Getting Prepared For a Disaster on a Tight Budget, by L.G.W.

In a perfect world, if something went wrong, my family and I would get in our off-road vehicle and travel to my fully stocked large retreat cabin, that sits on a thousand acres of farm land, complete with it’s own water source, (a spring fed creek and stocked lake), its own vegetable garden,  surrounded by plentiful game and its own moat. Our six-bedroom cabin, with it’s own array of photovoltaic (PV) panels, charge controller, and battery system, along with our solar hot water system, and fireplace, and it’s stocked pantry with several years worth of food and ammunition- would be waiting for us. My husband’s military friends, who are all excellent fisherman, and hunters, could come with their families, bringing their own reserves, ammunition, and gear, and we could utilize our own private compound to “weather out the storm”. But unfortunately, I am not wealthy, and I do not live in a perfect world, and do not own a 1,000 acres or any of the things I previously mentioned. I do not own an off-road vehicle, do not have my own private gas well, so what do I do? It is relatively easy for those who are wealthy to prepare for emergency contingencies, but what about the rest of the population? What if you are one of the many unemployed Americans who are barely getting by now?  Or a retiree, living on a fixed income? A single mom? My philosophy is to make do with what you have, where you are.

Some of the things I’ve read about emergency preparations are ridiculously expensive and absolutely daunting for the average person.  So I decided to see what ideas I could come up with, for the average person, who is “just getting by”. Here’s a compilation of some easy to do things, that anyone can do, and some of them cost nothing!

  1. H2O- WATER is the most important resource we have, and need, and  if a disaster were to  

 strike, rendering the Electric grid down,  most municipal water supply systems would go 
 down within a week., some less than that, as many do not have back-up generators. An emergency supply of water for each member of the family could mean the difference between living or not. A minimum requirement would be one gallon per person or pet, per day, and  extra for bathing.
 
a) Storing Water – If you’re on a strict budget, re-use containers you are already bringing into your house. You will be recycling at it’s best! Over a 10 day period, here’s what I accumulated, at almost no cost whatsoever: Two gallon containers (milk jugs), Two 2-liter pop bottles, Two half gallons of juice containers, and a 1 gallon jug from lemonade.  That’s over 5 gallons of water. Wash the containers fully and then fill with water. b) I line the perimeter of my closets, my pantry, and under the staircase of my home, with containers of water .  You can also store an entire row of them behind many couches or other large pieces of furniture, or under a bed, if you live in an apartment that does not have a garage. These are all “hidden” storage areas, that do not take up any usable floor space. If you wanted to add a shelf, you could double that storage. By using this free method, I can accumulate 20 gallons of water, without spending any money, other than the cost the city charges me for water, every month. After 18 months, I have 360 gallons of extra water.
  b)BLEACH Every time household bleach goes on sale, I buy a few gallons. Bleach is a very inexpensive anti-bacterial agent, and you can add a little to the jugs of water if they’ve been sitting awhile.  You may also want to rinse the milk jugs 9after washing thoroughly) with a 5 to one solution of water to bleach, to kill bacteria, before filling up.                                                    
c)PURIFIER: A portable water purifier would be a wonderful addition to any emergency kit, and can be obtained for less than $80. If you have to leave your location, this could be the difference between surviving or not.

2) FOOD RESERVES
a) DEHYDRATED FOODS ARE EASY TO STORE AND CARRY – Don’t forget the proverbial Ramen noodles. I recently purchased a package of 10 packs of Ramen noodles at a dollar store, for only $1.00 a package. That’s 10c a meal, or 5c if you split a package with a second person.  $2.00 worth of ramen noodles could feed 2 people for 10 days! Of course, this would not be optimum nutrition, but adding a little canned or dried meat, along with some vegetables, and you do have a complete meal b) CONDIMENTS-if you are down to just rice, beans and pasta, having condiments would make the food so much more palatable. Don’t throw away those extra packs of ketchup from McDonalds. Ketchup can be used as a spaghetti sauce when water and spices are added.

