POTD: Abandoned Ames Department Store

This video is a bit different than most because the intro and outro show what the stores were like in their heyday, and gives you some background on the Ames chain. A couple things in particular to note once it gets to exploring the department store. Because of the limited amount of glass around the entrance, the store is much darker than, for instance, an abandoned grocery store that we looked at several months ago that had windows down the entire width of the store front. Also, and we've seen this in other larger retails chains, is the distances inside the building. This can be a factor both in whether your flashlight can cast a beam far enough to pick out details on a far wall, or, in a post-SHTF, you had to use your weapon against an attacker or vicious animal that happened to be in the structure.

VIDEO: "ABANDONED AMES (90s retail goodies inside)"

Ace's Adventures (20 min.)

Here are some articles that have been collecting in my in-box:

• "A 12-Month Preparedness Checklist" (Part 1) (Part 2) by Reltney McFee, Survival Blog. Not all prepping is repeated each month--some things will be seasonal or need less than monthly attention. The author of this series describes a year in his prepping, providing lists of activities or preparations for each of the months.
• "Power Outage Grocery List: 23 Items to Get"--Modern Survival Online. A list of items and an explanation as to why each is a good selection. All of the items listed require no preparation (i.e., can be eaten cold) or only require minimal preparation such as adding water (hot or cold, depending on the item).

1.Freeze-dried Food

2. T.V. Dinners (referring to the smaller shelf-stable offerings by Hormel similar to an MRE entree).

3. Peanut Butter

4. Instant Oatmeal

5. Cereal

6. Powdered Milk

7. Pop Tarts

8. Crackers

9. Instant Coffee

10. Tea

11. Drink Mixes

12. Honey

13. Granola / Energy Bars

14. Candy

15. Nuts

16. Canned Vegetables

17. Canned Fruit

18. Canned Beans

19. Instant Rice

20. Instant Potatoes

21. Canned Chicken

22. Canned Tuna

23. Spam

• "Here Are 30 Foods That Will Last 25 Years"--Modern Survival Online. Moving beyond the basics of wheat, beans, and honey. For those worried about proteins and fat, in addition to powdered milk, the author includes the following on his list: hard salted meats, Pemmican, bullion cubes or powder, and ghee ("a special type of clarified butter that originates from the Indian subcontinent, and though it is an important component in a cuisine from that region it’s also attracting fans as a healthy alternative to typical cooking oils and common butter").
• "Gardening During Disasters"-- The Prepper Journal. The author discusses different ways to deal with shortages of water for your gardens based on actual strategies used in different countries or areas of the world.
• "Getting Food After Your Storage Runs Out"--Modern Survival Blog. Just a list of thoughts or considerations to keep in mind for raising your own crops, raising livestock, fishing, hunting, foraging, and bartering.
• "How to Clean a Catfish"--Field & Stream.
• "The RANGE-R Card"--Blue Collar Prepping. A review of the RANGE-R card from Black Hills Design which is a small card that allows you to estimate range based on the perceived height of a person or other common objects or vehicles. 
• "This is How Strong Paracord Really Is"--The Survivalist Blog. As the author notes, "Authentic type-III or '550 paracord' that meets the original military specifications will have a minimum breaking strength of at least 550 lbs (249.47 kilograms)." Unfortunately, not all paracord is the same--there are different types or ratings, there are, unfortunately, lots of fakes out there, and it may be damaged by exposure or other factors. The article discusses how to spot problems and a method for testing your paracord's strength.
• "EMP How Long Does It Disable My Electronics"--Modern Survival Online. A generalized discussion of EMP and the factors that could contribute to your electronics merely needing to be rebooted or being destroyed. I remember reading with some interest when the EMP Commission's report came out that some of their testing only resulted in devices shutting and just had to be restarted (e.g., an automobile they tested comes to mind). So I guess the gist of this is that don't assume that an EMP will necessarily zap everything. 
• Related: "So, Do EMPS Affect Batteries?"--Modern Survival Online. The short version:

No, the majority of batteries will not be affected by an EMP of any size. This applies to lead-acid, alkaline, nickel metal hydride, and lithium-ion batteries. Any electronics attached to the battery, such as a charge controller, will be ruined.

• "Multiple Layer Faraday Cage Shielding For Better EMP Protection"--Modern Survival Blog. The author did some testing and experimenting to see what worked best (better?). His conclusions:

• Relying solely on a galvanized trash can for EMP protection may not be enough at approximately 40dB attenuation.
• Multiple layers of shielding / protection may increase overall EMI attenuation (EMP protection).
• Multi-layer shielding such as wrapped aluminum foil inside galvanized trashcan may help to meet MIL spec (Insulate contents and layers from each other).

