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 March 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.

Canning Protein, by Taressa

Home food preservation is an important part of my food storage program.  I decided that if it can be sold in a can in the store, then I should be able to put it up myself, in jars.  I buy dry goods such as rice, pasta, potato flakes and dry beans and use a canner to store them in large #10 cans, as well as vacuum sealing with the “FoodSaver” jar lid port.  I’ve also hit a few sales after the holidays to buy a supply of candy to vacuum seal in jars for a time when a little comfort food will go a long way.  Perhaps the most important instrument in my families food storage program is my pressure cooker/canner.  I found one on sale a few years ago at Wal-Mart after the canning season and bought one for my daughter and one for myself.  I had been canning jelly for many years in a boiling water bath, but had not tried to use the pressure cooker/canner until last year.  I had a friend who has been canning for years to teach me to put up meat in canning jars.  Since then, I will usually check the mark down meats at the local market and will sometimes catch the chicken or hamburger marked down 50% because it is nearing it’s expiration date.  I buy all the skinless, boneless chicken they have, and I bring it home and can it for later. This also works well with putting up ground beef.

Years ago, when I was a young teen, my grandmother would get me up at 5:00 am to go out and help her pick the garden.  We live in the south where there is never a time it isn’t humid and sticky, but especially during the late spring and summer months of the year.  She would have me wear one of her long sleeve cotton shirts, long baggy pants, sock, sneaker or boots, gloves and a wide brim hat.  We were quite a site, but there wasn’t anyone to see us that early in the morning.  We would pick squash, cucumbers, corn, peas, and butter beans.  It wasn’t so bad having to pick the squash, we would just wash them and eat them…mostly fried, but sometimes stewed with onions.  But the cucumbers had to be put up as pickles, the corn had to be shucked, blanched and scraped for cream corn, and those peas and butter beans had to be shelled.  All day we would sit and shell those peas, and then that evening she would have me help her ‘put them up’ as she called canning. During the summer we would also have to ’go down the road’ and pick some berries.  Now grandma would give me a bucket that was about as big as I was, and tell me to fill it up, usually with black berries.  When I’d get home several hours later, we would wash those berries, boil them and then mash them and make jelly out of the berry juice. I tell you all this so you can see that I have been around canning most of my life, but until last year, I didn’t know you could can meat.  My grandma never did can meat.  Meat was always hung in the smoke house out back.  But not anymore. Now, it goes in a jar on one of my many shelves of canned protein. I didn’t like it that my two younger sisters never had to help with this grueling process, but today I am the only grandchild (out of 32) who knows how and enjoys canning fruit, vegetables, and meat.  I am glad I learned this art from my grandmother and can still enjoy the ‘fruits’ of our labors, even though she’s been gone for more than 20 years.  Several years ago, I found an old jar of jelly that my grandma had put up the year before she died.  I don’t know why I had saved it, but I decided to share it with my family.  I baked a simple cake, and used the jelly as icing on the cake.  At Christmas, I announced to my family that 

I hope that I can teach my daughters and my nieces how to preserve food the way my grandmother did.  I think this is a skill that will be very useful to us all in the future. 

I know that we can not live by bread alone, but the men in my house think they have to have meat and potatoes at least once a day.  And I am happy to try to oblige them whenever possible.  Besides meat, I also put up salsa, home made chili, and boiled peanuts. These are also an excellent source of protein. Here in the south, we love our boiled peanuts.  I started putting them in jars last year, also.  Now I can hardly keep them on the shelf!  My husband and my son open a jar almost every night to eat while watching their favorite television shows.  During the hard times I am afraid is coming, I have come up with some ways to utilize the boiled peanuts to the fullest.  After opening the jar, we drain off the salty water and used it to flavor a can of mixed vegetables to make it into soup.  You can also use the salty water to gargle for a sore throat.  Boiled peanuts are a great snack because, unlike many salty snacks, they do not turn into sugar like some carbohydrates.

I have been trying to incorporate using my canned meat, chicken and hamburger, into some of our meals now, so that it will not be so strange when we do hit hard times and do not have the option of using fresh meat, unless we have just come back from hunting.  But I figure that everyone will be out trying to hunt and fish and being in the woods with a bunch of strangers carrying guns is not my idea of a viable option.  Some of the dishes I have tried using the canned chicken are home made chicken salad for sandwiches.  We have had it with Chicken Helper chicken alfredo and southwest chicken.  I have used the chicken to make chicken noodle soup,  chicken pot pie, and chicken and rice.  I will usually add a can of Cream of Chicken soup to the chicken noodle soup to make it creamier. 

The hamburger is put up cooked, with a bullion cube and water, as loose ground beef.  We use the hamburger meat to make tacos, Sloppy Joes, spaghetti, and again with Cheeseburger Macaroni Hamburger Helper.   It works great with any of the Hamburger Helpers, but the cheeseburger macaroni is our family favorite.

You can find the instructions for canning meat and canning chicken in the instruction booklet that comes with your pressure canner/cooker.  The recipe is also in the Ball Blue Book of Preserving.  My friend has shown me how to put up deer sausage, so I plan to do that this year.  It looks like sausage links in the jar, but when you pour out the water, the sausage casing disintegrates and leaves you with loose sausage, which is great for sausage and rice or mixed with eggs for a breakfast casserole.  Happy Canning!

Survival Gardening: A Cautionary Tale, by Cindy M.

I am writing this to encourage you to do with gardening and food preparation what we are encouraged to do with all of our prepping, practice, practice practice, your life depends on knowing that your plan will work!  I don’t know if this will even qualify as a survival article but if nothing else maybe it will help some, like me, who need that little kick in the pants to start practicing our survival plans.  Maybe some of our mistakes, outlined in this article, will help you avoid them and experience a more successful first year of gardening than we experienced. 

