MH, AlertUSA, Apocalypse vehicles

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The first part of the Mountain House group buy order showed up today.I’m figuring the rest of it should be here over the next few days. There will be a few cans left over so if anyone wants to add or if you missed out and want to get something, there’ll be that opportunity.
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Someone on my friends list had a post about this service. In a nutshell, when Something Happens you get a message texted to your phone or pager. This is actually something I was curious about a couple years ago. I was flying to the east coast and when my flight approached the airport the pilot came on and said that we were going to be circling for a little while and he wasn’t sure why, simply that he’d been told to circle. My thought was that something 9/11-ey must have happened. (Never did find out what the story was, btw.) But if I had this service I could have surreptitiously turned on my cell phone and checked the text messages and see if thered been some sort of notification. This is admittedly much easier with a Blackberry-type device – just browse your way to a newswire and check the latest headlines. But, some of us are Luddites and only have cell phones.

By the by, I read somewhere that in times of emergency the odds are good that cell phones systems will be so overwhelmed that getting calls in/out may be tough but text messages may get through since they use, presumably, much less bandwidth. Maybe theyre routed differently as well, who knows? Worth investigating though.
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Whats the best rig for getting to Point A from Point Z when Points B-Y are smoking rubble? Find out here with “Ten Vehicles For The Apocalypse”. I think most of their choices are absurd but this one resonates with me:

Its a diesel motorcycle that’ll run on diesel, biodiesel or vegetable oil. Now thats handy.
My dream vehicle for the apocalypse. No secret. .

Kraft Prep Pack, German Bunker Business

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Well, this looks interesting (although probably way unhealthy). Further evidence that preparedness products are becoming more mainstream even if the mindset isnt. Its interesting to note that this product is apparently ‘only’ available to folks in ‘hurricane country’ through direct sales. Cant find much info about the product but someone on arfcom must have more info because here’s the ‘menu’:

Product Product Details Pieces Product Product Details Pieces
KRAFT HANDI-SNACKS Pudding Chocolate Flavor, 15.1 Oz. 1
RITZ Toasted Chips Original Flavor 9.5 Oz. 1
KRAFT HANDI-SNACKS Pudding Vanilla Flavor, 15.1 Oz. 1
TRISCUIT Whole Wheat Crackers Reduced Fat 10.5 Oz. 1
PLANTERS Mixed Nuts Unsalted 13.5 Oz. 1
VELVEETA Mexican Mild Pasteurized Prepared Cheese 1
OREO Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, 6 Oz. 1
TANG Sugar Free Drink Mix (Makes 6 Quarts) 3 Oz. Powered Drink Mix 1
SOUTH BEACH DIET® Cinnamon Raisin Cereal Bar 1.5 Oz. 3
TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Fiesta Steak Bowlz, 10.5 Oz. No cooking/heating required 3
SOUTH BEACH DIET® Peanut Butter Cereal Bar, 1.5 Oz. 3
TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Santa Fe Style Beef Bowlz, 10.5 Oz. No cooking/heating required 3
SOUTH BEACH DIET® Chocolate Cereal Bar, 1.5 Oz. 3
TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Salsa Chicken Bowlz, 10.5 Oz. No cooking/heating required 3
GRAPE-NUTS Trail Mix Crunch Cereal 19.5 Oz. 1
HONEY MAID Grahams Honey Sticks 15.5 Oz. 1
TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Cheesy DOUBLE DECKER®- 6 Flour Tortillas, 6Taco Shells, Nacho Cheese Sauce and Seasoning, 14.25 Oz. 1
PLANTERSTrail Mix 6.25 Oz. 1
COUNTRY TIME On-the-Go Lemonade Drink Mix 8 Oz. Powered Drink Mix 1

Definitely not the healthiest thing you could eat. On the other hand, not being hungry trumps good nutrition in alot of disasters. Nonetheless, I point this out not to recommend it (you can do much better putting something together on your own) but to point out that products like these are indeed becoming mroe mainstream.

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Apparently, of all people, the Germans are jumping on the bandwagon. Sales of private bunkers are up. I wonder if they call their deluxe model the Führerbunker….

