Odds ‘n Sods:

Wheat Prices Near $20 Per Bushel

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Eric H. found us this: Health officials keeping eye on drug-resistant flu strain

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Here is a “must read” piece: Signs Point To Banking Crisis Getting Much Worse. Meanwhile, reader Randy K. mentioned that the US Bank reserves have dropped even deeper into negative numbers. As reported in WorldNetDaily the “non-borrowed bank reserves column is now at $-18 billion. Randy’s comment “It seems that the earlier report of an $8B shortfall was less than half way there. For me, the phrase “financial institutions would be bankrupt if the Fed did not provide billions in liquidity” nails it. It is explained as an accounting anomaly, but why the anomaly? “Borrowings are larger than total reserves.” So, the banks are finally doing what America is doing…. borrowing more than they can pay. We do it from the banks… they do it from the Fed.” Once again: Be ready for some spectacular bank and hedge fund failures, as well as some good old-fashioned bank runs,.

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New York City Mayor Bloomberg Rips Government Over Failing Economy. A couple of key quotes: “[The nation] has a balance sheet that’s starting to look more and more like a third-world country”, and, “They want to send out a check to everybody to stimulate the economy. I suppose it won’t hurt the economy but it’s in many senses like giving a drink to an alcoholic.”

Letter Re: More About the Chimney Fire Hazard

We just just learned that the beautiful house we had built on our 20 acre Michigan property burned to the ground. I want to urge all readers to have their chimneys checked yearly. The house had a wood furnace in the basement and a well-built 3-flue chimney yet in a state with deep frost, foundations can settle. The new owners never spent the money to have the chimney cleaned/inspected yearly as we had advised them to. Yet they just spent over $40,000 on granite countertops and all that fancy stuff. “Penny wise and Pound foolish!” My brother-in-law lives next door on property he bought from us so he got the full picture. Apparently they hadn’t upgraded their insurance either after renovating.

When we moved to the Ozarks and bought this old farmhouse we didn’t trust the wiring or chimney…and inspection showed the chimney had been struck by lightening and was dangerously damaged. So we put in a stainless steel liner which makes all insurance companies smile! Wiring was original cloth-covered well chewed by rodents! If we’d have light a fire or turned the power on we could have been looking at a smoldering pile of rubble, too. Which is why we opted to put in a wood-fired outdoor boiler and only rarely use the back-up stove in the kitchen on zero degree days. Since we’ve lived here five different houses in this area have burned down–all due to chimney fires. Don’t think fire can’t happen to you. – Diana S.

JWR Replies: I recommend that readers practice cleaning their own chimneys, and buy their own set of brushes and rods. Even if you eventually get lazy and pay someone else to clean your chimney, you need to know how to do it, and you’ll have the means to do so.

Unless you already live at your retreat year-round, WTSHTF, you will likely be burning far more wood than usual. This necessitates inspecting your chimney at least twice a year. My philosophy is, as long as you are pulling things apart to inspect, you might as well a go ahead and de-gunk the spark arrestor and brush the chimney. If you have a proper removable bottom clean-out for your chimney, then the whole job should take less than an hour. Be sure to wear gloves, goggles, and and a dust mask.

OBTW, be particularly vigilant if you switch to burning soft woods, such as pine. The creosote build-up can be very rapid!

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

Jim:
While I cannot speak to diabetes, except to say that we use natural sweeteners such as maple syrup and honey and maintain a balanced meal, we do have a lot of hands-on with the gluten-free diet. Our daughter has gluten sensitivity, as well as intolerance for corn and soy. I encourage the mother who wrote to you to examine corn as a possible allergy. It tends to go with gluten sensitivity. This has made our situation more difficult as the dynamic duo of wheat and corn are pervasive, they are present in products that you would never imagine and many times hidden under different names, sauces or derivative ingredients. For example, gluten is contained in the following: malt flavoring (from barley), hydrolyzed vegetable proteins, Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) (non-US made), caramel coloring (non US made), dextrins (especially vitamins and medications), wheat starch and the big unknown – natural flavors – which could be anything until you actually ask the manufacturer who often won’t even tell you.

