Letter Re: Advice on Sources for Sandbags and Sandbag Filler

Mr. Rawles,

You mention about mass and the wisdom in buying sand bags stating ‘they are cheap’. I guess that is relative to ‘something’. I can not find them for less then $2.50 each and that is empty.
Have you priced sand lately? Where we live (midwest) it is not cheap. You would need a huge pile of it to fill enough sandbags to do much good for any purpose.
So, am I missing something here? Maybe I do not understand the ‘sandbag theory’. Please advise. Thanks, – Polly

JWR Replies: In the U.S. there are several good sources for sandbags , but prices do indeed vary widely, so shop around.  (From as much as $3.75 each in small quantities to as little as 38 cents each if you buy in lots of 1,000.) For example, see:

Ranger Surplus

Preparedness.com

1st Army Supply

If you want to buy in quantity (perhaps a group purchase that you can split several ways), it is best to order direct from a manufacturer, such as Dayton Bag, or Mutual Industries, or United Bags. (The latter charged $380 per thousand the last time I checked .)

And for our readers across the pond, here is a source in England: Surplus and Adventure

OBTW, be sure to buy the later variety synthetic (such as polypropylene) sand bags. The early burlap (or “Hessian”) bags tend to rot and rip out too quickly. The latest and greatest mil-spec bags use Linear Low-Density Polyethylene (LLDPE) or Polyethylene film laminated with a third layer of molten polyethylene. These have the best UV protection (and hence the longest useful life out in the elements), but they are also the most expensive. Even the standard military polypropylene bags will last two to three years in full sun, and much longer if painted or kept in the shade.

As for filler material. if sand is expensive in your area, then do some comparison pricing on “one half minus” road gravel, delivered by the dump truck load. (This is gravel that has been screened so that the largest pieces are no more than 1/2-inch in diameter.) I don’t recommend using soil, since sand or gravel are superior for stopping bullets. If you must use soil, then try to get either very sandy soil or heavy clay soil. Dry loam soil is the least effective for use in sandbags. Remember: the more vegetable matter in the soil, the lower its ballistic protection.)

Letter Re: Finding Retreat Locales in the US with the Lowest Taxes

Mr. Rawles,

I am a fairly new reader, but have been interested and amateur-involved in survival for years now. I came across a solid compendium of tax information on local tax burdens. Scroll to bottom and download Special Report 163. I find it very useful. This might be helpful in deciding on retreat locations, where you can get the most from your money. Thanks, – Stuart E.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Paul D. and Rourke both mentioned this Time article Extreme Green: Living Off the Grid

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Thanks to Garth S. for finding this: US May Lose Its ‘AAA’ Rating

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The 25% off sale on Mountain House and AlpenAire freeze-dried foods at Ready Made Resources ends in just two days. Don’t hesitate!

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News and commentary from the Economatrix: Credit Crisis Tentacles Reach Everywhere — Fed Okays AMEX to Become A Bank — Asian Stocks Fall as Confidence Drop — Countrywide Gas Prices — Crude Oil Falls Below $59/Barrel — These are Unprecedented Times (A nice re-cap that shoots down the idea this is merely a “recession”) — UK Mortgage Market to Shrink By 80% — Mexico Hedges Almost All of its Oil Exports — More Unintended Consequences of The Bailout — Greenspan: Clearly in Severe Recession (“Severe recession is newspeak for depression”) — Bond Insanity (from The Mogambo Guru)

Note from JWR:

Today, the US, Canada, England, Wales, and Northern Ireland honor military veterans, and those that made the supreme sacrifice. To those of you that have served, my heartfelt thanks. And for those of you that have lost loved ones, my sincere condolences!

Letter Re: Survival is About Skills–Practice Makes Perfect

Mr Rawles,
You’re regularly posting first hand stories about the need to test gear. Imagine my surprise when my arrogance that that didn’t apply to me proved false! You really do need to test equipment and skills! Unused tools (both physical and mental) are useless tools!

I store gas for my lawnmowers in two five gallon plastic containers. I figured that I’d pour what was left in them into my car when I put the mowers away for the winter. I know you always recommend being able to relocate more than one tank of gas away, so I figured I’d keep them rotated and full, emptying them into the car instead of bothering with fuel stabilizer. Lo and behold, you can’t just pour gas from these containers into a gas tank! Even with the nifty built in nozzle gadget that makes it perfect for lawnmowers – it doesn’t fit in my car! I need to buy a long-stemmed funnel like the kind my dad’s been using for decades. Your readers should check their equipment and their gas tanks for compatibility.

