Two Letters Re: How To Adapt To High Gas Prices

Hello,
I am a daily SurvivalBlog reader from France. I’m writing this in response to Joel Skousen’s article on “How to Adapt to High Gas Prices.” I own a Volkswagen with a diesel engine (TDI).

Here in France (and elsewhere in Europe) common rail [diesel engine] technology became really popular (about 60% of the new cars that are sold here use common rail technology) since it provided better mileage and better performance than conventional gasoline engines.

However, there is at least two drawbacks to common rail:
Firstly, the diesel fuel quality has to be super high. It passes through a hole that has half a hair diameter (0.015 millimeters) at a pressure between 2,000 and 3,000 bars.
If there is some water in the diesel it will damage the injector so that you have to change the whole common rail (a minimum of €3,000 Euros). It’s because diesel has a lubricating effect, and with the size of the injector there is no margin of error.

There is usually a water filter on common rail motors, but if it’s full your motor is ruined.

Also, in case of emergency this technology means that you can’t use home heating oil in your motor.

Secondly, this technology is so popular that diesel prices are starting to rise accordingly. It still cheaper to use diesel, but I don’t think it’s going to last. Too many cars using it and oil companies lack the refining capacity to produce much more.

Some numbers that may help you make a choice:
– With my diesel car (which is from year 2003) I get 43 MPG, and I was getting 33 MPG with a conventional gasoline car from year 1998.
Those numbers are without trying to save fuel : I could go to 53 MPG if needed [by driving more conservatively].
– A diesel engine is usually €2,000 to €4,000 Euros more expensive than a gasoline one.
– We pay €5.41 Euros ($8.42) per gallon for diesel and €5.68 Euros ($8.84) per gallon for gasoline (unleaded, 95 octane). By comparison, I hope it will help you appreciate your “high” fuel prices 😉
I hope that this helps, Regards, – Jean-Michel N.

 

Dear Editor:
A motorcycle should be considered for those [with health and circumstances that make them] able to ride. Recently, Yamaha [motorcycle dealerships in the US] had a sale on their V-Stars, and I bought a 650cc on sale for $6,000. The dealership offered the purchase interest free if paid for within six months. Most motorcycle [in this engine displacement range] get 50-to-54 MPG.
Even though I’m now 63 year sold, I have been riding for 40 years. – John S.



Odds ‘n Sods:

JCR mentioned a MSN web page that identifies the best gasoline prices, by postal (“ZIP”) code.JCR says: “Just enter a ZIP code at this web page, and it tells you which gas stations have the least expensive prices (and the highest) on gas in your ZIP code area. It’s updated every evening.”

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The WRSA has another Practical Medicine course scheduled. This one will be in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, June 20 to June 22. This is excellent, very affordable training that is taught by an Emergency Room doctor with many years of practical experience. The course is subtitled: “Field Expedient Medical Care for Outdoorsmen in Austere Environments.” This course will fill you in on the things that the Red Cross doesn’t teach, like dealing with pneumothorax and gunshot wounds.

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Thanks to Tom H. for finding this evidence that he mainstream media is finally getting with the program on disaster preparedness: Commentary: Task as Americans is to be ready for disasters. To me, his recommended”Ready Box” sounds a lot like a “Get out of Dodge” kit.

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Kurt suggested this article: Yesterday’s food complacency proves hard to swallow 





Note from JWR:

Today we present a guest article from Joel Skousen. Joel is a former Marine Corps fighter pilot who is very well known in the preparedness community. He is an economic and political commentator, and the author of several books on survival retreat construction and strategic relocation. (All of them highly recommended.) He is also the editor of the excellent by-subscription newsletter World Affairs Brief. This article appeared in the May 30, 2008 issue of his newsletter.



How To Adapt To High Gas Prices, by Joel Skousen

In one of the most outrageous examples of price gouging ever witnessed, fuel prices have risen almost 10 cents per gallon per week now for more than a month. The American consumer is being held hostage to an economic and personal lifestyle that was established a century ago based upon an abundance of cheap oil and is now locked into our economic infrastructure. Most people have no ability to escape what is now upon us and getting worse. All of our cities are developed around the commuting lifestyle, allowing Americans to live in rural or suburban openness to escape pollution and city overcrowding. We travel long distances on fast freeways to get to work and none of that can be changed quickly. We never did like the European style of city living, with millions crammed into high rise city apartments, with gas prices so high that only the wealthy could afford a personal vehicle. But now it appears the Powers That Be are forcing that urban lifestyle upon us: mass transportation, high density urban dwellings, water rationing, zero-scape yards, and runaway inflation. We have a duty to both resist and adapt. This week, I’ll give some practical tips on how to adapt to avoid some of the pain.

First, let’s look at the big picture on the economy and how fuel costs are affecting everything. Obviously, anything in the economy that must be transported is rising in price to reflect the cost of shipping. Every business that can is passing along their higher fuel prices to the consumers–plus a little extra. When prices become unstable or rise too rapidly, consumers lose their ability to judge what is fair. A lot of wholesalers and retailers are taking advantage of that by increasing prices more than necessary. The result is going to be galloping inflation on many fronts, not just gasoline.

Business Week put out a warning this week that defaults on loans and credit cards are not stabilizing. Rather, the crisis is deepening. I think the fuel cost component in people’s budget is causing many people who are living on the margin of solvency to default on payments. A lot of that default is showing up on credit cards as people charge their fuel purchases and then can’t pay off the mounting debt.

