Notes from JWR:

I heard from my publisher that my novel “Survivors” just debuted at #3 on the New York Times Print Hardcover Bestsellers List! The novel is also at #10 on the combined print and e-book bestsellers list, #31 on the e-book bestsellers list, and #5 on the hardcover and paperback combined list. (Those rankings should be published in print on October 16th.)

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Today we present another entry for Round 37 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) 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 B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $300 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo, and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).

Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol. It is a $439 value courtesy of Next Level Training. B.) 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, C.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and D.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.), B.) 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 37 ends on November 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Land of Plenty–Establishing or Reclaiming an Orchard, by D.V.

Like many preppers we are preparing for food shortages.  Gardening is a mainstay and takes knowledge and lots of work on a regular basis.  Harvesting wild foods requires specialized knowledge.  But orchards and vineyards are a mainstay for a long term homestead that had plenty of land.  For the purpose of this article, an orchard will refer to all reproducing fruits (cane, bushes, vines and trees) although there are technical names (orchard, vineyard or patch).  For our forefathers the planting of the orchard was a priority after a shelter and water source.  The practical reason behind this is that orchards can produce fruit regularly without a huge amount of effort and it takes three to five years for them to become productive.  While orchards need to be tended, once an orchard is established it does not have to be constantly maintained.  Apples in particular are a source of natural pectin which can be used to can other fruits. Fortunately, we can still reap the harvest that our forebearers have planted.  The life expectancy of an apple tree is about one hundred years although there have been documented cases of apple trees living past two hundred and still producing. 

Two years ago we purchased a small farm.  This farm has a half dozen apple trees and several rows of grape vines that stretch a hundred and fifty feet or so.    The farm is in total disrepair (which is how we could afford it) and the orchard looks as if it has not been touched in decades.  Full sized non-fruit trees are interspersed between the hand-full of apple trees.   In order to return the orchard into a more productive state; I’ve been reading about pruning and managing trees as the non-fruit bearers are cut for firewood.  The best I’ve found is Successful Berry Growing: How to Plant, Prune, Pick and Preserve Bush and Vine Fruits by Gene Logsdon and the books How To Prune Almost Everything and How to Prune Almost Anything — both by John Philip Baumgardt.  It is worthwhile to have a good baseline before you go in and start hacking.  I’ve read many other books but these are the few I return to again for tips.  Google search is also great and there are plenty of excellent videos (such as reminders on chainsaw safety) as well.

One of our primary goals is to restore the orchard.  Orchards require planning as trees are not cheap, unmovable and take a while to produce and thus there is a considerable up front investment in time and money in starting an orchard.  One of the web pages that I liked is Planning an Orchard.   For us the orchard was already in existence and therefore we knew that it was the proper soil condition and location.  Our plan revolved around clearing away the new unwanted growth, include new and different varieties of trees and plants and increase the production and protect the current established trees.   In addition to standard orchard concerns our plans includes elements of long term survival (seasonal production and quantity); personal favorites (my wife enjoyed gooseberries growing up and therefore it is important to have the same in our new orchard);  barter (fresh or canned fruit will make an ideal barter item) and additionally we are looking at unique varieties that will grow in our area (Michigan) including such unusual trees as paw-paws (which is considered the Midwestern Banana); Medlar and Asian pear.   We believe that having something different will have a bit more trade value as apples and cherries are fairly common around us and people will always want something special and different as a treat.  As part of this plan, the unusual varieties of trees are lower on the proverbial totem pole to more common fruits but we have also identified what can grow in our area and what we ultimately would like in our orchard.  By having this plan, if we stumble across a good sale (we found a currant bush for $1.50 at an end of season sale) we can affordably include these items into our orchard.

As the grapevines are towards the front of the orchard, we decided to reclaim them first.  There are lots of ways to build a grapevine trellis.  Our goal was to make it more durable so that we would not have to rebuild it in the next decade (or longer hopefully).   In my search, I found trellises made in every conceivable method and material.  An older gentlemen nearby constructed his trellis out of left over plumbing supplies back in the fifties and it was still strong.  I considered the same, but it was cost prohibitive.  I also considered using PVC instead, but felt it could not handle the weight load of the vines.  Therefore I settled on steel fencing post with steel rubber coated wire for durability.  It was easy to work with, was durable and went up relatively well.  While putting up the fencing, we trimmed back a good portion of the vines and removed all the fruit in order to encourage growth next year.  We cleared away a good 100 feet of vines and trellised it all so next year we should have a great harvest.  We did nothing to any of the other rows which are a mess and growing wild.  As part of my plans, I anticipated to have the entire orchard reclaimed in a single year.  This is roughly a seven by seven acre piece of land.  Ultimately, at the end of the season I removed several trees, cleared away roughly three acres, reclaimed a single row of vineyards, started a half dozen blueberry bushes, planted one new apple tree and a currant bush (that was on sale) as well as established a small raspberry patch.   Reclaiming is just as time-consuming as creating an orchard from scratch.  As indicated earlier, a considerable up front time investment.  But we can also share due to the existence of our current trees the value of mature trees.

