Two Letters Re: Advice on Firearms Caching

James:
You mentioned using sonobuoy shipping containers for caching. I used to work as an engineer at a company that built sonobuoys. We would routinely reject fairly large numbers of these tubes for either mold defects or physical damage that would result in a leak. At one point, I and another guy in my group went to the plant (after getting the necessary paperwork) and carried off a large truck load of them. All had to be repaired, but they were usable. Just be sure to check them carefully and be prepared to do some patching if needed.

As an aside, if you have a sharp eye, you’ll see those same sonobuoy containers used as props in sci-fi movies (they were in one of the Star Trek movies). – Stephen

JWR Replies: You are right. Orion tubes are indeed ubiquitous sci-fi TV “cargo deck” props in the later Star Trek TV shows. Usually painted gold…
The thin spots and other flaws that you mentioned are typical for any blow-molded plastic parts. This is less common with spin-molded pieces, which tend to have more uniform wall thickness.

 

Dear Jim,
I have a few supplemental ideas on the caching weapons thread.
First, plan to carry all non-weapon gear separately. It’s unlikely a government will ban bandages, food, or maps. People should be in revolt long before it gets that far. A smaller cache is a lighter cache.
To improve longevity and preservation, I’d strip any plastic off (such as AR furniture) and vacuum seal it separately to avoid chemical damage. Then dunk the weapon in cosmoline or a home-made equivalent. It lasts literally decades on many military arms stored in damp places. Then, vacuum seal the weapon and ammo separately. Do this inside with the humidifier off or the air conditioner going, to have as little humidity as possible. Give thought to double tubes in case of age or weather cracking.
Before sealing, add dessicant as you suggested, and also a moisture and oxygen displacing gas. If you get with friends, liquid nitrogen isn’t that expensive. Be sure it doesn’t damage anything as it pours in, and insulate the pouring tube well–that condensation dripping off it is LOX [liquid oxygen]. If liquid nitrogen isn’t handy, several chunks of dry ice will work. [JWR Adds: Just be sure that the dry ice is completely sublimated (“melted”) before you seal the container–otherwise you’ll inadvertently be making a dry ice bomb!] Bottom of the list is a good, non corrosive refrigerant. The goal is to displace oxygen and moisture, and slightly overpressure the container to keep it out.
IMMEDIATELY seal, tightly. Use teflon tape on threads. Then I’d cover the outside of the lid with PVC glue or epoxy. This provides additional airtight sealing, and can be filed or chipped off without destroying the tube, so it can be reused, if one checks the cache periodically, or needs to re cache a weapon after use.
I heard of a gentleman whose cache is now buried under a massive fill pile from a construction company. Pick an area unlikely to be built without notice. I agree that scrap metal in the area is a good idea, to reduce the sensor image.
For storage at home, oil and vac seal weapons, then remove drywall on the house’s wet wall–where all the plumbing already is, and reseal. A few blows with a hammer or even a fist will give access in a hurry, and metal detectors expect to find iron near a toilet. The bathroom is also often a good storm shelter and lacks windows, so it’s a good emergency retreat, short term. If the plastic bag is notched, one good rip can yield a loaded revolver or pistol. For people fearing crime who live in no-weapon zones, this allows the opportunity to be judged by twelve instead of carried by six, with very low risk of discovery beforehand.
I believe it was AR15.com where a gentleman showed a beautiful M4gery, with loaded magazines, spare parts and batteries, vacuum sealed in thick poly for the trunk of his car. If you’re where weapons are legal to transport, this is a great idea. Should you be on the road during a Katrina-like disaster, stuck in traffic and roving gangs or other threats are present, you can quickly have clean, potent firepower that stops the debate before it starts. It can stay stored for months or years with periodic checks for leakage.
As far as acquiring weapons, I would of course recommend reliable antiques, or weapons purchased from a private party so there is no record.
I’ve seen mention of defacing numbers. DON’T! Doing so simply makes it obvious that the weapon is contraband, and is prima facie evidence the possessor committed a felony under federal law and most state laws. Also, I’ve done acid lifts of defaced numbers, even after a complete Dremeling was used to remove it. Without drilling holes through the receiver (Bad idea) or welding over them (also bad, unless you know how to re-heat treat and refinish a receiver), stamped numbers are legible to fairly low tech–PVC etchant, X-ray, or magnaflux. Caching weapons is not illegal yet. However, association with a defaced weapon will legally terminate your right to possess them, end of story.
There are two ways to reduce public awareness of one’s weapons before caching. The first is to keep utterly silent and not let anyone know one is armed. The other is to be fairly open, an emissary of RKBA, as it were, and have enough weapons that only close associates really know how many you have. In which case, one or more missing from a dozen or more is not something anyone is likely to be able to document with clarity. – Michael Z. Williamson

