Sammich Bag Trix

And, you can kill ants too!

Port Protection

cinema à la carte

PORT PROTECTION Talked about the series Mountain Men awhile back; seemed like a lot of you watch and enjoy it.  Here's another in that genre: "Port Protection."  The Nat-Geo Channel have just renewed it for a well deserved second season.  In truth, I like this more than Mountain Men.  All the characters live in Port Protection, AK.  And, it seems, the men all  sound like MM's Tom Oar; which is a plus. So far I like all the PP people,  which is not true of Mountain Men. Every time a Marty Meierotto event in that series is shown, for instance, I can't help but think he's a wanted pedophile/serial killer hiding in Alaska.  Don't like him at all and his "my girls" crap creeps me out.   Anyway, just so you know.  You're welcome.

Eating Squirrels

FOOD EMERGENCY

TODAY'S "Coping with government induced disaster" memo SHTF Blog has a really good piece up on building a squirrel gun for SHTF scenarios. I don’t want to detract from it because it’s solid and you should read the whole thing, but I do want to offer a note of caution. (I’m certain that the author is aware of everything I’m about to say. Again, I’m not detracting.) I’m a longtime squirrel hunter, and like everyone else, I see them everywhere here in the city and have thought on more than one occasion that if the SHTF I could bag a few for the family. But let’s not be under any illusions: the squirrel population is going to drop to zero really fast when the food runs out. Anyone who’s planning to eat for more than a week on squirrel will go hungry. They just aren’t as plentiful and calorie-rich as you think they are. Assuming that you can get a pound of game meat from an average squirrel, which is optimistic, you’re looking at about 540 calories per squirrel. That may sound like a lot, but it isn’t. If you’re planning to use squirrel for, say, only a quarter the calories of a 2,000-calorie per day diet, then you have to bag one per day per family member. There are about five or six squirrels per acre in urban areas (about two per acre in rural areas), so with four family members to feed and a 100% success rate in killing every squirrel you see, you’re clearing out around three acres every four days in the city. And you’re not the only one trying to eat them! How long is the squirrel population really going to last in your town?  (continued) "Planning to Eat Squirrel when TSHTF? "  That would be me.  Every time a squirrel has a heart attack in our yard I say to MoSup that maybe we ought be encouraging them so's they can feed us when the time comes.  The real reason though, as I've  previously stated,  that I have declared war on squirrels is economic.  Evidently the people who make automobile fuel lines found it cheaper to use a vegetable based, rather than oil material to make their product.  Sold, no doubt, as "saving the environment." Net result, squirrels eat it.  Here's a copy of my most recent—fourth in 6 years—bill for replacing a fuel line.  That bill doesn't not include the cost of road service when I run out of gas on the Bay Bridge! Remember, if squirrels did not have furry tails they'd be indistinguishable from rats.

DEFIANCE

DEFIANCE

“ Defiance is a 2008 World War II era film written, produced, and directed by Edward Zwick, and set during the occupation of Belarus by Nazi Germany. The film is an account of the Bielski partisans, a group led by Polish Jewish brothers who saved and recruited Jews in Belarus during the Second World War. The film stars Daniel Craig as Tuvia Bielski, Liev Schreiber as Zus Bielski, Jamie Bell as Asael Bielski, and George MacKay as Aron Bielski. The film is an adaptation of Nechama Tec's book Defiance: The Bielski Partisans (1993). If you liked Red Dawn (original), you'll likely love Defiance (trailer).  Great acting, and factually based.  I give it an easy . As an aside, I coudn't help wondering, as I'm sure many of you have before, and given the abject starvation these refuges experienced, what is the actual nutritional value of seminal fluid?  As it turns out (the scant 3/4 tsp aside), it's great for wrinkles, but prolly not life sustaining. Of course (most) men would rather starve.

