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

The software that runs this thing lets me list where incoming hits are from. That is to day, if someone comes here from a link, Im told what link it was. A good portion of hits come from search engines like Google and Yahoo. Heres some terms that have brought people here in the last 24 hours:

Gas bike conversion – Im guessing thats a hit from posts Ive done about mountain bikes and the like. Gas conversion is interesting but I’d be mroe interested in an electric conversion. They do exist, but one drawback is the batteries are rather heavy.
357 ruger magnum on ebay – Dude…eBay stopped selling guns a while ago. Try Auction Arms or some other gun oriented website auction service.
Glock knifes – The plural of ‘knife’ is ‘knives’. Im at a loss on this one…unless its the possesive ” knife’s”
Gold 357 mag 8 shot revolvers – While I can understand the appeal of the 8-shot .357, the notion of having it in gold plate seems a little….pimp-tacular?
SU-16 carry – Eh. Theyre interesting guns, but I would think theres better choices to tote around.
26.5mm – This turns up almost daily in searches. Its people looking for info on the 26.5mm flare guns like the surplus HK ones I wrote about.
Glock mags – This is another one I get pretty much every day.
HK g36 US parts – This is almost certainly a hit from my posts about spare parts availability for the PTR-91/HK-91 series of rifles as a result of the G3 getting replaced by the G36.
lightrs – If this is indicative of the spelling ability of your average internet user (see ‘Glock knifes’) then, truly, we are all doomed

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

People ask me about my opinion on the Heller decision. Plain and simple: it might be a win for our side, but do not think for a moment it means its okay to slack off on gun and magazine purchasing.

Theres nothing in that decision, that I saw, regarding things like ‘high capacity’ magazines, bayonet lugs and flash supressors. Play it smart and stock up on magazines and evil black rifles now before the election. If the Heller decision turns out to be the second coming and we’re all buying full-auto BAR’s next spring then all you’ll have done is spent money you were going to spend anyway. But………if the Heller decision turns out to have some unanticipated consequences, or doesnt protect the individual right to have magazines for your gun…well…then you’ll be way ahead of the class.

Summary: if you were planning on buying more mags or more guns before the election, continue as if nothing has changed. Better safe than sorry.

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

Anyone remember what the first rule of Fight Club is? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

The first rule of Fight Club was that you do not talk about Fight Club.

Although not 100% the same, the first rule of preparedness is that you don’t talk about preparedness…at least, not in certain circles.

Security is always at the forefront of most peoples mind when they talk about preparedness. Theres that whole guy-in-camo-with-an-AK47 image that is called up when the word ‘survivalist’ comes up. Theres a small degree of truth in it, but that’s not what this post is about. Theres no shortage of people who can go on and on about that type of security.

Theres plenty of times the last thing you want is your neighbors, your family, your boss or your government knowing what you have, how much of it you have and where you keep it. We protect ourselves by restricting, as best we can, and selectively releasing information about ourselves and what we are doing.

Some people order their freezedrieds, gas masks and medical equipment through private mailbox services using other people’s names and paying by money order…to stay off ‘the lists’. Theres some merit in that, although I think that, other than firearms, its probably not necessary. What is necessary, however, is to exercise a bit of security in other matters.

If you get goods from a ‘survivalist’-related business (Mountain House, Century Arms, etc.), remove your address and name from the packaging before you throw it out. Same for any gun periodicals (Shotgun News, Guns & Ammo) that you throw out. Take your name and address off it and, if you want to be really thorough, obscure the return address so that as far as any dumpster-diver is concerned it’s a discarded empty box. If it’s a box that’s covered in company logo, ‘sterilize’ the box (meaning remove the address/name markings) and dump it elsewhere…the garbage dumpster at work, perhaps.

Don’t go overboard on the bumperstickers. You can express yourself without telling the world you have a garage full of ammo. Cryptic messages like “molon labe” aren’t clear to everyone, but even that may give away too much. On the other hand, sometimes an NRA window decal (in rural areas) will work in your favor.

