Two Letters Re: Precious Metal and Base Metal Composition of Foreign Coins?

Mr Rawles,s
My family really enjoys and has benefited from reading your blog. Thank you for putting together such a quality reference site. One topic I have not seen discussed (even after a search of the archives) is whether or not pre-1960s foreign silver coins have any value. As a child, I received a large number of European coins from my grandfather (circa 1920s to 1930s), many of which are silver and a few appear to be bronze. While they have little value to collectors based on condition (I have kept them for sentimental reasons), I would assume that silver is silver and they have some base value. Do you have any opinions or advice regarding using these in a SHTF situation or a suggestion for a reference I could use for more information regarding their silver content? Thank you, – J.S.

J.W.R.;
I was wondering if you could point me to a source for determining the silver content by year of Canadian coins and if any of them would be worth hanging on to. Thanks in advance! – Montana Marty

JWR Replies: I recommend getting copies of both the 2009 Standard Catalog of World Coins 1901-2000 and the 2010 Standard Catalog of World Coins 2001-Date reference books. Composition data on Canadian coins is also available at these web pages:

Ken Polsson’s Page

Canadian Nickels – Composition

CoinMine.com

Another good reference for US coins is The Official Red Book: A Guide Book of United States Coins 2009, but coin composition data is also available online at www.Coinflation.com. and BestCoin.com. Needless to say, when preparing for a grid-down collapse, it is crucial to have hard copies of key references that you’ll need for barter.

Letter Re: Bug Out Contingency Planning

[Introductory note from JWR: I normally send detailed letter replies only to their intended recipients, but in this case, I thought that this letter was a great example of terrain and obstacle analysis,a s well as “outside the box” planning, so I’m positing it for the entire SurvivalBlog readership to ponder. Do you have similar plans for off-road mobility, and contingency plans, folks?]

Mr. Rawles,
A note for Diane about her relative living on-post at Fort Riley, Kansas: First thing to obtain if you want to bug out of Ft. Riley is to get a Kansas Atlas & Gazetteer map book from DeLorme. [JWR Adds: These books are a key tool for “Get Out of Dodge” (G.O.O.D.) planning. Get one of these for your state, and if your intended retreat is in another state, for any states in-between!]

I trained for some years on the Ft. Riley reservation, lived in Kansas and have canoed many streams in the area. I have these comments on how to get out of that location.

The Ft. Riley Military Reservation is bounded on it western side by the very large Milford Lake. The water body of this lake is 14+ miles long and has a wildlife area upstream that extends some 5 to 6 miles north to Boughton, Kansas. At Boughton you can access a good Highway that will take you to Clay Center then west on Highway 24 to get across the Republican river.
Only one road crosses the lake body proper at Wakefield [Highway 82]. The river running into the lake is the Republican River. It is runs through an area of heavy soils making the banks steep, the bottom of the river soft and the stream depth non-fordable. To ford this river channel without a bridge you would have to travel many miles upstream approaching Cloud County Kansas [county seat Concordia] where the river changes from a deep soil bed to a sandy bed. Even in this area no one crosses the river in a four wheeled vehicle. ATVs do, but it is just too soft and sandy. I worked for the Department of Agriculture in this area and am very familiar with the farm community and the river channel areas, as a hunter. The transition zone from solid soils to sand is rather mucky.
I have canoed much of the river from well above Concordia to near the lake. Other than the road crossing at Wakefield and the southern end of the dam where Highway 244 skirts below the dam the west side of Ft. Riley is only a restricted bug out route because of the few escape routes. Near Salina Kansas the is the junction of the Solomon River [consisting upriver of two large streams, the north fork and the south fork]; the Saline River and the Smoky Hill River. Saline is west of Ft. Riley. At Ft. Riley the Republican River joins this conglomeration of rivers that come together at Saline to form the Kansas, River. This river is big. You will not cross unless you can find a bridge. This river runs west to east for many miles and gets much bigger the further east you go. Bugging out south of Ft. Riley is possible only if the Highways are clear to get across this river system.
Consult your maps for details.

There are large tracts of land south and southeast of Junction City, the southern portal to Ft. Riley that do not have a fully-developed [typical Plains state township] mile on mile road grid system.
Why? It is range land supporting large ranches. The roads were never built on a grid in this area. It has restricted assess to state Highways and county farm to market roads only. Consult your maps.
Unless the major Highways are open to the south it is a restricted zone for escape some 15 miles south and 20 miles east due to the lack of a road grid system.

