Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.
BioWeapon Mk. I is experiencing snow for the first time in his short, fuzzy little life. He is…not sure what to make of it. It should be highly entertaining when we have 8″ or so fo the stuff on the ground.
Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.
Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.
The zombies are loose and getting more numerous.
Me, the missus and BioWeapon Mk. I are in the truck returning to the house. As we pull up at the curb I notice there is a bicycle, with a rake and some leaf bags attached to it, parked in the middle of the sidewalk in front of my neighbors house. Simple reasoning says that theres probably someone going door-to-door offering to rake leaves. Makes sense, given the evidence at hand, right? And I comment to the missus “I wonder where he is?”. And that shoulda been the red flag right there. Instead, I dismissed it, dropped of the missus and the Mk. I and headed on my way. As the missus approaches the back steps to the house a scruffy and rather homeless individual exits my house. My house.
Now, some quick backstory. The house I live in has an upstairs apartment and a downstairs apartment. Both of them share a hallway at the back of the house. You enter the back door of the house and you are confronted with a locked door for the downstairs apartment or a set of stairs that lead to a locked door for the upstairs apartment. End backstory.
The missus asks the fella what he’s doing there. (Keep in mind she knows the right questions to ask, and in what order, as she’s had this conversation many times with similar creatures in her earlier days on patrol.) He says he;s there to visit his friend. Whats the name of your friend, she asks. I dont know, he replies. You can see how this is going, right? He makes some lame excuse like “Lady, Im just trying to make a few bucks.” She tells him to beat feet and he leaves. She calls 911 and has a cop come out to find this guy and check him out.
Legitimate leaf-raking guy? Maybe? Homeless guy trying doorknobs at random hoping to get lucky? More likely.
Here’s the part that really pisses me off. (Other than my anger at myself for not going with my first instincts and checking out the house when I was wondering where the bicycle’s owner was.) Apparently, that back hallway or foyer is a common or public area and this guy being in there isnt necessarily trespassing or unlawful entry or anything else illegal that would give me the legal (if not moral) right to throw him down the stairs and out to the curb. Which is, of course, pretty much where things would have gone once the “Who is your friend? I dont know” exchange had confirmed that this guy had absolutely no business being there.
Lately, in the wee hours of the morning, when I have been taking the Mk. I for a walk, we’ll see some drunk or other useless waste of skin staggering down the street and I’ll comment to the dog “Ah, the things you see when you dont have a gun.” (Because, really, for the five or ten minutes we’re out standing in front of the house I dont feel like stuffing a Glock into my sweatpants [not that theyd support the weight of the Glock anyway]) But, as the missus pointed out, as the economy sours and things get tougher we should probably expect more zombie invasions and more security threats.
For those of you who might be curious, yeah we were both armed for this episode. She had her KelTec .32 and I had my G19 (and, on a rare day for me, a handful of spare magazines in an offside pouch.) However, neither Drastic Plastic made an appearance. The Bioweapon, by the way, was not terribly useful. Although the zombie asked if the dog was going to bite him the dog didnt do anything threatening other than express a desire to go over and lick him. The missus defends the dogs inaction by saying he hasnt been trained yet for the whole bark-n-lunge thing. I feel he should have instinctually sensed the vibe of the moment and gone into ‘defend the pack’ mode. Clearly, the training timetable may need to be adjusted.
The takeaways for this whole episode are:
Trust your instincts. If it looks suspicious, check it out.
Being armed is always handy.
I need to replace the back door of the house with something that locks securely.
Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.
Missile? Contrail? Who knows? Certainly theres going to be plenty of people who are not satisfied no matter what the explanation. If it was someone launching a missle off the coast of California to make a point they dont seem to have done a terribly good job. Even the DPRK, with its Flintstone-technology missile program, can manage to lob a rocket over Japan in a manner that leaves no doubt what it is, where it came from and who pulled the trigger on it.
