Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Why had they been so anxious to believe that any government could solve problems for them which had been pridefully solved, many times over, by their fathers? Had their characters become so weak and debased, so craven and so emasculated, that offers of government dole had become more important than their liberty and their humanity? Had they not known that power delegated to government becomes the club of tyrants? They must have known. They had their own history to remember, and that history of five thousand years. Yet, they had willingly and knowingly, with all this knowledge, declared themselves unfit to manage their own affairs and had placed their lives, which belonged to God only, in the hands of sinister men who had long plotted to enslave them, by wars, by “directives,” by “emergencies.” In the name of the American people, the American people had been made captive.” – Taylor Caldwell, from her novel The Devil’s Advocate, 1964

Notes from JWR:

I’m pleased to announce few new milestones for SurvivalBlog:

  • 6,000 archived posts
  • 315,000 distinct visitor ISP dotted-quad domains logged in the United States
  • Visits from readers in 158 countries
  • 126,800+ unique visits per week!

Please keep spreading the word! Putting a link to SurvivalBlog.com in your e-mail footer will mean that there’ll be thousands of new SurvivalBlog readers, and more importantly thousands of people that will be prepared in the coming hard times.

—

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.

Bloom Where You’re Planted, by Gertrude

I write this to encourage everyone to begin preparing right now, whatever your financial situation and physical location in life. We are one of the many families that don’t live in a sparsely populated western state and don’t have a retreat that is fully stocked, off-grid and off-the beaten path. But we are very aware of the precarious situation that our country is in and we are trying as best we can to be prepared. Doing a little bit consistently every day will add up very quickly and you will be better prepared every day as you go along. Doing this will also do wonders for your mental outlook.

To give a little background: our household consists of my mother and myself, along with four cats, three dogs and a flock of chickens. My mother is 79 years old and I’m a retired 57-year old woman. My sister and brother-in-law live about a half-mile away and our niece and her husband live next door. Both of my parents grew up on farms and we always had a big garden and plenty of fruit trees when I was a child. We live in a semi-rural area about three miles from a small town. There are no interstate highways nearby.

The people here in our community are pretty self-reliant. People still hunt, fish, and grow and preserve their own vegetables and fruits (although not as much as in the past). We have about five acres of land with a small fruit orchard and garden area. We don’t have any mortgages or car payments to worry about, but we also don’t have the financial resources to retreat to another location. Are we fully prepared? Of course not. I don’t think anyone is ever fully prepared, but we are much better prepared than we were last year and we were better prepared last year than we were the year before that. This is because of consistently doing something every day to prepare.

As I sit here typing this, our supper is cooking on the wood stove while my mother is in the living room quilting and our alarm systems–our three dogs–are outside keeping an eye on things. The coffee pot is ready to go on the stove for supper later. The chickens are happily occupied in their area. Our pantry is stocked with wheat, rice, beans, store-canned goods as well as home-canned vegetables, fruits, and meats and various other food and non-food items. We have another separate storage area for paper products, medical supplies, batteries, cleaning supplies, etc.

We didn’t have the wood stove, chickens or bigger-than-average pantry storage a few years ago. Back then I would have said we were above-average in “preparation mentality” but my eyes were opened when I began doing research on the subject of preparedness. It began when I wanted to be prepared to survive a possible flu pandemic. I quickly learned of other things, such as the possibility of EMP strikes, electric grid going down in general, Peak Oil problems, you name it. My first reaction was one of panic, but that subsided as my mother and I began “putting feet on our prayers.” We started small, buying more food each week when grocery shopping. Then we decided to go “whole hog.”

The first thing we did was buy a wood stove. We now have three heating systems: [a heating] oil furnace, gas logs operated on propane and the wood stove. We use the wood stove most of the time in the winter now. Although it’s not a [broad-top] cook stove, we do very well cooking meals on it. We perk the coffee for supper most nights even if we don’t cook the main meal on it. We have lots of wood on our land, but aren’t physically able to cut the wood ourselves so we buy it locally, and my brother-in-law has supplied us with wood (my sister and he have a wood stove too). We have three able-bodied men in the family (brother-in-law, nephew-in-law and nephew) who can and will cut wood if need be.

The next thing we did was install a manual well pump. We’re on well water but we needed a way to get the water if the grid goes down. I began researching manual well pumps and my brother-in-law installed one for us. Last summer, we worked on what has probably been the biggest project of them all: building a chicken house and fenced-in chicken yard. Our chickens are what I suppose you’d call semi-free range. They have a 24×24 foot yard to roam in. My mother was the chief architect. She designed the chicken house herself. We first had to clear the land, then we prepared the foundation for the house. After that came the actual building of the chicken house.

Although we have a pick-up truck, my nephew was using it at the time, so I would go to the local Big Box building center and buy as much wood as I could fit into the car and bring it back. We’re proof that you can pretty much do what you set your mind to do if you’re determined enough. We worked steadily every day except Sundays at building the chicken house and got it done. Then we had to clear the land for the chicken yard, and after doing that we began digging the holes for the fence posts. The only thing we had any outside help with was installing the poultry wire for the fence. We needed my niece and her husband to help us get that pulled tight enough. We finished the entire operation by putting netting over the entire chicken yard to keep out hawks. We now have a great flock of chickens. As I write this, we have about eight dozen eggs in the refrigerator. We share [the eggs] with my sister and husband, my niece and her husband and my nephew and his wife. The dogs also get a scrambled egg dinner about once a week. We haven’t bartered any eggs yet, but we know that’s a possibility down the road if economic conditions warrant it.

