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.)

Two Letter Re: How to Buy Silver?

Dear Jim,
I really enjoy your Blog. On Friday the 3rd of February you wrote: “I recommend that you first buy one $1,000 face value bag of circulated (“junk”) pre-1965 dimes or quarters for each family member as your designated “barter” silver.”

How do you go about acquiring the junk silver? My local coin store guy just talks about grading…I can’t seem to get him on a silver to trade concept.

Do any of your advertisers deal in that type of silver? Can you recommend any other types of trade goods? Beads and sea shells are probably out even when the SHTF. I won’t trade ammo to strangers but booze is an option.

A short sea story on an older lady that was preparing for the Y2K disaster. She was a wise old lady who knew that if Y2K was a big deal that as an old lady she needed to be able to survive. She was a good friend of my mother so my mother took me to see her. The old Lady was proud of her collection of silver and how she was READY. But she was crestfallen when I asked her what she was going to eat if the time came. I said that I would be happy to trade her some leftover food for a bucket of silver after the Time. We had a great discussion of the value of metal vs. meals. The results were interesting. After she passed away her daughter showed me her mom’s home. One entire bedroom was now a pantry. Every can was dated. And the old stuff was in the front. The daughter was laughing as she pointed out the case of bourbon and scotch…her mom didn’t drink. My Mom and the daughter both cried when I pointed out the can of silver that she had collected. It had not gotten any bigger. I sure hope that her mom went peacefully and not worried but prepared. I did get a bottle of bourbon for my advice and did you know even cheap booze is smooth after 5 years. Thanks for your ideas.- Jerry T

JWR Replies:  To get your local dealer’s cooperation, simply ask him point blank whether or not he can order $1,000 face value “junk” bags from his dealer network–yea or nay. If not, then find another local dealer. If there are no local sources, then you can always mail order bags or 100 ounce serialized bullion bars from any reputable firm like Swiss America or Camino Coin Company (phone 800-982-707 or e-mail Burt Blumert at burtblumert@comcast.net.)

James:
Great job on the blog site. I find lots of information on buying and holding silver, but cannot get a handle on where to invest money that is in a qualified plan to take advantage of the run-up in silver. Thank you for your blogging about gold. I invested money within said plan in a small basket of gold stocks and yesterday I was up 38 %, as of a few minutes ago I am still up 37.1%.

I think the jump will be four or five times greater in the short term for Silver. If the ETF becomes available then… wow. Do you have any thoughts on Silver investment options within a qualified plan? My plan is in a brokerage account at a major house. I plan to send you a Texas Silver coin as my part of the 10 Cent Challenge. Keep up the great work, it is appreciated – Clifford

JWR Replies:  Within a qualified plan, your best best is to buy silver mining stocks or a mutual fund that heavily invests in stocks such as Coeur ‘d Alene Mines.

Odds ‘n Sods:

I was alerted to a useful forum on survival topics: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SurvivingTheDayAfter/. Lawrence Rayburn, who moderates the forum, custom builds 20 to 60 foot triangular towers and single to multi-tier Savonius windmills for pumping water and generating electricity. These are installed at survival retreats, farms, ranches, and other remote facilities. BTW, it was Lawrence who coined the term GLAZIS–for global socialists.

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SurvivalBlog reader “OSOM” recommends the article War Scenarios and Predictions by William Lind – a very insightful military commentator. See: http://www.lewrockwell.com/lind/lind87.html

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I’d like to welcome our newest advertiser, Safe Solutions. (See: http://www.SafeSolutions.net.) Please take a few minutes to check out their assortment of preparedness products.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"This course is dedicated to the idiotic proposition that you can be taught the fundamentals of Organic chemistry, Inorganic chemistry, Qualitative analysis, Quantitative analysis, Physical chemistry, and Biochemistry all in one semester. The odds against any of you passing this course would be staggering to contemplate if there were any time for contemplation. However, there is not. Get out your notebooks." – Max Shulman in The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis

Note From JWR:

I am seriously considering taking up SurvivalBlog as a full time occupation. (I currently write/edit this blog in my “spare” time which means that I’m working 11+ hours a day.) If I do switch to full time blogging, then I could then expand the blog and cover topics in greater depth. Sooo… If you’d like me to do so, just take out and ad, or send a 10 Cent Challenge donation. Thusfar, only 62 readers (out of 9000+ who read SurvivalBlog at least once a week) have ponied up 10 cents a day, or more. If you chip in, then I’ll “quit my day job.” Thanks!

