A couple quick notes about Paratus, which is in about five weeks.
First, the Paratus gifts for this year’s recipients have arrived. Finally. I am never using that particular vendor again.
Secondly, I received an early Paratus gift in the mail today. Much thanks to the person who sent it.
And, finally, the Paratus cards showed up last week so we’re on track for that. For those who are curious, the Paratus card list is actually fairly short….about three dozen people. Want to get on the list? Instructions are in the FAQ.
While I absolutely love getting stuff in the mail, lets slow it down and wait until Paratus is actually here before we do the gift-is-in-the-mail thing. This is like getting Christmas gifts before Thanksgiving has even occurred.
Broadly speaking, when it comes to 9mm handguns, I’m a Glock guy. This doesn’t mean the Glock is my favorite 9mm handgun…it isn’t. My favorite 9mm handgun is the HiPower. But the Glock has he qualities that I look for in terms of a tool for looking out for Number One.
I do have a stable of other guns, though. One of them is the Beretta 92 (or M9, if you prefer.) Because of it’s military ubiquity it seemed a good idea to have a couple. The 92 goes back to the wondernine school of handgun design where you had a heavy double action pull and subsequent rounds were single action. Additionally, you had a manual safety. The manual safety is the part that makes no sense to me…it has a heavy double action pull like a revolver, so why does it need a manual safety?
Beretta addressed this by making the ‘G’ series where the safety is mechanically rendered into a decock-only. Thumbing the safety decocks the gun and the safety then springs back to the ‘fire’ position. In this way you never have to worry about your safety accidentally getting engaged when you don’t want it to.
Fortunately the necessary parts to convert your Beretta to the G version are available for about fifty bucks. The instructions, as provided by Beretta, are awful. YouTube to the rescue.
Sadly, no matter how you slice it, the whole experience is still a springs-flying-across-the-room and need-three-hands experience. But…it’s done.
I can’t recall the last time I encountered anyone carrying a DA/SA pitol that had a manual safety. The heavy DA is the safety. I find them to be useless and will modify a pistol to decock-only if I can.
Anyway…took a half hour but now both my M9s are decocker-only.
I tried to behave myself with the big Missoula gun show this weekend, and I thought I was doing a good job of it until someone offered me a SIG P320 Five-X 9mm for sale. Now, I am not one who wants to take on the logistics of a new gun but…I needed a SIG fire control group, slide, and barrel. Why, you ask? To make this happen:
Its a SIG P320 in a Flux Raider chasis w/ a couple 30-round mags.
I am, apparently, a bit suggestible when it comes to advertising. To be fair, my MP5k won’t fit in my desk top drawer at work so the Raider does have that going for it.
Here’s the funny thing…the donor P320 that I used to get the upper half of this gun from turns out to be actually rather nice. My only experience has been with the 220- series of SIG pistols from back in the day. The Five-X is actually a nice handful and seem very well made. I might have to take it to the range and if I like it I might just have to buy another one to have a complete pistol.
The Flux Raider, by the way, is a very, very, very niche sort of thing. And as interesting as it looks…they make an even smaller one:
Not sure how useful that thing is, but that commercial should get an award.
Some people just seem to want to avoid he rush, it seems. I received a couple books in the mail the other day and I am interpreting them as an early Paratus gift.
Someone sent me some books a few months back and I promised to post my opinions on them and I still haven’t gotten around to reading them. Just too dang busy. Hopefully I” get them and these two read sometime in the near future.
BUT….much thanks! And if the person who sent me these books would like to send me a mailing address of some type, there’s a Paratus card with your name on it!
It used to be a thing that you could cook heat your canned food, say, some Chef Boyardee for example, by putting the can in boiling water. When the food was heated all the way through you could open the can and eat. No muss, no fuss.
The change in this practice started a while back when cans were starting to incorporate plastic liners in them to help keep the cans from rusting and avoid flavor issues from the contents of the can reacting with metal….you can see this most notably in high-acid foods like tomatoes and pineapple which will eventually react with the can in a way that leaves a black ‘mold’ in the can.
This article seems to suggest that if there is an issue with the cans used these days, the negative impact is as minimal as the risk you get from microwaving your food in a plastic container.
