Ammo Give Away Contest!

a. Write a post on your site/blog/forum elsewhere online about how you use ammo cans.  Here is a shell you can use if you want.

" Lucky Gunner partnered with TSLRF to put together a contest. The goal is to come up with the most creative way to use ammo cans. I use ammo cans to _____________________. The prize is a half case of free ammo! See the full details here."

If you paste that shell into your blog or website or favorite forum then add in what you use ammo cans for and you will be good it go. You  do not need to use the above shell. I just wrote the shell out to make it as easy as possible for you to enter. For a qualifying post you just need to be sure you link to  ammo cans and TSLRF in your post!

b. Copy the link to your post and add it to the comments section on this post.  You can also email a link to your entry to me. This enters you into the contest.

c. The contest will run until 14 November. After the contest has closed, I'll do another post w/all the qualifying entries.  Our readers will get to vote on which post was the best (either entertaining or most informative) via a survey. Folks who enter can tell their readers/ friends and family about the survey and they can vote in favor of your entry - so be sure and spread the word!

d. Based on the poll results, the winner gets their choice of 500 rounds of ammo from Lucky Gunner. They get to choose between:

500 rounds of http://www.luckygunner.com/40-sandw-180-gr-fmj-flat-magtech-50-rounds

or

500 rounds of http://www.luckygunner.com/45-acp-230-gr-fmj-armscor-50-rounds

or

500 rounds of http://www.luckygunner.com/9mm-115-grain-fmc-magtech-50-rounds

The winner gets to pick one of those and of course, that 500 rounds will also come w/the ammo can: http://www.luckygunner.com/surplus-ammo-can-50-cal-green-new-1

If you have any questions please leave a comment or email me. I can't wait to see your creative ideas and for one lucky reader to WIN A HALF CASE OF FREE AMMO!

Public Service Announcement- We do not Advertise for Free

I have gotten a  flurry of emails recently. Emails from people who want me to mention their site or something or another they are doing. I am more than happy to do this for bloggers who are getting started and those with interesting or useful information. I received a lot of great help this way when building my blog and am more than happy to pay it forward.

However when it comes to ventures that are primarily commercial I take a very different position. I sell advertising and thus have no interest in giving away the bread and butter of my business. I am inclined to give small semi commercial ventures (everybody is trying to make a few bucks in this economy) the benefit of the doubt. However when I click on the link and it is a store or they want me to just mention something you are trying to sell it isn't going to happen. Please just remember that we aren't running a charity. We offer very reasonable rates  for our advertising and are quite flexible when it comes to figuring out an arrangement that will suit your individual needs.

Thank you for your time and understanding.

Ramblings On Finances

Our friend Commander Zero quoted me recently and spun his thoughts thereon into a post. I can say it is a real honor to be quoted by someone who I respect as much as CZ. Anyway moving on.

Something occurred to me. Probably the biggest single thing that helps with living within ones means is simply being able to separate basics from luxuries. Stuff like housing, heat, food, fuel, electricity, clothing, insurance, etc is pretty basic and stuff like the internet, cable tv, loans on shiny new cars and rims for them, travel, boats,  toys, eating out, etc are luxuries. Just seeing the difference between what you really need and what you would like is so significant. I think it really helps you when you take the next step and start setting priorities and if necessary moving to live within your means.

Living within your means is simple but not necessarily easy. Spend less than you make and save the difference and you will have few financial problems in life. However that is kind of like saying that the way to win a football game is to score more points than the other team or the way to lose weight is to eat fewer calories than you burn. Easy to say and hard to do.

The thing is that if you really start to see the difference between what you need to keep a basic standard of life and stuff which is nice to have/ do you will find it a lot easier to cut stuff to get your expenses safely below your income. I am not saying that you cannot have any luxuries, the exact amount of luxuries you can have depends on your individual situation. Broadly speaking unless you are a complete financial train wreck you can afford some luxuries. The issue is about accurately identifying the dollar amount of luxuries you can afford and staying within it.

Lets say for example Jim Bob and family can currently comfortably afford $400 in relative luxuries a month. He chooses to have the internet and basic cable which costs about a hundred bucks. He chooses to save a hundred bucks a month toward a big vacation every year. Seventy five bucks a month lets him get a bottle of booze every once in awhile and a 12 pack of beer a week. A hundred and twenty five bucks a month lets the family go out for a pretty modest dinner every week or so.

If you can manage to think realistically about living below your means AND accurately identify the difference between the basics and luxuries you stand a good chance of successfully getting your finances under control. Maybe you see a different way of coming to the same point. However you decide to skin the cat unless you can figure out your situation and get to living below your means you will never have any sort of financial stability or success.

I don't miss out much in terms of things we do not have. Occasionally someone gets a new car or a real nice set of furniture or something  and it sticks with us. However when we actually think about it we realize we COULD have these things. [One of the interesting and unusual things about the military is that you have a very good idea what the Jones family actually brings in.] Instead of my clunker, and man it is getting pretty bad,  car I could drive something shiny and new. Wifey would love a shiny BMW for sure. A new Toyota Hi Lux for me would be pretty awesome but I don't want a payment. We could have most of the stuff we see people getting but we do not want to get it with high interest payments attached.

We live below our means and save the difference. Not so surprisingly when you get your financial stuff together (defined as living below your means and building a reasonable savings) those $500 emergencies magically stop happening. I can honestly say we have a real sense of peace knowing that we can deal with any sort of realistic financial type situation that could happen to us. Not needing to worry about what would happen if we get paid on Monday instead of Friday or whatever is far better than a new Toyota truck.

To quote Commander Zero " I (and now we) won’t ever have to defer something like buying food. We’ll either have the cash to buy it, the gold/silver to barter for it, or the guns to kill it (and keep it)." Nothing is every guaranteed and you shouldn't become complacent. However I have a hard time seeing a realistic situation where I was unable to get basics such as food. We have put a lot of thought and preparation into ensuring our ability to do basic stuff. When it comes to a place to put my limited resources securing our ability to purchase stuff like food is a lot more important than a shiny car or bigger better electronics. Even if you have a high income and substantial resources a thousand dollars spent on an electronic gizmo cannot be saved or turned into precious metals or to pay off debt. While it is simplistic to say this is binary the choice between saving to secure your future or consumer spending is none the less distinct.

Think if you truly need a given dollar to maintain your basic standard of living. If you do not need that dollar for the basics then you have to choose between luxuries and getting ahead. I encourage you to have some luxuries and enjoy your life but still put money toward getting ahead.

I think the key is being genuinely honest with yourself. Minus some obscure investment and finance advice we usually intuitively know the right things to do with our money. The issue is with DOING IT. I know you want to be able to secure basics such as food for you and your family. Get financially fit and put yourself into a place where you can reasonably secure this stuff.

Huge Announcements

Walker is out of the hospital. He is back to being pretty content and minus a bit of diaper rash perfectly healthy. We are really happy to have him home and well. Just being back home does a lot for our spirits and his temperament. Thanks for all the prayers and such.

I am also pleased to announce that we are partnering with our loyal advertiser Lucky Gunner on an awesome contest. It has been brewing for awhile and finally everything is right. All the details will come out tomorrow but here is a teaser, FREE AMMO! I am not talking about a little bit of ammo either.

Have a great weekend,
Ryan

Good For Them

Our friends LPC Survival got some huge linkage and all kinds of hits recently. http://www.naturalnews.com/030070_Big_Berkey_water_filter.html. Over 8000 people visited their site, and thousands of people were looking at berkey's and thinking about prepping. If it is at all possible, please post a link to the story on the blog.

Thanks so much,

Homework Assignment for the Week

Review your will. If you don't have a will then get one.

quote of the day

"Without a rifle you are nothing, worthless, you are waiting for death, any minute, any second." -- Aron Bielski

Packing a Ruck

Dear TOR:

 

I picked up a military surplus MOLLE II backpack (rucksack?) that has three good sized compartments on it. I think the lower one is designed for bedrolls or whatever. Obviously, one can put anything anywhere, but I was wondering if there is a specific layout that the military uses for these backpacks, because, presumably, that would be the most efficient and effective, accessible, etc.

 

If you have time, would you please tell me what you carry in those backpacks and where it goes? I probably won't need all of what you guys use, but it would be helpful to have a "blueprint" for when I'm packing my stuff. It would also help to make sure that I dont overlook anything important.

 

Thanks.

 

Saddle Tramp

 

 TOR here:

First to get onto the same page. The term rucksack (which I shorten to ruck) is synonymous with backpack, at least in its larger hiking/ backpacking variety. Unit's often have standard operating procedures for all kinds of things including how to properly pack your ruck. [This brings us to two questions. First why do units have SOP's. We have them because we have some really stupid people and we are obsessive compulsive. Also we have them so we can at least in theory find essential pieces of equipment in another individuals stuff. Stuff like first aid kits, radios, etc needs to be able to be found by anyone. Secondly should your group/ family have SOP's. I would say that you should probably have some. It doesn't matter if everyone keeps their spare underoos or hygiene kits in a standard location. However essential stuff like first aid kits, maybe spare ammo for your common weapons (you do carry the same stuff, right?), the group emergency radio, etc is probably good for anyone of you to be able to find in another's stuff.] You don't necessarily carry the same kit or have the same needs as X battalion X regiment Infantry so I'm not going to tell you how they pack their rucks. However I will try to give some ideas to help you out. 