This fall, as I was cleaning up an area, I noticed there were ripe grapes on the vines that we hadn’t touched.  So I grabbed my kids and a couple of plastic shopping bags and went grape picking.  We were surprised at the amount of fruit that you can get from vines and trees that are not tended.  We ended up with over 50 lbs of grapes and a bushel and a half of apples.  Now these are not the nice pretty apples that you will find in the grocery store although there were a few that looked just fine.  Apples that are not tended and sprayed with chemicals look a bit ugly, but when you cut them open, the flesh was clean and tasty. I went back to the farm and grabbed my wheel barrow and several empty five gallon buckets.  None of the grapes we picked this season came off the vine we recently trimmed so we anticipate that we will have quite the harvest once we have all the vines trellised and anticipate around 100 pounds of grapes.  Also, it was early in the season and there are plenty of apples still ripening on the tree.  Interestingly all of our neighbors have told us the trees and vines didn’t produce so either they did not look closely or have been secretly picking the apples and grapes.  As I indicated earlier, this orchard was neglected for years and if there is a TEOTWAWKI situation, forgotten and neglected orchards can still provide an abundant harvest.  Apple trees are especially easy to recognize and I have found trees in the middle of a wood that has evidently grown up around them.  But you also see them sitting on the edges of fields or in lots, neglected and forgotten.  Please remember to respect private property.  Most people, if asked, are happy to share their fruit if they do not plan to harvest.  Some may plant the fruit trees for the purpose of attracting wild animals and game (to provide for better hunting); therefore do not assume they are unaware of the trees. 

Now we had to figure out what to do with our unfound bounty.  The most rational situation was to can our goods.  My wife and I had not canned before and this was a great learning experience.  The Ball Blue Book of Preserving is a good overall canning book.  There are other canning books and typically there are canning recipes in everyday cook books.  But I based my recipes off the book noted and used the others for comparisons.  You will also need the canning jars and lids, but a canning kit (with a jar funnel, tongs, jar holder, etc.) is a huge time saver and relatively inexpensive.   Finally, a large stock pot is required for the boiling method.  As preppers we have been stocking up on food.  We have several hundred pounds of sugar and frankly we were not sure how we were going to use it.  Believe me, sugar is used up quickly when making traditional jams, jellies and sauces.   Sugar helps the pectin set.  Another good thing to stock now while available is pectin.  Pectin can be made from scratch and there is a good recipe on Mother Earth News.  This recipe is printed out and put inside our recipe book.  Still pectin stores well and will save extra steps for canning your harvest and it makes sense to have a good supply set in. Next year we will experiment with homemade pectin and check recipes so we are not dependent on store purchased goods.  But we want enough on hand to have an easier transition.  Canning lids are not supposed to be reused either and therefore they should be stocked up on as well.  You can also use paraffin wax (which is how my grandmother canned) as an alternative method to sealing a can and this is easier to stock and will last a long time.

So with a few trees and some overgrown grapevines that have not been tended in years, we ended up with seven quarts of applesauce, two quarts of apple butter, and eleven quarts of jelly.   We had a couple of apple pies and ate quite a few apples and during the process had a bad batch of jelly that we ended up composting.  If we were in better practice and in a survival mode, I believe we could have gotten more out of the fruit, but we enjoyed the process, tasting along the way to learn and yes we made a few mistakes.   Next year we plan to extend our process to syrup and wine making as well as apple pie in a can and hopefully make raspberry and blueberry jellies as well. 

Four Letters Re: Wattle and Daub Construction

Jim:
Here are some more links to YouTube.com videos that I forgot to include with my previous note on wattle and daub construction. The links below include construction of a debris shelter, a good instruction on how to construct a clay and stone fire place with chimney.  When constructing a clay chimney without stones you need to build up about two feet and stop and let it dry, continue the next day with another two feet, etc, until you have a height that you prefer.  In log cabin construction in the old days they used to build chimneys of smaller “logs” maybe six inches or less in diameter and stack them up like when building the cabin.  leave about a two foot opening in the center.  Then daub the thing with your clay and grass daub mixture.  Don’t forget to daub the inside surface of the chimney!  Now these did catch fire and burn the cabin down, often in the middle of the night in the colder part of the winter.  So my pet idea is to form a chimney “skeleton” of hardware cloth [wire mesh], forming it around something cylindrical.  Put it in place over your clay and stone fire place and then proceed to daub it with your daub mixture. I am confident that it won’t catch fire [like a pioneer chimney that included logs].

Sustainable shelter     

Bushcraft Clay and Mud Rocket Stove

Clay cooking skillet

How To Build a Semi – Permanent Shelter (part 1)

Regards, – Darrell in Ohio

JWR,
 About ten years ago I traveled across Northern Honduras by car.  The wattle and daub construction was often used  in the mountains and jungles and it was probably close to what the original inhabitants built.  The size of the structure of course varied, but appeared to average about 10 x 12 feet.  The post that they used were a type of tree that grew straight for most of its length and was cut at about 3 to 4 inches in diameter.  The wall height was as high as the builder could reach.  Of course the post was stuck in the ground for a foot or two.
 
Spacing on the posts was about 3 to 3-1/2 feet apart and the wattle was cane or whatever they chose to use.  Daub appeared to be just clay and straw that was plastered either from the inside out, or from both the inside and the outside.  I seldom saw a window.  If there was a window, it was like the door and just an opening in the wall that had a piece of cloth hanging in it.
 
The roof was a framework of poles tied together with about a 45 degree pitch, that was “shingled” in palm branches.  Sometimes these were not too thick and I wondered how good they were at shedding rain. 
 
Often, there was a small open lean-to on the end of the house that served as an outdoor kitchen.  It had a counter made of poles, and on this raised counter was a small clay oven.  If they built a small fire inside the house for warmth the smoke just worked its way out of the branches in the roof.
 
