Article – How to survive nuclear war after a bomb is dropped: what to do, how to prepareArticle –

Posted on by

Some light reading for Saturday:

If Russia launched a weapon from international waters just off the East Coast, people in cities like New York, Boston, and Washington, DC, might have just 10 to 15 minutes to prepare.

“You wouldn’t even have time to go get your kids from school,” Irwin Redlener, a public-health expert at Columbia University who specializes in disaster preparedness, told Insider last year.
Arguably, the American public is not as prepared or educated on what to do in the event of a nuclear attack as Americans were during the Cold War, when fallout shelters, , and air raid sirens were in place across the nation. So here’s a minute-by-minute guide to help.

Llikelihood of the classic Reagan-era all-out nukefest actually happening? Pretty small, I think. But all it takes is one thermonuclear weapon to ruin your whole day and , besides, this information may prove to come in handy some day.

Scabbard

Posted on by

A dear friend of mine, after reading my post about BBQ guns, sent me a link to a place that has their own BBQ holster/belt package. Indeed, a pretty cool looking rig. However, that really interested me was that they are manufacturing a leather rifle scabbard for AK’s and AR’s.

I have to say, that would be a pretty cool accessory for the person with a hayburner.

They actually used to make scabbards for M1 Garand rifles back in the day. Of course, being a semi auto, there has to be an accommodation for the charging handle and the Garand scabbards have a metal shield over a cutout in the scabbard to make that accommodation.

I suppose a scabbard would be handy on a 4×4 or motorcycle but I’d think most of the time you’d be just as well serviced by having the rifle slung at your side or across your back.

Regardless, its nice to see, in a world full of kydex, that there are still folks working in great-smelling, creaking, looks-better-with-age leather.

Speaking of BBQ guns

Posted on by

A couple people were curious what I wanted in a barbecue gun. Well, my plan was one of the following:

In a nice extra fancy floral engraved Tom Threepersons holster from El Paso Saddlery.

And, of course, a nice set of showy grips.

Now, I know an engraver here in the valley who does good work ( Mike Gouse ), but I rather prefer factory engraving even if it’s just machine done.

So, there you have it. Attend some big social function and if you see some goober with a gussied up GP-100, well, say hi ’cause its probably me.

Texas…why did it have to be Texas?

Posted on by

The first and last time I was in Texas was not exactly a resoundingly good time. It left a bad taste in my mouth, and a hole in my foot, and I resolved that I was done with Texas.

And then I had a wedding reception to go to in San Antonio. On the bright side, it wasnt nearly as hot as the last time I was down there. And I didnt get bit by fire ants this time either. But I was mightily annoyed at the preponderance of one-way streets and crazy drivers.

But, this time I had a bit of time to go visit gun shops. I hit three or four which were all pretty lame, and then I found this place. Selection? Outstanding. General atmosphere? Very polished and upscale. Staff? Stretched thin but mostly knowledgeable. Prices? Hgih, by my standards. But I saw not one but two HiPower GP comeptition guns and damn near bought one. Saw a Cetme L, piles of minty 100 year old 1911’s, three HK squeezecockers, and a bunch of other hey-you-dont-see-that-every-day guns. (And a genuine FN-made FAL which made me think long and hard….)

Other than that, still not really diggin’ Texas. However, I have resolved that I very much need a barbecue gun.

So there you have it. Another trip to Texas, another reason for me to appreciate Montana. You guys in Texas…Im sure you love it and all, but it just isn’t for me.

Article – The high price of low interest rates

Posted on by

An article by author Lionel Shriver about how we are now paying for the years of low interest rates and what to expect going forward. Shriver, you may recall, is the author of, among other works, the rather probably-prescient The Mandibles.

Paltry interest rates haven’t only been profoundly unjust – making a mockery of prudence, frugality and the old-fashioned habit of paying for stuff with money you’ve already made, while encouraging recklessness, profligacy and the terribly modern habit of buying stuff with money you may never earn. Nil rates were also systemically irresponsible. Reward debt, get more debt. It shouldn’t surprise central bankers that sovereign debt is through the roof (the US government now owes an unimaginable $31 trillion, the UK government nearly 100 per cent of GDP), that corporations have never been more leveraged, or that household debt is climbing towards its pre-2008 high. Soaring debt is intrinsically unstable – building an economy on borrowed money is like constructing a house atop a big black pit – and fiscal stability is what central banks are meant to ensure, not an ever-rising stock market.

To paraphrase Ayn Rand, you can ignore bad fiscal policy but you cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring bad fiscal policy.

