Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 35 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and B.) Two cases of Alpine Aire freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $400 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo , and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).

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

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.) , and B.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value.

Round 35 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Keeping Your Communications Private, by F.J.B.

In this age of continuing disregard for an individual’s privacy, it can be difficult to keep your communications private. Warrant-less phone taps, postal service mail tracking, RF scanners,  and random roadside searches will appear fairly tame once the strip-searches start at the mall. Of course, this is their goal but even non-government snoopers are out there scanning your ID, listening to your phone calls, and trying to hack into your email. Going somewhere? Who knows your schedule? Did someone overhear your plans? How can you know?

What has happened to our right to privacy? Many people today are so beaten by the system that they have clearly given up. I have heard some people comment that they have “nothing to hide”, and sometimes even welcome a search to prove it. They “don’t mind” giving up their rights. “Go ahead and listen to my phone calls. I have nothing to hide.” They sometimes question why you wouldn’t be willing to give up your rights. They will also most likely be the first ones in line for the free government shower program, too.

News, current events, family issues, reports of local happenings, detailed instructions, requests for aid; all these things and more may one day be kept from being reported by main stream methods.  Getting a message through several hands and ultimately delivered to your intended recipient will require trust and perhaps some old school methods. Some of these methods are discussed here, but I welcome comments and any ideas others may have.

Thumb Drives

On the high-tech side (from a low-tech guy) of privacy I have seen several products I think offer a higher level of security. Ironkey makes a flash memory “thumb” drive that near self destructs when someone other than intended tries to gain access to the info it holds. “The encryption chip self-destructs if an invasive attack is detected”.  Super Talent makes a flash drive dubbed the “Pico” that is so small it could be hidden almost anywhere on most anything.  The smallest flash drive could be hidden on a person or in a coat or even be delivered by homing pigeon. I have also seen a working, cigarette lighter/thumb drive that conjures up images of  trench coat-wearing strangers meeting at a train station in eastern Europe.  

Thumb drives can be used to relay private messages in several ways. The info can be encoded and transferred from laptop to laptop to its end user, or  the drive can be encrypted and delivered to the end user. They can be used as a “cyber dead-drop” by hiding and fixing them in relatively public places for multiple users to upload/download info to or from. A thumb drive set in mortar into a brick wall where someone with a laptop could conceivably plug-in, download the info, and continue on their way would be one such “cyber dead drop“.  All the time the thumb drive remains fixed in the wall. The internet has several very creative examples of thumb drive dead drops posted on Youtube. The greatest concern with using a thumb drive for private communications at dead drops would be infections from the “unknown” user.
The giveaway and ultimate end to all dead drops is “noticed activity” by an outsider. This would give the outsider the opportunity to download a virus to the thumb drive dead drop, effectively damaging everyone else

Hard Wired Field Phones

Anyone who has ever seen a surplus catalog knows what a military field telephone is. They are still available from many sources at reasonable prices. These phones were designed for military field operations and used between fixed or encamped bases. They were considered to be more secure than a regular phone system since the hard wire was point-to-point rather than through a switchboard where “others” might listen in. This is still the case. Your phone conversations, whether cellular or land-line-wired (or digital fiber optic), are readily listened to and easily monitored without your knowledge. Radio transmissions can be monitored as well. Having a secure phone from point-to-point is an excellent means to keep your communications private.

These field phones run off a dynamo and a battery and are also compatible with the old style Stromberg Carlson phones you find in antique shops. They will also work with fencing as the transmission wire! Few would suspect you had a private line to your neighbor or friends house if you used the existing fence wire or even just ran the phone wire in the fence. City dwellers have been know to run the direct phone wire through the sewer pipes as well. Some of these phones work with up to two miles of wire. We have several phones placed around the property at cabin locations to call guests to dinner or help take out the trash.

Dead Drops

Through the years, dead drops have been used with mixed results. The ultimate end to a specific dead drop comes when locals notice activity. With this in mind, a more remote dead drop might last longer.

