Letter from The Army Aviator Re: PAL Lights, NiMH 9VDC Batteries, and Fire

Jim:
I’ve been really busy lately, which is good. A fair bit of information from your great blog parallels my experiences and here’s some hopefully helpful information which I have gleaned:
1) PAL lights: Have several and always been pleased with them. [See: http://www.buckshotscamp.com/Flashlight-PALight-Sales.htm]
I found a great rechargeable 9 volt NiMH high capacity battery. Wow, they really do have JUICE! Once fully charged several times, they outlive any non-rechargeable battery I’ve found and they work well with solar charging.
One 9V NiMH 250mAh Rectangular NiMH Rechargeable Battery —Ultrahigh capacity
http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1995
(BTW, I have purchased a lot of NiMH batteries from these people and always been pleased.)
Also, with NiMH rechargeable batteries, you have to cycle them several times before they achieve full capacity. My first experience with them was disappointing. I thought “Darn, I had hoped these would be better than this.” But after several charges, they really came to life.
2) Regarding “Buckshot on: What do Canadian Bush Pilots Carry?”: When I was flying oil exploration in northern Maine and southern Quebec during the the winter, I had a pair of snowshoes and a reliable 30-30 lever action carbine strapped to the engine mounts. Fortunately, the engine never quit. Had it quit, I would have been wishing for Buckshot’s list. However, the 30-30 met the need more than once.

Here’s a request for advice: My house is old, old cedar logs and with another round of drought apparently coming around, I’m looking at fire protection. When we were kids, we used waterglass to fireproof stuff and I wonder if I could soak my log house with waterglass? Any comments will be appreciated. What the heck is waterglass anyway? – The Army Aviator

Odds ‘n Sods:

Late last year, a buck goat reportedly attacked Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe. This was during a gas station stop while the presidential motorcade was en route to the mountain resort of  Nyanga. The attack injured Mugabe’s scrotum and lower bowel. Apparently, the local livestock has more gumption than the local populace.  The citizens of Zimbabwe should learn from this goat.

   o o o

I just heard that George at The Pre-1899 Specialist just got in another small batch of pre-1899 Turkish contract 8 x57 Oberndorf Model 1893 Mausers. He says that these are in the nicest condition 1893s that he’s ever seen. (Far better than the “beater” Turks that Sportsman’s Guide is currently selling for $299 each.) George’s prices will range from $199 to $425 each, depending on wood, bore, and bluing condition. Each comes with a bayonet and scabbard. Many of these are collector grade. Here is your chance to buy a Federally-exempt (no-FFL) Mauser with no stinkin’ paperwork! (Consult you State and local laws before ordering.)

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Federal Reserve Chief Bernanke Warns Community Banks on Loans
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/3/8/133626.shtml?s=mo

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Bird Flu Could Reach The Americas in Six Months:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/UN_BIRD_FLU?SITE=7219&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2006-03-09-05-29-23

 

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Record Trade Deficit:
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/3/9/94132.shtml?s=mo

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"The paper money disease has been a pleasant habit thusfar and will not be dropped voluntarily any more than a dope user will without a struggle give up narcotics… I find no evidence to support a hope that our fiat paper money venture will fare better ultimately than such experiments in other lands…" – Nebraska Congressman Howard Buffett, 1948 (The father of Warren Buffett.) As quoted in Financial Reckoning Day.

Letter from Sweden Re: Public Anxiety Over Asian Avian Flu

Hi Jim!
Long time no answer. Sorry about that! I’ve been reading you blog for a while now, and find features like the Claire Files Forum very readable and useful. The Retreat Areas, Profiles and Survival Guns sections are my favourites! You guys have been doing a great work putting you blog together.

Right now here in Scandinavia there is a lots of focus in the media on AAV H5N1 Birds are flying north and bringing the virus with them! And many are really afraid of mutation of that virus! And local authorities have not readiness enough if something happens. Here a couple a weeks ago some people called the cops (I was monitoring my scanner) of some dead birds in a pond, police arrived, they called fire department, they called county health and it ended with the military came and take care of the dead animals. Guess how many curious people wanted to see what is going on??? Just in case its good to be prepared, at least know what to do if something breaks out! Take care and keep on blogging! Cheers – Jan

Letter Re: Sources for PAL 9VDC Flashlights and Ultra-Long Life 9VDC

JR,
Please let us know more about the 9 volt PAL light, where can we purchase these? Thanks. Also, if a reader is concerned about shelf life of the battery, a very long lasting 9 Volt battery is made that was designed to be used in smoke detectors, it also works in AC-powered alarm clocks that have a battery back up when the power goes out… Sorry, I don’t remember off hand the exact name or what they are called but they are common enough to be purchased at the local Radio Shack…….they cost about $8 a few years ago when I was working for a TV station, we used them a great deal in wireless microphones etc.  – R.B.S.

