Author Archives: Commander Zero

Article – How Did the Swiss Army Knife Become the Original Multitool?

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It has been 125 years since Karl Elsener had the Officers’ and Sports Knife patented, and although the main manufacturer, Victorinox Société Anonyme, has expanded its line of cutlery and tools to about 400, the original has not changed much — and is still a bestseller.

One of the best gifts I got as a kid was a Swiss Army knife, often abbreviated as SAK. And, until the advent of the Leatherman, and subsequent ‘multitools’, the SAK was the constant companion of savvy survivalists. I doubt MacGuyver could have pulled off half the shenanigans he did without one.

But, times change. The SAK is still a classy and elegant pocket tool that is not out of place in todays world. However, it has been eclipsed in funtionality, in m opinion, by the recent crop of multitools.

When I carry a multitool, its usually a Leatherman Wave that was gifted to me years ago. What can I say, I’m a sentimentalist. But since then there have been advancements in design that make todays multitools even more useful.

Just because there’s some new and gadget-ier multitool on the market doesn’t mean your old ones are useless. I have a first gen Leatherman that I relegate to backup status for vehicle use.

They make awesome gifts, and they are genuinely handy objects for everyday use…no need to wait for an apocalypse to get your moneys worth outta one of these things. I prefer the Leatherman brand, but there are other brands that seem to have some good features too.

For me, the only drawback is that i prefer to carry mine in my pocket and that chews up pants pretty quick. I don’t like crowding my belt like I’m Batman or something, so I prefer not to use a belt-mounted pouch. I just try to rotate from pocket to pocket to delay the inevitable.

But..as I said, great gift items those SAK’s and multitools. If you’re ever unsure what to get me for Paratus…there’s your clue.

Articles on nuclear survival and Nukemap

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“Shattered people are best represented by bits and pieces.”
― Rainer Maria Rilke

And nothing shatters like atoms getting smashed overhead. As of late it seems that the media is warming us up to the possibility of nuclear war. This is silly because, really, ever since 1945 nuclear war has always been a possibility…its just that some times it was more likely than others.

Two articles that popped up on my feeds:

The notion that a nuclear attack is unsurvivable is demonstrably false. There are people who survived the nuking of Japan who were literally only a few hundred yards from ground zero when the bomb went off. To be fair, they were, I believe, in a heavily fortified bank vault, but the point is that with appropriate protection you could have a nuke dropped nearby and still make it out. I wouldn’t recommend it, but it is survivable.

But, of course, the number one rule of surviving any disaster is: don’t be there. Don’t live where nukes are likely to be dropped. Being fifty miles away from any major target area isnt a bad idea.

Curious how you’d fare? Hit Nukemap, select your closest likely target area, drop a good sized nuke on it, and see how your area would fare. Great Falls is a likely target but according to the simulator, even the biggest bomb Putin has would still leave my region safe from immediate blast damage. Windborne fallout, of course, is a different story.

But…in case you havent given consideration to nuclear stuff, you might want to read the articles and play with the simulator.

Right Place, Right Time II

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So, yeah, it was a good deal at WinCo yesterday on chicken. A really good deal. And WinCo is one half of my weekend grocery shopping…the other half being CostCo. And CostCo had a nice chicken andouille sausage available that I like. And I picked up my weekly bag of frozen shrimp for the quick shrimp scampi that I enjoy for dinner. Hmmm….Chicken, andouille, and shrimp…..that can only mean one thing: etouffee or jambalaya, depending on your adherence to Cajun canon.

Regardless, it was yummy and will be a nice dish when winter finally sets in here. In case anyone cares:

  • 1 green pepper, diced
  • 1 onion, diced
  • a few stalks of celery, diced
  • Chicken
  • Sausage
  • Shrimp
  • Bay leaves
  • 2 tsp thyme
  • Salt/pepper
  • Tabasco
  • Bacon drippings
  • 15 oz. crushed tomatoes
  • 6 clove garlic
  • 15 oz tomato sauce
  • 2 cups water

You should be able to figure out the rest from there.

I did cook the shrimp separately and added them at the last couple minutes of the process so to avoid overcooking them. Other than that, its pretty straightforward. I liked a thicker finished product, so I reduced it more than I probably should have. If I exclude the shrimp, theres nothing in here that won’t pressure can nicely into jars for later off-the-shelf use.

 

Right place, right time

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As you may recall, around the beginning of this year I was able to head up to WinCo and purchase boneless/skinless for a reasonable $1.98/#. And then Bidenflation started its magic and the price slowly crept up to an amazing overnight $0.60/# price increase.

But, my favorite animal protein is chicken…its versatile and goes with everything. So..I buy. And during today’s trip to WinCo I beheld this:

Well then….time to enter Survivalist Mode. First thing was to grab a bunch for myself. I mean, it isn’t like availability and pricing are going to be getting better, right? (Although the more literal minded of you will point out that, yes, the price did, in fact, go down. But…thats a sale, man. A temporary lull.)

