UN warns over swine flu in birds; The discovery of swine flu in turkeys in Chile raises concerns about the spread of the virus, a UN agency warns. How many recombinations will we see?
New York Mayor To Announce Plans To Combat H1N1 In Schools
Colombian President Uribe Ill With H1N1 Flu
Hands-Off Plan: Schools Ban Touching to Fight H1N1
This may be one of the most important pieces of economic news in many months, yet is did not receive much mainstream news coverage when the wire story was circulated yesterday: Beijing’s derivative default stance rattles market. This implications of state-owned Chinese industries being given carte blanche to nullify derivatives contracts are enormous. You’ll probably recall that I have been warning about derivatives counterparty risk for almost three years. And it was there that I specifically warned about the risk of “disappearing counterparties”. This new turn of events will likely shake the very foundations of the global derivatives markets. If the derivative contract holders fail to call the bluff of the Chinese (or if their respective national governments don’t back then up), then the entire derivatives market may disintegrate into chaos-or perhaps fracture into regional subsets. But if they do call their bluff, and the Chinese then decide to play hard ball (read: non-participation in US Treasury Note auctions, for starters), then it is impossible to predict how this might spin out of control. Entire currencies and even governments may topple. Expect to see some votes of no confidence in some of the parliamentarian states, and perhaps even rumors of war. Do you remember my analogy of “kingdom towing” that I posited back in 2007? Such events are starting to look even more likely.
And, speaking of derivatives… Wall Street Stealth Lobby Defends $35 Billion Derivatives Haul
I found this linked over at TotalInvestor.com (one of my favorite news aggregation sites): Lefrak: Commercial Real Estate Will Kill 500 Small Banks
This Reuters article was linked over at Total Investor: Cerberus clients overwhelmingly want out: report. The troubled times for hedge funds that I predicted back in Aught Seven are far from over. As long as the global credit markets remain in turmoil, anyone that borrows short and lends long will will continue to be in deep trouble.
Bradley recommended a “must see” videotaped interview posted over at the Lew Rockwell site: Faber: Central Banks Blowing New Bubble. JWR’s comment: Faber’s predictions are quite possibly right, although he is a bit fuzzy on timeframes. He said: “One stimulus package will lead to the next one, and more money printing, and so in five to ten years time the real crisis will break out, when the whole system collapses — that will be the end.” Faber reiterated his earlier advice to the same Aussie journalist, that goes beyond economics and gets down to quasi-Rawlesian survivalism: “Buy a farm and a gun…”
Several readers sent this: The Farmer’s Almanac’s Frigid 2010 Forecast. Have you cut and stacked plenty of firewood?
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LJ in England sent this: Blackout Britain warning as Government predicts severe power shortages within a year
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Steve S. recommended these two Lifehacker articles: Boost Your Map Skills for when GPS Fails You and, Get to Know Your Edible Berries with a Simple Mnemonic
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Tom B. mentioned this: ‘Preppers’ get ready for the worst; Movement to stockpile for emergency at all-time high
“A nation can survive its fools and even the ambitious.But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and he carries his banners openly against the city. But the traitor moves among those within the gates freely, his sly whispers rustling through all alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears no traitor; he speaks in the accents familiar to his victim, and he wears their face and their garments and he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation; he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of a city; he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to be feared. The traitor is the plague.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero
Courtesy of SurvivalBlog reader M.E., I have posted a new downloadable Excel spreadsheet: Silver World Coin Melt Value Calculator. You might find this a helpful shortcut, especially since circulating coin weights are expressed in grams, while silver is typically sold (and quoted daily) by the troy ounce. In assembling the table, M.E. used the oft-quoted coin weight data available in books like the Standard Catalog of World Coins 1901-2000
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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 $345 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.
We started prepping about 18 months ago. I have felt like a chicken with its head cut off, going wildly in all directions. I’ve learned a lot about a lot, some by research, but have learned most from doing. Being prior military (I served six years in the Army Captain, and as a civilian, I was a financial planner), I started identifying mission statements and initiating plans, backwards (aka backwards planning) in order to get them accomplished on time.
