Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Homework Assignment for the Week
Buy an ounce of silver. If you genuinely can't afford to pay $20 or whatever the current cost in your area is then think hard about your life and finances.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Real American Heroes #1
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. -- A modest NCO received the Army's third-highest award for valor July 22 during the welcome-home ceremony for 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.
Staff Sgt. Jarrett D. Brown of 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment 'Buffaloes,' received a Silver Star on Watkins Field at the beginning of a busy ceremony that included the brigade's redesignation and change of command. The acting commanding general of I Corps, Maj. Gen. John D. Johnson paused the proceedings to pin the medal on Jarrett's chest and congratulate him for his conspicuous bravery on Aug. 24, 2009.
On that day, Brown was serving as assistant M-240 machine gunner during a patrol in the Arghandab River Valley, a hotbed of Taliban resistance at that time. The patrol was ambushed and hit by a combination of fires from machine guns, small arms and rocket-propelled grenades.
Brown exposed himself to enemy fire to direct his machine gunner to cover a fire team caught in the open, while also firing his rifle. He then directed suppressive fire on the enemy's heaviest weapons.
As the platoon consolidated, Brown's gunner collapsed in the 100-degree heat. He grabbed the machine gun and dragged the gunner to a concealed position, from which he delivered accurate support by fire.
When it became clear the platoon's situation was untenable, the platoon sergeant ordered the squads to break contact. Brown alternately provided covering fire and moved, dragging his gunner with him. When he saw an enemy fire team creeping to within 30 meters of the platoon, he threw his gunner behind the last concealment available, abandoned his own cover and engaged them, killing one and wounding a second enemy fighter.
Brown set up the M-240 and provided suppressive fire as the rest of the platoon covered about 100 meters to better cover and began a faster, bounding egress. He followed them, still carrying his gunner. The platoon came under heavy fire once more before making it back to the Joint District Coordination Center. Brown returned fire and identified multiple targets for other platoon members. His response created space for close-coordination aircraft to be called in to neutralize the enemy and allow the platoon to finally return to safety.
Brown's first action once the platoon was safe was to find medical assistance for his gunner.
Brigade Commander Col. Harry D. Tunnell IV attributed the success of the Destroyer Brigade during its deployment to the countless unselfish acts of individual Soldiers in dangerous situations -- as Brown did.
"The success of the brigade has been due to the willingness of individual Soldiers to be so untiring as they got ready for war and so staunch in their desire to do their duty in harm's way," Tunnell said.
TOR here real quick. Anybody who has ever carried a machine gun or dragged a man wearing 50 pounds of kit knows how physically tasking it is. This hero did both of those things at once. Also the was this citation reads it is like one of those action movie scenes we think is so unrealistic, except this was real life.
Staff Sgt. Jarrett D. Brown of 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment 'Buffaloes,' received a Silver Star on Watkins Field at the beginning of a busy ceremony that included the brigade's redesignation and change of command. The acting commanding general of I Corps, Maj. Gen. John D. Johnson paused the proceedings to pin the medal on Jarrett's chest and congratulate him for his conspicuous bravery on Aug. 24, 2009.
On that day, Brown was serving as assistant M-240 machine gunner during a patrol in the Arghandab River Valley, a hotbed of Taliban resistance at that time. The patrol was ambushed and hit by a combination of fires from machine guns, small arms and rocket-propelled grenades.
Brown exposed himself to enemy fire to direct his machine gunner to cover a fire team caught in the open, while also firing his rifle. He then directed suppressive fire on the enemy's heaviest weapons.
As the platoon consolidated, Brown's gunner collapsed in the 100-degree heat. He grabbed the machine gun and dragged the gunner to a concealed position, from which he delivered accurate support by fire.
When it became clear the platoon's situation was untenable, the platoon sergeant ordered the squads to break contact. Brown alternately provided covering fire and moved, dragging his gunner with him. When he saw an enemy fire team creeping to within 30 meters of the platoon, he threw his gunner behind the last concealment available, abandoned his own cover and engaged them, killing one and wounding a second enemy fighter.
Brown set up the M-240 and provided suppressive fire as the rest of the platoon covered about 100 meters to better cover and began a faster, bounding egress. He followed them, still carrying his gunner. The platoon came under heavy fire once more before making it back to the Joint District Coordination Center. Brown returned fire and identified multiple targets for other platoon members. His response created space for close-coordination aircraft to be called in to neutralize the enemy and allow the platoon to finally return to safety.
Brown's first action once the platoon was safe was to find medical assistance for his gunner.
Brigade Commander Col. Harry D. Tunnell IV attributed the success of the Destroyer Brigade during its deployment to the countless unselfish acts of individual Soldiers in dangerous situations -- as Brown did.
"The success of the brigade has been due to the willingness of individual Soldiers to be so untiring as they got ready for war and so staunch in their desire to do their duty in harm's way," Tunnell said.
TOR here real quick. Anybody who has ever carried a machine gun or dragged a man wearing 50 pounds of kit knows how physically tasking it is. This hero did both of those things at once. Also the was this citation reads it is like one of those action movie scenes we think is so unrealistic, except this was real life.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
First of all I just want everybody to thank Chadow for helping keep things moving during this busy time of mine. Also I should probably insert a disclaimer that I am not a medical professional and this is for informational purposes only. Prior to doing anything medical you should consult a doctor or better yet a panel of doctors to insure that said action is safe and will likely get the desired results. Consider yourself disclaimed. On yeah and check out one of our advertisers today. Guest post follows.
Since Ryan has a new family member to care for, I thought that I would write a couple of articles on a topic that he might appreciate. Medicine administration for every family member. I'll write these so as to be easily printable so that people can reference them. Too often people write survival med articles as if everyone was carrying an AK and weighed 200 lbs. This just isn't the case for the average person looking to prep.
First article: Fever
Dosing: All dosing is in kilograms per kilogram (mg/kg) or milliliters/cubic centimeter/kg (cc/kg). weight in pounds divided by 2.2= kilograms
Considerations:
Infants- Infants have a rapid metabolism and a higher percentage of body fat and water percentage as a ratio of body weight. This translates to some meds actually being in HIGHER dose to be effective.
toddlers through adolescents- Meds are generally safe along this range and are safe if normal precautions and calculations have been made.
Elderly- All meds leave the body one of two ways. They are either metabolized by the liver or excreted by the kidneys. Considerations for decreased function of these organs may need to be considered for this age group. In general if, say, your kidneys did not work well; you would either decrease the dose or give it further in duration apart because it will stay in the body longer.
Fever: Natural reaction to the body when infected by a foreign organism. It is an attempt by the body to either hinder its growth or to kill it while the body increases its immune response to said invader. Somewhat similar to an allergic reaction, but in a systemic way with other symptoms (cough, sore throat, burning on urination). Bacteria and viruses can cause rashes. Allergic responses usually don't get a fever. No normal person can tell whether a fever and a rash is a bacteria or a virus when it first occurs. It is a "wait and see" game.
Good: The body is doing its thing. It is fighting back. If the body temperature drops to 97-95 degrees while you know they are sick, the body is failing. This is an emergency. A fever in and of itslef is not bad. A fever works, it kills bad bugs.
Bad: A fever uses lots of energy as the body ramps-up for the fight. Too high of a fever can cause seizure. No two people and no two illnesses will get a seizure at the same temp. I've seen seizures at 99 and 105 degrees. A fever out of control can ruin a brain-- above 104 or for a sutained period.
Considerations: If someone had a fever but are acting somewhat normal, leave it alone to do it's thing. It will probably help. If a person is becoming symptomatic (ie. lethargic, rapid breathing, hallucinating, not eating or drinking, loud crying), an antipyretic my be warranted.
Meds:
Tylenol (acetomenophen)-- general dosing for all ages. 15mg/kg every 6 hours. Maximum dose in 24 hours is 4000mg for a muture person. No one argues about this one and it is given to babies as well as adults.
Motrin (Advil, Ibuprofen)-- 10mg/kg every six hours. Conservative pediatricians will say not to give motrin until 6 months of age due to its taxing of the kidneys and considerations do exist for the elderly. In the ER, this can be a gray area for the short term, but a very real consideration for multiple days of dosing.
Aspirin-- The wonder drug. Just don't give it to children as it may cause a neurological condition called Reye's Syndrome. Also, you need to choose between motrin or aspirin as the are both NSAIDS (nos-steroidal anti-inflammatories) and have to be excreted by the kidneys. You don't want to overdose your organs. The dosing is highly liberal, but I would only take 162 mg ever 12 hours as it will thin the blood.
The math: Notice that you can give both tylenol and motrin every six hours. Tylenol is metabolized by the liver and motrin by the kideys. This means that in periods of high fever, you can give tylenol and then three hours later motrin and then three hours later motrin again. It is still only every six hours for each med, but beacusemachanisms of action, you have something to give more often. Likewise, if no meds have been given for some time and then they spike a 105 fever, you can give a FULL dose of both tylenol and motrin to bring it down rapidly. But then you will have to wait 6 hours for a dosing of either.
Other Methods: Undress. Despite myth, you do not cover a person who has a fever and is chilled with blankets. They are chilled bacause of the sensation at the skin of all of that heat bleeding off. Don't cover them, you'll just help to cook them to medium-rare. You may cover the person when they have broken in to a full-body sweat. This means that the fever has broken, at least temporarily. Change their clothes and cover them so as not to become hypothermic and they may be able to sleep a while. Tepid cloth wiped over the head, back, and stomach help bleed off heat. For children, a tepid bath works great. Give them a cup and let them drink the water, too. It will be a fun game and help with hydration. Ice packs to the armpit, groin, and neck helps rapidly bring down a temp. People will resist this.
Nutrition: Water and sugar and salt. With and increased metabolism, hydration is key. Also, the person may not feel like eating, but they need the calories. Candy and sugar should be broken out for just such an occasion. Get rid of the diet sprite and G2. I have seen recipes for tepid water, 1/2 tsp of salt, and a tbs. of sugar mixed together and chilled. This way, every time the person takes a sip of water, they get some good stuff with it--even if they vomit some of it up.
Realize that in an era of no antibiotics, people will fight infections for extended periods. Support may have to be given for some time. Don't be afraid of the fever. Watch it and don't let it get out of control. Save your meds for when they are needed most and at the best time.
-Chadow
TOR here again real quick. Please give Chadow a round of applause.
Since Ryan has a new family member to care for, I thought that I would write a couple of articles on a topic that he might appreciate. Medicine administration for every family member. I'll write these so as to be easily printable so that people can reference them. Too often people write survival med articles as if everyone was carrying an AK and weighed 200 lbs. This just isn't the case for the average person looking to prep.
First article: Fever
Dosing: All dosing is in kilograms per kilogram (mg/kg) or milliliters/cubic centimeter/kg (cc/kg). weight in pounds divided by 2.2= kilograms
Considerations:
Infants- Infants have a rapid metabolism and a higher percentage of body fat and water percentage as a ratio of body weight. This translates to some meds actually being in HIGHER dose to be effective.
toddlers through adolescents- Meds are generally safe along this range and are safe if normal precautions and calculations have been made.
Elderly- All meds leave the body one of two ways. They are either metabolized by the liver or excreted by the kidneys. Considerations for decreased function of these organs may need to be considered for this age group. In general if, say, your kidneys did not work well; you would either decrease the dose or give it further in duration apart because it will stay in the body longer.
Fever: Natural reaction to the body when infected by a foreign organism. It is an attempt by the body to either hinder its growth or to kill it while the body increases its immune response to said invader. Somewhat similar to an allergic reaction, but in a systemic way with other symptoms (cough, sore throat, burning on urination). Bacteria and viruses can cause rashes. Allergic responses usually don't get a fever. No normal person can tell whether a fever and a rash is a bacteria or a virus when it first occurs. It is a "wait and see" game.
Good: The body is doing its thing. It is fighting back. If the body temperature drops to 97-95 degrees while you know they are sick, the body is failing. This is an emergency. A fever in and of itslef is not bad. A fever works, it kills bad bugs.
Bad: A fever uses lots of energy as the body ramps-up for the fight. Too high of a fever can cause seizure. No two people and no two illnesses will get a seizure at the same temp. I've seen seizures at 99 and 105 degrees. A fever out of control can ruin a brain-- above 104 or for a sutained period.
Considerations: If someone had a fever but are acting somewhat normal, leave it alone to do it's thing. It will probably help. If a person is becoming symptomatic (ie. lethargic, rapid breathing, hallucinating, not eating or drinking, loud crying), an antipyretic my be warranted.
Meds:
Tylenol (acetomenophen)-- general dosing for all ages. 15mg/kg every 6 hours. Maximum dose in 24 hours is 4000mg for a muture person. No one argues about this one and it is given to babies as well as adults.
Motrin (Advil, Ibuprofen)-- 10mg/kg every six hours. Conservative pediatricians will say not to give motrin until 6 months of age due to its taxing of the kidneys and considerations do exist for the elderly. In the ER, this can be a gray area for the short term, but a very real consideration for multiple days of dosing.
Aspirin-- The wonder drug. Just don't give it to children as it may cause a neurological condition called Reye's Syndrome. Also, you need to choose between motrin or aspirin as the are both NSAIDS (nos-steroidal anti-inflammatories) and have to be excreted by the kidneys. You don't want to overdose your organs. The dosing is highly liberal, but I would only take 162 mg ever 12 hours as it will thin the blood.
The math: Notice that you can give both tylenol and motrin every six hours. Tylenol is metabolized by the liver and motrin by the kideys. This means that in periods of high fever, you can give tylenol and then three hours later motrin and then three hours later motrin again. It is still only every six hours for each med, but beacusemachanisms of action, you have something to give more often. Likewise, if no meds have been given for some time and then they spike a 105 fever, you can give a FULL dose of both tylenol and motrin to bring it down rapidly. But then you will have to wait 6 hours for a dosing of either.
Other Methods: Undress. Despite myth, you do not cover a person who has a fever and is chilled with blankets. They are chilled bacause of the sensation at the skin of all of that heat bleeding off. Don't cover them, you'll just help to cook them to medium-rare. You may cover the person when they have broken in to a full-body sweat. This means that the fever has broken, at least temporarily. Change their clothes and cover them so as not to become hypothermic and they may be able to sleep a while. Tepid cloth wiped over the head, back, and stomach help bleed off heat. For children, a tepid bath works great. Give them a cup and let them drink the water, too. It will be a fun game and help with hydration. Ice packs to the armpit, groin, and neck helps rapidly bring down a temp. People will resist this.
