Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Life as the Zero is not all sunshine and stun grenades…

I’m pleased about the acquisition of kerosene the other day. It brings current inventory levels to slightly higher that what Id originally wanted them to be. In short, according to my plans, I have extra. This is good. Kerosene is simply one fuel that I plan on having available. Its the most advantageous, as far as Im concerned. Its got longer shelf life than gasoline, burns hotter than alcohol, is cheaper than white gas, and is easier to store away than propane. Although, honestly, I think propane is the way to go…if I had a house somewhere out in the sticks it would run on propane. Of course, I’d also have to have someone come in once a year to fill the tanks and that might be a trick out in a really remote place….although you could fill a huge tank off of some 20# barbecue-bombs but it would take a while.

The AK is appealling to me more and more….its only selling point is its economy of function (cheap ammo, cheap mags) and its utter reliability. Still want a Yugo SKS though…just to keep around as a ‘disposable’ I-dont-care-what-happens-to-it semi-auto carbine.

Picked up the Ball Blue Book on home canning the other day. Theres about fifty tomato plants in the yard at the moment and when those babies start spitting out Romas I plan on pulling up some of the onions and garlic, clipping off some basil and oregano, and can some homemade spaghetti sauce. (’Bunker tested, Zero approved’) I’ve a nice pressure canner that I’ve been wanting to try for a while and canning some tomatoes and spaghetti sauce seems like a good reason to give it a go. Yes, I could go the water-bath route for something like tomatoes which are high-acid but I want the extra margin of safety from the pressure canning method.

Fourth of July celebrations are being mentioned as possible terrorist targets…eh..maybe. I think the crown jewel for this year will be the Republican convention in NYC. Admittedly the goons that run NYC are going to be in no mood for any crap from anyone, be it protester, terrorist or self-described ‘anarchists’. But were I of the terrorist mind, I’d think the convention would be an ideal target. Of course, I am also predicting a Spain-style terrorist attack shortly before the elections in November.

One thing on the agenda that I really need to work on this year is radio communications. I’ve an ‘export’ radio that was tweaked out to work in ways the FCC would not approve of, that works on, I believe, 10 and 11-meter. It also puts out a fair amount of power. I need to get a good power supply for it but more importantly I need to get an antannae up for it. I could, I suppose, go the ham radio route but Im loathe to add myself to another federal agencies database. Besides, the situation in which I would need these communications is a situation in which the FCC is probably no longer around.

This reminds me, I also need to, at some point, get a nice radio scanner.

And, naturally, all of these devices must run on common size batteries (preferably AA or D) and also be adaptable to 12v systems. (AA and D are pretty much the most common battery sizes. If Im buying electronic gizmos I try to make sure they use one of those two sizes of batteries. Makes things alot easier. There are adapters out there that let you use AA in D devices, C in D, etc, etc, but Id rather simplify things by just standardizing battery sizes.)

Speaking of Fourth Of July…nows the time to buy ‘useful’ fireworks. Ive a recipe around here somewhere for making homemade teargas grenades out of 4oJ smoke bombs, road flares and crushed red pepper. Smoke generating devices are always nice to have around. And a surprising number of fireworks have useful applications as perimeter warning devices.

Life as the Zero is not all sunshine and stun grenades…

I’m pleased about the acquisition of kerosene the other day. It brings current inventory levels to slightly higher that what Id originally wanted them to be. In short, according to my plans, I have extra. This is good. Kerosene is simply one fuel that I plan on having available. Its the most advantageous, as far as Im concerned. Its got longer shelf life than gasoline, burns hotter than alcohol, is cheaper than white gas, and is easier to store away than propane. Although, honestly, I think propane is the way to go…if I had a house somewhere out in the sticks it would run on propane. Of course, I’d also have to have someone come in once a year to fill the tanks and that might be a trick out in a really remote place….although you could fill a huge tank off of some 20# barbecue-bombs but it would take a while.

