Economics and Investing:

KAF sent us this: Facing Closure, U.S.’s Largest Sleeping Bag Maker Seeks Relief From Free Trade Loophole. (JWR Adds: Meanwhile, Wiggy’s, a sleeping bag manufactures that produces all of their products in the U.S. at their small Colorado soldiers on, seeking no handouts or special treatment. This SurvivalBlog advertiser deserves your business!)

Reader R.M. sent this: Moody’s slashes Irish debt to three grades above junk. Ouch! So what will a Punt be worth, if Ireland is ejected from the Euro circle? And what does this tell us about the indebtedness of the U.S. government?

John R. recommended this piece over at Zero Hedge: Stockman Explains To Ratigan How In Thirty Years America Spent Enough Debt to LBO Itself, and Ended Up Bankrupt.

IMF chief worried about Europe domino effect. (Thanks to J.B.G. for the link.)

Video: U.S. Losing Control of Bombs to China’s Neodymium Monopoly

Items from The Economatrix:

France’s AAA Grade At Risk As Rating Cuts Spread Through Europe  

Doomsday For The US Dollar?  

Buying Gold:  Why Are The Chinese Gobbling Up Gold Like There’s No Tomorrow  

16 Shocking Facts About The Student Loan Debt Bubble And The Great College Education Scam  

Underfunded Pensions Dwarf Deficit 

Odds ‘n Sods:

Gregory C. suggested this piece by Gerald Celente: 10 Trends for 2011

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Andrew sent us some news from England: Farmer accidentally shot burglars. (And of course who did the constables immediately arrest? The land owner, not the trespassing dope growers. In Wyoming, he’d get a commendation.)

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F.J. mentioned a little $12 item that might be a good addition to your EDC key chain: The Split-Pea Lighter.

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Chalk up three for the good guys: Houston Jeweler Kills Three Armed Robbers. (Thanks to J.S. for the link.)

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El Jefe Jeff E. sent this: Feds want reporting for high-powered rifle sales. Another Lilliputian line is attached.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation: He is my defense; I shall not be moved.” – Psalm 62:5-6 (KJV)

Note from JWR:

Today we present another two entries 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.

Emergency Preparedness, Two Liters at a Time, by Roy P.

My son handed me a book to read this Thanksgiving titled “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It” by James Wesley, Rawles. He had a stack of them and gave them to all his ‘important people’. The title intrigued me. Although I never really considered myself a Survivalist in the way that the media might portray one, I have stored food and supplies for emergencies throughout my life. The book was well written and easy to read, as I read it in two days and it has inspired me to once again get serious about preparedness.

Many of us see the potential dangers facing us in this uncertain period of our lives. Unemployment is high, foreclosures are starting to pop up everywhere and we have an administration that doesn’t give us any reason to anticipate a speedy resolution. We may still have our jobs and our mortgages may be up to date, but in the back of our minds, we see that it wouldn’t take much to turn our world upside-down. Although I am self-employed, and I might entertain the thought that I can’t get fired or laid-off, my business is 100% Internet related and dependant. If that single utility were to fail, overnight I could myself in a quagmire instead of the solid ground I thought I was on. Multiply this scenario by the millions of people that share this vulnerability and the whole country could undergo a ‘fundamental transformation’ as someone has phrased it.

So some of us may realize that we are a little late getting prepared. But, rather than analyzing it, we need to start doing something, now. The problem is that getting started may appear to be a daunting task. Finding and affording long term food storage, locating food grade containers, dealing with moisture control, ordering oxygen absorbers and mylar bags, and on and on, may make the first step too big for a beginner to take.

I found myself in that situation 20 years ago when my wife and I first decided to prepare for emergency/disaster scenarios. Still today we are by no means any kind of experts, but we do have some practical experience that we can share to help that person sitting on the edge get a push into action.

My earliest recollections of preparedness was as a child living in Ohio. Born in the mid-1950s, I grew up in the threat of the Cold War, you know, Duck and Cover in the classrooms. I remember my father looking through brochures for building a Fall-Out Shelter (mid-1960’s survivalism I guess). We had a huge basement at the time, temperature and moisture controlled and this is where we played, built projects and the adults had their parties. But in our basement we also had an extra kitchen, workshop, laundry room, food pantry, and a super-secret store room. I think that my dad, not being able to build his fallout shelter, used our basement as his next best alternative.]

