Letter Re: Concerns About Toxicity in Water From Roof Catchment Rainwater

Mr. Rawles,
I searched the forums to no avail on this topic. In the Pacific Northwest, a common roof setup is untreated wood shakes with copper ridge caps and flashing. The rain hits the copper which leaches chemicals onto the wood shakes to inhibit moss growth.

On other sites I’m reading conflicting thoughts on whether this amount of copper renders the water unsuitable for rain catchment into a water barrel for vegetable garden irrigation or a cistern for human consumption. Some folks seem to think there is more danger from the concentrated nitrogen in the water (bird droppings, raccoon feces) than the minute traces of copper. Others believe any amount of copper renders the water useless, no matter what purification steps one might take (filters, Aerobic 07, etc). – What is your take? – Scott J

JWR Replies: The copper itself is not the issue, since after all most residential water pipes are copper. But if lead solder was used for any joints, that would be cause for concern. Personally, I’d be much more concerned about any wood preservative treatment chemicals impregnated in the shingles. Some of those chemicals, such as copper naphthalate, are nasty! But if your roof was built with plain, untreated cedar shingles and copper sheeting without lead joints, then the catchment water should be fine for domestic use, once it is properly filtered and treated for microbes.

Mexican Flu Update:

Heather sent a link to an article was featured in Seven Days (an ultra-liberal newspaper in Burlington, Vermont: The Pandemic Pantry; Stocking up on staples, just in case. Heather’s comment: “I think this article illustrates the fact that the preparedness mindset is starting to reach the mainstream. Maybe the sheeple are beginning to catch on? The article on the side talks about the LDS Church. While I have theological disagreements with the LDS I think their food storage program is outstanding.”

KAF sent us this: Another Swine Bug Raises Scientists’ Concerns. KAF’s comment: “This is particularly disturbing. When Egypt began mass slaughtering the pigs, I thought they were mad. Now I am wondering if perhaps they knew something we are just finding evidence of? “

Via K.J.’s e-mail: Confirmed US swine flu cases rises to 896

From Tricia: WHO: Up to 2 billion people might get swine flu

Decision on Flu Vaccine Looms

Does WHO need to declare flu a full pandemic? (Thanks to Ray V. for the link.)

Economics and Investing:

Reader HPD pointed us to this commentary by Mish Shedlock: Preliminary Stress Test Results. What a sham! HPD also mentioned this: Futures Fall, BofA May Need $35 Billion in Capital. HP had these incisive comments: “Expect BofA (and Wells Fargo) stock to bounce after the initial decline. Geithner has taught the market that he will throw a lifeline to any large bank, no matter how insolvent. Thus is capital misallocated in a centrally planned economy.” He added in a later e-mail: “Outrageous! But did we really expect anything different? …Gee, I wonder why all the major servicers are sitting on aged REOs [Real Estate Owned] .. Notices of Default (NODs) delayed seemingly indefinitely to avoid the paper loss. What is the POA [power of attorney] exposure? Are checking accounts swept nightly to avoid reserve requirements? (Yes they are.) Is this accounted for in the “tests”? Who is holding [the] CDS [(credit default swap) derivative paper] on the US government? How is that unwound? Don’t worry, you’re already on the wrong side of the swap. [Some rantyness snipped.] We live in a centrally planned economy, the long term ramifications of which we cannot predict. How many times can a dead cat bounce? Does the government have the wisdom to manage such an economy?”

M.W. flagged this from The Wall Street Journal: 401(k)s Hit by Withdrawal Freezes; Investors Cry Foul as Some Funds Close Exits; Perils of Distressed Markets

LJ in England sent this: Bank holds interest rates at 0.5% as it prints extra £50 billion in cash

Obama Releases Details of $3.4 Trillion Budget Plan

Odds ‘n Sods:

A few SurvivalBlog readers have recently mentioned that they’ve got browser errors when trying to visit SurvivalBlog. Typically, they get this error Message: “Content encoding error – The page you are trying to view cannot be shown because it uses an invalid or unsupported form of compression.” This seems to be a browser glitch, rather than something wrong with our site. A quick and easy fix: Clear your browser’s cache.

