Sunday outage(s)

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This paid off.

Yesterdays power outage was not an anomaly, it seems. Power was out for about an hour today but over a much broader area of town. I went ahead and ran the generator for that hour, mostly because it was just time to unlimber it and let it get some exercise. However, buying the new UPS’ yesterday for the security cams worked perfectly. Cams, monitor, and DVR stayed up quite a while as I fumbled around getting the generator out of it’s Hardigg case and out into the yard. Very pleased.

Just a few blocks away, a friend of mine is without power and has been for an unusually long time….several hours now. I brought over the desklamp/batterybox combo referenced at the beginning of this post and said to go ahead and not even worry about using up the battery...running it six hours a night it’ll last a freakin’ month.

And, should the power continue to be spotty, I also have this little gem I fabbed up on a whim.

Not sure what’s going on locally in regards to this two days of spotty blackouts…Im guessing its something fairly minor…but it does give me an opportunity to test out gear and theories, and it also points out some holes I need to fill. Most notably, a better base-unit-style police scanner…..with UPS, natch.

Saturday outage

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An interesting day. Was on the computer this morning, going through emails, when without warning I hear the noise of the computer backup power supply kick in and start beeping. A moment or two later it was joined by the UPS for the security system. That’s pretty much the song of a power failure.

Ok, not a big deal. Its the beginning of the day, so lighting isn’t really an issue. What is an issue is determining how big and widespread this thing is. There’s a big difference between a squirrel tap dancing on a transformer plunging my little neighborhood into a blackout and someone EMP’ing my local power generation facility.

Pulled my Icom R6 out of my Bag O’ Tricks and dialed up the local police/fire scene. No chatter indicating a town-wide outage but lets go take a look ourselves. Slipped the Glock into its holster, grabbed an MP5 ‘just in case’ and headed to the truck. A quick drive around the neighborhood showed that, indeed, the power was out. However, when I got to the busy main street I could see far enough down the street in either direction to see active traffic signals. SO..its a localized outage, not the opening act for something more sinister.

Returned back to the house and listened to the scanner some more. Cops reported various traffic signals as inoperative and were directing traffic where necessary. All in all, it was something that didn’t require any real escalation of alert status. So, since we have an actual-but-well-in-hand ’emergency’ going on lets see how ready we are.

Biggest issue: the UPS for my security cameras faded almost instantly. After a couple minutes the cameras all went dark. This was a bit surprising. While there are about a dozen cameras, their draw shouldnt have been enough to wipe out a constantly-charged battery in less than a few minutes. However, this UPS is close to ten years old so perhaps it’s simply time to replace it. Replaced it with two UPS’ later that day.

The Icom R6 performed quite well within its design parameters…and those parameters are for a compact radio scanner. Since I was not constrained by size requirements, due to being at the house, I really should have had a larger, more eay-to-use unit available. I have a few handheld Bearcats of varying vintage laying around but this reinforced that I need to have a more modern full-size unit around. So, there’ll be some research on that and then a quick trip to Amazon.

As has been typical in 90% of the blackouts I’ve experienced here, power was restored within an hour or so. No need to break out the Honda EU2000 to top off the freezer or anything like that. But, of course, it’s there if I need it.

Of all the systems here in the house, the security cams are the ones that have the least amount of reasonable alternatives for a period of power disruption. I have alternatives for heating, cooking, and lighting, but there is only one option for keeping a video security camera system operational and that’s electricity..either stored or generated.

In practice, the UPS for the security system only has to run the system long enough for me to get the generator up and the system plugged into it. Setting up the generator from storage and getting it running is, at most, a fifteen minute job. Closer to ten in the warmer months. Any UPS only really has to last long enough for that period of time. But, no one ever really complained that their batteries had too much capacity. I suppose it might be worth investigating just building a larger capacity backup system with a few AGM batts, a charger, and inverter dedicated to just the security cams.

