Odds ‘n Sods:

Dirk W. spotted this: At Vacant Homes, Foraging for Fruit

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Reader Bob J. sent this: Did Wal-Mart stop people from giving CPR to man? Bob’s comment: “This news story reminded me so much of an incident from Michael Z. Williamson’s excellent book “The Weapon.”

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The End is Nigh: Let’s All Move to Barter Village! “Located in a tiny castle (yes, castle) in northeast Arkansas, Barter Village is an “experimental educational project” where people who’ve been particularly hurt by the down economy can go to learn survival skills such as organic farming, sewing and, yes, bowhunting. Villagers hunt, fish and learn to dress their own game.”

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Steph T. sent us this headline from Columbus: Community gardens plagued by thefts — Despite signs, people are helping themselves to crops at harvest time

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Josh D. recommended the Surveillance Self-Defense web site.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that [spirit] of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.

We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.” – 1 John 4:1-6 (KJV)

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry 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.

Partially Safeguard Your Well Pump Against EMP and Solar Flares, by R.L.

Those of us who at all remain connected to the main power grid run the very real risk of having no water following an electrical crisis event, whether man made or natural. That back up generator you intend to switch over to after a power failure will not fire up your well if the pump and/or the pump control box is already fried.
 
Unless you have not only food, but several thousand gallons of water in a buried cistern (with a hand pump) all the storage supplies in the world will count for naught within only a few days without safe and readily available water.
 
Even those who are totally off grid may have enough electrical “antenna” exposure via their wiring system to render their well useless. (There are conflicting opinions whether relatively “short” runs of wiring, such as those under the hood of a vehicle, or as part of a solar/wind generator array, might be susceptible to high-altitude EMP bursts, but why not prepare to
be “on the safe side” of the question?)
 
But what is not in much question is that the hundreds-of-miles of “virtual antenna” which comprises our nation’s power and phone transmission lines will act powerfully upon anything connected to them — perhaps to include your home and vital water well. Even a fence line may constitute a fatal conductor to have your hand resting on should one be so unlucky as to be in
contact with it during the initial main pulse (or pulses if follow up bursts are part of the strategy.)
 
And although a hugely powerful solar flare event is possible — and would likely produce a similar result — my bet will always be on the “human factor” rather than cosmic “coincidence.” (That is, the more likely scenario would be a daylight deployment of high altitude EMP weapons (which would be largely invisible/unnoticed by most people) which could then be blamed on whatever a treasonous government felt was in its best interest. They could swear it was a “natural” event, or they could hop up and down in a froth with false-flag accusations against a Muslim or other fall-guy nation — and who would be able to dispute them? They might even proclaim the grid failure to be the work of “home grown” terrorists supposedly using conventional explosives or suitcase nukes against key points in the grid. Since only government-controlled media would likely be broadcasting (if at all) after such a devastating event, we’d have to take their word for whatever they affirmed — no more Internet or phones or local stations to counter with the truth (assuming it could even be discovered amid the chaos.)
 
All of which brings us back to the “mission critical” protection of the homestead water well. Fortunately, a fairly inexpensive “fix” is available for the problem, little more than a few feet of wire, a power relay, a small electrical enclosure box (available at Home Depot) and a modest bit of know-how. Most electricians and most well service companies could do the whole job within a couple or hours, or for those of you who are more technically proficient and adventurous, you could do it yourself with some careful study and appropriate safety measures.
 
Now before we get started with the details, let me suggest (as others have done in previous posts) a couple of “superior” alternatives to be considered. Perhaps the simplest and most reliable long term answer would be to remove the submersible pump (or surface mounted jet pump) and install a Brumby pump. (Several YouTube videos show how to build your own, very inexpensively!) No wires, no motor, and no moving parts at all down in the well hole to wear out!
 
Yes, an air compressor somewhere on the property would be required (and could be protected in the same manner as outlined herein) but in comparison to the challenges of protecting/removing/replacing/servicing pumps tens or many hundreds of feet deep, the Brumby approach really can’t be beat! Also, the air compressor can do double duty, i.e. power air tools, aerate ponds, et cetera, and should it ever break, they are far easier to come by (and/or repair) than a deep pump or jet pump. Moreover, the air compressor can be hugely oversized (if that’s all you could find) and still do just fine, whereas a submersible pump must be properly sized both electrically and in physical dimension, etc.
 