Somewhere in the midst of all this preparation, we bought a Country Living grain mill (the manual kind). Mother has done most of the grinding so far. She’s baked whole-wheat rolls and loaves of bread with the wheat we bought and ground ourselves – yummy!

Our garden suffered last summer, because we were so busy getting the chicken flock project set up. Our goal for this summer is to have as big a garden as we can manage. We do have a stock of garden seed laid back. We’ve already stocked up on lots of canning jar lids. We already had a good supply of canning jars and rings but I plan on stocking up on those, as well.

One of the big things we need to do next is prepare in the area of self-defense. We have a rifle and recently bought a S&W 9mm handgun. We also have my late father’s 38 Special revolver. We have magazines and ammo and plan on stocking more ammo. My brother-in-law (a former Marine) is going to train me on the handguns and rifle. If there is one thing I regret in life it is that I didn’t take advantage of the fact that my late father, who was a police officer, wanted to train me in the use of firearms, but I was a wimp. I’ve always believed in the right to bear arms, but was actually a little afraid of using guns, mainly because I’m so nearsighted. But I’ve gotten over that now. After one very short session with my brother-in-law going over firearm basics with me, I’m excited about getting proficient in their use because I can actually understand how the darn things work now!

I believe we’re doing pretty good at blooming where we’re planted. We can garden, sew, quilt, cook (don’t laugh – a lot of people don’t know how to do that!), crochet, can and preserve food, and we’ve don pretty well at carpentry. In addition to my retirement pension, I also have a second stream of income doing manuscript typing at home.

To summarize, I encourage anyone who feels paralyzed by current events to get up and get going. Start small: buy a few extra groceries each time you shop; stock up on non-perishables; prepare a first aid kit; and take a first aid course. Pay attention to what’s going on around you. And, most importantly of all, never stop learning. Before you know it, you’ll be a lot more prepared than you ever knew you could be. – Gertrude

Two Letters Re: Alaska as a Retreat Locale

Jim:

As an Alaskan survivalist I concur with everything Brad in Texas had to say. Alaska has many distinct advantages as a retreat location. However, it also has some major disadvantages. First and foremost is the amount of work involved. You must have a way to get fuel for heating. If you can’t use vehicles and chain saws, most of your summer will likely be taken up getting ready for winter. The same applies to food. You would have to grow enough vegetables during the short summer to last seven or eight months. Thankfully, game is available all year, so you probably won’t starve. Alaska is great for people who are able and willing to work really hard.

As for the spirit of Alaska, what Brad says is true outside the major cities. I would estimate that only 5% of Juneau and Anchorage residents and 20% of Fairbanks residents have any concept of survival in hard times. Most people in the cities essentially live in a bubble, with no real contact with nature at its harshest. Even in Alaska! Juneau is jokingly referred to as “Seattle North” and Anchorage as “Los Anchorage.” If you consider Alaska as a retreat location, it would be wise to avoid the major cities. In a SHTF scenario, the helpless refugees would overwhelm the surrounding countryside just as in the lower 48.
K.L. – Alaska

 

JWR:

We lived in Alaska for almost three years, we miss it. Here is our Wish List for our next trip:

Snow machines [called snowmobiles in some parts of the US], purchased in the Lower 48
More gear
More guns
More knowledge of the laws going in and out of the borders
Have a gun shop picked out up there ASAP for weapons you will not be able to carry into Canada or back into the US (handguns and [so-called] assault rifles)
All records for animals
Go on the ferry to avoid Canada

Some of the larger problems facing newcomers in Alaska is the lack of light in the winter, the lack of fresh fruits and veggies, activities in the winter, the isolation, the cold….
The suicides are on the average 20% higher in Alaska than anywhere else in the US. The alcohol abuse is so rampant that in some of the more desolate towns there is rationing of alcohol or there is none period.
Most go up there totally unprepared for the struggles of everyday life. We lived in Anchorage and it wasn’t that bad. There are a few books that can give you a rundown on the worst (Death Stalks the Land is a good reference). The people who went there unprepared and paid for it with their lives. Even those who lived there 20 years are not immune to getting caught unaware.
Everything thing you need to get has to be shipped overseas including grain for livestock and hay, milk, tools, some building supplies and clothing. The natives do produce some things. However, most do it for the tourists that show up.
There are many tales of those that made it up there but for each one of those there is one or more that lost limb or life trying.
There is a book on the last homesteader to go to Alaska and it is a real eye opener.

The plusses: The constant daylight in some areas [in summer] makes for incredible food and if you can fruits and veggies, you’ll be better for it.
The Icelandic Horses can and will eat dry or fresh fish and there is plenty of that.
You can’t beat the hunting and fishing.
It is incredibly beautiful, summer or winter.

