Four Letters Re: A Tactical Hack for R.C. Model Cars

Jim-
[Regarding Hawaiian K’s letter]: Just want to offer a caution to anyone who might experiment with a firearm mounted on a radio controlled vehicle of any type: While modern Radio Controlled (RC) stuff is generally very reliable, there are many scenarios in which a partial failure of batteries, transmitter, receiver, servo, radio interference, unintentional collision with an object, or simple human error could cause the mounted firearm to discharge unintentionally. If any of your readers intends to experiment with such a setup, I hope it will be under very tightly controlled circumstances. Regards, – Rich S.

 

James:
The BATFE would consider the contraption described a machine gun if it is capable of firing multiple rounds at the press of one button on the laptop. If you are not law enforcement or military or a Class 3 dealer manufacturing a sample you can not legally manufacture/register one and you are opening yourself to a 12 year mandatory sentence for every single count (the BATFE will probably charge you with one count for every RC car, servo and firearm you have since they are components of the illegal device).

If you have a design that uses only a single shot fire arm you can submit it to the BATFE for approval as a gadget gun or “Any Other Weapon” (AOW) [catch-all Federal firearms category]–think briefcase guns, wallet guns, cane guns, et cetera. Once approved you follow the normal Class 3 toy transfer procedures.

There are many companies who have done a lot of research and development on this for SWAT teams, hostage negotiation robots, bomb defusing robots etc. Many are armed with water cannons, shotguns and in some cases pistols.

It may be legal to mount a 37mm tear gas launcher loaded with CS or CN rounds and greet the unwelcome visitors without filing out any paperwork. Check your local and state laws. Always check regulations, with the BATFE and a knowledgeable gunsmith before attempting to construct anything. [JWR Adds: Advice from the BATFE Firearms Branch or field offices is not legally binding. If they give you any guidance, be sure to ask for it in writing.]
How prepared would you and your family be for TEOTWAWKI sitting in a jail cell with $80,000+ in legal bills, and reduced income (while you are in jail)? – Steveninpa

 

Jim;

Hawaiian K’s short article on Tactical Hacks of his friend brought to mind some of the ingenious adaptations of common items our troops in Iraq have come up with to help keep the troopers safe. A friend of our family was in Iraq awhile back emailed a video to his dad. As we watched the video it was amazing to see and hear the members of his squad work through a situation that just screamed IED. There was a donkey cart and a nearby donkey just standing on a dirt road. The soldiers had correctly recognized the threat potential and wasn’t going to approach the cart and donkey but still had to figure a way to neutralize the threat. One of the members pulled out of a Humvee a remote controlled toy race car his parents sent for amusement when off duty. In true American Ingenuity fashion he removed the race car body, taped a brick of C4 complete with detonator and a very l-o-n-g fuse and proceeded to maneuver the toy car over the rocky and rutted dirt road and parked it under the cart. When the charge went off they got the secondary explosion they expected. Before approaching the debris they waited a long while for another charge to go off. The insurgents would have heard the first explosion and would wait to set off another IED when they considered time enough had passed for rescuers to arrive to help those caught in the initial blast. With no additional explosions a bomb disposal team carefully went down to what was left of the donkey cart. There they found two artillery shells buried on the side of the road. They couldn’t be detonated because the exploding toy car was at ground level and had severed the wiring leading to the artillery shells.

Oh, by the way, the donkey was okay because when the toy car came toward the cart the donkey shied away from the approaching modified toy because the donkey hadn’t been harnessed; it just appeared to be so. One of the solders said in a chuckle, “That donkey is mad, he just lost his lunch.” Ah, the ingenuity of the American soldier. The cost of off the shelf electronics is dropping as the quality goes up. Already remote controlled helicopters and planes with low light or zero lux light cameras are available or can be cobbled together quite effectively. The technology genie is out of the bottle and as much as some politicians would like to limit certain technologies access to the general public; the genie can not be stuffed back into the bottle of government control and exclusivity. Live well, The Rabid One
.

Sir,
Just wanted to give you a heads up that this idea is probably not something you want showing up on google searches with your name attached to it. This is a terrible idea for all but the most skilled of individuals to attempt. I use RC equipment for remotely operating tests for work, and damn near everything can cause noise in their frequency range. As well, many of the systems can be very buggy and suddenly a servo you didn’t intend to move is just going off on its own. The necessary safety interlocks required to safely fire a gun remotely is significant. Mounting a camera and a gun to an RC truck is quite simple though, which will likely lead to terrible accidents that I would hate to see coming back to haunt one of my favorite sites. Please don’t post this letter to your blog, though you are welcome to summarize as you see fit (though I would just remove the article if it was me).
Keep up the great work! – Jeff S.

