Letter Re: Desert Stills Don’t Work

Can anyone prove that the long-touted “desert solar still” will maintain life in a emergency desert survival situation? I’m age 70 and tired of hearing the Bravo Sierra.  Prove it to me, please. Sorry , but with more than 35 years experience (15 years at the USN SERE-P.O.W. school in Warner Springs, California plus three years at the USN JEST school and since then 20 years in the business of survival training and digging earth,)  I must call foul on the desert still concept.  People should stop selling the idea. (The USAF has.)  
 
I have tested the solar still idea since 1968 – hoping it would work. I did so in the El Centro, California desert, Yuma, Phoenix, to the flat lands of Illinois, to the Colorado mountains and they do not produce any significant quantities of water.
 
I will pay the person who proves to me that such a still will save your life!    My friend Dave Ganci, an expert in Arizona says NO. Peter Bigfoot, also an Arizona expert says NO. Dale Nelson – desert expert,  says NO. My Australian desert friend Sean Mc Bride says NO.The late Ron Hood said NO, and his desert survival DVD had excellent facts.  

I’m sure other experts at Rabbit Stick will agree: no [significant] water. Good try but a real waste of time, sweat and energy. Even the barefoot hippie Cody L. or Indian-trained Tom Brown Jr. can not prove the desert still works.  One can not survive on this nonsensical  information. And I  too say NO to the desert still.  Prove it to me.  
Sincerely signed and standing by, – Mountain Mel

JWR Replies: I have never touted solar stills, although one of my readers once did. His long-winded article admitted that a lot of effort was required in construction, and only marginal output–even with his improved design and with extra foliage tossed in. And he reported virtually no output from the standard design.

Several real-world tests have shown that you sweat more moisture building solar stills than they produce. Unless you are on top of some amazing local surface aquifer, if you depend on the local ground moisture then these stills only produce a trickle for the first full day, and then hardly anything the second and subsequent days. The “experts” talk about adding gathered vegetation to the solar still’s chamber area, but that adds little to their output. Again, the effort of gathering that vegetation outweighs the benefit.

In temperate regions with leafy vegetation, gathering early morning dew from grasses with cloth and then wringing it out into a container is a far more efficient use of your time and energy.

News From The American Redoubt:

Nine Maps That Show Where Americans Commit Crime. (And, once again, The American Redoubt shines.) Note that the darker shade shown for Oregon is deceiving–that represents the crime that mainly occurs in western Oregon–not in the lightly-populated Redoubt half of the state. A similar situations exits in Washington, although the crime in the Tri-Cities region is anomalously high for the eastern half of the state.

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Bob in Virginia sent this fascinating map link: Half Of The United States Lives In These Counties. Hmmmm… Notice the big hole in the map, with nary any blue? That is the American Redoubt and the adjoining northern Plains buffer states. (The one blue county represents Spokane, Washington, with about 300,000 people, which is almost nothing, compared to the teeming masses of the greater Boston metroplex, Dallas, or greater Los Angeles.) Also note that most of West Texas has similarly copious elbow room.

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I recently bought a rifle case from a company called Impact Case and Container, in Rathdrum, Idaho. They make awesome aluminum guns cases, transport chests, and dog crates. These could best be described as “Beyond Mil Spec.”

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Not just for Montanans: There is a company in Missoula, Montana called Montana Rarities. For many years they have offered a Monthly Silver Purchase Plan. This a is a great way to Dollar Cost Average your precious metals purchases. They even have a PayPal “subscription” payment method. This is particularly advantageous for anyone who generally generates a positive PayPal balance, monthly. (For example, anyone who runs a home-based mailorder business, or any professionals who accept PayPal for their payments.) And, BTW, Dollar cost averaging is a proven winning strategy.

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North Idaho school district mulls training, arming teachers

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Day Hike Goes Bad: Body found at Craters of the Moon misidentified, search continues

Economics and Investing:

As I’ve long warned my readers, the days of the Penny and Nickel are numbered: SAVE II Act Would Prohibit “Non-Cost Effective” Coins and Currency. (Thanks to Rich R. for the link.)