Living in a cold climate, in the suburbs of Cleveland, winters were very cold. I remember at times we would get snowed in and couldn’t go to school for as long as 2 weeks at a time. If the city’s snow plows couldn’t get by for a few days, we were seriously snowed in. Even though we lived in the heart of suburbia, 3-4 feet of snow makes it hard to get anywhere. I remember my dad having to dig out of our front door and walk to the neighborhood store (Dairy-Dell) to get milk and bread for us four kids but the mainstay of our food during those times was the huge pantry my parents always kept stocked in our basement. My parents built a set of shelves that covered an entire wall about 12 inched deep and it held canned stews, vegetables, soups, beans, camp stove fuel, Sterno cans, as well as other vital household items. Even back then I remember all the cans were dated and the stock was constantly rotated as we ate out of it almost daily.

Flash forward to the 1980s, my parents are now empty nesters and built a house on a hill top in southern Oregon. My dad, who’s perspective was formed growing up in the Depression, serving in WWII, and living his adult life in the Cold War built this new house with a basement again but this time an even more elaborate food storage room. When he showed it to me for the first time I noticed stacks and stacks of 2-liter bottles on the shelves on one wall. I asked my dad why he had all the soda is his storage. Well, it wasn’t soda, but is was grains and beans. My dad’s childhood of living in the depression made him thrifty in many ways. He told me these bottles are virtually free, they were made from polycarbonate just like my shooting glasses, have an excellent seal, transparent enough to see what is inside without opening, and make handy sized containers for food storage. I thought it was a great idea as I was about to buy and store some grains and beans for my family.

Having just made it through the Bush 41 administration and now wondering if we will make it through the Clinton regime, I felt like I needed some food security. I lived in central California at the time and didn’t have a lot of extra money laying around, the 2-liter bottles made food storage really cheap. My wife and I were buying way too much soda in those years, but that made for a lot of empty bottles available. At that time I was buying bulk grains and beans in the 10 to 20 cents per pound range. We bottled up hundreds of pounds of food and spent less than a hundred dollars total. We now got some security in knowing that no matter what happens, we will eat. We didn’t use any silica gel, oxygen absorbers, or dry ice as we didn’t know about them and couldn’t have afforded them if we did.

What we discovered was that the bottles created their own vacuum. We never had any kind of bug infestation or mold. The lentil beans and split peas lost their color after a few years, but the whole wheat and white rice was like the day we bottled it, ten years later. It was all very handy to use, just grab a bottle, pour it in a measuring cup for cooking and keep the unused portion on the kitchen shelf. Each bottle holds 8+ cups of grain or beans.

Of course none of the gloomiest forecasts of that time ever came to be, but my wife and I had to thank God on a number of occasions when that food really saved us. A few years after we stored our food, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and Desert Storm began. We were both self-employed in a business that relied heavily on land development which in turn relied on investment capital to fund it. Investors became uncertain where Desert Storm was going to take the country and started pulling back their money and canceling proposed projects as well as projects already underway. (Does this sound familiar?) Well almost overnight, projects that we had in our cue of work in progress were cancelled one after another. Projects that that would have invoiced for $30,000 to $40,000 each just vanished. We kept our employees on, as they were a good team with skills that were very hard to find, hoping things would improve soon and lost over $30,000 that first month. The following month took another $40,000. Quickly my partner and I started laying-off everyone but ourselves, but now we were in a bad way. We eventually shut down the business and moved to Southern Oregon. I cannot tell you how important it was that we stored that food and other assets that we used to survive the next few years in our leanest times.

The 2-liter bottles are very handy to grab with one hand and use in the kitchen until it is empty. It is easy to share one or two or a variety with a friend or neighbor who is in need. They are reusable and pretty much free and they are air tight, water proof, lightweight and bug proof. We never had any mouse or other vermin problems although a hungry varmint might eat through one if unprotected.

Here a trick in filling your bottles. Always clean and dry your bottles well in advance of filling them. I took two caps and glued and taped them together, top to top. I then drilled out the center so it was like a cylinder with inside threads at both ends. I but a bottle on one end and cut the bottom off that bottle. Then just screw the other end on the bottle you want to fill and you have a large capacity filling funnel that doesn’t jam or fall off. Fill them to the very top to leave as little air as possible. If you have oxygen absorbers, you can roll one up and slide it in the top.

