Pat’s Product Review: Benchmade CSK II – Combat/Survival Knife

As long-time SurvivalBlog readers know, I like big knives – be they folders or fixed blade. I believe bigger knives can do most chores easier and better than smaller knives can. Now, that’s not to say, that big knives can do all things better than smaller knives can – such is not the case. In a survival or combat situation, you need a knife that is capable of handling all manner of chores. Enter the Benchmade Knives CSK II, Combat/Survival fixed blade knife.
 
The Benchmade CSK II is one of those “just the right size” knives, for all manner of duty. The 6″ 1095 carbon steel blade can handle many tasks that a smaller fixed blade knife can’t handle. The blade thickness is 0.180″ and the blade is Cerakote  coated – giving it a great black powder-type coating that not only protects the carbon steel blade from rusting, but also gives it the stealth advantage of not shining during nighttime ops. The 1095 carbon steel is Rockwell tested at 58-59, which means the blade holds and edge for a decent length of time, as well as making it easy to re-sharpen. One of my past knife magazine editors told me that a blade can’t both hold an edge a long time and be easy to re-sharpen. I disagreed then, and I still disagree with him.
 
The CSK II has a clip-point blade, which is a great design for all manner of chores, from field-dressing game, to sticking it into things that need sticking. Enough said. The handle on the CSK II is a tactile soft surfaced, checkered Santoprene. This affords a great grip on the knife. It almost grips you back. I love the way it feels in the hand. Plus, there’s also a brass-lined lanyard hole in the handle. The handle also forms into a front lower guard, to protect you hand from slipping onto the blade.
 
The CSK II also comes with a MOLLE compatible leather sheath. The sheath is extremely well-made, too. And there’s just something about the smell of leather that I love. There’s also leather tie-downs on the bottom of the sheath, as well as on the top – should you really need to give the knife some extra security – besides the snap leather strap that retains the knife in the sheath. Now, while I love a good leather knife sheath, for my use in the very rainy climate of Western Oregon, I would prefer a Kydex sheath – something that can stand-up to the elements. I like to say we have two seasons in this part of Oregon: 8-months of rain, and 4-months of beautiful summer sunshine. The rain takes a toll on everything – even equipment that you take care of – it still succumbs to the elements. First thing I did with the CSK II was spray the sheath with some waterproofing spray – and I’ll continue to treat the sheath that way a couple times per year.
 
The CSKII only weight 7.5 ounces, so it’s a lightweight, considering the overall length of 10.75″, with the 6″ blade. During my test and evaluation of this knife, the only area where it fell “short” was in chopping things – then again, it didn’t surprise me here, consider the blade length and the light weight of the knife. If you need to chop tree branches of other material, you’ll want a longer blade knife, that is heavier. Other than that, this is one dandy camp survival and combat knife.
 
Often, people think of a “combat” knife, as something that is used all the time to take-out enemy sentries in the dark of night. Well, that does happen, but only rarely! Some of our troops went toe-to-toe with insurgents in a cemetery in Iraq, and they used hand-to-hand combat, some just using their bare hands, as well as folding knives and fixed blade knives. While the CSK II wouldn’t be my first choice in a blade for going one-on-one with someone, I wouldn’t feel the least bit at a disadvantage using this knife for self-defense. It’ll get the job done, no doubt about it. However, as anyone who has spent any amount of time in the military will tell you, that a knife, any knife, is used most of the time as a “tool” for opening ammo crates, cutting-up all kinds of things and just a lot of general cutlery duties at the camp. The knife is rarely used as a combat weapon – but it does happen.
 
Like all Benchmade knives, the CSK II came hair-poppin’ sharp out of the box, and I used the knife for two-weeks, for all manner of chores around the house, in the kitchen and on my small homestead. I only had to touch-up the blade once on a set of Lansky Crock Sticks. The blade was still sharp enough for most work. However, I find it best to touch-up a blade before they get too dull – makes for a quick job, instead of having to really work to put an edge back on a really dull blade. It only takes a minute or two, to touch-up a blade on some crock-sticks, instead of spending a lot of time trying to get a really dull knife back to a extra sharp condition. And, the 1095 carbon steel is easy to touch-up, no doubt about it. I find it much easier to sharpen than any of the stainless steels are.
 
There are other similarly designed blades on the market, that look very much like the Benchmade CSK II. However, remember, you are getting the Benchmade name on this blade, and backed-up with the limited lifetime warranty from Benchmade. You know when a product is stamped with the Benchmade name, that you are getting top-quality products.
 
I always like to save the best new for last, and that’s the full-retail price on the CSK II – which is only $105. If you shop around on Amazon and other web sites, you can find the CSK II deeply discounted. However, even if you paid full-retail, you’d be getting one heck of a bargain if you ask me. I’ve been writing about Benchmade Knives for about 15 years now, and have never been disappointed by their products. I’ve toured their plant a couple of times, and I’m always amazed at all the work that goes into a Benchmade knife. They even have a machine there that produces screws for all their knives, in-house. How many places can boast of making all their own screws for their knives? Last time I was at Benchmade, they were running two shifts, and owner Les deAsis told me that they would run three shifts if only they could find enough qualified people. They are picky, and it pays off in the end for the company and the consumer.
 