• "SurvivalBlog: Infectious Disease in the TEOTWAWKI World, Parts 1 to 6, by Militant Medic"--American Partisan. American Partisan did us the favor of providing the web addresses to all 6 parts of the cited articles on infectious disease (i.e., he has the addresses, but they are not links that you can just click--you will have to highlight the address and either copy it to your address bar or right click and choose the "go to web address" option). The author of the series indicates that he is a physician that has been practicing for 11 years. Although this is a valuable resource, recognize that it is just a summary of a very complex subject. Think of it as an introduction for which you will need to follow up in more detail. The first few parts go over germs and the different types of veterinary/pet antibiotics you can get and for what they should be used. The last two articles discusses specific diseases/infections and the appropriate antibiotic. 
• "Emergency Preparedness: Factors to Consider Before Bugging Out"--The Mag Life. An excerpt:

    The disadvantages to bugging out are many. First, though you may miss your bug-out window if you delay, historically true bug-out events are relatively rare. I lived in a large urban area during the food shortages, increased crime, civil disorder, and protests of 2020, but none of these events ever approached the need to bug out from our residence. The threat was present but did not outweigh the advantages of sheltering in place.

    Your residence’s resources are the next consideration. Before you leave your home, recognize the advantages that will be lost bugging out. Even without services, your home provides shelter, space, a familiar defensible location, large storage capacity (food, water, medical supplies, clothes), beds, and some waste management and cooking supplies. The decision to bug out takes your entire residence’s resources and familiarity and reduces them to what you, your family, and (if included) your vehicle, can transport.

• "Dakota Fire Hole: Step by Step How To Build One"--Modern Survival Online. This, as you might already know, is a small fire pit or hole which is connected under the ground to a second hole which provides the needed air flow. The result is that you can hide your fire below the surface of the ground.
• "How to Start a Fire"--Outdoor Life. A very detailed article on this subject. An excerpt:

    There are four stages to building a fire: fire preparation, fire starting, fire maintenance, and fire extinguishing. 

    Fire preparation is the act of locating a spot to build a fire, clearing debris from around the central hearth that could accidentally catch, and assembling all the components you need prior to starting. 

    Fire starting is the act of striking a match, scraping a ferro rod, catching a piece of tinder on fire, or otherwise initially igniting your fire. Fire starting is where the three requirements for fire, heat, air, and fuel must come together in the right ratio to burn properly. These requirements are often referred to as the “fire triangle” and when a fire is not burning well, you can troubleshoot which of the components is lacking. 

    Fire maintenance requires you to stoke the fire, add fuel to it as necessary, position logs to achieve more or less flame, and otherwise keep the fire going as long as you need it to burn.  

 

    Fire extinguishing is the process of dowsing your fire, moving the firewood to the outside of the fire ring, making sure there are no hot spots left behind, and making sure the fire is no longer burning. Your fire should start with an understanding of the final stage first as it is not wise to build a fire you cannot put out. 

The article goes on to discuss different types of fire lays, fuel, different tools for starting a fire, common mistakes, and more. 

• "Prepper's Toolbox: Adhesives"--Blue Collar Prepping. Give recipes and instructions on making a traditional flour paste and pine pitch glue.
• "Leave a Message"--Blue Collar Prepping. In a disaster, you might be able to call, text, or email someone. The author goes over various ways to leave messages for others, both historical (such as hobo codes) and modern and some supplies you should keep on hand.
• "Edible Survivors" by James Thompson, Unz Review.  In 1972, an airplane carrying the 45 team members of the Uruguayan rugby team, families and friends crashed high in the Andes mountains. The survivors were forced to cannibalize the bodies of the dead to survive. It's a long article, but worth the read. A relatively short excerpt:

    What was required of survivors in this situation? Everything, one might assume.

    Roberto Canessa summed up the essentials:

    Team spirit, persistence, sympathy for others, intelligence and, above all, hope.

    Their situation was parlous. They were in this dreadful situation because of pilot error. The navigator was at the back of the plane playing cards, the pilots were over-confident, and did not bother to check the one instrument which would could have saved them: their wristwatches. Had they done so they would have realized they were turning North far too soon, and had not allowed for the headwinds against them. They had not yet gone far enough West, were not yet out of the Andes, and mistakenly descended North into the high mountain peaks. After hitting a mountain which tore off the wings, the fuselage careered down a glacier and slammed into snow.

