I’ve once again updated and expanded the SurvivalBlog Glossary. There are now more than 1,500 entries.
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Mr. Rawles,
Being a Vietnam era vet, I’m well aware of the efficacy of bicycles as transportation and “mules,” as Grandpappy describes in his article. Viet Cong forces used convoys of bicycles to transport war materiel south from North Vietnam along the Ho Chi Minh trail. U.S. forces would bomb the trail during the day in the hopes of obstructing truck traffic moving south. At night the Viet Cong would use bicycles to move supplies in lieu of trucks. One should never underestimate pedal-power. Regards, – Jeff P.
James Rawles;
I enjoy your blog and wish I had more time to review [all of the content]. I plan on getting the best of the blog when my funds permit.
I saw the “Convincing the Unconvinced” post and thought I would reply.
I like what another reader recommended on bringing people around to preparing and hope you have a section dedicated to this subject somewhere on your blog.
Pushing a lot of information too fast will be counterproductive. They need to learn and decide for themselves to be prepared, and how prepared [they want] to be.
MJS could try getting Government-issued preparedness brochures. They are available from the American Red Cross and The Department of Homeland Security. This literature shows the need to be prepared for various situations. The information coming from a source that the doubtful will consider “mainstream” may be what they need to convince them to be prepared. You can work from there to discuss with them all the types of potential disasters (man made and natural) that can occur in your area and what can be done to be prepared.
Preparedness gifts are also a way to get the doubtful thinking about preparedness. I have given first aid kits, power inverters, Flashlights, Baygen radios, vehicle 72 hour kits, Preparedness books–some published by the Red Cross and Homeland Security–as Christmas gifts to plant the seeds of preparedness thinking. With the bird flu threat looming, I am considering a long term food supply for a month or less and publications on what you should know about bird flu for this Christmas. I am looking at water purification equipment for the following Christmas.
At least this gives family members a chance to survive a short term event. I know I cannot prepare for them and they have not considered what to do if the big cities that they live in melt down. But I can give them the information to make them think and to help them if they ask for it. – Ron from Ohio
Jim,
Your reader OSOM wrote in with a question relating to whether or not owning a suppressor would be a good idea.
My comments are as follows:
– Legally, the National Firearms Act (NFA) [of 1934] regulates “silencers”. A rose by any other name is still a rose — owners of such articles commonly call them “suppressors” to avoid the Hollywood association with assassins and hit men. I use the term interchangeably, and either term is perfectly appropriate.
– There’s no such thing as a “Class III license”, and none is required for ownership of Title II firearms (machineguns, suppressors, short barreled rifles/shotguns, etc.). There is a Class III Special Occupational Tax that a normal 01 FFL holder (that is, a gun dealer) can pay in order to sell such items, but that’s just for the dealer.
– Individual owners have an ATF Form 4, which describes the Title II item, and has the tax stamp. This is not a license, but simply proof that one has paid the necessary tax.
– Individual owners lose no privacy rights. No rights are waived. The ATF is not going to come crashing through your door at 3 a.m. simply because you own a [registered] suppressor. They can ask you for a copy of your Form 4 if there’s a question relating to it (the NFA registry is notoriously disorganized, and occasionally they might need to clarify something), but that’s it.
– If one forms an Limited Liability Corporation (LLC)–or a trust, which is usually cheaper–and has the LLC/trust own the Title II items, one bypasses the necessity of fingerprints (as you can’t fingerprint a corporation) and the local chief law enforcement officer sign-off. This can prove to be handy if you put other family members in on the trust, as they could possess the regulated items even if you’re not present — otherwise, if an individual owns the items, they must be present whenever they’re being used. Also, without the local Chief Law Enforcement Officer (CLEO) signature, only the ATF and your Class III dealer would know you own the item.
I’m a suppressor owner, and shoot with it regularly. It makes already-fun .22 LR shooting even more fun, and it creates a more comfortable environment for teaching new shooters. It also has useful SHTF applications, as has been noted by OSOM.
The $200 tax is a bit of a burden, but after a few times using [a suppressor], you wonder how you lived without it before. It makes subsonic .22 Long Rifle (LR) sound like a stapler, supersonic .22 LR sound like some sort of laser-gun/ripping cloth, and ones rated for centerfire rifles significantly reduce the muzzle blast, allowing one to shoot supersonic ammunition without hearing protection. While it does reduce the noise, supersonic .223 out of 16″ barreled ARs and supersonic 9mm out of a standard Uzi SMG do get to be somewhat somewhat annoying after a short while, but are much less uncomfortable than unsuppressed fire.
