Notes From JWR:

The bidding is now up to $135 in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction for a copy “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course. The course was kindly donated by Jake Stafford of Arbogast Publishing. Please submit your bids via e-mail. This auction ends on September 15th.

The following article was written by the winner of Round 5 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. It is a fine article that deserves special recognition. But unfortunately since Peter just recently won the writing contest, he isn’t eligible to win again for 10 more months. 🙁 So to reward him, I just sent him a complimentary box of assorted books from my mail order catalog.

Personal Hygiene in a Biowarfare World, by TruthFirst

It’s a new world: West Nile virus, Cryptosporidium, Anthrax, Norwalk virus, Cholera (in the Gulf States, from shellfish!), Avian Flu, Ebola, Malaria (yes, in the US!), Hepatitis C, HIV / AIDS, genetically-engineered bacteria, and the ominous and very real threat of biological warfare. Thanks to the speed of international travel, persons who would have never made it very far from the point they were infected can now circle the globe in the time it takes to develop symptoms.
Someone you bump into at the mall could have contracted an exotic disease in Africa last week. The person who used the restroom before you could have just come from South America and is only now coming down with cholera. The person you shake hands with could have just shook hands with someone carrying Hepatitis A.
The odds of your becoming infected with a truly dangerous disease are small, but real. (No one even wants to catch a Type A flu!) You could go around in a biohazard suit all day, but of course you’d be treated like some kind of freak. There is good news, though: effective personal hygiene practices don’t have to be “weird” or attention-getting!
There are simple steps that with practice can become second-nature habits, and simple things you can buy, which will significantly reduce your potential for catching any contagious disease. These steps will help with everything from colds and flu to bio-weapon attacks or genetic-engineering accidents.

Do the basics:
Eat right, exercise, get a good night’s sleep. A healthy body is far more resistant to bacteria and viruses.
If there’s an outbreak of the flu, cold, or worse going on in your community, minimize going out in public as much as possible until things get better. If it’s something truly nasty, stay home and eat from your pantry a week until things improve. (Stored food and water are recommended by the Red Cross and Department of Homeland Security.)
Keep in mind that staying well isn’t so much a matter of avoiding germs entirely, as it is minimizing your exposure. It generally takes a certain number of bacteria or viruses to overcome your body’s natural defenses and make you ill. So you get exposed to some germs – it’s not a big deal as long as the number is relatively small because your body will be able to protect you.

Buy the basics:
1. Waterless hand sanitizer lotions are available in the grocery store (Purell is probably best). Buy a little bottle for your pocket or purse. You an refill it from a larger size bottle. Lotions can get into the tiny cracks and crevices in your hand better than towelettes. (Use a generous amount and wash your hands with hot water and antimicrobial soap at your first opportunity.)
2. Buy a couple boxes of pop-up antiseptic / antimicrobial towelettes that contain bleach to keep at home and at work. They make cleanup quicker and less smelly than sprays (and you won’t accidentally get the chemicals on things you don’t want sprayed, like your clothes).
3. Get a box of nonsterile vinyl gloves from your pharmacy or store. They’re inexpensive and also good for painting, cleaning up dog or cat accidents, scrubbing the kitchen or bathroom with harsh chemicals, etc. For your purposes they don’t have to fit snugly like surgical gloves, and vinyl doesn’t have the allergen complications of latex (rubber) gloves. Nitrile gloves are more expensive, but are harder to puncture. Carry a pair of gloves with you, if possible, for those times when you’re giving first aid or you have to handle something that may have been contaminated with germs, chemicals, or even just dirt and grease. They do get old and crack eventually, so you might want to change them every 6 months or so.
4. Buy a box of folding protective masks, 3M model #9211 (about $10). They’re not as efficient as “N100” dust/filter masks, but because they’re foldable you can keep one with you most times. Keep one for each member of your family in your purse, glove box, or briefcase. (NOTE: If you’re wondering, dry masks filter particles better than wet masks.) Your mask should be rated “N95” or better – most “surgical masks” are actually very poor filters and don’t form a good seal to your face. Know how and when to use your mask.
5. A little bottle of nasal saline spray, or Xlear spray (even better), can be used any time you’ve been in close quarters with someone who’s sick. The xylitol in Xlear greatly reduces the number of bacteria or viruses that attach to the inside of your nose and sinus cavities.
6. Get facial tissue pocket-packs to carry in your pocket, purse, or briefcase. They’re better than handkerchiefs, which can continue to re-expose you to the very same bacteria or viruses you just got rid of.