Usually a sign is left for another to notice and know that there is something of interest at the dead drop. The sign could be a chalk mark on a post, an Irish flag flying in a garden, a potted plant moved to the other side of a porch or any number of unremarkable things commonly unnoticed.  The dead drop itself could be a hole in a tree, a hollowed out slat in a park bench, a cavity behind a loose brick in a warehouse or any other uncommonly known hiding place. It could also be a remote drop location such as a shallow hole dug 10 steps off a highway mile marker post. Some have used a 5 gallon pail with a screw top Gamma Seal Lid as a buried dead drop. Some are hidden in plain view in the middle of town and others are out on lonely roads.

Dead drops can be used for delivering messages or objects. They can also be used as a collective cache location for supplies. An excellent book that demonstrated the use of dead drops in difficult times is Treblinka by Chil Rajchman. In the book, several like-minded people knew of the dead drop’s location and borrowed items, as needed, from the dead drop, returning them clean, immediately after the use. In this way, a large group of people can gain the use of a very limited amount of tools, supplies or resources.

A series of dead drops can also be used to deliver messages and items great distances.

Coded Messages

Many books can be written about codes, ciphers and secret messages. Today, even with modern technology and a Captain Midnight Secret Decoder Ring some codes will never be broken. A relatively safe code system for private messages is one that uses a common book or books as a “key”. Make a list of five of your favorite books and then go out and buy two of each of them. Be sure the two-of-each are the same printing and edition. Double check them by randomly opening pages and seeing that the second book matches the first exactly. Number the books 1 to 5 on the inside of the back cover and give your friend one of the sets.  Boxed sets of books work well, too.

Hopefully all the words you expect to use in your message are contained within the 5 books you picked. Some of you may have to pick more technical books to get all the words you want included.

The message you send will look like a series of numbers that relate to the number of the book (1 through 5), the page the word is on, and the number of the word on that page.

Example: I find the word “safe” in book 2, page 37, and then I count the words on that page and find that “safe” is the 17th word on that page. The code would read: 2,37,17 for the word “safe”.  

This type of code system makes for short and to the point messages but certainly private communication between only those who have the key books.
The great thing about this code system is that everyone has books and you can use books by anyone you choose; Steven King, Tom Clancy or even James Wesley, Rawles.

[JWR Adds: To minimize the chance of having a book code broken, it is best to buy two copies of some obscure “remainder” novel from the bargain table at Barnes & Noble–not a best-selling book, or any book that is associate with an”cause”!]

Coded messages like this can also be sent by any method you choose including radio and phone after the SHTF.

This type of code system can also be employed by Mutual Assistance Groups (MAGs) when communication privacy is of utmost importance.

Keeping your communications private will prove to be more and more difficult as bureaucrats look for new ways to use the new and intrusive technology that continues to develop. Older, low-tech methods of communication may have to be used when privacy is your biggest concern.

A secure communications network is impossible without trustworthy and like-minded people. The greatest tool in private communication is a network of trustworthy people. Finding and developing such a network is not an easy task and will become much more difficult to do after an economic, political, or societal collapse. Whom do you trust?

Letter Re: Recent “Debtors Prison” Articles

Jim,  
The Economatrix recently posted this article link: Welcome to Debtor’s Prison, 2011 Edition. I’ve read others like it and I feel compelled to comment.  In most states in the union someone cannot be sentenced to jail merely for owing money to someone else.  But in some states, you can, when it comes to child support and alimony. In these cases, a judgment creditor (spouse) can almost literally take the shirt off your back (even in my pro-debtor Texas) and send you to jail, sometimes facing felony charges.

If you read the article carefully, you will see that despite the use of terms like “debt related warrants” and “exploiting the court system”, what these people have been jailed for is contempt of court for ignoring court orders to appear.  