Odds ‘n Sods:

A reminder that BulletProofME.com’s special free shipping offer for SurvivalBlog readers, ends on Wednesday, December 12th

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Eric S. flagged this useful piece: Honey Beats Meds at Soothing Kids’ Cough

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The high bid is now at $250 in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction, for six items: 1.) a Katadyn Pocket water filter, (with a $200 retail value) 2.) a Watersafe field water test kit ( a $27 retail value), both donated by Ready Made Resources, 3.) A copy of the latest edition of “The Encyclopedia of Country Living” by the late Carla Emery (a $32 retail value) 4.) an autographed copy of my novel“Patriots” (a $23 retail value), 5.) an autographed copy of my nonfiction book “Rawles on Retreats and Relocation” (a $25 retail value), and 6.) a SurvivalBlog Logo Contractor/Operator cap (a $13.50 retail value.) The auction ends on December 15th. Please send us your bid via e-mail.

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The recent huge storm in Washington state flooded a long stretch of Interstate-5. At one point the department of transportation set up a detour of several hundred miles–all the way east to Yakima–to get around the 20 mile closure.

Note from JWR:

Today we remember Pearl Harbor Day. On December 7, 1941 there were 2,896 Navy and Marine Corps casualties, and 68 civilian casualties in the Japanese attacks on Oahu, Hawaii.

Letter Re: A Tactical Hack for R.C. Model Cars

James;

A late acquaintance of mine was something of a hacker/genius. Prior to Y2K, he developed several cute but deadly machines based on radio-controlled toy cars that he’d picked up at garage sales. These were fitted with tiny wireless cameras and ingenious harnesses for the Glock [Model] 19. He showed me how they functioned in a field test which displayed a couple of them firing at targets at his command. It was a strange feeling to watch his laptop screen, line up a target with a joystick and then fire it quite precisely at the push of a button! The battery-powered motors of these devices were by no means silent, but it was easy to imagine that they would’ve been unexpected in a defensive situation and surprise is always strategically valuable.
It won’t be too long before survivalists will be able to combine off the shelf components with situational creativity in order to hack new mechanisms for the defense of their homesteads. Bad guys seeking to plunder remote residences may expect and plan for gunfire coming from that residence, but it’s highly unlikely that they’d ever expect an armed mini-helicopter equipped with night vision or or heat-activated targeting chasing them down: – Hawaiian K.

Two Letters Re: Storing Nails–Crucial for Preparedness

Jim:

[You had mentioned in yesterday’s post: “…one of my unfulfilled quests in life has been to find a small hardware store that is going out of business and getting to ask the owner: “How much for all of your fasteners?” (Hopefully, at or below their scrap metal value.) That would be quite a coup.”] FYI, never be shy! Several years ago the local Scotty’s [hardware chain store] was going out of business; after many weeks of slowly reducing the prices.On the final weekend I approached the “soon to be unemployed” manager and offered to buy all the remaining large screws and bolts for $300 cash including the bins. After listening to him whine about my low offer for five minutes he accepted. The only catch was that an employee had to ring everything up at the retail price first and then [write]a separate invoice for the “sale” price. I will make this a short ending. When everything was finished it took two trips in my 3/4 ton pickup truck to carry it all home and the retail price was over $12,000. Good deal for us. – Duane

 

Jim,
The note on nails made me think of a few things. I have bought nails by the 50 pound box in the past but the best bargains have been at rural auctions and estate auctions. Some retired men will buy things they might need then when they die another will buy the same item at auction. The thing might be sold 5 or 6 times over a 30 year period. The best deal I ever saw was about 10 years ago. It was air gun nails, a skid with 500 to 600 pounds sold for 8 or 10 dollars! An older guy bought it. Lots of hand tools sell cheap.

As for screws, a [hand-powered] drill called a brace will drive them very well and the drill bits (called auger bits) sell cheap because most people have no use for them. I’ve found several adjustable bits, also. One adjusts to 2 1/2″. There are adapters with a drill chuck so you can use regular drill bits, too. Another drill is brace with a plate on the top to lay your chest on so you can use upper body weight to put pressure on the drill bit.

My father built his house with all hand tools in 1953. No electricity was available on that dirt track until the house was finished. I was born in 1951 and saw a lot of screws installed and holes drilled with that Craftsman brace. I hope this helps some folks. – Frank from Indiana

Weekly Survival Real Estate Market Update

Advantages to Mid-Winter Real Estate Buying

One strategy in buying a survival retreat that I often mention to my consulting clients is making a scouting and/or buying trip in mid-winter. This has several advantages:.

