Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 35 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 Alpine Aire freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $400 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.) , and B.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value.

Round 35 ends on July 31st, 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.

Prioritizing My Prepping, by R.W.L.

First of all, a note of praise to JWR: thanks for all you do.  You’ve got an amazing reference blog site going here and are providing an immeasurable amount of help to your readers.  I stumbled across SurvivalBlog via a link in the comments section of another blog called The Deliberate Agrarian, last October. The link included the warning: “Just see if you can escape from the archives in less than four hours.”  Two weeks later, I emerged from the archives with blood shot eyes and was both enlightened and scared at the same time.  I had a lot of work to do, and became a daily SurvivalBlog reader. 

If you read the post referenced in the above link, you’ll see that I was already interested in preparing for what I foresaw as the coming hard times.  My accounting background coupled with an interest in current events gives me an understanding about the world which is not comforting.  I began seeking advice on the best ways to prepare.  The advice in that post mirror what JWR and many others have said here in terms of the investments to make in your future.  I write today not only to show examples to add context to some of these ideas, but also to bring the issue of priority back to the forefront of all of your minds.  This essay is written to both help others in my position and also get my own thoughts organized for what needs to be done.  I would also love feedback from any of you that have a moment.  I’ve linked to a few of my own blog posts where you can leave comments and critiques. 

The prioritizing of my endeavors since then has been the following, and I’ll discuss each:

  1. Real Estate.
  2. Water and Food.
  3. Tools and Skills.
  4. Precious Metals.

Real Estate

The land part is self explanation in its definition – you need a homestead where you can be self sufficient.  I grew up on a farm raising grass fed beef, and intermittently raised other animals as well.  Last summer my wife and I raised pastured poultry and I wrote about the experience here on SurvivalBlog.  Many acres are required to grow enough food and also raise enough animals to support a growing family. 

Debt free land which is agriculturally productive could perhaps be one of the greatest assets to a homesteader.  My wife and I are renting at the moment and looking for the right deal to come along.  We’re trying to find as many resources as we can on purchasing foreclosed homes or pre-foreclosure properties.  That is where the real deals are, but they require a significantly larger amount of work (and patience) to find. 

While I appreciate the American Redoubt concept, we made the decision to relocate to northern Colorado.  Our reasoning was that we didn’t want to be too far out there so that we still had a fairly decent sized town nearby for our needs such as groceries, hospital and church.  This is a far cry from the concrete jungle of southern California and we feel much safer.  Another reason to stick closer to civilization has to do with our future business plans.  We hope to grow our homestead (once it is located) to a size large enough that we can not only feed our family but have excess that we can sell.  Raising animals according to a grass-farming model allows you to enjoy some pricing premiums if you can market directly to the consumer.  I feel that we need to be closer to a few large towns in order to capitalize on this market.  Northern Colorado, having a number of universities is ripe for a business of this type. 

Water and Food

We have a few 5 gallon bottles of water in our basement for short term weather related emergencies in the room where all of our canned goods are stored.  At this point we’re ready for a tornado and a few days without public utilities.  Long term, our plan for water purification is boiling.  I also really like the idea discussed here previously in the Forever Preps article about storing a quantity of dry calcium hypochlorite.  It is still unclear to me what the best way to store it (mylar bag? Ball Mason jar?) might be, so more research is needed.  If anyone has more information on this, please write to JWR and share with the rest of us. 

My wife and I are avid canners, usually doing jams, green beans and tomatoes or whatever is abundant and cheap at the moment, but we’re slowly pushing our comfort level into other things like butter and chicken and also watching for deals on various produce at the store/farmers market that we can preserve.  I’ve got a 120 VAC food dehydrator, but I’ve read a lot about solar rigs too.  I’ve bookmarked a guide from Mother Earth News on a New Mexico style solar food dehydrator.  Many locals say that Colorado actually has more sunny days in a calendar year than southern California.  Learning to take advantage of the sun would be a great benefit. 

