Odds ‘n Sods:

The Food Crisis of 2010. (Thanks to F.J. for the link.)

   o o o

Also from F.J.: Coleman Quad Lantern. [JWR Notes: I suspect that these are made in Mainland China, so buyer beware!)

   o o o

Dave B. mentioned another good reason to store extra fuel: Fuel imports into France surge as protests imperil transportation.

   o o o

SurvivalBlog’s correspondent David in Israel mentioned: “A good link for everyone is SpaceWeather.com. It is a good way to get your radio prop reports and also track flares which might damage satellites or power grids. There is a new solar flare coming, it will probably just make HF carry better via ionospheric skip. Get out your 10 meter band sets and see what you can do.”

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Didn’t seem to me that Owen Chantry was taking any chances, though. When he put his pants on in the morning he also put on his gun belt and his gun. Most men put their hat on first. He put on that gun belt ‘fore he drew on his boots. ‘You figurin’ on trouble?’ I asked him once. He threw me a hard look. ‘Boy,’ he said, ‘when a man comes at me shooting I figure he wants a fight. I surely wouldn’t want him to go away disappointed. I don’t want trouble or expect trouble, but I don’t want to be found dead because I was optimistic. I’ll wear the gun, use my own good judgment, be careful of what I say, and perhaps there won’t be trouble.’ ” – Louis L’Amour in “Over on the Dry Side“

Note from JWR:

Today we present two entries for Round 31 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round will 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 between $500 and $600, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A 500 round case of Fiocchi 9mm Parabellum (Luger ) with 124gr. Hornady XTP/HP projectiles, courtesy of Sunflower Ammo (a $249 value), and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).

Second Prize: A.) 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 $400, B.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and C.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Third Prize: A.) A copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, from Arbogast Publishing, and B.) a Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.)

Round 31 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.

Tactical Training for the Modern Family, by Jeff F.

In discussions with other members of the preparedness world one thing becomes abundantly clear. Training is secondary to supplies and generally is handled exclusively by the head of the household. I have found that being a former Marine, and a gun enthusiast, as well as the director of my family’s survival plan that many conversations with others all end up at the same spot on the map. The question I pose to the other males leading the charge is, “what happens when the SHTF and you go down early by brick/bullet or from a tap on the shoulder from Murphy?” The response tends to be a collection of, “well I know how not to get hurt”, or “I am aware and well planned” or any other combination of how well trained they are. But at the end of the day, we are all subject to failure at the worst possible moment.

Often neglected in home or family survival is a combination of simple military training tools combined with civilian business training. In the military, in day one small unit tactics, there is the responsibility to learn your assigned task then teach it to others in the unit. Each person has a task, radioman or medic or team leader etc. Once you have your area down you teach others. The theory behind is simple; as someone gets hurt or killed the next person can step up and know what to do to continue the mission. In the world of survival if the train stops due to one person being down or out then the chance increases that everybody could soon follow and that is unacceptable. This is mandatory for anyone in the group that takes the time to learn something or attend a class. Knowledge confined to one person, that is so rampant in the civilian business community, is the exact polar opposite of what is needed by any group working to function as a team.

When tactical training practice is overlooked, as being standard procedure, we become a Murphy beacon. Military and survivalist alike need to understand Immediate Action (IA) drills. It is imperative to understand how and why rally points and action plans need to be set up and practiced before, during and after an event. This concept seems easy if you have been trained or are dealing with others that have been similarly trained, but for a vast majority of people in the affected group, to include family of all ages, this is an area where nobody would expect an issue to arise until the trouble starts – and at that point, it’s too late.

The modern family unit, or first group to have to move or connect with other groups, is of the utmost importance to conduct both mind and body drills. With this in mind I would like to introduce business-training techniques into the busy modern family to accomplish this goal. Businesses are always dynamic creatures, growing and changing, always striving to be better.  Changes in procedure are always communicated to the affected group, followed by mandatory training and finally the change is implemented.  All of these steps are handled by those that have a full understanding of the current mission before it starts. If you view children and spouses as employees, they have little time or desire for long boring and dry training sessions. Getting everyone involved and on track is tantamount to a successful completion of assigned tasks.

