Economics and Investing:

El Jefe Jeff E. sent this one: U.S. New-Home Sales Drop 11.2%. “Unexpectedly”??? What planet are they from? I suspect that we’ll see a further drop, seasonally adjusted this summer, as mortgage credit tightens and as another wave of foreclosures further flood the housing market.

GG mentioned an article in an Indian newspaper, wherein Jim Rogers says that the UK will lose its AAA bond rating this year, and that inflation and a currency crisis are inevitable.

I noticed that The Total Investor Blog has had some great posts, recently.

Items from The Economatrix:

Bernanke: Record-low Rates Still Needed

Stocks Rise Ahead of Bernanke Report on Economy

Freddie Mac Loses $7.8 Billion. (Senator Everett Dirksen said it best: “A billion here, and a billion there, and pretty so you’re talkin’ about real money.” )

Bad Credit Sidelines Some Jobless Workers

World Economy to be Hit by Several Sovereign Defaults

Consumer Confidence Down Again

Oil Rally Fizzles, Drops Below $80/Barrel

Odds ‘n Sods:

GG sent this: The Boogeyman Bomb; How afraid should we be of electromagnetic pulse weapons?

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Israelis Building a NBC-Proof Hospital. (Thanks to P.S. for the link.)

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SurvivalBound has just launched a new spin-of web site: SurvivalClassifieds.com. I’m hopeful that it will flourish. Please check it out, and take advantage of their free classified ads.

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Here they go again, this time in Illinois, with another proposed “assault weapons” ban law. I recommend that any Illinois residents contact their assemblymen, to let them know your position on this legislation. (Thanks to Brett, for the news tip.) Oh, and for the record: Marko had it it right, when he wrote: “Assault is a behavior, not a device.”

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"I like a little rebellion now and then. It is like a storm in the Atmosphere." – Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Abigail Adams, February 22, 1787

Letter Re: Purchasing an Antique Firearms Battery

Jim:
Just in case laws change, and I must bury my collection of [modern] guns [to avoid registration or confiscation], then what do you recommend me buying for an “above ground collection” of 1898 and earlier guns? I’m assuming that they’ll still be unregulated [in the United States]. That is a great exception in the law, I think!

My thanks to you in advance, sir. – G.K.B.

JWR Replies: These are my recommendations for the most practical and affordable Pre-1899 guns, at the present time:

  • Finnish Model 1939 Mosin-Nagant rifles built on hexagonal Pre-1899-dated actions. (They re dated on the tangs, inside the sock.) Pat Burns is a good Mosin dealer that usually has some Finnish M39s built on antique (1898 or earlier) receivers available. (Scroll down to the second half of the yellow table of M39 listings for the pre-1899 antiques.) Please note that most of the 7.62x54r ammo on the market is corrosively primed. Search for the Russian Silver Bear 7.62x54r ammo, which is non-corrosive. J&G Sales in Prescott, Arizona often stocks it.
  • Mauser military bolt action rifles. These include M1894 Swedish Mauser carbines, and the Ludwig Loewe-made 7x57mm Mausers. (Mostly made for Chilean military contracts.) The years of manufacture is marked on the Swedes, but not the Chileans. But all Mausers marked “Ludwig Loewe – Berlin” are antique, because Loewe ceased to exist in 1897, when it became part of DWM.
  • Early (pre-1899) Marlin lever action rifles. The only models that are certain to be legally antique are the models for which ended production before 1899 are the Model 1881, 1888, 1889, and 1891.
  • Pre-1899 Winchester rifles. In terms of ammunition availability, .30-30 and .44-40 are the best chamberings to look for. You can often find these rifles at gun shows at bargain prices, especially if you don’t mind a gun with a well-worn exterior. Remember, it is the mechanical condition and bore condition that are crucial. Everything else is just a beauty pageant. Sometimes you can get lucky, and find a seller doesn’t realize that what he is selling you is pre-1899, or the significance thereof. So it pays to carry a hard copy of my Pre-1899 Cartridge Guns FAQ with you, when you attend gun shows.
  • Winchester Model 1897 12 gauge pump-action shotguns made in 1897 or 1898.
  • Colt Model 1892 series revolvers chambered in .41 Long Colt. This was one of Colt’s first swing-out cylinder designs. Now that .41 Long Colt ammunition is again being manufactured by Ultramax and a few other companies that cater to the Cowboy Action shooter market, it makes these guns once again practical to own and shoot. The double action models are largely overlooked by collectors, who are fixated with single actions, and Cowboy Action shooters, who are limited to single action guns by shooting competition rules. (Except, if I understand the rules correctly, for double action “Second Guns”, if fired in single action mode.) So this leaves the double action models as some of the most affordable antique Colts.
  • Smith and Wesson top break revolvers. As I’ve mentioned once before in the my blog, I anticipate that S&Ws will nearly “catch up” to Colt prices in the next 20 years. The .38 caliber S&W top breaks are often available for less than $300 each, and .44 calibers for less than $900. My top choice would be one of the “New Frontier” double action variants, chambered in .44-40. (The .44 Russian ammo is also quite potent, and also now back in production.) These revolvers are sold by a number of antique gun dealers including Jim Supica (at The Armchair Gun Show), and Joe Salter.

