Letter Re: Advice on Small-Scale Grain Growing, Harvesting, and Processing

Hi,
I love your survival site. I was wondering about finding low cost or fairly low cost equipment to harvest, thresh, winnow and hull grains such as wheat, barley, millet, oats, etc. Also low cost equipment to extract oil from seeds such as sunflower seeds. I’ve done an extensive search on the Internet and can find very little that is meant for a family or small group of people. Manual (hand power) or electric/gas/diesel are all of interest. Being able to process and use grains is extremely important but I don’t know of any sites that sell survival equipment that sell such things. Many sell grain mills and some sell corn/pea shellers but not much more. – Nancy

JWR Replies: To begin, I should mention that the book Small-Scale Grain Raising by Gene Logsdon is an invaluable reference that every prepared family should have on their bookshelf. (ISBN 0-87857-134-5 for hardback or ISBN 0-87857-147-7 for paperback.) Used copies can often be found at bargain prices on eBay .(I even once bought a copy of it there for just the opening bid of one penny, plus postage!) or at Amazon.com.

Your seed stocks should be all non-hybrid (“heirloom”) varieties, so that the seed that you save from each harvest will breed true and continue to produce, year after year. (Hybrid varieties won’t!) Heirloom seed is available from The Ark Institute, the Seed Savers Exchange, and Ready Made Resources. Bulk quantities of grain seed should be stored in the proverbial “cool, dark, dry place.” They must be kept very, very dry to prevent mold or unintended sprouting. They must also be kept in sturdy, vermin proof containers. (Think steel, not plastic.)

One our preferred grains for growing on a small acreage is barley. As a general rule, you should plant winter barley in regions where winter wheat is grown and spring barley where spring wheat is grown.

If you live in deer country, you will probably find their depredations on your grain fields unacceptable unless you erect some substantial fences. If you can’t afford to install tall fences around your grain fields, one alternative is to plant “bearded” varieties of barley. (Deer generally won’t eat the awns of bearded barley.)

If you have any ground that is swampy from spring to fall on your property (“wetlands” in the modern politically correct parlance), consider planting domesticated wild rice in those areas. Technically “wild rice” isn’t really rice at all, since it is in the grass genus (Zirzania) rather than the rice genus (Oryza.) Like other grain growing, planting wild rice will also attract waterfowl and other birds, which can be a mixed blessing. So consider a shotgun and beau coup shotgun shells to be part of your assortment grain growing essential tools.

Tools and Equipment: Raising grain takes not only seed stock but also the proper tools and equipment. Buy the best quality equipment that you can find. Concentrate on 19th Century technology. This is low tech and easy to maintain. It is amazing what you can find on eBay if you check there consistently. Unfortunately, however, some practical items such as scythes and hand mills are now sold as “decorator” antiques. Yuppies and retirees that merely want to decorate their homes have driven up prices. (Grumble, grumble.) In recent years, I’ve seen antique dealers that charge more for worn-out (filed down to nothing) scythes with rusty “patina” than you would pay for a brand new one bought from Lehman’s.

Planting. A seed broadcaster is a must. Get an adjustable hand crank seed broadcaster that you strap around your waist. For really big fields, you might need a wheeled (push) row seeder. Even on a small scale, a one-wheel “dial a seed” planter is a huge labor saver. These are all available through Lehmans.com. One a large scale, horse drawn or tractor pulled equipment is called for. (That goes beyond the scope of what I’m writing here, but it is described fairly well in Logsdon’s book.) When to plant varies depending on the last frost-free day in your region. Look at standard references for planting depths, frequency, and crop rotation.

Harvesting and Processing: For corn, you will need a couple of corn knives and some husking pegs (to strap to your palm.) For wheat and other small grains, at the very minimum you will need for reaping is a hand scythe, but for any decent scale of production, you will need a large cradle type scythe. There are plans for building a small grain threshing machine in Gene Logsdon’s book. In a pinch, you can thresh grain by hand on a large clean concrete barn floor.

