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

You know, some folks may have some 'problems' with Mormons but if you read this church bulletin, graciously provided by , you can see that these people seriously have their stuff together. Seriously.

I was going to pull out some highlights but, really, it would have just been reposting the whole article. These people really have a handle on their situation. Organization, command and control, nationwide resources, etc, etc. Gotta admire that sort of organizational discipline.

You know, some folks may have some ‘problems’ with Mormons but if you read this church bulletin, graciously provided by saintswife, you can see that these people seriously have their stuff together. Seriously.

I was going to pull out some highlights but, really, it would have just been reposting the whole article. These people really have a handle on their situation. Organization, command and control, nationwide resources, etc, etc. Gotta admire that sort of organizational discipline.

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

The top item on the list of 'wants' for Katrina survivors, right after drinking water, is fuel. (And by fuel, I'm going with the definition of 'a consumable product for production of energy (light, heat, etc) through combustion or burning). Narrowing it further – gasoline.

I originally had a few 5-gallon gas cans but after reading about how in New Orleans if you had some gasoline you could pretty much name your price on whatever you wanted, I've decided a few smaller 1- and 2-gallon containers would be prudent for 'making change' in a transaction. Naturally, they are also easier to transport. The small plastic ones are about $3 ea. at Super WallyWorld. I'm a believer in metal cans for long-term storage and plastic containers for short term use or transport. Plastic cans dont do nearly as much damage sliding around the back of a truck as a stack of metal ones. However, plastic cans are a bit more porous than metal ones when it comes to various off-gassing of ethers and other elements of gasoline that break down and become vapors. At least, thats what I read. (Interestingly, I also read that PRI-G (not Sta-Bil) will restore this compromised fuel back to good as new. Interesting.)

Speaking of transport, in case you didnt know, the ubiquitous and relatively cheap ALICE pack is designed to carry 5-gallon fuel cans (as well as other flat and heavy objects) by use of the ALICE frame and a cargo shelf. Brigade Quartermaster is closing out cargo shelves for $3 apiece, which means buying five of them won't break the bank. ALICE frames and shoulderstraps can be had from pretty much every military surplus website as well as most gunshows. Im the first to admit that ALICE packs are not the most comfortable pack you can buy but they are cheap, already in a good subdued color, are fairly rugged and multitask for different carrying styles and loads. So, next time youre sitting on your mountain bike, waiting in a gas line, you can strap that jerrycan to your back and transport it wherever it needs to go with far more ease than trying to ride your bike one handed while balancing a 40# fuel can with the other. (Might wanna think about a cloth cover of some kind for the jerrycan in case youre worried about looters coming after your butt because you've got 5-gallons of gas strapped to you. And, no, a gunshot wont ignite it….they exhaustively disproved that one on 'Mythbusters'.)

Naturally, a five-gallon can of diesel or drinking water can also be carried in such a manner. Think about it next time you think you might have to transport a large quantity of fuel or water on foot, bicycle, horseback or motorcycle.
=====
The girlfriend has apparently found an admirer in 'Patriots' author James Rawles. He mentioned in an email to her that he reads her LJ. I'm terribly amused.
=====
Speaking of fuel cans, if you hit the Blitz USA website ( www.blitzusa.com ) you can see they manufacture plastic five-gallon (and larger) containers with the correct color codings for diesel, gasoline, kerosene and water. (What, you didnt know theyre color coded? Yup..usually its red for gas, yellow for diesel and blue for kero…and water-blue for, you guessed it, water.) They also make a very interesting product (their part #11050)..a ten-gallon 'fuel station'…basically a cylindrical 10-gallon tank with hose and spigot just like a gas pump. Gravity feed but looks like a nice option to have mounted in your truck or garage for fueling vehicles in an easier manner than manhandling a 40# jerrycan.
=====
Speaking of PRI-G, my UPS droid just dropped off a package containing, surprise, a 32 oz. jug of the stuff. Out. Of. The. Blue. (From 'Survival Unlimited.Com' out of Gonzales LA…you remember Louisiana, right? Its the state where New Orleans used to be.)
Remember in the previous post I mentioned what a tremendous boon it is to have a bunker babe who shares your interests and desire to prepare for the uncertain future? Well, apparently she hopped on the interwebnet and ordered a jug o' the stuff for yours truly. And told me nothing about it. Which is why I'm saying nothing about it. She'll find out that it arrived as soon as she reads this.

