Odds ‘n Sods:

How “safe” are safe deposit boxes? Read this article that Simon in England sent us: £14 million seized in deposit box search. Did all 7,000 boxes drilled open belong to “master criminals”? I doubt it. Where is the libertarian outcry? There is now hardly any expectation of privacy remaining in the UK, and property rights are fading fast. Take the gap!

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Hawaiian K. sent this piece from the George Washington Blog: The Derivatives Market is Unwinding! This confirms some of my predictions. Take a look at the piece that I wrote about derivatives a couple of years ago: Derivatives–The Mystery Man Who’ll Break the Global Bank at Monte Carlo.

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Zimbabwe Mulls a Z$100 Billion Per Month Minimum Wage. Meanwhile, The Daily Reckoning reports: “And in Zimbabwe, is another story altogether, with inflation going up so fast they can’t even measure it. Prices are said to be increasing at 160,000% to 200,000% per year. But who can tell? There’s nothing to buy.” So we can conclude that if implemented, Zimbabwe’s new “minimum wage” will be overcome by events within days, rendering it useless.

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Larry W. flagged this: Lanier plans to seal off rough ’hoods in latest effort to stop wave of violence. So the term “land of the free” no longer applies to the District of Criminals. How sad to see this happen in the nation’s capitol.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"You will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world. Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped, and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely….The free men of the world are marching together to victory. I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory. Good luck, and let us all beseech the blessings of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking." – General Dwight D. Eisenhower giving the D-Day invasion order for June 6, 1944

Budget Preparedness–Survival Isn’t About Stuff, It is About Skills

I often stress that a key to survival is not what you have, but rather what you know. (See my Precepts of Rawlesian Survivalist Philosophy web page.) In part, I wrote:

Skills Beat Gadgets and Practicality Beats Style. The modern world is full of pundits, poseurs, and Mall Ninjas. Preparedness is not just about accumulating a pile of stuff. You need practical skills, and those only come with study, training, and practice. Any armchair survivalist can buy a set of stylish camouflage fatigues and an M4gery Carbine encrusted with umpteen accessories. Style points should not be mistaken for genuine skills and practicality.

To expand on those precepts, consider the following:

Balanced logistics are important for everyone, but absolutely crucial for someone that is on a tight budget. If you have a three year food supply, then a quantity miscalculation for one particular food item will likely be just an inconvenience. But if you only have a three month supply, then a miscalculation can be a serious hazard. Be logical, systematic, and dispassionate in your preparations. You need to develop some detailed lists, starting with a “List of Lists.” Be realistic and scale your retreat logistics purchasing program to your budget. Avoid gong in to debt to “get prepared.” A friend of mine who was a Physician’s Assistant went way overboard in 1998 and 1999, stocking up for Y2K. The massive credit card debt that he racked up eventually contributed to a prolonged mental depression.

Choose your retreat location wisely. If you can’t afford 40 acres, then be sure to pick the right 5 or 10 acres. Finding a property that adjoins public land, and/or property with like-minded neighbors, can make a huge difference. The smaller your land-buying budget, the longer your search should be, to get the most for your money. In today’s plunging real estate market, don’t overlook the possibility of finding a foreclosed (“bank owned”) farm or ranch at a “below market” price. Watch the foreclosure listings in your intended retreat region closely. Two foreclosure monitoring services that I recommend are RealtyTrac.com and Foreclosures.com.

Buy used instead of new. It goes without saying that your purchasing dollars will go farther if you concentrate on quality used tools, guns, and vehicles. Remember that preparedness is not a beauty contest. There are no “Style” points awarded. So owning gear with some dings and scratches is not an issue. Just be sure to inspect used items very carefully. In the case of buying a used vehicle, it is worthwhile to run a check on the vehicle’s history through a service like CARFAX. This will reveal if the vehicle might have been repaired after a major collision. Also, hire a qualified mechanic to do some checks before you buy a used rig. That will be money well-spent!

Clip coupons, watch and wait for seasonal sales, shop at thrift stores, go to garage sales and flea markets, attend weekend farm and estate auctions, and learn to watch Craig’s List and Freecycle like a hawk. The only thing better that finding inexpensive used items is having thing given to you. This is a common occurrence with Freecycle. For example, it is not unusual to have someone give you several dozen Mason-type canning jars. Just be sure to return the favor, in the spirit of Freecycle.

