Two Letters Re: Seeking Advice on Assembling Web Gear

Sir,
In a recent post you mentioned unbuckling your ALICE belt when going prone. I learned a little trick in ROTC using a carabiner and two pieces of 550 [parachute] cord. First, adjust belt the way you want it. Second, tie the two pieces of 550 cord onto the end of the ALICE belt and hook them together with the carabiner. Adjust the length of the 550 cord to get the slack needed when going prone. This allows you to keep your belt buckled but when you need additional slack, just release the buckle and the 550 cord keeps the belt from flopping around too much. Don’t tie the 550 cord together, as the carabiner allows you to unhook the belt quickly if you fall into a creek or river and need to dump your LBE – Bill N.

Dear Jim:
Thank you for referring readers to us for advice on web gear. At BulletProofME Body Armor we are authorized dealers for Blackhawk and SpecOps tactical nylon gear, but really our focus is body armor. Normally we only do quantity orders for tactical nylon, outside of specific armor-related items we stock. But we can give some good advice on the questions to ask to help avoid major mistakes.
There is such a huge selection to choose from these days, and so many different situations, it is hard to give universal advice. Some basic questions are in order – and probably mandatory to remind “gear freaks” to keep it practical! 😉 . There is no one right solution, and all solutions have tradeoffs:

1. What are the possible situations / circumstances ? Under contract for a year of security duty in “the Sandbox”, or trying to keep the neighborhood secure during a power outage… As Stephen Covey says, “Begin with the end in mind”.

2. What do you really need to carry? More weight and bulk = less mobility. versus “two is one, and one is none”.

3. How discreet do you need to be? A basic kit on a belt might be preferred to avoid the martial image that a full chest and drop leg rig gives off. On the other hand, if you were doing a ‘Neighborhood Watch on Steroids” in a post-Hurricane Katrina type situation, you might want to be more overtly armed and armored to deter looters.

4. In a similar vein, does the setup identify you as one of the good guys? In a chaotic active shooter incident you don’t want to be the recipient of “friendly fire”.

5. Used with, or without a backpack, or day pack?

6. Can you access your most time-critical items standing, kneeling, sitting, prone – or in a vehicle? (By the way, the practice of putting lots of equipment on the belly area is a really bad idea when you really need to get low and prone…)

7. Can you get in a vehicle and drive reasonably comfortably with the rig on?

8. Can you keep your pistol and spare mag in the same place whether it is concealed carry, open carry, or on a tactical rig? This is so that your pistol draw (and spare magazine draw) are always the same in your muscle memory. You probably don’t have the time to do the amount of draw practice you really should right now – why add another draw to practice? Keep it simple for your muscle memory with less chance of a slow or fumbled reaction under life-threatening stress.
A similar line of reasoning applies to rifle magazine pouch placement – keep it simple and consistent.
For example, assuming you are not a full-time SWAT officer, holsters on drop legs are probably not such good idea, unless you can really make the time to practice a different draw stroke until it becomes instinctive under high stress. (We do recommend drop legs for additional ballistic protection and secondary pouches.)
A belt attached to armor is a great idea to keep it consistent, and all one piece.

9. How fast can you put the gear on? Waking up to the sound of breaking glass at 3 a.m., or a patrol officer pulling up to a bad scene – then it had better be fast to throw on. Keeping it to just a belt is faster, or all web gear on one piece of armor with MOLLE [attachment points].

Some options for speed:

Spare ammo already on the rifle
A “Grab and Go-bag”
Bandoleers (Note that these can flop around, but they are very fast to throw on.

Yours truly, – Nick at BulletProofME.com

Odds ‘n Sods:

 Reader N.L. spotted this useful article at the Backwoods Home magazine web site: Bury a gun and ammo for 15 years. (BTW, I consider a subscription to Backwoods Home magazine for families that are seeking genuine self-sufficiency.)

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Eric flagged this Wall Street Journal piece: Bumpy Crop: Farming’s Sudden Feasts and Famines, As Grain Prices Rise and Fall and Perhaps Rise Again, Growers Struggle to Navigate a New Age of Volatility and High Costs

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The Werewolf (SurvivalBlog’s correspondent in Brazil) must have been thinking about the snow-bound Great White North when he spotted this snow bike and sent us the link.