As a leader, one goal you should have when dealing with a varied audience is to develop your own creativity. You must find a way to take complex tasks and break them down into simple steps for all concerned. The worst thing you can do is stand in front of a group and read from a book. Some may learn effectively in this manner, but when in times of stress, nobody is going to remember what they heard or read unless it is reinforced with hands-on practical training. I have a young son, as I have been explain to him throughout the years, that tactical awareness and knowing what and who is around him is one of the most important things he can learn and accomplish. He loves video games, especially first person shooters, this works well in teaching him small unit tactics, over watch and ambush drills in the safety of our home. I then couple this with walk and talk at the local park as we “play” and practice the same activity to increase muscle memory so at a time of high stress he reacts like he was trained.  I create these small sessions to get him learning and doing so it becomes second nature.

Is this foolproof? No, of course not, but we live in a fast paced society with busy jobs and lives. Carving out time each week to maintain the skills we have learned is difficult, let alone incorporating and teaching new practices. My wife is different then my son in her likes and dislikes but her love of our family and her natural desire to survive gives great strength to our training and practice sessions. Even with her, I find myself spending a lot of time focusing on “What If…” scenarios. I meld this way of thinking into our daily lives, while we are driving, sitting at dinner waiting for food, or in any other situation where we find ourselves with a few extra minutes. By doing this, I am effectively crafting activities and practices that my wife can put in place during times of struggle. For years I have been training her on being aware and using cover and concealment, which thankfully, she knows the difference, because when a real life situation happened her training kicked in.

Late at night, at a deserted gas station, my wife was approached by a drunken stranger who had an agenda of malice. My wife was able to keep focus on the situation at hand. She maintained eye contact on the stranger; she actively kept a safe distance and kept the car between herself and the larger male. During the brief interaction with the stranger, she quickly assessed the situation and developed a mental plan of action in case things got out of hand. This is a prime example of how the “What If” training kicked in, followed up by the “if this then that” forward thinking mindset. During this event my son was in the car. He immediately locked all of the doors, removed his seatbelt and placed himself in the middle of the car incase he had to escape the vehicle on either side. He immediately began to scan the area, watching for others that might be approaching and watching mom when she was had to leave the vehicle, touch base with the scared gas attendant, and contact the authorities.  While my son was giving the arriving officer a detailed description of the stranger, he observed the very same stranger appear from a wooded area and reenter the gas station behind the officer. My wife was able to handle the situation staying aware, and like a trained soldier, give an after action report to me so we could then dissect the positive and negatives to shape our future training sessions. It was after this event my wife finally relented and got her concealed weapon permit.

Tactics and “what to do if you are in charge” concepts are a necessity for everybody on the team. My family does not always see the big picture on why I may focus on one training concept more than the next or how individual training sessions can be combined into series of tactical approaches to a situation. Having been in the Marines, I understand that ideas without actions and goals without training will lead to failure. This is true in business and life. If you have all the jobs and responsibility during a crisis there will be a point where you either need sleep or perhaps receive a minor injury and you will need to rely on others to pick up the slack. Does your team, or family, know how to set up an Observation Post (OP)? If there was an attack in the immediate area, or they got lost or ambushed, do they know where to rally?  Do they know how to treat or care for wounds? At the very least, do they know why we don’t use the bathroom in the same vicinity as the water supply? If the answer to all of the above is no, then there is a good chance that you will fail. Why not plan a camping trip or a few nature walks with your family and start your own progression of training evolutions?

My wife and I have practice driving techniques while on long family vacations, both talking about what to do and what jobs are whose and what happens if someone goes down. We have done multi car driving adventures to test the skills as well as communication gear and GPS and map reading skills. We as a family have used crowed malls and sports events to practice movement in crowds and hands on direction and movement drills. My son knows without a doubt when I grab his shoulder and start to move him it’s because I see a threat and he is to comply, to the point that if my wife or I take it to the ground that he goes down and makes himself small, allowing us to cover him while making ready with our firearm for defense. It is little moments and opportunities in our normal fast paced life that we can take advantage of and use for training.

The business world and major world events are ever changing, having all the ability and knowledge locked into one person’s head is practicing for disaster. I end all of our training events with the question to my wife, if I go down what is your job?  I then follow it up with the same question to my son, if Mom goes down, what is your new job? We are always prayerful that we never need what we practice, but we plan for the worst. I buy important items in threes. That includes fire starters, water purifiers, maps, etc.  If I go down or my cargo is lost or destroyed, I need to know that the others have when they need to keep going. The last thing I want is to my son to end up lugging three packs with him because his mother and I fell out. If I take a class on firearms that I can’t take with others in my family then my job is to spread the wealth. If my wife learns how to can foods or dress a deer what good does it do if she is the only one with that knowledge? Taking tactical training and making it applicable for others and breaking it down to teachable chunks, that all can understand, and finding ways to make it fun is the challenge, but so is the heart of why we do it. Survival – it’s pure and simple.

