Link – Walking Dead Season 3 trailer (spoilers)

Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

Well, well…trailer for season 3 of The Walking Dead is up.

Plenty of spoilers in there so you might wanna give it a pass if youre into that sort of thing. Looks like the producers are finally giving in to the huge amount of people asking WTF is up with the lousy weapons selection and giving some upgrades.

And, as the original source material showed, the term ‘walking dead’ doesn’t refer to the zombies. Looks like theyre going to start reinforcing that.

Also, for the love of Crom, when will someone on this show give some thought to offsite caching?

Nostalgia purchase – 1L. canteen

Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

(l.) new 1L canteen, (r.) 25+-year-old 1L. Wish I’d held up as well.

There isn’t a lot of stuff I have left over from early days of being into preparedness but one of them is the 1-liter military canteens. I bought a few back before I moved to Montana 25 years ago and I still have one. It’s beat up and scuffed and I haven’t used it in years. In fact, it’s relegated to the tertiary level of water storage. A quality Nalgene bottle beats it in just about every regard. But…nostalgia got the better of me and when I saw some available at countycomm I couldn’t resist and ordered up a few. Normally, I try not to give in to sentimentality, especially when it is so obviously trumped by better and newer products, but I couldn’t help myself.

Like I said, these things get beat by a good Nalgene bottle in just about every regard except for the shape. The relatively flat and square shape of the 1L canteens make them easy to stack or tuck in a corner of a bag or vehicle. Interestingly my old ones didnt come with a keepr for the cap and neither do the new ones. Of course, since there are grooves on both parts for a keeper, a few minutes with some paracord will take care of that.

As I said, this was mostly about nostalgia…I got the original ones back when the Cold War was still going on, Reagan was president, and the pinnacle of tactical ubercoolness came from a Brigade Quartermaster catalog…no internet ordering! I was just a kid who liked cool military-type stuff and I remember me and my brother getting a few of these. He, apparently, still has his, too. There is very little stuff I have now, that I still use, from back then…a knife or two, my polypro neck gaiter from BQ, this 1L canteen, and maybe a few knickknacks that have travelled with me over the years.

Ah, those heady young days of the late ’80s when someone talked about the Evil Empire and they weren’t talking about us. Say what you will, I liked the ’80s.

It rhymes with ‘ilver’

Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

My buddy the precious metals pimp (“You cant spell ‘pimp’ without ‘pm’”) came by today and flipped a silver eagle at me. Apparently someone in the viewing audience bought some silver from him and said to push an ounce in my direction.

So, thank you very much to the benefactor who has enabled me to add to my stockpile against that upcoming rainy day. After a tough day of beating back the infected unded it’ll be nice to be able to unwind by trading a silver coin for some refreshments and adult entertainment. Much thanks!

Come to think of it, my birthday is next month (on the seventh). Time to update the Amazon wish list.

SG stuff, inc. the zelts

Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

Well, my package of goodies from Sportsman’s Guide arrived today. A couple months back the guys at SpecOps were having a sale on their SOB buttpacks for around $12 or something like that. I wound up buying a half dozen of them but they did not come with shoulder straps. Fortunately, I knew that eventually I’d find some on sale somewhere. Thus, I got these from SG. Brand new, pack of five for $15. Good for he several buttpacks/musette bags I have sitting around.

After that, I picked up a couple of these sleep system carriers to try and stuff my military three-piece bag into. A little compression might(!) be necessary but I think they’ll fit. They’d also make excellent bags to store blankets and the like. Wish they were OD but, hey, you can t have everything.

And, finally, the might-be-zelts. well….they definitely have been around a while. Lotsa patches, small holes, etc. I compared them against the German specs from the manual I have and while they follow the pattern, their dimensions are smaller than what the German ones were. Still, they’ll be interesting to play with and I’m sure they’ll take my mind in other creative directions.

link – A Hard Lesson; Survivor Ammunition Storage

Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

Man, I’m way ahead, statwise, on posting frequency. I better start pacing myself.

But! A goodie from Tam over at View From The Porch: First hand report of what happens when your ammo locker gets flooded. Hint: Those military ammo cans you bought were worth it…provided you actually use them.