Yes, I-70 does run by the south. A good exit if it is open. To the east is the large metropolitan city of Manhattan. It is a block if you want to bug out to the east. North and further NE of Ft. Riley is the huge Tuttle Creek lake some 16 miles long with its accompanying wildlife land area extending another five miles or so upriver. It is a huge block to getting out east or NE. Only one road crosses the lake on the dam [Highway 13].

The only well developed open grid section of mile on mile of county roads and state Highways is north. The Ft. Riley Military Reservation is some 14 mile long to the north. There is a military road system through this area. This road system is accessible from the bedding area for troops on Custer Hill–or it was some years ago. Check this out.

The huge training area north of Ft. Riley is, or was controlled from a single building called “Range Control”. The assignment and use of the training areas was scheduled from this area. They monitor the areas mostly by radio. My suggestion is to get a military map of Ft. Riley with the range control markings showing the designations of each of the training areas. They all have numbers.
Now, since I was there a large construction and upgrading has proceeded at the tank gunnery range. But in an emergency I would think military families wanting to exit through the training areas to Bala Kansas and Riley Kansas or to get to the Highway to Milford would be possible. [JWR Adds: It also bears mentioning that artillery range impact areas are to be avoided at all times, since they are often littered with unexploded ordnance (UXO). Most of the “back gates” of large military reservations are kept locked and often unmanned except during major field training exercises (FTXes). In genuine “worst case” times of Deep Drama, a large pair of bolt cutters may be an indispensable friend of last resort. Before taking such extreme measures, however, consider that cutting the last link on a chain on such a gate is a Federal crime! Bolt cutters are a crucial tool that every well-prepared family should own, for many purposes.]

Note: large areas of the north are tank training areas. There are trails there marked tank trail. Under no circumstances try to negotiate a tank trail in a civilian vehicle. You will become mired down in no time. I have driven M60 tanks and tracked bridge units all the way from the bird bath to tank training headquarters. Trust me on this. I have seen tanks mired down on those trails that looked like it was going to take an act of God to get them out.

Ft. Riley present a core of access problems anyone wanting to bug out from there. It is possible if you make a good plan. Have the maps. And please, in advance drive all the routes to familiarize yourself with them. Most of all explore the roads through the training areas. Visit Range Control and talk to the people there and get a map of the military reservation area. [JWR Adds: This can often be done on the pretense of scouting a hunt, since some military training areas are open for specific hunting seasons.] Make a plan! Cordially, – JWC in Oklahoma

Influenza Pandemic Update:

WHO warns of severe form of swine flu. The article begins: “Doctors are reporting a severe form of swine flu that goes straight to the lungs, causing severe illness in otherwise healthy young people and requiring expensive hospital treatment, the World Health Organization said on Friday. Some countries are reporting that as many as 15 percent of patients infected with the new H1N1 pandemic virus need hospital care, further straining already overburdened healthcare systems, WHO said in an update on the pandemic.”

Gregor spotted this in an Australian newspaper: “Swine Flu Spreading at ‘unbelievable’ rate: WHO Chief”

Swine Flu’s Worst Case Scenario: Paranoia or Preparedness?

One company is diligently preparing for the worst case H1N1 Flu scenario with promising results

Fearing flu, Vermont fair cancels all swine events

Economics and Investing:

Brad H. sent this from Capitalism magazine: The Collapse of America? The Dire Message of Mr. David Walker

Detroit sets record for unemployment–28.9% (Thank to Paul B. for the link.)

Items from The Economatrix:

Arnold Holds Great California Garage Sale To Help Economy

How Goldman Sach’s Problems are Hurting You

US Economy: Spending Climbed in July Due to Clunkers Program

Japanese Economy Hit by “Double Nightmare”

Bankers’ Excesses…At Our Collective Expense

Tsunami of Broke and Desperate Americans

Fed urges secrecy on banks in bailout programs (A more accurate headline would be: “Fed Warns The Truth Will Destroy The Economy”)

Japan Unemployment Hits Record High

US Prisoners Get Cash To ‘Boost Economy’

Summer ‘Recovery’ Will Turn to Cold, Long Winter

Investment Crash Points to Economic Pain

UK Financial Watchdog Backs World Transaction Tax

Can The Financial Soufflé Rise Again?
UK Sleepwalking Toward Decade of Economic Misery