My husband and I have spent the past three years researching information on seeds and gardening and we agreed that this would be my area to plan and oversee with his help.  We understood that our choice of seeds and the success of our gardening could mean the difference between surviving or not.  We chose heirloom seeds so we could save seeds for future gardens.   We considered our options for placement, we have a very big challenge, we have limited space for a garden due to our location.  We opted for raised beds, this is to help maximize space and yield. 

Last year we purchased our seeds as part of our Christmas, which was centered on preparation and survival equipment.  In February, I began my first year of survival gardening.  I had planned what to plant and knew what needed to be started indoors before spring.  I put the grow lights in the basement fixtures where we were setting up our little green house and meticulously spent a day planting my seeds with a lot of optimism and prayer.  It was very exciting to see the little seedlings start to grow and gave me a real sense of accomplishment.  In the spring I moved them up to our sun porch, to start hardening them off.  We got our raised beds built.  We then prepped the ground we were placing them on, tilling and removing grass etc.  We then filled our raised beds and I made my map of where everything was to be planted based on my assessment of the sun, the space and trying companion planting to help control pests.  The raised beds were also awesome for controlling weeds, grass etc and helped with watering and prevented wasting water.  We used lumber from pallets that we were able to get for free.  The down side is that they will have to be replaced, something we are working on with a more permanent solution,  it is that or stock up on pallets for replacement down the road.

As the days warmed we began planting and moving our plants outdoors.  We also chose to utilize Square Foot gardening in our beds, to maximize space.  We used string to mark off the beds in square foot planting grids.  This worked well for us and we will continue to use this method.  I knew early on that my tomato’s were not doing as well as I hoped.  I gave it several weeks and decided to replace them, so I went to a local nursery and bought replacement non hybrid variety’s and replanted.  Not an option TEOTWAWKI.  We also had several other failures from our attempt to start our seedlings indoors.  In fact almost everything we started inside failed and had to be replaced or we simply did not grow this year.  I know what some of my mistakes were and will try again this year making adjustments.  The size and type of containers as well as waiting to long to move them up to the sun porch was part of the problem as well as the soil mixture we chose.  So this year I will practice once again and hope that I have learned enough on this front to be on the road to  success. 

We had mixed results with the seeds planted directly into the soil, our beans, squash, peas and cucumber did well but were planted too late.  Our yield was very low.  I also lost my squash’s and cucumbers to a pest that rotted the main stem.  We tried using diatomaceous earth for pest control with limited success, you have to reapply every time it rains and it can also kill the critters you want in you garden.  Next lesson learned, Sevin Dust  is going into our survival supplies, at least until I master organic gardening.  A little Seven on the garden is more desirable than a loss of life sustaining food.  The next problem I encountered was my layout failed.  I planted in such a way that my tomato’s overshadowed my peppers and we did not get enough sun and they grew like vines and never yielded anything.  They could not get enough sun.  I learned this year what parts of my garden layout worked to best utilize the sun exposure and where it failed.  I also did not allow enough room and need to plant more beans.  The weather was also a challenge, we live in the Midwest and our summers can be very dry and hot.  Our tomato’s grew and grew but were not setting fruit or did not ripen until the weather moderated closer to fall.  Earlier planting would have yielded us an early crop to enhance the later crop close to fall, having to replant cost us valuable time in the early season.  We had some great salads using our large variety of lettuces and I learned how to pick the lettuce and a variety of greens to keep them producing.   I was able to can about 19 pints of tomatoes, 9 pints of pickles from the cucumbers before the pests got them and 16 pints of green tomato salsa.  I also gathered a pint of mixed dried beans, navy, kidney, wrens egg and black eyed peas, I will also use some of these for replanting along with seeds left over to see if gathering these worked and if they will propagate, the rest will go into a pot of bean soup this winter.  It was rewarding to put up what little we got out of our garden and deepened my determination to do better next year. 

I learned what I need to plant more of and less of.  For example, I would rather have beans on the shelf than to try and creatively use more radishes than we could eat.  Some of the foods we grow can be canned, frozen, dried or stored in a root cellar but some need to be used fresh from the garden.  I also need to work on spacing my plantings over weeks to extend the yield as well as planting fall crops to extend the the growing season. 

Overall our first attempt at survival gardening was a huge failure, I am so thankful that we were not depending on it this year in a survival situation.  I am also thankful that I dug in and applied my plan and put in the work to learn these lessons and hope that this next year will yield success built on those lessons.  I have learned that the life sustaining skill of gardening needs to be practiced and  lessons learned while we can still feed our families without depending on the food we can grow. I planned very carefully and believed I had it all worked out,  I am so glad I had the opportunity to put my plan into practice before it becomes critical to my families survival and to learn that, I had a lot to learn. 

There were also many things we were prompted to think about and to work out in advance.  We will be working on how to best turn our little sun porch into a green house so that we do not have to rely on grow lights.  Grow lights are a  fine alternative now but may not be feasible TEOTWAWKI.  We are also going to build some cold frames to cover our new seedlings and to give us an opportunity to plant earlier.  These will provide some protection from the chilly spring nights and help hold in the warmth from the day as well as protection from insects until the plants are stronger.  This was something else we learned that we really needed, to help prolong our growing season and give our seedlings a better start.  In working the garden this year we were also motivated to think about water when TEOTWAWKI  hits.   So, we worked out a way that we can have water on hand near our garden during the times we need to water.  We  bought large food grade barrels to place under the down spouts on our garage to collect rainwater with a spigot attached near the bottom.   This enables us to attach a hose so we can water when we need to supplement mother nature.  Our garage is detached from our home and the garden is right next to it, so this works out well.  This won’t help during a prolonged drought but most of the time, in our area,  it will provide a really good supplement to mother nature under normal weather patterns.  So much of what we are doing, such as gardening, in prep for whatever may come, is not rocket science but there can be many details that need our attention, before our lives depend on it, things we won’t think of until we are using our preparations.  Practicing helps us to find what we have missed.  In some cases we will be able to adjust as we go but things like watering a garden could be the difference between security and success and a devastating failure. 

