Earthquake Retrofit an Old House, by Greg E.

2011 was a year of deadly and devastating tornados, and an earthquake that shook the east coast.  One of the largest tornados hit a suburb in my county in the Birmingham Alabama area. We are also only one state over from the New Madrid earthquake zone that starts in the Memphis area.  After taking several closer looks at the foundation and basement of our 50 year old house, I realized we were living with a false sense of security.

After researching online, I learned that in certain large events, mainly earthquake, but also from high winds, if the house gets shaken, the metal [pier] poles holding up the center of the house in the basement may or may not move in unison with the rest of the house above them that they are supporting.   Our house [has a conventional perimeter foundation and aside from the perimeter it] is simply sitting on those poles, and that is it. In large earthquakes, houses with basements can simply fall into the basement below them, if the support poles [or posts and piers] do not stay intact. I set out looking for an easy fix, and discovered nothing readily available on the market for this situation.   Maybe in frequent earthquake territory like California, there might be something on the market, but I did not find anything at the big box hardware stores or online. 

It appeared it was time to get creative. I am not in the construction business, but I’m guessing I do have a few more tools than the average household. My small shop has a miter-saw, table saw, drill press, chop-saw, and a small, bottom of line wire-welder. There are lots of people with way more tools than this, but this is a modest amount and I’m comfortable using them.   I spent a much of my time staring at the rafters and those metal poles, knowing there had to be way to tie them together.
  
The goal is not to keep the house from swaying, but rather, if the house is swaying, the poles sway in unison with the house. This way, when the house stops swaying, the metal poles are still in position as there were intended, holding up the center of the house.   The metal poles of our old house are 4-1/2 inches in diameter.  A double row of 2”x10” rafters run lengthways of the house, with 2”x10” rafters attached perpendicular to them.   These perpendicular rafters run from the center of the house out to the foundation. I would like to have been able to tell you that all of the rafters are evenly spaced, but they are not. Wiring and plumbing run along the bottom of the rafters, and it appears that plumbing had a major say-so in what rafters went where.   Sure, there are a few rafters that are evenly spaced, but quite a few that were placed very close to another rafter to accommodate the plumbing.

So, in staring at the poles and rafters, I obviously needed something to attach to the pole, and something that could be attached to the rafters, and each of these had to be able to be attached to each other.   Oh, and in my case, cost was an issue. To explain: most of those tools were bought before we had kids. Now my paycheck is spent before it gets home. And in this economy, it’s not getting any better either. I wanted to make the house a little bit safer than it was before I started, and yet still not break the bank. Besides being on a tight budget, time is precious these days too, and I can only work on this project on the occasional, rare, weekend free from other events begging for priority on the calendar.   

I knew I could drill holes in the wood, even if I have to use a right-angle attachment to do so, to mount some type of brace. As is ‘just my luck’, some of the closest together rafters were the ones near the poles I was going to be working on. But, what kind of bracing to use?   Flat aluminum or steel [stock] is readily available at the hardware stores, but in an earthquake, you never know for sure what direction the house is going to be shaking in. Nature has a tendency to keep that thing called the ‘epicenter’ to herself and let the scientist figure that one out later. Angle iron has support both vertically and horizontally. Luckily, and beloved neighbor, ‘Joe’ had given me some scrap angle iron before he passed away a couple of years ago. I still had the rusty angle iron in the shop, and I would need to clean it up with a portable electric grinder and a wire wheel attachment on a drill, but it was free, and I had plenty of it to do the job. I love to recycle, and re-using this free angle iron for my project is better than it getting sold for scrap.  I wanted to clean up the surface rust and paint it to roughly match the gray color of the poles. The drill press would eventually come in handy for the angle iron too. 
 
I did some research on eBay, and found that the do make U-Bolts in the needed size, but due to the size and weight, the shipping and handling were going to cost more than the U-Bolt. I discovered that one of the auto parts chain stores carried the 4-1/2” U-Bolt on their web site. The highway nearby has just about a half dozen auto parts stores within a 15 minute drive.  The auto part store that had the U-Bolts had them at a very attractive price, and they would ship them to your local store for free.  Bingo. This way I could get the U-Bolts at basically the same price as I’d seen on ebay, but without the shipping and handling costs.   The auto parts store only needed a couple of days to get them to the store.  This worked out great for me, because I ordered them early in the week, and wouldn’t be using them until the weekend anyway.  

The large 4-1/2” U-Bolts are made out of steel that is 3/8” diameter. I could drill 3/8” inch holes in the angle iron, to attach it to the U-Bolt, and additional holes to attach it to the rafters.  I wanted angle iron on each side of the pole, where-ever possible, for the push-pull effect that an earthquake might cause.   I also wanted to put two holes in each piece of angle iron where it attached to rafters, so that it would be rigid enough to move the poles with the house.   If I were to only put one hole in each piece of angle iron where it attaches to the rafter, it would like just be a pivot point and the angle iron could easily let the pole shift away from the center of the house.  