The first mission: “How do we survive hyperinflation?” My readings led me to believe that the best protection is to plan on not needing to spend money on stuff and save money for taxes. The question is how to accomplish that! I concluded that becoming as self-sufficient as possible and inter-dependent and mutually supportive with other like-minded persons.
Another mission: “How to survive societal meltdown with options and strategies.” We determined that we needed to prepare in-place in our current home while we simultaneously worked to identify a homestead, but one that also optimized our security needs under a societal meltdown scenario. We had to define those security needs and defensive goals. We also decided to initiate some basic security in-place.
What kind of retreat? What does one need for a retreat and where? Our pursuits included looking at everything from two perspectives, the retreat and the in-place strategy. We have decided that if we haven’t relocated, that bugging out would entail leaving the majority our resources and is not a viable option. We will defend in place if we don’t get relocated before TEOTWAWKI.
My research indicated that to be fully self-sufficient where we not only grow our own food, but also that of our livestock, that we would need around 15 acres. Notably, a 5 acre homestead would do a lot! In researching homesteading and agriculture in-place alternatives I found out that Cubans grow 70% of their own food in the cities! I found that there are several cases of very small acreage homesteaders of an acre or less growing nearly all their needs! I recently discovered that I wouldn’t need to preserve so much if, instead of a huge garden once a year, I maintained a year-round greenhouse and grew what we needed on a staggered rotation basis inside the greenhouse with fresh food all the time! This year a summer thunderstorm hail storm wrecked a good portion of my garden and reminded me of the need for having a storage pantry! I will be doing a bit of both, for safety.
Other factors which have bearing on the retreat are:
1. Water. We wanted a creek, and especially if it had hydroelectric possibilities year-round; plus sub-irrigated property, and possibly a spring. Meanwhile, we have purchased a number of water barrels, filled them, and discovered some alternatives to ‘keep’ the water: bleach every 6 months, or other additives which could keep it up to 5 years, or boil it before use, and /or filter it. We bought a water filter system. Wells are acceptable for domestic use, but we still want a dependable surface water source in case the well ran dry. We found information available on property wells on the Internet under ‘well logs’ and the respective state.
[JWR Adds: Finding a property with sub-irrigated pasture is great, as is finding a property with micro-hydro development potential. But finding a parcel with both is a genuine rarity, because land that is sub-irrigated is almost always dead-level, near a stream or river. But for good micro-hydro power, you need a fast-flowing creek or river, with plenty of “fall” that you can exploit. For that, you need hilly property, not “bottom land.” So those two goals are almost mutually exclusive, unless you buy a huge parcel that has both features.]
2. Sun. We looked at properties, and in particular, the garden and agricultural spots for solar exposure. This is affected by location such as northern or southern latitude, proximity to trees and hills, sun-angles including winter sun. We also looked into Solar for Solar Power. We found hydro-electric power to be less expensive and more available than solar so we have decided to make hydro a priority on our retreat search.
3. Soils. Self-sufficiency is agricultural based so having access to good soils for crops and livestock is paramount. Soil also needs to drain well for crops and septic systems as well. Meanwhile, our home garden soils have been amended (enriched) with compost and chicken manure and the garden looks like Hawaii, lush, green and prolific! The county ‘extension office’ was able to provide a lot of information about the agriculture in the local area of interest.
4. Elevation. The higher the elevation of the property, the shorter the growing season is. We determined that we preferred properties below 2,400 feet elevation, and although we love Montana, we found that virtually the entire state is above 3,000 feet, and Wyoming is largely over 4,000 feet, Northern Arizona is high elevation too! So, for agriculture, we like parts of Washington, Idaho and Oregon.
5. Population. After fairly extensive scouting of the territory, we found that a lot of the country is fairly densely populated, especially the good agricultural areas! It takes a lot of research, to locate remote properties. We found a useful tool for this research is the Internet, and specifically, Windermere.com (which also has aerial views) and Google Maps (which has terrain view) and MapQuest.com (aerial view). We found that the listing office web site often had additional information and pictures available. The SurvivalBlog provided a link to a great city population comparison tool at Moving.com.
