From Around The Web

Teotwawki Blog did an excellent Snub Nose Gear Roundup.

A journalist was not treated very nicely when he asked if Mayor Bloomberg was giving up his armed security. The classic elitist liberal position that chosen ones deserve the best protection the public purse will buy but us peasants can dial and die. Bet they aren't packing neutered 7 round mags either.

Assault Weapons ban does not have the votes to pass the senate. Next step is to protect our right to be full people unlike New Yorkers who are 7/30ths as important as chosen ones. After that we tell them to keep away from law abiding citizens right to buy and sell their private property with other law abiding citizens. Enforcing the gun laws we have would be a good start.

The lost art of cut shells.

Detroit edges closer to bankruptcy.

About every centerfire rifle in existence is just waiting to be redefined as a cop killer.

Quote of the Day

"As a prepper there may be situations where you want to come back and get them (magazines) but don't get so paranoid about losing your magazine that you get yourself shot."

-Maine Prepper

From his video Self defense chest rig and components.

Body Armor: A Tale of Two Vests

Well my rifle plates finally arrived yesterday from Spectre. From  making the order to my doorstep took a day short of 7 weeks. The plates are covered in this thick foamy stuff which isn't a bad thing.

In the meantime I kinda stumbled into a nice set of soft body armor.

I was going to write a post about body armor but realized I have already done that. We will hit some new points and rehash the older ones.

Some folks folks argue that armor slows them down. Sure there are some situations where you are best off with a rifle, camelback, 2 spare mags and an IFAK but those are few and far between. Long fast movements with a very low probability of contact like say an old school foot messenger in a pretty safe area would be a good example. To put it into perspective a PC with a set of plates weighs about 20 pounds. Assuming you are of a healthy weight and in shape it is pretty doable for most situations.  Everyone makes different choices but there are few situations where I would choose not to wear armor.

It is true that body armor will not stop everything. It is not a magical talisman that prevents being shot in the pelvis, face or extremities. That being said it is the best compromise between protection and mobility for most scenarios.

A plate carrier with rifle plates is a good option for a rather crazy scenario. They probably would have sold really well during the LA Riots or Katrina. Max Velocity said something worthwhile on the subject "Overall, I feel that anytime I am going to be carrying my battle rifle, for whatever reason, I want to be wearing at least a plate carrier with load out to carry my first line ammo scales plus IFAK and ancillaries. I could be wearing that in the low profile way I described, or openly in a tactical way."

 Anyway here is the Shellback Banshee PC with plates. To put the cost issue into perspective I am into this PC and plates for somewhere between $450 and $475. Not cheap by any means but doable with a bit of planning or by selling a gun that has been collecting dust in the back of the safe.

I think the reason body armor gets no love from a lot of the survivalist community is that it isn't sexy. Folks have no problem spending 300-500 dollars on a gun. Heck some folks do not have a problem spending that much on accessories for a gun or even on a new knife.  A blog friend of mine who no joke has well over 50 grand in guns described body armor as "ruinously expensive". He would be infinitely better off selling a couple guns and getting a PC for every family member.

As shown it is currently wearing a Condor double Kangaroo pouch because the cost was less than half the price of a set of HSGI double taco's. This is set up for home defense. (Yeah my load out is 3x rifle and 3x pistol mags. If I can't handle the job with that it's not getting done.) Not shown are a pair of pants with a holster and an IFAK stuffed in the cargo pocket. It is easy to take off that pouch and I am still kinda fiddling with whether the mags are best suited on the PC or belt.

You aren't going to conceal a PC with a bunch of pouches on it though a slick one is relatively doable. Worn under a sweatshirt or wind breaker (obviously in appropriate weather) somebody would have to be looking for body armor to see it. Keeping your mags and such in a chest rig lets you go slick PC, only mags/ kit or both which are options that suit a lot of scenarios.

The soft armor's role to me is for a variety of more mundane scenarios. Stuff like buying/ selling things or otherwise carrying around large amounts of cash. Maybe a trip to a stop and rob to get a few things when the situation is a bit iffy. There are a variety of scenarios that fall short of running around with an M4 and a full OEF style load out but aren't quite normal either. A glock, soft armor and a couple 33rd Glock mags in the cargo pocket or murse would be about as ready as you can be and still look fairly normal/ fit into normal society.

A line I wrote that Commander Zero quoted is worthwhile in terms of where body armor falls in the grand priority list. "There is a time for everything. If somebody asked me whether they should get a couple hundred rounds of buckshot and pistol ammo for guns they have less than a hundred rounds for and put the remaining bucks into a currently empty pantry or get a plate carrier I would say food and bullets. On the other hand if they were looking at getting a 4th handgun/rifle/whatever or a new optic vs body armor I would say to get the armor for sure. That 4th handgun/ rifle could certainly be useful but a plate carrier could save your life.

