The Incredible Disappearing Retreat in the Woods

Here is something that heretofore I have only shared with a few of my consulting clients: an approach at rural retreat construction that can make a rural retreat of 10 acres or more essentially “disappear”.

If there is a thick screen of trees or tall brush between the public road and potential building sites at your undeveloped country retreat parcel, then your property might be a good candidate for a “hidden retreat house”. This is accomplished by making as few changes as possible when the parcel is viewed from the county road. No fancy entry gate, no mailbox, basically nothing new that is visible except a small diameter drainage culvert by the side of the county road and a narrow semi-improved road that will just look like a disused farm machinery access lane. It should be just lightly road-rocked for the first 100 feet, to encourage grass to actually grow up in it. Design the roadway leading in to the back end of the property narrow and in a serpentine path, so that additional trees can be planted to block any view down the lane. You will of course need to brief and oversee the road contractors, so that they don’t do the usual “wide road with lots of rock.”

Either have grid power run in underground, or skip it altogether and put in a photovoltaic (PV) power system. Thus, there are no power poles and visible lines to give away the location.
I recommend building a masonry house with small windows and with either a rock or an earth-tone brick facade. The roof should be green metal, all the better to blend in. Do not clear trees to “open up a view”, since that would likely provide line of sight from the county road, revealing the house.

The aforementioned measures might all seem a bit “Bat Cave”, but I have seen this approach used at a retreat on the Big Island of Hawaii. The owner–who has had the place for 10 years–mentioned that a few of his neighbor’s houses have been burglarized, but his never has been. His house is invisible from the road and from all of the neighboring houses, so opportunistic burglars “just passing through” don’t even know that there is a house there. His lane just looks like something used by farm tractors, not by a homeowner.

Granted, this approach will not protect your retreat from being known by your neighbors. Twelve-year-old boys tend to hike around just about everywhere, and pay little attention to “No Trespassing” signs. Ditto for a lot of hunters and fishermen. But statistically, a hidden retreat will be much safer, both before the Schumer hits the fan, and after.

An even more elaborate disappearing act is an underground house with an entrance hidden in what appears to just be a utility building. But that gets much more expensive. I’ll have more on that in an upcoming post.

Letter Re: Hunkering Down or Storing Gear in a Commercial Building

Mr. Rawles,
As always I enjoy the site and the support you provide. I would like to mention a few items that have come up lately here in South Florida with regards to survival in an urban area. This may be of particular concern to any of your readers that live in urban areas or for those that are not yet at a point in their preparations, or lives, to be able to move to a better, less populous location.
First, as has been mentioned on this web site, in your novel “Patriots“, and by every credible “prepper” in the world, a person retreating to a safer location must have a primary, alternate, contingency, and emergency plan. The method of getting out of urban areas during an emergency is problematic, particularly if you did not leave when you could (i.e. Hurricane Katrina). This can lead to your routes being miles long roadblocks. However, if you live near a coast, inlet, canal, interior waterway, river, creek, or major city (above ground) drainage system, you may be able to use them in a boat, canoe, kayak, zodiac, dingy, on foot, or with duck-waders to find better routes. Obviously in the case of inclement weather these may not be options on the worst days, but may be excellent routes during the ‘lemming run’ to get out of the area. Many concerned people in my area include these routes of escaping the city and urban sprawl in their plans.

Second, the wide availability of commercial property for use (particularly in the current economy) is staggering. A simple examination of the properties available for use by your close friends and family may surprise you. Over several planning sessions and field trips we found many urban cache locations, significant shelter options, and overwhelming amounts of storage space in places that were rented, leased, and sometimes owned by members of our group. With these locations it is always good to fully understand the government restrictions on use, function, zoning, storage, and occupation of commercial property. That being said, some commercial sites offer significant security advantages over homes in neighborhoods (not to mention apartments!), can easily be ‘hardened’ without letting the nosey neighbors knowing, and are often full of useful storage space, accesses, exits, entries, storage space, subterranean layers, and did I mention storage space? One of our associates has a commercial building with a separate ‘hidden’ space inside in which a fully stocked “bug out vehicle” waits for action in a regularly maintained state. This vehicle has its own locked bay which can only be opened from the inside after a trip into the basement or via a large air duct to gain access to the room. His regular business operates on the other end of the building so none of his road-crew employees spend enough time to even know the building has a bay on the other side. The other end of the building faces a small maintenance path for the phone company box and is fenced in and has plenty of “junk” camouflaging its true purpose. Other examples of commercial property use is in the planning of cache locations and in situations where you may need to bunker down with your family or “prepper” network during trying times. Warehouse districts that are not contiguous to shopping, tourist, entertainment, or government buildings offer potential safety during riots, looting, government action, or general unrest. These warehouse districts often see little or no activity during even the most destructive of riots. If one has access to these types of areas, it is a relatively simple operation to put up an innocuous name on the fence and receive deliveries (or just bring stuff yourself) and have no one bat an eye. The districts may even have enough 24-hour traffic to mask late night movement if you are only using the warehouse space as a pre-positioning and construction site for your burial cache boxes, tubes, and such, since the neighbors may get a bit nosey with you burning the midnight oil in your workshop/garage with your ‘survivalist nonsense.’

Third, unless you are have never heard of OPSEC, commercial properties can allow you to hide in plain sight. If someone has a TEOTWAWKI need or economic-depression reason to operate in an urban location, you can easily blend in with local traffic and business populations if they exist. If you are in a manufacturing or construction area wear some roughed up ‘Dickies’ work clothes and have a dirty pickup truck. In an office complex, have some light business attire with a jacket/blazer so as not to stick out. If you happen to be in a meat packing district or medical complex, have some ‘scrubs’/lab coat or coveralls available. As long as no one is looking for you, visit the local ‘roach coach’, ration station, trading post, or gas station so you can keep aware of local government, gang, crime, or quisling activities and be able to be ‘seen’ as a local (if being seen is an option or necessity). You should be able to move any vehicle inside buildings to hide them or work on them and to keep them out of view from outside observers. You may be able to set up extensive security systems, passive/active surveillance, power devices, and even communication systems. Some locations even offer the ability to tap into sewage, storm drain, and other access points.

Fourth, if you have some property available you may be grow food (this must be carefully done if industrial chemicals are in the area). If outdoor growth is not a viable option, try indoor crop growth with lamps, skylights, or mirrors. As growing things indoors can be difficult at first, it may be good to practice this well in advance of the need to do it for your life.

Finally, let me say that none of the aforementioned tips can replace a move to less populous, rural locations, far from those who will become mindless mobs in an emergency. These ideas/tips are only presented as limited alternatives for those, like me, who are months or years away from realistic retreats to safer environs and for those unlucky few who may get caught up behind the wrong side of a line during hard times. Regards, – I.S.

