Odds ‘n Sods:

There is lots of news about these revelations: NSA taps in to user data of Facebook, Google and others, secret files reveal and NSA Is Seizing Millions of Verizon Phone Records and Clapper denied NSA surveillance before Senate panel in March testimony. As I’ve mentioned before: Never consider anything you say on the phone or anything that you do on the Internet is “private.”

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Reader Joe K. suggested this new e-book: Locusts on the Horizon, authored by the Plan B Writers Alliance. It also comes highly recommended by Greg Ellifritz of  Active Response Training. It is affordably priced at just $2.99.

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G.G. flagged this news headline: Secession Plan Floated By Some Northern Colorado Leaders. And Steve D. sent this related story with some more details: Weld County commissioners propose formation of new state, North Colorado.

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“Major Henry West” (one of my associates on The FALFiles forums) wrote me to mention a great deal on Swiss 7.5mm GP-11 Ammo at AIM Surplus. They are offering it for not much more than .50 cents a round. (In today’s market, where 7.62mm NATO ball is still nearly $1 per round, that is a relative bargain.) A Swiss K-31 Schmidt-Rubin straight pull rifle can be fired quite quickly and accurately, and now for the first time in my memory, they can be shot less expensively than a .308. That sounds like a great James Dakin-style “Plan B” rifle, to me! (James Dakin wisely recommends budget military surplus rifles for folks who are on a tight budget.)

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15 Wonderful Hilltop Towns and Villages

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After the beheading of a British soldier by a pair of Muslim fanatics–who were caught literally red handed–David Codrea reports that many Britons now want their guns back. They are a little late, since most of their handguns got turned into manhole covers. (Including some that we sent them early in WWII, when England faced invasion.) What a shame. But it isn’t too late for them to import some 21st century gun technology. For example, envision a Ruger LC 9mm or a S&W .380 Bodyguard in just 20% of English ladies’ purses and gentlemen’s jacket pockets. Those would do quite well in deterring terrorist slaughter on their streets. And they are lot easier to carry around than armed Bobbies or manhole covers.

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Reader S.F. mentioned that a pilot program of matching dogs with vets was specifically vetoed by the U.S. Veteran’s Administration (VA), which made it categorical that dogs would only be provided for a small and traditional list of needs, such a guide dogs for the blind. So of course others did it. An old story with a great new ending: Hounds and Heroes.

Notes from JWR:

This is the last day of the big semi-annual sales on Mountain House long term storage foods at Ready Made Resources and Safecastle. Get your orders in before midnight!

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Today we present another entry for Round 47 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.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 value), and F.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 47 ends on July 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.

Developing a Scavenger Mindset, by Barry B.

It has been said that the most important thing about prepping and survival is having the appropriate mindset. A strong spiritual mindset will get you through many hardships.  The mindset that your survival is up to you, that the government will not be there to help you is also necessary.  Having a scavenging mindset is also important. Scavenging will be an important skill post SHTF.  A scavenging mindset means that you aren’t embarrassed by scavenging people’s trash piles, and that you see value in items that others deem as trash.

Scavenging is not the same as picking in my view.  Pickers, as made popular by several television shows, look to make a profit by finding valuable items and reselling them.  Scavenging is more about finding useful items to recycle or repurpose.  Many low-income people already have this mindset.  There is a man who makes the rounds of the neighborhoods early on bulk trash day.  This is the day that the city picks up large items from the curb. Those items that do not fit into your trash can on the regular collection day.  I also see people with this mindset at the local metal recycling facility.  They survive by having a scavenger mindset.

The scavenging mindset is important because if you are too embarrassed to be seen digging through someone’s curbside trash piles or peeking into dumpsters, then you will not be a successful scavenger. This all may change depending upon how hungry you get, but by then, you will not have the skills needed to compete.  I admit that I do not do a lot of scavenging on my residential street where others know me, but if there is a great find, I will claim it from the curb.  I get curious looks when I stop to inspect a trash pile on the curb, but the great finds from these piles has long since helped me get over any embarrassment. Another part of the scavenger mindset is seeing the value of items that most people would send to the landfill.  I’ve picked up broken pieces of PVC pipe for the elbow or T fittings on them.  Garden benches that were nothing more than the metal ends with a piece or two of the original wood seat still connecting them can be restored into a beautiful item for the porch or garden with a little elbow grease, paint, and some treated lumber – also scavenged.  My grandparents, who lived through the Great Depression,  could find a use for almost anything.  Everything was used until it was “used up.”  Sadly, society lacks that attitude today, but it is an attitude that will prove valuable in a TEOTWAWKI situation.

