Letter Re: Computers – A Cache of Spare Parts For Your Guns

Greetings,
As the British would say, it was one of those rare moments of ‘serendipity,’ but I was watching “The Postman” the other night on cable [television], and decided to field strip and clean a couple of rifles while doing so. As I was reassembling my CAR-15 in particular, I told my wife, as I charged the bolt – and felt everything moving as it should in a rightly reassembled firearm – that, “guns are a lot like computers these days – either you put them (back) together the right way, or they simply won’t work at all.”
The very next day, I was attempting to mount a brand new MTI lo-mount scope base on my PTR-91, and sure enough, I stripped the threads on one of the tiny little hex-head bolts that clamped it to the rifle. In mid-panic, over possibly ruining a $155 mount, I suddenly remembered my own comment about “guns & computers,” and went downstairs to check my cabinet o’ spare computer parts. Sure enough, I found a tiny Phillips head bolt, that was long enough, and threaded perfectly, to work on my mount! Problem solved – expensive mount, saved!
In a worst-case scenario – nuke strike with massive EMP – most computers will be nothing more than over-sized paperweights anyway. But, since all of them are held together with a plethora of tiny, finely threaded bolts, nuts, and screws, they can be a treasure trove of spare parts for mounting optics, rails, and other rifle accessories, not to mention all the other uses you might find, or even dream up, while scrounging out an existence post-SHTF. As I also wear eyeglasses, computers just might be the difference between being terribly near-sighted, and of little use to anyone, and being able to put my eyeglasses frames and arms back together!
In my “can’t do without” bag, I have now added an empty medicine bottle full of assorted computer bolts, nuts, and screws, from my ample supply of spare parts, to go alongside the jeweler’s screwdriver set I also have in there. No guarantee that Lenscrafters will survive the apocalypse any better than any other business. Extra pairs of glasses are nice; extra screws and screwdrivers to go along with them, are even better. – Bob McC.

JWR Replies: Thanks for that tip. BTW, as The Memsahib can attest, I am famous for scrounging hardware. Whenever any appliance here at the ranch is beyond repair, I always strip it of any usable fastener hardware, cooling fans, lamps, lamp sockets, motors, batteries, battery holders, switches, wire, ribbon cables, fuses, fuse holders, annunciators (“beepers” and bells), and power cords. I’ve ve even bought “dead” appliances at garage sales for 50 cents or a dollar, just to strip them for hardware and scrap sheet metal. As I often say: “These things may come in handy someday”. I keep most of the parts in two large sets of well-labelled military surplus metal divider drawers, down in the JASBORR. OBTW, if you plan to do likewise, show great caution when working around capacitors or power supply modules that could still be holding a charge!

Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Roger S. sent us an article by David McWilliams in Ireland: World’s financial community gives two fingers to the US. One note of clarification, however: The June 12th auction was of Treasury Bills, not Treasury Notes. The Auction on the 15th was Treasury Notes.

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From The Motley Fool’s UK edition, by way of SHTF Daily: It’s Heading For Crunch Time…

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Rob at Green Mountain Gear mentioned that he is continuing his special on HK91/G3 Alloy magazines in new, unissued condition. He has just a few 20-packs left. Rob notes: “Some of them might have slight handling marks from moving around the world over the years. The first 20rnd magazines I pulled look simply awesome! Hit them with a little degreaser and you have a great looking magazine at a rock bottom price. These are not “bargain bin” used magazines and each shipment will be hand-packed to make sure that no ‘junkers’ slip in. This is not a group buy and thus there is no wait time. First come, first served as there is limited quantity. HK G3 magazines in this condition are drying up fast so this is a great time to stock up. There are no additional quantity discounts available at this time due to availability. I want to make sure everyone has a chance to stock up. However, you can order as many 20 packs as you like. A 20 pack (Twenty HK magazines) is $84.99 mailed to the 48 continental states via USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate ($8.95 is included in the price). That is just $4.24 per magazine, delivered! Most people receive their shipments within three days via this shipping method so it is a real bargain and much cheaper than UPS/FedEx options.”

Note from JWR:

Today we present another article for Round 11 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. I will again be sending out a few complimentary copies of my novel “Patriots” as “honorable mention” awards. Round 11 ends on July 31st. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival will have an advantage in the judging.