Be aware of how you dress. When I see someone wearing quality boots, BDU-style pants (although usually made to look like Dockers [5.11 for example]), a Wilderness-style or ‘rigger belt’, Leatherman tool, and a well-made backpack all I can think is “probably on the same page as me”.

Be aware of how strangers would view your household. The AK leaning up in the corner of the living room, the bookshelf full of ‘extremist’ literature, and a kitchen stacked counter-to-ceiling with #10 cans might make the plumber, electrician or cleaning service’s tongues wag. Tuck it out of sight if you’re going to have company. I usually don’t let anyone into the house unless I know them pretty well but every so often a plumber or other tradesman is needed and then its time to do some ‘sanitizing’.

Even if you don’t believe that things will be bad enough that neighbors will come kicking in your door for the food you’ve ‘unfairly hoarded’, you should believe, even in these ‘normal’ times, that someone will kick in your door to steal your expensive guns and electronics gear. People get ripped off every day even when there isn’t an apocalypse, it just makes good sense to keep the expensive battle rifles away from the neighbors prying eyes if you can.

Theres a host of other things you might want to do to keep your profile relatively low, but surely you can think of a dozen others. But, theres a price you pay for this sort of thing – isolation. How do you find people of like mind to network with? For lack of a better term, how do you develop survivalist gaydar? That is to say, how do you find out if someone shares your interests without tipping them off about your interests? After all, its always nice to have someone you can discuss things and share ideas with, as well as go in with for group purchases.

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

Anyone remember the scene in the Star Trek movie where Spock goes to talk to Kirk about bringing hostilities with the Klingons to an end?
Spock: They are dying.
Kirk: Let. Them. Die.

That’s pretty much the attitude I’d like to have about places like North Korea. You have the last bastion of Stalinist Communism shutting itself off from the world and occasionally lobbing missles over Japan and into the ocean to extort other nations to feed them. Now part of me says ‘let them starve’. Unfortunately the simple truth is that while that may be satisfying, it’s a problem. If the world really did turn its back on the North Koreans they’d truly have no reason to not do something dramatic. So….we feed them and demand token concessions and make a big deal about it when they do agree to those concessions.

North Korea really is a fascinating case in terms of threat. They are, far and away, the best example of the ‘cult of personality’ and probably the number one candidate for the title of ‘most megalomanical world leader’ now that Saddam is out of the running and into the ground. Their leader , according to the DPRK press, is perfect…he can read several novels a night, has photographic memory, got 18 holes-in-one on his first golf outing, writes besteselling books, and can fly around the earth really fast to make time run backwards. (Okay, I made that last part up.)

On one hand, its not really our problem. When the DPRK gets hungry enough, and can psyche themselves into a frenzy, they’ll go into China. Even the Chinese don’t trust them. On the other hand, if they ever do perfect nuclear weapons technology they can always find a market for their product and that product can easily wind up in a Portland cargo facility with a timer.

There was an article years ago in some Pacific Asian newswire about how the remains of a DPRK missle were found in Alaska. The suggestion was that the North Koreans were finally capable of making a missle that could reach the US…even if somewhat tangentially.

How does this relate to me? Or, to put it in a better context, how is this on-topic? Well, I suppose its on-topic in the sense that theres still the chance, no matter how remote, of an actual Cold War style nuclear attack. More likely, they’ll continue to bluster about their awesome military capacity and how it’ll rule the world…unless we deliver a couple hundred thousand tons of rice or grain to them. And, what with rice prices and availability being what they are, that  particular  bribing mechanism may not work in the future.

I suppose that if the DPRK ever does decide they have nothing left to lose you’d see some sort of attack on Japan or China, maybe even some ‘finishing of business’ with South Korea, a disruption of Pacific trade, the possible Chinese takeover of Taiwan (since we’ll have our hands tied up with other stuff), or a ‘brush war’ between China and North Korea. Who knows. For now, the news reports hint that there may be another famine going on in North Korea and as we all know hungry people are dangerous people.

