Letter Re: Self-Sufficiency–How Do We Do It All?

Dear Memsahib and Jim,
I am a daily SurvivalBlog reader and contributor, along with my husband. I am very interested in learning more how Memsahib and other retreat women manage to do all that they do. How does a day or week in your life go? How do you can, bake, cook, shear, spin, weave, knit, sew, teach, et cetera and get it all done?
We are moving to our retreat soon. I have baked, cooked, knit, learned to spin and weave, and have canned in the past, but not all at once. I forgot to mention clean, wash, take care of a garden, etc. etc.
We need a blog [post] about how to accomplish everything and remain sane. Not to mention home school and run a family, continue church life, etc.
For those of us who have been working and raising a family in a large town and are moving to a retreat life, we need some how to’s!!!
The order of things is of the most importance or we will never accomplish all our tasks!!!

Memsahib, does your work every stop? Do you feel like you have no personal time?

I also work as a registered nurse and will try to continue with my specialty in teaching young mothers how to breast feed and care for their newborns.
Thank you for your input from all of us women who will try to “do it all” on our retreat sites. Thanks again, – Kathie

The Memsahib Replies: Thank you so much for your huge vote of confidence. How nice to think there is a woman out there who thinks that I do it all! 🙂 First let me say first, no I don’t do it all. And secondly I don’t worry about doing it all either.

I’m writing this reply specifically to married women with children. The most important thing is to keep your priorities right: I believe the correct order is: God, your husband, your children, and then everything else after that. Also remember it is not up to you to insure the survival of your family. God is in control of everything. And after God is your husband. I hope this will lift some if the burden that you are feeling. Don’t shoulder the burden of the family’s survival yourself. That is not your role. I think that is usurping your husband’s role of provider and protector of the family.Your job is to be a helpmeet to your husband.

Okay, that said, I have acquired a lot of skills that could be put to use in TEOTWAWKI, but I do not try to do them all now. I think to attempt that would put me in an early grave like my pioneer great grandmothers! I think this is time for learning preparation skills, but if you tried to actually do them all there is no way you would have time to learn any new skills. For example I have a lot of food preservation skills. But at this present time most of our larder is full of mostly purchased foodstuffs. For the satisfaction of it, I have fed my family entire meals from food I personally raised including the milk that came fresh from our cow. It feels great to know I can do it. But I don’t try to do it on a day to day basis.

There are some things that we do that allow for extra time in my schedule. We don’t own a television. I think I get a lot more done for the lack of watching television. Also, I do not have a full time job outside the home. Not having to commute saves a lot of time. Another thing I attribute to getting more done is the fact that we are out in the middle of nowhere, so I don’t shop. There is no place to shop. Every two months or so we stock up to top off our supplies. I also know the capacity of our larder well. I’m very strict with my family about sticking to the list! This saves time and money when we are out shopping. Also we only shop for clothes twice a year when we visit family in the big city. My sister knows all the great thrift stores. And, she knows which department stores have the best sale prices on shoes socks and underwear. If we didn’t have growing children we probably could go several years without buying clothes! By the way. I do know how to sew clothes. And I know how to knit sweaters, hats, socks, mittens, and such. But I don’t make my family’s clothes because I don’t particularly enjoy sewing. (For now, I go to the thrift store. I often can buy down jackets, Merino wool sweaters and nearly new blue jeans for $3 each, and shirts, slacks, blouses, skirts, dresses for less than than that.)

Another thing is that our family does which frees up quite a bit of time for me is cleaning up after themselves. Our children for example clear their places after meals, take their dishes to the sink and putt the scraps in the chicken bucket, and rinse their plates and glasses, and put them in the dishwasher. When there are clothes to be folded at our house all the children fold and put away their own clothes. Our children also have an individual chore based on their age, such as setting and clearing the table, unloading the dishwasher, keeping the wood box filled, and feeding their pets. And you may have realized by now I make use of all the modern appliances which make household chores quicker. In the past, we’ve lived without running water and without electricity. I know I can survive without them, and I may have to in the future. But I sure enjoy the luxury of having them now!

The “survival skills’ that I do practice daily are the ones that I personally really enjoy. I practice them as recreation and relaxation. For me personally that is raising small livestock. I really enjoy going out to the barn and feeding my critters. I especially enjoy my sheep because I also enjoy the fiber arts. I also really enjoy gardening. So my hobbies dovetail nicely with my husbands desire to be well prepared. So what hobbies and interests do you have? Which ones could you cultivate as prepping? Just because I don’t care for sewing doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t be a great dovetail for you.