I will leave you with this – It’s a very long way to go for help or to help anyone while there, if you go you will truly be on your own. – TD

Four Letters Re: Preparedness Through Tapping in to the Craig’s List Culture

Sir;

By way of profession, I am a CPA (M.S. in Taxation), economic survivalist by persuasion. One thing you may want to caution readers about is the Internal Revenue Services’ position on bartering income. Always, always, always talk to a competent tax advisor regarding your particular situation. Under the current administration, self-sufficiency activities such as bartering with others for services or goods may be considered a reportable and taxable activity on the part of both parties.

Just a “heads up” to all, we all want to stay within the letter of the law. Thanks for the listen – C.

 

Sir,

Craigslist can be frustrating, for example, you see a super deal, you call early, have the cash and can buy now, but the seller says, “well, some guy called at 6 a.m. and is coming to buy it this Sunday. Sorry.” Out of politeness, you didn’t want to call at 6 am, but because you didn’t, you lost the ability to buy the item because the seller is a “first call-first serve” seller, and not a “first cash-first serve” seller.

On the other hand, it is irritating when you set an appointment, spend $20 on diesel to drive to the seller’s home, and arrive to find someone else loading the item in his truck. Maybe sellers ought to put a Terms-of-Service in their ads! (I personally am a First-Cash seller, but cancel later appointments immediately upon sale). – Willow, in Texas

 

Jim:

[Because of their posting rules], one must be very circumspect in listing or putting a “Want to Buy” (WTB) ad on Craigslist.com if it concerns guns, ammunition, or reloading.
They will delete your posting in a “New York Minute”. – D.O.

JWR Replies: I’ve seen the same thing happen, many times. Do not mention firearms in the title line of any Craigslist post, even if you live in an ultra-conservative state like Wyoming. Some hoplophobic do-gooder will indeed zap your post almost immediately. I’ve heard that it is best to “bury ” mention of your willingness to swap “sporting goods” in posts on other topics. For those that specifically want to trade a firearm or ammunition, I recommend advertising on a regional gun board, such as the Northwest Firearms Board. , or in one of the many local newspapers or advertising giveaway papers (such as the “Nickel” and “Penny Saver” type papers) that offer free or low-cost classified ads.

 

Mr. Rawles:

Even though Craigslist does not allows firearms and ammunition advertisements, it is still beneficial sure to check the Sporting Goods section. In my my local Craigslist there are “47 speed bicycles, AK brand”, and similar items regularly for sale. – J.M.

Odds ‘n Sods:

David V. recommended the latest essay from commentator Charles Hugh Smith’s Of Two Minds blog: Pandemic, Drug Resistance and Natural Selection

   o o

As the red ink continues to spread across the globe, here is today’s economic news: Some Deep Schumer talk in the UK: Gordon Brown suggests world heading for a ‘depression’. SF in Hawaii suggested this: Afshin Rattansi talks to Max Keiser about the Dollar. Max Keiser says: “Free market capitalism in America is dead”, and: “The technical strength of the Dollar will be short-lived.” Reader H.P.D. sent us a link to Mish Shedlock’s latest commentary: The Game is Up. Reader G.G. suggested this essay by David Roche: Blight of capital protectionism will give rise to dollar crisis. And from The Economatrix comes all these items: Circuit City Ripples to Be Felt for Years — 500,000 More US Jobs Lost in January — Major UK Retail Investor Collapses — Now Russia Gets Caught Up in Credit Crunch — How to Play the Coming Gold Price Jump — Rising Unemployment Hits 98% of Metro Areas — Bad News Means Bad News (The Mogambo Guru) — Riots Around The World Because of Skyrocketing Unemployment

   o o o

Thanks to G.G. for two encouraging news items, first from The Financial Times: Demand for seeds, canning supplies boom, and from The St. Louis Business Journal: Olin Q4 profit triples on ammunition sales. And linked from that article was this: Dealers: Assault rifle sales up; long waiting list for handguns

   o o o

Several readers have written to mention HCR 6, which will hopefully soon be considered by the New Hampshire legislature. I first mentioned it in SurvivalBlog on Monday. The resolution is a step in the right direction, but keep in mind that for now it is only a proposed piece of legislation. Until it is passed and signed by the Governor, it is not much more than the source of conjecture. I hope that the sovereignty reservation movement catches on in other states. I’ll continue to publish updates.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Listen, this whole [heat and air conditioning] system of yours could be on fire, and I couldn’t even turn on the kitchen tap [to put the fire out] without filling out a 27-B Stroke 6 [form.] Blo**y paperwork!” – Robert DeNiro as Harry Tuttle, in Brazil.1985. (Screenplay by Terry Gilliam, Tom Stoppard, and Charles McKeown)

Letter Re: Finding Like-Minded Folks

Hello,
I’ve read your novel “Patriots” and I feel compelled to mention that it was the first book I ever defaced. I’ve always loved reading, but I read (and in some cases even re-read multiple times) books but never highlight or mark up the books. I don’t know why, I just don’t. It was almost immediate, like a lightning strike… that I needed to change what I was doing when I started reading Patriots. It even occurred to me that I needed a couple different colors to distinguish separate types of information. I absolutely loved the story line, not because of the happy ending, not because of the advice, but a combination of identifying with the characters and with the events they were in, and how they dealt with them which was your actual message… the readability of your Patriots novel is 5 stars in my opinion and I thank you greatly, I’m actually starting over again tonight, because even with hi-lighting the key elements, I still enjoy the story and still need to reinforce the lessons they are teaching me.