Germany to Lend Directly as Second Credit Dive Looms

Odds ‘n Sods:

Our friend Tamara posted a link to an article that illustrates that a very large quantity of ammunition can be stored in a relatively small, waterproof space.

   o o o

Failing Camouflage 101: Robbery suspect spray-paints face for disguise, dies. He should have listened to the warnings of his Greek girlfriend, Anna Phalaxis. 🙂

   o o o

Readers that enjoy finding coupon bargains might find the Coupon Chief web site worth bookmarking. This site is one of the better ones. (There are several others that you can quickly find with a web search,and the links at this SurvivalBlog article.) BTW, I predict that this decade will go down in history as a “penny pinching” one, that will rival the 1930s. Coupon clipping (or should I say more accurately, “coupon printing” or “coupon code copying”, these days), is a great way to reduce costs when stocking up.

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 24 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.

First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost between $500 and $600, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) and C.) A HAZARiD Decontamination Kit from Safecastle.com. (A $345 value.)

Second Prize: A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $350.

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

Round 24 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Forest Fires and TEOTWAWKI, by J.B. in Florida

Often in reading survivalist material, one comes across instructions on how to use fire in a camping or retreat setting for cooking, cleaning, sterilizing, and the like.  There is also quite a bit of information on how to protect ones self and belongings from the threat of fire, particularly wildfires.  Much of the information I have found is good information, and will be useful in a The End of the World as We Know It (TEOTWAWKI) scenario.  The purpose of this writing is not to further expound on those things most of us already know, but rather to use us to think about the other ways fire will impact our lives during TEOTWAWKI and look at some possibilities for actions that we should take now.

Without question, fire has played a vital role in shaping every ecosystem in existence on every land today.  That being said, it has to be true that fire, or the lack of fire, will continue to change and/or maintain the lands and ecosystems available into, and beyond TEOTWAWKI.

For centuries fires that started naturally, usually by lightning, and even fires started by native populations, burned unchecked across the landscape.  These fires were generally of low intensity because fire and the fuels they consumed were in harmony due to their long and virtually unhindered relationship.  Nature was in sync.  Around the turn of the 20th century, people began to see fire as a bad thing that was destroying timber, crops, and occasionally buildings.  With that mindset, and with the rapid advancement of technology, man’s capability to contain and control wildfire improved greatly, and we began to save the precious resources once doomed to destruction.  Unfortunately, it was a long time before it occurred to many people that fire is as necessary to the health and vitality of these areas as rain and sunlight.

Fast-forward a hundred years and the results of our extinguishment efforts are clear.  Many forests and wild lands have gone without God’s built-in cleaning for far too long, and now the fuels available to burn generate high-intensity, fast-burning fires that human ingenuity cannot seem to compete with.  I have managed wildfire on both coasts, and numerous places in between, and I want to assure you that this situation exists in many, if not most, of the wild lands, in every state in our Country today, and therefore, should be a consideration in locating and maintaining a retreat or GOOD location.
All wild lands are going to burn one way or another.  We can allow (or mimic, through the use of prescribed fire) naturally occurring fires to burn, or we can exclude fire from an area until the conditions finally come together to generate a conflagration that humans cannot control.  Choosing the former will go a long way toward maintaining these areas in a state where life will flourish.  These fires consume dead fallen debris which provides much needed nutrients back to the soil.  This in turn, encourages the growth of supple young plant life which provide browse and forage for different wildlife species, and opens up areas close to the ground for new growth of overstory species (of trees) to start over.

The exclusion of naturally occurring fire usually has adverse and devastating effects, which interrupt the “circle of life” for years, and sometimes changes the ecosystem forever.  Older, less healthy trees and shrubs are not “thinned out”, allowing the canopy to grow together and shade out nutritious young plant life.  This discourages wildlife browse, which allows the shrub layer and the fallen debris layer to become thicker and heavier.  Once fire does return, it burns with greater intensity and longer flame length, causing the entire tree canopy to be consumed, and large areas of soil to be sterilized, thereby inhibiting regeneration.