You might say another one of my hobbies is acquiring “life skills”. Some people have a personality that is suited for focusing on one skill and developing that skill to a master level. My personality is more suited to trying everything. I try to make the most of each situation in which we’ve lived to learn what I can. My motto is: when God gives you zucchini take the opportunity to experiment baking, drying, frying zucchinis! The older women of the communities we’ve lived in have been wonderful teachers. They have taught me how to can pickles, make grape juice, milk goats, make soap, knit socks as well as sharing the abundance of their gardens and orchards. But I in no way feel compelled to now makes all the food we eat from scratch, knit all our clothes, make all our soap, and neither should you!
I would be remiss if I did not say that I think it is very important to use this time of liberty of ideas and travel to attend Bible studies. Yes, you can and should read and study the Bible at home. But, I find that the commitment to do a study with other believers disciplines me to stay in the Word even when life gets hectic. And our pastor has many valuable insights into the Scriptures. If you have the ability to attend a good Bible study, then do it! You may not always have that opportunity because of poor health, high gas prices, lack of transportation, or lack of religious freedom. Reading the stories of prisoners of war, I am struck by how their knowledge of God’s word helped them endure. As the Bible says, “make the most of time, because the days are evil”.

Odds ‘n Sods:

My old friend Jeff moved to England to get his final sheep skin–a doctorate degree. He tells me that the price of gasoline (“petrol”) now averages £1.09 GBP per liter in the Thames Valley, and that he has seen it advertised for as much as £1.50 GBP/liter out on the highways. At current exchange rates, £1.50 GBP equals $2.97 USD. Now, multiplying liters to US gallons (x 3.785) that equates to a heart-stopping $11.24 USD per gallon. Ouch! (For comparison, I most recently paid $2.98 per gallon, locally, but I’ve seen it as high as $3.05) OBTW, Jeff mentioned that SurvivalBlog readers in England might want to get an account at PetrolPrices.com. It is a price aggregator for all of the UK.You can find local prices by entering your postal code.

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Ranger Man posted a great article on cast iron cookware over at the SHTF Blog: Cast Iron is the Ultimate Survival Cookware

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From The New York Times: The Buck Has Stopped. (A hat tip to Manky for sending us that link.)

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Hardly a news flash for SurvivalBlog readers: Gold Beats Financial Assets as Investors Seek Haven

Notes from JWR:

If you value what you read in SurvivalBlog, then please become a 10 Cent Challenge subscriber. I am confident that SurvivalBlog has kept you from making some costly mistakes in your preparations. I am also confident that SurvivalBlog has pointed you toward some investments that have been profitable for you. (When I started the blog in September of 2005, silver was $6.90 per ounce, gold was $445 per ounce, wheat was $3.30 per bushel, and military surplus .308 ball ammo was just $220 per thousand cartridges!)

Less than 2% of readers subscribe, so you can count yourself amongst those few that contribute 10 cents a day. Subscriptions are entirely voluntary, but gratefully accepted.

Today we present another article for Round 15 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best non-fiction article will win a valuable four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificate. (Worth up to $2,000!) Second prize is a copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, generously donated by Jake Stafford of Arbogast Publishing. Round 15 ends on March 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.

Unconventional Bug-Out Transportation Methods, by A. Taylor

I read with interest the inquiry about, what I term a “Bug out Boat”. I made this recommendation several years ago, in numerous survival forums. Most readers seemed unable to process the potential for this kind of plan or it seemed to be impractical to them compared to hunkering down or egress by vehicle. I would advocate that the more eclectic methods of egress from chaos may hold greater potential for success than some mainstream ones. Traditional modes of travel in the modern age are easily controlled by the powers that be, accidents, infrastructure break down, computer problems, electricity (can you say “grid down”?), etc. How many have actually considered (much less planned?) on using the following practical means of getting from Point A to B (whether a short or long distance).

1. Walking- hard work but very quiet and stealthy. Drawback- slow.
2. Bicycle. As long as you can keep your tires inflated, you can travel [at least] three times as fast than as on foot. Drawback- awkward to carry equipment unless you buy a trailer or stroller for the back.
3. Boat/canoe- Who is going to blockading the river or watching it? The river does the work for you if your are going down steam. The preferred method of
choice for hundreds of years by Native Americans, trappers, traders, frontiersmen, market hunters, settlers and soldiers.
4. Snowmobile- Don’t worry about the roads being open. Just try to follow me in/on anything else. Drawback-seasonal.
5. Skis- No trail, no problem. Drawback-seasonal.
6. Motorcycle- Easy to get around that road block isn’t it? Just try to follow me through the woods in your squad car.
7. Ice skates- many frontiersmen/trappers traveled this way up river systems. Drawback-Seasonal.
8. Roller blades-the modernized society equivalent of ice skates. Drawback-Seasonal and depends upon roads and sidewalks being in place.
9. Horse/Horse and wagon/Horse and sleigh – has both advantages/disadvantages, accessibility issues, and disadvantages, but you won’t need electricity to keep them going. Drawback-you have to pay to feed/house them.
10. Dog sled- For those in the far North. Drawback-Seasonal.
11. Para-planes –fuel efficient, no license needed, can land in small areas.
12. Light aircraft- expensive but they are what they are.
13. Freight trains/barges/cargo ships- It seems no matter how much chaos a country descends into, occasionally a train, barge, cargo ship goes somewhere. Drawback-Can be Seasonal depending on low water levels, ice, snow.An undependable mode of transport to plan on using.

