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.

Beyond Outdoor Survival, by Sarah M.

As a homeschooler, I enjoy reading books about survival techniques. I have to admit that I have never been in trapped in the jungle, stuck on Mount Everest, or lost in the desert (sometimes we homeschoolers do tend to get a little rambunctious and we wish we could just get lost for one day, just to test our knowledge). Nevertheless, I do know of many stories I could tell. But, that’s not why I am writing. I am writing to help homeschoolers (or other people who have some time on their hands) realize that they have an opportunity to prepare themselves. Whether you are planning to hike in the jungle, climb Everest, take a walk in the desert, or even just go on a camp out, you need to be prepared for anything that can happen. I have picked up some practical techniques from reading, talking to friends, and experimenting. Preparation is the key to just about every survival story, so I hope as you read this essay, you will find a few practical things that you can use to prepare yourself and others for whatever may happen.

First let’s talk about the survival kit. It is possible to survive without one, but the methods you must use require a lot of practice. So, save yourself some stress and be prepared! A survival kit can be purchased from various outdoor stores, or you can make one on your own. A basic survival kit should contain: a knife (some knife’s actually have a survival kit inside the sheath or handle of the knife), flint/steel or some sort of fire starter (this is very important), compass, signal mirror, water purification tablets, fishhooks and line, snare wire, and a large plastic bag. There are also many other items that could be added, but these could fit in a very small container. If you decide to buy a bag or something to put all your gear in, be sure to get something that attaches to you. For instance, you might be hiking a steep pass and all of a sudden start to lose your footing and then you fall down a mountain and you are stuck somewhere. Now you need your survival gear, but if it wasn’t attached to you, you probably lost it in the fall. It is also important if you are traveling in a group that everyone in the group has their own personal kit. You never know when you will get separated. Good shoes and clothing are also of the utmost importance, so be sure when you go on that cam pout, or when you go on that hike, think before you set out. This is all part of good preparation!

You should also have a basic home survival kit, in case of a natural disaster, or survival situation. Make sure you have enough water on hand for every person in your house. It is also a good idea to keep some Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) in your home.

Also, make sure that in your home you have some type of fire starter (tinder) ready to be used. It is also very important to keep some tinder with you if you go on a hike, or any kind of adventurous outing. You never know when you may need to start a fire quickly, and it could be a life or death matter! My family has a car survival kit, carried mainly in the winter, but it’s not a bad idea to keep one in there all year round. One of the main things we keep in there is a candle with some matches. Believe it or not, that flame from that candle will keep you, and the people in your car warm!

Before I leave the subject of a survival kit, I want to mention two very important medical books that everyone should have. I personally have read both of these books and they are outstanding! The first is Mosby’s Outdoor Emergency Medical Guide by David Manhoff. My copy is spiral bound and has tabs on the ends of the pages to give it a flip chart approach. It is very fast to look up things. It was very profitable when I had to use it for a slight emergency situation! The other book is called Wilderness Medicine, Beyond First Aid by William W. Forgey, MD. This book is amazing! It gives you everything you need to know! It even shows you how to do stitches. This book is a must in every homeschooler’s survival kit. It will allow you to be calm and have confidence in case of an emergency.

Next, let’s talk about water and food. You can live without food for three weeks, but water is more important since you can only live three days without it. Good preparation would be to carry purification tablets with you just in case the need would arise. It is better to not drink water than to drink contaminated water. So, if you did not bring purification tablets with you, you should look for streams or rivers with no dead animals upstream. Look for rivers with lots of rocks on the bottom. Also, always remember that you can always boil water that is questionable, to kill microbes.

Another last ditch method of getting water is making a solar still. First, pick a spot where there is a lot of sun, but where the soil is somewhat damp. Then dig a hole that is about 2 feet deep and 3 feet wide. You can put non-poisonous plants or pour contaminated water around the edges of your hole. Then put a cup, or something to catch the water, in the middle of the hole, but don’t let any un-purified substances get in the cup. Then lastly, cover your hole with a plastic sheet, and put rocks on the ends to keep it from blowing away. Also put a slightly weighted object in the center of the hole (directly above your cup) so there is a slight downward indent in the center of the plastic sheet. After a few hours, you will have some water.

Yet another last ditch method is this: take a plastic trash bag (or any sort of a large bag) and tie it onto a tree branch, with some of the nonpoisonous vegetation inside it. Make sure it is in full sunlight. After a couple of hours you will start to see some water condensing. I found both of these ideas in Les Stroud’s book, titled Survive! which is another good book for homeschoolers to read to help prepare themselves.

