” ’68 Kaiser M715 1-1/4T Jeep, with trailer, $1000 o.b.o”

Hmmmmmm…I bet even if it wasnt running you could part it out and get your $1000 back in a hurry. And who knows, maybe its a military trailer too.

If I had anywhere near $1000 I’d call on it.

C’est la vie.
=====
Hey, Carnival of Cordite is up and the girlfriend is mentioned about a half-dozen times in there. Im getting collateral fame.
=====
You know, I really like the Browning-designed guns … esp. the P35 and 1911. But Im open-minded enough to realize that innovation in design and materials didnt come to a halt after 1935. This is why I’ve come to like the Glocks. I love the 1911 and P35, but I like the Glock. My problem is that the Glock has no soul, personality or character. Its the difference between a Zippo and a Bic. One’s got more substance, history and color and the other is cheap, utilitarian, but efficient.

For the Katrina-environ I would unflinchingly take the Glock in pretty much any caliber. It can get wet, stomped on, dropped, banged around and work every time…but more importantly, I won’t care. I’f I’m navigating a flooded dark stairwell the last thing I need is a nagging voice in the back of my head saying “Aw man, youre going to have to clean that 1911 and oil it up or its going to rust.” whereas with the Glock you just. dont. care.

And, naturally, its as reliable as a sunrise.
=====
Speaking of Carnival of Cordite, they had the staple question that gets asked on every preparedness forum from time to time – ‘Whats Your Ideal Survival battery of Guns’ or some similar phrasing. Now, you and I both know that one size doesnt fit all. Some guns are better for sneaking past military checkpoints, some are better for stopping automobiles and some are better for their portability. Some are long range, some are short range. One size doesnt fit all. Having said that, Im going to say that if it were me sitting out the aftermath of Katrina I’d probably have my Glock, a pumpgun, a snubbie .38(or a micro version of my other Glock) and either the AR or the AK. From a real-life standpoint, though, you’d probably be just fine with a 10/22 and a bunch of 25-rd mags. Most thugs get dissuaded pretty easily when twenty rounds are loosed at them, regardless of caliber, in a few seconds.
=====
The girlfriend has been brushing up on her ham radio stuff. My knowledge of radio theory and practice is shamefull. I do admit to a small fascination with Morse/CW because of its low power/long distance ability. I do have what we used to call an ‘export radio’ in the bunker. Export radios were regular CB-type radios meant for export to countries with different regulations than ours. They were easily (and I mean, reallly, really, easily) modified to work on other bands. Case in point, the one I have does the 11-meter that the CB is relegated to and then it does 10-meter as well as a couple others. Also USB/LSB and a few other goodies. I picked it up pre-Y2K on eBay for about $150. Whoever used to own it tweaked it in some interesting ways. I still need to get a good antanae for it..I originally just got some wire to length and hung a diploe in my yard and ran it off a charged marine battery. I never transmitted on it but I could hear quite well and sometimes at night could hear as far as Michigan. Given the enthusiasm of the geriatric ham crowd to bring in new blood, maybe I should look into this more. Girlfriend has ordered up “Ham Radio For Dummies” and that’ll be a good place to start. I also have the Tech No Code Plus book sitting here.
=====
I received a disc in the mail containing a bunch of stuff from “Backwoods Home Magazine”. There was an article on ‘cooking with food storage’ and some of it actually sounds pretty good and will be attemtped soon. For those interested, some recipes:
Oriental chicken fried rice
Fried tuna patties
Tamale Pie

Cut for length

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

” '68 Kaiser M715 1-1/4T Jeep, with trailer, $1000 o.b.o”

Hmmmmmm…I bet even if it wasnt running you could part it out and get your $1000 back in a hurry. And who knows, maybe its a military trailer too.

If I had anywhere near $1000 I'd call on it.

C'est la vie.
=====
Hey, Carnival of Cordite is up and the girlfriend is mentioned about a half-dozen times in there. Im getting collateral fame.
=====
You know, I really like the Browning-designed guns … esp. the P35 and 1911. But Im open-minded enough to realize that innovation in design and materials didnt come to a halt after 1935. This is why I've come to like the Glocks. I love the 1911 and P35, but I like the Glock. My problem is that the Glock has no soul, personality or character. Its the difference between a Zippo and a Bic. One's got more substance, history and color and the other is cheap, utilitarian, but efficient.

