Pat’s Product Review: Springfield Armory 5.25 XDm

Today I’m reviewing the new Springfield Armory XDm 5.25 9mm Competition handgun. I carried a Springfield Armory XD .40 S&W handgun for close to two years, and I found the gun utterly reliable and very accurate. The only drawback was that it was an early-production XD, and the finish wasn’t very durable and tended to easily rust if you didn’t pay attention and kept the gun clean and with some kind of preservative on the metal parts. The XDs made today have a very durable “Melonite” finish on the metal parts, and it really holds up extremely well.
 
The Springfield Armory XDm, is their new and improved version of the XD, and it really shines, if you ask me. The gun is more sleek, very stylish, and it has a better trigger pull, which is not only shorter, it also has one of the shortest resets of any polymer handgun on the market. What we have with the XDm 5.25 is a 9mm (it is also available in .40 S&W and .45 ACP as well) is an outstanding handgun with a 5.25″ barrel – only .25 of an inch longer than the barrel on the grand ol’ 1911 Government Model. Additionally, the front top of the slide is cut out, to reduce the overall weight and balance of the 5.25, which, by the way, balances nicely. The barrel is match grade, out of hammer forged steel, too – and fitted perfectly.
 
The front sight has a red fiber optic in it, which makes it easy to focus on, and when teaching new shooters how to aim their handguns, I always tell them “front sight, front sight, front sight…” they get tired of hearing it, but after a while, they are focusing on that front sight, and the XDm 5.25 makes that easy to do, in bright light, the red fiber optic really jumps out at you, and even in low light, you can see the front sight. The rear is fully adjustable for windage and elevation, too. My 5.25 sample only needed two adjustments of windage to the right, and one adjust of elevation to get it shooting where I wanted the bullet to go. You also get replacement fiber optic sights, should you manage to break the one in the front sight – you get a spare red, and a spare green fiber optic rod. They are easy to replace.
 
The trigger pull on my XDm sample is between 5-6 pounds, however because if the guns ergonomics it feels a lot lighter than that. Additionally, the trigger pull is smooth. As already mentioned, trigger reset is very short after each shot is fired, so you can get off additional shots extremely fast. The trigger itself has a trigger safety lever in the center – the trigger is “locked” against accidental discharge – you have to place your finger in the trigger to disengage the safety lever in order for the gun to fire. And, we have a grip safety, just like the good ol’ 1911 has. There is also an internal safety, that prevents the gun from accidentally firing should it be dropped. Springfield Armory calls the safety system the USA  the “Ultra Safe Action.”
 
The XD line-up of handguns — and there are a lot of different models — all have a loaded chamber indicator on the top of the slide, that you can see or feel, to know if there is a round in the chamber. There is also a slight protrusion on the back of the slide, to let you know if the gun is cocked or not. Again, you can see or feel it. Neat!
 
You can also have the XDm 5.25 Competition model with a brushed stainless steel slide. I elected the Melonite coated slide for “stealth” purposes – don’t want opponents seeing my gun before they need to see it. There are angled and deeply grooved grasping grooves on the front and rear sides of the slide, so it’s easy to manipulate the slide to chamber a round, or to clear a malfunction. Overall, the gun looks very futuristic to me. Empty weight is 29 ounces not too heavy and not too light.
 
I elected to get my XDm 5.25 in 9mm because it holds 19 rounds in the magazines – currently, Springfield Armory is providing three mags with this gun, but I’ve heard that’s for a limited time – after that, you’ll get two mags with the gun. Let’s face facts, when you’re dealing with a horde, you want lots of rounds in your gun, and it’s sure hard to beat 19 rounds of 9mm. I find I can also shoot the 9mm faster than I can a .40 S&W or .45ACP. And, recovery time, from shot-to-shot, is very fast – you are right back on target extremely fast. Of course, I recommend using top quality JHP ammo when you carry a 9mm for self-defense.
 
All Springfield Armory XD handguns come with XD gear in the case with the guns. You not only get an XD or XDm in the polymer carrying case, you also get a holster, double mag pouch and magazine loader, along with your one or two spare magazines. What’s not to like here? Speaking of the magazine loader – when you first load 19 rounds into the 5.25 magazines, you’ll appreciate the loader. I could load up to 16 or 17 rounds using my thumb, however, the last few rounds required the use of the magazine loader to get 19-rounds fully loaded in the mag. Early Glock magazine used to be extremely hard to fully load when new. What I did was, get those magazine fully loaded, and let ’em sit that way for a couple of weeks. After that, the spring has compressed and I could load the magazine to full capacity without the magazine loader. And, it’s the same way with the XDm 19 round 9mm magazines. After I let them sit for a couple weeks, I could then fully load them without the magazine loader. However, the springs are still pretty stout, and some folks will still want to use the magazine loader for the last few rounds. A stout magazine spring is a good thing in a 19 round magazine – it gets those rounds up there so they feed easily.
 