JWR Replies: That is an interesting approach. I might add just one proviso: If you plan to hide supplies (or even yourself) behind a “blank” roll-up door in a chaotic situation, then do not leave the ignition key in the company forklift, or leave a pallet jack outside of your storage space. Either of those could be used by goblins to quickly use leverage to their advantage in prying-up the door!

Letter Re: Voting With Your Feet–Comparing Economic Freedom in the 50 States

Mr. Rawles,
A study was conducted by William P. Ruger and Jason Sorens of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University on a ranking of states basis on personal and economic freedoms. It is titled:
Freedom in the 50 States: Index of Personal and Economic Freedom. It encompasses items such as income tax, gun laws and homeschooling (among many other areas).

My state unfortunately ranks in the bottom thirteen. As my family and I search for another income means it may behoove us to “vote with our feet”, as you say.
Here is an abstract of the study:

Abstract
This paper presents the first-ever comprehensive ranking of the American states on their public policies affecting individual freedoms in the economic, social, and personal spheres. We develop and justify our ratings and aggregation procedure on explicitly normative criteria, defining individual freedom as the ability to dispose of one’s own life, liberty, and justly acquired property however one sees fit, so long as one does not coercively infringe on other individuals’ ability to do the same.
This study improves on prior attempts to score economic freedom for American states in three primary ways: 1) it includes measures of social and personal freedoms such as peaceable citizens’ rights to educate their own children, own and carry firearms, and be free from unreasonable search and seizure; 2) it includes far more variables, even on economic policies alone, than prior studies, and there are no missing data on any variable; 3) we adopt new, more accurate measurements of key variables, particularly state fiscal policies.
We find that the freest states in the country are New Hampshire, Colorado, and South Dakota, which together achieve a virtual tie for first place. All three states feature low taxes and government spending and middling levels of regulation and paternalism. New York is the least free by a considerable margin, followed by New Jersey, Rhode Island, California and Maryland. On personal freedom alone, Alaska is the clear winner, while Maryland brings up the rear. As for freedom in the different regions of the country, the Mountain and West North Central regions are the freest overall while the Middle Atlantic lags far behind on both economic and personal freedom. Regression analysis demonstrates that states enjoying more economic and personal freedom tend to attract substantially higher rates of internal net migration.
The data used to create the rankings are publicly available online at www.statepolicyindex.com, and we invite others to adopt their own weights to see how the overall state freedom rankings change.

God Bless and thank you for all you do, – John in Ohio

Economics and Investing:

Vicki sent us a bit of video mirth to cheer us up, since there is more bad economic news to come: Taxpayers Clearinghouse Prize Patrol – Yes We Can!

Thanks to OSOM for this: Marc Faber goes survivalist (as quoted in Bloomberg). “The best bet for investors may be to buy a farm and escape from the cities, as a prolonged recession could lead to war, as the Great Depression did.”

From Bill in Ohio: The D-word: Will recession become something worse?

From reader HPD: Bernanke Says U.S. May Need to Expand Bank Rescue. (Yea, the girth of the great MOAB groweth, mightily.” )

Also from HPD: Hidden Pension Fiasco May Foment Another $1 Trillion Bailout. What does this mean? An even bigger MOAB?

Items from The Economatrix:

Fed Launches $200 Billion Credit Program

Ford, Toyota Sales Plunge as Slump Continues

Taxpayers Hit by Expanding AIG Black Hole

Freddie Mac Chief Resigns After Five Months

Experts Predict Dow Will Hit 5,000

Pension Bombs Going Off

Jim Rogers Buys Land, Starts Farming

Celente: The Greatest Depression is Underway

Ukraine Risks Unrest as Ills Worsen

Off the Scales

Poll: Americans Losing Sleep Over Economic Woes

Oil Could Fall to $25 a Barrel in Three Months

Consumer Spending Rises in January; Not Expected to Last

Odds ‘n Sods:

A gent in the Peak Oil camp recently posted a very interesting round-up review that compares James Howard Kunstler’s novel World Made by Hand to several other post-collapse novels, namely: Parable of the Sower, Lucifer’s Hammer, The Road, Wolf and Iron, The Long Emergency (also by Kunstler, non-fiction), and my novel Patriots . I think he went way too far when he referred to me as “the patron saint of survivalism.” I believe that the moniker “obscure, backwoods enthusiast” would have been much more accurate.

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Upcoming hearings: A new NAIS legislative battle. Please contact your congresscritters if you are opposed to the NAIS universal livestock registration scheme!

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SurvivalBlog readers in Scandinavia should have an interest in this regional blog: Att Leva Efter 2012 (in Swedish.) It may also be of interest to Swedish ex-pats.

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Reader D.V. mentioned this from commentator Charles Hugh Smith: Hanging On, or How to Get Through a Depression and Enjoy Life

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Until they realize that their agenda is destroying the life savings of millions of Americans, then all I can give you is caution… I’m not saying Mr. President go stare at the Bloomberg quote machine and come to your senses. I just want some sign that Obama realizes the market is totally falling apart and that his agenda has a big hand in that happening. I don’t know about you but I felt it everywhere I went this weekend… A young kid took me aside. He said I was right when I said we’ve elected a Leninist… I felt the total lack of control we all feel right now, the, “It’s out of my hands but where’s the authority?” The, “Hey it’s amateur hour at our darkest moment.” – Jim Kramer, CNBC’s host of the Mad Money show

The Long Arm of the Lawless, by Fred Burton and Scott Stewart

Last week [in a STRATFOR briefing] we discussed the impact that crime, and specifically kidnapping, has been having on Mexican citizens and foreigners visiting or living in Mexico. We pointed out that there is almost no area of Mexico immune from the crime and violence. As if on cue, on the night of Feb. 21 a group of heavily armed men threw two grenades at a police building in Zihuatanejo, Guerrero state, wounding at least five people. Zihuatanejo is a normally quiet beach resort just north of Acapulco; the attack has caused the town’s entire police force to go on strike. (Police strikes, or threats of strikes, are not uncommon in Mexico.)

Mexican police have regularly been targeted by drug cartels, with police officials even having been forced to seek safety in the United States, but such incidents have occurred most frequently in areas of high cartel activity like Veracruz state or Palomas. The Zihuatanejo incident is proof of the pervasiveness of violence in Mexico, and demonstrates the impact that such violence quickly can have on an area generally considered safe.

Significantly, the impact of violent Mexican criminals stretches far beyond Mexico itself. In recent weeks, Mexican criminals have been involved in killings in Argentina, Peru and Guatemala, and Mexican criminals have been arrested as far away as Italy and Spain. Their impact — and the extreme violence they embrace — is therefore not limited to Mexico or even just to Latin America. For some years now, STRATFOR has discussed the threat that Mexican cartel violence could spread to the United States, and we have chronicled the spread of such violence to the U.S.-Mexican border and beyond.

