Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"It is our duty to endeavor always to promote the general good; to do to all as we would be willing to be done by were we in their  circumstances; to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before God. These are some of the laws of nature which every man in  the world is bound to observe, and which whoever violates exposes himself to the resentment of mankind, the lashes of his own  conscience, and the judgment of Heaven. This plainly shows that the highest state of liberty subjects us to the law of nature and  the government of God." – Samuel West, On the Right to Rebel Against Governors, 1776

Notes from JWR:

Today is the birthday of science fiction author David Brin. (Born, 1950.) He wrote The Postman, which was very loosely the foundation of a movie by Kevin Costner.

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Today we present another entry for Round 48 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The 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.) Two BirkSun.com photovoltaic backpacks (one Level, and one Atlas, both black), with a combined value of $275, G.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo. and 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.

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 FP-50 stainless steel hand well pump (a $600 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 22 of the books published by PrepperPress.com. This is more than a $200 value, and G.) Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.), B.) A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206, C.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value, D.) A Commence Fire! emergency stove with three tinder refill kits. (A $160 value.), E.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security., F.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 value), and G.) A Nesco / American Harvest Gardenmaster Dehydrator with an extra set of trays, and the book The Dehydrator Bible, from Mayflower Trading. (A $210 value.)

Round 49 ends on November 30th, 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.

Valuable Prepper Concepts I Learned From My Zombie-Obsessed Teenager, by Mark P.

Any parent of a teenager can attest that those highly coveted, deep and meaningful conversations between child and parent, the ones we wish occurred daily, are actually far and few between.  Try as we might, discussions surrounding topics like school, church, employment, and planning for the future, usually result in blank stares or moans and groans.

But a very wise woman (AKA my wife) once explained that when it comes to communicating with your kids, a good conversation on a ridiculous subject is better than no discussion on an important subject.   Sort of a “if you can’t beat them, join them” approach.  That is some solid advice for any parent and I have taken it to heart.  I have three children all under the age of 15, so the topics are pretty diverse.  Recently, I had a heated discussion with my 8-year old daughter about what kind of “My Little Pony” I would be and what secret pony power I would have (yes, they all seem to have cool powers).  And with my 11-year daughter I spent what seemed like hours deliberating which member of the boy-band “One-Direction” has the most talent.  This debate involved the two of us watching several music videos on YouTube.  I finally unplugged the wi-fi when she wasn’t looking.  Now if you quiz me next month, I guarantee I won’t be able to remember a single pony name or any song from Wrong Direction. 

Now with my 14-year old son, there is one topic that he is always willing to discuss: the Zombie Apocalypse.  Yes, I know that there is absolutely no chance that the “end of the world as we know it” will come about because the dead rise up and start eating brains.  The Zombie Apocalypse ranks on the bottom of the impossible list, right below a hostile space alien invasion and a robot uprising.  These are all great movie and television themes, but they are just not going to happen in the real world.  But my son is passionate about preparing for this gruesome future crisis and rarely misses a chance to point out things like “that house would be great for zombie defense because the windows are all high,” and “the best time of year to hunt zombies is the winter, because they are frozen”.  So I have spent many hours discussing weapons, survival tactics, safe shelter construction, medical supplies, etc.  Hmmm…starting to sound familiar?  Sure does!  At some point in these conversations I realized that my son probably has more knowledge and better survival skills that most of the weekend warrior preppers out there.  
So how does preparing for the fictional Zombie Apocalypse jive with actual TEOTWAWKI prepping?  Well if you can get past topics like “how to assemble your own flamethrower” and “tips to transforming a water tower into a zombie-proof bungalow”, then you might just discover like I did, several useful gems of knowledge.  Having an open mind is absolutely required.  So if you are ready, here are four jewels that my zombie obsessed teenage son taught me. 

