Letter Re: Calories and Cross-Country Travel

Traveling in the aftermath of a societal collapse will become more difficult without the use of a motor vehicle, which is why you hopefully live near a water source. It is easy to visualize how after a collapse how one
could move around locally. Whether or not what one is planning on doing locally is energy efficient or not, to some degree, will not matter as there is not very much distance that needs to be covered. If
however you need to move over long distance how efficient the travel is becomes much more important. Lets look with some detail at examples.

For the following examples, I am using a 30 year old, 170 pound male. For others the absolute numbers will be off, but the relative energy use will still be the same. i.e. a 110 pound 60 year old women will still be more efficient biking then running.

Today we are used to walking out to the car, getting in and going where we want. We can sit down (77 calories per hour) and travel at 65 miles per hour. While driving it only takes 1.2 calories to travel a
mile. That is not very much at all. Bikes seem to be a common theme in plans to move around after a disaster, and we all know they are fairly easy to go long distances on. What do the numbers tell us? At a reasonable 14 mph it takes about 50 calories to move a mile. Comparing biking to moving around in a car and the car is more then 40 times more efficient! It is easy to see why cars are so popular.

Below is a table showing the energy use for several ways of getting around. What we can see is that moving around on wheels is awesome! Biking and Rollerblading are very efficient, as well is being fairly quick ways to cover a lot of ground.

 

Activity Calories Per Mile
Driving 1.2
Biking 50
Inline Skating 65
Walking 85
Snowshoeing 110
Cross Country Skiing 120-135
Running 125-130

Go get yourself a bike and maintain it well and you will be able to move around if you can not use your vehicle. But a bike is a pain to haul around everywhere. A set of inline skates can sit in your trunk and barely be noticed along side a good set of hiking boots. Once again we see that there is some trade offs to be made between money, gear and capabilities.

Getting back to the real point, what does this mean when moving long distances? Well the point is that it takes a very large amount of energy to move around. How much energy would it take to travel, say
100 miles? To illustrate that lets use how much food one would have to use to travel that distance. The most energy dense food that we have is fat. Butter is a good example (as is the body fat around your waist). A
pound of butter contains about 3,200 calories.

The below table shows how many pounds of butter (or fat) that one would need to use along the course of their journey to replace the calories they burned. I was surprised at just how much food [Expressed in terms of “pounds of fat equivalent”] is required to keep a person going over these distances. Also not sure where one is going to be able to pack that much food on a bike or a pack when trying to move that far.

Activity Calories Per Mile Pounds of Fat Per 100 Miles Pounds of Fat Per 1,000 Miles
Driving 1.2 0.0 0.4
Biking 50 1.6 15.6
Inline Skating 65 2.0 20.3
Walking 85 2.7 26.6
Snowshoeing 110 3.4 34.4
Cross Country Skiing 130 4.1 40.6
Running 130 4.1 40.6

What we can see from this is that moving around after a collapse will be very energy intense, and will require trading with others and logistics beyond “I will carry it all by myself”. This in itself is a good argument to shelter in place and keeping cash and small silver pieces on hand.

Letter Re: Hiding Livestock and Gardens

Hi,
I just wanted to bring up something after reading article about hiding gardens and animals in rural areas, recently linked in SurvivalBlog. Something that people might want to consider, that we have done. We chose to build a barn rather than a house. And I know you can quite often find properties that already have a barn or large outbuilding. We have a 46′ x 60′ pole barn. Within that we framed in about 900+ square feet for our home. The rest is divided up between stalls, a run in area for large animals, and a shop. One of the 12′ X 12′ stalls houses our chickens and our rabbits. There is a back door right out of the kitchen area and into the aisle of the barn portion. We only have two windows, one next to the front door. And that door and window also has a regular big sliding barn door that we can slide closed, so that there is no sign of either. And it can be latched closed from the inside. The other window is the bathroom/utility room, which has a dutch door covering it and when closed looks like another stall door.
We can care for the animals without ever leaving the cover of the building, if we need to.

The garden is placed in a small sub irrigated valley slightly above the grade of the barn. And we have large open pastures all around everything for good sight of anyone approaching. No one can see you if your in the garden area unless they come from the top of our property and we will have someone on watch from that highest point at all times, if it comes to that.
Anyway, I just wanted to give folks some ideas of alternative housing that they might not of considered. And because barns always have large lofts or “attic type areas” you have more room to expand if more room is need.