Traditionally, Mexican drug-trafficking organizations had focused largely on the transfer of narcotics through Mexico. Once the South American cartels encountered serious problems bringing narcotics directly into the United States, they began to focus more on transporting the narcotics to Mexico. From that point, the Mexican cartels transported them north and then handed them off to U.S. street gangs and other organizations, which handled much of the narcotics distribution inside the United States. In recent years, however, these Mexican groups have grown in power and have begun to take greater control of the entire narcotics-trafficking supply chain.

With greater control comes greater profitability as the percentages demanded by middlemen are cut out. The Mexican cartels have worked to have a greater presence in Central and South America, and now import from South America into Mexico an increasing percentage of the products they sell. They are also diversifying their routes and have gone global; they now even traffic their wares to Europe. At the same time, Mexican drug-trafficking organizations also have increased their distribution operations inside the United States to expand their profits even further. As these Mexican organizations continue to spread beyond the border areas, their profits and power will extend even further — and they will bring their culture of violence to new areas.

Burned in Phoenix
The spillover of violence from Mexico began some time ago in border towns like Laredo and El Paso in Texas, where merchants and wealthy families face extortion and kidnapping threats from Mexican gangs, and where drug dealers who refuse to pay “taxes” to Mexican cartel bosses are gunned down. But now, the threat posed by Mexican criminals is beginning to spread north from the U.S.-Mexican border. One location that has felt this expanding threat most acutely is Phoenix, some 185 miles north of the border. Some sensational cases have highlighted the increased threat in Phoenix, such as a June 2008 armed assault in which a group of heavily armed cartel gunmen dressed like a Phoenix Police Department tactical team fired more than 100 rounds into a residence during the targeted killing of a Jamaican drug dealer who had double-crossed a Mexican cartel. We have also observed cartel-related violence in places like Dallas and Austin, Texas. But Phoenix has been the hardest hit.

Narcotics smuggling and drug-related assassinations are not the only thing the Mexican criminals have brought to Phoenix. Other criminal gangs have been heavily involved in human smuggling, arms smuggling, money laundering and other crimes. Due to the confluence of these Mexican criminal gangs, Phoenix has now become the kidnapping-for-ransom capital of the United States. According to a Phoenix Police Department source, the department received 368 kidnapping reports last year. As we discussed last week, kidnapping is a highly underreported crime in places such as Mexico, making it very difficult to measure accurately. Based upon experience with kidnapping statistics in other parts of the world — specifically Latin America — it would not be unreasonable to assume that there were at least as many unreported kidnappings in Phoenix as there are reported kidnappings.

At present, the kidnapping environment in the United States is very different from that of Mexico, Guatemala or Colombia. In those countries, kidnapping runs rampant and has become a well-developed industry with a substantial established infrastructure. Police corruption and incompetence ensures that kidnappers are rarely caught or successfully prosecuted.

A variety of motives can lie behind kidnappings. In the United States, crime statistics demonstrate that motives such as sexual exploitation, custody disputes and short-term kidnapping for robbery have far surpassed the number of reported kidnappings conducted for ransom. In places like Mexico, kidnapping for ransom is much more common.
The FBI handles kidnapping investigations in the United States. It has developed highly sophisticated teams of agents and resources to devote to investigating this type of crime. Local police departments are also far more proficient and professional in the United States than in Mexico. Because of the advanced capabilities of law enforcement in the United States, the overwhelming majority of criminals involved in kidnapping-for-ransom cases reported to police — between 95 percent and 98 percent — are caught and convicted. There are also stiff federal penalties for kidnapping. Because of this, kidnapping for ransom has become a relatively rare crime in the United States.

Most kidnapping for ransom that does happen in the United States occurs within immigrant communities. In these cases, the perpetrators and victims belong to the same immigrant group (e.g., Chinese Triad gangs kidnapping the families of Chinese businesspeople, or Haitian criminals kidnapping Haitian immigrants) — which is what is happening in Phoenix. The vast majority of the 368 known kidnapping victims in Phoenix are Mexican and Central American immigrants who are being victimized by Mexican or Mexican-American criminals.

The problem in Phoenix involves two main types of kidnapping. One is the abduction of drug dealers or their children, the other is the abduction of illegal aliens.
Drug-related kidnappings often are not strict kidnappings for ransom per se. Instead, they are intended to force the drug dealer to repay a debt to the drug trafficking organization that ordered the kidnapping.

Non-drug-related kidnappings are very different from traditional kidnappings in Mexico or the United States, in which a high-value target is abducted and held for a large ransom. Instead, some of the gangs operating in Phoenix are basing their business model on volume, and are willing to hold a large number of victims for a much smaller individual pay out. Reports have emerged of kidnapping gangs in Phoenix carjacking entire vans full of illegal immigrants away from the coyote smuggling them into the United States. The kidnappers then transport the illegal immigrants to a safe house, where they are held captive in squalid conditions — and often tortured or sexually assaulted with a family member listening in on the phone — to coerce the victims’ family members in the United States or Mexico to pay the ransom for their release. There are also reports of the gangs picking up vehicles full of victims at day labor sites and then transporting them to the kidnapping safe house rather than to the purported work site.

Drug-related kidnappings are less frequent than the nondrug-related abduction of illegal immigrants, but in both types of abductions, the victims are not likely to seek police assistance due to their immigration status or their involvement in illegal activity. This strongly suggests the kidnapping problem greatly exceeds the number of cases reported to police.

Implications for the United States
The kidnapping gangs in Phoenix that target illegal immigrants have found their chosen crime to be lucrative and relatively risk-free. If the flow of illegal immigrants had continued at high levels, there is very little doubt the kidnappers’ operations would have continued as they have for the past few years. The current economic downturn, however, means the flow of illegal immigrants has begun to slow — and by some accounts has even begun to reverse. (Reports suggest many Mexicans are returning home after being unable to find jobs in the United States.)

This reduction in the pool of targets means that we might be fast approaching a point where these groups, which have become accustomed to kidnapping as a source of easy money — and their primary source of income — might be forced to change their method of operating to make a living. While some might pursue other types of criminal activity, some might well decide to diversify their pool of victims. Watching for this shift in targeting is of critical importance. Were some of these gangs to begin targeting U.S. citizens rather than just criminals or illegal immigrants, a tremendous panic would ensue, along with demands to catch the perpetrators.

Such a shift would bring a huge amount of law enforcement pressure onto the kidnapping gangs, to include the FBI. While the FBI is fairly hard-pressed for resources given its heavy counterterrorism, foreign counterintelligence and white-collar crime caseload, it almost certainly would be able to reassign the resources needed to respond to such kidnappings in the face of publicity and a public outcry. Such a law enforcement effort could neutralize these gangs fairly quickly, but probably not quickly enough to prevent any victims from being abducted or harmed.