My Adventure in Growing Wheat, by Carl in Wisconsin

Some time about June of 2006 I decided after long months of listening to James, the editor of The Bison Newsletter talk about storing wheat that I would try to grow some in an exercise in Post-TSHTF Farming/Gardening.
On page 172 of the Readers Digest Back To Basics book it states that a 10’ by 109 ‘ foot plot would grow about 100 pounds of wheat, enough for a family of 4 for a year. I figured that a plot twice that size would be perfect for two people and a dog and a cat. I also question if 100 pounds of wheat is actually enough for a family of 4 for a year.
I am a firm believer that we are headed for 1880’s technology, therefore, I was going to try to use the tools from 1880. I started by going to the field with my trusty dirt turning spade and small pitch fork. I started on July 1st and stopped on July 2nd. I t was just too much back breaking work. Soooo… I roto-tilled a spot about 20 by 100 feet. So much for 1880!
In September, I got about a gallon of wheat out my storage and proceeded to use my hand-held grass seed spreader. I spread those little wheaties just like a pro. I then raked the whole plot to work the seeds into the soil. That took a day.
Over the next two months until about December 1st the little guys actually came up just like winter wheat is supposed to. From then until March we got some snow, about 1/2 of a normal Wisconsin winter and it got below 0 a couple of times. Winter was just no big deal like it is supposed to be here.
In March I noticed they were turning green again and starting to grow. We two snow storms and temperatures dropped below 0 a couple of nights. It got warm and the wheaties were growing again. In April we got frost about 10 nights in a row, but my little green buddies were okay. Along come May and guess what? More frost and no rain! The wheaties were looking dismal. They grew to about 18” in height. In early June we got some rain and they were looking good again.
It had not rained in 20 days as of July 1st. It was close to 100 degrees a couple of days in there. On Sunday, July 1st I checked on them at about 6:00 am and they were all falling down. I checked some of the heads and there was grain, small but all the same its was grain.
I decided it was time to harvest. I went to my storage building and got my razor sharp scythe. I confidently entered the field and made a sweep with the tool…. Much to my amazement the wheat just leaned further over and did not cut. I tried and tried, faster, slower, adjusting the pitch of cut, nothing worked. Remembering that this is a really dangerous tool, I decided to cheat and cut down the wheat with my walk-behind weed whip. The 20th century made a come back. The weed whip did a nice job. I didn’t give it full gas and laid the stalks down nicely.
I went and got my wife. I told her she was drafted to help rake the wheat up. Between the two of us we had it raked by 11:30. By the way we used leaf rakes. This may be the biggest error of all. A proper hay rake is absolutely required.
We loaded the truck up with the bundles of stalks and moved them to my garage. We put down a huge tarp and spread the wheat out.
Back to the Readers Digest Book! It showed a process on page 173. I saw it called for a flail. I don’t have a flail, but I do have the chained Kung-Fu [Nunchaku] sticks that I confiscated from my wayward son 20 years ago. So I began beating the pile with the Kung-Fu sticks. I only hit myself in the back of the head once before I realized I had to slow my swing down.
I kneeled in the pile; I stood by the pile, swinging madly at a pile of straw. After about an hour I decided to find out how much wheat I had. Of course I was expecting huge kernels and lots of them.
I turned a section of the pile to find chaff, dirt, dried deer and rabbit poop and a few wheat kernels. Once again I checked my trusty Back to Basics and found it called for winnowing. I went to the house and got a sifter. I got a 5 gallon bucket and filled up the sifter with a pile of “stuff”. The dirt fell through but that was it. I decided to get an old window screen and try it that way. This worked better but still too much trash in the mix. So back to the 20th century, I got a small electric fan. This helped immensely. It blew much of trash away and left me grain, no dirt, but left the dried animal poop. I poured the remaining stuff back to the kitchen sifter and hand picked out anything not wheat. A very time consuming job.
I have completed perhaps half the pile and have about a cup of wheat. I think I have negative return.
My little experiment in basic farming skills has taught me the following. Remembering that I wanted to do this without the benefit of modern tools and on a small plot:
1. The seed/plant count was way too low. I need a lawn spreader or a very small grain drill. I bought a small hand operated push unit at a garage sale for $2.00 for next year. I should be able to get a more even and consistent spread of seeds.
2. The weather/climate is/has begun to change here. I cannot rely on “normal weather” to nurture the crop. I need to find seed that is more drought resistant. Non-hybrid, but something that will survive on less moisture. I am considering buying a bag or two of wheat Seed at my local coop.
3. Irrigation may be needed. I am building a rain water catchment system for the house and barn. I believe I need to extend the system to where the wheat plot is, move the plot closer to the barn or build its own system. Both are easier said than done.
4. I can extend the existing house water system 600 feet to the plot and use a sprinkler, but that is hardly 1880s technology.
5. I think I need to get a hand held scythe for cutting. I need to find a grain/hay rake. I am going to see if the local Amish have something.
6. I have got to have a winnowing machine. It does not need to motorized, just designed for the task. I have seen one at a local farm for sale. I will be going that way soon and will check. I have also found several designs on the web for small winnowing units. One that uses an electric fan, the other is hand operated. Both are at the Victory Horticultural Library. This entire exercise was to see how I would do using 1880s technology. It was also a test of skills and ability to adapt. I learned much. The most important being that skills and tools do not come from books, but experience. I live at my retreat so I have the luxury to try learning different things.

