The hows and whys of milsurp

The term ‘milsurp’ means ‘military surplus’. Military surplus items are items that military forces (US and others) have disposed of and wind up on the commercial market. Usually its legit, sometimes its ‘grey market’ (the soldier who sells off extra MRE’s he didnt eat or who takes some M16 magazines to a gun show) , and sometimes its ‘black market’ (out-and-out stolen items that normally wouldnt find their way to civillians).
For those of the mind to be prepared for whatever disaster is currently brewing off the coast of Florida or making the rounds of the infectious disease wards in China, milsurp offers good bargains without sacrificeing too much in the way of quality. What you do sacrifice is aesthetics….to paraphrase Henry Ford, you can have it in any color you want as long as its olive drab.
Cut for length

Asia quake, surplus arrival and impressions, portability musings,

Its a tragedy, this earthquake that theyve had in Asia, but you know what? If we’re going to be spending money on humanitarian aid to dark skinned poor disaster victims then they should be Americans…get this New Orleans mess put away before you start rushing to a foreign disaster.
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Surplus goodies from Cheaper Than Dirt arrived. w00t!

Vinyl Mittens at $0.99 per six pair – Just what you’d expect. Unlined vinyl mittens. Theyve a wrist gather to keep cold out and the gauntlets go halfway up to my elbow. For bicycling or motorcycling in wet/cold these would be a good deal. Coupled with a set of GI wool mitten/glove liners they should be great. Since they are a lousy sixteen cents per pair I’ll put a pair in my cold weather bag, the bunkerbabe‘s cold weather bag, an extra set to keep at work, a set to keep in the truck, and a bunch for storage. And, because I’m a sweetheart and can spare ninety-nine cents, a half dozen pair to one of the LMI. These are worth $0.99 for a half dozen pair and if you ever have occaison to have your hands out in windy, wet, cold weather your really gonna think they were worth the sixteen cents when you luck out and find the pair you stashed in the glovebox.

HK G3 Mag Pouches – Again, $0.99 ea. Sure enough, they hold a FAL mag like they were made for ’em. And, considering the history of W. Germany’s armaments, they may well have been. (For a while W. Germany used a FAL variant.) These are uber-heavy-duty rubber/vinyl pouches. Completely silent, rattle-free and wth belt slots. Appears to be impervious to wet, cold, rot, mold, and everything except plastic-melting temperatures. Holds FAL and HK mags and I will bet they’ll hold M1A mags as well. At $0.99 how can you go wrong??

Czech medic/firstaid bag, $9.99 – Eh. Not enough pockets. Construction is good…its a heavy burlap/canvas type fabric with stiffening panels on the sides. Might be good for re-enactments. I’m gonna strip the red cross patch off and use it as a carrybag for range gear. Might be good in its original role if you dont expect much but I can get a better organizer for a little bit more out of Outdoor Research. However, as a carrybag for cleaning gear, shooting stuff, small tools, etc, etc, it would be fine. Mild disappointment. Probably an improvement over the craptacular Blackhawk Medic Supply Roll, though.
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From the standpoint of those of interested in preparedness, the second half of 2005 has been the most interesting and analyzed period of time sine September of 2001. Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, the bird flu threat, soaring gasoline prices, etc. have given people alot to think about. It certainly has restructured some of my priorities…how so? Well, I used to put food and ammo at the top of the list of things to stock up on..but now fuel is right up there, if not at #1 easily in the top 3. Its also reinforced my belief that a certain amount of portability of your gear is absolutely mandatory. While its great to be able to remain in place with all your gear and ride out whatever the disruption is, the evidence from Katrina and Rita clearly show that you need to be ready to get out in a hurry. Getting out in a hurry means being able to grab your essential gear and run like hell. Tough to do if youre wheeling around 55-gallon drums and footlockers. Storing everything in man-portable, durable, travel-capable containers makes more sense and I need to make sure that my gear is, in fact, stored in such a manner as to facilitate that. Imagine the classic ‘bucket brigade’ of a several people passing boxes to each other from a building to a waiting truck (or vice versa)…thats exactly the level of portability I want. Something that can be maneuvered quickly and easily into a waiting vehicle.

