The bidding is now up to $100 in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction for a fully tested and recently professionally calibrated U.S. government surplus Civil Defense CD V-717 fallout survey meter with remote sensing capability. The meter was donated by Ready Made Resources (one of our first and most loyal advertisers). This auction ends on October 15th. Please submit your bid via e-mail.
You’ve surely noticed he recent huge drop in the price of crude oil (currently at around $62.50 per barrel, down more than 21% from its July peak of $78.40 per barrel.) Simultaneously, we have seen smaller, yet significant drops in the prices of gold and silver. (See the 30 Day gold and silver charts at Kitco.) Gold has dropped about 11%. The declines in the prices of the precious metals can be attributed to gut level trades made by the big institutional investors. Decades of experience has taught them that when oil moves significantly, then gold and silver will move in harmony. But if they had “done the math” based on the old commodities market fundamentals, they would have pushed gold down even farther. Clearly, things have changed. It is important to note that if these pull-backs were in full harmony with the oil market, then gold would be another 10% lower–as low as $520 per ounce. Why hasn’t this happened? I believe that a market fundamental has changed: the price of gold and the price of oil are no longer firmly linked. I expect this divergence to continue to expand in coming years, to the point that the price of the precious metals will begin to move on its own–almost entirely unlinked from oil. Call it what you like, but a divergence is developing.
I also predict that the markets will get even more exciting in coming months, with larger swings in prices. The oil glut is expected to continue for at least the next six months. However, at the same time, the price of gold and silver should get back on their bull market tracks, leaving the commodities market pundits scratching their heads. We live in a dangerous world, where any maniac can brew up a chemical or biological weapon, and there is a lot of fissile material floating around outside of accountable circles. Meanwhile, nearly all of the world’s currencies are entirely de-linked from reality–or at least from convertibility to gold or silver upon demand. Governments are printing paper currency and fiddling with interest rates with reckless abandon. These and other macro factors almost assure a strong precious metals bull market for at least another three years, and perhaps a full decade.
I will repeat something I’ve stated several times in SurvivalBlog in the past year: If you feel the need to diversify out of dollar-denominated investments into precious metals, then buy on the dips. And in case you haven’t noticed, this past week was a big dip. Take advantage of it. When silver is eventually at $50 or $60 an ounce (perhaps just two years from now), you will be glad that you did!
Lastly, don’t fall in love with any particular investment. As the “dot.bomb” of the dot.com bubble and the more recent end of the housing bubble have illustrated, no investment goes up forever. Keep a small core “survival” holding of silver coins for barter, but make plans to divest the majority of your gold and silver holdings as the market cycle ramps up near its peak. Do not try to time the absolute peak. Some folks tried to do just that in the last big run-up of the precious metals (circa 1980), and most got badly burned. It is often better to sell six months to early than a week too late. I’m no wizard, but based on the intrinsic value of the U.S. dollar, the peak in the current bull market cycle will likely be at around $60 per ounce silver and $3,000 per ounce gold. Don’t be greedy. Start to sell your metal holdings gradually when you think that the market has reached 70% of its potential top, and then immediately reinvest the proceeds in another tangible. In this case, I think the best choice would be productive farm land. I will go out on a limb and predict that real estate market will be nearing its bottom just as the metals market will be nearing its top. That might be as soon as 2008. Swapping gold into land at that point will be a monumental “win-win” trade.
Jim,
Here is a reputable camper manufacturer that would be able to put together a less expensive camper than the $200,000(!) Earthroamer XV Diesel Off-Road RV. Though the Earthroamer is an outstanding vehicle, I believe these [Callen Campers] are more in the price range that we all expect. Notice they will custom make off road campers. witness the pics on home page. I used to see these around Southern California quite frequently. They make nice gear. Thanks, – Jason
“Do the math. The FAL is a battle rifle, not a target rifle. Don’t try to make a dental pick out of a axe.” – T. Mark Graham, The Gunplumber (proprietor of Arizona Response Systems), posted at The FALFiles Forums
Mr Rawles,
First…this is an excellent site and, on equal footing, so is your book “Patriots”. In my opinion so much so that in the course of habitually re-reading it I am wearing the book out.