One structure had a raised door sill of about one foot that kept the pigs and chickens out.  Others that I saw had the live stock just wandering in and out.
 
Usually these houses were not too far from the river or stream, and  families were bathing and washing clothes on the rocks during the warm afternoons.
 
The construction only required one tool – the machete.  Practically everyone of the working class carried one when traveling or going about their business.  Especially if they did not have a gun. But, that is another story.
 
Thank you for all of your hard work. – Paul in Southeast Texas

Hello James,
 
Copious greetings and kudos for the fine book…..
 
I saw the article about using natural materials for building construction.
Our home faces two groves of old growth trees. The detritus on the ground is copious, perhaps 2 to 6 inches thick. These groves of trees the old time residents here say go back to the 1920s when the original frame house stood on this site.
 
Each year I clear a section of the low branches to seven feet high. Pile them somewhere out of the way on the detritus.
 
Just today I worked one of these piles of brush to cut out the branches of over 3/4 inch for kindling. Nearly all of the wood in contact with the ground had extensive termite damage. I had to discard much of what was in contact with the ground. Only the wood that was elevated in the air was still solid. This was Hackberry, Hedge, Juniper, plum brush and Tree of Heaven. All good solid wood except for the Tree of Heaven which is a very light wood with a reduced density. Not very good for firewood anyway.
 
But the bottom line is that termites will take down a wall made with formerly living material such as wood, straw, brush and grass.
 
I lived in native built hut in Niger during my Peace Corps days. The bottom section of the walls were pure dense packed soil. No plant material until you got up above some 4 or 5 feet. They put the plant material above a height where the termites did not transition into.
 
We had termite mounds that went to 15 feet in height near by. Plenty of termites.
 
I would think twice before making any structure of wood in contact with the soil if you have a resident termite population such as we have.
 
Exception: I have a hunting blind set 24 inches deep in the soil. Lined with railroad ties that I selected for the best coating of creosote preservative. They have been in the ground now going on seven years.
I inspected the building yesterday and it still looks like the day I constructed it. But that is why creosote is such a good preservative. On the other hand you do not want to spend much time during hot weather in a creosote soaked wood structure. The fumes can be very evident. The railroad ties we have in the garden put off a very bad smell during the hot summer days out in the open.
 
I suspect you could spray for termites each year if you had the correct insecticide and sprayer system.
 
Chance favors the prepared. – J.W.C.

James:
I was in Haiti in January of 2010 as a civil engineer and paramedic. In the rural areas, nearly all the concrete and/or masonry block structures failed or were damaged. I only saw one wattle and daub dwelling that was destroyed. All of the others merely had to be re-mudded. Keep the Faith, – Bill D.

Letter Re: Uses For Discarded Political Campaign Signs and Wickets

Mr. Rawles,
I searched the blog, and found no mention of a tidbit I find useful.

Political campaign yard signs made with corrugated plastic and H-style wire posts make very useful target backers for posting targets when you don’t have easy access to your own range. I like to make use of National Forest or National Grasslands, and these work wonderfully. Use a stapler to post the target. The plastic takes quite a beating before it needs to be retired. They also stand up fairly well to wind.

Have fun in choosing your targets, and get out and practice!

Also, don’t wait until after the elections, as many of these get recycled for other uses, and rapidly get scarce.

Thanks. – K.B.

JWR Replies: Growing up in the 1960s in Northern California, many local campaign signs were still made of 1/2-inch fiberboard. Rather than going to the local landfill, these were actively collected after each election day, and often put to creative use. I once saw a livestock shed with walls entirely sheeted with campaign signs. It was very colorful, inside! These days, of course, less substantial materials are used, and most signs are designed to be disposable. Thanks for suggesting a truly practical way to “re-use, re-purpose, and recycle.”

Three Letters Re: Trapping Options for the Non-Trapper

J.W.R.:
Greeting from a long time reader in Southeast Texas. Regarding the article “Trapping Options for the Non-Trapper” by Pat in Oregon: When I was a child some 60 years ago, my neighbor had a problem with pigeons eating the chicken feed.  She solved the problem with large rat traps, which you can still get in any hardware store.
 
She baited the traps with the feed and placed them on the fence posts.  She also attaching about two feet of string to the trap and tied it to a nail in the post.  This kept the pigeon from taking the trap away if it wasn’t
a clean kill.
 
The game was collected through the day, cleaned and stored in the refrigerator until she had enough to make pigeon pot pie.
 
Today I watch large flocks of pigeons feeding in parking lots and flying over the stores in our town, and wonder how many pot pies I am missing.
 
Keep up the good work, – Paul B.

 

James, 
On trapping skunks: According to my neighbour, an easier way to kill a skunk that has been caught in a live trap is as follows: After you recognize that there is indeed a skunk in the trap and not just a black cat, cover the trap in a blanket, or better yet, already have a blanket covering the trap. This way you can peek into the trap to see what is in there and also camouflage the cage-like look of the trap. It is either that or throw it over the trap after you see a skunk in there. Skunks will not spray themselves. Then you just carry the trap over to the back of your car, start it up and direct the exhaust from the tail pipe into a gap in the blanket. In just 10 minutes your skunk problem is over and no neighbours will have heard a gun shot. – Lee M.