Seriously, is she cool or what? And am I one seriously undeserving paranoiac or what?

Her birthday is in four weeks. I better get it right.
=====
I wonder how the Mormons in Louisiana (or anywhere in the hurricane region, for that matter) made out. Anyone have any links or articles? I'd do a search for “mormon hurricane” but it would probably come back with a Salt Lake City high school basketball team.

The top item on the list of ‘wants’ for Katrina survivors, right after drinking water, is fuel. (And by fuel, I’m going with the definition of ‘a consumable product for production of energy (light, heat, etc) through combustion or burning). Narrowing it further – gasoline.

I originally had a few 5-gallon gas cans but after reading about how in New Orleans if you had some gasoline you could pretty much name your price on whatever you wanted, I’ve decided a few smaller 1- and 2-gallon containers would be prudent for ‘making change’ in a transaction. Naturally, they are also easier to transport. The small plastic ones are about $3 ea. at Super WallyWorld. I’m a believer in metal cans for long-term storage and plastic containers for short term use or transport. Plastic cans dont do nearly as much damage sliding around the back of a truck as a stack of metal ones. However, plastic cans are a bit more porous than metal ones when it comes to various off-gassing of ethers and other elements of gasoline that break down and become vapors. At least, thats what I read. (Interestingly, I also read that PRI-G (not Sta-Bil) will restore this compromised fuel back to good as new. Interesting.)

Speaking of transport, in case you didnt know, the ubiquitous and relatively cheap ALICE pack is designed to carry 5-gallon fuel cans (as well as other flat and heavy objects) by use of the ALICE frame and a cargo shelf. Brigade Quartermaster is closing out cargo shelves for $3 apiece, which means buying five of them won’t break the bank. ALICE frames and shoulderstraps can be had from pretty much every military surplus website as well as most gunshows. Im the first to admit that ALICE packs are not the most comfortable pack you can buy but they are cheap, already in a good subdued color, are fairly rugged and multitask for different carrying styles and loads. So, next time youre sitting on your mountain bike, waiting in a gas line, you can strap that jerrycan to your back and transport it wherever it needs to go with far more ease than trying to ride your bike one handed while balancing a 40# fuel can with the other. (Might wanna think about a cloth cover of some kind for the jerrycan in case youre worried about looters coming after your butt because you’ve got 5-gallons of gas strapped to you. And, no, a gunshot wont ignite it….they exhaustively disproved that one on ‘Mythbusters’.)

Naturally, a five-gallon can of diesel or drinking water can also be carried in such a manner. Think about it next time you think you might have to transport a large quantity of fuel or water on foot, bicycle, horseback or motorcycle.
=====
The girlfriend has apparently found an admirer in ‘Patriots’ author James Rawles. He mentioned in an email to her that he reads her LJ. I’m terribly amused.
=====
Speaking of fuel cans, if you hit the Blitz USA website ( www.blitzusa.com ) you can see they manufacture plastic five-gallon (and larger) containers with the correct color codings for diesel, gasoline, kerosene and water. (What, you didnt know theyre color coded? Yup..usually its red for gas, yellow for diesel and blue for kero…and water-blue for, you guessed it, water.) They also make a very interesting product (their part #11050)..a ten-gallon ‘fuel station’…basically a cylindrical 10-gallon tank with hose and spigot just like a gas pump. Gravity feed but looks like a nice option to have mounted in your truck or garage for fueling vehicles in an easier manner than manhandling a 40# jerrycan.
=====
Speaking of PRI-G, my UPS droid just dropped off a package containing, surprise, a 32 oz. jug of the stuff. Out. Of. The. Blue. (From ‘Survival Unlimited.Com’ out of Gonzales LA…you remember Louisiana, right? Its the state where New Orleans used to be.)
Remember in the previous post I mentioned what a tremendous boon it is to have a bunker babe who shares your interests and desire to prepare for the uncertain future? Well, apparently she hopped on the interwebnet and ordered a jug o’ the stuff for yours truly. And told me nothing about it. Which is why I’m saying nothing about it. She’ll find out that it arrived as soon as she reads this.

