Letter Re: A Source for Storage Barrels

Everybody’s referring to 55 gallon barrels. I can’t lift something as heavy as a 55 gallon barrel full of fuel. I’ve always bought the steel 17 gallon barrels for fuel. I CAN pick up one of those full of fuel (if I have too) :-[ They have the same size holes on top as the 55 gallon barrels and they will stand up in the back of a Bronco or Blazer. Regards and please keep up the great work! – The Army Aviator

Note from JWR:

Many of the widely read blogs have a featured “Blog of the Week” or at least a fairly lengthy “blog roll.” Please recommend SurvivalBlog to the editors of those Blogs. Just a brief e-mail to the editors of the various popular blogs, such as James Lileks, Little Green Footballs, Hugh Hewitt, Instapundit, Michelle Malkin, The Belmont Club, Blogs of War, Bill O’Reilly, et cetera–would go a long way toward increasing the readership of SurvivalBlog.  Many thanks in advance!

 

Fed Boss Successor Ben Bernanke–Bearish for the Dollar and Bullish for Precious Metals? (SAs: Economics, Contrarian Investing)

I’m not the first to observe that the upcoming scheduled departure of Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan will have some substantial effect on monetary policy and the economy.  The man anointed for the top slot is Ben Bernanke, a Federal Reserve governor and chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. Just who is this man, and how is how likely to change the Fed’s policies?  The best indicators are probably some of the statements that Bernanke has made in speeches in recent years. These include:

“Like gold, U.S. dollars have value only to the extent that they are strictly limited in supply. But the U.S. government has a technology, called a printing press (or, today, its electronic equivalent), that allows it to produce as many U.S. dollars as it wishes at essentially no cost. By increasing the number of U.S. dollars in circulation, or even by credibly threatening to do so, the U.S. government can also reduce the value of a dollar in terms of goods and services, which is equivalent to raising the prices in dollars of those goods and services. We conclude that, under a paper-money system, a determined government can always generate higher spending and hence positive inflation.”

and,

“Each of the policy options I have discussed so far involves the Fed’s acting on its own. In practice, the effectiveness of anti-deflation policy could be significantly enhanced by cooperation between the monetary and fiscal authorities. A broad-based tax cut, for example, accommodated by a program of open-market purchases to alleviate any tendency for interest rates to increase, would almost certainly be an effective stimulant to consumption and hence to prices. Even if households decided not to increase consumption but instead re-balanced their portfolios by using their extra cash to acquire real and financial assets, the resulting increase in asset values would lower the cost of capital and improve the balance sheet positions of potential borrowers. A money-financed tax cut is essentially equivalent to Milton Friedman’s famous ‘helicopter drop’ of money.”

and,

“Although the Federal Reserve does not have an explicit numerical target range for measured inflation, FOMC behavior and rhetoric have suggested to many observers that the Committee does have an implicit preferred range for inflation. Most relevant here, the bottom of that preferred range clearly seems to be a value greater than zero measured inflation, at least 1% per year or so.”

and,

“The essence of constrained discretion is the central role of a commitment to price stability. Not only does such a commitment enhance efficiency, employment, and economic growth in the long run, but — by providing an anchor for inflation expectations — it also improves the ability of central banks to stabilize the real economy in the short run as well. An important and interesting implication is that, under a properly designed and implemented monetary policy regime, the key social objectives of price stability and maximum employment tend to be mutually reinforcing rather than competing goals.”

and lastly, on asset bubbles:

“[I]t’s extraordinarily difficult for the central bank to know in advance or even after the fact whether or not there’s been a bubble… The central bank should focus the use of its single macroeconomic instrument, the short term interest rate, on price and output stability. It is rarely, if ever, advisable for the central bank to use its interest rate instrument to try to target or control asset price movements, thereby implicitly imposing its view of the proper level of asset prices on financial markets.”