Letter Re: The Significance of the RWVA Appleseed Shoots

Greetings Mr. Rawles,
In the spirit of, “Physician heal thyself” I offer up for consideration the following: Our country was once considered a country of Riflemen with a rich history of standing up for Liberty. After all, where would we be without those who made a stand for Liberty at Lexington and Concord? Over time we citizens have let slip those past treasures. I have often heard at gun shows, gun shops, and conversations between hunters that they are ‘rifle shooters’. The term Rifleman has managed to slip away from our Lexicon. I too am guilty of such laziness, hence I am healing myself. The basic and advanced training at such facilities as Front Sight is invaluable and well done from all I have read. And attending such sites is well worth the money. However, budgets being as they are, not everyone can afford to go to such facilities. And if one does manage to budget for such training you will spend more time on very basic instruction as opposed to fully utilizing the resources of the facility to raise your abilities far beyond what you think you are capable of. So where is a common man or woman to get even the basic training in marksmanship? We can go to a local range and burn as much ammo as we can carry and still not correct mistakes or improve above a basic level of safe and competent shooting skills. Being able to hit a FBI target or tin cans at relatively short range is one thing. Being able to make head shots at 250 yards and body shots at 500 yards with iron sights is an altogether different matter. That ability is the difference from one who shoots a rifle and a Rifleman. Enter, stage right, Project Appleseed. Project Appleseed is a grass roots movement to train Riflemen. It is a program to train people in solid basic rifle marksmanship using standard rack grade rifles and surplus ammunition. This year kicks off the first of the Appleseed tour. Shooting clinics are to be held at the following locations: Ramseur, North Carolina on February 25/26, Morehead, Kentucky on Feb 18/19 and March 25/26, and Evansville, Indiana on April 29/30. [More shoots will soon be added to the schedule.]
The course is set up in such a way that you can learn with a .22 caliber rifle if that is all you have. Just bring a rifle, ammunition, and a willingness to learn. There are some additional accoutrements that will enrich your experience at the class, which are listed on the site of the Revolutionary War Veterans Association. This organization is taking on the task of helping to plant the seeds of the tradition of The American Rifleman, and return us to that tradition. I was lucky enough to talk with one of the organizers a short while back. And after my talk with him I left totally charged and ready to participate. Now my entire family will be at one of the shooting classes. I hope to take away not only better skills, but the knowledge and ability to teach. That ability is an important part of the program. If just one member of each family or group attended one of the Appleseed clinics, and then taught their friends and family, we could restore not only a fine tradition but provide an invaluable service to the cause of Liberty and self sufficiency. I am bringing this up not as a member of the organization, but as a future participant. I do not derive anything from brining this project to the blog, other than spreading the word and doing something to further and American tradition. The entry fees are very reasonable at $45 for one day or $70 for both days per adult. Anyone under 20 shoots free, as does military – active, Guard, and Reserve. Also you can be assigned to a squad with your friends and family and any Internet group such as the FALFiles, NoR, etc. For more information on the Revolutionary War Veterans Association see:
http://www.rwva.org/
There are links on the left side of the page that will lead you to all you need to know about Project Appleseed. For a printable entry form and a basic rundown of the clinic see:
http://www.fredsm14stocks.com/article.asp?ITEM=39
One additional bonus to this project is that this shoot does qualify as a marksmanship activity to obtain a Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) M1 Garand or an M1903A3 rifle. And if you don’t belong to a CMP qualifying club an associate membership at the cost of $20 to the Revolutionary War Veterans Association will meet the CMP club requirement. Now for those who do not know what the Civilian Marksmanship Program is and what it offers, see:
http://www.odcmp.com/
Now there is a political side to this activity. The way I see it is that the more ‘peasants’ that have pitchforks, the more that the rulers will need to pay attention. I figure, as far as I am concerned, that ‘list’ that most are so afraid of being on is one I am already on. So what the heck, I may as well make a stand and say to ‘the powers that be’, “Sure, I own a firearm. I am another person you will have to ‘deal with’. I will remain within the bounds of the law. But I will not surrender my Liberty or that of my children willingly. You will have to work a bit harder to steal that away.” Each CCW permit issued in this country represents another person who makes a stand and says, “No. I will not be a victim.” With each person who teaches another proper marksmanship skills, that is someone to close the ranks when that teacher is no longer able to teach. The spread of knowledge and skills can not be stopped if enough people are willing to learn and teach. If you know of a rifle range that could host an Appleseed Project shoot, contact them and make it happen in your area. And being able to stand toe to toe and tell those who want to further enslave us, they will not have an easy time of it, makes us mighty. So brothers, and sisters, get thy self to a good marksmanship clinic. No matter if it is The Appleseed Project or one offered by the NRA or other organizations. Become a Rifleman, become another monkey wrench, become mighty. – The Rabid One

