Author Archives: Commander Zero

More of the same

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Man, it’s just a fascinating world that we live in thee days, innit? I mean, we wind up living in/through a pandemic which pretty much no one (well, except the Chinese) saw coming. Then we get inflation that hasn’t been seen in a generation (thanks Brandon!), and now we’re shooting UFO’s out of the sky like it’s a Space Invaders tournament. I have no idea what sort of Black Swan could possibly be next…I mean, who would have thought any of these most recent crises were even plausible?

Remember: while we cannot control the things that are out of our control, we can control our responses to them. I can’t control the idiots in Washington driving the economy into a ditch, but I can control my response to that. And I do. My response is the same as my response to most thing out of my control – set things up so that I can at least exert a little bit of control over the consequences.

Right now my biggest concern is positioning myself to take advantage of the decline in the housing market as rates go up, qualified buyers go down, and the resultant decline in prices. Somewhere out there is a piece of property that is exactly what I’m looking for and it’s previous owner is slashing the price to make a sale. Of course, buying the property is only the beginning of the financial journey – once it’s done, then comes the building and improvements. A chunk of nowhere is nice. A chunk of nowhere with a comfy, cozy, hardened little house on it is better.

Although my biggest concern at the moment is, as I said, getting my ducks in a row to purchase some property, there’s still that little bugaboo of being ready for everything else that could go wrong. For 90% of the problems, the quick fix is cash. Water heaters, transmissions, broken teeth, family emergencies, layoffs, and a host of other personal EOTWAWKI’s are fixed with a generous application of greenbacks. And for what the greenbacks don’t fixe, there’s food, fuel, amo, guns, meds, clothes, and a zillion other things to help take the sting out of whatever crisis is coming down the pike.

Still, you can never know whats gonna happen…(pandemic? Who had that one on their scorecard?) So, I keep doing what I’ve always been doing … stock up, have extra, be ready to shift gears on a moments notice, etc, etc.

Not an inexpensive way to live, unfortunately, but dirt cheap compared to the costs of being unprepared.

MKE MP5 Mags

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Deciding that, while plastic mags seem to be doing okay, it might be nice to have some durable metal magazines for the HK94/MP5 series of firearms I own, I ordered up a six-pack of MKE brand metal MP5 mags.

Results were mixed. The mags functioned fine in two guns, but in the MP5k-style gun the recoil of each shot would displace the magazine in the well and the mag would not be locked in place, thus resulting in failures to feed. Since the mags worked okay in the other guns, and the plastic mags worked fine, I’m suspecting that the mag catch on this particular gun is not ‘pushing inwards’ all the way to securely engage the magazine notch. Not sure if its a part that can be adjusted, as on an AR, or what. I need to experiment a bit.

For the record, the Unity-AC and ETS plastic mags have worked fine across the board..Because these are metal mags, and the area for the magazine catch to engage is pressed into the metal rather than milled out as on the pastic mags, perhaps the recess is not as deep as it could be. But…that didnt seem to matter in the other two guns…so Im guessing its the magazine catch. Fortunately, if thats the case, it could be as simple a fix as replacing the magazine catch. Need to play with it some more.

One of the nice things about having guns that are identical is that when it comes to testing things out, having a sample size of more than one is very handy for eliminating variables.

I’m going to go ahead and say the MKE mags were worth it since they appear to work just fine in my other two guns and its only these mags, in one particular gun, that is giving me a problem. Im pretty confident the problem is the magazine catch and I’ll probably head over to HKParts and order a replacement.

Balloonatics

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Ugh…long week.

One of the more notable events this week was the Chinese taking an aerial tour of Montana, and our missile fields, with a rather large balloon.

The interesting thing about the Chinese is that they think long-term. In this country, and many Western ones, we make policy and plans that are, perhaps, one or two political terms in the future. For example, we have a four-year term for president, so a lot of plans are on a four or eight year timetable. The Chinese don’t limit themselves like that. They plan for fifty years, or more, out there.

This is most evident in their Belt And Road Initiative to create streamlined lines of travel for commerce (and, no doubt, military equipment) across a good chunk of Asia and into Europe.

Africa is a special case to the Chinese. They’ve been investing heavily in infrastructure projects…building massive airports in tiny countries that never see a 747 but will see plenty of Chinese military transports. Large swaths of land are leased or purchased by China for their ‘food security’ program. It’s only a matter of time before, at some point, they decide to ‘take Africa private’ and simply nudge out the local governments and install their own

Long before that happens, though, China will flex it’s biggest muscle – its economic one. When your economy is dependent on Chinese goods and Chinese debt purchases, you’ve gone from being equals to being beholding to a patron.

Of course, things might be different with the whole Russian situation these days. The Russians and the Chinese had a big dustup about 60 years ago in a case of ‘my Communism is better than your Communism’ and it looked like the two of them might start lobbing canned sunshine at each other.

The Russians kicking of a war in Europe would, no doubt, put a crimp in those Chinese plans for economic domination although I’ve no doubt they have various contingency plans to make such an event work for them.

