Letter Re: David in Israel on Fire Starting

Mr. Rawles:
David from Israel wrote in with some interesting suggestions on fire starting. The method that I use in severe weather conditions is to first dig a small hole, about 6 inches in diameter and about 8 inches deep. Facing into the wind, I dig a small channel into the side of the hole, about 2 or 3 inches wide and sloping up from the bottom of the small hole, about 6 inches long. Then I put tinder in the pit and arrange short twigs around the tinder so that the twigs look like a teepee. To make tinder you can use cotton balls dipped in paraffin wax, or take a small block of resinous wood such as yellow pine and cut slivers and shavings off of it, then cut the block making slivers still attached to the block. You can also use straw or dry grass for tinder – if the grass on top is wet usually you can find dry grass below. I cover the circular hole with twigs and tinder, leaving the channel open, and then put small (1 inch diameter) sticks on top arranged ends inward, in a circle. If the wind is blowing hard, it’s a good idea to make a windbreak so that the hole does not have wind blowing directly into it. Sticks, grass, and rocks make a good windbreak – place it about a foot away from the hole. Now take a match and strike it in the channel and put the flame on the tinder, or take a piece of flint and rub it against a piece of steel to produce sparks and make sure they land on the tinder. You’ll see the tinder catch, and then blow carefully on the tinder so as not to put it out. It takes a bit of practice, so try this when your life doesn’t depend on it (surely people camped out when they were growing up and know about all this?) When you see a flame, put sticks and dry grass in the channel, and soon you will have a good fire. I used this method to start a fire in a blizzard where the snow was blowing straight across (and made a six-inch layer on my sleeping bag in the morning) and the fire was really hot, but there was still six inches of ice around the fire, then snow. BTW, if you want to sleep soundly in such a situation, make sure your head is covered. – H.L.

Letter Re: Defensive Shotguns on a Budget

James:
For those that already own a sporting shotgun, you should know that riot-gun barrels can be had rather inexpensively used. Many people buy a 20-22″ cylinder bore barrel with rifle sights for deer season, then sell it later. eBay commonly has barrels selling for $100 or so, for common shotguns such as the Remington 1100, Mossberg 500, etc.

Add an extended magazine [tube] for $30, and you’ve got a pretty good tactical shotgun for about half the price of a new one. Plus you can switch it back for bird season, et cetera. – J.N.

JWR Replies: That is a great idea.  IMHO, it is best to find barrels that are threaded for screw -in choke tubes, to maximize their employment flexibility. OBTW, if you hunt around, you can even find used slug barrels that already have tritium front sights installed.  As they say on Firefly: “Shiny!”

Letter Re: Using Checklists as a Retreat Planning Tool

Hello,
Just a quick note to say Great Blog Column! Being prepared is important. Checklists help a great deal. We all need a little organization. Sometimes in our quest to prepare we forget about the immediate pressing details of ordinary life. Here’s an article I find helpful as they update with the seasons: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/homegarden/2002699796_checklistwinter24.html This last one is a little dated (Dec. 24) but still very much applies.
Regards, – M.R.

Letter Re: Link Correction –The Ultra Light Bug-Out-Bag By “Springmtnd”

Jim:
Sorry about an error in my previous e-mail. After the article went out a friend told me that he couldn’t find the pack plans on thru-hiker.com. I was mistaken about where I had seen them.

Gossamergear who the makes the GVP4 pack also posts plans for the pack on their web site. See the link. http://www.gossamergear.com/cgi-bin/gossamergear/myog.html

Ray Jardine also sells a pack kit for $49.95 on his site. http://www.ray-way.com/php/order-form.php

Ah, I found it!  See: http://www.backpacking.net/makegear.html. Check out the Lab 2300. The first two [designs] seem unnecessarily complicated. I would take a close look at the last one.

My pack is 37″ in diameter by 21″ tall. This gives it a volume of about 2300 cu. in. The top pocket is not included. After looking at mine it also looks complicated but I have added a lot of details that the basic design doesn’t need to be functional.

The top pocket the water bottle pockets and the main pack body were all made with a technique I call “boxing the corner”. If you take a pillow case a push the bottom corners to the inside and pin them flat so the bottom of the pillow case now looks square you will see what I mean. Sometimes you see sleeping back stuff sacks made this way. Anyway, it is a simple way to get a three-dimensional shape.

The gray on this pack is silnylon and the green is lightweight coated oxford nylon ( maybe 2.5 oz.) I hemmed the edges back on the silnylon before sewing the seams to make the seams stronger and to distribute the seam loading over more of the fabric.- Springmtnd

Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalBlog reader Warhawke mentioned that he recently downloaded an excellent book called “The Farmer at War” about the terrorist war in Rhodesia in the 1970s and how the farmers responded. Not a lot of detailed information but well worth the read.  See:  http://www.rhodesia.nl/farmeratwar.html

   o o o

In yesterday’s issue of the Defense Tech blog (http://www.defensetech.org/) our buddy Noah has a snippet and a photo about the U.S. military’s new facial armor. It looks a bit reminiscent of Star Wars storm troopers.

   o o o

Yahoo News reports: “Firewood in Vogue As Oil Prices Rise.” See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060205/ap_on_re_us/fashionable_firewood

   o o o

Cell phone tracking, for a fee: http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/48872

   o o o

The editors of Slate have issued a summary of the Pentagon’s Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR.) The Slate editors opine: “The document envisions a world where the U.S. military’s main missions are homeland defense, the war on terrorism, and “irregular” or “asymmetric” warfare (i.e., wars against enemies that are not nation-states or that use weapons and strategies, such as roadside bombs, that make the most of their relative weaknesses). Much ink is spilled in discussing these new kinds of wars and the new kinds of soldier and command structures that they require. But look at what the Pentagon is really doing, how it’s spending its vast sums of money (close to $500 billion next year, not including the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan). With a few notable exceptions (most of them inexpensive), you’d think that we were still fighting the Soviet Union and that the Cold War were still raging on… For the full text of the article, see: http://www.slate.com/id/2135343/fr/rss/. And if you are a more ambitious reader, for the full text of the QDR itself   (a 113 page PDF), see: http://www.defenselink.mil/qdr/report/Report20060203.pdf

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority; the political function of rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities (and the smallest minority on earth is the individual)." – Ayn Rand

Changing The Retreat Locale Paradigm: Cellular Phones and Two-Way Satellite Internet Systems

Whenever I talk with my consulting clients, the topic of retreat locales almost inevitably comes up. When describing their criteria for a new retreat property they almost always say something to the effect of: “The property has to have an existing phone line or one nearby, so that we can have Internet service.”  But these days, I’m now quick to point out:  “That shouldn’t be an issue.”  Why? Because things have changed. Lots of Asians, Europeans, and Americans now have no traditional “land line” phone service at all. They utilize the steadily expanding network of cellular phone towers. Even more crucially, reliable and affordable two-way satellite Internet systems are now available. Early in 2001, two companies, DirecPC (DirecWay) and Starband, began to fill the pent-up need for two-way satellite Internet systems. For a satellite dish to both send and receive signals, the alignment between the dish and the satellite must be precise. This can be a bit tricky. A few experimenters have put these same dishes atop RVs and fifth-wheel trailers.  (See: http://eduscapes.com/mm/motosat/.)
For more information on two-way satellite Internet systems, see these sites:
http://www.satsig.net/ivsat.htm
http://centre.telemanage.ca/links.nsf/key/Direcway

In essence, you can now put a survival retreat just about anywhere south of the Arctic Circle (or north of the Antarctic Circle) as long as there is a source of potable water. Thanks to photovoltaics and modern sine wave inverters (a la Xantrex), a connection to the power grid is not an issue. You can make your own power. The aforementioned factors open up lots of new retreat possibilities such as remote regions in the western U.S. or “The Wet” of northern Australia, and perhaps even lightly inhabited islands out in the South Pacific. Wait a minute. Do I hear ukuleles?

David in Israel on Fire Starting

James:
Here is a dry topic that most people have no skill in they just rely on the old Indian fire trick (liquid fuel on wet wood) which is wasteful, dangerous, and teaches you nothing. My school of thought is as follows:
Carry two major tools:
2 or more – butane/flint lighters
1 – Longer life flammable (such as Hexamine fuel tablets or bars and/or a 15 minute road flare)
The butane lighter can be quickly dried and burns for many minutes about as well as hundreds of strike anywhere matches in a match safe. The flint over
electrical ignition makes a bright spark which while not a real strobe is visible in darkness. Carry several they are super cheap and easily replaced.
Flame transfer can be a pocketful of tea-lites (candles in aluminum tins), oil and floating wick in jar, or a Hexamine Esbit stove brick. What we are looking for
is something which will transfer enough heat into your collected fuel to dry and ignite it.
American style road flares can not be carried in large numbers in your pack but in a real hypothermic emergency that pop-fizzzz and knowing you have enough
fire to light all but the wettest fuels is a comfort.
Another home brew gadget for lighting fires is carrying a short length of of brass tubing with several feet of surgical
tube (doesn’t get stiff when cold) to blow air to feed a small flame if you can get it started with matches/sparks. The Coleman battery-powered air mattress
inflaters also work for this application. Some aluminum foil can help concentrate heat in a tiny
incipient fire, practice using it.

Letter Re: HK USP .45 ACPs and the Belgian Malinois Dog Breed

Mr. Rawles
I’ve just finished reading the back blog and thank you for creating such a great resource! I haven’t read “Patriots” yet but it is coming on inter-library loan since it is out of print. After reading your thoughts on the .45 ACP I was wondering why I’ve never seen the HK USP mentioned. I own one and really like it quite a bit. It shoots straight and is soft in the hand. Plus it has the rail mount for weapons lights and comes in either stainless or the hard black. I keep mine in a Bianchi holster which will adjust for carry of the gun with a weapon light. I’d love to hear your opinion.

The other thing I wanted to talk about is dogs. I’m no expert but I’ve been around and training dogs all my life. Mostly for hunting but I am now moving up the food chain so to speak. My current dog is a Belgian Malinois and I am very impressed. These dogs are fast (30+ mph), hard hitting, have good noses and a strong protection instinct. Plus I have no worries letting him play with my three year old nephew–supervised, of course. He is absolutely gentle with the boy yet when I play with him he knows that he can get rough. Another thing is that when I take him outdoors he is attentive to me. Hunting dogs just want to hunt to the point of distraction, its in their blood. Malinois are protectors. When he hits the yard he stands up tall, head up, ears up and watches. I know that it’s often not good to take the military approach to survival but I want to point out that the U.S. government is going to Malinois and Dutch Shepherds. Also since you have so much livestock it would seem that having a natural herder would be advantageous. Don’t forget also that what is true for us is true for our dogs. I’m talking about training. It does no good to have a giant dog who doesn’t know how to bite or who isn’t obedient (which is dangerous). Thanks again for what you do and thanks for listening.  – A Hi-Plains Reader

Letter Re: Liquid Fuel Lanterns

Have a good supply of replacement generators (vaporization tube) gaskets and pump cups. In my experience leather is the best because it rots less than rubber. In my opinion Pellgunoil (intended for air gun lubrication) is the best oil for anywhere on your lamp.

I personally have run kerosene for several years in my Coleman dual fuel (unleaded gasoline/Coleman fuel)  lanterns, use this info at your own risk light is not as bright as the generator jet is optimized for gasoline/white-gas/Coleman fuel. Everclear/ethanol is good for cleaning out gunked generators, they can often be rebuilt. Coleman used to make a pin pricker tool for opening the jet orifice as well as unscrewing the generator, buy several wrap in foil and wire to the lantern. If running kerosene, diesel, or jet fuel in your lanterns (at your own risk) have a lighter or squirt bottle of alcohol to preheat the generator especially in very cold weather.

Most of this advice can be transferred to liquid fuel stoves.
You can make a replacement crystal from steel window screen. Proper sized jar can be etched and hot/cold cut if you break your lantern crystal.
Reinforce your mantle with a coil of steel wire anchored to the tubing or generator for longer life.- Anon.

Letter Re: Recommendation on Wind Generators Versus Other Power Sources?

Hi Jim,
I just got off the phone with a friend of mine who is considering purchasing a wind turbine to generate electricity for his house. He has a constant breeze at his hilltop location. I told him I didn’t think it would be a good idea because they require a lot of maintenance. Any input would be appreciated. Blessings, – Find 1

JWR Replies: I only recommend wind generators for locales that are both windy and cloudy, and/or that have minimal solar exposure. The cost per watt is so low for photovoltaic (PV) panels these days that they make more sense in nearly all areas. The maintenance for PVs is trivial compared to wind generators. Also keep in mind that there are safety hazards involved (tower climbing. lightning strikes, et cetera), and that wind generators are surprisingly noisy when in operation.

Two More Letters Re: How to Buy Silver?

James:
Regarding your reply to Jerry T., who was interested in purchasing junk silver… For those of us who can’t afford (or don’t wish to purchase) $1,000 bags, there is an alternative: eBay. Search for “silver dime roll” (or a similar search phrase for other denominations) and you’ll find tons of them for sale. To simplify the bidding process, use eSnipe (www.esnipe.com). The usual caveats of buying on eBay apply: always check the seller’s feedbacks [number and ratio of positives], and things that sound to good to be true usually are, etc. However, I’ve done a number of silver transactions and have so far never had a problem. (He said, knocking on wood). The up side is that for each buy, except one that I’ve made, the cost, including shipping and insurance, has been less than the spot price of silver for the content of the roll. Being a frugal sort, I like that. – The Freeholder

 

Hello,
I feel you have helped give us all a heads up on how to go about, and who to contact in regard to precious metal investing. I have one looming question.
Let’s say we purchase our silver at a price far less than the anticipated high. What, when, or how should we consider selling, what would be the strategy? Do we “cash out”, or do we actually just ride the wave? I think there are several answers to this question that I would love to hear. In the scenario of a dollar collapse,…. I find it hard to find value in selling at a high when the dollar will only lose it’s value on the other side of the collapse. Any insight would be valuable.
Thanks, -The Wanderer

JWR Replies:  I recommend that you use two methodologies to purchase and maintain two distinct hoards of silver, and that your do not co-mingle them:

1.)  Your designated “barter” silver stockpile. The barter portion of your silver stockpile should be in small divisible units, ideally pre-1965 90% U.S. silver dimes.  (Or the country specific equivalent, for our foreign readers.) That “barter” silver should be considered a core holding, and never sold for the sheer sake of profit. If you don’t ever have to use it for barter, then count you blessings and just pass it along to your children or grandchildren so that they will will have something to use for the same purpose.  As previously mentioned, if you can afford it, I recommend buying one $1,000 face value bag for each member of your family.

2.)  Your designated “investment” silver stockpile.  The best way to buy this–with the lowest dealer premium per ounce–is serial number stamped 100 ounce bars, from a well-known maker such as Englehard, A-Mark, or Johnson-Matthey. This stockpile is designed as a time machine to protect your wealth from one side of an currency crisis to the other.  You buy it in current day dollars. After a currency collapse has come and gone, when a new stable currency (hopefully backed by something other than hot air) is issued, then you can convert part or all of your investment silver stockpile into the new currency.  Odds are that most if not all of your original purchasing power will be preserved by this method.  Leaving your money invested in dollar-denominated investments –and I do mean any dollar-denominated investments–for the next 30 years will be disastrous. This is because the currency unit itself represents the biggest risk. In the long run–like all other un-backed fiat currencies–the U.S. dollar will end up like the Zimbabwean dollar–inflated away to nothing  Call me old-fashioned, but I put my trust in God and I invest my money in tangibles. (Such as productive farm land, gold, silver, and durable tools like guns.)

The old “wait until it doubles and then sell half” strategy is sound, but look at the long term “big picture.”  If the currency unit itself is doomed, then you may want to wait a long time before you sell the other half of your investment silver.

Offshore Retreat Area Analysis: The Bay Islands of Honduras

I recently did some research about some offshore retreat locales on behalf of a client, who ultimately decided not to opt for an expatriate lifestyle. She has kindly consented to letting me to post my research notes to the blog. Hopefully a few of you might benefit from this data and analysis. Over the next few days I will be posting this information in several parts. Today, I’m presenting the first increment:, which is my research on the Bay Islands of Honduras.

The Bay Islands, called La Bahia in Spanish, are located about 30 miles off the eastern coast of Honduras. The predominant language spoken is English, albeit in a Creole dialect. To outsiders, the islands are best known for their snorkeling and SCUBA diving. The islands have the second largest coral barrier reef system in the world–second in size only to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. The water clarity is amazing–sometimes providing underwater visibility of 200 feet or more–which is typical of the Western Caribbean. The reefs are home to an incredible variety of fish, so the islands will probably never lack a source of protein. The islands have a surprisingly large expatriate population, mostly American retirees, plus a few assorted dive instructors and would-be dive instructors from all over the world. 

There are three main islands in the Bay Islands group:

Roatan – The largest and most populous of the islands, roughly 22 miles long and just four miles wide at its widest point. It has a major airport, which has regular flights from the Honduran mainland as well as U.S. cities such as Tampa and Houston. (For example, a round trip ticket from San Francisco: $511.)

Utila – This island is the dive bum’s dream land. Utila is a mecca for twenty-something world travelers–especially those that like to snorkel and SCUBA dive. There is so much competition among the dive schools that you can get  PADI open water diving certification–with loaner equipment–for under $350. You can often can negotiate a package price that includes lodging.(For essentially free lodging.)

Guanaja – The least developed of the islands. This island has no significant roads, and virtually no cars. Most of the travel from point-to-point around the island is via boat. The economy is primarily cattle ranches and a few small resorts.

The aggregate population of the Bay Islands is estimated at 65,000. (There has never been an accurate census. The latest figure was extrapolated based upon electrical utility usage.) The population is slightly above the agricultural carrying capacity of the islands, in the event that the Schumer ever starts flying around. The economy is roughly 30% fishing/agriculture and 70% tourism.

The Plusses:  Hey, its the tropics! Beautiful sunsets. White sand beaches. Great fishing. Low cost of living. Affordable houses. Virtually no expense to heat a house. Minimal gun laws–and the few that exist are not enforced. In these days of satellite Internet service, great connectivity.

The Minuses:
 Mosquitos–complete with malaria.

Ma?íana Syndrome –It is agonizingly slow to accomplish anything–like getting a house built, or even just getting a driver’s license or mailing a letter. The power utilities are unreliable, so a lot of folks have installed photovoltaic power systems. (Particularly on Guanaja and in Roatan’s East End.)

Machetes y Pistolas–This one takes some explaining: Gang members is nearby La Ceiba (on the Honduran mainland) take the Galaxy ferry to Roatan and burglarize the homes of wealthy gringos. They soon developed an extensive fencing network utilizing native islanders. Nowadays, they prefer to wait for the owners to return, hold them at knife or gun point, rob them of their jewelry, wallets and purses, and force them to open vaults and/or show them where valuables are hidden. Ex-pats have taken the law into their own hands, getting guard dogs and hiring “watchie-men.” But the Honduran courts do not seem to be doing anything substantive to deter the criminals. Here are some examples: An ex-pat shot and killed one of three armed men that were invading his house. That ex-pat is now facing murder charges in the Honduran courts. An ex-pat who was assaulted on the beach identified the perp and even had a piece of fabric that she had torn from his shirt as evidence–and the crooked Honduran court still let the perp go free. In the course of our research, The Memsahib corresponded with an American ex-pat that lives at Roatan’s West End who said that his home had been broken into four times in five years. 

The bottom line:  If it were not for the crime rate, I would recommend La Bahia. But with the current situation, I cannot.  For further research on the Bay Islands, I suggest that you start with back issues of The Bay Islands Voice, which are available on-line. See: http://www.bayislandsvoice.com/  The latest issue (January, 2006–Vol.4, No. 1) has some interesting statistics on crime.

Letter Re: Lister Low RPM Engines Still Made in India!

