"Why should I care about how strong I am if I just wanna look better naked?" http://www.rwscrossfit.com/Real-Life-Applications/Why-should-I-care-about-how-strong-I-am-if-I-just-wanna-look-better-naked.html
I have also started using their Athletic Skill standards chart and am generally in the intermediate category with a few events in the Advanced and a couple lagging behind in Novice land.
Running for CrossFit and for life http://www.rwscrossfit.com/Real-Life-Applications/Running-for-CrossFit-
and-for-life.html
"A final word on the aesthetics of runners. Do a Google image search on Haile Gebrselassie, the Ethiopian marathoner and current world-record holder, and Tyson Gay, one of America's top sprinters. Fellas, look at these two and think about which one you'd rather look like from the neck down (and ladies, do a search for “female sprinter” versus “female marathoner”). I'm guessing if you're still on this website you'd pick the one who could break the other in half." -Justin of RWS
On metabolic conditioning "Ultimately the CrossFit position on metabolic conditioning, or “cardio”, is summed up in two points. One is that anaerobic training can match endurance training for aerobic benefit. Additionally, metabolic training with varying and mixed exercise modalities avoids specificity of adaptation allowing for additional first wave - cardiovascular/respiratory adaptations, and increased functional strength.: - Greg Glassman
Jim Wendler is strong and 5/3/1 works. Also he is funny. Check out his site http://www.jimwendler.com/ and go to the blog.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Quote of the Day
This makes me want to drive around in an ’86 Camarro with a girl from reform school”
Me on hearing “Paradise City”
Me on hearing “Paradise City”
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Field Hygiene
Somebody asked about this in the comments section of a recent post. Let me start by saying that I am not a doctor or a gynecologist or a medic. Do not take what I say as legitimate medical advice and is just my observations and experiences of what has and has not worked well. As always consult your personal panel consisting of the family doctor, your lawyer, accountant, life coach, therapist and any applicable specialists (in this case a doc with a background in wilderness medicine seems appropriate) before doing anything. If you think that the cost of such a panel would be ruinous than act like an adult, do your own research and take some personal responsibility before acting.
Let me define the scope of this post. I am going to talk about keeping healthy, clean and functional with limited access to modern facilities or hygiene supplies for periods of time between 24 hours and a month. Again don’t take this as the gospel; remember it is just one guys opinion.
To start I must say Americans have a fairly OCD approach to personal hygiene based heavily around almost limitless supplies of hot water and clean clothes. Also half the need for a shower is to wash off all the junk we cover ourselves with. Believe it or not people survived just fine for centuries without a hot shower (or 2) and clean clothes every day. In many parts of the world they still manage to survive without these luxuries which show that people have not biologically changed in recent years so it is in fact possible.
Let us go from head to toe and short periods to long periods.
Hair-For relatively short periods the easiest solution is to do nothing. Don’t put gel, hairspray or any other junk in it. Worst case it gets a bit greasy or something. Over longer periods (say beyond a week) I recommend men cut their hair very short and women cut it relatively short. Washing weekly is sufficient if you are short on water. Get it wet, shampoo, rinse.
Teeth-This one is the easiest as there is no change. Brush and floss your teeth regularly. If you are going to be out for a long time bring an extra roll of floss.
Shaving- I recommend not doing it unless you have good amounts of hot water. Men embrace your inner mountain man. Ladies, why you would try to shave anything in primitive conditions is completely beyond me.
The Army does this stupid thing where it expects soldiers to be clean shaven in the middle of nowhere in a dry camp. If I am ever in charge I will (at a minimum) institute a rule that if hot water is not made available to soldiers daily then shaving is not required. In any case if hot water is available shave as normal, a small mirror helps. Of hot water is not available I recommend electric razors (not rechargeable, the kind that take AAA or AA batteries) as the option is scraping half your face off dry shaving or using a little bit of cold water. I have a 20 dollar electric that has kept me in compliance to our stupid rule for years of field time.
Skin- If possible I like to clean my body daily even when a shower is not practical. As an added bonus doing this daily before bed helps keep your sleeping bag clean. This is especially important if you are in a hot/ humid environment or doing strenuous tasks. I am a big fan of baby wipes. You don’t need to use many of them and unless I am particularly funky 2 wipes works for my whole body. Order of precedence is face, upper torso, legs, armpits, crotch, butt. I should not have to explain to you why this is important. Baby wipes are super easy and cheap so you should get a lot of them.
If you are going to be out for awhile and or have access to at least some warm water then a washcloth and soap can be used to get the same effect. Use the same order of precedence and don’t let the washcloth get funky. I recommend letting it hang to dry and washing it often. This is pretty much how people bathed for a long time so it works fine to keep you clean over the long run.
That brings us to the subject of soap. The fellow who asked about this topic in a comment mentioned unscented soap. There is a theory/ historic anecdote that goes like this, GI’s in ‘Nam would use unscented soap so the Vietcong couldn’t smell them in the jungle. The same idea pops up every now and again in our Army culture. However in the contemporary operating environment in Iraq and Afghanistan it is completely irrelevant for almost everybody. The reason is that everybody pretty much knows who we are. We are the Americans in the crazy uniforms with all the armor and the huge tan trucks. In Iraq the centers of gravity are the cities and you just can’t hide during a patrol. They don’t have to smell you as they can see you 6 blocks away because an MRAP is about 12 feet tall. In Afghanistan we do some more patrolling but there is almost always a mounted component due to long distances involved and sparsely distributed soldiers. Also the terrain is so open that you can see people from hundreds of meters off. So I would say to use whatever kind of soap you like.
The crotch- I am going to talk about this area specifically because the crotch and inner thighs are where people tend to chafe, if they chafe. Typically chafing is an issue most often when you do a lot of walking in a hot and humid environment. You can get wicked friction burns and it is no fun at all, especially when you have to keep moving with them. Stay dry if at all possible. Some of the worst chafing I can remember was during a long road march in the spring at Benning when there was a thunderstorm. I would have been fine except my pants were completely soaked. At that point not a lot can be done.
Underwear is a factor as they cause friction. Tighty whities are probably the worst as they are right in that crotch/ inner thigh area where chafing is rife. Boxer briefs (like the spandex kind not the whitey tightey’s with legs kind) are better. The best option IMO is wearing no underwear. It decreases chafing due to less material in the area and letting things breathe better. From the time I have spent in the field with women I have never heard one gripe about chaffing. I think that smaller legs, wider hips and different anatomy make it a non issue. (As for women and underwear in the field I am about clueless. I would guess that stringy little underwear is not the way to go but other than that can’t help you. Also as to specific to female field hygiene issues I know they exist but I just don’t know anything about that)
To prevent or manage chafing you can use some gold bond powder (a darn good thing to have) to keep things dry down there. Also I’ve heard of runners using Vaseline at friction points like thighs and nipples (that wasn’t meant to sound dirty but does).
Feet- If you ignore everything else take care of your feet. Keep them in good shape or you are useless. Some folks like foot powder but I am not one of them. I find that it cakes onto your socks and decreases their ability to breathe while simultaneously shortening the amount of time you can wear them for. Keep toe nails reasonably short. Wearing good socks that are (as much as possible) dry is the best thing you can do for your feet. Also take off your socks and let your feet air out at night.
Carry plenty of spare socks, they are about the only piece of clothing you really need to change semi regularly (every couple days or so, depending). Also (though of course you should do this with everything) be sure to put your socks into plastic bags to keep them dry.
Boots- This is not a place to pinch pennies. Buy quality boots that suit your purpose from a good reputable manufacturer. Break them in by wearing them as you do everyday tasks and then for progressively longer walks and then hikes. Hardening your feet is done in the same manner. Start with short marches and then get progressively longer with heavier loads. This will also harden your legs and heart. Foot care and footwear could be a whole different post as it covers so much and is so important.
Clothes- Keep as clean as is practical. Keep some clean (a relative word) dry clothes to wear in the evening for down time and sleep. This will also let your day’s clothes air out overnight (if possible) and dry. Do the same thing with your socks. If possible wash them when you can.
Sleep wear- If your operational situation allows letting your body breathe at night is good. I typically will sleep in shorts unless it is real cold.
Sleeping bags- Get a liner as it is far more practical to was it than the whole bag in the field.
In conclusion with a little bit of planning you can stay quite healthy in the field for a prolonged period of time. Using the techniques outlines above I have been just fine for upwards of a month in the woods on multiple occasions. Mostly it just requires getting used to not having modern conveniences.
Let me define the scope of this post. I am going to talk about keeping healthy, clean and functional with limited access to modern facilities or hygiene supplies for periods of time between 24 hours and a month. Again don’t take this as the gospel; remember it is just one guys opinion.