The reason you haven’t considered these methods is because we as Americans are too d–n lazy and we carry around too much stuff. If your supplies are pre-positioned, you will need very little physically on you.

We as Americans are pre-conditioned to think first and foremost of the family vehicle almost exclusively. Unless you have a full tank of gas when the grid goes down or an EMP-resistant vehicle, you’re screwed for any number of reasons. Your going to be thrust down a channelized highway of horrors (just ask anyone who has fled a hurricane inland). This highway can easily be barricaded by law enforcement, the military, gangs, or a group of local idiots. Accidents, traffic jams and lack of fuel will prevent you from getting out of the area at the speed which you anticipated.

Not only may you be stripped of your dignity, you may be stripped of all your supplies, valuables, clothes and chastity. If you are counting on the herd to protect you from harm, I have news for you, they will readily look on while you are assaulted (and hope it doesn’t happen to them) and/or they will participate in plundering your belongings (see Katrina stories). If psychologically less than 5% of the population is prepared to act as a warrior or protectors of the flock, which leaves potentially 95% of the population as someone who will not come to your aid or will prey upon you given the situation. I prefer to believe that there is a percentage of 20% of Christians, rural or generally good people, that may not physically risk their life for you, but are none the less, good people who might assist you in other ways. Your car may be a false hope that ends up getting you into a more dire situation or delaying critical choices that need to be made before you start out.

For our purposes I am going to concentrate on canoes and Jon boats. Those heavy ski boats, yachts and sailboats will only work for limited distances or in limited places. If you live near the ocean or the Great Lakes , they will work just fine. If your only using you ski boat to go across the lake or 20 miles down the river, it may work out for you. Do not, however, plan on using them to navigate the Missouri , Mississippi , Ohio River ‘s drainage basins. Those rivers have locks and dams aplenty that you may not be able to portage or pass through in a worst case scenario. Many of the rivers in the Northwest and Southwest are in a similar state except the dams are bigger and often not designed to accommodate navigation (Think of the Bonneville Dam at the Columbia River Gorge, Grand Coulee Dam and over 225 others in the Columbia River Basin . Hoover/Boulder Dam. Upper Mississippi has 38. The Ohio River has around 30, but the Lower Mississippi has none. Missouri River has none from St. Louis to Sioux City Iowa, but the headwaters have numerous Dams and Reservoirs). If the locks have no electricity or they have been told by the military or police not to let anyone through, you’re a sitting duck and it may be game over.

In many parts of the country the boat may be a preferred method because it is stealthy, uses little fuel, can be suitable entirely without fuel, will never be subject to the same amount of usage demands as the highways, will be noticed less by the public/looters/law enforcement/military. The majority of motors out there should be 2 cycle. These are more EMP-resistant and easy to work on.. Most boats will still remain functional even while leaking or having holes shot in them. You would have to be taking on a lot of water from holes below the waterline to make it untenable to remain afloat.Many boats will contain buoyant materials designed to keep the boat afloat. A Marina may be more likely to have fuel available than any gas station. (Note: Kevlar was sometimes used as a hull material for some larger and more expensive ski boats, since it stronger than fiberglass.)

Most of the major river systems are about a half mile across. If you stick to the middle of the channel, anyone trying to shoot at you will have make a shot of an average of a quarter mile. Call me optimistic, but most of the people shooting at you from that distance are more likely to hit you by accident than on purpose. An old USGI Kevlar vest will provide some ballistic protection for your motor or fuel supply. Most bridges will not be suitable for either looters/military/police to set up on, and fire directly down upon you, unless the entire bridge is shut down to traffic. In most cases, anyone trying to get at you will not have any guarantee of actually boarding your vessel. Even if they managed to kill you, your supplies would continue to float down stream and out of their reach. This may discourage any but the most criminally motivated elements of society. I happen to believe that I have a better chance to survive in the water as on any interstate or major highway. If you should happen to run into a motivated criminal element in speed boats, either flee, beach your craft and run, or turn and fight with everything you have. Chances are they won’t want to mess with heavily armed elements on a flat surface with virtually no cover. A bow-mounted belt-fed Browning [Model 1919A4 machinegun or semi-auto equivalent, mounted on a larger boat] would chop any attackers watercraft into matchsticks in no time at all. (I am not endorsing it. I’m just saying it’s a nice idea to consider.)