6. Security. There are numerous factors to consider when contemplating retreat security, including in-place home security: the Lay of the land, Visibility, Obstacles, Community, Alert systems, Accessibility, Cache, Population, and Ammunition. Regarding Ammunition, if we need to defend in place in our current home, it would be appropriate to have more shotguns and handguns for the home. Rifle fire in a residential neighborhood is not a good choice. We don’t want bullets flying out through the neighbor’s property. Looking at fields of fire and early warning systems has become a high priority. We remember that it was during the Los Angeles riots that the armed Korean businesses were left alone, passed on by and onto easier targets. Being armed is important!
How does one survive hyperinflation? Research includes Harry Figgie’s book Bankruptcy 1995, in which Chapter 8 spells out the history of hyperinflation. I figure that the US didn’t go Bankrupt in 1995 because it has been spending Social Security funds for operating capital. Can you spell Ponzi scheme? Other research included the hyperinflation of the Weimar Republic 1923, Argentina 2001, and Zimbabwe today. I have obtained an actual 100 Trillion Zimbabwe dollar note, worthless and no longer a currency, as a reminder of where we are headed. The Zimbabwean people have to pan for gold to buy bread. With worthless currency, the population (will that be us?) cannot get paid enough to keep up with the ever increasing costs of things and cannot afford heat, or food.
It is my belief that hyperinflation can be survived primarily through Homesteading and Self-sufficiency and/or inter-dependence in a tight-knit group. Essential Elements for self-sufficiency and which I/we have done include:
1. Canning. With the Ball Blue Book of Preserving
2. Gardening, Green House gardening, Container Gardening, and growing Herbs. This year I have learned about non-hybrid seeds, to grow crops that I can and did save the seeds to grow the same crop next year without having to buy seeds. I also saved seeds from fruits and vegetables eaten and successfully grew and harvested crops this year from them!
3. Dehydrating (vacuum sealing jars and crock-pot meals) http://www.excaliburdehydrator.com/media.php These 9 incredible videos are on dehydrating foods and preparing meals, really quickly too.
4. Making bread (wonderful resources are at www.youtube.com and www.cook.com and many more.)
5. Making cheese (with friends)
6. Spinning wool (with friends)
7. Food storage long-term, Poly buckets, Mylar bags
8. Inventory management (FIFO) Pantry rotation
9. Cooking out of the pantry (www.backwoodshome.com) “Store what you eat and eat what you store!”
10. How to make stuff from scratch (baking powder, toothpaste, shampoo, dinner Not in a Box, beer, soda, root beer, ice cream, yogurt, cheese, butter, soaps, sew, automotive repair/rebuild, and much much more…)
11. Water. Water barrels and RV water system. Roof is ample for rain collection and plan on the above ground swimming pool for a holding tank.
12. Power. Our new China Diesel generator from India is nearly finished (teardown/rebuilt). It should run for 30 years. Long term fuel supplies will be a ongoing need.
13. Refuse/Garbage/Recycle … by canning and making from scratch, we have virtually eliminated ‘trash’. Leftovers get reused and consumed in casseroles, stews or other dishes and / or fed to the dog. Vegetable remnants go to the compost. Yard and trees waste get run through our shredder and put into the compost pile for our garden. We run two compost piles year-round.
13. Livestock. Currently in town, we are planning on chickens, rabbits, plus bees. We are fortunate enough to have an acre. If we are to make it on only an acre, we may have to barter for livestock feed because we may not have enough land to grow it. We can at a minimum raise rabbits for meat. We have city friends which have raised chickens, rabbits, bees, and sheep successfully for years. We look forward to a remote retreat where we will have more options for livestock.
How do we survive a melt-down crisis?