I think about two main things when it comes to packing a ruck. First I look at any excessively heavy items I may have. A big radio, a huge cast iron frying pan you are carrying up to the cabin, a spare case of ammo, etc would all apply. This stuff has to go as close to your body and as high as possible. You want it basically centered over the upper part of your back so it carries as well as it possibly can. If it is to one side or the left it is really unpleasant to carry. Having this stuff toward the bottom or outside pulls the bag back and down which is hard. 

Next I pack based upon what I will likely need access to. You don't want to have to dig all the way to the bottom of your bag for your water bottle or granola bars. For example your rain gear should be very accessible. The little pouches on the sides of your bag are a great place for rain gear as well as your flashlight, first aid kit, snacks and food you will eat through the day, etc. Your cooking stuff and dinner chow might go toward the top of the main pouch because after you get to camp the first thing you will do is making dinner. After that is your sleeping bag with bivy so you can get that set up. In the bottom might be your spare clothes because you don't plan to change anything except maybe new socks in the morning.

My packing usually goes like this:

Side pouches are filled with my rain coat and poncho as well as a bunch of snack foods and a small first aid kit. Weather depending I might have a bit of cold weather stuff like a silk weight top and a fleece cap in there also. In the main compartment the bottom is my extra clothes in a waterproof bag. Next I toss in the food I am carrying but do not plan to eat throughout the day. On top is my sleeping bag because in the Army I usually open the main compartment when it is time for me to go to bed so I want it on top. Depending on the conditions I might have my fleece jacket up top also. My foam sleeping pad is strapped on top. I stick my camelback under the flap for the main pouch to keep it off my back. If I was carrying ammo that wasn't in my chest rig/ LBE/ whatever you want to call it I would have it in the upper part of the main pouch because it is heavy. If I didn't have a chest rig/ LBE/ whatever you want to call it I would keep extra ammo in a side pouch so I could get to it fast. Considering I carry 7+ mags whatever bandoleers or extra loaded mags I had would be more for follow on missions in a situation where we planned multiple operations without resupply. 

I hope this helps.

New Rules For Your Money And Debt

I stumbled onto an article today and when I went to post the thing I saw it was already up here. It brought on some thoughts. I think these coming years may not significantly reward good behavior (saving, etc) but will absolutely punish bad behavior. As Mayberry put it when you borrow money you are gambling that you will be able to pay it back. In bad times like this income disruptions are more common than normal. That means debt is a really bad gamble. It will seriously punish folks whose obligated expenses are too high. I wrote about this over at Keep It Simple Survival. Here is what I said One thing I've seen with different folks I know is that if an individual or family hits a bump in the road (job loss, etc) the ones with the fewest obligations fare best. They have the maximum ability to adjust their lifestyle to living with their new (if just temporary) reality. They have a few lean months then when a job is replaced are quickly back to normal.

A family with modest housing costs (rent or mortgage) and the usual food, fuel, etc but no debts can circle the wagons and live real cheap. However a family with big housing costs, two car payments, personal loans, a home depot credit card, a visa, etc can't. These folks usually get some stuff repossessed and have their credit trashed, possibly even losing their home. While their income is down they often get so far behind it is difficult to get caught back when they do replace the income.

It isn't popular or flashy but living well below your means should be the rule of these times. Lets say you make 40k and can live decently on 25k. That gives your family 15k to save, invest and prep with when things are good. It also means that if things get rough you can find a job earning a lot less and still make it, if just for awhile.

Something, Something Better, Close To Ideal

Wifey has been working to improve our household and furniture situation since we arrived here. We have been trying to get our place to finally look like we are out of college but on a very modest budget, enter Housewifery. She stalks the sales boards and is constantly watching for deals. A pattern seems to have appeared.

At first it was easy because we could use just about everything. It was also easy because if you do not have anything filling a certain niche improving is easy. Any end table is better than no end table. Once you have an end table the Mrs. wants one that is the right color or looks nice or what not. To be honest while I don't necessarily care about any one thing I do like having a place that is decently put together.

So first we get something. As time goes by sooner or later something better comes along. For example we ended up with a queen sized bed frame and a full sized mattress in the spare room. Eventually Wifey found a great deal on a basic full sized metal frame. We got a rocking chair and it turned out to kinda suck. Just a bit better than no rocking chair. Today she found a glider with an ottoman for a good deal. Sometimes the "something" stuff gets another place in our home. All but the most well established house can use an extra chair or end table. Other times the stuff gets sold.

The queen frame got sold for the cost of the replacement full frame.   The rocker will get sold and for the price of a fast food dinner for two we will have upgraded to the glider. Half the time we upgrade to the better stuff for free and other times it costs a little bit. In any case by being a bit flexible and buying used stuff we get pretty darn good deals. I can't speak for anyone else but to pay an average of 1/3rd the new price we are willing to accept a small stain or a little scratch or a bit of wear.

Aside from a couple pieces we haven't really gotten to close to ideal yet. Part of this is because we are just finishing up something better (actually we could still use another end table but I digress). Since we are at a reasonably comfortable place the amount of energy and money which will go toward furniture is going to decrease for awhile. Also when purchasing anything used the pickier you are the harder it gets to find stuff. For example you could find some kind of a couch on any decent used stuff website over the course of a week or two. In a given month you can probably find a decently nice couch at a reasonable price. However you might be waiting half a year for an 8 foot long greyish blue couch with material that will resist children and a hideabed.

Anyway this plan seems to be working well for us. It is a bit time intensive but that is something Wifey has right now. For the price of one or two brand new things we have a pretty decent dare I say legitimately non college setup.

You can live a decent life and stay on a budget. It helps a lot if you are at least somewhat flexible. It also helps if you are willing to put in the time to find good deals and the effort to sell (versus give away or throw away) stuff you want to get rid of. A hundred dollars you save on a couch or a table can be put toward savings or preps.

Medical Insurance and the Fundamentals

Wifey and I were talking last night about our worries, concerns and all that stuff about what is going on with Walker. One thing that occurred to me is that we aren't worried about paying the bill. That is because we aren't going to have a bill because we have good insurance. Not so long ago I was laid up myself with the pneumonia and it could have been a real problem for us.

We have good insurance through my job and it is one of the real benefits. Some jobs offer insurance and others don't. I do suggest you consider that as a piece of the overall compensation for a job. Sometimes particularly when you look at the military the numbers are a bit deceiving.

I am not saying everyone should have X or Y type of medical insurance or even needs necessarily medical insurance at all. Certainly I don't think people should be forced to purchase coverage any more than they should be forced to floss or eat vegetables or save or exercise even though they are smart choices. However I am saying that if you can possibly afford it you are foolish not to have a serious plan for dealing with the costs of medical issues which may come up. Particularly if you are active or your family has a woman of child bearing age it is foolish not to plan for this scenario. A lot of folks talk about all of this self healing herbal stuff. I think that is great but matter of fact it doesn't replace being able to get legitimate medical care for serious illnesses and injuries. When I was laid up with pneumonia all the herbal tea and st johns wort in the world wouldn't do what IV antibiotics did. A nice salve of naturally occurring elements will not replace an x ray and a cast in healing a broken arm.

Medical bills are, if memory serves me correctly, the biggest leading cause of bankruptcy. To spin in in a way that may seem important to the beans and bullets crowd it is really hard to carry around all your beans and bullets in the car after you go broke trying to pay medical bills and end up homeless.

I recall an analogy used by some smart financial type. He described priorities like building a house. The foundation was insurance and your emergency fund. The main floor is retirement planning, paying off your home and investing. The roof was stuff like college funds for kids, charitable donations, etc. The point is that if you try to skip steps you do not have the proper foundation (pun intended) and at the slightest tremor or storm the whole thing will fall down. You could weave preps in there at every level. Maybe the basement would be a real basic 2-4 weeks of food, gun with some ammo, water filter, etc. Real basic but good enough for a power outage or hurricane. The main floor might be a lot more food, heating and lighting plans, alternate shelter plans, a couple more guns with a good amount of ammo, clothing, etc. The roof might be precious metals, barter items and even the coveted off grid retreat complete with alternate power plans.