With the Brumby design there are various considerations regarding overall well depth, actual depth to the water level within the well, etc, but even if your particular configuration would make a Brumby pump problematical, you could still easily construct or purchase a positive displacement style air/water pump that would likewise dispense with motors and wires down in the well, yet still have great simplicity and reliability and ease of repair. There also exists at least one brand of lever-action mechanical pump able to handle a couple hundred or so of depth with no problem. I can post more on these alternatives in a subsequent post, if some readers indicate an interest…
 
Okay, let’s start with the relay, widely available, but not likely to be found in a Home Depot or Lowe’s etc. The links below show two variations of the same relay, one with a 120 VAC energizing coil, and the other with a 240 VAC coil. They also are available in other coil and contact voltages, but for now these will suffice for purposes of illustration.  What we are trying to do  here is walk through the general logic and a couple of “typical” installations — as they say, your own mileage may vary, in which case any competent electrician will nevertheless understand these instructions sufficiently to adapt the principles to your own circumstance.
 
Most home or small ranch well pumps either run on 120 VAC or 240 VAC single phase power from the main circuit breaker panel. Almost always the pump will have its own “dedicated” breaker that sends the power on to the pump equipment room, where most often the supply conduit first goes to a manual disconnect box with a lever on the right side which can be pulled down to cut
power so as to safely work on the wiring.
 
Often (but not always) the output wiring of the disconnect box then goes directly to the pump pressure switch, which will not send the power any further unless the system pressure drops low enough to require more water.  If the switch does shift due to low pressure, then the power is switched either directly to the pump down in the well, or in many cases instead is sent first to a pump control box which may contain such additional items as perhaps a start relay, capacitor(s) and other associated items, and from there on down to the submerged pump.
 
Specifically, for a standard 240 VAC set-up, what we’ll be doing is removing the two wires that normally go from the pressure switch to the pump (or to its control box) and let them hang momentarily.  We will then cut two new pieces of same-gauge [and color] wire and connect them from the just-vacated terminals of the pressure switch up to the two terminals of our new 240 VAC relay coil.  We’ll also jumper two short wires from those two coil terminals to the two “normally open” terminal connections of the relay, typically abbreviated and molded into the adjacent plastic as “no.” (Again, for those without sufficient technical know-how and familiarity with safety precautions it would be best to pass these instructions on to a qualified professional.)
 
This new relay is commonly termed a “double pole, double throw” arrangement whereby it is essentially two switches or relays in one. No power will flow through the relay unless it is energized by its built-in magnetic coil via the pressure switch wiring, as described.
 
The two “moving contact” parts of the relay (mechanically linked to each other but electrically isolated) each have their own separate terminals marked as “common” or the abbreviated letter “c” molded into the adjacent plastic.  The two wires that we removed earlier from the pressure switch and left dangling will now instead be routed individually to these two terminals
marked “c” or common.
 
However we also want to protect the pump from any possible high voltage surge that might come into the home from an outside event. High voltages can “bridge” or arc across even a normally “off” switch or relay contact, so to counter that we will use the “normally closed” contacts on the new relay and run wires from those two terminals to the well casing (or other suitable
earth ground.)
 
What this means is that whenever our new relay is off, and the pump is not running, the pump is always connected across the new relay to an earth ground, such that even if high voltage does try to bridge the gap between contacts in the relay, the arc will be forced to encounter an easy and relatively safe path to the earth. It’s still “possible” for some of the voltage to divide and go down the wires into the well, but those wires will also be effectively “cross-linked” or shorted to each other via the normally-closed common wire connections to the well casing, and therefore the pump windings will be much less prone to damage.
 
If the pump system happens to run on 120 VAC instead of 240 VAC, it is still very likely to have a disconnect box and pressure switch, but in this instance usually only the black (or “hot”) wire is routed through through the pressure switch, leaving the white (and green) to continue uninterrupted to the pump and/or its associated control box. For this system we would have selected a relay whose coil also runs on 120 VAC (per the links) and we would slightly modify our new wiring procedure accordingly.
 
What we’d do in this case would be to find a way to cut and splice an added length of white wire into the white wire that goes in  and back out of the disconnect box (via a wire nut) and connect the other end of this new white wire to one of the relay terminals marked “coil.”
 