Jericho, CZ rifles, components, boots, Mountain House order

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Looks like the reports of ‘Jericho’s cancellation may have been a bit…premature. It is reported on various online entertainment websites that the network is rethinking its decision in the face of fan email/mail barrages.

I find this interesting for a couple reasons. Across the board every single forum I’ve been to that mentions the program has countless detractors who say the series isn’t ‘realistic’ or that theres too much ‘interpersonal drama’. And yet when the show does get cancelled theyre outraged. Go figure. I think the series has, in fact, jumped the shark, but am quite willing to continue watching.
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Finally got my 10-rd mags for my CZ550 the other day. This means the only two serious tasks left for this gun are a) new heavyduty sling and swivels, and b) a Pelican case. Once that’s done and the ammo is loaded I will be done spending money on this thing. In an exercise of fiscal recklessness, I shall now tally the damage:
$600 – base gun
$360 – 5 standard mags, 5 10-rd mags
$120 – Picatinny rail base
$30 – rings
$700 – IOR scope (10×56 MP8)
$30 – scope cover and muzzle protector
$20 – scope caps

So that’s..uhm…carry the three…$1860. Add in the case and it’ll just crack $2k. Expensive? Yup. However, its taken me almost two years and change to get this far so it was spaced out over a goodly amount of time. The alternative is a $600 rifle with a Bushnell Sportview and that would be just silly. Optics and guns are expensive. Spending $600-$1200 for a rifle and then putting a $95 scope on it is a bit self-defeating. If all you can afford after the initial outlay for the gun is a cheap scope, well, that’s better than no scope but after a year or two you should be able to move on financially to getting more deserving optics. Yes, you can spend a lot of money on an accurate rifle. You can spend as much money as you’d like. What I did was spend as much money as was needed.

On the other hand, being able to totally pwn everything within a circle a little under a mile across will be worth it. (Fast math – a one-mile circle means that if you were in the center your longest shot would be 880 yards in any direction…not out of the realm of possibility for the .308 since it wont be transonic until around 1100 yds..)

I still have to buy some spare parts for this thing..a few springs, a firing pin, extra screws, that sort of thing but that shouldn’t be more than a hundred bucks or so.

I took the CZ to the range yesterday to test the new mags and fireform some new Lapua cases. Rounds 3 & 4 out of mag #4 failed to feed (bolt rode over). Reloading the mag with another five rounds did not duplicate the problem. I made a note and will test that mag at length on the next trip to the range. I am very much liking the IOR scope and thus far have no problem recommending them. Heavy, but this rifle isn’t a ‘wandering around the boonies’ gun.

The dot in my scope is apparently 1moa since it covered a 1” orange targdot at 100 yds. Fluorescent orange on white is a bit tough to see. Best groups were .70 and .67 for five shots at 100 yards. Worst groups were about twice that, around 1.5”. (Hey, it happens.)
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I continue to be frustrated at the hit-or-miss availability of various ammo and components these days. For example, finding 55 gr. FMJ .223 bullets at a reasonable price(and that’s the focal point here) has been tough. I finally found some after relentlessly hounding my distributors every three days and even then it was only by sheer luck that I happened to make my call the same morning they had a truck come in. Even then I was only able to get one case –6000 bullets – out of it. I remember when 7.62×39 ammo was $90 a case and I was stacking cases up in the bunker thinking this might be a waste of money since AK ammo seemed plentiful and cheap. Now? No regrets. Theres a dozen stories floating around about why ammo and related materials are so expensive these days and, generally, I don’t care why its happening…I care about the result of it happening more than I care about why. However, all the things I hear are of a temporary nature (although on a large enough scale, everything is temporary)…someday the Chinese will be done buying up raw materials, the Venezuelans/American military/Chinese will be done buying ammo, or whatever the reason du jour is and prices will stabilize and, more importantly, availability will increase. In the meantime…well, this is why I stockpile ammo when I can. (And also why a person should reload their own ammo.)
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My Altama jungle boots arrived the other day. They look like the jungle boots Ive seen on various feet my whole life. Hasn’t anyone figured out a way to modify or otherwise modernize these things? No matter. For $30 a pair I get US made boots. Good knocking-around boots for summer. I have a nice set of the suede desert boots and they are, hands down, the most comfortable shoes I have ever worn. Theyre a little big at 10W. These ones I ordered are 9.5W and I think that’s the size I’ll order another three pair at. Go back a couple posts and you’ll find a link to the boot deal. I have such a hellacious time finding footwear I like that when I find something that fits and I like I will buy as many pair as I can afford. Sure, there are websites that specialize for wide feet (how wide? EEEEE. That’s 5E kids! I can walk on snow like a moose!) but my footwear needs are a bit more specific. I don’t need a pair of walking shoes or a pair of loafers. No, I need combat boots, desert boots, Mickey Mouse boots, that sort of thing…and finding those in my freakish feet size can be a bit of a challenge. So these jungle boots, which will make excellent everyday wear as well as good summer duty boots, will be ordered en masse as soon as I can free up a hundred bucks for three more pair.
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Mountain House order went in the other day. Everything was on hand except the white rice and the corn. Those will be ready in ‘about two weeks’ I am told. Everything else was ready. So, if you ordered either of those two products you can expect a delay but you can also expect maximum shelf life on those products since they’ll have been packaged most recently.