I wanted to paint the U-Bolt, and angle iron pieces, because they would be in contact not only with each other, but also with the metal pole. Although in this particular instance they are all steel, I’m not sure what kinds of steel they are.   I’ve learned that dissimilar metals that are in contact with each other can vastly increase the oxidation (rust) rate of the metal. As a side note, always be aware if you are using aluminum, steel, and any alloys, that are touching or are bolted to each other, as this can oxidation can become a real issue.   Don’t think that aluminum oxidizes?  Next time you are in a salvage yard, look at the chalky white powder on some of the aluminum parts you see is oxidation. It just doesn’t turn dark like steel does when it rusts (oxidizes).  

I made a dry fit of the U-bolt to near the top of the pole, about 3-4 inches from the top. I wanted to keep it near the top for leveraged strength, but not so near the top that if it did attempt to sway in an earthquake that it would try to jump over the top of the pole. Measured the lengths I needed for the angle iron to have a piece on each side, and cut them with the chop saw.  Drilled them on the drill press, then painted all of the pieces and let them dry completely. In keeping with the recycling theme, I was able to use up some old cans of [rust preventive] ‘primer gray’ color that matched the existing gray color of the metal poles well.   

The U-Bolts come with a bracket that fills in the gap of the opening at the open end of the ‘U’, and with the two nuts needed to hold it all together.   When measuring for bolts to use on the rafter, take into account not only the thickness of the rafter, but the thickness of your angle iron, the nut, and washers.   I recommend using washers on sides of the rafter, where the bolt head is and on the other side where the nut meets the angle iron. I even painted the washers, in case they are a different metal from the angle iron.   Who knows, a few seconds of extra painting could add years to the project and protect the old house for the next generation.  

Are there better ways to do this project?  Sure.  Are there more expensive ways to do this project?  Sure.   This just happened to be the best fit for my situation, of wanting to build a little more safety into a 50 year-old house, without having to take out a loan to do it. Maybe you can adapt some of these ideas into your next project.

Three Letters Re: A Single Mom’s Desire to Relocate

Dear Mr. Rawles,

I love your blog and visit it daily. You recently recommended a lady consider North Dakota (in Letter Re: A Single Mom’s Desire to Relocate), saying “You might also consider the Oil Patch of North Dakota, which is presently booming and has a considerable surplus of bachelors.”

My wife and I have been considering going there only because we’ve been out of work for quite some time and things are looking bleak. Researching the area we found at least one negative: there is some significant concern that a highly toxic material called Erionite has been used as road material in parts of the state. Just doing a search on Erionite, possibly also Mesothelioma, and the like, should give you enough of a start to make an informed decision. Here’s one article to get you started. – Clementius

James:
On Monday, Oct. 24, “Single Mom” wrote to ask for advice on finding rural land to “get herself and her son out of harms way”. JWR replied (in part):
 
“I recommend that you proceed with prayer. Pray that you find the right community in a safe region with a good church, and if it in God’s plan, a Godly husband.
For some general guidance, see my American Redoubt page and my Retreat Area Recommendations page.”
 
Good advice, James. I would also suggest that “Single Mom” consider posting on your “Finding Other Preppers” static page, which is linked on SurvivalBlog’s left sidebar. And “Mom” might additionally consider posting on www.ic.org. It’s a well know web site for folks looking to start or join an intentional community and for already existing communities to find new members. Good Luck, – Jim, in Ohio

 

Dear Mr. Rawles:
Regarding “Single Mom’s” letter, I enclose the “Careers” link to Kootenai Medical Center in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
They’re always looking for RNs and since the market is down here, real estate is more available close by. I don’t claim Northern Idaho is the answer to her prayers but it’s better than a lot of places out there. At least it sure was when we relocated from Southern California.

Just trying to help someone that’s asking for some. Take care and keep up the good work that you do. – Brian W

Economics and Investing:

Some recent data on the income decline in America illustrates that we are indeed in the early stages of an economic depression. There is an ocean of red ink that needs to dry out. And that might take two or three decades, folks.

Diana was the first of several readers to mention this: Vatican urges economic reforms, condemns collective greed

Mark L. pointed me to a new piece by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard that has some positive comments on investing in America. Yes, Things are so fouled up in European financial circles that they even make the U.S. look relatively safe and strong!

FedEx Sees E-Commerce Driving Record Holiday Volume

German officials: Bailout fund will top $1.4 Trillion (Thanks to G.G. for the link.)

Days Of Reckoning: Mark Your Calendar for Two Historic Days that Could Shake Wall Street

Items from The Economatrix:

Stocks Fall as Hopes for Europe Deal Falter

The IPO Market, an Engine of Growth, Stalls

US Stock Futures Up After Solid Corporate Earnings

Survey:  Economists Bleak About US Economy

Odds ‘n Sods:

A recently-released map showing gang presence in the United States adds further credence to the American Redoubt concept. (Thanks to Karl K. for the link.)

   o o o

C.J. Chivers, one of the few mainstream newspapermen that really understands small arms had some great commentary on modified and re-purposed guns in the hands of guerillas: Afghan Gun Locker: Battlefield Ingenuity, and a Weapon’s Longevity

   o o o

F.J. suggested this over at LifeHacker: How to Make an Improvised Backpack

   o o o

$1 Billion of your tax dollars at work: Libya’s liberation: interim ruler unveils more radical than expected plans for Islamic law.

   o o o

Chicken Coops Growing in Popularity in American Backyards. (Thanks to K.A.F. for the link.)