Reader B.B. sent: Americans warned bank ‘bail-ins’ coming

James W. sent us this: The Death Of The Dollar – In Pictures

Items from The Economatrix:

Panama Declares Banking Holiday

Home Prices Continue To Climb

How Government Shutdown Would Hurt Main Street

Odds ‘n Sods:

Frequent link contributor RBS sent this: 3D-Printed Semiautomatic Pistol Unveiled

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Hornet attacks kill dozens in China: Hundreds of people stung in Shaanxi province by swarms of giant insects believed to have multiplied over warm summer. (Thanks to F.J.R. for the link.)

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Christian Tragedy in the Muslim World. Let’s call it what it is: Genocide!

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Greg W. sent: A Gun Map That’s a Little Different

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A retired British Commando describes the use of the Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife, in graphic detail. (Thanks to F.G. for the link.)

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“In winter, lying in bed, I thought of one thing until my head hurt:  there, on the shelves in the shops, there had been canned fish.  Why hadn’t I bought it?  Why had I bought only eleven jars of cod-liver oil, and not gone to the chemist’s a fifth time to get another three?  Why hadn’t I bought a few vitamin C and glucose tablets?  These ‘whys’ were terribly tormenting.  I thought of every uneaten bowl of soup, every crust of bread thrown away, every potato peeling, with as much remorse and despair as if I’d been the murderer of my own children.  But all the same, we did as much as we could, and believed none of the reassuring announcements on the radio.” – Dmitri Likhachev, Reflections on the Russian Soul:  A Memoir (of the siege of Leningrad)

Note from JWR:

This is the last day to place an order and take advantages of the September Mountain House sales. For the month of September, five of our advertisers have been offering special sale prices on Mountain House foods in #10 cans. They are all offering deep discounts and most of them are offering free shipping:

  • Camping Survival – Up to 54% off.
  • Emergency Essentials – 40% to 50% off.
  • Freeze Dry Guy – Meats are 40% off. Everything else (entrees, fruits, vegetables) is 25% off.
  • Ready Made Resources – 45% to 70% off
  • Safecastle – An average of 49% off, in a range from 45% to 65%. (With further rebates and incentives for Royal club members.) 

Expatriates Release Day Tomorrow

You might as well call me “James Wesley, Wrong”, since a printing error at E.P. Dutton resulted in several thousand copies of the First Edition, First Printing of Expatriates having the hardcover spines (underneath the dust jacket) emblazoned: “John Wesley, Rawles.“

Here is how the correct dust jacket spine looks:

Expatriates Dustjacket

And here is how the misprinted hardback spine (underneath the dust jacket) looks:

Expatriates Print Error Spine

This error wasn’t discovered until Friday night (September 27th), when our family friend “Enola Gay” (the editor of the outstanding Paratus Familia blog) happened to look under the dust jacket of the copy that I’d given her.

The hardback edition will probably not be released as scheduled tomorrow (October 1st) because of the printing error. (The Kindle book and audio book editions were of course not affected and will be released as scheduled.)

A bit of background, and some related examples:

Over the years, I’ve received dozens of “John”-addressed e-mails, and I’ve seen many Internet references to my writings that mention “John Wesley Rawles.” This can be attributed to a subconscious connection to the famous Christian evangelist and hymn writer, John Wesley. So I find it perfectly understandable that this mistake was made. (I don’t suspect any foul play by Red Lectroids from Planet 10.) The staff at E.P. Dutton sent me the full dust jacket layout for approval, but I never saw the hard copy spine markings. I suppose this is the first time that a major publisher has made this sort of mistake. I certainly don’t want to see anyone lose their job over this.

This slip-up is reminiscent of the notorious destroyed Jonathan Franzen Freedom novels, in 2010. And in a way, this incident reminds me of a print error on the packaging of 100,000 Atlas Shrugged Part 1 DVDs, which had the back emblazoned: “Ayn Rand’s timeless novel of courage and self-sacrifice comes to life…” This of course was 180 degrees out of sync with Ayn Rand’s philosophy, that focused on rational self-interest and rejected the concept of self-sacrifice. Those DVDs were recalled (at great expense), and the few that slipped out to the market are now collectible. This also brings to mind the famous US Postal Service’s recall of the 1994 Legends of the West postage stamp sheets, because they had an inaccurate depiction of the face of Bill Pickett. (To me, it looked like they slipped in a simulacrum of Billy Dee Williams!)

