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

The life of the Zero is , as always, unpredictable…

Winter is approaching so its time to start focussing on getting ready for it. It also means that in another three months it’ll be perfect weather for testing cold weather gear. Lotsa stuff either doesnt work or works differently in cold weather.. plus, some items are simply harder to operate if you have ice-cold hands or gloves on. So, winter gives me a chance to test out various goodies to see how they’ll work in ‘real world’ scenarios. Nothing worse than finding out that the ‘-10 degree’ rated sleeping bag you bought only keeps you warm to about +20.

Since winter approaches, now is a good time to make sure the kerosene heater is up to the task. Kerosene is a wonderful fuel…stores forever and throws a goodly anount of heat. I’ve stove, heater and lights that burn it so if power does go out this winter I’ll have hot food, light and heat. Let the sheeple huddle in their darm icy houses listening to their pipes burst….I’ll be warm, well lit and drinking hot chocolate.

Went to NorCo the other day. They sell welding and OSHA-rewuired supplies. They sell industrial first aid kits, which is nice, but more importantly they sell replacement components for those kits. Me and one of the LMI headed up there to see what could be had that would be of use. Neat little 1oz bottles of eyewash. Handy. Vaseline gauze (something you dont find in your average supermarket first aid aisle). Packets of aspirin, acedominphin, and ibuprofin..2 tablets per pack, 100 packs per box. Ideal for stocking first aid kits. They had a buncha other goodies I couldnt afford at the moment..burn gel, compress bandages, CPR shields, etc, etc. I’ll be heading back up there at the next opportunity. Always nice to find a local source for some of the harder-to-find items. And the packaging is exactly what im looking for – ’single serving’ packages that fit nicely into smaller kits.

The website continues apace. I have most of the pages done but mostly with dead links. I’m trying to add to it at the rate of a page a day. However, theres enough there to entertain mildly. If youre reasonably intelligent it should be obvious what the URL is.

The life of the Zero is , as always, unpredictable…

Winter is approaching so its time to start focussing on getting ready for it. It also means that in another three months it’ll be perfect weather for testing cold weather gear. Lotsa stuff either doesnt work or works differently in cold weather.. plus, some items are simply harder to operate if you have ice-cold hands or gloves on. So, winter gives me a chance to test out various goodies to see how they’ll work in ‘real world’ scenarios. Nothing worse than finding out that the ‘-10 degree’ rated sleeping bag you bought only keeps you warm to about +20.

Since winter approaches, now is a good time to make sure the kerosene heater is up to the task. Kerosene is a wonderful fuel…stores forever and throws a goodly anount of heat. I’ve stove, heater and lights that burn it so if power does go out this winter I’ll have hot food, light and heat. Let the sheeple huddle in their darm icy houses listening to their pipes burst….I’ll be warm, well lit and drinking hot chocolate.

Went to NorCo the other day. They sell welding and OSHA-rewuired supplies. They sell industrial first aid kits, which is nice, but more importantly they sell replacement components for those kits. Me and one of the LMI headed up there to see what could be had that would be of use. Neat little 1oz bottles of eyewash. Handy. Vaseline gauze (something you dont find in your average supermarket first aid aisle). Packets of aspirin, acedominphin, and ibuprofin..2 tablets per pack, 100 packs per box. Ideal for stocking first aid kits. They had a buncha other goodies I couldnt afford at the moment..burn gel, compress bandages, CPR shields, etc, etc. I’ll be heading back up there at the next opportunity. Always nice to find a local source for some of the harder-to-find items. And the packaging is exactly what im looking for – ‘single serving’ packages that fit nicely into smaller kits.

The website continues apace. I have most of the pages done but mostly with dead links. I’m trying to add to it at the rate of a page a day. However, theres enough there to entertain mildly. If youre reasonably intelligent it should be obvious what the URL is.

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

Hmmmm….German flectar parka and liners are on sale at Cheaper Than Dirt for $18. And, these are good pieces of gear. I bought mine from Major Surplus last year and its quite nice…longer in length than the US jacket, and the liner has a zip-up turtleneck that comes up to your nose. Very nice. And, heck, for twenty bucks who wouldnt want one? And its in that funky flectar pattern of camo.

As an aside, ‘Commander Zero’ is a noun, not a verb. “Yeah, the power went out but I CommanderZero’ed my way through it” or “I went to CostCo and bought a CommanderZeros worth of canned good” is not proper usage.

In other matters, Im still tinkering with website content. Will let you know how it goes.

Hmmmm….German flectar parka and liners are on sale at Cheaper Than Dirt for $18. And, these are good pieces of gear. I bought mine from Major Surplus last year and its quite nice…longer in length than the US jacket, and the liner has a zip-up turtleneck that comes up to your nose. Very nice. And, heck, for twenty bucks who wouldnt want one? And its in that funky flectar pattern of camo.

As an aside, ‘Commander Zero’ is a noun, not a verb. “Yeah, the power went out but I CommanderZero’ed my way through it” or “I went to CostCo and bought a CommanderZeros worth of canned good” is not proper usage.

In other matters, Im still tinkering with website content. Will let you know how it goes.

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

Theres some sort of cosmic cruel joke played on me… naturally, when I have no money thats when the big sales occur. Case in point…my local Albertsons is having a dollar sale.. cases of bottled water, 28oz cans of vegetables, batteries, Campbells canned soups, etc..all for a buck. Just the thing for keeping the bunker stocked.