While we do have quite the stockpile of various canned goods, we have an even bigger job to do on the rest of the food.  My wife recently stopped at a local grain elevator and picked up a few ten pound bags of various types of beans.  We look forward to watching for bargains this fall during harvest time on not only beans, but wheat and rice as well. 

The nice thing about storing these types of food (raw ingredients) is that it is the next logical step for us.  We have been getting more in tune with our diet and focusing more and more on cooking from scratch and optimizing the nutrient density of our food.  A most excellent book that I’d like to recommend is Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats, by Sally Fallon of the Weston A. Price Foundation.  A lot of preppers have done the storage, but now the challenge is proper utilization of the stored food.  This book will help a lot and I urge you to give it a shot.  Plenty of explanation and research is provided on the scientific background on their recommendations, which we find very helpful. 

Tools and Skills

The basic tools of self sufficiency hold many forms.  I find them used for very affordable prices at garage sales and refinish/refurbish where necessary.  We’re not just talking about shovels and posthole diggers, although they are very important.  I’ve recently written about what I’ve collected so far on my own blog, so I don’t need to elaborate here.  These posts include hand tools, mechanical tools and  kitchen tools. 

A very important tool for family safety would be a firearm.  On my own blog post I’ve written about what I have so far.  The obvious gaps are the sidearm and the MBR.  I’ve decided to order an M1 Garand through the CMP to use as my MBR.  Reasons being both budget limitations and also the fact that I’ve already got a Remington 700 chambered in .30-06 so I will standardize my small arsenal around that cartridge. I’ve already begun collecting plenty more ammo including AP and Tracer cartridges in that caliber so that I have many options at my disposal.  Once I have the Garand, an Appleseed shoot will be next on the list so that I can become acquainted and hopefully master the gun. 

Gardening skills are a must.  We’re renting a house until we find our homestead, so I can’t till up the sod in our backyard.  So, we’re container gardening as much as we can.  It is a challenge in its own right, but you’ve got to keep your green thumb sharp!  We’ve joined a Community Sustained Agriculture (CSA) co-op for the summer here and I’m volunteering my time at the farm when I can to learn the differences in growing crops in this area, and also learning about the water rights issues. 

Precious Metals

Thankfully I’ve had an interest in precious metals for a number of years now.  I certainly don’t own a ton of it, but at least I have a general level of comfort and knowledge about coins.  I’ve used JWR’s advice to purchase Mercury Dimes on the dip days and have also started to pile up rolls of nickels.  I agree with the advice echoed many times on SurvivalBlog that precious metals investments are to be a lower priority.  Get the rest of your preps in line first and then plow the excess into silver.  That is my plan.

Conclusion

I’m blessed to have a wife that understands the world the same way I do.  This is a team effort and we’re in it together.  We look forward to the day when we have excess food storage that can be shared with others or donated to food pantries. 

A final word about priorities: I do believe the above list is in the correct order.  We’re out of the city and feeling great about the safety that comes with that.  We’re working on food and water.  Tools and skills come about slowly as deals are found.  All of this is done with the knowledge that it is through God that we are enabled to do this and so the glory is His. 

Letter Re: Survival Electronics and the Lowly Vacuum Tube

James:
This is in response to an earlier letter where a reader asserted that his knowledge as an electronics engineer will be of little use after TEOTWAWKI. He is wrong, we will not abandon all the technology invented over the past 100+ years. Say for example we are hit with the big solar event, several EMPs and most solid state electronics are destroyed. One component that will survive is the vacuum tube. There will still be means to generate electricity here and there that will not be affected, hydroelectric generators will still spin, steam turbines, some of these can be homemade on a small scale. Once you have any electricity you can use vacuum tubes to build all kinds of communication gear. Sure there are some very high priced tubes geared to the high fidelity audio market, but all the old radio and television tubes from yesteryear can be had from free to just a few dollars from various sites and garage sales. You can build a decent sounding audio amplifier with some 6GH8A tubes and a number of different horizontal output tubes for example.