Fill up that Bath Tub
One Sunday afternoon, my son posed this question: “So what is the first thing you should when the Zombie Apocalypse happens?”
 “Too easy,” I said, “Load your gun and get to high place.”
 “Nope.  Fill your bathtub up with water”
His answer caught me off guard.  “What? Why?” 
“Having drinkable water is the single most important thing to have when you’re trapped in a house surrounded by zombies.  Your tub holds a lot of water and it fills up in just a few minutes.”
Excellent tip! Whether you are bugging out or hunkering down, a good supply of drinkable water is paramount.  If you are staying in your home during an emergency, then filling your tub at the first sign of trouble gives an average family several days of good water.  Combine that with what is in your water heater, toilet tanks and any water storage, and you have greatly reduced your risk of running out of water in the short term.  Even if the water that comes out of the tub’s faucet is slightly contaminated, like in the event of an earthquake or a damaged water main, it is probably safer to purify and drink than the water out in gutter or a nearby muddy pond.  And the tub is indoors, making it easier to keep the water clean and protected. 

Preppers Are Not Isolationists
A few weeks ago I asked my son this conversation starter and was surprised by the answer.  “When the Zombie Apocalypse happens, which of our neighbors are going to make it and which will be Zombie-chow?”
Without hesitation he stated, “Well everyone in our cul-de-sac has useful skills and if we band together then I think everyone has a good chance of surviving”. 
Great insight my boy!  Don’t just get yourself ready for when the SHTF; help your neighbors get prepared as well, and then draw on each other’s strengths.
Now I will admit that I used to think that preppers and militant survivalists were the same bunch of dooms-days nuts living in remote desert bomb shelters.   Remember Burt and Heather Gummer (Michael Gross and Reba McIntire) from the movie Tremors with their sweet Nevada survival bunker and massive arsenal of weapons?  They were isolationists, prepared to survive the apocalypse without any outside help.  Even if you tried to help them, you would likely get shot anyway.

I am not ashamed to admit that when it all comes crashing down, I am going to need some help.  Most of us do not have a basement full of guns at our fully stocked, mountain safe house.  Nor do we have years of experience repairing cars or raising chickens.  But my next-door neighbor is a mechanic for a major railroad and the other neighbor makes all her children’s clothes: both very handy skills to have.  So between these friends, the electrical engineer on the corner, and the police office and his registered nurse wife across the road, I’m feeling better about our chances.  My son’s advice about “banding together” is as timeless as it is true.  There is strength in groups.  Reach out to your neighbors, get to know them and share your interest in prepping.  I did, and discovered that the retired couple  around the corner with the yappy little dogs, actually have a 1,000 pounds of wheat in their garage, and they even know how to grind it and make bread.  Cool!

Don’t Forget Some Entertainment
One of our family’s favorite activities is to play the card game Uno.  We are loud, silly and totally cutthroat with each other when we play.  We usually play until one person has won two games.  This might be 20 minutes or over an hour.  Recently my son emerged the victor after a grueling bout and while doing his traditional in-your-face routine, he declared, “Uno would be an excellent game to play during the Zombie Apocalypse”. 
Before I could even offer a rebuttal, both of his sisters jumped in with “it’s too noisy” and “the zombies will hear you, stupid”.  Even my wife tossed in the comment, “isn’t shooting zombies all day long enough entertainment?”
“Everyone needs downtime and recreation,” my son replied. “Uno is great because you don’t need electricity, you can carry it with you because it is light, and you only need a couple of other people to play with.  We should have a deck in our bug out bag.”
After thinking about it for a few minutes, I decided “why not?”  I’ve recently read several articles on bug out bags and I have yet encountered this advice, yet it seems like such basic common sense to me.  If my family ends up at an emergency shelter or in the hills living in a tent, we could use a little fun and variety.  Electronics need to be powered and can be fragile, and board games or sports equipment are too bulky.  Any card game like Uno, Skip Bo, or just a standard deck of playing cards will add very little weight to your pack.  They are also fairly durable and can be used by almost all ages.   Other games like Pass the Pig or even a travel chess set are small and inexpensive and can easily fit into a bug out bag. 

