Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.
I know not all of us are on the same political page, but, sweet Crom, this may be the coolest picture I’ve ever seen on the interwebs:
Ronald Reagan, riding a flag-waving velociraptor, firing a machinegun one-handed, carrying a grenade launcher, and wearing a suit and tie. Let’s see Putin top that.
ETA: Full size! Check out the fine details! The MP-7 says “GIPPER”!
Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.
Remember guys…we’re celebrating Independence Day, not the 4th of July.
(Although given recent .gov shenanigans the pendulum seems to be swinging from independence to dependence, but that’s another post.)
Get out there and shoot something today!
Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.
I was fairly taken with the compact version of the Sidewinder but after playing with it a bit, I found it good but lacking. My biggest complaint was that when clipped to a piece of gear it would be unstable and sway around, unbalanced by it’s size and weight. I liked the features, I just wasn’t a fan of the physical envelope that contained these features. So…I bit the bullet and ordered the larger, but still fairly compact, full sized version. Big difference in my satisfaction.
The larger version (Streamlight 14032 Sidewinder) arrived just before I left for Glacier last week.
My biggest complaint about the Compact was that when you clipped it to a bit of webbing or what have you, it would sway about wildly. Let me try to describe it. Imagine you take a paperback novel and affix it to your shoulder strap so that the spine of the book is against you. The rest of the book juts out there and sways unsteadily as you move. Same thing.
This larger version of the Sidewinder, because of its large battery compartment, is far more stable. A few other features separate it from the Compact:
I’m going to go ahead and give the non-Compact version of the Sidewinder a better rating than the compact version. Price isn’t too terribly different, and although it is a bit bigger I believe you will get better use out of it than the Compact.
Note that the SIdewinder series are available in different color-combinations…you can get, for example, one that has white, green, red and blue emitters. I went with white, red, blue and IR. I don’t have anything that let’s me take advantage of the IR (at the moment) but that doesn’t mean that someday I won’t.
As I said, only real drawback is price. There’s plenty of LED lights out there for less, but the features on this thing (clip, lanyard, flash mode, adjustable brightness, swivel head, subdued color, hands-free operation, waterproof, etc, etc.) pretty much fill all the requirments I wanted in a light that could be affixed to a vest or webbing strap (also darn near perfect for clipping to a vehicle visor for use within the vehicle cab). So, yes it’s expensive but to me it seems worth the money.
Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.
The missus sent me an email informing me of this resource ( Camopedia ) …interesting. The source I has been using prior to that for information about camouflage patterns was kamouflage.net. As always, more then one source of reference/information is appreciated.
Peripherally tied into the subject of camo, is this nice ‘how to’ from arfcom: How to Multicam your rifle…on the cheap!
When I buy gear I almost always go with basic OD since it goes with everything. Someone pointed out to me once that it didn’t matter if the gear was OD, desert or black…the right can of spraypaint will make anything camo. OD is pretty common but given my druthers, I really like multicam. (Yes, I drank that KoolAid.) Only problem is that it’s mighty expensive. Another possibility is the new A-Tacs patterns, esp. the green one, that is becoming more and more available.The other pattern I find that I like for my region are the classic German flecktar, which seems to be a pre-digital-age version of digital camo with its ‘dithering’ effect. (Whcih, if you ignore the political implications, appears to be a direct descendent of the old Nazi pea pattern camo.)
For winter wear I have the usual German ‘pine’ camo but I’m very taken with the Finnish and Danish winter patterns. G’luck finding ‘em in the US. (Real ones, not airsoft knockoffs made in China.) Although you’d think that a set of simple solid white clothing would work, it turns out that snow really isn’t solid white…there’s enough shading and whatnot that solid white will stand out a bit. The Marines have a new winter camo out that looks pretty good but I don’t expect to see it on the surplus market anytime soon.
Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.
Looks like a zelt to me.
I think I’ve mentioned it a couple times in the past, but one thing I’ve always wanted to get my hands on and examine is a German zeltbahn. Unfortunately, originals (and even repros) are hard to find at reasonable prices. Fortunately, other countries adopted the basic design and, surprisingly, Sportsmans Guide has some Swedish ones. At least, they look like zeltbahns. Check this out. It isn’t that I necessarily think this design is any better than the current ones (although it is much more imaginitive), but I’d like to have one to examine and experiment with and, if I like it, use as a template for a version using modern materials and camo patterns. I have a copy of the original German (translated) manual for the use, care, and specifications of the Zeltbahn and while it’s an old design I think it has one or two advantages of the modern rectangular one. Regardless, I’m gonna have to order up a couple of these just to goof around with. If nothing else they’ll make nice covers for my bicycle when it’s locked up outside.
Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.
You learn something new everyday. The new thing I learned was the meteorological term “derecho“, which is Spanish for “you should have bought that generator before you needed it”.
Apparently parts east of here, especially the Washington DC/Virginia area were slammed by the meteorological effect known as a ‘derecho’. Succinctly, its a tornoado that blows in a straight line, not swirly.
