Inflation Watch:

The latest from Gonzalo Lira: Ballsy or Crazy? Where are We on Inflation and Hyperinflation. (Be forewarned that Mr. Lira uses some crude language.)

Reader Brett G. sent us a snippet from an e-mail that he received from a friend who lives in Alaska: “[Rapid price inflation is] really happening up here [in Alaska], overnight: $3.91 [per gallon] for gas $4.89 [per pound] for butter and that was with it ‘on sale’. Milk is $3.89 [per gallon]. It had been $2.99 [per gallon] until this week. Plant seeds! Get ready. Tomatoes will be $7.75 per pound soon, but people just aren’t listening. They will be so un-prepared…”

Stacy C. sent us a television news piece on unprecedented food price escalation.

World Bank:  Food Prices at “Dangerous Levels”   

Brett G. highlighted this piece: UK Inflation Surges to 4%, Highest Since Nov. 2008

UK:  Official Statistics Hide True Increase in Cost of Living  

Can the U.S. Sidestep Growing Global Inflation?

Consumer Prices in U.S. Climb More Than Forecast

Odds ‘n Sods:

I’m scheduled for a one hour interview on EMPact Radio on Wednesday, February 23, 2011. Please feel free to call in to the show if you have any preparedness questions that would be of interest to the majority of listeners. If you miss hearing the show, it will be available post facto as a downloadable podcast.

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Reader Troy H. mentioned a fascinating Wikipedia page that is presented in tabular form: List of countries by real population density (based on food growing capacity). That table is food for thought for anyone that is considering emigrating. Notice how far down the list that the U.S., Canada, and Australia are positioned. OBTW, I should mention that the Wikipedia table doesn’t give sufficient credit to some of the less populous island nations, to reflect the food value of their offshore fisheries, bird rookeries, feral pig herds, and the tropical fruit trees scattered on ostensibly “non-arable” land.

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Huge solar flare jams radio, satellite signals: NASA. (Any readers that live in a rural region without light pollution and north of 47 degree latitude should be on the watch for aurora borealis displays for the next few nights. And perhaps shortwave listeners may finally get some decent propagation, as the ionosphere emerges from many years in the doldrums. Thanks to Gary U. who was the first of several readers to send the link.)

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CampingSurvival.com has added the Wise Food Storage Packets to their inventory. These are nitrogen packed and have a 25 year shelf life and are efficiently packed in rectangular 5 gallon buckets that can be stacked. These foods are offered in increments from 56 servings up to 4,320 servings, with competitive pricing.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“The people don’t like to be conquered, sir, and so they will not be. Free men cannot start a war, but once it is started, they can fight on in defeat. Herd men, followers of a leader, cannot do that, and so it is always the herd men who win battles and the free men who win wars. You will find that is so, sir.” – John Steinbeck, The Moon Is Down

Note from JWR:

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 Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A 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.

Preparedness on a Tight Budget, by Mrs. R.J. in Arkansas

I have read many of the stories on survival blog but have yet to read a one from someone on a very tight budget. That leaves those of us with tiny incomes at a disadvantage and feeling vulnerable. For about two years I have had a small voice inside me telling me to fill my storehouses with food for the coming famine. As a Christian and minister I believe that voice is God and He wants His people to be ready. Although Many Christians think we are crazy and don’t believe they should have to worry about storing foods for times of famine because they are sure God will provide for them. One pastor told me that God wasn’t telling her to prepare so someone else must be going to prepare their food for them. I pray she is right but felt God had me pass on the information to her.

My husband and I are both disabled and live on a modest $20,000 a year. Late last year we moved out of our double-wide mobile home and let one of our sons take over the payments and move in. We moved to the other end of the two acre property to care for my husband’s parents who both have COPD. He does all the driving to get them to their many appointments as well as takes care of their home and property. We live in a 16×20 shop building that we are slowly turning into a cottage. We have put in a bathroom with sink and toilet but need a little more room to put in the tub and shower. We are planning a tiny kitchen this spring and a built-in porch for extra storage. We gave away most of everything we had to make this move. Now we understand more of why we felt so strong about getting out from under the payments of the double wide.