In regards to EMP protection: an old refrigerator, chest freezer, unused oven, or for that matter, a metal utility cabinet etc. will work. These appliances will allow the storage of more than a few “delicate” and sensitive electronic devices. Having a redundant radio collection is advisable. These devices will function well as long as all six sides are metal, are electrically connected (a few nuts, bolts, washers and some 14-12 gauge wire will work as long as the paint/enamel has been scraped away to the bare metal where-ever the screws and wire contact the factory finished surfaces), has RF gaskets at all door and other openings and has grounding straps connected using the shortest wire run possible and the largest wire diameter available. Without a ground connection the shield may act more as an antenna than a shield and inadvertently destroy what is intended on being protected.
RF gaskets can be fashioned from fine phosphor bronze mesh polished and soldered into a narrow diameter tube or the ground braid component of any of the higher grade coax wire that has 95% braid coverage or better. After carefully removing the outer jacket of the coax the braid can be extracted. Solder a length of copper wire to one “wall” for the braid cylinder being careful not to occlude the braid opening. Depending on the diameter of the wire selected (RG 58, RG 8 etc.) literally any rigid foam, foam rubber or rubber material of near equal diameter can be inserted into the braid. A length of a child’s “Wacky Noodle” toy (thin gauge) will work although a soft rubber material is preferable albeit a tad harder to locate. The ground braid will function in the same manner as a Chinese finger…it will close up when stretched. Solder the ends together after the rubber core is inserted and cut to the appropriate length. Connect the previously connected wire to the item being used as a Faraday cage. Be certain that all mating surfaces are void of any type of finish. Auto body sanding paper works well for the task. The gasket can be riveted in place or an electrically conductive adhesive can be used although far more expensive to purchase. Be certain to ground the cage.
Older receiver/transceivers with discrete rather than flat pack electronics (high I.C. chip populations) are good backups and, in the C.B. class, less costly. As a note the newer radios have very static sensitive and EMF sensitive components in them and as such require a higher level of protection. Lowe’s, Home Depot and other building supply outlets sell self adhesive copper foil (a type of flashing material) that is wonderful for EMF shielding and it is solderable therefore affording complete protection if need be as long as a ground wire is connected and all seams are sealed (soldered works well). The foil is thick enough to withstand abuse and yet thin enough to be cut with scissors.
Second…do you or any of your esteemed readers know of any studies examining the results of high power EMF and their effects on solar panels? Being that the inherent design of photovoltaic arrays are such
that the interconnection on and between the individual cells forms a grid whereby the potential exists for a large EMF field to create an extraneous voltage in the panel thereby causing all sorts of damage to anything connected to it/them. I have done some search engine queries and contacted a few manufactures but have not gotten any results to date. – Joe in Tennessee
James:
Michael Z. Williamson’s letter brings up some great details. I would add that those interested in bow making should consult “The Traditional Bowyer’s Bible” volumes
I-III. However, there is one grievous error: “By the way, the English longbow had better range and penetration than any crossbow.”This is utterly false. The military crossbows had
enormously more power *and* range. With draw weights in the 1200+ lbs range, even with a draw length 1/4 to 1/5 that of a long bow (and less efficiency) the crossbow can not only have significantly more power, but easily a 50 to 100 yard range advantage. Source: “The Crossbow” by Sir Payne-Gallwey, who derived his information through actual testing of surviving [pre-1700] crossbows.
Mind you, I consider the long bow to be a better choice, since it is easier to make and can be fired with greater rapidity (in general, 6 to 1 versus a windlass spanned crossbow). But a true military (let
alone rampart or siege) crossbow is significantly more powerful. – GFL
“Whenever good negotiates with evil, evil wins” – Rush Limbaugh (In an opinion piece aired on CBS evening news in its first week anchored by Katie Couric)
The high bidder in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction for a copy “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course was Jay S., with a bid of $160. Thanks, Jay! The course was kindly donated by Jake Stafford of Arbogast Publishing.
