Note from JWR:

The high bid is now at $235 in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction for a for a new-in-the-box Hydro Photon UV Light SteriPen Water Sterilization System with solar charger and pre-filter, kindly donated by Safecastle, one of our most loyal advertisers. This very popular water sterilizer product package normally sells for $225, plus postage. See the details on the SteriPen and solar charger here. As a bonus for this auction, I’m also including three autographed books: Rawles on Retreats and Relocation, SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog – Volume 1 and my novel: “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”. (Together, these books have a retail value of $82, and hence the full auction lot has a combined value of $307.) The auction ends on September 15th. Just e-mail us your bid.

Letter Re: Will Things Get a Bad as Described in “Patriots”?

James:
I have been a SurvivalBlog reader for nearly a year. It is my favorite blog, by far. I got a [voluntary] 10 Cent Challenge subscription after about the first month (and I’m about to renew). But it wasn’t until last month that I got around to purchasing a copy of your novel [“Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”]. I had been avoiding it because I’m not the sort that reads novels. They are mostly a waste of time. But I thought that I’d make an exception and get yours, since it had such a high rating on Amazon. It wasn’t until I started reading it that I realized what the fuss was all about. I absolutely devoured your novel. I read it all in a 12 hour stretch. (Luckily, I started it on a Saturday morning, or else I would have been up reading all night.) It may sound like a old cliche, but I just could not put it down. Then I re-read parts of it on Sunday, and highlighted some sections with my Accent marker, and started taking notes. Since then, I’ve re-read the entire book twice.

All that say is Wow! Now I’m planning to take advantage of your sale and get two six packs of autographed books, for Christmas gifts for my family (including my head-thrust-firmly-in-sand uncle) and a few friends at work and at church. Thank you for writing your novel, and all that you do in sharing your preparedness knowledge on the SurvivalBlog.

That said, now for my question: Do really expect things to get as bad as you described in Patriots? I hope not, because if it happens that way, then I’m still quite under-prepared. Sincerely, – Thompson

JWR Replies: Thanks for your kind comments on SurvivalBlog and my novel.

In answer to your question: No, I don’t expect things to get as bad as I described in “Patriots”. It could happen. But frankly, the odds are that it won’t be nearly so severe. I made the scenario in the novel a near “worst case” in order to make it more interesting reading, and as an opportunity to show the need for planning and preparedness in a variety of areas such as first aid, food storage, faith, self-defense, communications, et cetera. The Deep Drama was essentially an excuse to write about a lot of different tactics and technologies.And it does make for an exciting read.

The bottom line: If you prepare for the worst, you’ll be able to take on any lesser challenges with relative ease, and have plenty of extra logistics to dispense charitably.

Letter Re: A Commercial Fueling Network (CFN) Card Lock Account as a Preparedness Measure

Mr. Rawles, I have been considering sending you this note on fuel, so I’ll tag on now. I work for a very large pipeline/oil company and I am in management. My family & I have been in this business for nearly 30 years. I run diesel pickups and use a CFN card as well. The real point I want to share is that when we may no longer get gasoline or diesel fuel, there are hundreds of thousands of diesel vehicles around in which fuel can be “obtained” with a hose or pump [in the cited absolute worst case situation.] First, think of how many over the road trucks there are in North America. They are all run on diesel fuel. Perhaps more important, think of the number of backhoes, excavators (we call them track hoes), bulldozers, various other earthmoving and construction equipment, cement trucks, delivery vans. The list is pretty long. Farm tractors in the US– and how many you see parked on the edge of a field pulling a fuel tank. In the agriculture belt of the Midwest , this is a common sight. If you’re in oil producing states, you have work over rigs, drilling rigs, and an entire network of support vehicles, all which keep large on-site storage of diesel fuel to operate. Look at the US military and the diesel powered vehicles they use. Here’s another thought; it is difficult to siphon Gasoline out of a modern car today, due to the filler cap restrictions. Most diesel powered vehicles have a large, open filler cap.
To go along with that, most companies that are in this sort of business have bulk diesel fuel storage at their yard(s). I work at a CI/KR facility, (the DHS acronym for Critical Infrastructure/Key Resources as outlined by the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) where these businesses and facilities have large backup generators utilizing diesel fuel. A bonus is that the fuel is treated for long term storage and usually filtered on discharge from the storage tank.
I think it is also important to figure out your town or city’s supply chain for fuel. A tremendous number of refineries are still located on the Gulf Coast/Mississippi River and the refined products are transported by pipeline across the U.S. to central terminals. From there, it is transported out by your local jobber to each gas station. Remember, this is still free enterprise with private companies at the steering wheel, however, under NIPP, this could all change. The shutdown of refineries starting in the late 1980s only tightens the noose, so to speak. I find in my travel around the Southwest U.S. interacting with law enforcement and private citizens, not many people really know a thing about our crude oil/refining/fuel infrastructure and all of the processes that it takes to get to the gas pump. We are, and will continue to be, in a very delicate energy balance–particularly fuel. Simply look at Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita, and the ice storms in early 2007. People need to be educated.