When we lived in the mobile home we had nothing left for food or groceries each month. We were lucky to be able to buy our meds. Of course we are still spending a lot each month on things for the cottage and still have to watch our pennies. The crazy thing is that we did have chickens, goats and pigs to breed and sell. Unfortunately my husband got sick with an intestinal parasite that was eating away at his insides. The health department told us that most people don’t realize they have this until it is too late and they die. We traded our animals for an RV that is worth three times more than the animals were. We are planning to add some chickens this spring though. We had more animals than we could afford to feed through the winter before. We know to be careful to not let that happen again.

We started working on the existing root cellar when we had a couple of warm days. It is small and very wet with a sheet metal door that wouldn’t hold up to a big storm if we needed it to. We cleared the cement roof and plan to seal it and the build a shed on top of it for extra storage. We plan to use as much used materials as we can to keep costs down. We have to clean out all the old jars of food with rusty tops and clean, dry and seal the inside to get it ready for new shelving and stored home canned food from the garden as well as from the grocery and club store.  Once we finish that, we are planning to find someone to dig out a new storm shelter beside it. We are sure there is a neighbor that will charge a minimal fee to dig it for us. We also have one that plows our garden at no charge.

We plan to have the new shelter dug much deeper and as large as we can get away with in the place it is. After much research into earth bag building and other inexpensive types of building materials, we settled on cinder block walls with double thickness and with plenty of inside walls to help hold up a foot of concrete of roof on top of it. After our research, we found that the price of the cinder blocks was much more affordable than any of the other materials we looked at. We will seal up the concrete walls, floor, and roof to help keep it dry and tight inside. Before we back fill all the dirt on top and around our new constructed cellar, we will place thick plastic around the walls and roof as an extra moisture barrier. We are looking at the possibility of building an underground home here instead of just a shelter from the storms. With the heat waves we had last summer, we feel that it will be much easier to keep cool than the above ground cottage we are in now.

We will make two ways to enter and leave the new cellar, with both of them hidden to keep us safer in times of social upheaval since we live just outside the city limits. Inside the new shelter we will build plenty of bunks for the family that will join us when the time is at hand. None of which is very far away. In each bunk we will place egg crate mattress toppers with bedding sealed in space bags until they are needed. The bathroom will have a shower and at least two porta potties for back-up. We already have one. We hope to actually put in a septic system below the bathroom so we can use RV toilets when we can afford to add them. We plan to make a kitchen area as well as a living area and large pantry. We will also add a battery room for when we can add solar power. In this room we hope to have a place for freezers and a fridge that will run off of a low circuit. Not sure yet if this is possible. [JWR Adds: See the SurvivalBlog archives–search on “phototvoltaic” for details.] We did find some affordable solar power kits on Amazon.com. This was awesome news for us get before we even start the building.

Our large pantry will house plenty of food as well as medicine and wipes for washing up. We will also stock up on plenty of seeds for replanting the garden as soon as it is feasible. Although we would sell this place when his parents are gone and find a retreat that is more secluded, we feel that getting started now is very important. If we sell later, it will be worth more money that will help pay for what is needed for the new location. We never know how much time we will have to rebuild if we sell out. We don’t want to be caught without a place to keep us from harms way if the worst case scenario should actually happen.  We plan to do a lot of fishing this year so we can have lots of fish in the freezer. We are working on a couple ways of double sealing frozen products to keep them from getting freezer burnt and make them last longer.

We are planning to check out our locale army surplus store and see what is available to add to our preparedness. We have no guns or ammo as yet, and don’t know when or how we can add the grinders, expensive water filters or the solar power we will need. We do have a large construction grade gas generator that has come in handy when the power was down for an ice storm in 2009. We were prepared to use it again this year but so far haven’t needed it. We do have our eyes on a propane generator but the price is so far out of our reach. We at least can put in the wiring for solar electricity while we are building. I would love to have the plans to build the stationary bike charger though. If anyone wants to send them along to the blog for all who want to use it. We like having something to look at as we read plans for putting something together though. If there are any resources out there, please let us know.

We have already started on the food storage and will need to find a cool dry place for the five gallon buckets to be stored soon. We are also considering a couple other places on the property to place small cement block dry storage areas for extra food storage. We want to add some how-to books to our library on home canning, animal husbandry, storing food and water safely, and anything else we feel will be useful in any situation when we need to supply our own food completely, in the event that we can’t buy it. We are interested in special growing lights and are thinking about putting in an extra room for this.  

