Odds ‘n Sods:

Several readers flagged this: US grain reserves reach the bottom of the barrel. Here is a key quote: “The only thing left in the entire CCC inventory will be 2.7 million bushels of wheat which is about enough wheat to make 1?2 of a loaf of bread for each of the 300 million people in America.” Back in mid-April, I told a New York Sun reporter about the massive outflow of US grain, and mentioned that I was surprised that the Bush Administration has not implemented export controls. With these recent figures, I am even more concerned. I believe in free markets, but I’m a realist. At some point in the near future, the Bush Administration is likely to step in and stop the hemorrhaging wheat from the US. If you haven’t done so already, stock up on hard red winter wheat as soon as possible. By this time next year, wheat prices will likely double again.

   o o o

Israeli minister says alternatives to attack on Iran running out. (A hat tip to SJC, for sending that link.) Be ready for the full implications of war with Iran, if and when it comes. We can expect dramatically spiking oil prices (and shortages) and possibly some acts of terrorism by sleeper agents inside our borders. There will also likely be a spike in the price of gold. (Gutsy investors might consider selling a portion of their gold holdings at that time, and then buying back in, on a subsequent dip. As they say on Wall Street: “Buy on the rumor, sell on the news.”) Secondarily, there will likely be diplomatic discord with any countries with extensive economic ties with Iran, such as France.

   o o o

This CNN article on survivalism last month continues to gain attention, as it gets picked up by other new outlets: Survivalists get ready for global meltdown

   o o o

You might have noticed that last week Standard & Poors belatedly downgraded three of the big brokerage stocks. They now carry ratings that are nearly “junk.” The ostensibly “neutral and unbiased” S&P of course should have done this nearly a year ago, but there has been plenty of collusion going on. In my estimation the entire financial world is still in the early stages of a meltdown, which was precipitated by the credit collapse last summer. It is just happening in slow motion. The bottom is still nowhere in sight. I stand by my predictions, particularly for the hedge funds. In a collapsing credit environment, they are nearly all doomed. With each passing quarter, they may fall like dominoes.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"If America forgets where she came from, if the people lose sight of what brought them along, if she listens to the deniers and mockers, then will begin the rot and dissolution." – Carl Sandburg, American writer (1878-1967)

Note from JWR:

Here is the link to the video clip of the CNN news story on Peak Oil preparedness that I mentioned last week. So much for “fifteen minutes of fame.” This news story mentioned SurvivalBlog for all of about three seconds. Don’t blink, or you’ll miss it.

Letter Re: For Want of a Battery

Mr. Rawles:
I was working through my “List of Lists” yesterday, and a thought struck me like a lightning bolt: Without batteries–lots of rechargeable batteries–I’m hosed. There are so many items that I’ll depend on in an emergency that need batteries: My weather radio, Kenwood MURS handhelds (thanks for that suggestion, BTW), starlight scope, and my flashlights. (And thanks also for your suggestion of IR [flashlight] filters). Without [those battery-powered items as] “force multipliers”, I’d be at huge disadvantage to looters, who could be wandering the countryside in droves, if and when it all hits the fan. So, with that realization, I’m investing in a small [photovoltaic] solar panel [for battery charging], and a boatload of NiMH batteries. Do you still recommend All-Battery [as a supplier]? And who sells a small panel–say 5 to 10 watts–that is reliable and weather-tight?

The battery situation reminds me of that old poem: “For want of a nail, the shoe was lost…” Thanks In Advance, – George L.

JWR Replies: Yes, All-Battery.com is an excellent source. If you can afford to, buy a triple or quadruple set for each piece of gear that takes batteries. (Even if you don’t use them all yourself, the extra batteries will be ideal to keep on hand for barter and charity.) You are correct in mentioning the NiMH low self-discharge (LSD) technology (such as the Sanyo Eneloop). It is currently the most reliable rechargeable battery on the market.