Seriously, is she cool or what? And am I one seriously undeserving paranoiac or what?

Her birthday is in four weeks. I better get it right.
=====
I wonder how the Mormons in Louisiana (or anywhere in the hurricane region, for that matter) made out. Anyone have any links or articles? I’d do a search for “mormon hurricane” but it would probably come back with a Salt Lake City high school basketball team.

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

Man, every day its something new out of the Katrina incident.

Are you tired of me going on about it yet, 'cause I sure am.

BUT…enormous incidents like these don't come along very often, so when one does occur, giving us a chance to see our fine government agencies in action, its definitely worth an exhaustive examination.

To people like me (and maybe you) who have kept one foot planted firmly in the notion of preparedness for the last ten years or so this experience shows what we've been saying all along – in a truly large, massive crisis the government response will either be a) useless and inadequate and/or b) heavy-handed authoritarianism mixed with a healthy dose of the police state. And, ladies and gentlemen, I have been dismissed as a crackpot for saying such things in the past. Do I feel vindicated? Sure. More importantly I hope that these events have tipped people off the fence and solidly into the 'my safety and welfare is my own responsibility, not the governments' camp.

Mostly, I hope that people have learned that the police aren't there to help you in a crisis nearly as much as they are there to help themselves…and that people will prepare with this in mind.

I'd also like to take a moment to say that not every single cop is a thug, wanna-be tough guy, or picked-on kid who grew up to want to be a bully himself. Nah, Im sure there are a very few out there who realize that being a cop doesnt make them better than the citizenry theyre charged with protecting. Very few. To them, I hope their good work is noted and that they can distance themselves from their 'respect mah authority' co-workers…at least, distance themselves far enough to avoid the spatter.

I have this fantasy about starting a website listing every NOPD officers name and listing whether or not they showed up for work during Katrina, if they were caught on tape looting, or if they just turned and ran. Then I'd use this website to keep track of them and make sure that every time they went to apply with another agency, their bad deeds were brought to light. Why? Because if you have the power to take away someones civil rights than you had bloody well better be a Boy Scout or else you should be strung up from the nearest telephone pole.

end of rant
=====
Know what makes preparing for the apocalypse alot easier? Having someone close to you who a) doesnt think youre out of your mind, b) takes an interest, c) encourages through positive comments like “You know, Ireally love that you [stockpile food, store extra fuel, buy toilet paper in the 48 pack, etc]..it makes me feel safe”, d) all of the above.

I read alot of things in the various boards about how “I'm trying to explain to my (wife/husband) why we need to stock up on [item] and all they do is say Im wasting time and money!” and I'm so glad I dont have to deal with that. I also enjoy knowing that if Im away and theres a problem, she's got all of the resources on hand to keep things safe and sane.

So…lucky me.
=====
I was watching some footage from someplace other than Louisiana where a whole town was, literally, wiped away. Serious. Nothing but concrete pads where all the little houses and shops were. Which naturally gets me wondering what kind of structure you could build to resist something like that. All Im coming up with is a streamlined concrete structure of some type. Did I mention my latest brainstorm for fabricating your own durable, easy-and-fast-to-build concrete sheds, outbuildings and dog kennels? No? Okay, follow me on this: get a mold and make concrete Lego blocks.

Seriously, man!

Think about it a minute. You make some moulds to cast a block thats, oh, say 12×12×18. Then you just stack 'em however you want in whatever configuration you want. Then trowel over the whole thing with some more concrete. Presto! Instant concrete building. How is it different from cinder blocks? Cause these babies lock together in a fashion that helps to keep them from pulling apart or tipping over. Sure, you'll probably want some rebar here and there but think of the simple and expedient buildings you could make. Reatining walls! Curbs! Horse stalls! Machinegun nests! Driveway dividers! Wave of the future, my friends…. completely modular.

