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Augason Farms Cheese Powder

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As I mentioned earlier, the local WinCo had restocked on Augason Farms food storage. One of the things that was there that I had not seen previously was the cheese sauce. Off the top of my head, the thing that would benefit mostly from this would be the simple meal of macaroni-and-cheese.

The LDS cannery people offer #10 cans full of elbow macaroni, and that stuff keeps quite a while. A case of that, a can of this cheese blend, and you can feed a lot of people without too much fuss. Nutritional value? Probably sketchy. But macaroni-and-cheese will fill up the entire church basement full of refugees without too much fuss. Bonus is that the kids are probably already used to it. Its a no muss, no fuss meal.

So…lets crank a can open and see what we have:

A can of … orange powder. What a shock. Theres a lot in there. There’s also a handful of oxy absorbers hidden in there too. I’m guessing this stuff is pretty hygroscopic, so get what you need and then seal that can back up. The can says to use a 2:1 ratio of water:mix. I followed the instructions and did exactly that.

The instructions say to bring the water to a boil and whisk in the mix, stirring for a couple minutes until it thickens. The thickening part seemed to take a while. My suggestion would be to use some of the starch-loaded pasta water to help thicken this stuff. I guess we better make some elbow macaroni to go with this.

Elbow macaroni is kind of a staple in many storage food pantries. Any interesting shaped pasta should work for this purpose…shells, penne, ziti, orrecchiette, orzo, etc. So, cook up some elbow macaroni until it is al dente, drain, and mix with sauce.

And…thumbs up. It was pretty good. It did need to be a bit thicker but thats easy enough to do. I might throw in a little butter, and perhaps use milk instead of water next time. But, overall…….good product. A little goes a long way, by the way.

Definitely good for mac and cheese. Theres a recipe on the can for making a queso dip. Im told that sprinkling this on popcorn would have some appeal as well. For me, it seems like an excellent choice for feeding a buncha people in a hurry with something everyone will like and that doesn’t require a lot of effort. So, yeah…I’ll pick up a couple cans this weekend and tuck ’em away with the LDS cans of elbow mac.

Go. Buy with confidence.

Last Blogger Standing II

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First off, for context, let me link to a five year old post: Last Blogger Standing

I’ve gotten a couple messages in the last few days from people noting that it seems like the number of preparedness blogs (or related material) seem to be dwindling.

Off the top of my head, I can think of a handful that are no longer around. The most sorely missed, by me anyway, was Self Sufficient Mountain Living which was my favorite. Claire Wolf has stepped back and semi-retired from her blog, Dakin shuffled off the non-corporeal plane as did a couple other folks. And some folks just up and disappeared, leaving their blog up with their last post being years ago.

At this point, and please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, I think the longevity title is between me and ,Rawles. As I’ve said before, I am most definitely not in this for the money, its more of a passion/vanity project for me. A little Amazon affiliate money shows up once in a while, and Patreon kicks in a few bucks a month, but other than that….nada. And that’s fine. I will say, however, that if you ever do think “Dang, he really nailed it on the head with that last post” please feel free to send me something in the mail or Patreon. I;ve even had people email me gift cards in the past. I’m not proud, I’ll happily take whatever renumeration you want to give.

In the last few years, I feel like my motivation has changed when it comes to this blog. More and more, I feel like my mission, such as it is, is to encourage and motivate the people who think like me, and to help bring people over to ‘my side’. Sort of a combination of morale officer and recruitment officer. To make sure that you know you’re not being ‘crazy’ or ‘weird’ when you buy three cases of TP at CostCo, bury a 10/22 in the woods, or map out ‘bug out routes’ from your AO. The world is on fire and people are telling you everything is fine. Anyone who doesn’t increase their resilience in the face of what we see on the news today is the crazy one.

I’ve no intention of leaving the blogosphere any time soon. Especially how, year after year, it seems we are getting into those ‘interesting times’. Why would I?

Of course, some things are out of my hands. I could get hit by a bus tomorrow, have a widowmaker heart attack tonight, or die in another home invasion….who can say? Maybe one day I’ll wake up and just want to re-invent my whole life and that’ll include leaving the blog behind. Could happen. But, for now, I’m not planning on going anywhere.

So, yes…it does seem like the number of preparedness blogs is going down. But one other reason for that, and this might be a good thing, is that perparedness is becoming more mainstream and less niche…therefore it doesn’t need the ‘underground’ of blogs and websites (or, gong back really far,BBS’s and Usenet groups) that supported it back in the day.