I scavenge in places that most pickers would never look.  Most of my finds are not valuable antiques or collectibles, but items that can be recycled, reused, or repaired. Apartment dumpsters and curbs are my main hunting grounds and have proven to be lucrative places.  I live in a community with a large university student population. These students are notoriously wasteful.  Students tend to move at the end of each semester.  Many of them are lazy, leaving furniture and boxes on the premises for their landlord to set out on the curb or place at the dumpster.  While [in my jurisdiction] dumpster diving at apartments is illegal, checking the dumpsters on the university campus at the end of the semester is not (at least there are not signs indicating that it is illegal.). The dumpster behind the engineering and architecture buildings or dorms are particularly rich in finds.  Architecture  and construction science students build large projects each semester so the students can learn design and construction skills.  Most of them have no way to transport the project home so the projects are disposed of by their instructors at the end of the semester.  These projects contain a wealth of raw materials such as lumber (plywood prices are out of this world), large nuts and bolts, new hinges, casters, PVC pipe and fittings, and many other types of hardware.  I collect and deconstruct these projects, saving the materials or using them for my own renovation projects.  My neighbors know that I’m a scavenger and will often ask if I have an extra hinge or a PVC T-fitting.  I direct them to the appropriate container and let them “shop” at will. 

Dormitory dumpsters are also a great place to shop at the end of the school year.  Students leave furniture, storage containers, and an assortment of building materials like cinder blocks either in or beside these dumpsters.  Hitting these receptacles on the last day for students to move out can yield a trove of items that can be resold in garage sales, at flea markets, or donated to second-hand stores.
Apartment dumpsters yield mostly  household items.  Large pieces of furniture are not placed in the dumpsters, but are set beside them.  Rescued pieces of furniture are either sold or donated to various charities for the tax write-off.  I have found expensive bicycles sticking out of a dumpster.  Most of the time, they only need minor repairs. 

Rental houses and duplexes produce a greater volume and variety of items.  I regularly find water hoses, extension cords, furniture, recyclable metals, patio benches, containers of various sizes, vacuum cleaners, and bicycles.  Sometimes I have to replace an end on a hose or extension cord, but often, they are completely fine (I haven’t bought a hose or extension cord in 15 years).  I once found a vacuum that a dog had chewed the cord into two pieces – replacing the cord made it as good as new. The owner didn’t know how to replace a simple power cord so they threw it away. I sold it for $40.  Patio benches can be restored for $25-30 or less in materials and a little labor. These patio benches sell for $120 or more at the big box stores. These are usually given to friends or family.  My commercial-sized wheeled barrow came off a curb.  A $10 wheel made it good as new.  My father-in-law’s neighbor left almost two rooms of furniture on the curb when he moved. e made over $300 on these items in a garage sale.

Most of the stones that I use to edge the flower beds and garden came from new home sites.  The odd-shaped pieces of stone and castoffs that the masons can’t use are piled at the curb to be hauled off. I’ve never been denied permission to sort through the rubble pile for usable stone.  Other items that I’ve found include:

  • Patio tables and chairs
  • Gas cans
  • Containers of all sizes and shapes (container gardening, storage, rainwater collection)
  • Cordage of various sorts
  • Copper and brass fittings from appliances (usually recycled for cash)
  • Electrical conduit (fence posts, plant supports)
  • Dishes and cookware
  • Golf clubs (usually sold at garage sales)
  • Flower pots in sizes up to 30 gallons (good for protecting plants from frost)
  • Plastic buckets (thousands of uses)

But, my best find were two gold coins! I had spied an Adirondack chair on a curb and pulled over to investigate.  The chair was irreparable so I began checking out some of the boxes stacked beside it.  One box was filled with old board games.  I loaded that box up and took it home. As I went through the box later that evening, I discovered a small change box in the bottom.  The top tray contained about $8 in small change (no pre-1965 coins though),  a great find in itself!  But, in the bottom of the change box was a very small coin purse.  Inside the purse was a 1/10 ounce gold Liberty coin and a 1926 Quarter Eagle gold coin! That is my most valuable find to date.  Now, I never pass up boxes on the curbside!  And, my wife finds it hard to grumble when I make a sudden stop to inspect some boxes.
Scavenging means that I don’t have to buy a lot of new things and can spend those savings on other prepping needs.  Some items can be repaired and sold for additional income. I’ve been able to barter some items for things on my prep list. In addition, I learn skills that will be useful post-TEOTWAWKI.  I know how to rewire many appliances, refinish and rebuild furniture, repair bicycles, and repurpose most anything.  I learned all of these skills by trial and error (or with the help of YouTube) on the items that I’ve found.

In post-TEOTWAWKI times, new items will no longer be available unless people develop the old skills to make things by hand.  Until that time, we will have to learn to salvage useable items and materials and learn to repair them. As Jim and other contributors emphasize, knowledge and mindset will be the keys to your survival. Your “stuff” will only get you so far. By developing the scavenging mindset now and learning the skills to repair and repurpose items, you will have the advantage over most people. 