 

My wife, despite her usual inherent goodness, does, from time to time, give me a bit of…grief…about the quantity of ammo cans that sit around. Sure, maybe theyre empty NOW….but, when the poisoned, disease-ridden floodwaters swamp us out she’ll be glad we had all that important stuff packed away.

Article – Blitz (gas can company) closing it’s doors

Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

The East and Midwest are cooling off a bit after highs topped 100 again over the weekend. It’s been a hot early summer; there’s a potential shortage coming up. Not water, not power — gasoline containers. Blitz USA is the biggest maker of portable gas cans, and it’s filing for Chapter 11. The Oklahoma-based company says it can no longer bear the costs of product liability.

 

Blitz made gas cans that were, in my opinion, of mediocre efficacy. However, they were cheap, widely available, and came in various sizes….I have a bunch of 1-gallon and 2-gallon containers in case I need to trade off some small amounts of fuel.

If you wanna grab a few before they shut the doors, you might wanna get going on that. It’ll be interesting to see whats left in the market since Scepter sorta dropped outta that market. For the record, my favorites are the ‘euro’-style cans. (I am told that the Scepter water cans these days are the same as the fuel cans, just marked differently. Probably different gaskets or something.)

The article zays Blitz is filing Chapter 11, but it also says they’re closing their doors. I suppose it’s possible that Blitz will go Chapter 11, reorganize, and come back as Blitz USA or some similar rebranding….but it’s also possible they’ll file for Chapter 11, get liquidated, and be consigned to the dustbin of history. So…play it safe, and buy whatever youre lacking at the moment.

Edited to add: Explosion of lawsuits against gas can maker

I’m unclear….what does a reasonable person expect is going to happen when you pour a flammable liquid, from a container full of flammable liquid, onto a campfire? This is why we can’t have nice things.

Food budget question

Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

Out of curiosity, for those of you who track budgets….how much do you budget per month for groceries? For how many people?

Note: by ‘groceries’ I am including things you would buy in a supermarket environ that may not necessarily be food….things like toilet paper, aluminum foil, band aids, dishwasher detergent,etc….stuff you normally buy in a supermarket.

How much per month in your family of how many people?

Reason i ask, wife and I budget $400/month to feed the two of us and I was wondering how that stacks up elsewhere. (And yes, if there’s some room left at the end of the month, that grocery budget includes food storage.)

Those soft-sided water carriers

Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

One thing about this hot weather, man….you can go through a lot of water in a hurry. I was up at Glacier a couple weeks ago and found that for most of my needs, a Nalgene bottle hanging off my belt in a RolyPoly was good enough. However, I did bring along a Platypus ‘soft bottle’ to keep in my bag in case it looked like more water was called for.

“Exuse me…mind if I take a look at that? Thanks.”

Funny story – I was completely unfamiliar with these ‘tubeless’ water bladders that were being used in lieu of ‘hard’ water bottles. I was up in Alaska doing the touristy thing when I saw one of the park guides with the Platypus bottle. My curiosity being aroused, I asked her about a dozen questions about it. The newly-minted missus found this amusing and actually took a picture of me grilling the poor gal about this water bottle that I was unfamiliar with. Naturally, once I got back to someplace where internet access wasnt charged by the minute, I started doing some research.

Note the three different type of caps…regular, pull spout, and drink tube. Also, the reinforced lanyard holes are extremely handy. L-R:Platypus® plusBottle 1L., Platypus Hoser 1L (tube removed), Platy Sports Bottle – 1 Liter (with tube from Hoser)

While I’m a big fan of the CamelBak-style ‘hydration bladders’ there are times I just wanna have a small container of water that can be tucked into my gear or into a pocket. These things turned out to be just perfect for that task. The two big players are Nalgene and Platypus. One thing that really pushes the Platypus to the top of my list is that in addition to being used as a water bottle the threaded caps are interchangeable between a regular cap, a pull-to-drink spout, and a drink tube. That’s the sort of modularity that I find extremely attractive in a piece of gear. As an interesting side note, it appears that Coke/water bottle caps are threaded similarly that they can be used if the cap of the Platypus is damaged or lost. (And that’s really my only complaint about these things is the non-captive caps.) The larger capacity Platypus (Platypii?) also have reinforced attachment points so you can just clip a carabiner through them and hang them off your pack or whatever…that’s a mighty useful feature since on most Nalgenes all you can do is use the lanyarded lid for that task and that sometimes puts way to much strain on that part.