As I noted in my Pre-1899 Cartridge Guns FAQ, many antique guns models span the Dec. 31, 1898 cut-off date, so you will have to do some serial number research. (I’ve already documented many of the cut-off serial numbers, in my FAQ.)

You can find many pre-1899 antique guns available without a paper trail by mail order through GunBroker.com, AuctionArms.com, and GunsAmerica.com. Just include the word “antique” in your search phrases.

Letter Re: An Easy Method to Determine a Year’s Supply of Any Regularly-Used Items

Dear James;
Here is an easy way to determine a year’s supply of anything. You just need a calendar, a pencil, and the ability to count to two.

Say you’re down to your last jug of cooking oil. Instead of buying one at the store, buy two, and write the item you purchased on the starting date on your calendar. Now, every time you replace that empty item, buy two more, instead of one, and rotate the oldest.

At the end of the year, when you transfer over Birthdays, etc, to next year’s calendar, be sure to add the items you’re tracking to the appropriate months.

At the end of one year’s time, count the items you stored, and write that number down on your calendar. In one year’s time, you will not only have stored a full year’s worth of that item, you’ve recorded that amount on a permanent record. A year’s worth of information eliminates unconscious over/under use or the occasional craving that might skew the desired tally.

If you’ve got a piece of scratch paper handy, here’s how it works…

Make a mark for the one of whatever you’re using. Add two more marks for the replacements, and line out the first mark you’ve theoretically used up. Now line out one of the marks, and add two more… Say you ran this out to 10 marks lined out. You have 11 marks left …10 stored items, and the current one you’re using. Neat trick, eh?

I suppose it’s more fashionable to do the same thing on a shopping database, but we farmers are a stubborn bunch. Now, if only the banks would give out these wall calendars with the pocket for the month, like they used to, I’d be a lot happier. – Feral Farmer

Letter Re: Basque Sheepherders’ Tree Blaze Trail Markings

Jim:
In the 1960s I hunted and fished in the mountains of Southern Utah and as I traveled by Jeep and on foot through the forest I became aware of the many blaze marks on the aspen trees. There was always a clear path, wide enough for my Jeep to pass near the blaze marks, After some observation and study I was able to discern the meaning of the blazes, and have used them ever since to navigate my way from one drainage, over the mountain into the next drainage. One blaze means turn right another indicates a left turn, one indicates water in the distance, yet another tells of pasture, The Basque headers pulled their horse drawn sheep wagons, unimpeded through the thickest forest and over the roughest ground year after year following these blaze marks as they camped for months at a time tending their sheep.

