Odds ‘n Sods:

Some Treehuggers concede that we may be right, after all, even if we do use Excessive and Gratuitous Acronym Diversions (EGADs).

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From our Economic Editor, starting with the most disturbing news: Bloomberg Analyst Marc Faber: $700 Billion Bailout Could Balloon To $5 Trillion — WaMu Is Gone, But Trouble Spots Remain (The banks to watch: Wachovia, Comerica, Marshall & Ilsley) — Wachovia, Citi In Merger Talks — Stocks Rebound On Renewed Bailout Hopes — The US Banking Collapse Was A Controlled Demolition Let’s Play Wall Street Bailout (Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio rants well) — They Want Mama To Make It All Better

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Even the oh-so conservative Wall Street Journal is starting to take on an alarmist tone: Few Good Scenarios in View as Crisis Spreads. Buckle up!

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Kevin A. recommended some commetary by Jim Willie, over at The Silver Bear Cafe: Corruption, Whispers & Receivership

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them." – Ecclesiastes 9:11-12 (KJV)

Two Letters Re: Advice for City Folks on a Budget?

Dear Mr. Rawles,
I am writing to ask for your advice and for your charity, and also because I think this subject may be of interest to many of your readers. I discovered your web site a week ago and have found it to be both very informative and also very alarming! It was major wake-up call for me.

In my opinion, I am not at all prepared for the upheavals that are already underway and that lie ahead of us.

I would very much like to change that situation, but it all (considered as a whole) seems so overwhelming. I don’t know what to do, where to start and how to go about it. Also, I don’t feel that I have the same resources and freedom as some of your other readers.

I also have the feeling that many, perhaps most, of your readers may be in exactly the same situation as me:

I am a 50 year old average guy with a wife and two young children to support. I work in a medium sized metropolitan area and live in an average house in the suburbs, about 10 miles out of town, on a 1/5th acre lot. My kids go to public school, my wife works part-time and I work full-time. We depend on the income from my job to support the family. It is not the kind of job that allows me to just uproot myself and live out in the sticks. My wife and I make just enough to pay the bills and set aside a little bit for my 401(k) [retirement savings account]and my kids’ college education. We do not own any real estate aside from our home. We have about $50,000 in savings, $90,000 in home equity and about $190,000 in my 401(k) .

In my opinion, we are not prepared at all for any sort of natural, economic, social or political upheaval or disaster:
– We don’t own a ranch or farm or remote property of any kind.
– We don’t own gold or silver.
– We don’t own any weapons and don’t know how to use them.
– We don’t have any food or emergency supplies stored up.
– Our house is not “hardened” or “secure”.
– We don’t have a generator, etc.
– We are not EMTs and don’t know how to grow crops or butcher a hog.
– We don’t have a G.O.O.D. plan or vehicle or provisions.

In short, we are probably just like most of the other average families in the USA (and perhaps like most of your readers) except for our awareness of the problems that may be coming and our desire to be prepared.

My wife and I both believe in being “prepared” but my idea and hers are different. My wife things that the problems we are facing are temporary, so she would like to be prepared too, but she doesn’t want to rock the boat or uproot our family to do it. I am alarmed and would like to be very well prepared, but I don’t want to wreck my marriage and family in the process.

Mr. Rawles, please tell us what we can do given the situation I’ve described. What specific steps should we take and in what order? What would you do if you were me in my shoes?

I know you get a lot of letters, but I sure hope you answer this one on your web site. For my sake, for my family’s sake and for the sake of what may be hundreds or thousands of people just like me that read your web site and want to do something but don’t know what to do, how to do it, where to start and what’s most important to do first, second, third etc.

Thank you in advance for your kind consideration. – Mike H.

 

Hello Jim,
I’ve been reading your blog off and on for several months, but I’ve yet to see anything substantial for us poorer citizens. When it comes to TEOTWAWKI, then it’s all well and good if you were wealthy enough to be able to afford a nice out-of-the-way location to save yourself, but what of us who are stuck in an apartment in the city, like Denver? Or worse, people in metropolises like Chicago and New York? Where could millions of people all possibly go to get away from it all? All we can do is to arm ourselves to the teeth and wait it out? We’d like to get out of the city too, but we aren’t able to buy property, which is why we’re stuck in apartments, rather than homes. I’m afraid that if such a disaster should come our way, then we will be on our own. Even if we have a network of people, they are often driving distances that are impractical in a time of extreme crisis. Do you have any suggestions for those of us with extremely limited incomes? I’ve searched your site, but if you did have something, I may have missed it.
Thanks, – Ken R.