A local sporting goods store closed a few years ago and most of their stuff was marked down 50%. I cleaned ‘em out on the Platypus stuff. I’ve got a plastic tub full of these things in storage.

Nalgene 48 oz. ‘Cantene’….holds 50% more water than usual-sized Nalgene bottles.

Nalgene, the folks that make those rugged drink bottles I like so much, also has a presence in the market for these sorts of products. Since I got such a good deal on the Platypus stuff, I tend to stick with them. However, the Nalgene does have some interesting uses…for one thing their large 48 oz version ( Nalgene Wide Mouth Cantene ) has the same size/threaded opening and cap as their hard bottles. This means that any of the accessories that thread onto the hard bottle mouth will work with the flexible one. More interestingly, in the book Six Ways In And Twelve Way Out it is mentioned that for a small survival kit the Nalgene wide-mouthed bottle is an excellent container to protect your small items from the environment. The idea being that you keep your little stash of matches, fish hooks, paracord, whistle, etc, etc, inside the Nalgene to keep them protected. An interesting idea except that once you decide to actually use the thing for it’s intended purpose of carrying water you now have a couple handfuls of small items you have to find a way to carry.

Anyway….in weather like this I usually take a hard Nalgene bottle, fill it 1/3 with ice tea, freeze it over night, and then fill the remainder with more iced tea. After that it goes in my bag (or on my bag, more likely) and keeps things cold most of the day. But I keep one or two of the Nalgene or Platypus soft-bottles in my bag ‘just in case’. Why? Well, you never know when you’re going to find yourself in a strait where you’re going to want to have as much water as you can carry. Remember those old movies where the guy is in the desert and he tilts the canteen to his lips and only a few drops of water come out? He looks at it and then disgustedly throws it away. What they don’t show is that when this genius eventually does come across a water supply he know has no way to carry the water. So..I carry an extra or two, empty and rolled up, in my bag. They take up far less space than a hard bottle and if, for example, it looks like a real killer of a day I can load up at the nearest water source and have extra water to carry…or to hand off to a less-prepared partner.

Another nice side benefit of these things is that as you empty them you can squeeze the air out so the things don’t make any sloshing noises like you’d get with a half full (or half empty) canteen. Don’t know about you but I hate hearing that sloshing noise every time I take a step when I’m out hunting.

Durability? I’ve read that the Platypus is a bit better than the Nalgene. The complaint with the Nalgenes seems to center on where the threaded neck is ‘welded’ to the pouch itself. Apparently they sometimes leak. I’ve had a bunch of the Platypus and have never had a problem. haven’t accidentally punctured one yet, although I suppose it’s possible…which is way i usually keep the full ones in something like a Maxpedition Rollypoly (which is what I use..great product) or similar cordura ‘holster’ to protect it from the rigors of life. And, nice thing is that when the Platypus is empty I can also roll up the RollyPoly to it’s compressed size and tuck it away.

If you’re only using the hard bottles you may wanna check these out.

Windup roundup

Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

I have some of the early generation BayGen flashlights in storage. I bought them back around…mmm..must have been around 2000 or 2001 when CostCo cleared ‘em out when the Y2k stampede was done. These are the ones made in South Africa and use incandescent bulbs. They’ve sat , patiently, awaiting the time they’d be needed. I think they were about $20 ea. when I got them. (I also have one of the older SW/AM/FM radios as well.) Of course, now it’s ten years later and everyone seems to be making a handcrank light or radio. As is usual in technology, the prices dropped and the technology improved. The incandescent bulbs are replaced with far superior LED bulbs, and the bulky mechanisms have been made smaller. More interestingly, the ‘clockwork’ technology has been used in other devices as well.