The black wire coming out of the pressure switch and going to the pump or its control box is the one we will now remove from the pressure switch terminal block, letting it hang loose for the moment.  We’ll cut a new length of black wire (same amperage size as the one removed) and run it from that just-vacated terminal on the pressure switch to the other “coil” terminal on our new relay.  We’ll also jumper a short piece of black wire from that same coil terminal over to one of the relay terminals marked as normally open or “no.”  At this point our new relay coil terminals will have a black wire and a white wire, respectively.
 
The normally open and normally closed and common terminals on the new relay are “paired” individually and separately to either the right side or left side of the relay, so either by following the metal strips and contacts visually, or by using a test meter set on ohms, we need to make sure that whichever of the two “no” or normally open terminals we selected for placing our black hot wire from the pressure switch, we then locate the matching “common” terminal associated with the “no” terminal having that black wire.
 
That common terminal will then need a new piece of black wire running from it back down to the “hanging” black wire that we had earlier detached from the pressure switch.  We’ll wire nut them together or otherwise reconnect them safely.  Thus when the disconnect switch restores power to the system, what now happens is that when the pressure switch senses low water pressure and clicks “on” it will send power up to our new relay coil (turning the relay on) and via the jumper from the black coil lead to the normally open terminal the power will now go across the relay and out the “common” terminal over to the pump, or its control box, thus running the system until pressure builds back up again.
 
As with the 240 VAC arrangement however, we still must protect the pump from EMP surge, so we finish the project by finding the normally closed terminal associated with our other two wires (common and normally open) and connecting it to our well casing or other equivalent earth ground.
 
Thus in either instance, whether 120 VAC or 240 VAC, while the pump is off, it’s internal wiring will always be connected to a direct earth ground connection, instead of being vulnerable to a surge which could instantly burn it out like an old incandescent light bulb that goes “FLASH” and gone before one can even blink!
 
Now some of you sharper readers will have already noted that the protection outlined above will not help if by unhappy chance the pump is actually running to recharge the pressure tanks or re-fill the cistern [at the moment] when the EMP burst occurs. Sorry folks — there really isn’t much of a fix of any nature (that I’ve yet come across) for that rare instance.
 
Fortunately however, most deep well pumps run for only a small fraction of each day, so the odds of being “hit” during those moments is fairly remote, but still possible. (Thus the recommendation to use a Brumby or mechanical lever pump or have a full back up of all major components and the capability of hauling the entire array out of the well and re-installing it all — not usually an easy job for amateurs!)
 
Nevertheless, for only a hundred or so dollars in parts (plus perhaps paying a professional for wiring it all) you will have increased the odds tremendously in your favor, since the alternative is to leave it as is, always at total risk of being fried should an EMP or flare event take place (whether the pump is running, or not!)
 
I’d be happy to provide a clearly-depicted wiring diagram based on your particular system, plus a suggested parts list, for anyone interested.  Contact me via e-mail.
 
Here is one source for the aforementioned relays. (An online search will show other similarly-rated items):
 
http://store.acradiosupplyinc.com/nter04-11a30-120relay-30amp-ac120v.aspx
 
http://store.acradiosupplyinc.com/nter04-11a30-240relay-30amp-ac240v.aspx

Letter Re: Book Recommendation The Worst Hard Time

Yo Jim,
We live in Roger Mills County, Oklahoma next to the Texas Panhandle.
This summer when the weather reports from Oklahoma City were pointing out temperatures in the 105 to 112 range in areas north and south of us ours here were considerably higher.
We have a large face thermometer in the back yard on a post inside a wooden open faced box facing away from the sun and not in a shaded area.
Yesterday it read 114.
Today it is reading 113 at 3 pm.
Many days it has read 120 pegged to its maximum.
I personally have never experienced such intense heat during my 70 years.
That includes a tour of duty in Niger in the Peace Corps in the Sahel, the southern regions of the Sahara Desert.

We have many trees dying.
You could virtually look out the window and see the vegetation of the countryside dying.
We have had about one inch of rain in the last two weeks.
But it is not enough to save many of the native trees.

Under intense watering twice a day our garden has simply been cooked by the sun.
The only thing doing well are the sweet potatoes and the melons.
The melons are shaded most of the day by 4 rows of dried up corn.
The surviving tomatoes and peppers are mostly in pots in the shade.
But they too are shriveled and not producing any fruit.

