Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 32 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round will include:

First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $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 “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $400, B.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and C.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Third Prize: A.) A 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 32 ends on January 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.

Establishing Private Radio Communications Using Consumer Grade Equipment, by R.E.G.

Sometimes it is ideal for your radio transmissions to be overheard by outside parties but sometimes it is highly undesirable. Radio by its very nature is an open medium. Interception equipment such as radio scanners are commonly available and easy to use. With such a device an unwanted listener could easily intercept your communications. How do we guard against such security vulnerabilities? Digitally encrypted public safety grade radio equipment is certainly an option albeit a very expensive one. Fortunately consumer grade equipment is commonly available that is capable of providing a high degree of privacy against unwanted interception. It is ideal for short range Neighborhood Watch or survival group communications. This writing will mostly focus on short range, point-to-point communications.       

Some very common forms of radio communications equipment are: CB radio, FRS, GMRS, MURS radios, and Marine band radios.  Unfortunately these forms of communication offer very little in terms of privacy although some do offer analog voice scrambling options       

Voice scrambling is technically illegal on CB, GMRS, and MURS frequencies. However, some FRS radios come with a feature known as voice scrambling. The voice scrambler in these radios use a technique called fixed frequency inversion and it is trivial to break. Online software (Invert), hardware de-scramblers (Ramsey SS-70) or simply another radio with a fixed frequency inverter could be used to descramble the communications. Many Marine Band radios offer the ability to add on a voice scrambler, but once again the security level is fairly low. Some Marine Band radios made by ICOM offer split band scramblers or rolling code scramblers (slow hopping split band). Split band offers a low level of security as there are only 32 possible scramble codes and the slow hopping split band scrambler offers a medium level of security at best with slightly more than 1,000 possible codes. For the purpose of this writing I won’t get into the inherent weaknesses of analog voice scramblers

Note: Legality issues may exist with using Marine Band radios on land, but in a worst case situation it may be a viable option. Some marine band radios will do 25 watts and coupled with a good 5/8 wave mobile VHF antenna you could achieve good range. ¼ wave antennas are more compact but more of the signal is radiated upwards so you will sacrifice range. The aforementioned communications options will work, but establishing privacy could be a challenge. Better options exist.       

The FCC recently approved the use of 1 watt radios for voice communication on the 900MHz ISM (Industrial, Scientific, and Medical) band. Some radio communication devices that use this band are the: TriSquare eXRS radio; Motorola DTR radio; and Nextel (now Sprint) phones using the Direct Talk option in the menu (not all Nextel phones have this option). What makes the 900MHz ISM band radios so great? First off, they all use frequency hopping technology (A requirement to use the ISM band) and some are digital which adds another layer of security.

Let’s take a look at these radios individually:    

TriSquare eXRS radio: 1 Watt 900 MHz ISM band        
The basic model (TSX-100) offers 1000 channels and the high end model (TSX-300) offers 2 billion channels. You can get a pair of the basic model radios for around $50 and a pair of the high end radios for about $90. The eXRS radios use frequency hopping technology (Hop rate: 400mS or 2.5 frequency hops per second) and analog narrow FM voice. The frequency hopping will prevent interception by a radio scanner. However, since the voice is still analog the slow frequency hopping can be tracked and the voice demodulated by a near field surveillance receiver such as the Optoelectronics Interceptor or the newer Optoelectronics Xplorer. (An audio sample of the TriSquare eXRS radio being tracked and demodulated by a near field surveillance receiver can be heard here in the “Files” section).    

