Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Doom n’ Gloom Patrol:

A couple articles I came across while perusing the interweb. First one is about the increase in food prices. The article says that there is no one reason, but rather that a variety of reasons happening all at once are responsible. Whats interesting is that its more than a ‘prepare to pay more’ article. It examines one of the repercussions which is that with more of a person’s income going towards food their disposable income is reduced and that could have economic repercussions as well.

According to the article, eggs are up as much as 30% and chicken by 10%. This mates nicely with the letter I got from Mountain House saying that dairy prices were pushing the prices of their freezedried foods up this year. Im glad I did the group buys last year and got a goodly amount of the stuff before the prices went up.

Reasons for the increases vary from climatic issues (A flood here, a drought there), the demand for biofuel (and I saw that one coming a mile away), etc, etc. The upshot is that its costing more to fill your belly while its costing more to fill your tank.

While I have seen some increases locally (and believe me, I keep track of this sort of thing) its not been too bad because I usually buy in bulk, buy on sale and use coupons. Plus, the deep freeze makes a big difference. I think theres about 30# of chicken tucked away right now at last years (and the year befores) prices. (In addition to the stuff in the freezer, theres also a pretty healthy quantity of freeze-dried chicken and dehydrated eggs. As Ive said before, I am NOT going through the apocalypse as a vegetarian.)

The lesson here is that a) its not just you, prices are indeed going up and b) the smart thing to do, if you can, is buy now for later use.

Next article up is about inflation, hyperinflation and the hows and whys. Again, it doesn’t really say much that you cant figure out on your own – as a currency devalues theres a rush to spend it on things that will keep their value as the money devalues – but its still an interesting read. Theres the classic stories about workers in the Weimar getting paid twice a day to keep up with the galloping inflation, wheelbarrows of money, buying anything you can before your money becomes worthless, etc. Interesting stuff.

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Put another set of shelving in the bunker the other night. Its starting to get a bit more organized but its still kinda cluttered. Nonetheless, it still gives me a case of the warm fuzzies to sit amongst my gear and supplies and think “Damn, I could live a long time just offa whats in here”.

I’ve been dragging my feet on taking an inventory of things because its just such a bloody tedious project. But, with the elections looming, I need to make informed purchasing decisions and I cant do that if I don’t know what I already have and what I need. So…I’ll draft the girlfriend, give her a clipboard and have her give me a hand. Good experience for her, too….I think that while she has some idea of what we have theres a goodly amount of stuff she may not be aware of. More than once we’ve gone somewhere and I’ll produce a piece of gear and she’ll say “Where’d you get that?” and I’ll reply “From the bunker. We’ve got like ten of them.”

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

The spare G3 stock sets I ordered from Cheaper Than Dirt arrived the other day. A little scratched up here and there but, dammit, that’s just character showing through. Heres what I got for $9.99:

• 1 Forend
• 1 Forend pin
• 1 Pistol grip
• 1 Buttstock with recoil spring assy.
• 1 Buttstock pin

And they slipped in a leather sling as well. So, I spent some time with the Dremel tool fitting them to the thicker barrel of the PTR and now they fit fine. Snug, but fine.

One set went to one of the LMI because, honestly, I like being able to give little gifts like that but also because he could stand to have a spare stock set in case anything happens to his OEM set. Or, if he just wants to get creative and make up a desert or winter camo set.

Gun show this weekend in Hamilton! Picked up a few goodies that I’ll recount later but for now Im just happy to have gotten a *very* good deal on  a bunch of AR mags. Damn but I love me gun shows. Theres a couple military surplus dealers there so you never know whats gonna come home and wind up on a chelf in the bunker.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

New rations supposedly in the field within the next few weeks.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Don Egolf remembers what Army chow looked like when he served in Germany in World War II: a tin of scrambled eggs and bacon bits that he pried open with a tiny can opener.

On Wednesday at the Pentagon the 102nd Infantry Division vet pocketed one of those irksome little openers, the P-38, as a souvenir. Then he dug into the latest in combat cuisine, a plate of blackened catfish, teriyaki chicken, little french toast squares and pumpkin cake – no opener needed.

The Army offered up samples of the food as it rolled out its newest innovation – special packets of easy-to-eat, high-nutrition, high-calorie foods designed for mobile forces. The chow, mostly bagged finger-type foods that soldiers can just tear open and eat on the run, will be available in the field next month.