I save the plastic one quart yogurt containers (both fresh and frozen), and put one in the kitchen for leftover condiments. When it’s full, I put a fresh pak in the container, put the lid on it, and put it in with my food reserves. McDonald’s always give you more ketchup and salt than you could possibly use. I recently was given a large handful of Parmesan cheese, garlic sauce and dried red peppers packets when I picked up a take-out pizza. These ingredients alone could turn rice into “Risotto” or plain noodles into “Garlic Pasta Parmigiana”. Keep a one quart zip-lock bag handy in both your kitchen and your car for those extra napkins. b) CANNED GOODS are not my favorite choice, but are another practical way to store food. I recently found black fried beans (large cans) for 89c a can. Canned milk is an excellent choice, and canned fruit, as well as canned meat, like SPAM.  Personally, I prefer the #10 cans, of dehydrated food. #10 cans (institutional cans) are a great value, if you are cooking for a large crowd, but if you have no refrigeration, they are impractical, heavy, and a pain to store, unless you have the proper storage containers. c) DRIED FRUIT-is relatively inexpensive, and easy to store and transport. I recently bought bags of banana chips, raisins, dried mango, and pineapple chunks for $1.50 for an 8-oz bag. Dried fruit is an excellent source of energy, and keeps you from getting constipated, when you have a diet lacking in fresh fruits and vegetables. d) TVP (TEXTURED VEGETABLE PROTEIN) is made from soy, and is an excellent source of protein as an alternative to meat. It is my all-time favorite, and requires no refrigeration (until it’s been re hydrated). It has the wonderful property of  taking on the flavor of whatever you are cooking it with. If you want it to be a hamburger substitute, rehydrate it with beef bouillon. If you want it to taste like chicken, rehydrate with chicken broth.  If you’re a vegetarian, rehydrate with vegetable broth or water. I love to use it as a meat sub when making spaghetti, and it adds more protein to soups and stews. Recently, I made a stew for 12 people using dehydrated minestrone soup, a handful of TVP, a handful of wild rice, and fresh red onions and carrots. I fed all 12 people for under $10.  In addition, it only took about 45 minutes to make, and everyone thought I had been making soup all day!  Great for cold weather! At Amazon.com this month, I purchased 4 10-oz packages of Bob’s Red Mill TVP (one of my favorite brands) for only $8.23 (including shipping!) This constitutes 44 servings of protein, for less than 19c per serving! Use this instead of meat 4-6 times a month, for an average savings of $2.50 per meal,and use the savings to help pay for your food reserves! It does have an expiration date, so you would need to start using this after a year or so. Since I use it on a regular basis anyhow, this is not a difficult thing for me, as I am just replenishing what I use after awhile, still in keeping with my goal of accumulating 18 months worth of food. It’ also great as tacos, and in chili. Another favorite dish is black beans, rice and tomatoes, with a handful of TVP added. The men who are big meat eaters do not even have a clue that they ate a “meatless meal”!

3)  SAVE IT! Those reusable household plastic items, like cups, grocery bags, containers like the 1 qt yogurt containers I mentioned previously, those would be invaluable in the event that commercially made items were unavailable.  I could write a book on the many uses for grocery bags. My mother taught me a trick: Fold them, and you can store three times as many , in the same space! In the event that you did not have running water, you could put one in your toilet, or on top of a 5-gallon bucket, and use it as an emergency toilet liner.  Your home would quickly become unpleasant , if you could no longer flush the toilet,and you wouldn’t  want to waste valuable drinking water on toilet-flushing! They also make great trash can liners, when you don’t have any for small trash cans. You can use one as an emergency glove, in lieu of a latex glove, for nasty cleaning jobs.

4) (HIDE IT IN PLAIN VIEW! A Food Reserve does you no good if it is stolen from you. In the event that a disaster of a catastrophic nature occurs, you could be forced to DEFEND your food reserves! A Mormon friend of mine has a fake vanity table, (complete with glass top!) and if you lifted up the fabric, you would find food reserves.  Any large quantity of the same uniform size could be used as a piece of furniture, hidden in plain view! A case of food, covered by a cloth, could also be used as an end table or night stand. Simply painting a cardboard box with black paint makes it resemble a piece of furniture, so if you cover it with a cloth and glass top, you have a cube of food reserves, that resemble a plain piece of furniture. If you have “dead space” anywhere in your walls, or in your attic, if it’s insulated, you could also put in a reserve of dehydrated foods there. A PVC tub of food surrounded by other items in storage would not even be noticed. Another great idea is to take a large box, wrap it in Christmas paper, and use it for storage (make sure that the contents  are also in air-tight containers). It will look like Christmas decorations. A false bottom in a cedar chest or closet could house your valuable cans of food or shallow boxes.

5) CONVERT! At least a portion of your savings should be converted to precious metals. My personal favorite is silver dimes. I bought a roll of silver dollars before the millennium, at a cost of $10 per coin, for one troy ounce. That same roll today is worth FOUR TIMES THE PRICE I PAID. Dimes are a better choice as they would be a better vehicle for trading. Having gold coins might be great, but if no one can make change, they would be cumbersome.  In the event of a global disaster, trading silver could be worth much, much more. Since savings accounts are paying, at best, 1-2% interest, investing that money in food reserves would be my number one choice, and silver second.

6) BE PREPARED TO LEAVE YOUR LOCATION! If things get rough, and you live in a densely populated area, your only recourse might be to leave the area. For less than $100, you can put a portable tent, extra water and food reserves, emergency blankets, and clothing, in the trunk of your car, along with a medical kit, a flashlight, some batteries and other emergency necessities. Please do not put MREs in your trunk, other than for travel, as it greatly shortens the life span of the MRE. Keeping a full tank of gas plus a safe container or two of reserve fuel could be a necessity in turbulent times. Even if you have a “safe” location, you have to be able to get to it. Having a fully stocked cabin that is unoccupied (and undefended) could be paving the way for someone ELSE to survive. After about a week of no food, martial law would be enacted, and you may not be ABLE to leave. If you do not own a vehicle, store your stuff and gear in backpacks and duffel bags, that you could carry on foot , if necessary.  Every family member (other than infants) should have a packed bag. Extra underwear and socks, along with wet wipes, could be a wonderful blessing, if you ending up traveling for days, without bathing. Don’t forget medications and vitamins! I have a mother who is in her 80s, and I refill her critical prescriptions every 27 days, so that I have a reserve should something go wrong, and the pharmacy is closed. Also, if you are living off food reserves, vitamin supplements can greatly enhance your health, when your diet might not be optimal. If there are herbal alternatives for your medicines, it might be wise to stock up on them, as well, since medications might be scarce or even unobtainable.