1.) You see the effects of microclimates, first hand. Visiting a property in the summer and imagining what it looks like with snow on the ground is not realistic. You need to see for yourself, in mid-winter. (January is best, in the northern hemisphere.) If you ask the seller or the listing agent how much snow to expect, the answer will almost universally be “not much” or “it hardly even sticks”, even for properties on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

The reverse side of a sunny ridge (northern facing, in the northern hemisphere) can be snowy in some regions for an extra three months of each year. Investigate the microclimates before you buy! In some instances just 500 feet of elevation difference, or a southern exposure can make a huge difference in your winter access, and the length of your summer gardening season

2.) You see the quality of maintenance of local roads. Some cities and counties have good snow plowing and sand, while others are horrible. Some roads–typically the school bus routes–get lots of attention, while others are neglected. You won’t know for certain until you see it first hand.

3.) You see the winter access of local roads. Even with good maintenance, some shaded canyon roads with just moderate grades turn into veritable toboggan runs in the winter. Again, you won’t know which ones until you see for yourself.

4.) You will likely be the only buyer in town. In the rural portions of most of the mountainous western states, the home buying season effectively ends at Thanksgiving and doesn’t start up again until early Spring. This gives a tremendous psychological advantage in bargaining for a property. After the first snow flies, sellers start to mumble to themselves and get a desperate look in their eyes. If the seller is “motivated”, they will take serious any offers received in the winter. The same offer that would have been laughed off in June will be seriously considered in January. Mid-winter is your chance to have a fairly “low ball’ offer accepted. Back when the real estate market was hot, this was a rarity. But these days it is becoming much more common.

5.) Mid-winter is your chance to have the seller agree to concessions. I can cite a couple of instances that I have heard from my consulting clients in recent years: A buyer from California made a February offer for a house on acreage, near Utah’s Wasatch Front. The property was listed with the house and shop on well water, on 40 acres, with an adjoining 20 acres with a 7 g.p.m. spring available separately, for an additional $175,000. (Land with springs are a rarity in most of Utah.) The property had been on the market for17 months, and the listed price had already been dropped once. The buyer put in an offer that was $20,000 less than the asking price of the house, for both properties. After just one counter-offer (that brought the price back up by $8,000), the deal was finalized.

Another client, from southern Nevada, made a January offer on a $1 million+ house with barn on considerable acreage near Lamoille (at the foot of the Ruby Mountains), in Northern Nevada. The buyer knew that the owner was retired and planned to move back to California to live near his adult children and grandchildren. He also knew that the house had been on the market for nine months. The buyer made an offer at the full asking price, but asked the seller to include: several major appliances including a chest freezer, two quad ATVs, two snowmobiles with trailer, a fairly new Ford tractor with several implements, three good saddle horses, eight cattle, a four-horse trailer, a hay trailer, a snow blower, a Troy-Bilt roto-tiller, two Husqvarna chainsaws, a barn full of hay, and several cords of firewood. The seller took three weeks to respond to the offer. He reluctantly agreed to all of the concessions, with the exception of just one of the horses.

If you see a property listed on SurvivalRealty.com that interests you, don’t hesitate to go look at it in mid-winter. You may be glad that you did. – J.W.R.

Odds ‘n Sods:

“Boosters” mentioned that there is a Genesis Communications Network (GCN) shortwave/satellite/Internet radio program/podcast called “The Armchair Survivalist:” that airs on Saturdays from 5 to 6 pm Central time. It is also available as an “on demand” podcast. Boosters noted: “Listening to the archival loop today, the host [Kurt Wilson of Survival Enterprises] whom I am sure you know made mention of SurvivalBlog to a “Justin” who called into the program. SurvivalBlog readers might want to give it a listen. It is a nice addition to J.R. Moore’s Sunday RBN program. John also promotes you heavily with regard your books and web sites.”

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Perennial content contributor RBS suggested this useful primer about precious metals coin premiums at The Market Oracle: Why One Ounce of Gold (or Silver or Platinum) Can Cost More, or Less, Than Another…

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Home Foreclosures Hit All-Time High in Third Quarter

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Yesterday, December Seventh, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with the government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific.
Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleagues delivered to the Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. While this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or armed attack.
It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time, the Japanese government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.
The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. Very many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.
Yesterday, the Japanese government also launched an attack against Malaya.
Last night, Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong.
Last night, Japanese forces attacked Guam.
Last night, Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands.
Last night, the Japanese attacked Wake Island.
This morning, the Japanese attacked Midway Island.
Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.
As commander in chief of the Army and Navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense.
Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us.
No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.
I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again.
Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger.
With confidence in our armed forces – with the unbounding determination of our people – we will gain the inevitable triumph – so help us God.
I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December Seventh, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese empire.” – Speech by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, December 8, 1941