As we transition from the “Mr. Magoo” Greenspan era, to the “Helicopter Ben” Bernanke era, be prepared for some changes. Bernanke appears predisposed toward easy money policies and inflating his way out of problems. We should anticipate a more rapid rate of inflation for the dollar.  That could be bearish for the dollar’s rate of exchange with many foreign currencies. The dollar index may very well resume its five year slide. Meanwhile, look for a boost in the prices of gold and silver, which have traditionally been hedges against weak paper currencies. Don’t worry about those Black Helicopters. Instead, watch the skies for Federal Reserve helicopters. 

An Architecture Student’s Lessons Learned, by “Mr. Whiskey”

As an architect for the last 30 years or so, I have been applying some important lessons learned in college that have an eerie resemblance to the survival mindset of those of us who think we just might be in for some hard times, and much sooner than we think. Let me explain.On the very first day of class, on my very first day of college back in the 1970s, I found myself in a design class with other new students who knew absolutely nothing about the profession or business of architecture. But we were there to learn, and our first assignment was to design and build a ‘Survival House for an Egg’, or SHEG for short. The rules were simple: design pure survival for a fresh chicken egg, no restrictions on materials used, no weight limits or minimums, the SHEG could be any size or shape provided it cleanly fit into an 8” x 8” x 8” box, the SHEG would be subjected to a severe external stressing event (to be determined on test day), it had to be opened by someone other than yourself, after testing, using only a matt knife, could be any color, style or texture, and the project was 30% of your final semester grade. It was also pass/fail, ‘A’ or ‘F’. No teamwork allowed, you’re on your own. Each student will present one SHEG for testing in one week at 1:15pm, rain or shine. No class until then. No more questions. Good luck. The professor then went on vacation, I think. The goal was made clear. We were to design and construct a house for an egg to survive unbroken through an unknown catastrophic event. Easy enough.
We all complained about it. “How can I design for an unknown?” we asked. Isn’t design meant to be for planning, for known occurrences, with foresight and thought? Isn’t that what we’re here for, to be taught how to know what to plan for? All good questions, indeed. Many classmates assumed a weight-applied stress from the top. Some assumed a violent shaking, and a few others a sudden impact. But they were all really, totally inappropriate assumptions for this assignment. This job was for one thing, and one thing only: get that egg to the other side of its impending Armeggeddon. (Sorry).
Many of us worked day and night, testing and retesting for something, we knew not what. Some of the new students made friends quickly. Others kept to themselves, me included, and just plugged away on our SHEG’s. Then test day came. We were all nervously waiting with our designs and our futures in hand. The professor arrived looking tanned and well fed. We were asked to walk up the stairwell and place our designs on the north parapet wall of the buildings’ roof and stand beside our SHEG’s. The stress event our designs were to withstand would be a baseball bat hitting the SHEG off the parapet, seven stories high, and onto the empty asphalt parking lot below. A judge on the ground would open each SHEG as it rested, determining whether the egg was intact or not. The judge would then crack the egg to be sure no hard boiled cheaters were among us. Your neighbor previous in line will hit your SHEG off the wall. No one touches their SHEG from here on out. Then it started to rain. The professor hit the first one. WHAM. Off went someone’s desperate attempt at survival design into scrambled oblivion. Then another. And another. It was terrible. The professor was laughing. After 30 student tries, not one had yet passed. Then someone succeeded. Everyone cheered. Another round of failures, then it was my turn. I mumbled a silent prayer. My neighbor in line gleefully grabbed the bat, wanting desperately to send my SHEG off the edge in a yellow splat of frustration, just as his had done not one minute earlier. Off it went, down and down, then BANG. The judge opened my SHEG and discovered an intact egg. I had passed. Life was good. I was only one of three success stories that dark day. Three out of 72 students. There were many tears and much gnashing of teeth. Many of my fellow classmates claimed their SHEG’s were hit harder than someone else’s. “Not fair!”, they cried. Some couldn’t believe they really got an ‘F’ for the project (their very first academic failure, in many cases). One student made it to the ground with an intact egg, but the judge could not open the SHEG with the knife, so he failed. Several others failed because they missed the deadline to present their design by just minutes. A few just gave up in total frustration and did not submit any design at all.
You probably are wondering what miracle material or ingenious new packaging design I used for my success. As my classmates’ designs were flying to pieces on the pavement, as the paper-mache was dissolving in the rain, as the high tech plastic spheres with spring loaded shock absorbers and half-chewed bubble gum cushioning were splattered into oblivion, my SHEG survived. I just used a basic cut-in-half cardboard shoe box packed as full of simple, basic saran wrap as I could possibly make it, then I wrapped it all in duct tape. Mission accomplished. Survival.
And oh, the lessons learned. They keep coming back to me in spades, almost with every decision I make now. If you can envision the egg as you and your family, think about this:
1. You really only need a fairly limited space to protect your egg. You can spend a lot of money, or not, but make sure you cover the basics very deep, and pack very well.
2. Your egg is all you have. If it breaks, you fail.
3. Use mostly locally obtained and inexpensive materials to the best of your ability.
4. At least show up to the party with something. You never know, you might get lucky.
5. Your neighbor will probably be glad to see you fail, so pack your egg as tight and failure proof as you can. And his basics will probably not be your basics, so keep your basics hidden from view.
6. It will rain.
7. There will probably always be some fat guy standing close by laughing at you.
8. Say your prayers.
9. Whatever hits you will most likely not be planned for, so pack the basics deep.
10. Survival is pass / fail.
11. Teamwork is OK, but ultimately your egg is your responsibility.
12. Life is not fair. Some of us get hit harder than others.
13. If your egg breaks, it will not be pretty, so pack the basics deep.
14. Duct tape is good.
15. Don’t pack so well that the rescuers can’t get in to save the egg, because it may not be the end of the world yet.
16. No matter how well you plan and build things, someone can always, always get to your egg and crack it if they really want to (if they have the right tools).
17. Don’t hard boil your life. It’s too short and the stress can kill you. Simplify.
18. Terrible can always get worse.

