Fire Suppression for the Present, and for Post-TEOTWAWKI, by Keith H.

In the various TEOTWAWKI scenarios there will probably be no organized fire companies to help out the survivors with timely a fire suppression response. Here are some simple and low cost solutions that individuals can do to suppress and fight fires that are type A fires such as paper, cardboard, wood, cloth, plastics etc. Do not fight other fire types with water . Search engine “fire extinguisher types” to learn more. [JWR Adds: You should keep at least two 10+ pound A-B-C fire extinguishers in your home, for fighting grease, chemical, and electrical fires.]

In many homes there is currently water under pressure from some supply. This can be accessed for fire suppression by various means if one takes the time to plan and practically tie into it. One of those coiled snake type 25 foot or 50 foot ½ inch or ¾ inch diameter (preferred size) garden hoses can be attached to a Y splitter ball valve from the cold water line that feeds the washing machine. You turn it on by flipping on the ball valve spigot and uncoiling the hose to move throughout the home as needed to fight the fire.

A handy person could put such a hose line anywhere in the home that water can be plumbed into such as a main hallway closet or corner area of a room on any floor. I would recommend a quality brass 90 degree ball valve as the main shut off at the end of the hard line plumbing where the flexible garden hose is connected. This prevents those nasty slow leaks from the cheaper plastic or pot metal valves.

A good quality spray valve with various spray patterns works well on the business end of the coiled hose and can very effectively give either a strong stream or various short wider spray patterns. It is not the power or volume of a real fire hose but can work well if the fire is caught in time. The key to water fire fighting is a spray or mist to quickly lower the heat and wet potential fuels. Always have working smoke detectors throughout the home and practice fire drills regularly including both coordinated fire fighting and evacuating the home. If you and the family members can get some volunteer fire training now or study fire fighting techniques from books or online this will be a big benefit later in times of crisis.

You will also want a crook staff shaped metal tube sprayer with a long metal handle. They are normally purchased to water high-hanging planters. They can be bought or made from pipe with a bending jig. It can be used for those times that fire suppression (the Molotov cocktails threat?) is needed out a window against the side of the house while maintaining some protective cover from behind a wall inside.

With a well or pressurized tank system you can add extra storage capacity by plumbing in extra pressure tanks with other valve splitters and “no leak” metal mesh covered washer hoses. The tanks can be located anywhere in the home plumbing cold water lines. Just make sure they do not freeze. This gives an added benefit of keeping your pump from cycling too much with a small tank. In an off grid or grid down scenario hook up a potable Shurflo brand or similar 12 volt pump powered off of deep cycle batteries. They are available from farm or Do-It-Yourself stores. The water can be stored in 55 gallon or similar drums and then drafted out and used to pressurize the house system by back feeding a washer spigot. These pumps usually have a 30/50 lb on off type switch built into them like a regular 120/240 volt AC water pump.

The older water type fire extinguishers which are air charged are ideal to have but they are few and far between with the modern move to and versatility of dry powder. If you have an older fire extinguisher that has a metal valve base assembly and pressure gauge you may still be in business. Those small dial pressure gauges on the side generally have a 1/8 inch NPT port which they are threaded into. You can get older spent fire extinguishers (cottage industry job potential?) from a local fire extinguisher service company.

There is usually at least one of these businesses in an area. The fire codes call for many models to be rotated out of service on time intervals or discontinued due to changes in powder formulas and such. Make friends with the owner as I have done and you can probably get all you want as they usually have to pay to haul them away because it is not worth their time to dissemble them as various scrap types.

To convert them you first make sure they are completely empty. Sometimes they leak gas or air propellant and are still partially full of powder. Squeeze the handle in a safe area outside where you do not mind killing grass or weeds. The powder kills yards dead in concentrations. Avoid breathing it as it is a slight irritant. (A twenty pound dry extinguisher also puts out a white cloud bigger than three military AN M8 HC smoke grenades and is just as irritating, for future reference). If no propellant gas is inside you can carefully unscrew the small dial pressure gauge off the metal valve base with a set of slip joint or water pump pliers. This will reveal a small port hole that goes down into the main extinguisher tank. Get some 1/8 inch NPT / Schrader Tank valves from an auto parts store such as NAPA tank valve numbers NTH 90294 or NTH 90290 (about $2 each). It is a male 1/8 inch NPT and Schrader (automobile tire) valve on the other end.

The 1/8 inch NPT end of the valve can be screwed into the port hole with some pipe dope or Teflon pipe thread (be careful not to close over the end) and you now have a way to recharge the fire extinguisher. You can take an air hose and partially recharge the tank from an air compressor and use it till it is empty or safely trigger the sprayer to make sure all the powder is out. Then take a valve cap with core tool such as NAPA part NTH 90188 ($2.39) or a valve tool NAPA part NTH 90344 (about $2.22) and remove the core which will allow the water to be forced into the tank and the air to come out. Water can be forced back into the spray hose end. To fill it simply use a garden hose and duct tape or a hose to hose with a screw pipe band clamp or any other standardized coupling designs you may devise.

