Letter Re: Judging Soil Quality When Selecting a Retreat Property

Mr. Editor:

My wife and I are nearing retirement and we are considering buying a piece of land for both our retirement home and for our retreat if the times get “interesting.” This land is in Oklahoma, which currently has reliable rains but was “Dust Bowl” country, back in the [19]30s. How can I know for sure whether or not the soil is still good, or if it is “played out”? Thanks, – B.K.

JWR Replies: You’ve raised an important issue. The importance of soil quality in the event of a true “worst case” should not be overlooked. As S.M. Stirling so aptly described it in his science fiction novel “Dies The Fire“, soil quality is not crucial in modern mechanized agriculture. If an acre of ground produces 5 bushels of wheat versus 12 bushels of wheat, it is not of great consequence when you are cultivating hundreds or even thousands of acres from inside the cab of an air conditioned $40,000 tractor, or a $70,000 combine. However, if someday you are reduced to traditional pre-industrial manpower or horsepower, where cultivating just a few acres will require monumental exertion, then the soil quality will make a tremendous difference–between feeding a family (or a community), and starvation. Therefore, have the soil analyzed before you buy a retreat property! Determining the soil types within a region should be your first step–in fact even before you talk to the first real estate agent. Simply buying lunch for the soils specialist at the local Agricultural Extension office might be a valuable investment. That lunchtime conversation will probably tell you much more about your intended new locale than several days spent talking with a real estate agent. (They don’t earn commissions by mentions the pros and the cons of a community.) On your first scouting trip to your proposed retreat region, call the USDA Agricultural Extension Office, and ask to talk to a soils specialist at the National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) desk. Note that the NRCS was formerly called the Soil Conservation Service.

Basic soil test kits are available by mail order. More sophisticated soil analysis services are also available by mail (where you mail soil samples to a laboratory.) Some universities offer free soil testing for state residents, but this often must be handled through the local NRCS office. Other universities will test soil samples for a fee, regardless of state residency.

Survivalist “Vacation” and Gaining Medical Knowledge

I just returned from my ‘vacation’. A day spent with top gunmaster Len Baxley and 3 days at the Medical Corps training.
Both are highly recommended. Baxley easily doubled my speed and got me to the point where I could make 95 yard shots at a torso sized plate with a Glock 19. This may not seem like much to some of you, but for me it was unthinkable before I saw him. At $50 an hour you’re getting the deal of a lifetime. Then I went for the medical training. At $325 for 3 days it’s another great buy. I learned about how to stitch a wound, set and take off a cast, pain management, pull a tooth, maintain a sterile surgical environment among other things.

As I think back to the times I’ve needed medial attention for me or my family, they fall into these 6 categories.

(1) Childbirth, (2) Antibiotics, (3) Dislocations, (4) Suturing, (5) Dentistry, (6) Optometry and roughly in that order chronologically. [My experiences related to these have been:]

1- Have kids
2- Kids get sick, sometimes requiring antibiotics
3- Someone falls out of a tree
4- Someone slips on a skateboard
5- Not flossing (I’ve now taken to the habit of brushing my teeth after every meal…)
6- Getting older
Even if no MZBs present themselves and I’ve got my now self sustaining farm going, I will still likely need to know these things. They will also allow me to barter for goods or for entry into other SHTF communities should I find myself in that most unpleasant situation of being a refugee. I will be furthering my medical skill set along these lines. Missionaries and charities also offer training in third world (TEOTWAWKI) medicine.
Knowledge is power. – SF in Hawaii

Letter Re: Best Sources for Extra FN-FAL Magazines?

Hi James,
I am looking at purchasing some FN-FAL (metric) magazines and would like to know which are the best ones to buy? – John Y.