We have been dealing with a gluten free diet for over a year now. Fortunately, as the rest of us have no such restrictions, all the preparations to date have not been wasted. The first approach, which we have been doing for years now anyway, is to have an organic garden from heirloom, open-pollinated seed. In a grid-down situation, we intend to grow as much as possible. Fruits and vegetables (excluding corn, wheat and soy) are perfectly fine for our daughter. We have also done well with the crop rotation and experimenting with varieties to manage to have fresh produce almost the entire year – January and February are a challenge here in the northeast – but even now, we have spinach and other brassica.

You can extend this philosophy of fruits and vegetables (and nuts) to the canned and dry goods on the shelves. Be very careful reading ingredients, for everything! The canned fruit (home canned and store bought) have less of a shelf life, but are a nice addition to the survival larder. Canned vegetables such as organic peas, green beans, etc., have a much better shelf life – measured in a few years. In fact, the old adage of bullets, beans and band-aids still holds… beans are fine for the gluten-free diet. For more substantive meals, we have found a few organic soup combinations (Amy’s Lentil, Split Pea, Three Bean, etc.) that are totally gluten and corn-free and that have a two to three year shelf life.

Turning to meat, there is more good news here in that most people with gluten sensitivity are fine with meat. So depending on the ingredients, whether MRE, #10 cans, jerked, dried, pemmican or freshly hunted, if it’s just meat, it will mesh with a gluten-free diet. Dairy is also usually fine for gluten-free, so milk, butter and cheese are on the menu from whatever your chosen source. Bread, however, is a much more difficult prospect. We have been experimenting for over a year now to find a recipe without wheat, corn, oats, barley (our daughter is sensitive to all of these). So far, my wife has made acceptable bread with chestnut flour (almond, lentil and brown rice flours were just so-so). The chestnut flour has been store bought and shelf life is limited, so not an ideal situation. However, this spring season we are going to try hickory flour (we have several shagbark hickory trees on the property, and yes, I’ll be planting chestnut trees) and you can make flour from just about anything. Hopefully this will work for the long-term. I also want to go back a moment to rice. Rice is also generally fine for the gluten-free diet and it is a staple on our table. We try to use brown rice for better nutritional value, but white rice does fill the belly too. It will store well on the shelves, and several companies (BioNaturae and Tinkyada) make gluten-free pasta. In our case the Tinkyada is best since it is brown rice based and both gluten and corn-free. Yes, it’s not quite the same as wheat pasta, but it’s an acceptable substitute. However, unless you can grow rice, it is not a long term solution.

Let me finish by suggesting that you search for gluten-free recipes on-line and drop by the library/used book sales for reference books such as “Gluten-Free Girl” by Shauna Ahern.
Jim – as always, our best to you and yours. – Bill H.

 

Hi Jim,
First I want to MP in Seattle that I’m sorry, and that we’ve been there and done that, my Grandson was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes two years ago July. We also have Celiac, dairy, egg, soy, nuts, oats and a host of other allergies in the family. However, the first thing is not to panic (although I do remember the panic weeks after the diagnosis!) We had to rethink things, big time! But we seem to be getting things together, and they can too, it does take time and lots of planning.

First try to get “comfortable” with the diabetes (those first months can be rough) start storing the extra insulin and supplies, and rotate them! (Even the test strips have to be rotated, and don’t forget the blasted [glucose] meter batteries! (We did that!) We now have about an eight month supply, but constant and diligent rotating is the key. Every pack and vehicle we own has a diabetic emergency kit in it–you never leave home without it. It truly does change everything.We are opting to stay with shots and pens for insulin delivery, as too many things can go wrong with little people and [insulin] pumps, especially if times get rough, and the supplies are cheaper and easier to buy over the counter.