Strike a balance between quality and quantity. I’m a big believer in the old adage: “Better is the enemy of good enough.” Why buy a $320 Chris Reeve folding knife when a used $30 CRKT or Cold Steel brand pocketknife bought on eBay will provide 95% of the functionality of a custom knife? Buying at 1/10th the price means that you will have money available for other important logistics and training.

Take advantage of free or low-cost training. The WRSA, for example, offers shooting and medical training at near their cost. I’ve discussed other such training opportunities at length previously in SurvivalBlog. In my Precepts page, I noted:

Tools Without Training Are Almost Useless. Owning a gun doesn’t make someone a “shooter” any more than owning a surfboard makes someone a surfer. With proper training and practice, you will be miles ahead of the average citizen. Get advanced medical training. Get the best firearms training that you can afford. Learn about amateur radio from your local affiliated ARRL club. Practice raising a vegetable garden each summer. Some skills are only perfected over a period of years.

Learn to distinguish between essentials and non-essentials. Do you really need cable television? Eating out? snacks from the vending machine? ? Use the cash generated to buy the really important things, like storage food.

When you don’t have cash, then apply sweat equity. Do you need pasture fence or garden fence at your retreat property? Don’t hire someone and “have it done” Do it yourself. Not only will you save money, but you will also learn valuable skills. You might even lose some of that flab around your midsection, in the process. Also consider that people are often willing to barter their excess tangibles in trade for your skills and time. Do you have an elderly neighbor with a big gun collection? Then offer to paint his house in trade for a couple of guns or a few of those heavy ammo cans that he won’t live long enough to shoot? In my Precepts page, I wrote:

Invest Your Sweat Equity. Even if some of you have a millionaire’s budget, you need to learn how to do things for yourself, and be willing to get your hands dirty. In a societal collapse, the division of labor will be reduced tremendously. Odds are that the only “skilled craftsmen” available to build a shed, mend a fence, shuck corn, repair an engine, or pitch manure will be you.and your family. A byproduct of sweat equity is muscle tone and proper body weight. Hiring someone to deliver three cords of firewood is a far cry from felling, cutting, hauling, splitting, and stacking it yourself.

People often assume that because my blog and novel are widely read that I am wealthy. I actually have a very modest income. The only reason that our retreat is so well stocked is that I have been systematically stocking up for 30 years. I am not a “yuppie survivalist” as at least one fellow blogger claims. I gave up my Big City salaried job years ago, to concentrate on living self-sufficiently. Part of this was a conscious decision to raise our children in a more wholesome environment. The major drawback is that the Rawles Ranch is in such a remote area that we don’t get into town very often.

The Memsahib Adds. The good thing about living so remotely is there are no shopping opportunities. Even if I had the urge to indulge in some retail therapy, I’d have to drive more than two hours to do it. The next best things you can do is cancel your magazine subscriptions. If you analyze the contents of most magazines you will realize that they are designed to make you dissatisfied with your clothes, your home decor, garden, electronics, autos because they aren’t the latest, greatest, and most fashionable. I also highly recommend selling or Freecycling your television, for the very same reason. A couple of exceptions to our magazine rule are Backwoods Home, and Home Power, since they are both light on advertising and heavy on practical skills.

In closing, do the best you can with what you have. Be truly frugal. I grew up in a family that still remembered both our pioneer history and the more recent lessons of the Great Depression. One of our family mottos is: “Use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without.” I thank my mother for passing that wisdom along to my generation, and I am doing the same, with my children.

Letter Re: The Importance of Storing Vitamin C

Humans along with a few other creatures do not produce Vitamin C. (We also do not make uricase [Urate oxidase] so are prone to Gout, a human disease). As such we must get Vitamin C from our diet. We have already discussed the need of vitamin C to prevent scurvy. Since it is water soluble and [unlike Vitamins A, D, E, and K, is] not fat soluble, we must take it continually. One important time that you need Vitamin C is in the case of trauma or infection. Animals that make their own Vitamin C increase production immensely in these conditions. If you find yourself dealing with a trauma, infection or both (gunshots, anyone?) consider tapping into you Vitamin C cache. Take as much as you can before you reach bowel tolerance (loose stools) then back off a little. As an example, for me, 2 grams a day is my maximum under normal conditions before I reach tolerance. Over the last two days after a nasty full body sunburn I am taking 8 grams [(8,000 milligrams)] a day with no side effects. It’s one of the more important things you can do for yourself to accelerate healing. – SF in Hawaii

