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Polling the Blog Readership: Best Places for Retreats in the Eastern U.S. and Overseas?

I’m in the final stages of writing my upcoming nonfiction book, “Rawles on Retreats and Relocation”. In it, I give my recommendations on retreat locales in 19 western states. As you know, I am not a proponent of retreats east of the Mississippi River, due to the higher population density of the eastern states and their downwind location. That would make them vulnerable to a full scale nuclear attack. And I’m the first to admit that I’m biased toward the Western U.S., since I like my “elbow room.” But for those of you that do choose to stay in the East, what areas do you think are best suited for retreats? I’ve heard eastern Tennessee recommended, as well as parts of Georgia and the Carolinas. Surely there must be some lightly populated predominately agricultural counties that are outside of “looter commute distance” from the big cities, or that are situated in terrain that is geographically isolated. (Away from channelized areas or refugee lines of drift.) I value your opinions. Please e-mail me your list of recommended towns and/or counties, and I will both post them to the blog and include them in the book. BTW, if any of our overseas readers would care to do likewise, I will also post their lists. (We have a large readership in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and throughout Europe.) Thanks!

Letter Re: RFID Chip Hacking and RFID Chip Skimmer Technology

 

Dear Jim,
Here’s a link on RFID that you might find interesting. I think the implications for NAIS are obvious.

Here are plans for a low-cost RFID “skimmer” that can read chips surreptitiously. The clear implication is that it would be a simple matter to capture codes and clone fake RFID chips.

Also, an RFID “blocker” chip that floods the interrogating transmitter with garbage.

Of note, current RFID transmitter software is likely to be vulnerable to malicious code (“viruses”) transmitted by altered chips. I submit it’s only a matter of (a very short) time before we see security disasters due to a lack of understanding and unjustified faith in RFID.
I’ve long suspected that NAIS has been brain-dead from the moment of conception, at least with respect to its stated purpose. As usual, the people who contrived it appear to have little or no understanding of the technology involved, especially with respect to vulnerabilities and limitations. Regards, – Moriarty

Odds ‘n Sods:

Rourke recommends this great site for NBC preparedness. It has a lot of useful maps, target structure data, and details on how to survive a nuclear attack.

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Jake Stafford mentioned that copies of the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course currently at a special sale price are starting to fly off the shelf. The sale ends August 11th.

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AK in Costa Rica mentioned this article about safety and security for ex-pats living n Panama. AK notes: “This guy may not be a security expert, but his article presents some interesting issues about security and living overseas.”

Letter Re: Purifying Water with Bleach

Mr. Rawles,
I’ve received and read the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course package. It made me think twice about a few things, since I do most of my prepping at Costco. I notice that someone has already mentioned the vitamin thing. Thanks for the tip about bear liver!

I also noticed that you recommended having bleach on hand, and in the storage life section, bleach is listed as having an indefinite shelf life. I’m sure you already know that is not the case. Regular liquid bleach is not stable, it breaks down gradually and eventually becomes just salt water over a period of 2 years, it’s still usable at 1 year but you must use twice as much. We think dry swimming pool shock is better than liquid bleach because calcium hypochlorite will store in dry form nearly indefinitely (10 years), whereas liquid chlorine bleach loses half of it’s potency after a year (use twice as much for the same effect) and is next to worthless after two years. Using dry swimming pool shock (calcium hypochlorite) you can mix your own liquid bleach on an as-needed basis and have it fresh and fully active. Its very much like the difference in storage life between whole kernel wheat versus ground flour. Dry shock (get the plain variety, with no algaecides or fungicides) is very inexpensive and can be gotten at any pool supply store. Here are some links with details:
The Epicenter
Greenspun
The relevant portion from the second site above: “Dry chlorine, also called calcium hypochlorite has the added benefit of extended shelf life. Providing it is kept dry, cool and in an airtight container, it may be stored up to 10 years with minimal degradation. If you want to keep chlorine in larger quantities, this is the item to store (according to Bingo1). It must be ONLY 65% calcium hypochlorite, no additional anti-fungals or clarifiers. In an EXTREMELY well ventilated area, (Hint: OUTSIDE!) add and dissolve one heaping teaspoon of high-test granular calcium hypochlorite (approximately 1/4 ounce) for each two gallons of water. Five pounds of dry pool bleach costs about $10-15, which will make about 92 gallons of bleach, which will sterilize 706,560 gallons of clear water, or 353,280 gallons of cloudy water.”

