Monthly Archives: January 2006

Land musings

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The most useful and valuable resource any revolutionary movement can have is…what? Operational bases located in other countries. The FLN had Tunisia, the Viet Cong had Cambodia and to a lesser degree China, Anti-Castro forces have/had Florida, etc, etc. The advantages are, to me, obvious. Remember when you were a kid and played tag? If you were on ‘base’ you were immune from getting tagged. Same thing.

I mention it because I think one of the biggest advantages that a person can have in terms of personal preparedness is a secondary location to relocate to. Take the case of Katrina victims, for example. Lets say they do get on a bus or get some gas for their Buick and get out of Dodge. Where to go? If you dont have a secondary location or some good friends or relatives to set up with youre going to be living in your car or a hotel and neither one of those is an attractive option. The solution would be to have a place to go where you know that even if the accomodations arent exactly the same as the place youre evacuating from you at least know theres food, fuel, water, clean clothes and power waiting for you.

Realistically, this is probably the most expensive aspect of preparedness (short of fortifying or building-to-suit your primary residence). There are a few ways to go about setting up a secondary location. Your secondary location could simply be good friends or relatives. Showing up on their doorstep with just the clothes on your back would be a bit of a burden so if they are, as we say, ‘Like Minded Individuals’, they might not mind you leaving a couple footlockers in their basement in case you ever wind up becoming their guests for a few months. Clothes, bedding, toiletries, some food, etc…the usual stuff, goes a long way towards making oneself welcome. A decent all-season tent would be nice because then you could just pitch it in their backyard and really be a low-profile guest. Shower in the morning using their bathroom, run an extension cord out to the tent for a small heater or radio, and you’d pretty much be invisible to them.

Another option, and one I’d like to pursue, is to simply have the land available to retreat to. Realistically, we all want a nice fortified, spacious dwelling to pull up to as the mushroom clouds bloom in the distance. In reality, thats a pretty big-ticket item. The old addage about a bird in the hand being worth two in the bush really comes to play here. Example: the property you want with nice old stone farmhouse, year-round spring and fertile fields is $300k. While youre saving that money The Big Event happens and you need to relocate…but you havent gotten the property yet. A more realistic alternative, in my opinion, is to buy the bare land first and hold onto it until such time as you can build on it or re-sell it when youve saved enough for another place. This way, while your saving up for that perfect bunker you still have a place to go if you need to. A few acres of land that is in your name gives you alot more relocation options than a real estate brochure and money in a savings account. Its a place to park a trailer, set up a tent, drop a cargo container, or even build a small, basic build-it-yourself-in-a-weekend cabin.

While your sticking money away for the Perfect Place, you have this chunk of land as a fallback position. When you finally do have enough money you can either build on your proerty or buy the property you’ve been wanting all along and sell your other one (which probably appreciated in the interval).

At least, thats the theory….

Red Cross ramblings, fuel can fumings, AK/AR comparisons

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I saw on the news that the Red Cross is still getting blowback from their operations (or lack thereof) in La. following the hurricane there. The main complaint seems to be that on a small/local level they do okay, but those small on-the-ground units are hampered by lumbering out-of-touch corporate bureaucracy. Remember the scene in ‘Blackhawk Down’ where generals in Washington are trying to manage a battle over satellite? Theyre in Washington giving orders to troops in Somalia who are engaged in firefights. Same thing.

Solution? Everyone has a solution. Mine is to do what most militaries do. Give broad guidelines and tremendous lattitude to the on-scene crews to do what they think is necessary within the pre-established framework. Of course, I also think a military-like approach to disaster relief would make a huge difference. Not military as in gun-toting gung-ho types (although theres certainly a place for that in any disaster relief org.) but rather in terms of TOE, rapid deployment ability, logistics, etc, etc.

The girlfriend and I were going through our snail mail the other night and there was a ‘send us money’ letter from the Red Cross. The girlfriend said that in the past she had donated but that she wouldnt this time. I asked if it was because of the mismanagement of the agency that has come to light in the wake of Katrina. She said that wasnt the reason, her reasoning was that it made more sense to spend that money on our own preparations. By our being prepared, we are not a burden that the Red Cross needs to put resources into. In short, since we’ll be ready the RC can go elsewhere. (And, of course, theres the added bonus that we dont have to stand on food lines.) A very practical response. One less needy couple means the RC can focus their efforts on someone who isnt prepared.

Does this mean I dont think the RC is worth donating to? Not sure. They do good work in terms of first aid/CPR training and the smaller stuff. However, I think that money would be better invested in community/state level disaster relief. After all, the RC will take a couple days to get to you whereas the boys at VFD #1 will already be there the second the hurricane is over. Municipalities have no shortage of properties that would be suitable for secure and structurally resiliant supply storage facility.

