Books – Pt. IV

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

With GPS built into just about everything, most folks don’t put much effort into land nav anymore. I’m not saying you have to get uber-geek about it, but you should be able to read a map and figure out simple things like azimuths, bearings, etc, etc. Someday you might need to leave someone a message (ideally it would be encoded) saying something like “12 U 300015.6 539714.70″ or the more cumbersome “48 41 43.07377 N 113 43 3.95584 W”. (Who is gonna be first to leave a comment telling me whats at that location?) Without at least a background in basic land nav (and perhaps a small map overlay), you’d have a hell of a time finding that on a map. More importantly, when you hide something somewhere out in the boonies…a cache, a body, a bunker…you wanna be able to tell people how to get there and nothing conveys precise locations like grid coordinates.

Be Expert with Map and Compass – This is the classic book on the subject and, really, it’s very good. It is also probably a bit overkill and intimidating for many people. No mistake, it’s an awesome book and one that should be right there in your library. I like the thoroughness of it, but it can be kind of daunting…it’s the War and Peace of land nav. However, you should have it because you can always learn just what you need at the moment and then come back later and learn more.

Map Reading and Land Navigation: FM 3-25.26 – I don’t come across many military maps but it’s still good information to have. Much of the information is fairly dated, which means if you’re just planning on navigating with a simple magnetic compass and maybe a protractor, then this is a great book to have. I don’t know if there’s a more modern version that covers GPS systems, but still, this book is a good one to have as well.

Compass & Map Navigator – This is actually my favorite book, which is kinda odd since this book is sort of a ‘Fisher-Price’ version of the previous two. However, it is terrifically illustrated, concise, and explains things quite well.

Although these aren’t books, they sorta segue in there. There are plastic overlays for use with regular topo maps and UTM coordinates. This is the one I use: Improved Military UTM/MGRS Reader & Protractor “Super GTA”. These things are awesome. When using the UTM system it lets you locate positions on a map down to the meter, although I usually just go down to a 10m^2 level of detail. If you havent used the UTM system, it’s wonderfully simple and since it uses regular numbers instead of degrees, minutes, and seconds, it allows easier calculations. My favorite example is finding the distance between two points on a map – point A and point B. With UTM you find the difference between the two axes, slap on a little pythagorean theorem and – presto- theres your distance. Good luck doing that with longitude and lattitude.

Independence Day spirit

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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”!

 

Semantics

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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!

Review – Streamlight Sidewinder 14032

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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:

  • It runs on AA batts, as opposed to the CR123 used in the Compact, so my logistics are streamlined a bit.
  • Has a lanyard attachment point.
  • The metal clip that you use to clip the light to your gear is removable. This is important because it you think the clip isn’t providing enough force to keep it from sliding off whatever you clip it to, you can remove the clip, bend it as necessary, and then put it back the way was. Couldn’t really do that with the compact.
  • Battery compartment lid is captive. No losing it in the dark or when your sitting somewhere changing batteries when the cover falls between your legs and into the tall grass. Nice touch.

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.

Some camo links

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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.

Zeltbahns…sorta

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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.

Derecho?

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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.

Article – Greek citizens: ‘Family is all that is holding us together. But it can’t

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,Rawles linked to this article about Greece. Pay close attention to this paragraph:

Greece’s health insurance system relied on pharmacists like her buying full-price medicines on credit and distributing them at heavy discounts before claiming the difference from the state. As the state-run insurance schemes have gone bust, that money has stopped. She has not been paid since September last year. The 31-year-old kept faith with the old system until the money owed her topped €50,000 (£40,350). That debt is about average and the reason 1,500 pharmacies have closed since 2009.

The day before, a patient had come in needing Seroquel, a medicine for schizophrenics. They could not afford the €42 fee for the fortnightly treatment and had to be turned away. “I feel very bad, but if I get into debt with suppliers, I’ll go to jail,” she says.

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.

Article – Phoenix boy, 14, shoots armed intruder while watching three younger siblings

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A 14-year-old Phoenix boy shot an intruder who broke into his home while brandishing a gun as the teenager watched his three younger siblings, police said.

The teen and his brothers and sisters were at home alone at their residence at 55th Avenue and Baseline when a woman rang the doorbell Friday. The teen didn’t open the door because he didn’t recognize her, Police Officer James Holmes said Saturday.

Soon after, the teen heard a bang on the door, rushed his siblings upstairs and got a handgun from his parent’s bedroom. When he got to the top of the stairs, he saw a man breaking through the front door and point a gun at him.

The boy shot the 37-year-old man, who is in critical condition but expected to survive and be booked into jail.

 

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.