So youre a .gov organaization that gives a press conference and no one shows up to cover it. What to do? If youre FEMA you send in fake reporters:
http://www.reuters.com/article/americasCrisis/idUSN26619054

And these are the guys who are supposed to help?

And some guys take it upon themselves to buy 600′ of 2.5″ hose and DIY

I don’t pretend to be an expert on economics, foreign policy, mideast diplomacy or military strategy but I must say that following all the news these days certainly makes one feel a little nervous about the future. Am I the only person who reads the newswires these days and feel like I’m waiting for a shoe to drop?
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So…hunting trips are always excellent opportunities to field test gear in some real world conditions. Lets see whats what.

CamelBack – as usual, these things are wonderful. After dragging dead weight through the woods its nice to be able to gulp down as much water as you want knowing you’ve got a 70 oz. Reservoir of water in your bag. Drawback: that’s 70 oz in your bag.

Knives – Interestingly, my Anza hunting knife didn’t seem to do nearly as good a job as my Glock field knife. I’ll get the Anza sharpened this week but the Glock just seems to keep going…esp. after I Used it in conjuction with a rock to hammer open the pelvic bone and rip my way through the sternum. A small hunting hatchet would be nice but its more weight to haul around. The Glock, by the way, can be had for about $35 from most vendors and it is mucho knife for the money.

Game hoist – yes, you can improvise with paracord and carabiners but it wont be as convenient, lightweight or efficient.

Bleach wipes – The pocket pack of Clorox bleach wipes were great for washing up after playing Dr Killdeer. All the refuse went into a gallon-sized Ziploc baggie and was packed out. (Im live and let live but I get pretty pissed when people litter while out hunting..candy wrappers, cigarette butts, whatever…stick it in your pocket and take it home or find someone else to hunt with.)

Unfortunately, since the whole episode (this particular one, anyway) was so darn short there wasn’t the opportunity to try out other things like the GPS, 2-way radios, etc, etc. However, hunting season is still underway so there will be opportunities. After a careful reading of the regs it looks like the girlfriend and I can get a bull elk, buck whitetail or buck muley, and doe whitetail each. So, in a perfect world that’d be 4 deer and 2 elk for the freezer which would easily carry us for a couple years. Realistically, though, I could see us with two or three deer. Enough to carry us through to about this time next year.
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What to say about the fires in California? Well, obviously if you live in a place that’s prone to self-immolation you might be well served to have a bit of firefighting gear on your property. I recall after the last big conflagration seeing a fella on the news who rebuilt his house with a very nice and very large inground swimming pool. The interesting feature was how the pool was designed to feed the four strategically placed water cannons he had installed around the house. And..he bought his own fire truck. It’s the folks who have been robbed who buy the best safes.

I like to think that someday I’ll have a nice, quiet little place out in the middle of nowhere and if that comes to pass you can be pretty assured its going to have some sort of provision for keeping it from burning down like a three-week old Christmas tree.

Its also interesting to note that the evacuees (or refugees) who wound up in the stadium in California seem to be exhibiting far better socialization skills than the crowds that packed the KatrinaDome. Almost everyone has been dancing around the reason for that but I’ll make no such pretensions – the crowd in California is, by and large, not a crowd of lower-class poor people raised on government handouts and entitlements. Of course, some politicians have trotted out the race card saying that the .gov was much more responsive in getting things ready for this situation because the affected people were mostly white. Seems to me its more likey that after the Katrina debacle .gov (state or fed) realized they needed to get their crap together or the next disaster would have some heads rolling in Washington. Plus, its California – they’ve been waiting for The Big One for so long now so they might know a little something about disaster management. It probably helps that the local governments aren’t as corrupt as the ones in Louisiana.

Theres still plenty of lessons to be learned here though. Most of them involving having a) a place to go or at least having your gear ready b) a way to get out and c) several layers of avenue of escape.
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,Rawles pointed out that the friendly fedgov is leaning on lightstick makers to withdraw infrared lightsticks from the market. WTF? Anyone see anything posted anywhere about this policy? Im curious for the reasoning behind this.

Another glorious hunting season in Montana.

