Bernanke, Geithner and the Japanese Solution

A curious financial situation has developed in Japan. Largely overlooked in the American press, Japan now has built up a staggering national debt that is approaching 300% of their GDP. This debt exists at the same time that there is tremendous alarm in the global media over Greece’s debt, that is only about 130% of GDP. (And lest we feel smug about those spend thrift Greeks, our own debt is now more than 100% of our GDP, and unlike Japan, we have a trade deficit rather than a trade surplus.)

Why has Japan’s monstrous debt been ignored by the press? Invisibility. Japan’s solution to their tax shortfalls in the midst of long-term economic stagnation has been to keep 95% of their national debt at home. With artificially low interest rates, and by buy buying their own debt, the Japanese have insulated themselves from criticism by foreign creditors, and they have stabilized the value of the Yen on the FOREX. (In the past 20 years, the relative value of the Yen has increased versus the U.S. Dollar.)

I anticipate that Bernanke, Geithner, et al will learn a lesson from Japan and even take it a step further: Through the Quantitative Easing debt monetization mechanism (where the government buys its own debt) there will never again be news of a “failed Treasury auction.” Any unsold American debt instruments will be bought by Uncle Sugar, with the cooperation of the Federal Reserve. Eventually, foreign investors will see through this ruse, and they’ll stop buying U.S. Treasury paper. They’ve already cut back, drastically. It is noteworthy that they’ve sold $85 Billion worth of Treasury paper in the past six weeks. But not to worry, Helicopter Ben will rescue us. They will buy more and more of the Treasury paper. The mass media will play along, by soft-pedaling the significance of this trend. Within a few years, I can can foresee the Federal Reserve buying the majority of the Treasury debt offerings. This will keep interest rates low, which is a key factor in keeping the economy chugging along. But the end result of all this will be be that the number of electronic Dollars in circulation will double. Then it it will quadruple. This will go on and on until one of two things happen: Either A.) Foreigners force a formal revaluation of the Dollar, or B.) Mass inflation ensues. Regardless of how it plays out, the current policy (which has already doubled the money supply since 2007) will destroy the U.S. Dollar as a currency unit.

Inflation is a wonderfully insidious tool used by governments to allow them to spend more than they earn. But when they over-do it in a binge of “Quantitative Easing”, there can be only one endgame. They will destroy the buying power of the currency and its value in foreign exchange. 98% of the populace are so caught up in their daily lives, watching America Idol and munching on Doritos, to recognize what is really going on. It will only be after mass inflation kicks in that the Generally Dumb Public (the other GDP) will become alarmed. But by then, their life savings will be ruined. Anyone that is on a fixed income will be wiped out.

Only a prescient few will have the wisdom to divest from their Dollar-denominated investments and reinvest in tangibles and productive farm land that is well-removed from urban centers. As I’ve written before: Buy guns, buy common caliber ammunition. Buy remote farmland where you can grow crops and raise livestock to both earn a living and feed your family. Why “remote”? Because when things come unglued later this decade, you won’t want to be anywhere near a big city. It is time to hunker down. folks!

The handwriting is on the wall. What are you going to do about it?

Pat’s Product Review: Buffalo Bore Ammunition–Thinking Outside The Box

I like companies (and people) who think outside the box. I think this comes from my days as a Private Investigator, or when I was in law enforcement. In order to solve “mysteries” I had to think outside the box many times. So it is with firearms and ammo companies – if they want to stay in business, they have to keep coming up with different ideas, in order to pique their customers’ interest.
 
Some months ago, I review some of the ammo that Buffalo Bore Ammunition (www.buffalbore.com) produces. Tim Sundles, who owns Buffalo Bore, told me he was swamped with orders from SB readers as a result of that article. That’s a good thing, I like to see smaller, American-owned companies rise in this day and age. Sundles isn’t one to sit back and rest on his past accomplishments. Nope, this guy is always thinking outside the box, and coming up with new and better loads in some of the old standby calibers.
 
The grand ol’ .38 Special has never been what it should be. Most ammo companies produce some pretty sedate loads for this old round, and I’ve always thought (knew) it could do better. Buffalo Bore has come up with a new hard cast “Outdoorsman” load for the .38 Special. This new Buffalo Bore load was designed for those who need a deep penetrating load to be fired from lightweight alloy .357s and .38 Special revolvers. Sundles discovered that alloy .357s developed multiple problems firing their heavy 180 grain .357 Magnum hard cast turbo charged ammo, or for that matter, any make of full-power .357 Magnum loads.
 
Many folks wanted a deep penetrating load for outdoor use, when carrying their lightweight pocket .357 Magnum revolvers. This new .38 Special +P 158 grain hard cast load is safe to shoot in all .38 Special and .357 Magnum firearms of modern design, in normal operating condition. I think there is only maker who says to not use +P loads in one of their particular super lightweight revolvers – that’s Taurus – and it’s only one of their revolvers.
 
Buffalo Bore never uses extra long test lab barrels to produce their advertised velocities, they use real firearms for all their readings. Sundles used a Ruger GP 100 with a 6″ barrel in .357 Magnum and was getting velocities around 1,250 FPS – that’s screaming for a .38 Special +P load. Sundles also used a S&W Model 642 1-7/8″ barrel snub by revolver and was still getting velocities above 1,000 FPS. I tested this load in a couple guns, shooting into water-filled milk jugs, and it easily penetrated completely through 3 jugs. This is a great round to carry when you’re in the boonies, with a little .38 Special snubbie in your pocket or on your belt.
 
Okay, do you want to turbo charge your .357 Magnum revolver, with a lead-free heavy .357 load? Here it is! Buffalo Bore developed a load using the 140 grain Barnes all-copper hollow point load using the Barnes 140 grain bullet. I’ve been doing a lot of experimenting with various all-copper hollow bullets from Barnes, and I’m very impressed with them . They open-up nicely and penetrate deeply.
 
Sundles recommends that you ONLY use this load in an all-steel .357 Magnum revolver. It should NOT be fired in the lightweight alloy framed revolvers. You can also use this load in any of the .357 Magnum chambered rifles. If you are looking for a real man-stopper of a round, this is just the ticket.
 
Tim fired this round through a S&W Model 66 2.5″ barrel revolver – a snub by – and was getting almost 1,400 FPS out of the gun. Moving up to a 4″ barrel revolver, we are looking at better than 1,500 FPS. In a Marlin Model 1894, with an 18″ barrel, Sundles was getting almost 1,950 FPS. We’re talking serious velocity from this round. I fired this round through one of my .357 Magnum rifles, and found it to be very accurate, and the recoil was mild in my humble opinion.
 
I previously tested the Buffalo Bore 190 grain JFN 30-30 heavy load in a Rossi rifle, and it would make a great round for just about all game on the North American continent, given the limitations and range of the 30-30 round. However, that round might be a bit too much for some medium-sized game, like smaller sized deer. Buffalo Bore to the rescue! The new Buffalo Bore heavy 30-30 150 grain Barnes TSX round will not only penetrate deeply (and hold together) on deer and elk, it will mushroom very nicely. This load would also be great for black bear, too.
 
What’s nice about this load is, if you are going from deer hunting, to elk or black bear, you don’t have to readjust your sights, as you’d normally have to do when changing from one bullet weight to another. Nope, you can use this same 150 grain Barnes TSX bullet for much of your .30-30 hunting needs. However, if I were up in Alaska, where the really big bears are, and moose, I’d go with the other Buffalo Bore 190 grain JFN hard cast 30-30 load, for deeper penetration.
 
In a Winchester .30-30 with a 20″ barrel, Sundles is getting 2,271 FPS. And, even in a little 16″ barrel Trapper, he is still getting close to 2,200 FPS. This is a great all ’round load if you ask me – so long as you’re not up in Alaska looking for the big bears or moose.
 
The last load Buffalo Bore sent me is their new 45 auto rim +P 225 grain hard cast wad cutter anti-personnel load. Now, I said this is a full wad cutter bullet – not a semi-wad cutter bullet. The loaded round actually looks a bit “funky” to my way of thinking. However, this bullet will penetrate 30″ of flesh and bone, and makes a horrific permanent crush cavity because of it’s profile. This load is safe to use in all modern .45 ACP revolvers. (Not in converted antique .455 Webleys!)
 