And, of course, lets not forget these are the same folks that let loose a virus that killed a buncha people and they have yet to have their feet held to the fire about it.

So that ballon episode? Thats just a visible part of China’s plan to get its Peking ducks in a row for when it decides to really start applying the pressure to the international, and American, community.

The Century-Long Evolution of the U.S. Army Helmet

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Although soldiers have been wearing head protection since at least the 26th century BCE, the modern military helmet is a fully 20th century invention.

And it’s been a rapid evolution. Growing from its WWI origins, the standard issue Army helmet has transformed from a simple ‘tin hat’ into an impenetrable shell that can shrug off high-velocity bullets. What was once a simple piece of steel is now fabricated from space-age composites that can stop a AK47 round dead in its tracks.

Now, more than a century after the first U.S. Army helmet was introduced, the Army’s Program Executive Office for Soldier Protection and Individual Equipment is reimagining the helmet into a piece of gear more fitting today’s battlefield.

An interesting question that, I think, will have two very distinct camps of supporters and not a lot of middle ground: does a survivalist need a military-style helmet?

We’ve seen the ‘high speed, low drag operators’ running around in their bump helmets. These helmets are more for protecting your noggin from banging against doorways, window frames, the inside of an MRAP, etc, etc, rather than offering ballistic protection. In fact, as I read it, skateboard helmets were sometimes pressed into duty before the military was fully on board with the bump helmet.

But we’re not talking about that. We’re talking about the modern(ish) PASGT that we see frequently at gun shows and the like. Does a survivalist need one of those? Or is wearing one just a form of LARPing?

Well, to be fair, they’re a great place to mount your flip-down night vision. But, how many of us can afford to have a sweet set of NODs? So if you don’thave a need for a helmet-mounted piece of gear, do you need a helmet?

I think that in most crises your probably going to need a protective helmet to spare you the head injuries from debris, tree limbs, falling glass, etc, etc, more than you will need the ballistic protection from incoming rifle fire. (And I’d put the need for protection from shell fragments at near-zero.)

On the other hand, some folks figure that if youre going to be wearing body armour why wouldn’t you extend that level of protection to your brainpan? If you’re doing the Roof Korean thing, don’t you want as much protection as possible? Good argument there.

I’ll admit that, tucked away in the bunker, there’s a PASGT sitting there that I picked up years ago. I know it fits, but other than that I have never worn it. But, for some reason, I like knowing I have it. If I had to run out the door to stem the horde of zombies would I grab it? I’m really not sure. But I like having that option.

What about you? Does a helmet have a place in your preps? Military helmet or construction/debris helmet?

MKE MP5 Mags

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I have…a few….MP5 clones sitting around here. What I don’t have are genuine HK mags. ANd, thats a little understandable since the bloody things are around $75+ ea. And, for reasons known only to Crom, the fine folks at Magpul don’t make any MP5 sticks. (Although they do get points for making a drum.)

Alternatives? ETS makes ’em. And the former Yugoslavia has the “AC Unity” brand whcih is suddenly everywhere in the wholesale world. Prices are around $20 a mag, which is reasonable, and they seem to work okay although some can be a bit snug.

MKE makes MP5 clones and they sell metal mags. The MKE metal sticks have a seemingly good rep, and although I’ve found the plastic mags to be OK, I’d rather travel the apocalypse with something a bit more hardy. So, I ordered up a half dozen from Atlantic Firearms and will let you know how they perform.

And, dang it, at some point I’m going to have to grit my teeth and buy a half dozen genuine HK mags. But, lordy, thats some expensive happysticks.

The Last Of Us

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Last time I saw Pedro Pascal, he was doing an admirable job at Hollywood Gun Fu in “Kingsman”.

But apparently he’s in the new HBO post-apocalypse series “The Last Of Us”. I’m familiar with the game a bit, and its a storyline I can get into. Now that Walking Dead is history, I need a good post-apocalyptic fantasyworld to climb into.

Any of you guys been watching this series and wanna share your opinion on it? I know it’s only three episodes old, but I’ve been seeing some good reviews on it.

More cleanup

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Continuing the cleanup-slash-organizing-slash-evaluation episode I referred to earlier, it’s interesting to see what has and has not aged well over the course of..hmm..twenty years in some cases.

As I mentioned, the older MagLites, while still having some utility, are far inferior to the more modern LED and CR123 flashlights that have twice (or more) the brightness, five times the run time, one third the size, and twice the price. Ignoring the handiness of a 3-cell D-battery MagLite for rearranging someones dental work, they don’t do anything that isn’t done more efficiently and compactly by a modern LED pocket light.

Things like rice and wheat have stored just fine in 15-gallon ‘blue barrels’. The #10 cans from the LDS cannery, which are between 10-15 years old, have held up just fine. Same for the oatmeal that I rotated through a couple years back. Some stuff keeps well, some stuff does not.

Notoriously, Duracell batteries tend to poop the bed after a surprisingly short amount of time. I have learned the hard way to NOT leave them in any device that is going into storage.