Low Power Amateur Radio Transmitters and Transceivers, by David in Israel

I have been playing with my ham radio stuff for years but I wish I had started out in high-school with a high frequency (HF) low power (QRP) radio kit instead of playing with 2 meter handhelds and repeaters. I would have had a better grasp on circuit and antenna design and gotten into Morse code more quickly.
For about $15 or less a transmitter kit around the size of a silver dollar can be made that can be picked up by a larger station sometimes hundreds or even thousands of miles away. Moving up form there are transceivers which are made to fit into an Altoids mints tin and can communicate around the world. Of course more power is useful when you need to get through right away but a 20 meter band (day), 80 meter band (night), or 40 meter band (both day and night), set built into an Altoids mint tin with a battery and some cut to frequency magnet wire for an antenna provides a good survival radio for cases where a survival group is separated across the country like in Jim’s novel “Patriots”, during the long winter nights.

Expensive kits can work multiple HF bands but are mostly larger or cost much more. Some interesting kits are the $160 range AT-Sprint 3 which is a multi-band 80M, 40M, 20M surface mount kit that can fit in an Altoids mints tin. (BTW, it won’t be back into production until late summer, 2007.)

Another larger and easier to build kit is the $55 SW+ series in 80M, 40M, 30M or 20M from Small Wonder Labs,
Wilderness Radio makes some good kits like the $90 SST which can be built to cover on of the following 40m, 7.032-7.042; 40m/novice: 7.105 – 7.115; 30m,
10.105-10.120; 20m, 14.046-14.064.
QRP radios as a general rule are Morse code only but some radios get past the old primitive key and use a built in paddle instead which is quicker, smaller, and easier to use after about a day of practice.
Combined with a rechargeable battery and a very small solar panel you can carry a low power station in your shirt pocket at all times.
Many SurvivalBloggers love their [EMP-resistant] tube technology and this is an option with QRP kits but these are larger and hog power.
Readers should know that [in the U.S.] once they pass the easy Technician level test they can operate on the 80, 40, 15 (code) and 10 meter (code and voice) HF bands as well as
higher frequencies all without having to pass a Morse code test.

Letter Re: On Spring and Well Water, and Some Water Treatment Basics

Mr Rawles:

You are dead on with the advice on water on July 19th.

Even a fairly small spring is a great resource. We have used ours for 25 years now, even though I had a well drilled last year as a backup. Sometimes in the fall, our spring gets down to less than a pencil sized stream of water output.

Several other points to mention for springs. For gravity feed, figure about 1/2 pound of pressure on the output end for each foot of elevation between the spring and the output. Also, run at least a 1″ line if you have any distance and/or your elevation difference is minimal, to reduce friction loss in the pipe. And you might want to consider going larger.

