Letter Re: Some Suggested .308 Battle Rifle Upgrades

Jim,
A few tips/modifications that I have picked up regarding 308 rifles that I hope may be helpful. All the “battle” rifles could stand to lose a little weight and be a little more user friendly. Surprisingly, I have re-worked my FN-FAL down to under the weight of many AR-15s out there with their axle-sized heavy barrels! A heavy barrel carbine seems like a oxymoron to me. Any weight you save, increases the amount of ammo you can carry.
FAL/L1A1– Remove the FAL muzzle brake (its too heavy and too long), replace with a [Smith Enterprise] Vortex flash hider or the Steyr 3-prong flash hider. Replace the round FAL front sight with a square one, you get a better sight picture, or better yet get a tritium night front sight. L1A1 has a fine front sight already. Replace the rear sight with a paratrooper rear sight. You lose some of the adjustment but they don’t have the 3 MOA wiggle that the typical FAL rear sight has. If you have metal handguards, ditch them for the Imbel plastic handguards (it takes a blow torch to melt them and they still don’t heat up like the metal STG ones do). L1A1 handguards are fine as well. Forget the bipod, or get a QD bipod that can go in your ruck, its extra weight. [In his book “Boston’s Gun Bible”,] Boston T. Party explains how to change the charging handle into a forward assist/reciprocating handle, as is standard on the heavy barrel FALs, easy to do mod to the bolt carrier. Speaking of bolt carrier get one with sand cuts, and even better is to swap it out for a Para bolt carrier, even if you keep the standard stock. This eliminates the “rat tail” and in a jam, you can hinge open the receiver and work on it. DSA makes a aluminum lower to shave some weight, but its not worth the cost IMHO. DS Arms is also offering a folding stock that accepts CAR-15 style collapsible stocks. The advantage here is that if you wear body armor, or change seasons, you can quickly adjust stock length for the heavy clothes you have on. Neat, but not necessary. If you do go this route, use a Vltor buffer tube. They make them with a screw off endcap so you have an extra storage compartment for your cleaning kit etc. Are you going to scope it? DSA scope mount is the only way to go. They even sell one that is milled out for the [Trijicon] ACOG, which allows you to use iron sights as a back up. Finally, swap out selector for a L1A1 selector, since its easier to manipulate. [JWR Adds: To use an inch selector in a metric FAL, it will take some minor machining or cautious Dremelling. If you aren’t mechanically inclined, then selectors that have already been modified to fit metric are often available through the FALFiles Forums “Marketplace” forum page. Just post a “Want to Buy: (WTB) Inch Selector Modified for Metric FAL””) ad.] If you live in a cold climate you may even want to swap out the lower for a L1A1 pistol grip that has the winter trigger guard feature. [JWR Adds: That will only work if you also change the gas block/front sight base, since inch rifles and metric rifles have their front and rear sights at significantly different heights above the bore centerline.] Have a spare parts kit, know how to swap and headspace a new barrel and bolt. Get your spare parts now before they dry up again.

M1A – Get a USGI winter safety, these are fairly rare and I’m not sure of a good source. Swap out front sight/flash hider with a Vortex from Smith Enterprise. Its lighter and works better. They even have a gas block front sight, but you lose some sight length. Get several synthetic stocks from Fred’s M14 Stocks and camouflage them to your environment and the various seasons. Scoping the M1A makes it heavy, but the only mount I found that holds rock steady is Smith Enterprises.YMMV Get some variable glass, a nice leupold, to compliment the M1A. A nice combo I played with today was a Scout M1A (not the SOCOM [model] as the 16″ barrel gives off some tremendous noise with the noise maker on the end) with the shorter 18″ barrel in a Vltor pistol grip, collapsible stock. It was short and sweet. Especially if your terrain precludes 500-800 meter shots. Forget the Picatinny rails, they are just too heavy. Spare bolt, and rear sight parts were cheap, but once the CMP sold out their prices have skyrocketed. Get them while you can. The Taiwan GI mags are comparable to USGI, but anything else is junk.

