Letter Re: The Importance of Firewood or Coal Storage

James:
My brother in law in New York uses a coal pot belly stove to help keep his heating bills down. He usually buys a ton of coal in june of every year and stores it in his garage in a coal bin that he built. He buys it in June because the price of coal in cheaper in June, imagine that. As for storing a three year supply of coal, why couldn’t someone dig a trench, fill it with coal and then put something like two inches of dirt on top of it. It’s not like the coal will rot. As long as he doesn’t need it, it is right there not taking up any space and no one knows he has it. – J.M.

Jim’s Quote of the Day

"The slowness of one section of the world about adopting the valuable ideas of another section of it is a curious thing and unaccountable. This form of stupidity is confined to no community, to no nation; it is universal. The fact is the human race is not only slow about borrowing valuable ideas — it sometimes persists in not borrowing them at all.
Take the German [Masonry] stove, for instance — to the uninstructed stranger it promises nothing; but he will soon find that it is a masterly performer. The process of firing is quick and simple. At half past seven on a cold morning one brings a small basketful of slender pine sticks and puts half of these in, lights them with a match, and closes the door. They burn out in ten or twelve minutes. He then puts in the rest and locks the door, and carries off the key. The work is done. He will not come again until next morning. All day long and until past midnight all parts of the room will be delightfully warm and comfortable.
Americans could adopt this stove; but no, we stick placidly to our own fearful and wonderful inventions of which there is not a rational one in the lot. The American wood stove, of whatsoever breed, is a terror.
There can be no tranquility of mind where it is. It requires more attention than a baby. It has to be fed every little while, it has to be watched all the time; and for all reward you are roasted half your time and frozen the other half. It warms no part of the room but its own part; it breeds headaches and suffocation, and makes one’s skin feel dry and feverish; and when your wood bill comes in you think you have been supporting a volcano.
Consider these aspects of the Masonry stove. One firing is enough for the day; the cost is next to nothing; the heat produced is the same all day, instead of too hot and too cold by turns; one may absorb himself in his business in peace. Its surface is not hot; you can put your hand on it anywhere and not get burnt, yet one is as comfortable in one part of the room as another." – Mark Twain, "Some National Stupidities", 1891

The Best All-Around Dog Breed for a Retreat?

I’m curious to know what breeds of dogs are recommended by SurvivalBlog readers. I’d like to hear your opinion on the ideal the “All-Around Retreat Dog” breed–one that is a good watch dog with a strong sense of territory, loyalty to its masters, distrustful and vociferous when intruders approach, large enough to be taken seriously by intruders, protective when confronted by bears or mountain lions, and alert to poisonous snakes. Ideally, it would also be versatile enough for other responsibilities such as guarding livestock and perhaps killing mice and rats. Secondarily, it would be advantageous to have the same dog be suitable for small game hunting, waterfowl retrieving, and upland game hunting. Yes, I know that meeting all of those requirements is asking a lot. Which breeds come close to meeting all of these needs? I’ll mention three different breeds in this post. But I suspect that you’ll have some other breed suggestions, and/or some more observations about my favorite breeds.

Before I go on, I should mention that I’ve noticed that many people casually use the terms watch dog and guard dog interchangeably. In fact they are two different things: A watch dog is watchful, alert, territorial, and will bark whenever something is amiss. A guard dog, in contrast, has all of the watch dog traits, and it is willing/able to actually attack an intruding human.

Those of you that have read my novel (“Patriots”) will recall that I highlighted the Rhodesian Ridgeback breed. This member of the hound family was originally bred in Africa for hunting lions. The Ridgeback has some unusual characteristics: They are known for their propensity for tree-climbing. They are also known for their excellent sense of smell and tracking/trailing ability. They have an unusual band of fur that runs up their spine that has a “grain” that runs in the opposite direction as the rest of the fur on their backs. (Hence the name “Ridgeback.”) They are known as fearless hunters, and highly territorial guard dogs. The drawbacks to the breed are that they tend to be “one man dogs” and do not always bond well with all of the members of a family. They also have tendencies toward both congenital hip dysplasia and less often, dermoid sinus. So make sure you get a written health guarantee from the breeder on both of those points.

There are several other varieties of hounds that might be suitable as an “all-in-one” breed for a retreat dog. Hounds tend to be intelligent but unfortunately they also tend to wander.

I’ve never owned one, but the original Standard (full size) Poodle is highly recommended as an exceptionally versatile breed: retriever, pointer, companion, and watch dog, all in one. The “Pudel” was originally bred in central Europe as bird hunting dog. If you keep their fur uniformly trimmed short they won’t look prissy like their kleine Toy Poodle cousins. In fact, with a short “hunting” haircut most folks won’t even recognize the dog as a Poodle.

