Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 29 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 29 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

The Off-Grid Dream, by J.S.L.

I have endeavored to set my own off-grid plan into place. This is easier said than done. A machinist by trade, unemployed by government design, it is becoming more difficult to find the capital to go off-grid. Since late 2007 the job market in my area has collapsed. The only way to find employment is through a “temp” agency and the two jobs I have been lucky enough to get only lasted a few months each. What is worse is the fact that many employers are now engaging in discrimination against those of us that are unemployed, i.e. “unemployed need not apply”.

 As of May 2010 I am embarrassed to admit that I must now use food stamps in order to be able to continue paying the mortgage. As a single 45-yea- old owner of a home that I can’t sell now due to the housing market collapse, almost all of my finances go to trying to simply hold on to my home. Unfortunately this  trend is not sustainable for much longer since my unemployment has completely dried up. The time is upon me to exercise a motto from my childhood, “be prepared”. I never hunted before, but as of 2009 I have started to learn hunting as both a survival skill and a sustainable off-grid skill in both archery and rifle. Having had success in my first deer season I have gained some confidence that I can feed myself when the grocery stores disappear.  I have also begun gardening with non-GMO seeds. I have been very fortunate to put back a few months of storable food from Ready Reserve and e-Foods direct. I have also found some inexpensive tree covered property (5 acres) that is remote, about 23 miles to the nearest town (in Arizona) which is about 2,100 miles away from my home in Pennsylvania. Access to water will be a major issue (about $10,000 to drill a well with no guarantee of hitting water, or put a storage tank on the property and either haul or delivery.)
 
T here is also the issue of a permanent shelter. The best option I found in my research would be an insulated steel building kit. These kits can be assembled over a week-end with simple hand tools, but they are about $4,000 for one 20 x 30 x 12 kit from American Outback Buildings. This kit is the most complete of all I have researched. With four of these kits and a 25 x 25 gazebo you end up with about 2,100 sq. ft. cross shaped, open floor plan structure. After all that you still need to think about the interior–partitioning rooms, the inside plumbing, septic system, wiring for electric and a power source.

I feel a combination of wind, solar and a back-up propane generator would be the best system. Solar is expensive though, $6,000 to $12,000 for a strong system that would include a hybrid inverter (pure sine wave is not cheap) that will accommodate both solar and wind. Wind turbines are a bit easier on the wallet. From my research the turbine price tag will be around $3,000. Don’t forget that both systems will require batteries,. This brings into focus the voltage and total amp hours you will need. Alternative power systems are typically built with 12 volt, 24 volt, 36 volt, or 48 volt battery banks. I feel a 24v system would work out fine for my needs as long as I use propane for the stove. As you can see none of these steps are cheap, (you get what you pay for) but in order to be truly off the grid you must continue to move forward every chance you get.
 
Baby steps are all I can muster at present so I have also picked up an old, (1981) cheap motor home (code name “plan B”). Just in case my plan doesn’t reach completion before my home in Pennsylvania is taken away from me. Although I continue to hope for the best  (a new job at the hourly rate to thrive) I must be prepared for the worst (foreclosure), but the more baby steps taken now makes “the worst” less of an impact and easier to accumulate to further down the road.
 
I realize this off-grid topic is scary for anyone that seriously considers escape, but “we the people” have been under constant assault since 9-11. Now there is something new almost daily designed to instill fear into the populace of America such as 2012, extremists, Russian spies, the Gulf oil spill, Iran, North Korea, the list is endless. The question before each citizen is “how much are you willing to take before you act?” Remember… the level of tyranny you will live under is exactly the amount you are willing to accept.

I believe that getting off-grid, though scary can be achieved as long as you take a small piece at a time (baby steps). That has been my philosophy these past three years, I may not have achieved my dream yet, I may never see it complete but I endeavor daily and have reached a plateau. If everything else fails right now and I must vacate I have a piece of property, a way to get there and the survival skills to make a go of it. Not that life would get easier should this scenario transpire. Point of fact, life would get much rougher. I can only hope the world will step back from the brink. This criminal government will relent from killing our “God given” rights, corruption will stop and all the people of this world will join hands and sing “we are the world”. I can hope. I do not believe that to be the case though. It seems the situation is only getting worse and the bottom is nowhere in sight.

