How To Butcher a Squirrel, by B.T.

It would seem these days the world in which we live is anything but predictable. Who is to say you will always be able to run down to the corner gas station and fill your tank? Or drive thru your local fast food chain for a quick fix, when those hunger pangs kick in? In the event of an economic crash or other disaster, food and other supplies may be very hard to obtain. You may not be able to make your regular trip to the local Wal-Mart or other grocery store. Store shelves will go bare very fast, and many people will be left without the proper supplies. Even if food is available, and stores are open, the prices of everything in the store will skyrocket. As in the case of hyperinflation. Loaves of bread for $25, and $30 for a gallon of milk. How will you feed yourself and your family? Is it time to give up hope and die? No, of course not!

It is time to learn new things and strengthen your skill set. What is a skill set? Skills that will enable and ensure you and your family will survive. Skills like learning moss contains water, How to make water safe for drinking by adding a few drops of bleach per quart, or how to put snow in a water bladder or baggies and melt that snow with your body heat, by placing it inside your jacket next to your body to make drinking water. Even Boy Scouts at a young age, are taught to make lamps and candles out of old tuna cans and wax. When the time comes are you going to be prepared? All the tools and weapons in the world won’t do you any good, if you don’t know how to use them.    

It would also be a very good idea to purchase several different types of firearms, along with plenty of ammo. It is advisable to have at least one handgun, one shotgun (preferably 12 gauge), one large caliber rifle, and one small caliber rifle such as a .22, for taking down small game animals like rabbits and squirrel. A pellet gun would also come in handy for hunting down the smaller game animals. Perhaps you would find yourself in a situation where you needed to hunt for food, but making noise with a loud weapon might bring unwanted attention your way. A slingshot would also work, but a pellet gun would allow to have repetitive fire.     

Hopefully you have been prepping and laying back a good stock of things. Things like water, beans, rice, salt, and first aid supplies. One thing I would like to add to the list of things you might want to consider putting back, would be baby formula. Why? You say you don’t have an infant? Well even if you don’t have a little one to care for, the day may come in such a situation when the mother down the street knocks on your door, and how great would it be to help save a little ones life? There are many things you can do to supplement whatever food you may have. Most people know most of them, like grow your own vegetables. Seed collecting from the various items you’ve grown. How many people though, have thought about trapping and killing birds and mice in your own back yard? In a real survival scenario, you will do whatever it takes to survive, and if you are not prepared to do those things, then you will not survive.    

Learn how to make your own snares to trap rabbits, or maybe even something bigger. Learn how to make small traps baited with food, in order to lure birds in. Make good solid cages to house the birds you catch, and keep them alive until you are ready to harvest them. Snakes and squirrels are also very good forms of valuable protein. Protein your body must have in order to pull through, and keep on going. When you catch that bird, snake or squirrel, then what? Okay you kill it, but then how do you go about preparing it for consumption? That’s what I’m about to teach you.    

I’ve chosen the squirrel out of the animals I have mentioned for you to learn how to skin. However much of the information can and will also apply to other animals as well. For example, you always gut the animal, and take care with the body fluids. As the bodily fluids will ruin the meat and possibly make you sick.

How to field dress and quarter a squirrel:

First off, I recommend that all of your squirrels be head shot. That way the heart, kidneys, and liver can be harvested for consumption more easily.  If you gut shoot your squirrel you will have punctured the guts, and therefore contaminated more of the meat. It is also of importance to check the color of the liver. The liver should be very dark red almost a maroon color, with no discoloration. If the liver is spotted or pale in color, this is a very good indication the animal is sick, and therefore the meat questionable. This is also true of deer and most game animals.     

Tools needed: Skinning knife, or just a good sharp pocket knife.   

Step one: Lay the squirrel out on its belly, and with your fingers pinch up the skin in the middle of the animals back. Take your knife and make about a one inch cut. Try not to cut into the meat.    

Step two: Insert your fingers into the opening you just made with your knife, and pull the skin in opposite directions. Do this until the skin rips all the way around the width of the body. You may have to use your fingers from time to time, in order to help the skin come free of the meat. Now you should be left with the skin divided into two sections, the upper and the lower.    

Step three: From here on out the squirrel will be laying on its back. Pull the upper portion of the skin up over the shoulders, then pull the arms out of the skin. It’s just like pulling off a shirt. Pull the skin up to the neck, and cut off the head. Cut the hands off at the wrist, and take special note of the tufts of hair still located near the wrist. It’s been said that these tufts of hair are scent glands, and if left on can make the meat have a bad taste. Cut off the tufts of hair.    

Step four: Pull the lower portion of the skin down to the ankles. Pull the skin just past the ankle bone and carefully cut off the feet. Pull the skin the rest of the way off the tail.   