The Airedale is the largest breed in the Terrier family. Airedales are another breed known for their versatility. One particular attribute is their tremendous loyalty. One of our neighbors in our old stomping grounds–up in the wilds of north-central Idaho had a much-celebrated Airedale named Lochsa Louie. Louie was famous for defending the children of his owners from mountain lion and bear attacks. Louie eventually died of wounds received in one such incident and was soon replaced by Lochsa Louie II, who came from the same breeder. (There was copious newspaper ink spilled on this dog. Louie was so famous that they named a saloon after him. Or was it was the other way around?)

Before you select a dog breed, you should check your library for a copy of the book “The Right Dog for You” by Daniel F. Tortora. Inexpensive used copies of this book is also available from Amazon.com. This book is excellent because it rates the various breeds in sixteen temperament “dimensions” including:

Dominance/Submissiveness to humans

Dominance/Submissiveness other dogs

Intelligence

Watch Dog Ability

Guard Dog Ability

BTW, it is not always best to select the most intelligent breeds. This is because the most intelligent dog breeds tend to try to solve problems. If left alone, for example, they will often become escape artists–finding clever ways to climb over fences, open gate latches, or dig tunnels under fences.

Lastly, don’t forget to consider the types of weeds and grasses that are common at your retreat. If there are lots of foxtails and other weeds that get caught is dog’s coat then you should probably consider a short-haired breed.

The Memsahib on The Proposed PAWS Legislation

The hunting and security dog breeding world is about to be stood on it head: Many of the same congressmen that have been after your guns are now after your dogs. Proposed legislation called called The Protection of Animal Welfare Statute (PAWS) designated S. 1139 / H.R.2669 would make hunting dog breeders and sellers subject to Federal (USDA) licensing. Under the legislation’s incredibly loose wording, the term ”dealer” means any person who buys or sells any dog for hunting, security, or breeding purposes

If this bill passes, breeders who sells even just one dog of a “hunting breed” will be designated as a USDA “dealer” and be subject to USDA dealer regulations. These regulations would make it impossible to raise puppies in a home. Because of the expense of complying with all the USDA regulations, hobby breeders will be forced to give up breeding. This will mean that the only puppies available to buy will be those raised for profit by commercial breeders who raise puppies like livestock, without proper socialization. One such kennel in Wisconsin produces 2,500 puppies a year!

We have tried twice to adopt purebred dogs from rescue organizations. In each case the dogs lacked a bond to humans which completely ruined them for being family pets. We will never get another dog that hasn’t been raised in someone’s home with lots of handling and exposure to all the noise and chaos in the average American home from the day they are born.

You can learn more about the PAWS legislation at: http://www.dfow.org/paws.htm. The bureaucrats are stealing our liberty with the death of a thousand paper cuts. It can be stopped, but only if we are vigilant and politically active.

The Memsahib’s Quote of the Day

"Likely terrorist EMP targets are key financial centers such as Wall Street, The City district in London, or the Paradeplatz in Zurich. This would cause incalculable damage to computer hardware and software associated with stock and commodities markets, banking, international currency  exchanges, and pension funds." – James Wesley, Rawles, from a feature article on High Technology Terrorism,  Defense Electronics magazine, January, 1990.

