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

Life as the Zero continues apace.

Had a Zero Moment on the way to Helena yesterday. Couple kids slid off the road and flipped their rig. They were fine but it reminded me that I need to make sure to remember to keep a crowbar in the vehicle for those impromptu victim extractions.
-=-=-
Its very easy to get lulled into a sense of complacency. Wake up in the morning and the heat is on, CNN is on the TV, theres food in the fridge, hot water for the shower, and clean clothes to wear. Life is good. And thats what makes it so maddeningly easy to sometimes fall behind in taking the little steps necessary to make sure that standard of living can be kept if things suddenlt take a turn for the wierd. Case in point – bought a nice, new Blitz 5-gallon steel jerry can for gas. Picked up a nice spigot to go with it. Some Sta-Bil too. And, yet, I still havent just taken the bloody thing to a gas station yet and filled it. Its those little lapses in diligence that are going to put me in a bad situation some day…..
+=+=+
Received an order of gear from Blackhawk the other day. Some odds and ends. Some of the stuff seems good and some..well..not so much. I’ll have some details at a later date. For the moment I think that for web gear, packs, etc, Im going to stick with London Bridge, Tactical Tailor and the like. Prices are a bit higher, but I have been pleased thus far with the TT backpack I got.
=====
While at the Helena gun show I picked up a couple SureFire Nitrolon G2 flashlights. For $30 you get a great little retina-burner. Yes, its a ‘tactical’ flashlight…but you know what? This world we live in sometimes calls for a tactical mindset. Anyway. I picked up one for myself as a ‘disposable’ in case my regular SureFire gets lost or something, and I picked up an extra as a gift for someone. For $30 they might make a decent Xmas gift for the LMI.
—–
Speaking of…I saw a slick little 1970 Bronco (lift kit, 302, winch, extra tank, rebuilt enging, etc) for sale a block from my house. Mmmm…it looks good. Wouldnt mind having something like that for my personal use.

Life as the Zero continues apace.

Had a Zero Moment on the way to Helena yesterday. Couple kids slid off the road and flipped their rig. They were fine but it reminded me that I need to make sure to remember to keep a crowbar in the vehicle for those impromptu victim extractions.
-=-=-
Its very easy to get lulled into a sense of complacency. Wake up in the morning and the heat is on, CNN is on the TV, theres food in the fridge, hot water for the shower, and clean clothes to wear. Life is good. And thats what makes it so maddeningly easy to sometimes fall behind in taking the little steps necessary to make sure that standard of living can be kept if things suddenlt take a turn for the wierd. Case in point – bought a nice, new Blitz 5-gallon steel jerry can for gas. Picked up a nice spigot to go with it. Some Sta-Bil too. And, yet, I still havent just taken the bloody thing to a gas station yet and filled it. Its those little lapses in diligence that are going to put me in a bad situation some day…..
+=+=+
Received an order of gear from Blackhawk the other day. Some odds and ends. SOme of the stuff seems good and some..well..not so much. I’ll have some details at a later date. For the moment I think that for web gear, packs, etc, Im going to stick with London Bridge, Tactical Tailor and the like. Prices are a bit higher, but I have been pleased thus far with the TT backpack I got.
=====
While at the Helena gun show I picked up a couple SureFire Nitrolon G2 flashlights. For $30 you get a great little retina-burner. Yes, its a ‘tactical’ flashlight…but you know what? This world we live in sometimes calls for a tactical mindset. Anyway. I picked up one for myself as a ‘disposable’ in case my regular SureFire gets lost or something, and I picked up an extra as a gift for someone. For $30 they might make a decent Xmas gift for the LMI.
—–
Speaking of…I saw a slick little 1970 Bronco (lift kit, 302, winch, extra tank, rebuilt enging, etc) for sale a block from my house. Mmmm…it looks good. Wouldnt mind having something like that for my personal use.