HK91 – Again, get the Vortex, no difference in weigh but it works better. Get the CETME bayonet lug cap, since it has a cleaning kit that slides behind it in the cocking tube. I don’t know about fixed bayonet charge, but this provides an option The slim forearms, with heat shield, are the lightest. Again on the bipod, do you really need it? The low profile scope mounts are the way to go. The surplus W. German FERO are 4x and nice, but the mounts weigh a ton, ditch it. Drill out the rear sight to have a up-close ghost ring. There is an aftermarket sight drum coming that has this. Flapper mag release, this is expensive to modify to your gun, but well worth it. The Tac Latch is another option, but even it is over $50. Both of these speedup the process of magazine changes tremendously. Swap out the charging handle for the larger MG handle, its easier to manipulate under stress and with gloves on. The sliding (A3) HK stock is neat, but hot in the summer and cold against the check in the winter, keep the standard plastic stock, consider a CETME stock, since it has a recoil pad. Get an extra parts kit. You need a spare bolt, carrier, and trigger pack, and rollers. CETME trigger groups have a better trigger pull and you may want to swap it in( but the selector arrangement is different) and you have to modify it for semi only. If the Firearms Owners Protection Act (FOPA) or 1986 ever gets repealed, modifying the HK and CETME trigger packs to allow full auto is simple. [JWR Adds: Needless to say, all NFA rules apply. Full auto conversions are illegal in the U.S., and it is illegal to own both a semiauto rifle and selective fire conversion parts. (In the eyes of the law, owning both is the same as owning a gun that has already been converted. If any readers desire full auto capability,then $200 transfer tax full autos are available for purchase in most states, although prices have been bid up to astronomical levels since the 1986 machinegun freeze. I personally feel that semi-auto is fully adequate (and usually more effective) for self defense, and the high profile associated with owning a registered Class 3 full auto or suppressor might be counterproductive, depending on circumstances.] Vector Arms is selling HK91 clones with the flapper mag release already installed if you are in the market. They even have a 16″ barreled HK91 clone with a short cocking tube and short carrier. (It cuts weight way down, but you lose sight radius, and 16″ in a 308 is pretty darn short.) [Alloy] HK magazines are as cheap as $1.50 each, get many while you can.

AR-10 – I don’t know anything about them, but there are some piston uppers coming out for them. The HK417 looks nice, but pricey, if ever available to civilians. [JWR Adds: My advice is to buy only AR-10s that can accept inexpensive FN-FAL magazines, such as the AR-10s made by Bushmaster and Rock River Arms.]

AR-15 – Okay its not a battle rifle but every house should have one, my mouse gun has a pencil 16″ barrel, standard handguards, and a flat top upper with a Trijicon ACOG. I’m not sure with the fascination of hanging things on them like a Christmas tree. I do have a QD Surefire that attached to the bayonet lug for use at night. CavArms has the plastic lowers with A1 stocks to get the weight down even farther, I don’t know how well they hold up, but Brownell’s has them pretty cheap right now. As you know registered drop-in auto sears are available, so get the spares you need. [JWR Adds: A registered drop-in auto sear is presently around $15,000, if you can find someone willing to part with one.]
Get the ‘smithing knowledge on your weapons now, and stock up on spare firing pins, magazines, and parts. You should already have the ammo. You need to be able to strip it apart and at least change out the firing pin on everything you own, your life may depend on it. Ditto on firearms training.

Okay now for my question to you regarding fire protection. Our local fire department has hose filters that allows them to draw from ponds and lakes if the tankers go empty. Fine and dandy if the fire department is still around. What options are available if they are not? One of the earlier”Jericho” shows, showed them back pumping a pool filter to fight a fire. I imagine it would take a whopper of a “pool” filter/pump to actually do this. I guess bucket brigade may be the only option? – Mike

JWR Replies: Gasoline engine-powered portable pumps are available for about the same cost as a portable generator. These can easily provide enough water pressure for a firefighting rig. I also recommend that if you have a retreat property with a hillside above it that accommodate a cistern with at least 40 feet of “fall” to your retreat buildings that you construct at 1,500 gallon (pr larger) cistern. Be sure that the water service line coming down from this cistern is at least 1.5-inches in diameter (preferably 2″ diameter), and Schedule 40 specification. That will give your sufficient pressure and volume for a firefighting rig.

Note from JWR:

Please consider writing an article for Round10 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best non-fiction article will win a valuable four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificate. (Worth up to $1,600.) Second prize is a copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, generously donated by Jake Stafford of Arbogast Publishing. I will again be sending out a few complimentary copies of my novel “Patriots” as “honorable mention” awards. If you want a chance to win the contest, start writing and e-mail us your article for Round 10, which began on April 1st and ends May 30th. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival will have an advantage in the judging.