In the first two weeks of a catastrophe, a miniscule number of people are going to be watching the rivers or lakes. They will be down looting televisions and liquor. The cops will be at roadblocks and chasing looters and arsonists. Your main antagonists are likely to be; federal employees manning the locks/dams, Conservation Officers (since they already have lots of boats, the military (probably a naval reserve unit) or in certain instances, the US Coast Guard. None of this group is usually looking for trouble on the water and Conservation Officers are notoriously cautious when working alone. It’s too easy for them to just “disappear”.

The larger the body of water (in square miles or distance from shore), the more distance or greater buffer you can put between you and anyone who may wish you harm. Night travel by water with no running lights and your motor off, will make you nearly invisible to 99% of the population. Watch out for logs, snags and sand bars and keep a watch out for other boats or you might well be sunk. Night vision might be handy if traveling at night. Many duck and goose hunters have metal supports for blind materials that could come in handy for camouflaging your boat if you choose to lay up during the day at some creek or island.

Your average inner city gang member doesn’t know how to operate a boat and cant swim anyway, but don’t count on it. Even criminals near a resort/sailing/boating area are sometimes familiar with boats. Ever heard of pirates and drug runners?

You could potentially carry much more equipment or personnel with you by means of a boat. Several Jon boats/canoes can be lashed together or roped in parallel (with the front boat pulling all the others in line). In this way you save fuel and have spares engines at hand in case a motor conks out. A boat can theoretically carry quite a load (much more than a car or small truck). However, remember anything you put into a boat may have to be portaged across any barrier. If you don’t like the idea of lugging it in and out of the boat many times, then don’t take it along. If you read a book about fur traders or Lewis and Clark, they often spent an entire day (or days) at a portage site.

Say you come to an inoperable lock/dam, you find an area to unload, carry the boat across land to a suitable location, carry the supplies to the boat, and resume your journey. This will be fraught with peril and hard work. You will need a crew. A minimum of one individual is needed to watch both locations (point A to B) and you will need the individuals necessary to carry everything between those points. The only way to avoid that is to do it so fast nobody notices or take a canoe and only what’s in your pack. If you try to navigate smaller rivers, you will find yourself having to portage across every log jam. It’s no fun, it’s frustrating and it’s slow. You might be better off walking at that point unless you will break through to a larger body of water that will make the endeavor worthwhile.

In a freshwater area, you will have a supply of drinkable water (albeit full of herbicide, fertilizer, and pesticide or toxic waste depending on the area). This is why you have a water filter, right? Food can be supplemented by fishing or trolling (dragging a line behind the boat as you go). A small island might be a good place to stop and cook lunch or dinner. Waste can be dumped over the side or [better yet] buried p[when you go ashore.]

Four Letters Re: Sizing a Retreat AC Power Generator

Mr. Rawles:
I saw that you recently posted my question to the blog, so I thought I’d update you. I ran the tests again and got what I believe to be a more accurate assessments.

My second test showed the refrigerator consuming right at 2.7 KWH (2,700 watts) over a 24 hour period for an average of 112.5 watts-per-hour. Now mind you, that includes all the hours we were asleep and so no one was opening the door, using up ice, etc.. During hours of heavy usage it was using about 150 watts-per-hour.

Test #2 for the chest freezer yielded the following results: KWH usage for the full 24 hours came to 1.02 KWH or 1,020 watts. This is an average of 42.5 watts-per-hour. Mind you, this freezer basically only gets opened once per day when we take out whatever we’re defrosting for dinner. All in all, I’m pretty happy with those results.

The next step is to test our other refrigerator and our upright freezer and to calculate the Amp Hours required (how many deep cycle batteries I’ll need) to build my homemade UPS system.

FYI, I found a really good deal the other day on a 4 KW emergency gasoline genset, and went ahead and bought it. My next big purchase will be a tri-fuel conversion kit from US Carburetion, so I can run her on propane. I know you guys usually endorse diesel as a primary genset/retreat fuel, but I really like the stability and shelf-life of propane – in my area, I can rent a 300-gallon tank (I own two 100-gallon cylinder tanks) from the propane provider for around $50 per year and fill it a little at a time as opposed to making an expensive all-at-once fuel purchase. My logic there being that I can dump a little in each month, so that it’ll be full when I actually need it to be. – JSC in West Virginia – A “10 Cent Challenge” Subscriber

 

Dear JWR:
I was catching up on SurvivalBlog this weekend and noted the article on generator set sizing. The main issue here is that there is a significant difference in the average electrical energy consumption of an appliance and its peak usage. This issue is compounded by electrical devices such as motors which are not purely resistive (i.e. inductive load) and thus have up to 3 times the energy demand to start as opposed to running. This is commonly referred to as “starting current” verses “running current”. When sizing an electrical generator, one needs not only to calculate the total energy consumption of all electrical appliances one anticipates to be running simultaneously, but also to cover the starting current for the item with the heaviest draw. Most electrical motors are labeled with their electrical current needs, commonly listed as starting or peak current and continuous current. In regard to an appliance which doesn’t list this information (such as a refrigerator), the owner needs to use his Kill-A-Watt [meter] to determine the current used while running (typically 3-5 amps) and multiply this by 3 to get a good estimate of the starting current demands.