I’ve said it before, but its true – Katrina/New Orleans will be the paradigm for most disaster planning for the forseeable future. It was hust too ‘perfect’ an example to not use…there was lawlessness, out of control cops, local and federal impotence, dramatic tales and footage of survival, huge body counts, etc, etc. Its every ‘survivalist fantasy’ made manifest. All the elements are there. The scenarios that previously just existed in badly-written ‘mens action’ novels (*Ahern*cough*Johnstone*)actually existed and, by implication, could exists again elsewhere. Definitely a wakeup call to the less-than-prepared.
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Im experiencing some disappointment with the plastic Blitz fuel cans. This requires some mental imagery so bear with me. The spout that comes with the can is, when not in use, inverted so that it is inside the can. Follow me? Problem is, the spout hangs down far enough into the can that its mouth comes in contact with the fuel. When the temperature changes the expansion/contraction of the container and the vapors within creat pressure and fuel is forced up the spout and then seeps out the cap. Very bad. The solutions are all unappealing:
Fill the cans to the point where the fuel doesnt come in contact with the spout – so my 5-gal. containers is a 4.5 gal.?
Remove the spout and simply use a cap on the mouth of the can – Easiest but removes convenience of having a pourable spout available with the fuel.
Leave lids screwed on cans loose enough to allow vapor/pressure bleeding – Im sure you can see the unappeal of that

Sadly, if I continue to go with the plastic cans, option #2 looks like it may have to be the way to go. About now someone will ask why not use the MFC (mil. fuel cans) that are available. Well, for my needs theyre probably a good choice but damn they are spendy. Let me quickly recap my needs vis-a-vis plastic vs. metal fuel cans: metal cans are for long (>1 year) storage of fuel and are preferred for their lack of permeability and their durability. The plastic cans are for short term (FAQ on fuel storage cans that compare the most popular ‘jerry cans’. I’ll try to find it and post the link.
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I just finished cleaning the girlfriends AK and as I marvel at its simplicity all I can think is “The AR is never clean enough and the AK is never dirty enough”.

Extreme cold weather bag sale, Bag O’ Tricks, propane Volcano, crisis predicting, board pimpage

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Major Surplus N’ Survival is having a sale on military extreme cold weather bags. Comes with a groundpad and some cheesy backpack. The military extreme cold weather bag is a goodie. Its big and heavy, so dont plan on backpacking it anywhere….however its an outstanding choice for static usage such as keeping in the back of your truck in the winter and that sort of thing. A couple years ago I waited until it got to be about zero degrees outside, set the bag out, stripped to my shorts, tshirt and socks and climbed in. Was warm enough that I would have no trouble recommending this bag for vehicle use or for use in other cold weather situations where staying warm is a life/death issue. Sale price is, get this, $30! And thats with a ground pad! Thats a good deal, folks. I recommend it to all concerned.
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Whats in the Zero’s Tactical Tailor bag that he carries with him most every day? Buncha stuff….spare Glock mags, 9mm ammo, Gerber folding knife, two LED flashlights, first aid kit, paracord, zip ties, AM battery radio, cold weather module, lashing straps for the pack, notebook and pens, bottle of water, etc, etc. It isnt a BOB since I live 9 blocks from where I work. If I lived ten miles from where I work I’d carry much more different stuff. This mostly just things that will be handy if the power goes out, the rioting starts, the aliens land, etc. and I need to walk home. Its also handy for medium-range roadtrips. However, it has come in handy in the past….never know when youre going to need to ziptie something together or have to bandage a booboo. (And, before anyone chimes in with ‘You should have _____ in there’, trust me its probably already in there.)
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The local Sportsmans Warehouse has a goodie I want. Its got the large Volcano cookstove with propane conversion. Uberrific! I have a small Volcano charcoal stove and I must say it works very very nicely. However, I do wish I had gotten the larger one. This one I saw at SW is not only large, but it can be quickly converted to use the highly convenient bottles of propane. Thats the sort of multifuel capability that brings a smile to the Zero’s face. An advantage to the Volcano stove versus, say, a Coleman folding camp stove, is the sheer ruggedness of the thing. You can stack layers of heavy cast iron dutch ovens on the Volcano with no concern for buckling or crushing something….and cast iron cookware really shines when youre cooking outdoors. This isnt to say that I’d go with the Volcano stove as my only alternative cooking stove….sometimes portability is needed and thats where my delicious little Omnifuel comes in. But, adding the Volcano to the stove I already have I will have the ability to cook and boil water using charcoal, gasoline, kerosene, coleman fuel, propane, wood and pretty much anything that you can put a match to… and the ability to create large quantities of boiling water can be pretty darn handy in a crisis. Esp. when being clean and eating with clean utensils means the difference between healthy survivor and sickly weak survivor.
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Speaking of crisis, my focus is still on an economic/infrastructure crisis brought about by either terrorism or economic upheaval. As Ive said before the incidents where you go to bed in a normal world and wake up in a Mad Max movie are pretty rare…earthquakes and nuclear weapons are about the only things that really do that in the blink of an eye. Im more concerned about the gradual slide into a crisis…prices go up, jobs are lost, shelves start going bare, the supermarket is slower to restock, more and more police start hanging around banks, rolling blackouts occur, etc, etc. Pretty much a slow slide into Third Worldism. Sure it may be a temporary Third Worldism lasting only a year or two but when America catches a cold, pretty much everyone reaches for the Kleenex. My goal is that if the jobs are lost and the economy tanks to still be in a position to have heat, food and security for at least a year.

