Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Ammo Prices Dropping

Well after what seems like forever, ammo  prices are starting to come down a bit, so it would seem to be a good time to add a few more cases or spam cans to the stockpile.

The Sportsmans Guide has long been a favorite of mine for buying ammunition. Right now they have 880 round cases (2 ea 440 rnd tins) of 7.62x54R for $169.97, and these are brass cases, 149 grn. FMJ, corrosive primed of course. They also have the spam cans of 640 rnds of 7.62x39 122 grn. FMJ for $169.97. I have always had good experiences shopping for ammo with the Guide. Never had to send a copy of my drivers license or any other bs.

Do you hear that Jim? You could afford to buy an SKS and a case of ammo for blasting the zombie hoards as they come to throw you into the stewpot!

I still think that 7.62x51 is over priced everywhere but I guess the yuppie survivalists can afford it. .223 is now getting close to reasonable unless you are buying Lake City, which is still overpriced.

Anyway, when the prices drop, stock up on ammo. You never know what the Lefties will pull out of their collective asses and try to shove up ours!


The links in this post have been paid for, except for the link to Bison Survival Blog, but the content and opinion are purely mine!

Monday, September 27, 2010

Barter - The Currency After The Crash

Here is a re-post of a story that Jim Dakin allowed me to post on his blog as a guest post, back in 2007. Many of you may not have seen this so I am re-posting it here on my own blog.

--------------------------<<>>----------------------------

Many survival "Experts" tell you to buy gold and silver to ensure your wealth after the SHTF. They argue that throughout history precious metals have held their value. While this is probably true, it may not always be so. They also encourage you to invest in pre 1965 silver (junk silver coins) which has no collector’s value, just the spot value of the silver content. They say that this will become the currency of the new economy and you will be able to use it to buy goods from those who may have what you want at a local barter fair.

Perhaps...

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John was headed to town today to check out the local Barter Fair that was being held every Friday. While he had prepared for the current crisis as best as he could, he still had run out of the few items he had apparently overlooked. Like toothpaste, dental floss, baking powder and ammo. Who would have thought that he would have burned through most of his 500 round stash of .300 Savage in just 2 months. He was down to 25 rounds and desperately needed more. Damned raiders anyway! At least he had experienced the grim pleasure of burying 15 of them.

He had not had any gas for 3 weeks now, so he was riding his $500 mountain bike to town. Riding was much better than walking, especially since it had started to drizzle rain. POP! ssssssssssshhhh.... "Oh shit!, there goes my tire!" The bikes tires were worn, and there wasn't much tread left on them. A sharp rock had punctured the front tire when he wasn't paying attention and now he was reduced to pushing his bike the last 3 miles to town. "I guess I will have to buy a new tire and tube at the local bike shop or at the fair, if someone has them". This was John’s first trip to the barter fair as he had thought he was fairly well prepared for bad times. He jingled the $50.00 in junk silver in his pocket, confident he would be able to get most of what he needed and have some left over. After all, he thought, just before the crash, silver was $70 an ounce and gold was $1000 per ounce and rising.

--------------------------<<>>----------------------------

Henry set up his canopy and spread out his tarp, laying out his trade goods so that they could be clearly seen and evaluated by the throng of people milling about, looking for bargains and necessities, clutching their own goods which they hoped to trade for those items they sorely needed. Henry set out the 3 bottles of cold remedy and the bottle of Advil next to the pint of brandy and the pack of unopened Marlboros. He set the 3 emergency fishing gear packs he had made to the right of the cold remedies, and next to that he set out the 3 boxes of reloaded .300 Savage. Henry didn't have a rifle in that caliber, but had bought the reloading dies for it on sale and loaded up the 200 rounds of brass he had found at the local gravel pit. He had found many different types of brass there and one by one he had bought the dies and components to reload them all. Buying whatever he found at garage sales added to his collection of dies until there wasn't a common and some un-common calibers that he couldn't load.