If you’re in the market for a new fixed blade knife that’s priced right, and can handle just about anything you can throw at it, then check out the Benchmade CSK II. You’ll like what you see. – Pat Cascio, SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor

Letter Re: Traumatic Brain Injuries

As a physician I would like to share my experience in evaluating and treating concussions (mild Traumatic Brain Injury- mTBI) in military and civilian patients over the last 3 years. In this article concussion and mTBI refer to identical injuries. This is a very pertinent discussion at this time due to the recent unfortunate shooting incident in Afghanistan by a US Military soldier diagnosed with TBI (traumatic brain injury). The Rand Corporation estimates there are over 350,000 US military men and women suffering from concussions symptoms (mTBI) and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) from blast incidents in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of these wounded warriors are still trying to cope with their injured brain disabilities. Many are being redeployed after the diagnosis of TBI is made. They have not been able to return to a normal and productive lifestyle. In the civilian population concussions occur in more than 6 per 1,000 people each year. Common causes of civilian concussion are falls or blows to the head, motor vehicular accidents, bike accidents, sport injuries, or exposure to loud noises (explosion, etc). Most concussions (80-90%) resolve in a short period (7-10 days).

I was an active duty US Army physician from 1969 to 1971 and very familiar with military medicine. All of our recently treated concussed patients were months, some years, post concussion and still experiencing severe post concussion symptoms. One of my patients was a US Army Brig General concussed in Afghanistan by an IED explosion. His resulting concussion symptoms and cognitive impairment issues lasted for months before successful treatment with hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
           
In the past three years I have treated over 25 concussed (TBI) military patients for lingering concussion symptoms. I have been using hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) to treat these patients. None of these patients had life threatening head injuries. All had normal CT Scans/MRIs. Symptoms in these patients included cognitive impairment, loss of memory, headaches, depression, fatigue, anger and irritability, sleep disturbances, loss of multitasking and executive functions, and hypervigilance. All patients had successful results from HBOT therapy and either returned to full military duty, continued in school, or returned to full civilian employment.
           

The Department of Defense has developed criteria for the diagnosis of mTBI (Concussions) which must include one of the following

  1. Any period of loss of or decreased level of consciousness lasting less then 30 minutes
  2. Any loss of memory for events immediately before or after the injury lasting less than 24 hours after the event
  3. any alteration in mental state at the time of the injury such as confusion, disorientation, or slowed thinking lasting less than 24 hours
  4. transient neurological deficits (e.g. Weakness, loss of balance, change in vision, praxis, paresis or plegia, sensory loss, aphasia and
  5. Normal intracranial imaging.

All of our patients were previously treated by different agencies with medication only which gave them little or no relief in their disabling concussion symptoms. Our patients received a total of over 1400 HBOT treatments without any complications or adverse reactions.  Patients were all treated in a rigid hyperbaric oxygen chamber at 1.5 ATA (17ft) on 100% oxygen for 60 minutes. The hyperbaric mTBI protocol calls for a minimum of 40 treatments with up to 80 treatments if necessary. Treatment plans and the need for additional HBOT treatments are based upon the clearing of concussion symptoms and improvement in Neuropsychological (neurocognitive) (NP) testing.

Neurocognitive testing is used to evaluate the concussed patient’s post injury neurocognitive condition and track improvements made with HBOT therapy. Neurocognitive testing is an assessment tool that can be used to identify changes in a patient’s cognitive function and mood state as a result of some debilitating event. Neurocognitive testing has become the most important modality in management and determination of a full recovery in concussed patients. The military NP test used was the ANAM (Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics) test.

The ANAM was developed by the military to evaluate and follow the progress of TBI patients. A baseline NP test is performed before deployment with repeat testing following concussion injuries. During HBOT therapy the ANAM test is administered after each 20 HBOT treatments to document the progress and improvement in the injured brain. A different NP test is given to our civilian patients. All NP testing in done on an office computer and takes about 25 minutes. Report printouts are available immediately. These reports along with examination and discussions with the patient and family are used to determine if HBOT is indicated or needs to be continued.

There is controversy concerning the use of HBOT in the treatment of concussed patients. The majority of military mTBI patients are currently being treated primarily with prescription medications for their symptoms. Many of our military patients commented they were in a constant “brain fog” as a result of all the meds they were prescribed. They received sleeping pills if sleep was an issue, pain medication for headaches, antidepressants for depression, tranquilizers for anxiety and so forth. None of these medications treat the cause of TBI/PTSD which is the injured brain. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy through research and clinical use has demonstrated to be effective in repairing the injured brain. The current research is based upon both animal and human studies. There is a multitude of currently published medical literature demonstrating the benefit of HBOT in the treatment and repairing of injured brains.

Some of the criticisms in the use of HBOT treating concussions from different agencies are based upon the fact HBOT is not currently approved by the FDA in the specific treatment of mTBI. Many clinical studies are underway at this time studying the effectiveness of HBOT in the treatment of TBI/PTSD. The FDA will not approve procedures that are still in the clinical study mode. We as hyperbaric physicians have treated successfully hundreds of TBI/PTSD military personnel all with no adverse effects. HBOT is approved by the FDA to treat four types of brain injuries. These brain injuries include carbon monoxide poisoning, decompression sickness (Bends), arterial gas embolism to the brain, and acute blindness from central retinal artery occlusion. We as Physicians are allowed to use treatment modalities not FDA approved as long as, first, we do no harm to the patient and there is benefit in the treatment. We as a group of Physicians believe it is a mistake to currently deny these thousands of brain injured military personnel treatments which have shown to be completely effective in treating successfully and permanently mTBI and PTSD. Most of us treating hyperbaric physicians have not been paid at all by the military or the VA for our services to these injured men and women. I believe I speak for the group that we perform this service because we know it works, we respect the military and what it stands for, and that our injured men and women deserve the most effective currently available treatment for their injuries after putting their life on the line for our country.

