One of my vendors is closing out a bunch of Freeplay products. If theres enough interest, might put it up as a group buy.

Freeplay Summit Radio $89.99 msrp – probably be about $58

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

Someone was kind enough to point me out to a small article in the NY Times a few weeks ago about various clotting agents on the market for treatment of bleeding wounds. Everyone it seems, knows about QuickClot; as it turns out there are a few similar (if not the same) products out there as well. So, if you cant find what you want under one name it may be offered under another name. The article does mention that although all the products do the same thing, some differ in the ingredients used to achieve that result. QuickClot was giving away samples of their stuff online several months back and I received one. Looks like an interesting product. Theyre available from the usual sources (US Cav, Brigade, Galls, etc, etc).
The products?
QuickClot, QR, Bloodstop, and for nosebleeds – NasalCease.
=====

So the guy in charge of DHS says he has a ‘gut’ feeling that something is going to happen. This is weird on several levels.

Possibility A:
He’s getting all sorts of intel across his desk and while there isn’t enough there to connect the dots there is enough to show that something, although no one knows exactly what, is going on. Rather than issue an official warning based on what may turn out to be nothing, and lose credibility with the rest of the .gov, he says he ‘feels’ like something is up. The cautious take that as a warning and prepare as do various .gov agencies. Then if something does in fact happen he looks not only like Johnny-On-The-Spot but also like a freakin’ psychic.

Possibility B:
He’s just thinking out loud. I discount this because when youre in a position like his you know everyone is going to hang onto everything you say and its going to get on the record.

Possibility C:
Same as ‘A’, except the goal is to ‘let them know that we know’ and cause the opposition to change their plans. Thus, an event is diverted and no one ever even knows about it and chalk things up to Possibility B.

The recent amateurish work in the UK with the Flaming Jeep O’ Jihad shows that although theres a network in place and guys willing to die they just don’t have the technical knowhow and gear…or at least that particular bunch didn’t. But rest assured theres a kitchen table somewhere in this country covered with maps, photos of potential targets, pictures of natural gas pipelines and some of that annoying Middle Eastern music playing in the background.
=====
This months (August 2007) Popular Mechanics has the always eye-grabbing cover story “Survive Anything – Essential Skills, Tools & Tactics for any disaster”.

Hmmm. Ok, I’ll bite.

Not a bad little piece. A few anecdotes from people who went through floods, tornadoes, etc. The usual stuff about flashlights, phone cards and the like. Some nice stuff on generators and packing to evacuate. Some interesting quotes from the article I’ll share with you:

“The unprepared realize they are at risk about as fast as anybody else does, but it takes them longer to translate that into action.”

–
“Emergency responders have a name for the post-Katrina reality: Yo-Yo. Youre On Your Own.
–
A guy who huddled in his basement with his family as a tornado wiped his town off the map: “Think about what to do ahead of time, not on the spur of the moment. Have a safe place to go, and be ready to get there.”
–

The article also has the usual ‘emergency preparedness checklist’ which pretty much any one reading this could rattle of the top of their head with no difficulty. However, the not-so-subtle message of the article (which is not surprising given Popular Mechanics whole DIY nature) is that its up to the individual to prepare and that you realistically shouldn’t expect .gov to be much help…at least, not past the local level.

Someone was kind enough to point me out to a small article in the NY Times a few weeks ago about various clotting agents on the market for treatment of bleeding wounds. Everyone it seems, knows about QuickClot; as it turns out there are a few similar (if not the same) products out there as well. So, if you cant find what you want under one name it may be offered under another name. The article does mention that although all the products do the same thing, some differ in the ingredients used to achieve that result. QuickClot was giving away samples of their stuff online several months back and I received one. Looks like an interesting product. Theyre available from the usual sources (US Cav, Brigade, Galls, etc, etc).
The products?
QuickClot, QR, Bloodstop, and for nosebleeds – NasalCease.
=====

So the guy in charge of DHS says he has a ‘gut’ feeling that something is going to happen. This is weird on several levels.

