Sales Tax as a Criteria for Choosing Your Retreat Locale

Sales tax is another important issue if you are setting up a retreat. This generally entails buying a lot of “big ticket” items, such as an AC/DC power generator, photovoltaics, tractors, 4WD vehicles, guns, ammunition, storage food, wood stoves, propane tanks, propane appliances, and so forth. Sales tax can be minimized if you buy via mail order, but that creates a paper trail, which IMO should be avoided. In some circumstances you can travel to an adjoining state with low (or no) sales tax to make major purchases. Keep a low profile when making major purchases–especially ammunition. Pay with cash and don’t leave your name or phone number.

NO Sales Tax:
Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon.

Very Low Sales Tax (4% or less):
Alabama, Georgia, Colorado (higher in some cities/counties), Hawaii, Louisiana, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

Low Sales Tax (4.1% to 5%):
Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Moderate Sales tax (5.1% to 6%):
Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and West Virginia.

High to Severe Sales tax (6.1% or higher):
California, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington.

The State Line Game

Many folks have discovered how to play the state line jumping game: Living near a state line to take advantage of a lower tax or other advantage in one or more adjoining states.
For example, you can live in the Idaho panhandle (very low property tax, car registration, and car insurance), work in eastern Washington (no income tax), make your day-to-day purchases in Idaho (5% sales tax) and your major purchases (trucks, wood stoves, generators, gun vaults, appliances, et cetera) in Montana or Oregon–both of which have no sales tax.

Note: Many states assess a sales tax when you register a vehicle that is purchased out of state. This can often be avoided legally by keeping it registered out of state for at least one year before taking it back to your high tax state.

Another possibility is to live and work in southern Washington (no income tax and fairly low property taxes), but shop in Oregon—where there is a high property tax but no sales tax.

See: http://www.taxadmin.org/fta/rate/ind_inc.html for detailed information on the tax rates in various states.

I should add that these discussions skirt around a more core issue: the scale of government in each state. Some states have big, pretentious, intrusive governments that love to get involved in every aspect of your life. My advice is to avoid living in any of these Nanny States. As time goes on, they are only going to get worse.

The bottom line: If you live in a state with severe taxes, then vote with your feet!

Letter from Swampthing Re: Alan T. Hagan’s Prudent Food Storage Q&A Web Page

Jim;
Alan T. Hagan has written for Backwoods Home magazine and a couple of other periodicals, and has written a book. He is a genuinely a nice guy who loves to spread the word about preparedness. He’s very approachable and may make a good candidate for your Profiles page.

See: http://athagan.members.atlantic.net/PFSFAQ/PFSFAQ-1.html

Just passing it on. Thanks for the mention,

– Johnny a.k.a. swampthing

JWR’s Reply: Mr. Hagan has a great reputation in preparedness circles, and deservedly so. His Q&A on food storage is a veritable standard reference.

Three Letters Re: Self Winding Watches–Reviews and Sources:

Self-winding watches–I had one of the Russian self winders and it was built like a T-34 tank. You really can’t go wrong with one. Higher-end watches, like Seiko, etc. are available from places like Sportsman’s Guide, Overstock.com, and E-Bay. Regards, – “Doug Carlton”

Another reader, Jeff, writes:
These things are built like a tank. You can find models from $79 to about $250. Here is a typical model. Excellent in every way and new production. Something to consider. – Jeff

Jim
The blog is great! and your book was a valuable purchase many years ago. I am a watch collector and seller, for many years, and have owned & used …a BUNCH!
In evaluating a long-term need, and factoring in some use in rugged circumstances, I would highly recommend a better quality timepiece. The brands you mentioned, were made cheaply and sold cheaply. They have little water resistance, cheap plastic crystals, and mechanisms not made for sustained abuse – such as exposure to elements, or certainly not a combat environment. There are some excellent alternatives, at a reasonable cost. A Swiss made movement is highly recommended, in a stainless steel case, with a sapphire crystal, and screwdown crown. Examples of personal recommendation for a “best value” would be (see these current eBay auctions) :

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-O-W-submariner-dive-diver-watch-ID3066_W0QQitemZ5025766905QQcategoryZ31387QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
or,

http://cgi.ebay.com/Ollech-Wajs-CAribbean-200-military-watch-sapphire_W0QQitemZ5025672396QQcategoryZ31387QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I have bought items from Howard and he is a class act, though several other sources are available.