Dr. Paul Harch MD gave testimony to the US House of Representatives last year  pointing out that nearly all the medication being prescribed by Military Medicine and the Veterans Administration is being used “OFF-LABEL” as the standard of care for blast induced TBI and PTSD despite little or no research to support this prescribing. An estimated 120 combat Veterans per week or more than 10,000 overall have committed suicide according to the CDC numbers investigated by CBS News. The House Veteran Affairs Committee was told earlier that many of the suicides were related to the use of the FDA Black-Box drugs being use off-label  These drugs carry specific warnings about increased suicide rates

Our first mTBI military patients were treated with HBOT in 2009. The two Airmen were in an armored semi-truck when they were involved in an IED explosion in Iraq. Neither man lost consciousness but they were dazed and somewhat confused initially.  The both experienced the immediate onset of headaches. They were seen at an aid station later in the day, given acetaminophen, and returned to duty. Over a period of weeks these men began to experience debilitating concussive symptoms of severe headaches, memory loss, cognitive issues, anger/irritability issues and severe sleep disturbances. Upon returning to the US they were referred to our facility for HBOT by Col.(Dr) James Wright USAF Special Operations Command Surgeon and Board Certified Hyperbaric Physician.

Fortunately both men were given screening  neuropsychological tests (ANAM) before they deployed to Iraq. We were able to compare their post injury tests with the baseline NP tests. Post injury testing  revealed both men to be severely cognitively impaired from their concussions. Both men receive a series of HBOT treatments with NP testing after each 20 treatments. At the end of their HBOT treatments both men were completely free of all previous mTBI symptoms. Both airmen returned to their pre injury NP baseline scores after HBOT treatments. One man required 40 treatments and the other 80 HBOT treatments to return to their baseline NP scores. The Airmen are still on active duty. I recently spoke with both men and they are doing well without any concussion signs or symptoms. Col. Wright and I published a case report of these men in a major peer reviewed medical journal.  

There is a lot of attention currently in the press and on the Internet regarding our TBI wounded men and women. There is an ongoing study NBIRR (national brain injury rescue rehabilitation) sanctioned by the Western Institutional Review Board (WIRB) using HBOT in concussed patients. There are 12 hyperbaric centers in the USA involved with this study. This study is an unfunded study and all treating facilities are providing the HBOT treatments to our injury veterans on their “nickel”. This study can be accessed by searching www.nbirr.org on the Internet and clicking on the “clinicaltrials.gov” box.

Dr. Paul Harch, Dr. James Wright, Dr. Bill Duncan, Dr. Rob Beckman and former Secretary of the Army Martin Hoffmann are currently playing  key roles  pro bono in an attempt to obtain funding for HBOT treatments for our wounded warriors.  These men are meeting regularly with top Military officials and members of Congress in this attempt.  The Navy League (www.navyleague.org) recently released a video on the use of HBOT treating TBI in military men and women.   At the end of the video both the  Chief of Naval Operations and the Commandant  of the Marine Corps acknowledge at a congressional hearing their support for the use of HBOT in treating their TBI injured personnel.         

Links to all publications, videos, references and military patient’s HBOT testimonials referred to in this article can be viewed at our web site, www.flhbot.com.  I believe there may be a lot of response to this article. Some will be good, some may be critical.  The VA and military do offer a variety of other treatment modalities to our wounded TBI troops.  We believe the data and experience generated by the thousand of HBOT treatments used to successfully treat mTBI/PTSD warrants the acceptance by governmental agencies this method of treatment in our TBI/PTSD wounded men and women.

Respectfully, – Dr. Albert E. Zant MD (Eddie Zant MD)

Letter Re: Feedback on a Combat Medicine Course

Good Morning Jim,
I have to fill you in on this.  I spent the last three days in Ohio at Chuck Fenwick’s (of Medical Corps / KIO3) Combat medicine class and just posted this on my Facebook page.
 
“I’m the president of CampingSurvival.com. I spent the last three days at Chuck Fenwick and Dave Turner’s combat medicine class in Ohio and I highly recommend it. Check out the stuff we did, here. It was a great experience and I am so glad I got to meet some of the great people I did. We will also have some new medical/dental supplies on our site soon thanks to them. One real interesting part was sitting next to a 30-year veteran MD that confessed that she didn’t know most of what she learned at the class and hadn’t even sutured since medical school. Think about that!”
 
I met some great people from Chuck to Dave Turner, Tom Loomis (Dentist) Jean Paul, and others..  I highly recommend this class and hope to take his advanced class in July. 
 
So many things stick in my head and one is that I now feel competent at even taking care of my kids teeth such as a filling or extraction in a situation where the infrastructure has failed.
 
Thanks, – Tom

Letter Re: The Perpetual Light

JWR:
Thank you for all you do. I recently found SurvivalBlog, and have enjoyed it immensely!
 
I live close to Wiggy’s [in Grand Junction, Colorado]so when I read about their Amazing Perpetual Light on SurvivalBlog, I thought I would give it a try. This morning, I purchased three of their 4”x6” mini size. They only weigh 10.84 grams, 10.85 grams, and 12.15 grams each (for comparison, about the same weight as the combined weight of 3 or 4 pre-1982 copper pennies).

I let them charge in the sun (it is actually mostly cloudy, and hailing) for 30 minutes, and took them into a dark closet. After waiting for my eyes to adjust to the dark per the included instructions, the light from just one of them let me read 10 pt font just fine. The light from it is enough for me to see objects three feet away. It has been 1 hour since they were charged, and they are still glowing strong.
 
I will be buying more, and getting some of the bigger sizes. At first I was skeptical, but these really are amazing! (I am not affiliated with Wiggy’s, just a happy customer! I bought and like their 0 degree sleeping bag too.) – Brandon L.

Letter Re: A Different View of Alaska as a Retreat Locale

Mr. Rawles,
G.T. has some very good points regarding the feasibility of Alaska as a retreat locale.  Granted, the pros and cons of Alaska are almost as varied as such classic arguments as 9mm versus .45, and if I were there when TSHTF, I would probably beat feet for the American Redoubt as quickly as I could.  However, there are a couple areas of interest that his article did not touch on that may be relevant to the topic.