Letter Re: Bad News on Peak Oil: Five Year Slide to a 50% Production Crash

Dear Jim and Family,
I have bad news on the Peak Oil front. We’re about five years from losing 50% of our current production, in real world terms. The producing countries are failing in their big fields, many from 8-15% decline a year (Cantarell in Mexico is down 25% from last year, Ghawar is down 10.5%, Burgan in Kuwait down 12%, Iran down something like 16%, Russia down 12%, UK/North Sea no longer exporting). Even if there are no wars and no embargos, we only have about 5 years before we only have around half as much oil (gasoline, diesel fuel, fuel oil, plastics, cosmetics, lubricants, pesticides, etc) production left. There will still be oil in the ground, however it won’t be enough for the demand so the remaining supply will be bid up in price until things get very bad. Very bad. If we’re quite lucky we’ll see rolling blackouts (scheduled) in the Western states which only last a few hours a day, rather than days a week. There are certain unpleasant complications too, already being felt around the world.

The first to feel the effects of Peak Oil was Cuba. Contrary to public claims by the commies, they don’t feed themselves with their city gardens. They feed 18% of themselves, and import 82% of their food. Castro lies: how unexpected!

Zimbabwe is ruled by a crazy despot named Robert Mugabe. First he stole the land of the only productive farmers and gave it to untrained poor people. [JWR Adds: And lots of land to his political cronies in his own tribe, most of whom have left the land fallow.] Crops failed. Lack of crops meant lack of money (and food), and fuel bills didn’t get paid so fuel stopped being delivered to Zimbabwe. The country has 1200% inflation (or higher) and the whole country has collapsed. Then he cleverly tore down the slums and did not build new housing for the 120K poor people now homeless. With no money, how could he? Before his brilliant land theft, Zimbabwe was feeding Africa with its grain. I’m still trying to figure out why nobody has thought they might shoot Mugabe.

Another country suffering from Peak Oil is Guinea. This is one of two major cacao (chocolate) producing countries. The average person there earns $370/year. The fast rise in fuel prices has destroyed most businesses and farms there so there have been fuel/food riots.

Indonesia, usually considered a fairly stable developing country, has had several strikes and riots over fuel costs. Indonesia long subsidized fuel costs so it was the same everywhere. This seemed like a good idea back in the early 1990s when [the price of] fuel was pretty stable anyway (after Gulf War 1) but then the price went crazy and the government lost control. I recall that people died in the rioting, and more than a couple. Indonesia used to export oil, but its been importing for the last few years now.

The USA peaked its oil supplies in 1970, a year earlier than M. King Hubbert (the father of Peak Oil) predicted. At that point, the USA suffered a major economic shortage and suffered troubles from the OPEC embargo. The USA responded by getting involved in Middle Eastern conflicts and sold weapons in the region, making a bad situation worse. A deal closed with Saudi Arabia was deepened with modern planes and tanks and more oil was pumped out, using the Latest Technology. By 1980, the USA was struggling with even worse problems but Ronald Reagan convinced the Saudis to pump oil even faster, with even later technology, greatly increasing the production rate of their wells, and the decline of their major field, Ghawar. Prudhoe Bay helps the USA a little but the decline continued, even with the latest technology (notice the emphasis?). By 1989, Russia, forced to sell its oil at a lower price thanks to the Saudis, declares bankruptcy and the Berlin Wall comes down. US citizens all buy SUVs to celebrate the end of communism and recession promptly kicks in after fighting Gulf War 1. GHWB is replaced by Clinton and he’s the first president we know of for sure that’s heard of peak oil. GHWB probably did too, and Jimmy Carter talked about energy crisis but we didn’t want to hear it and fired him. Lord Knows, the American People won’t stand for lowered expectations. All that oil pumping in Saudi means the field is going empty. The latest figures show its declined from 8% in January to 10.5% in March, which means the decline is accelerating. In these Latest Technology oilfields, oil supply can suddenly just… stop. You pump water in and get water and oil back out most of the time, but if you pump too much too fast you just get water out. And your field is done.

And that’s kinda what’s happened in Venezuela too. Overproduction by politically correct amateurs. A boss who cheats the polls, kills his opponents, and blames the USA for his problems. Like Mugabe a few years ago. I wonder if it will go just as well?