The process should be to add up the total draw for all the appliances, and then double the highest one and add that also to the total. This will give a rough estimate of the peak current draw, in Amps. To convert Amps to Watts, one simply needs to multiply by the operating voltage (typically 120 or 240 Volts). This assumes that no more than one heavy draw appliance starts at the same time, but to cover all the starting currents would require a much larger generator.

Several years back, during an ice storm, we were living off of an emergency generator rated at 5,000 Watts (6,200 peak Watts ). One should disregard the “peak” rating of typical portable emergency generators since they are uniformly overrated (I have noticed that recently, peak rating is what is listed, look for the “continuous rating”). Our water heater (a purely resistive load, hence no “starting current”) consumed 4,500 Watts. In order to take a hot shower, we needed to turn off all other circuits and allow the water to heat up. After an hour, the water heater was disconnected to allow the well pump to be operated to provide water through the water heater to the shower. This constant switching of loads was a real nightmare.

As a caveat, typical consumer portable electrical generators are not up the rigors of continuous use. Their fuel economy is atrocious; our 5 KW unit uses about 5 gallons of gas in an 8 hour period. They are also typically powered by the equivalent of an air-cooled lawnmower engine. Consider taking your lawnmower into heavy wet grass and mowing continuously for 200 hours. After a week of trying to keep this loud and hungry beast fed, thankfully the power came back on-line. We went with a diesel powered 15KW unit which would even cover the arc welding unit and it uses about 1/4 gallon of fuel per hour during typical household test uses. The gas generator seemed to use virtually the same amount of fuel regardless of the load, but the diesel unit just sips fuel when it is just loafing along, with consumption roughly linear with the load.

When choosing a generator for long term use, I would make several recommendations:
First, if you pump water or want to run a welder or air conditioning unit, you will need at least 10 KW and 120/240VAC capability.
Second, get a unit with double windings so it can run at 1,800 rpm instead of 3,600 rpm (to make up 60 Hz AC power). This vastly improves fuel economy and noise level as well as longevity.
Third, the unit needs to be water cooled. While some air cooled units are built for longevity, they are the exception.
Fourth, think of fuel storage requiring long-term stability. This effectively rules out gasoline, and leaves us with NG/LPG or diesel.

While electrical generators are very useful and highly recommended, their Achilles’ Heel is fuel availability. We store adequate diesel fuel to run the generator full time for approximately two months use, which would extend to one year or more with limited part-time use, but it is still a finite resource. They can be useful as a bridge for short duration (till the power comes back on or we learn to live without). Except in the hottest climates, running a refrigerator or freezer a couple of hours twice a day is adequate with limited door opening. Once the foodstuffs in the freezer and refrigerator are used up, you will still need a manual pump for your water well in TEOTWAWKI. Hope this helps, – NC BlueDog

 

Sir,
The Kill-A-Watt meter is a great tool but [KSC] really didn’t give it a chance to work. If you want to find out how much power your refrigerator uses over the course of the day leave it plugged into the meter for a few days at the minimum.

Most watt meters have the option to see how much power is currently being used by whatever is plugged into it. You’ll want to look at that while the appliance is cycled on. The refrigerators and freezers that I’ve dealt with generally don’t use more than about 150 – 200 watts while running, figure they use about three times that during startup.

In your situation, figure 600 watts startup power, times four appliances would be around 2,400 watts. I’m guessing that there will be other things that you will want to run also (lights, grain mill, battery charger etc.) so you may want to go with a 3,500 watt generator but as long as you aren’t looking to power your whole house from top to bottom with it you don’t really need a huge generator. – MercCom

 

Jim-
Here’s a helpful site for figuring power requirements.

By the way, we all have useful generators sitting in our garages–in our car and/or truck. An inverter will let you tap that power. COSTCO has a 1,000 watt inverter for $65. If you use good sense in using power, and keep your vehicle tank(s) full, you can ride through a temporary power failure. Not bad for $65. But you also will have to buy or make up a pair of cables that will clip to your battery. The provided cables have useless terminals (closed end type) for the battery end of the cables. – Bob B.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Cleveland:ghost town created by America’s loan scandal. Here is a snippet from the article with some downright post-apocalyptic imagery: “…street after empty street of boarded-up houses, their roofs caving in, collapsed balconies hanging from the fronts of buildings. Some people seem to have just upped and left, leaving their belongings behind for the rats and vandals. Owners have put up signs offering their burnt-out homes for a $500 (£250) down payment. Bins and rubbish litter the street. Signs warn trespassers the structures are unsafe. People have spray-painted “No copper” or “No metal” on their doors to deter crooks who have stripped anything of value from these decaying shells. Even brick steps have been ripped off, leaving houses that look as if they are floating on a dark sea of garbage.”