Survival preparation seems to be the only prudent move even if all that threatens us dissolves.   This is simply a compilation of my plans. I am sure that curve balls will be thrown that I have not thought of in my wildest dreams. But I am also sure that I will not allow myself to end up in some “tent city”. At an early age I was homeless, I have been that far down that my next meal came from a dumpster, and I carried all my worldly possessions in my backpack. I will not allow a repetition of that at this juncture in my life. I am not an expert in any field, I know a lot about a little, a little about a lot, but I don’t know everything about anything. I have not thought of every obstacle I will encounter, though I have tried to account for every contingency. I am prepared to address new challenges as they present themselves. Put together what you can, while you can.

Letter Re: Pseudo-Currency: Items You Can Trade Like Cash Or Use Yourself if the Balloon Goes Up

Dear Mr. Rawles,
I was very surprised to that there was no mention of fish hooks and other fishing tackle in the recent posts regarding trade items post-TEOTWAWKI. As with ammunition and seeds these highly compact items belong to a top tier of survival items, food procurement.

When looking for the essentials, think about what the native Americans were willing to give up their land rights for, knives, guns, blankets etc. Yes luxuries are nice, but the tobacco smoking population will quickly get their priorities straight when Schumer hits the fan. – Grant in Michigan

Economics and Investing:

SurvivalBlog’s Poet Laureate (“G.G.”) sent this: Jim Grant Is Confident QE 2.0 Is Just Around The Corner. Grant’s thoughts on new Fed additions: “I think the first order of business will be to try once more to print
enough dollars to make something happen in the U.S. economy.”

Democrats and AARP want to make IRA enrollment automatic

Items from The Economatrix:

Eurozone: Portugal Debts Spark Panics

Goldman Sachs Lifts Gold Forecast to $1,355

Dollar Slides After Greek Debt Auction Bolsters Confidence in Europe

Stocks Sink On Weak Consumer Sentiments, Bank Earns

Consumer Prices Dip for Third Straight Month

China Reduces US Debt Holdings in May Talk about positioning yourself before the fall!

Fed’s Volte Face Sends Dollar Tumbling “Rarely before have a few coded words in the minutes of the US Federal Reserve caused such an upheaval in the global currency system, or such a sudden flight from the dollar.”

Odds ‘n Sods:

Richard S. sent us links to three videos of battlefield robotics developments: Petman, BigDog, and RHex.

   o o o

Cheryl (aka The Economatrix) flagged this:Alex Jones: Road Warrior Level Collapse is Imminent

   o o o

Whooping Cough Kills Five in California. (Thanks to R.B.S. for the link.)

   o o o

G.G. sent this: Homes lost to foreclosure on track for one million in 2010

   o o o

Robert M. recomended this New York Observer article (with a foul language warning): The New Doom. In it, a billionaaire confided: “We have a retreat that’s right on the Quebec border. We own 18 miles on the border, so we can cross. Anytime we want to we can get away.”

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"The duty of government is to leave commerce to its own capital and credit as well as all other branches of business, protecting all in their legal pursuits, granting exclusive privileges to none." – Andrew Jackson

Notes from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 29 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 29 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Preparing to Prepare: Amending Your Garden Soil, by Windwillow

If you are a newbie prepper or a veteran gardener this article may raise a number of different questions.

Are you counting on growing a garden to supplement your food storage program?  Good!

Okay, you have your Survival Seed Bank heirloom seeds in storage.  Now what?

Are you thinking that you have a large back yard that when the time comes you will sacrifice to turn it into a garden?
Good use of your backyard, but let’s get it ready before you are desperate for the food.

Are you going to rent or buy a tiller when the time comes?
Will there be any for sale or rent at that time?

What if you cannot get gas for the roto-tiller or garden tractor?

Are you going to break up all that sod by hand?  Do you have the tools to do it by hand?
Okay, probably not.

Prepare your garden soil now, when you are not desperate. While you still have the resources, break up the sod and till it in deeply.   Some types of lawn grass may need to be repeatedly tilled until it no longer sends out new grass starts.  Or you may elect to scalp the sod now and add in humus as an amendment.

Amend your soil so that you can spade the whole area by hand or use a hand powered garden cultivator when the time comes.  And I firmly believe it will.

You may not think much if anything about the soil that will become your garden.  How dull!  But soil is the very foundation to a superior garden.  To have good soil, you need to know the kind of soil you now have, and what that soil needs, to become superior soil; one that can be cared for by hand, if need be.

Many of the eastern US soils tend to be acidic.  Some are mostly sand and won’t hold the water you put on it.  Southwestern soils may be alkaline.  Northwestern mountain soils may be quite acidic or heavy with clay that holds too much water in the spring and are difficult to work up at all.

When discussing soil, we need to focus on five things: structure, texture, organic matter, fertility and pH. These can all be influenced by the amendments you add to your soil. 