Four Letters Re: Letter Re: Feeding Your Dog in Hard Times

James:

If you enter “pet food recipe” into your search engine, you get more free recipes and e-books than you can use. It is a good idea to try them out on your furry friends before TSHTF.- Doc at www.bigsecrets.cc

 

Mr. and Mrs. Rawles,
Greetings and hope things are well with you and yours. I felt you that you might might find these threads interesting.
Survival Forum Thread 1
Survival Forum Thread 2

Lord bless you all. – C.K.

 

Hi Again Jim,
Just my take on the dog food issue. I have a female Rat Terrier about 10 pounds that is a real patrol dog and barker. We live in a urban environment and a large dog is just not practical because of food cost, liability, and sanitation issues. I store her dry kibble in 5 gallon pails in the garage where the cat lives most of the time. I have had no problems with mice or rats for over 8 years. I agree metal cans are superior. I spoke with our veterinarian about rice, potatoes and other vegetables mixed with canned dog food and/or table scraps of meat. No onions for dogs by the way. She told me the dog should have no problems but not to feed the cat so much rice and mashed potatoes leftovers. I think cats require more meat protein in their diet. My wife is Vietnamese and we buy 50 lb. bags of jasmine rice for about 15 dollars at the Asian market and always have about 10 bags in reserve stored in either the bags or in 5gal buckets that we vacuum seal for longer storage. The rice cooker is always going,haha. I mix about two big scoops of rice with a small 6oz. can of dog food and mash it together with a spoon very well for the dog and about one spoon of rice mixed with 1?2 can of 6oz cat food for the cat. I think this a very economical and practical way to extend the use of canned food and table scraps while providing a nutritious and tasty meal for my two favorite animals. – DC

 

Jim,
  You suggested raising other livestock and using some for your pets. If you use any kind of fowl remember the eggs are also a good supplement. One thing to remember is that sometimes you get eggs that are cracked. I use to crack them out and put them in plastic butter tub, freeze them and give to my dog later. If you can’t freeze them then a little treat as they happen. – Merlin

Odds ‘n Sods:

Brett Arends comments on the new Wile E. Coyote (“Falling Off a Cliff”) Markets

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The global economic crisis, from the French perspective

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The bad news on H5N1 from North Sumatra. Meanwhile, The Lancet released a sobering opinion piece. A tip of the hat to Geri Guidetti of The Ark Institute, who alerted me to these two articles.

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There is a great thread in progress over at the Gold Is Money Forums, inspired by an article by David Andrews at Safehaven.com.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"The Qualities of a good intelligence officer:
* Be perceptive about people
* Be able to work well with others under difficult conditions
* Be able to distinguish between fact and fiction
* Be able to distinguish between essentials and non-essentials
* Possess inquisitiveness
* Have a large amount of ingenuity
* Pay appropriate attention to detail
* Be able to express ideas clearly, briefly and very important interestingly
* Learn when to keep you mouth shut
* Understanding for other points of view, other ways of thinking and behaving, even if they are quite foreign to his own.
* Rigidity and close-mindedness are qualities that do not spell a good future in Intelligence
* Must not be over ambitious or anxious for personal reward
and the most important quality: What motivates a man to devote himself to the craft of intelligence?
– Allen Dulles, "The Craft of Intelligence"

Letter Re: Content of Gold Bullion Coins and Numismatic Gold Coins

 