As I’ve mentioned in the blog before, if you cannot afford a large battery bank of deep cycle batteries, then at least buy a “jump pack” 12 VDC gel cell unit. These are available with either110 VAC (US/Canada) and 220 VAC (UK) utility power charging cords. You can then plug in a 12VDC “smart” battery charging tray (using a DC power cord with cigarette lighter plug.) That is far more efficient than using an AC inverter and then a DC transformer (like those in most home battery chargers) That way you are just changing one DC voltage to another DC voltage–instead of a DC inverted -to-AC-and-transformed-back-to-DC proposition. (Which is very inefficient.)

To keep your “jump pack” charged, I recommend the small PV panels available from Northern Tool & Equipment–one of our Affiliate Advertisers. Once you are at Northern Tool’s web site, search on Item # 339973.

Two Letters Re: Advice on Backup Power for a Ranch in Western Canada

Hi Jim,
Regarding the Canadian who was wondering about wind power versus diesel. The Windmill is a good idea if he uses an Amateur Radio “Crankover” type tower, better than the crank up towers [usually sold for small] windmills. However, there is a caveat: If [the reader in Canada] goes with wind power, then have a spare. If he can [afford to] put up two windmills, then buy three, when he buys them[, which will provide one as a spare]. Even a bird hit on a reasonably modern power generating windmill will cause mucho damage. Just my humble opinion.

I had L-16 battery problems at the ranch this year for the first time in 10 years. Then I figured out the -60 F temps for nine nights was likely the cause. Oh well, stuff happens, corrective actions are underway. Regards, – The Army Aviator

Dear Jim,
Things have changed a bit [in recent years on wind generator reliability]. Yes, old school turbines with folding vanes are a pain, but there is a wind unit on the market that is darn near bullet-proof (in fact, I came up with a mod for that too.) They have been flown in hurricanes and are being used in Iraq, where high gusts and debilitating dust are the norm, never mind broiling heat. They keep ticking over, no problems and turn out juice in slow to screaming wind. They are the Hornet Series [from Hydrogen Appliances]

Essentially, they took a standard wind genny and beefed it up, almost to Russian-type specs. They just built everything another 20-50% thicker, wider, etc. then they had to. They are little beasts.
For any maintenance issues that might come up (rare) the best bet is to install them on a tip up tower. They can be lowered and raised with a come along or horses or whatever if necessary. Regards, – Mosby

Letter Re: Observations on Real World Pistol Malfunctions and Failures

Dear James,
I’ve mentioned to you before that I’m a affiliate instructor with another major firearms training school. The comments made [by correspondent PPPP] about pistol malfunctions are 100% in line with what we see on our firing lines, as well.

We advise our students to run away screaming from any weapon that has ‘target’, ‘match’, ‘custom’, or ‘accurized’ stamped on the side of them. It was [Mikhail] Kalashnikov [the designer of the incredibly robust AK-47] who pointed out to us all that when you have something with moving parts, the parts need room to move! Most custom shop and high dollar pistols are temperamental beasts that react very poorly to heat and dirt. We see the $1,200+ [Model] 1911 choke and seize up all the time once the guns get hot. Most people buy guns and they never shoot them, in fact, last time I heard a statistic regarding firearms usage in the United States, the national average of rounds fired per gun was seven – and that is over the entire lifetime of the owner! Manufacturers sell guns that they bet will never see hard use, and usually they win that bet. And the tight, ‘accurate’ 1911s lead that pack. This is why it is imperative that every reader of your blog get out to the range and run their guns for real!

Yes, professional schools are expensive and the cost of ammunition is getting ridiculous, but at risk of sounding like a cheap slogan, how much is your life worth? Going out for two or three days of intense training will put your weapons and accessories through the use and abuse you will need to truly decide what works and what needs a second look, as well as teaching you a host of valuable skills.