When someone wins a judgment against someone else, the plaintiff has a number of collection tools available to him.  As an example, Interrogatories in Aid of Judgment consist of a lengthy series of written questions that must be answered by the defendant – questions about his assets, savings, etc.  These and other documents can be served on the defendant and he must answer them.  If he does not, the judgment plaintiff can file a motion with the court to hold the defendant in contempt.  At that point the court will order the defendant to appear at a contempt hearing and if that order is ignored, the judge will issue a warrant.  And why not?  The defendant has essentially thumbed his nose at the court!  

About one of the jailed defendants the story said, “Mr. Stearns said he never got the summons or two orders to show up before a judge that a deputy sheriff said in court filings were delivered to him.”  

Are we really to believe that a sheriff’s deputy has lied on three different occasions about successfully serving the same person?  I’m not buying it.  There is absolutely no advantage to the deputy in lying about such a thing.  I think this guy was served and simply thought he could ignore it.  Once jailed he made the only claim he could that wouldn’t involve admitting guilt:  he said he was never served.  

One could debate this subject all day long but folks who win in court deserve to get paid – or at least deserve to be able to determine to their satisfaction that the defendant simply can’t pay – and inability to pay isn’t a crime.  Remember that it’s not just evil credit card companies and predatory lenders seeking to be paid:  It could be any one of us who was wronged by a rip-off mechanic or contractor (I’ve had to sue someone before).  

The bottom line for your readers (and these days it might affect more than a few of them):  Don’t ignore anything from a court!  You will not go to jail for an inability to pay a debt no matter what the amount or who it is owed to.  You will go to jail for contempt if you ignore an order to provide information or to obey a summons!  – Matt R.

Economics and Investing:

Reader John T. sent a link to some ominous commentary by Bob Moriarty about derivatives: The Ticking Time Bomb

Horror for US Economy as Data Falls off Cliff

G.P. suggested this by Bob Chapman: The Euro-Debt Crisis: Greece, Portugal, Spain. The Debts are Unpayable. Once the Lending Stops the Bottom Falls Out.

Casey in Arizona mentioned a recent piece by Michael Panzner, over at his excellent Financial Armageddon blog: Easy Way Out.

Mac Slavo: “America Will Be Dismembered By Its Creditors”

77,000 federal workers paid more than governors. (Thanks to Pierre M. for the link.)

G.G. sent this by Puru Saxena: Endless Quantitative Easing

Odds ‘n Sods:

I often have consulting clients and SurvivalBlog readers ask me for recommendations on architects and design engineers that specialize in designing retreats. I strongly recommend Andrew L. Skousen. (In case you are wondering, yes, he’s related to Joel Skousen.) Feel free to mention my name when you contact Andrew. BTW, Joel Skousen and Andrew Skousen co-authored the recently-updated 3rd Edition of the book Strategic Relocation–North American Guide to Safe Places. This book is a modern-day classic in the preparedness world. It is chock full of maps and useful data for anyone considering buying a retreat property. I highly recommend it. You can look for a full review of this book in SurvivalBlog sometime in the next couple of weeks.

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The folks from The Survival Bunker in Kalama Washington (near Portland, Oregon) contacted me, to let me know that they are transforming into an online only (eBay) retailer and we will be shutting down their brick and mortar store in Kalama on June 18th, 2011. They wrote: “We are having an inventory reduction sale, 10% off everything in the store, except silver items. Come in and stock up on some great gear! If you are local and you purchase from me on Ebay, select the ‘Local Pickup’ option to save on the shipping charges.” The store is located at 447 N. First Street, Kalama, Washington. 

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Deadly virus hits horse circuit–Competitions canceled, millions at stake as herpes variant spreads in West

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Anyone interested in cane or stick fighting self-defense should check out Cane Masters. They sell both custom canes and instructional DVDs.