Notes from JWR:

Now that many SurvivalBlog readers have had the chance to read my latest book “Survivors: A Novel of the Coming Collapse”, I would greatly appreciate it if you would post your reviews on the Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble web sites. Just a brief paragraph or two would be great, thanks!

—

Today we present another entry for Round 37 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $300 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo, and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).

Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol. It is a $439 value courtesy of Next Level Training. B.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $300, C.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and D.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.), 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 37 ends on November 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Weekend Homesteaders, by R.M.H.

1

This is the story of how two middle-aged city dwellers became weekend homesteaders, and how we bumbled our way through planning and building an off-grid survival cabin. Top to bottom, the project took about two years to complete, working only on weekends. We started out naïve but ambitious, and learned everything as we went along.

Our off-the-grid plans actually began with an intriguing documentary. The program posed a series of questions: What would you do without power for two days? For two weeks? For two months? The show went on to explain how incredibly fragile the power grid is, and that two months without electricity isn’t really far-fetched given the right set of natural disasters. My husband and I were stunned. What would we do without power for two months?

“I guess we’d camp out at my parent’s farm and freeload,” he said. Neither of us liked the sound of that.

Over the next few months we continued to talk about retreating to the family farm in case of disaster. The idea of building our own survival cabin began to form. It would need to provide long-term emergency shelter plus be a place for weekend recreation. Above all, it must be easy and inexpensive to build and maintain. Mortgage-free.

We were very fortunate that my in-laws donated a corner of their property to our project. The land includes about 7 wooded acres, and an open field. The site is isolated from neighbors and has incredible views of rolling meadows and tree stands. Deer and wild turkey are regular visitors.

We researched building options for months. We bought books, visited trade shows, spent countless hours on the internet, and talked to every knowledgeable person we could find. Many building techniques were reviewed and rejected because they violated our prime objectives; inexpensive, non-electric, easy to build, and weather-proof. We dismissed building a regular frame house immediately. “I don’t know diddly about construction,” my husband said. “Way over our skill level,” I agreed.

We looked into Earthships or rammed-earth structures. Nope. Too much labor to fill old tires with 500 pounds of dirt and stack them ten feet high. How about a straw bale home? Nah, too much painting and stucco upkeep. We explored a blown concrete monolithic dome – interesting, but so expensive! Maybe a pre-fab underground shelter?  Well, you won’t get any natural light unless the whole roof is glass.

Finally we found our answer in cordwood masonry. Here was a technique we thought we could handle: cut logs into 12 inch sections, make mud balls with mortar, and piece it all together. Heck, even we could do that!  Plus we had acres of woods with fallen trees to collect free lumber. A cordwood cabin met all our requirements – a low cost, permanent structure that we could design to be off-the-grid, and build it ourselves.

I spent many nights drawing floor plans on graph paper, and ended up with a 32’ x 40’ open design to allow heat from a central wood stove to radiate throughout. Three-foot eaves keep the cordwood walls dry, and provide shelter from the summer sun. A north-south orientation allows maximum light through 11 windows. The north wall (the coldest part of any house) is half buried to insulate us from winter storms.

On paper the design looked simple enough, but I began to imagine all sorts of problems. With our limited skills, how could we possibly build 40 feet of walls in a straight line using a technique we had never tried?  

“Post and beam,” my husband decided. “We’ll build the roof first. Then fill cordwood between the posts.” That solved everything. We would only have to construct 8-foot long sections at a time, and I felt sure we could stay straight and plumb with the roof posts to guide us.

Knowing your own limitations is really the best asset you can have. My attempts to engineer a roof design resulted in guffaws and my father-in-law thanking me for the best laugh he’d had in years. It was a great relief when we hired a local builder to construct the trusses. About the same time we realized that pouring a 10” deep concrete floor was probably beyond our capabilities, so that job was contracted out as well.

We opted for a metal roof on the cabin because (a) it was cheap, and (b) we intended to collect rainwater for our drinking source. Asphalt shingles will shed debris that pollute your water storage.

That first year, while the floor and roof were being built, we collected wood for the walls. We bought a chainsaw and an old pickup truck and began to cut and stockpile cordwood from our property. Each weekend we’d locate fallen trees, peel off the bark, mark 12 inch sections with a yellow crayon and cut the logs to size with a chainsaw. Then the wood was stacked to dry.

Unlike a traditional log cabin with long timbers running parallel to ground, a cordwood house is made of hundreds of short fireplace-size pieces stuck in perpendicular. From a distance, it almost looks like a fieldstone house because you see the round, exposed ends of the logs. For me, cutting the wood was the toughest part of building our survival homestead. It was hot, dirty, hard work, and then later became cold, muddy, hard work. We cut and split wood every Sunday, through the fall, winter, and into the next spring. This city gal developed a good set of muscles that year!

During the week, when we were back in the city, I collected a wide variety of furnishings and fixtures to be used in the cabin: sinks, countertops, cabinets, an old claw foot bathtub, sofa beds, tables and chairs, doors and windows. Everything was bought at auctions, flea markets, or garage sales. Or it was simply free. Friends and family donated all manner of furniture. I trash-picked some great coffee tables from my own neighborhood. It became a grand game to see how cheaply we could acquire building materials and furniture for the cabin.