Possibility A:
He’s getting all sorts of intel across his desk and while there isn’t enough there to connect the dots there is enough to show that something, although no one knows exactly what, is going on. Rather than issue an official warning based on what may turn out to be nothing, and lose credibility with the rest of the .gov, he says he ‘feels’ like something is up. The cautious take that as a warning and prepare as do various .gov agencies. Then if something does in fact happen he looks not only like Johnny-On-The-Spot but also like a freakin’ psychic.

Possibility B:
He’s just thinking out loud. I discount this because when youre in a position like his you know everyone is going to hang onto everything you say and its going to get on the record.

Possibility C:
Same as ‘A’, except the goal is to ‘let them know that we know’ and cause the opposition to change their plans. Thus, an event is diverted and no one ever even knows about it and chalk things up to Possibility B.

The recent amateurish work in the UK with the Flaming Jeep O’ Jihad shows that although theres a network in place and guys willing to die they just don’t have the technical knowhow and gear…or at least that particular bunch didn’t. But rest assured theres a kitchen table somewhere in this country covered with maps, photos of potential targets, pictures of natural gas pipelines and some of that annoying Middle Eastern music playing in the background.
=====
This months (August 2007) Popular Mechanics has the always eye-grabbing cover story “Survive Anything – Essential Skills, Tools & Tactics for any disaster”.

Hmmm. Ok, I’ll bite.

Not a bad little piece. A few anecdotes from people who went through floods, tornadoes, etc. The usual stuff about flashlights, phone cards and the like. Some nice stuff on generators and packing to evacuate. Some interesting quotes from the article I’ll share with you:

“The unprepared realize they are at risk about as fast as anybody else does, but it takes them longer to translate that into action.”

–
“Emergency responders have a name for the post-Katrina reality: Yo-Yo. Youre On Your Own.
–
A guy who huddled in his basement with his family as a tornado wiped his town off the map: “Think about what to do ahead of time, not on the spur of the moment. Have a safe place to go, and be ready to get there.”
–

The article also has the usual ‘emergency preparedness checklist’ which pretty much any one reading this could rattle of the top of their head with no difficulty. However, the not-so-subtle message of the article (which is not surprising given Popular Mechanics whole DIY nature) is that its up to the individual to prepare and that you realistically shouldn’t expect .gov to be much help…at least, not past the local level.

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

From todays email: Botach has Glock mags for $13.95

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

Unbearably hot here in the Great Northwest. We get very few days with temps over 100 degrees so for those few days its not worth the hassle and expense of air conditioning…esp. since once the sun goes down temps drop around thirtyfive or forty degrees. Fortunately the basement stays nice and cool.

As I understand it, basements actually are an exception rather than a norm in many parts of the country. People sometimes tell me, with obvious jealousy, how they wish their house had a basement and how useful it must be. Some friends of mine have crawlspaces under their house rather than a basements but they can at least store some gear down there. Unfortunately, basements have a couple drawbacks – first of all, they can be damp or humid which can be a big problem if youre storing stuff that you don’t want to rust (like guns or cans of food). Additionally, if a pipe breaks or your neighborhood floods or someone decides to just get cute and shove a garden house through the window all that water is going to pool in your basement. Emphasis on pool. This is why I try not to store anything less than four feet off the floor that is not waterproof or insensitive to water.

I was thinking about this because in my kitchen, like many kitchens, I have a couple rows of cabinets. The lower row gets used for most of the day-to-day stuff and the higher row of cabinets, which are a bit more difficult to access, get the stored foods and bulk stuff. I went into those cabinets yesterday for some things and was disappointed at how warm it was up there near the ceiling. Normally not an issue since our clime is fairly temperate here, but with the unprecedented heat lately theres quite a cushion of heated air floating up there at ceiling level. This cannot be good for stored food.

The solution, naturally, is that ‘cool dark place’ that all the labels tell us food likes to hang out in. In my case, that’s gonna be the basement. It’s a bit annoying because I cannot access my basement directly from my kitchen. Really, a pantry would be nice but I don’t have that.