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File Under ‘D.C. Beltway Logic Vacuum’: DNC Chair: Republicans Believe Illegal Immigration ‘Should be a Crime’. (God forbid a crime should be called a crime…)

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“What we’ve got right now is almost near panic going on with money managers and people who are responsible for money. They can not find a yield and you just don’t want to be putting your money into commodities or things that are punts that might work out or they might not depending on what happens with the economy… …We’re on the verge of a great, great depression. The [Federal Reserve] knows it. We have many, many homeowners that are totally underwater here and cannot get out from under…” – Peter Yastrow, market strategist for Yastrow Origer, June 1, 2011

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest – Round 34 Winners Selected







SurvivalBlog Writing Contest – Round 34 Winners Selected

First Prize goes to J.B. in Montana for Preparing Kids for Disasters, posted on May 28th. He will receive: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate is for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and B.) Two cases of Alpine Aire freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $400 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo , and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).

Second Prize goes to Bryan R. for A Guide to Chemical Warfare Preparation, posted on May 24th. He will receive: 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: goes to “Notutopia” for How to Winnow, De-Hull, and Clean Your Own Home-Grown Grains, posted on May 6th. She will receive: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.) , and B.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value.

Honorable Mention Awards: The writers of the 14 following articles will each receive a $30 Amazo.comn gift certificate, via e-mail:

Note to the prize winners: Please let me know your e-mail addresses for the Amazon.com gift certificates. (Those will be sent via e-mail.) I’ll also need both the USPS and UPS addresses for the top three prize winners.

Today we also present the first entry for Round 35 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round will be identical to those in Round 34.

Round 35 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Tips on Buying Physical Silver Locally, by Frank B.

Twenty years ago a friend of mine came to me and said I should be buying silver. He took the time to show me what he’d bought with a small inheritance he’d received that year: 900 troy ounces of silver rounds. He packed them up in a couple of .50 cal. ammo cans and  spent the next 20 years moving them around [buried caches in] his back yards. Back then he paid something under $4 per ounce for an investment total of under $3,600. Twenty some years ago I had at least a hundred other things I could have done with $3,600, let alone buy silver. Twenty some years later I find that I wish I had taken his advice earlier.

It took some time, but I finally got around to buying silver. I was at a truck stop in the mid-west and saw a case with one-troy-ounce silver medallions for sale (we always speak in terms of troy ounces when talking silver or gold). They were priced at $19 each and I went ahead and purchased ten of them without any real consideration. I had heard a few news stories about silver going up in price and thought it was convenient to get them.

After buying the silver rounds I went online to learn silver was trading at $14.58/oz (spot price). This didn’t make me feel real good at the time; thinking that I paid too much. After doing some research I learned that I could buy online from silver brokers and get silver for just 50 cents over spot price if I purchased 50 ounces or more at a time. So I went ahead and set up a trading account, locked in my price, sent my check overnight, and bought some silver through the broker. This was an interesting experience for me.  I have spent a lot of money through online sales before but not like this. The silver I bought must not have even been mined yet. It took 10 weeks before it was delivered to me. That was a long ten weeks. It wasn’t that I was not told about the 8-10 week shipping time up front; I was told. It was more that I was out a chuck of money with nothing but a big promise that the silver would be delivered to me.

The way this works is that, with the extra time involved, I was also given an opportunity to sell the silver back to the broker at a higher price (if silver had gone up in value). As it happened, silver did go up in value but I wanted the silver in my hands for a long term investment.

This is only one of the ways you can buy physical silver. I say physical silver in that I have the actual silver in my hands. It is not just a piece of paper that says I own silver that is in a vault somewhere else for safe keeping. I have it with me at home and I like it that way. After trying the broker method of buying silver I decided to look for silver locally.

Reputable silver dealers will price their silver based on what is called the “spot” price. Commonly they will then add a “premium” to the spot price which represents their profit on the trade. The “spot” price can be found in many places online and can change minute by minute depending on what the demand for silver is worldwide. Premiums can change as well, depending on how much the dealer actually paid for the silver he is selling you. If the price of silver went down several dollars an ounce after he bought silver, he would likely raise his premium to cover the loss. If silver went up just after his purchase, he might keep his premium low. Dealers also can give lower premiums to higher volume buyers.

As I’m writing this, the silver spot price is $37.99. This is a good deal more than the $4/oz my friend wanted me to buy in at. His $3,600 investment is now at about $34,000! Not a bad backyard investment.