Perhaps preparedness/survivalism is finally ‘out of the closet’ enough that the need for a handful of standard-bearers has passed. Certainly, it seems like its less fringe and more mainstream these days.

Regardless, I agree…it does seem that the presence of active preparedness blogs (that aren’t just shills for ad revenue) seems to be on the downward trend. But, your buddy Zero is here for now.

Building the wall

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I finally received all the parts for putting together the gunwall I ordered up from Gallowtech.I spent most of today putting it together and getting it set up the way I wanted.

Normally, I’d share pictures but, unfortunately, this is a PerSec issue so I can’t really show the pictures. However, I can say that it does a very nice job of helping me get the gunclutter problem under control.

It actually looks not too much different than this. Just….more of it.

It wasn’t cheap, but it really does make a difference in terms of getting most of the stray boomtoys rounded up and secured. It’s definitely one of those things that will not convey if I ever sell this place….that sucker is going with me to the new place.

The modularity is what really make it worth the money, for me. As my acquisitions change or evolve, I can adjust my storage system to match. That’s pretty much the reason I didn’t just sit down with a buncha lumber, some deck screws, a chop saw, and make my own.

And, honestly, it looks pretty cool too.

Not every survivalist ‘needs’ this many guns. Tappan’s “Survival Guns” is considered by many to be a bit over-the-top in terms of guns he recommend that the savvy survivalist own. I don’t recall the exact number, but once you got past defensive pistols, working pistols, pocket pistols, hunting pistols, etc, Tappan was advocating something like 15 handguns. Contrast this with the fact that most people will not own fifteen different handguns over an entire lifetime. Heck, we all know that one old guy who owns something like two or three handguns and he’s had them ever since he got out of the Army after Korea. My ownership numbers definitely trend towards the far side of that bell curve.

My way of thinking has always been to assume that what I have now is all I’ll ever be able to have, therefore I need to have enough to last me against all the possible futures that could occur in the next 25 years. So…a little gun heavy. Guns seldom go down in value, so even if no legislative changes occur to preclude future purchase, I’m still ahead of the game by beating inflation..

But, overall, I like the Gallowtech product. It seems well made, is modular, looks good, and has enough accessories and ways to arrange them that I think it should fit my needs for now. But, most importantly, I am very glad to have all these dang guns out from underfoot.

WinCo is at it again

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The cheese powder is new…might have to get some to try out for post-apocalyptic mac-n-cheese. Not the price on freeze dried strawberries….$3 per ounce, or $48 per pound. Let me crunch some numbers while you go  look at these pictures…..


Strawberries appear to be $3.49/#, or .22/ounce locally. Quick Googling shows that freeze drying strawberries reduces their weight (not volume) by about 88%. So, to get one ounce of freeze dried strawberries you need to start with about 8.33 ounces..or, in other words, a ratio of 8.33:1.

If strawberries are $3.49/#, then 8.33 ounces (52% of a pound) of strawberries would cost $1.81.

So, the can of Augason FD sstrawberries, at 6.4 ounces, contains 3.33 pounds of strawberries before FD processing.

Augason is $3.00/oz for FD strawberries. You can make them yourself for $1.81/oz. You would save $1.19 per oz. At $1600 you would need to make 884 ounces (55#) of FD strawberries for the machine to pay for itself. That would be the equivalent of 138 cans of strawberries.

Obviously the margins, and therefore the returns, on more expensive things like meat would result in ‘paying off’ the purchase of the machine faster.

Something to think about.

CostCo freeze dryer

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Ok, that caught me completely by surprise:

$2295 from the manufacturers website

I know from what I’ve seen on the internet that the oil pump system is annoying, messy, and kind of a pain. The optional non-oil pump system is rather expensive but if you offset it with the savings from getting this at CostCo….well, that might make it worthwhile.

But…heres the other thing: CostCo has a very generous return policy. So, perhaps after a while you may decide this product isn’t for you. Head back to CostCo, hand it back, and get your money back.

Hmmm…I have a large amount of freeze drieds already, but this would be interesting to experiment with. And I know enough local LMI that perhaps we could ‘group buy’ it and shuttle it around to our respective locations for use.

Also, how big could the market for this really be at CostCo? Perhaps if I’m patient I’ll see it marked down l50%~ like the LifeStraws. Maybe get it for under $1000 in a couple months.

Hmmmmm.