I also assumed I was good at building a fire from nothing because I was in the Scouts “back in the day”. Once again; unused skills deteriorate and disappear. I’ve been building fires in my home and in my backyard with big handfuls of crumpled newspaper. I thought I was skilled because I was gluttonously using an overabundance of available resources. Tonight I tried building a fire from a small handful of crumpled (and dry!) leaves. It turns out that often leaves will just smolder. I managed to build up my fire using two or three cotton ball sized pieces of newspaper instead of the six or seven whole sheets I used to use. But in doing so I also discovered the small pocketknife I regularly carry is only useful in shaving off tinder – it’s useless in splitting logs for kindling. My bugout bag has several larger knives, but now I will consider adding a hatchet (recommendations?).

I will also be making about a million fire wicks out of leftover supplies from an entertaining bout of candle making in my old apartment.

Finally, a note about teamwork and information. My wife is definitely coming on board for the whole “Preparedness” mindset. She’s started taking a martial arts class (a real one; not cardio kick boxing or other useless courses), we talk about what to do in case of emergencies, we’ve bought a small treasure of gold and silver, etc. However, the other night we learned something very valuable. We heard what she thought were gunshots (I think it might have been people using up old fireworks – but I digress) and she went to bring the dog inside. She brought with her an unwieldy lopper that I had left by the door. As I saw her coming back in, I asked her why she didn’t bring the pepper spray. She replied that she didn’t know where it was. Now, on your advice I bought several cans to (pardon the pun) pepper around the house, including basement and bugout bag. And I’ve told and I had shown her where they are. But she forgot. That’s another lesson: you might as well not even own any piece of equipment that you forget about when it counts.

You can’t possibly be too organized, you can’t possibly rehearse too often, and there’s no such thing as being too prepared.
We all are sending well-wishes and prayers for the Memsahib. – C.

Letter Re: Hunt Packs Available at Cabela’s

James,
I often read your blog and have read your novel , “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”, (and have given it as a gift to several folks!) I just wanted to let you and your other readers know about something I found at Cabela’s recently: 3-day and 10-day ‘Hunt’ Packs. These nifty boxes contain a mix of energy bars, gels, drinks, etc. designed for use by ‘Wilderness Athletes’. Aside from the humorous effect of the name, these are quite handy and can be ordered from Cabela’s on-line web store and may provide survival minded people an excellent option for Bug Out Bags, Car Kits, pre-positioned supplies, caches, or to give [charitably] to the unprepared after a natural disaster or terrorist type event. While the prices may be higher than some would like to pay, the manufacturer has done the work that some busy or family folks may not have the time or inclination to do.

Thanks for the information you provide! Regards, – Israel S.

Five Letters Re: Full Capacity Magazine Price Increases are Already Here

Jim,
I wanted to contribute this the following to your ongoing discussion on high capacity magazines.
Selling high capacity magazines is normally a small part of our business, but that changed last week. Between October 31 and today, we have sold more than I normally sell in a year.
I had stocked up anticipating increased demand, but was nowhere near prepared for the huge surge in sales that we experienced. A normal order was 3 to 6 magazines, now it is 12 or more and we have had several customers buy in quantities of 100+. As a result, we are completely sold out of AR-15 magazines. I have had 400 on order since before the election, hopefully to arrive some time later this month, but many are already allocated to back orders. I could use 1,000 more magazines, but I have no idea how long it will take the manufacturer to produce them, where I will be on their waiting list, or how much their price will have increased.

I sold out of Glock Model 23 magazines and am very low on Glock 19 magazines. I was able to re-order, but my supplier was out of a couple of varieties and the price has increased $2 each on the rest, so we had to raise prices. My profit margin was only $5 on Glock magazines, and one of my other suppliers is now quoting wholesale prices that are equivalent to what my retail price was.
This feeding frenzy should be an example to everyone who has delayed some of their preparations. Don’t wait until the panic starts — buy your long term storage food now. Get a water filter and grain mill while you still can. Buy your silver during the current dip. Survival supplies are tight, but things will get worse before they will get better. I have been in the survival business since before Y2K. (BTW, I have a 1997 edition of [your draft edition novel] TEOTWAWKI in its three ring binder on my bookshelf) and this is the busiest we have been since early 1999. – Dave (of Captain Dave’s)

 

Mr. Rawles
I found this online – it is at an AR15.com forum where folks are presently discussing who is raising their magazine prices and who isn’t: Stay safe. – David B.