I contacted Tim Sundles, who owns and operates Buffalo Bore Ammunition  and requested 500 rounds of his outstanding 9mm +P and +P+ ammo for a bit of a mini torture test of the 5.25 9mm. I believe this gun can take a steady diet of hot 9mm, it’s very well made and brutally strong. I requested three more mags for my sample gun, so I started out with six fully loaded, 19-rd magazines for my mini torture test. When I first got the XDm 5.25 I took it out for a function test, as well as an accuracy test, and I found the gun functioned 100% with various ammo, including Black Hills Ammunition’s (www.black-hills.com) various 9mm loads, and some Winchester 9mm ammo. Shooting over the hood of my SUV, at 25-yards, I found the gun to be a 1.5 – 2.5 inch shooter if I did my part. However, the gun is capable of better ’cause I had a couple groups slightly over one inch – I couldn’t do it all the time, but I did it a few times.
 
I breezed through the first three magazines loaded with the Buffalo Bore ammo without any problems. After that, it got to be work, firing as fast as I could pull the trigger – my trigger finger got tired after a while. However, what really slowed me down was reloading the magazines after they were empty. That really slowed me down in the mini torture test. I guess it was a good thing, as it allowed my trigger finger to rest, but my thumb got sore from loading all those magazines.
 
I had zero malfunctions with the XDm 5.25 nor did I expect any. The gun easily digested all the hot Buffalo Bore +P and +P+ 9mm I fed it. I could feel the recoil impulse differ when firing the +P ammo, as opposed to the +P+ 9mm ammo. Not a big difference, but I could still feel it. The empty brass was flying out of the slide as fast as I could pull the trigger, and the brass was going about 12-15 feet to my right and behind me a bit.
 
When it comes to shooting hotter ammo, it doesn’t always prove to be the most accurate ammo, at least in most guns. The Springfield Armory XDm 5.25 really loved the Buffalo Bore 124-gr JHP +P ammo the best. When I was done with the torture test, I used some of the other Buffalo Bore ammo I had stashed away to see which would give the best accuracy. And, it turned out that the 124-gr JHP +P load was shooting the tightest groups. The “worst” groups were with the Buffalo Bore 124-gr  +P+ FMJ flat nose “Penetrator” rounds – but they were still giving me 2.5″ groups. BTW, Tim Sundles recommends this load if you are going out in the boonies, where you might run into some big critters in the wild – it’ll really penetrate when needed. Sundles also said that when he carries some kind of 9mm handgun, he has the top several rounds in his mags loaded with JHP ammo, and the remaining rounds are the “Penetrator” rounds. Tim’s way of thinking is that, if the bad guy hasn’t gone down after the first several rounds are fired, then the bad guy will probably be behind some type of cover, and you’ll need to really penetrate that cover to hit the bad guy. I don’t think I totally disagree with Tim’s rationale on this, as he might be onto something.
 
The XDm 5.25 might be billed as a “Competition” handgun, and it can easily be used for this task. However, I believe this would make one dandy carry piece. If you can carry and conceal a full-sized 1911 Government Model, you can carry and conceal the XDm 5.25 just as easily, if not easier than a 1911. The manager at my local gun shop is the one who actually turned me on to the 5.25 when he insisted I take his 5.25 out and test fire it for him – he hadn’t even fired it. I was more than willing to shoot someone else’s gun and use their ammo. I was absolutely shocked at the accuracy from his 5.25. And, one of the sales guys at the gun shop also owns a 5.25 in 9mm and he says his gun is super accurate as well. So, that’s three XDm 5.25 samples that are outstanding shooters – what’s not to like here? Springfield is doing the XD line right. The guns are actually made in Croatia and imported into the US by Springfield Armory. However, each gun is checked over by Springfield Armory before they are sold to the public.
 
I haven’t been able to find a full retail price on the XDm 5.25 Competition model, but I checked around, and it looks like they are going from around $799 to as high as $850. While the XDm 5.25 is more expensive than the XD and the standard XDm models, you get a lot of gun for the money, and one that is a natural pointer and very accurate..
 
Any more, after writing about firearms for 20 years or so, I don’t get easily excited by new guns. However, after shooting the sample XDm 5.25 that the gun shop’s manager insisted I test for him, I was absolutely sold on it. As a matter of fact, an e-mail went out to Springfield Armory that very afternoon, begging for a sample of my own. The wait was worth it, too.
 
When the SHTF, and I have to bug out, the Springfield Armory XDm 5.25 Competition 9mm will be on my hip, along with plenty of spare, fully loaded 19 round magazines. A person could do a whole lot worse if you ask me. A super accurate gun, that holds plenty of ammo, that is easy to handle, fast shooting and totally reliable? I’ve got mine, now go out and get your own. I plan on getting another XDm 5.25 later on – after I pay for this sample – but the next one will be in .45 ACP – just because I love the .45 ACP round.
 
So, if you’re in the market for what might just be the ultimate high capacity 9mm handgun, you might want to seriously look at the Springfield Armory XDm 5.25 for your next purchase. If I sound like I’m really liking this gun, I am. It’s always a joy to shoot an accurate handgun, and one that is totally reliable, and one that also holds a lot of rounds.

Letter Re: NOAA’s Improved Solar Storm Prediction Web Site

JWR,

NOAA has updated their web site with an easier to read solar storm prediction description. I’m not sure when they changed this, but I’ve found it helpful.