By the following May we had cut enough cordwood to complete the cabin. We began building the walls Memorial Day weekend, and optimistically took the the whole week off from work. But by Wednesday we were so exhausted we had to quit. It was then we decided that small spurts of exertion are better than one long stretch. Thereafter, we worked on our log and mortar walls every weekend from June to December.

The basic construction technique of cordwood masonry is simple and easy to master in a few minutes. You make a mud ball out of the mortar you have mixed, slap it down in two parallel rows, sprinkle a little sawdust and lime between the rows for insulation, and set logs on top. You fill between the logs with more mud balls until you can start another row. Then you repeat. A thousand times. Every weekend from June to December.

In his excellent books on cordwood masonry, Rob Roy stresses the importance of hand mixing the mortar in a wheelbarrow with a hoe. With all due respect to the ambitious Mr. Roy – that’s crazy! We didn’t have the stamina to labor for hours with a hoe in the blazing summer heat. Instead, we attached an antique mortar mixer ($75 auction find) to a borrowed farm tractor. That piece of equipment was the critical difference between success or failure for us, and another case for knowing your own limits.

A constant parade of friends and family showed up nearly every weekend to help. We passed out work gloves and buckets, along with a few quick instructions. The cabin was really a community project, and each finished wall now reminds us of the folks who so generously contributed their time.

The walls became more elaborate as we gained experience. We included all kinds of oddities along with the wood; bottles, marbles, coins, fossils, shells, crystals, and knick-knacks. Artistic forms developed, like a log clock with old pocket watch dials to mark the hours.

Our construction site soon became a tourist attraction. People would show up saying they’d heard about the place and just had to see it for themselves. They’d marvel at the logs stuck in sideways and all the bottles in the walls. “You should build these cabins for a living,” many suggested. We would smile patiently. You couldn’t pay us to build another one. It was truly a labor of love, and we planned to do it only once.

By Fall we were coming down the home stretch. Most of the walls were finished, and the doors and windows had been installed. The mortar around some of the larger logs had shrunk, which we expected. Gaps were filled with clear silicone caulking. My husband often jokes, “We built this place with a chainsaw, a mixer, and a caulk gun!”

When our Vermont Castings wood stove arrived, I watched the installers carefully. I was curious about how they would seal the chimney pipe through the metal roof. They tossed me a tube of Chem-Caulk 900. “It will seal anything!” they vouched. With it we’ve patched holes and leaks in metal, plastic, fiberglass, and concrete. It’s expensive and fairly toxic, so it wasn’t good for sealing gaps around the logs. But it was great for lots of other jobs.

I was a happy camper when the composting toilet was delivered. No more bathroom trips to the woods!  Since we had just watched the chimney flue being installed, I knew how to get the toilet vent pipe through the metal roof. Chem-Caulk and tin snips would do the trick. I stopped at a local hardware store after work, all dressed up in skirt and heels. When I explained why I wanted the shears, the owner eyed me up and down. “Pardon me, lady,” he said. “But you don’t look like the type who would climb up a ladder and cut a hole in a roof.”

I laughed, “You’d be surprised at what I can do!”

It was true. Building this survival cabin had given me incredible confidence and life-long skills. No longer was I intimidated by simple home repairs or mystified by all that stuff in the hardware store. I knew how to use a circular saw, power drill, and a crowbar. I could drive a straight nail and read a level. I knew the difference between 2 x 4s and 4 x 6s. I knew how deep a footer should be, and where to buy 5/7 gravel. And I could talk about furring strips, backer rod, and re-bar like I was born to it.

In November, with the walls nearly finished, we spent our first night at the cabin. The air was brisk, and then became downright cold. Even huddled around the wood stove, I could see my breath indoors. It was a low point for me. I was cold, miserable, and discouraged. “We’ll never be able to stay here during the winter,” I wept. Foolishly, we hadn’t planned a ceiling. We thought we could keep the interior open to the rafters as a kind of cathedral effect. Yeah, well, everybody knows that heat rises. Right out the roof vent in fact. And even our big new wood stove was not going to heat 1,280 square feet without a ceiling.

It took a while to find the right solution, but we finally settled on galvanized barn siding for the ceiling – an inexpensive material that reflects huge amounts of light from the windows during the day, and shines back all the candles and oil lamps at night. When you don’t have electric lights, reflective surfaces are the next best thing.

By New Year’s Eve the kitchen was finished and we had moved in all the odds-and-end furniture. Thirteen people stayed overnight, and we kept the cabin a cozy 68 degrees with our new ceiling. A propane stove cooked up a turkey with all the trimmings for the feast.

Okay, so we have a propane tank. The cabin functions completely off the electric grid, but we decided to spoil ourselves with a little LP. It’s a deliberate luxury that runs a range, a good-sized refrigerator, and an Amish-made chandelier. A tank of fuel lasts about 15 months, and the fill cost is about the same as one month’s worth of electricity at our city house.

The water supply is a 1,400 gallon concrete cistern buried behind the cabin. It feeds two pitcher pumps, one in the kitchen and one in the bathroom. We’ve also added a small solar panel that runs a power pack for light-duty use, like recharging batteries and cell phones.