Regardless, my interest in the event has waned. If it was a missile, it was harmless. If it wasnt a missile, who cares?
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I recently ponied up for internet service at my shop. I havent had internet in the shop for several years now, just couldnt justify the expense. So when I started up the web browser all my links were from 2006 or so. Many of them were still good, most of the blogs I read were still there, so it was fun to catch up on stuff I hadnt been reading for quite a while. In doing so, I’ve come to the conclusion that I am probably the most optimistic (which may or may not translate into ‘most levelheaded/pragmatic’) survivalist out there.
How so? Well..I really dont believe the likelihood is very high of:
Maybe I’m wrong about those, but I dont think so. So what do I think is more likely? Hmmm.
Im sure Im missing a few, but nothing that drops us into living a life like something out of Threads..at least not on a nationwide scale. Yeah, the Yellowstone supervolcano could go off tomorrow and put most of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming into a low earth orbit….but Id say the odds of it happening in my lifetime are far, far lower than the odds of, say, the economy limping along for another couple years of stagflation.
Of course, if the guys who think the Trilateral Bilderberger Illuminati Rothschild Lumber Cartel are coming are correct I’m going to look pretty foolish but I’d say the odds are good it’ll be Hurricane Hillary causing the lights to go out before it’s President Hillary causing it.
Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.
Watched the second episode of ‘The Walking Dead’ yesterday. If youre late to the party, its “Jericho” with zombies. Happily, like Jericho, Lennie James (“Hawkins”) is in it. Poor guy is gonna get typecast as the new Charlton Heston. (“If its the future and its bad, Charlton Heston is there!” [Soylent Green, Omega Man, Apes, etc])
What sets the series apart from other zombie themes is that, thus far, it hasnt become the gunfest many of us would think the apocalypse would be. It’s realistic in that you get a handful of surviviors, maybe five or six, and they have two handguns between them all. No Burt Gummer types running around (yet). I would not be surprised if the viewing demographic for “Dead” doesnt mimic the one for “Jericho”. Because, really, who can resist a post-apocalyptic series? Theyre just so damn entertaining.
As I am told, “Walking Dead” is based on a graphic novel so theres a bit of fan service and the material tries to follow the books…but at some point that source material will peter out and it’ll be uncharted territory.
As always, zombie invasions are excellent ’safe’ metaphors for planning for the apocalypse. (Even the guys in Afghanistan, when theyre bored, make up plans to defend their bases from zombies) Zombie Squad, of course, is the prime example of taking anti-zombie activities into real world actions. Interestingly enough, locally we have our own branch of zombie eliminators who are in the business of making sure your headchopper is a little more uptown than a WalMart $12.99 machete. ( I rather like their Para Bellum model.)
Of course, no one actually comes back from the dead and turns normal humans into followers (well, not in about 2000 years, anyway, according to some folks) but the useful thing about shows like these isnt so much the one-man-versus-the-hordes (although that is always entertaining) but rather that it gives you a chance to envision likely real-world infrastructure failures and how to work around them. (Fuel acquisition, for example, is the same regardless of whether its zombies stopping the deliveries or a hurricane…an empty gas tank is an empty gas tank.)
Hunt around a bit and you can find “Dead” on line for viewing. I’ve found it to be fun and about as ‘realistic’ as you could expect given the subject matter.
Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.
You guys remember the Allied Armament 50-round drum for the HK that I wound up trying out in my PTR?
I got an email from the evil genius at AA and he announced that the drum is now available for the FAL platform.
We are now releasing our first batches of the X-FAL 50 round drum magazine for the .308 metric and Inch FAL rifles. This is the same capacity as our other magazines and built completely of light weight metal components, there are no plastic parts. See attached picture for more information, at this time we are going to sell small quantities to the public as we ramp up production and seal distribution contracts.
You can buy the magazines direct from me, please email me @ machinegunparts@gmail.com
or
You can buy them via gunbroker.com : http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=199220834
Haven’t had the opportunity to wring one out (although I know just the FALs to put it to the test with) but if it’s built anything like the one I got for the HK-platform it should be an awesome firearms accessory. If youre totin’ and FAl, check ‘em out.
Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.
Election Day is done. I have mixed feelings.
At this point, Im not entirely sure that any change of faces in Washington can prevent or reverse the course we seem to be on. I’m more interested in what the lame duck politicians will do. For example, if some politician loses the election he knows that shortly thereafter he’s gonna have to pack up and go home. Sooooo…he gets a free pass to do whatever he wants with no repercussions. Its kind of like being serial killer. After you’ve killed a dozen people whats a few more?
I suppose that its possible that the outgoing politicians could be used to bring in legislation that would normally be politically toxic. Theyre already on their way out so why wouldn’t they bring up stuff that would normally be the political kiss of death?
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Deer hunting has, thus far, been unproductive. I’ve been out thrice and seen a few deer but nothing that wanted to sit still long enough to catch a bullet. Interestingly, according to the game folks, more elk are getting pulled out of the wood than deer. Go figure. Elk would be nice but I never really see any…mostly because Im just not willing to work that hard. Elk hunting requires some serious hiking and climbing…and then getting the thing out of the woods when you finally do get it can be a Herculean task. Its one of those things where you can shoot the beasty at 8am and finish dragging it out in the dark around 11pm. Its serious work.
I’m glad that, at this moment, we don’t actually need the meat. We have a good amount in the freezer and we can always buy more. I enjoy being out in the woods with a gun and bringing home an animal is icing on the meaty cake. Plus its always an excellent opportunity to try new gear.
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The bioweapon is progressing. He’s clocking in around 32# or so. He’s getting big enough that if he wants to go somewhere you need to plant your feet and grip the leash because he can exert some force. Fortunately he’s coming around on his training. Its very difficult to believe that just two months ago he was a little furball in a plastic crate sitting at the ticket counter at the airport yapping for his freedom. He’s gonna be a big dog. And a dangerous dog if we don’t raise him right. He’ll be around 80# with a set of sharp teeth and more than a little intelligence. Something like that needs to be under tight control and well disciplined if he’s going to be of any use to us as anything other than a liability and a food-to-poop machine. Ideally, his primary functions will be early warning and threat deterrence. He’s a wonderful puppy and we’re greatly attached to him but, in the final analysis, we have to remember that he’s just a dog. He’s expendable. He’s a one-shot fire-n-forget defensive tool for an insanely dangerous and violent circumstance. And, because he’s a dog, he’ll be gloriously happy to die defending the pack. Until that time, we pay him upfront by giving him the best life possible.
Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.
We keep a big plastic container in the cupboard full of sugar for our cooking needs. It was running low..just an inch or two left in it…so I figured I’d refill it from our stock of stored sugar. The sugar that I used was from 2005…so its five years old. I took the paper packaging it was in and dropped the entire thing into a vacuum sealer bag, sealed it up, dated it, and stuck it away on the shelf. Opened it up today and it was perfect, loose, and not caked into a rock-like mass from moisture nor contaminated by insect or environment.
Food storage FTW!
Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.
Friend of the family, world-class photographer, rightful owner of TheHighRoad, and uber-activist for your RKBA… Oleg Volk was kind enough to send along a little something to yours truly the other day.
They are aftermarket magazines for the HK .308 conversion kits for the G3/91 series of rifles. These are the same conversion kits that have been available through various sources recently..most notably Cheaper Than Dirt. Although the kits come with two fabulously over-engineered OEM .22 magazines it might be nice to have a few more. Sadly, to the best of my knowledge no one was making such a thing. Our buddy Oleg, however, knows better and found these things made by A&D, whom I am having a heck of a time finding anything about.
Nex trip out to the range, I’ll drag the .22 kit along and give these things a workout and report back on how they function. If youre lucky enough to have one of the .22 conversion kits you can appreciate that having some spare mags could be handy.
