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

“The first thing we revolutionaries lose is our wives. The last thing we lose is our lives. In between our women and our lives, we lose our freedom, our happiness, our means of living.” – Eden Pastora.
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Its a little odd, but of all the activities and forms of entertainment I could engage in, I find my Commander Zero activities to be the most relaxing.
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I want to point out that lately Ive been comparing various 'ballistic nylon' stuff (mag pouches, vests, gear pouches) etc. and noticed that the American-madeTactical Tailor stuff is, usually, the same price or cheaper than the Made-In-Vietnam Blackhawk gear. Obviously each company will have products that the other will not, but on the same (or very, very similar) items it seems TT has the edge. Now, some of you may not care where your stuff is made…and some of you may not care what your stuff costs…and thats perfectly cool. But, I take an interest in these things and figured I'd point it out.
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All is quiet in ZeroLand at the moment. That, of course, means nothing… The price of freedom is..uhm..is..eternal vigilance and a buttload of cash, it seems. I've got at least six pages of spreadsheets filled with things to buy and that does not include stuff that I already have and simply want more of (like ammo, food, etc, etc.)
On the other hand, I've come into some stupid bargains in gearing up for Ultima Thule:

• There was the time I took a nightwatchman gig for a sporting goods store and asked to be paid in store credit. Then used the credit to buy out their entire closeout inventory of #10 mountain house freezedrieds.
• The guy from WY who wanted to trade bullets for cases of current manufacture military MRE's
• Those fun parachute flares for $4
• 20mm, 40mm, 60mm and 120mm ammo cans for a few dollars each
• Closeout at CostCo on Baygen flashlights for $20/@
• The leftover kerlix bandage rolls from a very generous VA hospital
• etc. etc.

Point being that if youre patient, shop around and know what youre looking for then getting geared up isnt as expensive as it could be. Of course, there are also goodies and gear that are just going to be spendy no matter how you slice it (real estate, vehicles, gold, etc.)
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Website update with a Product Review of the Streamlight 4AA Propolymer Luxeon, for thos who are interested.

Being Commander Zero, or really, anyone who is into preparedness, puts you into the club of flashlight geeks. Like guns, no flashlight does it all….

And, thankfully, this post isnt going to be a long rant about my faves… mostly because I can imagine what the comment thread would look like. Forty comments of Streamlight vs. Maglite vs. SureFire vs. krypton vs. LED vs. rechargeable vs. alkaline vs. lithium….you get the idea.

Nope. Simply listing two products I am currently evaluating.

1) Streamlight 4AA PROPOLYMER® LUXEON® – I wanted a fairly affordable LED light that threw out a goodly amount of light, was all the usual -proofs (waterproof, shockproof, explosionproof, etc), and used common AA batts. Ive been quite pleased with this one. It sits in my TacTailor bag and I’ve been quite pleased with it.

2) Streamlight Clipmate – Realized we didnt have an LED light in the truck. Didnt really feel like spending $30 for another 4AA PL, and then I saw this thing. What I really like is that it has an alligator clip attachment mounted on a gimbal so you can clip the light to the vehicles visor and aim it wherever you need. Seemed like just the ticket. Runs on 3 AAA batts which I dont like since it goes against my “AA and D only” battery planning. But its a nice compact light that seems perfect for its intended use.

While putting this post together, I hit Streamlights website and looked around. Its real easy to think the flashlight world starts and stops with MagLite and SureFire but Streamline has some good products at good prices. Worth checking out.

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

Being Commander Zero, or really, anyone who is into preparedness, puts you into the club of flashlight geeks. Like guns, no flashlight does it all….

And, thankfully, this post isnt going to be a long rant about my faves… mostly because I can imagine what the comment thread would look like. Forty comments of Streamlight vs. Maglite vs. SureFire vs. krypton vs. LED vs. rechargeable vs. alkaline vs. lithium….you get the idea.

Nope. Simply listing two products I am currently evaluating.

1) Streamlight 4AA PROPOLYMER® LUXEON® – I wanted a fairly affordable LED light that threw out a goodly amount of light, was all the usual -proofs (waterproof, shockproof, explosionproof, etc), and used common AA batts. Ive been quite pleased with this one. It sits in my TacTailor bag and I've been quite pleased with it.