I wasn’t able to personally test this load, as I don’t have a .45ACP revolver in my meager gun inventory. However, I’ll take Sundles word on this round…He used a S&W Mountain Gun with a 4″ barrel, and was getting 1,122 FPS out of it. And, using that hard cast (not lead) bullet will really get a bad guy’s attention in short order. I also think this would be a great load to carry when you’re out on the trail, it’ll take care of two-legged and most four-legged critters in short order.
 
Once again, Tim Sundles is thinking outside the box, and providing shooters with some serious upgrades to some old calibers. If you want the same ol’ same ol’ from the major named ammo companies, then buy their products. If you’re looking for something a bit different, and hotter in these older calibers, then you owed it to yourself to try some of these “upgraded” rounds from Buffalo Bore.
 
Sundles is always telling me that “more ammo is coming your way….” and he is still experimenting and coming up with better loads, for those of us who demand the most and best we can get from our firearms. I’m looking forward to seeing what Tim comes up with next. And he does a lot of hunting, and is always testing his loads in the field.

Recipe of the Week:

Recipe of the Week

Today we present the first installment of a new column, “Recipe of the Week”. (As suggested by Mrs. M.T. in Alaska.) These will primarily be recipes for storage food. Most weeks we will also feature at least one link to other web sites and blogs that have useful recipes and austere environment cooking resources. Do you have a favorite recipe that you have tested extensively? We are particularly looking for recipes with an emphasis on: storage foods, wild game, home-raised livestock and garden produce, and austere cooking methods (such as solar ovens, Dutch ovens, and so forth.) Please e-mail us your favorites for posting. Thanks!

G-man’s Cold Breakfast

1 cup oatmeal (rolled oats.)
1/3 cup powdered milk
1 tablespoon olive oil
Add raisins, to taste
Add hot water to match the desired consistency

Separately, take:

2 tablespoons of peanut butter (fresh, or reconstituted)

1 multivitamin tablet

Chef’s Notes: Ingredients store for many years without refrigeration. No cooking or power source required. Generates no smoke or cooking odor. Only one bowl and one spoon needed. Minimal cleanup. Contains 26 grams of complementary protein and about 660 calories. Also, really inexpensive!

And speaking of breakfast foods, reader Mike F. wrote: “I found that quinoa replaced hot cereal for me in the morning. 1/2 cup of quinoa to 1 cup of water/ boil then simmer till the water is all gone. I’ve also found that if you add vegetarian canned beans (like Bush’s vegetarian beans) to quinoa it makes a good replacement meal that would work in a taco. I sometimes have quinoa for dinner with a salad (kale) and found that it’s a great mix.”

Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

Bill D. mentioned that Abby and Amy at Safely Gathered In have compiled many great recipes. They have an e-book (downloadable or printed) that is well worth the small fee. It is well organized, readable, and a key reference for cooking in hard times.

Laura W. says this makes her feel very comfortable: Scotch Broth recipe.

One of JWR and Avalanche Lily’s favorite sites that often gets into the nitty gritty of wood stove cookery is the Paratus Familia blog.

Economics and Investing:

Debra P. sent a link to a news clip where a CNN reporter catches on: Hedge fund manager hoards nickels. (Although she muddies the waters by talking about numismatic value and base metal value in the same breath.)

And speaking of nickel, this piece comes from Canada: Steel yourself for new non-nickel loonies, (Thanks to C.L. for the link.)

A Colorado television station interviewed a “one man think tank”: Melting Gold Coins To Reduce National Debt–Man Says America’s Debt Would Be Erased If Government Would Melt Gold Coins Into Bars, Sell Them To Other Countries. Not only is he severely out of touch with the spot price of gold, but he apparently thinks that the gold being minted into 1-ounce American Eagles is coming from long-established government stockpiles. It is actually bought on the open market. Both this man’s disconnect from reality and the television reporter’s choice of stock footage (showing $1 Sacagawea “gold” dollar coins) leave me speechless. Reporters need to learn : Don’t interview the Village Idiot as a subject matter expert.

Desperation measures: BofA told Fed it could sell branches in emergency. [JWR’s Comment: Haven’t Americans caught on to the fact that the nascent global credit collapse could trigger a cascade of margin calls and bank runs?]

Items from The Economatrix:

France Loses AAA- Rating In Blow To Eurozone

Hedge Funds Blamed As Greek Debt Deal Falters

EU Threatens Hungary Over Refusal To Implement Austerity Policies

Further Debt, Dimming Prospects

Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Rhonda T. asks: Need an excuse to prepare? Consider this map, assembled by Münchener Rückversicherungs-Gesellschaft. (Those Germans know all about Katastrophenvorsorge.)

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I just heard from Tom at CampingSurvival.com that they have outgrown their warehouse, so they will soon be moving their operation into a larger one.  To do that, they need to get rid of a huge pile of inventory so they have increased the size of their closeout section, where prices have been marked at or below their cost.  Since their shipping rates are quite reasonable, this is a great way to stock your retreat, with a bit extra for barter and charity.

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Of interest to homeschoolers: M.I.T. Game-Changer: Free Online Education For All. (Thanks to KAF for the link.)

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File under Hardly a Surprise: Homeland Security watches Twitter, social media. [JWR’s comment: As I’ve written many times: avoid social networking. Think of it as nothing more than Stasi-style dossier building. Here is is straight from the DHS. Appendix A has the full list of monitored sites. Appendix B contains the search terms used to monitor content hosted in the sites listed in Appendix A. Special thanks to “A8” from Onionland for the link.]

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Cheryl (aka The Economatrix) liked this one: First Article of Selco’s Survival Guide

Note from JWR:

Today we present another two entries for Round 39 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, 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 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), and E.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo.

Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol. It is a $439 value courtesy of Next Level Training. B.) A FloJak F-50 hand well pump (a $349 value), courtesy of FloJak.com. C.) 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, D.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and E.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value) and F.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.), B.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value, C.) A Commence Fire! emergency stove with three tinder refill kits. (A $160 value.), and D.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 39 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Weapon Use, Slings, Web Gear, and Associated Weapon Equipment, by Racker

Thanks to Jim Rawles and those who participate in SurvivalBlog–such a great source of material. It has been a real pleasure to review the material on this site and note the obvious amount of knowledge available as resources for others in proper disaster planning. When you see nation changing events happening around the world, it is nice to see a level of common people thinking about such things, preparing for such events, and sharing.
 
I have read other’s ideas on weapons related gear and I agree with many of their thoughts. My personal training comes from the Marine Corps as a Marine and NCO, federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, civilian firearms trainers and others. This includes my own instruction of weapons and tactics training for SWAT and other tactical situations as well as the many decades of use of firearms and their related carry gear.
 
If you have an interest and are reading this material, at some point, you have probably gathered an array of personal protection pistols and long guns. Others have written about recommendations and the advantages of certain types and brands of weapons. Americans, depending where you live, may chose from many fine firearms. For those of us living in hoplophobic states, with legal restrictions on silly things like magazines and semiautomatic weapons, lawful choices become more difficult. I will point out that, even in these places, you can still gather fine weapons to meet an acceptable level of preparation. I have made and live with these choices.
 
Disclaimer: I am not advocating that anyone break the law. You must check your state and local laws regarding how you would utilize firearms and under what circumstances. I offer this information for consideration but the ultimate decision would rest upon the person possessing and using any firearm (and in some states, even the possession of types of semiautomatic weapons and the magazines used).
 
As long as we have law enforcement to respond to emergencies, within reason, we should use them. This material comes under the umbrella of, “what do you do when you call for a cop and there are none coming to your assistance?” In our culture, in almost any event where a citizen must use a firearm (pistol or long gun), ultimately law enforcement will probably review the circumstances regarding that use and come up with a judgment on that use. I am suggesting that we all must put forth thought and consideration as well as proper training now so that we may make better informed decisions on what we should do under the direst circumstances. I have personal experience in dealing with firearm incidents and I know they are frequently life changing events. That experience comes from four years as a Marine and 36 years in law enforcement.  
 
Many law enforcement personnel are trained and immediately think of people with firearms as threats. We need to continue to work on this issue so that covert carry and even open carry may not be seen as an immediate threat but a right of a citizen under the US Constitution. (I admit, we have a ways to go.) I recall a grade school friend bringing a .22 rifle to school for a project. He was not stopped, frisked and arrested either on the street or at the school. This was a better mindset for cops, and maybe, a goal for the future.
 