That’s not the way it was in his day, Egolf noted.

Man, I remember one of the first MRE’s I ever saw. It was around 1985. I distinctly recall a brillo-pad looking object that, I am told, was a freezedried hamburger patty.

The meals have substantially improved since then.

For reference’s sake, probably the best source for info on MRE’s is, unsurprisingly, MREinfo.com. I am fascinated by the MRE’s from other countries. I would like to try the Italian and French MRE’s, and I feel sorry as hell for the Russians. The Brit MRE’s might be good but if its anything like British cooking……

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Make no mistake about it, these are Chinese-interesting times we are in. Oil is up, dollar is down, metals are way up, and theres uncertainty in the air. Its going to be ugly, its going to be uncomfortable and its going to be filled with alot of stress and sleepless nights, but in the end it will, like every other economic crisis, pass. Im no expert, but Id say that if you dont have one of those doomed adjustable rate mortgages, you have a job, youre not carrying huge amounts of debt, and youre disciplined enough to be careful how you spend your money youre probably going to be just fine.

That is, of course, no reason not to be careful. Losing ones job is a fast ticket to  Desperationville. Hence, todays acquisition.

The folks at HippieMart (Motto: “Can we carry that out to your Volvo/Subaru?”) called to tell me my 30# of orzo was in. Dutifully, I headed down there and picked up three 10# boxes and took them home. Hey, interesting fact: 30# of orzo will not fit in the usual 5-gallon bucket mylar liner. Twentyfive pounds fits just fine, however. So, 25# of orzo safely tucked away in the bunker against the day when there just ain’t enough money to go around, or there aint enough food to go around, or both.

Fortunately, the girlfriend is 100% on board on these matters although, to be fair, while she sometimes will retrieve stuff from the bunker I dont think she’s actually aware of exactly whats in there. Nothing illegal, of course….just some stuff that might make someone scratch their head and say “Dude..seriously…you really think youre gonna need that?” Better to have it and not need it, my friend…

The guys at HippieMart also said they can get me 10# bags of whole egg mix. That would be nice but I need to figure out how to repackage it. I’d like to trundle it up to the local Mormon cannery and use their facility but theyre probably sticklers about not canning anything that they don’t provide. Speaking of, my local Mormon cannery is not open to heathen infidels like myself…gotta be one of the collective. Fortunately, one of my customers who shares my interests said that I could tag along with him next time he goes. Now its incumbent upon me to start nagging him every time I see him.

Alternatively, I could just get my owning canning stuff. eBay seems to have a fairly decent selection. And it would let me do some very creative things like canning ammo (or guns) and mislabelling them as something innocuous like fruit cocktail or something. Admit, that would be pretty cool.

But, my budget isnt ready for that sort of expense.

Anyway, so Ive got an addition to the Bucket O’Food collection. A little more peace of mind, and thats always nice.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Note that with the continuing decline of the dollar against other currencies, most notably the Euro, the cost of spare parts from outfits like HK, Sig, Glock, etc, are probably going to start creeping up. Any parts you need, buy ‘em now because either theyre going to be more expensive at a later date or they may not be available at all. Most likely, both.

The girlfriend and I have PTR-91 HK-clones (HKlones) and find them to be excellent guns. One of my buddies has a genuine HK91 and we shot them side by side, swapped parts, etc. and the PTR was just as good as the HK. Since the Germans switched over to the G36, theres a buttload of G3/HK91 stuff on the market but it aint gonna last long. If you have a CETME, PTR or, you lucky bastard, an original HK I cannot stresss how you need to get your spares now. Right now. As in  “open-a-new-browser-window-this-minute-and-start-shopping” now.Cheaper Than Dirt has OEM telestocks for $160 (backordered at the moment, of course), stock sets for ten bucks (which includes the recoil assemblies so that easily ten bucks of parts right there. Im getting a half dozen sets for spares and making a couple sets of winter camo), mag pouches for ninety-nine cents (fits FAL mags too) and a bunch of other goodies.

Spare parts can be had from  http://www.robertrtg.com/g3.html  … great selection!