7) HAVE A FAMILY PLAN- Being prepared in advance, and having a plan will vary, depending on where you live. If the population is large where you live, consider moving to a small town or a rural location, preferably with at least a few acres for farming. Here are many rural “fixer-uppers available right now. I recently bought a house in a small town for under $6000, that is perfectly livable. My mortgage payments are only $150 a month. This is not my permanent home, but I can use it as a “safe house”, or a vacation getaway. For that little bit of money each month, I sleep better at night, knowing that I have taken positive steps to insure a safe place for us to go to, (or for other family members to go to).

8) MAKE A GAME OF IT! Being prepared is the responsible, prudent thing to do. You are not a “HOARDER” if you have slowly and meticulously saved to insure the survival of your family. Buying food in advance is the single best return on your investment right now, as food costs go up every month!  I like to set a monthly budget for my expenditures, and make it a personal challenge to see how soon I can accomplish certain goals, all staying within my budget . My husband was surprised to learn how much I had accumulated in just three short months.

9) HOW TO PAY FOR I T- Have a yard sale, and spend the proceeds on food and Emergency reserves.  Get a part-time job, and spend half on getting out of debt and the other half on buying food reserves! Sell something you don’t need on Craig’s List, and use that money! Using coupons and sales, it is possible to acquire quite a bit of stuff., in less time than you think! The local “BIG LOTS” here recently had a 20% off sale, on their entire inventory. I was able to take some of the money I earned part-time and made it go very, very far with the discount,  like boxes of pancake mix for $.80 a box. One of my last expenditures was a couple of good old cast-iron skillets. At only $12 each, those were are a real bargain, and they survive cooking over an open fire, quite well! Put your thinking cap on! Barter! Gives a new meaning to, “Will Work for Food!” Involve your entire family, and make it a habit that you pass on to your kids. When my kids were small, we would frequently have a “no electricity night”, and eat by candlelight.  We would play board games or do puzzles, and had a fun time, while we were saving money, and if we had a power outage, it wasn’t the  BIG DEAL for us that it was for some. During very cold weather, my husband and I have a queen-sized “double” sleeping bag, that we place UNDER a down comforter on our bed. You can’t even see the sleeping bag, and we are toasty warm, even in cold, snowy weather. Sleeping in sleeping bags by the fire was a “camp out at home” adventure, and my kids thought of it as great fun. Introducing your children to this concept on a regular basis (even if only once a month or quarter) is a great practice and will make you, and your family feel empowered and more secure. Remember, THE MORE PREPARED we all are, the SAFER we will all be. God Bless!

Letter Re: Sucking Chest Wounds and Exsanguination

Hi Mr Rawles,
I would like to make a comment on the letter by Walker In The Woods: Sucking Chest Wounds and Exsanguination. Air is sucked through the wound during exhalation and then is trapped, causing pressure. This pressure slowly builds and will eventually cause the pressure to be applied to the heart. This pressure will eventually cause hypoxia and cardiac arrest as the lungs cannot draw in enough oxygen to keep the body going or the heart will be pressed to the point that it cannot function.

The physiology is that the resistance to air ingress is much less through the wound in the chest than through the pharynx and trachea. Normally, when the diaphragm contracts, it creates a negative pressure inside the chest which causes air to move from the outside into the nasopharynx and down the trachea and bronchial tree into the lungs. With an opening in the chest wall, the air moves through the wound into the pleural space because it offers less resistance than the long nasopharynx-oropharynx-trachea-bronchial tree-lung pathway. As the air accumulates in the pleural space, it exerts pressure on the lung and the lung and chest contents ( heart, great vessels, lymph nodes, etc.) then shift away from the side that has the wound. This moves the contents of the mediastinum (chest contents) toward the unaffected side and creates what is know as a tension pneumothorax. The increased pressure in the chest causes pressure on the heart and great vessels, and one can envision the heart and vessels being collapsed because of the increasing pressure  surrounding it, much like one of those squeeze balls gets smooshed by the pressure of a hand. Unable to fill completely (with the blood that is returning from the body to be sent to the lungs to pick up oxygen and then back to the heart to be distributed to the body), the heart loses it’s ability to propel all of it’s blood forward and the plumbing to the heart (vessels) cannot fill completely because they are collapsing too.  Less blood being pushed around means less oxygen to the tissue, including the brain.. 

If there is an exit wound, that wound must be covered with thick gauze padding and then an occlusive dressing (occlusive means that air cannot pass through.) this means using a piece of plastic to cover the gauze then tapping the whole thing down making sure to seal all four sides. Once this is accomplished the next step is to cover the entrance wound with an occlusive dressing, again sealing it on all four sides .

Although the author details an occlusive dressing taped on 4 sides on the entrance and again on the exit wound, if the air has entered the chest cavity each time the patient inhales, you need to leave one of those dressings taped only on 3 sides to allow air trapped in the chest cavity to escape upon exhalation so the chest contents do not start to shift to one side…The 3-sided occlusive dressing acts like a one way valve. The patient inhales and the flap is pulled down against the chest wall preventing air ingress through the wound. The patient exhales and increases intrathoracic pressure and air is expelled out of the pleural space, through the wound opening, under the non-taped edge to decrease the pneumothorax on that side and hopefully, prevent the tension pneumothorax.

