Letter Re: Preparedness for Urbanites on a Tight Budget

Jim:
I just finished reading “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”, and it was great. It was very enjoyable and also worthwhile which is a rare combination in fictional literature these days.

While considering my own situation I had some thoughts which might benefit other people or at least be food for thought. I am a college student and with that comes little expendable income and living in a relatively small space in a relatively large town. in short just about the worst situation possible from a preparedness standpoint. Like many readers I am not in a place where buying 40 acres in an inland mountain area with a spring is going to be feasible for years. Up until recently I thought that because I cannot be totally prepared (if that is even possible) there was no point in doing anything at all. After a lot of consideration I realized that any improvement in the area of preparedness is significant and worthwhile. I have started buying extra canned food, ammo and fuel for my portable stove–a little bit at a time.

Having a week’s worth of food, 5 gallons of water [per person per day for a week] and a few boxes of ammo for each gun is an exponentially better place to be then empty cupboards and little or no ammo. I fall into the Dan Fong style of preparedness, so guns and ammo are relatively my strongest area. Back to the point I realized that any long process starts in small steps starting with the most common occurrence and moving to less likely ones. Thinking only about the most extreme (and relatively unlikely) multi generation TEOTWAWKI-type situation makes the task at hand seem so daunting it seems there is no point in even trying.

I think the place to start is by getting your finances in order (which in this context means spending less then you make, and have something of a safety net). It is far more likely that you will have your hours cut back at work, get laid off altogether, or have one of those $500-to-$1,000 spontaneous expenses (car repair, injury, vet bills, appliance failure, etc) then that modern society will stumble or collapse. Far too many people are one or two paychecks away from the poor house and the aforementioned occurrences hit them the hardest. Having a couple months living expenses set aside is the difference between a mild inconvenience and an emergency. Even from a disaster standpoint money matters. Just look at New Orleans during [Hurricane] Katrina; people with some resources had the option to leave! [And conversely, those didn’t have the means stayed put and suffered for it.]

After getting your finances in order, next focus on getting about a weeks worth of supplies, a decent first aid kit and some more ammo. With reasonable planning even lower income readers can do this. The way I did it was to tighten the proverbial belt and free up about 20 dollars a week which now goes for preparedness items. Think that is not possible? Track everything you spend money on for a couple of weeks then sit down and look at what you bought. By making drip coffee at home instead of getting caffèlattes at Starbucks, cooking instead of going out, having your Saturday night couple of drinks at home instead of a bar, et cetera, almost everyone can free up some money.

Next comes one month worth of beans, bullets and Band-Aids. (This is the stage that I am currently working on). After that 90 days, 120, 180, et cetera.

Realistically, a person could probably not ride out TEOTWAWKI living in an apartment but that doesn’t mean that it is not worth being as prepared as possible before circumstances allow for a more rural home. (Or if you do not choose that sort of lifestyle at all.) Take care of each other, – Ryan

Three Letters Re: Storage Foods for Vegetarians?

James:
I know there are a lot of dedicated vegetarians, including my own grandson, who would have great difficulty maintaining their ideal diet in extreme times. There is good chart available, listing plant food protein combinations
I feel that many would have to become more realistic as the hard labor required to stay alive would preclude being picky about your vittles! You would need the extra calories/fat in meat at least to a modest extent to keep up strength and vitality. We eat vegetarian 2-to-3 times weekly just to learn about it and because we just plain love veggies but we still eat quality beef/chicken/turkey/venison raised by locals the that way we would: Grass, no GMOs, and pastured poultry. Have raised all our own in the past and have facilities/land to easily do this again but we try to support our neighbors efforts to provide safe food. – Dee

 

Mr,. Rawles
I ‘m not a vegetarian but I highly recommend Tasty Bites for vegetarian meals. I have been buying them in stores for many years. I have also purchased from them online when a group of us from work purchased a bulk order and saved a lot of money. I keep them in my Bug Out Bag (BOB) as well as at work for days when I don’t want to go out for lunch or for emergencies. I especially enjoy the meals with the basmati rice, such as the Beans, Masala and Basmati Rice. I don’t find them to be very spicy but some may and they are very filling and satisfying!

This page gives you information on which foods are vegetarian, vegan, kosher, or gluten-free. There is information about packaging on this page.