Motorola DTR (Digital Two-way Radio) 1 Watt 900 MHz ISM band       
The Motorola DTR uses frequency hopping technology that changes the transmission frequency every 90mS or almost 11 times per second. As an added bonus the voice is digitally modulated using VSELP (Vector Sum Excited Linear Prediction). Most Motorola DTR radios, such as the DTR 550 come with five public channels enabled. By following the instructions that come with the radio you can enable channels 6-10. If you want private communications to secure against the possibility of another DTR radio from overhearing your transmission you can purchase an optional keyboard programmer from Motorola (approximately $40) which will allow you to create private channels by setting your own unique 11-digit radio I.D. (1 Trillion codes). This will give you a fairly high level of security since no other DTR radio, unless it has the same 11-digit I.D., will be able to hear your transmission. As far as being able to hear a DTR transmission by using a near-field surveillance receiver- it won’t work since the audio is digital. The surveillance receiver can track the frequency hopping, but the “audio” will sound like popping. Even if a high-end frequency counter (being fed to a digital scanner) were able to track the frequency hopping of the DTR it would still not be able to decode the audio because digital scanners can only decode APCO P25 digital, not VSELP. Another nice feature of the newer DTR radios is that they have a removable antenna so you could use them as mobile radios. With a high quality magnet mount 900MHz antenna mounted on a car you should be able to increase your range substantially. The only drawback of the Motorola DTR is the price. They usually run at least $250 per radio, new. They are however more durable and reliable than the TriSquare eXRS radio. For those on a budget who still desire private digital communications, I’m going to let you in on a little known secret called Nextel Direct Talk.          

Sprint (Nextel) Direct Talk (off-network) 700mW 900 MHz ISM band       
Not to be confused with Nextel Direct Connect, Direct Talk requires no contract or activation through Nextel (now Sprint). All you need is a Direct Talk capable phone (the i355 and the i570 are excellent choices with the i355 being the cheapest) and a SIM card installed. Your best source for these phones (and SIM cards) is eBay. A used i355 can be had for around $20 a phone. I have three of them and I just recently purchased three newer i570’s with SIM cards, batteries, and chargers (AC and DC) for $55.       

Direct Talk uses the exact same technology as the Motorola DTR (900 MHz ISM, 90mS frequency hopping and VSELP digital voice), but they are not compatible. Direct Talk offers 10 channels with 15 selectable privacy codes per channel. It also offers a “Private individual call” function where you can individually call another phone without any other group member overhearing the conversation, even if they are on the same channel. More information on how to use Direct Talk is available from Nextel.    

Communications Range       
As I previously noted, Nextel Direct Talk phones have 700 mW transmit power compared to 1W of transmit power from the Motorola DTR and TriSquare eXRS radio. In head-to-head range tests the 1W radios provided no appreciable increase in range. Radio manufacturers are known to exaggerate the useful communication range of their products. I have extensively tested the Motorola DTR and my Nextel phones set to Direct Talk and have found the following:  

  • Superior performance over 5W VHF/ 4W UHF commercial radios in tough RF environments such as high rise structures and large cruise ships.
  • Typical point-to-point range with both parties outdoors in an urban setting (common obstructions such as houses and small buildings) is 1.5 – 2 miles.
  • In an open environment such as a field or area with little or no obstructions [“true “line of sight”], 3-5 miles of communication range is possible.  

Further Information and Accessories       
After you have selected your radio equipment, it is a good idea to purchase a few extra radios in case of failure or if you add a new member to your group. I recommend purchasing at least two spare batteries for each radio. The Trisquare radios can be powered with standard alkaline batteries. DC chargers are available for both the Nextel and Motorola DTR. Both the DTR and Nextel phones use the same style charger, but keep in mind they are not compatible with each other communications wise.      

It is also a good idea to purchase some form of headsets for the radios for stealth communication. I prefer the surveillance type headsets. These are the type with the push-to-talk (PTT) mic that can be clipped on your shirt collar. They also have an earphone for covert listening. A note on the earphones, it is a good idea to get one that has an attachment that goes over and around the top of your ear to hold the earphone securely in place. Once again, a good source for these is eBay. But keep in mind you get what you pay for. Some are made overseas and are of low quality materials so they may not hold up in the field. (Note: I have read that Nextel phones using Direct Talk can only use the speaker mode, so a private headset may not work for Direct Talk. I have not personally tried to test them with headsets.)  

