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

I know, ‘Web Dominator’ sounds like either a very cool new browser or a $19.95-a-month bondage pornsite.

Heres the item in question:

Its purpose is to keep excess webbing from flopping around after youve made your adjustments to the various straps on your gear. You can either wind the excess around the product and then use the elastic to keep it from unravelling or simply fold back the excess and tuck it under the elastic. This particular product is available from Maxpedition who make some interesting gear.

I picked up a bunch of these because every so often I get tired of the excess strapping hanging off my bag like some sort of nylon cyprus tree shedding its bark. I wont say that neatness counts, but if I have to throw my bag on a conveyor belt at an airport or something it’d be nice not to have the surplus webbing winding up getting caught in the gears. Not because I care about TSA’s intrusive and invasive security devices, but rather because if I spend $200 on a nice backpack Id like it to stay as serviceable as possible.

Anyway, I’ll be playing with these and I’ll let you know what I think.

=-=-=-=-=

Id heard rumours that the price of the ubiquitous brick-o-22 at WallyWorld had gone up. Sure enough, It jumped about 24% from $9.99 to around $12.40 a brick.  Its not unexpected, its just annoying. But you know what? Its gonna cost even more next year. So..buy it now. I’ve got probably about 25,000 rounds tucked away and thats nothing. You can reload pretty much everything else but reloading a .22LR is an exercise in appreciation of modern manufacturing. yes you can do it but you’ll wish to hell you’d just ponied up ten bucks and bought another brick instead. And can you really disagree that its the mmost common round in the US and probably the world? Now, go get some.

=-=-=-=-=

Does Castro’s stepping down from power mean anything to me? No, it wont affect me directly except I might possibly get more site hits from Alpha 66 members than I already do. Castro is an excellent example of how sheer blind luck and the ineptidtude of your enemy can make even a bumbling idealist a winner. If you read the historical accounts, Castro only succeeded because his opponents were inept, public opinion and support fell his way, and he got blindingly lucky a time or two.

Castro is also an excellent example of how men-of-a-certain-age should stop wearing fatigues.

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

I know you’re tired of hearing it from me…believe me, Im tired of saying it. But, if theres any firearms related item you’ve been needing for your stash you need to get your act together, pick up the phone and order it in the extremely near future. It really is only going to get worse.

=-=-=-=-=-=

It occurs to me that from time to time I mention vacuum sealing various items but I never actually go into details about the vacuum sealing itself. So, for those who have a few bucks to spend and can appreciate the possibilities, I’m going to recount my experiences.

First off, you’ve got to be prepared to fork out about $200. Maybe you can find a used vacuum sealer, maybe you can buy the ElCheapo from WalMart…good luck with that. I figure I’d pay the money up front, bitch about it, get over it, and then have a good machine.

I wound up getting mine at CostCo. It’s a Tilia FoodSaver. There are other models FoodSaver II, FoodSaver Deluxe, FoodSaver Suck-O-Matic 6000, whatever…I have just the regular one and its served me quite well. Some friends picked up a newer model that looks much nicer than mine and has a built in bag cutter but otherwise they all pretty much do the same thing.

You take a bag, put your goodies in it, lay the mouth of the bag flat on the vacuum surface, close the lid, hold the button, and the air is withdrawn and the bag sealed. What makes this possible is that the bags have an irregular surface of channels so that when the bag collapses on itself theres still passages for the air to be withdrawn. Whats this mean to you? Basically it means you must use the proper bag material. Sticking a Baggie in there won’t do it.

The bags can come pre-cut like a regular sandwich bag but for versatility you want to get the stuff that comes on rolls. What you get is a roll of bag material. The roll is a long tube of material so you’ll need to close one end to form the bag. You cut off a piece at the length you want, close one end of it using the vacuum sealer and you’ve created a bag. Load it up, vacuum out the air, seal the other end and you’ve got a complete sealed package.

The bags are sealed using a heating element that melts the plastic, sealing and filling the air channels of the bag. Its tough to describe, but most of these products come with an instructional video that explains it more than I ever could.