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The Economatrix sent all these: Wall Street Makes Gains as GMAC Gets $5 Billion Lifeline — US Confidence Sinks to Record Lows — Home Prices in 20 Cities Drop 18% in October Alone — Holiday Sales Drop to Force Bankruptcies, Closings — Japan Banks May Get $110 Billion Bailout — New Thai PM Warns of Shattered Economy — UK Workers to Face Layoffs and Pay Cuts in 2009 — Crackdown on Hedge Funds After Madoff — Celente: Top Trends 2009 — People Pulling Up to Pawn Shops Today are Driving BMWs and Cadillacs — Annus Horribilis 2009

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“While 2008 will probably be best known as the year that global stock markets had their values cut in half, it was really much, much more. It was a year in which every major asset class – stocks, real estate, commodities, even high-yield bonds – suffered significant double-digit percentage losses, resulting in the destruction of over $30 trillion of paper wealth. To blame this on subprime mortgages alone would be to dismiss an era of leveraging that encompassed derivative structures of all types, embodying a belief that economic growth was always and everywhere a certainty and that asset prices never go down.” – Bill Gross

Letter Re: Home Invasion Robbery Countermeasures–Your Mindset and Architecture

Dear Mr. Rawles:
First and foremost thank you for your novel “Patriots” which I am currently reading.

I live in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex. As of late there seems to be a rise in the number of “home invasion” type of crimes in this area. Every morning that I go to work I hear about a new incident in the metroplex. This has led me to put inside locks on my bedroom doors and purchase my first gun. I consider myself one of those “know enough to be dangerous” people, but am planning on taking a handgun safety course . I’d like to know your thought on preparedness for these “home invasion” crimes which are on the rise. Once again thank you for your novel which has opened my eyes to just how unprepared I am. Sincerely, – Geoffrey T.

JWR Replies: You’ve surely heard the phrase “caught off guard.” In my opinion, almost the entire American citizenry has been systemically “off guard” since the end of the US Civil War. There are two fundamental weaknesses that make American homes vulnerable to home invasions: a condition white mindset, and appalling architectural weakness. I’ll discuss each.

Condition White Mindset

First and foremost is an almost universal Condition White mindset. This refers to the Cooper situational awareness color code for “unaware and unprepared”. The vast majority of the urban and suburban population spends 90% of their daytime hours in Condition White. They do a lot of idiotic things, like failing to keep their doors locked at all times, and failing to keep loaded guns handy. Most folks lock their doors only just before retiring each evening. So most daytime and early evening home invasion robbers simply stroll in to unlocked houses and catch the occupants flat-footed. By adopting condition yellow as your norm, and by taking the appropriate security measures, you will tremendously lessen you vulnerability to violent crime, including home invasions.

Architectural Weakness

Secondly, 150 years of relative peace, stability, low crime rates, and cheap energy have worked together to push American residential architecture toward very vulnerable designs. Modern American homes are essentially defensive disasters. They have huge expanses of glass, they lack barred windows or european-style security/storm shutters, they lack defensible space, and they often have no barriers for the approach of vehicles. Another ill-conceived innovation is the prevalence of floor plans that situate the master bedroom at the opposite end of the house from the children’s bedrooms.

For the past 25 years, one of the hallmarks of “bad neighborhoods” in the US has been the prevalence of barred windows and beefed-up doors. These are neighborhoods where the prevailing crime rates have pushed the majority of the population into Condition Yellow as a full time baseline mindset. Given the upswing in crime rates that will undoubtedly accompany the coming depression, I wish that everyone in the ostensibly “good neighborhoods” had this same outlook. I don’t find it all surprising that criminal gangs now specifically target wealthy suburbs for home invasions, for two reasons: A.) That is where the good stuff is, and B.) These residents are sheep for the slaughter (given the prevailing condition white mindset.)