Dear Jim,
Regarding the metal content of gold bullion tokens: Gold Eagles are 22 karat, as are Krugerrands–the respondent in the old mail you quoted had that point wrong, too. (Where he claimed Eagles were less accepted than “pure gold” kruggerands (sic).)
British Sovereigns are also 22 karat, with four coins equaling not quite one ounce of gold. Canadian Gold Maple Leafs, PAMP and Credit Suisse bars, and hallmarked bars and coins with .999 or .9999 are as close to pure as one can find.
However, since it’s the gold content that is being traded, and that content is stated in grams or troy ounces, the alloying metal isn’t that significant. What matters is the taker’s confidence in the hallmarks on the coin or bar. Even if the US government should collapse tomorrow, a Gold Eagle is a known ounce of gold in coin form, with some copper to alloy it, whereas a Joe’s Discount Mint One Ouncer may in fact be .9999 gold, but how can one be sure?
This is why such mundane items as worn out pre-1965 dimes have an intrinsic value. They contain a known quantity of precious metal, that was assayed and certified by a government [that was once] willing to back its exchanges with that metal. – Michael Z. Williamson

JWR Replies: Thanks for that advice. I generally prefer bullion coins rather than fractional gold coins such as Sovereigns and $20 gold pieces. The latter sell for numismatic premiums, which is disadvantageous. And because they have fractional weights, determining their value on any given day is more difficult. For the same reason they will probably be less accepted in post-collapse barter transactions. (Although as I’ve stated repeatedly, silver is best for barter coinage because gold is too compact a form of wealth!)

Readers are warned: If you buy gold bars or ingots, buy only serialized bars and have them assayed. Beware of faked gold coins. This is typically done with Chinese Pandas that are sans a milled rim. Any coin with a milled edge is hard to fake, since that is where the “mold line” of a cast fake would be. (A mold line can be easily polished off of a coin with a smooth rim, but it is far more difficult to do on a milled edge.) My general advice is to buy widely recognized gold bullion coins such as U.S. Gold Eagles, Canadian Maple Leafs, South African Krugerrands, or Australian Kookaburras.

Buy whatever variety of gold coin is at present the most widely recognized gold coin in your country. Here in the U.S., that means the U.S. Gold Eagle or the Krugerrand–not $20 Double Eagle gold pieces. (I’m no expert, but I suspect that in England that would mean the gold Sovereign. In France the “Rooster” gold franc. In Switzerland, the “Vrenelli” gold franc.)

The bottom line: Buy only from reputable dealers, never buy gold Pandas, and if it is a bullion coin, only buy coins with milled edges!

Letter Re: Feeding Your Dog in Hard Times

Jim,
I was feeding my dogs last night when it hit me; what am I going to do for them if I were in a situation where I could no longer acquire more dog food? I know they love scraps from our food, but I try to keep that at a minimum for various, obvious reasons to us dog owners. As for a substitute to commercially obtained kibble, what sort of foods are best used to feed man’s best friend?
I thought about this a bit, and figured jerked meats mixed with dried grains to cover the basics. As for nutrients, I thought that cooked liver from any animal used for meat would suffice. Are my thoughts going in the right direction? Please advise when convenient.
Thanks in advance, – Steve G.

JWR Replies: Yes, you are on the right track. A few brief points: Dry kibble stores longer that other dry dog food, since it is low in fat. (It is the fat in dog food that causes it to go rancid, shortening its useful shelf life.) Supplementing kibble with table scraps–such as beef trimmings and chicken skin–will compensate for the fat deficiency. Consider raising extra small livestock (such as rabbits or chickens) and setting aside some chest freezer space to provide fodder for your dogs. [The Memsahib adds: We plan to put our traps from Buckshot’s Camp to good use, in part to feed our little lap warmers. The plan is to follow the example of some Alaskans that we know and boil carcases in an outdoor cauldron.]

Store commercial dog food in newly-made galvanized steel trash cans. (If you store it in the original paper sacks you will end up feeding mice, rats, and squirrels instead of your dog.) Rotate your stored dog food consistently through use, just like your other storage food, to insure freshness.

Lastly, prepare yourself psychologically for the absolute worst case, when you might end up starving and have to euthanize your dog(s). Turning a dog loose to fend for itself is cruel and will only serve to build the inevitable packs of feral dogs in the event of a worst case collapse.

Odds ‘n Sods:

There has been much talk about Iran’s new Euro-denominated oil bourse. Presidente Hugo Chavez now says that he might start pricing oil in Euros, too. And President Putin of Russia wants to trade oil and natural gas in rubles. Are they all trying to tell us something about the once-almighty U.S. Dollar?

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BBC News Economics Editor Steve Schifferes comments on why the dollar is sinking so rapidly.