Standing in a booth at the local indoor range, picking your gun up off of a table, and firing when you choose to at a static piece of paper, is at best an exercise in marksmanship. You haven’t been training for real until things start breaking. We announce at the beginning of every class, that it is our sincerest hope, that everything our students brought with them – every gun, every holster, every magazine – breaks! If it sucks, we want to find that out now, not when innocent life is on the line. We run the gear and the students hard because that is the only way to truly test things, and it’s the best way to build the confidence of the operator. [JWR Adds: And it is in grungy conditions that’s the best place to learn to do stoppage clearance drills. If you can clear a Type 2 stoppage when your gun is filthy, when your arms are tired, and when you are under stress, then odds are that you can later do the same in combat. Fine motor skills are sharply degraded when you are under stress. Train like you will fight, repetitively!]

Things that I would add to the list of bad ideas:

1.) 8-round magazines for the 1911. I’ve seen few that finish two days of training without blowing apart. Usually the floor plate dislodges from the base of the magazine, leaving the student standing there with a pistol gummed up with loose rounds, a follower and a spring clogging the ejection port, and a magazine body that they can’t get out of the well. [JWR Adds: The only brands of 8-round M1911 magazine that I have fond that good strength and longevity are original Colt brand, and MetalForm brand. And coincidentally, Colt now buys all of their .45 ACP M1911 magazines from MetalForm, under contract. (These are manufactured for Colt by MetalForm, using Colt “rampant stallion” stamped floorplates, and sold in Colt packages.)

2.) Recoil buffers – get these out of your life! Get them out of your pistols and get them out of your rifles! They never fail to disintegrate under heavy use, rendering the weapon useless until disassembled and cleaned out.

3.) Extended this, and enlarged that. Don’t modify guns with oversized slide stops or extended mag release buttons, mercury guide rods or rubber grip sleeves, etc… There’s one bit of wisdom that I learned the hard way years ago: There is nothing you can buy, bolt, glue or screw to a gun that will align your sights and press your trigger for you. You cannot spend money on things to make you shoot better, regardless of what our modern American mindset tells us. Marksmanship comes from proper technique and proper practice, and good old fashioned work. Obviously there are some issues like sharp edges and [S&W] J-frame [size] grips that are too small for a shooter’s hands, but serious equipment issues are hardly what the majority of add-ons sold in the Brownell’s catalog are aimed at. Save your money and spend it on training!

Lastly, I agree with every recommendation the writer mentioned. ‘De-horning’, or removing the sharpe edges off of carry guns, is highly recommended and something I have done to all of my concealment guns! And de-cocking the SIG [pistol]s before re-holster is mandatory on our range – as a matter of fact, we teach that the pistol be de-cocked every time the trigger finger breaks contact with the trigger and returns to register. This way, the trigger is reset to the position that the trigger finger is used to finding it every time it enters the trigger guard. That applies to all of the de-cocker equipped pistols – [such as] H&K USPs, Beretta 92s, Walther PPKs, et cetera.

The instructor who wrote the letter that you posted is obviously one of the good ones, and anyone within range of him would be well served by attending his course! – Bill from Ohio

Odds ‘n Sods:

Another bit of agreement on one of my predictions: Surging inflation will stoke riots and conflict between nations, says report

   o o o

Kory found us this: Antibacterial wipes can spread superbugs: study

   o o o

Shale sent us this AP news article: DOJ sues Honeywell over faulty bulletproof vests. Zylon is again the culprit. We’ve been warning SurvivalBlog readers for nearly three years to avoid Zylon vests.

   o o o

The Reuters London bureau reports a common theme on both sides of the Atlantic: Home-grown vegetables grow in popularity. The article begins: Almost 70 years after Britons were urged to Dig For Victory to produce hearty home-grown food to help the war effort, domestic horticulture is coming back.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"For the want of a nail, the shoe was lost; for the want of a shoe the horse was lost; and for the want of a horse the rider was lost, being overtaken and slain by the enemy, all for the want of care about a horseshoe nail." – Benjamin Franklin

Note from JWR:

Do you have a favorite attributed quote that relates to preparedness, survival, strategy, tactics, self-sufficiency, liberty, faith, resourcefulness, charity, or other topics of interest to SurvivalBlog readers?? Please e-mail them to us, and as space permits, we will likely post them as Quotes of the Day. Thanks!