I know that this may seem simple and elementary. It is by no means the best way to store food. But it is fun, you get immediate results and you can do it today. If getting started is half the job, this is certainly worth doing to prepare you and your family.

Avalanche Lily’s Bedside Book Pile

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

  • I just finished reading One Second After by William R. Forstchen, with a foreword by Newt Gingrich. This is a novel based on the the after-effects of a high altitude EMP blast that wipes out North America’s power grids one spring afternoon. It focuses on the aftermath in a small town in western, North Carolina. It was written with the literal intent to inform and raise the awareness of the American public to the very real danger our country could face from an EMP attack. The storyline was intensely gripping, keeping me up late reading two nights in a row. As I write this, I am still staggered by what I’ve read. Without giving away the story line, I have a number of immediate responses to this novel: get food, lots of food, for yourselves, friends and neighbors, get medical supplies everything and anything, wean yourself off of meds if possible; get ammo, lots of ammo for hunting, barter, and self-defense. Learn how to live without electricity, get non-electric tools and appliances and learn how to use them. I was struck by the lack of preparedness of the local, state and federal governing bodies for an EMP attack in the story (and in real-life), the incredible responsibility the town leaders had to govern the town, the decisions they had to make: declaring martial law, implementing and carrying out lethal punishment for those pillaging and stealing, food rationing, medicine rationing, and “triaging” those who could get more food according to the jobs they performed in the community and who would get medical treatment or not. It also addresses the fine line between caring for others and lapsing into totalitarianism. The book also emphasized the need to maintain 19th Century skills, knowledge, and tools. I consider this book a must read for anyone that is preparedness minded. It also a good book to hand to family and friends, to motivate them to get prepared.

  • We watched I Have Never Forgotten You, a documentary about famed Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal. This fascinating biography is available on DVD, and also as a “Watch it Now” streaming video from Netflix.
  • We followed up by watching The Odessa File . (Which had been mentioned in the Wiesenthal documentary.) It is a late-1960s movie, set in 1963. It stars Jon Voight, who convincingly plays the protagonist, a West German journalist who tracks down the former commandant of a Nazi work camp. This former Schutzstaffel officer is still hiding in West Germany under an assumed name, 18 years after the end of WWII. This movie is available as a “Watch it Now” streaming video from Netflix. It has some violence, so it is not one for the kids.
  • Jim noticed that the movie The Young Victoria had lots of good reviews, so we watched it on Saturday night. It had some very good acting, amazing costumes, and lavish sets. It was a remarkably good film. It is rated PG, so it would be suitable for older teenagers. Jim enjoyed it, so I wouldn’t categorize it as a chick flick. This got me interested in the history depicted in the film, so I spent a couple of hours reading about the British royal family, and the genealogical details starting with Victoria’s father and uncle, and down to Queen Elizabeth II.

Next, I plan to read Lucifer’s Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, and Survivors by Terry Nation. I’ll post my comments on those novels in the next couple of weeks.

Letter Re: Do It Yourself Kydex Sheaths and Holsters

Mr. Rawles,  
As a concealed carry permit holder I have a thing for gun holsters, being a big guy, I spend a lot of time making sure that my holsters are comfortable and work well with the clothing I wear.  Something I have noticed with holsters and “gun guys” is that we all end up with a box of old holsters we never use.  Looking through my collection I see that the majority of holsters I use on a daily basis are either Kydex or combinations of both leather and Kydex.  That is no surprise when you look at the benefits of Kydex.  Its cheap, rugged, non-marring of your gun’s finish, moldable for good retention, smooth for a consistent draw, and does not react to normal temperatures or gun solvents or oils.  

Being a do it yourself (DIY) enthusiast, it did not take me long to want to try my hand at molding Kydex.  For those of you that do not know, Kydex is the trade name for a propriety thermoplastic sheet.  It’s rigid and strong, but when heated to about 330-380° it becomes pliable. (The sheet will burn at a temperature greater than 400°F).  Kydex does not have a memory, so that once it has cooled; it retains the shape it was molded to fit.  Kydex is not the only plastic compound that has this property, but what makes Kydex so valuable to do-it-yourselfers is that unlike other heat formable plastics like PVC, Kydex will not off gas toxic fumes at normal forming temperatures.  