In short, “…Tasty Bite food is all-natural. It remains fresh for 18 months without preservatives or refrigeration. It’s all in the technology we use. The food is cooked and filled into a uniquely designed multi-layer retort pouch. The pouch is then sealed and the food inside is sterilized, using very high heat and pressure. The sealing and the construction of the pouch ensure that no bacteria or other degrading factors can impact the food. This process also ensures greater retention of the food’s original aroma, texture, nutrients and flavor.
The retort pouch has a sturdy four-layer wall. Each layer provides a barrier from damage and keeps the food safe:
The outermost layer is polyester (PET).
The second layer is nylon.
The third layer is aluminum.
The innermost layer that comes in contact with the food is a food-grade polypropylene…”

I hope you find this helpful! – CA in Oregon

 

Hi Mr. Rawles,
For those looking for vegetarian food with long-term storage capability, they might try efoodsdirect.com. I have not purchased from them and have no affiliation. They do appear to have a largely vegetarian-friendly products. Even most of their “meats” are actually Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP). I have considered purchasing from them, but have not done so yet. I hope to come across an independent assessment of their product before spending several thousand dollars and betting my families health and wellness on it. If anyone has used their product or had dealings with them, I’d be interested in hearing the feedback. Best Regards, – Benjamin

JWR Replies: I am quite leery of buying any food storage package containing substantial amounts of TVP (or other soybean products), but many of their other products seem quite wholesome.

Letter Re: Will “Jericho” be Affected by the Current Screenwriter’s Strike?

Hi Mr. Rawles,
Do you know if the Hollywood writers strike will effect the filming of the CBS television series Jericho? If the [spilt season] filming has been completed, I guess that maybe the strike could be the best thing for Jericho since it would be an all-new show in a lineup of [other shows that are] repeats. Regards, – Sam

JWR Replies: I haven’t heard per se, but it is probably safe to assume that most of the Jericho scripts are written by Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) members. I heard from Rourke–the moderator of the Jericho Discussion Group–that the seven episodes for 2008 are completed, so the writers strike should have no effect, at least for this season.

I agree that their mid-season starting date for the new episodes could give it a competitive edge.

Coincidentally, another show that is slated to start at mid-season is “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”. So perhaps both of these quasi-survivalist shows will benefit from the disruption in the regular television season.

According to published reports, “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” will premiere at 8 p.m. on January 14, 2008. It will be run on Monday nights.

“Jericho” will return to CBS in January, on a yet to be-announced premiere date. It is as yet uncertain if it will retain its 9 p.m. Friday slot in the new split season.

It bears mentioning that the previous writer’s strike had a significant effect on the television industry. It was because of that strike that “reality” shows got their real start. (Since they are are only loosely scripted.) If the current strike goes on for more than just a few months I can foresee further changes in the industry. One such change might be the advent of direct viewer participation discussion and “adventure” television shows, via cell phone text messaging and the Internet. These would be analogous to on-line chat rooms and on-line role-playing games. Both would give viewers that are not yet web savvy a glimpse of what is going on in cyberspace.

Letter Re: A Source for Free Coffee Grounds for Composting

James:
I found a good source for coffee grounds for using in [gardening] compost. Starbucks packages their used coffee grounds and it’s free for the taking. The packaged grounds are usually located in a bin in any Starbucks store. If you can’t find it just ask for it and they are happy to supply you. Here’s the link that touches on their coffee grounds program.

I hope that others can find this of use in their applications. – Desert T

JWR Adds: Speaking of coffee, it is interesting to note the value of Starbucks stock have become a barometer for overall market and consumer sentiment. When times are good, Starbucks soars. But recently their profits have sagged. Obviously people are cutting back on discretionary spending, perhaps presaging a deep recession ahead.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Mike in Seattle sent this piece from WorldNetDaily: In event of emergency … call out the military? Could this mean the end of the generations-old protections provided by the Posse Comitatus statutes?

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Anyone looking for like-minded survivalist friends (to join a group or form a new group), or perhaps a potential spouse should be sure to check out the Liberty Mates on-line matchmaking service. Liberty Mates was started as a meeting place for Libertarians, homes schoolers and Constitutionalists, but naturally it has a large crossover survivalist readership. So that you’ll be able to find their site in the future, I have added their URL to the SurvivalBlog Links Page. Who knows? You may find the woman of your dreams there. Odds are that she’ll be wearing a Ron Paul ’08 T-shirt, packing a Glock, and have plans to move to Wyoming.

