Theres a couple schools of thought on the idea of keeping gold (or other precious metals) in your stockpile of supplies and gear. On belief is that since it has no practical use (you cant eat it, shoot it, heal with it, etc) its not worth keeping. The other side of the coin (so to speak) is that gold always has a value and is worth having.

Im of the second camp. Heres why:

Yes, you cant shoot gold, eat gold, heal with gold, burn it for fuel or anything like that. Golds purpose, to me, is twofold. It preserves wealth and it is a universal currency.

The Bad Things that are coming dont happen overnight. Its usually a gradual slide (picking up speed) into chaos. When that happens, a few things almost always happen – credit becomes fairly worthless (cant run your credit card if theres no electricity and if theres a chance your bank no longer exists), checks are utterly worthless, and cash reigns supreme. Now, what if your cash suddenly starts to be worth less and less and inflation starts taking its toll? We’ve all heard the stories of Germany’s hyperinflation…a bottle of wine costs 50 marks in the morning and in the evening the empty bottle was worth 5000 marks. Did the value of the bottle increase? No, the value of the money decreased. So if you get $500 a week and then it starts taking $500 to buy what cost $400 last week, thats your dollar being worth less.

Im very bad at explaining this and I know there are people here who could explain it better than I can.

But really, I see it mostly as a hedge against inflation. If I stick $100 in the safe, in ten years it will only buy, maybe, $85-90 worth of stuff. If I throw $100 worth of gold in the safe, in ten years it will probably buy exactly the same things that it would have bought ten years ago…

Its hard for me to explain, but yes I think gold has a place in anyones preparations but as a long-term strategy. (Although in the short term its great for getting past a roadblock in Checnya, bribing border guards in Mexico, buying antibiotics in Baghdad or C-4 in Idaho) Should you buy as much gold as you can? I dont think so…I think you should first spend money on the things you need to prepare with…land, food, fuel, clothes, meds, ammo, guns, education, etc…then I think you should have ready cash available…and then, when all thats done, I think you should start salting a little bit of gold away. A couple coins every month or so….

Im the first to agree that there are times when, literally, gold will be worthless but thats the whole ‘prepared’ part of ‘preparedness’. If the world turns inot Mad Max, Ive got food and ammo…if it turns into a Soviet-style or ARgentine economy with people on line for toilet paper and food..well, thats where gold looks mighty good.

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

I return to base the other day and find the girlfriends AR somewhat disassembled and laid out neatlyon the living room table. Hmmm. She bought a Vlt0r carbine stock and had managed to remove the receiver extension and old stock but that was as far as she got. I looked over the gun and figured that she musta been surprised when she pulled the stock off since theres two springs in there that will go into a low earth orbit if youre not careful. The Takedown pin detent spring was still there. Good girl. The buffer retainer pin spring, however, was missing. Makes sense..if you dont know its there, youd unscrew the receiver extension and then -sproing-. Fortunately, I have a spare set of springs for the AR. Retrieved one from the bunker and reassembled it for her and installed her new 'tactical latch' for the charging handle.

When she got home I gently reminded her that when takinga apart a gun past the simple takedown stage its a good idea to remove parts slowly in case there were springs involved and that next time she should let me watch and advise her until she learns how a particular gun comes apart. No damage. Had her order up a parts kit from Bushmaster so we'd have some more springs, pins and detents since theyre very easy to lose.

In honor of this experience, I am using the new 'showing the girlfriend' icon.

I return to base the other day and find the girlfriends AR somewhat disassembled and laid out neatlyon the living room table. Hmmm. She bought a Vlt0r carbine stock and had managed to remove the receiver extension and old stock but that was as far as she got. I looked over the gun and figured that she musta been surprised when she pulled the stock off since theres two springs in there that will go into a low earth orbit if youre not careful. The Takedown pin detent spring was still there. Good girl. The buffer retainer pin spring, however, was missing. Makes sense..if you dont know its there, youd unscrew the receiver extension and then -sproing-. Fortunately, I have a spare set of springs for the AR. Retrieved one from the bunker and reassembled it for her and installed her new ‘tactical latch’ for the charging handle.

When she got home I gently reminded her that when takinga apart a gun past the simple takedown stage its a good idea to remove parts slowly in case there were springs involved and that next time she should let me watch and advise her until she learns how a particular gun comes apart. No damage. Had her order up a parts kit from Bushmaster so we’d have some more springs, pins and detents since theyre very easy to lose.

In honor of this experience, I am using the new ‘showing the girlfriend’ icon.

