Letter Re: Advice on Get Out of Dodge Vehicles

James:
I have a question about cars: In making your G.O.O.D. vehicle, which would be considered safer, a modern car with front and side airbags, a modern car with airbags and a roll cage, a modern car with airbags disabled/removed and a roll cage, or an old muscle car without airbags but with roll cage? – SF in Hawaii

JWR Replies: To begin, from what I’ve read, most of the professional drivers in the executive protection business drive with only the driver’s side airbags disabled.

Based on what I’ve heard regarding what models are driven by the winners at demolition derbies, a late 1960s to very early 1970s station wagon with a big block engine would be ideal. They get pitifully low gas mileage, but they have lots of cargo room, and they have clearance for a roll bar behind the bench-type front seat. You can also add a roof rack for relatively lightweight items such as spare tires,.tentage, and camouflage nets.

To my mind, perfection in a G.O.O.D. station wagon would be a flat brown-painted 1970 Buick Estate with a 455 cubic inch four-barrel V8 engine. What a ride: Plenty of power, very tough in collisions, easy to maintain, EMP protection even when near ground zero, and even a touch of class. (They are starting to be considered classics, so your neighbors probably wouldn’t object to one in your driveway.) But I’m not sure how many rust-free 38-year-old vehicles are still available in the tropical climate of Hawaii. 😉 I suppose that you could find one in Arizona or New Mexico through the ads in Hemming’s Motor News, but then subsequently transporting it to Hawaii would probably be prohibitively expensive.

Letter Re: Some Thoughts on Fuel Conservation WTSHTF

Jim:
To follow-up on my last e-mail, here are some random thoughts that I’d like to share on fuel conservation, for when the Schumer Hits the Fan (WTSHTF):

Water Pasteurization Indicators (WAPIs) – Often used in the Third World to save fuel and time when treating drinking water. Water that is heated to 149 degrees for a short time is free from living microbes. Water does not have to be boiled for 10 minutes. A WAPI is a simple, small and low cost tube with a special soy wax that can show that water has reached a safe Pasteurization temperature. These are available from SolarCooking.org. (By the way, they also several nice solar oven designs.)

Solar ovens and Solar Showers – For cooking, water Pasteurization, and hot water for hygiene needs. There is also a “solar puddle” design available on the Internet for large scale water Pasteurization.

Oven and Meat Thermometers – Prevents waste of fuel [and nutritive value] by cooking foods to higher temperatures than necessary.

Pot Cozys – These are insulated wraps for cooking pots. You heat the pot and contents to a desired temperature and then set the pot off to the side, wrapped in a pot cozy. Thus insulated, the food continues to cook until done. [JWR Adds: For more on this topic, see KBF’s article in SurvivalBlog on Thermos cooking.]

Reflective Wind Shields – When used for cooking on a stove indoors or outdoors, these will shorten the time [and hence reduce fuel use] required to reach the desired temperature. – Doc Anonymous

Letter Re: Tropical Storm Ike’s Devastation Works its Way North to Ohio

Good Morning, Jim,
And yes it is a good morning at that. I’m here in the suburbs of Ohio between Dayton and Cincinnati. Our power has returned. I read Larry in Cincinnati’s post this morning, and I know his thoughts and feelings all too well. Like him, we had the preparedness mind set already in place, and fared a bit better than some of our neighbors. I only caught the tail end of your interview on AM 700 WLW in Cincinnati in my truck as I was heading to work ( the company I work for is on a different power grid and was up and running) Monday, and I could not help but think of some of the posts since I have been coming to SurvivalBlog, and some of the things that you have discussed on the site.

Like Larry, I hope this will be a wake up call to folks, but sadly, I know that only a small portion of them will get it. One of the things that I found to be spot on, was the part about the things that were stripped from the shelves of the few stores that were open. I did not see them first hand, but a few of my neighbors had gone to them, and they were an exact carbon copy of the list. One even told of folks heading to the toy department, to snap up all the Hannah Montana kids’ flashlights. Yep, batteries, camping stoves, lanterns, canned goods, candles, etc; Like I said, the list was so dead on it gave me a shiver. As I stated earlier, we were a bit better prepared, so we had no need of anything to get us through this minor inconvenience left over by the storm.