Finally to close I will paraphrase John Mosby aka Mountain Guerilla “If you have 6 AR’s in the safe but not body armor and night vision you’re screwing your friends and buddies."
 
Where does body armor fit into your defensive setup?

Are you one of those guys we talked about with a safe full of guns but no body armor? If so why?

Pic Post: Soft Body Armor and Streamlight TLR-1

Earlier this week I posted a Colt ACE II .22 Conversion Kit for sale. A fellow asked about trading then after some back and forth a set of soft body armor and a Streamlight TLR-1 were headed my way. Today they showed up.

Body armor taken apart and Streamlight TLR-1

The light is used but in very good condition.

Body armor put together and TLR-1 Streamlight on my EDC Glock 19.  I am pretty darn happy with this trade. The Streamlight TLR-1 was on my short list so that was cool. Not sure what I am going to do with it right now. Either it will sit around until I am running a dedicated house gun or I will pick up a concealment holster (the Raven one looks like the way to go) and give it a shot on the current EDC/ do everything Glock 19.  I wasn't necessarily in the market for a set of soft body armor but  it was on the long list and is something that's pretty handy to have around. Tomorrow morning or Monday the Colt ACE will go off to it's new owner. Both of us are happy about the deal which is how trades should be. Also I started talking to a reader who is a pretty solid dude so that is an added benefit.

All Sorts of Things

Well it looks like the Colt ACE Conversion Kit has a buyer. A fellow got in contact with me about trading. After some discussion (it takes awhile to narrow down potential trades to stuff a person wants) we came to a deal. I will be getting a used Streamlight TLR-1 and a set of pretty nice soft body armor with a plate for the front. A pistol light was high on my list and the vest wasn't exactly in my plans but it is a good thing to have around. The great thing about trades is that nobody is out any money, which is tight everywhere, and both parties can trade stuff they are not using for stuff they can use.

I fired up the Coleman propane stove with one of the big canisters as a test run. For whatever reason it wouldn't work with one hose but after realizing we had multiple sets I just swapped it out. The In Laws probably had 3 of the sets that let you run a propane Coleman stove and lantern off a big refillable canister. The one that worked was put away with the stove in the box. More testing or research than I am willing to do would have to take place to really know but I suspect one of those BBQ sized propane bottles would run a Coleman stove for a really long time.

Continuing on our trek towards getting rid of all the unused and unneeded stuff in our lives called minimalism we have sold 2 strollers and a coffee table. Another stroller should get sold tomorrow. We started organizing all of Walkers old clothes. Some sentimental stuff as well as a small set of things in each size will be kept but the remainder (far more than our kid wore) will be sold. The money will go towards purchasing things we need or want for kiddo #2.

Yesterday I made some pretty good corn bread. It was the normal recipe plus a bit more than half a jalapeno and a 1/2 cup of cheese. It definitely brought some life to an otherwise average side dish. We will do it again.

Survival Blog mentioned that Walmart is going to be selling Savage pump shotguns for $169 on black Friday. I am a Remington/ Mossberg guy but if you need a shotgun this is a heck of a deal for a new shotgun in a viable defensive configuration.

Our friends at Camping Survival did a video on long term coffee storage.

Check out the 10 Most Memorable Fictional Survivalists.

Anyway that is what's going on here.

Plate Carriers and Body Armor at Large

As mentioned yesterday I threw down some electronic bucks to order a set of Ceramic class IV Plates. If and when to purchase body armor is a topic worth discussing.  The if is pretty simple to me. If you are preparing for a seriously violent encounter then you want body armor. This is really painfully obvious. We sort of forgot about this after the whole invention of firearms made old school chain mail or metal armor useless. In the last few decades (not willing to actually look it up) progressively more useful body armor has come into existence.

At this time body armor is available at every man type prices. My setup was about $500 all said and done. Going with a cheaper plate carried could have shaved it to about $450. In other words about what a polymer pistol like a Glock or an XD costs and 2/3rds or so the cost of an AR-15. Certainly not pocket change but doable for most people with some planning and saving. If you have at least 1x fighting pistol and 1x fighting rifle per adult family member it might be smart to get body armor before buying some more guns that are going to get buried in a PVC pipe in the woods left in the gun safe. By the time you are reaching for that 3rd AR that's been collecting dust for awhile odds are you're in a situation where a person may shoot at you.

 When is a much more interesting question. As I said about a recent post over at Commander Zero's place 
"There is a time for everything. If somebody asked me whether they should get a couple hundred rounds of buckshot and pistol ammo for guns they have less than a hundred rounds for and put the remaining bucks into a currently empty pantry or get a plate carrier I would say food and bullets. On the other hand if they were looking at getting a 4th handgun/rifle/whatever or a new optic vs body armor I would say to get the armor for sure. That 4th handgun/ rifle could certainly be useful but a plate carrier could save your life.

