Plates II

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In case anyone was wondering:

And T3 was having a sale on plate carriers so I got one of each – this and this.

I already have a couple sets of soft armour, which I believe everyone should have, and I have a carrier and plates next to my AR in the bedroom ‘just in case’. But, I wanted an extra set…perhaps for offsite storage…and I also wanted a low-profile set to keep in the truck. And, lets be real, the prices aren’t going to go down and at some point getting this stuff will no longer be as simple as a webform and a credit card.

And as tempting as it is to buy a set of plates and sock them away, don’t. You need to actually wear them and get used to how they feel and,  most importantly, how they affect your ability to function and move while wearing them. I promise you, bringing up a rifle and shouldering it will be a completely different game when youre wearing this stuff. And it isn’t lighweight. The smart survivalist will buy a dirt cheap plate carrier, a set of weighted replica plates,  duct tape the crap out of the corners and stress points, and use them for training purposes. Crom forbid, but when Der Tag arrives you really don’t have margin for a learning curve. So, yes, feel like a dork as you’re LARPing around your house in armour….thats part of the familiarization process. Your carrier needs to fit you, and it needs to do it in such a manner that donning it is as familiar and easy as slipping into worn shoes. Wear it…go the range, go for a hike, do a workout, but wear it and move with it and adjust as necessary.

And, finally, remember that these things will stop bullets (most of the time) but there’s no free lunch in physics so that energy has to go somewhere and that somewhere is going to be you. Don’t think you’ll have a round of 7.62 bounce off your chest and your gonna keep moving forward like the Terminator. Hollywood makes bullet resistance look like fun and game but it really looks more like cracked/broken ribs/sternum and bruises that make you queasy just looking at them.

BUT….it beats a sucking chest wound any day of the week.

Teasing the PTR63

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When I was but a wee lad, I bought, for a mere $600 in 1986 money, an HK93A3 with a handful of magazines. It was, hands down, a wonderful little carbine. Utterly reliable and accurate. Unfortunately magazines were a whopping $35 back then and I traded it for a Colt CAR-15. I have never forgiven myself.

PTR, as you know, has been making G3/HK91 copies for a number of years and I own quite a few of them. They eventually branched into MP5/HK94 copies as well and I have a few of those too. But what I have longed for is a .223 from them.

A few years back they cooperated with Century and wound up putting together some partskit guns and those got mostly favorable reviews….and disappeared from the market quickly.

Now, accroding to PTR’s website, they have reimagined the HK93 but with AR mags and a somewhat different lower receiver while keeping the lovely HK operating system. You know, the one that kicks your brass into a low-earth orbit.

The new PTR 63 is an iconic roller-delayed blowback system chambered for the 5.56mm cartridge. The feature rich design includes PTR’s new Collapsing Stock and AR Trigger Grip Housing. This rifle gives you 5.56mm in a compact platform that allows you to use almost all standard AR accessories and magazines.

(Basically, a take on the HK G41) I really, really want this to work. But the further you stray from the original design, the greater the chances of things not going as planned. (As evidenced by early PTR rifles that had problems with shallower flutes.)

Its going to be difficult, but once these things hit the market I’ll sit on my hands for about a year until the reports come in and the bugs get worked out. But….dang….looks like theres a last shot hold open but that magazine release looks like a bit of a reach. Still…this seems like progress.

Article – Safe rooms in Israel are everywhere, with steel doors and sparse furnishings. Here’s what they’re like inside.

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Much like how Hurricane Katrina and 9/11 became the paradigm for future planning, this recent event in Israel is going to be the touchstone for quite a while. Finally, someone addressed the ‘safe rooms’ or shelters that have been required in new construction for quite a while. I haven’t checked, but I believe this used to be a requirement of the Swiss as well, although they seem to have relaxed it as the Soviet Union disappeared.

It’s commonplace for homes in Israel to have a specially-built safe room inside to shelter in place after a law was introduced in 1992 by the Israel Defense Forces’ Home Front Command, establishing new civil defense regulations.

The regulations required the inclusion of a residential protected room, a communal protected space, or an institutional protected space in every newly constructed building.