Rourke on: A Mouse in the House? Retreat Pest Control

If you are stockpiling food and supplies, you should have a system of pest control in place. Mice are probably your first and most serious concern, but rats, other vermin, and of course insects also come into play depending on what types of food you are storing, in what containers, and where you are. If most your food is in #10 steel cans, you may only have to worry about other supplies, like toilet paper, which can make a nice nesting ground for them, and incredible mess for you.
As when with dealing any foe, you need to understand the workings and weaknesses of your enemy and use that against them. Starting on the outside, mice don’t like to run across open areas, inside our out. This is a natural instinct so they are not seen by predators, birds of prey in particular. Thus keeping the grass down and not having a lot of cover right next to your house, retreat, garage, etc. can help a little. Your first main line of defense is the point of entry. Leaving your garage door open is an invitation to mice. Also, sliding doors, like barn doors, simply do not offer good sealing protection. In a barn with such sliding doors, you probably might as well get a barn cat. If you are building a new pole barn with wooden posts, consider wrapping tin on the outside of the wood posts all the way around before back filling, and overlapping with the siding material on top of the tin (leaving to place to chew through wood, just metal).
On keeping them outside, mice have tiny little narrow skulls which allow them to squeeze through very small holes. Basically if you can get a dime through sideways, a mouse can get through. I have seen mice eat a hole through 5/8”-thick drywall. “Great stuff”, and such foam sealers (in a can) does work well, and contains chemicals to make them sick, but they can still eat through it. However, they won’t try to eat through steel wool, so plugging an existing hole with that usually works. For some reason, they don’t like walking straight into the ends of the bristles of a brush, so if you mount one that way, they probably won’t walk into it (this can be used around a garage door where you can’t will in the gap because of movement). Also, they tend not to like the smell of fabric softener sheets (the kind that you throw in the dryer). As for those sonic plug in, devices, I have tried but them, but found zero effect, and also be aware some pets may not like that.
Once inside, mice will tend to run along walls. Therefore the best levels of defense are to put wind-up spin metal traps (not baited) on the wall on either side of a door or point of entry, a garage door in particular. These are nice because you can just leave them be, and they will catch mice over and over in a catch chamber, which you later empty. Also in that area, inside, you can put out poison. (Such as “De-con”), but do it in a way so that your pets can’t get to it. In most states it is illegal to poison outside, to protect birds of prey, etc. Some people tell me poisoning mice inside is a bad idea since the mice will crawl into little cracks and die, thus leaving a stinking corpse for you to smell. I have two answers to this, first a body that small tends to dry up even in most climates reasonably fast, and secondly, more importantly, corpses don’t breed. In the case of a rat, yes [because of it size] you are going to have a stinking corpse to find, but I repeat second comment on that again. (Also, the only good thing about rats is they tend to chase off mice). Now as you get in to your kitchen and food storage areas, you use baited traps. Those cheap spring traps work well. Use peanut butter, and what also works well, and really well for rats, is that cheap fatty potted meat stuff in those little cans. For tiny and young mice that clean your traps without setting them off, you are going to need some glue traps. Once again, put them along the walls in covered areas where they will run at night. Save those until you need them, because they are not reusable, they lose their stickiness.
If you come across a nest of baby mice, the best way to deal with it is to drown the babies. A pail half full of water will do the trick. Dump them in, the whole nest, and come back in an hour, and they’ll be dead. They can’t swim.
Mice and rats are a serious threat to your health, food, and supplies. If they go unchecked, such as in a remote retreat, they can do incredible damage over time as they multiply. If you are infested, call in the experts, they do have gas that will kill everything, but it will cost you. IMHO it is best to take these basic preventative steps first.
More information:
Do it yourself Pest Control: http://doityourself.com/pest/pestcontrol.htm
Pest Products:: http://www.pestproducts.com
Nice selection of mouse traps:http://www.pestproducts.com/rodent_traps.htm and
http://store.yahoo.com/mainesupply/?OVRAW=mouse%20traps&OVKEY=mouse%20trap&OVMTC=standard
Humane mouse traps: http://www.biconet.com/traps/smt.html
I put the last one in for one reason: Some people in your family or group are simply not going to like “killing” mice, and may go do far as to sabotage your traps. I have seen this happen in a food company. I would suggest you get tough with them, such as serving them the food that the mice got into as their ration. However, if it is you that feels this way, then, yes, “humane” traps can work, but I have found them to be less effective. – Rourke (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/survivalretreat)

Letter Re: Military Installations as a Factor in Retreat Location Selection

Hey, I just wanted to write in to comment on what seems to me like a missing element in your survival location analysis. Military installations across the United States are presumably not all evenly distributed, and the presence of these bases not only affects your location in the event of a NBC scenario, but if the Schumer] really hits the fan, even well disciplined American servicemen and women will attempt to ensure their own survival even at the cost of local civilians. Now I assume that it would take a world ending event for our military to act in that fashion, but it is within the realm of possibility. So the nature of the military bases is relevant beyond their status as nuclear targets. That is to say, Air Force bases and Navy installations pose a substantially smaller threat of local domination than do Army bases. Again, this is not to say this is likely at all, just that is possible. Further, the size of the base and its local inventories become relevant should they attempt to dominate the local area. I’m sure that there are other insights to be contributed by others more knowledgeable, but I figured it was worth sparking the discussion. Thanks so much. – J.D.

Letter Re: HK91 Magazines Inferior for Barter

Jim:
Military surplus HK91 alloy magazines have been available for several years in the $1-to-$3 price range. It seems to me that the only people who should buy them are HK rifle owners who own less than 50 magazines. Before buying HK magazines as barter items, consider that the market has already been flooded with far more than are needed for the limited number of existing rifles. The German military torched most of their rifles, but sold most of the magazines. Other mags (such as for AR-15) may be great future demand, but I would not bet on the HK. – Mr. Bravo

JWR Replies: Yep, you are probably right: AR-15s are far more commonplace than HK91s (and their clones.) But don’t forget that a CETME rifle can also use HK91 magazines, and CETME owners are notoriously frugal individuals ), so chances are that they will only have four or five magazines on hand. Like everyone else WTSHTF they will suddenly want to own 25 or more magazines. Perhaps $50 is not too much to gamble with, for a potentially valuable barter commodity.