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The high price of platinum is boosting palladium, as an alternative for jewelry making

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth. For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it. Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves longer." – Patrick Henry

David in Israel Re: Buckshot’s Survival Attitude Versus the “Commando” Survival Attitude

James
Every time I see an article by Buckshot [such as “The Basics of Stocking a Retreat For One Year”, posted May 19th], I am most impressed that he expresses the distilled wisdom of a true survivor. I don’t believe I have ever see him recommend a battle rifle as an primary part of a survivor’s arsenal. A military type rifle in the hands of someone without a realistic idea of combat gives a sense of super hero power. Sadly in a generation of video games where the “Hero” is able to take down whole rogue military installations a subtle psychological training shift takes place. I don’t so much fear the fake violence as much as the ludicrous expectation that the weapon makes the commando. More than anything what really makes a special team is combat practice several times a week, blitzkrieg tactics which make the opposing force play to your rules, and massive expended firepower giving your adversary sensory overload.
My recommendation is to play the mouse and hide using your .30-30 to bag meat and defend yourself until you have squared yourself away in the more important departments. For most people the heavy arsenal is an strong temptation to be the local super cop, an unpopular and very dangerous decision. The nail that sticks up (in a scary “black rifle” way) is the first to be hammered down by any new regional emergency authorities. Even worse are the temptations to use your heavy weapons to supply your family because you failed to do any other preparations.
Remember in a survival situation you are not the U.S. military expeditionary force. Please adjust your survival plans accordingly. – David

Letter Re: Pre-1899 Oberndorf 8×57 Mauser Bolt Action Rifles

James:
I am getting a Model 1893 Turkish Mauser. I know that these actions are not as strong as the Model 98. However, they are German Mausers made in Oberndorf. What finer pedigree can a rifle have? I have read some posts on forums that these are marginally safe with commercially available ammo. I was warned that the Turkish ammo was dangerous, it is known to be the hottest of the milsurp ammo.
I was also warned against the Yugo [ammo]. One or two guys even said you only should shoot hand loaded mild loads. I am just wondering what your personal experience has been regarding this rifle. Any info you could give me would be appreciated. Thanks, – Scott
P.S: Thanks a lot for your FAQ info [on Pre-1899s] over at Empire Arms.

JWR Replies: Standard velocity 8×57 military surplus ammo is well within the pressure limits of the re-heat treated Turkish contract Model 1893 actions. Even commercial soft nose ammo (which produces slightly higher pressure) is still within limits. So there is no need to handload for these rifles. However, have any surplus rifle checked for proper headspace and below-the-woodline pitting by a competent gunsmith before shooting it.

The problems with the Turkish surplus ammo are that A.) Most of it is corrosively primed, and B.) What you often find when you open the cases is from mixed lots, which means erratic point of impact and worse yet, a few of the lots were made to extra high pressure specs, for machineguns.

Most of the German surplus (including the black tip API) is corrosively primed. And again, a few of the lots were made to extra high pressure specs, for machineguns.

The FN-made ball is mild and non-corrosive primed, but sadly it is getting very scarce.

You might have a gunsmith re-barrel your M1893 to .308 Winchester. That ammo is currently much more common and will continue to be more readily available in the future, since the supplies of 8×57 Mauser ammo are only going to get more scarce as time goes on. BTW, if any big batches on non-corrosive military surplus 8×57 ball or AP do hit the market, buy yourself a lifetime supply. Someday you will be glad that you did. One other interesting option for small game hunting and plinking are the Rhineland .45 ACP conversion kits. These use standard M1911 pistol magazines (Coincidentally, I have one of these kits listed in my mail order catalog.)

I highly recommend getting one or two Turkish contract Model 1893s for your collection. Do so while they are still available at reasonable prices. Every family should have at least one rifle that is Federally “antique” yet chambered for a modern high velocity smokeless cartridge. The time may come when you are forced by legislation to bury nearly everything else! Model 1983 Turkish contract Mausers are available from Sportsman’s Guide for $299. The Pre-1899 Specialist (one of our advertisers) currently has a small but very nice hand-picked batch that are selling for just $199 each.

BTW, the foregoing advice does not apply to Model 1893 or Model 1895 Spanish-made Mausers, which are notorious for both deep below-the-woodline pitting and soft actions. Most Spanish Mausers are not suitable for shooting with modern ammo or for re-barreling to cartridges like .308 Winchester.