Finally to close I will paraphrase John Mosby aka Mountain Guerilla “If you have 6 AR’s in the safe but not body armor and night vision you’re screwing your friends and buddies."  Somewhere between getting ready for a short term natural disaster and Red Dawn is about the right place.

 A plate carrier with rifle plates doesn't fit into every scenario. Then again neither do buckets of wheat or solar panels or anything else. Also they are absolutely the right tool for  high threat environments. Also I believe being equipped for individual combat is a good thing. Soft body armor is easier on the budget and can often be found for $200 or less. Soft body armor can also fit a lot of more common moderate threat type scenarios. Scenarios like selling a used car for cash or moving large amounts of cash around. I would say in a perfect world having both is a good option.

Well those are my thoughts on that. As always input is welcome.

Project AR Upgrade, Class IV Body Armor, Washers N' Dryers and Dogs

Today was pretty busy. We had to do all manner of running around errand type stuff. It isn't a done deal yet but looks like we are getting a dog in the next few days. More to follow on this. Also we were able to pick up a washer and dryer. Bought them used at a pretty good price. Finding the place was an adventure. I spent an hour or so puttering around dirt roads out in the desert trying to find some little lane. Got them here and hooked up so we can wash clothes which will be really nice. Also it means we can get back to cloth diapering which will be good.

I ordered a set of ceramic level IV rifle plates to fill out my TAG Banshee plate carrier. Some thoughts on body armor are floating in my head but that can wait for another day.

Pulled the trigger on Project Upgrade AR. BCM 14.5" Mid Length with a pinned Battle Comp 1.5. Not 100% it was worth paying the extra for the comp but I haven't heard anything bad about them so it seemed like a good idea. Also got a BCM bolt carrier group, Gunfighter charging handle (the medium one) and Flat Earth Magpul hand guard with a BUIS to match. The Magpul hand guard and potentially the BUIS are relatively temporary until Phase II which will be a Rail and DBAL.

Today was a pretty good day in terms of life and preparedness. These days do not happen often. It is worth noting that it would not have been possible without a lot of saving and selling off a couple of guns. Selling things I do not use or need to fund the purchase of more useful stuff is something I am getting to like.

Speaking of which the M1 Garand seems to have a buyer. Nothing is 100% until it's over but this looks promising. I am pretty psyched about it. Think those funds will start filling in some holes like night sights and a surefire weapons light.

Anyway I am going to relax for a bit and enjoy Sons of Anarchy which is cool. Maybe it is just a nuance of programing here but the CBS show Vegas seems to have prudently moved to 9 o'clock.

Gun/ Gear Buying Time- An Informal Poll

Finally got my computer back today which is pretty cool. Well except it took almost 2 weeks and cost a couple hundred bucks. On the bright side they were able to save everything important.

This month's purchases will be gear/ defensive stuff. Not specifically related to this discussion but along these general lines it looks like rifle plates and some additional PMAGs should be sufficiently funded. Just waiting for me to figure out a few things and pull the trigger on both. Of course I will be happy when both are finalized and delivered. Also I had previously planned to get some more Glock mags and after reviewing my mental inventory I could pick up another gun and still stay under my mag ratio which is good enough for now.   So that can go down a few notches on the list.

I  have been kicking around a few ideas but really need to think about it. I need some  various small gun stuff, a couple random mags, another Glock holster, 2-3 sets of night sights, a pistol light and a rifle light. Also another nice pack to act as a special use/ get home bag would be sweet. Additionally I have just plain been gear lusting after almost everything Hill People Gear make. Particularly the Highlander pack, Mountain Serape and runners kit bag catch my eye. The kit bags are on sale right now but that is more something I will need down the road when the kid(s) grow up some and I start spending time under a ruck as a civilian.  As to the other two items they are on the short side of my gear list.

Part of me says I should get a good OC type (for outdoor activity, etc) holster for the Glock, night sights and some other little odds and ends. That fairly reasonable idea is solid but there are enough things moving around that I might just be able to take care of all that little stuff in one shot a little bit down the road. Along the gun line of effort I am jonesing to upgrade a bunch of parts on my all around AR. Pretty much I plan to get everything except a new lower from either BCM or Spikes Tactical (the old stuff may get sold but will probably go into inventory). The practical side says to finish up a bunch of this little gun stuff, get a .22 conversion kit, pick up some more gear and then upgrade. (On the other hand project upgrade AR is the last part of my now pretty short list of realistic things I want to get done before election time. I don't believe in going crazy because something might happen with a ban or whatever but filling whatever gaps happen to be present is just smart. Holsters and high end nylon gear aren't going anywhere for awhile.)

