Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 38 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 38 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.

Nine Years of Off-Grid Living, by C.P.

People have often asked me over the last nine years, “Haven’t you had to give up living a ‘normal’ life?”  My response has evolved into, “Define normal?”.

My off grid experience started in 1998 when my wife and I purchased out homestead property which was 1.5 miles from the closest power line.  We had previously purchased a propane generator (10 KW) and had planned on using it as a backup generator for times when the power went out, (which is frequent in the area we purchased our property) but we never imagined the costs of having power run to our property would be what was quoted to us.

The decision to go totally off grid was made when the local power company quoted us a cost of $16,000 to run the poles to our property.  Six hundred dollars per pole, thirty poles minimum to cover the 1.5 miles, “thanks but no thanks”, was our reply.  Hence we decided to go off grid and we have never regretted it since.

One has to accept the fact that going off grid does require a life style change.  Unless one is independently wealthy with a bottomless pocketbook, there are a minimum of four things which you must accept in my opinion.

  1.  The use of heat pumps and air conditioning is out.
  2.  Forget about using electric ranges.
  3.  Forget about using electric hot water heaters.
  4. The two biggest users of electricity will be the refrigerator/freezer and the well pump if you have one.

The four items above does not mean that you cannot be environmentally comfortable, or cook your food or have hot water.  It does mean that you have to adjust your life style and change how you will accomplish those items.

After much study we decided upon a log home design using 6” x 12′ logs and using 6” insulated panels in the roof for insulation.  Total square footage of the house is 1,296 square feet on 1.5 levels.  Our heating system consists of a Kitchen Queen wood cooking stove.  This stove was selected because it not only is a cook stove but will heat up to 1,500 square feet.  We do have a propane gas range that is also used.   The range model we have uses a spark ignition system and not a glow bar.  This is especially important for the oven operation since with a glow bar, “juice” is constantly used when the oven is in operation.  (Reference number 2 above).  Using the wood stove requires an average of two cords of wood a year and bread sure does taste better baked in a wood stove.

Out electrical system consists of the following, and has been updated as our requirements have changed:

6 – BP 160 watt panels – mounted on roof
4 – ISOFOTON 150 watt panels – mounted on side of house
2 – BP 170 watt panels  mounted on roof

1,900 watts total

All these panels are 24 volt DC  panels and are wired for a 48 volt DC system.   Total amps DC = 39.58.

Outback Power systems combiner boxes are used to feed a Outback Power Solar charge controller, which feeds through a Xantrex DC disconnect.  Sixteen Trojan T-105 batteries wired in series and parallel provides for a 48 volt DC battery bank with a total of 440 amp hours of storage.  The life span of a well maintained battery bank system, keeping them clean, never letting the charge level fall below 50%, keeping the lead acid battery water level correct, is five to six years.  (We have just recently changed out our battery bank for new batteries).  This is the greatest recurring costs associated with the system.

The battery feeds a Xantrex 4048 sine wave  inverter (stay away from modified sine wave)  which inverts the 48 volts DC to 110 AC feeding a standard Square D breaker panel.  From the panel, the house is wired per code.

Our well that was drilled is 470 feet deep.  Luckily, the static water level is at 90 feet.  To provide sufficient reservoir, we placed our 1.5 hp 220 volt, three wire pump at 360 feet.  We choose a three wire pump because  with a two wire pump all the electronics are in the pump and if something malfunctions, the pump must be pulled.  With a three pump, the electronic control box is above ground and can be repaired/replaced with little problem.  The 220 volt pump does require a step up transformer to take the 110 volt to 220 volt.  Important in our system in that the transformer is wired after the pump switch.  This ensures that the transformer is not “pulling” a constant ghost load but only when the pump needs to be turned on.

