Letter Re: Real World Observations on Fighting Crime and Criminals

Greetings James,
The recent article by Eli was very informative but I would like to ad one comment regarding his section referring to burglaries. I believe what I’m going to mention here is commonly overlooked as I was guilty of it myself.

Eli wrote: “Go and look at your front door. Find your lock plate. When a door is forced, this is the part to give, with the plate coming loose and breaking the trim. Get a screw driver, and remove one of the screws. Realize that this is what is securing your front door. Now go buy longer screws, and replace them immediately.”

While this is very important,….DO NOT overlook the hinges. Most hinges are secured with 1″ screws (or shorter). My wife and I had our house broken into about 8 years ago. I had done such a good job with the strike plate and the 3-1/2″ screws that when the thief finally was able to break the door down, it was obvious that it gave way at the hinges. The dead bolt and strike plate were still mostly intact but the hinges had torn out of the jamb. The entire door was laying in our bedroom when I came home to my wife and the police standing in our bedroom. (We had a door that lead from our bedroom to the back patio.) Also, if it wasn’t for the monitored security system, our whole house would have looked like our bedroom.

From that point on, everywhere we’ve lived, I not only heavily re-enforce the strike plate but the hinges as well. Of course no door is “forced entry proof”, but this will definitely slow them down. And, if re-enforced properly, they may just give up without actually getting in. Best Regards, – SRN

Letter Re: Hardening a Home Against Small Arms Fire

I found a product called Grancrete, that when laid down with a trowel and embedded with multiple layers of fiberglass can be made bullet proof.

I was originally investigating this stuff because it was invented for nuclear waste encasement I thought it could be used for a little extra protection. After talking with a very knowledgeable staff I found out that it has never actually been used for nuclear encasement but they have completed ballistic tests and it was resistant up to a .30-06 with just a two-inch layer.

I do believe that people could easily retrofit a house [with Grancrete] to add protection. Maybe not to protect the entire house but at least a few feet strip around windows and doors that could be done aesthetically. most people don’t realize how easy it is to to get shot through the wall.

I also found a much easier way to make sandbag walls at a greenhouse building web site. Here they sell rolls/ tubes of sand bags. they make an easy fill-in-place solution and and direction on how to build with them. Thank You – Danny

Economics and Investing:

In a recent edition of his Reality Check e-newsletter, my mentor Dr. Gary North mentioned this alarming piece posted in the Not A Sheep blog: The Disappearing £16.3-trillion. In the age of the Internet, it has become difficult for the Powers That Be to spike a news story!

Laura and Garth were the first of a dozen readers to send this link: Kansas suspends income tax refunds, may miss payroll

Ben H, sent this link to an interesting (and frightening) article at the Von Mises Institute: Printing Like Mad

I noticed that spot silver and gold prices are solidly back on the bull market track, at seven month highs. To those that were castigating mea few months ago, for “giving bad advice”, all that I can say is: “I have my doubts that your stock portfolio is going to do as well as my silver for the next five years.” And to anyone that is dawdling, waiting to see “direction” in the metals markets, you are about to miss the boat. Buy on the dip days.

Items from The Economatrix:

Obama Signs Stimulus and Dow Plunges 300 “The Dow closed at 7552.60, only a fraction of a point shy of the recent low of 7552.29 Nov. 20, just after Obama was elected. The market now is down more than 2,000 points since Obama was elected, when it closed 9625.28 Nov. 4.”

GM Seeking Up to $30 Billion More, Axing 47,000 Jobs

Worst is Yet to Come for Americans

Lloyds Facing More Write-Downs, HBOS Losses Mount

Nationalizing 401(k)s

Little-Known Agency that Insures Pensions of 44 Million Workers Braces for Recession Fallout

Automaker Bankruptcy Looms

Eastern European Currencies Crumble as Fears of Debt Crisis Grows

America’s Emptiest Cities

Feds Provide $429 Million to 29 More Banks “The Treasury Department says the capital infusions bring the total amount the government has invested in banks to almost $200 billion.”

Odds ‘n Sods:

Bob A. sent us a link to a bit of Climate Change humor to cheer us up in the midst of all this depression talk.

   o o o

JS sent us this cool link: The supergun that kills from a mile – and the camouflaged crackshots using it against the Taliban

   o o o

KAF flagged this thought-provoking piece in the Effect Measure blog: Fort Detrick stands up by standing down

   o o o

Justice prevails! West Allis man not guilty in open carry gun case. (KAF also sent that link. Thanks!) JWR’s suggestion: Mr. Krause set a real Rosa Parks-style precedent. Let’s make the next Arbor Day into Open Carry Arbor Day. If hundreds of thousands of Americans all carry holstered pistols while planting trees in their front yards, someone just might take notice. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Much like a muscle that atrophies with disuse, any right that goes unexercised for many years devolves into a privilege, and eventually can even be redefined as a crime.

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 21 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The contest prizes include:

First Prize: The writer of the best contributed article will be awarded 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 21 ends on March 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival will have an advantage in the judging.