Tubes are easy to design with and very forgiving. The circuits are simple. If you keep on hand a collection of tubes, resistors, capacitors, some various sizes of magnet wire to make your own transformers and coils and old transformers to modify, most laminated (E-I core types) power transformers can be de-laminated and redesigned and rewound by hand if need be, even some old tube radios, the possibilities are endless. Sure you will need some way to solder things together, a fire and a chunk of copper with a handle even works in a pinch as a soldering iron. You just have to think 100 years ago.

An old fan with a modified motor on a pole can make a small amount of electricity from wind, all you need to do is take it apart and put some magnets in the rotor, maybe isolate some windings, this is easier done now with machine tools.

An electronics engineer should start thinking what he needs to have on hand now before the SHTF. Do not discount your knowledge, just think old school, and you will be amazed what you can do. No you can’t make a computer easily but you can really help your community more that you think. As an electronics engineer I love the challenge of fixing anything. Thank you James for all you do and God bless. – Jimmy in California

JWR Replies: I agree! Don’t under-rate ingenuity and resourcefulness. Speaking of which, I’ve posted a YouTube video from France once before in the blog, but it is apropos to repeat the link: Hand-Making Vacuum Tubes. OBTW, tomorrow, I plan to post an article that I penned about 1950s-vintage general coverage receivers that use vacuum tubes.

Three Letters Re: The Yellowstone Super-Volcano and the American Redoubt State

Mr. Rawles,
I work for the US Geological Survey, and I have had discussions with the country’s foremost experts on this topic. For all intents and purposes, we have absolutely nothing to worry about. Your suggestion to locate upwind of the ash dispersal trend is good common sense, but not required. The missile sites in Montana are a far more relevant concern for anyone looking to relocate. Thank you, – H.D.

 

Mr. Rawles,
Much of the hype regarding super volcanoes is based on the discredited “millions of years” historical time-line. The creation model of geologic history puts this sort of cataclysmic eruption squarely during Noah’s Flood and it’s immediate aftermath. The Earth’s crust (and climate for that matter) have become increasingly stable since that time.

I highly recommend Answers In Genesis to your readers for further information on the effects of Noah’s flood and the subsequent ice age.

Thanks for all your great work! Regards, – Secret Argent Man

 

Mr. Rawles,
A friend forwarded an article in the St. Louis Dispatch written by a expert that was formerly with the USGS. Here is a quote: “Bernard Shanks, an adviser to the Resource Renewal Institute, has studied the six main-stem Missouri River dams for more than four decades. He has worked for the U.S. Geological Survey and served as director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. He has written three books on public land policy and is completing a book on the hazards of the Missouri River dams.”

He says there is a very real possibility of unimaginably bad flooding along the Missouri if the giant earthen dams fail.

If I lived downstream I would give some serious thought to that possibility. – Tip in Eastern Washington

JWR Replies: As I recall, the highest of those earthen dams on the Missouri is at Fort Peck Lake, in Montana. Living downstream of there would not be advisable!

Economics and Investing:

C.D.V. sent this alarming article: US Is in Even Worse Shape Financially Than Greece: Gross. JWR’s comment: Default may be delayed, but it looks inevitable!

The latest from Tyler Durden at Zero Hedge: The Fed’s $600 Billion Stealth Bailout Of Foreign Banks Continues At The Expense Of The Domestic Economy, Or Explaining Where All The QE2 Money Went. (Thanks to C.R.W. for the link.)

Sue C. suggested: Goodbye Recovery, Hello Recession. Sue’s humorous comment: “Wish I had noticed when we came out of the recession.”

Also from Sue: “Meaningful probability” of a China hard landing: Roubini

A.N.R. sent this bit of commodities news: Nickel Plunging Into Bear Market on Biggest Glut in Four Years. This means that we will likely have an extra year’s reprieve to stock up on U.S. Nickels (5 cent pieces) before the Treasury debases their composition.