First is the feasibility of gardening.  It is true that for most of the state the summer is very short, as short as 2-to-3 months in some parts.  However, due to the high latitude of most of Alaska, those 2-to-3 months are a time when the sun never sets.  So, while the growing season may be very short, it’s also 24 hours a day, so the plants will grow faster.  I did an internship with last summer with a missionary aviation group based in Soldotna, Alaska, and I was amazed by the number of people who had open air gardens and greenhouses in a region I had thought was impossible to garden.  I was also amazed by the number and variety of critters that many people kept on hand.  I’m not sure of the specifics of how they keep them alive through the winter, but many of the same people I saw gardening also had chickens and rabbits.  There were even a few ranches with everything from horses to alpacas.  I don’t know how sustainable these ranches would be post-Schumer, but you could do a lot with only a few big animals.

As for hunting and subsistence, even in populated areas like Anchorage, game is pretty abundant.  It may or may not be able to sustain a population the size of Anchorage or Fairbanks, but in the Kenai/Soldotna area, they average almost a moose a day in traffic accidents.  I had a few close calls myself, and I was only there for two months.  Between commercial fishing of the Kenai River, and what residents put away for themselves, the number of salmon harvested was several million just on the Peninsula, and this is apparently sustainable, as the Alaskans fish the Kenai year after year.  Granted, that particular location is literally the best salmon fishing in the world, but there are other places in Alaska where one can still do well with rod, reel, or dip net.

Another thing I found out from a gent who ran an alternative energy/battery shop was how feasible it is to run a mostly solar power system in Alaska.  During the summer, there’s sun aplenty, but I had thought that the long, dark winters would put solar plans to rest.  As it turns out, the colder Alaska gets, the more efficient solar generation becomes.  I was informed that, if you keep your batteries warm and your panels and wiring cold, the resistance in the wiring drops off so much that you can actually generate more power in the short cold days of November than you can in the longer, but much warmer days of September.  Granted, you would definitely want some other form of backup power to get you through the darkest days, but that particular vendor said that he had personally helped over a hundred households go completely off grid, mostly by solar, in the last several years.  This was all on the Kenai Peninsula on the southern coast of Alaska.  G.T. was right about microclimates varying across a state.  Alaska is huge. ( Most map projections don’t give an accurate picture of it’s true size.)  These principles of gardening and solar power very well may not be valid in other parts of the state, especially up in the interior, but on the Peninsula, they seem to hold true.  Just some food for thought. – John in Spokane

Odds ‘n Sods:

Drug-resistant “white plague” lurks among rich and poor. (Thanks to Michael W. for the link.)

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Jim W. recommended this thread over at ARF: Street robberies and you.

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Wood you believe it? The tent you pitch in the trees designed to help survivors of natural disasters. (Thanks to Kevin S. for the link.)

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I spotted this over at The Drudge Report: No Kugel for you! Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s homeless-gift ban

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Dumb & Dumber Faster & Furiouser: Gun-tracking operation caught top suspect, then let him go

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival." – C.S. Lewis

A Different View of Alaska as a Retreat Locale, by G.T.

SurvivalBlog’s Editor James Wesley Rawles (JWR), lays out his arguments against choosing Alaska as a Retreat Locale in this static web page.

While I fully agree with him that Alaska is probably not a viable retreat destination for most people, for a variety of reasons it is precisely the area that my family has selected. We have a particular advantage here in that I’m a second generation backwoodsman and prospector, and I and my three sons have been prospecting in Alaska for 16 years, so we understand the various regions of Alaska and their strengths and weaknesses from a survival perspective. In the “Recommended Retreat Areas” page of your blog you’ve listed your specific reasons for rejecting Alaska, with a few of which I’d like to take issue.

The last thing that I want to do is produce a “land rush” to southeastern Alaska, so readers should understand that this approach is viable only for a highly experienced and close-knit small group that’s carefully considered all the implications.

“A year ago, I heard one ‘expert’ on the radio recommend Alaska as a retreat destination because it has the lowest population density of any State, and has low taxes. IMHO, he couldn’t be more wrong!”

Not only has it low population density and low taxes, but also some of the least restrictive gun laws, home schooling laws, and zoning requirements of any State, with some of the least exposure to natural disasters. Alaska is earthquake-prone, but hasn’t had a major one since the 1960s. Also, at least in the region to which we’re relocating, vulnerable to forest fires and mega-tsunamis caused by landslides into the ocean (although not to ordinary tsunamis– we’re protected from that by barrier islands). Furthermore, the region of Alaska that we’ve selected is remote from “Golden Horde”-type activities. This is an aspect of survivalism that, IMHO, has received far too little attention. If it shows anything at all, then the Hurricane Katrina experience indicates that all communities within about 300 to 400+ miles of a major metropolitan area that gets hit with a significant disaster will be literally inundated with city-types, many of whom will be hardened gang-bangers of a kind that smaller communities are ill-equipped to deal with. Crime in the satellite cities of Houston, DFW, Memphis, and Birmingham in the aftermath of Katrina all registered significant upticks that were attributed predominantly to displaced New Orleanians.

“The biggest problem is that from an economic standpoint, Alaska is essentially a big offshore island. Many essential items are shipped or flown in.”

Absolutely correct, with resulting higher prices. But as you’ll see a little farther along, we’ll be self-sufficient in food and power generation. Our major shortfall will be in clothing, but that will apply to everyone everywhere once the manufacturing and transportation networks shut down.

“Ironically, although it is the most lightly populated state, Alaska has the second highest crime rate in the country!”

In the area to which we intend to relocate– the southeastern Panhandle– people don’t lock their houses or even their cars, and I’ve seen people go shopping while leaving expensive rifles in the rear window rack of an unlocked vehicle.