Man, every day its something new out of the Katrina incident.

Are you tired of me going on about it yet, ’cause I sure am.

BUT…enormous incidents like these don’t come along very often, so when one does occur, giving us a chance to see our fine government agencies in action, its definitely worth an exhaustive examination.

To people like me (and maybe you) who have kept one foot planted firmly in the notion of preparedness for the last ten years or so this experience shows what we’ve been saying all along – in a truly large, massive crisis the government response will either be a) useless and inadequate and/or b) heavy-handed authoritarianism mixed with a healthy dose of the police state. And, ladies and gentlemen, I have been dismissed as a crackpot for saying such things in the past. Do I feel vindicated? Sure. More importantly I hope that these events have tipped people off the fence and solidly into the ‘my safety and welfare is my own responsibility, not the governments’ camp.

Mostly, I hope that people have learned that the police aren’t there to help you in a crisis nearly as much as they are there to help themselves…and that people will prepare with this in mind.

I’d also like to take a moment to say that not every single cop is a thug, wanna-be tough guy, or picked-on kid who grew up to want to be a bully himself. Nah, Im sure there are a very few out there who realize that being a cop doesnt make them better than the citizenry theyre charged with protecting. Very few. To them, I hope their good work is noted and that they can distance themselves from their ‘respect mah authority’ co-workers…at least, distance themselves far enough to avoid the spatter.

I have this fantasy about starting a website listing every NOPD officers name and listing whether or not they showed up for work during Katrina, if they were caught on tape looting, or if they just turned and ran. Then I’d use this website to keep track of them and make sure that every time they went to apply with another agency, their bad deeds were brought to light. Why? Because if you have the power to take away someones civil rights than you had bloody well better be a Boy Scout or else you should be strung up from the nearest telephone pole.

end of rant
=====
Know what makes preparing for the apocalypse alot easier? Having someone close to you who a) doesnt think youre out of your mind, b) takes an interest, c) encourages through positive comments like “You know, Ireally love that you [stockpile food, store extra fuel, buy toilet paper in the 48 pack, etc]..it makes me feel safe”, d) all of the above.

I read alot of things in the various boards about how “I’m trying to explain to my (wife/husband) why we need to stock up on [item] and all they do is say Im wasting time and money!” and I’m so glad I dont have to deal with that. I also enjoy knowing that if Im away and theres a problem, she’s got all of the resources on hand to keep things safe and sane.

So…lucky me.
=====
I was watching some footage from someplace other than Louisiana where a whole town was, literally, wiped away. Serious. Nothing but concrete pads where all the little houses and shops were. Which naturally gets me wondering what kind of structure you could build to resist something like that. All Im coming up with is a streamlined concrete structure of some type. Did I mention my latest brainstorm for fabricating your own durable, easy-and-fast-to-build concrete sheds, outbuildings and dog kennels? No? Okay, follow me on this: get a mold and make concrete Lego blocks.

Seriously, man!

Think about it a minute. You make some moulds to cast a block thats, oh, say 12x12x18. Then you just stack ’em however you want in whatever configuration you want. Then trowel over the whole thing with some more concrete. Presto! Instant concrete building. How is it different from cinder blocks? Cause these babies lock together in a fashion that helps to keep them from pulling apart or tipping over. Sure, you’ll probably want some rebar here and there but think of the simple and expedient buildings you could make. Reatining walls! Curbs! Horse stalls! Machinegun nests! Driveway dividers! Wave of the future, my friends…. completely modular.