Tritium hands and markers, sapphire crystal and a robust waterproof case down to 330 feet or more, all for in the $300-400 range. Readers might also consider other excellent Swiss brands such as Sandoz, Eterna, Nivada, Aquastar, Enicar, Vulcain and more, are reasonable and have most of the characteristics available for long-term rugged use. I would recommend “diver” style cases, with superior water resistance and sapphire or mineral glass crystals and tritium or super luminova.

Don’t buy….repeat do NOT buy Quartz watches…most watches require specific tools to open properly and replace a battery…a quartz is not a serious survival watch, any where, any time. Don’t be tempted by the ridiculously over-priced “special forces, commando, seal etc” junk asian watches!

Also consider a manual wind watch with some/all of the characteristics – a la a bolt action versus automatic rifles, a manual wind watch has less to go wrong. Again, Swiss only. For those who can upgrade, an Omega is probably, dollar-for-dollar, a best buy. I have owned many Rolexes, and they are great, but aren’t any tougher, or work much better than a Ollech & Wajs (O&W), as above. Rolex movements are all “chronometers”, meaning they have to be tested to run +- 2 seconds a day. The others mentioned will run +-20 seconds a day, often better. Rolex and other upscale brands, have all their movements “super tuned” and the costs reflect that.

To service every few years, an O&W, Vulcain etc would be @ $50. A full Rolex service is @$200. I wouldn’t spend a penny on the cheap Russian watches. As important as time keeping & awareness is and certainly will be in bad times, this is not an area I would trust to a brass plated case with poor water resistance, and questionable time-keeping expectations.

My personal out-the-door-with-hellhounds-on-my-trail watch, is a Swiss manual wind dive alarm, good to 1000 feet water depth, sapphire crystal, and heavy steel band. The alarm can be a valuable feature when under stress, and able to only grab bits of sleep, and other circumstances. – “Wound up in Texas”

Letter Re: G.O.O.D. Vehicle Advice

Mr. Rawles:
In this article you state that “…large crash bars in the front, a removable cable cutter post that is as tall as your truck’s cab,” Do you mean BRUSH GUARDS, because I cannot find any large crash bars! Can you help?

JWR’s Reply:
To my way of thinking, a proper “crash bar” for a truck is just a very heavy duty bumper + brush guard with the addition of an extra piece of heavy steel stock welded on vertically (parallel with the radiator) in the center of the brush guard. It should extend from the bottom of the brush guard (or grille trim, whichever is lower) to a height where its top end is parallel with the top of your truck’s hood. (BTW, I don’t recommend extending anything below your front grille trim, because it would degrade the “approach angle” of you truck. That could cause a nasty hang up when crossing narrow gullies off road.) A piece of very heavy gauge (Schedule 80) 4″ diameter pipe works fine as the actual impact-dealing/bearing “crash bar”. (So does a section of railroad track, but IMHO that is a bit too obvious for pre-TEOTWAWKI times.) Your local welding shop should be able to handle the welding mod for you. OBTW, I believe that the cable cutter should be removable (bolted on rather than welded on), because, again, they look incongruous under pre-TEOTWAWKI circumstances.)

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

 "Necessity is the excuse for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of the tyrant and the creed of the slave." – William Pitt, 1763

Note from JWR:

I’m delighted that in just over two weeks this blog has had more than 15,000 unique accesses and a whopping 346,200 page hits. We also now have two advertisers, and a couple of more waiting in the wings. Please continue to spread the word. In particular, I’d appreciate it if you could make brief mention of SurvivalBlog.com on any forums, blogs, or bulletin boards that you frequent. Many Thanks!

Income Tax as a Criteria for Choosing Your Retreat Locale

Taxes are another important consideration when choosing the state where you plan to live/retreat. Take a close look at property, income, and sales taxes before you decide where you might like to relocate. Car registration fees are another factor worth considering, especially if you have several vehicles. (In some states registration fees are a piddling administrative fee, while in some of the more populous Nanny States they are a big revenue source.)

If you are retired or nearing retirement age and middle class, property taxes will likely be more important to you than income taxes. Conversely, if you are in an upper income tax bracket or are middle class but still in your prime earnings years then income tax will be a prime concern. I’ve assembled some figures, gleaned from my research. Sorry that some of the following figures are a bit dated…

States with NO personal income tax include:
Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.
Note: New Hampshire and Tennessee do tax interest and dividend income. It is also notable that Washington has a business tax of 2-3% of gross business revenues, so business owners should beware.