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Went to the LDS cannery last night. Its really quite a facility to have available for ones family to use. The shelves were much better stocked than last time I was there and there were quite a few more people there as well. I was there just to show my face and try to become a bit less of a stranger. Musta worked…one gal commented that she remembered me from the last time I was there and the guy running the place seemed to remember me as well. This is good. Although I normally would prefer to be forgettable in matters like this, I would like these folks to be familiar enough with me that if I ever go up there on my own they’ll be perfectly cool with that. We’ll see. I didn’t pick up anything for myself fexcept a few cans of dehydrated onions. Theres an old Jewish saying about how the first thing you do when you cook is that you fry an onion. Why? “It makes the house smell nice!” I think theres some truth to that. I went to bed last night mentally going through the long term food inventory and trying to imagine what I could make using stored foods exclusively. The onions give me a little more flexibility. I’ve noticed that the only form of preserved onions available in the supermarket are small ‘cocktail’-type onions. None of my canning references mention canning anything other than small whole pearl onions. Im guessing that when an onion is cut open it reduces its suitability for canning…hence, the only onions I find in markets being small whole onions. So having the dehydrated onions opens up a nice new avenue for cooking. Whats really nice about the LDS stuff is that its cheap enough that I can crack open a can of this stuff and try it out without feeling that Im wasting money.

The prices up at the LDS cannery are quite good (it is, after all, pretty much a non-profit enterprise) and someday when Im a little more secure with how Im viewed there I’m going to do the Big Trip and come away with a large quantity of goodies. The nice thing is that I get to see how all this stuff is processed and assist in that process. I know exactly what goes in those cans and where it came from. I gotta say, those Mormons seriously have their act together in regards to this sort of thing. If it weren’t for that whole believing in god thing I’d join up today. (I know, you’re asking “Why not just fake it, tell them you believe and sign up?”. Well, on some weird level I think that would be just too dishonest to these folks. And while Im not above lying to people to get what I want [esp. if what I want will give me an advantage in the uncertain future] I just like the Mormons too much to do that. Odd, but that’s how I feel. Perhaps I simply haven’t dealt with enough of them to develop the necessary cynicism, but so far with very few exceptions I’ve pretty much liked every Mormon I ever met. And, thus far, they’ve been pretty nice to me so that buys a bit of loyalty.)

Speaking of food storage, you know how the biggest thing you’ll hear over and over again is “Store what you eat, and eat what you store”? We’ve actually been doing pretty well at that. For example, theres a couple cases of soup in the bunker. Three cans get pulled out and moved to the kitchen for use, the clipboard is marked –3 in the soup column and next trip to the store gets 3 more cans to replace the used ones. In this manner things are rotated. Although everything is date coded by the factory I still take a Sharpie and write the date of purchase on the lids…makes it easier to grab old stock for use.

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

With the absolutely insane prices on ammo these days its getting pretty expensive to go out and do a little shooting. Even if you reload, which you should, its still expensive. Thus, Im in the market for a .22 conversion kit for the AR’s for practice. I’d love to get the .22 conversion for the PTR-91 but the OEM HK product is still about $550. Although, to be fair, while $500 would buy a decent amount of .308 ammo to practice with, the $500 investment would probably make more sense in the long term. For an AR conversion Im toying with picking up one of the original Colt conversions. I know theres other brands out there but the Colt seems to be a solid performer, although limited by 10-rd mags. (Although its possible someone else could be making mags for them now, I’ll have to check.) I very much want to practice move/shoot drills with the AR and the only way Im going to be able to afford that is with a .22 conversion. I could probably get away with using the 10/22 since what Im really after is practicing moving while shooting, fast sight picture, steady sight picture while advancing/retreating, etc. but I prefer to use the AR if I can. I should, however, probably pick up a set of sights for the Ruger to duplicate the AR sight picture.

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So gas is $4 a gallon. I do not understand why the environmentalists aren’t jumping up and down for joy over this. Gas at $5 (or more) per gallon would give environmentalists everything they ever dreamed of. It would force people to make hard choices about things like carpooling and public transportation, encourage manufacturers to produce more efficient vehicles, dissuade people from purchasing gas guzzlers, promote the idea of conservation, encourage public transit, and a hundred other enviroweenie things that most people haven’t been terribly receptive to.