It breaks down into, ‘Geomagnetic, Solar Radiation, and Radio Blackout’ categories.  Instead of just giving an X# or M#, they now have scale of 1-5 (minor through extreme), with a real world description of impact  on communications and power systems.  The descriptive scales are outlined in the “NOAA Scales Activity”

For me, this is much clearer and easier than trying to figure out than some M# or X# impact.

I thought that others might find it useful. – Robert B.

Letter Re: Self-Defense Advice

Mr. Rawles,
I have eight children, the oldest of whom is 15 years old, and the youngest, 6. I would love to do an at-home self defense course with all of them, but especially the teen girls. Do you have a recommendation for an internet course that isn’t cheesy or a scam? – A Happy Homemaking Prepper in California

JWR Replies: You cannot learn how to fight someone by reading a book or watching a video. You need to physically practice, to develop muscle memory. I’d recommend a year of Tae Kwon Do to learn kicks and punches, followed by at least a year of Jiu-Jitsu, to learn grappling and falls.  I’m sure you recognize that we live in the modern world, so you will also need firearms training, starting when each of your children is about 12 (depending on their maturity.) The Appleseed Project‘s rifle range training is excellent, and available at very low cost.

Economics and Investing:

G.G. flagged this bit of confirmation my predictions: Urban Institute: Foreclosure backlog to ‘take decades to complete’

Mortgage Aid Programs Still Have Trouble Helping Homeowners In Distress

Foreclosure Free Ride:  Three Years, No Payments

Items from The Economatrix:

US Mint Says Has Enough Gold, Silver Eagles Coins

A Look At Economic Developments Around The Globe

Asian Stocks Advance On US Optimism

Consumer Comfort In US Receded Last Week

Odds ‘n Sods:

Stephen M. sent this: A One-Horse Town Down to Two People

   o o o

My “Taking the Gap” interview on Radio Free Redoubt is now available as an archived podcast.

   o o o

The publicized drug shortages expand to old standbys like Tetracycline. (Thanks to Damon S. for the link.)

   o o o

I heard about a company in Florida called Rainwater Warehouse that markets American-made rainwater harvesting equipment such as downspout diverters and rain barrels.

   o o o

Vince W. wrote to note that Dave Canterbury has been doing a series of YouTube videos called the “Journal of the Yurt”, where he is living in a yurt on his property in Ohio for 30-45 days and documenting the process daily with multiple videos. Part of that series is dedicated to learning principles of self reliance similar to those used by the early frontiersmen (He calls this the 21st Century Long-hunter Series). In one recent video, he does an experiment using ground up strike-anywhere match heads to reload 12 gauge shotgun shells to be fired in a single shot 12 gauge with surprisingly good results. [JWR Adds: All the usual safety provisos apply! Most importantly, never attempt to “process” more than 10 match heads in one batch. Just ask Kurt Saxon, who is now missing several fingers on one hand…]

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt….I am for a government rigorously frugal and simple." – Thomas Jefferson

Notes from JWR:

The stats are in, showing the tremendous growth of SurvivalBlog ‘s readership in the past six years:

  • Unique visits in December, 2005: 42,482
  • Unique visits in December, 2006: 107,089
  • Unique visits in December, 2007: 218,931
  • Unique visits in December, 2008: 507,176
  • Unique visits in December, 2009: 837,727
  • Unique visits in December, 2010: 1,101,755
  • Unique visits in December, 2011: 1,336,959

We have had consistent growth of around 30% per year! While I expect our web stats to start to plateau, 37 million unique visits have been logged, and we have readers in 190 countries. The blog is also ranked in Alexa’s Top 5,000 web sites in the U.S. and in the Top 30,000, worldwide (out of about 200 million sites.)

Thanks for making SurvivalBlog such a huge success, with a larger readership than the most of the other well-known preparedness blogs. Please keep spreading the word, by adding links to SurvivalBlog in your web pages and e-mail footers. Thanks!

—

Today we present another entry for Round 39 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) 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 C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), and E.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo.

Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol. It is a $439 value courtesy of Next Level Training. B.) A FloJak F-50 hand well pump (a $349 value), courtesy of FloJak.com. C.) 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, D.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and E.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value) and F.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.), B.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value, C.) A Commence Fire! emergency stove with three tinder refill kits. (A $160 value.), and D.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 38 ends on February 29th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Wildcrafting Healing, by Peggy S.

When TEOTWAWKI comes, there isn’t going to be a CVS or Walgreen’s pharmacy open and stocked for very long afterward. So, what to do when you get a nasty cut, burn or some other infection? First, as common sense tells us, wash it off with soap and water or use some stashed vodka to kill any possible germs or even the old time remedy of kerosene. The kerosene was also an old time remedy to keep fleas off your dogs, just pour a thin line of it down their backs like you do with modern flea drops. Just remember to keep your dog away from open flames for a while.

The following suggestions are all assuming that the plants you are using are not from along side a road and contaminated by vehicle exhaust or they were not sprayed with any weed killer or any chemicals at all. All the washing in the world won’t get that poison off of the plants.