Since criminal groups are not comprised of fools alone, at least some of these groups will realize that targeting soccer moms will bring an avalanche of law enforcement attention upon them. Therefore, it is very likely that if kidnapping targets become harder to find in Phoenix — or if the law enforcement environment becomes too hostile due to the growing realization of this problem — then the groups may shift geography rather than targeting criteria. In such a scenario, professional kidnapping gangs from Phoenix might migrate to other locations with large communities of Latin American illegal immigrants to victimize. Some of these locations could be relatively close to the Mexican border like Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, San Diego or Los Angeles, though they could also include locations farther inland like Chicago, Atlanta, New York, or even the communities around meat and poultry packing plants in the Midwest and mid-Atlantic states. Such a migration of ethnic criminals would not be unprecedented: Chinese Triad groups from New York for some time have traveled elsewhere on the East Coast, like Atlanta, to engage in extortion and kidnapping against Chinese businessmen there.

The issue of Mexican drug-traffic organizations kidnapping in the United States merits careful attention, especially since criminal gangs in other areas of the country could start imitating the tactics of the Phoenix gangs.

(This article re-posted to SurvivalBlog with the permission of STRATFOR.com.)

Ten Letters Re: 3-in-1 Home Workshop Machines

JWR:

One of your readers asked: “I want to buy a 3 in 1 machine. Does anyone have any experience with them? Perhaps a brand to recommend or stay away from?”

Having considered that choice extensively myself, my home shop amateur opinion is to recommend separate machines. Now that I see what a real mill table looks like, I realize there isn’t enough table space on the 3-in-1 to set up anything. Instead, get the cheapest lathe you can stand, and the best mill you can afford. If you still want a combo for space reasons, get one of the lathes with the vertical mill attached at the back center of the bed, like the Grizzly G0516.

As one example of a machine combination, I would propose the 250 pound Harbor Freight 8×12 (8×14+, actually) lathe, and the 700 pound Enco Rong-Fu 45 clone (square column, geared head). I’ve found real-world machine capacities are better described by weight than work envelope.

Budget spending twice as much on tooling as you do on the lathe and mill. If you can only afford one, get the lathe. People did clever work with a lathe for hundreds of years before the vertical mill was made practical by cheap end mill cutters. Machine tools are only as clever as the user, but others’ cleverness is recorded and available inexpensively in books from Lindsay Books.
Of course all this equipment is made in China. The EPA, OSHA, and the unions have made it impossible for industry to be competitive in the US. Thanks to what remains of free trade, you are better off being able to get Chinese iron than to get nothing at all. The purpose of autarky is to be able to starve a population into submission; see also
Curtain, Iron. Buy soon while you can still buy at all.

Chinese machine tools tend to be a fix-up project from the start. There are lots of little details which will want to correct, which you wouldn’t be willing to pay the manufacturer to have done right.
Popular machines have deep user communities on the Internet.
Here are some suggested vendors and places to get ideas:

Lathemaster.com
Grizzly.com/products/G0516
Littlemachineshop.com
Varmintal.com/alath.htm
Use-enco.com
Harborfreight.com [JWR Adds: Beware! Nearly all Harbor Freight products are made in Mainland China, and mostly junk with scant spares or warranties!]
ihcnc.com
Lindsay Books

Regards, – B.B.

 

Hi James,
I have had a Shoptask 3 in 1 for 6 yr’s now. As far as I can tell, the Harbor Freight designs are [clones of the] older designs of the Shoptask machines. Grizzly also makes a similar machine,which in my opinion looks better, but I have no firsthand knowledge of that. My experience with any of these machine’s is that out of the box, they are junk. These do not have high quality metal, hardened surface’s and such. The belt drive’s are poorly designed, extremely noisy, and prone to breakdown. The best thing to do with one should you purchase it,it to tear it apart, clean and adjust everything! Mine came with casting sand all over, and inside! Everything was sloppy or loose. If you have any mechanical background,these can be made into a decent machine ,but with lot’s of sweat and time. These are great for making odds and end’,or quick repairs,but not heavy duty stuff. They are not,and will never be, intended for 8 hour a day use. For a home hobby machine,they can be handy, but not for true business use. The switches are junk, the motors are junk, the bearings are junk, the belts are made of old rubber bands or somesuch! The milling portion of it is nothing more than a drill press, and just as inaccurate.

If your an experienced machinist, I have 30 year’s worth,they can be a handy machine, given time and effort. I personally have three other older machines, two CNCs and a chucker, each one cost about the same as a new Shoptask. If room is an issue, I’d prefer to get a Harbor Freight machine, as it need’s the same amount of work to be decent,and cheaper. My experience with Shoptask was less than stellar,as it took 8 months to arrive, a really slow boat from China! If shop floor space isn’t an issue, I’d prefer–and wish I had bought–an older full size machine. Even an older “worn out” production type machine would have been less effort than this was! – Dean

 

Sir,

In response to your letter regarding 3-in-ones:
The ones you see for sale are a combination machine tool that combines a metal lathe, drill press and vertical milling machine. They are used a lot by hobbyists here, and I have heard that in Vietnam and similar locales, they are the #1 machine for small motorcycle rebuilding shops.

I have been using a Smithy 1220 for about 5 years, and here are some observations:
Most of these machines are built on a pretty heavy lathe bed that uses a small milling table as the platform for bolting the lathe tooling to. As a lathe, they are pretty stout. Most of them lack a back gear for slow turning operations (such as threading) and you’ll want to check on whether they have a split nut, power feeds and a thread dial. The basic 1220 I have does not have a thread dial or a slow speed, which basically means threading is done [by ‘hand-spindling”] with the lathe powered off. The upgraded Smithy models have more of these features.
In general, these machines do a good job as a lathe. Be sure to get a 4-jaw chuck with the package, as you will need this for gunsmithing or any precision work. The import 3-jaw chuck you will get with most is not anything I would use on work that needs to be repeatable.

In drill-press mode, they will all work fine. They are really overbuilt compared to even a good drill press, so you will have no problems locating and drilling precision holes, countersinking, etc. I recommend tossing the import drill chuck that comes with these and purchasing a proper American-made Jacobs, as they are much better.
The main weakness in all of these machines is the milling aspect. The table is usually fairly small, most do not have a knee for raising/lowering the table, and they are not that rigid. Your work envelope will be quite a bit smaller than a full-size Bridgeport or even a tabletop mill. Get rid of the vise that comes with these and pick up a Kurt or a good import knockoff of this design.
Also, build a heavy-duty table to bolt the unit to, and it will run with much less chatter. I made a stand for mine out of 2×2″ steel tubing filled with concrete. I can mill steel if I use good US cutters (pick these up on eBay) and modest feed speeds.

