Letter Re: Preparedness and Charity

Dear Mr Rawles,
As Thanksgiving and Christmas approach, churches and charities are conducting food drives. Besides being a chance for us to act in a charitable manner to the less fortunate, it is also a terrific opportunity to cycle out some of our food stockpiles. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been donating excess wet-pack canned good (with 2007 expiration dates), and replacing them with new, 2008/2009 expiring items. From my way of looking at things, it is a win-win for the recipients and us — the donors; the hungry are fed, and the shelf life of our food reserves are extended. Best Regards, – Jim K.

JWR Replies: I have always placed a strong emphasis on Christian charity. Rotating your food storage is a great opportunity to dispense charity. If the food goes to a charity organization rather than an individual family, be sure to thoroughly vet the organization. Many charities have huge staffs and overhead costs, resulting an less than half of cash ending up in the hands of the needy. Such organizations should be shunned. Also, some food bank organizations are distrustful of donated long term storage canned foods and have been known to discard or destroy them, even if they have clearly marked expiry dates. Ask a few key questions before making a donation! If in doubt, then donate it elsewhere.

Two Letters Re: Another Perspective on Selecting Barter Goods

Mr. Rawles:
I’m glad to see I’m not the only one that thinks having skills in different areas is a great barter tool. I worked for years as a mechanic, in my thirties I changed careers and went into construction as a General Contractor. After about 10 years in construction. I semi-retired and when to school to become a professional farrier. I spent seven years shoeing horses and working metal in a forge. That lead me into custom knife making. My wife & I have been selling handmade and factory knives for the last several years. I have always kept a stock of materials to make knives for along time. We keep a fair number of handmade and factory knives for exactly the reasons of barter. In fact we barter a lot or as we call it trade all the time.
I really enjoy your blog. It has become my daily reading. There is some very good ideas from your readers also. – C. J.

 

Sir:
Having just recently found your [SurvivalBlog] web site, I’d like to let you know how much I’ve enjoyed it so far.
Regarding barter items : there are a few things I’ve not really seen anyone mention (at least in the articles I’ve gone through so far)
1. This may sound silly but – toilet paper. Much like ammo it is fairly easily divisible into small amounts, and lets face it, it’s one of those things that no one really thinks about until they need it. Also it has the advantage of being relatively cheap and long lasting if stored in a dry place. It does have the disadvantage of being bulky but if you have the room to store a large quantity it makes an excellent trade item that can’t be used against you at a later time.
2. Nails and screws. Once again, relatively cheap and easy to store. Easily divisible into small quantities and one of those things that you may not think about until you really need it.
3. Feminine hygiene products (pads and tampons) : Until I got married recently I certainly wouldn’t have thought of it but now its definitely on my list. Also pads have the added advantage of making excellent bandages for wound dressings.
To my way of thinking its the little things like this, the things that make life a little more bearable WTSHTF that may have as much, if not more, value as gold or ammo. – M.B.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Roger sent an article as a reminder to all readers of SurvivalBlog that being prepared is not just for TEOTWAWKI: Vancouverites boil water for 5th day as rain continues

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It looks like the spot prices of silver and gold have recovered solidly from their slump, just as I predicted. I still expect higher prices by the end of this year, and sharply higher prices in another year

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Wanted: Man to land on killer asteroid and gently nudge it from path to Earth

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U.S. housing construction plunges in October. “Housing construction plunged to the lowest level in more than six years in October as the nation’s once-booming housing market slowed further.” I told you so…

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“In a time of drastic change it is the learners who survive; the ‘learned’ find themselves fully equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.” – Eric Hoffer

Note From JWR:

We had three nice days of weather in succession here at the Rawles Ranch, giving us a chance to get into town in comfort. The nearest large grocery store is more than 50 miles away. We saw several large flocks of wild turkeys while en route. Even though I try my best to show restraint, I usually end up with two or three times the canned goods that I had planned to buy. (I can’t resist sale prices on staple items, and the “squirrel” in me always wants “a little bit more” to keep on hand for winter.) Invariably the clerks at the cash registers roll their eyes or make comments. This time, when the clerk saw my two nearly full shopping carts, she asked: “Did you leave anything on the shelf?” Maybe its a good thing that I do this sort of shopping more than 50 miles away from home.

Letter Re: Prowlers and Lighting

Jim:
What do you and your readers suggest for someone living in a rural area who needs a good strong light for prowlers? I live on top of a mountain in a cove surrounded by three sides by hills.

On occasion, we have trespassers at night riding the ATV trails along the hills who are out to steal tools, gas, etc. There have been more than a few occasions when I’ve walked out to my car late at night to get something and realized there were people in the trees.

One night I turned my rather anemic Surefire 6P [flashlight] in their direction, and spotted the bottoms of boots or tennis shoes heading up the hillside.

What Id like to have is advice on a good hand-held spotlight that I can use to pick out people in the trees up on the side of the hill late at night. Is this a viable option for an armed person, or should I just try and get a 120 lumens lamp for one of my Surefires?

