Author Archives: Commander Zero

Link – Apocalyptic Dog Food

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

I love my dog. He’s a handful, and often a troublemaker, but I will, without remorse or compunction, instantly put my fist through the head of anyone that tries to hurt him. One thing I’ve neglected to do, though, for my little buddy is to set up his doggy bugout-bag and set back some food for him.

A doggy BOB isn’t a silly idea. Think about it..if we have to beat feet and take Mr. Furman with us what are we going to need to make things conducive to travelling with him? First off, we’re gonna need a leash (or two or three), spare collar, copies of his vaccinations, a couple muzzles, water bowls, food bowls, and a few other goodies. If we wind up having to stay in a crowded friends house or something, last thing we need is puppy being unwelcome because he wants to eat someone’s four-year-old….hence, some muzzles. And, really, if I can swing it, get the vet to prescribe some tranquilizers…in a high-stress environment some doggie-downers might come in handy for keeping him calm when we need him to be.

Food, though…I hadn’t really given it much thought. I figured that he’s a dog so he’ll pretty much eat anything we eat (and a lot of stuff we won’t.)  In retrospect, that’s really not a good idea. After all, that means our supply of people food for two has become a supply of people food for two-and-a-half…turning a 12 month supply into a 9.5 month supply.

Here’s a great post about borrowing the canner from the LDS cannery and putting away some premium kibble. Certainly some #10 cans are gonna last quite a while but I think most dogs, when theyre hungry, aren’t really going to turn their noses up at their dog food because it’s stale. There are, after all, critters that are designed to eat roadkill. However, from a storage standpoint, if youre going to store a bulk amount of food you want it stored in a manner that does not promote vermin, insects and other pests. Just heaving a 50# bag of kibble onto the shelf and expecting it to sit there for a few years might not be a terribly good idea unless you like the idea of some really well fed and happy mice setting up shop in that bag. I think I might just go the mylar bag route. I have a stack of them from the cannery and they should hold about the same as a #10 can. I also have quite a few 5-gallon buckets sitting around with GammaSeal lids on them so that might be a way to go as well.

Of course, borrowing the canning machine from the cannery opens up a few other possibilites since I could can..well…anything.

Regardless, I’ve been neglecting Nuke’s post-apocalyptic needs and need to get him squared away.

Festivus gift ideas – the

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

So, the nice thing here is that if you’re willing to spend twenty bucks on someone for a gift, you can look really generous and simply get them two different ten dollar gifts instead…then you look even more generous because, hey, two is one and one is none, right?

So, this is the followup to the post about ten dollar gift ideas for the LMI in your life. Twenty bucks is usually the limit for me for a gift for someone I’m not having sex with or expecting to partner up with me in a crisis. (Although in some cases, the two are the same.)

Anway, here’s some ideas for less than twenty bucks for the buddies in your tight-knit group of LMI:

U-Dig-It – I originally thought this was a stupid product but then I thought about it…why damage a blade by using your knife to dig a small hole? This thing folds compact, is stainless steel, and perfect for those ‘calls of nature’. It won’t substitute for an entrenching tool but if youre travelling light while hunting, camping or hiking this thing is great for digging latrine holes, fire pits, etc, etc.

Non Sparking Aluminum Drum Wrench – Those happy little blue barrels that we use for storing water and bulk grain? Pain in the ass to get into without a bung wrench. Sure, you can get away with using the jaws of a pair of pliers but why not have a tool specifically for the task? I usually keep one of these paracorded to every other drum.

Water Jel Burn Jel, Pain Relief 25 ea – This stuff is a must for burn treatment. If you’ve ever had a burn that just would not stop aching for hours and hours, you’ll want this stuff. I try to keep a few packets of this stuff in all my first-aid kits. Really good stuff and worth the price. An excellent addition to the well stocked personal first-aid kit.

Quikclot Sport Brand Advanced Clotting Sponge ,Stop Bleeding Fast, 50 Gram Package – What can be said about this stuff? Between this and the Israeli compress bandages you’d have a handle on anything that doesn’t require a hemostat to shut down.

Surefire Spares Executive Series Carrier – Awesome carrier for the CR123 batteries that we wind up using so much. Waterproof, dustproof, keeps batteries from contacting each other, and has a lanyard and attachment point. Excellent way to carry those spares.

HiViz Glock Sight Tool – Glock switched from the stake-n-pin front sights to a threaded style a few years ago. But its a damn small bolt they use and getting something to fit it is a major pain. This little tool is exactly what the Glocktor ordered.

55 Gallon Water Preserver Concentrate – Water from most municipal systems that meet Federal standards are already loaded down with enough chlorine that something like this isn’t necessary. But, it doesn’t hurt to play it safe.

Platypus Hoser Hydration System and Platypus Platypus® plusBottleTM – I really like these two products. The only real difference between the two is the drink tube which can be swapped between them. I really like these soft-sided water carriers for most roaming around…you can squeeze the air out of them so they dont slosh, and when empty they roll up and take up virtually no space in a bag. I’ve had one for about five years now and it’s still going strong with  no signs of leaking or punctures.