As for the food allergies, because of the Celiac, soy, nut, egg and dairy (three of us) we went from wheat to rice as a staple, and have already put in place a plan for what if A & B would get cold cereal (rice bases) with rice milk while the rest of us eat oatmeal, et cetera But the plan is in place and new stores created with these factors being worked in. Again it’s not easy, but can be done, it just takes time, which I really hope we have, because we’ve come to realize everything changed with his diagnosis.

Oh, one more thing, regarding aspertame-based sweeteners: Yikes! He does get some, but we try to really limit it, there are alternatives, some herbal teas, very weak black tea (we made a deal, teas always made, and as long as he adds water, it’s okay) and water! Love your site! – Lori

 

Jim,
My heart, too, goes out to the author; my son just turned one year old last week, and we’re blessed that he’s pretty healthy…

The following are two brief excerpts from the Walton Feed. web site. I remembered these, since I had been concerned that my son might be gluten-intolerant when he was a newborn. I hope it helps. – Bob

SPELT
Here in the United States, until recent times, Spelt was grown mostly as feed. However, since the mid 1980’s, Spent has made a real inroad into the health food market as a wheat substitute.
Many people who are allergic to wheat can tolerate Spelt. However, many allergy doctors believe that Spelt is too closely related to wheat for it to be an effective replacement grain. They feel that even though wheat sensitive people might be able to tolerate it now, as time goes by they will develop wheat-like allergies to it. However, companies that exclusively sell Spelt products to people, many of them with wheat allergies, say their customers have had really good luck eating Spelt goods. Spelt has a lower gluten strength which makes it possible for many people with gluten allergies to eat this product. Purity Foods, one of the main marketers of Spelt say that out of thousands of their customers with wheat allergies, only 16 of them have reported allergic reactions to Spelt. An Ohio bakery that specializes in making spelt products and distributes them over several different states has numerous customers who can’t tolerate wheat yet can eat Spelt products. It seems, for the wheat intolerant among us, Spelt is probably worth a try. If you are allergic to wheat and you want to use Spelt, please consult your doctor before trying this product, then use adequate safeguards when trying Spelt to prevent serious complications should you also be allergic to this product.

QUINOA
Quinoa is one of the few foods with a relatively balanced protein. Quinoa’s high level of the amino acid, lysine, complements wheat nicely. By mixing Quinoa into your wheat at a ratio of 25% Quinoa to 75% wheat, the Quinoa will make your wheat breads a complete protein. Quinoa contains a long list of nutrients.

Quinoa contains no gluten so it’s safe for gluten intolerant people to eat. Quinoa can be eaten in many different ways. Traditionally it has been eaten as a porridge or in soups and stews. Only taking 10-12 minutes to boil until soft (Quinoa is the fastest cooking whole grain), Quinoa seed’s size mushrooms into plump little morsels with a tail. The Altiplano Quinoa has somewhat of a bland yet pleasant flavor. Having a nice, crisp texture similar to brown rice, Quinoa has greatly expanded nutritional qualities over rice and can be used in place of rice in most dishes. Quinoa is also delicious eaten as a side dish by itself. Quinoa flour has been made into spaghetti noodles, flakes, a drink and Quinoa has even been popped. Mixed with wheat flour, Quinoa will boost the nutritional qualities of your bread and add it’s unique flavor. In addition to this, it can be used to make delicious salads, soups and desserts. With the amazing nutrition that’s found in Quinoa, we think, as you begin to use this grain, you will start using it more and more in your daily cooking.

JWR Adds: I highly recommend the many resources at the Walton Feed. web site. I also recommend them as a storage food supplier.

 

Dear Jim;
This is for all those survivalists who have or who might develop Diabetes type 2.
I am a 48 year old white male, 6’3″, 206 pounds with a 34″ waist. If you put me in a room with ten Americans and asked random people, “Who is the diabetic?” I would be the last on their list. But here I am. I only had one symptom: I would wake up in the night feeling like my lungs were full of burning butane. At first I thought it was cancer but the “good” news was diabetes.
Just a little present from Uncle Osama. The stress of living through 9/11 triggered it. As could the stress of living through TEOTWAWKI.