Mountain House is a division of Oregon Freeze Dry which not only does the MH foods ( a very small part of the biz, I am told) but does other things like freeze drying plasma and other goodies. Since I know theres only a couple places in the country that can freeze dry food on the scale these guys do I inquired if they had any overruns from military contracts. I always ask them this and I am always directed to ask someone else whose voicemail gives me the impression they really don’t wanna deal with it. But this time….success. Turns out they had a hundred or so cases of #10 cans of raw pork chops. Cool, eh? A little freezedried applesauce and some freeze dried vegetables and rice and you can have a pretty decent meal. As expected, like most FD meats, the price was not cheap. However I did order one case to try out. Price is going to be about $39 per can but its pork chops, man! (Normal price, I was told, would be $54 per can…if you could find them) No idea if they are boneless but I cannot see the point to freeze drying a product and leaving the bone in. We shall see.

MH GB finale

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Tomorrow is the last day for the only Mountain House #10 can order for this year. Be there or be square. Check previous posts for a link.
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I hate getting wet, which is not to say that I dislike swimming or activities that cause me to get wet. I suppose a more accurate statement would be that I dislike getting wet unintentionally. Everyone here, I am sure, is in agreement that wet feet suck so I think we can all sympathize about not liking getting wet whether its feet or anywhere else. Additionally, when youre out in the sticks, getting wet can be a bit dangerous since all it takes is getting wet and a good breeze to start a person on the road to hypothermia.

The usual solution to these things is, unsurprisingly, rain gear. I prefer, in the words of Alton brown, ‘a multitasker’ for these situations. Military ponchos usually fit the bill. Ponchos aren’t the perfect answer since they can be a bit awkward in certain situations but they are a thousand percent more versatile than a dedicated rain jacket. (However, a rain hat is almost always a good idea…even if you have a poncho.)

The US military ponchos are, in my opinion, too lightweight and not nearly as waterproof as would be nice. They’ll do in a pinch, but there are better. And cheaper. And “better and cheaper” are fine words to gear up by. Best I’ve found has been the German rain ponchos. The earth-color is perfect for most environs, the material is definitely waterproof and not just water resistant, and the snaps along the edges allow for multiple ponchos to be used.

If you hunt around the internet for zeltbahn you’ll see the WW2 poncho that the Nazis used. Like a lot of Nazi military gear, its innovative, versatile and, given the materials available in those days, very ahead of its time. One of the biggest features of the zeltbahn was that they could be attached to an infinite number of other zeltbahns via two-sided snaps. Get a dozen guys together and they could put up a tent of these things. Post-war Germany had to distance itself from its Nazi history and that means that even smart ideas like the zeltbahn needed to be redesigned and repatterned to not look too familiar. A good example is flectar camo…compare against ‘pea pattern’ camo from the Nazis and let me know if you see any major difference. (The SS had these wonderful camo combat smocks that Id love to see recreated with modern insulating and waterproofing materials.) The zeltbahn was a great idea and it lives on, somewhat, in these more modern German military ponchos.