British Government Plans Drastic Measures for Potential Asian Avian Flu Pandemic

The Times of London reports that planners in the British Government are anticipating shutting down or curtailing traffic on their Underground system, and detailing dedicated security for health care workers, in the event of an influenza pandemic. See:  http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0%2C%2C25149-1853843%2C00.html Just some food for thought and ground for further research (FFTAGFFR.)

Eskimo Sod Huts–60°F Inside and Minus 50°F Outside

SurvivalBlog reader “KonTiki” sent the following article excerpted from the Duffy’s Law web site: http://www.duffyslaw.com/current14.htm
The following is from a collection of random notes from the 1913 book My Life With The Eskimos by Vilhjalmur Stefansson. For serious research, one should read the unabridged edition.

Eskimo Housing
Eskimo houses were constructed with a hole in the roof to allow in light. The hole which was most often left open was covered with Bear intestine. The base of the house was five to six foot thick made of earth and sod and tapered and thinned out towards the top which was about six foot square. The top had about six inches of earth on it. The center of the house was about nine feet high and the walls at the edge were about five feet high. The opening on the roof was about three foot square. 3 or 4 lamps burned continuously and one of the most important duties of the wife was to make sure they didn’t smoke or go out. The entrance to the house was a twenty to forty foot shed-covered tunnel about four feet lower than the floor of the house.  The cold air in the tunnel would not rise into the house which was kept warm by the four lamps at a temperature of sixty to seventy degrees Fahrenheit even when the outside temperature was fifty below zero! They would sit with only shorts on in the house. So they would be bare below the knees and above the waist. After five months Stefansson began to enjoy the boiled fish they would eat for supper. The entryway and the hole in the roof were kept open most of the time, but especially during cooking. The only time the entryway would be covered would be to prevent a baby from falling into it or puppies coming in from outside and this was only rarely. Stefansson would usually sleep next to the tunnel entryway to get more fresh air. Each corner of the room had an elevation for sleeping that was covered by skins as was the floor. The houses at first smelled bad but soon you realized that it was the cooking of food that gave the smell to the house. The lamp is a half moon soapstone about two or three inches deep kept almost full and the wick is a powdered ivory (walrus), sawdust, dried moss ground in the fingers, manila rope from the whalers with a strand taken and chopped into tiny pieces. The wick is made from the powder laid in a strip which the oil soaks. A piece of fat is suspended over the flame and when the wick dries the flame gets brighter and hence hotter and more fat drips into the half moon lamp bowl which then fills and wets the wick more which cuts down the height of the flame and this works by itself for about six or eight hours.  The open center of the house was like a club pip on playing cards it was twelve foot square with an alcove in each corner which sometime would lead to another house. The entire compound accommodated 23 people.