We decided that we wanted to provide for at least a year of reserves. We came to that conclusion calculating that our food supplies would need to carry us until we got the garden harvested in the year following the collapse; and, time to acquire and raise livestock (hopefully we would have chickens, rabbits and goats at a minimum before meltdown; but, if not, we have alternative foods stored for a minimum of a year!) We determined that there are several ways to achieve this goal depending upon timeframe, time you have to do it yourself, and money. First you have to determine what you need and how much. This can be quite involved depending upon your approach. Then your options are: Meals-Ready-to Eat (MREs), packaged foods such as Mountain House or Alpine Air which are either freeze-dried or dehydrated and you just add water, or you do it yourself, which gives you some flexibility and more important ‘repeatability’, but is very time consuming, and that is important if you think there is not much time left. You may want to ‘acquire’ a year’s supply of food package, and then learn ‘how to’ as you go. We found poly-buckets free at Costco Bakery, and for a nominal cost at Nalley’s. Yes, they smelled of icing or pickles, but washed up fine and are food grade. With Mylar bags and CO2 from the local welding shop, we put up food stores readily.
In addition to food, we wanted a year’s store of normal shopping of household supplies: toilet paper, aluminum foil, plastic wrap, (handkerchiefs instead of Kleenex tissues), (towels instead of paper towels), laundry soap, bar soap, shampoo (sure we could make it, but we’d need “fat” and “hardwood ashes” to make it ourselves), medical supplies for general medicinal and also for emergencies: bleeding, dental, disease / quarantine supplies (masks, gloves, antiseptics), etc. We also anticipate that the banking system will not be available, i.e. there will be no operational ATMs, no open Teller Windows, and credit cards will be declined/inoperable. We set aside an amount of “cash”, today’s currency, for our crisis operating capital, and some in silver. We liquidated some IRAs to obtain the assets now. To us, these assets are better now to get prepared and are better than having more, but worthless currency in the future. The saying, a bird in hand is better than two in the bush, comes to mind. We have researched the metals markets and deemed them manipulated but with lots of upside (see Ted Butler’s commentaries). We feel that one of the best investments is agricultural real estate.
We are debt free and hope to stay that way. We own our own home free and clear. This is not to brag or make someone feel bad, but rather to motivate you to wonder how. It is by not being a ‘consumer’, but by being balanced and frugal, buying what we needed, foregoing vacations, doing without ‘designer labeled jeans’, without landscaping, however we did invest in having a dump truck load of dirt dropped in the backyard for the garden since all we had was rocks for soil. We have several original household appliances and fixed them when they broke instead of getting new ones. We buy good used cars, maintain them well and keep them for years as long as they meet our needs.
I believe that there is a game of keep-away when it comes to how to get and stay ahead financially. The banks and others profit more by people remaining ‘consumers’ and participating as a throw-away society. Massive disinformation exists to misdirect and profit from the populace efforts. A lot of wealth for others is made and maintained by keeping the populace misinformed about financial tools, how they work and what they are used for correctly. However, ‘financial tools’ (CDs, Stocks, Insurance, Loans) are exactly that, “tools”! Tools can be an incredible resource and can help us build monuments, or can be deadly weapons that can destroy us.
Financial success starts with you. Identify your ‘needs’. Spend to meet your needs, not to ‘save’ on an on-sale item that you truly didn’t ‘need’. Shop wisely. Will second-hand merchandise meet your needs; can the item be repaired, etc.? Take care of your things and you don’t have to replace them so often.
You need to shop and learn about financial tools to meet your goals. The first is the placement of your savings (short-term, mid-term, long-term). There are numerous options with a few listed below.
Banks ‘are not your friends’! They are a ‘Tool’! They are a place to situate your short-term cash–your working capital that is used to pay bills.
Loanership dollars where you loan your money for a rate of return to you (interest): Banks (CDs), Money Markets, Insurance Companies (annuities), Corporate (Bonds), Municipal (Bonds), and Government (Bonds).
Ownership dollars where you invest your money and accept ownership risks (of loss or gain):
Stocks (owning a fractional interest in a company), real estate (your home, other real estate), Partnerships (business enterprise, etc.), and Precious Metals.