Step five: Take your knife and just above one of the back legs, (where the leg meets the body) split the pelvic bone and break it open. This will cause an opening just above where the tail is.    

Step six: Very carefully take your knife and slowly split the squirrel up the full length of its body. Take the incision all the way up the body and out the neck. Be very careful not to cut the guts, or the meat will either be completely ruined or taste bad. If you do and get some nastiness on the meat, quickly rinse the meat with water. If you are careful and take your time when cutting, you will avoid cutting open the guts.    

Step seven: Make an incision on the outside of the pelvic bone (where the back leg meets the body). This will open up the tail are a little more, allowing you to get to all of the tail. Cut the tail off.    

Step eight: Take your hands and reach inside the incision you made along the belly. Start in the chest cavity and pull out the larynx, lungs, heart, and on down to the diaphragm, pull guts and all out. It all comes out clean in one pull. You are now left with a nice clean piece of meat.    

Step nine: Carefully cut off the arms behind the shoulder blade. Take your knife and cut the back legs off as well. Cut them along the pelvic bone. All you have to do here is slice the meat all the way around the leg so it loosens up a little, then just twist the leg off.    

Step ten: Cut the squirrel into two halves. Make your cut right where the ribs end. The rib section wont have much meat on it, but if put into a stew, the meat that is there will fall right off the bone and tastes really good. Take the other section of the body along with all of the legs, fry or bake and season to taste.   

How to get rid of the “gamy” taste: If you don’t like a gamy taste to your meat you can place the meat in a container, add one tablespoon of salt, fill with water. Let this sit refrigerated over night to help reduce the gaminess of the meat. Seasoning the meat further while it cooks will remove even more of the gamy taste.

Review of the Grover Rocket Stove, by F.J.B.

If you are a “prepper” in the same vein as I am, you look for equipment that is built to last. When a new product becomes available that looks to be substantially better than the one you have, you closet the old gear and purchase the new. This makes for a lot of closeted gear, but time is short and having gear that will last you a lifetime is a must.

I have been using rocket stoves on and off over the last 30 years. On, when I’d have a new stove, and off, when the stove either rusted or burned out. They all worked well, but none were made to last. Even if they made it through the rust and burn-out issues, I would then either lose a part or they’d end up getting bent or broken beyond use in the trunk of my car or in the back of our truck.

When I first saw the Grover Rocket Stove online, I was impressed with the heavy-gauge steel used in the construction. This was not like the other stoves I had found or used in the past.

StockStorage.com offers several different models of Grover Rocket Stoves: a base model, a heavy-duty model, and the heavy-duty model in stainless steel. Since I spend a lot of time cooking in wet areas like river camps and rainy eastern mountain areas, I went with the premium (1/8”) stainless steel model.

I happened to be out of town when it arrived, but my son was home. He accepts everything no matter what condition it arrives in. The box was beat to crud. It was not a pretty sight. I opened the box to find the stove in excellent condition.

My first impression was that this thing is built like a tank. It is relatively heavy for its size and very stout. It sits right. At 17 pounds it is heavy enough so it will not easily move and stable enough to place a large pot on top without the worry of it toppling over from being top heavy.

The stove is welded steel in construction with no loose or moving parts, although it did come with a heavy aluminum plate that sits on top of the burner to allow the use of small-sized pots or frying pans. It also has a heavy steel handle welded to the back of the stove for carrying and easy cleaning.

I took the stove outside to my front porch to fire it up. Not being into “keeping up the yard” made it easy to find dry leaves and downed branches in my front yard. After gathering a few handfuls of dry leaves and a dozen windfall sticks, I loaded the chamber with the tinder and some small fuel and fired it up.

Like all rocket stoves it had positive draft immediately and needed additional fuel right away. I broke the larger sticks into 8″ -12″ lengths and loaded them into the side fuel chute which is also welded to the stove as I dropped smaller tinder and sticks into the flue.

It was ready for cooking. I used a cast-iron skillet and cooked up some bratwursts, salsa, and onions as an afternoon snack.

After eating, I turned to cleaning the cooled stove. The stove is double-walled with an insulation sealed in the walled chamber. The handle on the back of the stove allowed me to easily turn the stove over and dump out what was left of the ash and coals by bumping the chute lip on the ground. Being at home, I then sprayed it off with the garden hose, making it like new again. Having gone with the stainless steel model, I have no worries about rust either.

There is an insert available that acts as a charcoal grate for using briquettes which I did not order. For me, the most attractive aspect of owning a rocket stove is that you don’t need to carry fuel with you. It uses whatever is lying around for fuel.