Solar power charges most effectively when the sun is shining fully.  Our average daily use is 70 amp hours daily. This big use items include:

  1.  Average of one load of washing a day. (A Staber model washing machine is used.  Can be safely used with an inverter)
  2. 16.5 cubic foot frost free refrigerator.  (We initially started out with a propane refrigerator, did an excellent job keeping things cold but after five years of use the small size, 9 cubic feet became an issue.  We went with an Energy Star refrigerator and purchased four ISOFOTON panels to cover the additional electrical usage).
  3. 9.0 Cubic foot Energy Star rated freezer. (We purchased two BP170 watt panels to cover the additional electrical usage)
  4. Well pump

Our present solar power system consists of:

6 – BP 160 watt panels – mounted on roof
4 – ISOFOTON 150 watt panels – mounted on side of house
2 – BP 170 watt panels  mounted on roof

1,900 watts total, generates an average of 120 amp hours on a good day of sunshine.  To cover the days when it is overcast, snowing, or raining, we have our previously purchased generator (10 KW) that is automatically controlled by the inverter to provide power and charge the batteries, as required. 

Hot water is handled by the use of an on-demand propane hot water heater.  We have a Tagaki brand that will provide up to eight gallons per minute of hot water and uses propane only when the hot water faucet is turned on.  This coming spring, a home built auxiliary solar hot water system will be put in place to augment the on-demand hot water heater.  The greatest advantage to the on-demand system is we have never run out of hot water–even when doing laundry and washing dishes at the same time.  The output is great enough that we could install a dishwasher if we wanted to.

As previously stated, the well pump is one of the biggest users of electricity and ways must be used to limit its use.  One of the best ways to reduce the usage off grid is to use lower water flush toilets.  The ones we use require only 1.2 gallons per flush.  Also scheduling laundry days to when the backup generator is running helps immensely since there is excess capacity when the generator is running.

I am constantly asked about costs.  “How much did all this run you”.   A fair enough question.  This is the breakdown as of November 2011.

Component

Cost

6 – BP 160 watt panels

$4,200

4 – ISOFOTON 150 watt panels

$2,200

2 – BP 170 watt panels

$2,000

Charge controller

$600

Inverter

$2,200

DC disconnect

$250

Mounting racks/hardware

$500

Combiner boxes

$200

Wire and Cables

$500

Batteries

$3,540

Transformer

$200

Total

$16,390

As you can see, the total costs have been $16,390.  This includes having to replace the battery bank at a cost of $2,500 in March of 2009. 

Based on data from the local power company, below is the average monthly light bill for a 1,300 square foot home.

Average monthly light bill for 1,300 sq ft home

$156

108 months

$16,848

Based on  nine years (108 months) we are $458 in the black and do not have a monthly expense of $156 for electricity.  This enables us to invest in other preparations.

Is total off grid living for everyone?  An emphatic NO!  We are fortunate to live in an area that air conditioning is not a requirement.  Still, think back to when you were growing up.  Very few families I knew had air conditioning, we all used fans.  The fans made it much more comfortable. 

I must emphasize that all wiring in our home meets the current electrical code.  To do otherwise is foolishness.  Every part of the system we use, was done be myself and my wife.  (Luckily my brother in law is a licensed electrical contractor to keep my straight). 

We are so satisfied with our off grid system that even if the power company offered to hook us up to the grid for free, we would refuse.  In nine years we have not had a power failure, even during the worst winters of the past two years. 

Up-front planning and a desire to become more self-sufficient is a strong driving force to going off-grid.  Do your homework and you may find out it will work for you.

Mike’s Product Review: Brunton Restore USB Solar Charger and Portable Power Pack

USB power is rapidly becoming standard for portable electronic devices, and makes it easy to charge them from either computers, 12 volt DC automobile sockets or 120 volt AC electrical outlets.  However, what do you do when traveling away from such conveniences?

The Brunton Restore photovoltaic charger and its relatives provide a variety of recharging options for the traveler or outdoorsman.

Fully charged, the unit can dispense at least two full recharges to phones, cameras, GPS or similar devices, from its 2,200 mAh battery. This was doing full recharges of a drained device from a fully charged Restore. I wasn’t able to test Bluetooth units, but they are claimed at 7-8 recharges, and portable game consoles at 1-2 charges.

A full Restore charge on a sunny day takes about 10 hours.  From a computer, it takes about 4 hours.  From the car adapter or wall, it takes about 2 hours.  My tests concurred closely with their claims.  The unit holds charge for a long time.  I was only able to test for a week, but I’m quite sure it will last much longer than that. 