Storage is also an important factor, since a spring may not put out much volume, but does run 24 hours a day. For example, my spring may get down to a low of 1 quart a minute in a dry fall time, but that is 15 gallons per hour, and 360 gallons in 24 hours. In a typical day, we might only use 100-200 or so gallons between showers, toilets, etc…..but come wash day, the washer along with the ‘normal’ household use will exceed that 360 gallon figure by far. This is where adequate storage overcomes “peak” loads.

My first storage was a 1,000 gallon concrete septic tank, in ground, I had the tank company cast a 1″ pipe fitting n the bottom for connection. Later, I changed to 2-1,500 gallon plastic tanks housed in a 10’x20′ concrete block building built back into the mountain. If you plan to use plastic tanks above ground, they should be housed away from sunlight which will promote algae growth. These tanks are available at most farm supply stores, already have a 20″ manhole top fitting and a 2″ bottom drain fitting installed.

We also use a UV light as a sterilizer, though only installed that a few years ago….the first 20 years, simply had a sediment filter on the line, and never suffered any ill effects from the spring…..the UV light is simple me getting cautious in my old age. – Andy in Tennessee

Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Matt B. forwarded us a link to the new White House Fact Sheet: Implementation of the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza

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Jericho Convention in Kansas: Oakley officials hope nothing shy of nuclear bomb will keep ‘Jericho’ fans away. If you can attend, there is an opportunity to give a presentation and/or be a preparedness panelist at “Jerichon”. Send an e-mail to: Stacey.Adams@guardiansofjericho.org. OBTW, let me know if you definitely plan to attend and I’ll be happy to send you a free SurvivalBlog t-shirt to wear while you are there, as a conversation starter.

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From The Financial Times: UN warns it cannot afford to feed the world

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"An unconstitutional act is not a law; it confers no rights; it imposes no duties; it affords no protection; it creates no office; it is in legal contemplation, as inoperative as though it had never been passed." – Norton v. Shelby County, 118 US 425 (1885)

On Spring and Well Water, and Some Water Treatment Basics

Plentiful fresh drinking water for drinking, cooking, washing, and gardening is the most critical resource for all societies. The vast majority of the residents of First World countries are dependent on grid power to supply their water. When the grid goes down for more than a few days, water towers will soon be drained and huge numbers of people will be forced to draw water from open sources. Thankfully, there are streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds in walking distance of most homes. Rainwater from roof downspouts can also be used. But the logistics of hauling water will just by itself be a challenge. Next, people will need treat all that water, or face infection. Most families don’t own a water filter. Boiling water is an option, but only for those that have natural gas, propane, or wood cooking stoves, since electric ranges don’t work without grid power. Even folks with well water will face difficulties, unless they have a backup generator, or better yet a fully capable alternative energy system. (Coincidentally, we recently addressed emergency well buckets in SurvivalBlog.)

Spring Water

Gravity-fed spring water is the ideal water supply for a rural retreat. There is no need for power, relatively low installation expense, low maintenance and little risk of frozen pipes. But unfortunately very few properties are blessed with a spring that is situated to provide gravity flow to a house. When I advise my consulting clients, I urge them to make gravity-fed spring water a top priority when they are evaluating properties when relocating.

Well Water

Grid-powered wells are problematic, since most wells use just a small pressure tank. Whenever there is a power failure, the water pressure drops to nil in just a short time. Photovoltaically-pumped well water is a good solution, albeit with a fairly high installation cost. With a large cistern that is positioned to supply gravity flow to your house (typically 35 to 60 feet of “head”) you can skip putting a battery bank in your system. When the sun shines, it pumps, and when the sun sets it stops. Simple. A float switch on the cistern will insure that you prevent needless wear and tear on you pump.

Ultraviolet (UV) treatment is an interesting innovation that was first embraced by fish farmers and by koi pond enthusiasts. The UV technology is quite promising for anyone that has a shallow well or spring that has an unacceptable bacteria count. (This typically happens during a flood, or seasonally with heavy rains that increase surface water that can get into a well or spring.) The UV method of treatment is growing in popularity in the US and Canada because there is no need for chemicals. Ultraviolet light rays–just like those from the sun that produce sunburn, only stronger–alter the DNA of bacteria, viruses, molds, and parasites, so that they cannot reproduce. They are not killed, but are merely rendered sterile. Thus, they safely pass through your digestive tract, but cannot reproduce–which is otherwise the cause of intestinal illness.

