Letter Re: Think of Preparedness as Insurance

Jim,
We preppers get labeled all sorts of things from mildly eccentric to paranoid, and so I ask, is it so imbalanced to want insurance?
Clearly most people have health insurance (if they can afford it) car insurance (mandatory), home insurance and life insurance so why stop there? When friends ask about my lifestyle, this is my argument.

1) Why do you have firearms?

Police insurance. If the police can’t come in time, (can they ever?) or are overwhelmed (Los Angeles riots anyone?) or just go home (Hurricane Katrina?) then you may need need firearms.

2) Why do you have stored food?

Eating insurance. Just in time (JIT) delivery systems, monocrop susceptibility to plant diseases, lack of any food stored at the national level.

3) Why do you have stored gasoline/diesel?

Transportation insurance. If you live in the country or suburbs walking everywhere is probably not realistic, or want to bug out of a city.

4) Why do you have a ham radio and portable transceivers?

Communications insurance. Storms, blackouts etc. No monthly charges like cell phones and easier than smoke signals.

5) Why do you have generators and stored fuel for them?

Electrical insurance. This way the frozen food I have stays cool for a few days etc.

6) Why do you have stored water?

Cooking, drinking and washing insurance.

7) Why do you have precious metals?

Fiat Currency insurance. In case some bureaucrat decides to print up so much money that we go into hyperinflation.

Even the adage, “one is none and two are one” is not ignored by the masses. Ask someone who relies on their eyeglasses to see if they only have one pair. How many people have two cars when they could really get by with one.

It is only the wandering barefoot ascetic with a loincloth and begging bowl as his only possessions who makes no preparations. It is human nature to prep, the only question is to what degree. – SF in Hawaii



Letter Re: Chronic Troubles with PT/MMC Pistol Night Sights

Jim,
As people are typically trying to find advice on tritium sights and what brand to get, I figure I’d share my bad experience with one supplier so as to keep others from repeating my mistake.

A few years back I had my Springfield Trophy Match sights fitted with tritium inserts by PT Night Sights (a part of MMC Night Sights). At first I was disappointed. I had them install the 3-bar system on the rear sight, which I generally like. The front sight however was noticeably dimmer than the rear though, which is not how it’s supposed to be. While they have a lifetime warranty, you still end up paying to ship the slide back (unless you want to remove the sights, which is not a good idea for someone without the tools and experience to do so with a M1911‘s staked front post.) Also, one of the three rear bars (the right hand one) was also noticeably dimmer than the others. So I sent it back to them to correct this quality control “oversight” and when I got it back, a month later, the sights were then good. The three rear bars were the same brightness, and the front dot was brighter. Good. That is, until the front dot fell out somewhere in the desert. So I sent it back, again, and another month later it came back, again appearing to be good. That front dot went black one day, just overnight. Don’t know what happened other than it must have cracked. Hadn’t been shooting that day either. So I sent it back again. One month later it comes back, this time with a very dim front sight. By this time I’m so irritated I decided to just keep it as I was sick and tired of them having my slide longer than me. But then, while I was cleaning my gun, and while trying to get a piece of crud that was sitting by the tritium insert, it cracked. What was I using to clean it? A wooden toothpick. That’s all. Now I’m furious. I call them up and they pay for the shipping both ways. This time it takes six weeks to get it back. The dot appeared the same brightness as the rears. It also has “bubbles” in it so that it really isn’t a dot. It looked more like a blob. I took it out to the range yesterday and fired 100 rounds. Today the front sight is noticeably dimmer. I expect it will be black in a few days. (I did clean it to make sure it wasn’t
just dirty – it wasn’t.)

I am now looking for a different solution that I can do myself. I am not planning on sending it back to them. I’ve had enough.

If you care to, please pass my bad experience with PT/MMC Night Sights on. I wish I had never bought from this company. – Jeff in Virginia

JWR Replies: Yes, it sounds like a poor choice of brand of night sights. Here at the ranch, we have three Colt stainless M1911s that still have their original sets of Trijicon brand three dot tritium sights that I had installed by Tooltech in 1995. They now have a combined round count of close to 15,000 between them, with no problems whatsoever. They seemed too bright at first, but they have now mellowed nicely. The half-life of tritium (a radioactive hydrogen isotope) is 11.2 years, meaning that they are half as bright that “new” after 11.2 years, and one-fourth as bright than “new” after 22.4 years. Even at one-quarter brightness, they should be useful. I’m planning on having new tritium vials installed at 22 year intervals.

After reading you letter, I must also mention one safety proviso: If you ever accidentally shatter a tritium gas vial indoors, then be sure to immediately air out your house, for at least 12 hours. Open all your windows and set up a box fan in the window of the room where the tritium leak took place. Breathing even tiny amounts of tritium gas is carcinogenic.



Three Letters Re: Will Junk Silver Be Accepted for Barter, Post-Collapse?

Jim:
I am not surprised that ordinary people in Dallas, Texas (or anywhere else in the US) are not aware that pre-1965 US quarters and dimes are 90% silver. After 40 years of continual dumbing down the average high school graduate today probably couldn’t tell you what the word “sterling” means either.

I just checked Dex Online for coin dealers in Dallas, Texas. Dex brought up 18 coin dealers. Dex also brought up 18 antiques and collectibles dealers (who always know the value of old coins.) I don’t think there would be a problem converting pre-1965 “junk” silver coins into whatever new currency replaces the US dollar after the collapse.

Nearly every town in the US with a population of 10,000 or more has at least one coin dealer. Every coin dealer knows the value of pre-1965 “junk” silver coins. So does every jeweler and every pawn shop (not recommended.)

