Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“The American people expect the Internal Revenue Service to violate them fairly and impartially, that one taxpayer not be garroted while another is but lightly strangled, that ‘service’ be understood in the veterinary sense rather than the mortician’s. The compact has been breeched. The nation pauses.” – Ol’ Remus, The Woodpile Report

Notes from JWR:

140 years ago today, on May 23 1873, the North West Mounted Police, the progenitor of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), was established. They are still a great group of lawmen, for the most part.

—

Today we present another entry for Round 46 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), and F.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo. and G.) 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.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $300 and 10 TAPCO polymer magazines (5 AR and 5 AK) courtesy of Armageddon Armory, 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 46 ends on May 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.

Survival Spearfishing, by Daniel B.

Most people have been fishing at some point in their life and in the event of TEOTWAWKI many people will include this basic survival skill in their portfolio of hunting and gathering activities.  Since the majority of the world lives along coastlines, fishing for survival might become fairly competitive and with so many lines in the water you’ll be better off jumping in and hunting your fish the way God intended.  After all, why else would humans be given the mammalian diving reflex, the set adaptations which occur as soon as your face touches the water that maximize your oxygen efficiency and protect your organs from damage due to water pressure?  So you could spearfish of course.

Spearfishing (often referred to as free diving) provides a wonderful alternative to fishing with a pole but requires a different skill set.  Spearfishing is often a better approach than using a pole for a number of reasons:   Spearfishing requires little to no fishing line that may be hard to come by and easily lost in the water or damaged.  It does not require bait. Spears are not lost as easily as hooks.  And from an ecological point of view spearfishing damages the environment less because it is more selective and leaves behind no old line to tangle up animals and trash the environment.

Despite the many positives of spearfishing there are some cons as well.  Spearfishing still requires its own set of supplies that can be hard to come by in a collapse scenario.  Long sharpened steel shafts with the necessary shapes and structures to lock it into the trigger mechanism will be difficult to fabricate much less find.  The heavy rubber tubing required for the spear gun’s power bands will also be a difficult item to find and because rubber degrades over time, the chance of finding well maintained rubber that can withstand the tension required for your purpose will be in short supply.  Also, spearfishing is best done in clear water where you can visually identify your prey from a distance in order to have time to aim and fire your spear gun accurately.  Since clear water typically means ocean water and much of the ocean water in North America is quite cold it requires a wetsuit and good swimming ability to accomplish comfortably and safely.   If you are going after large, active fish, you will need a spear gun.  For more approachable fish that tend to be more sedentary a Hawaiian sling may suffice.  A sling is less likely to bring in the big fish but it requires much less equipment.   The standard spear gun is basically a long crossbow.  A steel shaft, sharpened at one end,  sits atop a metal pipe or length of wood and nestles into a groove.  At the back end of the gun is a handle and trigger mechanism.  The trigger mechanism accepts the appropriately shaped spear shaft and holds it in place until the trigger is pulled.  At the front of the gun one or more heavy rubber bands are passed through the body of the gun and connected into a loop by nylon cord.  When the bands are pulled back the nylon strings are set into a small tab on the top of the spear shaft.  The trigger mechanism holds the shaft in place under the tension.  When you’re read to fire, you pull the trigger, the spear is loosed and the bands send the shaft down the groove and into your target.  The effective range of a spear gun with a typical two band configuration is roughly 20 feet under water.

Alternatively, the Hawaiian sling is simply a spear shaft with a rubber loop at the back end and typically three sharp metal wires at the front.  You operate it by placing your index finger and thumb inside of the rubber loop and pulling back on the spear to create tension in the rubber band then release, much the same way that you launch a paperclip with a rubber band.  This version has an effective range of about the length of the spear itself but would be a much easier version to fabricate if you have to go MacGyver.   There are also pneumatic spear guns but I have no experience with these types nor do many people use them from my experience.

The spear gun. method of spearfishing usually requires a set of additional gear which includes a float (basically the orange flotation devices that lifeguards carry) that is towed behind the diver by a length of rope, typically a length longer than the deepest the diver would expect to dive (anywhere from 30 to 100 feet.  The float often holds a dive flag which is required by law in many areas where boat traffic could present a hazard.  The float also serves as a place to tie up dispatched fish while the diver hunts for more.  It also keeps the dead, bloody fish away from the diver in the event a fish shows up for a free meal, especially the kind that can make a meal of the diver himself.  The gun is clipped on to the end of the float line to secure it in case the diver has to drop the gun.  Some very large fish can be taken with a spear gun and the diver wants the option of dropping the gun and letting the fish wear itself out against the float.  Divers have lost their lives struggling to bring large fish to the surface.

A diver also wants to bring gloves to handle the spiny fish and a knife to finish off any that weren’t dispatched from the initial shot.  Wetsuits are a must in cold water but even in warm water become necessary as many spearfishing expeditions can last several hours, long enough to dangerously chill a diver even in the tropics.  Fins are essential as they make swimming much easier, make for much deeper dives, and allow the diver to expend less energy, leading to a lower heart rate, less air consumption, and more time underwater where the fish are.     A high quality mask is a must and in my opinion the most important thing to pay a high price for.  There’s nothing worse than dealing with a leaky, poor fitting mask while your in the water.  You don’t want to even think about the mask.  Get one that has a wide field of view but a low volume of space between your face and the lens as this space will require air from you lungs to equalize as you descend.  The bigger the mask, the less air you’ll get to keep in your lungs.  Freediving-specific masks are always “low-volume” masks for the reason mentioned above but they aren’t always the most comfortable and don’t always offer large field of views by way of their low volume.  I find the single frame masks with a single lens as opposed to two or more separate lenses offer the highest field of view and most comfort.  The Oceanic Shadow is my mask of choice.