Realize, the angiocath is used only for a tension pneumothorax, not a simple pneumothorax. If you put an angiocath into the 2-3rd rib space (between the second and 3rd ribs), you create an open pneumothorax and the patient will need a chest tube placed until the air leak stops. That is Hard, if not impossible to do unless you have a prepper doctor around, so make friends with a prepper doctor!

Disclaimer:  This letter does not constitute professional advice.  It is intended for general informational use only.   No doctor-patient relationship is implied nor otherwise established between the author and blog readers.

I would also like to thank the author for his service to our country. Thanks! – Lonestar Doc

Economics and Investing:

J.B.G. suggested this: China’s epic hangover begins.

Also from J.B.G.: Eurozone crisis poses military risk, warns defence chief General Sir David Richards

And yet another: Cancer patients have operations cancelled after thieves steal copper cable from hospital

Items from The Economatrix:

Top US General Fears Euro Unrest

Real Unemployment at 11%

France Fears Credit Rating Cut Despite Bid to Ease Eurozone Crisis

Long-term Jobless Eye Bleak Future as Benefits End

Bank Run in Latvia

Odds ‘n Sods:

One of the latest posts from our friends at Alt-Market.com: The Poor Man’s Guide To Survival Gear

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B.B. sent this: Egregious Department of Labor Rules Yank Youths Out of Agriculture.

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“Set phasers to stun.” SurvivalBlog’s Editor At Large Michael Z. Williamson notes that another bit of science fiction has become fact: A wireless taser, using laser-ionized air.

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K.A.F. sent this fascinating piece: Study finds how child abuse changes the brain.

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E.M.B. sent me the link to this interview: Joe Rogan on the Return of Fear Factor. Apparently, Mr. Rogan is a prepper.

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.

Nine Years of Off-Grid Living, by C.P.

People have often asked me over the last nine years, “Haven’t you had to give up living a ‘normal’ life?”  My response has evolved into, “Define normal?”.

My off grid experience started in 1998 when my wife and I purchased out homestead property which was 1.5 miles from the closest power line.  We had previously purchased a propane generator (10 KW) and had planned on using it as a backup generator for times when the power went out, (which is frequent in the area we purchased our property) but we never imagined the costs of having power run to our property would be what was quoted to us.

The decision to go totally off grid was made when the local power company quoted us a cost of $16,000 to run the poles to our property.  Six hundred dollars per pole, thirty poles minimum to cover the 1.5 miles, “thanks but no thanks”, was our reply.  Hence we decided to go off grid and we have never regretted it since.

One has to accept the fact that going off grid does require a life style change.  Unless one is independently wealthy with a bottomless pocketbook, there are a minimum of four things which you must accept in my opinion.

  1.  The use of heat pumps and air conditioning is out.
  2.  Forget about using electric ranges.
  3.  Forget about using electric hot water heaters.
  4. The two biggest users of electricity will be the refrigerator/freezer and the well pump if you have one.

The four items above does not mean that you cannot be environmentally comfortable, or cook your food or have hot water.  It does mean that you have to adjust your life style and change how you will accomplish those items.

After much study we decided upon a log home design using 6” x 12′ logs and using 6” insulated panels in the roof for insulation.  Total square footage of the house is 1,296 square feet on 1.5 levels.  Our heating system consists of a Kitchen Queen wood cooking stove.  This stove was selected because it not only is a cook stove but will heat up to 1,500 square feet.  We do have a propane gas range that is also used.   The range model we have uses a spark ignition system and not a glow bar.  This is especially important for the oven operation since with a glow bar, “juice” is constantly used when the oven is in operation.  (Reference number 2 above).  Using the wood stove requires an average of two cords of wood a year and bread sure does taste better baked in a wood stove.

Out electrical system consists of the following, and has been updated as our requirements have changed:

6 – BP 160 watt panels – mounted on roof
4 – ISOFOTON 150 watt panels – mounted on side of house
2 – BP 170 watt panels  mounted on roof

1,900 watts total

All these panels are 24 volt DC  panels and are wired for a 48 volt DC system.   Total amps DC = 39.58.

Outback Power systems combiner boxes are used to feed a Outback Power Solar charge controller, which feeds through a Xantrex DC disconnect.  Sixteen Trojan T-105 batteries wired in series and parallel provides for a 48 volt DC battery bank with a total of 440 amp hours of storage.  The life span of a well maintained battery bank system, keeping them clean, never letting the charge level fall below 50%, keeping the lead acid battery water level correct, is five to six years.  (We have just recently changed out our battery bank for new batteries).  This is the greatest recurring costs associated with the system.

The battery feeds a Xantrex 4048 sine wave  inverter (stay away from modified sine wave)  which inverts the 48 volts DC to 110 AC feeding a standard Square D breaker panel.  From the panel, the house is wired per code.

Our well that was drilled is 470 feet deep.  Luckily, the static water level is at 90 feet.  To provide sufficient reservoir, we placed our 1.5 hp 220 volt, three wire pump at 360 feet.  We choose a three wire pump because  with a two wire pump all the electronics are in the pump and if something malfunctions, the pump must be pulled.  With a three pump, the electronic control box is above ground and can be repaired/replaced with little problem.  The 220 volt pump does require a step up transformer to take the 110 volt to 220 volt.  Important in our system in that the transformer is wired after the pump switch.  This ensures that the transformer is not “pulling” a constant ghost load but only when the pump needs to be turned on.