Next to the .300 Savage he laid out 1 box each of 7mm Rem. Mag, 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser and .243 Win. The next items he laid out were the 12 aircraft cable cam lock snares and his 5 extra #110 Conibear traps. Those would fetch a fair price indeed! He next set out his collection of handmade knives, a hobby of his for the past few years. They always sold well and he would give a discount if someone brought him the proper steel and brass for making more. He also encouraged people to bring him whatever lead they could scrounge and he cast bullets with it. For those who brought him sufficient amounts, he would give them 5 of each of the calibers he cast on the spot; 9mm, .38/.357, and .44mag.

They would then trade them amongst the other venders for different things, the bullets eventually coming back to Henry to be loaded into cartridges for trade. Next he set out the #10 can of vacuum packed garden seeds. He had bought 20 cases in the months just prior to the crash, having read the warning signs hidden in the news and on the internet newsgroups and forums. He had also printed up a bunch of how-to manuals on everything from Bee-keeping to Blacksmithing and hoped he would find some takers for them. The last items Henry set out were 2 beautiful black powder rifles, flintlocks in .54 cal to be exact. Nothing less than a pregnant heifer would get him to part with one. And Henry was always hoping...

Henry nodded and waved to the Sheriff's Deputy on patrol. There had been some trouble when the fair had first started and it was almost the end of it before it hardly even began! Some illegal immigrants had been in attendance and had tried to steal one pair of Henry's neighbor's breeding rabbits. While 2 of them chattered away at his bewildered non-spanish speaking neighbor, the 3rd tried to sneak off with rabbits. One of the other vendors saw what was happening and yelled at him to stop. The illegal pulled out a gun and shot at the man, hitting him in the shoulder, and then all three of them ran off with the rabbits. They got about 100 feet before the crowd pulled their own weapons and killed all 3 of them as they ran away. That was the last of the illegal immigrant problem at the barter fair. But there had been other problems as indignant, clueless shoppers could not understand why their debit cards were not good enough to buy a pair of dirty sneakers, and why nobody would accept their paper US dollars. They raised quite a ruckus until the Sheriff had shown up to escort them away for their own safety.

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John was tired. He hadn't planned on pushing his bike to town and his feet were starting to hurt. He was also getting very thirsty and had long ago emptied his canteen. "Need to get another one of them too." he thought out loud. He was almost at the schoolyard where the fair was held and he could see where people had staked out their horses and chained up their bicycles and garden carts. There were some vehicles in evidence so someone still had fuel. Those guarding the horses and vehicles stared at John as he pushed his bike up to an empty space on the merry-go-round and chained it up. With any luck the bike shop would be open or the owner here at the fair. Maybe he would get one of those solid tubes that never went flat as well as a new tire.

While John was walking down the street looking for the bike shop, Henry was trading the last of his fishing kits for 5 lbs of homemade jerky. So far he had traded off the cold medicine and Advil to the town doctor for a rooster and 2 hens, 6 snares for 2 breeding rabbits and 10 lbs of feed, one box of 7mm Rem. Mag. for a complete working bicycle with new tires and generator powered lights, most of his how-to manuals for 1000 rounds of various caliber empty brass, 10 homemade candles, and 5 tanned rabbit pelts. A man with a pair of homemade moccasins was eyeing Henrys #110 conibear trap collection, trying to make up his mind whether to make an offer or not. Henry thought that those moccasins looked mighty comfortable. 10 minutes later the man was smiling as he walked away with his "great bargain" of 2 traps and Henry was trying on his new moccasins.

John stopped and stared in dismay. It was gone. The whole block was gone, only charred rubble where the bike shop and other buildings had been. "Damn Damn DAMN!" thought John. "There goes my best chance at getting what I need."

Disappointed, he turned and headed back to the school. As he neared the vendors he began scrutinizing each ones goods, looking for what he needed. It seemed that no one had any "real toothpaste" for sale, just some baking soda and some iodized salt that they were hawking as replacements. He had made them a generous offer of $2.00 face value junk silver but they weren't interested. They wanted a pair of size 10 boots in exchange, and as John had stood there trying to get them to change their mind, someone with boots to trade came along and John watched "his" makeshift toothpaste leave with someone else.

"What is wrong with these people?" he thought. "Don't they realize that silver and gold are the new currency?" Disappointed again, he turned and went looking for the items he needed from "more reasonable" people.

