What Did You Do To Prepare This Week?

I swapped some .357 magnum ammo we no longer need for 125 rounds of 9mm. We restocked a bunch of household stuff that had been used. Also picked up some more laundry soap, sponges and a few other things to build up some extra. Sold some stuff I had purchased semi speculatively to free up cash. Put some time into the garden and did some sun oven cooking also.

That's about all I can think of.

What did you do to prepare this week?

A Personal Note

H, I received the letter. Will get to the bank then post office either this afternoon or tomorrow. Somehow or another I will tell you when that is done. Would have sent this in an email but my account is wonky today.

-Ryan

Pending Sale Trijicon ACOG TA31F

Paid 1,200 and am asking $1,000. It has the red chevron and .223 BDC. Comes with the stuff shown including a scope cover, lense pen, manuals and pelican case.

Would swap for a low powered variable 1.1-4/5 Leupold with an illuminated reticle or an Aimpoint. Can also use an AR pistol upper (10 inch). If you happen to be in AZ I would swap for a variety of guns. Cash +/- as needed to round out the trade.

If you are interested drop an email to theotherryan@yahoo.com and we can make a deal.

What Did You Do To Prepare This Week?

This week we were kind of busy with a sick kid and Christmas as well as the usual mundane life stuff.

We picked up a battery charger for Wifey's cell phone, a big bag of food for Dog and some odds and ends of pantry stuff. Also Wifey found us a BBQ for $20 from some folks who were moving. The propane tank that came with it alone is worth twice that and the BBQ while simple is pretty new and in good condition. The BBQ is a win in terms of life but the propane tank is probably the bigger preparedness win.

I have been doing some wheeling and dealing in terms of guns. Definitely a lot of contacts lead to a few discussions which now and then brings about an actual transaction. Oh well that is the nature of the thing.

The Solo Stove was tested which was both fun and successful.  My rifle plates finally showed up which was cool.

Of course plenty of running and some lifting happened.  This coming week my schedule is a bit more open so I am going to work in more body weight stuff which has been a weak spot as of late and at least one road march. I have been eating pretty decently (well minus Friday night and Saturday) and that has been having some good effects on my body and performance.

Next week I am going to put some lead downrange. Also want to go over the kit for car 1 and put something together for car 2. In any other motivated time I will start reassembling the old BOB. Testing of the Pathfinder Trade Knife is close to done so a review will come out once my thoughts solidify.

What did you do to prepare this week?

Buying and Selling Stuff

Wifey buys and sells lots of things. Stuff we have that we no longer need goes and stuff that we do need comes. Occasionally in the great quest to have a household that doesn't suck things get upgraded. Lately I have been doing some buying and selling also but the specifics are not important. Every market is a bit different and the things you see can be interesting.

Wifey and I have seen that the market down here in Southern Arizona is weird. There are people who want reasonable prices and folks who have got to be nuts. Why somebody would think they can sell something for the same price it is in the store for is beyond me. This is optimistic when they get something new and do not end up using it but outright crazy when the stuff is used.

When it comes to buying and trading stuff there is a balance to keep. If you are only in the market for thing #1 on the list it may be a long time. On the other hand if you take everything folks offer then you end up with a big mess and not the stuff you really need. I am trying to open it up to the top 3-4 things on the list. When one gets taken care of then things bump up a notch. Of course if there is a great deal it might be worth looking at #5.

Along those lines barter is a hassle. Seriously there is a reason that people started using money. Think about it. For a trade to work somebody has to have a thing I want that they are willing to trade for something I have that I am willing to part with. When it works trading is great but a lot of the time it is really a hassle.

I have seen people wanting outright stupid prices for guns. A guy wanted a grand for a Romanian WASR! Folks are trying to sell no name AR's for what I spent on Project AR Upgrade. While guns do hold their value pretty well they do not increase in value (baring a ban) like tribbles on the Starship Enterprise.