I could go on and more in-depth about our nation’s infrastructure, but I think that is a separate e-mail. The bottom line is; I think I personally will have a better chance of obtaining diesel fuel for myself, than gasoline. Most folks will be sitting in long lines at gas stations and convenience stores waiting on gasoline. Wonderful site you have! – LetterJRanch, in Texas

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Because Roman civilization perished through barbarian invasions, we are perhaps too much inclined to think that this is the only way a civilization can die. But if the lights that guide us [morally guided public institutions] ever go out, they will fade little by little, as if of their own accord.” – Alexis de Tocqueville

Note from JWR:

The first post today is from our newest foreign correspondent: “SurvivalistSam” a 15 year old home-schooler living on New Zealand’s South Island.

The Basics of New Zealand’s Firearm Laws, by SurvivalistSam

New Zealand firearms laws seem rather restrictive when compared to those in the USA but they are generally liberal when compared to Australia’s.
In New Zealand one can own normal firearms such as shotguns and rifles with a normal A class Firearms Licence but for pistols one must acquire a “B” endorsement to that licence.
Even then one must join a pistol club and partake in shooting events at least 12 times a year.
You must also never fire a pistol in any area that is not an approved range and you must store it in an appropriate safe that has been approved by the New Zealand police.

Normal bolt action, lever action, pump action and semi automatic rifles can be purchased by a person over the age of 16 with a regular A class firearms licence.
However in the case of semi autos, one is only allowed to have a magazine capacity of 7 or less for centerfire rifles and and magazine capacity of 15 or less for .22 rifles.
There is, however, no limit on the amount of magazines one can own nor is there any age limit or licence required to purchase magazine(meaning anyone of any age can buy magazines).
There is no magazine capacity limit for bolt, lever or pump action rifles.

If one wants to own a semi auto rifle/shotgun with any of the following features then they must obtain a MSSA (Military Style Semi Automatic) licence:

.Folding or telescopic butt
.Magazine of more than 15 cartridges for .22 rimfire
.Magazine of more than 7 cartridges for others
.Bayonet lug
.Free standing military style pistol grip
.Flash suppressor

To obtain a MSSA licence one must be over the age of 18 and must pass rigorous tests/evaluations conducted by the New Zealand Police.
Also, if you do get a MSSA licence then you must have extremely good safes for all MSSA firearms you purchase.

Basically all shotguns can be purchased with an A class licence except those with MSSA characteristics.

All info for this article has been sourced from The New Zealand Arms Code. – SurvivalistSam

Letter Re: Trading Post or General Store

Jim:
While keeping your profile low at the beginning of TEOTWAWKI makes perfect sense during the time period if and when the bandits and masses are looting. Once the dust settles, and the survivors begin to recreate a semblance of civilization, then the trading post, and it’s natural evolution, the general store will come into being.

1.) If you are in a remote location, you may not be well-suited to running such an enterprise, but if location permits then consider the benefits of providing this service. Consider also that as a SurvivalBlog reader, you already likely have a base of items from which to start bartering. Bullets, tools, et cetera. Look at your cache and think of what you can barter. You also know what will be valuable before others will. (Chainsaw [gas mixing] oil, hand tools etc.)

2.) By running a trading post and being a central hub, you will have better access to information.

3.) By taking a percentage from both the buyer and seller, you will have an income stream. By this, I do not necessarily mean cash. If someone left 100 pounds of potatoes there to trade and you negotiated a trade with their approval for 50 rounds of 9mm you could take both 10 potatoes and 5 rounds of the ammunition as your fee.

4.) You would have access to a wide variety of items at lower cost,
As time went on, the trading post would become the general store where people brought in their goods, say eggs and chickens and vegetables etc. hand made tools, every day at a negotiated wholesale cost, and you had people that bought them from you at retail.

The following is a quote from Wikipedia:
Trading posts also were places for people to meet and exchange the news of the world or simply the news from their home country (many of the worlds trading posts were places people loved to emigrate to) in a time when not even newspapers existed.
The trading posts in general were of great importance of the history of currency , almost right at the start of trading post history the need occurs to have something as a payment medium, soon trade-tokens and eventually coins were extracted from precious metals like gold, silver and copper for the use of buying and selling goods instead of simply exchange them.

Let us discuss some the challenges associated with running such a venture. You will need
1.) Manual scales for small items (seeds etc.) and heavy ones (bushels of wheat etc…). 1-10 pounds. 10-100 pounds. [JWR Adds: A small precise non-electronic scale for precious metals would also be useful.] Weights of known quantity for calibration and showing your customers you are giving them a square deal.
2.) The ability to provide proper security for you and your customers.
3.) The ability to provide documentation (not easily counterfeited) for people who leave their goods with you for trade.
4.) Perhaps some form of trade-tokens, see above.
5.) The ability to properly store materials, free from insects, rodents and the elements that may degrade them. A solar-powered DC refrigerator might be useful for antibiotics, et cetera.
All in all, if the timing and location were right, running the trading post/general store could be a very rewarding, albeit initially risky venture. – SF in Hawaii

Odds ‘n Sods:

Another attack by Al Qaeda on the United States is “inevitable”, the head of the National Counter Terrorism Center says.