Certainly these illustrations are an oversimplification, but nonetheless they do provide an accurate representation of how these forested ecosystems can work.  And while the fire regime is not the only thing that affects forest health, I believe it is the most prominent aspect of these ecosystems which are affecting forest health in our country today.
So, what should you do when considering, building, or maintaining a retreat locale?  First of all, it is important to note that forests vary greatly from one area to the next.  Being a native of the southeast, my intuition and understanding of what a healthy forest looks like does not always apply in say, the northern Rockies.  I think you should choose a location based upon other factors that you have learned, and then begin to study and learn the fire regime for the ecosystem that you have chosen.  To do that, talk to the locals, the scientists or forestry personnel who work in the area, as well as the firefighters.  Farmers also have a good handle on the land and what is happening.  Pay particularly close attention to the old-timers who “grew up around here”.  Ask them these questions:

  • Have the forests changed in their lifetime?  Are they thick and overgrown?
  • Have the fires really gotten worse over the years, or is it just more “hyped” due to the increased population and the sensational media?
  • Is there more or less wildlife than years past?  (Again, this can be hyped by the media, but the local old-timers will have a good feel for the “truth”.)
  • Who owns most of the large tracts of land?  Do they ever log it?  Do they conduct prescribed burns or “controlled burns”?

Other sources of such information include libraries, museums, and town halls or community centers.  Often they will have old pictures.  Look at the background of those photos.  Do the natural areas look significantly different than they do now?
Once you have begun work on your locale, I believe as good stewards we are responsible to at least learn about the basic fire history and behavior in our area.  Those with tracts of land large enough should also learn how to use fire (prescribed fire) for the benefit of the land we use for our survival.  You may also need to get involved in the political process (as long as there is one to be involved in).  Currently, there are laws in many areas that prevent landowners from using fire in a useful and productive way.  While these laws are probably intended to provide for public safety, many of them are old and work against the public good in the long run by adversely affecting forest health.

Work to protect your property against loss due to wildfire.  You can have the best intentions in the world, but if you loose your home because you chose the wrong landscaping or building material, you will become a statistic that many will use to prevent responsible fire management.  http://www.firewise.org/ is a great resource to start looking for information on how to do this

Let me state now, unequivocally and for the record, fire in the wrong hands is extremely hazardous to life and property, and must be treated with the same respect one would give a loaded bazooka in a crowded church.  I am in no way advocating that everyone who owns or manages a rural piece of property go out and set it on fire.  Doing so, without the proper knowledge and safety measures, can cause loss of life and property in a disaster, for which you may be held wholly and personally liable in a court of law.  By the same token, allowing a natural fire to “burn unchecked across the landscape” without the proper knowledge and available resources can also have the same disastrous affects, and is illegal in some areas.

For those of you who believe, as I do, that the stuff will most certainly one day hit the fan, and are planning to make it “out here”, I assure you that these are important issues.  It cannot be overstated that if you intend to live off of the land, then the health and productivity of that land is vital.  Although done with the best of intentions, we have gone a long way to making our forests unhealthy through fire exclusion.  Continue to do so after the SHTF, and your once safe and beautiful homestead, could quite easily become a burned-out, barren wasteland that can no longer sustain you and yours.

JWR Adds: The sound practice of tree clearing to establish “defensible space” has been previously discussed in SurvivalBlog. See, for example, this 2007 article: From the Memsahib: Developing Wildfire Defensive Space at Your Home or Retreat. Don’t just think about it, get out you chainsaw and accomplish it!

Economics and Investing:

From Reader GG: Poll: 34% of U.S. Workers Surveyed Have Only One Week or Less of Savings to Cover Expenses if Laid Off from Work. We are a nation of debtors, not savers, and someday that’s going to bite us.


Regulators Shutter Three U.S. Banks, Bringing 2009 Total to 84

Reader A.C. kindly sent all these items that he gleaned from News Max Money News:

Not All Stimulus Needed

Global Recovery Not the Same as Equity Recovery

The Deflationists Just Do Not Get It

Germany and France Not So Hard-Hit by Recession

China Meltdown Could Boost the Dollar

And these two items are courtesy of Karen H.:

Newspaper Slump Deepens and 2nd Quarter Ad Sales Fall 29 Percent

The Weak Dollar is Pushing Energy Prices Higher

Items from The Economatrix:

Meltdown 101: Why Banks Struggles Have Worsened

Judge Puts Fed’s Bailout Revelations On Hold

US “Problem” Bank List Hits 15-Year High

US GDP Contracts 1% in 2Q

Toyota’s First Factory Closure Threatens 4,700 US Jobs

Odds ‘n Sods:

A reminder that the new Surviving Disaster series premieres on Spike TV on Tuesday, Sept. 1st. Meanwhile, I’ve been enjoying The Colony, on The Discovery Channel (via online streaming–I don’t own a television.) Four full episodes of the latter are still available online.

   o o o

Eric S. sent us this every useful link: How to Move Heavy Objects with Simple Tools

   o o o

Bill would give president emergency control of Internet. (Thanks to H. for the link.)

   o o o

Ben M. flagged this: Fresnel Lens Solar Distiller. JWR Adds this Proviso: Keep in mind that distilled water should be used for no more than a few days, only for emergency drinking water, since it lack crucial minerals for human health!