In addition to keeping your bod dry, ponchos also serve a few other purposes:

Wrapping up your gear to provide waterproofing or concealment
As a ground sheet
Improvised shelter
Improvised sleeping bag (when used with a liner) [although in practice this leaves much to be desired]
Flotation for gear when crossing water
Impromptu blinds or other concealment

And plenty of other uses.

So, as far as Im concerned the German surplus ponchos are tops. Theres some Swiss Alpenflage camo ones on the market now but they aren’t true ponchos since they snap up along the front and thus don’t lend themselves to other tasks as readily as the German poncho….in fact, they are more like rain capes. Also, nothing against the Swiss, that camo pattern of theirs (esp. the colors) just ain’t gonna work in my neck of the woods.

Source? Well that’s why Im bringing it up. I got the new Sportsmans Guide catalog and they’ve got them by the pair, “Used in very good shape”, for $16.97 per pair. That’s about $8.50 ea. Very much worth it. Dimensions? 3’7”x5’2” (43”x62”) Product #FX7K-119126X
Before anyone asks me, no I have no idea if the US liners fit it but it wouldn’t surprise me if they did. Check the dimensions.

Actually, a quick perusal of dimensions from a US Cavalry catalog shows huge variations in poncho liner sizes…so:your mileage may vary. Try before you buy.

Entertainment, GB, Zero moments

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One EOTWAWKI series down (“Jericho”), one to go. The latest offering being readied for the masses is ‘K-Ville’. A series about police during/after Hurricane Katrina. Now, lets think about that for a minute. I have read almost nothing positive about the police, native or imported, during the aftermath of Katrina. We’ve all seen the footage of them dogpiling some little old lady to take her pistol away from her….we want a series about these people? Im betting Nagin and the othe New Orleans politicos are pushing hard for this one to a) take some heat off them and b) rewrite history. Still…I’ll probably watch it until the pro-cop message gets to be too much.
Speaking of fiction, I would be terribly neglectful if I did not mention that ‘I Am Legend’ is coming up later this year. You saw it when it was called “The Omega Man” and maybe even before that when it was called “The Last Man On Earth” (starring the terribly underappreciated and very interesting Vincent price). The premise is like many zombie flicks – everyone else is infected with a disease that makes them dangerous except for a few solitary surviviors fighting off the hordes. In this case the danger isn’t flesheating undead but rather a form of vampirism (largely ignored in TLMOE but played at a slightly different angle in TOM). Its worth noting that TLMOE was more faithful to the book (titled “I Am Legend”) with its less-than-happy ending. TOM was slightly more upbeat but was full of insanely pointless Christ imagery. (You can find FAQ’s about all that somewhere, Im sure.)

Ive seen some production stills from the new IAL movie and it looks interesting…Will Smith wandering deserted streets with an M4 hanging off his shoulder, that sort of thing.

In a (very) slightly related vein, the new Resident Evil movie is also forthcoming with a slight Mad Max flavor to it. I need no excuse to watch Milla Jovovich running around killing things. If the apocalyptic wastelands are going to have babes like her running around I will personally push the button that starts World War III.

As I think about it, there hasn’t been a lot of apocalyptic themed entertainment since the end of the Cold War. In fact, I will suggest that the recent resurgence of zombie movies is a direct result. Without the Cold War we cant have an apocalypse from Russian nukes so we replace bayonet-thrusting Russian troops with flesh-eating undead.

Lets see, I think the last really good movie along these lines was probably Red Dawn (anyone here not have a copy of this???) and that was 20 years ago.

There have been a few movies that were probably more ‘realistic’ and were, in my opinion, designed as a scare tactic for nuclear disarmament. The foremost would be the hyper-depressing ‘Threads’…a movie so depressing and fatalistic that, as I understand it, it was shelved for a number of years in the UK. (Its premise was based on war games projecting the outcome and aftermath of a large nuclear exchange). ‘The Day After’ was a fatalistic US movie on the aftermath of a nukefest. One scene that stands out in my memory is the kid breaking into someones house to steal an empty jar of peanut butter so he could try to scrape the remaining bits of PB out of it…I cant recall but I believe the homeowner killed him over it. Heady stuff.