We’re actually coming into an era when whatever parts you have on hand now may be all that you can ever have…because of legislative reasons (laws banning imports), logistics reasons (HK no longer makes G3 rifles AFAIK), economic reasons (dollar vs. Euro), or any other reason. It would be insanely frustrating to have your $1000+ rifle sidelined because you couldnt spend $5 for a spare firing pin spring. A hundred bucks will get you enough parts to keep your HK running well into your childrens lifetime. Spend the money. Im a notoriously cheap SOB and if I’m willing to spend money on this sort of stuff you can take that as the most sincere form of encouragement and statement of faith.  Where lies a mans fortune, there lies his heart.

To be fair, Hk guns dont seem to break too often (despite an acquaintance of mine having some faith-shaking parts problems with one of his USP40’s). However, machines are made by men (well, made by machines that were made by machines that were made by machines that were made by men..you get the idea)  and men sometimes have a few too many beers and show up at the gewehrwerks on Monday with a little less comeptence than normal. So…lets have a few spares.

Summary: Its getting worse before it gets better. Buy the spare parts now while you still can at reasonable prices.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

I don’t like hippies…by and large theyre unattractive, smell bad, think every problem is solved by using my money, and live in a child-like fantasy land of unicorns, socialized medicine and VW minivans. However, once in a while one of these patchouli-scented annoyances will succumb to the dark side and actually, you know, try to make a living by getting into business. Ben and Jerry of Vermont ice cream fame spring to mind. Our local ‘health food’ store is actually an outstanding example of this. Selling ‘organic’ food, ‘fair wage’ products, and all the soy variations a human being could possibly want this place is actually a very slickly packaged, extremely upscale supermarket. Its demeanor belies its clientele. I go there for exactly two reasons:

First: Entertainment…. to get a rise out of outraged liberals when I wear one of my conservative t-shirts through the place. Secondly, they have an outstanding selection of bulk food. By bulk food, I mean they have bins full of rice (about thrity different types), grains (another dozen or so varieties), at least twenty dfferent types of beans, all sorts of flours, etc, etc. More importantly, they’ll sell that stuff in bulk at another 10% discount.

So, I was down there today ordering up 30# of orzo. I know what youre thinking..I’ve got 100+ pounds of rice, what the hell do I need rice shaped pasta for? Well, lately I’ve been experimenting with pasta/rice combinations (and that , my friends, is enough carbohydrates to make Dr Atkins explode in a greasy cloud of…whatever he’s made of) and figured since pasta stores reasonably well I’d see if its economical to stock up.

However, while I was there I threw a few curve balls at the customer service chick. (Who, contrary to my expectations from a hippie emporium like that one, did an outstanding job of being attentive, helpful and accomodating…must be a capitalist at heart) I asked about availability of powdered whole milk, tomato powder/crystals, dehydrated butter, dehydrated sour cream, etc. and please let me know if these are available in #10 cans, mkay?

“Making backcountry meals?”, she asks.

Hmmmm.

“Getting ready for summer. Fire camps.”, I reply.

She nods her head in agreement. “Gotcha”, she says.

Because as much as a Reagan-loving, gun-toting, money-grubbing, Commie-hating, meat-eating, sexist, free-thinking dude like myself may be out of place there I’d be even more out of place if I’d said “Nah, just a paranoid survivalist.”

So, I’ll go wash down some new buckets with bleach, break out the mylar liners and slap a Gamma Seal on them later next week. I know for a fact theres about 40# of pasta stuck away for normal everyday use, but it’ll be nice to have the orzo. Its excellent for soups, pilafs, and a few other dishes.

So..if you have a decent hippie market near you it might be worth checking out their bulk food section if they have one.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

A little online article from Yahoo Finance about whether you should save or spend your ‘free money’ from Uncle Sam this spring.

That question should tell you, right off the bat, that we’re gonna have a problem. The whole point of this unprecedented disbursement is that the .gov wants people to go out and spend. Not save. Spend. If most people take the money and sock it away in case they lose their job or something (which, really, is probably the best course) then they are not injecting it back into the economy, the big ‘shot in the arm’ for the economy doesn’t work and we’re back to square one.

On the other hand, lets be realistic, unsound behavior with money is partly to blame for a great deal of the current economic situation. The same retards who make $35,000 a year and lied their way into a $800,000 house are the same retards who will grab that .gov check and run down to the WalMart and spend it the same day they get it.

Will I be doing my part for the economy by redistributing this money among various industries and businesses through commerce? Maybe. I think things are going to get a lot worse before they get better so I may wind up sinking it into relieving some debt burden (got an upcoming wedding that’s growing in cost every day it seems), or I might use it to prepare the girlfriend and I for the anticipated economic upheaval by getting more food put away.