My doctors want me to take insulin, blood pressure meds, cholesterol meds, it is as if they get a free trip to the Caribbean if they get me to sign up. But those meds will not be available after the Schumer hits.

In a grid down situation there will be no medicines. However, there will be a lot of exercise. In India where the poor have to use very low tech, low cost medicine, diabetics are prescribed seven miles of walking every day. This amount of activity will erase all the symptoms of diabetes. It will also lower your body fat which will help with insulin resistance. Today I will walk 5 miles, or about 18,000 steps. I walk to work, one mile each way, and then I take care of three dogs with no fenced in yard. How many people reading this get up off the couch at 10 PM and go out walking for 3/4 of a mile?

My doctor does not believe the theory. But he sees the results. The number one thing every diabetic can do is eat right and exercise. That will mitigate 80% of the problem. Increase your training gradually. Listen too your body. It took me years to build up to this level. I eat an organic, free range, high fiber, high protein hunter/gatherer diet. You can’t hunt or gather Doritos in the wild. Why should I eat them now? YMMV.

The good thing is that my retreat is 200 miles away. I can walk there in ten days carrying the food and equipment I need on my back if I have to. I could ride my bike in two days.
Eat Healthy, Live Longer! – Spider, Long Island, New York

Odds ‘n Sods:

Credit Default Swaps Are Next to Take the Crunch Test. Does this sound familiar?

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A reader sent me an e-mail to chide me for mentioning that hedge fund redemption suspensions were on the increase. He said: that I was being “an alarmist” because “those [redemption suspensions] are still rare.” Well, I’m going to go out on a limb and state publicly that I believe that they are going to become a lot less rare in the immediate future. Even large hedge funds are not immune. For example, just recently one of CitiGroup’s hedge funds announced a withdrawal suspension. There are a lot of hedge funds with bond, CDO, and CDS exposure!

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Even Boise, Idaho is not immune from the foreclosure flurry: Foreclosures hit pricey Eagle homes hard

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Reader Phil T. asked about rolling over his existing Individual retirement Account (IRA) into a precious metals IRA that holds US Gold Eagles in bonded storage. It is quick and easy to do. I recommended Swiss America for setting up his gold IRA

Note from JWR:

The winter weather is starting to relent, and the snow is melting here at the ranch. It is the first hint that Spring is coming. The patchy snow on the hillsides beyond The Unnamed River looks so much like a Bev Doolittle painting, that I half expect to see a few Paint horses to wander through.

Letter Re: Vehicle Selection in Light of Potential Post-Peak Oil Shortages

Jim,
no one seems to be discussing what kind of cars to buy in light of the Peak Oil situation. My reading so far has been to stay away from hybrid cars. My situation is that I have a 2003 4×4 V8 Toyota 4Runner. I commute about 30 miles each way to work and [the price of] gas kills me now. My car weighs 6,000 pounds and I don’t need a vehicle that big to tow myself around-I am single. I expect the gas prices to go up drastically in the next five years.

I am considering trading in for a V6 4×4 Toyota Rav4 which gets about 10 more miles per gallon than my present vehicle gets, which certainly reduces my burden. This would be my everyday driver and my bug out vehicle.

I was hoping that you could post for readers your perspectives on cars in light of the fact that soon oil will be extremely costly, and scarce. Thanks, – Robert A.

JWR Replies: My general advice is to maximize your flexibility by having a variety of vehicles at your retreat, including at least one that is “flex fuel”–that will burn both gasoline and E85–, at least one light vehicle that is entirely electric (such as a Bad Boy Buggy), and and at least one diesel engined vehicle. You might also look for an inexpensive used propane-powered 4WD pickup. (These are sometimes sold by utility companoes in fleet rotation auctions.) If the Peak Oil crowd is right, then fuel supplies will be spotty, at best. There conceivably may be times when only diesel fuel or ethanol are available. There may come a day when gas and diesel are both so expensive that they will be unaffordable for regular day-to-day driving. So my counsel is to have the greatest flexibility possible. If you budget allows it, a large photovoltaic power system–with excess capacity that could be used to charge a small electric vehicle–would be ideal.

