Letter Re: Nando Parrado on Survival

Sir:
Did anybody read Piers Paul Read’s book “Alive“, or see the movie? In 1972 a small airliner with 46 people crashed in the Andes Mountains between Chile and Argentina. The 16 who survived both the crash and a later avalanche ate the bodies of the dead. Nando’s sister died after 10 days in his arms. Eventually Nando and his friend Roberto Canessa hiked out 10 days through unbelievably treacherous terrain, and after 72 days the group was rescued. It is an incredible book, I’ve read it several times. Nando finally wrote his own book, “Miracle in the Andes“. It is not anywhere so complete as “Alive“, but it is his own tale of the gripping emotional struggle he faced to survive and then to hike out in the face of certain death. ( and it is great to read the epilogue of how everybody is doing after 30+ years. Nando has a beautiful wife and two daughters). The ending is so movingly articulated.They did not survive because of leadership, innovation, creative problem solving, or teamwork, although of course all those things were an integral part of his experience. It was not cleverness or courage or competence or savvy that saved them.It was love–for each other, for their families left behind, for the lives they wanted to live. It was love that saved them. I’ve always thought of trying to get people to prep as related to warning of impending crisis, whether a nuclear jihad on CONUS, natural disaster, dollar and banking collapse, etc. I’ve been wondering instead how much of the problem with doom-n-gloomers is just plain lack of love. I wonder if talking about loving our children or friends is really the only way to talk about prepping, and if love really is the only thing, in the end, that will get us all through what is coming. Life with wheat and beans and no love won’t be worth living. – Lyn

Letter Re: Keeping Extra Guns for Barter?

Dear Mr Rawles:
I was wondering how you felt about having a few trade guns on hand? Over the years of horse trading and estate sales et cetera, I have picked up a couple of [M1] Carbines, Mini-14s, old Model 1911 pistols, and so forth. Should I dump them now or hang on to them to barter with in bad times? Or even give out to friends and family when needed? Thank you and please keep up the good work. I’m an every day reader.- J.H.

JWR Replies: I highly recommend that unless you are severely short on key logistics (such as storage food) that you retain most of those spare guns. Keep all of them that are in common, man-stopping calibers. Sell off (or trade) any that are in marginal calibers (such as .380 ACP or .30 U.S. Carbine), or any that are in obsolete or oddball calibers that are not commonly available. For determining what constitutes commonplace, I use the “Wal-Mart Test”: If it is a caliber that they have on the shelf at your local Wal-Mart, then consider it commonplace.

Letter From Vic at Safecastle Re: SurvivalBlog Group Buy on Folding Paratrooper Bikes

James:
I just listed the ultimate prepper bike in my store–the Montague Paratrooper–developed in conjunction with DARPA for the military, and only recently made available in the civilian marketplace.
See my eBay store item listing. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) is is $695. The minimum advertised price (MAP) is $645. Our special SurvivalBlog-only price is much lower for a very limited time. Our limited-time, group-buy discounted price cannot be advertised. (Due to a MAP contractual agreement.) Anyone interested should e-mail me and I’ll provide the special price: jcrefuge@safecastle.net.
The bike comes in either an 18 inch or 20 inch frame. The one needed is based on height–see the bottom of the listing. This bike was designed and built to be parachuted out of airplanes, to be unfolded and to be ridden away in 30 seconds. These bikes are tough and light! I’m excited to have them in my store and to be able to offer SurvivalBlog readers a very nice discount. The group buy will run through the end of June. Orders should be delivered in July. Regards, – Vic Rantala, Safecastle LLC

Odds ‘n Sods:

The high bid in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction (for a fully stocked M-17 Advanced Medical Bag/Rucksack) is already up to $180. Special thanks to the folks at Ready Made Resources, who donated the kit. Please submit your bids via e-mail.

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I heard from SurvivalBlog reader T.C. that he was disappointed by the “beater” Turkish contract Model 1893 Mauser rifle that he recently purchased from Sportsman’s Guide for $299. (He saw it advertised in a shooting magazine with nationwide circulation.) He reported that the rifle he received had less than 10% bluing remaining, a very dark “sewer pipe” bore, and a badly gouged stock. In my reply, I mentioned that The Pre-1899 Specialist (one of our advertisers) currently has a small but very nice hand-picked batch of rifles from the same Oberndorf Mauser Turkish contract. These are selling for just $199 each. Less money for a better grade of rifle. That doesn’t require a lot of deliberation! I suggest that T.C. either return that “beater” for a refund, or set it aside as a source of spare parts. He should buy one or more of the nice hand picked ones from The Pre-1899 Specialist, while they still have some left.

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Cheaper Than Dirt! has decided to cease its Affiliated Sales Program, effective June 9th. If you’ve been dawdling on placing an order, you now have less than a week to get your order in and still have a commission on the sale credited to SurvivalBlog.