It comes with USB and Mini USB terminals and cords, a Mini to Micro USB adapter, and a combination adapter for car (12 VDC) or wall socket (120 VAC).  It has a small but bright LED light for locating accessories in the dark, which would also make a useful emergency footing light.  It shuts off automatically after 5 minutes.  It has LEDs to show charge level, and an indicator to show solar charging is taking place.  The power button has a red indicator to confirm operation that shuts off after a few moments, while the unit continues to operate.

The unit is solidly built with rubber bumpers all around, a strong hinge and a sturdy case.  While I didn’t deliberately throw the device around, I was not gentle with it.  I left it out in rain and high wind over two nights, temperatures slightly above freezing.  I bumped it off tables and coolers.  I consider this normal usage for outdoor conditions, and the Restore had no trouble with it at all.  I put it wet in the freezer for a day, then thawed it. No issues.  It provided power while still below freezing. 

I did find the directions a bit unclear until I had a chance to work with the unit, but Brunton promptly responded to all my inquiries.  The instruction booklet is in English, German, French and Spanish.

For backpackers or preppers needing to travel off grid while still having access to modern communication devices, the Restore is a reliable and useful piece of equipment.  It retails at $120 MSRP, but is frequently available at significant discounts.

Full disclosure: I was furnished one unit for test, and return has not yet been discussed, but is typically done in 90 days, through the marketing firm.  Brunton may have charged it off as promotional, in which case I will be able to keep it, but I have not been offered to keep the unit at this time. – SurvivalBlog Editor At Large Michael Z. Williamson

Letter Re: Silver Content of U.S. Silver Dollars Versus Smaller Denomination Coins

Dear Editor:
Perusing your wonderfully informative blog and static pages I stumbled across a bit of inaccurate information I thought you may be interested in correcting:

Silver dollar bags ($1,000 face value) contain approximately 765 ounces of silver

90% .50/.25/.10 bags ($1000 face) are calculated at 715 ounces of silver.

The “industry standard” is 715 ounces.

Respectfully, – Shawn

JWR Replies: To the best of my knowledge, what I posted was accurate.

Because of a long-standing congressional mandate, the silver composition of Silver Dollars has always been higher (per dollar increment) than that used in dimes, quarters and half-dollars.  Oddly, this dates back to a pre-Colonial precedent set by the Spanish Milled Dollar which was widely used in both international trade and local trade by our forefathers in Colonial America. (They were used alongside the British Pound, long before we created our own currency.)

There is indeed less silver in four quarters than in one Silver Dollar.

See Coinflation.com or The Official Red Book, for details.

The “industry standard” that you cite is for dimes, quarters and halves, NOT for Silver Dollars.  If they are paying you based on a silver content of 715 ounces for $1,000 in pre-1936 silver dollars then they are robbing you.  (Not even to mention the numismatic value of the coins, which is always greater for silver dollars.)

There IS a difference in composition between U.S. silver dollars and the smaller U.S. denominations:

A silver dime presently has $2.3307 in silver content.   (Hence, 10 of those would be worth $23.307)

Meanwhile, a Peace or Morgan Dollar has $24.9205 in silver content.

The Red Book will show you the same thing, as expressed in weights, namely:

Silver Dollars:

Metal Composition:    90% silver, 10% copper
Total Weight:    26.73 grams

Dimes:

Metal Composition:    90% silver, 10% copper
Total Weight:    2.5 grams

Thus, 10 pre-1965 silver dimes (or four quarters) contain 6.48% less silver than that found in one pre-1936 silver dollar. That small difference in silver content adds up a lot in a $1,000 face value bag! ($1,613 difference in value, in today’s market.)

And BTW, many coin dealers allow even less that 715 ounces per $1,000 for the silver content of “junk” (numismatic) dimes, quarters, and halves, to allow for the wear on coins that have been circulated. The circulation wear on silver dimes is particularly pronounced. (To illustrate: A $5 stack of typically well-worn Mercury dimes from the 1930s and 1940s is considerably shorter than a $5 stack of mint state 1964 dimes.)

An Important Proviso: As I’ve written many times before: I’m advocate buying precious metals only after you have your family’s food storage and other key preparations fully squared away. Physical gold and silver in you personally possession are wonderful investments because they aren’t someone else’s liability. They are compact, recognizable, non-perishable, and divisible. I prefer silver over gold because gold has become too compact a form of wealth. Along with common-caliber ammunition, pre-1965 mint date circulated U.S. 90% silver coins will be great for use in barter, even if most other commerce has come to a halt.

