Odds ‘n Sods:

The recent AP wire service article on survivalism certainly has grown some long legs. To date, it has been featured on CBS, ABC, MSNBC, Breitbart, Yahoo News, the Drudge Report, NPR, the Huffington Post, newspapers in more than 40 states, at least a dozen television news web sites, and even overseas in The Jerusalem Post.

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NOAA Issues New Solar Cycle Prediction. (Thanks to Paul B. for the link.)

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From reader R.M.: Ideas For Self Sufficient Living During Financially Turbulent Times

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Jim W., a missionary, recommended a visit to the Basic Utility Vehicle web site

Notes from JWR:

I was overwhelmed by more than 80 responses to my recent Seeking Reader Input for “Patriots” Sequels post. I now have more than enough volunteers! (The only subject area where I still need some more input is Belize.) My apologies if I don’t send all of you immediate replies. In many cases, I won’t be replying with follow-up questions until I’m actively engaged in writing those particular parts of the manuscript. My sincere thanks for your input, folks!

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Today we present the final entry for Round 22 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. (BTW, I have some others that recently arrived now in the queue, but those will be considered in Round 23.)

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 foods, courtesy of Ready Made Resources.

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 $350.

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

Round 22 ends on May 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.

Anesthesia for Traumatic Times, by Scott N., EMT

Introductory Proviso from JWR: The following article is intended for educational purposes only. DO NOT attempt to administer anesthesia without the proper training. There is a very fine line between unconsciousness and death, and this path should be tread only by a trained specialist. This is a very delicate art (and science) that requires advanced training, constant practice, and some advanced monitoring equipment. All vital signs must be closely monitored closely. Even for someone with an “MD” after their name, it is EXCEEDINGLY EASY to mess up, and the consequences of doing so are tremendous. (In short: If you are untrained and inexperienced and try to anesthetize a patient with diethyl ether or chloroform, then the odds are high that you will be more lethal to the patient than the trauma that you are attempting to repair!

Survival medicine requires thought given to pain relief and anesthesia. It is all well and good to have sutures and skin staplers in the SHTF kit, along with instruments for debriding wounds sustained when the nearest doctor is buried under 50 tons of rubble. But how can we do minor surgical procedures without effective anesthesia? If a survival group member sustains a bad fracture, how can we relieve their pain with only aspirin and head off stress ulcers?

We can just put on our hearing protection, give the patient a thick stick to bite down on, and set that bone or debride that wound, while hardening our heart to their cries of agony. This way we save some expense and eliminate the need for several hours of extra intense study by the group’s designated medic, and maintain a very low profile. But few would forgo stocking tools which can reduce the suffering of a wounded comrade.

We can, of course, talk our friendly family doctor into writing us prescriptions for local anesthetics, morphine, and for ketamine. The local anesthetics will probably be fairly easy to get obtain if we can show our doctor that we can competently utilize the agents. But the DEA will probably want a word with you and your doctor after you fill those prescriptions for morphine and ketamine both of which are DEA Scheduled drugs.

But what if our doctor is scared of the DEA, and refuses to help your group obtain any of the above agents? You can read this article and find alternative anesthesia and pain relief medications that are either “over the counter” (OTC) or non-Scheduled drugs.

So what can we easily stock for pain control and basic anesthesia? I have some ideas, based on my eighteen years as a chronic pain patient as well as some training as a dental assistant and EMT, including some specialized anesthesia training.

What follows is a simple “anesthesia module” for a group survival medical kit that can be put together with minimal legal difficulties and for modest cost. It will enable the user to deal with acute and chronic pain issues such that the patient can be well cared for. It will also allow one to provide good analgesia/anesthesia when perform basic minor surgery procedures such as wound closure, wound debridement, or bone setting. Even, in extremis, used to facilitate care for a gunshot wound as described in“Patriots” ..

This article will certainly not enable a layperson to become a skilled anesthesiologist. What it will do is point out possible solutions, possible agents and references to learn more about this subject. It will provide a list of agents which will facilitate providing simple anesthetic care to injured group members who require minor surgery or who have sustained significant, painful injuries.

This article will cover basic anesthesia definitions. “OTC” agents, divided into chemicals/meds and herbs, will be covered for both oral and inhaled use. Then a few relatively easy to obtain prescription agents will be described. An annotated bibliography follows the article.
For the purposes of this article, anesthesia is defined as a state in which the patient does not react to surgical activities in a significant physiological way, has amnesia for the procedure, and feels no pain or “touch” sensations during the procedure. Analgesia is defined as a state of reduced to no awareness of the sensation of pain, though awareness of pressure and stretch may remain.

The state of anesthesia is traditionally divided into four Stages. The agents, with few exceptions, described in this article enable putting our wounded comrade into only Stages 1,2, and the 1st Plane of Stage 3. This is fine, as our concern as survivalists will mainly be with performing minor surgery . The 1st level of plane 3 equals light surgical anesthesia; deep enough to enable us to safely and comfortably perform these minor procedures for our injured companion, light enough to avoid significant respiratory or circulatory problems from the agents used.
The first Stage is analgesia and amnesia; it lasts from the start of relative pain relief and drowsiness to the loss of consciousness and loss of the eyelid reflex. The second Stage is excitement, marked by delirium, breath holding, and, likely, regurgitation. The third Stage is surgical anesthesia. It consists of three Planes. We will only be working with the 1st Plane, light surgical anesthesia. Note that at this Plane, our patient may move in response to surgical manipulation and their heart/respiratory rate may change, though they will not have any memory of the procedure. The 3rd Plane is the level needed for major surgery, such as abdominal surgery. The fourth Stage is the time from complete paralysis of the chest muscles until the time of shutdown of the circulation.

Anesthesia requires some basic tools and capabilities. Suction must be available to keep the airway clear, especially if any of the ethers are used. Manual powered units are widely available from such suppliers as Moore Medical. Oxygen is very useful and should be considered along with the masks and tubing necessary. Oxygen can make a great difference in the outcome for patients and is relatively inexpensive, so consider adding an oxygen rig to your group kit.

Masks for administering inhaled agents and simple vaporizers must be bought or locally fabricated. The absolute minimum for patient monitoring is: precordial stethoscope and a BP cuff. Having a pulse oximeter is recommended though the precordial stethoscope will give more “advanced warning” of breathing issues. The oximeter would be most useful when used with an oxygen rig to track improvement in oxygen saturation.

One must be able to recognize developing severe allergic reactions, bronchospasm and other medical emergencies and have the meds and skills necessary to save the day. Study of respiratory and circulatory systems, coupled with a good grasp of the basic principles of pain control and anesthesia will enable the designated medic to use these drugs and equipment to improve the patient’s situation, and not generate additional medical problems. Only then can one put together a useful anesthesia kit for Survivalist Field Hospital.