That was, thus far, the most interesting thing to happen here today. A learning experience for sure. If it had gone on more than a few hours it would have been a bit more interesting but those kinds of failures a few and far between here in town. But, of course, that doesnt mean they won’t happen or that I shouldnt be prepared for them.

Paratus gifties

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Several people sent me gifties for Paratus, and I am grateful and I think they were all very thoughtful and well done. I wanted to point this one out in particular because..well…maybe its just the way life has been going, but I severely ‘lost my crap’ when I saw this and laughed until I cried:Merciful Crom….so true, so true.

And, someone very like-minded got me, among other things, this gem:

Could be Guy Fawkes…could be Ian McCollum (aka Gun Jesus)

Just the thing for…well…IYKYK.

Thank you to everyone who send me a little something, even if it was just a ‘Howdy’ in email. Hey, who knows, maybe someday we’ll have a big weekend Paratus jamboree somewhere. Who knows?

Paratus 2023

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Wassup, my preppas! Congratulations and Happy Paratus! This years card is posted on the Paratus FAQ page.

I spent dang near a hundred bucks just in postage getting Paratus cards and gifts out this year and according to the tracking numbers, the majority of you who were on the list should have received their holiday greeting.

As always, this holiday, like all others, is what you make it out to be. We all know people who go overboard for Christmas and those who barely grunt a ‘Merry Christmas’…Paratus is as elaborate or unadorned as you want it to be. It’s your holiday.

Get to the range, go test your gear, get together with like-minded friends, buy a new how-to book, read some history on related subjects, eat large amounts of freeze drieds or MRE’s…but do something.

I hope you all have a good holiday, and I want to take a moment to thank the couple of people who sent Paratus gifts. Hopefully we will all be able to do t his again next year!

How to win/lose an election in one easy step

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How to lose: New Mexico governor issues order suspending the right to carry firearms in public across Albuquerque

How to win: Sheriff in New Mexico’s most populous county rejects governor’s gun ban, calling it unconstitutional

Just because something is a law does not mean it is good, moral, ethical, or even a smart idea. All it means is that you have to obey it, whether you agree with it or not. Now, if you have a moral objection you can certainly have that opinon but you’re still obligated to follow that law. Which brings us to Heinlein’s great quote:

I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do. I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them.

The corollary to this is, of course, that you have to take responsibility for your actions. I break the law a dozen times a day…I cross against the light, I drive a couple miles over the speed limit, I store gasoline in a non-approved containers, etc, etc.

And when I do all those things I do them fully aware of their ‘outlaw’ status and with the full knowledge that there are consequences to my actions and I won’t dispute them at all. I know the ticket price for this particular ride, I am willing to pay it.

This little bit of ‘Irish democracy’ manifests itself all the time. We ignore the rules that we think are stupid, unnecessary, unconstitutional, or just plain bad. Sometimes we can get away with it…like when your AK doesn’t have enough American-made parts to acieve 922(r) compliance….and sometimes we can’t like when that homemade Sten gun goes brrrrrrrrrrrp and the neighbors call the cops.

If I lived in New Mexico, and I was authorized to carry a concealed weapon, I wouldn’t change a single thing about my behavior. I’d continue to be well-heeled and if caught I’d shrug and say “Youre right, I broke the law. Its a dumb law and I disagree with it, but I did it nonetheless.” I’d totally own that.

I’m curious to see how this plays out. It’ll be struck down, of course…no doubt there. But I wonder if the ripples will spread out to have a bigger effect. Stay tuned.

Paratus mailings

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Paratus stuff will start shipping tomorrow and Tuesday. Apparently some people took to heart that if you want to get on the Paratus card list you need to drop me a card or gift. As a result, a couple packages have showed up over the last week. Well, a deals a deal…if you sent me something with your address on it, congrats!, you’re now on the list.