Practice What Matters
I grew up around guns and have done a fair amount of hunting and plinking with long barrel guns.  But it wasn’t until recently that my wife and I bought handguns and took a concealed carry class together.   Of course we wanted to be very open with our children about guns in the home and set some safety rules beforehand.  My son’s response was as follows:
“Well if you want us to all be safe with guns, then we all need to go and practice shooting.  You can’t hit a zombie in the head at 20 yards if you don’t practice.” 
As macabre as this analogy sounds, I completely agree with my son.   Guns are powerful, extremely specific-uses tools that demands respect and requires practice.   And while I hope and pray none of my children ever need to point a weapon at another person, I know it is a possibility, especially if the world goes to hell in a hand basket.  I am very grateful they have all been to the range a few times and can effectively use a gun.
And the truth surrounding practicing your prepping skills is not limited to self-defense or hunting.  Has your family ever drilled grabbing the bug-out bag(s) and taking off for an overnighter, even if it is just to grandma’s back yard!   If you have food storage, have you actually tried living off it for a month?  When I was laid-off in 2009, we gave our food storage a test run for a month.   It was not pretty but we didn’t starve, and some excellent lessons were learned.  Now we practice one week each month (also a good way to rotate your supplies).
Point to learn? Practice makes perfect, so make your practice count.

A few nights ago I was flipping through the channels and came across George Romero’s classic “Night of the Living Dead”; the film that has inspired nearly 50 years of zombie movies and television shows.  I haven’t seen the movie in years and stopped for a moment to watch.  A few minutes later my son comes walking through the family room, pauses for a moment and says, “You know we have that on DVD?”
“We do?”
“Ya.  You can learn a lot of what not to do from that show,” he said with a bit of a laugh and a strong emphasis on the word “not”. 
“Hey, I’m going to Jordan’s house to play basketball,” and out the door he went.   Honestly, I was glad he didn’t stay to finish the movie.
Everyone has opinions and outlooks on what the future hold.  Natural disasters, societal collapse and epidemics have happened before and will happen, at some point, again. I think my teenager understands this and has dealt with it in his own way.  I think that shows some insight and maturity on his part.  So while I’m not going to buy an old armored truck and convert it into a Zombie Killing-mobile, I am going to keep an open mind and listen to different perspectives on preparing for the future, even those as fanciful as the Zombie Apocalypse.        

Two Letters Re: Basic Mechanics Skill and Knowing Vehicular Limitations

Jim,
The king of the hill when it comes to breaking loose lug nuts is the four-way lug wrench.

It is also called a “cross wrench” by some folks. I have used them since I was a child learning everyday fixes from my father in the 1960s. But beware of cheaply-made imports.

I have bent and actually broken a few of the cheap ones while helping friends break lugs loose on their vehicles using their cheap four way lug wrenches that I had told them not to buy, but they ignored my advise and went cheap. Sitting on a desolate dirt road, in the dark while in pouring rain 20+ miles from nowhere with a flat or blowout and a broken lug wrench is not my idea of fun.

While I cannot remember the manufacturer of the lug wrenches that I have (they are in my vehicles) but here is a link to a USA manufacturer of four way lug wrenches. I suggest anyone that is shopping for one (or more) to look at the web page and decide which one fits their needs (they make both standard and metric) and look for that exact model. As the saying goes; “Buy once, Cry once.”

The Professional model wrenches have a drop forged center for extra strength, and can be found on Amazon with free shipping.

(I have no affiliation with either Ken Tool or Amazon.com) – Tim P.

 

James:
I have a comment on the prevention side of things concerning lug nuts.
 
A friend of mine who lives in southern Arizona had his tires rotated. This was performed by a major tire chain and the incident occurred a few years ago. The rotation occurred in his home town and he traveled north in cold weather.
 
On his return he encountered rather cold weather, below freezing actually. He had a tire failure of the sort not expected. As he was driving his right front tire was observed ahead of his vehicle which caused him to decide to stop…once the realization that it was his tire sunk in. Upon investigation he observed that all of the studs had sheared from the hub. He spent quite awhile on the side of the road pulling each of the other tires, removing a stud from each of the remaining hubs, then installing them into the failed hub just to get home.
 
Root cause was determined to be over torqued nuts on the failed hub. Turns out the major tire chain did not actually torque lug nuts to the recommended value at that time. Add an air rachet into the equation and and this was the result. Seems that as he was traveling in near arctic temperatures the hub cooled to the point where the studs shrunk to the point where the torque applied exceeded the shear value of the studs. Needless to say I observe my tire installations closely…and that same company now torques everything. – Kevin D.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Michael Z. Williamson (SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large) suggested this: The Truth About Barrel Length, Muzzle Velocity and Accuracy

   o o o

Reader B.B. sent this headline from one of those Miscellaneous Eastern Nanny States: Massachusetts Police Chief Confiscates Man’s Guns and FOID Due to “Immaturity”

   o o o

I was recently interviewed by Alan Colmes. He is obviously dubious about individual preparedness, but it was a pleasure to be on his show. Alan mentioned that even after Superstorm Sandy he would feel safer living in mid-town Manhattan that he would be in a place like The Rawles Ranch. To each his own, I suppose…

   o o o

Police powers to be enacted October 15 in Australia. [JWR’s Comment: If this law is misused, it his has some Camera Stellata potential. Here in the States, the right to remain silent is sacrosanct. Not so in some other countries.)