The tricky part is getting the right amount of water to air mixture in the tank. Most of the old water extinguishers had a mark on the side about ¾ way up the tank side to fill them to when you removed the top. They had the luxury of being designed with a total top removable valve assembly with a big gasket seal which allowed water to be poured into by sight and the valve assembly being resealed by hand or with slip joint or water pump pliers. The valves on powder extinguishers are not practical to fill this way.

This filling process will be a trial and error on your part with your specific size and style of extinguisher. The key is to weigh the extinguisher when empty and each time you fill it and charge it with an air compressor. Most air tank compressors fill to about 100 to 125 lbs pressure. You may have to fill and charge it a few times until you get the right amount of air and water so they both run out at the same time. You usually want a little extra air pressure when the water runs out to make sure the water is all delivered under pressure. Once you have the right water/air mix write the tank empty and full weights and air charge pressure on the side of the extinguisher in marker or stamped on a brass key tag attached to the pull pin chain. This weight method of filling is similar to what is used on 20 lb propane tank fills. Check it regularly with a high pressure hand tire gauge to make sure it is still charged properly.

It is also advisable to paint over or remove the old fire ratings on the extinguisher and visibly mark the extinguisher in some manner such as a big blue stripe or bold letters H2O or WATER on the side so someone does not grab it to use it on an electrical or grease fire.

If you are real handy and have the time you can always plumb in a room by room sprinkler system that is automated (lower fire premiums) or one that just takes a ball valve to turn on when fire is discovered.

Remember that if the fire is too big or smoke too thick it is not worth your life to fight for a house. A house is just a structure. Good and prepared people make it a home. Good luck and keep the faith.

Letter Re: An Alternative to COSTCO for Storage Foods

Dear Mr. Rawles,
I have just ordered your preparedness course. I can’t wait for it to get here. I’ve been reading your blog for about a year now and it has changed the way that I look at everything. My husband is slowly getting on board with the preparedness thing, but he has a long way to go. Our house burned down over 2-1/2 years ago and we have been fighting the insurance company and contractors ever since. We still live in a trailer so I don’t have much space for storage. But, we have found many places to hide 5 gallon buckets of food and thousands of rounds of ammo.

My point to this e-mail is that I have a suggestion for an alternative to big box stores like COSTCO, etc. My husband is a commercial beekeeper and buys large quantities of granulated sugar to feed his bees in early spring and late fall when there is no honey flow. Stores like The Restaurant Depot are an amazing deal. If you have one in your area, membership is free. The only requirement is that you have proof that you are a business. It doesn’t matter what kind of business you are. This place is food storage heaven! 100 pound sacks of rice, beans, flour, corn meal, etc! It’s much cheaper than COSTCO! Plus other shoppers don’t look at you like your insane when you are buying enough rice and beans to feed an army. But we still have a good time messing with people in the store.

Thank you, Thank you , Thank you for writing this blog and “Patriots”! Although my family now thinks that my cheese has slipped off my cracker, I know that if the time comes, I will be able to provide for them.

Many thanks and prayers for you and your family, – Tricia H.

JWR Replies: Thanks for that suggestion. As I described in “Rawles Gets You Ready” family preparedness course, I have found that COSTCO, Sam’s Club, and similar “Big Box” stores are a great place to stock up on bulk food that you can re-package yourself. (Typically done with 5- or 6-gallon food grade HDPE buckets. Commercial vendors like the one that you mentioned are a great option, but their selection seems to be much smaller, and the condiments that they sell are in either ridiculously large or small containers. (Such as one gallon bottles of mayonnaise, relish, ketchup, and mustard, or itty-bitty single-serving packets) Another option that I mentioned in the preparedness course is ethnic food stores. You’ll often find the very best prices on rice there, and they do such a large volume of rice sale, that their inventory is usually very fresh.

Seven Letters Re: How Can I Make and Store Dog Food?

Mr. Rawles,
My husband’s grandmother often told about her busy days during the depression, raising seven kids with almost nothing. At the end of her busy day, while cooking supper for her family, she had to make two or three pans of cornbread to feed her husband’s hunting dogs. The dogs were valuable because they helped her husband bring in rabbits and squirrel which sometimes were the only meat the family ate. I’ve always figured if I could no longer afford dog food, I would try Grandma’s cornbread solution. – S. in Indiana

Sir,
One way to feed your dogs is with vermin. Every rat you catch can be cooked and fed to the dogs. When you clean fish there are lots of leftovers such as the head and guts. All of this can be ground up in the sausage grinder and boiled. I had a big black dog who would dig up moles and swallow them whole. She would also run down rabbits. So the right dog can be somewhat self supporting, not to mention they can be a big part of helping in hunting game. A hungry dog won’t turn his nose up at much. – KJG