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

The girlfriend had her 2-day 'practical rifle' course this weekend. Keep in mind that other than about 60 rounds the shot off last weekend she had no experience with a turnbolt centerfire. By the end of the course she was hitting eggs at 400 yards. Man-sized silhouettes were a given at that distance. In fact, she's now jaded that hitting anything less than 300 yards isnt much of a challenge. The final shoot of the day was at 500 yards and that was a bit trickier, but she gave a good accounting of herself. She's come to see that a rifle is a very personal firearm in the sense that you cant just pass a rifle around to several different people and have it shoot as well for all of them. So, now she needs her own .308 boltgun. One of the guys there had a Rem. 700 LTR that she liked although I'm leaning towards the Savage for its Accutrigger and easily swappable barrel. (Yes, she could put a Timney in the LTR but the Savage comes from the factory with a fabulous fully adjustable trigger.) Regardless, her confidence in hitting a deer-sized target has increased to the point where she no longer feels that she wouldnt want to take a shot past 100 yards…now its developing into 'if I can see it, I can hit it'.

Being the 'gear queer' that I am, I asked for stats about what the other shooters had. There were two .300 Win Mags, the rest were .308's. There was a Browning A-Bolt, a Model 70 and a Kimber 84..the rest were various flavors of Remington including one Remington 710 ('the plastic gun') that some poor bastard was shooting FMJ out of and having a hell of a time hitting anything. (He was also the guy with the Bushnell…so, obviously, he was shooting the gun as it was packaged – rifle/scope combo). The girlfriend was shooting my CZ550 Varminter in .308. There was a Bushnell, a Burris and the rest of the field was Leupold..mostly variable although one guy was using a fixed 6x…which I think is a good all-purpose hunting scope. The majority of shooters used bipods and the rest just threw the rifles across their packs in the prone position.
=====
The fun never stops in New Orleans. Nice little footage of a grandma in her house with her stored food and a pistol arguing with the SWAT team thats there to 'help' her…right up to the point one guy tackles her, snatches away her pearl handled .38 and they hustle the crying woman onto the back of a truck for 'processing'. And then they feel good because they 'helped' her.  And, the great part, is that through the whole video she's saying 'I dont want you in my house, get out' and they just stand there..without a warrant, telling her she has to go and that theyre there to 'help' her.

More stories, some not quite verifiable, of one group of cops asking civvies for details on what guns they have just so 'they know who has what' and then another group of comes coming along later and working off a list, takes those same guns.

If any of you are surprised by this, then you havent been following the trends since 1992. Its a sad thing to say, but some homeowner needs to sacrifice everything and just start shooting these thugs.
=====
Picked up a very swell little stove this weekend. ( http://www.optimus.se/img/product/svea1.gif, http://www.optimus.se/img/product/svea2.gif) Its ostensibly for the girlfriend during hunting season but I like it alot. Its a little Primus that comes with a small stand and an aluminum cup that all nests together to save space. These things arent as light as , say, a small folding stove with a butane cartridge but its utterly bulletproof. World War I technology, no moving parts, no pumps, no hoses, no fuel bottlle, nada. Just brass and steel and some old-world ingenuity. Oh, and it was $25. A gallon of Coleman fuel and this thing would keep a refugee in New Orleans cooking for a good bit of time. I store Coleman fuel for my lanterns but thats only one part of the fuel equation….I keep propane, kerosene and Coleman but the primary fuel is kerosene. The other two fuels are just for convenience and to spread out my ability to use scavenged fuels.

EDIT: Hunh…turns out this stove is still being sold with almost no changes since it was first made in the late 1800's. Thats bulletproof tech. Model? Its a Optimus Climber Svea 123R Stove
=====
I can see where in a situation like whats going on in New Orleans it would make sense to answer the door and, when the friendly MP-5 toting people who are there to 'help' ask for the guns, to hand over a Ruger 10/22 and a CZ-52 or Jennings and act tearfull about it…then wait an hour after their gone and pull the Glock and AR out from behind the refrigerator and continue with life.

The girlfriend had her 2-day ‘practical rifle’ course this weekend. Keep in mind that other than about 60 rounds the shot off last weekend she had no experience with a turnbolt centerfire. By the end of the course she was hitting eggs at 400 yards. Man-sized silhouettes were a given at that distance. In fact, she’s now jaded that hitting anything less than 300 yards isnt much of a challenge. The final shoot of the day was at 500 yards and that was a bit trickier, but she gave a good accounting of herself. She’s come to see that a rifle is a very personal firearm in the sense that you cant just pass a rifle around to several different people and have it shoot as well for all of them. So, now she needs her own .308 boltgun. One of the guys there had a Rem. 700 LTR that she liked although I’m leaning towards the Savage for its Accutrigger and easily swappable barrel. (Yes, she could put a Timney in the LTR but the Savage comes from the factory with a fabulous fully adjustable trigger.) Regardless, her confidence in hitting a deer-sized target has increased to the point where she no longer feels that she wouldnt want to take a shot past 100 yards…now its developing into ‘if I can see it, I can hit it’.