Odds ‘n Sods:

Cheuvreux, the equity brokerage house of the large French bank Credit Agricole has advised its clients to buy gold, citing short supplies and galloping demand. They expect a price spike to $2,000+ an ounce. The report is titled “Remonetization of Gold: Start Hoarding.” For the full text, see: http://www.gata.org/CheuvreuxGoldReport.pdf

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“Successful” Wolf Habitat Re-Introductions? See: http://eco.freedom.org/el/20060201/beers.shtml

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Hyperinflation-ravaged Zimbabwe has started to issue a $50,000 bank note. The new note is worth a whopping 50 cents, American. This travesty of monetary policy illustrates that Comrade Mugabe and his band of fools could muck up a two car funeral procession. See: http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=136961

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More on the nascent NAIS bio-chipping nightmare: http://www.newswithviews.com/Morrison/joyce23.htm

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I pity da terrorists fools that try to ram the gate at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories! See: http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/02/02/lab.defense.ap/index.html

 

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"But if anyone provide not for his own, and specifically for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." – Timothy 5:8 (KJV)

Note From JWR:

Yesterday, we surpassed 6 million page hits and 227,000 unique visits.  Thank you for making SurvivalBlog such and astounding success in just six months.  Please visit the web sites for each of our advertisers, and see what they have to offer.  Thanks!

Letter Re: S.F.’s Letter Re: Medical Kits

Jim,
In regards to S.F.’s letter regarding medical kits, suture/wound closure, and use of Ipecac… 1. I would not recommend the use of Syrup of Ipecac to anyone without proper training in airway management, i.e.: intubation/suction equipment on hand .The airway problems far outweigh the gains, you have to know what can come back up without problem also, leave this to the trained and save your money for other supplies. 2. Wound closure, "to be or not to be closed," again if you do not have the supplies or the know how ALL wounds can close from secondary intention, that is clean and let heal over time, yes the scar is worse but the associated problems of infection/drainage are overcome. 3. Cleaning wounds is a long subject, [but in brief]: pressure and copious amounts of normal saline 0.9% will clean most wounds others have to be debrided, large pieces of contamination can be removed with hemostats or tweezers that are sterile/clean for the rest of the debris use a large syringe (sterile) with a needle attached (18 ga sterile) to increase the pressure and normal saline in copious amounts until [completely] clean to the eye.Use of Betadine and hydrogen peroxide mixed 50/50 initially is an accepted process it makes for a foamy mess but kills most all bacteria in the wound. Then again flush with normal saline until clean. With can discuss wound care of wounds healing for secondary intention at a later date if anyone is interested. 4. Most supplies can be obtained from veterinary supplies in bulk much cheaper than anywhere else: needles, syringes, dressings, tape suture(fresh not surplus), normal saline solution, betadine, et cetera.  Do a search for veterinary supplies get a few different catalogs and compare prices prior to ordering. I get a lot of meds from the vet but I have a ranch. Antibiotics/ointment et cetera are sometimes on the shelf–you just have to know what you want/need and the name and most vets will sell it off the shelf. Buy stainless steel bowls that can be sterilized for use in wound cleaning or use glass. These two items have been used for ages and can be cleaned sterilized in the oven or pressure cooker and reused over and over again. – John

Letter Re: How to Buy Silver?