From my experience, I would say that the Harbor Freight model is probably the least desirable, in terms of initial quality and aftermarket support. The Grizzly is better, and they generally stand behind their products and offer replacement parts for sale. My Smithy has been okay in terms of quality, and I would say that their support is excellent (reasonable prices on parts/accessories and excellent US phone support). I do not have any experience with the Shoptask, but I hear good things about the machine and its capability.
If you want more first-person accounts, sign up for the Yahoo 3-IN-ONE discussion group. Cheers, – JN

 

Jim–
In response to the questions about 3 in 1 machines. The two most common brands are Shoptask and Smithy. Both are imported, quality is pretty similar from what I can tell. I have owned and used a Shoptask for more than a decade.

Both machines have real limitations. For a neophyte or hobbyist who wants to make the odd part for a motorcycle restoration or old gun, they’re fine. If you’re trying to scratch out a subsistence living with a part time job as a machinist, you’ll never make it. The mill/drill function of the machine is extremely limited in the “Z-axis”, which is the “up and down” motion. There are other limitations as well.

I bought one because I knew I would be moving 5-10 times in a decade, and would have to put it in a basement or utility room. They are somewhat “portable” and take up less room than three proper machines. You can do decent work on them, but it’s slow and tedious and takes more skill. But to do really good work, and do it efficiently enough to make a living on, you just have to have a real lathe, a real milling machine, and a real drill press.

If you shop around, you can get both a used lathe and a used milling machine, probably with some tooling, for around $5,000, give or take. Occasionally there are terrific deals around and you might get the job done for half that amount. A real lathe and a real milling machine could produce parts at about 10 times the rate of any combo machine.

Don’t forget that it is entirely possible to spend as much on tooling as you do on the basic machine, so the initial lower price of the 3 in 1 machine isn’t as great a deal as you might first assume, compared to a used machine with goodies included. Sure, there are worn out junk machines on the used market, so you have to know what to look for there. It’s not an automatic slam dunk that all used machines are better than all new 3 in 1 machines.

If you bought new Grizzly equipment, you could get a small mill/drill machine and a modest size lathe for $5,000 including shipping. If you decide you really have to have one, stick with either the smithy or the Shoptask. Many of the off brands are junk. Some of them can’t even cut threads, which is a key function of a lathe. HTH, – Troy

 

Dear Editor,

Personally, it has been my experience that no one, unless you are a “hobbyist”, should use one of these machines. They are fine for very small parts only, and parts made of either plastics, brass, or aluminum. Why? They cut really fast, easily, and require no specialized tooling. No extreme pressures, but the speeds are up there, about 1,200-1,800 rpm.
It all comes down to one word: Rigidity! If it isn’t solid, you have wasted time, money and energy. You cannot get gold, from junk.

1) A lathe was made to turn ’rounds’, period.
You can dress them up with a number of additions, to make a lot of items not easily made by the lathe itself. (everything you do, costs more money!)

2) Mills are what they are, and anyone that has ever operated one, knows what’s their most important feature/factor.
Not just weight, but the rigidity of the entire unit, from the “quill” to the bed, to the knee, (if it’s that type of mill).
You cannot do much with a small lightweight machine, it’s like trying to mill on a drill press! (It just Won’t work!)

Like I said, those smaller combination units may work ok, but not for any serious metal turning or milling, especially of steels. It is comparable to soldering-versus-MIG or TIG welding!
You have to have the right machine for the correct operation.

I own a “very well used” circa 1939 metal lathe, belt driven, 9-12″ swing, and 32″ length material capacity. Geared head and has a range of 12 speeds.
It still, holds within .002″-.005″ accuracy, and I’ve never “adjusted” it so far.
It weighs in at 400+ lbs. With the small 3/4 horse 115 volt ac motor, it can make anything I want it to. It only cost me $800!
(With that being said, 1 collet chuck cost me $600, alone! Then there were the collet sets and such, as well as the replacement 3 and 4 jaw chucks that ran around $280 each) Not cheap to get into, and not for just anyone! If you don’t know what you are doing, in this area, then get some knowledgeable help!
BTW: they can, and they do, tear people up, if you make “1” single mistake!
Stay away from a lot of imported stuff, unless you know it’s a real “brand name” that you can easily get parts and tooling for .

A machinist friend of mine bought a “Jet” lathe a few years back, then discovered it was smaller than what he thought…It had a swing of only 3 1/2 ” and a material capacity of 11-3/4 “.
He paid over $600 for it, and it only weighed about 45-47 lbs! It was great , if you were making model aircraft or train components… He has it sitting on his desk, as it’s only 18″ long, and makes an interesting paperweight!

Look for the stability, and “serviceability” of the tools you select for the “proper” job.
In other words don’t use a chisel in place of a screwdriver, and vice-versa!
There are quite a few older models out there today, and…not all Chinese made tools are that bad either.
For example, a mill I used a lot in aerospace manufacturing , was an old “MaxMill”, a big old “boat-anchor”, that wouldn’t quit. The writing on it’s electric motor was in Chinese, and I never did know much about it! We also had an “X-Cello”. (I have no clue [about its origins],) but it was a good solid machine!

For “our” lathes, nearly all were made in China, as the really older ones made in Japan were deceased by then. My personal favorite was the “WEBB” or “Takisawa” (same same), the guys in the shop called it the “widow maker”…It had a broken detent, that allowed it to drop into crossfeed mode at it’s own whim. Once it was repaired, I’d have paid $5,000 for that old junker! (Cost to replace the detent: $0.10).

Note: Most of the older DOD contract requirements mandated that any part made for them or by use in any military equipment, had to be made on a machine based in the United States only!
That meant out of our shop’s six mills, we could only use three of them (the Bridgeport’s) and of our lathes we could only use one, the “Hardinge”. (A nice toy if you have the money.).
That included all manual mills lathes and all CNC machines. We had machines from Germany, Holland, China,and Japan.

Today, thousands of these older ‘dinosaurs’, are on the market… You can get an older “Southbend Lathe”, for a song and a dance, and with all the tooling! You’ll need a lot of guys and maybe a forklift to move it though! Bridegports are the same way!

Stay away from all of the CNC machines, unless you know programming! In the machining business, you have to figure it this way: “Weight is equal to quality and accuracy”! – Bill in Phoenix

 

Jim,
Go to Sherline.com. They are the best American-made machines (for lower cost) available. Their only limitation is [their small] size, which is true of any machine. – Mr. XYZ Axes

 

Mr. Rawles,
Any multi-task machine is a trade off. They do nothing well,but do save space. When ShopSmith brought out theirs in the early 1970s, I saw many demos and was about to buy one. I am glad I didn’t.Wood or metal working is the same basic concept.