Structure

How do you determine the structure of your soil?  Soil structure refers to the way your soil sticks together when you squeeze a handful of it.  Grab a handful of your damp soil.  Squeeze it firmly and then poke it lightly with your finger.  Did it fall apart?  It is likely sand.  Did it require a bit more pressure when you poked it?  Then you probably have silt.  If you can squeeze it and then poke it and see your fingerprints in it, you undoubtedly have pure clay!  A good soil structure is crumbly.  Plant roots work their way easily through it.  The soil is well aerated yet holds water so the plants can access it without holding the water so long as to cause root rot.

Texture

Soil texture refers to the size of the soil particles. Sand has the largest particles and they are irregularly shaped. This is why sand feels gritty and also why it drains so well. Sand doesn’t compact easily. Silt particles are much smaller than sand, but still irregularly shaped and does not compact very easily either. Clay has microscopic sized particles that are almost flat so it packs very easily, leaving little or no room for air or water to move about. Clay soils often contain iron and aluminum hydroxides, which affect the retention and availability of fertilizer.

Sandy loam is considered the ideal garden soil and consists of a mix of the three basic textures. However, don’t run out to buy sand to add to your clay.  It will just make an aggregate suitable for concrete!  However, let’s see how to make your soil better!

Most if not all soils need to be amended to become great soils that reliably produce abundantly with minimal effort. 

Amending Your Soil
So what does soil amendment mean?  Amend means to change or modify for the better.  That is exactly what you want to do.  The last thing you want, is for YOU to be struggling to survive as you watch your new plants struggling for survival, demanding ever more food and water.
Amendments are soil additives that make your soil easier to cultivate and which modify soil texture and structure. Organic matter holds the moisture in dry or sandy soils and helps prevent clay soils from retaining too much moisture or providing too little aeration. Fertility amendments provide “time release” nutrients for your plants. Amending your soil with the right organic matter and fertilizers will feed the beneficial soil microbes.  These will help you to first feed the soil so it can then feed your plants. Finally amendments modify pH to suit the plants.
Organic Matter
Typical yard soils are composed of about 90 percent mineral residues and only about ten percent organic material.  Additional organic matter added to your soil provides food for the village of organisms below your garden surface.  These beneficial microorganisms living in the soil release nutrients into the soil as they live off of the organic matter.

Earthworms and other insects that live in the soil further aerate the soil and contribute still more nutritive matter with their castings. This entire eco-village makes a healthful environment in which your growing garden produce will thrive.

Compost is gold for your garden.  It is the decomposed, cured form of organic matter.  Compost, worked into new beds or top dressed and watered into established beds, increases microbial activity improving soil character and moisture retention.  There is some nutrient value as well.  Although the best source for good compost is homemade, if you need a large amount, many land grant universities and recycling organizations make compost and sell it by the truckload.  Fermented compost tea also provides a great boost of microbes for the soil, which in turn convert nutrients into a usable form available to plants.

Peat moss is a long lasting, humus source helping to slowly acidify the soil.  It holds moisture ten to fifteen times its own weight when fully moistened and still allows 40 percent aeration.  It does not have much nutrient value itself, but is excellent at holding the nutrients you add to the soil preventing them from leaching out.  Do not apply to the surface since it will repel water when dry.

Green manure is not animal manure at all, but rather, is a cover crop that is grown in your garden and tilled into the garden soil to build fertility and add humus.  Annual rye, barley, buckwheat, clover, legumes and alfalfa are good green manure crops.
Pelletized alfalfa is another form of green manure, commercially harvested and pelletized for your ease of use.  It contains small amounts of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium, which feed the plants.  But the greatest benefit to your garden is the hormone, Triacontanol, a plant growth regulator.  The pellets can be top-dressed as mulch and watered in. 

You can achieve faster results by steeping the alfalfa as a tea, and allowing it to ferment.  Using the millions of microbes in the fermented liquid makes all the nutrients in the soil more quickly available to your plants. Pesticides typically used on gardens and lawns kill the beneficial microbes and other fauna in the soil that help deliver these nutrients to your plants. 

Only apply alfalfa to the surface of the soil around plants.  If applied in the root zone of the soil, the heat of the rapidly composting alfalfa would destroy the roots.  However, if you were building your soil the year prior to planting your garden, this would be fine.