Most people use either an oven (full size or toaster depending on the size of Kydex your working with), or a heat gun.  It really depends on the thickness of the Kydex your working with, and how big of a piece your molding as to which is a better heat source.  Normally I find the oven works best to begin the project, and I use a heat gun to spot heat for adjustments.   Besides a heat source, gloves, and trimming tools, one of the most basic tools to mold Kydex is a press.  A Kydex press normally costs from $80 to $180 depending on size, but it is a simple tool that I decided to make one myself.  

At its simplest a Kydex press is a rigid board with a thick piece of foam glued to it as a base, with top made the same way.  The heated Kydex is wrapped around whatever it will sheathe, and then sandwiched between the two pieces and then clamped or weighted heavily until the plastic cools.  

I went a little more complicated, as I put a set of hinges to connect the top and bottom pieces.  I connected them this way because I plan on making knife sheaths for the time being until I get enough skill to try more complicated gun holster designs and by being connected, it gives me more leverage for clamping.  If I was making a press for larger items like gun holsters, I would not add a hinge, or I would make the hinge adjustable.  

Being cheap, I did not want to waste Kydex practicing, so I searched for alternatives to Kydex that I could up cycle.  I needed to find thermoplastic that could be heated without off gassing cyanide or other toxic compounds.  It also needed to become pliable upon heating without turning liquid (this left out soda bottles).  I also wanted something that I could get from trash.  I doubt I would be able to get Kydex sheet in a grid down situation, and its not very high on my stockpile list.  

ABS sheet plastic is usable, but I found that the plastic from milk jugs and detergent bottles also work.  Milk jugs are thin, so heating them in the oven isn’t always practical, and they are not UV stabilized so they become brittle in the sun so they are not practical for holsters.  I did find that milk jugs do make great practice pieces, and I made sheaths for all my kitchen knives using milk jugs to practice. 

Thicker laundry soap bottles work great for knives.  They form easier than milk jugs, and you can “weld” the edges together with heat so you do not have to use rivets as you do with actual Kydex sheet.  

Whatever plastic you use, once it has cooled, its simple to open the press and trim the extra plastic away.  I use aviator snips for most of my work, but a dremel tool, band saw, bench grinder all would work as well.  

Some very good concealment holsters are made using both leather and kydex to utilize the advantages of both.  If take a piece of plywood and cut out the center in the shape of your handgun so that only half or a little more is molded into the kydex sheet, you can rivet the kydex to a large piece of leather and attach whatever mounting brackets you desire to the leather making a very comfortable and secure inside the belt concealment holster that molds to your body, while still giving you a slick kydex draw.   I must practice more to enhance my skill, but considering all the pros and cons of the process it is relative easy to do, and may provide for cottage industry after a grid collapse since many more people have guns and knives than have proper sheaths for them. – David N.

JWR Adds: Every family should own a basic leather-working kit, a riveting mandrel, a large assortment of rivets, and a large spool of sturdy waxed saddle stitching thread. That way, even after Kydex becomes unavailable, you can continue to make holsters and sheaths, the old-fashioned way.

Letter Re: U.S. Nickel Five Cent Piece Value Increasing

Hi Jim,

Just a friendly reminder that the melt value of U.S. nickel [five cent piece]s are inching up in price again. Their metallic content made them worth 6.5 cents, the last time I checked. The impostor to the presidency recently signed the “Coin Adulteration, Debasement, and Value Theft Act of 2010” also known as “The Coin Modernization, Oversight, and Continuity Act of 2010“. This may be driving up the price of the currently circulating real nickels. Regards, – Randy F.

JWR Replies: SurvivalBlog readers should consider the newly-enacted legislation their “last call” to acquire nickels by the roll or by the banker’s box of rolls, at face value. Once a new debased (presumably stainless steel) “nickel” is issued, you will have to laboriously sort coins. Yes, I’m sure magnetic discrimination sorting machines will quickly become available, but for now, there is no labor required whatsoever. So stock up. Once the value of a genuine nickel hits two times its face value, Gresham’s Law dictates that they will quickly be driven out of circulation. The same thing happened when American 90% silver coins were replaced by silver-flashed copper tokens, in 1965.

