Monthly Archives: February 2020

Human behavior during pandemics…as learned from Warcraft

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As you may or may not know, I used to play the online game Warcraft. A lot. Very simply, its a role playing Dungeon & Dragons sort of thing. Here’s what’s important for you to know – when you play, you are interacting with actual people all over the world. That means every other character you encounter behaves as determined by the individual player  controlling that character. So, a guy who is a jerk in Dallas can be a jerk online in the game doing things to annoy you or cause harm to your player. Contraversely, the nice guy in Des Moines might be a cool dude online giving free gear to new players and helping new players learn the ropes. In short, characters behave however the player controlling the character wants them to.

Okay, cut to the Corrupted Blood Plague. The folks running the game introduced a little challenge to the game. If you were in a specific area of the game your character could get infected with a contagious disease that would, over a short period of time, kill your character. Additionally, your character could infect other people by getting close them. This effect was supposed to be limited to this one little geographical location in the huge game world. Supposed to. Turns out, someone managed to leave that little zone and infect other people in the game, and so on, and so on.

The game was thrown into a tizzy. People who had the ability to heal other players ran around healing as many people as they could. Others ran for the hills and isolated themselves. And some, in a frenzy of nihilistic fervor, set out to infect as many other players as possible.

Eventually, the game designers managed to get it under control. You can read about the whole thing here on Wikipedia.

During the epidemic, normal gameplay was disrupted. The major towns and cities were abandoned by the population as panic set in and players rushed to evacuate to the relative safety of the countryside, leaving urban areas filled with dead player characters.[4]

Player responses varied but resembled real-world behaviors. Some characters with healing abilities volunteered their services, some lower-level characters who could not help would direct people away from infected areas, some characters would flee to uninfected areas, and some characters attempted to spread the disease to others.[1] Players in the game reacted to the disease as if there were real risk to their well-being.[5] Blizzard Entertainment attempted to institute a voluntary quarantine to stem the disease, but it failed, as some players didn’t take it seriously, while others took advantage of the pandemonium.[1] Despite certain security measures, players overcame them by giving the disease to summonable pets.[6]

The behavior of the players, some helping to heal and some helping to spread the disease, drew the interest of epidemiologists and others who study pandemics. Succinctly, the behavior of players in the game seemed to mimic behaviors in real life.

How does this come into play for you and I? Well, apparently in situations like these there are some predictable behaviors by predictable elements:

  • People flee the big cities for the countryside
  • Quarantines are ignored or bypassed
  • Some people actively spread the disease
  • Some people actively work to halt the disease
  • Some people take advantage of the situation

When the news media talks about everyone working to control the situation and to save lives, there’s something they gloss over – the people who do all the opposite. And we, you and I, need to be aware that there are people who, as Alfred Pennyworth said, just want to see the world burn.

I suppose the vast majority of people are good or neutral in these matters. They just want to help, or at least not become victims themselves. But, there’s always gonna be that group that thinks letting the bees loose in a subway car is great fun, or that shooting flaming arrows into a forest and watching the ridgelines burn is a nice way to spend the evening. I suspect there’s more than one or two people out there thinking “I hope someone who is infected goes to the theater and sneezes on everyone” and there’s probably a few out there who are doing just that…licking doorknobs, sneezing on public payphones, that sorta thing.

I wonder if the CDC plans and scenarios take those sort of agents into account………

Article – Preparing For The End Of The World, On A Budget

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From, of all places, NPR……

At first glance, this modest home nestled against a hillside in the mountains somewhere west of Colorado Springs appears to have all the amenities you’d expect in a quiet retreat. There’s even a two-story tower built right in. An otherwise peaceful place to catch the 360-degree view of winter’s splendor.

“[It’s a] really nice place to sit and vacation — enjoy. But, if necessary, it’s a guard post,” Drew Miller pointed out.

The last two paragraphs are a bit…concerning.