JWR Replies: I realize that buying a rural retreat is not within the means of most SurvivalBlog readers. There have been quite a few articles on both urban survival and budget conscious survival, and they are available in the archives, all of course free of charge. OBTW, a brief description of how to search the archives can be found here. Here are a few SurvivalBlog letters and articles that I found in just a few minutes of searches, using “urban” and “budget” in my search phrases. (There are many more available.):

Budget Preparedness–Survival Isn’t About Stuff, It is About Skills

Letter Re: Hunkering Down in an Urban Apartment in a Worst Case Societal Collapse

Letter Re: An Urban/Suburban “Stay Put” Survival Strategy

Ten Things That Will Get You Killed While Bugging In, by Paul C.

Letter Re: Advice on a Budget Water Filter

Selecting a Rifle for a Budget-Constrained Prepper

Letter Re: Preparedness on a Very Tight Budget (Also see: Follow-up letter from J.F., and Follow-up letter from R.L.)

Letter Re: Advice for a Canadian with a “Just One Gun” Budget

Letter Re: Will Peasant Farmers Fare Better than the Rich in TEOTWAWKI?

SurvivalBlog is intended for people from all walks of life. One point of clarification: My own income is quite modest. In fact, if I still lived in a high cost region, then I wouldn’t be able to afford a mortgage payment on a three bedroom house. It is only because I’ve been preparing very gradually and systematically for 30 years that I now have a squared-away retreat here in The Unnamed Western State. And it is only by God’s grace that I have a wife that is agreeable to living in the boonies, and that I’m able to work from home.

Regardless of your income level, start with a list of lists. Tailor your procurement plan based on your personal circumstances and to match what you see as the most likely chain of events. Just be systematic, and set your priorities carefully. The smaller your budget, then the more important this is.

In answer to the question on 401(k) accounts: Many 401(k) accounts can be rolled over into IRAs. If that is the case, then I recommend doing a rollover into a Gold IRA, available through Swiss America Trading Company. I have had a gold coin IRA since 1998. Once established, these accounts are measured in an “ounce” value with a “Beginning Cost Basis” noted for when your dollars were first converted into U.S. Gold Eagles. In my case, most of the one ounce Gold Eagle bullion coins they put in storage for me cost $315 each (IIRC, this was when spot gold was $298 per ounce). Gold has nearly tripled since then. The coins are physically stored by Goldstar Trust, a bonded vault company in Texas. The annual storage and administration fee is now $90 per year, but in my opinion that is a small price to pay for knowing that when I eventually cash out my IRA it will be in tangible form, rather than an investment vehicle denominated in dollars. I have no way of knowing how much the US Dollar will depreciate in the next 15 years, but it is pretty safe to say that gold will still have the same–or nearly the same–buying power that it does today. I strongly recommend that if you have an IRA or 401(k) account that you conduct a fund rollover into a Gold IRA.

Letter Re: Questions on Short Term Survival in an Urban Office Building

Dear Mr. Rawles,
First off, I just want to say that I really appreciate what you’re doing with your blog site. I’ve learned so many useful things and feel that I am beginning to have a basic understanding of how to prepare for and live in and a survival situation.

Second, I’d like to give you a quick bit of background about myself so you can hopefully help me with my dilemma/question…

I am a young adult working on the 9th floor of a large building in Manhattan [on Long Island, New York City, New York]. I do not own a car and so I use public transportation, typically the subway. My apartment is about a 30 minute walk from work. In my apt I have started building up my survival gear, food, Bug Out Bag, etc…But I realize that I spend most of my days not in my apt but in my office, working. So I’ve decided to start planning my office survival gear because if Manhattan was ever attacked with some form of nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons, and I’m still alive, I don’t believe there would be time for me to get back to my apt before being affected (as subways, buses, and foot traffic will be clogged and slow). I figure my best bet for survival would be to hunker down for the first 48-to-72 hours in my building probably the library.

