Odds ‘n Sods:

RBS flagged these two articles: Price of bread rising on wheat shortage and Wheat prices could defy a recession. Remember what I wrote about investing in productive farmland?

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Also from RBS: As Economy Slips, Yacht Sales Skyrocket. Of course, a portion of the buyers could be buying some of the smaller yachts as a G.O.O.D. contingency.

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Another sign of the times. Catalytic Converters Stolen. (Of course, with platinum at $2,169 per ounce, one can understand the temptation.) Thanks to Josh W. for finding that article.

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Seven readers sent us links to articles published on both side of the border on this topic: U.S., Canada military ink deal to fight domestic emergencies

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Anyone who clings to the historically untrue – and thoroughly immoral – doctrine ‘that violence never settles anything’ I would advise to conjure up the ghosts of Napoleon Bonaparte and of the Duke of Wellington and let them debate it. The ghost of Hitler could referee, and the jury might well be the Dodo, the Great Auk and the Passenger Pigeon. Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Breeds that forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and freedom.”
– Robert Heinlein (in a lecture by Colonel Dubois in the novel “Starship Troopers“)

Note from JWR:

When you forward a post from SurvivalBlog to a friend, instead of copying and pasting it, please just send them the Permalink URL. (Click on the word “Permalink” below any post, and then copy that page’s URL.) That way the recipient will be able to follow any hyperlinks included in the post, and they can navigate the rest of the blog site, including the SurvivalBlog glossary and archives. Thanks for your help in spreading the word about SurvivalBlog!!

Four Letters Re: The Home Chicken Flock for Self-Reliance

Hi Jim –
I am a “ten center” and read your blog every day. Just wanted to say that I thought Keith in Minnesota’s article on “Survival Chickens” was outstanding. A really good example of maximizing what you have (and leveraging Mother Nature) without spending huge amounts of effort or money to get a major benefit. – John

 

Jim and Memsahib,
Regarding the recent blog entry “The Home Chicken Flock for Self-Reliance”, I have a few comments. I have been raising chickens since I was young and continue to this day. Having a source of fresh eggs is great and I do agree that they are not free. They are of a much superior quality and taste and they are right there in your backyard. That makes them worthwhile.
I do disagree with a couple of care issues from the article. I always lock up the birds at night. Poultry cannot see in the dark but their predators can. Giving your birds a safe roost at night is trivial and you just need to make closing them up at night part of your routine. If you are relying upon them for a source of food, you can’t afford to waste them by making the predators fat. In addition, most predators will remember where they got their last meal and will return time and time again leaving you with no survival stock.
Another item I differ from is the cleanliness. Clean water and a clean coop is crucial for avoiding numerous illnesses. There are many methods to coop cleaning and I lean toward the every week method. Ammonia from decomposing manure build up can occur under damp conditions and the birds can develop serious respiratory issues. In the cold weather, you can be a bit more relaxed with coop cleaning if desired as the bedding usually freezes solid. Make sure the coop is not drafty but good ventilation is a must to keep fresh air flowing inside. As well as being beneficial to the birds it will dry up the bedding and eliminate the ammonia smell.

Some other tips:
Many bantams chickens tend to be better foragers than standard breeds. You also get smaller eggs but bird weight to egg ratio is pretty good (read: less feed required per egg). Bantam roosters are much cockier than their larger counterpart and will stand up to dogs. (But they don’t always win!) Bantam hens are great mothers who will incubate and brood any other type of poultry you’d like to raise.
Bringing in new birds to your flock should be handled with care. I recommend at least a two week quarantine before introduction. Chickens don’t always telegraph their illnesses and you may need to allow a disease to work through a more advanced stage to be able to see it. Of course, the situation allows for it, you should have some medications on hand to assist in the prevention/recovery. Don’t forget to sanitize shoes/boots and clothing after visiting another person’s coop. You can easily bring home diseases from the manure on your boots.
Chickens will eat nearly any table scraps you produce. We do not give ours any onions (it will transfer the taste to the egg) or meat. Our birds get insects, worms, and grubs for meat protein. These scraps will greatly reduce the amount of feed required.- Rob

 

JWR,
Keep up the great work! I’m proud to be a double ten-cent subscriber and continually amazed at the wealth of new topics that come up on your site. The recent post on survival flocks is an excellent example of a concept I had not considered before, but could be lifesaving.

Regarding the survival flock, did anyone else notice that the traits Kevin in Minnesota breeds into his chickens are pretty much exactly the same traits we work towards in ourselves and search for in group members?
1. Can you provide for you own food?
2. Do you have the ability to defend yourself from predators?
3. Are you smart enough to avoid predators in the first place?
4. Strong immune system?
5. Raise your own “chicks”?

I got a chuckle out of rereading the entire “survival flock” article and applying everything in there to people. And for me, preparedness can be summarized as Keith states, it’s pretty easy to separate them into two flocks, the dinner flock and the survivor flock. Which flock will you belong to when the Schumer hits?