Retirement and Surviving TEOTWAWKI, by Pat M.

All over the Internet are articles on surviving really hard times that are expected.  I note with some humor that most of these articles are talking to about 28-46 years old age groups, at least under-50 somethings.   I have seen nothing directed to the under 26 year-old or much over the 50 year-old.  Considering that we have a problem with what has been termed as an aging society retiring, what about us folks that can no longer throw on a 70 lb pack and hike 20 miles into the wilderness, or no longer have a sufficient income to prepare a TEOTWAWKI retreat?  Since we fall into the aging and retired category, I am going to focus on what we have done in preparation. 

Since I am 70 and my wife is over 60, and our sole steady money income is SS, our ability to put together a truly sustainable lifestyle is very limited.  Because of our age, planning for 20-30 years down the road is unrealistic.  As we age, our vitality for projects like we have taken on is reduced so every major project takes more time to accomplish.  We have currently taken on just about all we can handle.  Oh to be 40 again and all that energy to be put to creative endeavors and self-sufficiency.  

We did sell our house in an expensive area at the height of the housing bubble (which we had predicted would crash soon) and used the proceeds to buy the least expensive one acre plot in a working class neighborhood that we could find in another state.  Very low population density in the area, nearest large city of 85,000 is 30 miles from us.  For $62,000 we got one acre, only partially fenced, a well, a septic system, a single wide 1974 trailer, and a 1½ car garage, well house and a large lean-to wood shed.  We used up another segment of the house sale to put in another deeper well (original was 15 feet), upgrade the septic system, and fence in about 2/3 of the property.  Since the trailer would be prohibitively expensive to heat with wood due to coding requirements, we installed a wood heater in the garage for emergency-keep-warm circumstances and to make it possible to work on projects during the winter.  The trailer is heated with an electric forced air system and we have a back up propane space heater with a years worth of propane in the tank.  Because our well burps up water with large quantities of iron and sulfur, we got a relatively expensive large ceramic water filter for drinking. 

The area we live in has a multitude of mini climates and it can freeze at night anytime from June to September, and does every year.  The ground is poor, being composed of 35 feet of volcanic ash, which is okay for bitter brush and pine trees, lousy for vegetable gardens.  When we moved here, we were told by the “experts” that growing a garden and supplying food was impossible and not to bother.  In my life I have found that when experts make absolute statements, it probably isn’t true, or only partially true.  Being rather cynical in our old age, we decided to try anyway.  First year was a disaster, got a few fresh snacks for our effort.  We started composting heavily, trucked in about 20 pick up loads of horse manure and the second year was a bit better. That year we put in a small greenhouse as a supplement and to extend the growing season a bit on both ends and by the third year, we supplied almost our entire non-meat diet for the summer,  bought a freezer and put up enough to last the winter, sold, gave away and bartered food.  Not bad for a 1,500 sq ft garden area.  The second year we made a place for chickens in the lean-to wood shed and started to provide enough eggs for our use and enough to sell to pay for their feed.  The third year I constructed rabbit hutches and we started to supply some of our own meat. 

I will admit right off that growing a vegetable garden in this area is tough.  We’ve had a rather steep learning curve on how to do it because of the abysmal growing conditions.  Needless to say, the growing season is comparatively short here, so we can’t grow much that takes over 100 days to maturity nor highly temperature sensitive plants outside of a greenhouse, like winter squash, soybeans, pole beans, tomatoes etc.  But it can be done. 

Through all of this development, my wife has also contributed with cooking most meals from scratch from our own produced food whenever possible, and she has been writing a gardening column for the local paper for three years now. We both belong to the local Grange and a local political action group fighting with the county government over some of its nonsense.  She regularly gifts and barters food and we are trying to provide a lifeboat for her son if things get really bad.  We are a tad busy.  And I thought when we retired we would indulge ourselves in our hobbies and just have a good time.  Hah! 

Our food supply is not 100% self sufficient and probability never will be.  Just too much work for our aging bodies to take on.  In the last six years, we have also stockpiled enough food to last us about a year on a minimum diet.  If everything suddenly shuts down, we can make it for a year or so if we are very careful.  If the electricity is shut off for an extended time we insured at least drinking water by the purchase of an Amish water dipper for the well and found a used generator for the short term to keep the water and refrigeration going as long as I can feed it gas.

