Letter Re: Crystal Radios

Jim,
Something I’ve often wondered about prepping, but have never seen addressed is the use of Crystal Radio sets for after TEOTWAWKI. Small, portable, and they don’t require any electric source. There are some high performance sets out there that get not only AM [broadcast band 560-1700 KHz], but also shortwave.

I’d love to have some input from a knowledgeable individual as to the “best” unit from a prepping standpoint. The variety and cost spans the spectrum from under $10 at Radio Shack, to antique reproductions for over $500. Confusing to a novice, to say the least. But the technology seems to offer some terrific advantages. Here is a crystal set that seems to focus on purchasing performance, rather than nostalgia, or a beginners set (which seems to be most common).

It is ideal to input into “best” headsets and used the “best” antennas–possibly “best” complete package? Your input would be greatly appreciated.

I know there are receivers out there like the Freeplay that use dynamo / spring power. But the crystal radio is completely passive. There is no way for it to break it , with regular use. – Jack J.

JWR Replies: That is a good suggestion. Not only will this provide an EMP-proof back up radio, but it is a great way to teach youngsters the basics of electronics, detector designs, and radio wave propagation. The crucial spares to lay in, in depth, are headphones of the properly-matched impedance. Headphones are by far the most fragile part of the receiver. Also, be advised that in the long term, germanium crystals will eventually develop “dead spots” after contact with a cat’s whisker, so it is a good idea to buy some extra crystals or germanium diodes. These are also good “second order” barter items, for those dreaded multi-generational scenarios.

Economics and Investing:

From veteran blog content contributor GG: A $4 billion Postal Service bailout

Also from GG: Ten reasons for an imminent stock market crash

Reader mark S. flagged this: Another housing slump coming? Analysts say 7 million soon-to-be foreclosed properties have yet to hit the market.

Items from The Economatrix:

Simmons (Mattress) Plans to File for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection

Housing Crash to Resume on Seven Million Foreclosures

The Long Slog: Out of Work, Out of Hope

Volcker Unleashes Another Volley on the Wizards in Wall Street and D.C.

Rare Earths are Vital and China Owns Them All

US Issues $7 Trillion Debt, Supply to Stabilize

UK: Now That It’s Down to Politics, the Crisis is Starting to Turn Really Ugly

#1 Son’s Quote of the Day:

“There is no substitute for mass. Mass stops bullets. Mass stops gamma radiation. Mass stops (or at least slows down) bad guys from entering a home and depriving its residents of life and property. Sandbags are cheap, so buy plenty of them. When planning your retreat house, think: medieval castle.” – James Wesley, Rawles,
“How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times”

Notes from JWR:

Just two days to “Book Bomb” day for my new book, “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times”. My goal for the day is to create a surge of orders to drive the book’s Amazon sales rank into the Top 100, overall. So please wait until September 30th to order. Thanks!

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Today we present another entry for Round 24 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.

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 between $500 and $600, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) and C.)A HAZARiD Decontamination Kit from Safecastle.com. (A $350 value.)

Second Prize: 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 $350.

Third Prize: A copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, from Arbogast Publishing.

Round 24 ends on September 30th. Get busy writing an article for Round 25. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Five Preparedness Lessons Learned, by Allen C.

I was speaking with a friend recently who mentioned he still has a generator in the box taking up space in his garage.  It has been there for ten years.  He did not know what to do during the Y2K panic so he spent money to make himself feel better.  I am not knocking the value of a good generator.  I have used mine for almost twenty years.  However, purchasing a generator he did not know how to use without at least buying some gasoline to go with it was a waste of money.  It has been said the humans are the only creature that move faster once they realize they are lost.  I am sharing my experiences for the benefit of those who do not have a lot of training or experience in preparedness that they may go just slow enough to make good decisions while moving fast enough to be effective.

I was first referred to as “a survivalist” twenty-five years ago by local authorities during a routine traffic stop.  Still a teenager, I had saved my Christmas money to purchase my first rifle, an AR-7 survival rifle.  I had to explain to the nice officers why it was broken down in the back seat of my father’s car.  I dressed like the cover of a survival magazine during my high school and early college years and my appearance had brought me the attention I thought I wanted.  This teenage self-expression included camouflage pants and a black T-shirt accented by a defused hand grenade hanging from a chain around my neck.  I quickly learned the attention this drew was not in my best interest.  Today I look like every other clueless rat in the race.