With such considerations in mind, my discussion is based upon the premise (or, in some cases, recommendation) that before you gather this weapon carry gear and related equipment, you have already decided or obtained the best quality firearms, related equipment, and training you can get or afford. Related to the topic, I hope that you have enough gun for any fight you need to be involved with. I like 7.62 because it is not understated in a fight. Neither is 12 gauge. An M4gery carbine is lighter but the extended effective range is nearer than the 7.62 NATO. (Since time and distance are your friends in a fight) . Iron back-up sights are required equipment on a serious weapon but I believe that a set of red dot type optics are quicker and easier for any grade of shooter. I also prefer handguns in calibers that start with a “point four.” Do not go cheap on weapons, magazines, or optics (“buy cheap twice or quality once”).
 
How will you carry your weapons and meet the necessary feeding requirements for your equipment? If your state requires a maximum of ten rounds in a pistol, you may find that a pistol with such a maximum mag count by design is a good size for your hand or, ultimately, if you cannot handle the situation with ten rounds in a secondary weapon, you need to add more thought to your primary weapon type. For that primary weapon, what kind of sling system will you need? A quiet way to carry a long gun is without a sling but, from experience, I can tell you that most will adapt a sling, piece of rope or something to help carry the weight of the piece.
 
A sling must work for you and it must work with your gear. I really prefer two-point adjustable padded slings, over one-point or three-point slings. Again, this is a personal preference from my experience. Military (“silent” or web) two-loop web slings can be used to carry a weapon over the right or left shoulder to the rear or front, butt up in the Rhodesian or African carry. These work if you practice with them. Try some out that belong to friends before you pick a sling you like and practice with it and with your gear so that you know that they work together. Use good training to assist in these decisions; see what works. For the taller people, if you find a sling you like is a bit short, have your rigger or shoe repair fit in an extension that works for you (this should apply for smaller people as well). Now is the time to pick a good sling.
 
Next, consider and study the circumstances of how you will deploy your weapons (again, training helps). All the equipment in the world may not be what we need in a serious social situation. The best way out of a gunfight is to not get in one in the first place. As you consider carry equipment, can you build up a set of gear that will allow you to carry a “combat minimum”? Can you wear a loose cover jacket or carry a covert “sports bag” that you can modify with the help of a para-rigger or shoe shop sewing machine (maybe adding some MOLLE strips inside to add loops or pouches) to carry loaded mags and not make you look like a GI Joe? If it is not raining, can you wear a serape like Clint Eastwood wore in his westerns so that you can wear or carry gear what will allow you to be seen but maybe not thought of as being an immediate threat? This is a topic for serious thought and consideration. You do not want to be shot on sight by someone a long way off who thinks that you are a bad guy? Can you have both a covert set of equipment to carry the minimal magazines and related gear you need to feed your weapons as well as an overt set of pouches and gear carried in manner we think of as load bearing gear? Why can’t you have both kinds? Remember, we should have a set of carry gear for each weapon available to us. Having a covert weapon and related equipment has merit – even if it is for someone that may be scouting ahead of others.    
 
Besides wearing many of these items, I have read a lot of material about vest’s and other load bearing gear. What is sometime missing is just how you put it together. We have a fresh crop of young military veterans. In the “Sandbox” and other “climbs and place,” they are wearing a lot of high speed gear and I am sure most of you can get some pointers from them about what works and what does not. Even if I am a generation older, I offer this material on things I find that work. 
 
During a certain age, the Marine Corps issued me 782 gear that included the hook type belt attachments. These swung to and fro against your body as you walked and canteens with these attachment points beat you when you ran. After wearing M1 cartridge belts, our individual M14 mag pouches slid onto the pistol type web belt and were more comfortable but four of them took quite a bit of space in front (most of us were pretty slim back then). Later we were issued the M16 and their mag pouches were the GI LC1 and later LC2 generations, both with the metal “ALICE” clips that dug into your midsection where they were attached on the inside of their very stiff web belts. We were not allowed to exchange out these clips like certain Army types using para-cord. After loading mags, in VietNam many of us carried most of our loaded 20-round M16 magazines in the pockets of OD green cotton bandoleers. (So save their safety pins). It is still a great way to grab additional full mags and walk away.
 
I did not like the hook type attachments that started, I believe, in WWI and continued until Vietnam or the ALICE clips (I do not use the word, “hate” but the feelings for those clips is pretty close). After my discharge, again wearing a green and tan uniform (for a Sheriff’s Office), I was again issued web gear as part of a riot unit and later a SWAT unit. With a wink and a nod, I was allowed to gather my own gear and modify it to be more comfortable (maintaining a “uniform” look). I took to using OD paracord in lieu of ALICE clips until I found that black nylon cable binders (zip ties) worked even better for me (put on, adjusted and then the ends are melted so that they did not come off). MOLLIE came later and I quickly learned how to adjust and wear it.
 
Today, drop down holsters are considered “Tact-a-cool”. I still have one that came with, again, ALICE clips. But I never felt encumbered with the GI leather holster for issued Model 1911 pistols. While stationed at a Marine Barracks, I learned to put a couple of stitches on the rear edge of the holster to hold it flat against the leg. I still have one modified this way (the hooks are on a leather slide-on carrier instead of going through a web belt). If this Marine were ever again put place to repel boarders, I might wear that holster (with some molding, you can holster a cocked and locked M1911). It protects the weapon and you can transition from your primary long gun to the pistol quickly. In the late 1960s, I also carried a C4 bag or Claymore Mine bag that I used as a “dump pouch.” More recently, Marines carry issue dump bags on their vest or belts (“adapt, improvise, and overcome”).
 
To carry my gear today, I still use a 2” nylon pistol belt with a plastic buckle or a padded MOLLE pistol belt with an Uncle Mike’s nylon “Universal” holster (this holster allows me to fit a light/laser to the pistol) and I wear it strong side at waist level; a TUFF five mag holder; an old Cold Steel Tanto knife I carried during my SWAT years; a couple of hard plastic AR mag holders; and an “improved” Individual First Aid Kit (IFAK or “blow out”). Depending upon the need, I add a GI canteen and cup that is equipped with a sling or use a CamelBak. I prefer to wear my pistol on a belt rather than a load bearing harness or vest. Maybe I am old fashioned, but I may even wear the pistol holster on the trouser belt and wear the pistol equipment belt with the rest of my gear riding on top (and using nylon belt keepers to hold both belts together). This way, even if I have to drop most of my equipment, I still have some warfighting gear (a light but long cover jacket also covers this belt). Depending upon the situation, I can add a load bearing vest (LBV) with extra mags and other gear. 
 
If you choose to use a carry belt, former military web belts or the newer nylon pistol belts work fine. If you like the para-cord attachment method, after gathering the parts for the belt, I suggest you first position each piece of gear where you want it, then run the cord through the piece of equipment’s ALICE clip slot or MOLLE slots, under the belt, up the back, and over the top. Tie off the cord at the top of the piece of gear so that the knot does not sit inside the belt. Once you are sure of the placement and it is on tight, melt down the knot with a fireplace lighter. I usually use an OD green para-cord. Note: Since you remove the interior cords and use the “tube” for this task, you can heat the end of the “tube” to make it solid, thread the para-cord through the grommets or not and, depending on what the item is, sometimes I use the grommet and sometimes I do not.  
 
The cable binder (zip tie) method is slightly different. Position the gear, run the binder through that piece of gear (ALICE clip slot, etc.), then under the belt and over the top of the belt. Position the locking tab portion of the binder on the gear side so it will not move against the body as you put the running end of the binder through the locking portion. I sometimes use two or three binders for each piece of gear and may even run one diagonally from one corner to the other. As you adjust placement, do not over tighten and crush the belt. A triangular file is handy to make slight groves inside where the binder turns 90 degrees. This helps eliminate some of the tension curve in the tie. Again, once you are sure of your placement, ensuring the locking tab and end are away from the body, melt the running piece in the locking tab with the lighter. Since I do not find OD green ties, I use black.
 
An examination of my gear will show you that I may be using para-cord, cable binders, nylon snap belt keepers, and MOLLE at the same time to secure multi-generational gear items. The idea is to make your gear secure and available – oh, and quiet. By the way, don’t worry about the color of you gear (assuming it is not fire red) as mix-match makes good camo.   
 