For the Katrina-environ I would unflinchingly take the Glock in pretty much any caliber. It can get wet, stomped on, dropped, banged around and work every time…but more importantly, I won't care. I'f I'm navigating a flooded dark stairwell the last thing I need is a nagging voice in the back of my head saying “Aw man, youre going to have to clean that 1911 and oil it up or its going to rust.” whereas with the Glock you just. dont. care.

And, naturally, its as reliable as a sunrise.
=====
Speaking of Carnival of Cordite, they had the staple question that gets asked on every preparedness forum from time to time – 'Whats Your Ideal Survival battery of Guns' or some similar phrasing. Now, you and I both know that one size doesnt fit all. Some guns are better for sneaking past military checkpoints, some are better for stopping automobiles and some are better for their portability. Some are long range, some are short range. One size doesnt fit all. Having said that, Im going to say that if it were me sitting out the aftermath of Katrina I'd probably have my Glock, a pumpgun, a snubbie .38(or a micro version of my other Glock) and either the AR or the AK. From a real-life standpoint, though, you'd probably be just fine with a 10/22 and a bunch of 25-rd mags. Most thugs get dissuaded pretty easily when twenty rounds are loosed at them, regardless of caliber, in a few seconds.
=====
The girlfriend has been brushing up on her ham radio stuff. My knowledge of radio theory and practice is shamefull. I do admit to a small fascination with Morse/CW because of its low power/long distance ability. I do have what we used to call an 'export radio' in the bunker. Export radios were regular CB-type radios meant for export to countries with different regulations than ours. They were easily (and I mean, reallly, really, easily) modified to work on other bands. Case in point, the one I have does the 11-meter that the CB is relegated to and then it does 10-meter as well as a couple others. Also USB/LSB and a few other goodies. I picked it up pre-Y2K on eBay for about $150. Whoever used to own it tweaked it in some interesting ways. I still need to get a good antanae for it..I originally just got some wire to length and hung a diploe in my yard and ran it off a charged marine battery. I never transmitted on it but I could hear quite well and sometimes at night could hear as far as Michigan. Given the enthusiasm of the geriatric ham crowd to bring in new blood, maybe I should look into this more. Girlfriend has ordered up “Ham Radio For Dummies” and that'll be a good place to start. I also have the Tech No Code Plus book sitting here.
=====
I received a disc in the mail containing a bunch of stuff from “Backwoods Home Magazine”. There was an article on 'cooking with food storage' and some of it actually sounds pretty good and will be attemtped soon. For those interested, some recipes:
Oriental chicken fried rice
Fried tuna patties
Tamale Pie

Oriental chicken fried rice
2 cups cooked white rice, cooled
½ cup finely diced onions (you may substitute
rehydrated dry)
¼ cup rehydrated freeze dried or air dried green
peas
1 cup rehydrated shredded carrots (or fresh)
¼ cup oil or shortening
1 Tbsp. peanut butter
½ cup chopped cooked chicken
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 eggs, equivalent in dehydrated egg powder
Spices to taste, including garlic, tumeric, hot
pepper
In a large, heavy frying pan, heat oil. Add rice, onions,
chicken, and carrots. Stir frequently with spatula until
rice begins to lightly brown. Add peanut butter (no, it
doesn’t taste “weird”), soy sauce, peas, and spices.
Continue stirring while flavors mix. As rice mixture
appears to be done, quickly add beaten egg mixture
and continue stirring with spatula until egg is cooked.
Serve at once with soy sauce, sweet and sour sauce, or
hot mustard sauce.
=====
Tamale pie
½ cup cornmeal
½ cup white flour or freshly ground whole wheat
flour
¼ cup honey or white sugar
¼ cup shortening
1 egg (equivalent in dry egg powder, rehydrated)
1 cup rehydrated dry milk (+ or -)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
½ cup cooked hamburger (I use home canned) or
beef TVP
2 cups tomato sauce
½ cup dry chopped onions
¼ cup dry chopped green peppers or chile
peppers
2 tsp. mild chile powder
¼ cup dry sweet corn or ½ cup canned corn
Mix first eight ingredients well, making a medium bat-ter
(not runny or not stiff). Then in medium sized cast
iron frying pan or 8 x 8 cake pan, mix the last six ingre-dients
well, then top with cornmeal batter. Bake at 350
degrees until top turns golden brown. Serve hot with
cold salsa.
=====
Fried tuna patties
2 cans light tuna, drained
1 cup crushed dried bread crumbs
¼ cup dehydrated onion flakes
3 eggs, rehydrated equivalent
½ tsp. lemon pepper
flour to coat patties
oil to fry
Mix drained tuna, bread crumbs, egg, onion flakes,
and lemon pepper. Divide into golf ball-sized portions,
pat into patties, dip both sides in flour. Heat oil to medi-um
heat and gently place patties into frying pan. After
one side is done, turn and finish cooking. This is a quick
and easy alternative to “fish sticks.”