Odds ‘n Sods:

I’m nearly done reading “The Protector’s War“” the second installment in S.M. Stirling‘s “Dies the Fire” trilogy. If you can suspend disbelief–getting past the basic premise of the series (an inexplicable overnight change in the laws of physics that renders gasoline and gunpowder impotent) then you’ll enjoy these books. In this installment, part of the storyline takes place in England. The author uses the books in this series as a bully pulpit to preach preparedness and self-sufficiency. (Or at least I think that is his intent.) He weaves lot of history and practical skills into the storylines. Stirling is one of my favorite science fiction authors. I previously mentioned his parallel universe novel Conquistador, which in my opinion is his best piece to date. (And it also has some practical/tactical tidbits.) Stirling is known too, for having written three novels based on Jim Cameron’s Terminator movie franchise, and several other sci-fi novels, all of which have considerable merit. Given the high price of books these days, it is probably best to pick up his books from a bargain Internet book dealer such as Abebooks.com or BooksAMillion.com. (Or for our readers in the U.K., perhaps Abebooks UK.)

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There is a great thread of discussion on “collapse assessments” underway over at the Survival and Preparedness forum at the FALFiles.

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Ken Timmerman reports: Israel ‘Will Not Allow’ Iran Nuclear Weapons

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Mirroring the recent cooling in the oil market, Gold and silver have both been pushed down substantially in recent days. Methinks the present dip is a good time to buy.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"It is certain that free societies would have no easy time in a future dark age. The rapid return to universal penury will be accomplished by violence and cruelties of a kind now forgotten. The force of law will be scant or nil., either because of the collapse or disappearance of the machinery of state, or because of difficulties of communications and transport. It may be possible only to delegate authority to local powers who will maintain it by force alone." – Roberto Vacca, The Coming Dark Age

Note From JWR:

I just ran the numbers. Of the more than 9,500 people that read SurvivalBlog several times a week, only 242 of them have subscribed, sending 10 Cents a day, or more. That represents just 2.5% of readers. Subscriptions to SurvivalBlog are 100% voluntary. Nuff said.

The Basics of Stocking a Retreat For One Year, by Buckshot

Remember the movie Red Dawn? Think about when Colonel Tanner said: “You think you’re tough for eating beans every day? The scarecrows in Denver would give anything for a taste of what you got. They’ve been under siege for about three months. They live on rats and on sawdust and sometimes… on each other. At night, the pyres for the dead light up the sky. It’s medieval.” Do you have a plan set up to keep you and your family from become scare crows? I mean a realistic plan that you are working on every payday?

A good friend once told me. My place is going to have one foot thick concrete walls, solar, wind, and a positive air system to filter out all nuclear, biological, chemical attacks. Solid steel doors and steel shutters. That is all fine and good but do you have the $100,000 to build it? Ah no? It is far better to have a 12×12 hunting camp with a hand pump well, kerosene lights, a wood stove, and a propane cookstove than a dream retreat that never got built. Start with the basic stuff first the Five Bs: Building, bullets, beans, bacon, and buckshot.

An apartment size propane cookstove with a small oven is very efficient. Normal everyday usage is from 2 to 5 gallons a month. Five gallons of propane is commonly called a 20 pound cylinder. You can get two 25 gallon cylinders (100 pound) and hook up with automatic switch over when the first tank is empty it switches to the full tank. Hook up to a propane stove and you have one year supply of cooking for a family of four. This is just an estimate–your results may vary. Now this is not a camp stove but a regular looking small apartment size propane kitchen stove.

What about light for a year? If you use a Dietz lantern for light and use it 4 hours each night you will need how many gallons a year? 26 hours per fill up on I believe is 22 ounces, 128 ounces in a gallon, one gallon will give 150.8 hours of light or 37.7 days per gallon. A little less then 10 gallons of lamp oil or kerosene per year. Plus extra wicks and at least one spare globe. You can burn kerosene it is cheaper then lamp oil but it smells. Make sure you test it before depending on it. That means kill the lights for 1 hour and burn it and see if you can handle the smell. Please be careful with a lit flame in your house around children, pets and anything flammable.