Ben Steverman reports that, “Nobody was expecting an easy year for U.S. banks, but many observers thought the bulk of the industry’s credit troubles would come in the first quarter. Now, it seems the rest of the year may be even worse. Case in point: A May 28 announcement from KeyCorp (Key Bank). Mounting loan losses at the regional bank company suggest the banking industry’s troubles with bad loans are just beginning. The main culprit is the bank’s portfolio of loans to residential homebuilders, KeyCorp said in a Securities & Exchange Commission filing. Losses have also increased on education loans and home-improvement loans.”

There are also a lot of businesses that cannot simply adapt by raising their own prices quickly enough to keep pace with fuel costs. Take the airlines, for example. There is a lot of competition out there, and in an atmosphere of rising fuel costs, the airlines are looking for ways to raise revenue without raising fares (directly). One of the first big enticements to boost market share was the promotion of frequent flyer miles. All airlines have oversold this benefit such that now you can hardly find one of the limited “free seats” even if you have thousands of frequent flyer miles. Delta and others played fast and loose with the fine print. Technically, you could get a free trip with as little as 25,000 miles per ticket–but there were so few of those seats available that everyone was essentially locked out by lack of availability. Then Delta tells you that, if you were willing to turn in 50,000 of your air miles for a seat you might get a seat. Thus, in effect, they just eliminated half of your miles. This whole racket is a Ponzi scheme. They’d go bankrupt if all the frequent flyers redeemed their accrued free miles. So, I don’t play this game anymore. I don’t use credit cards that offer free miles. I only use cards that offer a 1% cash back, and use the cash to shop the internet for the cheap flights (which are no longer so cheap). If you fly for business and get the free miles anyway, don’t save them up. Use them up in any way you can, as soon as you can. Someday, the airlines won’t be able to honor them.

Rising fares are inevitable, but no airline can afford to get out there ahead of the others in price. To raise fares would put them out in front as a “high priced” airline which could be deadly to business. To lose market share is fatal when you have many competitors and are billions in debt. What the airlines do is raise fares for selected unadvertised markets, like business travelers who typically book flights on short notice, and get stuck with high prices. For the price conscious occasional traveler, airlines keep offering the cheap fares, but only for booking in advance and flying during midweek when demand is lower. Watch out for the increased fees when you try and change these tickets. That’s why the airlines long ago stopped making tickets non-transferrable–so those that couldn’t make a flight would not have any recourse. It wasn’t a security problem, just a way to make a certain percentage of tickets worthless. Using a different tactic, American Airlines started charging for checking even the first bag. So far other carriers haven’t followed suit and American is suffering from the perception of being a leader in higher pricing, which they can little afford. We’re going to see more and more shake outs as airlines continue to merge or go bankrupt. Six went belly up last month. But even the mega mergers like Delta and Northwest don’t offer much economy of scale anymore–especially when there are so many union fiefdoms to protect in each airline.

Trucking has been hit especially hard by the excessive rise in diesel prices. A lot of independent truckers get their hauls through brokers and are being squeezed by rigid freight contracts which cannot be adjusted upward as fast as diesel prices. When fuel costs eat deeply into profits, many can’t make their truck mortgage payments and go bust. The auto industry is particularly in a bind. It takes years to develop new vehicles. While all the manufacturers have a few small economy cars in their lineup, including hybrids, these vehicles have never constituted a large percentage of sales or profits. Pickup trucks have been the profit leaders for car companies for years. Now those days are gone, and companies have excess factory capacity and inventory, which can’t be easily changed. The demand for heavy hauling vehicles will always be there. Certain people still need heavy hauling vehicles for business or towing trailers. But a lot of people bought pickups for recreational or occasional use. These are the buyers (almost half) that are looking for other alternatives. Tip: put a trailer hitch on your car and use a light trailer for occasional hauling rather than a pickup.

Ford was just beginning to turn around its losing business when high fuel prices killed its high profit truck and SUV sales. Now it will be forced to lay off 12,000 salaried personnel to stave off more red ink. Even Toyota had been gearing up for years with bigger and bigger trucks, which isn’t profitable any more. Fortunately, they are the hybrid leaders and are selling the Prius as fast as they can make them.

Will low prices ever return? I don’t think so, though people are suckers for thinking they are getting a good deal if price come down from $ to $3. George Soros warned this week that the oil bubble, built upon a new base of significant speculation, could burst. But, he says, that “wouldn’t burst until both the US and British economies slipped into recession, after which oil prices could fall dramatically… You can also anticipate that the bubble will eventually correct, but that is unlikely to happen before the recession actually reduces the demand. The rise in the price of oil and food is going to weigh and aggravate the recession.” I think there will be a correction since speculators can’t keep bidding up the price indefinitely. But I think the retreat in price will only be temporary.

Long-term, as transportation costs become very expensive I see the economic model of far away production coupled with cheap shipping diminishing in favor of more local production. It will take a while for that pendulum to swing back in this direction, but with increasing instability in the world, it is inevitable. Ultimately, the world will be better off with a better balance in national and regional self-sufficiency rather than going for the world-wide low price only. Just-in-time inventories, as another example, are certainly more efficient than keeping large inventories, but utterly useless in a crisis when only stockpiling in advance will save a company. Keep that in mind if you own a business that has a fragile supply line.

Some Practical Suggestions

Cars and trucks: Take stock of what you own right now. If you have any gas guzzling cars or trucks that you are making payments on, consider selling them now. Bad as the market is for used vehicles with poor gas mileage, it’s not going to get better, so try to sell now. Keep in mind that there are people out there who still need cars or trucks with power and good towing capacity. If your vehicle qualifies, consider installing a heavy duty trailer hitch so you can target the towing or construction market.