One of the most chronic defensive lapses is American suburban architecture is exterior door design. Typically, entrance doors either have widows immediately adjacent, or set into the doors themselves. Even worse is the ubiquitous sliding glass door. Nothing more than a brick or a paving stone tossed through the glass and bingo, instant access for home invaders, with the fringe benefit of instant fright and surprise for the occupants just inside, who will likely be startled by the crashing noise and flying glass. SWAT and MOUT trainers call this a form of “dynamic entry”. There are umpteen variations. You may recall the use of a piece of patio furniture in Robert DeNiro’s dynamic entry of Van Zant’s house in in the movie Heat. Another is the vigorous application of a 5- or 6-foot length of steel pipe or a more specialized tool, in (the proven “break and rake” technique preferred by the British SAS and SFOD-D (commonly called “Delta Team”) to quickly clear any protruding shards of glass).

America in the Near Future = Welcome to South Africa

In South Africa, the crime rate has been so high for so long that it has changed the way that people live in a day-to-day basis. Every stranger is viewed with extreme suspicion. Automobile drivers regularly refuse to pull over if they are involved in a minor traffic collision, for fear that it is a pretext for a car jacking.

Threat Escalation and Proactive Countermeasures

Modern military planners often talk in terms of threat spirals. In essence, a given threat escalates and it inspires a defensive countermeasure. The ideal situation is “getting inside your opponents threat spiral”–meaning that your anticipate your opponent’s next escalation, and proactively take countermeasures, insulating yourself from the future threat.With that in mind, here are some thoughts on potential home invasion threat escalation and countermeasures (perhaps some SurvivalBlog readers would care to add to this list):

1.) More frequent home invasions. The worse the economy gets, the more crime we can expect. Home invasions and kidnappings are likely “growth” areas.

2.) Use of dynamic entry tools by home invaders. We can expect them to use commercial or improvised door entry battering rams and Hallagan tools–like those use by police. This means that just standard solid core doors by themselves will be insufficient. Switching to steel doors and.or adding sturdy cross bars will become common practice.

3.) Possible use of vehicle-mounted battering rams.

4.) More frequent and elaborate police impersonation by home invasion gangs.

5.) Larger, better equipped, and better organized home invasion gangs. Larger gangs will be able to invade a home–conceivably even when there is a party in progress.

6.) The potential use of cell phone jammers.

7.) More elaborate ruses as pretexts to get homeowners to open their doors. For example, not only will the “point man” be dressed as UPS driver, but there will be a very convincing looking UPS truck parked at the curb.)

8.) More home invasions at any time of the day or night.

9.) More use of pepper spray and other irritants by home invaders.

10.) Use of large diversion such as explosives to draw law enforcement to “the other side of town.”

11.) More elaborate intelligence gathering by home invasion gangs–researching exactly who has cash, fine art, gemstones, precious metals, or jewelry in their homes. (BTW, this is just another reason to practice good OPSEC.)

Given these possible threat spiral escalations, you might consider building a dedicated “safe room”. I can think of no better way to get inside the bad guys’ threat spiral. Such a room could serve multiple purposes, including “panic room”, gun and valuables vault, storm shelter, and fallout shelter. (And hence, provide you family with solutions for multiple scenarios. The folks at Safecastle (and other specialty contractors) can build these both aboveground or underground, with special order inward-opening vault doors.

You mentioned putting a lock on your bedroom door. This is usually insufficient, since most interior doors are hollow core, they typically use lightweight hinges, and they have insubstantial strike plates. Most of these doors can either be knocked down or knocked though, in very short order. I recommend replacing your bedroom doors with heavy duty exterior type doors (preferably steel) with heavy duty hinges and one or more deadbolt locks. If your house has all the bedrooms isolated on one hallway, then I recommend adding a heavy duty door at the end of that hall, and keeping it locked at night. (Basically a “safe wing” for your house) Then, inside of that safe wing, you should have a far more secure dedicated safe room that your entire family can retreat to, before the outer layers of defense succumb to physical attack.

Redundant communications are important, so you can solicit outside help. Both the master bedroom and the safe room should have hard wire (“POTS“) telephones that are serviced by underground lines with no visible junction boxes. Be sure to test using a cell phone, as a backup, from every room. Having a CB radio in your safe room also makes sense. OBTW, one of my consulting clients in New Mexico intentionally installed a vertical 3”-diameter air exhaust vent from the ceiling of his safe room/fallout shelter to his roof. Using a broomstick, he can pop the slip-fit flapper valve loose, and then use the pipe as a conduit for flares from his HK P2A1 flare 26.5mm flare pistol! He reported that he has tested shooting meteor flares “up the spout”, and it worked fine. Very clever.