Of course, this is not to say that there isnt a place for larger ‘static’ stores. It may be more prudent to do both – keep some gear in smaller, more manageable units and keep other gear in larger, stay-in-place units. If youre staying out, you can use both and if you have to leave in a major hurry you can grab the portable stuff and least not be without resources.

Of course, this also depends on how much time you think youre going to have to pack. For ‘appointment’ disasters like hurricanes, blizzards and that sort of thing you have hours, even days, of warning. More sudden disasters like earthquakes, terrorist attacks, chemical spills, etc, obviously give you alot less time…in the case of earthquakes, no warning.

One of the LMI has a fairly clever set up. He has a two car garage where he keeps his big Ford truck. Theres a shelf that runs along the wall of the garage right above the roll up door. He keeps large bins full of his gear up there. To leave in a hurry he just stands in the back of the bed of his truck and pulls bins off the shelf to land at his feet in the bed of truck. Elegant. I’ve read of people using duct tape or masking tape to make an outline on the floor of their garage to the approximate dimensions of their pickup bed or trailer so they can practice arranging gear for the most efficient loading…or, if youre hardcore, you could get a few refrigerator cartons and cut/tape a 3-d representation of your available cargo space. If you cant fit it all in the box, its time to rethink your choices.

Of course, if youve got a secondary location to retreat to you could just store enough gear at your primary location for the immediate need and keep the majority of your gear at your secured secondary location. A nice plan if you can swing it.

Texas, gasoline concerns, fun with drums, NRA/GOA lawsuit, flectar, SG HQ cat, lightsticks

So, it looks like this week its Texas’ turn in the barrel. Im mentally preparing myself for the self-righteous onslaught that will result from the ‘federal relief to illegal aliens’ noise that this will surely generate.