So that’s the process. Whats the advantages? These things are an absolute must if you’re going to get serious on food storage. As you’ve figured out by now, buying in bulk is the way to go. Buying a 16# tray of steaks usually gets you a good price but that money is wasted if three months later you pull a dried out, freezer burned, odd tasting lump of meat out of your freezer. The vacuum sealer, which at this point Im just gonna abbreviate to VS, Removes the air from around the food (which is a main factor in freezer burn, which is actually not a burn but rather a sort of dessication of a section of meat), protects it from taking on weird tastes from odors or whatnot in the fridge, and make thawing a snap (simply immerse the sealed pouch in a pan of warm water for a while). I routinely eat meat out of my freezer that is several years old and have never had any problems.

The bag material is usually microwaveable and boilable. This means if you make something like chili, for example, you can freeze a bowl-sized serving and when you want it simply drop the bag into a pot of boiling water. Boil-in-the-bag convenience….very handy if you’re cooking over a campstove in a blackout and don’t want to have to mess with pots and pans to clean.

Dry goods also benefit. Things like flour, cornmeal, and any other product that is prone to insect infestation can be protected from damp, bugs and spillage by VS’ing the whole bag. I usually just cut a bag to proper size, insert the whole five pound pag of [sugar/flour/etc] and seal it up. No more flour dust leaking from bag seams, no more small insects being found in the flour, and the sugar doesn’t seem to clump up over time. If you’re the cautious type you can dole out your wheat into 5# increments and seal them up, then store your sealed five pound packages in your favorite bucket. If it turns out theres a bug problem in your grain its limited to the one sealed package and not to your entire 50# drum.

So, as you can see, theres some very compelling reasons to have one of these things just from the food standpoint. The fun, however, does not stop there. Anything you want to protect from dirt, damp, water, elements or bugs can be sealed up within reason. Firestarting material for hunting trips always gets this treatment. It keeps it dry no matter what the circumstances. Same story for spare socks and underwear. Copies of important documents, rolled blankets for storage, small electronics like radios, etc, etc. can all be protected. However, there are some precautions one must take.

Obviously the weak link in all of this is the bag itself. If its punctured you lose the vacuum. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing…your non-food item will still be dry and protected from most environmental threats. The solution to keeping the bags integrity is simple – don’t puncture it.

Anything that you stick in the bag should have no sharp corners or edges. Cardboard boxes should have their corners ‘rounded’ by banging them on a hard surface. Don’t hesitate to wrap an item in some type of padding or covering to keep sharp edges or corners padded. If you’re going to store your sealed package in an environment that may promote damage (like under the seat of your truck where things will get bounced around) sandwiching the sealed bag between two pieces of thick cardboard will go a long way. Even padded with cardboard the package is still usually smaller than its non-VS version. If youre going to throw your VS goodie into a backpack or some such ruck, you’ll want to make sure its protected from punctures. Either sandwich it in cardboard or roll it up in some clothing in your bag.

Most of the vacuum sealers come with attachments to let you seal mason jars or special containers. My experience with these has been across-the-board negative. They just don’t form a lasting seal. If you want to store something in a mason jar, then pressure can it or water bath can it.

The big idea everyone seems to have is to VS their guns and/or ammo. I have mixed feelings on this. Guns have all sorts of edges and protrusions that can pierce the plastic. Wrapping the gun in, say, a rag or other covering would work but any moisture would be held in against the gun. Now, the way around that would be to make sure your gun is oiled or otherwise well preserved…but, I have no idea how solvents or lubricants will react with the plastic. So, for me, I long term store guns in either Pelican cases or ammo cans. ,Rawles suggested against vacuum sealing ammo in his blog because it may cause bullets or primers to loosen as the pressure inside the case is now greater than the pressure outside the case. I’m not sure if its really an issue or not…most military ammo is sealed against moisture to begin with. Again, an ammo can goes a long way to storing your ammo…and any event that would compromise the integrity of an ammo can would most assuredly be enough to compromise a plastic vacuum bag. However, I can see a couple cases where VS’ing a gun might be a good idea. If were to keep a gun hidden somewhere outdoors, maybe on the top shelf of a shed in the yard, hidden in an electrical service panel on the side of a building, etc…someplace where there would be genuine exposure to the elements…then it might be worth it. In those situations, the bulk of an ammo can or Pelican case would be prohibitive so the smallest package offering protection is called for.