I would recommend that a person buy the tool they need most and add “toys” later. If you need a mill, buy a mill. But if you only do a little mill work but do a lot of drilling, get the best drill press available. You can put an end mill in a drill press chuck and do light milling. See my point. As for things made in China, almost all tools that have a high cast content like vices, anvils, clamps, drill presses, and such have been made in China or India for over twenty years. One good place to find tools and machinery is school district auctions. They upgrade the shops from time to time. Also, government auctions are worth looking into. I know the depot in Columbus, Ohio has had some good deals recently.

It’s a sad state of affairs that our government lets this happen since China will not let an item be sold there that’s not made there. Then they scream protectionism if we add a tariff or restriction.
Thank you for your blog, it is very good. – BKM

 

James:

Grizzly.com industrial has good quality stuff from taiwan, including mill/lathes 3 in 1s
Smithy.com has been around a long while. (only 3 in1s) (made in China)
Sherline.com is from USA but they are specialized for tiny things.
kbctools.com has Chinese stuff, but is better than nothing, they have good customer service.

STAY AWAY FROM HARBOR FREIGHT! Most everything they sell is shifty shady and breaks fast. (it is soooo tempting though) I haven’t used their machine tools, but to their credit, I have seen their smallest mill in three separate catalogs. Harbor Freight micrometers have some merit. My machine shop teacher had a few sets, but when things really needed to be precise he whipped out his Etalon micrometers.
I have been disappointed by every purchase from Harbor Freight I’ve made. I stopped buying from them awhile ago.

If two is one and one is none, [when buying from] Harbor Freight [, the ratio] is 10 is one and 9 is none.
Real machine shops give a wiiiide berth to the multifunction machines. It’s like the AR-15 with every attachment you can think of . They get in each others way. But they’re much better than nothing.

Mainland China and Taiwan are the most common machine tool builders. Korea and Japan make better ones–and of those, Japan the best. Germany makes them too (real good). Italy a few.
Basic machine tools from the USA no longer exist. Only the super precision, extremely large, specialized, and a few CNC.

Again, Moore, Hardinge, HAAS Sandvik. Moore machines can cost millions, Hardinge/Bridgeport cost tens of thousands (not pure USA either) and HAAS is only CNC, (great machines though–when they break, their software tells you what to fix!) Sandvik is super specialized.

Get used to working High Speed Steel. (HSS) It is more robust and cheaper than carbide, it does fine. It just likes slower speeds.
Dig through this Thomas link, and you’ll find next to nothing in USA-built machines.

Measuring:
Kannon is a good middle of the road (hard to find)
Fowler is hit and miss (mostly hit), but reasonably priced
Mitutoyo (expensive), Starrett, Brown and Sharpe, and Etalon (expensive). You get what you pay for with these.
Stay away from any plastic/fiberglass/resin measuring devices. they loose accuracy fast when temperature changes. – Tantalum Tom

 

James
To the reader in Hawaii looking for a 3 in 1 machines, he might check out Grizzly.com. They have four different machines listed in their 2008 catalog. I bought a Shoptask 3 in 1 machines about 12 years ago. The he lathe part of it is fine, but the mill leaves a lot to be desired and I have had to repair the multi position switches several times. I am not a machinist, but a master machinist has thought me the basics and beyond over the years. I still use the Shoptask, but I also needed larger machines. Bridegport machines were out of the question as simply too expensive for just hobby work. In my search several years ago I found Grizzly.

The main reason I went with Grizzly is that they make large machines in 220 V single phase. Most other companies that sold similar machines of those larger sizes were all 3 phase motors and I didn’t have 3 phase and I didn’t want to buy a phase-o-matic system to convert from 3 phase to single phase. I have a 14″ x 40″ lathe and a 2 h.p. horizontal/vertical mill with a 9-1/2″ x 39-3/8″ table. Both machines are outstanding. I also liked Grizzly because it is a large company, with help line, and replacement parts are no problem. I am not affiliated with Grizzly. I just like their products. I have also bought a large wood planer and a large joiner from Grizzly. Again, they have outstanding pieces of machinery, but it is made in China. -Regards, – John in Montana

 

JWR;

As a non-professional amateur hobby pseudo-machinist that likes to play with machinery. My suggestion is don’t buy a 3-in 1 unless you have very little space or will do very little machining. I know there are many that won’t agree with me. The problem is you will have a project set up and then want to work on something else. then you will loose the first set-up to make another set-up. I started with a 6″ Atlas lathe 30 years ago and used a hand held drill. later was added a new bench top drill press (Taiwan built) then 4 years later I found a 16″ Jet mill/drill that came from a burned-down fabricating shop. I’ve since added a 13″ Enco lathe (Taiwan built) and many Taiwan and Chinese made add-ons. They are not the highest quality tools but they are what I can afford. I did add a strong magnet to the lathe gear box to catch chip. Without imports, I and a lot of others could not afford this type of machine. I have had to redesign some things on the machines but the machines allow me to do it.

Don’t get me wrong, I would have a Bridgeport and an American made lathe and drill press if I could afford it.

Keep in mind, a lathe is the only machine capable of reproducing itself. It can drill, mill, bore and turn metals and wood. The skill and imagination of the operator is what determines what it can do.

Used machines do sometimes become available, both import and domestic. A lot have been abused, some well cared for. If space is not a concern then consider separate machines, and take care of them. – Frank from Indiana

JWR Replies: The current economic downturn will mean that hundreds of small prototype and production machine shops will go out of business in the next two to five years, particularly in and around Detroit, Michigan. There will be some genuine bargains found at auction. Watch your local sale papers closely. Some high quality US and German machine tools, bits, dies, jigs, brakes and so forth may sell for pennies on the dollar!

Economics and Investing:

Tony W. sent this: Even ‘Dr. Doom’ Is Scared: Economy Much Worse Than Roubini Predicted

Bill from Ohio spotted this: 5000 Dow? 500 S&P?

From Kevin A. come this sign of the times: Manhattan Apartment Buyers Abandoning Six-Figure Deposits Rather than Closing on Deals.

Reader Kris N. mentioned in a recent e-mail: Over the last few weeks I have heard several politicians say that credit markets need to be opened up so Americans can start spending more to improve the economy. Is this not like Marie Antoinette proposing the solution to the peasant’s bread shortage is to have them switch to cake?”

Juni zeroed in on this article: AIG failure would be disastrous for global markets

From Aaron N.: The Most Important Messages From the 4Q GDP Report

Items from The Economatrix:

Dow Falls Below 7,000; Lowest Since ’97

AIG Posts $61.7B 4Q Loss, Bailout is Restructured [JWR Notes: The American taxpayers will be the “insurer of last resort”, for CDS derivatives and other exotic instruments for many years to come. This debacle is far from over, and the MOAB‘s proportions are sure to expand. further.]