Which leads me to mention that I just finished reading The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl.
The book is an historical account of the Dust Bowl days centered around ‘no mans land’ of the Oklahoma Panhandle, the north Texas Panhandle, southeastern Colorado and southwestern Kansas.
This is one of the most fascinating books I have read in many years.
You better keep a box of kleenex handy.
The descriptions of the dust pneumonia deaths and the hardships will bring tears to you regularly.
This was an environmental war against humans.
Caused primarily by the regular cycles of drought coinciding with the plowing up of the prairie to meet the demands of an expanding wheat market that paid huge profits.
Then the whole ecosystem of the high plains collapsed.
With no grass to hold the soil and persistent winds ‘saltation’ of soil began.
Once the soil begins to move with the wind it builds downwind into great storms of dirt that last for hours.
Many many miles wide and extending up to 20,000 feet high.

Want to read about what hard times are about?
Read about these people’s bug out plans.
The Last Man Standing Club.
Jackrabbit roundups.
That is another whole story.
I personally experienced two jackrabbit roundup’s in Kansas in the late 1950s.
These roundups were held SE of Rush Center, Kansas.
The killing frenzy of men with the trapped rabbits in a large enclosure is hell on earth.
The enclosure where I witnessed this killing contained between 2,000 and 2,500 rabbits.
There is no description of words that can describe the chaos, the death sounds of the rabbits, the movement of rabbits in an enclosure with moving rabbit bodies continually in motion 6 to 8 feet high, the blood, wounded rabbits stuck in the fence, rabbit hair floating in the breeze and the absolute maniacal insanity of the killing frenzy of humans after those rabbits.
Then throw in 2 or 3 or 4 coyotes in the pen mixed in for more excitement.
The rabbits were sold for mink farm food and shipped out of state in box cars.

During the Dust Bowl days they canned the rabbit meat for survival.
There was life in the dugout and simple wooden frame homes.
No amount of sealing could keep out the dust.
It was life with dust in everything you owned.
Cars shorted out in the static electricity and stopped running.
Vehicles had a chain over the rear axle dragging on the ground to discharge the static electricity.
People could not shake hands nor touch each other in a dust storm because the discharge of electricity would knock you down or cause you pain.
Dust was in what you ate, what you wore, your nose openings had to be covered in vaseline to keep the dust out of the lungs and it was in your bed.
Buildings were covered in dunes of dust.
Homes were shoveled out, not swept out.
Automobiles, farm implements, whole gardens, chicken houses, the outhouse all were subject to disappearing under mounds of dirt.
Some of these mounds collected into 50 ft. drifts over the years.
Fence lines were buried with only [the top of] the fence post above the dirt.

People caught out in the open when a dust storm came up frequently never survived.
Cattle, horses and pigs chocked to death on dirt.

The story of these peoples endurance, spirit and love of the land is without equal.

There is more…..

Here is raw survival at its best.

There is no fiction that can better this story.

I recommend this book highly.

A regular reader, – J.W.C.

Letter Re: If You Cannot Evacuate

Dear Editor:

Re: If You Cannot Evacuate, by B.A.F. Regarding this bit of mis-information…

“If someone trying to get into your home is high on Methamphetamines or PCP, he won’t even feel a 9mm and a .40 Smith will only enrage him. The bare minimum I would have is a .38 +P or a .357 Magnum. Jacketed Hollow Points are the order of the day here! A .357 SIG in my opinion is also inadequate in these circumstances. Bottom line: Buy either a .357 Magnum for anyone or a .45 ACP such as a 1911 type semi-auto.”

I understand that the 9mm vs. 45ACP vs. whatever debate is endless and won’t be settled here. So, I don’t intend to advocate one caliber over the other with this response, but the statement above is bad information and bad information can be dangerous. Shot placement is the primary factor in the lethality of any gunshot wound. The difference between the damage caused by one round over another outside of placement is generally negligible. The idea that someone who “wouldn’t even feel” a 9mm would otherwise be stopped effectively by a .45 is just ludicrous. I don’t mean to be inflammatory, but that statement is dead wrong and could have deadly consequences for anyone foolish enough to accept it as truth. – Rochester-W.