In a pinch, we can sell the motor home and some gold jewelry for the more expensive things we need. We are hoping to have some extra veggies to sell this year as well for a little extra cash. We are also looking into buying some produce and reselling at a fair market value for extra cash and to help others who can’t afford grocery store prices with inflation. Thanks to the person who wrote about buying from produce sources and reselling, we feel this will be a big help to us and any customers we can bring in.

In preparation for the coming hard times, we are also losing weight and doing what we can to eat healthier so we can be more physically fit. We have made some very important lifestyle changes in the last few months and have endured some jabs from family members about living in a shed and such. If they only knew what was coming!  After talking with our sons here and there, we have actually seen that they are more receptive because of the changes in the weather affecting our food supply. My mother has been ready for this for some time. People who watch the news and see what is actually going on the world can see that change is coming. Even if all that is ever affected is the weather going crazy and affecting our food supply, then at least we will be ready for that. However, this is not all that I expect to see happen in our very near future.

Another thing I find that is relevant to this blog and feel that your subscribers would want to know, is that many of the Christians we know have had visions and dreams of the coming famine and destruction of our country. I have not met one that can put a time on this happening, but believe we can look at God’s word as guidance to help us get prepared for what is coming, no matter when it arrives. My own visions have been of devastating destruction throughout the United States. Famine and sickness abound in those that survive. Many Christians don’t understand the need for being prepared since they plan to be “raptured” or taken care of by God Himself. If you are a Christian and are reading this, I pray you will see this as a warning from God to be prepared before it is too late and food is too high to afford, or it is completely removed from our grasp. It is important to trust that God will help you in your time of need, but you also need to be listening when He is speaking to you–even if He is speaking through someone else. Pray about what your hearing or seeing instead of letting religion keep you from being prepared for the famine that is coming our way very soon. We can all see clearly the signs of the times and know in our hearts that something big is coming our way. Be ready.

Survival is bred into many of us, but at the same time, others have to learn it. My husband and I grew up working in the family gardens and raising chickens and other stock. We have a leg up compared to some. Of course we are looking forward to learning to can food from the garden this year as well as learn to safely dry foods and pack them in a way they will stay fresh for at least a year’s time. We also are planning to work on water tanks that will be just under the surface to collect rainwater which will have pipes that run down to the bathroom and kitchen as needed. We will also look into different methods of filtering the water to make it drinkable and usable for cooking.

As yet we haven’t planned to put any gas tanks underground but are trying to at least keep our tank filled in case there is a shortage sooner that we expect. We get great gas mileage in our older car and will pay it off this year and that will give us a couple hundred dollars extra each month to work with. We will be ready for TEOTWAWKI no matter when it comes. I pray others begin to open their eyes to what is happening around the world and how it will affect us. In doing so, they will then see the need to have extra food on hand for those times when the store shelves are empty and no food can be bought. I pray they also see the same need for water storage as well as medicines and other necessities.

Letter Re: Getting Family Members On Board With Preparedness

Jim,
I’m looking to try and wake up some of my family members and have an idea, but may need a little help to execute.  My issue is one of gaining someone’s attention without turning them off. 

With several of my friends and family members I was able to buy them a copy of “Patriots” and their frame of mind was one that was open to jumping in.  I know several others, my brother chief among them, that, were I to give him an entire book, it would be overload and I’d lose him.  Obviously I’ve spoken with him, as far as I was able to push without pushing him away, but I feel I need something else.

I’ve seen some authors make the initial chapter of their book available and I’m wondering if you have done, or would be willing to do, this.  The opening of “Patriots”, especially given the current economic reality, it extremely compelling and I think would make an excellent hook.  It would be small enough so as not to intimidate, but I can easily see someone reading it and saying “what happens now?”

Anyway, I understand if that’s not something you’re open to, but I thought I’d check.

Thank you for all that you do! – Steven F.

Letter Re: Investing in Nickels, in Quantity

James,  
I read on your blog where you said that you can fit $178 worth or nickels into a standard U.S. .30 cal ammunition can.   Well, I’ve been able to stuff $190 worth into every can so far. I don’t know why others can only get 89 rolls while I can get 95 rolls into the same space. Might I suggest stacking them directly on top of each other instead of letting the next row rest in the previous rows’ valley. Visualize stacking them not like a rack of pool balls or bowling pins, but rather like a brick of AA batteries. Whether it is paper or plastic roll of coins,you will get the same results. Also, these ammo cans full of nickels might offer some degree of ballistic and gamma ray protection so that’s something to think about as well if you’re doing any critical ‘remodeling’ at home with regards to clandestine storage issues.

