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

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 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.

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

Gas shortage makes evacuating difficult

Some highlights:

GALVESTON, Texas – Hundreds of thousands of people across the Houston metropolitan area struggled to make their way inland in a bumper-to-bumper exodus Thursday as Hurricane Rita closed in on the nation's fourth-largest city with winds howling at 150 mph.

Drivers ran out of gas in 14-hour traffic jams or looked in vain for a place to stay as hotels hundreds of miles away filled up.
…
“Don't follow the example of Katrina and wait. No one will come and get you during the storm,” Harris County Judge Robert Eckels said in Houston.
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Highways leading inland out of Houston, a metropolitan area of 4 million people, were clogged up to 100 miles north of the city. Service stations reported running out of gasoline, and police officers carried gas to motorists who ran out.
…
Tow trucks tried to wend their way along the shoulders, pulling stalled cars out of the way.

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“Jackie Thomason waits anxiously in line for fuel at one of the few open gas stations in Pasadena, Texas, Thursday, Sept. 22, 2005. Thomason and her husband are evacuating the Houston area prior to Hurricane Rita arriving. Thomason said she was scared without fuel they would not be able to evacuate. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)”

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

Its like a horrific traffic accident that I cant look away from. The mayor of New Orleans demands everyone leave, sends goons to reinforce that position, then a few days later starts letting folks back in and now he's telling 'em to leave again. If this were Vietnam he'd have been killed by one of his own men by now.
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Winter approaches here in the Land O' Mountains. Soon it'll be time to start toting my Cold Weather Module around in my backpack, make sure the winter survival gear is in the truck, and generally take a few precautions to prevent freezing to death. One nice thing about winter, if the power goes out my freezer full of meat just gets emptied to an outside location where it'll stay frozen. Hell, alot of the time its warmer in the freezer than it is outside.
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Still, I do need to get a small generator for the freezer. Actually, just a small generator for general purpose. My anticipated power needs during an outage are quite small. Some 12v lighting (LED mostly), radios, a battery charger for the handhelds and thats about it. It wouldnt be too hard to draw up a list of requirements in terms of usage, pad it a bit, and match it to a small generator. A large generator, would of course, be nice but that demon money is always souring the sweetest intentions. With the exception of the freezer, almost all of my needs are DC rather than AC and are fairly small draw…so a bank of batteries charged from either house AC, solar panels, or a small generator might be the way to go.
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One of the LMI picked up a side-mount (mounts on the siderail) AK red dot sight. We're going to take it out and see how it does. I'll do some with/without shooting and see how much of a difference it makes. Stay tuned.
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I'm sure I'll have a longer (much longer) post on this subject later but one thing I've learned as far as preparedness goes  is that you cant learn just one thing as far as preparedness goes. Its a huuuuuuuuge skill set…just off the top of my head: compass skills, small unit tactics, first aid, sewing, radio theory and practice, rappeliing and ropework, plumbing, electrical, gun handling, carpentry, camping, hunting, fishing, computer skills, cryptography, map reading, spreadsheet usage, reloading, food preservation and canning, bicycle repair, fuel handling, urban survival skills, gardening, wilderness survival skills, organization, etc, etc, etc…and always logistics. Talk about being a well rounded individual….

Yeah, I know – whine, whine, whine.
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Was in the local sporting goods shop and found an LED replacement bulb assembly for the MinMag. Only $10. I love the MiniMag for its durability and wide availability. If I can get it to run using LED's and get the associated battery life then this may be a good ting indeed. Will probably pick it up in the next few days and give an evaluation of it here and on the website.

No lengthy post today. Its my day off and Im in the bunker doing inventory and straightening up.However, feel free to continue the Mormon flamewar a few posts back if youre bored.

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

No lengthy post today. Its my day off and Im in the bunker doing inventory and straightening up.However, feel free to continue the Mormon flamewar a few posts back if youre bored.

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

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.