What are your thoughts/advice on staying in the building??
Also what kind of survival gear can I bring to work that would be discreet but really help me in my first 48 hours of survival?

This is what I have so far, which my employer has provided in a fanny pack for everyone:

[Mylar] bags of water. (We also have water coolers)
flashlight and batteries
goggles
emergency blanket
small first aid kit
mask
whistle

Any advice would be appreciated and thank you for your time. Regards, – Flora in New York City

 

JWR Replies: Hunkering down in an urban environment can be difficult. We’ve addressed that before in SurvivalBlog.

Your office or cubicle probably has a locking desk, file cabinet, and/or a credenza. Typically, with the high turn-over rate in most corporations, keys for furniture gets lost. Ask your facilities department to either re-key your locks, or have them cut new keys for them, based of their manufacturer’s code numbers. (Typically stamped in small digits next to the lock key way.) With this semi-secure storage space available, there is no reason why you cannot gradually build up a substantial supply of food, and have a place store items such as a flashlight, sleeping bag, foam mattress pad, and so forth. Even the interior of modular cubicle walls have a remarkable amount of space for items up to two inches thick. (One advantage of being an over-worked technical writer for many years was that it gave me a lot of late night hours to explore such possibilities. You would not believe what I stored inside my cubicle walls!)

Keep in mind that in a blackout, your building will be quite cold, at least for half of each year So be sure to store an insulated pad, down jacket, a pile cap, and gloves in your office.

Buy a USGI protective mask (preferably an M40 or a recent USAF MCU series) and at least four spare filter canisters, from a reliable vendor such as JRH Enterprises. Since these only filter the available air, they are not nearly as capable as a compressed air system like firefighters typically use. The latter will operate even in oxygen-deprived environments, but a mask will at least increase your chance of getting out of a high-rise building alive, in the event of a fire. One trick, BTW, is attaching two filters simultaneously (on both sides of the mask), to increase the available air flow during heavy exertion.

Find out where any extra bottled water for your building is stored. There, or near there, is the logical place to find your “hunker down” room.

Scout out your building thoroughly. It might be worthwhile getting to know someone on your building Facilities Department staff. Buy him lunch, and have a chat. Find out where the roof accesses are, and if they are kept locked. See if there are any back rooms, machinery rooms, or passageways that are not well known. These rooms are often kept locked. One little-known method if gaining access to such spaces is to climb up through a suspended (or “drop”) acoustic panel ceiling, go over a partition, and climb back down into the locked room. You might even keep a small folding ladder such as a QuikStep ladder handy for just this purpose. (Tres Batman.) For some ideas on discovering unused spaces in buildings, see the Web Urbanist site, and related “urban exploration” web sites and their forums. (Of course, all the usual legal disclaimers apply.)

Weapons that are legal to possess in New York City have been discussed previously in SurvivalBlog. If nothing else, you should keep a cane or stout full-size umbrella in your office at all times. BTW, it is also wise to carry either of these whenever you are on city sidewalks or on the subway. They will look quite innocuous, but with the right training will give you a great advantage in a brute force fighting situation. For training, start with the Gordon Oster DVD, and the book “Raising Cane” by Octavio Ramos. Then take a FMA cane fighting class. Those would all be money well spent!

Odds ‘n Sods:

Cheryl, our Economic Editor, sent us these: Congress Restarts Troubled Bailout Talks — Stocks Mostly Decline As Investors Remain Tense Over Bailout — WaMu Becomes Biggest Bank To Fail In US History — Wachovia In Huge Mortgage Mess — UK Banks May Get $180bn From US Bailout — Wachovia Shares Begin Dive After WaMu Death — JPMorgan Buys WaMu For A Mere $1.9 Billion (“To put the size of WaMu in context, its assets are equal to about two-thirds of the combined book value assets of all 747 failed thrifts that were sold off by the Resolution Trust Corp. – the former government body that handled the S&L crisis from 1989 through 1995.”) — Wall Street Should Be Looking For Bail, Not A Bailout — Risk Of Paulson Failing Has Markets Frozen In Fear — Money Market Conditions Deteriorate Further — Central Banks Take Action. — Withdrawals by customers ultimately sank WaMu . And here is one more from Jonathan Prynn, of England’s Evening Standard, courtesy of Dan S.: Stand by for Black Monday

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Et tu, WaMu? WaMu Failed, Seized By FDIC, Bought By JPMorgan.”The Army Aviator” notes: “That was a good call that Jim Sinclair made as to how it’s amazing that the largest bank failure (WaMu) [occurred on a Thursday] just when they are trying to get that bailout Schumer passed–instead of announcing it at the usual Friday after the market closings. Gosh, the crooks aren’t even good crooks. Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy.”