Survivalists far too often focus on statistically unlikely events instead of realistically and likely ones.  For example this year and the one before, and the one before that we have not tapped into our food storage for anything but getting something we forgot at the store for a recipe. We haven't used our medical supplies for anything but normal occurrences nor the rifles for anything but fun at the range. Our cases of ammo have not been opened and deployed in anger. We have however over the course of the last couple years made a few trips to the hospital. So which is more important? Personally I would say medical coverage though it is simplistic to say the two are mutually exclusive. The point isn't to say you need this or that but instead to talk realistically about how to face life's little challenges. Taking care of the basics like medical coverage and emergency savings before most other stuff just makes good sense.

Thoughts?

Unfortunate News

I got a call from Wifey a few days back that they were at the hospital. Walker had a fever and was just really uncomfortable. She took him to the emergency room and they have been there since. They don't really know what is going on except that he is pretty sick and had a fever, low respirations/ oxygen levels, dehydration and was just plain upset. They have pretty much been throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks with lots of fluids, Tylenol, oxygen and just about every antibiotic known to man.

Work was able to get me back home yesterday afternoon. I was able to take Wifey some stuff (clothes, toiletries, books, etc) and see them both. Walker seems to be doing at least a bit better now. Wifey was re leaved that I could help a bit and just be around. Walker was still pissed off.

Until Walker is released from the hospital I am going to be working as much as I absolutely have to and spending as much time as possible with Wifey and Walker at the hospital. In whatever time remains I am going to attempt to sleep. Needless to say in the current reshuffling of my priorities the blog is not very high. Odds are that I will still post because it fits well into the down time between PT and work. However my various other normal blog related functions (reading, email responses, etc) are postponed indefinitely.

I am hoping for some progress and a full recovery. Prayers, positive thoughts, chants, pagan rituals, alters or whatever you believe in would be appreciated.

Joke of the Day

A stockman named Bluey was overseeing his herd in a remote mountainous pasture in NSW when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced toward him out of a cloud of dust.

The driver, a young man in a fancy suit, Gucci shoes, Prada sunglasses and YSL tie, leaned out the window and asked the stockman, "If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, Will you give me a calf?"

Bluey looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, "Sure, why not."

The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects it to his Apple iPhone, and surfs to a NASA page on the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo.

The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany. Within seconds, he receives an email that the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accesses an MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response.

Finally, he prints out a full-colour, 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer, turns to the stockman and says, "You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves."
"That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves," says Bluey.

He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on with amusement as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car.

Then Bluey says to the young man, "Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?" The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, "Okay, why not."

"You're a senator in Julia Gillard's Labor Government", says Bluey. "Wow! That's correct," says the yuppie, "but how did you guess that?"

"No guessing required." answered the stockman. "You showed up here even though nobody called you, you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked. You used millions of dollars worth of equipment trying to show me how much smarter than me you are, and you don't know a thing about how working people make a living - or about cows, for that matter. This is a herd of sheep... now give me back my dog".

Home Brewing Day 2

Day two occurred roughly 12 days after day one. My primary purpose was to measure the beer in my hydrometer. I measured it carefully and then sanitized my spoon and stirred the beer carefully. I put it back into its place to sit for a few more days before measuring it again.

A Reminder

Wifey has been talking with a neighbor of ours. They have a young kid and passed some baby clothes onto us. Actually a lot of baby clothes that Wifey offered to pay for but she just wanted to get rid of them. Wifey asked if she could do anything at all like a ride to the store. The gal said maybe next week after they get paid a ride to the grocery store would be nice.

Since I have been out of college I can't remember a time when payday affected something as simple as grocery shopping. Even then it really didn't though I had a stricter budget to follow. Talk about living paycheck to paycheck. Interestingly enough the way these folks live is probably a lot closer to "the norm" than the way we do.

Maybe the way we live is strange to people but I don't need to check which day of the month it is to go buy milk, cereal and eggs.

Homework Assignment for the Week

Talk with your spouse about money. Discuss both of your short, mid and long term goals. Try to get onto the same page.

Talking About Money With The Spouse

One of my observations is that couples who are successful with money, or at least avoid money problems, is that they talk about money BEFORE IT IS A PROBLEM. Wifey and I watch Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman together whenever possible.

It gets us talking about how to manage our money and what our goals are. Also we talk about money on a regular basis. This is a good thing. Too many couples ignore money and just don't talk about it when things are barely chugging along and the bills are getting paid. They know the situation isn't great but until they can't pay a bill or do something they are accustomed to.

One thing we have at times lapsed on is being on the same page in terms of money. Sometimes I have been real busy with work and not around much and Wifey takes care of the money. That has lead to a situation where my perspective of our current money situation is not accurate. We have been trying hard to get better about that.

Talk with your spouse about money before it is a problem. It may not always prevent problems but at least you will be on the same page.

Kit On My List

Stuff I want to get over the next few months:
1. A good chest rig
2. A shoulder holster for a Beretta 92FS (for convenient carry on the COP/ FOB)
3. A cold steel push knife
4. A Tactical Tailor double mag pouch
5. An M4 spare mag butt stock pouch
6. A Wolf Hook Sling

If you've got any of this stuff that you want to get rid of or sell please send me an email.

Homework Assignment for the Week

Cook dinner using a new recipe composed mostly of staple foods

I Get By With a Little Help From My Neighbors

Having people around who can help you out is pretty darn important. One of the less than ideal parts of my job is that we move all over the place far from traditional networks of friends and family. We can't depend on Mom and Pop or our high school buddies. Also unlike someone who moves across the country and stays in one place it is difficult to build up a long lasting network (though the Army is a surprisingly small world and people do keep popping up) in a new place.

However one of the things that helps to counterbalance this is that everybody else is in the same spot. Sort of like the first day at a new summer camp or college it is a lot easier to make friends when everybody is on the same friendless boat. Also it helps that we are part of one of the few organizations where your word and honor matter; that enables people to safely give a certain level of trust rather quickly because if there is a problem it can be quickly resolved.

For relatively stay to ourselves folks like us getting to know people is kind of an effort. Taking a minute to say hi and have that forced semi awkward conversation helps. More than anything else being helpful is the way to go. Give somebody a ride to get groceries or loan them some small stuff if they need it.

For example we recently got some new neighbors. Wifey has a car and ran the gal and her kids around to get groceries and all that stuff. Awhile later we got a big entertainment center thing. Too big for me to move and pregnant Wifey can't help. Before we could go ask if neighbor guy could help he and gal were down there. He helped me with the big piece and she grabbed a couple shelves. Also the neighbor guy is a medic which has obvious benefits.

Maybe you trust the neighbors to be part of your super secret elite militia and maybe not. Either way it is pretty nice to have somebody who could pick up the mail or check on Fido when you are away. Relationships are important because you can't do it on your own.

Biting My Tongue

Sometimes I kind of forget that I am crazy. However at some time when the conventional thing would be to congratulate people I just want to scream at them. I want to tie them to a chair and read some kind of a sane (Dave Ramsey, Suze Orman, etc all) personal finance book to them until it sinks in. For example awhile back some folks we know moved into a new (rental) house. They were super happy about it and I just wanted to scream. First of all they were flushing at least a couple hundred bucks a month down the drain (versus renting a modest place) and second they didn't really have that couple hundred dollars in the first place. Another time a gal we know was trying to get a new car. They had some problems with the loan (this should be a sign people;) and then there was something about them getting it ready, I really don't remember. However when everybody was saying how nice it was and how happy they are for her I just wanted to scream. They don't need it, can't afford it and disturbingly think that is just fine.

A guy who works for me was supposed to finally get his car today (shipping and licensing vehicles is a huge pain here). When I asked if he was able to get it done he pointed it out in the lot. It's a very nice car and I told him that. However I wanted to scream at him because it costs about twice his yearly income. He could get out of the Army and go to college on what that shiny fast car costs. Then after a few years of working he might actually be able to afford the darn thing.

I don't have anything against nice shiny things. I don't just see a nice shiny thing. I see something a person can't afford that is putting them under financial strain and preventing them from getting ahead. If somebody earns a good living and saves then buys an expensive car I wish them the best.

Then I realize that in some ways more normal people have to do the same thing with folks like me. If Wifey mentions that I got gun #37 (not the real number) some folks have to do the same smile with slightly gritted teeth and say "that's nice". Maybe at the end of the day we are just saying "that's nice" because we know it is something important to the person even if we think it's dumb and I am over thinking things.

Niall Ferguson Says Debt May Do America In

Niall Ferguson: Empires Fall Abruptly, And The American Empire Is On The Brink

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/niall-ferguson-american-empire-2010-7#ixzz0vM1do7Kx

Saving Money: Furniture

We got a big entertainment center/ shelf thing today. It is pretty nice and made of well stained pine. The guy wanted $90 and Wifey asked if he would take $80. We saved 10 bucks. It just barely fit in the SUV and one piece had to be tied onto the rack on top. Wifey had wanted something like this for awhile and after weeks of haunting the websites she found one. The point I am trying to get at is that you can get stuff for a whole lot less then the brand new retail price. Entertainment centers can regularly cost hundreds of dollars. Our new one isn't perfect but it is pretty darn nice.