I can’t provide you plans to build a time machine to take you back to 1964–to stock up on silver coins at face value–but I can clue you in about nickels. History is about to repeat itself. Take my advice, and stock up. In a few years, you will be very glad that you did.

I predict that ten years from now, or perhaps even sooner, pre-2011 nickels will be traded in $100 face value bags.

At present, it is illegal to melt or export U.S. pennies or nickels, but that is likely to change, once inflation drives them out of circulation.

As I’ve previously noted in SurvivalBlog, inflation of the US dollar has been chronic, cumulative, and insidious. So much so that turns of phrase from old movies like “penny candy” and “its your nickel” (to describe the cost of a call on a pay phone) now seem quaint and outdated. When inflation goes on long enough, the number of digits required to express a price grows too large. (As has been seen with the Italian lira, the Zimbabwean dollar, and countless other currencies. One whitewash solution to chronic inflation that several other nations have chosen is dropping one, two, or even three zeros from their currency, in an overnight revaluation, with a mandatory paper currency exchange. The history of the past century has shown that when doing so, most governments re-issue only new paper currency, but leave the old coinage in circulation, at the same face value. This is because the sheer logistics of a coinage swap would be daunting. Typically, this leaves the holders of coinage as the unexpected beneficiaries of a 10X, 100X or even 1,000X gain of the purchasing power of their coins. Governments just assume that most citizens just have a couple of pocketfuls of coins at any given time. So if a currency swap were to happen while you are sitting on a big pile of nickels, then you would make a handsome profit. To “cash in”, you could merely spend your saved nickels in the new currency regime. Imagine a nickel buying a gallon of gas once again.

Letter Re: Low Power D.C. Lighting

James Wesley;
Vlad wrote at the end of his piece, “Wish I had a better closing line but it is getting late and I need to go dig up a potentiometer for this lamp.”  Unfortunately, that isn’t going to do a lot of good.  Because an LED is a diode (the D in LED) it is pretty much on or off.  Dimmable LEDs are usually dimmed via Pulse-width Modulation — essentially, turning the LED on and off very quickly.  This doesn’t harm the LED, but it needs a particular circuit to do it.  Reducing the voltage will dim it — but it will happen with such a quick drop off that the “sweet spot” you are looking for will be minisculely tiny and not something you are going to hit without a very sensitive pot and a steady hand.  Several web sites detail how to make a PWM dimmer with the ubiquitous 555 timer chip (The piece at Instructables on this topic  is good).  That would be the best way to dim the LEDs themselves.

Since LEDs draw so little current, I do my “dimming” in stages by either switching in a different number of LEDs for different levels.  PWM isn’t hard with a timer chip, but PWM isn’t hardened at all against EMP (since a timer chip is an IC) and introduces more points of failure.

Also, on rigging for red — remember that the opposite is also true.  When you want to get the most vision for the least number of LEDs, go to the other end of the spectrum and get one of the blue LEDs.  I end up putting something over most of the blue LEDs that manufacturers love putting on electronics now, because a single one of them is more than enough to be a nightlight, and having just a few of them going at once will light a room up brighter than a full moon.  Because they also produce virtually no heat, you can put them virtually anywhere without a fire risk, including boxing them up with only a slit or pinhole to control the light output. – Phelps

Economics and Investing:

Siggy sent this: CBO Recommendation to Munis – Default! JWR’s Comment: Do I see another expansion of the Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB) coming?

Marc in the Inland Northwest sent a link to a piece at The Daily Bell: China: That Urban Empty Feeling

Michael Pento – US Headed Down a Path of Destruction       

John Williams: Massive Selling of US Currency Lies Ahead  

Alan B. sent this: Gold to reach $1,800 – probably in Q1 2011 – James Turk

Michael H. mentioned: South Korea plans levy on foreign currency bank debt  

Also from Michael:   China Doubles Korea Bond Holdings as U.S. Debt Sold

Yishai flagged this: Video: The coming collapse in the state budgets

I spotted this over at Fierce Finance: Bill Gross signals end of the great bond bull market

Odds ‘n Sods:

Mike L. recommended the blog articles by Granny Miller.