Insurance is a “Tool”! You need insurance to cover the calamity expense/risk(s) which you cannot afford, only! Often, you are not informed that your premium would be much lower if you accepted a higher deductible. It might be inconvenient to have to pay $1,000 if your car was wrecked or your home damaged, or a major medical claim, but the insurance would cover a catastrophic loss!
A home loan is a tool too. The structure of a loan is important, fixed or variable. Variable contains a ‘gamble’ element. Unless it is stipulated otherwise, most home loans can be prepaid, or accelerated. You have the ability to pay an extra amount above the mortgage payment. This extra amount can be applied towards principal, which you need to specifically specify ‘apply to principal’! Pre-paying a mortgage, especially in the early years of a loan is one of the greatest savings rates a person can achieve!
We actually paid our 30 year mortgage off in about 12 years. Admittedly, our friends drove newer cars, went on vacations, have better furniture, prettier lawns, fancier clothes, and went out to dinner and the movies more than we did. However, we are debt free. Yes, we are still worried about tight finances and the world situation, but our current position is a lot less stressful than being loaded with lots of debt. It can be done, with sacrifices!
It is an imperative for Americans to educate themselves, to not trust the system. Find out about things. Get inquisitive and broaden your horizons. This year I have eaten cooked nettles. Yes, it was very good. It was similar to spinach and no nettle burn! I had Yak meat at a local restaurant and now want to pursue having Yaks for livestock. Learn new things and hard skills. Become creative and inventive; how else can it be done? Become flexible, find alternative ways of getting things done, adapt!
We have a small group of friends with whom we meet regularly, try new projects and explore ideas. Our daily ‘walks’ have helped us meet our neighbors. Our friends suggested that we hold a ‘Meltdown Neighborhood Tea Party’ Potluck get-together. That sounds like a good idea to meet our kind of people. I believe we can do anything we put our minds to, especially if we work together.
Mr. Rawles,
I loved seeing the recent mention of the older Boy Scout Handbook on your site. I know I have been writing you back and forth for ten years or so now and I can’ t ever remember mentioning my Boy Scout history and the materials I have collected from the various Boy Scout books over the years.
First off I am an Eagle as are both my brothers, as is my father and all of his brothers, and as was my grandfather and all of his brothers who were young enough to participate in scouting (his older brothers were 18 before scouting came to the U.S.) My oldest is about to become an Eagle Scout and my second son is well on his way (one merit badge and a project to go …)
I have on my bookshelf and ready to toss into my kit when/if we have to leave the house a 34th printing of the “Handbook for Boys” printed circa 1940 which was my father’s book, a reprint of the 1911 printing of the same (the one my grandfather would have used), a 1981 version (mine), and 1998 version (my sons version which I used when I was Scoutmaster). I also have the matching Fieldbooks for the same years. And a very large collection of the various merit badge books. Most of these you can pick up for next to nothing at a garage sale these days but they are packed with vital information that really is not covered in other places – the only primitive survival book that I have found that comes close to the Boy Scout materials (especially the older ones) is the Larry Dean Olsen book.
For example in the older Boy Scout manuals there are instructions (which I have both practiced and taught) for: making tents from canvas tarps, rations prior to widespread adoption of freeze dried/canned foods, recipes and cooking methods for the same over an open fire, tracking, signaling, and on and on and on. I have enjoyed teaching the boys over the years about things such as sloosh and mountain man bread, how to cook meat directly ON a fire, etc. Probably the best time we have had was canteen cup weekend – you got a canteen, a canteen cup, a spork, and had to pack your own rations to last the weekend and be cooked and eaten in the canteen cup. (The canteen cup can be easily substituted by a tin can or similar scrounged container.)
For those of you who don’t know slosh is a cornbread made of corn meal, egg, lard (or leftover bacon drippings), and just a wee bit of water and cooked either on a stick or if you are lucky in a fry pan. Mountain man bread is similar but you use wheat flour. Or if you are cheating (or showing boys how to do it for the first time) you use canned biscuit dough . . . Both sloosh and mountain man bread can be made with ingredients that store for a long time when you are on the trail without any special preparations. Flour, real bacon (smoked and dried not the stuff sold in the stores as “bacon” today), and lard last a long time. As a side note the pioneers would pack eggs in lard or grease (not Vaseline) to store them for a trip. My family tells tales of a large water barrel that was filled with eggs and had cooling bacon grease and lard poured over them lasting from when the wagons left Independence until they got into Utah.