A snorkel is highly recommended because it allows you to be on the surface keep your vision focused underwater on the prey or any lurking predators.  Face down is also the lowest energy position for rest on the surface for recovering between dives.  If the waves begin to pick up it really helps to have a tube to breathe through so you are not fighting the waves for air. A weight belt will absolutely be needed if you are using a wetsuit and also help to lower the energy required to get down on the bottom and also allow you to rest on the bottom and be still while you wait to ambush fish.  Ankle weights can help to flatten out any extra buoyancy you might have on the legs.  Make sure that your weight belt has a quick-release and that you know how to disconnect it in case you need to make an emergency dash for the surface.   In a collapse scenario this gear can be reduced down to a mask and Hawaiian sling or even just the sling.

So now that you’ve got your gear, the next question is; can you swim?  If the answer is no, then it’s time to start learning.  Are you comfortable enough in the water to not need solid support for hours at a time?  Are you comfortable holding your breath?  Are you comfortable not breathing through you nose or getting water inside of your mask?  Obviously swimming ability is vitally important to this survival skill as is your comfort level in the water because the idea with spearfishing is not to get a workout but to maintain the lowest heart rate you can, you want to be comfortable enough to fall asleep in the water… but don’t fall asleep.  If you lack the comfort or swimming ability, then get in a pool and swim.  Hold your breath and sit on the bottom, work your way up to a minute underwater, first in the shallow end where you can stand up if you have to breathe and then move to the deep end.   In order to hold you breath for as long as possible and thereby give yourself a higher chance of success there are a few techniques that you should utilize.   First, you want to lower your heart rate and oxygenate your blood as much as possible.  To do this, completely relax your body and breathe through your snorkel with slow, deep breaths – completely filling and emptying your lungs each time.  Just having your face in the water will induce bradycardia (part of the mammalian diving reflex) and help lower your heart rate.  Use this time to enter a zen state, focus on lowering the heart rate, relaxing, whatever meditation method helps you.

One technique I’ve found useful is to spend ten seconds exhaling slowly, push all the air out of your lungs and then hold yourself emptied of air for two seconds.  Then breathe in and completely fill your lungs over five seconds.  Hold at the top for two seconds and repeat the process three or so times. Do not rapidly hyperventilate.  Now take in one final deep breath and bend at the waist 90 degrees so the top of your head is pointing straight down towards the bottom and then kick your legs up straight above your body and you should sink down into the water enough for your feet to submerge and begin kicking.  You may feel somewhat lightheaded at first from the high oxygen level in your brain and even have the urge to breathe again right away, but if you give it a moment you will normalize and see that you have a lot of time before you’ll need a breath.  Kick in long slow motions from the hip, keeping your knees more or less straight.  You will need to equalize your air spaces every few feet… do not wait until you feel discomfort.  Exhale a little air into your mask from your nose so that the mask does not begin to squeeze against your face and plug your nose with your fingers and exhale gently to equalize your ears.  Continue to do this throughout your descent.

Depending on your body fat level, added weight on your belt, and wetsuit thickness, you will become neutrally buoyant at a depth corresponding to these factors and even negatively buoyant at deeper depths.  This is a good thing because you will not have to use extra energy keeping yourself underwater and you will also be able to remain on the bottom and blend in with the substrate to stealthily ambush your prey.  Focus on remaining as absolutely relaxed as possible and keeping loose any muscle that you don’t need to use.  Even when you begin to feel that you need a breath, you still have a long time before you actually need to breathe or loose consciousness.  One concern however is that of shallow water blackout, where on your return to the surface your body does not recognize the need for oxygen because of pre-dive hyperventilation.  This can be deadly and is a major reason to always dive with a partner.  Your buddy should remain on the surface and continue to watch you throughout your dive, ready to pull you to the surface and hold your head above the water until you return to consciousness.

Now it’s time to get your fish.  Some divers use bait or flashy objects to attract fish in close enough for a kill.  Without some sort of bait you will need to wait for an unwary fish to come in close enough for a shot or slowly approach your quarry without frightening it and sending it off into the blue.  Fish are much smarter than you might expect, especially fish that are commonly prey to spear fishers.  I have seen many parrot fish that will remain relatively uninterested and relaxed in my presence when I am snorkeling but will then quickly turn tail and dash off when they see me with a spear in hand.  Some divers use masks that have reflective lenses that hide their gaze from the fish.  If you are not using this type of mask, try to not focus your gaze too hard on your intended target.  Fish know when they are being watched and will get uncomfortable if you show too much interest.  Just relax and wait for your shot.  When the fish approaches move your gun slowly and smoothly out in front of your face with both arms extended, aim down the shaft, and pull the trigger.  A fish can have amazing reflexes and dodge even a well aimed shot.  If you live in the tropics, the coral substrate will provide innumerable hiding places for fish, so take the time to peak into all the nooks and crannies.  In Hawaii, enormous ulua are often found hiding in small caverns that one would not expect to hold such a large, powerful fish.  Some fish, like the goatfish and squirrelfish in Hawaii, are very easy to approach and you can practically reach out and poke them with your spear before you pull the trigger.   If free diving sounds like too much then take a stab at it (pun) with a simple Hawaiian sling.  With a good eye you can catch plenty of octopus, lobsters, and sedentary fish in fairly shallow water.    With some practice you should be returning to shore with a float full of fish ready for the frying pan.  If you dive in the ocean, soak all of your gear in fresh water to prevent salt damage.  Take the time to learn how to replace and repair parts of your gun, stock up on extra power bands, and maintain your equipment well for the day when the lights go out and don’t come back on.