With the knowledge that these blazes were made by Basque sheepherders as a method to get from one spring to the next or one mountain meadow to the next I have been able to pull my Range Camp behind my Jeep and go into areas that are sheltered, watered and remote,

Old skills come in handy and could provide you with an “out of the way” place to camp in safety, on government land at no cost. These blaze marks are seen in the forest of California, Nevada, Montana, Idaho, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, Your readers might want to be made aware of their existence should they have a need to move a Range Camp or Sheep Wagon into an area for a peaceful retreat. – Peter X.

Letter Re: Operational Security (OPSEC) 101

Jim, et al,

Your reader was correct about what your garbage, mail, kids, etc. say about you as a preparer for when TSHTF. But keeping everything too close to the vest has negative consequences, too. So it’s very important to remain open and friendly. Not only is this the right thing to do morally, but it also offers a layer of “social protection” if needed. This is especially vital if you have no choice but to stay where you are in a compromised area. Some tips, if this is a struggle for you:

First, don’t be a recluse. Everybody knows that guy, and not necessarily in a good way. Yes, it can be tough to integrate into communities that we may see as ignorant or troubled, but if you are known to be generally pleasant that will go a long way. Tip your hat or give a casual wave (whatever fits your regional culture) whenever you see someone you have even a casual acquaintance with even if you say nothing. You do not have to give up your ideals or values to become part of a community. Join something that doesn’t constantly test your opinions, or get to know others through activities that meet infrequently and don’t require much disclosure on your part.

Second, remember that most people don’t care if you talk, they care if you listen. The most loved, most respected — and most protected — person is the one who always had a few minutes to hear about the latest injury, illness, family news or local gossip. So practice becoming a better listener.

Third, do something important in your community. That’s not to say it has to be high profile, but is should be service or compassion-oriented. Go ahead and join the gun club, but also consider the Kiwanis, and make sure you’re the hardest worker at the pancake breakfast and that you readily help the old ladies carry their trays to the table. If you are a church-goer, skip the usher job or landscaping, and help with the food pantry or the homeless shelter instead.

Fourth, as Mr. Rawles says so often, practice charity now. Purposefully plan this spring to grow extra produce to give away, and make sure the neighbors next door get at least one of your jumbo chickens after butchering, eggs from your hens, etc. Offer to help with yard or household projects (such as putting up a shed or car repair) when it comes up naturally in conversation, or you see them working outdoors. Although that shows some of your abilities to self-sustain, it also makes you the expert when others need help, instead of some prepper who hides in the house.

In general, work hard and be nice. And that goes for the family, too. Other adults will disregard children’s claims if they see the parent as a sane and helpful person, rather than a “hide in them thar’ hills” type. – Gretchen in Northern Illinois

Economics and Investing:

GG sent this: Buy farmland and gold,’ advises Dr Doom

Also from GG: Prices are rising fast, even if the CPI isn’t

Corey was the first of several readers to forward this: Banks at risk of going bust tops 700. Gee, with 7,000 banks in the country, that is a 1 in 10 chance that your bank is on the list. Those are practically Russian Roulette odds.

From Flavio: Harvard’s Rogoff Sees Sovereign Defaults, ‘Painful’ Austerity

Items from The Economatrix:

Real, Uglier American Unemployment

Death By Trillions of Dollars (The Mogambo Guru)

US State Pension Funds Have $1 Trillion Shortfall

Wealth Disparities in US Approaching 1920s Levels

More Generations Living Under Same Roof

Bad Economies in States to Worsen

Odds ‘n Sods:

Several readers mentioned this Wired article: Extreme Test: Going Ballistic on Bulletproof Vests

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Our Editor-at-Large Mike Williamson sent this: Nature’s power plants; On the hunt for renewable energy, scientists revisit Mother Nature’s original power source: Photosynthesis and plants

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Here in the U.S., a new Federal law that allows carrying guns in National Parks went into effect on Monday. This will be a relief to our readers that live in bear country. (Up until Monday, all that could be used to stop a bear attack inside a National Park were shouts of “Bad bear, go home!” and pepper spray.)