I am in complete agreement that the decline of our economy is not only assured, it’s gaining speed as I type this. While our paid legislators hammer out details on which political action committees and which unions will receive how much money, the country is being destroyed, willingly.
I’m not willing to sign up for that! but I’m one person in California, the state that is driving this insanity!

I’ve spent a bit of money recently in various purchases of both hardware and consumables, and I have perhaps 10 months [of food and supplies] right now, ready to go food if the Schumer hits the fan, (in my opinion wisely since investments are libel to crash even further when liberal politics affect wall street) but I have short comings…
I have friends here who are like minded about preparedness, but are unable or unwilling to sacrifice to make the retreat happen
I have money myself to to put down some money on a few acres in my home state of Arizona and I plan to buy in heavily militia territory, but I don’t want to be forced to be co-opted into a “must join” as you described in Patriots when the two groups first met. But I don’t want to be alone on my land, and I don’t know how many of my friends might actually be able to make it there if the “zombie invasion” occurs… Added to which, an A-frame cabin as my “secured” retreat means to me that I need two or three or maybe even four back up plans and pre-positioned caches.

Do you host any sort of “getting to meet ya” events of like minded folks?
Do you have any suggestions for me, outside of the obvious… pick the best tools for the job and then take with what you can. I have a 4×4 truck and I’m storing currently enough fuel to get to where I want to buy a few acres, but it’s going to get awful lonely in my A-frame cabin–or awfully exciting–and I hope I make it if the full zombie invasion takes place and I have to defend against looters. An A-frame cabins (not even built yet) are very poor protection and unfortunately prone to theft and who knows what when left unattended, like I’d have to do here in California.

Your suggestions would be great appreciated, and if there’s people that would be looking to recruit me without me knowing who they are, I’d appreciate you forwarding that as well. I can not do this on my own, I don’t have all the answers and I never will, but I must find folks who are at least willing to ask the questions and even look at the unpleasant answers.
Thanks! and please keep writing! – Brent

JWR Replies: You mentioned your intention to build an A-frame cabin. I encourage you to pick a better design. This post from the SurvivalBlog archives (August, 2007) sums up my objections to A-frame designs.

Sorry, but I don’t host “get-togethers”. In fact, given the OPSEC concerns created by my high media profile, I don’t even publicly mention the state that I live in! (Sorry to be so circumspect , but I ‘ve made solemn promises to family members that I can only mention that I live in TUWS, somewhere west of the Rockies, on the bank of TUR, on a ranch in TUROM. All this dissimulation might seem odd to some readers, but please put yourself in my shoes. We had some odd stalking incidents when we were living at our previous ranch, so when we made or last move we took some unprecedented OPSEC measures. I even have cousins that don’t know where I live.

Your situation, feeling unable to link up with other that share your preparedness goals, is fairly typical . See my static web page: Finding Like-Minded People in Your Area. The advice there will probably be very helpful. May God Put You in the Right Place, at the Right Time, with the Right People.

Update to Survival Gardening: Growing Food During a Second Great Depression, by H.I.C.

While re-reading my recent post concerning survival gardening, I realized that I have completely forgotten to point out some important info.
While living through a crisis you are going to need to eat more calories than normal [to provide adequate nutrition with the extra exertion, stress, and physical labor], perhaps twice as much. I am planning on 4,000 calories per day.

Fresh fruit and vegetables are important as a source of vitamins, however most green veggies do not contain enough calories to keep you going. During a crisis you are going to need several sources of protein, oils, and starch.

I believe the best way of storing red meat is to raise livestock. Naturally you want them to reproduce and raise enough young for you to enjoy fresh meat for the duration of the crisis. Rabbits, Chickens, and Goats are particularly easy to raise. Having fish in your agricultural pond is perfect.

Two acres planted to Wheat, Corn, Dry Beans, Potatoes, and Winter Squash will produce more food than a typical family can eat in a year. We used to plan our sweet corn, pinto beans, and potatoes in field rows and use the tractor to cultivate them.

An acre of winter wheat planted in good soil should yield 50 bushels (2,000 lbs) of easily storable grain. A second acre of open pollinated field corn should yield 80 bushels (4,000 lbs), but requires more fertilizer and more effort devoted to weed suppression. A full acre of pinto beans would be way too much, 35 bushels (1,400 lbs).

A native pecan averages 50 – 80 lbs of nuts which store for a year or more. Each acre of pecan trees would contain 15 large trees or 30 smaller trees and provides a rich source of calories, oils, and protein. Since you are hoping to avoid too much attention you might plant your fruit trees and a variety of hardwood nut trees scattered across your pasture or mixed in with your wood lot. Less attention and [given their wide spacing,] fewer insect pests. [JWR Adds: Some of us that live in high elevation or northern climates where most pecan trees are unlikely to survive (even the Hardy Pecan). But there are other nut trees such as as Carpathian Walnuts that do well in all but the most severe climate zones.]

I hope this helps explain my emphasis on trees, small livestock, row crops, and field crops. – H.I.C.

