Last call on leftovers

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Here’s whats left from the group buy:
(6) MOUNTAIN HOUSE CHICKEN FRIED RICE WITH VEGETABLES #10 CAN ” $23.44
(2) MOUNTAIN HOUSE BEEF STEW #10 CAN $26.79
(1) MOUNTAIN HOUSE COOKED DICED BEEF #10 CAN $51.58
(3) MOUNTAIN HOUSE LASAGNA WITH MEAT SAUCE #10 CAN $26.79
(3) MOUNTAIN HOUSE CHILI MAC WITH BEEF #10 CAN $23.44
(6) MOUNTAIN HOUSE NOODLES AND CHICKEN #10 CAN $23.44
(4) MOUNTAIN HOUSE PASTA PRIMAVERA #10 CAN $21.43
(2) MOUNTAIN HOUSE SCRAMBLED EGGS WITH HAM AND RED AND GREEN PEPPERS #10 CAN $29.47
(3) MOUNTAIN HOUSE SCRAMBLED EGGS WITH BACON #10 CAN $29.47
(2) MOUNTAIN HOUSE GRANOLA WITH MILK AND BLUEBERRIES #10 CAN $29.47

Anyone who wants to come into Missoula, lemme know. There was about three times this much earlier so if you want something, lemme know so I can set it aside. Cash only. Offer ends next Friday.

Go deep

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One is none, forty thousand is one.

It occurs to me that one of the better reasons for having a ‘group’, rather than being solo, is to have some folks to help you carry the damn ammo up and down the stairs. Whew.

This will be Deep Sleep ammo. For target and plinking I’ll use whatever is available at WalMart or wherever, but this stuff goes right in there with the Mountain House stuff. The only time I expect to see it again is during some enormous crisis or when I transport it to the Beta Site. And, for the record, each 40mm ammo can holds 8,250 rounds…or 165 boxes of 50. And they’re heavy….right at the limit of man-portability.

Inspection

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Have a few (ahem) leftovers from the Mountain House group buy that are going into the Deep Sleep. I used this opportunity to adjust quantities of ‘broken case’ items. See, the boxes normally hold six #10 cans. If I have only five cans of, say, Diced Beef, that means that six-can box is short by one can…or, in other words, it’s a partial or ‘broken’ case. So, I used this opportunity to round out my broken cases. In the process it also gave me a chance to inspect things. Embarrassingly, according to the dates stamped on the box, the last inspection I made on these things was seven years ago. In reality I should probably inspect these things once every other year or so.

Why? Well, mostly just to check that nothing has started to rust or otherwise be compromised. Last thing I want is to be packing up one day to move to a new location, pick up a cardboard case and have a bunch rusted cans fall out the soggy bottom of the box. No, no, no,no. I did not spend this kinda money to just wind up heaving it in a dumpster someday because I didn’t take the time to do the things necessary to protect my stuff.

What sorta steps? Well, nothing terribly intricate. Everything is in a cardboard box, taped shut, the boxes are stacked at least two feet off the floor on wire shelving, away from electrical and water sources, and (in theory) routinely inspected for damage. If I really wanted to go balls deep on the preservation side of things, the guys at repackbox.com sell a kit for really going full Burt Gummer and protecting your investment. I might have to get that to try out and see how things hold up over time.

By the by, the oldest of the cans I have in storage are pre Y2k (in fact, they were purchased at a post Y2K sale) and the majority are about 14 years old. How have they held up? Pretty well. Labels havent peeled, can integrity appears solid, boxes show no damage….just a little dust on the boxes.

 

Things that annoy me #29,201

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People who don’t understand the difference between: “Take me shooting” vs “Go shooting with you”

It’s the difference between “Cook me dinner” and “Have dinner with me”.

Case in point – my buddy texts me and says “Go shooting with me”. Ok, great. We go to the range, he sets up his targets and shoots, I set up my targets and shoot. He works on his gun, I work on my gun. We have some informal target practice. But we each have a good time and get to spend time doing our own thing.

Contrast that with “Take me shooting” which, when someone says that, means “Take me to the range, and make me the center of attention where everything is done for me and you get to accomplish nothing you want to accomplish. Hand me guns and ammo, you set up targets, watch me shoot, and make sure I have a good time.”

Now, I don’t mind taking people shooting if Im aware ahead of time that thats what Im doing. But saying “Let’s go shooting this weekend” and then have me be your personal instructor, target puller, brass catcher, gun fixer, and program director is not what that phrase means. When you say ‘lets go shooting”, to me, that means Im going to get to spend some time behind a gun and work on my own stuff as you work on yours and we’ll do some stuff together.

