A hat tip to L.W., who sent us this: Banks’ Balance Sheets Will Hit The Fan In January.
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Helicopter Ben Speaks: Fed Chairman Says Economy Likely to Slow
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Reader MGB suggested the Measuring Worth web site. They have some very informative inflation and purchasing power calculators.
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Eric S. suggested this Newsmax article: Credit Card Debt a $915 Billion Disaster-in-Waiting for Banks
"Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die." – G.K. Chesterton
I just got word that a brand new free “In State Firearms Sales Board” is now up and running. It just went live a few hours ago. No charge, nada, zip. Photos are allowed. Again, at no charge. The concept of this site is to arrange private party firearms sales between residents of the same state. (This avoids running afoul of the Federal regulation that restrict interstate sales except through an FFL.) Since the sales will all be intrastate, they will be safely outside of Federal jurisdiction. Of course consult your state and local laws before posting or responding to a post. This new board exists because of the generous donation of web hosting and bandwidth by the fine folks at Best Prices Storable Foods (aka The Internet Grocer). They have been a loyal SurvivalBlog advertiser for more than a year. I’m sure that they would appreciate your patronage.
I’ve used my Hi -Lift jack for years. I concur with the writers’ comments. One extremely important part of using one of these safely was omitted. The rule while a vehicle is up off the ground is that you always place jack stands under the vehicle or you are placing your life in jeopardy. This goes for a Hi-Lift jack and any other jack. A short ‘it happened to me’: While making repairs on a very hot humid day, the asphalt didn’t hold the jack base (it sunk a little due to the heat), fortunately I completed said task quickly and came out from under the vehicle. Then, right before me the jack slowly started tipping over and the jack stands stopped the vehicle before the whole thing went over. Invest in some jack stands!- flhspete.
JWR Adds: Thanks for mentioning that. Steel jack stands are available locally at nearly any auto parts store.You can also purchase a pair by mail order for less than $25 from JCWhitney.com 4WD Parts (Part # ZX077430NI.) Your mention of soft asphalt reminded me that special Hi-Lift jack bases–designed to distribute a jack’s weight more broadly on soft ground–are available from 4WD.com. (Part # 672)
OBTW, here are a few more safety tips. Resist the urge to buy four jack stands. They are only safe to use in pairs. You need to leave at least two of a vehicle’s wheels resting on the ground and lift only one end of the vehicle at a time. If the ground is slightly uneven, then lay at least 18″ wide scraps of 3/4″ (or thicker) plywood under each jack stand. Never jack up a car on a slope! And, needless to say, never work alone when jacking up a vehicle.
Hi Jim,
I read from time to time “C&R eligible.” Can you please post a quick note on the SurvivalBlog that explains what that is referring to, as it relates to firearms. Blessings, – Mark B.
JWR Replies: I often write about the full exemption in the Federal law for pre-1899 guns, but I haven’t given much attention in the blog to Curio and Relic (C&R) guns. A Type 03 Federal Firearms License (FFL) is issued by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) . It allows individual C&R collectors to purchase across state lines some specifically listed firearms and ammunition for their personal collections. These post-1898 firearms and ammo are classified as a Curio or Relic only under certain circumstances. The following is a snippet from the ATF web site:
To be recognized as curios or relics, firearms must fall within one of the following categories:
(a) Firearms which were manufactured at least 50 years prior to the current date, but not including replicas thereof;
(b) Firearms which are certified by the curator of a municipal, State, or Federal museum which exhibits firearms to be curios or relics of museum interest; and
(c) Any other firearms which derive a substantial part of their monetary value from the fact that they are novel, rare, bizarre, or because of their association with some historical figure, period, or event. Proof of qualification of a particular firearm under this category may be established by evidence of present value and evidence that like firearms are not available except as collector’s items, or that the value of like firearms available in ordinary commercial channels is substantially less.
