Category Archives: Uncategorized

Seasons Heatings

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Ah, the joys of home ownership….

The furnace decided to not do its thing yesterday. I’m hoping it is something as simple as a bad thermocoupler that needs replacement. But, the issue remains, in the middle of a Montana winter, how do you keep your house warm enough to keep things going and keep the pipes from freezing?

Dude….I’m prepared for this.

I have two kerosene heaters sitting in storage. One is none and all that. Anyway, I pulled the plastic bag that I was using as a dust cover off it an, to my surprise, found an index card clipped to the top of the heater….”Cleaned, run for half hour, filled – 11/2018″.

Apparently, four years ago, Past Me decided to do some forward thinking. Set up the heater, put fresh batteries in the electric ignitier, and -poof- … heat. Since I have electricity, I grabbed a box fan, put it near the heater, pointed it at the ceiling, and let ‘er rip. The thermostat steadily climbed and after an hour or so I had a gain from 57 degrees to a balmy 66. Thats actually warmer than I usually keep the house in the winter.

Still waiting for the furnace guy to show up, but in the meantime there are a bunch of takeaways that I need to act upon:

  • Inspect and operate the heater at least once a season.
  • Make sure heater is filled 100%, has spare parts, spare batteries, matches to light it if batteries are unavailable, etc.
  • Lighting the heater with matches is a convoluted affair. I need to drill a hole in the side of the casing so that a fireplace match can be inserted to light the wick manually
  • Biggest takeaway: my heaters are two different brands and models. I need to get two identical ones for logistics and operating simplicity. Thats gonna be a few bucks, but I think it’ll be worth it in the long run.

In addition to the heater, I always keep fire extinguishers, CO detector, fuel siphon, and other related materials handy in a large ammo can.

In addition to the kerosene heaters, I also have a couple of the Mr Heater ‘Buddy’ heaters. They are, in my opinion, ideal for spot-heating a small room. My computer room is a spare bedroom measuring about 11×10 and this thing does a wonderful job heating it up and keeping it warm for several hours on one 1# propane bottle. Highly recommended product.

In the meantime, I need to see how the furnace guy replaces the thermocouple. The replacing isn’t the hard part, its getting access to the thermocouple thats tricky. But…fortunately a life of quiet survivalism left me with plenty of options to keep things close to normal heat-wise.

 

 

Seasons Beatings

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Ah, ‘Tis becoming the holiday season….Chrismahanakwanzakah. Funny how all those gift-giving holidays are timed right around December, isn’t it?

Slightly dated, still on-point.

What does the Zero want for gifts this year? Well, a series of huge rallies in the stock market would be nice. Other than that, I’m fairly content with what I have. Just gild the lily a bit here and there….a little ammo to top things off, a little more freeze drieds to top things off, etc. But, by and large, I’m good with just a card or something.

However….. 😉

If you’re the generous type who thinks, “You know, that long-suffering survivalist in Montana does a fairly good job of entertaining me. Heck, I should do something for him.” Well….Im not gonna say no.

Either sign up through Patreon to kick in a couple bucks a month, or email me an Amazon gift card I can use to buy..well…pretty much anything. Esbt tabs, mag pouchs, radio cables, CR123 batts, knife sharpeners, that sort of thing.

Being Commander Zero is an often thankless task, but sometimes nice things occur. A couple times this year I got a silver dime or quarter in the mail, or someone sent a gift card or similar code for Amazon. All very thoughtful and greatly appreciated actions.

Regardless, whatever holiday you observe/celebrate/emulate/ridicule this season, try to have fun and ennjoy whats left of the American economy and civilization.

 

Mountain House MCW overruns

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The folks at Mountain House were offering for sale what appears to be some MCW rations that I am guessing were part of a contract overrun. Spaghetti w meat sauce, chicken with rice, and breakfast skillet. I actually have, literally, 15-gallon drums filled with pouches of freeze drieds, but I got these anyway.

These are slightly more compact than the Pro-Pak series of meals MH offers, and I wanted something for where space is at a premium. Most notably, for when I travel by air and risk getting caught in an airport overnight without food options. A couple of these, an electric immersion water heater, and a plastic spoon make for dinner.

How big? About the same footprint as a 20-rd AR mag, although thicker.