I highly recommend the Gem-Tech Outback II .22 LR silencer for a first time buyer — it’s low cost (about $550, including tax, shipping, and dealer fees, though your mileage may vary), light weight, and effective noise reduction make it ideal for putting on the end of a Ruger 10/22 rifle or any .22 pistol with a threaded barrel. Subsonic .22 LR ammunition are plentiful, inexpensive, and fun.
While hardly scientific, you can compare the relative difference between suppressed and unsuppressed supersonic and subsonic ammunition by viewing this video. (That’s yours truly with my lovely girlfriend.) SilencerTests.com is an ideal web site to visit as well, and they have all sorts of useful tests and reports on a wide variety of silencers, an active forum, and all sorts of other silencer-related goodies. Cheers! – Pete
Jim:
Regarding your prudent insistence on keeping a low profile, I found this information and I wondered what you thought: Only “individuals” are required by law to have the law enforcement certification section filled out. Corporations and other legal entities may purchase NFA items without submitting photographs, fingerprints and without the CLEO signoff. This exemption is frequently used by those who are unable to obtain a CLEO signoff in their area [because of political incorrectness]. Many people are already an officer of a corporation by virtue of being self-employed and therefore purchase the NFA item through their corporation as a business investment. Others will form a corporation for the express purpose of purchasing NFA items. Forming a corporation is easier than you may think. While you can do it yourself and for a very modest sum of money and you can have a professional do it for you. Thanks, – Daniel
JWR Replies: The incorporation approach would definitely provide a lower profile, at least locally. I just wonder about the longer term implications for everyone that is on “the list.”
OBTW, in addition to incorporation, you can set up a revocable trust. This is fairly inexpensive, and a great way to designate the eventual transfer of guns to your heir(s)–that will become the successor trustee(s).
Reader “Alfie Omega” flagged this new article: Gas at $6 per gallon? Get ready. (Congress has an expensive “solution.”)
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Sean M. forwarded us this one: Solar Shingles Could Power Tomorrow’s Homes. Sean’s comment: “It would difficult to keep these clear in the winter in snow country. But it is discrete, so you won’t be screaming ‘Hey, I have power’ to anyone passing by.”
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For those of you that asked about promotional clips for the upcoming Sarah Connor Chronicles television series, for some reason they were removed from YouTube, but are still available at Daily Motion.
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Frequent contributor Michael Z. Williamson mentioned this amazing snow bike.
"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible." – T. E. Lawrence
Today’s first letter is from a gent who has been a friend of mine for 23 years. The “Doug Carlton” character in my novel “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse” was loosely based on him. (Most if the characters in the novel were drawn directly from friends of mine, or composites thereof.) We went to college together and were in the same ROTC program. Upon graduation, he became a U.S. Army helicopter pilot and served in South Korea. He now works in the civilian transportation industry. Among other things, “Doug” is an expert on practical concealed handgun carry, since he has been a CCW license holder for more than a dozen years–in several states–and habitually carries a handgun whenever he leaves his home.
Jim,
I’m afraid you’re out of date on tourniquet use. It’s been a couple years since we were in the Army, and the world in general has shifted gears on tourniquets. In Iraq and Afghanistan, [we read] “no iatrogenic injury has been reported, even with tourniquet times up to 8 hours.” (Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, 76th annual scientific congress.) US Army literature on the subject has indicated that if the limb can be saved, it can still be saved three hours after a tourniquet is applied (U.S. Medicine, May 2005)
Tourniquets got a bad rap, probably deservedly, in WWII. This was mainly due to the long casevac times, and the mass number of casualties, and state of medical science at the time. The mantra of “use a tourniquet=lose the limb” stems from this. Like many things from WWII, good and bad, it became ingrained in the training of the military even though subsequent studies indicated that tourniquet’s could be useful, especially with the reduced casevac time. It’s estimated that 8-10% of the deaths in Vietnam could have been prevented by using a tourniquet.
Recent actions in Somalia and in Afghanistan and Iraq have shown that tourniquets are effective time-savers, and it’s all about time with a casualty. The WWII notion of loss of limb being automatic is simply false. What’s not false is the notion that you’ll bleed to death pretty fast if you don’t stop the bleeding. Current figures from Iraq indicate that 50% of the combat fatalities before evacuation are due to bleeding out. (Guardian News and Media) Much of this is due to the wound pattern being different than previous wars.