Cooper's Colors

“ Situational Awareness The late Jeff Cooper’s “Color Code” has been embraced and taught by competent instructors for many years. Most of you are quite familiar with the concepts, but a review of these essential survival levels is worthwhile. Cooper broke down alertness levels into four colors of escalating degrees of preparation for the use of deadly force. This color code system is a mental process, not a physical one, and should be utilized whether or not you are armed — though being armed is always preferred. Being alert may help you to avoid a deadly threat in the first place, which is always the preferred outcome. White In condition White, you are relaxed and unaware of what is going on around you. Ideally, a police officer is only in white when asleep, but realistically we often drop our guard when we are at home or in some other environment we assume to be safe, like the squad room. Since even police stations have been attacked, it is better to be more alert even when you are in your “lair.” As the Lakewood coffee shop ambush proves, you simply cannot be on white when you are in uniform, whether on duty or off. If you are attacked in condition white, you may very well die — unless you are lucky. I prefer to not depend on luck. Yellow In condition yellow, you remain relaxed, but are aware of who and what is around you. This merely means that you are paying attention to the sights and sounds that surround you whether you are at home or moving in society. Condition yellow DOES NOT equate with paranoia or any other irrational fear of persons or places. Instead, you simply have moved your alertness to a level of attention that will prevent you from being totally surprised by the actions of another person. While walking through an area you will loosely keep track of anyone behind you. When choosing a seat in a restaurant, you will position yourself to see the entrance or to minimize the number of people who might be behind you. You don’t need to insist on securing the “gunfighter seat” which will put your back to a dead corner and your face to the entrance, because you are not anticipating a threat, you are merely conducting an inventory of your surroundings and the other people around you. You will also be running a cursory “what if” mental visualization of where a threat could appear and what your reaction(s) should be. If you are attacked in condition yellow, it should not come as a total surprise. Your response to a threat should have been pre-planned to some extent, allowing you to simply run an existing plan rather than having to make one up quickly while under fire. A competent police officer MUST be in condition yellow whenever they are on duty — or when armed while off duty. Orange In condition orange, you have identified something of interest that may or may not prove to be a threat. Until you determine the true nature of whatever has piqued your interest, your “radar” is narrowed to concentrate on the possible threat and will remain so focused until you are satisfied no threat exists. Contacts you make throughout your shift — either dispatched or self-initiated — are obvious examples of a condition orange focus. These people are not currently a threat, or you would move swiftly and smoothly to the next higher color. Instead, these individuals simply could be a threat, so you shift from condition yellow (relaxed but alert) to condition orange (specific alert). You may make this harmless shift many times a day as you go about your normal routine. If someone or something looks out of place, you change from a 360 degree general awareness to a more focused concentration in a specific direction. At the same time, you can’t drop your general awareness, because a bad guy in front of you may be a distraction for another behind. If you are attacked in condition orange, you should be expecting the attack. Further, you will hopefully be facing your attacker since you have already shifted your focus in his direction. If you are well trained, your subconscious mind will have been searching your hard drive for similar events or training sessions you have already experienced, or any pre-visualized “what if” situations you’ve cataloged as possible solutions should an attack take place. Red If the focus of your attention in condition orange does something you find threatening, you will shift to condition red. Notice here that condition Red IS NOT the firing stroke, as some instructors have misconstrued from Cooper’s teachings. Instead, condition red simply changes the focus of your attention from a potential threat to a potential target. You will draw your weapon, or move still further to sight acquisition, only if the potential target’s actions dictate such a response. Once you’ve shifted to condition red, you cannot be surprised by your primary adversary and you are fully prepared to repel boarders should he push the incident that far. But, your intense concentration on a forward threat will lessen your ability to maintain some degree of 360-degree awareness for unknown threats that may come from other directions. Effective training under high-stress conditions will help you avoid the tunnel vision that some describe as “akin to looking through a toilet paper tube.” If possible, in both conditions orange and red, move to a position that will give you a tactical advantage. Ideally, you want a wall or previously cleared area behind you and some sort of solid cover you can move behind should shooting break out. Having one or more backup officers at this point can greatly enhance situational awareness, if — and only if — one of those officers remains alert in all directions — a rear guard. All too often, every officer on-scene concentrates on the threat with no regard for 360 degree security. If you are attacked in red, you should be fully prepared to defend yourself. Whether or not you have a gun in hand or on target will depend on the circumstances, but mentally, you are already ahead of the game. Source My Coopers' Code Awareness made aware by RAK ”