And, to clear up a common misconception: Unlike dimes, quarters and halves: There is NO DISTINCTION WHATSOEVER to pre-1965 Nickels. The dates with a different composition are those minted from 1942 to 1945. These “War Nickels” are 35% silver, 56% copper, 9% manganese. As of this writing, they are worth around $1.75 each! All other U.S. nickels minted from 1866 to present are 75% copper and 25% nickel. (And BTW, Canadian nickel issues are more confusing, with a wide variety of compositions over the years, including those minted from 1955 to 1981 that are 99.9% nickel. But the later mintings from 2000 to present are 94.5% steel.)

Economics and Investing:

Courtesy of David H. comes a link to a fascinating interview: Nomi Prins on U.S. Banks’ Derivative Exposure. The counterparty risk in the opaque OTC derivatives market is potentially huge!

Reader Tom M. sent this prediction of social disorder in Europe and beyond: Why all signs point to chaos

They’ve learned how to work the system: 30 Major U.S. Companies Spent More on Lobbying than Taxes

Damon S. sent this: Silver price: Hey Silver Bugs, You Cryin’ Yet? [JWR’s Comment: I’m using this dip as the opportunity to add a bit more silver to my silver stash in JASBORR.]

Items from The Economatrix:

Is A Physical Silver Shortage Spike Imminent?

You Can’t Print More Gold

Dire Consequences as Global Growth Grinds to a Halt

Europe Crisis Drags On, Raising Concerns About US Banks

Odds ‘n Sods:

Brittany K. spotted this: Deconstructing a Safe Room (infographic)

   o o o

The nail that sticks up: Police seal off south China village, cut food supplies amid protests over land sales. (Thanks to Samuel H. for the link.)

   o o o

B.B. mentioned: Should you leave the USA before the collapse? Words of wisdom from someone who tried

   o o o

Until December 25, 2001, Freeze Dry Guy is offering 25% back in their Survival Bucks (Loyalty Dollar purchase credits) on Mountain House long term storage foods packed in #10 cans. They’ve also extended their sale on Long Range Patrol (LRP) rations. (They bought the U.S. military contract packer’s entire over-run for the year!)

   o o o

Reader Jeff G. wrote to mention that the Survival Top 50 web site has added Readers’ Choice Awards, where you can vote for your favorite preparedness blogs and web sites, by assigning 1 to 5 stars. They have a lot of sites listed, many of which are worthy of your rankings. For some reason, mine is listed way down at the very bottom of the lengthy page.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt….I am for a government rigorously frugal and simple." – Thomas Jefferson

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 38 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 38 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.

When The Lights Went Out in The Southwest, by R.H.

The following is a chronological list of events and occurrences when the lights went out on September 8th, 2011, or what I like to call “The Great Blackout of 2011”.

3:38 p.m. – I live in San Diego, California, and when the lights went out I was at home taking a nap. For some reason after I got home from teaching that day I was exhausted (probably the heat) and needed to rest.  It was a good thing too because I would need my energy in the hours to come.  While I was sleeping I could hear my phone going off with the sound of text messages and calls but I ignored it.  The calls and texts kept coming and so finally I got up to check my phone since I thought it must be important.  It was.

4:00 p.m.- The second I got up I didn’t sit down again until much later that evening.  I was inundated with messages from friends and contacts from all over with messages saying: “The power is out everywhere!”, “the SHTF what are you doing?!”, or my two favorites “I’m bugging out” and “Is this an EMP?”  I texted my friend back that it couldn’t be an EMP because otherwise our cell phones wouldn’t be working.  After more information started coming through I learned that this was a massive power outage that had spread from southern California to as far as Yuma, Arizona.  As soon as I was informed of the potential that this could be a long term power outage I put the phone down and started preparing. It was around 4 p.m. and I wanted to get everything done before nightfall.  First things first, I went into all three of our cars and took out my emergency bags no sense leaving them in there.  I had made bug out bags for every person in the house as well as for every car.  These bags were essential since I basically took the necessary requirements of food and water and tripled it. Since we wouldn’t be mobile anytime soon with traffic backed up everywhere I knew it was best to stay put. I also didn’t want to have to worry about potential looters breaking into the cars and stealing the contents.
 