Odds ‘n Sods:

SF in Hawaii mentioned this: Australians rule, when ranked for elbow room. But I can be proud of the fact that I live in a part of the US with one of the lowest population densities– about 5 people per square mile, and most of those are squeezed inside city limits. (“Give me land, lots of land, and the starry skies above…”)

   o o o

On the economic front: Pointing the finger of blame at credit derivatives: What Cooked the World’s Economy? (Thanks to Charley for the link.) And all these came from Cheryl: The Whole World is Rioting About the Economic Crisis–Why Aren’t We? — Layoffs Spike as Recession Rips Through US — Most Carmakers’ Sales Plunge; Hyundai, Subaru Gain — Motorola $3.6 Billion Quarterly Loss — Cutbacks in Consumer Spending Hits UPS (JWR Adds: But for some reason there are still lots of long, skinny boxes getting shipped…) — UBS to Merge with Wachovia? — Spain’s Downward Spiral Spooks Investors — Kazakhstan Devalues Currency — Fitch Cuts Russia’s Debt Rating to “BBB” — Dow Has Fallen 44% in the Past 16 Months — US Auto Sales Plunge 37% — Can Countries Really Go Bankrupt? — It’s Not About Change, it’s About Personal Survival. JWR Adds: A key quote from that article: “The US Treasury on Wednesday opened the floodgates of government bond issuance, revealing plans for a record debt sale in February and more frequent auctions in the months to come. The announcement came amid growing fears about US government deficits and sent the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rising to 2.95 per cent, up from just over 2 per cent at the end of December.” This confirms my prediction that interest rates will have to rise sharply to lure foreign investors to buy US Treasury paper. This is a stagflation precursor, folks!

   o o o

Tamara’s Books, Bikes and Boomsticks blog has recently became one of our favorites, filling the void of clever and humorous Schuetzentrix POV that was left when Kit got married and stopped blogging. In a recent post, Tamara mentioned another incredibly useless gadget for the Mall Ninja crowd. What is it about M4geries that attract these gee-gaws, jim-cracks, do-dads? Is it some strange magnetism? Is it those empty handguard rail sections, begging to be filled? Who comes up with such idiotic “accessories”, and even more importantly, who is naive enough to actually buy them?

   o o o

The current high bid in the SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction is at $1,460. This auction is for a large mixed lot, which includes::

1.) A “be ready to barter” box of 36 full-capacity gun magazines, from my personal collection in JASBORR. This box includes: 12 – Used original Bundeswehr contract HK91 (G3) steel 20 round magazines, 6 – Used 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, 6 – Excellent condition original Glock Model 19 9mm 15 round pistol magazines (early type, with “U” notch), and 2 – New and very scarce original FN (Belgian-made) US M1/M2 Carbine blued steel 30 round magazines (marked “AYP”) . 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 $710, 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 brand new-in-box Hot Jaw Bag Sealer and a box of 10 Mylar bags . (Every retreat group should have one these, since they are a tremendous labor saver!) This is a $200 retail value, courtesy of Ready Made Resources.

3.) 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

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

5.) A gift certificate for $100 worth of books, courtesy of Back 40 Books.

6.) A case of 12 cans of recent production nitrogen-packed storage granola (mixed varieties) This is a $96 retail value, courtesy of CampingSurvival.com.

Thus, this auction has a combined value in excess of $1,565.

This auction ends on February 15th. Please e-mail us your bid. Your bid will be for the entire mixed lot.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"When we reflect that the eyes of the virtuous all over the earth are turned with anxiety on us as the only depositories of the sacred fire of liberty, and that our falling into anarchy would decide forever the destinies of mankind and seal the political heresy that man is incapable of self-government, the only contest between divided friends should be who will dare farthest into the ranks of the common enemy." – Thomas Jefferson to John Hollins, 1811. ME 13:58

Notes from JWR:

My novel “Patriots” just got mentioned by Prof. Glenn Reynolds in his popular Instapundit blog. That briefly pushed my book’s Amazon.com sales rank from it’s usual +/- #700 all the way up to #149 (out of 3.5 million titles.) And in the “Contemporary Fiction” category, its rank reached #23. That’s not bad for a self-published novel that has been in print for almost 11 years.

—

The current high bid in the SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction is at $1,400. This auction is for a large mixed lot, which includes::

1.) A “be ready to barter” box of 36 full-capacity gun magazines, from my personal collection in JASBORR. This box includes: 12 – Used original Bundeswehr contract HK91 (G3) steel 20 round magazines, 6 – Used 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, 6 – Excellent condition original Glock Model 19 9mm 15 round pistol magazines (early type, with “U” notch), and 2 – New and very scarce original FN (Belgian-made) US M1/M2 Carbine blued steel 30 round magazines (marked “AYP”) . 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 $710, 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 brand new-in-box Hot Jaw Bag Sealer and a box of 10 Mylar bags . (Every retreat group should have one these, since they are a tremendous labor saver!) This is a $200 retail value, courtesy of Ready Made Resources.

3.) 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

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

5.) A gift certificate for $100 worth of books, courtesy of Back 40 Books.

6.) A case of 12 cans of recent production nitrogen-packed storage granola (mixed varieties) This is a $96 retail value, courtesy of CampingSurvival.com.

Thus, this auction has a combined value in excess of $1,565.

This auction ends on February 15th. Please e-mail us your bid. Your bid will be for the entire mixed lot.