You would think that with FEMA and the other ‘relief’ agencies already just down the street in Louisiana, Texas oughtta get lots of attention pretty quickly if things get ugly. Then again, I think most Texans are probably smart enough to not live below sea level.
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As posted, people who (typically) waited to the last minute to evacuate are not only getting stuck in traffic jams of biblical proportions, but are also having to contend with gas stations running out of the stuff. Have these people learned nothing? Less than three weeks ago Katrina pwned New Orleans and the papers were full of “I should have evacuaqted sooner” and “I would have evacuated if I had gas” stories. Assuming that your vehicle gets, mmm, 15 mpg then a five-gallon can of gas gives you 75 miles of range. Seventy five. Thats enough to get out of the path of most hurricanes. Ten gallons? 150 miles – plenty of distance. Now, for some fast math. Call it $3.00 a gallon, $6 a piece for gas cans, sixty cents for gas treatment for ten gallons (yes, you’d have to buy the whole bottle of PRI-G or Sta-Bil, but maybe your buddy has some he uses with his lawnmower.) So, for less than $43 you could guarantee yourself enough fuel to get at least far enough to be out of the way of the hurricane. (And thats giving a generous 50%-wasted-idling-in-traffic handicap) $43. I will bet you fifty bucks theres no shortage of motorists on those highways, nervously eyeing their fuel guage and the “NO GAS” signs (as well as the mile-long lines) who would be thrilled to give you $50 for a five-gallon can of gas right now. But, if a month ago you said “Hey Tex, have you thought about spending fifty bucks to keep two gas cans in your garage ready to go in case of emergency?” you’d have probably been dismissed as paranoid or a worrier.
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In news of the Very Very Interesting, it appears that the folks that make the double-snail-drum 100-round Beta-Mags for the AR are going to be bringing out a 100-rd mag for the Mini 14. This is mildly amusing. Here’s the part thats going make your tires spin: they are also bringing one out for the M1A. 100 rounds of .308. A couple of those babies and you become a one-man roadblock. If there is a god, they’ll make a magazine tower adapter for the FAL. However, given the usage of the M14-type rifles these days, plus the inevitable military interest in Iraq and ‘Stan, the money is going to be in making it for the M1A. Think about it…you could slap a bipod on your M1A, dig in, slap in a drum and be quite the force multiplier. Drawbacks? As I read it, the loaded mag is about 11.5 pounds and I’ll bet its as noisy as the .223 when loaded. Which reminds me, I really would like to get a drum or two for the AK’s.
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The NRA and GOA have gotten off their butts and are bringing suit regarding the gun confiscations in New Orleans. This will be interesting…at least in the Chinese way. The best you could hope for out of this is .gov stopping what theyre doing and admitting they were wrong. Worst is that some court could refuse the case saying that theres some sort of emergency powers act that no one knew about. Regardless of how it shakes out, theres obviously a lesson in there for all of us. If you havent figured out what it is, well, ask the looters real nice and maybe they wont hurt you.
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The fabulous flectar parkas arrived yesterday for the BunkerBabe who, after trying them on, had that sexy ‘surplus military’ smell about her for an hour. Mmmmm. The tremendously-less-sexy daddygod also received his yesterday and was pleased. I may need to start a ‘Show Us Your Flectar’ thread some day. If you havent jumped on the bandwagon yet, these are very warm, extremely comfortable, and ridiculously cheap German surplus field jackets with liners. And the camo pattern works quite well, I might add. They are a seasonal offering so buy ’em now. Cheap enough to have spares, good enough to wear every day. And, oy, talk about comfortable!
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Which reminds me, if you already get the Sportsmans Guide catalog, be aware that they have a second catalog of just military surplus gear and it is far more useful than their regular catalog. Call Sportsmans Guide ( 1-800-888-3006 ) and tell them you want the ‘HQ’ gov’t surplus catalog. Seriously. They get some great stuff I havent seen offered elsewhere. Prices are usually pretty good.
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Halloween is approaching. Lotsa places will be selling lightsticks and having post-Halloween closeouts on them so start setting a few bucks aside now. CostCo, around here anyway, usually has a 15 pack of individually foil-packed lightsticks for about $13. I buy one pack each year and rotate the previous years stock to secondary usage status. Theyre cheap and work in environments that a candle or lantern might not be good in. Get some.

Flectar parkas, ZipLoc body bags?, recipe, topo mapware, chokepoint musing,Mayoral musings

Sportsmans Guide is again selling the fabulous Flectar parka combo – liner and parka for $20. Their #JX5M-86391X ( http://www.sportsmansguide.com) I’ve got four of these (one for everyday use, one for the truck, two for storage) and am thoroughly pleased with them. When the girlfriend BunkerBabe took her shooting class and the weather turned nasty she was immensely pleased to find one of these parka/liner combos stowed in a drybag in the bag of the truck…that was worth $20 right there.Theyre superior to the US issue field jackets in a bunch of ways. It looks like these are seasonal offerings so get ’em while you can. Good stuff.  Zero approved.
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I was in Albertsons the other day and found, check this out, extra-humongoid ZipLoc bags. Seriously. ZipLoc is making body bags! (“Keeps freshness out!”) Actually, theyre not quite that big…but they are 2’x2.7′ (“XXL”) and 2’x1.7′ (“XL”). Not sure I’d trust them on long-term waterproofness but they would be just the ticket for storing your sleeping bags or backpacks in such a way as to keep dust, dirt and moisture off them. These would be perfect if you had to toss your pack in the back of a truck and didnt want the rain/snow to get to it. Multitudes of uses limited by your imagination. I’ve picked up a couple boxes and will give a review of them later. In KatrinaWorld these would be great for keeping sleeping bags, clothes, portable devices, etc, etc protected from mold, damp and moisture. Im quite excited.
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Homemade noodles in chicken broth
1½ cup flour (either freshly ground whole wheat
or white
¼ tsp. salt
2 eggs, reconstituted or fresh