   o o o

Florida city orders residents to remove ‘God Bless America’ signs

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above,
Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;
The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,
That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;
The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,
The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.

I heard my country calling, away across the sea,
Across the waste of waters she calls and calls to me.
Her sword is girded at her side, her helmet on her head,
And round her feet are lying the dying and the dead.
I hear the noise of battle, the thunder of her guns,
I haste to thee my mother, a son among thy sons.

And there’s another country, I’ve heard of long ago,
Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;
We may not count her armies, we may not see her King;
Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;
And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase,
And her ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace.”
– Lyrics to I Vow to Thee, My Country, a British patriotic hymn, based on a poem by Sir Cecil Spring-Rice, set to a theme from Gustav Holst’s Jupiter, a movement in The Planets. The last line is drawn from Proverbs 3:17

Notes from JWR:

This is the birthday of Jonathan Edwards (born 1703, died March 22, 1758), a prolific Calvinist theological writer. Many of his writings were later collected in the multi-volume book The Rational Biblical Theology of Jonathan Edwards, edited by John Gerstner. Every serious Bible scholar should have a set of those books.

—

Today we present another entry for Round 48 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The 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.) Two BirkSun.com photovoltaic backpacks (one Level, and one Atlas, both black), with a combined value of $275, G.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo. and 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.

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 FP-50 stainless steel hand well pump (a $600 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 and F.) Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.), B.) A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206, C.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value, D.) A Commence Fire! emergency stove with three tinder refill kits. (A $160 value.), E.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security., F.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 value), and G.) A Nesco / American Harvest Gardenmaster Dehydrator with an extra set of trays, and the book The Dehydrator Bible, from Mayflower Trading. (A $210 value.)

Round 49 ends on November 30th, 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.

A Voice in the Bean Aisle – Faith and Prepping, by Connie H.

I couldn’t help but notice the white plastic bags that covered the handles of the gas pumps at the corner gas station.  “Out of Gas”, said the sign. No gas on account of a hurricane a long, long way from Springfield, Tennessee.  Fortunately, I had filled my tank earlier in the week and was only there to get ice. But it all seemed fishy to me how a storm so far away would affect us like this. And honestly, a vague sense of worry lingered in the back of my mind until the following day.  The trucks arrived and filled the gas reservoirs at my corner gas station and everything went back to normal, as if nothing ever happened. 

I am a stay at home Mom and I had become accustomed to being semi-prepared. With two children in diapers, I had double wipes, double diapers, double sippy cups – the whole nine yards. I had even dabbled in sewing my own cloth diapers and some times, when there just wasn’t enough money (which was most of the time), I created my own baby wipes from cutting a roll of paper towels in half and soaking them in a mixture of baby oil, baby shampoo and water.  It worked. It got us by when we needed it most. It seemed to me my faith in Jesus had grown so much during the time when the kids were little. God was always there, providing when we just couldn’t make it to the next paycheck. He always showed Himself to be faithful on our behalf and always seemed to come through in the nick of time providing for our every need.  That night at Wal-Mart, it was no different. He opened my eyes to see things I never really gave a second thought to.  And that night changed my life forever.