The premise of life after an apocalyptic event is full of potential for storylines and arcs that should keep a series from getting stale. I thought ‘Jericho’ was doing fairly well in that regard. I’d read people saying that there was too much drama and interpersonal storylines. But, that’s life….it isn’t going to be running gun battles against looters all the time youre still going to have to deal with people and how they react to things.

One more mention of a book – “Among Madmen” was a pulp novel that I found in a used bookstore. The premise is very similar to ’28 Days’. People spontaneously become rage-fuelled killing machines with no warning. Society grinds to a halt and everyone hunkers down as people guard against their neighbors or outsiders suddenly going berserk and killing everyone they can. The story is told from the perspective of a police chief in a small upstate NY town who has to try and keep his town safe from the berserkers and from the usual post-apocalyptic cast of bad guys.

Onto other matters……..

Group Buy on the #10 cans of Mountain House ends in a week. This’ll be the only order with MH for 2007 so if youre in hurricane country or otherwise living in an area with an elevated risk you may wanna hop on the train before it leaves the station. Also, if you don’t want the #10’s, I also have the ProPack pouches on hand for immediate delivery…theyre very nice for tucking into backpacks, buckets and truckboxes.

Minor the other day. Was at the shop minding my own business when I heard a loud noise from outside coupled with a bright flash of light. Transformer in the alley blew up. Power was knocked out to most of the block except my shop (long story but my shop is wired to a different power pole than everyone else on the block). Makes no difference to me, but it made a difference to my neighbors who have a cabinet manufacturing facility in what used to be an underground garage. A garage with one stairwell in, no windows and no emergency lighting. I always have a big MagLite here at the shop so I grabbed that and my Bag O’ Tricks and headed next door to see if they needed help. Went downstairs and there were only a few people there but they needed to turn off the saws and planers for when the power came on and the only flashlight available was a remarkably cheesey 12v worklight with a 90% dead battery. Passed out a few lightsticks from my bag, retrieved my Streamlight LED from the main pocket of my bag and handed it to the gal in charge, and went with them to provide illumination so they could turn off the machines. Since these people are also my landlord my being prepared pays off in lots of goodwill dividends. Power company had the transformer fixed an hour later. I returned to the bunker to replenish my supply of lightsticks and pat myself on the back. Moral of the story? Be prepared.

Were it something larger however…say, a citywide powerfailure after dark, I probably would have been a bit less charitable. I’d have grabbed my gear, locked things up, grabbed my Glock and head home.

IOR scope report

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After long protracted deliberation I finally ordered the scope for my beloved CZ550. Originally, the CZ uses a 19mm dovetail which means regular rings dont work – you gotta have rings that clamp onto the base. This limited my choices somewhat. Fortunately, I found a place that manufactures a picatinny rail that goes onto my CZ. Once thats in place I can use any rings I want. Since the base adds a bit of height I figured I might as well go with a scope with a large objective. So…what’d I get? Well, had been wanting the IOR 2-10×42 with illumintaed reticle. But…I have a 3-9x Leupold and I always leave it turned up to 9x anyway…plus, a non-variable means less to worry about…plus I dont see myself shooting anything less than a hundred yards so a fixed power shouldnt be an issue. Thus, I got this. The 10×56 w/ ulluminated reticle. Stuffed it into a set of Warne rings and headed to the range.

Now, the reason I wanted a different scope was because even though my simple Leupold VX-II gave me great results and accuracy, I wanted something with a rangefinding reticle. The reticle used in this IOR scope really appealed to me. Also, everything I have read about these IOR scopes has been uniformly positive. They are heavy, steel, waterproof and built like a tank…and thats what Im looking for – durability. David Fortier reviews these things from time to time and I enjoy reading his stuff (a closet LMI, I suspect).