Advanced body armor has saved many lives, but shifted the percentage of injuries to the limbs. Combine that with IEDs and you have many traumatic amputations (in the event of which obviously anyone would use a tourniquet) and other wounds in the same body parts. Obviously a tourniquet isn’t for everything. The old joke about [using a tourniquet on the neck for] a head wound still applies of course;)
Forget writing the short story [“L. Leg Tourn.@0845Z”] in magic marker. Just put a “T” on his forehead in blood, which you will have plenty of. Don’t cover the tourniquet–so it’s seen–but even if it gets covered the doctors will find it pretty easily. This is common sense stuff. If you’re bleeding from your arm, the doctor will look at your arm. If there’s a tourniquet there, then he’ll see it.
The “T” helps out in Triage, etc. but modern battlefield medical care is competent enough to deal with a tourniquet.
Now as I’ve said before, things that apply to the military may not apply to Joe Survivalist. You may have to go “Civil War” on his arm and take it off yourself if that’s the situation, but the application of a tourniquet will not alter that. Don’t loosen the tourniquet until you have the bleeding controlled in some fashion. What that fashion is will depend greatly on your resources. – “Doug Carlton”
James,
I’m a 30-year military vet and Reservist, combat lifesaver qualified, three tours in Iraq, two in Afghanistan, and one in Grenada <grin>; I also was a military / civilian law enforcement SWAT trainer for about 10 years and still attend training annually on subjects like survival, weapons work and medical topics. (“Emptying the teacup” on a regular basis, so to speak)
Like yourself, I held — for years — that the word tourniquet was synonymous with amputation but it is a “last resort” that still beats bleeding to death in a combat situation.
During recent pre-deployment training for a combat tour, I was exposed to the idea of tourniquet usage as a “necessary evil” but I still held — perhaps only within my own mind — that tourniquets were still just a “final option” reserved for times when all other “stopping blood flow” methods failed. (And, implied here, is the associated time lost — and blood loss — with trying all those other methods first.)
At a recent twp-day Wilderness Medical Survival class taught by an emergency room surgeon (who is also on a multi-jurisdiction police SWAT team), the topic of tourniquets arose — and he heartily endorsed their usage sooner versus later, citing not only their employment during the current Global War on Terror but noting that, during microsurgery (the reattachment of a severed hand was the example he cited), tourniquets are routinely applied for 2 to 4 hours without the “guarantee” of follow-on amputation that I naturally expected.
After class, I personally tied — under a paramedic’s supervision — a one-hand-application tourniquet on my upper left arm (I’m left-handed) and left it there for 15 minutes without any distal artery pulse detected in the arm…and with no ill effects and without the arm turning brown and falling off. It hurt / burned immensely, “fell asleep” and was cold to the touch (and bluish) — and I did have a temporary bruise on the skin where the tourniquet strap was twisted and tightened — but that was the extent of the “damage.” (FYI, I am 48)
I don’t advocate trying this on yourself — for many safety reasons, and it was probably very foolish for me to have experimented with my own primary upper appendage — but I had always held an image that the application of a tourniquet would almost immediately transform my extremity into a dried and twisted piece of useless, vestigial flesh within seconds…and it simply wasn’t true. (and, FYI, 15 minutes is an eternity-and-a-half in a firefight)
As such, I’ve had a “paradigm shift” and no longer consider tourniquet usage a “last resort” or “fall-back position” — but now hold tourniquets in the same regard as any other specialized tool, technique, or skill in my toolkit. It has its place, .and not just as a blood stopper of last resort. Hope this helps. – StealthNeighbor
Hi Jim
I found the article about real gunfights, earlier this week, very interesting. I happened to run across this video of a real gun fight between quite a few law enforcement officers s and one guy with a battle rifle.
I am no gun expert, but it sure taught me a few things:
1) Never take a handgun to a rifle fight
2) Take cover. These guys just walked out the door and got shot.
3) Riding on the hood of a car is not a good tactic.
All the best, – Kurt
U.S. Economy: Housing Starts Drop; Slump May Persist. Notice how the 20% slump in housing starts in the western U.S. was buried in the article? After reading the entire article, I think that it would be better titled “US Economy: Housing Market Enters Death Spiral.” But of course I’m the pessimistic type.
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China sells more US T-bonds. I’ve said it before: the U.S. Dollar is doomed.
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From MayoClinic.com — West Nile virus: Signs and symptoms
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Our friend Tom at CometGold.com sent us this: Bear Stearns Staving Off Collapse of 2 Subprime Leveraged Hedge Funds. I see this as just the beginning of the global derivatives implosion that I warned you about.