Also it is amusing to me that people think a gun being their own 'custom build' is a desirable thing. First of all guns built by idiots in their basements lead to a lot of the myths of poor reliability. Second like hot rod's odds are somebody who really wants to do a nonstandard build wants the parts he thinks are awesome. Also the idea that they can get the total value of every part as a fair cumulative price is amusing. Just because the parts cost 2 grand does not mean it's a two thousand dollar gun. The conversation with one fellow that the gun he wanted $2,400 (IIRC) for probably was not worth a grand was awkward.

Also people flaking out is just part of the deal. Everybody has a life and lots of stuff going on. Of course you might not want to deal with that person again, especially if you are really inconveniences, but no need to take it personal.

Anyway those are my thoughts on that.

Who Would Lose A Trade War?

Chinese think tank warns US it will emerge as loser in trade war. 

I think this quote has some merit "They are utterly wrong," said Gabriel Stein from Lombard Street Research. "The lesson of the 1930s is that surplus countries with structurally weak domestic demand come off worst in a trade war."

China needs to sell the goods it produces lest their production will by necessity shrink rapidly to meet just domestic demand. If they have even a small dip in sales it leads to tons of lost jobs, closed factories and social unrest. While they are diversifying their markets it isn't happening anywhere as fast as they would like. Their free economy (well free except for real big players) and totalitarian state approach works so long as the economy is booming and people are happy with that. Iran has been trying the same thing and when the economy slowed they got problems. 

At the same time right now we are dependent on the Chinese buying debt to pay for this meth binge of debt fueled spending we are on (drunken sailor's is a poor analogy because late in the night or early in the morning they pass out/ fall asleep and it ends, unlike this epic economic fail we are experiencing which is more akin to a meth/ crack head who stays up for days on end).

If we got our spending under control then we could tell China to suck it. That would really be great. However we don't seem to want to live within our means. 

Interesting times for sure. 

 

Readers question- All Kinds Of Stuff

Post TEOTWAWKI- What's better currency, chickens, chicken eggs, or 22 bullets? Which one would you eat first, the chicken or the eggs? You know, I'm thinking more and more about how cheap my 22lr's are, compared to my 40cals. Maybe I should just by myself one of those drums that hold 50 for my Ruger 10/22 and figure out how to make it full auto. Have you seen the videos? Amazing! I'd probably get pinched by the government if I did that, but manoman!

-Humongous

Ok one thing at a time. As for currency (for barter) I think the standard proviso that you are best off making very sure you have everything you need to live for a long time before looking to stock trade items should be mentioned. As for chickens, chicken eggs or .22 bullets. I think it would be .22 bullets for the most part. Lots of people will want chickens and pretty quickly most who can support them will have them. For an initial period chickens could be extremely valuable for trade. After that they would be less valuable. Chicken eggs would be good for small local stuff, swap you a dozen eggs for a pound of meat, etc. The best part of .22 ammo is that it is compact and doesn't require any attention. A person could hypothetically stash a few thousand rounds of .22 ammo in 2 of those wide belt fed .223 ammo boxes and just leave it there. Chickens require care and stuff which is great if you want to have chickens now.

As for .22 vs .4os&W. They serve two different purposes, .22 is for training or killing small game and .40S&W is for self defense. Of course you could try to kill a goblin with a Ruger 10/22 and you will probably be successful but that doesn't mean they are the best tool for the job. Nobody is going to kick my ass when I am holding a shovel but that doesn't make it as convenient for the task as say an ax handle.

As for Ruger 10/22 gear and such. First of all don't mess with your 10/22 and make it illegal, it is just not worth it. Second of all broadly speaking drums (excluding those guns that used them stock like the RPK and the Thompson) are prone to some real feeding issues. Do a lot of research before buying a drum. If you want higher capacity I suggest 25-30rd banana clips for the 10/22. They are made by lots of people and some of them have great reputations. I personally just rock the 10 rd standard mags but to each their own.

-TOR

Myles said...Do you guys have any favorites when it comes to survival radios? I'm looking for something small, lightweight, and durable that could be tossed into a backpack.

I personally have two radios. The first is a cheapo from radio shack and the other one (which I owe you guys an in depth review on) is kind of fancy. The radio shack one looks sort of like this and it works fine for me. I have used it to pick up SW and listen to music when working outside.

