Notes from JWR:

There are several new properties listed at our spin-off web site: SurvivalRealty.com. My #1 Son has enjoyed great success in connecting buyers with sellers of rural and truly remote properties, both on-grid and off-grid. Ads there are still just $30 per month, and there is no commission charged to either the seller or buyer!

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Today we present another two entries for Round 33 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 round case of 12 Gauge Hornady TAP FPD 2-3/4″ OO buckshot ammo, courtesy of Sunflower Ammo (a $240 value), 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 33 ends on March 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.

Minutes Mean Miles, by Jerry the Generator Guy

Most of us do not have the option of being able to live in our “bug out” location.  I have noticed that there are several common limiters for being able to quickly exit a locale;

  1. Time spent deciding on and gathering items to take.
  2. Time spent physically loading the vehicle(s).

This sort / load time issue is the same regardless of the quantity of stuff to be loaded. The same issues apply whether this is “the big one” or if the need is strictly for a local issue. The “prep” time, if done now, is a no dollar or low dollar activity.

As an example in the novel “Patriots” several hours were spent by Mike and Lisa Nelson in getting. They mentioned “We spent half a day…” and “ …should have done a practice load-up” [page 21-22 ]. Dan Fong and Tom Kennedy “took a lot longer… to pack up [than anticipated]” [ page 24 ].  The time required in these fictional instances are in my opinion reasonable and make the text more realistic. 

Several local people who were interviewed after a fire-forced evacuation stated that they spent a lot of time deciding just what to take or leave. They wished that they had made the decisions in advance.

Anyone’s thought process, in an emergency, probably isn’t working at full speed and clarity. An alternative method, which avoids random “grab and go”, that we plan to use is hereby offered.

The decision on what items will or will not be going should be made now.  These choices will be reviewed periodically.  Items that are selected to be taken are stored physically separated from other items.  Example: Which books go?  Answer: Books that are filed on certain shelves go. No sorting process will be necessary.  Every book on these specific shelves go  – Load All.  Repeat for tools, clothes,  ….  We will not spend any time looking at other candidates.  Result: The selection time at “go” is nearly zero.

Once the go / no-go decisions are discussed and agreed upon then you must do an actual load exercise.  This exercise is to determine if there is physical room in the vehicle to load as planned.  Expect to find areas where your plan doesn’t equal desire. You have the luxury of trying alternatives and selecting a revised load plan.  Result: The lost time at “go”, caused by load do-over, will be near zero.

I believe that this planning and verification method will result in at least two hour or more time reduction between the “go” decision and engine start. These avoided “get ready” hours mean that we are many miles already in route while others are getting started. Remember the traffic delays that were mentioned prior to Hurricane Katrina?  Those who left early had no or only minor travel delays. Avoid the hassle – do the plan and verify now.

We hope to see you at the “Troy Barter Faire”! (For those of you wondering what this means, see Chapter 14 in “Patriots”.)

JWR Adds: As I’ve noted in many of my writings, a “test load” is incredibly instructive. Any items that you’ll need at your retreat that won’t fit in your vehicles must be pre-positioned at your retreat. In many situations you may have only one, I say again, one trip Outta Dodge. There will be no going back for a second load!

The Scottish Snowstorms of Winter 2010-2011

In November, it started to snow in the British Isles.  I remember this date well because on the way to Edinburgh from Manchester, my car hit a patch of black ice and skidded at roughly 60 miles per hour. The car was wrecked; I staggered away unhurt.  I wasn’t the only one to have a nasty accident on the first day and I was certainly one of the lucky ones.  There were many injuries and deaths on the first day.

Matters only got worse over December.  There was an unprecedented level of snowfall in Britain.  The roads were jammed up, even in the cities, making it difficult to travel around even on a local scale.  The railways cancelled many trains; airports were closed and even shipping was badly affected. 

To be fair to the local authorities, they had been making preparations for snowfall after the events of the previous winter.  It had been bad in 2009-10, but worse in 2010-11.  Even so, their logistics were badly dented by the snow; it was impossible, despite their best efforts, to grit many or even all of the roads before the snow fell again, clogging up the transport lanes again.