OTC Agents
We start with the classics here. Aspirin, , ibuprofen and naproxyn will see us through most needs for pain control and reduction of inflammation from sprains, tears, or arthritis. All are non-steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and work very well. For pulled muscles or arthritis pain, we can also add in such roll-on or “smear on” agents as Biofreeze, a very versatile, herb-based agent which works surprisingly well for arthritis pain, or use such venerable creams as Icy Hot or Ben Gay.
A few cautions with these. Avoid giving the patient multiple NSAIDs at the same time as chance of side effects such as bleeding tendencies, slowed blood clotting, and stomach damage increases greatly. Also, beware of using other salicylate-containing meds, such as Ben Gay cream or Pepto-Bismol along with an NSAID as overdose can result easily.

Other OTC pain relievers include Tylenol, which will lower fever and relieve pain. But it will not reduce inflammation . Tylenol is very toxic to the liver and kidneys so it is vital to not exceed the maximum 24 hour dosage. Menthol, applied topically, is useful for relief of the pain . Biofreeze is a good menthol-based product which can currently be obtained from physical therapists, sports medicine clinics and the like.

What if our companion needs a dislocation reduced? How can we ease the process by relaxing muscle spasm? We could use standardized, to 0.8% valerenic acids, valerian root capsules or liquid extract. Valerenic acids are mild sedatives and skeletal muscle relaxants. Valerenic acids will not be anywhere as effective as giving the patient Valium or other benzodiazepines to facilitate the reduction. But valerian root is OTC, while benzodiazepines are Scheduled drugs.
A quick note on alcohol for pain relief and anesthesia. Alcohol provides pain relief in the same way a punch to the jaw can assist one in going to sleep, by deranging the brain’s functions. Only in Hollywood can a patient be anesthetized with alcohol for the simple reason that alcohol is a very weak anesthetic such that the anesthesia dose is functionally equivalent to the fatal dose.
All the agents below can cause some nausea so don’t forget to include some Benadryl or Dramamine in your medical kit. Either will help reduce the nausea and also provide some sedation for the patient. Dramamine will also help reduce the copious secretions that occur especially with usage of diethyl ethers.

We now get into our OTC anesthetic agents. All three are relatively common chemicals which can be used in simple inhalers, such as drip masks or simple vaporizers. All are general anesthetics which means they can be used to put the patient “completely under”. Note that it is vital to do the necessary study before using any of these agents as there is always the potential for death or serious problems when using general anesthetics. In addition, none of these three agents should be allowed to contact the skin as they can cause bad dermatitis.
There are three “OTC” inhaled anesthetics available that fit our needs; for safety, for efficacy, and for ease of use. Diethyl ether (DEE), is the safest inhaled anesthetic for “lay usage” as it has a very slow onset, with very clearly defined “descent” through the Stages of anesthesia. Divinyl ether, DVE, has a shorter induction time and less incidence of post-operative nausea and vomiting (PONV) than DEE. It is also less irritating to the throat and lungs than diethyl ether. Trilene, TCE (trichloroethylene), provides excellent analgesia at low doses, is non irritating to the airway, and is non flammable . Careful monitoring of anesthesia depth for more extensive procedures is critical with usage of trilene. All three of these agents were widely used up until the 1950s, even the 1960s for trilene and diethyl ether.

These three agents are not equal in capability. Trilene can only be used for such things as debriding wounds, suturing, or tooth extraction as it is a very potent agent that sensitizes the heart to stress . This could result in heart problems if Trilene was used for a long or extensive procedure or the patient was given epinephrine. Trilene provides anesthesia only to Stage 3 Plane 1, light surgical anesthesia, because it cannot be vaporized to a high enough dose for extensive procedures. TCE must not be used with a closed circuit system as it forms phosgene, a war gas, when it contacts soda lime.

It has the great advantage of quick recovery time when only used for short procedures. One surgeon mentioned that his patient was [by observation only] fully recovered 10 minutes after surgery. It was successfully used for wound repair, bone setting (some reports), childbirth (the most common usage), and dental procedures. It is “tailor made” for “self-administered” anesthesia and is associated with less incidence of PONV than with the two ethers.

On the downside; it is a known teratogenic and carcinogenic chemical. It also cannot be used in simple “drip masks” as it doesn’t vaporize well below body temperature. But a trilene vaporizer can be made by any handy person with a basic grasp of how carburetors work.
Divinyl ether is only for short procedures, though it does provide good surgical anesthesia (up to 2nd Plane of 3rd Stage), as it is toxic to the kidneys and liver if used for long procedures. Induction doses and recovery time will be a little less with DVE than with DEE.
On the downside; it requires very careful storage, away from light and moisture, or else it will polymerize easily into [literally] a useless lump. DVE is fabulously expensive, up to 30+ fold the cost of the other two agents.

Diethyl ether is usable for procedures of any length, provides excellent analgesia at low doses, muscle relaxation, and anesthesia to 3rd Plane of Stage 3-and beyond if you aren’t paying attention! It also improves cardiac efficiency and stimulates breathing so it is useful in the shocky patient. Theoretically it is the ideal anesthetic for our use.
DEE administration does elicit heavy secretions and coughing so it is makes more work for the “survivalist anesthesiologist” and her assistant than Trilene does. It is highly flammable and can cause explosions, so all sources of ignition must be far from the surgery. It must be stored in the dark, with moisture absorbers, and preferably with oxygen absorbers. Recovery times for the patient will be long, over 6 hours. Diethyl ether and Trilene are roughly the same low cost (ca $34/500ml).

Chloroform is not even considered here even though it seems to be an ideal agent for our use at first glance. Sure; it is not flammable, it doesn’t induce the heavy secretions and coughing that the ethers above do, and it is a potent agent. But it has serious disadvantages. First, it has a very narrow margin of safety and requires a true expert in anesthesia to use it safely. Second, it strongly sensitizes the heart to stress, so if the anesthesia is too light and the operator starts the incision, the patient could go into nearly instant cardiac arrest–something we will not be able to treat.

Herbs
The herbs described below are widely available in most jurisdictions and can be used for pain relief and the induction of light anesthesia in survival situations. However, they are also “evil” in the eyes of the DEA and the like. Some fools have used these herbs irresponsibly and ruined it for legitimate researchers and survivalists. I strongly encourage those who use these to use them responsibly, otherwise we give our friends at the DEA more targets.

These herbs are psychedelics, some call them hallucinogens or even entheogens. They provide pain relief and [very] light anesthesia by two mechanisms: making all sensory input “equal” so that pain becomes no more important than the fact that the sun is shining and these agents facilitate a disassociative state in which the patient’s interpretation of pain or pressure signals can be radically altered by simple measures such as playing music, reading of Bible verses or the like.

Extensive research in the 1950s and 1960s on LSD, for example, found that the drug provided much better [for disassociative] pain relief than morphine, with few, if any, side effects. The few formal studies done on salvia, the second agent below, found that it also offered strong, albeit short-lived pain relief and has the potential to be used as a general anesthetic.
In using these herbs, one must pay special attention to two vital factors; set and setting. Set refers to the state and focus of the patient’s mind; a relaxed patient who is focused on positive thoughts will be unlikely to experience an anxiety attack whether given one of these herbs, ketamine, or morphine. Setting refers to how pleasant, or at least non-chaotic the treatment or convalescence area is. Operating in a quiet, clean room will help allay patient anxiety and thus reduce the need for additional meds during the procedure.