Note from JWR:

Today we present Part 4 of an entry for Round 27 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.

First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost between $500 and $600, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) C.) A HAZARiD Decontamination Kit from Safecastle.com. (A $350 value.), and D.) A 500 round case of Fiocchi 9mm Luger, 124gr. Hornady XTP/HP ammo, courtesy of Sunflower Ammo. This is a $249 value.

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

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

Round 27 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 have an advantage in the judging.

The Home Foundry, Metal Casting – Part 4, by Dan in Oklahoma

Safety, Aluminum Sources, Melting, and Pouring

We are now at the most exciting and most dangerous part of the aluminum casting process. You will be working with fire, an extremely hot fire, fed with forced air. But the biggest hazard lies in a possible spill of molten metal. Before I even start the fire I wear tall, heavy leather boots, this is no place for sandals, or plastic tennis shoes. I also wear a pair of welders suede leather leggings, and a welders suede leather apron. It is wise to wear long pants and long sleeve shirts. This is a pain in the summer, but even with good clean charcoal there will be cinders blowing out of your forge. Make sure there are no flammable’s within a 10 foot radius of your work area. The most dangerous would be a forgotten 5 gallon plastic gas can laying near the forge. If you do not already have a fire extinguisher, then buy one, the biggest baddest [dry chemical A-B-C] one available, and keep it close by. When it is dry I take my garden hose and water down the entire forge area. [JWR Adds: Never do this anywhere except on soft soil. Wet gravel and concrete will spall into “formidalbe projectiles”, in a steam explosion.] It is critical to protect your head, face, hands, and lungs. I wear a respirator, not a simple dust mask, but a respirator with a valve. Molten metal gives off toxic fumes that you don’t want in your lungs. I also wear a standard military issue boonie hat, this keeps cinders out of your hair. I wear a full [Lexan] face shield, the kind that you wear when brush hogging or grinding. Lastly, you need to wear thick leather gloves, since your hands will be closest to the heat. Lineman’s gloves or welder’s gloves are best. And if you have not guessed already, you need to do this outdoors. There is one last safety step you will perform when doing the actual pour and I will cover that later.

You are going to need some aluminum to melt. Look around, chances are you already have pieces of aluminum scrap. The trick is to find or cut down scrap pieces that will easily fit into the crucible. Yes, you can heat up an automotive transmission in a charcoal fire and bust it down into smaller pieces, but that takes an enormous amount of work. Stay away from aluminum soda cans, they provide very little metal when melted, and are coated in latex that gives off foul fumes, and can contaminate your melt. The absolute best aluminum scrap around are door and window frames. Almost every window made has aluminum bars that hold the glass in. Once the glass and rubber gaskets have been taken out, the window panes and door frames, can be pulled apart into nice long bars. If there are any steel rivets, screws, or hinges they need to be removed prior to melting. If they are painted, don’t worry about it, the paint will burn off quickly. You don’t even need to cut them down, just feed them vertically into the crucible, once melting temperature has been achieved. I have a scrap dealer/junk peddler in the neighboring town who sells me all the window panes and door frames I can carry for just a couple dollars. Unfortunately not all of us have a good scrap dealer, but do look around, if you can’t find one then you will have to get creative in finding aluminum to melt. Many scrap yards do not even sell scrap to the general public anymore, they only buy scrap, and this irritates me to no end. Be prepared to cut down many pieces of scrap into smaller pieces.