So, the cleanup continues….curious to see what sort of “Hey, I forgot about those” turn up.

Cleanup Pt. I of probably too many

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When I moved into my current house, back in the 90’s, I finally had some space to step up my preparedness game. Originally, one room in my basement was dedicated to my preparedness stuff. It has, sadly, over time morphed into my entire basement. And, in fact, it has started migrating into some other rooms as well.

So, whats a survivalist supposed to do? Well, time to cleanup and, possibly, throw out a few things. There are some bins that I havent looked inside in over ten years. And there’s some long term food that is dang near close to the end of that term. So…it’s time to clean up the stuff that ‘seemed like a good idea at the time’ and replace it with ‘best that I can afford’ now that my life has finally hit a more grownup phase.

For example, the 20-year-old MRE entrees sitting in boxes on the shelf. Meatloaf With Gravy and some Chili Mac. These were purchased from Major Surplus back in, probably, the late 90’s or the early 2000’s. What this means is that they are at least 20 years old. Sure, MRE’s have a lngthy shelf life, and I know there’s plenty of guys on YouTube eating MRE’s from the Civil War, but why would I continue to store 20-year-old MRE’s when I can easily afford newer and better product. Especially when each additional year I keep those MRE’s I am getting less and less viability than I would with newer production?

Now, having said that, did I try them? Sorta. I tossed both pouches into a pan of hot water and let them heat all the way through. The Chili Mac smelled okay, looked okay, and the texture was…okay. The meatloaf smelled a tad odd but, hey, it’s an MRE…its not gonna smell like it’s supposed to. The texture was rather spongy and the taste was rather bland. A single bite from each one was enough to tell me that there was no really legitimate reason to not replace these with current production items.

But, as this cleanout continues, I’m coming across things that are fifteen, twenty, twenty five years old. A good opportunity to see how time and storage affects things. It’s also an opportunity to observe the evolution of products…for example, I have a couple of old MagLites that still use the Krypton bulbs and eat D-cell batteries like Pac Man. Compare with the newer LED lights that give ten times the battery life and twice the light.

There’s also a good bit of milsurp in there from when I couldnt afford Kifaru but I could afford Kosovo. There’s some Eastern Bloc stuff down there, for sure.

There was a time I was a poor, struggling, underemployed, wildly irresponsible kid who had no money-smarts. As a result, I’d buy whatever was cheapest that met whatever need I felt was being presented. It wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate items of better quality, rather, it was that I was unable to afford items of better quality. Fortunately, that has changed. Before anyone jumps into the comments and starts telling me how some surplus stuff is just as good or better than some modern commercial stuff…yes, you are correct. Some stuff is just awesome. But a lot is simply adequate, heavy, bulky, and difficult to find accessories for.

Ideally, I’m doing this cleanup to free up some space and get rid of some things that, really, have been supplanted by better gear. Save it for backup or for remote locations? Probably not…whatever supplanted is probably in storage here in enough quantity that even the backups would be a better quality.

It would be nice to get this done over the course of a week, but unfortunately ny life has hit the point where it seems like I never have spare time to do the things I want to do. But, on the other hand, it’s that evolution into a time-constrained life that has allowed me the resources to replace twenty year old gear.

Even a broken calendar is right once a year

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Inflation is still at levels not seen in generations, the Drums Of Ban are beating louder after some shootings in California, and that darn Chinese-caused pandemic keeps hanging in there. Just another day here in clownworld.

I need to do a detailed inventory of magazines. I know how much I have recorded in the Preponomicon, but every so often I pick up a case or two of Glock or AR mags and just heave the box on top of the pile and forget about it. The spreadsheets say I have several hundred mags but it’s probably off by two or three hundred mags.

In addition to the whole will-they-or-wont-they regarding magazines and ”assault weapons’, I need to pick up a couple spare sets of armour. For some reason, the colossal idiots that come up with these gun bans tend to lump body armour into the mix. It’s only a matter of time before the ability to own things like body armour becomes known as ‘a loophole’ that needs to be closed with ‘reasonable’ and ‘common sense’ ‘safety laws’.

Isn’t it fascinating how the language is evolving in this highly politicized environment we’re living in. A gun ban/prohibition is a ‘gun safety’ issue. And it’s always described as ‘reasonable’ and ‘common sense’. Thus, if this ‘gun safety’ law is reasonable and common sense, opposition to it is unreasonable and nonsensical. The fact that you were allowed to own these items isn’t because there was no law preventing it, but rather because there was a ”loophole’ in the law that didn’t keep you from it.

Words have meaning. When you control the narrative…the terms and definitions…you can craft the narrative to favor your cause (or disfavor someone elses). This is why those two buzzwords ‘common sense’ and ‘reasonable’ are always thrown into any sound bite about new legislation.

If you’ve read the blog for any amount of time, you know that I’ve been predicting a new ‘assault weapons’ ban practically since the last one expired. I genuinely believe it’s coming, but on a long enough timeline every prediction has a 100% fulfilment rate.

Still… I very seldom feel foolish buying ‘extra’ mags or ‘extra’ guns.