 

JWR,
Brownell’s has still not raised any of their prices, as of this week. I have an account with them and bought a bunch of mags (AR and AK). Most of these are going to be traded off to my brother and some other contacts. Brownell’s AR mags are still $12.50. These are good quality and I have never had a problem with them. FYI, – Sarge

 

Sir,

I’ve seen similar goings on here in Memphis. General threat of mob violence on the night of the 4th and after if The One lost the election, so I went to pick up some extra buckshot and I figured a couple extra boxes of .45 while I was at it. First went to Sportsman’s Warehouse, but they were out of just about everything in the major pistol calibers except the exotic and high-dollar loads. The mountain of 9mm ball they’d laid in planning to put on sale this weekend was reduced to less than a mole hill.

They were also pretty much out of buckshot, too. Bear in mind that this is an outdoor sporting goods “big box” and not a gun store per se. I left there empty-handed and headed over to Guns & Ammo, my usual stop for same. I knew something was really up when a guy coming out as I went in had two black Glock cases and a blue SIG box in his arms and his son was carrying a double-arm-full of handgun ammo boxes. Once I got inside the store, it looked like Christmas Eve in there; people lined up three deep at the counter, which is about 50 feet long. All six employees were going like mad trying to keep up with the sales. I got the last half-dozen boxes of Hornady TAP buckshot and a few boxes of Winchester Ranger .40 and high-tailed it. Looks like everybody’s a bit worried, and with good reason. “May you live in interesting times,” indeed. – Booth

 

Jim:
A recent post said that Cabela’s in Texas was out of ammo. I live in central Indiana and my local Gander Mountain store is (by now) out of .223 and other popular Battle Rifle calibers so I thought I would buy on-line like I usually do. What a shock. Able Ammo, MidwayUSA and Cheaper Than Dirt are out of just about everything in Battle Rifle calibers. I’ve never seen anything like this ever. Most are not even accepting back orders. I stopped by a local but out of the way gun store and had trouble finding a place to park. The employee’s said you could not move around in the store on Saturday and the owner said he was thinking of going out of business after the first of the year. Interesting.

Friday, before work, my wife and I stopped by our local police department to request Concealed Carry permits. We got there Friday morning, 10 minutes before they opened. I was first in line and the lady asked me why everybody wants gun permits? Apparently it was a busy week for her. By the time I was fingerprinted and left the lobby was full of people, mostly couples, all seeking similar permits. These were all professional people. I live in a bedroom community where we have the highest per household income in the state. Something interesting is happening on in our country and intelligent hard working professional people feel the need to be able to protect themselves.

At a local outdoor shooting range, which was very busy despite 38 degree temps and wind, I talked to as many people as I could. They are mostly male in their late 30’s to 50’s. I ask them how long they have owned their weapon and the usual answer was “Since Tuesday!” There are a great many new shooters out there and they are not hunters. While they were not seeking training, at least they know if their weapon will fire if needed. I rarely see the same people again. Apparently, if the gun works, it works and that is the end of it. – Russ in Indiana

Odds ‘n Sods:

Michael W. noticed some great advice on assembling “Grab-‘n -Go” kits, by Kim du Toit.

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Seven readers sent us this: Fed Defies Transparency Aim in Refusal to Identify Bank Loans. ($2 Trillion dollars in taxpayer funds, and no need to reveal the recipients?) Reader Dave S. made this comment: “I’m a little steamed. These guys are sinking the country and hiding it from the owners of this great land. They should be tarred & feathered.”