Hi!
I don’t have a dog and am kind of afraid of them so I have no experience with dog food but I wanted to encourage the writer to use coupons if they have time. I have four cats and a HUGE stockpile of cat food. Most of it I paid only tax for or $1 per bag + tax. To get head start this coupon is $3.50 off any Purina pet food. You can also call Purina they will send you coupons for dog food and maybe a coupon for a free dog treat bag that don’t expire for a while. One nice thing about PetSmart is there deals are all month long so you have time to order coupons from a clipping service. YMMV but our PetSmart accepts competitor’s coupons. So if you went to hotcouponworld.com (it’s not my site – I just find it so helpful) and printed the Target store coupons and then combined with them a manufacturers coupon with a sale you could get a great deal. (Store coupon + manufacturers is okay at many stores, you just can’t use two manufacturers for the same item.) You can get manufacturer coupons from a clipping service from a n Internet site or eBay instead of a Sunday paper.

Every store/area is different so me telling you about my grocery store pet food deals won’t help but once you learn how it works you can find the best deal for your furbabies. There are a lot of helpful people on that site who know their area stores could guide you through your first deals while you learned. I would encourage you to start out slow. See if you can find free dog treats first or a buy one get one free can of dog food.. that way you won’t waste money buying too much from a clipping service for a deal that doesn’t work out. Once you learn it’s easy..you will be giving dog food to the animal shelter. – Lisa E.

Jim,
In reference to your answer on home made dog food: My grandfather used to have corn and wheat ground up at a mill
and he always referenced additional meal ground up more coarsely for “Dog bread”. They used to actually add ground up bones and leftovers as available and bake it (mostly corn meal) as dog bread. I envisioned it as something like a dog biscuit. I later did some research and found that domestic dogs differ from wolves in three key aspects:
They bark at intruders. Wolves don’t bark.
They can digest grain and starches (wolves get sick)
and dogs like people.

If you look at the ingredients on cheap dog food, it sounds almost identical to my grandfather’s recipe. – Jon

Jim.
As to dog diets, I have already reverted, upgraded actually, to a post Schumer dog feeding program. I raise all of my own food for me and all of my animals including fish , rabbits, egg layers and meat chickens.. Here’s what my dogs eat on a daily basis (on most days):

Mornings
Rice with 2 sunny side up eggs fried in bacon grease and one banana or plantain mixed in.
About 1/8 of a teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of honey go in.

Evenings
My butcher friend gives me his meat scraps and I save all of my rabbit and chicken innards so in the evening they get this. I make my rice water from broth made from the carcasses. Bone marrow, brains etc is great for carnivores.

Rice, about 2 cups with about 2 cups of whatever meat I have for them. A handful of finely chopped green beans, a small handful of carrot and some type of root whether it be yucca, potato, sweet potato, malanga. It depends what we are eating that night. Instead of root it may be a portion of the many types of squashes that I grow. Do not forget to include a pinch of salt. I have fish out of my pond a couple of times a week and boil the carcass after I filet them. This slurry gets mixed with their rice, and a bit of milk, on those days.
My dogs will eat oranges and bananas out of my hand and those are their daily treats ! Mine too.

The vet says the blood work is superb and all is well. He has actually added some of my items to his personal hunting dogs diet. These are 100 lb American bulldogs. I’ll never buy the “poison in the bag” [commercial dog food] again. Peace, – Mr. Orchid in Costa Rica

 

Mr. Editor,
We have been cooking for our dogs (Weimaraners) since the dog food contamination scare a couple of years ago. While they no longer like ‘real’ dog food they do go back and forth easily.

We cook them pretty much what we eat but our basic receipt for them is rice with mixed veggies and meat. Any meat, hamburger, scraps from leaner cuts and chicken. Thighs and legs are very cheap and boiled supply broth to cook the rice in. They also like fried ‘taters and one of our dogs really likes carrots.

When we have a surplus of eggs in the summer we scramble lots of eggs for them with old bacon fat. They love this version of fried rice. Our bitch has puppies right now and is doing very well on this diet and the puppies are fat and happy.

I’ve enjoyed your blog very much as it reflects in many ways what my husband and I have always thought/planned. I will say it can be a tad depressing on occasion. – Jeanne G.

Hello James Wesley,
Back in the day when I went to stay with my Grandparents on the farm, they never bought dog food as far as I know. The dogs were fed what was left over from the “Mush” in the morning (Oatmeal), the bacon always got finished. In the evening the dogs got a mix of potatoes and carrots or corn with a little fat, broth, or gravy from our evening meal. I would caution you against too much protein and increase the starches, just read the ingredient list on the back of a dog food bag. It is lots of grain and veggies and a little protein. God Bless, – Bucko

Economics and Investing:

Ben M. mentioned a recent Wall Street Journal article: World Tries to Buck Up Dollar

B.B. sent us the link to a television segment with Peter Schiff, in which he suggested gold might rise to $5,000 per ounce. “There is not top [for gold], because there is no foreseeable bottom for the dollar.”