This was the first deer/elk hunt for the girlfriend. As you know, she’s no stranger to firearms and is an excellent shot. Nonetheless, theres a diference between shooting off a nice stable bench and shooting hurriedly from an offhand position while carrying a pack and breathing heavy. So….dropped a Leupold 3-9x onto a featherwight Model 70 in 6.5×55, grabbed some 140 gr. PSP, a few life-sized targets and headed to the range. The targets I used were an instructional aid from my days teaching hunter safety. It was a half-scale deer silhouette with the vital organs and skeletal structure overlaid on it. So we set it up at 100 yards and did some sighting in. After the gun was sighted in it was “okay, now shoot the deer target, aim for the vitals”. She did and shot well. Okay, good to go.

So we packed up our gear, got out the firestarters, warm hats and all that other stuff and went to bed with the intention of waking up in the morning at oh-dark-thirty and see if we couldnt reinforce our position on the food chain.

Drove out to the huting area (about 40 minutes from here), got out of the truck, geared up and started walking. Since the girlfriend was unfamiliar with the area I wanted to stay within earshot of the highway. We went back approx .4 miles (thats right, less than half a mile) and found ourselves a nice big rock to sit down and lean against. We sat there about fifteen minutes looking around and just killing time. And you know how it is with deer…you dont actually see deer, you see something move and -surprise- its a deer. So Im looking around and theres a spot of movement. Its a deer, his whole body hidden behind a rock with only his head visible, looking right at us. Range? Oh..about 40 yards, tops. “Theres a deer over there. Slowly pick up your rifle.” I said. The girlfriend slowly picked up her Model 70 and swung the safety off. “Ok, Im not going to shoot, Im just going to glass him.” I said as I flipped the scope covers. I figured it was a doe since thats the kind of luck I have…hmmm, theres horns. Game on! He’s behind a rock so I asked “Do you have a shot?”, “Just his head.” Well, cant shoot through rocks so…. “Okay, he’s gonna start to move. Be ready.” Sure enough the deer turned, classic broadside (the fool!) and starts walking down hill. Now, I needed him to get out from behind the rock but I didnt want him moveing for the shot. Once he cleared the rock I said “Get ready.” and whistled. The deer, being a deer, stopped at the noise and took a step or two forward. “Whenever youre ready.”, I said. BAM! The deer jumped up and took about three bounds before he started weaving and staggering. This is good, I thought, its a good hit he wont get far. He ran another twenty yards or so and leaped over a log and crumpled on the other side. I laid down my rifle, pulled my .45 and ran after him. I got up there and he was dying but dying is a long way from being dead. I was going to pop hime with the .45 but figured it was the girlfriends deer she should have the full experience. I called for her to hurry down here and give Bambi the coup de grace. The little NAA minigun came out and she put a couple rounds into the brainpan just to make sure. After that, the real work started. Being an optimist, I carry one of those little game hoists in my bag. We strung that up, hooked up our new protein source and got all Hannibal Lecter on his ass. Postmortem shows bullet entered right behind the shoulder in the classic ‘boiler room’ shot. Lungs? Shredded. Heart? 1/3 of it blown away. Deer was dead before he hit the ground, he just didnt know it. Couldnt do much better. Got him dressed out and then the real fun…dragging the dead weight back to the truck. I got him 95% of the way there when the fishcop pulled up. Told him my tags were in my backpack which was sitting in the truck but if he’d like to help me drag this thing under the fence and up the embankment to the truck I’d be glad to show them to him. So we got it up to the road, did the dance with the paperwork, and in his opinion the deer was about 2.5 years old and was probably dressing out at aroudn 165#. Not too shabby. Horns were a spike with a few ragged points. 2×1 in our Western count. Three pointer to you eastern dudes.

Gutting and dragging took longer than the actual hunting. We were only out of the truck for about 30-45 minutes before the hammer dropped on Bambi. Shortest hunt Ive ever been on.