JWR Replies: As I mentioned in my FN-FAL/L1A1 FAQ, nearly all of the government issue 20 round metric FN-FAL magazines on the market were made on Belgian (FN) tooling, and work fine. (Such as Israeli, Brazilian, Argentine, et cetera.) Even used FAL magazines work fine if they have no dents. Since they are the most fragile part of the rifle and a large number of magazines might be needed WTSHTF, I now recommend buying at least 25 magazines per rifle. That might sound excessive, but I tend to look at retreat logistics from the imagined perspective of my yet-to-be-born grandchildren. I am confident that someday they will stand by my gravestone and thank me for my foresight. With nasty Federal gun legislation looming in the U.S., it is now a particularly important time to stock up on your “lifetime supply” of full capacity magazines. If you can afford to, buy some extras for barter. They may very well double or triple in value in the next year.

Some of the best prices on used FAL magazines can be found at: Inter-Ordnance, (and BTW they also have great prices on inch pattern L1A1 magazines) and the some of the best prices on new magazines can be found at: WhatACountry.com (They have brand new Israeli mags and Belgian magazines.) When contacting either company, please mention that you heard about them through SurvivalBlog, since hey are both likely candidates for SurvivalBlog advertisers. Thanks!

Note from JWR:

With the goal of increasing the readership of SurvivalBlog, I’d like to encourage every SurvivalBlog reader that has a web site establish a link to SurvivalBlog. This will raise our search engine rankings and put SurvivalBlog at the top of the search results list whenever someone searches on a survival or preparedness topic. Text and graphic links are available at our Link To Us page. Many thanks!

Letter Re: Stockpiling U.S. Pennies and Nickels

Hi, Jim,.
I don’t remember this topic being brought up, so I’ll ask about it. According to www.coinflation.com, the current melt value of a pre-1982 [U.S.] penny (95% copper) is $.02, twice its face value. The melt value of a [U.S.] nickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) is $.09, nearly twice its face value.
Melt value is, of course, dependent upon the metals markets, which fluctuate daily. While most metal prices have increased dramatically over the last few years, there’s no guarantee they’ll continue to rise (and prices might even fall), but at this point the long-term trend seems upward. With this in mind, do you see any point in stashing away the nickels and pre-1982 pennies that find their way into our pockets/purses from day to day? Several cans or jars of them wouldn’t take up much storage space. Let me throw out a few (hopefully cogent) thoughts, then perhaps you can address them.
Copper is obviously a useful industrial metal, as might be the copper-nickel alloy found in nickels
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupronickel). I’m not suggesting melting these coins down, since it wouldn’t be worth the effort unless you had a lot of them–and it’s illegal besides! But in a post-SHTF or TEOTWAWKI economy, do you think they might retain enough value to be useful for very small transactions instead of (or as a complement to), say, junk
silver coins? They’re small, nicely packaged, instantly recognizable, difficult to counterfeit, and contain (small) amounts of useful metals.
Perhaps most important, right now they are very easy to obtain in fairly large quantities and are inexpensive relative to their metal value. What are your thoughts? Great blog, by the way.
Thanks, – RB

JWR Replies: You are correct that pre-1982 pennies are 95% copper. (The later ones are zinc tokens that are just flashed with copper.) It has been said that “silver is the poor man’s gold.”  So I suppose that by the same token (pardon the pun) copper is the starving man’s silver. However, per dollar value, pennies are extremely heavy and bulky. I guess that it wouldn’t hurt to have a few rolls of pre-1982 pennies on hand to make “change” for junk silver barter transactions.  But from a practical standpoint, at current copper prices it is hardly worth your time to sort out the pre-1982 pennies. But it is not much trouble to save all of the nickels from you pocket change, or to ask the bank teller for a couple of rolls of nickels each time that you do a banking transaction. I’ve previously mentioned that there is apocryphal story about a church minister living in Germany in the 1920s–during the Weimar Republic hyperinflation. During the mass inflation, he saved all of the copper pfennigs from the donation plate. He eventually filled a disused bathtub with them. When the D-Mark paper money was finally totally repudiated (used for kindling), he and his family were able to eat and had extra for charity, due to his foresight. I think that it would take similarly traumatic times before pre-1982 pennies ever become an “investment.”

OBTW, in the interim since I first wrote about this topic in SurvivalBlog (back in late 2005), the U.S. government has made it illegal to melt pennies, nickels, and dimes for scrap. But there is no law against saving them. And I suppose nickels could be beaten into hunting broadheads in a multi-generational TEOTWAWKI collapse. Isn’t that a cheery thought?