Hmm…one of these is for sale in the local paper today:

Interesting……

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

Hmm…one of these is for sale in the local paper today:

Interesting……

You know, some folks may have some ‘problems’ with Mormons but if you read this church bulletin, graciously provided by saintswife, you can see that these people seriously have their stuff together. Seriously.

I was going to pull out some highlights but, really, it would have just been reposting the whole article. These people really have a handle on their situation. Organization, command and control, nationwide resources, etc, etc. Gotta admire that sort of organizational discipline.

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

You know, some folks may have some 'problems' with Mormons but if you read this church bulletin, graciously provided by , you can see that these people seriously have their stuff together. Seriously.

I was going to pull out some highlights but, really, it would have just been reposting the whole article. These people really have a handle on their situation. Organization, command and control, nationwide resources, etc, etc. Gotta admire that sort of organizational discipline.

The top item on the list of ‘wants’ for Katrina survivors, right after drinking water, is fuel. (And by fuel, I’m going with the definition of ‘a consumable product for production of energy (light, heat, etc) through combustion or burning). Narrowing it further – gasoline.

I originally had a few 5-gallon gas cans but after reading about how in New Orleans if you had some gasoline you could pretty much name your price on whatever you wanted, I’ve decided a few smaller 1- and 2-gallon containers would be prudent for ‘making change’ in a transaction. Naturally, they are also easier to transport. The small plastic ones are about $3 ea. at Super WallyWorld. I’m a believer in metal cans for long-term storage and plastic containers for short term use or transport. Plastic cans dont do nearly as much damage sliding around the back of a truck as a stack of metal ones. However, plastic cans are a bit more porous than metal ones when it comes to various off-gassing of ethers and other elements of gasoline that break down and become vapors. At least, thats what I read. (Interestingly, I also read that PRI-G (not Sta-Bil) will restore this compromised fuel back to good as new. Interesting.)

Speaking of transport, in case you didnt know, the ubiquitous and relatively cheap ALICE pack is designed to carry 5-gallon fuel cans (as well as other flat and heavy objects) by use of the ALICE frame and a cargo shelf. Brigade Quartermaster is closing out cargo shelves for $3 apiece, which means buying five of them won’t break the bank. ALICE frames and shoulderstraps can be had from pretty much every military surplus website as well as most gunshows. Im the first to admit that ALICE packs are not the most comfortable pack you can buy but they are cheap, already in a good subdued color, are fairly rugged and multitask for different carrying styles and loads. So, next time youre sitting on your mountain bike, waiting in a gas line, you can strap that jerrycan to your back and transport it wherever it needs to go with far more ease than trying to ride your bike one handed while balancing a 40# fuel can with the other. (Might wanna think about a cloth cover of some kind for the jerrycan in case youre worried about looters coming after your butt because you’ve got 5-gallons of gas strapped to you. And, no, a gunshot wont ignite it….they exhaustively disproved that one on ‘Mythbusters’.)