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Credit crisis throws AIG into “uncharted waters”. One quote that was buried in the article that should have had its own headline: “UBS on Friday estimated that the global credit crisis is likely to result in losses of more than $600 billion.

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Green Mountain Gear (one of our advertisers) has an announced a new discount program: The OSG—Optics Savings Group There are three optics purchase choices each month at various pricing levels. These are some “screaming good” deals. You will need to click on “Too Low To Show” GMG Pricing!” and then enter your e-mail address to get the special pricing. Make sure your spam filters are able to let GMG e-mails through.

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RBS sent us an article that is a not-so-subtle warning flag: FDIC Brings Out Retirees to Ready for Bank Failures

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest prop of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge in the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle… Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct; and can it be that good policy does not equally enjoin it?”
– George Washington, Farewell Address to his cabinet, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; September 17, 1796

Note from JWR:

Today we present a guest article, by loyal SurvivalBlog reader William Buppert. It was originally posted at LewRockwell.com, and it is re-posted with the author’s permission. Thanks, Bill!

Arm Thyself, by William Buppert

President Bush has embarked on the final phase of Pax Americana and is ushering in an advanced imperial stage that will endanger every living American. The coming election will assure us that every American will have his Second Amendment rights infringed or predated upon in some fashion no matter which party succeeds (is there a difference except the spelling?). Perennial readers of this site are better versed than most in the predatory nature of the state and its ability to target and vilify those it wishes to eliminate eventually whether through political neutralization such as Trent Lott or lethal means such as Waco or Ruby Ridge. I’d like to focus this essay on the practical application of what Boston T. Party refers to as “liberty’s teeth” or small arms. There are plenty of organizations like Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO) and Gun Owners of America (GOA) which will provide you with all the intellectual ammunition you need to know why you should be armed; I want to tell you how. I want to offer a bare-bones primer on how to get started in amassing your personal armory (contrary to what the government says, an arsenal is where weapons are manufactured) and using the weapons you obtain. I have a military background that spans two decades, shoot competitively and currently instruct tactical firearms so I have left the armchair a few times.

There are plenty of sites from which you can obtain this information but I wanted to provide a fairly painless gateway to get started if you are beginning from ground zero. The black helicopter crowds are chockfull of hunker-down survivalist information which for the most part suffers from their barely hidden desire for the apocalypse to occur coupled with their propensity to be armchair enthusiasts unfettered by real world application of firepower. On the other end of the spectrum, you have the nation’s largest gun prohibition organization, the National Rifle Association, selling plenty of safety-oriented gun practices (while winking lustfully at the Beltway media and other hoplophobes) and ignoring any martial aspects of weapons or gun handling the Founders wrote the Second Amendment for in the first place.

1. Establish a mindset much like the Flinters in F. Paul Wilson’s novels. Fully embrace the initiated non-aggression principle. This is not a call for armed revolt or insurrection. This is summed up as leave me alone or else. Whether you own weapons now or not, you should be fully decided that when, not if, the government comes around to seize them you will relinquish them one round at a time. Or you have had the foresight to properly cache spares and you can hand over that Lee Harvey Oswald Carcano to the nice young men in black ninja suits who are from the government and just want to help you. If you have any doubt about that, stop reading this and take any weapons you now own and donate them to a paleo-conservative or libertarian who cares. You may continue reading if liberty means more than lip service. The right to self-defense should be beyond question to this audience.

2. If you bought one book on the subject, buy Boston T. Party’s book, “Boston’s Gun Bible“ (revised April 2002). Hey, we’re on LRC, you always want a book on the subject. As a matter of fact, this logical and sound compendium of gun stuff is worth a whole shelf of gun tomes. Read it two or three times and always have a highlighter in hand. He’s done all the work for you. You just have to read and heed. It has had a perennial place on my nightstand since I bought it. While those new to the gun community will be amazed at the pedantic disagreements that enliven every corner of the gun culture from ballistics to weapons choice, enquiring minds will really be energized by the level of intellectual ferment once you get the gun habit. If one only read the New York Times or the Los Angeles Times, you’d think all gun owners were backward hillbillies who only Jim Goad could love. Like so many American subcultures, there is a niche for every need or desire. For instance, I disagree with his number-one choice for a battle rifle (M1A versus FN-FAL) but that is the nature of the enterprise.