Letter Re: Canadian Officials Cast a Wider Net on Restricted Guns

Mr. Rawles,
Two years ago, I wrote to you prior to the abolition of the Canadian Long Gun Registry about rumors that senior officials with the RCMP were conspiring to reclassify a large number of long guns.

A major development has recently unfolded that I think merits attention to both your Canadian and American readers – as this could potentially set a major precedent pertaining to gun registration and confiscation.  

There is a lot of drama and intrigue involved between some of the owners of businesses involved, and a more comprehensive explanation of the situation can be found here (with the most current information): http://tv-presspass.com/swiss-arms-in-canada-the-full-story/

The simplest way to explain the story is the Swiss Arms Rifle is a variant of the SIG 540, which is very similar to the SIG 550.  Under Canadian law, SIG 550 and variants are prohibited, while the SIG 540 and variants are not.  The Swiss Arms rifle has been imported into Canada for over 12 years with many variants classified as Non-Restricted (the least strict classification of a rifle, requiring only a license and as of this point in time no registration).  In all probability, it is speculated that there are over 1,000 owners of the rifle which, by Canadian standards, a fairly high number.

Recently, a business came into possession of a supposed Swiss Arms rifle sold by one of their competitors, and observed that it appeared to contain SIG 550 parts – potentially rendering it a variant of the SIG 550 – and thus a prohibited firearm.  This business sent a sample to be reviewed by the RCMP who came to the conclusion that potentially all Swiss Arms Rifles are SIG 550 variants, and thus were incorrectly classified over a decade ago as either non-restricted or restricted, as opposed to prohibited.

Why this is important is prior to the Long Gun registry being abolished, the RCMP criteria for classifying firearms was very inconsistent and error prone.  As a result, it is entirely conceivable that dozens of firearms that were classified as Non-restricted in fact meet the legislation requirements to be prohibited.  Furthermore, some of these rifles could potentially be in the hands of thousands if not tens of thousands of Canadian gun owners with no official registration data to track them. 

With the abolition of the Long Gun Registry, there are reports that the RCMP is increasingly and more intensely scrutinizing firearms classifications and reopening classifications of existing firearms.  A recently leaked report has a definitive list of guns the  RCMP was reviewing for reclassification prior to the abolition of the Long Gun Registry.  The list itself is comical and completely devoid of substance. One of the most laughable points is that the the Ruger SR22 (a 10/22 dolled up to cosmetically LOOK like an AR-15) is somehow in the AR-15 family.

What this all means is, potentially, the RCMP may reclassify huge swaths of firearms that were once non-restricted or restricted into the prohibited category – effectively banning them from civilian ownership.

The big catch to this is this: with many (if not most) of these guns being Non-restricted, and the long gun registry data (supposedly) having been destroyed this past year, there is no official way the RCMP can track who is in possession of a non-restricted gun that they reclassify to prohibited, that is unless agents in the RCMP have maintained illegal backups of the data.

I learnt the hard way that many firearms businesses are very friendly with the RCMP, while some are not.  However, what is certain is firearms purchased from private businesses do maintain some paper trail, and If many non-restricted guns are prohibited, many of these businesses will either voluntarily surrender their ledger of sales or be forced to by warrant.  

However, I believe within Canada there is no requirement for private owners selling their guns to other private owners to maintain a inventory of sales (I have sold dozens of guns and never kept any paper record).  Ergo, if I bought a firearm from a business that potentially could be reclassified – I would be a bit more concerned.  If I bought one through a private sale, I would be less concerned, although classification would effectively render such firearms a prohibited device and carry a very stiff jail term.

The parties involved with the initial Swiss Arms Prohibition situation have until July 30, 2013 to petition the RCMP but either way, a ground breaking decision could potentially be made by then that could set a major precedent for gun control in Canada.

What’s interesting to note in is what will happen if this happens in the middle of a Conservative Party Majority term.  Personally, I am not overly optimistic the Conservatives will do the right thing (and rein in the RCMP).

Mr. Rawles, one thing in particular I would like your guidance on is what is the Christian thing to do if you have lawfully and in good conscience acquired a firearms as a piece of property, and “Caesar” arbitrarily prohibits you from owning it?  Canada is a big place and there aren’t enough Praetorians to practically enforce such an edict.  Furthermore, while I don’t have any confidence in the Canadian government, I do think as a Christian you have the obligation to protect yourself and your family from theft – regardless of who is doing it.

Thank you. – H.T.C.