Place flour in mound on board, making a nest or well in the center of the mound. Pour eggs into nest. Beat the
eggs with a fork, gradually bringing the flour into the mix. Work the dough into a ball with your hands, picking up only as much flour as it takes to make a stiff, but workable ball. Knead the dough for about five minutes. It should not stick to the board. If it seems too moist, add a little more flour; if too dry, dampen your hands and knead longer. Divide the ball into quarters. Cover three and reserve one to work with immediately. Lightly sprinkle board with flour and roll out dough, pulling it into a uniform thickness oval. Make it as thin as workable and let rest in a warm, dry place. Repeat with other three quarters. When all dough is dry, but not stiff and brittle, roll like a jelly roll, cutting into desired thickness with a sharp knife. You can then either fluff out to separate and then carefully hang to dry or lay it flat to air dry for an hour. Pour a quart of chicken broth (or use dry chicken granules to make a broth) into a large pot. Add diced, canned, or freeze dried chicken meat, if desired, as well as onion, carrots, and spices as wanted. Bring to a medium boil, then carefully add noodles, simmering just long enough to make them tender. The flour on the noodles provides natural thickening. You’ll get raves for this simple, yet satisfying meal.

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One of the things Ive been wanting to buy is map software for printing out your own topo maps. I see alot of uses for this stuff…not the least of which are:

  • Evaluating routes and alternate routes out of your area
  • Getting a broader picture of a property’s layout
  • Using in conjunction with a GPS for geocaching
  • Scoping out hunting and camping areas

Where it would really shine is if you found a pice of property you wanted to purchase for a retreat or other use, you could generate the top, check it against GPS coords, and then get the satellite image. How utterly cool would that be? Know where every ravine, gully, draw, creek, and neighbor is without getting away from your computer. (Although, obviously, theres no substitute for boots-on-the-ground.)
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I was thinking about how if you had survived Katrina, had five gallons of gas in your car, and decided it was time to leave you’d be severely screwed by not knowing what bridges, overpasses and other chokepoints were still usable and which weren’t. And you could really use up gasoline in a hurry driving through town looking for a bridge that wasnt washed away. The solution is to first of all know where all these chokepoints are, then find out somehow which ones are still usable. Maybe recon on bicycle? Ask a passing NG, if they look harmless. Tough situation to be in. Just enough gas for one chance and you can’t blow it. So, either have lotsa gas or lotsa info or both. And think ‘outside the box’ in terms of avenues of exits. Roads work, but so do railroad tracks/rightofways, bicycle trails and other usually-not-used-with-a-car avenues. This is where maps come in handy. I like to think that local broadcasting would be making announcements about which avenues were accessible and which werent but we’ve all seen how relying on gov’t pays off, right?
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Speaking of the Big Sleazy, it appears the mayor is now going to allow people to start repopulating parts of New Orleans. Never mind that a week ago he had his flunkies enthusiastically shoving grandmothers into cattle cars trucks to be taken for ‘processing’ for their own ‘safety’. FIrst off, as far as Im concerned the mayor of New Orleans is a puppet-figurehead for who’s really calling the shots – the feds. And thats fine, I can see him wanting to look like he actually has something to do. But I guarantee you this man’s career in politics , anywhere else in the country, would be toast…but Louisiana has a political history that beggars logic. Were it up to me, he’d never have a job in government again..which, unfortunately, means thats exactly what he’s going to have.

Speaking of beggars, I want to point out that the biggest recovery efforts in terms of rehabbing buildings, removing debris and the like are being done privately. Businesses are taking the steps to get up and running on their own and thats why they will succeed and rebuild cheaper, faster and better than the government will do it.