Real World Observations on Fighting Crime and Criminals, by Eli

I sat down to see what I could offer to share with other SurvivalBlog readers. Many topics have already been covered, so I will attempt to go somewhere new.
I am a law enforcement officer by trade, and hope to provide a unique perspective as such. I have seen shootings, stabbing, burglaries, robberies, etc. I have served both search and arrest warrants. I work in the southwest US, and have worked in very affluent areas as well as very poor areas. What follows are some observations of my time on the job, relating to a few different areas and crimes that occur. Hopefully some people will get something out of this. None of this is to be construed as legal advice, strictly observations. All are very applicable to everyday life, and will be highly applicable at TEOTWAWKI .A good teacher once said “I am not showing you the way, only A way.” I apologize in advance if I jump around between topics:

1- SHOOTINGS-
Of all the shootings I have seen, whether officer involved or not, shot placement has been the key to success (success being the death or incapacitation of attacker). Regardless of bullet or weapon type, a solid hit will end a fight. I have seen Black Talon .45 ACP ammo through the stomach fail to incapacitate someone, as well as .223s with poor shot placement fail to stop an attacker. Both subjects lost a lot of blood, but were able to continue to fight. A few recent shootings involved 9mm FMJ ammo. All were fatal, and all were solid hits to the heart/lung area. The take home lesson is that shot placement is key to survival, regardless of caliber. Obviously, proper ammo choice with proper shot placement is best. (I know it has been discussed before, but bird shot is not an effective defense load)
So how can we improve our shot placement? Shoot more. Dry fire. Practice. Then practice some more. If you do not shoot, learn. Whether you are a beginner or advanced shooter, do not forget to work on the basics- sight alignment and trigger control. There is no substitute for trigger time and fundamentals. 22 conversion kits are widely available for many guns for practice at reduced cost. AR-style sights are also available for 10/22s if you prefer that route over a conversion kit. Shorter, more frequent practice sessions are more beneficial than infrequent longer sessions, whether live or dry fire.

After improving static shooting skills, focus on stress shooting. Attend a training course. Practice what you learn in the course. A 2-4 day course will expose you to a lot of new ideas. It is up to you to reinforce them [with practice] when you return home. Only through repetition will these movements become second nature. Join a local IDPA league. The stress of competition will help. Become physically fit. Studies with police and simmunition/judgmental shooting scenarios showed that the more physically fit an individual, regardless of all other factors, the more likely they were to succeed on the simmunition portion and the less mistakes they made on the judgmental portion. (Think about how sports teams make more mental errors late in a game when fatigue sets in) All subjects showed an immediate increase in heart rate and blood pressure. The more fit individuals showed a more rapid return to normal levels, often before the end of the scenario. Combine physical exertion with shooting. Try doing sprints/pushups/jumping jacks, then shooting. Use your imagination.

Learn to clear a malfunction on your weapon. All guns will jam at some point. Ejected shells have bounced off walls and landed back in an open recoiling action. Strange things happen. Know your chosen weapon’s action of arms. Learn to do so with economy of movement. You can purchase dummy rounds or assemble them from spent cases. Throw a few into your magazine next time you shoot, and clear the malfunctions as they happen. It will also show any flinching problems. Teach someone else to shoot. You will be amazed at how much you will learn teaching someone else.

2-BURGLARIES

A-Points of entry-
Residential burglaries are an all too common occurrence. The most common points of entry I have seen are door and open windows. For some reason, crooks have an aversion to breaking windows on houses, though it will happen. (Perhaps the Broken Window Theory is true…) “Smash and Grab” activity does happen, but tends to be more vehicle related. (Practice good OPSEC in your vehicle. Do not leave valuables in plain view. Do not place gun stickers on your vehicle, etc)

A few bad guys that have been willing to talk have mentioned that you can shut a door after kicking it in, but a broken window is harder to hide from neighbors. Go and look at your front door. Find your lock plate. When a door is forced, this is the part to give, with the plate coming loose and breaking the trim. Get a screw driver, and remove one of the screws. Realize that this is what is securing your front door. Now go buy longer screws, and replace them immediately. A security door is also a huge plus, as it opens out and requires different techniques to remove. They are not fool proof, but do more to make someone choose another house which is the ultimate goal.

Open windows are the other really common method of entry. Any time any work is done on your house, check all of your windows. It is disturbingly common for workers or anyone in your home to leave a window open in a unused room, or unlock a seldom used door and then return later. Follow workers when they are in your house (Side note on this… I recently had a water heater replaced. I would have done it myself, but it was still under warranty and was free. While chit-chatting with the worker, he asked if I was a cop. I told him no, then asked why. He replied that the only people who watch him work tend to be cops. Just like you are observing others, do not forget that you are being watched as well.) Sterilize your house prior to allowing workers in. Do not leave out firearm accessories, bank statements, etc. Bars on windows are also effective in limiting possible points of entry. They may be against fire code (check your jurisdiction), and reduce points of exit as well. Roll shutters are another really good option here. Many newer homes have a window to the side of the front door. Consider a metal grate or something similar inside to prevent breaking the window, then undoing the locks. These windows, even when frosted, also provide a visible indicator about how many people/when someone is coming to the door, eliminating surprise.

B- What is taken
Cash, firearms, jewelry, electronics, tools, credit cards, personal info, bank statements. Anything that they can pawn or trade for drugs. If you go on vacation, take your spare vehicle keys with you. A recent trend has been to load up the second car parked in the cover of the garage, then drive it away with all of your stuff. Buy a gun safe, preferably a heavy one. Don’t forget to lock your safe (No, I am not kidding about this.) Bolt your safe down. I have seen studs cut from the wall to remove a safe. I personally have not seen one pried from the floor yet, although I am sure it has happened. Bolt it to both floor and walls and be safe. Write your serial numbers down also, especially for firearms. (Be very careful with this list, for obvious reasons, especially with private party gun sales. Keep a copy somewhere other than your safe also) It is very hard to prove ownership or log an item as stolen without the serial number.