Weight is approx. 4 oz. and calls for 16 oz. of water, so in theory you’re looking at a 20 oz. meal.

Given the compact nature of these, I’ll definitely tuck them away for the situations where space/weight/size is a big factor. But they should do quite well for my airport-layover-kit.

They are available on MH’s website, but the retail price is a bit painful. Dealer is about $5 less per package. Twenty to a case. Might be worth checking out.

Weaponlight upgrade

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I try not to be a dinosaur, but sometimes it just happens. Case in point: weaponlights.

This is the G19 I keep on the nightstand:

It’s been sitting by the bed for…mmmm…the last15 years, at least. It wears some night sights that, really, I should be replacing and it also has a Streamlight M3. This is a weaponlight that, in todays world of high-tech, would not even rise to the level of airsoft. At the time I got it, which was probably 20 years ago, it was decent. But, time and tech march on. I was at a gun show today and thought perhaps it was time to up my game.

This is an Olight Valkyrie PL-Pro that I picked up at the gun show. It surpasses my ancient M3 in so many ways that the only real way to express it is through a picture:

And that is not with weak or dying CR-123’s in that M3. The simple truth is that battery and LED technology have advanced so far since I purchased the M3 that, compared to what is available now, the M3 doesn’t even clock in as ‘toy quality’.

And speaking of technology, the M3 has one function: on/off. This Olight has a high, low, strobe, temporary on, constant on, and a lockout function. Even more interestingly, it is chargeable through USB.

And…the unit has a low charge warning indicator, and a charging/full indicator on the charger. And that charger, by the way, attached magentically…which is kinda neat.

And since its LED you get brighter light, longer battery life, and less fragility than with the older incandescent bulbs. Man, how technology has changed.

So…upgrade time for the trusty bedroom Glock. So far it seems like a fine product and I might get another one or two fr some of my other pistols. After all, its dark 50% of the time. Oh…and I need to swap out those faded tritiums as well.

‘Tis the season for holiday upgrades!

The return of canning supplies

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A trip to WinCo this evening shows that, at least at this location, the supply of canning jar lids and related materials has returned to normal. (Or, I suppose, normal-ish.)

Much like how the Great Primer Scare of the ’90s turned many of us into primer hoarders, this recent experience in being unable to locate canning lids has made me quite certain that my future plans include keeping several hundred lids on hand at all times. You know….just in case.

I don’t enjoy canning. I have better things to do with my time than stand around and babysit what is basically a potential boiler explosion for 70 minutes. I dont dislike canning, but, dang it, I’ve got better things to do.

However..I do enjoy eating. And I’m a huge fan of saving money and not starving to death. So….canning.

And that canning requires one critical component: jar lids.

So, I havent inventoried them but I should be sitting somewhere near a thousand or so lids at the moment. At one pint of canned meat or other food per day, that would be about three years of canned food. Of course, keeping a thousand pint jars on hand is unlikely but I do have a hundred or so, which should, I think, see me though most tough times.

But the lids…..like primers they are the one critical and expendable component that bottlenecks the whole process if you can’t find them.

Glad to see theyre back in stock. For now.

Why all those gas cans?

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So I ordered up a goodly amount of new NATO-style gas cans the other day. A reasonable person might ask, “Why do you need so many?”

Like it or not, the world runs on gas and oil. Most of us get our gas the same way – we trundle down to the gas station and fill our cars and gas cans. What can prevent that? Tons of things, man. What shuts down a gas station? Lack of product, outrageous demand,  lack of electricity for pumps, curfews, riots, government mandate, etc, etc.

It’s not unreasonable to think that, in even a moderate crisis such as a blizzard or hurricane, your local gas station is going to either have sold out of all their gas, or their pumps aren’t working, or they haven’t been able to get restocked. And that’s assuming that .gov doesnt shut them down to begin with or restrict their sales to .gov organizations only.

But, since I’m sitting in a well-fortified and well-stocked house, why would I need so much gasoline? I’m not going anywhere, right? Well, not if I can help it. But….sometimes things don’t go as planned, for whatever reason, and I might need to be somewhere else. In that case, the last thing I want is to be standing in a crowded line of frightened, panicked, angry people.