In your circumstances, switching to a lighter vehicle makes sense, but its cargo and towing capacity will of course be less than your 4Runner. This reduced capacity, BTW, is just one more reason that it is crucial to pre-position the vast majority of your supplies at your intended retreat.

I’m often asked by blog readers and my consulting clients about my opinion of Peak Oil. In a few years, we might very well recognize that May 2005, with production of 74,252,000 barrels of oil per day was the all-time peak, and that it is all downhill from there. That is difficult to say for certain. By the time that we are certain, we may very well be “behind the power curve.” So my advice is, just in case the Peakniks are right, hedge your bets:

1.) Buy large propane, gas, and diesel fuel tanks for your retreat, so you can take advantage of dips in the market and ride out acute shortages.

2.) As previously stated, diversify your assortment of vehicles, to be ready for both chronic shortages and acute interruptions in supply of any particular type of fuel.

3.) Move to a region with plentiful firewood–both so you can heat your home, and hopefully someday benefit from local fuel alcohol production (Either methanol through distillation, or possibly ethanol, through bacterial digesters,as has been recently touted, but not yet proven feasible.)

4.) Be sure that you can live off the land where you live–so that means fertile soil and plentiful of water.

5.) Assume the worst for potential societal disruption. That necessitate living somewhere safe–well-removed from major population centers.

Letter Re: Mining Claims as Potential Retreat Properties

Sir,
I am so happy to have stumbled onto your site today. I have not been on the internet in a very long time (1997 or so). I have been working for a number of mineral exploration/mining companies south of our border on and off since 1998. I will no longer travel outside of the U.S. (unless I’m reactivated by the Army) for work or pleasure. I am going to be 40 this month and I don’t feel like getting shot at any more, at least not for money. I am a former Army Combat Engineer, Electronic Engineer, small business owner/operator (septic pumping and commercial steam cleaning). The reason I am writing to you is that back in 1982-1983 while I was in high school I was reading Soldier of Fortune and American Survival Guide (ASG) magazines and now it seems I am coming full circle and finding myself planning a long term placer mining operation in a remote wilderness area. I think that some aspects of small scale mining are directly relatable to survival/preparedness living and prospering.

Living in this great country again, I am struck by the wealth surrounding all of us and the opportunity afforded all US citizens by the 1872 mining law to actively pursue that wealth. I will tell you that nowhere else in the world do private citizens have the right to “stake claim” to mineral wealth with so little regulation/red tape not to mention that the US government does not take “royalties” from your finds. The total cost to me for the acquisition of one 20 acre mining claim filed November of 2007 was $217. Fairly reasonable wouldn’t you say? Granted, one does not “own” the land. Rather, one controls the “surface mineral reserve” and has the rights to: sell, rent, lease, even pass-on to your descendents these rights as a deeded land owner.

Well, I just wanted to introduce myself and to inform you of my intention to submit an article on the mechanics of the claiming process for your contest. – RLS

JWR Replies: I would greatly appreciate you submitting an article for our writing contest that would share your first-hand knowledge of mining claims. OBTW, in many parts of the western US there are still patented (deeded) mining claims available, although the recent run-up in the price of gold is inflating claim prices. In recent years the US Forest Service and the BLM–which have effectively taken over administration of most mining claims–have increasingly placed restrictions on year round occupancy of mining claims. In some cases their bureaucrats have even mandated that camping trailers be removed seasonally. But they have hardly any jurisdiction over patented claims, aside for controlling roads to in-holder (lank-locked) claims. For that reason alone, I strongly prefer buying patented claims, if possible.