In Edinburgh, where I observed personally, the main roads were opened by the council, who deployed grit lorries to melt the snow.  It was not, however, a completely successful endeavour.  Accidents continued to multiply, while the roads gridlocked as traffic that would normally have gone on side roads poured out onto the main roads.  The bus services – normally fairly good – were badly impacted.  The buses were often packed so heavily that they couldn’t pick up new passengers and, on at least one day, all services were cancelled, leaving your humble writer with a two hour walk back home.

At first glimpse, compared to some of the other natural disasters that are reported on this site, it doesn’t seem that the snowfall in Britain is very significant.  It did, however, have a number of extremely worrying implications for the future, should the SHTF on a wider scale.

-Food deliveries into Edinburgh were delayed, quite badly.  The smaller shops ran out quickly – milk was a particular problem – and even the big supermarkets were adversely affected by the delays.  There was an air of ‘calm panic’ in the air, with people buying as much as they could, often without worrying about storage or cost.
-Fuel deliveries were also limited.  While there was no rise in the cost of fuel, there was a shortage of fuel in Edinburgh and elsewhere, as deliveries couldn’t get through. 
-Private transport of all kinds was badly affected.  In the minor roads, cars were – quite literally – buried in the snow.  I saw people using everything from salt to boiling water to try to get their vehicles out of the snow, mostly unsuccessfully.  Even those who did succeed found themselves gridlocked when they got onto the main roads.  It should come as no surprise that the accident rates in Edinburgh rose sharply.
-Public transport was slowed or stopped altogether. 
-Crime rates rose as the snow made it easier for the perpetrators to carry out their crimes and then vanish.  The police were unable to respond as quickly as normal to any crisis.
-Death rates rose nationally as people, mainly the elderly, started freezing to death in their homes.  Community support services were badly weakened by the snow – worse, many elderly people were unable to afford to heat their homes in the snow.  A number of people were reported to have starved through lack of food.
-Water services were badly affected, both when pipes froze and when they burst.
-Electric power lines were damaged, causing blackouts in part of the country.
-Demands for cough medicine – indeed, any kind of medicine – rose sharply.

It is probably also worth mentioning, although an indirect issue, that the economic effects of the snowfall were extremely bad.  Insurance payments rose sharply in the wake of the snowfall, while businesses suffered badly from reduced personnel as workers couldn’t get into work on time. 

As I noted above, the local authorities did what they could.  The problem was that the scale of the disaster was simply too great for them to tackle immediately.  Most citizens had to fall back on their own resources rather than wait for the government to help them.  If the disaster had been much more serious, I doubt that we could have avoided a massive die-off. 

Three years ago, it would have been reasonable to say that we would never get such snowstorms in Britain.  There are no longer any grounds for refusing to prepare.  Therefore, I suggest:

-Stocking up on preserved food and drink that can be used as an emergency reserve if the stores run out completely.
-Stocking up on bottled water and other drinks.
-Preparing camping equipment, on the assumption that the electric services will cut out completely.  Store gas for campfires, battery-powered lights and sleeping bags.  A collection of old, but warm clothes would be very useful.
-Stocking up on de-icer, [tire traction] grit (if available), salt and sugar (for melting ice) and suchlike.
-Refueling the car prior to the first snowstorms.  Ideally, using the car should be kept to a minimum in such bad weather, but if you have to use it…also, familiarise yourself with emergency procedures for a crash.
-Consider the situation of any elderly relatives you have.  If they live with you that should be easier to handle than if they live apart.  If they live away, do what you can for them before the snow starts to fall. 
-It’s probably also worth looking into Britain’s often absurd self-defence laws.  The blunt truth is that the whole situation is a nightmare for anyone charged with using excessive force.  As I understand it (I am no lawyer) one can legally use the minimum necessary force to remove an intruder from one’s premises and no more.  Be careful!  There will be plenty of idiots who will look back with the benefit of hindsight and say that you used excessive force.  Even so, remember that your family’s safety comes first.

In the immortal words of the British Army, remember the Seven Ps.
“Prior Planning and Preparation Prevents P**s-Poor Performance.”

Letter Re: Off-Grid Living on an Alaskan Island

Hello,
Many US military personal who serve on an isolated duty station, in effect live off grid.  For example I was in the U.S. Coast Guard and stationed at Cape Sarichef, Alaska for a year. [It is at the end of Unimak Island.]          