An OPSEC issue to be concerned with is the disposal of the empty cardboard nickel boxes. Around here, I burn them to get rid of them. Slipping them one at a time into the trash can at the gas station is another discreet way to get rid of them. Don’t just throw then into your trash only to be discovered by a snooping neighbor or worse, a criminal type.  

Also, I am able to secure $1,000 worth every week from now until I say uncle from two different banks that I utilize. For free. A piece of cake. What most people don’t realize is that the change warehouse where the retail bank orders its change from, (typically Loomis or Brinks,) charges the bank per box delivered. This is why you have to be careful and feel out your bankers and your tellers before asking for anything in quantity. Once you build up a good rapport with them, they are more likely to acquiesce to your request. A box of doughnuts on a cold Friday morning or a $10 cake could save you many times that in cost per box of accumulation. Be smart and use your tact and diplomacy and it will go a long way here.

My advice to anyone starting out to accumulate is to start out small. Use multiple branches. Ask the teller for $20 worth of nickels at first. Do that for a few weeks and when you feel comfortable enough, just say that you want to get more if possible. This is the key moment because if they say yes and then arrange to get them for you, then you’re home free. If they mention a fee per roll or box to continue supplying you with nickels, just say that you were curious and that’s okay, you didn’t know about the fees and just continue to get your 10 rolls a week from that branch while continuing to work on softening them up for free boxes someday. Eventually they’ll probably start ordering some boxes for you for free. Remember, it’s totally up to the employees at the bank whether to charge you fees or not so like I said earlier, have patience and use your tact and diplomacy to get them on your ‘side’ and you should have no problems getting as many nickels as you want.  

Curiously, at both banks, they were more concerned that I was going to return them en-mass someday as they obviously don’t want to be ‘stuck’ with a boatload of returned nickels. I just smile as I think to myself, “Like that will ever happen!”  I reassure them by telling them that I am saving the nickels to take to Vegas someday in my RV. It draws a curious smile and nary a second thought from them as they know us gambler types have some strange proclivities!  

Folks, I agree with James Rawles. Trading worthless fiat paper currency for hard metal currency with real metal value is obvious. I have told five friends about this and they are now all accumulating nickels. Lucky for me, they live in other states so I don’t have to compete with them for boxes at the banks. One of my friends just sold one of his spare cars and put the proceeds in nickels. And he’s very tough to convince about anything!  

My advice is to have strong resolve, patience, and be courteous to the tellers. Never lose sight of the fact that they are doing you a favor that they do not have to do, and you should be well on your way to massive nickel accumulation! – Rick in Kentucky

Economics and Investing:

Pierre M. mentioned: The Worst Hyperinflation Situations of All Time. JWR Adds: I often slip a Zimbabwean $100 Trillion bill inside the front cover of autographed copies of my novel when I send them as gifts. That serves as a reminder that mass inflation isn’t just in the realm of fiction.

Thanks to Kelly D. for spotting this: World Bank: Food prices at “dangerous levels” World Bank report says food prices are at “dangerous levels” after rising 29 percent in a year

Evan D. suggested this piece: Collective financial insanity – FDIC backing $5.4 trillion in total deposits on pure faith – US banking operating with negative deposit insurance fund and massive debt leverage. The greatest Ponzi scheme known in the financial world.

David B. sent us a link to news article about a bank run: Ivory Coast rush to withdraw bank cash. JWR Adds: My personal theory is that the recent banking instability was caused by the Côte d’Ivoire cancer cluster! Here is what happened: thousands of female millionaires, all with esophageal cancer, and all of whom simultaneously withdrew beau coup bucks to send charitably to American recipients that they found through the Internet. 🙂

Items from The Economatrix:

US Plans to Wind Down Fannie and Freddie  

Regulators Shut Down Banks in Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin and California.

Engineered Economic Collapse Approaching; Budget Cuts Will Only Accelerate the Inevitable  

Losing Faith in Paper Money (The Mogambo Guru)  

Long-Term Gold Target $2,000 or Higher  

Odds ‘n Sods:

A portent of the future? Hunting down the hoarders to rein in prices, the Chinese government turns to unconventional measures. Our thanks to Don V. for the link.