To start I must say Americans have a fairly OCD approach to personal hygiene based heavily around almost limitless supplies of hot water and clean clothes. Also half the need for a shower is to wash off all the junk we cover ourselves with. Believe it or not people survived just fine for centuries without a hot shower (or 2) and clean clothes every day. In many parts of the world they still manage to survive without these luxuries which show that people have not biologically changed in recent years so it is in fact possible.
Let us go from head to toe and short periods to long periods.
Hair-For relatively short periods the easiest solution is to do nothing. Don’t put gel, hairspray or any other junk in it. Worst case it gets a bit greasy or something. Over longer periods (say beyond a week) I recommend men cut their hair very short and women cut it relatively short. Washing weekly is sufficient if you are short on water. Get it wet, shampoo, rinse.
Teeth-This one is the easiest as there is no change. Brush and floss your teeth regularly. If you are going to be out for a long time bring an extra roll of floss.
Shaving- I recommend not doing it unless you have good amounts of hot water. Men embrace your inner mountain man. Ladies, why you would try to shave anything in primitive conditions is completely beyond me.
The Army does this stupid thing where it expects soldiers to be clean shaven in the middle of nowhere in a dry camp. If I am ever in charge I will (at a minimum) institute a rule that if hot water is not made available to soldiers daily then shaving is not required. In any case if hot water is available shave as normal, a small mirror helps. Of hot water is not available I recommend electric razors (not rechargeable, the kind that take AAA or AA batteries) as the option is scraping half your face off dry shaving or using a little bit of cold water. I have a 20 dollar electric that has kept me in compliance to our stupid rule for years of field time.
Skin- If possible I like to clean my body daily even when a shower is not practical. As an added bonus doing this daily before bed helps keep your sleeping bag clean. This is especially important if you are in a hot/ humid environment or doing strenuous tasks. I am a big fan of baby wipes. You don’t need to use many of them and unless I am particularly funky 2 wipes works for my whole body. Order of precedence is face, upper torso, legs, armpits, crotch, butt. I should not have to explain to you why this is important. Baby wipes are super easy and cheap so you should get a lot of them.
If you are going to be out for awhile and or have access to at least some warm water then a washcloth and soap can be used to get the same effect. Use the same order of precedence and don’t let the washcloth get funky. I recommend letting it hang to dry and washing it often. This is pretty much how people bathed for a long time so it works fine to keep you clean over the long run.
That brings us to the subject of soap. The fellow who asked about this topic in a comment mentioned unscented soap. There is a theory/ historic anecdote that goes like this, GI’s in ‘Nam would use unscented soap so the Vietcong couldn’t smell them in the jungle. The same idea pops up every now and again in our Army culture. However in the contemporary operating environment in Iraq and Afghanistan it is completely irrelevant for almost everybody. The reason is that everybody pretty much knows who we are. We are the Americans in the crazy uniforms with all the armor and the huge tan trucks. In Iraq the centers of gravity are the cities and you just can’t hide during a patrol. They don’t have to smell you as they can see you 6 blocks away because an MRAP is about 12 feet tall. In Afghanistan we do some more patrolling but there is almost always a mounted component due to long distances involved and sparsely distributed soldiers. Also the terrain is so open that you can see people from hundreds of meters off. So I would say to use whatever kind of soap you like.
The crotch- I am going to talk about this area specifically because the crotch and inner thighs are where people tend to chafe, if they chafe. Typically chafing is an issue most often when you do a lot of walking in a hot and humid environment. You can get wicked friction burns and it is no fun at all, especially when you have to keep moving with them. Stay dry if at all possible. Some of the worst chafing I can remember was during a long road march in the spring at Benning when there was a thunderstorm. I would have been fine except my pants were completely soaked. At that point not a lot can be done.
Underwear is a factor as they cause friction. Tighty whities are probably the worst as they are right in that crotch/ inner thigh area where chafing is rife. Boxer briefs (like the spandex kind not the whitey tightey’s with legs kind) are better. The best option IMO is wearing no underwear. It decreases chafing due to less material in the area and letting things breathe better. From the time I have spent in the field with women I have never heard one gripe about chaffing. I think that smaller legs, wider hips and different anatomy make it a non issue. (As for women and underwear in the field I am about clueless. I would guess that stringy little underwear is not the way to go but other than that can’t help you. Also as to specific to female field hygiene issues I know they exist but I just don’t know anything about that)
To prevent or manage chafing you can use some gold bond powder (a darn good thing to have) to keep things dry down there. Also I’ve heard of runners using Vaseline at friction points like thighs and nipples (that wasn’t meant to sound dirty but does).
Feet- If you ignore everything else take care of your feet. Keep them in good shape or you are useless. Some folks like foot powder but I am not one of them. I find that it cakes onto your socks and decreases their ability to breathe while simultaneously shortening the amount of time you can wear them for. Keep toe nails reasonably short. Wearing good socks that are (as much as possible) dry is the best thing you can do for your feet. Also take off your socks and let your feet air out at night.
Carry plenty of spare socks, they are about the only piece of clothing you really need to change semi regularly (every couple days or so, depending). Also (though of course you should do this with everything) be sure to put your socks into plastic bags to keep them dry.
Boots- This is not a place to pinch pennies. Buy quality boots that suit your purpose from a good reputable manufacturer. Break them in by wearing them as you do everyday tasks and then for progressively longer walks and then hikes. Hardening your feet is done in the same manner. Start with short marches and then get progressively longer with heavier loads. This will also harden your legs and heart. Foot care and footwear could be a whole different post as it covers so much and is so important.
Clothes- Keep as clean as is practical. Keep some clean (a relative word) dry clothes to wear in the evening for down time and sleep. This will also let your day’s clothes air out overnight (if possible) and dry. Do the same thing with your socks. If possible wash them when you can.
Sleep wear- If your operational situation allows letting your body breathe at night is good. I typically will sleep in shorts unless it is real cold.
Sleeping bags- Get a liner as it is far more practical to was it than the whole bag in the field.
In conclusion with a little bit of planning you can stay quite healthy in the field for a prolonged period of time. Using the techniques outlines above I have been just fine for upwards of a month in the woods on multiple occasions. Mostly it just requires getting used to not having modern conveniences.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Recognizing Mistakes
There is something fundamentally wrong with our country. Somewhere along the line folks got to the point where they couldn't admit they had messed up, at least when it mattered. They were genuises when things went right and it was somebody else's fault when they went wrong. Why do I care this? The reason is that, at least for myself and Wifey, these are where we learn. The cold hard truth is that you do not learn much from successes and learn a lot from failures and mistakes. Simply because you made a mistake does not mean you are a bad person. Typically we did what we thought was best (duh, otherwise we would not have done it) and for whatever reason it didn't quite work. Maybe a mistake cost us an extra hundred miles on a trip, or a few hundred bucks or some inconvenience. The thing about mistakes is that by the time you find out they are a mistake they are past the point of return and cannot be undone. The real power of mistakes is analyzing what went wrong and hopefully having some takeaway's to prevent future mistakes. To do this you have to admit that the mistake was, at least in part, your own fault. This brings us to my next point.
I think part of the whining, bitching loser mentality that is far too common today comes from, or is directly related to failing to admit to oneselfself that you made mistakes. There whiners are genuises when things go right and when they go wrong it is everybody else's fault. What this mentality does is it creates a cycle where people gripe and complain about how life is not fair instead of figuring out how to do the absolute best they can to take care of theirself and their family. By losing the power to learn from their mistakes (after all the smart people who made $15 an hour were getting adjustable rate NINJA loans for $300k homes, etc) and are thus doomed to make the same mistakes or similar ones. Instead of realizing the issues with their plans, goals or underlying philosophies these folks will keep trying the same stuff and suprisingly have similar results. Also these folks take away their own power and give it to other people. After all it is these numerous agencies and organizations that keep holding them down, so why even bother with it. If they could just see their role in the mistakes they could see through to their role in fixing them and not making new ones which would put them and their family into a far better position. I would feel bad for these folks but to be honest I really do not like whiners.