My house is, as far as I know, vermin free and I very much want to keep it that way so any food that gets stored in the basement is going to have to be of the canned or well-packaged variety, and stored on wire shelves designed for this purpose. Nice thing is it’ll free up space in the kitchen for other things, like pots and pans which seem to accumulate on flat surfaces. Bad thing is my available space in the basement will be taking another hit. It’s a basement, not a tardis…its got a limited amount of space.

Next house I get, however, is going to have a nice pantry…right off the kitchen, insulated from cold/hot outside walls, floor-to-ceiling shelves and storage capacity of Roman Empire proportions.
=====
Uber shout out to merccom who’s posts lately show he walks it as he talks it. Kudos!
=====
If, like me, a .50 caliber rifle may just be a little too expensive but you still want something with some serious range and downrange oomph you may be interested in Remingtons new offering. They are offering a .338 Lapua on their 700 action. Best part is it is priced less than pretty much anyone elses gun. I would imagine it will take all the myriad accessories made for the 700-series guns.
=====
Speaking of boomsticks, someone mentioned a bit of difficulty finding PTR rifles for sale. I called the other day and Lew Horton has a few in stock. $1100~ your choice of brake/suppressor and fixed/telestock. Even if youre not gonna buy one right now but figure you will be buying one later, buy the mags and spare parts now while they are cheap, cheap, cheap. Hortons also has mags for $2 each but you gotta go through an FFL. Worth noting – several newer .308 semi autos are made to use the HK91 mag because of its current cheap availability so even if you aren’t getting an Hklone you may still have a use for these things in other guns.
=====
I try very much to keep religion, politics and that sort of thing out of here because they detract from the main issues. However, I will say that I think we can all agree that given the choice between the two major parties, one poses a greater threat to gun rights than the other party. It is my firm belief that party will win the 2008 election and that the smart money should be planning accordingly. Remember all those things you missed during 1994-2004? Déjà vu, baby. Buy ‘em now or you really will hate yourself later. Pick up a copy of Shotgun News, get out your credit card, and buy those magazines now.
=====
Still have about 60 cans of various MH FD left over if anyone is interested.

Unbearably hot here in the Great Northwest. We get very few days with temps over 100 degrees so for those few days its not worth the hassle and expense of air conditioning…esp. since once the sun goes down temps drop around thirtyfive or forty degrees. Fortunately the basement stays nice and cool.

As I understand it, basements actually are an exception rather than a norm in many parts of the country. People sometimes tell me, with obvious jealousy, how they wish their house had a basement and how useful it must be. Some friends of mine have crawlspaces under their house rather than a basements but they can at least store some gear down there. Unfortunately, basements have a couple drawbacks – first of all, they can be damp or humid which can be a big problem if youre storing stuff that you don’t want to rust (like guns or cans of food). Additionally, if a pipe breaks or your neighborhood floods or someone decides to just get cute and shove a garden house through the window all that water is going to pool in your basement. Emphasis on pool. This is why I try not to store anything less than four feet off the floor that is not waterproof or insensitive to water.

I was thinking about this because in my kitchen, like many kitchens, I have a couple rows of cabinets. The lower row gets used for most of the day-to-day stuff and the higher row of cabinets, which are a bit more difficult to access, get the stored foods and bulk stuff. I went into those cabinets yesterday for some things and was disappointed at how warm it was up there near the ceiling. Normally not an issue since our clime is fairly temperate here, but with the unprecedented heat lately theres quite a cushion of heated air floating up there at ceiling level. This cannot be good for stored food.

The solution, naturally, is that ‘cool dark place’ that all the labels tell us food likes to hang out in. In my case, that’s gonna be the basement. It’s a bit annoying because I cannot access my basement directly from my kitchen. Really, a pantry would be nice but I don’t have that.

My house is, as far as I know, vermin free and I very much want to keep it that way so any food that gets stored in the basement is going to have to be of the canned or well-packaged variety, and stored on wire shelves designed for this purpose. Nice thing is it’ll free up space in the kitchen for other things, like pots and pans which seem to accumulate on flat surfaces. Bad thing is my available space in the basement will be taking another hit. It’s a basement, not a tardis…its got a limited amount of space.