Dew and rain water are also generally fine, but rivers will undoubtedly lead to civilization, so, if you find yourself lost, go downhill until you find a river then follow it till you reach civilization.

As for food, MREs are the wisest means of food preparation. It is also wise to bring some vitamins with you if you are planning to trek, or go somewhere where there is a bigger possibility that something could happen. You could also bring energy bars along with you on your hike or whatever. If you do find yourself lost, set some small traps before you go to bed, and also set some improvised fishing poles or logs with hooks hanging down from them into a river. If you think you have food poisoning, you can eat a little bit of charcoal from your campfire and it should help you vomit the poison up. But, as I have already mentioned, you should always have a good supply of MREs with you.

Next, I am going to give you a tip for predicting weather and navigation that you should practice at home to prepare yourself. Since weather plays a factor in everything, here’s one of my favorite tips for predicting weather (and the one that I have found to be most helpful): if you stand with your back to the wind and the high clouds are coming from your right, that means that the weather is likely to get better. If the high clouds are coming from the left, that means that the weather is likely to get worse. If you decide to use this rule in the southern hemisphere then you need to reverse it. It is best to practice this at home, or in a place that you know what the weather is supposed to be. Get comfortable using this you never know when you may have to use it.

Navigation is also another important factor in your fight for survival. You should always be prepared with a compass, but if you do not have one, you can use your watch. This is another one of my favorite tips, but you should practice this. Point the small hour hand toward the sun, and then make an imaginary line between the hour hand and the twelve, this is now your south / north line.

Now, let’s leave these specific things and talk about our fourth key to preparation which is shelter. Let’s say you get lost in the mountains, one of the first things you should do is descend to a valley and pick a good location for a shelter. Caves make a wonderful short-term shelter, while lean-tos or A-frames make a great long term shelter. Good preparation would be to practice building these types of shelters in your back yard before your life depends on it!  Find a survival book and look at pictures and make a lean-to or a-frame. It’s not as hard as it looks!

Next, let’s say that you are camping and you and your buddies want to go on a real hike, and you know that there is a river that you will need to cross. Preparation would be this: put everything that you will carry in your backpack in a plastic bag before you put it in your back pack. This way if you fall in when you are trying to cross the river, all your stuff won’t get wet or ruined! It is also wise when crossing a river to get a long, sturdy stick, to use while crossing. This will give you the tri-pod approach, and it will give you a little more sturdy footing. Also, keep your shoes on while you cross. You don’t want to step on a sharp object.

I have just given you a few tips for preparation that every homeschooler should be familiar with. Let me give you a practical illustration that might help to clarify what I mean by preparation. My family and I were on vacation in North Carolina, and we decided to hike part of Table Rock. The probability that something was going to happen was very, very slim. I knew this but still, before I went I packed my survival kit (which, by the way, goes around my waist, so it attaches to me) and a little bit of water and a little bit of food. I also packed a few medical supplies since I have a bunch of younger siblings and if anything were to happen, I knew probably one of them would get hurt. Well, nothing happened, but, I still was prepared.

Practical Preparation is the key to surviving. Exercising and staying fit is also vital to winning the survival battle. Preparation is a very good habit to get into, and homeschoolers- you can do this!  If you don’t take time to prepare yourself, when disaster strikes you will wish you had! Learning to prepare as a young person will give you confidence that if anything happens, whether you get lost, separated from your trekking group, or a natural disaster strikes, you will be able to keep your head, not panic, and get out of that predicament alive!

Letter Re: Gardening in Plain Sight

Dear JWR:
A few years ago I started food plots for wild game on my ranch.   Since then, I have noticed that the game have returned in greater numbers. The reason is the variety of plants from the seeds sown. One of the plants in this mix is the turnip.  The seed mix allows there to be food from spring to winter, with the turnips being the last food consumed. I find deer, elk and bears eating them first thing in the spring. 

I got an idea from this last year. If turnips grow this well in the wild with no care, and humans consume turnips, what other food would grow with no care and would be a real resource for human consumption? So last spring I planted my regular food plot mix that you can buy at any sporting goods store.  I planted the seeds along the roads on National Forest land on the way to my ranch at three different elevations and added a new plant, one I have never planted before; the lowly potato. I planted them along forest service roads and I was amazed at the results. My food plots at all elevations, (3,300 ft, 5,000 ft, and 6,800 ft) all produced more potatoes and turnips than my family or five families could eat in a year. Also, the potato is not as attractive to bears and wildlife.  They were virtually untouched.  The turnips, on the other hand, were consumed by deer, elk, and bears, so there was some competition for some of the resources planted. This spring I have gone to the store and found some hearty carrot seed, and I am adding this to my private garden along forest service roads.  I am hoping to get a positive result. 