All said, the Grover Rocket Stove is indeed a better-made stove than any I have seen. I am very happy with it. It performs well, it is built to last forever, and I can see that it is the last rocket stove I’ll ever need to buy.

I recommend that anyone interested in a rocket stove check out the Grover Rocket Stove before making their stove purchase.  

Letter Re: Tire Bale Bastions and Houses?

Hi,
Doing some research on earth domes and I’m seeing a new trend, tire bales. These are 5 feet long, 5 feet wide, and 2.5 feet tall. They weigh 2,000 pounds apiece. They are environmentally friendly, being sold for $25-35 a unit plus shipping. I’m planning on using them around the houses perimeter as I feel they are much less expensive and more durable than a masonry wall. Covered in concrete or adobe they won’t be an aesthetic issue either.

I was wondering what your opinion of them would be as a ballistic barrier/wall?

Keep up the great work. – David F.

JWR Replies: Tire bale bastion walls (or even entire tire bale houses) are a viable option, and they do indeed offer great ballistic protection. (Although their irregular shape does leave a few gaps that would have to be “chinked” well with shotcrete.) Tire bale walls will definitely stop all .30 caliber rifle threats and will probably stop .50 BMG or Russian 12.7mm machinegun bullets. But I must mention a few provisos: 1.) The cost per cubic foot of wall is substantially higher than with the usually free for the hauling packed-earth tires (as used with “Earthships”), and 2.) , Because of the great weight of tire bales, a forklift (or a skid-steer equipped with forks, or a heavy-duty crane hoist) is required. This means that you can work only on a level building site, and, 3.) Unlike Earthship tires, which can be earthquake stabilized with just driven re-bar rods, tire bales must be specially strapped, and 4.) To be fire resistant, tire bales should be encased in adobe, shotcrete, or other masonry on all sides. (Following your link, I found a great series of photos that show a large tire bale house under construction.)

If you are going to put forth the effort to encase tire bales in adobe to add ballistic protection to an existing house, then you might as well build masonry “planters” that are filled with gravel. Two feet of gravel will stop bullets just as well as a tire bale, and there is no fire hazard.

Two Letters Re: A Folding Kayak as a Survival Vehicle

Jim,
Today’s submission on Kayaks as survival vehicles is good but the statement, “Often in a hard shell boat the majority of your effort is spent simply paddling, trying to keep the boat upright!” isn’t really accurate. It might be true of some sporty river kayaks but certainly not of modern hard-shell sea kayaks.

A number of years ago I spent three days kayaking among several islands in Puget sound. It was a guided trip and except for one time on a placid river, it was my only time in a kayak.  I found our tandem kayaks remarkably stable in the water. Because of the way their chines are designed, tipping the boat causes greatly increased buoyancy on the “down” side of the boat, keeping it from going over.  As novices we had no trouble remaining upright, even near shore in a squall with 2-to-3 foot breaking waves.

My only real point is that I wouldn’t discount a hard kayak for fear of its stability.  Also, I’m not certain how much I want my boat to “move as a living organism” given stories like this.

Unlikely, I know, but I doubt a folding kayak would have fared as well. – Matt R.

 

Sir: I agree with Jan B. that a folding kayak has great possibilities as a survival vehicle.  My own interest in them goes back to a Life magazine cover story from the 50s.  Dr. Hannes Lindemann crossed the Atlantic in a 17′ Klepper equipped with makeshift outriggers made from auto inner tubes.  Klepper is the oldest and still the top of the folding kayak line.  Nautiraid, built in France, is similar but less well known.  Both have been used by special ops units around the world.  (Milspec kayaks are available to civilian purchasers.) The main difference between these European kayaks and the current Folbots, which are made in the USA, is the frame.  Folbots are aluminum and plastic.  Kleppers and Nautiraids are wood.  I prefer wood because I can replace broken parts.  YMMV.  Folbots are serviceable entry-level boats.  I believe Feathercraft still offers more refined aluminum-frame kayaks.  Repair kits would include patching materials for the hull and short sections of aluminum  tubing (on both aluminum and wood boats!) to splint broken stringers.

I would suggest buying two identical kayaks, ideally doubles that are fitted for single paddlers.  I currently own a Nautiraid single but plan to purchase a double as soon as I find one I can afford.

Suggested reading:  Complete Folding Kayaker by Ralph Diaz; Alone At Sea – A Doctor’s Survival Experiments of Two Atlantic Crossings in a Dugout Canoe and a Folding Kayak by Dr. Hannes Lindemann; Cockleshell Heroes by C. E. Lucas Phillips, (in which WWII British commandos use folding kayaks to attack German ships.) Regards, – Randy in Maine

 

JWR:
With regards to Jann’s article on folding kayaks, I would like to mention a kayak design that many people are not aware of. After taking a 4-day class on kayak rolling, I felt that there had to be a better kayak design that didn’t force you to sit in one position for hours (which is bad for your back), wasn’t so tippy, and had a storage area that didn’t make you crawl out of the cockpit to reach it. I wondered if there was a catamaran-type kayak and after a web search found it at http://www.wavewalk.com/.

