Letter Re: The Disappearing Road Quandary

Mr. Rawles:
I own a pretty densely-wooded 40 [acre property] in the Upper Peninsula (U.P.) [of Michigan]. The land on 2.5 sides of ours belongs to a timber company, and the land across the road belongs to the state. We live in a typical “stick built” house. It was built in the 1980s, with lots of big windows and two double-glazed sliding [glass] doors. We are four miles out of a town (about 2,000 population) but our house is only 60 feet from a somewhat heavily traveled county road. So our house is what you would probably call a tactical disaster!!!

My wife recently inherited $212,000. We also have about $60,000 saved in silver and gold. We want to use the cash and liquidate a small part of the gold to very quietly (using some contractors from 90 miles away) build a 1,420 square foot aboveground hardened house/shelter at the back end of our property. I’m presently having a civil engineer link up with my architect for the design. My wife calls our little project “The Hatch”, in honor of [the bunker in the television series] Lost. It will be our “fall back”, in case everything goes to heck. It’ll be set up like a regular house with kitchen, bedrooms, and bathroom–all the comforts of home, except windows!

Because we’ve got a high water table here, we plan [to build] it above grade, and then haul in soil to make an artificial hill. The entrance will be hidden by a fiberglass “rock”, like you talked about in one of your old posts [about concealing cave entrances]. (Thanks, for that.) Inside of that [camouflaged door], the main door will be an inward-opening vault door we’ll be getting through Safecastle. The nuclear [fallout protective] ventilator (A.C., with a pedal frame backup) will be out of Ready Made Resources. And we plan to get a Pelton wheel DC generator to power The Hatch. We have a blessing: There is a small river going through the back corner of our land just 90 yards behind [the construction site]. (Yeah, yeah I know, with the [low voltage DC cable] line loss we’ll have to invert to 120 Volts, AC.)

So here is my question: How can I construct a temporary road to the work site, without laying down rock and gravel? It is almost dead level between our house and there. I’ll cut as few trees [to clear the roadway] as possible in a bunch of S-shaped turns so that it won’t look obvious. Here’s what I’m picturing: I want to make the road disappear, after the construction is a done deal. We just want a little footpath that winds through the trees. If I scrape the road gravel back off, it will leave traces of the road, even if I plant trees. And we can’t skip on [using gravel], because the construction will likely start late in June and continue until about October. It would be axle-deep muck if we’ve got all those trucks going back there [with no gravel on the roadway]. So here I am, racking my brain… How do I make a temporary road that I can remove, and not leave a trace? Help! – B.D. in the U.P.

JWR Replies: I believe that the best answer is buying or renting a quantity of military surplus AM-2 airfield matting. These aluminum mats were designed to be laid down on leveled ground and linked together to form military runways and taxiways. Earlier generations were made of steel and are often called Pierced Steel Planking (PSP) or Marsden Matting. (The latter is after the name of the town where it was first produced.) There is also now some Soviet-era Russian military surplus runway matting now available in the U.S.

After you are done with your construction project, you can very likely re-sell the matting, probably at just a slight loss. (Since it is always worth at least its scrap metal value.) AM-2, or its earlier generation steel equivalents can often be found at little more than scrap metal prices through DLA/DRMS sales yards and their auctions.

Good luck with your project.

Letter Re: Nickels or Pennies?

JWR:
Thanks to SurvivalBlog, I have stashed away my share of nickels, but I began to wonder if it could make sense to sort and store pre-1982 pennies, which are 95 percent copper.  I’ve done some hands-on research in this area, and I believe there’s a way to accumulate pennies, and do so relatively easily and from an investment point of view, more effectively than nickels.

The Numbers

First, the numbers: If one stashed away $1,000 in nickels, one would have 20,000 coins; each coin is 5 grams, of which 75% is copper and 25% nickel.  So, $1000 in nickels is 75,000 grams of copper and 25,000 grams of nickel.  That’s just over 165 pounds of copper and 55 pounds of nickel.

However, if one stashed away $1,000 in pre-1982 pennies, one would have 100,000 coins, each weighing about 3.1 grams, of which 95 percent is copper and 5 percent zinc.  So, $1,000 in pennies contains 310,000 grams of metal, of which 649 pounds is copper and 34 pounds is zinc.

While the bulk [and weight] of pennies is greater for the money stashed, the amount of valuable metal is greater as well–and the resulting value much greater.

Another way of looking at it is that $1,000 of nickels, as of today’s writing and according to Coinflation.com, has a melt value of  $1,261; the equivalent dollar-value of pre-1982 pennies, however, has a melt value more than double that at $2,607.

You certainly get more bang for your storage buck with nickels, but you get more bang for your investment buck with pre-1982 pennies.