In anticipation of things getting really tough, and my conservative inclinations included, I could not bear the thought of throwing away rabbit hides.  So I dried them until I could take the time to learn to tan hides.  I also found some other folks in the area that raise rabbits in far greater amounts than we do and got their hides they saved (for the same reason) in the freezer for a very reasonable amount of money.  I now have a stack of rabbit hides worked and tanned pelts to make clothing and such for the winter projects, hopefully to barter and trade and some for our own use.  Hunter friends have promised whatever hides they can come up with for this years hunting season to convert to buckskin for clothing and other uses.  I’ve already gotten half of an antelope hide which I tanned out as a pelt.  Not sure what to do with it yet. 

Our efforts have not gone unnoticed in the area and quite a number of other retired folks have taken on some similar projects, mostly at a reduced level from ours.   We are in contact with other retired folks doing much the same as we are, scattered around the country that live where they don’t have to deal with our lousy growing conditions.  They also recognize their limitations but are doing the best they can.  We all bemoan the lack of some younger people to help out with the heavy work that needs to be done to increase viability.  Our observations are that the younger people that are interested in this kind of living are few and far between and have little interest in some kind of cooperative endeavor to keep us all alive in the event of a TEOTWAWKI situation. 

So, you might ask; why at our age are we doing this?  Good question.  If our living situations become as bad as I see it potentially happening, there is going to have to be some older folks around that have seen and understand the consequences of the massive changes in the world that have taken place in the last 50+ years and pass that on to the younger folks.   Older folks are also needed to pass down long lost skills on how to live without much outside help (and maybe without electricity and running water), like how to fix things, or make work-a-rounds for impossible to find parts or devices.  My observations say there is not much interest in this from the younger folks, so I will hopefully be around to teach the small amount of it that I know when the SHTF. 

Letter Re: Updating JWR’s Economic Collapse Indicators List

James:
On September 25, 2008, you posted some economic collapse indicators to watch for. I am interested to learn if you have any updates/changes/additions to these indicators. Thank you. – D. in Arizona.

JWR Replies: I don’t have any significant changes to that list. Ominously, one of the last items on my list ,”The Treasury starts to extensively monetize debt” has recently been announced, under the euphemism “Quantitative Easing”. Speaking of which, several readers sent us this article from Forbes: magazine: QE2 actions will lower dollar and raise gold. That, dear readers, is massive monetization, by any other name!

Be ready.

Oh, and to explain that last item on that list: “Mel Gibson moves to Fiji”. I included that as a joke, but in fact he does own an island there.

Economics and Investing:

John Williams Warns of “Severe and Violent Sell-Off in Stocks” (Thanks to G.G. for the link.)

Desperate for revenue: Local Property Taxes Soaring in New York.

The Daily Bell editors ask: As Goes Iceland, so Goes the EU?

N.I.M. flagged this item in the New York Times: Bernanke Weighs Risks of New Action. Any attempts are injecting new liquidity are futile. The U.S. Dollar will be wrecked by the Fed’s policies. My advice: Continue to buy silver on the dips!

Items from The Economatrix:

24 Statistics About the US Economy Embarrassing to Admit

Global Illusions Stemming From Money Printing

Robo-Signing Eviction Scandal Rattles Wall Street

The Fed Has Gone Insane So I’ll Just Pick Up Some More Gold & Silver (The Mogambo Guru)

America’s New Poor: End of the Middle-Class Dream

Gerald Celente On $5,000 Gold, Currency Crisis, and the Crash of 2010

Odds ‘n Sods:

From B.B.: Science may have found silver bullet for the common cold.

   o o o

Reader K. sent us to a nice history of food as a weapon, over at the WRSA site.

   o o o

More bureaucracy: New Rules Coming for Payments Out of Health Savings Accounts. The article begins: “Under the new health care law, consumers using workplace pre-tax health savings accounts will soon need a doctor’s note to pay for Tylenol and an estimated 15,000 other over-the-counter drugs.”

   o o o

Popular Science asks: How Quickly Could a Single Supervirus Spread to Every Single Person on Earth? (Thanks to The Elf for the link.)