Nigeria doesn’t have a civil war. Honest. It’s just Youths. With AK-47s, who control large parts of the oil fields in the Niger delta. Its just Troubles, not stealing oil and kidnapping oil workers and stopping work on the oil platforms. Just troubles. Honest. Nigeria is not in Civil War. You can trust me on this. Pay no attention to the blackouts covering most of the country, or the fact that exports have dropped by 600,000 barrels a day. Not civil war. And I got a bridge I can sell you.

What do you think will happen when there’s only half as much oil left to use? Its called a Bidding War. The price is bid up until demand is destroyed. How high would that price go when there’s only half as much fuel to go around, and we’ve got 1/3 of China and 1/3 of India who are bidding for it too, and their money is more stable than ours because they’re not bankrupt funding the Iraq War. $300/barrel? Nope, that’s too low. More like $500. Gasoline is around $3/gal now, when oil is $63/bbl. Do the math on that. At $300/bbl, gasoline jumps to around $15/gal. Rip out the taxes and its $11/gal, which is still really high but less than beer. At that price driving around will be expensive, and questionable for commuting. If you keep your junker SUV and carpool, you can afford it, barely. Of course, when 100 million more Chinese buy cars, the price goes up again, to $500/bbl, which means fuel now costs around $20/gal. This is more than the average person can afford. Carpooling is no longer something you can do on a daily basis unless you can carry 3 other people. The vehicle gets more crowded, the bidding goes higher and production keeps falling, inevitably, because there’s just only so much oil to go around. And before you get too excited about Ethanol, oil makes the pesticides and herbicides which makes growing corn over and over in the same field possible. Without it, you need crop rotation or bugs and rots and molds will destroy all future crops. Crop rotation means far lower yield, which means less ethanol, much less. Around 1/6th as much and at that point, wouldn’t you rather eat the corn? The greatest irony of a bidding war and fuel economy is the higher the total economy rises, the higher the price of fuel can go. A 60 mpg Prius means that the price of gasoline can run to $45/gal. for the average driver. Throw in one carpooler and it doubles to $90/gal. Swap that Prius for a modified Plug In Prius, getting 150 mpg (some have reported 200 mpg) and a short commute, and you’re looking at $100/gal for gasoline, sold in a hand cut, etched glass decanter at a high end liquor/fuel store where men with shotguns stand guard at the front door. Ad nauseam. Yes, you can argue that such and such thing will make this new alternative source of fuel affordable but the real world can’t afford that stuff. Nickel is in short supply: there just isn’t enough of it to make batteries for all the vehicles needed. Other options aren’t as good as nickel, or are even rarer and more expensive.

So basically, we’re up the creek. Take a good look at your car in the driveway and think hard: should I be selling this car and buy a junker that only lasts a couple more years rather than sit in debt on something I won’t be able to afford gas for? A few days ago I figured we’d see $4.50/gal as the high point this year. Now I think we’ll pass $6/gal by Christmas. Think about that.

I hope I’m wrong. I hope that a miracle occurs, but we don’t plan for miracles here. We plan for worst case, and worst case is getting used to the idea of unexpected fuel shortages and expected unsteady-but-continual rise in prices.

I feel like sticking my head in the sand and doing my Ostrich Impression. I’m seriously pondering bailing out of the city much sooner because of this, but there are things I need to finish here so we’ll wait as long as we can bear it. Best, – InyoKern

Letter Re: Resources on SurvivalBlog

Mr. Rawles:
I discovered SurvivalBlog just by accident about two months ago, when I was doing a Google search on “FN-FAL” [rifles]. I pretty soon discovered your blog was a treasure trove. Not only am I totally addicted to reading the new postings every day (I read it on my lunch hour at work), but I’ve also started working my way back through the archives. (It was just two weeks ago that I discovered the little “Search Posts on SurvivalBlog” window down under your rotating ads. Maybe you should put that up at the top, so people can spot it easier.) Wow! I just can’t believe how much practical no-BS info that you have put together in your blog postings, and in the permanent [button bar] pages at the top (like your Retreat [Areas] page and your Survival Guns page), plus all your FAQs. Also, thanks for your big glossary, which is great for a newbie like me. (I’m a served as a Air Force mechanic and I know a lot about vehicles and guns, but the rest of preparedness is pretty new to me.) I had always felt the need to be ready for more than just high water and hurricanes, but couldn’t put my finger on why. But now, after reading your blog and your books, I’m connecting all the dots. Everything you write rings true with me. We do live in a very fragile world. I saw that up close and personal, right after Hurricane Katrina. And that was just a regional disaster. Something nationwide will be horrendous. An you were right when you said: “The power grid is the lynchpin.” Once that grid goes down past a few days, people are going to come unglued.