If you have older vehicles that aren’t fuel efficient but are paid for, they may not have much market value, so you’ll have to consider the trade off in keeping them around (and using them only when needed) vs. selling. Even at today’s fuel prices, it takes several years to see any economic gains from buying a new vehicle compared to the reduced expense of keeping an older vehicle that you own outright. The down side of that strategy are the costs for keeping it maintained, insured (remove collision and comprehensive but always keep liability and uninsured motorist insurance), and finding a place to park it. Learning to do your own maintenance is highly recommended to save costs on older vehicles.

If you are stuck with a non-fuel efficient vehicle, here are some things to consider: All of these vehicles were designed to put out more power than they need for cruising down the highway. That excess power can be put to use by adding an after-market overdrive unit to your transmission or changing the top gear to a higher gear ratio. Gear Vendors, Inc. is the largest manufacture of overdrive units. There are many dealers around the nation. Do an Internet search for “overdrive units.”

Even high efficiency cars can benefit from higher final gear ratios. Many specialty automotive shops have access to higher gears for VW diesels, Hondas and Toyotas. Typically, you can increase your mileage by 10-20% with a higher final gear ratio. These are not add-ons to your transmissions like overdrive units, but replace the actual gear ratio inside a manual transmission. If you have an automatic transmission, you’ll need an overdrive unit. Auto performance shops also sell aftermarket performance-enhancing ignition computers that can be programmed for higher mileage.

Here are two other big tips for getting much better mileage on the highway if you have to stay with your non-fuel efficient vehicle. Most of the drag on the car comes from 2 sources: wind resistance and engine/drive train friction. Take note of this next time you drive. If you are driving along the highway with a downward incline, take your car out of gear and let it coast. Most cars, depending on the slope will only slow down very gradually, demonstrating that most of your fuel is being used just to keep your engine up to speed with the coasting. If you are following a truck or big SUV within a safe distance (2-3 car lengths) when you begin to coast, the wind resistance is reduced so much that you will sometimes gain on the vehicle in front. Coasting out of gear may be technically illegal in some states but it is quite safe as long as you keep alert to any closure with the vehicle in front. When you coast down a hill rather than keep your car and engine engaged, you mileage will increase to over 100 mpg gallon for that portion. In fact, using this coasting technique, a driver can actually get better mileage in mountainous terrain than driving across flat land at highway speeds. That’s because it takes a less extra gas to take your car up the hill compared to the amount of gas saved coasting down the other side. Test it yourself.

Driving on flat land takes a different technique to save fuel. The best mileage on flat land is obtained either by slowing down to agonizing 45-55 miles per hour (mostly reducing wind friction) or by following larger vehicles within 2-3 car lengths (called “drafting”) and taking advantage of the suction zone behind them. Technically, you get the full benefit of this drafting vacuum only by following within one car length. That’s what professional drivers do on the racing circuit. But that is dangerous, irritating to the driver ahead of you and often illegal. You can still get 80% of the draft effect by staying at a safer 2-3 car length distance. In addition, the more vehicles you follow in a row, the better the overall drafting result as air is accelerated forward with each passing vehicle.

Caution: Do not use this in bad weather or when road conditions are poor. This technique is also not for drivers who have slow reactions. It is also a bit more stressful to drive like this as your eyes have to stay more focused on the vehicle in front to be alert for any sudden stop. Most people I know who use drafting prefer to follow larger trucks since they don’t slow down as fast as a car and give more time to react in braking. Is it worth it? I’ve seen highway mileage go up by 30% so on a long trip the savings can be significant. Drafting another vehicle is much more effective than slowing down, but you must do this very carefully.

New cars: For those of you who have the funds to buy a new fuel efficient vehicle, a new breed of super efficient cars is now entering the market. Trade in your current vehicle and let the dealer worry about marketing it to others. Despite all the positive hype, I still do not recommend getting a hybrid car, unless you have the money to do the standard American thing: Buy new and trade in on another car before the warranty is up. These are very complex vehicles, and are not suitable for do-it-yourself maintenance after the warranty period. They work very well when they work, and so far the maintenance history is very good, but keep in mind that if you buy a used one, you will certainly have to pay in excess of $10,000 for a new battery pack at some time in the future. The one main reason why Toyota has resisted allowing the Prius to run only on its battery (turning it into a plug-in electric vehicle) is that the life of the battery pack diminishes rapidly with deep cycle use. They keep it going throughout the warranty period by forcing the engine to recharge the battery pack every time it gets below 80-90% capacity.

Someday, however, we will have a major crisis of war and destruction that will not permit you to trade in your overly-complex hybrid for a more maintainable car. You’ll be stuck with what you have. So from a survival perspective I still recommend you buy one of the new super high mileage diesels. The common-rail diesel technology has beat out all the competition and represents the current pinnacle of diesel fuel efficiency. All the major foreign car companies are now producing a common rail diesel engine option–for Japan and Europe, but few are importing them to America. That is changing now. Here’s the latest lineup of cars destined for the US later this year or in 2009 (from Wikipedia.com)

BMW’s D-engines (also used in the Land Rover Freelander TD4),
Mercedes (Daimler’s) CDI (and on Chrysler’s Jeep vehicles simply as CRD),
Ford Motor Company’s TDCi Duratorq and Powerstroke,
General Motors Opel/Vauxhall CDTi (manufactured by Fiat and GM Daewoo) and DTi (Isuzu) Daewoo/Chevrolet VCDi (licensed from VM Motori; also branded as Ecotec CDTi)
Honda’s i-CTDi
Hyundai-Kia’s CRDi
Mazda’s CiTD
Mitsubishi’s DI-D
Nissan’s dCi
Subaru’s Legacy TD (as of Jan 2008)
Toyota’s D-4D

Volkswagen/Audi: The 4.2 TDI (V8) and the latest 2.7 and 3.0 TDI (V6) engines featured on current Audi models use common rail, as opposed to the earlier unit injector engines. The 2.0 TDI in the VW Tiguan SUV uses common-rail, as does the 2008 model Audi A4. VW has announced that the 2.0 TDI (common-rail) engine will be available for VW Passat as well as the 2009 Jetta. [Only the Jetta will come with a manual transmission, however]

Volvo D5-engines are common rail diesels.