One major source of infections that can become a problem post SHTF are bug bites. Right now, they are just a pain in the butt and a irritation, but when you start to scratch a bug bite with dirty finger nails, then things change. We already know, that keeping clean is going to be hard after the SHTF, but I wonder how many have thought about just what that truly means? Just a scratch from dirty finger nails or a scratch on a dirty arm can lead to potentially life threatening infections. The best defense against bug bites, like mosquitoes or gnats will be prevention. Bees, wasps and hornets are a different matter I’ll address later. To keep mosquitoes away, I’ve found a mixture of pennyroyal, peppermint and lavender to be very helpful. Do not, I repeat, do not use pennyroyal any where near a pregnant woman as it will cause miscarriage. You can grow the herbs yourself and make either real strong teas or tinctures. Mix them in equal parts in a spray bottle and spray yourself frequently as the mixture will sweat off easily. This mixture can be played around with to find the right mix for you and if you have any pure vanilla extract you feel you can spare, you can add that to the mixture also. The dried herbs can be spread around any area you want to keep bugs out of. But I can’t emphasize enough the importance of keeping pennyroyal away from pregnant women. Any herbal remedy should be used with caution with pregnant women and the only one I feel comfortable suggesting she use would be peppermint for morning sickness. There is an herb you can grow around your home called Bee Balm that is reported to keep bees away from your house and the leaves made into a tea will help soothe a bee sting. Me, I am deathly allergic to bees, wasps and hornets so I try my best to just not be where they are. Post-SHTF, I am going to have to be doubly careful, since there won’t be any Epi-Pens available and I don’t know of any herbal remedy for anaphylactic shock.
You’ll need to make a poultice if the cut or burn is bad enough and all you’ll need for that is a piece of clean cloth and what is growing right outside your backdoor; good old Plantain. The usual method of making the poultice was to chew the leaves, put them on the injury and tie the clean cloth around it. Sad to say, but when TSHTF, many mouths may not be as germ free as they should be, so just place the washed leaves in between two pieces of clean cloth and grind them with a rock, you don’t have to totally destroy them, just grind them up enough so the juice is released. Tie this over the wound and change it out every day. In some cases, you’ll be surprised at how fast the wound will heal.

Another useful “weed” growing in your yard is the dandelion. The leaves are edible in the spring and the sap from the stems is a wonder drug for blisters. When the SHTF many of us will be using a lot more hand-tools and blisters are going to be a problem. They are an excellent opening for an infection unless they can be treated right away. Just pick a dandelion, squeeze the milky juice from the stem on the blister and cover lightly. I’ve had blisters end up gone by the next day using this method, it just depends on how bad the blister is. Best defense against blisters would be good sturdy work gloves, but those aren’t always handy when you need to “just make a quick fix” on something.

Something else growing in your yard that will help stop bleeding is Shepherd’s Purse, again, wash the plant, grind it between two piece of cloth and apply it to the wound. You may have to change it out several times before the bleeding stops. At the same time, if possible, make some into a tea and drink it to help stop the bleeding attacking the bleeding from inside and outside. It can help with heavy periods, too.

A very, very old remedy for holding cuts closed is spider webs, but it takes a lot and there is no real safe way to ensure they are sterile, but it is just some information I thought I’d throw out there; if someone is desperate and has nothing else handy, they’ll do in a pinch. Just keep a real close eye out for infection and make sure the spiders aren’t still in the webs.

Infections of any kind are going to be a problem WTSHTF, one way to avoid any infection is to keep your immune system strong. Vitamin C may become very hard to come by if things have gone bad for a long time. There are several alternatives, besides oranges to get extra vitamin c. The pods left after a rose has boomed are called “rose hips” and they contain more vitamin c than an orange, you can eat them or make a tea out of them. Most people have a fantastic immune booster growing in their gardens because it is such a beautiful flower. I am talking about Purple Coneflowers, otherwise known as Echinacea. You need to make sure you have an heirloom variety and not one of the hybrids, the variety should be echinacea angustifolia. The roots can be made into a tincture and the leaves and stems can be made into a tea. Drink a cup daily for a month on and a month off, for just normal immune support; or in the case of an injury where infection is present, drink two cups daily till the infection is gone then stop for a month. You don’t want to keep your immune system over stimulated all the time or it will get “bored” and start attacking your body; this leads to what are called auto-immune diseases like Multiple Scoliosis or Rheumatoid Arthritis. Our immune systems now have very little to fight off, so they are either getting weak or are attacking our bodies. The best thing you can do for your immune system now is to let it do it’s job. If you catch a cold, just treat the symptoms, let your immune system fight it off. Of course if you get seriously sick, like with bronchitis, then see the doctor, but you have to let your immune system work. Like a muscle, it needs to be worked in order to stay strong. I, personally, don’t get a flu shot every year, I let my immune system fight for me. I’ve never had a case of the flu in years. Colds, yes, flu, no. When I do get a cold I take echinacea and vitamin c to help my immune system fight off anything worse. Bronchitis is an opportunistic illness that moves in when your immune system is busy fighting a cold, so I make sure to give my immune system plenty of support while I am sick.