HSBC to Scale Back US Lending

140,000 British Manufacturing Jobs to be Lost This Year

FTSE 100 Falls to Six-Year Low

HSBC Shares Dive 19%

BofE to Pump Major Cash Into the Economy

Financial Crisis Hits World Markets

We Need Shock And Awe Policies to Halt Depression

Is Ireland Fated to Be Another Iceland?

JP Morgan/Chase Forecloses Despite Promised Freeze

CNBC Analyst: Global Bank, Global Currency Within 15 Years

The US Economy: Designed to Fail

Worst Job Losses in 60 Years Expected

Global “New Deal” to Lift World Out Of Slump [JWR Notes: Re-inflation of the credit bubble might forestall some outward manifestations for a while, but then the eventual economic collapse will be even more traumatic! Traditional liquidation must be allowed to happen, to work malinvestment out of the marketplace.]

Hungary Warns of “Economic Iron Curtain”

Odds ‘n Sods:

Rourke sent us this: An Asteroid Near Miss

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OSOM recommended this review of Joseph Tainter’s book The Collapse of Complex Societies. This squares nicely with my views on the complexity and fragility of our modern, highly technological society with long and vulnerable chains of supply.

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Cheryl sent us this: Food for Guns in Dallas [JWR notes: Perhaps it would be better titled: “Trading Pottage for a Texas Birthright”]

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Cheryl also flagged this: Nationwide Ammo Shortage Hits US

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“For what, after all, is the stimulus package attempting to stimulate? A restrained life of living within our means? No. It’s stimulating consumption. All the big talk of get the credit markets moving again, banks healthy again, balance sheets strong again comes down to this: we need little Susie [Homemaker] to get a loan for a really cool new car she can live without, drive it to a shopping mall to buy cr*p she doesn’t need with a credit card she shouldn’t have, and return to a home mortgaged at a price higher than she can afford. That way, when she can’t keep up with all of it, she’ll have to fall back on other credit cards, and bank balance sheets will be strong again. Great!” – Jason Kelly

Letter Re: Advice on Contact Lenses

Mr. Rawles

I’ve worn contact lenses for all of my adult life. On your published advice, I’ve also bought two pair of inexpensive glasses, from LBEeyeware–a company mentioned in SurvivalBlog That was great advice. ($23 per pair, complete? You can’t beat that!) The glasses are the correct prescription, but after so many years of wearing contacts, glasses feel downright “clunky” to me. I worry about breaking them, much more than I ever worried about losing or tearing a contact. My question is: What should I do about spare contact lenses and solutions? Should I skip them–and just plan to wear glasses when the “Schumer Hits the Fan”–or, should I stock up? Thanks for your amazing web site and great books. I’m taking the 10 Cent Challenge! you can expect my payment in silver dimes, ASAP! – Pat in Georgia

JWR Replies: Thanks for bringing up a topic that I’ve meant to address for quite some time. If you feel more comfortable wearing contacts, then I see no reason why you shouldn’t stock up on spare disposable soft contacts and extra bottles of saline and cleaning solutions. Just one proviso: Do not try to “stretch” your supply by going longer between discarding sets of contacts. Getting an eye infection would be tragic, especially in the midst of a disaster. Once you’ve used up your contact lens supplies, just switch to wearing your eyeglasses.

One excellent source for very inexpensive contact lenses and supplies is 1800CONTACTS.com. Since they are a SurvivalBlog affiliate advertiser, we get a little piece of the action when you place an order, if you use our link to their site. So this is a good way to both get prepared, and to help support SurvivalBlog. Thanks!

Letter Re: Some Preparedness Lessons Learned

James,

The need for usable skills in tough times, goes without need for embellishment. The grand question is: which skills are the most valuable? In any situation the basic needs are obvious – food, shelter, and clothing. Choosing what I would concentrate on learning, became predicated on what I could do, and what the community could provide in stressful times.

I moved some time ago from the gulf coast to Tennessee to retire and begin preparing for the coming events. I moved into a community which is pretty much self sufficient, mostly by religious choice. Livestock husbandry ranges from cattle (mostly for milk), goats to chickens, hogs and horses.

I began to raise goats several years ago, starting with Boer cross. After several discussions I have crossed them with a strain of milk goat to reduce the size (and therefore the quantity of meat to be preserved) and gain the benefit of milk products. I researched the process of cheese making and using products initially supplied from New England Cheese Makers, learned the processes. It was very interesting to discover that the rennin (for assisting in cheese making) actually comes from the stomach of ruminators, another by product of the goats.

Preserving meats became my next concern. When talking to many folks, they believe that they will just run out and kill fresh meat when needed. Not only will the game be decimated in no time, but without a method of preservation it is wasteful. Preferred methods around here are smoking, honey and salt boxes for curing and preserving. The use of honey as a preservative turns out to be one of the very best. Honey has a natural bacteria inhibitor, and curing smoked meats in honey just makes life better. This in turn has determined the need for bees – My neighbor already has a couple of hives which produces enough for now. The use of honey reduces the dependence on obtaining sources of salt. In addition they are many maple trees in the area which folks tap during the winter and early spring. Many families have ponds a raise fish, which are canned by cold packing or salting and drying.

Having fresh water is a paramount concern. Even with a spring the water quality can change with the amount of rain causing algae blooms. These can range for digestive distress to just foul taste. The stream water cannot be used without treatment, as we have otters, beavers, coyote, foxes, and a whole range of other critters, so amoeba type problems are probable. Boiling water is the surest, but is often not the most practical. Any numbers of excellent water filters are available, but the Big Berky is the most popular here. In any case the water has to be pre-filtered to remove organic matter. This can be done by straining through a clean cloth, then passing through/over a disinfecting agent such as a silver compound, or the addition of non-detergent bleach. The next best is a cistern collecting rain fall, but even this can have issues as it tends to clean smoke dust and pollen from the air on its way down.

As for the vegetable gardens the goats do help with the fertilizer which is composted and added to the garden. The area I live in is pretty much a “rock farm” so there is a constant need to remove the rocks from the garden areas and add in soil from the hills behind us. This soil is usually pretty acidic with all of the hardwood trees. Most folks use lime from the feed stores – haven’t found a good substitute yet.