Conclusion       
The radios I’ve just described (900 MHz ISM band) are a welcome arrival to the consumer market. They are capable of providing private, interference-free communications. Try getting that on CB, FRS, or GMRS. While they do provide a high level of privacy, keep in mind that no radio transmission should be considered 100% secure. Even though these radios use frequency hopping and some are digital, the transmissions will still show up on a spectrum analyzer and can be detected with near-field surveillance receivers. If you require more security, radios with digital encryption can easily be procured in the used market by civilians. [Although they are restricted from use in the United States.] You will need to know about programming the radio, cryptographic key loading and management, encryption ciphers available to you (DVP, DVP-XL, DES, DES-XL, AES, etc) and their strengths and weaknesses. Look for this information in a future article. In the mean time, pray, procure, and prepare.

Letter Re: Firsthand Experience in Doubling Up

Mr. Rawles,
In your novel “Patriots” and in many articles of SurvivalBlog, people discuss what to do when TEOTWAWKI comes. The one thing common in most of the situations is doubling up at a retreat. My wife and I have some experience in this and I want to pass some information on to help people prepare for the situation they may be facing.      

My wife and I moved in with her parents about 13 months ago due to financial hardships. We were living in Arizona and struggling to make ends meet. I was working a job that covered about 90% of our bills and paying for the rest on credit cards. I was unable to find a second job, even fast food places weren’t hiring, and my wife was unable to find any job as well. I quit attending college, the reason we were living in Arizona in the first place, and was only eating one meal every other day. I made a promise to my father-in-law that I would never let his daughter go hungry. My wife was eating three meals a day and didn’t know that I was not eating. We eventually decided to move to Washington State and stay with her folks. They had plenty of work for us to do and they have plenty of food. I was able to find a job and get out of debt. We are almost finished building an apartment attached to their workshop.      

Here are the lessons we have learned the past 13 months of doubling up:     

Make sure you are comfortable with whoever you plan on living with. My in-laws and I share the same belief system and moral values. However we come from completely different backgrounds. Even with attending the same church, voting the same way, and sharing common goals, including stocking up for future needs, there are conflicts. For one thing I live at my in-laws house and part of the agreement is that my wife and I listen to their rules. It is a good agreement, but not one that is always easy to live with. If you are the one planning on moving in with someone else make sure you are comfortable with them being the boss. I would suggest reading and studying Phillipians 2:3 especially if you are planning on moving in to someone else’s retreat.  (“[Let] nothing [be done] through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.”)    

Be sure you know what the expectations are. Everyone must pull their own weight or conflicts will arise. I work graveyard shift and sleep during the day. Because of this I have to work extra hard around the house on my days off so that conflicts don’t arise. In a true TEOTWAWKI situation you will not be able to just take a drive into town to cool off. You will be living with them 24/7 and better build a good strong relationship now before you live together. It is best to have at least a verbal agreement of what everyone’s job/expectations are, a written agreement is even better.      

Be aware of the little things. Normally a person’s annoying habits aren’t that bad, but when people are already stressed out the little annoying things tend to get under our skin and cause bigger problems later. If something annoys you there are two things you can do, talk to the person and try to work it out, or don’t let it bother you. The second option doesn’t work to well when you are living together 24/7 unless you are very thick-skinned. Personally it takes a lot for things to bother me, my wife on the other hand is a lot more sensitive. Learn how to deal with conflict now, Blessed are the Peacemakers.     

In the novel “Patriots“, the fictional character T.K. was the group’s “Peacemaker” giving advice, praying with people, and holding church services. Personally I would say that this is the most important position of any group. At the moment my wife and I are able to attend church regularly with her family. We have an outstanding pastor that we all love dearly. What happens though when it is no longer safe or possible to drive to church? There needs to be someone that the group can trust and feels comfortable with that can give sound, Godly advice and help to avoid conflict.      