I’ve mentioned in the past that these ‘tactical timeshares’ are, IMHO, of questionable utility. I would prefer not to ride out the apocalypse with the equivalent of the ten people standing in line behind me at the post office. It’s probably quite true that in a genuine apocalypse you are better served being in a group than as a solo player, but that group needs to be people that you trust and have a connection with. “Hey, I don’t want to die..and you don’t want to die..so, we’re all on the same page!” is not a connection. You need a history, a relationship, a shared life to some degree….. that means family, or close friends, and from there the bonds get more and more tenuous. Maybe you don’t get along with your family, or maybe they’re all Democrats who think Bernie and his Free Stuff Army are the way to go. Fine, then develop close friends. Not the casual ones at work, I mean close friends… the ones you trust to watch your kids, to hold onto the spare keys to your house, that sort of thing.

I suppose there might be some people who have had success just posting a ‘Looking for survival group” sorta thing on Craigslist but I’m going to guess thats a very, very, very small list.

Your mileage may vary, but I’m not riding out the apocalypse with strangers whose history I am unfamiliar with.

Captain Video

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It ain’t exactly the Eye Of Sauron, but…I replaced the video camera system at the house. I initially installed it around..mmm…seven or eight years ago. Was a lot of work, too. Lotsa time moving ladders and running wire. But, when it was done, it covered all angles of approach and a few others as well.

Years go by and technology does it’s thing….features go up, price goes down. The DVR on the system was acting hinky and I was losing data. So..time to replace. Ideally, I wanted a system that used the existing wires and plugs so I wouldn’t have to hang new wire. Easy enough. I spent about 30% less than what they system costs those many years ago, and the features are eye-popping. Much better resolution, a larger drive, I can playback several channels of video simultaneously, and I can even remotely activate an intense light to light up an area in question. I replaced a couple cameras with the new ones and the difference in image quality was staggering. My security footage no longer looks like the Zapruder film.

I have a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) that is usually meant for desktop computers, but it works quite nicely for the camera system. When the power goes down I can still keep an eye on things until I get the EU2000 going. Handy, that.

99.9% of the time, the cameras just pick up the normal comings and goings, Jehovah’s Witnesses knocking on the door, the UPS guy dropping of packages, etc. But, once in a while, something worthwhile gets recorded. I’ve got excellent footage of several car accidents, and one video of someone trying to break into my neighbors house.

What I really appreciate about it is that when the doorbell rings I can glance at the monitor an see who is at the door and, more importantly, who might sneaking around the back of the house while my attention is diverted to the front door. Forewarned is forearmed.

 

Springfield’s EVAC and takedowns in general

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Y’know, in just about ever sample of survivalist fiction there is that scene where the hero is forced into some situation where all that stands between him and obliteration is whatever goodies he craftily packed away for just such an eventuality. For people who envision this sort of scenario, Springfield announced the appropriately named ‘Evac’ takedown AR ‘pistol’.

Takedown AR’s arent really anything new. Heck, for a little while even Ruger was making one. But, as best I can tell, this is the first time someone has mated the takedown capability to an AR ‘pistol’. (And, yeah, air-quotes around pistol because we’re all adults here and know whats really going on.)

For some reason I have always been fascinated with takedown guns….some guns are inherently takedown, like the Thompson Contenders, and some are purpose built, like the Ruger 10/22 Takedowns. But, for some reason, they’ve always had an appeal to me.

I suspect that a gun such as this one Springfield is introducing will have a major attraction to the person who has to work in a …unpermissive…environment but wants to have the option of something with a bit more horsepower than a pistol if things go south. Imagine, for example, the guy working in an office in L.A. when the Rodney King riots started. Be nice to be able to reach into the bottom drawer of your desk, pull out a little PDW and have something to keep around ‘just in case’.

Would I buy one? I dunno. Dealer on them is showing about $1500 which makes it about the same price as a PTR MP5K copy (which, with a sidefolder ‘brace’ might be a handier option), and is twice the price of a similarly configured CZ Evo. Honestly, at some point I suspect Ruger will make a version of the 9mm PC takedown with a 10″ barrel and a folder ‘brace’ which would be pretty sweet.(And if Ruger doesnt pick up the ball and run with that idea I am sure the aftermarket will at some point.) .223 out of a stubby barrel like that doesn’t really offer any tremendous advantage, in my opinion, over a 9mm carbine in that same barrel length.

Interestingly, if you can be serious for a moment and not reflexively dismiss it, the .22LR guns that are out these days have some potential for being a super-subcompact PDW-style tool. Ruger makes a takedown version of the Charger pistol and with the right combination of parts you can make a pretty compact little gun that still has the utility to keep people from charging up the stairwell to your office. And 1000 rounds of ammo fits in your briefcase.