The most important thing to have on your property beside owning it free and clear is a drilled well. Hauling water is for the birds. I have advised many people it’s better to own five acres with a well than forty acres without one. Water is vital and after the first few days of hauling water more then ten feet it become old, tiring, and a dreaded chore. They say each person uses seventy gallons a day that includes, cooking, drinking, flushing the toilet, and showers. You can get by with ten gallons a day pretty good except when you wash clothes. A solar shower sold in camping supply stores are a great thing to have. Fill it in the morning place where the sun can reach it and you have a hot shower.

A drain field for most states requirement for a drain field for even a small cabin is a ridiculous price ranging from $6,000 to $20,000 to meet new strict codes. Before you buy property make sure you find out the cost. Normal problems are typically found in the blue states with too many bureaucrats. Some states are so strict they will not allow National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) approved composting toilets. That is a clear indication it is time to vote with your feet and move to a red state. If you can use a basic composting toilet, a sink, a shower drain hooked to a small drain field. It works great.

If you do have a well on your property there are lots of ways to get water from windmills, hand pumps and solar power pumps. Water is a requirement that you need every single day. So, the first thing you need on any property is a well.

Are you heating with wood? How much wood do you need to get through a winter? Depends on the size of the building, how well insulated, where you live and how efficient your stove is. Cheap $100 wood stoves are for the birds. Get a better airtight stove. Buy the better thicker pipe, buy the cleaning rods and brush, if you have a chimney fire how do you put it out. There is a couple of ways you can set up a chimney cab that slams shuts on the top. This cuts off the vent and air or another way is they sell a item that looks like a road flare you can toss in your wood stove that is suppose to put it out. I have not tested either. But have cleaned my pipes and chimney every year. I don’t burn pine or fir or cedar. If you do burn soft resinous wood like pine I recommend you clean your chimney once a month. Another safely precaution is a metal roof it might just save your house from burning to the ground if you ever do have a chimney fire. If you have never had a chimney fire they say it sounds like a tornado shooting up the chimney and flames shooting straight up 4-5 feet or more. Normally they happen in the coldest nasty weather because people really fire up the stove then. Might just ruin your whole winter to watch your retreat burn to the ground. Hopefully you have smoke detectors and everyone made it out safe. Be careful wood stoves can be dangerous.

Get a good chain saw like a Husqvarna 141. They are good on gas not too heavy and very reliable. Extra chains, spare bar, spark plugs, pull cord, sharpening files at least 6, and air filters. Maybe a spare electronic ignition brain. You will need 5 gallons of chain and bar oil, or in an emergency you can use used motor oil. 10 gallons of gas per year and enough 2 cycle mixing oil for the gas. Now how are you going to haul the wood back to the cabin? A 2 wheel cart is one way. Splitting mauls make sure you buy them with fiberglass or steel handles. Axes with fiberglass handles same with rakes and shovels use fiberglass handles. You are going to need safety goggles and plenty of leather work gloves. Cutting down standing trees is dangerous if you never handled a chain saw before it might be a good idea to go out with a trusted friend and have him teach you the safe use of dropping trees and chain saw use.

Okay, so far we have talked about a small hunting camp with a metal roof heated with wood, a propane cooking stove for summer cooking, a well, compost toilet with a small drain field for sink and shower, good tools, etc. Now what else? Just the basics of what you will need. A .22 rifle with a good scope and 1000 rounds of ammo, a 12 gauge pump shotgun–I prefer the Remington 870–with assorted shells: slugs, buckshot and bird shot, a good hunting rifle, at least a .308 with a good Leupold scope and 160 rounds for it.

Now what else? gill nets, four dozen assorted snares , extra matches, good flints, traps, garden seeds, a way to can or dry and store food. Flashlights, in 9 volts like the PAL Light which is great because it is has a always on feature that last two years on one battery. The solar yard lights are fairly cheap come with AA Batteries that can be put in to use in other flashlights. Or remove the batteries at dusk place back in the day and recharge again. Lots to do with that idea. Use your head. Having a working flashlight 6 months into a real emergency is God sent. Worst comes to worst you can use them inside for your night lights.

A year supply of food. A good basic storage assortment with just the essentials and don’t forget a wheat grinder so you can grind flour. This is written for a single person or small family that would want to live at their deer camp for one year. I am not even getting into retreat defense or other assorted guns [and the amount f ammo required for that]. As I have stated in another article if I was going to be in a thick wooded area give me a Browning Buckmark .22 [pistol] and a good old reliable .30-30 Winchester.

