And thus another Chrismahanukwanzakah has come to pass.
I have no interest in what you got for Christmas (or Hanukah, or Voodoo Day or whatever) unless its preparedness related…in that case, I wanna hear about it in comments. Start showing off!
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Interesting fiction story for those of you who might like ‘survivalist fiction’. http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=123&t=420606 I’ll leave the obvious morals to the story for you to figure out.
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Do I have any goals for 2006? Sure. Some are more reasonable than others….I’d love to have Commander Zero’s Post nuclear Bunker Of Love And Lingerie Proving Ground up and running but thats fairly unlikely at this point….no, the more realistic goals….
Fuel – Katrina really underscored the importance of this stuff. I need four more steel 5-gallon cans and related gear (racks, nozzles, etc)
Food – Im fairly pleased with what I have. I’d like more freeeze drieds for the really long term and some more space for the regular canned stuff
Communications – Need to set up, and leave set up, a decent radio rig.
Power – Backup power suppy. Buncha batteries, an inverter or two, some charging devices, controllers and the like. My goal is to run radios and LED lighting for at least a week.
Guns – Almost nothing is needed at this point. However, I’d like some extra pistols, alot more magazines and some more ammo.
Theres a few more things that escape me at the moment but those are the biggies that immediately come to mind.
Oh, and rededicating myself to being the best darn Commander Zero that I can be.
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Interestingly, I didnt hear anything about Fatherland Security upping the threat level for the holidays. Funny, since youd figure that crowded shopping malls and the like would be fine targets. Nonetheless, keep your eyes open on those ‘target rich environment’ days.
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If anyone knows of an LJ that I should be reading or that Im ightbe interested in, feel free to recommend. Its always interestingt o read other peoples take on the preparedness issues.
Only one interesting item here. A wind up LED flashlight.
I don’t think it is waterproof or shock resistant But it is handy to keep on the nightstand so I use that instead of my Streamlight Scorpion for routine things like 3:00am dog walks.
No one in my wife’s family is as into preparedness as I am but the in-laws, who gave me the light, at least keep extra water and food handy.
I’ll list my goals (unprioritized) so everyone can poke holes in them.
I would seriously not worry about 6 year old kerosene. The stuff never seems to go bad.
A IIIa vest w/groin extension and trauma plate came via the Fat Man. I have a Fritz w/a riot shield and my old mask is next to be replaced. Cabelas will get more from me this week at their store sales and I’m signed up for 1st tier vet care classes after the 1st. Other than that I’m still looking for some land outside the metro area but still drivable in a crisis.
I got one of those flashlights for Xmas 2004 (maybe even 03) and it’s still going strong.
I got a Foodsaver from hubby. He wanted to get me something “survival-oriented,” which was sweet, but now I have to figure out what to do with it! We don’t really need it for food storage. I hope he won’t be offended if I use it primarily for packing clothing and other gear.
Thanks for the info. I was kind of wondering about that.
need room?
could add on, if you got the land, another basement that is roofed over, with earth berm to your existing basement. or store stuff under a false floor space.
when is it enough? that why am partail to stocking the basics, and learn to do more with less clutter about me.
but then that works for me, may not work for you.
that fiction story
maybe it is good to flee to a safer place, but unless you be welcome there, or at least know the area and people, it may be safer to secure your home and stay until later on.
one other good point is that you are already farmiliar with your own neighborhood versus salvaging goods and materials in somebody’s other area. your decision may get you to safety or in worse conditions.
its your decision, your coin flip.
I got a car emergency kit, road flares and a shake up LED flashlight… I got a smaller 5-stitch wilderness belt and he got some other tools for increased redundancy in multiple locations.
Not a happy ending to that story, but the moral is loud and clear… still working on stuff one step at a time, but it’s good to read your reviews and plans for different stuff.
I have also increased my amount of outdoors-for-extended-durations winter clothing recently and tested it at a recent IDPA match and will be doing so again visiting a friend and walking around in the woods over New Years… have new Sorel waterproof boots from Sierra Trading Post that are supposed to be rated to -25 degrees F if one is “active”… they should be better than my $30 Walmart specials that I was wearing a few weeks ago outside…
I guess 2006 goals would be to continue to increase my handgun skills, possibly learn to sew, and continue to work on having better stocked groceries and supplies on my basement shelves, too.