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Several blog readers sent us this: Oklahoma legislators over-ride governor’s veto to pass sovereignty resolution.

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“FloridaGuy” flagged this: Poll: Support for an assault weapons ban is shrinking

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GG forwarded this: Chicken owners seek free range in city

Notes from JWR:

The high bid in the SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction. is now at $1,010. This auction is for a large mixed lot, which includes:

1.) A Three-Color Desert Camo Interceptor OTV (Outer Tactical Vest) size XL only, and a spare Woodland camouflage outer shell, kindly donated by BulletProofME.com. These items have a combined retail value of $960!

2.) A vehicle detection system, which includes: one MURS Alert Probe Sensor (MAPS) with 50 foot probe cable and one MURS Alert Hand Held (M538-HT) transceiver. The MAPS unit’s probe can be covertly installed under the surface of a driveway or road to detect vehicular traffic and a voice alert is sent to the hand held transceiver when a detection occurs. Donated by MURS Radio. Retails for $303

3.) Two cases of Yoder’s Canned Bacon, courtesy of CampingSurvival.com. (12 cans per case.) A $276 retail value.

4.) A NukAlert compact radiation detector donated by at KI4U.com (a $160 retail value). 

5.) Three Garden Security Collections, and two Garden Bean Collections, donated by SeedForSecurity.com. With included free shipping to any US postal address, this is a $100+ retail value.

6.) Two America Stone knife sharpeners (with belt pouches), donated by the manufacturer. (A $60 retail value.)

Thus, this auction has a combined value in excess of $1,800. This auction ends on May15th. Please e-mail us your bid. Your bid will be for the entire mixed lot.

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Today we present a guest article from Kathy Harrison, the author of the popular mainstream preparedness book Just in Case . I highly recommend getting her book to first read yourself and then pass along to any of your “head in the sand” neighbors and relatives.

Maximizing Use of a Backyard Greenhouse, by Kathy Harrison

Here in Western Massachusetts, with its short, cool growing season, a backyard greenhouse is a real boon for those of us concerned with providing our families excellent food, even when supply chains are shut down during a time of crisis. We have spent three years figuring how to maximize the relatively small interior space of our rectangular, rigid-walled greenhouse in an efficient manner.
Early on, we realized there were steps we could take to increase the interior temperature during our cold, windy winters. My husband rescued an old thermal pool cover that was headed for the landfill and cut out sections to fit against both the north and west sides. By doubling this cover, we now had both a wind break and heat sink that held sun-generated warmth. He also made a double 6 ply plastic cover that is raised during sunny days but can be lowered to about a foot above the ground at night. This essentially makes an interior cold frame that protects crops from frigid night air. We added a stone walkway down the middle of the greenhouse that captures heat as well as keeps the area cleaner. Our final step was to ring the exterior of the greenhouse with bales of hay, stacked two deep. It is an easy matter to move the hay away from the door so we can enter as long as we keep the area free of snow. On the coldest nights, we bring out the day’s ashes from a wood stove, captured in a metal bucket. With these measures in place, we have never had the ground freeze on the interior, in spite of nights that dip to -20 degrees.

The next step is to ensure that the soil inside is as healthy as possible. This means liberal applications of compost and bi-weekly applications of a weak fish emulsion fertilizer.
Finally, we developed a plan of crops and crop rotation that makes the best use of our available space. We were looking for crops that provided maximum nutrition and dietary bulk. We were surprised by some of the things that did quite well.

In mid February, we plant several varieties of lettuce seeds. They start slowly but by mid-March, we harvest a salad a day. This was an early spring for us and I can’t guarantee such good results every year. We started our seedlings inside in early March. My early April, we were able to harden them off in the greenhouse. We have never had such healthy and vigorous starts. As the lettuce starts to bolt in the heat, we will be removing those plants and replacing them with some miniature melons, something we could never grow in our climate, as well as root crops such as carrots, turnips and beets. We ate turnip and beet greens late into January and we were pulling the roots throughout the winter as the ground never froze. We planted hardy greens such as bok choi, tat soi, chard and spinach in August. By October, we were eating the first of those greens and they continued to produce well into winter.