So, are these things worth the initial expense. Absolutely. Just from a ‘being able to buy bulk food and store it properly’ standpoint you’ll be able to justify it. Their versatility in use with non-food items is just a nice bonus.

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

One of the more popular shooting ranges around here has a max. range of 300 yds. However, 99% of the time, thats plenty far for what Im doing. Today me and two of the LMI’s grabbed our bolt guns and some silhouette targets and set ‘em up at 300 yards for ‘best group out of a cold barrel’ informal competition. Target was the classic B27 target. Weather was atrocious with very cold and very strong winds. In short, craptacular shooting weather. As we tromped through the slush to the targets we pounded each other on the shoulders and shouted “Real world conditions!”.

All in all, very good performance. I knew my CZ was pretty much dead on at 200 yards and that at 300 yards I’d drop a few inches so I held on the juncture of shoulders and neck. Bulets landed nicely a few inches below in a somewhat tight vertical string. Amazingly, windage was nil…there was less than a 3/4″ horizontal dispersal in that crappy wind. Vertical, well, coulda been better…about 2.5″. Still, thats less than 1MOA. All shots landed right where the sternum would be.

The LMI did well also. Everyone on paper and in the black with groups running about 1.25 MOA. The wind was a major pain and it was quite cold…we were shaking as we shot trying to keep things steady sitting on cold metal stools at the bench. Still, the revolution aint gonna happen on a sunny summer day so you gotta be ready to play ‘em as theyre dealt.

So….mansize target at 300 yards? Piece of cake. Vitals at 300 yards? A bit trickier, but no problem. Keeping all five rounds on a group the size of a playing card? Quite do-able.

I need to sit down and work my ballistics to come up with adjustments for the scope. I could have dialed it in but I just decided to hold high and see what happened. Overall though, I am pleased. Under better conditions I have no doubt I could have shot better, but Im satisfied that Im on the right track with this gun.

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

So whats the dress code going to be for TEOTWAWKI? Obviously, camo will become a bit more popular. But after that, what’s the best thing to wear? Glad you asked…….

For everyday wear whether its manning roadblocks, winching fallen trees off the road, dragging corpses out of houses, or sifting through rubble looking for edibles probably the article of clothing that will take the most abuse is your pants. Kneeling on broken concrete, crawling in the dirt, sliding on your ass down rooftops, sitting crates of supplies on your lap as you drive, etc, etc, nothing is going to take as much abuse as your pants (with the possible exception of your shoes. More on that later.)

Thus far, for sheer end-of-the-world durability I’ve been pleased with the Carhart work pants. Like every other preparation you make theres a tradeoff: money vs. utility. Im the first guy to stand up and say “Yes, I am a cheap bastard” but sometimes you gotta pay a little to get a lot. Jeans are excellent everyday pants but they don’t always have the pockets we need, the crotchroom we want for climbing over obstacles, or the durability of the rough-n-tumble ‘active lifestyle’ that will surely be the hallmark of whatever disaster you’re preparing for. Milsurp absolutely has its place, and the pants are usually everything we’re looking for but they have a distinctive military look to them and while theres a time and place for making a statement theres also a lot to be said for looking as unremarkable as possible.

I like the Carhart brand double-front work pants. They’re heavy, have an extra layer of material that runs from the waist to just below the knees, good sized pockets, and are cut generously for freedom of movement. The bad news is that, like a lot of other cool gear, they aren’t cheap. Around $45~ a pair. However, I wore mine 5 days a week for over a year working in a freight terminal and they performed exceptionally well. Hey, I wouldn’t recommend them if I didn’t believe in them. There are other, cheaper, brands of ‘work clothes’ out there…Dickeys, etc, etc. and they may be just as good in terms of quality but my only experience thus far has been with the Carhart product. In addition to their pants I can also recommend their heavy jackets/coats made of the same heavy fabric. Carhart is the standard wear for most of the loggers, timber cruisers and other woodticks here in western Montana so it isn’t just me thinking they’re good products.