Also the warbelt project is still in the pipeline awaiting funding.

So there are 3 options:

A) Buy various small gun stuff now. Deal with additional revenue from gun sales (if anything pans out) later, probably towards project upgrade AR.

B) Get something cool from Hill People Gear or otherwise put money into gear.

C) Build a warbelt. I have a perfectly serviceable setup now, just not exactly what I would like.

There is always D) Do something else.

Before somebody asks the usual (relevant) questions about various other stuff like food or whatever please remember that the purchasing plan I am using allocates given amounts of money to different categories. It is not like I am shorting food to buy gear or medical to buy something else or whatever. Also what might be the biggest benefit of this plan is that I am no longer worried about if I should be spending money elsewhere. It is fairly easy for me to know what are the next logical options in a given category while it is pretty hard to compare totally unlike items. When it is time to buy gear I buy gear, ditto for food/ water or medical/ communications. I will revisit the categories maybe 1-2x a year to reshuffle if needed. This just takes out all that worry (and my tendency to gravitate to the tactical side which I know best) out of the equation.

I am still working through my own thoughts on this. Honestly I hadn't planned to write this post, it just sort of came together spontaneously. Anyway please let me know what you think. Cannot guarantee I will go with the consensus/ or most compelling point but I will sure take it into consideration.

Body Armor, To Buy Or Not And When To Use

The topic of body armor has come up again recently. I have talked a bit about it in the past. Anyway here we go, some of this will probably be new and some will be rehashed.The first question is if you should buy body armor. I would say that folks who think they might end up on the two way range some day would be well advised to acquire body armor. It saves lives and gives a useful advantage. It broadly comes in two types soft armor (like cops wear)  and rifle plates. Soft vests can sometimes be had pretty cheap. They will stop most pistol rounds and buckshot. It comes in class 2A, 2 and 3A. Each successively heavier type stops larger/ faster bullets but is also heavier and thicker. A lot of folks recommend class 2 as a good compromise. One of these might be handy if you have to make large cash transactions or otherwise function at increased risk in a normal non mad max world. Rifle plates are solid ceramics or steel plates that stop heavier/ faster rounds including most common rifle rounds up to the .308/30'06 range. They are relatively heavy, cumbersome and expensive. Then again they do stop rifle bullets. While a stripped plate carrier could theoretically be concealed under a coat or sweatshirt they are not something most folks would wear outside of a war zone or situation where a gunfight was likely. When to buy it is however a practical question. Once you have some basic weapons w/ ammo and ancillary stuff, some food and other gear it might be a good time to look at body armor. The subject of cost comes up here. My experiences as a consumer and brief google research show the following for prices. A soft vest will probably cost as much as a decent used revolver (around $300) and a plate carrier with rifle plates costs about as much as a mid shelf AK or lower end AR ($600ish or more). This is honestly something folks on really low budgets may have a hard time affording. I wouldn't fault somebody who was doing their best to slowly work through their families needs in a logical way and had to put off the purchase of body armor indefinitely.That being said if you have several nice pistols and a half dozen military pattern rifles but no body armor your priorities are skewed. I would recommend that you stop collecting guns. Delay the purchase of your next toy vital survivalist tool, consider maybe selling a safe queen and get the stuff you need to have every possible advantage on the two way range. Personally I would place body armor before gen III night vision. This is simply because of cost as body armor costs about 1/5th as much as a PVS 14 monocle. [While night vision is another topic most of the things said about body armor could be amplified about night vision. Very useful but very expensive.]When to use it. Personally body armor is part of my home defense plans. I want every possible advantage, fighting fair is for idiots and losers. Lots of folks talk about how body armor is not useful for insurgents or  guerillas or generally in modern "4G" warfare. I have to observe that most of them have not been a boots on the ground (vs say a senior FG officer in some redundant "command") participant in one of these conflicts. Lots of lives are saved by body armor. There is a reason that historically speaking fatalities are down (though amputees are up by percentage) in our recent conflicts. Body armor saves lives. A plate carrier will typically weigh around 20 pounds (plates at 7-8lbs each, a couple pounds for the carrier, potentially side plates, etc) give or take. A full up IOTV weights more and to be blunt I would not recommend it for most civilian or G applications.Some folks talk about how the added weight slows you down. Some argue this is a significant factor in recent conflicts, particularly Afghanistan. I read a great article about this called Bring Back The Light Infantry which I linked to in an old but if I do say so myself pretty awesome post.For me if things went all Red Dawn and I was playing guerrilla with remaining parts of my unit, buddies or whatever I would be inclined to wear body armor far more often than not. The decision would be a trade off between the protection body armor offers and the decreased mobility it brings. Mostly this would be an issue if we needed to carry a particularly heavy load to sustain ourselves for a long period or due to heavy items needed for the mission. Also if speed was important and the risk of contact was quite low I might consider ditching the armor. Certainly I would wear armor if conducting any sort of planned operation such as a raid or ambush. Basically unless there was a really good reason (or reasons) not to I/we would wear our darn body armor. Not too long ago I found myself doing a timed run in interceptor body armor, a uniform, boots and a helmet. Two miles took me 16 minutes plus a few seconds but I do not remember exactly; so about a minute to a minute and a half longer than it would in shorts and running shoes. Of course adding a chest rig with a bunch of magazines and a rifle would be an increase in weight but you would have that stuff either way. The point I am trying to get at is that body armor, especially a basic plate carrier with 2 rifle plates, just ISN'T REALLY ALL THAT HEAVY. If you have a strong core, a bit of muscle and run/ ruck regularly like you should be doing anyway wearing body armor, though it does increase the suck a bit really isn't an issue. I have to humbly submit for consideration that if a person who isn't fit enough to go play war wearing body armor isn't fit enough to play anyway.