Second step, take a picture and alert the local LMI that it’s an opportunity to stock up. And, my freinds, that is one of the advantages to having a small group of like-minded individuals as friends – when one finds something thats useful he can alert the others to the deal.

And this is why I always leave room in the budget for serendipitous things like this. Unfortunately, I don’t always leave room in the freezer….so, its back to freezer Tetris as I try and stuff a not inconsequential amount of chicken away for that upcoming rainy day.

By the way, meat wasn’t even on my shopping list. But I always take a pass through the meat department to keep on top of things like this. Good habit to get into.

Article – Judge blocks federal law banning possession of firearms with serial number removed

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CNN  —  A federal judge in West Virginia has invalidated part of a federal law that prohibits the possession of a firearm with an “altered obliterated, or removed” serial number, citing the Supreme Court’s recent decision that demands a historical review of gun laws to determine their constitutionality.
“Firearms with no serial number are just as ‘bearable’ as the same firearm with a serial number,” Judge Joseph Goodwin said in his opinion Wednesday, though he acknowledged that guns missing serial numbers “are likely to be used in violent crime.”
The court’s decision is the latest to reflect how far reaching the Supreme Court has opened up new legal challenges to federal, state and local gun control laws nationwide.
This is interesting on a very big level. How do you track firearms to/from specific people without serial numbers? While .gov will continue to try to restrict guns (and mags) at the entry point into the general public through bans, licensing, registration, etc. once that gun has entered public circulation and it has it’s number removed it is now as free as a bird. There are some interesting consequences as far as the ability to enact effective control.
Many people don’t know that it was only within this lifetime that guns were required to have serial numbers. Until 1968 you didn’t have to have a serial number on shotguns and .22 rifles. In fact, you can probably find a serial-less .22 in almost any gun store’s used rack. I’ve had plenty of ancient .22 rifles that lacked serial numbers, and a couple little .410’s as well.
Regardless of whether this serial number episode has any effect on gun freedoms, it is interesting to see how the winds are changing in regards to guns. But even if something is ruled unconstitutional, it can still take years…decades…to wind through the court. So don’t stop buying those mags and AR lowers just yet.

Article – Prepare for the Butter Shortage

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Brace yourself for bad news: It looks like we might be heading for a butter shortage, and the timing couldn’t be worse for holiday bakers. FOX Business reports that butter sitting in cold storage facilities amounts to just over 282 million pounds as of August of this year. That sounds like a lot, but it’s significantly down from the amount stored during the same period in 2021, which was over 362 million pounds

Here are a few of the problems plaguing our nation’s butter supply:

Yet another piece telling us that something will be (or is) in short supply and that we had best be ready for it.

It’s funny, I don’t recall this many articles about this sort of thing before January 2021.

Butter is awesome. Let’s face it, everything tastes better with it. Fortunately, it freezes rather well and I keep about 20# in the freezer at all times. The more astute will recall that ghee will provide butter flavor without needing the freezing/refrigeration of regular butter. And, the truly thoughtful, will have cases of Red Feather sitting in their bunker….just in case.

I haven’t seen any problems walking into CostCo and walking out with as much butter as I want, but perhaps I should bump up the house supply. Even if there isnt an availability issue the price certainly isnt going to go down.

And, yeah, bacon grease can be used for a lot of the things that I like to use butter for when it comes to cooking….but, there’s still alot of things out there that just arent the same without nice melted butter on them.

Staying focused

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In Heinlein’s “Starship Troopers” one of the characters muses how civilians think things are ‘at peace’ because no one they know is involved in the fighting. As a military man, the character knows that there’s never really ‘peace’..there’s always a fight going on somewhere…it’s just that you don’t know about it, so you think everything is peaceful.

Right now, in my world, there is food in the freezer, the lights come on, the water flows, there’s money in the bank, clothes on my back, and gas in the tank. All must be right in the world, yes? Of course not. There are people in hurricane-ravaged areas eating MRE’s and crapping in portapotties, there are people overseas working to keep gas prices high, there’s morons in Washington blindly groping around for ‘mandates’, and there is always some idiot somewhere who is off his meds and on his way to a WalMart. So, yeah, it’s quiet in my immediate vicinity but does that mean it’s quiet everywhere else? Heck no.

So…gotta fight that complacency. Be conscious of the fact (and it is a fact, m’friends) that it can all change Just. Like. That. <snaps fingers> Yeah, its a nice day today and the sun is out….so what? You know life isn’t always gonna be like that. Go out and do something that you’ll thank yourself for later.

 

Outside of a Dog, a Book is Man’s Best Friend. Inside of a Dog, It’s Too Dark to Read

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I had to re-arrange things in my computer room, or what we used to call a ‘home office’, the other day. One thing I did was consolidate a couple bookshelves onto one shelf. What sort of dead-tree reading material does the Zero keep around?