Note from JWR:

The high bid is now at $225 in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction, for six items: 1.) a Katadyn Pocket water filter, (with a $200 retail value) 2.) a Watersafe field water test kit ( a $27 retail value), both donated by Ready Made Resources, 3.) A copy of the latest edition of “The Encyclopedia of Country Living” by the late Carla Emery (a $32 retail value) 4.) an autographed copy of my novel“Patriots” (a $23 retail value), 5.) an autographed copy of my nonfiction book “Rawles on Retreats and Relocation” (a $25 retail value), and 6.) a SurvivalBlog Logo Contractor/Operator cap (a $13.50 retail value.) The auction ends on December 15th. Please send us your bid via e-mail.

Letter Re: Storing Nails–Important for Preparedness

I was watching a show last night about the Lewis and Clark expedition and something really opened my eyes, Did you know that when the group left a fort or shelter they built they would burn it down when they left do salvage the nails they used. Apparently nails were worth their weight in gold since they were hand made one at a time. This got me to thinking that in the event of TEOTWAWKI or even a couple year collapse that people will still have to build things and repair their homes. So I wondered how many people thought of stockpiling nails or screws in bulk? In my mind nails would be the best option since it does not take more then a rock at worst to nail into wood and most everyone has a hammer. Screws would be a good choice if you had a power source to either run a drill or recharge a battery as most screws for building require a lot of torque to fasten. Home Depot and most improvement store sell these in bulk 40-50 pound plastic containers. In such an event you can be sure that not all lumber is going to be the perfect 2×4 size so I would error on the side of larger nails say 3 to 3 1/2 inch and maybe even get some larger ones [spikes] for fastening larger items. For general repair a good 2 to 2 1/2 inch nail would be fine. Not only would this be a great thing to have but it would also be a great barter item, like I said before everyone needs to build shelter or repair something and in the event of a collapse I doubt they will be able to run down to the local store and buy these things. Also the larger container you buy the cheaper it is per pound. We as contractors buy 100 pound crates and then break them down into smaller buckets to put in the work trailer. If you do decide to go with screws I recommend the torx bit style (star bit) as they do not strip out the bits or the heads like standard phillips, and stock up on replacement bits too. – Brian S.

JWR Replies: I strongly agree that it is important to stock up on nails, timber spikes (I’ve found that 8″ and 12″ are the most useful lengths), power screws (various lengths), and other large fasteners such as lag bolts. As my mentor Dr. Gary North wrote more than 30 years ago when writing about stocking up for hard times: “Nails: buy a barrel of them. Barrels: buy a barrel of them…”

OBTW, one of my unfulfilled quests in life has been to find a small hardware store that is going out of business and getting to ask the owner: “How much for all of your fasteners?” (Hopefully, at or below their scrap metal value.) That would be quite a coup.

Letter Re: Investigating Your Bank’s Level of Derivatives Exposure

Dear James
With all of the talk about derivatives blow-ups, I decided to do some research on my bank, as I am concerned about the cash that I have in my personal account, as well as the cash that I use for my business.
I first found this Treasury Department PDF and down around page 22, it lists the top 25 banks in the U.S., their assets and
their derivatives exposure. I found that my bank is on the top 25 and has a fairly high exposure to derivatives, but nothing like the top 5. At that point, I decided that
I wanted to move my money to a safer bank.
I checked around and found a local community bank here in town, that has one branch. I went there and met with the vice president to discuss a new account. When she could not answer all of my questions about derivatives exposure, she brought the CFO in to meet me. He gave me a copy of page 5A of their UBPR (Uniform Bank Performance Report), which shows their off balance sheet items and derivatives analysis. They have absolutely no derivatives.
Later,I found that you can check this for any bank at the FDIC web site, by just entering the bank’s name and city:
I thought that some of your readers might find this of interest. My only concern at this point, is that if one or two of the major banks goes under, it could precipitate a run on all banks, which could also affect my new bank. Well, that’s what gold and silver are for, right? Best Regards – Kurt P.

Letter Re: Survivalist Matchmaking Services

Mr. Editor:

I cannot seem to find the people connection place on your site. Do you still have it? Thank you for the wealth of info you provide. – Carol P.

JWR Replies: I recommend three web sites (two paid , and one free) for making connections–whether you are looking to join/form a retreat group, or looking for a spouse. They are:

Conservative Match (paid matchmaking service–based on shared conservative political/social views)

Liberty Mates (paid matchmaking service–based on shared libertarian views)

The Survivalist Groups [“Meet-up”] web page–(a free service courtesy of the folks at SurvivalistBooks.com.If you use this service, then please give SurvivalistBooks.com some business!)