The only thing I do not like about some LBVs is that, depending upon the vest and the placement of the gear, it makes me feel too high when I am trying to get flat on the ground (Okay, even the old style military buttons and thread is too thick when someone is shooting at you). When I see pictures of most troops and Marines wearing LBVs now, either they are spending less time on their belly or they are good a digging a deeper fighting positions – or they may be moving fast from an armored vehicle to the target building in built up areas. I adjust the LBV high so they clear the waist belt and I try to position the gear on the vest so that I can get the middle of my chest area down flat on the deck. The vest’s I use are the old 2-buckel woodland pattern that has enough room so that I can wear my gear this way. I also position a dump pouch on the left rear of the vest so I can drop mags in there if I have the time (or to carry a box of loose shotgun ammo). By the way, if you take the bottom belt out of these vests, they make a good MOLLE style gear belt.
 
I am pretty picky about the placement of my gear so I have different harness and vests setups for different weapons. [JWR Adds: It is indeed wise to have one set of web gear for each of your long guns. You never know when an absolute worst-case situation might occur where you suddenly want to hand out spare guns to relatives, neighbors, and friends. Any weapon without a set of web gear and a full complement of magazines won’t be of much help.] There is a lot of new gear out there as well as military surplus and inexpensive enough that you can work up your gear as you want it. Also, it is worth finding a para-rigger or knowledgeable shoe repair person to modify or repair your gear to make it work as you want it to work.
 
Before I had LBVs (for SWAT), I wore a web belt, a nylon four-point shoulder harness (the three-point works almost as well), the Tanto knife, GI leather 1911 holster, a radio, twin pistol mag pouch, two AR mag pouches (six mags), the old USMC jungle first aid kit, and a canteen (before we purchased our first custom LBVs). I had a butt pack ready with food, dry socks, and other needed gear to add if needed. I have always liked this type of rig. You can improve it by adding a poncho and a butt pack (by the way, you can rig up two butt packs with the four-point shoulder harness). With this rig and a protective vest, I had great access and it allowed me to move and maneuver as necessary.
 
Like most cops, I have lots of pistol holsters and I find holsters are still an individual thing (for the person and the weapon). One kind of holster or carry method does not seem to be enough and, before you know it, you have a collection of them. Do not spend good money for a fine pistol and not on a good belt, holster and mag pouch. Check them out and get what you want. The traits you are looking for are; carry, access, and protection (your order may vary). If you want real comfort, you probably should not be carrying a pistol (or long gun). (By the way, start a chart of holsters and, as you get a new one, try all your pistols in the new one to see what else may fit. I have saved a fair amount of money using this chart for a new pistol or mag pouches.)
 
I also have a pretty fair collection of civilian and GI packs and war-bags. Again, depending on the situation you will be attending with this equipment, you may need to add a pack. I have worn most of the recent generations of military packs over the years and I still like a the US military issue ALICE medium ruck pack. But, if at all possible, I do not recommend this pack if you are using a long gun during a fight (drop the pack if you must maneuver). Proper maneuvering requires the ability to move smoothly and as fast or slow as you needed at the time and balance is important. You should be prioritizing as much weight off your body as possible (and still meet mission requirements). Besides your weapons, add one combat unit of fire in ammo (it varies with weapon and caliber), at least one additional unit of ammo loaded in mags or stripper clips in bandoleers (GI or home made), you will probably not have explosive weapons – frags, Claymores, etc. so use this for additional ammo in stripper clips/bandoleers, water, some energy food, IFAK, bug juice, a light, poncho, some kind of tool to improve a firing position, and something to carry all this as comfortably as you can (yes, I know a pack mule would be nice but no).  
 
At some point, you should have your weapons, gear, ammo, and carry equipment all together. Hopefully, you have already put it all on and made sure you have access to everything you need when your weapon’s bolt locks back with an empty chamber or another immediate action need arises. You can also jump up and down without making a lot of noise. Next, you need to try hiking, crawling and climbing over things to see if adjustments should be made. Once you have done this, tape down any loose ends, shiny spots, etc. with black or OD tape. I frequently see people show up at a range to begin long gun training. They are wearing the very minimum gear that they can. But, if you ask them to lay out the gear they think they need for a serious social situation, they have a lot more. Proper practice should be with the gear you need – not some lighter weight version to look “cool.”  
 
By the way, we have not spoken about protective vests yet. To wear a vest is another individual decision that needs to be made (your sling and gear will fit different with or without the vest). Both soft and hard protective vests are hot, somewhat restrictive, and not cheap. Besides deciding if you are going to use one, you need to figure out what level of protection you want to purchase. When in my SO uniform, when vests came along, besides the one issued to me, I bought a quality product and I wore it. The price of soft and plate armor has come down so the cost issues are easier but I suggest that as soon as someone shoots at you, you will ask yourself, “why am I here and why am I not wearing armor?” We should also bring up helmets. I recall that about 33% of all peace officers killed by firearms are shot in the head. Now, if cops are not around and you are in a gunfight, you might consider that the one-third of shooting incidents could include whoever is present.
 
As to the level of a vest protection, assess the potential aggressor. For most cops, a soft vest that will stop high end handgun ammo is the usual compromise. If you suspect your aggressor will have a rifle, hard armor is called for. It is always weight vs. threat. This applies to helmets to a lesser degree.
 
A note on individual first aid gear: 1) they are primarily for the individual carrying the kit; 2) they should have some basics like band aids, aspirin, etc.; 3) a small bottle of water purification tabs and; 4) basic treatment for gunshot wounds to include a tourniquet and gunshot bandages (1 or 2). 
 
We have also not discussed communications or night vision gear. You get to decide what you can use, what you can afford, and what you want to carry (remember the extra batteries). Once you make the decision, work with the equipment to make it work for you.
 
Once you have all your gear, put it in a bag (a bag for each set). I used to use a parachute bag but now I use a civilian style heavy cloth bag so it looks like luggage. Do not leave it out so that a “midnight shopper” sees it and takes it away when you are not present.  
 
Priority of Considerations:
Thought process – when and how can I protect myself and my family?
Training
Weapons and optics
Ammo
Sling
Carry gear
Other equipment
 
With all the parts available as surplus or new products, you get to pick your own rig for each weapon you may use, and high or low profile. You can start with a belt rig and then go heavier by adding or changing to a LBV. I know what works for me and I get to pick from gear going back awhile as well as new stuff.
 
Whatever you get, practice with it. You want to wear and use it enough that muscle memory builds so that when your mag goes dry, you automatically reach for replacements in known locations. Find places where you can wear and practice with your gear where you will not have the cops showing up due a hoplophobic reporting party calling in a “man with a gun” complaint (all part of your operational security mind set).

There are so many moving parts to being prepared. Juggling priorities, money, and time are part of it. I fit in recreation as it applies to firearms so I get to slide in some of these issues into that consideration. YMMV.
 
Keep your musket clean and your powder dry.

Post Collapse Barter: The Rest of the Story, by D.T.R.

Post collapse barter has been a hot topic for as long as I have been lurking around the Survival Community. Yet each time I read the offerings on the subject they have left me feeling like the whole story is not being told. This is an attempt to tell that story.
 
Post collapse barter is often presented in romanticized ways of a simpler and happier life such as depicted by Eddie Albert playing the role of the Persian peddler “Ali Hakim” in the Rogers and Hammerstein musical “Oklahoma.” He went town to town peddling everything from perfume to frying pans with his horse and wagon. A Spartan life to be sure but he was the model of happiness. After all, he had a girlfriend in every town! Or the notion of an impromptu open air market in the town square where people gather to fellowship and trade.
 
This type of commerce probably will commence in time, after the crash, but from my vantage point there is a whole lot of turmoil and violence between “here” and “there.” When the “free stuff” stops flowing to the entitlement class we are not all going to “just get along.” Surviving to the point of peaceful open air markets is not going to be for the faint of heart or the unprepared.
 
In this essay I will address:
 
The two problems with barter
The two fundamental questions of barter
The two logistical issues with barter
A few examples where I think barter will occur in the short run.
 