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

“The first thing we revolutionaries lose is our wives. The last thing we lose is our lives. In between our women and our lives, we lose our freedom, our happiness, our means of living.” – Eden Pastora.
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Its a little odd, but of all the activities and forms of entertainment I could engage in, I find my Commander Zero activities to be the most relaxing.
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I want to point out that lately Ive been comparing various 'ballistic nylon' stuff (mag pouches, vests, gear pouches) etc. and noticed that the American-madeTactical Tailor stuff is, usually, the same price or cheaper than the Made-In-Vietnam Blackhawk gear. Obviously each company will have products that the other will not, but on the same (or very, very similar) items it seems TT has the edge. Now, some of you may not care where your stuff is made…and some of you may not care what your stuff costs…and thats perfectly cool. But, I take an interest in these things and figured I'd point it out.
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All is quiet in ZeroLand at the moment. That, of course, means nothing… The price of freedom is..uhm..is..eternal vigilance and a buttload of cash, it seems. I've got at least six pages of spreadsheets filled with things to buy and that does not include stuff that I already have and simply want more of (like ammo, food, etc, etc.)
On the other hand, I've come into some stupid bargains in gearing up for Ultima Thule:

• There was the time I took a nightwatchman gig for a sporting goods store and asked to be paid in store credit. Then used the credit to buy out their entire closeout inventory of #10 mountain house freezedrieds.
• The guy from WY who wanted to trade bullets for cases of current manufacture military MRE's
• Those fun parachute flares for $4
• 20mm, 40mm, 60mm and 120mm ammo cans for a few dollars each
• Closeout at CostCo on Baygen flashlights for $20/@
• The leftover kerlix bandage rolls from a very generous VA hospital
• etc. etc.

Point being that if youre patient, shop around and know what youre looking for then getting geared up isnt as expensive as it could be. Of course, there are also goodies and gear that are just going to be spendy no matter how you slice it (real estate, vehicles, gold, etc.)
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Website update with a Product Review of the Streamlight 4AA Propolymer Luxeon, for thos who are interested.

“The first thing we revolutionaries lose is our wives. The last thing we lose is our lives. In between our women and our lives, we lose our freedom, our happiness, our means of living.” – Eden Pastora.
=====
Its a little odd, but of all the activities and forms of entertainment I could engage in, I find my Commander Zero activities to be the most relaxing.
=====
I want to point out that lately Ive been comparing various ‘ballistic nylon’ stuff (mag pouches, vests, gear pouches) etc. and noticed that the American-madeTactical Tailor stuff is, usually, the same price or cheaper than the Made-In-Vietnam Blackhawk gear. Obviously each company will have products that the other will not, but on the same (or very, very similar) items it seems TT has the edge. Now, some of you may not care where your stuff is made…and some of you may not care what your stuff costs…and thats perfectly cool. But, I take an interest in these things and figured I’d point it out.
=====
All is quiet in ZeroLand at the moment. That, of course, means nothing… The price of freedom is..uhm..is..eternal vigilance and a buttload of cash, it seems. I’ve got at least six pages of spreadsheets filled with things to buy and that does not include stuff that I already have and simply want more of (like ammo, food, etc, etc.)
On the other hand, I’ve come into some stupid bargains in gearing up for Ultima Thule:

• There was the time I took a nightwatchman gig for a sporting goods store and asked to be paid in store credit. Then used the credit to buy out their entire closeout inventory of #10 mountain house freezedrieds.
• The guy from WY who wanted to trade bullets for cases of current manufacture military MRE’s
• Those fun parachute flares for $4
• 20mm, 40mm, 60mm and 120mm ammo cans for a few dollars each
• Closeout at CostCo on Baygen flashlights for $20/@
• The leftover kerlix bandage rolls from a very generous VA hospital
• etc. etc.

Point being that if youre patient, shop around and know what youre looking for then getting geared up isnt as expensive as it could be. Of course, there are also goodies and gear that are just going to be spendy no matter how you slice it (real estate, vehicles, gold, etc.)
=====
Website update with a Product Review of the Streamlight 4AA Propolymer Luxeon, for thos who are interested.

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

Being Commander Zero, or really, anyone who is into preparedness, puts you into the club of flashlight geeks. Like guns, no flashlight does it all….

And, thankfully, this post isnt going to be a long rant about my faves… mostly because I can imagine what the comment thread would look like. Forty comments of Streamlight vs. Maglite vs. SureFire vs. krypton vs. LED vs. rechargeable vs. alkaline vs. lithium….you get the idea.

Nope. Simply listing two products I am currently evaluating.

1) Streamlight 4AA PROPOLYMER® LUXEON® – I wanted a fairly affordable LED light that threw out a goodly amount of light, was all the usual -proofs (waterproof, shockproof, explosionproof, etc), and used common AA batts. Ive been quite pleased with this one. It sits in my TacTailor bag and I've been quite pleased with it.