Letter Re: The Wal-Mart Discount Prescription Promotion

Jim,
I’m a Family Doctor in rural Michigan, and a Major in the Army Reserve Medical Corps, who enjoys your blog every day. A pharmacist friend, who works at WalMart just gave me their new list of $4 drugs for 30 days and $10 drugs for 90 days [sales promotion]. What a bonanza! If your friendly local doctor will do it, he can prescribe for you, drugs such as Cipro 500 MG (a great broad-spectrum antibiotic), # 90 count for $10. Or Ibuprofen 800 MG #90 count for $10, or a very wide selection of medications for diabetes, high blood pressure, gastrointestinal conditions and other maladies, all for $10 for three months. For $100 you could have a well-stocked pharmacy of your own for tough times. I could easily treat 99% of conditions I see every day from this long list of medications. Continue the march and keep ‘yer powder dry. – FLS, D.O.

Two Letters Re: Alternatives to Firearms for Defense and Hunting in a Survival Situation

Mr. Rawles,
In his article [Alternatives to Firearms for Defense and Hunting in a Survival Situation], Bill H. missed something very important in his segment on air rifles, the modern large bore pre-charged pneumatic (PCP) rifle. I have a Quackenbush .308 caliber. It shoots standard .308 diameter cast lead bullets into one hole at 25 yards and does about 800 to 900 feet per second. It is my first choice for killing stray/feral dogs. Filling the reservoir with a hand pump is a tiresome job and plinking with the gun is not fun due to the work it requires. However you cannot beat it for accuracy, low cost shooting or sustainability. There is no part of the gun except the barrel that cannot easily be made in my home machine shop, so who cares if it has parts that aren’t common. Any machinist worthy of the name can make any part on the gun or pump that could conceivably break or wear out.

I do hope to get a spring piston rifle soon for practice and training my children to shoot, but it will never replace my PCP air rifle. Modern big bore PCP rifles are adequate for hunting deer and other large game and more than sufficient for killing varmints. With my .308 PCP I get complete penetration on [feral] dogs. What more could I ask?
– Andrew B.

Jim,
It can be prudent to not quite break the 1,100 fps barrier, as the resulting sonic ‘crack’ would sound like shooting a .22 anyhow. That would definitely draw attention in an urban environment. – Sid, near Niagara Falls

JWR Replies: Thanks for mentioning that. The speed of sound is nearly 1,118 fps at 60 degrees Fahrenheit. (OBTW, the oft-quoted “at standard barometric pressure, at sea level” phrase is better expressed “at X degrees air temperature”, since air pressure and the density of air are proportional at a given air temperature.)

Odds ‘n Sods:

Dennis B. forwarded us a link to an editorial by Richard J. Greene on the dangers of buying “electronic” gold via Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). Something tells me that there is some creative accounting going on. In fact, I’ll go on record as stating that I have my doubts that there is a tangible ounce of gold in custody for every “ounce” purchased.

   o o o

I heard from a reader about a new and informative reference site: Set2Survive.com.Take look.

   o o o

Several readers sent this: Avian Flu Found In Tyson Chickens (in Arkansas). “Oh, but it is just a mild strain”, they tell us. But of course the same path of virulence could spread a new strain. See my article on the influenza threat for some details on preparedness measures for the potential outbreak of a “high path” strain.

   o o o

Food riots are not the sole domain of consumers. Some producers are also angry. Hoss noted this BBC news clip: Riot police confront fishermen protesting high fuel prices. Meanwhile, we read in Der Spiegel, German dairy farmers complain: ‘I’d Rather Toss Out My Milk’

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man. A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth. He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers; Forwardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord. Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy." – Proverbs 6:6-15

Note from JWR:

Today’s first post comes from The Pioche Professional Polymer Pistolero (PPPP), one of our volunteer correspondents. He is an instructor at a well-known firearms school.