It was 1 a.m. and I just couldn’t sleep. I had decided to go to Wal-Mart to pick up our groceries for that week while my husband was home with the babies sleeping soundly. I could shop in peace without being sidetracked with juggling coupons, lists and the kids.  It probably wasn’t the best choice going out that late at night, but it had to get done and I’ve always been a fairly tough cookie. I made it in to the automatic doors and had my list sitting on my purse headed down the aisles. I turned down the rice and bean aisle and as I did heard His voice. Yes HIS voice. I was very familiar with the voice of my Shepherd but it came kind of unexpectedly and really, He caught me off guard. I heard, “Look at the shelves.”  I knew it was Him, and I knew I needed to obey, so I pulled the cart over, waiting for Him to speak again as the night stockers went about stocking the shelves a few aisles over. As I looked at the rice – I saw two or three – 2# lb. bags, maybe three 5# lb bags and two – 10# lb. bags and one huge bag on the bottom shelf. Different kinds of rice, Basmati, White and Brown. It sure didn’t seem like a lot though. The same with the bean section. There were a few different types of beans, but not a good supply for a major supermarket. Gosh, it sure didn’t look like a lot of food there, I thought to myself. Immediately He spoke in a voice full of authority and power and truth. “If a world economic collapse was to happen, this would be the first place people would come, and it would all be gone in seconds.”  I was stunned. I was not panicked or alarmed, because I knew He’d show me the answers, but I was definitely stunned. What did this mean? I really wasn’t sure, but His voice was so unmistakable, I knew what He was saying was very important and He wanted me to hear – really hear –  what He was saying. After a few moments, and after the shock of His statement wore off a bit, I answered Him back gently,  “Okay Lord, what do I do?”.   This time, without words, but with a picture in my mind, I just knew that each pay day, which was every two weeks, I was to take $20 and buy $20 worth of spaghetti noodles; then the next payday $20 worth of spaghetti sauce, and the next, $20 worth of sugar, and on and on. So I did exactly that.  I needed basic building blocks for cooking from scratch. Cocoa, butter, flour.  I had never ever thought like that before. Usually our dinners were hot dogs and macaroni and cheese and pizza’s from a box. Most of our food was processed although I did some recipes from scratch. So this entire concept solidified in my mind as I finished up the shopping. I knew what I had to do. 

I began researching cooking from scratch. A couple of my friends said,  “The Bible says, look at the lilies of the field, they neither toil nor spin, yet their heavenly Father takes care of them. Are you sure you’re hearing from the Lord?”.  I thought to myself, “they’re right”, scripture does talk about trusting wholly and completely on the Lord. So I researched that too. Woven through the glorious stories of the Bible, God revealed to me, Noah, who prepared by building the ark. He showed me Joseph, who by the wisdom of the Lord, staved off starvation for all of Egypt and ultimately his very own family. I realized that with faith – there is also wisdom from the heart of the Father.  I remembered the days as a small child of five years old, I would sit on my Gramma’s side porch and pick elderberries and put them in a colander along side my mother and Aunt. To this day, I still remember the taste of her elderberry pies. I remembered how cold the water was that flowed from Gramma’s hand water pump that was only 10 feet from that same side porch. And I remembered the scary cistern in her basement that I was sure had dead bodies in it…  I knew the road. I had been there before, and the Lord was helping to crystallize it for me in my own mind and life.  I could no longer be sidetracked with day to day life happenings, I needed to look ahead. I needed to be prepared. And I needed to one day be able to teach my children how to be prepared. Being a Mom, it was already in my DNA to be prepared. I came from a long line of women survivors in my family and I was no different from them. So I went to work. I began to make everything from scratch. Deodorant (cornstarch, baking soda, coconut oil and essential oils), Toothpaste, Make-up. I began to sew. I sewed monthly menstrual pads! I stocked medical supplies in a tackle box. I created a bug out bag that would probably last us 3 weeks if we had to bug out away from home. I read every article online about bio-diesel all the way to permaculture. I bought hundreds of dollars in seeds.  I grew plants and learned what bugs like to eat them, and then saved as much seed as I possibly could. Every time we’d get some extra money from our tax refund or side jobs, I would buy 15 packages of coffee at Big Lots and 10 more bags of rice!  I wanted to make sure that we would survive if anything like the Lord hinted at, would happen. And I’m happy to say, I am, with all humility satisfied with all that I’ve learned and I believe we would be okay, should any unforeseen disasters happen. Of course, there’s so much more we want to learn, but I am confident in our basic knowledge.