GG suggested this: China facing risk of debt-fueled crash

Items from The Economatrix:

Single US Banking Regulator Proposed

Financial Crisis Made in West Hits East Hardest

Dollar Falls to 15-Month Low Despite US Support

UK: BofE Government Dampens Recovery Outlook

NY State: We’ll Be Broke Before Christmas

US Airlines Expect Fewer Thanksgiving Travelers

Gold Rises Towards $1,120 on Strong Sentiment

Airlines, Hotels Face Bleak Holiday Season

Odds ‘n Sods:

Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader “Sharp Shepherd” highlighted this article: Rental Goats Clear Brush Better, Beat Cosmonauts in Space Race

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Bridget sent this, about the ever-encroaching Nanny State Britannia: Every phone call, email and internet click stored by ‘state spying’ databases

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The folks at Directive 21 (one of our advertisers) are having a special on Royal Berkey water purification systems. The regular price is $275, but for a limited time they are $262.50. The sale will end when their small on-hand stock of the filters runs out, so don’t hesitate. OBTW, because of state certification issues, none of the Berkey filter systems or replacement filters can be shipped to any California addresses after January 1st.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

Nothing is more certain than that a general profligacy and corruption of manners make a people ripe for destruction. A good form of government may hold the rotten materials together for some time, but beyond a certain pitch, even the best constitution will be ineffectual, and slavery must ensue. – John Witherspoon, The Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men, 1776

Letter Re: How Can I Make and Store Dog Food?

James,
I read the blog regularly and have noticed people mentioning the value of having a large dog on a property–for protection, extra set of ears, etc. Having recently purchased a German Shepherd puppy and seeing the costs of dog food rising, plus the looming dangers of hyperinflation and disruptions of supply chains, I’m wondering if anyone out there can share the recipe for a nutritious food for a large breed puppy/dog–especially a food that can be made from common items and stored. Otherwise, when the storm hits I may have a great dog, and no suitable food for her. Probably many people out there are wondering the same thing. Thanks for all that you do to assist people like me. – Scott S. in Colorado

JWR Replies: Dog food–as we now know it–didn’t become popular until after World War II. Dogs didn’t starve before then, although their diets were not nearly as uniform as they are in the present day. In the old days dogs were just fed table scraps, butcher scraps, and the occasional excess milk and eggs (in judicious quantities, of course, to avoid making a dog vomit.) Most dogs can revert to this traditional diet, especially if the transition is made gradually, over the course of a couple of weeks. Here is an illustration: Two decades ago, The Memsahib and I temporarily foster-homed a “rescue” Great Dane that at first refused to any dog dog food unless it had fried beef livers mixed in with it. Transitioning that pampered pooch took more than a month. My first attempt at having it just going “cold turkey” was a failure, as the dog starved itself for three days. Bad idea! So then I decided to just gradually reduce the amount of beef liver that it got each day. By the third week, it was down to just a bit of beef liver juices. I simultaneously tapered its daily ration by 30%, to increase the dog’s appetite. Finally, after a month, the dog was on a pure diet of moistened dry dog food, and was soon back to a full ration.

There are are several recipes for “do it yourself” dog food on the Internet, but in my estimation, that is only a stopgap, for true preparedness. There is no way to store enough dog food for a couple of large dogs for an extended disaster situation unless you have a huge budget. And unless you live in a permafrost zone, this would also require a huge backup generator and a couple of chest freezers. That just isn’t practical for most of us. You really need to be ready to transition your dog to a traditional diet. This necessitates keeping a two month supply of your dog’s currently-used food on hand, to effect a diet transition. In warm climates, rancidity can be a problem, so if possible store two-thirds of this supply in a food grade plastic bag, in your freezer and rotate it, just as you do your other frozen foods.

Using the worst cuts left over from our from deer and elk butchering, (such as the strips from between ribs, and pieces from near the knee joint that are too sinewy to include in our elk-burger and Bambi-burger), I have made “dog jerky”. This is made just like any jerky for human consumption but with a bit less salty brine, and no fancy seasonings. As with our other jerky, it is dried in our old workhorse nine-tray Excalibur dehydrator. If you will be feeding a dog jerked dry meats that are lean (such as venison or rabbit), then don’t neglect adding essential fats and oils. You should do so only shortly before they are used. (Again, to minimize risk of rancidity.) OBTW, some of my dehydrator recommendations as well as some important notes on fats and oils are included in my “Rawles Gets You Ready” family preparedness course.

Most of our stored cooking oil here at the ranch is in the form of frozen olive oil, and a bit of coconut oil. We’ve never had problem with plastic oil bottles rupturing, when frozen. Most of our stored fats are in the form of butter, again, frozen in our chest freezer. But we plan to experiment with using some canned New Zealand butter, next year. (That is available from several SurvivalBlog advertisers, at a surprisingly affordable price, considering that it is shipped from the other side of the planet.)