Teas and tinctures can be used both on the wound and taken internally to fight infections from both outside and inside.
Tinctures are the best way to use roots and barks, unless you want to boil them. Tincturing is easy to do and also allows the remedy to be kept for a lot longer than either a tea or just the dried plant material. Fill a sterile jar about half full of the plant material, then add 1 part water to 5 parts vodka, rum or whiskey. Store in a cool dark place and shake daily. After a month strain the mixture into an other sterile dark colored jar; write a label with plant name and date and store in a cool dark place. A well made tincture can last for up to five years, but it has to be made right, so practice now and like everything else you are stocking now, rotate it out. Either use it, donate it or throw it out and make an other batch, but practice tincturing now and you’ll save yourself problems later on. When taking a tincture internally, you only need a small amount since it is so highly concentrated. Use no more than twenty drops in a small glass of water and take up to three times a day. I am not going to prescribe how you should use any tea or tincture, I can only offer some guidelines and leave the rest up to your judgment. Just remember, these are not just “twigs and leaves” and need to be treated as you would any medicine you’d get from the doctor or drug store.

To make a tea, use 1-2 teaspoons of the fresh or dried herb into a pan of boiling water, remove from heat, let it steep for about 5-10 minutes, strain it into a cup and drink. You can add some honey to sweeten it.

For roots, barks and seeds you’ll need to either make a tincture or a decoction. To do this, chop the bark or root into smallish pieces, place into a pan, add cold water, bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 15 minutes, then strain and drink. The amounts are the same as with a tea, 1-2 teaspoons per cup of water.
The advice I give the most often is to grow your own herbs and make your own remedies. It isn’t hard and it is much more satisfying knowing you did it and you get the piece of mind of knowing how the plants were grown.

There are a number of web sites, as most of you well know, that sell heirloom seeds. If you can choose your own herb seeds, the ones I’d suggest would be: echinacea, mullein, horehound, peppermint, thyme, yarrow, vervain, and feverfew; these are all excellent remedies for coughs, colds and flu. Lavender, chamomile, catnip(good luck keeping cats out of it), and hops are good for calming frazzled nerves. Blessed thistle, parsley, red clover, and yarrow are reported to help cleanse the blood, which will be helpful in the event of any infection. I have seen thyme stop an asthma attack in it’s tracks. Boil a small pan of water, put in a tablespoon of thyme, take it off the heat and make a tent over the pan with a towel, with your head under it and just breath in the steam. Make sure you close your eyes because the natural oils in thyme will irritate the hell out of them. A very useful plant after TSHTF will be yucca, since it’s roots can be made into soap. The Indians in the southwest also used it as a poultice for arthritis and sprains. For migraine suffers, start taking feverfew now. I used to have awful migraines and starting taking feverfew when I got them; the feverfew stopped the migraines so fast I jumped the first couple times, it startled me because it happened so fast. I started drinking a cup a day of feverfew tea and in about a year, the migraines stopped. The only migraines I have now are allergic reactions to certain foods or maybe just a random one maybe once a year. I still carry a bottle of feverfew in my purse just in case I eat something that triggers one, since I never know until I eat it that it will trigger the migraine. Then I add it to the list of “Do not eat again”.

An excellent book for beginning herbalist’s is Today’s Herbal Health: The Essential Reference Guide by Louise Tenney, my copy of her book is falling apart I use it so much. She also has a book on just children’s remedies,too. The Herb Book by John Lust or Jude’s Herbal Home Remedies by Jude C. Williams are also excellent choices. There are also some excellent books by Wildman Steve Brill, such as: Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild) Places

What grows wild here in the mid-west, won’t grow wild in the southern states and so on. I titled this “wild-crafting”, but have ended up talking more about growing your own. For those of you who don’t know what wild-crafting is, I’ll explain. It means going out into the woods or fields and finding your own herbs, picking them and using them. This is where Steve Brill’s books or John Lust’s books will be vital because they have pictures of the plants. You have to know what you are picking. Many safe plants will have poisonous look-a-likes and unless you are totally sure of your skills at telling them apart, grow your own.

One “plant” that is easy to recognize in the wild is the White Willow and the bark of this tree is very similar to aspirin. Don’t strip the tree of all it’s bark because it needs it for protection, think of it as the tree’s clothes. Peel off only what little you need [on just one side, being careful not to “girdle” the trunk] and either make a tincture or make a decoction. Wild Cherry bark has been used for coughs for centuries, too. Just make sure you have the right tree before you start to harvest any bark from it and please make sure there are no parasites, molds or mosses growing on the bark when you harvest it.

These suggestions are for informational purposes only, they are in no way an attempt to diagnose, prescribe or even recommend. Any serious health issues should be treated by a doctor before TSHTF.

Letter Re: The Importance of Foot Care

Hello James:

I stumbled across some excellent advice for foot care.  The advice targeted diabetics.  Diabetics need to be especially mindful of their feet are more susceptible to circulation difficulties.  Foot problems can rapidly escalate. 

This advice is also very sound advice for after the Schumer hits the fan.  It is likely that we will all be putting more miles of pounding on our feet. – Joe H.

