Last of the Stag lowers was finally charged to me today. I’m taking this as a sign theyre about to ship. This batch of ten will complete this group purchase. Will post when they arrive. Some of you still need to get me FFL’s. I’ll be emailing!

Ahhhh…surplus.

The new SPortsmans Guide HQ catalog showed up last week and I ordered a few goodies out of it. Nothing dramatic. However, remember a few months back tehre was a deal on Russian canteens and cups 20/$20? Well, theyre okay…but not really great. So Im flipping through the catalog and find these:

Swiss military canteens with cup. Holds about liter, has NBC drinktube cap and comes with a very nice nesting canteen cup. Should fit any pouch that would hold a Nalgene bottle of 1 quart size.

So, at 20/$20, i figured I’d get some for me and the LMI. They arrived today and theyre sweet. Solid construction…bounced an empty one of the concrete a few times with no ill effect. The canteen cup locks firmly and snugly to the bottle so they’ll not get split up. Very much worth a buck each. And, as a major improvement over the Russian ones, they hold more water and are a convenient shape. I can definitely say that these look like a good choice for getting a nice supply of canttens (and extra canteens) for yourself. I’ll keep half of these for myself and the LMI’s will get the rest. A good buy for $20. Great for leaving one in your bag, truck, shed, hunting camp, cache, etc, etc.
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Watched the latest episode of Jericho. Moral: hungry people are dangerous people. Refugees are dangerous people. Hungry refugees are very dangerous people. Its all well and good to put on the noble face and say ‘They’re scared like the rest of us. We have to help them.’ but after the plattitudes are said someone has to take food out off their kid’s plate and give it to a stranger. Good luck with that choice.

I’ve been rereading some of the classic texts from the ‘Golden Age’ of survivalism. Tappans ‘Survivial Guns’, Bensons ‘The Survival Retreat’ and a few similar texts.

With the benefit of hindsight its almost impossible to imagine that these guys were serious about thinking that a Soviet invasion or missle exchange was just a heartbeat away. But it was. I remember the shelter drills in school when I was a kid. I knew there was a difference between the shelter drill and the fire drill but it never occurred to me what that difference was until only a few years ago.

Benson’s book is interesting because he came out with a sequel to it only a few years ago. In it he mentioned that his focus has changed from being concerned with the enemy without (foreign militaries, the Soviets) to the enemy within (fedgov). Neither book, however, in my opinion really tells the reader anything they haven’t already figured out on their own.

Also interesting is some of the very dated (this was, after all, a book that came out in 1983) ideas and recomendations. Put it in context – your assault rifle was going to be an HK, FAL (a genuine FN), or an AR-15. Your handgun was a 1911 or a Smith & Wesson. The AK series was discouraged because of ammo availability. Solar power and battery technology was a hoped-for solution to energy problems. And, of course, almost everything was predicated on being safe from nuclear fallout.

Ah those heady days……..
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Was cleaing up my Tactical Tailor bag last night. It’s the bag I carry around most of the time when I go anywhere. When I leave in the morning it gets thrown in the truck and its usually never too far when I’m ranging from the house. I was going through the first aid kit in there last night and realized I need to replace the antiseptic wipes that were in it. After a year of bouncing around in there the foil packets, although appearing to be just fine, develop integrity problems and the towelettes inside dry out, becoming worthless. So…annual restocking and inspection of the various first aid kits around here.
Been a good year…except for the occasional small cut or scrape I haven’t needed to use the thing all year. And any year you don’t need to do extensive bandaging on yourself in the field is a good one. Of course, that’ll probably change here as soon as I start riding my bicycle again.
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Speaking of bicycle, I need to tune it up and get it ready for the summer. With gas heading back towards three bucks a gallon theres no point in wasting the stuff. Plus, its always nice to just go exploring on some of the trails around here. Plus it’s a nice option to have for when the roads are otherwise impassable. Although a nice KLR650 would be nice.

What is better than cool preparedness gear? Free cool preparedness gear. The folks at QucikClot are/were shipping free samples of their product to anyone who signed up at their website. I, of course, signed up and promptly forgot about it. Todays mail brought a nice sample package of their product that will go into the first aid kit I carry in my bag. If you don’t know what QuickClot is, very succinctly it’s a product that is applied to heavily bleeding wounds to promote the quick formation of a clot and thereby stop the bleeding. Go watch ‘Shooter’ and you can see the main charcter use it to treat one of his gunshot wounds…which is pretty much what its mostly used for. It’s a granular powder that is poured into the wound although the new product, which is the sample they sent me, is a gauze pad filled with the stuff. The original product exhibited an exothermic reaction (it got very hot) when used and this new product is supposed to have a reduced exothermic reaction. Of course, it beats bleeding to death, now don’t it?