Speaking of Schumer, I’d like to comment on the recent Sanitation letter, and the treatment of Schumer, the home-grown kind, not the political kind. I take a different view on “The Humanure Handbook” than you. Yes, there are risks in composting your own manure, but no more risk than kerosene, chainsaws, and firearms. Each of these three items have inherent risks that are life-threatening, but easily avoided thru training and safety precautions, just like humanure. And fortunately, the “Humanure Handbook” is available free on-line, and it provides all the details, and scientific studies that prove this is safe, and how to do it safely and easily. I will not go into the details of how, it’s all there in the book. But I will stress the advantages for people like me that plan to build a retreat, but don’t have a fortune to spend.
1. Huge Cost Savings. Not having to build a septic system will save thousands of dollars.
2. Comfort and Convenience. No trudging outdoors thru the weather to a dark and cold, or hot and bug infested, outhouse. And when done correctly, there is no smell!
3. OPSEC. No need for everyone, several times a day, to expose themselves to prying eyes to visit the outhouse. Have you ever seen the Academy Award-winning movie “Unforgiven” starring Clint Eastwood? The outhouse scene amplifies my fears. This especially applies to your observation posts if hidden. Do you plan to drink hot liquids to stay awake during sentry duty? If so, you will want a bucket system as described in the”Humanure Handbook” to stay hidden.
4. Simplicity. No pipes to clog up and backup. No need to pump/store/waste precious water on flushing. No reliance on a septic pumping company. Even in your own outstanding book, “Patriots”, the septic system became overloaded, and had to be reserved for emergency use only. Why not skip it altogether?
5. Thrifty. Why waste perfectly good, home-grown fertilizer?

But to be fair and balanced, there are some minor drawbacks.
1. Sawdust and Hay. You need a “pickup truck” supply of sawdust per year per family. The sawdust, or equivalent leaves/moss/hulls, is used to cover your deposits, after each and every deposit (this is what prevents all fumes). Fortunately, I love the smell of sawdust! But some planning/work is necessary to ensure easy access to cover material (like sawdust). You will also need about 8 bales of hay (or equivalent yard waste) per year per family to cover/protect/oxygenate your compost pile.
2. Gray water System. If you have no septic system, you will need some kind of gray water system to handle your wash water. Wash water can be from vegetables, clothes, or your bath. Fortunately, these are easy to build, but are best thought out in advance. Many sources of information are available on the internet.
3. Another Household Chore. Approximately weekly, someone must haul the full buckets out to the compost pile, wash the buckets, and monitor the heat in the compost. But this should only take 30 minutes at most. This is not labor intensive at all.
4. Humility. You will need some humility to admit you use this system. But this is good for you.
5. Fecophobia. Yes, there is such a word. Yes, your family/friends/neighbors may shun you until you convince them. But this system works! How do you think the Chinese have farmed the same land for centuries without external fertilizer inputs? But Your Mileage May Vary (YMMV).

As a side note, the excellent book by John Seymour titled “The Self Sufficient Life and How to Live It”, describes a similar humanure system, but without buckets. So if the only thing holding you back is the buckets, I would also recommend John Seymour’s “Loveable Loo” as an alternative. Always learning more, – Rookie

Dear JWR and Memsahib,
I wish to offer some helpful comment regarding the article prescribing “Hardening Chickens”. I have raised chickens and other poultry in a free range setting for 20 plus years. My pre-retirement career was that of a health care professional. I have also worked and volunteered in community health care projects and health education in several third world countries. I still volunteer my services when the need arises and I am able to respond. While I strongly agree in the practice of free ranging chickens and all poultry for that matter, for an aid to general hardiness and convenience of caretaking and the overall natural health benefit of the poultry and the superb quality of their eggs. I however must also warn us all of the severe health consequences caused out of human negligence and lack of proactive caretaking responsibility to ourselves and our farm animals which are being used for human and other farm animal food cycle sources. When TEOTWAWKI occurs, and I believe it will sooner than later, medical care and resources will become infrequent if nil to obtain in hinterboonies regions and rural isolated areas and very questionable at best if you are not fortunate enough to have networked adequately beforehand for that valuable and crucial medical person to come on board, or at least viably reachable by travel and who is also agreeable to being available for your survival group in a worst case scenario. My prime concern here is advocating a proactive responsibility in maintaining and keeping humans and their animals healthy in as natural as possible using natures sources of availability. The practice of poor to absent hygiene practices advocated by the author of the article is questionable for the good health outcome of both species. Even in third world countries, the incorporation of holistic health practices of a sanitary or “clean environment” for human and animal hygiene have statistically shown vast improvements in the populations affected by those health practices and significant reduction of diseases and mortality rates related to them. Thus, their overall quality of life improved. Note, I am not refuting the issue of immunity. That is a whole other issue of whether it is acquired or natural or artificial immunity, passive or active. Diseases caused specifically via harmful bacteria, viruses, protozoans, fungus or the vectors like flies, mites, mosquitoes, and fleas that carry them into contact with us or our animals, must be discouraged. Practices to reduce those harmful populations must be performed in earnest.

Never plan to dine on an animal that had or has questionable health issues. Never feed their caucuses, milk, eggs, or any byproducts of questionable health animals to your family or other animals. Do not put them into your compost pile. Incinerate them. Here you will find just a sampling of multiple diseases causes and effects from an unclean environment. Botulism is more common than we hear about in unclean environments, which is potentially deadly and is transferable to the egg. If you practice the dirty litter suggested by this author, then you had best take heed and caution. Coccidiosis is caused by a protozoan parasite, which are deep tissue invaders occurring in the meat of the bird and eggs laid by it and harbored in moist, old litter. You could treat the poultry with Sulfa based medications which is also then passed on to you in their meat and eggs. Or, you can keep a clean hen house for proactive prevention. Erysipelas is caused by a soil borne gram positive bacteria which enters a break in the skin. It is spread by poultry being bitten by biting flies which are attracted to manure. This is also a human transmittable strain and also transmittable to stocked fish in ponds which are used as free range poultry water sources. It can also transmit to your pigs, sheep, mice and your other yard poultry. Encephalitis is caused by vectors of migrating mosquitoes and biting flies near or on open water sources. The flies lay their eggs in the poultry manure or spilled food. The disease list goes on. Most, if not all can be avoided by your proactive responsible health practices of cleanliness.

