Letter Re: Some Advise of Starting Wood and Charcoal Fires

Hello Mr. Rawles;
Recently I have seen lists recommending the storage of charcoal lighter fluid. I would like to suggest the use of a charcoal starter chimney. You will not need to use and store the lighter fluid and worry about running out of it. With the chimney all you need to store is a supply of newspaper. It takes just a sheet or two of newspaper wadded up to start the charcoal and in short order your charcoal will be ready to use. You can find the chimneys on eBay or go to the Internet and find instructions for making your own out of a large metal coffee can. We store our charcoal in a large garbage can in the garage. We store old newspapers (but not the slick pages) in a large paper grocery bag. The newspapers are good for not just the charcoal starter but can be used as mulch in the garden as well. It is hard to find the paper grocery bags now but our Kroger’s still have some. The paper grocery bags can be used to make a starter for your wood stove or fireplace. Just gather small twigs, pinecones or bark pieces in the about half of the bag and roll down the top. Place the bag under the wood and light and in no time your fire is going strong. If you don’t have a supply of paper bags and wood trash you can store fire starter sticks. We have used the “StarterLoggs” for our wood stove and now for our fireplace. We find that this brand works well and we don’t have to use the whole piece to start the fire, just maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of a stick works fine. I just bought a box of 24 for $10 at Wal-Mart. Best Regards, – Glennis

Economics and Investing:

HPD sent us this piece by Mish Shedlock: A Remarkable Comparison: Affordable Student Loans vs. Affordable Housing

Mr. Smith recommended this BBC audio clip: Fed Advisor Warns of the Next Financial Crisis: Mass Inflation

Chad S. flagged this: Geithner Says Commercial Real Estate Woes Won’t Spark Crisis

GG sent this: CIT Board Approves Chapter 11 Filing; Government Infusion of $2.3 Billion at Risk

Items from The Economatrix:

The Next Currency to Crash: The Japanese Yen


Think Tank: Graduate Unemployment to Soar

China Warns of World Slump if Stimulus Withdrawn

Stiglitz Says US Recession “Nowhere Near” End After GDP Jump

US Housing “Recovery” in Bubble Territory

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: Deflation Fears as Eurozone and US Credit Contracts

UK to Break Up the Banks

Lloyd’s of London Calls Time on Market Rally

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“How rare is gold? If you could gather together all the gold mined in recorded history, melt it down, and pour it into one giant cube, it would measure only about eighteen yards across! That’s all the gold owned by every government on earth, plus all the gold in private hands, all the gold in rings, necklaces, chains, and gold art. That’s all the gold used in tooth fillings, in electronics, in coins and bars. It’s everything that exists above ground now, or since man learned to extract the metal from the earth. All of it can fit into one block the size of a single house. It would weigh about 91,000 tons – less than the amount of steel made around the world in an hour. That’s rare.” – Daniel M. Kehrer

The Flash to Bang Count: Observations on the October Indonesian Asteroid Airburst

A few days ago, The Telegraph reported:

“An asteroid that exploded in the Earth’s atmosphere with the energy of three Hiroshima bombs this month has reignited fears about our planet’s defenses against space impacts. On 8 October, the rock crashed into the atmosphere above South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The asteroid was around 20 meters across and hit the Earth’s atmosphere at 45,000 mph. The blast was heard by monitoring stations 10,000 miles away, according to a report by scientists at the University of Western Ontario. Scientists are concerned that it was not spotted by any telescopes, and that had it been larger it could have caused a disaster. Luckily, due to the height of the explosion – estimated at between 15 and 20 km (nine to 12 miles) above sea level – no damage was caused on the ground.”

Later reports mentioned and estimated 5 to 10 meter diameter for the asteroid. Let’s consider the implications of this event. If this had happened in the skies over a First World nation, or if the explosion had taken places at ground level (or near ground level, a la the 1908 Tunguska event), then there would be a huge clamor and calls for early asteroid impact prediction, and greater preparedness. But since this took place above what most consider a backwater nation, and there was no visible damage on the ground to photograph, this news story was resigned to “minor headline” status. And what if the object had been 100 meters in diameter, instead of 20?

We’ve previously discussed asteroids with Earth-crossing orbits–also known as Near Earth Objects (NEOs)— and the consequences of potential impacts in SurvivalBlog.