Letter Re: Harder Homes and Gardens

Dear Jim,

I think before readers spend their hard earned cash on a brick or cinder block structure (thinking it is much safer then stick framed construction) then watching all three parts of this [“Concealment Doesn’t Equal Cover”] video is essential. All [high power] rifles (.223, 7.62×39, .308) and 12 gauge slugs went through normal brick and [hollow] cinder block construction. Just food for thought. – Ryan

JWR Replies: I first posted a link to that Dahlgren/Marine Corps training video in SurvivalBlog in December of 2006. There was also a discussion of this topic in July of 2007., following my initial reply, in which I recommended supplementary sandbagging.

I do not recommend standard hollow cinder-block construction to my consulting clients. Instead, I recommend super-insulated masonry, preferably with an air gap. (Although a rock facade directly over poured masonry or brick works fairly well.) The first wall typically breaks up .30 caliber or smaller projectiles, and the second wall then nearly always stops them. This design will also stop individual 12 gauge slugs, but not .50 BMG hits.

The bottom line is that typical stucco-covered wood frame construction is pitiful, but two-course brick (two thicknesses of bricks) or concrete-filled cinder block walls offer some protection. They are certainly not absolute protection, but they are much better than wood frame houses, which offer hardly any protection at all from high power .30 caliber bullets. Even super-insulated masonry construction will not stand up to repeated, well-aimed high power .30 caliber rifle fire. Tests at the Box-o-Truth web site show that short of pouring 20 inch thick reinforced concrete, sandbags are just about the only truly reliable protection from well-aimed repetitious rifle fire. If I were expecting incoming rifle fire, even if I lived in a poured, reinforced concrete house or a Monolithic dome house, I would still construct interior supplementary fighting positions. These would have room for a cot, and be set back a few feet from windows, per current MOUT doctrine. These would be built of sand bags, with 2″x10″ or 2″x12″ boards built into boxes (sans ends) to provide firing ports. Sandbags are presently cheap and plentiful. But they someday may be highly sought after, so it is important to lay in a large supply (with extra for barter and charity) before the balloon goes up! (SurvivalBlog reader “MurrDoc” recommended Saddleback Materials in Lake Forest, California as a good source for sandbags. Phone: (800) 286-7263.)

Odds ‘n Sods:

RBS sent us this, from the Dr. Housing Bubble Blog: Southern California Housing Numbers Exposed: The Bottom Falls out of the Housing Market, Again. Pay particular attention to the chart that shows the two year lag between sales drops and price drops. Clearly, the worst is yet to come. I’m still predicting a 50%+ drop in house prices in most California counties. The law of supply and demand is inescapable.

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Mark from Michigan alerted me to a great little article over at the SHTF Blog: on constructing secret doors, with links to web pages by folks that have successfully built them: Build a a Hidden Door Bookcase for Your Secret Stash

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The recent week of rioting and arson in Denmark mirrors what has happened on a larger scale in France for two successive years. Once again it was “urban youths” doing the rioting. Translation of this liberal press speak: Moslem immigrants, under age 30. It is noteworthy that the London Underground and bus line bombers were second generation–actually born in England. So “enculturation” and “assimilation” are not panaceas for Jihadi fervor. If only 1% of the immigrant “youths” turn out to be Wahabist radicals, then eventually, inevitably, they will build a terrorist infrastructure and strike with weapons of mass destruction. It may be next year, or it may be decades from now, but it appears inevitable. It would be prudent to prepare for this eventuality.

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Several readers flagged this article: GAO Chief (Comptroller General) David Walker Resigns. Eric’s comment: “Now this is concerning: Walker said: ‘ …This is the first time in my life I’ve been concerned about my financial future being destroyed by events outside my control…’ When the GAO chief starts saying stuff like this, [it is definitely cause for concern]”.” JWR’s comment: I do admire a man that shows real conviction and speaks his mind. Did you see his comment about “the Fall of Rome”? It seems that he got a bit emotional, but he stopped short of lapsing into Bill Murray’s “Disaster of biblical proportions” speech from the movie Ghostbusters.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