My credentials are that my family and I are long term, serious, God fearing, Christian preppers who own and live on our rural retreat full-time that we refer to as our “sanctuary homestead.” The retreat has been built up in such a way that with lots of hard work, a bit of good luck and the favor of God mixed in, we can provide food for many in a grid down scenario pretty much indefinitely. That retreat is located in the American Redoubt. Also, I have a degree in business economics from a major university and have worked in finance for 30 years at both the corporate and small business levels.
 
I hope the fact that I have “one foot in both worlds” so to speak, will give a perspective on this subject that is at least worthy of consideration.
 
Two Problems:
Commerce is technically described as “bringing together a willing seller and a willing buyer in an arms length transaction.” The “arms length” part means that both parties are looking out for their own economic best interest. This isn’t charity. For example if grandma gives you a ten thousand dollar car for changing out her broken light bulb. That would be the inverse of an “arms length transaction.” Mediums of exchange such as currencies make this process easier which is why they are used so universally. Yet in a post collapse world such as depicted in “Patriots” the currency of the land is useless as it is worthless.
 
That brings us to Problem #1: absent a recognized societal medium of exchange to conduct commerce you still need to put that definition together of buyer, seller and arms length. On the buyer-seller side of the equation, that means that you have to find someone with something you want, that they are willing to part with, who want something you have, that you are willing to part with.
 
Problem #2 is the “arms length” part. Our current economy of commerce is very efficient. If you walk in to a hardware store to buy a splitting maul the price to the buyer from the seller is not influenced by whether it’s going to be your only splitting maul or your 50th one (“satiated demand” in economic terms).The price doesn’t change due to the mood of the cashier or what day of the week it is and so on.
 
In a barter system the “price” of an item is extremely subjective and influenced by a whole host of variables. If you have to cut and split wood to cook and stay warm, trading off one of your 50 splitting mauls is going to be much easier to part with, and you’ll require much less in return for it, then if you only have two of them. So, those types of pricing considerations for both the “buyer” and the “seller” in a barter transaction are much more exaggerated than when money is used.
 
So to affect one barter exchange, five things have to align.
 
1) You have an item
2) They want that item
3) You are willing to part with that item
4) They have something to give you in exchange for that item that you want.
5) Agreed upon valuations of both items by both parties.
 
Agree on 4 out of the 5 and there is no deal. Putting deals together like this can be at best a nuanced dance or at worst a nightmare that engenders division between the parties. That is why so many barter clubs and societies have failed over the years.
 
If you are thinking “Well, we will be fine because we have those silver coins and some items that we think will be in high demand.” That’s fine but you still have to find someone who wants those items (probably fairly easy) who have things to trade you back that you want (the harder part, more in a minute) and you both have to agree on the “value” of both items where the use of “comparable sales” are non existent.
 
This is not to say that barter is impossible because we know that its not. The point is to illustrate that barter is more complicated than many make it out to be. If you are thinking that no matter what the possible pitfalls of barter are, you would rather be holding some tangible assets that you believe will be of value for trade in a post collapse world rather than holding worthless dollars. To that I say, I agree. But are those your only two choices?
 
Fundamental Questions:
 
The most common writings on post collapse barter inevitable get to “the list” of items people plan to lay in to trade away. Many times those lists have plenty of common sense items but there are times when you guys come up with things that sound, well, crazy to me (Viagra?)
 
Question #1: Do I have the cart before the horse? Is it prudent to focus on what other people, known or otherwise, might be wanting in a crunch? Or should I think about what items I will be in search of in exchange for what I have laid in for trade? Put another way, what do you want to attain in trade for your barter items? Since this is a “for profit” endeavor as apposed to charity that’s the business model, not where do I want to begin (your list) but where do I want to end up.
 
 If your reply is that we don’t really know what we will want/need because it will be “situationally dependant,” to that I say maybe. Prepping really is not that “situationally dependant” though. Food, water, shelter, heat, light, security, first aid, good clothing, etc. are what we have on hand for any and all calamities, large and small.
 
If you have utilized the resources available on SurvivalBlog in terms of what to do to get ready, make lists and so on you should have at least some ideas of where you stand.  Where you are strong and where you have holes. I agree that there are items that “you can never have too much of” but really it’s the holes that you would presumably be trying to plug with barter. The question then i.: Am I more ahead to use resources to plug holes and strengthen our prepping position today, as opposed to using those same resources to lay in tradable items? Your answer may be different than mine but the questions should be asked because..
 
Question #2: On the one end of the spectrum most people do not prep. Those of us who do are in the extreme minority even today when it is much more visible. So that vast majority of people out there living pay check to paycheck in the land of mammon…by and large they have nothing to trade you that you will want or place much value on in a collapse. On the other end, we, the choir, the serious preppers who have followed the advice of Mr. Rawles and the contributors to SurvivalBlog,  are in pretty good shape to weather the coming storm. So,we have extra everything so you really don’t have anything that we need and certainly nothing that is mission critical that we would trade high value items for. Oh, sure if you show up with a 55 gallon drum of fresh kerosene we can talk and probably put a deal together but we wont “sell the ranch” for it because it’s icing on the cake for us. The pool of potential barter mates just shrunk a lot.
 
Logistical Issues of Barter
 
No matter how far along you are with your preps when the balloon goes up those instantly become priceless. If you have a thousand dollars of stored food and TSHTF those stores could be the difference between life and death. You will trade no amount of money or precious metals for them at that time because you can’t eat those. If you have $100,000 worth of stored supplies and the crunch is on, someone could offer to write you a check for a hundred million dollars and you would have no part of it. Your survival stores would then be your most valuable asset in spades (that nobody should knows about). Thse are survival items that people would be willing to kill you for, and that we are prepared to defend with our lives.
 
Most people that I know with retreats and designated bug out locations. When the balloon goes up they simply want to roll up the draw bridge, help their neighbors out where they can and be left alone to rely on themselves to provide for themselves and then, maybe, be meaningful participants in the re-build if God wills it.
 
Logistics issue #1: In order to conduct barter exchanges you would need to leave your selected “safe” location in order to do commerce. Or someone in your group would. That then would mean you are potentially out in “it” rather than safely behind your line in the sand and your absence means that the security of the retreat is reduced. If you are ready to start a “road show” of barter exchange early on what does that say about the depth and breadth of your preps? If you are well prepped there is nothing out there in “barter land” that comes close to the value of your preps at home
 
Logistics issue #2: If for those reasons you decided not to leave your safe location to barter exchange but you still have the itch to trade. That means your “customers” would need to come to you. Is it a good idea that in a time of desperation and starvation to potentially tell the watching world that you have excess? (That not only do you have enough stuff stored to cover yourselves (when most people don’t) but you have extra such that your in a position to trade away?) If that word gets out it will spread like wildfire and you should prepare to have whole lines of beggars at your gate and “authorities” wanting to talk with you about your illegal “hoarding.”
 
Its probably obvious at this point that we have not put a great deal of stock into the concept of post collapse barter in our preps, but I will acknowledge that it has its place for some people and I said at the outset that it will occur. Our approach to preparedness has been three pronged with regard to laid in assets.. First step; fully prepped for our family for a year. That means everything. Next, lay in extra to be in a position to accept someone to the group who is under or not at all prepared such that it does not seriously compromise the preps of the immediate family/group. Primarily we are talking relatives and close neighbors. Finally utilizing the industry standard (if you will) of the Rawlesian approach to charity and stocking up accordingly, to do just that. I believe that for most people, because of the challenges listed above, provisions for barter should be made after those three core goals are met.
 
The Post-Crash Barter Landscape
 
1) The world’s oldest profession will skyrocket. What will be in demand to trade for those “services”? Food, mind altering substances and security.
 
2) Rural residents who already have trusted relationships with neighbors that have grown over a span of years have a good chance of barter trading during the crunch. Especially amongst the homesteader types, many of them have been barter trading with each other for years at this point. This does not mean throw OPSEC to the wind though as we are reminded by the Bible that times can come where “neighbor against neighbor and brother against brother” occur.
 
3) Lone Wolf: This type of person is a very small minority of the prepper world but they do exist. They are the Lone Wolves with bug out bags at home and in their cars. They plan to “get out of Dodge” and “head for the hills” and become invisible at least until things settle down. For most of us that would be a good way to end up starving or dying of exposure or both. These are not the “wannabe’s” without any other option than to try to make it from a metropolis to a state park some place. This is the real deal that most likely can survive this way and are not fooling themselves.  These guys typically have military experience including survival school; they are proficient with weapons as are their “hunter gatherer” skills. They are in good physical shape or have the capacity to get that way in short order. They are well versed in caches and probably have more than one already stashed.  Ironically they “get” what a group survival retreat is about better than some members of group survival retreats. It’s just that they are not “group” types, they are Lone Wolves.
 