So we took the pictures, hauled our new friend to the game processor and said “we’d like the horns if you please. European mount”. And out came the coolest bone saw I have seen outside of a horror movie. It was like a Sawzall on steroids. bzzzt-bzzzt-bzzzt-pop and off came the top of the skull. (Say it with me now – Braaaaiiiiinnnnssss!) The old guy at the counter heard it was her very first deer and saw she was so proud that he waived the deposit and said that when he does his morning hunting radio show on Friday he’ll mention the deer and its weight. So we have a little trophy for the trophy girlfriend and in a week we’ll pick up this winters meat. And we still have my tag to fill.
Oh. You want pics? Okay.

Cut for dead animal. No PETA types beyond this point!

Oh man, I think I just found my next boomstick….

Someone asked me a question in email, and I thought that I’d mention it and my response here since it seems somewhat related to things in this blog.

Fella has a half pound of powder and half a brick of primers for reloading. He bought them many years ago and was wondering if theyd be okay to use after all this time. They’d been stored in basement-style conditions and the packaging seemed okay. Good to use, yes or no?

I’d have had a much better response if I had seen them, but I said that since it would only cost $30 to replace the components in question it might be worth thirty bucks for the peace of mind. In all likelihood they’d be fine, but why take the chance for only $30?

So…you’re stocking up on ammo and components. Best way to store them for that future rainy decade? Store them in the orginal containers and then put those in an airtight, watertight, crushproof container. Military ammo cans work best for these tasks since, no surprise, that’s what they were designed for. No need for a $200 Pelican case, just head down to the local surplus store and grab some .50 cal. Cans and some 40mm cans if you can find them. They’ll be all you’ll ever need. If you’re the cautious type, store the primers and powder separately.

You can fit a reloading press, dies, brass, powder, bullets and scale in a 40mm can if you pack it carefully. That’s everything you need to keep your firearms fed all contained in a portable nuke-proof container.

Properly stored (meaning out of the wet, out of the damp, out of the heat)the stuff will last at least a couple decades. Don’t think so? We routinely shoot surplus ammo from the 1940-1960’s.
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Gun show this weekend. Saw some 10-rd mags for the Saiga-12 shotguns. I’ve been fascinated with those things for a while now and wouldn’t mind getting one to try. I like the notion of a detachable magazine 12 gauge.

My use for shotguns is very limited. My particular Area of Operations is a mountainous part of Montana. Eastern Montana, which is generally as flat as a cookie sheet, has plenty of bird hunting opportunities but my locale is more elk-deer-bear oriented. I do have one 870 with a long barrel and a Dial-A-Duck (polychoke) on the end. I don’t think Ive shot it in years.

No, my use for a shotgun is purely defensive. For that sort of thing I like the pump Remingtons and Mossbergs. The Mossbergs can usually be had cheaply and are very good guns. I prefer pumps most of the time because I have a variety of shotgun ammo…esp. ‘less than lethal’ ammo. Sometimes its nice to make your point without leaving a lot of problems in your wake. Imagine you’re in KatrinaLand and you’re packing up your vehicle. You head back inside for another load of gas cans and when you come out theres three guys peering in the window of your truck and trying the doors. Now, you could yell and wave the barrel of your shotgun around which may or may not chase them off – it may simply embolden them (the classic “Go ahead and shoot me!” scene), or you could start launching 00 buck at them and leave yourself open to a number of after-incident headaches. Alternatively, you start tromboning the action and launching rubber pellets downrange. I would bet that when the booming starts and the bad guys see an angry vehicle owner walking towards them firing a shotgun they’ll exercise the better part of valor in a hurry. And if not, well, that’s what sidearms are for.

Anyway, my point is that I like the flexibility of non-standard ammo and theres not a lot of autos out there that’ll eat anything without fail and lend themselves to the level of customization and modification of a Mossberg or Remington.