It is not just the blatant activity described above that draws unwanted attention.  Someone asked recently how to keep their nosey neighbors from watching them bring in supplies.  I advised her to buy several identical plastic tubs.  Each time she goes out, an empty tub will go with her and return full.  The world sees just one tub going back and forth and incorrectly assumes it is the same one each time.  Absent evidence to the contrary, people tend to see what they expect.

Lesson One: Lay low and don’t make the big mistake.  Appear to be someone not worth noticing.

Throughout the years I grew in my training and expertise.  I became a firefighter and HazMat technician, shooting sports and wilderness survival instructor.  The same skills for which I was previously viewed as a threat now brought me acceptance and admiration.  After 911 they honored me at events and put me in parades.  My key to success was preparation in both skills and provision.  The most expensive piece of equipment in the hands of someone who does not know how to use it is worthless.   The converse is also true.  The more skilled one becomes, the less likely they are to think they need the latest gadget.  Over the years the tools in my fire gear and my survival kit became more refined allowing me to do more with less.

For example, knowing several ways to purify water without spending several hundred dollars on a filter system allowed me to allocate first funds to food storage and firearms.  If tribulation should come before I am fully prepared (if that is possible), I can provide food, water, and protection for my family.  I would love to have a bigger filter system, but because of my knowledge level, I am able to better prioritize.

Lesson Two: Knowledge makes a little provision go a long way. 

The other day I went to visit a friend from high school that I had not seen in years.  He proudly showed me not only his gun collection but those of a mutual acquaintance who keeps his at his home.  Some were sitting in a wooden gun cabinet with a glass front.  Most were lying in gun racks mounted to walls in the spare bedroom.

In my home you will not see one gun or a large cabinet that would be a bullseye for any thief who might kick in the door.  Those are kept safely in a secure and innocent-looking location that would not get a second look.  An inexpensive assemble-it-yourself bookcase with a few inches cut off the back of most shelves makes an excellent cache.  Trim the back panel to fit within the frame of the bookcase and use a hook and eye lock to secure the top of the bookcase to the wall.  This hidden cache holds several guns locked to the unit and the wall with a cable lock through the trigger guards. 

Lesson Three: The best defense is to not become a target in the first place.

Many of my friends are buying and storing a year’s supply of freeze dried food as they did for Y2K.  I am not doing so now nor did I in the Fall of 1999.  I personally do not enjoy eating freeze dried food.  Perhaps it is because I was raised in Amish country, but I have always stored and rotated my food.  This is not to say that I never buy food for long-term storage, but that I am selective in buying those things which I can get locally, inexpensively, and actually want to eat.  The rest I rotate through my pantry. 

The other day a friend of mine sent me a link to a web site where I could purchase fifty pound bags of grain for three times what it sells for locally.  It has not been specially prepared for long-term storage nor is it significantly different in quality.  In the Bible, Joseph stored grain for seven years without packing it in nitrogen.  This grain is marketed as a preparedness product at a price that covers shipping and a higher profit margin.  To most efficiently allocate my funds, I segment provisions into three categories:

  1. Bulk items I can buy locally and inexpensively that can be stored for the long term
  2. Items I usually eat that can be stored in a pantry and rotated through over several months
  3. Things that must be purchased from preparedness providers because they are the only source

Using this method, I can provide variety and nutrition for my family for less than the average family spends going on one vacation. 

Lesson Four: We don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on food we don’t really want to eat.

Rule number one of wilderness survival is Don’t Panic! This warning is equally relevant in any survival situation.  While time is of the essence, I would not recommend anyone without experience  quit their job in the city and move directly to a secluded retreat.  I have talked to several people who just this year planted their first garden.  The quantity of errors and problems they experienced are too many to include here.  Although I am from the country, I married a city girl and currently live on a postage stamp in a small city.  This permits us to continue to earn money and improve our country retreat until the last possible minute while visiting on the weekend.   