JWR Replies: The PAL lights are sturdy little flashlights that are rectangular–just a bit bigger than a 9 volt battery. They have a VERY long life. They are available from Buckshot’s Camp and several other vendors, for less than $20. See: http://www.buckshotscamp.com/Flashlight-PALight-Sales.htm The ultra long life lithium 9 VDC batteries that you mentioned are available from many electronics and hardware stores.  For our readers that live out in the boonies, they are also available via mail order from Newark Electronics. Newark’s order # for the lithium battery is: 291-735. They are $8.19 each. (Yikes!  Hopefully they are a bit less expensive at your local Radio Shack.)   See: http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:HUs3OCPlOTAJ:www.newark.com/product-details/text/mcm

Letter Re: A Second Silver Exchange Traded Fund

Mr. and Mrs. Rawles,
I just read this article today and thought it would be of interest to the Survival Blog readers: http://www.resourceinvestor.com/pebble.asp?relid=17672

The gist of it is that a silver backed exchange traded fund (ETF) is quietly being opened in London within the next month. Note, this is NOT the silver ETF that Barclays’ is trying to get past the SEC right now. Upon reading closer one can note that the claim of being “backed” by silver is erroneous – “We buy a security from a third party…and supply the matching contract, and investors won’t have to worry” about the physical quantity, said Tuckwell. Therefore, the silver ETF in London will not be physically backed by the underlying commodity, while taking silver out of the market, but the performance of the fund would remain linked to the silver price.

Either way, for good or ill, it seemed that this was relevant information to the blog readers. Sincerely, -LBTP

Letter Re: PTR-91 Clones of HK91 Rifles

I was wanting some info on the PTR-91 Rifle made by JLD Enterprises, I saw this rifle on Atlantic firearms website, but I know nothing about it. Do you or any of the SurvivalBlog readers have any knowledge or opinion as to the worthiness of this rifle. It looks great and I would like to own one but hesitate to fork out that kind of money on an unknown. Thanks, – Steve

JWR  Replies:  I can’t comment because I’ve never owned or even shot an PTR-91 clone. Perhaps a SurvivalBlog readers has some first hand experience with them.

Note From JWR:

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Letter Re: More Backup Generator Advice

Hi Jim,.
Hurricane season is just around the corner here in Florida and I am getting ready to buy a backup generator for my home. To be better informed, I have gone back and re-read all the past survivalblog entries on generators, so I am pretty much up to speed on it. My last step is to decide what size generator to buy. One additional piece of information that would be helpful to me, and probably others, is to have an idea of how much wattage it takes to run each of the various typical appliances in a home ranging from light bulbs up to air conditioners. That way I can then decide on what size generator to get based on which appliances my family members think they can/cannot do without verses how much we can afford to pay for a generator. Thanks so much, and God bless. – Joe.

JWR Replies:  I consider a backup generator a “must ” for any family that is dependent upon grid power. I won’t be repetitious. (See my Wednesday, January 4, 2006 post in the SurvivalBlog Archives, as well as the follow-up posts during the next few days.)  Instead, I will post three useful links on gensets that I’ve bookmarked in the past few months:

http://www.nwpwr.com/calculation_help/size_inv_&_gen.htm

http://www.flatheadelectric.com/custserv/safety/generator/SafetyGenerator.htm

http://www.generatorjoe.net/page.asp?id=42

Odds ‘n Sods:

The Army Aviator spotted this one for us: The Sun’s next 11-year cycle could be 50 percent stronger. See: http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyid=2006-03-06T204858Z_01_N06327000_RTRUKOC_0_US-SPACE-SUN.xml&rpc=22

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This page is very nicely done:  An on-line survival quiz: http://www.spicolisbarleybin.com/games/survival.swf

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Walter Jefferies at NoNAIS.org found an article in which the FDA admitted that the measures already in place are enough to protect against BSE. See: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~comm/bsefaq.html

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Uh… Strangers… I hate this. Do they want to share what they got or take what you got? Do you say ‘hi’ or do you blow them away?” – Kevin Costner, The Postman

Letter Re: Source for the Full Text of the Web Novel “Lights Out”

Jim, In your Saturday Blog of March 4th. you responded to a reader asking where to obtain David Crawford’s two fine stories. Your answer for “The Bug-Out” was okay, but your response for “Lights Out” of Frugal Squirrel’s site was not really a good one. Frugal has only about a quarter of David’s story available. The place to go is: http://www.giltweasel.com/stuff/LightsOut-Current.pdf This will get a full 600 odd page page PDF. document with the full story plus a title page, table of contents, prolog and epilogue. Hope that everyone who reads this enjoys it as much as I did. Best Regards, – Wise Tioga

Buckshot on: What do the Canadian Bush Pilots Carry?