Asteroid impacts are one of those “low likelihood but high disruption” events. The chances of one occurring in our lifetimes is relatively low, but if one were to happen, the implications would be huge. In anticipation of future asteroid impacts, here are some factors to consider:

  • An asteroid impact could cause short-term climate change that could in turn cause multi-year crop failures on a hemispheric or even global scale. This means that it would be prudent to have multiple years food storage
  • The importance of living in inland areas. Let’s face it: coastal areas anywhere on earth are vulnerable to mega-tsunamis, if you factor-in the threat of asteroid impacts. Unless there is some massive intervening terrain, don’t live at less than 500 feet above sea level if you must live within 25 miles of an ocean. A 300+ foot high tsunami might seem hard to imagine, but just ask an astrophysicist. It is possible, and in fact there is some geologic evidence that that mega-tsunamis have occurred in the past 6,000 years.
  • Never underestimate the implications of mass hysteria and misdirected government reaction to a crisis. News of imminent crop failures might inspire executive orders mandating the collection of “hoarded” food. Hint: This will probably include food that you started storing years ago–long before any imminent threat warning or post-incident panic buying. So I must again warn my readers that it is wise to keep a low profile about your preparations.

I have been studying the threat of asteroid impacts for many years. NEOs represent a “wild card”scenario. Since a fairly complete orbital path tracking database probably won’t exist for 20+ years, this threat will remain an imponderable for the foreseeable future. Until a fully-populated database is developed, this will remain a quasi-voodoo science. The Indonesian event illustrates just how easy it is to get blind-sided. And even after we have complete tracking data, it will be decades longer before we start to proactively develop a program to “nudge” the larger NEO asteroids into safer orbits.

But again, keep in mind that this is one of those “low actuarial risk/high consequence” events. Plan accordingly.

Letter Re: Experience with a Shallow Well Hand Pump

Mr. Rawles,
I consider myself adequately prepared for whatever events that may happen in regards to a break down of society. I live out in the country and have never been one to rely on local government or social infrastructure for immediate needs. I’ve had too many occasions where I have had to fend for myself because of a tornado, snowstorm, flood or other event that causes disruption in services. I have a good supply of storage food from canning, dehydrating and past hunting seasons to last for a while. I’ve got all the hand tools necessary to keep going if it comes to that. Also have ordered from Vic at Safecastle, got some stuff from Ready Made Resources and Lehman’s along with Sportsman’s Guide, Cheaper Than Dirt and a bunch of other places. These are items that I may need when the SHTF. Overall, I consider myself and my family mostly self-sufficient until I consider the magnitude of life without electric power for an undetermined period of time. My biggest concern is potable water.

I have three ponds on my property, two small ones and one that is fairly large. We have a well for water and a septic for a sewer system. We have a Berkey filter system that I have used in the past when power has been out for an extended period of time to purify pond water. The way we do it is, scoop the water out of a pond in 5 gallon buckets, filter it through some T-shirts into a pot, boil the water then pour into the Berkey and after it is filtered, drop in some bleach and we have good clean drinking water. A lot of work for drinking water but an absolute necessity when faced with a prolonged period of power loss. I got to thinking a while back that there must be a better way to get drinking water than from my ponds when I have a perfectly good well.

I did some research on hand pumps for a water well and saw that it is possible to incorporate a hand pump along with my electric pump. I already have a well bucket that I got from Ready Made Resources and it works great but I felt that a hand pump would be even better. I work private security and as you can imagine business has been booming lately so I don’t have much free time. I called a local water well driller and they quoted me $2,500 to install a hand pump to my well. Way too much for my taste. Another place quoted me $1,250 minimum. Still beyond my budget. I decided it was up to me to get it done.