Hand hygiene:
1. Keep your hands away from your eyes, nose, and mouth unless (1) you’ve just washed or sanitized them, or (2) you’re using a facial tissue. Since people often rub their eyes or touch their face unconsciously. Not doing so is probably the hardest new habit to learn. Fewer organisms are floating in the air than have settled out on surfaces (or other person’s hands) that you’ve touched. Not touching your face is the #1 best way of reducing the number of bacteria and viruses that get access to your body. Work on it!
2. Make a habit of washing your hands frequently (for those times when you do accidentally touch your face). Wash every time you use the restroom, before every time you snack, before every meal, and at bedtime.
3. When you wash your hands, remember this: it’s at least as important to dry your hands thoroughly as to wash them thoroughly. Washing rarely kills every germ on your hands, but if your hands are damp, it’s far easier for the few germs on your hands to be transferred to another surface or person than if your hands were completely dry.
4. Glove up any time you’re around bodily fluids, such as at an accident scene, or helping someone who’s become sick. If there’s not time, wash up and sanitize your hands immediately afterwards. The likelihood of infection in this manner is small, but it has happened. Any object or clothing that comes into contact with bodily fluids is contaminated too and needs to be disposed of or disinfected (clothing or bedding can be washed – use a little bleach).
5. On a somewhat related note, encourage children to blow their noses, rather than sniffing when they have a runny nose. Better to expel the stuff rather than inhaling bacteria and viruses still deeper into the nasal passages.
At school, work, or shopping:
1. It may not be practical at work, but try to wash your face at least a couple of times during the day. A washcloth makes this much easier to do – you can wash, and rinse with the same cloth. Put it in a Ziploc for the trip home each day.
2. Don’t hold pencils, pens, or tools in your mouth. Buy a belt holder / holster for frequently-used items if your shirt or uniform doesn’t have a pocket.
3. If you share a keyboard or area at work with someone who’s been sick, wipe your computer keyboard, phone, and entire area down with an antiseptic towelette each day.
4. If a house- or office-guest or customer was coughing or sick, after they leave, wipe down all of the hard surfaces they may have come in contact with: doorknobs (inside & outside), tables & counters, etc. Using one of the commercially available pop-up towelettes that contain bleach will make this more convenient!
5. Spray your nose a couple of times during the day during cold and flu season to wash away germs that may have floated in.

Restrooms:
We don’t like to talk about them, but potty functions are one of the greatest opportunities to accidentally transfer germs to surfaces and from there to your eyes, nose, and mouth. Ignorance is not bliss! These steps below will take you only another 30 seconds. A little attention and some simple new habits will go a long way toward protecting you from getting sick:
1. Before doing anything in a public restroom examine the toilet seat that you are contemplating having intimate contact with. If its wet or flecked with stuff, switch stalls.
2. Then, look at the floor around the toilet and run your foot over the tiling. Also look at the back of the toilet seat where it attaches to the wall or tank. If the floor or toilet seat are wet they may have just been cleaned, or the toilet’s recently overflowed, or someone’s got bad aim. In any case, you don’t want cleaning chemicals or toilet overflow on your clothes (and from there to your body and eventually your hands!) – just switch stalls!
3. Flush once before sitting down (if you flush after sitting down you just misted your south end with microscopic bits of stuff left in the water). If there are skid marks or other remnants from previous users, flush and keep flushing until the bowl appears clean, or switch stalls. Even if there is any invisible residue from the previous user still in the water, “pre-flushing” will help remove or dilute it further. (This will also show you if the toilet has been plugged up by the last user and is going to overflow after you use it, in which case, switch stalls!)
4. Take a wad of toilet paper off the roll (check to be sure its not wet – some places leave spare toilet paper (TP) rolls on the floor
), and wipe the toilet seat off. This is also a good check that there is TP in the stall and that you won’t end up being stranded. Buttock skin in its intact state is generally impervious to germs (but not cleaning chemicals). But even if your skin is pristine, the previous user’s may not have been, hence the need for cleaning and a barrier (below).
5. Then put the TP wipe into the water and even add a little more so that you create a “splash-down damper” to minimize splash-back during your use, which at least in theory could infect you through your rectal mucosa. Just think about it for a moment.
6. Toilet seat covers are your extra bit of insurance from coming into contact with something unpleasant on the seat. You can buy seat covers at the grocery store in little plastic carriers for your purse or briefcase (“Charmin To Go” is one example), or take one or two the next time you’re in a public restroom, fold them up, and put them in a little Ziploc Snack-size bag. If the stall doesn’t have seat covers, you can drape TP around on the seat (seat covers are probably faster, but TP is softer
) Some people even carry their own toilet paper (again, you can buy it in little plastic carriers) in case every stall in the restroom they pick is out. (And in case you didn’t know, the toilet seat cover should be flushed.)
7. You’ve checked the seat and floor, wiped the seat, improvised your splash-down damper, and deployed your seat cover in 30 seconds or less. Now, as you sit down, keep one final thing in mind: do not allow any portion of your tender regions to touch the toilet seat, or toilet rim, or its all for naught. This can be an extra challenge for men for reasons that should be apparent. Neither the seat nor rim is sterile, and it may be very unpleasant or impossible to adequately clean yourself once you make accidental contact. ‘Nuff said