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The latest economic news and commentary from Cheryl: Circuit City Files For Bankruptcy Protection — GM Shares Plunge After Analyst Predicts They Will Hit Zero — Wall Street Falls, Unable to Shake Economic Woes — Expect Recession to Increase in Severity — Bloomberg Picks Fight with Federal Reserve — Fannie Mae Record $29 Billion Loss in 3rd Quarter — 70,000 More Banking Jobs to Go — Global Capital Stampede to Japanese Yen — Stunned Iceland Tries To Recover — Crisis Sweeps Nordic Region — AIG Gets Second US Bailout on $24.5 Billion Loss (for $40 Billion) — Three Trends Driving US to Economic, Dollar Collapse — Jobless Ranks Hit 10 Million, Highest in 25 Years — Economy’s Illness Keeps Spreading

Note from JWR:

The high bid in the current SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction is now at $600. This auction is for a mixed lot that includes:

1.) A huge lot of DVDs, CD-ROMs and hard copy nuclear survival/self-sufficiency references (a $300+ value) donated by Richard Fleetwood of www.SurvivalCD.com

2.) A custom-made, fully-stocked EMS Medic Bag from Cajun Safety and Survival (a $212 retail value)

3.) A NukAlert radiation detector donated by at KI4U.com (a $160 retail value)

4.) A case (6 cans) of Mountain House freeze dried foods in #10 (96 ounce) cans donated by Ready Made Resources (a $160 value)

5.) An autographed copy of “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse” ($24, retail)

See the SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction page for complete details on these items. This auction ends on November 15th. Please e-mail us your bid.

Letter Re: Retreat Locale and Firearms Selection Questions from a Newbie Easterner

Jim,
I am a new reader of SurvivalBlog but I am already hooked. I realize that I am woefully unprepared to defend and care for my family if and when TSHTF. I live in New Jersey and commute to New York City every day, and work in finance. After 9/11, when I lost several dear friends, I took some steps to prepare for a short (several days to a week) disruption or an attack. I purchased a generator, several hundred MREs, bottled water, and iodine pills. I even applied for a firearm purchase permit but never bought a weapon.

Working in the capital markets, I have see firsthand over the last few month show how close we have come to a complete breakdown in the monetary and payments system. As a person who is generally a free market advocate and non-interventionist it troubles me deeply that the government has had to step in to try and salvage the banking system. However, I can say that in the days before some of these programs were announced, we were probably much closer than people think to a severe systemic financial collapse. I saw firsthand the panic and fear that prevailed on Wall Street in those few days, and it was real.

Hopefully we will be able to pull out of this current crisis. But in the spirit of preparing for the worst, I realize that I have much to do in order to get ready for TEOTWAWKI. So I do have a few questions that I hope you can answer. While I am sure some of these have been answered for previous newbies, I would greatly appreciate your opinion and advice.

What is your suggestion for a retreat location for someone living in New Jersey? I have read your “Recommended Retreat Areas” section and it looks like most of us east of the Mississippi are in some trouble. However, I am tied to my current location in terms of my employment and extended family. I am relatively blessed in terms of financial resources, so it is potentially feasible for me to purchase an out of state second home to use as a retreat. I do worry about access in a SHTF scenario. Highways potentially clogged, gas in short supply, etc. Is a 2-to-3 day drive by car or longer escape location feasible? There are relatively rural areas within 2-5 hours by car that we could choose, but none approach the remoteness most on this site seem to favor.

This also seems to be a common question but what about firearms? New Jersey is quite restrictive. The permit I got after 9/11 expired so I recently reapplied and should get my new permit in a couple months. I am not a complete neophyte but pretty close. I have hunted a few times with friends and have done some target practice at the pistol range. I know I need training. I also fear that the new administration may impose even more restrictive legislation limiting access to firearms so I want to move relatively quickly in assembling what I need. Here is what I am thinking:

handgun: there is no concealed carry in New Jersey so for home defense I am thinking something on the larger side, maybe a S&W Night Guard in .357 Magnum? Or does an autoloader with a higher capacity (maximum 15 round magazines in New Jersey) make sense? Maybe the SIG P220 in .45 ACP?

.22 rifle Suggestions? Id like something I can also teach my son on (he is 7) in a few years. What do you think of the US Survival .22LR? How big should I go? I don’t think I’m going to need something for very big game but who knows. Is a .308 sufficient or should I look for something heavier like a .338 Lapua or a .30-06? Should I also have a tactical rifle? Remember that New Jersey has a pretty broad definition of “assault rifles” that are banned.
Shotguns: Likely would like to have at least one “riotgun” type and at least one for hunting. Suggestions?