I don’t want to discourage anyone by sharing this.  In spite of my failures, I felt empowered by my effort and the knowledge that I am building and learning skills that could make a difference when faced with TEOTWAWKI.  I learned the importance of not only practicing my gardening but also the need to practice with many other aspects of our survival plan and preparations.   I urge everyone who has not practiced their gardening to start next spring and not wait until your family is dependent on that part of your preparedness plan.  By drawing out and putting my garden plan to paper I have also made it easier to evaluate and rework my plan, now that I put it to practice and learned what worked and what did not.  I hope you have a better outcome with your first efforts.  The important thing is to begin the effort now, before your life depends on it! All the plans, preparation and supplies in the world will not help us if we do not learn to use them, learn what works and learn what does not work.  The bottom, bottom line is that I am thankful for the opportunity to practice my garden at a time that the hungry eyes of my kids and grand kids were not looking at me for success.  Hopefully when that time comes I will have learned all my lessons and will have a very successful survival garden.  In the meantime, we need to practice as though our lives depend on it. 

Letter Re: A Do-It-Yourself Freestanding Shelf Cold Frame

JWR:
A key to survival will be having a handy way to start seedlings any time of the year, or perhaps to even have a micro-greenhouse for Winter vegetables.  A cold frame is great for this and you can make one for yourself very easily  My wife and I have been starting a lot of seeds recently and I thought I would pass on a simple homemade cold frame idea I had.  This cold frame requires no tools and only about an hour to assemble.  If you buy the materials, you can purchase everything for about $100.
 
I started with an old set of poly garage shelving that I had stored in the garage.  The set I have is a sturdy set made by Continental (I have no affiliation with this company) which sells for $81 or more, though you can find other brands for less.  The shelves are ventilated and the entire set is made of poly with no metal parts, so outdoor s it won’t deteriorate due to rust, and when not in use, they store disassembled in a very small space.  Amazon doesn’t have it in stock at the moment, but this is the one I use.  I like these because they are very sturdy and can handle the weight.  The second item needed is a 15” roll of mover’s stretch plastic wrap.  This wrap adheres to itself and is used by movers to protect furniture, and may be purchased online or at your local U-Haul (again, no affiliation) for about $17.  You may also want to purchase some clear packing tape to keep your creation from unraveling in the breeze.
 
Step 1: Assemble Shelf
To assemble your cold frame, first assemble the shelving unit.  The unit consists of four shelves, with a total of 12 round legs to support the shelves.  As an option, you can combine multiple units to add additional shelves, but beware of the tipping hazard and secure your unit when finished.  The shelves assemble by simply slipping the legs into the four corners of each shelf, requiring no fasteners. 

Step 2: Wrap bottom, sides, and top
Use the stretch plastic to wrap the shelf unit on the bottom, sides, and top first, leaving a bit of overlap on the sides in the front and back, making sure you overlap layers for adhesion, and stretch it to fit snugly. 

Step 3: Wrap front and back, leave a gap
Next, wrap the left and right sides of the shelf unit leaving a 12” gap in the center of the front and back, again overlapping with the sides.  Wrap these in the direction of the back, away from you, starting at the top and ending at the top.  It’s best to use a continuous loop all the way around.

Step 4: Repeat Steps 2 and 3
Repeat these two wrapping steps (steps 2 and 3) to create an overlapping second layer of plastic.

Step 5: Wrap the “Door”
Finally, wrap the 12” inch center section in the opposite direction, but this time, start at the bottom, go up the back, and over the top, ending at the bottom of the shelf unit at your feet.  Leave about two or three feet of extra plastic wrap at this point wrapped around a dowel or old broom handle.  This will allow you access to the cold frame by opening this last section, with a handy place to roll up the plastic.  Wrapping the “door” in the opposite direction will help to prevent unwrapping the rest of the plastic when you open it.  You can open the “door” partially and weight down the roller to allow ventilation, or roll it up and put it on top of the unit as needed.  When closed, tuck the broom handle next to the bottom shelf and hold in place with a log or rocks.   This unit is very light and may be moved indoors if needed due to extreme cold, or moved to different places on your property if the amount of sunlight needed varies.  Place your seedlings and starter trays inside and begin planning your harvest!
 
Options you can add include baling wire for extra security holding the unit together before the wrapping process (though you may have to deal with rust later), and if you are setting it up in a windy area, you might want to anchor it to the ground or a wall.  If you need to use the top shelf inside the frame, you can extend the wrap higher using a light spacer such as a couple of milk cartons on each end of the top shelf before wrapping it up.  If you do this, add a board between them to suspend the plastic wrap “roof.”
 
Best Regards, – Ron in Florida

Letter Re: Ammunition Manufacturers in The American Redoubt

James, 
I am trying to facilitate my move to the American Redoubt area and am planning some income sources. I make knives, holsters, and pouches for other accessories but I am looking to expand what I can offer to help support my family when we move. My question is for you as well as anyone else you know in that area. I am an avid reloader and was wondering what the ammo options are like in the American Redoubt region. I’m curious about local places that offer a decent selection at a good price. From a few years of experience in construction in Montana (when I wasn’t paying attention to ammo suppliers), goods and services tend to be more expensive than what I am used to where I currently am. I suspect due to higher cost of transport and lower availability. This has led me to guess that local ammo suppliers may be more expensive and have less supply than more populated areas. I am also curious about suppliers that also accept barter for other goods and services.

Any information you could pass along on the availability of local ammo dealers and where they may be lacking would greatly be appreciated. Thanks and God bless! – G.A.

JWR Replies: The best way to buy or barter for ammunition is directly from manufacturers. There are a surprising number of small ammo and reloading component makers in the American Redoubt, and more moving in each year. Western Montana seems to be the current hot spot for ammo makers.

The prices from these makers are very competitive. The higher cost of shipping components is more than offset by the business friendly, gun friendly, and hunting friendly environment. Overall, there is a very low cost of doing business in the Redoubt states. (These advantages include inexpensive manufacturing and warehouse space, very inexpensive electricity from hydroelectric power (as low as 4 cents per kilowatt hour, commercially), low labor costs, and low taxes. The only downsides are slightly higher heating costs, and typically a one day delay to get anything to or from anywhere via UPS.