Folks down in Texas are going to be without power, water, food, and other needed supplies in some areas for many weeks to come, so our prayers go out to them more than the folks down the block who lost a small bit of food in their refrigerator because the power has been off for a little less than 48 hours. There was some talk of the possibility that it could have been out for a whole week, and this would have been a pretty bad thing for sure, but the thing that I voiced the most concern to my neighbors about, and the one that none of them had thought of was, that if it did take that long, there was a good possibility that the water tower that sits on the hill above our house would run dry, and without power to run the pumps to refill the tank. But, we were okay here, because we had filled half of our five gallon water cooler jugs a few days before this happened, and I had gone to the grocery on Friday, and had bought a case of 20 oz. bottles for my son to take in his school lunches. Cooking was not a problem, we have a charcoal grill,and I have a Coleman white gas fuel stove and a good supply of fuel for emergencies such as this. Plenty of flashlights, a battery powered lantern, spare batteries, oil lamps and oil, and candles with good sturdy candle holders for light, and a couple very good multi-band radios, and plenty of batteries for them as well.

I hope that others here in our tri-state area that were affected by this will see the need to prepare for things like this. I know that a few of my neighbors will be a bit better prepared for things by talking to me, and seeing how we were set up at my house for this. Now this is not to say that I was totally prepared. I saw a few “flaws in the slaw “, but preparing for these types of things is a constant and on-going process, and we do the best we can with the hand we have been dealt. The rest, we can adapt if we put our minds to the problems and keep a cool head. – Dim Tim

Odds ‘n Sods:

If you feel like you’ve waited too long to Get Out of Dodge, and you need to buy a complete, turn-key retreat, then listen to this: I’ve personally visited a northern Idaho retreat that just went on the market, through our spin-off site: SurvivalRealty.com. This retreat has some very special features (most of which I’ve seen) that will be revealed only to qualified buyers.

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Eric sent us this: Japan Stocks Dive to 3-Year Low on Lehman, AIG Capital Concern. “[The] Nikkei closed early as the volume was approaching their load limits…”

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A bunch more more economic gloomage gleaned by Cheryl, our Economic Editor: How the [Financial] Masters of the Universe Ran Amok and Cost Us the Earth—Card Debt Up 8.5%; Delinquencies Rise—HP To Cut 24,600 Jobs in EDS Integration—No Jobs Make Mean Streets—More Financial Turmoil to Come—The Social Imperative of Sound Money—The Final Destruction of the Middle Class—The Danger Is Not Fully Appreciated (US Under Financial Attack?)—Stocks End Higher After Fed Leaves Rates Unchanged—Barclays Agrees To Acquire Lehman Assets—Money as Debt—Money-Market Rates Double Amid Global Credit Seizure—Report on AIG Rescue Boosts Wall Street—AIG Shares Swing Amid Crisis—Goldman Sachs Down 70% in 3Q—Fed to give AIG $85 billion loan and take 80% stake–and, Is the US in Recession? (You think?)

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And for a little levity on the ever-encroaching Nanny State: City uses DNA to fight dog poop

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Lehman Brothers Holdings has gone bankrupt. Here is a firm that was founded in 1850. It survived the Civil War and the Great Depression. It did not survive the current breakdown. Anyone who thinks this crisis is some minor affair is not paying attention.” – Dr. Gary North

Notes from JWR:

Warning: Today’s blog posts will exceed the Recommended Daily Allowance of Gloom and Doom.

Congrats to Tom H., the high bidder in our recent SurvivalBlog benefit auction. Today we begin a new auction, for a mixed lot that includes:

Special Mixed Vegetable Case-Six #10 Dehydrated Food Cans (Retail Price $105.95) This special Mixed Vegetable Case contains six #10 (96-ounce) cans–one can of each of the following: Mixed Vegetable Blend, Green Beans, Sweet Garden Peas, Mixed Peppers, Potato Dices, and Sweet Potatoes and a EZ-Towels 10 Pack Combo (10 bags of 50 towels. Retail value: $99.95). These items were donated by Jan at Healthy Harvest Foods.

An assortment of world class loose leaf teas, and a box of Bellagio hot chocolate (25 individual packs), with a combined value of approximately $100. These items were courtesy of Charlie at CMEBrew.com

A Katadyn VARIO water filter, donated by Ready Made Resources. (An $89 retail value.)

The auction ends on October 15, 2008. The opening bid is just $50. Please e-mail us your bids, in $10 increments.

Today, we present a guest article by Michael Pento, Senior Market Strategist with Delta Global Advisors. With more than 16 years of industry experience, Michael Pento acts as senior market strategist for Delta Global Advisors and is a contributing writer for GreenFaucet.com. He is a well-established specialist in the Austrian School of economic theory and a regular guest on CNBC and other national media outlets. Mr. Pento has worked on the floor of the NYSE as well as serving as vice president of investments for GunnAllen Financial immediately prior to joining Delta Global.

But first, here is my commentary on the recent “tectonic shifts” on Wall Street:

Dear Mr. Fuld: It’s The End of the World As We Know It

The recent news headlines about the investment banking crisis have answered the question that I often get from readers: “Why do you spend so much time talking about economics?” In my estimation, an economic crisis is the most likely trigger for a societal collapse, in the short term. The Lehman Brothers debacle is just a microcosmic preview of the global credit collapse. It is also a good illustration of the derivatives risk that I’ve been warning about for many years. How many times do I have to say this? The entire credit system is broken and it will be a full decade or more before the markets recover. In the interim, we will witness some horrendous turmoil and some potentially huge losses with derivatives, hedge funds, equities and equities aggregations (mutual funds, 401(k)s, and IRAs), banks, credit unions, municipal bonds, insurers, real estate, pension funds, and much more. With shares of the once iron-clad Lehman Brothers now selling at 21 cents each, (down 94%) it is clear that we are undoubtedly entering uncharted waters. The company had a market capitalization of $47 billion last year. But when I last looked, it’s cap was down to a miniscule $144.6 million. Somebody needs to call Richard Fuld and tell him that it is time to cue up the R.E.M. music.

For some details on this recent economic chaos, see the many links in today’s SurvivalBlog Odds ‘n Sods section (below.)

Wall Street is in utter disarray. This past weekend was as painfully traumatic as October, 1929. In today’s economic environment, nobody can accurately predict what will happen. So anyone that claims to be able to accurately predict market moves in this environment is a liar. All that I can safely suggest is that you get out of US dollar-denominated investments and do your best to make substantive preparations for your family. If you have been dawdling in getting storage food, then get on the phone with a reputable dealer, pronto. (There are several trustworthy storage food firms that advertise on SurvivalBlog. I would appreciate it if you would reward them for their loyal support of SurvivalBlog by giving them your business first. And, BTW, please mention SurvivalBlog, when you do.

Why did I make reference to the song “It’s The End of the World As We Know It”? Because of the second key line in the lyrics: “And I feel fine.” Most of SurvivalBlog’s readers are in a tiny minority of the populous. We are the people that woke up this morning, read the newspaper headlines, and yet we felt fine. We have minimal exposure to stocks and the banking system, and we have our Schumer together. We have our Beans, Bullets, and Band-Aids squared away, and even some extra to dispense as charity. Pardon me for feeling smug, but, A.) I told you so, and B.) We are ready. I pray that your family is ready, too.

A Quantum Leap Toward Socialism, by Michael Pento

Unfortunately, we Americans now realize that the decision by Ben Bernanke to slash the Fed Funds rate to 2% (a three hundred twenty five basis point reduction) was just the opening act in this Republican administration’s socialism play. At the time some wondered why the government didn’t just allow home prices fall to historical averages rather than seeking to lower the value of the U.S. dollar and send inflation to a 17-year high. Now we have learned just this past weekend that the Department of the Treasury has come up with a plan for conservatorship of the GSEs, enacting the largest bailout in the history of the United States.

What does the conservatorship plan mean? It means the government will take over the GSEs for the purpose of continuing their operation rather than putting them into receivership, which would seek to sell off their assets and shut down future business. In contrast, the Paulson plan will actually increase the holdings of FNM [“Fannie Mae”] and FRE [“Freddie Mac”] by $144 billion. The total of mortgage backed securities held by the GSEs will be allowed to increase to $850 billion each by December 2009.

My Libertarian heart sank when I witnessed Republicans and Democrats slap each other on the back as they congratulated themselves from saving us from the natural workings of the free market. The Republicans reek of hypocrisy, claiming the bailout of FNM and FRE was necessary for the health of the real estate market and the economy. I guess government intervention in the free market is only mandatory if you’re a bank, insurance company, foreign government or a pension fund that owns GSE debt.

It was especially telling when Hank Paulson’s was asked in a CNBC interview how much his bailout plan will cost taxpayers. He responded that he “did not use a calculator” when putting together this scheme. The essence of his response was that he did not care what the bill to taxpayers would be, his main concern was to recapitalize banks and stop home prices from falling.

The big problem with this plan is that the government does not have a plausible exit strategy. After Treasury has taken the companies into conservatorship and then expands their operations, it will not be easy to reduce the size of the GSEs. Their intention is to wind down the agencies balance sheets beginning in 2010 at a rate of 10% per annum until they reach just $250 billion each. So let me get this straight, after the real estate market has become more reliant on FNM and FRE to securitize the mortgage market, we will then be able to allow market forces to take hold? That view becomes especially dubious in light of the fact that we will have a new administration in charge when this scale-down is supposed to be taking place.

Just as the U.S. has become addicted to artificially low interest rates–unable to raise them without seriously hurting the economy– we now have most likely permanently socialized a good portion of the real estate market and the economy. Does the administration really believe that it is better to debase our currency and greatly expand the obligations of our government rather than letting home prices fall to a level that can be supported by the market? This move has long-term ramifications on the dollar and the national debt. Thanks to a stimulus package and reckless spending from the administration, annual deficits are already skyrocketing to nearly $500 billion. Now with the Paulson bailout plan, debt could increase even faster. This may torpedo the recent move higher in the dollar and makes its long-term picture even more bearish.

Perhaps it will first fall even further in coming weeks, but the need to own honest money (gold) never been more apparent. – Michael Pento, Senior Market Strategist, Delta Global Advisors

JWR Adds: Be sure to check out Michael’s podcast, The Mid-Week Reality Check.

Letter Re: Tropical Storm Ike’s Devastation Works its Way North to Ohio

Hi James!
I heard you this morning on WLW [in Cincinnati, Ohio] radio when you did your quick interview. Nice job.

It is amazing here in Cincinnati the level of chaos that exists. The power is still out to over half a million people. My power just came back on about 10 minutes ago, but I’m waiting until it stabilizes before shutting down my emergency power system.

We had quite a mess with lots of downed trees and power lines, but overall it wasn’t as bad as Houston – thank God! There has been quite a run on gasoline, and a bit of gouging here. About 50% of the grocery stores are down without power. [The] Krogers [grocery store chain in the region] has over 50% of their stores closed and are predicting quite a loss in frozen/fresh foods at those locations.

I’ve been well prepared for quite a while, so no long gas lines for me, plenty to eat, power and we’ve enjoyed a couple of days Internet free, which I might add hasn’t really been that bad! Maybe this will be a wake up call to more people locally to get prepared. One can only hope. God bless you and yours! – Larry in Cincinnati, Ohio

Letter Re: Just In Time Greenback Cash Supply for American Banks

Mr. Rawles,
I worked for Loomis/Fargo as an armed security technician. That means I was a member of an armored car crew. We serviced nearly the whole quarter of a certain state [un-named–not my current state of residence]. This included a major US Air Force base.

Once a week we made runs to the area banks to deliver cash. Usually our load [included] 1 to 2 tons of coins.
Cold cash totals were in the 1 to 3 million area each week and sometimes up to 5M seasonally.

Very often we would arrive at a bank and the tellers would say to us, “thank God” you are here! We are down to the last $1,500 or $3,000 in cash. Very frequently the banks on the days of our runs were nearly out of [Federal Reserve Note] bills to service customers.

Just in Time (JIT) inventory systems for WalMart and big box stores are well known. Less known are the JIT deliveries of cash to banks.

The bottom line is that they will run out of cash in a flash if events happen that put people into a panic mode. The Loomis/Fargo company runs regional [statewide] mini Federal Reserve depositories of coins and cash. I have seen bundles of cash in one that would require a U-haul truck to handle.

So, if elements of chaos spread across an area and the natives get to taking charge, then what do you think Loomis/Fargo is going to do about their armored truck runs? Yes, they will cancel them in a hurry.

Fact: Banks do not keep much cash on hand. Projection: The banks will run out of cash in a crisis, so get your cash stash established now.

Personally, I think that if paper money tanks because so much of it is in existence or on a ledger/computer; that eventually coins will have an enhanced value. The government is not mass producing new coins. So include in your stash a substantial amount of quarters and half-dollars.

Potentially, how much money can you put into an automated teller machine (ATM)?: I have put $250,000 a week into an ATM in a large mall in the state where I worked.

On another note: Gas here in western Oklahoma yesterday was still $3.69 in my town and $3.47 on I-40 and Saturday in Oklahoma City it was $3.439. – J. in Oklahoma

Odds ‘n Sods:

From Naish Piazza’s blog: I Love This Little Girl… and So Will You. OBTW, speaking of Front Sight, don’t miss out on their “Get a Gun” training and gear package offer. This offer will probably end soon, so don’t hesitate any longer!

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Our hard working Economic Editor Cheryl N. sent us an enormous batch of news and commentary. Note, BTW, how many of these highlight the derivatives market: Meltdown Shakes Up Wall Street Workers—Wall Street Crisis Could Put Fed Rate Cut Into Play—Stocks Tumble Amid New Wall Street Landscape—Obama, McCain Blame Economic Woes on Greed, Policy—Greenspan: US In “Once-In-A-Century” Financial Crisis—Tectonic Shift As Lehmans Fails and Merrill Sold—AIG Allowed To Borrow Money From Subsidiaries (Portfolio Plummets)—Black Monday: FTSE Plunges 212 Points As Global Markets Tumble After Lehman Collapse/BofE Injects 5 billion pounds into money markets—Frantic Day On Wall Street As Banks Fall—Wilbur Ross: Possibly 1,000 Banks Will Fail In Coming Months—Dangerous “Lehmers”—The Rise and Fall of Lehman Bros—Doomed Lehmans Now Bros. Grimm—Derivatives Market Traded On Sunday To Cut Lehman Risks—Silences Say It All—Implications of a 10-Day Refinery Outage—Stocks Plunge 500 Points; $700 billion in Wealth Erased—AIG Workers On Edge At Once-Safe Company—Is This The Death Knell Of Derivatives?—UK Bank Customers Urged Not To Panic—The Death of Wall Street, Part 1—Stocks Get Pummeled—Bush: Markets Are Resilient and Flexible (bwahahahahaha!)—Pimco, Vanguard Are Biggest Lehman Bond Fund Losers—AIG’s Reported Sales Likely To Draw Many Bidders—Fed Injects $70 billion in Banking System—Americans Should Worry About Bank Deposits—Lehmans Is Dead: Where’s The Crime Scene Tape?—The Other Gulf Surge Tide—Deleveraging Not Deflation Resulting in Commodities Temporary Violent Correction—Lehman’s Bankruptcy: The Ultimate Wall Street Derivatives Defaults Nightmare (this one is a must read!)—AIG, Lehman Shock Hits World Markets—AIG Seeks HUGE Loans As Stocks Dive 61%–and, last but not least (and as partial confirmation of what I predicted): Merrill Bailout Disguised As Buyout.

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Justin B in Phoenix recommended reading a post over at the Tom Bowers Subguns Forum: My Houston Hurricane Story or “How BCR’s Roll” (This post actually dates back to Hurricane Rita, but it is a useful illustration of the value of well-orchestrated family preparedness.)