We had three large Caterpillar generators.  We got our water from a reservoir that was filled from mountain runoff.  I would go the reservoir when needed and start a small hand pull pump (during the winter could take almost 30 minutes to get started.) This would pump the water along a buried pipe line, with evenly spaced vents (to let the air out).  

We had a fuel farm.  Our heating was via two #2 diesel fueled boilers.  All heating equipment and almost all the vehicles ran on diesel fuel. We got our water pressure from a 5,000 gallon water tank on a hill above the station.

There was a septic tank and dispersal field.  Which seemed to work just fine in the bitterly cold winter, which surprised me.  We got most of our supplies via a Coast Guard C-130 once a month.  We had a runway constructed of volcanic ash and stone.  There was also a World War II runway about a two-hour drive away.  

If we were to have gotten stuck there with no re-supply we would have been in trouble for heat once the diesel ran out.  There are no trees on that island.  We had an incinerator and a dump for anything that could not be burned.  

The only way on or off the island was by air plane or helicopter.  Other than having some way to provide heat in the winter that would be the perfect place to live.  There were caribou, moose, whistle pigs [groundhogs], red foxes, seals, and a pack of feral Alaskan huskies. There were brown bears there, too.  

Two Letters Re: Nickels as an Inflation Hedge

Jim,
Just another data point for you about Nickels, from North Carolina.  My bank continues to order boxes [of $100 face value in nickel rolls] for me, but they were told by their supplier that 20 boxes was the new limit per week (I had asked for 55 boxes).  The funny thing is the manager said they would simply order me 20 boxes/week until I had what I wanted!

They also noted a strong uptick (from essentially none) in customer requesting nickels for the same reason I am getting them – base metal value.  Though none more than a couple of boxes.

I get a sense that pretty soon banks will be either unwilling or unable to give customers nickels in large enough quantities to satisfy demand. Cheers, – Pete C.

Sir:
I have been following your blog and my wife and I are looking to be more prepared and have been at if for some time.  Your posting on nickels makes sense to me, with one exception:  What good are nickels going to be in hyper-inflated, blown up economic world?  Wouldn’t hyper-inflation make them essentially worthless even if they double?  Shouldn’t already stretched budgets be better directed at larger silver denominations, I.E. – pre-1965 coins?  So, even if the cost doubles shortly, would it be worth storing and carting around for purposes of barter?   Thank you, – David S.

JWR Replies: To clarify, the face value of U.S. five cent coins will soon be just as meaningless as the value markings on seen pre-1965 U.S. silver coinage. (Dimes, Quarters, Half Dollars, and Dollars.) Only a fool, a crack head, or an uneducated child would spend silver coins at face value. Eventually the same will be true for nickels. Why? Pre-1965 U.S. silver coins are now worth more than 25 times their face value. (“25x face.”) Unlike paper money, the nickel coins of the current composition will be never be “worthless”. Since they are composed of 75% copper and 25% nickel (“75/25”), they will always have at least the base metal value of those metals. (Currently about 130% of their face value.) And, as insurance against unlikely deflation and falling metals prices, the nickels could always be spent back into circulation. Thus, they are as close to a “you can’t lose” hedge as you could ever hope for.

Presently nickels are in odd and always short-lived situation for a circulating coin: Their base metal value exceeds their face value. But for now, they are still freely available at their face value. Gresham’s Law dictates that they will soon be driven from circulation. Mark my words: Once the base metal value surpasses 10 cents for the 75/25 composition Nickels, they will almost magically disappear from circulation. Poof! They will be gone.

Something very similar happened to silver Dimes, Quarters, Half Dollars in the mid-1960s. In 1964 they were still found in everyone’s pocket change, but by the end of 1965 they had nearly all been wisely gathered in Mason jars at home and put under lock and key. This is explained by the Coinage Act of 1965, that introduced debased coins (copper slugs that were just flashed with silver), that started circulating side-by-side with the genuine 1964 and earlier silver coins. Gresham’s Law dictated that the new, debased “bad” money would drive the older genuine “good’ money out of circulation. Just a few years later, most of the the 90% silver coins that were deem non-numismatic (derisively called “junk” silver by collectable coin dealers) had been gathered into $500 and and $1,000 face value bags, and traded as a commodity. We need to learn from history. It doesn’t repeat, but it often rhymes.