Clothing is one of the details that I have struggled with. The ability to produce cloth is beyond most of us. Wool makes for great outer wear, but lousy underwear. Goat hair can be made into quite durable garments, somewhat at the expense of comfort. We have chose to use GI surplus wool socks, sweaters, BDUs (because they are very durable) and purchase and store long and regular underwear. We do have a real cobbler in the community that does make very nice shoes/boots, but I still have a back up pair. Many women here weave or quilt (using discarded clothing as well as new cloth). I do keep some “unisex” clothing on hand for whomever – mostly in the form of overalls. They are fairly cheap and commonly worn in the area, and during the cold weather are an additional layer. We have had most days at or below freezing and night down to zero. I have looked into tanning leather – it is a noxious process and can be done. I am choosing to have the hides tanned while I still can and store them against the future need as clothing.

Our cabin is solid cedar timbers, and smells great! The downside is that there is a constant need to stay on top of the chinking and calking, to reduce drafts – I’ve used 22 tubes already this winter. We thought that pellet stove would be a great idea – wrong. First it requires electricity. With the power out you have to fire up the generator which is noisy and uses expensive fuel. Second the stove can burn corn or compressed hardwood pellets. Corn is food or the animals and us, and tough enough to grow enough as is. Besides using the corn leaves the odor of burned popcorn as exhaust. Compressed wood pellets are used on an average of 80# per day at a cost of ~$9.00 / day. Pulling the stove this spring and going to a straight quality wood burning stove that can be used to cook on. To back up a wood burning stove an axe, buck saw, splitting wedges or a maul, and or chain saw are required based on how much free time you can devote to it. Setting aside wood requires a year round effort to keep from killing yourself. Although we have electricity I do have a pitcher pump ready to install in the event it is needed. And have simple kerosene lanterns for light. I prefer the straight wick models, as the mantels have become very had to come by recently.

Health concerns in rural living also means, that you have to have a working knowledge of first aid and basic medicine. The Red Cross has good courses on first aid and the older Boy Scout manuals give an acceptable knowledge as well. Around here there is a good deal of herbal medicine practiced. This is good for preventive and minor issues. I have chosen to invest in some older college texts on anatomy, physiology, and pharmacology, and a physician’s desk reference. These books help in diagnosing, but will be of minimal help if/when the main line drugs are not available. They are great for showing how to stitch and bandage wounds more severe than the first aid books cover. We keep a well stocked medicine chest with off the shelf medicines, and rotate them as needed. As we find local remedies that are effective, we also include them (i.e. willow bark tea as a substitute for aspirin).

I have learned rudimentary blacksmith skills, and collected some of the tools as well as books on the subject. I can fashion horseshoes, wheel rims, forge weld, make cut nails and a few other tasks as required. There are many better skilled in this community and it will be more time efficient to trade/buy their services.

I have a full time gunsmithing business which has been sorely needed in this area – seems like everyone has one that they need fixed. So much for a retirement business….

The acquisition of books, and how to reading material can spell the difference between existence and some degree of comfort. In addition it is my considered opinion the education of young people is severely unbalanced. The possession of text books, classics, and recreational reading allows one to educate children when contact is limited. The community has a long history of home schooling. These kids routinely pass the high school exit exams (same tests as the state requires for graduation) with higher scores, and at an earlier age. Most parents seek out folks whom are well versed to teach the children. Oh yea, one by product is that the kids are very respectful, and thoughtful.

In conclusion I thought that preparation for tougher times meant more beans, bullets, and bullion. As it turns out, the retraining of my mind and attitudes has presented the larger challenge. Understanding how you store food, is nearly as important as what you store. What you can make is as important as what you can do without (toilet paper?) Knowing that one person cannot do all that is required, only means that you learn the skills to assist your community which will supplement everyone’s survival/ quality of life. I thought that being retired would allow me to kick back and enjoy some good libations. It has turned out to be the greatest learning curve of my life – and I love it. Jim’s preparedness course is a great place to start. But the real preparedness is in the doing! – Dennis S.

Letter Re: The Risk to Reward Ratio in Getting Concealed Carry Permits

Greetings –
Regarding non-resident concealed weapon permits [recently mentioned in SurvivalBlog], folks should be very careful. Anyone thinking of doing this should consult a lawyer or carefully read their home state’s firearms laws. In many states, another state’s concealed firearm permit is invalid if you are a resident of the state [in which you do not have a CCW permit.] In other words, if you live in Georgia, Georgia may have a law that says your Florida non-resident permit is invalid for concealed carry in Georgia, because as a Georgia resident, you must have a permit issued by Georgia. Consult your state’s laws before relying on Florida non-resident permit reciprocity to keep you legal.

Also, be advised that some states are starting to modify their reciprocity agreements. Wyoming just did this…their Attorney General has issued an opinion that reciprocity only works if the disqualification and other permit criteria matches between states. For example, if Wyoming has more strict disqualification criteria for a permit than some other state, that state’s permits are will not be honored even though they might have been honored in the past. regards, – JT in Michigan

Economics and Investing:

JWR’s Introductory Comment: Gee, in light of all the following very bad economic news, can someone please send me something cheery to post? Perhaps some more articles about gun makers making record profits and building huge order backlogs?

Frequent contributor HPD sent this: Brown told us not to question banks on risky practices, says City watchdog

Reader “Bigbird” mentioned a piece in The Australian by Niall Ferguson with some biting criticism of Keynesian economics: The Great Repression

CJB flagged this news story on the Chinese economy: China warns of unemployment risk

GG sent us this one from Smart Money: Nothing Shines Like Gold. “Amazingly, just a month ago, gold and the S&P 500 were trading at about the same price — gold at $854, the S&P 500 at 840. From there, stocks have fallen 10% to near their bear-market lows of last November, while gold has risen as much as 16%.”

GG also sent this piece by Michael Klare at Salon: We’re on the brink of disaster: Violent protests and riots are breaking out everywhere as economies collapse and governments fail. War is bound to follow. It sounds a lot like the next stage of my warnings penned in September of 2006: is coming to pass. I wrote: “If and when the global derivatives bubble ever pops, it may topple not just trading companies like Goldman Sachs, or corporations like GM, Daimler-Chrysler, or RCA, but entire nations. I’m not kidding.”

JHB sent us the link to this history lesson: How Americans Lost Their Right to Own Gold

KT and Charley S. both spotted this piece from a Le Monde: editor, commenting on the most recent LEAP analysis: After the Financial Crisis, Civil War? Get Ready to “Leave Your Region …” (BTW, I used to consider the LEAP papers quite sensationalistic and OTT (in part because of some atrocious French-to-English translation work), but they have been largely accurate in the past 18 months.)

KT also forwarded an article link on counterfeiting of gold bullion and numismatic coins. JWR’s Advice: If you plan to buy or someday barter for any gold coins, protect yourself with a set of Fisch coin-checking gauges.

Jon Christian Ryter asks: What happens when the whole economy sinks underwater?

HD liked this article from The International Herald Tribune: EU chiefs attempt to cool bloc’s crisis

Tom W. thought this news story from England was worthy reading: MI5 On Alert for Bank Riots