States with low to moderate income taxes:
Arizona and Idaho.

States with high income taxes:
California, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, and Oregon.

States with the lowest property taxes (per capita, annually):
Alabama: $210
New Mexico: $283
Kentucky: $286
Arkansas: $321
Louisiana: $324

States with highest property taxes (per capita, annually):
New Jersey: $1,591
New Hampshire: $1,555
Connecticut: $1,500
New York: $1,329
Rhode Island: $1,233
Source: The Tax Foundation, based on Commerce Department and Census statistics.

Note: While sales and income taxes can be reduced by effective planning and clever behavior (lawfully, of course), property taxes are different. As The Sopranos mobster said: “Them you gotta pay.”

The Total Tax Burden (Property taxes, income taxes, and sales taxes combined–expressed in terms of taxes as a percentage of income, as of 2002):

The Best:
Alaska: 6.3%
New Hampshire: 7.6%
Tennessee: 8.3%
Colorado: 8.4%
South Dakota: 8.9%

The Worst:
Maine: 13.6%
New York: 12.9%
Wisconsin: 11.9%
Vermont: 11.7%
Hawaii: 11.6%

Note: Includes state and local taxes including property and sales tax, excise tax and some business taxes. You may pay even more if your income is considerably higher than average, or if you live in a city or county within the state with high property taxes. Source: The Tax Foundation, based on 1997 data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Why I Derisively Call .223 Rifles “Mouse Guns” (SA: Survival Guns)

A good friend sent the following e-mail excerpt from a young gent who is now a Lance Corporal, in the USMC. (When he sent the e-maile was a PFC on his first
deployment. It poignantly underscores the importance of the phrase Use Enough Gun!

“I’ve never been more disgusted with a weapon than I am with the M16. The accuracy is great and I’m comfortable with the operation of it but beyond that it’s worthless.
A couple weeks ago we had reports of a different squad in our platoon taking contact from two gunmen. They returned fire and swore up and down that they hit multiple times but both guys got away. Within 30 minutes we received a call from the hospital that they received two gunshot wound patients: One had suffered 28 wounds and the other 10. Both were still alive. This doesn’t even seem like a bad joke to me. It’s pretty much tragic. There are so many stories, especially from the Force Recon guys, of the .223 costing Marines their lives. When is something going to be done about this? How many Marines and soldiers have to die before someone will decide that maybe it’d be a good idea to get a better system? Next time I come out here, I’m bringing at least a couple magazines of ballistic-tipped ammo or something…”

JWR’s Comment: Unless you live in Alaska, the majority of your defensive rifle battery should be chambered in .308 Winchester (7.62mm NATO). I only consider .223 (a.k.a. 5.56mm NATO) useful as a transitional training round for youngsters, or perhaps as a tertiary cartridge for arming elderly or disabled retreat residents. Period.

Three Letters Re: Diesel Engine Vehicles and EMP

1.) Jim:
GM diesel models 1994 or later have an electronic injection pump, and are vulnerable to EMP. Some models made before 1994 will have an electronic glow plug controller which can be easily bypassed. From what I can gather GM also went to “electronic” transmissions around 1994. Before then most diesels had th350 or th400 transmissions. Some pre-1994 GM trucks also had th700r4 transmissions that had minimal electronics, and can be rebuilt with the electronics bypassed. Of course anything with a manual transmission should be safe. I believe most light diesels follow the same timeline because of EPA smog regulations that were implemented at the time. – C.G


2.) I just had to replace the glow plug relay in my 1982 Mercedes 300SD, and took the old one apart and found some transistors in the turn-on timing circuit. These may get fried, but I can always put a pushbutton on the dash to simplify the circuit. – A Marine Corps Reader