Naturally, a five-gallon can of diesel or drinking water can also be carried in such a manner. Think about it next time you think you might have to transport a large quantity of fuel or water on foot, bicycle, horseback or motorcycle.
=====
The girlfriend has apparently found an admirer in ‘Patriots’ author James Rawles. He mentioned in an email to her that he reads her LJ. I’m terribly amused.
=====
Speaking of fuel cans, if you hit the Blitz USA website ( www.blitzusa.com ) you can see they manufacture plastic five-gallon (and larger) containers with the correct color codings for diesel, gasoline, kerosene and water. (What, you didnt know theyre color coded? Yup..usually its red for gas, yellow for diesel and blue for kero…and water-blue for, you guessed it, water.) They also make a very interesting product (their part #11050)..a ten-gallon ‘fuel station’…basically a cylindrical 10-gallon tank with hose and spigot just like a gas pump. Gravity feed but looks like a nice option to have mounted in your truck or garage for fueling vehicles in an easier manner than manhandling a 40# jerrycan.
=====
Speaking of PRI-G, my UPS droid just dropped off a package containing, surprise, a 32 oz. jug of the stuff. Out. Of. The. Blue. (From ‘Survival Unlimited.Com’ out of Gonzales LA…you remember Louisiana, right? Its the state where New Orleans used to be.)
Remember in the previous post I mentioned what a tremendous boon it is to have a bunker babe who shares your interests and desire to prepare for the uncertain future? Well, apparently she hopped on the interwebnet and ordered a jug o’ the stuff for yours truly. And told me nothing about it. Which is why I’m saying nothing about it. She’ll find out that it arrived as soon as she reads this.

Seriously, is she cool or what? And am I one seriously undeserving paranoiac or what?

Her birthday is in four weeks. I better get it right.
=====
I wonder how the Mormons in Louisiana (or anywhere in the hurricane region, for that matter) made out. Anyone have any links or articles? I’d do a search for “mormon hurricane” but it would probably come back with a Salt Lake City high school basketball team.

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

The top item on the list of 'wants' for Katrina survivors, right after drinking water, is fuel. (And by fuel, I'm going with the definition of 'a consumable product for production of energy (light, heat, etc) through combustion or burning). Narrowing it further – gasoline.

I originally had a few 5-gallon gas cans but after reading about how in New Orleans if you had some gasoline you could pretty much name your price on whatever you wanted, I've decided a few smaller 1- and 2-gallon containers would be prudent for 'making change' in a transaction. Naturally, they are also easier to transport. The small plastic ones are about $3 ea. at Super WallyWorld. I'm a believer in metal cans for long-term storage and plastic containers for short term use or transport. Plastic cans dont do nearly as much damage sliding around the back of a truck as a stack of metal ones. However, plastic cans are a bit more porous than metal ones when it comes to various off-gassing of ethers and other elements of gasoline that break down and become vapors. At least, thats what I read. (Interestingly, I also read that PRI-G (not Sta-Bil) will restore this compromised fuel back to good as new. Interesting.)

Speaking of transport, in case you didnt know, the ubiquitous and relatively cheap ALICE pack is designed to carry 5-gallon fuel cans (as well as other flat and heavy objects) by use of the ALICE frame and a cargo shelf. Brigade Quartermaster is closing out cargo shelves for $3 apiece, which means buying five of them won't break the bank. ALICE frames and shoulderstraps can be had from pretty much every military surplus website as well as most gunshows. Im the first to admit that ALICE packs are not the most comfortable pack you can buy but they are cheap, already in a good subdued color, are fairly rugged and multitask for different carrying styles and loads. So, next time youre sitting on your mountain bike, waiting in a gas line, you can strap that jerrycan to your back and transport it wherever it needs to go with far more ease than trying to ride your bike one handed while balancing a 40# fuel can with the other. (Might wanna think about a cloth cover of some kind for the jerrycan in case youre worried about looters coming after your butt because you've got 5-gallons of gas strapped to you. And, no, a gunshot wont ignite it….they exhaustively disproved that one on 'Mythbusters'.)