There are a variety of hand-cranked machines made specifically for hulling (‘pearling”) rice and barley, for pressing oil, for shelling corn, peas, and so forth. If you grow sorghum or cane sugar, you will need yet another type of hand crank press. Finding these machines may take some searching, because small hand cranked machines are now essentially obsolete outside of the Third World. (But they are eminently practical for folks like us, who are preparing for TEOTWAWKI.). Used machines that are still in good working order can sometimes be found on the Internet, but if you don’t mind paying a premium price for brand new machines, I again recommend Lehmans.com.

The grain mill that I recommend is the Country Living mill (available from Ready Made Resources.) Yes, they are expensive, but they are built to last a lifetime. We’ve had one here at the Rawles Ranch for more than a decade. Unlike the inexpensive Mexican and Eastern European mills (such as the Corona brand), the Country Living mill has proper sealed bearings and replaceable burrs, for long service life.You also need to consider the service life of your teeth. If you eat a lot of bread made with flour from an inexpensive stone burr grinder, it will be at the expense of your tooth enamel. The Country Living mill is also designed to be used either with its included hand crank, or by fan belt drive. (Adaptable to either electric motor power, or powered by a bicycle frame for someone with basic welding skills.) Nearly all hand mills have adjustable burrs. They can be adjusted all the way from rough cracking, down to corn meal grinding, and finally down to bread flour milling. To mill fine flour you will have to run the flour through the mill at least twice.

Storage: Whether for human consumption or for livestock feed, you will need to properly store what you harvest to protect it from spoilage and vermin. If the moisture content is low enough to prevent mold, then plain galvanized trash barrels (bought brand new) will suffice for small scale grain storage. On a larger scale, a prefabricated storage shed, such as those made by Butler are ideal. Corn still on the ear should be stored in a traditional slatted wooden corn crib or in a well-ventilated Butler building.

Handling: Buy a large aluminum scoop grain shovel. (The lighter the better, so that it will be less tiring to use.) For moving corn that is still on ears, you will want to have a corn drag. (A drag is a rake with just three or four very long tines.)

“Berry” Soaking: Whole grain wheat can be soaked for 24 hours to make wheat berries. This makes a quite palatable and nutritious breakfast food, when warmed and served with milk or cream and a dash of honey or molasses.

Sprouting: To get the maximum nutrition from the grain that you raise, you should plan to sprout the majority of it. For some details on sprouting, see the article “Wheat Sprouts and Wheatgrass as Survival Foods”, by SF in Hawaii. It is one the writing contest winners posted at the SurvivalBlog Writing Contest page. Lay in supplies for sprouting and practice the art of sprouting before the balloon goes up!

Practice, practice, practice!: As with any other newly acquired skill, grain raising, harvesting, storage, milling, and sprouting will take practice. Develop your expertise now, when any mistakes will be merely humorous blunders rather than potentially life-threatening disasters.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Mike M. gave a thumbs up for the Nader Khalili’s sandbag building technique recently mentioned in SurvivalBlog. Mike says: “This is great stuff. Our church has been trying this building technique for use in Mexico. It would make a great shelter for short or long term use.” See: http://www.calearth.org/

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The remnants of Saddam Hussein’s Baath party have threatened to retaliate if their leader is executed.

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Courtesy of Gold-Eagle, Joshua Fritsch offers some interesting charts showing the bull market in gold. The best is yet to come.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Big government by its very nature is government that intrudes in people’s lives, usurps their rights and responsibilities and confiscates their money. There is nothing conservative about any of this. Regardless of how benevolent and well-meaning its intentions are, government expands almost entirely for the purpose of controlling and regulating the lives of its citizens. Each act of government, each law passed, each regulation written is a step toward limiting the freedom of some one or some group or some organization or some business or industry. Granted, some of these steps may be necessary but most of them are not. So let’s not kid ourselves. If conservatives are people who put freedom ahead of security and individual rights ahead of government control, then it must follow that they are opposed to big government. This being the case, a policy of ‘big government conservatism’ is merely an excuse for wayward conservatives to justify moving leftward and anyone who denies this is an ignoramus, a fool or a hypocrite.” – Lyn Nofziger

