Monthly Archives: May 2024

Stepping off the porch

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I must say, for a fella whose blog is, nominally, not a ‘preparedness’ blog, once in a while Joel hits it outta the park with this simple-but-profound line:

“…I have a strict policy of never leaving my porch unless I’m ready to go to war.“

Now, for context, Joel lives in the lonely desert and in this case he was talking about the risks posed to him and his dog by bold coyotes. But…there’s some good sense in that statement, especially if your anticipated threat is more than just a bunch of tweaker-lookin’ dogs. (Or, as someone once opined, “coyotes look like German Shepherds on heroin”.)

I commented that my similar policy is that I don’t leave my house without the gear necessary to either fight my way back to it, or to abandon it. And, broadly, thats true. When I leave for work every morning I have my Bag O’ Tricks which covers a pretty wide range of possibilities. I also have a good bit of gear (including a thundertoy or three) stashed in my truck. And, finally, I’ve a carbine and plate carrier discreetly tucked away next to my desk at work. Power failure, road closures, civil unrest, earthquake, whatever….if I’m away from my house, odds are I’ve got the gear handy to enable me to either get back to my house or to survive away from it.

I’m pretty sure that by just about anyone’s standards that might appear a bit extreme, but thats the lifestyle I’ve chosen and it makes me….calmer. The odds of me ever having to Omega Man my way from my workplace to my houseplace are virtually none, and I know that…but thats still a more-than-zero chance. On the other hand, it is orders of magnitude more likely that I will be caught away from  my house when here’s a power outage or some other event that precludes the normal ease-of-travel.

Give you an example…back in ’97 a bunch of tanker cars derailed at the town of Alberton, about 30 miles down the road, and the folks there had about the same experience as Chernobyl evacuees. It’s not impossible that a hazardous chemical spill of some type, accidental or purposeful, will shut off my ability to return to my house. Thus, I need to be able to function with whatever resources I have with me or that I can count on at other locations.

And it could be something other than a chemical spill. Police activity, civil unrest, a plane crash, earthquake, gas leak, bridge collapse, etc….all are reasonably possible events that would inhibit my ability to return.

When I leave my house, it’s not necessarily ‘prepared for war’ but it is prepared to not return for a few days at least. In a time of crisis, my house is, for now, the safest place for me to be. It may not always be that way, but for now thats the way it is. It’s the boat that keeps me afloat in the sea of uncertainty. Why would I want to take my chances away from it if I didnt have to..Never get out of the boat.

You do you, of course. What works for me (or that I think works for me) may not be something that you think works for you. But I feel that being prepared every time I leave the house to not come back gives me options. I like having options.

 

 

Be vewy vewy quiet….

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I really don’t want to get too far in the weeds with this, but, as I see it, it could be reasonably argued that there is a utility in having an accurate suppressed carbine of some kind for low-signature shooting at ranges not much past 100 yards. And while a suppressed .22 in a quality bolt gun with a good suppressor on the end is a fine, fine instrument…sometimes you need a bit more bullet mass.

So, how would you do that, exactly? A suppressed bolt action rifle would be pretty much ideal…no noise of the action cycling, no special mods to the rifle to allow cycling with subsonic ammo, etc. (A single shot carbine would give the same benefit but follow up shots would be rather slow…on the other hand, this sort of arm is seldom called on for volume-of-fire applications.)

So…a suppressed bolt action out to about 100 yards. One hundred yards isnt a very challenging distance with a scoped carbine, so almost any caliber will do if it can be kept subsonic with relative ease. The first thing that springs to mind is a 9mm or .45 ACP gun. Pistol ammo is easy to load down to subsonic, and .45 AARP is natively subsonic. Problem is, when was the last time you saw a bolt action 9mm of any worth? (Sure, 9mm Destroyer carbines are out there…but those are novelty Spanish guns. Repros of the DeLisle are out there, but I wouldnt call them precision.) My first thought, and still on my radar, is a Ruger 77/357….a bolt-action .357 Mag that would let me use my 9mm suppressors. Loaded with 200 gr. bullets it should be just fine for the relatively short range while providing a good platform with potential for accuracy….bolt action, integral scope mounts, aftermarket trigger availability, etc. Problem is finding one.

So, I did a bit of research and decided that while I am still going to keep an eye open for the threaded 77/357, I was going to pick up a bolt gun in .300 Blackout. This would let me use my .30 suppressor and the exterior ballistics would be an improvement over a pistol bullet. As a bonus, the Ruger version uses AR15 mags for most applications. (Depending on how you load the cartridge, an average Pmag will work fine, but if youre going to seat bullets out a bit further you might want a dedicated purpose-built .300 Blackout AR mag.)