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Man, 84, Survives Five Days Lost in Desert. (Thanks to readers Steve H. and John T. who both sent that link.)

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Reese sent this: Climate Change May Cause ‘Massive’ Food Disruptions

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Lee in Tulsa mentioned that announced chapter 11 bankruptcy of Borders Books means that they are closing 200 stores. Lee recommends: “Check to the store closure list to see which stores in your area are closing and find some bargains for your survival library.”

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?" – Jay Leno

Note from JWR:

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 Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A 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.

Do Not Underestimate Airsoft as a Training Aid for Youths, by Scott D.

My son who is 15 years old recently got into Airsoft and started to amass a collection of replica looking, fully functioning and firing Airsoft rifles and pistols.

I had planned on enrolling him in a Hunter’s Safety course soon as he is of age but the more I watched him and his buddies play Airsoft in the bush like a rag-tag wild bunch I decided to take action.  This was a good way to train them to be soldiers.  Mostly because it was out of fear of some of the younger children getting seriously injured, since those plastic pellets hurt [and a great risk of eye injury]s.  I told them that I would treat them like soldiers and adults as long as they acted the part.  That little bit of respect given them was enough to make them attentive and more mature acting then some of the recruits that I’ve had to deal with in the past.

a) The first thing I did was break them down into two teams that were roughly equal in both ages and sizes.
b) Then, just like instructing recruits it was weapon basics and Immediate Action (IAs) on the rifle. (Almost all of them had Airsoft M4 look-alikes.)  I covered the Load, unload, and make safe, clear weapons for inspection.  Then more advanced drills like IAs for obstructions and so forth.
c) After I was confident that the 11 year olds could remedy stoppages as well as the 15 year olds then it was small section tactics.  Section sized advance to contact, moving and covering and the final assault of a position.  After the advance, I taught them defensive positions and ambushes.
d) In our neighborhood most kids are military brats so they all had Dad’s or Mom’s old field uniforms, I made sure they had ballistic eyewear, Being in Supply it was my gift to them.  Then we went into camouflage and concealment.

Now when they wage war on each other there is no such thing as one-sided matches.  Some would say that I should not be teaching kids that sort of thing, but I played war as a kid and I believe it prepared me for a life in the military; it has been that way since the dawn of time.  Mostly I trained them how to safely handle a weapon and how to perform escape and evasion, valuable lessons if and when the Schumer hits the fan. 

In the beginning of summer I took my son on canoe trip, I packed my bug out gear and made sure that he did the same, everything that he would need.  All of the equipment was divided equally and even though he is only 15 and not fully-grown, he did a commendable job of keeping up with the old man on portages. 

Once we were deep in Algonquin Park I started to teach him actual bushcraft such as fire starting. We did not use a match the entire weekend.  It was fire steels; he needed to know that over a long period that matches and lighters would be in short supply.  I taught him tracking, or should I say the basics of tracking.  It takes a lifetime of experience that makes you good at tracking.  What woods to use as kindling, what wood to use for as smokeless as a fire as possible, how to knock off pine knots to burn.  We brought our wrist rocket slingshots and he was able to bag both a squirrel and a grouse so I taught him how to skin and clean each plus how to clean a fish.  That turned out to be a welcome change from the MREs that we had brought with us.

When we were prepping for our canoe trip, I bought a couple topographical maps and taught him how to read the lay of the land from a map.  I got him to research the available crown land surrounding the park to see if there were any viable options for camping on public land.  A mini orienteering course was put on for his benefit.  I taught him the basics, like how to take a bearing, follow a bearing.  Using back bearings to get home.  The more advanced stuff will come, like calculating magnetic declination and triangulation on a map to find your location.

I have been a sheet metal worker, plumber, electrician, oil burner mechanic, combat engineer.  I worked in a cabinet shop, framed houses and on rejoining the military a Supply technician.  Little by little, I have been trying to teach my son that it is best to be a jack-of-all-trades and like many kids whose parents remember the Great Depression and rationing of World War II, I know the value of making a little go a long way.  So we work on our bicycles together, I would rather show him once how to do something so he will know how to do it himself.  In addition, it is a lot cheaper then paying someone else to do something.  Now that he’s in high school his interests have been the shop classes, I totally encourage him to take wood shop, welding and small engine repair seriously and made him aware that home economics is a must.  I might have told him that girls dig a guy who can cook.