Economics and Investing:

James C. chimed in with this: Obama Agriculture Secretary: Food Stamps Create Jobs. JWR’s Comment: Oh, yes, and graffiti creates spray paint and spray paint creates teenage angst, and…

Items from The Economatrix:

Thinking The Unthinkable:  Sell US Treasuries

Moody’s Lowers Economic Growth Outlook

Former Obama Whitehouse Economist: Unemployment Won’t Drop Below 8% Before End of 2012

US Economy Has Young Americans Downsizing Their Dreams

Odds ‘n Sods:

K.A.F. suggested this blog post: SHTF Rifle

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Drew flagged this: How to Get the Most out of your Mil-Dot Reticle

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Michael Z. Williamson (SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large) sent this: Defcon Lockpickers Open Card-And-Code Government Locks In Seconds. And speaking of hacking, The Other Steve C. sent this: Five things you probably didn’t know could be hacked.

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I recently posted a link to an American Defense Enterprises (ADE) video, by way of Tam’s blog. That video was so roundly criticized for its buffoonery, posing, and insanely unsafe gun handling that it was removed from YouTube. But for any of you that missed seeing these poseurs–in all their Mall Ninja splendor–I’m pleased to report that the video was preserved by a blogger and included in this critique: American Defense Enterprises: Epic Facepalm In 3 Parts. Personal note to ADE President Bill Beasley: Please mail me a certified copy of your DD-214 and then I’ll believe your claim of being “former Special Forces.”

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The BHO administrations’s backstabbing of our allies continues: U.S. to Deny Taiwan New F-16 Fighters. (JWR’s Comment: Can you smell a whiff of quid pro quo in the air? Someday, historians might provide some insight on the dark dealings between the White House and the People’s Republic of China, vis-a-vis our nation’s sovereign debt instruments.)

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry 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.

Do-It-Yourself Water Filtration, by Robert B.

Introduction: I’ve maintained a salt water reef tank for more than 10 years. The following is a improvised method that I used to process water to the point where it was acceptable for use with coral and salt water fish [before it is salinated] . Coral and salt water fish are very sensitive to toxic chemicals, nitrates, nitrites, phosphates, and ammonia in some cases just  .02-20 PPM would be deadly to salt water animals, so filtration quality was key. 

Improvised Water Filter

Water Filtration and Storage
On the run filtration
Building a Water Filter
Collection and Storage

On the run filtration
Collect water and run through several layers of cloth; then treat water with the following process:
Add 8-9 drops of plain bleach per gallon.
Shake up container, and let sit for 30 minutes
Open container and smell for bleach. If the water does not have a light smell of bleach, then add another 8 drops, shake and wait another 30 minutes.  If water does not have a light smell of bleach at that point, the water is probably too contaminated, and should not be consumed. I would not exceed 18 drops per gallon.
Remember – use plain bleach, no additives at all.

Building a Water Filter 

Water Preparation Notes:
Start with chemical processing using the ‘on the run filtration’ method. This should kill most bacteria and parasites; if you have power, you can replace this step with a UV sterilizer, however I would wait a few days before processing due to the UV disruption the reproductive cycle through DNA corruption for many bacteria and other critters. Exposure [of very shallow water] for a day or two under direct sunlight [“the SODIS method”] could also be an alternative if someone is too sensitive to the bleach method, and you have no power.

Chlorine/bleach evaporates – so after you have treated your water with bleach to kill micro-organisms (recommended), then let the water sit open for one to two days to clear out the chemicals.  By doing so, less of the activated carbon is used up filtering out your introduced chemicals.

While letting the chlorine/bleach evaporate keep in mind you are also letting particulates settle. When you are ready to move the water to the filter, try and use a secondary container for transport, and not mix up the water.  The final 2-3″ of water will be far more polluted than the top layers.
On a side note, if you are testing your water with a kit, chlorine can show up as ammonia.  Test for ammonia after chlorine has had a day or two to evaporate. 

Questionable Secondary Filter Medium
There are specific filtration material available for nitrates, nitrites, phosphates and ammonia, however since I do not know if these are ‘human’ safe, I will let the reader research these for themselves – all of these media are searchable under “reef tank filter media.” I will say that they are fish and coral safe (if purchased for fish tank filtering), and the coral and fish that I have kept for years are very sensitive to toxic material. If I were desperate, I would consider it; but it would have to be a life or death situation with children. Be careful here, it may be a last resort. 