Dear Jim:
I noticed in your SurvivalBlog post of January 27 that you mentioned that you have invested in 100 oz. Englehard silver bars.

1.) Do you recommend this type of purchase in today’s silver market? [JWR’s replies are in-line.]

Even at $10 per ounce, silver is still a relative bargain.  (It certainly when you consider the real value of the U.S. Dollar–which is essentially nothing.) I recommend that you first buy one $1,000 face value bag of circulated (“junk”) pre-1965 dimes or quarters for each family member as your designated “barter” silver.  Those coins could presumably be used for day-to-day purchases in a recovery stage (post-collapse) economy. Beyond that, for “investment” silver–designed as a time machine to protect your wealth from one side of an currency crisis to the other–you should buy bullion silver with the lowest premium per ounce, yet still not regularly subject to assay.  IMHO, the type of bullion that best fills this need is serial number stamped 100 ounce bars, from a well-known maker such as Englehard or Johnson-Matthey. The big 1000 ounce industrial bars almost always require assay for re-sale, which is expensive and time-consuming. Not to mention that they are a pain to transport.

2.) What about 10 oz. bars? What, if any, are the advantages in owning 100 oz. or 10 oz. bars?

When coin dealers buy silver bars, they typically pay the spot price of silver, or just below the spot price if they are in a particularly greedy or grumpy mood. When they sell silver, dealers charge a premium over spot, which provides them most or all of their profit on the transaction. Silver almost always has a higher premium than gold, because of the greater minting cost and shipping weight of silver, per dollar. (By weight, gold is presently around 59 more times more valuable than silver.) Currently 10 ounce bars carry a 70 to 90 cent per ounce dealer premium (profit over the spot price), whereas 100 ounce bars have a premium of as low as 50 cents per ounce. Hence, unless you foresee the need to press your bullion silver into service for day-to-day barter, then it is best to buy the 100 ounce bars.

3.) What do you think about “silver rounds”?

I don’t recommend buying the one ounce rounds.  They often carry a higher premium per ounce than circulated (“junk”) pre-1965 coins, and they will probably be suspect as counterfeit in a barter situation. (With one ounce trade dollars and perhaps even with one ounce American Eagles, people may ask: “How do I know those are real?” In contrast, pre-1965 coins will be much more readily accepted and trusted with little more than a glance at the edge of the coin.

4.) What about Peace or Morgan silver dollars?

Silver dollars, even in poor condition sell for about 20-to-30% more than the equivalent in silver dimes or quarters, both because of their slightly higher silver content (per dollar), and because even cruddy-looking silver dollars still have some numismatic value. So for barter you are probably better off with dimes and quarters. However, it s noteworthy that U.S. silver dollars will be even more recognizable and trusted than the smaller denomination coins. So if you presently own any silver dollars, save those for transactions with your most reluctant barter customers.

5.) Are assaying expenses of any consideration, and, if so, what are they?

Typically, assay is only an issue with bullion bars that are not serialized, and of course any bars that are heavier than 100 ounces each, regardless of whether or not they are serialized.

6.) In light of the impending “explosion” in silver (if not all precious metals) what immediate action do you recommend?

Stock up!  Even if you are one of those folks that feel you should’ve bought back when silver was $8 an ounce and that you have “missed the boat”, then don’t worry. At $10 per ounce, the downside risk is minimal, and the the upside potential is huge, particularly in this new “Bernanke Era.”

I appreciate your valuable insights. – Dr. Sidney Zweibel

Letter Re: Synthetic Rifle Stocks and Sporterizing Military Bolt Actions

Jim,
I have a couple of questions regarding rifle parts for you and the “SurvivalBlog.com” community. This is mostly from a hunting standpoint, as my dad and I are winding down from this last deer season and planning next. I am planning on replacing the wood stock on my .30-06 and going synthetic. Do you, or any of the SurvivalBlog readers, have any other resources for synthetic stocks? I have looked long and hard at McMillan and others, but wanted to make sure there are no others I am missing.
Next, what resources are there available for Mauser receivers and Enfield receivers? We have a surplus Enfield that serves as a camp gun/coyote control, but have thought long about building up either a Mauser or an Enfield receiver in maybe a .300 Win. Mag, .308, or .30-06. I have a couple of small books on the subject and have Googled ad nauseam on the subject. And finally, are there any other hand loading resources available that I am not thinking about? Something that should be obvious to me? I have all the usual suspects bookmarked on the home computer. Dad has been looking for Norma cases for a while. He can’t seem to get enough of them for whatever reason. Thanks for the help. Peace. – “Shooter”