Being the ‘gear queer’ that I am, I asked for stats about what the other shooters had. There were two .300 Win Mags, the rest were .308’s. There was a Browning A-Bolt, a Model 70 and a Kimber 84..the rest were various flavors of Remington including one Remington 710 (‘the plastic gun’) that some poor bastard was shooting FMJ out of and having a hell of a time hitting anything. (He was also the guy with the Bushnell…so, obviously, he was shooting the gun as it was packaged – rifle/scope combo). The girlfriend was shooting my CZ550 Varminter in .308. There was a Bushnell, a Burris and the rest of the field was Leupold..mostly variable although one guy was using a fixed 6x…which I think is a good all-purpose hunting scope. The majority of shooters used bipods and the rest just threw the rifles across their packs in the prone position.
=====
The fun never stops in New Orleans. Nice little footage of a grandma in her house with her stored food and a pistol arguing with the SWAT team thats there to ‘help’ her…right up to the point one guy tackles her, snatches away her pearl handled .38 and they hustle the crying woman onto the back of a truck for ‘processing’. And then they feel good because they ‘helped’ her.  And, the great part, is that through the whole video she’s saying ‘I dont want you in my house, get out’ and they just stand there..without a warrant, telling her she has to go and that theyre there to ‘help’ her.

More stories, some not quite verifiable, of one group of cops asking civvies for details on what guns they have just so ‘they know who has what’ and then another group of comes coming along later and working off a list, takes those same guns.

If any of you are surprised by this, then you havent been following the trends since 1992. Its a sad thing to say, but some homeowner needs to sacrifice everything and just start shooting these thugs.
=====
Picked up a very swell little stove this weekend. ( http://www.optimus.se/img/product/svea1.gif, http://www.optimus.se/img/product/svea2.gif) Its ostensibly for the girlfriend during hunting season but I like it alot. Its a little Primus that comes with a small stand and an aluminum cup that all nests together to save space. These things arent as light as , say, a small folding stove with a butane cartridge but its utterly bulletproof. World War I technology, no moving parts, no pumps, no hoses, no fuel bottlle, nada. Just brass and steel and some old-world ingenuity. Oh, and it was $25. A gallon of Coleman fuel and this thing would keep a refugee in New Orleans cooking for a good bit of time. I store Coleman fuel for my lanterns but thats only one part of the fuel equation….I keep propane, kerosene and Coleman but the primary fuel is kerosene. The other two fuels are just for convenience and to spread out my ability to use scavenged fuels.

EDIT: Hunh…turns out this stove is still being sold with almost no changes since it was first made in the late 1800’s. Thats bulletproof tech. Model? Its a Optimus Climber Svea 123R Stove
=====
I can see where in a situation like whats going on in New Orleans it would make sense to answer the door and, when the friendly MP-5 toting people who are there to ‘help’ ask for the guns, to hand over a Ruger 10/22 and a CZ-52 or Jennings and act tearfull about it…then wait an hour after their gone and pull the Glock and AR out from behind the refrigerator and continue with life.

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

I am just way oversaturated in media coverage of the Katrina event. On one hand, its vitally important that I get as much information as possible, from as many sources as possible, so I can learn and see what works, what doesnt work, what should have been done differently and what shouldnt have been done at all. You don't often get this kind of mass destruction and population displacement in a first-world country without a war of some kind. This is an outstanding 'field laboratory' to see what works and what doesn't.

On the other hand, its mucking with my head with some of these infuriating tales of looting, agency turf battles and way-too-needy victims.