2) Streamlight Clipmate – Realized we didnt have an LED light in the truck. Didnt really feel like spending $30 for another 4AA PL, and then I saw this thing. What I really like is that it has an alligator clip attachment mounted on a gimbal so you can clip the light to the vehicles visor and aim it wherever you need. Seemed like just the ticket. Runs on 3 AAA batts which I dont like since it goes against my “AA and D only” battery planning. But its a nice compact light that seems perfect for its intended use.

While putting this post together, I hit Streamlights website and looked around. Its real easy to think the flashlight world starts and stops with MagLite and SureFire but Streamline has some good products at good prices. Worth checking out.

I dont believe anything I read, but this might be worth investigating if anyone is interested:
http://www.angelfire.com/ma/speedlimit/law.html 
According to this, any US military NBC gear made after 4/2003 is illegal for you to own.
Theres better gear available from commercial sources but the military stuff is alot easier to find on eBay.

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

I dont believe anything I read, but this might be worth investigating if anyone is interested:
http://www.angelfire.com/ma/speedlimit/law.html 
According to this, any US military NBC gear made after 4/2003 is illegal for you to own.
Theres better gear available from commercial sources but the military stuff is alot easier to find on eBay.

So I told the girlfriend to pack cold weather gear ‘just in case’ in gets nippy while she’s at gun camp. No one ever listens to the Zero. Needless to say, when she was at the range being cold in her vest and long underwear she came to appreciate the fact that I had thoughtfully left a flectar parka and liner stuffed in a drybag in the truckbox. I cant pat myself on the back too hard though…it occurs to me if I really had my Zero on, I would have included gloves, hat and neck gaiter in that drybag too. I’ll correct that deficiency later and chalk it up to the learning curve.
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Part of being Cmdr. Zero is being the ultimate in smart shoppers. Its no secret that preparing for [insert calamity of choice here] requires more than a few trips to CostCo, REI, Home Depot and WalMart. How to keep it all straight? Well, you gotta have lists. And more lists. And even more lists. I keep a small notebook in my Bag O’ Tricks ™ that has lists taken off of various spreadsheets. Thus, if I find myself in ALbertson’s with an extra $10 in my pocket I can consult my lists, see whats needed, and pick it up. The nice thing is it alos gives me a handy place for price comparisons. For example, if im at Sportsmans Warehouse and I happen to notice they have Coleman propane lanterns on sale but I dont have any cash at the moment, I can jot down the price and compare next time Im at, say, CostCo. Amazing how much you save that way. Spreadsheets are the best thing for the preparedness minded since the MRE and LED flashlights. I have about a dozen spreadsheets devoted to firearms, ammo, food, clothing, first aid stuff, bug out items, off-site caches, etc, etc. Hey, why dont I throw up an example…here

This particular example is a list of all the goodies that go with my Model 10 .38. Everything fits in a large ammo can so it all is stored in one place ready to be transported on a moments notice. Watertight, airtight, and outta sight. (Please dont comment with ‘hey, you forgot…’ this isnt a complete list and parts of it were not posted for opsec.)

Nice thing is, I print out this list in its smallest readable font, tuck it into my notebook, and next time Im at the gun show I can see what I need or dont need. Saves me time and, more importantly, money.

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

So I told the girlfriend to pack cold weather gear 'just in case' in gets nippy while she's at gun camp. No one ever listens to the Zero. Needless to say, when she was at the range being cold in her vest and long underwear she came to appreciate the fact that I had thoughtfully left a flectar parka and liner stuffed in a drybag in the truckbox. I cant pat myself on the back too hard though…it occurs to me if I really had my Zero on, I would have included gloves, hat and neck gaiter in that drybag too. I'll correct that deficiency later and chalk it up to the learning curve.
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Part of being Cmdr. Zero is being the ultimate in smart shoppers. Its no secret that preparing for [insert calamity of choice here] requires more than a few trips to CostCo, REI, Home Depot and WalMart. How to keep it all straight? Well, you gotta have lists. And more lists. And even more lists. I keep a small notebook in my Bag O' Tricks ™ that has lists taken off of various spreadsheets. Thus, if I find myself in ALbertson's with an extra $10 in my pocket I can consult my lists, see whats needed, and pick it up. The nice thing is it alos gives me a handy place for price comparisons. For example, if im at Sportsmans Warehouse and I happen to notice they have Coleman propane lanterns on sale but I dont have any cash at the moment, I can jot down the price and compare next time Im at, say, CostCo. Amazing how much you save that way. Spreadsheets are the best thing for the preparedness minded since the MRE and LED flashlights. I have about a dozen spreadsheets devoted to firearms, ammo, food, clothing, first aid stuff, bug out items, off-site caches, etc, etc. Hey, why dont I throw up an example…here

