Seven Letters Re: Advice on Magazine Duplexing Systems

Dear Jim,
Some other things to consider with multiple magazines attached together: The AR-15 was designed with a 20 round magazine, which was increased to 30. The magazine catch can chip, break, wear or jam with too much weight.
If one magazine is inverted (“jungle clipped”), the bottom, then one is going to get the feed lips dinged up or full of dirt, as well as preventing one from taking a good prone position.
Having a spare magazine in hand or readily accessible on the gear is just as fast a change as those overpriced and clunky gadgets.
As to pending magazine bans, my wife noted that since it is legal to repair existing magazines, one could, hypothetically, salvage a spring from one, a follower from a second, a base plate from a third and a body from a fourth and repair “all four” magazines with newly purchased parts…just don’t show all four parts together in case someone thinks it’s just one disassembled magazine. – Michael Z. Williamson

James
Almost every soldier in the IDF uses a duplexed mag setup on their carry weapon made from heavy tape and a piece of wood or plastic as a spacer to make [the shape of] a “V”. The magazine V is either hung upside-down through the belt or kept in the weapon allowing both a quick reload and fulfilling the [IDF constant carry] requirement of two [loaded] magazines with the soldier without having two bulky things to carry in their pockets and their possible loss.
Israeli training requires use of the semiautomatic mode in all engagements, keeping most shots aimed and reducing ammo waste and collateral injuries. Sixty rounds is usually enough to handle most short incidents requiring either dispatching/pinning-in a terrorist or laying cover to make an escape. – David in Israel

 

Jim,
For those times when you feel the “need for speed” the Redi-Mag is a better solution that any of the magazine cinching systems. It attaches easily to your AR-15, is ambidextrous, allows you to insert one or two magazines at your option and doesn’t irk the BATF-men by covering up the serial number. The other advantages of not having to bind magazines together are self-evident. – Redmist

Hello James,
In regards to AR-based systems and trying to attach multiple magazines together, a better solution might be the Redi-Mag which holds a second magazine in a system that parallels the magazine
well. I believe they have two systems available, one in which the standard magazine release will drop both the original and the spare at the same time and one in which the second magazine has its own release button. I haven’t tried either of these out (and don’t know anyone offhand who has) but they do look interesting and got a favorable mention in Boston T. Party’s “Boston’s Gun Bible”.
After taking a tactical carbine class at a local range and observing one gentleman repeatedly drop spare magazines and fail to seat them fully with a duplexing system in place (in addition to dropping his Glock’s magazine repeatedly because of an extended magazine release) I definitely agree that any gadgety-style additions should be well thought out, tested and proven before being counted on. Cheers, – Steve H.

Jim,
In reference to the recent letter about magazine duplexers. These have been around for years, there is always the old standby of taping the mags together each facing the opposite direction. Generally speaking, this is a good way to get yourself into trouble. If they are facing opposite directions you can jam the mag (when you hit the deck) and bend the feed lips, virtually guaranteeing jams on your reload.
The other problem with these, depending on the gun, the added weight can also cause jamming problems (the added weight pulls the magazine down, keeping the ammunition from being stripped off properly). In my opinion, when it comes to duplexing, my advice is don’t. If you really require faster reloads, practice a lot, and if you use a MOLLE rig, or similar, figure out where you should mount your mag pouches to make sure you can load faster. There are also many ways you can make it easier to pull your mags (Mag-Pul, parachute cord loops, etc).
As far as magazine recovery. I took a british gas mask bag, and retrofitted it, so there is a Lycra cover on the top with a hole in the middle. Simply stuff your hand with the magazine into the hole, let go and your mag should stay inside. I experimented with hanging your mags on a carabiner or similar arrangement, and this is by far the noisiest option. Generally speaking, either a pouch or a cargo pocket is the best place for empty mags. Thanks again for the great blog! – AVL

Hi Jim,
As a quick historical note, [U.S. Navy] SEALs were duplexing mags as early as at least 1980. This was by the do-it-yourself method of putting a piece of pencil half way up between two magazines, and then firmly taping the butts of the mags together with green rigger’s or “hundred mile an hour” tape. It worked, and the two mags were in a slight “V” shape. I would not put this concept into the “mall ninja” category. The first shots fired in either an offensive or defensive ambush scenario are critical to achieving fire superiority and then victory or at least survival. The individual or team that can pour out 60 shots per man with hardly a pause will have a great advantage in suppressing the fire of the enemy.

Additionally, the duplexed mags have a handy feature in that for your grab-and-go carbine, you have double the firepower for a quick walk out the door to check a noise, or do some work, without having to jock up in full web gear. A second set of duplexed mags can be shoved upside-down into your belt, where they will remain conveniently at hand. Without pulling on the web gear, a person can have 120 fast shots right at hand, simply by grabbing his carbine, and shoving a second duplexed mag pair over his belt and going out the door. Why do I keep mentioning carbines? The duplexed mag concept works best with 30 round mags for an AR. The concept doesn’t work as well for shorter, fatter 20 round 7.62 NATO magazines, IMO. Just my dos centavos. – Matt Bracken (a former SEAL)

 

Mr Rawles,
I have limited experience with the “Mag Cinch” system. Because of a unique situation I am in with regard to a threat to my life, (No, I can not move away from the threat) I keep an M4gery as a home defense weapon. The idea of having an extra reload readily available regardless of my state of dress seemed both prudent and comforting. I first tried the Mag Cinch and was sorely disappointed. Under recoil the top round would move forward far enough to require me to either remove it or re-seat it before inserting the magazine into the firearm. This is not a good thing when un-friendlies are in your area! I considered a Ready Mag, but based on experiences with the Mag Cinch (I would occasionally dump both magazines on the ground under stress) decided against it as well.
Recently I found a product called Rail Mag and gave that a try. It works wonderfully for my needs, but I can not recommend it for field use. For grab and go field use I prefer something like Tactical Tailor’s Active Shooter Bag, or Diamondback Tactical’s BattleLab Escape & Evasion Bag–also available with in a MOLLE version, so you can configure it for .308 magazines instead. – Griff

Letter Re: Survival Kits and Salt Storage

Sir:
I came to the survivalist mindset by the strangest of all possible paths – a literary one. I would probably be considered more of a “self-reliantist” than a survivalist, but I see that as a fine point.
I’ve always been the sort of guy who has wanted to know how to make things from scratch, and I’ve learned a lot in my planning efforts. I’ve been slowly compiling an encyclopedia of important skills and knowledge that is now in excess of 1000 pages and includes things from the most primitive tasks to the light-industrial. I thought I might offer a few things I’ve learned along the way.

1. The Light Survival Kit – My wife is skeptical of my efforts and thinks I’m making a big deal out of nothing. More importantly, she’s not willing to sacrifice valuable trunk space for something that may not happen in her lifetime. To counter this, I built a small kit that takes up less room than her purse – in it I put a butane lighter, a magnesium block, fire-starter matches, two collapsible water bottles, 6 bottles of water purification tablets, a knife, a sierra saw, a small first-aid kit, two rain ponchos in a pouch, some plastic bags, an LED flashlight, and a jar of bouillon cubes. Admittedly, it’s not perfect, but it is better than nothing. My work colleague liked the idea enough that he put one together for his wife as well.

2. Salt – From the investigation I’ve done around the web, unfortunately this includes even your own site, this is an important and overlooked staple that should be high on everyone’s list. Civilizations have collapsed due to lack of salt. In short, without electricity and reliable refrigeration, salt is the primary means of food preservation. If you live near the coast, you can gather salt from the sea, as well as those living near a salt spring, or dry salt bed, etc. Everyone else will have to stock it up or trade for it. Iodized salt is the preferable solution because it contains the small amount of iodine that the human body needs, the deficiency of which is called goiter, and can lead to birth defects such as mental retardation, thyroid disorders, and loss of IQ. If you live near the ocean, you can get the necessary iodine by adding seafood (including seaweed) to your diet.

3. A very useful book – One of the most informative books I’ve found in filling the gaps between what I don’t know and what I need to know is the book “Caveman Chemistry” by Kevin M Dunn. It’s written in a peculiar style, but it’s packed with useful information. – Charles R.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Michael Z. Williamson sent this: Jakarta Floods Linked to Illegal Construction. Mike notes: “Something to watch out for in a collapsing or collapsed society is failure of drainage and other infrastructure. Floods are messy and spread diseases.

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RBS sent this story of a local government running roughshod: Brooksville, Florida proposes to foreclose homes and seize cars over less than $20 in parking tickets.

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Rourke (the moderator of the Yahoo Jericho Discussion Group) pointed us to a web page that shows how to convert a typical drill motor into a hand crank generator. Functional, yes, but methinks a bike frame mount would make it much more practical for daily use.

Note from JWR:

The high bid is now up to $425 in the current SurvivalBlog benefit auction for several items (including an EMP-proof antique radio, four books, and a copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course) that are being auctioned together as a lot. The auction ends on April 15th. Just e-mail me your bid. Thanks!

Four Letters Re: Advice on Camouflage Clothing

Mr. R
Nice article. I’ll agree that the new ACU is terrible, and that MultiCam is pretty good. Problem is it’s currently limited, hence mucho expensive

I’ll second how effective ASAT [pattern camouflage] is. Years back we went backpacking up in Bandelier [National Monument], which is a mixed environment with evergreens, deciduous trees, brush and grass, amidst rocky canyons. My son walked out into a field in bright daylight and sat down with an ASAT big-bandana over his head and shoulders. Gone! Even with some light wind moving brush he stayed gone. We did this a few more times as we moved into canyons and up into woods. Gone!

They currently have sales on seconds and imperfects, and the bandanas, gloves and hats are reasonably priced. The fabric would be great for ponchos, backpack covers, and simple groundsheet shelters – MurrDoc

 

James:
FYI:, I saw these relevant comments on DefenseTech.org of the new military ACU pattern from guys in the ‘field’: The ACU (as I have seen in both the woods of Georgia and the desert &
urban areas of Iraq) is pretty much c**p. Yes, I agree it works well if you are lying still in a gravel parking lot or next to a large moss covered live oak. Any other circumstance, though, you are truly “Ghost Recon”. I work at the Recon Surveillance Course 4th RTB at [Fort] Benning, and teach camouflage here. The grey pattern sticks out like a white ghost. At nighttime it gets highly illuminated by the moon and stars. The ACU is pretty much the joke of the Army. Joke’s on you. Thank God I am a Marine!
And, for those interested in the methods and study used to choose this new pattern you can find a very interesting synopsis document (in PowerPoint format). Regards, – S.H.

 

Hi,
I just wanted to point out to you and your SurvivalBlog readers the new camo designs being created at Hyperstealth. There is plenty of reading and good information about camouflage. They also have some BDUs for sale, unfortunately the best are sold out, but perhaps they will be reissued in the future. – Tom

 

James:
I trust all is well with you and yours. About this camouflage thing. After going from the old green/olivedrab to grey flight suits to Vietnam green jungle fatigues to the tiger stripe, back to green fatigues and then to nomex in grey and nomex in green and then on to the stylish BDUs and then to desert and now to Digital, which I still think is dumb and now to civie clothing, I still think the best camouflage clothing is the original Green/OliveDrab fatigues. To make them into effective camo, just lay them out on the ground, lay some local branches with leaves or needles on top of the fatigues, dust them with flat black spray paint. Flip over, do the other side. Let dry and wear.
May not be fancy or stylish, but it surely is functional….. and cheap. Used that method a lot thru the career and it works.
Functional during the day and you simply disappear at night.
Maybe somebody can explain the new army digital camo to me. IMHO, it just looks dumb. (At least Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children went for dual color versions) At the range, I can look down the firing line and past a certain point, I see this line of green blobs that stand out from absolutely everything. Even in an urban environment it doesn’t work well unless you have a particular penchant for being noticed. Just been a point of confusion to me. Best Regards, to all. – The Army Aviator

Letter Re: Swords and Bows for that Dreaded Multigenerational Scenario

Mr. Rawles:
I would like to add to the article “Swords and Bows for that Dreaded Multigenerational Scenario” [that appeared in SurvivalBlog back in September of 2006, with lots of follow-up letters in the following week.] I have been a closet survivalist for some time now and thought it prudent to learn several old world skills. Metalworking was one of the skills I put a high value on and for good reason, knives, spears, swords, and arrowheads are all important if in a “multigenerational” situation. Also knife making is a fun (and maybe even profitable) hobby.
The comment on leaf springs having internal micro cracks due to repetitive stressing is technically true, but if the correct procedure of annealing and re-hardening is used, all previous stresses are eliminated. They even have what is called a “tribal” knife makers guild that only uses salvage from junkyards and scraps from cabinetmakers and hardwood floor installers. They also practice using all hand tools, no electricity! A very friendly bunch that helped me understand knife making and metallurgy are at the Knife Network and Blade Forums. Regards, – TJ

Two Letters Re: SHTF Shopping

Dear Editor:
SF in Hawaii had some good ideas in his post on Imminent SHTF shopping. However, I strongly disagree with his plan to pick up chicks and rabbits at the last minute — “Items that require maintenance that you don’t want to deal with pre-SHTF (i.e. guard dog, male and female rabbits and chicks (for raising meat) and the food and housing that they will require.” It requires skill and experience to successfully raise rabbits and chickens, skill and experience that don’t come in a few minutes time. (It also requires skill and experience to train and handle a guard dog, not to mention that good guard dogs aren’t just sitting around waiting to be snatched up in any emergency.) It also requires skill and experience to raise the food for all of these animals. I would add, in case anyone is thinking of it, that larger livestock, such as goats, sheep, cattle, and horses, require even more skill and experience. IMO, these are not last minute items to acquire. (Ditto for gardens, as has been mentioned before on SurvivalBlog.) If you think that you may want, or need, livestock of any kind in the event of TSHTF, then make the sacrifice of time now, and learn how to raise and care for them successfully , before the emergency hits! I was raised on a farm, and have been keeping poultry and dairy goats for most of the last 24 years, and I still make mistakes at times, or find myself lacking a critical piece of information. It helps to be part of a network of other people raising the same kind of livestock (although you can get a lot of MISinformation that way, too, if you aren’t careful — sometimes even from veterinarians who ought to know better).

I’ll tell you about one error I made just a few days ago. I was planning to worm a doe who had just kidded (did you know that goats need to be wormed the day after they kid? See, a critical piece of information that the last-minute guy wouldn’t have had any clue about!). I set the tube of Ivermectin wormer on the shelf above the milking stand while I did chores, and at some point it got knocked off the shelf. I didn’t notice that it had fallen down until I saw my ten-month-old farmcollie pup chewing on it. Other than being a little upset that she’d damaged the tube of wormer, so I couldn’t worm the doe, I didn’t think anything of it. I completely forgot that many collie-breed dogs, including some English Shepherds (she’s mostly English Shepherd), are sensitive to ivermectin. About three am I woke to the sound of claws scrabbling in Bonnie’s crate at the foot of my bed. She was having ‘seizures’ (technically severe muscle spasms, as she was conscious and knew me). She managed to stand long enough to stagger out of her crate when I opened the door, but then collapsed and got steadily worse until I was able to get her to the vet’s office as soon as they opened. (I have a large-animal vet, and she was out on a farm call, or we’d have been in there sooner.) For the last four days, my poor little pup has been nearly comatose. Yesterday when I visited her, she opened one eye (she’s lying on her side and can’t move) and looked at me, and raised her eyebrow. That’s all she was able to do. I’m hopeful that she will recover — internet research indicates that with support, dogs usually do recover fully from ivermectin ‘intoxication’, as they call it. But it is going to take several weeks for full recovery, and in the meantime, I’m without my dog. (That’s not even mentioning the expense of all this!) In a SHTF situation, that could be extremely dangerous.

I could give all kinds of examples of things people need to know before they jump into keeping livestock, common mistakes (many of which will kill your animals), and some things to think about in case of SHTF that might not apply during ‘normal’ times. Maybe I’d better just write an article! But I hope people get the point that if they expect to rely on livestock for their food, they need to start now! Never mind the inconvenience! – Freeholder, in Oregon

 

James:
I found SF’s comments on putting off your shopping until apocalypse eve to be interesting and thought provoking. It also reminded me of the time I popped into the local Sam’s Club [warehouse store] as Hurricane Isabella headed up the coast towards Baltimore. While this wasn’t predicted to be a major storm for us, and we were expecting a glancing blow at best, I found the place to be pretty well picked over of anything immediately useful. All of the AA and D sized batteries were gone, as were all of the Maglite flashlights. I also noticed that the usual stack of small propane canisters for Coleman stoves and the like were gone as well. They did have plenty of food though, and a lot of bottled water, although the water aisle had obviously taken a good hit. I don’t usually buy bottles of water, but I bought a couple of cases that day just to throw into the freezer as a hedge against a power outage.

The lesson I learned that day was that, if there’s something you think you’re really going to need in a time of emergency, buy it now. Wait until the last minute and it will probably be gone. People in general may not be very well prepared, but they will pick a “big box” retailer clean the moment any perceived threat appears on the horizon. I guess this is something we all know, but it is probably worth repeating.- Tim in Baltimore, Maryland

Odds ‘n Sods:

Hawaiian K. mentioned an article about a piece of “appropriate technology”: Multimachine — a truck-parts-based machine shop for Africa

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Any of you that have copies of my recent non-fiction books should update them with our new mail forwarding address. Please see page 207 of Rawles on Retreats and Relocation (Appendix B) and page 239 of SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog – Volume 1 (Appendix A)–they should both get penned with this new mail forwarding address:
James Wesley, Rawles
c/o Elk Creek Company
P.O. Box 303
Moyie Springs, Idaho 83845 USA

I have just updated the electronic copies at Cafe Press, (the publisher), so any copies ordered henceforth will have the address corrections already made. Note that our e-mail address is still: rawles@usa.net

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“[I]t doesn’t require expropriation or confiscation of private property or business to impose socialism on a people. What does it mean whether you hold the deed or the title to your business or property if the government holds the power of life and death over that business or property? Such machinery already exists. The government can find some charge to bring against any concern it chooses to prosecute. Every businessman has his own tale of harassment. Somewhere a perversion has taken place. Our natural, inalienable rights are now considered to be a dispensation of government, and freedom has never been so fragile, so close to slipping from our grasp as it is at this moment.” – Ronald Wilson Reagan

Notes from JWR:

Because of some difficulties with lost mail addresed to me in Reno, we have severed our contract with our Reno-based mail forwarding service. We’ve now made arrangements to have our mail forwarded by a trusted friend. There still will be an up to two week delay before we receive your mail. But now we know that we will be getting all of your mail! The mail is forwarded to us here at the Rawles Ranch once every two weeks. Thanks for your patience. From now on, please use the following address for sending us snail mail. (Ten Cent Challenge subscriptions, books orders, sample or review merchandise, and so forth.):

James Wesley, Rawles
c/o Elk Creek Company
P.O. Box 303
Moyie Springs, Idaho 83845 USA

Today we present the last article submitted for Round 9 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best non-fiction article will win a valuable four day "gray" transferable Front Sight course certificate. (Worth up to $1,600.) Second prize is a copy of my "Rawles Gets You Ready" preparedness course, generously donated by Jake Stafford of Arbogast Publishing. I will again be sending out a few complimentary copies of my novel "Patriots" as "honorable mention" awards. If you want a chance to win the contest, start writing and e-mail us your article for Round 10, which begins on April 1st and ends May 31st. Remember that the articles that relate practical "how to" skills for survival will have an advantage in the judging.

Chimney Construction, by PrepNow

I would like to offer some information about my experience with chimney construction and creosote build up. This information does not apply to the typical suburban open fireplace. What I’m talking about is a wood-burning stove designed to heat your home or shelter. There are a number of manufactured fireplaces available that are designed to regulate the amount of combustion air traveling into the firebox and consequently the control the actual burn. These are the most efficient and are the type that we would be using in a structure designed to ride out the future storm.
Construction of the chimney is extremely important. In this case the old ways are not the best. Fire brick and chimney tile will eventually burn out and will not handle many chimney fires. I heated my two-story log home in Montana for years primarily with split pine, which is very susceptible to creosote build up. Due to the construction of the chimney and fireplace I was able to regularly “burn out” the creosote safely.

I constructed the chimney using high quality triple wall stainless steel chimney pipe that was designed with separate air spaces between each layer of tubing. This allows the inner tube to dissipate heat. (Never use the double wall insulated pipe because it will contain heat and can cause extremely high temperature build up in the wall of the tube). The triple wall stainless steel (SS) chimney tubing was then encased in a framed shaft lined with fire rock all the way to the roof. The SS tube extended through the metal roof cap. This cap was removable so that the tubing could be pulled out and replaced if necessary without disassembling the chase and associated walls. Of course a spark arrester was installed on top of the chimney. I installed a vent in the bottom and top of the chase to capture the heat from the chase and reduce any heat build up. The vents incorporated at lead link controlled fire damper so that if there was a fire in the chimney chase they would automatically close. The bottom of the chimney was located directly above the fireplace and connected by a single wall SS pipe open to the room. The entire corner walls and floor where bricked and the stove set on the brick.
The fireplace was a plate steel enclosed box lined with firebrick. There were controllable air intakes on the front doors and also a combustion air vent piped from outdoors with a control damper built in near the stove. These allowed me to shut down the air supply and control the fire level. Most of the time the fire was kept and a fairly low level and consequently contributed to creosote build up in the chimney.
About once a week during the main heating season I would open the air intakes and allow the fire to build up enough to burn the creosote out of the chimney. This can be a little spooky the first time you do it because it sounds like the chimney is going to blast off into space. I chose days when there was adequate snow cover or wet weather in order to eliminate the chance of fire from sparks emitted from the chimney. These chimney burnout’s were generally very small and short-lived due to repeating them on a regular basis. During the learning curve I did have a couple of fires that emitted a large amount of flames and smoke from the chimney. I monitored the heat coming from the chase vents and it never exceeded an uncomfortable level. I also inspected the flue system and no damage was done other than a discoloring of the spark arrestor.
The weak link in a system like this is the single wall pipe between the stove and the chimney. This must be stainless steel, have adequate spacing from combustibles and be inspected regularly.
Another thing to remember is that a small hot fire is much better than a large cool fire. This is accomplished through the control of intake air and will become easy to maintain with practice. More of the gases that create creosote are burned in the hot fire. The diameter of the chimney flue is also important. If sized too large the velocity of the smoke and gases will move up the flue too slowly and will cause build up. Some of the older large chimney’s actually set up a convection current inside the flue drawing cold air from above, heating it and moving back up and out. This also opened the door for an uncontrolled chimney fire because it was self-feeding. A smaller diameter flue creates a higher velocity current fed only by the controlled combustion air thus keeping the smoke gasses a little hotter, moving them out of the chimney and reducing creosote build up.

The important element of this type of heating system is the ability to shut off the supply air. You can literally kill a fire in this manner. A back-up dry chemical fire extinguisher released into the front air damper opening should solve any out of control problem. I never found this necessary but kept one on hand, just in case.
Another point that goes along with wood heating is having a metal roof on your house. This is the simplest way to fire proof your roof and a good standing seam system, (not a screw down), is easily a 50-year roof. I had hand-split cedar shake shingles on mine and was always paranoid about the possibility of it catching fire from either a chimney spark or a forest fire. My next home will have a standing seam galvanized aluminum roof. Pricey, but worth it.

Letter Re: Macroeconomic Implications of Large Scale Ethanol Production in the U.S.

Hi Jim
I have run across some information that I thought might be of interest. I am in the food business and come in contact with a lot of people in the food industry.

One of my associates is in the frozen fruit and vegetable business. He has been telling me the effect that W’s ethanol incentives are having on the agriculture industry and it is quite alarming. I have not
researched this, so don’t have facts and figures to back it up, so take it for what it is worth.

This situation seems to have mysteriously stayed out of the mainstream media and the only thing that I have seen about this is that tortilla prices in Mexico have risen drastically because so much
corn is being grown to produce ethanol and the Mexican guvmint is trying to use price controls on corn.

There is a lot more to it than that. Apparently, the guvmint has made it so attractive to grow corn and soybeans for ethanol that a lot of farmers are switching out of other crops in order to grow corn
and soybeans. There are a couple of reasons for this. You get a guaranteed price. I have never been a farmer, but I know enough to know that that is unusual for a commodity. The farmers also get more money for the corn and soybeans going to ethanol production than they would selling it for feed. Corn and soybeans are not only used to feed cattle but also pigs, chickens and turkeys. This means
that cattle ranchers, turkey farmers, pig farmers and chicken farmers are having to pay more for feed.

The other attractive thing about this for farmers is that if you are growing corn, it doesn’t matter what the quality is, if it has some type of fungus or blight or has turned brown. They pay the same money
for all of it.