As the years have passed since the day I heard the Lord’s voice in the bean aisle, our family has accomplished so much in the field of prepping. We’ve re-opened the water well on our property. We’ve installed two wood burning stoves in our home. We are, for the most part out of debt, except for those few medical bills straggling behind us. Our cars/trucks are old and ugly, but paid for. We have ceramic water filters in case we need to get water from the creek. I’ve taught myself to can tomatoes, chicken broth, chicken and crabapple jelly. We raise and butcher our own chickens. This past summer our garden produced 200 lbs. of tomatoes that all got canned and I’ve become obsessed with meals in a jar and meals in mylar bags. There isn’t much to this prepping life that we’re not familiar with now. I knew I had become a hardcore prepper when I raced through reading JWR’s novel “Patriots” in one night!

Oh and yes,  our family members definitely think we’re crazy. But the running joke is, “We’re going to Connie’s house if anything “goes down”.”  I’ve probably dragged my husband kicking and screaming all the way, but miraculously he is now — fully on board. 

We have worked so incredibly hard at this lifestyle. Approaching life this way, full of faith in God and grateful for the wisdom He’s given us, we will thrive and we’ll be able to help others should the need arise. And I look forward to teaching my friends and family these amazing skills. There is a wonderful balance that we’ve found. Times are coming when we’ll need to know God’s voice.  Times are coming where we’ll need to heed and obey His voice and be His friend. We’ve all read the end of the book, and its not going to be easy. I’m thankful that He loves us all so much to speak to us.  And our lives are so much better for the listening.

Letter Re: A Handy Small Faraday Cage

James,
I found a surprise at the local Wal-Mart the other day: an American made 6 gallon galvanized metal container with locking lid (the bail is shaped to hold the tightly fitting lid closed when pulled up). With the lid on, it is approximately 15 inches high and about 14 inches in diameter at its widest point. The manufacturer is Behrens Manufacturing in Winona, Minnesota. Besides making a great small container for feed, etc., it could be a great EMP shield for your smaller electronic devices that will easily fit under a counter or bench. The price is good also: $14.97 plus tax. – Steve C.

JWR Replies: Behrens Manufacturing does indeed make a wide range of sizes of galvanized steel containers. Most of them work fine for Faraday cages.

For the budget-minded: Ask your relatives at Christmas for any spare steel popcorn canisters and Danish cookie gift tins. These steel containers have tight-fitting steel lids. As my father was fond of saying: ‘Free is right in the middle of my price range!”

Letter Re: Loading Your Own Ammunition

Mr Rawles,

I’m writing to make a few points about the article Ken in Montana wrote about reloading, as there are some issues I have with it. I’ve only been reloading since 1999, but . . . .

First, Winchester primers are also brass in color, so anything other than silver doesn’t automatically mean they’re Remington. Additionally, people who are just getting into reloading should ask around about the reliability of the primers they’re going to use, as some primers have harder cups and don’t detonate reliably. I generally only use Winchester and CCI.

I’d be interested to know where Ken is getting his “dies.” I’ve never seen a die sold for $2–even at an estate/garage sale. Ken’s description sounds more like the Lee loading tools sold for people who do not have reloading presses. Those don’t even sell for that price, and are extremely slow tools to use for loading–even slower than using a single stage press.

If you want to clean your range brass and don’t have a tumbler, the best way I’ve found is to soak it in a sink or pail full of water, then run it under a tap or hose in a mesh bag to flush away the debris.

If you use a lubricant for your cases, take care not to get it into the mouth of the case, as it will contaminate the powder and could make it fail or only partially ignite. A best practice for those not using something like Hornady One Shot would be to clean the cases a second time after depriming.

Ken left out one category of primers–match primers. Match primers are generally a bit more sensitive than regular primers, to decrease issues when firing precision rifle and pistol matches. More on this in a bit, but most people will not need match primers for general purpose applications.

For magnum primers, readers should be aware that the reason there is more priming compound is to consistently ignite the generally larger powder charges found in magnum loads. Additionally, some companies, like Winchester, make the same primers for normal and magnum pistol loads.

My main issue with the article is in the primer handling and seating section. Unless you have a great deal of dirt or oil on your fingers, simply touching a primer will not cause it to fail. I’ve been using my fingers to flip primers for well over a decade with no bad results. Novices should not discard primers simply because they’ve touched them.

When seating a primer, a primer pocket loose enough to simply press primers into with hand pressure is probably one loose enough to have the primer shake loose under recoil. I would probably discard a case like that.