Why am I talking about this? First the blog is kind of a chronicle of my/ our life. Second so much stuff in preparedness costs money. A very regular roadblock people have is not having money to do X or Y. Even  if one makes a good living they still have a finite amount of money. If you save money on furniture or food or whatever that can go towards X or Y.

Save money wherever possible and put it toward areas that are important to you.

Working Our Way Through Some Food Storage

One of the interesting things about my job is that sometimes your situation changes or you need to move and food storage is either eaten, donated or tossed. We are approaching one of those times. So we have gotten to eating. I have a few observations.

1. Buying just dairy, meat and fresh vegitables instead of everything you eat makes for a small grocery bill.
2. You can do a lot with basic staples like rice, flour, sugar and a modest stash of condiments and such. With some cooking skills there are all sorts of possible combinations and dishes.
3. Thinking to eating just our stored stuff the ratio of starches to staple type meat, vegetables and condiments is too high. We need to store more shelf stable meats and canned/ dehydrated vegetables.
4.  It is good to keep plenty of food in the house.

Guest Post Book/ Movie Review of The Road

A Review of  The Road By Cormac McCarthy or as I Like to Call it: How Not to Survive After A Disaster.


I read the novel The Road, by Cormac McCarthy and then after a few days of letting the story marinate, I watched the movie. Frankly, the book is better (it always is) but the director did a fabulous job with the movie. Obviously, large parts of the book were left out of the movie in the interests of time and flow, but the movie didn’t suffer for the editing. I am not going to lie, I cried like a little girl in some places. In other parts I wanted to jump right into the book and shake some sense into the main character, the man. In a survivalist situation, when you are doing everything you can to avoid being eaten by roving gangs of cannibals, who in their right mind makes nightly fires? Why not just stuff a moldy apple in the kid’s mouth, set him up on a platter and ring the dinner bell?

The book and movie should certainly not be taken as a manual on how to survive in the aftermath of a global cataclysmic event. As a piece of literature that explores issues of humanity, father and son relationships and questions our morals and ethics in the face of tragedy, it is a good read and may even get you thinking. It will certainly put you off light colored meat for awhile and have you hoarding all the fruit salad and ammo that you can.

From a preparedness point of view, this novel is incredibly disappointing. Through flashbacks, the reader is given multiple glances into the lead up to the disaster, as well as the time immediately following it. The man is knowledgeable enough to know that he needs to fill the tub with drinkable water before it is shut off, but doesn’t seem to do much disaster planning. The boy is born just after the disaster and the story begins when he is about nine or ten. One of the flashbacks shows the family still at their home and the child is about seven years old. We aren’t told what they have been doing in the interim, except that they have used all but two of the bullets in their one gun. They have a home with food and clothing and creature comforts that they leave for an unknown reason, yet they haven’t banded together with any of their neighbors or friends?

They even stumble upon an emergency shelter loaded with clean food, water and shelter and leave it to continue on his quest for the coast. In the presence of such a hoard of food, I find it incredibly difficult to imagine that a starving man and child would be able to walk away from it. As a literary device it works well to show how humanity can snap back in place when essentials aren’t in scarce supply, however, common sense dictates that he would make camp in the area and continue to forage food and supplies to ensure that he and the boy built up their immune systems and energy reserves. The shelter is stocked with bullets that do not work with his gun, so he leaves them there, rather than cart them along as items to barter and trade or use in an improvised fashion for self defense. 

Rather than continue to rag on the book for what it didn’t do, I would rather focus on three things it did do that put me into quasi panic mode and made me reevaluate my plans.

1.    Made me conscious of how little I have prepared myself for life without verifiable maps and the ability to navigate without a GPS. The Man and the boy follow the highways and open road on their quest to find the coast. This is incredibly dangerous as it leaves them open to attack from all of the threats present in the book. They do not seem to have a choice as their shopping cart could not make it through the brush of the forests. I had to question how I would have handled it differently. Would a simple plank frame sledge dragged through the forest be any better? It would leave tracks and be easy to follow and difficult to handle. Would a compass still be a viable guide?

2.    Kill or be killed? Is holding on to their morals really the most appropriate way to survive? When they meet up with other people on the road, they often give the strangers the benefit of the doubt, leaving themselves open to attack. Why didn’t they form an alliance with at least one other adult for protection? That way they wouldn’t be sleeping unguarded at night, the boy wouldn’t have had to remain alone unguarded while the man foraged for wood and food and they would have had far more options for self defense.

3.    In an apocalyptic situation, is survival really the only consideration? What about rebuilding a civilization? The book mentions communes and cannibalistic tribes as well as nomadic gangs of men and permanent homesteaders farming people. But are there no groups of like-minded people with knowledge and skills available to create a safer community of refugees? By merely surviving are they in fact ensuring their extinction? In living a day to day hard scrabble existence, they cannot plan for the future. How is the man such a dead shot when he has been carrying around two shots in his gun for over three years without shooting it? Practice is essential for any type of specialized skill. Gardening and animal husbandry are impossible thanks to the bleak conditions and the need to continually move along. How has this scenario changed my preparations for potential disasters and emergencies? Hugely; I am rethinking most of my plans and reassessing my viable skills.

All in all, both the movie and the book got me thinking long and hard about the steps I have taken so far to prepare and the things I still need to do. The biggest item I am lacking is knowledge. Educating myself more about homesteading practices, basic outdoorsman-ship and personal health care and protection would be far more useful than a majority of the gadgets that I have stockpiled. I may end up somewhere far from my stash, but I will always have the training in how to create a natural water filter or know which potential vegetation is edible and which is akin to hazardous waste. The book and the movie are certainly not for the faint of heart and will not help you sleep better at night, but they will get your brain working and inspire you to do a better job of prepping for the potential future.


Lucas Gregson is a Personal Security Plan specialist with a keen interest in prepping and home security. He advocates for sensible self defense training and the enjoyment of a good book but not at the same time.

Homework Assignment for the Week

Cook some pan bread. It is a good cheap dinner. The stuff really sticks to your ribs so you will be full for the rest of the night. FWIW I like it best with a bit of butter then some strawberry jam on top.

quote of the day

“The hard part about being a bartender is figuring out who is drunk and who is just stupid”

-Misty

ACOG Product Review

The Trijicon ACOG is a a pretty darn nice optic. Onto the usual format.

The Good: These things are rugged and reliable. They have a day/ night illuminated reticule that doesn't require batteries. They are really easy to mount on a flat top rail. If you remember where you mounted them they hold a zero well enough for functional use. Between the generous eye relief, wide field of view and Bindon Aiming Concept they are easy to shoot well from very close to a few hundred meters. Their bullet drop compensator is very quick and useful after a little bit (like a single trip to the range) of practice. With a properly zeroed ACOG most people shoot better than before. I know I do.

It is my opinion that the ACOG is the best all around combat optic I have used or seen to date.  I could go on and on but it is easier to say they are really good scopes.

The Bad: They are expensive. These are a lot nicer than Chevy grade optics costing less than half as much, as they should be. An ACOG can easily costs as much, if not more than many AR style rifles you could mount it on. Depending on the exact model you want they start a bit above a grand and go up from there.

The Ugly: The only real ugly is just a continuation of the bad. They're just too expensive for many to willing to pay for or able to afford. I can certainly understand that perspective and don't think you should go out on a financial limb to get one. Also I get just being a cheapskate. The high price point and the resulting sticker shock of the ACOG is such that they  aren't even considered as an option by lots of folks.

Bottom Line: If you can deal with the sticker shock and hit to your wallet I strongly suggest the ACOG. You will really like it.

The Different Types of Liberterians

I think Naive is probably my favorite. These people don't know anything about the real world and think that if America cowers in the closet every asshat in the world who hates us will somehow go away. That just isn't reality. You can scare people into leaving you alone or kill them but just wishing they will go away doesn't work. The bizarrely hypocritical are fun also.

New Years Resolutions IPR #3

 Lined through are completed.

My goals for this year.

Personal:
1. Pay more attention to my wife. This one is continual but I can reasonably say it is going well.
2. Travel a lot.  We went to Croatia, Italy, Spain, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic. May make it to Paris just before years end.

Personal Stuff:
3. We can use a few smaller things like a new TV and another laptop. The main push however is to get a reliable second car which we pay cash for. The first car is still plugging along but I think when we get a better second one and it is relegated exclusively taking me to work and back its life would be greatly extended.

Financial:
4. Stash some more Euro's. Say E400 or so. A good chunk into this one. Will probably just finish it off in one shot at some point.
5. Contribute 10% of our total take home to retirement.
6. Stash at least a half an ounce of gold  and 40 ounces of silver. Just started on the silver. Don't think we will make 40 ounces but oh well.
7. Continue to not make stupid choices.