For underwear, well it’s a personal pref. The tidy whities are a no-go..too restrictive which is going to lead to chafing and other issues in an active, possibly wet, physically exhausting environment. When youre wet and doing a bit of running, walking or even sitting for any period of time those things are gonna chafe. Boxerbriefs are something of an improvement and I think boxers are the first choice. Preferably in a dark color since who knows when we’re going to get to a real laundry facility. Boxers have the additional utility of being able to be worn as a somewhat socially acceptable outer garment if its 110 in the shade and the air conditioning is out.

T-shirts are a must for layering and for hot weather wear. I prefer dark neutral colors and a loose fit. I like the 100% cotton. Come the apocalypse wrinkles are one of the least of my worries.

Socks are a tough personal choice. Different footwear, in different environs, on different terrain, all call for a different sock. For general everyday wear a cotton/poly blend seems to work best. Winter calls for wool or wool blend. (or a combo of cotton sock and wool sock.)

A good long sleeved heavy workshirt is going to be handy. In cold weather you’ll probably strip down to it when you’re exerting yourself digging out your driveway or hauling supplies through the snow. I like button down shirts that have a few extra buttons sewn to the shirt bottom.

In the movie ‘Transporter 2’ Jason Stathams impeccably dressed character gets into a brawl in a garage and ruins his shirt and tie. After the fight he returns to his car, opens the trunk, and pulls out a small plastic bag containing an extra change of clothes identical to what he’s wearing. Horrible movie, good idea. If you’ve got a vacuum sealer you can put together a pair of pants, socks, t-shirt and top shirt into a package about the size of a football. If you add a belt roll it up inside the pants so the buckles edges wont puncture the plastic bag. During hunting season I usually carry a vacuumsealed extra shirt and socks in case I get wet and when you need them nothing feels as good as putting on clean dry clothes.

Clothing is most important in winter. Reasons are obvious. This is a situation where the military stuff is going to be as good or superior to most civilian clothing. The most important pieces of gear will be outerwear. Several surplus outfits sell insulated winter pants from various Nordic militaries. Price is usually between twenty and forty bucks and they’re designed for spending a lot of time in a lot of cold. Add a good heavy parka and liner, gloves, hat, maybe a face mask depending on the situation and you can spend all day out in the subzero and come through none the worse for wear. Lately Sportsmans Guide HQ catalog has had some excellent cold weather surplus gear and I’d suggest starting there.

Footwear is an immensely personal choice and no two people will make the same choices. Just think about your location, weather, terrain and budget. A year-round set of boots may be the best way to go but if you can swing it a summer pair and a winter pair may be best. Whatever you get, make sure they’re reasonably watertight, are well made, and take care of them. Throw away the laces that come with them and invest in a well made pair of boot laces. Paracord can work but there are better choices out there. Almost any hardcore backpacking store will have a selection. No leather laces – they stretch, break, and are a pain in the ass to unknot when wet (or dry, actually.)

At a minimum you should have one complete change of clothes packaged in a manner that keeps them clean and dry. By complete, I mean complete – as in “I just ran out of my burning house and Im naked and its twenty degrees out here”. Your package of clothing should be such that it would be suitable for cold weather, you can always wear just the undershirt or top shirt by itself if it’s a warm summer day. Don’t skimp. Its tempting to go through your closet and pull out the old work pants that have ‘only a few small holes’ in them, some mismatched gym socks and your “Im with stupid” t-shirt your brother in law gave you. Don’t do it. If things have gotten serious enough that your going into your emergency stash of clothes then its serious enough that you want the best items for the situation.

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

I kind of miss Tom Ridge every so often. At least with Ridge you had the impression, if not fact, that the guy in charge was pretty harmless since he was way out of his league and in uncharted waters. Chertoff’s got some zealousness in him.

WASHINGTON – Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff’s eyes narrow and his voice develops a stern, urgent tone as he reveals America’s biggest vulnerability to terrorism.

“The great weapon they have is persistence and patience, and the one weakness that we have is the tendency to lose patience and become complacent,” Chertoff tells WTOP.

I like this part here:

Chertoff recognizes it has been more than six years since al Qaida launched the Sept. 11 attacks, but some experts say that’s how long it took to plan them, suggesting the U.S. may close in on another spectacular attempt by Osama bin Laden to topple the U.S. economy.