The first herb might be as available as your garden; morning glory seeds, preferably Heavenly Blue or Flying Saucers. Yes, these are the real names. But the truth is that the active agent in the seeds, lysergic acid amide, is a strong analgesic that can provide six or more hours of pain relief with a single dose of roughly 150 seeds that are chewed thoroughly and swallowed. The downside is that tolerance, of about three days duration, develops quickly. So that a second dose given for pain control 10 hours after the initial dose must be roughly twice as large and so on. The total effects last for upwards of 12 hours. The seeds must either be non-treated or must be washed free of the arsenical which is commonly used on the seeds.

The taste is vile and tends to induce moderate nausea and vomiting, treatable with mild anti emetics such as Benadryl, so the patient will probably never want to repeat the psychedelic trip. This agent will permit wound debridement or closure as long as the patient’s attention is captured by music, art, or a deep discussion about whatever interests them at that millisecond. It would provide good relief of pain for bone setting but careful monitoring of the patient’s blood pressure and heart rate would be required because this agent is a poor anesthetic and provides little, if any amelioration of the patient’s body’s response to the surgery. Used in conjunction with one of the strong pain killers described in this article and/or one of the inhaled agents, then bone setting becomes possible.

Salvia divinorum, a member of the sage family, is an herb which could be useful in Survivalist Hospital for pain relief and in easing the pain and discomfort associated with minor surgical procedures. In terms of the Stages of anesthesia, salvia enables Stage 1 (analgesia). At very high doses, it produces a profound disassociative state, coupled with a stormy Stage 2 of anesthesia that barely reaches Plane 1 of Stage 3. It could be used when setting bones when combined with an inhaled agent. Salvia frequently produces a calmness and “afterglow” for up to a few days post-usage that will help greatly in reducing post-op pain and anxiety.

It also produces a slowed reaction time and coordination side effects so the patient should not operate the retreat’s armored car or tractor for several hours after salvia dosage. Since it acts on the kappa-opiod receptor in the brain, rather than the mu-receptor affected by morphine and the like, salvinorin A is highly unlikely to turn the patient into a raving, addicted, member of the Army of Darkness. Euphoria is very uncommon with salvia use, indeed people do not tend to ever take it for “kicks”. It also has potential for treatment of addiction as the kappa-opiod receptor is key in addictive behavior.

Overdose will not kill per se, but it will result in a dangerous agitation of the patient though of short, under 30 minutes, duration. The patient can leap up and charge about, resulting in secondary injury. Salvia is usable for our purposes only if the operator pays very close attention to dosage, using only enough to enable the surgical procedure, but not so much that the operation suddenly becomes catch-the-delirious-staggering-patient!

My personal experience with salvia has been with use for relief of chronic and acute pain. It has reliably relieved pain of level 8 (roughly the pain from a leg being shattered in a bike wreck) completely for 1.5 hours, and kept said pain at endurable levels for three hours or more from a single salvia dose. Tolerance does not develop so analgesic doses of salvia can be given consecutively.

A salvia researcher, Daniel Siebert, has published a good on line guide to salvia which includes his model of “planes of the salvia experience”. As “survivalist anesthesiologists”, we will be getting our patients to Siebert’s “plane” 4 (vivid visionary state-with eyes closed, outside world is “gone”) to 6 (amnesiac state, also high movement potential!).
Salvia can be purchased as a live plant which grows very well in the Northwest USA as an indoor plant. It is also available as dried leaves. Dried leaves are only marginally usable for our purposed though. It is also available as a crude 5x or 10x concentrate, or as a standardized extract. The standardized form is obviously the best choice for our purposes.
It can be administered by mouth, by chewing 15-20 fresh leaves and holding the chewed leaves in the cheek for 15 minutes. The effects then last about 45 minutes. Ingesting the leaves or concentrate is useless as the agent is inactivated by stomach acid. Or it can be “smoked”, (inhaled as a vapor). Vaporization allows the best titration to effect, it also is associated with a high “failure rate” as it is very technique sensitive. When vaporizing salvia concentrate, it is vital that the concentrate be heated as much as possible, the smoke drawn deeply into the lungs, and held there as long as possible. Throat and lung irritation can happen when using the vaporization method . I have asthma; salvia vapor does not induce bronchospasm for me, but “your mileage may vary”.

The active agent, salvinorin A is extremely potent, being effective at 200-500mcg for an inhaled/vaporized dose. Its effects begin in under 30 seconds which makes titrating an analgesic dose fairly easy. It provides good analgesia, being about as potent as morphine, though it only provides, at best, two hours of strong pain relief. After inhalation, drug effects begin to fade within 3-5 minutes of dosing.

At higher doses of 500-1,000mcg, it provides relative disassociative anesthesia for about 5 to 7 minutes. However, at these doses the drug causes severe “motor hyperactivity”. Think a PCP zombie who also drank three double espressos! Titrating the dose to true disassociative effect, Siebert’s “plane” 6, without the patient lashing about and injuring herself can be tricky.
If used for just relieving the pain of simple wound debridement, having the patient “smoke” small amounts of concentrate until they report no sensation when the intact skin is pricked with a sterile needle . If possible, capture the patient’s attention while the wound is cared for. Patient will probably still be somewhat aware of pressure and stretch sensation, thus the need to capture their attention elsewhere.

If a bone must be set or extensive wound debridement is required, then a higher dose of salvia must be used, preferably along with one of the inhaled agents listed above. This will mean a brief excursion back to pre-19th Century surgical practice; the use of sturdy assistants to hold the patient in place. The purpose here is to keep the patient from moving about and injuring themselves or facilitating a horrible surgical disaster.

By Prescription:
There are some useful prescription pain killers that are not on DEA lists and should be fairly easy to obtain. All have the potential for significant side effects so thorough study is required before using these drugs.

Toradol (ketorolac) is the strongest drug in the NSAID class and is available in pill , eye drops , and injectable forms. It provides excellent relief of post-operative pain. It is also an anti coagulant so any bleeding must be under good control before giving Toradol. It also can cause serious liver or kidney problems. Because of these “side properties”, Toradol cannot be used for more than 2 days of continuous dosing for injection or 5 days of oral dosing

Tramadol is a pain killer which works well for moderate to moderately severe pain. Or in layperson’s terms, it will do for pain relief for most of the common injuries the survivalist might deal with . It is available as both a pill and in an injectable form. It does not elicit as much nausea as other opiods such as morphine and unlike morphine, will not completely shut down the drive to breathe at high doses. Another bright spot is that Tramadol is rarely associated with addiction as it relieves pain without euphoria. If needed, it can also be used for your dogs or cats.