Fertility

Plants need nutrition just like people do, to grow strong and bolster their disease resistance.  Amendments, that provide the “time release” nutrition for your plants, allow them to feed gently and continuously.  These amendments include fish meal, rock phosphate, potash, manure, cottonseed meal, kelp meal and bone meal.  These are fertilizers from animal, vegetable and mineral sources, which release their nutrition to the microbes in the soil that in turn make the nutrients available to the plants.  Organic gardening nutrients are not as instantaneous as commercial fertilizer which can give the plants a “high” but are not sustainable over several seasons. in desperate times, you may not be able to get more commercial fertilizer each time the plant “high” diminishes.  Synthetic fertilizers add nothing to the soil’s long-term fertility.

Bone meal is a long-lasting source of phosphorous containing slowly available phosphorous as well as low levels of nitrogen, potassium and calcium.  The slow availability of the nutrients makes it very safe for transplanting young plants.

Manures are a good source of nutrients and organic matter.  When purchasing composted horse manure, however, make sure that it is actually pure manure and not predominantly the wood chips used for bedding the horses.  The further decomposition of the chips in the garden can actually use up the available nitrogen in the garden.  Often the commercially composted manure will say that it is heat treated to kill seeds.  This also kills the beneficial bacteria in naturally composted manure.  Dehydrated cow manure dried and pulverized, comes in fifty-pound bags.  It too, has been heat treated to kill weed seeds and is convenient and easy to apply.  It is long lasting. About half of the nutrients remaining will be available each year.

Cottonseed meal is a good fertilizer with a high amount of organic nitrogen, perhaps the second best source of organic nitrogen after blood meal.  Cottonseed meal is easily obtained at your local feed store or garden nursery.  The nitrogen is broken down slowly by microbial action and is made available in “time release” format.  Cottonseed meal also acidifies the soil.

Kelp meal is a fertilizer made from ocean kelp and is very high in potassium and trace elements and an excellent source of plant hormones that stimulate plant and root growth.  Kelp meal provides a quick boost for greening up the plant foliage.  When mixed with fish meal or fish emulsion it makes a fantastic booster for the entire garden.

Fish meal is a superior natural fertilizer, high in phosphorous and nitrogen, which stimulates both bloom and green growth.  Some folks object to the strong fish odor and recommend plugging it into the soil about ten inches deep covered with four inches of soil.  However, when the fish meal is tilled in, the odor is not apparent and will not be an open invitation to your neighbor’s cats or the spring bears!

Rock phosphate contains 20-30 percent phosphate but supplies phosphorus very slowly with only about 3 percent available at a time. However, it has other trace minerals and is a good amendment to add as part of a well-rounded soil mix.

pH
 Next you will need to test your soil to determine the pH, acid (below 7.0) neutral (7.0) or alkaline (above 7.0) You can test the pH of your soil by using an inexpensive pH testing kit.   A small sample of your soil is mixed with water, which changes color according to acidity or alkalinity. 

Most plants prefer pH neutral soil.  Some plants, however, prefer more acidic soil, such as potatoes and strawberries or alkaline such as yams, and the cabbage family of plants.  A good site to visit that covers the pH needs of fruits and vegetables is http://www.thegardenhelper.com/soilPH.htm

Diseases affecting plants also tend to thrive in soil with a particular pH range.  The pH range affects the availability of nutrients in the soil.

pH Buffering Amendments
Soil amendments providing pH buffering include elemental sulfur, glauconite (greensand) and chemical free wood ashes. 

Elemental sulfur helps acidify alkaline soil.  Sulfur reaction in the soil is slow.  It may take a few months or longer to change soil pH to the desired level because the process of conversion of elemental sulfur to sulfate is the result of the microbes in your soil.  Sulfur should be added to the soil in the spring, since the oxidation results from microbial activity, which is not active in winter.  It can be added in the winter, but the acidification will not begin until the microbial activity returns in the warmer months.

Greensand (glauconite) is another way to acidify the soil.  It is called greensand for the gritty texture and green color.  Greensand has many different elements mixed into it.  However, the end result of the microbial activity on the greensand is that the soil becomes more acid.  Greensand also helps loosen heavy clay soils.

Wood ashes from trees or lumber free of paint, preservatives, and other chemical contaminants can safely be used to increase the pH of an acid soil (make it more alkaline).   Wood ash is also a great source of potash.

Building your garden’s soil is an ongoing process. By making healthy soil a focus at the start of making a garden, you will have a head start on providing food for your family when the grocery stores are empty.

Letter Re: The ABA’s Projections for the U.S. Economy

Jim:
Greetings and my Compliments. I have just returned from a training meeting my employer, USDA-Rural Development. It was presented by the American Bankers Association. Bottom line, the ABA is projecting the economy not to bottom out until late in 2014. With over 90 banks already closed (in 2010) and some 775 on the the "Troubled" list, things do not look good. The troubled list has a projected 70 percent failure rate.