The AK is appealling to me more and more….its only selling point is its economy of function (cheap ammo, cheap mags) and its utter reliability. Still want a Yugo SKS though…just to keep around as a ‘disposable’ I-dont-care-what-happens-to-it semi-auto carbine.

Picked up the Ball Blue Book on home canning the other day. Theres about fifty tomato plants in the yard at the moment and when those babies start spitting out Romas I plan on pulling up some of the onions and garlic, clipping off some basil and oregano, and can some homemade spaghetti sauce. (‘Bunker tested, Zero approved’) I’ve a nice pressure canner that I’ve been wanting to try for a while and canning some tomatoes and spaghetti sauce seems like a good reason to give it a go. Yes, I could go the water-bath route for something like tomatoes which are high-acid but I want the extra margin of safety from the pressure canning method.

Fourth of July celebrations are being mentioned as possible terrorist targets…eh..maybe. I think the crown jewel for this year will be the Republican convention in NYC. Admittedly the goons that run NYC are going to be in no mood for any crap from anyone, be it protester, terrorist or self-described ‘anarchists’. But were I of the terrorist mind, I’d think the convention would be an ideal target. Of course, I am also predicting a Spain-style terrorist attack shortly before the elections in November.

One thing on the agenda that I really need to work on this year is radio communications. I’ve an ‘export’ radio that was tweaked out to work in ways the FCC would not approve of, that works on, I believe, 10 and 11-meter. It also puts out a fair amount of power. I need to get a good power supply for it but more importantly I need to get an antannae up for it. I could, I suppose, go the ham radio route but Im loathe to add myself to another federal agencies database. Besides, the situation in which I would need these communications is a situation in which the FCC is probably no longer around.

This reminds me, I also need to, at some point, get a nice radio scanner.

And, naturally, all of these devices must run on common size batteries (preferably AA or D) and also be adaptable to 12v systems. (AA and D are pretty much the most common battery sizes. If Im buying electronic gizmos I try to make sure they use one of those two sizes of batteries. Makes things alot easier. There are adapters out there that let you use AA in D devices, C in D, etc, etc, but Id rather simplify things by just standardizing battery sizes.)

Speaking of Fourth Of July…nows the time to buy ‘useful’ fireworks. Ive a recipe around here somewhere for making homemade teargas grenades out of 4oJ smoke bombs, road flares and crushed red pepper. Smoke generating devices are always nice to have around. And a surprising number of fireworks have useful applications as perimeter warning devices.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

I love kerosene…safe to handle, safe to store, shelflife that beats the crap out of gasoline, burns hot and is fairly easy to find.

And then, like a sign from the Preparedness Gods, a boon was given unto Zero.

Yea. Verily.

While walking into Home Depot I saw a pyramid made of black 5-gallon drums of kerosene. The sign said : Regular $18.99, Sale $5.00

Thats right kids, a buck a gallon for kerosene. Cheaper than gas, cheaper than milk, and darn near as cheap as bottled water.

I have kerosene lamps, kerosene heater, and my multi-fuel stove can burn kerosene. Needless to say, that pyramid is a bit smaller now, and I of course alerted the other LMI’s so they could get in on the deal.

A. Dollar. A. Gallon.

w00t.

I love kerosene…safe to handle, safe to store, shelflife that beats the crap out of gasoline, burns hot and is fairly easy to find.

And then, like a sign from the Preparedness Gods, a boon was given unto Zero.

Yea. Verily.

While walking into Home Depot I saw a pyramid made of black 5-gallon drums of kerosene. The sign said : Regular $18.99, Sale $5.00

Thats right kids, a buck a gallon for kerosene. Cheaper than gas, cheaper than milk, and darn near as cheap as bottled water.

I have kerosene lamps, kerosene heater, and my multi-fuel stove can burn kerosene. Needless to say, that pyramid is a bit smaller now, and I of course alerted the other LMI’s so they could get in on the deal.