Their plan is to lay low and remain invisible for six months or so. During that initial period, as time allows, they will conduct reconnaissance to find survival group retreats and functioning homesteads. When the time is right they plan to approach the group in a non threatening manner and offer their services to the group. Those “services” including providing intel of what’s what in the area or region. They could magically “show up” about the time that trouble was brewing or they could be sent out on search and acquire missions. For example lets say that battery charge controller on your small solar system went out; they could be sent out on a mission to acquire one and bring it back to the group. Primarily what they would want in return is food, ammo, clothing or clothing repairs and maybe even a hot shower every now and again. It would take some time to build the trust but under the right circumstances this type of person could do pretty well in a barter world.

Economics and Investing:

Several readers sent this: S&P Cuts Credit Ratings for Nine Euro Zone Nations

J.J.H. recommended a satirical short film comparing the National Debt to the finances of a family.

More monetization ahead: Fed to Weigh Further Easing Amid Doubts About Recovery. The government is now fully addicted to artificial money creation.

Items from The Economatrix:

There Goes The Neighborhood:  Cleveland To Demolish 20,000 More Foreclosed, Looted Homes

Poverty In America Getting Worse

China’s Collapse “Will Bring Economic Crisis to Climax in 2012”

Odds ‘n Sods:

M.B. mentioned this: Hard Core Resiliency

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R.B.S. suggested a piece over at How To Vanish, titled Cloud Security.

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Darknet Rising: A Private, Secure and Anonymous Meshnet Is Emerging

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Eric B. was the first of several readers to forward me this link: Mobile phone charger that runs on water invented for ‘people who spend time away from the electricity grid’. And speaking of phone batteries, see this article suggested by Mark P.: SpareOne cellphone claims 15-year battery life, we go hands-on (video)

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Ol’ Remus dissects the emerging “Pre-crime” concept in this essay: Proactive.

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G.M. sent this: Russian buys crates, gets Kalashnikov content free. [JWR’s Comment: I suspect that some company employees that had been pilfering weapons for their own use had been using the scrap wood heap as their means of hiding the goods for eventual pick-up.]

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;
A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day:
And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.- Deuteronomy 11:26-28 (KJV)

Note from JWR:

Today we present another two entries for Round 39 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, 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 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), and E.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo.

Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol. It is a $439 value courtesy of Next Level Training. B.) A FloJak F-50 hand well pump (a $349 value), courtesy of FloJak.com. C.) 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, D.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and E.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value) and F.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.), B.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value, C.) A Commence Fire! emergency stove with three tinder refill kits. (A $160 value.), and D.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 39 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Clothing for the Apocalypse: Wardrobe Considerations for Families with Young Children, by Jeff B.

“I’ve outgrown another dress. That’s the third. I’m having to wear Margot’s clothes after all…”
The diary of Anne Frank, by By Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Anne Frank, p. 86.

When Anne first heard they had to leave for the Secret Annex, she started to pack. First her diary went in, then her curlers, handkerchiefs, schoolbooks, comb, and a few letters. Miep Gies came and took away some shoes, dresses, coats, underclothes, and stockings. Anne wrote in her diary ” We put on heaps of clothes as if we were going to the North Pole, the sole reason being to take clothes with us. No Jew in our situation would have dreamed of going out with a suitcase full of clothing. I had on two vests, three pairs of pants, a dress on top of that, a skirt, jacket, summer shorts, two pairs of stockings, lace-up shoes, woolly cap, scarf, ·..; I was nearly stifled before we started.” (July 8, 1942). As quoted at AnneFrank.com

As a family man, I am truly blessed. As the Bible says, I have ‘a full quiver’ with four beautiful children. There have been many discussions with my wife as of late as to how we as a ‘larger than normal family’ survive and thrive if and when the world collapses. In one hand should I prepare for the coming collapse and sacrifice such valuable resources in exchange for expensive or fancy vacations, big screen televisions, and the newest super crew four wheel drive vehicles? Should I do nothing and trust in my Lord and Savior and have faith that he will see us through?

Oh sure, sounds cut and dry doesn’t it? Is it truly mutually exclusive? I mean, how much would a brand new Cummins Powered, Lifted, Super Crew 4×4 deprive my children during the coming apocalypse? Wasn’t there some scripture some where where God talked about flowers and birds and that he loved us more than them, yet he still provided for them?

Sounds like I am whining, so I will quit. As for me and my house, we chose to serve the Lord and ‘pass the bullets.’ I believe that since sin has entered the world, bad things are going to happen. It doesn’t mean that God doesn’t or won’t intervene supernaturally. There have been numerous accounts where God had literally stepped in to pull my family out of bad situations.

God provided for me and my family right after 9/11. The following March the tech bubble burst in Tulsa where we were living at the time. The day my wife was giving birth to our first child, I was called in and laid off along with a large number of others. I did whatever I could to keep us afloat. I started my own web hosting and design business as well as a for sale by owner business. That worked for a time, until I drove up one weekend to attend a job fair in Indiana where my wife and I are from. Needless to say I got the job and was expected to start in two weeks. Rushing home, I had to literally pack everything, sell two homes, and move my wife and newborn back to our hometown. This was no easy task. However, with God’s help we did!

There are other situations where I felt the world and sin. Times like when I took in a family member and their children only to be stolen from, lied to, and taken advantage. Times when a ‘man’s word’ was broken on account of greed. Rivalry over my father’s estate between my uncles minutes before his funeral was to begin. I have been threatened and attacked. I have lost a child to miscarriage. I almost faced the razor edge sword of divorce.

Why do bad things happen to good people? As Ray Comfort would say…”because there are no good people.” Simply stating that since sin has entered the world, we are a fallen people in need of a Savior which God provided with Jesus. As with the economic collapse, that isn’t God’s doing but man and his own Sin.  I am sure there will be people say, ‘Why did God allow this to happen?” However, it wasn’t God who orchestrated this collapse, it was Man. Man who long ago decided to chip away and remove himself from God so that he could be his own god.
That my friends, is why it is important for you and I to ‘Praise God and pass the bullets.’ I don’t know when Christ’s return will be. However, until he returns, I will patiently follow him. I will provide for and protect my family. Like a favorite scripture of mine:

14For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. 15And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. 16Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. 17And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. 18But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.
19After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. 20And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. 21His lord said unto him, Well done,thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
22He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. 23His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
24Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: 25And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
26His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: 27Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.28Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
29For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.30And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

So, you can bury your talents and do nothing to prepare for the eventual economic crisis or use the wisdom provided by web sites such as SurvivalBlog to help multiply your talents and be ready when something truly catastrophic happens. That said, I guess you know where I stand, so let’s get to it shall we? Just how do we keep all these “youngin’s” in clothes? Here are some way to go about it.

Children grow. I feel that we are always shopping for new shoes, pants, shirts, and underwear. My kids play hard and their clothes show it. Shoes rarely last six months before either the shoes have holes in them, or the child has simply outgrown them. At times we are lucky enough to pass on clothing from one child to another due to three of my children are daughters. This often depends on how popular that particular piece of clothing was for the child. The more popular, the more worn and less likely it would be passed on. On a personal note, I have found that boys in general are more likely have a few favored clothes due to comfort and purpose than a closet full of ‘fashion fabulous.’ My youngest just turned three and I cannot go a day without witnessing her changing clothes two to three times to meet her mood or general play theme. If she is a princess, Lord help us because there are so many different Disney princesses to choose from.

As a father, this is a real concern. How do I provide clothing for my children for their immediate need and for their foreseeable future when and if the world collapses? I could just let the wife and girls go reckless with the credit card and become fashion divas or put some law and order and clear thinking when it comes to buying clothes for children. Let’s hope common sense ‘reigns supreme’ and you really want to prepare your children for the coming apocalypse. So let’s dig in shall we?