In my estimation it will take perhaps one week after the final collapse of the US dollar before people will be pawning their wedding bands and emptying out their kids’ coin collections. It won’t take long before everybody knows what still has value. Gold and silver have always kept their value since long before the Roman Empire.

If anybody still thinks that pre-1965 90% silver coins will be difficult to use after the collapse of the US dollar, then I recommend buying a copy of A Guide Book of United States Coins 2009 by R. S. Yeoman. (It is often just referred to by its nickname, “The Red Book.”) Every Barnes & Noble store sells these.

In the mean time it would be a good idea to begin to equate the values of common good to an ounce of silver today. At $17/oz. one ounce of silver buys six gallons of gasoline in most parts of the US, for example. Figure this out for every necessity. Write it down on a legal pad for reference. Begin to educate your family and friends.

Post-US dollar collapse their will be a mass re-education in the values of gold and silver – out of sheer necessity.

Sir:
As in all civilizations, there will be traders that buy/sell/trade stuff professionally. These are the market-makers. Their expertise is knowing what things are worth to other people. Most trading will not be with your local neighbors, but with market-makers (think swap meets, traveling traders, etc). Average people will learn what items have value from the market-makers. They will learn quickly that a few silver coins is a lot more convenient than a 45 pound bucket of wheat to take to the swap meet.

Obviously, the more stuff you have to trade, the better, but silver should be among your stockpiles. – Brett

Dear CPT Rawles,
Some time ago, I wrote you concerning the Hyper-Inflation I witnessed in Romania following the collapse of Communism in the 1990s. You published my observations in the blog.

What I did not tell you at that time, was that the Romanians were widely using old silver coinage, much from the old Austro-Hungarian Empire days, as a regular means of paying for such things as food.

Even though the Romanian Lei, nearly died out as a currency, in favor of the Deutsche Mark, US Dollar and British Pound, old silver coins were widely used! It didn’t take long for folks to accept old Austro-Hungarian silver coins as a viable means of barter etc. While this was illegal, I never heard of any enforcement efforts being made by either the regular police, or the Romanian Securatate.

Your assessment that pre-1965 90% silver coins will be widely used following the collapse of the fiat currencies is a sound prediction of what may yet come to pass. Initially, some may refuse to accept a silver quarter dollar as anything more than 25 worthless cents. But, it won’t be long until everyone will gladly accept a real dollar (in silver coins) as the “real deal.”
Americans are not stupid. Sometimes we are deceived by government and politicians, but not for long. Regards, – Michael B





Economics and Investing:

Tamara (of the View From The Porch blog), linked to this by Les Jones: Three tales of inflation

From DD: Retraining roulette: New skills, no new job

Trent forwarded this video link: Bullish Today, Marc Faber is “Highly Confident” the Future Will Be Very Bleak

Items from The Economatrix:

Weiss: From Deflation to Inflation. This is a significant change, because up until just recently, Marty Weiss had for more than two decades been warning about deflation.

World Stocks Lower as Investors Eye Fed Meeting

Oil Falls Below $71 Amid Weak Demand

House Moves to Extend Unemployment Benefits

IRS Extends Amnesty Program for Tax Cheats

Major Funds Prepare for Run on Money Markets


HSBC Bids Farewell to Dollar Supremacy


Ron Paul: End the Fed, Save the Dollar

Wells Fargo’s Ticking Time Bomb: Credit Default Swaps on Commercial Mortgages

Hawaii Businesses to be Hit with Soaring Unemployment Taxes


California, Nevada Reach Record Unemployment Records

Americans Won’t Be Rushing to Put Out the Blaze Next Time Wall Street Burns

How to Prepare for China’s Coming Derivative Default (Graham Summers)

The Housing Tsunami’s Second Wave



Odds ‘n Sods:

Damon mentioned a web site that describes the construction of inexpensive sand water filters.

   o o o

Directive 21 (one of advertisers) just added the Go Berkey Kit to heir product line. It is a smaller (one quart) Berkey system. It definitely fills a preparedness niche.

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Just as he predicted in an e-mail to me, my friend Jeff’s edits to the Wikipedia page on the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition.were repeatedly ripped out by an anti-gun cabal. I am amazed at how Wikipedia has become so politicized and manipulated by the Politically Correct. Oh well, Jeff tells me that if you want to see “the rest of the story” about Mayor Bloomberg’s coalition, then take a look at the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Conservapedia page. Wow! Lots of indictments and felony convictions for members of a “crime fighting” organization!

   o o o

McChrystal: More Forces or ‘Mission Failure’ in Afghanistan

 



Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“This first stage of the inflationary process may last for many years. While it lasts, the prices of many goods and services are not yet adjusted to the altered money relation. There are still people in the country who have not yet become aware of the fact that they are confronted with a price revolution which will finally result in a considerable rise of all prices, although the extent of this rise will not be the same in the various commodities and services. These people still believe that prices one day will drop. Waiting for this day, they restrict their purchases and concomitantly increase their cash holdings. As long as such ideas are still held by public opinion, it is not yet too late for the government to abandon its inflationary policy.

But then, finally, the masses wake up. They become suddenly aware of the fact that inflation is a deliberate policy and will go on endlessly. A breakdown occurs. The crack-up boom appears. Everybody is anxious to swap his money against ‘real’ goods, no matter whether he needs them or not, no matter how much money he has to pay for them. Within a very short time, within a few weeks or even days, the things which were used as money are no longer used as media of exchange. They become scrap paper. Nobody wants to give away anything against them.