Overall the best thing my wife and I do to cope with conflict in the house is to make sure we have our personal devotions and family devotions and prayer time. Conflict will arise no matter what, but especially in high stress situations you want to maintain a good healthy relationship with those you will be staying with. – Richard C. in Washington

Letter Re: Extreme Couponing

James Wesley:
Extreme couponing is an absolutely incredible way to save on your groceries. But like many things it should not be the only way you save.

In fact, the “Frugal Zealot” Amy Dacyczyn was able to feed a family of eight on $200/month (in 1996 prices) and she hardly ever used coupons.

“Frequently, massive couponers boast about the difference between the pre-coupon price and the final total. They circle the “you saved” number on their receipts. “You’re circling the wrong number,” Amy said.What you need to compare is the difference between all possible alternatives and your final total. Other alternatives include store brands on sale, buying in bulk, picking fruit off friend’s trees or just going without.

Think of coupons as just one tool in your frugal toolbox. Don’t be dogmatic about using them, and you’ll be able to stretch your dollar further. – C.D.V.

Letter Re: The Ten Cent Challenge

Dear JWR,  
You have a great blog site. I must inform you that you may not receive a lot of the dimes sent the way that you described. I work for the USPS as a Maintenance Mechanic, Postal Equipment. In short, I work on the automated equipment that processes the incoming letter mail. I have seen the machines tear up large number of letters. The dimes will get vacuumed up during the course of preventive maintenance. Also, new machines heading our way will incorporate a metal detector before the letter is processed through the machine. I would hate to see monies heading your way side-tracked for one reason or another. With Kind Regards, – C.D.P.       

JWR Replies: Thanks! Based on your advice, I’ve just updated the Ten Cent Challenge page with the following: “Please tape the coins to a scrap 3″x5” piece of cardboard before placing them in an envelope (preferably a padded mailer), so that the coins don’t rattle around and so the envelope does not get shredded.”

I’d also like to express my thanks to the more than 30 people that have either renewed or sent in new subscriptions in the past 24 hours. A couple of folks sent $100 and one sent $150. Those multi-year subscriptions are greatly appreciated!

Economics and Investing:

This could happen in America, too!: European nations begin seizing private pensions. Mark my words. I predict that the politicians and policy wonks will say: “Nationalizing the IRAs and 401(k)s is the only thing that will save Social Security.” Oh, but they’ll probably call he whole socialist scheme “privatizing”, to sugar coat it.

I noticed that silver took a dip on Tuesday morning. In a long term bull market, you should watch the tickers closely and buy on the dip days!

George Soros: The United States Must Stop Resisting The Orderly Decline Of The Dollar, The Coming Global Currency And The New World Order

Pinch those pennies: To Boost Your Finances, Sweat the Small Stuff in 2011.

TARP deadbeats pose major problems

“Crash Taxes” Show the Desperation of US Government Workers

Items from The Economatrix:

Stocks Start 2011 with a Big Lift  

Oil Prices Start the New Year at a 26-Month High  

Hiding A Depression:  How The US Government Does It  

European Debt Markets “Face Second Debt Crisis”

Odds ‘n Sods:

Getting Out Of Dodge: In-bound migration to Idaho strong over past two years, United Van Lines study shows. (A hat tip to Steve S. for the link.)

   o o o

Reader R.L.H. spotted this: End of the world? Tune into WBT-AM. (Does anyone have a list of the similarly-equipped stations?)

   o o o

J.C. suggested this re-cap: The 10 Most Underreported Stories for 2010

   o o o

Steve S. also sent a link to a web page with some absolutely magnificent photos shot by Colonel Douglas H. Wheelock from the International Space Station. The preparedness tie-in? The night photos show population density.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Deyr fé, deyja frændr, deyr sjálfr et sama; ek veit einn, at aldri deyr: dómr of dauðan hvern.” (Translated: “Cattle die, kinsmen die the self must also die; I know one thing which never dies: the reputation of each dead man.”) – The Hávamál, Ancient Gnomic Norse Poem