The same thing will happen to nickels, when the U.S. Treasury inevitably introduces a debased nickel. Coin experts predict that the new five cent piece will either be a stainless steel slug, or a zinc slug that is flashed with nickel or silver. Either way, a “nickel” will no longer contain any appreciable amount of nickel. But being sheeple, folks will probably still call them “nickels”.

Inflation is inexorable. The abandonment of silver coinage by the U.S. Treasury in the 1960s was the inevitable result of currency inflation. The debasement of the lowly nickel is merely the next logical step. There no way that a nation can afford to continue to produce a coin with a metallic content value that exceeds its circulating face value. I therefore strongly recommend that my readers take advantage of this opportunity before the window closes.

Yes, silver coins are great for barter. So is common caliber ammunition. But I predict than nickels might someday have a favored status for small day-to-day purchases. If and when the spot price of silver shoots up past $100 per ounce, it will make even a silver dime too valuable to be used as the smallest currency unit. How will you make minor purchases like a can of beans or a loaf of bread? Even today, with silver at $34.60 per ounce, one silver dime is worth around $2.55. Extrapolated to $100 per ounce silver, that means that one silver dime will be worth the equivalent of about $7.50. So how are you going to make “change” for small transactions? I posit that 75/25 nickels will be ideal for use as that small change. Perhaps people might by consensus make them the equivalent of pennies, with 100 nickels equaling the value of $1.00 face value in pre-’65 silver coinage.

It is difficult to predict exactly how nickels will be traded in the event of a currency collapse. But we can be assured that they will be traded. One of the most dependable constants of a free market is that every tangible product with both usefulness and a limited supply does reach price equilibrium quickly.

Economics and Investing:

At last report, Spot Silver was at $34.65 per Troy Ounce. I told you so…

Ben S. mentioned: Is the U.S. dollar still a safe haven?   Ben notes: “One opinion in this article is that the dollar is overvalued by 8%.  If this is true, wouldn’t the US Dollar Index also be overvalued by the same, thus resulting in an index of approximately 71?” 

Peter Schiff: “We’re in the Early Stages of a Depression”

Items from The Economatrix:

History Tells Us That A Surge In Fuel Costs Makes A US Recession Likely 

Silver Squeeze to Continue  

The Silver Bullet And The Silver Shield  

Why The Financial Werewolves Hate Silver  

Marc Faber:  I Think We Are All Doomed 

Odds ‘n Sods:

Anyone who owns a FAL or an L1A1 rifle and wants to do any at-home gunsmithing should own one of these.

   o o o

Roman sent us news of a fascinating development in monolithic dome building technology: Basalt Roving Dome. Imaging this scaled up, and a few additional layers? Talk about blast proof! (Dome-shaped buildings also have Bernoulli’s Principle going for them–they don’t “catch” wind” like slab-sided buildings.)

   o o o

Lily spotted this over at Paratus Familia: Practical Preparedness – Pharmaceuticals

   o o o

Seed for Security is offering a free gift for a limited time. Every order over $45 will receive a free seed saving guide with practical step by step instructions. It is full of tips that they have learned from many years of experience. Six 8″ x 6″ metallized poly bags are also included with this offer, so you can try your hand at saving precious seeds.

   o o o

F.G. flagged this: Arkansas Quake Is Its Most Powerful in 35 Years

   o o o

Reason # 298,244 to not live in the Land of Lincoln Obama: Attorney General: Illinois should release FOID card list.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“The majority of Americans get their news and information about what is going on with their government from entities that are licensed by and subject to punishment at the hands of that very government.” – Neal Boortz, 2004

Notes from JWR:

I just heard from my publisher that “Survivors” (the first of two sequels to my novel “Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse”) will have its first press run in a hardback binding, followed by a trade paperback, and then possibly a mass market paperback. The books will be published by the Atria and Pocket Books divisions of Simon & Schuster. “Survivors” is now in the final stages of editing, and I’m meanwhile busy writing the second sequel, which is tentatively titled “Citizens”. As I’ve mentioned before, the sequels will be geographically distinct but contemporaneous with “Patriots”. We are hoping for a release date for “Survivors” in early November of 2011. I have plans to announce another “Book Bomb Day”, so please don’t place any pre-orders, when you see the book listed with on-line sellers. Thanks!