It allows for many riding positions and is stable enough to stand up in. Two adults and a child can fit in its huge cockpit. It has many times more storage space than any other kayak. It is the best kayak for fishing big fish because a regular kayak can be dragged until the rider paddles to shore to finish reeling. With the Wavewalk’s huge cockpit you simply scoot forward which points the nose down and creates drag. People put all kinds of custom attachments on them like umbrellas and motors. As far as survival kayaking goes, I think it’s the ultimate!

Respectfully, – Erik M.

Economics and Investing:

The shorts must be screaming, about now: Gold shoots past record $1,800 an ounce. When I last checked, the silver-to-gold ratio was at 45.4-to-1. Again, if you have the vault space, this is a great time to ratio trade out of your 1 ounce gold coins, and into silver bullion coins. (Such as pre-1965 American “junk” silver.)

Michael W. sent this: A National Debt of $14 Trillion? Try $211 Trillion

More of The Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB)?: Government considers turning foreclosures into rentals

G.G. sent this: Ron Paul: “Gold Is Not A Bubble”

From K.A.F.: Economic Uncertainty Leading to Global Unrest

K.A.F. also pointed me to this blog post from a distaff blogger in Eastern Washington: It happened to us, our bank was just “closed” by the FDIC. Shades of the depression

Items from The Economatrix:

Plunge On Wall Street Threatens to Spook Consumers

Fed May React to Market Plunge and Stalled Economy. (Can you smell a whiff of MOAB, on the breeze?)

Oil Tumbles Below $80 Amid US Recession Fears

US Stocks Rise Slightly After Big Fall

Gold Prices Keep Pushing Higher, Hit New Record

Debt Deal Not Downgrade Is Cause Of Crash

Odds ‘n Sods:

File under Emerging Threats: DIY Spy Drone Sniffs Wi-Fi, Intercepts Phone Calls. (Note that if hackers can do this, so can Uncle Sugar.)

   o o o

New NASA Data Blow Gaping Hole In Global Warming Alarmism

   o o o

This looks captivating: MedCallKits™ + 24/7 Telemedicine Line 

   o o o

Bob G. mentioned an excellent video by “Okie Prepper” on using calcium hypochlorite for water purification

   o o o

Birmingham riots: three men killed ‘protecting homes’. There is something especially pitiful about seeing disarmed citizens attempting to defend themselves ( A hat tip to Laura C. for the link.) Meanwhile, in The Daily Mail, we read: Years of liberal dogma have spawned a generation of amoral, uneducated, welfare dependent, brutalised youngsters. And don’t miss this slide show: London and UK riots: 50 powerful images

Note from JWR:

Today we present another two entries for Round 36 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, and C.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 36 ends on September 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.

A Folding Kayak as a Survival Vehicle, by Jann B.

The vehicle I am about to describe does not often come immediately to mind when one thinks of a survival vehicle to be of use during troubled times but bear with me.  The vehicle I have in mind requires no fuel, and no mechanical upkeep. Additionally it offers significant stealth mode and is totally silent. If one is in or near an urban setting such as the San Francisco Bay area or Manhattan or Seattle then this survival vehicle will grant one the power to disappear from the crazed urban crowd scene almost immediately.  No, I’m not talking about some new science fiction device and I am not talking about something that will cost an arm and a leg.  What I am proposing as the ultimate survival vehicle is the simple ocean kayak.  This is a vehicle that can be rented easily in any urban setting by the water and the learning curve is neither long nor steep.  Preferably one might want to select a double [aka “tandem”] configuration kayak, even if one were traveling solo.

Right off the top, an ocean-going kayak requires no fuel, no mechanic, no complicated maintenance and it will take you anywhere on the water.  When one considers that almost 70% of this planet’s surface is covered with water and that a large percentage of the world’s major cities sit on coasts and in harbors then an aquatic vehicle begins to seem like a wise choice. Sailboats have the problem of needing wind as well as relatively deep water to float their keels.  Plus sailboats need yearly maintenance and have many things which can and do break. Power boats with their thirst for fuel are simply out of the question.