On the other hand, there may be times when a wall of lead is the best course of action and in that case an autoloader would be nice. Mossbergs ‘Jungle Gun’ sounds interesting but it is apparently no longer made. Custom makers like Wilson offer uber-scatterguns but Im just a poor working guy. A simple synthetic stock, some sights and a magazine extension are about all Im going to need on my autoloader.
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Other goodies at the show this trip include beta-mags (Ive heard mixed reviews on them, I think I’ll pass), parachute flares (got plenty, don’t need anymore thanks), AR accessories in large quantity (again, doing pretty good), AR mags (prices averaging around $15. But I still have plenty of the Cproducts ones from the last group buy), and a few other items. Most importantly, nothing that I really needed. Stuff I wanted, sure; but not needed.
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I still have a pretty broad selection of freezedrieds available (pouches and cans) as well as a pretty healthy amount of new AR mags. If anyone is interested, feel free to email.

Online fiction, somewhat reminiscent of ‘Day By Day Armageddon’….

http://ed-day.blogspot.com/

Remember when I said that everyone has their own ideas about what they need to prepare against? Well, to the list of usual suspects add Xenu.
Tom Cruise building bunker against alien attack?
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Roosevelt (the cowboy Rough Rider one, not the New Deal-ing socialist one) said “Do what you can, where you are, with what you have”. Today we call ’em ‘MacGyverisms’. If you’re gonna be prepared, a ceratin amount of thinking on your feet and improvising is required. However, it also helps to have a few goodies stuffed in your pockets. Alton Brown, TV cooking geek extraordinaire, calls devices with multiple uses ‘multitaskers’. One of the coolest multitaskers around is the Ziploc freezer bag. Some of the uses Ive read about, others I actually practice…heres an incomplete list:

Camp pillow – half fill with air and stuff inside a shirt or jacket to create a pillow
Leak prevention – I use this one religiously. If you have a container of liquid that would cause problems if accidentally opened, put the container in a Ziploc baggie, evacuate the air, and seal. If the container leaks or breaks the bag will afford protection for the rest of the stuff in your gear. (This is especially true if you’re packing shampoo, toothpaste, shaving cream and that sorta thing in your checked luggage.)
Document case – Maps or notes can be tucked into them and read through the plastic while keeping the paper dry and clean. Not a substitute for a real mapsafe but a good deal better than nothing.
Revolver protection – Some bigcity policewomen used to carry their revolvers in their purses. The guns were susceptible to getting all sorts of crud in them and not be reliable when needed. So, they would carry the pistols in plastic bags. When needed, fingers could easily be poked through the plastic and the guns could be fired through the bags.
‘Freezer bag cooking’ – theres a whole website on this and its worth looking at.
Protecting spare clothing – No secret, when you’re out in the boonies a pair of dry socks or a dry shirt can be a Very Big Deal. Stuffing your extra clothing into one of these things keeps it dry, in one place, and dirt free.
Organization – biggest plus is when its time to organize your gear. This is especially true for larger first aid kits. The bags lend themselves nicely to sorting things out…just grab the bag with the [whatever you need] and leave the rest. For example, keep your toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, etc in there.
Wet stuff – these things are the perfect solution to carrying wet bating suits, washcloths, etc. Just don’t forget about them in your gear or you’re in for a fungal surprise in a few days.
Ice Packs – Fill with ice. Duh.
IPod case – I use a tiny Ziploc to protect my iPod nano. Keeps my filthy hands from getting the thing dirty and the controls work fine through the plastic.
Bulk grain storage – Break down your fifty pound bag of wheat into a few dozen of the large gallon Ziplocs. Each bag can be frozen individually in the freezer for a few days to ensure that theres no live pests in it and if some pests survive they’ll only contaminate that one bag and not the entire supply of grain.
Theres no shortage of uses, Im just kinda hitting the highlights here….

A newer product is Ziploc bags designed for storing gear. These bags come in sizes large enough to hold sleeping bags and larger items. I keep one of the largest ones folded up as compactly as possible and enveloped in cardboard to protect it from damage. I carry it as a gear cover for really foul weather. For example, if Im at the range and it starts to rain I can slide the whole range bag into the bag to keep it dry and still have access to my shooting stuff. Those larger bags aren’t cheap but they are extremely handy. They are great for protecting things form casual wetness…I wouldn’t trust them for waterproof but Id trust ‘em for water resistant (such as keeping gear safe in rain and snow). They really shine for keeping gear protected in storage from dust, mildew, dirt and the like. Definitely good for blankets and sleeping bags.