Our survival cabin has all the comforts of a city home, only with a rustic, old-timey charm. We stay cozy in the winter, and at least 10 degrees cooler than the outside during summer, due to the foot-thick walls. The cabin has a peaceful, natural atmosphere and many remark how restful the place feels.

For the past 10 years we have used our off-grid homestead as a weekend house, a gathering place for family and friends, and emergency refuge. It’s fully stocked with freeze-dried food and firewood, and twice has saved us a week’s worth of hotel bills when we needed to evacuate our city home because the power grid went down in the dead of winter.

We’ve never regretted the time and effort we spent building the place. And now when we watch those disaster shows which ask, “What would you do if…,” we have the answer.

Hopefully our story will entice you to become a weekend homesteader as well. If a couple of fumbling middle-agers can build a comfortable survival cabin, you probably can, too!

Letter Re: Establishing a Neighborhood Watch

Recently a neighborhood watch was created by the initiative of a lawyer who had many thousands of dollars worth of equipment stolen from his property in broad day light, while members of his family were home, with a trailer that had been stolen from across the street.  He saw he need for a greater sense of alertness and vigilance among our residents, who for the most part feel we live in a nice area and don’t have to worry about crime.  (Mostly this is true).  We don’t have gangs or violent crime, but if the picking seem easy enough for broad day light looting, in full view of everyone on the street, then the potential for more exists.
 
It began with sending out a letter to each house, utilizing address information obtained from publicly available tax records.  An email list was created from the people who responded, and a master list of emails, phone numbers/names, has been collected by the people who volunteered to be block coordinators.  The block coordinators basically are the face of the neighborhood watch.  I am one of them.  At the first meeting I met with someone who works with the local Sheriff and learned that there are only 4 deputies on duty per shift for our entire county, which has a very large area.  The average response time to a call is over an hour, and sometimes it can be many hours.
 
My first duty was to compile an up to date email and phone list for my block, which is about 20 families.  I went out door to door with a pencil and notepad and began meeting everyone one by one, which took a lot of time, but was a rewarding process.  It gave me a sense of who exactly were my neighbors, up until this point I did not really know any except the ones right next door to me.  This process seems really important to  me, because the more involved I became, the more sense of community has developed with me.  It also might benefit me and my family later to have connections developed with the retired military guys down the street, the electrician, the school teacher, or the local prosecutor.  It isn’t always what you know, or what you’ve got, but who  you know, and what they’ve got.  A community can accomplish much more than one man and his family.
 
It pleased me to find out that many neighbors were very aware of the state of the nation and spoke like preppers.  I spoke with 3 or 4 people for over 30 minutes each just about the economy and coming together as a community to face future challenges.  All seemed skeptical of the government, if not out right angry with it.  The spirit of revolution is becoming stronger and stronger among the average person.  I made mental note of the neighbors who were awake and angry about their country and rights being trampled on. 
 
Speaking to my neighbors I learned a lot about local politics, police patrols (lack thereof) and got a sense of the overall sense among the community about current events.  I realized how important it is to know my local community and be active in it.  If you are active in the community and people know and trust your face, it can go a long way.  If you are a reclusive person who never talks to anyone, or never wants to be part of the team, then you will likely not have any pull, or any friends, when things go to h*ll.
 
It is worth it to begin similar efforts in your community, you might be surprised just how many people think the same way you do.  Communities are much more likely to survive when working together like a big team, so begin your team building.  Its for your own benefit. – Robert R.

Letter Re: Sorting Canadian Pennies

Mr. Rawles,
Regarding the letter “Sorting Canadian Pennies“, I wanted to correct some errors for those Canadian nickel collectors out there. 

The nickel from 1922 onwards to 1982 was made from – you guessed it – nickel (99.9% Nickel to be exact; with the exception of some years in the 1940s and 1950s when they were made of a either copper-zinc alloy (tombac) or chrome plated steel.  This was because nickel was in short supply for the various war efforts.

The Canadian nickel’s composition changed in 1982 to the cupronickel composition used presently in the US (75% copper, 25% zinc); and it was changed again in 1999 to the present ‘faux nickel’, which is steel clad with a copper/nickel plating.

What does this mean for collectors?
A magnet will attract the 99.9% Nickel AND the steel-core nickels, effectively separating all cupronickel nickels, as this alloy is non-magnetic.  The cupronickels are the same composition as present US nickels and are worth saving.

A quick visual scan will weed out the pre-1982 with the post-1999, either by the large date on one side or the difference in images of the Queen on the other. 

So don’t let people discourage anyone from Canadian nickels.  The sorting is simpler than Canadian pennies, and the dates are bigger and easier to see.  Since it is illegal to export nickels from the US nickels in quantity, they are the only nickel available for collectors in Canada.

Here are some relevant files from from the Royal Canadian Canadian Mint.

Respectfully, – E.B.

Letter Re: TEOTWAWKI Fitness Planning

Dear JWR:
Well, hallelujah for Dr. Bob’s practical attitude toward fitness! 