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Reader Rob G. flagged this one: Brazil reports massive oil discovery — Ultra-deep offshore find challenges ‘peak’ theorists pushing ethanol

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JRH Enterprises (one of our most loyal advertisers) is planning a Black Friday (the day after the US and Canada Thanksgiving holiday) sale, this coming Friday, November 23rd.

Note from JWR:

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 December 15th. Please send us your bid via e-mail.

Off the Record Comments from a Saudi Prince: Possible Collapse of the US Dollar

A big red flag went up on Saturday, when a “must read” article was published on the web site of The Business (a British international business news magazine): Saudi minister warns of dollar collapse. I loved the bit about the inadvertently open microphone. There is something about “off the record” comments about a potential US Dollar collapse that is strangely reminiscent. (I just can’t quite place it…)

Meanwhile, our friend Stephen in Iraq pointed out this article signaling trouble ahead: US inflation reaches 14-month high. The economic pendulum is definitely starting to swing more violently. I predict that things will turn ugly, possibly quite soon. Once the dominoes start to tumble, countless billions will be wiped out overnight. The derivatives markets are now on the multi-trillion dollar scale, and perched on a precipice. Tomorrow’s headlines will be full of: failed hedge funds suspending all redemptions, stock market collapses, currency collapses, emergency controls on expatriation cash flows, mass inflation, huge taxpayer-funded bailouts, corporate layoffs, $150 per-barrel crude oil, bank withdrawal restrictions, full scale bank runs, and soaring credit card and mortgage default rates. I can’t give you specific time frames for any of these, but I can tell you that we are much closer to living out Chapter 1 of my novel “Patriots” than I’ve ever seen before. Be prepared!

I spotted this news story linked at The Drudge Report: The dollar’s decline: from symbol of hegemony to shunned currency. Think this through to its logical conclusion, dear readers. Get your investments out of anything dollar-denominated, as soon as possible. Don’t let the current relative strength of the Euro and Pound fool you. All of the world’s un-backed paper currencies are on the same downward spiral. It just so happens that the US Dollar is now leading the pack in the race to the bottom. In this economically turbulent decade of the Aughts, the safe place to put the majority of your assets is in tangibles. (First and foremost is a viable retreat in lightly-populated farming or ranching land with plentiful water.) Speaking of tangibles, I noticed that spot silver has dipped back down into the $14.40/ounce range. This might be your last chance to buy some before it zooms up past $20 per ounce.

Those off the record comments by Prince Al-Faisal may have some repercussions. When I last checked, the USD Index was at 75.792. It will be interesting to see where it moves when the markets open on Monday morning. Watch the FOREX closely in coming weeks. I think that we can expect to see some deep drama.

Three Letters Re: The Importance of Making Your BOV Less Visible

Mr. Rawles,
For those of us whose BOV is their primary POV, even using flat one-color paint would draw unnecessary attention. Even if your vehicle needs a “normal” (not flat) paint job, my recommendation would be that you keep your choices of colors dull, and earthy.
Charcoals, browns and dark tans are good colors to use, generally popular and available, yet are much harder for they eye to detect than other colors. In daylight and low-light conditions, these colors blend
with every background. Even at night, a moving, flat black vehicle will stand out more than a moving dark gray/dark tan vehicle.
Matt on the Tennessee/Kentucky border

 

Hey Jim,
Wanted to comment on the visibility of a persons BOV in the everyday world as well as while in the bug out mode!
Camouflage has nothing to do with fancy patterns of earth tones panted on your vehicle and everything to do with blending in and being able to pass unnoticed. It is the art of traveling without standing out
or being singled out as something unusual or interesting!

My 25 year-old maroon Mercedes 300D with an almost constant light coat of road grime on it can go anywhere without notice!! The diesel engine is very dependable and gets pretty good fuel mileage and the trunk is large enough to keep a decent kit, spares and tools ready and at hand. It is the kind of BOV that you could walk by in the parking lot of any sized town or city and never look at twice! It is also a lot farther down the list of [most often] stolen vehicles which is also something that should be considered when looking for transportation.