Solar power charges most effectively when the sun is shining fully.  Our average daily use is 70 amp hours daily. This big use items include:

  1.  Average of one load of washing a day. (A Staber model washing machine is used.  Can be safely used with an inverter)
  2. 16.5 cubic foot frost free refrigerator.  (We initially started out with a propane refrigerator, did an excellent job keeping things cold but after five years of use the small size, 9 cubic feet became an issue.  We went with an Energy Star refrigerator and purchased four ISOFOTON panels to cover the additional electrical usage).
  3. 9.0 Cubic foot Energy Star rated freezer. (We purchased two BP170 watt panels to cover the additional electrical usage)
  4. Well pump

Our present solar power system consists of:

6 – BP 160 watt panels – mounted on roof
4 – ISOFOTON 150 watt panels – mounted on side of house
2 – BP 170 watt panels  mounted on roof

1,900 watts total, generates an average of 120 amp hours on a good day of sunshine.  To cover the days when it is overcast, snowing, or raining, we have our previously purchased generator (10 KW) that is automatically controlled by the inverter to provide power and charge the batteries, as required. 

Hot water is handled by the use of an on-demand propane hot water heater.  We have a Tagaki brand that will provide up to eight gallons per minute of hot water and uses propane only when the hot water faucet is turned on.  This coming spring, a home built auxiliary solar hot water system will be put in place to augment the on-demand hot water heater.  The greatest advantage to the on-demand system is we have never run out of hot water–even when doing laundry and washing dishes at the same time.  The output is great enough that we could install a dishwasher if we wanted to.

As previously stated, the well pump is one of the biggest users of electricity and ways must be used to limit its use.  One of the best ways to reduce the usage off grid is to use lower water flush toilets.  The ones we use require only 1.2 gallons per flush.  Also scheduling laundry days to when the backup generator is running helps immensely since there is excess capacity when the generator is running.

I am constantly asked about costs.  “How much did all this run you”.   A fair enough question.  This is the breakdown as of November 2011.

Component

Cost

6 – BP 160 watt panels

$4,200

4 – ISOFOTON 150 watt panels

$2,200

2 – BP 170 watt panels

$2,000

Charge controller

$600

Inverter

$2,200

DC disconnect

$250

Mounting racks/hardware

$500

Combiner boxes

$200

Wire and Cables

$500

Batteries

$3,540

Transformer

$200

Total

$16,390

As you can see, the total costs have been $16,390.  This includes having to replace the battery bank at a cost of $2,500 in March of 2009. 

Based on data from the local power company, below is the average monthly light bill for a 1,300 square foot home.

Average monthly light bill for 1,300 sq ft home

$156

108 months

$16,848

Based on  nine years (108 months) we are $458 in the black and do not have a monthly expense of $156 for electricity.  This enables us to invest in other preparations.

Is total off grid living for everyone?  An emphatic NO!  We are fortunate to live in an area that air conditioning is not a requirement.  Still, think back to when you were growing up.  Very few families I knew had air conditioning, we all used fans.  The fans made it much more comfortable. 

I must emphasize that all wiring in our home meets the current electrical code.  To do otherwise is foolishness.  Every part of the system we use, was done be myself and my wife.  (Luckily my brother in law is a licensed electrical contractor to keep my straight). 

We are so satisfied with our off grid system that even if the power company offered to hook us up to the grid for free, we would refuse.  In nine years we have not had a power failure, even during the worst winters of the past two years. 

Up-front planning and a desire to become more self-sufficient is a strong driving force to going off-grid.  Do your homework and you may find out it will work for you.

Mike’s Product Review: Brunton Restore USB Solar Charger and Portable Power Pack

USB power is rapidly becoming standard for portable electronic devices, and makes it easy to charge them from either computers, 12 volt DC automobile sockets or 120 volt AC electrical outlets.  However, what do you do when traveling away from such conveniences?

The Brunton Restore photovoltaic charger and its relatives provide a variety of recharging options for the traveler or outdoorsman.

Fully charged, the unit can dispense at least two full recharges to phones, cameras, GPS or similar devices, from its 2,200 mAh battery. This was doing full recharges of a drained device from a fully charged Restore. I wasn’t able to test Bluetooth units, but they are claimed at 7-8 recharges, and portable game consoles at 1-2 charges.

A full Restore charge on a sunny day takes about 10 hours.  From a computer, it takes about 4 hours.  From the car adapter or wall, it takes about 2 hours.  My tests concurred closely with their claims.  The unit holds charge for a long time.  I was only able to test for a week, but I’m quite sure it will last much longer than that. 

It comes with USB and Mini USB terminals and cords, a Mini to Micro USB adapter, and a combination adapter for car (12 VDC) or wall socket (120 VAC).  It has a small but bright LED light for locating accessories in the dark, which would also make a useful emergency footing light.  It shuts off automatically after 5 minutes.  It has LEDs to show charge level, and an indicator to show solar charging is taking place.  The power button has a red indicator to confirm operation that shuts off after a few moments, while the unit continues to operate.