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Today we present another entry for Round 33 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 round case of 12 Gauge Hornady TAP FPD 2-3/4″ OO buckshot ammo, courtesy of Sunflower Ammo (a $240 value), 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 33 ends on March 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.

From Cartridge to Target: A Bullet’s Flight and Impact, by HardWalker

Lots of care and time are taken to select the appropriate firearm. A precisely crafted piece of machinery primarily designed to do one thing, send a chunk of metal downrange and high speeds with the intention of killing someone or something. There are many ways of doing this and many types of bullets designed for many different purposes. We all can gather the hearsay of what round is the best, which manufacturer has the furthers traveling, hardest-hitting or bang-for-buck ammunition. So when it’s all said and done, understanding what happens to that piece of copper, steel and lead once it leaves the barrel is crucial when we’re faced with pulling the trigger to save lives or to feed our family members.

Ideally when a bullet is fired it travels in a straight line from barrel to target. However ideal worlds do not have air resistance and gravity, the two most hampering factors when a bullet’s path are scrutinized. Many different tools have been manufactured to ensure that a bullet makes it mark every time the trigger is pulled.

When we mount a scope on our rifles, or adjust our sights we are not changing any physical properties about the direction of our barrel or bullet, instead we are using our optics system to create a constant variable of sight to compensate for gravity and resistance. So if you were to place your barrel parallel to the ground your cross hairs may fall above and to either side of your intended target. When you hold the weapon and train the cross-hairs on the target you have adjusted it so that you are actually holding the weapon at an slight angle, preferably the proper angle that will take the bullet in whatever direction you have deemed fit to place a round into a desired space at a certain range while at the same time compensating for gravity and air resistance.

When the bullet does leave a barrel, it does so at a velocity (speed) determined by:

  • The bullet’s weight. (The weight measured in grains. Each grain is 1/7,000th of a pound),
  • The size of the charge (gunpowder, also measured in grains),
  • The length of the barrel, and
  • The type of bullet. (Round nose versus pointed nose.)

The velocity determines the distance traveled before it hits the ground and the energy it puts into a target when it hits. The higher the speed (closer the target as bullets lose speed over distance and time) and heavier the bullet, then the greater the damage.

When utilizing firearms there are two distances that you must be familiar with. These are the maximum range of the weapon and the maximum effective range. The latter being the farthest distance a round can accurately be placed into a target. Maximum range is the distance the bullet will travel before hitting the ground. It is true that different types of rounds, FMJ, hollow-core, partition, etc. will extend and decrease these distances however their effect is usually not more than [a difference of] a few yards.

On a side note; rifling greatly increases accuracy over distance by spinning the bullet. This creates a gyroscopic effect that stabilizes the projectile. The extent of this twisting is displayed as a barrels ‘twist rate’ and is measured by the number inches it takes for the groves to make one complete rotation within the barrel. 1 in 10” and 1 in 6” are examples of barrel twist rates. Different barrels for different rounds have a different number of grooves all manufactured to be the ideal number and twist rate for the intended round. Lower velocity/grain bullets (.22 LR is typically 1 in 16”) require lower twist rates to achieve nominal accuracy and vice versa for heavier weight bullets (.30-06 is typically 1 in 10”). Longer barrels mean more rifling (in most cases), different thicknesses mean reduced vibration, better heat dissipation and better pressure control. Over-rifling a barrel (too tight a twist) will actually spiral the bullet in a manner earlier in flight than designed, as described in the next paragraph.

As it’s velocity slows at greater distances, this spinning begins to affect bullet by spiraling it as it still takes a straight path. So when it impacts a target at high distances this spiraling will actually continue to affect the bullet as it enters and exits the target creating a slightly curved path. Ballistic Forensics experts use this property of projectiles to determine the distance that the bullet was fired from and is an important factor when firing on targets at great distances. This is most apparent when considering ‘grouping’ at different distances as groups become larger.