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

For the last year or so, I’ve had a list of exactly what I wanted in my little battery of firearms. Nothing fancy (okay, nothing really fancy).
Just the basics…

• .22 rifle
• .22 pistol
• .223 semiauto rifle
• .308 semiuato rifle
• .308 boltgun
• 12 ga shotgun
• .45 pistol
• 9mm pistol
• .357 pistol

Pretty much everything you’d need to cover your needs for the rest of your life, however short that may be. Finally got the boltgun today…
Picked up a CZ 550 Varminter in .308. H-S Precision synthetic stock, fully adjustable single-set trigger, heavy crowned barrel, Mauser-type action, etc, etc. A very nice rifle. I’m going to spend the $50 for the CZ brand rings (milled from a freakin’ bar of steel! None of this aluminum crap.) and then I need to find some glass to top it with. Once thats done, slap on a Harris bipod and see how good the thing will lob a Ballistic Tip (or matchKing). It was a horse race between the CZ and the Savage. I liked Savage’s price, but I loved the CZ Mauser action. My goal is to get this thing set up to keep things under 1 MOA out to about 600 yards or so. (Thats 6″ at 600 yards, kids….)

Still gotta get around to picking up a Ruger MkII at some point……..

For the last year or so, I’ve had a list of exactly what I wanted in my little battery of firearms. Nothing fancy (okay, nothing really fancy).
Just the basics…

• .22 rifle
• .22 pistol
• .223 semiauto rifle
• .308 semiuato rifle
• .308 boltgun
• 12 ga shotgun
• .45 pistol
• 9mm pistol
• .357 pistol

Pretty much everything you’d need to cover your needs for the rest of your life, however short that may be. Finally got the boltgun today…
Picked up a CZ 550 Varminter in .308. H-S Precision synthetic stock, fully adjustable single-set trigger, heavy crowned barrel, Mauser-type action, etc, etc. A very nice rifle. I’m going to spend the $50 for the CZ brand rings (milled from a freakin’ bare of steel! None of this aluminum crap.) and then I need to find some glass to top it with.  Once thats done, slap on a Harris bipod and see how good the thing will lob a Ballistic Tip (or matchKing). It was a horse race between the CZ and the Savage. I liked Savage’s price, but I loved the CZ Mauser action. My goal is to get this thing set up to keep things under 1 MOA out to about 600 yards or so. (Thats 6″ at 600 yards, kids….)

Still gotta get around to picking up a Ruger MkII at some point……..

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

So, Im up at Home Despot looking at heaters. The kerosene heater I want uses 1.9 gallons of fuel for a runtime of 9 hours. However, a small propane heater that uses 1# bottles operates at 18 hours. (Admittedly, I need to know the # of BTU’s each device produces.) So, that means that 1# of propane at $1.90 gives as many hours of heat as almost 4 gallons of kerosene (at $4.50~ a gallon). Plus the propane stores easier. Hmmmm. It cant be that simple…theres gotta be a major difference in BTU output. Next time I go up there I need to investigate this further. Cheaper and more efficient are the hallmarks of the Commander Zero lifestyle. Additionally, the propane heater is less expensive than the kero heater. Curiouser and curiouser. I know kero burns hot so Im betting the tradeoff here is in BTU’s. If anyone has a link to a source listing the relative BTU output of various fuels, Id certainly be interested.
=====
Im torn on the FAL….I know I want a .308 semi-auto rifle but that really limits my choices to the FAL, M1A, AR-10 type and the HK91. At the moment the HK91 has mags for as little as $2 ea. A huge attraction. But the guns are very very expensive, dont have a last shot hold open, and arent the most optic-friendly. The FAL is a great design, mags are cheap and plentiful, but I think the sights are just too crude. The M1A is nice but mags are a bit spendy these days and im not sure if thats going to change in the near future. The AR-10 (The Bushmaster model) looks really really promising what with it taking FAL mags and all, but Im not terribly enamored of the AR gas system. I think for now I’ll hold onto the FAL and see about swapping out the sights for something a little more A2′ish.
=-=-=
I need to find a source for decently priced mylar bags (food grade) in various sizes. What Id LOVE to find is a place that’ll sell me a roll of the stuff so I can just make my own bags. Those mylar bags are great things…airtight, watertight, lightproof…mmmm-mmm.
-+-+-+
I need to also pick up some topo map software…I plan on spending alot more time out in the sticks next year, so itd be nice to have some good maps.