Skills:
8. Take an automotive class.  They offer them on base and I need to know more about car repair. 
This one got replaced by brewing some beer which I did.
9. Be able to setup and trouble shoot a small solar setup.    Sorta mute since I went with a solar charger and a bunch of eneloop batteries.

Preparedness Stuff :
10. A good radio that can pick up everything. Probably a Grundig.
11. Maybe a Berkey water filter and maybe some spare elements for it and the portable filter.
12. A basic solar setup. 

Gun Stuff:
12. Buy a full case of .223
13. Buy a full case of 9mm. (I am going to call this complete because it is funded)
14. Glock 9mm mags. At least 10 and ideally closer to 20.
15. Some M1a mags. At least 10 and ideally closer to 20.
16. A few more spare parts and at least one AR15 full bolt carrier group.

Food Rotation:
17. Get a pressure canning setup and can something.

This one just isn't going to happen. We can't get any of the stuff locally and paying shipping negates any financial benefits. I am willing to do it just for the sake of the skill but not with that hassle.

18. Get a dehydrator and dehydrate something. Jerky is good and so are banana slices.

And Just To Get To An Even 20......
19. Get a subscription to Backwoods Home Magazine and otherwise work on my self sufficiency/ preparedness library.
20. Join a gun rights organization.

Time for discussion. Things are going pretty well. All the more expensive goals have been met.

Oh yeah and click on my advertisers links and  buy lots of their stuff.


Thoughts?

Reader Question: Commemorative Gold Coins

Ryan,

 

You've talked about buying gold and silver coins on the blog but have never addressed a question I've had come up lately.  Would you buy a commemorative gold coin if you could get a good deal on it?  Assume that you were satisfied that the coin and seller were legitimate and that it was clearly marked as "X dollars".

 

Think about it and let me know.  Heck, you might even be able to use this as the basis of a blog post.

 

Steve

Steve, I buy bullion. I buy it in the form of old currency and bars/ rounds. I make that distinction because what I am paying for is, at the end of the day the physical metal based upon weight. That differs from numismatics where you are buying based upon the rarity and condition of the coin and its collect ability versus strictly its metal content. I think old gold coins are neat so I sometimes buy my gold in that form versus say Credit Suisse ingots. The price difference is negligible so I get what I think is cool.

I would say that there isn't a big reason to avoid a solid gold commemorative coin if it is selling at a reasonable price in relation to spot and other coins of the same purity/ size. The only thing I can think of is recognition if you go to sell/ trade it to somebody. People are usually more comfortable with something they are familiar with like say an American Eagle or a Krugerrand. However I cannot help but note that often the people saying that generally sell American Eagles or Krudgerrand's. Someone might be dubious about it and either not want to accept it or want to give you less for it. If you are comfortable with that risk then I can't see a reason not to.

Have a good one,
Ryan

Concealed Carry Thoughts

There are two primary schools of thought when it comes to choosing a handgun to conceal. The first could be called the change your clothes to fit the gun you should be carrying. They claim and with a certain degree of accuracy that simply by changing your wardrobe you can easily conceal a full sized handgun. You see them wearing a coat when it is unseasonable, white t shirts and tank tops with an open bowling/ Hawaiian shirts and 5.11/ photographers vests. Seriously, unless you have all kinds of cameras and photographic equipment hanging from you or you are actually on a safari that vest isn't fooling anyone. If you are just meeting the legal requirement to cover up your gun that is cool but if you think everyone doesn't know you are packing then you are sadly mistaken. For the sake of convenience we will call them vest people from here on.

The second group says you should select a gun that fits with your current wardrobe and will be easy and convenient to conceal. They like slim sleek little guns. Guns that are smaller than a deck of cards and have cute little bullets. They like to hide these slim sleek little guns in all sorts of creative areas like ankles, pockets and their underwear. I wish I was joking about the last part but it is true. For the sake of convenience we will call them pimp gun people.

So who has it right? I would say both of them have part of the truth. Vest people can point out many cases where a very small gun which holds few, relatively weak cartridges is simply not adequate. They maintain that it is best to carry a full sized handgun, 2 spare magazines and sometimes all sorts of other stuff.

I think when it comes to concealed carry vest people fail to consider that humans are involved. We are, at least to varying degrees lazy, not prone to change and creatures of comfort. If something takes a lot of effort, forces us to alter our lifestyle or is uncomfortable we will not do it. I have found that concealed carry doesn't escape these unavoidable truths. There is a saying I heard once that 'if anyone every says they concealed carry a 1911 I ask them to show it to me, right now' and almost invariably they mumble some excuse for why it is in the truck or the nightstand. While some folks do in fact regularly conceal full sized handguns I think if they are pragmatic about it they would agree that they are probably in the minority.

Most people simply will not conceal a full sized handgun with the regularity required to reasonably assume they will have it when they need it. You might be the exception but far more times than not the big, heavy full sized pistols get left in cars or nightstands. While those are both fine places to have a gun the point of having it when you are say, walking to your car or in a store is missed.

I will give the pimp gun people credit for being realistic. They probably represent, in the real American gun world away from tactical magazines and fancy shooting competitions, the largest group of people who regularly carry firearms for self defense. However particularly in today's increasingly dangerous and violent world a .22 with a 1.5 inch barrel and sad excuses for sights is probably not the best tool for the job. I also think that the pimp gun people are a bit behind the times. Over the last 20 years, particularly the last 10 or so there have been all kinds of great additions to the gun market. Not so long ago you could have full sized handguns, the ubiquitous .38 snubby and tiny little pimp guns. Nowadays the compact market of handguns offers an array of pistols in normal calibers like 9mm, .40 and .45 that have real sights, hold 10+ rounds and are realistically small and light enough to conceal given modest allowances. Glock, Sig, HK and all the big players have a slightly scaled down version of their full sized model which fits this bill nicely. Personally I really like the Glock 19.

Taking a step towards the vest people you might not be able to wear skin tight clothes or walk around in swimwear. However simply wearing pants or shorts with a belt that will support an inside the waistband holster and a shirt/ sweater which is a half size too big around the waistline is a sacrifice which most folks can realistically make. That will certainly allow you to carry a compact sized handgun.

However much I think you should make the above choice do remember to be realistic. A gun you WILL carry is better than the gun you SHOULD (at least according to the gun rag people) carry.

Caching Assets

Our friend Bison Risk Management wrote a great post about caching assets. I strongly suggest you read it and think. I also have some thoughts.

First I think it is important to consider that kind of scenario is making you want to cache assets. Mostly we are talking about physical cash or precious metals though I guess the same stuff pretty much applies to bearer bonds and bags of diamonds for the super rich. Maybe you are worried about a banking holiday or shenanigans with the dollar or other economic/ government issues. While of questionable legality maybe you want to maintain a low profile so keeping cash in the bank is out or you need to hide assets from somebody. Maybe you're just a shady guy and might need to leave town for a few weeks. While I obviously do not condone hiding money from the government, dodging court settlements, and such I will talk about them in a judgment neutral fashion.

If you are trying to hide 50 thousand dollars from your ex business partners lawyer you just need to keep it off the radar. Nobody is going to break into your house looking for it. If you are into something shady and occasionally need to take off for awhile unexpectedly then you probably want your running money stored someplace discrete. If you hear Big Lou is looking for you then going home to get into the wall safe would probably not be very smart. However it is unlikely that Big Lou knows anybody at the bank in another city 100 miles away where you keep a few thousand dollars.

Broadly speaking there is a compromise of security versus access. For example if you keep a big stack of money on the living room table it is very accessible but not very safe. Conversely anyone with modest handyman skills can hide compact items in such a manner that you would have to destroy the house apart to find it. That same stack of cash would be very safe but not very accessible. This theme of access versus security as well as security from different threats will drive your decision making.

Some smart people suggest that if you are going to keep cash of precious metals in your home or office you have two safes/ locations. The first is obvious and easily accessible. This is your 'diversion' safe. I also think this is a good place to keep stuff you want to access more than once in a blue moon. Your other location is well hidden maybe in a wall or floor type cache. So lets say you keep ten grand and some precious metals at home. I would keep a couple grand in the diversion safe. First to get someone to stop looking and not find the real stash. Secondly there are some times you want to get to some cash in a reasonably convenient way. Don't want to need to take a hammer to the wall to buy a gun, at a very good price, for cash on the weekend. Same deal if your neighbors house burns down and you want to give them some cash to help them out.

I think it is really important not to put all your eggs in one basket here. Of course every method of caching discussed has weak points. I would say that as a general approach using different methods to limit your overall risk is a sound idea. Your goal is to mitigate risk and preserve at least some of your wealth. If your home burns down the safety deposit box at the bank is still fine. If your home is broken into it is doubtful they will search the nearby park. Especially the nasty spot away from the trail with the prickly bushes with a metal detector.

How many baskets to have is an interesting question. The amount of assets you are looking to cache is a big factor. Common sense dictates some kind of threshold what amount of assets is worth establishing a cache.