Items from The Economatrix:

St. Louis Fed Chief Sees US Default as Big Global Risk

Fed: Default Would Be Dangerous

Martin Armstrong: Is The End Near?

Pimco’s Bill Gross Says Get Out of Treasuries

30% of People With a 401(k) Have Taken a Loan Against It; New All Time Record

Odds ‘n Sods:

Kamie sent a link to a great 8 minute long chicken slaughtering and butchering video.

   o o o

Hooray! The U.S. has done away with the black beret. I always thought it was absurd to give everyone (the entire “Big Army”) an “elite” beret. That struck me as Lake Wobegon grandstanding. (“…and where all the kids are above average.”)

   o o o

Norm G. spotted this Nanny State news: EPA Bans Many Household Rat and Mouse Poisons. Stock up on d-CON, pronto!

   o o o

Steven M. forwarded this one: ‘Doomsday Plane’ Would Save President and Joint Chiefs in Apocalypse Scenario

   o o o

A friend of mine in Afghanistan sent this news article link: FBI expands agents’ investigative power. Well, gee, let’s all just go on a great big fishing expedition, and not bother to keep any records… Do you feel safer, now?

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“I believe our flag is more than just cloth and ink. It is a universally recognized symbol that stands for liberty, and freedom. It is the history of our nation, and it’s marked by the blood of those who died defending it.” – Senator John Thune

Note from JWR:

A couple of SurvivalBlog readers have written me to mention that they’ve been getting error messages when they first try a search using SurvivalBlog’s “Search” box.This box is located at the top of the blog’s right-hand bar. I recommend re-trying the same search, using the same text in the same browser session. For some reason the second (and subsequent) attempts works fine. We are tracking down the problem, which seems to be with our Movable Type configuration. (Since the problem exists with several browsers and operating systems.) My apologies! In the meantime, please just repeat your searches, as a work-around. Thanks!

Pat’s Product Reviews: Ruger SR1911 .45 ACP Pistol

There had been quiet rumors for a while. I even asked my contacts at Ruger if they were going to make a M1911 pistol – I was met with silence, it said a lot. With 2011 being the 100th anniversary of the M1911 pistol, I was happy to see Ruger jump on the bandwagon with their own version of this grand old pistol. Many gun companies are producing limited edition 1911 pistols this year, some are only producing their standard line-up of 1911s. You can say what you want about the 1911, but it has endured – I can’t think of many firearm designs that have been around for a hundred years – maybe a handful – at best.

My Ruger SR1911 was slow in coming. Many gun writers got their sample SR1911 in the middle of April – I didn’t get mine until the middle of May. Grrrr!!! I suspect Ruger sold out of their first production run in short order – there seems to be no end to the thirst for quality 1911s in just about any variation. With today’s manufacturing techniques, I think the 1911 pistol is made better than it has ever been made. With modern CNC milling machines, that hold tolerances much tighter, we are now seeing high-quality 1911s with custom touches, that would have easily cost thousands of dollars just a few short years ago.

I like Ruger firearms because they give you outstanding firearms at more-than-fair prices. I also believe that Ruger over-engineers a lot of their guns. This is a good thing. They are built stronger, to withstand a lot of use – the consumer benefits! If memory serves me correctly, I believe that Ruger is the largest producer of handguns in the USA. And, to be sure, all of Ruger’s firearms are proudly made in the USA.

My SR1911 sample is made out of stainless steel – at least the major components – the slide, frame and barrel. Some smaller parts, like the magazine release, mainspring housing, grip safety, thumb safety and slide stop are made out of carbon steel and finished in a nice subdued black finish. The sights on the SR1911 are Novak’s – with three-dots, two on the rear sight and one on the front sight. I have liked Novak’s sights since I first saw them on some S&W pistols.