I suppose that in a crisis, two or three days of canned ravioli heated in boiling water will do you far less damage than not eating at all, but I think I’m still inclined to just have a quality mess kit and a way to clean it. I am curious, however, about retort pouches. Obviously MRE’s are designed from the ground up to be heated in boiling water. But what about things like pouches of tuna and chicken from the supermarket? Just as boilable as MRE’s? Or are we back to worrying about plastic liners becoming part of our GI tract?
On the other hand, most foods that are canned are already cooked and simply need to be re-heated to be tasty. That doesn’t mean they can’t be eaten cold…just means they won’t be as enjoyable. And ‘not enjoyable’ beats starvation any day of the week.
A few posts back I mentioned that I had bought a new bunch of Scepter water cans.
Any new plastic container is going to have ‘that plastic smell’. Also, you don’t know where that container has been or what its been exposed to in its time at the warehouse. So, the smart survivalist will clean these things out if for no other reason than to at least get rid of that unappealing strong plastic smell.
Ten bucks up at CostCo gets you about 14# of baking soda. You don’t need 14# of baking soda to wash out a water jug, but more is better, right? I err on the side of overkill, so I fill a gallon pitcher with hot water, dump in about a cup of baking soda, stir well and dump it into the water jug. Seal it up loosely so water can escape a bit and get the threads of the cap. Shake vigorously, shake some more, and then finally shake it vigorously. I give it about 30 seconds of violent shaking so I can feel the water hitting all the sides of the jug. Don’t be gentle.
Now, if you’re just doing one jug, you can dump out the mix and then rinse the thing out thoroughly with cold water from a hose. But, since I’m doing more than one, I’ll dump the mix into the next jug and repeat the process. I’ll do this for two or three jugs and then use some fresh baking soda/water mix.
Keep in mind, when you dump the water/soda mix out of the jug it will leave traces of baking soda on the inside that will eventually dry to a powdery film. This is why the rinse with clear cold water afterwards.
By this method I either totally eliminate the plastic smell, or reduce it to virtually nothing. And, of course, I’ve now cleaned out the inside of the jug. If you’re a suspenders-and-a-belt guy you may want to disinfect or sterilize the jug afterwards. Thats pretty much the same process but using water/bleach instead of water/baking soda.
And, finally, when it’s time to fill these things you can add all sortsa ‘water preservers’ or bleach to promote storage life. Its my understanding that municipal water (“city water”) is fine to store right out of the tap since it has already been treated by the municipal water provider.
I should also point out that I do this for any large plastic container that I am storing something edible in. My buckets for rice, wheat, etc., also get this treatment. In that case it is imperative that you make sure the bucket is completely bone dry before you fill it with your food product. After cleaning I usually let the bucket/container sit in a dry place indoors for a few days to completely dry out.
Can I get away with not doing any of that and just fill the things up without going through that effort? Absolutely. But this is stuff you’re putting away for a rather dire circumstance. When that dire circumstance occurs (or is occurring) aren’t you going to want every confidence and advantage possible? Of course you will…so spend the ten minutes and do the work. Future you will thank you.
I have a Springfield Armory 1911 (my only 1911, in fact) that I bought used many years ago….I’m talking back in the late 80’s or very early 90’s. It has a Baughman ramp front, target rear, full length recoil guide, extended beavertail, adjustable trigger, and at least another half dozen modifications. The previous owner had all this work done because when SA made this thing you couldn’t buy the gun with all those options. Back when this gun was born your only real choices were if you wanted a parkerized or blued copy of a GI 1911. Maybe there were one or two options available like different sights but that was about it. If you wanted all those other bells and whistles…well…you had a trip to the gunsmith in front of you.
Nowadays you can just pull a SKU out of SA’s catalog and get a pistol with even more and better options right off the shelf.
I mention this because I was re-reading an old blog post of Tam’s about the cost of custom guns. The things that she put into a custom .300 Blackout rifle are things that are, to a degree, now available ‘off the rack’ from several different makers. Notably, my Ruger .300 Blackout comes with a threaded barrel, an adjustable trigger, can take detachable magazines, has a good stock, a solid attachment point for optics, optics-ready bolt handle, and a few other features that, for the time period she as doing this in, were ‘custom’.( Her .300, though, is much prettier than my .300 . I wonder if she still has it.)