When my son seen the items coming into the house bought through eBay and his interest peaked when it came to prepping.  I made a master list of items we need for long-term survival and when I am not on the laptop he will surf the internet looking for great deals.  His best find was a case of food grade 6.5-gallon pails without lids.  We promptly went to Mountain Equipment Co-op and bought enough Gamma Seal lids to cover them.

Right now, our goal is to start accumulating ammunition and teaching him how to strip and assemble the weapons, we have at home.  Presently, case lots of  7.62x39mm ammo are relatively inexpensive so I’ll be able to get him sighted in on his own SKS and get him to practice using the stripper clips to reload.

The basement is starting to look more like a supply depot but that is all right.  It is all about keeping it organized and to know what you have, where it is and how to use it.  Right now for his punishment when he does the normal teen angst I make him do the laundry in the new “Wonder Wash”.  Some serious hand cranking on a Saturday morning without access to Internet, PS3 or hanging out with his friends is almost in line with child abuse in his mind but it teaches him a couple valuable lessons.  1) Don’t screw up, and 2) Know how to do laundry by hand.

One part of the basement is our home gym.  Lots of free weights, being military physical fitness of mandatory and it is great father son time together working out.  Because we are living in married quarters on base, going on a rucksack march is nothing out of the ordinary, so out of the 20 to 30 guys doing that at night for PT, my son gets a chance to don his ruck and practice carrying all his gear.

When I began prepping, I kept it a secret but now that he is all in, I feel a lot better about it.  It is still our little secret but it is good to know that we are doing everything we can increase our odds when TEOTWAWKI comes.  Family is first in my book, but now I know of six kids who are fully weapons trained and have the basics of field craft down. 

This winter I have him going with one of my friends who has a trap line to learn more about wilderness survival then I have time to teach him.  I should also mention that I have two daughters that are grown up.  I did my best by them as well. They know what to do if they get in trouble: run like mad, split up from friends and gather in a pre-arranged Rendezvous Point at a specific time.  My oldest daughter is an awesome angler and always shows up her old man when out on the river.  When they were little I always had them going out with us deer hunting and they have watched us field dress and skin many deer without the slightest hint of squeamishness.  They are “girly girl” now but I know they have a solid foundation to build on.

So all of you parents out there, it is never too early to start your children off on the right foot.  Even if it is just exposure to new things.  Get them to help in the garden, or to go on an evening walk…do fun things like identify trees and plants and tell them what they are used for or feed them venison, or muskrat or beaver once to make them aware that not all food has to come from the super market.

JWR Adds: As I’ve mentioned before in SurvivalBlog, Airsoft and paintball are fine for learning some aspects of camouflage and small team tactics. The fatal flaws of both, however, are that:

1.) Since paint balls and Airsoft pellets have hardly any penetration beyond five yards, players start to subconsciously equate concealment with cover.

2.) Because Airsoft pellets and paint balls only have limited range, people start to subconsciously think of anything beyond that range as “safely out of range” (for maneuver in the open.)

If you can regularly remind yourself about those shortcomings and adjust your training regimen accordingly, then you’ll find that they provide somewhat worthwhile training. But it is essential that you integrate high velocity ballistic realism. This means declaring anyone that blatantly stands up in the open at 50+ yards “dead meat.” Ditto for anyone that mistakenly takes “cover” behind bushes or small trees. Always remember: concealment is not cover!

Letter Re: Do-It-Yourself Campfire Starters

Dear Mr. Rawles,  
I also have a suggestion for DIY fire starters.  I have been making these for several years and they work great for fire pits etc. I would caution about using them to start a cooking fire though, due to fragrances and color dyes.

We use a lot of 4” and 6” pillar candles in our house. We don’t have small children, so an accidental fire is not a very big concern.  I used to throw out the candle butts and decided I’d like to somehow recycle them. So now every couple of months I make fire starters.  I keep an paper shredder right by the kitchen table so I can deal with junk immediately. I also shred anything that has our address on the envelope or the addressed back covers of catalogs.  I save all of the cardboard tubes from our toilet paper rolls and from paper towels. The toilet paper rolls are the perfect size. I cut the paper towels rolls in half. If you want a smaller size just cut toilet paper roll in half and the paper towel rolls in quarters.  