Of course, if youre ready for that youre probably also prepared for the sudden crisis like earthquakes, nuking, hurricanes, blizzards, famines, etc.
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I’d like to take a minute to recommend AR15.com’s ‘survival’ discussion board. Unlike another board I spend a good bit of time on, this one seems to have less judgemental Jesus-worshippers. Im a live and let live kinda survivalist, but the notion that if I dont believe in Jesus or think the Ten Commandments dont belong in government Im somehow less of a patriot makes me a bit angry. Hence, Im going to divide my time between the squirrels and arfcom’s board.

Thumbs down on FRH deal

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Okay, remember the MRE heater deal I mentioned a few posts back. Give it a pass.

Got the case of heaters the other day. Date stamped 1992… Tried three. One just didnt do anything. The other two, after having water added, required some kneading to ‘activate’ and then it was sluggish. It did reach the desired temperature but it took a good ten or fifteen minutes.

Unless youre going to make MRE/popbottle bombs or you can get some more recent manufactured lots, give that deal from Sportsmans Guide HQ a pass.

FRH lifespan

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Someone asked about the shelflife of the FRH (Flameless Ration Heater a.k.a. ‘MRE heater’). The must-bookmark website, www.mreinfo.com , says five years. I just tried out one of my ten year old FRH’s. I think there was some decreased performance but not enough to be a concern…I would say that ten years is about the limit.

Weather alert prison break, gun camp, AK ammo, IOR monocular, Mickey Mouse boots, MRE heaters

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I have one of those nifty little weather alert radios that goes off like a stun grenade whenever the weather people determine there to be some sort of bad weather warning that people need to know about. Anyway, Im sitting at the computer minding my own business when the thing goes off. Turns out, and this was a first for me, it was a non-weather related alert. It was an alert that a couple counties over there was a prisoner who had escaped from custody during transport. Interesting use of the weather alert system. Those little weather radios, by the by, are about $30 or so and even if you never get an alert they still give you constant weather updates.
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The girlfriend is off to gun camp this weekend. Its a two day ‘practical rifle’ course at Front Sight. Since we’ve already taken a similar course from Pat Goodale on the AR’s, this trip will be with the AK. Whats amusing is that the FS literature says you’ll need about 200 rounds for two days. With Goodale we went through four times that in one day. Its worth noting that in the constant shooting, the AR’s needed to be lubed or cleaned upa bit every 350 rounds or so. (Although to be fair, this may have been the result of using the PMC ammo which may not have been milspec). I fully expect the AK to need no cleaning or lubing whatsoever. Asl always, a report from the range about other peoples hardware and the problems they encountered will be interesting.
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Speaking of AK’s, the price of 7.62×39 ammo has gone up in a large way. It was only a year or so ago I was getting a case of wolf for $85…now its looking like you cant touch it for less than $115 – when you can find it. I really dont care why the shortage, theres no lack of rumours, I just care that the shortage exists. With the Chinese switching to their new cartridge and the Sov’s keeping to the 5.45×39 the days of gobs and gobs of cheap 7.62×39 may be numbered. It’ll be years before the enormous stockpiles of it are gone but it will happen.
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IOR Valdada, the guys who make the scope Ive been lusting after, also make binoculars and, more interestingly, monoculars. Even better, they have rangefinding reticles. May have to get one for myself. Be kinda handy in the field.
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Sportsmans Guide HQ catalog has black Mickey Mouse winter boots on sale for $40. $60 if, like me, you take a wide. Their product #AX6M-21076X …. If anyone wants to buy me a pair, I take a 10W. These boots are the shiznits for mind-numbing cold. HQ also has them in white but then your looking at an extra $20 (but no Wides), and, frankly, I can get the same effect with some spray paint. So if you want some winter boots that will keep your footsies warm and dry in literally arctic conditions, these be the ones.
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And, this is a goodie, a reallyneat deal: 288 MRE heaters for $20. Even if you dont have MRE entree pouches laying around, you can still heat the small ‘single serving’ packages of chili, ravioli and various other small packaged pre-cooked foods. This is a smoking bargain on these things. Oh..and you can make little noise bombs out of them using empty plastic pop bottles. Seriously, this is a good deal. Grab some while you can.

Cop toy porn

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Ever get one of those newspaper-like periodicals that is nothing but product information for various products related to a particular field? Computer folks get them all the time, Im sure. I received one for law enforcement stuff. Its interesting because theres all sortsa goodies that might be handy and its also good to know what sort of new toys the friendly fellows in the black ski masks are going to have. Some interesting highlights:
Self heating rescue blanket – Ready-Heat Blanket www.boundtree.com
Earbud LED light – Ear Piece Lighting System -  www.policehelmets.com
Rescue rope gear – www.cmcrescue.com
QuikClot Absorbent Clotting Sponge – www.quikclot.com
Bone conduction mic headset – www.swatheadsets.com
Large tensts/shelters of various use – www.base-x.com

You know, with that Fatherland Security money floating around every Mayberry police department is gonna be wanting a piece of that newfangled eee-lec-tronic cop gear.