I read about a couple kids who stood in  line with their mom for a couple hours to get a hot meal from the Salvation Army. A gal there sees these kids and decides to give them a treat and gives each one a jumbo box of Pop Tarts…..and then the kids examine the box, see its a flavor they dont like, and hand them back.   People at the Guantanadome complained that after days of no food all they got were MRE's….Others rush the scene when a helicopter tries to land, forcing the copter to drop the cases of water from 20' where they burst open, useless, as a few smarter survivors futiley try to keep the crowd back so the copter can land…

Theres an expression 'There are no victims, only volunteers'.

Sure theyre tired, sure theyre hungry, sure theyre scared…..but people have always been hungry, scared and tired and while many of them make poor decisions because of it, even more don't…Im almost starting to think that the survivors/victims biggest enemy is themselves.

==========
I am having the most fascinating email conversation with a fella. He's telling me all about his emergency power system that he put together to run his gear during a blackout. Its an extremely informative read and if it's okay with him I may post some parts of it that I think the rest of you might find interesting. My needs are pretty simple: lighting, coomunications, battery charging… all things that are normally DC anyway, so right off the bat I can streamline things by leaving out the inverter for AC. (Although I might have one anyway just to play it safe.) Between fluorescent/LED lighting, small wattage radio and D- and AA-battery charger, I should be able to run for a failry good bit of time off a large enough bank of batteries. My own reading on the subject, and these emails, are convincing me that the AGM (absorbed glass media) batts will fit my needs since I want something that minimizes hydrogen gas during recharge…I want to keep these indoors in my basement area and I'd very much like to not have to worry about venting issues.
==========
“What would McGyver do” is rapidly becoming my problem-solving paradigm when I think of how Id cope with conditions in New Orleans. Of course, that means I really need to shell out the shekels and get a Leatherman Wave.

I am just way oversaturated in media coverage of the Katrina event. On one hand, its vitally important that I get as much information as possible, from as many sources as possible, so I can learn and see what works, what doesnt work, what should have been done differently and what shouldnt have been done at all. You don’t often get this kind of mass destruction and population displacement in a first-world country without a war of some kind. This is an outstanding ‘field laboratory’ to see what works and what doesn’t.

On the other hand, its mucking with my head with some of these infuriating tales of looting, agency turf battles and way-too-needy victims.

I read about a couple kids who stood in  line with their mom for a couple hours to get a hot meal from the Salvation Army. A gal there sees these kids and decides to give them a treat and gives each one a jumbo box of Pop Tarts…..and then the kids examine the box, see its a flavor they dont like, and hand them back.   People at the Guantanadome complained that after days of no food all they got were MRE’s….Others rush the scene when a helicopter tries to land, forcing the copter to drop the cases of water from 20′ where they burst open, useless, as a few smarter survivors futiley try to keep the crowd back so the copter can land…

Theres an expression ‘There are no victims, only volunteers’.

Sure theyre tired, sure theyre hungry, sure theyre scared…..but people have always been hungry, scared and tired and while many of them make poor decisions because of it, even more don’t…Im almost starting to think that the survivors/victims biggest enemy is themselves.

==========
I am having the most fascinating email conversation with a fella. He’s telling me all about his emergency power system that he put together to run his gear during a blackout. Its an extremely informative read and if it’s okay with him I may post some parts of it that I think the rest of you might find interesting. My needs are pretty simple: lighting, coomunications, battery charging… all things that are normally DC anyway, so right off the bat I can streamline things by leaving out the inverter for AC. (Although I might have one anyway just to play it safe.) Between fluorescent/LED lighting, small wattage radio and D- and AA-battery charger, I should be able to run for a failry good bit of time off a large enough bank of batteries. My own reading on the subject, and these emails, are convincing me that the AGM (absorbed glass media) batts will fit my needs since I want something that minimizes hydrogen gas during recharge…I want to keep these indoors in my basement area and I’d very much like to not have to worry about venting issues.
==========
“What would McGyver do” is rapidly becoming my problem-solving paradigm when I think of how Id cope with conditions in New Orleans. Of course, that means I really need to shell out the shekels and get a Leatherman Wave.