“There is insufficient refinery capacity to meet Alaska’s ‘domestic’ needs, and insufficient transport to get refined fuels where they are needed.”

Absolutely correct. We therefore considered alcohol fuels, methane, wind power, water power, steam, solar– and then we heard about wood gasifiers. We downloaded the free FEMA plans for a system, bought another from The Mother Earth News, and picked up a couple of others until we had a total of four. We’re presently in the process of learning how to build a system from the plans, but it looks like we’ll be able to generate enough power from wood chips to operate a house. This will require a wood chipper, a gasifier, and a gasoline generator to burn the wood gas and provide the electricity. Once we’ve got that system up and running we’ll build a smaller unit to power our boat.

“In a long term collapse, the residents of Alaska’s densely populated coastal cities will likely starve and/or freeze to death.”

Unfortunately true. That’s why we’ve chosen an island southeast of Ketchikan. Even near Anchorage, where land is much cheaper due to the government’s sale of public lands, they’ve got a 6-month winter with nearly a foot of average snow cover lasting for 4 months, and average minimum temps Dec. thru Feb. of about 10º F. In the Ketchikan area they’ve got a three-month winter with the month of highest snowfall being January, with 2 to 3 inches of accumulated snow cover, and average minimum temperatures from Dec. thru Feb. of about 30º. Average accumulated snow in Dec. and Feb. is only about an inch. We won’t freeze.

“Meanwhile, those in inland towns, albeit better fed, will be geographically isolated so that commerce with the coast will be difficult if not impossible.”

In southeastern Alaska there are virtually no roads, so seasonal buckling of the roadbeds and consequent road maintenance aren’t issues. Transport is by bush plane, or by boat. You’re right that the planes will be grounded by lack of fuel, which will also depress boat traffic; but our power boat by the onset of TEOTWAWKI will be powered by a wood gasifier, which we also intend to make money by designing and building for paying customers. By then we also hope to have a sailboat. The question is whether or not by then we’ll want to visit any of the cities, where things may be getting pretty desperate.

A SurvivalBlog Reader in Alaska Adds: “Even if land were available, most of it is inaccessible if you can’t afford a helicopter or float plane.”

True, but that doesn’t apply in the southeastern portion of the state, where access is by boat.

“The economy of Alaska is driven by oil income and government spending, both of which would cease if the U.S. economy collapsed. There is very little local manufacturing… even most natives have lost the ability to live off the land…”

All true. In our region one of the main challenges is that most of the land consists of exposed bedrock, so that we’ll have to do most of our gardening in raised beds. Eventually, if we have time before TSHTF, we’ll cover these beds into greenhouses. A compensating advantage of this approach will be higher yields. Between this, keeping chickens and turkeys, and hunting and fishing, we’ll be self-sufficient in food. Although your reader says that game isn’t as plentiful as most people think, I’ve never gone more than a week without seeing deer, moose, bear, and other game, and usually a lot more frequently than that. Fish are even more plentiful. Feeding the gasifier with wood chips will be labor-intensive, which is why we’ll invest in a powered wood chipper as soon as possible. Meanwhile, we have plenty of kids to make wood chips and keep the thing fed.

“Home heating is a huge expense in Alaska; $6,000 or more per winter for some households.”

In southeastern Alaska, because of the Japan Current, the climate averages as mild or milder than where I presently live in Wichita, Kansas. You get only 4 to 8 weeks of what we in Kansas would call “summer”, but you get much longer spring and fall seasons. 

The point is this: I know of an extended family of survivalists similar to ours that farms a secluded hollow in the mountains of W. Virginia, producing plenty of food to feed themselves with enough left over that they sell the surplus. They’re ‘way outside the States that you’ve recommended for preppers, but they’re also far enough off the beaten track to be difficult to find, and they’re better-prepared than 95% of the other preppers I’ve seen. In a TEOTWAWKI situation they’ll do fine.
 
In almost any State, there are micro-climates and small-scale situations that make for suitable environments for survivalism. I’m sure that you’d be one of the first to agree, it’s probably better to find and develop a situation in an area with which you’re thoroughly familiar than to travel far afield looking for the mythical “ideal”.

Preppers Afloat, by Captain Cathar

Thank you for creating your wonderful SurvivalBlog site; it is a much-needed voice of sanity in a world of foolishness and denial. We value your site for the shared experiences of your contributors and the working knowledge that many have volunteered. I hope we can also contribute in some small way, but maybe from a different perspective.

My wife and I have been full time live aboard boaters in the northeast for the last 20 years or so. The core tenants of prepping have always been near and dear to us – not just because we have a special interest in prepping, but because long distance sailors and other self-reliant mariners use the same pepper concepts, not just when the SHTF, but as constant concerns of every day life when underway.  Provisioning, access to potable water, communication, navigation, maintenance, weather, sanitation, protection from the elements, first aid, safety and physical security; expertise in all these areas is needed in order to remain self-reliant and maybe even to stay alive when cruising. The names and implementation for preppers and sailors may be different but the basic concepts are the same. For instance a preppers “G.O.O.D.” bag is our “Ditch” (boat sinking) bag. Maybe we can share insights between our different prepper/cruiser cultures and learn from each other’s experiences.

I’d also like to present a case that if you live near the coast in a congested area, then a well-found sailing vessel can represent an excellent bug out location, and in many ways it may be the only viable option for continued survival if some truly horrific event occurs. But first, let me give you an overview of where we live and some of the problems a typical prepper might face in our area.