JWR Replies: Here in the United States, we fortunately have the protection of Second Amendment, which solemnized a God-given right that pre-dated the Constitution and that therefore invalidates most of the gun-related laws that have recently been enacted. (“Lex mala, lex nulla.”) So Christians should not feel even a twinge when they ignore such laws. You can sleep soundly knowing that American Jurisprudence is clear, and on our side:

“The general rule is that an unconstitutional statute, whether federal or state, though having the form and name of law, is in reality no law but is wholly void and ineffective for any purpose. Since unconstitutionality dates from the time of its enactment and not merely from the date of the decision so branding it, an unconstitutional law, in legal contemplation, is as inoperative as if it had never been passed and never existed; that is, it is void ab initio. Such a statute leaves the question that it purports to settle just as it would be had the statute not been enacted.

Since an unconstitutional law is void, it follows that generally the statute imposes no duties, confers no rights, creates no office or liabilities, bestows no power or authority on anyone, affords no protection, is incapable of creating any rights or obligations, does not allow for the granting of any relief, and justifies no acts performed under it.”

(See the detailed citation, which I’ve previously posted on SurvivalBlog.)

But in Canada, where you lack a similarly enshrined right, your mileage may vary.

An aside: Because of Canada’s draconian handgun laws, most folks in the U.S. have a distorted view of firearms ownership in Canada. They mistakenly picture the country as uniformly anti-gun and fairly-well disarmed. The eastern provinces are indeed dominated by anti-gun liberals and gun ownership is uncommon. But in western Canada, folks raise their kids differently. Here is a picture of a new college graduate in Alberta, holding her graduation present. (That photo link came to me courtesy of SurvivalBlog’s Mike Williamson.)

Everyone must decide for themselves where they draw the line in consenting to laws that they know are inherently evil. In 1938 it was against the law for a Jew to go out in public without wearing a Star of David sewn on their clothes. Would you call someone who refused do so a “criminal” or would you instead call them a “dissenter”? A free nation has legitimacy only so long as it has the consent of the governed. When that legitimacy is lost, a few brave souls need to stand up and say forthrightly: “Consent withdrawn!”

Economics and Investing:

S&P 500 Crash Warning: Margin Debt Surpasses 2007 Danger Levels

The supply and demand math can’t be avoided: Summer Is Lyme Disease Season. The Price of the Drug to Treat It Just Exploded. Once again, those of us who wisely stocked up are sitting pretty.

The Roubini – Faber Debate

South African Rand Leads Emerging Market Rout.

Rationalizing and pushing the debt limit: The academic battle to open the gates on unlimited digital debt monetization.

G.G. suggested this: Nine reasons why the four-year-old US economic recovery is closer to awful than awesome

Bread, butter, and food stamp economy: Is the US developing a permanent under-class of citizens economically?

Odds ‘n Sods:

GoldAndSilverOnline.com (one of our generous writing contest sponsors) has announced a special just for SurvivalBlog readers: Use discount code: survivalblog at checkout, and get free shipping on your entire order when purchasing two or more $10 face value rolls in pre-’65 quarters or four or more $5 face value rolls in pre-’65 in dimes.  This special offer is good only until June 30, 2013, and just one free shipment per customer.

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Bugging Out? There’s an app for that. The beta version of a free Bug Out Bag Checklist app is now available on the app stores: Apple iOS and Android Google Play. Alternatively the app can also be found by searching the title of the app, “Bug Out Bag Checklist”, on your smart phone.

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Ol’ Remus has posted some great commentary on resistance warfare.

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Reader F.G. sent: Supreme Court: Police can routinely take DNA from people they arrest

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Mike Williamson mentioned an interesting DHS ammo buy: Small quantities of unusual calibers–.45 Long Colt, .357 Magnum, and 7.62×39. [JWR’s Comment: Perhaps they are a stocking some sort of TEOTWAWKI bunker.]

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An Inconvenient Truth Terminology: You might have noticed that “Global Warming” activists are quietly morphing into “Climate Change” activists. This is particularly convenient, since the last few months were the coldest spring on record in many places and in the U.K. they’ve had the coldest spring since 1891. Some are predicting that this summer could be the coldest since 1816 in Europe. (1816 is remembered as “the year without a summer.”) Perhaps in another 10 or 20 years, the Al Goristas will claim that their dire predictions of higher temperatures and rising sea levels were “misunderstood” by the media, and what they really meant to say was that lower temperatures and lower sea levels are expected, because mankind has broken Planet Earth’s thermostat–so that “climate change” can now push temperatures one way or the other. I’m no climate expert, so I’ll defer to meteorologist Joe Bastardi on this issue. Keep your snow shovels handy, folks.