And thus we got this:

Its a Ruger American® Rifle Generation II Ranch in .300 Blackout. I then changed out the stock for a Magpul stock. I threw the Sig SRD762-QD suppressor on there and fired a few rounds just to see how quiet it is. Gotta say, it isn’t “Hollywood quiet” but it isn’t too far away from it. I need to throw a scope on and I’m thinking that since it’s for fairly short ranges, either a variable 1-6x or a fixed 6x would be the way to go. Why the Magpul stock? A couple reasons..first, and I’m not ashamed to say it, it looks cooler. I like the sling attachment options, the subdued color, MLOK points to attach accessories, adjustable cheekpiece and spacers, and the AK-style mag release.

The only drawback to all this, naturally, is that I now have to work the logistics of a new cartridge. I’m not happy about that, and thats one of the reasons I’m still holding out for the Ruger 77/357. But I must say that the .300 Blackout was certainly ear-safe and deceptively quiet at the outdoor range. I need to go with a friend and have them shoot it as I pace off some distances away from them to see at what distance it becomes virtually inaudible.

A good question might be why not use subsonic .308 ammo? Well, I gave that a lot of thought. There’s a lot of merit to using .308 from a logistics point of view, but my experience with large (comparatively) cases with light loads has been that you get erratic performance. Enough inconsistent performance to make a difference at 100 yards? Maybe. But there was also the concern of mixing up subsonic .308 with regular .308. I don’t mind mixing up subsonic 9mm with regular 9mm (or .45) because my pistols will digest either one just fine. But my PTR-91’s may have other ideas about subsonic ammo. I may revisit this and try some subsonic .308 but it seemed that if there were going to be tradeoffs that had to be made, then I might as well do the ones that get me something more in line with what I think my needs were.

So…theres the weekend.

 

Pro Tip Of The Day

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When you leave the vendor’s store with your two shiny new suppressors, and you have a few other things in your arms as well, and you place the suppressors on the back of the truck box while you unlock the truck….don’t forget that they are sitting there. Don’t get in the truck and drive off. Don’t get halfway to your destination, look at the passenger seat and go “hey, where are the suppressors”. Don’t panic and do a Bat-turn, and drive at excessive(!) speeds to retrace your route.

And, lo, there in the middle of the intersection, were my two boxes. Amazingly, not yet run over by traffic and not taken by passerby.

I was not looking forward to the phone call to ATFE if I had lost them.

How panicked was I? My butt was clenched so hard I’m surprised the seat covers didnt get out of the truck with me.

But, you know what? I checked off the last things on my suppressor wish list – .22(x2), .223(x3), .30, 45, 9mm (x2), Uzi. The really painful thing is…I purchased all of those in the last 60 days. $ouch$.

Unexpected Streamlight

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As you may (or may not) recall, a while back I had posted that I sent Friend Of The Blog ™, Joel, a tactical flashlight for his use in his particularly remote AO. That discussion begat another discussion about the relative availability and wisdom-of-choice between AA and CR123 batteries.

Apparently, this is a case of why choose when you can have both? A generous reader, who is now on the Paratus card list (nicely done, there), sent me a hitherto unknown product. The Streamlight ProTac 1L-AAA pocket tactical flashlight.

Apparently the colloquial term for a device that takes multiple battery types/sizes is ‘dual fuel’ (or, I suppose, ‘multi fuel’). Regardless, this little light runs on either one CR123 or one AA battery. According to the literature, the CR123 gives you about 60% more run time than the AA batt.

First off, mucho thanks to the generous person who, rather than posting to tell me about this item, simply sent one to me as a way of introducing me to the item. Well done, sir…much thanks!

Its a little bigger than the Fenix E12 that I carry around everyday, but it offers a couple extra features the E12 doesn’t…most notably a strobe option.

I’ll set my Fenix E12 aside for a while and carry this thing around to see how I like it. Right off the bat, the fact it can operate on two different types of batteries gives it some high marks. We’ll see how a couple weeks of everyday bumping and dropping (as well as maybe an inadvertent trip though the washing machine) affect it’s reliability. Stay tuned.

And by the way, while we’re on the subject, you do carry a small flashlight in your pocket at all times, right? And please don’t say that youll just use your phone if the need arises… thats just a bad idea for a buncha reasons.

Turning money into not-noise

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Sooooo…..that happened:I’d like to thank the /wallstreetbets autists who made this purchase possible by driving up AMC and and putting my ten 5$ calls through the roof. Got out just as it started to slide back. Better to be lucky than good.