So now, I’m selling off some of my “Big Boy Toys” (like our ski boat, our his-and-hers matched set of jet skis, my Army Air Corps and early Air Force flight instrument collection, and my commemorative guns.) I’m spending all that cash on getting prepared, big time. Example: Right now, the Mrs. and I are getting our long term food stocks and heirloom garden seeds squared away. I just recently got your Rawles on Retreats and Relocation book, plus your Best of the Blog book. They are both some Hotel Sierra reference books. I tore through those books! Now the Mrs. is reading them. And I just ordered your novel [“Patriots”], too, and we can’t wait to read it.

But the main reason I’m writing this is to say that just last week I decided that I was being a freeloader, so I signed up for The Ten Cent Challenge. I challenge everyone else out there reading this to do it, too. Come on you clowns, if you think that SurvivalBlog ain’t worth 10 cents a day, y’all are kidding yourself. Fact is, I’d be happy to pay ten times that–a dollar a day–for what I learn on SurvivalBlog. Example: Just what I learned about generators by itself saved me about $500, last month. (On Mr. Rawles’s advice, I bought a diesel engine low-RPM genset instead of the “bargain” gasoline-powered high-RPM genset that I had originally wanted to buy. It [the diesel generator] will last 2X or 3X longer [than the gasoline-powered model.] Plus, until I had read through SurvivalBlog, I hadn’t even thought about common fuel for [the generator and] my [diesel] tractor and my Dodge pickup, which is also a diesel. That’s just one small example of what I’m talking about. Knowledge is power, and knowledge prevents us making expensive mistakes. Like I said, SurvivalBlog is a treasure trove of knowledge and worth every freakin’ penny to me, and it should be to you, too. It is a disgrace that only 1% of the SurvivalBlog readers have bought a subscription. For you that are freeloading, shame on you. Quit freeloading, and pony up! – Gus in Alabama.

Odds ‘n Sods:

In a recent e-mail, frequent contributor Michael Z. Williamson noted that the Rock River Arms AR10 (The “LAR-10”) variant accepts inexpensive FAL magazines–both metric and inch pattern (L1A1), and is reasonably priced. He also mentioned that despite the looming specter of the H.R. 1022 Federal ban, there are still some bargains in military surplus.308 rifle magazines. Notably, Mike found a source for used FAL magazines for just $5 each, and I found used HK91 (G3) steel magazines for $7.99, and alloy magazines as little as $1.20 each! (HK G3 magazines will also fit CETME rifles.) Stock up, folks!

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Gardening season will soon be here in North America. If you haven’t yet purchased some heirloom variety (non-hybrid) gardening seeds, then now is a great time to do so. I highly recommend the heirloom seed variety packs sold by The Ark Institute, in Bandon, Oregon. Practice using those seeds this gardening season to see which varieties do well in your microclimate, and just importantly, practice saving seed for future crops. (The book “Seed to Seed” describes how to do this for may types of vegetables and grain crops.)

Note from JWR:

I have slightly updated my “Pulling Through” screenplay. If you know anyone in the movie business, please let them know that it is an “available property.” At least until the screenplay sells to a studio or “indie” production company, the HTML version of the full screenplay is still available for free download. I also distribute hard copies of the screenplay through Cafe Press, with less than a $2 markup. (The goal is to get a lot of copies out there, with hopes of one finding its way into the right hands.) Thanks, folks!

Letter Re: An Exercise in Humility–Starting a Poll on Embarrassing Mistakes

Jim:
Freeholder’s comments on the need for real world experience in animal husbandry are part of a larger issue. How can we gain hands on experience in so many diverse survival skills and still have time for work, family, friends etc? Even if we wanted to, how many stupid mistakes would we make without someone mentoring us? It’s just as important to know what doesn’t work as what does. This blog has had a lot of great ideas of what to do. Now I’d like to see some of what not to do, otherwise, I’m likely to do that same dang fool thing myself. I’m putting out a call for all the embarrassing mistakes you’ve all made. Don’t assume that it’s too stupid for anyone else to make it. I’ll start the ball rolling. The first 600 rounds of 9mm that I bought won’t shoot reliably from my ported Glock pistols. I need to have non-ported barrels to use them. Did I buy 115 grain target ammo to start? Yup. I didn’t know any better. Here’s another. After I heard the sound of breaking glass in my house today, knowing my family was out I tried to clear the house with my long-barrel shotgun. Nope, I just couldn’t make it through the stairway with that thing and still work the angles. Turned out it was just the wind knocking over a picture frame but it made me realize I had the wrong tool for the job. – SF in Hawaii