For anyone for whom dollars come dearly, finding a way to accumulate pennies should pay off better in the long run than nickels, and while it is somewhat more time consuming to collect pennies that way, one is trading time for greater long-term value.  And those who are unemployed or otherwise with time on their hands will find this a reasonable way to leverage their assets.

Penny Sorting Machines

I’d spent time thinking about how to create that “density-measuring” penny sorter that you describe in your “Nickels” blog post.  On a whim, I did some surfing, and confirmed that such machines exist!  There are at least three basic approaches:

First is a machine that literally weighs the pennies, dropping the good 95% copper pennies–which weigh more–through a counterweighted trap door and allowing the zinc pennies–which weigh less–to pass over without triggering the mechanism.  This system is effective, though a bit slow, and relatively inexpensive at about $100.  

Second is a coin comparator which is used in vending machines to reject slugs and other nonconforming coins; put a coin of the type you are searching for in the comparator, and it will separate the good from the bad.  This device has to be fed the pennies manually, and while faster than the weighing machine above, still takes a significant amount of time.  This is the least expensive of the lot, and can be purchased on eBay for around $40.  (On eBay, search “copper penny sorter”)

Third is the Cadillac of penny sorters, the Ryedale.  This machine also uses a coin comparator but has a feed system which will allow it to sort 18,000 pennies per hour.  It is lightning fast, and helps solve the time consuming problem of sorting the good from the bad.  It is, however, the priciest at roughly $520, or $550 with extra feed wheel and hopper expanders.

Being a cost-effective sort of person, I first decided to try the cheap route, buying a coin comparator on eBay.  It works, and works effectively, with well less than a 1% error rate, but I did not find it easy to feed.  I found myself spending much too much time feeding that comparator, sorting only perhaps $30 of pennies an hour.  At a 30 percent yield that was $9 of copper pennies an hour; I found that too slow, and my attempts to create a faster feeding system were for naught.

I looked into the Ryedale some more, and found that used machines on eBay were being snapped up by bidders, returning 75% of the purchase cost.  That made my decision easy–I could buy a Ryedale, sort the pennies I wanted, and recover most of the cost of the sorter on eBay.  This is what I did.

Once I found these machines online, there remained two details to address:is the yield of pre-1982 pennies sufficient to justify my time sorting them and can I get pennies in bulk?

Sufficient Yield?

I live in rural Southern Wisconsin, and so my next task was to see what yield I would get in pennies.  I went to three local banks and obtained $5, $10, and $20 in penny rolls from them, or $35 total.

I found a yield of about 35 percent with these pennies, which seemed satisfactory to me.  I’ve read that some people sorting pennies achieve only a 20 percent yield, but here in my area I’m consistently in the low 30s on average.  I once had a 92 percent yield in a $50 bag, but also once had only a 5 percent yield.  It averages out.

Obviously, one trick is to make sure you don’t get your own sorted pennies back.  Pennies I get from one specific bank I never take back there for counting and credit.  Pennies I get at my other bank–where I take the “bad” pennies for counting and credit–are always pre-rolled and delivered from the regional bank, not from the local supply to which I’m contributing only zinc pennies.

I buy pennies generally in rolls and usually in $50 or more lots.  One bank is willing to order and allow me to buy $500-worth of rolled pennies at a time.  Another bank also allows me to buy pennies up to $200 at a time in rolls.  I have also managed to make an arrangement with them–when they sort coins into bags, they also allow me to buy those $50 bags of unrolled coins, which saves the time of taking the pennies out of the rolls.  This is the bank to which I never return my sorted pennies, so those bags never contain my rejects.

One thing I do is make friends with the tellers.  What I’m doing is kind of a pain for them, so I’m friendly and engaging.  I have taken in some of my “finds” to show them, as they think I’m searching for rare coins as a coin collector–which I am, but I’m also doing more.  Last week I found an 1890 Indian Head penny in remarkable shape in one of my rolls, and I took that in to show the tellers as one of the “lunkers” I found during my “fishing” expeditions.  They like to hear my stories, and I always oblige.

Unwrapping Rolls

I use an old-fashioned bottle opener such as is used for removing a bottle cap.  I use the “hook” which grips the lip of the bottle cap to break open the rolled ends where the paper ends, and it’s easy to unroll them at that point.  I unwrap them into a small plastic bowl so I can easily see if there are any paper fragments to be removed.  One has to make sure that paper fragments don’t mix in with the coins as they can get caught in the Ryedale sorter.  I can unwrap 10 to 12 rolls a minute.

A Few Rare Finds

As I unroll and sort the pennies, I keep my eyes open for older pennies with the Sheaves of Wheat design on the reverse (“Wheats”) or any other rarities.  I ran across an 1890 Indian Head, and have found numerous older pennies from the teens and 1920s.  I keep the Wheats separate, as I know a local coin dealer that pays 2.5 cents apiece for common “wheats”.  And I expect, sooner or later, to hit big on a rare penny.  