Do rural folks maintain any light equipped firearms for nighttime problems with prowlers, or even predators after their livestock? Thanks, – L.K.

JWR Replies: To properly answer your questions, I need to do so to address two disparate circumstances, pre-TEOTWAWKI and post-TEOTWAWKI, which in many ways necessitate mutually exclusive security preparations. I once had a consulting client tell me that he was planning to purchase a big 10 KW propane generator for his isolated retreat, so that he could power numerous vapor lamps around his house, if and when the Schumer hits the fan. It took a while to convince him that he needed to think about some alternatives, to match both his locale and the severity/circumstances of potential Schumeresque situations. Let me explain:

Pre-TEOTWAWKI: Under present circumstances, security lighting is a benefit. You will have law enforcement available to call. Prowlers aren’t likely to shoot at you. For pre-TEOTWAWKI, it is best to think in terms of active defenses, such as vapor lights, 1,000,000 candlepower 12 VDC handheld spotlights (such as those sold by US Cavalry Store and JCWhitney.com), full spectrum trip flares, noisy dogs, peafowl, and noisy electronic alarm systems.

Post-TEOTWAWKI: At some future date, security lighting could be a potential hazard. If and when the power grid goes down, the few families that have alternative energy will be very noticeable, especially as time goes on and stored fuel for generators begins to run out. After that juncture, the few folks with alternative energy (wind, solar, microhydro, etc.) will be very noticeable unless they are careful. The consensus among looters may very well be: :”If the have the money to make their own electricity, then they have things worth stealing.” You do not want to present a “come loot me” beacon at night! In fact, it will be best to make blackout covers for all of your windows that can be installed from inside the house. These can be fabricated from scrap cardboard. Check carefully for light leaks.

Some other differences, post-TEOTWAWKI: You will have no law enforcement available to call. Prowlers will be likely to shoot at you. For post-TEOTWAWKI, it is best to think in terms of passive defenses, such as starlight scopes, infrared chemical light stick trip flares, quiet (but alert) dogs, tanglefoot wire, concertina wire, and silent alarm systems. (See the Profile for Mr. Tango for some ideas on infrared floodlights that can be used in conjunction with night vision equipment.)

Regarding your question about mounted lights: With the exception of infrared illuminators, I generally discourage mounting lights on guns intended for use post-TEOTWAWKI. If left turned on for more than just an instant before shooting, a visible light mounted on a gun can turn you into a natural target. If you feel the need for illuminating targets for post-TEOTWAWKI security, then I’d recommend that you be the armed man hidden in the shadows that remotely turns on a floodlight.(As opposed to being the man holding the light–or holding the gun with an attached light–who in effect announces: “Here I am!”

Letter Re: MURS Radios, Dakota Alerts, and PIR Sensors

Jim,
I for one I’m very happy that your novel “Patriots” back in print. For a long time I gave this book away to friends who I thought might like it, and to some whom I wanted to “feel out” as to whether they thought preparedness was a good idea. I had to stop this of course when your book went out of print, and the cost went skyward. Now I can stock up again.

Also I wanted to thank you for turning me on to MURS Radios. I just made an order with Rob, and will be making another order soon. I also gave Kenwood Radio a call and spoke with their technical department regarding the AA Alkaline Battery Pack for the TK-2100. I wanted to know if my NiMH batteries would work, considering they only put out 1.2 volts each, as compared to the 1.5 of the alkalines. The short answer was yes. – Though range may be decreased a little. The specs say the radios will work just fine with + or – 20 percent of the rated voltage. And since with 6 AAs the [nominal] voltage is 9 volts. That means that 6 AA NiMHs at 1.2 volts each would [collectively] put out 7.2 volts. And this is within spec.

I thought I would also add my two cents about the Dakota Alert system. Though I have not yet received my unit, I would like to address passive infrared (PIR) detectors in general. At one time I was the station supervisor for a UL alarm company, and one of my jobs was to try and limit false and no alarms. The short and sweet of it is that PIR detectors work by “seeing” a change in temperature.
And for them to work best, their sensing beam (it’s not really a beam, but just where it “looks) must terminate on an object within its advertised working distance. That means if it is supposed to cover 80 feet, it should be looking at something within that distance…not just air. When these units have no solid reference, this is when the trouble starts. They may not go into alarm, or they may false alarm, literally at the drop of a hat…or the blowing of a breeze. So when it comes to the Dakota Alert, or PIRs in general, make sure the “beam” is hitting a solid object. Even the ground
would be just fine.

I also now have the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course on my radar screen, and will be getting it real soon. You take care now, – R.E.M.

 

Letter Re: Herbal Medications and Remedies

Dear Jim:
I read ‘The Gray Nineties‘ [an early draft edition of the novel “Patriots”] back when it was shareware, and did some gun accessory business with you back then. [In the early to mid-1990s.] I finally got around to perusing SurvivalBlog.