The Ultimate Solution: Designing for Security from the Ground Up

I most strongly recommend that the next time that you move, that you buy a brick or other masonry house and upgrade its security, or better yet, start with a bare lot, and custom build a stout house with and integral safe room, from scratch. As previously discussed in SurvivalBlog, two good starting points for house designs are Mexican walled courtyards and building with square bastions (also known as Cooper Corners). These projecting corners eliminate the “blind spots” that are common to typical square or rectangular houses.

For greater detail on this subject, I recommend Joel Skousen’s book “The Secure Home.” My novel “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse” also has some detailed design description for ballistically armored window shutters and doors, as well details on constructing neo-medieval door bars.

If you are serious about custom building or retrofitting an existing house for increased security and/or adding a safe room, then I recommend the architectural consulting services of both Safecastle and Hardened Structures.

Letter Re: Seeking Advice on Assembling Web Gear

I love the questions on web gear. Best advice I can give, having gone through multiple iterations of trying this and that, is to divide up your load. What do I mean by this?

In the military they have a “combat load” and an “approach load” concept. Your “combat load” is the web gear that you see troops with all the time – their “battle rattle.” On the other hand the “approach load” is similar to what we would refer to as a survival load (roughly).

The major problem with web gear is that it does not work with any backpack that has a waist belt unless you set it up to not carry anything on the pistol belt unless it is carried with a drop leg (thigh) type of setup. Oops, no ammo pouches or canteens on the pistol belt. That means that forget the cheap ALICE gear etc. unless you plan on walking only for a day and not even spending the night in bad weather. You have to go with a vest type setup right out of the gate if you want to use a large backpack.

Personally, I have used an Enhanced Load Bearing Vest (ELBV) and H-harness that can carry eight M16 magazines in chest mounted pouches, or a no-name (custom made) survival vest that carries magazine pouches on the belly with some success. I prefer the ELBV as it can take all the cheap ALICE gear in a pinch. It also does not dig into me when I go prone like the other vest (which I only use when I am out hunting any more as it makes the perfect day pack with minimal survival gear – which is what it was designed for). I then have my pistol in a drop leg holster so that it rides below both the pistol belt and the backpack waist belt. On the other side I have a knife in a drop sheath and pistol magazine pouches in a drop leg configuration (holster and magazine pouches from Black hawk).

Water is in a hydration bladder inside the backpack as well as two one quart canteens (you can’t beat the old canteen cup and canteen cup stove with any modern gear) and two two quart canteens in or on the backpack. I would recommend people look at the Kifaru line of backpacks – they are rock solid (mine has survived three trips to the Middle East and one swing through Afghanistan) and built by the guy that started Mountain Smith. They are pricey but they don’t fail in the field and wear like a dream.

I also carry on the outside of the backpack a Camelbak hydration pack with 100 ounces of water. It has just enough carrying capacity to make up for the butt pack that I used to carry on my pistol belt (poncho, some food, and SERE gear). In a fight I can ditch the backpack in under a minute, get the Camelbak on, get one of the two one quart canteens clipped on, and shove the Russian Spetsnaz shovel into the loops on the Camelbak (designed to carry ice axes) after I take it off of the larger backpack. So, while not perfect it is the best thing I have found to date.

A couple of tips no matter what brand/setup you go with. First, go prone and roll around on the ground. Your magazine pouches should not dig (try to land on one if it digs into your diaphragm …) and at least some of them should be accessible regardless of the position you are in. Second, you should be able to roll over and over and low crawl with the rig. I saw one kid with a ton of gear not be able to get low enough behind a street curb one time and he ended up a casualty. [JWR Adds: One reason that I prefer traditional pistol belts and suspenders is that by simply unbuckling the pistol belt latch, any pouches in the front can be pushed to the sides (putting all the weight on the suspenders), allowing the wearer to low crawl effectively.] Remember that hard objects in your backpack become shrapnel when hit by bullets. Third, when you jump up and down you should not make any noise.