Notes from JWR:

The 6th of June is remembered for both D-Day and for the birth of Dieudonné Saive (born 1899.) He was the designer of many well-known firearms including the Browning Hi-Power, the FN49 and co-designer (along with Ernest Vervier) of the very popular FN-FAL rifle, which was issued to the militaries of more than 90 countries.

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The semi-annual sales on Mountain House long term storage foods at Ready Made Resources and Safecastle are continuing for just two more days. Both companies are offering free shipping and discounts of 25% to 40%. Take note that Mountain House plans to significantly raise their wholesale prices on July 1st, 2013, so it would be wise to order during this sale. Get your orders in before June 8th!

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Today we present another entry for Round 47 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.), 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.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 value), and F.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 47 ends on July 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.

Prepping Saved My Dog’s Life, by L. Joseph Mountain

1

Suddenly all chaos broke loose. For a second it sounded like an unknown dog had got inside the fence. I grabbed my staff and was out the door before anyone else could react.

I was briefly reassured to see the fence was holding an unknown pit bull out but my pit bull was in full war mode. They were in fact fighting, trying to fight through the fence. Given enough time they would get through it, over it or under it. The hose was called for.

Moving quickly but carefully I unwind some hose and return to see the Sheltie engaged at the fence and I saw the moment that a two way fight through the fence turned into a three -way fight as the pit bull had engaged…pretty much everything around him. Just a split second too late I turned on the hose, disengaged my dogs and chased off the unknown dog with water.

Even though I’ve done many emergency and security roles, I can’t eliminate that pulse of terror that runs through my body when I actually see somebody get injured. It’s bad enough to be called to scenes where people are injured but you have some prep time. You are usually briefed on the situation, you get to assemble your gear on route for the call and you have some time to mentally steel yourself. I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve spent in training for emergencies but when they actually happen there’s that moment. And for me words like terror, horror and revulsion kick in first. And for me this one was pretty personally horrifying.

Shelties are herders. They are designed to work with a group, to have actual situational awareness and maintain long distance communication (visual or aural). They are fast and agile and they are made basically of legs and lungs. They can run almost for ever on dainty, almost spindly legs. Legs that fit almost entirely in the mouth of a large pit bull. And pit bulls want to bite and hold, they want to bite down. A large dog can break any single bone in yours or my body with about 850 pounds of crushing force. Therefore the extra dose of horror as I realized this conflict was for real and had injured the little one. Oh no.

The little guy was hurt. He cried in pain. Bad news. Bad, bad news. But then “the elevator goes all the way to the top” and that adrenaline rush hits that us emergency types not only know how to manage, we thrive on it. Your senses suddenly turn up to 110%, mind goes into hyperdrive, all of your training descends upon you like a gown of silken armor and in a split second, bam. You are in action.

  1. Separate combatants, war dog out, Sheltie in.
  2. Lift and cradle Sheltie off injured leg, very gently place on bed. Shut and lock door to establish control of scene.
  3. Reassurance flowing to Sheltie, I am the human, I will take care of you.
  4. Begin calming dog through kind touch and breathing patterns. Eliminate fear.
  5. Begin primary survey: determine extent of injury, single bit to left foreleg, no other injuries, no blood in ears, eyes, clear, nose and mouth clear.
  6. Gently palpate entire effected leg starting with shoulder. Shoulder still inserted into rotator cuff (good). Doggie humerus intact (good). Doggie radius and ulna seem intact (good). No puncture wounds on paw or paw pads (very good).
  7. Gentle, limited range of motion tests on all joints reveal no crepitus (grinding feeling of broken bones) or screams from dog.
  8. Swelling (edema) has begun around 6 puncture wounds–the classic dog bite pattern.

Diagnosis: Deep tissue puncture with deep tissue bruising due to crushing force. Classic large dog bite injury.

First aid: same as humans mostly. Immobilize the patient in a position of comfort that maintains airway, breathing and circulation (particularly in points on the other side of the injury from the heart (distil circulation) because broken bones can block off blood flow. No massive bleeding detected. At this point some splinting and dressing is indicted for the human, probably while we transport them to a hospital or doctor. For the animal most folks would have us transport the animal to a vet.

But heck we’re preppers and in my family, dogs are a luxury animal. As have been horses for several generations. There’s no budget for this treatment. If this same injury happened to me (which similar has several times) there’s no budget for my treatment either. Besides we’re preppers so here’s where we begin our own second stage care and all following stages.

Remedial care: Try to clean and evaluate. the areas. With humans this might mean shaving hair away a good inch or so around the areas and with dogs it definitely means you are shaving. Shaving also preps you for sutures so don’t be afraid to open up some field to work in. A good inch all around should suffice but hey, we want a sterile field so 2 inches is better.