The ATF’s list of eligible C&R guns and ammunition has been assembled piecemeal since 1968, and parts of it therefore show no rhyme or reason. For example, some Winchester Model 1894 “Trapper” short-barreled rifles with specific serial numbers have made their way onto the list, while hundreds of others have not. The BATFE’s list of eligible C&R guns is sporadically updated and posted at the BATFE web site.
The Type 03 Curio and Relics License doesn’t permit the license holder to deal in firearms as a business. It is strictly a collector’s license. (With a C&R license, you can buy and sell guns, but only with the intent of improving your collection–not as a way to make a living.) Guns that are not specifically C&R eligible would still have to be obtained through someone with a Type 01 dealer’s license. At present, the Class 03 license fee is $30 for three years. If you are interested in getting a C&R license be sure to first check our your state and local laws that might also affect your firearms purchases. Next, read though the extensive information at Cruffler.com.
I generally discourage all but the most ardent gun collectors from getting a C&R license. If you are persistent, you can generally find the guns you want inside your own state from a private party seller. (For example, see my Note at the top of today’s posts.) If you definitely plan to buy several 50+ year-old military surplus rifles per year, then it might be worthwhile to get a license. Otherwise, the cost/benefit ratio must be considered. One factor to consider: All Federal Firearms licenses require record keeping, and those records are subject to annual inspection by ATF agents. An error in record keeping is a Federal crime. Also consider that having a Federal firearms license–even just a Type 03 C&R–will raise your profile with law enforcement at all levels. In the event that our nation’s gun laws change, FFL holders will probably be under intense scrutiny. And finally, as a FFL holder, your records .are subject to audit (no more than once per year), and you conceivably might be asked to present any guns listed in your records for inspection. (Who knows how the regulation might change in the future. But for now, ATF agents cannot search the home of a Class 03 license holder without warrant.)
In essence, a license is the granting of a privilege to conduct an act that would otherwise be illegal. Holding a license makes you subject to a new jurisdiction and holds you to a high record-keeping standard. Think that through. There are serious implications to obtaining any license. Don’t leap into getting one without first weighing the costs and benefits.
James:
I just finished “Tree Crops” by J. Russell Smith which just became one of my favorite books. In it he briefly mentioned edible nuts from pine trees. I did a scroogle search and found a great place in Canada that sells these types of pines. My favorite so far is the Korean Pine. Everybody grows pines for blocking winter wind and for privacy so why not pick a breed that gives you food? They grow in areas as cold as Zone 1 so this would be great for a lot of the northern retreats. One last thought is that Pine Nuts would be a great hidden emergency reserve of food because no mutant zombie biker would ever think of the nuts in pine cones as food. – Adam in Ohio
Jim:
Just chiming in on the commentary from today: I have been reading The SAS Survival Handbook by John “Lofty” Wiseman There is a lot of information about edible plants and procedures to use to test plants you are unsure of. The book is full of other valuable survival info too as you would expect.
Another old source for good survival skills is our very own armed forces publications: field manuals (FMs) and training manuals (TMs). One was called Survival, Evasion and Escape (FM 21-76) but it has changed names now [as a multiservice “Survival, Evasion and Recovery” manual.] Plus, the good ‘ol [U.S. Army] Ranger Handbook is an amazing source of information!
Sincerely, – Tanker
From Business Times Online, by way of SHTF Daily‘s posts: President Sarkozy warns of ‘economic war’ as dollar falls to new low
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Reader BDB suggested this article at FMNN: China Drain US Dollars- Telegraph, Bloomberg Confirms
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Bill W. sent us this link to a Wired News article: The End of Oil is Upon Us. We Must Move On – Quickly.
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Ben L. found this one: Never bring a taser to a gun fight
"Self-reliance is the antidote to institutional stupidity." – John Taylor Gatto
The high bid is still at $400 in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction, for four items: a Baygen Freeplay Summit AM/FM/Shortwave digitally-tuned radio, and a Baygen Sherpa hand crank flashlight. These were kindly donated by Ready Made Resources, one of our most loyal advertisers. Also included in the auction lot is a copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, from Arbogast Publishing, and an autographed copy of my novel “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”. These four items have a combined value of more than $350. The auction ends on November 15th. Just e-mail us your bid.