3-ROBBERIES
Robberies occur all the time, everywhere. Situational awareness is the most beneficial for preventing these. You are most vulnerable at times of preoccupation. Fumbling with keys, exiting/entering a car or residence, running with your headphones on, etc Carry bags in a manner to leave your gun hand free, assuming you are carrying concealed. Pay attention. Pause before entering exiting anywhere. Stop, look, and listen. Take a few seconds to do this anytime you enter or exit anything. Make it a habit. You see all the time on surveillance footage of people walking into a liquor store as it is being robbed. Try to stop, look and listen before you enter the store. After you enter, step to one side and do it again. Park in well lit areas. When in your vehicle, keep your doors locked. Do not pull up directly behind the car in front of you and box yourself in. Know where exits are in restaurants and businesses. Listen to your hunches. Home invasion robberies are increasingly common as well. Security doors pay huge dividends here. Even a highly trained SWAT team either has to pry or yank these with a vehicle, before dealing with the interior door. This buys you time. Time equates to distance and options, which equate to safety. Have a dog, and lock all of your gates. See above about window bars. A fenced yard helps. Most states have laws that recognize fenced yards as having a higher expectation of privacy than a non-fenced yard, and a corresponding reduced standard for lethal force action inside said fence. (i.e. the “reasonable person” test, an intruder climbing over a locked gate into a yard with a dog would be expected to be a greater threat than an intruder that was at the front window of an unfenced yard.)

It is not unreasonable if the “police” come to your door to ask to see a badge, preferably a commission card, as these have an officer’s photo. Look though a different window and see if a car is outside. Call the agency they say they are from and verify they are who they say they are. If in doubt, wait and verify. Keep your doors locked when you are home, not just when you leave or before bed.
Police are not trained to look for “bad guys.” They are trained to analyze behavior and patterns. When something looks out of place, it is cause for concern.

4-BUILDING CLEARANCE/HOME DEFENSE

A-Offensive
I work nights, so most of this section will be related to this. I have approached many houses. Let me walk you through what is typical for my squad. Hopefully it will grant some insight into the mind and method of potential attackers.It starts outside of the residence, down the street. Turn off your vehicle lights before you turn onto the street. Park your vehicle so it is not in plain view. Take advantage of other parked cars, as well as the shadows in between street lights to conceal your car. Exit the vehicle quietly. Do not slam your doors. Turn of/disable your vehicle dome light prior to opening your door. Secure any loose or rattling equipment. Stop, look, and listen while still at your car. Let your eyes adjust. Identify the target residence. Depending on the threat level of the suspect or call type we number anywhere from two to six. Approach the house, again taking advantage of lighting and concealment. At the house, stop, look and listen. Are there motion lights? Video cameras? Is there a fence? Is the entire yard fenced? Is the gate locked? Are there cars in the driveway? Are the hoods warm? Most residences have an exposed front and a fenced back yard, so we will assume that is the case. Is there an alley? If so, send one or two people to cover points of exit/look through rear windows. What do you hear? Television? Fighting? Screaming? A shower? A racking shotgun? Whispering? Is there a barking dog? (Pepper spray is effective and commonly used to silence barking dogs. Many SWAT teams now carry suppressed weapons strictly for this purpose. Many cops also carry dog treats.) Look at windows. Can you see through the blinds/curtains? Do an experiment at your residence. Turn on an interior light in a room, and go outside to the window. How much can you see in? Can you see through the corners? What about where the curtains are supposed to come together at the bottom? Do this for all the windows. What do you see inside? How many people? Men, women, children? Are they calm? Are they armed? At the front door, we unscrew light bulbs, adjust cameras, cover them with rubber gloves if they do not move. Spray paint would be effective also at taking care of cameras that do not move. Consider installing a light fixture with a completely surrounded bulb, one that takes a screwdriver to change, or mounting it higher up.. When you knock on the door, move away to a position of cover. Again, stop look and listen. Does the television go off? Who yells to who to get the door? Corners of buildings provide more “cover” than the middle of a wall, as most construction backs multiple 2×4 or 2×6’s up at this location. Have someone watching through a window. Usually by shadow or change in light you can tell when someone is coming to the door, and often how many.

When entering a house
The most common mistakes when clearing a residence are noise discipline and speed. Slow down. Do not move faster than you can take in important details. Be as quiet as possible. The idea is to catch them before they catch you. They are waiting for you. Do not give them any advantage.
There is much debate about building clearance, and many schools of thought. Here are some universal points to all methods:

You need at least three people to be safe. Never search by yourself. More people are better. Cover reflexive angles of one another. Smooth is the goal. Do not stand near the walls. You do not want to risk giving away a position by running your equipment against a wall. This also gives you more options should you engage and have to move. Move slowly (one minute per hundred square feet is not unreasonable). When “pieing” [or “pie slicing”] a room, examine each new degree of the pie from top to bottom , and back again. Hunters will understand this better, but you are not looking for a whole person. You are looking for parts. A toe, an ear, an elbow. Likewise, when clearing, have your upper body move before your lower body (i.e., lean and clear, then move your feet underneath you….repeat….practice with a friend/spouse or a mirror [with and absolutely cleared and double-checked firearm]) and keep your elbow tucked under your weapon, so the first thing the bad guy will see is half the barrel of your gun and half of that eye. (Notice I said “that” eye. Learn to shoot with your off hand, and practice. It is impossible to safely clear a house with the gun in one hand the entire time.) Practice house clearing. Get a friend, family member. Go through your home. Go through theirs. Take turns being the good guy/bad guy. Do it during the day. Do it at night. Repeat. People hide in all sorts of places. Cupboards, washing machines, inside couches, between mattresses, etc. Do not move past anything you have not cleared. You do not want to be worried about something behind you while clearing. If a door is locked and you have to bypass it, get creative. Lean something up against the door so you will know if it is opened behind you. Tie it shut. Do not make more noise than you need to. Do not be afraid to kneel or squat when pieing. People are expecting certain things. Think outside the box.

As far as lights go, there are two schools of thought. The first, turn on lights as you enter the room. You can see, but the enemy can also. The second, use a weapon mounted or handheld light. You can illuminate an area, kill the light, then move. Try both and see what you prefer.

B-Defensive Measures
Consider all of the proceeding section of what attackers do. Apply this to your home. Imagine you are at home, watching television. The neighbor’s dog starts barking, or your’s does. The dog suddenly stops. You still get up to investigate, wisely. You go to turn on your outside light, and the bulb does not work. At this point in time the hair on the back of your neck should be standing up. Pay attention to all of the small things. You check your security camera, and suddenly it’s looking at a view of the wall. If a security camera is not working, blocked, etc, lights not working, dog stopped barking (or still barking like mad) these are clues to put on your vest and load your weapon. (You do always put on your vest and grab your weapon when you go to investigate bumps in the night, right? )

Look at your home. Put up a fence around your entire yard. Build a full size fence, not a half one. Clear an area for 8-to-10 feet on either side of the fence, the entire way around. Do not take the time to put up a fence and then provide an easy means over it. Lock the gate. Get two or three large dogs and let them have free roam of the yard. They make “shake” alarms for fences that will go off when the fence is disturbed. They can be made to ring your cell phone (As in your phone rings, you answer, a computer voice states “You have a fence activation on the north side of your property.”). Look at your outside lights also. Where are the dark spots? Where are blind spots that you cannot see from your windows? Consider discrete mirrors in strategic locations to check blind spots. Mount your lights high so they cannot be unscrewed, and get fixtures that protect the light bulb. Install security cameras. Consider a few camera pointed towards your house, possibly under eaves or overhangs that will be easy to miss. Where are your children’s rooms in relationship to yours? Where are the bullets that you may be shooting going to be flying? What walls can be made bullet resistant? I have been in homes where the people literally filled the half walls at the top of the stair case with sand/sand bags to provide a fortified fighting position for the family. Other ideas include surplus vests, Kevlar sheeting, etc stuffed in this area. Another option is to fortify your children’s rooms if they are on the other end of the home, but this also provides an intruder with a potential stronghold. Consider interior flood lights. The same people with the sand bagged half walls had flood lights above the stairs, facing down. With the positioning of the lights, it blinded everyone to the defenders at the top of the stairs.

Every home has ambush spots. When you are practicing clearing your house, think about what spots give you problems. Blind corners or multiple doors in close proximity are nightmares while clearing. Find a spot on the far side of the room or down a hallway where you can view these problem areas. One where you can view a problem area and fortify is an ideal location. Stairwells make good options. While you are practicing clearing your house with someone else, take turns being the “bad guy.” See where you want to hide, where you have the best advantage.

I hope this helps. People often talk about hardware versus software. In these tough economic times, hardware is not easy to come by. Software is cheap. Try to still obtain what you can when you can, but focus on learning skills–any skills. Plant a garden. Change your oil. Help someone with a construction project. Read a book. Learn to bake bread. Learn to distill alcohol. Reload. Take a first aid course. Cook with your food storage. Volunteer somewhere where you can learn something. Practice bartering your skills for goods or services. YouTube is an amazing resource out there if you are unsure how to do something and don’t know anyone that can teach you. If you already have skills, teach them (while still learning new ones.) Spread the word to those that will listen. Post a youtube video about preparation, or about any skill that you have. Teach someone to shoot. You can pick up a surplus Mosin-Nagant rifle and 500 rounds of ammunition for around $150, depending on where you live. Encourage everyone you know to buy one or two.)

TheBoxOTruth.com is a great resource also regarding questions about ammo (“I wonder what happens if I shoot layers of sheet rock with “X” caliber…”) Show your friends SurvivalBlog. Sow the seeds of preparation in all you come across. Continue to prepare, pray, and be safe. – Eli

Letter Re: Gaining Situational Awareness and Old-Time Knowledge

Jim,
Situational Awareness has a number of definitions, from the rather complex to the “simple”. They include:

  • The process of recognizing a threat at an early stage and taking measures to avoid it. (Being observant of one’s surroundings and dangerous situations is more an attitude or mindset than it is a hard skill.)
  • The ability to maintain a constant, clear mental picture of relevant information and the tactical situation including friendly and threat situations as well as terrain.
  • Knowing what is going on so you can figure out what to do.
  • What you need to know not to be surprised.