Building the Filter Layers
 Layers from top to bottom, quantity will vary depending on the size of the filter, however depth it the critical factor.
Each layer can be held in a 5 gallon food safe container with holes punched in the bottom, stacked one onto of the other. When designing the frame, make it so that each bucket can be removed for maintenance. Don’t make the holes too large, you want the water to seep through the media. Starting with a few small holes is much easier to increate for flow, than plugging many large holes. This is especially true with the activated carbon. Clean buckets as though they will hold food, and use only food save material. In each layer, increasing the thickness of the media will improve the quality of the water.

Layers 1-4 with 1 being the top layer. First three layers to have 5″ gap between them if possible.  If not possible, touching layers would be okay in a single bucket, but this is not ideal.  The key with the gaps is to allow for water to pool above the medium and slowly sink through, it also helps to self compensate for the speed that water passes through the different media.
1. Linens/Bed Sheets, cloth material; two sheets thick minimal
Details: the number of layers depend on thread count, water should seep through, not pour through.  Allowing the material to sag in the center will result in more water being processed in a single pour.
Function: Initial pre-filter, to keep out large debris 
Note: recommend ‘natural/organic’ cloth to help prevent the medium from introducing chemicals to the water.
2. Cotton Balls – 3″ thick when compressed by water.
Same function as #1, however since medium will have a different texture and thickness it will pre-filter out different material.  In a SHTF situation, bed sheets and cloths may be at a premium, so if need be, #2 could be the only pre-filter, or visa versa. 
3. Water Polishing Pads (Here is an example )
Function: These are micro-fine polyester filters designed to remove deters and microscopic material from water.
Details: One media think layer is acceptable.
4. Activated Carbon – final layer
Details: Layered 3″ to 6″ deep. (Here is an example)
Function: This filtration material removes trace elements from water, along with many toxic compounds. Activated Carbon, along with the pre-filter (fabric and cotton) are the critical components.
If you will be storing the water, you may want to add 2-3 drops of bleach prior to sealing the container.
 
Collection and Storage
It’s important to remember that each gallon is approximately 8.35 pounds. This adds up quick if storing or collecting for a permanent location. Average water consumption in the US is 4.49 Gallons per day (Here is some data.)
This adds up to 37.49 lbs per person, per day. That’s 262 lbs per person per week.  Yes, showers will be more limited, but with lots of dehydrated food to prepare, and reserves for gardening, the numbers would be ½ the current average at best and most likely close to the same.  Since the amount of water per person needed will be highly personalized, it is best to plan for the maximum possible water storage.
For those with a well or spring fed pond, storage is still a critical component.  Droughts happen, wells run dry, pumps break. Besides, transporting water to a garden in 5 gallon containers is bound to get old soon.

We should also keep in mind that you can smell water when thirsty. Just like cooking food caries smells for miles, water does too.  This should not be overlooked. Ponds, lakes, rivers carry the smell of water far, but a dehydrated person will still be able to smell a exposed rainwater cistern much further than you like.
Like any good defense there should be layers to water storage. Each layer kept in a different location.  So, have a plan and cover story.
In my area, we have a few community wells pumping to our subdivision. Since water can get interesting during the summer, when everyone is watering their lawns, it is easy to explain my 8 x 24 bottle cases of water per person. It’s not much, but will help during natural disasters where power, and water pressure is temporarily unavailable.

Until I purchase a few cisterns my plan B is as follows:
Leverage plastic garbage cans, using reef safe silicone to plug any holes at the time and to dry a thin layer around the lid to seal in water from evaporation.  One good thing about this is that no one has ever asked my why I have two extra garbage cans. Of course this will need to be cleaned with bleach, and collected water will need to be filtered. Yes, human safe is a question here, but it’s a SHTF plan. 

Creating the seal.  Apply silicone bead around the area of the plastic trashcan, where the lid comes in contact. Make sure the silicone bead is dry before closing. The intent is to create a barrier that will seal when the lid is shut, similar to the seal on an ammo can.  Also use the silicone to plug any minor holes in the can, if you are forced to use a used trashcan. This is necessary for two main reasons: 1. It keeps bugs from crawling into the water, and 2. Keeps down evaporation.