Reader Questions: M1 Garand Sale

To yesterday's post and the ongoing discussion about selling guns " Anonymous said...You *really* want to sell an M1 Garand at this particular point in history? With BHO about to be re-elected with a new 'mandate' from the Aurora shootings to permanently ban semi-autos once and for all? 

 

No offence, but give yourself an early Christmas present and wait for the new year to consider sell that 7.62x51 piece of awesomeness."

 

TOR here: Yes  I do, otherwise I wouldn't be selling it. Maybe more accurately I don't totally want to sell it but I want other stuff more than I want to keep it. As to a potential ban. There is a solid chance President Obama will be reelected. I don't think any sort of ban is imminent or even likely due to a variety of factors such as people's opinions and our current political climate. That being said my prioritization of potentially targeted items has gone up a bit, maybe from gun hording condition yellow to gun hoarding condition amber if you will.

 

One could argue that selling a gun in a time where there is an uncertain political climate might not be smart. Then again, as the case is, I am selling off weapons that are in (to me) redundant/ unnecessary calibers, or otherwise do not really have a solid place in my defensive battery. I am not saying the Garand is a bad gun or whatever, just that the resources currently sitting in said Garand could better serve me elsewhere. Keeping a gun that doesn't have  a solid place in your plan doesn't make much sense.

 

The more pertinent question might be "Ryan, what do you plan to do with the money from selling an M1 Garand?" If my plan was to sell a couple guns and spend the money on internet poker or a years supply of frozen pizzas it probably wouldn't be a good choice. However if the plan is to use that money to either acquire gun(s) or ancillary stuff thereon  that fit better into my defensive battery or food storage/ etc I would say it makes pretty good sense.  As to specifically what I plan to purchase that is still kind of up in the air. It depends on what I happens between now and any potential sale and on when and how much cash I get. If some rifle plates haven't come home with my by then I will take care of that. Ditto for a few more Pmag's. Half of whatever I get will probably go towards whatever ancillary stuff like mags or night sights is next on the list and the other half toward the purchase of some sort of firearm. I kind of have an urge to get a pretty nice AR-15. The whole landscape of the AR-15 market has really changed in the last few years. A lot of nice rifles have come out at real nice price points. When funds allow I will probably order a complete upper from Spikes Tactical or BCM then shop around for a lower.

Hopefully that answers your question.

What Did You Do To Prepare This Week?

Yeah, I failed in that I am doing this regularly weekly post on Thursday which is just about end of the next week. I might skip doing it in 4 days and get back on track. This week I started doing some afternoon workouts in addition to the usual M-F PT in the morning. I got 2 afternoon workouts in this week  (since monday) and am going to shoot for 3 next week.

Last week was a deload (a very light week to rest or get back into training) and this week I got back into it for reals. On the downside I had to decrease the weights I am working with more than would be ideal. Really what happened I was pretty strong since I was sticking with a solid program and just lifting like a beast so I adjusted my maxes upward towards the end of the deployment. Shortly therafter training wasn't consistent for a couple months or so and then I got really sick and didn't touch weights for about a month and a half. Anyway I am where I am today. Next month I will be a little bit stronger and in 6 months I will be stronger still. I am incorporating power cleans into my routine for the first time in more than a year. I hate them but darn it they work.

We got Wifey a free bike. It is missing a pedal and has 2 flat tires. I got some pedals for $7 and will figure out the tires this weekend. Last week we saw a bunch of Germans with kiddo seats on bikes and thought it was pretty cool. Wifey got onto the used boards and found one for $30. I will put it onto my eco friendly 2 wheeled transport.