8. Step away from the toilet and dress yourself again when you’re through, check to make sure none of your pocket stuff – guys in particular – has fallen into the toilet (I say this from experience
), and only then flush the toilet. The splashing action and force of many modern toilets creates a fine mist that can contain bits of toilet content and drift around in the air. Exit the stall as the toilet is flushing. No loitering

9. After you’ve washed your hands with hot water and soap, you should also try to turn the faucet off without touching it with your hands, since the knob(s) could be contaminated. Some faucet designs make this easy with paddle-shaped handles. Newer public faucets are electronic and have no knobs at all. (Imagine your hands with paint on them. If you touched the faucet handles to wash the paint off, how will you turn the faucet off without getting the “paint” back on you again?)
10. After using a public restroom be aware that others have probably left the room without washing their hands, and the doorknob to exit is probably contaminated with their germs. After you’ve washed your hands and thoroughly dried them, keep the paper towels you used and use them to open the door (if it pulls toward you). If there are no towels use a facial tissue, piece of toilet paper, or the sleeve of your coat to grasp the handle, or use the knob but give yourself a generous dab of hand sanitizer (Purell is great) after you exit to sanitize your hands. Throw the paper towel away after you exit the restroom.
11. And while we’re on the subject: clean your home bathroom before guests arrive (so it looks nice!), but also remember to clean your bathroom after they leave (so your guests haven’t inadvertently left you a bio-present).

Eating:
Minimize eating out. Teenagers and convicts are frequently the food preparers, and neither have very much concern for the basics of food safety. We have often been shocked to see just who was cooking our meals. Not to mention your food and its packaging goes through many more hands than meals prepared at home. Sit-down restaurants are probably better than fast food places, and they may actually serve food fit to eat (less fat, in particular). Observe the employees in restaurants you routinely visit. If they appear unhealthy, find a different place to eat.
Public salad bars, cold food counters, buffets, cold salads, peeled fruit and cream dishes are easily contaminated (by accident or on purpose). Try to avoid these wherever possible. Your food should be steaming hot when it is served to you, to guarantee its at least been heated recently. Undercooked seafood in particular can harbor an amazing variety of diseases (ironically, frying adequately sterilizes most everything). Avoid condiments that are served from dishes that could be coughed on or otherwise contaminated. Avoid dishes which are dipped into with crackers or chips or bread by several different people.
Drink pure water. If possible, don’t drink water from the city water supply (chlorinated water still has dead bacteria in it, may still have active viruses and parasites, and the chlorine really isn’t good for you). If you’re not on your own well, use distilled or reverse osmosis water to drink and cook with. Home water purifiers vary greatly in cost and effectiveness – get the best filter or system you can afford. City water supplies are vulnerable to terrorist attack as well as accidental contamination. Try to avoid drinking out of drinking fountains, if possible (my own son caught Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease in this way, so I know it can happen). Keeping yourself hydrated helps your body be healthy and fight infections.
Flying (also applies to riding the bus or riding the train or subway):
NOTE: People who have flown within the past week get colds at four times the average rate, so a little extra attention to hygiene is worth avoiding a week or more of misery!
1. Leave rested and well fed.
2. Bring your own (little) pillow if it’s going to be a long flight or trip.
3. Spray your nose frequently during and after your trip.
4. Keep your hands away from your face.
5. Keep your hands washed or sanitized.
6. Drink plenty of (bottled) water.
7. Avoid alcohol on your trip – it dries out your body quicker.
8. If you’re seated near someone who’s obviously ill, ask a flight attendant for a different seat if possible. If you’re on a bus or train, move somewhere else. If you can’t move, and the person sounds sick enough, break out your folding dust mask.

Using a Dust Mask:
You usually only want to wear a mask under three conditions. One, if there is a particularly bad flu or cold going around, and your immune system is already run down from another illness, medication, or surgery. Or if you’re “trapped” sitting near someone who’s obviously very sick, but you can’t get away because you’re in an airplane, bus, train, or subway. Or finally, if you suspect there has been some kind of biowarfare release in your area, or refugees are arriving in town from a city that’s been attacked.
Things to remember when using a protective mask:
1. Getting a good seal around the mask against your face is critical. If air is able to leak around the mask and into your mouth and nose it is not being filtered. Follow the directions that come with the mask closely.
2. Once you arrive at a safe destination – an evacuation point or your own home – keep your mask on while you change clothes outside. Bag up your contaminated clothes until you can find out if it was a real biological or chemical attack. If no one else is at home to help, just do your best to contaminate as few areas as possible while doing this.
3. Treat the outside of your mask as contaminated. If there really were harmful biological organisms in the air that it filtered out, they’re now stuck to the outside of the mask. Take it off carefully, outdoors, so as not to disturb the germs on its surface, then dispose of it in a sealed bag.
4. Then thoroughly wash and disinfect your hands and face (use Purell, but don’t get it in your eyes; even just soap and water is good), then take a shower. If you have some zinc-base eye drops use them to try to flush and disinfect your eyes (bacteria and viruses getting into your lungs are a much greater threat than eyes).

Miscellaneous
When using a locker room, pool, or public shower try to keep your wet feet from touching clothing that will eventually touch your body. This can be pretty tricky (bathing suits, underwear, pants, etc.), but you really don’t want to apply what’s on the floor to your body. And don’t put your clothes on the floor for the same reason. Every time I’ve gotten “athlete’s foot” its been from showering at the gym or pool, so you know there are germs there!
It should go without saying that you shouldn’t share makeup, chap-stick, lipstick, powder brushes, etc. that have been used by others because of the possibility that they may contaminate you. The risk is low, but there is some risk. Use a little common sense.

In an actual biological warfare attack:
If there is a known biowarfare release in your area and you use your car to drive home, your car may become contaminated inside (from you) and outside, and you may be taking deadly biological agents with you to contaminate your home. Also, studies have shown that nearby buildings are a much better shelter from biological or chemical weapons than cars are.
If the government is pretty sure there has been a biological attack, go to the decontamination areas specified by the government over the radio or television. If you’ve gotten a good dose of germs you’re going to need professional medical help to decontaminate yourself and to survive the exposure. Quick use of your protective mask will reduce your exposure. The key phrase is “minimize your exposure.”
If you’re concerned about biological warfare, get more information from the Department of Homeland Security, the Centers for Disease Control, the RAND Corporation, or the American Red Cross. Paranoia doesn’t help, but reasonable preparation makes a lot of sense.

Print out, laminate, and refer to the following summary. Some habits are hard to break and will need constant work:

PERSONAL HYGIENE

Hand hygiene:
Keep your hands away from your face
Wash and thoroughly dry your hands frequently
Wear gloves if you know something is contaminated

At school, work, or shopping:
Wash your face a couple of times during the day [washcloth]
Don’t put stuff in your mouth.
After a potentially sick persons leaves, wipe down all of the hard surfaces
Spray your nose often

Restrooms:
Check the toilet seat
Check around and behind the toilet
Pre-flush
Wipe the seat
Make your splash-down damper
Use a toilet seat cover
Don’t touch the toilet seat or toilet rim
Step away from the toilet and dress. Exit the stall as the toilet is flushing.
Wash with soap and hot water – don’t touch the faucet handles afterwards
Don’t touch the restroom door handle – use a paper towel or something

Eating:
Minimize eating out.
Avoid salad bars, cold food counters, and buffets
Drink lots of pure water.

Public Transit: (in addition to the above)
Leave rested and well fed.
Bring your own pillow
Avoid alcohol on your trip – it dries out your body quicker.
If you’re seated near someone who’s obviously ill, just move

Odds ‘n Sods:

While on the road yesterday we were traveling though horse country. Every little herd seemed to have at lest one Paint or Appaloosa. I think that what we were witnessing was the collective maneuvering of umpteen rancher’s daughters. Obviously they all convinced daddy of their fond desires.

   o o o

Today we are looking ar some real estate on behalf of a consulting client. The criteria list is extensive. In this case we are looking for a remote property that is well off any expected refugee lines of drift. The property must be at least five acres and it have a large creek or river running through it, and have adjoining Forest Service or BLM land on at least three sides. The budget for an unimproved parcel (no house yet built) is $100,000, or with an existing house, $275,000. That may sound impossible, but at least the client is willing to look at off-grid parcels. With that option, we might be able to find him something in his price range.

   o o o

Reader J K mentioned: I don’t recall seeing mention of Gorilla Tape on this site and if that’s so, you need to check it out. It looks just like black duct tape but it is *much* better, so much so that I would be tempted to put it on the very top of my “must have for survival” list! You might check with your big box stores to see if they’d sell you a case of it at a discount. I would suggest you take each roll that you’re going to store and seal it in a vacuum sealer bag (I’m fairly sure that a low oxygen environment will increase the lifetime of the adhesive, as it will with duct tape.). In my many years of looking into such things, I’ve never run across another product with the “fix-it” potential of this stuff and I say that as someone who has no financial interest in the company.

 

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.” -Winston Churchill

Keeping Your Preparations Low Profile

Of all of the aspects of preparing a survival retreat, perhaps the most overlooked in survivalist literature are privacy and operational security (OPSEC). Your preparations must be kept secret from all but your most trusted friends. All of your expensive logistics could disappear in a few hours soon after TEOTWAWKI. Your “hidey hole” could be stripped clean by looters or overzealous government agents wielding “emergency powers.” You must absolutely resist the urge to mention your preparations to anyone who does not have a need to know about them. I am not suggesting that you lie to anyone. That would be a sin. But learn to keep your mouth shut, and learn how to redirect conversations. Doing so is simply wise and prudent.

What is legal today may be deemed illegal tomorrow under martial law or at the whim of some bureaucrat that is handed “emergency powers.” Witness the mass confiscations of privately owned firearms following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. With the help of the liberal media the concepts of saving and storing may be demonized and redefined as “hoarding” immediately after disaster strikes.

Let’s also get our terminology straight: If you have been saving during times of plenty you are not a hoarder. A hoarder is someone that removes an disproportionately large chunk of logistics after shortages have occurred. By saving and storing now, well in advance of a crisis, you represent one less person that will rush to the grocery store after disaster strikes. So you won’t be part of the problem. Rather, you’ll be part of the solution, especially if you dispense your excess supplies as charity.

For a good example of common sense privacy in action, take the time to read the Profile of Mr. and Mrs. Bravo.

If you have a been vocal about the erosion of our Constitutional liberties, then you may be on some list. Ditto for letters to the editor, letters to you congresscritters, or just a subscription to a gun or hunting magazine. There has been a lot of talk the patriot community about the alleged Red and Blue round-up lists. These may or may not exist. (I tend to think that they are mythical.) Should they actually exist, you may or may not be on them. But as Mark Koernke put it so succinctly: “There is only one list. We’re all on the list. Some of us are just higher up the list than others!”

If you have reason to believe that your anonymity has already been compromised, then consider that a.) You cant get anonymity back unless you change your name and completely drop out of sight (impractical for most), and B.) You will have to take some countermeasures.

Perhaps the best countermeasure is to make a clean start the next time that you move. (Presumably to your retreat location.) Do not send forward ing cards for any magazine subscription that are that are even marginally controversial. Consider buying your next home in the name of a land trust or in someone else’s name. (Perhaps a sister or some aunt or uncle with a different surname and with a low profile.) See Boston T. Party’s book Bulletproof Privacy for further details on making a clean break.

Make all cash (no paper trail) acquisitions of guns, bulk ammo, and bulk logistics. Never use a credit card for such purposes. Unless you already have a very high profile, resist the urge to buy your ammo, reference books and assorted gear via mail order. The only exception would be if you use an assumed name and a drop box.

It is essential to impress upon your family the importance of keeping quiet about your preparations. In one of his his books, Dr. Bruce Clayton tells the tragicomic story of when he moved to a small town in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, where he planned to construct a fallout shelter in his basement. His recently retired mother moved there with him. While Clayton was occupied ferrying supplies to his new haven, his mother was busy chatting with all of their new neighbors about Clayton’s survival plans and logistics–in detail!

If you have a high political profile, it might be wise to purchase your retreat and/or rent storage space in someone else’s name. For example a sister or brother-in law with a different surname could be the owner of record. Another option is establishing a land trust, and having the trust make the purchase. Your attorney could be the trustee of a trust that owns the land. Yet another option is to set up a Nevada or Delaware corporation and having the corporation make the land purchase.

In essence, keeping a low profile involves common sense and knowing when to keep your mouth shut.

Letter Re: How Much Ammo to Store For Self Defense and Hunting?

Mr. Rawles:
I found reading your Retreat Owner Profiles fascinating. One item I noticed was that even those with incomes significantly less than mine, sometimes by a factor of 30 to 1, had much more ballistic wampum. How many rounds do you recommend for survival but not trade?[

[JWR Adds: I slightly fictionalized the following, for purposes of illustration]: My circumstances are as follows: I live on the Big Island of Hawaii, in the Mountain View farming district of North Puna, plenty of rainfall (with catchment), lots of fruit trees, fairly high elevation (only minor need of house heating). I have a house on a pair of two acre lots that are held fee simple, no debt, and some neighbors that I can trust. Most of my neighbors are on larger acreages. I have the following guns, all registered: AR-15, SIG P226 (9mm), Winchester Marine 12 gauge riotgun, Ruger Stainless 10/.22, Winchester Model 1892 .44-40 carbine (pre-1899 antique), S&W .44-40 DA top break (pre-1899 antique), S&W Model 66 .357 revolver, Ruger Old Army Stainless steel .44 (black powder revolver). Thanks! – Dr. MacNut

JWR Replies: Hawaii has a fairly high population density by mainland standards, but at least you live on the island with the lowest pop density. You are also at moderate risk of government confiscation of your guns, ammo, and magazines.) In your situation I would recommend stocking the following as minimum quantities for self defense and hunting:
4,000 rounds for your primary rifle (Recommend that you upgrade to .308)
3,000 for .22s
1,000 for shotgun (20% Buckshot, 5% slugs, and 75% in bird shot)
3,000 for your SIG P226 (or more, as you add guns to your battery)
500 rounds per secondary or non-standard caliber gun (such as your .357. .44-40s, and .25-20)
Lead, powder, and percussion caps for 500 rounds for the .44 Old Army. You should also buy a couple of spare cylinders that you can keep loaded, or better yet get a Kirst .45 Long Colt conversion kit.

I recommend that you add a .308 battle rifle to your battery, preferably a FN-FAL, L1A1, or AR-10. If you eventually decide to purchase some ammo for barter, the sky is the limit for quantity, particularly on Hawaii. Why? Because of the damp climate and high shipping costs, the majority of Hawaiian gun owners keep only a small stock of ammunition. WTSHTF if you have extra ammo available for barter, you will sitting pretty. Buy plenty of the most popular deer hunting caliber on the Big Island (I presume .30-30?), plus lots of. 22 LR, 12 gauge, 9mm, .40 S&W. .38, .357, and .45 ACP.Keep it all in sealed containers (such as military surplus ammo cans) with silica gel desiccant in each container

Get plenty of spare magazines for your guns. Calculate: 12 magazines per pistol and 10 magazines per rifle. Then, since you are at high risk of eventual magazine confiscation (they have already banned 11+ round pistol and SMG magazines in Hawaii), double that figure. Then grease up half of them with R.I.G. or cosmolene and cache them.

Aside for a small reserve left out for target practice or impromptu self defense, I recommend that you keep your ammo equally divided between three separate locations: A.) underground caches in plastic tubes, B.) in house (wall, lanai, and/or crawlspace) caches, and C.) in garage (wall) caches. This will minimize risk of burglary or confiscation. If any of your structure presently has any bare studs, you can seal (without a vacuum) the ammo (with a Tilia Food Saver or similar machine), with an enclosed small packet of silica gel. Then stack the ammo packages between studs, and put up 3/4″ plywood with power screws. Only a very determined burglar would be able to find that.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader M.M. mentioned this scary news article from England: Six Years of Below Average Harvests, Globally. He commented: “Harvests are less than the population eats for the sixth straight year and the warehoused surplus is almost gone. Famine or serious and aggressive agriculture are the two potential outcomes. If it goes like it has for the oil, the free food is over and the price of food will be bid up until demand is destroyed, such as a poor country doesn’t get its shipments. And that is that for them…” Meanwhile, reader Ben L. sent this corroborating piece from Rense.com. Ben says: “Let me say that info on that sites scares the h**l out of me! “… 15.7 pounds of reserved foodstuffs in the food-chain for every man, woman, and child in the United States”? Not per day, but total weight?
Forget the MBR, folks; time to start stocking-up on foodstuffs.” To this, I add my advice: stock up on storage food for your family, plus plenty of extra for barter and charity, muy pronto. Please patronize our advertisers first.

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I just heard that there is a RWVA rifle shoot scheduled for September 910, in Stuart, Virginia. If you live anywhere near Virginia, be there! The RWVA offers great practical marksmanship training for a nominal fee.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Just Because You’re Paranoid Doesn’t Mean That They’re Not Out To Get You ” – Sign posted in the orderly room of the 519th ASA Company

Note from JWR:

Today we are pleased to welcome our latest advertiser, Best Prices Storable Foods. They are located in Texas, but ship throughout the United States. They sell long term storage dehydrated foods, canned soft butter, canned soft cheese, canned meats, grain mills, water filters, diatomaceous earth, and much more. Please check out their products at their web site. As with all of our other advertisers, when contacting them please mention that you saw their ad at SurvivalBlog

Letter Re: Religious Versus Non-Religious Neighbors, Post-TEOTWAWKI

Mr. Rawles:
You were quoted as stating: “I’m often asked why I make such a ‘big deal’ about choosing conservative Christians, Messianic Jews, or Orthodox Jews for neighbors. The plain truth is that in a societal collapse there will be a veritable vacuum of law enforcement. In such times, with a few exceptions, it will only be the God fearing that will continue to be law abiding. Choose your neighborhood wisely.” Perhaps you might clarify for your non-believing readers what side you would place them on come TEOTWAWKI. For the sake of full disclosure? It seems to me that in an overwhelmingly religious nation such as this, it’s statistically the believers one should perhaps be concerned about. Let’s not confuse those suffering from “bad theology” with those lacking a theology. Otherwise an excellent site. Kind Regards, – James C.

JWR Replies: First, I don’t consider the U.S. an “overwhelmingly religious nation.” Perhaps it was in the 1950s. But not today. Less than 20% of Americans now attend church regularly. In the main, people that believe that they will be judged for their actions in the hereafter will be the people that you can trust more to remain law abiding, post-TEOTWAWKI. I don’t doubt that there are some non-religious people that have strong morals and reliable compunctions against engaging in theft and violence. In fact, I know lots of them. (Including my father in law, BTW.) All that I assert is that folks like you (presumably very moral, upstanding, and law abiding, but not religious–or perhaps subscribing to a non Judeo-Christian religion) are in the minority in our secular society as a whole. I assert that there is just a thin veneer of civilization, even in First World countries. Most people have weak morals and no compunctions about taking what they want if they think that nobody is looking. You ask “on what side” will I place them? As for folks that aren’t faithfully and outwardly religious (meaning: in a faith that includes a fear of God and the judgment to come) then I would have to know them for a substantially longer period of time to discern their moral values and trustworthiness.

As for theology, yes, I am a purist. I feel strongly convicted to speak up about bad doctrine (2 John 10). Why must I be so forthright and absolutist? Because I believe that bad doctrine is leading millions of people down the wrong path. Nothing can shake me from the conviction that men are saved only by faith in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:8-9) and that faith in Christ is a pre-ordained gift. (Ephesians 1:4-5, 1 Peter 1:2, and John 1:12-13) Further, I believe that God’s elect come from all nations and races. (Matthew 28:19.) And, to reiterate a theme that I’ve stressed in previous posts, I fully intend to dispense charity post-TEOTWAWKI to everyone in need, regardless of their religion. I consider that my Christian duty.

Letter Re: Expedient Faraday Cage EMP Protection, and Satellite Radio in Emergency Alert Network?

Jim –
I have a a few questions for your readers regarding satellite radio (subscription-based services such as Sirius) if you would be kind enough to consider a posting.

But first, many thanks to E.H. and Sun Dog for their replies in regard to Faraday cages, their use, and construction. I think it particularly handy knowing that a microwave oven could make a pretty good Faraday cage, and now that I think about it, this makes perfect sense. For those of you that have built, or are in the process of building (or are considering building) hardened shelters, if you intend to include a microwave oven for cooking, so much the better. They way I look at it, anything that can serve two (or more) functions is great – especially where space is at a premium. I like microwave ovens for cooking as they are efficient enough to run off even a small solar system. For those of you just looking for a way to protect your valuable equipment from EMP, you might want to pick up an old non-functional unit from friend or as a “trash treasure” – after all, they need not be operable to work as a Faraday cage.

I have another question that I would like that I would like to throw out, this time regarding satellite radio. Is there an advantage to having satellite radio reception in a shelter environment? My thoughts are that even in a worst case scenario of protracted nuclear exchange, there will be radio and television stations that survive. But this does one little good if you are not in range, which in the case of AM, FM, or TV, is for all practical purposes, line of sight. On the other hand, a station broadcasting to a satellite. even from a remote (and therefore safe) location, could have the ability to reach out to vast areas. Does anyone know 1) the postulated result of nuclear war on the ability of satellites to function? 2) Is there a plan for the government to take over these airways (Satellite FM) in the case of an international incident to broadcast official reports? 3) Is there any obvious advantage of satellite radio over short wave, which will also be functional after such an exchange, albeit perhaps broadcasting from other areas of the world. Thanks, – REM

JWR Replies: Your suggestion about finding non-functional microwave ovens is a great idea. You just earned yourself a BFO (“Blinding flash of the obvious”) award. (A free autographed copy of my novel “Patriots”.) If you buy an oven that is a confirmed “DOA” be sure to snip off the power cord. That way there is no confusing it with a working oven, and you will also remove a potential “unintentional antenna” for EMP. If you live in a damp climate, seal up the interior (cooking compartment) vent holes with duct tape and throw in a large bag of silica gel desiccant with the radios. Rotate that once every couple of months, replacing it with a bag that has recently been dried out.