A. Dollar. A. Gallon.

w00t.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

The dehydrated eggs showed up today. Of thirty 6 oz. packages, one was damaged in transit and will be used for experimental purposes. (i.e. seeing how it works when used in baked goods, etc, etc.) I put them into bundles of 6, put each bundle in its own handy ziploc baggie, put them all into a sealed mylar bag and then dropped the whole mess into a new 6-gallon bucket with Gamma Seal lid. Should be juuuuuuuuuuuuuust fine.
========
I continue to be pleased with the AK’s reliability. 320 rounds through it with no cleaning and no malfunctions whatsoever except for round #1, which I attribute to a rough bit of machining on the internals which has by now been worn smooth. Accuracy testing is in the future, but it reliably hits the steel plates at 50 and 100 yards.
========
Gas prices have levelled off a bit here, our local CostCo has gas for $1.86 which seems cheap now but three months ago would have been considered spendy. Thus, a forty mile trip to buy ammo winds up costing a little less. I do , however, need to keep a bit of gasoline on hand ‘just in case’. A couple 5-gallon cans of stabilized gas would be nice. If/when the power goes out for whatever reason the local stations probably wont have generators to power the pumps so, even though theres a thousand gallons of gas right there under the concrete, it aint goin’ anywhere.
========
Trip to Glacier last weekend was a nice opportunity to try out some gear. Camelbaks are easily worth whatever you pay for them. Esp. the wide mouth versions that allow you to dop regular-shaped ice cubes into them. (I have a much older CB that I just upgraded with a better bite valve and an on/off flow switch..a necessity to keep water from shooting out the mouthpice if your pack gets compressed by some weight [i.e. taking a fall]).
=======
Had a Zero Moment in Glacier…we were hiking along Avalanche Creek and a mother and her young (10-14 y.o.) son were leaning up against a rock catching their breath. I overheard her say “..first aid kit in the car”. I asked if I could be of service. her son had stumbled through some blown down trees and brush and had cut his knee. Not badly..a thin cut that bled some, about 2″ long. Trouble was, they had no first aid kit. Zero to the rescue. Gave the kid a bactine wipe to clean it out with, slapped a 2×2 on it and a couple strips of tape. Gave him another foil packet of Bactine wipes and a few band aids and told him to be careful and to next time carry some type of first aid gear with him.

Of course, if the bombs were falling and there were radioactive cannibal zombies on our tail he would have been on his own.
=======
The Tactical Tailor pack worked fine…carried plenty of gear and was fairly comfortable. Im tellin’ ya, folks….spend a lousy $110 and get a pack that you’ll never want to part with.
=======
Experimental cooking with dehydrated eggs over the next few days. Should be interesting.