Fortunately this dog wasn’t scared to death by the little shaver I have on this face shaver I got in the thrift store for $2.00. It has a sideburn attachment or maybe a beard hacker and it’s pretty quiet and didn’t totally freak him out the way Bernie The Barber’s scaled down lawn mowers would. If that didn’t work I have a pair of those old fashioned “balding clippers”.

Manual balding clippers are a little trick I keep in my first aid kit (which is more like a field surgery than first aid kit) that everybody should have along with disposable razors for this purpose. For depilation (hair removal) in the field when you can’t plug in a buzzer. Balding clippers are these old fashioned scissor thingies you might have seen in your grandfathers water closet cabinet. Pick up a pair in good order, the blade can be sharpened up and they work pretty good when you get the hang of them. There’s a trick to not snagging the patient’s hair with them and making them squeak (the patient not the shears).

Balding the bitten areas on my little guy I could see he got the primary canines in the center of leg mass. There wasn’t much to do but clean the skin surface with some peroxide and let him bleed for bit.

Puncture wounds like bite wounds don’t bleed profusely. In a way we almost wish they did. A good puncture will go through all of your dermal layers, the fatty layer underneath, the gliding membranes that cover our muscles, the muscles themselves, tendons, nerves and right down to bone. Whatever contaminants or pathogens you got punctured with might get flushed out a bit more with blood flow. My patient was internally contaminated.

See whatever was in pit bull’s mouth was now in my patient’s blood stream. Dog mouths, contrary to popular wisdom are not sanitary, antibacterial environments. To science they are full of very virulent (nasty) bacteria. So the continuing steps of care remained consistent with human treatment. Having shaved a good part of the Sheltie’s leg I began to try to flush out and “departiculate” the punctures. And there’s really not much you can do. “Washing” a wound that goes right through the skin and into the body is basically potentially injecting more foreign agents directly into the patient. With most lacerations and abrasions you don’t have a direct hole into the body cavity and we more aggressively departiculate (pull out gravel twigs, dirt, etc). In this case I opted for peroxide to try and lift any contaminants close to surface and let them ooze.

Punctures tend to kinda ooze blood and they can continue to for a long time. Days in fact. Not only do you have severed blood vessels but with bites you have all this swelling and fluid building up because of crushed tissue. We actually want this to drain. Dogs have more of a tendency to abscess, which is develop pockets of infection below your skin and this is because a  dog’s skin kinda glides over their muscles. It’s not as bound to their subderma the same way ours is and infection tends to develop right between those layers. Not that humans don’t run the same risk but we also have hands and great flexibility to treat ourselves. For dogs, immediate sutures, steri-strips, skin glue in this case is not indicated. We don’t want the skin to close with this type of puncture if we’re not trying to control major bleeding. I applied triple-antibiotic to the areas and dressed them per normal to move on in treatment.

See the clock was running and each treatment phase has a window. The effected limb was now swelling and this would complicate treatment, increase risk and increase recovery time. So to reduce this, in addition to immobilization we have elevation, compression and ice.

Now with animals, immobilization, elevation, compression and ice aren’t always practical, especially without tranqs but you use the options that you can. In our case, immobilization and ice worked better than anything else as we moved into phase 2 of care. We managed to calm the Sheltie enough to keep him on his side, effected limb in the air, immobilized and then we tried to get cold ice compresses on him and keep them there as long as we could. By now I had enlisted help. The “we” part was making a big positive difference as Shelties are very curious and he kept wanting to pick his head up to see what was going on. Having help to keep him reassured was very helpful. And just like a human patient he was very curious about all of the instruments and dressings and he wanted to find out what everything was by sniffing at it.

Again we come to a juncture where if you have received the same treatments at the hospital Emergency Room (ER), you would be given a course of follow up treatment and discharged on an outpatient basis. But we are the ER and we are the follow up treatment and we are the outpatient basis. And I had a problem with supply. I was out of antibiotics. And a ride to get some was not immediately at my disposal. I canvassed the neighbors and found no antibiotics. “You are who we come to for that stuff, L.J.”, they said. It was true. And I had not restocked fast enough.

Garlic is a bactriostatic agent. It sometimes doesn’t totally wipe out bacteria but it will keep it’s growth in check. The little guy didn’t like being made to swallow raw garlic but…he was a very good patient. Very tolerant. This held him to day 2 at which he was showing signs of sepsis. In dogs you will see the eyes go unclear, reddish, kinda fuzzy, nose will warm up and dry out and lethargy set in. A friend relented to my begging, and got to the pet store for fish antibiotics.

Perhaps the golden jewel in the prepper pharmacopial cabinet, pet stores have long been our exclusive source of affordable antibiotics. In this case we chose erythromycin. Intended for use in fish tanks, this comes in powdered form. A bit of research on human child dosages and a bit of guesstimation led me to about 1mg administered twice orally after an initial dose of 2 milligrams.