Regardless of whether people spend it or save it, I think its not going to do anything to make a major impact in the current economic situation.

My own opinion, as it has been for the last couple years, is to circle the wagons and do what it takes to put oneself in a position of decreased vulnerability. What is that decreased vulnerability? Minimize or eliminate debt, have cash reserves on hand, plan for reduced income or job loss, buy tangibles now that will go up in price later…very basic elementary stuff.

If you have the bucks, now (or not too long from now) will be a great time to buy property… or, really, any other big-ticket item that people are going to be wanting to get out from under. Sometimes someone elses misfortune is your gain. If you can live with making bank off of someone’s heartbreak, you may get some bargains. In many cases you may be helping them out by giving the $85,000 for a home they paid $155,000 for two years ago. Im of mixed mind…part of me is a pragmatist and thinks that theres no reason to be reluctant to capitalize off of someone elses misfortune but another part of me is too compassionate and empathetic to want to be part of someones dreams collapsing (even if they brought it on themselves). Usually, for me, it comes down to what I believe is best for me and the girlfriend. Your mileage may, of course, vary.

Back to my original thoughts, though… this whole .gov rebate plan just seems like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. When the captain issues buckets to the passengers and says “bail” its time to do exactly that…right towards the lifeboats.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

No matter if you’re an optimist, a pessimist, a realist, an objectivist or a pragmatist there is one thing that is fairly hard to deny: these are some very interesting times. Intellectually, it’s a fascinating time to be alive…just observing these changes and situations that arise. The tough part is detaching yourself enough to watch them without thinking “Oh man, I’m screwed”. Take notes and observe everything, kids…years from now the younger folk will talk to you like we talk to our grandparents who went through the Great Depression or the Cuban missle crisis.

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Im putting in a bulk order for a large quantity of the Gamma Seal bucket lids. Cant say what the exact final cost is, nor what shipping will be, until they get here but it’ll be extremely competitive. Im getting these mostly for my own use but to bring the prices down I needed to order several cases worth. So this’ll be an opportunity for anyone interested in picking a few up at a decent price. When I have more details, there’ll be a longer post about it.

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A few posts back someone asked me what the books are on my bookshelf. Man, there are so many theres no way Im going to sit down and list them all…it would just take too much time. But, Im willing to take a good high-res picture of the books and you can read the titles for yourself. If I can remember I’ll try to do that in the next few days. I;ve long felt that a good, solid personal library of usefeul references, manual, instructions, textbooks, references and other works on relevant topics is as important as the food, fuel, guns, ammo and money that we stock away. And, quite often, it’s the cheapest part of your preparations.

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Weather is slightly warming up here in the great state of Montana. Mud season rapidly approaches. However, its starting to hit the stage where the weather gives us 25 degree evenings and 55 degree days. Heck, 55 is warm enough to start riding the bike again. And, really, you should have yourself a durable, rugged bicycle. They’re excellent for commuting around town when gas is $3 a gallon and someday when gas is unavailable at any price you’ll be glad you have a reliable and efficient way of getting from point A to point B at a faster-than-walking speed. I remember when I was a kid and saw my first mountain bike. I thought they were embarrassingly stupid looking…not like the racing twelve-speed bicycles with the skinny tires we all rode. Ah, the idiocy of youth. The guy who bought those mountain bikes for him and his wife were way ahead of his time. I’d wager that the mountain bikes are a far better choice for the urban environment than the bikes we used to ride. Bouncing off of curbs, over pavement and grass, down stairs, etc, etc, are tasks much better accomplished with the knobby-tired, stable-at-slow-speed mountain bikes. I will say that I wouldn’t taking mine apart and taking the frame out to be powder coated a nice olive green. But, that’s a low priority and nothing I couldn’t do with a can of spray paint if it the situation really called for it. The really nice ting is that the mountain bikes fit in the back of the truck so if the road turns into a parking lot I can still outrun the masses.

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This looks interesting..found the link on arfcom: Shelterbox

Humanitarian interests aside, I suppose a person could grab a nice sized Rubbermaid container and make something similar for their own use.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

I do not take credit for this, I merely find it…something.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Sure, it may be the worst case scenario but its still an interesting read:

Americas economy risks the mother of all meltdowns