It was this that happened with the Continental currency in America in 1781, with the French mandats territoriaux in 1796, and with the German mark in 1923. It will happen again whenever the same conditions appear. If a thing has to be used as a medium of exchange, public opinion must not believe that the quantity of this thing will increase beyond all bounds. Inflation is a policy that cannot last.” – Ludwig von Mises




Note from JWR:

My forthcoming nonfiction book “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It” includes several pages of material that is redundant to my currently published book “SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog”. So I ‘ve decided to discontinue self-publishing the latter. If you’d like your own copy of “SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog” then be sure to order one before September 30th, when it will be dropped from the Clearwater Press products page.



Letter Re: Grub and Gear–Lessons Learned from an Alaskan Trapper

James,
Going through some old gear last month, I found my food supply lists and notes from 1976-79. I thought the old list might be of interest and the lessons I learned during the first three years in the remote Alaska bush may be helpful to a few of your readers. I do not recommend Alaska for a TEOTWAWKI retreat but the lessons I learned the hard way may be helpful to any one in a cold climate.

I grew up in California listing to stories from my grandfather about Alaska and the Yukon. When I graduated from high school my grandfather gave me his remote trapping cabin in Alaska. At 18 I had a lot to learn and discovered many things the hard way. I was lucky to survive the first year.

When I got to Alaska I met my Grandfather’s old trapping partner. He told me that the cabin was fully stocked with everything including food. Enough food and supplies for at least one winter. When I started asking him questions on how to trap he told me “sonny I have not got the time to teach you and since you don’t have to build the cabin you will have time to figure it out. He added half under his breath” providing you do not fall through the ice or freeze to death. He also said something to the effect that if he had not owed my grandfather a favor he would never give his ½ of the cabin to a long haired hippy kid from California. I had to promise the old Sourdough that I would have all of his traps flown back to town at the end of the trapping season or buy the traps from him.

My first winter was a disaster.

Before this the longest I had been in the wilderness was a 23 day Outward Bound survival class that I attended the year before and I had never spent a winter in a cold environment.

To get to the trapping cabin it was at least a two week walk from the end of closest dirt road or a 1:20 hour flight in a bush plane. The cheapest way to fly to the cabin was in a Piper PA-18 Super Cub on tundra tires. The pilot told me he could carry 1 passenger and 200 lbs of supplies or a total of 400 pounds of supplies and no passenger.

When the pilot dropped me off he told me “If I am in the area I will check on you” He did not have any charters that way so he did not check on me that winter.

I got out of the plane with a full backpack of gear, a duffel bag of supplies and a 30-06 rifle. I had to walk a few miles to the cabin. I left the duffel bag in a tree to retrieve later. With a full back pack and my rifle I walked as fast as I could to the cabin. I was excited to see “My cabin” at last. What a shock I had when I saw the cabin! The old Trapper had lived many winters in the cabin and told me it was built strong. What I found was a small log shack with a dirt floor and sod roof. In the cabin a wood stove, a hand built bed frame and table. A old bed mattress suspended by wire from the rafters. There were traps, snow shoes, ax, bow saw, one man cross cut saw, files, a lantern and the other basics that are needed to survive the Alaska winter as a trapper. The trapper had not been to the cabin for four years. At least 60% of the food supply that I was counting on had been eaten by rodents or had spoiled.

First lesson learned! If you count on food to be there when you need it, You better have had your food stored in a very secure way or you may go hungry. Theft is also something to be considered in today’s society and in TEOTWAWKI losing your food cache would be disastrous

Most people think it must have been boring spending 4 ½ months alone in a cabin. The reality is I was too busy just trying to cut enough wood to stay warm and skin the marten, fox or wolf that I trapped or shot. I was cold, hungry and exhausted most of the time. I never had the time to get board. Being a green horn at trapping I only averaged 1 animal a week and it was usually shot instead of trapped.

The first winter at the cabin.

As soon as I walked into the cabin I I knew I was in trouble. I did not have the 4-to-5 month supply of food I needed. I had a topo map of the trapping area only but did not have the maps to get me back to the road or town, Second lesson! Make your Egress plans ahead of time and have at least 2 good contingency plans.

Thankfully in the cabin there were two steel drums with snap ring lids that were full of dry goods and on the shelves were some cans of dried goods that were also still good. The following list is what was still edible in the cabin as best as I can remember

  • 50 lbs Bisquick
  • 50 lbs Beans
  • 25 lbs Rice
  • 10 Lbs Lentils
  • 20 lbs Oatmeal
  • 10 lbs Coffee
  • 2 lbs black pepper
  • 10 lbs Crisco
  • 4 lbs Honey
  • 25 lbs salt

The supplies along with a young moose I shot did keep me alive but it was no fun. I had youth and enthusiasm on my side and knew the situation was temporary. I decided to just make it a challenge and kind of live some of my grandfather’s stories first hand for myself. I had in my pack 1 roll of toilet paper but there was none at the cabin

Third Lesson! Birch bark, snow or small pine cones work but make a very poor substitute for toilet paper. I also learned later that winter that at -40 your butt will freeze to a wood toilet seat in the outhouse. Make a toilet seat for the outhouse out of hard blue Styrofoam for winter will make using the outhouse less of a pain in the butt.

As fall quickly turned to winter the lake next to the cabin froze and the temp continued to drop. The high quality mountaineering boots I had used in the high Sierra mountains of California and Nevada were not anywhere near warm enough and did not have removable liners so the boots were hard to dry.

Forth lesson Pac boots with 2 sets of liners or bunny boots are must have items for cold environments.

Many times during the winter I could have shot Grouse or Ptarmigan If I had a 22 pistol. That would have added much wanted variety to the menu. The other problem I learned is if you get a wolf or wolverine in one of your traps a 30-06 blows too big a hole in the hide and destroys most of the value of the fur.