Last of Us

Posted on by

So I finally signed up for HBO so I could binge watch The Last Of Us. I watched the first three episodes last night because I really wanted to watch Episode 3 with Nick Offerman playing hardcore survivalist-not-prepper ‘Bill’.

Something that struck me as rather ‘yup, thats really how it happens’ was the scene where Bill, the hardcore survivalist, is in a relationship with Frank, the not-a-survivalist. Naturally, there is some butting of heads on some subjects. But I really resonated with this:

F: You live in a psycho bunker where…the government are all Nazis.
B: The government ARE all Nazis!!
F: Well…yeah, NOW, but not then!

Thats the kind of conversations you have when your significant other isnt on the same page.

Technically, I suppose those creatures in TLOU are a form of zombie so I dont feel that using the ‘zombie’ tag for TLOU posts will be amiss.

Wouldn’t you?

Posted on by

Minding my own business, I swing by the shop to visit my buddy. I notice a styrofoam clamshell box on his desk. Hmmm.

  • Me: Whats in the box?
  • Him: Thompson Contender
  • Me: What caliber?
  • Him: .45 Colt / .410
  • Me: Ugh. Whaddya want for it?
  • Him: $150
  • Me: Uh..Ill be back in a few minutes. I gotta swing by an ATM.

And thats how that happened.

I actually already have two Contenders and a handful of barrels. My favorite is a 21″ .30-30 carbine sitting in a Choate stock. With open sights it weighs just under five pounds. A wonderful lightweight carbine for running through the timber.

And for a hundred and fifty bucks….why not? I think the .45/.410 barrel is useless, so I’ll dump it on eBay and get $150 for it which will make the frame and furniture a freebie.

I like the Contender as a test platform for my reloads. As a break open single shot it eliminates a lot of variables and makes an excellent test platform. Does it have any survivalist-centric special uses? I suppose someone will think that the interchangeable nature of the barrels gives some sort of advantage but….no. Why wouldnt you just have a .22 rifle, a .30 bolt gun, maybe a .223 of some kind, in full-size repeating guns? About the only advantage I can see is that if you live in some environ that limits the number of firearms you can own, it might be useful. But, really, its just a fun gun to play with various calibers.

Sure, I’ll slap the 14″ .44 barrel on it and go knock down Bambi. But in a world where knocking down an animal means the difference between full bellies and starvation? I’ll use the gun that gives me the most advantage and thats probably gonna be a .308 of some kind.

But for a hundred and fifty bucks….why not add a little range toy to the collection? Especially if I can get it to pay for itself by unloading that .45/.410 barrel.

Kerosene

Posted on by

A few weeks ago, I replaced my oldest kerosene heater with a brand new one. This was a good thing. But…that meant that I had two kerosene heaters that were not, for logistics sake, identical. This was a bad thing. So, in the name of logistics, I picked up another identical heater to the new one. So, I have two new identical heaters and an older one which is now being relegated to tertiary or loaner status.

But, the amusing thing at Lowe’s was this obscenity:

Do the  math…thats $14 a gallon for kerosene. Inconceivable!

Now, if you’re a savvy survivalist, you wouuldn’t be buying the stuff in 2.5-gallon quantity anyway, right? No, you’d be heading over to Cenex and pumping it yourself into your 5- or 55-gallon drums for a heck of a lot less than $14 a gallon.

Heck, I bought some off Craigslist a few years back and I was annoyed it was $2.86/gallon. But, thats because my great $1/gallon purchase twenty years ago spoiled me.

But it was interesting to see that someone, somewhere, thinks this stuff is worth $14/gallon.

Fortunately, I’ve got about a hundred gallons sitting back so….I’ll pass on $14, TYVM.

CostCo canned pork

Posted on by

A few years back I tried some of the canned pork from CostCo and was less than enthused. Was up there this weekend and saw a new brand there and figured it might be worth investigating.

I really have a love/hate relationship with canned meats. I love their utility, value, and logistical help. I just hate the way they smell. I have said it before and it’s true: all canned meat, when you open the container, smells like cat food.

Nonetheless, man does not live on canned chicken and canned beef alone. So I picked up a sleeve of these cans and will try them sometime during the week. Probably in a stir fry or some similar dish.

Of course, you can always can your own meat and save a few bucks but I rather like the compact package of a can like this. If I were going to store a fairly large quantity of canned meat, home canning would be my first choice since this stuff winds up running about $4.64/#. But for a grab-and-go sort of situation, it would certainly be more transportable than a large glass jar. 

Some rice, a can of this stuff, a jar of some type of sauce (Kung Pao, perhaps), some vegetables (canned or freeze dried), and a little sesame oil and you’ve really got something going on.

Anyway, when I crack one of these open I’ll report back and let you know whats what.