Needless to say my scouts quickly learned how to quickly boil water in a canteen cup with a small fire, and eat dried oatmeal for breakfast, trail foods like gorp and jerky and pemmican for lunch, and then to use bits of jerky or pemmican to flavor stews and soups for dinner. We used the edible plants guide to forage for wild plants during the day as we walked and then added those to the stews/soups for dinner. The boys who packed lots of food quickly would fall behind and would quickly get tired of the bland sameness of top ramen noodles.
And between the bacon grease/lard mixture and bee’s wax you have a good way to keep leather conditioned and waterproof on the trail. In fact I just picked up a child’s saddle for my daughter for $20 and reworked the leather using bee’s wax – and now she has a beautiful saddle in nice cordovan color that will last her for years and years. The parts that needed to stay flexible such as the skirts were worked with lard/bacon grease at first (leave the leather in a warm place so they can slowly melt into the leather) and then a top layer of bee’s wax.
Probably my favorite example of the importance of the basic skills that the scout books contain though deals with my uncle. He had just finished up medical school and residency and had come home to Idaho when he witnessed a car accident. Without thinking he ran over and performed life saving first aid on the woman who was injured. And then afterwards realized that what he had done was not learned in medical school or his residency but rather was the end result of his Boy Scout first aid training many years before.
Brendon sent this: “Zombie suppliers” haunt manufacturing sector
From H.H.: Italian banks may take ham and wine as collateral
Cut my pay … please! As the number of layoffs mount, more workers are ready and willing to take significant pay cuts to find employment. (Thanks to Ben M. for the link.)
From DD: Small retailers feel sharper pinch; Cuts in consumer spending hit mom-and-pop shops hard
Reader KAF spotted this: As Banks Repay Bailout Money, U.S. Sees a Profit
U.S. Stocks Fall After China Markets Trigger Global Sell-Off
Damon flagged this: Daily Commodities Fundamentals: China Takes An Overnight Plunge, Oil Follows (Gold down, silver up.)
Also from Damon come this piece in The Australian: China’s liking for silver is good news for miners
I found these three bits of analysis posted over at Gold-Eagle.com:
Puru Saxena: Peak Oil – Supply Data Doesn’t Lie
Chris Laird: Prelude To Stagflation? Transition From Crisis To Stagflation
Jim Willie: US Bank Enemies At The Gates
Norman in England recommended this article about a solo documentary filmmaker’s experiment in the Yukon: Fifty days and nights in the wilderness. Note that even in warm weather he reached the psychological breaking point in just seven weeks. This adds credence to my assertion that going solo, playing “Batman in the Boondocks” wouldn’t work for 99.9% of the population. Please make realistic plans, and establish a well-stocked and fairly self-sufficient retreat. It takes faith and friends to survive!
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From DD: Continued l.os Angeles fires double in size. And, speaking of the fires, here is a YouTube link from KAF: Fires Over Los Angeles – Time Lapse
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GG sent us this from The Wall Street Journal: Home Barbering Grows in Recession, With Hairy Results
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Home Birth with Midwife as Safe as Hospital Birth: Study. (Thanks to KAF for the link.)
“They didn’t have rounds for the Buhnder, but we’re ammoed up pretty good. Got a discount too, on account of my intimidating manner.” – Adam Baldwin as Jayne Cobb, Firefly
Sir,
For those who don’t have an “old” copy of the Boy Scout Handbook, the 1911 edition is available from Project Gutenberg in a variety of electronic formats.
Also, they have the Girl Scout Handbook, 1920 edition.
There is some overlap with the Boy Scouts handbook, but also much that is unique, especially in regard to care of the home, growing a garden, storing food, outdoor and indoor cooking, and a good section on first aid and home health care. Regards, – Andrew H.