When you are done with your web gear buying and backpack buying and you start to load up, keep this in mind. On your web gear you only want those things that you will need in a fight.

The Colonel that was portrayed in the movie “Blackhawk Down” now has an infantry battalion in Iraq. Because of his experience with the [Mogadishu] “Blackhawk Down” affair he now never leaves his compound without having at least 30 loaded magazines on him. Plus he carries a combat lifesaver kit. This outfit has the best ones on the market today. – Hugh D.

Odds ‘n Sods:

In the wake of the real estate collapse comes inevitably: Squatters: The latest real-estate menace. (A hat tip to Hoffmama.)

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Several readers sent this: As if Things Weren’t Bad Enough, Russian Professor Predicts End of U.S. (Of course, consider the reliability of the source.)

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David D. mentioned that Farm Show magazine has lots of articles with energy saving ideas, including: “Wood Gas Generator Produces “Free” Power”, a Coal-Fired Grain Dryer, Biodiesel Generator Powers Up On Veggie Oil (or Almost Any Oil) , and Manure Furnace Burns All Kinds of Waste.

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Florida Guy mentioned another Nanny State scheme: Oregon attempts mandatory GPS car tracking of all new autos

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The latest Glut-‘o-Gloom from Cheryl: Kerkorian Sells Off Remaining Ford Shares — Oil Surges on Concerns Mideast Violence will Disrupt Supplies — Fallout Begins After Dismal Holiday Season — Ruble in Trouble — 10 Things that Won’t Survive the Recession — Crisis Batters American Small Businesses — In a Recession, Execs Make a Quick Getaway — Stocks Pull Back Amid Mid-East Tensions — Dollar Rocked by Mid-East Violence — Wall Street Faces Record Losses in Last Week of 2008 — Shoppers Even More Finicky

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle." – Edmund Burke, 1770

Notes from JWR:

Just three days left! More than 625 SurvivalBlog readers have bought Foodsaver vacuum packers at the special December sale price. I consider a home vacuum packer & sealer a key item to own for family preparedness. These greatly increase the storage life of foods. They also allow you to inexpensively buy foods in bulk and then pack them in single meal sizes. This capability alone will make the Foodsaver pay for itself in less than a year. And if you get the optional regular mouth Mason jar vacuum sealer attachment for an extra $8.99 your Foodsaver will be even more versatile. (They all come with a wide mouth Mason Jar attachment as a standard accessory.) We get a little “piece of the action” for each Foodsaver that is sold using our link. So this a is a great way to save money and to support SurvivalBlog! Don’t miss out on this sale! You can buy a FoodSaver v2830 for $59.99 (originally $169.99) with free Standard Shipping for orders over $100, directly FoodSaver.com. Be sure to use code L8FAV28 at checkout. This offer is valid during the month of December, or while supplies last. We’ve had one here at the Rawles Ranch for many years and it gets a lot of use. Buy a FoodSaver. You’ll be glad that you did!

Today’s first post was inspired by the recent drop in both crude oil and refined oil prices, following their huge bull market for the past three+ years. (Short term deflation is now upon us, but I predict that inflation will be back in the long run, with a vengeance!) It is a piece from the SurvivalBlog Archives, circa October, 2005. In retrospect, I can see that I was right about my predictions on fuel and grain prices.

Note that there are now nearly 5,800 archived SurvivalBlog articles, letters, and quotes, all available free of charge!

From the SurvivalBlog Archives: Inflation–Past, Present, and Future

It has been said that nothing is inevitable except death and taxes. But personally, I add inflation to that list. Inflation is an insidious hidden form of taxation

We’ve been robbed! According to The Inflation Calculator, what cost $100 in 1905 would cost $2052.36 in 2005. The U.S. dollar has lost 95% of its value in that time. (If you were to buy exactly the same products in 2005 and 1905, they would cost you $100 and $4.87 respectively.) The inflation rate jumped considerably in the 1960s and 1970s. It is no coincidence that the U.S. Treasury stopped minting real silver coins in 1964.