When times get Schumeresque, I plan to transition our dogs to a diet of table scraps, dog jerky, and butcher scraps. This will be supplemented with small amounts of excess milk and eggs from the barnyard. Oh, and one word of warning: Never let a dog watch you break eggs and put them over its food. Dogs are intelligent! Crack the eggs, whisk them, and pour them over the dog’s food, while the dog is in another room. You do not want to train your doge to become an egg thief!

Wound Irrigation in Austere Environments

TEOTWAWKI will result in a lot of wounds, including not just lacerations but scrapes and burns as well.  These will happen regardless of if the injury is the result of a disaster or if post-crash efforts lead to injury.  This is bad enough, but you could be in even more trouble if infection sets into one of these wounds. 

A lot of preparedness/survival-types focus on suturing, including having access to suture material and instruments to allow for laceration repair. While this is all well and good, you shouldn’t focus too much on actual wound repair without first being sure that you can provide wound closure with minimal risk for infection. Additionally, abrasions and burns are also at risk for infection and will benefit from good cleaning.

For any wound, infection prevention after injury consists of “irrigation” because as the poison control folks say: when it comes to pollution, dilution is the solution!  Irrigation not only aids in prevention of infection, but also increases the chances of a wound healing without too much pain, functional impact or cosmetic disfigurement.

What should you use to irrigate wounds? In most health-care settings, sterile solutions such as saline are used. Under the best of circumstances, these are expensive. After the Schumer hits the fan, they will probably be in very short supply. If you have access to stored saline, you are in good shape, but what happens if it has run out or you don’t have any?  Lucky for us, there are alternatives.
One “solution” is to make saline with water treated with bleach.  Clean contact lens solution, bottled water or tap water can be treated with household bleach, resulting in a solution that is sterile and non-toxic. The residual bleach may actually have bacteria killing effects as well.  Simply add a tablespoon of table salt to each gallon of clean water to make a suitable solution for wound irrigation. 

There are even options if the grid is down and we can’t rely on delivery of clean water, either from a tap or in a bottle.  Military doctors in one study took surface water from lakes, ponds and creeks. The water was “non-turbid”, so you may need to let it settle and/or filter it.  Next, they treated it with 1 teaspoon (or 5 mL) of common household bleach in each liter of water. This killed 99% of the bacteria in the samples, and even the 1% left was thought to be contamination from the air picked up during testing. Their technique gives us a field-expedient method for obtaining water suitable for irrigation of wounds.
You can also purchase distilled water in advance, store it at room temperature, and make your own irrigation fluid later simply by adding salt (a tablespoon, again) to each gallon.  When stored in a refrigerator at or below 48°, home-made solutions like this were sterile at least 3 weeks after they were made. Theoretically, using sterile (bleach-treated) water derived from the sources above could even be used in place of distilled water as well.  Thus you can replace expensive or unavailable sterile saline without buying it from your pharmacy. Researchers used this fluid safely as peritoneal (abdominal) dialysis fluid as well. 

You don’t need to worry about adding antibiotic to the irrigation solution either.  A physician from the University of Missouri showed that patients with compound fractures of their legs did better if they were treated with irrigation solutions made from non-sterile tap water and Castile Soap rather than water containing bacitracin, a common antibiotic.  Researchers from SUNY-Buffalo also showed that straight tap water was just as effective as sterile saline irrigation in preventing infections in lacerations closed in their emergency room. [JWR Adds: Castile soap is multi-purpose, and a has a long shelf life. Stock up. watch for it a discount stores, or find discount Internet vendors. Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint Castile soap is a standby, here ate the ranch.]

Once you have your solution prepared, you need to use it to wash the wound. In general, burns and abrasions should be washed until they’re free of visible dirt. Lacerations, on the other hand, may need a little bit more work: It’s best to irrigate them through a syringe and intravenous catheter or needle such that you get good pressure, in order to the blast germs out of the wound. The textbook standard is 50 mL per centimeter of length; this converts to about 4 ounces for each inch long the wound is (not how deep it is.)  Obviously, if the wound was grossly contaminated, you need to make sure to rinse it under pressure (ideally with pulsatile flow like from a WaterPik) until the wound is clean, with no foreign bodies left behind. Only then should you think about suturing a wound closed. [JWR Adds: Wound drainage is subject unto itself. My general advice, based on that reiterated by several experienced trauma doctors that have contributed to SurvivalBlog is to delay wound closure for an extended period, and even then a drainage tube should be left in place, even longer.]