Specifically I am proposing a double ocean folding kayak.  Yes, a folding kayak.  These are very useful in that you can slip them into a couple of bags and store them in your closet or the trunk of your car and yet they can be assembled and transport you and an impressive stash of survival supplies across vast oceans in a relative safe and secure manner. These are quite possibly the oldest small boat design in history.  They have been transporting people all over the world for thousands of years.  The Russians used kayaks back in the early 1800’s to travel from Alaska down to San Francisco Bay in search of sea otters to trade with China.  In recent times they have been single handedly used to go from Europe to the Caribbean and even from California to Hawaii.  And these were by lone individuals, with no support group.

Two good qualities of a folding “skin” boat, other than the obvious, is that they are flexible on the ocean and will move as a “living” organism as opposed to a hard shell plastic kayak which will just as often tip over.  One can actually “relax” in a folding kayak.  They may not be as fast as a hard shell boat but then, who’s in a hurry? They will provide a very stable platform from which you can fish and or/dive and you can actually sleep in one without worrying about it tipping over.  Often in a hard shell boat the majority of your effort is spent simply paddling, trying to keep the boat upright! And river kayaks are much too small [to carry a useful load] and are simply not designed to travel in a straight line.

I personally began my ocean kayaking experience on San Francisco Bay. This was an excellent environment to learn to use an open water kayak.  As a survival tool an ocean kayak is uniquely fitted to our current needs. A double open water kayak can carry 600+ pounds in people and cargo.  One can use a sail on extended voyages as well as a sea anchor in storms to stabilize the craft.  Most double kayaks have a rudder system so that all of your attention can be focused on straight ahead paddling. In a sense one can view a double kayak as a truly luxurious back packing alternative.  You can carry all the things you could never carry on your back.  Plus, with a salt water desalinator and appropriate fishing gear one is much more self sufficient.  Additionally there are many food “alternatives” which offer a lot of nutrition in a compact space.  Food items such as “Food Tabs”, compressed food bars such as Datrex, Mainstay, S.O.S., as well as MRE meals and freeze dried meals.  And speaking of MRE meals: they often come with a flameless heating source which merely uses water to activate the heat source.  You can warm your MRE  (or freeze dried meals) in the cockpit of your kayak with no fear of fire (these flameless heating kits are also available from Mountain House). And although a salt water desalinator is comparatively expensive, just look at it like the price of a medium grade pistol.  Sell one of  the extra guns and buy all the free fresh water you can use! It’s a bargain.

Another inexpensive tech item which I find to be very handy in a kayak is a solar battery charger ($29 from BePrepared.com).  I can charge four AAA, AA, C or D batteries at a time in just a few hours. So I can have light, music, radio, E-book reader, walkie-talkie, et cetera without having to regularly purchase batteries. Chemical light sticks are also very handy at night for traveling and being able to keep other boats in sight without having to rely on battery powered light sources.

Another food source often overlooked is seaweed.  There are many varieties of seaweed and most, if not all are edible and offer a high source of vitamins.  People from China, Japan and Korea (as well as Ireland) have traveled the world for hundreds, if not thousands of years using seaweed as a prime food source. Some seaweed can be as high as 50% protein and it can be easily farmed. Seaweed is also useful in dressing wounds and using as fertilizer in gardens. And, speaking of food on the water, a fine mesh net (like a nylon stocking) can be used to gather small krill and other very small sources of nutrients.  After all, if it’s good enough for a giant blue whale, it can’t be all bad.

Once society, as we know it, collapses and chaos reigns in urban areas I can see a veritable sea kayaking sub-culture arise.  For approximately $3,000, (the price of a cheap used car), one can get totally outfitted with a two person ocean going kayak. In a kayak one can go where sailboats and larger power boats cannot go.  It is possible to create seaside vegetable [“heirloom variety”] gardens in areas inaccessible by either road or larger boats.  It  would be possible in the near future to cruise from Alaska to Baja on the West Coast and have access to fresh food (and fresh water) on an almost daily basis for free. And if one should choose to stay in an area like SF Bay, there are vast open spaces beneath the city docks and streets that are only accessible by small craft such as kayaks and these “invisible” places offer a secure place to sleep or leave your craft for a limited time while you explore the surface world.

A few years ago, as a test of some of my ideas I went on a six week kayak trip down the inner coast of the Baja Peninsula with three others.  We used only what we carried, had no support system and had a wonderful experience.

