From The Memsahib: Do You Know Where Your Gardening Seed Comes From?

This is the time of year when all those inspiring colorful seed catalogs are arriving. I have been spending too much time dreaming of my Spring garden and comparing the offerings of all the different catalogs. That was until the latest issue of Countryside and Small Stock Journal (March/April ’06) arrived. There, I read the article by Jerri Cook on page 60 entitled “Do You Know Where Your Seed Come From?” According to this article, just six companies: Dupont, Mitsuri, Monsanto, Syngents, Aventis, and Dow control 98 percent of the world’s seeds. Monsanto holds over eleven thousand U.S. seed patents. Monsanto is estimated to control about 90 percent of the U.S. nursery market. When an American buys garden seeds most of the time they are buying from Monsanto regardless of which catalog they order from. Almost all the large seed and garden companies use the same seed brokers to buy tons of seeds at a low price selling the same seeds to everyone. Furthermore seed companies can resell seeds, plants, roots, bulbs, and trees using whatever names they wish. You may think that because you ordered string beans from three different companies each named differently that you have three different varieties. Think again!
Monsanto, Dupont, Mitsuri, Syngents, Aventis, and Dow are eliminating older open pollinated varieties and replacing them with patented hybrid varieties (which are illegal to save seed from or propagate!). They are also genetically modifying plants so that they won’t produce seeds at all or the seeds that they produce are sterile. Since 1980 there has been a 90 percent reduction of seed varieties available to Americans. Seed biodiversity will be compromised globally. But we can do something about this. We can grow and save heirloom seeds. A great place to start is The Seed Savers Exchange (see: http://www.seedsavers.org.) Order heirloom seeds–not patented hybrid seeds. Then save your seeds and share them with your friends and neighbors.

Letter Re: Defensive Shotguns on a Budget

James:

Jake at The Armory brings up a good point to expand on, regarding the feeding of a Mossberg pump shotgun with a Sidewinder detachable magazine. [His premise was correct that] you don’t have a mag tube to feed anymore. So, if you don’t have a spare detachable magazine, you throw in a new round through the ejection port. From a Sidesaddle this is very fast with practice. It’s fastest to load the shells in the Sidesaddle with the rim (primer end) up. Keep the weapon at the shoulder, grab the shell, go over the top of the receiver and drop into the ejection port. [JWR Adds:  This matches the “shoot one, load one” doctrine that is now espoused at many of the recent tactical shotgun courses. Just like in the early days of bolt actions rifles with a “magazine cutoff” device (such as Krags and M1903 Springfields) the weapon’s magazine is kept topped off and essentially held in reserve, except in situations where you are rushed by multiple opponents. OBTW, perhaps some enterprising individual will invent a modern-day “magazine cutoff” device for Remington 870s and Mossberg 500s and 590s.]
It is marginally faster to pause to load six rounds in a tube magazine, and then shoot six rounds – but I sure wouldn’t want to take that long a pause in a real gunfight. The Sidesaddle lets you keep a steady stream of fire, loading one round at a time. It’s faster than loading a mag to get one more round off, so you might even want to do it in an emergency, as a stopgap before you get a fresh mag on.
Whether you have a Sidewinder detachable magazine or not, this “combat loading” a really useful trick for anyone with a pump shotgun so you can keep fire going downrange without a long pause feeding a tube. It does take practice to get smooth under pressure, just like most other gun skills.
The Powerpak shell carrier added on the SpecOps buttstock is best loaded up with heavy slugs to counterbalance the muzzle heavy weight of shotguns. You don’t need the weight for recoil control, but a better balanced gun is much more ergonomic.
Pistol Grip versus. SpecOps BUTTstock Options:
Knoxx, the maker of the SpecOps recoil reducing BUTTstock, also makes two recoil reducing PISTOL grips, see:
http://knoxx.com/NewStyleKnoxx/Products/BreachersGrip.html
and
http://knoxx.com/NewStyleKnoxx/Products/COPstock.htm
My recommendation was for the SpecOps BUTTstock, since it gives you the recoil reduction in BOTH the pistol grip AND the buttstock – and of course you have a proper buttstock to aim and steady the gun with. The buttstock is even collapsible like a CAR-15 buttstock so you can shorten up the whole weapon. The pistol grip options are more for door lock breaching than home defense. Hope this clears up the confusion. Regards, – OSOM – “Out of Sight, Out of Mind”