After a ton of research, I decided to pop the cap off my well to find out the static water level in my well. It was a huge effort to get the cap off because it hadn’t been off for many years. After a bunch of WD-40 I was able to get the bolts loose. Once the cap was off I sunk a rope into the well and found gratefully that the water level was only 9 feet below the well pipe (We have a high water table as you can imagine with three ponds on my property). Research showed me that a shallow well pump would pump water from a depth of 20 feet. A quick search showed that shallow pumps were within my price range. I ended up ordering a Heller-Aller Pitcher Pump from Lehman’s for about $250. The pump is plumbed for a 1-1/4” drop pipe. I got the PVC drop pipe, brass couplings, foot valve and male fittings from Lowe’s for about $60. The PVC pipe came in 10′ sections and I got 3 pieces. I struggled putting 2 of the pieces together with couplers with help from a block of pine wood and a sledge for a total of 20′ of pipe. Thinking ahead, I added a large turnbuckle with a big eyelet about 2′ down the top of the pipe attached with two U-bolts that I attached a hooked tow rope to use to tie off onto a fixed object so if the pipe got away from me it wouldn’t fall into the black hole of the well where I couldn’t retrieve it. I’ll save the extra 10′ section to add when the water drops below a point my 20′ section doesn’t pull the water up.

With the drop pipe finished, I focused on mounting the hand pump to my well pipe. I had two sections of pressure treated 2×4 cut to 2′ lengths that I bolted to the base of the pump with 5/16”x2-½ stainless bolts to stabilize the pump on my 6” well pipe. With the wood base attached to the pump I was ready.

Putting the 20′ section of drop pipe down the 6” well pipe was not as bad as you may think, it only weighed about 15 pounds. I had the rope attached to the turnbuckle so I wasn’t worried about dropping it. When I got the pipe into place my wife held the pump with wood base about 2 feet over the pipe so I could screw the drop pipe brass male fitting to the pump. (A note to consider – When the pump was manufactured, they sprayed the red paint onto the threads that the drop pipe screws into. If you don’t remove this paint before installing – you’ll never get it connected.) Once we finally got it connected, I had to prime the pump from the top while we pumped it to get the water flowing. Once the water started flowing I realized that $500 (as opposed to $1,200+) I had just spent was probably the best money I ever spent as far as my survival preparations went. The pump spout even has a notch built in to hang a bucket. What a wonderful thing.

I’m praying for your family due to your recent loss of your wife. A good friend of mine is music director at our church and his favorite song is – When We All Get to Heaven What a Day of Rejoicing It Will Be! Keep that in mind, my friend. – Jim W. in Indiana

Letter Re: Thoughts on Preparedness in a Diverse Community

I just met this past weekend with a group of ” preparedness folk.” They are on a farm about 30 miles from here. I have become interested in the subject after reading One Second After (a New York Times best seller, highly recommended!) and some writings by James Wesley, Rawles. I was surprised at who they were and the mindset I encountered. A few observations:

1) The root idea is that whether or not some disaster hits, we are far too dependent on a very fragile and tenuous energy and distribution grid. Raising your own chickens, goats, vegetables, rabbits, turkeys, pigs and cows is preferable (and more nutritious and tasty!) to standing around in a Kroger (think “post-Katrina”) looking at the empty aisles.

2) They were “green” but green in a good way, and not the fashionable mindless silliness coming out of the “environmentally conscious” crowd. (Sorry if my contempt shows here)

I am talking about using a local stream to turn a box of old alternators from junked cars to produce current to charge batteries, building a steam fired boiler to run a generator, and lots of other cool ideas that are scavenged from junkyards…., including using a scrapped walk in cooler from a convenience store for a chicken coop (no insulation needed, and less heat source needed during cold weather).

3) The mark of an “advanced” society is division of labor, with the dependency on each other coming from specialization of labor being more efficient and less costly. However, we have evolved into a society of urban dwellers who produce nothing necessary for root survival needs. Cities are extremely dependent on everything being trucked in, and the ones who make the most money are the ones most efficient in distribution rather than production (think “Wal-Mart”). If that distribution system is disrupted, due to a failure of the electrical grid or a fuel supply disruption, we would be helpless. These folks recognize that.

4) I did not meet any tin foil hat folks, which surprised me. There were realtors, veterinarians, an auto parts distributor, a programmer, a cop, and a contract security guy (a “Blackwater” type, although he never worked for Xe). They were just normal folks living their lives, but concerned about the potential for future instability of a calamitous nature.

5) I was surprised at the political make-up of the group. I expected to see a bunch of rabid Republicans, fearful of antichrist Obama and the New World Order, blah, blah, blah. Rather, they were amazingly cynical of any politics, and were just as critical of Reagan (for different reasons) as Obama. Their attitude was more that of folks just trying to live their lives while being confident that their best shot at any change would come from being fiercely independent and doing what they could to remain so.