I decided to prepare for our first night without electricity.  I had to hurry since I knew it would be getting dark soon.  I gathered all of our flashlights and put them on the kitchen table, next I took out all the candles and battery powered lanterns.  I immediately pulled out all the batteries and spare batteries and began checking them.  This took a while.  I know I should have checked my batteries months prior – but hey, “shoulda, coulda, woulda”.

5:00 p.m.- Next up was safety and protection. At this point in time the information was that the power could be out for as long as three days.  The possibility of looters or riots in the days ahead came to mind and I didn’t want to be caught with my pants down.  I gathered all our firearms, checked to make sure they were ready to go and placed them in strategic places throughout the house.  I went around and checked to make sure all the doors were secure, fences were locked and dogs were okay.  I still had no idea how long this outage would last and I knew that I would be relying on them heavily for alerting us to any strangers or possible looters in the days ahead.  Both were large Shepherd mixes, one actually a fourth generation Rhodesian Ridgeback/Shepherd whose bloodline had been in our family for 30+ years.  My hope was that their size would play a huge part in the deterrent factor and if that wasn’t enough I knew that their bark was just as bad as their bite. 

This entire time I had the Ham radio up and running, as a member of the local CERT team I knew they would be giving out information and taking questions.   I was listening to the traffic reports throughout the county.  People were running out of gas and with gas stations unable to open for business the advice was for those who were low on gas to pull over in a shady spot if possible and get off the roads.  I knew my sister was in that traffic and I was worried.  She was seven months pregnant and had been sent home from work because of the blackout.  She had picked up my two year old niece from daycare but was low on gas because of being stuck in traffic for two hours for what was usually a 30 minute drive.

6:00 p.m.- Problems start happening.  I had not heard from my sister yet but I knew she was on her way to my house.  She was very low on gas but was still going to try and make it being that the only open gas stations were in Temecula, a city 20+ miles away.  The same was true for my brother in law who was coming in the opposite direction from work.  He had been stuck in traffic for hours and was low on gas as well.  To make matters worse no one was able to get hold of their son, my nephew.  This was due to the fact that all the cell phone lines were jammed.  We tried to go online to see if he tried to reach us via facebook which was still working for those who had Internet.  No messages.  At this point I started getting worried and annoyed.  I had friends texting me asking me if I had all my survivor gear out, or asking me what I was doing, or what they should do.  Meanwhile I was thinking that they were draining my phone battery (I know I could have charged it in my car but I needed it with me as I was going about the house trying to get everything done) that I might just need for that important call from my sister, or nephew, or brother in law who had still not arrived yet.  I knew some of them thought their messages were funny.  I didn’t have time to entertain or further enlighten them.  There was still so much more work to do.

6:30 p.m.- My sister finally arrived.  Not long afterwards so does my brother in law, then my other sister, her husband, and their two kids.  Everyone’s gas tank is pretty much on empty.  I fill up the car that uses the least gas so that my brother in law can go around looking for my nephew who we still weren’t able to get a hold of.  I give him my cell phone so that he can charge it as he drives around.  We soon find out that for some reason that part of San Diego – Rancho Bernardo to be exact was not able to receive any calls or text messages to cell phones incoming or receiving.  In addition my nephew was not able to access the internet via cell phone unlike others who were able to in different areas.  We were able to confirm this information later when my brother in law left to try and find my nephew.  While he was in that area he tried reaching us and us him to no avail.  He finally found my nephew at their house.  One of his friend’s parents had dropped him off and he was with the neighbors waiting when my brother in law finally arrived.

7:30 p.m.- It was now dark.  Everyone had safely arrived at my house and I was busy making dinner on the front porch.  I had spent a good amount of time digging out the portable propane stove from in the garage and setting up an outdoor makeshift kitchen.  We still didn’t know how long the power outage would last so I was trying to cook as much meat as possible.  Needless to say we ate pretty well that night. 