This particular example is a list of all the goodies that go with my Model 10 .38. Everything fits in a large ammo can so it all is stored in one place ready to be transported on a moments notice. Watertight, airtight, and outta sight. (Please dont comment with 'hey, you forgot…' this isnt a complete list and parts of it were not posted for opsec.)

Nice thing is, I print out this list in its smallest readable font, tuck it into my notebook, and next time Im at the gun show I can see what I need or dont need. Saves me time and, more importantly, money.

Picked up a pair of Motorola Talkabout Distance DPS 2-way radios the other day. I already had a couple small Motorola T5000 Talkabout FRS radios but their range was a bit lacking. The Distance radios, in addition to better range (2 watt) are tweakable to 5 watt. They run on a rechargable battery pack or you can swap out the battery pack for six AA batts. (The DPS stands for dual power source). I’d been wanting something with better range for a little while now. What I wanted them for was so that if Anything Bad happens and I had to go to the girlfriends workplace to retrieve her I could grab one radio and leave the other on the kitchen counter with a note saying I was going to get her. This way, if she makes it back home before me she can see that Ive left, pick up the radio and let me know she’s back at base and I can return. Thus, the criteria was that there had to be enough range to the radio to reach my place of work and her place of work. These radios do that. At some point someone is going to say “Hey Commander, why not just get a ham license and be done with it.” Well…good question. The simple answer is I dont feel the need to add my name and address to another fedgov list. Of course, if something Really Big happens the FCC is going to have alot more things to do rather than chase down someone with a 2-meter handheld who doesnt have a license. (And, of course, there is an exemption cases of ’emergency’.) Nonetheless, I do need to get involved in ham radio from the standpoint of knowing what sort of equipment, antannae and other goodies I’ll need to keep in touch with the various LMI. I currently have an ‘export’-type CB radio thats been modified(!) to operate on a few other bands and when I threw up a dipole ant. I was able to listen to stuff from as far as Michigan. While it would be nice to be able to communicate that far out, my immediate need would be the western half of Montana although it would be nice to have most of the Pac. NW within range. Every now and then I cruise eBay for milsurp PRC radios in various flavors. Military ruggedness has alot of appeal.
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Woke up this morning to a very unfamiliar electronic beeping noise. Hmmm. Got out of bed and glanced into the kitchen figuring that maybe it was the cel phone. Nope, but the emergency lighting in the kitchen was on. Power failure. Hmmm…but then why do I hear the whining of computer fans? Turns out the beeping was the UPS for the computers letting me know something was up. Shut down the computers just in time for the power to come back on. Figures. Moral of the story: UPS are neat. The rest of the house was, of course, just fine…power failure during daylight hours is barely an inconvenience. Nighttime is another story, though…regardless, its always nice to know that if the power goes out things are still gonna be just fine since we’ve prepared for this eventuality.
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Girlfriend is off at gun camp. She’s taking combat pistol, shotgun, rifle and ‘tactical’ [sniper] rifle courses this summer. Need to get her a rifle suitable for that last class. I’d let her use my CZ 308 but I think it might be too much gun for her. CZ makes a version in .223 that might be perfect for her though. Wouldnt mind having one for myself anyway.
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Reminds me…I sent her off with a case (1,000) of Fiocchi 9mm from our stores. Need to replace that next weekend.
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Global situations appear unchanged…the Chinese and North Koreans continue their activities. Terrorism threats remain fairly unchanged. The economy seems about the same. The only big change lately has been the unprecedented increase in gasoline prices. I fully expect that to be reflected in increased prices on goods that are trucked in (i.e. groceries).
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While Ive seen scads and scads of new manufacturer Glock mags on the market Ive not seen very many ‘norm cap’ mags made available for other guns such as my AR’s and P35. I really want some more of the Browning mags with the little ‘mousetrap’ spring in the bottom for easier ejection. Just need to hunt around, I guess. I’ve got about two dozen P35 mags but that needs to be split between two pistols. I’d like to have about 20 per gun. Ar mag situation isnt bad, but I’d very much like another forty or so. AK mags have never been a problem finding, even during the ban, at a reasonable price.