—

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.

Preparedness Through Tapping in to the Craig’s List Culture: Doing Well by Doing Good, by D.S.

I do not consider myself an expert on Craigslist.org. However, I do cruise our local Craigslist several times a day as I am fascinated with what people are buying, looking for and selling. It helps me keep a pulse on our local economy that I don’t get through the Mainstream Media. To that point, I have noticed a strong uptick, since the New Year, of people selling anything of value that they can. This tells me people are really starting to hurt from this incipient Economic Depression.

On items I have an interest in I call or e-mail to enquire. Lately, the conversation has veered towards why folks are selling stuff. “I am getting rid of my ‘stuff’ as I don’t know what the economy is going to do.” “My husband lost his job.” “I have a small business but my clients are not paying me what they owe me.”

What has also started happening, at least from my perspective, is more and more folks want to barter goods than simply accept cash. 120 bales of horse hay sounds better to them than $1,200. Firewood has become huge as a barter item as has quality hay and, of course, firearms. Quality reliable cars for less than $2,000 are very desirable. Items like Sterling silver tea sets and Grandma’s china are falling fast.

I am not sure when I began doing this, but in the past few months I started offering folks alternatives to fiat money. ‘Would you prefer payment in firewood, Sir, or some other item, or is cash what you are looking for?’ I had no set protocol, I made it up as I went along, but pretty soon I started crystallizing some thoughts on bartering on Craigslist. Here they are:

1. Say what you can do and do what you say.
2. “No, thank you.” is a great response. Never be afraid to say “No” if the deal does not work for you.
3. Craigslist is not a community in the sense that one seller does not (often) hear directly from another on your reputation. But still, people can tell if you are honest or are looking to skin them. Act Honorably always.
4. Get clear on what your natural assets are that you have to trade. One of mine is firewood.
5. Timing can be everything – scan Craigslist frequently in your desired categories since you want to be (to use an old Army Cav expression) ‘the firstest with the mostest!’
6. When I see a particularly nice item in the ‘free’ category I often inquire if I might make a small charitable contribution to the charity of their choice as appreciation of their item. I do this for one primary reason – it is the right thing to do. It has had the ancillary benefit of having ‘jumped me to the front of the line’ on some items. I offered my desire to donate to a Craigslister for three free garage doors. He responded quickly that I was the only person to do so, and that it touched his heart. He even delivered the doors to our ranch (I can no longer drive as a Disabled Vet). I subsequently donated to the local food-bank.
7. Always say please and thank you. Honest and sincere appreciation is a scarce commodity today.
8. Never begrudge folks an honest profit. If someone makes great money from an item you swapped or sold – congratulate them!
9. I use Ronald Reagan’s motto: ‘Trust, but verify.’ I start off assuming I can trust folks. But I always verify that what they are telling me is so.
10. Have fun! As long as you are helping others get what they want, you’ll likely always get what you want. That is satisfying from a servant’s heart perspective, and you meet a lot of nice people (not all though) while you are building up your supplies and stores for your retreat.

The following are not a ‘bragging’ example. I hope you will simply see these as examples of what is possible:

Four weeks ago I found a Mercedes 300TD wagon for sale ($3,000) or trade. I enquired to see if it was still available, and to my happy surprise, it still was. The young man (a survivalist) was moving to Belize with his wife and young son and needed ‘camping gear.’ I asked what he really wanted and his reply was ‘a really good tent to live in while we build our house, and some nice backpacks.’ I have been a Boy Scout Leader for 20+ years and have way too much camping gear. I offered him a Golite backpack (acquired from Craigslist for $40 – originally retailed at $190) and a [US Army surplus] GP Medium Tent (like the tents one would see in the old television series MASH)
I paid nothing for the tent as I had bartered, through Craigslist, for two of these GP medium tents for allowing a fellow to come hunt Elk on our property. Very nice man, very generous, two amazing high quality canvas tents with all the poles. As an aside, he never came to hunt though I wish he had.

As I type this, I am waiting for a fellow (a Senior NCO recently returned from Iraq) to come over for three cords of firewood. He is giving us two barely-used Australian saddles and two snowmobiles. The snowmobiles may need a good cleaning and rebuild, but I have 30 acres of dense woods that need to be cut back for fire safety – I suspect I can find someone to help rebuild the snowmobiles in trade for firewood.

Bear in mind, please, that I don’t actually do the cutting of the firewood. My left arm is pretty weak from nerve damage and holding a chain-saw really hurts. So, again, I barter. If folks need wood I ask that they cut and split a cord for me and they, may then, cut a cord for themselves. Sadly, I used to offer firewood to folks if they’d come help me put some up. After they got their firewood I never saw them again. So, now, I get ‘paid’ up front.

I may be close to closing a deal, today, for a beautiful Savage shotgun that looks like a Browning A5. My cost? Giving the owner permission to come hunt on our property for Elk. We both get something we really want and would be tickled that the other loves what they get!

Reloading equipment ‘grab bag’ I had a gentleman over this past week looking at antiques I had in our basement that had simply been gathering dust. He mentioned, that right before he came over he had picked up a box of RCBS dies (new in the box) and three reloading presses. I swapped an antique table of my grandmother’s for the box of reloading gear. . After going through it I’ll have several dies I won’t use (.243 Winchester, 7mm Mauser, etc.) that I can trade for items I do want (clean brass, Nosler or Barnes bullets, etc). I met the man by looking through Craigslist collectibles to see who was selling items similar to what I had to sell.