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F.G. sent this news from the U.K.: Millions facing fuel rationing over Christmas as heating oil runs low

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James C. suggested this humorous video clip: UN Home Security System

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Reader “Out of Sight, Out of Mind” (OSOM) mentioned that the excellent EMP survival sharaeware novel Lights Out by David Crawford (a.k.a. HalfFast), is now available as a hard copy book from Amazon. OSOM’s comments: “This is a great read, and really helps you to internalize the reality of an EMP scenario. I would like to think I am more rational than most – but I must acknowledge that the motivation to make the preparedness effort must be intellectual and emotional.  This novel makes an emotional impact.” JWR’s comment: I hope that the mentions of the availability of this book in preparedness blogs and forums push it into Amazon’s Top 200.

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The Low-Tech Texan wrote to mention that Activist Post has just reviewed my book “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It”.

Notes from JWR:

I noticed that there are several new properties listed at my son’s Survival Realty web site. (A spin-off of SurvivalBlog.) Oh, and another property listed there just recently sold. Take a look!

—

Today we present another two entries 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.

ATVs for Preppers, by S.K.

I am sure that there are many out there that have four wheelers or other all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) part of their prepping. These are a great addition for many reasons. First they are able to get decent fuel mileage (will vary on terrain and driving style), they can carry a lot more weight than you could carry on your back, and they can cover lots of terrain that a full size vehicle would have difficulty if even possible. They are great in carrying a Get out of Dodge (G.O.O.D.) bag because they can have racks mounted on the front and back of the machine but also able to pull a small trailer.

If planning to have an ATV part of your prepping, first you must consider what features are essential. Engine size can vary but this is a matter of how much money are you willing to pour into the machine. A 300 will do just fine and from there the engines just get bigger, meaning faster, stronger, [louder, less fuel efficient,] etc. However, I recommend that you do get one with four wheel drive. With the 2 wheel drive models you may find yourself doing a lot of self recovery operations. Speaking of self recovery, I highly recommend a winch but if not able to afford one, then get a come along at the very least. Next, with all the electronic gadgets out there, a cigarette lighter plug is essential. If your machine does not have one, no problem, just visit your local auto parts store and buy a kit for this. You can install this in minutes but I recommend that you wire this through the ignition switch to prevent using up your battery when not running the four wheeler.

Now, of course this will add another list to your list of lists. ATV maintenance is essential. To start with spark plugs, belts, oil, filters, grease and spare tires. I recommend lots of spark plugs because small engine triage can be as simple as new gas and spark plugs. Many times this will get a small engine going again that has sat around a long time. If your ATV is belt or chain driven, then you need a trail spare because this can be the difference between walking and driving out of the woods. Oil is simple; a quart for the trail but a 5 gallon can for the shop. Spare tires already mounted on a second set of rims will minimize having to have a full tire shop of equipment but for the trail a good plug kit and a 12 volt air compressor. Even with the small batteries found on an ATV, it will still run 12 volt accessories, just set up that cigarette lighter plug now, so it will be there when you need it.

If you have multiple ATVs then I recommend same brands and even same years if possible. This will minimize the amount of spare parts to keep on hand as well as gives you the option of cannibalizing a machine if necessary. As you do maintenance, take note of problems with the machine as you fix them, and when you buy the parts, buy spares. Also look online at forums covering your machine and you can see what other owners typically have issues with and sometimes find some great fixes. Take a look at the types of hoses that your ATV has on it, then go buy a couple of feet of the different sizes you need. It stores well and will be irreplaceable if you ever spring a radiator leak or fuel leak. Get a small parts box with some miscellaneous bolts, nuts, washers, cotter pins, and other small parts that may be useful for a quick fix.

With the many options of racks, mounts and storage bags, outfitting a G.O.O.D. bag on an ATV is just natural. You will need a small set of tools to do trail repairs. Screwdrivers, wrenches, sockets, etc. but don’t forget about hex wrenches and star bits if your machine has these. Duct tape and zip ties are great to have on hand as well. Tow strap, bungee cords, rope, saw, axe, shovel, work gloves, and lots of extra fuel (5 gallons goes a long ways on an ATV, but the more the better). Everything you would normally throw in your BOB. However, you now have room to carry more, so have an ATV BOB, but also have your personal BOB in case you have to continue on foot. Besides having a winch and a tow strap make sure you have a solid tow point on the front and back of the ATV. I also keep a tow strap connected to each with it routed up to the storage rack and zip tied in place. This allows me to be able to have a quick recovery, without getting too muddy. No one wants to be digging in mud, trying to find the tow hook when stuck.