  o o o

One of the folks over at The Claire File Forums pointed out the Our Cool House web site, describing the construction of an earth-bermed a super-energy efficient house.

   o o o

Sid C. forwarded this link to a humorous video clip: Some survival retreats in Texas will not have a shortage of venison.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Stand in the ways [crossroads] and see;
And ask for the old paths,
where the good way is,
And walk in it,
Then you will find rest for your souls." – Jeremiah 6:16 (NKJV)

Note from JWR:

Anyone looking for a survival retreat in North Carolina should see the new listing at SurvivalRealty.com for a 130 acre parcel called the Rolling Meadows Retreat. OBTW, we are actively looking for more retreat property listings in the eastern US. Note that our ads are free at SurvivalRealty.com for our first few months of operation!

Letter Re: A Commercial Fueling Network (CFN) Card Lock Account as a Preparedness Measure

Sir:
I work for a truck company and came up with an idea that may be useful to others out there. We fill our trucks up with diesel at Commercial Fueling Network (CFN). We do this for a couple reasons such as it is more cost effective and low key. From a city survivalist point of view its a great location to acquire fuel in two situations. One would be the natural disaster scenario where one is trying to flee the city only to find that regular stations are out of fuel. At this point they could divert low key CFN locations and purchase fuel assuming that the power is working. The reason that this would be advantageous is that fuel is purchased via a card and only people with a CFN card can buy, there are no attendants.

The second second scenario would be in a TEOTWAWKI situation where you would desperately be seeking fuel and resort to siphoning from the underground tanks. To top it off CFN publishes a book with every CFN location, a small map and what types of fuel they have. You can pick these up at any local oil company (CFN member). With regards to obtaining a CFN card, I have no idea maybe there is another reader that has some knowledge of this. Great job with SurvivalBlog! Regards, – Echofourcharlie

JWR Replies: Many thanks for that great idea. You are the first SurvivalBlog reader to specifically mention getting a CFN card as a preparedness measure. You just earned yourself a Blinding Flash of the Obvious (BFO) Award. I’ll be mailing you a complimentary autographed copy of my novel “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”.

I presume CFN cards should be available to just about any one with “Inc.” in their company name, although they might only serve folks with fleets of vehicles.

Echofourcharlie’s letter underscores one recommendation that I’ve been making to my consulting clients for more than a decade: Every family should own at least one diesel vehicle with some cargo room. Whether it is a military surplus M1008 CUCV pickup or a battered old pre-turbo Mercedes station wagon doesn’t matter. Just get something that can burn diesel fuel–or home heating oil. The day may come when gasoline will be unobtainable, but diesel or home heating oil is still available.

In addition to the station guide book that you mentioned, CFN also lists their station locations at this web site.

In my opinion, it would have to be absolute worst case grid-down situation with depopulation on the scale of the upcoming I Am Legend movie before I’d ever consider scavenging in the way that you described. But if this ever were necessary, the best way to accomplish it would be by using a 12 VDC fuel transfer pump, built according to specifications that I described in SurvivalBlog.

Letter from David in Israel Re: QRP Radio Kits

James
While the tuna tin theme is cute, for the price there are much better QRP rigs out on the market than I see at the QRPme.com web site. (Theirs are about the worst). The kits they shown here all look like they have the smallest transistors possible and are only able to make miracle DX on very special occasions as I suspect they would be hard pressed to kick out a whole watt. The other downside is that they are not transceivers just transmitters. I still think the best deal for the money is from Small Wonders. There is a whole educational program prepared around building this kit. My choice was the mmr-40 with SSB voice and CW morse code. – David in Israel

Odds ‘n Sods:

As mentioned in The Drudge Report, a pronouncement has come from the Jackson Hole, Wyoming, conclave: Fed Acts to Limit Credit Crisis Fallout. Meanwhile, we read: Bush Outlines Aid for Mortgage Holders. I don’t think anything that they do at this point will stop the debt bubble from bursting. This just the beginning of a huge financial debacle that will play out in the months and years to come. As I’ve said before, the macroeconomic implications are huge. I should also mention that I’m presently waiting for the other shoe to drop: commercial real estate. There were lots of foolish loans made in that market, too.

  o o o

The precious metals markets closed decisively higher on Friday–with spot silver at $12.02 and gold at $673.20. I suspect that investors have finally realized that the only real safe havens in the upcoming dollar debacle will not be denominated in any paper currency, they will be tangibles. For some background on precious metals supply and demand fundamentals, see: The Coming Flight to Gold, by Roland Watson

   o o o

A hat tip to Internet journalist and talk radio show host Steve Quayle. His frequent mention of SurvivalBlog at his popular web site and on his Q-Files Internet/shortwave radio show have resulted in thousands of new visits to SurvivalBlog. Thanks, Steve!

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“A gimmick is a brilliant solution to a non-existent problem. A gadget is what you use to solve a problem you didn’t know you had. A gizmo is what you use to solve a problem when you don’t have the know-how or skill to do it yourself. A tool is what you use to get real work done.” – R.H. Ruana, member, American Bladesmith Hall of Fame