I suppose that, if I had the room, I’d construct something similar but more for providing a secure room for valuables to be protected from fire rather than a hole to hide myself and loved ones in. Frankly, if there’s a situation where hiding from people is necessary then I’d probably be more likely to be standing somewhere inside/outside my house with an AR rather than crouching behind a steel door. And if I was hiding behind a steel door in a fortified room as a ‘last resort’ …well…the first person through that door is in for a bad time.

As for gun policies in Israel. I was always under the impression that in certain regions, along the border for example, the rules were a tad different. I suspect that after this recent development, there may be some rather large changes to the current policies.

Moral of the story, though, is that having your own bunker is never a bad thing.

Article – Tragic story of an Israeli couple who killed 7 Hamas militants to save their children

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An Israeli couple has killed seven Hamas militants to save their children after the Hamas fighters came to their home. The woman and her husband were killed too.

Oleh Vyshniakov, Israel’s consul in Ukraine’s Western Region, shared the couple’s story. On his Facebook page.

Adar and Itay Berdychivsky from the Kfar Aza kibbutz both served in the Israeli army as officers and kept weapons at home.

When the militants approached their house, the couple hid their 10-months-old twins in mammad, a reinforced security room required in all new buildings by Israeli law, and returned to wait for the militants in the main house to distract their attention from their children.

I’m sorry the couple didn’t survive their encounter, but if you have to die then there’s probably no more noble way to die….fighting alongside your loved one to protect your other loved ones. Tragic and romantic at the same time. Its almost like the finale of “Mr and Mrs Smith” but with kids. Assuming, of course, this story is true. The first casualty of war and all that.

I’m glad to read that there were people in Israel who had weapons of their own and didn’t hesitate to use them. The overwhelming majority of news stories tend to promote the idea that all these people just meekly stood around like sheep waiting for a bullet in the back of the head. I hope its true.

Article – Israel Loosens Gun Laws After Unprecedented Terror Attack

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It will now be easier for Israelis to carry firearms for self-defense in the wake of the worst terror attack in the nation’s history.

Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir announced on Sunday he has ordered officials responsible for issuing gun licenses to broaden its standards. As the death toll inflicted by terror group Hamas grew to over 600, Ben-Gvir said he wants more Israelis to be able to legally arm themselves.

“Today I directed the Firearms Licensing Division to go on an emergency operation in order to allow as many citizens as possible to arm themselves,” he posted, according to a Google translation. “The plan will take effect within 24 hours.”

You know, for a nation that makes historical persecution and genocide a very large part of their national identity, you’d think the Israeli’s would be a bit more strident about a gun in every home. Given their history of being at war with their neighbors almost continually since 1948, and the frequent border incursions by solo terrorists and small groups, it would seem that the .gov would be a bit more free with the boomsticks…especially since everyone has to have military training at some point.

But, as we’ve seen in Ukraine, governments attitude on arming the populace can change pretty quickly when that same governments existence is threatened.

The obligatory ‘behind every blade of grass’ story will be trundled out at any moment, I am sure.

Meeting the like minded folks

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I had a freight order dropped off the other day from Mountain House. Its hard to be subtle when the guy unloading the truck is dropping off a four-foot tall pallet of freeze drieds, all marked MOUNTAIN HOUSE in big letters. So, I’m there watchng him lower the liftgate with the pallet jack full of goodies on it.

Him: So thats a lot of backpacking food. What are you doing with it.

Me, no longer even pretending: Paranoid survivalist

Him: Thats not paranoid. I’ve got a garage full of this stuff. Did you see on the news that….

And that is exactly how you meet other like-minded individuals.

I have a friend of mine whome I’ve known for about…mmmmm…ten years or so. When I first met him he was not a survivalist. He worked in an industry that certainly was frequented by my people, but he was not one of them. Over the years we’d chit chat about things like guns, food, precious metals, etc. But he was very much a ‘feet on the ground’ kinda guy. But after years of being exposed to people like me he has become a card-carrying member of the tribe. He texts me to show off when he gets cases of .223 and he has bought freeze-drieds and Magpul mags from me a half dozen times now.

In my world, I don’t really know anyone who isn’t some shade of survivalist.

Article – Filson to outsource most of remaining Seattle production to California

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Filson, the Seattle-based maker of durable, high-end outdoor wear, is preparing to cut most of its already shrunken Seattle-area manufacturing operations.