Observations on Real World Pistol Malfunctions and Failures, by PPPP

Mr. Rawles,
I just returned from instructing a handgun course with 42 people on my range, and another 40 on my brother’s range. (He is also an instructor). I wanted to pass along some information on handgun maintenance and note several observations from this weekend that are typical in the courses we teach (approximately 800 rounds fired [per student] over several days).
First., the [Model] 1911 model handguns took top honors in failures (defined as taking you out of the fight, not just a malfunction). Six of the approximately 25 [Model] 1911s had these problems. (includes both ranges). This is typical! While 1911s have their merits, they are consistently prone to failures. Some are stone cold reliable, but you really won’t know until hundreds to thousands of rounds later. Often the most expensive finely-tuned 1911s have the most problems. Have spare parts on hand and know how to service your weapon.

A side note for all handgun users, but particularly the 1911 group: Be sure to check your handgun for sharp edges on the slide, controls and any other piece of the handgun and have these sharp edges removed professionally if possible… you’d be surprised at how many bloody hands we had over the weekend.

Second. The Springfield [Armory] XD grip safety needs to be fully depressed. Not fully gripping the firearm can prevent malfunction clearances and obviously prevent firing the weapon. It was unusual, but one grip safety actually broke, rendering the firearm inoperative.

Third. Recoil springs can get weak after high round-counts causing a failure to feed, so replace them occasionally (applies to all makes and models of handguns).

Fourth. There were a few malfunctions with Glocks, but no failures. Over the long haul the factory plastic sights should be replaced with the more durable iron sights.

Fifth. Use high quality magazines and have lots of them!

Sixth. SIG [brand pistol]s had no failures, but the heavy double action initial trigger pull, followed by the light single action second pull caused students to perform poorly. As a result of the two differing trigger pulls, many students [armed with SIGs] tried to “game it” by leaving the hammer cocked and re-holstering which is a big safety concern. One student narrowly missed shooting his leg when re-holstering because of this. A note on SIGs: While there is nothing wrong with SIG’s quality or reliability, remember that due to the two differing trigger pulls this handgun will require three to four times the amount of practice to master compared with any other common handgun. The exception would be their new “DAK” [double action only] trigger.
Remember safety and mindset! – PPPP

JWR Adds: I heard from another friend who is an XD aficionado (he now owns four of them), that failure to get full depression of the grip safety is only an issue for some shooters, depending on their shooting habits. Some shooters just don;t grip a pistol as tightly as others. The shape of your hand is also a factor. If you turn out to be one of the minority with this difficulty, it is easily resolved by building up the thickness of the exterior of the grip safety. This is a quick and easy modification: Simply glue on one or two thicknesses of plastic, using Krazy Glue (or similar cyanoacrylate adhesive). My friend used two thicknesses of black plastic that he cut with a an X-Acto knife from an aerosol spray can’s plastic lid. It is about a five minute job, and it is easily reversible. OBTW, do not be tempted to disable the grip safety–for example, by wrapping a rubber band around the grip, as I’ve seen done with M1911s. Disabling firearms safety features is a bad idea, no matter how experienced you are as a shooter. (With two notable exceptions: removing a “magazine” safety (such as on Browning Hi-Powers) or retrofitting a politically correct “key locking” safety (such as on the current Remington Model 870s) with a traditional safety button.)

Speaking of Springfield XD pistols, if you want to get one of these fine pistols for next-to-nothing, Front Sight’s very generous “Get a Gun” training and gear package offer is still available. However, it will likely end soon, since it is being run at or near cost. Don’t delay!