I have found the best way to buy and own retreat property is through a housing cooperative or land trust.  Although seldom used for rural land, cooperatives have successfully owned and occupied housing in New York City since the 1800s.  Instead of an individual purchasing a few acres at a premium price because each parcel must be surveyed, title examined, deeded, etc, a cooperative is a group of people who together purchase a large tract of land by forming a nonprofit corporation.  The property is deeded to the corporation with the rights to occupy individual parcels guaranteed through an occupancy agreement.  Advantages of a housing coop include lower price per acre, anonymity of ownership, and protection for creditors. 

Lesson Five: Don’t Panic – One small preparation every day will produce the best long-term results.  

Whether surviving a wilderness emergency or social unrest, our attitude and ability have a lot more to do with our success than the products we purchase.  We do not have to drastically change our way of life until circumstances change it for us.  These small things done over time will produce great results.  While there are necessities to secure, the most valuable asset we have is ourselves.  An investment in us pays the highest return.

Two Letters Re: Preparedness Information for Diabetics

Dear Mr. Rawles,
I have a few suggestions to add to the recent article about survival and preparedness for diabetics, particularly type 1 diabetics. I’ve had type 1 diabetes for 13 years and one of the few things I learned pretty quickly is that the power will go out and even if the bottle of insulin is unopened, temperatures higher than 40 degrees Fahrenheit for a long period of time will degrade the activity of the insulin. This will require a much higher dose than what would otherwise be necessary if the insulin is stored properly, if the insulin works at all. Some of the newer insulins will not survive more than a month at room temperature, and less if they’re opened.

A few other suggestions on diabetes survival:
1. Be familiar with how to use all types of insulin, because there would not be any guarantee of a specific insulin type being available for use in an emergency situation. Nor would there likely be doctors and nurses familiar with anything other than humulin Regular and NPH (which are considered to be “old” insulins and are more familiar to those who went to medical school twenty years ago.) Be prepared to revert back to “feeding the insulin”, meaning taking a rigid schedule of two or three injections daily and eating evenly spaced meals of specific amounts of carbohydrate, instead of eating various amounts at different times of day and using several injections of the newer, fast insulins to cover. Those insulins may not be available, and so a “normal” diet would be out of the question.
2. Know how much insulin you need, and how to measure this amount in any type of syringe. Like before, insulin syringes with .5 unit/1unit/2 unit measure may not be widely available.
3. If you do not immediately have insulin available, try to keep in mind what was done prior to its invention in the 1920s, starvation. They knew that carbohydrate seemed to make diabetes worse, and eating large amounts of carbohydrate increased the amount of sugar in the urine. So to prevent this, carbohydrates were restricted. It’s much like a very strict form of the Atkins diet, but even protein is reduced to small amounts, because protein is eventually converted to glucose. There are books from the 1900s on recipes and menus to use to starve diabetic patients, as well as some of the “old-fashioned” methods of screening for glucose in the urine and blood, one good book is freely available on the gutenberg online library web site called The Starvation Treatment of Diabetes. Starvation would not be a viable long-term option because of the obvious end result, but would serve some for a short period of time until insulin becomes available to them. It would kill a diabetic faster, however, to continue to eat normally without insulin.

I have a 6 month stockpile of diabetes supplies, as well as translations of my current insulin regimen using different types of insulins and a plan on how to follow a starvation diet. For 1 month on a standard two injections per day of Regular and NPH insulin, testing urine glucose twice or three times per day and assuming blood glucose meters are unavailable, one would need:
2 bottles of Keto-Diastix strips (measures glucose and ketones in the urine; once opened, a bottle will last 3 months)
1 box of U100 insulin syringes (100 syringes – 60 syringes used in one month = 40 syringe surplus)
1 box of 100 alcohol swabs
1 or 2 bottles of Regular insulin
1 or 2 bottles of NPH insulin
4 bottles of 50ct glucose tablets (which would likely not be completely used)
2 16 oz bottles of light corn syrup (a very efficient method for reversing hypoglycemia/low blood sugar)

Diabetes has really only become complicated to manage in the years since the invention of blood glucose meters and excess information. Those of us with type 1 diabetes have been convinced that in order to “survive” we need so many little pieces of expensive technology, super fast “boutique” insulins and constant monitoring of our glucose levels, so that we are utterly lost if these things aren’t available to us. There are type 1 diabetics alive today who “survived” very well on one or two injections of beef or pork insulin a day, testing their urine for glucose using Benedict’s solution, and avoiding “sugary” foods. If they can do it and live to be 60, we all can. Thank you, — Amber C.