I sort of stumbled into some really good stuff today. A set of multicam wet weather gear, a softshell jacket and a winter "michaline man suit" as well as some boots and random multicam stuff. I don't know if the boots are quite the right size for me. However worst case they will be held onto just in case or given to friends. I was seriously blessed by getting this great gear.

We talked about plate carriers earlier this week. I am pretty sure that a Condor plate carrier and some plates will be ordered this weekend. I have the case but just have to sit down and do the registering for the site and that ordering hassle.

Anyway unless I forgot some stuff that is what I did to prepare this week.

Plate Carrier Question

I am looking at getting a plate carrier. Aside from police surplus vests I have little experience with body armor in a civilian context. Anyway I am curious. What type of plate carrier are you running? Do you like it?

Conversation of the Day

To set the stage. A couple people at work were arguing about something
dumb.

Another fellow-John Lennon said "all you need is love".

Me-"He got shot. If the guy had a piece and a bullet proof vest maybe he
would still be alive."

It was kind of harsh but true. Be hard to kill.

Can You Do It In Kit

The other day I was doing IOTV pullups. In case you are wondering they are hard. I also run in kit and do all sorts of other stuff in it. I should note that this sort of physical training is pretty hard and should be worked up to gradually, especially if you are not in great shape. Walk before you run. However this is a good thing to do for a few reasons. First it is a pretty good test of if you have the effective fitness to move and control your body in kit. Next it is a great counterpoint to the internet forum fan boys who think you need dozens of pouches and all kinds of tacticool junk hanging everywhere. Also this is a great way to work out all the little kinks and get everything to work together. You will find that a pouch might get in the way or the hose to your camelback won't stay put or the like. A poorly fitted vest will quickly be noticed. Some simple walking and jogging, or more if you are up to it, and a few trips to the range will help iron all that stuff out.

Veterans Day

We got a long weekend because well, as my Dad said it would be pretty messed up if we worked Veterans Day. Veterans Day is certainly a good one but I will take any excuse for a 4 day. Wifey and I did some various errands this morning and pretty much just hung out for the rest of the day. Didn't do anything big or special. No parades or celebrations or anything like that. I just didn't really feel like doing much of anything special. Wifey asked what I wanted for dinner (tacos) and suprised me with some Heineken which was cool.

Maybe I should say something cliche about sacrifice and honor and all that but I just really don't want to. I am a veteran in the most literal sense of having personally been in combat and just don't really feel the need.

I can say that everybody is mentally affected in some way by combat. How the mental stuff  comes together from your past experiences and personality and whatever experiences you may have in war is truly intangible. I am not going to use value based words like weak or strong but for whatever reason the way people react to the same stimulus and experiences is not at all consistent. It absolutely is not A+B=C. What will profoundly affect one person might not do anything to another.

One interesting thing about OIF and OEF is that our soldier survivability has improved dramatically. Body Armor, new advanced medical training implimented down to the soldier level (in particular needle chest decompression) and better/ quicker access to higher levels of medical care are responsable for this. However an unfortunate second order effect of this (particularly quality body armor) is that while fewer soldiers are dying we are seeing a lot more amputee's. Basically with an IBA or OTV and a helmet on unless the face/ neck gets injured or one is completely vaporised there is a pretty  high probability of survival. If you have ever spent any time near Landstuhl Regional Medical Center or Walter Reed you have almost surely have seen the real scars of war up close.

I think about these seriously wounded soldiers (and marines, airmen, etc all) a lot. I don't think you can see a young man missing multiple limbs and covered in 3rd degree burns and not consider it. I think about what their lives are going to be like. Hopefully they can find some kind of a meaningful career and a good relationship and build a life for themself. Unfortunately I believe the statistics aren't optomistic.

Despite my intentions otherwise this got all heavy and depressing, sorry folks. To be honest I just find veterans day really depressing. It is a testimant to my personal functionality that I do not spend it alone in a dark closet with a half gallon of whiskey.

Body Armor Questions

I am kinda looking for some input. Body armor has been on my list for awhile now. I have saved up enough cash ($600 and I could toss in a bit more if necessary) for my looking to be legitimate and not just window shopping. I am however unsure exactly on what I want to get. I was looking at just getting a plate carrier and a set of stand alone plates but I seem to keep second guessing that idea. I am just nowhere near as happy and sure about this as I should be for such a significant purchase.

The other idea that has hit my head is to get two new soft and or concealable vests.