Nutrition: Water and sugar and salt. With and increased metabolism, hydration is key. Also, the person may not feel like eating, but they need the calories. Candy and sugar should be broken out for just such an occasion. Get rid of the diet sprite and G2. I have seen recipes for tepid water, 1/2 tsp of salt, and a tbs. of sugar mixed together and chilled. This way, every time the person takes a sip of water, they get some good stuff with it--even if they vomit some of it up.
Realize that in an era of no antibiotics, people will fight infections for extended periods. Support may have to be given for some time. Don't be afraid of the fever. Watch it and don't let it get out of control. Save your meds for when they are needed most and at the best time.
-Chadow
TOR here again real quick. Please give Chadow a round of applause.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Talking About Money With Family
I have had some success talking about money with family. I talk about money with family members who have had success and made choices that I desire to emulate. People who have paid off houses at accelerated rates or had success with real estate or been able to retire comfortably or whatever. Typically these folks are older though not always. Obviously they must be trusted or you wouldn't get at all specific on things. Of course there are many family members with whom I would never talk money. Maybe it would lead to awkwardness or disagreement or envy or whatever. Just not something that I would do.
I had a great conversation with my Grandmother awhile back. It was just a rambling conversation that ended up on the topic of money stuff. We end up talking about this stuff because in addition to doing well money wise we are pretty like minded in conservative financial stuff. She had some real good advice and also validated a lot of what we are doing.
Getting advice and having discussions with people you trust who have done well is just good sense.
I had a great conversation with my Grandmother awhile back. It was just a rambling conversation that ended up on the topic of money stuff. We end up talking about this stuff because in addition to doing well money wise we are pretty like minded in conservative financial stuff. She had some real good advice and also validated a lot of what we are doing.
Getting advice and having discussions with people you trust who have done well is just good sense.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Obey The Law or at Least Keep Your Mouth Shut
I do not suggest you do anything illegal to prepare yourself for any sort of worst case scenario. That isn't just a disclaimer; it is what I really think. The juice just isn't worth the squeeze. Particularly in the area of firearms you just don't need to break any laws. If the place you live in has really sucky gun laws then move.
I have heard of some folks who have a shotgun with a very short defensive barrel. That is fine and dandy unless some goblin breaks into their place and that shotgun gets used. The difference of a few inches of barrel would be the difference between spending a bit of time talking to the cops and eventually going home and a long time in jail.
If you really want to have some explosives around then find a legitimate reason to have them and jump through the hoops to get the right licenses.
It is tempting to think I'll just get X and only take it out if the world ends. Life just doesn't work that way and almost all realistic scenarios do not have all law enforcement vanishing.
At a minimum if you do make the decision to break the law don't tell anybody and hide the stuff well. Really telling nobody is probably more important than hiding the stuff well. In some circles people becoming informants in order to get a pass on their own indiscretions is more common than anybody will admit. Also a person who hears you are looking for something might just come up with it and get the whole thing on tape to send you to the pen.
Lets say you live in California and own a Glock or some kind of a semi neutered semi automatic rifle. You might think that having a box of full capacity mags for both of these guns is prudent. Again I would suggest you either move or deal but at least pack the stuff securely and hide it deep. Somehow or another a person might end up in your attic and them mention the box of AK mags to someone else but a person digging 4 feet down in your garden 5 feet from the lower left side is unlikely. Should your spouse know about this? I say yes because you two need to be on the same page in major decisions. However there is no reason for anybody else to know.
Obey the law or at least keep your mouth shut.
I have heard of some folks who have a shotgun with a very short defensive barrel. That is fine and dandy unless some goblin breaks into their place and that shotgun gets used. The difference of a few inches of barrel would be the difference between spending a bit of time talking to the cops and eventually going home and a long time in jail.
If you really want to have some explosives around then find a legitimate reason to have them and jump through the hoops to get the right licenses.
It is tempting to think I'll just get X and only take it out if the world ends. Life just doesn't work that way and almost all realistic scenarios do not have all law enforcement vanishing.
At a minimum if you do make the decision to break the law don't tell anybody and hide the stuff well. Really telling nobody is probably more important than hiding the stuff well. In some circles people becoming informants in order to get a pass on their own indiscretions is more common than anybody will admit. Also a person who hears you are looking for something might just come up with it and get the whole thing on tape to send you to the pen.
Lets say you live in California and own a Glock or some kind of a semi neutered semi automatic rifle. You might think that having a box of full capacity mags for both of these guns is prudent. Again I would suggest you either move or deal but at least pack the stuff securely and hide it deep. Somehow or another a person might end up in your attic and them mention the box of AK mags to someone else but a person digging 4 feet down in your garden 5 feet from the lower left side is unlikely. Should your spouse know about this? I say yes because you two need to be on the same page in major decisions. However there is no reason for anybody else to know.
Obey the law or at least keep your mouth shut.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Read This And Think
What kills you after an Economic Collapse
Think about it. The truth isn't as sexy as fighting off hordes of poorly armed and ill trained people with a semi automatic assault rifle but well, it is what actually happens. Yeah you should have a rifle but you should also pay attention to this sort of stuff.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Be Advised
I am going to be off in the woods. I will be back for a bit here or there but generally out of touch for some time. Posts are regularly scheduled. I couldn't quite get it to every day for the whole time as of now, every other day for the rest is the best I could do. Wifey will approve comments so you guys and gals can keep the conversation going.
Really the only reason I am telling you this so you don't worry if I fail to respond to an email for some time.
See you later
Really the only reason I am telling you this so you don't worry if I fail to respond to an email for some time.
See you later
My Kit
I wrote about chest rigs awhile back. That post got me thinking and then acting on something I had been wanting to do for some time. I use a standard issue MOLLE FLC. Money isn't an object I just like these a lot as a platform. I don't like conventional chest rigs for a couple reasons. The first reason is that unlike a conventional chest rig (they are generally a 6 inch or so panel with 2-3 rows of the modular strapping stuff) with these you can attach stuff basically anywhere on the front of your torso. Secondly in my experience chest rigs have all kinds of straps all over the place and getting them comfortable is pretty hard. Makes adjusting a shoulder holster seem easy. Also I like that the load is evenly distributed widely over your shoulders instead of on a 1 1/4 inch area.
However the FLC as issued has a serious flaw. In the back there is this big stupid strap in the back. You can rotate the biog dumb belt thing all the way around so there are just straps in the back. However doing that has the cost of not being able to open the FLC in the front. That wouldn't be a big issue except for the fact that we wear body armor. It is awful darn convenient to be able to put your FLC on and off with the IBA instead of having an extra step of pulling it over your head every single time. The picture below shows what I am talking about. (Yeah by the looks it is some Marine guys stuff but it's the first good picture which clearly shows what I was looking to show.)
Seriously the FLC is like we had a great idea and then somebody said it had to have a huge stupid thing going around the back. I think it was some old guy who just couldn't deal with the kit not being based around a big belt thing. I have tried the FLC as a rack/ chest rig with the big stupid pad rotated to the front and in its conventional way and found both setups to be wanting. Basically I prefer the FLC over a chest rig but I want it to not have the big stupid belt thing in the back and also be able to open in the front. Yeah I like to have my cake and eat it too.
So I had an idea. My idea was to replace the big stupid belt thing. You need to secure the back so it doesn't go flopping all over the place when you lean over or whatever so just having it open isn't an option. I considered a piece of 550 cord but decided against it because the Army is really anal about this stuff so it needs to look legit. Another consideration on my options was that if God forbid I am seriously injured and somebody grabs that strap to drag me I need the darn thing to hold. In full kit I probably weigh 230lbs and if you factor in momentum and someone pulling on a single point that requires a strong strap. I settled on simple 1 1/4 inch webbing with a buckle in the middle. There are hooks for webbing on the FLC right by the middle of the front (where the zipper is) so you hook it through them and it is attached. The webbing on the FLC's stupid belt thing is the same size so it is too easy. I then sat on the idea for some time.
The day I wrote the blog I decided to just do it and put my kit into the configuration I wanted. Since we are in Germany I ended up having to scavenge the webbing. I had a Tactical Tailor chest rig I never really got comfortable with sitting around and decided to scavenge from it. Unfortunately that meant cutting straps but I left enough on the side I had to cut from (it went to a clip on the other side) that I can later just get some more webbing and hook it together with a buckle. Anyway I got it done and though I haven't used it much yet am quite happy with the results.
As worn.
Left side has 4 double mag pouches. They can hold 8 M4 (or I guess others of comparable size) mags or 6 mags and a pistol or NVG monocle or whatever. Figure another in the rifle and possible on the butt stock and I am able to carry 270-300 rounds. Can't see carrying more on my kit though if need be I would bring a bandoleer or something.
Right side from center; medical pouch, radio pouch, 1 quart canteen pouch to hold night vision goggles with the Rino mount and J arm, on the top is a compass. The only addition I intend to make is a small random pouch to hold little stuff. Most likely my compass will move down between the radio pouch and the NVG pouch and said small random pouch will go where the compass pouch is. I carry water in a camelback and sometimes stuff a couple granola bars or whatever in a random pocket. This setup is sufficient for operations of at least several hours. If I was going out dismounted for longer it would require more water, more than a couple chewy bars and probably some sort of sleeping gear. In that case an assault pack with a 2 quart canteen or two would come along.
Well that is what I carry.
However the FLC as issued has a serious flaw. In the back there is this big stupid strap in the back. You can rotate the biog dumb belt thing all the way around so there are just straps in the back. However doing that has the cost of not being able to open the FLC in the front. That wouldn't be a big issue except for the fact that we wear body armor. It is awful darn convenient to be able to put your FLC on and off with the IBA instead of having an extra step of pulling it over your head every single time. The picture below shows what I am talking about. (Yeah by the looks it is some Marine guys stuff but it's the first good picture which clearly shows what I was looking to show.)
So I had an idea. My idea was to replace the big stupid belt thing. You need to secure the back so it doesn't go flopping all over the place when you lean over or whatever so just having it open isn't an option. I considered a piece of 550 cord but decided against it because the Army is really anal about this stuff so it needs to look legit. Another consideration on my options was that if God forbid I am seriously injured and somebody grabs that strap to drag me I need the darn thing to hold. In full kit I probably weigh 230lbs and if you factor in momentum and someone pulling on a single point that requires a strong strap. I settled on simple 1 1/4 inch webbing with a buckle in the middle. There are hooks for webbing on the FLC right by the middle of the front (where the zipper is) so you hook it through them and it is attached. The webbing on the FLC's stupid belt thing is the same size so it is too easy. I then sat on the idea for some time.
The day I wrote the blog I decided to just do it and put my kit into the configuration I wanted. Since we are in Germany I ended up having to scavenge the webbing. I had a Tactical Tailor chest rig I never really got comfortable with sitting around and decided to scavenge from it. Unfortunately that meant cutting straps but I left enough on the side I had to cut from (it went to a clip on the other side) that I can later just get some more webbing and hook it together with a buckle. Anyway I got it done and though I haven't used it much yet am quite happy with the results.
Left side has 4 double mag pouches. They can hold 8 M4 (or I guess others of comparable size) mags or 6 mags and a pistol or NVG monocle or whatever. Figure another in the rifle and possible on the butt stock and I am able to carry 270-300 rounds. Can't see carrying more on my kit though if need be I would bring a bandoleer or something.
Right side from center; medical pouch, radio pouch, 1 quart canteen pouch to hold night vision goggles with the Rino mount and J arm, on the top is a compass. The only addition I intend to make is a small random pouch to hold little stuff. Most likely my compass will move down between the radio pouch and the NVG pouch and said small random pouch will go where the compass pouch is. I carry water in a camelback and sometimes stuff a couple granola bars or whatever in a random pocket. This setup is sufficient for operations of at least several hours. If I was going out dismounted for longer it would require more water, more than a couple chewy bars and probably some sort of sleeping gear. In that case an assault pack with a 2 quart canteen or two would come along.
Well that is what I carry.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Oregon Trail Series #2 What The Oregon Trail Taught Me About Survival
1. Mr. "I'll take 4 oxen and all the bullets $1600 will buy me" was amusing. At least he was amusing to me, Wifey who played the game as a kid also didn't see the humor, I think that was because every boy went the all bullets route at least once. Our results were invariably unsuccessful. Breaking down or starving to death way before getting anywhere near running out of bullets. You have got to allocate your resources to meet many different needs. All the bullets in the world will not feed you. All the food in the world will not help a sick kid. Medicine doesn't make up for not having a spare jacket or a broken axle. Prudent people allocate their resources diversely to meet their many needs.
2. To capture this significant issue in its own lesson; bullets will not solve every problem or keep you reliably fed. Sure you can hunt but even a great shot might not see game that often. You need to store food.
3. Sanitation and hygiene are important lest you want to die of dysentery. That pretty much speaks for itself.
4. Something will happen so you don't want to spend all of your money. If anything the game under emphasizes this point. You don't know what is going to happen. It could be running low on oxen or the need to replace that extra spare axle. People take cash so you better have some available.
5. People die and not just random strangers but people you know. The game made this almost laughable with like a 30 percent mortality rate but lets not ignore the point. To think that your family will get through a prolonged dangerous period without outside assistance is probably naive. [Especially if that time included multiple violent confrontations it is almost laughable. If you think some guns, maybe a bit of body armor and a day once in a blue moon in the backyard trying to do battle drills will mean you come out heroically and surprisingly and completely unscathed you're more optimistic than I am. Once you consider that these contacts are more likely to be defensive than offensive the odds get even worse.] Getting your medical training and supplies squared away is a darn good start. Being careful and using proper safety equipment is prudent also. Someone truly out in the hinder boonies probably needs to worry a lot more about a slip with an ax then a gunfight. However while I encourage you to prepare as fully as possible for all these situations it is worth squaring yourself up with the fact that someone could die.
6. Whatever the risk don't be afraid to seek opportunities. There are always risks in life. However if you refuse to pursue any opportunities because there is some risk involved you won't get much of anywhere. It could be moving to another state for a new far better paying job with some real potential or deciding to become a single income household. It might be moving to a rural home, into alternate housing or even off grid. All of these possibilities have some risks (though death from dysentery is low on the list) that need to be accepted. Don't be afraid to accept some risk.
7. Be prepared for a long journey. No matter how much you spend or how hard you work the road to preparedness, like the trail from Independence, Missouri to the Willamette Valley, is very long. Some times it is going to seem like it will never end but unless you keep moving the end never comes. Then you just end up in Nebraska or Wyoming which are nice enough places but much harder to farm in than the Willamette Valley.