This comes to mind because of my recent reading of your novel, “Patriots“. (An excellent book. A must have for any “prepper”.) The book is primarily about a group of people who joined together to survive in the “days after”. The daily requirements of surviving in times of roving bands of criminals and martial law enforcers were covered rather forcefully. Many of the challenges they faced required an armed response, and situational awareness was often discussed. For the kinds of situations in which the “Patriot” folks found themselves, the extremely helpful explanations of such matters as OPSEC and LP/OPs are very helpful to anyone facing what is soon coming for many of us. As the book describes, situational awareness is absolutely vital to survival and success in our near future.

But, while situational awareness is most commonly thought of as a conflict skill, there are also other kinds of situational awareness. On Yahoo Groups, there is a discussion group about surviving in the days after. One of the most prolific writers has several times recently warned the readers to “Get out of the cities now !”. He’s even suggested moving to very unpopulated areas and using wood pallets to erect shacks. IMHO, this is a suggestion that will cause many people great harm. Folks, with little or no preparations, suddenly moving to the land to escape the “Golden Horde“, will likely fail or die. Just reading the stories of the many pioneers who moved west, will quickly sober you up from any “can do/don’t know” thinking.

I have lived nearly all my life on a farm. I have developed a deep knowledge of the land. It has come at the great expense of many missteps, failures, successes, hard work and time. I call it having situational awareness of the environment. I know what certain kinds of clouds mean when forecasting tomorrow’s weather. I know that the vine-like plants with three shiny leaves aren’t so good to eat or touch. I know a dead snake can still bite. People just coming to the land for the first time will have little of that knowledge.

For untold years and many generations, the knowledge of how to live on the land and be self-sufficient was passed down thru families. In farm country, school was often found at the back fence. If you or your Grandfather didn’t know something, the farmer next door often did. I remember many times in my youth when I’d be out working the land and the guy next door would be out on his. Often as not, we’d stop and stand by the line fence and talk. …And I learned lots. But, now, much of this passing on of knowledge is lost. Farmers more commonly sit 12 feet in the air, driving an air conditioned combine, following the turns suggested by the GPS receiver on the dash. Your parents most likely worked in a factory or a shop, than on a farm. What was common family knowledge just a couple generations ago, such as maple syrup making, canning, gardening, butchering, animal husbandry, etc., etc., is gone. The “chain” is broken. Without this great deal of passed on knowledge and experience, nearly any farm endeavor can, and often will, lead to unexpected disaster.

This is where Situational Awareness comes in. “The need to know, so as not to be surprised.” The list is endless, but for starters:

  • Knowing the good bugs from the bad in the garden
  • Knowing fresh horse manure will kill a garden, fresh chicken m. will help
  • Knowing only 3 or 4 ounces of yew leaves–a common landscape plant in much of the US–can kill a horse
  • Knowing how to split wood so that the axe won’t glance off and chop your leg
  • Knowing that burning certain kinds of wood in your wood stove means you need to clean the chimney twice a winter so you don’t burn down your house [with a chimney fire]
  • Knowing the nice, fresh, clean, free flowing, mountain stream may be full of giardia.
  • Knowing that, when plowing with a horse, you should never tie the reins together and put them around behind your back so your hands are free to handle the plow. (This was the way it was done in the novel “Dies the Fire” [by S.M. Stirling). If your horse happens to shy and takes off running, you will be dragged along the ground and be seriously hurt. The proper way to plow is with the reins over one shoulder and under the other. Then, if your horse runs, you just duck your head and the reins slide off.
  • Knowing that crows in the garden are bad because they eat the new planted seeds, but crows around your chicken coop are good because they keep away the hawks that will eat your chickens.
  • Knowing that if your tractor suddenly starts making a new sound, this is not good. Stop immediately and figure out what’s going on, before something breaks.
  • Learning to look around you when walking, instead of only staring at the ground for your next step, (as most people do).

And on it goes. I have lived decades on the land. There’s not a day goes by that I don’t learn something. But even with all my handed down knowledge and hard-fought experiences, I’m not even sure I could make a go of suddenly heading out to the “country” to build a cabin and barn, till the soil, cut fire wood, store food for man and beast, and more. It’s just awful hard without lots of prep’s. And I can tell you, without an extensive knowledge of what the “environment” around you is telling you, it’s darn near impossible. …(Taking a walk in the woods can hurt just as much as a walk on certain inner city streets.)

So what are you to do ? Well, having a “G.O.O.D.” bag and great escape vehicle is a start. Having supplies, tools and seed already in place really helps. But once you get to your retreat site, have a plan, have some knowledge of how to do, what to do. Practice now. If you think you’re going to learn while living in a wood pallet shack, you won’t. You’ll most likely die. If there’s no more Elders to ask, get to know the other “elders”–books. Go to local farms and ask to spend time just helping, so you can learn something. Go to a school to learn skills; like tracking, orienteering and fire building without matches; (one of the best, imo, is Midwest Native Skills Institute). Never take charcoal or lighter fluid on a picnic, learn to gather what burns. Go camping in winter, instead of just when it is “pretty” outside. Find a “big animal” vet. and ask to attend and help when birthing a calf. Most especially, turn off your tv. Use your time to learn to sew, or knit, or make soap. Pick up (fresh) dead animals on the road and practice skinning them and then tan the hide. [JWR Adds: Needless to say, consult your state Fish and Game laws before doings so!] Find local crafts people and acquire a skill, such as weaving, or candle making, or tin smithing, because having a survival trade in a cashless society may keep you alive. Learn to listen. Throw away those darn ear plug music things. Learn situational awareness. What is the wind telling you about the day ? What does the sudden and not normal crowing of a rooster warn you of ? What does the setting of the moon in a certain place on the horizon tell you about the season ?