Today we’ve started a new blog benefit auction. This one is a for a fully tested and recently professionally calibrated U.S. government surplus Civil Defense CD V-717 fallout survey meter with remote sensing capability. The meter was donated by Ready Made Resources (one of our first and most loyal advertisers). These calibrated meters normally retail for $250 to $290 each. The opening bid is just $20. Consider that the factory calibration job alone is a $75 to $100 value. Please submit your bids via e-mail, The auction ends October 15th. BTW, be sure to visit the Ready Made Resources web site and check out their very wide range of products at great prices. They have it all: food storage, photovoltaics, NBC protection, wheat grinders, field telephones, water filters and much, much more.
Dear Jim,
Bows are a great asset to survival, but I’m going to differ from some of the other posters. First of all, compound bows require substantial technology to maintain. While fine, accurate hunting weapons, they are not your first choice for survival.
Laminated recurves are very efficient and very durable, but are fairly tough to make. They’re reasonably priced, however, and a good investment for the kit. Bowstrings for this can be made from dacron dental floss or heavy nylon thread, the kind used for sewing leather, which should be in your kit anyway. Instructions are available in numerous books, and it’s not that hard to do.
The longbows the English (and Welsh) used to slaughter the French en masse were very simple: a D-section of yew. There was no arrow rest, the nocks (correct spelling for this word, BTW) were just pieces of horn, and many bows did without nocks. Ash is also a good wood, and American hickory is about the best of all. Such bows are scraped, not whittled, and shaved to shape, slightly flat on the outside (belly) and half round on the inside (back). The wood should be well-seasoned and split so the shaping follows the natural grain. Native American and African bows follow this pattern, too, as did the bow the Otsi, the ice mummy dating from 4,500 BC in the Alps carried. You can gain additional advantage with either a heartwood/sapwood split (one being compressible, the other tensile), or by gluing rawhide to the belly.
Medieval arrows were ash, split and scraped round with a spokeshave. Metal points with conical mounts are fairly tough to forge without practice, but tanged arrows are easier. A broadhead is for hunting. For enemies, especially in armor, one uses a “bodkin,” which is a 2″ long quadrangular point that will (And did, at Crecy, Poitiers, Agincourt and other places) punch through 16 gauge steel at 100 yards with a strong enough bow. Stone or bone tips are always an option for unarmored targets, and the tip can be socketed so as to salvage the harder to make nocked section. The nock need only be a saw cut slot reinforced with twine, although quadrangular insets of hardwood or bone for reinforcement are possible. By the way, the English longbow had better range and penetration than any crossbow–the energy is a function of limb length, draw length and draw weight, and the heavier longbow arrow retains velocity better in flight. The modern drive for lighter arrows is a function of technological development. When in doubt, bigger is better (the same reason I prefer .45 to 9mm). There is an invoice from the era showing one family in England produced in excess of 1 MILLION arrows in a year. These are production arrows for volley fire, not fine arrows for hunting.
Fletching is traditionally goose feather, which is plentiful, bound on with thread and hide glue. A jig for 3 or 4 fletches is cheap to buy or easy to make. With four fletches, the nock is angled so as to have the feathers at 45 degrees to the string on either side. This means there is no right or wrong side to the arrow, which slightly increases rate of fire. Three-fletched arrows require the nock be at 90 degrees to ONE feather, so the other two are at an angle to the string to avoid catching. This method means less feather cross-section to slow the arrow. (The AREA of the fletching stabilizes the arrow, but the CROSS SECTION of the leading edges causes drag.)
The forearm holding the bow should be protected by a 4-8 oz leather bracer, which eliminates most string rash and arrow injuries. Also, be sure the elbow is angled properly (joint vertical) to reduce this. This is easier for women, by the way, with their arm geometry.
The average draw weight on bows salvaged from the Mary Rose, a 16th Century English warship that sunk in 1545, averaged 120 lbs. This seems at first glance to be very high, but a healthy adult male can manage 60 lbs without much practice, and a combination of practice and curls or pullups can raise that higher. I regularly shoot 60 lbs, and can manage 100 lbs if I have to.
The key historical aspect of the bow as a weapon is that the rate of fire was superior to any gunpowder weapon until breechloaders came along, but a bowman MUST be healthy. If he’s malnourished or doubled over with stomach problems, he can’t shoot. A gunner still can. The levies of bowmen during the Hundred Years War numbered in mere dozens per county per year in some cases. Granted, these were exceptional men with heavy bows during an era with little knowledge of sanitation, medicine or nutrition, but gunpowder weapons are logistically superior for an extended engagement.