JWR Adds: The best way to store natural rubber items is in a cool dark place, with a coating of talcum powder.

Economics and Investing:

Ammo shortage continues across U.S.

At Barron’s: This Time, Gold Bugs May Have a Point

“Scrutinize those Tea Party types? I’ll get right on it, sir!”. (And now she is pleading the Fifth Amendment.)

Fierce Finance reports: Delays at all levels in mortgage settlements

More mindless blathering over at Rachel Maddow’s site: Deficit reduction picks up speed. Gosh, could part of this “great success” be due to the fact that they’ve more than doubled the money supply by creating money out of thin air with Quantitative Easing in the past three years? To extend this logic, if they just magically created a few more trillion bucks, we could see a budget surplus. Accounts will be balanced. Order will be restored to the universe. Happy days will be here again!

Items from The Economatrix:

Jobless Claims Rise Slightly This Week

Gas Prices to Keep Falling Through June

Fed Prepping Markets for an End to QE?

Odds ‘n Sods:

I heard that two Kindle e-books will be available free at Amazon.com from May 23rd to 25th, only: The Ultimate Dandelion Cookbook and A Vegetable For Every Season Cookbook. Both of these e-books are normally priced at $2.99.

   o o o

H.L. sent: Red Tape Delayed Oklahoma Town’s Tornado Shelter Program. H.L.’s comment: ‘When will Americans learn they need to make their own preparations for disasters if at all possible, and stop depending on the government for everything? What happened to our pioneer spirit? We’ve become lazy, which is dangerous.”

   o o o

A reader sent a link to the “Subversive Stickers” produced by Jester Jones. Most of them are re-mixed WWII propaganda posters.

   o o o

J. McC. sent: The camera-eye view that you DO NOT want to have of a grizzly bear.

   o o o

A UPS Driver’s Suggestions for Shipping Firearms

   o o o

An alert for gun owners in Illinois: Anti-gun extremist State Senator Dan Kotowski has introduced a ban on all magazines having a capacity exceeding 10 rounds. The bill is SB1002. Please help stop it by calling your State Senator. (If you do not know who your State Senator is, the Illinois State Board of Elections has a search page.)

Notes from JWR:

Please keep the tornado victims in Oklahoma in your prayers. Prayers do get answered.

—

Today we present another entry for Round 46 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), and F.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo. and G.) 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.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $300 and 10 TAPCO polymer magazines (5 AR and 5 AK) courtesy of Armageddon Armory, 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 46 ends on May 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.

Leader, Supervisor, Mentor, by D. Hacker

Make no mistake, someone will fill the roles of Leader, Supervisor, and Mentor.  As we all know, power abhors a vacuum.  Leaders are considered to be in positions of power, in spite of the fact that many great leaders had little power and many powerful people were terrible leaders.  This article will refer to these roles as they pertain to survival situations.

While the Leader, Supervisor, and Mentor might be the same person, often each of these roles fall on different individuals.  A leader is someone who can organize a group of people to achieve a common goal.  It’s someone who people will follow, either because of coercion (power), charisma, intelligence, gained respect, or other characteristics.   A leader is often assertive and confident.  A leader must weigh their concern for others in the group versus the intended goal.  The situation will often dictate which style (coercion or charisma, for example) of leadership will work at any given time.  Because survival situations can often bring about depression, or a defeatist attitude, it is important that a leader be able to inspire others in the group.

Although someone may be the initial leader, they may not retain it.  Being a leader, as I said, includes having power.  Having power means having responsibility.  The more power you have (whether the president, a cop, or a parent), the more responsibility comes with it.  Some people don’t like that responsibility, and some people (although they may like the power) don’t know how to handle it well.  I think that, above all, doing what’s “Reasonable” will help ensure a leader is considered suitable for the long haul.  Reasonable , in this case, encompasses many things, including good decision making skills and having high moral and ethical character.  As a leader, it is also important to have courage and good communication skills.  Again, not everyone is suitable for the position of leader.

A leader may delegate a supervisor for a particular assignment, so that the leader is not overwhelmed by trying to oversee too many people or projects.  A supervisor is someone who oversees others to see that a project gets completed properly.  A supervisor should probably supervise no more than seven adults at a time.  This, of course, depends on what the task is, but as the number of people being supervised increases, so does the chances of losing control of the project.  As mentioned earlier, the group leader may also be the supervisor, depending on how many people are in the group or are involved in a particular project.   A supervisor will be the primary link between the leader and the group completing the project.  Generally, a supervisor will (or should) also be actively involved in the labor of completing the task at hand.  This is a “lead by example” style that is often important in survival situations.