Another discovery I found amazing is that not one human intruder had found, disturbed, or messed with these any of these food plots. They are in plain sight, just not planted in rows, but planted sporadically along the road, creek, or drainage. My only explanation is that the plant’s nutritional value is under ground, and how many people know what the tops of a potato plant looks like? 

My goal this year is to see how dry land wheat grows wild at these different elevations. I know it grows well at 6,800 ft, because it is a part of the food plot on my ranch.  This year I have planted a lot of it to see how much could be harvested if one wanted to in the fall, with no human care until harvest time. 

The reason for this experiment is simple. How much food can you grow in the wild, with no care, how much work is involved, and can you produce enough for a family of four for an entire year?   And can you do this in plain sight and get away with it undisturbed? The answer is yes, with no real effort. 

This is a simple plan of insurance in addition to your TEOTWAWKI preps, with no cost but seed, and no labor except planting and harvesting, and nobody knows where your food plots are, except you! Simple and basic.  Of course, this will only work in areas were you can “dry farm” like in portions of the American Redoubt.  – M.O.

JWR Replies: I encourage readers to check into the legalities before planting any crops on public land. You wouldn’t want to create a “weed” nightmare that would displace native species!

Two Letters Re: Home Security, Inflation Hedge, and Liquidity, All in One

JWR,  
I have read with great interest articles posted on your blog.  Scott’s article was a good read but left me scratching my head.  I am no math whiz but dropping an extra two tons onto a residential second floor seems a little unsafe.  I know Scott did not mention the overall room dimensions or joist sizing, or extra precautions he took, but overall I thought a residential floor is generally rated to a safe load of 40 pounds per square foot.  For a 10’x12′ room that would be 4,800 pounds. A box of pennies is 3.25 inches tall, 4 inches wide, and 8.5 inches long.  To get a 10 foot span, 4 feet tall would require 210 boxes (14 boxes long and 15 boxes high).  At 20 pounds a box, that is 4,200 pounds.  I will assume some other things go into the room like a bed, dresser, clothes, not to mention Scott.  The remaining 600 pounds of safe live load can be eaten up fairly quickly and I would suspect it to be much greater than 600.  All this and the pennies are only on the short wall.  When he rounds the bend for the 12 footer he will be adding an additional 5,100 pounds.  At that point, not only will the safe load be exceeded, but the theoretical load might be as well.  Scott’s second floor could end up on the first floor. 

Another consideration is “shear” because all of the weight is being put along the wall edges.  All in all, I would suggest [consulting a structural engineer and] a little beef-up to the structure before adding all that weight to a room.  Scott seems to be quite advanced at keeping safe so I am sure he will dot his “i”s and cross his “t”s before loading up.  I hope his doesn’t have to lug all those pennies back downstairs.   – G.L. in D.C. 

Jim,
In reference to the recent piece about multiple uses of pennies versus nickels, I just wanted to add one more reason to invest in pre-1981 [1 cent piece] pennies versus [5 cent piece] nickels which you could use as academic research for your books: shaped charge backings. Ideally, the nickel is a better investment, but a diversification between the two would provide materials that may be needed and in short supply. – Skip R.

JWR Replies: The density of copper and nickel are very close to each other. (Copper is .323 pounds per cubic inch, while nickel is .309)  So they would have essentially comparable utility in making shaped charge backings. Copper only has a slight advantage.

It is more important note that the melting point of copper is 1,981° (Fahrenheit) and nickel is 2,646°. So I can see the utility of keeping plenty of older pennies around, for lost-wax casting.  But my advice on that use is of course hypothetical, since it is currently illegal to melt pennies and nickels for profit in the U.S., and illegal to export them in bulk. I expect that this law will be repealed, once nickels of a new composition (probably stainless steel) reach wide circulation.

Gresham’s Law dictates that the new (debased) coins will drive the old (genuine) coins out of circulation. I predict that once the base metal value of a current composition nickel hits twice it face value (“2X face”), they will disappear from circulation within a year. Presently, I estimate less than 1/10th of 1% of the U.S. population is actively saving nickels. But just wait until 20% of the population does so. Poof! They will be gone, seemingly overnight.

Economics and Investing:

SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large, Michael Z. Williamson sent this: A Few Charts That Show Why Quantitative Easing Was A Miserable Failure

That dreaded “D.” word is spoken again: Bullard sees debt default as big global risk. (Thanks to B.B. for the link.)