Naturally, a five-gallon can of diesel or drinking water can also be carried in such a manner. Think about it next time you think you might have to transport a large quantity of fuel or water on foot, bicycle, horseback or motorcycle.
=====
The girlfriend has apparently found an admirer in 'Patriots' author James Rawles. He mentioned in an email to her that he reads her LJ. I'm terribly amused.
=====
Speaking of fuel cans, if you hit the Blitz USA website ( www.blitzusa.com ) you can see they manufacture plastic five-gallon (and larger) containers with the correct color codings for diesel, gasoline, kerosene and water. (What, you didnt know theyre color coded? Yup..usually its red for gas, yellow for diesel and blue for kero…and water-blue for, you guessed it, water.) They also make a very interesting product (their part #11050)..a ten-gallon 'fuel station'…basically a cylindrical 10-gallon tank with hose and spigot just like a gas pump. Gravity feed but looks like a nice option to have mounted in your truck or garage for fueling vehicles in an easier manner than manhandling a 40# jerrycan.
=====
Speaking of PRI-G, my UPS droid just dropped off a package containing, surprise, a 32 oz. jug of the stuff. Out. Of. The. Blue. (From 'Survival Unlimited.Com' out of Gonzales LA…you remember Louisiana, right? Its the state where New Orleans used to be.)
Remember in the previous post I mentioned what a tremendous boon it is to have a bunker babe who shares your interests and desire to prepare for the uncertain future? Well, apparently she hopped on the interwebnet and ordered a jug o' the stuff for yours truly. And told me nothing about it. Which is why I'm saying nothing about it. She'll find out that it arrived as soon as she reads this.

Seriously, is she cool or what? And am I one seriously undeserving paranoiac or what?

Her birthday is in four weeks. I better get it right.
=====
I wonder how the Mormons in Louisiana (or anywhere in the hurricane region, for that matter) made out. Anyone have any links or articles? I'd do a search for “mormon hurricane” but it would probably come back with a Salt Lake City high school basketball team.

Man, every day its something new out of the Katrina incident.

Are you tired of me going on about it yet, ’cause I sure am.

BUT…enormous incidents like these don’t come along very often, so when one does occur, giving us a chance to see our fine government agencies in action, its definitely worth an exhaustive examination.

To people like me (and maybe you) who have kept one foot planted firmly in the notion of preparedness for the last ten years or so this experience shows what we’ve been saying all along – in a truly large, massive crisis the government response will either be a) useless and inadequate and/or b) heavy-handed authoritarianism mixed with a healthy dose of the police state. And, ladies and gentlemen, I have been dismissed as a crackpot for saying such things in the past. Do I feel vindicated? Sure. More importantly I hope that these events have tipped people off the fence and solidly into the ‘my safety and welfare is my own responsibility, not the governments’ camp.

Mostly, I hope that people have learned that the police aren’t there to help you in a crisis nearly as much as they are there to help themselves…and that people will prepare with this in mind.

I’d also like to take a moment to say that not every single cop is a thug, wanna-be tough guy, or picked-on kid who grew up to want to be a bully himself. Nah, Im sure there are a very few out there who realize that being a cop doesnt make them better than the citizenry theyre charged with protecting. Very few. To them, I hope their good work is noted and that they can distance themselves from their ‘respect mah authority’ co-workers…at least, distance themselves far enough to avoid the spatter.

I have this fantasy about starting a website listing every NOPD officers name and listing whether or not they showed up for work during Katrina, if they were caught on tape looting, or if they just turned and ran. Then I’d use this website to keep track of them and make sure that every time they went to apply with another agency, their bad deeds were brought to light. Why? Because if you have the power to take away someones civil rights than you had bloody well better be a Boy Scout or else you should be strung up from the nearest telephone pole.

end of rant
=====
Know what makes preparing for the apocalypse alot easier? Having someone close to you who a) doesnt think youre out of your mind, b) takes an interest, c) encourages through positive comments like “You know, Ireally love that you [stockpile food, store extra fuel, buy toilet paper in the 48 pack, etc]..it makes me feel safe”, d) all of the above.

I read alot of things in the various boards about how “I’m trying to explain to my (wife/husband) why we need to stock up on [item] and all they do is say Im wasting time and money!” and I’m so glad I dont have to deal with that. I also enjoy knowing that if Im away and theres a problem, she’s got all of the resources on hand to keep things safe and sane.

So…lucky me.
=====
I was watching some footage from someplace other than Louisiana where a whole town was, literally, wiped away. Serious. Nothing but concrete pads where all the little houses and shops were. Which naturally gets me wondering what kind of structure you could build to resist something like that. All Im coming up with is a streamlined concrete structure of some type. Did I mention my latest brainstorm for fabricating your own durable, easy-and-fast-to-build concrete sheds, outbuildings and dog kennels? No? Okay, follow me on this: get a mold and make concrete Lego blocks.