As the root crops develop below ground, a shelf above hold individual pots of salad greens and cherry tomatoes grow in suspended planters. We started these later than our garden tomatoes and we were enjoying fresh salad tomatoes weeks after frost had done away with the main crop. We did not have luck growing bush tomatoes in the soil. We got all vine and no fruit.

Other important considerations are water, pests and heat control. Greenhouse plants need a lot of water. In early spring, I water seedlings every day. As it gets warmer, it is not unusual to water twice a day so having a source of water nearby is terrific. A rain gutter that drains into a bucket would be helpful. Our greenhouse has two roof vents that have to be opened early in the day, before the sun gets too high. Unopened, the temperature can reach 110 degrees by 10:30 in the morning, a temperature that will fry any tender plant. Even in mid-winter, the greenhouse is so warm we are able to eat lunch out there. Some greenhouses have solar operated vents that open and close as the temperature fluctuates. It is an upgrade we wish we had invested in. We do have a black shade cloth to keep the interior cooler in extremely hot weather. This is seldom necessary in our climate but a more southern location would find that useful.

Pest control is vital as aphids can be a real problem. We find that a squirt of soapy water followed by a clear rinse does a good job of keeping them under control although at one point the infestation was severe and we had to pull out the Asian greens, which were the biggest problem. If you plan to bring any plants from the greenhouse inside, check closely for these pests.
We have been so satisfied with the productivity of our greenhouse that we are planning to invest in another one, further enhancing our ability to feed ourselves throughout and food, energy or weather crisis. – Kathy Harrison, author of Just in Case

Letter Re: Expanding the Family Larder with Coupon Shopping

Dear Jim,
I’m a mom, and new to your site, but I’ve long been thinking that my instinct for planning should ramp up to a new level of preparedness to keep my family safe. Like many of your readers I’ve long felt an increased sense of alarm at the state of our world on numerous levels.

And, as many of your readers – preparing within the parameters of my normal household budget along with the current financial challenges makes preparation challenging! … in short – I don’t have lots of spare cash around to go around buying pallets of food “just in case”…

I really feel convicted that as a Christian mom who has learned a better way to shop – it’s my duty to educate your readers about rethinking their normal shopping to a more frugal and economic shopping style that will allow them to create and build a food stockpile for their possible future needs. If more people are prepared, then as a community we will be able to hold each other up.

So – let’s talk coupon shopping.

As I said – I’m a mom – a normal mom, married with two kids. But food is expensive and most people think. I can’t go in the store and just buy 40 boxes of pasta to put on a shelf –that would be crazy. I need to buy my normal groceries! But I did just that, this week – and for free! Coupon shopping has evolved into such a crazy science that there are tons of web sites dedicated just to that.

People generally think it’s great if they buy something on sale. Or if they get an item with a coupon. But what people need to realize is that they need to buy something on sale with a coupon when it hits the rock-bottom sale price. If you live in an area where coupons double, you need to use your 75 cent coupon when an item hits $1.50 so it ends up being free.

I have not spent a cent on toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant or nearly any other “health and beauty” item in the three years I’ve been couponing. If the only thing that enabled me besides the ability to stockpile for myself and donate to my friends and food pantries abundantly. It enables me to not spend money on those items, [and hence] to shift it to food spending. The pasta I bought today for free.: It was on sale for $1, with a coupon for $1/2 that was part of a special dollar doubling deal at my local grocery store.

I normally buy 10-15 newspapers and have delis that hold me their unsold papers and have no qualms about dumpster diving for more.

The end result of this is that I don’t spend more than 50 cents on a box of cereal and get a great portion of my food needs for free. Of course there is still produce and meat so it’s a work in progress.

I want your readership to realize that with savvy coupon shopping within their own shopping environment, they can start to build a stockpile. It’s imperative that they do so.