You will be astonished at how many chunks of solid aluminum scrap it takes to fill a crucible with molten metal. So before you begin have it all cut and ready to feed the melt. You also need to keep your charcoal fuel close at hand in a covered container. I had a cinder ignite my entire barrel of charcoal one night. You will have to re-fuel the forge quite often, it is also important to have your fire tools close at hand also. I rest mine on a metal table next to the forge, along with my melting scrap, and keep my fuel under the table. Attach your air supply to the air pipe on your forge, I place a small piece of plywood over the air supply to keep it from sucking in embers and ash. Make sure there is a flat level spot next to your forge, a cinder block or brick can be used also. This is to set the crucible on to re-fuel. With a pick or shovel cut some small 1″ x 4″ trenches in the dirt near the forge, make sure the trenches are away from your main working area. This is where you will dump any leftover aluminum after the pour. You next will fill your crucible with scrap, for these starter pieces, make sure none protrude out of the crucible, get the crucible as full as you can. Fuel the forge with charcoal, fill it at least halfway up, also put your forge lid into place.

Now for the last safety step, you need to do a practice run for your upcoming pour. Go and get your mold and set it down carefully near the forge. Get your hooks, one in each hand, and practice lifting it, practice attaching the second hook to the lower manipulation ring, and practice pulling the bottom up on your crucible for the pour. What we are doing is getting your orientation right, the orientation of your body to the forge, crucible, hooks, and mold. Figure how you are going to move, where you are going to stand, and where everything needs to be located when you move the molten metal from the forge to the mold, for the pour. Make adjustments until you are comfortable with the location of everything and your movements are smooth and fluid. You can leave the mold in place if you like, but put a piece of plywood over it. If it is going to get in the way, then put it up, but remember how and where it needs to be placed. Move the mold slowly and carefully!

Don’t turn on the air supply just yet, I squirt a little lighter fluid over the charcoal and then drop in a lit match. Let the charcoal catch for a bit before turning on the air supply. Take your crucible and set it in the forge on top of the charcoal. Things will begin to heat up, I like to do the actual melting at night, the darkness allows you to see what is going on in the forge and crucible. Have patience it takes some time for the concrete of the forge to heat up, you will not melt any metal until this concrete is hot and refracting heat.

Let the fire burn for a time and then grab your skimmer, I run the skimmer down into the charcoal bed to gauge how much has burned off. If you see a large quantity of ash, then its time to re-fuel. You must turn off the air supply before re-fueling. At first when I re-fueled I just dumped the charcoal into the forge, this was difficult because much of it would wind up in the crucible, too much. When I re-fuel now, I first turn off the air supply, then I grab one of my hooks and carefully lift the crucible out, and place it on the level spot you made earlier. A minute or two out of the fire will not make a big difference. Then I scoop out several handfuls of charcoal with my gloved hands, and drop it into the forge. I then take my hook and lift the crucible and set it back atop the new fuel and turn on the air supply. This also gives you further practice in manipulating a hot crucible. The metal is not molten yet and is still relatively light. It is later on that great care must be taken.

I need to cover why you are resting the crucible on an unsteady bed of charcoal. On one of my earlier melts I rested the crucible on the forge bottom and just kept fueling around it. The aluminum heated up and began to melt then it re-solidified, and no matter how much fuel I kept burning around it, it would not melt. After an hour of this, I took the crucible out and looked at it, the sides were orange hot, but the bottom was not glowing at all. It is crucial that the bottom of the crucible be brought up to a high temperature, if not, there will be no melt. I welded up a little table for the crucible to rest on while in the forge, at first it worked, but when ash built up I had the same problem as before. You could also scoop out the ash at intervals during the burn, but you will be losing heat and wasting fuel. A 3″ or 4″ diameter pipe that is 8″ tall will not fall over in its 8″ diameter forge. It may shift some and later it may spill some aluminum, but a small aluminum spill in the forge is neither dangerous or explosive, and the spilled aluminum is easily removed and recovered once the forge has fully cooled. My very first attempt at a crucible was a chopped down empty propane cylinder. I got the aluminum to melt, then the bottom of the propane cylinder burned out, and the entire charge of aluminum went into the forge. I did not even notice it, one second it was full of aluminum, the next second it was empty.