Fifth Lesson! a .22 rifle or pistol is a must have item.

After 2 months my clothes were in bad shape. Most Light weight high tech clothing used for backpacking or mountaineering is not designed for day to day hard use and does not hold up to rigors outdoor work for the long haul. High quality wool clothing does a lot better over the long haul and is not susceptible to melting next to a fire like nylon is. Yes wool is heavy and takes longer to dry but in my opinion for working in the woods wool is the way to go.

Sixth lesson ! clothing made for loggers, Surveyors and commercial fisherman may be heavy but it last a lot better than sporting gear. Filson is the best.

My diet was boring and I was always hungry after two months. I started getting sick and my teeth seemed to be getting loose. It finally dawned on me that I had no intake of Vitamin C. I may have had Scurvy. Remembering something I learned from my grandfather I started eating rose hips that were dried and still hanging on a few bushes near the cabin. Thankfully we did not have deep snows that year so I could find a few rose hips. I was lucky! Seventh Lesson! make sure you have a source of Vitamin C.

Every time I took my rifle inside the warm cabin it would condensate and the rifle would get wet.

Eighth Lesson If you bring a rifle into a warm cabin from a below freezing environment it will condensate, this promotes corrosion in addition the moisture in the bolt may be frozen the next time you are outside in the cold. If you do bring a weapon in from the cold strip it down, dry it and clean it. I left my rifle outside next to the door for most of the winter and only brought it in to clean. This would not work in a TEOTWAWKI so other tactics will have to be developed.

One morning there was a small earth quake that got me to thinking of my family and the outside world. Started felling very alone. Starting thinking what if the Russians had dropped “the bomb” I would not know it.

Lesson #9! Being able to at least hear what is going on in the outside world helps your mental attitude a lot. A radio to listen to the news was smoothing I longed for.

Snow shoes are easy to use and most anyone will figure them out quickly. When you are working on snow shoes you will fall now and then. Lesson # 10 tape the muzzle of your rifle to keep snow out of the barrel when you take the invariable header into the snow. I use electrical tape or put a condom over the muzzle of all my rifles in the field to keep everything out of the barrel. It will not affect accuracy unless you are shooting over 300 yards.

The winter was full of hardship and big education. I did enjoy it but given a choice I would not want to repeat that Winter. In the spring I sold my furs in Anchorage. The fur buyer could tell I had never trapped before as the way I had prepared the pelts was poor at best. I got .20 cents on the dollar for my pelts and I think that was generous on the part of the fur buyer. 4-½ months of hard work and after paying the bush pilot along with the money I still owed the trapper I would have less than $100. The trapper met me at the fur buyer after paying him for his traps he was now very friendly and asked me many questions. He encouraged me to go back for at least one more winter. He told me to go get a bath and haircut and meet him at the White Spot cafe down the street in downtown Anchorage and he would buy me a good meal. While eating he handed me a the following list

  • 90 lbs bisquick
  • 50 lbs Beans
  • 50 lbs Rice
  • 25 lbs Salt
  • 25 lbs Lentils
  • 20 lbs oatmeal
  • 10 lbs Sugar
  • 10 lbs lard
  • 10 lbs powdered milk
  • 10 lbs split peas
  • 10 lbs Tang [freeze-dried orange juice powder]
  • 10 lbs coffee
  • 10 lbs noodles
  • 1 case tomato paste
  • 5 lbs strawberry Jam
  • 4 lbs honey
  • 2 lbs pepper
  • 5 gal White gasoline
  • 4 large boxes wood matches
  • 24 large Plumber’s Candles
  • 8 rolls toilet paper
  • 6 lantern mantels
  • 7 Lbs Trapping wire
  • Gun oil
  • Trapping lures and scents

This was the list of supplies that the trapper had the pilot bring to the cabin each spring when the plane came to pick him up. This filled what would have otherwise been an empty plane. In early April the lake next to the cabin was still frozen so the plane would land on skis and taxi next to the cabin. The pilot and trapper would put the supplies into the cabin then the pilot flew the trapper back to town.

The Trapper then informed me that he had purchased the supplies for me and was having them flown to the cabin along with 2 more steel drums to safely store the supplies in.

The “Rifle and a Backpack” Myth

I often get a chuckle from people that think they can fill a backpack and head into the woods and survive long term with what is in a backpack. Until recently I spent most of my life guiding in Alaska and in Africa. I spent an average 110 days a year living out of a backpack under a tarp or in a pup tent, and another 180 days each year living in a remote cabins without electricity or running water.

In an uninhabited game rich environment with a rifle and only a backpack of gear I could survive for a period of time. How long could I survive? I do not know as there are too many variables.

What I do know is in the case of TEOTWAWKI where many people would be fleeing the cities and overcrowding the wild places looking for food I could not survive trying to live off the land with only a backpack full of gear. There will simply not be the recourses available. If a skilled person had no ethics they could take to stealing, looting, probably murder/cannibalism they might make it long term starting with only a backpack full of gear. For me and my family I believe in preparing now and stocking up while food and supplies are available and reasonably priced.