2. To capture this significant issue in its own lesson; bullets will not solve every problem or keep you reliably fed. Sure you can hunt but even a great shot might not see game that often. You need to store food.
3. Sanitation and hygiene are important lest you want to die of dysentery. That pretty much speaks for itself.
4. Something will happen so you don't want to spend all of your money. If anything the game under emphasizes this point. You don't know what is going to happen. It could be running low on oxen or the need to replace that extra spare axle. People take cash so you better have some available.
5. People die and not just random strangers but people you know. The game made this almost laughable with like a 30 percent mortality rate but lets not ignore the point. To think that your family will get through a prolonged dangerous period without outside assistance is probably naive. [Especially if that time included multiple violent confrontations it is almost laughable. If you think some guns, maybe a bit of body armor and a day once in a blue moon in the backyard trying to do battle drills will mean you come out heroically and surprisingly and completely unscathed you're more optimistic than I am. Once you consider that these contacts are more likely to be defensive than offensive the odds get even worse.] Getting your medical training and supplies squared away is a darn good start. Being careful and using proper safety equipment is prudent also. Someone truly out in the hinder boonies probably needs to worry a lot more about a slip with an ax then a gunfight. However while I encourage you to prepare as fully as possible for all these situations it is worth squaring yourself up with the fact that someone could die.
6. Whatever the risk don't be afraid to seek opportunities. There are always risks in life. However if you refuse to pursue any opportunities because there is some risk involved you won't get much of anywhere. It could be moving to another state for a new far better paying job with some real potential or deciding to become a single income household. It might be moving to a rural home, into alternate housing or even off grid. All of these possibilities have some risks (though death from dysentery is low on the list) that need to be accepted. Don't be afraid to accept some risk.
7. Be prepared for a long journey. No matter how much you spend or how hard you work the road to preparedness, like the trail from Independence, Missouri to the Willamette Valley, is very long. Some times it is going to seem like it will never end but unless you keep moving the end never comes. Then you just end up in Nebraska or Wyoming which are nice enough places but much harder to farm in than the Willamette Valley.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Funny Story
So in my organization there is a certain officer. This officer is kind of a nerd and reads a lot. He reads things like Increasing Small Arms Lethality In Afghanistan-Taking Back The Infantry Half Kilometer. He is also somewhat vocal about his concerns. He once spent most of a gathering rambling about complex heavy weapons ambushes from outside of the engagement range of most organic small arms and the need for 7.62x51 caliber squad designated marksmen rifles as well as training for all personnel in long distance marksmanship. The phrase "Dishka's everywhere" is periodically mentioned in commemoration of the aforementioned event.
This officer has mentioned his concerns to his supervisor and his supervisors supervisor. On at least one occasion he has inquired to the status of the .308 caliber squad designated marksmen rifles he desires. He also avidly pushes for light mortars at the lowest level possible.
Interestingly this officer recently received a birthday card from his Commander. In the birthday card his Commander specifically mentioned the status of the request for squad designated marksmen EBR's. This officer got a good laugh. He mentioned it to his first line supervise who didn't believe it. After showing said birthday card to the supervisor there was laughter all around.
Even better this officer is getting to plan the long distance marksmanship training he desires.
This officer has mentioned his concerns to his supervisor and his supervisors supervisor. On at least one occasion he has inquired to the status of the .308 caliber squad designated marksmen rifles he desires. He also avidly pushes for light mortars at the lowest level possible.
Interestingly this officer recently received a birthday card from his Commander. In the birthday card his Commander specifically mentioned the status of the request for squad designated marksmen EBR's. This officer got a good laugh. He mentioned it to his first line supervise who didn't believe it. After showing said birthday card to the supervisor there was laughter all around.
Even better this officer is getting to plan the long distance marksmanship training he desires.
What Did You Do To Prepare This Week?
My efforts this weekend were somewhat scattered. I ordered a set of gymnastics rings which I have been wanting for awhile. Start getting my ring dip and ring pull ups on when I get them and eventually muscle ups. Tossed a couple books into my order though right now I can't remember what they were. Also ordered one of those wind up watches I have been wanting ever since reading World Made By Hand.
Got 4 good workouts in which isn't perfect but for a busy week it is good. Best of all I am enjoying myself, feeling better and starting to see a few small results.
I bottled my first batch of home brew yesterday. Really excited about that and can't wait to "test" it. Already got the stuff for the next batch in the mail. The next one is going to be a good strong Belgian beer. I will have to get all the bottles from this batch empty first. Maybe I need more bottles.
Looking at a busy week but I have a couple plans that should come together. Good stuff if I can get it done.
What did you do to prepare this week?
Got 4 good workouts in which isn't perfect but for a busy week it is good. Best of all I am enjoying myself, feeling better and starting to see a few small results.
I bottled my first batch of home brew yesterday. Really excited about that and can't wait to "test" it. Already got the stuff for the next batch in the mail. The next one is going to be a good strong Belgian beer. I will have to get all the bottles from this batch empty first. Maybe I need more bottles.
Looking at a busy week but I have a couple plans that should come together. Good stuff if I can get it done.
What did you do to prepare this week?
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Voluntary Simplicity and Creamy Ranch Pork Chops
Wifey reads blogs also. She reads blogs about Housewifery, which incidentally is a phrase I coined today, simple living, doing things cheaply and the like. She saw the recipe for Creamy Ranch Pork Chops and immediately thought they would be great. Creamy and Ranch are adjectives which we like in a meal. Short of cheesy and sauce it doesn't get much better. Well maybe cheesy saucy creamy ranch but you can't be too greedy with these things.
Sunday is Wifeys day off so I do the cooking. Generally it is something easy but I have been trying to get back into practice recently. Also the pork loin was in use or lose status so I cooked this meal today. It is really pretty easy. Make rice, cook pork chops, mix and heat up sauce, pour sauce onto meat, cover and let cook then serve. With a bit of canned corn and some home made french bread it made for a delightful dinner.
Anyway we got to talking about the blog where the recipe came from which is called Frugal and Simple Living. It is written by a young house wife. After graduating college she and her husband both got normal jobs. Then they decided to see how her being at home worked. Shortly thereafter he quit his job and went to work at their church for a significantly decreased salary. They live very frugally and simply on his modest salary. They seem happy with the decision.
The women who blog about serious Housewifery, stuff like cloth diapers, making food from scratch and the like tend to be quite conservative and almost always devoutly religious. Their politics or religion do not detract from the interesting observations, experiences and lessons. The only reason I mention it is to note a distinct trend.
Anyway Frugal and Simple got me thinking about the concept of voluntary simplicity or its extreme gentile poverty. I am a big fan of the idea. To each their own but I don't give a damn about keeping up with the neighbors. When someone else sees a neighbors shiny new BMW and thinks success I see it and think huge car loan. This is even more plain in military communities where you have a very good idea what somebody makes.
In our own way we practice voluntary simplicity. I earn a decent living and we live well below our means. We indulge a bit in travel and "date nights" but otherwise live pretty cheaply and simply. We take the leftover money and use it to make our lives better. A little bit at a time things are coming together for us. We saved an emergency fund and purchased a new to us vehicle and now are paying off my student loan at an accelerated rate. After this is done we will save a down payment for a modest home. We will then pay off said home at an accelerated rate.
I have a couple concerns with voluntary simplicity. My first concern is people who practice voluntary simplicity often live right to the edge of their means. If your normal expenses are 95 percent of your income there is no wiggle room for life's little unpleasant surprises. It interests me that some folks talk about how those who earn 100k a year and spend 98k are fools just waiting for disaster; while they earn 20k and need $19,995 to keep a roof over their head and food in their stomachs and don't see a similarity. You need a decent gap between what normally comes in and your typical expenses. You need it to deal with life's little surprises and those occasional major life events like job losses or home repairs or the need to fly to Minnesota to help out your aunt who got hit by a truck.
My second concern is about medical insurance and retirement though this is more with the gentile poverty plan than voluntary simplicity at large. Often saving for retirement and having medical insurance are among the first expenses to get cut. To each their own but I would not be comfortable without decent medical insurance. Also I find it interesting in the preparedness community that some folks will have a plan for an EMP but not to pay for a trip to the hospital for a broken arm or whatever.
Also folks who plan for the fall of western civilization but not for supporting themselves in their old age are really missing the mark. Yeah, yeah the world is going to end and you will be so rich with wheat and beans and .22 shells. Those fools who stashed lots of money for retirement will be wishing that instead they had put a grand into wheat and .22 shells like you did. I've heard all that junk before. To be honest every time I hear that line it sounds even more stupid than the first time, and it sounded pretty darn stupid the first time. Get real and start planning for how you will live with dignity in old age should the world not end. Hint hint, it is more likely that you will grow old and need money to live on then the world will go all Mad Max plus also wheat and .22 shells while useful are not the way to go.
Living simply is great. A real added benefit is that if your lifestyle is modest the odds that you can do something you enjoy, versus just chasing a big paycheck, are better. I think this is a great plan provided you keep income a reasonable amount above basic expenses and include medical insurance and retirement into your overall thinking.
What do you think?
Sunday is Wifeys day off so I do the cooking. Generally it is something easy but I have been trying to get back into practice recently. Also the pork loin was in use or lose status so I cooked this meal today. It is really pretty easy. Make rice, cook pork chops, mix and heat up sauce, pour sauce onto meat, cover and let cook then serve. With a bit of canned corn and some home made french bread it made for a delightful dinner.
Anyway we got to talking about the blog where the recipe came from which is called Frugal and Simple Living. It is written by a young house wife. After graduating college she and her husband both got normal jobs. Then they decided to see how her being at home worked. Shortly thereafter he quit his job and went to work at their church for a significantly decreased salary. They live very frugally and simply on his modest salary. They seem happy with the decision.
The women who blog about serious Housewifery, stuff like cloth diapers, making food from scratch and the like tend to be quite conservative and almost always devoutly religious. Their politics or religion do not detract from the interesting observations, experiences and lessons. The only reason I mention it is to note a distinct trend.
Anyway Frugal and Simple got me thinking about the concept of voluntary simplicity or its extreme gentile poverty. I am a big fan of the idea. To each their own but I don't give a damn about keeping up with the neighbors. When someone else sees a neighbors shiny new BMW and thinks success I see it and think huge car loan. This is even more plain in military communities where you have a very good idea what somebody makes.
In our own way we practice voluntary simplicity. I earn a decent living and we live well below our means. We indulge a bit in travel and "date nights" but otherwise live pretty cheaply and simply. We take the leftover money and use it to make our lives better. A little bit at a time things are coming together for us. We saved an emergency fund and purchased a new to us vehicle and now are paying off my student loan at an accelerated rate. After this is done we will save a down payment for a modest home. We will then pay off said home at an accelerated rate.
I have a couple concerns with voluntary simplicity. My first concern is people who practice voluntary simplicity often live right to the edge of their means. If your normal expenses are 95 percent of your income there is no wiggle room for life's little unpleasant surprises. It interests me that some folks talk about how those who earn 100k a year and spend 98k are fools just waiting for disaster; while they earn 20k and need $19,995 to keep a roof over their head and food in their stomachs and don't see a similarity. You need a decent gap between what normally comes in and your typical expenses. You need it to deal with life's little surprises and those occasional major life events like job losses or home repairs or the need to fly to Minnesota to help out your aunt who got hit by a truck.
My second concern is about medical insurance and retirement though this is more with the gentile poverty plan than voluntary simplicity at large. Often saving for retirement and having medical insurance are among the first expenses to get cut. To each their own but I would not be comfortable without decent medical insurance. Also I find it interesting in the preparedness community that some folks will have a plan for an EMP but not to pay for a trip to the hospital for a broken arm or whatever.
Also folks who plan for the fall of western civilization but not for supporting themselves in their old age are really missing the mark. Yeah, yeah the world is going to end and you will be so rich with wheat and beans and .22 shells. Those fools who stashed lots of money for retirement will be wishing that instead they had put a grand into wheat and .22 shells like you did. I've heard all that junk before. To be honest every time I hear that line it sounds even more stupid than the first time, and it sounded pretty darn stupid the first time. Get real and start planning for how you will live with dignity in old age should the world not end. Hint hint, it is more likely that you will grow old and need money to live on then the world will go all Mad Max plus also wheat and .22 shells while useful are not the way to go.
Living simply is great. A real added benefit is that if your lifestyle is modest the odds that you can do something you enjoy, versus just chasing a big paycheck, are better. I think this is a great plan provided you keep income a reasonable amount above basic expenses and include medical insurance and retirement into your overall thinking.
What do you think?
New Rules For Your Money
12 new rules to consider. Got to love Suze Orman Sundays and random yahoo financial articles.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
What's Worrying Me
Well I guess I will tell you what is worrying me. I am not particularly worried about power outages or storms or natural disasters. Not to say that all those can't happen. The risk of a storm or whatever is more or less the same as it always has been. Also it helps that I am pretty prepared for that sort of thing. Of course some tin horn dictator or totalitarian state could blow a couple nukes up in the sky and cause an EMP then it would be One Second After. I think those sort of low probability high impact events are worth paying a bit of attention to but I don't think the odds of such occurrence are any higher than a decade ago. I sort of look at them like if I happen to be in line at a coffee shop and 5 guys with AK's roll in and start mowing people down. You do the best you can and that is that.
The economy and inflation are what is worrying me these days. My income is secure. That is quite an intentional choice but still a blessing. I know almost to the dollar (somehow it is always a bit different) what I will get paid on the first and the fifteenth. However I am not entirely sure what it will buy me. If you start talking about 8, 10 or even 15 percent inflation that can reek havoc on any budget.
More concerning than tightening our belt a bit and lowering our standard of living are the second and third order effects of that kind of ruinous inflation. Very quickly banks would realize that the interest they charge needs to not just factor in risk and their profit but that the money they are repaid will buy less than the money they loan out. I recall a friend talking about 15% home mortgages in the late 70's. That would mean the cost for a business to borrow money would be ridiculous. Businesses would be less able to grow or expand. Good luck with a start up. This in turn means more unemployment so fewer people are buying less. Short of the debt trap you don't see many more vicious cycles.
What can I do about this? I think a lot of conservative financial advice suits these times well. In particular stuff like living below your means, saving and avoiding debt is so important. A person with a few dollars put away, reasonable bills and little debt can ride out a decrease in standard of living (from inflation or job loss). The exact same family with the same income disruption but a bunch of bills, a visa card and no savings will be in deep trouble.
We have some money put away and few bills. Between slashing our discretionary spending and going to minimum payments we could live on a lot less than we bring in. If need be we could live off savings for some time. In several months we will have paid off my student loan and will be debt free.