How I Store Pennies

I’m closing in on my first $1,000 in pre-1982 pennies; I’ve been rolling them in coin wrappers, and storing in boxes which contain $25 in pennies.  This makes storing easy as they’re compact, but there is additional cost in buying penny wrappers and the boxes.  This makes it easy to demonstrate the pennies are all pre-1982 as each $25 box of pennies will weigh 17+ pounds if they’re 95 percent copper.

There is a time cost in putting the pennies in wrappers.  I bought coin counting tubes from MMF Industries which allow one to easily get to about 50 pennies in a hurry.  I slide these into a preformed tubular wrapper, and place on a scale to double-check the count (they should be about 155-156 grams).  While not overly fast, I find this relaxing, oddly enough, and I have a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction each time I complete a $25 box.

I’ve also stored some pennies in plastic coffee cans, in which I can fit $35 in pennies.  Either way, I’m heading toward my long-term goal of at least a half-ton of valuable copper stored in penny form, and I may even try for a ton. 

Eventually, I believe those pennies will have real instead of theoretical melt value; I also believe copper prices will rise significantly over time.  And if not, they’ll still be worth a penny each.

Thanks to SurvivalBlog, I have a pretty good stash of nickels.  I’ve now shifted gears to pennies.  But I’d appreciate it if everyone would wait to descend on the banks until after I have my share. – Mike D.

JWR Replies: Your advocacy of seeking a greater “amount of valuable metal” is arguable, since for many years nickel has has been worth nearly three times as much as copper. In my estimation, saving coins with a higher dollar density makes the most sense. (For that matter, if any significant number of silver coins were still in circulation, then those would be what I’d stockpile “at face value.” But, alas, I was born a generation too late to take advantage of that window of opportunity.)

The key questions for anyone contemplating searching for pre-1982 (95% copper) pennies are: 1.) How strong is my back? 2.) How much storage space do I have?, and 3.) What is my time worth? Those factors are what pushed me toward nickels. At least for now, virtually ALL of the nickels presently in circulation are 75% copper and 25% nickel. (The few 20% silver “War Nickels” minted from 1942 to 1945 are just a nice bonus.) This universality means that asking my teller for $40 in nickels each time I go to the bank takes a negligible amount of time, since there is no sorting required. All of those rolls of nickels go right into .30 caliber ammo cans when I get home. That is “No muss and no fuss.” But how many hours does it take to un-roll, sort and re-roll $1,000 worth of pennies? (Not to mention the time required to return 70% of them, as rejects.) So for me, the choice was clear: Nickels!

But of course your mileage may vary. For someone who is underemployed or retired but yet still has a strong back, the 95% copper penny hunt might be worth pursuing.

In closing, keep in mind that the window of opportunity to acquire large quantities of genuine “Nickels with nickel” without any sorting will likely close in 2012. Once they have been debased, we will be forced to sort nickels. Stock up now, or you’ll kick yourself later for not doing so!

Letter Re: Meat Canning Experience

James,
I would like to add a note to one of the observations of Don M., regarding re-freezing of meat. I too have heard many times that it is unwise to re-freeze meat or fish. I grew up hearing it. Often it is even implied that it is a health risk. Most folks don’t know why; it’s just what they’ve always been told.

Water expands when it freezes, and as we all know, will rupture whatever contains it – even steel pipe. The cells of meat and fish contain a high content of water. When it freezes, it will break the cell wall, leading to poor quality and texture upon thawing. This is not a health risk – just bad for quality. If the freezing occurs quickly, as in a production blast freezer, the cell wall will freeze hard enough before the inner part freezes, to prevent cell wall rupture. The notion of “flash freezing” is with very few exceptions, a myth. Most industrial freezers will bring the product to a core temperature below 0 F in as little as 2 hours and as much as 5 hours (depending on the thickness of the product and the temperature of the freezer). Remember – they are freezing thousands of pounds at a time.

It is a very common practice for fish caught in Alaska to be frozen “in the round” — after removal of heads and entrails. They are then shipped to processing plants elsewhere, thawed, further processed (into fillets or whatever) and refrozen.

If you regularly buy fresh meat and fish and freeze it at home, and are satisfied with the quality, then you should feel comfortable refreezing meat or fish if the need arises, as long as it never gets above refrigerator temperature. I do it often.

Best to You and Yours, – D.B. in Seattle

Economics and Investing:

A 1980 copy of Playboy Predicts the Future for Silver

David D. sent this: Speculation explains more about oil prices than anything else

John R. recommended a series of charts, showing the sad decline of various currencies since 1970: Your Purchasing Power. JWR Notes: As I’ve written before, currency inflation is robbery in slow motion.

Reader Paul G. suggested this by Dave Altig of the Atlanta Fed: Just how out of line are house prices? Clearly, house prices have farther to fall before we see bottom!