JWR Adds: Let the poll begin! I think that this will be a very valuable learning experience for all of us. Humility is considered a virtue by Christians. I’ve been involved in family preparedness for 30 + years, and in that time, I ‘ve had my share of humbling mistakes. Some have been costly. Here is just one of mine: When I was was 16 years old , I thought that the “ideal” firearms for survival would be an M1 Carbine and Ruger single action revolver, both chambered in the same cartridge (.30 U.S. Carbine.) What I soon discovered was that .30 U.S. Carbine is a poor stopper for deer–even the small coastal deer of California. (Sadly, I crippled one and had to blood trail it for 12 hours before I found it. My foolish choice caused that animal to suffer needlessly.) I did some research and learned that .30 U.S. Carbine is an even worse stopper for self defense when facing two-legged or four legged predators. I also learned from experience that handguns chambered in .30 U.S. Carbine are incredibly loud and have a huge muzzle flash. Thus, they are not practical for much of anything. Needless to say, I soon sold both of those guns. I eventually settled on .308 Winchester / 7.62mm NATO for most of my rifles, and .45 ACP for most of my handguns.

I look forward to reading other people’s “lesson’s learned” on preparedness. Let the poll begin!

Letter Re: Advice on Retreat Locales in Southern Idaho

Mr. Rawles,
I bought your book “Patriots” a few years back and just came across your web site in the last month. I loved the book (and have lent it to a few friends), and I am trying to get through the extensive information in the archives on the site. Today I ordered your other book Rawles on Retreats and Relocation.

Anyway, I currently live between Salt Lake City and Provo, Utah. My wife and I have been of a preparedness mindset for at least seven years and are blessed to be completely out of debt. We have a good supply of food, water, tangible assets, defensive options, a garden & fruit trees, heating/cooking fuel fall out shelter, etc… I am a very active Latter-Day Saint (LDS) but you ought to know that 90-95% of LDS people have little or no food storage in spite of 150 years of being told to do it. (I am in charge of preparedness in my ward but for many it still falls on deaf ears).

I have become convinced from people like Joel Skousen and yourself that having a self sufficient, retreat property as you describe is absolutely critical, and I truly believe that TEOTWAWKI may very well happen sooner than we think. Your recommendation of Idaho rings true and I feel like that would be a good viable option. I am not prepared to go and live full time there, but like in your novel, I would hope to be in tune and be able to get out of suburbia at the first sign of trouble.

My biggest concern is distance and limited access routes. In addition to a survival retreat I want to be able to use it for family recreation in the mean time. (By the way I am in my 40s, married with four teenage and pre-teen children). I will be contacting a few realtors and going up to Idaho over the next couple of months to look around. I am serious about doing something this spring! I have a group of close friends who share my concern and would probably join us.

Would you be willing to share your thoughts on specific areas in central and southern Idaho. (Perhaps you already do that in your book?) Do you see any problems or benefits with southeastern Idaho? My thoughts are that the northern Idaho areas near Moscow, Coeur d’ Alene, et cetera are just such a long drive to be able to get to with any regularity from Salt Lake City. Any suggestions or help would be gladly appreciated. Thank you in advance. Best Regards, – Thomas B.

JWR Replies: Idaho is my top-ranked state for retreat potential. Parts of southeastern and east-central Idaho are fine for retreat locales. Just be sure to pick properties with plentiful water. (Either spring water or a reliable shallow well.) You will probably feel very comfortable there, since about half of the population of southern Idaho are LDS Church members. In particular, I most highly recommend three areas:

1.) The Montpelier area, in the extreme southeast corner of Idaho. This is a dry land farming region–much like the Palouse Hills of north-central Idaho, albeit on a smaller scale, and with slightly less predictable summer rains. OBTW, one of my preferred storage food companies, Walton Feed, is located in Montpelier. Around Montpelier there seem to be a lot of houses that were built to Mormon family proportions that are still available at reasonable prices.

2.) The Star Valley, which straddles the Idaho-Wyoming state line. If you are looking in that area, then it might as well be on the Wyoming side of the valley, since there is no personal income tax in Wyoming.