If you don’t have a suitable syringe and catheter set-up for irrigation, one austere alternative is the ubiquitous 2 liter soda bottle; just be sure to clean it well beforehand, and don’t use one that held anything besides drinks!  Next, drill two small (1/16th inch, for example) about 1/8th inch apart in the lid.  Put your solution in the bottle and then cap it tightly with your modified.  Now, simply squeeze the bottle while sweeping the stream across the wound.  Keep in mind that if you don’t know the person is free of disease that you must use personal protective equipment to protect you from body fluids.
Finally, in a severe pinch, remember that we all have our own supply of sterile saline with us:  yes, I am talking about urine.  Dr. Gene Lam, then a Battalion Surgeon in the US Army, was held captive by North Korea.  He describes many ingenious and heroic medical improvisations, including use of urine to rinse off burns and other wounds.  Just be sure that the person “donating” the urine has no pain or burning on urination, cloudy or bloody urine, or other signs of bladder/kidney/urinary infection.  Place it in your irrigation container and use it immediately as well. 

All of the aforementioned techniques are only for a truly Schumeresque situation!  If you have access to the usual care systems, that is the way to go.  Otherwise, if you must provide your own wound care, the cornerstone of good care is meticulous wound preparation with copious irrigation. When you’re in the Schumer, making your own irrigation fluid will work in place of commercially made irrigation solutions and gives a lot of advantages in the fight against infected wounds.

Influenza Pandemic Update:

Andre sent this from Radio Nederland: Madagascar! Slovakia closes borders with flu-hit Ukraine

Bobbi-Sue mentioned that respected surgeon and fiction author Robin Cook thinks a mix of avian and swine flu could be the next global plague on the scale of the Black Death. In a piece in Foreign Policy magazine, he details why.

Belarus Has 1/4 Million Swine Flu Cases

Suspect H1N1 Death in Romania on Border With Ukraine

US Pandemic Options Include Crippling Home Modems

WHO Silence On Ukraine Sequences Raise Pandemic Concerns “In the days post shipment, cases in Ukraine have quadrupled to over 1 million and the reported fatalities have grown from 30 to 174. The clinical presentation of 90 of the fatalities was classical H1N1 linked hemorrhagic pneumonia, which led to the “total destruction” of both lungs. These fatal cases were hospitalized 3-7 days after disease onset, highlighting the rapid progression of the infection in a large number of patients, suggesting genetic changes in the H1N1 virus.”

Over 2,000 Health Care Workers In Ukraine Ill

1918 RBD Polymorphisms In Ukraine H1N1
Ukraine: Over 1 Million Cases

WHO: Animals Need to Be Closely Monitored for Flu. Swine flu found in Denmark mink.

Spread of Swine Flu in Ireland “Intense”

Economics and Investing:

Reader O.J.W. spotted this: Why the price of gold is rising

Ryan mentioned this: Report: 10 states face looming budget disasters

Jason H. and “Oxy” were the first of dozen readers to mention this article: Peak Gold? Barrick shuts hedge book as world gold supply runs out

Items from The Economatrix:

Fed Officials Warn Weak Recovery Won’t Spur Jobs

Why Gold is Shining Brighter

Gold Bars Selling Like Hotcakes at Harrod’s

Gold Hits New Record, Now Eyes US $1200

Jim Willie: Ultimate Conditions for Recovery

Failure Written into “Too Big” Policy

Job Openings Remain Close to Record Lows

FDIC Boss: Big Banks Still Aren’t Lending Enough

Median Home Prices Fell in 80% of US Metro Areas in 3Q

Senate Dems Move to Curb Fed’s Power

Housing Plan Reaches 1 in 5 Borrowers

Ex-BofE Kingpin Says Don’t Buy US Treasuries as Fed May Raise Interest Rate

Odds ‘n Sods:

D.F. in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula suggested this solar homesteading and woodworking web site: ManyTracks

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Jimmy suggested a YouTube clip on inexpensive heat and light: A Common Man’s Grease Lamp. It uses Australian beeswax and petroleum jelly mix, sold under the brand name Murray’s Beeswax. Buy a jar for each of your survival kits. OBTW, it will likely melt in a hot car trunk, so be sure to store each jar in two thicknesses of Ziploc bags. Or, if you live in a hot climate, perhaps re-pack your supply in a small water-tight container with an o-ring seal, like a Pelican micro case. (That is somethimg that I already carry my tinder and matches in, as part of my outdoor survival kit.) Stock up before the US Dollar slips further against the Aussie Dollar.

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Another State (Ohio) Introduces Firearms Freedom Act, similar to those enacted in Tennessee and Montana.

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SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large Michael Z. Williamson sent this: Power for U.S. From Russia’s Old Nuclear Weapons

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint." – Isaiah 40:31

Letter Re: It Takes a Village for Perimeter Security

Jim:
I’ve been reading your blog for some months and went out and purchased “Patriots” as soon as I learned about it. Good job, I very much enjoyed it and will probably read again and again as I often do with books I enjoy.

After reading your ‘Precepts’, I thought I would drop you a note. because I have always appreciated anyone that agrees with me.

First, I am a retired cop and a retired soldier so I have studied people in one career and weapons and equipment in another. I have been to a number of Third World countries and learned that what we have now is unbelievably good and where we might be going is will be unbelievably, well, sad.

I decided a very long time ago that the best place to live for my family would be a rural town. I did not want kids to grow up in an urban setting and having grown up myself in a suburban setting, I didn’t want to inflict that on them either.