Take care, – T.T. in the Northwest

JWR Adds: It is noteworthy that Charles “Pa” Ingalls of the mostly factual 19th Century Little House on the Prairie book series kept a padlock on his barn, to help prevent Indians stealing his horses at night. Some things never change. There’s just a new cast of characters.

Economics and Investing:

SurvivalBlog’s Poet Laureate George Gordon (“G.G.”) sent this: Germans, and a Wave of Swiss Bank Accounts, are Piling into Gold as if it’s a New Crisis

The Daily Bell reports: US Fed Gains Power, Loses Credibility?

More than 400 US Banks Will Fail: Roubini

Reader Sam G. sent us a link to a piece that deconstructs some Orwellian journalism: TIME: Rising Unemployment Rate Is Good News

Items from The Economatrix:

Seven Steps to Becoming a One-Income Family

Despite Hiring, US Unemployment Rate Seems Frozen

Stocks Extend September Rally After Jobs Report

Heavy in Dollars, China Warns of Depreciation

Lehman Brothers Rescue Would Have Been Unlawful, Says Bernanke

Gold & Investment in Failure

Housing Troubles Resurfacing

Matterhorn Asset Management Sets Three Gold Price Targets: $6,000, $7,000 and $10,000

DC Faces Possible Armageddon Unlike Anything Since the Civil War

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: Dangerous Defeatism Taking Hold of Among America’s Economic Elites

Inflation Watch:

UN calls special meeting to address food shortages amid predictions of riots; Poor harvests and demand from developing countries could push cost of weekly shop up by 10%

Back in January, Turkey’s leaders were claiming that the then 6% annual inflation rate was “temporary“. But now it is back up to nearly 12%. Could a return to the Bad Old Days of 90% annual inflation (like Turks experienced in the mid-1990s) be on the horizon?

Modern-day wheelbarrow loads of cash: Could Tiny Somaliland Become the First Cashless Society?

Odds ‘n Sods:

Inyokern wrote to say that he enjoyed this article: The Trouble with Civilization; Ancient cities reveal the vulnerabilities of modern societies

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Guatemala mudslides kill at least 38; two buses hit

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Jim D. flagged this: Argentines risking all to carry huge wads of cash

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Patrice Lewis, the editor of the Rural Revolution blog recently had an excellent post: Don’t come a-knockin at my door. Think OPSEC!!!

The P6 Preparedness Matrix, by L2L

The P6 Preparedness Matrix (priorities + planning + products + provisions + practices + perspective = preparedness) is at the core of success in life. Each of these aspects are essential if we are to be prepared for what ever may befall us in any area of life; both the normal dailies as well as situations unique or unusual to us including long term survival. Think of a six sided cube. These six aspects frame the P6 Preparedness Matrix and thereby define and appropriately constrain our actions (our preparedness if you will) in any situation.

These six aspects, for the purpose of understanding the P6 Preparedness Matrix, are defined as follows:

  • Perspective – A correct understanding of things in relation to each other. This includes the ability to grasp that perspective is not one dimensional and that proper perspective requires having all aspects of a given situation in clear view. This does not imply that once everything is in clear view that it will be as clearly understood. It does however mean seeing everything in relation to its surroundings. We are binocular beings with the ability to grasp the concept of perspective (height, width and depth).
  • Priorities – The ability to establish an order of things where in one thing takes precedence over or has great importance than another. This includes the ability recognize and adapt to the reality (based on Perspective) that some priorities will require adjustment while others remain fixed.
  • Provisions – Items you are able produce with your own hands and particular skill set. (i.e. tools, clothing, garden produce, your own P6 Matrix, etc.)
  • Products – Items that you may or may not be able to produce yourself but by definition are acquired and cannot be replaced through any means other than trade, purchase or gift whether you define such as divine providence or human kindness. It also includes things acquired by any amoral means. (This is not a means of acquisition that I encourage or condone!)
  • Planning – The process of putting together a series of actions and/ or events whether logical or illogical that you intend to utilize to achieve a specific result as its end. (Bear in mind Planning can technically only be deemed successful after the intended result is met or exceeded.)
  • Practices – These are the methods developed and honed through regular, even habitual use of a Plan along with its associated Provisions or Products and utilizing the Priorities and Plans you have developed through Perspective.
  • Preparedness – The combined actions that bring together various aspects of gaining full Perspective, Planning (both physically and mentally), developing Practices that become proven, reliable and trustworthy actions in a given situation, as well as making available to yourself, for future use, Products and Provisions.