3.) The Salmon region. Last Fall we traveled there on behalf of a consulting client. While we we there, we visited numerous parcels all the way from Challis to north of the town of Salmon that have water, abundant wild game, and contiguous state or USFS land. We particularly like the properties in the side canyons, like this one. If you want a truly remote retreat, then look down the River of No Return Road, near the little hamlet of Shoup. (Which by the way has one of America’s last gas stations with all hand pumps.) This entire region is off-grid, so all of you neighbors will be on photovoltaics. It is at low elevation, so the snow only sticks about one month of each year. It is also crawling with deer and elk. You certainly won’t starve there!

For my detailed recommendations on retreat locales in Idaho, see my book Rawles on Retreats and Relocation. BTW, the book includes all of my top picks in Idaho–which are not included in my Retreat Areas web page.

Letter Re: Cargo Trailers Not Advised for G.O.O.D. Travel

James:
I’m not a regular user of cargo trailers; I do own a 26-foot boat with a long-tongue trailer. Whenever I trailer the boat and whenever I have had occasional need for a cargo trailer, I have been the source for entertainment for bystanders. I think I inherited this failing from my father–but that’s another story.
My point: is, unless you are really adept at trailer handling, you may want to consider the fix you will be in if, while trailering to your secure location, you come upon a street barricade with armed folks. The attendant super adrenaline rush, together with your lack of trailering skills (backing up–which is always my downfall), may put you and yours in serious jeopardy.
Might be better to have your secured location already stocked, so that your escape vehicle can hold whatever you need to get you safely to that refuge. – R.B.

JWR Replies: I agree wholeheartedly! My general advice is still: It is best to live at self-sufficient retreat in a lightly-populated area, year round. But if you must live in the Dirty Big City, then the vast majority of your logistics should be pre-positioned at your retreat. When you attempt to “Get Out of Dodge” (G.O.O.D.), when catastrophe strikes you might even have to abandon your vehicle and make it to your retreat on foot. So putting any significant logistics in a trailer could be an invitation to disaster.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader T.L. asked where he can get Castile Soap via mail order. It is available from Survival Enterprises. They sell the same Dr. Bronner’s Brand soap that I’ve carried on my backpacking trips since the 1970s. (Castile soap is ideal for backpacking, because a little bottle goes a long way!) The microscopic type “ABC-1-2-3” labels make interesting reading. (Odd doctrine, but hey, the gent has the freedom to put whatever he wants on his bottles and packages.) BTW, I heard that Survival Enterprises also still have a good supply of a few remaining varieties canned long term storage foods.

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Signs of the times: Gasoline Prices Soar on Refinery Trouble, and, Cost of Fuel, Corn Could Push Milk Prices Up 9% by Fall, and Gold, Silver Up As Oil Hits 6-Month High. Gee, it’s a good thing that Ben Bernanke is at the helm of the Fed, keeping inflation in check.

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SurvivalBlog reader Murray mentioned that Kim du Toit has again issued an invitation for readers to pick what they’d take on a cross-country wilderness journey. Murray’s comments: “Always interesting …… what long gun, what handgun, what knives, what dog. Me? Marlin 1894C, Taurus 669 .357 revolver, Cold Steel SRK with kydex sheath, a Bark River Knife and Tool Mini-Skinner with kydex sheath, and an American Working Collie. And a wish for a whole lot of steel in the spine along with good boots and healthy feet.

Notes from JWR:

Wow! I just looked at our stats and I see that we logged 71.78 GB of bandwidth for March! The previous record for a month was 53 GB. And as a gauge of long term growth, our traffic in March of 2006 was only 20.5 GB. More than a 355% increase in just a year! The “visits” counts were equally impressive, with 146,548 visits in March of ’07 versus 61,641 in March of ’06. Many thanks for making SurvivalBlog such a huge success. Please keep spreading the word by telling your friends and co-workers about SurvivalBlog. Just wearing a SurvivalBlog hat or carrying a SurvivalBlog tote bag around town will help. Thanks!

Today we present the first article submitted for Round 10 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best non-fiction article will win a valuable four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificate. (Worth up to $1,600.) Second prize is a copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, generously donated by Jake Stafford of Arbogast Publishing. I might again be sending out a few complimentary copies of my novel “Patriots” as “honorable mention” awards. If you want a chance to win the contest, start writing and e-mail us your article for Round 10, which ends May 31st. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival will have an advantage in the judging.