From The Memsahib: Survivalism and Personality Types–Pessimists and Optimists

I’ll be curious to see if the recently released TEOTWAWKI futurist movie Children of Men inspires any greater interest in preparedness. From what I’ve read about the gritty realism of the film, it might. But then, Jim thought the same thing back in August when he heard about the television series Jericho. Apparently it attracted considerable fan following and inspired some debate, but little action. From what I’ve heard from the food storage and other preparedness vendors, their market went into a slump last fall. With the current global threats–most notably Iranian and North Korean nuclear saber rattling, both Sunni and Shiite terrorist threats, and sharp decline of the dollar in international currency markets–you would think that the average American or resident of western Europe would be scared out of their socks, and stocking up, big time. But for some reason people are in denial. Instead of preparing, Mr. and Mrs. John Doe are cocooning at home, watching their newly-acquired plasma big screen HDTVs. As a realist, I’d much rather have $1,000 worth of storage food and practical tools than a $1,000 television. Which brings me to a strange irony. Survivalists are optimists! Who else but an optimist believes that we can survive a nuke attack or biological warfare! More precisely, we survivalists are optimistic pessimists, we do think the world is going to heck in a hand basket. But we also think that we can take steps to ensure the survival and even comfort of ourselves, our loved ones, and even our neighbors.

Some people have an essentially optimistic nature. They feel that they can survive TEOTWAWKI with enough preparation. Therefore,in the face of overwhelming threats preparing makes them feel better. But other people have a pessimistic nature and believe that there is no way that anyone could survive TEOTWAWKI, so they consciously avoid reading the newspaper, watching the international news, and so forth. The truth is much too difficult for them to face in their daily lives. This is why they choose to escape via their HDTVs.

In a simplified form, I see four personality types:

There is the optimistic pessimist, which I believe typifies survivalists. We see the collapsing state of the world. But we believe we can make a difference in our fate through concerted training, logistical preparation, self-sufficiency measures, favorable geography, and teamwork.

The optimistic optimist believes that the world is just getting better and a better every day. The world’s governments and the world’s scientists can solve all our problems. These people don’t prepare for anything. They aren’t saving for retirement. They may even be eating fatty sugary foods, getting no exercise, maybe even smoking and drinking to excess because they believe science will cure all diseases too! They are borrowing against the equity in the homes because they believe the housing market always go up.

Then there is the pessimistic optimist who believe we are living in the best possible time in history. Nothing can go wrong they tell themselves. But they secretly believe that if there was a TEOTWAWKI event, no one could survive it. So therefore they retreat further into their optimistic delusion for mental self-preservation. This makes up the vast majority of Americans. Having been brought up in public schools teaching evolution, they are taught that human beings are evolving to become more and more intelligent and more and more civilized. American children are are taught that world governments have, like mankind, evolved to be more civilized and intelligent. (And if we all cooperate with them, all the world’s problems can be solved.) But I rather suspect Mr. and Mrs. John Doe are scared out of their socks because despite all that they have been taught about mankind’s advancement, it is obvious that human nature hasn’t changed since Cain slew Abel.

Then there is the pessimistic pessimist. They know the world is going to heck in a hand basket. They believe nothing can be done about it, and no one can survive TEOTWAWKI. A few may live like hedonists. Eat drink and charge the credit card to the max, for tomorrow we will die. Some may embrace “the culture of death.” But most feel helpless. They don’t prepare because they have no hope.

Of course this is an oversimplification. People really can’t be pigeon holed into just four personality types. But I hope this might be food for thought. If we can understand our neighbors’ point of view we can motivate them with arguments that address their particular concerns.