I also got a few large aquariums this year and I plan to have them up and running by the end of June. May have to do some reading to see what kind of water filtering would be good if I needed to use that water for consumption at a later date…
When will Half-Fast release “lights out”, his full length novel?
the short story was good… sucks seeing the good guys lose, but I partially expected it.
atek3
broadcast mediaClear Channel socialists in this area. It’s the only way around here to hear Rollye James and G. Gordon Liddy.I got a shake-to-charge LED flashlight… from some of the least prepared people I’ve ever known. 🙂
Lee Anniversary reloading kit to start loading my own.
A Laser level to help building on those storage projects in the basement.
water?
try clear, tough 55 gallon barrel liners, which can turn any drum, even the cardboard types into water storage for the emergency. good to either doubleline the bags or line barrel with burlap or newspaper to minimize any leaks.
the 55 gallon bags come handy for any number of uses. my souce is a local BJ’S warehouse.
Already outlined my plans in the survivalist community.
Re: Xmas. Part of getting my parents to buy me stuff for xmahanaza is to couch it in terms they are ok with. They are the types who would shun most LMIs as paranoid (but I love em so I try to include em in my plans). For example–they view having a highly comprehensive first aid kit as a very positive development. So when I requested an extra-jumbo size LL Bean toiletry organizer for xmas and said with all truth that it it was for a first aid kit, they were happy to oblige. But I wouldn’t ask them to buy me a surplus SKS. Sometimes psychology works. But the GF is still reading Ragnar….
Re: the fiction–the lesson there would seem to be that there are times when time really is the most important thing of all, to wit: if you beat the worst of the traffic jam, you live, if not you die in your car rather than in your house.
Here’s an interesting story on NPR about bird flu. One of the voices (can’t say “talking head” when referring to radio) was saying remarkably sensible things like: “Good information should increase fear in those who are not prepared and decrease it in those who have made preparations.”
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5071792
Did you ever read “Day by Day Armegedon”? It’s a fun zombie-fiction read. Wish -I- had access to submarine batteries off an old diesel boat!
http://www.raptorman.us/
I’m interested in the specs on your “Project Dissergy” build. My wife needs a real light AR and I’m contemplating a similiar build. I’m torn between a lightweight build and just finding an old SP1.
could try
fork lift or golf cart batteries. check your local yellow pages.
as for zombies, already got them in local government services.
You can get pencil barreled carbines from Bushmaster and maybe other companies. I would actually recommend going that route.
Since you asked though here are the specs for “Project Dissergy” so far
-RRA Lower with NM Trigger Group
-RRA A4 Upper
-RRA Bolt and carrier group
-PRI M84 Gasbuster charging handle with big latch
-Magpul M93B Stock
-H Buffer
-Samson MRFS-R Modular Rail Forend System
-Magpul MIAD grip with AA Battery insert
-Tango Down VFG
-20″ 1 in 7″ twist Government profile barrel shortened to 16.5″ and gas port opened to .110 (If that’s too much I plan to put an adjustable gas tube on it.)
-ARMS 40L-SP Rear BUIS
-PRI Rail Mount Flip Sight (if I don’t keep the front sight tower)
-EOTech 552 Rev F sight
-Aimpoint 3x magnifier with twist mount
I think that is everything so far. I have seen two of these built on AR15.com and found them interesting but was wanting to bui;d an SPR clone. Then The Missus picked up my personal AR carbine that I had done some work on and commented how much she liked the changes other than the weight. So plans changed from getting her an M1 carbine for SHTF and builing a lightweight low-recoil AR platform.
Other than the barrel shortening I am doing all of the assembly/modification work myself. (No lathe or I’d do the barrel work too) I’ve been haunting AR15.com’s Equipment Exchange for most of the components to keep costs down. Hopefully the rifle will be assembled tested, broken in and zeroed before spring.