The 126-year-old company plans to outsource up to two-thirds of its remaining Seattle-area production to an outside vendor near Los Angeles, but has no immediate plans to end all production here, company officials said Monday.

I have a lot of Filson wool clothing. Every piece is made in Seattle. Filson also makes some non-wool stuff I want but every time I go look at the specs on their website, its manufacture is listed as ‘Imported’. While I love the Filson brand, Im not paying Filson prices for something made in Thailand, Bangladesh or anywhere else in Asia.

I suspect its only a matter of time before Filson moves the production of the magnificent wool coats to somewhere more economical…and probably offshore. Or maybe they’ll just move to California and really make the stuff there rather than ‘making it’ at the Port of San Diego.

I suggest that if ‘Made in America’ matters to you, and you want the genuine Filson product, buying it sooner rather than later might be wise.

On the bright side, if you do buy the genuine Filson the rather high price is borne out over the rather long lifespan these things have. I often meet people wearing a Filson and it used to belong to their dad or grandfather. And a couple times a winter I’ll be out and about and someone will interrupt me and say “Excuse me, is that a Filson?” Great product those wool coats.

Plates

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Who are you guys liking for Level IV plates these days?

I wanna pick up some spare armour before someone gets the idea to restrict them and need some reputable outfits. Last set I got was from Shellback Tactical, but perhaps there are better offerings these days. Looking for something in the 10×12 dimensions.

This is only a test…

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My phone, when Im at work, is in ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode. That means that only calls/texts from people on my approved list (‘whitelist’) will get through. Unless, of course, youre the fedgov and you’re testing your nationwide emergency alert notifications. In short, every cell phone in my office erupted at 12:20 this afernoon.

I recognize that there may be a circumstance under which your benevolent and generous .gov wants to inform you of something. But if they’ve got the juice to ring every cellphone in North America and override your ringer settings to do it, you can bloody well believe they can do a few other neat tricks with your phone. Turn on the speaker remotely and eavesdrop? Cut off your incoming calls? Redo your Location setting so your phone pings your location? All that and more, my friend.

Remember, .gov almost never gives itself a power (or authority) and then never uses it. Heck, we’re the only nation that ever opened a can of sunshine on other human beings. You really think that technology was going to be developed and never used?

Look, I love me some smartphone. I have, literally, all the collected information of mankind in my pocket. I can communicate with anyone on the planet. I can watch gun videos. But I never forget that technology  like that can be used against me by the same folks that license and regulate it.

Be impressed with today’s demonstration of tech, but be concerned about what it implies.

Standardization

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So this popped up in comments from the last post, and there’s a lot to unpack, so it becomes a post all its own:

At what point is it a good idea to standardize?
Lets say you plan to use 308, 9mm, 12g and .22.
Other than some “trade goods”, why carry other calibers…
Having just to have costs – either financially or in storage space.

“Standardize” means different things to different people. Are you standardizing on a particular caliber? A particular firearm? Both? Theres some big differences there. Lets give a couple examples and the problems they incur.

Let’s say you standardize on caliber. Everyone in your family/group/clan/stick/team/cadre/cell//whatever decides that .223 is the way to go. That way everyone can use the same ammo. You’ve got an AR,, Bob has an AUG, Uncle Billy has a Mini-14, and Crazy Steve has a .223 AK. You guys can all eat from the same pot of .223 ammo. And then…Steve loses some magazines in an impromptu bugout, or Billy only had a few to begin with and needs more, or the feed lips on your mags are getting tired and you think its time to swap out for some new mags. Well, you’re all shooting .223, which you standardized on, but everyone has their own magazine logistics. Billy can’t give Steve any of his mags, and your mags wont work in Steves gun, and you see where I’m going with this?

So, maybe you standardize on a gun (‘platform’). We’re all gonna rock the AR. For the most part, we’re all gonna be able to swap parts and accessories if we need. Your AR is 7.62×39, mine is .223, Steve’s is .300 Black, and Billy has gone way off the res and adheres to the 6.8 SPC. But we can all swap small parts, optics, lights, accessories, and we all share the same manual of arms. But…I’ve got plenty of .223, Billy is having trouble finding ammo, Steve can’t give any ammo to you, and .300 Black isn’t found at the local trading post. Again, see where Im going with this?