In the early 1980s I bought a lot of my supplies from a sporting goods/gun store in Anchorage. The store maintained an excellent inventory for hunters, trappers or survivalists. The store manager could talk the talk on both survival and hunting. One fall he hired me to take him on a 14-day bow hunting trip into the Alaska bush and film the adventure. He also hired a young guy that had just moved to Alaska from Georgia to help carry camera gear. I was concerned regarding the greenhorn from Georgia and even more concerned when I saw his marginal gear. The Georgia greenhorn however did fine and was a huge help on the trip. The trip however was a complete failure. The store manager had every neat gadget I had ever seen and many that I had never heard of. His pack was too full to carry any of the food or camera gear. He was out of shape and his pack was also too heavy for him to comfortably carry. After the float plane dropped us off on a high mountain lake we planned to walk for a week to my cabin hunting Dall Sheep on the way. Then at the Cabin we planned to hunt Moose and Grizzly. During the first 2 days the store manager left a lot of gadgets and some much needed gear on the trail to lighten his pack. I was stunned as I thought this guy knew his stuff but he was totally bewildered on how to apply his knowledge or gear in the field. One of the things I still clearly remember is he actually dumped all of his extra socks and his rain gear at the first nights camp. Leaving that gear behind cost him dearly. The Greenhorn from Georgia was a farm kid and was able to adapt to the Alaska bush even with his marginal gear and lack of knowledge of the Alaska bush. The store manager never made a single stalk on any animal as it became a challenge to just get the store manager to the cabin. By the time we got him to the cabin his feet were so badly blistered he could hardly walk and could not even carry his own pack or bow. This rambling story actually has a point. I had heard the store manager tell many people before our trip that with his properly equipped backpack he could easily survive in the bush indefinitely. My grandfather use to say: “Ignorance is bliss but it will not put food on the table.”

My Second Winter

I still had a lot to learn but this winter was a lot better. First thing when I arrived at the cabin was to see that the supplies were all there and in fine shape. I also had topo maps and now knew 3 different routes to get back to civilization. It was at least a 2 week walk but I at least knew the routes to get there.

In a TEOTWAWKI situation if you are at your retreat in the winter you will probably also get into a routine. That could be both good and bad. Think security and mix the times up so ambush is harder for the goons to set up.

Winter set in, an in my second winter in the cabin, it did not take long to get into my routine. Every day starts the same. At approximately 6:00 A.M. The alarm clock goes off. What I mean the stove has only a few coals left and the cabin is freezing so I have to get up and stoke the fire. Then step outside into the extreme cold. Cut a log into rounds and this is done in the dark. Then go down to the lake still in the dark (batteries for the flashlight are too precious to waste and so is gas for the lantern) carefully chip the ice around each of five fishing lines with a hatchet. Pull up the hook hoping for a burbut (fresh water ling cod) reset the bait, haul water back to the cabin. If I had not caught a fish for breakfast then on the meat pole next to the cabin I used the saw and cut off a frozen chunk of caribou. Still dark and I am cold, step into the cabin warm up my frozen hands, dry my gloves and cook breakfast on the wood stove. Then put the dutch oven with beans, lentils or rice on the wood stove to rehydrate while I am gone for the day. Pack my lunch: two pancakes with a slab of cooked caribou meat in the middle, also put one tablespoon of tang into my insulated water bottle then fill it with hot water from the pot on the stove. Warm tang makes a nice mid morning warm up on the trail and is a source of Vitamin C.

As it is just starting to get light strap on the snow shoes and head out pulling the sled. If it has not snowed I can walk on top of the packed trail with the snow shoes on the sled.

The day is spent dragging the sled checking and resetting traps while constantly looking for a wolf, fox or wolverine to shoot. During each day I must also find a dry standing dead spruce tree to cut down and limb with the ax then using the sled haul it back to the cabin. Must always be on my main trail with everything tied onto the sled before it is completely dark. Days are short: the mid-winter sun is only up for 4 ½ hrs. I used my flashlight is only for emergencies.

Following a packed trail is easy in the dark just remember to get behind the sled on any downhill or the sled will hit you in the back of your legs and could break a snowshoe or your leg. Usually get back to the cabin long after dark.

Lesson # 11 Cross country skis are no substitute for snow shoes.

The snow shoes at the cabin were old and on the last legs of useful life. Instead of bringing a new set of snow shoes I had purchased a new set of back country cross country skis to the cabin. I thought I would use the snow shoes as a backup. Learned that skis are not as good to work on as snow shoes for doing chores or trapping. Skis have a place and can save time but are not a replacement for snow shoes. In snow country snow shoes are essential and skis are a nice luxury.

Each night when I finally arrive at the cabin I am tired and hungry. First thing is to start the fire then fix dinner. After dinner if I was lucky that day I can light the lantern and skin whatever I had trapped or shot after it has thawed. 9:15 PM is the highlight of the day! I get to listen to the AM radio for 45 minutes.

Lesson #8 and had brought a radio this time. Always hoping Caribou Clatters has a message for me from my family. Allow myself 45 minutes to read by lantern or candle light. 11:00 PM re-stoke the fire and collapse on the bed. The radio, dinner and sleep are the reward of a day’s hard work. Around 2:30 AM the fire has burned to just a few coals and I get cold, get up put more wood on and go back to sleep. The next thing I know it is 6:00 AM the fire has burned to just a few coals and it is freezing in the cabin and the day starts all over again.

Lesson #12 In a cold winter climate Use no oil in the bolt or trigger assembly of your rifle as it may freeze. I tried to shoot at a wolf (a wolf hide was then worth $450) when I pulled the trigger on my rifle it only went click. The firing pin would not strike the primer with enough force to set off the primer. After the second try and another click the wolf ran off and out of range. That was only an expensive lesson. In a TEOTWAWKI it could have been some one shooting at me and I would have had a useless rifle.

On my daily trips to check the fishing lines and get water I knew the ice was 28” thick and still getting thicker each week. A December day the temp was -27 F and I was crossing the outlet end of a small lake to check out some tracks. Not worrying as I thought the ice was 28” thick everywhere I fell through the ice and found myself waist deep in water. This was two miles from my cabin It was all I could do to make it to the cabin.