2) Streamlight Clipmate – Realized we didnt have an LED light in the truck. Didnt really feel like spending $30 for another 4AA PL, and then I saw this thing. What I really like is that it has an alligator clip attachment mounted on a gimbal so you can clip the light to the vehicles visor and aim it wherever you need. Seemed like just the ticket. Runs on 3 AAA batts which I dont like since it goes against my “AA and D only” battery planning. But its a nice compact light that seems perfect for its intended use.

While putting this post together, I hit Streamlights website and looked around. Its real easy to think the flashlight world starts and stops with MagLite and SureFire but Streamline has some good products at good prices. Worth checking out.

Being Commander Zero, or really, anyone who is into preparedness, puts you into the club of flashlight geeks. Like guns, no flashlight does it all….

And, thankfully, this post isnt going to be a long rant about my faves… mostly because I can imagine what the comment thread would look like. Forty comments of Streamlight vs. Maglite vs. SureFire vs. krypton vs. LED vs. rechargeable vs. alkaline vs. lithium….you get the idea.

Nope. Simply listing two products I am currently evaluating.

1) Streamlight 4AA PROPOLYMER® LUXEON® – I wanted a fairly affordable LED light that threw out a goodly amount of light, was all the usual -proofs (waterproof, shockproof, explosionproof, etc), and used common AA batts. Ive been quite pleased with this one. It sits in my TacTailor bag and I’ve been quite pleased with it.

2) Streamlight Clipmate – Realized we didnt have an LED light in the truck. Didnt really feel like spending $30 for another 4AA PL, and then I saw this thing. What I really like is that it has an alligator clip attachment mounted on a gimbal so you can clip the light to the vehicles visor and aim it wherever you need. Seemed like just the ticket. Runs on 3 AAA batts which I dont like since it goes against my “AA and D only” battery planning. But its a nice compact light that seems perfect for its intended use.

While putting this post together, I hit Streamlights website and looked around. Its real easy to think the flashlight world starts and stops with MagLite and SureFire but Streamline has some good products at good prices. Worth checking out.

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

I dont believe anything I read, but this might be worth investigating if anyone is interested:
http://www.angelfire.com/ma/speedlimit/law.html 
According to this, any US military NBC gear made after 4/2003 is illegal for you to own.
Theres better gear available from commercial sources but the military stuff is alot easier to find on eBay.

I dont believe anything I read, but this might be worth investigating if anyone is interested:
http://www.angelfire.com/ma/speedlimit/law.html 
According to this, any US military NBC gear made after 4/2003 is illegal for you to own.
Theres better gear available from commercial sources but the military stuff is alot easier to find on eBay.

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

So I told the girlfriend to pack cold weather gear 'just in case' in gets nippy while she's at gun camp. No one ever listens to the Zero. Needless to say, when she was at the range being cold in her vest and long underwear she came to appreciate the fact that I had thoughtfully left a flectar parka and liner stuffed in a drybag in the truckbox. I cant pat myself on the back too hard though…it occurs to me if I really had my Zero on, I would have included gloves, hat and neck gaiter in that drybag too. I'll correct that deficiency later and chalk it up to the learning curve.
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Part of being Cmdr. Zero is being the ultimate in smart shoppers. Its no secret that preparing for [insert calamity of choice here] requires more than a few trips to CostCo, REI, Home Depot and WalMart. How to keep it all straight? Well, you gotta have lists. And more lists. And even more lists. I keep a small notebook in my Bag O' Tricks ™ that has lists taken off of various spreadsheets. Thus, if I find myself in ALbertson's with an extra $10 in my pocket I can consult my lists, see whats needed, and pick it up. The nice thing is it alos gives me a handy place for price comparisons. For example, if im at Sportsmans Warehouse and I happen to notice they have Coleman propane lanterns on sale but I dont have any cash at the moment, I can jot down the price and compare next time Im at, say, CostCo. Amazing how much you save that way. Spreadsheets are the best thing for the preparedness minded since the MRE and LED flashlights. I have about a dozen spreadsheets devoted to firearms, ammo, food, clothing, first aid stuff, bug out items, off-site caches, etc, etc. Hey, why dont I throw up an example…here

This particular example is a list of all the goodies that go with my Model 10 .38. Everything fits in a large ammo can so it all is stored in one place ready to be transported on a moments notice. Watertight, airtight, and outta sight. (Please dont comment with 'hey, you forgot…' this isnt a complete list and parts of it were not posted for opsec.)

Nice thing is, I print out this list in its smallest readable font, tuck it into my notebook, and next time Im at the gun show I can see what I need or dont need. Saves me time and, more importantly, money.