A small but regular portion of our income gets turned into silver and gold. I buy them as an insurance policy. If they go up 100 or even 300 percent in dollar denominated value I wouldn't sell. If things go beyond ruinous inflation to outright hyperinflation. Some of our precious metals would give our family a little bit of help in adjusting to the new reality and the rest would be our proverbial nest egg.
If we were 20 years older and better established real estate that can produce income would be where I would park money. A little paid off house you could rent would be better than some cash in a mutual fund. However since we aren't at that point in life yet it is a moot point.
Slowly but surely we are preparing for slightly darker scenarios. Argentina and FerFal's blog in particular are of a real help here. I am not so concerned with a full on Mad Max scenario but am working on self contained ways to maintain as normal of a life as possible no matter what disruptions we face. Little things like being able to do laundry easily or brew my own beer or listening to stations far away on the world band radio aren't huge but they start to add up.
There is a higher than normal risk of theft and violent crime. This doesn't worry me so much right now. I live in a pretty small safe world right now. When elsewhere I am pretty cautious about where I go and carry a handgun. However if you aren't a fit young guy who is reasonably trained and carries a gun it might be a good idea to worry about this. Get your body into some resemblance of shape. Get trained with firearms and start carrying one. Be aware of what you do and where you go. Not a lot of people get robbed while buying groceries at 3pm but going to the ATM at midnight is dumb.
What's worrying you?
The economy and inflation are what is worrying me these days. My income is secure. That is quite an intentional choice but still a blessing. I know almost to the dollar (somehow it is always a bit different) what I will get paid on the first and the fifteenth. However I am not entirely sure what it will buy me. If you start talking about 8, 10 or even 15 percent inflation that can reek havoc on any budget.
More concerning than tightening our belt a bit and lowering our standard of living are the second and third order effects of that kind of ruinous inflation. Very quickly banks would realize that the interest they charge needs to not just factor in risk and their profit but that the money they are repaid will buy less than the money they loan out. I recall a friend talking about 15% home mortgages in the late 70's. That would mean the cost for a business to borrow money would be ridiculous. Businesses would be less able to grow or expand. Good luck with a start up. This in turn means more unemployment so fewer people are buying less. Short of the debt trap you don't see many more vicious cycles.
What can I do about this? I think a lot of conservative financial advice suits these times well. In particular stuff like living below your means, saving and avoiding debt is so important. A person with a few dollars put away, reasonable bills and little debt can ride out a decrease in standard of living (from inflation or job loss). The exact same family with the same income disruption but a bunch of bills, a visa card and no savings will be in deep trouble.
We have some money put away and few bills. Between slashing our discretionary spending and going to minimum payments we could live on a lot less than we bring in. If need be we could live off savings for some time. In several months we will have paid off my student loan and will be debt free.
A small but regular portion of our income gets turned into silver and gold. I buy them as an insurance policy. If they go up 100 or even 300 percent in dollar denominated value I wouldn't sell. If things go beyond ruinous inflation to outright hyperinflation. Some of our precious metals would give our family a little bit of help in adjusting to the new reality and the rest would be our proverbial nest egg.
If we were 20 years older and better established real estate that can produce income would be where I would park money. A little paid off house you could rent would be better than some cash in a mutual fund. However since we aren't at that point in life yet it is a moot point.
Slowly but surely we are preparing for slightly darker scenarios. Argentina and FerFal's blog in particular are of a real help here. I am not so concerned with a full on Mad Max scenario but am working on self contained ways to maintain as normal of a life as possible no matter what disruptions we face. Little things like being able to do laundry easily or brew my own beer or listening to stations far away on the world band radio aren't huge but they start to add up.
There is a higher than normal risk of theft and violent crime. This doesn't worry me so much right now. I live in a pretty small safe world right now. When elsewhere I am pretty cautious about where I go and carry a handgun. However if you aren't a fit young guy who is reasonably trained and carries a gun it might be a good idea to worry about this. Get your body into some resemblance of shape. Get trained with firearms and start carrying one. Be aware of what you do and where you go. Not a lot of people get robbed while buying groceries at 3pm but going to the ATM at midnight is dumb.
What's worrying you?
Death of the 'McMansion'
Read the article here.
Personally I have nothing against big houses. They have more space and can comfortable accommodate or sleep more people. However unless there are some unforeseen changes I am never going to make a lot of money so we will probably not have one. Personally I would rather have a modest home with a mortgage I could comfortably pay and ultimately pay off at an accelerated rate.
Personally I have nothing against big houses. They have more space and can comfortable accommodate or sleep more people. However unless there are some unforeseen changes I am never going to make a lot of money so we will probably not have one. Personally I would rather have a modest home with a mortgage I could comfortably pay and ultimately pay off at an accelerated rate.
Good Stuff I've Read Lately
Mayberry wrote a good post yesterday.
For a teaser here is part of it "Lead by example. Lead by leading yourself. Live and let live..."
Also a teaser of my comment. "Until we are willing to give up our pay offs in order to end the screwing Peter to buy Paul's vote AND deal with our neighbors annoying stuff; we are going to continue to be screwed by a lot of people and also have others mess with our lifestyle."
Also something Ferfal wrote today was pretty awesome.
For a teaser here is part of it "Lead by example. Lead by leading yourself. Live and let live..."
Also a teaser of my comment. "Until we are willing to give up our pay offs in order to end the screwing Peter to buy Paul's vote AND deal with our neighbors annoying stuff; we are going to continue to be screwed by a lot of people and also have others mess with our lifestyle."
Also something Ferfal wrote today was pretty awesome.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
End of Combat Operations in Iraq?
The last "combat" brigade left Iraq today. I wouldn't say this means our efforts in Iraq are over but it is sure a significant milestone. As for what will happen now, time will tell. I do think it is very important that we practice expectation management. If we expect Iraq to be a nice calm place with totally functional, completely democratic and honest institutions and great infrastructure like say Israel (the only example I could think of in the middle east) we will be disappointed. However if we expect sporadic bombings and localized violence, semi corrupt elections along party lines and haphazard infrastructure we might be on the mark. I say that for a couple reasons.
It is important to remember that early American history didn't go so smoothly. There were small localized uprisings, the government went broke and stayed there more or less and our first government failed entirely. We had some real problems with pirates robbing our ships. Around 20 years after our nation was established the British stomped us pretty badly and burned down our capitol. (Would it be ridiculous and war hawkish to suggest we burn down Buckingham Palace to get even? Better late than never right?) A couple generations later we fought a massive civil war. For some reason we Americans have a short memory and an even shorter attention span. We would like to make Iraq into a wonderful place over the course of a few short years. If we manage our expectations and take a longer view the situation can be seen more realistically.
What does this mean? Well hopefully we as a nation can finally borrow a little bit less money to keep things going. Also we will have fewer brave young Americans at risk which is always a good thing. Getting out of Iraq will allow us to increase dwell time for soldiers. This will almost certainly help with some of the problems (prescription drugs and suicide are notable) we are currently facing. More focused training time at home station will allow for the retrofitting and replacement of equipment as well as training which are good things. Also this will let our nation focus almost exclusively on Afghanistan which is something that has needed to happen for a long time. I don't know what will happen there but it would be a darn shame if we let a lack of adequate amounts of men, weapons and equipment be the deciding factor.
These are sure interesting times we live in.
It is important to remember that early American history didn't go so smoothly. There were small localized uprisings, the government went broke and stayed there more or less and our first government failed entirely. We had some real problems with pirates robbing our ships. Around 20 years after our nation was established the British stomped us pretty badly and burned down our capitol. (Would it be ridiculous and war hawkish to suggest we burn down Buckingham Palace to get even? Better late than never right?) A couple generations later we fought a massive civil war. For some reason we Americans have a short memory and an even shorter attention span. We would like to make Iraq into a wonderful place over the course of a few short years. If we manage our expectations and take a longer view the situation can be seen more realistically.
What does this mean? Well hopefully we as a nation can finally borrow a little bit less money to keep things going. Also we will have fewer brave young Americans at risk which is always a good thing. Getting out of Iraq will allow us to increase dwell time for soldiers. This will almost certainly help with some of the problems (prescription drugs and suicide are notable) we are currently facing. More focused training time at home station will allow for the retrofitting and replacement of equipment as well as training which are good things. Also this will let our nation focus almost exclusively on Afghanistan which is something that has needed to happen for a long time. I don't know what will happen there but it would be a darn shame if we let a lack of adequate amounts of men, weapons and equipment be the deciding factor.
These are sure interesting times we live in.
Happy Cost of Government Day
Aug. 19 marks this year's "Cost of Government Day." The date, calculated by the Americans for Tax Reform, signals when the average American finishes paying off his or her respective share of federal, state and local taxes, and the cost of implementing government regulations. This year, that means a whopping 231 days -- or almost 2/3 of the year -- are spent paying to keep the country going.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Stay At Home Wife IPR#1
Wifey has been back at home full time for awhile now. I have been noticing some differences and they are worth talking about. We bring in less money now. Obviously if we needed her income to pay bills or support our lifestyle we would be in a rough place right now. For us that isn't a huge deal because we never really let our lifestyle increase with her income. Still we notice it because occasionally a couple bucks from her paycheck was the answer to something we wanted to do but couldn't (well chose not to) fund out of my pay. We hardly every used it but it was comforting to know we had excess income. More significantly her income really let us kick butt on getting ahead. We are still doing good things in terms of saving and paying off debt and all that but are no longer in overdrive.
However we do save some money. She has the time to cook real food, life with flour and sugar and stuff. That saves money. Also she can haunt the used stuff boards and sites to get great deals. So instead of spending a few hundred bucks on a piece of furniture we spend $35 and a bit of gas. If we had been paying child care costs that would be a big savings. Also with just me working we don't totally need a second car. Of course it is pretty darn nice but if one broke we could at a minimum wait awhile to get it fixed.
Also the total amount of available time to do household stuff has gone up by 25-35 hours a week (what she was working). That means stuff which we used to have to do during the weekend gets done by her during the week. When we both worked basically all of Sunday was eaten up by laundry and grocery shopping. Now weekends are free to do whatever.
This also means the amount of time I have in general has increased. I can focus on work and not worry about what I am going to make for dinner or stopping by the store to get something. I don't know that it has made me more effective at work but it certainly hasn't hurt. When I get home I don't have to worry about household stuff because it is taken care of.
Wifey is liking having time to get Walkers room strait. She also enjoys getting stuff for cheap and now has time to do that. There is a risk that she starts to get bored/ down when not active outside the house. These days she is relatively active with some neighbors and wives of my co workers so that is pretty much taken care of.
The whole thing is going pretty well and we have adjusted to it. I feel like for right now this is the best answer for our family. Of course more money never hurts but the other benefits currently out weight it. I hesitate to say what is best for any other family but it is working well for us.
However we do save some money. She has the time to cook real food, life with flour and sugar and stuff. That saves money. Also she can haunt the used stuff boards and sites to get great deals. So instead of spending a few hundred bucks on a piece of furniture we spend $35 and a bit of gas. If we had been paying child care costs that would be a big savings. Also with just me working we don't totally need a second car. Of course it is pretty darn nice but if one broke we could at a minimum wait awhile to get it fixed.
Also the total amount of available time to do household stuff has gone up by 25-35 hours a week (what she was working). That means stuff which we used to have to do during the weekend gets done by her during the week. When we both worked basically all of Sunday was eaten up by laundry and grocery shopping. Now weekends are free to do whatever.
This also means the amount of time I have in general has increased. I can focus on work and not worry about what I am going to make for dinner or stopping by the store to get something. I don't know that it has made me more effective at work but it certainly hasn't hurt. When I get home I don't have to worry about household stuff because it is taken care of.
Wifey is liking having time to get Walkers room strait. She also enjoys getting stuff for cheap and now has time to do that. There is a risk that she starts to get bored/ down when not active outside the house. These days she is relatively active with some neighbors and wives of my co workers so that is pretty much taken care of.
The whole thing is going pretty well and we have adjusted to it. I feel like for right now this is the best answer for our family. Of course more money never hurts but the other benefits currently out weight it. I hesitate to say what is best for any other family but it is working well for us.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
A Valid Question
Chief Instructor said...Question: What's the deal with the chest rigs? I honestly have not even considered them as part of my preps. If I'm on foot, I'll have a backpack. Is the idea of the chest rigs that you can have easier access to magazines? Is that it or am I missing something? They seem like they'd be used if you had a bug-out location and were patrolling the grounds. Are there other uses? - Answer: Chief Instructor, Look at it this way. I know you do some defensive pistol shooting type competitions. Would you consider keeping the spare mags you need during a course somewhere in a back pack? I don't think so. You almost surely have them in a mag pouch so you know where they are and can get at them in a hurry. Makes sense right?
- I think every pistol should have a holster, a belt and a mag/ speed loader pouch in addition to a cleaning kit, mags and ammo. With that pistol you need a place to carry it except your hand which means a holster and then you need a belt to put it on. Don't want to have to try and stuff it in your pants awkwardly. You also need something to hold spare ammo in lest you find yourself riffling through a backpack. For each pistol a holster, belt, mag/ speed loader pouch as well as mags/ ammo are ancillary equipment.
- Why is a rifle any different? You need a hands free way to carry it as well as something to store spare ammo and whatever else you may need. I would say chest rigs or an LBE or whatever sort of setup you prefer is part of the basic ancillary gear for a rifle (along with a sling, cleaning kit, mags, ammo, etc).
- As for my preference for chest rigs in particular. They are what modern professionals use for a lot of reasons. Sort of how quite a few police departments use Glocks and not many use 1970's era Ruger or Smith and Wesson semi automatics. Chest rigs are very ergonomic and you can wear them and run or whatever. Very hard to change mags at more than a snails pace if they are buried in a backpack while given a little bit of practice a chest rig is really fast. So part of it is that they are a necessary piece of equipment to get the most out of whatever rifle you have. As for their exact niche as a prep....
- Does a chest rig fall into the Blackhawk Down/ Red Dawn category? Maybe. Admittedly it would have to be a pretty dark scenario for you to need a chest rig and a rifle. However like so many low probability high impact events when you need it you really need it. I bet there were a few average Joe's in the LA Riots or Katrina who would have liked a convenient and quick way to carry spare ammo. If things are so screwed up that you are grabbing a rifle or a shotgun you need a good way to carry ammo (and other stuff) for it.