I highly recommend the World Poultry web site for its accuracy of abundant information; ease of reference, and on line pictures. It would take volumes for me to describe the offenses and diseases that are caused in poultry alone by these harmful organisms. But, I have high objection and researched validation to show the negative consequences to cleaning a coop of its litter and manure only once a year. All that manure is valuable as garden composting, only after it has cooked to a usable loam state. Never apply green manure directly to your garden or plants. It must be allowed to compost cook to kill off harmful organism cycles. Wear your gardening gloves to protect yourself from live harmful organisms. Wear them over a pair of disposable gloves or rubber gloves when applying compost to your plants or for that matter anytime you work directly in the soil. If you’re kneeling in the soil, wear knee protectors. The object is to protect your intact skin. For the coop cleaning process remove all the eggs and the poultry out and away from the coop. Wear a specifically designated outfit for this clean out, preferably a Tyvek type zip jumpsuit to protect your whole body surface. These can be hosed off and reused many times as long as there are no punctures to the fabric or stresses to the seams. Get a size that is one size larger than your normal size of clothes. If this is not available for you, use a heavy denim type or high denier cloth type military jumpsuit that zips in front. Don latex, or nitrile gloves if you’re allergic to rubber, make sure the gloves cover over the sleeve of the jumpsuit so you have created a skin seal. Last, wear a face mask that also fully protects your eyes, nose and mouth when you clean out either your coop or the nests found randomly constructed on the outskirts of your property. My husband makes use of his light weight welding helmet for this purpose over a disposable nose and mouth mask. This actually provides whole head and hair and ear protection as well. Those feathers can go into the composter as well, unless you are sanitizing them and using them for some other project. Note if you are finding these frequently, your poultry are talking to you. They’re telling you they either need fresh litter or the hen house nest boxes are being occupied when they need to use it. This will usually happen most during brooding season. Listen to them and fix the problem.

Just because you can’t see the bacteria, protozoa, fungus, mold, spores, and the most virulent harmful organisms doesn’t mean they are not there. They are. Most of these become airborne during the clean out process and are unknowingly inhaled by you and your chickens. Even if you have a great immune system response, it does not work well for another or the very young or the elders or the already infirmed that you will come in contact with. These organisms can be passed on by humans performing the human or animal care. This becomes possible by touching contact with the harmful source, or by any natural anatomical open orifice on your body, or unnatural open orifice of skin, like a cut, scrape or burn, for them to enter or be inhaled. You need on hand all these suggested items in ample supply anyway in your survival storage for the more virulent strains of viruses to come.

There are nutritional issues that need to be considered in this important food cycle as well. The poultry must receive a daily minimum requirement of good vegetable protein, vitamins and minerals in their natural habitat if you’re going to only free range. Just like humans. Remember, we’re going to eat their bodies and eggs. The practice of supplements is a good one if you are living in an area where the soil or vegetation is lacking these. Test your soil. Do some study on safe for poultry forage consumable vegetative sources which will provide natural vitamin and mineral supplements. The primary ones to consider are Calcium, Phosphorus, Vitamin D3 and Folic acid. While it is a fact that chicken feces does provide Phosphorus if consumed, eating unnaturally high colony counts of bacteria or viruses which were allowed to incubate for months, could easily infest and kill your entire flock inadvertently. Also, the practice of supplementing back raw egg shells for calcium as a feed supplement should be discouraged as it encourages egg cannibalism. A plot of Spinach plantings and castings are a much better choice. Without adequate intake of these supplements, either natural or store bought, the poultry will poorly develop and are subject to many other maladies related to growth, bone development, skin, and vision. Thus are poor consumables. Those hip fractures described in the article may be related to more than a jump off the roost. My chickens get calcium via crushed oyster shell and have a perpetual spinach plot. They have jumped off the roof of their 10 foot hen house and don’t suffer broken hips. We must always be responsible and accountable to our animals who serve our needs so well. Unlike humans, they can’t tell us that something is wrong. We have to conduct daily routine observation of their behavior and bodies to detect a problem and insure a proactive and ongoing active level of maintenance and responsibility to protect and care for our animals. If you are not willing to make this level of commitment, perhaps it would be better to skip the poultry for you and your family’s sake of good health. Cleanliness is truly next to Godliness in our triage of practices on the homestead.

Once you’re finished with the cleaning process and are ready to leave the coop, please follow these infection prevention practices in this order. Remove the garden gloves and hang them up. Leave the rubber or disposable gloves on until you’re totally finished cleaning your other personal articles. Remove the face mask, and hang it up or throw it away in the trash if it is a disposable. If you’re not using a whole face mask, then wear at least eye goggles and the mask must completely cover your nose and mouth and be one that will protect you from tiny viruses. Read the label. Remove that organism laden jumpsuit that’s protecting your underwear or clothing, by peeling it off at the shoulders and backwards away from your clean body and step out of it. Tug on the bottom exterior of the suit to get your legs and arms out if you need to get it over your washable boots. Avoid turning the soiled side to make contact with your clean skin. Hang it, zip it up and Hose it down in the yard near the coop and away from your home. Scrub your washable muck boots on a boot cleaner outdoors and hose them off and then remove them in your mud room or garage. Keep another pair of clean shoes or scuffs to slip on to wear inside your home. Remove the disposable gloves and dispose them. Wash your hands well with soap and water before you reenter into your inner home. Shower as soon as possible.