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Everybody knows that pestilences have a way of recurring in the world.; yet somehow we find it hard to believe in ones that crash down on our heads from a blue sky. There have been as many plagues as wars in history; yet always plagues and wars take people equally by surprise." – Albert Camus, The Plague

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 31 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round will 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 between $500 and $600, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A 500 round case of Fiocchi 9mm Parabellum (Luger ) with 124gr. Hornady XTP/HP projectiles, courtesy of Sunflower Ammo (a $249 value), and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).

Second Prize: A.) 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 $400, B.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and C.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Third Prize: A.) A copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, from Arbogast Publishing, and B.) a Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.)

Round 31 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.

A Bug Out Bag Reality Check, by Stranger

I thought I would share some thoughts on my weekend bug out bag guerrilla camping trip. My purpose was to use my BOB in the manner in which I expected to have to use it in an emergency. My general plan has been to get away from people, camp with stealth, and wait for the dust to clear.  With this in mind I mostly want to put my gear through its paces and get my body used to the rigors of backpacking.

I live in central Connecticut.  I am a man in my 40s and have a dropped foot in a brace.  I am an experienced outdoorsman and feel quite at home in the woods, however it had been a few years and before my injury since I had been backpacking. The selected area was the east slope of a mountain in the Metacomet range (It is a traprock ridge only about 800 ft high).  The ground in this area is broken basalt, talus terrain. It is exceedingly difficult to hike on, especially with a 30-40 lb pack.  If you fall, the best you can hope for is a sharp rock in the knee.  So don’t fall – use a hiking stick.  This does have the advantage of minimizing recreational day hiker density. The conditions have been dry and the day (9/11/10) was clear and beautiful – just like 9/11 in 2001. The overnight temperature was predicted to be around 50, with a light wind and no rain until the afternoon of the next day.  A 19 year old former Marine friend of mine (“CJ”) and I got out a bit late: about 3:00 pm. We drove to the parking spot entrance to the chosen “wilderness area”. Our biggest issue was to enter the woods without being seen. Camping is not allowed here. We had been back in the area previously checking out a “dormer” on the slope that looked like a potential flat area (camp site) on the map, and also was far enough from the hiking trail not to be stumbled upon. I viewed the area with Google Earth to get an idea of the traffic on and around the site. I was particularly concerned about vehicular access to the site. I figured the worst we would have is an ATV rider, not a ranger or a cop. It being September the deciduous forest canopy gave us (some) cover from the air.

My BOB is based around a forest green Kelty Trekker external frame pack. I bought it mail order from Campmor for about $120. It has the usual 2 main pockets, plus 5 additional 1 qt. pockets and a map pocket on the top flap. I have a North Face mummy sleeping bag that I have used since Boy Scouts 30 years ago.  I have used it in winter weather down to 0 degrees F or so, so this is a piece of equipment that I absolutely trust. I also have a Thermorest self-inflating sleeping pad, wrapped around a Sven folding saw (don’t lose that wingnut!)  For shelter I choose a tarp. In my experience tents are too heavy, too fragile, and too visible. There are no poles to carry, and if pitched properly can give you 360 degree weather protection and a ground sheet. My tarp is aprox. 10’x12’, grommeted and cord reinforced on the edges, and it is earth brown. It was also inexpensive – about $10 at the dollar store. I carry a 2l pop bottle filled with water, and 2 additional 1l bottles of water. In addition I carry a GI canteen with steel cup and canvas holder. I have a Sweetwater water filter but for this trip I left it in the car as I intended to boil water for this short trip if I should run out of potable water. Surface water in the area is plentiful. Rations included Cliff bars, instant oatmeal, Ramen noodles, Tea and sugar, canned sardines, and cigarettes. (Sorry to say I’m still an addict).

Here is a list of gear:
2 Large black plastic 55g. trash bags (many uses)
Knit hat
Insulated leather work gloves (for working with a fire)
Extra socks
Inside another plastic bag:
Change of clothing, including another pair of socks
Polypropylene long johns
A towel and a washcloth
Rain gear: Advantage camo jacket and pants – at the top of the pack
A sweatshirt/windbreaker jacket with hood (it was that or a sweater)
First aid/personal care kit (inside a plastic nestle quick box)
            Lidocaine pad – for stings
            Gauze dressing sponges
            Bandage tape
            Band-Aids
            Antibiotic ointment*
            Tweezers (eyebrow type)           
            Nail clipper – don’t leave home without one
            Toothbrush & paste*
            Floss (a whole 100y roll – can be used for snares, fishing)
            Duct tape (wrapped around container such that it can still be opened)
            A muslin triangle bandage
            Medicine : Imodium, benadryl, ibuprofen
            Eyeglass repair kit
            A small bar of soap*
            Comb – even though I have no hair
            Sewing kit*
            Surgical scissors and fine tip forceps from a suture removal kit
Insect repellent*
Sunscreen*
Clip on sunglasses – the kind the eye doctor gives you so you can drive home after an appointment
(I need to add burn cream)
* indicates travel size/ hotel size