Keep up the good work. We have a long way to go. May God Bless and keep you and your family. – Lame Wolf

Letter Re: Observations on a Gunfight in Montana

Jim:
Take a look at a one-minute a video of a routine nighttime DUI stop in Hamilton, Montana that turned ugly. Listen for the first “click” as the suspect attempts to fire his .41 Magnum revolver about two inches from the officer’s nose. The “click” is the hammer dropping on an expended round in the cylinder. The second round was live, but Officer Jessop had by then recovered and made a strategic move to the rear of the vehicle, buying more time and a much more advantageous position for a firefight. He tossed his flashlight so he could use both hands for better gun control, and opened fire on the suspect as he sped away. His aim looked very controlled, and was obviously very much in the ballpark. The suspect was hit at least once, crashed into a power pole, and was declared dead at the scene. Don’t know what the officer was carrying, but he fired 14 rounds in return and they were bigger than a 9mm. Probably Glock .40s. And then he casually picked his flashlight up as he was returning to his car and notifying dispatch. While you can always Monday morning quarterback someone’s technique, how many of us would have done this well under these circumstances? All things considered, this officer did the basics, did them fast, and did them well. I’d ride with him anytime.

Final score: Officer Ross Jessop, 1; Raymond Thane Davis, 0

A jury ruled on April 13, 2010 that Hamilton Police Officer Ross Jessop was justified in shooting Raymond Thane Davis.

The oft-quoted Sun Tzu recognized the value of training centuries ago when he wrote: “Victorious warriors win first, and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first, and then seek to win.”

Learning to win occurs in training.

JWR Replies: Thanks for sharing that video link. I have just one observation. Did you see the officer reload? From what I saw, he re-holstered a pistol that had been shot dry. But, all in all, I’d say that he did well, given the extremely stressful circumstances.

Economics and Investing:

Reader Bill R. sent this: Sin Taxes for 2009 at all time high. OBTW, since when is owning a gun a “sin”?

G.G. forwarded a link to a piece in The Economist: Gold: Store of value.

Also from G.G.: States Dodge Defaults as California May Cut Worker Pay

Items from The Economatrix:

The Big Crash–America Plunges Into Depression for Real

Gold Keeps Rising as Panicky Investors Look for Security

Harry Schultz on the Power Elite, Free Markets, The Internet, and Why Gold Is Going Much Higher

China Cuts Rare Earth Export Quota 72%, May Spark Trade Dispute With U.S.

Inflationville

China, Commodity King (Mogambo Guru)

Manufacturing Cools in June as Manufacturing Slows

Stocks Fall After Weak Manufacturing Reports

Odds ‘n Sods:

Sean recommended an interesting piece about how to gain privacy while flying: fly with a gun. That is a very clever approach. Note that he mentioned that you can simply carry a stripped AR-15 lower receiver in your airline-approved locking case. That is brilliant. Also note that he recommended the Abloy “Puck” padlock, that was previously mentioned in SurvivalBlog.

   o o o

M.O.B. suggested this item: In Pictures: Shots fired at police in third night of violence in Belfast.

   o o o

Everlasting Seeds has a 15% off special in progress, just for SurvivalBlog readers. This special offer ends on July 22nd, so get your order in soon!

   o o o

The Former 91B provided a link to a PDFed article about our day to day dependence on the trucking industry. It is clear that any interruption could spell chaos in short order.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable, when using our forces we must seem inactive, when we are near, we must make the enemy believe that we are away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.

If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is superior in strength, evade him. If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.

If he is inactive, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected. These military devices, leading to victory, must not be divulged beforehand." – Sun Tzu, The Art of War – Translation by Lionel Giles, 1910

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 29 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 29 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Getting My Lists Together, by Old Dog in Wisconsin

A Life Altering Moment
There are times in one’s life when everything changes.  For me it was it was in early May, just two months ago.   My wife and I were visiting my parents in Florida, and taking the opportunity to check out places where we thought we would like to retire in a few years.  We have been traveling to the west coast of Florida from Wisconsin for over 20 years and were trying to finalize the community we would choose.  As I am still employed, life is basically good.

After another round of exploring we chose to escape the midday heat by visiting a large bookstore.  On one display table were several copies of JWR’s “How to Survive the End of the World As We Know It“, Cody Lundin’s ’When All Hell Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need To Survive When Disaster Strikes, and a several other related titles.  I sat down with both books, and “armed” with some coffee (yeah, I drink hot coffee is all weather conditions) decided to look at these books more closely.  I was immediately hooked.  Holy Cow! Talk about opening a new door and finding something completely unexpected.