So, Im up at Home Despot looking at heaters. The kerosene heater I want uses 1.9 gallons of fuel for a runtime of 9 hours. However, a small propane heater that uses 1# bottles operates at 18 hours. (Admittedly, I need to know the # of BTU’s each device produces.) So, that means that 1# of propane at $1.90 gives as many hours of heat as almost 4 gallons of kerosene (at $4.50~ a gallon). Plus the propane stores easier. Hmmmm. It cant be that simple…theres gotta be a major difference in BTU output. Next time I go up there I need to investigate this further. Cheaper and more efficient are the hallmarks of the Commander Zero lifestyle. Additionally, the propane heater is less expensive than the kero heater. Curiouser and curiouser. I know kero burns hot so Im betting the tradeoff here is in BTU’s. If anyone has a link to a source listing the relative BTU output of various fuels, Id certainly be interested.
=====
Im torn on the FAL….I know I want a .308 semi-auto rifle but that really limits my choices to the FAL, M1A, AR-10 type and the HK91. At the moment the HK91 has mags for as little as $2 ea. A huge attraction. But the guns are very very expensive, dont have a last shot hold open, and arent the most optic-friendly. The FAL is a great design, mags are cheap and plentiful, but I think the sights are just too crude. The M1A is nice but mags are a bit spendy these days and im not sure if thats going to change in the near future. The AR-10 (The Bushmaster model)  looks really really promising what with it taking FAL mags and all, but Im not terribly enamored of the AR gas system. I think for now I’ll hold onto the FAL and see about swapping out the sights for something a little more A2’ish.
=-=-=
I need to find a source for decently priced mylar bags (food grade) in various sizes. What Id LOVE to find is a place that’ll sell me a roll of the stuff so I can just make my own bags. Those mylar bags are great things…airtight, watertight, lightproof…mmmm-mmm.
-+-+-+
I need to also pick up some topo map software…I plan on spending alot more time out in the sticks next year, so itd be nice to have some good maps.

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

Surprisingly, “Good Eats” had an episode involving what to do with your 50# bag of wheat. Cracked wheat, bulghur, etc, etc. Very informative. Wheat is, from a preparedness standpoint, cool stuff since if stored properly it’ll last virtually forever and is versatile enough to make breads, porridges, bulghur, and even meat-substitutes. Ranks right up there with beans and rice in terms of cheap food that will store well and keep you off the FEMA food lines. Of course, man does not live on wheat alone and thats where the freze-dried lasagna and MRE pork comes in.
=====
Briefly caught a thing on CNN about how some company has come up with an LED lightbulb to replace standard bulbs but still throw off the spectrum of color that we’re used to. Very cool…LED technology is going to render the incandescent, heat generating bulb obsolete for many functions (but not all). Bulb life that is almost indefinite, requires less electricity, not as delicate as a filamented bulb…good stuff. Except for my MagLite and tactical gunlights I use LED’s for all my flashlights these days.
=====
Winter is approaching, which means that soon it’ll be time to endurance test various bits of gear to see how they function in cold weather. I refilled the lamps and heater a few weeks ago and still have over 50 gallons of kerosene on hand so Im way ahead of the curve on this one…although I still want the extra kero heater. Definitely time to get the storm windows in.
=====
Man, if you saw Commander Zero’s What-I-Want-For-Christmas list…..Ive got some expensive and somewhat wierd tastes.