So you can hit the ground running by visiting  your doctor to get a copy of the growth and weight charts. Our doctor uses them to measure our children’s growth as it applies to ‘national averages’ and to ensure that your child is progressing in a healthy manner. After looking at that chart, you should have some historical numbers showing their average growth and weight and what to expect those numbers to be if you followed the natural progression using the guidelines on the chart. This won’t give you sizes but it is a gauge to use in order to determine sizes at a particular age. For example, if your child is following a normal line and is a size five today and showing a growth of ten to fifteen percent in a given six month interval, how do you exactly know what size to buy in the future? Well, I make no claims in exactness because you never know how children will exactly grow and in what proportions.

Purchase clothing sizes for two to three years in advance. Aim for clothes in shades of browns or grays, clothes with flexible or adjustable waistbands, and clothes that can work in a pinch as layered clothing for colder weather. Buy cold weather clothes in 2/5th proportions to the other clothes you purchase for each sizing consideration because the other clothes will help while being layered on top on one another. For winter clothing, choose wool over cotton because wool keeps a lot of its thermal properties even when it is wet. Just remember when you are too cold, things shut down. Better to be on the side of too warm than too cold. You can always peel off layers to cool off. It is hard to put on new clothes when you don’t have them.

Shoes should be purchased combining sandals or flip-flops, with dark colored sneakers or high-top’s and one pair of cold weather shoes with thermal protection and some waterproofing. If you have to buy shoes in sizes larger than you know they will be to ensure that you have foot protection for extended times. If the shoes are too big, they can always stuff old snippets of old worn out socks or old rags into the toes until they grow into them.

Sure Jeff, sounds good. But where do I buy all this?

The local thrift shop is a great place to shop for clothes. Knowing your children’s sizes you can buy decent previously worn clothes for pennies on the dollar to keep your children clothed for almost any season. Shoes are harder to come by in thrift shops but they are available. Other than that, you can look for sales at Wal-Mart and other box retailers when the season change and you will find last season’s shoes in bins on the cheap. Sure, your kids may be screaming or whining over having to wear SpongeBob or Hello Kitty clothes now, but when faced with the cold, and the possibility of living without clothes all together, I am sure they will be thankful that their clothes are not as trendy as they would like.

If you live in an area that doesn’t have a thrift shop handy, there are alternatives. One of the best alternatives is look for changes in the season. Just after Christmas, after Easter, after back to school, and after Halloween are some great times to look for clothing on the clearance racks. I actually found a Bone Collector Scent Lock Second Layer (pants and top) for fifty percent off at Rural King two days before Christmas. My wife shops the ads from the local paper and mailers to see when there are season end sales and clearance sales. Keeping four kids in clothes can seem like a full time job. Know your budget, shop frugally, and you can prevail.

Other opportunities for clothing are through church ministries who give clothing to the community or toward  the needy or other community agencies providing clothing. One business in town has a program called ‘Coats for Kids.’ This dry cleaner goes around and collects barrels where people donated jackets, hats, and gloves for the area kids. He cleans them all and makes the presentable so they can then be given to the area’s needy children. The fact remains, there are many ways to acquire clothing, now if we want to really go back to our roots then we have another inexpensive and crafty alternative.

But first, a story that provides a a great segue:

My mother was the youngest of twelve children. For her growing up was full of chores, digging holes for the outhouse, getting creative to make supplies last, and simply working very, very hard. Sound sad doesn’t it? Well, during a time when the budget was quite tight and family resources were rather thin, my mother had to get quite creative in how she could keep her eight year old, happy, portly, bundle of sunshine in some summer clothes. My Grandmother was visiting for a month and they put their heads together in order to solve the problem of keeping lil’ Jeffy in clothes.

‘Back in the day’ people would go to the local market and buy patterns for clothing. They would take the patterns home along with bolts of fabric came in bolts. You can buy the entire measure of the bolt or simply buy what you need by the yard. Little did I know that clothes ‘could’ be made by the hands of able body maternal figures. All I had known was clothes from department stores and underwear that Santa always stuffed my stocking with.
But this day, this day would go down in childhood as the day where my mother would put the badge of outcast on this child who already had a fragile self esteem.

I had arrived from school to see my mother and grandmother anxiously waiting for me to try on their ‘wonder works of wonder’ which assimilated itself in a Hawaiian shirt and surfer shorts. They put together this outfit by purchasing a pattern at the craft store along with some super bright Curious George yellow fabric with pineapples and surfboards printed on it. I was shoo’ed off to my roof to try on the clothes they had made for me. The clothes fit fine, a bit scratchy since they were unwashed and newly mended. I was somewhat happy to have clothes that my Mom and Grandmother made me. It felt like a big, lovely, hug given to me. That was until it turned into a blight, soul crushing, fashion crime when I decided to wear my new threads to school the next day. My mom was so proud she washed them that evening and even ironed them for my proud presentation of my mother’s superb seamstress skills to the other school kids.

The next day, I showed up to school very proud of what my Mom made me. You should see my warm, chubby, Rosy-cheeked smile. I was so happy! It wasn’t the other kids who made fun of me first. It was my third grade teacher. He laughed, almost snorting in the process. He had to excuse himself for a minute in the hallway. By then the evil menagerie’ of children in my classed descended upon me with pointed fingers and heckles. I ran out of the class, crying. What makes it worse was on my way to the bathroom I slipped in such an awkward way that I split the seem of the shorts along the back revealing hints of my tighty whiteys.

With that in your mind, I point out that many affordable clothes can be made that will not ostracize your children in the post apocalyptic collapse. Think Mennonite but solely in grays and browns. Since you will be cleaning these clothes by hand, it makes it easier to keep things in the earth tones. It also enables one to not stand out in the middle of the woods like my bright yellow shirt my mother made. The advantage of doing this over store bought is several fold. One, by making the clothes yourself, you learn a very important craft that will be necessary and ‘barter-able’ in the new economy. Secondly, since you make the clothes, you will know how to properly mend them and make adjustments and necessary. Not to mention the fact that these skills means you can take almost any old fabric and re-purpose it for clothing, blankets, and patching material.

What about babies? Good question!

Babies needs are exponentially greater at younger ages until they reach toddlers. You nearly need to triple the amount of clothes for the baby than that you would buy for the other kids. This is because babies are cute, and messy! You want to have plenty of clothes to change them when they start teething and drooling. Even the cleanliest of women will have a hard time keeping their bouncing baby from getting filthy. Babies lose temperature easy. Remember keeping their head, feet and hands covered as possible. Swaddle them when they are young and during the cold weather. Later when they grew more hair and are more active, there is less concern to keeping their head covered. Appropriate attention to hygiene and cleanliness of their clothing will go a long way in their toddler stage and upwards to adult hood.

Diapers are a huge concern. One of the happiest days in parenting is when you realize you no longer have to purchase diapers. Prepping for the collapse and planning to have disposable enough diapers to last you two years as your child ages and grows is a herculean task. While much harder to deal with and requiring more work to clean, it is easier to pack and store cloth diapers and accessories for a your child. For one, the diapers don’t change in size, you simply change how you fold them to meet the child’s new size. You can buy several diaper wrappers to keep in the wetness in the diapers. Buying one hundred cloth diapers and accessories (pins, wrappers, rash medication) will be much easier to plan for than trying to store a warehouse of diapers.

Anything else?

Well yes, matter of factly! Changing socks and underwear is very important. Socks are very important for the care of your feet. If you have sweaty feet, deodorant applied to the feet can help. Other than that, be sure to change your socks often. This will fight not only odor but other foot ailments. This also applies to underwear. Your mother always told you to have a pair of clean underwear in the car, well I am telling you to change your underwear often especially if you sweat a lot. Moisture that doesn’t get wicked away from your groin and behind can leave you irritable, chaffed, and experience things such as ‘jungle rot.’ Nothing more pleasant than having to clean away the dead skin that has accumulated in your nether regions.

Belts and hats should also be part of your preparation. Of all the belts I have, I only plan on bringing the web belts that I have purchased from our local army surplus store. For one they function just as they are supposed to and hold my pants up. Secondly, they are easily adjustable if I either lose weight or carrying two base layers under my current clothing during the cold. They also are easy to clip on attachments like clipped ammo pouches, pocket knives, and holsters. In a pinch I have used them to tie up game to sling across my back on the way back from checking traps during the winter. As for hats, you need a couple. You need one cold gear hat that will keep your head and ears warm. Be that a stocking cap, or one of those funny Elmer Fudd hats, you need something to keep the warmth in. You need a hat to keep the sun off your neck for field work. This should be something with a wide brim and breathable during warm weather. I would also suggest a ball cap or other styled hat that you can wear for normal work to keep the sweat from your eyes and your hair back.