8:30 p.m.- Dinner time.  We had our dinner inside using several of our lanterns as light.  The kids seemed to be having fun.  We discussed what would happen in the days to come if the electricity still was not back in place.  We did have a location in the mountains about 1 hour away with other extended family.  We had two very large delivery diesel trucks which would be able to hold most of our important belongings the only problem was I knew we didn’t have enough diesel gas for both of them. We decided to wait it out.  At this time information we were receiving on the radio was that electricity would be restored later that night.  I was skeptic but hopeful.  I wondered if “they” were telling the truth or if they just didn’t want to stir a mass panic.

11:30- Bed time. After dinner we had cleaned the kitchen, washed the dishes, and given the kids baths all by lantern light.  I walked around the perimeter of the house again making sure all was well.  I looked around at my family most of them were already fast asleep together in the television room.  I looked at the time and realized how tired I was.  I had basically been working nonstop since I found out the power had gone out.  I climbed in bed.  Having no electricity sure was exhausting and the electricity had only been out for 8 hours!  I couldn’t imagine another day like this, though I knew if this was a possibility I had already done most of the work for things to be easier tomorrow. 

As I lay down to sleep that night a few thoughts went through my head.  Thank God we at least still had [utility-piped] running water.  And Thank God that everyone made it here safe and we were all together.  Thank God things weren’t worse. Other thoughts that occurred to me while the power was out and later the next day:

  1. I should have put the insulin in the freezer right away or in at least a colder compartment than the refrigerator (insulin gets ruined if it is too cold as well as too warm).  I practically kicked myself for not doing this first thing!  I was so wrapped up in everything else this completely slipped my mind!
  2. I should have bought that portable ice machine at Target.  It was only $130. 
  3. I really need to get out of the city.

Here is what I learned:

  1. The vast majority of the population is poorly prepared in every sense for any type of emergency.
  2. You can never have enough gasoline and even if you think you do get more.  It would have been an excellent selling or bartering item at times like these.
  3. Candy is an absolute necessity in preparedness.  Especially when there is no television or computer to send the kids off to to occupy themselves.  When adults need a few moments of quiet time, candy makes everything better, instantly.
  4. Having a Ham radio is an essential part of preparing.  The Beans, Bullets, Band-Aids saying needs to add that extra “C” for Communication as well as the “E” for Engineering.  Being informed just makes you feel better and in a strange way gives you hope when you know you can still reach someone on the other “end”.
  5. Handheld battery operated lanterns are awesome! You can hang them when cooking outside for a good source of all over light.  They are better than flashlights when walking down the hall or when going to bathroom and taking a shower.  You can just set them on the counter and you have pretty good visibility of the area around you.
  6. Survival preparedness isn’t really about you.  It is about protecting your loved ones. 
  7. Having properly prepared for an emergency makes you feel like gold.
  8. I really need to get out of the city. 

Letter Re: A Mail Forwarding Service in The American Redoubt

James Wesley:
We have opened up Kamiah Copy & Shipping Center in Kamiah, Idaho. (I consider Kamiah the unofficial capital of the American Redoubt).  Part of our services are private mailbox rental.  As a long time SurvivalBlog reader and contributor (you’ve seen my posts under the bylines B.H. in Spokane, Western Washington and North Central Idaho) I am quite familiar with the need for OPSEC and the desire for some individuals to begin to establish ties to the American Redoubt.
 
We are offering 5” x 12” mail box rentals for $10 per month.  A 12-month pre-paid rental gets you three free months.  We also provide mail forwarding services through USPS,  FedEx, or UPS.  Mail forwarding is $5.00 per occurrence plus shipping or postage.
 
From now till the end of 2011, for every 12 month rental we will make a donation to the Memsahib Memorial Fund of $10. 

Anyone interested can send e-mail to the address below.

Kamiah Copy & Shipping Center
505 4th Street
Kamiah, Idaho 83536
phone: 208-935-7500
FAX: 866-453-6781
E-mail: kamiahcopy@gmail.com

Thank you, – Brendon Hill

Economics and Investing:

If you’ve been waiting for a dip to buy some more precious metals, this is it. (As usual, I recommend buying silver rather than gold. And since platinum is at an odd point in its history where it is worth less than gold, I’d recommend buying a few Platinum American Eagles, Credit Suisse 1 Oz. Platinum Bars, Platinum Australian Platypus coins, or Platinum Nobles, if you can find any. )

Peter Schiff: How Are You Going To Survive When Gold Is Money Again?