Six Letters Re: HK 416 Gas Piston M16/AR-15 Rifles and Upper Receiver Assemblies

Hey James,
I got the chance to see a cool AR [gas] piston system this past week at the NRA Convention in St. Louis. It is made by LWRC. They have a great video on their web site that explains in detail the design and benefits.
Personally, I’m an AK guy because I want absolute reliability and was willing to give up some accuracy if it meant my rifle went bang every time. Even with my Arsenal milled receiver, accuracy is improved but [still] not like an AR. I may switch back to an AR platform and give this a try. – Zac

Jim
From what I understand, Heckler & Koch will be producing neither full rifles nor uppers in semi-auto [U.S. civilian market] form at this time. I do believe, however, that Bushmaster is getting ready to produce a gas piston AR-style rifle.
I think that for the money you would eventually have to spend on a 416, you could most definitely buy a new SIG 556 rifle, which most people say is better. Personally, I’m saving my money for an AR-10. – LK from Wisconsin

 

Sir:
One of the popular FN-FAL makers is [also] making a gas piston upper for the AR-15: DS Arms. – BMech

Hi Jim,
Just thought I would let you know that the music wire big buffer spring in all these [AR-15 family] weapons have a life expectancy of 25,000 rounds. But if you replace them with a flat chrome silicon buffer spring they have a cycle rate life expectancy of 500,000 rounds.
You can also improve your AR-15 bolt carrier by air brushing a baked moly or ceramic coating on them and you can install a chrome silicon extractor and ejector spring, want to know more you can contact me or call Marc at ISMI Gun Springs, at: (800) 773-1940 Regards, – Pistolsmith Teddy Jacobson

 

Dear Jim,
There actually has been very little trouble with troops using aftermarket parts on their M16s.
As near as I can tell, the first changes were the desert tan furniture that Cavalry Arms donated to many units, along with private purchase light mounts and optics, since only a few specific troops and units were issued these.
It has reached a point, according to a friend of mine deployed as a small arms repairer, that as long as the returned weapon matches the issue, commanders have stopped worrying about what happens in between. A search for photos will show that almost no two troops have quite the same configuration. After my unit returned from Afghanistan, I helped clean 200 M4s for return to depot, and a huge number still had aftermarket mounts on them, even with accessories removed.
One word of caution is that, while mod uppers and even sidearms are allowed in theater, very few commanders are willing to sign for non-MTOE gear to return from overseas. This is probably due to the liability risk of a soldier attempting to return a war trophy, which, while once common, is now prohibited.
I’m eager to try the HK 416, but won’t be spending money on one until I’ve had a chance to. While there are limitations to the M16, I am familiar with them. I’m not prepared to trust H&K’s marketing department that their version is without flaw.
Good advice for weapon platforms in Arabian conditions is to use dry graphite lube or no oil at all (if graphite is not available) in lieu of oil which will attract sand and create sludge. Remember that Arabian sand (especially in the South) is as fine as clay, and turns into cement like muck as it dries. Oil should be considered an expedient repair method during the mission if needed, and then cleaned thoroughly afterwards. I suspect a lot of malfunctions are due to troops being eager with oil. I have seen this happen even stateside.
A dry-lubed AR can actually blow its receiver clean of sand, and, from some operators, has an advantage in that regard. Of course, others are equally condemning. It’s one weapon that almost no one is ambivalent about. – Michael Z. Williamson

Jim:
Pakistan Ordnance Factory? Are you kidding? Slow down and get with the program! See: http://www.pof-usa.com/index.htm. Thanks for SurvivalBlog and “Patriots” . You have really helped me wake the People I care about up. – Mark