Here are some additional tips on using calcium hypochlorite (swimming pool shock) for water purification:
From the EPA site:
“Granular Calcium Hypochlorite. Add and dissolve one heaping teaspoon of high-test granular calcium hypochlorite (approximately 1/4 ounce) for each two gallons of water. The mixture will produce a stock chlorine solution of approximately 500 mg/L, since the calcium hypochlorite has an available chlorine equal to 70 percent of its weight. To disinfect water, add the chlorine solution in the ratio of one part of chlorine solution to each 100 parts of water to be treated. This is roughly equal to adding 1 pint (16 oz.) of stock chlorine to each 12.5 gallons of water to be disinfected. To remove any objectionable chlorine odor, aerate the water as described below.
The treated water should be mixed thoroughly and allowed to stand, preferably covered, for 30 minutes. The water should have a slight
chlorine odor; if not, repeat the dosage and allow the water to stand for an additional 15 minutes. If the treated water has too strong a chlorine taste, it can be made more pleasing by allowing the water to stand exposed to the air for a few hours or by pouring it from one clean container to another several times”

Okay, a lot of people don’t have a 12.5 gallon container laying around, so let’s break it down. To make two gallons of the bleach, one heaping teaspoon of the calcium hypochlorite goes into 2 gallons of water. To make drinkable water, 2.5 tablespoons of the bleach goes into 1 gallon of water. Let stand covered 30 minutes, aerate to taste. Thought you would want to know. – J.W.

Letter Re: Selecting a Martial Art and a Dojo

Sir,
I’d like to suggest yet another art for you to consider: Arnis. (often referred to as FMA, or Filipino Martial Arts.) It is also referred to as Escrima or Kali.
It is a predominately stick and knife based art, with open hand techniques following.
Most Eastern arts I have been exposed to stress the empty hand and move towards weapons, Arnis is exactly the opposite, the thought being a stick is easier to defend one’s self with than bare hands, and it is more logical to begin as such.
Another fundamental difference between Arnis and other arts is the assumption your opponent is armed. I’ve seen many techniques taught in my study of ju-jitsu that work well against a punch, but would end very badly if used against a knife. As you may not have the luxury of knowing what you’re being attacked with before hand, I prefer a technique that will work well against either, rather than having to choose.
As Mr. Williamson astutely noted, a walking stick or cane is very acceptable to carry with you everywhere (even places you cannot carry a knife, much less a gun), and the techniques transfer well to other “weapons” (an umbrella or rolled up newspaper, for example) as well as a knife.
FMA has been criticized as being too “complex” (you do this, then I do that, etc), and perhaps correctly. As with any art, the important thing is your choice of instructor is as important if not more so than your choice of art. An instructor who stresses the basics over increasingly fancy techniques is crucial, in my opinion. I specifically study Modern Arnis and Sayoc Kali, I have been very happy with both.
It may be worth mentioning that these arts evolved from a predominately Christian culture, so the Eastern religion components that were of concern to some of your readers would not apply. Best of luck with your search and your studies. – Patrick R.

Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalBlog reader Jim K. sent us a link to this interesting tale from the web: A lucky fellow in New York City has the notebook in his jacket pocket stop a bullet.

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Michael Z. Williamson pointed us to a site that proves that Glocks can take a lot of abuse and still function.

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Zimbabwe’s hyperinflated currency follies continue: They are lopping off three zeroes. Now (at least for a few days) a loaf of bread costs only $1,000 instead of $1,000,000. To solve the fundamental problem, some observers in Harare suggest that something else should be lopped off.

Note From JWR:

Today is the First Anniversary of SurvivalBlog! Thanks for making the blog such a great success.Wow! We’ve had 566,000+ unique visits in just the first year.

Special Announcement: To celebrate the First Anniversary of SurvivalBlog, Jake Stafford is putting the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course on sale for just the next seven days. The course is on sale at a very special price. If sending payment via snail mail, be sure to have your order postmarked no later than August 11th to get the special blog anniversary sale price.

Letter Re: Real Estate Crash Followed by a Hyperinflationary Recession?