After your third or fourth re-fuel, take a good look at your crucible, gently push down on the aluminum with your skimmer. If it gives at all then it has begun to melt, re-fuel and keep the heat on it. You will see a layer of charcoal and ash beginning to form on the aluminum. This is not a concern and the ash layer actually protects the aluminum, allowing gasses to burn off while keeping other unwanted gasses from entering the melt. Before long your charge of aluminum will have melted, you will see just a small amount of silver molten metal in the crucible covered by a layer of ash. A filled to the top crucible now has less than an inch of molten metal. You have reached melting temperature and the pace is going to quicken, the walls of your forge are now very hot and refracting. This is the fun part, when this happens I find that time flies by, and all your concentration is on the melt. Re-fuel and begin feeding aluminum into the melt, when the crucible is taken out, the entire pipe is orange hot. It will stay orange hot while you are fueling. I only feed the melt when it is in the forge. If you are fortunate enough to have the long aluminum bars, simply put it in the crucible vertically and hang on to the cool end with your tongs. It will quickly melt into the crucible. If you are using broken bits of scrap, only feed them to the melt with the tongs. The temptation to put them in with gloved hands can get you burnt in a hurry. Mind your fire tools, the hook you just used to remove the crucible is still very hot when you set it down to grab your skimmer. I got branded one night for not minding my fire tools.

Continue re-fueling and feeding the melt, when the crucible is half way filled with molten metal, you need to skim out the charcoal and ash layer, otherwise known as dross. First take your skimmer and stick it into the charcoal, get it red hot, this prevents the aluminum from sticking to the skimmer. Now work the skimmer washer across the dross layer and pull up as much dross as you can. Some aluminum will come out with the dross, don’t worry about it. Pull the skimmer out of the crucible and forge, and rap it against the metal side of the forge towards the bottom. The dross and captured aluminum will drop off onto the ground and can be collected and disposed of later when everything has cooled. Repeat until the molten aluminum is mostly cleaned off. You do NOT want to stir the molten metal, you just want to get the trash off the surface. If you stir the metal it can capture air and gasses you don’t want in the melt. With the melt cleaned off, have a look at it, you will see the quicksilver of the molten metal but aluminum also has an orange aura around it. Even when it is out of the crucible, but still molten, it will have this orange glow around it. Continue fueling the fire and feeding the mold until the melt is nearing the top of the crucible. It is up to you to judge the amount of metal you need to fill a mold. And you get better at this each time you do it. For the 6″ X 6″ sphere you will need the crucible to be pretty full. It is not just the pattern cavity that needs to be filled, but the sprue, riser, filter trench, and channels as well. It is far better to have too much metal than not enough.

With your crucible nearly full, I like to carefully take it out of the forge, you should be pretty good at this by now, for one last re-fuel. Put it back into the forge and turn the air supply back on. This last heat will bring the impurities to the surface. Be sure to orient the crucible so its lower manipulation ring can be accessed from the standing position you practiced earlier. Get your mold and tools ready it is almost time to pour. After letting the final heat work its magic for several minutes, turn the air supply off, and repeat the process of skimming the dross from the metal. Hooks in hand get into your pouring position, lift the crucible out, it will be heavy so exercise caution. Attach your second hook to the lower ring and move the crucible over the mold. Your target is the funneled out sprue hole. Slowly raise the bottom of the crucible and let the metal run into the sprue. Do not stop pouring for any reason, a brief interruption can cause the metal to solidify and wreck the casting. Slow and steady, slow and steady! While pouring, keep your eye on the riser, when you see the aluminum come up to the surface of the riser, you are finished. Stop the pour and move the crucible over to the trenches you cut in the dirt earlier. Pour out any remaining metal into the trenches. You can use an ingot mold instead of trenches for this as well. You need to get all the remaining metal and trash out of the crucible before it cools. Once I have poured off the remaining metal I will hold the crucible with both hooks, bottom up, and tap the mouth of the crucible on the ground several times. This does a good job of cleaning it out for the next melt.