I understand that, the stainless steel barrel and bushing are made at the same time, from the same piece of steel, and these two parts stay together during the assembly process – again, this is a good thing. My sample’s barrel and bushing have a “just right” tight fit together, which contributes to great accuracy. BTW, the SR1911 comes with a non-marring plastic bushing wrench, to help with disassembly – a nice touch! The barrel is throated to easily feed any and all types of JHP ammo, too. The feed ramp on the frame is nicely polished to an almost mirror finish, too. Again, this aids in feeding the rounds into the chamber.

The ejection port is lowered and flared, for sure and positive ejection. The slide has cocking serrations that are angled, on the back of the slide, where they belong. Many 1911 makers are putting serrations on the front end of the slide these days. While I can take or leave ’em, I believe it only adds to the overall cost of a 1911 by adding these serrations on the front of the slide. The front sight is dove-tailed into the slide, too. Novak’s sights give a very fast and sharp sight picture, and my ol’ eyes appreciate this.

The barrel and bushing were expertly fitted to the slide. There was just a hint of movement when I pressed down on the barrel’s hood. I knew this was gonna be a good shooter. There was also just a hint of play between the slide and the frame, again, I knew the tightness would contribute to better than average accuracy, and still allow the SR1911 to function under any circumstances. There simply wasn’t any “slop” between the frame and slide – the CNC process really keeps the tolerances close. Way to go, Ruger!

The hammer is a spurred design for faster lock-time. And, the slide is stamped “Ruger Made In USA” on one side, and the other side of the slide has the Ruger logo – that’s all that’s on the slide in the way of markings. As we move further onto the frame, we see that there is the beaver-tail grip safety, that is fitted nicely – just the right amount of play side-to-side. The grip safety also has a “bump” on the bottom of it, to help ensure that it is fully depressed when gripped properly. The grip safety was also expertly designed, too – just the right amount of movement to disengage it for firing. The mainspring housing is made out of steel – this is a nice touch, in a day when many 1911 makers are providing plastic mainspring housings. Nothing “wrong” with the plastic housings, and I’ve never heard of one breaking. However, given my druthers, I’ll take a steel mainspring housing.

The plunger tube is also integral with the frame. I’s not a separate piece, that is staked on, as it is on so many other 1911s – so no worries about the plunger tube coming loose. The magazine release is slightly extended for faster and easier mag changes, too. The mainspring housing is also checkered – I like that – for a very secure grip. The trigger is a match-grade affair made out of aluminum, and my trigger pull broke at 4.5 pounds, just about right for a gun carried for self-defense. There was a hint of backlash when the trigger was pulled, and a minute or two corrected that by adjusting the over-travel screw in the trigger – and I Loc-Tited it in place after I had the trigger adjusted to my liking.

The thumb safety is of the combat variety – extended – and it snicked on and off with authority – with no play. The slide release is standard and not extended. FWIW, I don’t care for some of the overly extended slide releases – they can lock the gun open during firing – not a good thing. Nice hardwood grips adorn the SR1911, they are of the double-diamond checkered pattern with the Ruger logo emblem in the center of the grips. The magazine well is also slightly beveled for faster magazine changes. the SR1911 comes with two magazines, one is a 7-rounder that fits flush and the other is an 8-round mag that extends below the frame. I found both mags had very stout springs, that will insure reliably feeding rounds into the barrel.

The SR1911 is a full-sized, Government Model 1911, with a 5″ match-grade barrel, and it weighs in at 40-oz empty. It has a good heft to it, and balances nicely. Then again, I don’t think there is a better handgun design than a 1911, in just about any configuration. The front strap on the frame was left smooth – I would like to see Ruger finely checker the front strap in 25-LPI for a more secure grip. What I usually do is add a piece of skate board tape to the front strap of 1911s that have a smooth front strap – it’s a cheap fix – and I only have to replace the friction tape about once a year. This takes only about 3 or 4 minutes to do.

