Monthly Archives: November 2012

Link – ‘Doomsday Preppers’: The craziest bunkers we’ve seen so far

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

Sure, you watch “The Walking Dead” and “Revolution” every week… but are you prepared for a real-life end-of-the-world scenario? The folks featured on National Geographic’s “Doomsday Preppers” sure are: They’ve built themselves well-stocked bunkers that can withstand anything from a global pandemic to a zombie apocalypse. And while the “preppers” stockpile supplies like crazed hoarders and put their small children through elaborate survival drills, the show brings on emergency-preparedness experts to judge how long each bunker would actually survive a catastrophe.

I still haven’t watched this show and despite people assuming that I wouldhave a tremendous interest in it, I really don’t.

Guns – The AAI CAWS project

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

Military auto shotguns have been dabbled with for a while, and one of the more interesting projects was the CAWS project. Special shotgun rounds, special shotgun. It never really got off the ground but you can see some DNA was passed down to the Daewoo, USAS, Atchisson and a few others.

I loves me some auto shotgun action as much as the next guy, but I think the basic pumpgun is probably a better choice. On the other hand, I wouldnt turn down a USAS-12 if one came my way. (And, yeah, the fedgoons messed up my fun by making it a Destructive Device.)

Article – New York City extends gas rationing; Bloomberg cites holiday travel crunch

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

Gasoline rationing for drivers in New York City has been extended through Friday.

The odd-even license plate system for gasoline and diesel purchase, instituted on Nov. 9 following the aftereffects of superstorm Sandy, was scheduled to end on Monday.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced Sunday he was extending the emergency order, even as the long lines at the pump have diminished. Bloomberg noted the major travel week ahead due to Thanksgiving.

“The odd-even license plate system has worked well and helped to reduce wait times and lines at the pump,” Bloomberg said in a statement. “With 30 percent of gas stations still closed and a major travel week coming, I am extending the successful odd-even system on gas and diesel fuel purchases to ensure we do not risk going back to the extreme lines we saw prior to the system being implemented.”

Nice. In the name of ‘emergency’, Bloomberg declares gas rationing to be the law of the land. And then, because of a holiday, he continues his edict. Perhaps it would have been to much for him to simply expand his odd-even license plate scheme to use of the public streets.

An excellent example of local government getting high-handed. I wonder if the folks in NYC would be as complacent if they were rationing water, or milk, or food in this manner.

An excellent reason to have your own stockpile of fuel…because even without a disaster you can wind up finding yourself facing these sorts of third-world issues.

2008 Redux

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

I have a would-be customer who wants me to hook him up with a Stag #2 (with the Plus Package) or a Rock River Entry AR. He asked me about this a day or two after the election and it was about all I could do to keep from laughing into the phone. You want to buy an AR a couple days after Carter The Second wins the presidential election? Why not try buying lifejackets once the iceberg hits the hull? Availability will be similar.

Stag Arms is not only not answering their phones but the voicemail option tersely says “we are not taking any messages at this time.” Rock River at least had a human answer the phone who told me the wait on an AR outta there is currently at four months.

I have been to this dance before and know all the steps. Put your left foot in, put your right foot out, reach for your wallet and wave it all about…..

Oh, and before I forget:

I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so.

Now I feel better……

 

Didn’t know he was still around

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

I dunno how I missed this:
JOHN MELVIN DAVIS 84034-012 60-White-M 03-29-2012 RELEASED

I knew he got pinched a few years back when one of his wives/girlfriends alerted the feds to his being a felon in possession and having stolen some stuff. (Mostly ammo and other gear.)

What I didnt know was that he was still in jail up to this year. For those of you who don’t remember the name, he was better known as ‘Gunkid’ (among other names) on most survival forums.

Now I’m going to have to really look closely at some of the posts on some of the boards I frequent and see if maybe his armored-wheelbarrow self is resurfacing.

Filed under “Entertainment” because..well…Gunkid! He’s a blast from the past, alright.

Article – Lawmaker asks to be paid in gold

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

And in local news……

A Montana state lawmaker is asking that he be paid in gold coins because of his lack of faith in the U.S. dollar amid a rising deficit.

Jerry O’Neil, a Republican just reelected in his northern Montana district, says his constituents told him he was not honoring his duty to uphold the U.S. Constitution, which O’Neil and Gold Standard supporters say requires the government to print money backed by gold

Well, if nothing else, at least it’s an indication that he may have actually read the Constitution which put’s him a few steps ahead of some other folks.

 

Generator musings

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

I suppose I should figure out precisely what my needs are in terms of a generator.

I’m on city water, so a well pump isn’t an issue. Although, it would be nice to help out frieds who did have pumps.

All my major appliances (stove, furnace, hot water heater) run on natural gas. For heating, I have a pair of kerosene heaters and about 60 gallons of kero in storage. For cooking I can cook on top of the kerosene heaters or use any of several camp stoves that run on multifuels. If for somer eason there’s no gas or no water, then hot water comes from heating it up on top of the kerosene heater or camp stoves. Not great for taking a shower, but a basin and a washcloth will probably do in a pinch. Lighting is accomplished through kerosene and propane lamps, supplemented with some minor 12v lighting.

So, really, where is the need for electricity? Well, there’s the fridge and the freezer. Those are pretty much the only things that are mission-critical. It’s sounding like something like the EU2000 or EU3000 would be enough to take care of those and perhaps charge up a small 12v bank for lighting. If thats the case, the more expensive EU generator, with it’s smaller output and greatly reduced fuel requirements might be the way to go. In a crisis, I don’t need to have every room in the house lit up, and since the internet will most likely be down the computers arent a high priority. so I guess really an EU would be the most practical choice.

Someone mentioned in comments that another option would be to play both sides of it. Get the fuel-sipping EU for running the freezer and a few small lights, and have the big generator for heavy-duty uses that might arise. Certainly, that makes a lot of sense to me, the problem is it isn’t a very economical way to go. Of course, sometimes economy is trounced by the need to cover all the bases.

This is one of those things I’m still going to have to weigh and think about. I’m tempted to go the less expensive (up front)  route and get the larger genny first…then start socking away greenbacks until a good used EU turns up on craigslist.

Also, what I really, really need to do is talk to one of the ‘alternative energy’ vendors in town and explain to them I want a simple battery system for running 12v lighting, charging AA and D batts, and running radios. Since that would all be 12v there’d be no need for an inverter and no resultant power loss in the conversion from DC to AC. Man, thats something I really, really need to get busy on.

And, of course, there’s always ballistic things that need purchasing…..