The dehydrated eggs showed up today. Of thirty 6 oz. packages, one was damaged in transit and will be used for experimental purposes. (i.e. seeing how it works when used in baked goods, etc, etc.) I put them into bundles of 6, put each bundle in its own handy ziploc baggie, put them all into a sealed mylar bag and then dropped the whole mess into a new 6-gallon bucket with Gamma Seal lid. Should be juuuuuuuuuuuuuust fine.
========
I continue to be pleased with the AK’s reliability. 320 rounds through it with no cleaning and no malfunctions whatsoever except for round #1, which I attribute to a rough bit of machining on the internals which has by now been worn smooth. Accuracy testing is in the future, but it reliably hits the steel plates at 50 and 100 yards.
========
Gas prices have levelled off a bit here, our local CostCo has gas for $1.86 which seems cheap now but three months ago would have been considered spendy. Thus, a forty mile trip to buy ammo winds up costing a little less. I do , however, need to keep a bit of gasoline on hand ‘just in case’. A couple 5-gallon cans of stabilized gas would be nice. If/when the power goes out for whatever reason the local stations probably wont have generators to power the pumps so, even though theres a thousand gallons of gas right there under the concrete, it aint goin’ anywhere.
========
Trip to Glacier last weekend was a nice opportunity to try out some gear. Camelbaks are easily worth whatever you pay for them. Esp. the wide mouth versions that allow you to dop regular-shaped ice cubes into them. (I have a much older CB that I just upgraded with a better bite valve and an on/off flow switch..a necessity to keep water from shooting out the mouthpice if your pack gets compressed by some weight [i.e. taking a fall]).
=======
Had a Zero Moment in Glacier…we were hiking along Avalanche Creek and a mother and her young (10-14 y.o.) son were leaning up against a rock catching their breath. I overheard her say “..first aid kit in the car”. I asked if I could be of service. her sone had stumbled through some blown down trees and brush and had cut his knee. Not badly..a thin cut that bled some, about 2″ long. Trouble was, they had no first aid kit. Zero to the rescue. Gave the kid a bactine wipe to clean it out with, slapped a 2×2 on it and a couple strips of tape. Gave him another foil packet of Bactine wipes and a few band aids and told him to be careful and to next time carry some type of first aid gear with him.

Of course, if the bombs were falling and there were radioactive cannibal zombies on our tail he would have been on his own.
=======
The Tactical Tailor pack worked fine…carried plenty of gear and was fairly comfortable. Im tellin’ ya, folks….spend a lousy $110 and get a pack that you’ll never want to part with.
=======
Experimental cooking with dehydrated eggs over the next few days. Should be interesting.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

One sure way to start the LMI equivalent of a flamewar is to go the 7.62×39 vs. 223 vs. 308 route. And, really, I have no interest in getting into it with you. I will say, however, that today a high-end AK variant found a new home.

Why the AK? Well, the AR has better accuracy and ergonomics. The Ak’s only real claim to fame is that it is as reliable as a rock. Most folks that get into that whole AR’s-are-crap arguement start off with something about how seven million soldiers were killed in Vietnam the M16’s jammed and then when they tried to use them for bayoneting the guns bent in half or some other nonsense. Did stuff like that happen? Sure..M16’s jammed all the time. And Orville and Wilbur Wrights planes crashed more often than not. Whats your point? After 40 years I think the reliability issue is almost academic. But, like I said, I really dont wanna argue this with you..if you disdain the AR, then dont own one.

Anyway, these Bulgarian AK’s are hammer forged chrome lined barrels, milled receivers, nice furniture and come with the slide rail for optics. Theyre about twice the price of the Chinese AK’s but you really can see the quality.

For my(our) needs the Ak has a couple selling points:
* Ammo is dirt freakin’ cheap and comes in sealed spam cans. And its dirt cheap.
* Magazines are cheap, cheap, cheap. And reliable.
* If something happens to it, it isnt as great a loss as if an AR had taken a hit.

I’ll be taking the AK out this evening for a spin. I’ve about 6,000 rounds of ammo here in front of me so I think we’re doing okay in that department. Minute-of-badguy is the level of accuracy we’re looking to obtain and hopefully it should meet that requirement. (Thats one big nod to the AR….all things being equal [scope vs. scope, iron vs. iron] they tend to shoot better groups than the AK. (At this point someone will jump up and say how they once saw an out-of-the-box Norinco that would print 1″ groups….uh-huh, how many of them have you seen? Thats what I thought. )

Mind you, Im not disdaining the AK, Im merely saying that both rifles have strong points and both have weak points. What one rifle isnt, the other is.

So, now I’ll have to sock away some of those wonderful sealed spam cans of 7.62×39, which I should do anyway since everyone seems to have an SKS these days.

One sure way to start the LMI equivalent of a flamewar is to go the 7.62×39 vs. 223 vs. 308 route. And, really, I have no interest in getting into it with you. I will say, however, that today a high-end AK variant found a new home.