So now our Winchester .30-06 150 grain soft-point is flying through the air. During it’s flight, it would have left the barrel at 2,920 feet per second (f.p.s.) the bullet would have risen approximately 3 inches at 100 yards (That compensation we included when sighting our scope) before dropping an inch (because of gravity) and slowing to about 2,600 f.p.s. (due to air resistance) on impact at 150 yards. At that distance the circular error probability from typical 1 in 10” rifling would have increased from 0” at muzzle to about 2.5” creating a target area 5”across the chest.

Our unlucky mutant-biker gets hit square in the sternum at 150 yards, just 0.2 seconds after the projectile leaves the barrel. In .0005 seconds the bullet will have entered and exited it’s target. At .0001, the bullet hits and enters a depth of about 1.5cm or the width of your pinky nail before deforming as it was designed to do. The immense energy of the impact (2,800 Joules) will open a cavity 20 cm (8 in.) wide at .0002 as the bullet fragments and transfers it’s energy into his body before exiting his back. At .0004 the energy dissipates and the cavity collapses, jettisoning the liquefied flesh, bone and muscle through an exit wound approximately 15cm (6 in.) wide starting from the back of the sternum in a spray. One can see why this is a desirable sniper cartridge.

For a more typical scenario the same target, same distance but with a 7.62×39 Steel Core AK-47 round will hit with less velocity, around 2,400 f.p.s. The bullet is not designed to fragment, and at 150 yards, it will enter and exit cleanly if not hindered (by bone, metal, or Kevlar). However the impact and entrance will create a temporary cavity 3-4 inches wide and will shock nearby vital organs and cause them to hemorrhage. It is important to note that some bullets will actually ‘tumble’ inside victims or curve heavily due to a change in resistance (.22 LR ammunition is notorious for this). This is different from the spiral effect created from rifled barrels and is more important on a medical basis than accuracy.

It is very advisable that you research your preferred round’s impact profiles before purchasing what you think is a good round. Also research real-life effectiveness of the rounds. (From actual use in the field.) News stories are rampant of cops who fired multiple 9mm rounds and failed to incapacitate a criminal who had time to fire his own weapon before succumbing to his wounds.

JWR Adds: If the foregoing seems like complex list of variables, it is actually describing just the major ones. There are others, such as temperature, elevation, air pressure, and wind velocity. Bullet designs and their various terminal effects also differ widely. There are also many other factors that must be masteredsuch as parallax, shooting positions, uphill/downhill offset, and the shooter’s control of breathing. For more details, I highly recommend the book Ultimate Sniper by Maj. John L. Plaster.

Letter Re: LED Lighting Discount for SurvivalBlog Readers

Mr. Rawles,  
I have been a follower of SurvivalBlog for about a month now and have found great resources, deals and most importantly, useful information with your blog.  
As a business owner that has a focus on lighting (and energy efficient lighting of all sorts), we would like to offer SurvivalBlog readers a 20% discount coupon on any purchase from us for LED Lighting.  This discount does not apply to already discounted or clearance products.   Pretty simple – on any order of 10 bucks or more, your community can use coupon code: prepared-sb20 for 20% off their order in the shopping cart.  We will hold this promotion open until the SHTF!  

Thank you for your blog, the archives and most importantly, the quality information for those that are astute enough to “get it”.   I am just an average guy in Ohio that is not looking for any sort of promotion. I just want to extend a gesture to the preparedness community as I have found a ton of value in what you are doing. With all my best, keep up the great work,  Don Perkins, owner of CreativeLightings.com, LEDT8Tube.com, and LEDTape.com Phone: 1(877) 877-2340

Letter Re: Silver Coins with a Very Low Likelihood of Fakery

Hi James,

I’ve been suspicious about the possibility of silver coins being faked ever since reading your links about tungsten “gold” and think I’ve come up with an answer.  As long as you’re not looking for collectibles, just buy second-quality silver coins – modern ones like Liberty one-ounce silver rounds, not numismatics.  You know, the coins that are scratched, dented, and discolored.  They clean up just fine with a little Wright’s silver polish.  Who the heck is going to counterfeit dents, scratches, worn spots and discoloration?  Also, they’re [relatively] inexpensive.  These are the “junk silver” version of (.999) silver coins [from governments mints].

I told my dealer why I wanted them.  He thought it was pretty funny, and agreed they were a safe bet.