Most preppers probably see the information I shared as common sense. However, let’s talk tactical side of ATVs. They are not quiet. They know you are coming by sound and probably light from your headlights. Put a manual on/off switch for the lights if you have one that automatically comes on while the engine is running. As far as the sound, there is little you can do here, keep your mufflers working because it will be much louder without it, and also bad exhaust gives an odor that cannot be hidden. If you need transportation that is versatile, quick, able to carry heavy loads over less than desirable trails and roads, than this may be your answer. Best to travel in pairs, stagger and one leading slightly ahead while the second performs as an over watch looking for trouble. This is where you will have to plan ahead, an easy weakness of ATVs is that to remove a rider is as simple as running some wire across a trail at head level. That being said, you have to develop some kind of wire strike system. A pole that is welded to the front bumper at an angle with a dull edge that exceeds the rider’s height when standing on the machine will do the trick but ensure you have a takedown pin, just in case it hinders a trail movement, you can then remove the wire strike pole temporarily.

Of course there are the cool gun totes that they design for ATVs. Which they are great but there typically is one flaw, the quick draw of a rifle is normally limited by the carrying device normally has to hold the gun well enough to keep it from bouncing out. First wear a hold or shoulder harness that is useable while riding the ATV, second cut down the holding case to seat the rifle well but have a quick release strap to keep it from coming out.

Now you have your basic riding load, if you want to add the trailer, you have doubled if not tripled your carrying capacity. Keep a trailer loaded up with your G.O.O.D. load and it only takes a minute to hook it up to the ATV. However, your personal G.O.O.D. bag is on the ATV, your ATV recovery and supplemental G.O.O.D. load is on the ATV. This way your trailer will have G.O.O.D. supplies but if you have to ditch the trailer in hurry, you don’t want to have to re-pack.

If you have the traditional red ATVs then a good can of spray paint will work great. If you want a nice camouflage paint job paint the panel a green color that is common in your environment. When that dries lay a piece of fern or some other leafy plant over it and spray paint it black. This works great to give a custom camo paint job. You can use whatever colors and plants that are common in your area. I would also recommend a small camo net; the diamond-shaped net out of a military camouflage set would work great. With this, you can park your ATV, cover it with the net to minimize the silhouette of the ATV. Also have a spare diamond camo net for your trailer, in case you have to drop the trailer for whatever reason. You can hide the trailer and return for it at another time.

Last to consider for an ATV bug out plan is to consider having caches in route. However, assume that you will not have the ATV so plan these supplies accordingly. You do not want to cache more than you can carry. ATVs are great additions but ultimately you must plan to maintain them as well as these items will be highly valued, during a TEOTWAWKI event. Use them for the work horses they are but be aware that they can make you a target as well. These are invaluable for assisting with farming. You can get an assortment of tools, or just the fact that they can haul huge loads without the back breaking work.

JWR Adds: In my experience, large wheel utility ATVs (UATVs) such as a Polaris Sportsman Big Boss or a John Deere Buck with a cargo box in the back, or and one of the several models with a large rear cargo platform (such as the Honda Rancher) are the most practical and versatile. Their profiles are not much larger than a standard ATV, yet they can can conveniently carry much more gear. Their large wheels also give them better ground clearance than most standard ATVs.

I recommend assembling a pre-packed G.O.O.D. kit in a pair of whitewater rafting dry bags and a backpack that can be quickly dropped in to the utility box, or strapped on to a cargo rack. That way you don’t have to constantly pack and and un-pack your UATV for other uses. The same bags can just as easily be tossed into a larger (road0 vehicle, if you opt to bug out that way.

The author mentioned the noise created by ATVs. There are now some nearly silent electric ATVs, such as a the Bad Boy Buggy, but these have limited range between charges. This makes them impractical for G.O.O.D. purposes, but they are very practical for hauling chores on retreats of 160 or smaller.

And, needless to say, whether your are at the controls of an ATV or any other vehicle, please wear a helmet and drive safely!