A bit late to jumping on the band wagon: Traders Are Dumping Stocks and Buying Gold and Silver

Reader Pierre M. suggested this: President Obama’s phony accounting on the auto industry bailout

Bill J. sent this: Senators seek crackdown on “Bitcoin” currency. (JWR’s Comment: I’m not surprised to see Senator Schumer’s name mentioned…)

Items from The Economatrix:

Low Yields On Treasury Debt No Guarantee That Fiscal Crisis Won’t Hit US

Oil Rises As OPEC Maintains Production Level

Stocks Fall As Fed Delivers Mixed Economic Outlook

Fed Survey:  Economy Falters in Several US Regions

Odds ‘n Sods:

Weeds increasingly immune to herbicides. (Merci to Pierre M. for the link.)

   o o o

Kevin S. flagged this: How Healthy is Rabbit Meat?

   o o o

Alex H. sent: Voice of America operator plans “sunset” for shortwave radio broadcasts

   o o o

Seed for Security has announced a new bonus gift offer. For a limited time, everyone placing an order over $45 will receive a three page Seed Saving Guide full of practical step-by-step instructions. It has sections with details on gathering seed from Corn, Beans and Peas, Winter Squash, Pumpkins, Spinach, Tomatoes, Dill, Beets, Cabbage, and more. They will also include six free mylar-coated poly seed storage bags (6″ x 8″), so you can try your hand at saving precious seeds.

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.

Home Security, Inflation Hedge, and Liquidity, All in One, by Scott in Wisconsin

I’ve been prepping for about five years now, and I thought I’d share a little “trick” I discovered, to cover three very important prepping problems, all at once.

We all want a more secure home, of course.  If the SHTF, we may well need to hunker down and be self-sufficient for a while.  But no matter how much stuff we’ve put aside, it’s meaningless if we can’t hang on to it.  So home security is very important.

We also want a hedge against inflation, which seems sure to come.  The way the Fed is printing money, and the government is deficit spending, I suspect high inflation is the best we can hope for.  Hyper-inflation seems a genuine risk at this point.

Finally, we all need cash on hand for the trouble head.  That could be vital to buying some scarce item you have forgotten to tuck away.  Or in an economic crash, you may be able to pick up great treasures for bargain prices.  (We’ve all heard how hungry people would trade cars for food during the Depression, because they had no money.)

I have found a great way to kill all three of these birds with a single stone.

You’ve been reading about pre-1981 pennies, and how they are worth about 3 cents each.  That’s a great return on your investment, but it’s a lot of work to sort out the 95% copper pennies, from the trash they make today.  Then you have to run the trash pennies back to the bank, and get some more to sort.  Hard work for you, and unhappy bank staff.

They do make little machines for sorting the pennies – I see them for sale on eBay — which rely on the weight difference to identify pre-1981 pennies.  It seems easy enough to make one, but that’s still a lot of unwrapping and wrapping of pennies!

I also worry about my home being vulnerable to armed attack.  I live about 1 mile from the edge of a medium size town.  I won’t be the first place trouble comes if the SHTF, but it won’t ignore me forever if things really fall apart.

In anticipation of just that kind of trouble, I have purchased heavy fishing netting, 12 feet wide by 150 feet long.  I have cut this netting to size, so that folded over at the top and bottom, the pre-cut pieces more than cover each door and window for my ground floor.

I have special hooks ready to go around the outer edges, and can quickly put the netting in place over all the doors and windows.  It will be held firmly against the doors and windows, but with a little bit of give.

You can knock my door right off it’s hinges if you want to – it’ll just hang right there where it was, held in place by my netting.  You’re still not getting in to my house for a long time working against all that secured netting, and all the while I’ll be shooting at you, and dropping tear gas cans from the second floor. 

My windows also have shatter-proof film on them as well, purchased on eBay, and are ready for the netting should the SHTF.   Even if you eventually pound your way through those security-filmed windows with a sledgehammer, the nets will keep you out for a long time.

The nets will still let all the light in, and a nice breeze when the windows are open, but they won’t be obvious from the outside, like heave bars would be.  Important for OPSEC.

So I believe I can make it very hard for trouble to get into my house quickly, especially while I shoot at it.  But even when I make the doors and windows nearly “impregnable,” I still have to worry about all the bullets flying thru my walls.  If they shoot me thru the walls, it won’t really matter that they couldn’t get in to my house first.

And with the coming troubles, I also want some serious cash liquidity.

I want to have cash for when the banks don’t open, and the ATMs are down.  That could be from an EMP, a solar storm, or overseas cyber attack.  Or just a general economic melt-down.  Regardless of the cause, cash money will dry up fast, and checks and credit cards likely won’t work.

I also want money on hand for crazy buying opportunities in the depths of an economic melt down.  You just gotta keep some cash around, if the SHTF!