Me, I ride my bike more and try to drive less. My whole world probably exists within a 1-mile circle. My home, business, grocery, bank, post office, and UPS are all within about 12 blocks from where I live. If it weren’t for sometimes having to haul heavy packages I could probably do quite well without a vehicle and for a number of years, in fact, I did just that. It just wasn’t worth the costs of insurance, fuel, maintenance and the like when I never really went anywhere.

However, there are times that a vehicle comes in handy. Esp. if you get The Call in the middle of the night and you have to vamoose to a Secured Location with whatever you can grab in ten minutes. For those times, and the times when fuel may be scarce, we do keep a bit of gasoline put back in storage (and treated for such). Im not going to go into the whole thing about how to store gasoline safely and effectively, you can get that anywhere. Go Google up some stories from Katrina and Rita to see why having a supply of extra gasoline can be a remarkably good thing to have.

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Speaking of bicycle, I haven’t sat down with the bicycle repair/maintenance book I got. I really need to though because I need to see exactly what Im going to have to pick up in the way of tools and other goodies. By extension, I’ll then also need to pick out a tool kit to keep with the bike along with some parts for unplanned repairs. (I almost said ‘emergency repairs’ but sitting by the side of the road with a flat tire doesn’t seem, in my mind, to really be an emergency unless theres a horde of zombies on your tail.)

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Off to the LDS cannery this evening. For what? Nothing really. Someone I know is going and I want to tag along so I can learn more about the place and, more importantly, perhaps gain a measure of acceptance to bank against future visits. In short, I’d like to try not to be a stranger to the people running the place.

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

You know, we all talk about how if we had the money we’d bury a shipping container in our yard, or pour some reinforced concrete, or otherwise do something to give ourselves that that nice, secret, secured building we all want in our backyard. Once in a while we read about people who buy houses that the previous owners installed a fallout shelter and we think “Dang, lucky dogs.”

Thats nothing.

This guy discovered a German WW2 bunker hidden under his garden. He’d heard rumours that there were these things in his neighborhood so he rented a trackhoe, moved a suspiciously placed boulder and discovered an entrance tunnel.

Some guys have all the luck.

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

Theres a couple of “this vs. that” arguments that never fail to build into a cascading flamewar. On the various preparedness boards you can be secure that some of the following are sure bets for starting an endless thread:

9mm vs. 45
AR15 vs. AK
223 vs. 308
Bug in vs. bug out
Revolver vs. auto
Gas vs. diesel
Group vs. solo

And a dozen more. I try to be a rational person and see things from both sides. In almost every one of these arguments each side has some valid points and some invalid ones. One that comes up from time to time that I always try to refrain from jumping into is the “precious metal vs. tangible goods” argument.

Usually it starts with someone posting that they just bought x ounces of [gold/silver] as part of their preparedness plan. Someone will then jump in and call them foolish because “you can’t eat it or shoot it” and that when we’re all huddled around campfires eating beans out of cans that piece of gold will be worthless since no one will give up their [food/ammo/medicine] for something that has no utilitarian value in the brave new world.

Im no expert on precious metals (hereafter abbreviated as PM and meaning gold, silver, palladium, platinum, kryptonite or whatever…) but I know some people who are. My own experience is that I’d like to have a stash of PM but I simply don’t because my financial resources are tied up in other things…I can stretch a dollar but I cant clone them.

As I mentioned earlier, I try to see both sides of an argument so I can make the best decision for myself. (Call it a form of empathy.) So, here’s my reasoning:

Most of the SHTF events that I personally see as most likely involve a gradual creeping escalation (or descent, I suppose) in severity. A little heightened unemployment becomes a recession becomes stagflation becomes a depression becomes a global depression, etc. In situations like that PM still has value right up until the very end when things become ThunderDome. After that the box of 9mm JHP becomes more valuable, but prior to that the PM leads the pack in terms of versatility and value.