Yes, I have and think that it is smart to have 4×4 options available for bugging out. But I used the same kinds of thoughts when choosing that vehicle, too! Mine looks like (and actually is) an old work truck [with a Reading/Utility “tool” or “service” body]! Once again it blends in due to its low visual attention drawing looks not any fancy paint work. Tools like a More Power Puller and a H-Lift Jack can be safely hidden away and allow you to go most places you want to go with out the attention grabbing camouflage paint, jacked up 4X4 [suspension] with winch bumper and mud tires that towers over the parking of lesser vehicles! – SD in WV
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Jim
In reference to the article on camouflage for your BOV. Your point is well taken as to not drawing attention to your vehicle by use of abnormal paint schemes before and during travel to your secure site. A very simple way to camouflage a vehicle after arrival at your site is to simply cover it with mud. Once it bakes on for a few days it seems to become impervious to rain. This is quick, simple, and requires little preparation depending on your location. I’m sure you have seen 4x4s coming in from a weekend playing in the back country and it is sometimes hard to determine what make they are let alone what color. I’ve spent a couple of weeks at a time camping and hunting in back wood areas and due to the accumulation of mud on my 4×4 it began to blend in quit well with the surrounding landscape. Once I had a hard time locating it from a distance when it was parked in the edge of a meadow next to pine timber. From across the meadow, about 300 yards, it was near invisible and I knew where to look. If the paint is already a good background color such as brown, tan, gray, this will help with the process. Also eliminate as much chrome as reasonably possible. Parking in a shaded area such as under trees also helps. – Jack R.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Thanks to SJC for sending this: Virulent form of cold virus spreads in U.S.. The general trend is for mutation into less virulent forms, but sometimes a “sport” shows up.

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Hawaiian K. sent us this: The Prophet of Climate Change: James Lovelock–One of the most eminent scientists of our time says that global warming is irreversible — and that more than 6 billion people will perish by the end of the century

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Michael Panzner, writing in his Financial Armageddon blog, posted an article about how troubled Fannie Mae has changed how it calculates the value of bad loans,: A Bearish Treasure Hunt. (Thanks to D.V., for the link.)

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Thanks to Eric S. for sending us this: GE money fund redeeming 96 cents on the dollar

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand." – Joel 2:1 (KJV)

Notes from JWR:

The high bid is now at $210 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.) Please send us your bid via e-mail.

Many thanks to the five new subscribers that signed up for 10 Cent Challenge subscriptions this week. (This was unusual, since we usually get just or two new subscriptions per week.) These subscriptions really help pay the bills here. Less than 2% of SurvivalBlog readers subscribe. To those of you that do, my sincere thanks. Subscriptions are entirely voluntary and without the PBS/NPR-style guilt trips and arm twisting, nor with endless pledge drive chatter. OBTW, we don’t even send out subscription renewal notices, so please mark your calendars. Thanks!

Letter Re: Show Caution When Dispensing Charity

Jim,
I read the letter posted about showing caution when dispensing charity. I like the “give ’til it hurts” philosophy from “Patriots” a lot. I have had some training on handling displaced refugees/evacuees/displaced persons which I hope could benefit some readers. I would strongly suggest dividing charity into two distinct areas; charity to neighbors (fixed location) and charity to refugees (mobile). The main purpose of giving aid to refugees is to enable them to keep moving along. Give them water and (if you can spare it) food that they can prepare later when they stop for the night and anything they are desperate for if you can spare it, give them advice about routes and potential destinations. Do not cook for them or allow them to cook and under no conditions let them camp or sleep over, unless you want to adopt them. There is no better way to make a group stick around better then feeding them and letting them sleep! Give them what you can and keep headed down the road! To give credit where credit is due I though dealing with this situation was handled well in “Patriots”.

When dispensing charity to neighbors in a long term TEOTWAWKI situation I would suggest sticking to teach a man to fish type items like fish hooks/nets, game snares, seeds, etc. Unless you are able and willing to feed the neighbor for a prolonged period of time (i.e. through winter until they can plant and harvest crops with the heirloom seeds you give them) I would not start. Telling a neighbor that you can’t continue feeding his family seems like the beginning of a real nasty problem to me.

Thanks for the great work keeping this blog going. Seeing what interesting new stuff gets posted is a highlight of my day and unlike most entertainment is could someday help me out.

Letter Re: New-Found Respect for .223 as a Potential Man Stopper

Jim:
When you stop an think about the thickness of the human chest as compared to a large well-muscled deer they are about the same.
This is what my family and our friend have done with the same .223 rifle this year:

– Buck 150 yards one shot one kill. Dropped on the spot, dead.
– Doe 125 yards one shot one kill. Walked five feet and dropped dead.
– Doe 220 yards one shot one kill. Dropped on the spot, dead.
– Doe 275 yards one shot one kill. Dropped on the spot, dead.
– Buck 400 yards one shot one kill. Walked and dropped dead fifty feet from impact.