As the great Klingon warrior once said “You cannot tarnish a rusty blade”. Bin Laden toppling the economy would be like shooting out the streetlamps to make the sun go down.

But, as much as I dislike the guys at Fatherland Security, theres some merit to what they say. After all, theyve got billions of dollars to sink into investigating this sort of thing (and a vested interest in making sure something is going on so they have job security) so maybe theyre on to something. I do agree that the notion that we’re done with terroristic threats from the Middle Eastern crowd is highly unlikely. Theres too much going on around the world right now to think that.

It seems everyones focus right now is on the economy, which is understandable since it affects far more people directly than most terrorist acts. You can see the charred wreckage of a building in NYC and say thats terrible but it doesnt really impact your everyday life in Nebraska. On the other hand, when the economy tanks everyone in the US feels it everywhere. So, rightly or wrongly, the emphasis is on the economy right now and terrorism has been sort of pushed to the back burner. And, of course, thats when complacency comes into play.

So, I’ll say Chertoff is right on this. I still dont care for his agency, but when youre right youre right.

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

Regarding Politics and the narrowing of the presidential candidate pool: We are doomed, yea.

=-=-=-=-=

Tornadoes in the southeast the other day. On the one hand, a tornado is, I suppose, something of a surprise event in that you dont get a few days notice about it like a hurricane. On the other hand if you live somewhere that tornadoes occur every year how can you ever really be surprised? I was perusing the usual forums seeing if there were any posts from people who had been through the tornadoes but havent found much yet. I always find these after action reports interesting and informative. Learning from someone else’s unfortunate experience is always a better choice than learning from your own.

=-=-=-=-=-=

Went to a gun show today. Small show, even by Montana standards. I saw exactly one AR-15, no AKs, FALs, or similar guns. Maybe it was the size of the show. Maybe it was people deciding to hold onto their stuff until they see how the near future turns out. Who can say? It just reinforces my belief that my stocking up on certain goodies is not a waste of resources. Buy it now while you can. If nothing happens you wont regret your purchases and if something does happen you’ll really be glad you acted.

=-=-=-=-=

One thing I did encounter at the local gun show was one of the new Magpul brand AR magazines. Seemed like a well-thought out product. Historically, I’ve never been a fan of plastic AR mags. The Thermolds and Orlites seemed hit-or-miss in terms of reliability, the Ramline ‘combo mag’ sucked immensely (remember those? Supposed to work in an AR, AR180 or Mini14 interchangeably. You were lucky if it worked in any one of those), and various other ones didnt seem to work as good as the genuine article. One exception, I have been pleased with the Eagle brand clear plastic mags…although they dont have a last shot holdopen. Their Mini14 mags, by the way, were the best aftermarket mag for the Ruger, in my opinion. Hey, speaking of Ruger…they are apparently shipping their Mini’s with factory 20-rd mags these days. Apparently some policy changes have finally occurred since Bill’s demise.

Anyway, the Magpul product looks good and I may pick one up to try out. If I do, I’ll letcha know what I think.

=-=-=-=-=

Peak oil, 2012, global drought, global warming, Election Day 2008….pick your poison.

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

Heres a couple links to what I see as a complete non-issue. I expect this to be debunked as an urban legend or something at some point but it is being reported that ‘Canadian’ is now the new term for ‘nigger’. Apparently, since you can’t use racial slurs in certain places these days the term ‘Canadian’ is being used instead. First of all, this is amusing given the … pasty whiteness….that is Canada. I think Canada has a total of six black guys in it, Five are on one of their weird football teams and the other is their coach.

My question is, who determines that it’s a derogatory term? Maybe ‘Canadian’ means ‘peaceful, polite, unthreatening’. Unless someone actually says “Yeah, I woulda said ‘coon’ but I say ‘Canadian’ instead’ how do you know whether the new term is code for something bad or something good? When I see rap stars getting onstage at some music award saying “Whassup my Canadians?” then I’ll believe it.

I mention this not because I care about racial slurs (or slurs of any kind). I figure if you want to dislike someone that’s entirely your business and they have just as much right to dislike you right back.

No, I mention it because it’s a good example of the ambiguation of zombies.

Yes, the shambling, shuffling, oh-my-god-Ive-been-bit undead. Hear me out on this one.