The SurvivalBlog Ten Cent Challenge — Annual Reminder and the Silver Dimes Option

I only post one reminder each year about Ten Cent Challenge subscriptions, and this is it. Unlike Jimmy Wales at Wikipedia and the whining leftist hand-wringers at PBS, I don’t do endless pledge drives.

I depend on my readers to help pay the bills to keep SurvivalBlog up and running. Our web hosting on a dedicated server costs $650.00 per month, and our local ISP bill is $129.00 per month. We also have other expenses including liability insurance, phone bills, computer hardware, software, accounting, subscriptions, writing contest prizes, and so forth.

My appeal is simple: If you feel that you get more than 10 cents per day in value from reading SurvivalBlog, then please make a voluntary subscription payment, for 10 cents a day. ($36.50 for a year.)

I don’t keep any e-mail lists, which is why this annual post is necessary. (I never e-mail any solicitations for subscriptions or renewals. Subscriptions are purely on the honor system.)

The Silver Dimes Option
Staring in 2011, I’m also seeking payment for subscriptions in the form of pre-1965 U.S. silver dimes. The current multiplier for silver is around 25-to-1. (25 times face value–so a silver dime is worth about $2.50.) But since mass inflation looks inevitable, I expect that the value of a silver dime will soon exceed $10. So just send two or three silver dimes for each year’s subscription. OBTW, it is best to tape them to a scrap 3″x5″ card before placing them in an envelope, so that the coins don’t rattle around. And of course check with your postal clerk for the correct postage.

Our mailing address is:

SurvivalBlog
P.O. Box 303
Moyie Springs, Idaho 83845

To those that have already subscribed, my most sincere thanks! You represent the less than 1% of readers that pony up. I greatly appreciate your loyal support!

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 32 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round will include:

First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $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 “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $400, B.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and C.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Third Prize: A.) A 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 32 ends on January 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.

A Well Pump Failure Dry Run, by Major Dad

My wife and I woke up on Christmas morning to discover that we had no running water in our Alaskan home.  When we checked out the problem, we discovered that the pump to our well was not functioning.  Waking up to find we had fuses blown and mud in the water lines is always great news, especially on Christmas morning.  It seems that some recent small earthquakes in our area had messed with our water table, and where once we had water, now we have silt, sand and mud.  Of course, all of this comes to light on Christmas Day when all the stores and businesses were closed.  So we got to spend at least a weekend without running water, and who knows how many more until we could get the well up and running again.   Fortunately, my wife and I have been in a "prepper" mindset for many years and so we were able to go on with Christmas pretty much as planned except for having to heat water on the stove to do the dishes and restricting our intake of ice from the ice maker.    As "preppers" we have always made it a point to store extra water as well as food in the house.  We keep several 5 gallon water jugs in our basement and rotate the water in them every 6 months (spring / fall).  

In addition to those I have a hot/cold water dispenser in my home office which holds a 5 gallon jug of water, and we also keep replacement jugs for it as well.  We also have about thirty plastic 2-liter “Coke” bottles that we have washed and refilled with water for emergency purposes.   

We found that the  2-liter bottles are great for around the house use as they are lightweight and highly portable. Also since we are reusing them after drinking the original product, they are a very inexpensive way to store water for emergencies.   They have worked out great for us by keeping one near the kitchen and one near the bathroom sinks to pour water in plastic basins to wash our hands, to fill cups for brushing our teeth and rinsing as well as other mundane things.  They are a lot easier to handle than the large 5-gallon containers, as you can lift and pour from the bottles with one hand, and the 2-liter bottle does not take up much room if you have limited counter space.   