Shadow Stat Misery Index Highest on Record

Items from The Economatrix:

Yishai sent a link to this must read new post at Zero Hedge: What does a trillion dollars look like?

Social Security Trust Fund Bonds Will be the “21st Century Version of Confederate Banknotes”

South Carolina Moves to Make its Own Gold & Silver Money

Rising Food And Gas Costs Push Up Consumer Prices

The Great Government Fire Sale Is On

Global Stock Markets Hit By Second Commodities Sell-off

Odds ‘n Sods:

Check out the new Rocky Mountain Survival Institute blog. Great stuff!

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New Army Ammo Puts Mean in ‘Green’

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I just heard that Ready Made Resources has received a small supply of Mountain House freeze dried Diced Chicken, packed in #10 cans. Since the quantity is so small this item is not listed at the company’s web site. To order, please call them at: 1(800) 627-3809.

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Ben L. mentioned this very bad court precedent in Indiana: Court: No right to resist illegal cop entry into home. This is a 180-degree turn from the longstanding common law tradition that any officer of the law who acts extra-jurisdictionally has no more legal defense than a criminal housebreaker.

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SurvivalBlog’s Access Via IP Address contingency plan came in handy on Sunday, as the Third Intifada regional glee club‘s rallies sent ripples through the Internet. It was mostly just sound and fury, but it became clear that there were a few serious cyber attacks. One SurvivalBlog reader in Kuwait wrote me: “[The] DNS is down. I can only get to web sites via their [dotted quad] IP addresses. Our Internet went down five hours ago, on three different service providers.”

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, the guarantee to everyone the free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it." – Thomas Jefferson, from a letter to Joseph Milligan, 1816

Notes from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 34 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 34 ends on May 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.

Feeding and Caring for Livestock, by D.T.

As we find ourselves moving back to basics on and around the farms, more people that have had no livestock ever also have no clue how to feed them or how to take basic care of them, are getting them. In the past two years, I have personally rescued and placed 115 horses and assisted in numerous other rescues. I can’t stress enough about proper care and feeding. It is easier to maintain a healthy weight then to put it back on an animal. For each 100 pounds lost, it takes three months to put it back on the right way, without injuring or killing the animal. Water intake is crucial, the amounts are based on age/weight, type and breeding status. When the SHTF, there will be little or no access to bagged feed, bulk/surplus hay and supplements.

When you are looking into buying horses, cows, sheep and goats, take into consideration that – the smaller the animal the less it needs to eat and it will yield less meat, milk and in some cases offspring. The calculations in this article are taken from research done during my time working horses (almost 40 years), cows and farm living. For those raising young stock – powdered milk, Carnation canned milk and Karo syrup are a must for orphans. If you can find powdered colostrum get it and vacuum seal it. Stock up on wormers and antibiotics for your animals too, because they can and will need them. Common veterinary antibiotics include Penicillin, Amoxicillin, Erythromycin (“E-mycin”), Keflex and Sulfonamides. Tetracycline and Doxycycline can also be used, but are more disease specific. A Merck Veterinary Manual is extremely useful and if you have livestock get the right tools to help diagnose and treat. [JWR Adds: I also recommend the books Veterinary Guide for Animal Owners by as well as Where There Is No Vet by Bill Forse.]

Here is a standard feed calculation for horses :

             
W = HG 2 X BL
          ______
             330

Where:

W = Weight in pounds
HG = Heart girth in inches
BL = Body length in inches

Starting at your horses chest at the top shoulder point to the point of the buttocks (about an inch away from the tail) gives you body length, from the wither to the to the point of buttocks.
It is a maximum of 3.5% of their total body weight in grain and forage, with the maximum going to only foals to age of 1 year. Of that only .5 to 2% of it is supposed to be grain. That means if you have a 60’ x 150’ yard don’t get a horse unless your supply of hay is permanent and inexpensive. In the northern states where the grass dies off fairly early (late fall) then you need to have this down – each horse will consume 1-2 flakes of hay 2 times per day, each bale has 10 flakes. (DO NOT feed out a lot of alfalfa as your horse can colic or founder).

Let’s say your horse will eat 2 bales per week at a cost of $3-$10 a bale. Buy in large quantities when the hay is being baled and it will cost you less. Down in the southern states we feed out less hay as our grass doesn’t begin to die off fully until later in the year (based on heat and rainfall). Round bales are great BUT will mold if not covered properly and then can’t be fed out to special needs or stalled horses, some say you can’t feed it out at all, but those with horses mixed with their cows do know a little different. Round bales weigh from 400 lbs to 1200 lbs and are priced from $10-$75 each. With seven horses on 12 acres I will go through 12 round bales from December to May, average of 1 bale per pasture per week or every other week. Horses need some supplements so we need to have alternative methods to buying them. Grain does go bad and you do have to balance what you give them, lower protein for less active horses from 3-10. Use no cotton seed or cotton seed oil, as it can damage reproducing horses and can cause other health problems.