In Idaho:

Let’s of course start with the big one: CCI, in Lewiston, Idaho

And consider that Idaho’s state government is actively courting ammunition and gun manufacturers.

And here is just a sampling of makers:

PNW Arms (Potlach)

Steele Components (Lewiston)

Xtreme Ammo And Brass (Caldwell)

Garnet Ammunition (Coeur d’Alene)


In Montana:

The ammo business is hopping!

BVAC

The Hunting Shack

Mark X Presses

Montana Gold Bullet

Buffalo Bore. (Oft-mentioned in SurvivalBlog.)

Montana Bullet Works

And there is a detailed listing at the Montana Shooting Sports Association web site.


In Eastern Oregon:

Nosler Bullets

Rimrock Ammunition

Laser Cast

In Eastern Washington:

Cowboy Bullets

In Wyoming:

Fine Ammo (The makers of Extremmuntion)

CheyCast

Mount Baldy Bullets

There are also MANY Redoubt-based small companies listed at the Corbin web site. (Just search on the Redoubt telephone area codes: 208,509, 406, 307, 541, and 458.)

In my experience, the gun and ammo makers in the Inland Northwest have a very loyal fraternal spirit. They do their best to give each other business. There is a very active gun show circuit in the Redoubt and the dealers do a great job of helping each other out. Even out-of-state vendors like Miwall get into the act, and attend a large number of shows in the Redoubt.

Since ammo vendors typically “go out heavy and come back light” when selling at gun shows, it is a natural for local manufacturers to drop off wholesale ammunition orders to the vendors directly at gun shows. This of course saves money on transportation costs.

Odds ‘n Sods:

M.P. mentioned that the last free version of Ham Radio Deluxe, used for communicating with various digital modes, is available here.

   o o o

California’s mobile hospitals are losing funding and time. (Thanks to Sean B. for sending the link.)

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Security Slackers Risk Internet Blackout on March 8.

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Joe M. sent this one: Daylong traffic jam on Interstate 10 leads to motorist horror stories. [JWR’s Comment: If just fixing some potholes caused this, then what will the major freeways look like when the Schumer hits the fan?]

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Mysterious illness kills thousands in Central America. It sounds like dehydration was a contributing factor in many of the deaths. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! (Thanks to R.C. for the link.)

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Freedom is not a place to visit, or a thing to be achieved. Freedom is a commitment, a way of life that will endure only as long as men love it for themselves and their children, more than their weariness, or their fear, or vain comforts.”  – Michael Case

Pat’s Product Review: North American Arms .22 LR Mini-Revolver and Guardian .32 Autopistol

I’m not a fan of “mouse calibers” for self-defense! However, I’m a firm believer in having some sort of back-up piece to my main gun. I still remember when I saw my first North American Arms (NAA) Mini .22 LR revolver. I want to say it was in the mid 1970s, and I was at my favorite gun shop in a southwestern suburb of Chicago. I was good friends with the fellow who worked there, and he always wore a baseball cap. He took his baseball cap off, and revealed he was carrying, in a pocket, sewn into the brim of the hat: a North American Arms mini-revolver in .22 LR. I was really taken with the itty-bitty gun because of the compactness of it, and how easily it could be concealed.
 
Needless to say, I purchased a NAA mini-revolver on-the-spot that day. I took it to the indoor range at the gun shop and had a blast shooting the little gun. I did find out though, that the gun was ammo sensitive, and there were some misfires with certain brands of .22 LR ammo. I carried that little gun in my jacket pocket, as a back-up to a .357 Magnum Colt snubby revolver that I carried in my duties as a Private Investigator. I also worked another gig as a plainclothes store detective, and one of my duties was taking the weekend cash receipts (sometimes as much as $50,000) to the bank at the far end of the mall parking lot. I carried the bank bag stuffed inside of a store bag, so it looked like I had just purchased something from the store. I also kept my hand in my jacket pocket, on the little NAA mini-revolver. There never was a problem going to the bank.
 
I don’t recall what I did with that little NAA mini-revolver – probably traded it for something else. It was just recently that I received a new NAA mini-revolver for testing. These little guns only weigh 4.5 oz, so you hardly even know you’re carrying one. I also requested an inside the pocket holster for my sample. Neat holster, in which, you could also carry 5 spare rounds of .22 LR ammo. Now, make no mistake, you can not speed reload the NAA .22 LR if you fire all 5 shots. However, the extra ammo is there should you have an opportunity to get behind cover and reload the gun. Loading takes time, you have to remove the cylinder pin and cylinder from the revolver in order to load it, and it takes longer to reload, as you have to punch out the empty brass.
 
The NAA mini-revolver is made out of stainless steel, and that’s a good thing for a gun you are gonna carry in a pocket. You can also get a holster to carry it on your belt. However, I think pocket carry is the way to go. They also make a grip that looks to all the world like you’re carrying a folding knife in your pocket – all you see is the clip on the outside of you pants pocket. Neat! [JWR Adds: Consult your local and state law, of course.] With a 1-1/8″ barrel you’re not gonna get a lot of velocity out of this gun, nor are we looking at any sort of long-range accuracy, either. This gun is meant as a last-ditch back-up to whatever else you might be carrying in my humble opinion. The NAA .22 LR fires single-action only, which means you have to cock the hammer for each shot. The sights – well for me, forget about it–they are too small. Then again, this little revolver is for up-close and personal use: sort of “stick it in their face or ear” and fire it.
 
I only fired the mini-revolver at 10 feet, as I believe this is a realistic distance for a back-up gun of this size and caliber. I wasn’t getting itty-bitty groups – not gonna lie about that. However, I was able to put 5-shots into a head-sized target, and that’s good enough for making someone wish they had picked on another victim.
 