So we moved. It was a shock at first. The nearest fast food was almost twenty miles away in any direction and the nearest traffic light is seventeen miles away, even today, twenty-five years later.

The town I chose was twenty miles from the nearest Interstate and even a couple of miles from nearest state highway. It is in the center of one the largest agricultural areas in the country and has its own grain elevator and storage business.

That means at any time of the year, there are upwards of 5,000 tons of corn and soybean stored within the town limits. You know, “the perimeter”.

I had often thought that if given the means, I would like to own a house on a hilltop with cleared fields of fire and a view of the surrounding area. But that wasn’t practical and as time has proven, it wasn’t even smart.

If you’re going to have a survival retreat, it would be best if you already lived there. If the necessity ever arose, I don’t think I would want to have to fight my way out of the city or suburbs.

In “Patriots”, you describe a survival group that spent a great deal of time preparing for the “what if?” I did the same thing but I chose was to have all those skills that you searched for and recruited all ready present.

Farm communities already have a host of survival skills that are needed ready made. In our town, of less than a thousand, are welders (and equipment) fabricators (and their tools) food, fuel, military veterans, plenty of weapons and folks that have already spent a lot of times together dealing with blizzards, electrical storms, and power outages and all those things that bind a small community together.

We have some good people here and should the occasion arise, I think we could make a pretty good stand. Organization is key, of course. To that end, I have been active in the town in the past , my last police job before going back in the Army was Chief of Police here. I made a pretty good name for myself and I continue to help out in the town whenever I can.

Someone that I have absolutely no respect for once said, “it takes a village” and in this case, she was right. We are far away from the nearest urban areas, have food and water available and our folks every day work skills translate very quickly into survival skills.

I wanted to share the thought because I think most people who are planning to attempt to escape from the urban areas when the SHTF may be much better served if they would make that escape before it happens. My very best to you, – JCH

Letter Re: The List of Lists

Jim:
I’m writing this to thank you for your blog, novel and preparedness course. Reading those has revitalized my prepping efforts, which had gone dormant since Y2K fizzled. Since then, I had the nagging feeling that I should be preparing, but I wasn’t–until I stumbled across your novel in a local bookstore. Then I got back on track. (BTW, it was mis-shelved in with the “how-to” books! Or maybe it wasn’t mis-shelved, since its a novel that doesn’t fit any mold!) And it wasn’t until I read through your “Rawles Gets You Ready” course that I had any real sense of priorities. If I had to name just one thing that I found the most useful in all you’ve written, it would be your big “List of Lists”, which you have as a part of your prepping course. Those lists really helped me to crystallize exactly what I had to do, and in what priority. Like you suggested, I’m custom tailoring my lists, to match up with my locale. (I live at 5,900-foot elevation, which makes gardening a huge challenge. I’m heavy into sprouting, these days.)

I’m now working my way back through your blog’s archives. I’m amazed at how much is there, and all with the level of detail to do really concrete things to get ready. The thing I love about your blog and your prep course is that it is all hard facts, and tested ways of doing things by people that have “been there, done that”–not just vague generality and “this might work” sorts of guesses. Thank you, Jim, ever so much! – Stan in Colorado

Letter Re: Why I Began to Prepare

James Wesley,
In September 2008 a chain of events began which got me thinking about food storage and survival. Living in a small bedroom community to a moderately large city we’ve always had food, water and electricity, except for an occasional day or so when we have a storm. However things changed when Hurricane Ike rolled through the Ohio Valley (along the Ohio river). We had power outages and destruction city-wide of the magnitude of what you would normally see from a tornado that hits part of the town. But in this case a city of 1.5 million was without power for weeks and 24 Kroger’s grocery stores had to throw out all perishable food in dumpsters and were closed for close to a week. Add all of the businesses and school and transportation closings food wasn’t being delivered. Although our problems were never as bad as Katrina or Galveston it really drove home that we were not prepared.

During the storm I couldn’t stop thinking of “my kids”, Boy Scouts in the poorer part of the town. They had no utilities and little food. I was a day away from taking a cook stove and setting up a mini food kitchen at a church near where they live. But what could I buy in bulk at Sam’s that they could cook on a fire for them live off of? Rice and beans, beans and rice, as Dave Ramsey says. (But I hate Dave’s arrogance).

An then the stock market crashed 9/29/08. So in three weeks what was a reality only on television had come to my town… to my front door. A probable economic meltdown. A lousy choice of Presidential candidates, one that was very anti gun, and the other that was looking to close the “gun show loophole” as well as not being versed in the world political arena. It felt like end times.

As the man of the house I realized how ill prepared I was to take care of my family. I had been talking about the future of gun control due to our potential next president but I didn’t have food storage or anything resembling survival preparedness on my radar.