Diesel is the current wave of the future. The extra efficiency of the diesel engine technology easily overcomes the current premium you pay for diesel fuel-which will come back down on par with gasoline sometime in the future. Unfortunately, many of these auto manufacturers are offering diesel engines only with automatic transmissions. For best mileage, performance and versatility, always choose a manual transmission. Automatic transmission have slippage built into the torque converter at low speeds to aid in smooth shifting. The big savings, however, doesn’t come from just evading slippage, but in being able to shift at lower RPMs than an automatic does. I can get near highway mileage in town by accelerating very slowly (not exceeding 1,800-2,000 RPM) by shifting up to the next gear earlier than normal. You can do this without lugging the engine (harmfully) as long as you accelerate slowly and don’t put much pressure on the engine. Don’t accelerate too slowly as you want to avoid spending too much time at the higher RPM shift point. When in 5th gear I can roll along at 40 mph in town and be getting over 30 mpg.

Another benefit of having a manual transmission, is that you can always pop-start a car if your battery runs low–just roll the car down a slight incline and engage the clutch in 2nd gear with the ignition on. I use this feature at least once every year it seems–saving myself an expensive tow.

Electric vehicles have a great deal of promise, but the battery technology is still currently too expensive to allow the electric vehicle to come down in price for ordinary consumers. If we have enough time for the technology to mature (a big if, given the wars looming in the future), I’m guardedly optimistic that this will become a reality. So, we’ll be careful not to overstock on conventional technology which could quickly become obsolete.

A note on fuel storage: Fuel storage is important not only to guard against shortages in supply or long lines at the pump, but to ensure that you have enough reserve fuel to get out of town to a retreat when needed. Diesel is the best fuel to store. It can last for decades underground, whereas gasoline goes bad within a year or two (you can still use it when old if you mix it with fresh gas, but it needs octane and anti-gum additives to help it run right). There are storage additives for both fuel types (see a listing of products from the appendix of The Secure Home –my magnum opus on preparedness, security and self-sufficiency). Even with the problems of storing gasoline, you need to store the type of fuel you use. As a minimum you ought to keep at least a few empty barrels around so you have the capacity to buy more when prices dip lower (if they do). I’m still driving on $2/gal gas that I purchased last year when prices dipped briefly. There are small 30 gallon barrels available in PVC plastic that are safe for fuel and easier to load and unload than the 55 gallon drums. But, you can get 4 gallon plastic gas jugs anywhere. A hand truck is helpful to move around the barrels. If you store fuel around your home, keep it in a separate shed. If all you have is a garage for storage, keep the fuel containers near the garage door on a rolling dolly so you can remove them from the garage quickly in case of fire. Housing and Lifestyle changes: As many of you know from my book Strategic Relocation, I am very much in favor of establishing a rural life or at least a rural retreat for times of crisis when social unrest will overwhelm the major metropolitan areas. This will be especially important in an epidemic where you need to isolate yourself and family far away from high density population centers. That ideal hasn’t changed, but what has changed is the severe price you will have to pay to keep a primary residence in a rural area right now if you have to commute into the city for a job. That is why I spent so much time outline contingency planning in the book–because so few are in a position to live full time in an ideal area. Even the ideal rural place has major compromises in terms of distance to the amenities only offered in major metropolitan areas-and the cost of getting there.

More and more, the cost of fuel is going to require that you find a job or position that allows you to work from home at least a portion of the time, or find a cheap place in town to live during the work week where you don’t have to commute very far. The best situation would allow you to live close to work during the good times and have a well-prepared retreat in a rural area for the times when you need to leave the city, even temporarily. That presupposes, of course, that you prepare carefully your transportation and security options to get to your retreat when you need it. Ultimately, you will need a retreat large enough to have a place where you can grow your own food. This can be done (with high intensity gardening) on a half acre to an acre of good quality land. It is best if you practice gardening skills before your life depends on it. But if you can’t due to work pressures or lack of space, do stockpile the tools, the books and the heritage (non-hybrid) seeds to ensure you can start the process when needed.

Summary: There are a lot of threats out there as the world deteriorates and as evil men conspire to create conflict to take away our liberty. We can’t do a lot about the really big threats that are beyond our control, but we can prepare to survive them and build a network of like minded people to assist us. That’s one of the main reasons why I put out this weekly news analysis–to build the movement and help people see far enough in advance of what is coming to prepare for it.

But preparedness is not cheap and self-sufficiency is darn right expensive. More than one of my clients has had to come back to the city because they ran out of money trying to live off of their savings in a rural paradise–where they had no work. Most of us are going to have to stay in the job market most of our lives in order to survive financially–inflation is going to take its toll on each of us. So, be prepared to start cutting back now to economize while you learn to adapt. Here are 10 basic suggestions for adapting to our deteriorating economic situation:

1. As an inflation hedge, try to secure work where one can more easily increase salary or income to keep pace with inflation. If you have rental income, negotiate an inflation clause (I recommend 1.5 times the annual CPI as a minimum).

2. Prepare for alternative skills that will be useful in a crisis of shortages and unrest (repairing existing technology is always a good bet–both mechanic and electronic skills are needed.)

3. Prepare for an alternative profession if yours is one that is subject to fragile financial markets (mortgage brokers found this out too late, and were suddenly without a viable market).

4. With commuting costs now rivaling monthly rental costs in some areas, consider moving closer to work if it will reduce those costs. Under some conditions it could even pay for a small apartment and leave you free to still keep your house in the suburbs or the country as a retreat.

5. Buy a fuel efficient vehicle, even if small, and use it for most of your commuting or running around. If you can’t afford the new ones, good deals can still be had on older VW diesels (TDI)-1996 and newer. These engines last a lot longer than gasoline engines and can be overhauled for less than a couple of thousand. They can get between 40 and 50 mpg.

6. Consider riding a bicycle for short trips. The fuel savings will add up. It’s great for your health and surprisingly comfortable with the variety of mountain bikes available.

7. Start eating more basic foods (wheat, rice, and beans) that provide lots of energy for very little money. You can cut your food bill in half by not buying prepared foods at the grocery store (nor eating out so often).

8. If you are heating with oil or propane (which have tripled in price) get a new furnace system this summer before the winter rush. Consider the new ground source heat pumps. They are more costly to install but can save money in the long term. Electricity is relatively cheap now compared to other energy sources.

9. Add a solar water heating system. They save money in most climates. I have a water jacket on my wood stove that takes over in the winter when the solar doesn’t produce enough heat to preheat the water.

10. Add a high efficiency wood stove to your home. It will save on energy even if you don’t run it all the time. Best of all, it will provide you emergency backup heat during a winter power outage.

Copyright 2008, Joel Skousen. Brief quotations with attribution are permitted. Cite the source as Joel Skousen’s World Affairs Brief



Odds ‘n Sods:

Chris T. recommended this Time magazine article by Amanda Ripley: How to Survive A Disaster

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BulletProofME.com (one our loyal advertisers with a great reputation) has just started a one-month special sale on Interceptor Body Armor and Kevlar helmets. The sale price is just for SurvivalBlog readers: $500 for a mil-spec Interceptor vest in Woodland Camouflage or 3-Color Desert Camouflage. (That is below wholesale – only possible because of a military contact overrun in these colors. So te special sale price only applies to those colors. (They do offer a 15% discount on other colors.) They are also offering a a 20% off special on military surplus Kevlar helmets: A Military Surplus PASGT helmet, in almost new condition $96, complete with a 4-Point Helmet Suspension, or $109 with a Foam Impact Liner which gives about 70% of the Blunt Trauma protection of the state of the art MICH / Advanced Combat Helmet system, or $175 with the full MICH / ACH blunt trauma pad system retrofitted. This SurvivalBlog special ends on July 3rd, or when stock on hand is exhausted, so don’t hesitate!

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Who says that you can’t live a “low-profile” life? Hidden tribe outed ‘to prove they exist’.

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Jack in Texas sent us an article that illustrates one of the implications of sky-high feed prices: An Epidemic of Abandoned Horses



Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Probably all laws are useless; for good men do not want laws at all, and bad men are made no better by them." – Demonax – (Roman philosopher, circa 150 A.D.)



Notes from JWR:

I got the following note from a reporter named Alison, at one of the big “Three Letter Acronym” television networks: “I”m a reporter a looking to do a story about how some people are becoming “survivalists” as our energy prices skyrocket. I am looking to profile someone, or a family, in the New York region, preferably in the New York Metro area, including the tri-state region. If they wish to remain anonymous, we can also call them different names and not give away where they live.” If any SurvivalBlog readers are interested, send me an e-mail, and I will forward your e-mail to her.

The following is the first article sent to us for Round 17 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best non-fiction article will win two valuable four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificates. (Worth up to $4,000!) Second prize is a copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, generously donated by Jake Stafford of Arbogast Publishing. Round 17 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entries. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival will have an advantage in the judging.



A Citizen’s Band (CB) Radio Installation Primer, by C.G.

Citizen Band (CB) radio requires no FCC license to operate so it is a good choice for local communication. If cell phones fail to work for whatever reason, it may be the best method for remote communication since its range is better than FRS and GMRS. When I installed my first CB in a vehicle, I was happy just to get it in and be able to transmit to my buddy who lived the next block over. I’ve matured since then and my tolerance for white noise is less than what it used to be. I’ve learned over the years how to properly set up a radio system and I’m normally left with a CB that has few problems. So, I’m writing this to help those of you that use Citizen’s Band radio in your vehicles, but may be plagued with noise, weak signals, or are just generally unhappy with your radios performance. At worst, this article should give you a jumpstart in your quest for a 1:1 standing wave ratio.

The basic components of a radio system are simple: power, radio, antenna feed line, and antenna. If all function properly, the radio shouldn’t give you any problems. But for vehicle use, with all those wires and working parts, problems do arise. I’ll talk about each of the above mentioned components and other aspects of radio communication you may need to know for a proper set up. Please keep in mind, these pages are not entirely comprehensive about CB installation or uses and may not answer all your questions… it’s written based upon my experiences in radio communication and quite frankly, I haven’t experienced it all, yet. But with that said, here goes:

Antenna
The two most important things to consider when mounting an antenna are grounding and positioning; when both of these things are considered and handled properly, you should receive a decent Standing Wave Ratio (SWR) reading (more about that, later). The best way to ground an antenna is to drill holes for the mounting bracket into a metal portion of your vehicle. If you’re concerned about resale value and don’t want to drill, look into mobile mounting units that require no drilling from a supplier like HRO (Ham Radio Outlet); they sell units for doors, trunks, rain channels, etc.
An antenna mounted in the middle of a metal roof will get the best signal because it is surrounded by a reflective surface. However, you may have a problem grounding the antenna without causing a leaking problem in your roof (but that would of course mean you won’t be asked to drive that often so it has its upside). You should mount the antenna where you will get the best SWR without sacrificing clearance or risking damage to the antenna or mount… or getting while driving in a rainstorm. I recommend a pickup bed immediately behind the cab, a lower quarter panel, or the lid of a trunk. If you mount your antenna in any of these locations, you should get be able to clear the roof line of your vehicle by about 6” to 1’ with a 36” antenna and transmit decently.

Two other things to consider are antenna quality and length. First, quality. Simply put, the two best brands of antenna on the market are Firestick and K40; I would recommend both of these two brands for a mobile unit. Second, the length of your antenna is a matter of preference quite honestly, although I will admit that longer antennas generally transmit and receive better. The reason it is more a matter of preference than performance is clearance. A 6-foot antenna mounted on a roof is going to have some clearance issues with your garage, trees, etc.; but if you choose to mount your antenna on a bumper, then a 6-foot model would probably be fine. I use a three foot antenna on my pickup and can transmit about five miles on the regular 40 CB channels. Just another issue to keep in mind when you purchase your setup.

Feed line
The Feed line is the length of coaxial (“coax”) cable from the radio to the antenna. There are subtle differences in coax Feed line based upon insulation, grade of cable, etc. Generally speaking, the better the Feed line, the better it will transmit your signal, so buy quality coaxial cable. When buying the necessary mounting supplies, you need to make sure it is all matched for impedance. Almost all CB radios will have a 50 ohm impedance jack for the antenna input and most coax sold for CB radios is as well–but it doesn’t hurt to ask before you buy.

Much has been said about the length of the Feed line for a CB radio. Some people say that 18’ is the proper length, some people say 17’ is the proper length. To be honest, impedance match is the most important thing. But I cut my coax to 17’4” staying in practice with radio theory that the Feed line should be a factor of the wavelength that you will transmit on (I won’t bore you with the calculation with MHz and inches). 17’4” is probably much more than you will need, but will allow for an antenna choke if you need it. Be sure to buy Feed line that already has PL259 connectors already installed if you’re not familiar with the installation process. But FYI, it’s not difficult to learn if you’re familiar with soldering; any radio technician at Ham radio Outlet (HRO) can explain the process.

Radio and Installation
First, let me bash on the handheld units a bit. CB transmission is essentially line of sight transmission and anything that blocks the line of sight is going to weaken the signal. A handheld CB is for use outside of a vehicle… using it inside a vehicle you get minimal transmission distance because the signal bounces off the metal components of the vehicle, and even with a soft top jeep, the signal still needs to pass through a barrier and as a result it’s weakened. So if you’re using a handheld and wonder why you can’t hear much, there’s the reason. I will admit that I have a portable unit, a Midland 75-820, that is a handheld unit with a separate magnetic base antenna for use while in a vehicle. It’s performance is adequate but not optimal. Frankly, the Midland setup has two major problems, 1) engine noise which can be caused by the rotation of the alternator feeding back through the electrical system (a problem more prevalent on older vehicles but still present on many today) because the ground for everything is through the cigarette lighter… and 2) the limited volume the unit puts out with such a small speaker (an operator in a loud truck or topless jeep may have problems using this CB when driving on the highway). I use this unit only as a backup unit or in a second vehicle that doesn’t have a hard wired setup.

I currently use a Cobra 18WXST II. It is a reasonably priced unit from a quality manufacturer. Regardless of what you buy, most quality units will have an internal noise filter, scanning feature, and NOAA weather bands, but be sure to buy the unit best suited for your needs. If you’re interested in SSB transmitting or extended range, you may want to get a better unit; I recommend the Cobra 148GTL. [JWR Adds: That is also one of my favorite models. Its proven design remained essentially unchanged for many years, making it readily adaptable for out-of-band transmission by licensed ham radio operators that can transmit in the 10 Meter band (which is adjacent to Citizens Band.)]

Now, it sounds as though it should be common sense but be sure to mount the unit where it will be easy to use and not an obstruction while using the vehicle (the dash board is probably a bad choice as is the foot well near the pedals). I recommend bolting the unit to the center console or using a RAM mount somewhere on the transmission hump.

Cleanliness of installation should be considered too. Do you want coax cable on the floor of your back seat or run under the carpet? Do you want to run the wires out an existing hole in the chassis or drill a new one? I normally run the power line through the dash and directly to the battery; this eliminates some noise you can receive when tapping into an existing hot [12 VDC energized] line or fuse (more on that later). Be sure to use a fuse for your radio before hooking it up or you may soon be buying a new radio. The coaxial cable I normally run under the carpet or floor mats to the rear of the cabin and drill a small hole (if necessary) near the mount.

SWR
Now that the system is set up, lets learn how to optimize its transmission capability. The first thing we need to address is SWR. Essentially, a SWR meter measures how well your equipment will transmit and receive on the specific frequency you intend to use. If you have everything grounded properly, your equipment is impedance matched, and you have a decent antenna mounted in the correct location, the SWR should be ok. An SWR reading of 1:1 is optimal but a reading of 1.5:1 is excellent, a reading of 2:1 is considered good (actually great for most applications), but anything higher than 3:1, well, you pretty much wasted your time with the installation. Getting the best SWR on your specific rig is a matter of trial and error… in my experience, you can’t go wrong if you ground everything well and place the antenna on top of a metal roof or mount it where at least a portion of the antenna clears the roof line.