The 5-gallon jugs worked well for larger tasks such as filling larger items such as cooking pots, dishpans (to wash dishes), toilet tanks etc., but we were amazed how handy the 2-liter bottles were.    As with any time we exercise our “bug-in” scenarios, we almost always learn a couple of lessons.  Here are a few things which we learned from this “dry run” (pun intended).    

Lesson 1.    The commonly suggested storage of 2 gallons of water per person per day is not enough unless you have an outhouse.  Even using the old standard “If its yellow let it mellow and if it’s brown, flush it down” with a one gallon flush tank toilet – the two gallons per person per day wisdom pretty much goes out the window.  Two gallons per person per day is enough to eat, drink, wash the dishes and to take care of personal cleanliness, but if you plan to use flush toilets, one needs to plan to store more water.  

Lesson 2.  It is more difficult and takes more effort to make usable water from ice and snow then it first seems.  My wife and I have set aside what we thought was a lot of water for drinking and washing in the case of an emergency/  We have stored well above the 2-gallon per person, per day rule figuring we had enough potable water for at least a few weeks.  We also thought that since we live in Alaska , in the case of an emergency where we lost power or water, we would be able to melt enough snow and ice to extend the amount we had stored for a much longer period. What we discovered is that it took a lot more effort than what we thought simply to produce enough water from ice and snow to fill the toilet tanks at least twice a day.   

With the well pump burned out, and no running water in the house we thought we would simply use our stored water for normal uses but that we would take this opportunity to test the theory of using snow and ice to extend our water supply by using it to fill up our toilet tanks.  What we found out is that it takes quite a bit of time to chop enough ice to be ready to fill two tanks with melt water to meet out “twice a day” fill standard.   We started off chopping ice and filling a pot to melt it down.  However, chopping ice produced a lot more smaller pieces and flakes of ice than large chunks, so it took longer than what we expected to get a bucket full of ice.   Since that took longer than expected, we thought we would try an experiment of just gathering up “clean” snow from some places near the house.  Since we have about 3 feet of snow lying everywhere on the ground and even more in drifts, there seemed to be great potential in using snow.  But in actuality, we found that the results of using snow are hardly worth the effort unless you are in a last resort- nothing else to use situation.  No matter how clean the snow looked, it always contained lots of particles in it.  These particles looked like pieces of leaves and seeds from trees and weeds and needed be strained out after melting and prior to the water being poured into the commode so that the pieces would not stop up any part of the toilet or plumbing    

To strain the water, I decided to use four paper binder clips from my office to hold a piece of cloth over a 5 gallon bucket.  The cloth acted as my strainer to catch most of the larger particles and seeds.  This worked well, but having to go in and out of the house many times to gather enough snow, melt it and then strain it, took a lot of time in order to get the required amount of water to fill both toilet tanks and have a reserve bucket standing by to refill after a the inevitable flush.   The snow melting technique can be used in an emergency situation; I did it today.   But I have made a mental note to make this method my last resort since we have tried it for real.  Retrieving ice, even though it was more difficult than first thought, works a lot better than using snow in that there were many fewer trips in and out of the house.  But one thing we noticed is that even the ice melt still had to be strained as it also contained some seeds and bits of leaves.  Also, after melting both the ice and the snow, the melt water looked a bit tinted.   

Since we had the use of our household power; we were able to use a burner on the stove to speed up the ice / snow melt process.  I think that part of the tint we noticed in the melt water occurred during the heating/melting of the water which caused some tannic acid to leach from the bits of trees that were in the snow and ice into the water.   Since the melt water was not going to be consumed today, we didn’t do anything else with it other than store it to put it in the commode tanks.   If we planned to drink the water we would have either poured the melt-water through a Berkey or took it through a distilling process so we would have known for sure that it was safe to drink.  