For a location, I have an area near my gutter down spouts that I’ve cleared of major rocks and can dig our and bury the trash can with out too much effort.  This area has plants, so yard work is always a good cover story.  In a SHTF situation, the plastic can will be buried at night, a wood cover placed over it to allow for camouflage placement, and the plastic water re-direction tube on my gutter down spouts can be kept pointing at my plants until rain comes.  Keep the location within a reasonable distance to a door/window for quick in home transport, and away from high traffic areas.  Just a few minutes saved in accessing your water source could be the difference between a secret and a major neighborhood conversation.
If I had to dig a secondary location for water in a SHTF condition (which I most likely would), and someone saw the digging, I expect to use the ‘digging the next outhouse location’ as a good answer to keep away prying eyes.

The best way is to purchase several cisterns approved for storing drinking water. Once I can purchase the cisterns, I plan on putting on in the same location described for the trashcan. I won’t be able to hide the install so, since I have a few ‘green happy’ neighbors, I’m going with that approach. Telling them that I am collecting rainwater for use with plants around the house, and a secondary location for the garden, is far more neighborhood acceptable than saying I’m preparing for TEOTWAWKI.

Supplemental Tools: In addition to the storage, a hand pump is critical here. The pump must have a garden hose attachment. For my case, I have about 300 feet of garden hose, which just happens to be the depth of my neighbors well.  (another item for my to-do list).

I’ve been looking at a Dayton Brand Hand Pump, Rotary 15 GPM, but will need to do more research. (The Grainger web site also has less expensive pumps that I might get first as a backup before getting the $100-$200 pumps.  Not the best way, but I have other priorities to purchase first, and this would get me something while I save up for the better quality one. In the end I’ll have two hand pumps.

Note: even though the intent is to collect rainwater, do not be misled. This water still needs to be filtered.  Roof top runoff water is exposed to your roofing material, let alone what the birds leave behind on the roof, and improvised storage medium may contain chemicals. Water filtration is critical, for health and safety.

On a side note: The more I plan, the more I kick myself for moving to a populated area. It’s no city here, but if there were a major event something as simple as having water would put me in a no-win situation. JWR, feel free to insert an ‘I told you so’ comment.

Testing the results
I would recommend testing the water pre and post processing.  You may need to tune the depth of the material, and the number of holes in the buckets. Places like Petco have many fresh water testing kits.  

Focus on the following kits:
Nitrate, Nitrite, Phosphate, and Ammonia.  If the water is in the same range or better than for freshwater fish (guidelines describing the range acceptable for fish are almost always included in the test kits) it should be well within human tolerances. Note, that when I was processing city tap water for my tank, I almost always had to pre-process the water before using it with fish, since they need a higher quality of water than we do.

A Note of Thanks From Pat Cascio

I would like to say thanks to all the SurvivalBlog readers, who took the time to drop me an e-mail to thank me for my articles and efforts, writing for SurvivalBlog. I personally responded to every one of you who wrote. I’m sorry my responses couldn’t have been longer, but I received more than 100 e-mails from SurvivalBloggers, and it took me quite a while to catch-up to them all. I sincerely appreciated hearing from each and every one of you.

I’ve learned that SurvivalBlog readers are usually a very intelligent bunch of folks, not your average run-of-the-mill, gun store nuts or mall ninjas. You are well-read and an educated bunch, to be sure. Many SurvivalBlog readers have written me asking questions about certain types of guns, and I hope I’ve been of some help with my answers. Some have written to me with gunsmithing questions, and once again, I hope I’ve been of some help as it’s difficult to make a diagnoses without actually seeing the gun and the problems it may have been having.

A lot of SurvivalBlog readers have written asking me to do an article on a certain gun, and if I’ve owned that gun, I’ll get around to writing about it sooner or later. I note one readers had a letter posted on SurvivalBlog August 16th, requesting that I do an article about the Draco pistol. While I would like to accommodate you all, if I don’t own a particular firearm, or have owned it, it’s difficult for me to obtain samples for test and evaluation. I can’t just pick-up the phone or e-mail a gun company and ask them to send me whatever I want to test. There is a process, and part of that process is having the right connections, as well as usually having an assignment from one of my editors for a particular gun to test and evaluate.

Additionally, some gun companies send me guns for test and evaluation, and I end up paying shipping – both ways! As you all may be aware, I receive no pay from SurvivalBlog for doing my articles. So, it’s hard for me to justify requesting a firearm to write about, if I have to pay shipping to get the firearm, and then pay return shipping – it is especially expensive when dealing with handguns, which must be shipped Next Day UPS or FedEx. I’m sure many readers think that gun writers make a lot of money from their articles – we don’t! With many of us, it’s simply a side job or a hobby – many gun writers hold other jobs. In my case, I work as a writer, doing firearm and knife articles, as well as teaching firearms classes, doing security consulting, writing books and when the economy permits, I breed and sell German Shepherds.