For me, I’m thinking long term. As far as guns go, my thought process is “If I can’t buy more tomorrow, will I be able to spend the rest of my life with what I have?” And spending the rest of my life with what I have is a lot easier when its common to what my buddies and the locals carry.

For me, the end of the world looks like an AR in .223 and a 9mm Glock. Two platforms so widely supported that you can literally build them from parts you purchase online and a receiver you make yourself.

Other than some “trade goods”, why carry other calibers…

Because not every problem has a solution that can be optimally met with the survivalist’s classic calibers. Do you have livestock? Do you have bears? When you’re woken up at 2am to the sound of your goats/chickens/cattle getting mangled by a bear you’re probably gonna want something with a bit more horsepower than a .223 or .308…and out comes the Marlin in .45-70…or the Mauser in .35 Whelen…or the Browning in .338.

And you may have a gun/ammo preference for hunting that you’re comfortable with. For example, I have rifles in .308 to hunt with but I have sentimental attachment to a 7mm Mauser I had built up years ago and prefer hunting with that. Logistically it makes no sense, but since I have three dozen AR’s, a thousand magazines, and piles of .223 ammo, I don’t feel that having a little boutique gun/caliber is creating a risk for me.

Having extra guns/ammo in ‘non standardized’ calibers does cost, financially and in terms of space. I agree wholeheartedly. But I have the financial and spatial margin to have a few things just because I like them or think theyre cool. I wouldn’t run out the door to WW3 with my Marlin .357, but I enjoy it enough that I don’t mind making room for it in my gun safe. If youre living on a tight budget then, yes, be as practical as you can…get your AR or AK, your 870 or 500, and the ammo you need. But once youve done all that, if theres a toy or two you want where is the harm? Just know that it isn’t part of your preparations and is just a ‘want’.

As for trading purposes…we’re seeing that now. There are plenty of people who went heavy on primers, for example, who are making crazy money selling them off and using the proceeds to plug whatever holes are left in their checklists. If you have the space and money, by all means, have something for trading purposes so that one day you can get the extra ammo or extra mags you thought you didnt need.

But the standardization thing goes beyond guns, as you know. Batteries are a great example. CR123, coin batts, AAA,AA,C,D batteries are needed for all sortsa useful gizmos. Who wants to keep that many different types of batteries around? And its virtually a promise that whatever battery you need will be the one size that youre out of. For me, its AA and D batts. Thats it. Anything that runs on AAA, C, or CR123 is either available in another battery format or is available as a USB rechargeable.

Same for fuels. You have a diesel truck, propane stove, kerosene heater, gas generator, and white gas lanterns.Thats just asking for troubles.

If you can afford the money/space, then logistics may not be an issue for you. You can have a steel building full of cases of different calibers, different size batteries, different types of fuels, and therefore don’t have to worry about each piece of gear requiring a different item to make it work. More power to you. But I want the smallest, most efficient, logistical footprint possible and for me that means standardizing on things.

“Having just to have” does, in fact, cost. But if you’re able to absorb those costs then there’s not really a problem. When I was but a wee baby survivalist in my early 20’s, I had no margin in my life at all. I had an AR, an 870, a 10/22, and a.45. That was it. Money was very tight and rather than pick up a gun I wanted for fun, I kept that basic survivalists battery. Nowadays, money is less of an issue. And I’ve had over 35 years to acquire the basics. So, if I want, I can (and do) buy a gun that absolutely does not fit anywhere into my preparedness plans….and it’s fun. I’ve got the basics covered so thoroughly that if I want a .22 caliber copy of the MP40 to play with at the range, I can do that and not feel that I’ve neglected my other responsibilities.

Not sure that addresses the initial questions, but thats where it took my mind.

Standardization is important. You need to really think it through. When it’s Day 37 in the post apocalyptic world the last thing you want to have to worry about is where to find a replacement oddball-size battery or hard-to-find magazine.”Most common denominator” is the way to think on these matters.

No doubt the comments to this post are gonna be full of “I went with this caliber…I went with these guns..” and everyone will list off their ideal mix. Thats fine, although unnecessary. More interesting comments would be from people who didnt go the ‘usual’ route and why.