Mr. Rawles,
Again, for your very useful posts, thank you. I have a question if you have the time. It was in regards to your real estate post: “My advice to home owners is pay it off and my advice to prospective home buyers is wait for the crash and pay for it with cash.”
This is my current plan: I’ve sold my home and am renting now. But do you believe (in the hyper-inflation scenario) that there will be a lull to allow for your statement above? Will there be a time in between when recession/depression and when hyper-inflation takes hold and the money we have in savings will be about worthless? – C.K.

JWR Replies: Unless there is a full scale dollar crisis that is coincident with a real estate slump, then you are probably fairly safe from U.S. dollar inflation in the short term. You will have your lull. In fact, there is still the outside chance of a deflationary recession. But I’m fairly confident that America’s next deep recession or depression will be inflationary. House prices may eventually again start to increase as inflation kick into high gear, but if the dollar itself is wiped out in hyperinflation, owning a million dollar house won’t mean much–at least it won’t when an SUV costs six figures! The crucial thing is NOT the dollar value of a piece of real property. As with any other tangible investment, the true value of land or a house is intrinsic. The currency unit de jure is just a way of expressing that intrinsic value.

One key proviso: Timing markets can be tricky. The key is to not get greedy. Once you think that a market is nearing a top or bottom, then make your trade. If try to catch the very tip of a peak or the very bottom of a trough, then you are likely to wait a bit too long, and hence lose out. It is better to be a bit early and safe, than it is to be a little too late, and sorry.

Letter Re: Constructing Roadblocks for Retreats?

Hi Jim:
Will your book “Rawles on Retreats and Relocation” contain any information on blocking roadways/driveways etc?

One of the retreats I plan to use (disaster dependant) has a single roadway access that would easily be block with a landslide. Do you have any suggestions on the best ways to cause landslips to block roads? Regards, – Jeremy in New Zealand

JWR Replies: That was not an issue that I had intended to discuss in my upcoming book, but perhaps I should.

Unless you are facing an absolute-worst-case-mutant-zombie-bikers-are-painting-themselves-and-eating-your-neighbors situation, then I don’t recommend anything so drastic as blocking a road with a landslide. Roadblocks work both ways–they also block you in. I generally favor mobile roadblocks. A Caterpillar D4 (or larger) tractor parked crossways with the blade dropped usually works great for blocking a single lane roadway, at least in hilly country. A large truck or car parked similarly works nearly as well. Removing the tire stems makes the roadblock even more effective, but of course takes longer for “friendly forces” to get the vehicle ready to move. One important proviso: If you use a vehicle, be sure to disable the ignition system by removing a key part, since ignition switches can be bypassed.(“Hot wired”.) With diesel-powered heavy equipment , this is particularly easy, since many Cat keys interchange, or even a screwdriver can be used to engage the starter.

Some situations such as plains and prairie lands–where a locked gate can be easily be bypassed by cutting a fence–present unique challenges. Constructing long stretches of anti-vehicular ditches is very labor intensive if you don’t have access to earth moving equipment.

Also don’t overlook the advantage of a series of small obstructions on a road, versus one big one. For example, a series four or five locked steel cables stretched across road at 50 to 100 foot intervals may slow down a group of marauders more than just one custom-built extra-heavy pipe gate. You can use just one of the cables in “peacetime”, but then put them all up if and when things get unpleasant.

Lastly, as mentioned previously in this blog, no obstruction is truly effective unless it is under the gaze of alert riflemen.

Odds ‘n Sods:

I just got the latest issue of Disaster Recovery Journal in the mail–their special Avian Flu issue. It seems that the Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity community has caught on to some of the bigger issues related to a pandemic–at least things like absenteeism, telecommuting, and crisis communication. For their spin on a possible flu pandemic as well as some useful links to the CDC and other sites, see: http://www.drj.com/special/avian

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Richard Celata (of KT Ordnance and Promised Land Products) recommended this vendor site: http://www.shooterready.com/

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Iran warns of $200 per barrel crude oil if U.S. imposes sanctions

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Our England is a garden, and such gardens are not made
By singing: – ‘Oh, how beautiful!’ and sitting in the shade.”
– Rudyard Kipling, “The Glory of the Garden“