3.) Hi,
I can only speak for Fords, of which I own a 1988 F250 Diesel. The early 80’s to 1994 ford In-Direct Injection (IDI) 6.9L and 7.3L diesels,
actually an International motor, have no computers. Everything, and I mean everything, is mechanical in these motors (even the fuel pump). In
1989, Ford went to a 4 speed automatic transmission that is computer operated, and that is the only computer in the truck. Of course, there
are electronic components in the truck: Glow Plugs, Alternator, Gauges, etc, but the truck would keep on running and driving even if it took an
EMP hit. If the glow plug controller goes out, it might be a little hard to start on cold days. Losing the electronic starter would cause
problems too. After 1994, the Ford diesels are called PowerStroke, and they have computers controlling the motor.
My ’88 F250 4×4 Diesel is my G.O.O.D. vehicle for good reason! – “Analog”

Letter from “Doug Carlton” Re: Beretta 9mm Model 92/Centurion Owners — .40 S&W Kits Now on the Market

Jim:
 Here’s some of my views on some of the questions you’ve had in your letters about the Beretta M92/96 series. My experience with the gun, after use in the Army and use and ownership in the civilian world is they work as well as any gun out there. People get entirely too territorial about handguns, similar to the way people used to put some mystical significance to their sword they would be carrying in feudal times. The fact is that you really aren’t any less or better armed with nearly any of the current crop of service pistols from any of the makers. FOR THE ARMY the M9 is fine, but notice I said FOR THE ARMY. Too many people put too much significance on what the Big Army uses instead of looking at what they themselves need. Just because the Army uses the M9 or M11 (SIG P228), or some police department uses Glocks, or some instructor uses a M1911A1 doesn’t make it THE BEST FOR YOU in your individual situation. What matters is buying a quality gun that fits your needs. Too many people go nuts over the latest gadget, kit, or weapon they see on an internet picture of troops in combat and instantly want that item because that must be what’s needed. But even in Iraq the situation is different than what we’d experience here in the USA, even if the same type of war was going on. People need to take a long hard look at what they need, and gear up for those needs, not someone else’s. That covers everything from guns, calibers, ammo, to uniforms and radios and even food. Survival is all about your personal needs.

On the 92/96 conversions–The 92/96 conversions were originally sold by Beretta as a set on a common frame. The factory would actually fit both top halves to the one frame, and insure that they worked. The CDNN offering is worth buying IMO, but there is a very small chance it might not be reliable on a standard 9mm frame. There’s no drama in getting it to work right either, but no one should buy one and store it “just in case they need a .40” and not first test it out extensively to wring out any problems before it is needed. The low cost, and the flexibility it adds is worth the price, and 99% of the time these will work fine out of the box. Just make sure that the people with the 1% get them running before they need them.

On ball versus JHP ammo–ANY handgun is marginal at best for stopping power compared to a rifle. The only virtue of a sidearm is it’s portability. So when it’s possible, JHPs should be used regardless of caliber. The “one box method” is a good one for weeding out early ammo purchases, but in general no gun should be relied upon unless the user has shot at least 500 rounds out of it without failure of any kind. 500 rounds is not much of anything in real terms, just ten boxes of ammo. Most of today’s quality pistols will easily shoot several thousands without any problem, and most will digest tens of thousands easily. While I understand that you meant that one box just to weed out incompatible ammo, someone might think one box is all you need to shoot to test for serious use. Once you find one box that does run through the gun, they need to run another 9 boxes at least through it to make sure it works before really having confidence in that gun/ammo combination. FMJ is attractive from a price standpoint, and that IS and important consideration. We’ve all been in a position where we had more needs than money, and just can’t run down to the store and buy 2500 rounds of JHPs or a new P220 for them to go in. So again you have to use your own judgment. If your only handgun will only feed FMJ and you can’t afford one that will, or mods to yours to make it feed different bull;et shapes, then buying FMJ as an interim plan isn’t a bad way to go. It’s far less effective than JHP, but a jammed gun is far less effective than one that’s spitting out ball every time. Ammo is never a waste, since you can use it for barter later, or practice now. It will buy you time to find out what JHP works and time to buy it. It’s NOT the optimum solution by any stretch. Any time you take the “cheap way” over the “best way”, then you’re losing something and cutting corners, but the reality of life in the real world is you sometimes have to do that. Just view it like driving your car on an emergency “doughnut” spare. You can still move, but it’s not the best solution to needing the right tire.

