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

“The first thing we revolutionaries lose is our wives. The last thing we lose is our lives. In between our women and our lives, we lose our freedom, our happiness, our means of living.” – Eden Pastora.
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Its a little odd, but of all the activities and forms of entertainment I could engage in, I find my Commander Zero activities to be the most relaxing.
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I want to point out that lately Ive been comparing various 'ballistic nylon' stuff (mag pouches, vests, gear pouches) etc. and noticed that the American-madeTactical Tailor stuff is, usually, the same price or cheaper than the Made-In-Vietnam Blackhawk gear. Obviously each company will have products that the other will not, but on the same (or very, very similar) items it seems TT has the edge. Now, some of you may not care where your stuff is made…and some of you may not care what your stuff costs…and thats perfectly cool. But, I take an interest in these things and figured I'd point it out.
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All is quiet in ZeroLand at the moment. That, of course, means nothing… The price of freedom is..uhm..is..eternal vigilance and a buttload of cash, it seems. I've got at least six pages of spreadsheets filled with things to buy and that does not include stuff that I already have and simply want more of (like ammo, food, etc, etc.)
On the other hand, I've come into some stupid bargains in gearing up for Ultima Thule:

• There was the time I took a nightwatchman gig for a sporting goods store and asked to be paid in store credit. Then used the credit to buy out their entire closeout inventory of #10 mountain house freezedrieds.
• The guy from WY who wanted to trade bullets for cases of current manufacture military MRE's
• Those fun parachute flares for $4
• 20mm, 40mm, 60mm and 120mm ammo cans for a few dollars each
• Closeout at CostCo on Baygen flashlights for $20/@
• The leftover kerlix bandage rolls from a very generous VA hospital
• etc. etc.

Point being that if youre patient, shop around and know what youre looking for then getting geared up isnt as expensive as it could be. Of course, there are also goodies and gear that are just going to be spendy no matter how you slice it (real estate, vehicles, gold, etc.)
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Website update with a Product Review of the Streamlight 4AA Propolymer Luxeon, for thos who are interested.