Seriously, man!

Think about it a minute. You make some moulds to cast a block thats, oh, say 12x12x18. Then you just stack ’em however you want in whatever configuration you want. Then trowel over the whole thing with some more concrete. Presto! Instant concrete building. How is it different from cinder blocks? Cause these babies lock together in a fashion that helps to keep them from pulling apart or tipping over. Sure, you’ll probably want some rebar here and there but think of the simple and expedient buildings you could make. Reatining walls! Curbs! Horse stalls! Machinegun nests! Driveway dividers! Wave of the future, my friends…. completely modular.

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

Man, every day its something new out of the Katrina incident.

Are you tired of me going on about it yet, 'cause I sure am.

BUT…enormous incidents like these don't come along very often, so when one does occur, giving us a chance to see our fine government agencies in action, its definitely worth an exhaustive examination.

To people like me (and maybe you) who have kept one foot planted firmly in the notion of preparedness for the last ten years or so this experience shows what we've been saying all along – in a truly large, massive crisis the government response will either be a) useless and inadequate and/or b) heavy-handed authoritarianism mixed with a healthy dose of the police state. And, ladies and gentlemen, I have been dismissed as a crackpot for saying such things in the past. Do I feel vindicated? Sure. More importantly I hope that these events have tipped people off the fence and solidly into the 'my safety and welfare is my own responsibility, not the governments' camp.

Mostly, I hope that people have learned that the police aren't there to help you in a crisis nearly as much as they are there to help themselves…and that people will prepare with this in mind.

I'd also like to take a moment to say that not every single cop is a thug, wanna-be tough guy, or picked-on kid who grew up to want to be a bully himself. Nah, Im sure there are a very few out there who realize that being a cop doesnt make them better than the citizenry theyre charged with protecting. Very few. To them, I hope their good work is noted and that they can distance themselves from their 'respect mah authority' co-workers…at least, distance themselves far enough to avoid the spatter.

I have this fantasy about starting a website listing every NOPD officers name and listing whether or not they showed up for work during Katrina, if they were caught on tape looting, or if they just turned and ran. Then I'd use this website to keep track of them and make sure that every time they went to apply with another agency, their bad deeds were brought to light. Why? Because if you have the power to take away someones civil rights than you had bloody well better be a Boy Scout or else you should be strung up from the nearest telephone pole.

end of rant
=====
Know what makes preparing for the apocalypse alot easier? Having someone close to you who a) doesnt think youre out of your mind, b) takes an interest, c) encourages through positive comments like “You know, Ireally love that you [stockpile food, store extra fuel, buy toilet paper in the 48 pack, etc]..it makes me feel safe”, d) all of the above.

I read alot of things in the various boards about how “I'm trying to explain to my (wife/husband) why we need to stock up on [item] and all they do is say Im wasting time and money!” and I'm so glad I dont have to deal with that. I also enjoy knowing that if Im away and theres a problem, she's got all of the resources on hand to keep things safe and sane.

So…lucky me.
=====
I was watching some footage from someplace other than Louisiana where a whole town was, literally, wiped away. Serious. Nothing but concrete pads where all the little houses and shops were. Which naturally gets me wondering what kind of structure you could build to resist something like that. All Im coming up with is a streamlined concrete structure of some type. Did I mention my latest brainstorm for fabricating your own durable, easy-and-fast-to-build concrete sheds, outbuildings and dog kennels? No? Okay, follow me on this: get a mold and make concrete Lego blocks.

Seriously, man!

Think about it a minute. You make some moulds to cast a block thats, oh, say 12×12×18. Then you just stack 'em however you want in whatever configuration you want. Then trowel over the whole thing with some more concrete. Presto! Instant concrete building. How is it different from cinder blocks? Cause these babies lock together in a fashion that helps to keep them from pulling apart or tipping over. Sure, you'll probably want some rebar here and there but think of the simple and expedient buildings you could make. Reatining walls! Curbs! Horse stalls! Machinegun nests! Driveway dividers! Wave of the future, my friends…. completely modular.