When it comes to guns, it often (but not always) does not pay to be an early adopter. While the Springfield Evac looks interesting I’ll wait a little while for some actual shooting reviews to come out, and for the inevitable bugs to be worked out. But…I like where Springfields head is at.

 

Lithium AA batts at CostCo

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If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that my experience, and the experience of pretty much everyone else reading, has been that at some point your Duracell batteries are going to crap the bed and ruin your device. To prevent this sort of thing, I’ve instituted a pattern of checking the batteries in all my devices on a regular basis in order to catch these things before they do irreparable damage.

An alternative to this sort of thing is to use lithium batteries. It seems that the leaking issue doesn’t occur with the lithium batts nearly as often as with the others. The problem, of course, is that lithium batts, while being awesome, are not cheap. As it turns out, Costco, which is often the source of the troublesome Duracells, is also selling bulk packed lithium AA batts.

At eighty-five cents each, that’s a rather large discount from the 4- and 8-packs that you see at the cash register of your local supermarket.

I was checking the batteries in my gear the other day and discovered that the rechargeable Eneloops that were in my ICOM R6 (highly recommended) were deader than Biden’s nomination possibilities. They apparently just self-discharged over time. Disappointing, but thats why I make sure to carry extra batteries with my gear. Since CostCo is make the lithium batts affordable, I’ll swap those into the R6 instead of the rechargeables. (And also into the spare battery carrier that I keep in my Bag O’ Tricks).

So far, I have not experienced any problems with the lithium batteries but I’m not foolish enough to just assume I never will. So…regular gear inspections will continue, even if the item in question has lithium batts in it.

Tourniquet arrival

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You guys remember a couple months back I told you the tale of the son of a buddy of mine who had a bit of an accident while processing his deer and almost bled out. He was lucky in that he was able to get to a neighbor who called 911 for him. (As it turned out, when your hands are slick with blood the touch screen on your smartphone becomes quite unresponsive.)

A few weeks after that, while looking around the /gundeals Reddit, I came across a deal on some tourniquet kits from a respected dealer. Well, they finally shipped.

Two is one, yadda yadda yadda. I must say, I’m very impressed with the value here. It was, as I recall, about $50 ea and the tourniquet is usually about $30 of that. And while there are better deals to be had on Amazon and eBay it was absolutely not worth the risk of winding up with made in China knockoffs spawned from Peoples Glorious Moulding Factory #52.

It occurs to me that the tourniquet itself is not actually visible in the picture. Its in an exterior pouch separate from the zippered one. But, trust me, it’s there.

Nearest Stop The Bleed course, for me, is in Hamilton (40 miles) at the end of the month but I have a scheduling problem. Gonna have to keep an eye open,.

Maximum Mini Mags

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As I noted a few posts back, it looks like TAPCO is heading for the ‘no longer a going concern’ category of gun-related businesses. While I wont miss the SKS stocks and other crap, I will miss the Mini-14 mags. So….

Ordered these off GunBroker. Came out to $10@ which was reasonable. And, once I had received a tracking number indicating my order had shipped, I shared the auction link with you guys in case anyone wanted to grab some while they could. Well, apparently a bunch of you must have because when I go to check those same auctions the prices are up 20%. FYI, $12 is actually pretty close to what dealer cost was so theyre still a reasonable alternative to the $28 Ruger mags.

Ordered 25 because I only have the two Mini-14’s and they aren’t part of my plans.

I have another ten mags sitting around as ‘ready’ mags in case, thorugh some fluke, I wind up actually having to run the zombie apocalypse with the Mini-14, but the rest of these are Deep Sleepers.

Government-maintained private caches????

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I was diddybopping around the internet and stumbled across this article from about six years ago. Succinctly, a local government in Oregon was urging citizens to be prepared for earthquakes and/or tsunami. Here’s where it gets interesting. It is urging citizens to create ‘caches’ for their families. The city will even sell you the fabulous 55-gallon ‘blue barrels’ to fill with supplies and provide a workshop to advise you on how to do it. So far so good, yes? Now, see where it goes off the rails…

Each shipping container is loaded with three different types of supplies: family cache containers; medical, administrative, and support equipment; and tourist, employee and visitor kits. City emergency management personnel will open the containers in case of an emergency.