Even it this current era of supposedly”low” inflation, the depredations of inflation are inexorable– but just slower. It is like watching a 50 pound ice block sitting in the sun. The real rate of inflation is presently about 6.5%. Thus, you need to make at least 6.5% a year on your money just to keep pace with inflation. In the long term the concept of “saving” for retirement is almost fallacious, especially when you consider the bouts of inflation that are likely to occur in the next 20 years. The twin deficits–budget and trade–will inevitably lead to much higher rates of inflation in the years to come. Perhaps we’ll even experience a full-blown hyperinflationary currency crisis that will wipe out the value of all of our dollar-denominated investments in just a few months. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: If you want to protect yourself from inflation, then buy tangibles. My late father used to be fond of saying: “There are three kinds of people in the world: People who make things happen, people who watch things happen, and [the majority of people,] the people who wonder, ‘What the heck happened?'” Inflation is a process that is so subtle that the majority of people do not recognize it for what it is.

It is safe to assume that inflation will continue, and will only get worse, especially with commodities. Oil will likely double in the next 18 months. So that means corresponding increases in gas, diesel, and home heating oil. Wheat, rice, and other commodities will also jump up in price. They too, may double soon. Protect yourself from inflation. Stock up on tangibles. Not only is it wise to be prepared physically, but you can also consider these tangibles a prudent investment.

Two Letters Re: Jerry Cans Killed Nationwide by California Political Correctness

Mr. Rawles,
I just wanted to get the word out to all that have not heard yet, all non-CARB (California Air Resources Board)-approved fuel cans will be no longer be sold nationwide [in the US] after January 1, 2009. That means you will not be able to buy any more of the ever-so-useful NATO gas cans to store fuel in and I assume any other fuel can that does not meet this new regulation. I know this is a little late to post this, I just found out myself a few days ago. I talked to Maine Military Surplus this morning and they still have a few left and are expecting a new shipment soon although they had to pay more for the latest ones. With shipping these were just over $26 apiece. Anyone who thought this was a free country needs to think again.

Thanks so much for all you do, Mr. Rawles. I hope you and yours had a very Merry Christmas. – S. in Oklahoma

 

Sir:
I read the recent post on CARB compliant gas cans that are going to be mandatory for the US in January. Here in Pennsylvania we’ve had them in place for a while now. It might be good to let your readers know what they’re in for.

My first words of advice to anyone in a non-CARB compliant state — go buy any “old style” gas cans that you can find now if you need them. The new CARB compliant cans are a real pain in the rump to use. The CARB compliant cans are the most over-engineered product I’ve ever seen. They’re airtight, child-proof, and typically require 3 hands to get gas out of them. The first models used a spout that hooked onto the lip of a gas tank and needed to be pressed in to actually let gas out. Newer models use a lever-style handle that’s easier to deal with, but there’s a child-proof tab that needs to be pulled back before the lever can be pressed. Fortunately that child proof tab can be removed out in about five seconds to make the cans much more user-friendly. The CARB compliant cans are ventless; there’s no more little vent opening and the venting is actually done through the spout. This prevents evaporation that occurs when the vent spout is open, but it means that air has to come in while gas flows out and that makes emptying a can much slower. It also means that older spouts won’t work well with new CARB compliant cans because they aren’t designed for venting through the spout. Emptying a 5 gallon CARB compliant gas can through its supplied venting spout takes about 5-to-6 minutes — but it seems a lot longer when you’re holding the heavy can with one hand and pressing the pour lever with the other.

Fortunately, I’ve found a solution to the whole CARB compliance debacle — the tried and true siphon hose. I recently bought a “Super Siphon” from Boat Show Products — what a great product! Unlike the CARB compliant spouts, the Super Siphon can empty a fives gallon can in two minutes or less. I was looking for the fastest and easiest way to fill up my cars from gas cans. The super siphon fits the bill. It uses a ball-check valve to let liquid in but not back out, so there’s no manual sucking gas through the hose required. You just shake the check-valve end of the siphon hose up and down into the gas can until the gas fills the hose and starts the flow then physics takes over and the gas moves. I position the gas can I’m filling from on a step ladder to keep it higher than the car’s gas tank opening. No mess, no heavy cans to hold and the fuel gets transferred quickly. Plus, I don’t need to stand there holding the can while it fills – my hands are free and I can pay attention to something other than the gas can (Like getting the next can ready to go).