 

Two Letters Re: Recommended Versatile Dog Breeds for Retreat Security

In your 11, August 2005 post (yes, I’m reading the archives) you asked for a review from people who have owned Airedale(s) for an extended period of time. My family has lived with airedale terriers for about 20 years so I might have a little insight. Overall, these animals tend to be highly intelligent, very friendly to family and friends and incredibly headstrong. Their hunting instincts and abilities are amazing. For example, one of our Airedales managed to catch a good sized rodent while on a short lead (approximately two feet of slack). The downside to these wonderful animals is a tendency to be headstrong and intelligent. However, they love to work for you. An alternative I would like to suggest is a Giant Schnauzer. Until recently they were considered to be terriers and are slightly larger than the Airedales. I don’t have a lot of experience with the Giant Schnauzers yet, but so far they appear to be Airedales on steroids. They have a more solid body and a more massive frame. If anything they seem to be more intelligent than the Airedales and at least as headstrong. One thing I have noticed is that the Giant Schnauzers appear more menacing than Airedales. Overall, either of these breeds would be of great help in case of TEOTWAWKI. I hope this helps, I will do my best to answer any further questions you may have.- Gregg

Sir,
I am looking for a dog and we need some help on a breed. I have a wife and a two-year-old daughter. We need a dog that will be protective of the family from both two-legged and four-legged predators. (We have a large number of black bears where we live)Some of the breeds that have been suggested are the Akita, American Bulldog, Chesapeake Bay retriever and the Rhodesian Ridgeback. As I highly value your opinion. Would you please let me know your thoughts on the subject? Thank you for your time and help. – Ron

JWR Replies: I generally prefer medium size, very loyal, territorial, and versatile breeds such as the Airedale Terrier, Standard Poodle, and the Rhodesian Ridgeback. Of those three, the best choice for a novice owner or someone with small children is the standard Poodle, since the other two breeds are just too stubborn for most novice dog owner to handle. Gregg’s suggestion of the Giant Schnauzer (also called the Riesenschnauzer) is something to consider, but as Gregg pointed out, this is another very willful breed. The breed has been used as a police dog in Europe. “According to one Giant Schnauzer rescue, ‘without the correct training, they may bite kids. They are not suitable for homes with children under the age of 14 years old.'”

I don’t recommend getting any of the largest breeds or keeping more than two dogs unless you have a giant source of protein to feed your dogs. (For example, if you raise hogs, cattle, or large numbers of chickens or rabbits.) If you do have that sort of larder, then Rottweilers and German Shepherds might also be viable options for retreat security. Regardless of your choice of breed, buy only from a reputable breeder that offers a guarantee against genetic defects such as hip dysplasia and epilepsy. (In Ridgebacks, for example, both hip dysplasia and dermoid sinus.) Avoid line-bred puppy mill dogs. Look for bloodlines that emphasize field practicality rather than just show quality conformation. Ask the breeder if he has any “pet quality” dogs. (Remember, you are looking for disposition–not perfect markings.) Select a pup with a mild temperament that displays intelligence. Be willing and ready to invest plenty of time to training and acclimating your dog so that it bonds with your family and consider the family his “pack” to be defended.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Mike the Blacksmith recommended this article: How Our Civilization Can Fall.

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The first episode of the Front Sight Challenge reality television series will air for the first time on on January 5, 2007. Naish Piazza tells me that the series will be available to cable and satellite television viewers in 70 million homes around the globe. I predict that this exposure will cause a spike in Front Sight course enrollments, so make your reservations soon. Because of the hot climate in southern Nevada, in my experience the most pleasant months to attend are October through April. Those of you that are northerners will find that a trip to Front Sight in January or February makes a great respite from the snow.

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Rob at MURS Radios is extending an exclusive offer to SurvivalBlog readers. He has a limited number of $49 MURS radios to offer to SurvivalBlog readers that include free shipping. Rob was able to procure this batch at a discount and is passing along the savings to SurvivalBlog readers. He has created a special page for these radios with ordering details. Follow the directions on this page to reserve your radios. First come, first served!

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Arms are the only true badges of liberty. The possession of arms is the distinction of a free man from a slave." – Andrew Fletcher, A Discourse of Government (1698), p. 47

Note From JWR:

The following is another article for Round 8 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. If there are a lot of great entries this round of the contest, 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. Round 8 will end on January 31st. Remember that the articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival will have an advantage in the judging.