This is why I keep my circle of shooting buddies small. And why I usually go to the range alone.

Reposting “‘Trust me’ Is Not Enough”

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So after the Trump election we all saw the gun/ammo markets come up with new equilibrium pricing on AR’s and the like. Why? Because people believed that they had dodged a gun-control bullet with Trump. And now? Well, past history has shown us that you take Trump seriously, not literally. (Whereas the Democrats took him literally, not seriously.)

I posted this about Trump’s unproven record on gun control and I believe that it is rather timely now. The fact remains, you don’t know that he won’t enact some sort of Feinstein-esque agenda. With Hillary it was a certainty, with Trump it’s an unknown. And that unknown is why you’re not out of the woods, gun control-wise, in regards to a Trump presidency.

MH Arrival

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Well, that’s a goodly bit of freezedrieds. Somewhere, there is a ‘poverty prepper’ with a vein throbbing in his forehead and teeth a-gnashing as he rails about how many 2-liter pop bottles of beans and rice you could buy instead of all that yuppie survival food.

Local LMI: there are about 54 cans of misc. freeze drieds that are ‘extras’ that are available for purchase if you’re willing to come into Missoula. Email me if interested. I’ll make you an offer you cant refuse. (Unlike when you cross a mobster with a lawyer…in which case you get someone who makes you an offer you can’t understand.)

Link – California hiker found after 6 days missing in Yosemite park

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YOSEMITE, Calif. (AP) — A well-prepared California hiker missing for six days in the icy backcountry of Yosemite National Park was found in good health after an extensive search, officials said.

A helicopter crew spotted Alan Chow on Friday above Wapama Falls near the center of the park, where overnight temperatures dipped below freezing, the National Park Service said.

Park Ranger Scott Gediman told San Francisco Bay Area news station KTVU-TV that the 36-year-old Oakland resident got lost because usually well-marked trails were covered in snow.

Chow had done everything right to survive — he was prepared and didn’t “try to walk around and get even more lost,” Gediman said.

He “did the right thing by setting up his tent, using melted snow for drinking water, had some food, had warm clothing and was able to stay put,” the ranger said.

Not to minimize the whole thing, but I suspect this guy’s mindset and ability to remain clear-headed and think his situation through helped him at least as much as the gear.

Loses a point for not telling people when to expect him back though.

Range time

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There is not a single thing that is, pricewise, cheap about HK products. Even the clones are spendy. And the accessories as well.

Which is why I should not have been surprised to find that the PTR I picked up shot about 6″ to the left and 18″ low at 50 yards. Why? Because unless you’re willing to spend about $80 for a genuine HK tool, or $45 for a knockoff, your ability to zero your rifle is rather limited. (Yes, you can use snap ring pliers but the marks it leaves on that sight drum ain’t pretty.)

Fortunately, being an evil yuppie survivalist, I actually have an HK sight tool and was able to zero the gun properly. But I did learn something I did not know. The sight drum has three aperatures and a v-notch. The idea is that the v-notch is your quick acquisition sight, and the subsequent “2”, “3”, and “4” aperatures are for 200, 300 and 400 yards respectively. Ok, fine. What I did not know is that the v-notch is not a 100 yard sight. I just assumed it was. As it turns out, from what I read, the V-notch and the “2” aperature are the same elevation. Didn’t know that.

I’ve posted it before, but here’s one of the best instructions on sighting in your G3-type rifle.

Years ago, Cheaper Than Dirt (home of the $99 Pmag) had a sale on surplus G3 furniture kits…stock, forend, and pistol grip….for ten bucks. I bought a bunch of them and since I have so many spares, I could afford to whip out the Krylon and DIY some winter white.

Might send this gun out to be dipped or coated in a winter camo pattern.

Yup..thats the ancient WGerman snow camo. I desperately want the new Danish or Finnish snow camo but its a colossal pain in the ass to find that stuff here. I may have to make friends with someone overseas, figure out the Byzantine metric clothing size system, and ask them to hit the surplus stores for me. Didn’t wear the matching pants to the range because..well..I figured I was already looking a little tinfoil-y with the color-coordinated rifle and outerwear. Which reminds me…anyone know a vendor for white 3-point rifle slings? I suppose I could order up some white webbing and fab up my own, but……..