One thing I am quite curious about is the US Palm Defender setup. Basically they are a plate carrier type setup that comes with a IIIA panel in the front for right around $200. If anyone has personal experience with this setup I would love to hear about it. A IIIA panel for the back would round the cost up to $300. We could get a pair of these and pick up plates later. This would also let us use the smaller, thinner more common plates that are III or IV with supporting backing versus stand alone plates. I like this idea because it gives us a lot of options. If we got a set of these we would BOTH have body armor. Pistol and shotgun protection is a lot better than no protection. Down the road we would get plates to put in them of course. Also these are available with mag pouches or MOLLE (which I would get) so it could make the home invasion rig I have in mind.

For a bit of background we currently have a used police surplus IIA vest. However it is kind of older and it has already been shot once (boring story that doesn't involve me) I am inclined to relegate it to a backup as soon as practical. Also I should note that my long term body armor goal is for each person to have a set of  heavy armor/ rifle plates and a helmet and a concealable vest or two as well as some extra plates floating around. I think a concealable vest is useful for those situations where you need to transport a lot of cash or those sort of things so full on body armor doesn't entirely replace the concealable stuff.

Any experience or thoughts you have on this would be greatly appreciated.

Rule #1 Cardio

Just a reminder. Also if you A) have to take the straps off your plate carrier and B) breathe heavily and show visible strain from putting the thing on or taking it off and tossing it back on the couch it should be a wake up call. Fatties die first.

What Did You Do To Prepare This Week?

 On the bright side I am finally starting to feel normal again. However between work and life nothing amazing happened this week. I did some cooking which was good. Wifey has been taking it easy so Miley and I have been cooking. Nothing too crazy but if you don't use those skills you start to lose them. I have also been reading a lot which is cool. Got all caught up on blogs plus also some select chapters of various field manuals. Learned some interesting stuff and was pretty entertained in the process.

Moved some money around and I should be getting a plate carrier and rifle plates this week. Also I have been looking at optics. Awhile back I was thinking EoTech but after a recent trip to the range I really like and shoot better using an optic that has some magnification. I LOVE the ACOG but alas, hangs head in shame, it is too expensive. I am looking at the IOR M2 scopes. Got to do some more research and run the numbers. Still might be awhile.

I also tore up our place and finally found my P Mags. Unfortunately I have a few less than I thought I did. Oh well that can be rectified later. Think I'm going to start using some at work to evaluate them.

I started working on next years Wish List which makes up at least part of the New Years Resolutions. Nothing new or huge there. Working on protective gear as well as some outdoor type stuff. Just kinda coming up with ideas now. Then I will weigh different categories and think about what I can realistically do in a year. More to follow in a month and a half or so. Come to think of it I need to look at where I am on this years New Years Resolutions. Don't have much time to finish things off.

My home brewed beer is better after waiting another week. They said it needed 3 weeks but 4 turns out to be more accurate. It is less cloudy and the carbonation seems to be more uniform. Also the bitter after taste has gone away. It is a relatively light, slightly sweet and refreshing ale.

For a slow week I guess it wasn't too bad. Next week is going to be pretty packed. Posting may be abnormal this coming week.

What did you do to prepare this week?

My Kit

I wrote about chest rigs awhile back. That post got me thinking and then acting on something I had been wanting to do for some time. I use a standard issue MOLLE FLC. Money isn't an object I just like these a lot as a platform. I don't like conventional chest rigs for a couple reasons. The first reason is that unlike a conventional chest rig (they are generally a 6 inch or so panel with 2-3 rows of the modular strapping stuff) with these you can attach stuff basically anywhere on the front of your torso. Secondly in my experience chest rigs have all kinds of straps all over the place and getting them comfortable is pretty hard. Makes adjusting a shoulder holster seem easy. Also I like that the load is evenly distributed widely over your shoulders instead of on a 1 1/4 inch area.

However the FLC as issued has a serious flaw. In the back there is this big stupid strap in the back. You can rotate the biog dumb belt thing all the way around so there are just straps in the back. However doing that has the cost of not being able to open the FLC in the front. That wouldn't be a big issue except for the fact that we wear body armor. It is awful darn convenient to be able to put your FLC on and off with the IBA instead of having an extra step of pulling it over your head every single time. The picture below shows what I am talking about. (Yeah by the looks it is some Marine guys stuff but it's the first good picture which clearly shows what I was looking to show.)

Seriously the FLC is like we had a great idea and then somebody said it had to have a huge stupid thing going around the back. I think it was some old guy who just couldn't deal with the kit not being based around a big belt thing. I have tried the FLC as a rack/ chest rig with the big stupid pad rotated to the front and in its conventional way and found both setups to be wanting. Basically I prefer the FLC over a chest rig but I want it to not have the big stupid belt thing in the back and also be able to open in the front. Yeah I like to have my cake and eat it too.