God Bless you and yours, this of course includes all your fortunate animals. – KBF

Odds ‘n Sods:

Eric sent us the link to an Op-Ed piece over a the leftist Washington Post: Wall Street Bank Run. My, my, my, after only seven months the mainstream media is finally starting to catch on to the full implications of the global credit collapse.

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The Western Rifle Shooter’s Association (WRSA)’s first event scheduled for 2008 is a two day defensive handgun course, in Brookings, Oregon on March 15 & 16. The WRSA offers high quality training for very little money, so be sure to take advantage of it. OBTW, don’t overlook the many free online resources at the WRSA’s blog site: Look at the left hand navigation bar: They have have basic weapons training videos, an excellent series from Zak Smith on long-range shooting, and a host of other useful downloads.

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Reader H.J. sent a link to an interesting article at Snopes about the history of cellucotton–first used as bandages, and later as Kotex brand sanitary napkins. BTW, they still make good would dressings. Stock up. They are a multipurpose barter item.

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KAF found this: Homeowners Losing Equity Lines. We raised this issue several weeks ago in SurvivalBlog. The easy money is going away. This spells a deeper, longer recession. (Note: Again, the background of the picture tells a thousand words.)

The Credit Collapse–The World’s Bankers Revert to Saying “No”

A recent news article titled Dresdner Rescues $19 Billion SIV, Follows Citigroup illustrates the severity of the global liquidity collapse. Note that the article mentions that the K2 SIV had no “direct exposure” to securities backed by subprime or midprime debt. But yet the fund failed dramatically. This adds credence to my assertion that the world’s entire credit market is essentially broken, and that despite frantic attempts by the central banks to inject liquidity (BTW, another $25 billion was just injected the Fed on Thursday), most of the major financial institutions are starting to crumble.

In the very near future, we will be reading headlines trumpeting the collapse of multi-trillion dollar derivatives schemes and dozens of hedge funds. In essence, no financial institution will be immune. It won’t stop with the exotic “alphabet soup” CDO, CDS, MBS, and SIV investments. The problem is systemic. By endlessly repackaging and re-selling debt instruments, the bankers have built themselves a multi-hundred trillion dollar house of cards. The labyrinth of debt repackaging made it impossible for anyone to gauge risk. Nobody knows what exactly what collateral is backing up any given debt-based investment vehicle. Worse yet, while currencies are inflating, assets–such as houses–are deflating. Thus, even the once “solid” backing of residential house mortgages is nothing but sinking sand. Without a quantifiable measure of risk, it is impossible to judge whether any business venture is creditworthy. Hence, the bankers have defaulted to the time-honored answer that they have given to any potential borrower that cannot prove the value of his assets: NO! (As in: “No, we are not giving you the loan that you applied for.”) Global finance has already dramatically slowed. Without liquidity, the wheels of commerce are grinding to a halt. It is particularly noteworthy that the number of new derivatives contracts being written has dropped by more than 90% since August. (And many of those still holding derivatives are biting their nails.)

The global credit collapse will eventually lead to some huge bank and S&L runs and equally huge municipal bond failures. These, in turn, will spawn massive Federal bailout schemes that will make the Chrysler bailout of 1979 and the S&L bailout in 1989 seem miniscule by comparison. Since there will not be nearly enough tax dollars to fund these bailouts, the government will resort to creating new Treasury debt. Tax incentives, large scale civic works projects, and other desperation measures to “jumpstart” the economy will result in even more debt. But since there will be few takers for this mountain of new debt, the Federal Reserve will be forced monetize most of the debt–in effect creating trillions of new dollars out of thin air. This monetization will be insanely inflationary. (On the scale of what I described in my novel “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”.) I am talking inflation in the Zimbabwean sense of the word. The name Ben Bernanke may someday be remembered in the same breath with the name Robert Mugabe.

The Asian financial crisis of 1997 very nearly started this avalanche, but that problem was contained and fairly neatly varnished over by the mass media. But this new crisis–which started with shaky loans to flaky home buyers in the United States–cannot be stopped until it reaches its inevitable conclusion. So, instead of Thai Baht currency speculators, it will be lower middle class Americans that bought houses with granite countertops that will be remembered as the culprits. “It was the Americans that started this depression”, they will all say. And the symbol of this villainy will undoubtedly be the Dollar Sign ($). Don’t expect the US dollar to survive this crisis. At the very least it will lose its status as a the world’s reserve currency, but more likely it will suffer mass inflation and find its place the dustbin of history. All unredeemable fiat currencies eventually meet their doom. Some are just quicker about it than others.

The current financial instability is just the beginning. Before this is over, the debt crisis will start an avalanche that will bankrupt countless individual investors, institutional stockholders, hedge funds, stock trading companies, municipalities, banks, S&Ls, and insurance companies. Since the magic money tap will be turned off, both residential and commercial real estate may decline–absent overall consumer inflation–by as much as 70%. Stock markets will collapse, and economies will be plunged into prolonged depression. On and on it will go, as the trillions of dollars worth of bad debts that have been winding up for the past two decades are gradually “unwound.” This unwinding will be an incredibly painful and protracted process that is punctuated by some massive layoffs, strikes, and social unrest. Dan Ackroyd said it best: “Real wrath-of-God type stuff.”