JWR Replies: I agree wholeheartedly that Vitamin C storage is a must, and that it is crucial for healing following trauma. It has long been known that taking vitamin C minimizes trauma-induced bruising. There is little harm in megadosing vitamin C, since any excess that the body does not need is passed through the urinary tract. Cumulatively, however, if megadosing is done too frequently might be too hard on the kidneys. But I am dismayed that megadosing of water-soluble vitamins is done too frequently by “health nuts”. If nothing else, it is a needless expense.

My only strong proviso is to avoid overdosing any of the fat soluble vitamins (the aforementioned Vitamins A, D, E, and K—best mnemonically memorized with the word “KADE“.) This has already been discussed at length in SurvivalBlog.

Letter Re: An Inexpensive Source for Bulk Silica Gel Desiccant

Jim:

You wrote in reply to a recent e-mail from “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.”

I’ve just been through this. Tidy Cats Crystals has perfume, which I discovered after getting it home and opening it. (I’ll use it for my stored ammo.) The brand that I have found that has no perfume is the Amazing Cat Litter brand. It only has silica gel as the stated ingredient on its Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). Also, the chunks of silica gel are larger, with much less dust. I used twist-ties and brown coffee filters to wrap-up an ounce at a time, which is the approximate amount needed for six-gallon pails. – Ham

Odds ‘n Sods:

Rourke suggested this video clip for readers that are in tornado or hurricane country: How Pre-cast Concrete Walls help protect your home.

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Barbara W. sent us this Reuters new story link: Food price “catastrophe” feared on eve of summit

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David D. sent this Wall Street Journal article link: Lofty Prices for Fertilizer Put Farmers in a Squeeze.

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Several readers sent us this: Researchers Secretly Tracked 100,000 Cell Users Outside U.S. for Six Months

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"There are two dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace." – Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac

Notes from JWR:

Today we are pleased to welcome our newest advertiser, Healthy Harvest. They are a food storage vendor headquartered in Vancouver, Washington, but they ship throughout the US and Canada. Be sure to visit their web site and order some items from their amazing “deep and wide” product line.

The following is another article 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.

From WTSHTF to TEOTWAWKI: Cleaning Up After the Grim Reaper, by “Sarah Connor”

“Death is still a fearful, frightening happening, and the fear of death is a universal fear even if we think we have mastered it on many levels.” – Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, M.D.
We have nothing to fear but fear itself, as the saying goes. The basis of much fear is simply the unknown. As a society, we have distanced ourselves from death. Hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, and funeral homes do all the “dirty work” and cemetery’s are neatly hidden behind fences and walls, trees and hedges. We pass by on a daily basis, unwilling to acknowledge what lies beyond those barriers; but the time is fast approaching when death will not hide its face any longer.

Most of us are not prepared for wholesale death. We have little to no experience with it. We owe it to ourselves and to our families to become acquainted with this “fact of life” and learn how to manage its effects as best we can. The first thing we can do is to look death in the face.

So what does death look like, anyway? Soon after death, anywhere from 15 minutes to two hours depending on various factors, the body begins to cool off. It becomes pale and internal sphincter muscles (i.e., circular muscles controlling stomach, bladder and anus) relax. This leads to the release of their contents if the body is moved. Dependent lividity sets in within about 30 minutes. This is where blood pools in the lowest parts of the body (usually the back and bottom of the person, if in a prone position) and begins to coagulate. Rigor mortis sets in and the muscles in the body begin to stiffen, the skin starts hardening, and hands and toes curl. (I know this is graphic, but think “wicked witch of the west that Dorothy’s house just landed on with time lapse photography.) This peaks around 12 hours after death and disappears in another 24 hours, depending on the temperature. Decay becomes visible within 24 hours. Human intestines contain friendly bacteria that help us when we are alive but become predators after we die. The internal organs begin to collapse, the skin loses its connection with underlying tissues, and bacteria create gases that cause bloating and swelling. This is a major cause of the putrefaction (rot) that sets in. The internal organs eventually turn to liquid and when the liquid exits through the orifices (eyes, ears, nose, mouth, exit points of the bowel and bladder), it is called “purge.” It’s ugly and smelly. The last organs to liquefy are the uterus and prostate. They can last as long as 12 months. This is how a coroner can determine the sex of a corpse dead less than 12 months.