Final example: A small herd of registered purebred Longhorn Cattle. A lady listed four Longhorns for $1,300 on Craigslist. She was willing, according to her listing, to barter for items other than cash. After talking with her on the phone I offered her any combination of hay, firewood, firearms,etc. The two cows are bred and expected to calve this spring around May. So, with items I have accumulated from others by bartering, and maybe $300 in cash, God willing, I will own six purebred Longhorns.
I have helped others heat their house, hunt for meat for their family, feed their livestock hay, and house their family while they build their home.
That is pretty cool! The satisfaction I receive from helping those folks is immense.

Here is a tally of what I have received (or am about to) :

4 registered Longhorns (two due to calve)
An 1987 Mercedes 300 TD wagon
2 snowmobiles
A beautiful Savage shotgun
Reloading equipment
2 Australian saddles

Bartering is a very valuable skill to learn for a grid-down world. It is far better to learn it now when the stakes are not nearly as high. Be willing to make mistakes and have fun. And please, if there are bartering skills that you think should be mentioned to supplement those that have already been discussed in SurvivalBlog, please e-mail them to Jim.

Go out and barter now, and do well by doing good! – D.S.

Three Letters Re: The Community Retreat

James:
When it comes to real-world advice that applies to real people, Kathy Harrison’s article ranks right near the top of the list. There is a sizable portion of the survival community (including my family) that believes that the community retreat model outlined in this article is, for most scenarios, the single best strategy for survival. While there are certainly some scenarios in which a remote retreat would be advantageous, those (in my opinion) are relatively few and unlikely. The community retreat strategy is one that can be used by just about anyone regardless of family or occupational requirements. It takes full advantage of the very reason that people have always congregated together. It’s followers are well positioned for recovery efforts that leave out the isolated retreater, and it incorporates one of your key points – live at your retreat.
I look forward to more articles of this type by Kathy Harrison and others. – Stephen in Florida

Dear Mr. Rawles,
The recent post “The Community Retreat, by Kathy Harrison” prompted me to write with some comments about municipal retreats. Her comments are about a community retreat that is privately operated. I recently had an opportunity to see how a municipal shelter/retreat functioned. It was illuminating.

Recently we had a pretty severe ice storm here in the American Northeast. Many folks feel that it was the worst since 1987, when a storm knocked out power for two weeks. I wrote about my experiences with that storm here.

One thing about this storm that was new to me was that it was the first time my municipality had activated its Emergency Preparedness Plan (EPP).

I live next to a municipality of 1,600 people. The Village covers a little under two square miles and has 386 households.

Like most municipalities these days that receive Federal grants, the Village must meet certain eligibility conditions. One of those conditions is that there must be a municipal Emergency Preparedness Plan. This plan describes the village chain of command, who is responsible for what (fire, police, DPW, etc.), how to contact those departments/individuals and what resources they have. It also lists resources available in adjoining municipalities and what resources (fuel, water, etc.) are available within the village.

Another aspect of the EPP is that the village has to have a facility to shelter residents during an emergency. That is what I wanted to address here.

This was the first time the village had activated their shelter plan and I thought it might be useful to describe how it was supposed to go and how it actually went.

When the village wrote the EPP, the plan was that the American Legion [Hall] would be used to shelter residents. The Legion had large open spaces, a large commercial kitchen, was located on high ground and had ample parking. There were large bathrooms with many toilets and sufficient storage for reserve food and cooking items. To this end a trailer mounted military generator was permanently acquired from the Federal government and the buildings wiring slightly modified so that all one had to do was plug the generator into the building, throw a transfer switch and you were good to go. Sleeping cots were stored in the building as well as assorted small items that would allow for sheltering a large number of people. The American Red Cross would set everything up.

Like most municipalities, the village worked very hard on the EPP, sent copies to all the right people/departments, filed it with the Feds and States and then put it on a shelf and never paid attention to it until this ice storm hit. They –never- updated it. The plan was 2.5 years old.

The Legion hall is privately owned. About 8-10 months ago a decision was made by its owners to put it up for sale. When the time came to implement the EPP, the building was no longer available and a replacement had to be immediately found.

The –only- other building available was the Village Hall. It had emergency power and water and as a village owned property was immediately available. The downside was that it was considerably smaller; only about 25% of the capacity of the Legion [Hall]. The Village Hall contained both the police and fire departments so it was being used as a command & control facility. The Red Cross switched gears from Legion to Village Hall. A space was found for about 20 cots but fire and police personnel had to go through this area to meet with their commands. The radio room was right next to the sleeping area and the sandwiches and coffee for the firefighters and cops and everyone else was also in the same room. I don’t see how anyone could have slept.

While there was no disorder or major crime, the police maintained a presence in the shelter that did seem a bit ominous. People were allowed to come and go freely, but it would not have been a stretch of the imagination to foresee a time when people, once entering the shelter would not be allowed to leave. Commander Zero [, the editor of the excellent Notes From the Bunker blog] commented on the New Orleans, Louisiana authorities doing this at the Super Dome: They said that the citizens had [effectively] signed an unwritten contract with the authorities by entering the Dome and that they were being prohibited from leaving ‘for their own safety’. Commander Zero called this the “Guantanodome.”

