Went to the gun show yesterday. Even though Im not necessarily looking for guns (or gun related items) gun shows are still outstanding venues for purchasing the sundry items that make the uncertain future a bit easier to bear…poncho liners, ammo cans for storage, first aid gear, optics, camping stuff, mil surp clothing, etc, etc, etc.

Didn’t see anything I couldn’t live without, although there were some very nice goodies. A few .50 bolt actions, a slew of FN products (probably because of a promotion FN has been running where a dealer gets a free FN gun if they purchase five FN guns) with the PS90 being noticeably absent, some decent scopes, John “Militia Of Montana” Trochmann had his usual books and gear although his eyepatch was missing, and no sign of Randy Weaver at this one.

I wasn’t really looking for much. Cant really afford much right now. I did pick up a few pairs of EMT shears which my first aid kits have been lacking. Otherwise I pretty much passed on everything. The only things that even tempted me were some SA .308 battle packs for the FAL. There was almost no, nada, none,zip Wolf 7.62×39 to be found. Nor were there any of the ‘off’ brands like Silver Bear, Barnaul, etc, etc. Read into it what you will. Also there were plenty of AK’s in attendance but not a lot of steel magazines for them. I did see the new betamag for the Mini-14 (and given the reliability of the Ruger platform, I’d bet the Mini would run the full mag just fine whereas the AR might jam after 75 rounds or so…that’s just opinion. On the other hand, the AR would at least put the bullets where you point them, where they go out of the Ruger is anyones guess.)

Ok, I forgot….there was one item I saw that I wanted and that was the military sleep system. Inner, outer and Goretex bag. Ive been wanting one of those for a while now. One of the LMI picked up a couple and they looked mighty good to me. Usually about $150 and probably worth it.
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Rumblings in the UK about bird flu complete with a recently publicized document about government plans to press former emergency workers into service to drive trucks of food and supplies through afflicted areas. I’m still on the bird flu fence. However, even if bird flu doesn’t make the jump to humans (and I’m not saying it won’t, Im just making a point here) all it’ll take is the announcement of a few dead geese in a Washington cornfield to start the panic buying and shopping that makes these things self-fulfilling prophecies. Take Hurricane Rita for example, the hurricane killed less people than the evacuation did. Bird flu itself might shut down a city but the announcement of bird flu, whether theres a threat or not, will do it just as well. So even if bird flu is a bust in terms of being transmitted to humans you’ll still get the same chaos as if it had.

My interest in bird flu isn’t necessarily that I’ll contract it. I tend to lead a fairly reclusive life with little face-to-face contact with people…its not like I share an office, elevator or bathroom with 150 other people in a company. Its just me, the girlfriend and a few people at arms length at the bank and post office. (And, yeah, both of those places are fine breeding grounds for germ transfer…fortunately both are also completely replaceable with online transactions.)

No, my concern is from the effects of bird flu. Disruptions in trucking and delivery of goods, the fast and sudden disappearance of chicken from the meat department at Albertsons (so stock up now, kids!), the economic slowdown as a result of decreased productivity, etc, etc, etc. Sure, I’ll go through gobs of hand sanitizer and bleach the living hell out things but my real concern is availability of food, travel restrictions, inflation, scarcity of goods and that sort of thing.

The handwriting is on the wall that the natives are restless. Ammo shortages, FDF shortages, .gov plans and contingencies, etc, etc. Apparently theres a large contingent of people out there who are thinking ‘just in case….’