Your first horse requires at least 1.5 acres, and as you add more, you will need at least 1 acre per horse. Straight oats and corn can be given, but both are higher in protein and corn causes the horses to produce more heat so I would be careful how much feed to put to them. There is one kind of horse that will eat other protein: the Icelandic Horse will eat fish (dried salmon). Remember that horses need from 6-20 gallons of water per day per horse.

Cows the feeding is a little different due to creep feeding and hay consumption but on average they will eat up to 30 lbs of feed per growing animal at 1,200 lbs so about 2-3% of body weight and whether they are dairy, beef, pregnant, steers or calves. You will need about 1 acre per animal or you will have to supplement more. The nutritional needs vary based upon what you have and you need to plan accordingly. If you have had even 1 case of blackleg show up in your calves stock up on vaccines because it doesn’t die out in pastures, it will lie dormant and will kill infected calves. Cows need from 4 gallons per day to 23 gallons per day per animal.

Goats: You can have quite a few, but I would recommend only 8 per acre, maximum . They do need roughage and can have ¼ lb to 1 lb of grain per day, but no urea, natural protein only as it can make your goats sick or they can die. Goats will eat everything including poison ivy, your garden, blackberry and raspberry plants. Goats tend to jump and require better fences than other livestock. You can train them to tie out; I wouldn’t use a drag because they will drag it through your fences, bust the pipes and eat pipe insulation. Kids can die off quickly if exposed to rain and cold when very young. They can also suffer from floppy kid syndrome, which is just as it sounds and can be treated early with thiamine, penicillin and Vitamin B. Goats need from 1/10 gallon to 3 gallons of water per day, per animal.

Sheep need roughage, at ½ lb to 1 lb per day for babies and recommended creep feed adults from 2.5 lbs to 7 lbs or increase 2-4 lbs to 6-12 lbs haylage/corn silage but not for lambs, no copper. Protein supplements for late gestation ewes, lactating ewes, rams and feeder lambs. Use it only when you give no alfalfa with corn. Urea can be fed to adults at 1-3% of feed. Sheep need 1/10 gallon to 3 gallons of water per day per animal.

Pigs can do very well in pastures, but even a well fed pig will nibble on a sick or dying animal. Horses can and will hurt pigs, so when feeding, separate them. Farmers used to plant mangels (fodder beet), turnips or rape. This can be given to cows too. Boars can be killed without neutering if they are kept quiet for about 24 hours before slaughter. Pigs need ½ gallon to 6 gallons of water per day per animal.

Due to over grazing, no rotating, or tilling, we do rob the pastures of natural supplements and make it more necessary to add grains. With livestock pastures should be rotated, rested, tilled and replanted as needed.

Stack your pasture with cows and chickens (bug control) and geese with sheep.

Some people do give out store surplus stale bread to all their livestock and it does work. But if you give them a lot right off the bat they can get sick. Rice bran can be given; we use it on underweight horses. Wheat bran we feed out in the cold weather and to older horses that need a little extra. Mineral oil can be kept on hand for occasional colic.

Natural herbal worming – caraway 56%, parsley 20%, chicory 10%, chervil and dill 14%. You can also use wormwood, mug wart, chicory and common tansy. They have found that the ingredient in some plants and ferns that are effective against parasites is filicic acid. Willow has salicin and it is said if you feed horses the leaves they will not get worms and a decoction of the bark treats flukes and diarrhea. Tannin also works. But I would discuss the options with a vet or vet school and see what is toxic in your area and what will work on the parasites in your area. Never use tobacco as it can damage the lining of the stomach. Injectable wormers have a longer shelf life than paste wormers.

Fly control helps reduce parasites. In easy fly control method is ¼ cup apple cider vinegar twice daily over food. Larva and such in your troughs add algae eaters and goldfish. Keep chickens in your pasture. For fleas adding some guinea fowl keets (they are great watch birds too) and sheep will help. (When we have sheep I do notice a decrease in the presence of fleas).  Muscovy ducks eat mosquito larva in standing water.

In a SHTF situation remember that prevention will be a huge thing and our ability to treat ailments in our animals will be limited. Find alternatives now, look for what you will need later and buy extra.