Learn what it takes to live on the land, before you have to suddenly move there. Learn what nature, the land, and new tasks are telling you, before you find yourself in a difficult situation, …(un)aware.

– Jim Fry, Curator, Museum of Western Reserve Farms & Equipment, Ohio

Economics and Investing:

The Old Yooper mentioned this FSU piece: Signposts Towards the Inevitable. The graph showing the upcoming second wave of ARM is particularly alarming. There will be some real ARM-twisting then!

Thanks to G.G. for this piece: Irish government faces growing fears of debt default

Steve S. recommended a video of a lecture on the history and nature of debt-based modern currencies, and their implications on freedom.

DS spotted this: As U.S. Borrowings Rise, Treasurys Begin to Pop. As I’ve mentioned before, look for a big jump in Treasury yields as a key indicator that stagflation is ahead.

Items from The Economatrix:

America Has to Come to Grips that it is Bankrupt

Rich Chinese Buying Bargain US Homes

Roubini Tells Geithner to Nationalize US Banks

Pound Falls Further

UK Unemployment to Hit 3 Million

China is Right to Have Doubts About Who Will Buy American Debt

IMF Chief Warns Second Wave of Countries Will Need Bailout

Ireland Could Default on Debt

UN Lobbies for Share of Bank Bailout Funds

$60 Billion Loss at RBS Prompts Savage Job Cuts

Spain’s New Jobless Crowd Soup Kitchens

Failure to Save Eastern Europe Will Lead to Worldwide Meltdown

Cash Crisis Forces California to Free 55,000 Prisoners

How the Crash Will Reshape America

Severe Retail Downturn Forecast for 2009

Odds ‘n Sods:

My old friend Fred the Valmetmeister sent us a “signs of the times” piece: For many Idahoans, better a trailer home than no home

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Greg mentioned a useful table on Firewood Ratings and Information, published by the U.S. Forest Products Laboratory. Greg notes: “With all the “fire” wood down in the recent ice and wind storms this appears to be a helpful link. I see too many people burning the wrong woods or at the wrong time.”

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When we last checked, “Patriots” was ranked #3 in What’s Shaking in Buy.com’s Entertainment section

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“I am so firmly determined, however, to test the constancy of your mind that, drawing from the teachings of great men, I shall give you also a lesson: Set aside a certain number of days, during which you shall be content with the scantiest and cheapest fare, with coarse and rough dress, saying to yourself the while: ‘Is this the condition that I feared?’ It is precisely in times of immunity from care that the soul should toughen itself beforehand for occasions of greater stress, and it is while Fortune is kind that it should fortify itself against her violence. In days of peace the soldier performs manoeuvres, throws up earthworks with no enemy in sight, and wearies himself by gratuitous toil, in order that he may be equal to unavoidable toil. If you would not have a man flinch when the crisis comes, train him before it comes. Such is the course which those men I have followed who, in their imitation of poverty, have every month come almost to want, that they might never recoil from what they had so often rehearsed.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, c. 4 BC – AD 65, Epistles, Volume I.

Note from JWR:

Congratulations to CDR, the high bidder in the auction that ended yesterday. Today we begin a new SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction. This auction is for a large mixed lot, which includes:

1.) Another “be ready to barter” box of 38 full-capacity gun magazines, from my personal collection in JASBORR. This box includes: 4 – Excellent condition original East German 30 rd. steel AK-47 magazines in a “raindrop” camouflage pattern belt pouch, 12 – Excellent-to-new condition original Bundeswehr contract HK91 (G3) alloy 20 round magazines, 6 – Well-used but serviceable condition original Austrian FN-FAL steel 20 round magazines with cartridge counter holes, 10 – Used AR-15/M16 USGI (all Colt made!) alloy 20 round magazines, and 6 – Excellent to new condition original (Norwegian contract) Glock Model 17 9mm 17 round pistol magazines (early type, with “U” notch). All of these magazines are of pre-1994 manufacture (and hence legal to possess in New York.) These magazines have a combined value of approximately $700, in today’s market. Note: If you live in a state where full capacity magazines are banned, then you must choose to: refrain from bidding, or designate a recipient in an unrestricted state, or re-donate the magazines for a subsequent auction.

2.) A huge lot of DVDs, CD-ROMs and hard copy nuclear survival/self-sufficiency references (a $300+ value) donated by Richard Fleetwood of www.SurvivalCD.com

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

4.) Five cases (200 pairs) of AMMEX Heatworks chemical hand warmers (a $182.50 value), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com

5.) A Brunton Solarport 4 (4.4 Watt) compact photovoltaic power panel and 6/12 VDC power adaptor set, including as USB power port. This is a $120 retail value, courtesy of Ready Made Resources.

6.) A Pelican Model 1400 waterproof case in olive drab, ideal for pistols, Starlight scopes, or communications gear. This is a $95 retail value, courtesy of Scorpion Survival.