Jim:
Please warn your readers of the potential dangers of using a Hi-Lift jack (a.k.a. farm jack [or Sheepherder’s jack]). I am a member of a local Jeep club and while we require each Jeep have one on outings, we don’t allow anyone to use theirs unless they’ve been trained in their use. People have been killed by these crude (but necessary) machines and many, many, many have been injured. A fellow in our club had his jaw broken and cheekbone fractured years ago when lowering his Jeep after doing a trailside repair. When raising a load do everything to prevent your head or body from being directly above the handle. Make sure you move the handle through the entire range of travel and watch the “dogs” or pins to ensure they are engaging the beam holes and walking up the way they should. When you reach the desired height, leave the handle in the fully up position. Use a bungee cord to secure it in this position. Lowering a load is probably the most dangerous process of using the jack. Again, keep your head and body out of range of the handle. Once the handle “clicks” into position at the bottom of the stroke the entire load will literally be in your hands. Anticipate an immediate load pushing the handle upward! This is where most injuries occur. Work the handle through the entire range of movement and keep watching those pins to make sure they are engaging properly. Keep in mind too that these jacks aren’t terribly stable, do everything you can to help brace and/or support the load before you ever consider getting under a vehicle while using one of these. I suggest some experimentation with these jacks at home, on a level driveway, etc. before ever attempting to use one in the field. Furthermore, I recommend you buy nothing but the actual Hi-Lift brand jack manufactured by Bloomfield Manufacturing Co. You can download a safety brochure in .PDF format from their site. Don’t risk your life using some cheap Chinese jack sold at a discount tool shop (good luck getting replacement parts for these anyway). Bloomfield makes rebuild kits and replacement parts for all their products – always keep a Hi-Lift rebuild kit in your rig. In addition to lifting your vehicle, these jacks can be used in combination with tow straps/tree straps and used as winches. They can also be used as big clamps, presses and spreaders. Regards, – Tanker
JWR Adds: Thanks for sending those tips. In addition to vehicular use, we have found our aging but still quite serviceable pair of 47″ Hi-Lift jacks to be indispensable around the Rawles Ranch. Most frequently we use them for pulling old fence posts. Bolting on a two-foot length of heavy chain just below the lifting surface (using a large Grade 8 nut and bolt) adds tremendously to a jack’s versatility for tasks like fence post pulling. I agree that it is important to keep a factory (white box) rebuild kit handy. But the most important thing to keep in mind is to keep the jack’s pair of pins well lubricated. Typically, people abuse their jacks–leaving them out in the rain. The pins rust, and then then the pins get stubborn. If a pin gets stuck in the out position while you are lifting a load, it can be a very bad thing!
Dear Jim,
I live in the Los Angeles area. I have been searching for the best place to purchase several hundred pounds of grains and legumes. I have read your course and all the SurvivalBlog article (I think). I have searched for a local place where I can pick up the product in person. The local Costco has all the White Rice and Pinto beans I need. However, I am at a loss to find a place to purchase Hard Red Wheat, Black Beans, Kidney Beans, Lentils, etc. I have found several businesses on line, including the SurvivalBlog advertisers, but surely we are not so “advanced” that I will be forced to pay shipping fees which near triple the cost. Any stores or warehouse type businesses that might sell bags of grains and legumes that I can repack for long-term storage?
Thanks for you time, sir. Blessings, – MB
JWR Replies:
Honeyville Grain currently offers a flat UPS shipping fee of $4.49, regardless of the size of your order, anywhere in the continental United States. They have four warehouses, including one that is in Rancho Cucamonga, California. In a phone conversation yesterday, I was told by a manager at Honeyville that if you pick up your order in person, you can get a discount price. (The prices quoted at their Internet web page must have some shipping costs built in.) The other advantages, of course, are that if you can pay cash, you can avoid much of a paper trail, and you won’t raise any eyebrows with your local UPS driver.