Letter Re: Meat Canning Experience

James,                  
People frequently refer to losing power in freezers as good incentive to keep freeze dried food on hand.  My family found out the hard way that your freezer full of meat can be canned with excellent results!  I awoke one Friday morning and headed downstairs to get ready for work.  I noticed a glow in the basement and, knowing that there were no lights that were supposed to be on, went downstairs to check it out.  Somehow, the night before, the upright freezer door had either not been shut securely or had come open.  Our store of beef, ½ cow, was thawing out and making a bloody mess (no, not the English saying, it was literally a bloody mess!).  My mother had offered to teach us how to can meat the year before but we never set the time aside for it.  No time like the present, so we cancelled school for the (teenage) girls, called mom to beg her help (she was thrilled to help out!) and started up the stove.  We already had two pressure canners (two is one, one is none) and I headed to the store to buy another 5 dozen canning jars, lids, salt, etc.  The next 35 hours were a solid round of cooking the meat, getting one canner loaded while the other canned and then unloading the jars to cool.  We worked in shifts but were absolutely exhausted by the time we were done!  We canned approximately 400 lbs of various beef cuts.  Of the 60 or so jars we canned only 3 or 4 failed to seal.  We simply put them in the fridge and ate them first.                  

Some observations on this adventure:  

1.       Keep your canner gauge checked for accuracy and have a spare gasket if you aren’t actively canning since you don’t know when you will need it!

2.       As mentioned numerous times before, keep plenty of extra jars, lids and rings on hand.

3.       The beef had started to thaw so we threw it into chests full of ice to keep it cool while awaiting cooking.  Re-freezing thawed meat is not, I am told, wise.

4.       A clean kitchen helps immensely with this sort of operation.  Think of it as a lab and you will have an easier time with it.

5.       You can supposedly can [some] meat raw but I was not brave enough to try it.

6.       The canned beef is unbelievably delicious!

7.       If you have relatives that are in the Silent generation (as defined by Strauss and Howe) they are probably full of great reams of knowledge and advice about what I would call ‘sustainable living’ (a term well abused by many statists, I know- lets take it back!).  They were children during the 1st Depression and WWII and were most likely heavily involved in helping procure and store food for their family.  Lessons learned in childhood like that never seem to go away even if they do dim somewhat.

8.       Check your freezer for level and make sure it has just a slight tilt backwards so the weight of the door will keep it closed.  This will ensure that you can learn to can like this at your convenience instead of as an emergency!  

So yes, canning is labor intensive but the end result is no need for a fridge or freezer.  How great is that?   – Don M.

Economics and Investing:

Stephen M. sent this: Alan Blinder Fires First Shot Across QE3 Bow: Says We Need More Stimulus To Boost Employment. Monetizing the debt is a governmental addiction. It won’t end until the U.S. Dollar is destroyed!

Reader G.P. forwarded this: 50 Things Every American Should Know About The Collapse Of The Economy

Sig sent us this: Roubini: Jobless Rate Will Jump to Near 10 Percent as Economy Slows.

Some “Live Free or Die” news: Southeast Minn. man finds copper plate used to print money. The story gets very interesting when the lawyers get involved. (Thanks to Jim H. for the link.)

Items from The Economatrix:

Death By a Thousand Cuts

The Economy When Capital Is Nowhere In Sight

Treasury Auctions to Take US Over Debt Ceiling on Monday

US Exports Hit Record High, Trade Gap Widens On Oil

Odds ‘n Sods:

Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader B.B. spotted this: Rich Russians Buy Bunkers on Apocalypse Angst. JWR Adds: Regardless of what country you are in, be wary of fast-talking salesmen that want to sell you floor space in any shelter that doesn’t yet exist. Just as with precious metals, I recommend that your investment be something tangible. FWIW, back when I was in the software industry, we used to call planned products or planned features “vaporware”, because many of them were never anything more than Marketing Department hype. (There was no code for this software yet written.)

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Mr. K. wrote to note: “I found a video that displays the perfect example on why it is important to donate anonymously through a third party: Tony Feeds the Locals. A generous offer by the No Reservations crew turned ugly, quickly.”

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J. McC. mentioned Kitat Konenut: Organizing for community defense, at the grass roots, with a common faith. Does this sound a bit like the American Redoubt? (One difference is that I don’t advocate having any centralized leadership. I’m merely encouraging individual families to relocate, attend good churches, coalesce, and take a stand.)

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More about the Owyhee Tragedy: It Was Death by GPS!

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Japan to Cover Damaged Nuclear Reactors with Giant Tents. (A nice gesture that will reduce the spread of particulates, but hardly a permanent solution.)

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.

But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all [men], as theirs also was.

But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience,

Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of [them] all the Lord delivered me.

Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned [them];

And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” – 2 Timothy 3:8-15 (KJV)

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 34 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 34 ends on May 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.

No Cost and Low Cost Simple Beneficial Habits, by L.L.V.

There are some no nonsense, low-cost hands on things that we can do right now and daily to become more prepared in a slow and steady, simple manner. I recommend using Regularly Unavoidable Training Triggers (RUTTs). Getting in a RUTT could save your life.