The unit is solidly built with rubber bumpers all around, a strong hinge and a sturdy case.  While I didn’t deliberately throw the device around, I was not gentle with it.  I left it out in rain and high wind over two nights, temperatures slightly above freezing.  I bumped it off tables and coolers.  I consider this normal usage for outdoor conditions, and the Restore had no trouble with it at all.  I put it wet in the freezer for a day, then thawed it. No issues.  It provided power while still below freezing. 

I did find the directions a bit unclear until I had a chance to work with the unit, but Brunton promptly responded to all my inquiries.  The instruction booklet is in English, German, French and Spanish.

For backpackers or preppers needing to travel off grid while still having access to modern communication devices, the Restore is a reliable and useful piece of equipment.  It retails at $120 MSRP, but is frequently available at significant discounts.

Full disclosure: I was furnished one unit for test, and return has not yet been discussed, but is typically done in 90 days, through the marketing firm.  Brunton may have charged it off as promotional, in which case I will be able to keep it, but I have not been offered to keep the unit at this time. – SurvivalBlog Editor At Large Michael Z. Williamson

Letter Re: Silver Content of U.S. Silver Dollars Versus Smaller Denomination Coins

Dear Editor:
Perusing your wonderfully informative blog and static pages I stumbled across a bit of inaccurate information I thought you may be interested in correcting:

Silver dollar bags ($1,000 face value) contain approximately 765 ounces of silver

90% .50/.25/.10 bags ($1000 face) are calculated at 715 ounces of silver.

The “industry standard” is 715 ounces.

Respectfully, – Shawn

JWR Replies: To the best of my knowledge, what I posted was accurate.

Because of a long-standing congressional mandate, the silver composition of Silver Dollars has always been higher (per dollar increment) than that used in dimes, quarters and half-dollars.  Oddly, this dates back to a pre-Colonial precedent set by the Spanish Milled Dollar which was widely used in both international trade and local trade by our forefathers in Colonial America. (They were used alongside the British Pound, long before we created our own currency.)

There is indeed less silver in four quarters than in one Silver Dollar.

See Coinflation.com or The Official Red Book, for details.

The “industry standard” that you cite is for dimes, quarters and halves, NOT for Silver Dollars.  If they are paying you based on a silver content of 715 ounces for $1,000 in pre-1936 silver dollars then they are robbing you.  (Not even to mention the numismatic value of the coins, which is always greater for silver dollars.)

There IS a difference in composition between U.S. silver dollars and the smaller U.S. denominations:

A silver dime presently has $2.3307 in silver content.   (Hence, 10 of those would be worth $23.307)

Meanwhile, a Peace or Morgan Dollar has $24.9205 in silver content.

The Red Book will show you the same thing, as expressed in weights, namely:

Silver Dollars:

Metal Composition:    90% silver, 10% copper
Total Weight:    26.73 grams

Dimes:

Metal Composition:    90% silver, 10% copper
Total Weight:    2.5 grams

Thus, 10 pre-1965 silver dimes (or four quarters) contain 6.48% less silver than that found in one pre-1936 silver dollar. That small difference in silver content adds up a lot in a $1,000 face value bag! ($1,613 difference in value, in today’s market.)

And BTW, many coin dealers allow even less that 715 ounces per $1,000 for the silver content of “junk” (numismatic) dimes, quarters, and halves, to allow for the wear on coins that have been circulated. The circulation wear on silver dimes is particularly pronounced. (To illustrate: A $5 stack of typically well-worn Mercury dimes from the 1930s and 1940s is considerably shorter than a $5 stack of mint state 1964 dimes.)

An Important Proviso: As I’ve written many times before: I’m advocate buying precious metals only after you have your family’s food storage and other key preparations fully squared away. Physical gold and silver in you personally possession are wonderful investments because they aren’t someone else’s liability. They are compact, recognizable, non-perishable, and divisible. I prefer silver over gold because gold has become too compact a form of wealth. Along with common-caliber ammunition, pre-1965 mint date circulated U.S. 90% silver coins will be great for use in barter, even if most other commerce has come to a halt.

And, to clear up a common misconception: Unlike dimes, quarters and halves: There is NO DISTINCTION WHATSOEVER to pre-1965 Nickels. The dates with a different composition are those minted from 1942 to 1945. These “War Nickels” are 35% silver, 56% copper, 9% manganese. As of this writing, they are worth around $1.75 each! All other U.S. nickels minted from 1866 to present are 75% copper and 25% nickel. (And BTW, Canadian nickel issues are more confusing, with a wide variety of compositions over the years, including those minted from 1955 to 1981 that are 99.9% nickel. But the later mintings from 2000 to present are 94.5% steel.)

Economics and Investing:

Courtesy of David H. comes a link to a fascinating interview: Nomi Prins on U.S. Banks’ Derivative Exposure. The counterparty risk in the opaque OTC derivatives market is potentially huge!

Reader Tom M. sent this prediction of social disorder in Europe and beyond: Why all signs point to chaos

They’ve learned how to work the system: 30 Major U.S. Companies Spent More on Lobbying than Taxes

Damon S. sent this: Silver price: Hey Silver Bugs, You Cryin’ Yet? [JWR’s Comment: I’m using this dip as the opportunity to add a bit more silver to my silver stash in JASBORR.]

Items from The Economatrix:

Is A Physical Silver Shortage Spike Imminent?