    They had many dead, and many injured they had to care for. It was reasonable to believe that planes would come to search for them, and some of those planes could be heard and seen overhead for the next 8 days of search, though they found nothing. Temperatures went down to -30 Centigrade at night, so to keep from freezing to death was essential. Body warmth was their sole source of heat as they huddled together in the remains of the fuselage. Most of them had never seen snow, and had no idea how to survive in high altitudes.

    Some days later, when a small group ventured out into the snowy desolation, they all suffered from the bitter cold, one went snow blind, and the lack of implements to help them through the snow showed how helpless they were. Not encouraging. Staying put and waiting for rescue seemed better.

    How to survive?

    Intelligence is what you use when you don’t know what to do. (Carl Bereiter).

    To provide drinking water, Fito Strauch worked out that snow collected in an aluminium shell would catch the sun’s rays and provide a trickle of meltwater, which they shared in very small gulps. He also designed improvised sun glasses to combat snow blindness. They used seat covers as protective clothing and footwear.

    Roy Harley improvised an antenna so that a transistor radio they found hidden in a seat could provide them with news, the first being that the search had been abandoned. He also tried to get the batteries and remains of the radio receiver to build a transmitter, a task which understandably proved impossible. The batteries they found were of the wrong voltage to power the available equipment, even if they had been able to assemble it.

    The survivors who had found the rear of the fuselage came up with an idea to use insulation foam from the rear of the fuselage, sewed together with copper wire, and waterproof fabric that covered the air conditioning of the plane to fashion a sleeping bag. Nando Parrado and Carlos Paez led the work on this.

    Those with medical knowledge did a triage of the wounded, including removing a shaft of metal from a person’s intestines.

    In short, when they did not know what to do, they improvised, and innovated. Such knowledge as they had of medicine, mechanics, navigation and engineering was put to good purpose.

    When Nando Parrado, Roberto Canessa anid Antonio Vizintin set off on their final rescue mission, they had no technical gear or clothing, no compass, and no climbing experience. Vizintin went back after 3 days, because there was not enough food.

    As a matter of painful observation, and guidance from the few who had medical knowledge about the Krebs cycle (the body can convert protein into sugar, and fat into protein, so that on a meat only diet they could survive without malnutrition), it was obvious to the starving survivors that they needed to eat energy rich protein to survive. In ordinary conditions, warm temperatures at sea level, 2000 calories of food would be sufficient. Under sedentary conditions in the cold high glacier, 3,600 to 4,300 calories would be needed. For highly strenuous work in the cold, like climbing up a mountain, 4,200 to 5,000 calories would be required. (British soldiers training in Norway get 5000 calories, and an officer told me “You have to stand over them at breakfast to make sure they eat it”).

    The fact that the world had abandoned them within a few days made them better able to feel justified in abandoning the taboo about not eating human flesh. Initially they spoke about this in whispers, then in small group deniable hypotheticals, then finally in open discussion. Not all agreed, though the lack of any rescue plans was an eventual clincher for most. For everyone’s protection, a small group made the first cut in the actual bodies, and gave it to others to further cut and dry the flesh strips in the sun, so that all could eat without knowing whose flesh it was.

    So, survivors needed to solve an existential calculus: they could live only on the bodies of the dead, their only source of fuel (and protein). In order to just wait for rescue, and to do the daily tasks on which their immediate survival depended, they needed about 4000 calories each. They had to count the bodies, count the survivors, and count the days. When there were more survivors, before the avalanche which killed 8, each body supplied food for three days. (One survivor was 85 kilos before the crash, and below 38 Kilos when rescued, a typical drop in body mass). To complicate matters, the escape party needed 5000 calories each per day of travel, extra clothing taken from others, and relief from doing daily tasks as they built up their strength.

    Every day of preparation depleted combustibles, but every day they waited reduced the chance of snow falls, and improved conditions for the escape party. One survivor had said that it never snowed in December, but in the early days of that month there was a massive snowstorm, which did not seem a good omen. Canessa argued for a postponement of another week. There were 16 alive and 27 dead when the three-person team set off on 12 December.

    At all stages, the group tried to reason their way out of the life and death puzzle box in which they were incarcerated. For example, they selected those they though most likely to survive the journey, (based on physique and, crucially, strength of character) and altered the selection as circumstances changed during preparations.