To assemble the fire starters, I melt the candles in a double boiler. You conceivably could also melt it in pot right on the burner, however, you absolutely cannot walk away from the stove if you use this method. The wax can burn and catch fire quickly.  When the wax is melted I pour it into a large mixing bowl that has some shred paper in it. Mix the wax and shred with a spoon or if you let it cool sufficiently you can use your hand. When the wax and shred gets cool and thick, fill the tubes with the mixture. Let cool for several hours and store in aluminum foil and plastic storage bags. They will keep indefinitely. And the only “extra” cost to me is the foil and storage bags.   Thank you for this excellent site that jam packed with information.   – Okie Ranch Wife

Two Letters Re: Investing in Nickels, in Quantity

Mr. Rawles,  
With the low profile purchase of nickels now a desire of many folks, I have had fun in purchasing them in "bricks" [boxes of rolled nickels.]   

I go up to the bank teller window and ask if they have a brick or two available for purchase. Many times I receive a positive response. (I have a Military Intelligence background and know how to keep a secret while avoiding a direct answer.)   After the purchase many times the teller inquisitively asks why I need so many nickels. I look at her with a twinkle in my eye and lean over whispering and ask her a question. “Can you keep a secret?” And she usually gets very serious and leans toward me and whispers, “Yes I can.”  Then I stand upright, look her in the eye, wink, smile, and say “So can I”, and turn around and walk away.  Have fun out there. – CH 

Mr. Rawles:  
Your reader on the east coast is fortunate; I have been banking at the same local bank for 16 years and have a substantial amount deposited in the institution. For the last four years I have been buying $20.00 worth of nickels every other week when I cashed my check. This Saturday when I went to pick up my nickels I was told that I could only have three rolls and there would be a .10 charge per roll. I suspect that word is starting to get around about nickels. SurvivalBlog readers should get their nickels before it is too late! –   Jim from Illinois

Letter Re: Being Prepared: A Tale of Two Hurricanes

Dear Sir,
After reading A Tale of Two Hurricanes by N.D., I thought I would share some lessons that my family and I learned from Hurricane Ike. First off, I became turned onto the prepping mindset about a year and a half ago. I have been trying to get my father thinking in this mindset and he recently read “One Second After” by William R. Forstchen which seems to have truly sparked something inside him. I plan to let him read my copy of your novel “Patriots” as well.

Well we live in the “country” northwest of Houston. Most people remembered all the hoopla about hurricane Rita and how that turned out to be nothing but an inconvenience and a stress headache. All of our neighbors had no thoughts of evacuating and getting stuck in the traffic from Houston, they just stocked up on a few provisions and called it good. My family did the same thing. We got a couple of cases of water but not much else. We have always had a well stocked pantry with what I believe to be a month or two of food at full rations so there wasn’t any worry of starving.

We prepped our property for the high winds by borrowing some sheets of plywood from a neighbor to cover our windows to protect them from flying debris. Dad used the storm as an excuse to cut down some trees that he had wanted to get rid of. We took out a very large one that could have removed half of our house including my bedroom if it were to come down during the storm. Then we cleaned everything out from under the stairs so we could cram in there in case there was a significant threat of a tornado hitting us. (Stairs are usually the most framed part of a house and thus the most structurally sound place to be in case of a tornado, in less you have a basement.) We were “all set” for what was sure to be a disappointing storm.

Hurricane Ike made landfall on Galveston Island at a little past 2 a.m. on September 13th, 2008 as a strong category 2. In most cases a category 2 hurricane would not be considered too bad for someone who has gone thru some of the weaker storms like Rita. However Ike was different. Looking at the radar, it seemed to take up most of the Gulf and had a strong eye. The storm didn’t really hit us until the early morning hours but the eye came within 9 miles of our house. I woke many times to lightning and the roof creaking. That morning the sky had a greenish color and the wind was still blowing the rain almost sideways. A quick look outside revealed about a dozen trees had blown over or lost large limbs. Our entire neighborhood was without power.