The media is kicking out the usual post-disaster photos and soundbites. People discovering that, surprise surprise, when the electricity is out the gas stations can’t pump gas. When trees fall, electricity goes down. When roads are blocked, traffic stalls. You know….Basic Preparedness 101 boilerplate……….
We had ourselves a little gust-fest the other day here in western Montana. Nothing as grand and powerful as what happened back east, but enough to remind folks that sometimes the wheels fly offa things pretty suddenly and when they do you have to be ready to step up and deal with it on your own.
You would think that after the countless billions of dollars sunk into ‘readiness’ programs, especially in the DC/NoVa area, they’d be able to get the roads cleared and the lights on much faster.
The moral of the story, naturally, is that when crap like this happens little things like stored fuel, a generator and some simple pre-planning can mean the difference between living life normally and sweltering in an uncooled apartment as you call your boss and tell him you’re missing work because your car is outta gas.
Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.
Just a quick note. I’m up in glacier park, from Monday until Friday….so no posts, I’m afraid. Back to our regularly scheduled brain droppings on Friday.
Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.
,Rawles linked to this article about Greece. Pay close attention to this paragraph:
So pharmacist buys [drug] for $50. Sells [drug] to patients for $20. Government gets the bill for the difference of $30 (plus, presumably, some profit for the pharmacist.) When government has no money, pharmacist is on the hook for the $30. Choice is then to either sell the drug to the patient at the price the government was being charged ($50 + profit) or stop buying drugs when patients can’t pay for them. This is a perfect example of what I meant a few posts back about why austerity measures are hated by these countries populace. Faced with the ‘real’ cost of their medication, Greeks cannot afford them. Without the government subsidizing the cost of the drugs, the pharmacist won’t buy them because they’re not going to buy what they cannot sell. The result, very predictably, is that there are now drug shortages looming.
Any business or industry, in Greece or anywhere else, that relies on ‘easy’ government money to make things function is skating on thin ice these days. As things progress I think we’re going to see more situations like this in more countries where government has artificially been keeping prices low through subsidies and can no longer afford to do so…pissing off the population who, having come to rely on those products and services at low prices, will be outraged at having to pay ‘their fair share’. Political fallout, naturally, will be severe.
I suppose it might be a good idea to analyze and examine our own systems and see where such weaknesses are so we can have workarounds ready for when/if this sort of belt-tightening comes a-knocking at our national door.
Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.
This apparently seems to be the way these things go…someone knocks on the door politely, and when no one answers the assumption is made that the home is empty and forcible entry is made. I always answer my dooor…not because I’m worried about this scenario happening, but because I’m an extremely inquisitive individual – I have to know weverything. But, sometimes, the wife prefers her solitude on her days off and won’t answer her phone or the door. It’s less likely to be a problem now since Nuke will just bark at the door and hopefully that will deter whomever from wanting further entry. Of course, should someone decide to spin the wheel and take their chances with kicking in the door…. well, we’ve kinda been down that path before. (Comedic followup.)
Here in Montana, the majority of crimes are non-confrontational ones. People get stuff stolen outta their cars, have their houses burgled, etc, etc. But the incidents of confrontational crime…the kind where you’re face to face with a bad guy…..are pretty rare. I like to think it’s because no one is goig to try and stick someone up at gun/kinfe point and take the chance that the potential victim has a howitzer in their back pocket.
Anyway, if this story actually is as simple and straightforward as it appears (meaning these weren’t people looking for dads stash of drugs and cash he keps hidden in the bedroom) then I peg it as a heart-warming story of ‘instant justice’, individual fortitude, and excellent critical responses by the lad at the center of it all.
Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.
Another Fabulous Firearms Friday……
I would guess that the most ‘fun’ firearm a person can own is, in my opinion, a .22 pistol. They’re cheap to shoot and, for some reason, I find handguns to be much more fun than most rifles. While ‘fun’ is a great reason to buy something, I’ve hit the stage where I’m pretty much buying only stuff that has ‘practical’ use. Fortunately, the .22 pistols are quite useful.
I’ve owned a mix of .22 pistols over the years….RG, Ruger, Smith, etc, etc. Over the years I’ve had some pistols that were quite nice, some that weren’t, and some that were just ‘okay’. I hate to sound like a shill for Ruger, but the EOTWAWKI .22 handguns tend to be Rugers. Not necessarily because I like Ruger, I’m actually more of a S&W kinda guy, but the simple facts are that Rugers are durable as heck, and depending on the model they have excellent aftermarket support and logisitics.
Ruger, in a position that is rather unique, manages to hit all the high points in .22 pistol offerings – singleaction revolver, double action revolver, semi auto pistol, semi auto ‘unlimited’ pistol (“Charger”).
The Charger is a 10/22 with no stock and a short barrel. Oh, there are some minor differences to keep you from dropping it into a 10/22 stock but otherwise it’s a pistol-gripped 10/22. (This has actually been done before with the ill-fated Intratec ‘Scorpion’ .22 autopistol that took 10/22 magazines back in the ’90s.) It’s nice that the Charger can use the same magazines as the 10/22 but the Charger really doesn’t fit the niche normally occupied by ‘handguns’. It’s really more of a specialized pistol. However, if a person didnt mind the paperwork, it would make an excellent candidate to SBR with a little folding stock. They’re interesting, and I think I’ll wind up getting one eventually, but they’re a low-priority compared to other pistols.