3. Write this on your whiteboard one hundred times: I will never, ever buy a weapon from a Federal Firearms Dealer (FFL). I will only make private party purchases through gun shows, the classifieds or through friends and neighbors. The Feral (no misspelling) government has developed a devilishly clever system using the BATF as their stalking horse to enable a de facto and de jure gun registration system established at the central government level every time a weapon is purchased at a brick and mortar gun shop. Check your risk tolerance and local and state laws to determine the regulations regarding private sales but the litmus test is easy. If you see guns for sale in your local newspaper classifieds, it is under the government radar (for now). Recent events such as the spate of college campus shootings and the attempts by local and state governments to regulate and suppress every manner of arms employment and provisioning should convince you that time is short. The same applies to ammunition; buy it at a gun show for cash as there is no requirement for a permit (yet) in most states. I hope you are fortunate enough to live in a state unlike Illinois or some of the Borg states in the northeastern part of these united States. When buying these weapons through private sales, always be prepared to walk away if it smells funny. Never buy any weapon that even appears to be fully automatic or is hinted to be. The Class 3 licensing system in the US regulates these firearms in a very draconian fashion under the auspices of the 1934 National Firearms Act. The government has a history of entrapment and provocation. Ask Randy Weaver if a half-inch on a ruler is hazardous to your health or that of your family.

4. I could write a book on what to buy but that is beyond the scope of this essay. Armed conflict is a discipline of distance. Different firearms have envelopes of lethality as distance is increased which is also a factor in accuracy. To paraphrase Boston, a pistol is what you fight your way to your rifle with. Spare no expense since your life depends on these tools. At minimum you need a rifle and pistol for every member of your family. The Glock pistol is the hands-down winner for accuracy and reliability. As to rifles, if you are poorer than dirt, scrape up $100 and buy a Lee-Enfield .303 rifle. These bolt actions are highly serviceable for social work. If you have more money, invest the hundreds and thousands it will take to get a proper battle rifle such as an FN-FAL, M1A or HK91 and all the equipment and ammunition to accompany each rifle for its care and feeding. Be sure to have a minimum of 25 magazines per rifle and ten per pistol. From this point, once you have started to empty your wallet, more equipment will start to appeal to you such as load-bearing gear, body armor and all manner of shooting accouterment. The sky is the limit (and your income).

5. Pay for the very best firearms training you can afford; a single digit percentage of the gun culture pays for professional training and this is the greatest shortcoming you can have. No matter how American the concept of having the most elaborate toys, if you can’t employ them, then their value is moot. Go to Google or Metacrawler, type in firearms training in your state and see who offers it locally or go to the nationally renowned training centers like Gunsite, Thunder Ranch or Firearms Academy of Seattle (my personal favorite for value and quality). Take your spouse, too. She is your primary team-member.

6. Teach your children well. The gun culture has roots as far back as the first settlers in North America. This continuity is a result of parents passing on their knowledge and weapons to their progeny to continue down the line. Exposure to guns early enough can make liberty contagious.

Remember, guns don’t kill people, governments and the criminals they create do. – William Buppert, February 18, 2008

Letter Re: Are Simultaneous Inflation and Deflation Possible?

Hi Jim,
Your excellent post about the possibility of simultaneous inflation and deflation got my head to spinning about ways to protect ourselves from a seemingly near-certain banking crisis. Such a scenario would certainly be a major headache for everyone, no matter how large their bank accounts, but it would be a huge problem for those of us who are in business for ourselves and need a constant cash flow through the banking system to pay payroll, expenses, taxes, etc. Therefore, I wondered if you and/or any of your readers had any suggestions for preparing for banking problems ahead of time, just like we do (and have done) with other areas of life. I find that one of the greatest benefits of your blog is that almost every post stirs me mentally and spiritually, to evaluate and re-evaluate my attitudes and actions when in comes to preparedness, and to pray over them for guidance. Perhaps others have been thinking likewise, especially when it comes to the banking crisis. I’ll start out with my own situation and suggestions, and hopefully others will build on them – or refute them if needed.

My situation is that our seasonal family business usually generates enough in the first 6-9 months of the year to support us for the remainder of the year. In the past, we have kept these funds liquid in our corporate bank account and used them for payroll and regular operating expenses each month as the year progresses. Now, however, I am concerned about a possible banking crises (bank runs, failures, limits on withdrawals, etc.) that is getting more press – even in the mainstream media. How can I best protect my assets, not lose what we’ve worked hard in the early part of the year and still have the money/cash/etc. available for use? I can vividly imagine a full-blown banking crisis like you mentioned in your article – and I shudder to realize that available funds we depend on could be “frozen” for a time (at best) or gone completely (at worst) in such a scenario.