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“In financial crises, your actual capital adequacy and liquidity does not matter. Both Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns — and Lehman particularly — were felt to be adequately capitalized only days before their fall. But once people thought that the end was near, the trading stopped, liquidity dried up, and the capital fled.” – Steven M. Davidoff

Notes from JWR:

I was saddened to hear that Chuck Karwan passed away last week, following open heart surgery. He was an exemplary American, a USMA West Point graduate (1969) that served in Vietnam and elsewhere (1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized), and the 5th and 10th Special Forces Groups), and was a noted writer on knives and military firearms. He will be missed, especially by his friends in Oregon.

The SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction ends tonight (Monday, September 15th) at midnight, eastern time. The high bid is now at $580. The auction for a mixed lot that includes: Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried foods in #10 cans, (donated by Ready Made Resources–a $320 value), a NukAlert radiation detector, (donated by KI4U–a $160 value), a Wilson Tactical COP tool, (donated by Choate Machine and Tool Company, a $140 value), a DVD of 480 E-books on Alternative Energy (donated by WK Books–a $25 value). Please e-mail us your bid, ASAP.

Letter Re: Some Thoughts on Water Conservation WTSHTF

Jim:
Here are some random thoughts that I’d like to share on water conservation, for when the Schumer Hits the Fan (WTSHTF):

Latex or nitrile gloves – Minimizes the use of water for cleaning up after a dirty chore. The nitrile gloves sold by Costco seem to be the strongest and do not oxidize like latex. [JWR Adds: The cost of nitrile gloves bought in bulk is so low, that they are well worth using. They are particularly important to use when handling dyes, paint, strong acids (such as during battery maintenance), strong bases (such as when making soap or when putting lime in an outhouse pit or a carcass pit), pesticides, herbicides, fuel (filling kerosene lamps or transferring gas to or from cans), or motor oil. (Used crank case oil is of particular concern, since it has been identified as a carcinogen.)

Reynold’s Oven Bags – Use inside a cooking pot to minimize clean-up. They can also be used outside a solar cooking to to retain moisture and heat. These shorten the cooking time for both solar and conventional ovens. hey are strong and thin. They can also serve as an impromptu canteen. (Put a couple of them in each outdoor survival kit.)

A small rubber primer bulb for out bard motors – Use as a foot pump for tubing from a water source to a water basin.This provides controlled”one person” water delivery. I use vinyl tubing connected to piece of 1/4″ diameter copper tubing that was bent nearly 90 degrees for the “faucet.” This uses just a small fraction of the water that is normally expended with a traditionally-plumbed sink.

Funnels. – Buy several of these of various shapes and sizes, to reduce spills.

Garden pressure sprayer – Buy a new, clean one (not contaminated with chemicals) to rinse kitchenware. BTW, we found that they had too fine a spray for use as a bathing shower.

Clothes wringer – Efficiently wrings gray water out for wet clothes. This water can be re-used for toilet flushing.

Basins – Use plastic basins to wash and rinse dishes or to hand-wash small batches of laundry .This again saves gray water for re-use.

Whitewater Rafting Dry Bags – Can be used to prevent items from getting wet, or can be used as a “clothes washer.” Add hot water and powdered laundry detergent and agitate.
– Doc Anonymous

Letter Re: Advice on Gauging the Safety of Individual American Banks

James:
Howdy, I haven’t been able to write or e-mail much these last few months as I have just moved from Detroit, Michigan, to Montana. Having just completed this relocation, and unfortunately not having been able to complete my prep for the move as well as I would have liked, I was wondering if you had any info on banks here? I am living about 70 miles west of Missoula, Montana.
Thanks in advance. – Warhawke

JWR Replies: Well, congratulations on your move and cue the Merle Haggard music!

I don’t know much specifically about the state-chartered banks up in Montana. The good news is that Montana was not a housing bubble mania state like California, Nevada, Arizona, and Florida, so most Montana banks should still be safe. (Anyone living in the housing bubble states should be quite concerned about bank failures.) But, regardless, I strongly recommend that all SurvivalBlog readers in the US follow the link to Weiss Research, in this recent SurvivalBlog article. They can give you an honest appraisal of the relative safety of most banks.