An SWR meter can be purchased at any Radio Shack or electronic supply house. Most come complete with directions and are pretty easy to use, even for a novice. If you’re unhappy with the SWR you get from your setup initially, don’t worry, you can improve it by tuning your antenna. All antennas are tunable, but some are tuned easier than others. Some need to be cut and some need to be bent to retard the oscillation on the part past the bend. The K40, for example, is one of the easier ones; it has a small whip that sticks out the top on the antenna and is moved up and down using a supplied Allen key; by adjusting the length of the whip, you can receive a better SWR reading.

Noise Elimination
Even if you are happy with the SWR you get on your system, you may still have problems with noise (one doesn’t necessarily effect the other) so lets learn how to eliminate that noise.
Most radios come with an internal noise filter… a button or toggle switch on the face of the radio that eliminates much of the squelch noise from the radio output. The problem with this feature is that it also makes distant transmissions difficult to hear. If you want to (or need to) address the problem further, know that noise on a CB unit (while the engine is running) is normally caused by two things… 1) noise coming through the hotline of the radio or 2) noise being picked up by the antenna.
(Note: You need to remember, a CB picks up 27 MHz radio waves and an engine or other vibrations can cause interference and distortion of those radio waves. Power windows or seats can cause feedback… that’s normally caused by the electrical motor. An older engine can create oscillation heard on a CB… chances are it’s the points spinning in the distributor. So noise isn’t necessarily just an electrical hotline problem… you need to eliminate both possibilities mentioned above.)

A few simple tests can isolate the source of the noise.
1. Hook the radio up to the battery directly or better yet, a separate battery not hooked into the truck’s electrical system. This will bypass and eliminate any noise caused by the alternator or firing of the cylinders. If you still get noise, it’s coming in through the antenna.
2. Disconnect the Feed line from the antenna or the Feed line from the radio. This will eliminate any noise being received on the antenna. If you still get the noise, it’s coming from the power/ground lines.
I’ve had both types of problems (both on the same rig once)… so here are the fixes I used to eliminate most (not all) of the noise.

Antenna Noise
To eliminate noise caused by the antenna receiving unwanted signals, put in an “antenna choke.” Disclaimer time: I have an idea why this fix works but I’m not sure and I haven’t gotten a straight answer from anyone on the matter… so do me a favor and don’t ask because all I can tell you is that it does work to eliminate noise coming in through the antenna. Take about 6 feet of the Feed line and wrap it into 6 or 8 loops (kind of like wrapping up an electrical cord or piece of rope but about the diameter of a coffee can) then tape the loops together.
If an antenna choke doesn’t successfully eliminate all noise, there are other methods to try. Try changing the location of your antenna to a spot on the vehicle where it is shielded from the engine. Radio waves are line of sight reception and sometimes simply hiding the antenna from the constant oscillation of the engine can do the trick. Another method is to try using shorter or longer lengths of coax… but that is an expensive exercise in trial and error… try the other methods first.

Hot Wire Noise
First off, try attaching the hot wire(s) for the radio directly to the battery of the vehicle. Much of the noise picked up through the hot wire comes from the alternator feeding current into the system.
This method should work, but if not, try installing an external noise filter onto the hot wire and ground wire of your CB. They are small cylinders (about the size of a bicycle handle) and can be picked up at Radio Shack or other electronics stores. Simply attach the hot wire(s) from the radio to the red wire of the filter, then the red wire on the other side of the filter to a power source. Attach the ground wire from the radio to the black wire on the filter, then the black wire on the other side of the filter to a chassis ground.

These techniques should help you set up a radio properly, even if you run into difficulties. It may take some time and trouble shooting on your part but you’ll be left with minimal noise and decent reception/transmission capabilities. The cost shouldn’t be too bad either. It all can be done for under $150 with new equipment. But if your budget allows, spend more [for the best equipment available].



Letter Re: An Inexpensive Source for Bulk Silica Gel Desiccant

Hi, James
There is always a need for desiccants for various uses, be it food storage, caching, or other projects. Most who need such things already have a favorite supplier, but I’ll make another recommendation for the sake of saving a few bucks. Any local grocer, pet supply dealer or Big Box store carries silica-gel cat litter in amounts from 3 to 30 pounds: Tidy Cats Crystals is one such product, though there are many. A rounded tablespoon place in a square of mesh fabric purchased in a craft/hobby department (where it can be bought by the yard–think about the bird seed packets at weddings) and securely tied [or sewn shut] will work well when placed in the desired container; depending on the need, they can also be spooned directly into the bottom of the vessel. Note that I’m suggesting the clear-blue “Crystals-only” type which are pure silica; one doesn’t want the silicate-clay “Blend” which is also offered.

Being silicate, they have the potential for re-use by oven drying. Compared to the cost of individual commercial [silica gel] packets, this is a bargain. Regards, – Billfour

JWR Replies: That is a great suggestion. Just beware of any desiccant that has any additives, dyes, or scents. A perfumed desiccant would be fine for tool storage, but potentially a disaster for food storage.



Letter Re: Can I Burn Home Heating Oil or Kerosene in a Diesel Engine?

Hello Jim,
This is in response to the gentleman’s question about using kerosene in diesel engines. Yes, it can be done. I had two 55 gallon drums of kerosene that were reaching the end of their storage life. I also have an old Mercedes diesel car and ran the kerosene with some added lubrication in the vehicle and it worked very well. You are correct that kerosene doesn’t have the same lubrication values of diesel but that is solved by simply adding vegetable oil or biodiesel to to the fuel. I used a 10-to-1 ratio as recommended by another poster on the blog. As far as kerosene burning hotter, it has fewer BTUs per gallon than diesel so I doubt this is a problem.