- Also as criminals operate in more larger more organized and violent manners the need to prepare for a nasty and prolonged gunfight is there. Truly this is probably the most realistic niche for this type of gear. Yeah at 10 feet in the living room it will not take long for an outcome but if people get behind concealment/ cover or there are multiple tango's you might shoot a lot more than you imagine. If you consider the possibility of having 3-4 armed tango's a couple spare mags would be awful nice.
- For whatever my advice is worth I think you should have a chest rig or an LBE or a set of whatever type web gear suits you as part of the ancillary gear for each defensive rifle you own.
- Chief, I hope that answers your question.
What Did You Do To Prepare This Week?
It was a pretty good week here. Somehow I seem to have a cycle where I save then buy. This is kind of a buy week. I ordered some more ingredients so I can do a couple more batches of beer. This time it is going to be a good strong Belgian beer. I will be able to stop spending bunches of money on Chimay and be able to enjoy great beer more often. Not that there is anything wrong with a generic American light beer but I want to be able to drink good beer more often.
I also ordered some one ounce silver bars. I think silver is still sanely priced. Plan to keep buying it for at least the rest of the year. One nice thing about silver is that you get a far more gratifying amount of stuff than with gold. Spend a couple hundred bucks on silver and you get a nice handful of coins. Spend a couple hundred bucks on gold and you get a little coin.
I ordered a cold steel push knife. Those things are just nasty. I have done some thinking on it and any real use I would have for a fighting knife is going to be up close and very physical. These things are really intuitive which helps a lot.
I am sticking with the weight room which is good. It is a nice transition between work and home. Also I just feel better when I life.
Lastly I am finally happy with where my MOLLE chest rig is. I feel like I finally got that piece of gear to how it really should be. I will probably write specifically about what I did at some point. However to do that I will need to take pictures and such so it will be awhile. I replaced a pair of triple mag panels with 3 two mag pouches. The panels do not flex and just felt like a big thick board on my off side. The 3 two mag pouches hold the same ammo in the same place but since they aren't connected have a lot more flex and give. I can toss another one on down the road which I would want for Afghanistan but don't need for here. Also I replaced a random pouch that was holding my MBTR radio with a legit radio pouch. At some point I can use a random little pouch to hold stuff but that is a back burner priority.
What did you do to prepare this week?
I also ordered some one ounce silver bars. I think silver is still sanely priced. Plan to keep buying it for at least the rest of the year. One nice thing about silver is that you get a far more gratifying amount of stuff than with gold. Spend a couple hundred bucks on silver and you get a nice handful of coins. Spend a couple hundred bucks on gold and you get a little coin.
I ordered a cold steel push knife. Those things are just nasty. I have done some thinking on it and any real use I would have for a fighting knife is going to be up close and very physical. These things are really intuitive which helps a lot.
I am sticking with the weight room which is good. It is a nice transition between work and home. Also I just feel better when I life.
Lastly I am finally happy with where my MOLLE chest rig is. I feel like I finally got that piece of gear to how it really should be. I will probably write specifically about what I did at some point. However to do that I will need to take pictures and such so it will be awhile. I replaced a pair of triple mag panels with 3 two mag pouches. The panels do not flex and just felt like a big thick board on my off side. The 3 two mag pouches hold the same ammo in the same place but since they aren't connected have a lot more flex and give. I can toss another one on down the road which I would want for Afghanistan but don't need for here. Also I replaced a random pouch that was holding my MBTR radio with a legit radio pouch. At some point I can use a random little pouch to hold stuff but that is a back burner priority.
What did you do to prepare this week?
Monday, August 16, 2010
Backyard Passive Freezer
Ryan,
I thought your off-the-grid readers might be interested in reading about this project to make an underground (passive) freezer. It's a cool concept. I hope his project is a success. From the Burlington (VT) Free Press:
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100816/NEWS02/100815019/Essex-project-builds-backyard-passive-freezer
Trailer Park Sam
I thought your off-the-grid readers might be interested in reading about this project to make an underground (passive) freezer. It's a cool concept. I hope his project is a success. From the Burlington (VT) Free Press:
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100816/NEWS02/100815019/Essex-project-builds-backyard-passive-freezer
Trailer Park Sam
Oregon Trail series #1 You Have Died of Dysentery
Alternate title: 3rd World Living Conditions: Water Filtration, Sanitation and OTC Meds
Yesterday Wifey and I drove a long way. We don't listen to the radio and instead talk to each other while driving. What a novel concept. Anyway we passed a car with a trailer and a single horse somehow we got to talking about how it would be cool to have draft animals and a wagon and go camping Oregon Trail style. I said we would need an extra kid because one of them would die of dysentery. It is sort of a funny joke and I have been meaning to order the T shirt.
We both got a good laugh. Wifey then said we would also need lots of oxen to replace the ones that would die and 3 times the amount of food we actually need because it always seems to fall out of the wagon and get washed downstream at fording sites. After a second of silence I thought of something. People still die of dysentery. Almost never in America or western Europe or pretty much any other country that doesn't suck but by the thousands in Africa, less developed parts of Asia and South America. I would wager it will get some folks in Pakistan and China because of the recent flooding.
Dysentery is caused by poor hygiene. Basically you ingest some nasty stuff. In any case you catch it and start shitting your guts out. You then dehydrate massively and keep shitting and eventually you die. Dysentery spreads like wildfire because people are in close quarters and it is an environment with poor sanitation and hygiene. If 12 people are living in a little shack/ hut with poor sanitation and hygiene and one gets massive diarrhea it is going to spread.
Part of the reason that dysentery is so sad is that it is so avoidable. A bit of common sense sanitation and decent hygiene are enough to prevent dysentery all together. Prevention is as simple as regularly washing your hands, especially after going #2 and before cooking/ eating. Treatment is super simple. Re hydration and good cleanliness are usually enough. For worse cases a course of antibiotics are necessary. Simply keeping some pedialite or gatoraide around as well as soap, etc and having a plan to deal with waste is sufficient.
Our life patterns have changed dramatically in the last 100 years or so. In particular population densities in urban areas have increased and this whole suburb thing popped up. These work because almost limitless clean water is piped in and waste is piped out. However it doesn't take much to at least temporarily break those systems. Especially in densely populated areas such as the Gulf Coast all it will take is a hurricane to bring back a primitive standard of living in a hurry. If you exclude medical personnel and those with primitive outdoor experience via rugged camping or the military knowledge of primitive sanitation is woefully lacking. You can't take care of everybody but should certainly have a plan to take care of your own.
We both got a good laugh. Wifey then said we would also need lots of oxen to replace the ones that would die and 3 times the amount of food we actually need because it always seems to fall out of the wagon and get washed downstream at fording sites. After a second of silence I thought of something. People still die of dysentery. Almost never in America or western Europe or pretty much any other country that doesn't suck but by the thousands in Africa, less developed parts of Asia and South America. I would wager it will get some folks in Pakistan and China because of the recent flooding.
Dysentery is caused by poor hygiene. Basically you ingest some nasty stuff. In any case you catch it and start shitting your guts out. You then dehydrate massively and keep shitting and eventually you die. Dysentery spreads like wildfire because people are in close quarters and it is an environment with poor sanitation and hygiene. If 12 people are living in a little shack/ hut with poor sanitation and hygiene and one gets massive diarrhea it is going to spread.
Part of the reason that dysentery is so sad is that it is so avoidable. A bit of common sense sanitation and decent hygiene are enough to prevent dysentery all together. Prevention is as simple as regularly washing your hands, especially after going #2 and before cooking/ eating. Treatment is super simple. Re hydration and good cleanliness are usually enough. For worse cases a course of antibiotics are necessary. Simply keeping some pedialite or gatoraide around as well as soap, etc and having a plan to deal with waste is sufficient.
Our life patterns have changed dramatically in the last 100 years or so. In particular population densities in urban areas have increased and this whole suburb thing popped up. These work because almost limitless clean water is piped in and waste is piped out. However it doesn't take much to at least temporarily break those systems. Especially in densely populated areas such as the Gulf Coast all it will take is a hurricane to bring back a primitive standard of living in a hurry. If you exclude medical personnel and those with primitive outdoor experience via rugged camping or the military knowledge of primitive sanitation is woefully lacking. You can't take care of everybody but should certainly have a plan to take care of your own.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Have A Budget
This is pretty much personal finance 99 but it continually amazes me how many people do not have and use one. I am not going to say that everybody has to have a budget. However I can say that I've only known one person who was financially functional and didn't have one. I say functional because unlike say "successful" it just seems more fitting. Successful is often correlated with earning X or saving Y and that is not what I am talking about. To me functional is simply paying your bills, having a few bucks for small emergencies and generally handling your finance. It is not juggling your bills and deciding which to pay or trying to figure out how to get groceries on the off pay week or generally bouncing from fail to fail.
The one person I have known who was financially healthy without a budget didn't have a secret. He earned pretty good money and had quite modest expenses. The guy just lived way below his means. All the extra cash he stuck in the bank and eventually put towards some great goals. It worked for him but doesn't work for most people.
Budgets can be done a lot of different ways. The concept is pretty easy. Start with how much money you make and decide where it is going to go. Common sense dictates that you start with basics. Keeping a roof over your head and food in your stomach is more important than paying off your visa card. Paying off your visa card is more important than going to the movies or the bar.
For a young single person a budget can be entirely mental or a few figures on the back of an envelope. Lets say a kid gets $20 a week for chores or whatever. He puts 5 away for a rainy day and 5 to that thing he wants. A few bucks will rent a movie for Saturday night and the rest will buy some ingredients for making hot fudge Sundays with his friends. It can be just that simple.
More tech savvy folks might want to use an excel spreadsheet or mint or something else. I would say the more money that is moving around and the more complicated your situation (being married, having a mortgage vs renting, having investments, debts or bills, etc) the more of a budget you likely need. Also I can say with confidence the worse your money problems the more of a strict budget you need.
The obvious worst case of not having a budget is spending all your money and being short for bills or essentials like groceries. It is easy enough to see if this is happening. You are digging around in the couch for change to buy some milk or deciding which bills to not pay. The less serious case is more of a lack of visibility on their finances. These folks have income which surpasses their basic needs but still the day before payday they are low on funds with nothing to show for it. Instead of having $50 or $100 to save or use for preps or whatever they don't know where the money went. My observation is that consuming excessive amounts of pre made packaged foods, eating out, $5 mochawhackachocha latte's and entertainment are the main culprits. It is unlikely that these folks will have that wake up call when the electric gets cut off that they need to get their stuff together. Unfortunately they often keep on keeping on without accumulating any savings or in our case building up their preps.
Have a budget so you can be financially functional.
The one person I have known who was financially healthy without a budget didn't have a secret. He earned pretty good money and had quite modest expenses. The guy just lived way below his means. All the extra cash he stuck in the bank and eventually put towards some great goals. It worked for him but doesn't work for most people.
Budgets can be done a lot of different ways. The concept is pretty easy. Start with how much money you make and decide where it is going to go. Common sense dictates that you start with basics. Keeping a roof over your head and food in your stomach is more important than paying off your visa card. Paying off your visa card is more important than going to the movies or the bar.
For a young single person a budget can be entirely mental or a few figures on the back of an envelope. Lets say a kid gets $20 a week for chores or whatever. He puts 5 away for a rainy day and 5 to that thing he wants. A few bucks will rent a movie for Saturday night and the rest will buy some ingredients for making hot fudge Sundays with his friends. It can be just that simple.
More tech savvy folks might want to use an excel spreadsheet or mint or something else. I would say the more money that is moving around and the more complicated your situation (being married, having a mortgage vs renting, having investments, debts or bills, etc) the more of a budget you likely need. Also I can say with confidence the worse your money problems the more of a strict budget you need.
The obvious worst case of not having a budget is spending all your money and being short for bills or essentials like groceries. It is easy enough to see if this is happening. You are digging around in the couch for change to buy some milk or deciding which bills to not pay. The less serious case is more of a lack of visibility on their finances. These folks have income which surpasses their basic needs but still the day before payday they are low on funds with nothing to show for it. Instead of having $50 or $100 to save or use for preps or whatever they don't know where the money went. My observation is that consuming excessive amounts of pre made packaged foods, eating out, $5 mochawhackachocha latte's and entertainment are the main culprits. It is unlikely that these folks will have that wake up call when the electric gets cut off that they need to get their stuff together. Unfortunately they often keep on keeping on without accumulating any savings or in our case building up their preps.
Have a budget so you can be financially functional.
Traveling Fun
Yesterday we went to Praha (aka Prague). It was totally amazing. It is probably the most amazing city we have been to yet in Europe. Thanks to missing out on the large scale destruction other cities faced in WWII and then getting stuck behind the communist iron curtain for decades after the city is very well preserved. The food is great also. The beer is great. Thanks to a free market economy and not being on the Euro stuff is cheap. I got a nice beer stein as a souvenir for 25USD.
We drove there and spent the remainder of the day sight seeing. At about 8:30 we had a real nice dinner at a place near the castle. Headed back to our hotel from there. Woke up this morning and after a quick breakfast we did some more sight seeing. Spent the afternoon and evening driving back home. A couple staus and a bit of rain added hours to the trip. Really it was too long of a drive for a one night trip. I am pretty tired and Wifey though she lived the trip is totally done for.
That really doesn't have much to do with anything except that we did it and it was a lot of fun.
We drove there and spent the remainder of the day sight seeing. At about 8:30 we had a real nice dinner at a place near the castle. Headed back to our hotel from there. Woke up this morning and after a quick breakfast we did some more sight seeing. Spent the afternoon and evening driving back home. A couple staus and a bit of rain added hours to the trip. Really it was too long of a drive for a one night trip. I am pretty tired and Wifey though she lived the trip is totally done for.
That really doesn't have much to do with anything except that we did it and it was a lot of fun.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
quote of the day
"The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But under the name of 'liberalism' they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a Socialist nation, without knowing how it happened."
-Normal Thomas
-Normal Thomas
Friday, August 13, 2010
Homework Assignment for the Week
Today I want you to do nothing preparedness related. Go out and have fun with your family and or friends. Go for a hike if that is what you are into. Go to the beach. Have a fun day in town and eat a nice dinner out. We are going to a new country to see the sights and spend the night.
Not Good, Just Less Bad
I saw something interesting on the yahoo main page today. It is an article called The Myth of Good Debt. Certainly it is good for a coffee break or a few minutes of internet time wasting.
The whole subject of "good debt" vs bad debt has always kind of bothered me. Plain and simple debt is bad. You are promising future earnings for something now. You are almost surely paying interest for this service.