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Budget crunch: Palm Bay, Florida Police May Stop Responding To Some Crimes. (A hat tip to Eric for the link.)

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More about the gasoline shortage in the southeast: Tempers flare at pumps and Gas Shortage In the South Creates Panic, Long Lines

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Katya was the first of several readers that sent us this: Gold coin sales halted after retail rush

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else." – Frederic Bastiat, Essays on Political Economy, 1872

Note from JWR:

Based on the tone of many recent e-mails, I can see that the anxiety level of SurvivalBlog readers has definitely gone up a notch. With headlines like these, it is no wonder.

Again, the present circumstances do not dictate doing anything drastic. Wait, watch, and above all be ready. This would be a good time to top off your storage food and fuel reserves. Don’t quit your day job!

From The Memsahib: Saving Your Life and Saving Your Relationships–Don’t Drive Your Loved Ones Away

We received the following sad letter from an anonymous SurvivalBlog reader that illustrates how women can be driven away by men that are insensitive to the emotional differences between men and women.

Hello Jim,
I especially enjoyed The Memsahib’s article directed towards single people needing to get out there and volunteer / network, and the article regarding balancing prepping with continuing to enjoy life. I think it’s a good idea to pay especially close attention to the articles she writes as I find that I’ve not had balance over the last few years as I’ve become more aware of the need to become self sufficient and the challenges that goal presents for a city slicker. I’ve managed to get caught up in scurrying around to prepare and cutting corners on all types of expenses (vacations, toys, fancy dinners, and even cable television) and I’ve managed to row myself right up “single creek” and lose a good fiance by forgetting to enjoy life in the here and now. Looking back, with a little balance, and teamwork things might have been different, but in my rush to prepare I lost track of everything else. That may sound extreme, but it’s easy to do with the current state of affairs. To many of us reading SurvivalBlog preparing is a means to a self-evident end and it inherently makes sense given the hard facts, but a touch of balance is also equally as important.

With the torrent of bad economic news being shouted from the headlines, many SurvivalBlog readers have consciously or subconsciously increased their state of readiness. I’m writing this as a reminder. Husbands, please be aware that your wives might be having difficulty dealing with your ratcheting-up of readiness. When you mention a news item, you will likely hear your wife saying “I don’t want to hear about this!”, or “I can’t handle hearing about that right now”, especially if she has other pressing concerns such as pregnancy, aged parents to care for, health issues, or stress at her work. If she is able to communicate this to you, then you need to respect her boundaries. Hopefully you are a united team and you can explain to her that you will continue to prepare but spare her all the incessant doom and gloom talk . Husbands who have blown the budget with survival gear in the past are going have a much more difficult time in this situation. Your wife might have difficulty trusting you. We know a husband who spent thousands of dollars (all their savings) on preps pre-Y2K without saying anything to his wife. If his wife had not been a Christian who believed divorce is never an option, the marriage would have been over.

For many years, Jim and I have had the “No Gloom and Doom Talk After 8 p.m.” rule. We all need a good night’s sleep, and having conversations about TEOTWAWKI close to bedtime can be troubling. This rule helps me sleep better because there is then plenty of time before bed to focus on our blessings.

If you want to better understand this psychology, then refer to these archived SurvivalBlog articles:

Letter Re: Help With a Non-Preparedness Minded Spouse

Ten Letters Re: Help With a Non-Preparedness Minded Spouse (follow-up e-mails)

Letter Re: My Wife Ignores My Preparedness Goals

Letter Re: Advice for an Unprepared Greenhorn

Hello Mr. Rawles!
I love your blog, and visit at least weekly, more often daily.
The current economic situation is sickening. I mean, actually making my stomach hurt, as I am not prepared. I just recently was hit on the head with the motivation to get prepared. The only problem with that is that I don’t even know where to start. Food? Weapons and Ammunition? Medical supplies? I am the patriarch of a family of 4. My wife and I, and our two children, both 10 and under. What I could use your advice on is just what I mentioned before, where does someone like me start. We have very little money, we live in the city, and we have no supplies except a Remington 870 Express [12 gauge shotgun] with a couple boxes of ammunition and food from the grocery store for a couple weeks and our camping supplies which amount to a couple days in the woods. I’m extremely worried that I simply won’t be able to help my family survive the coming collapse. I want to be prepared, and I’m motivated.
Thank you for any time you could donate with your advice! – MWS