I suspect that the debt avalanche will destroy entire currencies and possibly bring down governments. (We should remember that the Asian financial crisis of 1997 led to the ouster of the 30+ year Suharto regime in Indonesia.) My only hope is that one of the institutions that is replaced is the private banking cartel called the Federal Reserve. Inevitably, we need to replace fractional reserve banking with proper warehouse banking, and replace the fiat currencies with ones that are freely redeemable for precious metals.

Two Letters Re: Thoughts on Overseas Retreat Destinations

Mr. Rawles,
In looking through your great web site I can’t tell if you’ve ever addressed the issue of having a non-US retreat. There are some notable characteristics of the USA that make it a less then optimal location in a TEOTWAWKI type scenario. I think specifically of very heavy reliance on personal vehicles and fossil fuels, a general ignorance about growing food, preserving food, raising livestock. There is a tremendous demographic heterogeneity (“diversity”) that in a crisis situation would become a very sore spot and possibly a source of violence. Also a Federal government that has shown an inclination to trample the rights of citizens when it is expedient to do so.

Having some familiarity with central Europe, I can tell you that the rural peasantry will fare very well in a crisis situation. Agriculture is still animal-powered in many areas. Self-sufficiency is the norm rather than the exception.

I would love to see you assess and evaluate various foreign sites as possible retreat locations. The analysis that you have already done on the western states is superb. Thanks much – Dr. R

 

Mr. Rawles,
First, I’d like to thank you for your work and dedication with SurvivalBlog. You’ve been a guiding light in darkening times. Second, I’d like to ask about your thoughts on relocating to a retreat abroad?
For some context information, I’m a college student at a local private university; by working two jobs, I’ve managed to avoid the average $30,000 in student loans my peers have accumulated, and am down to only $9,000. I pay off my interest as it accrues, and set aside about as much as I can spare for prepping every paycheck. Last year, I started talking with my family about survivalism in relation to our current times, and they’re happily on board and setting things aside as much as they can, as well. We’ve made it our goal to purchase our retreat this year- we actually start looking at bookmarked properties the third week of March – but as that I was assigned by family vote the family task of deciding which properties we see, and where we look, I feel the express desire to weigh as many potentially good options as possible.

Recently, the grandparents of a friend retired in Mexico; I had the opportunity to meet them and discuss the venture, and was amazed to hear that, paperwork aside, they were able to purchase several acres, build and furnish their own home, as well as obtain several head of livestock, for under $80,000! In a TEOTWAWKI situation, would one even perhaps be better off in a remote location in Mexico that’s already mostly self-sufficient in terms of agriculture, with the advantage of being able to afford more for the money, than in the US?
Or, for that matter, in other such places in the world of similar condition, like Romania, rural western Russia, (and etc.)? Admittedly, if there is ever a popular anti-foreigner sentiment, that could be a key worry- the biggest concern I’ve come across being that the foreign state could take away your property at any time… but does that worry not also apply to the US, with Eminent Domain? I understand that there’s no quick or easy answer to this, but I’m hoping that I might glean some better understanding through your experience, and that of your readers.
Wishing well, – S.L.K.

JWR Replies: Becoming an expatriate retreater requires some very careful study, consideration, and prayer. Many of the highly touted offshore locales suffer either from high crime rates, or have a high population density that would be an issue in a grid-down collapse. Many of these same countries also have restrictive laws on private firearms ownership, so that makes self defense problematic. Despite these and other drawbacks, there are a few offshore destinations that rate high on my list. These include New Zealand (South Island), the Cook Islands, Niue, Tonga, Vanuatu, Bolivia, Chile, rural portions of the Czech Republic, and the lower elevation cantons of Switzerland. I would also recommend Finland if it were not for its harsh climate.

I generally do not recommend most of Latin America and the Caribbean because of high crime rates (most notably property crimes and murder.) Even Costa Rica, which is often touted as a “peaceful haven”, has a murder rate higher than the U.S. (6.23 per 100,000, versus 5.9.) It also has a nearly four times higher robbery rate, but a surprisingly low burglary rate.) A lot of the Pacific Islands are not on my list because of either draconian gun laws or a high level of systems dependence. Many of them are now dependent on food imports. (Nauru is perhaps the worst in this regard. It could not even supply enough fresh drinking water for its residents if international shipping were to cease.)

I generally recommend moving to countries that share your language. But if you have an “in” somewhere–namely relatives or close friends that speak the native language and if they would be living on the same property or contiguous property–then the language barrier is less of an issue. But regardless, learn the local language and customs quickly. You should consider that education practically a full time job for your first few years.