 

Dear Brother James,
Just a slight correction to a great post by Pat in Oregon, you can indeed use foot hold traps in Oregon, it is a wonder though because Oregon is a very liberal state which prostitutes itself to the federal government all it can to the peril of its citizens. The regs are available online, here. May God grant you and yours peace through Christ. God Bless, – Paul S.

Economics and Investing:

More folks are catching on to nickels, as an inflation hedge. For example, see this recent piece over at Seeking Alpha: Looking For An Alternative To Gold And Silver? It is noteworthy that Kyle Bass didn’t make all of his millions with foolish irrational investing plays. He is one sharp cookie.

James C. sent this from Sovereign Man: How Bankrupt Governments Will Confiscate Your Gold. (Yes, it has happened before in the U.S.: See Executive Order 6102. And the potential repeat of that, BTW, is one reason why I prefer investing in silver rather than gold.) Have you got your nickels, yet?

You already had a couple of weeks warning, courtesy of SurvivalBlog. It is echoed here: Stock Up on Peanut Butter Now Before Prices Get Ridiculous. That will put the price of peanut butter in the same “spendy” league as almond nut butter and sunflower butter. Yikes! (And of course their prices will rise, in sympathy. So stock up on those too, if you use them.)

Drugstore Markups Are Worse Than You Think

Items from The Economatrix:

US Mint Sells Nearly 3/4 Million Silver Eagles First Day of October

Physical Silver Running Out Because its Spot Price Does Not Reflect True Investment Demand

Wall Street Flies On Euro-Fund Hope, S&P Up 2%

Gold Climbs as Dollar Falls to Three-week Lows

Odds ‘n Sods:

Several readers sent this: Foreign insects, diseases got into US

   o o o

“PapaBeagle” wrote to mention that Amazon.com now has some good quality Facet fuel transfer pumps back in stock.

   o o o

Jeff W. recommended a great article from The Small Wars Journal: One Team’s Approach to Village Stability Operations. Ponder it as future history for a post-collapse United States.

   o o o

From Nanny State Europa: Children to be banned from blowing up balloons, under EU safety rules. Meanwhile, French multicultural do-gooders are re-writing history. (Thanks to F.G. for the link.)

   o o o

Could they be getting ready to hunker down? Why Did a Secretive Filipino Church Buy a South Dakota Ghost Town?

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Lord, the money we do spend on Government and it’s not one bit better than the government we got for one-third the money twenty years ago.” – Will Rogers

Notes from JWR:

I was delighted to see that Amazon has again reduced price on my novel “Survivors” to just $12.39. (They originally had it priced at more than $16, and just before publication, they dropped it to $15.30.) Anything under $13 is a very good price for a 380-page hardback, these days. Meanwhile the e-book (for Kindle, Nook, iBook, and now also in ePub format at the Sony Reader Store) is priced at as low as $10.99.

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Today we present another entry for Round 37 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) 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 B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $300 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo, and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).

Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol. It is a $439 value courtesy of Next Level Training. B.) 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, C.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and D.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.), B.) 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 37 ends on November 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Trapping Options for the Non-Trapper, by Pat in Oregon

Most folks are familiar to some extent with animal trapping but have little experience.  In a TEOTWAWKI world I suggest there are several advantages that trapping will offer almost everyone.  With minimal equipment and some basic experience trapping can offer security, food, and economic opportunities.  Before taking any action please familiarize yourself with your local laws and requirements related to fur-bearing animals and trapping.
 
I trapped coyotes and bobcat back in my college days with a good friend.  It was a great time but required considerable equipment, preparation, effort, and skill.  Today I still do a lot of trapping, though not for profit.  Most of my trapping is for security of my livestock and preservation of my garden.
My first recommendation for everyone is to have a live trap.  These are the cages with the trap-door that locks shut when the animal enters the cage.  These are useful every day in the city, suburbs, or on the farm and very simple to use.  New they cost about $150 for large animals, but they are often found on craigslist for $30 or less.  The best part about these traps is that they are so effective and easy; yet do not injure the animal.  This is very important in a populated area where neighborhood pets are a frequent “by-catch”.
 
The live is effective at guarding our chicken coop.  The western Oregon woodlands are full of predators – coyotes, skunks, raccoons, and feral cats.  All of these predators love chicken, and frequent our coop.  We keep a live trap ready at the back of the coop at all times, and it never fails to catch a troublemaker.  Since deploying this security measure we have never lost a chicken to a land-based predator.  No bait is necessary; we simply leave the cage open against the back of the coop, and as the snoop travels along the coup it naturally enters.  We have regularly caught the neighbor’s cats, and it is always much appreciated when we can return the cat (still in the cage) safely to the grateful owners – no harm done to either party and stronger, friendly ties are forged between us.
 
A side benefit we soon realized with our live trap is a big reduction in field rats.  All of the chicken feed and eggs naturally draws rats, and they regularly are caught in the trap as well.  I recommend your first trap to be a big one – big enough for large raccoons, but if you can find a smaller one just for rats and rodents this is also a good investment.  Over the last three years we have averaged 4 skunk, 2 raccoon, 3 opossum, 5 rats, 1 squirrel, and 1 cat.

Look for a strong, sturdy construction on the trap.  Newer traps with fancy double-doors or mechanisms are less reliable.  Another great benefit of heavier wiring is that the trap is more forgiving when a trapped skunk must be dispatched by a .22 while in the trap.  We tried to get a tarp over a caged skunk to help calm it for transportation, but that did not work!  The .22 is the cleanest option for all involved with skunk work.
 