The effect that this is going to have on the food business is very far-reaching. A lot of farmers are now switching over to corn and soybeans. Case in point is peas. Peas for canning and freezing were very short last year and are expected to be short again this year. The reason? Fewer and fewer farmers are growing peas because they can make more money growing corn and soybeans. Remember,
farming is no longer like the painting, “American Gothic”. It is agribusiness run by the likes of Cargill, ADM, etc. They go where the money is.

Here is a link to an interesting article that discusses this on a local level.

I don’t know if this is true, but what my friend told me is that even if all of the arable land in the U.S. were put to corn and soybeans for ethanol, it would not make a dent in the amount of oil that we
have to import.

I also don’t think that most people know just how much of our food is imported. A very large quantity of our fresh fruits and vegetables are now imported. Many of the ingredients that go into food products manufactured here in the U.S. are imported. The majority of our canned meats and seafood are imported. Much of our canned fruits and vegetables are imported. More so in #10 cans than in the retail cans that you see in stores.

A good case in point is a canned bean packer that I work with. They are located in Illinois but they were telling me that a large percentage of their dry beans are imported. They pack a large amount
of organic beans and the majority of those are imported. Since the beans are all packed in the U.S., there is no indication on the cans that the raw material is imported. Pasta sauce is the same. Much
of the tomato paste that is used to make pasta sauce is imported. Virtually all canned tuna is imported. Even the big brands like Bumble Bee and Star Kist have offshore plants where they
pack their tuna.

My assessment of this is that between what is happening with domestic farmers and the decline of the US Dollar, food prices are going up, big time. Best Regards, – Kurt

Odds ‘n Sods:

Eric S. mentioned: India Mark II extra deep hand pump by Suksha Exports

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Reader RBS sent us this bookmark: The California real estate meltdown begins: Foreclosures up 79% and “short sales” up 10 times from last year’s figures.

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Speaking of foreclosures, reader JLM sent this: Foreclosure Wave Bears Down on Immigrants. It includes this frightening statistic: “Nationally, 375,000 high-interest-rate loans were made to Hispanics in 2005, and nearly 73,000 of them are likely to go into foreclosure…”

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

A Woman’s Ode to Survivalism, by Deborah (Moderator, JerichoCBS Forum)

I’m not into fashion
I like camouflage
I got surveillance equipment
Stashed out in my garage
I don’t wear many skirts
I kinda like my jeans
And they go so much better with
My bullets and my beans.

Now don’t be thinking that I’m crazy,
Not a sociopath, not even mean,
But if you come a knockin’
Keep your hands where they are seen…..

I got a Smith & Wesson,
AK and Mossberg too,
One Colt, two Berettas,
A Kel-Tec.. Hmm that one’s new

I don’t know when the SWHTF
But I’ll let you in on a secret,
Let you in on my plan ….
I’ve got water, and I’ve got fish
I’ve got ammo in my pockets
And a camera in my Dish.

I got flour, sugar and my salt,
And if you don’t, that’s not my fault

I’m replanting my lawn with berries and their thorns
All just to protect, all just to warn.
Maybe a few bushes, maybe a few vines,
And as far as you know, maybe a few mines…

The pantry is full of canned goods
Closets are filled up too
Everything’s been inventoried
Even all my shoes.

Kerosene is for the lamp light
And matches are a must.
No one knows what I have
For there’s no one that I trust.

Chickens I will raise, maybe some rabbits on my land,
And a nice big garden, to help me feed the clan .
Seeds I’ve got, oh, ain’t it nice,
I got all that and three kinds of rice.

I got flour, sugar and my salt,
And if you don’t, that’s not my fault

I don’t get the hurricanes
No floods or earthquakes here,
Just lots of icy blizzard snow
And Mutant Zombie Deer.

I’m ready for a nuke blast
Solar flares or acid rain
I’m ready for the Bird Flu
When the world gets quite insane.

I’ve done my preps,
Checked them double twice,
Not like in Jericho
Cause folks won’t be that nice.

My BOB is packed ..
Now what did I forget?
Oh yeah, the gennie’s full
And sitting on the deck.

When TEOTWAWKI is finally here,
I’ll be hunkered in my retreat,
family will be near,

And I got flour, sugar and my salt,
And if you don’t, that’s your own d**n fault