Preparing for TEOTWAWKI–A Change of Lifestyle and a Change of Mindset, by D.O.

The End of the World as We Know It (TEOTWAWKI): statistically speaking, the odds are that you and your family are going to die. However, because you are reading this, you have decided that you want to die of old age in the event that Schumer hits the fan.
1. Your Level of Preparedness is dependent on where you are living. If you are living in large metro city. Then have about 60 days of supplies. After that time in a true TEOTWAWKI situation living conditions will have deteriorated to the point that it is unlivable and you will die of disease, starvation, gunshot, etc. Any condition less than a true TEOTWAWKI will have had services restored to the level of existing with unpleasant difficulty at least within a few months.
2. Bug out just before TEOTWAWKI: If you haven’t prepared a suitable place with lots of supplies stored or fleeing with a convoy of semi’s filled with supplies. Then you will become either a refugee or looter. Neither status will be welcome in rural America.
3. Urban residents can prepare for limited disasters or a situation where bugging out will be for a limited time where the government will continue to function.

Semi-rural and rural families have the possibility of long term survival with adequate preparedness.
1. Everything starts with planning. The first of every year should be list of what is needed for survival. If you’re just starting. Then a list for three to six months is a good starting place. After that long term projects and items are included in subsequent lists. Every year I make a list of at least twenty-five goals in the area of survival to accomplish. Every hour of actual preparedness should be directly related to an equal time in study and planning. A good survival library is a must.
2. Study and research into the field of Survival will become your second job. This is serious study and not just reading internet blogs. Several months ago I was annoyed by a lady that was asking questions on an internet site that revealed that she had only an elementary school level of knowledge of first aid and was totally clueless about nuclear fallout. Yet she had found time to post over 850 entries over the last six months, but not had bothered to do even the most basic reading.
3. Your bug out bag should be in your car and contain what is needed to get home if the roads are gridlocked and you have to walk. Your home should be your survival outpost. The last thing you should become is a fleeing refugee being herded into a government refugee camp.
4. Develop an operation plan that details what each family member is expected for them to do during the first 72 hours of a situation. Different tasks for different situations. This will keep a focus on accomplishing necessary tasks that will make the difference between a family’s survival or succumbing to the disaster.
5. Prepare for those that are welcome to hunker-down with you. This is the worse part; you must give a warning in uncompromising language that others must come prepared to your gate. Recently my best friend from childhood observe red one of my many storage shelves and exclaimed, “Why should I prepare, I’m coming to stay with you if anything happens”. Sadly I had to inform him if he showed at the gate with nothing but his appetite, he would be turned away. He asked if our lifelong friendship didn’t mean anything. I simply replied, “Which one of my children goes hungry, so that I can feed you?”
6. Do include those that you know well that are willing to make the commitment to actively contribute and not be a burden to your family’s survival. Two other families will join us in their campers and they have already stored their year’s supply of dehydrated food in our basement. Besides, you will always need the additional firepower in an unpleasant situation.

Summary: Preparedness is an ongoing lifestyle. Survivors usually survive by hunkering-down in place, well prepared and mentally conditioned. The secret is to maintain a well prepared and strongly defended low profile habitat and keep your wits while other are losing their’s.

Odds ‘n Sods:

The U.S. FCC‘s recent change in amateur (“Ham“) radio licensing requirements (dropping the Morse code test for all license classes) inspired an interesting thread of conversation over at The Claire Files.

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Michael H. just had to send us this link to the Jet-man of Switzerland. This site has no survival or preparedness applicability that I can imagine, but wow! Check out the video clip. Tres cool!

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If it is an issue of concern for you, get your comments in ASAP about the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). The deadline for public comments is December 31st.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, the guarantee to everyone the free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it." – Thomas Jefferson

Note From JWR:

The high bid is still at $260 in the current SurvivalBlog benefit auction, This one is for a big batch of 16 survival/preparedness reference books, courtesy of the fine folks at Ready Made Resources. (They are one of our first and most loyal advertisers. Be sure to visit their site and check out their huge inventory of preparedness-related products. BTW, they have additional copies of each of the titles listed below, as well as more than a hundred other titles.) The auction ends on January 15th, so get your bid in soon.