In the beginning months I have put several $100 of short term food, can goods, bags of rice, beans, sugar, salt, etc “on the shelf”. I bought two Mosin rifles and then to celebrate the election of our new anti-gun President I went out and bought an AR-15 the day after the election. Then I bought an AK and then I bought another AK, then I bought son .22’s and on and on.

I began adding a few hundred worth of food each month to “the bunker” as we jokingly call the garage. My wife is actually impressed that we will have food on the shelf that she can go get when she doesn’t have something in the house. The goal of course is to pack away a year of food supply and then some.

As far as long term food I did order and receive 2 of the 5 gallon sealed Red Wheat buckets, but at about $150 delivered for both it will be slow for me to stock the long term, air sealed, supplies.

One of the first things I ordered was a dozen 100 hour emergency candles from BePrepared.com. Being a Boy Scout for over 40 years made be appreciate their domain name, but the final price of $3 each got me to order from them. I also got a very nice wheat grinder from them too. I looked at a lot of wheat grinders on the Internet but in the end came back to BePreparred.com and trusted their expertise and recommendation and ordered from them.

Next I just purchased received two of the Vario Katadyn Dual water filtration water filter hand pumps. As we do a little backpacking and camping I felt I could justify them with the wife. By the way the Katadyn’s came from ManventureOutpost.com.

Now a few times over the first 12 months of prepping I’ve ordered Mylar bags, oxygen absorbers and diatomaceous earth from SurvivalUnlimited.com. I purchased got a 20” 5mm bag sealer from DougCare.com. I’m now vacuum bagging many food items as well as stocking spices, cereals and other supplies like matches and such.

I’ve also read a lot in many forums about survival guns and have standardized the majority of my firepower on 9mm handguns and rifles, 12 gauge shotguns and a 22 rifle and 22 pistol for small food hunting. For 9mm handguns I already had two Rugers and a Kel-Tec pistols but I did add a nice Springfield XD9 to the collection. I’ve since been blessed to purchase a Springfield XD9 subcompact, which is now my carry gun. On the rifle side I also wanted to stick with 9mm and already had a Highpoint 9mm carbine, so I picked up an Olympic Arms AR-15 in 9mm [Parabellum]. For a shotgun I went with the Mossberg 500 Deer and Field 12 gauge with two barrels which is at Dick’s for $340. My son has a Remington 870. In the 22 family and I chose a Savage 22 LR Bolt action and a Savage semi-auto, each about $160 at Dick’s. For the pistol I got a 22 Ruger Mark III which I believe many forums list as a very reliable 22. My son and I also bought a few Mosin Nagant M44 rifles (WWII Russian surplus we bought at $80 each). We had been buying 300 round tins of 7.62 x54r ammo for $64 a tin every few months which now are selling for about $100 a tin. This are great rifles and a blast to shot. Many armies used a variation of these rifles for over 75 years and they have proven to be very reliable and extremely accurate at 300+ yards. Now that I have met my basic armory equipment list the goal is to sock away about 10,000 rounds of each cartridge or shotshell. After I get this all laid in and my year food supply then I’ll come back and look at different caliber guns, but for now I want to keep the ammo shopping list simple. The other thing I’m looking to do is duplicate all of the guns I purchase so I have parts if I have a breakdown of any kind. On my shopping list is to purchase a 5.56mm AR-15. I did just buy a 30-06 Winchester at a gun show recently. I noticed that with all of the ammo shortages .30-06 ammo never sold out at Wal-Mart. It seems to be good hunting ammo and capable of some good ranges.

Some other items I purchased are two small generators of the same make and model, once again so I have a backup. I also purchased an 1980s step van that has provided me with 6 months of storage and transportation for my Scout Troop. If things ever got bad I could dump the Scout gear and head to land we access to about an hour away.

I’m sure there are several other little things like that I’ve ordered over the year. I know that some of this makes me seem like a nut but I’m not going to be the man God wants me to be if I don’t protect and provide for my family, parents, and in-laws.

If my wife ever did the math on what I’ve purchased, more than $3,000 in guns, $3,000 in food, $1,000 on a generator she would be upset but I also know that she respects my desire to protect my family in the best way I can. She also knows that this has made me confident and secure in my daily life and that will go a long way to help me more successful in my job and life.

The biggest confidence builder for me was to take the two-day Appleseed rifle training program. I never had any experience hitting a target (I just pointed the rifle down range). Appleseed has given me all kinds of confidence and a skill to build on.

Lastly, I read several blogs and visit several forums. SurvivalBlog is certainly where I start most evenings. Then I’ve got a list of about five forums that I try to read daily. I’ve added this forum to my list as it makes sense to support those around me and build friendships.

I’ve broken my Survival preparation list down into the following and listed each topic on a separate Excel Spreadsheet where I can collect information and do calculations on: Quantity, Food Shelf Life, Shelf Space, Cost Per Unit, and Equipment to Buy.

Lastly I signed up for Life memberships with the NRA and GOA, and $3 per month for your Ten Cent Challenge. Periscope up, head down. – Don E.