You Can’t Print More Gold

Dire Consequences as Global Growth Grinds to a Halt

Europe Crisis Drags On, Raising Concerns About US Banks

Odds ‘n Sods:

Brittany K. spotted this: Deconstructing a Safe Room (infographic)

   o o o

The nail that sticks up: Police seal off south China village, cut food supplies amid protests over land sales. (Thanks to Samuel H. for the link.)

   o o o

B.B. mentioned: Should you leave the USA before the collapse? Words of wisdom from someone who tried

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Until December 25, 2001, Freeze Dry Guy is offering 25% back in their Survival Bucks (Loyalty Dollar purchase credits) on Mountain House long term storage foods packed in #10 cans. They’ve also extended their sale on Long Range Patrol (LRP) rations. (They bought the U.S. military contract packer’s entire over-run for the year!)

   o o o

Reader Jeff G. wrote to mention that the Survival Top 50 web site has added Readers’ Choice Awards, where you can vote for your favorite preparedness blogs and web sites, by assigning 1 to 5 stars. They have a lot of sites listed, many of which are worthy of your rankings. For some reason, mine is listed way down at the very bottom of the lengthy page.

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

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.

When The Lights Went Out in The Southwest, by R.H.

The following is a chronological list of events and occurrences when the lights went out on September 8th, 2011, or what I like to call “The Great Blackout of 2011”.

3:38 p.m. – I live in San Diego, California, and when the lights went out I was at home taking a nap. For some reason after I got home from teaching that day I was exhausted (probably the heat) and needed to rest.  It was a good thing too because I would need my energy in the hours to come.  While I was sleeping I could hear my phone going off with the sound of text messages and calls but I ignored it.  The calls and texts kept coming and so finally I got up to check my phone since I thought it must be important.  It was.

4:00 p.m.- The second I got up I didn’t sit down again until much later that evening.  I was inundated with messages from friends and contacts from all over with messages saying: “The power is out everywhere!”, “the SHTF what are you doing?!”, or my two favorites “I’m bugging out” and “Is this an EMP?”  I texted my friend back that it couldn’t be an EMP because otherwise our cell phones wouldn’t be working.  After more information started coming through I learned that this was a massive power outage that had spread from southern California to as far as Yuma, Arizona.  As soon as I was informed of the potential that this could be a long term power outage I put the phone down and started preparing. It was around 4 p.m. and I wanted to get everything done before nightfall.  First things first, I went into all three of our cars and took out my emergency bags no sense leaving them in there.  I had made bug out bags for every person in the house as well as for every car.  These bags were essential since I basically took the necessary requirements of food and water and tripled it. Since we wouldn’t be mobile anytime soon with traffic backed up everywhere I knew it was best to stay put. I also didn’t want to have to worry about potential looters breaking into the cars and stealing the contents.
 
I decided to prepare for our first night without electricity.  I had to hurry since I knew it would be getting dark soon.  I gathered all of our flashlights and put them on the kitchen table, next I took out all the candles and battery powered lanterns.  I immediately pulled out all the batteries and spare batteries and began checking them.  This took a while.  I know I should have checked my batteries months prior – but hey, “shoulda, coulda, woulda”.

5:00 p.m.- Next up was safety and protection. At this point in time the information was that the power could be out for as long as three days.  The possibility of looters or riots in the days ahead came to mind and I didn’t want to be caught with my pants down.  I gathered all our firearms, checked to make sure they were ready to go and placed them in strategic places throughout the house.  I went around and checked to make sure all the doors were secure, fences were locked and dogs were okay.  I still had no idea how long this outage would last and I knew that I would be relying on them heavily for alerting us to any strangers or possible looters in the days ahead.  Both were large Shepherd mixes, one actually a fourth generation Rhodesian Ridgeback/Shepherd whose bloodline had been in our family for 30+ years.  My hope was that their size would play a huge part in the deterrent factor and if that wasn’t enough I knew that their bark was just as bad as their bite. 

This entire time I had the Ham radio up and running, as a member of the local CERT team I knew they would be giving out information and taking questions.   I was listening to the traffic reports throughout the county.  People were running out of gas and with gas stations unable to open for business the advice was for those who were low on gas to pull over in a shady spot if possible and get off the roads.  I knew my sister was in that traffic and I was worried.  She was seven months pregnant and had been sent home from work because of the blackout.  She had picked up my two year old niece from daycare but was low on gas because of being stuck in traffic for two hours for what was usually a 30 minute drive.

6:00 p.m.- Problems start happening.  I had not heard from my sister yet but I knew she was on her way to my house.  She was very low on gas but was still going to try and make it being that the only open gas stations were in Temecula, a city 20+ miles away.  The same was true for my brother in law who was coming in the opposite direction from work.  He had been stuck in traffic for hours and was low on gas as well.  To make matters worse no one was able to get hold of their son, my nephew.  This was due to the fact that all the cell phone lines were jammed.  We tried to go online to see if he tried to reach us via facebook which was still working for those who had Internet.  No messages.  At this point I started getting worried and annoyed.  I had friends texting me asking me if I had all my survivor gear out, or asking me what I was doing, or what they should do.  Meanwhile I was thinking that they were draining my phone battery (I know I could have charged it in my car but I needed it with me as I was going about the house trying to get everything done) that I might just need for that important call from my sister, or nephew, or brother in law who had still not arrived yet.  I knew some of them thought their messages were funny.  I didn’t have time to entertain or further enlighten them.  There was still so much more work to do.