The local government is also setting out shipping containers to be used as storage for all those personal caches. Or, put another way, you load up a 55-gallon drum with survival supplies and hand it to your local government to lock away in a cargo container so it’ll  be available during a crisis … assuming the government lackey with the keys to the conex shows up and says its okay for you to get your stuff. Oh…and you pay the government a fee for yearly maintenance of your stuff. Because.

What could possibly go wrong?

The more cynical among you will opine that the local government just found a way to stockpile emergency supplies without having to pay for them.

Good intentions, I’m sure….but I would much rather have a 55-gallon drum of supplies hidden somewhere where I can have constant access to it, and no one else knows about it, rather than put my gear in a cargo container with a hundred other strangers gear and hope the government will unlock the doors and let me have it in an emergency.

I wonder if this program is still in effect or if it ever got off the ground………

Serendipity

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Years ago, I was talking to a long-time gun collector who would come into the most amazing stuff and I asked him how he found these deals. He said something that has stuck in my mind as very wise and very true; he said “When you’ve been in this business long enough, you don’t have to go looking for good deals..the good deals come looking for you.”

SNSTIW, minding my own business and getting ready for class. I had walked into the room a bit early, the teacher not being there yet, flopped my bag on the desk, took off my coat, was pulling my books outta the bag, and as I sat down a voice two rows behind me said….

“Anyone wanna buy some guns?”

Now, I realize how absurd that sounds but, hand to Crom, that’s what happened. What happened next was my head reactively spinning around as I said “Me!” and so did three other guys. I talked over them and basically browbeat my way into a conversation with the potential gun seller. He had an AR and a ‘custom’ Glock he wanted to sell. Tip: when someone says they have a ‘custom’ Glock (or especially a ‘Custom’ AR) what they really mean is they kitchen-tabled a bunch of mods into their guns. I don’t care how talented an amateur gun-plumber you are, you are not as skilled and experienced in assembling an AR as the guys at Stag/Bushmaster/Noveske/Ruger/etc. who have the tools and experience and do it for a living. (Although you’re probably more skilled than the drunken monkeys at Century). So. I took a pass on the custom longslide threaded Glock .40 and went hard for this:

Operators gonna operate….

A Rock River Arms Operator…for when operators need to operate operationally. Nice gun except for the funky half cheese-grater/half smooth forend. But the flip up sights, side swivels, and really surprisingly nice 2-stage trigger are quite pleasant. And its got box-n-docs. And….no paperwork. A lovely free-range AR to go in the bunker.

My AR leveling up skills seem to be improving. I’ll pull a Palmetto outta storage and what I sell it for will cover what I put out for this guy. It’ll be a net of zero dollars, but a severe upgrade in quality and features.

In the meantime I discovered that virtually every guy in the class was a gun guy.

If you want ’em, it looks like now is the time to buy

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ETA: Looks like Gunbroker might be a good source right now.

I have, as of late, been trying to keep gun posts limited to Fridays but sometimes stuff occurs that, I think, should be brought to the attention of the fanbase as soon as possible. So….

Something funny is going on at Remington. (H/T to ,Rawles over at SurvivalBlog for posting a link that brought it to my attention.)

Succinctly, it appears, that Remington is ..closing? Reogranzing? Consolidating? …several of it’s acquired companies. Notably DPMS, Bushmaster, and TAPCO. The AR market is already so heavy that the loss of Bushy and DPMS can’t be lamented too loudly but TAPCO….

TAPCO is the company that is meme-famous being able to provide you with $600 worth of parts to turn your $200 SKS into a pale imitation of a $400 AK. Cheesey stocks, geegaws of questionable utility, and that sort of thing. BUT….TAPCO makes one of the very few aftermarket Mini-14 magazines that work and that I recommend. If TAPCO is indeed being put down then the future of reliable aftermarket Mini mags becomes …well…what it was ten years ago. I already went to several of my vendors and they have all their TAPCO mags marked as ‘closeout’ and….out of stock. Writing is on the wall.

Maybe it’s just a reorganization. Maybe it’s just Remington working on new websites. But it appears that there is a disruption going on that Mini-14 owners may want to get ahead of.