As John walked about he noticed that people were accepting almost anything but silver and gold for goods. In fact, he didn't even see anyone else trying to use coins for currency as they bought and sold items. John was no fool, he realized now that he was in a bad way if no one was trading in gold or silver. One old man came up to him and said "What’s amatter Sonny? You look a little long in the face." "Why don't people use silver or gold as a medium of exchange?" John asked.

The old man laughed and said to him. "Them there coins you have, can you eat them? Can you plant them and have food grow there? Will they breed and have babies that you can raise and eat or trade for other things? Can you ride them into town and back home again? Can you wear them on your feet? Sonny, those were the old way of doing things, and someday they might be the way things are done again. But for now, they have no use to anyone, including you. What have you been able to buy today?"

John said nothing; he just stared at the old man. Finally he nodded his head, acknowledging what the old man said. He turned and walked away into the crowd to where Henry had his remaining goods laid out. John saw the 3 boxes of .300 Savage there and he almost cried. He knew that his money would be of no use here as he saw the variety of things that Henry was packing up for his trip home.

Henry noticed John starring at his ammo and saw the look on Johns face. He knew that look. The look of the desperate individual who sees what they need, nearly within their grasp, but know they will not be able to get it before it slips away. "Can I help you with something Mr.?" said Henry. John shook his head and said, "Not unless you are willing to trade for silver. I have nothing else of value with me." Henry was feeling good because he had a great day trading, so he decided to see what this guy was all about. "I'm Henry " he said. "I'm John" was the reply.

"Well John, what are you hoping to trade for?" John replied, "I need some ammo, which I see you have 60 rounds of. I had 500 rounds when the crash started but now I am down to 25. I also need a bike tire and tube since mine blew out on the way to town."

"Well John, I really don't need any silver as I have no need of coins. Most of the small purchases around here are made with cast lead bullets which I make for a percentage of the lead. Most people use it as currency for a while and then bring it back to me to load into cartridges for them as they need them. Here's what I can do for you though. I will accept your silver as collateral. You take 20 rounds of that .300 Savage there and bring me all of your empty brass. You did save it didn't you?" John shook his head yes, not sure he could believe what he was hearing.

"OK. When you bring me your empty brass I will give you the other 40 rounds and all your silver back but $2.00 face value. Bring me your old bike and I will trade you this one here for it and another $2.00 face value silver coins. Do we have a deal?" John hesitated for all of half a second before accepting the offer and strolled off to get his bike.

Maybe he didn't get everything that he wanted, but it sure beat pushing a bike 7 miles home with nothing to show but sore feet. Besides, Maggie liked to make homemade scented soap and he didn't see any at all while searching for his needs. And his uncle Bob had taught him to make his own charcoal several years back. Perhaps these 2 items would trade fairly well on his next trip in...

Perhaps....

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Slip Not Into That Gentle Darkness, For That Way Lies Death

 Tales Of The Apocalypse: Book II - The Rift


The Event

Slip Not Into That Gentle Darkness, For That Way Lies Death

Much has been made of the end of the Mayan calendar. To some it portends the end of civilization as we know it due to some unknown calamity. There are many theories out there; some are way, way out there. We won’t get into those here. Because the Mayans got the date wrong!

December 15, 2012 1:29 AM
The Hedlands Institute for Stellar Studies had a full time staff of three persons; Professor Artimus, PhD., Julie Waylons, college senior and Astronomy major, and Eric von Shiltz, freshman, Astronomy 101. The Professor had the second shift as it fit his teaching schedule best and the other two switched off as their schedules dictated. It just so happened that Eric was working the graveyard shift when the CME was produced by a deeply disturbed sun.

Eric was new at the Institute, having been hired on as a favor to a family friend of the Institute chairman. It was no fault of Eric’s that he did not know what he was observing on the computer screens. He did mark down in the log a notation of the strange readings occurring at that moment. Had he known what he was looking at for what it was, he would have soiled himself and probably would have fainted dead away on the spot.