I’ve thought of several options:
1. Spread the risk among several banks by opening other accounts, with each account holding a small amount of our total funds, so that if one bank fails, all our “eggs” would not break in one basket. This would be a bit cumbersome, but could work unless/until things got really bad across the board in the whole banking system.
2. Pull out more cash now and use petty cash to pay for things instead of checks and credit cards. This would be a paperwork nightmare to keep a lot of receipts and could be a security problem, but would certainly be liquid. However, would this also open us up to look like drug dealers or doing something shady?
3. Immediately purchase in bulk any items we would need for the future, prepay any bills for the year, and keep only enough money in the bank to pay large expenses. I like this idea since it would also beat inflation on basic goods we already need and use. We already have a one-year surplus of food and emergency supplies, etc., but perhaps we need more. However, this wouldn’t help meet payroll, taxes, etc., unless we had to start paying our employees in toilet paper and food stuffs!
4. Buy gold and/or silver now with the funds we have. Sell the same later in the year, as the funds are needed, and when the metals (hopefully) have risen compared to the dollar. I’m not sure how feasible this idea is. Would there be any advantage at all, or would my profit get eaten up in transaction/sales fees, etc.? Also, if there were a large scale banking crisis, how do we possibly exchange our gold and silver for FRNs (or whatever the currency may be)?
I can certainly see the wisdom in having supplies positioned in advance and thus be able to “hunker down” in place or at our retreat for a time. There are so many possibilities and variables! Perhaps a combination of all of these – and more – would be best. Well, that’s a start. Thanks for any light you may be able to shed on this. – Greg in North Carolina

JWR Replies: My advice is to use a combination of all of the options that you described, with the exception of option #2. In the coming years, as inflation kicks in, greenback cash will start to seem uncomfortably perishable. OBTW, I suspect that the “$10,000 in cash or equivalents” Federal tax reporting threshold will be frozen indefinitely, despite the unceasing march of inflation. Hence, more and more innocent people will come under undue scrutiny from the IRS.

Letter Re: Concealment Holster Recommendations for a Humid Climate

Jim,
I need to get some concealed holsters for myself and my wife for our Glocks. What do you guys recommend? Thanks, – SF in Hawaii

JWR Replies: For concealment, I generally prefer Milt Sparks brand holsters. However, in your high-humidity climate, anything made of leather is probably a mistake, especially for everyday wear. High humidity means a constant battle against rusty guns and moldy leather. (In Hawaii, nothing ever seems to get really “dry.”) So in your circumstances, I recommend Kydex.

We have been very happy with the Blade-Tech brand Kydex holsters and magazine pouches. We use them extensively here at the Rawles Ranch for our M1911s. We started using them about two years ago, soon after we saw how prevalent they were, when The Memsahib and I went to take a four day defensive handgun course at Front Sight.

See this SurvivalBlog post from March of 2007 for more about holsters in general, and Blade-Tech in particular. Their Inside the Waistband (IWB) model is probably best for concealment. Although their standard holster with a paddle conversion might work too. I have found that people either immediately love or hate paddles, but most folks like IWBs. Remember to get a thick, stiff, and fairly wide belt, regardless of your choice of holster. The belt that you use is crucial for keeping a holstered pistol stable and secure. you don’t want to have it flopping around. When I shop for clothes, one of the first things that I now look for is large belt loops to accommodate a thick, wide belt.

And, FWIW, I’m a big believer in getting stainless steel pistols for everyday carry, especially in humid climates.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Our friend Mike mentioned a web page that shows the contents of various vehicular kits for G.O.O.D., camping, first aid, and so forth.

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Reader Amy Q. pointed us to a post on another site that has some good ideas for building up a second income. As I’ve mentioned before, every family should have a second income that they can fall back on, in the event of a layoff. A home-based business might also grow into something that will be your ticket to living at your retreat year-round.

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Eric spotted this: Bernanke predicts banks will go under. This seems to bit of deliberate posturing, so Bernanke can later say “I told you so.” Speaking of “Helicopter Ben”, Karen found this for us: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Hints at More Interest Rate Cuts

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Also courtesy of Eric: Quantum’s Jim Rogers says US ‘out of control’

Notes from JWR:

Today we welcome our newest advertiser, Uncle Howard’s. They are a builder that specializes in barns, shops, combination house/shops and combination house/RV garages. Their designs maximize storage space, which is important for those that are preparedness-minded and have a lot of logistics to store. Their construction costs are very low. Be sure to visit their web site.

Special thanks to reader “RK” who very kindly sent his 10 Cent Challenge subscription payment in the form of a 1/10th-ounce American Eagle gold coin. That was very kind of you! Speaking of gold, I noticed that the spot price of gold briefly touched $975 per ounce before settling to $973.60 on Friday. Concurrently, the US Dollar Index sagged below 73.70. (When I last checked, it took $1.51 to buy one Euro!) Also on Friday, the DJIA lost 315 points (2.51%). The “Leap Day” Dow sell-off was in reaction to AIG’s huge 6.56% one day loss, blamed on, of course, subprime mortgages. CitiGroup lost 5.19% the same day. Be ready for more turbulence and downward pressure in these markets. If the Dow drops below 11,508 (its low point, in the past year), or if the USD Index drops below 72, there could be what my friend The Chartist Gnome calls “seemingly instantaneous negative implications.” Minimize your dollar exposure, folks!

I’m presently catching up on my backlog of correspondence. The following are some recent letters and e-mails: