Odds ‘n Sods:

Tim P., “C3”, and AAP all mentioned this article about a former Titan missile base for sale, near Moses Lake, Washington.
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For the “In Case You’ve Been Wondering Department”: The List of Foreign Governments that Hold US Debt. As Senator Everett Dirksen put it so aptly many years ago: “A billion here, and a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talkin’ about real money!”

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An emerging threat in the long term: China Build’s World’s Largest Navy. OBTW, the current news about the scrap iron and steel shortage–since China is buying everything in sight–has an eerie similarity to what Japan was doing in the 1930s.

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S&P: US Home Price Decline Accelerates–Steepest Price Drop in 16 Years

Note from JWR:

An unusually dry summer has created a hay shortage in much of the western US that is bordering on “severe.” In our area, just plain grass hay is fetching $250 per ton in the field. I’ve noticed that the local classified ad paper is chock full of ads for inexpensive horses. We are blessed to have some good pastures here at the Rawles Ranch, but we still need to supplement for winter feed–for when we have snow on the ground. With hay prices like these, our beloved saddle horse Money Pit is starting to live up to his name.

Two Letters Re: Lantern Battery Disassembly

Jim:
On Saturday 22 September 2007, you posted a web link from T.A. in Indiana for a video on how to take apart a lantern battery and get 32 AA batteries out of it.

I tried that with a heavy duty Ray-O-Vac and it had four cells approximately the diameter of C cell batteries but longer. Before people stock up on 6-volt lantern batteries thinking they will break down for AA batteries, they need to disassemble the brand they intend to buy to see how it is put together. The battery in the video appeared to be a bargain brand and that may be the difference. – Bill N.

Sir,
This is a hoax. You cannot fit 32 AA cells inside a lantern battery, they are slightly too tall. What you will find inside a 6V lantern battery are 4 large 1.5V cells tac-welded together in series (they look like elongated D cells). Here is another video for you.

Note: When possible, always assemble cells with the current rating needed in series for the desired voltage. Having battery cells in parallel leads to power flow in-between them during discharge. Unless the cells are exactly the same, differences in capacity make the strong cells feed the weak ones, and so the capacity of the total battery is less than what it is rated. If you have to connect cells in series/parallel for needed discharge amperage, disconnect them as soon as possible, and do not charge in that configuration. This is especially true for sealed or non lead-acid cells.
My battery knowledge is from working as an engineering/research tech for a battery firm. – JB

JWR Replies: My apologies for posting the link without first trying this “hack” myself. From what I’ve read recently, the battery configuration varies, depending on the maker and vintage of the lantern battery. Traditionally, they used four Type “F” cells, which look like extra-long C-cells.

Letter Re: Information Security Considerations When Selling a House with “Special Features”

James,
Thank you for the SurvivalReality.com web site. I check the listings regularly, hoping for my own retreat purchase in the future.

The Bunker Home Retreat caught my eye since I’ve been to Pueblo Colorado many times. The bunker sounds very well designed and built. But the aerial views show exactly where the home is located, including street names. I don’t see how anyone can consider the bunker as secret, or “stealth” any more.

Also, the seller includes a picture of the hidden entrance plainly open in broad daylight right in the middle of his front yard. I can only assume his neighbors saw this display, which defeats the entire purpose of a hidden bunker.

While I greatly appreciate the aerial views of the other properties with acreage, I would recommend the seller rethink which photos he makes available.

This also brings up an interesting point, how does any buyer of property with hidden features guarantee that the features are truly secret? I suspect there is no way. Who knows what sneaky neighbors watched the construction process? Or which workers talked too much in town? Or how many other potential buyers know the features, but bought down the road, and will be talking soon? As a buyer, how could I guarantee none of these things happened? And why is the seller selling in the first place? Maybe he knows the secret is out and his bunker is the first place all his neighbors will turn for help, voluntary or involuntary.

Maybe there could be some kind of “prenuptial” agreement between the buyer and seller that stipulates a fee or back out clause if hidden features where revealed by the seller at any time before or after the sale. But I doubt this would be fool proof. Stories of hidden rooms never die. But it might work in one sense, the reaction of the seller to this kind of request would speak volumes to the level of security they maintained.

[One paragraph deleted, for OPSEC reasons.]

I hate to critique your hard work without offering a solution. It’s probably why I wrote this a week ago and haven’t sent yet. Here’s one possible solution. It’s based on my own plans, so maybe it will work for others. When you sell a home with security features, you just don’t advertise them, otherwise they will no longer be security features. Yes, you will lose the potential of a higher price. But you owe it morally to the buyer not to advertise these features. After the sale is complete, then you inform the buyer of their gain. I would trust in the Lord to steer the right buyer to me, who deserves such a bonus. If you start with this philosophy at the start of construction, there is no feeling of financial loss at time of sale. If this philosophy could be stated on SurvivalBlog, maybe it will take root across the community. Maybe not.

I’ll admit this ties in with my own basic philosophy on Preparedness. I don’t prepare for myself. I know I don’t have the skills, or strength, to be one of the survivors. But I can see where the world is headed, so I prepare that others may live, whether they be my own family, or a fortunate deserving soul in the future guided by an unseen hand to the preparations I have made. This thought gives me some comfort as I see the trials coming upon us in this lifetime. Regards, – SG

JWR Replies: I share your concern. But there is always a trade-off between secrecy and the ability to sell a house when it is time to move. I don’t think that there is any clear cut solution, and every seller has to make that judgment for himself.

Parenthetically, I grew up in Livermore, California (the home of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory). My father was a physicist, and nearly half of our neighbors were also in the hard sciences. A surprising number of houses in Livermore had family blast/fallout shelters in their yards. Nothing quite so elaborate as the fictional shelter in the movie “Blast From the Past,” but you could definitely see some creative genius put into action. One in particular that I saw stands out in my memory: It had the entrance cleverly hidden in the brickwork of an outdoor barbeque, and its air vent concealed in a rock sculpture. Tres Batman.

At the time that those shelters were built, (40+ years ago), virtually all of the neighbors saw the excavation work and knew exactly who had shelters. But as time has passed, people have moved and memories have faded. I know of at least one shelter that has been used as a “rumpus room” by the owner’s teenage kids. (Shame on that family for letting a good shelter be disused.)

In one instance a few years ago, the owner of a home near East Avenue School found out by accident that his house had a shelter (built circa 1962), when he began to re-landscape his back yard. As it turned out, the house had changed hands several times since the 1960s, and somewhere along the line, mention of the shelter was overlooked. Somewhere, someone may be sitting atop the equivalent of Crystal Peak (the semi-abandoned 1960s Continuity of Government shelter from the movie Terminator 3), and not realize it.

Letter Re: Advice on Short Term Shelter from Inflation

Mr. Rawles:
After reading your recent comments regarding the possibility of extreme inflation in the US, I began asking myself how well prepared I am to handle such a situation. The answer was not pretty. You see I am only 24 years old and my wife and I are saving for a house, so most of our funds are tied up in some sort of bank. I fear that if inflation hits, all that cash in the bank will be worthless, and all my saving will be for naught. Do you have any suggestions on how a person like me who needs to save a large sum of money, can do so with as little risk as possible?

I plan on buying a few more tangible items like an old diesel truck and a rifle for my wife, but I need the majority of my funds to be available for a down payment in the March timeframe. Thanks for any suggestions. – Paul in Kansas

JWR Replies: Here in the U.S. the best place to park funds in the short term with protection from inflation is in Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) , which are inflation indexed. They are available through Treasury Direct.

Odds ‘n Sods:

 Hawaiian K. forwarded us this piece from Mineweb: $3,400 Gold – pipe dream or possibility?

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Treasury Secretary Paulson tells U.S. Congress current debt ceiling will be hit on Oct. 1

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From MSN Money: What the big banks aren’t telling you — yet

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An editorial from The Financial Times: The Bank loses a game of chicken. From the same publication, we also read: Ease of FOREX swaps vanishes in rush for cash

Note from JWR:

A brief reminder that the special “six pack sale” for autographed copies of my novel “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse” is still underway. The sale price of a box of six books is now just $90, postage paid. (Normally they are $22 per copy, but during this sale you get six autographed copies for $90, mailed in a Priority Mail Flat Rate box, sent to anywhere in the Unites States, including APO/FPO addresses.) This sale ends on October 31st. This is your chance to buy some extra copies for Christmas presents.

Letter Re: Building Design Questions for a Retreat

Mr. Rawles:
Several years back I purchased 40 acres next to a National Forest. In three months I will have the property paid off free and clear so I am using the cooler months ahead to clear a homestead site, put in a well/septic system and try to move ahead faster than the world is declining. (It is surreal at times to live a nice life now but constantly prepare for what a lot of folks are seeing coming down the tracks – a huge train wreck!) I am always feeling I’m behind the curve, but I’ve decided that if I do several things each week toward preparedness, then I’m better off in the end. I get a few tools here and there, round out the food stores, etc. And sometimes not do anything at all–I need the mental break from it. It took many years for the wife to get “on board” but after she saw how my preparedness paid off after [Hurricane] Katrina, she is a total believer. Hang in there guys, sometimes you are alone for awhile but you still have to do the right thing to protect and provide for your family.

My question is this: Do you have a design of a homestead house that is practical, defensible and can be built by a do-it-yourselfer in short order? I don’t want a “bunker” but am looking for something that blends with the landscape, can be buttoned up in a moment’s notice for security, and most of all is affordable. ([House construction ] prices aren’t going down, ever.) I’m not sure if I can get a cement truck out this far so foundation designs are a concern also. I figured on building a base structure first for essential living, and then add on extras after that. “Pay as I go” is also my motto. Off-grid solar is a must, although my property has a road with power/phone running close by. I noticed a local saw mill so I plan on purchasing rough cut wood there. Metal roofs, noncombustible siding and ability to secure windows/doors (“Patriots” gave good examples on doors and windows.) Thanks for your advice. Also, I’m in a hilly area. Do you build toward the top of the hill, but not on the ridge?
Your “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course is great. I need to re-read it again.

JWR Replies: Your letter raises a number of related issues, many of which I discuss at length in my books Rawles on Retreats and Relocation.and SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog – Volume 1. First, in terms of house siting, the traditional “castle on a hilltop” (with lower ground in all directions) still makes sense if, from the vantage point of the nearest road that there are higher hills beyond your house site. This way your house (and anyone walking near it) will not be “skylined.”

Many of the designs that I have worked with for my consulting clients have involved copious poured concrete. If you are limited to pickup loads of concrete sacks and a small portable mixer, then perhaps you’d be better off with a log house, rammed earth house, cordwood house, brick house, or Earthship (tire house). If those sound like they would significantly “stand out” from among your neighbors’ houses, then consider building a traditional wood frame house with metal roof and metal siding, but with specially reinforced floor sections to support the weight of sandbags that could be added at a later date. (For in-house defensive positions.) This would fit in with your “pay as you go” goal.

For your photovoltaics, take advantage of the free consulting available from Bob at Ready Made Resources.

Thanks for your positive feedback on the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course. It is gratifying to know that the course has both informed and motivated so many people.

Letter Re: Estimate on the Likelihood of an Economic Depression or Full-Scale Collapse?

Jim,
What a lot of folks don’t think about is that during the last depression, almost 80% of the population was still connected to a family farm. They also knew how to can meats and vegetables and had all of the equipment to do so. It was a way of life for them. Today less than 1% is connected to a family/small farm. That is daunting. Even if some of the population knows how to can and has a small garden, How many of them have 500-600 jars, lids and rings? Got lots of Salt, a working smokehouse that doesn’t attract the attention of the local toughs?

The final blow to the “My-parents-survived-the-last-one-so-I can-too” crowd is that we were still on a Silver and Gold backed currency system in 1930. Dollars were still very valuable during that time, they just weren’t easy to come by. After we converted to [irredeemable] toilet paper for money, with zero backing, we discovered inflation. The next depression will be a lot more like [SurvivalBlog correspondent] FerFal‘s stories about buckets of cash to pay for a meal in Argentina. The problem for most is that we don’t even have one bucket of cash. Thanks and God Bless, – Melbo (Editor of SurvivalMonkey)

Two Letters Re: New Scanner Technology — An Emerging Threat to COMSEC

James:
Regarding the “signal stalker” technology: This type of thing has been available for years in the form of frequency counters. Perhaps the best known in the ham/scanner community is the Opto Electronics Scout series. These units let you scan for radio transmissions and will store the last detected frequencies in memory for later recall. This is a handy feature if you are visiting a race track, for instance and want to find out the frequencies in use while you tour the pit area.
They also sell a cable that will interface to various scanners, allowing you to immediately tune in to the detected frequency. Some models also decode the PL tones for you.
Keep in mind that these work best when you are in a “quiet” area, i.e. not too many commercial radios, cell phones, etc in use. They have a pretty short range in a noisy RF environment like a major city.
For enhanced COMSEC between locations, consider using low power and directional antennas. If you’re not radiating the energy in 360 degrees, there are a lot fewer places it can be intercepted from.
Cheers, – JN-EMT.

Jim:
I agree with you that throbbing out high power Ham signals is not needed, but most ham kits I’ve seen allow down powering; there’s even a subset of the hobby that specializes in low power operation.
I am having the devil’s own time finding many MURS rigs. Still lots of CB out there, but MURS seems to have fallen out of favor with FRS/GMRS and the remaining CB users. Where are you finding your gear? Are there the same line of sight VHF troubles as with FRS? If so, how are you getting a good lightning proof antenna up? I’d have to have my nice radios burned out by EMP, or worse a simple thunderstorm. Regards, – Michael G

JWR Replies: One nice feature of many 2 meter handhelds is adjustable output power. I agree that it is best to use minimal power and directional antenna. If you suspect that someone might be trying to intercept and possibly conduct direction finding (DF), then use terrain masking. In my novel “Patriots”, I also describe a method for bouncing signals off of metallic structures, to confuse DFers.

Until recently, we had $49 MURS Radios as an advertiser on SurvivalBlog,. They sells Kenwood MURS hand-helds. They stopped advertising only because they are now nearly out of radios. (They bought them as trade-ins, in a big package deal.) Sadly, they are having trouble finding any more to sell

The range of the Kenwood MURS seems much better than FRS. By comparison, the FRS hand-held radios are pipsqueaks. For very short range communications (such as within a retreat perimeter), that might actually be a COMSEC advantage.) MURS hand-helds are still under 5 watts of effective radiated power (ERP), so they have fairly low probability of intercept (LPI.) beyond about 8 miles, in all but dead level terrain.

Our base station antenna here at the ranch is equipped with a good ground and a coaxial in-line surge protector. (A DLS “Surge Ender”, model SE-1), to provide at least modest lightning protection.

Odds ‘n Sods:

From The International Herald Tribune, via our friends at SHTF Daily: Dollar hits bottom, and then falls again

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Dave Duffy, the editor of Backwoods Home magazine (one of our favorites) offers some very useful Recommendations for Handling/Storage of Specific Fruits and Vegetables:in his latest e-newsletter. If you don’t already have a subscription to the magazine, then I highly recommend it.

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“The Fox” sent us a link to a CNN video clip with more about Zimbabwe’s black market and hyperinflation

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Frequent contributor RBS recommended this eye-opening primer from Financial Sense on the ravages of “low inflation.”

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"It is not the responsibility of the Federal Reserve — nor would it be appropriate — to protect lenders and investors from the consequences of their financial decisions." – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, speaking at the Jackson Hole Federal Reserve conference, August 31, 2007. (Just 25 days before doing exactly that–by lowering interest rates by 50 Basis Points, to the advantage of banking lenders and equities investors, and at the expense of the value of the US Dollar in foreign exchange, and to the detriment of all holders of US dollars.)

Note from JWR:

My special thanks to the anonymous SurvivalBlog reader that recently made his 10 Cent Challenge subscription donation in the form of pre-1964 silver dimes. (He sent us a small box containing 365 silver dimes.) Considering that US 90% silver coinage is now worth nearly 10.3 times its face value, that was very kind of him. Many thanks!