The bottom line is that there is no single “perfect” retreat locale. There are advantages and drawbacks wherever you go. Climate, taxes, gun laws, population density, and crime rates are all trade-offs. Many of the locales that would be idyllic in a grid-up situation might be a nightmare if grid-down. But some countries might do very well in the absence of “the modern conveniences.” You will note that I have quite a few Pacific Islands on my list. In these island nations, if grid power were interrupted, I anticipate that the locals would quickly revert to traditional fishing, gardening, gathering fruit, hunting (bats, of all things!) and raising pigs.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Eric found this: Fed Issues Gloomy Economic Forecast. The article begins: “The Federal Reserve on Wednesday lowered its projection for economic growth this year, citing damage from the double blows of a housing slump and credit crunch. It said it also expects higher unemployment and inflation. “

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RBS sent us this from a Tampa, Florida newspaper: In home foreclosure, if it’s not nailed down …

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I couldn’t help but notice the New York market’s closing spot prices for platinum ($2,169 per ounce), gold ($944.60 per ounce) and silver ($18 per ounce). This is still not anywhere near the top. My advice remains: dump your stocks during the rallies, and buy gold and silver on the dips.

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You might have heard an item in the news about a magnitude 6 earthquake in northeastern Nevada. Its epicenter was near Wells, Nevada. The quake was felt as far away as Boise, Idaho and Salt lake City, Utah. I have mentioned the Wells area before, when I was discussing geothermal home heating. Unfortunately, one of the drawbacks of geothermal heating is that regions where geothermal heat is available generally also coincide with earthquake risk. Living there, you have to take the bad with the good–and forget about masonry construction!

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Gentlemen, I have had men watching you for a long time and I am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in the breadstuffs of the country. When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the bank. You tell me that if I take the deposits from the bank and annul its charter, I shall ruin ten thousand families. That may be true, gentlemen, but that is your sin! Should I let you go on, you will ruin fifty thousand families, and that would be my sin! You are a den of vipers and thieves." – President Andrew Jackson, when he forced the closing of the Second Bank of the U.S., by revoking its charter

The “Come as You Are” Collapse–Have the Right Tools and Skills

When the Second World War broke out in September, 1939, the United States had nearly two full years to ramp up military training and production before decisively confronting the Axis powers. In the late 1970s, looking at the recent experience of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, the Pentagon’s strategic planners came to the realization that the next major war that the US military would wage would not be like the Second World War. There would not be the luxury of time to train and equip. They realized that we would have to fight with only what we had available on Day One. They dubbed this the “Come as you are war” concept.

In my opinion, the same “come as you are” mindset should be applied to family preparedness. We must recognize that in these days of rapid news dissemination, it may take as little as 10 hours before supermarket shelves are cleaned out. It make take just a few hours for queues that are literally blocks-long to form at gas stations–or at bank branches in the event of bank runs. Worse yet, it may take just a few hours before the highways and freeways leading out of urban and suburban areas are clogged with traffic–the dreaded “Golden Horde” that I often write about. Do not make the false assumption that you will have the chance to make “one last trip” to the big box store, or even the opportunity to fill your Bug Out Vehicle’s fuel tank. This will be the “come as you are” collapse.

The concept also applies to your personal training. If you haven’t learned how to do things before the balloon goes, up, then don’t expect to get anything but marginal to mediocre on-the-job training after the fact. In essence, you have the opportunity to take top-quality training from the best trainers now, but you won’t once the Schumer hits the fan. Take the time to get top-notch training! Train with the best–with organizations like Medical Corps, WEMSI, Gunsite, the RWVA/Appleseed Project, the WRSA, and the ARRL. Someday, you’ll be very glad that you did.

The come as you are concept definitely applies to specialized manufactured equipment. You are dreaming if you think that you will have the chance to to purchase any items such as these, in a post-collapse world: razor wire, body armor, night vision equipment, advanced first aid gear, tritium scopes, dosimeters and radiac meters, biological decontamination equipment, Dakota Alert or military surplus PEWS intrusion detection sets, photovoltaics, NBC masks, and semi-auto battle rifles. Think about it: There are very few if these items (per capita) presently in circulation. But the demand for them during a societal collapse would be tremendous. How could you compete in such a scant market? Anyone who conceivably has “spares” will probably want to keep them for a member of their own family or group. So even in the unlikely event that someone was even willing to sell such scarce items, they would surely ask a king’s ransom in barter for them. I’m talking about quarter sections of land, entire strings of well-broken horses, or pounds of gold. Offers of anything less would surely be scoffed at.

Don’t overlook the “you” part of the “as you are” premise. Are you physically fit? Are you up to date on your dental work? Do you have two pairs of sturdy eyeglasses with your current prescription? Do you have at least a six-month supply of vitamins and medications? Is your body weight reasonable? If you answer to any of these is no, then get busy!

Even if you have a modest budget, you will have an advantage over the average suburbanite. Your knowledge and training alone–what is between your ears–will ensure that. And even with just a small budget for food storage, you will be miles ahead of your neighbors. Odds are that they will have less than two week’s worth of food on hand. As I often say, you will need extra supplies on hand to help out relatives, friends, and neighbors that were ill-prepared. I consider charity my Christian duty!

I have repeatedly and strongly emphasized the importance of living at your intended retreat year-round. But I realize that because of personal finances, family obligations, and the constraints of making a living at an hourly or salaried job, that this is not realistic–except for a few of us, mainly retirees. If you are stuck in the Big City and plan to Get Out of Dodge (G.O.O.D.) at the eleventh hour, then by all means pre-position the vast majority of your gear and supplies at your retreat. You will most likely only have one, I repeat, one G.O.O.D. trip. If there is a major crisis there will probably be no chance to “go back for a second load.” So WTSHTF will truly be a “come as you are” affair.