"An elephant. A mouse built to government specifications." – Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough For Love
We are now halfway through the special two week “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse” Six Pack Sale. For any orders postmarked on or before June 30th, I’m offering a box of six autographed copies of my novel “Patriots“, packed in a well-padded USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate box, for $93, postage and Delivery Confirmation tracking label costs paid, to any US or APO/FPO address. That is just $15.50 per copy! And again, I pay the postage! Payment options include USPS money order, AlertPay, GearPay, or PayPal.
Our AlertPay address is: rawles@usa.net
Our GearPay address is: rawles@usa.net
Our PayPal address is: rawles@earthlink.net
If paying via USPS money order (sorry, no checks), please use this mail forwarding address (because of forwarding down to the ranch, you can expect a two week delay):
James Wesley, Rawles
c/o Elk Creek Company
P.O. Box 303
Moyie Springs, Idaho 83845
All orders will be mailed by our order fulfillment partner up in Montana, so no special book inscriptions are available. (Just my generic autograph.) This “Six Pack” offer ends on June 30th, so get your order in soon. Thanks!
James,
Thought I would pass on some advice that I received while I was stationed at Eielson Air Force Base just south of Fairbanks, Alaska . During “newcomers” orientation, we were told by the local game warden, that “playing dead” might work with a grizzly, but if they decide to charge you, “playing dead” won’t save you. They are coming to kill you and won’t stop the attack until you are. I remember reading about an Alaskan couple who tried to escape a black bear attack by climbing up on the roof of their cabin. It had a lean-to type roof and unfortunately for the couple, there was a tree that the bear climbed and got up on the roof with the couple. The woman was killed. I don’t remember what happened to the husband. I believe he survived somehow. The one brown bear hunt I when on, the smallest rifle caliber in my group was a 300 Win Mag. (There is no such thing as too big of gun for bears.) – Rick E.
Jim,
I’ve been watching the bear protection thread and thought I might toss-in an idea or two. Last year I experienced an invasion of hungry and seemingly fearless black bears onto my property in southern Colorado. My last bear encounter had me armed with an EAA Witness in 45 ACP and I was not at all comfortable with my odds. Fortunately, shots were not required.
The situation left me thinking about a better way to defend myself if there was a confrontation with one of these bears. I did some simple web-based research on bear hunting with handguns and found more than one reference to “200 grains, 1000 fps” as the “bear minimum” load. (Pardon the pun,) That works out to about 445 ft.- lbs., which is beyond the abilities of all but the hottest 45 ACP rounds. And I would probably want to run those loads only through a revolver, not an autoloader. Additionally, the articles tended to recommend solid-/soft-point bullets in lieu of hollow-points to achieve better penetration.
I already had a single-action 44 Mag but its 7-1/2″ barrel makes carrying it 24x7x52 a burden. For me personally, the sheer size of the revolver makes it a bit intimidating for quick response, close encounters. I felt I needed something else and started my search for The Perfect Bear Handgun. (Okay, close to perfect.)
What I ended up with was a Taurus 425 in 41 Magnum. This 5-shot stainless steel revolver has a ported 4″ barrel, a great trigger, and a fabulous rubber grip. Being a 5-shot’er, it’s relatively compact and the lighter weight makes it much easier to carry all day. Since factory ammo is not available in much of a variety, I (happily) resigned myself to reloading for it. I’ve worked up a load with 210 grain soft points that chronographs at about 1200 fps. That makes the bullet energy right around 675 ft.- lbs., or about 50% more than the “200 grains, 1000 fps” rule-of-thumb. In my book, that’s plenty adequate over-engineering!! The 41 Magnum recoil is stout — you know you’re not shooting a 357 — but it’s tolerable and quite a bit more manageable than the 44. The 425 is also surprisingly accurate. I found a nice Galco holster for it and some speed loaders. Needless to say, I’m very pleased. (And, no, I don’t work for Taurus.)
Hopefully this gives folks another option to consider. – Scott W.
Jim,
I read your site everyday and have passed on this resource to all of my contacts! The site is among the best on the Internet, in my view. I was surprised and proud that Walter Williams reads your site the same as myself.
Anyway, a couple of years back I went fishing on the Kenai River in Alaska and stayed with a friend. That friend spent about 10 years there doing ‘Alaska’. Anyway, he had a couple of bear encounters. On one such occasion, he had helped another hunter bring a Dall Sheep off of a mountain. Upon arriving back at their camp, they realized a brownie had followed them into camp. My buddy banged the bruin with a .454 Casull, one shot and the bear was down.
Your recommendation of a .454 Casull would be seconded by my friend. According to him and the cartridge manufacturers, the Casull has more gumption at 100 yards than does the .44 Rem. Magnum at the muzzle.