Surprisingly, “Good Eats” had an episode involving what to do with your 50# bag of wheat. Cracked wheat, bulghur, etc, etc. Very informative. Wheat is, from a preparedness standpoint, cool stuff since if stored properly it’ll last virtually forever and is versatile enough to make breads, porridges, bulghur, and even meat-substitutes. Ranks right up there with beans and rice in terms of cheap food that will store well and keep you off the FEMA food lines. Of course, man does not live on wheat alone and thats where the freze-dried lasagna and MRE pork comes in.
=====
Briefly caught a thing on CNN about how some company has come up with an LED lightbulb to replace standard bulbs but still throw off the spectrum of color that we’re used to. Very cool…LED technology is going to render the incandescent, heat generating bulb obsolete for many functions (but not all). Bulb life that is almost indefinite, requires less electricity, not as delicate as a filamented bulb…good stuff. Except for my MagLite and tactical gunlights I use LED’s for all my flashlights these days.
=====
Winter is approaching, which means that soon it’ll be time to endurance test various bits of gear to see how they function in cold weather. I refilled the lamps and heater a few weeks ago and still have over 50 gallons of kerosene on hand so Im way ahead of the curve on this one…although I still want the extra kero heater. Definitely time to get the storm windows in.
=====
Man, if you saw Commander Zero’s What-I-Want-For-Christmas list…..Ive got some expensive and somewhat wierd tastes.

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

I wonder what ever happened to the Four Corners ’survivalists’…

What? You dont know that story? Ah, well, its an interesting story with a few lessons for those willing to look past the obvious.

Succinctly, three buddies fancied themselves survivalists. They bought all the accoutrements, set out caches in the desert, spent plenty of time out in the sticks, etc, etc. One day they stole a water truck (yes, a water tanker truck) and when confronted by the cops, started shooting. Wound up killing the one cop and then they disappeared into the desert. The cops, naturally, responded in kind. Dogs couldnt handle the heat, thermal imaging was useless against sun-baked rocks in the background, and the trackers were stymied with simple foils. Time goes by and one day some guy breaking for lunch finds himself staring down the wrong end of a .308 sniper gun. Manages to escape and calls the cops. Another cop gets shot. This time, they manage to surround the bad guy who takes his own life. Time goes by. Many months later hunters stumble across a skeleton clad in camo. Ankle is broken, gunshot to the head. Gear and guns missing. Specualtion? He was injured in the escape after the water truck incident, busted his ankle, his buddies shot him and took his gear.

Present day: one of these guys is still unaccounted for. No sign of him has been found, although in the process of combing the desert the law *did* find other peoples caches and even an underground hidden bunker.

If youre curious, search using names “mason mcvean pilon” and read the various accounts.

For the record, Im also curious about Eric Rudolph’s story about how he managed to hide out for several years before getting caught……..

I wonder what ever happened to the Four Corners ‘survivalists’…

What? You dont know that story? Ah, well, its an interesting story with a few lessons for those willing to look past the obvious.

Succinctly, three buddies fancied themselves survivalists. They bought all the accoutrements, set out caches in the desert, spent plenty of time out in the sticks, etc, etc. One day they stole a water truck (yes, a water tanker truck) and when confronted by the cops, started shooting. Wound up killing the one cop and then they disappeared into the desert. The cops, naturally, responded in kind. Dogs couldnt handle the heat, thermal imaging was useless against sun-baked rocks in the background, and the trackers were stymied with simple foils. Time goes by and one day some guy breaking for lunch finds himself staring down the wrong end of a .308 sniper gun. Manages to escape and calls the cops. Another cop gets shot. This time, they manage to surround the bad guy who takes his own life. Time goes by. Many months later hunters stumble across a skeleton clad in camo. Ankle is broken, gunshot to the head. Gear and guns missing. Specualtion? He was injured in the escape after the water truck incident, busted his ankle, his buddies shot him and took his gear.

Present day: one of these guys is still unaccounted for. No sign of him has been found, although in the process of combing the desert the law *did* find other peoples caches and even an underground hidden bunker.

If youre curious, search using names “mason mcvean pilon” and read the various accounts.

For the record, Im also curious about Eric Rudolph’s story about how he managed to hide out for several years before getting caught……..