Some examples: it’s Germany 1939 and your last name ends in –owitz. Time to head for greener pastures, you’ve seen the writing on the wall. You bundle up the family, pile into the car and head for the border. The guards there aren’t True Believers (yet) and can be had..for a price. Its still a time of relative civilization and order so shooting your way through would just bring a lot of cops and get you a fast ticket to a slow cattle car…what is going to get you past this SHTF…a couple cases of food and antibiotics or the gold taped to the inside of your belt? Think fast, the guard is asking for your travel papers.

It’s a balmy, hot oppressive day in Harare and the price of a loaf of bread, when you can find it, is about a quarter billion dollars…in the local hyperinflated currency. Prices aren’t even posted since they change so quickly, and always upward. For those with foreign currency, theres always ‘something in the back room’ that can be had when the rest of the shelves are bare to the public eye and the deputized ‘war veterans’ aren’t watching. Although the national currency is virtually worthless, the people with a little gold or silver aren’t having any trouble finding what they need.

Contrarily, take the case of, say, bushmen in Africa. Offer them a pound of gold for one of their cattle and they’ll look at you like you’re insane. In their barter economy only things with a practical purpose have value. Literally, if you cant eat it or use it as a tool it has no real value.

My own personal version of SHTF is economic. To me, having PM makes sense to retain the value of my money. What does that mean “retain the value of my money”? Look at it this way, your grandparents bought their house in 1965 for $21,000. That same house sells today for $200,000. If they took that $21,000 and stuffed it into an envelope and sat on it for the last 40 years could they buy that same house today for that $21,000? Nope. Now, lets say they bought 583 oz. Of gold (since it was $36/oz in 1965) and sat on that for 40 years. That house that’s now worth $200,000 they could  buy and another one just like it…and have money left over for remodeling. Because the price of gold went up? No, because the value of the dollar went down.

Sure, I keep a huge amount of food, supplies, fuel, ammo, guns, toiletries and the like on hand. That’s good sense. And if a conex container with a smuggled black-market nuclear warhead were detonated in Portland tomorrow I’d probably do just fine. But what if the current economic situation gets worse and worse and worse? My money in the bank might buy me enough supplies to live for three months…until inflation rises and now it’ll only buy me two months worth of food…unless it rises even more…and now what would have bought me three months of security will now only buy me two weeks. That’s where the PM comes in.

:::shrug:::

Does this mean I have a safe full of gold and silver? Nope. I wish it did. Im still putting together all the other little sundry things needed to secure our future and unfortunately PM is one of those things you buy after all the other stuff is taken care of. But…if I had a choice between putting $5000 cash or $5000 in gold away for twenty years for ‘retirement’ I’d say the gold would make much more sense.

“But what if the zombie apocalypse starts tomorrow? Your gold will be worthless to you and you’ll starve with the sheep!” Right? Right? Wrong. Because the gold isn’t a substitute for all the food, ammo and fuel. Its an addition to it. It’s a solution to a different kind of threat. Its one of several layers of defense against the uncertain future. You got zombies? We got ammo. You got hyperinflation? We got PM. Right tool for the job and all that.

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

I was perusing things over at tslrf.blogspot.com and one of the guys there was saying how he’s getting married and that because of this his expenditures on preparedness will have to take a backseat to…well, whatever it is about getting married that takes precedence over having a safe and secure future. (You’d think chicks would be all over the ‘safety and security’ thing what with their intrinsic nesting streak…what chick wouldn’t want to have the confidence in knowing her home will always have food, light, heat, water and a safe place to sleep?)

Speaking as someone who has recently gotten married, I feel almost qualified to say that the previous notion that marriage /= continuing preparedness falls into the realm of “only if you want it that way”. Presumably, when you meet your future spouse you’re already into the whole preparedness thing so it isn’t like you’re springing it on them. If they’re on board with it before you get married why wouldn’t they be on board with it after you get married? I mean, if you’re spending money foolishly on ‘collector edition’ comic book action figures (“Its an investment, honey!”), Hummel figurines, playing the ponies, or buying a new jet ski every summer then, yeah, you’re probably going to get the smackdown from the now-wife when she decides that the kitchen needs a new dishwasher and why do you need all that junk anyway?