On the downside, it does lower the seizure threshold so it is a poor choice if the patient has a history of seizures or is taking other drugs which lower the seizure threshold.
Nubain® (nalbuphine) is a very strong pain reliever that is only available in an injectable form. It is incompatible with ketorolac and is an “opiod effect reverser”. This means that giving Nubain to someone who is addicted to opiods will result in withdrawal symptoms. I was told by an Army medic, who had completed the US Army Field Anesthesia course, that Nubain is ineffective for bad war wounds.

There are a few prescription “para anesthesia” drugs which should be stocked. For reversal of overdoses of opiods, stock Narcan (naloxone). It has significant side effects, be aware, be proactive.

Murphy’s Law says that the group member who requires emergency surgical care will have a full stomach, risking aspiration of vomitus, a serious complication. Reglan (metoclopramide) is an anti-nausea/vomiting drug and it accelerates stomach emptying. But do not rely solely on Reglan in the patient who ate or drank within a few hours pre-surgical need. Phenergan (promethazine) is a venerable anti emetic and sedative that also helps dry up secretions. It is available in both pill and injectable forms. If injecting it, dilute and give slowly and carefully as it can cause tissue damage and pain on injection.

Anesthesia and pain control must be factored into planning a survival medical kit. I hope this article has helped point you in a useful direction. With the items described in this article, you can provide better, more comfortable medical care to your group members in a crisis environment. In a 96 hour crisis, you will have the ability to perform exigent minor surgery. In a TEOTWAWKI scenario, you will have a solid base for providing general anesthesia care to your group members.

Bibliography:

Introduction to Anesthesia ; 9th Edition; Longnecker, edited by: David E. and Murphy, Frank L.; Saunders; 1997. Good coverage of the theory and practice of anesthesia from the ground up.
[Textbook of Military Medicine] Anesthesia and Perioperative Care of the Combat Casualty; edited by: Brigadier General Zajtchuk, Russ and Grande, Christopher M., M.D.; GPO; 1995. Thorough coverage of the practice of anesthesia in a military setting. If you need to know how to handle the anesthesia for a wounded comrade, this is the book. Slanted toward more “high tech” care than usual survivalist group can deliver but good for its explanations of procedures and caveats. Also available online, as free PDFs.
U.S. Army Special Forces Medical Handbook ; Citadel Press; 1982. ISBN: 0806510455 A very good general reference. Good, simple chapter on anesthesia using the inhaled agents discussed in this article with excellent charts showing signs of anesthesia depth.

Internet Resources:
New York School of Regional Anesthesia. How to do regional blocks if you have local anesthetic agents in your kit. Thorough, with very good illustrations.
Several Power Point lectures on various basic anesthesia procedures as well as presentations on wound care, orthopedics, and womens’ issues.
All the volumes of Textbook of Military Medicine are available online; for download as [free] PDFs or as hardcover books for purchase. Lots of useful information for Survivalist Hospital on anesthesia and wound care, care of environmental injuries, NBC issues, etc. A very informative site that deals with psychoactive chemicals and herbs. It can be a good research tool for the survival anesthesiologist. Use the site for research, and be responsible.

Economics and Investing:

Leap in U.S. debt hits taxpayers with 12% more red ink

GG flagged this: Silver poised for biggest monthly gain in 22 years; gold rises

Items from The Economatrix:

Economy Shrinks 5.7% in First Quarter

Taxpayers Could Lose Billions in GM Revamp “GM expected to file bankruptcy on Monday.”

Ford’s Top Supplier Files for Bankruptcy “Visteon bankruptcy protection filing is another blow to auto supply base.”

Bond Markets Defy Feds as Treasury Yields Spike “The US Federal Reserve may soon be forced to launch fresh blitz of quantitative easing whatever the consequences for the US dollar, or risk seeing economic recovery snuffed out by the latest surge in long-term borrowing costs.”

Oil is Plentiful, Demand is Weak. Why are Gas Prices Going Up?

Countrywide Can’t Dismiss Mortgage Lawsuit “Federal judge rejects bid in case that alleges racketeering, conspiracy, unfair mortgage practices.”

Fed Dilemma as Property Recovery Falters

Ireland Set to Go Bust, Claims Economic Historian

“Peak Silver”

FDIC Fund Running Dry

Advanta Bank to Close All Credit Accounts This Week

How Manipulated Markets Really Work “Daily the corporate media trumpet them to lull the unwary into believing the global economic crisis is ebbing and recovery is on the way. Not according to longtime market analyst Bob Chapman who calls green shoots “Poison Ivy” and economist Nouriel Roubini saying they’re “yellow weeds” at a time there’s lots more pain ahead.”

The Second Crash: On the Way and Unstoppable. (JWR Adds: I should mention that this essay includes the same alarming chart on mortgage rate resets that I pointed to in SurvivalBlog a few weeks ago. Once again, we are nowhere near the bottom of the real estate market in the US! This summer will later be seen as just a lull in the storm. Do not hang on to any extra properties “waiting for the market to recover.” Dump them at break-even, if need be, but get rid of them, pronto!)

Bond Vigilantes Confront Obama as Housing Falters “Washington is really out of control and that there is no fiscal discipline whatsoever.”

Odds ‘n Sods:

Bill N. sent this great tip: Something Down The Drain? Retrieve it Without a Wrench

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Safecastle’s semi-annual 25% Off Mountain House storage food sale ends on June 5th, so get your order in soon! Buyers will get a free copy of the novel One Second After by William R. Forstchen if they purchase four or more cases of Mountain House foods.

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From Florida Guy: Mormon lessons in self-reliance can help families survive tough times. JWR Adds: While I’ll never see eye-to-eye with the LDS Church doctrinally, I give them nothing but praise for encouraging food storage. They have also been very gracious in opening up access to their canneries to folks that are not LDS members. Kudos!

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Today, prayer is still a powerful force in America, and our faith in God is a mighty source of strength. Our Pledge of Allegiance states that we are ‘one nation under God,’ and our currency bears the motto, ‘In God we Trust.’ The morality and values such faith implies are deeply embedded in our national character. Our country embraces those principles by design, and we abandon them at our peril.” – Ronald Reagan

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 22 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 foods, courtesy of Ready Made Resources.

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 $350.

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

Round 22 ends on May 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.

Creating a Crisis Decision Matrix, by Steve N.






It’s been said, “It takes a village to raise a child”. While I do not agree with much of anything else Hillary says, that was certainly true in my case. My upbringing consisted of guidance and council from a rather diverse group of individuals, a large segment of whom were 1970s-era survivalists, (How many of you remember Mel Tappan’s “Personal Survival Letter”?). These were self-sufficient, hard-money, common sense, salt-of-the-earth type people. A few even had underground bunkers, (I mean “root cellars”). Given the mind set of my mentors, you might assume that I’m all stocked up on beans, bullets, and band aids. Regrettably, I am not as well prepared as I should be. As I analyzed why this is so, I was forced to admit that I had fallen prey to a fault that could prove to be uncomfortable or even fatal, if not corrected. Please bear with me as I illustrate with personal experience.