I have no business connection with the Super Siphon or the vendor, I’m just a happy customer. I just wanted to pass the info along to anyone who stores gas for a bug-out situation. There are other similar siphons on the market and it might even be possible to build your own if you can find the check-valve piece somewhere. I highly recommend that everyone who intends to fill their car with a gas can at some point actually try it. Most CARB compliant cans don’t have nozzles long enough to fill a car, and even if they did it’s a challenging if not impossible procedure.to hold the can, fumble with the child safety lock and the gas release lever all while trying to keep the gas flowing into the 3/4 inch opening of the gas tank. Siphoning is definitely the way to go.
Thanks for you blog; I’ve enjoyed reading it. – Doug in Pennsylvania

JWR Replies: Thanks for your letter. An even faster method than a siphon pump is a homemade 12 VDC fuel transfer pump. Every prepared family should have one or two of these.

Letter Re: The Best College Degrees for the Next Depression?

James,
longer this [economic death spiral] goes on, the more it looks like this is going to be at least a decade before normality returns. So, if you’ve got a teenage kid you’re probably thinking, what kind of career (assuming we don’t totally melt down at a societal level) path he or she should take…

I was talking to someone the other day and he told me his kid was studying art. “Oh, I asked, is he any good?” He replied “No, not really.” This family man is spending good money, money that could be put into preparations into a liberal arts education? Idiot.

Even if his son were Michelangelo reincarnated, who is going to pay for artwork in a depression. It’s not like he is going to get a stipend from the Medici family and work on family portraits of the rich and famous.

I’d like to ask the collective survival mind as represented by SurvivalBlog readers, what careers do you think are worth paying money to learn how to do for the next generation? – SF in Hawaii

JWR Replies: Off the top of my head, I think that any of the medical professions would be good choices, especially those related to geriatrics, since we live in an aging society The only notable exception would be cosmetic surgery.

BTW, the Memsahib’s parents grew up during the Great Depression and consequently they told the Memsahib and her sister that they would be willing to pay for their college education only if they wanted to be “teachers, nurses, or dental assistants”–because there would always be some demand for them. No fru-fru art degrees for their daughters!

Letter Re: Seeking Advice on Assembling Web Gear

Mister Rawles:
Just a quick note on ALICE and MOLLE gear. I love both my girls and sometimes have a hard time choosing, but when using ALICE pouches on a MOLLE system, it’s better to use the adapters (available inexpensively on EBay) or the ALICE clips will wear out the MOLLE [attachment] strips very quickly. – DRZ

Odds ‘n Sods:

Kurt reminded me that the US Army’s Survival Manual (available for free download in PDF) has and appendix on Edible and Medicinal Plants. It includes a lot of color photos, which makes it a lot easier to identify plants.

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Some good news, especially for those of us that plan to stock up on winter-formulated gas: South Carolina gasoline hits 91 cents per gallon

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Robert S. in Las Vegas e-mailed to alert us: “While out shopping for post-Christmas deals yesterday we ran into a great deal on 20# propane cylinders (the standard BBQ size). We have a multi-fuel generator as well as several backup heating and cooking systems that use propane and maybe some of the SurvivalBlog readers do as well. Some of the stores called The Great Indoors are closing and going out of business. I found several palettes of new unfilled 20# propane cylinders on sale for 25% off marked down to $22 each which is a very good price.”

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Thanks to Rich at KT Ordnance in Montana for sending this link that illustrates the depth of the state budget crises: Fire Sale: Minnesota, New York, Massachusetts and Illinois are thinking of selling Toll Roads

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Doc Gary flagged this one: Hybrid auto as an emergency generator.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“It was the Wild West. If you were alive, they would give you a loan. Actually, I think if you were dead, they would still give you a loan.” – Steven M. Knobel, a founder of the appraisal company Mitchell, Maxwell & Jackson, that did business with Washington Mutual (WaMu) until 2007, as quoted by The New York Times

Note from JWR:

If you find what you read in SurvivalBlog useful and that is has saved you from making some costly mistakes, I hope that you will consider joining the 2% of readers that have become voluntary Ten Cent Challenges subscribers. Many Thanks!