I make no apologies when it comes to the 1911 – it’s my all-time favorite semi-auto pistol, bar none. So, I have some prejudices when it comes to 1911s – I like ’em – period! Also, when doing a Test and evaluation on any 1911 pistol, I’m a hard person to please – they’ve gotta be done right. I’ve built a number of 1911s over the years, and customized – well, more than I can remember, 1911s. It’s not that I’m hard to please, it’s just that I think I can improve on just about any 1911 that comes into my hands. With the SR1911 – there was only one “improvement” I made – I removed the nice hardwood checkered grips, and put on a pair of (my design) “Code Zero” 1911 grips – that are manufactured by Mil-Tac Knives & Tools. I just prefer my design over all others, and everyone I’ve talked to who has tried my design agrees.

I collected an assortment of .45ACP ammo for testing in the SR1911. I had 230-gr FMJ and JHP from Black Hills Ammunition as well as their 185-gr JHP. From Winchester Ammunition I had white box, USA brand, 230 grain FMJ ammo. From Buffalo Bore Ammunition I had 230-gr and 185-gr JHP which is +P rated, as well as their 230-gr FMJ, again, +P rated.

When breaking-in a new 1911, I like to run some FMJ through the gun first, it helps take some of the burrs off the action. I used the Winchester USA 230gr- FMJ ammo for this. On my second magazine, I had a malfunction – which surprised me. The 3-rd round from the magazine jumped in front of the extractor, instead of sliding up under it. After that, I didn’t have any further malfunctions with any of the ammo I tested. I’m sure it was just a fluke of some type.

The SR1911 fed all the JHP ammo from Black Hills and Buffalo Bore without any problems – never once did the gun hesitate when feeding JHP ammo.  In all, I’ve put just slightly over 350-rds of ammo through the SR1911 and I’ve only had the gun for a few short days. As to accuracy, the Winchester 230-gr FMJ was giving me groups in the 3″ range – and this is more than combat accurate at 25-yards. The Black Hills 230-gr JHP ammo was giving me groups in the 2″ range if I did my part. Same goes for the Black Hills 185-gr JHP ammo. The Buffalo Bore 230-gr JHP +P ammo was giving me groups in the 2.5″ range and their FMJ ammo was giving me groups slightly larger than that. I was shooting over a rolled-up sleeping bag, on the hood of my SUV – in the rain! I believe, the SR1911 can do better, when I get out there in better weather conditions.

I’m presently carrying the SR1911 is a Blackhawk Products leather cut-away belt holster, and it rides high on the belt and it easily conceals the big SR1911. I also adjusted my Blackhawk Serpa tactical thigh holster to fit the SR1911 – and this is a popular rig with our military and law enforcement personnel. It keeps the gun secure and on the thigh – away from your other gear. Personally, I think the Blackhawk Serpa tactical thigh holster is the absolute best of it’s breed on the market! I also have two spare magazine carriers on the Serpa tactical thigh rig – again, from Blackhawk products.

That lone malfunction, is the only malfunction I had with the Ruger SR1911, and I’m sure it was just a breaking-in period, and that’s why I recommend that people fire at least 100-rds or 200-rds of ammo through their pistols, before they carry ’em for self-defense. If anything is going to go wrong, it will usually happen within those first couple hundred rounds. I know, the price of ammo these days is sky high, and it’s not gonna get any cheaper. So, if all you can afford is to run a couple a 50 round boxes of ammo through your new gun – then that should give you an idea if there are any problems…of course, 200 rounds is better!

Changes to the SR1911? Well, I’d like to see Ruger offer the night sight option, and I’m betting good money, they will. Also, the front strap should be checkered – this is my personal preference, though. I already changed the grips, and as I said, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the outstanding hardwood checkered grips that come on the Ruger SR1911 – they are much nicer looking than the cheap rubber grips that come on some other 1911s, like the Kimber Custom model. Some people like a rail on the frame of their 1911s for attaching lights – I can live without that rail, it upsets the balance of a 1911 if you ask me.

