparation for this most important job and that I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

Letter Re: Any Escape from Obamacare?

Mr. Rawles,
Is there any way that I can avoid enrolling in Obamacare? (I believe that abortion is sinful and there’s no way I want to support it.) Thanks, – Debra L.

JWR Replies: As currently enacted, the Affordable Care Act (commonly called “Obamacare)” contains a special exemption provision for members of healthcare sharing ministries. One of the best of these is called Medi-share. A similar plan–and even less expensive per month–is available from Samaritan Ministries.