I’ve been working our homestead for almost 20 years, now, and I’ve been amazed at what the workout crowd can’t do, hurting because they had to shovel manure and those particular muscles weren’t on the look lovely list.  I’ve worked many a man into exhaustion, although I do pay when it’s time to try to buy a dress that fits – women aren’t supposed to have biceps.  For years I’ve wondered about spending big bucks to go to the gym when the push lawnmower and a few other practical things would probably do it, but people want the glitz. 

Recently my husband has been able to spend more time on the homestead.  Until then his main exercise was running or training his lower body and he hated tilling and shovel work and had trouble doing it.  By switching to a rowing machine he’s been able to do far more – now he tells me to get out of the way so he can move the pens or other work I would have been doing myself.  Can I get an Amen?

One last idea:  if you know the water is going to be a distance away, Dr. Bob, why not plan now to bring it a little closer?  Our water went out a few years back because of a failure in the water tank.  We have a well but we couldn’t access it, so until the plumber could get out we dragged water for flushing from the irrigation wells.  It was late winter/early spring, so it could have been worse, but I got to thinking what it would be like to haul all the water in bad weather in a grid down event.  Decided to get a Bison pump.  It does everything they say it does, and it’s in the back yard, not in the woods.  Nice during Hurricane Irene.  So if Dr. Bob can find a way to get that water to move even half the distance to his house now (ram pump?  gravity feed?) he’d be doing himself a favor, because if you are living that old-fashioned lifestyle, you have a zillion other things to do beside the water chore.

And when I’m doing that kind of work, I don’t worry about my weight, either, and I don’t fuss over the eggs or other supposed bad foods because I’m burning them off.  An old pamphlet I found in my grandmother’s kitchen actually extolled a national brand of fat for its high caloric content.  Bit different lifestyle then, wouldn’t you say? – Linda S.

Economics and Investing:

Top hedge fund manager: Decade of doom ahead. “Ray Dalio, founder of the largest hedge fund in the world (Bridgewater Associates), said the world debt is so large it will take 10 years to de-leverage it — and “there are no more tools in the tool kit” to postpone the inevitable reckoning.” JWR’s Comment: I think two decades might be more accurate.

Ben S. sent this: Purdue expert: Cost to grow crops to surge in 2012

Fed’s Yellen: QE3 May Be Warranted. JWR’s Comment: Of course they’ll do it. Free money is more addictive than crack cocaine.

Over at Fierce Finance: Speculation: Bank of America headed to bankruptcy court

Europe Goes Full Bailout Retard: EFSF Rescue Capital To Be Officially Double-Counted. (Thanks to John R. for the link.)

US Treasury considers new debt security.

Chris Martenson: The Real Contagion Risk. It is coming to America’s houses of finance.

SurvivalBlog reader “FarmerGreen” reports: “I followed the advice here and stocked up on peanut butter–one of my favorite foods. When I bought Saturday the 2 lb. jar of store brand was $5.79. Today it’s $7.79. Up almost 35% in two days! Thanks for the heads up.”

Odds ‘n Sods:

I heard about a web site with some useful data on Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants.

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F.G. sent this: Couple are forced to demolish their £300k four-bed home after it was invaded by Japanese knotweed

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News from the Oil Patch: America’s Boomtown: North Dakota housing crunch

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Sour Grapes Department: Is the US Declaration of Independence illegal?

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In SurvivalBlog we’ve been warning you about SCADA vulnerabilities since September, 2005. The mainstream media is finally catching on: U.S. fears science fiction-style sabotage in new wave of cyber attacks

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?” – One of L.K.O.‘s favorite unattributed Paraprosdokian sentences.

Notes from JWR:

They say that Internet posts and forwarded e-mails often take on lives of their own. This certainly rang true with me this morning, when a reader forwarded me a piece that began: “Due to the large number of jobs moving from California to Texas, Texas has compiled a “Californian to Texan” translation guide…” But that was a piece that was originally written by “Dan X.” and first posted in SurvivalBlog, back in January of 2011, as “The California – Wyoming Travel Dictionary”.  The part therein about “reintroduced wolves” doesn’t make any sense for Texas, but it does for Wyoming–which is how it was originally titled. It is not unusual to see these humorous items get forwarded on and on, sometimes for many years. Oh, and by the way, if I get another e-mail encouraging me to vote in the USA Today Gun Rights Survey from back in 2007, I think that I’ll scream.

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Today we present a guest article by Dr. Bob of SurvivingHealthy.com.

TEOTWAWKI Fitness Planning by Dr. Bob

First, I must state that I am not a licensed physical therapist or personal trainer.  You may be expecting some type of disclaimer of “consult a physician before starting an exercise program” fame.  Nope.  The way I look at it is, I am that physician giving out helpful, free medical advice for prepping–so take it or leave it.  Much of this article references my life and personal experience, and for that you will either be impressed by the thoughtful, personal example; or you will be disgusted and bored by my shameless self-talk.  For this I am sorry; but I try very hard to do as I tell others to do as an example rather than a hypocrite.  WTSHTF, everyone’s lives will be very different except for those few amazing and blessed humans out there like this blog’s editor.  (Their lives are already very different!)  This article is written for the rest of us.  The overweight family practice doctor from the Ozarks that thinks he’s too busy to exercise (ouch, that one hits close).  The housewife jogger that puts in her 2.5 miles every weekday on the treadmill.  The responsible mom with the most awesome pantry–but also 30 extra pounds of “softness” to carry.  The 60 year old guy that is an awesome shot, but also an awesome beer drinker that can’t walk up a hill carrying a load without nearly dying.  The list of my friends and family could go on for a long time; but we all know who we are:  American preppers.  We are just like most Americans–eating too much junk food, fast food, and having the best intentions to improve our fitness after everything else on the list has been checked off.  The list you have isn’t going away and if you count yourself among this group of American preppers—the time is now.