We all know people that are in a rut.  Some people like to smoke their cigarettes and some spend hours a day in front of the television.  Some people without even thinking about it pick up a little bit of candy or junk food when standing in line at the grocery store.  The truth is that ruts are very easy to get into.  Our quality of life and our very survival will depend on the RUTT that we are in.   Lets talk specifically about how you can get into a RUTT that affects you physically.   Like most people, hitting the gym has never worked for me.  First, you pack a bag, then drive to the gym, change, and work out.  Someone is inevitably using the equipment you want to use.  Then you need to clean up and head home.   

What a huge drain of time and energy.   I would rather be in a RUTT.  Instead of going to the gym, I would rather use quick five minute exercises at many different Triggered intervals during the day.  This has the benefit to allow me to relieve stress, mentally switch gears between daily tasks, and allow me to clear my head as I go about my day.   Here are a couple of things that I do and the Unavoidable Triggers that initiate the action.  

Near the entrance to my home I have an inconspicuous string that is dangling such that the bottom most part is just out of reach for me to jump and smack it.  Every time I go in to or out of that door (almost), I jump up attempting to contact the string. The idea is do this often enough such that eventually you get good enough to actually hit it.  At that point where I actually hit it, I immediately find something to stand on and trim 1/4 inch off of the string. (wash, rinse, repeat)  How high can you jump? Easily 30 attempts a day (approximately 5-10 jumps at each passing of the Trigger) , over a month definitely pushes the 1,000 attempt mark.  Could that whole body explosive jumping action benefit you on occasion?  Would it come in very handy in a survival situation?  I set one up for each of the nieces and nephews at their homes,, and made it a game.  

 The Regular Unavoidable Training Trigger that initiates this exercise is merely passing through the front door.  Get in a RUTT and do it every time.   What would be the benefit if you were to place a punching/heavy bag  just inside a child’s bed room door, such that they could not enter without giving it a bit of a shove.  Would it benefit that child physically to push that bag out of the way 10 times a day for years?  Could you do the same thing for your bedroom/ den/ office/ man cave?  This exercise is Triggered by entering and exiting the room and is Unavoidable.    

What would it do to a child’s (or adults) agility and ankle strength if the middle of their bedroom floor from a young age (It has just always been that way) J had a large section covered by a piece of wood or thick carpet with a random array of tennis ball half’s attached to it.  Would agility improve over time?  Here the Training Trigger is Unavoidable and is always present when walking in this room.   If there was a pull-up bar above the bathroom door. Every time you finish using the bathroom do a pull up or two on the way out.  As most people use the bathroom a few times per day, this Regular Training Trigger is Unavoidable.  

A 2×4 on the floor (or laying in the garden if the spouse will not tolerate it in the home) makes an excellent balance beam. Get in the habit of always traveling along it when you come to it. When you get to the point where you are doing it without even thinking,,, turn it on edge and screw a couple of supportive “feet” to it. Now walk the narrow edge from then on. It will soon become second nature and brainlessly easy. Have you been able to do this for a while without thinking about it?  Place or screw a stable block under one end to create a 1′ incline. The balance beam is right there whenever you approach this area.   It is in your way, Unavoidable and it is just easier to play along with this game you have made for yourself.  You could even disguise it as decorative landscape edging.  

Is there any way that a Tarzan rope could be incorporated into your daily comings and goings?  Would you and your kids benefit if the Tarzan rope was the only acceptable way to leave the front porch.  If there was that and a balance beam coming up the stairs into the home, kids would come and go using them every time.   

A personal hero of mine, J.J. Armes, is said to have turned all of the stairs in his home into high traction rubber inclines to benefit the physical abilities of his family.  How is that for a Regularly Unavoidable Training Trigger?  As a bonus, this would also seriously confuse a burglar and slow down the uninitiated.  

Almost as drastic, a couple of well placed boards or commercially purchased climbing hand holds could become the only acceptable way for the kids (big and small) to go upstairs to the bedrooms or to enter their tree house.   Although not complete, I am currently working on weaving a stout climbing rope so that at multiple times of the day I can take a moment and climb it as I pass.  A regular thick rope is climbable; however, a proper “fast-rope” is much easier on the hands and will result in more frequent use.  If you ever find yourself feeling unmotivated to climb the rope, just attach a small sign that reads “Do NOT Climb Rope – By Order of a Large Government Agency.”  You will soon find that the urge to climb has returned.

I like to frequently have a look and see what is in the refrigerator.  On the main shelf , front and center and sideways, I place the water pitcher.  Now, whenever I open the refrigerator, I have a glass ready to fill with water.  It is usually the case that after having a drink of water, I am not thinking so much about getting a little snack.  

What kinds of things do you Regularly do as you go about your day?  To what positive things can you attach a Regularly Unavoidable Training Trigger?   