7.) A Non-Hybrid Garden Security Collection, Garden Bean Collection, and your choice of a pint of fertile grains (Hull-less Oats, Spelt, or Winter Rye), a $50 + retail value, courtesy of Seed For Security.

Thus, this auction has a combined value in excess of $1,600. This auction ends on March 15th. Please e-mail us your bid. Your bid will be for the entire mixed lot.

Letter Re: UHF Business Band as Another Option for Retreat Local Two-Way Communications

Sir.
Another option for retreat communications is to license your own business frequency with the FCC. That is what we did. Having worked in public safety, both fire and law enforcement for 30 years, I knew what I wanted in a radio system. I wanted to use public safety quality radios and I wanted my own repeater, all in the UHF business band. Our remote area has few UHF frequencies since public safety operates in the VHF band in our area. There are few businesses that use radios.

The initial license cost about $400. for ten years because the initial frequency search. Future 10 year renewals are about $135. The frequency is mine and no one for over 50 miles can use or license it. I licensed a repeater as well so I got two frequencies for the price of one. I obtained a permit for a repeater site from BLM and I will install my 50 watt, solar powered repeater this spring. The repeater spot, on a remote mountain, “looks” into the mountain range where our ranch is and also looks 30 miles down the valley to the closest town.

As far as purchasing quality radios, I decided on the Kenwood brand since that is what I use at work and our local radio tech is a dealer for them. For hand-held radios, we use the [Kenwood] 3160. I bought all of mine used on eBay for less than $150 each. For 25 watt and 45 watt mobile radios, I bought them on eBay as well. I have a 65 watt mobile in the house as the base radio. These radios have over a 20 year life in my experience.

By using these professional radios, you can also purchase military/police quality head sets, boom microphones and bone microphones for them which is very important to OPSEC when patrolling or manning an LP/OP. Sound can travel a long ways in the mountains.

Also, you can program the radios for the FRS and GMRS bands so you could talk to folks with their inexpensive radios from K-Mart and Cabela’s. This would be illegal for the FRS frequencies unless you can program the radio to [limit it to] put out .6 watts (600 milliwatts) on the FRS frequencies. You could not use the base or mobile radios legally [with more than 600 milliwatts] on either the GRMS or FRS frequencies.

As far as antennas go, buy a good commercial or public safety quality antenna for your base antenna. When it comes to hand held radio antennas, I have seen the high gain antennas from Smiley Antennas, work wonders. Once our mounted unit was working in a narrow canyon and no one in the unit could reach dispatch on their hand held antennas when we needed a patrol car for an arrest. I attached my expandable Smiley Antenna (VHF) antenna to my radio, extended it out to the full four feet, and contacted dispatch with no problem. I was the brunt of many “fishing pole” radio jokes from my team mates, but they all went out and bought their own!

I would recommend that groups consider this type of communications for their needs.

Thanks for your work Jim. I just renewed my 10 Cent Challenge subscription, with a little extra. – PED /p>

Letter Re: Hardening a Home Against Small Arms Fire

Sir,
I wish to inquire about hardening a home .I n a firefight, when in a “normal” home, shots would traverse the walls. Being a simple farmer here in southeastern Idaho I am a little concerned about the current turmoil and possible Golden Horde. I know that when I was in Rhodesia, we built earthen berms around the home like big flower boxes along with 2″x4″ mesh wire to stop RPGs. We also had built two perimeter fences and placed crushed white stone inside the two fences ([each] nine feet high). Also I am interested in how to pump water here when there is no grid power for myself and family and 30 head of animals. I have some supposed “no freeze” hydrants now but they do freeze. Go figure. I have only been in Idaho for two years. Thanks for any help. Also, I wanted to say that your novel was great. Sincerely, – Charles B.

JWR Replies: Retrofitting a house for ballistic protection can be an expensive proposition, if it is done in a manner that is aesthetically pleasing in the present day. Sand bags are inexpensive, but as one of my distaff consulting clients noted, “There is a big difference between Better Homes and Gardens and your Harder Homes and Gardens.”)

I generally recommend starting with a masonry house with a metal roof. They are nearly fireproof, and aside for their windows, quite resistant to small arms fire. As I described in detail in my novel “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”, given sufficiently heavy hinges and stout hinge mounting points, steel shutters can be added to windows, and then wood veneer added, to make the shutters look “decorative.” Adding steel plate to doors overstresses their hinges, so it best to build bullet-resistant doors from scratch. Again, that is described in my novel. And the novel even includes a formula for calculating the weight of plate steel. (It does add up quickly. Parenthetically, special safety precautions must be taken when lifting and positioning plate steel. (See: ANSI A10.13-2001.) The oft-quoted “32 feet per second-per second” of acceleration is a law not to be trifled with! Watch your fingers and toes.)

Water pumping is best accomplished by a traditional Aermotor windmill if you are in a windy region, or via photovoltaics elsewhere. In either case, I recommend constructing a large cistern to provide gravity flow for domestic use, gardening, livestock, and firefighting. OBTW, the folks at Ready Made Resources offer free consulting on photovoltaics and other alternative energy systems.