If we didn’t have outside electrical power to our house to provide the quick melt heat source, I’m not so sure that I would have used up our valuable stored fuel supply to just melt snow for the toilets, unless I was sure of being able to quickly replace it.  In a true grid down situation using your finite amount of cooking fuel just to melt snow would not be a good trade off in my opinion.  If we had been grid down, I would have put the ice in metal buckets by the fireplace and let it melt in them. However that would have taken a lot more time to get the required amount of water than the way we did it with the stove.  I did however make a note to myself to secure a couple more metal buckets just for the purpose of melting snow and ice by the fireplace in case of a future episode like this occurs.  If I had to use the fireplace method during this episode, I would have had to use my fireplace ash-hauling buckets for the purpose of melting water.  

I think I would rather have some clean steel buckets set aside for ice melting rather than having to clean ashes before I could use them.  I have extra plastic buckets but I would not be able to place them as close to the fireplace as the metal ones.   Today we simply used this untimely incident to explore the possibility of melting ice and snow for emergency water use.  What we discovered was that if we had to depend on this apparently abundant source of water, it would take a lot more effort than what we first thought to convert it to a usable form in a timely manner, especially if it was to be our only source of water.  Therefore we need to re-examine our thinking and materials in order to be able to better use the resources we have available.  

I am thankful this Christmas for many things.  I thank God for a great wife, my two sons and their families, a warm place to live, and for God giving me enough vision to plan ahead and prepare for a time when life may not be as comfortable as it is now.  I also am thankful that our house had power.  If the power was out and we had to cook on a camp stove rather than a range, it would have been a much more difficult day than what it was.    Finally, I thank God I was able to learn some lessons today which may help me some other day; and I thank Him that what could have been a major problem was not much more than a minor inconvenience.    I hope everyone’s Christmas was as good as the Christmas we had here in Alaska.

Letter Re: Some Practical Experience With Concertina Wire

Sir,
Since I served as an NCO, 11B (Infantry, Ranger) for many years concertina wire (“C-Wire”) is something I am very used to working with. As with many skills and tasks concerning TEOTWAWKI, the tricks and short cuts can make things so much easier.

When deployed it is SOP that all vehicles have a roll of C-Wire. We tossed it on the hood and used it all the time, not to mention all the wire we set up around our outpost for physical security. Each squad was issued a pair of those fancy expensive leather gloves that has staples or metal rivets across the palm and fingers. The idea is the wire wont get caught in the skin, glove or whatever and you can let go easily. We all tried them and found they were only a little bit better than the gloves we wore all the time. One day our First Sergeant was with us and mentioned a good trick. He had us take engineer tape and then use 100 mph [“duct”] tape to tape a rock a bit smaller than a golf ball to the end. When I wanted to grab the C-Wire I just held onto the fabric of the engineer tape and tossed the rock into the wire. I then had a good way to hold and move the wire and let go. We ended up just leaving the thing in the wire till we were done and wanted to collect out wire and leave. Another trick is to discard the retaining wire that comes from the factory. Get a good wire coat hanger and use that instead. You can then put the roll back into a collapsed position easier and faster with this longer wire. It also works good as a pull handle when you need to run to position your wire. Shaking the wire as you try and pull it out or collapse it also makes working with it easier. Some people will try to undo every individual catch-up. This takes time and is not needed. Just pull and shake! You should remember not pull the wire out as far as it will go. This makes the gaps in between individual strands very wide. Also, what makes the wire work so well is that when something gets caught in it there is movement causing the prey to become more tangled. If the C-Wire is pulled tight there is less movement. A few moments of the razors caching and re-catching should talk any normal person out of continuing their approach.

And remember, if someone were to cut the wire in just a few locations the entire line of protection can be opened enough for a truck to pass by just pulling on one side, C-Wire if a continuous part. You should use strand wire also to slow down any breech. American Battle drills don’t work as well in other countries for this very reason!