It takes a corpse 12-20 years to return to dust depending on whether the corpse is an adult or child, what the grave temperature is, whether the body was fat (fat takes longer to break down), if and how it was embalmed, etc. In Scotland, where graves are reused, a grave is considered “ripe” until it is at least 20 years old; meaning if you open it before 20 years, you may be in for a very unpleasant surprise. (Due to the rocky terrain, graves in Scotland have to be reused.) So a corpse does not disappear quickly.

So why not just leave it where it lies? If a corpse is left out in the open, wild animals and insects will feast on it. And if the body is diseased, disease will spread quickly to humans. If you wonder why, just imagine flies crawling in and all over a dead body and the purge oozing from the orifices, and then crawling all over your dinner. That is why dead bodies must be disposed of quickly.
And flies are not the only lovers of dead meat. It has been observed that man’s “best friend” will devour him when he dies. One man died at home and his dog tore him apart in less than an hour. Firemen used to allow their mascots to come along with them on runs until the fire trucks started following ambulances. The firemen had to stop allowing their dogs to come along on runs because the dogs went straight for the dead meat. Definitely a public relations situation not to mention a health hazard.

Okay, so you’ve got a dead body in your vicinity. What are you going to do? Assuming the body is in the area you are inhabiting and you do not live near the ocean, you have two options, both of which require a lot of hard work: (1) you can bury it, or (2) you can incinerate it. But the one thing you cannot do is to ignore it.

(1) Burying requires digging a hole six feet deep (and five feet wide and seven feet long, depending on the size of the corpse. You can either bury the body in a shroud or bury it in a pine box (links below). Either way, the corpse will decompose and bacteria could find its way into the water table, which is why current laws require a concrete liner. However, in emergency situations chances are concrete liners will not be available. That is why option 2 may be the better option, unless fire conditions exist (which is more likely given the current worldwide drought situation).

(2) Cremation/Incineration (a/k/a “the funeral pyre”) is both an ancient and modern practice for the disposition of dead bodies. For the pyre, stack up lots of wood. Then put the body on top of the wood and pour flammable liquid such as oil, motor oil, kerosene, heating oil, or charcoal on the body and the wood. Then ignite the fire. It is best to keep the fire burning as hot as possible. Do not use gasoline. This will destroy harmful germs quickly and won’t contaminate the groundwater. Don’t breathe the fumes, the smell of a burning human body is not only sickening, but could make you sick. Make sure the wind will carry the smoke away from your home (or camp). For detailed instructions on how to build a funeral pyre, see below. You can also use a furnace or incinerator if you have one available.

If you happen to be near the ocean, feeding a corpse to the fish would be the easiest way to dispose of a corpse. However, if you are physically unable to do that or any of the above, the best thing to do is to wrap the corpse in plastic sheeting and move it as far away from your location as you can, preferably downwind and not near any body of water. Putting rocks over it (without burying it in the ground) would keep smaller animals from desecrating the remains and the plastic would keep the flies from crawling all over it. One thing to remember with any of these methods, except for burial at sea, is that you are leaving visible signs that someone is nearby. If this will be a security issue, then you must devise a plan to dispose of remains in a way that will be hidden from intruders.

If you are in a position to have a funeral, don’t think about embalming the body. It is a complicated process and requires special training, material and equipment. The only purpose of embalming is to delay the putrefaction process so that the funeral can take place 3-5 days after death. In an emergency situation, this will not be possible. Any funeral would have to be done quickly followed immediately by disposition of the body.

Landfills are not a viable solution for the disposal of dead bodies either because not only of the presence of rats and smoke, but paper and plastic film dispersed by the winds, all of which could carry disease.

Composting (animal remains) is also a non-viable option. Flies, mosquitoes, rats, wildlife, and other vectors of disease transmission would be attracted to the compost pile and after a hearty lunch would spread disease. Large bones and hides will not compost easily, thus defeating the composting process.

As mentioned above, improper disposition of human (and animal) remains constitute a potential for ground and surface water contamination. Groundwater is contained in a geological layer called an aquifer. Aquifers are composed of permeable or porous geological material (materials that can be penetrated by liquids or gases) located at greater depths and, though somewhat protected, can still be contaminated when they are tapped for use or are close to a source of heavy contamination for a long time. And that, of course, leads to serious health concerns.

