ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. -

Could a “Doomsday Bunker” protect your family in case of disaster? One local business thinks so and is offering tours of an Atlas corrugated pipe shelter.

Al’s Army Navy Store in Altamonte Springs is selling a 32×10-foot shelter. The unit is designed to go 20 feet underground, and can offer protection from hurricanes, tornadoes and other disasters.

You know, I rather like these culvert-style shelters but I really would probably prefer them above-ground. Just put up some wood cribbing, get some forms, encase the whole thing in cement, plant some ivy over it and you’d be good to go. Probably a great way to go in hurricane country where digging into a low water table isnt a good idea…encase it in a couple feet of concrete and no hurricane is gonna screw with you. And best of all – no sewage pump.

From a link that was sent to me in email. How to make your own Pepper Spray.

I’ve never been sprayed with the stuff directly, although I’ve gotten a face full indirectly a couple times. However, my lovely wife, as part of her training, got a solid blast of it in the face from about three feet away. It does indeed blind you, and it does make breathing a spotty endeavour, but…and this is important…if the bad guy already has a grip on you somewhere he can still continue his melee attack (since he doesnt need to see in order to continue beating on you when he already has a hold of you). If he doesn’t have a grip on you, then he’s going to have a heck of a time finding you what with the blinding and tearing up of the eyes. (Of course, to my way of thining, if the bad guy already has a grip on you then the situation has advanced beyond pepper spray and into things a bit more dangerous.) I like the idea of having a graduated scale of escalating force options and pepper spray gives you that. However, the impression that spraying someone in the face with the stuff will spare you a beating isn’t exactly 100% true.

I was sent a link to this blog and am passing it on: Getting Your Life In Order

And although I’ve mentioned it before, it’s time to mention it again, one of my favorite cooking-with-food-storage blogs: Safely Gathered In

As I’ve said in the past, I think the hallmark of maturity in the long road to preparedness is when you start putting more value, effort, resources and thought into things like food rather than guns. Guns are important, no doubt…..but think about how many times you eat per week vs. how many looters you shoot per week. I dunno about you but my meal-to-looter ratio is pretty high these days…thus, guns an ammo are now back-burner stuff as I work on keeping the grocery supply topped off.

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The blegging continues. About a dozen folks have been kind enough to throw a few bucks (and some it was more than just a few) in the direction of the blog to pay for hosting and domain registrations for the next year or so. I’ll mention it once or twice more in the next couple posts and then you won’t be hearing about it again for a good couple years at least.

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The Missoula Gun Show approaches! This is the largest show in Montana and while not as big as it has been in the past it is still an awesome show. Should be interesting to see how the current events will affect the turnout and the market.

The missus sent me an email informing me of this resource ( Camopedia ) …interesting. The source I has been using prior to that for information about camouflage patterns was kamouflage.net. As always, more then one source of reference/information is appreciated.

Peripherally tied into the subject of camo, is this nice ‘how to’ from arfcom: How to Multicam your rifle…on the cheap!

When I buy gear I almost always go with basic OD since it goes with everything. Someone pointed out to me once that it didn’t matter if the gear was OD, desert or black…the right can of spraypaint will make anything camo. OD is pretty common but given my druthers, I really like multicam. (Yes, I drank that KoolAid.) Only problem is that it’s mighty expensive. Another possibility is the new A-Tacs patterns, esp. the green one, that is becoming more and more available.The other pattern I find that I like for my region are the classic German flecktar, which seems to be a pre-digital-age version of digital camo with its ‘dithering’ effect. (Whcih, if you ignore the political implications, appears to be a direct descendent of the old Nazi pea pattern camo.)

For winter wear I have the usual German ‘pine’ camo but I’m very taken with the Finnish and Danish winter patterns. G’luck finding ‘em in the US. (Real ones, not airsoft knockoffs made in China.) Although you’d think that a set of simple solid white clothing would work, it turns out that snow really isn’t solid white…there’s enough shading and whatnot that solid white will stand out a bit. The Marines have a new winter camo out that looks pretty good but I don’t expect to see it on the surplus market anytime soon.

I love little file dumpsites like these.

I don’t subscribe to the notion of the end of the world being brought about by a pole shift. The only pole shift Im concerned about is when my underwear binds up uncomfortably. But, regardless of whether your particular fairy tale is a  pole shift, Peak Oil, the Rapture, Planet X, or Mayan prophecy, there’s still some useful info to be had.