So I had an idea. My idea was to replace the big stupid belt thing. You need to secure the back so it doesn't go flopping all over the place when you lean over or whatever so just having it open isn't an option. I considered a piece of 550 cord but decided against it because the Army is really anal about this stuff so it needs to look legit. Another consideration on my options was that if God forbid I am seriously injured and somebody grabs that strap to drag me I need the darn thing to hold. In full kit I probably weigh 230lbs and if you factor in momentum and someone pulling on a single point that requires a strong strap. I settled on simple 1 1/4 inch webbing with a buckle in the middle. There are hooks for webbing on the FLC right by the middle of the front (where the zipper is) so you hook it through them and it is attached. The webbing on the FLC's stupid belt thing is the same size so it is too easy. I then sat on the idea for some time.

The day I wrote the blog I decided to just do it and put my kit into the configuration I wanted. Since we are in Germany I ended up having to scavenge the webbing. I had a Tactical Tailor chest rig I never really got comfortable with sitting around and decided to scavenge from it. Unfortunately that meant  cutting straps but I left enough on the side I had to cut from (it went to a clip on the other side) that I can later just get some more webbing and hook it together with a buckle. Anyway I got it done and though I haven't used it much yet am quite happy with the results. 

As worn.

Left side has 4 double mag pouches. They can hold 8 M4 (or I guess others of comparable size) mags or 6 mags and a pistol or NVG monocle or whatever. Figure another in the rifle and possible on the butt stock and I am able to carry 270-300 rounds. Can't see carrying more on my kit though if need be I would bring a bandoleer or something.

Right side from center; medical pouch, radio pouch, 1 quart canteen pouch to hold night vision goggles with the Rino mount and J arm, on the top is a compass. The only addition I intend to make is a small random pouch to hold little stuff. Most likely my compass will move down between the radio pouch and the NVG pouch and said small random pouch will go where the compass pouch is. I carry water in a camelback and sometimes stuff a couple granola bars or whatever in a random pocket. This setup is sufficient for operations of at least several hours. If I was going out dismounted for longer it would require more water, more than a couple chewy bars and probably some sort of sleeping gear. In that case an assault pack with a 2 quart canteen or two would come along.

Well that is what I carry.

Oregon Trail Series #2 What The Oregon Trail Taught Me About Survival

1. Mr. "I'll take 4 oxen and all the bullets $1600 will buy me" was amusing. At least he was amusing to me, Wifey who played the game as a kid also didn't see the humor, I think that was because every boy went the all bullets route at least once. Our results were invariably unsuccessful. Breaking down or starving to death way before getting anywhere near running out of bullets. You have got to allocate your resources to meet many different needs. All the bullets in the world will not feed you. All the food in the world will not help a sick kid. Medicine doesn't make up for not having a spare jacket or a broken axle. Prudent people allocate their resources diversely to meet their many needs.

2. To capture this significant issue in its own lesson; bullets will not solve every problem or keep you reliably fed. Sure you can hunt but even a great shot might not see game that often. You need to store food.

3. Sanitation and hygiene are important lest you want to die of dysentery. That pretty much speaks for itself.

4. Something will happen so you don't want to spend all of your money. If anything the game under emphasizes this point. You don't know what is going to happen. It could be running low on oxen or the need to replace that extra spare axle. People take cash so you better have some available.

5. People die and not just random strangers but people you know. The game made this almost laughable with like a 30 percent mortality rate but lets not ignore the point. To think that your family will get through a prolonged dangerous period without outside assistance is probably naive. [Especially if that time included multiple violent confrontations it is almost laughable. If you think some guns, maybe a bit of body armor and a day once in a blue moon in the backyard trying to do battle drills will mean you come out heroically and surprisingly and completely unscathed you're more optimistic than I am. Once you consider that these contacts are more likely to be defensive than offensive the odds get even worse.] Getting your medical training and supplies squared away is a darn good start. Being careful and using proper safety equipment is prudent also. Someone truly out in the hinder boonies probably needs to worry a lot more about a slip with an ax then a gunfight. However while I encourage you to prepare as fully as possible for all these situations it is worth squaring yourself up with the fact that someone could die.

6. Whatever the risk don't be afraid to seek opportunities. There are always risks in life. However if you refuse to pursue any opportunities because there is some risk involved you won't get much of anywhere. It could be moving to another state for a new far better paying job with some real potential or deciding to become a single income household. It might be moving to a rural home, into alternate housing or even off grid. All of these possibilities have some risks (though death from dysentery is low on the list) that need to be accepted. Don't be afraid to accept some risk.

7. Be prepared for a long journey. No matter how much you spend or how hard you work the road to preparedness, like the trail from Independence, Missouri to the Willamette Valley, is very long. Some times it is going to seem like it will never end but unless you keep moving the end never comes. Then you just end up in Nebraska or Wyoming which are nice enough places but much harder to farm in than the Willamette Valley.