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 24 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.

First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost between $500 and $600, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) and C.) A HAZARiD Decontamination Kit from Safecastle.com. (A $345 value.)

Second Prize: A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $350.

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

Round 24 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Real-Life Inspiration for Preparedness, by K.P.

Background Information:

My interest in preparedness started in earnest really just a few months ago.  Before that, I had been an avid backpacker, rock climber, and other sports which require self-sufficiency and forethought.  I am also a Red Cross volunteer.  I was at hurricane Wilma, and I have done local search and rescue, amongst other things.  This February I was dispatched to the south-western region of Kentucky for the Ice Storms.  What I learned there changed me in a lot of ways.

I was aware of the pending economic collapse, but hadn’t really thought of practical things to do until then.  As a pre-1840s Re-enactor, I was pretty sure I could comfortably live in a pre-industrial setting.  A little hubris, maybe, but at 23 sometimes that goes with the territory.

While we drove into Kentucky, parts of it looked like a war-zone.  Downed trees and power lines, roofs collapsed, the whole deal.  It was a long drive, and it really set in for us how serious this was.  People’s lives were on the line. 

There were three FEMA gas depots throughout the State, but FEMA did next to nothing to help here.  Without electricity, the pumps at the gas station will not work.  Some place had hooked up diesel generators to power the pumps if they could, and very few business that were still open would accept anything but cash. 

When we arrived in the small town to which we had been dispatched, we found that the Red Cross volunteers at the shelter had not slept for any normal amount of time in close to 8 days.  At the height of the storms our shelter slept 150 people.

We gave the local volunteers a needed break, and worked 20-hour days.  It was rough; but anyone who has been in that situation knows it can very rewarding as well.  We served 800 hot meals a day, gave out pallets upon pallets of MREs and uncounted bottles of water.

The grid-water had been contaminated, so bottled water was really all the people could drink or wash with if they didn’t have a very, very deep well, even then they were on a boil-alert.  If your house did not have a wood burning stove, then you were sleeping with us.  All together the power and gas were out, in some places, for more than 20 days.

That’s the background and the quick version of events which eventually led to my interest in this area.

On to the practical details that I learned.  First and most important was this:  when the trucking lines break down, within two or perhaps three days, every store will be sold out of all dry food.  That means, that if you don’t have at least two weeks worth of food stored up, you’ll be visiting me at the Shelter.

We slept (at out busiest day) 150 people in the shelter. No electricity, no gas, no water.  We’re talking serious survival kind of situations.  In talking with the people there, excluding the elderly, the main reason people could not stay in their homes was heat.  If you had a wood burning stove, you were basically fine.  You could get by. 

FEMA had  a recording when you called them, that gave the residents the Red Cross local number.  They did such unhelpful things as tell people we were giving our generators, gasoline, and kerosene.  Things that to my knowledge the RC has never done, and we were not doing.  FEMA had fliers telling people the could free food if they needed it.  Supposedly they actually gave out about 1000 meals, but after that they referred people to us.

Lesson learned here: Do not, under any condition, assume FEMA or any other government agency will help you.  Help yourself, and help your neighbors.

When I got back from Kentucky, I started to put the things I had seen in order.  I started to mentally make lists of the things I would need when this situation came to my neck of the woods.  I did not want to be in the shelter when (not if) something happened near me.

The main reason I saw in this specific situation was heat.  So I planned on picking up at least two working wood burners.  Then came water, then came food, and in a long-term scenario: barter.

Heat:

My house has a fireplace, and although that is not very efficient, in a pinch it would do until I can find the kind of stoves I really want.  So I moved on to next item.