Romero’s zombie movies are always entertaining (although not always good). They sort of give in to that ‘survivalist fantasy’ where there are no friendly targets, you can shoot anything that moves, no one is shooting back, and you can be a one man army for as long as your ammo and gear hold out. Fun stuff. But the term, or idea of, ‘zombies’ has now become a euphemism and a mask for camouflaging your interest in preparedness.

“Hey Bob, whats with the three AR-15s and the case of ammo?”
“Never know when the zombie apocalypse is coming, Steve!”
:::Steve and Bob then share a hearty laugh together and the topic is changed:::

Or, someone wants advice on preparing for [insert name of apocalypse] but doesn’t want to come across as a freak. So, rather than asking the question about what vehicle is best for getting out of town in a hurry when the rampaging looters are, well, rampaging through the anthrax-laden radioactive fallout he’ll ask “So when the hordes of zombies are coming in waves down the street what vehicle would be best for getting me out of town?”

Zombies are the preparedness Canadians. Don’t think so? Think about this – Romero’s movies were fun. They were campy. And, true, some sucked. But there was nothing there to generate this cult of zombie fascination. We know zombies don’t exist but we talk about our guns for the zombie apocalypse, our rations so we don’t wind up like Andy in Dawn Of The Dead (remake), and what the best locations are to be safe from these hordes of ex-people. But, realistically, zombies are about the only ‘imaginary’ threat that comes closest to meeting the situations we expect in a SHTF event. We expect infrastructure failure, we expect martial law, we expect food shortages, we expect every-man-for-himself, we expect violent crowds of looters, we expect mobs of unprepared desperate people….and there is no real fictional circumstance that gives us those conditions except for when ‘the dead shall walk the earth’.

Lucifers Hammer? Yes, great scenario with many of the same elements…except for that whole ‘large parts of the world flooded’ aspect. Red Dawn? Plausible then, amazingly unlikely now. The Day After? Close. Zombies give us the aftermath we expect without the unrealistic add-ons that would otherwise make the post-TEOTWAWKI incompatible with our preps. Not clear on that? Example: Lucifers Hammer gives us everything we imagine TEOTWAWKI will look like but adds massive global flooding. Most of us don’t foresee massive global flooding in our plans for the future so a good bit of the action in LH doesn’t really seem to apply to us. But with zombies, if you remove the zombies and replace them with, say, looters or enemy troops or riotous mobs pretty much little else changes. You still have fortified strongholds, you still have an emphasis on defense, you still have society completely off the rails.

Take the guys at Zombie Squad for example. You could make an argument that their website is one of the better ‘preparedness’ sites out there if you take out the blatantly zombie-related stuff. Content on three-day bags, traversing dangerous cityscapes, etc, etc. All things that apply to the non-zombie apocalypse. But they’ll probably never get tagged as a right-wing survivalist board because, hey, theyre talking about zombies. In fact, Wikipedia covers this much better than I:

The basic concept behind Zombie Squad is that zombies are a useful metaphor for a worst-case scenario; if someone is prepared to survive the complete breakdown of society due to an uprising of the living dead, then he or she will be prepared for almost any real-world disaster or emergency conceivable. Or stated more simply, “If you can survive a zombie apocalypse, you can survive anything.” The zombie metaphor was chosen for humor, originality, and as a bait and switch for horror movie fans, science fiction fans, gamers and others who otherwise may not be drawn to the idea of disaster preparedness or community involvement. Thus the claim on Zombie Squad’s website that they are “an elite zombie suppression task force ready to defend your neighborhood from the shambling hordes of the walking dead”[1] is to be taken in the playful spirit of the site and not literally.

Their website, by the way, is here.

Alot of the things about preparedness that used to be considered ‘fringe’ or ‘odd’ have become mainstream. But, theres still always a little stigma attached to going long on your preparedness plans. Three days of food and water? Thats cool..even .gov says its a good idea. Couple coils of razor wire in the garage along with trip flares and a couple dozen cases of ammo? Crazy paranoid survivalist.  by couching our activities in the context of getting ready for the mythical zombie apocalypse we just look like sci-f/horror geeks who cant realize that ‘its just a movie’.