The three questions that readers ask me about well and spring water are:

A.) Is well or spring water safe to drink?

Generally, yes. And because it is not fluoridated, it is probably much healthier than public utility-provided “city” water.

B.) Do I have to worry about pesticides, MTBE, or heavy metal contaminants in well or spring water?

Yes, and you should have the water tested before you buy a property that has a well. Any certified lab will test for these contaminants, as well as bacteria. Do a web search for your state’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), or equivalent. The DEQ web site should list some approved/certified commercial laboratories that do water testing. In some states, spring and well water testing is also handled by state universities. The good news is that you will only have to do this once, unless you hear about some drastic change in local water conditions.

C.) Do I need to chlorinate my well or spring water?

In most cases, no. As preciously mentioned, it is possible that your well might get contaminated by a flood, or seasonally contaminated with coliform bacteria from rain water run-off. The best solution is to use a UV sterilizer year-round, so that you don’t have to worry about it. Alternatively, if you know that there has been a contamination, you could add a calculated quantity of plain hypochlorite liquid bleach solution down your well shaft, as described at this web site. But if there is continual bacterial contamination of your well or spring then again the best solution is to use a UV sterilizer year-round.

Open Sources

As mentioned previously, water from open sources must always be treated before use. Typical chlorine concentrations will kill bacteria but not all viruses. So I recommend a three step approach to treating water from open sources:

1.) Pre-filtering. This remove particulate matter. Pouring water though a couple of thickness of t-shirts or tightly-woven bath towels works fine. The water that comes through will still look like tea, but at least you will have removed the crud and larger particles. By pre-filtering, you will also extend the life of your water filter. (You avoid clogging the microscopic pores in teh filter media.)

2.) Chlorinating. This can be accomplished following the time and concentration guidelines previously discussed in SurvivalBlog.

3.) Filtering. I recommend the large Katadyn or British Berkefeld filters. Some filter elements available for Katadyn or British Berkefeld filters can even remove chlorine. (Complete filter systems and spare filter elements are available from Ready Made Resources, Safecastle, and other Internet vendors)

Compact Water Treatment Systems

I am often asked about compact water filters for backpacking, hunting trips, and “Get Out of Dodge”/”Bug Out” situations. For this, Katadyn makes an excellent compact water filter/pump called a Pocket Filter. The volume of water that they can process is limited, but they are perfect for their intended purpose. Another option is the recently introduced Hydro Photon SteriPEN–a compact battery-powered UV sterilizer. This is a miniatur version of a home water UV sterilizer. Very clever! We are currently testing one here at the Rawles Ranch. Look for a product review of the SteriPEN that will be posted on SurvivalBlog next week. SteriPENs are available from Safecastle, Ready Made Resources, and several other Internet vendors.

An even more compact water treatment method for lightweight backpacking is Polar Pure–essentially just iodine crystals in a mesh-top bottle. This is used to create a strong iodine solution that is in turn used to treat a quantity of water. As recently mentioned in SurvivalBlog, the US government is about to ban the sale of iodine crystals and iodine solutions over 2%, since they now deem iodine to be a “precursor” chemical for illicit drug manufacture. Therefore, I strongly recommend that all SurvivalBlog readers in the US get themselves a lifetime supply of Polar Pure, as soon as possible. It is sold by Ready Made Resources and several other Internet vendors.

It is important that every prepared family make plans in advance on exactly how they will handle their water supply in the event of a long-term grid-down situation. Buy the gear. test is extensively. Also research a primary, secondary, and even tertiary source of water in your area. You need to plan ahead for transporting that water, even if fuel for vehicles is not available. Think in terms of a two-wheel garden cart or a bicycle cargo trailer with “Slimed” tires–or better yet, foam-filled “airless” tires (available from PerformanceBike.com or Nashbar.com). A cart or trailer can be loaded with 5 or 6 gallon plastic buckets or water cans. (For planning purposes, each 5 gallon water can will weigh about 42 pounds, so you’ll want a cart or trailer with at least 200 pound capacity.) Oh yes, and don’t forget that if times get really bad you’ll need to plan for a security detail, to protect the water detail. This is starting to get complicated, isn’t it? And if you are unfortunate enough to live in an area that lacks open water sources available in every month of the year that are within walking distance, then you ought to seriously consider relocating to area with more plentiful water .