JWR Replies: Start out by getting a good quality water filter such as the Katadyn VARIO currently on sale at Ready Made Resources and stocking up on canned foods.
If you don’t yet already have one, buy a spare riot “Police” length 20″ barrel with rifle-type iron sights for your Model 870, with “IC” (improved cylinder) choke, or better yet the “Rem Choke” removable choke tubes. These barrels are available with a durable finish to match your “Express” variant.

Buy at least 200 rounds of #4 buckshot, 25 rounds (five boxes of 5) of rifled slugs, and when you can budget for it, a case of #6 birdshot shells for bird hunting and small game hunting

Since your resources are limited, your greatest opportunity to increase your chances of survival will be teaming up with like-minded folks in your area. For some suggestions, see my static page on Finding Like-Minded People in Your Area.

Be sure to take advantage of low cost training through the American Red Cross, the Appleseed Program, and the WRSA.

Pray hard, study hard, and train hard.

Letter Re: Making Alternatives to Commercial Chemical Light Sticks

Hi Jim,
I just read your novel “Patriots” and studied the Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, and both are excellent. [In them,] you talk about chem lights (otherwise known as glow sticks) for in your car for changing tires, handy around campsites, and what not. The shelf life on these, as you mentioned, is very short (couple of months in a car [in a hot climate]) and they are not cheap (or maybe just I am cheap). I found this video on making an LED version of them that is reusable.

Seems to me like a good idea for recycling the older ones that are now dead. You can buy LED glow sticks as well which may be cheaper and easier from places like this. I have no affiliation with them and have never bought from them, but just wanted to show an example.
Thanks, – Rutger (Temporarily in Costa Rica)

JWR Replies: Perhaps the easiest method for creating a glowing wand was suggested by The Gun Plumber over at The FALFiles: “After the light stick is expended, cut the end off, dump the liquid and glass ampoule [and discard safely], then tape the plastic tube to your Mini MagLite flashlight to make an IR wand–the plastic tube is the IR filter! As previously mentioned in SurvivalBlog, there are some huge tactical advantages to using infrared light sticks if you own any Starlight-type (light amplification) night vision gear.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Several readers sent us this article, suggesting a correlation with my recent Pre-Crash Checklist: China banks told to halt lending to US banks

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Cheryl found this for us: Shipping Container Homes

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Rod McG. sent us this: In Israel, Kibbutz Life Makes a Surprising Comeback

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Dan and Becky flagged this: confirmation that the growth of the Mother of All Bailouts is not slowing: House clears $25 billion for car makers

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Some news and commentary gleanings from our Economic Editor: WaMu’s Hopes For Capital Drying Up — Deal Near On Bailout Plan — Buffet Says Act or Face “Financial Pearl Harbor” — Buffet Favors Bailout: Here’s Why — US Faces “One H*ll of a Deep Downturn” — Ron Paul’s Federal Reserve Abolition Act — One of Biggest Car Dealerships Closing — Congress Reaches “Agreement in Principal” on $700 Billion Bailout — Asia Needs Deal To Prevent Panic Selling Of US Debt — FDIC May Need $150 Billion By End Of 2009 — Barrick Sees Large-Scale Gold Buying On Bailout — US Federal Reserve Funnels $30 Billion Into Overseas Money Markets — Credit Stress Intermarket Money Market Freeze Evident in TAF, TED Spread Everywhere

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"During the hyperinflation in post WWI Germany, what used to be a comfortable nest egg was suddenly the value of a postage stamp. If one held just a portion of their savings in precious metals, the crisis was greatly softened. Gold will never be worth nothing, even if the exact price fluctuates. There is a famous photograph, however, of a German woman during this time period burning piles of tightly bound banknotes to keep warm." – Congressman Ron Paul

Letter Re: What Are the Economic Collapse Indicators to Watch For?