I was raised in rural America, and have hundreds of hours in canoes. One clear October morning, my friend and I took a hankering for some fresh trout, and we knew of a lake a couple of hours paddle downstream from his house. October is nigh winter in the North, and we figured since the bugs had been frozen out for a week or so, the trout would be ravenous.
We arrived at the lake after a leisurely downstream paddle, and were delighted to find only half the lake’s surface in winter’s early grasp. Our strategy was simple, we would cast our lures onto the edge of the ice, reel them back ever so slowly, until they slipped into the water with hardly a ripple. With such a quiet entry, the unsuspecting trout were inhaling our spinners. We sure had it our way; no bugs, no bears, no tourists, and the fishing was hot! In my mind’s eye, I could see my wife’s beaming smile, she loves fresh trout.

Then, while netting another candidate for the skillet, my friend leaned over a bit too far. The canoe tilted and several gallons of water poured over the side. My fast-thinking (but clumsy) friend, realizing that he was going to capsize us completely, rolled over the side, into the lake. The canoe righted itself but, all the water that had poured over the side seconds earlier, now ran to my end of the canoe. The combination of my body weight plus several gallons of water was enough to submerge my end, and water poured over the bow into my lap. Having no recourse, I (gracefully) floated out of the swamped canoe, into the lake. We stayed with the canoe, and kicked our way towards shore, however, the closest “shore” in this case was a raft of muskeg several yards away. (Muskeg is a thick mat of vegetation so dense it floats, common in the North country).We clawed our way onto the muskeg, and it immediately started to sink beneath our weight, so once again the water came pouring in. Everything reached equilibrium and we stopped sinking at about knee deep, so we stripped down and wrung out our clothes, dumped the canoe out and headed for home. The upstream paddle was a blessing in disguise because the hard work kept us relatively warm.

We made it back, and even managed to save the fish. And yes, my wife did beam a brilliant smile; she loves fresh trout you know. But legend has it that, every October, the animals gather at lakeside. They tell a tale of a couple of hapless fisherman, who stood on the edge of the muskeg, naked to the waist, knee deep in icy water, hyper-ventilating while they wrung the water out of their clothes, and then disappeared upstream, never to be seen again.

My point is simply this, through no fault of my own; my situation had deteriorated from relatively pleasant to a little chilly, and a lot life-threatening. Never before, or since, have I been unintentionally thrown from a canoe. Just that once… but that’s all it takes, right? “Just that once”. I suspect you and I are a lot alike. Despite our experience, (remember my “village”), we keep living our lives as though the “canoe is never going to tip”. It’s called denial.

The people who study the psychology of survivors, tell us that the mental progression in wilderness survival situations is similar to that of someone who has just received some disastrous news. Countless situations have devolved from rescues to recoveries because the participants refuse to acknowledge that they were in a dangerous situation. The survivors are the ones who get through the denial stage the fastest. The don’t waste a lot of energy wondering “Why has this happened to me?”. They get over it, and get on with the business of surviving.
The preparedness process can seem overwhelming at times. There are so many necessities that, deciding where to commit time and/or resources can be disquieting. The truth is, its way easier and cheaper to stay in denial, because after all, the canoe is never going to tip, right? To help get you off high center, I’d like to offer a decision making matrix; a method to help you decide where to expend your time and resources to your best advantage.

Industry has developed a procedure called “Process Hazard Analysis”. If you’re responsible for the safe operation of a facility of some kind, you gather your engineers, technicians and operators together and discuss the risks involved in running your plant. Big picture it works like this; you pick an event, and rank how likely it is to happen, the severity of the consequences if it did, and any safeguards in place to prevent that particular event from happening. With this prioritized list you are able to see where to put your maximum effort. If you’ve never had the joy of sitting through this procedure… I’d suggest a mid-October swim instead. But, if you think of an “event” as a condition that produces an undesirable result, then you can see how we can apply this process to our preparedness efforts.

Make 6 columns down a piece of paper. Title the first “category/event”, the second “Likelihood”, the third “Consequences”. “Safeguards”, “Total” and “Action” are the titles for columns 4, 5, and 6.
The rankings for the “likelihood” and “severity” columns will be 1 through 5, with 1 representing “highly unlikely” (for likelihood) and “Insignificant” (for consequences), 3 representing “Probable” and “Serious but Repairable”, and 5 representing “Highly Probable” and “Financial Ruin/Fatality”. (I’ll include a complete list of the rankings I use in an appendix at the end of this article).

So, for example, if I picked a category of “Civil Unrest” and an event of “Riots”, my thought process would go like this: There has never been a riot in my hometown and it’s very unlikely there ever will be, so “Likelihood” would get a rank of 1. I live a ways out of town so, even if there was a riot in town, it’s very doubtful that it would spread to my place, so “Consequences” gets a 1. I have locks and an alarm system and a big dog, so I’m “Confident” in my safeguards, I’ll give them a 3. You can see that I don’t need to spend a lot of resources preparing for riots. On the other hand, you may live in a neighborhood that has experienced nearby riots. You rankings would come out different and perhaps indicate that you should spend some time thinking about how to mitigate that risk. Note however, that a category of “Civil Unrest” with and event of “Burglary” would rank higher in my situation, because that particular event has happened in my area.

Had I chosen a category of “Natural Disasters” and an Event of “Forest Fire”, my likelihood rank would be 5 (because forest fires have occurred in my area). The consequence rank would be 5, because the worst case consequence is a fatality. My safeguards, (detectors, and extinguishers) are adequate but could use improvement, so safeguards get a 2. Add column 2 (likelihood) and 3 (severity) and subtract column 4 (safeguards) and I have a total of 8 out of a possible 10, a high priority. You can see through this extreme example that, it makes more sense for me to focus my efforts on upgrading my fire plan, than it does preparing for a riot. I should probably place a higher priority on fire extinguishers than firearms, hard to do given the emotion of today’s situation. Examination of your situation may well result in a different conclusion. The important thing is that emotion is removed from the decision making process.

We all have a tendency to “lock up” when faced with an intimidating task. It is my hope that, by introducing this decision making process, you can remove the paralyzing emotions from the decisions that must be made. By thoughtfully following the process, you’ll create a touchstone that will anchor you when self-doubt or well-meaning friends criticize your actions, and you are tempted to procrastinate or worse. If your beliefs don’t impact your actions then they’re just worthless mental baggage. How many times have you heard the word “unprecedented” lately? That means that we have never been in this situation before, not in all of mankind’s history. So we really have no idea how this will end. There is still time to act, the canoe hasn’t tipped yet. Use this matrix to assess where you are in the preparedness process and, most importantly, act on your decisions.

Suggested Definitions of Rankings

Likelihood
1. Has not happened to you, or in your local area
2. Improbable, unlikely
3. Possible
4. Probable, likely
5. Has happened to you or in your local area.