James,
That was good info from Mr Fenwick. A great attitude for everyone to emulate.

As a type 2 diabetic I wonder if part of the Diabetics problem might be solved naturally in the worst case of TEOTWAWKI.

I lost 25 lbs and lowered my blood sugar by 50 to 75 points. The weight came from a period of inactivity after multiple surgeries. I rarely need insulin except when I fall off my diet. Oral meds take care of it normally and I am now able to exercise some. More weight loss is in my near future. My M.D. says Diet & exercise will take care of it when the weight stabilizes at my proper weight.

Considering my experience and from all I read, I’d guess many Diabetics will be helped by lowered food consumption and exercise brought on by TEOTWAWKI. Possibly to the point of needing no meds. I am hoping for that result. – E.H.

Economics and Investing:

SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large Michael Z. Williamson sent a link to: Dollar under scrutiny at G20 summit

Lost Vegas: Living Underground in Flood Tunnels. In Las Vegas, 1 in every 33 homes is in foreclosure. Where did all the people go? The answer might surprise some. There are an estimated 700 troglodytes live beneath Las Vegas.. Do they realize the mortal danger in the uncommon event of a flood? (A tip of the hat to David R. for the link.)

From Jim D.: Social Security strained by early retirements. An ever bigger budget deficit!

Items from The Economatrix:

FDIC is Broke, Taxpayers at Risk

Mission Accomplished: Part 1, Wrecking of the World’s Greatest Economy

Sweet Spots (The Mogambo Guru)

UK: Investors “Panic Buy” Other Currencies as Sterling Slides

When Housing is Priced in Gold

Retirements in Peril: US System Full of Holes

Ambrose: Germany Declares Economic War

Japan Abandons America

House Passes Bill To Prevent Government Shutdown

Bailout Money for Smaller Banks Being Weighed

G-20 Leaders Declare Summit a Success

Odds ‘n Sods:

Damon (one of our most regular link contributors) referred us to some useful “how to” pieces on Do-it-Yourself butchering at Backwoods Home, and on You Tube.

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Kevin A. suggest ed this useful post: Checklist for Hard Times

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KAF sent this: Debate Rages Over Federal Control of the Web in a Crisis

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Safecastle has announced their final Mountain House sale for 2009, that runs from September 28 to October 11th. They are offering 25% off on All Mountain House canned long-term storage foods.

#1 Son’s Quote of the Day:

“The foundational morality of the civilized world is best summarized in the Ten Commandments. Moral relativism and secular humanism are slippery slopes. The terminal moraine at the base of these slopes is a rubble pile consisting of either despotism and pillage, or anarchy and the depths of depravity. I believe that it takes both faith and friends to survive perilous times.” – James Wesley, Rawles,
“How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times”

Note from JWR:

Please wait until “Book Bomb” Day– September 30th — to place your order for my new book, “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times”. They won’t be able to ship until then, anyway. Thanks!

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Today we present another entry for Round 24 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.

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 between $500 and $600, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) and C.)A HAZARiD Decontamination Kit from Safecastle.com. (A $350 value.)

Second Prize: 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 $350.

Third Prize: A copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, from Arbogast Publishing.

Round 24 ends on September 30th, 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.

Amateur Radio for the Rest of Us, by Jim in Illinois

In the modern world, there are few things as critical as the propagation of information. Anytime, day or night, we have access to news, weather, and interpersonal communications. When that information is
unavailable whether due to a misplaced cell phone, internet disruption, or other factor, we begin to panic, feeling cut off and isolated.

When disaster strikes, up to date information could be as vital to your survival as food, shelter, or a means to defend yourself.

We can all make plans for our retreat and relocation, but without a means of contacting one another when the time comes, all we can do is wait and hope that everyone is on their way.