To be honest I think it is more like kind of bad debt and really bad debt. I would characterize home mortgages and education is kind of bad and consumer debt, credit cards, car loans and the like and really bad debt. The label good implies that it is smart to have this debt and it does great things for you. Sometimes that is right. In particular getting a college degree greatly increases (on average) your earning power. If you could figure a way to get through school with no debt or low debt that is ideal. However since educational costs have increased greatly beyond inflation or typical low level (working your way through school type job) wages that isn't always realistic.
Tangent begins- Also I would submit to some people that working your way through school at a low paying job and taking classes part time isn't the best route anyway. I have known a lot of people who had significant life problems as well as academic difficulties that lead to them not finishing school. They take a class here and another there and periodically have to drop out due to life reasons or even fail classes. Screwing up and not getting to a place where they can earn a comfortably livable wage and then continuing to earn 7-12 bucks an hour is pretty common. These folks then whine about how life is so hard and it isn't fair and generally have a long term pity party. What would often be a better course of action is to decrease their lifestyle if applicable, work less and borrow just enough to make up the difference. The difference between going to school and working 12-20 hours a week or 30-40 is huge. At minimum wage or close the amount of money we are talking about isn't that big. They could focus on school more and get it done at a decent pace. It probably will not be too hard to pay back said money with their increased future earnings. This is basically what I did and while I should have borrowed a bit less lived a bit cheaper it has worked out pretty well for us so far. End tangent.
With educational expenses should come degrees or certifications that significantly boost your earning power. I have got news for everybody. The days when a guy could graduate high school and fall into a comfortably paying job doing work trained monkeys could do are over. We could talk about why this has happened but it doesn't change that it has. Especially with today's economy and jobs being scare you need to be marketable.
Mortgages are slightly worse than educational expenses IMO. I say this is because they do not have the same kind of exponential payoff as education (if properly targeted and used). Also the returns are generally less of a sure thing. House prices have a great long term track record but the short-mid term can be wild.
It would take a really long time for most people to save the cash to buy a traditional home outright. There are certainly some benefits to alternative housing but if you don't want to go that way the options are saving a lot of money for a very long time or getting a mortgage. Certainly paying the landlords mortgage for decades instead of your own and not getting the tax benefits or the appreciation in value doesn't make any sort of sense.
Getting a decent fixed mortgage you can actually afford on a home makes good sense for somebody in a stable financial place with some savings. As you noticed that sentence was kind of complicated. Maybe adjustable rate type mortgages or other exotic options make sense for some smart people in some situations. However for most people they are a horrible decision. If you can't afford a fixed rate it means you can't afford the home. Stability is very important as even short mortgages last many years and you need to be able to make that payment every month. Personally I have seen a lot of people get into trouble when they happen to get a job that pays somewhat better than they can expect elsewhere, 10 dollar an hour type guy earning 13 or a job that pays 70k instead of 55. The issue comes when they get a loan they can afford at their current higher wages and for whatever reason (laid off, fired, decide to change fields, etc) they end up changing jobs. Think about how much you could make at another job. Also having a safety net in the form of an emergency fund is essential. You've got to be able to deal with that month the car breaks or being out of work for awhile. I think Chief Instructor said once that a month of looking for every ten thousand dollars in salary is a guideline.
Part of my concern is that the concept of "good debt" leads to an attitude that having this debt is normal and even smart. Yeah it smart to increase your earning power with a degree and eventually purchase a home. However it is really smart to pay off that student loan as fast as possible and in time the home too. Having a mortgage (for the right person) beats the heck out of renting but owning a home free and clear beats the heck out of having a mortgage. I think it is also worth noting that if you buy a modest home you can actually afford paying it off at an accelerated rate is probably realistic. If you get absolutely as much home as you can make the payments on of course it isn't realistic to pay 10, 20, 50 or even 100% extra principle payments.
Cars I would classify as the best or most understandable of the "bad debt". Buying cars with cash is ideal. However "clunkers" can have some real problems. Some folks are good at fixing cars or just lucky and others have horrible luck. Often clunkers are unreliable and just $400 the heck out of you until they die. Basically if you aren't able to save a decent bit of cash and need a car for transportation you're pretty much stuck getting a loan. The real problem is how expensive of a car you get. For example awhile back my little sister found herself needing a decent reliable car. She went and got a loan to pay for a few year old basic car. Not a junker but also not new or fancy or anything like that. She paid it off faster than the loans planned life and still drives it. You need reliable transportation, not a new Mercedes. Look at it this way. If you can't afford to pay cash it means you aren't in a great spot for getting this car so be reasonable.
Consumer loans and credit card debt and such are just bad. The best case is that you use these as a sort of emergency fund because you haven't saved a couple months worth of expenses. This is bad because if you can't afford this stuff now why would you think it will be easier to afford later. I am a realist and I know things happen. I can also note that for some strange reason things seem to happen a lot more to folks who do not have emergency funds. Some unforeseen stuff comes up that has to happen right away. Replacing a key household appliance is a good example. Lets say your washer goes out. You get a new one from Sears and finance it then pay it off over a couple paychecks. Not insane. [However what if something bigger happens. Putting a months worth of living expenses from some down time at work on a credit card could take forever to dig out of. ] However using consumer loans to get all new appliances you don't really need for the whole house is insane.
My observation is that people rarely get into consumer or credit card debt trouble because of using them to ride out an emergency. People get into trouble here by using credit to live beyond their means buying this and that and the other thing which they can't afford and almost certainly don't need.
Sometimes debt makes sense. It can be understandable and even a good decision. However do not forget that at the end of the day no matter how "good" debt is it's still a promise of money you haven't even earned yet. Use it responsibly and try to get out of it as quickly as possible.
The whole subject of "good debt" vs bad debt has always kind of bothered me. Plain and simple debt is bad. You are promising future earnings for something now. You are almost surely paying interest for this service.
To be honest I think it is more like kind of bad debt and really bad debt. I would characterize home mortgages and education is kind of bad and consumer debt, credit cards, car loans and the like and really bad debt. The label good implies that it is smart to have this debt and it does great things for you. Sometimes that is right. In particular getting a college degree greatly increases (on average) your earning power. If you could figure a way to get through school with no debt or low debt that is ideal. However since educational costs have increased greatly beyond inflation or typical low level (working your way through school type job) wages that isn't always realistic.
Tangent begins- Also I would submit to some people that working your way through school at a low paying job and taking classes part time isn't the best route anyway. I have known a lot of people who had significant life problems as well as academic difficulties that lead to them not finishing school. They take a class here and another there and periodically have to drop out due to life reasons or even fail classes. Screwing up and not getting to a place where they can earn a comfortably livable wage and then continuing to earn 7-12 bucks an hour is pretty common. These folks then whine about how life is so hard and it isn't fair and generally have a long term pity party. What would often be a better course of action is to decrease their lifestyle if applicable, work less and borrow just enough to make up the difference. The difference between going to school and working 12-20 hours a week or 30-40 is huge. At minimum wage or close the amount of money we are talking about isn't that big. They could focus on school more and get it done at a decent pace. It probably will not be too hard to pay back said money with their increased future earnings. This is basically what I did and while I should have borrowed a bit less lived a bit cheaper it has worked out pretty well for us so far. End tangent.
With educational expenses should come degrees or certifications that significantly boost your earning power. I have got news for everybody. The days when a guy could graduate high school and fall into a comfortably paying job doing work trained monkeys could do are over. We could talk about why this has happened but it doesn't change that it has. Especially with today's economy and jobs being scare you need to be marketable.
Mortgages are slightly worse than educational expenses IMO. I say this is because they do not have the same kind of exponential payoff as education (if properly targeted and used). Also the returns are generally less of a sure thing. House prices have a great long term track record but the short-mid term can be wild.
It would take a really long time for most people to save the cash to buy a traditional home outright. There are certainly some benefits to alternative housing but if you don't want to go that way the options are saving a lot of money for a very long time or getting a mortgage. Certainly paying the landlords mortgage for decades instead of your own and not getting the tax benefits or the appreciation in value doesn't make any sort of sense.
Getting a decent fixed mortgage you can actually afford on a home makes good sense for somebody in a stable financial place with some savings. As you noticed that sentence was kind of complicated. Maybe adjustable rate type mortgages or other exotic options make sense for some smart people in some situations. However for most people they are a horrible decision. If you can't afford a fixed rate it means you can't afford the home. Stability is very important as even short mortgages last many years and you need to be able to make that payment every month. Personally I have seen a lot of people get into trouble when they happen to get a job that pays somewhat better than they can expect elsewhere, 10 dollar an hour type guy earning 13 or a job that pays 70k instead of 55. The issue comes when they get a loan they can afford at their current higher wages and for whatever reason (laid off, fired, decide to change fields, etc) they end up changing jobs. Think about how much you could make at another job. Also having a safety net in the form of an emergency fund is essential. You've got to be able to deal with that month the car breaks or being out of work for awhile. I think Chief Instructor said once that a month of looking for every ten thousand dollars in salary is a guideline.
Part of my concern is that the concept of "good debt" leads to an attitude that having this debt is normal and even smart. Yeah it smart to increase your earning power with a degree and eventually purchase a home. However it is really smart to pay off that student loan as fast as possible and in time the home too. Having a mortgage (for the right person) beats the heck out of renting but owning a home free and clear beats the heck out of having a mortgage. I think it is also worth noting that if you buy a modest home you can actually afford paying it off at an accelerated rate is probably realistic. If you get absolutely as much home as you can make the payments on of course it isn't realistic to pay 10, 20, 50 or even 100% extra principle payments.
Cars I would classify as the best or most understandable of the "bad debt". Buying cars with cash is ideal. However "clunkers" can have some real problems. Some folks are good at fixing cars or just lucky and others have horrible luck. Often clunkers are unreliable and just $400 the heck out of you until they die. Basically if you aren't able to save a decent bit of cash and need a car for transportation you're pretty much stuck getting a loan. The real problem is how expensive of a car you get. For example awhile back my little sister found herself needing a decent reliable car. She went and got a loan to pay for a few year old basic car. Not a junker but also not new or fancy or anything like that. She paid it off faster than the loans planned life and still drives it. You need reliable transportation, not a new Mercedes. Look at it this way. If you can't afford to pay cash it means you aren't in a great spot for getting this car so be reasonable.
Consumer loans and credit card debt and such are just bad. The best case is that you use these as a sort of emergency fund because you haven't saved a couple months worth of expenses. This is bad because if you can't afford this stuff now why would you think it will be easier to afford later. I am a realist and I know things happen. I can also note that for some strange reason things seem to happen a lot more to folks who do not have emergency funds. Some unforeseen stuff comes up that has to happen right away. Replacing a key household appliance is a good example. Lets say your washer goes out. You get a new one from Sears and finance it then pay it off over a couple paychecks. Not insane. [However what if something bigger happens. Putting a months worth of living expenses from some down time at work on a credit card could take forever to dig out of. ] However using consumer loans to get all new appliances you don't really need for the whole house is insane.
My observation is that people rarely get into consumer or credit card debt trouble because of using them to ride out an emergency. People get into trouble here by using credit to live beyond their means buying this and that and the other thing which they can't afford and almost certainly don't need.
Sometimes debt makes sense. It can be understandable and even a good decision. However do not forget that at the end of the day no matter how "good" debt is it's still a promise of money you haven't even earned yet. Use it responsibly and try to get out of it as quickly as possible.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
No Post Day
Fridays don't seem to be a good posting day for me right now. I have been busting my butt to get posts ready for a long period so that is taking a lot of my energy. Anyway maybe I will post on Fridays but most likely not for awhile.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
When Was The Last Time You Tried To Justify A Toy For Preparedness?
I think sometimes we can sometimes let this get the better of us. We can always find a way to justify, if just to yourself, that toy we really want under the guise of a legitimate preparedness need. I remember a guy who had multiple motorcycles "for SHTF transportation". In reality he just liked motorcycles. Maybe for some other guy it is a 2k rifle with a 2k optic or a $500 fishing rod. Probably the biggest single area this happens is firearms. Heck probably 10% of the "survivalists" out there are just gun nuts with a case of MRE's anyway. Most of us are guys and we like guns. For me I can't pin down any single incident. However there is one thing I have been holding off on because I like my toys.
I like guns and have a collection that some people would consider large. It has some depth and also good breadth. Some guns fall more into the collection while others are core defensive weapons. If I was making a ruthless preparedness move I would greatly streamline my collection. Aside from an heirloom or two I would sell off a bunch of stuff and have just core weapons. Instead of a meandering collection of handguns I would own a pair of stainless .357 magnums, a .22 and a few Glock 9mm's. For rifles I would have AR's, AK's and at some point a scoped .308. For shotguns I would have just Remington 870's. Toss in a Ruger 10/22 and I would be done. I would have a collection of equitable size but lean and mean.
While I am passively planning (willing to sell but not very actively seeking a buyer) a sale or maybe two in general my plan is to hold what I have. Over time I will improve the ratio of core to collection not by getting rid of the collection but by getting more core. I probably try sometimes to justify the collection of toys. Though it might be convenient to have a weapon with a corresponding store of ammo in almost every common caliber (no .308 yet) more likely it is a poor allocation of my limited resources.
When Was The Last Time You Tried To Justify A Toy For Preparedness?
I like guns and have a collection that some people would consider large. It has some depth and also good breadth. Some guns fall more into the collection while others are core defensive weapons. If I was making a ruthless preparedness move I would greatly streamline my collection. Aside from an heirloom or two I would sell off a bunch of stuff and have just core weapons. Instead of a meandering collection of handguns I would own a pair of stainless .357 magnums, a .22 and a few Glock 9mm's. For rifles I would have AR's, AK's and at some point a scoped .308. For shotguns I would have just Remington 870's. Toss in a Ruger 10/22 and I would be done. I would have a collection of equitable size but lean and mean.
While I am passively planning (willing to sell but not very actively seeking a buyer) a sale or maybe two in general my plan is to hold what I have. Over time I will improve the ratio of core to collection not by getting rid of the collection but by getting more core. I probably try sometimes to justify the collection of toys. Though it might be convenient to have a weapon with a corresponding store of ammo in almost every common caliber (no .308 yet) more likely it is a poor allocation of my limited resources.
When Was The Last Time You Tried To Justify A Toy For Preparedness?
High Point .45ACP Carbine
High Point finally put out a model of their carbine in .45ACP. I have had and read some interesting discussions about High Point products. Defensive weapons are not a place to skimp (what kind of idiot would get a fire extinguisher or life jacket that way?) so would relegate these guns to plinking or fun shooting in general. The low capacity of these carbines is just another reason to keep em in the fun rack. However at a couple hundred bucks or so they are cheap enough to just be a fun gun. If you want a .45 carbine I would look into Ruger or if your budget is high HK or UZI products.