Ammunition: How much is enough?I have seen that Cabela’s sells reloaded/remanufactured rounds in bulk. Are these a good deal or are factory rounds superior to the point that the bulk reloads should not be considered?

Training: I am planning on taking several of the NRA courses that are available in my area for each of the weapons types I purchase. I have read the glowing reports on Front Sight and will try that as well if I can get the time. Any other suggestions?

I know I have a lot to learn in many areas such as food gathering/storage and basic survival. I have learned a lot from you already. I appreciate all you do on this blog, Jim. You provide a great service.
God Bless. – S. in New Jersey

JWR Replies: You are in a difficult locale, but I quite regularly get similar questions from consulting clients in Washington DC, Baltimore, and New York City.
I recommend that if you can afford it, that you buy a rural retreat, and stock it very well. If you prefer a warmer climate, then I recommend eastern Tennessee. If you don’t mind cold and snow, then consider the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Pre-position 90% of of your tools and logistics at your retreat. If you are worried about burglary, then rent a commercial storage space that is near your retreat.

As I’ve mentioned in blog many times, I recommend that you keep always enough gas in cans on hand for one trip “Outta Dodge”–to get you to your retreat. (This ties in with the need to pre-position nearly everything at your retreat.)

In answer to your question on handguns: In New Jersey, your best bet is probably either a Springfield Armory XD in .45 ACP or perhaps a Glock Model 21 ( also .45 ACP.) BTW, you should take advantage of Front Sight’s Gun & Gear & Training offer–that includes essentially free XD pistol. BTW, low cost firearms training is also available from the RWVA in the east and the WRSA in the west.

In answer to your other questions:

>.22 rifle Suggestions? I’d like something I can also teach my son on (he is 7) in a few years. What do you think of the US Survival .22LR?

The US Survival .22 LR–like all of it predecessors including the original Armalite AR-7–has a tendency to jam. It also has a fairly rudimentary peep sight that in my opinion has an overly-large rear aperture. I recommend that you instead buy a Rogue Rifle Company Chipmunk .22 single shot rifle for your son. Depending on his maturity, you can probably start training him with it under very close supervision at age 7. (The Chipmunk is a tiny rifle. It is made to the minimum dimensions allowable under Federal law.) For the rest of the family, buy a stainless steel All-Weather Ruger 10/22. Once your son is about 10 years old, you can buy a spare stock for the Ruger and saw off about two inches from the butt to provide a shorter length of pull, for transitional training. Slightly used “takeoff” standard birch wood stocks are readily available for under $15 each, since Ruger .22 rifles are often used as gun rebuild platforms, typically using fancy laminate target stocks.

> How big should I go?…

The .308 Winchester will suffice for everything two-legged or four-legged in North America with the exception of grizzly bears and moose.

> Should I also have a tactical rifle?…

Keep an inexpensive .308 bolt action in New Jersey and .308 battle rifle (as well all your magazines over 15 round capacity) in a wall cache at your retreat in a free state. As previously noted in SurvivalBlog I generally recommend the FAL, L1A1, HK91, AR-10 or M1A. And, FWIW, up until a week ago, I would have also recommended waiting for the about-to-be-released Kel-Tec RFB .308 or the Rock River Arms (RRA) LAR-8 .308 Caliber, in Mid-Length. However, in today’s market, beggars can’t be choosers. Buy whatever .308 battle rifle you can find, but be sure to line up at least eight spare magazines first. (You don’t want to be stick with a rifle with one magazine!)

> Shotguns: Likely would like to have at least one “riotgun” type and at least one for hunting. Suggestions?

Buy a Remington 870 Express 12 gauge Combo set. (These come with both a bird barrel and riotgun barrel. It takes less than two minutes to switch barrels. BTW, Mossberg also produces a quite similar “Combo” set, that is very reasonably priced. The only drawback is that the Mossberg 500 Combo’s bright blued steel is more prone to rust than the phosphate finish on the Remington Express models.

> Ammunition: How much is enough?

“Enough” is a subjective term, depending on the depth and duration of the situation that you anticipate, how much bartering you plan to do, and how much trouble you expect to encounter. (In an urban or suburban area, you might have to fire hundreds of warning shots to repel looters. But here at the ranch, we are in the process of filling at least five deer and elk tags this season, but we’ll likely fire less than 10 cartridges.) If anything, err on the side of larger quantities. Any ammo that excess to your needs will be worth its weight in gold for barter and charity.