Water:

Water was pretty easy.  I have a couple of streams on my property, and I can collect rain water.  Some friends and I built a gravity-fed purification system.  We modified two used beer kegs that we bought very cheap to hold water on top and bottom.  We connected them with a 4 foot long stainless steel pipe with a very fine metal mesh at the bottom and  filled with activated charcoal.  When the water is first put through a matrix of gravel and varying degrees of fine sand, then through this system, you get very, very pure water.  We believe it to be near laboratory-grade water.  In fact, this system is just a scaled up version of a purifier at out local pharmaceutical company.

The benefit of using kegs is two-fold.  First, they are readily available almost anywhere, and two they are stainless steel.  I suppose you could also pretty easily convert this into a still if you so desired, for barter or producing barter-goods.

I have been working on something called an Archimedes’ Screw to help move the water.  It is basically a screw inside a cylinder.  When a mechanical force is applied to the screw to turn it, either by hand, modified bicycle, or wind turbine, the screw pulls water up the cylinder, from a low place to a high place.  This is not finished yet, so I cannot give it 100% clearance, but the theory seems sound.

Food: 

Food takes a bit longer.  I started by ordering some 6-gallon mylar bags and  a couple packages of 500cc oxygen absorbers.  I went to the local Big Box store, the kind that has a bakery inside, and asked if I could have their used 5-gallon buckets with lids.  They were happy to help; and they were free.  I cleaned them by alternating a bleach wash, a salt wash, and a vinegar with lemon juice wash.  That got all of the icing smell out of the buckets.  That step was more my OCD then a necessity, since the mylar will keep anything from being contaminated.  Although I thought this might reduce the likely hood of insects poking around my buckets…

Place a mylar bag in a 5-gallon bucket.  You want 6-gallon bags so you can press all the air, and seal the very end.  This allows you to re-use the bags several times.  Fill the bag with about 5 gallons of rice, beans, powdered milk, lentils, noodles, red winter wheat… whatever you are storing.  Seal about 9/10’s of the bag with a clothes iron being sure to leave room for your O2 absorbers to fit though; I like to make a two-inch seal.  Grab the bag and lift it and shake it a bit to allow the contents to settle some, pressing the air up towards your seal. 

You’ll want to do several of these at once, because as soon as you open the O2 absorbers, they start working.  I put the unused one in a zip-lock bag which I suck all the air out as I seal it.  I also put in the tester pellet that comes with the absorbers so I know if they are good or not.

So let’s say you are putting up five buckets.  Each bucket gets ~2000cc worth of O2 absorbers.  If you bought 500cc packs, that would be four per bucket for a total number of 20.  Feel free to err on the side of caution here, if you are using some stored in the zip lock bags.  The extra costs of the materials is drastically outweighed by the value of the stored food.  If I have had the O2 absorbers exposed to air more than once, I toss in an extra one, more than twice, I toss in two extra, and I have never had any done more than that.

You want all your buckets prepped for final sealing before you open your O2 absorbers, for obvious reasons.  I usually ask for a hand with this next stage to allow me to move as quickly as possible with as little exposure to general environmental air for the absorbers.

So, toss in your 4 absorbers, press out as much of the air as you can, and finish off the seal.  I like to make my seals 2 inches thick, and again I use a clothes iron.  I use a large dictionary with a wooden cutting board on top to make this seal.  Snap down the lid of the bucket. 

The bucket is necessary to protect the mylar.  Although the mylar bags are strong in the sense that they can bear a lot of weight, pressure, or vacuum, they are highly susceptible to puncture.

Once all your buckets contain O2 absorbers and are sealed with lids on, take clear packing tape and put a long strip on the lid.  I write the date I packed the bucket, the approximate storage life, the contents, and the weight/volume.  I stack the buckets off the ground three-high.

Keep in mind that every dollar you spend here is worth many multiples of that in the future.  Even if we are all wrong on the possibility of Schumeresque Scenarios, think of the money you will save just because of inflation.

Now, speaking of money. If you spend $20 for 50 pounds of rice today, and three years from now, you could sell it for $100; if you did not do your storage well, you’re out $100 plus the cost of storage materials, not $20.  So make sure that you do it carefully.  You can also rotate out and in new stock.

Bartering:

No one (or at least not me) has the resources/time/etc to put into long-term storage everything they need for the rest of their lives.  Eventually bullets and beans run out.  So, you will need something to trade. 