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The recent dip in silver to under $12 an ounce makes it a bargain. Buy on these dips. A year from now, today’s price will seem very low.

Note From JWR:

Today, we begin another SurvivalBlog benefit auction. This one is for a fully stocked M-17 Advanced Medical Bag (Backpack), donated by one of our most loyal advertisers, Ready Made Resources. This bag has a $179 retail value. Also included as a bonus is a 5 gram unit of Traumadex instant wound clotter (a $25 value.) Please submit your bids via e-mail. The opening bid is just $30!

Letter Re: Advice on Firearms Caching

Mr. R.:
We started playing around with this eventuality in the 1990s.  A few observations:
We buried old guns and cartridges in 155mm howitzer tubes (M82) in our garden, where they were regularly watered over. End-result ? With dessicant tins inside, they were A-OK after 6 months. Others buried out in the boonies, without regular water-challenge, were A-OK after 12 and 18 months. No rust. Cartridges went bang. Guns functioned flawlessly. We’d prepped them with ProLix, a non-petroleum based cleaner/lube/protectant. ( ProChemCo, ph. 800-248-LUBE ) I’ve tried most products and this is superior. I’ve cleaned scrupulously (can you say “OCD”? ) with others on successive days, waited 24 hours, and pulled more residue with this stuff. Excellent product and a good crew at their new location. I cache weapons in a “ready-to-go” format, with basic ammo load, BoreSnake, a 1-oz Prolix, special parts (as indicated), and a few other goodies in a fanny with the weapon. As example, broken-shell extractors, extra mags or stripper clips, a Fobus [holster], extractors or other parts likely to fail are squirreled away with the gun. A good folder, lighter, compass, and other elective gear are easy to pre-pack.  I’m lazy, and fallible under stress, and try to simplify and streamline the protocol for Grab ‘n Go!,  predicated on prior setup in a safe container or secure locale.
A quick note, the various “burial tubes” should not be emplaced vertically; it’s virtually impossible to remove them quickly if you do so. Pick a spot with nearby metal, or salt the area with scrap rusted metal. In this neighborhood there are utility boxes, poles, and fence lines to shadow any detectors and function as markers for us and others. Lay them in, with a rope affixed to one end, and they pull out readily.  Seeding in more junk metal to an area with doubled radius increases the search area by a factor of 4+. Eventually the job becomes too difficult – in any real sense – for the searchers.
The 155mm tubes were available from an Illinois company (Shotgun News may still have them as a regular advertiser) and they easily function as a full blown survival capsule. The ends have seals, and can be tightened with a 2 x 4 section. Prep the O-ring seal with Nu-Vinyl, and have a small tube of silicon grease sealant , and when needed, they can be readied and dropped in place.
The 25mm cannon shell boxes used to be a real bargain, but their days at $5 are long gone. They are as durable and effective as the tubes, if you are willing to pay the price that they command nowadays. Look around your property and neighborhood, and the best spots will eventually jump-out at you. – MurrDoc

Letter Re: Get Ready While You Can, When You Can

Dear Mr. Rawles,
Arguably, the first commandments of the preparedness movement is to get ready for bad times before they get here. However, it doesn’t have to be TEOTWAWKI for it to be too late, or darn close to it. I offer the following real life example to illustrate the point. I get a lot of sinus headaches, especially this time of year; what I have always relied on to relieve them is Tylenol Sinus formula. Traditionally, the active ingredients have been acetaminophen (for pain) and pseudo-ephedrine (for nasal decongestion). Because scum use the latter ingredient in making crystal meth, the powers-that-be have been making it harder and harder to get; what used to be a category of products one could find right next to aspirin was moved behind the pharmacist’s counter. In response to this, and in order to get them back on the other side of the counter, the drug manufacturers (not just the Tylenol people, but all of them it seems) have been reformulating their offerings, replacing pseudo-ephedrine with phenylephrine. I have tried one of these reformulated products, and what can I say? I would compare products containing phenylephrine to bodily-waste, except that would be an insult to bodily-waste. After all, bodily-waste can serve a useful purpose (returning nutrients to soil, be processed into methane for fuel, etc.); drugs containing phenylephrine serve no useful purpose, including their stated one — relieving sinus pain.With this in mind, I decided to (along with my normal, weekly shopping) go on a little quest: stockpile as much actual sinus relief as I can, while I still can (wasn’t there a “Seinfeld” episode like this, involving Elaine and birth control? But I digress.) So what were my results for the day? Two stores had nothing left, and at three other stores I was able to acquire: 1 box of Tylenol Sinus, 1 box of Advil Sinus and one store-brand box of non-drowsy, nasal decongestant (which doesn’t contain any pain reliever, but I can always take with a couple of Tylenol, Advil or whatever). I would have been willing to buy more at each of these stores, but doing so would have raised eyebrows. I think I may make the rounds again tomorrow, at different stores. I would like to have enough to last me through at least 2007 — possibly 2008 (when most of these items would appear to be past there expiration dates anyway). I don’t know what I will do beyond then. Nasal sprays also seem to work with me, but I really do not like them, and have always saved them as a last resort. Things tend to be a lot more lax on the other side of the border. Theoretically, I could pop down to Tijuana [Mexico] and pick-up a box or two of ‘whatever’,and not have any problems getting that back across the border, but that is an awful lot of work. Hmmm…
Anyway, the point being, I can see any number of circumstances where the things we want and/or need (defensive firearms training, fuel stabilizer, freeze dried food, solar panels — you name it) could become unavailable well before we need them. So, to everyone out there, if you think you’ll need it can afford it: Get it now, get it before it’s too late. Best Wishes, – James