Speaking of tires, on bullets bouncing off of tires–This is a well known phenomena. So well known that many PD’s won’t shoot at truck tires. The U.S. Army first used stacks of tires in the early MOUT training days (i.e. “tire houses”) and found out that bullets and grenade fragments bouncing off of them were a serious danger. Serious enough that the Army does not use them any longer , and neither does anyone else that has any sense for that matter. They were used for only a couple years, and quickly dropped because too many people actually got shot by rounds that were bouncing around. Shooting at tires of any kind is a dangerous thing to do!

On U.S.G.I. Beretta magazines not working–The problem with them is the government went cheap and bought essentially aftermarket mags. Gee, any lesson there? All the bad mags are marked Checkmate Industries, or CMI. Since they’ve been recalled, they may start popping up on the surplus market. Again, just because it’s “U.S.G.I.” doesn’t mean it’s the best way to go. Sometimes it is surplus for a reason. OBTW, the later Checkmate mags actually have different tolerances and supposedly work. Also BTW, “MDS” marked mags are actually a Beretta factory product. Beretta owns MDS and that’s the factory that they use to make all their mags. Buy what you want, but this is a good case of where “U.S.G.I.” might not always be the best route to take. – Doug Carlton

[JWR’s note: Some of the readers of my novel Patriots will remember the Doug Carlton character. It is the pseudonym of a real life individual that I have known since college. He is a former U.S. Army aviator.]

WND Reports: Al Qaeda Nuke Strike in U.S. “Pretty Close to Being Inevitable”

Our friends at World Net Daily just posted excerpts from an interview with Michael Scheuer, the man who headed the CIA’s Osama bin Laden desk. Scheuer discussed Bin Laden’s relentless quest to obtain nukes and the prospects of a nuclear terrorist strike on the U.S. by Al Qaeda. He said: “I don’t believe in inevitability. But I think it’s pretty close to being inevitable. …Yes, I think it’s probably a near thing.” Read the entire article. This is some serious FFTAGFFR, folks!

From David in Israel: On Zippered Boots

It seems obvious to anyone who has worked in a fire department or EMS but even now that I am not directly in this field I still keep my clothing ready to go instantly. We are almost useless without at least shoes. I keep my zip off boots (tongue zipper kits are sold by Red Wing shoes), pants and shirt from the previous day next to the bed. That means I don’t have to think about having a cell phone, flashlight, or pistol when it is needed. In just 10 seconds I am ready to go.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“But how is this legal plunder to be identified? Quite simply. See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them, and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime.”
– Frederic Bastiat, The Law

Jim’s Product Review: 4,000+ Nights In a Wiggy’s Sleeping Bag

I don’t write many product reviews, but I am uniquely qualified to write this one: In November of 1994 I rolled my 1968 Bronco on black ice on a winding stretch of Highway 12 paralleling the Clearwater River in Idaho. In that accident I suffered a severe back injury–so severe that the chiropractor that took the x-rays commented that he was surprised that I hadn’t severed my spinal cord. Because of the injury, despite the best efforts of the doctors and chiropractors I’ve been unable to sleep in a bed for the past 11 years. (Any bed is too soft and causes muscle spasms.) Since December of 1994, I’ve spent virtually every night sleeping on the floor in a Wiggy’s Hunter Flexible Temperature Range Sleep System (FTRSS) sleeping bag. It is a two bag sleep system with two different weight bags that can be used together or separately. I spend roughly 8 months out of each year in the light weight bag, and 4 months in the heavy weight bag.) I’ve slept for more than 4,000 nights in that FTRSS–that is the equivalent of two lifetimes of heavy recreational use for a sleeping bag. (Here is the math: An intensive recreational user probably camps out about 35 nights per year, multiplied by 50 years of camping equals 1,750 nights. Hence, two lifetimes for a bag would be roughly 3,500 nights.) Since 1994, I have spent approximately 4,000 nights–including about 250 nights in the field–in my FTRSS. Again, that is something in excess of two lifetimes worth of use.

The FTRSS has been very comfortable and exceptionally durable. The bag has had ZERO zipper failures, and NO rips or tears. Most importantly, is has never lost its loft or had its filling get clumped or re-arranged, despite countless machine washings. (I should have kept track of the number of times that I’ve washed it!) I highly recommend Wiggy’s brand sleeping bags. The FTRSS models in particular are ideally suited for anyone that expects to give a sleeping bag demanding use. OBTW, I should mention that I have not been compensated in any way for making this endorsement. I’m just a very satisfied customer. If you want the best, buy yourself a Wiggy’s bag!