Severity
1. No significant consequence
2. Disagreeable, minor physical/financial loss
3. Significant but repairable
4. Major injury, financial hardship
5. Financial ruin, fatality

Safeguards
1. None
2. Low confidence, needs improvement
3. Confident, has been adequate
4. Extremely confident
5. Absolute confidence

Add the Likelihood and Severity numbers, and subtract from that the safeguard number for a personalized risk ranking of a specific event.
You can see that, events with high likelihood, severe consequences and low safeguards are going to require action, say any event with a total risk ranking of 8 or more. Total risk of 5-7 deserves some serious consideration. Total risks of less than 4 are low priorities. If you decide an event requires action, it may be possible to add safeguard points, and diminish the risk, with simple lifestyle changes before committing resources that could be better used elsewhere.

The following is an example of a Crisis Decision Matrix. (Modify to fit your particular situation.)

Crisis Decision Matrix
Category Event Likelihood Consequences Safeguards Total Action
  1. Has not happened to you or in your area
2. Improbable/unlikely
3. Possible
4. Probable, likely
5. Has happened to you / in your area.		 1. No significant consequence
2. Disagreeable, minor physical/financial loss
3. Significant but repairable
4. Major injury, financial hardship
5. Financial ruin, fatality		 1. None
2. Low confidence, needs improvement
3. Confident, has been adequate
4. Extremely confident
5. Absolute confidence

Likelihood

+ Consequences

–Safeguards

= Total

  
Civil Unrest –Riot 1 1 3 -1 None
Civil Unrest – Burglary 5 3 4 4 Look into improving my security system with cameras and a DVR
Natural Disasters – Fire 5 5 2 8 Need to improve fire detection ability and devise family contingency plans for specific fire scenarios. Research “Firewise” principles for structures in high risk areas.

 

Economics and Investing:

Hungary’s Economy Minister warns of currency crisis, “social collapse” without deep reform

GG sent this Los Angeles Times piece: From deflation fear to inflation panic, so soon?

Items from The Economatrix:

Exploding Debt Threatens America With no change in policy, US debt will equal US GDP in just five years.

Coming Dollar Bust–All But A Few Have No Clue “The failure of the housing market is only 40% to 50% over. All this is happening as policymakers, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Citicorp, etc., and the rest of the elitists are shifting all the debt from the financial sector to the American people. Virtually no one talks about what is really going on. The same people at the Fed, in banking, on Wall Street and in government are supposedly solving the problems they created. We have news for you; they are not solving anything. They are just pushing judgment day a little further out. That is costing us $2 trillion in additional debt a year, which we can ill afford. The bomb gets bigger every day and you won’t want to be around when it explodes.”

Dollar is Dirt, Treasuries are Toast, and AAA is Adios

Meltdown 101: Why is the Dollar Weakening?

Moody’s Affirms US AAA Rating Despite Rising Debt

Yield Curve Steepens to Record as Debt Sales Surge

Rise in Rates Jolts Markets

Mortgage Nightmare: Who Owns My Loan?

GM Bankruptcy Filing Could Shake Up Dow Index, GM Could Be Delisted

Odds ‘n Sods:

Cheryl spotted this on a Israeli news site: WWIII Has Started

   o o o

JHB sent is a link to a new variety of self-contained fingertip pulse oximeter. Being able to monitor heart rate and blood oxygen saturation will be crucial, especially if you are handling a trauma case or severe illness case where respiration is shallow and your supply of medical oxygen is scant.

   o o o

In the “signs of the times” department, comes this from Powder Valley: “At this time we are not taking any new backorders for primers that are not listed here. We currently have over 50 million primers on backorder…”

Notes from JWR:

If you have any favorite quotes that relate to survival, preparedness, faith, patriotism, Constitutional rights, or perhaps something on economics, then please e-mail it to me, and I’ll likely post them as Quotes of the Day. Thanks!

—

Today we present another entry for Round 22 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 foods, courtesy of Ready Made Resources.

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 $350.

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

Round 22 ends on May 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.

Pest Prevention and Control Measures for Food Storage, by Elk H.

Something you may not have given much thought about in your planning for long term food storage is Pest Control. All the hard work, preparedness and money spent on stockpiling and storing food can be quickly ruined by pests. You need to protect your investment. As a former exterminator I have seen my share of these pests and can share my experience and knowledge of control measures. While some of these measures are just ordinary common sense, we all know that common sense isn’t all that common.

A few things to consider:
Most infestations come home from the store with you. You would be surprised to learn what I’ve found in the average, clean looking big name grocery store!
Dry pet food is notorious for being infested. Pet food is not processed and packaged with the same standards as “people food”.
90% of Stored Product Pest Control is not about chemical treatments. We will use poisons sparingly and effectively.
Some, but not all, pests are disease carrying.
While there are hundreds (or thousands!) of individual species of pests you could have to deal with, we will focus on the three main problem pests when it comes to Food Storage: Pantry Pests, Rodents and Cockroaches.

PANTRY PESTS
Pantry Pests generally include Moths, Beetles and Weevils. There are too many species to list individually, but luckily the identification, prevention and control measures are all similar enough to lump into one category. Most Pantry Pests have a similar mode of action: the adult bores a hole into the grain/kernel/meal, lays its egg and repeats. The larva hatches inside the grain/kernel/meal, then eats it’s fill until ready to pupate. The pupa hatches out of the grain/kernel/meal as an adult, and the cycle repeats itself.
They usually appear after bringing home a product from the store that was already infested, however some indigenous species do infest crops, and so may infest the grain in the field first.
If you spot moths, beetles or other stored product pests in your home or food storage areas, it’s already too late. As mentioned above, the adults are not what will be eating your food, it’s the young inside your rice, corn or wheat that is destroying it. While it’s fine to eradicate the adults you see, the real problem is in the food itself. Once cut off from the food source, the adults will die off without having reproduced.

Inspection
All stored product should be removed from storage and inspected for infestation. Do not skip over anything just because it’s an unopened box or what you think is an airtight container, go through it all. You may see webbing (like flat spider webs) inside a heavily infested product. You might see active adults working to lay their eggs, or holes bored through packaging like waxed paper and plastic bags. If you can afford to, throw this infested product out. While not the most economical approach this is what most homeowners will do.

Sanitation and Exclusion
Once your cupboards are bare it’s time to get cleaning. All cracks, crevices and corners should be vacuumed clean of dust, flour and food stuffs that may have fallen in. In absence of a vacuum, wipe out everything you can with a wet rag, then blow out the voids and repeat until as clean as possible. You can treat the cracks and crevices with a general purpose pesticide at this point if you like, but it is not necessary. The cracks and crevices should now be filled with caulk, or something similar. This serves the dual purpose of both sealing out future food spills and pests, and sealing in anything you may have missed.