“Survival” gear:
            A mylar survival “blanket”
            A combo whistle, compass, and match safe, with strike anywhere matches
            Small fishing kit, including an onion bag net
            A Swiss army knife
            An orange Bic lighter
            A magnesium fire starter
            A plumber’s candle
            A film container filled with Vaseline soaked cotton balls
            A roll of spiderwire fishing line

Mess: a 2 liter stainless steel pot with lid and handle that folds up and over.
            A large spoon
            A small bottle of salt (makes all that wild food palatable)

Misc: A bottle of Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint 18-in-1 pure castile soap
            2 hunks of paracord
            A deck of cards
            A grease pencil and a small pad of paper
            Spare glasses
            An LED headlamp and extra batteries
            A small bastard file for sharpening tools

A repair kit with cotter pins for the pack and an extra wing nut for the saw
           
At the last moment I threw in a fleece stadium blanket and a couple of apples.
Note that most of the weight came from two categories:

  • shelter/bedroll
  • water

Other than my pack and clothes I also carry a walking staff made from an ash tool handle with a carriage bolt gorilla glued into the tip.  I also carry a Cold Steel Bushman knife, which incidentally fits on the end of the staff to use for self protection (Bears are back in Connecticut!). Oh, and don’t forget that in my pockets are: my wallet, car keys, a cell phone (turned off), a “Whittler” boy scout knife, also from my youth, and a disposable lighter (and another pack of smokes). I always wear an olive drab 1970s era boonie hat.  CJ wasn’t as prepared, and asked to borrow a cutting tool. I had two hatchets. The first is a simple camp hatchet with an orange fiberglass handle. The other is a hickory handled framing hatchet. He chose the framing hatchet. I don’t blame him: it is a pretty thing, like a tomahawk.

The woods in this area are fairly open: not a lot of underbrush. On the initial trail hiking was good. Probably 2 mph. Despite my best efforts, something was clanking in my pack. It wasn’t very loud, but bothered me after awhile. I think it was the spoon in the mess kit, or maybe a not fully filled canteen.  When we got into the hilly talus terrain, my speed slowed to less than ½ mph. I had to watch every step. Remember that I am handicapped. CJ had a much easier time, being younger and fitter. At one point I slipped and fell, but I was able to roll with it and was mostly unhurt. CJ stopped me from rolling all the way down the hill. Lesson: bring a partner. I could have been down and out, with a serious injury and no way out.

As we hiked I kept a lookout for wild edibles. Pot herbs were plentiful in the moist areas. There were lots of frogs, but most were too small, or were toads. Small frogs make great largemouth bass bait though: that is what the onion bag net is for. There were no squirrels to be found, and anyway I didn’t have a gun. There were literally tons of hickory and oak nuts, though. Their constant dropping made us feel like we were under fire J. At one point I made a huge find: about 20 lbs of chicken of the woods fungi growing out of a tree. I am a botanist by training, but not a mushroom expert, so I double-checked it’s identity with a photo-text message to a mushroom expert friend of mine – note that this option is not available after the crunch when the cell net is down! I am looking for a really good wild edible field guide that I can trust. I also saw a lot of bear scat and even a whole raccoon skeleton, which I didn’t touch for fear of rabies.

After an hour of bushwhacking my bad leg was taking a beating and had begun to hurt a lot. My pack was well balanced, but the straps still dug into my shoulders. The sternum strap helped a lot with this. CJ had no trouble with his pack, as he is a young former Marine. We had made it as far as we were going to go, and so began to look for a specific spot to camp. It would get dark soon. Almost like a miracle, up ahead of us was a natural Stonehenge: 5 or 6 truck sized boulders arranged in a semicircle. On the down-slope side was a relatively flat area for a tarp, and plenty of stones around for sitting on, building a fireplace, etc. There was no evidence that anyone had used this area, so it was “ours”.  It was nearly perfect. The stones provided cover from three sides, and as the downhill side faced nothing but deep woods, we had found a great “stealth site”. The biggest problem was that nowhere was there a spot that didn’t have a dozen head sized stones poking out. We cleared the area for a fire, and then worked at digging the worst of the stones out. I have a mini-shovel/spade that fits on the end of my staff also, but I had left it behind due to weight (mistake!). It would have made the stone clearing 10x less hard.  A back fill of leaves and forest duff would have to do for the unevenness. CJ built the fire pit and campfire while I pitched the tarp. Within an hour it was dark and we were sitting by the fire. A bit of petrol soaked cotton and a spark got our fire off great. The fleece blanket really came in handy as a butt cushion on those rocks. I smeared my pot on the sides and bottom with liquid soap (easier cleanup trick from boy scouts: the soot washes off, sort of) and put the tea on the fire.