I think part of the whining, bitching loser mentality that is far too common today comes from, or is directly related to failing to admit to oneselfself that you made mistakes. There whiners are genuises when things go right and when they go wrong it is everybody else's fault. What this mentality does is it creates a cycle where people gripe and complain about how life is not fair instead of figuring out how to do the absolute best they can to take care of theirself and their family. By losing the power to learn from their mistakes (after all the smart people who made $15 an hour were getting adjustable rate NINJA loans for $300k homes, etc) and are thus doomed to make the same mistakes or similar ones. Instead of realizing the issues with their plans, goals or underlying philosophies these folks will keep trying the same stuff and suprisingly have similar results. Also these folks take away their own power and give it to other people. After all it is these numerous agencies and organizations that keep holding them down, so why even bother with it. If they could just see their role in the mistakes they could see through to their role in fixing them and not making new ones which would put them and their family into a far better position. I would feel bad for these folks but to be honest I really do not like whiners.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Quote of the Day
“Cunnilingus and psychiatry brought us to this”
-Tony Soprano in the Season 1 finale of the Sopranos
-Tony Soprano in the Season 1 finale of the Sopranos
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Got Muscle Up?
Recently I accomplished a big goal of mine, I got my first muscle up. In case you do not know what that is it is a basic gymnastics move where you go from hanging by your arms from a pair of rings (think monkey bars) to over the top of them with your arms fully extended. It is a pull up into a dip and far more than the sum of its two parts. If you still do not know what it is then type muscle up into the search bar and click on a video.
Some smart folks say that before trying to do a muscle up you should be able to do 15+ pull-ups and dips. I’ve also heard that you should be able to do weighted pull-ups and 10+ ring dips. Both are probably accurate but I would say the second is more valid as this is far more of (at least initially until you can do a bunch) a strength move than an endurance move. Being able to do a weighted pull up and DEEP chest(like below your peck/ boob) pull-ups is essential.
I have been actively working towards this goal for more than 6 months and with serious focus for the last two of them. It was probably a lot harder for me than it would be if I was around people who could do them. I imagine I have been physically capable (had the explosive pulling strength) to complete one but it took a couple months of building more strength and fiddling with the skill component to get over the cusp and actually stick one. The transition between the two moves (pullup and dip) is the hard part. Most healthy moderately athletic adults can do at least one pullup and dip (ring dips are different but after a session or two you get used to it) but having the explosive pulling strength relative to body weight to transition between the two is another thing entirely.
What is this useful for? Well first in the process of getting there my upper body has become much stronger and more explosive than it once was. As for the move itself this quote from somewhere pretty much sums it up “Far from a contrivance the muscle-up is hugely functional. With a muscle-up you’ll be able to surmount any object on which you can get a finger hold – if you can touch it you can get up on it. The value here for survival, police, fire fighter, and military use is impossible to overstate.”
As for form following function my arms are somewhat thicker and more muscular. My upper back and shoulders are getting bigger moving from a square shaped torso to more of a V. I only mention this to remind you that if looking good is a concern for you those results can be achieved with useful exercises not just stupid single joint body building stuff with little to no real life or athletic carry over.
Well this was one of my biggest physical goals for the year and is another milestone to mastering my bodyweight.
Got Muscle Up? Got pull up?
Some smart folks say that before trying to do a muscle up you should be able to do 15+ pull-ups and dips. I’ve also heard that you should be able to do weighted pull-ups and 10+ ring dips. Both are probably accurate but I would say the second is more valid as this is far more of (at least initially until you can do a bunch) a strength move than an endurance move. Being able to do a weighted pull up and DEEP chest(like below your peck/ boob) pull-ups is essential.
I have been actively working towards this goal for more than 6 months and with serious focus for the last two of them. It was probably a lot harder for me than it would be if I was around people who could do them. I imagine I have been physically capable (had the explosive pulling strength) to complete one but it took a couple months of building more strength and fiddling with the skill component to get over the cusp and actually stick one. The transition between the two moves (pullup and dip) is the hard part. Most healthy moderately athletic adults can do at least one pullup and dip (ring dips are different but after a session or two you get used to it) but having the explosive pulling strength relative to body weight to transition between the two is another thing entirely.
What is this useful for? Well first in the process of getting there my upper body has become much stronger and more explosive than it once was. As for the move itself this quote from somewhere pretty much sums it up “Far from a contrivance the muscle-up is hugely functional. With a muscle-up you’ll be able to surmount any object on which you can get a finger hold – if you can touch it you can get up on it. The value here for survival, police, fire fighter, and military use is impossible to overstate.”
As for form following function my arms are somewhat thicker and more muscular. My upper back and shoulders are getting bigger moving from a square shaped torso to more of a V. I only mention this to remind you that if looking good is a concern for you those results can be achieved with useful exercises not just stupid single joint body building stuff with little to no real life or athletic carry over.
Well this was one of my biggest physical goals for the year and is another milestone to mastering my bodyweight.
Got Muscle Up? Got pull up?
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Equipment Soldiers Use
I was asked about this and figured it would be a slam dunk easy post. Everybody likes gear and writing about what I know is just too easy. Wrong, the thing is that when you are so used to something it is just what it is, as opposed to significant or noteworthy. If asked a very specific question about gear I can talk for a long time but looking at our whole organization is difficult because it is what I am used to. In any case I will do my best.
Slings- Almost everyone uses some form of a two point sling. Those who do not go with the generic issue two point typically purchase an adjustable two point sling. There are so many makers and models to choose from that you rarely see the same one twice. No clearly defined trends except two point adjustable. Once in a blue moon (less than 10%) are one points with a few of the two to one type floating around. Some folks who carry M16’s still use the three point but that is mostly because they are issued.
Holsters- The Blackhawk Serpa series is heavily represented and has a distinct majority, I would estimate almost 2/3rds. The rest is split between Fobbit’s with shoulder holsters, various other kydex type holsters, assorted leather and nylon jobs. Some quality products from name brand companies and some generic poorly made junk.
Knives- Almost everyone carries some form of a one hand opening type folder of some make or model on their person. Most are midsized 3-4 inch blades and made by major manufacturers such as Gerber, Spyderco, SOG, Benchmade, etc all. Whatever happens to be selling in the PX/ Clothing and Sales had a slight lead but in terms of knives we are totally all over the place. Of the remainder a few carry piece of junk one hand opening folders, a few carry big (5in+) sheath knives and there is a totally random tiny minority like me and my medium/small belt knife. You see a few more sheath knives attached to body armor or kit but not too many. However I would wager almost every soldier has a decent sized knife (often a KaBar) in a duffel bag or a tuff box.
Multi Tools- Everybody has one (if just because they are issued) and they are usually Gerber’s because that is what sells at the PX and is issued. Some live on belts, others on kit and most in rooms or rucksacks.
Boots- Not as many Danners as a few years back. Maybe it is that we are spending more time in hot climates or maybe that the Army is finally issuing some decent kit to us so folks don’t need to go out and buy that. Lots of light boots with soft soles are worn by Infantry and SOF guys. I wear Altima ExoSpeeds though I have heard the new Nike’s are nice and some folks like Rockies or Oackley boots.
Socks- Some folks wear various commercial hiking type socks but more just use the issue ones.
Bags- The Army really got it right with the new small framed molle ruck. It is an awesome 72 hour type bag. This saves young soldiers a $150+ purchase that was almost a requirement to function and I am happy for that. You still see the odd Blackhawk or Camelback or Tactical Tailor type 72 hour bag carried by someone who has been around more than a couple years though.
Belts- People either wear the standard issue tan belt or go out and purchase a riggers belt from somebody or another. All the ones that are not Chinese junk are functionally equivalent as far as I can tell. For those carrying a holster a stiff riggers belt is very helpful.
Cold Weather Gear- Thankfully again this is an area where the Army has gotten their act together. Soldiers do not need to go out and spend hundreds of dollars any more for the cold weather stuff they need. We are issued lots of fleece, gore tex and thermal clothing to stay as comfortable as possible.
Water carrying- Most folks have a camelback, generally issued but you see an aftermarket pouch (typically the better more molle compatible one) occasionally.
As a disclaimer I should note that products sold in our clothing and sales/ PX get a huge boost in purchases and thus use. Young soldiers often do their shopping within walking distance and because of our busy work hours (and laziness) many folks just get what is convenient. This accounts at least in part for the trend towards Serpa holsters and a Gerber multi tools.
To be honest I can’t really think of anything else but if you have a specific question I can probably go into a lot more detail.
Slings- Almost everyone uses some form of a two point sling. Those who do not go with the generic issue two point typically purchase an adjustable two point sling. There are so many makers and models to choose from that you rarely see the same one twice. No clearly defined trends except two point adjustable. Once in a blue moon (less than 10%) are one points with a few of the two to one type floating around. Some folks who carry M16’s still use the three point but that is mostly because they are issued.
Holsters- The Blackhawk Serpa series is heavily represented and has a distinct majority, I would estimate almost 2/3rds. The rest is split between Fobbit’s with shoulder holsters, various other kydex type holsters, assorted leather and nylon jobs. Some quality products from name brand companies and some generic poorly made junk.
