Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Okay, back from the honeymoon. Alaska was an interesting place and other than that whole ocean and coastline thing, it looked a lot like Idaho and parts of Montana. Oh, and gunpowder was $30 a pound. Tough on your wallet, that state. Fishing was good though, and I would suspect that if a person could keep their boat fueled up you could subsist very well on the fish and game up there.

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Im a fan of the surplussed out HK flare guns that show up in Cheaper Than Dirt, Sportsmans Guide HQ, etc. The trick, however, is a source for the 26.5mm flares. Well, Ive got the new SG HQ catalog and in addition to selling the guns they are now selling the flares. I’ve shot these HK guns with the flares (mostly Czech surplus) and all fire and perform fine. They’re a real hoot. Not cheap at $3-4 ea. But when you need the signaling advantages of a flare gun, they’ll definitely do the job.

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Like a lot of people with a preparedness mindset, I have more backpacks than I know what to do with. So many, in fact, that the notion of buying luggage seems absurd. Why buy luggage when I’ve got perfectly good backpacks and duffels sitting in the bunker? For the honeymoon trip I just took, I used my Kifaru Marauder pack along with the Kifaru E&E bag as my ‘carry-on’ bag. The E&E ‘docks’ to the Marauder to allow me to carry both…much like the daypack on the CFP-90 military packs. Since I carried the E&E around on a shoulder strap I added a couple Maxpedition RolyPoly fold out pouches in case I needed extra space. Worked great. Yes, I probably could have done close to the same thing with an inexpensive ALICE pack but I like the Kifaru products and I can afford them, so why wouldn’t I?

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Can’t come up with a premise for your next end-of-the-world novel? Have the survivors out on a cruise ship when the zombie apocalypse starts. Lotsa great plot devices right there, I’m tellin’ ya.

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Politics:

Hillary is down but not out. That concession speech where she did everything but stick her hand down Obama’s pants? What do you think the price of that was? Im guessing a seat on the Supreme Court, ambassadorship to the UN or paying off her campaign debt.

I predicted an Obama/Clinton ticket way back when and I still haven’t ruled it out. Hillary is still a threat to my way of life…vice president, Supreme Court justice, health care czar, whatever. My point: don’t slack off. You still need to get out there and buy the things that she and her fellow travelers would prefer we not have.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Still on the honeymoon cruise up in Alaska. however, when I get back I promise I’ve got some cruise ship stuff thats actually on topic.

Speaking of: paracord. I really shoulda brought a small tennis ball sized ball of paracord. And a few other goodies. Kifaru bags are holsing up quite nicely in their role as luggage.

Recap of everything on return this weekend.

Oh, one more thing….Royal Caribbean cruise. Thumbs down on internet access at $0.50/min, but two thumbs up on pretty much everything else.

And..Chinese tourists are loud drunks who travel in large groups and are generally annoying to be around.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Im currently in Vancouver, Canaduh.
This is the departure point for the honeymoon cruise Im taking up to Alaska. Thus far I’ve been rather unimpressed with Vancouver. Its crowded, noisy and looks like what Id imagine Hong Kong looks like – tall, outdated glass buildings amongst crowded rundown streets. Perhaps Im just in the wrong part of town.

Thus far I’ve not seen a single Canuckistan authority figure (cop, airport security, etc) who a) had anything more potent than an ASP baton on them and b) didnt look like they’d be an easy mark anywhere else. This is my first trip to a Second World country. The homeless people here look exactly like the homeless people in the US…right down to the cardboard signs with their hard-luck stories. I wanted to ask why they were homeless and sick since this country is supposed to be so morally and socially superior to the US with its socialized medicine and whatnot but I didnt ask…mostly because I dont care. If I were going to care about the homeless, I’d start with the American homeless since that is, after all, where Im from. Other nationalities of homeless people are way down the ladder for me.

On topic, I took my Kifaru Marauder bag and used the detachable E&E bag for my carry on. Worked exceptionally well.

As I mentioned, this is a honeymoon trip so unless something really noteworthy happens in the world I probably wont be posting much until I get back around the 7th.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

After the wedding on Saturday, the whole gang went shooting Sunday. Oleg, the official wedding photographer, got this one of me and the former girlfriend at the range…note she is still wearing the veil and tiara:

If you wanna see what a wedding full of armed participants looks like:

Try here

The cannon going off

The 1917 Enfield Cake Cutter Mk I

Manly party favors

And the Fifty Fund is still up and running if you want to help the happy couple get their anti-materiel needs met.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

A few posts back I asked for suggestions on a book for learning the ins and outs of montain bike repair/maintenance/modification. There was a good bit of support for Zinn and The Art Of Mountain Bike Maintenence. I’ve flipped through the book briefly (have alot of stuff going on right now so time isnt terribly abundant) and like what I see so far. While I do believe that there are books that are so good they can be summed up with “If you can only have one book about [subject] it should be this one” I most certainly do not believe that one book does it all. One source of anything is usually not a smart idea. In this case there are two other books that look promising and I’ll be getting those as well.

Im not mechanically inclined by any stretch of the imagination, but necessity and an empty wallet will do alot for your motivation to learn a skillset. I like my mountain bike…it gets me from point A to point B quickly, quietly and affords me the use of non-roadway surfaces like sidewalks, alleys, meticulously groomed lawns and the like. It also is, usually, cheap to use. However, and theres always a ‘however’, like any mechanical device that is literally rode hard and put away wet there is a certain amount of care and repair needed to keep the thing running. I used to think that good maintenence was simply a) keep tires inflated b) spray the chain with whatever gun lube is handy and c)  replace the chain every once in a while…if you remember.