A mentor is someone who guides or teaches.  A leader or supervisor could also fill the role of mentor, or they may be a terrible mentor, depending on the task, the knowledge they have, and how good of a teacher they actually are.  A good mentor might also be a poor leader or supervisor.  For instance, you may have a doctor in your group who has no interest in being a leader or supervisor, but that doctor might be a very good mentor for aspiring medical care givers in your group.  A mentor may use a “Tell, Show, Do” model of teaching someone, but if the risks involved with a failure are high, then it may be more of a “Tell, Show, Tell, Show, Tell, Show, Do” method.  For instance, a medical procedures mentor might use this technique, because the risks of harm are high if the procedure is done wrong.

Think of the skills most people have now, and what skills will be needed during an extended grid-down scenario.  Not many people possess all the skills needed.  That means everyone will need training/mentoring in some aspect of survival.  For each skill needed, hopefully there is at least one person in your group who currently has expertise for that skill.  Skills need to be cross-trained so that several people possess each individual skill set.  This is so that if one person is unable to conduct a particular skill, then another person can still perform it.  Skills I expect to be needed are: medical (triage, wound management, child birth, disease diagnosis, I.V. administration, mental issues, etc.); food preparation (butchering animals, making basic breads, cooking over wood, solar cooking, dehydrating foods, canning, etc.); gardening (how and when to plant, maintaining soil quality, saving seeds, pest control. weeding, etc.); sanitation (making clean water, personal hygiene, waste disposal, etc.); security (early warning systems, personal combat, team tactics, observation and communication skills, etc.); maintenance (electronics, construction, metalwork, sewing, etc.); hunting (including trapping, snaring, and other wild food gathering); and teaching (primarily the basics of traditional education, along with religious education for the children). 

It is important that proper “feedback”, whether good or bad, be provided by leaders, supervisors, and mentors.  A survival situation is not the same as the normal business world, and the importance of keeping good relationships and completing important tasks cannot be underestimated.  Lives could be at stake.  With that in mind, realize that the way feedback is given greatly influences the way it is received.  If correcting someone (or giving negative feedback): make sure to give the feedback in a prompt manner (don’t wait till three days has passed before you tell them they screwed up); be specific about what should be done better (they need to know what they actually did wrong); try to give negative feedback in a setting that is away from others so you don’t appear to be trying to embarrass them; and, try to use the “sandwich” technique of saying something positive, then the negative, then finish up with something positive again.  For instance, you might say “Thanks for helping split this wood.  I know it’s hard work and I appreciate it.  Can you please split the pieces a little thinner so we can fit them into our stove easier?  Again, I really appreciate your help with this.  This will help us all for quite a while.” 

Giving positive feedback is easier, but just as important.  We can all use positive reinforcement for the jobs we do, and it makes us more willing to do them.  As a leader, supervisor, or mentor, you will be giving feedback, but you will also probably be receiving it.  Make sure you take the feedback with an open mind and react the way you hope others react when you give them feedback.  In fact, as a leader, supervisor, or mentor, I would suggest you occasionally request feedback.  How else will you know how you are doing and where improvements can be made?  It also conveys the feeling that you care what others think about your performance and that you have their interests at heart.

There are many tasks (security, gardening, cooking, cleaning, wood gathering, etc.) that might need to be done in a survival situation.  How will these tasks be assigned?  How will divisive decisions be made?  Is there a process in place to overrule the group leader?  How about insubordination, or a minor crime like theft from someone else in the group?  What sorts of punishments will be handed out?  Those things should be discussed and some plans made.

If some of these decisions are to be made by voting, then I suggest figuring out how to do it ahead of time.  I would suggest having a stock of pre-printed ballots, which have a small box next to a “Yes” and a “No”.  The vote is made by just punching a small hole (with a stick or pencil) through one of the boxes.  Once marked, the ballots go into an empty box before being counted.  By doing it this way, all votes can be made discretely, thereby reducing the chance of influencing the vote by intimidation.  How many votes will be needed to pass a measure (unanimous, majority, super-majority)?  Again, these are for the individual group to decide.

In closing, I just want to say that a leader will almost always be needed, but may not be welcome.  If you have anarchists in your group, then they probably won’t want to follow rules, no matter who makes them.  Not every decision must be made by the leader, so figure out how that will take place.  Having some guidelines in place now will make it easier when times are tough.

When the SHTF, unless you’re alone, someone should, will, or must be a leader.  Not all situations or tasks will need a supervisor, but all will, at some point, have a leader.  It is important to consider who, among your group, will rise to the occasion.  Is it you?  Is it someone you believe will take that position, but not do the job correctly (especially for a survival situation)?  Does your group have too many people who think, or expect, they will be the leader?  Now’s the time to look at the dynamics of the people who may find their way to your house or retreat, in a survival situation.