Letter Re: Keeping Honey Bees for Survival

I just read the SurvivalBlog writing contest article on keeping honeybees.  It was an excellent primer for someone to read and get started working with honeybees.  I have a few tidbits of information from my experience keeping bees.  We have had bees at our home for three years now, and it’s been one of the most amazing things I have ever done.  We got started with a local supplier, and stood up two full size langstroth hives, and then brought the two “nucs” home (driving with 30,000 bees in a minivan for an hour and a half is exhilarating to say the least!)  Following the instructions I was given by the supplier, I placed the nucs near the hive bodies, and then opened up the screening that kept the bees in the nucs.  Immediately, some nuclear powered bee I swear stung me on the nose, but that was it.  I managed to move 10 frames in total, 5 to each hive, into their new homes.  Then I just sat and watched, amazed, completely in awe at the bees.  Both hives did well for the first year, and then following some advice found on the Internet, I tilted open the top to let the heat out, and wax moths got in, and devastated one hive.  The few bees remaining swarmed, and were gone.  We were down to one hive, but it was a strong hive.  We are planning on getting two bee packages next year, to get us up to three hives.  From the one hive, we have harvested six honey super frames (smaller in height) each year for the past two years, and had the benefit of a gallon of local, organic honey each year.  Our problem is that as we use the honey more, we go through it faster.  We’ve replaced sugar in our breads, tea, etc…  I have collected propolis from the frames, have a bunch of wax, and am putting in pollen traps next spring, so that we can get the full range of beneficial harvest from the bees.

I have wanted to build a top-bar hive for a while now. They look very beneficial on many aspects, from only moving 1 frame (disturbing the bees less when you work the hive) to being more natural for the bees, which I have read leads to healthier bees.  The design allows for mites to fall down, and out of the hive, that a langstroth does not have.  I would strongly recommend that anyone interested start web searching and YouTubing now, there is an amazing amount of information on the web, and the YouTube channels are the best source of information I have found (minus opening the hive top to let out heat).

A co-worker told me about the painting smocks at Lowe’s, the inexpensive coveralls that protect you while painting, work well as a bee suit, and if you can’t afford a bee suit, this is a great way to save a few bucks.  

Also, there is a recipe out there that works amazingly well to keep “robbers” out of your hive.  Take a 2 liter bottle, and cut a 1 inch hole in the middle of it.  Then put in 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar, 1/4 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of water, and a banana peel.  Doing this, and hanging it near the hives was amazing.  European hornets, yellow jackets, wax moths all fly in, and can’t fly back out, and then die, and the odor they release attracts more of the robbers.

We have seven acres here, and we placed the hives within 50 feet of our home, and the bees have never been a problem.  My wife is allergic to bee stings, and has never been stung yet, none of us have, except for me, and that was only when I was working the hive.  The bees did take a liking to our pool, but eventually started using the pond in the pasture for their source of water.  Our neighbors have not been bothered by them, and our gardens have produced 2 to three times the amount of food with the pollinators working.  The weeds (wildflowers) have done very well also, that is a slightly negative side effect, the garden weeds are stronger now too, so more weeding is required.

One last bit of advice, to reiterate: Direct your web browser to Google, find newsgroups/newsfeeds/rss feeds of bee bloggers, and get into youtube channels, and watch/read and it will make you a much better beekeeper.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Bob. G. sent this: American civilization could be next to collapse

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K.A.F. forwarded a link to a useful PDF: Tactical Combat Casualty Care Guidelines

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Bryan. B. spotted this: Urban Fruit Trees and Food Security. [JWR Notes: Out here in the Hinterboonies, we wouldn’t be quite so open to “registering” our fruit trees. OBTW, our biggest concern for fruit thefts is black bears that have a bad habit of breaking limbs. Nothing that a .308 won’t cure, usually followed by congratulations on the nice rug. I suppose that the legalities for stopping two-legged fruit thieves in urban areas aren’t quite so lenient.]

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Farmland: The Only Place Real Estate Is Booming

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This prepper show was mentioned once before in SurvivalBlog: GBTV Launches It’s First Reality Show – Independence U.S.A.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see,s and believe thee? what dost thou work?
Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.” – John 6:29-38 (KJV)

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 38 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) 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 C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), and E.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo.

Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol. It is a $439 value courtesy of Next Level Training. B.) A FloJak F-50 hand well pump (a $349 value), courtesy of FloJak.com. C.) 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, D.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and E.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value) and F.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.), B.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value, C.) A Commence Fire! emergency stove with three tinder refill kits. (A $160 value.), and D.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 38 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Keeping Honey Bees for Survival, by Michael J.

Why Keep Honey Bees?

Wandering into the woods and staying lost for months is something I love to do. I have been an Urban Guerrilla Survivalist for 24 years, and have been keeping bees for more than 10 of those years. With these experiences under my belt, I have begun to teach people how to be a survivalist, and one subject I focus on is the art of beekeeping.

Before I tell you the benefits of having bees and some cheap ways to keep them, I suggest that you find a book about beekeeping to help you understand the terms I use and show you more details on how to keep bees for the long haul. One of the best books I have read is The ABC & XYZ of Bee Culture: An Encyclopedia Pertaining to the Scientific and Practical Culture of Honey Bees by A. I. Root. I also suggest that you try to find some beekeeping courses in your area—not only to learn more about it, but to connect with peers and mentors.

For my disclaimer: You should also research your local and state laws on beekeeping.

Apis mellifera, more commonly referred to as the honey bee, is one of the most beneficial insects in the world. Did you know that we have the honey bee to thank for one third of all the food we eat? Why, without the honey bee, we would mostly eat rice, wheat, and corn instead of the wonderful variety of fruits, vegetables, and nuts we enjoy every day. Not only do honey bees help make more food from pollination, they make a wide variety of products as well.