The hatchet didn’t make it. After cutting tent stakes and cutting a pole for the tarp we decided to take turns throwing it at a dead tree. On the second throw the handle cracked right off the head of the axe. Lesson learned: don’t throw your hatchet unless you have a clue what you’re doing, and the axe is up to it
One nice thing about the big stones was that at night they blocked the light of the campfire. From the top of one stone I had a great view of the area, and was not blinded by the light of the campfire. The stones did have a lantern effect though; sending beams of flickering light out across the forest as it slipped between the rocks. Very cool, but it gave away our position. A bit of work (piling stones, brush) and the area was almost invisible to casual observation. From not too far off the tarp even resembled another giant stone, as they were about the same size and color. Inside the ring of stones the firelight and heat was reflected back into the campsite. Our fire was built inside a large ring of basalt stones. These proved to be excellent in retaining the heat of the fire throughout the night and into the morning, as basalt contains a lot of iron.

After dinner and tea we settled down to sleep. Everything hurt. The first time backpacking of the year really lets you know which muscles you need to work on. Even though we were deep in the woods, we could hear the sound of the freeway miles away. Sound really carried on the hill. Overnight my Thermorest pad deflated. This is why I was doing this, to check the reliability of my gear. I guess I will invest in a closed cell sleeping pad.

I woke to the sound of a motorbike.  Wouldn’t you know they were heading right for us? I was surprised that we only had about 30 seconds between first hearing the approaching vehicles and when they passed by. I guess our stealth site worked, because the three bikes passed by only about 50 feet away from our site (on an uphill trail I hadn’t seen the night before) and did not appear to notice our camp. If we had had I fire going I am sure they would have noticed, but we only used the fire after dark, to hide the smoke signature. Then again, they weren’t supposed to be there either! I am sure that a ranger or a search team would have been able to find us easily, but after all, we were in Connecticut, not Quebec. The woods are only so deep here.

After policing camp and returning it to its semi-natural state, the hike back was a bit easier, as we were going downhill, and didn’t have the weight of water or food to carry. In a bug out situation we would have been carrying both, but this was just an overnight trip. In addition, we wouldn’t have been heading back to the car, but deeper into the wilderness, so there is a morale issue here too. I was looking forward to a nice chair and a bath, after TEOTWAWKI those creature comforts would be gone, at least for the foreseeable future.

So what did I learn? First of all, be sure you have equipment that you know how to use and can trust not to fail on you. Know where everything is in your pack: this makes it easier to find in the dark without a light. My burden was not excessive, and well distributed, but after an hour or so of humping it over a mountain I was ready for a break. I need to stop smoking. Not only will cigs be unavailable or extremely expensive after the crunch, but the carbon monoxide load they cause reduced my endurance greatly. Practice! Those skills you read about won’t do you a bit of good if you haven’t practiced them. Have you really ever made a fire without a lighter or matches? The first time I tried fire by friction (in the Boy Scouts) it took hours for me to get the hang of it, and that was with a pre-made bow and drill set. What about cooking over a fire? Accidentally dumping your pot in the fire happens a lot unless you know what you are doing. Finally, bring some burn cream. You will need it! When I got home I was able to repack my kit, but this wouldn’t have been the case if it wasn’t a practice trip.

My goal of this essay has been to encourage the armchair survivalists out there – you know who you are – to get out in the woods to practice woodcraft skills and evasion, and especially to condition yourselves to the hardships of living out of a BOB. Don’t think you have it all covered because you have $2,000 worth of camping equipment in the trunk of your car. Body conditioning is hard work. Remember, you are going to have to carry all that stuff at some point, so it better be worth the weight. I am beginning to understand that bugging out into the woods may not be a viable option in the long term. I guess that I need a retreat! – Stranger

Letter Re: The Politically Correct Joy of Cooking

Jim,

The lady who whose submission is in today’s blog referenced the book Joy of Cooking and you provided an Amazon link to the book. The praise for this book – and her quotes from the book – are without a doubt regarding earlier editions. Up until the 1980s or early 1990s The Joy of Cooking contained sections on food preservation, butchering rabbits and other game and a host of other “pioneer” kitchen skills. The current editions (and the last couple, for all I know) are severely dumbed-down with far less emphasis on these topics and more on things like “cooking light” and such.