This printing error may not be quite as famous as the 1631 Bible typesetting error that inadvertently had Exodus 20:14 read: “Thou shalt commit adultery,” or the upside-down “Jenny” airplane print error postage stamp. But it certainly did give me a chuckle. And I suppose that it might make the 48 advance copies that I received worth more, in the long run. (However, I don’t expect a full blown Willy Wonka Bar golden ticket hunt, as book buyers look under the dust jackets to see if they’ve found an example with the spine printing error.)

Only one thing is certain: Book collectors will definitely be able to easily distinguish the print error “First Edition, First Printing” of Expatriates!

The hardback edition will only have a limited release tomorrow (October 1st, 2013) because of this printing error. A rush print order of revised books should be available within two weeks. The Kindle book and audio book editions were of course not affected, so their release will go on, as scheduled. I have not yet heard from the publisher whether they plan to destroy the misprinted books that they still have on hand, or re-cover them, or add an adhesive label to the spine with my correct given name.

I will post updates about how this will be rectified. Thanks for your patience.

Special Note to Brad Thor: Double check your next novel, to make sure that they don’t print “Brad Pitt” on the spine. – J.W.R.

Pat’s Product Review: CORE15 M4 Rifle

It appears, at least for the time being, that AR-15 style rifle manufacturers are starting to catch-up with demand. Not all makers are caught-up, but a few are – the companies that specialize in making AR-15 style rifles only, appear to be the ones catching-up with supply to meet demand. Although some ammo makers are making some progress in manufacturing more .223 Rem and 5.56mm ammo, the great ammo drought of 2013 is far from over. As I mentioned before, my inside sources – at ammo companies – not gun shop clerks, or Internet warriors – tell me that it will still be at least another 18 months before they catch-up with supply and demand – for orders that they already have. There is some hype ammo makers are trying to sell you more ammo, they have not created intentional ammo shortages. And, to be sure, the ammo companies have not inflated their prices during this drought. Those companies that have raised their prices ever so slight, have done so, because they are paying more for the raw products to produce the ammo – in some cases, their costs have only gone up 5% – 8%  and it is many companies who sell to gun shops or to individuals on the Internet, who have taken advantage of having a large supply of ammo in-stock and they are just ripping customers off, it’s not the ammo makers doing this! (I’ll now step off my soap box.)
 
I have steadily observed AR-style rifles getting more and more accurate these days. I believe there are several reasons for this, one is better barrels, and another is better triggers, and of course tighter tolerances, too. And, we also have a wide selection of ammo to pick from, and if you haven’t experimented with different types, brands and weights of bullets in your AR, you are doing yourself and your AR a disservice. Some guns shoot certain types and brands of ammo better than other types and brands of ammo. If you take the time to experiment, you’ll find one or two types of ammo that shoots extremely well in your AR – most of the time. I will say, I had a Bushmaster AR-style carbine, with the poly upper and lower receivers, and it wouldn’t shoot anything well at all – at 25 yards, it “patterned” like a shotgun – it wouldn’t group any ammo. I traded it back to the gun shop the next day. So, there are exceptions – every now and then a lemon slips through, no matter who the  maker might be.
 
I ran across the CORE15 M4 rifle at my local gun shop, some time back. And, to be honest, I had never heard of the CORE Rifle Systems brand rifles. It appeared to be a very well-made specimen of the M4gery type of rifle, and it had a flat-top upper receiver with no carry handle or rear sight – not a problem, I had a carry handle with rear sight to attach to it.
 
I won’t bore SurvivalBlog readers with all of the specs on the CORE15 M4, but I wanted to cover a few of them. The upper and lower receivers are mil-spec forged 7075-T6 aluminum, hard coat anodized with a beveled magazine well for improved and faster reloads – I didn’t notice this when I first looked at the gun – nice touch. It also has M4 feed ramps – not all M4rgeries have this feature, and it aids in feeding rounds from the mag to the chamber. There is also a 1:9 barrel twist, which is pretty common on civilian M4s. The gun is chambered in .223/5.56mm too – and there is a difference between these calibers – regardless of what the clerk behind the counter at your local gun shop tells you. The stainless steel bolt carrier group is also chromed – making it easier to clean. The M4 handguards are Thermoset molded with dual heat shields – some makers don’t provide heat shields at all. The 6-positon retractable stock is also mil-spec. For the rest of the particulars, you can check out the CORE15 web site – and they are currently manufacturing a lot of different versions of the M4, including a gas piston model. (When I got my sample at my local gun shop, they were only making a couple of versions.)
 