 After the storm calmed down, we went out for a drive to survey the damage in our community. Every one of our neighbors had trees down and almost half of them had some sort of roof damage. There were trees that had taken out the power lines and fallen unto the roads making them impassable. Luckily there were some good samaritans out with their chainsaws clearing the roads enough so cars could pass one at a time. The entire town was without power and the gas station up the road had the covers blown off of the pumps and had sustained damage.
Living without power was not too bad for us. We just pulled out the Coleman stove and lantern from my Boy Scout days and got to work clearing the damage. My Mom however was not very happy. Even though it was much cooler than it usually was at that time of year, the 80 degrees, humidity, and the lack of power and communication with the outside world was more than she wanted to stand. After the first night she took off to my older sister’s house about an hour inland to stay with her. She came back the following day to bring us a little 1,500 watt Honda generator and about 5 gallons of gas. The generator had just enough power and fuel to keep the contents of our refrigerator cool.

My dad sent me out with four 5-gallon gas cans and told me to find someplace to fill them up. I drove my truck to the next town and found that the grocery store’s gas station had gas but even more importantly they had power. Most gas stations had thousands of gallons but no way to get it out of the underground tanks. There was a line on every pump about 50 cars long when I arrived. It took three hours for me to make it up to the pump where there was police officers posted to obviously keep everything in order.  Lucky there was not a ration in place so I was able to fill up all the cans and my truck. As I left the lines were around 200 cars long and things were beginning to get tense as pumps shut down [due to depleted tanks] from such rapid use. I passed several other gas stations on my way home and they were rationing gas to 5 or 10 gallons with just as many cars lined up. When I finally made it back home Dad wanted me to take his truck and get it filled up too, but I told him it was too dangerous and we would have to just make do with what we had, which was about 60 gallons combining what was in the cars and cans. The following day, Mom came back from my sisters with more fuel, a new generator, and a window A/C unit which she bought. The generator is a 5000 watt 7,500 peak brand name with a pull start. It has a 220 volt plug and two 110 volt plugs. Dad and I cut the main breaker so we wouldn’t back feed into the power grid and then took some wires from a 220 volt extension cord and crudely shoved them into the electric dryer socket. We couldn’t run the central air conditioning but we could run the window unit mom had bought (which of course went in her room), the refrigerator, and the lights as normal. We just had to be mindful of how many things we could turn on at once. The generator was locked to the house with a heavy chain and padlock and we always turned it off before night. When there is no power for miles around, a running generator at night is like a “come steal me!” sign.

Another problem that was arising about this time in the neighborhood was human waste. Our neighborhood is remote and everybody has about 5 acres. Because of this we do not have city sewer but instead an aerated sprinkler system. Without power the pump can’t spray the treated liquid waste and the tanks become full in 2-3 days. Toilets begin to back up and smell occurs. For us, everything was fine once the generator was going. We did have to go to some neighbors houses to do some emergency electrical re-wiring so they could get their septic systems working.

Our street was without power for more than 12 days. Part of the problem was a power line went down in the woods behind us and since that line only serviced five houses it was not at the top of the priority list. Luckily we never lost water although we were extra cautious and made sure to boil it before consuming.

Lessons learned from all this:

  1. If it is going to be a big hurricane, then evacuate early. It isn’t worth all the trouble if you can leave in time and trust your neighbors to watch your property, but take your papers and valuables with you.
  2. Have a working generator. We now have ours and had a proper hookup installed by an electrician after it was all over. Make sure to run your generator bi-annually and store it for long-term storage following your user’s guide. For us, that is running it dry with stabilized gas in it.
  3. Have plenty of fuel beforehand. We keep our cans filled with Sta-bil gas and rotate them regularly.
  4. Of course be prepared with all of your usual preps. Food, water, first-aid, etc.
  5. With a hurricane, it is very important to protect your house from damage as much as possible. Cover windows, brace large doors like the garage doors, remove trees close to the house, and remove anything in your yard that could become a flying object.
  6. Have a pump system designed to get gas out of underground tanks. There was just a recent post about how to make your own in the blog. You might be able to let your local gas station owner use it in exchange for some fuel. It’s a win-win. He can still sell fuel and you can get what you need.

I think the most important thing to remember during a disaster like this one is to be courteous and helpful to your neighbors. Get to know your neighbors beforehand and pull together after to clean-up and make repairs. Ike brought all of us on our street closer together. This country is threatened by many different types of natural and manmade disasters, but with a hurricane you know it is coming. Get prepared.