We are all familiar with most of these concepts. However, I wish to present a discussion specifically related to the aspect of ‘perspective’.
What if the entire TSHTF or TEOTWAWKI ‘perspective’ is wrong? What if everything that has been discussed about societal and government breakdown along with all associated aspects that so many of your loyal readers are willing to accept as reasonable possibilities are all events leading up to TSHTF or TEOTWAWKI? What if none of these efforts to cobble together some sort of long term survival scheme will be successful for reasons we aren’t able to see or are personally unable to accept? Thus Perspective is at the core of any Preparedness effort.

Historically speaking, virtually every form of government has been tried, some with a greater measure of success than others, but not one has achieved the unfettered, unencumbered Utopia that each of us desires. Not one of us wants to live subjugated to, under the domination or rule of a leader who doesn’t have our best interests in mind when governing. Because of that, mankind has throughout our history constantly fought and fought for his right to choose. We have throughout history convinced ourselves that no one can better choose for us the we ourselves…individually. A recent contributor made clear that they were willing to die protecting the right of choice.

[A discourse on comparative religions, with a lengthy quote deleted, for brevity.]

While this brief discussion presents just two of the potentially compelling arguments that could be made, without touting specific religious beliefs, I would go so far as to suggest that failing to establish your P6 Matrix with this possibility in view might leave you vulnerable and in an indefensible position from which you cannot recover.

After all, if the Chinese character etymology is correct with regard to the story of a global deluge, then perhaps survival was anything but self-defined. There is nothing in any of the global deluge accounts to indicate there was more than one vessel. Sometimes making the right choice means accepting that when presented with only one choice we recognize that it is still a choice. Vision is not perspective if disconnected from reality. If you can’t see the future in the present, then you will become part of the past. Develop your P6 Preparedness Matrix and gain ‘perspective’.

Notes from JWR:

There have been several new properties listed at our spin-off site, SurvivalRealty.com A couple of these are earth-sheltered homes. If it has been a while since you’ve visited Survival Realty, be sure to check out the new listings!

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Today we present another entry for Round 30 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round will include:

First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost 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.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A 500 round case of Fiocchi 9mm Parabellum (Luger ) with 124gr. Hornady XTP/HP projectiles, courtesy of Sunflower Ammo (a $249 value), and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).

Second Prize: A.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $400, and B.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Third Prize: A.) A copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, from Arbogast Publishing, and B.) a Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.)

Round 30 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.

Dirty Medicine, by J.V. in Tacoma, Washington

Everyone of the survival mindset has thought many times over about what tactical items they may need, whether it is in a BoB, in a patrol configuration, or in a secure retreat location.  However with my various talks with numerous survivalists, not too many have given any sort of extensive thought to how to perform some basic medical procedures.  Sure everyone knows that a minor surgical kit might be beneficial or that some Lactated Ringers intravenous solutions would help out.  However many individuals do not actually know how to use these items, at least from my experience.

Starting off one of the absolute best books for any form of survival medicine would be Ditch Medicine, available from Paladin Press.  Another useful piece of reference material is the NATO Emergency War Surgery Handbook. The important thing to remember is first off that these are not the only good books available on the subject.  Also one should realize that while reading books of this type, the aforementioned two, in particular, is that when they are talking about “war injuries” that does not mean that war is the only place it could happen.  Accidents and injuries happen all of the time.

As a medically trained and trauma trained individual, my “standards” may seem a little different, however there is logic to my madness, which I will explain as it occurs.  There are 3 basic steps involved in all sorts of tactical medicine, regardless of injury type, location, or severity.  Those are 1. Stop the bleeding.  2. Start the breathing. 3. Treat for shock.  The first step should be in and of itself self explanatory.  Here is where I will differ in my ways of stopping the bleeding from most that has been taught.