The M4-style of AR is the most popular selling black gun on the market today, and some gun magazines have come up with a new title for these rifles, “Modern Sporting Rifles” and I have no problem with that, if that’s what they want to call these guns. However, aren’t all rifles, to a certain extent, “modern sporting rifles?” Let’s think about that – anyway, I guess they can call these guns whatever they want to help appease anti-gunners. I still hear folks calling anything that is an AR version an “assault rifle” and needless to say, that is the wrong nomenclature for these rifles, too. And, we need to help our fellow gun owners to stop calling these rifles “assault rifles” as it only adds fuel to the gun debate. True assault rifles are select-fire – all the M4s and ARs we purchase over the counter are just semi-automatic rifles – one pull of the trigger, one shot is fired!
 
To be sure, I don’t believe most gun buyers are buying the M4 or any type of AR as a “sporting rifle” in my humble opinion. They are purchasing these guns for self-defense of life and property. They are buying these guns to prevent an out-of-control FedGov from taking our Freedoms and Rights away. Folks are also purchasing these types of guns for the simple fact that, the FedGov and local and state governments are attempting to ban them, and confiscate them. So they are purchasing these firearms simply because they still can and because they want to own them! Off my soap box, again!
 
Without any further ado, I will report that, the CORE15 M4, is without a doubt, the most consistently accurate M4 I’ve ever owned. Not, the most accurate, but the most consistently accurate M4 I’ve owned – hands down, it holds this title! I had the opportunity to fire a wide assortment of ammo through my CORE15 M4 – and this was when .223 and 5.56mm ammo was still in great supply and prices were very affordable. Today, I rarely shoot any of my firearms just for fun – I can’t afford to purchase all the ammo I want, and my suppliers, out of necessity, can’t supply me with all the ammo I need – I understand this. So, when I first purchased this gun, from my local gun shop, I fired well over 1,000 rounds through it over a period of a couple months. I had from Black Hills Ammunition, a huge assortment of .223 ammo – to include: 40 grain Hornady V-Max, 50 grain Hornady V-Max, 52 grain Match Hollow Point, 55 grain FMJ both new and remanufactured, 55 grain SP, 60 grain Hornady V-Max and 68-gr Heavy Match Hollow Point. From the kind folks at Buffalo Bore Ammunition, I had their Sniper 55 grain Ballistic Tip and their 69 grain Jacketed Hollow Point.
 
For my long range accuracy testing, I removed the carry handle with rear sight, and put on an inexpensive 3-9×40 scope because I wanted to really wring out the most accuracy I could out of this rifle. At 25-yards, I was easily getting three shot, one hole groups – boring! No matter which brand of ammo, or which bullet weight or any other factor, I consistently was getting 1 1/2 inch groups – of course, some groups were higher on the target, and some lower – depending on the bullet weights. But no matter what ammo I used, I still got 1 1/2 inch groups, so long as I did my part. Amazing, to say the least. As I said, this is the most consistently accurate M4 I’ve ever shot, bar none. I did try some of the Black Hills 77 grain 5.56mm ammo – and as expected, because of the 1:9 inch barrel twist, the rounds were all over the place – not the fault of the ammo – it was the barrel twist – for these heavier rounds you need a 1:7 inch barrel twist to help stabilize the heavier bullets. I’ve used the Black hills 77 grain 5.56mm round in ARs with 1:7 inch barrel twists and had outstanding accuracy.
 
I fired a good amount of Black Hills 55 grain FMJ remanufactured ammo through the CORE15 M4 – and I had the barrel smoking and extremely hot. Still, the gun never missed a beat – in all my testing, the gun never had a failure of any sort. I was impressed, very impressed, with the performance and reliability of this M4-style carbine. The CORE15 M4 is well-made, and many of the specs are made to military specifications – not all, but many! I couldn’t find anything to fault in the sample that I purchased over-the-counter, and it was a used gun at that – not brand-new!
 