Two Letters Re: Minimum Safe Distance From The Big City for Retreat Locales?

Dear Jim,
My thoughts on retreat location, or living location (Ideally the same place) are as follows:
From recent disasters (Hurricane Katrina, the Kim family, others), I see that most people are bound by societal rules of the road to stick to the Interstates or major highways, and to trust gadgets, without learning the mapping and math behind them.
The worst places I can think of to live are the nice country houses one sees from the freeway. These are certain to be looted in a major disaster. US highways aren’t likely to be much of an improvement.
However, as one steps down in route priority, concealment becomes easier. There are state highways here that are first plowed, well-maintained and wind indirectly along the same routes as the main ones, but are virtually unknown. Certainly, these are programmed into navigation computers, and will be used if the main roads are clogged or down, but they are less visible, and locating off one of them on a county or local road adds more distance, while minimizing actual off-road disaster driving.
I have to disagree on one mile from a freeway being dangerous (except on very flat, bare terrain). I don’t believe most city dwellers, even starving mobs, will divert that far into the “unknown.” Even if they do, they will be dispersed, and the prepared individual will have the home terrain advantage, with fence, ditches, etc. As long as one doesn’t present as a target, one won’t be taken as one. Like any bully or petty thug, mobs will want easy pickings. There’s a segment of our society that projects the belief that being strong causes one to become a target. This is the same mentality that won’t touch firearms to avoid “escalating the violence.” However, historically, a defended stronghold of unknown content and capabilities is the last place an unorganized mob will approach. Most criminals diverted by firearms are not actually shot; a simple discharge is sufficient. The attacker has to weigh risk of death vs chance of food/loot. Does the attacker know you have stockpiles of gear and food? Or are you likely just a guy in a cabin with a sleeping bag and a rifle? One might be worth dying for, the other is not, and the odds are a gamble at best.
There’s also the consideration of whether or not one is a lone household, or has neighbors for mutual defense. It doesn’t take much crossfire to make a very unpleasant situation for attackers. Small towns beyond suburbs I believe will be fairly safe. People have shown a reluctance to evacuate even in the face of credible advance notice of a disaster and orders to do so. Any surprise collapse will hinder them worse–no outside help will be forthcoming–and any slow decline will follow examples we’ve seen–most people will stick around and do little, and the observant ones will make what plans they can. Given that, any mob will be on foot, or using periodically looted vehicles with little attention to survival gear. There could even be a Mad Max-type scramble with every member of the mob taking their own Mercedes or BMW, just for “status.” This will not be an efficient, trained, prepared or well-fed fighting machine.
There will be a potential threat posed by veterans or others with training who didn’t plan ahead, but recall their old lessons. At the same time, these people will be more amenable to negotiation, and, if they have useful skills, could be assets to a survivor community. There will, of course, be a small subset of bad apples.
Still, at more than fifty miles from a city, I don’t expect mobs in the hundreds. Dozens could be possible. Off the main routes, especially once maps are scarce and electronic routing down, that density will drop. As with any other threat, it can’t be eliminated, but it can be minimized.
Something to consider is the visibility that preparedness features like greenhouses, gardens and water tanks offer. Situating them at a small distance could be inconvenient, but offer an additional layer of protection.
Once we reach 100 miles from major cities (Assuming we’re not in the sprawl of the Northeast US, Southern California, Ontario Peninsula, Southwest England or other urban clusters), we’re looking at 20-30 days hiking time for untrained people on foot, and vehicle-born elements will be seeking to stay near fuel sources or centers urban enough for familiarity and possible loot. Certainly, further is better, but as noted, it’s helpful to live in one’s retreat, or not too far from it. Looking locally to myself, Chicago, Indianapolis, Louisville and Cincinnati are poor choices for areas to live. However, while Fort Wayne, South Bend, Terre Haute, Evansville, Bloomington and Champaign-Urbana are not great either, one can be 30 miles from one of them, quite rural, and still within commuting distance of a good job, while being hundreds of miles from the major cities. This allows access to the benefits of society while it lasts, and distance from any collapse. Depending on the disaster, the smaller towns could remain safe (terrorists are unlikely to use a nuke on Bloomington, IN, for example) and become recovery centers themselves.
As to threats, I’ve downgraded nukes considerably in my plans. With an ongoing reduction in the size and range of national nuclear weapons, and increased trade and interdependence, the threat for attack and fallout comes down to what terrorists can deliver in a truck or chartered plane. I can’t imagine that such a device will be terribly efficient or potent. This of course also means it will be dirty. There will be fallout.
Therefore, east (downwind) of major centers like Chicago, Cleveland, NYC or Philadelphia are to be avoided. The less “household name” the city is, the less likely it is to be a target–consider that recent events were in NYC, DC, London, Paris…very visible “flags” of their respective nations. I’d always try to avoid downwind, but cities in the Western States (except perhaps Denver and Las Vegas) are far less likely to be targets, and have more room around them.
An additional note is that it’s a good idea to have some spare sick or vacation days (if your job provides them) that one can periodically use when things look bad, or for an occasional surprise practice session. – Michael Z. Williamson