Two of the most interesting devices, which I have no experience with, by the way, are the Freeplay Weza generator and their 12v device charger. The Weza is basically, as I understand it, a cross between one of those 12v battery packs you buy for jumping vehicles and a Stairmaster. You step on the pedal to turn a flywheel generator that charges the internal battery. I’m guessing it’s gonna take alot of pseudo-stairstepping to charge a 12v battery but if you have nothing else to do and its the only thing standing between you and no lights/communications………….

As I’m discovering the increasing utility of devices like IPhones and iPads I am becoming convinced that even without phone service these devices have tremendous utility. Depending on what you stuff into them they do spreadsheets, note taking, photography, take and view video, provide translations, hold reference books, calculations (inc. ballistics), etc, etc, and they do it all in a package smaller than 20-round rifle mag. This handcrank device charger (Freeplay FreeCharge 12V Black- AK060) looks like just the ticket for keeping the iPhone or iPod charge…although the amount of cranking might be onerous…which is why I have one of these tucked away. (That little Goal0 panel really does work…you have to keep it in direct sun, but I’ve used it a bunch of times and it will indeed charge up an iPhone although some people report mixed results.) However, the ability to produce enough power to charge up a USB device when the sun isn’t cooperating is something that I can see being mighty handy.

For small AM/FM/weather radios, I wound up with one of these Etón radios and have been quite pleased with it. I keep it in my everyday bag so that if things get weird in a hurry I can at least glean some inforamation off of the AM/FM bands. The flashlight function is also quite good for indoor navigation.

Interestingly, someone brought this to my attention. It’s a windup headlamp. I had no idea such things existed. I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised….I’m rather pleased this is a technology that has started to go mainstream after being almost exclusively limited to Third World relief products.

One of the common complaints about these things is that the handcrank invariably breaks. Well, that makes sense since it’s a fairly high-stress part. The trick is to wind the devices purposefully and carefully. If you just grab the crank and start rotating it as fast as you can like your landing a fish then when the spring hits the end of the spool youre either going to rip the handle off the thing or similarly damage it. Wind it in a manner so that if the handle comes to a sudden stop your grip either naturally slips or you have enough time to stop your movement. I’ve yet to break a windup device this way.

There are tons of cheapo windup lights and stuff out there. Even the cheap 3-in-a-package ones from CostCo do a decent job of throwing light around a darkened house. But, be smart….check the reviews and don’t be hesitant to spend a few more bucks. Ive a Freeplay 360 that I use in my kitchen when I’m cooking or cleaning and have never had a problem. On a sunny day, with the volume kept fairly reasonable, I can just sit it in the sun and not even have to crank the thing. I’ve got plenty of flashlights and a goodly amount of batteries to run them but these newer windup lights and radios really do provide a secondary level of redundancy that is very appealing. If you havent checked out getting such devices I think you may find them worth your time.

No, seriously….he did what????

Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

One of the perks is learning of perps. That is to say, one of the interesting things about the missus is that I get to, sometimes, hear about interesting crimes that have happened here in town that I might otherwise not be aware of. She regaled me with one today that was just so WTF that I had to share it.

Fella is at a convenience store and has a pistol that is in plain view on his hip. So far so good…open carry and all. Fella behind him in line, believing it wasnt legal for the guy in front of him to be armed in the convenience store then tries to snatch the gun from the gentleman’s holster. Gunowner and clerk subdue the fella and the cops are called in.

I. Am. Amazed.

First of all, this sounds like an amazing way to wind up with either an extra navel right above your first one, or at least a major structural re-arrangement of the bones in your face. Secondly, this is Montana..gun racks are standard equipment at most car dealerships…we’re rather gun-friendly. And thirdly..well, no thirdly…its just a major WTF all around.

I’m hoping this makes it into the paper in the next few days so I can get some more details. Apparently the holster was of a retention type, so there was a bit of a struggle. I am very much looking forward to more details.

If this is pretty much how it played out, there was some remarkable restraint shown on the part of the folks who subdued this guy. Someone tries to snatch a gun from me I can only assume it’s because he want’s to kill me with it and…well…as Captain Reynolds says about that, “someone tries to kill you..you try to kill ‘em back!”.