Some of you may have noticed, that I’m now only doing one article per week for SurvivalBlog. There’s a reason for this. I thought I had developed Carpal Tunnel in my right wrist, making it extremely difficult to do a lot of typing – not good for a writer. However, my yearly visit to my doctor revealed osteo-arthritis in my right wrist, as well as my right hip and lower back – and that also makes it difficult for me to sit and type for very long. Thirty-five years in the martial arts takes a toll on a person’s body, no doubt about that. So, for the time being, I’ll just be doing one article per week for SurvivalBlog.

Once again, I’d like to thank all of you who took the time to write me, and saying thanks for my articles. I’ll be doing more gun and knife articles, as well as reviewing some other survival related products, as well as some reloading articles – and if you’re not into reloading, then you’d better start to think about getting into it.

Thanks again, to you all, and thanks to Jim Rawles, for giving me the editorial freedom to write about what interests me. –  SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Pat Cascio

Letter Re: Ireland Shipwreck Illustrates Some Preparedness Principles

Letter Re: Ireland Shipwreck Illustrates Some Preparedness Principles

JWR:
This news article: American crew members tell the story of their rescue off West Cork coast illustrates some preparedness principles. There are a lot of lessons in this story:

(1) What will you be wearing [or “everyday carrying”] you when you’re tossed into a survival situation?

(2) Experienced sailors caught short. Preparedness mindset? [Preparedness oversights] could be fatal.

(3) In a group willing to help, but can’t be seen. Flare pens [should be] in an always-worn survival vest.

(4) Rescued by Gooferment forces standing by. Who pays for that, and all the other, rescues?

(5) What happens when those forces are not standing around waiting?

(6) What happens when you are where those forces are?

(7) I don’t own a boat, but this convinces me to get one of those seat belt cutting window smashing tools for each of my cars. Maybe I’ll give them as Christmas gifts.

Did I miss any lessons? – FJohn

Letter Re: Prepping for Missionaries and Other Long Term Foreign Workers

Dear Mr. Rawles,
I have been following the thread on “Prepping for Missionaries and Other Long Term Foreign Workers.”  My business partner and I have more than one hundred mission trips between us and have been first responders to several of the latest disasters including the Tsunami in Banda Aceh, Hurricane Dean in Jamaica, and the Earthquake in Haiti. Several of the writers and especially P.J.H. has been spot on in their information.  Problems in the mission field or for the foreign worker have a direct correlation to the lack of understanding for the culture of the country where they serve. It is acerbated by the export of U.S. culture the traveler brings and having an expectation that everywhere should act/be like the USA.  A number of great resources were identified in their post, but I see a gaping hole in what to do if the unthinkable happens. Did you know that according to the CDC: “Motor vehicle crashes—not crime or terrorism—are the number one killer of healthy US citizens traveling in foreign countries”.  Unfortunately, most US travelers and especially missionary and NGO employees travel and drive without the slightest though of their vehicle safety. They assume their host has adequately prepared their vehicle for safe travel.

In an number of countries where a driving fatality takes place, both parties can be arrested until a complete investigation takes place and we all know the speed of developing countries is slow and the investigation can take weeks.  Many of the hospitals in those same countries require payment prior to treating of the patient. In a recent situation we had a client that had injured themselves and needed treatment. The hospital in Central America refused to accept the insurance or the travel insurance supplement. They had to pay the hospital provider in cash to get service.

Economics and Investing:

RJK sent this: End Game Approaching in Europe: No Way Out But Debt Restructuring

Back to the Future: Gold, JPY, DAX, Paulson – CRASH?

Report: Crop losses in Texas top $5 billion. (Thanks to Michael W. for the link.)

How to Dig Yourself Out of Credit Card Debt

Thanks to Chris S. for spotting this: President Hugo Chavez announced Wednesday he is nationalizing Venezuela’s gold mining industry and intends to bring home $11 billion in gold reserves currently held in U.S. and European banks.

Items from The Economatrix:

A Big Bounce, Ounce By Ounce, and Gold Takes Off

Core Wholesale Inflation Up Most in Six Months

0% Interest Rates Locks in Inflation

Fitch Keeps US at AAA