Looking at the graph that accompanied the readings, he saw a large spike that left the top of the chart and did not return for a bit. Eric was not yet trained to understand what he was seeing. He was witness to the tipping point, where the deaths of 6 billion people began. Having noted the event in the log book, he went back to playing his favorite online game, Farmtown. He would not mention this to anyone until three days after the event.

After informing the professor of what he had noticed, Prof Artimus asked to see the data. Perusing thru the printouts at an increasingly frenzied pace, the Prof. had a mortified look upon his face. As he finished his second pass through to check the data, he sagged back in his chair. Looking at Eric he asked him why he had not told him earlier about the event. Eric replied that it had not seemed that important. The professor looked for a long moment at the young man, his face growing stiff and hard looking. He reached down into his briefcase and pulled out a small .380 auto pistol. “You fool!” he said. “You may have killed us all!” he then shot Eric twice in the chest before turning the gun on himself. 2 hours later Julie found them. While waiting for the police to arrive, she began reading the printout in front of the professor. Two minutes before the police arrived, Julie joined Eric and Artimus in their eternal sleep.

The police were confused as there were no suicide notes or apparent reasons for the deaths, and no one could make heads or tales out of the data on the printouts. By the time they decided to call in an authority on Astronomy, the leading edge of the CME was beginning to wash over the unsuspecting earth.

Just before the electricity died, a massive Aurora Borealis was seen in the skies all over the planet. Then the lights went out. Transformers everywhere exploded and burst into flame. Underground power cables glowed white hot and then melted. Power transmission towers and lines were glowing an eerie blue that grew in intensity until they turned white and toppled to the ground. Huge electrical discharges shot from the clouds to ground, over and over. Tall buildings received huge bolts of this electrical hell and the top floors exploded from the punishment.

The magnetic fields of the earth groaned their dismay at this distantly familiar torture, and shuddered with agony, sending huge tremors to all the fault lines. Crustal plates shifted, some massively. Tremendous earthquakes wracked the land, leveling large swathes of cityscape, destroying dams and opening large crevasses. The Tsunamis generated by the quakes swept away the coastal cities and island nations, leaving only death and destruction behind. 2 billion people perished before the earth quieted once more.

The stunned survivors knew not where to look for leadership. In the places where the massive quakes had not devastated the area, the police led the effort to restore order. After 3 days of no food and backing up sewers, the unhappy survivors rioted. Just in Time delivery of goods, the mantra of fiscally sound business practices was the downfall of the civilized world. Nowhere were there enough supplies available to support the remaining population with out delivery services and the continuation of manufacturing and importation.

Civilization died, and with it the hopes of mankind. The reign of the savage had begun.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments

The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments, was written by Robert Brent and illustrated by Harry Lazarus. The first edition was printed in 1960. A second printing was made in 1962 and a revised edition was printed in 1963.

It is reported that the US government had the book removed from libraries and banned for sale on the grounds that the projects were too dangerous for its intended audience, which was kids.

Here is the URL to a .PDF file on About.com.
http://chemistry.about.com/library/goldenchem.pdf

Get it now while it is still available!


Cited from Wikipedia and About.com

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Where Did It Go?

Well Fall has snuck up and booted Summer completely out of the picture! It was cold enough this morning to make me zip up my jacket when I left the house. When I got to work it was so cold in my office that I turned on the heater for the first time since summer began. Just about time to remove the window AC unit.

Fall is my favorite time of year. The colors of the trees, the crisp bite in the air in the early morning, fog laying across the fields, looking like a ghostly lake in the early morning dawn! We should have about 3 or 4 weeks of nice weather now that the September rains have passed. At least that is the normal weather pattern. This year has been anything but normal.

The Pacific Northwet usually has fairly mild winters, but I think it may be different this year. Every weather change is coming early and I expect frost within 3 weeks, if not sooner. I am saving up to buy some Greenhouse plastic to get ready for spring. If the weather is anything like it was this year, I will need it unless I decide not to grow anything. Besides, it will make a nice expedient shelter if it is ever needed.

I purchased 4 GMRS radios last payday with rechargeable AAA batteries. They are advertised as capable of transmitting 15 miles. I hope they will do at least 3. One set will go with 3ohEight to school as emergency communications and I will have another with me at work. These are back up for our cell phones. The FCC requires a license to operate the GMRS radios, but I haven't read up on the requirements yet.