Lesson #13 any out let or inlet of a frozen lake may have thin ice also a warm spring or other things can cause thin ice. The fire was out in my stove and no coals were left. I had a very hard time getting a fire started and as a last resort used white gas and almost burned down the cabin.

Lesson #14 have the kindling and all the fixings of a fire ready any time you leave your cabin. You never know when someone may be at the end of their strength and need to get a fire going.

One evening in early January I returned to the cabin to find a note and care package on the table from the bush pilot. The pilot had brought me a bag of oranges, a fruit cake and a newspaper. He also left three letters from my family. It was if I had won the lottery

As the snow got deeper during the winter I started finding that many animals liked to use my packed trail. I learned never underestimate the danger of a moose particularly in the winter if they are on a packed trail they may charge you instead of going into deep snow. I had a cow moose chase me up a tree then stomp my on sled and break one of my snow shoes.

Lesson #15 Moose are dangerous, especially late winter

In early February I came across Grizzly tracks in the snow. I was shocked as I thought that bears would be in the den all winter. I followed the tracks and found the bear had made a moose kill.

Lesson # 16 Grizzly bears and black bears do not truly hibernate and may be out of the den during any month of the year. Over the years I learned if a bear is away from his den in the winter it will be hungry and grumpy.

As a kid I loved watching western movies. It seemed to me cowboys wore their handgun in a low slung fast draw holster and I thought that was cool. The western style fast draw holsters I tried in the bush were useless. I now see that some law enforcement and military teams are using a thigh mounted holster. I am not disputing the tactical points of that method but if you are working in the woods you will occasionally fall into snow or mud. That is when you want your hand gun in a full flap holster or in a normal holster worn under the last layer of clothing. Getting your hand gun into your hand fast is of no use if it will not fire when you need it.

Lesson #18 Select holsters that will allow you to comfortably carry your hand gun with you at all times and will protect the weapon from the elements. I have tried over 40 different holsters and method of carrying my handgun. I strongly suggest you experiment now on how to carry your own handgun. Find something that works for you. I presently use three different holsters:

  • A holster that I use to carry concealed when I am in a city environment.
  • A holster when I am working in the bush.
  • A holster when I am flying float planes.

In March, the bush pilot landed on the frozen lake with 400 lbs of supplies. He helped me put the food into the steel drums for the next trapping season then flew me back to town.

I had spent 160 days alone in the bush trapping. I sold my furs to the fur buyer in Anchorage. After paying the bush pilot for the supplies and flights to the cabin and back I had cleared $2,700.

I learned a lot that winter and over the years refined the old trappers list to keep me well fed and a lot happier.

A More Complete Supply List

After my experiences the first two winters, I composed the following list. This is for one man for five to six months. It was refined for my personal taste and needs in the Alaska bush. The old trapper that I got my first list from made do with a lot less than what I took. This list is tried and true and not a just theory that someone made up. I had around 200 traps and ran the line on snowshoes, foot and skis. Cut my firewood by hand (no chain saw) and hauled my water from the lake in buckets. It was hard work 12-15 hours a day 7 days a week and I burned a lot of calories. Using the following list I ate well and always had plenty of supplies left in the spring:

  • 50 lbs Flour
  • 50 lbs Bisquick
  • 25 lbs Pancake mix
  • 35 lbs Sugar
  • 50 lbs Pinto Beans
  • 25 lbs Rice
  • 40 lbs Salt pork
  • 25 lbs Salt
  • 10 lbs Dried prunes
  • 10 lbs Raisons
  • 10 lbs Dried apricots
  • 10 lbs Dried apples
  • 10 lbs Dried peaches
  • 25 lbs Oatmeal
  • 10 lbs Honey
  • 2 cases Tomato paste
  • 25 lbs powdered milk
  • 15 lbs [canned] Butter
  • 25 lbs Corn meal
  • 25 lbs [canned] Cheese
  • 20 lbs Spaghetti Noodles
  • 10 lbs Crisco
  • 15 lbs Hot cocoa mix
  • 10 lbs Dried eggs
  • 5 lbs Strawberry Jam
  • 3 lbs Apricot Jam
  • 2 boxes Pilot bread
  • 1 gal Maple Syrup
  • 180 Multi vitamins
  • 180 Vitamin C
  • 1 lb [powdered dry] Yeast
  • 180 Tea bags
  • 1 lbs Pepper
  • 1 lbs
  • Baking soda
  • 8 lbs
  • Dried onions
  • 1 lb Baking powder
  • 1 lb. Corn starch
  • 24 oz Garlic powder
  • 12 oz Vanilla
  • 2 rolls aluminum foil
  • 1/2 gal Dish soap
  • 5 bars non-scented soap
  • 36 Canning lids (to can meat if we had a winter thaw or for leftover in the spring)
  • 8 oz Hydrogen peroxide
  • 2 oz Iodine
  • 12 rolls Toilet paper
  • 2 Small sponges
  • 2 Scrub pads
  • 1 roll Duct Tape
  • 4 boxes of wooden Matches
  • 24 Plumber’s candles
  • 500 rounds .22 long rifle hollow point ammo
  • 100 .308 ammo 125 grain hollow point varmint ammo
  • 20 rounds .308 ammo 180 grain (for Moose or Caribou )
  • Trapping license and regulations
  • Hunting license, moose tags and caribou tags
  • New snowshoe bindings
  • 1 truck inner tube
  • 3 New hacksaw blades
  • 2 New Ax handles
  • 8 Bow saw blades
  • 36 oz Lanolin
  • 6 Disposable lighters
  • 12 gal White gas [aka Coleman Fuel]
  • 12 Lantern mantels
  • 6 oz. Gun oil
  • Trapping Lures, urine and musk
  • 10 lbs Trap wax
  • 2 rolls Survey [“flagging”] tape
  • 1 pair Heavy Neoprene trapping gloves
  • 7 lbs Trapping wire( 50% 12 ga and 50% 14 ga)
  • 50 ft Trap Chain #2 and #3
  • 24 Links
  • 24 Swivels
  • AM Radio with 8 extra 9 volt batteries
  • 8’ New stove pipe for cabin stove
  • 4 Leather awl needles and 50’ waxed thread
  • Extra shoulder straps for pack frame
  • Extra hip belt for pack
  • New lid for fry pan 14”
  • 100’ – 3/8 nylon rope
  • 12×18” glass to replace cracked window
  • Personal items
  • 1 Wool Jacket
  • 2 Wool pants
  • 2 Work pants
  • 1 Pair insulated Carhartt coveralls
  • 4 Pair work gloves
  • 2 Pair heavy winter over mittens.
  • Winter trappers hat
  • 1 pair
  • Pack boots with 2 sets liners
  • 1 pair Bunny Boots
  • 1 Wool sweater
  • 4 pair long sleeved wool shirts
  • 3 pair Wool long john pants
  • 3 pair Wool long john shirts
  • 8 pair Wool socks
  • 8 pair Cotton socks
  • 6 pair Underpants
  • 1 Bible
  • 2 flying ground school books
  • 6 Short sleeve Cotton shirts
  • Tooth brush
  • Tooth powder
  • 2 rolls dental floss
  • Carried or in an external frame pack:
  • 1 .308 rifle
  • 1 22 pistol (Colt Woodsman)
  • Rain coat
  • Rain pants
  • Insolite sleeping pad
  • Sleeping bag
  • 10×12’ and 4×8’ light nylon tarps
  • Flashlight
  • Flashlight batteries
  • Binoculars, 10×40
  • Green River skinning knife, caping knife, boning knife.
  • Small stone, small file and small diamond steel
  • Compass
  • Topo maps 1:250,000 scale
  • 2 Candles
  • Matches in waterproof container
  • Lighter
  • Small cook pot with lid
  • Water bottle
  • 100’ Parachute cord
  • Small First aid kit with Large suture needles and suture, in sealed pack
  • Mini channel locks (Snap-on) used for sutures and other things
  • Pack repair kit
  • ¾-length Hand ax. (Estwing)
  • Small shovel
  • Bow saw with extra blade
  • 1 pair wool socks
  • Wire snares
  • Fish hooks and line
  • 25’ .042” stainless wire
  • 1 lb Dried soup mix