But what those two guns have in common is that the features we wanted, insisted on actually, eventually wound up becoming ‘standard features’. Other good examples would be pistols from the factory now coming with optic cuts already done. The sudden craze of every rifle barrel from a manufacturer being threaded. Adjustable triggers on everything. It goes on and on.
It used to be that a bespoke boomtoy was so personal and unique an item that it was practically a persons ‘signature’. Elmer Keith’s No. 5, Patton’s Ivory handled SAA, Diaz’ Winchesters, etc. And now, someone somewhere is making exact copies or at least guns that have all those features. Even my BBQ gun isn;t really unique since its a cataloged item with machine engraving…rare, yes. Custom? Absolutely not.
I have one bespoke gun and it’s story is very similar to Tam’s – I bought a bunch of clapped out Mausers from Sarco back in the late 80’s, threw away the stocks and barrels, and cleaned up the actions. I bought a brand new 29″ stepped military barrel in 7×57, put it in, added some Williams receiver sights, blued the whole mess, dropped it into an old commercial Mauser stock of ancient vintage, and made an ugly rifle that I thought was perfect. It doesn’t win any beauty contests but I love shooting it.
I’m not sure you can call anything made of drop-in parts custom, but the most recent might-be-custom gun I have is the Glock I put together a few months back. There isn’t a single thing thats ‘custom’ about it except for the combination of parts which is probably not terribly unusual. But, it’s certainly custom to me.
Custom guns never really ‘pay off’ in the long run. You’ll never get your money out of them, but you do get a higher degree of satisfaction and pleasure, I think, than you would have gotten out of the plain Jane version that was ‘off the rack’.
But it is interesting to note that what used to be considered custom years ago is now, to a degree, mainstream…or at least avaialble on a non-custom basis.
I received a rather early Paratus gift in the mail last week. I’d like to thank the individual who sent it, and assure them that they are, indeed, on the card list.
Paratus, the holiday of survivalists and for survivlists, is September 20th 2024. So, you’ve got about seven weeks to get ready. Everything you ever wanted to know, and didnt want to know, about Paratus is here at the world famous Paratus FAQ.
I’ll be ordering up cards here in a week and going through my Paratus card list. IF you got a card from me last year AND your address has changed – you need to give me the new mailing address.
And, as always, Paratus is what you make it to be. Make some plans, get together with friends, ask your gear suppliers about a Paratus sale, and, most importantly, spread the word to your survivalist friends….the more traction this thing gets the sooner we get to Paratus day sales at PSA and Atlantic Firearms.
I have often said that there will be no prize handed out after the apocalypse to the person who survived using bargain basement or ‘repurposed’ gear. Whether you ride out the apocalypse with washed-out 2-liter pop bottles of water or you ride it out with expensive purpose built five-gallon jerry cans, the results, if you survive, are the same. No one is gonna say ‘wow, you were a better survivalist than this guy’. If all you can afford is 2-liter pop bottles thats one thing, but if you purposefully cheap out when you don’t have to…thats kinda handicapping yourself from the start.
I mention this because I picked up ten new Scepter water jugs the other day and, lordy, they are not inexpensive. At the same time, the local Winco sells camping-style blue water cubes for 1/3 of what the Scepters cost. But, to me, in addition to the rather rugged build of the Scepters there are two other things that appeal to me – portability and adaptability.
What you see here, my friends, are what we survivalists back in the day bought for our bugout kits – an ALICE pack and frame. Here we see just the frame. We also see, mounted on the bottom of the frame, a cargo shelf. We also see two military camming load straps.
Those military-style cans, like the Scepter, are made to fit on that pack cargo shelf. You secure them with the straps and you can now carry that 40# jug of water on your back. That cargo shelf also works for cases of ammo as well.
Another reason I prefer the military style water jugs is the super wide mouth on them. It makes filling and dumping easier , and it lets me reach in there to clean the darn things.
But that super wide mouth also has another advantage. Do you know what a stirrup pump is? It’s a small hand operated pump used in conjunction with a bucket of water to fight fires. They made zillions of these things in Britain during the Blitz for putting out fires after the bombing raids.