Yet another advantage of The American Redoubt, to consider: Map of Electricity bills by state.

This dovetails with some of my writings: Will Nickels and Pennies Soon Disappear?

G.G. set this: Is Farmland the New Housing Bubble?

Items from The Economatrix:

Corporate Warnings Bode Ill For Earnings

Wall Street Tumbles On Europe, Intel’s Outlook

Euro Zone Fiscal Pact Fails To Restore Confidence

If Silver Goes Down All H**l Will Break Loose In The Physical Market. (An interesting video describing some fundamentals in the silver market.)

Odds ‘n Sods:

Glenn Beck’s GBTV has announced a new television series about off-grid living: Independence, USA. “Join the Belcastro Family as They Prepare for an Independent Life Off the Grid.”

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Cheryl N. recommended: Antibiotics and Their Use in Collapse Medicine

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Paulette W. suggested this piece: Dark Arts for Good Guys: The Right to Knife

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Judy T. sent this news from Western Washington: Poacher shoots cows with arrows in Cowlitz County

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Anything that is on paper anything that involves a promise or a commitment is no longer valid because as we said there isn’t a rule of law anymore. People can steal from you. Your money can be confiscated. And think how easy now it is to confiscate people’s wealth. Most of our wealth in this society exists as zeroes and ones on a computer server. It takes no effort whatsoever to steal zeros and ones on a computer server. So what I have been telling people is you need to get into physical commodities. And the rule of thumb is if you can stand in front of it with an assault rifle and physically protect it, then it’s real—it’s a real commodity. That includes food, that includes water, that includes long guns and ammunition. That includes fuel. That includes precious metals—gold and silver coinage. Most especially silver coinage because silver is the metal of barter and transaction and currency.” – Ann Barnhardt, former head of Barnhardt Capital Management. (She ran the firm before she went Galt.)

Notes from JWR:

Readers with Android phones will be pleased to hear that there is now a free “SurvivalBlog Reader” App available. It was kindly developed by “B.C”. — who I’ve just awarded a $200 Amazon gift certificate, as a token of my appreciation.

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Today we present another entry for Round 38 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 38 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.

Sucking Chest Wounds and Exsanguinations, by Walker in the Woods

With all of the injuries that we learn to treat in the Army’s combat medic training program, there are two killers that must be addressed immediately after any contact with the enemy. The first is the sucking chest wound… and I have to say, these quite frankly, suck. Forgive the humor but they do just that. The medical field describes these wounds as this: Sucking Chest wound- a wound received by way of penetration or laceration to the thoracic cavity which causes air and or blood to be trapped in the pleural space. Air is sucked through the wound during exhalation and then is trapped, causing pressure. This pressure slowly builds and will eventually cause the pressure to be applied to the heart. This pressure will eventually cause hypoxia and cardiac arrest as the lungs cannot draw in enough oxygen to keep the body going or the heart will be pressed to the point that it cannot function. This of course will lead to death. When treating these types of wounds, the medic must assess whether or not there is an exit wound, and whether or not bleeding can be successfully stopped without causing further bleeding inside the chest cavity. If there is an exit wound, that wound must be covered with thick gauze padding and then an occlusive dressing (occlusive means that air cannot pass through.) this means using a piece of plastic to cover the gauze then tapping the whole thing down making sure to seal all four sides. Once this is accomplished the next step is to cover the entrance wound with an occlusive dressing, again sealing it on all four sides. This being done there are several things one must monitor.