Letter From The Army Aviator on Various Topics

James:

To catch up on several topics…

On Satellite Internet:
As you all probably know from previous letters, I do both motor home living and the ranch, out in the country without common city amenities. For the last 10 years or so, I’ve been using Direcway satellite for the internet and TV at both locations. I put in a real T-1 at work back in 1996 and honestly, other than the fact that uploads do take a little longer through the satellite, I don’t see any obvious difference at home via satellite. Perhaps it’s the fact that I have a fixed IP [address] at each location. Beats me, but I’m happy. I even run my web page out from one of the motor home servers. Pretty cool, actually, I can even access the remote control camera at either location from anywhere I can get Internet.
Just my two cents worth regarding satellite.

Mossberg 500s:
I looked at the mag feed conversion awhile back, but didn’t do it. I figure the 500ATP with the long tube has always been adequate in the past. Maybe they’d be nice for use with an auto-shotgun but then I never did see anything beneficial regarding the “Street Sweeper” other than Hollywierd Bravo Sierra. With a shotgun, mags just seem like something else to have to carry. The military 12 pack shell holder for the belt is pretty workable. I comfortably carry two on a web belt.

Liquid Fuel Lanterns:
I got the PetroMax/BriteLyt lantern and it’s ok, but I still like my Coleman Peak 1 better. It’s my opinion, and I feel comfortable with it, that the PetroMax style should not have gasoline used in it. Just my decision and if others want to use gasoline in them, good for them. I think most people should have a couple Petromax style, a couple normal railroad style kerosene, a couple of Aladdin’s and some coleman gas lanterns as well. All in all, they are actually inexpensive and each is suitable for particular purposes. Similar to different calibers need different needs too. The particular thing I like about the little bitty Peak 1 is that I can turn it full bright or all the way down to run all night, which is kind of like an electric lamp.
I just wish somebody made a neat brass lampshade for the Peak like they do for the PetroMax. I have to admit I really LIKE the lampshade.

Liquid Fuel Stoves:
In addition to my Optimus and MSRs of many years, I still use my Military issue Coleman Peak 1. Nice if you have gas, ok if you have kerosene or diesel, JP8, etc. Lately, I’ve been using two others. One is a low pressure Kerosene, a old Perfektus and the other is a 10 wick stove, both about the size of a coffee can.
The Optimus, MSR and Peak 1 have lots of heat but they are noisy. The Perfektus is the first low pressure kerosene stove I’ve ever used and it’s a pleasure. Just a quiet blue flame same as the kitchen gas stove. Now here’s the surprise. I like the 10 wick stove best. No pumping. Just light it and wait couple of minutes and go for it.The stove looks really cheesy but what a joy. If you get yellow under your skillet, you’ve got it cranked up too high. Between the 10 wick stove and 2 Lodge cast iron skillets (made by John Lodge in South Pittsburgh, TN.) I made the best shrimp scampi and linguini with garlic sauce that I’ve made in a long time… WOW!

Butane Lighters:
I’m pretty sure it’s been brought up but here it is again. BUY a CASE of butane lighters. Cheap and great barter. Even seen a smoker who has cigarettes and no flame while stuck four miles up a trail?