| Look at your mold, if you see aluminum bubbling out of the sprue, your sand was too wet and not properly burned out. Chances are the casting is blown, but this is not always the case, so don’t lose all hope. Once in a while you get a poor fitting between the sand in the cope and the sand in the drag. When this happens aluminum will briefly come out from the seams. It will burn the wood and smell terrible but don’t touch it, just let it cool, and once again, this may not necessarily ruin the casting. If you see just a little steam and water coming out of the vent holes then chances are the casting is a good one. But there is only one way to find out for sure, open the mold and have a look. Keep in mind that it is still very hot inside the mold. I wait 20 minutes before breaking the mold open. Even after 20 minutes you can get a steam burn so wear gloves. While you are waiting clean up your mess, put your tools and air supply away. The forge will stay hot for 12 to 15 hours depending on the outside temperature, so don’t worry about cleaning it up until the next day. The crucible will stay hot for a while, just let it cool.

In the next installment, I will cover: breaking the mold, possible disappointment, and cleaning up the casting.

Letter Re: Charcoal Making Via Wood Gasification

James,
Just to note, the process and apparatus which Dan in Oklahoma described for making charcoal also goes by the name of “Gasifier.” The venting of the volatile gases in the wood can be put to several purposes, to include running carburetor engines on generators and trucks. The Russians used this system extensively for rear area operations as liquid petrol was priority for front line vehicles and aircraft. They would fire them up at breakfast time and run them all day. Me thinks that today’s breakfast was probably cooked on yesterdays driving around…the charcoal. Some examples of delivery trucks in the US during the war also ran on them because of fuel rationing.

You won’t be winning any races with this set-up, but you can remain mobile. LowTech Magazine has a nice spread on the old and new.

There was also a scene in the Discovery Channel series “The Colony” where they rigged one up with a 5 gal metal Jerry can in an open drum burner and fed the gas into the pressure washer / generator contraption they had built. Primitive, but it made the thing run. Of particular note, the gas hose was not sealed directly onto the carburetor intake, but had enough gap left so it could suck in a bit of fresh air with the wood gas.

In the micro level, a friend who does primitive rendezvous shoots showed me his shoe polish can gasifier whereby he made tinder starters from simple cotton cloth patching. He put a pin hole in the top of the can, put his cut patches in it and placed the whole thing in the camp fire until smoke stopped coming out. What remained was perfectly charcoaled cotton patching that would take a spark from a flint striker really well, which got the larger tinder going nicely.

All sorts of things possible from a bit of mad science and some ingenuity. – Jim in Virginia

Letter Re: Survival Tips for the Business Traveler

The recent SurvivalBlog piece titled “Survival Tips for the Business Traveler”, by F. Russell was well written with lots of good information. I also travel on business and didn’t see anything I disagreed with but I would add a couple of items if you care to link my comments to the article.

1) No matter how well you plan, if you travel much over the road you are going to be places where the fuel in your tank is not enough to get you home. Be that because of the distance you are from “home” or that traffic congestion or your attempts to find back road routes burns more fuel than normal. The assumption is that obtaining fuel, especially along interstates during a melt down will be Nye on impossible as either the electricity is out and they cant pump fuel or the lines are so long that waiting puts you in danger.

Build your own 12 volt fuel transfer pump (better yet build two). Go to your local auto parts supply store and order or purchase a fuel pump with as much GPM as you can afford. The one I got was about $100 for the pump. Then purchase a good fuel filter, a cigarette lighter “plug” with an in line switch and 25 feet of tubing. I mounted mine to plywood squares that are about 10″ X 10″. With that device you can pull up next to another vehicle or even into the gas station and put your hose down into the ground tanks at the station and transfer fuel into your tank. I am not suggesting stealing the fuel…this device has saved my bacon already.