NAA makes a variety of mini-revolvers, from .22 Short through .22 Magnum, and there are all manner of barrel lengths as well as methods in which to carry these guns. They even make a belt buckle holster, if you care to carry the gun in the open – few would be the wiser looking at the belt buckle with the gun on it.
 
In the earlier NAA mini-revolvers, it was only safe to carry 4 rounds in the 5 round chamber, for fear of dropping the gun and it landing on the hammer and firing the live round under the hammer. On the new guns, you can safely load all 5 chambers and then put the hammer on half-cock, and there’s no fear of the gun firing if you drop it. I have a friend who is a gun writer, and he routinely carries a NAA mini-revolver in his front shirt pocket – as a back-up to a .357 Mag revolver in his right front pants pocket. I’d like to see NAA devise some kind of “holster” carry for carrying this little gun in a baseball cap. Sure, you can devise a little pouch and sew it into a baseball cap yourself. But I’d like to see a professionally done “holster” for this type of carry. The last place anyone would look for a gun on your person, would be inside a baseball cap.
 
I literally had a blast testing the little mini-revolver. I fired a couple hundred rounds through it. This was not all in one session, as loading and reloading are slow. I fired four different types of .22 LR ammo and had zero failures to fire. The trigger pull is a bit stout, then again, this isn’t any sort of target gun, it’s meant for close-up, last ditch, self-defense us–as well, as just shooting fun. Full retain is only $199 on this little gun, it’s worth checking one out if you are looking for a last line of defense. It’s better than a sharp stick or better than throwing rocks. Sure, the .22 LR isn’t any sort of man stopper, but it would sure make a bad guy wish he that were some place else when the chips are down and you are unloading on him.
 

The Guardian .32 Autopistol

The second sample I received from NAA is their Guardian .32 – this is their .32 ACP semiauto pistol. I had previously tested the NAA Guardian in .32 NAA caliber and .380 ACP, and really liked both of ’em. I did an article for American Handgunner on those two samples, and they were great performers. I was especially taken with the .32 NAA  a proprietary round, but it had lots of power behind it. So, I was anxious to test the Guardian in 32 ACP. The .32 ACP is on the smaller frame – the size of a .25 auto – we’re talking a very small automatic pistol, with 6+1 rounds of .32 ACP ready to go. Again, I personally wouldn’t carry this as my main gun, instead, it would be a back-up to whatever my main gun might be. Yes, I consider the .32 ACP in the “mouse gun caliber” category. However, with the right load, the .32 ACP can get the job done for you. In my case, I requested some Buffalo Bore Ammunition .32 ACP hard cast +P 75 grain ammo for testing in this little gun. Tim Sundles, who owns Buffalo Bore ammo, believes that this is the way to go if you’re carrying a .32 ACP, as his Flat Nose +P round will really penetrate and break bones. I’m not about to argue with him. He knows his stuff.
 
I requested the base-line Guardian .32, nothing fancy – just as basic as you can get. You can also order one with various types of sights on it – and take a close look at the NAA web site to see what’s available. The basic sights on the base-line Guardian .32 are really small, in fact too small for my aged eyes to see, especially if doing any rapid-fire. However, I consider the Guardian .32 as another close-up, last ditch weapon. My shooting was done at five yards, and I think that’s a fair distance for this little gun. I could get 3-to-4 inch groups (point shooting) at that distance, under rapid-fire conditions. I will say though, that the Buffalo Bore +P loads let you know you have something in your hand – the little 13.5 oz gun really bucked. The 10 pound trigger pull was a hindrance – at first. However, after firing the gun a few times, I didn’t notice the heavy pull. Again, this isn’t a target gun, you can’t stage the trigger – it’s aim and fire. Don’t try to stage the trigger or you’ll pull the sights off-target.
 
The Guardian .32 is a double-action only pistol, and the trigger pull is long and heavy. It’s nothing you can’t learn to shoot in short order, though. The 2.49″ barrel isn’t going to take advantage of all the velocity offered by the Buffalo Bore ammo +P load, but you are still getting +P power out an itty-bitty semiauto pistol, that will surely get someone’s attention if they are hit with this round. NAA was also kind enough to send me a spare magazine and an inside-the-pants shark skin pocket holster. The Guardian .32 comes with one magazine, that has an extended base on it – and it was enough to get 1-1/2 fingers on the gun for a grip. With the spare magazine with the flat base on it, I could only get my thumb and one finger around the gun. The extended base magazine is definitely the way to go.
 
Like the 22 LR, the Guardian .32 is made out of stainless steel, and the grips are some sort of hard plastic. You can also get all manner of grips as an option from NAA. And I’d look at getting a pair of wood grips, that are a tad thicker, for a better grip. NAA also offers all sorts of holsters for the Guardian .32 as well. They have a great selection of accessories for all their guns – and they make about 70 different models and variations of guns.
 
The magazine release was a bit stiff on my Guardian .32 sample, then again, this gun isn’t made for speed-reloading. It took a sure press on the magazine release button to drop the magazine.
 
What I really liked about the NAA Guardian .32 is the fact that it is very well-made. It’s not like some cheap $50 .25 ACP handgun. This gun will last you a lifetime, and, should you have any problems, NAA has a lifetime limited warranty and they’ll take care of it for you. Full retail is $402 on this little gun. Yeah, a little bit steep, but you are getting a high-quality pistol – not some cheap piece of junk. And, the Guardian .32 is fully capable of handling +P loads.
 
As for accuracy, I was getting 3-to-4 inch groups, rapid-fire, at 5 yards. That’s good enough to put ’em all inside of a person’s head, or into the vitals on the upper torso, too. I liked this gun – a lot! It’s a great little gun to drop into your pocket, when you are walking out to get the mail or answering the front door.
 
Yep, no doubt about it, the .22 LR and .32 ACP are mouse calibers in my humble opinion. But no one ever said there isn’t a place in the grand scheme of things of this smaller calibers. If you’re looking for a last ditch back-up gun or two, take a look at the NAA .22 LR or the Guardian .32 – they are both well-made, high quality pieces, that do have a place in the self-defense line-up.