6) I was probably the biggest Bible Thumper out there. No religious zealotry at all. In my life, I have encountered a lot of religious whack jobs. I expected this crowd to be a magnet for them. It wasn’t

7) I was also surprised about their attitude about guns. I expected to find a bunch of hyperventilating folks screaming out “Molon Labe!” as a password or something to enter the farm. Instead, I encountered a crowd of mostly ex-military guys who understood that guns are tools. They all hunt (mostly deer, but also squirrel, turkey, dove, and some varmints), and they all believe that they have a duty and a right to protect their families themselves and their freedoms and rights against all who would challenge them. Their attitude was that you would no more expect to defend rights and freedoms without guns than try to change a tire without a jack. Especially enlightening to me were the remarks of the contract security guy who worked security in Kosovo. Rather than sitting on his pile of weapons fervently wishing for social collapse so he could play “Rambo” or something, he just emphatically declared that if you ever lived in a society where the social order even partially breaks down, you will want to prepare for it here, but no one in his right mind would wish it.

7) The final funny observation is how close these guys are with all the ex-hippie counterculture who have moved south from Chapel Hill as the area has become completely yuppified. In fact, one of the guys there at the group was just a total stoner who had essentially moved down to smoke his own hydroponic, live cheaply, eat his own “organic” produce, and shoot, prepare, and jerk his own venison. The two types of “fringe” groups have a sort of affinity for each other, even if many other ideas are polarized apart.

The whole group of folks were not now living on the farm. There are only three families there. However, they are all affiliated with it and looking to it as a kind of resource/preparedness area in the event of:
1) a major earthquake (we sit on a huge fault line in North Carolina. I never knew that)
2) a failure of the oil distribution system
3) a major currency collapse (my bets are on this one as having the best odds)
4) a major terrorist attack on the US.
5) ….. you fill in the blank.

My wife and I are not moving down there (smile), but we are interested in some people whose ideas about simplicity and “back to nature” mirror what we would like to see ourselves. I think “survival” is an improper goal for a Christian. We are supposed to be “dead” already, having surrendered all this stuff anyway. I do think that “working with your hands so that you may have something to share with those in need” is a proper goal for myself, though. I am looking forward to interacting more with these folk.

Influenza Pandemic Update:

Reader D.P.D. mentioned: Signs of a H1N1 mutation? Something is up in Ukraine: “Viral pneumonia…”

Los Angeles County Free H1N1 Vaccination Clinics Overwhelmed

Swine flu prompts hundreds of schools to close

US Emergency Declaration Increases Concern. “…the CDC has reported a low reactor isolate, indicating the virus is evolving away from the vaccine.”

‘National emergency’ for H1N1 no cause for alarm, experts say. Oh, that makes me feel so much better.

Fight Erupts in Line at Nevada Swine Flu Clinic

CDC: 19 Children in US Died of Swine Flu Last Week

WHO Emergency Response Team to Ukraine

US: 10 Million More H1N1 Vaccines Due Next Week

Ukraine Deploys Mobile Military Hospitals in H1N1 Crisis

Claims of Many Flu Dead in Ukraine, Full Hospitals, Panic

Ukraine Schools Close, Travel Restricted After H1N1 Deaths

Economics and Investing:

Jeff E. suggested this: Wilbur Ross Sees ‘Huge’ Commercial Real Estate Crash

“FarmerGreen” mentioned: Harvard’s Bet on Interest Rate Rise Cost $500 Million to Exit. Even the best and brightest at Harvard lost a billion to get out of a derivatives contract that went south.

Bruiser spotted this: California to Begin Holding More of Your Paycheck. Bruiser’s comment: “The lesson here is that if one needs a loan, just go out and take it from everyone who has a job. Like Commifornia is doing.” [JWR Adds: My favorite quote from the article: “The state is closing part of this year’s budget deficit by taking an advance on next year’s tax revenues. ‘It’s a one-time acceleration, or on-time speeding up if you will, of tax dollars that would otherwise be collected next fiscal year.’ But the state wants to make clear that the change, which has no cutoff date, is not a tax.” Yeah. right. (Only someone that graduated from a California public school would believe that Bravo Sierra.]