The literature with the sample says “At less than $8.00 for each packet of QuickClot 1st Response…” indicating that its going to be somewhat affordable. The package also contains a very verbose and clinical description of a “porcine model of vascular injury” that included “bilateral transaction of femoral artery and vein”. In short, the cut open a pig and tried to get it to bleed to death. According to the text, all the pigs survived to go on to be used in other experiments. Out of the frying pan…

Nonetheless, it would seem this is a very good product for when things have gone beyond the gauze-pad-and-tape level of boo-boo.
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One of my vendors is closing out on the Chip McCormick 8-rd. blued (w/ basepad) Shooting Star .45 ACP mags for the 1911. I was toying with getting some for myself. If anyone is interested theyre $11.25 ea. Sugg. Retail on these things is around $17~. Minimum order of four. I’ll be calling Monday to check on availability.
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Speaking of things that go ‘boom’, I got two additions to my gun safe today. One is another Glock 19 (2nd gen) with night sights. Cant really have too many of those. The other gun is something Ive been wanting to buy for the last several years but never really got around to buying: a Beretta 21A. Why the 21A? Couple reasons – first, I’ll take .22 LR over .25 Acp anytime. Second, I have a few spare magazines from the last time I owned one of these things about ten years ago. And, finally, not that I would ever use it…I still have my DeSantis wallet holster for the 21A. ATF decreed a few years ago that these holsters magically turned your handgun into an NFA weapon (specifically, because the gun no longer looks like a gun..and, yes, theres a rule that guns have to look like guns..that’s why cane guns and their ilk are verboten) and thus I cant use it with my 21A. But back when they were legal they were very cool. The gun was sandwiched in this leather taco and when it was in your pocket it looked just like a fat wallet. And, best of all, you could pull it out of your pocket, put your finger through the fingerhole in the holster, and whip off all seven shots without taking the gun from the holster. (A cutout at the back of the holster lets the slide move to and fro.) So, when someone demands your wallet you can say “Here ya go” and change the would-be muggers career choice.

My experience, by the by, is that the 21A prefers the high velocity stuff…so I go with Stingers.

What makes me feel a bit more at ease? Why, these babies right here:
One is none, two is one, twenty are…

First batch of ten arrived..finally. Next batch of ten will be shipped next week.

Supposed to have been here today butit appears UPS is living up to its union-staffed abilities. Should be here tomorrow. Apparently it was not only delayed by weather but also by a ‘late train’..whats next? Commanches?

In Transit
Rescheduled Delivery: 03/26/2007
Shipped to: MISSOULA, MT, US
Shipped or Billed on: 03/16/2007
Service Type: GROUND
Weight: 6.00 Lbs

Package Progress
Location Date Local Time Description
HODGKINS,
IL, US 03/21/2007 1:41 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
03/21/2007 1:00 P.M. A LATE TRAIN CAUSED THIS DELAY
WATERTOWN,
CT, US 03/19/2007 11:05 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
03/19/2007 7:04 P.M. ORIGIN SCAN
WATERTOWN,
CT, US 03/16/2007 11:12 P.M. ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS CAUSED THIS DELAY;THE MOVEMENT OF THE PACKAGE WILL RESUME AS SOON AS THE WEATHER CONDITIONS ALLOW
03/16/2007 11:12 P.M. ORIGIN SCAN
US 03/16/2007 3:27 P.M. BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED

Still nothing from Stag. I was told last week that one order of ten lowers had gone out the previous week. Still not here. If they ain’t here tomorrow I’ll call them and hold their feet to the fire regarding tracking numbers and shipping info. So..patience, mi amigos. Its a busy time in the AR-making biz.

Off to the range today. More work with the HKlone and the Bushy Dissipator.
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After having scoured the ‘For Dummies’ website it appears there is no such thing as ‘Alternative Energy For Dummies’ or similar text. Fortuntaely, theinternet beingwhat it is, there should be a zillion webpages out there with the info Im looking for.
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Had yet another end-of-the-world dream last night. Cant recall all the details except it involved lotsa hungry people and there being a rather bright and menacing looking fire on the horizon. I attribute this to eating things before bed that I know I shouldnt. That and watching ‘Jericho’.
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I have found an issue with the PTR, by the way. The stock has a crack in it. Its not a crack from use, its more like someone laid the gun flat and stepped on it…its a shallow depression on the side of the stock towards the buttpad. I cant recall if it came that way from the shop or not. Nonetheless, a quick trip to Cheaper Than Dirt finds me these for twenty bucks a set. I have three on their way. The cracked stock isnt compromised in terms of function, it doesnt even look damaged…you have to really look at it in the right light. But….it bothers me knowing its there. So, that stock, being still serviceable, will be sanded down to a rough finish and painted winter camo for winter use. Moral: inspect all guns closely before purchase. Im quite certain this damage did not happen on my watch…but since Im not 100% on that I cant very well demand the GunPimp do anything about it. My careless.
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Still havent gotten around to picking up the riflescope I want. The reason for that, so far, has been that the things I have been buying of late (mags, PTR, etc) are things that may be unavailable in the near future. While its possible that fine tactical optics may someday be restricted that seems far less likely right now than the guns and mags being restricted. So I utilize my resources accordingly. However, I havent been snoozing on my CZ550… I did pick up a few more mags for it giving me the total of six mags that I wanted. Need to pick up some 30mm rings, a really good sling and a few smaller, inexpensive items and I’ll be squared away on that.
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Was in the bunker last night putting away some ammo and while Im not completely satisfied on things, I am ‘okay’ on many of them. Good supply of food, ammo, lighting, batteries, firstaid, etc, etc. Still some deficiencies I need to work on, but its getting there.
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I was talking with someone the other day about generators…specifically propane vs. diesel. I said I liked propane for its ease of use and storage as well as for its abiility to run an entire house..heat, light, power, etc. The other person commented that this was true but diesel had one advantage propane did not – portability. That is to say, you cant really go down to your neighbor or buddys house and borrow twenty gallons of propane to put into your 500-gallon tank in the yard. Its not that man-portable without special gear. Diesel, on the other hand, can be carried around with a bucket. While it is possible, i suppose, to empty barbecue bombs into a bulk tank with an adapter its probably more easy to pour a five gallon jerry can of diesel down a funnel.So….something to think about there.