Next house I get, however, is going to have a nice pantry…right off the kitchen, insulated from cold/hot outside walls, floor-to-ceiling shelves and storage capacity of Roman Empire proportions.
=====
Uber shout out to merccom who’s posts lately show he walks it as he talks it. Kudos!
=====
If, like me, a .50 caliber rifle may just be a little too expensive but you still want something with some serious range and downrange oomph you may be interested in Remingtons new offering. They are offering a .338 Lapua on their 700 action. Best part is it is priced less than pretty much anyone elses gun. I would imagine it will take all the myriad accessories made for the 700-series guns.
=====
Speaking of boomsticks, someone mentioned a bit of difficulty finding PTR rifles for sale. I called the other day and Lew Horton has a few in stock. $1100~ your choice of brake/suppressor and fixed/telestock. Even if youre not gonna buy one right now but figure you will be buying one later, buy the mags and spare parts now while they are cheap, cheap, cheap. Hortons also has mags for $2 each but you gotta go through an FFL. Worth noting – several newer .308 semi autos are made to use the HK91 mag because of its current cheap availability so even if you aren’t getting an Hklone you may still have a use for these things in other guns.
=====
I try very much to keep religion, politics and that sort of thing out of here because they detract from the main issues. However, I will say that I think we can all agree that given the choice between the two major parties, one poses a greater threat to gun rights than the other party. It is my firm belief that party will win the 2008 election and that the smart money should be planning accordingly. Remember all those things you missed during 1994-2004? Déjà vu, baby. Buy ‘em now or you really will hate yourself later. Pick up a copy of Shotgun News, get out your credit card, and buy those magazines now.
=====
Still have about 60 cans of various MH FD left over if anyone is interested.

Although they are being whittled down, there are still a few dozen cans of various MH freezedrieds left. If youre interested, gimme an email at zero@zeroincorporated.com . There’ll be no more orders for this stuff this year and I probably won’t be doing any next year. Word to the wise, folks.

Remaining:
Instant White Rice, $11.94 – 4 cans remaining
Chili Mac, $16.25 – 2 cans remaining
Diced Beef, Cooked, $32.77 – 3 cans remaining
Beef Teriyaki, $19.13 – 3 cans remaining
Lasagna, $19.88 – 3 cans remaining
Noodles & Chicken, $19.00 – 4 cans remaining
Long Grain& Wild Rice Pilaf, $17.57 – 5 cans remaining
Sweet/Sour Pork w/ Rice, $21.97 – 3 cans remaining
Turkey Tetrazzini, $21.34 – 4 cans remaining
Oriental Spicy Chicken, $20.38 – 2 cans remaining
Diced Chicken, Cooked, $32.77 – 4 cans remaining
Pork Chops, Raw, $40.00 – 5 cans remaining
Garden Green Peas, $14.26 – 4 cans remaining
Corn, $14.19 – 2 cans remaining
Precooked Eggs w/ Ham, Peppers, $20.57 – 5 cans remaining
Granola w/ Blueberries, Milk, $22.37 – 1 can remaining
Blueberry Cheesecake, $15.43 – 5 cans remaining
=====

The quest for the perfect gas can continues. I opened up my steel Blitz can the other day when it was about 95 degrees out and figured I’d rotate out some of the gas filling the lawn mower. I then sealed up the can nice and tight. A few nights later the temperature dropped into the low 40’s. The air inside the can contracted to such a degree that it actually crumpled the can inwards, like a bear tap danced on it. A few days later I noticed that at one of the ‘crinkle’ points of the crumple a pinhole leak had formed. Thus a gas can meets its end. This has been my biggest complaint about gas cans so far – they need to be airtight but they also need to be able to vent. Two great ideas that seem at odds with each other. Plastic cans have a nice amount of flex (like the coveted Scepter cans) but they are still plastic and I worry about the permeability of these things vis-à-vis long (1+ years) term storage under fluctuating temperatures. There are new ‘Euro’-style cans on the market and Im tempted to investigate them.