Rangetime with the FN

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Took the FN TAC3 out for a spin yesterday. I had held off on going to the range with it because I was waiting for the optic to arrive. And…it arrived yesterday.

Its an Eotech XPS2. I had been looking at various ‘dot scopes’ and wanted to give the Eotech a try. They have a reputation for durability, and I’m looking for end-of-the-world resilience. I have a dot on my MP5A2 clone, a Sig Romeo XT Pro and I like it a lot…strong recommend. I’m rapidly becoming a fan of these types of optics, but I am making sure not to like them at the expense of my iron sights. Even as durable as these things are purported to be, with battery life measured in years, I still make sure every gun has a set of sighted-in iron sights. Because.

Anyway…. Took it to the range, sighted in, and started shooting the steel plates. The FN has a military trigger but it’s got a smooth travel and good break. Actually a very nice trigger. Accuracy was also quite good, even with the 1x of the optic. I might have to get a magnifier just because. I only put about sixty rounds through it since it was getting late and I was doing this right after work…and darkness is coming earlier.

Overall, I really like this AR. I need to really sit down with it, solidly rest it, and see what it can do but so far I’m really pleased. I’ll be swapping the muzzle device for something conducive to a suppressor, drop a light on it, and that’ll be that. I really look forward to shooting this thing some more.

Do I like it better than my Colt? Well…yes, but thats because the Colt is in ‘classic’ M4 attire with front sight tower and round handguards. A capable and good rig, no doubt…but it doesn’t lend itself as easily to what I’m wanting to do. But…still a nice gun.

 

 

Hurricane aftermath

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I live in a region that, barring some wild geological experience, will never see a hurricane. I’ve been in some though, back when I lived on he east coast.

I’m watching the news out of the affected areas and I still don’t understand how, when you have several days of advance warning, you havent either A) followed the first rule of surviving a disaster (Answer: Don’ be there) or B) prepared themselves.

I’d mentioned that all these people complaining about their local governments not providing drinking water could have had several cases of the stuff from WalMart all for the price of a couple beers and packs of Marlboros. Someone opined that I was being harsh because perhaps these people were forced out of their houses and had to leave their supplies behind.

Not sure I agree with that. If youre savvy enough to lay in supplies then youre savvy enough to have some packed up for when you need to go go go. And if you’re really that on top of things then you probably have your act together enough to have left the area with your gear to begin with.

But, setting that aside, I am just unable to comprehend how many people didn’t read the blindingly obvious writing on the wall and either beat feet or stockpile supplies.

I am not entirely unsympathetic. Even Burt Gummer wound up basically a refugee when his bunker was compromised and destroyed. But Burt didn’t bitch about the .gov not helping him, and he kept on going. A fictional character, yes…but not a fictional attitude.

But…it’s easy to armchair quarterback things when I’m not the one watching my house float away, but still…where are the stories of the squared away people with their generators and supplies sitting on their porches casually performing overwatch against looters?

AR stuff

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Picked up a new AR today. I’d been wanting a slightly ‘upper tier’ AR for a while now. I’ve a stack of Palmettos, Stags, Bushmasters, Rugers, etc. but I kinda wanted something with a little more high-end quality. You can spend a lot in the AR world for a Noveske or an LMT or some other top-tier brand and I wouldn’t mind having one. But…I’m not quite there yet. I did want to get something, though, a bit better than what I have. One of my vendors was having a sale and I decided that the folks at FN have been stamping out guns for the better part of over 100 years…let’s get one of their AR’s.

Nothing terribly fancy. Its an FN TAC3 which is what the pattern for most AR carbines seems to be these days – M-lok handguard, telestock, no front sight tower, lotsa pic rail. I’m throwing an Eotech on there, some BUIS, swapping out the muzzle device for a quick mount for a suppressor, adding a light, and calling it a day.

I’ve been shooting AR’s since…mmm…the late 80’s. I think I’ve owned every brand that was extant back then and have seen some weird ones come and go. Back in the day, you didn’t have M4geries…they were called CAR-15’s. If you had an AR you most likely had a full size 20″ rifle. Back then it was Colt, Bushmaster, Olympic, and DPMS. There might have been a few outliers but those were the main brands.