If you find yourself in a tactical situation (patrol, under attack, E&E situation) use a tourniquet such as the Combat Application Tourniquet (CAT) placed approx 2-4 inches above the bleeding site.  Every member should have one of these on their body at all times during a Bug Out/Patrol situation, preferably in a unit standardized location.  This will allow the injured person to remain with their finger on the trigger.  “The best preventive medicine is overwhelming firepower.”  Contrary to popularly-held beliefs, recent studies from Iraq have shown that tourniquets can be left on for days without irreparable tissue damage occurring.  Not that I would leave a tourniquet on for that long myself but a few hours to return to a safe location, or defeat the hostile threat, will obviously not hurt anything.

Once the firefight stops or the person is evacuated back to the secure location is when you can begin to treat the wounded area for any continuing injuries.  For example you could now clamp off blood vessels or place wet packed gauze into the site to reinforce any clotting that may or may not have occurred already.  After you have dressed the wound you can slowly release the pressure on the tourniquet constantly checking for any uncontrolled bleeding and adjusting your dressings as needed until the bleeding is fully controlled.  You could also use some suture material to actually tie the vein itself off, this will completely stop the bleeding and if done properly will allow for the tourniquet to be removed.  This would have no adverse affect on the affected limb or body part as there is a number of duplicate veins inside each limb.  If this were an artery you could still tie it off, however you will have to be extremely careful that you are 100% certain there is a backup artery available to supply that limb or body part with fresh blood.  A simple chart of blood vessels in the human body would be invaluable at this point.

The most important thing to remember in a survival situation is that no matter how much you clean everything with the limited number of supplies you will have on hand you will never be able to obtain 100% sterilization.  Do not spend 10 hours trying to sterilize something when just 15 minutes will suffice. 

Another important item to note is how exactly does one start an intravenous (IV) line?  Sure, we all know that IV fluids, especially when someone has been bleeding or is bleeding still, are very important.  However there are a vast majority of people that have no idea how to actually start an IV.  The most important part of starting an IV line actually occurs before you even think about opening a needle/catheter.  Assemble everything prior to putting the needle in the arm/leg/forehead/wherever you can.  Put the tube on the IV bag/bottle, “charge” the drip chamber by squeezing and releasing it, open the stop gate and drain all of the air out of the line, get tape items ready, place all of these items close to where you plan on inserting the IV line at.  Now you are finally ready to start an IV line.  I prefer the Over-the-needle- catheter type of IV catheters, as I find these easiest for novices to use.  Using this style of catheter all one must do is insert the needle and catheter combo into the vein until they see blood fill the flash chamber, directly above the catheter.  Once blood is seen you simply use your index finger to “push” the catheter off the needle and into the vein.  Make sure to hold the needle barrel with at least your thumb and middle finger and push only with your pointer finger on the catheter tab.  Once this is done and the catheter can move no further into the vein, i.e. it is all the way against the skin, you simply flick your thumb and middle finger back until you hear a click.  Now is the other tricky part, with your right hand place the IV tubing under your arm and route it so the end just barely dangles in your palm with the tube wrapped above your thumb, take your left hand and apply firm pressure on the vein immediately above the catheter’s termination point.  Slowly grasp the needle barrel with your right thumb and forefinger, at the same time grasp the colored plastic part of the catheter with the thumb and forefinger of your left hand while still holding pressure on the vein.  Slowly twist the needle barrel to the right until it spins freely, now you can replace the barrel with the tubing connector of the IV line.  Start the fluids flowing and you are completely done, except for taping up the site, which should be self explanatory.  If done properly the patient will not lose a single drop of their diminishing blood supply.  I recommend running the first liter of IV solution full steam, wide open also known as bolus.  This will rapidly expand the volume inside the blood vessels and allow the system a better chance of returning to normal.  Do not however run more than 2 liters bolus under any circumstances.  I typically will estimate blood loss and run that much bolus and then run the rest of the fluid in that bag at [a slower] keep vein open (KVO) rate.  I do this as slowly as I can while still keeping the vein open, if vitals start taking a dive I can readily switch back to bolus and give more fluids.

The only thing left to convey is to read and practice (pigs, both live and dead make good substitutes for humans in the present times) and become knowledgeable and comfortable with your medical skills should the need ever arise where you are forced to use them. 