To start couponing, do a Google search on “coupon shopping”. Find out if your local grocery store offers any coupon cards, doubling, or tripling. Be prepared to do some Internet research on the big coupon sites. Invest in at least 10-15 papers if you have a family of four (or find a free source for newspaper coupon inserts such as a recycling center) Keep at it. Coupon savings sometimes take four weeks for the coupons you get today to come into play as a maximum savings item. This takes time, but saving money and being prepared and taking care of your family is the only motivation you should need. Regards, – Ida

JWR Replies: Thanks for those suggestions. I encourage SurvivalBlog readers to bookmark and regularly visit some of the major Internet coupon web sites, such as as and RetailMeNot.com, Mommy Saves Big, and Wow Printable Coupons.

Economics and Investing:

Roddy sent this from the Guatemala Times: The Great Depression Analogy

R.S. forwarded this from The Financial Times: If China loses faith the dollar will collapse

A recent column by Libertarian commentator Vin Suprynowicz: Light at the end of the tunnel: They only need another $20 trillion

DS liked this piece by Karl Denninger, over at Seeking Alpha: Independent Analyst Numbers Far Uglier than Official Stress Test Rumors. JWR’s comment If we take into account that most US residential real estate will likely fall another 30%, and most commercial property by another 50%, then the “official” stress test results will be downright laughable. All those “underlying assets” are little more than sinking sand.

Dave L.sent us this piece at Bloomberg: Bank of America, Citigroup, GMAC Need More Capital (Billions more in the MOAB!)

Odds ‘n Sods:

Rhett mentioned the AOPA “Pinch Hitter” course. (Imagine that you are the passenger in a friend’s private plane,when suddenly he suffers a massive heart attack. What will you do?)

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Some places you have to go well-armed, to share the Gospel. Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.

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Eric sent us this: Montana sovereignty bills have national scope

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Reader Don E. spotted this: Homeland agency pulled back extremism dictionary. Why haven’t the biased authors at the DHS been fired?

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Another item for the “Home invasion robberies thwarted” file: College Student Shoots, Kills Home Invader. (A hat tip to Tamara’s View From the Porch blog for the link.)

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Why should taxpayers who live in apartments, perhaps because they did not feel that they could afford to buy a house, be forced to subsidize other people who could not afford to buy a house, but who went ahead and bought one anyway?" – Thomas Sowell

Note from JWR:

Today we present a brief but very practical entry for Round 22 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The contest prizes include:

First Prize: Two transferable Front Sight  “Gray” Four Day Training Course Certificates. This is an up to $4,000 value!
Second Prize: A three day course certificate from OnPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses.
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.

Zero Your Rifle with Just Two Rounds, by Pete C.

What makes our rifles fun? Shooting them! However, we have all seen first-hand the spike in ammunition prices since the 2008 Presidential election. American’s in fear that they will soon not be able to get ammunition because a possible government bans, smart bullets schemes, etc; citizens have been stockpiling ammunition causing a stress on the market. This in turn causes shortages and prices rise.

Here I will discuss a simple and inexpensive way for you to stop wasting ammunition and money; and zero your battle rifle (or any that you might “come across” during a TEOTWAWKI situation) with only two rounds. If you have been in the military, you know that the current procedure for zeroing the M16 type of rifles wastes time and ammunition. The military will allow up to eighteen rounds of ammunition (in three round shot groups) to be fired per soldier in order to zero their weapons. This allows several variables such as breathing, trigger squeeze, stock weld, etc. to affect the zero.

Borrowing techniques from expert hunters, everyone can easily streamline their zeroing procedures and only use two rounds of ammunition to quickly zero their weapon. This method works whether zeroing iron sights or scopes, and it will work on many different kinds of rifles with reliable adjustable sights (AR-15s, AR-10s, M1As, FN/FALs, etc). The purpose of this method is only to provide the shooter with a weapon that places rounds on target. It does this while saving time and ammunition.