Among other things, the collected works of Ayn Rand, my autographed collection of ,Rawles’ books, Gun Jesus’ books, a fairly decent amount of medical and gardening texts, a buncha gun boffin books, some American history,  and some fiction that segues nicely into my interests.

And, yeah, there’s thundertoys laying around all over the place.

A goodly amount of those books could probably be disposed of. Once I read something, I’ve got a pretty good head for remembering most of it. The fiction I should probably unload somewhere and make some space, but I’ll always keep reference books, tutorials, and ‘how to’s. Interestingly, a large portion of these texts are available from various sources as .pdf’s….Tappan’s stuff, for example…but I’m a bit of a dinosaur in that I like the experience of a book…the tangibles, the smell, etc. And, yes, I know that a book makes more sense in the post-apocalyptic world than a .pdf.

As Groucho Marx famously said, Outside of a Dog, a Book is Man’s Best Friend. Inside of a Dog, It’s Too Dark to Read.

Article – Keep it or toss it? ‘Best Before’ labels cause confusion

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Manufacturers have used the labels for decades to estimate peak freshness. Unlike “use by” labels, which are found on perishable foods like meat and dairy, “best before” labels have nothing to do with safety and may encourage consumers to throw away food that’s perfectly fine to eat.

“They read these dates and then they assume that it’s bad, they can’t eat it and they toss it, when these dates don’t actually mean that they’re not edible or they’re not still nutritious or tasty,” said Patty Apple, a manager at Food Shift, an Alameda, California, nonprofit that collects and uses expired or imperfect foods.

There’s a big difference between “Best By” and an expiration date. And, lets be real, those expiration dates are usually kinda bogus too. Here’s the simple truth: most canned food will be edible long past the dates on the can. Yes, there maybe some nutritional loss. Yes, there may be some loss of taste/texture. But will it be unhealthy or dangerous? Usually no.

I routinely eat stuff that is a year or two past the date on the can. (Non-canned food is a different matter. And, in this case, ‘canned’ means food in cans and jars.) I’ve had only a few bad experiences. Usually a can starts bulging and, as you know, thats theuniversal sign for ‘dont eat this or else’.

The ‘Best By’ hasnothing to do with food safety or an expiration date. I’d go so far as to say its just a convenient Jedi mind trick to make people throw away food that is past the date. Gyno-Americans are notorious for this. I have had arguments about using a can of corn that was two months past expiration, and I’ve had people absolutely aghast that I would eat meat out of my deep freeze that was more than six months old.

Hey, when youre hungry and broke you will discover rather quickly that those dates on the can are like Walk/DontWalk signs….you can obey them, but if you have half a brain you can ignore them and figure it out for yourself with good results most of the time.

Is there anything that I do get rigid about in regards to dates? Milk. Thats about it. And the people who actually observe the BestBy dates on bottled water are seriously in need of testosterone. it’s hydrogen and oxygen, fer Crom’s sake.

But…no one ever went broke underestimating the gullibility of the buying public.

Articles – Canadian police found in undercover operation at Great Falls gun show

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Two articles about a little Canuckistan/Federal op at the Great Falls gun show:

GREAT FALLS, Mont. – According to Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter, local county employees and people noticed someone with Canadian plates watching people at the gun show.

Once deputies and the sheriff arrived, the operation was shut down immediately.
….
The police officer was assigned to a Royal Canadian Mounted Police Task Force for gun smuggling and was working with ATF.

And

Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter on Saturday broke up an investigation carried out in apparent coordination between federal and Canadian authorities at a Great Falls gun show, saying those agencies had not contacted his office beforehand.

Although state law does not require federal investigators to obtain approval from local law enforcement to conduct operations, the agents left the fairgrounds “reluctantly” and without issue. Slaughter has positioned himself as a “constitutional sheriff,” which theorizes sheriffs are the ultimate authority in their county — above local, state and federal officials — raising questions in this incident about possible friction between layers of law enforcement.

I suspect sheriff Slaughter just won himself a re-election.

This sort of behavior was notorious from California law enforcement. Theyd hit the Nevada gun shows, and sometimes even Nevada gun stores, and look for cars in the parking lots with CA plates. They’d then follow the CA-plated car back across the border into CA and pull them over to search for guns and related items that were prohibited in the glorious peoples republic of California. (Ever notice all the socialist places start with C and end with A? California, China, Cuba, Canada, etc…)

Remember guys – if youre buying thundertoys and ammo,keep that situational awareness going. Put that FAL or AUG in a case or something when you take it back to your car if you think its prudent. What you buy is no one’s business but your own.

I suppose the cautious man might remove the plates from his vehicle once he parks at the gun show. And the more JamesBond-y might keep a spare set of plates off a wrecked car to quickly swap out. But, regardless of your level of paranoia, it seems it might be a good idea to always operate under the assumption someone is watching.