The brass part goes inside your water container, usually a bucket, and you stand on the u-shaped metal footrest. With your foot holding the pump in place, you work the handle up and down. The pump ejects water on both the downstroke and the upstroke. Range is about thirty feet or so. One person can use this but its best used as a team. Where does the jerry can come in? Glad you asked:
A handy way of being able to deal with small fires in a crisis. Just the ticket for small grass fires or wetting down an area ahead of a fire.
As I said, unfortunately that sort of utility doesn’t come cheap. But, for me, I’d rather spend the extra money and get something that I have confidence in and that has the portability and utility issue going for it.
On a side note, it was a nightmare getting that stupid pump. Original ones from the WW2 era are available on surplus sites and if you replace the hoses and gaskets they might work just fine. I found this thing in the catalog of a firefighting supply company and they had to import it from Germany. And I had to wait about a year and a few months to get it. Major pain in the ass, but a very nice product. Theres a blog post all about it here.
Remember the coworker I mentioned a few posts back? She finally got power up at her place restored Sunday night. She’s having car problems and her and her husband are sharing one vehicle. I offered to give her a ride home and to reclaim my loaned gear.
As I was driving her outta town I saw, literally, a mile of stumps and matchsticks where the powerlines used to be. Apparently once one or two go, they yank down the others. The wires were laying by the side of the road like garden hoses on a summer day. Some power poles snapped a few feet above the ground but it looks like some were snapped at ground level. It was a mess.
I did see quite a few power trucks and crews driving around so, despite the ‘the power company gives all their money to shareholders and not into maintenance’ ranting from the left here in town, progress is being made. But…those boys have really got their work cut out for them. I hope the folks out there are treating them right.
My new water cans arrived yesterday. Even though I personally suffered zero problems at my house because of this event, that doesn’t mean the possibility isn’t there. I had a half dozen of the Scepter water cans on hand in the basement. I just upped that number with another ten. Why that many? Three reasons: First, why not? Second, it makes it easier for me to help people that I choose to help (enforced charity, rather than charity-by-choice, is not charity), and finally, at some point I’ll need to be stashing some of these at an off-site location…could be Commander Zero’s Post Apocalyptic Bunker O’ Love And Lingerie Proving Ground, or it could be at a friends outbuilding along with a Pelican case of gear and some fuel cans. Regardless, they seemed like a good idea.
I really need to get my little hideaway set up and online. I am rapidly losing my ability to let living around these useless people not get to me.
A few years back, I read a piece on crisis management and why people screw up so badly, over and over. The writer, who is some sort of expert on the subject, said the chain of denial reasoning goes like this:
It won’t happen.
OK, it’s going to happen, but not to me.
OK, it’s going to happen to me, but it won’t be that bad.
OK, it happened to me, and it was so bad, there was nothing I could have done about it anyway.
This commenter is absolutely correct. As a disaster progresses, the unprepared go though those stages and never imagine that their level of suffering is inversely proportional to the amount of personal responsibility they’ve undertaken. The larger overall problem, I suppose, is that no one wants to take responsibility. In my town, like many other places, we have a huge amount of homeless people causing all sorts of problems. The lefties in town demand that we provide all sorts of services and accommodations for these ‘neighbors’. But, if you ask what about the responsibilities of the homeless to actively take part in their redemption…well, you’re clearly lacking empathy. The notion of taking responsibility for your situation is just not on the radar for these people….its all about the feels. Empathy, compassion, solidarity, etc, etc.
When it’s 2am and there’s no electricty, your water pump is dead as a doornail, there’s a puddle forming under your fridge, and the kids are telling you theyre scared….which would you rather have…empathy or a generator, some stored gas, and a few flashlights?
I really don’t want to be a misanthrope. I think that people are not fundamentally bad, but they are dangerous, not just when when they’re scared. It’s just downright foolish to ignore that the other person’s self-interest will usually trump yours. Men In Black was a popcorn movie but it had this nugget that will be forever making the rounds on the internet:
“A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it.”
And, worst of all, their vote counts as much as yours or mine.
I cannot get my heavily fortified little slice of Montana fast enough.