Letter Re: Checking Your Handguns for Feeding Problems: Round Nose Versus Hollow Points

Jim,.
In response to the nifty article written by Z.T.  I believe I have something to add:
 
Bill Wilson used to sell a great pamphlet on the care and feeding of 1911s. He specifically addressed hollowpoint reloading vs ball reloading.  In it the physical path and critical feed angles were discussed, as well as what a reloader should do if reloading semi-wadcutter or hollowpoint ammo.  I’d get into it, but I’m pretty certain it’s copyrighted – I don’t think they sell the pamphlet anymore but it’s still his intellectual property.  In a nutshell, if you’re going to reload hollowpoint ammo, you need to load to a slightly longer OAL because of the spot on the bullet where it actually hits the feed ramp is different due to the bullet profile – hitting it later in the slide cycle, essentially, and losing enough energy to create the slightly out of battery condition that’s a plague to 1911s.   There is also a solution that entails checking the feed lip profile for your magazines and either reshaping them to ensure accurate feeding.  I have a nice pile of 1911s of all flavors in existence because I like them.  The gun I carry is one I started shooting 15 years ago and it’s ratty and ugly – and it has my complete confidence.
 
The other issue in the article had to do with his former habit of buying 50 rounds of standard ball ammo and 20 rounds of “defensive” ammo. Arrggh!.
 
We as a shooting community have been plagued by the marketing divisions of the various ammo manufacturers since the invention of the original “magic” Federal Hydra-Shok. [JWR Adds: That actually dates back to the days of Super-Vel brand ammo, in the 1960s.] They package them in smaller quantities and put fancy names on them – then double the price, ostensibly because they’re “more effective” against goblins.  Police after-action shootout reports do not emphasize this, but they do prove something – there is no such thing as a magic bullet.    These same “magic” bullets are also sold to law enforcement agencies, but miraculously, they also package them in 50 round boxes and sell them for maybe 20 percent more than ball ammo.   And we continue to buy “magic ammo” in small quantities.   There is nothing more important that being confident in your ability to hit what you aim at and the reliability of your chosen firearm.  The only thing that will give you that is lots and lots of rounds downrange, and if you’re using “magic bullets” you probably can’t afford to do so – so you “compromise” and do what Z.T. described.  I see in everywhere in the civilian shooting community.  

The single greatest impact you can have on your ability to survive a deadly attack with your firearm is continual and copious practice under varying conditions and varying environments, you should get muddy, sunburned, out-of-breath, bruised, frustrated and way out of your comfort zone as much as you possibly can. Putting  0 rounds downrange once a month in an air-conditioned shooting club is no substitute, it’s not even “better than nothing” because your expectations of an encounter as such that the static nature of a typical range will actually work against you when you have to make real tactical decisions when defending your life.    Almost all the public ranges I’ve been to prohibit drawing from a holster, moving forward or backward or laterally, or at any angle other than from a fully standing position.  There are reasons for this that make sense for a range owner, and I’m not advocating a change in these rules – I agree with their rationale.  What I’m saying is that you need to seek out range experiences that allow you to do all the things you might need to do when defending your life.   If your choice is 50 rounds a month at a static range or nothing, I’d suggest the latter.   I’ve put countless people through stress simulation drills who have spent, in some cases, 20 or more years doing static target shooting – and without exception they all failed to achieve any sort of accuracy (center of mass) when stressed, even when the stress was so little as five pushups or starting  with an unknown (to them) empty firearm.   

The lesson I got from Z.T.’s article simply reinforced what I’ve already learned: training trumps equipment.  The Boers knew it, survivors of violent encounters know it – we need to embrace it and find ways to avoid the type of thinking the marketing people at ammunition manufacturers want us to think.   If there was a “magic bullet” like the pre-fragmented kind of Magsafe, etc…  and they were that effective – then wouldn’t you think they’d be the only kind of ammo out there?  In general the firearms “review” we read are conducted by someone who got his or her ammunition for free – so of course it’s going to be described as the best thing out there.  Yeah, yeah, I know Box O’ Truth and some others don’t do that – but they aren’t as widely read as the typical gun writer in the magazines and articles we read in the mainstream.   Forget believing that there is any difference in hollowpoint and ball ammo, no hollowpoint in the world is going to make up for bad shot placement – if you can’t train with the ammo you’re going to carry (because it’s too expensive to do so) then abandon it and train with what you carry – it will give you the confidence in your equipment that you need to face a violent encounter, and that confidence is essential. – Jim H. in Colorado

Economics and Investing:

Jeff H. sent this fascinating map: Map divides U.S. based on flow of cash transactions

F.G. sent: California Approves $92 Million Ammo Tax To Combat Gun Violence. “This is in addition to Dickinson’s AB 760, which would impose a five cent tax on every round of ammunition sold in California.”

Also from F.G., some “voting with their feet” news: Beretta Leaving Maryland After Gov. Mandates Strict Gun Control Laws

Cameron flagged this item: Thousands of French Households Taxed 100%

Items from The Economatrix:

City of Detroit Ii “Financially Insolvent”

Detroit’s Broke; Could Bankruptcy Lie Ahead?

Stamp Prices Could Rise Again

Odds ‘n Sods:

Fascinating: Aerial Data Visualisation Reveals Life In The United States. (Thanks to G.C. for the link.)

   o o o

Reader H.L. sent some news of self-delusion that is not surprising: Most Americans Feel “I’m Immune From Disaster”

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Missouri’s Approved Gun Bills: Concealed-Carry Permits Easier to Get, Record-Keeping Banned. (Thanks to Clark H. for the link.)

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Mountainview Off Grid Living (in Nampa, Idaho) is offering SurvivalBlog readers a special until the end of May, 2013: Buy a Kimberly (multifuel) Wood Stove and get a free Propur “Big Size” Water Purification System. (A $259 value.) Call (208) 615-6331, for details.

