Went to the Wisdom gun show yesterday. Im fairly content with my personal armaments at the moment, so Im not really looking for any more guns. I mean, sure, there are more Id like to have but the core needs and core redundancies have been met. Theres only a couple things left I need in the way of thundertoys…a Beretta 21A, a Ruger MkII…thats really about it…

So, when I go to the gun shows Im more likely to be looking for surplus goodies to make my life as Commander Zero a bit more secure.

Rolled into Wisdom (and if your a bit light on the brakes you can roll completely through Wisdom) and found a fella with a table full of surplus gear. Some interesting stuff too. Bandage scissors, still in the wrap, sound-powered phones, machetes, bear suits, etc, etc. What did the Zero find that made him part with his hard earned $? A couple of never used spools of two strand commo wire. 1/8 mile and 1/4 mile. These are spools in a canvas carrier with clips for a sling. One end goes to your phone, you start walking and the wire plays out behind you, and then the other end goes to the other phone (or switchboard), I have 2 1/4 mile coils of European 2-strand but its not packaged nearly as handily as this US stuff. This will go nicely with the TA-312 phones I have.

Also picked up a couple MOPP-suit stuff sacks. Nice camo compression sacks used for keeping your chem-warfare suit in. Make terrific sleeping bag stuff sacks. Camo with compression straps, ALICE webbing, sling eyes and an ID window. Five bucks each. w00t. Took a pass on the very nice, very durable US military water jugs. They were really nice! But, I’ve already got enough civillian ones so no point sinking $10 into something I really didnt need.

The Big Hole Valley, where Wisdom is located, is a very nice, very scenic area. There were plenty of places where you could look around and not see a house or building in any direction. Places like that are always nice to dream about living on, but unless youre bringing a fabulous pension or a job with you making a living in these places is a major trick. I suppose if you had an internet biz of some sort that brang in around $30-40k a year you’d do okay. Tall order though. On the other hand, if the land were cheap enough it might make sense to buy a few acres now and just hold onto it until later…make some small improvements so you could move there whenever youw anted (or needed) to. Always nice to have a place to go….

Also saw a few interesting vehicles the other day. An FJ-55 Toyota LC (ca. 1970) for sale. Wagon-type vehicle, so no open bed but still lotsa room. $1700. Be a fun vehicle to start teaching myself automobiles on. Make a nice little hunting rig. Saw a very old Toyota LC pickup truck the other day. It must have been 50 years old if it was a day. Looked like it could climb right up the side of a tree. Wish Id gotten some pics.

Ah, the dreams of the armchair survivalist……………