Right now out in the field I am using a little Sony Walkman which is working just great. It is tiny and runs for a long time on a single AAA battery. Doesn't have the best reception but it is so tiny that I will take it with me everywhere.

-TOR

chadow10 said...

I was wondering what the shelf life is on 22LR. Does having sealed primers make a difference?

Anon says....
My shoot-from-the-hip (pardon the pun) guess on the shelf life of 22LR is decades, just like any other factory ammo. This last thanksgiving we shot some boxes of Remington 22LR that had been in a drawer (not sealed at all) for 20+ years. About 5-10 out of each 100 were duds. Properly sealed I'd say a long, long time.

I would be inclined to agree with Anon. Assuming ammo is kept in a dry place it tends to last for a very very long time. If you are worried throw it in an ammo can with some silica gel.
-TOR

Repeal NAFTA, A Little Too Late

I remember when Ross Perot with his charts warned the American people and politicians that if NAFTA passed it would kill high paying american jobs and ship them overseas. Good ole President Clinton signed NAFTA into law and millions and millions of good paying jobs left the country and are still dying on the vine. I guess the politicians don't understand that without a tax base there are no options. Train Wreck Coming! Get out of the cities. Steve

Roadblocks- Part One of Two

Thanks to Dragon for giving me the inspiration for this post. I can't say we agree entirely on the topic but I've got something good to write about this morning. Thanks again.

I have noticed a real hypocrisy among survivalists when it comes to roadblocks and the free travel of roads. Every survivalist seems to think it is perfectly acceptable for them and their friends to put up roadblocks or ambushes in order to detain, restrain, search and interrogate anyone who has the guts to attempt to travel a road within a couple square mile of their "retreat". At the same time they would be damned if they would let anyone detain, restrain, search and interrogate THEM because THEY have the right to TRAVEL THE ROADS FREELY.

I think the subject of roadblocks has both moral and functional components. SHOULD you block a road and CAN you block a road, if you CAN block the road the HOW would you do so. I will look at the moral side of the SHOULD first.

On the moral side I guess the first question would be what sort of road are you talking about. The most clear cut situation is a GROUP of neighbors on a dead end road deciding that they want to know who is coming up the road. They put up some sort of a roadblock/ checkpoint where their road intersects with the main road or at a good defensible position near there. Their whole purpose is to know who is coming in. If someone comes they would ask "what are you coming here for?" and the person would say something like "I am here to see our cousins the Johnsons". Tim Smith who is working the roadblock/ checkpoint with his younger brother Bobby would send him to the Johnsons to say their cousins X, Y and Z are there to see them. If they say great I am glad they are here then all those folks head up to the checkpoint and pick up the cousins. If they do not have any cousins (or don't want to see them) then those folks (Bobby and the Johnsons) head back down with rifles to tell them to take a hike and not to come back. This sort of a situation would work very well for a dead end road with a realtively small amount of families that are realtively close by (a few miles to the end of the road). Since almost any situation that would lead to having a roadblock would mean supplies are not normally available fuel would not be wisely used driving twelve miles up to the Johnsons if someone comes to see them.

I do not think a family or even a couple families have the right to restrict travel upon a road they do not own. In other words if there is a road traveling parallel to your property line you do not have the inherant right to messs with people traveling down it. Now watching them would be very prudent (LO/OP) but unless they are attempting to squat on the abandoned place next to yours or obviously doing something sketchy (prowling, casing, etc) leave them be. That being said there is no harm in having someone with a rifle and a radio watching them. Got LP/OP?

I think the situation is a lot murkier if a small intact group wants to know who is coming or going but does not live on a dead end road. It isn't like people will be using the freeways if things get real bad. Folks could be traveling long distances on small roads (maybe on foot or pushing a shopping cart The Road style) and I do not think anyone has the right to tell them they can't go to Grandma's place in the next county using that road. It is easy to just tell one guy to go fuck himself and find another route but what if it was 6 guys with rifles? What about 12 guys with rifles and a Somali style Technical. They get out and take cover behind their vehicles except the drivers and the dude on that .50 cal which will turn whatever you think is "cover" to shreads. (Note that cover is a very relative term based on what is shooting at you.)