I am looking forward to voting out the Incumbents in November. I know many have expressed that they are not going to vote. I disagree with this as we need to disrupt the politics as usual as much as possible. By tossing out the bought and paid for politicians, we disrupt the plans and timetables of TPTB, forcing them to take the time and money to corrupt the new batch we send their way! Perhaps some will remain uncorrupted and slowly but surely the scum and villainy will be replaced by those who will listen to the people who elect them to be representative of our wishes. I know, good luck, right?

The good news is that 3ohEight will be voting for the first time in his life, and he has a few like minded Bud's with him, looking to toss some butt into the street for the mess they are creating for his generation!

Here's a link for you!
How to Build a PVC Hoophouse for your Garden

Got Greenhouse?

Monday, September 20, 2010

Unemployment Humor

Jose and Carlos are both beggars. They beg in different areas of town.

Carlos begs for the same amount of time as Jose, but only collects about eight or nine dollars a day.

Every day, Jose brings home a suitcase full of ten dollar bills. He drives a Mercedes, lives in a mortgage-free house, and has lots of cash to spend.

"Hey, amigo," Carlos says to Jose, "I work just as long and hard as you do, so how come you bring home a suitcase full of ten dollar bills every day?"

Jose says, "Look at your sign, what does it say?"

Carlos' sign reads;

I have no work, a wife and
six kids to support.


"What's wrong with that?" Carlos asks him.

"No wonder you only get eight or nine dollars a day!"

Carlos says, "Alright, so what does your sign say?"

Jose's sign reads:

I only need ten dollars
to get back to Mexico


And so it goes...

From a friend in SoCal 

Addendum: In case you haven't heard, the recession is over. I just read it!
More spin before Nov. 2nd!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

How to Survive Hard Times

Here is an interesting series of articles posted over at Survival Prep Dot Net geared towards stocking up on food. It's worth your read!

Nine meals from anarchy

Nine meals from anarchy, Part 2: Don’t worry, the government can help!

Nine meals from anarchy, Part 3: You really DO have enough space for food

Nine meals from anarchy, Part 4: Start slow if you must, but get started!

Nine meals from anarchy, part 5: Cheap eats, coming right up!

Here is a collection of links to some good info. Remember to download these resources, who knows how long this stuff will be available on the internet.


Update 9/4/12:
 The above links are now working again. Get this info while you can folks!


How to Survive Hard Times

Are You Prepared for a Worst Case Breakdown in Society?

There are other good articles on both these sites, just follow all the available links and copy the information into My Notes Keeper  for organizing your Survival Bible  or Alexandria Project.

Now I probably found these sources by following a link off of some other blogs pages, but since my memory sucks I couldn't cite my sources if I had too.

Prep Like Hell We Are Just About Out Of Tomorrow's

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Missing In Action

It seems the "Survive The Worst" blog is no longer in existence. I have tried several approaches and get a "Blog not found" message from blogger.

Sorry to see you go, if this is indeed the case and not just a blogger goof-up!

Monday, September 6, 2010

Hitting Close To Home

More police executions in the line of duty. No need to arrest, jail or bother the courts with these cases! Tasers should be outlawed from use, period! Perhaps officers should be tased before they are ever issued one themselves. Perhaps then they would be more reluctant to use them when other means will suffice!
This just makes me sick.

Taser Death: Adam Colliers (Gold Bar, WA)

A young man will never see tomorrow

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Sabotage in the Gulf?

Gulf oil platform explodes, burning off La. coast

So, what are we to avert our gaze from? Who would benefit from more gulf disaster?

An accident? I am not so sure anymore.

Reusable Canning Lid Giveaway!

Angela over at Adventures in Self Reliance is having a giveaway of Reusable Canning Lids. These are the Tattler brand  lids made in the USA! Hop on over there and sign up for this give away. It is for 3 boxes of regular size reusable canning lids and 3 boxes of wide mouth canning lids. That's a lot of lids! 
Nothing better than free stuff!