>…I have seen that Cabela’s sells reloaded/remanufactured rounds in bulk. Are these a good deal or are factory rounds superior to the point that the bulk reloads should not be considered?

Bulk reloads are fine for target shooting but only can be depended on for self defense shooting situations if they come from a reputable maker, such as Black Hills Ammunition.

Letter Re: HF/VHF/UHF Amateur Radio for Preppers

James,
First, thanks for all that you do for the preparedness community. I have been a reader since [the early 1990s] when you had the early draft of your novel available for free download. I did send in my the $5 in shareware you asked for I believed it to be excellent fiction.

Second, I want to write you concerning an aspect of preparedness which is often overlooked. I know that in the last few months I have seen more posts on your blog and am grateful. I want to talk about communications equipment.

As has been previously noted there are really two major types of communication which are readily available to civilians. Naturally, I am speaking of the ham bands which consist of the VHF/UHF and HF spectrums. In reality the modern radio is mostly a computer or computer driven (hence the need to have a spare protected in a Faraday Cage).

It would behoove anyone [in the US] who is prepping to first get your Technician ham license. Any number of internet sites have the exact question pool which you will be quizzed from. You can prepare one of two ways – buy a book on the fundamentals of radio communication or simply go to a web site such as QRZ.com and work through the question pools. Currently, there is no code to learn as there once was – therefore you will not be tested on Morse Code. However, I would recommend that as soon as possible that one begin to become fluent with CW (Continuous Wave, i.e. Morse Code). At times the nature of the HF bands are such that people can communicate with one another using CW and not via voice.

Once you have your Technician license you will want to either get involved in an amateur radio club or begin to monitor the VHF/UHF bands. The VHF/UHF band covers 50, 144, 220, and 440 MHz (6, 2, 1 1?4, meters as well as 70cm respectively). Most often the easiest way to monitor the VHF/UHF is through a handheld unit. I have had a number of different models but for my retreat we use the Yaesu VX 7R. This model is built to mil spec standard – waterproof and shockproof – as well as easy to operate. It is about the size of a small paperback and has the longer lasting lithium-ion batteries. It is presently selling for around $270.

The VHF/UHF bands are limited to line of sight communications and for long range communications in these bands you need the services of a local radio repeater. I will not go into the technical aspects of a repeater here suffice to say that it boosts your signal strength and resends you signal to others monitoring the same frequency. I often work a repeater some forty miles from my house – but I sit atop a hill.

The HF frequencies are truly worldwide communications. You can with little equipment work stations as far away as the South Pacific on good days. However, to open these frequencies up you need to have either your General or Extra license. The next step is to get your General and then lastly your Extra license. With each further step you gain more band privileges – the Extra basically being an unlimited ticket to ham radio communications.

HF transceivers can be expensive but don’t necessarily have to be. I have two different types of HF radios currently in my ham shack – modern radios (Yaesu 857D (HF/VHF/UHF radio), ICOM 718 (HF + 6m), and an old tube rig (Yaesu FT 101E). The HF frequencies covers 160, 80, 60, 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10 meters. Presently with the [pitiful] shape of the sunspot cycle only from about 20 – 10 meters is active depending on where you are and the time you are monitoring.

Space and time preclude an in-depth examination of HF transmitting – I would recommend a good beginner’s book such as the ARRL Amateur Handbook for Radio Communications. This work will give you more information than you really want to know about HF communications. It is truly fascinating to listen to different stations on the HF bands. You get to such a worldwide spectrum which is largely absent from the VHF/UHF side of the hobby.

Lastly, with the HF radios you will have to have a quality antenna. “Quality” does not necessarily mean expensive. I have a G5RV Jr. antenna which is hooked up to my ICOM 718 and I have picked up stations all over the world. This particular antenna cost me a whopping $38 less than a year ago. A word of caution – antennas have to be tuned to each specific frequency which you want to listen or transmit on. Some HF radios have built in tuners while others you must buy an add – on tuner. (Essentially you are really tuning the antenna to match the band frequency which you wish to transmit). Antennas can cost as little as my G5RV to thousands of dollars for tall towers. If you are wanting to keep a low profile I would suggest erecting a dipole cut to the specific frequency length which you wish to transmit on.