So while it’s a great book, folks should try to procure a used copy from the 1980s, or earlier. They shouldn’t be expensive. – Matt R.

Letter Re: Some Observations on Pre-1965 Coins Circulating in the U.S.

Hi Jim,
I spent two years as a security technician for a major armored car company. The idea that banks have silver coins in their circulation is quite remote. Banks get most of their coins from a Federal Reserve coin center pre wrapped and counted. All silver coins, Mexican, Canadian and other coins are thoroughly separated. I have been in one of these Federal Reserve centers and believe me they literally had buckets full of foreign coins. Any silver coins found in a bank would have to come from some local citizen spending them in a local store. Returned to the bank they would only get into circulation if the bank separated and rolled its own coins. [JWR Adds: For finding silver, the best coin rolls to ask for are customer-rolled coins–especially those from school districts. There are typically marked in pen with the customer’s account number. ] The one bank on our weekly run that did separate and roll its own coins claimed the silver coins for its own use. And they were getting ready to shut down this process because the local labor costs far exceeded the cost of having the coins custom rolled by the federal reserve center. How much coin does an armored car carry? Our six-day-a-week runs usually averaged weekday 800 to 2,000 lbs of coins each day. Saturday we would perhaps have 200 to 300 lbs. All of our bank customers returned their counter coins not in rolls to the Federal Reserve to be separated and rolled except for one bank. Daily pickups of coins never came close to the amount of coins we were hauling into these towns. I was amazed. Where on Earth were all the coins going? Much more delivered than were being returned to the Federal Reserve? I would say the ratio in to out was 10/1.

Ever wonder how much money goes into an ATM machine? We used to put $250,000 into an ATM in a shopping mall once a week [both $10s and $20s.] It was one of the most dangerous operations we carried out. One to open and load the machine and the other with a 12 gauge shotgun held at high port, standing guard.

I also worked as a shift manager for a convenience store later and that is the place where I got silver coins each week. Often 20 to 40 coins a week. My manager didn’t care if I traded them out of the cash drawer. Prowling distant small towns with second hand stores I have recently bought quarters for six times face value. And I do not mind paying $24 for American Eagles in plastic rounds either.

You cannot eat gold/silver nor $10 and $20 bills and the currently-issued coins. But you will be able to trade eventually with silver coins and gold coins for land and machinery. The best trade items will be cigarettes, alcohol, gasoline, diesel, kerosene, ammo, matches and toilet paper. You’d better learn how to make a casket out of pallets and line it with old cast off rugs.

In the area where we live there are massive construction of gas drilling pads being built. These pads usually are some 80 yards square, leveled off and then graveled. With an accompanying well-constructed graveled road and cattle guard at the road entrance. Gas wells here are usually 15,000 to 30,000 feet deep. Drilling platforms are huge to support the weight and some go to 90+ feet. Each site is like a small town with all the support trailers.

The other massive construction going on is the wind farms. Convoys of trucks carrying on each truck a single wide turbine blade or the generator truck-trailers that are 30- wheelers. The extra long trailers for the turbine support stems are 56-wheelers.

My wife and I both will be 70 soon. Little did we expect that the coming years will most likely be the most exciting times of our lives. I have been a prepper since 1970 and my wife and I have been preparing together since 1990. – J.W.C., from the red hills of western Oklahoma

Letter Re: Suburban Survival Revisited

Good Afternoon,

After reading the follow up post from Suburban 10 on his state of preparedness, I have just three comments to make:

1. Congratulations on getting to the level that you’re at now. Realizing that you are not at the level you need to be is half the battle.

2. Now that you have the red wheat berries and a grain mill it is time to take the next step and learn how to cook the wheat. It’s better to have practiced cooking your long term food storage items when you have had the luxury of time to experiment rather than waiting until Schumer time.

3. Make sure that you practice cooking on your wood stove. It is a different skill than using a gas or electric stove.

Thank you Mr. Rawles for your continued hard work on the blog and God bless you and your family. – Julie H.