Cyalume ChemLight Military Grade – Lightsticks are great for when you want a disposable light source you can leave to mark pathways, tag items, or otherwise leave behind. If youre really creative you can cut one open and ‘paint” with the glowing liquid…great for leaving little glowy drops as a trail. Since its a chemical reaction and not electrical, theres no problem using them in wet environments…or even underwater. I keep a couple in every room of the house to use to find my way to a better lighting source in case of power failure.

SOL Emergency Bivvy – I like these far better than the classic foil mylar space blankets…they’re compact and much easier to use. I always have one in my bag whenever I go out in the boonies. Great stocking stuffer for the guy who likes to spend a lot of time off in the woods on his own.

Etón USB Cell Phone Charger with Hand Crank – Read about it here.

Maxpedition Gear Volta Battery Pouch – This is one of my favorite cases for carrying spare AA batts (although CR123 will fit as well, but for those I like the Surefire carrier.) Handy pouch holds a two piece plastic compartment that holds 8 AA batts. Handy!

There ya go..that should be enough under-twenty-buck suggestions to make sure no two people on your list get the same gift. And, hey, don’t forget yours trully when youre shopping for those goodies.

Walking Dead observations

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

Given that the skull of the average ‘Walking Dead’ zombie seems to be pierced very easily, I see no reason why the smart zombie hunter in this show wouldn’t be best served with a suppressed Ruger 10/22. Fast followups for crowds, quiet signature, highly portable ammo, lightweight guns….seems ideal for the travel-intensive survivor lifestyle of a zombie apocalypse. Until, of course, you encounter the other walking dead – the less-than-friendly survivors. Then you’ll be wanting your AK and M4 back.

I was complaining to the wife that I like the episodes that deal with the nuts-n-bolts of day-to-day existence in the zombie-infested world – securing food, scavenging, security, fuel issues, hygiene, etc, etc. When it turns into interpersonal drama, the show could be like any other soap opera only with the element of zombies. Now, obviously, in a real crisis of any sorts there are still going to be interpersonal dramas…a couple that was at each others throats before the bombs go off will probably still be at each others throats afterwards…maybe even more so. And there’s always going to be love triangles, naked self-interest, betrayal, etc, etc. I know that but I still wish they’d just stick to the issues instead of going to war with New Bern..I mean, Woodbury.

How many times do these people need to have near death experiences before adopting a two-man rule? And establishing departure/return times? And contingency planning? And organized searches for supplies? Heck, there’s still parts of the prison that have bad guys in it.

As long as theyre sending out people to scavenge, they may as well scout out a couple secondary and tertiary fallback positions as well. Stock them, secure them, hide them, and be ready to evac the minute a superior force looks like it’ll take their primary location. Did these people learn nothing from eight months of wandering after their farm was overrun?

I know its the end of the world, but personal hygiene really needs some attention. A bucket of hot water, some soap and a washcloth at least. Whats the point of avoiding getting bitten by a zombie when you wander around all day covered in it’s decaying gore, filth and who knows what else. Avoid dying of zombie virus just to die of some other easily avoidable infection?

Still, I’ll continue watching the show. If nothing else it’ll be interesting to see how some of these personal dramas get worked out.

 

Fridays NCIC…’anomaly’….

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

Various outlets (Saw this at a few other places but this was the first one I linked to) are reporting that Black Friday Friday Of Color saw a tremendous surge in gun sales…so much so that the NCIC ‘instant background check’ system became a good bit less than instant. I was doing a check for a customer Friday and the drone on the end of the phone was completely flustered that her system wasnt responding. In fact, it was so chaotic that the ‘examiner’ deviated from their oh-so-carefully scripted interaction several times with exclamations of frustration.

Now, I’m not really a conspiracy guy, but I am a guy who is open to exploring all possibilities in the interest of being prepared. If transactions from a dealer require a background check, and that system is ‘down’ for some reason (or it is claimed to be down), then you effectively shut down new gun sales for at least the three-day wait. Of course, in states where having something like a carry permit preclude the need for the NCIC check you’ll still be able to purchase your new thundertoy, and, of course, private transactions will still be exactly that.

Additionally, ignoring the conspiracy angle, record-breaking gun purchases, even on a day known for heavy discounts, should still tell you something: the natives are restless. I always view gun sales as a highly cynical form of ‘consumer confidence’ and ‘leading economic indicator’. Right or wrong, when folks are feeling threatened..by their government, by the economy, by their neighbors…they want a gun. Record purchases, to me, mean record levels of uncertainty about the future. I’m sure that I’m reading too much into it, but when folks were relatively pleased with the government, gun bans weren’t whispering in the breeze, and the economy wasnt sucking wind, you didnt see near the amount of weapons stockpiling.

Not that there’s anything wrong with stockpiling, mind you. It’s just that this is a horrible, horrible time to be doing it….it shoulda been done years ago.

Festivus gift ideas – the

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

Well, the day after Thanksgiving usually marks the beginning of the Chrismahanakwanzakah season. For me, it means that Festivus is right around the corner.