6:30 p.m.- My sister finally arrived.  Not long afterwards so does my brother in law, then my other sister, her husband, and their two kids.  Everyone’s gas tank is pretty much on empty.  I fill up the car that uses the least gas so that my brother in law can go around looking for my nephew who we still weren’t able to get a hold of.  I give him my cell phone so that he can charge it as he drives around.  We soon find out that for some reason that part of San Diego – Rancho Bernardo to be exact was not able to receive any calls or text messages to cell phones incoming or receiving.  In addition my nephew was not able to access the internet via cell phone unlike others who were able to in different areas.  We were able to confirm this information later when my brother in law left to try and find my nephew.  While he was in that area he tried reaching us and us him to no avail.  He finally found my nephew at their house.  One of his friend’s parents had dropped him off and he was with the neighbors waiting when my brother in law finally arrived.

7:30 p.m.- It was now dark.  Everyone had safely arrived at my house and I was busy making dinner on the front porch.  I had spent a good amount of time digging out the portable propane stove from in the garage and setting up an outdoor makeshift kitchen.  We still didn’t know how long the power outage would last so I was trying to cook as much meat as possible.  Needless to say we ate pretty well that night. 

8:30 p.m.- Dinner time.  We had our dinner inside using several of our lanterns as light.  The kids seemed to be having fun.  We discussed what would happen in the days to come if the electricity still was not back in place.  We did have a location in the mountains about 1 hour away with other extended family.  We had two very large delivery diesel trucks which would be able to hold most of our important belongings the only problem was I knew we didn’t have enough diesel gas for both of them. We decided to wait it out.  At this time information we were receiving on the radio was that electricity would be restored later that night.  I was skeptic but hopeful.  I wondered if “they” were telling the truth or if they just didn’t want to stir a mass panic.

11:30- Bed time. After dinner we had cleaned the kitchen, washed the dishes, and given the kids baths all by lantern light.  I walked around the perimeter of the house again making sure all was well.  I looked around at my family most of them were already fast asleep together in the television room.  I looked at the time and realized how tired I was.  I had basically been working nonstop since I found out the power had gone out.  I climbed in bed.  Having no electricity sure was exhausting and the electricity had only been out for 8 hours!  I couldn’t imagine another day like this, though I knew if this was a possibility I had already done most of the work for things to be easier tomorrow. 

As I lay down to sleep that night a few thoughts went through my head.  Thank God we at least still had [utility-piped] running water.  And Thank God that everyone made it here safe and we were all together.  Thank God things weren’t worse. Other thoughts that occurred to me while the power was out and later the next day:

  1. I should have put the insulin in the freezer right away or in at least a colder compartment than the refrigerator (insulin gets ruined if it is too cold as well as too warm).  I practically kicked myself for not doing this first thing!  I was so wrapped up in everything else this completely slipped my mind!
  2. I should have bought that portable ice machine at Target.  It was only $130. 
  3. I really need to get out of the city.

Here is what I learned:

  1. The vast majority of the population is poorly prepared in every sense for any type of emergency.
  2. You can never have enough gasoline and even if you think you do get more.  It would have been an excellent selling or bartering item at times like these.
  3. Candy is an absolute necessity in preparedness.  Especially when there is no television or computer to send the kids off to to occupy themselves.  When adults need a few moments of quiet time, candy makes everything better, instantly.
  4. Having a Ham radio is an essential part of preparing.  The Beans, Bullets, Band-Aids saying needs to add that extra “C” for Communication as well as the “E” for Engineering.  Being informed just makes you feel better and in a strange way gives you hope when you know you can still reach someone on the other “end”.
  5. Handheld battery operated lanterns are awesome! You can hang them when cooking outside for a good source of all over light.  They are better than flashlights when walking down the hall or when going to bathroom and taking a shower.  You can just set them on the counter and you have pretty good visibility of the area around you.
  6. Survival preparedness isn’t really about you.  It is about protecting your loved ones. 
  7. Having properly prepared for an emergency makes you feel like gold.
  8. I really need to get out of the city. 

Letter Re: A Mail Forwarding Service in The American Redoubt

James Wesley:
We have opened up Kamiah Copy & Shipping Center in Kamiah, Idaho. (I consider Kamiah the unofficial capital of the American Redoubt).  Part of our services are private mailbox rental.  As a long time SurvivalBlog reader and contributor (you’ve seen my posts under the bylines B.H. in Spokane, Western Washington and North Central Idaho) I am quite familiar with the need for OPSEC and the desire for some individuals to begin to establish ties to the American Redoubt.
 
We are offering 5” x 12” mail box rentals for $10 per month.  A 12-month pre-paid rental gets you three free months.  We also provide mail forwarding services through USPS,  FedEx, or UPS.  Mail forwarding is $5.00 per occurrence plus shipping or postage.
 
From now till the end of 2011, for every 12 month rental we will make a donation to the Memsahib Memorial Fund of $10. 

Anyone interested can send e-mail to the address below.

Kamiah Copy & Shipping Center
505 4th Street
Kamiah, Idaho 83536
phone: 208-935-7500
FAX: 866-453-6781
E-mail: kamiahcopy@gmail.com

Thank you, – Brendon Hill