I’ve already got my “beans, bullets and Band-Aids” of course.  Those come first.  I have 6+ tons of food in drums and buckets, and 30,000 rounds of ammo.  Water filters, batteries, and a hundred other little things I don’t want to do without.  Silver and gold as well.  So I can afford to move on to the rest of my concerns.

Starting about a year ago, I began buying “boxes” of pennies from my bank.  Not loose bags, but standard sealed bank boxes holding rolled pennies.  I get four boxes each week – they expect it and order them for me each week.  These boxes cost me $25 each [their face value], for a total of $100.

I don’t open the boxes.  I stack them along the outside walls of my upstairs bedrooms.  When they reach four feet high, I start a new row.  I have covered all the walls up to four feet high along the back side of my second floor.  It took about 200 boxes, or $5,000.  Now I’m starting on the front bedroom walls, which are brick covered outside, so they are already more ballistically secure.

So what have I achieved with this crazy little practice (other than building my biceps carrying all those 20 pound boxes of coins from the bank to my second floor)?

First, my upstairs bedroom walls are now basically bullet proof.  Sure, a shell from a tank will blow them a way.  But nothing I’m likely to face will go thru my siding, wall boards, and then boxes of pennies.  No AK-47 or AR-15 round will get through all that.  I’ve tested it!  Anyone shooting from the ground, up at an angle, won’t be able to hit anyone who isn’t poking their head up to shoot back at them.

Now my walls provide actual cover, not just concealment, and all my windows provide great protected shooting areas.  I have a cadre of 12 friends coming to my place if TSHTF – that’s why I have three years worth of food and ammo for 14 people — so we’ll have the manpower to shoot back at trouble.  I have barbed wire and razor wire to slow the trouble down.  I just don’t want the bad guys to be able to simply shoot the walls, and hit us.  With my penny barriers, that’s not a problem now.

Second, I’ve turned $5,000 of “worthless” paper, into $7,500+ worth of copper investment.  How?

Well, from what all the coin-sorters out there write in blogs, at least 25 out of every hundred of my stacked pennies are pre-1981 copper pennies, worth about 3 cents each.  That means that, out of every $100 face value, I have $75 in copper, and $75 in current junk pennies.  If the ratio is more like 1/3 pre-1981 copper, then every $25 box of pennies is already worth $40 the day I buy it.  It’s like printing money!

I could sort them now, so I know the exact number of old pennies I have, but why bother?  If I just leave them in the boxes, I have an armor plated house.  And the pre-1981 pennies are just waiting there for when they are worth much more than 3 cents each.  There will be time enough for sorting after the world settles down again.

Third, by doing this I have also stashed away lots of cash money, for a rainy day.  In the bank, the government or creditors could get at it.  If I tuck paper bills under my mattress, thieves could steal it.  Just try stealing my wall of pennies!  (You’ll need a serious truck to handle the 5 tons they weigh.)  No matter how tough things get, I’ll always have $10,000 (eventually) stacked along my walls, for emergencies.

Another advantage of coins over paper money will often appear during hyperinflation.  When a country destroys its money – which America is doing today — and ultimately must create a new, replacement currency, it tends to knock 3-10 zeroes off the end.  They then have people trade in their old paper money for the new paper currency.  Money still in the bank just loses most of it’s value, with all those zeroes just disappearing.

But when it comes to coins, the central banks don’t want to have to reproduce all those darn coins.  It is literally small change for them.  So they just declare that the old coins are good at the new level, and part of the new currency. 

So your old coin money dodges the devaluation, and jumps right up to the new money value.  They figure it can’t amount to much, and for most people it wouldn’t.  But for me, it surely would.

And finally, if there is a severe deflation, and copper goes down to pennies for a pound, I’ll still have my $10,000.  Just like old junk silver coins, they will always be worth their face value at the very least. The same is true of my pennies.  I expect copper to keep going up in value, and my pennies to outpace inflation.  But if deflation comes, cash will be king.  And I’ve got a wall of it!

As a final note, those who are still convinced that nickels are the better investment than pennies are welcome to line their walls with boxes of nickels instead.  They will never need to be sorted, and will block bullets just as well.  They cover a lot less wall, though, per dollar, so instead of spending $10,000, I would have to buy more like $45,000 in nickels.  If you actually want that much money in cash, then nickels would be the better choice, since they would take up less space.