Now, I just got married but I was living with the gal in question for several years beforehand. We have drums of rice, mountains of MRE’s, enough ammo to start (and end) a war, gallons and gallons of fuel, an entire wall full of freezedrieds and why we have them and why it’s important to me was made quite clear up front. This is something I do, I do it for these reasons, its something I feel strongly about and Im not going to stop doing it. Love me, love my bunker. Unsurprisingly, she’s okay with it. There are things we would like to have but our progressing levels of preparedness either don’t really keep us from having those things or, if they do, then we agree that being prepared is more important. (And a very big part of being prepared is not taking on debt without some careful thought. Sure, a $3000 HD TV would be nice. But if we suffer a [medical emergency/job loss/house fire/family crisis/layoff] wouldn’t we rather have that $3k available for our more important needs?)

Admittedly, we’re in a unique situation from many couples. We don’t have to worry about kids, we have no debt other than a very small mortgage, and we generally live pretty well within our means. But my point is that right off the bat the girlfriend knew this was an interest of mine and that it wasn’t something I was going just give up and I certainly wasn’t going to feel I had to defend or justify what I was doing. You like to eat? You like having heat? You enjoy being safe and secure? Then I’m not going to change, mkay? (I generally give that very short explanation on those rare occasions I discuss this with ‘outsiders’ and, usually, I don’t give a rat’s ass if people think I’m nuts or not as long as they don’t try to stop me.)

The people who come to this game late, those who already have a spouse and kids, probably have the cards stacked against them. The kids roll their eyes about dad’s new weird hobby or giggle about why mom is stuffing rice into mylar bags and shoving it in the closet. Of course, the kids aren’t that much of a problem, it’s the spouse who’ll make it tough. If they aren’t on board then you get ‘the look’ every time you take $50 and spend it on “stuff we’ll never [eat/use/need]”. To be fair, you don’t necessarily have to have a spouse (or significant other/partner) be %100 on board, you just need them to not be against you. If you cant get acceptance and enthusiasm, settle for indifference and apathy. If they’re not on board that’s cool, just so long as they leave you alone to do whatever crazy new hobby you’ve decided on.

As I said, I’m lucky (at least in this regard). I’ve never had the girlfriend-now-wife try to rein me in on the things I’ve done….once in a rare while she may ask why do we [have/need/want] a particular thing and I’ll explain it to her and usually she’ll agree it makes sense and is a good idea. At the same time, I think I do a good job of not going overboard so that probably has a lot to do with it. In fact, she’s been very supportive, often asking “Should we just get a couple cases of these?” and doesn’t ask why we need to keep 50 rolls of TP on hand, why half the groceries we buy disappear into storage, why theres a wall of ammo, why our bookshelves are filled with TM’s, FM’s, and reference books. She knows it’s important to me, that it’s something I do for both our well-being, and she trusts that what I’m doing I’m doing sensibly and responsibly. Because of this, I pretty much don’t have to hide anything. I read about people who have to actually smuggle stuff into their own bloody homes lest the spouse start giving them crap. I cannot imagine that kind of life. Then again, Im fairly unapologetic about who I am at this stage of my life. Why do I have a bunker full of food, guns and fuel? Why? Why don’t you?

Anyway, to get back to my now long derailed point: getting married does not automatically mean that your preparedness lifestyle and spending habits have to come to a halt or be radically curtailed. If it does, then perhaps you should have made sure the other person was on board with all of this before you got serious. (Note Im saying just getting married by itself does not mean things have to change, other things like having kids may necessitate a change, but just being married doesn’t.) Play your cards right and maybe your plans will even be accelerated as your spouse starts contributing their own time, money and resources. When that happens then you’re really prepared.