From “How to Survive TEOTWAWKI” I found SurvivalBlog, and from there discovered the previously (to us) unknown universe of preparedness, survival, and everything else.  I showed my wife the material, and she was “hooked” as well.  I think our conversions were “easy” because of our ongoing domestic conversations related to the shifts in the economic and political climates of the past few years.  In one day we were both in sync on our beginning to understand what preparedness means and how unprepared we actually were.

Getting Lost
The Internet is a journey of 1,000 clicks.  For me, every new term needed to be looked up.  From there I would find a site that had a whole bunch of new information, new terms, and new searches: rinse, repeat.  Night after night, even stealing a long lunch at work, I would read a new blog or forum entry with an unfamiliar term or concept,  and from there look up “Ka-Bar” or “Dakota Fire Pit” or the shelf life of Butane lighters and find myself on another blog site being introduced to even more new concepts, lists, ideas, problems…..arghh!

This education process was enlightening and at the same time frightening.  I feel like we have come late to the party.  The sheer volume is overwhelming, and the clock is ticking.  We are not millionaires, and at our stage of life (late 50s/early 60s) we have finite energy plus a few preexisting conditions that limit our “bugout” options. Let’s see, we have both read “Alas, Babylon”, “One Second After”, “Patriots”, and “The Road”.  Our library now includes “Boston’s Gun Bible”, “SAS Survival Handbook”, “The Encyclopedia of Country Living”, “Where There Is No Doctor”, “Where There Is No Dentist” and several other titles. We read as much as we can when we can. 

I downloaded JWR’s “List of Lists” and on first read said to myself “this is cool”, but felt a bit overwhelmed by the detail.  I ordered and read the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course”.  There are more details on what needs to be consider, but I am still feeling overwhelmed.

I was lost.  I know that the journey of one thousand miles starts with a single step, but I didn’t want to head off in the wrong direction.  I am not in a position to waste any time, effort, or money.

But then I remembered something that I had come across a week or so earlier.  Where was it?  As I use www.delicious.com to save my bookmarks on the net, any sites that I want to revisit are bookmarked, tagged, and readily searchable.  I found it in a few minutes.

It was a post on another survival web site.  The author provided an easy acronym for a person to remember when they get lost.  “S.T.O.P.”:  Stop, Think, Observe, and Plan.  For all the survival old-timers this is grade school stuff, but to the newly initiated it is fresh material.  After some thought it does make perfect sense.  I was lost in the jungle of preparedness and needed to STOP.

Getting Un-lost
My subconscious must have been working on this for some time, because I immediately knew what I had to do for myself.  I also realized that my work might be useful to others in a similar position, those others coming late to the preparedness party.  I asked and received JWR’s permission to modify his List of Lists.  I reformatted the spreadsheet to meet my needs, and the remainder of the article explains my modifications.

“Stop” I did, literally.  The web site recommendation was to try to relax for 30 minutes.  After reading “One Second After” I allowed myself to stop for 30 seconds.  

“T” usually means think, but for me it means “Take Inventory”.  I am not just counting boxes of ammunition or crackers or air filters, I am also taking inventory of my skills.  What skills do I already have, and which ones do I need to learn, or which ones am I willing to outsource to others or go without if I have to.  The admonition is repeated time and again in books and magazines and here at SurvivalBlog and others, that it is your skills and your attitude that will be your primary tools for short and long term survival and sustenance.  One can have all the hardware, but if it stays in the wrapper and you don’t know how to put it together or use it, then it will not help you when you need it.  I know I am preaching to the choir here, today I quickly found https://survivalblog.com/letter-re-gaining-situational/ and https://survivalblog.com/after-10-yearssome-observation/ for example. 

I am now in the “Take Inventory” phase of my becoming un-lost.   Tools, skills, books…there are 34 pages of checklists (including additions I have made), a lot of detail because that is what is required.  Several of the lists are generic and need further development by each person to meet their individual requirements. When this phase is completed, I will know what I have, and I will know what I know.  The last part sounds silly, but seeing it on paper makes prioritizing future actions a whole lot easier.  If others find my work useful, they too will build their own lists.

“O” is for observe.  I am going to bend the definition a bit and say that observe means to understand the market for each item you decide to purchase.  My dollars are finite, so I cannot be spending them foolishly.  My Dad always said “never buy anything the first time you see it”.  To help me in my purchase decisions, I created a worksheet that can be used to help evaluate the best option available.  I will explain this in more detail a bit later as I describe the modifications I have made to the JWR’s List of Lists .