Ah well, this is what LMI’s are for. Call Capt. Insano and give him a heads up. He’s coming by later and he’ll no doubt want to participate…I’ll have him front me a few bucks until next week and that way I can take advantage of the sale.

Cant have too much bottled water…

Theres some sort of cosmic cruel joke played on me… naturally, when I have no money thats when the big sales occur. Case in point…my local Albertsons is having a dollar sale.. cases of bottled water, 28oz cans of vegetables, batteries, Campbells canned soups, etc..all for a buck. Just the thing for keeping the bunker stocked.

Ah well, this is what LMI’s are for. Call Capt. Insano and give him a heads up. He’s coming by later and he’ll no doubt want to participate…I’ll have him front me a few bucks until next week and that way I can take advantage of the sale.

Cant have too much bottled water…

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

One of my little projects has been to have my own website. Essentially, it would cover most of the things I chronicle here as well as house various useful files, book reviews, product reviews, etc. Add a PayPal ‘donate to the cause’ button and it might even make a few bucks allowing me to buy more freeze-dried food and ni-cads. There are actually several sites out there that list peoples adventures in preparedness (These guys, for example) but I’ve always fancied myself as something of a writer and when it comes to evaluating gear I have some very particular ideas. So I figured it might be fun, put me in touch with other people and generally be an interesting diversion.

As it is written, so shall it be done.

Been tinkering with Front Page and coming up with some fairly simple and unfancy pages. I’ll drop a link to it when its beyond the embryonic stage.

One of my little projects has been to have my own website. Essentially, it would cover most of the things I chronicle here as well as house various useful files, book reviews, product reviews, etc. Add a PayPal ‘donate to the cause’ button and it might even make a few bucks allowing me to buy more freeze-dried food and ni-cads. There are actually several sites out there that list peoples adventures in preparedness (These guys, for example) but I’ve always fancied myself as something of a writer and when it comes to evaluating gear I have some very particular ideas. So I figured it might be fun, put me in touch with other people and generally be an interesting diversion.

As it is written, so shall it be done.

Been tinkering with Front Page and coming up with some fairly simple and unfancy pages. I’ll drop a link to it when its beyond the embryonic stage.

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

A few goodies from the gun show…..

Military compress bandages, individually sealed – $1 ea.
NBC suit stuff sack (these make great sleeping bag sacks) – $10 ea.
CFP-90 Daypacks – $50

So, naturally, I picked up a little of everything. They also had spam cans of lifeboat rations at $1 per can but other than novelty value, I couldnt see any need for them.
——
I need to buy a router (the woodworking tool, thank you). I need one so I can make some seriously indestructo shelves for the basement. One drawback to stocking up on..well..everything…is that you need a place to put it. I’ve an entire basement to use, I just need to get some good shelving up that can handle heavy loads.
——
Need more ammo cans.
——
Working on an ‘all in one kit’ for one of my spare .38’s. For the guns I ‘lay back’ in storage, I try to keep them together with literally everything that they’d need for support. For example, my extra Model 10 is in a tall .50 cal can with holster, speedloaders, speedloader pouches, belt, squib rod, patches, jags, mops, solvent, patches, toothpicks, screwdrivers, brass hammer, spare grips, ammo, 310 tool in .38, mold and sizer, desicant, exploded disgram, springs, plastic bag, oil, etc, etc. (Do not comment and say ‘Hey, you forgot…’..thats what the etc. is)

Point being that each pistol is packed with everything you’d need to shoot it indefinitely as long as you could come up with ammo. Plus, its nice to have everything in one place. Should I ever need to leave in a hurry I can grab that ammo can and know I have everything I need for that particular gun. Or, if I need to loan it out to an LMI, I can just hand ‘em the ammo can and tell ‘em its a complete everything-you-need package.
——-
Need to purchase a couple large maps and make a mapwall of the county…always good to have five ways in and ten ways out, y’know?

A few goodies from the gun show…..

Military compress bandages, individually sealed – $1 ea.
NBC suit stuff sack (these make great sleeping bag sacks) – $10 ea.
CFP-90 Daypacks – $50

So, naturally, I picked up a little of everything. They also had spam cans of lifeboat rations at $1 per can but other than novelty value, I couldnt see any need for them.
——
I need to buy a router (the woodworking tool, thank you). I need one so I can make some seriously indestructo shelves for the basement. One drawback to stocking up on..well..everything…is that you need a place to put it. I’ve an entire basement to use, I just need to get some good shelving up that can handle heavy loads.
——
Need more ammo cans.
——
Working on an ‘all in one kit’ for one of my spare .38’s. For the guns I ‘lay back’ in storage, I try to keep them together with literally everything that they’d need for support. For example, my extra Model 10 is in a tall .50 cal can with holster, speedloaders, speedloader pouches, belt, squib rod, patches, jags, mops, solvent, patches, toothpicks, screwdrivers, brass hammer, spare grips, ammo, 310 tool in .38, mold and sizer, desicant, exploded disgram, springs, plastic bag, oil, etc, etc. (Do not comment and say ‘Hey, you forgot…’..thats what the etc. is)

Point being that each pistol is packed with everything you’d need to shoot it indefinitely as long as you could come up with ammo. Plus, its nice to have everything in one place. Shuld I ever need to leave in a hurry I can grab that ammo can and know I have everything I need for that particular gun. Or, if I need to loan it out to an LMI, I can just hand ’em the ammo can and tell ’em its a complete everything-you-need package.
——-
Need to purchase a couple large maps and make a mapwall of the county…always good to have five ways in and ten ways out, y’know?