It would be worthwhile for a rich guy trying to stash a few million dollars worth of assets to have a half dozen or more separate caches of different types. He might have a diversion safe, wall cache, safety deposit box, buried cache, safety deposit box in countries B and C, wall cache in your vacation home in country B and on his boat. He would need to balance the upper limit of size/ value he wants in any one cache with being overwhelmed by trying to set up too many caches. Really the only upper limit on the total number of caches would be the amount that you could realistically establish and keep track of. If you have far more modest means and want to cache a few ounces of junk silver and a couple hundred bucks in small bills then it probably isn't worth a second cache let alone a half dozen. For most normal folks who are somewhere in the middle three or four caches is probably a reasonable number.

As a final thought I just want to remind you that caching assets is a very personal decision. It is based upon your financial situation, what you are concerned about, your lifestyle and goals. You might want more eggs in one basket for a particular reason. However the concept of having multiple diverse baskets should probably be followed none the less. There is of course risk to all the methods we have discussed. If you can't sleep well at night with a bunch of cash in the house then don't keep a bunch of cash in the house. The goal of this is to be and feel more secure, not the opposite.

Voluntary Simplicity

I got to thinking about what voluntary simplicity really means to me. I know it's corny but lets look at both words first. Voluntary means " proceeding from the will or from one's own choice or consent" and simplicity is "the state of being simple, uncomplicated, or uncompounded". So basically you're choosing to have a simple life. A guy who has no skills and generally isn't particularly employable, works at McDonald's and lives in a travel trailer isn't practicing voluntary simplicity. That is just his life. Versus a guy who makes 40k a year and chooses to live in a travel trailer and bank tons of cash who is practicing some voluntary simplicity. 

I see there being two real raw components to voluntary simplicity. How you earn and how you spend/ live. The two go together. Of course how you earn is a huge factor in how you can spend. You can't spend more than you make for very long. Also more subtly how you spend effects how you can live and earn. If you decide not to run up a bunch of debt on stuff you don't really need then maybe you can work less overtime. You can't enjoy a boat or a motorcycle much if you're working weekends and evenings to pay for it. Also if you change the way you spend you can choose to shift to a more rewarding job.

A big part of voluntary simplicity to me is about choosing HOW YOU WANT TO LIVE then adjusting your spending patterns accordingly instead of doing the opposite which is the case for far too many people. We all have different ideas of what your ideal (realistic) lifestyle is. For some it is wanting to have Momma stay at home with the kids. Other folks might want to have more free time or be able to take a month of for hunting season or work from home, retire at 55 or whatnot. This is sort of the idea that your life is more important than the stuff in your life. 

There is also a big amount of freedom which comes with voluntary simplicity. Since it generally means living well below your means with very minimal debt it is a lot easier to save. With that savings you can get even further ahead and then really have some good options. Can't quit your job if it takes a direction you really don't like when you have 2 car payments, a visa payment and generally debt up to your eyeballs. However if you have no debt and a good savings and decide to find another job there isn't anything keeping you from walking away.

For us voluntary simplicity has two real benefits. First it is flexibility. The difference between what we could realistically earn and what we need to maintain our lifestyle is such that we have flexibility/ options. Right now it is very important to us for Wifey to be at home with Walker instead of him being in day care full time and her working. Instead of having say a new BMW we choose to have our kid be raised by his mother. If we had debt and a lifestyle that required two incomes this wouldn't be an option. Remember that at the end of the day debt is the promise of future work and work represents time. If Wifey's future time was promised to a few lenders it could not be spent at home with Walker.

Secondly is security. The difference between what comes in and what we need to maintain our lifestyle is such that we have a measure of security. A lot could go wrong before we were unable to maintain our normal operating budget. We think this is a good thing.

We are pretty financially conservative. My beliefs are kind of a black and tan made of Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman and a shot of tangible investing on the side. Wifey is just really frugal. She hates spending money and loves seeing the balance of our accounts going up. Simply put if you spend everything that come in it is impossible to save. It is also very difficult to get ahead by say paying off a debt at an accelerated rate. Living at the edge of your means, in addition to being a recipe for disaster, ensures you will never get ahead or to a comfortable place. Lets just for the sake of discussion say you want to save, in various forms for various reasons (short and long term, retirement, etc) a total of 30% of your income. It isn't that much really. Figure the smart folks say you should save about 15% for retirement. The debt averse are usually also saving for the next time they need a vehicle or other mid to long term goals. Living below your means is a sort of voluntary simplicity in and of itself.

This seems to be one of those positive feedback loop situations. The further ahead you get the more freedom you have. You live below your means so you start getting ahead. That makes it easy to get debt free and save an emergency fund. Then it isn't a big deal to save for a down payment on a house. Seeing as you live a lifestyle of voluntary simplicity you buy a home you can very comfortably afford and pay it off at an accelerated rate. The whole time you are saving so you're getting even further ahead. Once you pay off your primary residence things really get moving.

I think it is important to note that voluntary simplicity is relative to your income and current lifestyle. It isn't about living exactly a certain way but relatively speaking living a simple and frugal existence. So much of it is relative. It is also worth noting that you don't need to deprive yourself of everything you like; though of course it is all relative to your unique situation. Personal finances are a marathon not a sprint. Baring huge issues like a 350k liar loan on a McMansion when you earn $16 an hour no one thing sinks you. You can realistically choose a couple things that are sort of splurges which are important to you. For us it is travel, right now while we are in Europe we put a lot of money towards getting out and seeing stuff. Though we plan to take our kids on a trip here someday there is the distinct possibility that we may never come back here. Regardless it is never going to get easier or cheaper to see the sites here. When we get back to the states we will allocate far less money towards travel. Other than that we give ourselves some small flexibility to cover the relatively little stuff like designer purses and single malt scotch.

I am pretty happy with our lifestyle of voluntary simplicity. The Wifey notes that we are probably happier than most people because we aren't worrying about getting the next thing. Our next big thing is making money with our investments or meeting a new saving goal instead of a new car or some rims. I like that we aren't worried about making our bills and all that stuff. For us the benefits of flexibility and security more than equal out the downsides of the modest lifestyle we live.

I hesitate to say what is the right lifestyle for others. It is really and truly about how you want to live your life. If it is worth it for you and the Mrs. to work overtime to have a Mercedes and a Land Rover in the garage of a McMansion then who the heck am I to judge you for it. However as the Sheryl Crow song says....
"If it makes you happy. It can't be that bad. If it makes you happy. Then why the hell are you so sad".

What Did You Do To Prepare This Week?

The biggest thing was that I ordered an ACOG from Idaho Preps. Been planning and saving to purchase an optic for some time. Hadn't thought I would be able to afford what I wanted but the good folks at Idaho Preps reached out to me and were able to make it work. Really happy that at the end of the day I was able to get one.

I also opened up a ROTH IRA. We had been saving for awhile and this week we signed up for an account and all that stuff. Pretty psyched about the whole thing. Made a few bucks so far which is just cool.

Picked up a few odds and ends of canned and staple stuff at the store. Stocking up a little bit but probably for the most part just rotating what we already have. Sometimes the stores on post have weird super cheap sales for no real reason. I guess they get too much of something or their stocks are getting old or whatever and so they sell it for half price. This week they have Natural Light Beer for $3.25 a twelve pack which is half the normal price. I got 4 of them to stash away as a beer reserve.

Been looking at ammo as my inventory of 9mm isn't quite up to my own standards.  A case of Federal hollow points is pretty darn tempting and would put me in a good place. I've got to save a few more bucks before I can seriously consider that purchase. Really can't complain because I just ordered a sweet rifle scope.

A very solid week for me. What did you do to prepare?

Thinking About Ammunition

Do you have ammunition for your core weapons? At least a  couple hundred rounds per gun? This is one of those topics I haven't talked about in forever. Mostly because after taking care of my own needs it just doesn't come into my thoughts. However it is disturbingly common to hear someone talking and it comes up that they have 35 rounds for the family shotgun, one 50 round box of ammo for their pistol or two or three 20 round boxes (or a couple mags) of ammo for their rifle.

From a certain perspective I can see why average folks might not worry about ammo. They can just go to the store and get more whenever they want. However from survivalists/ preppers this is just difficult to understand. Relatively speaking to historical standards ammunition is inexpensive and readily available. Anybody can pick up a box or two per payday until they are at this very low threshold. It isn't where you want to be if the trilateral commission's UN mercenaries invade but it's sure a good start for any other situation.

If you only have a few bucks now and then the best coarse of action is probably to just hit up a local sporting goods store or Walmart. That is especially true if you are going to be picking up a box of this and a box of that. Usually in that case you aren't buying enough of any one thing to get the good bulk type discounts. Also shipping and handling will often kick your butt. However if you say, need 250 rounds of buckshot and of course a few slugs for the family shotgun or a partial case of ammo for your 9mm I would encourage you to check out the folks at Lucky Gunner.