Another practical use for HK91 alloy magazines? Here is a trick that I leaned from Mr. Tango: Because of their light weight, an alloy HK91 magazine positioned top-end-up in tightly-fitting ammo pouch makes an ideal “speed” ammo holder for reloading bolt action rifles, particularly if you clip a few coils off of their magazine springs. BTW, if those mags are going to be held in double magazine pouches, tape them together with duck tape so that they don’t rattle together. Note that it is important that you always use tightly-fitting mag pouches. If they don’t fit tightly, then build up the exterior dimension of the magazine(s) with cardboard and duct tape until they do fit tightly in their pouches. (If the mags wobble in the pouches, it will be difficult to get a “purchase” to strip off the cartridges into your hand.)

Note from JWR

A reminder that we are still accepting entries for Round 2 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best article will win a four day course certificate at Front Sight. (An up to $2,000 value!)  The deadline for entries is the last day of January, 2006.

Odds ‘n Sods

I just noticed that our compadre “Warlord” over at the Alpha-Rubicon site posted a very handy article last year about how to construct a “fan in a can” for a home fallout
shelter. See: http://www.alpharubicon.com/basicnbc/safefanwar.htm

  o  o  o

Noah Schactman at the Defense Tech blog mentioned an interesting briefing that is available in PDF about some recent non-lethal weapon developments:
http://www.smallwars.quantico.usmc.mil/programs/NLW/JNLWPRefBook_feb2004.pdf  Ya gotta love those caltrops!

  o  o  o

The folks at the AUSurvivalist site (in Australia) have some interesting documents available for free download. See:
http://www.aussurvivalist.com/downloads.htm

The Memsahib’s Quote of the Day

"And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." – Luke 2:10-1, KJV

Note from JWR

I wish the readers of SurvivalBlog a Joyful Christmas as we celebrate the birth of our Savior. I also wish a Festive Hanukkah to our Jewish readers.  Thank you for your great letters and contributed articles, and your loyal patronage of our advertisers. Special thanks to the 28 readers that have made 10 Cent Challenge blog support contributions in recent weeks. I especially appreciate this because I know that funds are tight for many people this time of year. Have a safe, happy, and healthy Aught Six. 

Letter Re: Okay, You Have Moved to Your New Survival Retreat Home. What’s Next?

Jim:
Many people are strategically relocating, getting settled into their new homes, preparing for the economic crash, and war that is surely coming. As the gent from Argentina said with hindsight: "more food" and trade goods. In addition to obtaining the obvious water, food, seeds, preparing the ground for a large garden, and protection there are some additional things all of us need to consider. Remember you are simply investing in your future. Here is my list:

* Get to know the old timers, people who are active but advanced in years. Go visit them. Have them to your home. Ask a question or two to open conversation, then shut up, and let them talk. They know who can be trusted and who cannot be trusted.
* If you want to know about a builders, plumbers, electricians, road graders or handy men, families by name, wife beaters and child molesters, ask an old timer. You will soon learn who is trustworthy and who is not. Remember, you are information gathering. Your views are not important. Ask the question and then shut up. Listen to the old timers.
* Search the local and county newspaper stacks for the names of people who were arrested and charged with a crime. You will have to be alert for these individuals as we enter into hard times.
* Identify local politicians and enforcement people with the I am God attitude. Identify their shooters. Remember most of these people have not prepared. Some you will be able to bribe, others, oh well.
* Buy more open pollinated seeds than you think you will need.
* Buy more ammunition. If this thing lasts 3-to-5 years, followed by a war you will be glad that you did.
* Buy reloading capabilities and dies. Buy lead bullet casting capabilities. Buy more powder, primers and bullets.
* Buy more clothes than you think you need.
* Buy more canned food than you think you need to last at least three years.
* Buy more gardening and mechanics tools than you think you need.
* Buy socks, shoes and boots.
* Buy local and regional maps.
* Collect telephone books for use as toilet paper.

I have another e-mail in progress that will discuss issues of war.- M.L.T.

Two Letters Re: Which Rifle and Caliber is the Best for TEOTWAWKI?