Mr. Rawles:
I stumbled across a very cool generation option for very long-term power generation: the Listeroid [“Lister”] generator. Its based on a design that has been in production since about 1930 and as such is dirt simple. Its about as uncomplicated as a diesel engine can be. They run at very low RPM (650-800, no I didn’t forget a zero), are built to be field-serviceable, and have massive flywheels to keep them running smoothly. They’re extremely low-tech and all the bugs have been worked out dozens of years ago. The original Lister company no longer makes them, but various Indian and Chinese firms have picked up the casting and are happy to sell to American buyers. The very best thing about these is that when they say 100% duty cycle, they mean it. Listeroid engines when properly set up have been running non-stop for a decade in rural Alaska, and most likely around the world as well. They are also very efficient, pushing 2500 watts runs an average of 0.125 gallons of diesel per kW/hr. The per-kilowatt cost of the hardware is low too, the engine itself runs around $800 for a 6 hp one-cylinder which should generate 3kW.
There are (as always) a few downsides.
1) Weight. These things are huge. The engine alone runs in the 750-lb range, and a proper installation requires a good cooling system (radiator), generator head and a solid concrete block for anchoring. You’re not likely to throw one in the trunk for a Bug Out.
2) Do It Yourself. Because these are actually just engines not complete generator sets, assembling a properly functioning one takes some know-how. I don’t really consider this a downside, but if you need power up and running yesterday, this isn’t for you. If you have the time (and power) to take your time getting your setup just right for its environment then you’ll probably be happy with a Listeroid. On the other hand, the need for actually getting your hands dirty means you are guaranteed to know how to fix the thing when it breaks.
3) Quality Control. These engines are all made in either India or China. Some brilliantly executed stuff comes out of both countries, alongside some of the most irredeemable trash known to man. The notion of consistency does not seem to exist in the firms making these. This can have a silver lining if you are mechanically savvy and have some tools you can save a load of money by buying a lower-quality engine and replacing the stuff that is broken yourself. This is usually things like leftover sand from the casting inside the engine, bad seals, cheap plumbing for the fuel and oil lines, etc. Nothing anyone who can change the oil in his/her car shouldn’t be able to manage. Its not like the parts are small. On the other hand, if you want a bit more of a turn-key solution, the manufacturers are reportedly more than open to requests for a specific level of quality. If you take the time to talk directly with the manufacturer and make it clear to them what level of quality you are expecting, you will probably get it. These firms seem to be eager to get good American Testimonials so will go the extra mile in many cases.
4) Shipping. The engine is assembled in India or China. You (probably) live somewhere in the U.S. About half the planet is between you and your engine. There are two options: Pay an importer to do it for you or negotiate the shipping yourself. The consensus seems to be that doing it yourself is a good way to get ripped off, but if you know a guy you might be able to get a good deal here. This Guy seems to import them and most of the testimonials on the web refer to him in on way or another.
Further links can be had here, where I originally discovered them. Also, Googling for Listeroid is informative.
If you’re planning on using something like this to actually run your house, i.e. an off-grid setup, you should really consider setting up a proper power regulation system. Because diesel generators are most efficient at a certain load, you don’t want them to be throttling like a car engine. A way to avoid this is to essentially set up a big battery bank that runs high voltage DC and charge that with the generator as well as any other power sources (solar, wind, micro-hydro, your Prius, et cetera) and convert to AC for household use with a beefy alternator. This does have more bits to break in an emergency but for real 24×7 use you will probably appreciate the efficiency gains.
I would like to see someone rig up an automatic hydraulic or mechanical starting system just for the niftyness factor. If anyone has any real-world experience with that Startwell gizmo I’m sure many would like to hear about it. It sounds like a great backup starter for a diesel truck that would require no electricity without plumbing your pickup for hydraulic start.
I should disclaim that I do not own one of these. Finding a place for it in my shoe box apartment would be entertaining. – P.H.

JWR Replies: You probably missed it, but I posted a brief piece on Lister and other stationary engines back on October 5th, 2005.  (See the SurvivalBlog Archives.) The tolerances and quality control seems to be better on the Listers that are made in India, since they inherited a couple of sets of tooling that probably date back to the British Raj.  (The Chinese engines, in contrast, were reverse-engineered, and some of the parts appear to be from the “file to fit” school of assembly.)