Economics and Investing:

Unemployment in California at 12%, Highest in Nearly 70 Years

GG flagged this: UK Public debt hits £800 billion – the highest on record

Tom B. sent this item: Charts predict: “Risk of Full- Fledged Dollar Crisis”

Items from The Economatrix:

Obama: G-20 Good Time to Assess Economy

Low Expectations for New Loan Help Program

Regulators Seize Two Banks; 94 Failures This Year

Irwin Financial’s Two Bank Units Seized

Ohio Town Struggles After Package Giant DHL Leaves

Meredith Whitney: “Roaring Recover”? Unlikely

Fed Eyes Sweeping Bank-Pay Regulations

Summers: Troubled Firms Should be Allowed to Fail

Obama Adviser Blasts Big Business Ads. Larry Summers, top Obama economist, blasts ad campaign opposing proposal to create agency to protect financial consumers.

Chapman: The Looming Global Debt Crisis

Is the Fed’s Money Pumping Inflationary?

Deflation, Falling Velocity of Money Ensures Printing Presses Will Keep Running

Missing Lehman Lesson of Shakeout Means “Too Big to Fail” Banks May Fail



Odds ‘n Sods:

Inyokern spotted a web page on a 1 oz. beverage can stove which burns denatured alcohol. Inyokern notes: “This is a great bug-out bag item that is popular with Blue Ridge ultralight backpackers. This, plus fishing line, a folding knife, hooks, and a pan or pot with a lid would make a lightweight emergency kit.”

   o o ox

F.G. sent this: South Carolina mayor prohibits cops from chasing suspects either by car, or on foot!

   o o o

J.B. found a piece that describes urban camouflage: the ‘Special Operations Tactical Suit’ (SOTACS)

   o o o

Reader A.V. was the first of several to mention a recent Dilbert comic strip.





Letter Re: Will Junk Silver Be Accepted for Barter, Post-Collapse?

I have been reading your blog for quite some time now and I have a different outlook that I would like for you to comment on if you would be so kind. I have seen multiple references to pre-1965 coins being good for barter in a post-SHTF environment, but I do not follow this reasoning. I live in Dallas Texas, and frequently converse with other like minded people about survival preparation and the world climate and, until I told them about the high melt value of pre-1965 coins, they had no idea it was greater than the face value. It should not have struck me as odd as I myself had no idea of this before I began reading your blog. These are well informed people, so it made me wonder how common this knowledge was. I began asking various people about this, and not one person had any idea that these coins had a higher silver value than their face value. Here is my perspective on this subject.

In a post SHTF environment some people will have prepared and some won’t. However, regardless of this, when it comes time to trade with others the universal doctrines will apply. 1. You will have to have something that I want for me to trade you what you want. 2. A think worth what someone is willing to pay for it, not it’s asking price. Now, if the vast majority of people have no idea that pre-1965 coins are almost the same as silver, most of them will likely have no desire for them at all, or worse, think that you are trying to scam them by pushing a trade with a currency which is likely defunct. Further, due to the probable lack of access to information, it is unlikely that people would be able to research the claim that these coins are worth more than their face value. Thereby keeping the populace at large ignorant of their true commodity value, and keeping the coins out of the trading markets.