The northeast where we reside is very crowded, with much of the population concentrated along the shore. In many ways it is a fragile place. Power is generated locally, but fuel and food have to be shipped in continually and the process can only be interrupted for a short amount of time. As far as I can tell none of the states in the region have any sort of rational, long-term emergency measures in place. Most of the people here, just like everywhere else it seems, do not have even a bare minimum of emergency supplies on hand. If some condition or event were to upset our delicate supply chain, electrical grid or communication system for more than even a few days, the resulting cascading “systems failures” would quickly convert our affluent and well ordered society into a chaotic, lawless place. Many of the cities here have rotting cores filled with thoughtless, brutal people, and these would be the first to take advantage of the situation. Concern would quickly give way to panic and even the typical law abiding citizen might be given to reckless and even irrational acts. The order of events in a severe emergency are not hard to imagine if you consider that most people would be living off of body fat and pond water within a few short weeks.

The fact of the matter is that there are just to many people here. You might be ready to bug out, but to where? The roads are often a congested mess even on a good day, let alone in an evacuation emergency (as an example, the Long Island Express is often affectionately referred to as “the longest parking lot in the world”). Unless you are in the northern parts of these north eastern states, such as upstate New York, your only other option would seem to be to bug in, not always the best option while the world is disintegrating around you.

So what could cause such a catastrophe? Many things, and readers of this blog probably already have a pretty good idea what they are. For me, a coronal mass ejection (CME) or a deliberate electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generated by a high altitude nuclear device heads the list of my nightmares; these are followed closely by a deliberate ground level nuclear event or a Category 5 hurricane hitting the coast (at high tide). Once the power goes out many of the nuclear reactors in the area, deprived of adequate cooling, would meltdown in the same fashion as Japans Fukushima Daiichi plant. This would poison vast areas of the most densely populated parts of our country. Deadly flu, economic collapse, social upheaval, loss of imported fuel – all seem tame in comparison, but experience has taught many of us never to underestimate the power of “chaos and cascading failures”. Especially in power, communication and supply systems created to work as cheaply as possible but with little thought to resilience or redundancy.

Because of these challenges along any crowded coastline. I’d like to suggest that your readers consider a small sailing vessel as your bug out retreat. The greatest advantage is that you could get away in short order and with a minimum of sophisticated technology. The power of the wind can take you anywhere in the world. There are many cheap, capable smaller sailboats out there, but just as one example I’d like to present the sturdy little Pearson Triton. At 28 feet this is just about the smallest boat one can use for long distance cruising. Designed by the venerable Carl Alberg this well built little boat is fully capable of safely crossing an ocean (if not quickly or comfortably), and is small enough that it can even be rowed under dead calm conditions. 750 Tritons were made in the 1950s and 1960s and most are still around. In almost every way these “classic plastic” boats are much better than their contemporary counterparts and much less expensive too. In good condition with useable sails and a fairly new diesel engine the Triton can be had for $8,000 to $10,000 USD and sometimes much less. Maintenance, dockage and haul outs might be another $4,000 a year. This isn’t chump change, but it is still much less than a land-based bug out retreat in this area.

So when and how do we use your little bug out boat? Well that depends. If the power is out and is not going to come back on as with a CME or EMP then you would have little choice other than to leave, and the sooner the better. If emergency conditions are less severe, then your choice of whether to leave or not may not be so simple. You can always stay on the boat until things settle out, one way or another. You don’t have to leave on an impulse, after all the open ocean can be an uncompromising taskmaster especially to the novice sailor. But at least you can leave when you want. Just as a side issue, a small sailboat like the Triton can be great fun to sail even if the world is not coming to an end.

So how would you prepare your little Triton for TEOTWAWKI and how might the order of events unfold? Lets run through a possible scenario. Imagine that one morning there was an impossibly bright spark in the southern sky and now nothing works. The power is off and the car wont run, even the radio is dead. The neighbors are all scratching their heads in confusion, where you understand what just happened along with the grave implications. You and your family fill your backpacks with essentials and then peddle your bicycles like crazy heading to the marina where the boat is kept. Once there you set your priorities and prepare to bug out.

First and foremost, the greatest overriding concern for all small cruisers (and preppers in general) is availability of potable water. Your little ship only carries 20 gallons of fresh water in an internal tank, supplies for a few days at best. On deck you lash an other half a dozen or so 5 gallon plastic jerry jugs, this is the tried and true method used by all small boat cruisers. Still not enough water, every drop counts. The wife sends the kids up to raid the trash for any other bottles, cans or buckets, anything that can hold water including ziploc bags and trash bags. You’ll sterilize everything later with bleach once you are underway. Finally fill the cockpit, bilge and galley sinks; even fill your old sea boots with fresh water. Better a pair of wet feet than a dry mouth. The scuppers (deck drains) have already been rigged to collect rainwater, but you can’t count on a rainy day to save your life.

At the beginning of the season you squirreled away dozens of cans of food in the bilge, but what exactly is down there now is a bit of a mystery, as the water and high humidity have freed up and dissolved away all the labels. No matter, the calories are still in there, even if you are not really sure what is what. You’ll have some interesting meals ahead, and not just because of the anonymous cans in the hold. There is almost always something to eat in and around the sea, especially in the biologically rich northern waters. Most people only think in terms of game fish like striped bass or bluefish, but for every large fish there are a hundred smaller ones. We are also surrounded by dozens of types of “unconventional” protein. Crabs, shrimp, clams, snails and other mollusks, as well as sea grass and seaweeds are all edible – palatability is another matter. Just remember, hunger is the best sauce. How about Minnows with rice and seaweed anyone?  A seining net and simple hook and line fishing gear are cheap and essential.