Now I need some advice. What was the name of that book, circa1962, written about a nuclear war on the USA and was set in northern Florida?
Just can’t pull it up. Anyway, that’s what lead me to the next thing: The fellow in the book had, on a whim, put away a canned ham for a special time.
So, remembering that, I went looking for canned hams that don’t require refrigeration. You know, like a big SPAM can only tastier.
All I can find in Safeway, Albertsons, King Supers, Walmart, etc. is a Hormel Black Label ham (three pound) in a white plastic container with a metal top and it has to be refrigerated. So what’s up with this?
Even the FDA site you listed showed these hams with just a two month usefulness if unopened and refrigerated. (Not good for storage, eh?)
All the clerks I asked knew what I was looking for but were surprised that they no longer carry them.
The FDA site also listed the non-refrigerated canned hams I was looking for as good for two years at room temperature and longer if kept cooler.
So who out there has a good site for canned hams in real “all metal” cans that taste good and aren’t too expensive? Help?
One last request, any good leads for MCW/LRP meals? They sure disappeared from the market. Best Regards, – The Army Aviator

JWR Replies:Yes, the efficacy of storing cheap butane lighters has been mentioned by several SurvivalBlog contributors including the gent that wrote the article on Flea Market shopping, as well as David in Israel in his recent article of fire starting.

I believe that the novel that you were referring to was Alas Babylon, by Pat Frank.  It is a bit dated, but I still highly recommend it. BTW, that book is included in my “must read lists” at The SurvivalBlog Bookshelf web page.

Perhaps some of the SurvivalBlog readers will be able to answer your questions about the canned ham issue, as well as a source for MCWs and/or LRPs.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Readers on the East Coast should make plans to attend the specialized Tactical Lifesaver Course on April 15-16, 2006, in Douglas, Georgia. A Iraq war vet Physician’s Assistant will teach you a lot of skills that the American Red Cross doesn’t. (Such as: how to prep an intravenous infusion, how to insert and orthopharyngeal airway, wound debridement, suturing, how to treat a sucking chest wound, and much more.)  Don’t miss this one. In fact, SurvivalBlog readers from Canada or the West Coast ought to seriously consider burning some of their accumulated frequent flyer miles to attend this course. See: http://www.survivalreportblog.com/Tactical_Lifesaver_Course.html

   o o o

A tip of the hat to Noah at the Defense Tech blog, who pointed out a blog article at Intel Dump about the soft life led by some of the “Fobbits” at the nicer FOBs in Iraq.See: http://inteldump.powerblogs.com/posts/1139566139.shtml. I wish that all of our deployed troops lived in such safety and comfort.  Sadly, most do not.

   o o o

H5N1 Asian Avian Flu has now spread to Italy: See:  http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/02/11/birdflu.wrap/index.html. Granted, it still isn’t a strain that is easily transmissible between humans, but the more it spreads, the statistical chance of the dreaded mutation increases.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"The most expensive thing in the world is a second-best military establishment, good but not good enough to win." – Robert A. Heinlein, "The Happy Days Ahead" in Expanded Universe

Letter Re: Road Blocks

Jim,
One point that should be made regarding obstacles around the retreat such as ditches barricades etc. Be sure to look at them from the “other” side as well. You don’t want to give your adversary firing positions and areas you can’t put fire into. Ditches may keep vehicles out, but it gives the opponent some place to run to and get out of the field of fire. Walls, barricades, road blocks and other obstacles can do the same. Perhaps you can go into more detail on that later on. Enjoying your blog and learning quite a bit.Good luck! – Old Retailer

Note from JWR:

Many thanks for all of the recent “10 Cent Challenge” contributions! One gent kindly sent $200. That was way above and beyond the call of duty! (All that we ask is 10 cents a day.)