Bowel Issues – Part 3, by Dr. Bob

IBS and TEOTWAWKI

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), is a difficult and tricky topic to cover.  First, let’s get some of the politics out of the way and then some pretty interesting facts about IBS to start with, then we will move on to some helpful management tips.  The actual definition of Irritable Bowel Syndrome is this:  a gastrointestinal syndrome characterized by chronic abdominal pain and altered bowel habits in the absence of any organic cause.  Obviously, if there is no way to actually test for a disease, then there is a wide interpretation of who has it and why they do; therefore, the politics.  There are some folks that believe that IBS should be labeled as a psychiatric disorder.  Often IBS is treated (sometimes successfully) with anti-depressant medications or even psychiatric medications.  Therefore, there are many out there that just toss IBS on the pile of “made up” diseases and close their minds to other options.  There are others that think IBS will be discovered to be a specific autoimmune disorder as time and research progresses.  Again, some medications that help problems like RA (rheumatoid arthritis) help some of the patients that suffer from IBS symptoms.  Others feel that IBS is a mechanical problem and if treated with the right diet and bowel regularity can be cured.  Still others feel that most IBS is misdiagnosed and if the proper workup were completed, these patient would find many alternate diagnoses instead of IBS.
 
The facts are interesting though about IBS:
• Prevalence varies widely among countries and is usually higher in developed countries
• Younger patients and women are more likely to be diagnosed with IBS
• Females to males with IBS is 2:1
• Costs estimate to be up to $30,000,000,000 dollars for IBS health care impact [, including missed days of work]
• 2nd most common cause of work absenteeism after the common cold!
• 25 to 50% of all GI (gastroenterologist) referrals
• Emotional stress often worsens the pain
 
The great thing about IBS is that almost all of us could really be diagnosed with it based on the criteria.  You can have diarrhea, or you can have constipation.  Usually, the pain is accompanied by a change in your bowel habits, but not always.  It can be relieved by a bowel movement, but not necessarily.  The official criteria, call Rome III Criteria, are as follows:
• recurrent abdominal pain or discomfort
• at least 3 days per month for at least 3 months
• associated with 2 of the 3
? improves after defecation
? start of symptoms is with change in bowel frequency (increase or decrease)
? start of symptoms is with change in stool appearance
 
Now, not to get too personal here, but if we eat enough Thai food or Mexican in my family it’s IBS for everyone!  This is what makes IBS tough for people to live with when they have a bad clinical case of it.  Most of the people around them think:  “big deal, you have stomach cramps and bowel problems, who doesn’t get that?”  The problem, from this Family Practitioner docs view, is how much do the symptoms have a life impact.  Lots of people meet the criteria for IBS and it doesn’t really affect their day to day living.  In fact, estimates are that only 15% of people with IBS criteria actually go to the doctor to do something about it.  There are others though that are basically disabled by IBS.  They have severe pain with bad diarrhea and are suffering every day.  This is why lots of different medications end up being “tried out” on IBS patients with severe disease.  Doctors just want to find something that helps the patient.
 
All patients will IBS should have already tried to eliminate all lactose from their diets to see if their symptoms improve.  That should be the case now rather than later.  Some patients will notice specific foods that worsen their IBS symptoms, and all IBS patients should keep a food diary for 2-3 months and note all foods and all symptoms in that diary.  The trends can be reviewed and those foods that worsen symptoms be avoided.  Again, this should be done now rather than when there is limited choice in foods.  Food allergies can often be a cause of or exacerbate IBS symptoms, and if you have IBS get your lab panel done now to see if food allergies are one of the causes of your symptoms.  Be sure the panel includes gluten, which is another source of IBS symptoms for some patients.  Some other foods that are thought to worsen some IBS patients include:  fructans, galactans, fructose, sobitol, xylitol, mannitol, and even fiber.  The diary should help to clue a patient in if these worsen or cause their symptoms.

Physical activity does help many, but not all patients with IBS.  Moderate physical activity is recommended for patients with IBS symptoms, and in a study those that did exercise improved and worsened less than the patients that were inactive.  Psychosocial therapies can help some patients, but the politics really kick in when you recommend hypnosis, biofeedback, and psychotherapy to a patient with stomach problems.  These treatments will obviously not be available WTSHTF.
 
Medications really are a last resort for the management of IBS, and any medicine is only to be used with the lifestyle and diet recommendations already reviewed above.  Any medication would have to be life-long and there is a lack of any convincing evidence of therapeutic benefit.  That being said, there are many IBS patients out there that take medications that truly improve their quality of life.  Again, any management of IBS should be done now as trials of medications and adjustment of doses will not be possible at TEOTWAWKI.
 
So, what can a person do to plan for the future without a grid if they have moderate to severe IBS.  The plain answer is:  make sure you have completed all the steps to modify and control your IBS symptoms, then continue more of the same.  If you have IBS now and manage it with diet, stress reduction, and fluids; you will need to continue those things WTSHTF.  If you take a medication, either over the counter or prescription, and it helps manage your IBS. You should probably have stockpile quantities of those meds for when the grid is no more.  The message is pretty clear:  get moving on management of your IBS when the grid is up and you will be a lot better off if it does go down.  Like most prepping issues, planning ahead pays off ten-fold compared to the “what do we do now” approach.  Stay strong, – Dr. Bob

JWR Adds: A family member with chronic IBS reported that Peppermint, Anise, and Fennel teas allproved to be a tremendous relief. The great news is that you can grow your own peppermint, anise, and fennel in many climate zones. I recommend that you start growing a patch of each now, so you can help any IBS sufferers in your community. Just be careful not to let the anise spread–it can become a pernicious weed.

—

Dr. Bob is is one of the few consulting physicians in the U.S. who prescribes antibiotics for disaster preparedness as part of his normal scope of practice. His web site is: SurvivingHealthy.com.