Regards, – Maquinus

Letter Re: A Bank Run Reality Check

Mr. Rawles,
After reading the letters about banking reality, I would like to add what I have learned from working at a reputable bank in the Midwest.  The bank never has enough cash on hand to supply all their “demand “ or checking accounts, no matter what their legal fine print says.   

The amount of cash is mandated by the Federal Reserve for the banks in their region.  Each week the Fed tells the branch how much cash they can order, how much excess cash must be sent back to them, and how much cash they will need to fill the ATM.  The branch has no control over this process.  

The branch is under extreme pressure to maintain the least amount of cash in the vault needed for expected customer volume because the Fed charges compounding -interest on the entire amount.  Every penny in the vault and teller drawers is earning interest for the Fed while in the possession of the branch.   If your branch has a high customer and cash transaction volume the Fed will increase their allotment of currency.  But, a small town branch with limited transactions, such as mine, will be given less.  

Any given week people want to withdraw their own cash or cash large checks.  Due to our small volume and limited cash we allow up to a certain amount (usually $3,000) for each request.  Any withdrawal over that amount has to be ordered for the next week’s Brinks delivery.  Most people are irritated by this, and a few get hostile, but we have no choice.  The branch would empty the vault within the week if we honored all requests for large transactions.    

What can go wrong?  Brinks did not show up on their delivery date to replenish our currency, during a major holiday week when large withdrawals were expected.  We were in panic mode, reduced the amount of cash we gave to customers, and anticipated having to empty the ATM machine in order to process transactions.  As expected, customers were furious at our reduced capacity.  Some asked pointed questions about why we could not produce their money…we had to apologize for the inconvenience and add them to the order for next week.  It worked out that we had enough until the following week’s delivery, but the branch would have closed if we had run out of currency.  BTW, no explanation from Brinks or the Fed for the missed delivery, we were on our own.   

Another reality is money in a bank is only a number on a computer screen, and it can vanish without warning if the internet were to go down.  That paper currency hiding in a house may be practically worthless, but it is still better than a computer number accessed by a plastic card.  There have been times in my branch when the computer programs experience technical problems and we could not see any customer accounts.  Since we cannot allow withdrawals without making sure they have the funds available the transaction is declined.  You have not seen fury until you tell a customer they can’t have their money because the computer is down.  During those technical problems it is bank-wide so customers could not go to another branch for money.   

There have been rumors of giving the President the power to control the internet, for our own safety of course.  What if that power is granted and the person in that office enacts the “kill switch” for whatever reason.  Besides the whole of society coming to a halt it would mean banks and ATMs would close immediately.  
A bank is a business making a profit.  They do not hold our money out of charity…they get charged for it and they charge us for it.  Set up your finances with the bank, but just know that they are subject to the same supply-chain disruptions as a grocery store and take precautions to keep cash and coin on hand.   Thanks for this blog, we have learned so much and are taking our prepping very seriously. – T.O.

Avalanche Lily’s Bedside Book Pile

Here are the current top-most items on my perpetual bedside pile:

  • I just started to read “The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes – and Why“, by Amanda Ripley. Stephen Flynn described the book as follows: “Reading The Unthinkable will be life-changing. We live in an age of anxiety that has too many of us rocked back on our heels. Once you’ve feasted on the rich insights and wisdom of this remarkable book, you’ll be standing tall again. While our politicians and media have been keen to exploit and fan our worst fears, Amanda Ripley makes clear that individually and collectively we can meet head-on the hazards that periodically befall us. We need not be afraid!” My own assessment of the book is that it is a fascinating read, to find out what kind of people survive disasters and why. Just the introduction hooked me.
  • Last weekend, Jim and I watched the movie Sweet Land, via Netflix. It is a charming story set in the early 1920s about a Norwegian immigrant bachelor farmer in Minnesota, who finds a mail order bride in Norway. The story becomes very interesting when she arrives in Minnesota and he learns that she was raised in Norway, but is of German ancestry. (Many people held very strong anti-German sentiments during and just after World War I. ) Though most would consider this a “chick flick”, Jim did enjoy watching it.
  • I just started watching a series of DVDs produced by The West Ladies. These amazing ladies have a great wealth of practical knowledge. They really know what works for self-sufficiency. I just started watching Homestead Blessings: The Art of Gardening. I will be posting a detailed review after I’ve watched several of their DVDs.