With all of this in mind, re-think your preparedness priorities. Stock your retreat well. If there isn’t someone living there year-round, then hide what is there from burglars. (See the numerous SurvivalBlog posts on caching and constructing hidden compartments and rooms.) Maintain balance in your preparations. In a situation where you are truly hunkered-down at your retreat in the midst of a societal collapse, there might not be any opportunity to barter for any items that you overlooked. (At least not for several months. ) What you have is what you got. You will have to make-do. So be sure to develop your “lists of lists” meticulously. If you have the funds available, construct a combination storm shelter/fallout shelter/walk-in vault. It would be virtually impossible to build something that elaborate in the aftermath of a societal collapse.

A closing thought that relates to your retreat logistics: The original colonial Army Rangers, organized by Major Robert Rogers during the French and Indian Wars of the 1750s had a succinct list of operating rules. The version of the “Rules of Ranging” recounted in the novel “Northwest Passage” by Kenneth Roberts started with a strong proviso: “Don’t forget nothing.” That is sage advice.

Two Letters Re: My Preparedness Plans Just Took an Unexpected Turn

James,

I found a vendor that sells gluten-free flours in #10 cans for long term storage. See this PDF. Look bottom of page 3 and top of 4. (Also flour in bags that are not packed for long term storage.)

This company make a lot of the baking mixes that are repacked and sold under a different label by the long term storage food companies. So prices are good, but you will pay shipping. (I have no affiliation, but did buy from them and have been happy with the products.) God Bless! – Lyn H.

 

Dear Jim,
This is in reference to the posters with diabetes in their families.

I am diabetic, Type 1, which means Insulin Dependent by definition. I am also a survivalist. These positions are not mutually exclusive, but my options for survival are quite limited. Why? Diabetic test strips last around two years if they’re kept cool and dry. Insulin must be refrigerated but not ever frozen or shaken, and lasts at most 18 months. Oxygen destroys it. Shaking destroys it. What does this mean? You’re dependent on civilization to survive, and can only last 18 months without supplies. Meds to reduce your odds of a nasty side effect (coma, embolism, stroke, heart attack, blindness, ketone acidosis) are worth retaining and using.

If civilization falls too far to produce insulin, you’re screwed. No really. There is no happy way around this. The upshot is, insulin is produced in many places, and there are some methods which are quite surprising, such as genetically engineered safflower plants by a firm in Calgary, Canada. I don’t have access to the seeds yet, but I want them, badly.

To retain access to insulin, you must live near places which stock and store the medicine. This pretty well prevents the Deep Boonies lifestyle, and means you’ll have to deal with societal collapse in the burbs or city, or at least close to them. It means dealing with the horde, and retaining contact with those groups or persons who still have access to the medicine needed to live. You don’t have the option of moving away unless you can let yourself or your child die painfully, which happens less than 12 hours after the insulin in your system is gone. That may happen regardless, but you’d best organize your plans around staying close to the medicine. And that means staying in the cities and suburbs and dealing with the people there.

Think carefully and plan accordingly and learn to deal with unpleasant people. We don’t know just how bad things will get. It might only be the Great Depression 2..Its predecessor was survivable but unpleasant. A good hidden safe is far more valuable to you than a main battle rifle. Good luck. We both need it. Best, – InyoKern

JWR Replies: To extend your logic, the safest place for a diabetic to live would be in close proximity to a pharmaceutical manufacturer that produces insulin. And. ideally, it would be one that is in a swine producing region.

The Home Chicken Flock for Self-Reliance, by Keith in Minnesota

The little details in being prepared for self reliance are often the most important ones. Often people think, chickens would be a good thing to have in a survival situation, after all they produce free eggs, right? Unfortunately they are not free, they cost feed. How can you pay less? Breed survival chickens. Store and feed mill bought chickens are typically ridiculously inbred, and solely dependent on you providing them food. I got started raising survival chickens for meat and eggs about five years ago. My goal was to end up with a breed of chickens that were both adept at foraging, and had a better ability to avoid both disease and predation. Egg production was an afterthought since all chickens are going to lay eggs, it is just a matter of how many. We have a chicken coop that is open for the chickens to come and go as they please. I don?t lock them up at night to keep them safe. The entrance and exit hole is about four feet off the ground, and consists of a piece of electrical conduit sticking straight out of the ground about three feet away from the opening of the chicken house. Connected to this post, I have a thin board that is about two inches wide running directly to the hole of the chicken house. I plan on replacing this with another piece of conduit. This helps to prevent some predators from climbing the pole to gain entrance to the house. My next security measure was to cut an upside down U shape into the plywood I used to block the entrance window to the house. The hole is just big enough for the chickens to squeeze through to be able to get into the chicken house.