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Dark, massive asteroid to fly by Earth on May 31

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Those clever World Wide Webbers: I noticed that YouTube automagically created a web page with brief excerpts from my blog in every place where it links to any YouTube video. That is fair use, so I can’t fault them. But I suspect that this was done by a “bot” rather than a human. Meanwhile, in a paroxysm of “cp *.*”, the marketeers at Amazon.com have created countless thousands of “Shopping Enabled” Wikipedia pages. This piqued my curiosity and I found that they had done so even for Abbie Hoffman’s Steal This Book. Well, congratulations Amazon. You’re really “Sticking it to The Man,” now! No greater irony…

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“But when oppression would lift its head
or a tyrant would be lord,
though we thank him for the plow,
we shall not forget the sword!”
– Charles Mackay (excerpt from the poem Tubal-Cain, about the world’s first blacksmith)

Notes from JWR:

Today is the birthday of weapons designer John Douglas Pedersen. (Born 1881, died 1951.)

—

Today we present another entry for Round 46 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), and F.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo. and G.) 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.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $300 and 10 TAPCO polymer magazines (5 AR and 5 AK) courtesy of Armageddon Armory, 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 46 ends on May 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.

Minimum Equipment For Standard Bug-Out-Bag by Talon

Many of the articles that I have read on various web sites are, in my not so humble opinion, not adequately addressing the equipment necessary for a Bug-Out-Bag (BOB).  Having had many years of experience in the survival arena, winter and summer, in the Arctic, mountains, tropic and desert regions, many times in hostile theaters, I have drawn up a list for a BOB, along with some accompanying information. There are variations for some of these items and the list of potential equipment and gear is nearly infinite.  However in my considerable experience, what I have listed below has proven to work.

Minimum Equipment

Weapons and Ammunition

  • Semiauto handgun in .45 ACP, 40 S&W, in (A 9mm, is less desirable. The bigger the projectile (bullet) the bigger the hole and big holes and deep penetration.)
  • Four loaded magazines for handgun
  • Additional 50 rounds for handgun
  • Fixed blade combat knife
  • Folding tactical knife
  • Tomahawk with sheath (excellent for bush craft & a formidable weapon)
  • Compact weapons cleaning kit for weapon caliber (Bore Snake and CLP)

Other Tactical Equipment

  • LED Key Chain flash light with green lens (to read maps)
  • Compass
  • GPS
  • Holster for your handgun (see info below)
  • Handgun Magazine Pouches
  • Camel back style Hydration System with inline filter, 100 fluid. oz
  • Multi-tool, black or OD in color
  • Small SureFire (or other tactical-type) flashlight
  • Six spare batteries for lights, GPS, etc.
  • Six spare batteries for Surefire lights
  • One (1) spare flashlight bulb for each style of light
  • Appropriate first aid kit
  • Small binoculars
  • GMRS/FRS Radio
  • Radio pouch for GMRS/FRS size radios
  • Head set with push to talk for GMRS/FRS radio
  • Wristwatch with covered dial/face.  Nothing that reflects.  (See SOP)
  • Knee pads
  • Ruggedized Cell Phone with spare battery
  • Cell Phone charger for 12 volt and 110 volt
  • Topo maps of your area of operation (AO)

Shelter

  • Sleeping pad (Thinsulate)
  • Good quality large size Space Blanket or Rain Fly, either camo in color or with camouflage net

Water / Food

  • Water bottle with filter
  • Several coffee filters to strain sediment from water
  • Flint & Steel with Magnesium Bar (practice building fires in the rain)
  • Zip Lock Bag of Dryer Lint (fire starter)
  • Dehydrated food for at least seven days, entrees only
  • Heavy duty Fork and Spoon
  • A way to cook your food, i.e. MSR Multifuel stove or MRE cook pouch.  You probably will not always have time for a cooking/warming fires and there will be many times that you do not want to expose yourself with that type of a signature.
  • P 38 can opener

Clothing

  • 1 set of Camo appropriate for your location
  • 1 pair of combat style boots that are well broken in to your feet
  • Camo rain gear or winter gear as needed
  • Hat
  • Sun glasses
  • Tactical belt for pants
  • Dry socks (No socks with seams over the toes!  i.e. Smart Wool brand)
  • Camo rain poncho
  • Store everything that has to stay dry in heavy duty Zip Lock bags

Other

  • If you wear prescription glasses or contact lenses you must have a spare pair/set
  • Toilet paper and know a natural alternative in your AO.  Save the T paper for when you have to be quick
  • Tooth brush
  • 10—six inch black zip ties (to repair equipment in the field)
  • 10—heavy duty 12” black sip ties to secure bad guys
  • One roll black electric tape (UL listed)
  • Partial roll of camouflage Gorilla Tape
  • 100’ of 550 cord
  • Potassium Iodate tablets
  • Several one gallon size Zip Lock Bags (spares)
  • Two leaf/yard size trash bags
  • Two small roles of picture hanging wire for snares etc.
  • Hooks, flies, lures, line, sinkers, swivels, weighted treble snagging hook with steel leader, all sized for your A.O.
  • One small plastic container of cayenne pepper
  • Mosquito repellent
  • * Coagula XL, 2 ounces
  • * Dysentery Stop, 2 ounces

SOP  (Standard operating procedure)         

No glow in the dark, shinny, reflective gear of any kind, including but not limited to:         

  • Stainless side arms or Leatherman tools (unless painted)
  • No glow in the dark sights (tritium type).  Black them out for night ops
  • Shiny pistol grips
  • Ink pens
  • Watches and watch bands
  • Rings and other jewelry
  • Flashlights
  • Eye glass frames

There will be nothing in your Bug-Out Bag that rattles or makes noise.
No perfumed products of any kind

GENERAL INFORMATION

After reading this list, I am sure that each of you has many different questions and I will try to answer some of them here.