“P” means plan, but for my purposes it has the double meaning of Prioritizing and Planning.  No sense in worrying about a year’s supply of food when I don’t have 30 days yet.  Back to the basics, first things first, second things second.  My priorities will be different from yours, but I need to identify my requirements before I start sending dollars out the door.

With my resource and skills inventory in place, I now can prioritize our acquisitions of material and skills.  I will be using savings to front load the absolute priorities.  Then I will enter a phase of long term budgeting and procurement.  Wishful thinking will not put three years food supply up for two people.  I need to develop the discipline of buying appropriately, getting what I can when I can.  When I refer to priority development, I have several competing needs that need to be addressed at the same time.  I might have the money to buy three years food supply, but I can’t neglect first aid supplies, getting a proper BoV, finding a retreat location, etc. 
If TSHTF today I would not be in the best place.  But I would certainly not be in the worst either.  I have resolved that every single day I will make progress on at least one of my unfulfilled items.
 

My Changes to the JWR’s List of Lists
I made one major change to the JWR List of Lists, as well as several small ones, and one set of additions:

The most noticeable change is the addition of five columns in each list: “Own”, “Qty”, “Buy”, “Priority”, and “Notes”.  I realized that I needed to know what I had before I went of acquiring what I needed.  How many times have I gone to the grocery store and bought something I thought we needed, and came home to find three other packages waiting.  I suppose in the new paradigm that is a good thing.  But I really don’t need to spend any more money on screwdrivers when I know that I don’t have a water filter.  That’s an easy enough call, but for many other items I cannot with certainty say yes or no. There are more than enough new things to get without purchasing items that I already have.  I added the “Priority” column so that I could highlight the items that should be targeted for the next round of purchases.  The “Notes” column is for just that, though some may be pre-filled with some of JWR’s comments from his original list.

Other changes were more cosmetic.  I developed the modifications in Google Documents.  I did this to allow non-Microsoft Office users access to the material.  I eliminated some blank columns at the end of each sheet, and added the name of the sheet to the top row of each.  The large comments that JWR placed at the top of some lists have been moved to the bottom.  I added very few additional rows to the lists that JWR prepared, but they are there so I hope I don’t confuse anyone with their insertion.

The current version of the Google software does not allow internal linking.  Navigation to the sheets is done by using the tabs and arrows at the bottom of the screen.  Another feature of Google Docs is that when you print a document, it creates a PDF file which you can either print or save.  An individual sheet or the whole workbook can be printed.

The Appendices
These were created for my own purposes.  At this time I am solely responsible for their structure and content.  I am hoping that others may find them useful in their quest for more complete preparedness.
Appendix A is the Acquisition Worksheet.  I developed this for formalizing a comparison of non-standard product offerings.  I wanted to end my “back of the envelope” notations when trying to determine what to buy.  This is important stuff and I didn’t want the notes thrown out accidentally or confusing when read later.  What do I mean by non-standard products?  Here are two examples.  Up until two months ago I didn’t even know paracord existed.  Not only does it exist, it has a multitude of uses.  I started searching for a reliable place to buy it from, and then discovered that it comes in all sorts of types (civilian, military), strands (4,5,7, are there more?), and of course lengths and colors.  I thought I found an inexpensive source selling 50’ lengths for less than $3 each.  It seemed a “reasonable” price, I could put one each into our BOBs.  Reasonable, until I discovered that their shipping cost was almost $7 each.  I have to go back and do more research for paracord.  Another example is bulk winter wheat.  There seem to be several viable sources, some ship in 5 gallon buckets, some in 6 gallon buckets.  I need to find out the unit costs and the freight costs to determine which offering is better. 

Appendix B is really a placeholder for me to develop my personal bag inventories.  It has been not stressed enough that outside of key basics, it is better for each person to build their own list of BoB, vehicle BoB, Everyday Carry and Get Home Bag contents.  I also found an excellent reference for a medical supply bag and have noted that source.  If I need to do this, I am guessing others need to do this as well.  There are plenty of examples out there.  I am already getting started on my BoBs.