En masse, a good volley rate of fire for longbows is 12 to 15 rounds per minute. Aimed shots are around 6 to 8. I have seen 14 rounds in 30 seconds at silhouette targets ranging from 20 to 70 yards, with every shot counting. I’d call that the upper limit of reality.
For crossbows, I’ve seen cheap, functional re-enactor bows made from a commercial Chinese prod (The bow part), which I sell for about $30 in 150 lb draw weight (Shameless plug) slotted into a 2 X 4 cut to take a simple press-type trigger. It’s worth having a few spare prods on hand for both commercial crossbows and home made versions.
Advantages of the crossbow are that it can be carried at the ready, can be shot very accurately like a rifle, and can be used prone, when sick or otherwise encumbered.
An excellent historical reference which will lead to other sources is Sir Robert Hardy’s “Longbow, A Social And Military History,” (ISBN 0-9645741-3-6)
– Michael Z. Williamson
Jim:
In a previous career I used to do blood work with a microscope. The most common error even among lab tech’s with experience is false rouleaux, that is, clumping caused by manhandling the blood, mistaken as true rouleaux. Even squeezing the finger to get a drop of blood can cause this. Putting the slide on the blood too hard can do this. Washing with saline if not perfect in osmolarity will cause other artifacts. While I am in full agreement with the McGyver school of expediency, the previously mentioned idea IMHO, is not something that can be done by the untrained and given the lethality of a mistake, not worth it. At $6 a card for [Eldon] blood type cards, just get the cards. If you have a patient who is low on blood and don’t have anti-shock pants and need to buy some time, consider tightly wrapping the limbs with whatever is handy. Towels, blankets, Ace bandages. This will force the remaining blood to the vital organs and brain.- SF in Hawaii
U.S. home foreclosures are surging. The ARM twisting is just beginning.
o o o
Bruce from Best Prices Storable Foods mentioned this chilling article on his web site (originally from WorldNetDaily): Al Qaeda may have preposition several nukes in the United States.
o o o
Pope Benedict XVI came under a hail of criticism from the Islamic world Friday for comments he made earlier in the week regarding the Prophet Mohammed and the Muslim faith, provoking street protests in some cities.
"Expensive is when the product is not worth the money." – Karl Welcher, Leica of Germany
Hello James,
In Sid Near Niagara’s posting he makes many helpful tips about archery. He also touches on the potential to have an arrow embed itself in your supporting arm, but states he has not seen this.
A very avid hunter friend of mine had a carbon fiber arrow that disintegrated into his arm. He spent 6 hrs in the operating room removing all the fiber shards and lost some mobility in his wrist. Fortunately this was not permanent and he has regained most all movement. He strongly regrets not having on an arm guard, and mentioned that he now is more conscious of the safety of his eyes as well.
When checking the integrity of a carbon fiber arrow, do the following:
1). Visually inspect the shaft of each arrow for cracks, splits, nicks, or fibers protruding.
2). Flex arrow between both hands, (envision the St. Louis Arch), and have the center of the arrow at least 3” above the ends of the arrows. If it does not snap, or make noise, it is a good sign of a “safe” arrow.
3). Lightly grasp one end of the arrow and tap against your leg, or a picnic table, etc… to listen for “loose” or odd sounds.
Lastly, as for knocks, keep an identical arrow at home for reference. If you need to re-glue your knocks, it is imperative that you do so at the appropriate location in reference to your fletchings or your shot could go wild.
Please use common sense and do not attempt such safety checks with broad heads or similar sharp points attached to the arrow. Ask your salesman if he has any additional tips for spotting a damaged arrow.
-The Wanderer
Jim:
Dr. Kurt Richebächer’s “A Tightening Farce” featured in Wednesday’s September 13th, 2006 edition of The Daily Reckoning makes three salient observations about the way asset inflation in the housing market leads to economic dislocation.
Item: “Housing price busts have larger wealth effects on consumption than the
equity price busts [do]…”
Item: “All major banking crises in industrial countries during the postwar period coincided with housing price busts.”
Item: “The disinflation increased the real burden of debt, which exposed inflation-related overinvestment and associated financial frailty."