What is amateur radio?
Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is a service designed for the purpose of intercommunication between individuals whether for casual chatting, emergency preparation, or in the event of an actual emergency. The FCC permits citizens that have proven proficiency in FCC rule and of reasonable technical ability to use this service. To do so, one must pass a written exam and register their information with the FCC to obtain a license. Transmitting on amateur radio bands without a license could subject a person to fines or even imprisonment. However, there is one caveat to this rule. During an emergency, when lives are at risk, anything goes.
 
The phrase “anything goes” rarely has as much significance as it does in a TEOTWAWKI situation. Now, I am certainly not condoning the unlicensed use of amateur radio. But there may come a time that the only thing between you and rescue is a ham transceiver.
As quoted in the FCC amateur radio rule book:

§97.405 Station in distress.
(a) No provision of these rules prevents the use by an amateur station in distress of any means at its disposal to attract attention, make known its condition and location, and obtain assistance.
(b) No provision of these rules prevents the use by a station, in the exceptional circumstances described in paragraph (a), of any means of radio communications at its disposal to assist a station in distress.

Note: With that said, I would still encourage anyone making any effort in preparation to seriously consider following the licensing procedure.

Amateur radio signals are capable of traveling thousands of miles, or as short as tens of miles.
There are many factors that will affect the distance your signal will travel.
Some of them include:

  • Transmit Frequency

Just like with an AM/FM radio, there is a wide spread of radio frequencies that signals can be received on. Common allocations for amateur radio can be found anywhere from 3M MegaHertz (MHz) to well over 440MHz.

Typically the lower frequencies, from 3-30MHz (High Frequency or HF) provide the greatest distance with the least amount of power. This is accomplished by natural phenomena called ‘propagation’, which will be explained later.

VHF 30-300MHz (Very High Frequency) and UHF 300-3000MHz (Ultra High Frequency) offer a very high quality signal for ‘line of site’ distances up to about 50 miles. Police, fire, and private services rely on these frequencies due to the clarity and reliability of communications. FRS/GMRS (Family Radio Service) radios use 460MHz (UHF).

  • Antenna

In amateur radio, the most important factor is the antenna. An antenna can be as simple as a long piece of wire strung through a tree, or as large as an array of directional antennas hundreds of feet in the air. Just because it’s simple though, doesn’t mean it won’t work. I have talked to a ham in Portugal from my living room in Illinois using nothing more than a piece of wire looped around my ceiling fan.
‘Any’ antenna will work better than ‘no antenna’.

  • Transmit Power

Transmit power is measured in watts. While amateur radio has a limit of 1,500 Watts, most transceivers will only put out about 50-100 watts. Ideally, the more watts put out, the farther the signal will travel. You must also remember though, the more watts transmitted, the more power the radio consumes. This is something to keep in mind when battery power is in precious demand.
It is generally a good practice to keep output power low when possible, and make up the difference with improvements in your antenna. I have talked to Japan on 5 watts from Illinois. Power isn’t everything.

  • Propagation

During the day, solar rays charge different layers of the atmosphere which create a reflective barrier for radio waves. As the sun fades for the day, so does our propagation.
Higher frequencies require a higher amount of charged particles. Radio waves that do not bounce are simply absorbed or pass right through. During times of good propagation, it is possible to send very weak signals across the globe.
We can, to an extent, control how far our signal will go by utilizing the three main types of propagation.

  1. Skywave (long skip)

By utilizing an antenna that has a low take off angle, like a vertical antenna or high dipole (like your FM stereo comes with), our signals are directed at the horizon which will hit the atmosphere and bounce back to earth. (The earth is round, remember?)

  1. NVIS (Near Vertical Incidence Skywave)

With a lower dipole antenna or tilted vertical antenna, we increase the angle of the radio waves. Therefore, the waves go up sharply and bounce down much closer.

  1. Groundwave (line of sight)

Line of sight communications solely rely on the receiving station being within a straight line of the sending station. A walkie-talkie is a good example of this. Repeaters, which I will cover below, are often used to increase range of line of site radio equipment. Output power and antenna height greatly improve line-of-sight (LOS) communication.

Setting up a station

When determining what radio equipment will suit your needs, you must first decide on a few things.