Random Thoughts On Living in Europe
Things I miss:
being able to listen to decent talk/ news radio or decent radio stations in general (my car doesn't have a cd player)
decent television
Walmart
Generally being able to get anything at good prices
decent cell phone deals
lots of food: real McDonald's, Arby's, Teriyaki, Chinese, Taco Truck beef burritos, maple bars, Krystal, the list goes on.
being able to do most anything on the weekend or in the evening
Things I am enjoying:
all the beautiful scenery and history
great beer
traveling
Turkish food
almost nonexistent violent crime
being able to listen to decent talk/ news radio or decent radio stations in general (my car doesn't have a cd player)
decent television
Walmart
Generally being able to get anything at good prices
decent cell phone deals
lots of food: real McDonald's, Arby's, Teriyaki, Chinese, Taco Truck beef burritos, maple bars, Krystal, the list goes on.
being able to do most anything on the weekend or in the evening
Things I am enjoying:
all the beautiful scenery and history
great beer
traveling
Turkish food
almost nonexistent violent crime
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Live On Your Own Terms
Our loyal reader Sheep Dawg gave me the inspiration for this post. I enjoy the Spenser series by Robert B. Parker a lot. Like most characters Spenser is a bit larger than life but he lives about as close to his own terms as anyone could. Anyway my point is that you should live on your own terms.
Do what you want to do. If you want to work 60 hours a week in an office to drive a nice car and live in a big house then God bless. Maybe 15 hours a week of odd jobs and a lot of time hunting or fishing is more your speed, good for you. If you want to have the Mrs stay at home and teach the kids then do that. Have a big cheeseburger for dinner every day if it gives you joy.
So often people talk about how "society" will not let them be free. Does American society have some constraints, yes it does. However unless you are a creepy 50 something dude who wants to bugger 10 year old kids America's constraints can be easily worked around. Societies bounds are much like family guilt. They have precisely as much sway over your decision making as you allow them to. Kind of like those Chinese finger cuffs they hold you exactly as long as you let them. Will it disappoint the neighbors if instead of buying a brand new shiny car you get a brake job on the old one and keep it for a few years? Possible. However if you keep that old clunker they aren't going to kidnap your kid and threaten them harm unless you buy a brand new car you can't afford? I don't think so.
Living on your own terms might be easy or hard. It depends a lot on what your terms are. If your term is to eat cheerios every morning it will be easy. Also you are going to have to be willing to live with what happens because of your terms. For instance Wifey and I are strongly against car loans. We do not believe getting one would be a good choice for us. Thus we drive older cars we can afford to pay cash for. These cars have some bumps and bruises and occasionally some issues. We don't pay for loans on new cars so we accept this (if begrudgingly and with occasional complaint) as part of life. If you want to work odd jobs for an average of 15 hours a week and spend the rest of your time reading, taking afternoon naps and fishing that is cool. By all means do what makes you happy. However you must then accept modest housing and a low standard of living with very uncertain budget as well as a lack of insurance plus an uncertain (read bad) plan for old age.
To be honest I care little if any what "society" thinks. I care what my family says but we do not always see eye to eye. If they were paying the bill they would get a say but since they are not after appropriate consideration I take or reject advice as it suits me.
What Wifey thinks and believes matters a lot to me. We don't always see things the same but do come to a big picture agreement. Getting onto the same page as her matters a lot because as a married couple we are a unit of decision making on life/ financial stuff. When it comes to anybody else their opinion may be considered but it doesn't really matter. I may live differently than others but so what. It is my life and I live it on my own terms. I suggest you do the same.
Do what you want to do. If you want to work 60 hours a week in an office to drive a nice car and live in a big house then God bless. Maybe 15 hours a week of odd jobs and a lot of time hunting or fishing is more your speed, good for you. If you want to have the Mrs stay at home and teach the kids then do that. Have a big cheeseburger for dinner every day if it gives you joy.
So often people talk about how "society" will not let them be free. Does American society have some constraints, yes it does. However unless you are a creepy 50 something dude who wants to bugger 10 year old kids America's constraints can be easily worked around. Societies bounds are much like family guilt. They have precisely as much sway over your decision making as you allow them to. Kind of like those Chinese finger cuffs they hold you exactly as long as you let them. Will it disappoint the neighbors if instead of buying a brand new shiny car you get a brake job on the old one and keep it for a few years? Possible. However if you keep that old clunker they aren't going to kidnap your kid and threaten them harm unless you buy a brand new car you can't afford? I don't think so.
Living on your own terms might be easy or hard. It depends a lot on what your terms are. If your term is to eat cheerios every morning it will be easy. Also you are going to have to be willing to live with what happens because of your terms. For instance Wifey and I are strongly against car loans. We do not believe getting one would be a good choice for us. Thus we drive older cars we can afford to pay cash for. These cars have some bumps and bruises and occasionally some issues. We don't pay for loans on new cars so we accept this (if begrudgingly and with occasional complaint) as part of life. If you want to work odd jobs for an average of 15 hours a week and spend the rest of your time reading, taking afternoon naps and fishing that is cool. By all means do what makes you happy. However you must then accept modest housing and a low standard of living with very uncertain budget as well as a lack of insurance plus an uncertain (read bad) plan for old age.
To be honest I care little if any what "society" thinks. I care what my family says but we do not always see eye to eye. If they were paying the bill they would get a say but since they are not after appropriate consideration I take or reject advice as it suits me.
What Wifey thinks and believes matters a lot to me. We don't always see things the same but do come to a big picture agreement. Getting onto the same page as her matters a lot because as a married couple we are a unit of decision making on life/ financial stuff. When it comes to anybody else their opinion may be considered but it doesn't really matter. I may live differently than others but so what. It is my life and I live it on my own terms. I suggest you do the same.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Just A Little Bit of Life
I sorta meant to write something today but it just kinda didn't happen. I have been expending a lot of blog energy getting ready for some upcoming time away. All the posts I have been scheduling have sapped me of ideas.
I have really enjoying being back in the gym. Wish I could spend an hour and a half there every day but just 20 minutes makes me feel a lot better. Also ditching the sugar in my morning coffee is helping. Working to eat more vegetables also, especially the fresh ones.
Today I got a box full of Spencer books in the mail. Opened one up and read most of it over a couple hours with 2 beers, a good dinner and a scotch to wash it all down. Think I will go to the bedroom to read a couple more pages then sleep.
I have really enjoying being back in the gym. Wish I could spend an hour and a half there every day but just 20 minutes makes me feel a lot better. Also ditching the sugar in my morning coffee is helping. Working to eat more vegetables also, especially the fresh ones.
Today I got a box full of Spencer books in the mail. Opened one up and read most of it over a couple hours with 2 beers, a good dinner and a scotch to wash it all down. Think I will go to the bedroom to read a couple more pages then sleep.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Brewing Beer, Time Now
What Did You Do To Prepare This Week?
It was a pretty good week here. I got a real nice Craftsmen tool kit which I've been wanting for awhile. Also I made some modifications to my chest rig that I have been thinking about for some time. It was kind of a pain but I think it's really going to pay off for me by making the setup a lot more useful and comfortable. I need to get 3 pouches or so and it will be complete. More to follow with pictures on that one.
I got a Ludvig von Mises book in the main from Amazon which I will read at some point. We made our usual extra large payment on my student loan. Not having that money to put towards other things hurts but seeing that loan amount dropping fast is really nice. We have recently been tightening up our budget some and it is working.
Hit the weights a few times this week and did some good stuff during morning PT. I am getting into a routine and while it is too early for results am certainly enjoying myself. I cut sugar out of my morning coffee which is a big diet improvement for me.
What did you do to prepare this week?
I got a Ludvig von Mises book in the main from Amazon which I will read at some point. We made our usual extra large payment on my student loan. Not having that money to put towards other things hurts but seeing that loan amount dropping fast is really nice. We have recently been tightening up our budget some and it is working.
Hit the weights a few times this week and did some good stuff during morning PT. I am getting into a routine and while it is too early for results am certainly enjoying myself. I cut sugar out of my morning coffee which is a big diet improvement for me.
What did you do to prepare this week?
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Chest Rigs
Our buddy Rourke from Modern Survival Online asked about my preference in chest rigs some time ago. Not entirely sure why but it took me some time to getting around to writing this. I wear this sort of stuff a lot and spend most of my working hours around other people who wear it also. So in addition to my own preferences I can talk about what other people seem to like.
First I want to talk about a couple companies that make great stuff. I bear no interest in them other than being a satisfied customer. I love Tactical Tailor gear. They just make great stuff. Lots of folks use Blackhawk stuff. I certainly do not mean to imply that nobody else makes nice stuff as I am sure they do. It is just that I see a lot of these two brands.
There are a few features I like in a chest rig:
1. Minimalist. Particularly having a low profile on the back and shoulders so not to interfere with a backpack.
2. Modular. MOLLE webbing gives you oodles of options to customize exactly what you want. For instance a young man whose position changes from Automatic Rifleman to Rifleman or Grenadier can change a couple pouches and be ready to go with a modular system. If he had a system that was not modular at all (like those "tactical vests" where the pouches are attached) or was less modular like the old LBE system it would be more of a pain. Even if you know the exact setup you want and don't plan to change anything sometimes after putting it all together you find that the mag pouches need to go an inch to the left or right.
3. Rugged. Even if your life is nothing like mine and this chest rig will just sit in the closet and go to the range bi monthly quality matters. The stuff has to be able to take a beating as its intended use is rather rough. My advice is to suck it up and buy quality once. Obviously having your mags and other essential stuff in a crap made Chinese vest that falls apart during a mission would be a real problem.The only reason you will need to replace a Tactical Tailor or Blackhawk setup is if you lose it.
4. Comfortable. You might scoff at this but we wear our gear for days on end. A friction point that bothers a normal guy at the range a little bit can turn into a bleeding sore on a long road march or mission.
5. Secure. Stuff you put in the pouches needs to stay in the pouches until you take it out. It needs to stay in place if you are crawling or running through thick brush. If you can't take a loaded chest rig and shake it upside down then toss it off the back of a truck and drag it around by one strap and keep everything then it is best to move on.
6. Compact. It needs to securely hold all the stuff you need and not be bulky or too thick. You don't want to be walking around like a commando Micheline Man getting stuck in vehicles, doorways and windows.
7. Allow maximum freedom of movement. You need to be able to run, crawl, climb and generally do stuff while wearing gear. Also you need to be able to shoulder a weapon on both shoulders.
Where and how to store mags in an interesting question. There are numerous types of mag pouches but they can be basically broken down into single or multiple mag and open top or flap. The ones with a flap generally hold 2-3 magazines. This is personal preference thing without a "right answer". I would however say that for open flap you need some kind of retention cord or snap. The TT and Blackhawk ones use a cord with a little thing to grab onto. The issue ones have a snap. Some companies have make mags that have open tops and some sort of friction device for retention like these pouches from Blue Force Gear. I have some real concerns with this kind of pouches. Maybe this type (not to pick on Blue Force Gear or this pouch. They seem like nice people who make good stuff. I just have no experience with this pouch of their products in general.) works great but I am not willing to take the risk of them failing. YMMV.
Personally I like to keep all my mags in one spot slightly off center towards my non dominant side. Roughly between my belly button and kidney. Some folks keep them right in the center. Others have them all the way around and attach their other pouches (medical, miscellaneous, compass, etc) to the outside webbing. Blackhawk makes an interesting chest rig with integral open top mag pouches that some folks seem to really like.
If possible I suggest trying on and fiddling with all kinds of stuff in order to figure out what YOU LIKE before going out and spending the money.
First I want to talk about a couple companies that make great stuff. I bear no interest in them other than being a satisfied customer. I love Tactical Tailor gear. They just make great stuff. Lots of folks use Blackhawk stuff. I certainly do not mean to imply that nobody else makes nice stuff as I am sure they do. It is just that I see a lot of these two brands.
There are a few features I like in a chest rig:
1. Minimalist. Particularly having a low profile on the back and shoulders so not to interfere with a backpack.
2. Modular. MOLLE webbing gives you oodles of options to customize exactly what you want. For instance a young man whose position changes from Automatic Rifleman to Rifleman or Grenadier can change a couple pouches and be ready to go with a modular system. If he had a system that was not modular at all (like those "tactical vests" where the pouches are attached) or was less modular like the old LBE system it would be more of a pain. Even if you know the exact setup you want and don't plan to change anything sometimes after putting it all together you find that the mag pouches need to go an inch to the left or right.
3. Rugged. Even if your life is nothing like mine and this chest rig will just sit in the closet and go to the range bi monthly quality matters. The stuff has to be able to take a beating as its intended use is rather rough. My advice is to suck it up and buy quality once. Obviously having your mags and other essential stuff in a crap made Chinese vest that falls apart during a mission would be a real problem.The only reason you will need to replace a Tactical Tailor or Blackhawk setup is if you lose it.
4. Comfortable. You might scoff at this but we wear our gear for days on end. A friction point that bothers a normal guy at the range a little bit can turn into a bleeding sore on a long road march or mission.
5. Secure. Stuff you put in the pouches needs to stay in the pouches until you take it out. It needs to stay in place if you are crawling or running through thick brush. If you can't take a loaded chest rig and shake it upside down then toss it off the back of a truck and drag it around by one strap and keep everything then it is best to move on.
6. Compact. It needs to securely hold all the stuff you need and not be bulky or too thick. You don't want to be walking around like a commando Micheline Man getting stuck in vehicles, doorways and windows.
7. Allow maximum freedom of movement. You need to be able to run, crawl, climb and generally do stuff while wearing gear. Also you need to be able to shoulder a weapon on both shoulders.
Where and how to store mags in an interesting question. There are numerous types of mag pouches but they can be basically broken down into single or multiple mag and open top or flap. The ones with a flap generally hold 2-3 magazines. This is personal preference thing without a "right answer". I would however say that for open flap you need some kind of retention cord or snap. The TT and Blackhawk ones use a cord with a little thing to grab onto. The issue ones have a snap. Some companies have make mags that have open tops and some sort of friction device for retention like these pouches from Blue Force Gear. I have some real concerns with this kind of pouches. Maybe this type (not to pick on Blue Force Gear or this pouch. They seem like nice people who make good stuff. I just have no experience with this pouch of their products in general.) works great but I am not willing to take the risk of them failing. YMMV.