So, what’s the thoughtful shopper to get for the LMI in their lives as gifties for this coming gift-giving season? Well, obviously ammo and freeze-drieds are always nice gifts but sometimes you gotta watch your pennies. So, I’ve undertaken it upon myself to present some ideas for those who want to let the bunker-dweller on their list know that they were being thought of, but still don’t want to spend a lot of money. Because, let’s face it, some folks are $10 friends, some are $20 friends, and some are $50 friends. That’s just how it is.

So, with a little under four weeks to go, here’s the first part of a suggested gift list. We’ll start off with nothing more than ten bucks.

Swisskey – Kinda useful, but always cool for the ‘neat!’ factor. I use it mostly for opening mail at the post office although it has served well in it’s capacity as a screwdriver for small detail work.

Gerber Artifact – I find this one a bit more useful than the previous item. The replaceable xacto blade is handy and the ability to be used as a handy little prybar is very appealing. A little bulkier, but the apocalypse won’t be won with carbon-fiber and ultra-light materials.

Silva Carabiner 28 – No reason not to have a last-ditch compass hanging off your zipper pull or your hunting bag. Not for precision mapwork, but when you need to know which way is N-NW so you can “Get to da choppah!” you don’t need much more than this. Plus, Silva is usually good stuff.

Improved Military UTM/MGRS Reader & Protractor – Speaking of knowing where youre going, these thigns are awesome when used properly in conjunction with a map. They let you get down to some very, very fine coordinates and make maps much more useful. They make a circular version of this template as well, but I like the straight edges for measuring distances and drawing lines. Use this with your UTM-marked map and you’ll wonder how you ever navigated without.

Tuff Quickstrip Black 6 Round – Pack of 2 (.44/.45/.460 Caliber) – I’m a .357 kinda guy, but I know lotsa folks still packing wheelguns like the .41, .44 and .45 calibers. Bianchi still makes their SpeedStrips in .38 so I’m cool on those, but they never made them for other calibers. This company makes them for the bigger calibers that Bianchi ignored. Flatter than a speedloader and ‘universal’ to pretty much any swingout-cylinder revolver these things are a great way to carry spare ammo for faster (but not fastest) reloading. Drawback: Made in China. Can’t have everything, it seems.

Mainstay Emergency Food Rations – 3600 Calorie Bars (Single) – Nice for adding bulk to a Christmas stocking. I see these as a very limited use item, since freeze drieds are lighter and taste a lot better. But, for leaving in a vehicle these are almost the perfect food…impervious to temperature shifts, non thirst-provoking, long shelf life, high calorie content. Just the thing for when you let James Kim plan your roadtrip. Beat’s spending weeks stuck in your car eating M&M’s and lint.

Israeli Battle Dressing and Blood Stopper Compress – Some day there might come the time when the rest of your life is measured in that thick red stuff pouring out a new orifice that you didn’t have five minutes ago. You can’t scoop the goop back into your body but you can keep what you’ve got left from leaving with one of these. The Israeli version gets high praise in the survivalist forums…I’ll take their word for it because this is not the sort of product I can ‘real world’ test without causing more damage to myself than I’m willing to inflict. (Although someday there might be someone willing to inflict it for me, which is why we have these.) As a side note, anyone ever actually see any footage anywhere of the IDF using these things?

I should also point out that these items make excellent gifts for yours truly. (Shameless plug.)

Article – Why your toilet paper is shrinking

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

Everything shrinks in a recession: GDP, investment portfolios, even the products on store shelves. Consumer  goods companies know that customers won’t go for price increases during a downturn. Instead they often use a different tactic to offset things such as new competition or the rising cost of raw materials: cutting quantity while maintaining price. Yet it may not be obvious that your ice cream or OJ containers have shrunk. Manufacturers must note new specs on packaging, but the changes don’t have to be advertised (ever seen a now smaller! label?). Here’s a look at one of the most recent examples:

This still comes as news to some people. Apparently, there are still folks out there that don’t actually read the labels on the containers of food they purchase. I’ve been noticing this for a while now. Most notably my 1/2 gal. of Breyers has been melting faster and faster as the packaging continues to shrink and the price remains the same. Same for the spaghetti sauce I buy. The price stays the same, the quantity shrinks and the net result is you pay more for what youre buy but you don’t really notice.

This is kind of a ‘soft inflation’…it’s happening, but it’s being quietly slipped in under cover of careful labelling and packaging. One of the reasons I notice is because a) I almost always evaluate prices by comparing price/oz. and b) I have items purchased last year that I can compare against. This has been going on for a while and if more folks were aware of it more folks might realize how their purchasing power is slipping away.

This is another reason we stock up on things when we can. That can of vegetables that cost $1 per 15 oz. this year may wind up buying an identical sized can next year that only holds 13 oz. at the same price. When you see those sales, stock up.

We’re planning on hitting the local grocery stores Friday and seeing what kinda discounts we can get on turkeys. ‘Cause, let’s face it, prices ain’t going down.