Letter Re: Survival Tips From a Sarajevo Siege Survivor

Jim:
The following is one of those anonymously penned items that keeps getting passed around the Internet. It dates back to the Siege of Sarajevo in the ethnic civil war in the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s:

Experiencing horrible things that can happen in a war – death of parents and friends,

hunger and malnutrition, endless freezing, fear, sniper attacks. To prepare…

1. Stockpiling helps, but you never know how long trouble will last, so locate near renewable food sources.

2. Living near a well with a manual pump is like being in Eden.

3. After awhile, even gold can lose its luster. But there is no luxury in war quite like toilet paper. Its surplus value is greater than gold’s.

4. If you had to go without one utility, lose electricity – it’s the easiest to do without

5. Canned foods are awesome, especially if their contents are tasty without heating. One of the best things to stockpile is canned gravy – it makes a lot of the dry unappetizing things you find to eat in war somewhat edible. Only needs enough heat to warm, not to cook. It’s cheap too, especially if you buy it in bulk.

6. Bring some books – escapist ones like romance or mysteries become more valuable as the war continues. Sure, it’s great to have a lot of survival guides, but you’ll figure most of that out on your own anyway – trust me, you’ll have a lot of time on your hands.

7. The feeling that you’re human can fade pretty fast. I can’t tell you how many people I knew who would have traded a much needed meal for just a little bit of toothpaste, rouge, soap or cologne. Not much point in fighting if you have to lose your humanity. These things are morale-builders like nothing else.

8. Slow burning candles and matches, matches, matches.

Be Prepared, – K.T.

Economics and Investing:

Some prescient predictions from Matthias Chang: Warning Global Fiat Currency Financial System Collapse By Early 2011

Tony B. sent this piece from PBS: The true cost of the bank bailout

Mendo Mary was the first of several readers to mention this: Five Doomsday Scenarios for the U.S. Economy

Fortune asks: Should US government debt be rated junk? (Thanks to American Expatriate (AmEx) for the link.)

Jon R. suggested this news item: Use of rare earth metals outstripping supply

Items from The Economatrix:

Low Interest Rates Squeezing Pension Funds

Obama Economic Advisor: Turnaround Insufficient

Warning Global Fiat Currency Financial System Collapse By Early 2011

Depression Next Down Leg Unfolding, The Financial and Economic Crisis No Spin Zone

How to Own Physical and Paper Gold as Trend Continues Towards $1,500

Dr. Gary North: Conservatives are Semi-Communists

Gold at $1,250, Silver Nears $20

Mainstream Media Depression and Deflation Propaganda

Inflation Mega-Trend Long-Term Growth Spiral Continues to Drive Stock Market Trend

The Economic Insane Asylum

Inflation Watch:

“Inflation fighting”, Hugo? Venezuela introduces Cuba-like food card. This is like something out of Kim Jong-Il‘s playbook.

Reader Phil. J. wrote ask: “The news people say that we are in a deflation. What proof do you have that inflation is coming?” First, don’t confuse commodity deflation and currency inflation. In the short term, both can happen simultaneously. This chart from the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank shows that there will be plenty of consumer inflation in the near future. The Federal Reserve more than doubled the money supply in less than two years. Eventually, this rapid expansion is sure to show up in the form of inflation at the consumer level.

India Daily warns: United States faces hyperinflation along with massive recession – the runaway prices of food, energy, softs, and metals accompanied with endless job losses (Gee, why aren’t similar warnings being published by the American mainstream media? )

Odds ‘n Sods:

B.B. sent a link to this outstanding country music video on YouTube: Never Gonna Stand For This by Teachenor Clark. (BTW, the opening clip castigating “Tea-bagging rednecks” is uber-liberal actress Janeane Garofalo.)

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Magistrate Recommends Dismissing States’ Gun Suit. I can foresee this issue going to the Supreme Court. Given the precedent set by the U.S. v. Lopez decision, the States should prevail. In essence, if a gun (or receiver) is manufactured and sold within in a state, then there is no Federal nexus. (It is intrastate rather than interstate commerce.) Ditto for used guns being sold intrastate, between private parties.

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K.T. spotted this: Hiding Livestock and Gardens & preventing robberies and home invasions

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 30 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round will include:

First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost 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.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A 500 round case of Fiocchi 9mm Parabellum (Luger ) with 124gr. Hornady XTP/HP projectiles, courtesy of Sunflower Ammo (a $249 value), and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).

Second Prize: A.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $400, and B.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Third Prize: A.) A copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, from Arbogast Publishing, and B.) a Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.)

Round 30 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.