JWR Replies: For any families with teenagers, or pre-teens, I recommend getting hard copies of these books:
(BTW, most adults also find these books fascinating reading, and useful references.)
Sir,
I have a question what is the metal makeup of dimes [US 10-cent coins]. I am saving the nickels [US 5-cent coins, as suggested in SurvivalBlog, since 2007]. I have a small amount of dimes and was wondering if they are worth saving? – Curtis M.
JWR Replies: Stockpiling dimes would not be wise. See the base metal value data at Coinflation,com. As of Saturday, August 29th, the base metal value of a post-1964 dime is $0.01704, (less than 2 cents) but the acquisition cost fro each coin is the face value of ten cents.
Meanwhile, the base metal value of a post-1945 nickel, is 0.04811, but the acquisition cost is just five cents–nearly its actual base metal worth. So it is quite realistic to stockpile these as an inflation hedge. Unlike pennies, (which require sorting, and it requires a substantial investment to recoup the cost of buying a sorting machine), the nickel is the only other commonly-circulating coin that has a metallic value near its face value, so I’m steadfast in my advice on saving them. That is, at least until the inevitable new debased issue is released, whereupon it would become difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff.
For someone with time on their hands–such as a retiree–I recommend searching through rolls of half-dollars, from your local bank. The US 50 cent pieces made in and before 1964 are 90% silver (now worth about 12x face value), and those made from 1965 to 1970 are 40% silver (now worth about 5x face value.) Also, those that are dated 1970 have an even greater numismatic value, since it is a “rare date”, as they were only issued in mint sets and proof sets. Although it is not very common, once in a while later-date rare proof coins, which are also 90% silver will slip into circulation. These are easy to spot, because of their distinctive high contrast appearance. By the way, after you have done your “date picking”, when you re-roll the coins to return to the bank, make sure that you mark the rolls in a distinctive way (such as applying a ring of black magic marker), so you can avoid searching through the same roll twice.
Mr Rawles,s
My family really enjoys and has benefited from reading your blog. Thank you for putting together such a quality reference site. One topic I have not seen discussed (even after a search of the archives) is whether or not pre-1960s foreign silver coins have any value. As a child, I received a large number of European coins from my grandfather (circa 1920s to 1930s), many of which are silver and a few appear to be bronze. While they have little value to collectors based on condition (I have kept them for sentimental reasons), I would assume that silver is silver and they have some base value. Do you have any opinions or advice regarding using these in a SHTF situation or a suggestion for a reference I could use for more information regarding their silver content? Thank you, – J.S.
J.W.R.;
I was wondering if you could point me to a source for determining the silver content by year of Canadian coins and if any of them would be worth hanging on to. Thanks in advance! – Montana Marty
JWR Replies: I recommend getting copies of both the 2009 Standard Catalog of World Coins 1901-2000
Canadian Nickels – Composition
Another good reference for US coins is The Official Red Book: A Guide Book of United States Coins 2009
[Introductory note from JWR: I normally send detailed letter replies only to their intended recipients, but in this case, I thought that this letter was a great example of terrain and obstacle analysis,a s well as “outside the box” planning, so I’m positing it for the entire SurvivalBlog readership to ponder. Do you have similar plans for off-road mobility, and contingency plans, folks?]
Mr. Rawles,
A note for Diane about her relative living on-post at Fort Riley, Kansas: First thing to obtain if you want to bug out of Ft. Riley is to get a Kansas Atlas & Gazetteer
I trained for some years on the Ft. Riley reservation, lived in Kansas and have canoed many streams in the area. I have these comments on how to get out of that location.
The Ft. Riley Military Reservation is bounded on it western side by the very large Milford Lake. The water body of this lake is 14+ miles long and has a wildlife area upstream that extends some 5 to 6 miles north to Boughton, Kansas. At Boughton you can access a good Highway that will take you to Clay Center then west on Highway 24 to get across the Republican river.