Summary of A Plan:

  1. Get a folding double ocean kayak such as a Folbot, Greenland II.  They have a yearly substantial sale each November. (Get the expedition model with a sail.)
  2. Get a saltwater hand desalinator from West Marine. (Sell a spare gun, if need be).
  3. Get a solar battery charger. Don’t forget the rechargeable batteries. ($29 for the solar charger from Emergency Essentials.)
  4. Get a vacuum packed 2/3 of an acre worth of varied heirloom vegetable seeds. In this #10 can you get 16 non-hybrid variety of seeds. This should be enough to start gardens in three or four places which will be inaccessible to cars and/or other larger boats. ($43 from Emergency Essentials.)
  5. Get a ECTACO Jetbook Mini. It is the only e-book reader that runs on AAA batteries.  I have used mine on a daily basis for 90 days before having to replace the batteries. That way you can carry over 3,000 full length books and/or any other plain text documents with an inexpensive 2 GB SD memory card.
  6. Get the coastal charts for the areas you may be traveling through as well as the USGS maps for the adjoining coastal land.
  7. Pick up six Midland or Motorola handheld walkie-talkies. Over the ocean they will work for an astonishing distance and will run for hours and hours on AA batteries.
  8. Don’t forget your MP-3 player (one that runs on AAA batteries) and make it a rule that ANY electronic device use batteries that can be recharged from your solar recharge unit.

Consider these to be “extras” to be added to your normal “grab and go” and “camping gear”. For additional food items I would highly recommend Emergency Essentials. And for regular “survival gear” I would recommend Major Surplus and Sportsman’s Guide.

JWR Adds: For longer distance travel and certainly for any kayaking on the open ocean, I would recommend getting a kayak equipped with outriggers. These add tremendously to the craft’s stability.

Gold Medal Marksmanship, by 10x Shooter

This article is intended to assist our fellow preppers with marksmanship. I have realized that with all the new interest in the prepper movement we have those that have never handled a firearm among us!  I will start at the very basic level to help form a good foundation to build upon. For some this will be too basic or boring, however, they may see something of use. Some of this will also be story telling. I want the reader to get the “feel” for shooting, not just the science.

If you are new to firearms or less than an expert please give the following a read and see if you can give it a try. By building the proper skills with better methods you can be shooting better, sooner, and for less money. The skill of marksmanship can become a hobby, put food on the table, and save you or your family from those that would do harm so lets get some training going.

Why should you read this and follow what is suggested? Long ago, in a place far, far away I had the great honor of an assignment to the USAMU (Army Marksmanship Unit, or Army Shooting Team). For the sake of OPSEC some details will be skipped but lets say I had some experience along the way. I have to add that the Army did help polish my marksmanship skills but I arrived there an expert and it was all self taught to that point. The marksmanship instruction at basic training was unfortunately lacking back then. The final polish came from the coaches and peers at the elite USAMU.

I must give the safety brief: Misuse of a firearm is dangerous. It can result in property damage, serious injury and death. Always use hearing and eye protection. Treat firearms as if they are loaded. Keep firearms pointed in a safe direction and have a proper backstop for the ammunition being used. If you do not have a basic understanding of firearms and safe use of them then you should seek a basic safety class or other qualified training.

Terms used in this article include:

  • Sight (s) – the fixtures or attachment which is viewed through to aim at the target.
  • Sight Picture – the alignment of the sights and target as viewed by the shooter.
  • Trigger – the lever or device which will initiate the discharge of the firearm.
  • Bullseye – the very center ring of a target, maximum score area.
  • Group – a set of bullet holes on a target, usually 3 or 5 to a set.
  • Recoil – the rearward propulsion of the firearm as the bullet is fired.
  • Flinch – an involuntary reaction to the recoil of a firearm.
  • Safety – usually a push button or level which prevents or allows a firearm to be discharged.

It has been my anecdotal observation that we humans want the best, coolest, and biggest goodie. Functional and practical need not apply. We also want it new and we want it now. This is true of me too! Unfortunately this is usually the wrong way. That “arm chair commando” with a Barrett .50 BMG can’t hit a target at 200 yards but my .308 will reach out and touch someone at 800 yards. Skill wins. That skill starts by learning basics and building a solid foundation: Crawl, walk, run.

Get started with a BB gun or an Airsoft gun. Why get a BB gun? You can shoot it in your house if you live in an area that is not suitable to shooting outside. It is quiet. It is very inexpensive to shoot. There is no recoil to cause you to develop a flinch. I suggest a spring cocked BB gun such as the Daisy Buck or a manually compressed air type like I learned on, the Crosman 760 Pumpmaster. We are not looking to take big game just yet…what you need here is not fancy or powerful. This is the time to learn sight picture and trigger control. Oh, and if you learn on iron sights (not an optic) you can always advance later. If you start on an optic it will be difficult and frustrating to go back to the irons. Also get a proper target. There are hard foam target blocks and metal traps for BB gun shooting.