In the last couple of years the budget cuts to our county’s Animal Control office rendered it almost entirely useless.  Animal Control now only responds to dog control, since that still generates income for the county.  Neither Animal Control nor the Sheriff’s office is willing to respond to livestock or predator calls – including cougar threats!  Last night the Sheriff informed me personally that even if my children and I were physically attacked by wild or domestic animals, other than dogs, they would not respond unless there was a court order.  We are on our own.  Having a means to neutralize a threat to our animals (and kids!) with a live trap is simple, easy and effective.
 
In Oregon the use of foot hold traps is not allowed.  Too many pets were being injured, I guess.  I still have many foothold traps from my college days, and expect these could be valuable in a post TEOTWAWKI world.  Our area has been plagued over the years with “drop off” pets – people disposing of their pets they no longer want or can care for by simply driving out in the country and dropping them off.  Wild dogs and cats are often our problem to deal with, and leg hold traps could help if or when they might be permitted.  They might be quite effective against 2-legged intruders in some scenarios, too.  Just another option to consider in your planning.
 
Wire snares are another inexpensive option to consider –especially if your plans include livestock like sheep or cattle.  My wife’s family ranches on 3 sections of northern Wyoming range, with coyotes (and of course wolves) being a major concern.  Wire snares around the perimeter have been our most effective means of coyote control, and are inexpensive to deploy in numbers.  Take caution when using these as they are very effective on a neighbor’s dog and are deadly or at least disabling.  Because of this risk I do not recommend them for everyone unless you have some pressing need or experience.
Food opportunities are an obvious option trapping affords post TEOTWAWKI.  No, our family has not yet sampled opossum or raccoon.  While it might sound unappetizing in our current lifestyle of plenty, preparation is not about having treats, it’s about having options.  Food for your dog is also an important consideration. 
 
My second recommendation for every person would be to get at least one #110 Connibear style body-grip [killing] trap.  These are small, inexpensive, and fantastically effective tools for catching smaller animals – especially squirrels and weasels.  Squirrels are abundant in suburban and city settings and could become quite valuable.  A single trap can be found on eBay for about $8 and are so effective; we only allow each of our children to use them for catching one squirrel.  This gives the kids a great learning experience with the trap and the habits of a squirrel, and is also good practice skinning and sampling wild game.  It teaches them the responsibility to wisely use the life they took – a valuable lesson preparing them for hunting when they get older.  A simple Google search of the web or SurvivalBlog.com will provide more than adequate suggestions on using these traps.
 
The last trap recommendation I would offer is to get one or two mole traps.  The scissor trap is available for $5-10 and is quite valuable Pre-TEOTWAWKI in teaching skills, securing our gardens, and helping neighbors.  A wide variety of trap styles are available but we have found the old standard scissor traps to be most effective.  My younger daughters, ages 10 and 7 are my mole trappers – they wait for me to return each night from work to make our ‘rounds’ checking traps.  We have caught 15 to-dates this year, and they love it!  Our neighbors love it too, since we ran out of targets in our yard and expanded our territory.  Sure, it technically isn’t ‘trapping’ in the traditional sense, but don’t underestimate the value of quality time with children, service to neighbors, and riddance of problem animals in preparing us for a SHTF event.
 
In this sense trapping can be a valuable service to offer others as well.  My live trap is frequently at friend’s homes to deal with marauding raccoons or rats.  The added benefit of the body trap is its use on fur-bearing animals such as martin, mink, or fishers.  In some parts of the US they can pose a threat to livestock, and with the proper license they can be a valuable source of income.  Even the less-valuable pelts from raccoon and skunks are quite sought after by friends and the community – people love a nice raccoon pelt, and skunk pelts are beautiful and proudly displayed when we give them as gifts.  Even small ‘niche’ skills like these can have real value in any type of economy.
 
Two final recommendations I would offer for someone unfamiliar with trapping – a big bag of salt and a small ‘tanning kit’ of chemicals.  Salt is a critical, “stock up” item for preparations in general, and is very useful in working with animal hides.  I won’t go into skinning or tanning an animal hide, but it is quite easy and very fun – especially for teenage boys.  When the animal is skinned and the hide stretched out on a board, salt on the underside of the skin can preserve it for months until you work it for tanning.  Van Dyke’s Taxidermy supply has several ‘tanning kits’ offering complete directions and chemicals needed to tan animal furs.  They are easy to use and a $30 kit has tanned 6 or 7 different animal hides over the years.  It has offered us great experiences and fun for us to do together.   If or when you start trapping animals, making use of that animal will be the next logical step.
 
Fur trapping is not for most folks, but it does offer considerations and options for everyone as we are abandoned by our society and government.   There are pictures of equipment, skinning animals, and tanning hides on our family blog (nwpodcast.blogspot.com).  Our goal in emergency preparations is to find what opportunities afford us the greatest benefit and options.  Hopefully my ideas have generated some options for you.