G’day from Down Under.
In you post on the TEOTWAWKI rifles, you mentioned .303s. While the rifles are plentiful, robust and inexpensive, the ammo is becoming very hard to find and expensive. Example, Winchester 303 SP is $ 48 AUD per box of 20 here. Good ex-military ball is about $80 to $100 per 100 (if you can find it) and will be at least 30 years old.
The Ishapore Mk.2s are a much better bet, cost about the same, and take 7.62 [mm NATO]. Or perhaps, one of the ex-Israeli [K98] Mausers [chambered] in .308?
However, I personally feel that the best rifle would be one of those Savage Model 24s, preferably the 24C. The choice of a shotgun or rifle barrel with the flick of a switch. Or any reliable .22 LR or .22 Winchester Magnum rimfire. This is not intended to fight with, more a foraging tool, to put food in the pot. Think about it: If you had to walk (worst case scenario) to your retreat, what would you take? Grab a brick of 22 LR. Weigh it. Now grab 500 rds of .223 or 7.62mm NATO. weigh that. I used to be able to walk miles with a MAG-58 [belt-fed 7.62mm NATO MMG] and 800 rds, plus the other 50 or so KGs, but I was a lot younger and fitter then. Now the lack of a good self loader in .223, and the rest of the platoon for back-up, has lead me to think that maybe a good 22 Mag or LR, and trying to avoid trouble, might be the way to go. JMHO, YMMV. Merry Christmas. Cheers, – Dave.

 

James:
Can you please address your preference of the L1A1 over the more common metric FALs? I settled on the metric version mainly because it is generally more common, has better parts availability, cheaper and easier to find magazines, overall less expensive and just as reliable. I do add a FSE oversize mag release and a Israeli forward assist (FA) charging handle along with necessary bolt carrier modification to all my metric FALs. What am I missing by not going with the L1A1? Thanks, – C.W.

JWR Replies:  I believe that there are several distinct advantages to having an “inch pattern” (L1A1) instead of one of the metric measurement FN-FALs. These advantages include:

1.) The ability to use inch OR metric magazines.  If you have a metric FAL, you are limited to using only metric magazines.  But if you have an inch receiver rifle you can use both inch and metric mags.  (The latter wobble a bit when used in an L1A1, but they still feed reliably.)

2.) Inch magazines are sturdier than metric magazines, because they are heavier gauge steel. And if they ever do get dented, L1A1 magazines can be repaired with a mandrel block, but metric mags cannot.  (If you lay an inch mag and a metric mag side by side, you will notice that the floorplate retaining tabs on a metric magazine are turned inward, whereas they are turned outward on an inch mag. Hence there is no way for a metric magazine to accept a dent-removing mandrel.)

3.)  A larger safety selector switch that you can’t miss with your thumb.

4.) A larger, ambidextrous magazine release.  (Unlike the tiny mag release on the metric FAL, which is designed for the convenience of right handers.)

5.)  A sturdy folding charging handle is standard.  If you’ve ever tripped and fallen while carrying a metric FAL, you’ll appreciate this feature.  There is nothing quite like taking a blow  from metric charging handle to the solar plexus!

6.) Sturdier and less reflective stock furniture. The British Maranyl pebble grain black plastic furniture is practically bomb proof.

7.) Buttplates that come in a wide range of thicknesses, to accommodate shooters of various heights. Proper stock length usually means more accurate shooting.

8.) Better rear sights. OBTW, the inch pattern “Hythe” dual-aperture variant is a great sight with the versatility needed for long range shooting, close quarters combat, and night shooting. I have Hythe sights on four of the five L1A1s at the Rawles Ranch.  (The fifth rifle is a metric Para Model (folding stock) FAL “L1A1 wannabe” on which I had the receiver re-cut by Rich Saunders at Century Gun Works to accept inch magazines.)

9.) An integral winter trigger arrangement that is always stowed and available in the pistol grip.  (One downside is that L1A1s don’t have the “in the grip” miniature cleaning kit found on metric FALs.)

10.)  A slightly more efficient flash hider. (I’ve viewed a video of a nighttime test that was filmed by a SurvivalBlog reader, using identical ammo, and the difference was apparent.)

11.) Specially-designed “Sand Cut” bolts and bolt carriers, designed to operate more reliably in grungy environments.

In summary: Yes, the parts and magazines for inch pattern L1As are slightly more expensive, but the advantages that I just related more than compensate for the greater expense.

For those of you that presently own metric FALs, I suggest that you keep them and just improve them a bit:  For example, I recommend retrofitting them with inch pattern magazine releases and selector switches.  And unless you have one of the excellent Israeli-style forward assist charging handles, you should also consider retrofitting with an inch-style folding charging handle. 

All of the aforementioned parts are available from The FALFiles Marketplace. (See: http://www.falfiles.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=11 )