When dealing with dead bodies, always wear a facemask, clothing barrier, gloves and goggles. Depending on the state of decay, gasses could be a problem and you need to be prepared if something were to explode and spew in your face. Decontaminate yourself thoroughly after handling a dead body, as well as your equipment and clothing.

Every home should have a “Last Aid” kit containing the following items:
1. For burials:
a. A pick mattock;
b. A round and square-bladed shovel (one of each);
c. Pre-made pine boxes that are easily screwed together and can be lain flat as a kit under the bed, or kept in the closet in a cardboard shipping (original) container. Needs only a few screwdrivers, and about 2 hours to assemble. No power tools needed. You could also make a coffin or two and use them as coffee tables or bookshelves or storage until they are needed (links below);
d. Shroud material, or coffin lining material;
e. A grave site picked out in the backyard or a place in the city park or the local graveyard. Those on farms or ranches can utilize the “Back 40” for the family cemetery;
f. If there will be a viewing, put some glue on the lips of the deceased, otherwise the mouth can come open and scare people. There should be no viewing if the person died of an infectious disease. If death was caused by an accident and there is disfigurement, bandages could be placed or gauze placed to conceal the damage. Children should not be excluded from the grieving process and should not be lied to that “mommy is asleep” or “daddy is on a long trip.” They can always tell something isn’t right and will find out eventually anyway.
g. Several strong ropes for lowering the coffin into the grave site.
h. A marker of some type, if desired.
2. For incineration/funeral pyres:
a. Flammable liquids (as described above);
b. Wood;
c. Fire (matches, BBQ lighters, etc.).
3. For situations that are not TEOTWAWKI scenarios wherein the government remains intact (such as might occur in a bird flu pandemic), the following will help the authorities with identification:
a. A complete set of identification and papers should be kept with the body; and
b. All medicines the deceased was taking, placed in a Ziploc bag along with an envelope containing the papers that describe the medicines and put with the body (this could help with further identification as well as an autopsy).
4. As a person nears death, several changes of bedding and blankets should be neatly folded, laundered and ready for changing. When a person is at the point of passing away, the bowel and bladder functions naturally release the sphincter muscles and discharge will follow.
a. Remember, the same bed will likely be reused, so it is best to encase the mattress in a protective cover. Burn the plastic cover after the person dies and disinfect the mattress.
b. Soiled laundry should not be re-used if it can’t be cleaned with bleach. If the deceased person died from an infectious disease, soiled laundry should be burned. Always take standard precautions (gloves, goggles, clothing barrier) when handling infected materials.
5. Bodies should be disposed of within 24 hours, if at all possible. Sooner, if death was caused by a contagious disease or the outside temperature is hot.
6. If it is winter or you are in a cold climate, a body can stay frozen, but needs to be disposed of before it thaws.
7. Get some books on grieving, how to conduct a funeral, etc. and get educated so when death comes you will be prepared to deal with it mentally and emotionally. With that taken care of, you will be better equipped to assist all affected by death.

Unstable times are upon us. Things like funerals may become a thing of the past in order to just survive. The most important thing to focus on is preparing yourself mentally and emotionally in advance for the prospect of death, including perhaps your own or your loved ones. Education and preparation are vital so that you will be able to continue functioning in a survival situation.

References:
How to Build a Funeral Pyre

How to Build a Coffin (has links to other articles as well as listing several interim uses for a coffin)

Coffins, Shrouds, Green Burials, Books on Death/Dying, etc.

“On Death and Dying”, Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, M.D.

“Death to Dust”, Kenneth V. Iserson

JWR Adds: Laws on burial on private property vary widely. Be sure to consult your state and local laws. In the event of a disaster situation you may end up burying a loved one ad hoc, and have to catch up on death certificate paperwork after order is restored. Some digital photographs and sworn and notarized statements may suffice to prevent the indignity of a subsequent exhumation. In many ways, do-it-yourself burial is a lot easier to explain to public officials than cremation. Also keep in mind that that it takes a tremendous amount of fuel to fully cremate a human body. This is not an issue for regions with plentiful firewood, but it could be a limiting factor in other regions.

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