Food and water – check, now for security. Instead of buying something like a single AR-15 you spent your gun budget on three AR-7s. This is the survival rife that you first read about as a kid. The barrel, receiver and even two 8 round magazines all stow within the stock, and most of the parts are even Teflon coated, a great plus on a small boat in a salty ocean. When you first picked them up you thought that maybe the gun dealer was playing a trick on you. Each gun weights only two and a half pounds and is a little over 19 inches long when the parts are stored in the stock. The AR-7 looks a bit like a toy but it will kill just like any other .22 rimfire gun. Chambered in .22 LR, you can hold a thousand boxed up rounds in the palm of your hand and those thousand rounds are easy to stow in a watertight container. (Now just where did you put that spare ammo?). The philosophy here is that three small semi auto weapons firing at close range will trump a single weapon of higher caliber. Longer-range weapons would also be much less of an advantage while pitching and rolling about in the open ocean. Frankly, anything beats fending off desperate pirates with a boat hook and harsh language. [JWR Adds: Another advantage of the AR-7 is that it is is one of the few guns that float if it is dropped in the water.]

Suitable clothing and foul weather gear are already stored aboard and the meds kit is ready including a good selection of fish antibiotics and a minor surgery kit. You are ready to go (a relative term), but go where? Your first thought is to head toward Bermuda. At 700 nautical miles away it is relatively close. But on second thought, perhaps not. An EMP powerful enough to take out the eastern seaboard would probably get Bermuda as well. Maybe you could head north. The Canadian Maritimes are far enough away that the power is probably still on. There is only one problem, if the nuclear reactors along the eastern seaboard begin to meltdown, then he prevailing winds will carry this nuclear material to the northeast. You would be sailing into clouds of radioactive smoke and dust. The wife consults the Pilot chart for the north Atlantic and places her finger on a tiny dot that is two thirds of the to the way to Europe. “The Azores? That’s over 2,000 nautical miles away!” You give her a sick grin. The GPS is properly packed away in a shielded box, but if it didn’t make it you’ll have to find your way using the sextant (and luck). Many of the GPS satellites have probably been destroyed in any case. “How is your celestial [navigation]?” you ask. “About as good as yours,” the wife replies, with the same sick grin. Celestial navigation is not one of our competencies and we don’t even have a working timepiece in any case. “Well, you always wanted to have a sailing adventure” the wife continues.  True, but this isn’t exactly want you had in mind.

Five Letters Re: The FBI’s Cookie Caper and the VPN Imperative

JWR:
Can you let your readers know what the names, identifying characteristics, and other information is that we can use to check and see if we have the FBI installed cookies on our machines? Thanks, – J.V.

Web Forensics Expert Mr. X. Replies: First let me explain how to look for cookies.  The easiest way IMHO (there is more than one way to skin a cat, my favorite method involves using high-pressure air…) because it is easy and anybody can do it with little or no chance of [accidentally] nuking their own machine:

In Internet Explorer, go into the File –> Import and Export setting.  You are given a choice of three actions – import from another browse, import from a file, or export to a file.  Choose export to a file and hit “next.”  You are given three options to export — favorites, feeds, and cookies.  Export cookies by selecting the box and clicking next.  Save the file in a location that you can then find.

When you open the file all of the cookies you’ve used will show up.  And since its a text file it is searchable.  You can do a search on “FBI” … I did this and found:

fbi.gov    TRUE    /    FALSE    1394696342    __utma    158289773.903355577.1331260742.1331260742.1331260742.1

fbi.gov    TRUE    /    FALSE    1331626142    __utmb    158289773.3.10.1331260742

fbi.gov    TRUE    /    FALSE    1347392342    __utmz    158289773.1331260742.1.1.utmcsr=dogpile.com|utmccn=(referral)|utmcmd=referral|utmcct=/search/web

So what this tells you is that there is a tracking cookie from the FBI on your machine.  In this case this tracking cookie comes from dogpile.com (see the last line) which is a search engine that I use frequently.  The problem is that you never know what they will call their cookies.  The aforementioned example has nothing to do with your web site at all.  And I’ve picked up in the past few hours since its Monday here (I scrub down each weekend) just doing searches for topics at work.

There is a similar method in Firefox but given the number of add-ons for Firefox and the different platforms it is on putting directions for each possible combination in would just confuse most people. 

To eliminate the cookies and history you do that via the Tools –> Internet Options option and check off the “Delete Browsing History On Exit” box and/or hit the “Delete” button in the same space (should be on the opening tab of the Internet Options). 

Yes, the only reason I noticed this was because they have not done anything to try to hide what they are doing.  So the obvious stuff is well pretty darn obvious.

There are tools out there like Spybot Search and Destroy that will automatically eliminate the bulk of “bad” tracking cookies that are hidden as well.  There are a number of things you can do to scrub your machine and get very paranoid about your browsing but they are not things that most people should do simply because if you don’t know what you are doing you have a good chance of [inadvertently] nuking your machine. 

 

James:
I read your blog post about the FBI’s cookie caper and it brought to mind an overview article about The Onion Router (Tor) that I came across a while back

Here is a quote from the Tor web site:

Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet. It also enables software developers to create new communication tools with built-in privacy features. Tor provides the foundation for a range of applications that allow organizations and individuals to share information over public networks without compromising their privacy.
Individuals use Tor to keep websites from tracking them and their family members, or to connect to news sites, instant messaging services, or the like when these are blocked by their local Internet providers. Tor’s hidden services let users publish web sites and other services without needing to reveal the location of the site. Individuals also use Tor for socially sensitive communication: chat rooms and web forums for rape and abuse survivors, or people with illnesses.
Journalists use Tor to communicate more safely with whistleblowers and dissidents. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) use Tor to allow their workers to connect to their home website while they’re in a foreign country, without notifying everybody nearby that they’re working with that organization.
Groups such as Indymedia recommend Tor for safeguarding their members’ online privacy and security. Activist groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) recommend Tor as a mechanism for maintaining civil liberties online. Corporations use Tor as a safe way to conduct competitive analysis, and to protect sensitive procurement patterns from eavesdroppers. They also use it to replace traditional VPNs, which reveal the exact amount and timing of communication. Which locations have employees working late? Which locations have employees consulting job-hunting websites? Which research divisions are communicating with the company’s patent lawyers?
A branch of the U.S. Navy uses Tor for open source intelligence gathering, and one of its teams used Tor while deployed in the Middle East recently. Law enforcement uses Tor for visiting or surveilling web sites without leaving government IP addresses in their web logs, and for security during sting operations.
The variety of people who use Tor is actually part of what makes it so secure. Tor hides you among the other users on the network, so the more populous and diverse the user base for Tor is, the more your anonymity will be protected.