 

JWR,
This is the first time I’ve really disagreed with you in the short time I’ve been reading your blog. (I’ve been reading it for a few months). You stated 300 miles from any major metro center. Well I’m from St. Louis and while my bug-out-retreat is well outside of the city, 300 miles would bring me up to Chicago from St. Louis. That is a lot of space. People are not going to drive 100, 200, or 300 miles to rape and pillage in areas that they are not familiar with. Especially in this country when everybody has a gun. It will remain to be seen. – Regards, Zac

JWR Replies: That “safe distance” radius was based on my estimation of a worst case WTSHTF type situation, if and when law and order has completely broken down and there has been a massive involuntary exodus from the big cities. In my recently released book Rawles on Retreats and Relocation I refer to this departing mob as the Golden Horde. Under such circumstances, virtually everyone living on a line of drift that is within 300 miles of a megalopolis can expect to see refugees passing by their homes, and possibly some looters. Take a map of the United States and schoolboy’s drawing compass and start drawing 300 mile radius circles around any city of 800,000 or more, you will soon see that anywhere east of the Missouri River there will little more than multiple overlapping circles. If my prediction is right, then this does not bode well for easterners. Everyone has their own “comfort zone,” with a perceived safe distance from major population centers. I found that mine was way out in the hinterboonies. As they say in the car commercials: “Your mileage may vary.”

Odds ‘n Sods:

Mat The Propmeister reminded me to mention that there have been some very handy do-it-yourself projects detailed at Make Magazine, (“The first magazine devoted entirely to DIY technology projects”), including great articles on heirloom technology, and “Makeshift” scenarios.

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In a recent e-mail, my buddy “Purk” in Nevada noted that this is the time of year that the phone companies in many regions distribute free new phone books. Paper from phone books can be used in place of toilet in case of emergency. (Preferably new phone books, to minimize the risk of lingering bacteria from handling.) Purk says: “Here in the ‘Big City’, they’re passing out new ones and recycling the old so it’s a pretty good time to grab a few.” I should mention that here at the Rawles Ranch–out in the serious hinterboonies, the combined white and yellow pages phone book covers the four local communities that are within an hour’s drive. But it measures only 6 x 9 inches and is less than 1/2-inch thick. It is a far cry from the major metro area monster phone books, where just the yellow page volumes can be three inches thick.

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Michael in Australia alerted us that Larry Wick (the creator of the Split Second Survival self defense DVD, which I’ve previously mentioned in SurvivalBlog) has just released a new DVD called Live Fire that dispels a few myths on gun disarming techniques, and so forth. It was filmed using live ammo. Michael says that the video is only 30 minutes long, but quite interesting.

 

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” – Dr. Seuss