Letter Re: Changing The Retreat Locale Paradigm: Cellular Phones and Two-Way Satellite Internet Systems

Survival Communications, Cellular Phones, Satellite Internet Service

Hello James,
I was faced with making decisions on how to connect to the Internet at a faster connection as the city technology has not reached me yet. I looked into DirecWay and Dynamic Broadband, and I can’t find the other company off hand. In my research, there was a hefty out of pocket to acquire the equipment, and bulkier fees per month with contracts running years. I found in looking further that claims of download speeds were just that–download only. It turns out that the upload speed,(at least to residential isolated candidates) was comparable to a conventional dial-up modem or less. In retrospect, do the research, if seeking a home based career, access speed can shape your options. -The Wanderer

Letter Re: Defensive Shotguns on a Budget

Sir:
I’m not sure about one letter you posted on February 10th. While I have no direct experience with them it is my understanding that the conversion for the [Mossberg 500] Knox drum and magazines do not allow the use of the gun’s original magazine tube. Thus, the Sidesaddle and shell carrier on the butt COULD be used to “combat load” through the ejection port with the Knox drum/mag conversion [in place] but otherwise it only adds weight to the gun. The conversion (I believe) only allows feeding from the box mag/drum). Hopefully someone with hands-on experience will be able to confirm or refute my understanding of things.

I can comment on the recoil reduction from their pistol grip stock, one of our customers had one for a short time and I did try it a few times. When used as most of us have been trained, firmly pull the butt into the shoulder, it does little to reduce felt recoil. The trick is too hold it loosely against the shoulder to allow the recoil reducing device in the pistol grip to do it’s thing. I think if it requires a different grip and mount on the gun the same thing (reducing recoil) can be done without shelling out the cash for a fancy stock. I don’t know who first started pushing the new shooting style for shotgun but it works, let me try to explain:

Shoulder the gun as you would normally but don’t pull hard into the shoulder as we all have been told for all these years, only use the force needed to keep the butt in place. Use your support hand to pull forward and use it to absorb recoil. Don’t lock the support arm out, allow it to flex some at the elbow and let your support arm function as a shock absorber. You can even use this in close quarters by allowing the stock to ride over your arm/shoulder and rotate the gun a bit inboard (counterclockwise for the right handed shooter). This allows the muzzle to come back as much as 5 inches in my limited experience. The key to all this is to pull the gun forward against the force of recoil. It is especially useful on short, pistol gripped breaching guns (the only real use for a pistol gripped shotgun, as I see it) as it keeps the recoil from pounding against the web of the shooting hand. If my shoddy explanation makes sense to you, take the wife and kids out and try a box or three and you will see a difference, I have had good results with some timid and recoil sensitive shooters. – Jake at The Armory

Odds ‘n Sods:

I just finished reading the science fiction novel “Freehold” by Michael Z. Williamson.  It is a fast-paced Libertarian think piece. “Freehold” is a tale of interplanetary colonization, set some 500 years in the future. The descriptions of the bureaucratic totalitarian central Earth government are contrasted with the “Freehold” colony planet, Grainne. The main character is an Earth army logistics soldier that is unjustly accused of embezzlement. Realizing that she can never get a fair trial on Earth, she flees to Grainne. There, she finds a new world with a minimalist government and the sort of freedom that is only dreamed of. She soon acclimatizes to the new society, but things get complicated when Earth decides to invade Grainne, to “civilize” it.  The novel is marred by some unnecessary descriptions of rape, torture, and assorted kinkiness. However, there is so much good in this book that I still recommend it. But keep in mind that it is definitely not a book to let your kids read. I should mention that Michael Z. Williamson is a SurvivalBlog reader. Oh yes, I should also mention that Williamson starts each chapter with a quote. Starting today, I plan to shamelessly high grade some of those great quotes for use as “Quotes of the Day” on SurvivalBlog.  Thank you, Michael!

   o o o

H5N1 Asian Avian Flu had spread to Nigeria and Azerbaijan. See:
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-02-10T174548Z_01_L09218784_RTRUKOC_0_US-BIRDFLU.xml&archived=False

   o o o

The folks over at The FALFiles mentioned a very clever product:  A compact bow saw (a triangular-framed Swedish saw –commonly called a “Sven saw”) that disassembles in such a way that all of the parts can be stowed inside the handle tube. It comes with three blades: wood, meat/bone, and hacksaw. It is called the Arkan Saw Camping Backpacking Ultra Lite Saw, made by Allenall Associates. (See: http://www.lanavaja.com/webapp/eCommerce/product.jsp?Mode=Cat&Cat=7&SKU=ARK26043.) With blades only about 18″ long, it appears to be limited to cutting branches or small diameter firewood, but that is the inescapable trade-off to achieve compactness. It looks ideal for backpackers or perhaps someone in the military that needs a saw that can easily be stowed in a pack that can quickly cut a lot of branches for camouflaging. I am surprised that these sell for under $10. (Hopefully, this pricing isn’t because they are manufactured in mainland China. I hope that they are American made.) If the folks at Allenall send me a sample, I’ll test it and will write a full review. (Hint, hint.)