Now that you have acquired a functional BB gun let’s look at the sights. A blade sight has a single post in the front and two blades in the rear (also called a notch). For proper sight picture the top edge of the front sight should be placed between and even to the rear sight blades (or in the notch). The top of the three should be even and then placed in the center of the target. A peep sight will be similar except the rear sight is a circle. The top edge of the front sight goes in the center of the circle and that is then centered on the target. This sounds unusual, however, you now focus on the front sight. You should notice that the rear sight is slightly out of focus and the target will blur. This is crucial for later and you need to build the habit now. The issue is that your eye will focus to a specific distance like a camera. An object closer will be clear while one in the distance will be blurred. For practical marksmanship the front sight is clearly in focus while the rear sight is slightly out of focus and the target is not in focus. Simply center the sights in the blurred target.

Holding your BB gun in the beginning should be done from a comfortable position. A good method at this point is while seated at a table. Just place your elbows on the table about shoulder width apart. Keep your finger off the trigger. Now with the stock against your shoulder you should look down the sights and see where the BB gun is pointed. Set your target up at that height about 10 feet away. We will see where the sights are set.

Verify you have a safe backstop and there is no one at risk and nothing there to get broken. Use eye protection. Use hearing protection if appropriate. Follow the loading instructions and use the lowest power setting possible. Don’t forget the safety. Place the center of the first pad of your trigger finger on the trigger. From a normal full breath, let the breath half way out and hold. Aim and then draw the trigger straight back while keeping the sight picture. Trigger control, also called trigger squeeze, is crucial. If you hold your breath too long you will start to shake and maybe get blurred vision. Just start over. After this first shot you need to verify the BB is somewhere on the target. If not, check that you loaded a BB in the gun. You can maybe move the target closer or add additional targets around the first (making a larger target) to see where the BB is going.

When you locate the hole from the BB and see that it is anywhere on the target you should shoot 3 more times. These three shots should be in succession and will be a “group”. At this point you should be able to follow the instructions to adjust the sights if the group is not centered around the bullseye. If the group is a bit wide or erratic you should not be concerned. With repeated practice and following the fundamentals the group will get smaller in size (called tight). When you get the group tight, maybe 1 inch, then move the target back another foot. Repeat the process. Add more power or pump the pressure higher as needed for the distance.

You are now getting three things from this basic exercise: 1. maintaining proper sight picture while you 2. practice trigger control and 3. shooting without developing a flinch. These are the rock solid foundation of marksmanship. The more time you invest in building these good habits is the better a marksman you will become.
Once you feel confident, you can move on to other firing positions such as prone or kneeling, and later advance to a larger caliber. I very highly recommend stepping your way up to the desired caliber, such as .22, then .223, then .308 or a similar size. Come back to a small caliber sometimes to keep the fundamentals working for you. What can happen by moving to a larger caliber too fast is that you will develop a flinch.

To polish your skills and find what you are doing wrong:
Reduced size targets: Instead of moving your targets further away, just make them smaller. A great example is the 25 meter M16 zero target. The target is a 300 meter target scaled down to be used to 25 meters. IMHO you can learn a lot more seeing your hits and misses at 25 meters instead of having no idea what happened 300 meters away. Once you master the smaller target then you can move your targets out further.

Checking trigger control: When I was in the Army there was an exercise to check your trigger control. It was called the “dime and washer” drill. The drill required an assistant. Verify your rifle is unloaded and cocked. Take a prone position holding the rifle like you are ready to shoot. Your assistant inserts a cleaning rod into the barrel 10-15 inches with a few inches left exposed. The assistant then balances a dime on the cleaning rod and lets go. You should be able to pull the trigger (audible click) dropping the hammer on the firing pin without the dime falling off.

Checking for flinch: There is a product usually called a “snap cap” and also sometimes called a dummy round. They can be used several ways but for this practice you should be at the range and ready to shoot. Have an assistant load the magazine for you without you seeing. The snap cap should be mixed in with the live ammunition. When the person firing gets to the snap cap and squeezes the trigger everyone will see how much flinch they have developed. Small caliber practice and dry-fire drills with the snap caps can be used to correct the bad habit.

FWIW: I had no formal firearms instruction as a youth. I got to shoot a few rounds through a relatives handgun once and shot a BB gun a few times. The big event came when I was given a BB gun as a gift. It was  Crosman 760 PumpMaster. With no formal instruction I was left to learn the concepts of trigger control and sight picture on my own. The Crosman had an excellent trigger and no recoil so I did not develop bad habits while shooting it. Many years later, right around the time of a major competitive event, my Mother asked me if I remembered how I learned to shoot. I was a bit puzzled because no one taught me to shoot. She said “you used to shoot the bees”. I had forgot that we had a problem with the wood boring bees around the old farm house when I was growing up. I practiced and learned to shoot the bees out of the air!