Dr. Peter Venkman: This city is headed for a disaster of Biblical proportions.
Mayor: What do you mean, "Biblical"?
Dr Ray Stantz: What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath-of-God type stuff.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Exactly.
Dr Ray Stantz: Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies. Rivers and seas boiling.
Dr. Egon Spengler: Forty years of darkness. Earthquakes, volcanoes…
Winston Zeddemore: The dead rising from the grave.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together – mass hysteria! – Ghostbusters, 1984

Self-Sufficiency in Northern Nevada

Over at the Bison Survival Blog (formerly called the Bison Newsletter), editor Jim Dakin recently posted an interesting piece titled “Economics of Self-Sufficiency.” I recommend his blog, although it is with the caveat that there is a lot of foul language posted there, especially in some of the comments posted by readers.

For several years, Jim Dakin has advocated the low cost retreating approach of buying an inexpensive piece of land (what he calls “junk land”), and living very frugally, with a large used travel trailer for shelter. Jim Dakin presently lives in Carson City, Nevada, in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains. This is an area that is in uncomfortably close proximity to California’s teeming masses. (38 million+, in a recent estimate.) I wrote the following response to his post:

Jim:
Another reader wrote: “Moving to a homestead property is not for ‘theorizing’ about…..it takes years and years to work out the bugs, and get a place in shape enough to where one could actually survive on it without outside resources.” I agree! Finding plants that do well in your climate can take years. Growing fruit and nut trees to producing maturity will take years! Unless it is a wet climate, then you will have to live there year round to tend to your saplings. Raising small livestock takes experience. You won’t get that experience living inside city limits.

I can attest from experience that it does indeed take several years to build up a homestead to anything approaching self-sufficiency.

If high commuting costs are an issue, then I recommend that you do some research and see what the farthest reach of the county commuter bus line is. In your case, I wouldn’t be surprised if the bus line goes as far as the town of Stagecoach or perhaps all the way to the Lake Lahontan junction. If that doesn’t work out for you in Carson City, then do some research for Fernley, Winnemucca, Ely, Tonopah, and perhaps Elko. Those locales might be more realistic.

Forget Garnderville. Your chance to buy land there ended a decade ago. Ditto for the Washoe Valley and Lamoille. The only relatively cheap agricultural land that I ever saw in northern Nevada was around Lovelock and Fallon. (That was five years ago. I’m not sure about the prices there now.) I have my doubts about those towns in a grid down situation–since they are highly dependent on electrically pumped irrigation. At least Fallon has a good irrigation ditch.

I also have my doubts about being so close to the I-80 corridor Golden Horde route. (From a defensive/isolation standpoint, Ely or Tonopah make a lot more sense.)

The real sticking point in Nevada is water. Generally, if you are close enough to haul drinkable surface water (ponds, lakes, rivers), odds are that the land will be too expensive to fit your “cheap junk land” model. In most of the Humboldt basin the surface water is so alkaline that it isn’t drinkable. And if you buy land with a well, then you have the pumping issue. Photovoltaics are expensive. Perhaps you could find a place with a traditional water-pumping windmill.

Soil fertility is a huge issue in desert regions. It is realistic to expect to be able to build up the fertility of a small plot for a vegetable garden. (But again, that takes time.) However, bringing up the fertility of a whole field for raising grain is a lot more problematic. Bottom line: Plan to buy a lot of wheat to store.

Your situation is a lot like mine was, five years ago. My eventual solution was to pull the plug completely from the wage earning/salaried world, and move way out to a very lightly populated region, where the cost of living is very low. But that isn’t realistic for everyone. My advice is to start looking for jobs in other cities where there is “junk”-priced land nearby. Ely and Tonopah are probably your best bets. Because of the gold mining boom around Elko (the “Carlin Trend” region), land prices there are insane. I wish you the best in establishing your retreat.