As already noted, CORE15 is now manufacturing a huge assortment of M4s these days – so you have quite a selection to pick from – assuming you can find one at your local dealer – I haven’t seen another one since I made my purchase, but they are on GunBroker.com if you care to check around for the best prices. I have no vested interest in CORE15 rifles, and I didn’t request a sample from the company, so this gun is the same gun you can buy, and I believe CORE15 is doing their guns up “right” in my book – everything was fitted, and not just “assembled” if you ask me. And the barrel was doing what it was supposed to do. It put all my rounds where I wanted them to go. You can’t ask for more than that.
 
So, if you are in the  market for an AR-15 style rifle, and in particular, an M4 type, you’d do well to take a look at the CORE15 M4 line-up – and they seem to be priced reasonable these days – all things considered I was totally impressed with my sample, and I’m sure you’ll be just as impressed as I was, if you get one for your shooting needs. – SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Pat Cascio

Letter Re: Currently Available QRP Radio Kits

James,
I’d like to discuss a couple of low power (“QRP”) ham radio transmitters. The first kit is a 10 Watt 75M SSB transceiver appropriately named The Survivor. For the modest sum of $140 you get all the parts required to build a practical rig with a digital frequency readout capable of making voice contacts at night out to a range of 200 to 300 miles using simple (low to the ground) wire antennas in NVIS mode. Another ham radio operator provided some additional tips and advice on building this kit on his blog.

The second kit is a crystal-controlled half Watt CW transceiver with a built in iambic keyer called the RockMite. This is available in versions for the 80M, 40M, 30M and 20M ham bands. The basic kit (minus knobs and connectors) runs $29. For an additional $16 you can purchase the knobs and connectors. The kit is designed to fit into an empty tin Altoids container, or you may purchase a deluxe enclosure called the ‘MityBox’ from American Morse Equipment.

These compact radios can easily be powered using a 12 volt gel cell and used to provide long range communications during off grid/grid down situations.

– 73 from Rick H. in Ohio

Letter Re: Recommending Todd Savage of Survival Retreat Consulting

Hello Mr. Rawles,
Just a note of thanks to you and your site for leading me to Todd Savage at Survival Retreat Consulting (SRC.)

I read your novel Patriots and that gave me the incentive I needed to pursue a retreat for my family.  I researched the means available to obtain my retreat and that included SRC’s ad on your SurvivalBlog.com site.  I was impressed with Todd’s well thought out process and the advantage that his own experience in making the journey with his own family brought to the process.  With your recommendation as a tail wind, I hired Todd and I can truly say it was one of the best decisions I have made.
 
Thanks to Todd’s diligent efforts, my family now has a retreat in the American Redoubt that is custom-tailored to my family’s needs.  But beyond the just the property search itself [which included hours and hours of his videotaping], Todd then introduced me to competent and trustworthy people to assist us with all of our retreat needs [from solar energy providers, electricians, IT specialists, nurseries and pond excavators to name a few.]  His wife met with my wife and was kind enough to answer all of her questions from wood cook stoves to organic gardening and pest control.  To top it off, our families gathered for our first American Redoubt barbecue.
 
Kudos to Todd Savage at Survival Retreat Consulting and kudos to you, Mr. Rawles, for your selection of an excellent site sponsor. – Tom  X. (Formerly of California)

JWR Replies: I do indeed recommend Todd’s services. Readers might be interested in Todd’s new affiliated real estate agency: AmericanRedoubtRealty.com

Letter Re: Basic Mechanics Skill and Knowing Vehicular Limitations

Jim,
If I might add my two cents to Albert’s comments on Basic Mechanics Skill and Knowing Vehicular Limitations:  I was also inconvenienced with lug nuts being over-torqued. I bent the factory lug wrench in the process.   My dear spouse would have never been able to loosen one, much less five lug nuts. So I vowed to never again be put in that position again.  I made the assumption that the tire store torqued the lug nuts to factory specifications. They went far beyond that number. Apparently, many do.
 