Required Items:

  • A safe shooting location (range) providing at least 25 meter shooting distance.
  • One solid bench rest (many ranges have these for use, or they can be purchased from many gun shops or on-line, ranging in price from $50 – $150 or more, but then it is yours.
  • Your chosen weapon (for example, an AR-15 using iron sights)
  • 25-meter zero target (for example, an E-type silhouette)
  • One extra E-type silhouette (cut out from another zero target)
  • Staple gun and tape
  • Eye and hearing protection

Zeroing Method
Place the mechanically zeroed weapon (See FM3-22.9 at the link below on mechanical zero) securely in the bench rest and use the adjustments on the rest to put the rifle sights directly over the center of a 25-meter zero target, or the desired aim point and fire one round at the target. To compensate for the weapon’s recoil, you should (if needed) again use the bench rest adjustments to move the rifle sights back over the desired point of impact. Make sure that your weapon is on safe.

Now walk downrange with the extra cut out E-type silhouette and tape it directly over the impact point of the round fired. Walk back to the weapon (still secured in the bench rest) and carefully move the sight picture directly over the taped-on target. To do this, simply raise or lower the front sight post for elevation corrections and turn the rear-sight (windage) knob either left or right to make corrections.

You should now have your sights aligned precisely over the actual point of impact on the target. If you have been careful not to make the rifle slip within the bench while making the adjustments, it should now be zeroed. To confirm the zero, simply move your sights back over the original target (using the adjustments on the bench rest) to the desired point of impact and fire a second round. If the rifle is zeroed, this round should hit the desired point of impact. Get up and move again downrange to confirm the hit. If the round is not at the desired point of impact, simply repeat the procedure from the second round’s point of impact on the zero target. This simple procedure allows you to zero a rifle quickly by moving the point of aim to the point of impact.
The use of a bench rest eliminates the need to fire three rounds of ammunition to obtain a shot group before making sight adjustments. If the first round is not true, the second (confirmation) round will alert you to this fact, and you could than repeat the process.

Yes, there are other items that you can purchase that will assist you with getting a weapon zeroed. Laser bore sights for example are great and easily obtained from gun shops or on-line sites and range in price from $40 – $150 or more. With these items, you can zero your rifle quickly without even firing a single shot saving both time and ammunition. However, if you do not have the correct caliber laser or insert sleeve to change to a different caliber; or the mini-watch batteries run dead and you have no way to replace them, the laser bore sight will do you no good. If you already have one though, don’t get rid of it. Sometimes there may be a situation in which you are in an area where discharging of a firearm to zero may not be possible.

In addition, there is a wonderful company called Shepherd Scopes that developed a patented dual reticle system that gives you a point of reference inside the scope allowing you to zero the scope/weapon with just one shot from a bench rest position. These scopes however range in cost from $700 – $800 apiece. I would rather spend funds on purchasing more ammunition, as we all know from reading SurvivalBlog.com, that ammunition could one day be more useful than silver for the purposes of barter.

In closing, zeroing your rifle makes it more effective. This expedient two-round method will give you confidence that your sights and bore are aligned even if you happen to “pick-up” or borrow a weapon from a friend; have limited time or limited ammunition. Understand that different positions, body armor, winter clothing, etc. will change your head position, but your bore and sights will be properly aligned/zeroed. Having a zeroed weapon is a fundamental you can build on. The rest is up to you. Good-luck and God Bless!

References:
– Ammo Price Hike Has Many Biting the Bullet
– WorldNetDaily, There was ammo on these shelves …Nationwide shortage leaves gun owners scrambling, paying extra, Zahn, Drew, March 31, 2009.
– FM 3-22.9 Rifle Marksmanship M16A1, M16A2/3, M16A4 and M4 Carbine
– Shepherd Scopes

Odds ‘n Sods:

From the Dr. Housing Bubble blog: The Paradox of Spendthrifts – Government Offering 0 Percent on I Savings Bonds and Creating Incentives to Spend. Punishing the Prudent and Savers. $115 Trillion in Total U.S. Debt

It is nice to see that the spot price of silver has bounced back. I hope that you folks took advantage of the recent dip. (I did!) It may not occur until after inflation kicks in, in the aftermath of overspending on the Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB), but I stand by my long term prediction of $50+ silver.

Great Recession’ Will Redefine Full Employment as Jobs Vanish (Thanks to Eric for the link.)