  • How far do I need to communicate?
  • How portable will I need it to be?
  • How much can I spend?

VHF/UHF
If you answered the first question with “less than 50 miles”, then you can easily set yourself up with a useable system for under $200. VHF and UHF transceivers are often called 2 meter and 70 centimeter radios, respectively. 2M and 70CM refer to the length of the actual radio wave. 2M operates around 145MHz and 70CM operates around 440MHz.

Handhelds
A handheld unit has the advantage of small size, internal battery pack, and built in antenna. On the other hand, the small size, internal battery pack, and built in antenna is a serious compromise regarding transmit and receive distance. Typical handhelds maximum power output is about 5 watts and the internal battery won’t last long at that power level. The functionality of a handheld unit relies on repeaters. Without a repeater, a handheld would be limited to about 10 miles or less.

A repeater is a transceiver with a very high antenna that receives a signal on one frequency, and retransmits on another, usually at a much higher power. Through the use of repeaters, it is possible to work stations >100 miles away with a walkie-talkie. This may sound like fine business, but repeaters are privately owned and would likely be locked down by the owners, without power, or seized by the government, should society crumble.

Mobiles
Mobile units are designed to be mounted in a vehicle and are powered by 12 volts. Although an external antenna is required, this gives the user the flexibility to decide which antenna works best for them. Most mobile units can produce at least 50 watts and can be reduced to lower power as needed. A base or even portable station can be easily setup using a mobile radio, rechargeable 12 VDC battery, and an antenna placed as high as possible. With careful planning and experimenting, this system can be optimized to reach distances of 50 miles or more, creating an efficient point-to-point communication link.

HF
For nationwide communication, HF is going to be the winner hands down. HF radios are typically capable of more than 100 watts and under good conditions can talk coast to coast and across the ocean. The greater distance is attributed to propagation, as described earlier.
The biggest stumbling block with HF radios is the cost. With a starting price of around $700, most folks will find it very hard to make room in their budget for this.
Another consideration is the antenna. To work efficiently, an antenna should be at least ¼ wavelength long. Depending on the frequency, this could be anywhere between 10’ to well over 60’. But as stated before, any antenna is better than no antenna.

Conclusion
Undoubtedly, whether your plans are staying or relocating, reliable communications will be a must for you and your group. This article is written as a primer into amateur radio and to simplify what can seem to be an overwhelming step of preparedness. There are hundreds of volumes written on the subject, and I would encourage anyone serious about prepping to research further. 

I really can’t stress enough that you should take the time now to get licensed and work out any problems before they occur.

Links:
www.arrl.org Find testing locations and just about anything else ham-related.
www.qrz.com Take online practice tests for amateur radio exams

Economics and Investing:

From Paul D.: US faces Armageddon if China and Japan don’t buy debt

Investors gird for post-recession inflation

HH latched on to this article: U.S. Debt Crisis May Cause ‘Fall of Rome’ Scenario, Duncan Says

From FG: Detroit hits 28.9% unemployment

Items from The Economatrix:

Fed Admits Hiding Gold Swap Arrangements

New Jobless Claims Drop Unexpectedly to 530,000

Fed Scales Back Two Emergency Lending Programs
Iran Replaces the US Dollar with the Euro

New Deadly Dollar Carry Trade

Gold to Reach $1,500 This Fall?

Odds ‘n Sods:

Karen H. recommended a piece over at the Utah Preppers site on how to dehydrate peppers.

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Damon mentioned a collection of interactive, online ballistics calculators, The Ballistician’s Corner, hosted by Beartooth Bullets. It includes: Exterior Ballistics, Recoil Calculator, Wound Channel
Calculator, Stopping Power Calculators (multiple), Round Ball Weight Calculator, and Powder Calculators.

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Reader FG flagged this: Korea to Sell Old US Rifles Back. These are M1 Garands and M1 Carbines. The latest word is that these will not be sold by the CMP. Instead, they’ll be sold by commercial importers. Do you remember the “Blue Sky” stamped M1s of the early 1990s? Blue Skies in the forecast!

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Ya gotta love the Palmetto State: South Carolina political candidate raffles away an AK-47. (Also courtesy of FG)