Get the whole thing set up, load some ammo and of to the range. I had consulted my computer and for the ballistics I was plannong on (168 gr. AMax @2700 fps) I’d have to be 2.13″ high at 100 to get a zero of 200. So…start shooting at 50 yards. Low. Dial it up some. Little more. Dead on at 50. Okay, back it off to 100. Fire four shots, making adjustments all the way. Ok, looks like about 2.13″ to me.

Tromp down to the 200 yard and set up a target dot. Head back, put three rounds in the magazine and fire away. Elevation was dead on. Seriously dead on.

How perfect was that? My scope is 1/4 MOA clicks so I figured one click to the left should give me 1/2″ @ 200 yds. Did that, zeroed the turrets and started playing.

Having no experience with mil ranging I was taking time to do math in my head. Theres a circular steel plate hanging at 300 yards. I bracketed it as being approx. 1.5 mils. At 300 yards 1 mil = 10.8″ (3.6″x3) so 1.5 mils should be about 16″ (okay, 16.2″). Walked downrange with a tape measure. Actual size was 15″. Close enough. Empty oxygen tanks hanging from the posts measued approx. 1 mil ..should be about 10.8″…wander downrange and, lo and behold, theyre 10″. Cool!

The lines on the scope are .1 mil thick and the center of the crosshairs is actually a dot (not a solid + as shown on IOR’s website). That dot is also .1 mil thick so it winds up being approx. a 1MOA dot (ok, 1.2 really).

So…15″ steel plate. 300 yards. Computer says my bullet will drop 9″ from 200 to 300 yards. That should be approx. 3 clicks at 1/4 MOA per click. (At 300 yrds 1/4 MOA is going to be 2.7″ so three clicks should give me about 8.1″.) Clicked away, aimed for the bottom 1/3 of the plate and spanked it. Very very cool. After that it was a clickfest busting rocks and assorted scrap at the edge of the 300 yard range.

So, thus far I am happy with this scope. It also has the illuminated reticle which glows a nice red color for those annoying lowlight or even more annoying black-crosshairs-on-black-target scenarios.

Out the door price was $700, btw. Scope came with a sunshade and a pocket cardboard-slide mil/yard calculator. Handy. Me, Im just practicing my base 3.6 math.

CostCo

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CostCo is at it again. Remember the Bucket O’ Survival Food that wound up having to be re-labelled because it was considered misleading to call it an xxx day supply? (By the by, CostCo has these things at $99 and I’ll bet they ain’t gonna sell many of ’em.) Well, same outfit, for a hundred bucks, gives you a bucket full of Made-In-China ‘survival gear’…also now at CostCo. It contains, among other things, a Sterno-type stove, a halfway decent waterbottle/purifer, a windup radio/light combo and of course some of the fabulous starvation-grade food pouches that made thei first preparedness offering so memorable.

I’m not kidding, I stood there and went through the bucket looking at all that crap. Factor in the Made-In-China angle and you have some seriously overpriced crap. However, I have to be fair…if I were trapped on the roof of a building by Hurricane Katrina and all I had was this bucket o’ junk I would probably be glad I had it. HOWEVER..for the same hundred bucks I could put together a far more superior system that covered more needs.

Still, the mere fact that products like these are appearing in the mainstream shopping venues is encouraging.

Cliffhangers

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Well, its official – ‘Jericho’ is cancelled.

Im disappointed but the problem wasnt the show, the problem was the networks absurd way of showoing it – showing half the season and then taking ‘hiatus’ for a few weeks and then showing the rest of the season. What corporate retard thought that was a great way to keep viewers?

So…my greatest fear is that this will encourage people who fancy themselves as having some sort of talent to start writing and posting fiction on the various boards.

bases and bullets

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Finally found a place that has a picatinny rail for my CZ550, one-piece, steel in stock and ready to ship. Interestingly they also make Rem. bases with stripper clip guides…just the thing for a Scout-type conversion. I figure the height of the rail, on top of the existing CZ receiver flats should give me enough height that a pair of med. (or even low) rings should clear a 56mm IOR 10×56 scope.
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And…..ten thousand 9mm 115 gr. FMJ will be here tomorrow for me and the LMI to reload. $46/m delivered. And Im thinking 10m might actually not be enough……..