One of the old posts includes a plea for ‘hard data’ on effectiveness of herbal medicines. My wife used to work for a ‘neutriceuticals’ company, doing literature reviews, and as an M.D. I have some exposure to the literature as well (though not as much as I should — I keep wasting time reading things that might have an effect on reducing my need for my own services). What I have observed is that there is not much out there in the way of good research on herbal preparations. What little there is shows mostly negative or equivocal results (which makes it hard to get published). What little halfway decent research my wife found back in the late 1990s was mostly out of Germany, but most of it was pretty disappointing.
I guess the bottom line is that under austere conditions (WTSHTF), it doesn’t look like mother nature is going to provide us with the equivalent of our modern pharmacy. In a long term collapse, preventative medicine, simple surgery, orthopedics, midwifery/obstetrics will be left. Life spans will be shorter. You won’t be able to prolong your death by a month with a $250,000 ICU stay if the technology isn’t there. – Simple Country Doctor

Odds ‘n Sods:

In my latest issue of Disaster Recovery Journal (DRJ) magazine, I noticed that the the magazine, in conjunction with researchers at Pepperdine University conducted a survey of disaster recovery professionals (mainly computer types) about pandemic preparedness. 49% of the respondents said that they had “not determined the potential impact on business related domestic and international travel of a pandemic.” and 42% said that they had “not yet started to identify essential employees and other critical inputs.” The statistics from several DRJ surveys, including the Pepperdine survey are available online. OBTW, although subscriptions are free, I don’t recommend subscribing to Disaster Recovery Journal unless you are involved in the Information Technology (IT) field. (Nearly all of the articles and advertisements in the magazine are IT related.)

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For those of you with fast Internet connections, Rich at KT Ordnance sent us a link to this video clip: Glenn Beck interviews Benjamin Netanyahu. He predicts a “second holocaust”, instigated by Iran.

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From the Washington Post: Congressman Rangel (D.-NY) will seek to reinstate a military draft in the U.S. How would the system work? See: “What Happens in a Draft” at the Selective Service web site.

 

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book." – Ronald Wilson Reagan

Letter Re: Clothes Washing Without Grid Power

Shalom Jim:
Recently my wife and I have started looking to replace our old [clothes] washer and dryer machines with something more energy-efficient. Since we plan on converting to solar photovoltaic panels in the future what do you suggest we do now?

1.) Lehman’s sells an AC +/ DC operated washer. Is this (DC) feature conducive to solar technology?

2.) What are you and your family doing for your clothes washing needs?

B’Shem Yahshua HaMoshiach (In the Name of Yahsua the Messiah) – Dr. Sidney Zweibel

 

JWR Replies:
1.) With a PV power system, using a DC motor clothes washer is indeed more efficient. Instead of inverting DC power from your battery bank to create AC, you can instead use it directly to run DC appliances. By the way, the same logic applies to most of the devices that use wall socket “power cubes.” (Answering machines, printers, walk-around phones, battery chargers, laptop computers, et cetera.) It is grossly inefficient to invert DC into AC, and then convert it back into DC with umpteen separate transformers scattered around your house. If you have several rooms in your house wired with 12 VDC outlets (and if you have PV power system, you should), then you can simply fabricate a 12 VDC power cord for each device that can run on 12 VDC. The appropriate solder-on plugs are available from your local Radio Shack store.(Just pay close attention to the markings on the power cubes. A very small minority of them are AC to AC adapters!) To avoid confusion, I find that it is best to mark each resistor-adapted plug with its DC output voltage, using a DYMO type adhesive label. If you can handle a soldering iron and a volt-ohm meter, then you can also easily make adapters for each of your lower voltage low current DC devices that are currently run from power cubes.(For low current devices, you can either solder in the proper value resistor(s), or if you are “Ohm’s Law challenged” you can buy off-the shelf DC-DC “buck” adapters.)

2.) During power failures, we can either run our washing machine from an inverter, or we can go totally low tech, and use a hand-powered “James Washer.” If you have any questions about PV power systems or 12 VDC wiring,

As previously mentioned, Bob at Ready Made Resources is available for free consulting (with no purchase obligation) on photovoltaic power system sizing and design, as well as issues like the one that you raised. He is a stocking dealer for both Outback and Xantrex inverters. Bob has the specialized tools needed to calculate current loads, requisite battery bank sizing, charge controller capacity, available solar hours, solar panel array solar exposure and orientation, and so forth. I can attest that Bob really knows his stuff, and unlike some solar system specialists, he has considerable experience building systems that are custom tailored for survival retreats. I recommend that any SurvivalBlog readers that are considering installing an independent home power system take advantage of the free consulting offer from Ready Made Resources.

Letter Re: A Site that Disagrees with Peak Oil Theory

Hi,
First, I just want to say I read your blog most every day and it is quite nice, and has a lot of good information, so thanks for doing it!
Here is an interesting link to an article on Peak Oil. These guys are claiming the Peak Oil theory is not moving along as fast as other reports.

Peak oil or not, I’m still working on getting prepared. Too many other variables exist!. Thanks, – D.J.