Letter Re: Making Your Own Fuel Briquettes Making Fuel From Waste

Hi Jim;
I stumbled across the idea of fuel briquetting while on an appropriate technology web site and have found the idea is very popular in the developing world, particularly in areas where wood for fuel is scarce.

Most of us are familiar with the formed charcoal briquettes used in barbecues, and you can use charcoal in this type of press, but practically anything burnable can be used to create briquettes: straw, grass clippings, rice hulls, paper, sawdust, leaves, animal dung… use your imagination! The end result will look different depending on your source material, but all will get the job done (see sample briquettes from around the world, here). The briquettes are closer to the formed Pres-to-Logs you can find in grocery stores in the U.S., which are made of sawdust, though most handmade briquettes are smaller than the commercial logs.

For those who live in the grasslands, a high desert area or a lightly-wooded place, the means to make fuel can be invaluable. Knowing how to make briquettes can also be a valuable trade skill (using your equipment to produce briquettes from the agri-waste of others) or the means to create a valuable trade good (finished briquettes for sale). It would be a great business to pair with a sawmill.

Here’s a PDF of plans for a hand-operated press frame.

YouTube is a fantastic resource for homemade briquette press ideas. There seem to be a lot of folks who have put a lot of thought into different designs. Some use bottle jacks for the needed pressure, but there are many human powered designs.

Here is a very small sampling of ideas in use:

Although my retreat location is wooded, it would not produce enough fuel for an extended period. Having a means to create fuel from what the trees drop naturally could be a helpful thing.

Blessings, – Jason R.

Letter Re: Converting a Standard American Home Into a Hardened Retreat

Mr. Rawles,

I read CentOre’s article with great interest and believe he and his group are well on the way to success.  I have a possible solution to what he listed as his greatest issue:

“A more realistic problem in our area involves the numerous one ton, four wheel drive, jacked up trucks.  Our goal for them remains to slow or delay their progress within reasonable shooting distances. “

May I recommend a classic defense that has been in use against infantry and cavalry for centuries and motorized vehicles more recently called the abatis.  I think this fits in perfectly with his setup. – Bumboy

Economics and Investing:

The global markets are in such flux that the spot price of gold has risen above the spot price of platinum. These are indeed unusual times!

A headline that we saw coming: Fed forced to consider fresh stimulus. (Only in the mind of Ben Bernanke is “more spending” the solution to a crisis created by overspending .)

Steve K. suggested a video that is well worth watching: Jim Sinclair interviewed by James Turk. (Jim Sinclair is usually quite terse in his writings, so it is great to hear him speak at greater length.)

Can you spell “Plunge Protection Team”? Stocks End Sharply Higher, Dow Surges 400

10 Reasons Why Gold is the Gut Reaction and Why Silver is the Smart Decision

S&P Downgrades Fannie and Freddie Credit Ratings, Other Agencies Tied to U.S. Dollar

John T. liked this piece by Greg Hunter: Brace for Impact

Also from John, a piece by Andrew Schiff: The Center of Gravity Shifts Slowly

G&K recommended some commentary by Jonathan Sherman at the Forbes site: U.S. Dollar Is The Next Financial Shoe To Drop

Items from The Economatrix:

America “Makes The Cut” — What Happens Next?

World Markets Braced For Flight To Safety

Federal Reserve Openly Targets Dollar Demise

Odds ‘n Sods:

London riots: breakdown of Monday night’s violence. (Two observations from JWR: 1.) A lot of these “youths” appear to be in their 20s and 30s, and, 2.) If the rioting is this severe on such a slight pretense, then what will things be like in the midst of economic collapse, later in the decade?) It is high time to take the gap!

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You can’t blame these Turkish shop owners in London’s Dalston for arming themselves. Video: London Riots: Shop-owners defend their businesses in east London. (Riotguns would of course be better, but this is England.) And here is a related article: London riots: residents fight back. (Also with a video clip.)

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Note the hot sellers in England on Amazon.co.uk: Baseball bats, batons, et cetera. (The Cold Steel Pocket Shark pen was recommend here on SurvivalBlog as a covert self defense weapon. It is best for travelers to sand off the pen’s markings to be the most discreet.)

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For any who have doubts about a Christian’s role vis-a-vis government authority, I recommend the new book Romans 13: The True Meaning of Submission. It was co-authored by Pastor Chuck Baldwin and his son Timothy Baldwin. They share my view that it is our Christian duty to respect and submit to good government, but to resist wicked rulers. The book is also available via Kindle.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"The only things of value which we have at present are our arms and our courage. So long as we keep our arms we fancy that we can make good use of our courage; but if we surrender our arms we shall lose our lives as well." – Xenophon, The Persian Expedition