Letter Re: Wattle and Daub Construction

James Wesley,
A lot of people are restricted in how much money they can spend on a tract of land for a home or a retreat for when TSHTF  or TEOTWAWKI happens, but if you can manage to find even a small lot, like an acre or so and hopefully it is wooded, you can construct a home or cabin of sorts that isn’t really something to be ashamed of.  And also, consider this, something happens, like a tornado or earthquake and your home is completely destroyed as well as your neighbors—you could possibly construct a temporary survival shelter with some of these methods in the links below.  The links below are a collection of links to different methods and results in wattle and daub construction and also straw bale construction.  Also, I might add in this kind of construction you need a good roof with a overhang of probably a couple of feet to protect the wattle and daub walls from water and wind erosion.  You can also paint these walls when cured or dried.  It resembles adobe or stucco walls for the most part in my opinion.  I have a pet idea of building a pole type structure, frame in the windows and doors, etc. and cover the walls with woven wire fence wire.  Then layer over that with hardware cloth.  Then proceed with daubing it with a mixture of clay earth and straw or grass clippings mixed in for strength.  This mix can also be used to construct a fireplace and chimney.  Another consideration if this is to be a survival retreat, etc. 

how to wattle and daub construction – YouTube

I like the next links in particular for illustration of the work and how it is done:

Making History – Shelter (wattle & daub) – YouTube

How to choose a natural building material (i.e. cob or straw or a mix) – YouTube

I hope this information will be of much use to someone out there.  Thanks for your attention. – Darrell in Ohio

Economics and Investing:

Reader V.L. sent a clip from a television reporter that must have skipped “Reality 101”, in college. (Sarcasm ON: I won’t sleep well at all tonight, now the I’ve been told that my gold “isn’t backed by anything–unlike the U.S. Dollar.”)

German push for Greek default risks EMU-wide ‘snowball’

Items from The Economatrix:

Euro Crisis Spreads and Puts the World Economy at Risk

Detroit’s descent into economic darkness continues, literally: DTE deal pulls out lights in Highland Park–Areas in dark after 1,400 street lights removed to settle bill

When?  (When will the next financial crisis happen?)

The Top 100 Statistics About the Collapse of the Economy that Every American Voter Should Know

Odds ‘n Sods:

F.J. suggested this money saving tip over at Lifehacker: Slice Your Own Steaks

   o o o

You’ve heard me mention a family in north Idaho that has a home-based business making washable feminine pads: Naturally Cozy. (Avalanche Lily says that they are very comfortable and very durable even after many washings, and that she uses them regularly.) I just heard that the company recently added two different types of washable incontinence pads for ladies. If there is a lady in your family that currently “Depends on Depends”, then please order them a set of these pads. Someday you may be very glad that you did!

   o o o

The latest-generation solar-powered Trijicon sight looks ideal for preppers. (Thanks to Doug W. for the link.)

   o o o

F.G. found this: Man’s Best Friend Learns to Ride a Motorcycle.

   o o o

Yishai found this: Scosche announces radiation detector for iPhone

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"It is no proof that a man holds life sacred that he wishes to save his own life; it is some proof of it if he refrains from murdering his enemy." – G.K. Chesterson

An Army Veteran’s Thoughts on Camouflage, by H.R.

In case of TEOTWAWKI, being successful in the art of camouflaging will be a serious matter. It will be necessary for many aspects of life to include; movement, reconnaissance, and ambush. Camouflaging is a multi-tiered animal, including camouflaging your skin, your clothing, your gear, and your weapon.

I spent six years in the army as an Infantryman. As a result I personally have spent 26 months of my life in Iraq, and I have been on well over 500 combat patrols: to include raids and ambushes of all kinds.

Camouflaging of your outfit or uniform begins with the construction of a ghillie suit, which is often up to a person’s own preferences; there is no wrong way as long as you stick to a few basic principles. One if that color doesn’t appear in nature it had better not appear on your suit; two environments change so your suit should too, if you need to roll around in the dust to make it blend in with say a desert terrain do so, if you’re in grasslands and its springtime don’t try to pretend you are a patch of dead grass. Three don’t stick to patterns, there is a reason the word wilderness includes the word wild.

The materials needed for the type of ghillie suit that I made are as follows: 

One, a basic camouflage uniform (either an old set of Army BDUs which can be purchased for around $50, and bought used for much less in many different places from surplus shops to thrift stores; patterned in woodland or desert camouflage uniform (DCU), or my personal favorite a set of olive drab mechanic coveralls for around $40 brand new (heavy duty so they last long and as they are one piece they are actually more comfortable [than a separate pants and shirt]). 

Two, burlap (you can buy it by the yard for around $5 to $7 or do as I did and use old sand bags; try to get a few different colors)
   Three mosquito netting (under $20 for or you can buy a roll of 5 ft x 50 ft from Ronco for around $45.) For grasslands I recommend 1 inch x 12-14 inch strips however the nice thing about the mosquito netting is you can cut it into larger pieces to form a more leafy pattern.

Fourth, any type of basic twine net, try to stay away from plastic or synthetics if possible (I used an old camouflage net and cut away the camouflaging portion so I was left with a basic net). I personally recommend buying camouflage netting. It can be purchased in 4ft x 8ft sections for under $20 from a variety of online retailers) because you can also make “Yeti nets” with it which I will explain later in this article. 

Fifth, for added comfort buy a few sections of felt, (when I made mine I bought a 6 ft x 12 ft section of tan felt for $27 from the Felt Store online) enough to sew pieces on the front of the uniform all of this is for added comfort.

Lastly, a few additional items needed are: a tube of Shoe Goo, a good sewing kit, cloth dyes in a variety of subdued colors is also recommended (if tan burlap is cheapest with a little experimentation it could be changed into a variety of colors and shades.) And a roll of olive drab duct tape is always handy. This is known in the U.S. Army as “100 M.P.H. tape.”[JWR Adds: Fire Retardant Spray is also a must, since untreated burlap is quite flammable, especially with the edges shredded, as is typical for ghillies!]
 