The part that drives me nuts is that I cannot order up a 10″ barrel for the Uzi until the SBR paperwork goes through…and this suppressor will not work with anything except a 10″ barrel. So….gotta wait. But, that’ll give me time to hunt down some subsonic 9mm.

Logistics

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Well, if you’re gonna have an Uzi (or two), you’re gonna need mags….right?

Fifty oughtta be a good start. And I’ve a few other accessories for the new acquisition that have started trickling in.

This was a 50-mag package from Atlantic Firearms. These are 25-rd mags and, thoguh used, they appear to be in pretty good shape. I need to thoroughly examine each one closely, but so far they all look good.

 

Surreal estate

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I’m continuing to try to find a piece of dirt that meets my anticipated needs and desires. It’s been a bit of a slog, but I am noticing prices are coming down. Also, the markets (stock and metals) have been nice to me over the last six weeks so I have about 10% more to spend on an acquisition than I previously had. As I peruse the various real estate listing websites I do come across the occasional piece of property that makes me wonder what the previous owner was thinking. One such piece is this guy. I am really curious about this piece. The description says that the whole 11 acres is, to some degree, fenced. Okay thats kinda nice…a bit unusual but nothing really eyebrow-raising. But then theres an inner perimeter fenced with chain link. Ok, it’s bear country and maybe they wanna keep the deer outta the garden. Totally plausible. The three strands of outward-facing barbed wire atop the tall fence, on the other hand….. Barbed wire does nothing to deter deer and bears will go through it like it isn’t even there.

I get the impression this was either someone’s bugout location or there’s a serial killer out there who couldn’t meet his mortgage.

Regardless, its a hard no for me….$20k per acre, even with a well, is absolutely ridiculous. But its certainly an interesting piece of property and rather interesting to ‘read between the lines’ with.

Cache and carry

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Spend any time in survivalism and you eventually get to the topic of caches. And, before I get too far down this particular rabbit hole, I just want to say that “cache” is pronounced “cash” as in “Johnny Cash”. If you pronounce it “Cash-ay” you come off sounding like an illiterate redneck. Moving on now.

Everyone at some point talks about hidden or buried caches. The notion being that someday, when your life has taken a profound and undeniable turn sideways, you will be on the run, find your hidden cache, and increase your odds of survival by replenishing and re-equipping yourself with what you prudently packed away those many years earlier.

What people decide to cache away is highly subjective. Some people might pack away everything but the kitchen sink. Some people might just tuck away some fake ID, a pistol, and a whole bunch of cash. And some people might go a bit further. What’s important, though, is that whatever you store for a later date has to be protected in such a way that the cache is impervious and invisible to the world around it. A good way to do that is to bury it. What do you bury it in? There’s a lot of chatter on that topic but many people like genuine military ammo cans. Get one big enough, with good seals, perhaps paint it with some sealant like roofing tar or somesuch, and pop it into a hole in the ground. Which brings us to this video from the, unfortunately, soon-to-be-departed Paul Harrell:

An excellent video showing what to expect. Those tall mortar cans can sometimes be had at gun shows, and can definitely be found online. Also Craigslist if you’re lucky.
One thing that is not touched on, and that I’m sure you’ll figure out on your own, is that while GPS is awesome for getting you back to “X marks the spot”, you have to plan on it not being available. Could be a buncha things….gov turns it off, degrades its accuracy (which used to be policy), satellites get knocked out by China, etc, etc. So, by all means, take GPS coords and save ’em, but also hide your stuff in such a manner that a simple hand drawn map and compass will work too. The guideline I personally would use is to do it in such a manner that I cold tell someone where it is, hand them a hand drawn map and a compass, and they’d have little trouble finding it.
Anyway, a good video on a topic that is something we’ve all thought about (and probably done) from time to time.

Article – I live in a bunker with no oven or windows, but it’s worth it to save $2,000 a month

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I knew that a friend of mine had purchased a house complete with a bomb shelter in its backyard about two years ago, and she wasn’t keen on maintaining the rear part of her property.

I met with her and suggested a solution: If she allowed me to rent the bomb shelter at a very discounted rate, I would ensure its upkeep.

Ok, lets ignore the first rule of Bunker Club for a moment….

If you had a bunker, wouldn’t you keep it quiet and empty for that time when you might actually need it, rather than rent it out as some sort of AirBnb? The level of PerSec violations here is pretty high. But, I suspect he person who bought the house probably thought the bunker was a quaint and silly remnant of a previous ‘paranoid’ owner.

However, the description of this persons experience living in the bunker is rather encouraging. Its quiet and temperate…nice qualities to have. As far as underground bunkers go, it looks rather appealing.