I’m hard on 1911s when I get ’em for test and evaluation, as I already mentioned. But I honestly couldn’t find anything to fault with the Ruger SR1911 – it’s good to go right out of the box – there’s really nothing you have to do with the gun, except clean it, oil it and take it out to the range and bang away with it. I like that Ruger supplies you with two magazines, too. (So many gun companies these days are only giving you one magazine.) And, I like that Ruger’s second magazine is a 7-rounder, if you want to more easily conceal the butt of the gun–because the 7 round mag fits flush in the frame.

I like to save the best for last, and that is suggested retail price. On the SR1911, the full-retail is $799 – and remember, you can usually find Ruger’s discounted in most gun shows, gun shops and sporting goods stores. However, right now, demand for the SR1911 exceeds supply – so expect to pay full retail on the SR1911 for a few more months. Ruger’s entry into the crowded 1911 field is a most welcome addition, and if you ask me, it’s a lot more gun, than you get from other 1911 makers, Furthermore, the price is less and it’s made in the USA. All gun makers like to claim that they make the best guns. I know that Kimber makes some outstanding 1911s. However, I’ll put my Ruger SR1911 side-by-side against the Kimber Custom model any day of the week. I think the Ruger is a better gun, and the price is lower.

How much did I like my SR1911 sample? Well, it won’t be going back to Ruger, and I went out and purchased a second SR911, out of my own pocket, and I hate parting with my hard-earned dollars – that says a lot. Ruger, you did the SR1911 up right. – SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Pat Cascio

Letter Re: The Yellowstone Super-Volcano and the American Redoubt States

Dear Mr. Rawles,  
I am heeding your advice about looking at Idaho Montana, Eastern Washington, and Eastern Oregon for my retreat.  But I am very concerned about the potential super volcano beneath Yellowstone National Park. I have researched the past eruptions and their ash falls.  I see from those maps that these areas are very much in that zone.  I’m concerned not so much for my generation but for my children and my children’s children.  I want my retreat to be viable for generations to come.  What is your thoughts regarding this threat?   Thank you! – Guy

JWR Replies: There have been a lot of sensationalistic news reports about Yellowstone supervolcano caldera in recent years. Most of these exaggerate the risk. More realistically, volcanologists tell us: “It could still be tens of thousands of years before the next eruption”. And, the “rapid uplift” that was widely reported in 2004 in 2005 has slowed, significantly.

Because of the prevailing winds, the anticipated volcanic ash fall is primarily a threat to eastern Montana, eastern Wyoming, the Dakotas and the Plains states. There is just a negligible threat to west of Yellowstone. If you consider it a threat in the next few generations, then simply buy property that is at least 100 miles UPWIND of Yellowstone. If there ever is an eruption at Yellowstone, anyone in northern Idaho or Northwestern Montana will only get ash fall that first circles the globe. It it will be people the Plains states that would get buried by several feet of ash.

As a bonus, locating UPWIND of Yellowstone will also put you upwind of Montana’s missile fields. It is noteworthy that Malmstrom AFB (which, BTW, is a locale in the second sequel to my novel “Patriots“, that I’m completing next month) has dozens of strategic nuclear targets. If we are ever engaged in “nuclear combat toe to toe with the Rooskies”, each silo could be targeted for a nuclear ground burst. (It is ground bursts rather than air bursts that create significant fallout.) Again, I wouldn’t want to live downwind.

And as a further bonus, the climate is also much more livable west of the Great Divide. East of the Great Divide, the winters can be bitterly cold, but west of the Great Divide it is more mild.

Letter Re: Another Instructables Reader

Hi Mr. Rawles,
Instructables.com is one of five web sites I visit on a daily basis (second to yours, of course), and I love seeing links to it from your blog. 

I don’t know if you’ve seen the following entries, but they’re certainly handy in a pinch:

Of course purpose-built stretchers, slings, and bandoleers would serve one best; but once the Schumer hits the fan, the next best thing might just be made from stockpiled duct tape and parachute cord!