First aid. Don’t forget spare eye glasses, chap stick, Vaseline, prescription medicine, super glue, tweezers, Advil, aspirin, assorted Band-Aids, gauze, wraps, antiseptic, etcetera. Make the kit according to your family needs.

Make sure you cover the basic needs first. What good is 12,000 rounds of ammo, two battle rifles, BDUs, one flashlight, and one case of MREs after the first week? You must have a full plan to survive. Providing for just one year takes some serious dedication to reach that level. A couple of decks of cards, pens, papers, small note books, the list can go on and on and on. You have to be well rounded. Can you skin a buck, run a trap line, drop a tree with a chain saw, plant a garden, protect your garden, preserve your food? Do you have dogs? Do you have enough stored food for them? How about pest control, mice traps, squirrels, rabbits, coons, ground hogs, can sure tear up a garden do you have traps for them? Think it through: Chipmunks, gophers, garden pest, and bug control. Mosquito netting is the best thing you can buy if you plan on being outdoors.

Sit down and try to put a list together for one year of supplies. You know just the basics like where are you going to get water every day. How are you going to cook? How do you heat in the winter? Have you ever tried to chop a years supply of wood? Do you have children? What kind of medicine will you need for them in 1 year? What kind of non power games do you have for them to do? Does you wife sew or crotchet? Do you have some supplies like that put away. A knitted wool hat or mittens sure would be nice if you didn’t have them when you left. How about washing clothes? One way that works ok is to take 5-6 gallon buckets and cut a small hole in the center of the lid just big enough for a toilet plunger. Fill 3/4 ways with water add soap (you did remember laundry soap for a year right?) add clothes for about one person pants, shirt t-shirt, under wear and socks, plunged for 1 minute let soak for 5 minutes plunge again for 10 seconds. Dump out water, fill with fresh water again plunge for 1 minute dump out, fill again with clean water plunge for 1 minute dump out. Hand wring the clothes, hang out to dry or hang near wood stove in the winter to dry. Again be careful you don’t allow clothes to get to close to the wood stove or you have a fire hazard.

You did put away enough toilet paper for a year, right? You also protected this toilet paper with traps or poison so the mice and chipmunks didn’t chew it all, up right? How about feminine products for a year. What about yeast infections? I know not the most pleasant thing to talk about but a must if you are seriously planning to survive. I talked to an old timer once that grew up in the Depression and I asked him what did you use for toilet paper his words “Last year Sears and Roebuck catalog, oh and by the way I sold all my furs to them too.” What would be a good catalog today? How about some thick old city telephone books, might be a good choice to store away for back up toilet paper.

I did this the old fashioned way through hard knocks. Trust me, the first time you have to haul water for 100 yards you will wish you spent the money for a well. When your Coleman lantern runs out of fuel or breaks, you will wish you had a Dietz lantern back up. When your splitting maul wooden handle breaks you will wish you had spent the extra money for fiberglass. When your ammunition is damp and unreliable you will wish you’d spent the $5.00 each for used ammo cans. Trust me, I learned these all the hard way and still had the luxury of running to store for replacement supplies. When I say I tested everything that is what I mean and along the way I had several lessons learn the hard way. Having a fully stocked retreat is a comfort. Having tested everything yourself it gives you experience and know how.

Lots to think about. You will be glad that you put up a year supply of food, it sure will make a welcome sight every morning instead of surviving like scare crows eating sawdust and rats, that is brown rats not the good tasting marsh rabbit–what most folks call muskrats. :-). When you have water, heat, a cook stove, and roof over your head life will seem pretty good. Lots to do when you sit down and really look at what it takes to survive with just the basics for one year. Don’t waste your time worrying, get to work. After you take care of the basics then you can move forward with more advanced plans. – Buckshot

 

Letter Re: Clock Drive Radios

Mr. Rawles:
I bought a cheapy Chinese plastic model (“Dynamo and Solar Radio” model, in a small black rectangular plastic case), and it worked okay for a couple weeks. Then the flimsy plastic crank handle broke inside the unit. At least the solar cells seem to recharge it okay if left in the sun for a few hours. The Eton/Grundig ones seem to be well constructed I hear, but now perhaps a better one is coming with a Sony model being released in Japan. They are usually pretty good about testing ergonomics and durability much more than most companies.