Appendix S is the area where I hope I can get some help from the SurvivalBlog community.  What I did was create a set of categories and lists “off the top of my head” on what skills might be needed in different SHTF scenarios.  I am guessing I left a few holes, and comments are welcome.  I will gladly update this appendix with solid input.  This is an area where I (for myself, and you, well, for yourself) need to be hypercritical of your knowledge and experience.  Your self-assessment can be as glib as Sully’s response “I read a manual” in ‘Avatar’, but reading is not doing.  Recent articles on notes from a first hunting trip  https://survivalblog.com/lessons-learned-from-a-novice/, desert gardening https://survivalblog.com/starting-your-desert-backyard/,  developing a G.O.O.D. vehicle  https://survivalblog.com/my-good-vehicle-by-matt-m/ all provide examples that for every skill there is at minimum an article’s worth of experience derived for each example.  [LOL, article’s worth? How about several books or college degrees worth of experience?]   But even reading this expertise is not doing.  Quoting Sully again, “It’s like field stripping a weapon: just repetition, repetition”.
Do you own and want to keep a dog?  Do you clip your pet’s nails or take the dog to a groomer?  That’s a new skill you will need.  It sounds easy, but you don’t want to injure the animal.  How heavy is your BoB?  How far have you carried it?  Are you fit enough to get home with your GHB?  There are general skills, and specific skills.  Which ones do I (and you) need to know?  That is for each to decide.

Even though I would consider myself a suburban creature (10 miles from a large enough city that I want bugout from if necessary), I grew up next to and was literally raised on a farm.  I have tended chickens and cows and pigs.  I have raked and scythed hay manually and with machines.  It is very hard work. That’s why I now work in IT.  I listed the basic farm animals as a starting point for skill requirement definition.  As there are many articles, books, and web sites discussing these animals for homestead living, there are plenty of resources for those that are new to self-sufficiency.  These again are noted for people to think about which animals they may want to raise, and then for each my next section covers the basics (I think) for the care of those animals.  Read this at Grandpappy’s site for a non-sugarcoated summary.  As I skim the skills list “one more time” I see that I am missing things already.  I could spend weeks polishing this off, but I am sending it in now.  Additions will have to wait for V1.2.  Your input is welcome.
Appendix W contains two sets of web sites.  The first part consists of web sites that I have come across in my first 60 days of preparedness education and enlightenment.  As I have found these sites useful, I am hoping that others will get value from them as well.  The second list of web sites are taken from JWR’s original list and summarized here for completeness.  The Tools List is the only page that has kept JWR’s original site references intact.

Access to the Updated List of Lists
As stated earlier, I decided to develop this in Google Docs spreadsheet format to give as wide exposure as I could.  The one caveat is that if you do not have any kind of Google account, you will be asked to create one when trying to directly access the file.

I have created a public folder that can be accessed here.  The spreadsheet JWRLoLv1.1 is found there.  Click on the link, and you will be asked to login to your Google account.  Once logged in you will be able to use the File menu to copy the spreadsheet into your own documents folder, or export the file to a file type of your choice. [JWR Adds: Some readers have had difficulty opening the file. I will post a copy directly to the SurvivalBlog server sometime in the next few days, and will post a link.]

Utilizing the List of Lists
My version of the “List of Lists” will be a living document.  I will keep a current “master” in a three ring notebook.  As I update my inventories the updates will be hand written.  As needed other notes will be added as well.  I will keep my working acquisition sheets in another section, moving the completed sheets out to a permanent file.  I will update the computer version once or twice a month so that the hand notations don’t become confusing or forgotten.  A new “master” will be printed which will replace the old version.  I can easily determine how much I have of what, how much I want to target, and how much to buy, setting new priorities for the current period. 
For those familiar with spreadsheets, navigating the Google versions is not that difficult.  Most of my customizing of the sheets will be adding or deleting rows.  Click into the row “header” just left of the first cell, then right-click to get a context menu.  Of the several options, two will be to add a row either above or below the selected row.  If you want to insert multiple rows, select that number of row headers (for example 5) and then you will be asked to insert 5 rows above or below the selection.  There is also a shortcut after the last row for easy addition of rows at the end.  For those that want to customize the columns, follow a similar sequence.

Feedback Welcome
If there is enough feedback on the structure of any of the lists themselves I will update the existing version.  As I said previously, the Skills List is open to all suggestions.  The Firefighting List had no items from JWR’s original.  Perhaps some professional firefighters can make some suggestions.  I think that there could be some specific “grid up” and “grid down” checklists for fire safety.  It is a universal requirement (ever practice a family fire drill?).  This will get added into a newer version.  Any suggestions can be sent to me at taodnt@gmail.com (“teaching an old dog new tricks”).  I am never too old to learn.  I will post the changes, and anyone knowing the link to the folder can get the new version any time.  I will also pass a note to JWR so that he can announce the updates as they are made.  Thanks for listening and I hope you can benefit from my efforts.