I think everyone would agree when it comes to wilderness survival, the Canadian Bush pilots have a history of incredible survival stories.We should apply some “lessons learned” are then apply them to required gear to carry.

I did some research into Canada’s required bush pilot survival gear. Because I was told the gill net requirements said the net had to be 1.5 inch mesh. Thinking, here we go again– how do they measure the net? There are two different ways they measure gill nets. The way we measure our gill nets is from the top knot to the bottom knot this is 2.5 inch mesh but if the Canadian rules says 1.5 inch they might be talking about the other way you measure gill nets: That is from the top knot to the side knot then our net is a 1.5 inch mesh. You would think that there would be one standard way to measure nets but that would be too easy.

Here is the basic list for Canadian Bush Pilots:
Food with at least 10,000 calories per person
Cooking utensils
Matches
Stove and fuel
Compass
Axe of at least 2 1/2 pounds
Saw
Snare wire
Fishing equipment (tackle and nets)
Mosquito nets and repellent
Tents, wing covers or orange signal panels
Sleeping bags
Signal mirror
Distress signals
First aid kit
Survival manual

Believe me, we have sold lots of gear to bush pilots in Canada, Alaska, and the Lower 48. If I was a bush pilot, this is what I would carry:

A Wiggy’s sleeping bag http://www.wiggys.com [JWR Adds: I highly recommend the Wiggy’s FTRSS and the Ultima Thule.]
Small Katadyn water filter–JRH sells these: https://www.jrhenterprises.com/categoryNavigationDocument.hg?categoryId=16
A small dome tent
10-to-12 [ounce] tarp
First Aid kit
Signal mirror
Distress signal–normal signal flares typically sold at Marine stores
Small backpack stove
Small bush saw
A Estwing steel handled axe
Mosquito nets and repellents
Small emergency gill net, http://www.buckshotscamp.com/Gill-Net.htm
Emergency fishing kit, http://www.buckshotscamp.com/Fishing-Emergency-Pocket-Kit.htm
3 Yo-Yo automatic fishing reels http://www.buckshotscamp.com/Yo-Yo-Fishing-Reel-Sales.htm
Frog/fish spear http://www.buckshotscamp.com/Fishing-Frog-Spear-Sales.htm
Emergency snare kit, http://www.buckshotscamp.com/Snare-Kits-Emergency-Sales.htm
Compass, http://www.buckshotscamp.com/Lensatic-Compass.htm
The book Six Ways in, Twelve Ways Out http://www.buckshotscamp.com/Book-Six-Ways-In-And-Twelve-Ways-Out-Sales.htm
German mess kit http://www.buckshotscamp.com/Surplus-Mess-Kit-Sales.htm
Small Backpack http://www.buckshotscamp.com/Surplus-Small-Back-Pack-Sales.htm
Blastmaster http://www.buckshotscamp.com/Flint-BlastMaster-Sales.htm
Sewing awl http://www.buckshotscamp.com/Sewing-Awl-Speedy-Stitcher-Sales.htm
PAL light http://www.buckshotscamp.com/Flashlight-PALight-Sales.htm

Regarding firearms, read this article: http://www.buckshotscamp.com/Article-Only-One-Gun.htm If I was in big bear (grizzly and brown bear) country I would switch up to a 45-70. 🙂

Why the PAL light? Every survivalist should own at least one PAL for every person. The PAL light takes a 9 volt battery. Now why is that important? Talking to my good friend Craig H. from Hawaii, he told me the reason I should have already known. You see, Craig has lived through 3 hurricanes. After the mad rush to the store with everyone buying every battery in sight what is the only battery still on the shelf? The 9 volt. Think about it: Most people have flashlights that use size AAA, AA, C, or D batteries. But I am pretty sure PAL is one of the few flashlights that uses 9 volt batteries. Also, nearly every house in America has smoke detectors using 9 volt batteries. But the feature I love is the always on a real dim light that last 2 years on 1 battery great for children’s night lights, great for finding in the junk drawer when the power goes out, and great for camping to quickly find it in the dark when the bear peeks in your tent. 🙂 They are LED lights and you can tape them on your gun and shoot. LED means no filament to break from the shock of shooting.

We are currently running a special for SurvivalBlog readers only. It is our way of saying thanks for your support and another way for us to support Survival Blog. See:
http://www.buckshotscamp.com/survival-blog-specials.htm Regards,- Buckshot