With all this information, I still remained a little vague as it is hard to ascertain the importance of one type of garment or item for one family over another. God only knows why my wife loves those dumpy Elmer Fudd hats, but she does and will go out proudly into cold wearing it. She always said that a ‘A cold head isn’t cool.’  When you put your items up for storage, remember that you need to evaluate each year. After one year has passed, those clothes marked for year one needed to be added to their current play clothes and shoes they wear. Then you rotate the second year’s clothes into the first year’s clothes box. By inspecting them and moving them allows you to ascertain whether or not your predicted correctly or if you need to make adjustments when you go out to fill your new second year bin. Choosing clothing cannot be as mathematical as determining the caloric intake needs of the family and buying stored foods accordingly. Here there is a little fudge room. I always lean to purchase on the larger side because I can always tighten up a belt or hem the bottom of my pants. Be thrifty, and truthful for your clothing needs and you will have what you need to keep you and yours covered!

Candle Making For Preppers, by Jennifer L.

So, you think anyone can make candles.  Well, now that I’ve made a hundred and have tried to teach my friends, I’m not so sure!   I decided a month ago that I wasn’t going to wait for a TEOTWAWKI situation to figure out how to make them!  I’m making them now and thought I would share my “lessons learned” with you.  I know that all of us have plenty of flashlights, batteries, oil lamps and kerosene lanterns packed away.  But if the poles shift and batteries don’t work, if you run out of oil and kerosene…. then candles might just be something you need to know how to make.  Or at least stock up on them so you have them when you need them.

Please note that many of the links in this article are to youtube videos that will clearly show you how to do the things I am talking about.

Molds:
You can use sand or fine dirt for a mold.  Empty tin cans.  Hollowed tree limbs.  Milk cartons.  Anything that is hollow.  You can drill a hole in the bottom of it and tie your wick through it, or you can simply tie your wick around a penny or a small stone and drop that to the bottom of the container.  There are numerous commercial molds on the market today.  Stick with simple designs that do not waste space when stacked for storage.

Mold preparation. 
If you want a clean mold, attach a copper-scouring pad over a bottlebrush to get down inside crevices and corners.

If you have a mold with a hole in the bottom such as one of the many pre-formed molds available on the market today, put your wick through the hole and then putty it securely shut.  Once this is done, anchor the other end of the wick with a wood skewer, dowel, or metal rod at the other end.

Wicks
There are three common types of wicks: 
1. Cored wicks.  These are basic braided wicks with a piece of metal wire in the middle providing sturdiness. (I do not recommend metal core wicks.)
2. Flat braided wicks. They look like a standard braided wick, but are flat.
3. Square braided wicks.

You can make your own wicks using three strips of heavy cotton string or yarn.  Soak it in a mix of 1 tablespoon of sale, 2 tablespoons of boric acid and 1 cup of water for 12 hours.    Hang to dry, then braid together.

To prime a cotton wick, dip it in hot wax and allow it to dry.

Wicks can also be twigs, piths (stems of plants).   From an old kitchen cloth mop – use 1 strand from the braid as a wick.  Twist strips of cotton and use as a wick.  For longer burning candles, pre-wax the wick by soaking it in wax and allowing it to hang dry.  (You can do 25 repeat dips to get a simple taper candle). 75 yards of wick at your local craft store will run about $10 with your 40% off coupon.  Pre-waxed wicks are lightweight and can be stored rolled up inside newspaper.

Thick wicks are needed for larger diameter candles so the wax does not pool and burn out the flame.  Thin wicks are used for narrow candles.  Pre-waxed wicks burn longer.

There are over 100 wick sizes on the market.  Most manufacturers have charts.  Just make sure you use the same wick with the same manufacturer’s wax or it might not work.

Wax:
The earliest known candles were made from whale fat in the 3rd century.  And while I doubt I have whale fat in an emergency, I can probably find a beehive, tallow (animal fat) or fish.  Boiling 15 pounds of bayberries will give you one pound of wax.  Not profitable, but not impossible.  If you live in a tropical area, coconut oil can be used as well as palm oil from palm trees.  Olive oil from pressed olives is the most ancient oil used. 

Commercial waxes that you can purchase include paraffin, veggie, bayberry, beeswax and pre-blended candle wax.  Each type of wax has a different melting point.  Beeswax will burn longer and with less odor than other waxes.

Did you know that Paraffin wax could also be used as an electrical insulator?  Might be a handy product to pack in your BOB.

Wax must be heated until it is fluid.  It does not need to boil.  You don’t need a thermometer, but may want one if you use a variety of waxes, as each will have a different melting point.  Do not melt wax in a pan directly over a burner.  Put the pan with the wax inside a larger pan with boiling water.  This will prevent any possibility of a fire. 

Soy wax is new, and can be melted in a microwave.  It’s very soft, so use it in a container, or add candle hardener.

When the wax is fluid, pour it into your mold or dip your wick into it.

Heat the bottom of the candle to make it flat if it wicks up the wick.

Use sandpaper to get a flat bottom.

Refurbishing old candles.
I pick up old candles at thrift stores, often for 50 cents each.  It doesn’t matter if they’ve been burned or not as I will melt them down, use new wicks and pour new candles.  It’s the least expensive method of getting wax.  Some have been sitting on a shelf in someone’s house for years and need to be cleaned up.  The best product on the market is called “Wax Away” and it can be used to clean old candles and make them look brand new.  You can use a heat-it tool or hair dryer to smooth out flaws on the top or the sides of old candles.

Many used candles come with a thin colored film over it, or painted elements.  These can be removed quite easily using a potato peeler.

Practice makes perfect:
My personal experience making candles has been filled with many mistakes in the learning process.  Make sure the hole in the bottom is well plugged.  You do not want a pint or so of hot wax running out the bottom and all over your counter, table and floor.  If this does happen, quickly life the mold over the melting pan.  Or have a stack of folded paper towels that you can use to stop the leak.

Research and study as much as you can before you start!  There are great instructions on the web.  But the key is to study before you start, not after!

If you have a mold with a hole in the bottom such as one of the many pre-formed molds available on the market today, put your wick through the hole and then putty it securely shut.  After you’ve done this, then anchor the other end of the wick by tying it around a cross bar (wood skewers work great for this.)

When you first light a large candle, burn it for an hour so that the wax melts and is absorbed by the wick.  If the wick drowns in the wax, your wick is too small, too narrow, or the wax is too soft and needs to have more hardener added to it.

The opposite is true.  If there is no melt pool, or you get a flickering flame, your wick is too large, or your wax is too hard.

Always cut the wick to ¼” each time you light the candle.  Do not burn in a draft as your candle will burn unevenly. Glass hurricanes work well to protect the candle from wind. If the wick was not well centered, the candle may burn unevenly as well. 

And while candles cannot tell time, they can be used for timekeeping.  Burn it 1” for study, 1” for prayer, 1” for duties, 1” for rest….you can divide up your day into equal periods of time burning a candle.

As you experiment and practice, you will learn the right sized wick for each mold that you have.  I usually pour a candle once and burn it for an hour to see what will happen.  I can easily re-melt the rest of the candle if I’ve made a mistake or need to correct something.

The difference between candles and oil (lamps):
Olive oil, any type of cooling oil, liquid fat or grease will work.  You will need a container to put the oil in and a wick.  The oil is drawn up the wick where it vaporizes and gets burned by the flame.  A few ounces of oil will burn for several hours and in some cases, may be cheaper than candles.  That’s not my case since I recycle old candles from thrift stores.  But I would recommend storing wicks and oil as an alternative.  Lampante oil is olive oil not suitable for eating, but for burning, and it is cheaper than cooking olive oil.  For an oil lamp, you can use a kerosene wick – about 1” wide and flat.  These will put off a great source of light.  You can run a thin wire down the middle if you want the wick to stay in a certain position. 

Finally, something to consider.  If power goes out and something happens to where batteries will not work, and you run out of kerosene (heavy to pack) and oil, at least you will know how to make candles with something as simple as beeswax or tallow, plant piths and sand or fine dirt.  I highly recommend practicing now so you have these skills when needed.