Letter Re: A Source for Storage Barrels

Hey there! Congratulations on the site. There is not a day that goes by that I do not read it. As such, I just thought that I would tell you to check out the following website… http://stores.ebay.com/The-Barrel-Company (The Barrel Company, out of Nevada). After checking it out, if you desire, you may want to put it out on your website. I get all of my 55 gallon steel and water barrels from this site. I provide you with this information not because I have any personal relationship with this company but simply because you can get CHEAP, HIGH QUALITY barrels from here. Originally, I purchased new barrels from this site, but then began purchasing their used ones. Due to the price, it was just as easy to clean the barrels myself. In terms of the steel barrels, I found these to be great upon receipt. Again, I clean them but find that the 55 gallon steel barrels need very little cleaning due to the fact that the food products were in a bag liner. To date I have purchased ten 55 Gallon Plastic Water Barrels and three 55 gallon steel drums. No complaints what so ever. Again, this is simply food for thought and I thought that you may like to pass this information on to others through your website if you find it helpful. (Note: If purchasing used drums that it is important that you clean them). Take care and continue the good work! – “Mc”

Letter Re: OPSEC Precautions When Dispensing Post-TEOTWAWKI Charity

Jim,
I can’t remember if you covered this scenario in your Patriots book so here’s a thought. In a SHTF or a TEOTWAWKI and we are giving away Charity to a small refugee group with OPSEC being done. The refugees move on in their quest for a better place and run into a “foraging group” of folks. A”foraging group” will most likely want to know where the little band of refugees got some of their new stuff. Any ammo that was given in charity more than likely will be liberated from the refugees along with pretty much everything else they have of value. In an effort to save their own skins the refugees will more than likely tell the foragers where they got this stuff from. They will probably all be killed anyway. That’s my point of this email. We have just created a very potential future threat to our retreat and it’s inhabitants.

Suggestions:
If you have to give out charity [during a “worst case” situation with widespread lawlessness] I would suggest no charity be given anywhere near your retreat. Have a predetermined spot away from the retreat. Then, with the appropriate warnings as you gave in your book, send them on their way. Waiting till they are out of sight before moving back to the retreat. It sure seems like a big effort.

Handing out charity in front of your property is simpler but really bad OPSEC. That’s a NO-NO in my thinking. Another idea is to not hand out charity at all to passing refugees. This will be difficult to do. You might not even see any if your retreat is off the natural drift lines of refugees. If you do see refugees and they haven’t seen you then just let them pass and be gone. Charity with your neighbors should be easier since they should be part of your retreats OPSEC anyway. If not, it’s a good way to bring them into the fold. Mutual support will make it more secure for everyone in question. – Larry in Kansas

Letter from Mr. Bravo Re: .40 S&W to 9mm Conversion Barrel for a Glock Model 23?

Jim,
The first source I would use for replacement pistol barrels (not just for Glock) is http://www.kkmprecision.com/index.asp. Kevin’s company produces arguably the most accurate barrels available, and that is only a part of his superior capabilities as a firearms designer and manufacturer who is well regarded at the highest levels of military purchasing. He actually produces some of the specialty pistol barrels that are retailed under other brands. Go to the source for the best value. I know him personally as a good and honest man, and BTW I would also consider him my first choice for a custom rifle. -Mr. Bravo

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Liberals, it has been said, are generous with other peoples’ money, except when it comes to questions of national survival when they prefer to be generous with other people’s freedom and security.” – William F. Buckley, Jr.

Retreat Areas – State Level Data Now Available in Excel Spreadsheet Format

4

Very special thanks to “Wise Tioga”, who out of the goodness of his heart laboriously converted my data on 19 western states into a handy Excel (.xls format) spreadsheet. He has even added some more data on home schooling and home birth regulations. I have posted it as a sub-page to the Retreat Areas static page. (Just click on the Retreat Areas button in our home page top button bar.)