For my part, I use a 629 S&W with a 6″ barrel. I got my brother, who resides in Anchorage, to get me a box of what I call “.44 Heavies.” They are hand loaded in Alaska specifically for bears. They are hard cast 420 grains of sheer terror. Anyway, they are packaged in a wallet style carrying case holding 18 rounds. I would recommend these type of rounds for that caliber in the event one anticipates a cat or bear encounter. However, I would not recommend the ‘recreational’ use of these heavies as they are hard on the shooter and the gun. One more thing, both my buddy and my brother said to always, always never shoot the 6th round in the .44 at a brownie, but to instead save it for yourself after you have really pissed the bear off. – Matt, Somewhere south of Kentucky and north of Alabama.
JWR,
You were right on with your advice as far as setting tourniquets. One thing that I totally fail to understand when it comes to some of my preparedness oriented brethren is their desire to mickey mouse/improvise a solution when one already exists.
Also, thanks for the recommendation on TraumaDEX, it looks to be as good or better than some of the other offerings, and wow is it cheap! ($11/50 applicators).
While all of these gizmos are neat, just like in your novel “Patriots” there was someone there with honest to god medical training. While becoming an RN or LVN is a bit much for most. Taking an EMT class a few nights a week, or even taking one of the first aid and CPR classes offered by the American red Cross (ARC)–most are just a few hours or a day–will put them in a much better place than taking the advice of other amateurs.
Cheers! – Drew
Sir,
I was slightly distressed to read your [warning] statement on tourniquets. I am not a doctor, but I am a Marine (Rifleman and Force Recon) and am also a EMT-B who has used those skills here (Volunteer) and in Iraq. I would like to pontificate briefly on the use of a Tourniquet. What you posted was the predominate mindset in the medical community, but it is changing due to ‘real world’ experience in Iraq.
As I’m sure you know if you have an arterial bleed you have about 90 seconds to do something about it before you pass out. At that point unless someone else can help you you are a dead man.
What you can do (If the injury is on a limb) is to slap on a Tourniquet. I recommend the Cinch Tight for two reasons: It is cheap, and in military testing it is in the top three in effectiveness.
-A bungee cord will also work pretty well.
Once you have a tourniquet on you can begin to apply a pressure dressing… (Or move the casualty out of the line of fire so that you can work on him without becoming a casualty yourself.)
-If you don’t apply a tourniquet he may die before you can work on him, or before you can control the bleeding.
As for losing a limb… once the bleeding is under control (Israeli bandages and the Cinch Tight ‘H’ bandages are both excellent)
You simply remove the tourniquet one wrap at a time… if the bleeding is under control leave it above the wound in case it is needed later, but unwrapped.
You will not lose a limb within about four hours, and you can control bleeding and remove the tourniquet in a much shorter amount of time.
On the placement of a Tourniquet:
A hands width (About 4 inches) above the injury (Arteries retract up into the body when harmed that much, remember the ‘bloody scene’ in Blackhawk Down?)
If below the knee or below the elbow, put ‘packing material between the Tibia and Fibula, or between the Radius and Ulna due to the fact veins and arteries go between these bones, and will be hard to ‘pinch off’.
In review, a tourniquet is an immediate method to stop the arterial bleeding, which will give you time to treat the wound with other measures, and then [promptly] remove the tourniquet. – Nomad, 2nd
JWR Replies: Where did you read the four hour figure that you cited? I have read that the use of a tight tourniquet for as little as 45 minutes can produce local necrosis, neurapraxia, hypoxia, pain, and injury to veins and arteries. I’ve also read that leaving a tourniquet in place for more than 120 minutes can lead to extensive necrosis, which can result in the eventual loss of a limb. There are very few wounds for which Carlysle-type bandages and direct pressure won’t minimize bleeding. Granted, a tourniquet might be apropos for a very short term application. (I’ve read about the “one-hand” US military issue Combat Application Tourniquet and some competing varieties.) But once one is applied, do not lose track of time! For a patient that will be medevaced or otherwise handed-off, you can mark time that the tourniquet was applied on the patient’s forehead with a magic marker. Perhaps something like: “L. Leg Tourn.@0845Z” Medics carry Field Medical Cards to record that sort of data. The bottom line: Minimize the period of time a tourniquet is in place by applying other dressings/wound packing promptly, and then remove the tourniquet as soon as possible.
Minnesota’s “Code Ready” preparedness campaign urges deep larders
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Reader BWN sent us a link to fairly detailed plans for a slow sand water filter.
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I recently updated my Pre-1899 FAQ and Mauser Bolt Rifles FAQ. Both are available (along with many others that I authored or co-authored) for free download at my FAQs Page