My time as a Cross Country runner, wrestler, 5K road racer, Air Force Officer, and physician has certainly been enough training and education in fitness.  I was buff in the past–with 8-pack abs and definition.  I could run 10 miles in less than a hour without difficulty.  I could squat and bench my weight.  But, it all came at a price.  Time mostly, pain too.  I spent hours and hours a week away from my family working out.  Something else always is sacrificed.  I was injured often by overuse and over-training.  Sore shoulders, knees, ankles and hips became fairly normal in my day to day life.  Finally, I had a psoas muscle tear in 2005 that gave us quite a scare as they thought I might have a tumor instead of just a simple overuse injury.  (Little did they know how hard I was training).  After the blood was reabsorbed and I could walk again after my brief stay in a wheelchair, my wife banned me from running.  At that time, I was quite sure that she could be persuaded or ignored in the future, so I wasn’t too worried.  Time and age have softened me to my current pudgy standing, but the knowledge and will is still there to get buff again.  I would often sneak in running trials and then my wife would catch me and lecture until I submitted to her will.  Then, over time, I began to think a lot about what the point of being fit was.  Did I really want to be cut again?  Was it worth the pain and time?  No, it was not.  There were much more pressing concerns that continued to niggle at my brain.  Suddenly, TEOTWAWKI fitness planning seemed so obvious to me.  Train for what you expect in the future, and don’t worry about anything else…genius!
 
Where to start?  Start at the beginning.  (Real original, eh?)  Seriously though, sit down and make a plan for TEOTWAWKI fitness.  THIS IS DIFFERENT THAN OTHER FITNESS PLANNING!  Everyone can lose weight and get in better shape, but this is not the point of TEOTWAWKI fitness.  The point will be survival.  Plain and simple–survival.  No one cares how fast you can run or how much you can bench when we are all hungry, dirty, smelly and worried about our futures.  So, my suggestion is to sit down with the members of your group or family and actually have a discussion about the “grid down” situation first.  Where would you likely be?  Where would you need to get to?  What if there was NO transportation?  Where is your nearest water supply?  What will you eat?  What will you do if it is the height of summer’s heat, or the depths of winter’s cold?  Do you have clothing for both extremes with you in your BOB or vehicle–and will you be able to get to it?  Perhaps you can start to appreciate where I am going with this.  Jogging and eating protein bars is not adequate preparation.  Make a plan for your fitness based on your individual responsibilities WTSHTF.  When I sat down with my wife and talked about this issue, I realized that I could facing a 220 mile hike to get back to her and the family.  My first fitness priority became:  getting in shape for hiking home.  What is your challenge when the grid goes down?
 
Look at your biggest fitness challenge in a post-grid world and make your fitness plan to fit that challenge.  For me, walking and jogging is easy.  I have no major health problems or joint issues.  I am overweight, but not to the point of health concerns.  But, putting on my BOB and hiking up and down the hills is a much bigger challenge than a simple 4 mile walk.  Having to do that hike 54 times in a row is a sobering thought.  And, more importantly, you learn a lot about the problems with your plan and your gear.  I found out that I need a little towel at the small of my back or my pants will fill with sweat.  I learned that if I continue my typical slouchy posture while wearing my BOB my neck really starts to hurt, but by focusing on a more “military stance” and tightening my waist belt and loosening my chest belt, my neck is much better on a longer hike.  I discovered that getting a good filter straw was a far superior idea compared to carrying 2 gallons of water at a time.  I now know that carrying larger volumes of dehydrated and freeze-dried foods beats MREs in my BOB.  The short socks I usually favor did not adequately cover my legs and caused chaffing from my boots, prompting me to buy some of the calf-length ones for my BOB.  I probably could have gained enlightenment about all these issues by thinking, reading, and theorizing–but nothing beats real-life application.  With some of these simple changes to my BOB, it is much lighter and I can hike much farther now on the same energy; and as I continue to “practice” hiking with my gear on and my BOB loaded I expect that the 54 4-mile hikes will seem more doable.
 
But, this is just my fitness plan for TEOTWAWKI, it is not yours.  Go back to the list and the “grid down discussion”.  Perhaps you have not really made a good water harvesting plan.  Mine involves rain water collection, but if there is a prolonged drought the back-up plan is the half-mile hike through some pretty rough woods downhill and then back uphill with a heavy load of water.  My current BOB hiking training will prepare me for that mile round-trip well.  Maybe your water harvest could be improved by building a pulley system and so you need to climb some trees and get the lines hung.  That’s a good workout, so get it done instead of going to the gym to work on your definition.  Maybe you need more reliable equipment for water hauling, but you won’t know that until you put your new “fitness thinking” into a plan.  Water being the first step to survival, someone in your group or family needs to take on this fitness challenge.  Water is heavy and usually a hill is involved, sometimes a cliff or drop.  Maybe you need to have a simple “bucket rope” suspended over the 15 foot drop at your local water source instead of the slippery adventure at the shoreline.  Building it may prevent an injury later and if nothing else would make your job much less difficult.
 