Dried Stuff

FOOD We've had a dehydrator for several years; along  this line, it made a lot of noise and was slow as hell. Used it sparingly.  In truth, we would haul it out when enough time had lapsed that we forgot how useless it was.  Like apples; 24 hours to do 4 or 5 trays, maybe longer.  When I was shopping for Christmas eve food at BJ's,  I bought a dried fruit tray, looked something  like this, for $20.  Mo Sup went nuts for it.  So,  when her birthday rolled around last week I gave her  a LEM 5 tray dehydrator.   I looked at a dozen or so on Amazon, and even when getting a positive review it wasn't unusual for the writer to add "no timed shut-off."   I looked for one with that feature—without much success  Another wish many reviewers expressed was a  rear mounted "stronger fan" so they didn't have to rotate trays so often.  So rear fan went my list.  Fast forward. Didn't buy it at Amazon because they didn't sell the 5 tray (then).  After searching about,  I ordered one from  Gander  on Jan. 15th; it arrived the next day. Products Status Qty Price 754014 LEM 5-Tray Countertop Dehydrator w/Digital Timer   In stock 1 $104.99 Subtotal: $104.99 Shipping & Handling: FREE Additional Freight: $0.00 Tax:* $6.30 Total: $111.29 Following only these directions in the product manual (8 whole pages), I threw in some apple, papaya, mango, bannanas, and Kiwi.  Everything but the unevenly cut mangoes and papaya were done in about 4 hours, those took an additional 6 hours.  Which brings us to another lesson that I learned.  Uniform thickness really is important, so three words.  Mandolin. Mangoes are a pain in the ass to cut because of that breast bone.  Voila.  Today I peeled the mango, set the mandolin blade depth to ¼ inch and sliced until I hit bone.  Then, turned over until bone, and then the sides.  The result was that for the first time ever I got 90% of the flesh off a mango, and all of it was ¼ inch thick! Put it out here in the sunroom;  you can get an idea about the footprint.  Took some pics of a batch of stuff I began at this morning. The mangoes took 8 hours. Same with the pineapple;  the dates need another 3 hours. Half dozen apples done  in 4 hours. What in the hell is that? It's pumpkin "leather" I bought the "Dehydrator Bible" shown up top, and was immediately confused by instructions to dry certain items on parchment or leather.  That was a can of pumpkin, spread to about ¼  inch.  If you like dried pumpkin, there you go.  Actually, this is meant to be reconstituted and made into a pie in your hide-out shelter. There you go.  If you've had a notion, now you have a leg up. Next,  I'm making squirrel jerky.

What's that zzzzzz noise?

Gizmos    Rad Gadgets “ There's been several times when I was sorry I didn't have a Geiger counter, like whenever a Democrat took the presidency, but then everybody seemed of the same mindset and  prices were astronomical.  I guess most of that lot have theirs, and- the others are too young to recognize any threat to their well-being, save for climate change.  Last week I went looking and found this on on E-Bay.  Bought it straightaway for $35 + shipping, and here it is.  This gummint surplus Geiger is in  pristine condition.  Put a "D" battery in at, did a circuit check and voila!  I know what MoSup will say (because she already did).  "So what what good is it to know that you're being zapped by a million Islamo dirty bomb rads?" (not quite in those terms).  There are a hundred things which I won't bore you with because you'll figure them out.  By the by - do any of you remember Missy Kelley? She recommended that I buy Nuclear War Survival & Skills in 1999, and I did.  It was a revelation, and I heartily recommend it to everyone as a guide.  Whoa, I just noticed that I mentioned this before - as one of my very first blog-spot posts in 2002. ”

Surviving the Mayans, Obama and Mother Nature

SUPLIZE! Consumer Reports did a study on today's practice of food downsizing.  I know there are others, but so far the only food product I can name that has not reduced quantity is Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, a fact they advertise on their tubs (Still a Pint!).  Another practice designed to fool the consumer is over packaging.  I take 60 grams of protein every morning as part of my regimen to run marathons.  MoSup came home yesterday with a GIANT (trust me) tub of "Six-Star Pro Nutrition."  Wow, this should last twice as long as the last one. Take a look.  By the By, another effect of downsizing content is skewing the USDA Food Cost index.  They report that "Over the last 12 months, the all  items index increased 1.8 percent before seasonal adjustment."  My guess is that it's more like 10-12%. The first thing I bought were these 3600+ calorie energy bars.  SEGUE... For the last month we've been using 23 Critical Items needed for your Proper and Survival Bunker as a guideline, along with Thoughts On Urban Survival.  While checking around for sources, I discovered the mother lode.  Walmart.  Did you know that Wally will ship damned near anything to your front door, including ice cream?  No shipping cost on cumulative orders over $45!  And no tax! Yesterday I opened the door to get the paper on there on my doorstep— 100 pounds of Gold Medal All Purpose flour.  Think about buying 100 pounds of anything; carrying it to your car, then up the stairs—oh my freaking back!  By the way, I will rotate these foods into our daily larder and replace them so as to keep stuff fresh. Here's my latest buy. If I owned any guns, which I do not, they would be also properly ammo'd up too.  Next on my list—a Geiger counter. PS- don't forget that your water heater is filled with fresh water.

Make a knife out of a cigarette

Because you'll never know when you'll need it

Can I have a glass of water? NOW!

Important survival tip it could very well save your life!

TUA had this video squirreled away under a rock, and  it needs broad distribution!  It is amazing.