Lastly, one of the most useful things C-Wire can do is stop a truck! I know people don’t think so but running over a strand of this stuff will stop most civilian vehicles. The tires just love pulling the wire into the hub, axle and other parts. It wont stop the cars inertia but will render the car or truck unable to keep going. Just put the wire out with enough stand off to allow the wire time to get caught up into the vehicle. Have a good New Year and keep the info coming! – J.D.J.

Letter Re: New Year’s Eve and The Thin Veneer

Happy New Year!

I’ve been reading your blog for a while now and have gotten a lot more prepared than I was in the past.

As a law enforcement officer (LEO) for the past nine years, much of the information on human behavior mentioned in SurvivalBlog hasn’t been a surprise to me. I particularly enjoy reading the articles you post from other LEOs due to the fact that they tend to have 20+ years experience and thus impart a lot of knowledge.

I wanted to share my experience with you in reference New Years Eve celebrations this year.

I live in a midsize county of approx 300,000 people, with one large city. For the most part the county is like many other with the city being very populous and the outlying areas being very rural. This year I worked in communications during the New Years Eve/New Year night shift which means that you see pretty much everything that is going on throughout the county. In the past this has been a crazy holiday but I never totally grasped the scope of how many people have “meltdowns” at one time.

We had free fire zones throughout the city, multiple disturbances, gunshots, robberies, and generally extreme human behavior all over. As I was driving home, listening to the gun shots, it dawned on my just how rapidly people degrade in their behavior. It is shocking that within the space of four hours I saw local law enforcement literally have to choose not to address very serious issues. 

Indeed, I now read some of the posts on your site with much more open eyes and I agree that it cannot be stressed enough that when the time comes, you will most likely only have one chance to get your family out alive. I hope more of your readers get to have an experience like mine.

The worst part of the entire night dawned on me the next day. Low class people were acting like that during a celebration. Imagine how they will behave when their welfare checks are cut off or even threatened to be reduced. I believe that they will make the French Revolution and the current protests in Europe look like a High School pep-rallies.

Thank you for your site. – L., a Florida LEO

Avalanche Lily’s Bedside Book Pile

America has been “dumbed down” by 40 years of lamentable Least Common Denominator public schooling and mass media. Here is some evidence: Ezra Klein’s imbecilic punditry. I suggest reading the book: The Dumbest Generation.

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

  • I just finished Lucifer’s Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. It was a great read, and quite thought provoking. One thing that struck me is society’s dependence on a handful of high technology specialists, rather than generalists with a broad set of skills and knowledge. People tend to specialize in just one particular field, and then look to experts in other fields for guidance. Its a sheeple mentality that our government through the media and public education have fostered during the past fifty or so years. In the event of a major disaster, very few people will have the the skills to survive a return to pre-grid technology.
  • I’ve just started reading Survivors by Terry Nation. This novel was the basis for two British television series, produced in the 1970s and in 2009. The more recent series is now available in the United States on DVD. For readers in the UK and possessions only, it is also available as free streaming video from the BBC web site. (The BBC web site’s software allows file downloads only to servers in England and the Commonwealth.) I’ll post my comments after I finish the novel.
  • Jim and I recently watched the Mel Gibson movie Conspiracy Theory. It was a movie with a very good fast moving plot starring Mel Gibson as Jerry and Julia Roberts as Alice. It was a classic good guy versus bad guy film. The outstanding screenplay was written by Brian Helgeland. It had a very complicated plot, and I had to have Jim explain a couple of things about the intelligence “spook” world to me. Jerry had been a mind-control experiment subject who had been trained as a one-time-use assassin in the CIA’s rightfully maligned MK-ULTRA program. The villain, Dr. Jonas, was expertly portrayed by veteran Shakespearean actor, Patrick Stewart. (Best known to American audiences as Captain Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation.) Jim’s favorite line in the film was from Agent Lowry: “If the intelligence community is a family, think of us as the uncle no one talks about.”