When buying physical silver or gold let you “fingers do the walking” and do an online search for coin dealers in your area. I have found that coin dealers and jewelers are good places to find silver bullion. If you were to do a web search “silver bullion”, or “coin dealers“  in your area (largest city near you) you’d find several places to call.

When making a phone call to the coin shop it would be best to know what the current “spot” price was before you call. Look it up online first. Call the dealer and ask him if he has any silver bullion on hand. He might ask you how much you were looking for since he bases his premium on volume as well as spot price. Know how much you want to buy before you call. He may have 1, 5, 10, or even 100 ounce rounds/bars for sale. Know what you want before you call.  Ask him flat out what his premium is for 20 ounces (or what ever you are ready to buy). He’ll tell you per ounce what he charges as a premium. Ask him if he charges sales tax on the exchange. Know that you can buy 1 or any number of ounces of silver at a time. Don’t fret over not being a “big” customer. These dealers are happy to have new customers no matter what size they are. Don’t be afraid to ask questions about how he prices his silver but try to ask them all over the phone rather than at his shop.

Call several dealers and ask the same questions. Soon you’ll know which one has the best deal for you. Don’t waste time. Tell him when you’ll be in and ask him to hold the silver for you. Don’t miss this appointment! Get in there with cash money and do the deal.

It is important to note that some areas charge sales tax on silver sales. When you meet with the dealer, he will be able to tell you the local rules/laws. I have found that in some areas of the country, if you buy over $1,000 of silver or gold bullion there is no tax. Some dealers also understand that our Constitution allows for silver and gold bullion as currency and when I go into a shop, I state that I want to do a currency exchange: i.e.; $400 Federal Reserve Notes in exchange for 10 ounces of silver. This is in effect the same as walking into the gas station and asking for change for a newspaper machine. These dealers (those who understand our Constitution) do not charge a tax on the exchange. Note that a “sale” might require a tax but a “currency exchange” may not. [JWR Adds: Many states exempt bullion sales from sales taxes. Be sure to research your state’s laws.]

Also, it is worth noting that while these dealers want new customers, they are not looking for new distractions in their shops. The first thing you will notice when you arrive is that there are bars on the doors and windows. Some of the shops I have been to require the shopkeeper to “buzz” me in through his security door. Controlled access is a must for this type of business. His attention must be on the transaction to prevent mistakes or theft. The busier the shop, the less time he will have to chit-chat. These are not a real chatty businesses.

If you follow these simple rules you’ll be his best new customer.

Know the “spot” price as of that day.
Know what you want ahead of time.
Have an alternative in mind in case he doesn’t have what you want.
Bring cash money. No credit cards. No ATM cards. No checks.
Call ahead and tell him what you want and when you’ll be there.
Keep your appointment.
Ask to do a currency “exchange”. (Results will vary)
Go in, complete the deal, and leave.

He will remember you as a no-nonsense customer and it will show on follow up visits.

I have been buying silver and gold now for about 18 months. I started with 1 oz rounds and have since moved into 10 oz bars. It is all personal preference.
There is only one rule: Buy it and take it home. [JWR Adds: Don’t trust promises of bonded vault storage. Nothing beats taking delivery and well hidden at-home storage.] Sometimes I buy just a few ounces and other times I have bought 10, 20, or even 100 ounces at a time. Sometimes the dealer doesn’t have what I want and I buy gold instead. I have some US Silver Eagles and some generic rounds from various private mints. As for gold, I do have the opinion that 1/10th oz US Gold Eagles are the only way to go.

If silver and gold bullion go to where even some mainstream economists are stating, I am not sure what I’d be purchasing with a $10,000 gold coin but I can see using a $1,000 gold coin. For this reason I am only buying 1/10th oz gold coins.

If silver goes as high as some of the top predictions I have seen, a 400 oz stash could pay off a $300,000 mortgage (taxes not factored).

All said, the U.S. Dollar looks like it is losing its buying power at the same rate silver and gold appear to be going up in value. Putting my extra cash into silver and gold bullion just makes sense to me and even at $38/oz I still see it as a bargain. How much further will the dollar drop?