When I constructed mine I started out with an olive drab pair of coveralls cut out sections of net so the entire back of the coveralls would be covered by the net, the net covered my entire back from shoulders to ankles and down my triceps to elbows.  I then secured the net by sewing it to the uniform around the edges and about every six inches I would sew the inner part of the net to the coveralls to further reinforce the netting. Step two take your burlap material and cut it into 1in x 12-14in strips starting at the bottom weave it through one section of the netting and tie it in the middle, keep stacking strips of burlap onto each other, (if you happen to have different colors make it random just stick to good earth tones) also to add to the random pattern if you opted to buy mosquito netting, cut it into 1in x 12-14 in strips, a good ratio is one strip of mosquito netting to every 25-30 strips of burlap. Unlike the burlap however take the mosquito netting and before you attach it cut irregular patterns again use nature as your model, I made mine wavy to look similar to grass or weeds.

Once you have the entire back covered in the burlap and mosquito netting, take the burlap strips and start pulling out the horizontal fibers, so essentials you have clusters of burlap string knotted together. That should take care of the back now onto the front when I constructed mine I knew I would be doing a lot of crawling around so I took portions of felt one for my chest, two for my elbows and two for my knees. For my knees I cut out the felt 12 in long x 10 in wide. I cut it 12 in long x 6 wide for my elbows.  For the chest I cut two pieces that started at my collarbones to the end of my rib cage, and placed them side by side to allow me to zip and unzip the coveralls, I then cut sections of burlap 2 in x 2 in bigger than the felt pieces so that an inch overlapped on each side of the felt. I cut a square inch out of each corner so the burlap could easily be folded over the felt. Next I used shoo goo to attach the two together and then sewed each piece in its respective spot. For the knees I put the two pieces about where you would wear knee pads and had the elbow pieces start at my elbow and follow the outside of my arm to the hem of the sleeves. The chest piece is pretty self explanatory. It adds a little padding and helps the suit last longer.
The idea behind the one I constructed was that if you were lying on your stomach the burlap mosquito netting mix should cover everything but your boots, head and hands.

Next you need to construct a sniper veil, you can purchase these but I always found a piece of gear I made or fashioned myself was always better. I used an army BDU boonie cap and a piece of camouflage netting I rigged up and refer to as a “Yeti net”. (These similar in construction to the ghillie suit but instead of attaching it permanently you use a section of camouflage netting and spruce it up with strips of burlap and mosquito netting in a similar fashion as described above, but instead of stacking the strips one on top of the other you can space them out a little.) I tied the yeti net to the boonie cap using parachute cord. The idea of the sniper veil is to break up your outline and generally you want it large enough to cover you head and neck and also extend to the front and drape on top of the optic on your weapon.
 
I also constructed another Yeti net one for my feet and one for my bag, both were 4 ft x 4 ft. Now, as a quick aside, Ghillie suits are advantageous because they can cover your whole body while providing great camouflage, and unlike me where I had the burlap and mosquito netting concoction covering my back, you can make them cover your whole body and even make a hood. Just do a little measuring and cutting, I had a friend that used a hooded sweatshirt as a pattern to sew a net together and a pair of pants for patterning the leggings and attached the netting together. So before he added the burlap and mosquito netting it looked like he had a fishnet pair of pants and a fishnet hooded sweatshirt. So all he actually wore underneath was a t-shirt and pair of shorts, making excellent camouflage and it was very light and comfortable.  However the advantages of ghillie suits stops here… wearing body armor is difficult next to impossible in a ghillie and its pretty hard to access magazine pouches because if you were to wear your webbing gear it would have to be underneath or the ghillie is all for naught. As a solution to this you can make a larger yeti net to cover your back and legs you wear it almost as a cape. It looks ridiculous when you are moving but it is a good alternative to a ghillie suit if you still want easy access to gear and prefer to keep your body armor on. Yeti nets are more quickly constructed but they do have a tendency to tangle. I have done both and see advantages and disadvantages to both.

Whatever choice you make, whether to make a full ghillie or partial like I did, or a yeti net, just follow the basics, subdued colors, don’t use vegetation stick to durable materials like burlap and netting. You want to get as much coverage as possible (depending on whether you want to be able to wear your body armor or web gear) Be creative within the contexts of creating camouflage and you might surprise yourself and always field test when possible.

Next, after you have camouflaged your body you have the hand and face. Here is where camouflage face paint comes in handy. Now I know a lot of sets come with black however save that for any urban raids, where you need to just subdue your face and hands. Now to understand camouflaging, you need to understand the end goal. The human face in its natural form is very recognizable, a protruding nose, shadows formed by your eye sockets and lips naturally pursed. The idea is to make you face unrecognizable and appear more two dimensional rather than three dimensional, and also remove any shine produced by natural oils in your skin) I personally like to use either a nice light to medium brown or green.

I have a whole travel hygiene kit bag full of different colors and sticks but my personal favorites are the camouflage paint sticks, they look similar to a container of Chap Stick, but they have two sides with alternating colors, two common ones are light green/loam and black/olive drab. I personally prefer them because other than the black you can use all those colors as a base and they are about $2 per versus the $5 to $10 compacts that inevitably have colors you don’t use, and not as much paint in them. That is to say you can buy a couple compacts but I wouldn’t stock up on a ton of them unless you want them for barter/ charity. When selecting camouflage paint colors diversity is key, but also keep in mind your surroundings (you will want to stock up on extra of those particular colors), and always buy waterproof. Now I know I have touched on the use of black paint, they also sell white paint in sets, you can always use the black and the white to darken or lighten up other natural colors. As well as the black and white have a limited role in winter camouflaging.