Personally I like to keep all my mags in one spot slightly off center towards my non dominant side. Roughly between my belly button and kidney. Some folks keep them right in the center. Others have them all the way around and attach their other pouches (medical, miscellaneous, compass, etc) to the outside webbing. Blackhawk makes an interesting chest rig with integral open top mag pouches that some folks seem to really like.
If possible I suggest trying on and fiddling with all kinds of stuff in order to figure out what YOU LIKE before going out and spending the money.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Getting Past Panic Mode
Sometimes in life you have to just focus on the minute you are in and the next couple. Hours and days do not matter because you have to move through this to get there. It could be a fight fight or skidding on black ice mid turn in a mountain pass. Sometimes instead of minutes it is days or weeks but the principle remains the same. For instance a family struggling to pay their bills with no savings after a sudden job loss is surely in panic mode. The panic mode I want to talk about today is preparedness panic mode. It starts at that initial realization that life is fragile and stops; well that is kinda why I am writing this.
First lets talk about the good part of panic mode. You are highly motivated which is great. This motivation will help you put lots of time, money and energy into getting ready. You will accomplish a lot more in a couple months of panic mode preparation than several months of normally paced preparations.
Now we can talk about the bad parts of panic mode. In panic mode you aren't thinking entirely clearly because you are panicked. Also since you are concerned with where you will be next week or month instead of where you will be in 6 months, a year or 5 years you will make some less than ideal decisions. Case in point the cheapest way to buy ammunition is almost always in bulk (say half case and up) from a dedicated ammunition dealer. However this requires that you save up reasonably large (especially for average budgets) amounts of cash and then wait a period of time for delivery. This doesn't work well with the panic mode mentality where you are worried about what would happen if tomorrow was the Night of the Living Dead. You can easily pay 50-100% more for the same ammunition by getting it a box or two at a time from a local vendor. So either twice the money or half the ammo neither of which are desirable. Also you will not be able to pursue all sorts of realistic and desirable options because they involve planning longer than the next pay period. Getting a solid emergency fund or a travel trailer or a little piece of land doesn't mesh with this pay period level of planning.
While panic mode has some value in getting your situation jump started its downsides eventually start to outweigh the mentalities usefulness. So back to the question of when to get out of panic mode. I think the way forward is coming up with realistic benchmarks for when you feel you can stop panicking. Basically plan an end to the panic. I hesitate to tell you what these should be but here are a couple of examples. Lets say you are panicked about finances. Stashing a few hundred bucks or a grand then a months worth of expenses in some kind of an account is probably a reasonable place to take a breather and see where you want to go next.
If more generic preparedness is your concern. I would say that 2 months worth of food for your family plus the means to cook it, some water and the ability to filter more, some very basic emergency lighting/ sanitation/ heating plans plus 2 or 3 guns with a few hundred rounds of ammo each is sufficient to deal with the realistic riot/ civil unrest/ terrorism/ hurricane type scenarios. At that point you can take a deep breath. Preparedness is a long term effort so you need to put some time/ energy/ resources into other parts of your life. Also you can start thinking longer term. Save up for the case of ammo or wait until dehydrated food goes on sale. Pursue larger longer term plans like stashing a few bucks for a camping spot in a quiet area or a travel trailer to take to your parents farm if things get weird.
Go crazy until you get to a spot where you can sleep soundly at night. Figuring out where that place is in advance will help you get there and realize that you are there. After that settle in for the long haul.
Please click on one of our advertisers. They pay so you don't have to which helps me buy stuff that I write about. Also they do give a ways and stuff.
First lets talk about the good part of panic mode. You are highly motivated which is great. This motivation will help you put lots of time, money and energy into getting ready. You will accomplish a lot more in a couple months of panic mode preparation than several months of normally paced preparations.
Now we can talk about the bad parts of panic mode. In panic mode you aren't thinking entirely clearly because you are panicked. Also since you are concerned with where you will be next week or month instead of where you will be in 6 months, a year or 5 years you will make some less than ideal decisions. Case in point the cheapest way to buy ammunition is almost always in bulk (say half case and up) from a dedicated ammunition dealer. However this requires that you save up reasonably large (especially for average budgets) amounts of cash and then wait a period of time for delivery. This doesn't work well with the panic mode mentality where you are worried about what would happen if tomorrow was the Night of the Living Dead. You can easily pay 50-100% more for the same ammunition by getting it a box or two at a time from a local vendor. So either twice the money or half the ammo neither of which are desirable. Also you will not be able to pursue all sorts of realistic and desirable options because they involve planning longer than the next pay period. Getting a solid emergency fund or a travel trailer or a little piece of land doesn't mesh with this pay period level of planning.
While panic mode has some value in getting your situation jump started its downsides eventually start to outweigh the mentalities usefulness. So back to the question of when to get out of panic mode. I think the way forward is coming up with realistic benchmarks for when you feel you can stop panicking. Basically plan an end to the panic. I hesitate to tell you what these should be but here are a couple of examples. Lets say you are panicked about finances. Stashing a few hundred bucks or a grand then a months worth of expenses in some kind of an account is probably a reasonable place to take a breather and see where you want to go next.
If more generic preparedness is your concern. I would say that 2 months worth of food for your family plus the means to cook it, some water and the ability to filter more, some very basic emergency lighting/ sanitation/ heating plans plus 2 or 3 guns with a few hundred rounds of ammo each is sufficient to deal with the realistic riot/ civil unrest/ terrorism/ hurricane type scenarios. At that point you can take a deep breath. Preparedness is a long term effort so you need to put some time/ energy/ resources into other parts of your life. Also you can start thinking longer term. Save up for the case of ammo or wait until dehydrated food goes on sale. Pursue larger longer term plans like stashing a few bucks for a camping spot in a quiet area or a travel trailer to take to your parents farm if things get weird.
Go crazy until you get to a spot where you can sleep soundly at night. Figuring out where that place is in advance will help you get there and realize that you are there. After that settle in for the long haul.
Please click on one of our advertisers. They pay so you don't have to which helps me buy stuff that I write about. Also they do give a ways and stuff.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
"There is no such thing as tough. There is trained and untrained. Now which are you?"
I put this quote from the great action movie Man On Fire up here awhile back. Recently some conversations I have seen have brought me back to it. "Tough" doesn't matter and is really just bravado and bluster. Simply put you either know what you are doing or you don't.
The idea that people are born tough in a certain area or lifestyle is stupid to begin with. Every guy who has a horse isn't Billy the Kid and no matter where you come from you are not automatically a competent fighter in any style. That is just as ridiculous as saying that because you are from Pittsburgh you automatically know how to make steel. You can be a healthy physically fit guy yet don't know how to box and you step into the ring with a good Golden Gloves boxer (or God forbid a pro) it is not going to go well.
You may go target shooting or hunting but aside from a bit of basic gun handling and time in the woods those have little to do with fighting with guns as an individual or a group. Saying they are similar is like saying that because someone can swing a hammer they can automatically build a house. Aside from a few places which are in almost constant states of warfare like Afghanistan or the FATA/ NWP areas of Pakistan little boys do not learn how to fight with guns. It just doesn't happen in places which do not suck.
Seriously gun fighting is a skill not something you can reliably just do. If you start getting multiple people on either side doing it safely stops being a skill and starts being a science. I am not going to say where to seek training or even what kind to seek. The military is a very good source as we actually do this stuff instead of some schools whose main qualifications are wearing pressed $500 worth of tactical clothing and hawking various products. I spend my days around E4's and Sergeants who have more real world gun fighting experience than most tactical pants instructors. There are some good civilian schools out there if you can look past the matching tactical pants guys to the ones who teach combat tested and proven skills.
In any case the point is that you need to get some training. Go forth and train.
The idea that people are born tough in a certain area or lifestyle is stupid to begin with. Every guy who has a horse isn't Billy the Kid and no matter where you come from you are not automatically a competent fighter in any style. That is just as ridiculous as saying that because you are from Pittsburgh you automatically know how to make steel. You can be a healthy physically fit guy yet don't know how to box and you step into the ring with a good Golden Gloves boxer (or God forbid a pro) it is not going to go well.
You may go target shooting or hunting but aside from a bit of basic gun handling and time in the woods those have little to do with fighting with guns as an individual or a group. Saying they are similar is like saying that because someone can swing a hammer they can automatically build a house. Aside from a few places which are in almost constant states of warfare like Afghanistan or the FATA/ NWP areas of Pakistan little boys do not learn how to fight with guns. It just doesn't happen in places which do not suck.
Seriously gun fighting is a skill not something you can reliably just do. If you start getting multiple people on either side doing it safely stops being a skill and starts being a science. I am not going to say where to seek training or even what kind to seek. The military is a very good source as we actually do this stuff instead of some schools whose main qualifications are wearing pressed $500 worth of tactical clothing and hawking various products. I spend my days around E4's and Sergeants who have more real world gun fighting experience than most tactical pants instructors. There are some good civilian schools out there if you can look past the matching tactical pants guys to the ones who teach combat tested and proven skills.
In any case the point is that you need to get some training. Go forth and train.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Foreclosures; Why Are Things Different Now
I was watching the TV news and there was a segment on foreclosures. One of those human interest pieces where they talked about a family, blah blah blah. It got me to thinking about the topic. A smart guy I know classified foreclosures into two types.
First there was the usual type that have always existed. People who face an unfortunate or unprepared for story of hard times. Job losses, medical expenses, divorce and radical unforeseen changes in income are the big culprits. Basically bad stuff happens. He then classified the rest as a new type of foreclosure. He talked a lot about strategic foreclosures and I sort of disagree with that. Not that they aren't an interesting phenomena but I don't think they represent anywhere near as large a percentage as one would think.
I think most of these "new" foreclosures are because the "owners" don't really have another choice. Now I am going to talk about some generalities about these people. First they were by and large not particularly desirable credit risks. Maybe they have a high debt to income ratio or have some ugly spots in their credit history or whatever. Due to the massive profits to be had, the lack of risk and the general insanity of the lending market lots more people qualified for loans then before. Aside from population swells or changes in earning patterns there are only so many people qualified to realistically and sanely purchase a home. I don't know what that number is or even how to quantify it but it is relatively set. When you get way more sales than normal it means either folks are selling the homes they have or there are a lot of poorly qualified buyers.
So of the much larger number of people buying homes most were not so well qualified. Another way to measure how unqualified they were is being unable to pay a meaningful down payment. What essentially amounts to no down mortgages were commonplace for this group of new unqualified home "owners". The folks who had been in their homes for awhile almost universally lack any significant equity. What does this mean? A perspective home owner who has the financial discipline to save up a meaningful down payment is far more likely to be able to have the discipline to make the payment. Also these folks have "skin in the game". They will work and sacrifice and scrape a lot more to make a payment when they have 30k of hard earned money stuck in a down payment. Also they bought homes a lot more reasonably because they were limited by a down and that also just sorta injects some reality. I am not saying that is good or bad, just human nature. You play differently when the money on the table is yours.
So lots of poorly qualified people with little skin in the game got into mortgages and homes they couldn't reliably afford. If I remember the Housing Crisis properly I would say the insanity of the housing market was a major problem long before jobs and unemployment became an issue. Even if he didn't get laid off Tom the landscaper who makes $13 an hour can't afford a mortgage on 400k.
What can be done to help these people? I wouldn't say it is our individual or collective job to help anybody but we can all agree that folks doing well is in everybody's best interest. Some things come to mind to me. The first is getting the job market back on track. I don't think this requires explanation. Next on a macro level is privatizing risk so banks lend in a sane manner. This means getting rid of the Community Reinvestment Act and radically reshaping or closing the failed experiments that are Fanny and Freddy among other things. A responsible banker will not loan Tom the landscaper 400k because it is an insanely high risk. (Conversely he will take a quick 5 grand and pass that risk onto some vague entity).
Well I think I'm done with this one.
First there was the usual type that have always existed. People who face an unfortunate or unprepared for story of hard times. Job losses, medical expenses, divorce and radical unforeseen changes in income are the big culprits. Basically bad stuff happens. He then classified the rest as a new type of foreclosure. He talked a lot about strategic foreclosures and I sort of disagree with that. Not that they aren't an interesting phenomena but I don't think they represent anywhere near as large a percentage as one would think.
I think most of these "new" foreclosures are because the "owners" don't really have another choice. Now I am going to talk about some generalities about these people. First they were by and large not particularly desirable credit risks. Maybe they have a high debt to income ratio or have some ugly spots in their credit history or whatever. Due to the massive profits to be had, the lack of risk and the general insanity of the lending market lots more people qualified for loans then before. Aside from population swells or changes in earning patterns there are only so many people qualified to realistically and sanely purchase a home. I don't know what that number is or even how to quantify it but it is relatively set. When you get way more sales than normal it means either folks are selling the homes they have or there are a lot of poorly qualified buyers.
So of the much larger number of people buying homes most were not so well qualified. Another way to measure how unqualified they were is being unable to pay a meaningful down payment. What essentially amounts to no down mortgages were commonplace for this group of new unqualified home "owners". The folks who had been in their homes for awhile almost universally lack any significant equity. What does this mean? A perspective home owner who has the financial discipline to save up a meaningful down payment is far more likely to be able to have the discipline to make the payment. Also these folks have "skin in the game". They will work and sacrifice and scrape a lot more to make a payment when they have 30k of hard earned money stuck in a down payment. Also they bought homes a lot more reasonably because they were limited by a down and that also just sorta injects some reality. I am not saying that is good or bad, just human nature. You play differently when the money on the table is yours.
So lots of poorly qualified people with little skin in the game got into mortgages and homes they couldn't reliably afford. If I remember the Housing Crisis properly I would say the insanity of the housing market was a major problem long before jobs and unemployment became an issue. Even if he didn't get laid off Tom the landscaper who makes $13 an hour can't afford a mortgage on 400k.
What can be done to help these people? I wouldn't say it is our individual or collective job to help anybody but we can all agree that folks doing well is in everybody's best interest. Some things come to mind to me. The first is getting the job market back on track. I don't think this requires explanation. Next on a macro level is privatizing risk so banks lend in a sane manner. This means getting rid of the Community Reinvestment Act and radically reshaping or closing the failed experiments that are Fanny and Freddy among other things. A responsible banker will not loan Tom the landscaper 400k because it is an insanely high risk. (Conversely he will take a quick 5 grand and pass that risk onto some vague entity).
Well I think I'm done with this one.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
![[Most Recent Charts from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/gold/t24_au_en_usoz_4.gif)
![[Most Recent Charts from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/silver/t24_ag_en_usoz_4.gif)
Posts