Best Regards, – Skip H.

Letter Re: EMP Protection for Photovoltaics

Mr Rawles,
I have been reading survivalblog.com for about eight months now and have been considering trying to go off the grid so to speak. I have been reading many, many very helpful and interesting articles about “how to” setup and or make your own solar panel system. There is one question that I hope that you can field to your contributors of this subject. How you you protect your solar panels and system from a HEMP should one occur? I have not found info on how to protect against this kind of attack. It does not seem practical if you mount a system on your roof to take it down and shield it in a Faraday cage. There would just not be enough time for that exercise to happen nor would anyone get any “heads up” type of notice. Thanks, – Greg in Salt Lake City

JWR Replies: The silicon panels themselves as well as their blocking diodes are inherently fairly “hard” against EMP.  It is the charge controller and the inverter in your system that are most at risk.   Buy spares and store them in static protective bags inside Faraday boxes/cans.

Letter Re: Moving to The American Redoubt

Hi James,
We read SurvivalBlog often and stumbled across your article about the American Redoubt and found it very interesting, especially after watching the movie “Atlas Shrugged.” I wasn’t sure what it meant to us or what we could do with the info you provided. We decided to randomly search for jobs. We live in Arizona and have always wanted to move out of state, summers here are brutally hot. After reading your article about relocating we decided we really didn’t want to be in Arizona when it all goes down, with the lack of water and you know the rest. We have tried to move to Texas and Colorado before but never found jobs, so it fell through.

We are now moving to Idaho in two weeks. We left it it up to God to provide the job, the house, and all the details. He has completely amazed us! In just three short weeks he has provided all of the these things and more! I won’t take up to much more of your time with the details but I wanted to tell you that it started with you and the article that you wrote.

Thank you so much for risking it all and putting this stuff out there. We are reading and taking action. We are encouraging our friends and family who are also Christian believers to think about relocating as well. God knows our needs and the future and I can’t help but think he’s gathering us together for a good reason. Anyway, thanks for planting the seed and I continue to pray for you and your family.

God Bless, – Jessica

Economics and Investing:

G.G. flagged this bit of government spending orgy news: Federal budget deficit on track to eclipse $1 trillion for third year. How long do they think they can continue to do this without destroying the U.S. Dollar?

L.M.W. sent this: Why We Are Facing an Inflationary Depression

Hathaway Confirms Gold to Trade in the Five Digits

An interesting piece over at FOREX Crunch: We Have A Volunteer For Greek Losses

Items from The Economatrix:

Example How Gold Can be a Debt Protection

China Warns US Debt-default Idea Is Playing With Fire

US Hurtles Toward System Failure

Death By Debt

Global Economic Crisis Deepening

Odds ‘n Sods:

NASA Internal memo: Family/Personal Preparedness Plan

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I heard from CPA Mara Helland that now that tax season is over, she now has the bandwidth to accept just a few more clients. I have been very satisfied with her work on my taxes for the past three years, and I highly recommend her. She is based up in Montana, but has clients in many states. I can vouch that she handles long-distance clients wonderfully.

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Carolina Readiness Supply is hosting the “Sensible Mountain Preparedness Seminar” on June 18th in Clyde, North Carolina. (Near Asheville in the Western North Carolina Mountains.)  For details, see: CarolinaReadiness.com.  This is a full day of preparedness information and tips.  The keynote speaker is William Forstchen, the author of the post-EMP novel “One Second After“.

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My sincere thanks to the SurvivalBlog readers who have made their 10 Cent Challenge voluntary subscription payments via Bitcoin. (Our Bitcoin address is: 1K7Gk6kqX6psSWDJaRV6pyDH7dwZuvqtUB.) Please support the Bitcoin movement. If we can use mechanisms like Bitcoin and traditional barter instead of the banking system, then we will starve the banksters, encourage a reversion to sound currency, and regain some of our economic freedom.