I like [non-numismatic pre-1965] junk silver, and one-ounce silver coins/bars.  In my mind, these would work for direct bartering: things like mason jars, food, animals, ammunition, whatever.  Flea markets are a great place to pick up small amounts of junk silver if your budget does not allow for larger purchases, like $500 or $1,000 face-value bags.

If we find ourselves in a prolonged period of hyperinflation like the Former Yugoslavia experienced (more on this later), then we might want to hedge our bets.  You could buy a few 10-ounce silver bars, with the intent to sell them for the hyper-inflated currency before the bottom drops out to purchase needed items.  Just a thought.

One could lay up, mason jars, paraffin, salt, sugar, alcohol, tobacco; lots of things for barter.  There is also the good old stand-by, ammunition.  My concern with ammo for barter, is that you might not know what that ammo is going to be used for, nor know for sure it will not be used against you or someone else.  I do see the incredible versatility and all the good reasons for an ammo-based barter system.  So do what you like.

The other event that really sent a lot of this home for me was a 6-week stay in Serbia.  Listening to stories about how people would smuggle in gas during the embargo, buy any solid good while the money was worth something, and generally do everything they could to survive really had an effect on me.  At the height of the crisis, they had 37% inflation per day culminating in the issue of the 500 billion Dinar note.  This was of course fifteen to twenty years ago, but the scars are still visible.  Belgrade did not demolish or clean up any of the damage done during the 1999 NATO bombing.  The Serbs see that every day. 

There is a quote I like, that many of you may know that I feel is appropriate here:

“History has shown us that government leaders often ignore the fundamental fact that people demand both dignity and freedom. Stripping motivated people of their dignity and rubbing their noses in it is a very bad idea.” – John Ross, Unintended Consequences [JWR Adds: This otherwise excellent novel was marred by some vulgarity and gratuitous sex scenes. Beware!]

Back to the practicals…
People stocked up on silver, charcoal, wood burning stoves, anything that could be a store a value and increase their chances of survival.  Another interesting happening was the use of checks.  Checks in Serbia and the Former Yugoslavia are all printed with a maximum amount.  Usually 5,000 Dinars, (about $70 in today’s Dinar/ Dollar exchange rate).  So, if you had a business, you are issued a certain number of checks each month.  What happened during the crisis is interesting.  The checks were spontaneously monetized. 

Here is and example of what I mean.  I write a check for 5,000 Dinars, but I don’t address it to you.  You give me the goods for the check.  Then, instead of cashing the check at the bank, you give it to someone else for your needs.  This usually went on, especially in very small towns for up to four months before my account was drawn for the amount.

This also had the benefit of me being able to write a check I might not have had the money to back it right away, so it was like credit for me, and cash for you.  This doesn’t happen anymore in Serbia, by the way. 

Although I imagine I’m preaching to the choir, I know from my own experiences that it’s easy to get down, and disheartened.  But don’t fret.  Get to work, lay in your stores, and every day do at least one practical thing that increases your and your family’s chance of survival. Keep your powder dry.- KP

Letter Re: Bug Out Contingency Planning for Relatives

James,
Good morning . I have a question in regards to bugging out. I have a niece stationed on Fort Riley [, Kansas] (the waiting wife of nephew in Iraq) that I was wondering how would be the best way to get their little family out of there in a bug out situation . We are retired AF so we could get on base and get her but what about getting stuck . I do not believe the hundreds of thousands of people stationed there are anymore prepared than the rest of the (sheeple ) around this area . I am going have a sit down talk with her today so we can come up with some kind of plan . Thanks, – Diana

JWR Replies: In situations like yours, I recommend that you help them to assemble Bug Out bags, and encourage them to do a "test run". After that, all they can do is keep their gas tanks full and be vigilant in watching news events and always be ready to "beat feet" on short notice. And, of course, be prayerful.

Economics and Investing:

Bill T. sent us this: 2009 Nickel & Dime Minting Stoppage. “The editors of Coin World have reported that the U.S. mint, as of April 23, has ceased minting 2009 nickel and dime issues. The mint has claimed that a precipitous drop in demand from the Federal Reserve for circulating coinage was the primary reason to cease production.”

I found this linked at Drudge: ‘Problem’ Banks Rise to 15-Year High on Bad Loans, FDIC Says

From Karen H.: Dollar May Surpass ‘Established Lows,’ Goldman Says

GG sent us this: Preparing for a major bank shakeout; Rising failures and a weak economic recovery could accelerate a decades-long trend towards fewer, bigger banks.