But if you really just want to line your walls with bullet-proof cash, and tuck away lots of copper at less than the spot price, then buy boxes of pennies and start stacking them up. – Scott in Wisconsin

JWR Adds: Despite the drawbacks (namely space and weight), the strategy that Scott outlines has its merits. However, my approach is to stockpile nickels rather than pennies. Unlike pennies, there is presently just one composition of nickels in circulation. They are 75% copper and 25% nickel. Although their base metal fluctuates there is no “sorting” factor. (The composition hast not changed since 1946. (It is the same in 2011 as it was in 1946. ) The dollar density of nickels is also higher, so there is less weight and space for each $1,000 invested. (So yes, getting the same volume for a defensive wall of boxes or ammo cans filled with nickels will cost you several times more than with pennies. But if your primary goal is ballistic protection mass, then sandbags are much less expensive than boxes of pennies. When I last checked over at the Coinflation.com web site, a nickel minted from 1946 to present was worth $0.0620596. That is 124% of face value. So that represents a 24% gain, just walking out the door of the bank.

If and when the time ever comes to liquidate your holdings of nickels, it will be far, far easier to sell nickels, where 99.99% of the rolls are all the same composition. (The only exception are the 1942-1945 “War Nickels, which are 35% silver. Each of those nickels is worth about $2.15 each! So that is just a nice bonus, if you ever developed a machine that could sort them.) Compare that to currently-circulating pennies, where you can encounter a wide range of ratios in rolls of newer (zinc) to older (copper) pennies. When you buy boxes of pennies for the bank, some of them might even be boxes of all new pennies. (All copper-flashed zinc tokens.)

I advise stocking up on nickels now, before their composition is changed!

Letter Re: On Surviving Hot Climates and Relocation

Mr. Rawles,
Thank you for your service to our country.  In the deep south we are presently in the mist of a drought with high heat and humidity. As two-year preppers, my brother and I grow a few acres of vegetables and field corn for livestock that consist of chickens, hogs, milk goats and rabbits. A milk cow is in the planning. My brother is 71 and I am 68 and we were raised on the farm. I left for the air-conditioned work-force many years ago but still spend several hrs a week at manual labor. At my age I am in better physical condition and have greater rural knowledge than a very high percentage of people over the age of fifty. That said, I can only work four hours or so in the mornings before running out of gas. In a world without electricity, this means starvation. The drought has fried our crops and if we were depending on them to survive, we would be in trouble. (Watering crops without electrical pumps is only available to a few with spring fed creeks.) My point in writing is on preparing to survive without air-conditioning.      

First, relocate to a cooler climate. (To the Redoubt States in the Rockies.)    

Second, keep yourself hydrated at all times.   

Third,  get your body in shape by working out inside or outside early in the morning. (Only with a buddy in summer).     

Fourth, be very careful when out in the heat but try sitting in the shade for a few minutes each day to become acclimated to the stress of high temps. Start with a few minutes and work up to an hour. Read a book. If at any time you feel ill or ‘light-headed’ go inside.     

Fifth, if you are overweight, please slim down.    

Sixth, whatever you think you are capable of doing in a world with no air conditioning, reduce it by 80% and then see if you can survive.      

By no means am I an expert, but given the condition, health, and mind set of most people, I believe we will have a human disaster the first summer without air-conditioning in the south. I know some older folks will say, like me, they grew up without air conditioning but that was with a different body and frame of mind. Most homes built in the south in the last fifty years were designed for air conditioning and become death traps without it. They do not have screens on windows or screen doors so if you open them you are eaten alive by insects and invite unwanted two-legged villains.

FWIW, I have purchased rolls of screen wire, not the plastic type, for eventual barter). 

I know this doesn’t do justice to the subject of heat, but if you live in the south and have a family, consider moving. Odds are, if you stay, you aren’t going to make it [in a grid-down collapse]. Best plan: relocate!  – Deep South Charlie

Letter Re: Microclimates in the Redoubt States?

Sir:
Thank you for your continuing work.

1. How would you suggest we research micro-climates in areas of interest in the American Redoubt?

2. For those of us in the 50-60 age group, single, and raising grandchildren is there a place for us? I don’t believe I have the physical strength/endurance and certainly not knowledge to forge out a place in the “wilderness” at this age. How about the possibility of teaming up with a family who needs a “grandma” and extra pair of hands to help with domestic/garden duties?

Yes, I do have skills I could make a living most likely as long as there is high speed internet access. But would prefer not to rely on its existence if I could.

May I suggest that you add a FAQ on the American Redoubt Page?

The Lord’s Blessings on you and your family. – Maggie B.

JWR Replies: The old saying is: “Climate is what you expect, and weather is what you get.”

To start your research, see:

The widely-cited Climate zones map (from the publishers of Sunset magazine.)

Microclimates (“In the real world, we garden in micro-climates, not hardiness zones.”)