For rice and beans, don’t overlook ethnic food stores. There are lots of them in Southern California. (Chinese, Vietnamese, Mexican, and so forth.) Not only do they have very competitive prices (recent immigrants are often on a tight budget and they look closely at prices!), but they also often have rapid turn-over of inventory. This means that there is less likelihood of getting bags of rice or legumes that are a year or two old. This is particularly important with beans. Even if stored under ideal conditions, beans harden with age. After around six years, this hardening gets to the point that they are inedible even after days of soaking. In my experience, if you are trying to cook eight+ year old storage beans, the only viable alternatives are to either grind the beans, or cook them in a pressure cooker. Otherwise it is like trying to eat pebbles.
This week in our weekly review of Survival Real Estate, I’d like to mention that we are in need of your help. We need you, the SurvivalBlog supporter that lives in any retreat locale in the world, to refer us to your local agent that understands what survival real estate shoppers are looking for. We have North Idaho and Northwest Montana covered but we need to locate and contact trusted agents elsewhere in the US and world-wide, so they may be featured in the weekly reviews in SurvivalBlog, and on our spin-off site: SurvivalRealty.com.
If you have a friend or have used an agent that really knows your locale then drop us a line. They do not have to be SurvivalBlog readers, just have an excellent working knowledge of the area, be amiable to working with folks like us and most of all they must hold high ethical and business values. We are not looking for names out of phone books–we can do that. We need actual referrals to either friends in the business or agents that you have worked with who won’t say “huh?” when we speak to them about the site and locale.
In order to reward our loyal readership, each person who e-mails us the contact details of an agent referral that passes our stringent checklist and is featured on SurvivalBlog will be entered into a drawing to win an autographed “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, and an autographed copy of my novel “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”. We will have two separate drawings, one for CONUS and one for overseas locales.
Please e-mail your referrals to our North Idaho correspondent Todd Savage at: toddsavage47@gmail.com
A quick side note: For those of you ready to purchase your retreat in a northern locale, it’s about ready to snow in most higher latitude North American locales so you can expect sellers to panic and either drop their price and/or look at special financing options, many of which have already been detailed here recently. Good luck and happy shopping! – T.S.
Economist and investment adviser Thomas Tan recently posted an interesting piece in his blog: Gold as an Alternative Investment.
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Bill P. sent us an interesting article over at TCS Daily about the mainstreaming of preparedness: We’re All Soldiers of Fortune Now. Bill’s comment: “I guess after Katrina and the fires in southern California, at least businesses see the value of being prepared even if it’s only too make a buck from a bug-out bag. I prefer my own rather than a mass-produced bag of dubious value. However, it’s a step in the right direction. The more others are prepared the less I’ll have to deal with when the SHTF.”
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Keith in Texas mentioned that anyone interested in the BareFoot Motors link (recently mentioned in SurvivalBlog) might also be interested in www.GorillaVehicles.com. he said the information on solar charging for their vehicles was of particular interest.
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Posted on the CometGold forums at ContraryInvestorsCafe.com today: Analyst: Banks face big write-downs. The article begins: “U.S. banks and brokers face as much as $100 billion of write-downs because of Level 3 accounting rules, in addition to the losses caused by the subprime credit slump, according to Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC. The Financial Accounting Standards Board’s Rule 157 will make it harder for companies to avoid putting market prices on securities considered hardest to value, known as Level 3 assets, Royal Bank’s chief credit strategist, Bob Janjuah, wrote in a note Wednesday. The new rule is effective Nov. 15. “This credit crisis, when all is out, will see $250 billion to $500 billion of losses,” Janjuah wrote. Morgan Stanley, the second-biggest U.S. securities firm, has 251 percent of its equity in Level 3 assets, making it the most vulnerable to write-downs, followed by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. at 185 percent, according to Janjuah.” One posted comment: It looks like we now have to go overseas to get facts about our own banking industry. It could make a lot of things very interesting.
“All right, they’re on our left, they’re on our right, they’re in front of us, they’re behind us…they can’t get away this time.” – Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller, USMC, in Korea
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