Letter Re: A Simple Way to Encrypt Your E-mail Using Apple Mail and GPG

Dear SurvivalBloggers:
There are a number of ways to encrypt or read encrypted email.  This one is about the easiest to get installed and running on your Macintosh computer, that I’ve run across. It uses the native Apple Mail program, and adds a OpenPGP Encryption and Signature option.

All you have to do is install the program from the dmg file, and enter a password.  There’s a GUI key interface for importing existing keys into it.

Of course not all emails need encryption, but that OPSEC sensitive email you need to send to loved ones or group members is a perfect example of when to use it.  Once installed, you choose what gets encrypted. 

Application: GPGTools (Developed by the GnuPG group.)
Download: https://github.com/downloads/GPGTools/GPGTools/GPGTools-20111224.dmg
Main Web site: http://www.gpgtools.org

Include in the install program are the following (from their web site):
 Compatible with OS X Lion.
 All applications are 64-bit compatible.
 Integrated GPGMail (OS X 10.5 to 10.7, Universal).
 Integrated GPG Keychain Access (OS X 10.5 to 10.7, Universal).
 Integrated GPGServices (OS X 10.6 to 10.7).
 Integrated GPGToolsPreferences (OS X 10.6 to 10.7).
 Integrated MacGPG 2 (OS X 10.5 to 10.7, Intel).
 Integrated MacGPG 1 (OS X 10.5 to 10.7, Universal).
 Integrated Enigmail (Thunderbird 3 to 8).

There’s even a screen-cast of the install, encrypting email, and using the Apple ‘Services’ feature for text edit encryption,  if you want to watch it before installing: http://www.gpgtools.org/screencast.html though I’ll warn you: it goes by so fast you should be ready to hit the pause and rewind buttons when you start it.

Steps [with Apple Mail closed]:

1. Download the GPG dmg file.
2. Have a password in mind
3. Open the dmg by double clicking the file in your web browsers Downloads window
4. Double Click the GPGtools.mpkg file and select an install location
5. When asked enter your email address, and name.
6. When asked, enter a password, then re-enter it when asked.

When completed, you can close the GPG Keychain Access application and start your Apple Mail.
When you select a ‘new’ email, you will see an OpenPGP section under the “from” drop-down list. Also you can get to the encryption/decryption options under “Messages -> OpenPGP” in your menu bar. This will allow you to sign and encrypt  and decrypt your email.

In addition, this bundle of GPGTools works with Apple’s Services, allowing for encryption of ‘Services’ aware applications.
If you open your System Preferences -> Keyboard you can click on Keyboard Shortcuts -> services and click the OpenPGP items under “Files and Folders” along with “Text” allowing you to encrypt any text file you open with textedit.
When you open textedit the next time you will see “Textedit->Services->Open PGP”  in the menu bar.

The toolkit also comes with a command line interface for encrypting just about any type of file you want, but that’s a little out of scope here.
For more information on the CLI, using public key servers, and general GPG information, check out this set of How-Tos.

Hope this helps, – Robert X.

Letter Re: Traditional Telephony WTSHTF

Jim:
I would like to begin this story by telling you why I felt it was needed. I was reading the blog and saw the post from R.H. “When the lights went out in the southwest” and how they had a very hard time getting in contact with his nephew. And also a recent post on CME and nuclear power plant failures and grid down type situations. And it got me thinking about how little some people know about how the traditional communications grid in this country works.
 
To qualify my position on this subject I will tell you that I’m a network technician for a very major telephone company (Telco) that serves all of Jim’s American Redoubt states and many others. I have 11 years here and love my job and I have been everything from an installer/repair tech to the guy that splices the cable and installs high speed data lines. 
 
So where to start? I would like to tell you all there is to know about how this stuff works, but I don’t want to bore you all to tears so I’m going to leave most of the technical terms and stuff like that out. I’ll start with R.H. and his trouble getting in touch with his nephew. 

In his story he talks about getting texts and some calls on his cell. So we can assume that he had a signal from a cell tower and his cell phone was in good working order. But there was a problem with one town not getting or sending cell calls and texts. This was possibly a tower that served that area had lost grid power and had no battery or generator back-up. Or it was over loaded with call volume. See in a typical cell site there are pretty much three major components that make the whole thing work.
 1. The tower, This guy sends out and receives radio like signals to and from your cell phone.
 2. The switching equipment in the building on the ground. This takes the signal and turns it into a call or SMS message and routes them out to the world. 
 3. The tower’s connection to the world. This is typically a couple T-1s or a fiber optic connection. 
 Sometimes part #2 or #3 will become over loaded with volume and that’s why you’ll get that message “sorry but all circuits are busy” when you try to make a call. The switch may not have enough spots free to connect you out but the tower can make a connection to your phone. Or the T-1 or fiber connection to the world doesn’t have enough bandwidth to handle all the calls if its being overloaded with calls. This is why sometimes you can send a SMS message but not make a call. Because the message needs less bandwidth to send compared to a voice call. 

Visualize bandwidth like a pipe. If its big enough to handle the traffic on a normal day but all of a sudden you start cramming more stuff in it it just can’t fit sometimes. Like trying to use a garden hose to fight a house fire, its just not big enough sometimes. Now land lines are a little bit different, and have some advantages for preppers over the cell phones. Don’t get me wrong they both have good and bad sides. If you have a land line great but if you don’t I’ll let you know why you might want to consider getting one.
 
First off the whole problem of signals and battery power on your end are almost nil. If you have a hard wired or “corded phone” it will use the electric signal that’s on the line from the Telco‘s own equipment. Assuming everything is working correctly at the central office, or some of the more rural areas are served thru what we call “pair gain” or a R.T. (short for Remote Terminal) more on this set-up later as there is a difference between Central Office (CO) based and R.T./pair gain based services. 

Second, the whole bandwidth issue is not as bad because the CO for your area is where most cell towers get their fiber/T-1’s from. Now CO switches can also become bogged down buy call volume also but most of the time they have extra capacity built into them because of this. And if you are making a call to another line that is from the same office the switch will make the connection in the same office. A long distance call or one that has to be sent to another office is more susceptible to volume problems due to the trunk lines used to connect the CO’s to each other becoming overloaded.  
 