The rifle: 24 inch heavy barrel 1 in 9 twist, bolt action with a scope, hand loads Nosler .224 68 grain solid base moly hollow point boat tail screaming out of a moly barrel. Point of impact, just behind the shoulder.
All shots were taken from a standing rest or prone.
The meat damage not a bad as a .30 caliber, but the shock of a hollow point moving at a very high speed does a real number on them. This bullet one seems to explode internally. They just stand
there a minute, then fall over dead. All the bleeding is internal.
Now I am a big .308 fan but my respect for the .223 just went up 500%. Now we have one more doe tag to fill and we are looking for a 500 yard shot.
So when the SHTF do not forget the little .223., especially one that is dialed into a sub-1/2 minute of angle (MOA) accuracy.

Speaking of dialing in a rifle, everyone should get to know every rifle they plan to depend on, and every scope they plan to use. Commonality in scopes is just as important and commonality in rifles.
Kind regards, – Martin

Letter Re: Recommended Spare Parts for Firearms

Sir:
I am interested in acquiring a good stock of spare parts for my firearms but am not sure where to start. For my AR-15 I got a spare parts kit which covers all the likely culprits for failure (I know it well enough to be sure of that). Eventually I will get an extra bolt carrier group for it. However I do not know enough about the parts that tend to fail for other firearms in my collection. The other firearms I am concerned with are: Springfield Mil Spec .45 [Colt M1911 clone] , Mossberg 500 12 gauge, Ruger 10/.22, Winchester [Model 18]94 30-30. Any advice be it specific or general would be greatly appreciated as having a 10 dollar part break and render a precious weapon useless would really ruin my day. – Ryan

JWR Replies: The most robust gun on your list by far is the Winchester Model 1894. They hardly ever break. I have seen a few that were badly abused in the field. A surprising number of these lever guns end up with broken stocks, when horse take a roll. (Which often bends the tang.) Rear sights occasionally get broken and, less frequently, magazine tubes get dented.

The basic high breakage parts for nearly all semi-auto guns to consider “musts” for spares are: firing pin, extractor, and ejector.

Some firearms designs have parts that are notoriously prone to breakage. (For example, the forend bars on Ithaca Model 37 shotguns and the rear sights on Ruger 10/.22s. Be sure to do some research at the various Internet forums for gunsmithing discussions on each gun make/model that you own. One of the most comprehensive gun forum sites is GunBoards.com.

Surprisingly, from what I’ve heard in conversations with several gunsmiths, they replace more lost parts than they do broken parts. Any small part that is removed during cleaning and that is under spring tension is likely to go flying off into the weeds. (Or just across your garage workshop, never to be seen again. “Been there, done that.”)

I don’t feel personally qualified to make recommendations on spares for Mossberg 500 series shotguns, but since I’ve owned all of the others, here are my comments on them:

For AR-15s, I recommend:

Firing pin and 2 firing pin retaining pins

2 Extractors, 3 extractor pins, 2 extractor springs, and 3 extractor spring nylon inserts

Buffer retainer pin and spring

Ejector with spring, and pin

Ejection port cover assembly complete, plus 3 spare C-clips. (The C-clips are almost microscopic.)

Buttstock

1 pair of handguards

20+ magazines


For Ruger 10/.22 rifles, I recommend:

Firing pin

2 Extractors

2 Trigger group retaining pins

Ejector (The little plate that flops around in the top of the trigger group when it is removed)

2 rear sight assemblies, complete

5+ magazines. (I particularly like the Tactical Innovations milled aluminum magazines. They are fully adjustable, feed flawlessly, and are practically bombproof.)


For M1911s and Clones, I recommend:

Firing pin, spring, and retaining plate

Slide release

2 Extractors

Barrel bushing

Mainspring and plug

Ejector and 4 pins

Triple leaf spring

12+ magazines. (I prefer original Colt, Metalform, and Shooting Star brands. Most of the aftermarket magazines are not worth buying. See my M1911 Magazine FAQ for details.)

 

For Winchester Model 1894 rifles, I recommend:

Firing pin

Magazine tube

Rear sight assembly, complete