A stock market crash primarily affects discretionary spending; a housing market crash will leave many homeowners insolvent and create repercussions in the economy as a whole. Homeowner insolvency will cause banks to accrue large foreclosure positions and force them to restate assets and earnings to a new, lower level. This will leave less money for new loans [i.e., “disinflation“ or credit contraction]. This will cause interest rates to spike upward as businesses rush to borrow funds for the completion of projects that looked profitable when the housing boom was in full flower. This frenzy will push out other borrowers, particularly small business owners who may have secured start-up capital by acquiring a second mortgage on their home. Whoops! One more homeowner is now in bankruptcy court…
Is that the sound of “cross-cascading defaults” I hear in the distance? Regards, – Christian W.
Mr. Rawles:
Good day to you and yours. I hope they are all in good health. In regards to your submissions in the 9-14 blog, “The Importance for Blood Typing.” A friend wrote is submission in another forum, that I have kept for a while now. This would be a better then nothing option that might actually save a life. But like everything else in life you have to make minimal preparations now for it to work later. If you ever had to use this technique, right then is not the time to have to gather the materials to perform the test and of course, if it is your wife or child that this bleeding, you would not want to be trying this for the first time. If you have an established retreat and personnel, then you should already have basic information about each person, blood type allergies and so on. But as in your excellent book Patriots, there could very well be a need to take on new people into the group (even after “Badtimes” has started) that might not know their blood type so I can see this as a viable (emergency) option. With this system if you had a working knowledge of several people’s blood type you could come up with a persons blood type through the process of elimination. I would recommend everyone have basic medical information about each of the family members on some type of laminated card so that they can have it a moments notice in an emergency.
This describes a primitive medical technique: the life saving procedure of cross matching blood. Done under primitive conditions of a long term TEOTWAWKI situation.
1. Take a hypodermic needle from a pressure cooker (expedient autoclave “Not very pretty but it works.”)
2. Draw a blood sample and carefully squirted it into a test tube from a child’s chemistry set.
3. Place the tube into a sock with a piece of parachute cord was attached and whirl the test tube around and around (expedient centrifuging) continued to swing the test tube until you separated the cells from the fluid.
4. Draw off the fluid and wash the cells with saline working rapidly.
5. Have cells and fluid from the patients who need blood to test against.
6. Put sample of cells into a sample of the patient’s serum, and the patient’s cells in yours and look in the microscope.
7. The microscope can also come from a child’s collection but local high schools science equipment would be better.
8. It may be difficult to work with but you must be careful with the focus.
9. Worked the focus, when the instrument is properly focused, observe the blood cells.
10. Little stacks of adhering saucers are Rouleaux formations which indicate clumping, meaning the blood types are incompatible. No clumping indicates compatibility.
11. Now record the potential donors name and blood type (if known) and who they can or can donate to.
12. You must test and fill out these file cards for every person in your group.
13. Have this information determined well ahead of time.
14. Remember you will have no way to store whole blood, except in the donor.
Condensed from: Lucifer’s Hammer
REMEMBER: GOOD HYGIENE CAN PREVENT MANY PROBLEMS. WASH YOUR HANDS AND BOIL YOUR WATER!
Poor hygiene and disrupted water supplies would lead to an increase in diseases such as typhoid and cholera.
Without vaccines there would be a progressive return in infectious diseases such as polio, tetanus, whooping cough, diphtheria, mumps etc, especially among children. People suffering from chronic illnesses such as asthma, diabetes or epilepsy would be severely affected with many dying (especially insulin dependent diabetics). With no antibiotics there would be no treatment for bacterial infections, pneumonia and a cut would kill again, contagious diseases (including those sexually transmitted) would make a come back and high mortality rates would be associated with any surgery. There would be no anesthetic agents resulting in a return to tortuous surgical procedures with the patient awake or if they were lucky drunk or stoned. The same would apply to painkillers, a broken leg would be agony and dying of cancer would be distressing for the patient and their family. The pregnancy rate would rise and with it the maternal and neonatal death rates, woman would die during pregnancy and delivery again and premature babies would die. In the absence of proper dental care teeth would rot and painful extractions would have to be performed. What limited medical supplies were available would have to be recycled, resulting in increases risks of hepatitis and HIV infection. Regards to you and yours, – Chuck K.