However, someone sent me a nice firestarter kit but they didnt send and address info. Maybe they just wanted to send a Paratus gift and didnt want to get on the list, or maybe they overlooked the detail of sending an address. If you sent me a firestarter and you want to be on the list, email me the info and describe the firestarter. If you just wanted to send a gift and didnt care if you got on the list…well done…thank you!

Paratus is this Friday, guys. Make your list, do your shopping. and make the Like-Minded Individuals in your life a little happier this week!

Give me Liberty or give me a safe without a backdoor passcode

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Benjamin Franklin, my favorite Founding Father, famously said “Three May Keep a Secret if Two are Dead”. Sadly, its a brutal truth: if someone other than you knows your secret, it ain’t a secret.

And now, apparently, your gun safe isn’t a safe but rather a heavy storage locker when the manufacturer will roll over and hand the backdoor entry code over to someone with a badge.

I’ve had two emails so far about this:

Liberty Safe Gave FBI Access Code to January 6 Protester’s Safe

Liberty Safe announced Tuesday they cooperated with the FBI by giving them an access code that allowed agents to get into a safe owned by Nathan Hughes during a raid.

Liberty Safe describes themselves thus: “Liberty Safe has built America’s most trusted gun safes for sale for over 30 years. Our unyielding commitment to high-quality gun safes has made Liberty the premier choice for millions of Americans. You are always protected with a Liberty gun safe with superior fire protection, exclusive military-style locking bars, and unmatched security features.”

But those security features were overridden by an access code Liberty Safe provided to the FBI, which conducted a raid on Hughes’ home over January 6 participation allegations and arrested him.

The first thing I want to say is that whether the evidence in the safe was regarding the January 6 incident, or if it was regarding the Lindbergh kidnapping, makes no difference. The key issue is that the manufacturer of the safe retained the ability to override your personal privacy. I have no doubt that this wasnt some plan on Liberty’s part for anything more sinister than helping people who locked themselves out of their safe….BUT….even the most benign feature, with the best of intentions, will be abused by .gov.

You could say the lesson here is that you should trust a mechanical combination over an electronic one that could be compromised by the manufacturer. And, there’s some merit to that although whether its the manufacturer giving up the secret pass or a local locksmith hired to bypass the combo, the fact remains that a safe screams “Cool stuff in here! Come get it!”

This is the real message from this event: If you’ve got a USB drive of who really killed JFK, or a stained dress from the Oval Office, don’t put it in a big metal box that is, literally, the first place people will look. Put it under the safe, or in the insulation in the attic, or in the oil pan of that dead car in your backyard, or anywhere else than a safe that will be Target Number One of any search warrant.

And I recognize that, if they were handed a court order, Liberty’s hands were tied but I’m not sure there should have been that backdoor there to begin with…thats the part I have a problem with. If there wasn’t a court order and they turned over the data…..well, Its A Bold Strategy Cotton, Lets See If It Pays Off For Em.

So, not that youre doing anything wrong, but if you absolutely, positively gotta keep something away from people with badges, putting it in your high-profile safe might not be the best method.

 

Goal Zero stuff

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I try to standardize on batteries for obvious reasons. Broadly, I lead a life of AA- and D-batteries. But as of late, it seems like more and more devices use rechargeable batts that are recharged through a USB connection of some kind. I’m kinda liking this from a survivalist stanpoint.

There are plenty of chargers out there to recharge AA and D batts from various sources, I recognize that. But it’s just so much easier to order up a small folding solar panel, plug in your USB cable, and start charging your device. The things that, most notably, come to mind are cellphones (which have tremendous utility even in a world without phone signal), flashlights, small radios, and that sort of thing.

I’ve also a few devices that can use either available batteries or use built-in rechargeable-through-USB. For example, the Fenix PD35 that I picked up a while back will run off a couple CR123 batts or can be run off its rechargeable battery. Thats pretty handy.