Knives- Almost everyone carries some form of a one hand opening type folder of some make or model on their person. Most are midsized 3-4 inch blades and made by major manufacturers such as Gerber, Spyderco, SOG, Benchmade, etc all. Whatever happens to be selling in the PX/ Clothing and Sales had a slight lead but in terms of knives we are totally all over the place. Of the remainder a few carry piece of junk one hand opening folders, a few carry big (5in+) sheath knives and there is a totally random tiny minority like me and my medium/small belt knife. You see a few more sheath knives attached to body armor or kit but not too many. However I would wager almost every soldier has a decent sized knife (often a KaBar) in a duffel bag or a tuff box.
Multi Tools- Everybody has one (if just because they are issued) and they are usually Gerber’s because that is what sells at the PX and is issued. Some live on belts, others on kit and most in rooms or rucksacks.
Boots- Not as many Danners as a few years back. Maybe it is that we are spending more time in hot climates or maybe that the Army is finally issuing some decent kit to us so folks don’t need to go out and buy that. Lots of light boots with soft soles are worn by Infantry and SOF guys. I wear Altima ExoSpeeds though I have heard the new Nike’s are nice and some folks like Rockies or Oackley boots.
Socks- Some folks wear various commercial hiking type socks but more just use the issue ones.
Bags- The Army really got it right with the new small framed molle ruck. It is an awesome 72 hour type bag. This saves young soldiers a $150+ purchase that was almost a requirement to function and I am happy for that. You still see the odd Blackhawk or Camelback or Tactical Tailor type 72 hour bag carried by someone who has been around more than a couple years though.
Belts- People either wear the standard issue tan belt or go out and purchase a riggers belt from somebody or another. All the ones that are not Chinese junk are functionally equivalent as far as I can tell. For those carrying a holster a stiff riggers belt is very helpful.
Cold Weather Gear- Thankfully again this is an area where the Army has gotten their act together. Soldiers do not need to go out and spend hundreds of dollars any more for the cold weather stuff they need. We are issued lots of fleece, gore tex and thermal clothing to stay as comfortable as possible.
Water carrying- Most folks have a camelback, generally issued but you see an aftermarket pouch (typically the better more molle compatible one) occasionally.
As a disclaimer I should note that products sold in our clothing and sales/ PX get a huge boost in purchases and thus use. Young soldiers often do their shopping within walking distance and because of our busy work hours (and laziness) many folks just get what is convenient. This accounts at least in part for the trend towards Serpa holsters and a Gerber multi tools.
To be honest I can’t really think of anything else but if you have a specific question I can probably go into a lot more detail.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Rebuilding a Battery and Budget .308's
elmo iscariot said...
A series of freak misfortunes wipes out all of your survival gear and backup plans. You're on your way to rebuilding: you have a small but comforting store of food and water squirreled away, and other essential "mundane" stocks, but guns and ammo are a budget-drainer.
Based on your regional needs and your current battery, you've decided to add a semi-auto rifle in a full-powered .30 caliber cartridge to the battery. You can budget about $1250 for the initial package; you'll accumulate a large stock of ammo and magazines over time, but this sum is just for the startup gear. You expect to be on a strict (but not poverty stricken) budget for the foreseeable future, so ongoing expenses are also a consideration.
Your state's gun market is good, but not great, so finding the right used gun is a challenge unless it's a very common type. There is no local AWB.
What rifle and support gear do you choose?
TOR replies: Elmo, I am going to answer this in two parts. I will answer what I would do if I had to completely rebuild my firearms battery first. Then I will answer the semi auto .30 cal for $1,250 question.
If a series of freak misfortunes wiped out my gear/ plans and I had to rebuild my firearms battery I would be really sad. Once I consoled myself for a day or so, probably with whiskey, I would go to the store and buy a Glock 19 with a couple of extra mags, enough defense rounds to load 3 mags and a few boxes of ball ammo. I would of course get ancillary stuff like a cleaning kit, a holster and a mag pouch. Over time as money allowed I would get a few more mags and some more ammo.
Next depending on how quickly I could come up with cash I would get either a Remington 870 or an AK 47. If I was short on dough I would get the shotty first. I would outfit it then get the other one. Next I would buy a bolt action .308 probably a Savage and put a reasonably decent scope on it. In here somewhere I would get a .22 handgun and rifle, probably a Browning Buckmark and a Ruger 10/22 but whatever you like, they are just .22’s. After that I would get a second Glock 9 and AK -47. As I bought them I would purchase mags, ancillary equipment and ammunition to levels that give me comfort. Just maybe sub compact hideout like a .22 Beretta or some sort of small .380 like a Kel Tech P3. That would pretty much do me for functional guns. A boring answer but very affordable, common and practical. It is funny how those all can come together.
Down the road as my kid (or kids) get older I would pick up a Glock 9 and AK for each of their use. Also probably another shotty (1 for every 2-2.5 adults is probably fine if they each have a pistol and rifle) and potentially even another bolt gun if we were going to hunt together or something.
Do remember this is for general functional use not specific gaming needs or collecting desires. If I lived in Grizzly country I would own a .44magnum handgun and if I hunted moose I would get a .338 or something adequate for that purpose. As for collecting get whatever your tastes desire and your budget/ marriage can handle but remember to take care of your core needs first.
Now to the next answer. This is hard because I do not know what your current firearms battery is or what your regional needs are. That is however OK because there are not many legitimate options anyway. It is worth noting that I have not lived in the US for a couple years so my knowledge of gun prices is dated. Also I must say my knowledge of semi auto .308’s is limited.
Basically there are 4 legitimate candidates for a “Battle Rifle”: the M1A, the AR 10, the FN-FAL and the HK 91 series. Let us figure a grand for the gun and $250 for a few mags, some ammo to get you started and various ancillary equipment. The M1A is immediately eliminated due to cost. Most AR 10’s are probably eliminated also (though a basic model from a decent (not Knight Armament but not Jimbo’s basement guns either) manufacturer might be doable. On that one I suggest a model that takes a common mag like an HK 91 or FN-FAL, otherwise the cost will crush you. Also check on the prices and availability of spare parts. It could be an issue). The Garand is not a legitimate option because it takes an 8 round en bloc clip and is slow to reload. Also they are getting very old. If you can’t figure out why this eliminates them from being a primary choice for a defensive firearm (unless you live in a totalitarian dump that banned modern weapons or are a crusty Korean war vet that has a ton of muscle memory invested and brought one home) I don’t know if I can help you. Various semi automatic sportsters like the Siaga are not viable for many different reasons. Neither are uncommon rifles like a Valumet or a Galil. If you can’t see the wisdom of using military tested widely approved firearms with available surplus parts then I wish you the best but don’t come complaining to me when your stuff breaks and you can’t find parts. So that leaves us with the FN-FAL and HK 91 series.
Here within both platforms you have two options. Getting an imported one made on a new receiver with surplus parts or an American made model. The imported ones are brought in by companies like Century and cost somewhere in the $600-700 range. There are some lemon’s but most function just fine. However the fit and finish are in direct relation to the price. If you are a natural cheapskate or pretty hard up for cash this route would be advisable. The other option is to get an American made (or assembled) one. PRT-91’s get very good reviews and there are a few people making FN-FAL’s these days. If you shop around getting one for a grand should be reasonable. Quality will be overall better with lower odds of a lemon and better fit and finish. Like most things you get what you pay for.
As to the FN-FAN vs HK-91 style debate. The HK wins on parts cost by a landslide. Mags cost about a buck and you can stock up on all kinds of parts for next to nothing. However FN-FAL stuff isn’t exactly insanely expensive either. This is why getting stuff that was widely fielded by the military whenever possible is so important. The reason M1A mags cost a ton and HK 91 mags cost a buck is that only one service used the M1A and they used it for only a couple years while a ton of countries used the HK 91 for a long time. Some prefer the ergonomics of the FN-FAL. My advice would be to try and handle, and if at all possible shoot both platforms. If it is a push the HK 91’s dirt cheap parts are the deal maker.
Personally I would buy the more expensive American assembled/ made model of whichever of those two you prefer. Then again I am kind of a buy once, cry once type guy.
A series of freak misfortunes wipes out all of your survival gear and backup plans. You're on your way to rebuilding: you have a small but comforting store of food and water squirreled away, and other essential "mundane" stocks, but guns and ammo are a budget-drainer.
Based on your regional needs and your current battery, you've decided to add a semi-auto rifle in a full-powered .30 caliber cartridge to the battery. You can budget about $1250 for the initial package; you'll accumulate a large stock of ammo and magazines over time, but this sum is just for the startup gear. You expect to be on a strict (but not poverty stricken) budget for the foreseeable future, so ongoing expenses are also a consideration.