Western Regional Climate Center (and drill down to the wealth of information here: Historical Climate Information)

Climate Maps

Current temperatures

Climate Central

Precipitation Maps

Wind velocity map

Gardening in the Inland Northwest

Be sure to also look at soil maps

Then, moving down to the state and local level, see:

Washington climate data

Introduction to short-season gardening in Idaho

Western Montana

Cold Climate Gardening – how we do it here in Wyoming

Gardening in Eastern Washington

Oregon Gardening

After you do your basic research at the state level, it is best to check with the NRCS extension office in each of the counties that you are considering, for their insights on microclimates.

Two Letters Re: Extreme Coupon Prepping

Mister Rawles;
Someone recently mentioned that some people buy too much stuff with coupons that they can’t possibly use up.  Also there was someone who usually buys “cheap” products like V05 shampoo, etc.  I have been couponing for four years.  My husband is a pastor and we took a lesser-paying church about the time the economy went South.  Then we added a family member.  I prayed and asked the Lord what to do.  We were spending $500-to-$600 each month on groceries with me trying to buy less expensive stuff, cheaper cuts of meat, etc.  I have always lived a frugal life.

The Lord helped me.  I met a lady having a “grocery garage sale”.  She gave me two pieces of advice.  Check out couponmom.com and combine coupons with sales and rebates. I was using coupons at Wal-mart with little results.  But when I started reading the info on couponmom.com, it changed our financial life.

That site and many more will show you how to match the coupons in the Sun. paper with the sales and rebates that week.  You must do your homework about each stores coupon rules.  The pharmacies are the best places to shop.  CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid are the ones in my town.  They all have a “rebate” system.  My local CVS pharmacy will double coupons that are 50 cents or less.  If you can combine sales, with your coupon on an item that has a store “rebate” or even a manufacturer rebate, many times it is free or very inexpensive. Sometimes if the coupon goes over the amount of the sale price minus the rebate, you actually profit.

Again, you must do your homework on the store policies.  Ingles is a great grocery store.  They double coupons.  Also, if you have to bring an item back because it was overpriced, they will give you your money back.  It’ free.

All of this can be very confusing, but God can help you learn like He did me.  I always pray before I leave the house that He will guide me in the decisions I make, to not let me make mistakes, and to show me what to do. 

Be very careful filling out manufacturer rebates to ensure each thing they ask for is done and on time.  The store rebates are easier.  But you must be sure to use of these “vouchers”, etc. or they will expire.  The way I do it is to paper clip them and keep them in my purse so that I never forget them at home. Most cashiers are gracious to you if you are nice to them on a weekly basis.  Build a relationship with them.  Do your homework.  Don’t give them expired coupons.  Ask for help when you aren’t sure of something.  Get rain checks if they are sold out of stock. Most stores will allow you to come right back in and correct a mistake.  One time in the beginning, I forgot to use my coupons and it was a lot of difference in price.  So, I humbly asked the cashier if we could do anything.  She graciously let me “fix” it. Always check your receipt before you leave the store. It can be confusing at first, it does take some time.  Now I go to three pharmacies each week in about 2 to 2-1/2 hours.  Combine that with my weekly trip to Ingles and I save about half on my grocery bill.

One more thing, all that overage you end up buying – sell it on occasion at a yard sale. Charge less than Wal-Mart.  Make sure nothing is expired.  Medicines run out fast.  It helps you and the people who don’t know what you know. Blessings, – Georgia Girl

Dear Mr. Rawles,
I read your blog regularly and especially enjoy the links to news stories that truly matter.  I don’t generally contribute, but I felt the need to share my couponing success after the mixed reviews of couponing as a stockpiling strategy.  I have been couponing since way before it was trendy.  I have seen the TLC coupon show (once). I cook from scratch for my family and many others, and as a homeschooling single-income family we do everything on a budget.

In my experience, the TLC show is unrealistic and silly.  Those are truly extraordinary circumstances when they walk away from a store with so much for mere pennies.  Questions have been raised whether the participants are even couponing ethically. Coupon fraud is a crime and I wonder if TLC’s sequel will be “Coupon Junkies” and filmed at a rehab clinic or correctional facility. 

I save around 50% off my total grocery bill with coupons, and not on TV dinners and snack cakes either! It is as much work as a part-time job, you must enjoy bargain hunting, and shopping trips with coupons take hours. I regularly score items including barbeque sauce, razors, shampoo, real meat (not bologna and hot dogs), baby wipes, dog food, cosmetics, detergent, socks and underwear, canning supplies, feminine hygiene products, over the counter meds, pasta, toilet paper, and even organic produce for free or pennies on the dollar and sometimes stores even pay me to walk out with the items.