Jim,
Some of us may be stuck within the city limits until ‘the last possible moment’ before an event such as WTSHTF. Can you suggest a day-to-day procedure or strategy to now follow for monitoring specific and reliable news outlets or information sources in determining when our G.O.O.D. action plan should be initiated? . Obviously, many people such as myself, have all the ‘other’ recommended Rawles preparations in place but are still at a disadvantage from those that were able to set up their retreat ahead of time and to have evacuated from a city. It’s the best that I can do, at this point.

Additionally, the economic news events these days are so wild and crazy that it’s hard to discern what main event, ‘red flag’ or ‘markers’ should precipitate an exit out of the city without further doubt or hesitation. Brushing up on ‘common sense and logic’ doesn’t hurt here, but it’s the expectation that some specific chain-of-events will take place that categorically shout now that I’m speaking of. Can you give us your personal view on what these catalyst events could be? Thank you, – Ken R. (A 10 Cent Challenge subscriber)

JWR Replies: There are far too many variables in the current situation for me to be able point to just one key “trigger” or “gating” indicator.

Be ready, but don’t panic. I must caution SurvivalBlog readers: “Don’t give up your day job.” Unless you are retired, or have a stable and substantial secondary cash flow from investments or a home-based business, it would be highly imprudent to quit your job (or start burning vacation hours) and move to your retreat. My advice: Watch the news carefully and be ready to leave on short notice. As I’ve previously mentioned, it is very important to pre-position the vast majority of your key logistics at your retreat, under the watchful eye of a caretaker or a trusted neighbor. When the time comes, you may only have the opportunity to make one trip to your retreat before highways become impassable.

Here are some important indicators to watch for, in my humble estimation. (Witnessing just one of these won’t be surely indicative, but if we see several of these…) :

A sharp spike in the Federal Funds Rate
News of a failed Treasury auction, or news that Treasury rates have spiked
Overt talk of a US default by Asian or European bankers
Multiple (8+) simultaneous US bank failures on one Friday
Any large Northern Rock style bank runs in the US (with customers lined up on the streets)
A stock market drop of more than 1,200 points in one day
A large and sudden spike in inflation
Any suspension of US stock trading
Draconian new stock trading limits (for example any new “circuit breaker” rules, followed by news that the trading was halted because of the limits)
New restrictions on precious metals purchasing or new reporting requirements
New limits on moving funds outside the US
Any large derivatives trading collapses.(Because of disappearing counterparties or illiquidity.)
News that hundreds of hedge funds are suspending redemptions
News that many Money Market funds are dropping below $1.00 Net Asset Value (NAV)
The US Dollar Index (USDI) dropping below 68 for more than one full week of trading.
Any sudden large interest rate moves by the FOMC. (Up or down.)
Rioting in several metropolitan centers simultaneously.
Gold spiking past $1,500 per ounce
News that any major western power is no longer accepting US Dollars in payment for key commodities
News that any major trading partners are no longer rolling over the majority of their US Treasury paper
A closed session of the full congress that lasts a full day or longer.
The Treasury starts to extensively monetize debt.
The resignation of either the Treasury Secretary or the Federal Reserve Chairman.
Mel Gibson moves to Fiji 😉

Letter Re: Yoder’s Canned Bacon and Canned Meats?

Mr. Rawles;

Thanks for the time and effort you put into SurvivalBlog.com. It is a truly valuable and unique resource.

Working on my lists of supplies and equipment, I’m wondering about Yoder’s canned bacon and other canned meats, beef, chicken, turkey, pork, sausage, etc. They advertise [an up to] 10 year shelf life (depending on storage conditions of course) and the price isn’t unreasonable. Too heavy for much mobility but for home base they appear to me to be an attractive way to store some meat products without refrigeration. Any info or thoughts on this? Thanks, – Gatekeeper

JWR Replies: The Yoder’s canned cooked bacon product is a new offering, but it is actually an old concept. Given the time and energy required to cook and can it, the price per can is fairly reasonable. OBTW, canned bacon, butter, and cheese are also sold by a number of Internet vendors, including several of our advertisers: Safecastle, Best Prices Storable Foods, and Ready Made Resources. These canned foods make good supplements to round out a diet and break up the monotony of eating bland storage foods such as wheat, rice, and beans.