Is there a BB gun trap target on the back wall inside of the wood shed with a BB training pistol standing by such that each and every time you fetch wood you can have a couple of practice shots?  Is this proximity to a safe backstop also a good time to practice retrieving your pistol from your concealed carry?  Yes, I know, the wood shed is often cold.  But is that not the point, to practice in all conditions?  What about practicing after you have split a few logs?   Does the screen saver on your computer show a different intricate scene or series of objects and when a button is pushed, does it block you from proceeding until you put check marks in the box corresponding to the items that were actually in the scene? Would that help improve your recall and situational awareness.  Can you set the level of difficulty?   Can others upload expansions and new scenes?  (Well, mine certainly cannot.)

Do you without fail play the “situational awareness game” when out in a public setting like a restaurant?  It goes like this:  Everyone but you closed there eyes, and you ask them three questions about the surroundings. For instance: What color are the drapes?  Does the room have fire suppression sprinklers installed?  How many exit signs are visible?  How many people are wearing hats? The players can answer with a show of fingers and the winner leads the next round.  My Trigger for this is all dining out occasions.  

When traveling home never travel the same path twice.  It is a proven brain stretcher and allows you to familiarize yourself with what is currently going on in the area around you.  Attempt to use unconventional paths such as through parking lots and behind shopping centers.  This simple exercise could really be a life saver in a bug out situation.   It is easy to fall into a habit or a RUTT, why not set yourself up, and create a few that would really benefit you and your family.  Just like food preps, slow and steady, simple and stupid, can win this race also.

JWR Adds: One good RUTT is positioning pull-up bars at the top of two or three doorways inside your house. Get in to the habit of doing four or five pull-ups each time that you walk through that doorway when you aren’t carrying an object. This can be turned into a fun game for the family. If you have teenagers, it can even be made a bit competitive–in a friendly way, of course.

Letter Re: The Butter Storage Dilemma

Dear JWR:
I’ve been reading your site for some time and thought that some of your readers may find our Butter Storage Solution helpful in their plans.

I’ve been a prepper for decades and I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about butter. Our stored food reflects our caloric needs as well as having some things to eat that we really like — things that make us feel better. My wife likes butter very much and I began looking for solutions around the turn of the century.

Living in New Orleans (or anywhere with a sub-tropical climate) just makes the butter problem that much more difficult. In the 1970s while homesteading in the Alaskan interior I tried canned butter but I rejected it for three reasons: it’s expensive, it’s hard to get and worst of all, once you open the can you are still faced with all of the storage issues you were trying to get away from.

I explored a few possibilities but when Katrina blew through I still had no solution. We were provisioned pretty well and sheltered in place for the storm and throughout the entire six week forced mandatory evacuation. More for psychological reasons than dietary I got more serious in my search as the city began to get back on it’s feet.

In short, I revisited Ghee and decided to give it a try. All ghee is clarified butter but all clarified butter is not ghee. Ghee is anhydrous butter that has also had the milk solids removed. It is a way to preserve butter without refrigeration that has been in use for over 4,000 years. If made properly it may be stored for years at room temperature in the tropics.

A great deal of information about ghee is available online but I will hit a few high points. If you decide to try it there are many recipes out there that detail each step.

After making it in increasingly larger batches on the stove top for five years I had a forehead slapping moment where it occurred to me that I could use our crock pot instead. This not only makes for a much better product, it also greatly decreases the chances of burning a batch. Our five quart crock pot will make a six pound batch.

Since my goal was a product that would store well at room temperature I would cook it for about 2.5 hours in an attempt to cook off as much water as possible. Now I make it overnight on a cold night and let it cook in the crock pot for over 14 hours. This is by far the easiest way to make high quality ghee. I use coffee filters to remove the fine solids. I put up enough ghee in pints during the cooler months that I never have to make it during the air conditioning season anymore.

There is one handy, low tech test for ghee quality that is not mentioned much online: Cut a strip of paper two inches by one quarter inch wide. Dip just the end of the strip into the ghee. Light the dipped end with a lighter. If the flame pops and sputters there is still quite a bit of water present.

When you use ghee it is very important to never introduce any water into the jar while you are taking some out. Later, if you decide that you need just a bit more ghee in the pan be sure to use a clean knife or spatula. I have yet to have any ghee go bad on me.

Even with a crock pot, making ghee is probably not for everyone. It is available for purchase online but I would advise buying some unsalted butter and making a small batch yourself. There is also a product out there for high end movie theaters that is an anhydrous butter product which is made by running butter through a centrifuge. You may have tasted this product if you frequent theaters where they are very proud of their popcorn. Personally I prefer to retain control of the entire process myself.

Once you start using ghee you may be surprised how handy it is. Since ghee has a very high ‘smoke point’ it is truly a joy to sauté with. It is like butter on steroids.

Please read up on it a bit and give it a try. It has been very easy to weave into our food storage program and it has been the solution to our butter storage dilemma.

Thanks for the great blog site! – L.C. in New Orleans