Regarding your frost-free hydrants. They were possibly installed incorrectly. Since the valve body is buried below frost depth, they should not freeze is buried at sufficiently deep. (This depth varies, depending on latitude and solar exposure.) Properly, they should have at least a cubic foot of gravel around the base, where the valve’s weep hole drains the water from the standpipe portion of the hydrant, each time that that the water is turned off. It is uncommon, but the weep hole can become plugged, especially by heavy clay soil. It is also possible for frost to be “driven down” to unusual depths by the proximity of vehicular traffic or even large livestock tromping around a valve. BTW, be very cautious if you decide to excavate to check to see if there is enough gravel there. It is easy to break Schedule 40 PVC pipe with a hand shovel. (I speak from sad experience!)

Three Letters Re: Gold and Silver Coins as an Investment

Howdy James,
I hope you and yours are doing well. I recently came across the Preparedness Podcast and in Episode 5 – Gold, Silver, and a look at what’s coming in 2009 is an excellent primer on investing in gold & silver.

Basically silver is your ‘checking account’ and gold is your ‘savings account’. A 20% silver and 80% gold ratio is suggested as good mix of spending power and portability. A few gold coins take up a little space when you have to bug out, but the same dollar amount in silver will weigh you down when you need to carry other items. I do think silver is the better choice for a ‘barter society’, but gold rules when you got to travel light! Later, – Mark in North Carolina

 

JWR:
Don’t even think about buying gold bars, unless you are a multi-millionaire s already swimming in coins! To quote Gary North, rather loosely, “You are now entering an area only gold dealers ever venture into”.
Gold bars do save a small amount of premium – initially – but this is “penny wise, and pound foolish”. For a small premium for coins, 5% to 8% currently, you get all these advantages:

1. Much easier to verify authenticity. How do you know that you are getting real gold when you buy bars? How do you prove a bar is gold when you sell? This is easily a deal killer. Even if you are not a numismatic expert, common coins can be verified with a scale and calipers to conform to the published weight and dimensions for the coin. It is extremely difficult for fakes to conform to specifications – read the expert, Mr. Fisch. Even more conveniently you can use the Fisch coin test kit. These are highly recommended, not just for assurance purchasing today, but a great service to offer in post-TEOTWAWKI “Barter Faires”

2. A wider market for coins means a better price, and much more liquidity. You may take a nasty discount trying to get rid of a hard-to-verify bar that more than negates the premium saved.

3. No need to assay. Forget the cost for a moment – what if assay services are not available in a crisis?

4. Smaller units so you have a much more divisible means of payment. Bars are only good for large transactions. To dollar cost average in or out of an asset you need smaller units.

5. A small premium is not an expense, but part of the value inherent in the coin – value you will recoup on resale. If you don’t overpay, you can recoup much of the premium even upon resale to a reputable dealer, e.g., see Tulving’s buy versus sell prices.

You should be able to get most or all of the premium back from a private buyer – if not even more premium in a bull market mania. Do you think a newcomer to gold will even consider risking hard-earned cash on a unverifiable lump of gold? The only exception I can think of are some of the Credit Suisse or Pamp Suisse “coin-like” bars that are well known and minted like coins (not cast in a lump like ingots). Weight and dimensions can be verified on these coin-like bars, Fisch even has a verification tool for the 1 oz. Credit Suisse [bars]. Still, I prefer coins – why limit your market when you want to sell?
Leave the cast ingot bars to the big bullion banks that can document the chain of custody from bullion foundry to bank.

An argument for silver bar investing can be made, given the recent high premiums on silver. But, even here, why not have your silver investment do double duty to add to your barter junk silver?
Regards, – OSOM

JWR Replies: I’d just add that serialized 100-ounce Engelhard and Johnson-Matthey silver bars are typically re-purchased by coin dealers without any assay required. After you have your barter silver coins squared away, silver 100-ounce silver bars are the the most cost-effective vehicle for silver investing, at least for the small investor.

 

Mr. Rawles,
I have been reading your blog and others (like FerFAL in Argentina, [also see FerFAL’s SurvivalBlog Profile]) and completely believe that having some silver coins is a good thing to have when the SHTF. However, someone asked me recently, “So how would you use them? How many people know a “standard” [modern, debased] coin from a “silver” one?” Well, I didn’t have a good answer for that. Can you help me explain the use of silver coins in a SHTF scenario? Who would recognize their value other than another prepper? Even all of them might not know. Thanks, – Coinless in the Mountains

JWR Replies: I estimate that nearly half of the US population is familiar with the fact that dimes, quarters, half dollars minted before 1965 are silver. (Although most folks don’t know that they are 90% silver, with base metals added. for the hardness required for the rigors of circulation as pocket change.) Most of these same folks know to look for copper showing on the rims of later (post-1964) debased coins, to distinguish them from the earlier, genuine article. In the event of a monetary collapse, there will surely be a rapid education for the rest of the populace. The beauty of free market economics is that prices very quickly reach equilibrium. I anticipate that within just a few weeks, new prices denominated in pre-1965 silver coinage will be set for most consumer products, and a daily trading ratio of silver coin-to paper currency will be pegged. (No doubt with a steadily-declining value for the fiat paper currency.) Have faith: The marketplace will quickly adjust, and people will quickly adapt to using silver coinage and practical tangibles in barter. (As I’ve written before, in the early stages of an economic collapse, ballistic wampum, i.e. common caliber ammunition will likely be even more sought-after than silver.)

On a related note: Few Americans are familiar with the 40% silver content half dollars minted between 1965 and 1970, so I do not recommend buying any of those for barter.