The most recognizable product, honey, is a sweet food made by bees from the nectar of flowers. Aside from its common use in sweetening teas, honey is used to treat burns, alleviate allergies and use in IVs for blood transfusions. It is also well known as a key ingredient in king’s mead, honey wine and man’s first alcoholic beverage. It is great for cooking in place of sugar, and has more nutritional value than cane or corn sugar. Honey has an endless shelf life when stored at room temperature in a sealed container. Most raw natural honey crystallizes, providing the survivalist with an endless supply of sugar that never goes bad.

Bee pollen, or pollen from flowers that is collected by bees during pollination, is harvested and used to fight allergies and treating mild cases of hay fever. Medications that use pollen include Claritin (loratadine), Benadryl (diphenhydramine), and chlorphenamine. Pollen is a great source of carbohydrates and is used to provide athletes energy boots.

Propolis, a resinous mixture that honey bees collect, relieves inflammation, viral diseases, ulcers, and superficial burns or scalds. It is also believed to promote heart health, strengthen the immune system, and reduce the chances of cataracts. Old beekeepers recommend that a piece of propolis be kept in the mouth as a remedy for a sore throat.

Beeswax, a natural wax produced in the hive, has long been called the ancient man’s plastic, and is used as such today. Common products you see beeswax used in include body creams, coating for cheeses, cosmetics, fine candles, furniture and shoe polishes, modeling materials to create jewelry and sculptures, pharmaceuticals, among hundreds of other items. It is often mixed with other ingredients such as olive oil (sweet oil) and sometimes paraffin. For hundreds of years, beeswax was used as a sealant or lubricant for bullets in cap and ball firearms that use black powder. Beeswax was also used to stabilize the military explosive Torpex, before it was replaced by a petroleum-based product.

Apitherapy is the medical use of bee products—most commonly associated with bee venom therapy, which uses bee venom in the use of health conditions. The active component of bee venom is melittin, which has a powerful anti-inflammatory action. Bee venom is a complex mix of a variety of peptides and proteins, some of which have strong neurotoxic and immunogenic effects. The most well-known bee venom therapy is for autoimmune diseases and multiple sclerosis. Bee venom therapy is also used to treat arthritis, bursitis, tendonitis, dissolving scar tissue (keloids), and herpes zoster, among other illnesses.

As you have just read, the benefits of keeping honey bees for products and pollination is infinite. Not only can you use these products yourself, you can sell them to make money at local farmers markets or boutiques, or barter with clans around the woods. I recommend keeping three to five hives at your home or survival camp. The benefits of the honey bee can not be matched for the survivalist.

How to Get Started

Now that I have told you some of the many the benefits of having bees, I am going to tell you the basic style of beekeeping and some cheap ways to keep bees. Again, my focus is on survival beekeeping, or “off the grid” beekeeping. I will give you a list of what you need, and then tell you how to make some of the items, or find them cheap. Once again, I suggest that you find a book about beekeeping to help you understand the terms I use and the different kinds of hives available for beekeeping. You can find books everywhere—used book stores and yard sales are the cheapest, and you may even find used equipment there as well.

As a beekeeper you must have protection. Beekeepers suits can be expensive—cost of protective gear ranges from $100-$200, depending on what you get (hoods and gloves, full body suits, etc.). Suits can be found online, in beekeeping stores, swap meets, or yard sales. However, if you’d like to take a thrifty approach you need to have:

  • High rubber boots, which can be found at farm supply stores or retail centers such as Wal-Mart. Make sure you own a pair that you can get in and out of quickly and can go over your pants.
  • Pants that can be tucked into your boots. I like to use duck tape to take the boots onto the pants so your legs and feet are completely protected.
  • Long-sleeve shirts than can bed tucked in to your pants.
  • Hooded jackets, which can be cinched tightly around your face, so only your face shows.
  • A ball cap worn under the hood—the starting point of a screened hood. To make this, stitch screen over the top of the hooded jacket and then use duck tape all around the screen to keep the bees out. The cap pushes the screen away from your face.
  • Welding gloves that you duck tape the ends to the jacket sleeves so you’re all sealed up.

Another inexpensive way is to use a rain suit that you can duck tape your gloves, boots, waist, and stitch a screen over the face.

Now that you are protected from head to toe, let’s focus on where you will keep the bees, or the bee hive. The most commonly used hive is called a Langstroth hive. It is made as an open top hive and holds frames that can be removed to inspect brood (aka baby bees or larva) and to pull honey out of the hive. You can order a pre-built hive or find plans to build your own hive from the internet. There are also many books on how build and use the Langstroth hive. I will repeat myself again: find a book and use it as a resource. And take any classes you can find in your area. I have been keeping bees for more than 10 years, and have lost hives over my learning experience. But just like any thing, you never know until you try.