My solution was far less high tech, EMP proof, and far less expensive: a 24-Inch breaker bar with a 1/2″ drive for each vehicle.  Add the correct socket, and a six inch extension and you will never struggle with that aspect of a tire change again.   Get one for each vehicle and make it a permanent part of that vehicle’s tool kit. – John T.

Letter Re: House Window Blackout Materials

James,
I heard you in your recent interview on the SGT Report podcast talking about [the need for] interior blackout material [to stop light from escaping windows when the power grid is down.]    What is the name of the material and tape and where can I purchase it? Thanks, Paul Z.

JWR Replies:

You will find the information you need in these archived discussions in SurvivalBlog. Also see this theatrical supply company, and specifically this blackout fabric and this blackout tape.

Recipe of the Week:

Mr. Anon’s Southwestern Corn Pudding
 
Ingredients:
 
1 14-oz can cream-style corn
1 14-oz can whole kernel corn or niblets, drained
1 to 3 4-oz can(s) diced green chilies, to taste  (or sub 1 can diced jalapeños for one of chilies for more spice, or sub lightly sauteed fresh diced peppers if available, to taste)
6 large eggs
1-1/2 cups soft fresh cheese (ricotta or quark)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 lb to 1 lb diced or shredded pepper-jack cheese, depending on your taste and calorie requirement (or sub medium cheddar cheese for part of pepper-jack cheese.  Using all cheddar tends to overpower the taste of the corn, though.)
3/4 cup dry cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
 
(Optional:  1 teaspoon onion powder or 1/3 cup dried onion flakes, rehydrated, or 1 cup diced fresh onion, lightly sauteed, or 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions)
(Optional:  1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram or oregano and/or 1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro or parsley)
Preparation:
Combine all ingredients well in a large bowl.
 
Transfer to large lightly oiled or buttered casserole dish and bake in 325 degree F oven for about 45 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out almost clean (it will continue cooking for a while after you take it out).  Check at 30 minutes if using a shallow dish.  Avoid overcooking, as it will toughen the eggs and make the final product “weep” once you serve it.
 
Allow to rest 10 minutes before serving.

Chef’s Notes: This is a very flexible recipe.  If you have fresh corn cut from the cob, use about 4 cups, and process half in the food processor with some of the egg until smooth.  For a more custardy/quiche-like texture, use less cornmeal and sub milk for some of the fresh cheese.  Control the fat content by the type and amount of cheese you use, sub milk for the sour cream, and sub extra egg whites for a couple of the egg yolks.  Make it even heartier by adding a can of drained black beans, if you like.)

Odds ‘n Sods:

Dallas County Now Has Its Very Own Bulletproof, “Mine-Protected” Military SUV. JWR Adds: An anonymous reader in Oregon wrote: “Yesterday I was driving by the Clackamas (Oregon) County Shops and Motor-pool and saw one of these MRAPs, identical to the one pictured in the article. Same paint too. It was sitting in the “repair or modify” area next to the road department trucks and sheriff’s department boat, across the street from the sheriff car storage area. I doubt it’ll stay tan for long.”

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Jeff Ayers of Booklist posted this announcement and mini revew of Expatriates: “Rawles’ latest novel, set during a future global collapse, features characters in different parts of the world coping with life stripped of modern conveniences and technology. It’s a bit like the NBC television show Revolution but on a more global scale. People must rely on each other, and trust is as big a commodity as gold or silver. The novel follows Survivors (2011) and Founders (2012), both of which follow concurrently what Rawles calls “the coming collapse,” making it possible for readers to jump into the beginning of the end at any point. For dystopia and action fans.”

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Georgia residents should find this of interest: The National Preppers and Survivalist Expo. It will be held October 19th and 20th in Atlanta. Admission is free.

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Tattler Reusable Canning Lids is conducting a three day sale beginning October 1, 2013.  They will be offering selected items up to 30% off, so stock up. Concurrently, there is a special promotion to support cancer research with the sale of a limited run of pink canning lids. (Note: The usual 5% discount code “survivalblog” cannot be used in conjunction with this sale.)

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Until October 15th, the SurvivalBlog 2005-2012 Archive DVD is sale priced at just $11.99.

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Project Appleseed tries to find middle ground in murky gun debate . (It was surprising to see this in The Metro — a free urban tabloid with with a strong liberal bias.)