Items from The Economatrix:

Flat Income, Weak Consumer Spending Raises Concerns

Dollar Rises Most Since April

10-Year Treasury Notes Decline Most Since May

Trillion Dollar Ticking Derivatives Time Bomb to Explode Under Bankrupt Banks

The Dollar Depends on Politicians Now

Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Brian B. mentioned a new Internet service called GunPal opened last week which allows for the online payment of all transactions, including firearms-related commerce. (PayPal is notoriously anti-gun.) Hopefully this new service will prosper and provide a valuable resource for those requiring freedom of choice. It was founded by a group of pro-gun gents–mostly from CalGuns–and their roster of advisory board members includes fellow pro-gun blogger Oleg Volk. We should help grow GunPal — effectively voting with our dollars. It took just five minutes for me to set up a GunPal account, and I’ve already added it as an option for payments for consulting, advertising payments, and voluntary Ten Cent Challenge subscriptions. Let’s get the new company off to a great start!

   o o o

Bob B.: suggested this Nightline video from 2008 that you might have missed: Living the Real Simple Life. It shows how much food one family can grow on just 1/5th acre.

   o o o

“Arrggh, me buckos. Time to board that ship!” You gotta love this: The Laserlyte Pistol Bayonet. (The seller, BTW, takes GunPal payments). Take a few minutes to check out Willow Bend’s more practical gun gear.)

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.” – Ronald Wilson Reagan 

Note from JWR:

I’m pleased to report that another retreat listed on SurvivalRealty.com property has just sold. (The “Turn-key” retreat near Sandpoint, Idaho.) Be sure to check out the many new SurvivalRealty.com listings, including properties in Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. Also, be advised that the seller of a unique underground home in Colorado has re-listed the property, at a reduced price. We are very pleased that our “spin-off” web site has been so successful in connecting retreat property buyers and sellers. If you have a property for sale that has retreat potential, then please consider advertising it on SurvivalRealty. Full description listings with photos cost just $30 per month, and we charge NO sales commissions! You keep 100% of the proceeds.

Letter Re: Retreat Security: I Am Your Worst Nightmare

I was thinking about the “I Am Your Worst Nightmare” post as I worked in my vegetable garden, preparing it for Spring. I wonder how long it would be until the Looters evolved their strategy
to the next levels, as follows:

Looter+1: Don’t kill everyone, leave some alive to loot again later.

Looter+2: Plan to scare, rather than kill, your victims, so that they can continue farming and provide for your needs later. Dead victims can’t work.

Looter+3: Claim a territory and collect “protection” money/goods from the people in your territory. Tell them that in return for only taking one-third of everything they produce, you will protect them from “looters” who will take it all and kill them in the bargain. Punish anyone who holds out.

Looter+4: Call your loot taxes. You are now a government.

Regards, – Bear

JWR Replies: Your observation is astute. In many nations, there is not much difference between “the government” and the bandito “Señor Calvera.” (You may remember the bandit leader in The Magnificent Seven–which was the American remake of Akira Kurosawa’s classic film Seven Samurai.)

Letter Re: Comments of Storing Coffee and Grinding Whole Wheat Flour

Jim:
Buryl misses the point to storing coffee. Freeze dried blocks of ground coffee wrapped in aluminum foil pouches and vacuum packed is my preferred method, but I also store instant coffee crystals.

I recommend not getting addicted to coffee. I can take it or leave it. But it is a wonderful trade/barter item. Especially after six months or a year or more have gone by after the SHTF and there is no coffee to be found anywhere, a stash of coffee will be good as gold with its purchasing power. Storing jerked meats and especially honey as barter items are favorites of mine. Of course one has to be ultra careful who he trades food and ammo with. I would never trade with anyone I didn’t know or not from my home area.

I also recommend stockpiling ammo, especially 22 Long Rifle (LR) ammo, because I think it will become the currency post SHTF. It is light, easily portable, and you can carry a bunch of it. If each cartridge has about the same purchasing power after the SHTF as a dollar has now. And with the scarcity of such ammo and supplies post-SHTF, I think 22 LR ammo will be worth its equivalent weight in silver. People that now can’t afford to stockpile gold can still stockpile ammo, especially 22 LR ammo at 3 or 4 cents per round. – R.L.