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

I received an interesting letter today from the California Dept. of Justice. Its apparently being sent to FFL holders all over the country saying that, as of July 8 2008, any FFL who wants to send a gun to an FFL in California has to submit a request for a verification approval number. The copy of that paperwork must then be included with the gun at the time of sale. From their letter “The verification number…..confirms that the intended recipient of the firearm shipment is properly licensed and listed in the state’s database of persons/entities authorized to receive firearm shipments.”

Now, lets ignore the absurdity and potential legal challenges to this for a moment. Lets focus on the result of this. The result will be that many FFL’s will simply not want to put up with the hassle and will not ship to California. So, what does Econ 101 tell us about the price of a good when its supply is reduced and demand is not reduced. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Yes, the price goes up.

So, if you’re in California (and if you are then I really feel for you but no more than I would for, say, a person who stays married to someone who beats them) and you were planning on buying a couple new thundertoys you may wanna accelerate your purchasing timeline before the local prices start heading north.

For those interested, the cite listed in the letter is CA Penal Code Section 12072(f)(1). The name of this miscarriage of justice is “California Firearms Licensee Check Program (CFLC)”.

If, as this letter says, it prohibits FFLs from shipping to CA FFLs without approval it may leave a ‘loophole’ – non-FFL’s can ship guns to an FFL without any problems. Go figure.

And a special Sarah Brady Award to the state of California for finding yet another way to screw over the gun owning residents.

The writing is on the wall, kids. Whether you act upon it is up to you.

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Im still getting caught up on my ‘civillian’ life after being out of town for the last week or so. Lotsa stuff piling up at work and no shortage of stuff to deal with at home. Still, you make time for the important stuff, y’know? So I’ll be doing some gun cleaning and bunker neatening over the next week. Im already thinking towards winter and with fuel prices doing what they are, its not going to be too early to start getting the place winterized…new screen doors, thermal wraps for the water heaters, etc, etc.

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

Okay, back from the honeymoon. Alaska was an interesting place and other than that whole ocean and coastline thing, it looked a lot like Idaho and parts of Montana. Oh, and gunpowder was $30 a pound. Tough on your wallet, that state. Fishing was good though, and I would suspect that if a person could keep their boat fueled up you could subsist very well on the fish and game up there.

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Im a fan of the surplussed out HK flare guns that show up in Cheaper Than Dirt, Sportsmans Guide HQ, etc. The trick, however, is a source for the 26.5mm flares. Well, Ive got the new SG HQ catalog and in addition to selling the guns they are now selling the flares. I’ve shot these HK guns with the flares (mostly Czech surplus) and all fire and perform fine. They’re a real hoot. Not cheap at $3-4 ea. But when you need the signaling advantages of a flare gun, they’ll definitely do the job.

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Like a lot of people with a preparedness mindset, I have more backpacks than I know what to do with. So many, in fact, that the notion of buying luggage seems absurd. Why buy luggage when I’ve got perfectly good backpacks and duffels sitting in the bunker? For the honeymoon trip I just took, I used my Kifaru Marauder pack along with the Kifaru E&E bag as my ‘carry-on’ bag. The E&E ‘docks’ to the Marauder to allow me to carry both…much like the daypack on the CFP-90 military packs. Since I carried the E&E around on a shoulder strap I added a couple Maxpedition RolyPoly fold out pouches in case I needed extra space. Worked great. Yes, I probably could have done close to the same thing with an inexpensive ALICE pack but I like the Kifaru products and I can afford them, so why wouldn’t I?

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Can’t come up with a premise for your next end-of-the-world novel? Have the survivors out on a cruise ship when the zombie apocalypse starts. Lotsa great plot devices right there, I’m tellin’ ya.

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Politics:

Hillary is down but not out. That concession speech where she did everything but stick her hand down Obama’s pants? What do you think the price of that was? Im guessing a seat on the Supreme Court, ambassadorship to the UN or paying off her campaign debt.

I predicted an Obama/Clinton ticket way back when and I still haven’t ruled it out. Hillary is still a threat to my way of life…vice president, Supreme Court justice, health care czar, whatever. My point: don’t slack off. You still need to get out there and buy the things that she and her fellow travelers would prefer we not have.