Letter Re: My Preparedness Plans Just Took an Unexpected Turn

Jim:
I am home after spending several days in the local Children’s Hospital. In short, my toddler was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes after admittance to the ER and subsequent stay in the ICU and diabetes wing. This came as somewhat of a shock but not completely so due in part to a family history of the same. What it has done, however, is caused me to re-evaluate my preps entirely, particularly food and
medical.
1) The foods that I have acquired must now be truly accounted for in the carb department. I had never given that any thought for preps issues.

2) My medical must include all sorts of things related to diabetes that I did not have before. This includes lancets, cotton balls (still in diapers and the cotton balls allow for urine test strips), blood and urine test strips, needles, epipen parts and insulin (humalog and lantus) in general.

3) All emergency kits now have to have glucose tablets or gluco paste.
Also sugar free drinks/mixes like Crystal Light.

4) Far more careful monitoring of my daughter for any crashes or issues related to her disease. This includes detailed records of diet, blood tests and insulin intake.

I’ve learned that even on-line, the stuff isn’t cheap so it will put a hole in my finances to get things added to the preps. I’m hoping that you will post this so I can hear (via the blog) of how other survival oriented persons manage and prepare for family members with Type 1 [Childhood onset] diabetes.

Update: Today, my daughter was [also] found to have Celiac Disease [(aka gluten-sensitive enteropathy)]. In short, this disease makes it difficult if not impossible for someone to eat wheat and gluten products. Wow. My already altered preps were happening but now I have to maintain a whole separate line of wheat and gluten free items to help out her diet.

So I’m hoping you can add that to my original question and I hope some readers out there can weigh in and offer their real world advise on how they handle it for themselves or for their family members and loved ones. Thanks, – MP in Seattle (a contributing subscriber)

JWR Replies: My heart goes out to you! I’ve addressed both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes briefly before in the blog. As you adjust your family’s diet, try to minimize your intake of aspartame-based artificial sweeteners (like Benevia, Canderal, Equal, NutraSweet, Equal, Splenda, and Spoonful) They have some profound negative health effects that are just starting to be revealed. I predict that in the long run, aspartame will have a reputation as bad as Red Dye #2.

I’m not sure about the shelf life of blood sugar and urine test strips. Perhaps a SurvivalBlog reader can let us know. Once that is established, stock up, and then rotate them
consistently.

Since you will need at least a small insulin refrigerator, move up the priority of getting a modest-size photovoltaic power system. The folks at Ready Made Resources can help you size and spec the system. (They offer free consulting for SurvivalBlog readers.)

The good news is that because gluten-sensitive enteropathy is so common, there are a wide range of gluten-free foods on the market, and their are a wealth of gluten-free recipes available online. Needless to say, to start, you will want to adjust your food storage program to have a much higher ratio of corn and rice to wheat.

I would appreciate comments from readers that are gluten intolerant about how they have adjusted their food storage programs.

Letter Re: AA Cells and Mobile Power

There was a discussion about batteries a few days back on SurvivalBlog. The writer advocated using AA NiMH cells almost exclusively, with adapters for devices requiring C and D cells. While I do agree that this is a good approach for some devices, there is certainly some merit to having full size 10 Amp Hour (10,000 MAH) batteries in high [current] draw or long term use devices. Not only is capacity
significantly higher on larger cells, but the maximum safe current draw is higher too.

Good NiMH C cells have 2-to-3 times the capacity of AA cells, and NiMH D cells have 4-to-5 times the capacity of AA cells. They can be charged in a reasonable timeframe on a good quality charger like the MAHA MH-C801D. If you shop carefully you can find 10AH NiMH low self discharge D cells for around $10 each (As an example, see Overstock.com). Thanks, – BR

JWR Replies: I recommend that SurvivalBlog readers be very careful when shopping for size C and D NiCD and NiMH batteries. Many of the batteries on the market have no more capacity than a size AA. (With those, essentially you are getting the same “guts” used in a size AA cell, but just in a bigger “can.”) Look carefully and the MaH ratings before you buy! Also, be sure to buy only brands (such as Sanyo’s ENELOOP) that have “Low Self Discharge” (LSD) rates.