The hive I am going to show you is calling a Robo’s barrel top drum hive. It is made with a plastic 55 gallon drum. From one barrel you can make two hives. These drums can be found at car washes, dumps, and food centers. Always wash the drum out first to make sure it is clean. He started by marking the barrel lengthwise to cut it in half. Although the barrel had a seam that would make it easy to cut it in half; he wanted to use the bung holes for entrances, so he ended up marking his own lines. It is possible to cut the barrel with a handsaw, but for the sake of time, use an electric saber saw. Once the barrel was cut in two,
                                                             
build a box out of 2 inch by 3 inch lumber, to fit snugly around the barrel. This frame acts as a stiffener, preventing the barrel from warping out of shape. It also acts as the support for the top bars. This will also keep the top of you hive even so when you get your lid ready it will fit snug. Before the barrel half could be slid into the wooden frame, a portion on the barrel rim had to be cut off so that the barrel would fit squarely into the frame. Once this was done, the barrel and frame were put together and decking screws were used to secure the barrel to the frame. Counter sink the screws a little so the comb will not stick to the sides. The bees will make comb around the screws and it will be hard to get the top bars out with them stuck to the sides.

Next a set of legs were added. Try to keep the legs from extending out too far from the barrel and becoming a trip hazard while working on the hive. Also try to avoid covering the bung hole so that there is an entrance for the bees. When making the top bars out of 3/4 inch rough-cut pine (1 inch thickness) and made them long enough to extend to the outside edges of the support frame. The lid will cover the whole top so you want it even all the way around.
Robo uses corrugated metal for roofing. This will get hot but you do not have to paint it or stain it every other year. Make sure you drill two holes in the front and back of the hive to help with air flow. In the winter time you can place a cork in the holes to help keep the bees warm. In colder places you can place spray foam in the holes to keep the cold air out. You can either tie down the corrugated metal with rope or just set a couple of rocks on top. Since it is corrugated, there is plenty of ventilation as well. One sheet from The Home Depot is big enough to make covers for both hives. (In Robo’s demonstration, he built a stand to hold up the top bar so you can look at the comb—the bees comb mimicked the shape of the drum half.)
                            
You need to put a little bit of wax on the top bar so the bee know where to start building comb, but other than that you have just made a hive from stuff that is commonly throw way. This is a great way to save drums, even metal ones, and use for something other than a trash can. It’s a great home for your bees, and keeps the dump free of landfill.
Note: Information and all pictures are taken from an article, Barrel Top Bar Hive, on Robo’s World web site.

 

Getting Your Bees

Now that you have your protective gear, a hive for the bees, and a book to reference, you are ready for the bees. There are nearly 20,000 species of bees—honey bees represent a small fraction of the species with between seven and 11 species and 44 subspecies—and they come from all around the globe. Bees can be ordered online, and from local bee clubs—most are shipped via UPS.  A package of bees can cost around $80-$200, depending on the species that you decide to purchase. The package weighs between three to four pounds, and has around 10 to 20 thousand bees inside, which is a good number to start building your hive. Bees can be installed into the hive in a manner of minutes—and if you take your time, you can watch them get to work in the hive immediately.

Naturally, my favorite bee is the free bee. Free bees can be found when bees swarm, which happens when the queen bee leaves a colony with a group of worker bees in search of a new hive. They often gather in trees or the eves of houses, which leave them in harms way by people who do not want them around. By offering to collect swarms, you can get free bees for your hive. Put an advertisement in the newspaper, or local listing, that you are willing to remove swarms. When the swarm first settles down and forms a cluster, it is fairly simple to capture. Swarms normally last no more than 24 hours, so you must be ready. To capture a swarm, you’ll need: 

  • A box or a bucket with a lid. I use five gallon buckets that have a hole in the top laced with screen so the bees are able to breathe until you can put them into a hive.
  • A soft brush and a wide scraper. These help to move the bees, if needed.
  • A ladder to climb on to get to the bees so you are not reaching up in the air swatting at them—sometimes they are  high in the trees, or the roof of the house.
  • Your protective gear—you do not want to get stung when collecting a swarm of bees for your hive.

When collecting a swarm of bees in a bush or tree, put the bucket below the area the swarm is in and give the branch a good shake. Let the nest fall into the bucket. Use the brush to sweep the remaining bees into the bucket, and then place the lid on the bucket. If the swarm is on something that you cannot shake, take the wide scraper and place it so you can scoop the bees and place them into the bucket. Use your brush to sweep the bees on the scraper and drop them in the bucket as well. When you have nearly 90 percent of the bees in the bucket, place the lid on your bucket and look to see if the remaining bees start landing on the lid. They will start to land on the bucket and fan, which tells the bees that the queen is inside the bucket and they are moving. Let the bucket set for 30 minutes and let the bees inside and outside of the bucket collect on the lid. Then pop the top of the bucket so all the bees drop to the bottom of the bucket and take the lid off. Flip the lid and brush the bees on the lid into the bucket. Then replace the lid and take the bees to their new hive.

When you get to the hive you’re going to place the bees in, open it and remove four to five frames, or top bars, out of your way. Pop the bucket on the lid once more so the bees fall to the bottom of the bucket and open the lid. Then shake bees in the bucket into the hive. Once you have the swarm in the hive, replace the frames or top bars and cover the hive. You have successfully placed your bees into the hive. Be sure to check the bees in one week to see if they are building comb.

Now you have your bee hive. Read your book and if you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me at ABEEFriendlyCompany@gmail.com. I would enjoy reading about your experiences and looking at photos of your work.

As I said, I am a survivalist and love the outdoors and keeping bees will get you outdoors more. Like gardening, the work you put in yields great rewards.