The food supplied to those people seeking shelter in the Village Hall was limited to grilled cheese sandwiches and coffee and water. There were no diapers, no provisions for pets, no toys or distractions for younger children. The bathrooms were small, each containing only two toilets. There was a single television but it’s volume was kept low so as not to interfere with radio communications.

Finally, there was no guidance or protocol from higher authorities on how long to keep the shelter open. After five days or so, staffing the shelter (all the staff were volunteers) became more difficult and a decision was made to close it down. By this time only about 10 people remained and they were directed to shelters in another town. I don’t know what became of those people when those shelters closed. I like to think that power was restored to their homes by then and they went home.

It would be very easy to say that this shows that an individual really should not rely on government in an emergency. In a large way, that’s correct. While I advocate that the goal of being prepared is to prevent having to go to this type of shelter, I do not think one should ignore the need for a municipal shelter. While I will still prepare and strive to not need to leave my home, I will work with the Village hierarchy to update and improve the plan that they have. If I know the village residents have a place to go and resources to draw upon then there will be that many fewer people out scavenging for what I have put aside for me and mine. – RMV.

 

Hi Jim…
It never ceases to amaze me how the majority of US survivalist wannabes adamantly contend they must live in the major cities. Fully 80% of all survivalist wannabes want to hunker down in their urban or suburban homes according to our polls.

Yet, they subscribe to and post ‘survivalist’ articles to survival forums like my Surviving The Day After list at Yahoo Groups], Rourke’s Survival Retreat and Secure Home [list at Yahoo Groups], or Brad’s HunkerDown06 [list at Yahoo Groups]. Their topics are often centered around a socialist/communist theme of a secure, remote survival retreat paid for by pooling money and resources of would be members and living a communal existence after TSHTF.

None of that is a viable plan, especially with the coming economic collapse of the USA, worldwide depression, and World War III. But, they won’t even consider getting out of the cities now! It’s frustrating to survivalists like me.

BTW, I am in West Texas and we are developing a problem here in such a sparsely populated area. Pecos, Texas is about 5,000 people around mile marker 40 on Interstate Highway 20. They have a 3,000 bed county-run prison that houses 3,000 Federal prisoners. Last Saturday night the prisoners rioted and burned out the R2 unit. About 45 days ago they had rioted and burned out R1 unit. My brother is a prison guard there and called during this riot to warn me the inmates were expecting help from MS13 [gang] contact/associates from Mexico.

The night before, a Hispanic youth gang called Brown Pride Gang torched six homes in and around Pecos. Two of those homes had Hispanic families asleep inside. Those responsible have been apprehended and are facing attempted homicide by arson charges. These gang “youths” were organized and incited to commit this attack by MS13 members in Pecos.

Glenn Beck was saying on Fox News that the border violence is intensifying and yet neither the Democrats or the Republicans are willing to close and regulate the border with
Mexico. And to top that off, Beck was warning that Texans will soon get fed up and take matters into their own hands, arming themselves and protecting their families and property from invasion.

This all has an effect on my personal survival plans long term of course. The lack of population, the distances involved here in the desert of West Texas, and the proximity of our paid-for mountain retreat to our paid for farm in the valley puts us in a much better prepared position than 95% of the populace. It has taken years of preparation and planning, though. And, none of it came cheap.

I am still a voice in the wilderness crying: Get out of the cities, now!

Regards, Lawrence R.
List Owner, SurvivingTheDayAfter at Yahoo Groups

Letter Re: Alaska as a Retreat Locale

I have read your list of recommended retreat areas and agree for the most part. My wife and child and I are leaving Texas in March and heading north. Idaho and Alaska are the only places we are considering because they are the only two western states that have 100% parental autonomy on homeschooling.

As for Alaska not being recommended, I would have to disagree somewhat. Yes, it is not for everybody. Some people don’t like cold and that’s fine by me. However, the issues of supplies and resource shipment I think may become moot. When TSHTF the shipment of goods will be disrupted everywhere, and in the lower 48 there will be more people fighting for what is left. For those of us looking to get off the Made-in-China Wal-Mart matrix, these are changes we are preparing for and will welcome.

In Alaska there will be an advantage not found anywhere else. First, it’s cold climate and geographic separation from the lower 48 will keep it very well protected against the roving bands of thugs and immigrants already overpopulating the lower 48. People simply won’t be able to get there, and borders will likely close to all such traffic. Second, Alaska has a long and well-ingrained tradition of self-sufficiency and the character of the people there will be more immune to the shock of having to get back to basics. Additionally it is the most likely candidate to be the first state to secede. The crime rate statistics are misleading as well, due to the low population and the fact many “crimes” are not crimes at all, or they represent alcohol-related petty crimes, eskimo tribal feuds, bar brawls, etc. All in all, I believe the spirit of Alaska will prevail and people will get along better than the lower 48 on many levels, regardless of whether or not there is a Wal-Mart. On another note, [Governor] Sarah Palin has also proposed the creation of a new natural gas line just for the state residents. – Brad in Texas