Monthly Archives: April 2015

Uzi vs. Evo

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I rather like my Uzi. It’s a proven, battle-tested design with a decent supply of spare parts and magazines on the market. The drawbacks are that finding another one is usually a $1100-1500 project, and its a bit heavy at almost 8# unloaded. Additionally, while I’ve been wanting an Uzi for the wife, I figured she’d be better served with the Mini-Uzi which is a bit smaller and lighter but still would give us magazine commonality. Problem there is that they are even more expensive at around $1400-1900 each.

Although there is some debate about the merits of the pistol caliber carbine, I believe they have a utility that segues into my anticipated needs. As of late, there are two newcomers on the market that may prove to be more economical – the SIG MPX and the CZ Evo. The Evo’s are 3# lighter than the Uzi, already have rails, better sights, and CZ is saying theyre going to bring in folding stocks for folks that want to SBR them. Best part is that dealer price on them is $700~…which means for the price of one Mini-Uzi I could get two of these things. However….it is a somewhat new platform without the long track record of the Uzi, magazines are pretty proprietary, spare parts aren’t as readily available, etc, etc.

CZ14_Scorpion_EVO3_S1-L-e1416840329704-500x269

CZ Evo….time to sell the Uzi and get a pair of these?

But….for the price of one Mini-Uzi I could get the Evo, SBR it, have several hundred dollars worth of mags, and still be below the price of a newish Mini-Uzi. Decisions, decisions.

cz-usa-cz-scorpion-evo3-a1-500x333

Other than that lovely full-auto selector, SBR’ing the Evo would gimme this little jewel.

I’ve got enough stuff in the gun safe that I could probably sell off a few things and get a couple of these, but I’d like to wait and see some feedback from real-world users. On the other hand, my big concerns are a) a change to importabliity putting this thing into the same sort of no-more-allowed-in category as my Uzi and b) logistics (mag/parts availability).

Sure looks sweet  though and the pricing seems reasonable.

The dream is always the same….

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Had one of those end-of-the-world dreams last night. Something, not sure what, was going on in California and the news media were saying how people should be prepared to evacuate and not go near..whatever it was. I was in some supermarket pushing a cart as I watched people blindly knock stuff over in a mad dash to fill their carts. I finally gave up and left when I suddenly realized “Hey, I’ve got a years worth of food already. I dont have to be here.” I returned to the house and the wife was telling me how the lines at the bank were out the door and around the block. We started loading stuff up to leave, stacking up guns and ammo, when suddenly two people (looters, I think) burst in with drum-fed full-auto AK’s and started hosing the place down.

Thats when my phone rang and I woke up.

First dream like that I have had in a while. Scary stuff until you wake up. Nice to see that in the dream I was vindicated about some things, though.

My experience has been that these sorts of dreams usually come in three flavors: the end of the world and Im way undergunned, end of the world and no one seems to react when Ii shoot them, and this most recent one – end of the world and Im hurriedly trying to last-minute shop for stuff.

I’m blaming the Mexican food for this dream.

Fixing first aid kit foibles

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As you may (or may not) remember, a few posts back I described how the first aid kit I left in my bicycle pannier turned into something less-than-optimal as a result of being left out over the winter.

The problem was that it’s a tough balancing act to have a first aid kit in a watertight/airtight container of some fashion but still be quickly accessible with one hand when youre trying to keep all the red stuff inside you. Turned out that the bicycle pannier may not have been nearly as weather resistant as I thought and as a result my first aid kit suffered a great deal of moisture damage. (Although, to be fair, the items that were wrapped in plastic or sealed in foil fared just fine.)

Okay, spring is (somewhat) here and I’m back to riding my bicycle more. Time to replace that first aid kit. On my bike, my needs are simple – I need some stuff to patch up scrapes/cuts/tears from me being suddenly introduced to the road surface by that great facilitator of ouchies – gravity.

An assortment of gauze, pads, bandaids, some tape, and some antibiotic ointment should do it. Lets see what we have:

20150405_120652It’s just for a bicycle accident, not a splenectomy….the skin stapler, betadine and other over-the-top stuff is in the other kit. For the most common boo-boos related to me flying over the handlebars, this’ll handle most of it. Now, to package it up so it stays clean and dry. In this case, we’ll go with a heavy mylar foil resealable bag. With a reasonable amount of care, and a modicum of force, everything fit into the pouch and left enough room to have a bit of extra material to form a seal:

20150405_121911Make sure the jaws of the sealer are hot enough, slide the open end of the pouch between ’em, squeeze jaws shut for a ten-count, and…voila:

20150405_122632I have a rather…exhaustive….supply of first-aid supplies from an episode of eBay purchasing that may have been a bit over-the-top. I’m dead serious…I’ve got something on the order of 9,600 band aids. Since I had to buy the mylar bags in quantity to get a discount, I should probably but together a dozen similar packages, label ’em appropriately, and pass ’em out as Paratus gifts this fall.

Anyway, I’ll toss this in the bag on the bike and be good to go. Should be watertight, airtight, and pretty much impervious to just about any environmental concern.

Link – SC man missing 66 days found in boat off NC coast

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Interestingly, I as just re-reading In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex when this was brought to my attention.

HATTERAS, NC (AP) –

A South Carolina man missing for more than two months was found alive Thursday off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

According to the Coast Guard, a German ship spotted Louis Jordan and his sailboat about 200 miles off the coast around 1:30 p.m. They took him aboard and notified the Coast Guard.

The 37-year-old was reported missing by his family on January 29. He was last seen in Conway, South Carolina on January 23.

As I was reading, an interesting subject came up…what was the longest that someone has been adrift at sea and survived? According to the book, a Chinese crew on boat transporting rice was adrift for over a year. During that time they lived off the cargo of rice until they were rescued.

In preparedness forums there are always folks who advocate for a ‘retreat at sea’, living on boats and roaming the world, going ashore at rare intervals, and living off what you catch in the oceans. Interesting thought but even if you discount the food and fresh water issues, maintaining a boat is a lot of work. Unless, of course, the boat is question is the Baychimo. Short version: the Baychimo was abandoned in 1931 when it became trapped in ice up near the Arctic Circle. After it was seen, boarded, and lost, reappeared, and generally wandered the ocean for the next 40 years. Built ’em tough, back then.

Back to this guy in North Carolina, I look foward to hearing his story. Especailly how in modern times a guy can remain lost off the coast of one of the most technologically advanced countries on the planet, and in one of the most heavily trafficked parts of the sea.