Regards, – D.D.

 

James Wesley:
Thanks for the post on the FBI cookie caper.  It is distressing, but enlightening about the times we live in.

I’m writing about your change of heart on posting the foresee-alive.js script.  The FBI posts this code on their fbi.gov site. It is available here.

I thought that link might be helpful to some.  I guess maybe those people that are savvy enough to read the script and interpret the code are probably already savvy enough to find it on their own, but I thought just in case I would send this on to you.

Also, I agree with your decision that it’s probably wise to not post the code directly, but I believe that since they did not post any copyright information it is therefore public domain like any other government publication.  Otherwise, they would have to indicate it as a protected work from an outside party.  But that’s my non-professional opinion, and “you’re the doctor” as they say.

Thanks for keeping the flame of freedom burning! – B.C.

 

Dear Mr Rawles;
I read your announcement about “The FBI’s Cookie Caper and the VPN Imperative”. Thanks very much for your candor. However, I believe some of your information is mistaken or missing. Here are the most important points I saw:

Disabling cookies will not remove others’ ability to track you. At best, disabling cookies only makes it a little harder. There are plenty of other ways to track you, including data collection and silent install of malware on your computer to record your keystrokes. Here is an example.

Using a paid VPN does not ensure your security. Here is a good explanation as to why this is true.
A better solution is to use The Onion Router (Tor) and/or Tails and their associated applications. There is also Orbot, an Android app to allow Tor Anonymity browsing on an Android phone. I have and use these. Granted, they are not always the simplest in terms of user friendliness, but once set up they should rarely need changes due to their structure. The Tor Browser, however, is about as simple as it gets on the web.

Not all of the listed browsers are safe to use. Some are outdated (Netscape), and others are inherently flawed from a security standpoint (such as Internet Explorer). More importantly, only two that I know of offer Anonymous Browsing – Firefox and Chrome. Please add the Tor Browser to this list, which is by far the best method for anonymous browsing available to the average user.

SurvivalBlog.com [has a working encrypted https address, but] is not yet HTTPS Everywhere enabled. This means that even if the visitor is using the Tor network, traffic between a Tor server and SurvivalBlog.com is still unencrypted, and vulnerable to spying and/or attack. Please join the HTTPS Everywhere project.

Much of this may sound like an advertisement for the Tor Project, but the reason for that is that the Tor Project is the best method I have found to secure your privacy online, if used properly. (Never identify yourself on the Tor Network.)

Thanks for your consideration in these matters. Sincerely, – I Am John Galt   

 

Dear Mr. Rawles,
I just took your advice on setting up a VPN.  I have been using an anonymizing proxy for some time and living with the speed decrease, but it’s just so easy to turn it off for something and then forget to turn it back on.  At any rate, I went looking for a VPN provider that is (A) domestic and (B) accepts bitcoin.  It’s just one less way to be trackable since the payments won’t show up on any bank or credit card statement.

At any rate, I found one: based in Chicago, I am now using CamoList VPN and have had a very nice conversation with the proprietor about bitcoin.  Service is $5 a month.  Bandwidth is up to 5 mbps, but that actually doesn’t matter to me since I live in the boonies and have to make do with 1 mbps on my end.  Just thought I’d pass this along for anyone else who might be interested. – Buckaroo

Economics and Investing:

Cadet D. sent this: The Four Biggest Downside Risks To The Global Economy: Nouriel Roubini

CBO: Exploding debt under Obama policies. The article begins: “The Congressional Budget Office said Friday that President Barack Obama’s tax and spending policies will yield $6.4 trillion in deficits over the next decade, more than double the shortfall in CBO’s own fiscal baseline — even after taking credit for reduced war costs.

G.G. suggested this, over at Jesse’s Café Américain: Episodes of Hyperinflation from Diocletian to Bernanke – How It Might Unfold Today

The U.S. Economy Is Running On Borrowed Money and On Borrowed Time
 
Do They Ring A Tinker Bell When Stock Market Indices Reach A Top?

Odds ‘n Sods:

Linda U. sent this news link from Wyoming: Fear & reloading: More people are buying guns amid worries about Obama’s re-election and predictions of the world’s impending doom.

   o o o

Mary F. liked this piece, which she described as “Prepping as performance art”: Building a Better Apocalypse

   o o o

Ulysses Press (one of my publishers) sent me an update on the printing history for “Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse”. I was amazed to see that there are now 122,000 copies in print:
Nov. 2011 –    20,000 copies
Apr. 2011 –    24,000 copies
Aug. 2010 –   18,000 copies
Sept. 2009 –  12,000 copies
May 2009 –   8,000 copies
Apr. 2009 –    20,000 copies
Mar. 2009 –    11,000 copies
Feb. 2009 –    9,000 copies

(For comparison, a typical American novel sells between 5,000 to 10,000 copies before going out of print in less than a year.) It is now obvious that there will have to be at least one more printing of “Patriots” before my third novel (titled “Founders”) is released in October, 2012 by the Atria Books Division of Simon & Schuster.

   o o o

Greg P. mentioned this fascinating invention: Chumby co-founder designs open-source Geiger counter

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Eric Holder 1995 Video: “…really brainwash people into thinking about guns in a vastly different way”. (Thanks to The MSIV for the link.)