This discussion brings up another advantage of diesel engines and it’s a big one. That is the variety of fuels they can run on including kerosene, home heating oil and vegetable oil-new and used. Some people over at Mercedesshop.com have even used automatic transmission fluid and lightweight motor oil in their cars as well. I would only do that for a short period of time and if I were truly desperate. Several caveats apply here also. Used vegetable oil must be filtered very well or you will have serious problems. To run 100% vegetable oil (“straight vegetable oil”) in cars it must have a two-tank system that heats the oil first and flushes the fuel lines with diesel when shut off or the oil will solidify in the fuel lines the car won’t restart. However I would not hesitate to use 50% diesel/kerosene with 50% new vegetable oil in warm weather. All this gives you have several options if you need them. Scenario 1: There is a major fuel shortage with low supplies and long lines at the pump. With a diesel engine you can simply go to the kerosene pump and fill your cans up while everybody else waits in line. Scenario 2: You are evacuating from a [Hurricane] Katrina-like situation and begin to run low on fuel. Simply go to any grocery store and pick up several gallons of vegetable oil and dump it in. Then go to the auto parts store and grab a few quarts of ATF and motor oil and dump it in if your really low.

Again some of this I would not do unless I was truly hard pressed, but desperate times call for thinking outside the box. FYI, the drums of kerosene mentioned above are nine years old and were not stabilized (I didn’t know any better at the time. However, it was in very good condition and ran well in my car. I hope that this helps someone. – Jeff in Ohio



Odds ‘n Sods:

Kirk flagged this Business Week piece: Bad Omens for Banks?–News from KeyCorp suggests U.S. banks’ loan losses may worsen. Is the credit crisis hitting a second, even scarier phase? The global credit crisis is worsening. Take steps to protect yourself.

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Thanks to Dave S. for sending this: US rail network facing congestion ‘calamity’

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My recent mention of health concerns about synthetic sweeteners (such as Nutrasweet and Splenda) prompted readers Chris D., Kim, and EMW to all remind me to mention the herbal sweetener, Stevia rebaudiana. It is a safe, natural sweetener derived from a plant that is native to Paraguay. Following enactment of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), Stevia can be sold legally in the United States only as a “dietary supplement.” Ironically, even though ounce-for-ounce Stevia extracts can be up to 300 times more sweet than sugar, they cannot be sold as “sweeteners.” OBTW, reader Rick C. mentioned that “Splenda is not aspartame-based [like Nutrasweet]. It consists of sucralose and maltodextrin.” But I should add that Splenda has its own set of health concerns.

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Frequent news tip contributor RBS sent us this: George Soros: ‘We face the most serious recession of our lifetime’



Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Regardless of the size or quality of defensive forces, the defender usually extracts large costs from the attacker in time, resources, and casualties." – Military Operations on Urbanized Terrain (MOUT) MCWP 3-35.3



Note from JWR:

The judging was difficult because we had so many great entries. But after much deliberation we decided that the first place winner of Round 16 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest is KLK for her article “How To Prepare for Radiation Emergencies”. She has won two valuable four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificates. (Worth up to $4,000!)

Second place goes to B.H. for his article “Safe Food Handling”. He will receive a copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, generously donated by Jake Stafford of Arbogast Publishing

Three Honorable Mention prizes go to NC Bluedog for “Homestead Fuel Storage and Rotation”, JLG in Texas for “Technology After TEOTWAWKI”., and to Gospel Guy for “Lacto-Fermentation–Enlisting Trillions of Microscopic Allies in Your Fight for Survival.” They each get their choice of autographed copies of either my books “Rawles on Retreats and Relocation” or “SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog”

Note to the prize winners: E-mail me and let me know the snail mail address where you’d like you prizes sent. Congratulations to the talented prize-winning writers!

Round 17 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest is now open. Round 17 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entries. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival will have an advantage in the judging.



Letter Re: An Importer’s Insights on the Canned Tuna Market

Hi James
I am in the import food business and one of the products that I sell is canned tuna. I know that a lot of survivalists have canned tuna in their larder and thought I might be able to provide some useful information. There are four species of tuna that are sold in cans; skipjack, tongol, yellowfin and albacore. Skipjack is the cheapest and Albacore the most expensive.

I have been selling tuna for about 20 years and over the last two years, have seen the raw material prices double. Normally, prices go up and then back down, as the catch decreases and then increases. However, since there are really no controls on the amount of tuna that are caught, I have been concerned about over fishing, especially with skipjack as it is the every day item that supermarkets sell as chunk light tuna. Given that the frozen fish price has increased from about $1,000 per metric ton to just under $2,000 per metric ton, I think that we may
have hit the point where demand will outpace a diminishing supply. I expect retail prices to continue increasing.

When I was at a Costco [warehouse store] a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that they are still selling 6 ounce albacore for around $1.00 per can. This is a very good price and I don’t expect it to
last for long.

The other thing that has been happening is that many of our overseas suppliers are having trouble getting empty cans. We have had many shipments of fruits and vegetables delayed because the packers have the raw material, but no cans to pack the product in. I know that there have been increases in tinplate costs, but do not know why some of our suppliers are unable to get cans. It could be that they don’t want to pay the higher prices.

Given the decline of the [purchasing power of the] dollar, increases in freight rates, as well as inflation in other countries, I see many food prices continuing to climb indefinitely. All the best, – Kurt P.

JWR Replies: Thanks for the update. SurvivalBlog readers should plan accordingly. If you haven’t done so already, buy a three year supply of canned tuna for your family, post haste!