Breathing: This will be the most telling of vital signs, respiration rates will tell you whether or not there is a problem inside your patient’s chest cavity. Look for increased and/or increasingly strained respirations from your patient. If the respiration rate goes up and they are straining harder and harder to breath then you will need to find out what is going on inside the chest. Do this by listening to the chest on both sides with a stethoscope. If there are decreased lung sounds on the injured side you must let the pressure out somehow. The easiest and safest way to do this is to perform a needle chest decompression. This is a procedure that will alleviate pressure in the chest cavity and allow your patient to breathe easier. To do this you will want to find the second and third rib on the side with reduced lung sounds. This is usually just in line with the armpit. Once you have this location, find the pint on this rib that is also in line with the nipple. To do this you will need a 14 gauge angiocath that is 3.25 inches long. Place the tip of the angiocath at the place where the two lines meet and just above the third rib. Insert the angiocath until you hear a hissing sound. This is the air escaping through the lumen of the needle. Then advance the catheter portion of the needle and remove the actual needle itself. This will leave the catheter in the chest cavity. Now tape this down without covering the hole at the top and place the patient on the injured side if he is unconscious. If the patient is conscious then place him or her in a position of comfort. This will usually be sitting up with the hands on the knees or a variation of. We call this the tripod position. Get the patient to advanced medical care as soon as possible and monitor the patient’s breathing and blood pressure every five minutes. At no time should the patient be left alone, even for a second as the patient is very likely to become worse if left unmonitored.

Exsanguination is another term for massive hemorrhage. This will lead to hypovolemic shock and death if ignored and is the number one cause of preventable battlefield deaths in the combat world. The usual suspect of a wound that will cause this would be arterial damage that is not checked or stopped by the body’s natural defenses. This can be caused by amputation, laceration from flying debris, penetrating trauma that damages the vascular system sufficiently that the body cannot stop the flow and also by blunt trauma. In an austere environment there is not much you can do to actually permanently treat many of the injuries that cause this. Surgery is not a thing to take on lightly and never without proper training.

To stop any bleeding the first step is to apply direct pressure to the wound itself. After two to five minutes most bleeding will have stopped as the body will have had a chance to clot the area that is open. However, you will want to bandage the area with clean bandage material if it is available and apply a pressure dressing to it to keep pressure on it. If the injury is more severe than what pressure may fix then you will want to apply pressure to the artery that feeds the limb with blood. Once bleeding has stopped bandage as necessary.

With arterial bleeds that jet out bright red you will need to tourniquet the limb as close to the trunk of the body as possible. Do this as soon as possible as well as this will lessen the amount of blood lost and will keep the patient from going into hypovolemic shock. Once you have the tourniquet on, write the time and date it was placed on the patient in a visible area and also chart it on a record of the injury. The tourniquet is safe up to twelve hours but may cause some nerve and vascular damage if on for too long. Make sure that the patient is moved to medical help as soon as possible. This will ensure that the limb is not lost due to necrosis (dead flesh) and will also ensure the patient will get the wound closed as soon as possible. To avoid further infection of the wound place a bandage with plenty of gauze to cushion the wound and protect it from further injury.

My last bit of information in this article is to add a note from my personal experience. As a medic I see many things that will probably be with me the rest of my life. At the time it happens I have to remain calm and not let the patient know that the injury is as bad as it is. And at the same time I cannot be an uncaring automaton that simply follows a set of steps and forgets the part of the equation that matters most at that time, the patient. When dealing with a serious injury you will get freaked out, feel nauseous; want to yell at everyone around you and everything else in the world that will distract you from treating the patient. Remember, the worst thing you can do when coming up on a patient who is conscious and screaming because his leg just got crushed or blown off is say: “Oh Sh**”. Remain calm, and do what you need to do, and remember to talk to him or her and try to keep them calm. If you have medical training and have been in the field long enough, you know how it all clicks off and your training comes to the fore. Use this to keep yourself from making a mistake, as it could cost someone their life.

Remember that this article in no way shape or form takes the place of proper medical training; I always suggest that people take at least a first aid course. First responder’s course is better as it covers some cardiac related issues and also some more advanced airway techniques but can be pricey and time consuming. I also want to point out that these things I have discussed in this article are considered advanced medical techniques and as such, I recommend that you use them only if there is no way to get help in time. To perform most of these you will need medical equipment that can be bought online and through medical supply stores. If you own an IFAK medical kit then you will have a good but limited selection of medical supply that will help in some of the extreme cases that I have outlined here so it would be a great idea to get one if you do not own one already.

And as always, please do not let prepping be all consuming, if you are missing house payments because you just bought that new rifle or that truckload of MREs, then you are missing the point. Disaster preparedness is not about praying for something to go wrong, it is a hedge against hard times. We should all live our lives to the fullest, and if you can find a way to do that and be prepared at the same time then you will be a much happier person. Take care and keep your eyes open, and failing that, listen closely to the signs that are given. Live long and love deeply.