Why the AK? Well, the AR has better accuracy and ergonomics. The Ak’s only real claim to fame is that it is as reliable as a rock. Most folks that get into that whole AR’s-are-crap arguement start off with something about how seven million soldiers were killed in Vietnam the M16’s jammed and then when they tried to use them for bayoneting the guns bent in half or some other nonsense. Did stuff like that happen? Sure..M16’s jammed all the time. And Orville and Wilbur Wrights planes crashed more often than not. Whats your point? After 40 years I think the reliability issue is almost academic. But, like I said, I really dont wanna argue this with you..if you disdain the AR, then dont own one.

Anyway, these Bulgarian AK’s are hammer forged chrome lined barrels, milled receivers, nice furniture and come with the slide rail for optics. Theyre about twice the price of the Chinese AK’s but you really can see the quality.

For my(our) needs the Ak has a couple selling points:
* Ammo is dirt freakin’ cheap and comes in sealed spam cans. And its dirt cheap.
* Magazines are cheap, cheap, cheap. And reliable.
* If something happens to it, it isnt as great a loss as if an AR had taken a hit.

I’ll be taking the AK out this evening for a spin. I’ve about 6,000 rounds of ammo here in front of me so I think we’re doing okay in that department. Minute-of-badguy is the level of accuracy we’re looking to obtain and hopefully it should meet that requirement. (Thats one big nod to the AR….all things being equal [scope vs. scope, iron vs. iron] they tend to shoot better groups than the AK. (At this point someone will jump up and say how they once saw an out-of-the-box Norinco that would print 1″ groups….uh-huh, how many of them have you seen? Thats what I thought. )

Mind you, Im not disdaining the AK, Im merely saying that both rifles have strong points and both have weak points. What one rifle isnt, the other is.

So, now I’ll have to sock away some of those wonderful sealed spam cans of 7.62×39, which I should do anyway since everyone seems to have an SKS these days.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Nothing is ever as simple as it seems.

The dehydrated eggs I wanted were apparently run off when the company had/gets a government contract to do so. They currently do not have a contract to do so, thus, they have no inventory of this product to sell me. My options are to now look for an alternate product (Deb El if I can ever find any) or buy the existing stocks at REI and hope they have enough for my needs. (I figure one case oughtta do it for now [=100 eggs]).

This is typical. Every time I find a product Im really enthused about it gets discontinued or otherwise becomes unavailable to me.
=====
With summer on the way, im wondering if there’ll be failures of the power grid as there was last summer. Even if there isnt, Im still predicting/forecasting Major Wierdness around election time and I am also guessing *something* will happen proximal to the Assault Weapons Ban expiration to suddenly swing votes towards renewing it.
=====
I’ve had an extraordinarily Machiavellian thought lately – go to school, finish college with some sort of civics degree and get a job as Emergency Management officer for the county or state. This why I know exactly where all the goodies are and I get keys to the warehouses. Hmm.

Nothing is ever as simple as it seems.

The dehydrated eggs I wanted were apparently run off when the company had/gets a government contract to do so. They currently do not have a contract to do so, thus, they have no inventory of this product to sell me. My options are to now look for an alternate product (Deb El if I can ever find any) or buy the existing stocks at REI and hope they have enough for my needs. (I figure one case oughtta do it for now [=100 eggs]).

This is typical. Every time I find a product Im really enthused about it gets discontinued or otherwise becomes unavailable to me.
=====
With summer on the way, im wondering if there’ll be failures of the power grid as there was last summer. Even if there isnt, Im still predicting/forecasting Major Wierdness around election time and I am also guessing *something* will happen proximal to the Assault Weapons Ban expiration to suddenly swing votes towards renewing it.
=====
I’ve had an extraordinarily Machiavellian thought lately – go to school, finish college with some sort of civics degree and get a job as Emergency Management officer for the county or state. This why I know exactly where all the goodies are and I get keys to the warehouses. Hmm.