Only one road crosses the lake body proper at Wakefield [Highway 82]. The river running into the lake is the Republican River. It is runs through an area of heavy soils making the banks steep, the bottom of the river soft and the stream depth non-fordable. To ford this river channel without a bridge you would have to travel many miles upstream approaching Cloud County Kansas [county seat Concordia] where the river changes from a deep soil bed to a sandy bed. Even in this area no one crosses the river in a four wheeled vehicle. ATVs do, but it is just too soft and sandy. I worked for the Department of Agriculture in this area and am very familiar with the farm community and the river channel areas, as a hunter. The transition zone from solid soils to sand is rather mucky.
I have canoed much of the river from well above Concordia to near the lake. Other than the road crossing at Wakefield and the southern end of the dam where Highway 244 skirts below the dam the west side of Ft. Riley is only a restricted bug out route because of the few escape routes. Near Salina Kansas the is the junction of the Solomon River [consisting upriver of two large streams, the north fork and the south fork]; the Saline River and the Smoky Hill River. Saline is west of Ft. Riley. At Ft. Riley the Republican River joins this conglomeration of rivers that come together at Saline to form the Kansas, River. This river is big. You will not cross unless you can find a bridge. This river runs west to east for many miles and gets much bigger the further east you go. Bugging out south of Ft. Riley is possible only if the Highways are clear to get across this river system.
Consult your maps for details.
There are large tracts of land south and southeast of Junction City, the southern portal to Ft. Riley that do not have a fully-developed [typical Plains state township] mile on mile road grid system.
Why? It is range land supporting large ranches. The roads were never built on a grid in this area. It has restricted assess to state Highways and county farm to market roads only. Consult your maps.
Unless the major Highways are open to the south it is a restricted zone for escape some 15 miles south and 20 miles east due to the lack of a road grid system.
Yes, I-70 does run by the south. A good exit if it is open. To the east is the large metropolitan city of Manhattan. It is a block if you want to bug out to the east. North and further NE of Ft. Riley is the huge Tuttle Creek lake some 16 miles long with its accompanying wildlife land area extending another five miles or so upriver. It is a huge block to getting out east or NE. Only one road crosses the lake on the dam [Highway 13].
The only well developed open grid section of mile on mile of county roads and state Highways is north. The Ft. Riley Military Reservation is some 14 mile long to the north. There is a military road system through this area. This road system is accessible from the bedding area for troops on Custer Hill–or it was some years ago. Check this out.
The huge training area north of Ft. Riley is, or was controlled from a single building called “Range Control”. The assignment and use of the training areas was scheduled from this area. They monitor the areas mostly by radio. My suggestion is to get a military map of Ft. Riley with the range control markings showing the designations of each of the training areas. They all have numbers.
Now, since I was there a large construction and upgrading has proceeded at the tank gunnery range. But in an emergency I would think military families wanting to exit through the training areas to Bala Kansas and Riley Kansas or to get to the Highway to Milford would be possible. [JWR Adds: It also bears mentioning that artillery range impact areas are to be avoided at all times, since they are often littered with unexploded ordnance (UXO). Most of the “back gates” of large military reservations are kept locked and often unmanned except during major field training exercises (FTXes). In genuine “worst case” times of Deep Drama, a large pair of bolt cutters
Note: large areas of the north are tank training areas. There are trails there marked tank trail. Under no circumstances try to negotiate a tank trail in a civilian vehicle. You will become mired down in no time. I have driven M60 tanks and tracked bridge units all the way from the bird bath to tank training headquarters. Trust me on this. I have seen tanks mired down on those trails that looked like it was going to take an act of God to get them out.
Ft. Riley present a core of access problems anyone wanting to bug out from there. It is possible if you make a good plan. Have the maps. And please, in advance drive all the routes to familiarize yourself with them. Most of all explore the roads through the training areas. Visit Range Control and talk to the people there and get a map of the military reservation area. [JWR Adds: This can often be done on the pretense of scouting a hunt, since some military training areas are open for specific hunting seasons.] Make a plan! Cordially, – JWC in Oklahoma
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