Much more could be said – however, IMHO your communications will be much more operational with ham equipment than with CBs or the like.
With Kind Regards – Dr. Joe

Letter Re: Some Changes in American Wholesale Food Distribution

Hi James
You’ll recall hat I wrote to you a while back, forewarning of increasing prices for canned tuna, as I am in the import food business.
I read Buckskin’s message with interest, as I sell to food distributors, of the type that he is referring to. What many of your readers may or may not know, is that a huge amount of our food
products are imported. I don’t have exact figures on it, but there are certain categories of food products that are almost exclusively imported, as they either cannot be produced here at all or cannot be competitively produced here. An example, is organic canned beans. While they are packed in the U.S., most of the organic beans are actually grown in China, Peru and other countries. You would never know this when buying a can of beans that is packed by an American company. Another good example is frozen vegetables. There are companies here that import frozen vegetables from other countries, then mix them in blends and sell them. They don’t necessarily say on the package that the vegetables are imported because they are further-processed here in the U.S. In addition, many of the ingredients for foods produced domestically are from imported sources. Chinese milk powder is used extensively by American food producers.

My main point is that, while I am in a different part of the distribution chain than Buckskin is referring to, I do sell a lot of imported products that go to food service (restaurants, prisons, hospitals, fast food, etc.). What I have been observing over the last couple of months is that as demand slackens in the U.S., prices have been going down. The U.S. is one of the largest food consumers in the world and as a result of the economic implosion, people are eating out less and while they are cooking at home more, they are trading down at the supermarket. Chains like Whole Foods are suffering as a result of this, as well as the larger supermarket chains.

Earlier in the year, a lot of my suppliers overseas started increasing prices because of increased raw material costs, increased tinplate costs, increased fuel and energy costs, etc., coupled with increased freight costs to the U.S. However, as demand started waning here, my customers refused to accept the price increases, as their sales volume has dropped off and in many cases, their inventory started backing up. Now, prices are going down. Canned tuna, for example, has dropped about 20% and will probably drop further. This is certainly not happening to all products that we sell, but I expect to see more price declines in the future. Another reason for this is that raw commodity prices have collapsed and this has had an impact, too. Oil is way down and this has reduced transportation costs. One more factor is the recent strengthening of the dollar against most other currencies, which means that a dollar buys more overseas than it did earlier in the year.

Although I expect this decline to continue for some time, it may or may not have a big impact on food prices in the U.S. This depends on whether or not the price decreases are passed
along down the distribution chain.

One thing to keep in mind is that in the long term, the dollar is toast. When all of the bail-out money and other giveaways that the government has printed money for, hit the economy,
the dollar is going down and all imported products are going to get a lot more expensive. All the best, – Kurt

Odds ‘n Sods:

Abraham”s new blog on suburban survival looks like it is off to a great start. His most recent post selecting “Get Home Bag” contents was excellent. (A hat tip to the gents over at Total Survivalist Libertarian Rantfest (TSLRF), for the link to Abraham’s blog)

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Our friend Commander Zero up in Montana recently had a very well-reasoned post on handgun proficiency that quotes my mentor, Mel Tappan: Standard Controllability Test

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Bob at Ready Made Resources mentioned that after some record sales, they are now down to just 30 of the used water-tight Hardigg gun caching cases left on-hand. These have been selling very quickly since the election. (There is little wonder why! One customer called them “my Obama Gun Grab Insurance” ) Bob also reminded me that their 25% off sale on Mountain House and AlpenAire freeze-dried foods ends in just four days. Don’t miss out!

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News and commentary, courtesy of The Economatrix: Watch Out For Gift Cards this Holiday Season — The Banks Don’t Just Get It, They Are Lucky to Be Alive — Wall Street Turns To Consumer To Gauge Economy — GM’s Beleaguered Shares Could Go Lower — Central Bankers Fear Deflation — Economic Downturn Marches Toward Main Street — Berkshire Hathaway Profits Fall 77%

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There are several new retreat properties listed at our spin-off web site, SurvivalRealty.com. One of these listings is for parcels that are being broken up from the old Rawles Ranch, near Stites, Idaho. Disclaimer: I no longer own that ranch, but I will indirectly benefit, since any parcels that sell will pay off the remaining mortgage note that I hold.