Alright, first and foremost, you have the base layer I always applied a healthy amount of the base color on the back of one of my hands add a little spit to even it out and start applying to your face starting about half an inch into your hairline and all the way down to about an inch or two of where your shirt begins. Don’t forget the ears, work the paint into your eyebrows, inside your nose half a fingernail length for those of you who haven’t outgrown the habit, and your neck.

Once you have the base coat it’s time to start adding some other colors either in the form of stripes or blobs. I always preferred a mix of the two. Keep in mind to keep the stripes small (although tiger stripes look awesome that’s not what we are going for) And I was always taught to vary things up when it came to stripes don’t be afraid to use a mix of vertical, diagonal, and horizontal. Inconsistency is the key here. The base coat is to reduce your skins natural shine while the added stripes and blobs are to break-up the protrusions on your face. Also another goal of stripes is to try to mix the vertical and horizontal lines already on your face. For example, you wouldn’t want a stripe going horizontally across your eyes, aka “the raccoon look”. Also you wouldn’t want a vertical stripe going down your nose. Field testing is a must it can help demonstrate what works and what doesn’t.

I always applied paint to the backs of my hands, even if you are going to be wearing gloves, there may be moments when you aren’t wearing them, and it’s always better to be safe than sorry. Follow the same steps for the backs of the hands obviously not as much detail is required as is for the face. And I always rubbed the remainder of paint that I would always wind up with on my fingertips into my palms not because I was necessarily trying to camouflage my palms but in an attempt to reduce the shine
 
As I mentioned earlier, I used a Yeti net for my bag that I carried on ambushes. As most of you have probably already purchased subdued colored bags, I think it goes without saying there aren’t enough camo nets in the world to camouflage a sponge bob square pants backpack or that coach purse you just had to have. I phrase I heard over and over in my career keep it simple stupid or KISS applies here, if you have to work too hard to conceal something it’s not worth it. I attached a yeti net to my bag using parachute cord, and rolled the excess up and secure it with a bungee while on the move. As far as gear I always kept it on the ground under a yeti net near me when stationary or on me if the suit I was wearing permitted or in a bag if not. But you could try to camouflage it by wrapping a little burlap around it again experiment see what you like and what you don’t like.
 
Lastly, but importantly, camouflaging your weapon. Again they have many… many kits available for purchase online but as always I preferred something fashioned by myself; many times it’s cheaper however, the reason I prefer it is you become better at something only by experimenting and experiencing it.  Even if you have a camouflage finish on your weapon the rules of camouflaging still apply you need to break up the outline of that weapon and make it unrecognizable. Also another quick aside even if you decide to stick to the original finish of your weapon in the last several years I have noticed a trend of offering different subdued colored accessories offered for many different pistols as well as most AR-15/M4 type rifles, ranging from buttstocks and pistol grips to rail covers and lasers/lights.  Research and testing is really the only way to find out what truly works for you.

I always used sections of camo netting and fashioned them similar to mini-yeti nets and attached them to the weapon with parachute cord. When attaching it always make sure you can still see through the optic or the sights and ensure the action doesn’t get tangled. (I once almost lost a squad mate due to his camo netting getting entangled in the action of his M249.) After you have sufficiently camouflaged your weapon one thing that people often forget to is take a look at their optics. A flash from an uncovered pair of binoculars or scope can give your position away to someone over a mile away. I learned three different techniques to camouflaging scopes they are: one the honeycomb, two the bird’s nest, and three the horizontal viewing slit.

First with the honeycomb [scope caps] that a lot of companies offer these as an accessory, which I think should be an immediate purchase with the optic. [JWR Adds: These channelized “Killflash” adapters are getting popular, for good reason.] However if yours gets lost or broken you can construct one using strips of the burlap fiber and small amounts of shoo goo.  It is time consuming but well worth the effort you basically create a square patch larger the end of the optic to be covered, fold down the excess and I used a piece of parachute cord and tied a square knot to attach it to the optic.

Second the birds nest, this requires a degree of patience and is a good technique to use if you happen to own an optic similar to a Trijicon ACOG, because they have about an inch lip between the edge of the scope and the objective lens. You weave a birds nest around the outer edges of the objective lens trying to keep the middle clear, a lot of experimentation is needed for this method because too little camouflaging and it is an exercise in futility and too much and you won’t be able to see.

Lastly, the horizontal viewing slit, the name pretty much says it all you take and cover all but a horizontal strip. On my ACOG I had I covered all but a one-inch gap for ambushes. Yes it reduced the amount of light but it also helped reduce the glare off the objective lens.

All the techniques I have mentioned throughout the article I have at least some if not extensive experience with, I used many of the techniques on multiple occasions obviously for desert warfare, but even as environments change techniques remain standing, just be adaptable and being willing to change. But always field test to ensure you are on the right path. Game time is too late to be changing certain strategies. Should you choose to build your own ghillie I would spend some time at home wearing it and spend some time familiarizing yourself with camoing up. Then, whenever you get a chance to spend a day in the woods, break it out. Take turns with friends trying to spot each other, you might just amaze yourself.