I believe that the only scenario in which pre-1965 coins could come to be regarded as a barter good would be if people that already knew of their value agreed to take them in as trade for something that the ignorant populace already believed had value, such as ammunition or food. Again, however, there is a very small percentage of the populace that has knowledge of the melt value of pre-1965 coins, much less has a stockpile of them to use after the SHTF. Therefore, I believe it to be unlikely that there would be enough people, in enough varied locations, willing to make a sufficient number of trades of their items for coins for the trend of pre-1965 coinage as a barter good to become ubiquitous in the “villages” or “trading posts”. Due to these perspectives, I find it to be unlike that the new “villages” or “trading posts”, that spring up out of the ashes of our previous society, will use pre-1965 coins as even an uncommon trading good.

Most of the idea behind amassing coins for preparedness I believe to be tied to the value of silver, and the above illustrations assume that silver will be valued after the crash. However, after the crash I do not find it likely that silver will have any value at all for the the majority of the people. Very few people will be so well -prepared that they will have enough that they can concern themselves with amassing hard wealth for when society returns. I am certain that the majority will be trying to just survive as best they can. While there will be a Rolex or a diamond ring traded for a few tins of tuna, this will likely be an uncommon occurrence as society continues to devolve. Few people will have so much that they can trade away usable resources for hard value items in mass. While people may have the memory that silver used to be valuable, after having spent some time circling the drain with the rest of society, it is unlikely that they will have found a use for it since it can neither be used to defend nor feed one’s self. It is more likely that a wealthy man will be one that has enough food, warmth, defense, and shelter to survive indefinitely. That only leave silver coins as an easily identifiable currency.

So, let us suppose that there are places that have almost gotten back to some sense of civilizations, such as the “villages” or “trading posts”. As such they will likely want to use some form of currency. However, as we look to the past to inform the future, it is more likely that each community, or group of communities, will develop their own individual currencies in an effort to avoid counterfeiting and theft. Historically, in the absence of a centralized government, individual communities do what they feel they must to survive and to insure that they function as smoothly as possible. This is likely to focus more on food and defence, items that provide life stability, than it is on amassing hard value items.

In order for silver coins to have a value a person needs to want them from you more than they want to keep what you want from them. I can not see any functionally use for silver after the crash. I know that there are a great many very intelligent people that firmly believe that these coins will have a high value post SHTF, so I feel like I must be missing something. I would be most appreciative if you would share your views on the reasoning that I have outlined. I am very hesitant to invest in pre-1965 coins as a future barter good until I am convinced that it is a better investment than just using the same money to buy more food, guns, or ammunition. The ideal of having a compact, universal, and non-degrading barter good available when the time comes is very appealing, I’m just not sure that it is silver coins. – Russell from Dallas

JWR Replies: I stand by my prediction that in the event of a currency collapse, pre-1965 junk silver will very quickly become adopted as a de facto barter currency. Many people may not presently be familiar with these coins, but once the US Dollar’s value disintegrates, people will wise up to what constitutes real money, very rapidly. Adaptability is in the nature of free markets. It won’t take more than a couple of months for prices to stabilize in the new reality of silver coins, packs of cigarettes, boxes of .22 cartridges, and gallons of gasoline–in barter. I predict that within a month, the sound of ringing silver coins will become familiar–starting first at “mom and pop” stores and at farmer’s markets. These coins will be eagerly sought in barter, because they encapsulate all of the key attributes of a genuine tangible currency: recognizability, scarcity, durability, portability, fungibility, and divisibility. Being 90% silver, they also have useful industrial value. No barter currency is perfect, but pre-1965 coins come very close, at least for use here in the United States.



Letter Re: Storage Food Cookbooks

Hello James;
I was just today shopping at the good ol value village and saw this book called Cooking With Stored Foods by Carlene Tejada and Carroll Latham. It contains great tips on storing foods and cooking stored foods. It lists also the shelf life of stored foods and there are diagrams for gravity fed can storage systems. I got it for ninety nine cents but your readers can find it on amazon.com for as little as $0.67 [plus postage]. God bless and many prayers for the loss of your Memsahib – Eric L

JWR Replies: Thanks for that recommendation. Another book on using storage foods that I consider a must is Making the Best of Basics – Family Preparedness Handbook by James Talmage Stevens. I heard that the 11th edition is about to be released.



Letter Re: Advice for a Post-Thyroidectomy — Potassium Iodide?

Mr. Rawles,
I have read your blog for awhile, I would like to know if you about the following: I was diagnosed with Graves Disease over two years ago. They cured the Graves Disease and the way that was done was to completely remove my thyroid gland, If the main concern with radiation is thyroid cancer, without a thyroid what would radiation do are what organ would it damage the most. I would like to also know if there would be any need for myself to take Potassium Iodide (KI).

JWR Replies: There would be no need for you to take KI, since it only serves to “load” a thyroid gland with iodine and hence prevent the accumulation of radioactive isotopes that would otherwise accumulate there. Beyond that, in terms of “internal emitters”, all that you should remember is to avoid fresh dairy products (since isotopes like Strontium-90 tend to accumulate in milk), and to drink a regular quantity of fluids, to keep your kidneys flushed.

Since you are post-operative, you can jokingly refer to yourself as partially “radiation proof.” (At least you don’t have to worry as much as the rest of us about radioactive iodine isotopes.)

From a preparedness standpoint, you should look into stocking up on your regular hypothyroid (glandular replacement) prescription, (assuming that you have one). Do so as much as possible, up to the maximum shelf life. And of course you should consistently rotate this supply, using the first-in, first-out (FIFO) method.