Lethargy diminished in 12 hours. His full energetic character resurfaced more fully in 24 hours. A save! See left untreated this dog would have suffered sepsis and died of organ failure probably within 48 hours. His immune system had already tried and failed to beat the bacteria in his blood.    It was filling his body up with deadly toxins. That bite in the wild would have been fatal. I kept him on an 8 day course of treatment.

Now for a human the story would have likely been the end of it. Send them home with some gauze and some tape and let them dab vitamin E oil on their scabs. Human instinct tells them to complain. Dog instinct tells them to lick. A dog will lick right through their skin. Licking injuries are ugly and they can lead to all kinds of problems.

To make things worse, you really don’t want to wrap gauze, tape or Ace bandages around animals like dogs. There’s the chance they can get snagged on something or if you are wrapping their legs, the animal might nibble, tear and then find enough to actually pull on. They might tighten the bandage and cut off their own circulation and become seriously injured if you don’t detect and correct the problem immediately. But I was running low on supplies. I left the little guy with a neighbor and dashed off to Prepperfest. Luckily not only did I know the guy behind one of the best stocked prepper medic tables but he heard the situation and picked up what I needed. Gauze bandage impregnated with no-lick, a chemical that doesn’t harm dogs permanently, they just hate the taste. A quick loop of that stuck in place with no threat to circulation. Now little guy’s wounds have closed nicely. He’s out of the woods. A dog’s life was saved. Take a deep bow folks. Our methods work.

Note that dosage here is important. The troublesome acute results of over-medicating with antibiotics can be anaphylaxis which is where your body becomes allergic to an element or compound which in time will produce symptoms like the sepsis we were originally treating for. Both will manifest in “shock” in acute stages (rapid, thready pulse, shallow respirations, lack of perfusion, low to no level of consciousness and eventually death).

Now as I’ve indicated, this is pretty much the same course of treatment I’d apply to myself or another human without access to medical care and as usual I take the legalistic precaution of saying “don’t you try this at home.” But it’s a common scenario and a very real application of preps. I’m fortunate to have had the training to be able to cope with a little help from friends.

The little Sheltie is back to springing like an arrow loosed from a compound bow (they accelerate through release), blazing through open fields and it’s looks like we have many more years of fun together. It certainly makes me grateful to be a prepper and to have learned from so many people.

About The Author: L. Joseph Mountain recently published Hidden Harvest: Long Term Food Storage Techniques For Rich And Poor. He keeps a web site at www.LongTermStorageFood.com where “articles are sometimes archived, info is irregularly updated  and questions are occasionally answered.” 

Michael Z. Williamson’s Commentary: Peak Oil Meets Yuppie Marketing

Over at the One Scythe Revolution web site, Peak Oil expert Richard Heinberg states that in order to continue to grow the same amount of food in the future, without the use of cheap oil, we will need 40-to-50 million farmers, farming 3-to-50 acres each, cultivated with hand tools. No, not like in the Middle Ages. We are talking about “appropriate technology” here.

But let’s face it, “appropriate technology” is wielded by slaves. Masters wield guns. Slaves wield scythes.

Here is quote: “One good scythe per farm, could revolutionize small-scale farming.” I kinda feel like this has already been done.

I think the author of this tripe has never actually farmed on a large scale and has no sense of the man hours required. Also, mild steel work-hardened with a hammer and honed with slate was state of the art, around the year 900.  Carbon steel that can be heat treated has been the cool setup since around 1100 AD.  More recent alloys allow even better toughness along with light weight.  While the Austrian design may be better, it would still benefit from modern materials.

Then, of course, even 19th Century horse-drawn harvesters were tremendously more efficient:  

“Draft horses are used at Grant-Kohrs Ranch NHS to harvest and stack the annual hay crop. The stacks keep the hay preserved until winter when it is fed to the site’s livestock.
The hay harvesting process involves five steps: cutting, drying, raking, gathering, and stacking.

Upon reaching maturity in mid-summer, the hay is cut with a horse drawn mower. The team of horses, mower, and operator go round and round the field cutting a 5 foot swath with each round. Once the cut hay has dried, the draft horses are hooked up to either a side delivery or dump rake. The rakes are used to put the hay into long windrows. The horses are then hooked to a buckrake. The buckrake has fork like teeth that sweep under the windrows and gather them up into large hay piles. The piles are then taken by the buckrake to either an overshot or beaverslide hay stacker. The hay stackers utilize a pulley and cable system powered by horses to gain leverage to lift the hay piles off the ground and drop them into the haystack.
Demonstrations of the equipment used to harvest and stack hay will be given by Grant-Kohrs Ranch staff and horses.”