Control
As mentioned above, throw out all known or suspected infested product if you possibly can. If that is not an option, there are things we can do to kill the critters inside without losing the grain. Please note that while these bugs might seem disgusting to us, and they are eating your food, you can eat them without adverse consequences as most are not disease carrying. How shall we cook them? Let’s bake!
An oven set to 130 degrees for four hours is the minimum standard for killing the larvae and adults. No promises on the eggs as they can be extremely tough. A slightly higher heat and more time will likely net better results, but use caution not to damage the grain.
Freezing the grain can also kill the larva and adults, and again, no promises on the eggs. This method is not as effective as baking, and may be impractical.
A professional will use fumigation to treat a large amount of infested product, say a grain silo full of weevils, but it’s very expensive, and may not always be available to you. In any case, you can’t just go pick it up off the shelf, you need a Pest Control Operators License to purchase the chemical, and rightly so, it is highly toxic.

Storage
The packaging your food comes in from the grocery store is not good enough. These pests can bore a hole into the toughest shell nature can provide, do you think a cardboard box or waxed paper will stop them? Of course not. The best containers are glass or metal and airtight. Tupperware/Rubbermaid type containers are second best. Ziplocs and plastic bags are not acceptable for long term storage at all. It’s not a bad idea to store bulk food in many small containers rather than one large one. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket!
Finally…
Check your food stuffs regularly. Periods of dormancy are a part of an insect’s life cycle. Just because you don’t see them now, that doesn’t mean they’re not there!

RODENTS
Mice and Rats are some of the most damaging creatures we have to deal with. They eat what we eat, live where we live and carry parasites like lice and fleas. Because they are very similar to us biologically (one reason they are used extensively in research laboratories) it is easy for them to transmit disease to humans.
Luckily, control is actually very simple.

Identification
The only important reason to differentiate between a rat and mouse problem, is to choose what trap to use. A rat trap is just too big to effectively kill mice (something akin to killing an ant with a sledgehammer), they sometimes completely miss the mouse, and mouse traps only serve to make the rats mad.
The telltale signs of mice and rats are holes chewed into objects and food packaging, droppings, odors and noise.
As with all rodents, both mice and rats have large incisors (front teeth) that never stop growing. Because of that fact, they must constantly chew anything and everything in order to keep them ground down (I’ve seen pictures of a rat, not allowed to chew at all in a laboratory, whose lower teeth grew up over his head and into his skull!). You may see two parallel scrape marks in some materials from these teeth, the size will tell you if it’s a mouse or rat. They will chew electrical wiring, and are the cause of a surprising number of house fires (they are actually attracted to wiring because it looks and feels like one of their natural foods, grass shoots).

They both leave droppings wherever they go, black in color, tube shaped like a grain of rice. Mouse droppings are about the size of a grain of rice, and rat droppings are naturally bigger than that, about a half inch long by a quarter inch wide. Both species also urinate everywhere they go, and so will leave urine trails and odors behind.
A sound at night like someone scratching their nails lightly on the wall indicates a mouse problem. People with rats in their homes describe it as sounding like “elephants in the attic”. You may not hear anything at all, though, and still have a problem with either pest, sounds are just an indication. Rats love to nest above the water heater and furnace where it’s always warm, especially in winter. There is usually a screen vent above those appliances, where you may see nesting materials like candy wrappers and snail shells (a favorite food). Rats do, but mice do not drink water, they get all the moisture they need from their food.

You may mistake a baby rat for an adult mouse, you can tell the difference by the tail, a rats will be thicker and almost as long as its body. A baby rat will have very large feet as well, all ages of mice have small, delicate feet.

Exclusion
Exclusion is the first step. Seal any and all openings into the house. A rodent’s skull is the only solid part of his body, if he can squeeze his head through, he can flatten the rest of his body out to squeeze through, too. A mouse’s head is about the size of a dime, or you’re little finger. If you can fit a finger in a hole, seal it up. The smallest rats head is about the size of your thumb, but we’re going to seal up all the holes we find anyway, right?
Check and seal all vents to the crawlspace, especially around the air conditioning tubing, with steel wool, expanding foam or other inedible material. Do likewise to the soffit (attic) vents. You don’t have to make it bulletproof, just enough to discourage them. The bottom of a side garage door is almost guaranteed to be a problem, it’s required building code -to allow carbon monoxide gas from cars to escape. While I would NEVER suggest you break the law or bypass any safety measure, some people install a weather-stripping door sweep to keep the mice and rats outside where they belong. Trim all tree limbs that overhang, or worse, touch the house, as this is the Roof Rats favored method of entry. Anyplace two roof lines come together, climb up and seal the gaps in the soffits. Clothes lines and the like should not be attached to the house in any way. Ensure that any fences or other structures don’t come within several feet of the roof, rats are excellent jumpers. Think of squirrels, they are basically just cleaner rats with furry tails. Keep ground-cover, especially ivy, trimmed back from the house, at least 2 feet. Wood piles should not be stacked against the house, you’re just inviting trouble. Check the entire footprint of the house for tunnels, Norway Rats like to tunnel in, I’ve found many getting in that way.
Rats and mice do not live exclusively in your home, they come and go as they please.
Once the structure is sealed up, one of two things has happened: You have sealed them out, or you have sealed them in. If you’ve sealed them out, great, you’re done! If you’ve sealed them in, how should we get rid of them?

Trapping
Trapping is hands down the preferred method of killing them. There is no better mouse trap! The standard mouse and rat snap traps are exactly what you need, and they can be used over and over again. Use a very small amount of peanut butter underneath the trigger for best results. A big glob will soon dry up and a crafty rodent can just gently pick it off. Smear a little underneath, and he has to jump up there with both feet to dig at it and, well, you get the rest. An old trick is to use a wire twist tie to secure a nut or a snail to the trigger for an especially tricky rat. Both size traps should be slid in perpendicular to the wall (skinny end with the trigger goes against the wall), mice and rats both travel in straight lines against the wall (they use their whiskers to feel their way along in the dark). Trapping also insures that you control where the bodies will be for retrieval and disposal. You can place traps anywhere you’ve had activity that is convenient for you. The mice and rats sealed in will eventually get hungry enough to explore and find your trap, I promise.
Do not bother with live traps or glue traps, you risk getting bit and infected, and if released from a live trap they will probably just come back anyway.

Maintenance
Once you have stopped catching mice and rats, and you’re very sure the problem is solved, then you can consider using baits (poisons) as a prevention measure. If a rodent somehow gets in later, he will take the bait, which are all slow acting (several days) and leave when he starts to get sick. Mice are small enough that they don’t cause too many problems if they die in a wall, they just don’t have the body mass. Rats, on the other hand are horrible to deal with in a wall. If you don’t follow my advice about trapping and go right to using a poison with a rat, I promise you will regret it, I’ve learned this the hard way. The stench of death (rotting meat in your walls), the brown goo leeching through the drywall, the flies and maggots will remind you of these words.
Be extremely careful using baits outdoors. In fact, I don’t recommend it. There is nothing you can do to keep pests out of your yard, all you can control is the structure of the house. Most baits today are pretty safe, but I have had a customer kill her own dog by not following my advice and putting her own store bought bait under a wood shed. Can you imagine if a child had gotten into it? When a professional has to bait outdoors, he uses a tamper-proof metal or plastic box. These can be purchased if needed.
This last statement is going to upset some people, but cats are NOT the best rodent prevention and control measure. Yes they will kill mice and rats, and they can thin the herd, but they will never eradicate them all. Mice are a staple food to scores of predators like birds of prey and snakes, and the mice still manage to be the second most successful mammal on the planet! Have all the best mousers you like, they will help, but follow my advice above for best results.
And please, don’t leave pet food out at night! Keep dry pet food and the like in metal cans with tight fitting lids, and far from where you store your own food.