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

Picked up a pair of Motorola Talkabout Distance DPS 2-way radios the other day. I already had a couple small Motorola T5000 Talkabout FRS radios but their range was a bit lacking. The Distance radios, in addition to better range (2 watt) are tweakable to 5 watt. They run on a rechargable battery pack or you can swap out the battery pack for six AA batts. (The DPS stands for dual power source). I'd been wanting something with better range for a little while now. What I wanted them for was so that if Anything Bad happens and I had to go to the girlfriends workplace to retrieve her I could grab one radio and leave the other on the kitchen counter with a note saying I was going to get her. This way, if she makes it back home before me she can see that Ive left, pick up the radio and let me know she's back at base and I can return. Thus, the criteria was that there had to be enough range to the radio to reach my place of work and her place of work. These radios do that. At some point someone is going to say “Hey Commander, why not just get a ham license and be done with it.” Well…good question. The simple answer is I dont feel the need to add my name and address to another fedgov list. Of course, if something Really Big happens the FCC is going to have alot more things to do rather than chase down someone with a 2-meter handheld who doesnt have a license. (And, of course, there is an exemption cases of 'emergency'.) Nonetheless, I do need to get involved in ham radio from the standpoint of knowing what sort of equipment, antannae and other goodies I'll need to keep in touch with the various LMI. I currently have an 'export'-type CB radio thats been modified(!) to operate on a few other bands and when I threw up a dipole ant. I was able to listen to stuff from as far as Michigan. While it would be nice to be able to communicate that far out, my immediate need would be the western half of Montana although it would be nice to have most of the Pac. NW within range. Every now and then I cruise eBay for milsurp PRC radios in various flavors. Military ruggedness has alot of appeal.
=====
Woke up this morning to a very unfamiliar electronic beeping noise. Hmmm. Got out of bed and glanced into the kitchen figuring that maybe it was the cel phone. Nope, but the emergency lighting in the kitchen was on. Power failure. Hmmm…but then why do I hear the whining of computer fans? Turns out the beeping was the UPS for the computers letting me know something was up. Shut down the computers just in time for the power to come back on. Figures. Moral of the story: UPS are neat. The rest of the house was, of course, just fine…power failure during daylight hours is barely an inconvenience. Nighttime is another story, though…regardless, its always nice to know that if the power goes out things are still gonna be just fine since we've prepared for this eventuality.
=====
Girlfriend is off at gun camp. She's taking combat pistol, shotgun, rifle and 'tactical' [sniper] rifle courses this summer. Need to get her a rifle suitable for that last class. I'd let her use my CZ 308 but I think it might be too much gun for her. CZ makes a version in .223 that might be perfect for her though. Wouldnt mind having one for myself anyway.
=====
Reminds me…I sent her off with a case (1,000) of Fiocchi 9mm from our stores. Need to replace that next weekend.
=====
Global situations appear unchanged…the Chinese and North Koreans continue their activities. Terrorism threats remain fairly unchanged. The economy seems about the same. The only big change lately has been the unprecedented increase in gasoline prices. I fully expect that to be reflected in increased prices on goods that are trucked in (i.e. groceries).
=====
While Ive seen scads and scads of new manufacturer Glock mags on the market Ive not seen very many 'norm cap' mags made available for other guns such as my AR's and P35. I really want some more of the Browning mags with the little 'mousetrap' spring in the bottom for easier ejection. Just need to hunt around, I guess. I've got about two dozen P35 mags but that needs to be split between two pistols. I'd like to have about 20 per gun. Ar mag situation isnt bad, but I'd very much like another forty or so. AK mags have never been a problem finding, even during the ban, at a reasonable price.

Well now….

Interesting idea.