JWR Replies: In my opinion, the either the McMillan Brothers stock or the H-S Precision stock would be great choices. The inherent accuracy provided by a Kevlar-Graphite stocks with an integral aluminum bedding block is almost legendary. I have my Winchester Model 70 .30-06 (my primary deer, elk, and bear hunting tool) in one. That H-S Precision stock transformed a “decently accurate” rifle into a veritable tack driver.

If your goal is primarily just weight reduction and weather resistance rather than absolute peak accuracy, then you might consider some of the less expensive plain fiberglass stocks made by makers like Brown Precision and Bell & Carlson. An even less expensive option is to get one of the Dupont Rynite stocks made by Choate. These are categorized as medium weight and are relatively “Plain Jane” looking (although they now come in several colors). However, Choate stocks are zero-warp regardless of the weather and are very easy to inlet–if for example you have installed a bull barrel. Just use a Dremel tool set to low speed. (Higher speeds get a carbide cutter too hot and then you’ll start “melt inletting.”)

As for military surplus bolt action rifles/receivers for sporterizing, I recommend the Turkish contract pre-1899 (no FFL) Model 1893 Oberndorf (German) Mausers that are sold by The Pre-1899 Specialist. These are ideal for building a .308 or .30-06. (But not a belted magnum–you would need a Model 1898 Mauser action for that.) This is your chance to get a high pressure 8 x57 Mauser delivered right to your doorstep without filling out a Form 4473. There is no paperwork required because these rifles are Federally classified as “antiques” and hence entirely outside of  Federal jurisdiction. (Of course consult your state and local laws before you place an order.) The last I heard, The Pre-1899 Specialist still had a few M1893 rifles with cracked stocks available for just $169 each.  Those would be perfect  for building a sporter, since you will be discarding the stock anyway. OBTW, synthetic stocks that fit Model 1893 Mausers (the same and a “Model 1895” stock BTW) are available from Bell & Carlson and Choate.

 

Odds ‘n Sods:

It was nice hearing the President mention in his recent State of the Union address the need to reduce our dependence on Middle East oil and his goal to get ethanol production into high gear. Hopefully this won’t be just more of the same empty “essential need for energy independence” rhetoric that we’ve been hearing from Capitol Hill and the White House since the Jimmy Carter regime

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The U.S. Northern Command recently “hosted representatives from more than 40 international, federal and state agencies for an exercise designed to provoke discussion and determine what governmental actions, including military support, would be necessary in the event of an influenza pandemic in the United States.” For the full story see:
http://newsblaze.com/story/20060201162721tsop.nb/newsblaze/TOPSTORY/Top-Story.html

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Gold-Eagle.com proves once again that they have the best investing and economic commentary on the Internet. For example, I found the three following pieces there:

From Jim Willie: http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_05/willie013106.html

From The Contrary Investor newsletter: http://www.gold-eagle.com/gold_digest_05/ci020106.html

And this “must read” piece from Franklin Sanders: http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_05/sanders013106.html (“In inflation adjusted 2005 dollars silver hit a 1980 high at $127.87…”)

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"If you think about disaster, you will get it. Brood about death and you hasten your demise. Think positively and masterfully, with confidence and faith, and life becomes more secure, more fraught with action, richer in achievement and experience." – Aviator Edward Rickenbacker (1890-1973).

Note From JWR:

Today we feature another entry in Round 3 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best contest entry will win a four day course certificate at Front Sight. (An up to $2,000 value!)  The deadline for entries for Round 3 is the last day of March, 2006. We’ve already had plenty of motivational pieces submitted.  Please keep your contest entries focused on practical skills.  Start writing, folks!

On another note: If you know anyone that sells preparedness-related good r services, please ask them to advertise on SurvivalBlog.  Thanks.