COCKROACHES
Cockroaches are filthy, disease-ridden creatures. All species thrive in unsanitary conditions. They breed incredibly fast, that’s part of the problem. A male and female German Cockroach, given an ideal environment can produce 1,000,000 offspring in one year. They are typically brought home from somewhere else like the grocery store, in someone’s luggage, etc.
In the old days they were extremely hard to get rid of, today, it’s a piece of cake.

Identification
There are many species of cockroach, but we will gear our attack toward the German Cockroach, as he is the main culprit in ruining foodstuffs. Outdoor Roaches like the American or Oriental are not usually an infestation problem inside the house, they are just a nuisance.
The German Cockroach is about a 1/2 inch to 3/4 of an inch long. Tan or brown colored, usually with two distinct black parallel lines on its head. They will hide in cracks and crevices under a sink, in cabinets or the baseboards, behind wall paneling, etc. (in the wild, they live under rocks and tree bark). As with other pests, it’s not a bad idea to fill these cracks and so eliminate their habitat. They will leave droppings that look something like black pepper, egg sacks after hatching, and their shells after they molt (shed their skin, so to speak). They avoid light, and will scatter for cover if you turn on a light while they’re out.

Sanitation
Clean grease and spills thoroughly, especially under the stove, oven and sink. Be sure to clean all surfaces well, including the cracks and crevices. Keep your food in pest proof containers. Do not give these guys an inch. Without proper sanitation it is impossible to get rid of them, you must take away the food sources (clean up spills)!
Control
Do not bother with any kind of spray, use a Bait Gel. It’s safer and much more effective, in fact, in my opinion it revolutionized the Pest Control Industry. It will come in a mini syringe with the active ingredient Hydramethylon. My experience is that it kills about 75% of a population in 2 weeks. Then 75% of what’s left in another 2 week follow-up visit. After 6 weeks, I can call a job done. For contrast, using conventional sprays, I could kill about 10% of a population per visit, and slowly make ground on them over many months.

CONCLUSION
It would be wise to stock up on pesticides just as you would medications. They are just not something you can replicate yourself. None of these products are terribly expensive, you can probably pick up everything you need for about $100. Note that these products do have a shelf life, so use them or give them away before they expire, and replace as needed.
You can see that 90% of Pest Control is not about chemical warfare, it’s about common sense and cleanliness.
Here’s the top ten things I recommend you stock up on:
1. General Purpose Pesticide like Malathion or Diazinon. Try to find a “Wettable Powder”, it keeps longer and can be mixed to whatever strength required. It also sticks better than liquids after application. In addition to a powder, try to find a Granular product, it is applied with a seed spreader and activated by water.
2. Ant Bait Gel with the active ingredient Fipronil. Combat brand is a good “over the counter” choice. The ants will carry it back to the nest to feed the other 99% of the ants you don’t see, including the queen, workers, soldiers and the “babies”.
3. Wasp Spray aerosol cans. This stuff shoots a stream about 10 feet away and will drop them dead in the air. Use on wasp nests, yellow-jackets and bees. While not specifically labeled for them, it will kill just about any insect you don’t want to get too close to (like Black Widows and scorpions). Any brand will do.
4. Flea Spray. Fleas are tough. Bathe and treat your pets first, clean your carpets and then treat the house.
5. Bug Bombs. These are not terribly effective, even the “prescription strength” ones in the industry are not that great. Still, I’d keep a few in stock.
6. Snap Traps for rats and mice. A dozen or two of each size should last many years, maybe forever. Try to find the ones with the big, yellow triggers. Much safer to set than the older metal ones, trust me, I’ve broken a finger setting a rat trap, they are no joke.
7. Rodent Bait. Decon will work, but the Combat brand (big, waxy blue blocks with the active ingredient Bromadiolone, an anti-coagulant) are better. It keeps longer and can be thrown into far corners of attics and crawlspaces.
8. Roach Bait Gel. Maxforce or Combat brand, active ingredient Hydramethylon.
9. Termiticide. A liquid will kill more than just termites and so is more versatile, but the commercially available baits (wood stakes impregnated with a stomach poison) are much more effective.
10. Building Repair Materials. Screening, caulking, steel wool, foam, etc.
Please, follow all warning labels on each product you use!

Seeking Reader Input for “Patriots” Sequels

I recently signed a contract with Atria Books (a division of Simon & Schuster) to write two sequels to my novel “Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse” Unlike traditional sequels, the storylines of these novels will be contemporaneous with the economic collapse and invasion described in the first novel. There will be some overlap of characters, but most of the action will take place in different locales. My goal is to use these two books to write about a lot of different tactics, techniques, and technologies for survival.

I’d greatly appreciate getting some tidbits of information from readers that would help add realism and authenticity to the next manuscript. I have fully outlined the book, but have thusfar only written three draft chapters. I’m hoping that there are some subject matter experts out there in the SurvivalBlog readership that can help me out with:any of the following information and insights:

  • Commercial fuel distillation, and how it might continue (localized) if the power grid goes down.
  • Details on natural gas “drip oil” collection and its use in gasoline engines
  • Experience with a 30-foot to 38-foot blue water sailboat
  • Raised in the Creole culture
  • Knows the current aggregate value of the Property Book of a Stryker Battalion. (Yes, I know that Strykers cost $2 million each, but…)
  • Recently lived in the Four Corners region
  • Done bicycle touring in France and Germany, preferably with winter bike touring experience
  • Lived in Belize for several years
  • Experience with reconstructive facial surgery, following trauma. (Surgeon or patient)
  • An F-16 fighter pilot within the past 10 years.
  • Experience with Laron Starstreaks or similar “Light Experimental” class aircraft
  • Lived in or near Prescott, Arizona
  • Worked in a commercial cornmeal processing plant, preferably “old school”, small scale
  • Recently stationed at Luke AFB
  • Owned a Lahti 9mm pistol
  • Raised in the “Texas-German” culture (such as New Braunfels)
  • Lived in Wisbech or a similar town with a yacht harbor in southern England
  • Experience using compact QRP 40 meter band HF transmitters.(Paperback book size or smaller, preferably DC-powered)

If you can answer “Yes!” to any of these, please send me an e-mail. I’ll try to keep my queries brief, and not pester you too much. In exchange, you are welcome to equivalent consulting time in any of my areas of expertise.