Aside from getting into unnecessary gunfights I do not think it is morally right to block (or restrict to only locals) through roads. If you have the communications gear I have a simple solution to help ensure your local security. Put up checkpoints on both ends with commo to each other and a third party (to start the alert plan). A family in a car or whatever comes up to the southern checkpoint. The fellow(s) there tell the folks in the car that they are free to travel along the road. They are however not free to leave the main road, camp, etc. Oh yeah and if they are not at the checkpoint on the north end five miles away in a half hour lots of folks with guns are going to start looking for them. It would be nice to help these folks out by engaging them in conversation and helping them with intel about the next leg of their route which you have info on. For example "you can top off on water at Johnson Creek and camp in the state park (it is safe for the most part). Route 12 is washed out at mile marker 15 but you can get around it by X. Oh yeah also don't go into Cutthroatville if you can avoid it." You could also gather intel from these folks about where they were and have been. Knowing that Backstabberville is also pretty dangerous and the 19th ave bridge is down could be essential. If nothing else you could pass that info on to people headed the other way. Beware of acting rashly based upon single source intelligence, stuff that one person told you but if you hear the same realistic thing a couple times then it is probably true. (Disconcerning rumors, confusions and intentional falcities from good information is a topic in and of itself.)

IMHO the least moral situation is a town that is on a through road refusing to let people travel that road. Out in the sticks amost all towns are built upon the old two lane highways which preceeded freeways. Having checkpoints would be prudent. In some cases the answer could be having folks take an easy bypass of a left and two right turns to get back to the highway would be reasonable if it wasn't a huge adddition to the length of the trip. Having folks travel an extra mile or two would not be nuts but a generic "fuck you go find another way" when the alternate route is 30 miles back would cause all sorts or problems. I am not sure how I even feel about that.

*Pause for 20 minutes to make breakfast in bed for Wifey*

Maybe leaving the roads and by default the town open but making it very clear that camping of any sort or vagrancy are not allowed (will result in a big lump on the head and an immediate escourt out of town) and theft/ burglary/ robbery will result in spending some time on a work crew (restitution) or a long time with a short rope.

Much more could be said about good ways to deal with people coming through a town in a real bad situation. I do want to add a couple random thoughts on the matter though. Having people come into the town to trade would be a good thing but having lots of random folks all around your town would not be. What about having a secure place near town to conduct trade. Think Blackjack Fairgrounds a la Jericho. The town could provide security and ban people who intentionally trade in a false or otherwise unethical manner in exchange for selling space to venders. That would give the town some income that could be used for whatever and keep tons of strangers out. Also having a rule where people without a place to stay must be out by dark could be wise. Kind of like a sundown rule but without the racism.

That pretty much covers my thoughts on the moral component of roadblocks. Since it ended up being much longer then I thought the functional component is going to wait for tommarow. We have a busy day ahead of us: grocery shopping, getting a Christmas Tree, Christmas shopping and dinner out. I might write some more stuff later today.

Edited immediately after publishing to include: Regardless of the morality of roadblocks and your decisions about them do not extort people. You do not have the right to "charge a fee" or "toll" for traveling on the road. Doing so is strait up third world style thuggery and brands you a bandit by any reasonable definition. If you want to be a highwaymen or robber then go ahead and take your chances (in this life and the next) but do not for a second pretend you are in a morally defensible position when you do so.

Even from a pragmatic position this tactic is just not worth it. Even if just a couple (groups of) travelers out of ten would rather shoot it out then submit to your highway robbery it will be a fairly bloody business. To add to that if you have enough muscle (people with guns) to scare most (groups of) travelers into submitting to your thuggery then the amount of goods or whatever stolen will be divided so many times that it will not be particularly profitable. This semi fixed nature of such enterprises would make it too easy for you "victims" some of whom will surely be mean and well armed to retaliate by throwing a fire bomb at night or popping off a few well aimed rifle shots before or after the fact. Any way this proposition is looked at you would almost surely be better spent growing food or doing something less dangerous.