One question that I am asked a lot is “How do I carry all of this stuff with me?” Some people prefer to have some type of day pack or back pack. Personally, I am not a great fan of packs because they throw your center of gravity to the back making it more difficult to navigate difficult terrain. Personally, I like a tactical vest better than anything else does. The tactical vest, in my not so humble opinion, is far superior to day packs and is much more comfortable to carry.  A tactical vest is much less fatiguing to wear all day than carrying a pack.  You do not have to take the tactical vest off to access the most critical items because they are carried in your front pockets.  You can conceal your tactical vest in a duffel bag while at work or in your vehicle.

Good tactical vests for a standard bug out bag (BOB) can be bought at Blackhawk.com. This company makes very good equipment and I have personally used a lot of their gear. If the only weapon that you plan to carry is a handgun (or no gun at all, which is foolish at best and catastrophic at worst) then I suggest that you get the Blackhawk Mega Tactical Vest (Medic/Utility), along with a Patrol Belt & Pad. This vest has many pouches to carry your gear/equipment. I also suggest that you get the S.T.R.I.K.E. LRRP Butt Pack GP, which easily attaches to the back of the vest. This allows you to carry extra supplies in the Butt Pack.  A 100 oz. hydration bladder will also work with this vest, so get one. I also suggest that you get the Serpa Drop Leg Holster (Platform) for your handgun on your strong hand side and an additional drop a leg STRIKE platform for your weak hand.  These attach to the Patrol Belt Pad (which attaches to the vest).  The weak hand platform can be used to carry your first aid kit or other things in a separate pouch or pouches.  BLACKHAWK carries a wide variety of STRIKE pouches.  If you do decide to use a day pack, get the best one that you can possibly afford.  Tactical Tailor, Blackhawk and 5:11 Tactical all make great packs.

[JWR Adds: As I’ve previously mentioned in SurvivalBlog, I personally find the weight of drop-leg holsters uncomfortable for walking long distances. I prefer traditional belt holsters. Not only is the weight distribution more natural–on your waist rather than on your thigh–but they are also quicker to access. But your mileage may vary. If you have the chance, try out this style gear before you buy it.]

Personally, if it is not in the winter, I do not take a tent or sleeping bag if I am going to be gone on a (dismounted) patrol/mission for less than 10 days and, depending on the climate/terrain etc., sometimes longer.  I take a Thinsulate closed cell foam sleeping pad just to stay off of the cold ground, a space blanket and maybe an extremely light water proof shelter.

Here is the scenario. All of a sudden without warning, there is a meltdown in the nation, whether it is social/economic, a terrorist strike, natural disaster or some combination of these. You grab your BUG-OUT-BAG and head for the door, be it from your place of work or your home. The next question is “Where am I going and can I get there from here?” If you plan to head home, you have to consider that someone else might be occupying your home by the time that you get there.  What will you do then?  Have you ever considered this?  Do you have a plan in place for this event?  No?  Then make one, make several.  It is critical to your survival and the survival of your family and loved ones that you have a plan for this. Just taking off with your BOB, family in tow, with no destination in mind is going to be a world-class train wreck for you and your family. So get a plan and then make several alternate plans and stick with it.  Always have several backup plans.

Be absolutely certain that you have a communication (commo) plan set up with all of your family members.  If things get bad during a weekday, you will be at work, your wife at home or at work, your kids in school….in other words almost everyone in your family will be away from home with no way to communicate with each other.  Do you think that is impossible?  The government always shuts down local cell phone service in a crisis to keep the bad guys from communication and remotely detonate IEDs. Just wait until the cell phones go down, the electricity goes out, the land line phones go out…then what are you going to do to communicate with your family?  Have a Rally Point (RP) that you know that you can all get to and have at least two alternate RPs in case the first one is compromised (overrun).   Everyone in your family has to be able to get there from all the places that each of them spends most of their time away from home.  Be able to pick up your kids from school on your way to the Rally Point and have an alternate plan for that. If your kids are old enough to be able to make it to the RPs on their own in case you can’t get there they need to be trained in how to do that, where to go, what to do, who to trust and who not to trust.  Make it known to the school that your kids can and may be picked up by your trusted friend or relative.  Then this trusted friend must be willing and able to transport your kids to your RP.