So, to sum it up: ‘Canadian’ means a black guy who just left the room, and ‘zombie’ means ‘I’m a somewhat low key survivalist’.

Oh, and: braaaaaaaiiiiiinnnnssssss!

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

Thanks to VonKrag for the link.

Okay, we were wondering what the hell kind of food product could we expect from a canned cheeseburger. Is there actually a burger on a bun in that catfood can?

Mystery solved.
I will bet a zillion Euros the guys at the product website for this are wondering why the heck theyre getting all these hits from the US.

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

Theres always a ‘barometer’ that one industry uses to guage another, or that one group of academics will use to measure something about a demographic. For example, the sale of firearms and magazines before an election is usually a good indicator of how people think thigns are going to go…really huge jump in sales means that a Democratic winner is thought of as being a real possibility. Republican? Less but still increased sales.
I am sure that somewhere theres some relationship between the people you see in WalMart (and what they are purchasing) and the perceived condition of the economy. When you see normal people instead of the usual, obese, fat-fingered, filthy looking trailer denizens strolling the aisles you know that maybe Joe Average is showing a little more concern about the outflow of cash. I just got back from there and there was a Jag in the parking lot. Sure, maybe the rich got rich by being thrifty…or maybe theyre starting to see the writing on the wall.
And now, according to the news, the plan is to give ‘free money’ to people with the admonishment of ’spend it now!’. Think about the utter Third-World, Banana Republic bizarreness of that. The economy has hit such a dire stage (or is about to) that the .gov feels the best hope is the unprecedented shoving of cash into peoples hands with the hope they will spend it. I dont know alot about economics but I know alot about being desperate and this sure seems like a desperation play.

Given that the next President of the US is going to be one of four people whom I think will not be beneficial to my existence, Helicopter Ben’s money drop plan, the continued increase in prices of oil and food, the recent announcement that jobs have been lost for the first time in several years, and the fact that it looks like if it isnt a recession (which it sure looks like we’re already in ) its going to be stagflation….I think its time to circle the wagons and be extraordinarily careful with the finances.

I just keep feeling that sensation that something bad is about to happen and when it does I’ll be wishing that I had done something right now.

Need. More. Food.

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

Well, I  got the Pelican case I wanted the other day. Sportsmans Warehouse had a sale that would have taken 20% off the usual $199.99 price. Saving forty bucks is always a good idea, so I went up there and grabbed one. Silly me. Last time they had them they had the Model 1750 cases. What was up there this time were the 1720. The difference is that one is shorter in length than the other. So…the case I picked up wont fit my CZ550. So, although this case would be excellent for tucking away an AR,870 and Glock it isn’t what I need. Back it goes. As luck would have it, between yesterday and today a 1750 was added to the display so I managed to tradeoff for the one I needed. As a result, my CZ550 now has its own cozy little cocoon. I need to spend some time tonight fitting the foam padding but if all goes as planned my .308 will be safe and secure by tomorrow.

The Hardigg cases have been making a name for themselves lately. Whereas Pelican pretty much limits their design to what amounts to armored briefcases, Hardigg has some very cool stuff…like their ‘mobile armory’ cases. (Which, as it turns out, Pelican just introduced their version.) And their footlockers. And other cool stuff. And it appears to be fairly competitive against the Pelican stuff. Both products can be found on eBay if you want to comparison shop.

Now, if you go and check these prices you’re going to see that on a good day your gonna pay north of $50 for a small case and well over $100 for anything in a useful size. (By usefull, I mean large enough to store the important gear like guns, packs, electronics, etc.) Like much in life, there is a ‘ghetto’ alternative. That is to say, theres an “80/20” alternative. (You pay 20% of the price of the spendy item and get 80% of the utility.) So, before I mention it, let’s see if you can figure it out. Think of a container product that is:

• Waterproof
• Airtight
• Extremely durable
• Lends itself to military applications
• Is cheap
• And fairly ubiquitous

No, no, no…don’t go all McGyver on me, the answer is: ammo cans. They’re not just for ammo anymore. Most of us are falmiliar with what we refer to as “.30 caliber” and “.50 caliber” cans. If you’re a little more in the know you’re aware of “Tall .50’s”. If you’re into this subject more than the average bunker dweller then you’re aware of the myriad of other ‘ammo cans’ that are available. Larger ammo cans aren’t really ammo cans…they’re rocket cases, mortar round carriers, etc, etc. However, there is always one made that fits your needs. I’m going to cover a few here so you know what to search for on the various search engines.