And other animals can serve for various processes that are presently done with internal combustion engines–such as goats for clearing brush.

As far as forging scythes, without modern powered forges and induction furnace, either one mines coal, or uses every man in the village for a week to do a large scale charcoal burn to manufacture fuel.

– Michael Z. Williamson (SurvivalBlog Editor At Large)

JWR’s Comment: If the Hubbert’s Peak predictions are right, then the best places to be will be those with rich soil and plentiful hydroelectric power. Scythe? Check. Battle rifle? Check. Electric ATV that can pull a Plotmaster? Check. Electric power (with batteries) is not quite as versatile and lightweight as fossil fuel-powered machinery, but it sure beats doing it all by hand.

Perhaps the new rule book will be written by those who can afford horses, harness, horse-drawn hay mowers and enough land to provide sufficient hay for the requisite winter feed (which can be harvested with those same horses).

Only freeholders with both productive farm land and guns will remain free.

Economics and Investing:

News headline from Wednesday: Markets Around The World Getting Smoked — Dow Falls Below 15,000

The mainstream investors catch on, belatedly: Gun collecting: Worthy investment or risky business? (Thanks to H.L. for the link.)

Collapse Isn’t Coming -We’ve Already Begun (an interview with David Quintieri that highlights the derivatives timebomb.)

Jim Kim of Fierce Finance asks: Is a credit bubble about to pop?

Promises by one or more third party governments must have been made! Rhode Island-Based Firm Announces Bid For Massive Amount Of Outstanding Greek Debt

U.K. gang steals $775,000 – on just ONE American Express Black card.

Items from The Economatrix:

Obama’s Appeasement Of China And Japan Is Wrecking The Recovery

“False Recovery” vs. “Decline Of Failure”:  The Great Economic Debate

Is The Housing Recovery A Sham?

Odds ‘n Sods:

The “Rawles Gets You Ready Preparedness Course” is continuing to sell briskly, since it is now priced at less that $20. You’ll get immediate delivery, via digital download.

   o o o

Welcome to the circular firing squad: Liberals’ urge to self-destruction. And meanwhile: Hundreds of Gunowners Show up in Temple, Texas with Loaded Guns At the “Come and Take it” March. And in Colorado: Big Apple Bucks: Morse Tells Post He Hopes Bloomberg Sends Some More Money. How sweetly ironic, coming from a Governor who tweets: “I intend to fight this – we cannot allow outside interest groups to determine what is best for Colorado.”

   o o o

Tim J. sent: World’s first flat pack truck developed for emerging markets.

   o o o

F.G. sent: Maine Passes “Historic” Legislation – Require Warrants for Cellphone Tracking. “On Wednesday, the state House voted 113-28 in favor of legislation that would in all but exceptional cases prohibit law enforcement agencies from tracking cellphones without a warrant. If enacted, LD 415 would make Maine the first state in the country to require authorities to obtain a search warrant before tracking cellphones or other GPS-enabled devices.” Coincidentally, here is an interesting new product: The GPS Jammer. This is from the same company that sells a GPS tracker detector and a variety of cell phone jammers.

   o o o

B.M. pointed me to this at Makezine: A Foot-Powered Lathe

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“When the oil stops, everything stops, nothing left in the fountain
Nobody wants paper money son, so you just well stop countin’
Can you break the horse, can you light the fire, what’s that I beg your pardon
You best start thinking where food comes from and I hope you tend a good garden

Getting down on the mountain, getting down on the mountain
Don’t wanna be around when the sh*t goes down
I’ll be gettin on down the mountain

When the truck don’t run, the bread don’t come, have a hard time finding petrol
Water ain’t runnin’ in the city no more do hold any precious metal
Can you gut the fish, can you read the sky, what’s that about over crowdin’
You ever seen a man who’s kids ain’t ate for 17 days and countin’

Getting down on the mountain, getting down on the mountain
Don’t wanna be around when the sh*t goes down
I’ll be gettin’ on down the mountain

There ain’t no heat and the powers gone out, It’s kerosene lamps and candles
The roads are blocked its all grid locked, you got a short wave handle
Can you track the deer, can you dig the well, couldn’t quiet hear your answer
I think I see a rip in the social fabric, brother can you spare some ammo?

Getting down on the mountain, getting down on the mountain
Don’t wanna be around when the sh*t goes down
Gettin on down the mountain

When the oil stops, everything stops, nothing left in the fountain
Nobody wants paper money son, so you just well stop countin’
Can you break the horse, can you light the fire, what’s that I beg your pardon
I think I see a rip in the social fabric; brother can you pass the ammo?”

– Corb Lund, from the lyrics to “Gettin’ Down On The Mountain”

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 47 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.), 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.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 value), and F.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 47 ends on July 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.