JWR Replies: That was indeed my mistake. Here is a quote from POF-USA’s “Contact” web page page, that threw me: [begin quote]
P.O.F.-USA, INC. has engineered, manufactured and tested this system. We are extremely proud of the durability and performance of the P-415 / P-416 Gas-Piston uppers. We have eliminated features of the Gas Operating System such as gas-rings, gas tube, gas key. The P-415 / P-416 Gas-Piston system also eliminates Heat, Carbon build up and Gas Leaks which can have an adverse effect on the operating system. The biggest issue being “HEAT”. A weapons first priority, must be “RELIABILITY”.
We first displayed our gas piston uppers at the 2004 Shot Show. We have engineered the entire system using standard “AR15/M16” style parts such as the flat top receiver and bolt. We add only three additional parts to operate our gas piston uppers (Gas plug, Gas piston, and push rod). All uppers come standard with C.R.O.S.™ (Corrosion Resistant Operating System).
G3 / HK-91 PARTS
All items are new, made on HK licensed tooling from Pakistan Ordnance Factories and J.L.D. Enterprises, Inc.
MP-5 / HK-94 PARTS
All items are new, made on HK licensed tooling from Pakistan Ordnance Factories.
[end quote]
Up until they started making 415 and 416 uppers and lowers, most of POF-USA’s parts were manufactured in Pakistan. The company got its start in partnership with Pakistan Ordnance Factory (POF), and the the word “Patriot” was substituted for “Pakistan”, for US marketing purposes. Nearly al of their HK91 and HK MP5 products were (and still are) made in Pakistan, at one of the Pakistan Ordnance Factories plants. So when I saw their 415 and 416 upper and lower assemblies advertised, I just assumed that they were also made in Pakistan. After receiving your e-mail, I contacted POF-USA to confirm this. But I was surprised to hear their reply: “Our gas piston system is 100% USA made and we are the patent holder and manufacturer!” It is good to hear that it is an American-made product, but disappointing to hear that they latched on to the “416” designation without using HK’s technology. Obviously, the POF-USA upper gas piston parts will not interchange with original HK 416 gas piston parts. 🙁 Shame on me for assuming that because they used the HK “416” designation and because they had previously imported HK clone parts from Pakistan, that these new parts were also made by POF in Pakistan. I just went back and corrected my original post. Thanks to Mark for pointing out my error.

Odds ‘n Sods:

John O. sent us this link: Waiting for the Pandemic

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InyoKern spotted this article at an Aviation Week blog: Rebar arrows in East Timor. InyoKern’s comment: ” I never thought of this, but it has a certain post peak grim humor, doesn’t it”

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More on honeybee Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD): Up to 90% Losses in Canadian Hives

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RBS suggested this web page on hobby forge, foundry, and casting. He also recommended this supplier: Centaur Forge.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana

Note from JWR:

Whenever you contact any company that you see mentioned in SurvivalBlog, please mention where you saw their company name and/or web page link. Many of these companies are ideal candidates for advertising on SurvivalBlog. Please encourage them to get an ad. (Our ad rates are dirt cheap!) And of course please say thanks whenever you contact any company that is already a SurvivalBlog advertiser–even our Affiliate Advertisers. Thank you!

Letter Re: How Do I Prepare Rice and Coffee for Long Term Storage?

Dear Sir,
Perhaps there is a food storage site you could direct me to which would answer my questions. I know how to store most things (wheat, salt, etc.) but wonder if there is a way to store brown rice (I’ve heard it could go rancid) and how do you store coffee (my LDS friends who have helped me with putting things in #10 cans don’t drink it, of course.) I’m assuming that storing coffee beans would be superior to storing ground coffee. When you get it at the store, sometimes it’s vacuum sealed. I can do that with my vacuum sealer. What I want to know it the best way to package it for long term storage, in a not so cool and pretty humid place (Louisiana).
My family and I have appreciated your books and are praying about relocating. Thanks, Sarah A.

JWR Replies: The best on-line reference on food storage that I can recommend is Alan T. Hagan’s Food Storage FAQ. The best hard copy books that I can recommend are Making the Best of Basics by James Talmage Stevens (available from www.mountainbrookfoods.com–one of our advertisers) and The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery.