Food should be another focus of fitness planning.  Gardening without power tools and gas is hard.  Takes a lot of prep work and can cause lots of blisters and sore spots.  Someone can be in charge of this part of your groups’ planning and again–practice.  Real life raking of leaves in the fall can build hand strength and calluses.  Turning the soil in the winter (latitude dependent) or the compost pile can keep your hands, arms and shoulders in shape.  Digging holes for fruit trees in the fall is excellent training.  Spring tilling can be grueling if you haven’t been able to (due to snow and/or ice) or you just haven’t.  Prepare accordingly doing the activities during the “off” season that you will need to do in the “on” season.  Gardening in one thing, hunting is another.  As every good hunter will tell you:  the kill is the easy part.  Field dressing and hauling a large animal out of the woods is a real test of your fitness.  Practice makes perfect, or at least practice helps prepare you for the haul out with meat for the group.  If you are unable to hunt regularly enough to build fitness, perhaps drag a large and heavy pack through the property for a hour weekly.  Whatever seems to be the most realistic substitute for the real thing you should try to do now.
 
Maybe your fitness concern is the need for security.  You have “plans” for patrolling the perimeter of your property.  Time to do instead of plan.  Don’t just patrol, wear real-life gear and if at all possible carry real-life security measures.  Not always possible and not always a good idea (as you may look like the kind of nut your locals don’t approve of), but my plan if the local law enforcement decides to stop and question the nut in camo walking in the dark with a big pack on through the town is to use the “practicing for hunting season” line.  Usually there is something coming up that makes sense, currently deer season.  Closer to Spring it will be turkey season.  Camping trip coming up with the family is always a good one.  My personal approach is keeping a low profile, but perhaps you live in a more “prepper-friendly” area and you could just tell the truth.  Practicing your combat position drops with your gear on is a great way to condition too, the more real-world practice the more muscle memory you will retain.
 
Another thing to consider when doing your fitness planning is wood harvesting.  If you are going to use wood for heating or cooking, someone has to get it.  At first, most wood will be in the woodpile or close to the house.  The next wood gathered will be deadfall that is in an ever increasing radius from you.  Not much of a challenge really so far.  But, after using much more wood than you are used to, it will quickly disappear and your will be forced to gather wood from standing trees in short order.  Cutting down a dead tree with a chainsaw is one thing, cutting a live tree down with a handsaw is another completely.  Now that’s a fitness challenge if you have ever attempted to do so.  Again, practice makes perfect.  I recommend cutting some live trees down now to age on the ground to make cutting a splitting in the future easier while giving you the necessary muscle challenge that you will face more regularly in the future.  Leaving deadwood standing while thinning out live trees may seem nuts now, but if you need them later you will be very thankful.  Splitting is a completely different fitness challenge, and the more regularly you can split smaller amounts, the better trained you will be.  Don’t take a weekend and split a cord, take 1/4 cord on weekly.  When swinging an axe, you want to make sure you have not only some strength but also good control, for obvious reasons.  If you are lucky enough to have all the gas and hydraulics you need to help with you splitting, make sure you have enough to last many years, or convert to some work by hand now so you can build the strength and skill necessary to get the job done.
 
You may notice two glaring omissions from these fitness recommendations:  diet and workouts.  Dieting is unnecessary in TEOTWAWKI fitness planning.  Seriously.  If you are adequately fit to accomplish this schedule:  weekend hunting trip with recovery of mid-sized deer, Monday hauling 200 gallons of water 1/2 mile, Tuesday gather 1 cord of deadwood, Wed split 1/4 cord of that gathered wood, Thursday help with raking leaves most of the day for the garden, Friday haul another 200 gallons of water 1/2 mile; you don’t need to worry about being fat.  I doubt that you will be for one, but even if you are then you still have nothing to worry about from a “fitness for survival” standpoint.  And you certainly don’t need to worry about working out to make yourself more fit.  That schedule is tough, and will be much more of a reality than you may have really pondered prior to this article.  If so, you have work to do.  Start doing it.  Simple, shorter “workouts” of practice sessions until fatigued or until slight muscle soreness occurs are best for beginners, then advance as tolerated until you are really building up your tolerance to this type of work.  I will mention a few things about diet changes in prepping for TEOTWAWKI in terms of practice.  Start to eat more like you will after losing the grid and your favorite naughty food source (for me, it is Taco Bell).  Go an entire week without using electricity to fix your meals.  Definitely cut out fast food, junk food and eating out as much as possible now to miss those things less in the leaner future.  Eat some of your prep foods together as a group or family so that you can start to appreciate some of the tastes, textures and spicing that you may not be used to.  Some of these things may seem silly now, but will pay off exponentially WTSHTF.  As always, stay strong.

JWR Adds: Dr. Bob is is one of the few consulting physicians in the U.S. who dispenses antibiotics for disaster preparedness as part of his normal scope of practice. His web site is: SurvivingHealthy.com.