Also when it comes to bulk ammo ordering here is something I've done successfully in the past. Talk to your gunnie/ survivalist friends and see if they need ammo. That works well when you don't quite plan to purchase enough to get the good (usually half case and then case) prices or meet the breaking point where shipping is economical. So if you don't need or can't afford 250 rounds of buckshot but can sure use 100 or 150 just find a buddy who can use some.

How much ammo is enough? Well I would pose the follow on question, enough for what? A guy worried about a hurricane needs less than someone else worried about an EMP or a full on Mad Max scenario. For the hurricane guy I would say that 500 rounds or so per gun is probably plenty. Plenty that you can fire a warning shot if need be. Plenty that if a single box of ammo gets lost in the closet you aren't non mission capable. Plenty to be comfortable enough to give 20 rounds of buckshot to a poorly prepared but otherwise cool neighbor.

For someone worried about a much longer term nastier scenario I don't think you can have too much ammo. However you can proportionately overspend on ammo. Having a couple pallets stacked to the ceiling with ammo cans would be great but probably doesn't make sense unless the rest of the basement is full of food, medicine, clothing, fuel and tools.

Personally here are the numbers that give me a warm and fuzzy feeling:
defensive rifle- 3k
defensive pistol- 1k
shotgun- 1k
rimfire- 5k
hunting rifle- 1k

Those are numbers PER GUN for core type weapons. I wouldn't worry about that .300 Savage you got from Uncle Earl which just sits in the safe. So if I own for example 3 AR/AK/HK-91's I would want 9k rounds, 4 pistols would have 4k rounds, etc. It probably gets a bit less important as your numbers of weapons gets higher. If you own 10 pistols and only have 8k rounds there is probably not a need to freak out.

Do I live up to this standard? Sometimes. I would say that it is a continual work in progress. Sort of two steps forward and one step back. Usually about the time I get real close another gun comes into the inventory and the ratio takes a step backward. I don't worry about it too much. My warm and fuzzy numbers are conservative enough that if I am close it is OK.

I know some folks warm and fuzzy numbers are a lot higher. I think that is just spiffy. However I would ask if their financial houses are in order, they have other preps (food, medicine, clothing, etc) at commensurate levels as well as cleaning supplies, spare parts, magazines, etc. If so then good for them. If not I would probably talk about balance and allocation of resources.

Do you have ammunition for your core weapons? At least a  couple hundred rounds per gun? Go consult your ammo cans or cabinet and find out. If you don't like what you find do something about it.

question of the day

I have noticed recently that I talk about money, finances, investing and such on here a lot more than I used to. Maybe because our finances are starting to reach a point where we actually have a bit of money but anyway. Does this topic interest you guys? Or is it just something that you skim past to get to the other posts you actually might like. 

I can think of 3 potential options:
1) Basically no change at all from the current plan.You like the talk about money, finances, budgeting and such and want me to keep things the same as they are now.
2. Don't totally get rid of it but tone it down some. I could restrict those conversations to (lets say) not more than once a week.This way it would still be around but wouldn't hog the whole show.
3. Scrap it entirely. You think I should take the whole topic elsewhere. Maybe just shelve it, maybe another venue or whatever so long as I get it off TSLRF.

It goes without saying that I can do whatever I want but I do seriously want your input. I don't try to please everybody all the time as it just wouldn't work. However there is no point in me going to the trouble to write a whole subject of posts you folks don't enjoy. If this isn't a topic that in some way is resonating with you folks I can either just save the energy or try to find an audience it would resonate with.

Anyway please do let me know what you think.

A New Passion

We opened a Roth IRA a few days ago. I went to the site to screw around and read some stuff today. Out of idle curiosity I checked our balance. We made some money, a bit less than 20 bucks. This is really exciting. I earned money without doing anything. More aptly my money earned me some money. This is so awesome I don't even know what to say. It isn't a lot of money or anything but it is just really cool.

There is lots of talk about inflation and all kinds of stuff. I can't say that I think the next few years, and maybe even decade will be rosy. However I differ from some folks in what I am doing now.  One notable reason for the difference between my perspective and that of many fellow survivalists/ bloggers is age. What is a horrible situation to someone who is 50 is a buying opportunity for me. Particularly when I am investing for retirement my time line is very long.

Anyway this is just really cool. My money making money of its own really motivates me to keep saving and investing. Eventually if I get enough money working for me I can sit back and enjoy life while it supports me. I guess it is good to have ambitious goals. This doesn't really have much anything to do with preps or that stuff. However it got me more excited than anything except Walker has in recent memory. Anyway I think it is pretty cool.

quote of the day 2

"I carried this kid through 9 months of hell, I'm going to protect him."
-Wifey

Sometimes I get my auto posts crossed. 

quote of the day

"Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors... and miss . . ."
-Robert A. Heinlein

Newsweek Sold For $1

Read the story here. I think it goes without saying that print media is not adapting well.

question of the day

As survivalists and just plain folks living through the worst economic situation in a real long time we are all pinching pennies. However everybody has something that we splurge on. What is your splurge?

Personally I like top shelf booze. For a long time it was Crown Royal but as of late it is single malt Scotch. I don't drink much of it so the cost isn't really an issue. Maybe it is more of the principle of the thing then,  that  I'm getting exactly what I want cost be damned. A bottle a month and I am a happy camper. If I had to I would drink less good stuff than move to lesser quality.

Life is too short to drink anything less than good liquor.

Why Do People Fail To Adapt?

1. Not seeing what is happening. Sometimes folks just aren't informed on what is going on. Hard to make logical conclusions and adapt to them if you don't have the information.

2. Refusal to accept the new reality. Folks will just stick their heads in the sand and hope the problem goes away. Often this happens with a family who simply can't afford to maintain their current lifestyle. They will try to borrow and juggle bills and try to hold onto the greased string as long as they possibly can. Like tearing off a band aid going slower just makes it worse. Better to have a couple really rough months than a couple pretty rough years.

Also there are those starving farmers in Africa. Ya know the ones you always see on the aid commercials. The ones who keep planting pathetic little gardens on their 1/2 of an acre farm in the Sudan where 9/10 years there is a drought that kills all the crops.

3. They limit their options. They refuse to try the kind of food that is available and starve instead. They refuse to move to find work. They hope old jobs will come back instead of focusing on retraining and finding new employment.

4. They give up. Adapting, at least in the context we are talking about, is usually unpleasant. Like any other human situation there is a huge psychological factor. When something bad happens I am not saying you shouldn't be sad. Eat a carton of ice cream, or drink a half bottle of booze or whatever it is you do. Go to sleep, wake up and get the heck on with your life. It will eventually get better.

Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is: Personal Finance Ramblings

I was doing some math yesterday. It turns out that we live on right about 50% of my take home wages. The rest goes to accelerated debt repayment, retirement, PM's and a couple other odds and ends. That means our emergency fund is right about 5 months of normal life expenses without cutting anything. If we needed to raid the emergency fund we would obviously cut some stuff like discretionary travel, eating out and such.

How do we do this? Simply we don't buy all kinds of stuff we don't need and can't comfortably afford. It is my observation that people who are in debt up to their eyeballs are almost always in it for stuff they don't need. Instead of a new BMW or two we have older more modest cars. Almost everything we buy is used. We enjoy traveling very much but do it within our budget. Sort of like Dave Ramsey says it is simple but not easy. However I can say that it is very rewarding and I don't worry about money very often.

Somehow we got to talking with Miley about money. I started talking about the huge relationship benefits we have derived from having personal money. Basically the concept of personal money goes like this. Wifey and I each get some money every payday (it could be monthly or whatever) and it is entirely ours for discretionary purchases with no accountability. Save it, spend it, whatever. Wifey makes small purchases of candy and such then occasionally saves up for some clothes (that she doesn't need) or an expensive purse. I buy good liquor and preps. The real benefit is that it cuts out all those small little money arguments. The "why the hell did you spend 12 dollars on X" kind of stuff. For some folks they both just spend reasonable amounts on stuff that doesn't bother the other person. However my observation is that most people have their weird little quirky money habits that bother their spouse. This makes that a non issue. I simply cannot see us not doing personal money. If our financial situation changed we could and would adjust the dollar amount but I just can't see not doing it.

Lots of people talk about living below your means but don't do it. Are you one of them? If so what are you going to do to improve your situation? Pay down debt, decrease your lifestyle, earn more? I don't think there is a wrong answer here. If you are happy and comfortable spending everything that comes in then go for it. However if you are not happy with where you are then DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

OOPS No Post

Yesterday I actually spent most of the evening writing a post. Wifey put Walker down and he actually slept on his own. I worked on it a bit more and then was about finished. Since Walker was still sleeping I figured I would grab a quick nap then publish the post and have dinner later. Walker stayed asleep and only woke up when Wifey got him up for feedings. So instead of waking up again at 11 or so I slept through the night. Best oops ever.

quote of the day

"No investment will pay returns as high as paying down debt." - Nolan Lickey, Business, Seventh Edition, by Pride, et.al., Houghton Mifflin Publishers, 2002

Stolen from Survivalblog

Homework Assignment for the Week

Take your Bug out Bag or your Get Home Bag and walk 5 miles. Consider how easy or hard that was for you and then look at the bags contents again. You might be surprised about how differently you look at a widget or a dohickey after you carry it for awhile.

quote of the day

"West Coast represent now put your hands up."