After a collapse I can see a return to gold and silver as currency. Yes, ammo and chickens will be traded too but once you have acquired all the ammo and chickens you can use, you’ll still need to accept an exchange currency if you plan to continue selling your goods or services. Our world has an historical and Biblical precedent set with gold and silver which we will ultimately return too. I also believe that it would be easier to bug-out carrying your wealth in gold rather than in chickens

Announcing the Ready Made Resources Preparedness Video Contest

For the next two months, Ready Made Resources (a SurvivalBlog advertiser from the beginning) is seeking entries for their Preparedness Video Contest. Instructional (nonfiction) videos on any topic related to family preparedness are sought. The prizes for the award winner are a brand new Rock Rivers Arms (RRA) Elite Comp M4 (AR-15 series compatible ) complete Barreled Upper Receiver and a Trijicon Reflex sight with a combined retail value of more than $1,400. Please keep your privacy in mind when you create your videos. (Don’t mention any surnames or towns). You may post up to three videos to YouTube for consideration in the judging. Videos up to 10 minute long that are your original work that are already posted to YouTube are also eligible for the judging. To enter, e-mail the URL for your video(s) to: grisrob@gmail.com. Do not send the videos themselves or links to videos stored at other web sites. Only nonfiction videos that you post to YouTube are eligible. The creator of the best original video will win a brand new a brand new complete Rock Rivers Arms (RRA) Elite Comp M4 (AR-15 series compatible ) Barreled Upper Receiver and a Trijicon Reflex sight. The deadline or posting videos is July 26th. The video judged best will be announced on Monday August 1st, 2011.

Letter Re: Are Mexican Drug Cartels a Threat in the U.S.?

Hi James et al.,  
I’ve slowly got around to reading most survivalist novels and blogs, but one thing I see never being considered (at least not to a great extent) is the threat from Mexican drug cartels. While threats from foreign governments and biker gangs would surely exist a post-collapse world, I worry about the discipline, ruthlessness, and resourcefulness of the cartels (see article about seized cartel tank). I could be wrong here, but it seems they already operate quite capably in a post-collapse scenario of sorts, so it would be nothing to them to transition to operating in a post-collapse United States. Maybe they’re not as dangerous as they are portrayed to be by the media, but I can’t help but wonder what survivalist group or town could withstand such a well-equipped army with ruthless determination? They seem to already be more prepared and organized than any group could hope to be. Am I overreacting to the idea of a threat from such cartels? Am I underestimating the ability of the people to band together and form a defensive militia? – Peregrin Took

JWR Replies: Rather than “cross border”, I believe that the greater and more immediate gang-related threats are domestic. These include:

Meth cooking and distribution gangs.
Because of law enforcement crackdowns, many methamphetamine (“meth”, “speed”, “crank”, “crystal”, …) distribution gangs have moved their cooking operations in very out-of-the way rural locations. Although the chances are small, you might have the very bad luck to live quite near one. Learn the telltale signs of meth labs and meth users.

MS-13.
Many people don’t realize that the international and ostensibly “El Salvadoran” MS-13 gang got it start within the United States. It was founded by a pair of misfit El Salvadoran immigrants who were living in the U.S. It was not until so many of the expanding gang got deported to El Salvador (to serve time in prison there), that the gang became international. It is an utterly ruthless gang that is still growing.

Assorted street gangs.
These gangs, many of them ethnic, are growing geographically and growing in sophistication. In many states they’ve moved to the suburbs and even to the boonies. Don’t be surprised if these gangs have contingency plans to start raiding in lightly-populated regions, in the event of a societal collapse.

“One Percenter” biker gangs.

Yes, its that outlaw 1% that give law-abiding bikers a bad name. Many of the outlaw biker gangs are involved in drug distribution. It is well known that many outlaw biker gangs have long-standing plans to raid lightly-populated regions, in the event of a societal collapse. Some gangs have even established rural caches, to facilitate this.