Odds ‘n Sods:

The next U.S. hurricane season: The government says “you’re on your own.”

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Thousands quarantined in Bucharest to stop spread of Asian Avian Flu.

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SurvivalBlog reader J.C.S. alerted us to an auction for 20 factory refurbished Motorola Talkabout T7200 NiMH GMRS 2-Way Radios on eBay for $69 USD each.

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The P-10 self-contained fallout shelter that I mentioned previously is still available on eBay. It appears that somebody with some foresight is going to get an $80,000 shelter for around $27,500.

Note from JWR:

And the winner of Round 4 is… “Northwest Huey”, for his article “Using Rechargeable Batteries”, which was posted to SurvivalBlog on May 30th. He will be mailed a transferable gray Front Sight Four Day Course Certificate. (It can also be used for two people to attend two day courses.) Congratulations! Meanwhile, Round 5 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest is already underway.

Further congratulations to David M., the high bidder in the SurvivalBlog fund raiser book auction. Many thanks, sir, for your generous $200 bid. Kudos to Kurt and Angie Wilson of Survival Enterprises for donating their last copy of “Patriots” for this auction!

And also today, we welcome our latest advertiser, Survival Logistics. They specialize in storm and fallout shelters, safe rooms, shelter ventilation/filtration systems, and storm shelter retrofitting. Be sure to visit their site and check out their full product line.

Letter Re: East Coast WTSHTF: You Can’t Get There From Here

Sir:
In my role as “the good citizen” and amateur radio operator, I have just competed a state sponsored FEMA “Incident Command System” class (IC-700). My worst concerns regarding bugging out from my coastal home in Connecticut were
confirmed at that class. Here in Connecticut we have no mass evacuation routes available or realistic plans in place to deal with a catastrophic scenario resulting in the exiting of the people who live in this area.
You see we already have quite an impressive rush hour traffic pattern which as gotten geometrically worse over the past 30 years. Back in 1976, the morning traffic heading to New York City (NYC) would be backed up starting about a half mile East of the
City of Stamford on I-95 (I-95 runs East-West in CT). Today, we (in CT) see traffic crawling through Bridgeport and stop and go from Westport down to Greenwich. This means that what would normally take 30 minutes to travel 25 miles now takes 90 minutes. And that is on a good day! All it takes is just one tractor-trailer accident to shut the highway down (or cripple it).
Now imagine a SHTF situation causing people fleeing NYC, Metro NYC and Coastal Connecticut…
The gridlock would be spectacular. As they say in the coun

Letter Re: Recommendations on Flashlights and Battery Powered Lamps?

Jim,
You recently endorsed reader recommendations for kerosene lamps.  What about flashlights and battery powered lamps?  Do you have any recommendations there?
 
I realize battery powered devices may have limited value in a long-term, grid-down scenario.  But what about short-term scenarios like a power outage associated with a hurricane–a few days or weeks? Best Regards, – d’Heat

JWR Replies: The advent of white light emitting diodes (LEDs) in the 1990s revolutionized flashlight technology. Up until a couple of years ago, I would not have recommended buying an electric camping lantern, since they were such battery hogs. But now, a new generation of white LED lanterns remarkably little current, allowing batteries last surprisingly long time. For example a Tuff Brite rechargeable LED lantern can operate for up to 70 hours on one charge. These are available from Northern Tool & Equipment and several other Internet vendors. (Search on: Tuff Brite Model # VEC144.)

Letter Re: The Mainland Chinese Threat

Jim:
While we pour blood and treasure onto the shifting Iraqi sands and frighten ourselves silly with the scarecrow of terrorism… Red China forges ahead with one of the greatest military buildups in history.
 
Jed Babbin and Ed Timberlake have put together a compelling case as to why we need to refocus our attention on the red giant.
 
Of particular interest is a 228 page document titled “Unrestricted Warfare“, written by Colonels Qaio Liang and Wang Xiangsui of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
 
I fear we are living in the declining years of the American Republic. – Dutch in Wyoming

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"When evil wins in the world, it is only by the default of the good. That is why one man of reason and moral stature is more important actually and potentially, than a million fools." – Ayn Rand