-Kate Perry

Voters Don't Like Anyone

Two Cops Accused of Robbing Undercover Officer: Got To Love The City Of Brotherly Love

I don't put too much thought or effort into the shenanigans of bad cops but this is just ridiculous.

EOTech/ Aimpoint vs Magnification, Long Range Engagements, 5.56 in Afghanistan

In an email our friend and advertiser Idaho Preps asked the following questions. "So, let me ask you this.  In your experience and in the way that the.mil is training you 4x works out to be a good all around optic?  What is the current thinking on average engagement ranges, etc?  I have read quite a bit on the 500 yard engagement issues we are currently having in Afghanistan, but the point usually made is that the round is underpowered for the distance (5.56), not too much info on optics. I've always thought that something like the Millett DMS makes a lot of sense it's 1-4x with an illuminated dot.  When/why would you go with a EOTech or Aimpoint (by this I'm asking from the .mil's point of view, I know when I would use one) vs an ACOG?  I know you're busy with the little guy, and there are a lot of questions in there, so whatever you have time for would be appreciated."

TOR here: That covers a lot of ground and I will try to answer as much as I can.  It is however worth first noting a couple things. First I am just one guy and obviously can only speak for myself as an individual not the Army or anything like that. Secondly there are somewhat diverse opinions within our ranks on most things including optics. Now that you have been properly disclaimed I am going to make with the answers.

"In your experience and in the way that the.mil is training you 4x works out to be a good all around optic?" The simple answer is yes. Especially in a platform with very forgiving eye relief and a wide objective/ view such as the ACOG it has a big up side and a minimal downside when compared to just rocking iron sights or the Aimpoint (or I imagine EOTech which I have very minimal personal experience with). At real close ranges of say point blank to 50 meters they are a tiny bit slower then the Aimpoint but probably comparable to iron sights. I think it is at most a very small issue. Also most significantly the up side that pretty much everyone shoots better past 100 meters (certainly 200m) with a good magnified optic more than balances it out.

As an all around optic I really like the ACOG. As I've gotten more experienced and comfortable with the ACOG I prefer it over the Aimpoint. They are easy for most people to shoot well. Magnification aids with identifying and engaging targets at distance, as well as at even fairly close ranges. Some experienced folks feel equally strong about Aimpoints or EOTech's for the same role. I hesitate to say there is a right answer to this one. At the end of the day it really comes down to personal preference. 

What is the current thinking on average engagement ranges, etc? By context I will talk about Afghanistan. I hesitate to use the term average because it implies a level of tracking and statistical analysis which I do not believe is present. However it would be accurate to say that in Afghanistan engagements tend to be further out than in Iraq. A few hundred meter contacts are at least relatively common. Not surprising seeing as Afghanistan is relatively short on built up urban areas and also very open with lots of hills and mountains. Also these far ambushes are a lot easier for insurgents to safely break contact from. There is the worst case scenario of complex heavy weapons ambushes from several hundred meters. However popping off a couple mags or part of a belt of machine gun ammo then fading away is probably a lot more common.

As this applies to the reader as a private citizen. It sorta goes without saying that the longer line of sight is in your AO the further away people could potentially exchange gunfire. You can see a long way in lots of the midwest if you get above all the corn. In Montana and Wyoming you can usually see as far as your eyes or optics are able. If long range is the rule magnification is your friend.

The second half of this question is  "I have read quite a bit on the 500 yard engagement issues we are currently having in Afghanistan, but the point usually made is that the round is underpowered for the distance (5.56), not too much info on optics." Interestingly enough I wrote about this some time ago, Increasing Small Arms Lethality In Afghanistan-Taking Back The Infantry Half Kilometer. To rehash quickly it breaks down like this. First and foremost is training. It doesn't matter what kind of distance a weapon is capable of if you can't effectively employ it. It doesn't matter what a bullet will do if it doesn't hit flesh and bone. In terms of the caliber discussion. There are some very effective rounds for the 5.56 (most notably Black Hills MK262 MOD1 but really 70+ grain JHP/open tip match grade stuff in general) but unfortunately they are not issued widely enough to make a difference. Of course some people will always believe that anything less than 7.62x51 is useless but lets not go there.

[Though I cannot help but note that in WWI and WWII when everybody used .30 cal rifles there wasn't close to a 100% mortality rate for GSW. Furthermore in Korea where our troops were periodically overrun by hordes of Chinese they were carrying the 30.06. The same 30.06 which is bigger and more powerful than the mighty 7.62x51. Every man they shot didn't die. Chinamen didn't flee towards home en mass because they were so afraid of the BATTLE RIFLES waiting for them. Somehow that big heavy .30 caliber BATTLE RIFLE made of good American steel and wood didn't do a very great job as a magical talisman.]

Specifically as to optics. It goes without saying that when stuff is hundreds of meters away magnification makes it easier to see and thus easier to shoot. This is where Aimpoint's and EOTech's are especially wanting in comparison to magnified optics. Their relatively large dots and lack of magnification turn what could be precision fire into area fire.

"I've always thought that something like the Millett DMS makes a lot of sense it's 1-4x with an illuminated dot."

I am not sure about variable power magnification for an all around optic. I have some concern that they are more complex and thus fragile than fixed power models. For all around use I think it is just hard to beat a good 3-4x optic.

There have been what could be called a "have your cake and eat it too" ideas when it comes to optics for some time in various shooting arena's. Ever seen the scope rings which let you still see the iron sights? I've heard of folks talking about mounting some sort of a small red dot IN ADDITION to a magnified optic. They need to be offset somehow and that is inevitably awkward. Trijicon offers an ACOG with what could (generously) be called back up iron sights on top of the scope which isn't a bad idea. I imagine it would be good for CQB. They even have one with a tiny red dot site on top of the scope. I have no experience with that but it seems like a bit much to me. [The ACOG has a cool system called the Bindon Aiming Concept (BAC): The highly advanced Bindon Aiming Concept is an optical breakthrough that combines traditional long-stand-off marksmanship capability with the ultimate in close-combat transitional aiming. Using the two-eye aiming method, when the weapon is being moved, the perceived image is unmagnified, permitting extremely rapid target acquisition. As soon as the weapon movement is stopped and the shooter is close to the proper aim on target, the targeted image "zooms" into magnification, permitting greater shooting accuracy with higher hit ratios. This is especially useful for moving targets or for targets in dense cover.]
  
I do not have personal experience with the Millet DMS scope but did some research. At least enough to talk semi intelligently about it. They got some decent man in forum reviews. Don't seem like too bad of an optic for the money. I don't like the reticule but that is sort of a personal thing. Also they lack a BDC or turrets which makes precision distance shooting difficult. Most likely that would only be an issue around 300 meters or so varying by the ballistics of the cartridge. Depending on what you want it for that may or may not be important.

[One thing that has always sort of confused me is when people buy a rifle and then immediately go get the cheapest big variable power scope Walmart sells. This makes even less sense when folks mount a cheap scope on an expensive rifle. Personally if I am going to scope a rifle I save up and do it at least decently right. Spend at least a few hundred bucks and get a quality name brand scope with comparable rings or mount. This isn't the place to go cheap. Not necessarily saying the Millet DMS does or doesn't fall into this category; I just don't have the experience with them to say. This trend is just something I felt like rambling about ]

 When/why would you go with a EOTech or Aimpoint (by this I'm asking from the .mil's point of view, I know when I would use one) vs an ACOG? There isn't, at least that I know of, any sort of doctrine or best practices on this. Units (aside from maybe SOF folks) use whatever they have on inventory. If they have a bunch of Aimpoints they use them, same for EOTech's or ACOG's. There is at least a general consensus that magnified optics are good for the open terrain in Afghanistan. As for individuals this is definitely a personal preference thing.

Personally I would be inclined to go with an EOTech or Aimpoint when for some reason or another the range I would use it at was really limited. I'm talking CQB to maybe 100 meters. If I was building a rifle for defense inside of my home (versus the traditional shotgun) and wanted an optic it would be some kind of EOTech/ Aimpoint. For some of the shooting sport stuff where you use rifles but only at close distances an EOTech/ Aimpoint is what I would use.  For a more all around scenario which could require longer distance shooting I like magnification.

Well I hope that answers the questions. Maybe we will get some interesting discussion out of it.

Also I would be negligent if I failed to mention that Idaho Preps sells EOTech, Aimpoint and Trijicon products including ACOG's at very competitive prices.