   o o o

Those sneaky NAIS types are implementing their plan, whether folks want it or not. NoNAIS.org reports that farms and ranches are being premise enrolled in the NAIS database without their knowledge or consent.  Often, the modus operandi is a “telephone poll”, with calls to farmers and ranchers to gather pertinent data. The other method that they’ve used is surfing the Internet, looking for web pages of livestock breeders. They’ve found all the data that they need for initial enrollment, particularly at the web sites of folks who are touting their rare breeds. Sneaky, sneaky, sneaky. It is no wonder that the USDA now claims that half of the farms and ranches in some states have been “premises registered.” They’ve apparently done much of it on the sly. Please call your legislators. The NAIS scheme represents the intrusive “Nanny State” at its worst.  It must be stopped!

Note from JWR:

You may have noticed that #1 Son added a nifty new web mapping tool down at the bottom of our scrolling ad bar. This plots the source of SurvivalBlog web hits on a global map. Tres cool, huh?  (Sufficient data to plot “clusters” should be available by Monday. Be sure to click your browser’s “reload” button to see the results.) We didn’t do this just for the wow factor. Our goal is to find some more international correspondents for SurvivalBlog, who will serve in the same capacity as David in Israel. (They’ll have to be be in just for the glory, and perhaps a few free books.) So if you have any friends that live overseas, let them know about SurvivalBlog. Perhaps you have a relative or a buddy that is deployed down in Bananaland, or over in the Big Sand Box. Perhaps someone living in some other exotic locale?  It need not be a place that is particularly inimical. Granted, it would be particularly interesting to read the insights of folks who are are currently surviving hyperinflation in Zimbabwe, or secessionist turmoil in Kashmir, or convoy IED attacks in Iraq, or kidnappings in Columbia. But we’ll settle for mundane…

“Unfit To Eat”, by Buckshot

There a lot of self-proclaimed “experts” on wild game out there. Years ago, I shot a deer with a bow just before dark and he ran off. At 8:00 P.M. that night we found the arrow covered in blood. The blood trail started two feet wide and my friend said: “This deer is dead. We’ll find him in an hour.” At midnight we lost the blood trail. To make it easier to get back to the truck at night, every 20 feet or so we had places a few pieces of toilet paper. This really paid off because we were able to back track right to the truck. The night cooled off to below freezing. Next morning bright and early I was back on the trail. The cool morning frost crunched under my feet. The fall colors blazed out at me. The smell of fall was in the air. My favorite time of year.

Following the toilet paper trail it was an easy walk in to where we lost the blood trail. I started circling around the the last known blood spot. I began checking under small pine trees and brush piles, looking for the buck. This is a slow and tedious process. Slowly, I expanded the circle. Sometimes a wounded deer will jump 20 feet to one side change direction and lay down watching their back trail. I will never forget what happened next. The circle had expanded to about 100 yards from the last spot and I came out to a wide, slow moving creek. I looked down the creek to my left and then to my right just as the sun broke above the tree top. I saw a log with a single branch sticking out. I thought: “That branch looks just like part of the buck that I shot.” Curiosity took the best of me and I just had to see this branch better. Walking a little closer something almost magical happened: The “bark” on the log turned into deer hide and the branch had turned into an antler. I ran up laughing and thanking God for leading me to the buck.