I had a small folding Goal 0 panel that, while handy, has a rather small footprint, and when it comes to solar charging the more panel area you have the better. There is, of course, a point of diminishing return…you want a panel thats large enough to get the job done but, at the same time, you want a level of portability and compactness to make transport and storage a bit easier. Seems like a reasonable idea, yes?

Goal Zero sometimes has ‘road shows’ at CostCo and they have some very interesting stuff. I have a bunch of their daisy-chainable LED 12v loights that I highly recommend. I decided I wanted to get a little package that wouuld charge AA (and AAA) batteries, charge a phone battery pack, and could charge other USB-connectable devices. By charging AA batts that gives me a lot more use to handheld GPS, AA flashlights, radios, weaponlights, weapon sights (for the ones that run on AA or AAA), my ICOM R6, and a host of other AA-batt compatible devices.

So, off to Amazon for:

Hurricane Sandy left some folks with power, and they became very popular very quickly. I'm trying to avoid this sort of social clusterbomb.

Hurricane Sandy left some folks with power, and they became very popular very quickly. I’m trying to avoid this sort of social clusterbomb.

A couple things to note… The Guide 10 battery charger has a USB port to allow you to use it to charge your USB devices. So far so good. However, it is 5v 1amp vs 5v 3amp of the Venture power bank. What this means is that while the battery charger, with a load of recharged batteries in it, will charge your phone or device…its gonna take a while.

The Venture is 5v 3amp so its gonna charge your toys a good bit faster.

Both devices can be charged from other sources, such as a wall outlet using a USB cord and plug-in. Both devices also incorporate a basic power level indicator and also have an LED flashlight feature. Handy, but shouldnt you already have a flashlight?

I drained all the batteries in the Guide to 0% and did the same with the Venture. I set up the panel in the sun, tucked the Venture or Guide behind the panel in the shade to keep it from cooking, and left it while I went to work. When I got back in the afternoon, the devices indicated a full charge. (Note: they were not charged at the same time. The panel has one USB port, so I alternated.)

The panels themselves seem fairly durable. I’d try to avoid bending or flexing them (although there are flexible panels out there). In terms of compactness, the panels, when folded up, are about an inch or so thick, and takes up a footprint slightly smaller than a sheet of paper.

You can, of course, plug whatever device you are trying to recharge directly into the panel’s USB port but then your device is subject to the vagaries of uneven charging as the sun may or may not experience some transitory cloud cover. (And, wow, my brain parses ‘vagaries’ completely different than what it means when it see it on screen. Gotta check that word twice.)

Really, the best option, it seems to me, is to use the panel to charge your storage device..batteries or power bank….and then charge your device from those. And, of course, you can charge your other devices from that power bank as well.

So..I’ll play with this stuff and see how it goes but so far it seems like an acceptable way to keep my small devices topped off when grid power just isnt in the cards.

 

Paratus cards mailing info

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Paratus is Friday of next week and I’m wrapping up the labels and envelopes. SO…a bit of administrative stuff here:

If you got a little something sent to you for Paratus last year and you had an address change, you need to email me.

Ticom – email me an address, buddy. I’d like to add you to the list.

If youre not on the list but want to be don’t send me an email or comment saying ‘Please add me to the Paratus card list’. It doesnt work that way.

If I send you a Paratus card or gift and it gets returned as a bad address, address unknown, forwarding expired, etc. you’re off the list until such time as you get me a valid address. Ain’t no one got time for that.

The post is over…. go forth and prep in peace.

Those walletkillers at PSA

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I really need to stop getting Palmetto’s emails.

Complete stainless slide assembly (slide, barrel, recoil spring, etc) for their Dagger Glock-clone at…wait for it….$140. Since Frames are about $60, this means you get a pretty decent Glock clone for $200 if you part it together yourself.

Argh…..

In for two. That should give me enough complete slides to finish off all the frames I’ve bought when they came on sale. That means I’ve got about…mmmm….a dozen…sitting on the shelf ready to be squirreled away in various locations.

I’ve posted about the PSA Daggers here.