Pic rail wasn’t a thing yet, and attaching a flashlight to your gun never really occurred to us. Flattops were definitely not a thing….AR’s all had carry handles. If you were tacticool you might have the Colt carry-handle scope or an Armson OEG on there. If it was a CAR-15, odds are good you had about 4″ of flash suppressor hanging off the front of your gun to make it legal length,

Mags were aluminum from Okay, Adventureline, Colt, Sierra, and a handful of other makers. If you wanted a drum there was a massive plastic 90-round monstrosity you could buy. If you wanted to really go off the deep end, the guys at LL Baston made mounts to mount an underbarrel shotgun like it was an M203. … an idea that is yet to die. I have never seen one in real life.

As time went on, the ‘rankings’ of manufacturers waxed and waned. The “ABC’s” (Armalite, Bushmaster, Colt) were the highly regarded top-tier guns (mind you this was damn near 40 years ago), and things like Olympic and DPMS were the ‘budget’ guns…much like Anderson/Palmetto today.

Also, way back then (late 80’s), Vietnam was still a relatively fresh memory. You could have a guy who had seen the elephant over there who was still less than 40 years old. The stories about the reliability issues of early M16’s were still being loudly preached. In fact, I know a guy here in town, former crew chief on a Chinook, who has nothing but venomous spite for the gun.

Calibers were strictly .223 and the flavor of the day was 55 gr. ball. Maybe 52 in some batches. Ar’s in other calibers wouldn’t be a readily available thing for a number of years.

Accessories were limited…you could buy surplus USGI 3-mag ALICE pouches and that was pretty much it.  You had a GI cleaning kit in the buttstock. A GI sling finished the ensemble.

Nowadays, of course, its a different story. The AR is a ubiquitous platform with dozens of manufacturers, hundreds of third-party accessory manufacturers, a dozen calibers, and the modualr aspect of the rifle has been amplified and improved over the sixty years this thing has been around.

Which brings me to my new FN. It’s as far a cry from one of my early CAR-15’s as you can imagine. It’s more adaptable to things like lights and optics, is probably more reliable, has a freefloated barrel, and is probably more accurate with its heavier profile.

So, long story to simply say that I’m getting to be an old dude who can say “I remember when…”.

But..new toy, so yay!

 

The Road

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A while back I looked at a piece of property that had the acreage and distance that I wanted in a piece of dirt, but one of the tings that queered the deal was the road.

See, I don’t mind a piece of property that says in its listing “have to snowmobile in in the winter”. I have no problem with that. I have a fantasy of taking a week off over Christmas and ensconcing myself in my cozy little casa and watching the snow pile up outside as I listen to the fire in the woodstove crackle and I enjoy the utter lack of people.

But the problem is, while that sounds awesome there are other things to consider. If youre buying a piece of land with the intention of building on it, you need to get things there. And while a barely-a-road is great for keeping the Golden Horde at bay, it works against you when it comes to things like well-drilling rigs, propane trucks, cement mixers, prefab concrete septic vault flatbeds, cranes, and a bunch of other rather large and cumbersome vehicles that youre probably going to want to have to make things easy.

Could you build your dream bunker using just supplies you haul in on a small trailer on the back of your four wheeler? Sure…I’m sure it’s been done. But your expenses are going to multiply at an exponential rate. A dozen ten mile round trips to haul what could otherwise have been done in one fell swoop with a large flatbed truck  is an expensive way to do business.

And so, we are back to the survivalists dilemma – you want remote enough to give you privacy and keep folks away, but you need it to have a level of accessibility that directly results in the opposite.

I suppose one tradeoff is to lower your expectations – either on the privacy and remoteness, or on the grandeur and scope of what you plan to build.

Of course, people will start mentioning in the comments how there are super 4×4 trucks that can navigate a 90-degree incline and climb hills that would freak a yak. Well, that may be true…but the odds that Billy Bob’s Well Drilling or Guido’s Concrete Pumping in the middle of Sheephump MT has those is….slim. Now, another option would be that you have a decent road to get in the vehicles and equipment you need and then once thats done you make the road indecent. There’s a thought.

And let’s not be confused…a simple dirt road is fine. There’s a lot of equipment that can be brought in on a regular dirt road. I’m talking about a road that is rutted by cattle, poor drainage, and a host of other factors…in addition to being narrow and bracketed at points by trees right up against the edge of the road.

So, what I’m saying here is that something I hadn’t thought about factoring into the decision process was the accessibility of heavy vehicles and equipment. Look, I love the idea of being far enough back in the sticks that every yahoo without a 4×4 is gonna look at the route to my place and go “Yeah, no.” But I can’t afford to spend tens of thousands of dollars doing some logistical workaround to a problem that is avoided by simply not having a goat trail for a road.