A few words about your handgun:  Buy only a good quality semi automatic handgun like a Colt or a Glock.  Then get some quality tactical training with your handgun!  I cannot stress this enough! After you get the training, practice and practice and practice some more. If you cannot hit a 3” X 5” note card four out of five times at between  7’ and 21’ than you need to practice some more. In a survival situation where the nation is completely falling apart, if you do not have tactical training with your handgun then somebody is going to take it away from you and use it on you. I have heard this many times “nobody’s taken’ my gun away from me!” but here is a news flash for you. If you do not have proper tactical training and if you do not keep current with your proper training then you will one day be in for a very rude awakening! When the chips are down and someone is trying like mad to kill you or one of your family members, believe me, when you return fire it is not the same as shooting at paper targets on the range with your friends!  And one more thing…get a concealed carry permit and carry your weapon with you….always!   If you are three seconds away from your weapon, then you are unarmed!!!

You very well might not make it out of Dodge if you leave too late, and you might very well bug out but not make it all the way to your RP or your retreat location with your vehicle.  In that scenario you will be stuck trying to survive with what you have on your back until you get to your RP or to your retreat.  If you do not have a retreat location that is already stocked, then you will have to spend the rest of your days trying to make it with what you have on your back, what you can hunt, catch or gather and what you can take from the enemy.  Not a very pretty picture is it?  So get a retreat and get it stocked…yesterday!

Remember this:  Many so-called experts only recommend that you have 72 hours worth the food in your BOB.  If that is the only thing that you have in your BOB, then you are only 72 hours away from being just another refugee.  You must have the necessary equipment (and knowledge) in your BOB to obtain more food, build a shelter, and provide heat and first aid treatments! 

Another thing that I highly recommend you get is some wilderness and urban survival training and some Escape and Evasion (E&E) training. Let’s face it; most of you do not know anything about E&E when the bad guys are hot on your heels and very little to nothing about surviving in the wilderness or in an urban setting with nothing but your BOB. None of this great stuff in your BOB will do you any good if you do not know how to use it. Get the training. You can survive with the gear/equipment on this list but you need some training in how to use it.   

Also, get some training in map/compass orientation and navigating. The civilian portion of the GPS system will likely be shut down in the event of a terrorist attack!  Or…..what are you going to do if your GPS batteries run out or just gets broken and quits?  If you cannot read a map and use a compass, and know how to orient yourself and navigate to your destination, you are going to be in very deep trouble!

When you have made up your Bug-Out Bag use it before you need it.  Get the kinks worked out of before you have to put it to use in a real world situation!  Take nothing but your BOB and head into the bush for a few days.  You will be surprised at what you learn works and what does not work.

This list may seem very long but most of the stuff is small and light and you will be surprised at what little room it takes up in your vest or pack.

Keep your Bug-Out Bag with you at all times!  It will do you no good if you leave it at home and you find yourself miles (or even several blocks) from home when you need it and there is no way to get back home.  If you chose to use a tactical vest for your Bug-Out-Bag then keep it in a duffel bag or larger back pack and keep that with you all of the time.  It will be far less noticeable.  When things fall apart, do not worry about what you will look like wearing a tactical vest.  Wearing a tactical vest with a drop leg platform/holster, you look like a professional and that you are serious. I promise you that the bad guys will be far less apt to mess with you.  They will pick a different target, probably the person wearing a day pack with his weapon his hidden inside. 

[JWR Adds: I disagree with this approach. Statistically, it is the people who stand out that tend to get targeted in a mob, riot, or “stream of refugees” situation. Just watch some archived news videos of riots, and ask yourself: Why were those people targeted for a beating? (Typically, it is boisterous people in the front ranks, but sometimes it is just the bright color of shirt.) In a refugee situation, who gets targeted for police searches and interrogation? So I advise the “Gray Man” approach in an urban escape situation. Blend in. DO NOT stick out. Unless you are part of a large, organized unit if you prominently display particularly desirable gear then you will be making yourself a target of envy or “we/they” discrimination. Avoid crowds when possible. (But of course as an urban refugee, that might be impossible.) Don’t leave your vehicle unless you have to. Wear gear that can be concealed by a loose-fitting rain coat, if need be. Do your best to get out of the city far in advance of the pack. But if you are forced by circumstances to be in a crowd, then do your best to blend in.]

*Note:  (I have listed two items that you might not be not aware of. One is Coagula XL and the other is Dysentery Stop. Here’s a quick blurb on each product that, I pray that I will never have to go into a survival situation without these two products!

Coagula XL is a blood coagulant accelerator made from all natural products, it is non-toxic, chemical free and with no negative side effects.  It works on topical applications for open wounds, and it works equally well given orally for internal bleeding.  It also helps keep the wound from becoming infected.  I have seen this product save people lives when an onsite prepped operating theater would have failed. This will save your life when nothing else will. 

Dysentery Stop does exactly what it says. It is also an all natural product, non toxic and chemical free. Diarrhea/dysentery in a survival situation spells nothing but disaster. Dysentery causes you to become rapidly dehydrated so you will drink more water, which may be the cause of your dysentery to begin with.  I know of a tactical mission that had to be aborted when the entire team came down with dysentery and they had nothing to stop it with.  In a survival situation, you may be forced to drink water that is not too good, eat food that may be slightly tainted, and you will be exposed to every bacteria, virus and germ you could ever imagine. This stuff is a must have.)

When I am on a mission, everyone on my team carries two ounce bottles of both of these products in their personal first aid kit and our Combat Medic carries even more.
Both of these products can be purchased from BHP in Alaska by calling (907) 567-7486.  FYI:   The company does not take credit or debit cards.  You might have to leave a message but they will get back to you.