Third, The COs have a big generator that kicks in when the office loses grid power. The offices I work out of have either a 72 hour supply of diesel fuel or run on utility-piped natural gas. But the diesel is most common as you can see the disadvantage to the gas option, I only know of one that is like that. Additionally, hey also have a 8 hour back-up battery bank. 
 
This is where the difference between CO-based service and R.T.s kicks in. First off the R.T. is usually connected to the CO by a dedicated group of T-1s that have one time slot per line in the R.T. so you don’t have the problem of “all circuits are busy” or a fiber optic connection that is for our sake the same. The trouble kicks in when these guys lose grid power, They typically have a 8-to-24 hour battery back-up in them and that’s it. We have to go out with our trucks and charge them back up with the gensets on our trucks. You can see where that could get tricky. Most newer DSL service is provided by a R.T. and some of them don’t even have a battery back-up as the companies are not required to have it on them by most regulations. My own line is like this, the dial tone is provided straight from the CO but my DSL comes from an R.T. So when my part of town loses grid power the phone still works but my DSL doesn’t. This is something you might consider if you are using a VOIP type system. 
 
The next thing you might think about is 911 service, your land line is tied to your address so if you call 911 from your land line the dispatcher on the other end knows where the call is coming from as soon as it’s received. This is why a 911 hang-up still brings the cops to your house. The cell phones are getting better about knowing where you are with GPS and other things being used to tell where you made the call from. 

I’m not to well-versed on how reverse 911 works with the cell’s but I do know it works well with the land lines. This could be a double edged sword for preppers as the cell or land line could give up your location if you want to be all secret squirrel, but I have personally installed lines to addresses that are something like: “County Road 21 pole 5 second gate on the left.” We don’t care where the house is, just where the N.I. (short for Network Interface) is. I have seen these little gray boxes on fence posts and we take it to there and the customer takes it past that point. There are other ways around this but it usually requires you to use VOIP to get a fake area code and number. I know of guys that use this type of stuff but that’s for another post.

This is just some info on why, during a short term SHTF you have problems using traditional communications. Be it a hurricane or another 9-11-01 type situation you’ll be better prepared for them. In a TEOTWAWKI type of scenario your pretty much doing the YOYO thing but I hope this helps for the minor emergencies you run into in you lives. 
 
And you can always stop one of us out on the road and ask questions to find out info on your setup. I would have to say that maybe 50% of the guys I work with are preppers and even more are ex-military so we would not think it strange at all if you wanted to know how it works! Hope this helps, – The Phone Guy

Recipe of the Week

Ken E.’s Chicken and Stuffing
 
Ingredients:
 
1/2 lb of Chicken or 2 Chicken Breasts.
1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup.
1 box of instant stuffing.
3 sticks of celery.
1 cup of water.
 
In a crock pot, or Dutch oven place the raw chicken and chopped celery and can of cream of mushroom soup set on low heat. cook for 3 hours or until chicken is just past pink. In a separate container add the stuffing mix and 1 cup of water and mix well. Add the stuffing to the chicken and soup mixture. Serve. This makes a meal for two healthy adults, or two kids and two adults when adding a side dish.

Chef’s Notes:

Our family of four likes to double the recipe. This amount of food gives me the ability to bring it for work the next day. The left-overs can be eaten hot or cold I have done both.
 
In the recipe I stated that the pot needs to be set at a low heat. I know that if you’re out in the sticks, without electricity and you are cooking with a fire. It might be a good idea to cook the chicken first then add the other ingredients after the chicken is done. Cooking the ingredients with the chicken allows the flavors to intermingle.

Jenn in Arizona Added This Suggestion:

“I have made this dish in my crock pot several times. I would like to suggest to those who do not like Cream of Mushroom soup to try using either Cream of Chicken or Cream of Celery soup. You can also use the same amount of chicken broth in place of water. This usually tastes better. Also, one other thing I like to do as the recipe I have calls for is to add a little butter in pieces to the top of the stuffing mix. I also did a search not too long ago and someone suggested you can prepare turkey this way, as well.”

Note From JWR: Translating Old-Fashioned Measurements — Small Increments:

The following are rough estimations of some small increments often found in old recipes:

Tad: 1/4 Teaspoon
Dash: 1/8th Teaspoon
Pinch: 1/16th Teaspoon
Smidgen: 1/32nd Teaspoon

(Of course, you mileage may vary, since these were not standardized measurements, and the terminology might vary significantly!)

Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

Reader Bob. B. suggested to taking a look at the oft-cited The Provident Living (LDS) Food Storage and Emergency Preparedness web page. He suggested; “Especially look at the ‘Dry Pack Handouts’ label in the right-hand list. Great recipes for basic foods.”

My old friend Fred the Valmet-meister sent me a link for a web site devoted to cowboy dutch oven cooking and sourdough “start” as well as some sourdough recipes.

Do you have a favorite recipe that you have tested extensively? Then please e-mail it to us for posting. Thanks!

Economics and Investing:

John Williams of Shadow Stats says: “This is end of the world type stuff”. He recommends stocking up on barter items.

A bunch of links, all courtesy of Kevin S.:

Presenting The (Only) Four Outcomes To The Global Public Debt Crisis

On The Failure Of Inflation Targeting, The Hubris Of Central Planning, The “Lost Pilot” Effect, And Economist Idiocy
A National Debt Of $14 Trillion? Try $211 Trillion

US Closes 2011 With Record $15.22 Trillion In Debt, Officially At 100.3% Debt/GDP, $14 Billion From Breaching Debt Ceiling

Items from The Economatrix:

Why Is Global Shipping Slowing Down So Dramatically?

The Federal Reserve’s Explicit Goal:  Devalue The Dollar 33%

Why Our Currency Will Fail

Foreclosure Deal to Spur New Wave of Home Seizures, Help Heal Market