Not so.

With gas being close to four bucks a gallon and the vast majority of my little world existing only a dozen blocks from home, theres no real pressing reason for me to drive the truck when I can ride the bike. And if Im going to wind up using this thing for daily commuting, as I usually do in the armer months, then its simply a logical extension of my own preparedness interests to be able to repair it (or, if Im so inclined, modify it.)

Of course, Im starting from square one since wrench turning has never been a strong suit of mine, but Im willing to learn.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

,Rawles was getting some good press a few weeks ago when the rice-rationing episodes at CostCo were in the news. That sort of exposure leads to all sorts related articles. In this case, heres someone (presumably lefty) taking issue with a bunch of his stuff: Why Survivalists Make Me Want To Die.

This comes from the same school of “if you prepare to survive a nuclear war, youre inviting one to happen”. These people….argh…I simply cannot express my disgust.

I used to care about what would happen to the well-meaning-but-unprepared….not anymore. By and large Ive resigned myself to the policy that they had every chance to do that which was necessary to take care of themselves and if they choose not to then thats a choice Im going to respect – have a nice day.

However, to actively try to dissuade someone from doing things to protect themselves…well, thats a different matter. I suppose if someone is gullible enough to buy into that and sell the AR, sell the Mountain House stash and sell thegold then they get what they deserve.

Still and all, the article makes me wanna go over there and kick the guy in the ‘nads.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Link about the Peak-Oil influenced ‘new survivalists’:

Link

Some are doing it quietly, giving few details of their preparations – afraid that revealing such information as the location of their supplies will endanger themselves and their loved ones. They envision a future in which the nation’s cities will be filled with hungry, desperate refugees forced to go looking for food, shelter and water.

…..

Lynn-Marie asked to be identified by her first name to protect her homestead in rural western Idaho. Many of these survivalists declined to speak to The Associated Press for similar reasons.

Nice to see that the newcomers are finally realizing that keeping a fairly low profile is a good idea since the world isnt without people who’ll want to take what you have.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Lack of posting? Sure. Im getting married today in about three hours. I’ve been running around all week with family, friends and hirelings trying to make sure everything goes according to plan. Which has inspired me about doing a post about how living a life of preparedness and then having to prepare for a wedding have a few things in common and alot that arent. And alot about the value of Plan B, C and D.

Not too late to wish the couple all the best with a fine firearm.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Two more weeks until the wedding. It should prove to be an interesting experience. First off, we’re encouraging our guests to be armed. Because of this we’re also keeping it a booze-free wedding. A friend of mine with a nice 1/3 scale Revolutionary War cannon will be bringing it along for a salute. Theres a scheduled ‘range day’ the day after the wedding and that should be quite interesting as well. Finally, there’ll be the final round of gift-giving and the determination of whether the gifting was enough to cover the cost of the .50 BMG rifle we’ve got listed on our registry. I do believe this will be an event that will be unmatched in the gun community for a while and may very well become the stuff of legends on the various gun boards. Obviously, much photography will be taking place. There’ll be at least one well known photographing gunny in attendance – Oleg Volk. And Im sure there will be no shortage of people with digital cameras floating around.

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Remember a few weeks ago I had my first trip to the LDS cannery? I received an email from the fella I went with telling me that, for the first time, they are closing their doors for a short while due to a lack of food products. When I was there the shelves were, in some spots, pretty bare. Now they’re taking a break while they try to get their stockpiles back up. The natives, it seems, are restless. When the Mormons go to ground, take note.

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Received a new catalog from CDNN. Right on the cover they say Glock mag prices will be going up 40%. This will put Glock mags in the $22~ price range. Theres no such thing as too many magazines, guys. Mags are a consumable. They will get broken, they will get lost, they will get damaged, they will get stolen, they will get left behind, they will get confiscated, they will be restricted, they may become illegal. Your gun came with one mag in the gun and two spares in the box? You seriously think those will last you for the rest. Of. Your. Life?

Pull $100 out of your wallet, skip eating out this month, and buy some spares, will ya please?

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Speaking of CDNN, I called and they do indeed have PTR-91 rifles in stock. $900-1000~ depending on model. An outstanding gun that has cheap magazine availability. (See above paragraph.) Heres putting it in perspective…

$1500 will get you, as far as a 308 battle rifle goes:

• Armalite AR-10 and 4 extra mags
• SA M1A Standard and 8 extra mags
• DSA FAL and 20 extra mags
• JLD PTR-91 and 250 extra mags (or 50 mags, a tactical sling, cleaning kit, spare parts, claw mount and some ammo)

Excellent ‘bang for your buck’ right there folks. Personally, I prefer the ergonomics of the FAL but I realize that I need to spend what little money I have on something that will provide the greatest return. In this case, it’s the PTR-91…I get .308 performance, accuracy, HK reliability, dirt cheap spare parts, $2 magazines, and all of it at a realistic price.

Oh, sure, I could buy about 6 SKS rifles for the cost of the PTR-91. And I do have several SKS rifles. But they’re not my first or second choice for running out the door. They’re nice ‘last ditch’ guns, good for handing off to guests, and are ‘disposable’ in the sense that if they get stolen out of a vehicle or building I wont really care. But they are not my first choice for defending life and property.

Have your dealer call CDNN and score you a PTR-91. Then have your dealer call Lew Horton Distributing and order up some $2 mags. You’ll never regret it. Esp. after November.

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I am still looking for recommendations for bicycle repair/maintenance/modding books. Leave in comments or email to zero@commanderzero.com .