• .30 cal. Cans – This is one of the most common cans you’ll encounter. They are ideal for storing things like handgun ammo and smaller things. They can usually be had for $5~
• .50 cal. Cans – This is the other common ammo can. It is also arguably the most useful size for general use. Good for various tools, entire handguns with accessories, etc, etc.
• Tall .50 cans/60mm – exactly what it sounds like. Very similar to the .50 can but a bit taller. Not terribly common but not a difficult find.
• 25mm can – opens at both ends. Heavy duty plastic just like a Pelican case. The interior doesnt offer alot of room, but for the gear that does fit inside these things are great.
• 40mm/20mm can – Extremely useful. One of the most useful ‘big’ cans. A good choice (but not the best) for storing an emergency kit. They can also be made into panniers/saddlebags for motorcycles. They’re excellent choices for hauling stuff around in the back of a truck. (only an inch or two difference in dimensions between the two different caliber cans.)
• 120mm mortar can – These look like extremely tall .30 cans. They’re a good choice for storing certain longarms. Most ‘assault weapon’ type guns will be too long (and possibly too tall), but many of them, broken down, will fit.
• 120mm can – Probably the #1 choice for serious storage. The lid cams into place to provide a good gasket seal, the lid can be locked in place with a simple padlock, and the damn thing is almost bombproof. Excellent for storing longarms that have narrow profiles. Most guns will need to be broken down to fit inside but some (10/22, 870, Mossberg 500, short SKS, etc) can go in without any other concern. These are hard to find but once in a while they turn up. They are very much worth having and an excellent choice for a burial cache.
• 2.25 Mk2 Mod 0 Rocket container – Best ‘footlocker’ type case. They have locking dogs along the edges to assure a tight seal, thick solid walls, and are generally indestructible. Heavy, but first choice for ‘leave it in the truck bed in all sorts of weather’. Theres a ‘tall’ version that has less length but more height. Also a winner.
• Medical chest – The biggest common ‘ammo can’ is actually designed for transporting medical materials. These cases usually run $75~ but they are wonderful pieces of equipment. You can also buy an insert that slides into the case to turn it into a ‘dresser draw’ arrangement. If you have the money, this is the first choice for stuffing a loaded backpack and broken down rifle into. Be prepared to pay a bit for shipping unless you can find them locally. Camping supply stores sometimes have them as ‘bearproof’ containers.

There are a few other sizes Im leaving out, mostly because Im too lazy to go into the bunker and copy down the stencils off the side of the ammo cans. My point, though, is that if you hunt around you can usually find an ammo can that will suit whatever storage need you have. Now, Im the first to want to save a buck but if you can afford to, a purpose-made container like a Pelican case is the first choice for the truly expensive protect-it-at-all-costs gear. Like what? Precision firearms, optics, critical electronics, etc.

I try to keep as much stuff as I can in these types of containers because it makes storage more uniform, but more importantly it makes things man-portable for those times when youre trying to beat the clock. If you have to baby your gear, tuck it safely into someplace dry and protected, and then worry about not banging it around you’ll never get anything done. When the world is collapsing around you and youve got to leave now you need to be able to grab a handle, sling the weight off the floor, over your shoulder and into the back of a wet, snowy pickup truck bed and not worry about the contents of that container.  There’s going to be a time when maybe the sheriff is only giving people 15 minutes to grab their possessions and evacuate, or youre trying to beat an advancing fire, or the water is rising too fast to stay longer, or you can hear the angry voices of the mob approaching… and thats when you wanna be able to grab your gear and move, move, move. Thats also when you’ll want that gear in a hard, durable, waterproof case so you can heave it around and get the heck out of there.

So…next time youre at the local surplus store or gun show, check out the ammo cans and see if there isnt something that’ll meet your needs. Even if you never plan on leaving home, having your stuff protected form the usual household threats (dust, moisturem pests, broken pipes, etc.) makes the expense and effort worthwhile.