Letter Re: Earth Bag Construction

James-
The latest Mother Earth News (#212) has an article on building a home from earth-filled bags. Looks like a cheap, fast way to build a home with good protection against attacks with weaponry. Might also be a good plan for a secondary place to serve as an emergency shelter against radiation. Or as a way to build up an existing area in a cellar as a Safe Room. – B.B. in Hawaii

 

Letter Re: Information on Various Fire Starters (SAs: Wilderness Survival, Primitive Skills, Fire Starting)

Jim,
Been a long time reader of your site. Just wanted to drop you a note to say there is an article up on Treknologies.com that fits Survivalblog’s content. It’s all about different methods of ignition sources that people should be aware. Good info for those building survival packs. The direct link is http://www.treknologies.com/archives/2005/11/portable_igniti.php   Keep up the good work Jim! – J.G.

Three Letters Re: .40 S&W to 9mm Conversion Barrel for a Glock Model 23?

Sir:
A question was posted on your site about the ability to use a Glock 23 with a 9mm barrel. It has been my (limited) experience that all that is needed to shoot the gun in 9mm is a replacement barrel and a 9mm magazine. I first heard of this from a friend of mine who is a part time gun writer. I was skeptical but, given the source, I gave it a try. I am not a Glock fan but my then girlfriend was. She shot her Glock 23 more as a 9mm than as a .40 because it was cheaper. In her experience the gun was fully reliable in 9mm. She used .40 for carry and in the home but most of her practice was 9mm. I would guess that in the time we were dating she fired 2,200-2,500 rounds of 9mm and only 300-350 .40. All without any failures. I believe the barrel was made by FAC (Federal Arms Corporation). To avoid any confusion she used the orange Glock magazines in 9mm so she wouldn’t confuse the 9mm mags with the .40 mags. – Jake

Hi Jim,
Enjoy the blog immensely. Read it every day. Regarding barrels for conversion from one model of Glock to another (i.e. .40 S&W model 23 to 9mm model 19), there are a number of manufacturers of barrels for such purposes. Topglock (http://www.topglock.com/catalog/barrels.htm) sells conversion barrels from several manufacturers. Federal Arms also makes them, but I don’t know if they sell directly or only through dealers. As I recall, from what I have picked up from the web, no change in slide or extractor is necessary for the conversion. The original .40 S&W mags will work for the 9mm, most of the time. But if I was going in harms’ way, I’d order the mags for the same size 9mm Glock to use in the .40 S&W.  I’m sure the staff at Topglock or Lone Wolf Distributors (http://www.lonewolfdist.com/products.asp?prod=4&curRecIdx=1#Barrel%20Access
ories) could answer any questions people have. Thanks for the site, – Jim H.

Jim:
There are barrels available to convert .40 to 9mm, but they are NOT 100% reliable. Bar-Sto and Jarvis make them [JWR adds: So do Federal Arms and Olympic Arms], various places like Glockmeister carry them. You simply replace the barrel but use the same slide, and this is the cause for it not being 100%. There are ejector/extractor issues. These are okay to train with but not to fight with. To convert to 9mm with full Glock reliability requires you to simple swap slides with a 9mm gun. Thus the 23 can shoot both 40 stock and 9mm. The M23 frame is essentially the same as the M19, just beefed up to handle .40 cal. The downside is price, since a complete 9mm slide costs as much as the used trade-in Glock 19s now. This same “trick” is available for Beretta, SIGs and others. Drop a Beretta 92 slide on a 96 and you have a convertible gun, in fact Beretta sold this combo at one time. DO NOT take a 9mm frame and drop a .40 slide on it. It will function but it (the 9mm frame) isn’t beefed up enough to handle the .40. Almost forgot, .40 cal mags hold 9mm with no modification. Back in the High-cap magazine ban days [Sept. 1994 to Sept. 2004], you could always take a 10 round 40 cal mag and put 9mm in it to have a 12-13 round “high cap”, it functions fine in every case I have tried. HTH,  – Mike, M.D. in MO