Conclusion
The good news is that all of these gangs will be lopsidedly out-numbered by the righteous citizenry, out in the boonies. The gangs will do some damage, however, before they are thinned out. So pick retreat properties that are off of the highways, and be mindful of OPSEC. (You don’t want to end up on an outlaw biker gangs TEOTWAWKI hit list.)

Letter Re: Dressing for Self Defense

Mr Rawles,
I found A.Y.’s suggestions to be very astute and workable, and wish to add a few of my own.

Underclothes: fencers over the years have pressed the bounds of stab- and slash-proof clothing. There are a number of SPECTRA fencing undershirts, that are of the same quality, if not better, as LEO anti-knife gloves. They also have the added bonus of being made with the express purpose of being stab proof. That said, still hurts like the dickens when one really gets gut stabbed. Having worn one in 90 degree sun, I can attest that not only are they comfortable but do a decent job keeping one cool.

Shoes: I wholeheartedly endorse his suggestion that on wearing steel-toed sneakers. I have worn these exclusively for about 12 years, and they have saved me more than once. Sears carries them, usually in the $30-40 range. They generally last me around 2 years, and I do a lot of hiking and running in them.

Jackets: motorcycle jackets do wonders for basic protection. Often either full leather (think motorcycle gangs) or leather-kevlar combination, most rated in the range of 100 feet of abrasion resistance. That’s sliding on asphalt at 50+ mph. Many combo jackets come standard with padding in the spine and elbow areas, as well as have special pockets for more protection. Great for protests and random street brawls as well. Caveat: when purchasing leather only, make sure it is not fashion weight leather. eBay is especially bad for listings of motorcycle style jackets that offer minimal protection.

Motorcycle gear is especially useful for personal protection. I was once the victim of an attempted robbery while fully geared (helmet, gloves, jacket, 511 tactical pants and steel-toed sneakers) on my bike. I was blind-sided and knocked off the bike, and the attackers proceeded to kick and hit me with sticks. While bruised, the above gear kept me from suffering more than minimal damage, and allowed me to fend them off.

In closing, I hope these personal anecdotes and suggestion help expand this often overlooked but extremely important aspect of self defense. – R.I.

Economics and Investing:

Mobius Says Financial Crisis ‘Around The Corner’ (Not surprisingly, Templeton says that it is derivatives that are to blame.)

Over at The Daily Bell: The Aden Sisters on Money Metals, Where the Market Is Headed and Why Gold Is Going Up

Thanks to William B. for sending this: Ireland may need more EU/IMF cash

Reader Paul B. spotted this commentary: Gold signaling hyperinflation?

Neal E. sent links to a pair of great articles over at Zero Hedge: Chart Of The Day: Currency Devaluation, Old School Style and Charting The Non-Linearity Of Hyperinflation, And Predicting America’s Future Courtesy Of Ancient History.

Two articles from the Canadian press, courtesy of E.B.:

An article on ‘hidden inflation’ at the grocery store: Incredible shrinking food packages Don’t be fooled by size. Shop wisely and check per-unit

A Canadian start-up silver producer having trouble in South America: Protests against Canadian silver mine continue in Peru

Odds ‘n Sods:

Pedal powered farms and factories: the forgotten future of the stationary bicycle. (A hat tip to my old friend Charley S. for the link.)

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L.V.C. flagged this item: Survivalists Eyed as Key Market for Central Florida Horse Farm

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Andrew B. sent a link to an excellent video presentation on using malting to improve the digestibility of starchy grains for nursing babies who have lost their mother, or the malnourished and sick.

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Ian in England wrote to mention that in Europe there is currently have an E. Coli outbreak in cucumbers; grown in Spain and shipped via Germany. He notes: “We have outbreaks here in the UK, possibly from imported items, now thought to also include tomatoes.   

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"There is but one kind of discipline, the best. It has to be taught. Those who are not used to it in times of peace will not learn it in times of danger." – The Swiss Army System, by Remy Faesch, 1916, p. 21