2) Cary a bicycle with you. You can go to pawn shops and get pretty decent bikes for $40. Put some extra tubes and patch kits and bike pump in your BOB. I frequently travel to a city that is 180 miles from home. That’s only a three hour drive but it would take someone even in good shape a long time to walk. IF you could cover 20 miles a day it would take you nine straight days to walk home. That’s a long walk. On a bike however its a much different matter. Riding a bike 100 miles in a day is a hell of a workout but it can be done.

3) Consider putting an EMP ground on your vehicle, especially if you perceive high risk time frames.

4) If you have the resources, this may not be the ultimate road warrior machine but its up there. I travel in a 2007 Itasca Navion (The Winnebago “View” is basically the same vehicle) At 24 feet in length its not much longer than my pickup and on the Sprinter chassis its more maneuverable than my pickup. Its Mercedes Benz 5 cylinder turbo diesel engine and Mercedes transmission run like a sewing machine. There are stories of people getting 22 MPG. I haven’t done as well but did get around 19 MPG. Small enough that you can parallel park in downtown name the city but large enough to be fully self contained and carry a lot of stuff. Rest stops and truck stops are dangerous places…you don’t need to “go there” as you have your bathroom and your kitchen with you…the only stops you need to make are for business and fuel. If you have a large distance to cover in an emergency you can run that engine for days without shutting it off..do that in gas motor car and you could be in for trouble.
Regards, – B.H.

Product Review by Michael Z. Williamson: Choate Machine and Tool M1 Carbine Military Folding Stock

Today, we look at the Choate Machine and Tool Company M1 Carbine Military Folding Stock. This stock is designed to fit original U.S.G.I. M1 Carbines, but also fits the Plainfield brand of carbine, the Auto Ordnance M1 Carbine and some UniversalM1 Carbine clones (early 1950s models, built with military surplus parts), but will not fit the later Universal or Iver Johnson carbines. Here is a photo.

Installation is drop in, though it was a snug fit, which is good. The stock has positive tension when folded but doesn’t latch. It latches in the open position very positively. The stock swings open handily, and the release button is easy to use. Construction is glass-filled nylon with blued steel hardware and sling swivels. Robust, durable and very well made. It’s shootable when folded, and I could still reach the safety and magazine release with my finger, and the bolt release with my thumb. Those with large fingers might find it a bit tight. However, the positive tension, rather than locking, folded action means even large fingers can operate the controls with little trouble.

Ergonomically, I found the tapered pistol grip very comfortable in size and angle, and the stock very pleasant for a folder. It didn’t really feel like a folder, actually, and I was easily and comfortably able to get a good cheek weld and sight picture. It was also acceptable to my wife and daughter, who are both shorter than I with smaller hands. The butt is a little narrow, but the M1 doesn’t have enough recoil for this to be a problem. Balance is right at the magazine when open, about an inch forward when folded.

The top and side mounted slings are great for either shoulder or subgun carry modes, or a single point sling.

I don’t really see a need for the swivel on the pistol grip, and would rather they converted the hollow area to storage with a trapdoor. I took off a couple of sharp corners with a few file strokes. Those would be my only criticisms of this fine piece of hardware. It is American made and well worth the money. – SurvivalBlog Editor At Large Michael Z. Williamson

JWR Adds: I’ve always been a fan of Garth Choate’s products. They are properly engineered and built to last. I used Choate stocks exclusively, back when I was sporterizing pre-1899 Turkish Mausers, back in the early 1990s.

One word of warning on M1 Carbines: They are fun little guns to shoot, and they are historically interesting to collect, but they shoot an under-powered cartridge that is not a reliable man-stopper! If you want a carbine that is better capable of stopping an opponent, then buy a Ruger Mini-14. They are about the same dimensions as an M1 Carbine and have similar handling characteristics, but at least they are chambered in .223 Remington. (Which itself, in my .308-centric opinion a just marginally capable stopper.) BTW, Choate also makes several types of Mini-14 stocks, including a folding stock.

If you own an M1 Carbine, the then in my opinion it should be relegated to use on small game, or as a transitional trainer for teenagers, and nothing more!