An obvious solution is to fill the cans to such a level that there is almost no air in them at all. Trouble is, when you do that you have them so full that they’ll start dumping from the nozzle before you get the can leaned over far enough to get the spigot in the fuel port.

The newer plastic California-approved cans have a shut off in them so that might make a difference but Ive tried some and I cant ever seem to get them to work as advertised. Its looking more and more like a gas can and a long neck funnel are the best method for fueling. And I have no problem with that if I can find a gas container that is all-weather temperature stable, airtight, durable, and won’t let gas vapors permeate through the material. And at $40+ per gas can, I don’t feel like experimenting.

=====
Ow. Minding my own business, zipping along on my mountain bike, and the chain decides to, for whatever reason, lock up. Physics being what it is, I go flying over the handlebars. First priority in these situations is get out of the freaking street lest a truck come along and add insult to injury. Second priority, and I cant keep from doing this, is look around and see if anyone saw me embarrass myself. Third priority is me, which if everything seems to be functioning and can be repaired at a later time/location moves me to fourth priority, checking bike for damage. Slid the chain back on and tentatively pedaled back to the shop. Since I had my Bag O’ Tricks with me I was more than suited for fast field first-aid but the shop was only two blocks away and I have an even more extensive kit there. Destroyed a pair of jeans (dammit!). No serious damage but theres a deep, weeping, bleeding 3”x2” scrape on my knee. Couple sprays of antibiotic, some 4×6 gauze, a bit of de-gravelling and one roll of kerlix later and Im good to go.

The real annoying part for me is that, other than having to shell out for a new pair of jeans, I have to go into the bunker and pull out replacement components for the first aid kit at the shop. Gotta remember to do that.

The bike, by the way, is in the bike shop where I gave clear orders to have the bloody chain, derailleur, sprockets, guides and related components checked over for alignment, wear, misalignment, voodoo or alien influence. Oh, and I mighta bent the wheel a bit when things came to a sudden(!) stop.

But, prior planning of having first aid available at my shop and on myself kept things manageable.

=====
Article here reminding us that the nations power infrastructure is not up to the task of meeting demand. Infrastructure is always a hot topic for the preparedness minded. Every one can agree on its importance. No matter the disaster it’s a safe bet that certain aspects of the infrastructure will fail – ice storm, terrorism, war, rioting, invasion, hurricane, whatever – that power grid is going down. The only situational variable is how long it’ll take to be back in business. You might not be able to get ten people to agree on how the world is gonna end but you can bet all ten will agree the pwer grid will be one of the first things to go.
NYC, and really any large city, is a bad place to be when these things occur. Having all the traffic lights go out in Sheepdip, KS isn’t as big a hassle as having them all go out in Manhattan. Add the large amount of tall buildings with elevators, miles and miles of dark, unventilated subway tunnels, airports without power, opportunistic looters, price gouging battery/flashlight vendors, mountains of spoiled food and uncollected garbage, etc. and you can see that a simple power transmission failure can wreak some pretty impressive results.
Thus, we prepare.

Well, all the various orders are packed up. I’ll weigh ’em tomorrow and start sending notices to folks.
Whats leftover? Here you go:
(4) Graden Green Peas
(3) Uncooked Pork Chops
(4) Diced Chicken
(3) Oriental Style Spicy Chicken
(1) Pasta Primavera
(4) Turkey Tetrazinni
(4) Sweet/Sour Pork
(5) Long Grain Wild Rice Pilaf
(4) Noodles & Chicken
(4) Lasagna
(2) Chicken Teriyaki
(3) Beef Teriyaki
(4) Diced Beef
(3) Chili Mac
(4) Beef Stroganoff
(4) Instant White Rice
(3) Beef Stew
(0) Veg. Beef Stew
(4) Chicken Ala King

Also included at no extra charge was a note from MH saying that as of September there’ll be a price increase on all #10 cans, so those of you who partook of this last buy – good timing!

If anyoine is interested in any of this stuff who can email me at zero@zeroincorporated.com. Figure each can weighs 3# when youre figuring your shipping from 59801. And, no, these wont fit in a Flat Rate box.

Prices: http://www.zeroincorporated.com/inc/