My first handgun was a Ruger Single-Six. These little guns usually came with a spare cylinder to allow the user to fire .22 LR or .22 Mag. Six sots, single action, reliable and handy, these are excellent guns for carrying around in the sticks for popping squirrels, finishing off wounded animals, plinking, and just about everything else that you would use a .22 for. Drawbacks are the six-shot capacity, slow reload time, long lock-time of that hammerfall, and the barrel-light weight (IMO). To be fair, there arent a lot of circumstances where you need a fast reload or more than a half-dozen shots in a .22 pistol that your’re not shooting at zombies.
Ruger used to offer some double-action .22 revolvers off-and-on over the years. I always thought it was a little odd that Ruger would try to position themselves as having the broadest product line of any manufacturer and then neglect the DA revolver angle. I’m a revolver kind of guy at heart, and their new .22 DA revolver looks pretty tempting. Why a revolver over an auto? No real reason except that there’s no worry about magazines.
The Ruger series of .22 autopistols seems like everyones ‘go to’ choice for preparedness. Their latest incarnation is the Mk III which I’m not a fan of. The MkII had a long history, plenty of aftermarket support, and great mag availability. With the introduction of the MkIII, which uses a completely new and non-compatible magazine, Ruger managed to muddy the waters. Still, for my .22 pistol needs this is the gun that goes to the top of my list. Ruger makes (made) enough variants to fill just about every need, running the gamut from basic no-frills models to target/competition models. I like the simple 5″ heavy barrel models. The taper barreled ones are probably just as good but I like the extra weight up front. Whenever I can find a MkII at a reasonable price, I’ll buy it.
Smith and Wesson, for a brief time, made a series of pistols that I was very fond of. These were the ’22′ series of pistols….622,422, etc, etc. They were all modern variants of the old S&W Escort model. I think they were great guns..lightweight, flat, compact, accurate and cheap. It’s kind of sad that S&W discontinued it. I have one that I bought solely because the price was right and there was no paperwork attached. It is lightweight and handy enough to go into a backpack when hunting and fishing with almost no notice. I understand S&W doesn’t carry spare parts for these things anymore (the guns were, as I understand, actually contracted out so it isn’t surprising Smith orphaned it) so it is definitely not a choice for a long term relationship.
Colt made the Woodsman and some variants thereof, as well as the Cadet/Colt .22 pistols. The Woodsman (Woodsmen?) are great guns but for my needs there has to be a good logistics base behind a gun for me to actaully drop money and buy one. Same with High Standard…those things were great guns but I want something where I don’t have to call Gun Parts everytime I need a rear sight screw.
The only other non-Ruger auto I have is a Beretta 21A. Yup, a mousegun. Bought it back in..uhm…’94 I think. It’s been mostly a safe queen ever since. I carry it very rarely since my S&W 640 is about the same size and a better caliber. I bought the Beretta back in the day because I wanted the smallest possible gun I could stuff in my pocket for when I was still making trips to the Big Eastern City and wanted something discrete. It’s a reliable gun as long as the chamber is kept clean and high velocity ammo is used. I use CCI Stingers in it. About the only thing I use it for now is stuffing it in my vest pocket when I go hunting in case I need to put a hole in Bambi’s brainpan if the .308 didnt do an instant kill. Even then, I usually take the Glock or P35 with me so this thing really is just a safe queen but I cant bring myself to get rid of it.
Other guns I’ve had are an amazing RG-22 that was the textbook definition of a Saturday Night Special. ( I say ‘amazing’ not because the gun was accurate or well-made, just the opposite…I was amazed that something of such design and construction was considered worth the hassle of serial numbering. I think the fit, finish and quality was slightly less than your average $39.99 Crossman CO2 pistol.) I think I paid $20 for it and immediately had buyers remorse. I literally could not give it away. I think I shot it once in my basement, with CB caps, just to see if it worked. I should have mailed it to a friend in NYC for a gun buyback program and split the difference. Same story with a couple Davis derringers in .22 that came my way. (Those were a little easier to give away. This was back when a new one, dealer price, was around $79…so you could actually use them as stocking stuffers around Christmas.) The wife has a little NAA minirevolver and I gotta admit..its cute. Surprisingly well made for something so tiny. We keep it in the truck in case we hit a deer and need to put it down. I think when she was still doing uniformed patrol she carried it around in her bag for the same purpose.
I know some folks are gonna chime in with “What about………” and then mention their favorite. Hey, I can only comment on the guns I’ve actually owned. I’m thrilled that youre happy with your Taurus/Rossi/Smith/Sig/Whatever….but I can’t give opinions on guns I havent owned so if I didnt mention your favorite it’s probably because I’ve never owned one.