But…there’s other reasons to keep a goodly amount of fuel handy. Even if I don’t go anywhere, I’m still going to need gas for the generator. And, depending on the situation and the nature of the relationship with my neighbors, it wouldn’t be a bad thing to be in a position to help them out..if I choose to.

I mean, even if you think that your particular situation is so well squared away that gasoline isn’t a priority for you, for whatever reason…it’s still probably a good idea to have some on hand. Generators, chainsaws, snow blowers, lanterns, four wheelers, water pumps, etc, etc, all need gas. It’d be a little short sighted to think that just because you don’t foresee needing it for a vehicle or a generator you can ignore keeping some around.

Heck, you get a hurricane and your vehicle is outta commission, you gotta have something to offer someone to take you and your gear outta harms way. Being able to gas up someone elses vehicle can go a long way towards getting them to make room in the back for you. Same for generators. Maybe yours craps out or is in the shop. Offer to fuel up the neighbor’s genny and I’ve no doubt he’d let you run an extension cord to your place for your freezer.

So, thats why, for me, buying that many gas cans isn’t a bad idea. The more fuel I have the further I increase my ‘range of safety’ to get away from trouble, the longer I run my generator to keep my freezer going, the more help I can offer to people I deem worthy of helping, etc.

For my needs, those NATO cans are perfect. They seal up tight, don’t ‘breathe’ like plastic cans do, are easier to handle, and take abuse exceptionally well. And, this is important ,guys – these things are only going to be more expensive later, assuming you can find them at all. Two AM by the side of the road in a downpour during a crisis because you thought “I’ll just swing by the Conoco and gas up…I’m sure they still have gas” is a situation easily avoided.

And, of course, if youre going to store gas, do it safely. Store it outside your home in a shed, barn, garage, or under a tarp along the side of your shed. Use a gas stabilizer to keep it from ‘going bad’ (I use PRI-G), and make a note on the can of when you filled it up and make sure to rotate it every year or so.

If you like your gas can spout, you can keep your gas can spout. Unfortunately, .gov had to dick around with things and now the only spouts easily found for gas cans are these insanely stupid non-spill spouts. Screw ’em. I lanyard a funnel to every other can, but it’s easy enough to find the matching spouts for these cans that don’t use those ridiculous shut-off mechanisms that California wound up mandating.

So there you go. Why so many gas cans? Thats why.

Higher Breyers

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Went grocery shopping yesterday to try and catch some post-Thanksgiving turkey sales. Didnt really see anything spectacular, but I did notice that my favorite ice cream…Breyers…was at…wait for it…..over $7 for a not-a-half gallon. Merciful Crom, when the heck did $7 for grocery-store-quality ice cream become normal?

This is one of the reasons I feel a bit pleased with myself in terms of being a survivalist. When food, fuel, and other staples start getting out of control, and wages don’t keep up, I can dilute the effect by relying on my rather prodigious stash of supplies.

But, also, my survivalist lifestyle and its non-stop concern for consequences has led me to a life where, when ice cream hits $7 and gas hits $5, I can absorb it without too much difficulty because i’ve lived a life of financial moderation. No mortgage, no student loans, no car loans, no bank loans, no medical debt. Doesn’t mean I’m indifferent to the mess that the economy is being made into, just means I can weather it better than Joe Sixpack who spends it as fast as he gets it on stupid stuff like big screen televisions, jet skis, and chrome wheels.

But, dang it, $7 for ice cream is just ridiculous. And it doesnt stop there… I hit Wendy’s for lunch and a double cheeseburger, fries, and a coke is $12. What the heck??? I don’t want to be one of those guys from my childhood who, when confronted with a price they didnt like, would say “When I was a kid, this cost a nickel”, but that same combo was $7 just a couple years ago.

Being a survivalist is more than a basement full of MRE’s and 5.56mm. It’s thinking about the potential possibilities of what the future may bring. As they say, “the dildo of consequences rarely arrives lubed”. And thinking about consequences is a really large part of what being a survivalist is really about.

Being forced to choose between food and gas, rent or medicine, or an emergency room visit versus shoes for the kids, is no way to live. I feel bad for people who are in that strait, but most people have had just as long to get ready for this sort of thing as I did…and they had better income during that time. So, yeah, I feel bad for you but you’re the one who played your mandolin all summer while Ii was getting ready for winter.