I contact the manufacturers of the items I like using. Earthbound Farms will send you coupons on their organic produce if you email or call them, including coupons for free products.  Two weeks ago I cashed mine in for two giant clamshell containers of baby mixed greens, saving myself $12 while I awaited my own salad ingredients that had just germinated. Kashi is another company to contact for great coupons on healthier food, or call the 1-800 number on your favorite grocery items’ packaging and ask if they will send you coupons.  You may be surprised by what turns up in your mailbox.

Target is indispensable to my coupon shopping strategy because they offer free printable store coupons on their web site that you can combine with manufacturer’s coupons for the same item.  If the author of the previous letter does not want his $1.50 off a scented candle coupon I will gladly take it.  Twice every year Target pays me fifty cents each to leave with Glade scented candles after store coupon, manufacturer’s coupon, and free gift card offer. I have quite the stash of them despite sharing them with others and giving them as gifts or tucking them in gift baskets. They are just as useful as any other candle in a lights-out situation.

Coupons are hard work, and don’t apply to everything I need to purchase.  They certainly don’t cause me to purchase items I won’t or shouldn’t use unless the item is free and I can donate it.  I also save by buying my wheat and grains at the local grain elevator and grinding them myself, watching dealigg.com for grocery deals on Amazon (they include free shipping and I have added greatly to my coffee, peanut butter, and cereal stashes with some great deals I didn’t have to leave my driveway for), and growing a large garden and preserving things myself.  We have also purchased whole hogs and cattle and paid for processing. If you have the freezer space or desire to jerk and can a ton of meat this can feed your family T-Bones for hamburger prices.  You can also see how your dinner was grown.  I grow my own chickens and eggs for the same reasons.

In closing, there is a difference between stockpiling and hoarding.  If you can honestly and ethically acquire 272 toothbrushes or 98 bottles of mustard, then find a worthy cause and donate some! Sales and coupons run in cycles and you will most likely be able to come by some more. True hoarding is wasteful and selfish. Stockpiling is responsible and prudent and I believe God smiles on us for it and thank Him regularly for making it possible.  I hope my experience can be helpful to others.

Sincerely, – Minnesota Rose

Economics and Investing:

Fed: Default would be dangerous; Fitch may cut rating. (A hat tip to Sue C. for the link.)

The dreaded “D” word is spoken: China warns U.S. debt-default idea is “playing with fire”

K.A.F. sent this interview of Peter Schiff: Lack of buyers may force Treasury to boost interest rates

Reader J.B.G. spotted this: True Cost of Fannie, Freddie Bailouts: $317 Billion, CBO Says

Reason # 4,386,662 to leave the Mickey Mouse State: California taps highest income taxpayers for more revenue. (A hat tip to Tom B. for the link.)

B.B. spotted this: Federal Reserve Set to Implode Economy.

Also from B.B.: Bottom in the USD – Soros Attempts to Top-Tick Gold

Items from The Economatrix:

Can You Pass The 2011 Silver Quiz?

Comex Physical Silver Drops To Fresh All Time Low Of 28.8 Million Ounces, 3% Drop Overnight, 30% Drop In 6 Weeks

Price of Gold Jumps After “Gold-Friendly Data” Shows US Economy “Can’t Stand On Its Own Feet”

Silver’s Glitter To Last On Gold’s Strength, Tech Support

Odds ‘n Sods:

The EU Preppers Blog (mostly in German) has some interesting coverage of the current e. coli outbreak.

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Solar flare threatens to disrupt Earth’s communications and power. (J.B.G. kindly sent the link.)

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Peeved patient proud of penny protest. (Thanks to J.J.H. for the link.)

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Frequent content contributor Pierre M. flagged an article from Nanny State California: LAPD seeks tighter regulations on toy guns

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SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large sent this humorous video clip: Most Tactical AR-15… EVER! (The scary thing is that some well-intentioned Mall Ninjas have their ARs nearly this junked-up.)

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U.N. Agreement Should Have All Gun Owners Up In Arms. (A hat tip to Matt D. for the link.)

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Disaster is rarely as pervasive as it seems from recorded accounts. The fact of being on the record makes it appear continuous and ubiquitous whereas it is more likely to have been sporadic both in time and place. Besides, persistence of the normal is usually greater than the effect of the disturbance, as we know from our own times. After absorbing the news of today, one expects to face a world consisting entirely of strikes, crimes, power failures, broken water mains, stalled trains, school shutdowns, muggers, drug addicts, neo-Nazis, and rapists. The fact is that one can come home in the evening, on a lucky day, without having encountered more than one or two of these phenomena…”  – Barbara Tuchman, A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century