Your state's gun market is good, but not great, so finding the right used gun is a challenge unless it's a very common type. There is no local AWB.
What rifle and support gear do you choose?
TOR replies: Elmo, I am going to answer this in two parts. I will answer what I would do if I had to completely rebuild my firearms battery first. Then I will answer the semi auto .30 cal for $1,250 question.
If a series of freak misfortunes wiped out my gear/ plans and I had to rebuild my firearms battery I would be really sad. Once I consoled myself for a day or so, probably with whiskey, I would go to the store and buy a Glock 19 with a couple of extra mags, enough defense rounds to load 3 mags and a few boxes of ball ammo. I would of course get ancillary stuff like a cleaning kit, a holster and a mag pouch. Over time as money allowed I would get a few more mags and some more ammo.
Next depending on how quickly I could come up with cash I would get either a Remington 870 or an AK 47. If I was short on dough I would get the shotty first. I would outfit it then get the other one. Next I would buy a bolt action .308 probably a Savage and put a reasonably decent scope on it. In here somewhere I would get a .22 handgun and rifle, probably a Browning Buckmark and a Ruger 10/22 but whatever you like, they are just .22’s. After that I would get a second Glock 9 and AK -47. As I bought them I would purchase mags, ancillary equipment and ammunition to levels that give me comfort. Just maybe sub compact hideout like a .22 Beretta or some sort of small .380 like a Kel Tech P3. That would pretty much do me for functional guns. A boring answer but very affordable, common and practical. It is funny how those all can come together.
Down the road as my kid (or kids) get older I would pick up a Glock 9 and AK for each of their use. Also probably another shotty (1 for every 2-2.5 adults is probably fine if they each have a pistol and rifle) and potentially even another bolt gun if we were going to hunt together or something.
Do remember this is for general functional use not specific gaming needs or collecting desires. If I lived in Grizzly country I would own a .44magnum handgun and if I hunted moose I would get a .338 or something adequate for that purpose. As for collecting get whatever your tastes desire and your budget/ marriage can handle but remember to take care of your core needs first.
Now to the next answer. This is hard because I do not know what your current firearms battery is or what your regional needs are. That is however OK because there are not many legitimate options anyway. It is worth noting that I have not lived in the US for a couple years so my knowledge of gun prices is dated. Also I must say my knowledge of semi auto .308’s is limited.
Basically there are 4 legitimate candidates for a “Battle Rifle”: the M1A, the AR 10, the FN-FAL and the HK 91 series. Let us figure a grand for the gun and $250 for a few mags, some ammo to get you started and various ancillary equipment. The M1A is immediately eliminated due to cost. Most AR 10’s are probably eliminated also (though a basic model from a decent (not Knight Armament but not Jimbo’s basement guns either) manufacturer might be doable. On that one I suggest a model that takes a common mag like an HK 91 or FN-FAL, otherwise the cost will crush you. Also check on the prices and availability of spare parts. It could be an issue). The Garand is not a legitimate option because it takes an 8 round en bloc clip and is slow to reload. Also they are getting very old. If you can’t figure out why this eliminates them from being a primary choice for a defensive firearm (unless you live in a totalitarian dump that banned modern weapons or are a crusty Korean war vet that has a ton of muscle memory invested and brought one home) I don’t know if I can help you. Various semi automatic sportsters like the Siaga are not viable for many different reasons. Neither are uncommon rifles like a Valumet or a Galil. If you can’t see the wisdom of using military tested widely approved firearms with available surplus parts then I wish you the best but don’t come complaining to me when your stuff breaks and you can’t find parts. So that leaves us with the FN-FAL and HK 91 series.
Here within both platforms you have two options. Getting an imported one made on a new receiver with surplus parts or an American made model. The imported ones are brought in by companies like Century and cost somewhere in the $600-700 range. There are some lemon’s but most function just fine. However the fit and finish are in direct relation to the price. If you are a natural cheapskate or pretty hard up for cash this route would be advisable. The other option is to get an American made (or assembled) one. PRT-91’s get very good reviews and there are a few people making FN-FAL’s these days. If you shop around getting one for a grand should be reasonable. Quality will be overall better with lower odds of a lemon and better fit and finish. Like most things you get what you pay for.
As to the FN-FAN vs HK-91 style debate. The HK wins on parts cost by a landslide. Mags cost about a buck and you can stock up on all kinds of parts for next to nothing. However FN-FAL stuff isn’t exactly insanely expensive either. This is why getting stuff that was widely fielded by the military whenever possible is so important. The reason M1A mags cost a ton and HK 91 mags cost a buck is that only one service used the M1A and they used it for only a couple years while a ton of countries used the HK 91 for a long time. Some prefer the ergonomics of the FN-FAL. My advice would be to try and handle, and if at all possible shoot both platforms. If it is a push the HK 91’s dirt cheap parts are the deal maker.
Personally I would buy the more expensive American assembled/ made model of whichever of those two you prefer. Then again I am kind of a buy once, cry once type guy.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
9/11 Anniversary-Ted Nugent said it better than I could
Here is a teaser-
"America must continue to identify and eradicate these terrorist vermin. We must never surrender to complacency or apathy as we did before Sept. 11, as they are the weakest link in our chain of security. We must remain vigilant and on the offense. Where two or more of these terror cultists gather, they should expect us to drill a hole in their foreheads." Read the rest here.
Reading
Craig and I agree on about 85% of things and argue like old women about the other 15%. We remind me of my friends Ryan and Chad that way. In any case I have got to thank him for something. I recently made a comment to a post on his blog. In his response he asked if I had read anything by Dimitri Orlov. I had heard of him but hadn’t really read anything. I got to thinking. Right before I came here I loaded my Kindle with a bunch of books; one of which was written by some dude with a Russian sounding name and was about the Soviet collapse. I checked and it was written by the fellow in question.
My friend Craig spurred me to get back to reading. I was really busy for the first months here but since we have collectively stopped trying to go 24/7 and slipped into a more maintainable pace and we have also became more efficient in things my spare time situation has gotten better. No real reason I haven’t been reading lately. I just kind of got out of the habit of it I guess. Well I am getting back into it and enjoying it. Reading will go a long way toward me doing the utmost I can to prepare while here. A lot of PT, a few purchases now and then and some financial preps aside that is about all I can do.
On the bright side that is worthwhile stuff to do. Some reading will really help round things out for me. I started the Orlov book and it is pretty interesting. There will be more to come on that later. Anyway I want to thank Craig for getting me back to reading.
My friend Craig spurred me to get back to reading. I was really busy for the first months here but since we have collectively stopped trying to go 24/7 and slipped into a more maintainable pace and we have also became more efficient in things my spare time situation has gotten better. No real reason I haven’t been reading lately. I just kind of got out of the habit of it I guess. Well I am getting back into it and enjoying it. Reading will go a long way toward me doing the utmost I can to prepare while here. A lot of PT, a few purchases now and then and some financial preps aside that is about all I can do.
On the bright side that is worthwhile stuff to do. Some reading will really help round things out for me. I started the Orlov book and it is pretty interesting. There will be more to come on that later. Anyway I want to thank Craig for getting me back to reading.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Deployments and Survival Scenarios
I was asked about mentally dealing with deployments recently. That is a pretty broad question so I will do my best to cover it. Also I hope that through comparison and examples some insight can be gained to dealing with various survival scenarios an average citizen might find themselves in.
For background I am currently deployed to Afghanistan and have previously deployed to Iraq. Also every deployment is different. Some deployments are very kinetic (read lots of fighting and violence) and others are not, most are somewhere in the middle. Even for those involved in little to no violence the whole deployment thing is a pretty weird phenomenon of totalitarian control, social depravation, strange geography and weather. Whatever experiences people have pass through the filter of their personality (a sum of their background, skills, experiences, religion, etc) and there is an output. The end result is that people are affected in profoundly different ways, even by the same experiences.
In my experience if actual war was a video game nobody would buy it. The ratio of time spent doing monotonous tasks or boring repetitive duties (guard shifts, patrols, etc) vastly outweighs the time spent engaging or being engaged in combat. I would say this is true pretty much everywhere; it is just a question of what the ratio is. I believe this was true in previous wars though it manifested itself in a different way. In the current operating environment there are no front lines but contact is sporadic. A base or organization will keep doing the same thing and occasionally take contact. What people don’t see from the headlines is that for most people, in most places the average day is pretty quiet. When you hear some BN Commander on the news or in an article saying they are taking contact every day what doesn’t get mentioned is that all it means is that one of their numerous patrols got shot at, IED’ed or whatever. You can safely figure on at least 3 line companies and an HHC per BN. In each of the line companies there are probably 3 platoons and an HQ section. That is a lot of different pieces of a large organization. In short PVT Snuffy is not getting in a gunfight every single day. Now previous wars (specifically pre ‘Nam) had more clear cut front lines with more activity but units rotated in and out. The end result was probably somewhat comparable or at least within the same range.