As for satellite radio: You’ve brought up a subject that is foreign to me, since I don;’t own one. However, I do know that XM is already set up for emergency broadcasting. It will soon be part of the U.S. Emergency Alert System (EAS)–the technological grandchild of the old U.S. CONELRAD system (circa 1953 to 1963). According to the latest Wikipedia entry: “Digital television, digital cable, XM Satellite Radio, Sirius Satellite Radio, Grendade, Worldspace, IBOC, DAB and digital radio broadcasters will be required to participate in EAS beginning December 31, 2006. DIRECTV, Dish Network, and Digital Broadcast Satellite will be required to participate beginning May 31, 2007. Video Dial Tone (OVS) will be required to participate beginning July 1, 2007.”

Perhaps some SurvivalBlog readers would like to chime in on the implications of these new broadcast technologies becoming part of the EAS.

Odds ‘n Sods:

The bidding is now up to $125 in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction for a copy “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course. The course was kindly donated by Jake Stafford of Arbogast Publishing. Please submit your bids via e-mail. This auction ends on September 15th.

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An international climate panel revises global warming forecast: climate change now thought to be less severe.

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Reader S.F. in Hawaii e-mailed us: “The other day I received some bank notes (Marks) that I had ordered from a collector. These were from the Weimar Republic dating 1917 to 1923. I got them in the following denominations: 5 Marks, 10,000 Marks, 500,000 Marks, 1,000,000 Marks, 1,000,000,000 Marks, and 5,000,000,000 Marks. What I found interesting was that the 5 Mark note was a high quality paper, beautifully engraved with printing on both sides. Once they went to the million note and above, the note felt more like office paper, the engraving disappeared and it was only printed on one side. It looked and felt more like a grocery story coupon than a bank note. Just a thought: When your country’s currency starts to look like a raffle ticket at a local fundraiser, it’s time to divest.”

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We were saddened to hear that Steve Irwin a.k.a.”The Crocodile Hunter” was killed in a freak scuba diving diving accident. He was stung in the chest by a stingray. Steve will be missed. He really knew his way around the bush. Some of the risks that he took–especially with snakes and crocs—were downright foolhardy. But he did a lot to educate folks about wildlife (herpetology, in particular), conservation, and well-prepared outback trekking. It is ironic that he bought the farm doing something so mundane as just swimming near a stingray. Please keep his wife Terri and their children Bindi and Bob in your prayers.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Crikey, mate. You’re far safer dealing with crocodiles and western diamondback rattlesnakes than the executives and the producers and all those sharks in the big MGM building.” – The Late Steve Irwin

Letter Re: Corn for Food Storage Programs?

Hello Mr. Rawles :
I must say I love your blog and writings as they provide an invaluable service for like minded folks on preparedness!This email is in regards to the absence of dry corn or any corn other than popping corn in your excellent “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, I am wondering if corn is a viable storage food and if not, why? would it be because of short storage life or unsuitable packing methods to retain nutritive value? Or any other reason that I can’t imagine? While looking at the Provident Living site of the LDS they mention dry corn as a storage item but it is not mentioned even in passing in your “Rawles Gets You Ready” course is there some pertinent reason for this omission? Also when I received your course I “thought” I was disappointed with it after my initial viewing until I kept reading and rereading it and realized how great and enlightening it actually is, you certainly covered the most important issues and opened my eye’s to storage preparations with real food and a real life working man’s wages!! Trying to save for the year long pre-packaged storage item’s being sold by vendor’s can be disheartening, you made it viable, reachable and virtually painless. Thank you! – CL.

JWR Replies: Thanks for the positive feedback on the course. The omission of corn wasn’t an oversight. I didn’t mention corn because the “Rawles Gets You Ready” course was geared toward stocking up on items that you could find at your local Costco and/or grocery store. We wanted just about every food item mentioned in the course to be things that could be bought at a “Big Box” store, even at the 11th hour.

Corn is a valuable food to store, although it is not as versatile as wheat, nor does it store for nearly as long. Corn does store fairly well if its moisture content is low. Like wheat, once it is cracked or ground, its nutritive value starts to drop rapidly. Therefore you should buy your storage corn whole, and then grind it into corn meal in small batches, as needed.

I’ve found that the least expensive place to buy whole kernel corn is Walton Feed, in Montpelier, Idaho. Even lower prices are often available at your local feed store, but they don’t always have whole corn. (They generally order cracked corn, and cracked Corn Oat Barley (“COB”) blends–such as “sweet feed”, which has molasses added.) But if you ask, they can likely special order it for you, typically in 50 pound sacks. You would then have to re-pack it in food grade buckets, using the dry ice method described in the course. Note, however, that if you buy corn from any source except Walton’s or another major storage food vendor, be careful about the moisture content, which varies widely. Also, speaking of moisture, beware that mold is the greatest bugaboo with bulk corn. Never, ever, eat moldy corn! It can induce micotoxin poisoning that is potentially deadly!