Its getting to be downright cold in the mornings these days. I have to run the heat in the mornings, and the air conditioner in the afternoon. Montana has a very warped sense of humour when it comes to weather.

So, the Cold Weather Module goes back in my bag. Pulled the parkas out of storage and put them back in the closet. Next up is getting the kerosene heaters out of storage and making sure they’re ready for another season. The part of Montana I am in tends to be the warmest part, but it can still get cold sometimes. I think it was a year or two ago we had about two weeks of solid below zero weather. That can get to be just as annoying as weeks of 100+ degree weather.

Someday Im going to have a very thermally efficient house. Something with a foot of insulation and enough mass to hold temperature for days.
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I’ve been playing with the new fuel cans I picked up and I am, so far, fairly pleased. All of them have spots of rust here and there but that’s mostly cosmetic. For giggles, Im going to try stripping one down, wire brushing it, degreasing it and then repainting it with some heavy duty Rustoleum or other such protective paint. My goal is to have about six of these things loaded up with long-term storage fuel. Unless, of course, I wind up getting a generator in which case I’ll need to keep a bit more onhand.
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Saw Resident Evil: Extinction last week. First off, Milla Jovovich had a lot to make up for after the godawful ‘Ultraviolet’ that came out ayear or so ago. Zombie movies are fairly predictable and this one was no exception. I was more entertained by life-after-doomsday adaptations and behaviors by the survivors. An entertaining flick and I never get tired of watching Russian-born Milla running around sweaty and sexy.
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The news seems to be nothing but dire commentary and predictions on the economy. Makes me glad that Im not carrying crushing amounts of debt, that I don’t have an adjustable rate mortgage, and that Im not in danger of losing my employment. (Although, to be fair, when you’re self employed you can become virtually unemployed if your sales drop to zero which is always a possibility.)

I remember reading somewhere that there are very few businesses that are recession-proof. I believe the list was food, medical, weapons, sex and fuel. As long as you were in one of those businesses you were pretty much guaranteed a customer base no matter what the situation. Im not sure I agree with it but certainly if you think of some of the most horrible hellholes on the planet right now, anyone in those businesses would still have customers.
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I’ve been gradually adding to the stockpiles of food on the new shelving that was acquired a few weeks ago. When I’m grabbing a few groceries I’ll check the in-store sales flyers and see if theres anything on the list that fits into my (well, really ‘our’) needs. Bring it home, put it away on the selves, update the clipboard on the shelf and the spreadsheet on the computer, and then sleep well.

Discounting the ‘normal’ foods and sticking to just the MRE’s and freezedrieds, we’re looking at approx. 264 days of food on a 2-meal-/2000kal-a-day plan. Factor in things like stored rice, pasta and the normally rotated ‘everyday’ foodstuffs and we’re probably at the one year mark. Factor in inventory of unsold freezedrieds and its probably another three months. That’s a bit comforting.

It is, I think, worth pointing out that in addition to laying away foodstuffs theres also a large quantity of other items that get put away as well…toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning agents, soap, toothpaste, detergent, etc. These things aren’t necessarily put away against a time when they are unavailable, but rather because often a) it convenient to not have to worry about buying TP for a year at a time and b) when you buy in enormous bulk quantity you realize a pretty healthy savings. That savings, of course, helps offset the expense of other preparedness goodies. And when it comes to buying in bulk CostCo becomes a real nice place to spend your time.

If you bop around the various preparedness forums everyone goes on about pistol skills, knife fighting skills, etc. I think probably the most usefull skill anyone with an interest in being prepared could have would be ‘resource management’ or, for lack of a better term, ‘homemaking’. If you can draw up a buying list, draft a budget, stick to it, organize your purchases, rotate them as needed and show the discipline to bide your time for sales and closeouts then I think you’ll find that skillset seeing a lot more usage than your ability to shoot your Glock weakhanded. Not saying that gun thing isn’t necessary, just saying its probably going to be a lesser used skillset.

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

Alabama City Reopening Fallout Shelters

Ever notice its the smaller places that seem to get the idea while the major metropolises just shrug their shoulders……