Make plans to to be able to distribute water purification supplies as charity. (Pool Shock chlorination tablets can be bought in a five gallon pail–enough to treat many hundreds of thousands of gallons of water. Make some photocopies of of directions for using hypochlorite tablets. A few plastic zip lock bags of hypochlorite tablets (roughly 6 ounces per bag) along with direction sheets could save hundreds of lives.

Letter Re: With Inflation Ahead, Why Be Debt Free?

Jim,
I was wondering, as perhaps some other readers are, why you advocate paying off your fixed rate mortgage in preparation for inflationary bad times ahead. It would seem that, short of Zimbabwe-style economic collapse, leaving your money in investments that more or less track inflation, and using those increasingly deflated dollars to pay off a fixed rate, constant dollar mortgage that will become increasingly cheaper with time, is to your benefit (and very much not to the bank’s). What am I missing? Regards, – Lou P

JWR Replies: I advocate being debt free for several reasons. The first and foremost reason is Biblical. Clearly, modern-day interest rates are usurious. (See Nehemiah 5:4-13.) That alsone is enough to keep me away from the banksters and their money. I have never taken a loan from a bank, and, Lord willing, I never shall. (I do use a credit card, but purely for convenience. I pay the full balance each month so that I’m not charged interest.) My other reasons are purely pragmatic:
A.) The times to come may not be inflationary. There is a chance (albeit far less likely) that times might turn deflationary, a la the 1930s. Those were dreadful times for debtors.
B.) You might lose your job and not have any income. At that pont, you might not be able to make your payments, even in inflated dollars.
C.) Never underestimate the ability of well-intentioned of governments to over-react in an “emergency.” Governments are quite likely to institute wage and price controls, as they have done in the past. They might impose limitations on mortgage pre-payments. They might place limits on savings account withdrawals. They might index interest rates to match inflation. They might issue a new currency and reschedule/recalculate all recorded mortgages. And they might even decree that the remaining principal of mortgages be indexed to match inflation! (A banker’s fondest dream is an installment debt that can never be fully repaid.) For some documented cases of government over-reaction in the recent past, see Dr. Gary North’s book “Government by Emergency“. (IIRC, it is available for free download, along with dozens of other books at I.C.E. Free Books.)

Odds ‘n Sods:

Coutrtesy of SHTF.com, and also recommended by SurvivalBlog reader KB, comes this article about Zimbabwe from The Economist: How to stay alive when it all runs out

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Zuke in Iraq sent us this one: Two Bear Stearns hedge funds are now worth nearly nothing. We read further details in The Daily Reckoning: “Last week, all three rating agencies – Moody’s, Standard and Poor’s, and Fitch – announced downgrades of subprime linked debt. And this week, Bear Stearns said investors in one of its hedge funds that bought CDOs on a
leveraged basis would get none of their money back. They were wiped out, said the letter reported by Bloomberg, buying Triple-A bonds. Just how subprime CDOs, suspicious byproducts of a disreputable industry, came to be rated AAA is a story worth telling, but today we will stick to the news. Bear went on to say that while investors in one of its two endangered funds had been wiped out, investors in the other fund could breathe a sigh of relief – they had only lost 91% of their money.” (OBTW, I consider The Daily Reckoning a “must read.” Subscriptions to the e-newsletter are free.)

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Rourke recommended this interview of Comptroller David Walker, head of the GAO, on 60 Minutes. Walker gives some dire warnings. “I would argue that the most serious threat to the United States is not someone hiding in a cave in Afghanistan or Pakistan but our own fiscal irresponsibility,”

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From NewsMax: Experts Agree: Major Terror Threats Loom

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"False is the idea of utility that sacrifices a thousand real advantages for one imaginary or trifling inconvenience; that would take fire from men because it burns, and water because one may drown in it; that has no remedy for evils except destruction. The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature … laws not preventive but fearful of crimes.:" – Beccaria

Note from JWR:

Please mention SurvivalBlog whenever you call in to a talk radio show to discuss survival, preparedness, or emerging threats. Thanks!