Rice is best stored in 5 or 6 gallon food grade plastic buckets, using either the 02 absorbing packet method, or the dry ice method. Both of these methods are described in Alan T. Hagan’s Food Storage FAQ and in the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course. White rice stores better than brown rice, but its nutritive value is marginal. Brown rice has more natural oil, so it is indeed more prone to going rancid. So be sure to store it in the coolest part of your house. Here at the Rawles Ranch, we keep 200 pounds of rice in six gallon buckets on hand at all times, and systematically rotate it. (We use the oldest bucket first, and each time a bucket is consumed, we replace it with rice from a fresh sack.)

I also discuss coffee storage in the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course. I’ve been told that there is no perfect way to store coffee long term and still maintain connoisseur’s taste quality. (For the folks that pan roast their own beans.) Packing fresh beans is problematic. Roasted whole beans can be vacuum packed, and they do store slightly better that ground beans. But for the purposes of average coffee drinkers, the vacuum-packed “bricks ” of ground coffee beans store fairly well. Just be sure to protect them from vermin. Be sure to put your coffee bricks in food grade buckets or other sturdy containers. Post-TEOTWAWKI–along with other tropical produce–coffee will be scarce in North America and Europe, and hence should be a valuable barter item.

Letter Re: How to Prepare Firearms and Ammunition for Long Term Storage

Mr. Rawles:

I want to pack a rifle and ammo in a grease/lubricant that would last for years. In hopes, that the gun and ammo would work say 10 to 20 years down the road. Can you tell me what grease is used for this type of packing? Thank You, – Steve A.

JWR Replies: Ammunition should NOT be coated with any sort of oil or grease. This is because oil and grease have been long-proven to deaden primers, not to mention the fact that all grease or oil would have to be entirely removed before firing, to avoid chambering problems. Ammo should simply be placed in a good quality military surplus ammo can with a soft lid seal. Include a freshly-dried 1/4-ounce packet of silica gel in each can (or two if you live in damp climate), to absorb any atmospheric moisture. That is al that you need to do. Stored in cans, most ammo will store for 80+ years, and still all go “bang.” But I’ve seen ammo that was stored in a paint cabinet (exposed to fusil vapors) where half of the primers were dead after just a few years of storage. Oil vapors kill primers!

Guns should be thoroughly cleaned and copiously oiled and then their bores, chambers, and then their bolt faces should get a coating of Rust Inhibitive Grease (RIG). This is available from Brownell’s and several other Internet other vendors. Unless you live in a very damp climate, the other metals surfaces should be safe from rust with just a light coat of gun oil, and wrapping in vapor phase corrosion inhibitive VCI paper (also available from Brownell’s). For very damp climates or for extremely long term storage, you can apply RIG (or other grease heavy oil if RIG is not available) to all of the metal pats. But if you do so, it is generally best to remove guns from their wooden stocks, so that oil and grease don’t soak and soften or discolor the wood.

When preparing guns for storage, be sure to attach a warning note to the barrel or trigger guard “WARNING: GREASE IN BORE AND CHAMBER. REMOVE GREASE BEFORE FIRING!” (If a cartridge is fired with grease in the bore, it could result result in a destroyed firearm and grievous injury to the shooter.)

Odds ‘n Sods:

Hawaiian K. turned up this interesting web page: the use of animals other than horses for draught and riding. K.’s comment: “Riding elk? Wow!”

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Reader RBS mentioned that C. Crane Company has a variety of articles on shortwave antennas and other radio topics available for free download. BTW, I consider C. Crane a great potential advertiser for SurvivalBlog, so if you do any business with them, please mention that you heard about C. Crane on SurvivalBlog.

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In the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, Front Sight feels they have the answer to stopping further attacks on colleges and on school children. Front Sight is offering free firearms training to any school administrator, teacher, or full time staff member designated as school Safety Monitors. They have also offered free lifetime memberships to all of the students enrolled in Rumanian-born Professor Liviu Librescu‘s engineering class. As a survivor of the Holocaust, I think that Professor Librescu would have approved. “Never again!”

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A hilarious lecture, from Google’s Authors Series: Daniel H. Wilson discusses his book “How to Survive a Robot Uprising”

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun.” – The Dalai Lama, in The Seattle Times, May 15, 2001