Somebody once described war as long periods of complete boredom with random short periods of terror. I think that is half accurate. In my personal experience things happen so fast that you don’t have time to get scared. All the BS aside our training is pretty darn good and we know the right thing to do. We react to a given event quickly and with little thought. You are just acting and reacting until it is over. Later on the ‘what if’s’ and ‘if not for’s’ can haunt you if you let them. Dealing with the aftermath is far more difficult than the actual events. Like we talked about earlier, different people handle things differently and some profoundly worse than others. I don’t see a lot of reason to stress or worry. I do everything I can to be ready and to make the best decisions possible and if something happens, well that is that. I’m not fatalistic or anything like that but I don’t find much usefulness in stressing things I can’t control. You can the baddest dude alive and if you are in the shower and a rocket lands on it your race is run.
Now we will go onto the topic of staying sane over here. Finding ways to fill your time and mentally escape in a healthy way is essential. Lots of folks work out, pumping iron, running or whatever suits them. Some play lots of video games or read. A few take collect classes if their schedule and internet connectivity allow. Most have a laptop and an external hard drive full of TV and movies.
I find that human beings are far more adaptable than we give ourselves credit for. We can get used to just about anything. As for staying sane personally I work out a lot, watch tv and movies, talk to wifey as much as I can and do some reading. As with most things in life having a healthy perspective helps a lot.
Relationships are a hard one. There are all sorts of stressors that mercilessly seek out dysfunctional relationships. Shallow marriages and relationships typically based solely on sex fall apart. Women cheat at home and men find ‘love’ over social networking sights. Deployments do a good job of weeding out the dysfunctional (of which there are many but that is a whole nother post) military marriages. To be fair the added stress and distance also destroys some that would have probably been fine otherwise.
Adapting your expectations down is important. Everything here pretty much sucks but the least sucky things are by default pretty nice. I think finding the happiness in little things here is so important. A good cup of coffee or a hot shower, maybe a nice sunset or view now and then. Some of the best times are when you actually forget that you are here. The other day I was eating some chex mix and watching the Soprano’s on my computer and it could have easily been a random Weds night at home. Today I was in a great spontaneous political/ current affairs conversation with a group of guys. I looked at my watch and 3 hours had gone by. I couple have easily been in a restaurant or a quiet bar on a lazy afternoon. If you can’t find some things that make you at least relatively happy you are in serious trouble because there will definitely be plenty of things that stress you out.
There are of course endless negative things people can do here. The usual spectrum of derelict/ criminal behavior is present. Some folks turn to drugs or alcohol (also huffing canned air is a random and dangerous trend) to escape. Some folks stop caring or let their emotions get the best of them and get into all sorts of trouble. Folks get complacent and start doing stupid things. Others get into all sort of dysfunctional situations trying to get some kind of emotional closeness or just strait up looking to get laid. Some folks for whatever reason just can’t seem to deal with it.
How does this all relate to survival scenarios? I think they relate pretty directly. I think there will be a variety of different situations for individuals but most won’t be the absolute worst or a piece of cake. I think different people in the same relative situation will deal with it very differently. That is just the start. Also I think survival scenarios are going to have the same, if not a lower ratio of boring to violent events, very low. Especially in common events such as natural disasters, storms and power outages where you won’t all of a sudden start a huge garden or need to cut a winter’s worth of firewood boredom is a big factor. This is where a stash of cards, board games and books, to include light easy reading type stuff is so important.
There will be a lot of boring routine work and every day challenges for every significant event. One thing about deployments is that there is a definite (if floating) light at the end of the tunnel. I know that at roughly next winter we will redeploy and I will go back to a better place. Most survival situations, except the really dark ones, will have that same benefit.
For background I am currently deployed to Afghanistan and have previously deployed to Iraq. Also every deployment is different. Some deployments are very kinetic (read lots of fighting and violence) and others are not, most are somewhere in the middle. Even for those involved in little to no violence the whole deployment thing is a pretty weird phenomenon of totalitarian control, social depravation, strange geography and weather. Whatever experiences people have pass through the filter of their personality (a sum of their background, skills, experiences, religion, etc) and there is an output. The end result is that people are affected in profoundly different ways, even by the same experiences.
In my experience if actual war was a video game nobody would buy it. The ratio of time spent doing monotonous tasks or boring repetitive duties (guard shifts, patrols, etc) vastly outweighs the time spent engaging or being engaged in combat. I would say this is true pretty much everywhere; it is just a question of what the ratio is. I believe this was true in previous wars though it manifested itself in a different way. In the current operating environment there are no front lines but contact is sporadic. A base or organization will keep doing the same thing and occasionally take contact. What people don’t see from the headlines is that for most people, in most places the average day is pretty quiet. When you hear some BN Commander on the news or in an article saying they are taking contact every day what doesn’t get mentioned is that all it means is that one of their numerous patrols got shot at, IED’ed or whatever. You can safely figure on at least 3 line companies and an HHC per BN. In each of the line companies there are probably 3 platoons and an HQ section. That is a lot of different pieces of a large organization. In short PVT Snuffy is not getting in a gunfight every single day. Now previous wars (specifically pre ‘Nam) had more clear cut front lines with more activity but units rotated in and out. The end result was probably somewhat comparable or at least within the same range.
Somebody once described war as long periods of complete boredom with random short periods of terror. I think that is half accurate. In my personal experience things happen so fast that you don’t have time to get scared. All the BS aside our training is pretty darn good and we know the right thing to do. We react to a given event quickly and with little thought. You are just acting and reacting until it is over. Later on the ‘what if’s’ and ‘if not for’s’ can haunt you if you let them. Dealing with the aftermath is far more difficult than the actual events. Like we talked about earlier, different people handle things differently and some profoundly worse than others. I don’t see a lot of reason to stress or worry. I do everything I can to be ready and to make the best decisions possible and if something happens, well that is that. I’m not fatalistic or anything like that but I don’t find much usefulness in stressing things I can’t control. You can the baddest dude alive and if you are in the shower and a rocket lands on it your race is run.
Now we will go onto the topic of staying sane over here. Finding ways to fill your time and mentally escape in a healthy way is essential. Lots of folks work out, pumping iron, running or whatever suits them. Some play lots of video games or read. A few take collect classes if their schedule and internet connectivity allow. Most have a laptop and an external hard drive full of TV and movies.
I find that human beings are far more adaptable than we give ourselves credit for. We can get used to just about anything. As for staying sane personally I work out a lot, watch tv and movies, talk to wifey as much as I can and do some reading. As with most things in life having a healthy perspective helps a lot.
Relationships are a hard one. There are all sorts of stressors that mercilessly seek out dysfunctional relationships. Shallow marriages and relationships typically based solely on sex fall apart. Women cheat at home and men find ‘love’ over social networking sights. Deployments do a good job of weeding out the dysfunctional (of which there are many but that is a whole nother post) military marriages. To be fair the added stress and distance also destroys some that would have probably been fine otherwise.
Adapting your expectations down is important. Everything here pretty much sucks but the least sucky things are by default pretty nice. I think finding the happiness in little things here is so important. A good cup of coffee or a hot shower, maybe a nice sunset or view now and then. Some of the best times are when you actually forget that you are here. The other day I was eating some chex mix and watching the Soprano’s on my computer and it could have easily been a random Weds night at home. Today I was in a great spontaneous political/ current affairs conversation with a group of guys. I looked at my watch and 3 hours had gone by. I couple have easily been in a restaurant or a quiet bar on a lazy afternoon. If you can’t find some things that make you at least relatively happy you are in serious trouble because there will definitely be plenty of things that stress you out.
There are of course endless negative things people can do here. The usual spectrum of derelict/ criminal behavior is present. Some folks turn to drugs or alcohol (also huffing canned air is a random and dangerous trend) to escape. Some folks stop caring or let their emotions get the best of them and get into all sorts of trouble. Folks get complacent and start doing stupid things. Others get into all sort of dysfunctional situations trying to get some kind of emotional closeness or just strait up looking to get laid. Some folks for whatever reason just can’t seem to deal with it.