Additionally, because of the prevalence of surplus brass on ranges and in purchased ammunition, a reloader should NEVER strike a case mouth the seat a primer–this is an inherently dangerous practice, since primers are detonated in firing by impact. Military brass primers are crimped into place, and the crimp makes the primer pocket mouth smaller. Trying to seat a primer into a crimped primer pocket by striking the case could detonate the primer. There are multiple tools designed to remove the crimp from primer pockets. Many surplus cartridges can be identified by a circled cross on the head stamp (the base of the case where the manufacturer, year of manufacture, and caliber are stamped). Additionally, striking the mouth of the case could deform it, requiring resizing the case mouth or discarding the case if it is damaged badly enough.

When selecting a loading manual, novices should really buy one published by a powder or reloading equipment manufacturer, rather than by a bullet manufacturer. Contrary to the writer’s claim, all bullet manufacturers do NOT publish load data–this is especially true for regional manufacturers and those who make bullets that are not jacketed. The reason I say this is because powder and reloading equipment manufacturers will publish data for a type of bullet (like a 230 grain full metal jacket), as opposed to a specific model of bullet (like a Hornady 230 grain XTP). While it’s generally acceptable to use load data for bullets of the same weight and type by different manufacturers, novices may not know that.

The author’s method of seating bullets is a little suspect as well. Tapping it into place with a mallet could lead to placing the bullet off-center, potentially damaging the case mouth. Additionally, if the case mouth is not belled during the loading process, you may shave the jacket or some lead off of the bullet. This could change the bullet’s profile and potentially lead to issues with headspacing (especially for pistol bullets) if not the shavings are not cleaned off. Finally, I’ve noticed the author doesn’t cover crimping the case mouth, which is very important. Bullets not crimped into the case can pull under recoil, and not crimping the case mouth can cause failures to feed–especially in cartridges that headspace from the case mouth (like the .45 ACP).

The author’s rather cavalier attitude about overall length is slightly less alarming than his attitude about priming. Bullets seated too deeply into the case can also cause excess pressure and damage the gun and injure the shooter. A ruler is not accurate enough, and different bullet styles will not look similar enough to judge proper seating by eye. Get a set of calipers which show the measurement to the thousandth. Sincerely, – Kent from Illinois

Economics and Investing:

Happy 100th Anniversary, Federal Income Tax. [JWR’s Comment: Both the Federal Reserve banking cartel and the Federal income tax are at the One Century mark. Just imagine what America could have been like, without them!]

Texas eliminates sales tax on precious metals coins

Treasury warns default could be worse than Great Recession.

Items from The Economatrix:

World Bank Whistleblower Karen Hudes Reveals How The Global Elite Rule The World

The Connection Between Government Shutdown & Customer Deposit Grabs

Dollar Pressured By U.S. Politics, Global Stocks Flatline

Odds ‘n Sods:

I heard about a great maker of Kydex holsters and other gear in Dallas, Oregon: Survival Sheath Systems.

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For AR owners who have a yen for gadgets: Deployable Compact Armorers Tool

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Pierre M. sent: Desperate MSM Moves to Kill Off Article Comments

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Buried deep in a Stars and Stripes article about new grooming and tattoo standards for soldiers, was mention that the U.S. Army intends to adopt a Multicam variant for their standard issue utility uniform.

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James C. suggested: 17 Great Ways to Utilize 2-Liter Soda Bottles for Survival

Notes from JWR:

Today is the birthday of the late Charlton Heston (born in 1923 as John Charles Carter,) a well-known American actor and past president of the NRA. He died April 5, 2008.

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Today we present another entry for Round 48 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The 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.) Two BirkSun.com photovoltaic backpacks (one Level, and one Atlas, both black), with a combined value of $275, G.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo. and 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.

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 FP-50 stainless steel hand well pump (a $600 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 22 of the books published by PrepperPress.com. This is more than a $200 value, and G.) Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.), B.) A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206, C.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value, D.) A Commence Fire! emergency stove with three tinder refill kits. (A $160 value.), E.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security., F.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 value), and G.) A Nesco / American Harvest Gardenmaster Dehydrator with an extra set of trays, and the book The Dehydrator Bible, from Mayflower Trading. (A $210 value.)

Round 49 ends on November 30th, 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.