My next step started with picking a chicken to use for a breeding line. Several different kinds of chickens were bought at a local chicken swap. The one that proved to be the most resilient was a small bantam we named crow. Crow is now going on to her fourth year, and still produces eggs, just not as many. She has large wings compared to her body size and can fly similar to a pheasant, getting about six feet off the ground, and being able to fly/glide about sixty yards or so. She is an excellent forager, and for the most part, provides for herself. The other much wanted trait she possessed was that she would wait until she got 12 plus eggs, then sit and hatch them if she was allowed to do so. I purchased several more breeds of chicken, and let nature take its course. If a chicken was killed by an owl, or coyote, then to me it was not smart enough, or physically adept enough to get away. I also culled out the lazy roosters that would go and sit under the bird feeder to avoid getting used to handouts, and to avoid any diseases from wild birds. I looked for roosters that had smaller body sizes, had good wing to body ratios, would keep a good look out for danger, would actively search for food and call the other chickens over when they found it, and liked to roost in trees if there was danger, versus trying to make it back to the chicken house. The rooster that made the final cut was my breeding rooster. I allowed these two to breed, and crow hatched out 12 chicks. After several predation attacks, I was left with 5 out of 20 chickens one year. The survivors were bred the following year, and produced another 15 or so chickens. This number was again knocked down by both predators, disease, and injury to about 10.
I added a few challenges to them along the way. The roost height is about four and a half feet off the ground. The heavier bodied chickens would have a tendency to dislocate a hip when jumping down. These became dinner. My next hurdle I threw in their way was to hold back feed in the summer, and only feed them once a week. The ones that did not want to go and forage, became dinner. I know this may sound harsh, but there were plenty of insects, weed seed, and greens for them to eat in the yard, pasture, and woods. It was just a matter of working to go and find it. This is where the chickens separated into groups. One was the forager group, and the other was the dinner group.

My last challenge was disease. I know many people believe that making sure the chicken house is clean to prevent disease is very important. I feel exactly the opposite. The more you shelter both the chickens, and your own immune system, the weaker you make it. In a survival situation, just make sure you put on a disposable mask that you can use much more than once, and gloves if you are worried. I only clean the chicken house once a year in the fall. The chickens don?t seem to mind, as they only use the house for sleeping, and are on roosts that are well above any chicken droppings on the floor. It gets pretty dirty by the fall, but it seems to strengthen the chickens immune systems. The ones that are weakened by the inability to find their own food, and the ones that don?t have strong immune systems tend to get sick and die off. Once a chicken was obviously sick, I would remove it from the flock and put it in a separate house that was the quarantine house. I would be careful to use gloves, and use a mask. If after a couple of days they got better they were re-introduced to the flock. If they were not better, they were put down and burned. When I get new chickens, typically 30% die from disease, or are killed within the first two weeks. Only about 10% make it a full year. (Since my flock is primarily self sufficient in reproduction, it does not cost me anything) These are then allowed to breed into the line. The end result has been a group of chickens that:
1. Can provide 70% of their own food, in the spring, summer, and fall (I do feed them a small amount of layer crumbles, and supplement with finely crushed egg shells, with full feed rations in the winter)
2. Have the ability to fly away from most ground predators.
3. Are smart enough to scatter when hawks or other above ground predators (eagles/hawks) come hunting.
4. Have strong immune systems. (typically after their first year I have no losses to disease)
5. Raise their own chicks, thereby keeping an average flock size of 10.

I have not paid for any chickens for several years now, the only cost is feed. If I need new birds to keep the gene pool from getting too shallow, I typically find someone to trade a few of the hens I don’t want for a few roosters that have the physical traits I am looking for. Trust me, it is very easy to trade hens for roosters. What I have ended up with I have appropriately named survival chickens. They require a lot less care, feed, are tough and much smarter than the average bird, and for the most part, take care of themselves. If I needed to, I could breed within the line for several years. This all requires living on your retreat, if you do, it is something to think about ahead of time. This years project is growing my own feed for winter, I plan to start experimenting with the most time and energy efficient grains/seeds I can raise. The goal in the end is to have the end product outweigh the energy expenditure it takes to produce it.

The Memsahib Replies: You are to be commended on your forward thinking breeding “survival” chickens in advance. Based on Keith’s experiences it takes several years to develop a survival breed, so it behooves those of us who have land to get going on this project right away.

The ideal stock to use as the starting point for a breeding program would be acquired from someone in your area who has a mixed breed flock of free range chickens that have been allowed to cross breed at will. Even better if this neighbor has practiced benign neglect–letting predators and disease carry off the dumb and weak birds. Barring that look for breeds that have a rose comb, since a small comb is less likely to suffer from frostbite in cold climates. One handy resource is the breed selector tool at MyPetChicken.com. If you are going to start with commercial breeding stock, Sand Hill Preservation Center has some scarce breeds. You might try crossing one of the small-combed Dorking breeds with something like the Norwegian Jaerhon. This would likely yield a very hardy bird that forages well, is sufficiently broody and maternal, and that is fast and wary of predators. OBTW, when visiting the Sand Hill web site, be sure to take a look at their heirloom seeds.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Alphie sent us this link: More people are tapping their 401(k) for cash. JWR’s comment: Notice in the photograph accompanying this article what the man’s elbow is resting on. That picture tells a thousand words.

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Bob G. mentioned a news feed on Asian Avian flu. He said that it is updated once every 15 minutes.

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I heard that the organizers of the Appleseed Project have 13 simultaneous rifle training events (one for each of the original 13 colonies) planned for April 19th. They are hoping to get 1,000 shooters on the line that day. What could be better than learning about the events of Lexington and Concord on the anniversary of their occurrence? The Appleseed training is a bargain. Get involved!

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Patrick H. and Ben sent this: Montana is up in arms about the supreme court’s upcoming D.C. v. Heller decision on the Second Amendment. Patrick’s comments: “The Montana legislature meets only once every two years, and is not scheduled to convene again until January of 2009. (OBTW, perhaps there is a lesson in there for the career politicians in the more populous states.) So this resolution was drafted [informally] between the legislative sessions. I wouldn’t be surprised if Wyoming and Idaho follow suit.” OBTW, there is an interesting discussion of the various Heller court briefs over at the Volokh Blog.