How does this all relate to survival scenarios? I think they relate pretty directly. I think there will be a variety of different situations for individuals but most won’t be the absolute worst or a piece of cake. I think different people in the same relative situation will deal with it very differently. That is just the start. Also I think survival scenarios are going to have the same, if not a lower ratio of boring to violent events, very low. Especially in common events such as natural disasters, storms and power outages where you won’t all of a sudden start a huge garden or need to cut a winter’s worth of firewood boredom is a big factor. This is where a stash of cards, board games and books, to include light easy reading type stuff is so important.
There will be a lot of boring routine work and every day challenges for every significant event. One thing about deployments is that there is a definite (if floating) light at the end of the tunnel. I know that at roughly next winter we will redeploy and I will go back to a better place. Most survival situations, except the really dark ones, will have that same benefit.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Book Review: Reinventing Collapse: The Soviet Example and American prospects by Dimitry Orlov
This book discusses the Soviet collapse (loosely moving between the end of the USSR and their economic hyperinflationary collapse a few years later, more on this in a bit). It compares and contrasts what could be called the Soviet model with current and possible future events in America. In doing so the book looks at where we may be going. I read it on my kindle but am sure you can get it in a physical format if you so desire. Anyway let us get onto the usual format.
The Good: It was a quick, easy read. The author did a bang up job of speaking on complicated issues in clear language without jargon or scienceinese (the language scientists speak and none of the rest of us understand). Somebody smart once said that if you can’t explain an idea to an average man on the street then you do not really understand it. By that standard Dimitry Orlov really understands the themes and ideas that make up the subject matter for this book. For a nonfiction book it reads rather casually, part because of the clear simple language used and part because it is interwoven with stories of his experiences and anecdotal tales. In the closing comments he said (more of less) that he tried to keep it light and enjoyable and I would say he did a great job. The information on the Soviet economy and collapse was outstanding. Also the way it was written hit the man on the street angle as well as the bigger picture of what was happening. This balancing act was probably hard and he did a great job of it. I learned a lot about how the Soviet economy worked, failed to work and fell apart in this book.
The Bad: It is abundantly clear to me that the author looks at the Soviet union through some rose colored glasses. I don’t know a ton about the USSR/ Russia’s history but he seemed to have an awful positive memory. Furthermore I found him willing to sweep America with a broadly critical brush that is probably not deserved. The words “if you liked it so much then why didn’t you stay there” came to mind and maybe out of my mouth a few times. If he would have been glowing or rough to both sides it would have made a lot more sense. This almost discredited an otherwise quality book for me.
The author could not seem to make up his mind between talking about the fall of the USSR and the Russian economic collapse a few years later. Of course both events were linked but the way he talked about them flipping back and forth randomly was confusing and in my mind not particularly logical. I’m not sure if he was trying to pad the book a bit, in any case it was distracting.
The Ugly: At points I found the book to be full of contradictions. He can’t seem to decide if there is going to be an economic collapse and hyperinflation or if things are going to go all Mad Max and stick with one idea. Much of his claim rests on peak oil theory which is, while not as discredited as global warming, certainly a subject that could be debated. This goes back to the point before that the events he is claiming will or are happening do not seem to logically lead to the conclusion he goes to. Maybe my reading missed something.
More so than any comparable book (Kustner, FerFAL, etc) I found this to be depressingly low on concrete ideas to prepare for the scenario the author lays out. He mentions how you might want to buy some compact tangibles such as soap and razor blades and that having a home with a bit of land to grow a garden that is paid off is a good idea. Aside from a few vagaries the book is awful long on problem and short on solution. I’ve been told never to bring somebody a problem without an idea for a solution, apparently Dimitry Orlov hasn’t heard that one.
Now for some discussion in no particular order:
-One compelling and disturbing point was brought up. A significant reason the Russian economic collapse was so calm was that everyone’s residence was owned by the state so nobody got evicted. Sure they shared an apartment with a 12 member 3 generation family but at least they had a roof and walls that was not tied to any need for income. In America pretty much everyone’s residence is tied to a need for continued income, if just to pay the property taxes. That kept their homeless population to a real minimum which contributed a lot to stability. I do not know a lot of people in America who would still be in their home after a year or two if their savings/ investments were wiped away and their job lost. I am not sure what would happen if America had that sort of structurally high unemployment. However if our current situation is any indicator it would favor banksters and large residential property owners (who are typically quite well off) not average down on his luck Joe 6 pack. Massive homelessness would be a huge tragedy for a lot of people and cause significant instability. When people think (maybe accurately) that they have nothing to lose they are very dangerous.
- I think it is not possible to make a lot of comparison’s in an ‘apples to apples’ way because so much was going on in the USSR and Russia during that period. All of the events happening make direct cause and effect impossible in some cases, at least IMO. I would say a lot of the chaos and the rise of a massive criminal underworld was the result of communism or the wild west collapse of communism. Unless there are significant tariff’s, price controls or truly punitive taxes put into place I do not see the kind of massive underworld that appeared in Russia happening. There is no need to buy $25 soap from a sketchy dude in an alley when you can get it from the neighborhood store. The existence of a relatively free market and its inherent ability to adapt readily negates some points the author made.
- Also for a lot of reasons I do not see the kind of massive corruption that took place in Russia happening, it just is not part of our culture, well except maybe Dem’s in Illinois. I do believe we could fall a rung down the proverbial corruption ladder but not to where Russia was/ is.
-As for the idea of a lot of laws and regulations being almost removed by the default of non enforcement I am not so sure. Unfortunately I think the answer is that laws will stay on the books and either every once in awhile somebody will get hammered for running an unlicensed business, dodging taxes, etc. This is not a huge deal as the odds of it being you are low. Another possibility is that laws will just be enforced selectively based upon various personal and political motives. Given the way the pendulum has swung recently that would be bad for most people who read this blog, especially the ones who are publicly outspoken. That the New Black Panthers can openly and brazenly intimidate white voters with weapons and face no consequences but an active conservative type will get hammered for a parking ticket or the like could be seen as a glimpse into the future.
In closing I do think this book is worth reading even though it does have some rough spots. The info and background on the Russian collapse was very interesting and though provoking. Heck I would go as far as to say it is worth paying retail price for if you can’t borrow a copy.
The Good: It was a quick, easy read. The author did a bang up job of speaking on complicated issues in clear language without jargon or scienceinese (the language scientists speak and none of the rest of us understand). Somebody smart once said that if you can’t explain an idea to an average man on the street then you do not really understand it. By that standard Dimitry Orlov really understands the themes and ideas that make up the subject matter for this book. For a nonfiction book it reads rather casually, part because of the clear simple language used and part because it is interwoven with stories of his experiences and anecdotal tales. In the closing comments he said (more of less) that he tried to keep it light and enjoyable and I would say he did a great job. The information on the Soviet economy and collapse was outstanding. Also the way it was written hit the man on the street angle as well as the bigger picture of what was happening. This balancing act was probably hard and he did a great job of it. I learned a lot about how the Soviet economy worked, failed to work and fell apart in this book.
The Bad: It is abundantly clear to me that the author looks at the Soviet union through some rose colored glasses. I don’t know a ton about the USSR/ Russia’s history but he seemed to have an awful positive memory. Furthermore I found him willing to sweep America with a broadly critical brush that is probably not deserved. The words “if you liked it so much then why didn’t you stay there” came to mind and maybe out of my mouth a few times. If he would have been glowing or rough to both sides it would have made a lot more sense. This almost discredited an otherwise quality book for me.
The author could not seem to make up his mind between talking about the fall of the USSR and the Russian economic collapse a few years later. Of course both events were linked but the way he talked about them flipping back and forth randomly was confusing and in my mind not particularly logical. I’m not sure if he was trying to pad the book a bit, in any case it was distracting.
The Ugly: At points I found the book to be full of contradictions. He can’t seem to decide if there is going to be an economic collapse and hyperinflation or if things are going to go all Mad Max and stick with one idea. Much of his claim rests on peak oil theory which is, while not as discredited as global warming, certainly a subject that could be debated. This goes back to the point before that the events he is claiming will or are happening do not seem to logically lead to the conclusion he goes to. Maybe my reading missed something.
More so than any comparable book (Kustner, FerFAL, etc) I found this to be depressingly low on concrete ideas to prepare for the scenario the author lays out. He mentions how you might want to buy some compact tangibles such as soap and razor blades and that having a home with a bit of land to grow a garden that is paid off is a good idea. Aside from a few vagaries the book is awful long on problem and short on solution. I’ve been told never to bring somebody a problem without an idea for a solution, apparently Dimitry Orlov hasn’t heard that one.