I dragged him out tagged and gutted him. Now the fun began; dragging the deer out by myself. Slowly I worked my way back to the truck dragging my prize. Loaded him up and drove home. Skinned and butcher him putting the wrapped meat in the freezer. Of course I rewarded myself with back straps for dinner. Wow that was some awesome eating. The next day at work I was bragging about it and one guy said that the deer I had bagged was “unfit to eat.” I replied: “You’re crazy. I already cooked up some backstrap and it was fine. He then said: “I used to work in butchering shop and any deer not found within an hour after it was shot is no good to eat.” Needless to say I ignored his ranting and the deer was eaten over the course of the following winter.

Now if I would have listened to “Mr. Expert” I would have wasted a whole deer. There was recently another “expert” saying that a snared deer is unfit to eat. A snared deer is dead in less than one minute. How that somehow make is not fit to eat is beyond me. What the heck is the difference if you shoot a deer and he runs off and dies 30 minutes later?  Is that deer unfit to eat? Of course not. People are weird when it comes to wild game. I trust wild game one heck of a lot more than I do store bought meat. Like I have said many times, I should have been been born in Missouri because I come from the “show me” state. I test everything and taste test all this unfit to eat meat. (Grin.) Not that I have ever snared deer but have eaten plenty of snared animals and never found one to be “unfit to eat.”

Even if the animal was still alive in the snare it is still good to eat. I just shake my head at these experts and wonder how the human species survives. If you are starving are you going to waste a whole deer because some expert said it was unfit to eat? I hope not. Don’t let other people sway your opinion. You hunt and trap in the fall for a reason. Why? Because the little ones have had a chance to grow up, the disease is down to almost zero. You know the funny part is these are the same people who spend hours typing up what is the best slingshot, bow, crossbow, pellet gun to buy for silent game gathering. A properly trained trapper/snaresman will out-produce any hunter alive. I guess it is just more fun to talk about silent game gathering weapons then it is to talk about traps and snares.

After eating wild game going on 35 years I should have been dead years ago from eating all these “unfit to eat” animals. But I keep finding myself waking up every morning. I wonder why? Oh I know, it is because I didn’t listen to the “experts” and I tested it myself. – Buckshot (http://www.buckshotscamp.com)

Letter Re: Are Model 1893 Turkish Mausers Capable of High Pressure Rechambering?

Sir:
I recently bought a “no FFL” antique German (Oberndorf) Mauser Model 1893 (Turkish contract) from The Pre-1899 Specialist that had been rebarreled to .308 Winchester and turned into a nice sporter that looks just like a modern hunting rifle.  I read on another web site that they don’t recommend re-barreling Model 1893 or Model 1895 Mausers for modern high pressure cartridges like.308.  What do you think? 

JWR Replies: The re-arsenalized Turkish contract Mausers were far and away the strongest of the 1893-to-1896 series small ring Mauser bolt actions. Because of their re-heat treating (quite deep), they are stronger than even the famed Swedish Model 1896. And it is noteworthy that back in the early 1990s thousands of Swedish Model 1896s were rebuilt by Kimber with “as is” receivers as sporters in calibers that included .308 Winchester and .243 Winchester. I have seen no reports of problems with any of those. The warnings on M1893s and M1895s that P.O. Ackley, Kuhnhausen, and others have made (and that you often see repeated on the Internet) were primarily regarding Spanish arsenal-made Mausers (from the Oviedo and La Coruna arsenals), which had very poor (shallow) heat treating.

If you are REALLY concerned and ultra conservative, then have the headspacing checked before you shoot the rifle the first time, and again after you fire the first 100 rounds of factory soft nose ammo. If there is no sign of increased headspace then you have a rifle that will be good for a lifetime of shooting full house loads.

OBTW, for any of you reading this who are wondering about the legalities of re-barreling a Federally exempt pre-1899 rifle into a modern caliber, see my Pre-1899 FAQ for details. The FAQ includes scans of a BATF letter that specifically confirms that re-barreling, rechambering, or sporterizing a pre-1899 does not in any way dilute its “antique” exemption.