Needless to say, use discretion when using these services. As a prepared individual, you have more to lose that most folks. For your safety and security, it is better to go through a long series of correspondence and to do some background/reference checking before revealing your locale/details, or meeting face to face.

Letter Re: Preparedness for Less Than a Worst Case, From an Eastern Urbanite’s Perspective

Jim,
I found the following in a letter posted on your blog: “Barring TEOTWAWKI, it seems to me that we are infinitely more likely to face moderately scary scenarios, like Hurricane Katrina and necessary urban evacuation, some urban 1970s-style civil disturbance but nothing like Mogadishu, high-intensity individual criminal acts, a low-order terrorist event nearby and the accompanying panic, or some other situation shy of the worst case scenario.”

Do people realize that New Orleans wasn’t far from becoming Mogadishu-like after Hurricane Katrina? Certainly if the water hadn’t flooded the streets it very well could have been much worse. The flood waters actually helping the situation by restricting movement to a degree. And let’s not forget we heard the approved media version of it. Who knows how many people really were killed, wounded or raped.

Certainly we want to hope and pray for the best, but it’s totally unrealistic given recent examples in the United States to think that the low-lifes in society will not take advantage of any and possibly every situation. There’s some good writings out regarding some of what happened in breakdowns and economic problems in other countries- i.e, Argentina, Rhodesia, etc. Here’s some things to consider regarding that:

I would argue that people in third world countries are accustomed to: currency devaluation, military controls, rioting in the streets, high crime rates, food shortages, breakdown of infrastructure [such as extended power failures], et cetera.

So for the average Third World resident these things are not TEOTWAWKI. Now consider the suburbanite in the US of A:, “John Smith”: John is definitely not used to seeing the value of his money vanish before his own eyes. John Smith is not used to getting mugged every day on his way home. John Smith is not used to seeing the military on his street. John Smith is not used to rioting in his city. John Smith is not used to two or three days of brown-outs or black-outs.

John Smith gets angry and extremely frustrated when someone cuts him off in traffic. John’s wife Sally is irate when she loses satellite reception during Oprah and she misses the required reading section. John and Sally’s kids are even worse.

And that’s suburban folks, what most of us would call “middle class.” We won’t even bother to talk about some of the other’s actions, just find the archives of Hurricane Katrina and the New Orleans Superdome and you’ll figure that out. [JWR Adds: Lest anyone consider this a quasi-racist statement from R.H., bear in mind that some of the looters caught on film in New Orleans were white and hispanic. The tendency toward looting and other acts of lawlessness during disasters is tied to economics and whether or not children have a law-abiding, morally-grounded upbringing, not race.]

As survivalists, we need to be careful in our thinking. If we are not mentally prepared for the “worst case” and always assume that the guvmint will bail us out before our “three day kit” nonsense runs out, we are going to be in for a world of hurt. It took about three days for it to get really ugly in New Orleans and one could argue that had a lot to do with weather factors or it potentially would have happened sooner.

A lot of folks have “itching ears” and want to hear that they will be okay in the suburbs, that two weeks of food is enough, that they will only have to ‘brandish’ a firearm and won’t have to actually use it, et cetera. I’d like to personally thank you and the many others on the net that don’t water down the message so as to pander to “itching ears.” Thank you for your commitment to reality – R.H.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Bush to outline 5-year mortgage rate freeze plan. (Don’t miss the reader’s comments below the article.) My comments: Here comes the mega-meddling. Cui bono? And who will bear the cost? I suspect that it will be us, the taxpayers. If so, we will be bailing out someone else’s “I bought a house that I couldn’t afford at the top of the market, and now I can’t sell it” uncontrolled instant gratification and greed. How charming.

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In one of his recent DownRange.tv audio podcasts, host Michael Bane (well-known for his “Shooting Gallery” television show on The Outdoor Channel) mentioned my novel “Patriots” in his list of favorite End of the World genre novels. Be sure check out Michael’s TV show and audio podcasts. He succeeds at being both informative and very entertaining. OBTW, don’t miss the links at Bane’s site to Jim Supica’s series of video tutorials on early double action cartridge revolvers. (A nice way to get familiar with some of the guns mentioned in my Pre-1899 FAQ.)

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Mike in Malaysia sent us this article link: Florida Just the First to Face National Run on the Bank

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I found this economic analysis from an Australian perspective, posted at Gold-Eagle.com: 2008…”Deeper, Darker, Scarier”