Now for some discussion in no particular order:
-One compelling and disturbing point was brought up. A significant reason the Russian economic collapse was so calm was that everyone’s residence was owned by the state so nobody got evicted. Sure they shared an apartment with a 12 member 3 generation family but at least they had a roof and walls that was not tied to any need for income. In America pretty much everyone’s residence is tied to a need for continued income, if just to pay the property taxes. That kept their homeless population to a real minimum which contributed a lot to stability. I do not know a lot of people in America who would still be in their home after a year or two if their savings/ investments were wiped away and their job lost. I am not sure what would happen if America had that sort of structurally high unemployment. However if our current situation is any indicator it would favor banksters and large residential property owners (who are typically quite well off) not average down on his luck Joe 6 pack. Massive homelessness would be a huge tragedy for a lot of people and cause significant instability. When people think (maybe accurately) that they have nothing to lose they are very dangerous.
- I think it is not possible to make a lot of comparison’s in an ‘apples to apples’ way because so much was going on in the USSR and Russia during that period. All of the events happening make direct cause and effect impossible in some cases, at least IMO. I would say a lot of the chaos and the rise of a massive criminal underworld was the result of communism or the wild west collapse of communism. Unless there are significant tariff’s, price controls or truly punitive taxes put into place I do not see the kind of massive underworld that appeared in Russia happening. There is no need to buy $25 soap from a sketchy dude in an alley when you can get it from the neighborhood store. The existence of a relatively free market and its inherent ability to adapt readily negates some points the author made.
- Also for a lot of reasons I do not see the kind of massive corruption that took place in Russia happening, it just is not part of our culture, well except maybe Dem’s in Illinois. I do believe we could fall a rung down the proverbial corruption ladder but not to where Russia was/ is.
-As for the idea of a lot of laws and regulations being almost removed by the default of non enforcement I am not so sure. Unfortunately I think the answer is that laws will stay on the books and either every once in awhile somebody will get hammered for running an unlicensed business, dodging taxes, etc. This is not a huge deal as the odds of it being you are low. Another possibility is that laws will just be enforced selectively based upon various personal and political motives. Given the way the pendulum has swung recently that would be bad for most people who read this blog, especially the ones who are publicly outspoken. That the New Black Panthers can openly and brazenly intimidate white voters with weapons and face no consequences but an active conservative type will get hammered for a parking ticket or the like could be seen as a glimpse into the future.
In closing I do think this book is worth reading even though it does have some rough spots. The info and background on the Russian collapse was very interesting and though provoking. Heck I would go as far as to say it is worth paying retail price for if you can’t borrow a copy.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Bad Information
History is full of epic failures caused by people making reasonable decisions which turn out to be very wrong based upon the underlying information being inaccurate or just plain wrong. Today I want to talk about a couple way’s we can run into problems with receiving information.
The first is called confirmation bias. Simply put people can have an inherent tendency to be biased in favor of people/ ideas/ information that confirms what we already believe. Sort of like an internal “yes man”. This is bad because we seek out information or guidance to improve, increase or expand the amount of information or successful techniques we have at our disposal. Also it tends to lean people away from more balanced approaches in favor of extreme measures, usually to their long term detriment.
Here is how confirmation bias could become an issue. Let us say that you are a person trying to figure out what to do with your money today. You have some inherent concerns about our economy and lean towards preparedness. If you only seek out and consider valid articles of gloom and doom, some of which are the delusional ramblings of a mentally ill 40 year old living in his mother’s basement you might make some questionable decisions.
The next topic is called circular reporting. Here is how circular reporting works with a real life (non opsec applicable) example: I hear a rumor about something and tell one person, that person also hears about the same rumor from 4 or 5 other people independently so he thinks it is in fact very likely true. What actually happened is that we all heard the same rumor floating around and mentioned it to this person. The info came from the same source and can be confused for the coveted multiple source intel that is generally pretty accurate.
Lastly when reading about circular reporting to confirm my informal definitions I heard about something called “the echo chamber” where something gets repeated and repeated and it gets louder and louder when in fact it is just the first thing. I think the conservative media, fox news, talk radio and political blogs definitely do this.
How does one counteract these phenomena? When it comes to confirmation bias the first step is recognizing the problem. I think keeping an open mind and not letting yourself get carried away is also a big part.
As for circular reporting I think taking things, particularly from certain sources, with a grain of salt is essential. Have a good perspective of how much you are willing to invest (time/ energy/ belief)in news or info from certain sources. Almost weekly I get an email with a link to something on the net that has some extreme crazy story, typically I read them just for amusement. I also see 5 people take it as gospel. You have to decide for yourself what to believe but personally if UN Shock troops invaded New Jersey under the orders of the Trilateral Commission I would probably not be getting the first news of it from Jimbo’s blog o’ paranoia. Also Ted’s NOW watch forum does not count as a second independent source, at least to me.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Comment Reply- Security vs Profit
· on priorities
Anonymous said...
If you have cash to pay for a new car, don't.
Take the loan for 0% or 1.9% etc. Let your cash stay in a high interest or dividend paying investment and earn more than you pay out.
Paying cash for large items is dumb when your money can work for you and not against you. ~~NGM~~
Anonymous said...
If you have cash to pay for a new car, don't.
Take the loan for 0% or 1.9% etc. Let your cash stay in a high interest or dividend paying investment and earn more than you pay out.
Paying cash for large items is dumb when your money can work for you and not against you. ~~NGM~~
TOR here: I won’t say that I necessarily disagree with you but do have some reservations. Lets break it into cars and homes. Of course there are other things one might choose to finance (however you shouldn’t financing toys is not prudent) but they typically fall in the car price range. We will talk cars.
First of all you need to know yourself. Are you a person who has the self discipline to have a good chunk of money sitting allocated for one thing (the car, etc) earning interest and pay the loan from that account? Would it slip into the general fund or get siphoned off for other things? Some folks have that discipline and others don’t, it isn’t a mark against you if you don’t so long as you know it.
Secondly let’s get on the same page when it comes to the numbers we are talking about. Are we talking a high interest savings account, CD ladder or something else with a guaranteed payout and no (aside from massive inflation, end of the world, etc) risk of principal? A 5% savings account (a thing of the past) is very different from “on average the market earns 8%”.
For most people, most of the time the rate you will be charged for interest on a loan is greater than the amount you can get in a guaranteed, no risk of principle (aside from massive inflation, end of the world, etc) payout with the liquidity to make a monthly payment. Auto loans can be an exception when they do the .09% to 2% super cheap loans. However, even then, beating it by enough to cover the various fees involved in a guaranteed, no risk of principle investment.
Now if they offer you 0% then a very legit argument could be made to take it, even if you are just going to have the money sitting in a savings account available for other purposes. Some folks I know who have done very well with money (both in earning and managing) typically pay cash for cars. He needed a 3rd consecutive Toyota commuter car (he puts a lot of miles on them) and planned to pay cash which is what they do. When they offered 0% he decided to take it and hold the balance of the cash.
Homes are a bit of a different thing. It is a much bigger situation with bigger implications. If I finance a car in the above scenario and something goes sideways (bank fails and my money is tied up for months, etc) it would suck but I could adjust things around and make the payment. Homes are much larger and the implications of that getting messed up are equally large. Typically paying off your primary residence is a prerequisite for retirement. It is also a huge step towards financial independence. Also a home is where you live, not something you drive. Worst case if you can’t pay for a car and it gets repossessed that sucks. A bit hit to your credit and you’ve got to figure out another set of wheels. However in a month or two you will have gotten over the personal feelings and figured out another set of wheels, hopefully a reliable beater paid for with cash. A home is where you live and a huge part of your life, particularly if you have been there for awhile.
With this there is definitely a trade off of security vs. profit. One in the hand vs two in the bush as they say. Personally I will take my one and lock it up somewhere then post an armed sentry. I just plain do not like owing people money. I like to know that as much of my future wages as possible can be allocated to meet my basic needs (food, shelter, fuel, etc) or toward whatever goals or desires I have at the time. Having money in an account set to make scheduled payments is cool if it all falls together right but in general just paying cash for stuff works out best. As part of this I know what is mine will continue to be mine if my income (or what it will buy) changes drastically. Nobody is coming to take my car if I become broke.
Well I hope that lays out my thoughts. Thank you for the interesting discussion.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Read and Follow
http://www.warriortalknews.com/2011/08/grazing.html
This was too good not to post/ link to. Read it and take it to heart, especially the parts about fitness and working hard to take care of your family instead of whining. Carrying a combat handgun and a reload is of course not a bad idea either.
This was too good not to post/ link to. Read it and take it to heart, especially the parts about fitness and working hard to take care of your family instead of whining. Carrying a combat handgun and a reload is of course not a bad idea either.
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