I find it amazing that folks think you need this new stuff when the BP stuff has been dispatching our fellow man quite effectively for a long time. A BP rifle, shot gun or revolver will kill you just as permanently as any lead pusher on the market.

Well thought out, Mark. The other thing full auto needs is the military resupply system. It is amazing how fast full auto (at 800 to 1000 rounds per minute) will burn through 10,000 rounds. Further fact is that over the short term most practiced shooters can fire semi-auto almost as fast as full auto. The trigger finger is fairly fast; I have seen guys shooting semi who were limited by the bolt cycle time, just like a full auto shooter is limited.

KS,
With the advent of tiny (really tiny) thumb drives with over 16 gigabytes storage available, there is no reason NOT to do as you suggest. I did some classified computing at one time; our machines did not have hard drives at all. The Bernoulli drives were popular and the machine had dual Bernoulli drives. We would plug in the drive to boot and store in a safe when not in use. Each user had his own Bernoulli cartridges - you couldn't even boot the machine without YOUR cartridges in it. Safe, secure. Now, those tiny thumb drives have more space than even the Bernoulli drives had so, if I was building a new system, ALL my data would be not on the hard drive.
Just remember, IF there is a hard drive present the system often stores working copies of stuff to the hard drive. You must be very careful to configure your system properly or your hard drive may still contain stuff you want elsewhere.

Misty,
compost is a good idea. two years ago I broke my heel and the compost pile I'd just started sat there for 2 years. I just had it cleaned up and that is some FANTASTIC growing medium.

KansasScout,
Louis is one of my FAVORITE writers. He even did a short story where a guy was stranded at an oasis because he didn't KNOW the direction out or have a way to carry water. Good stuff.

OfficerOtto,
The H&K 91 is made in the US as the PTR-91 - same drawings (I think it is a license) and the parts interchange. I like my PTR. Yes, it is heavier than my M1 Carbine. I don't own an AR pattern rifle so I can't know for sure but I'd bet it is heavy compared to a basic M4gery. Still, add all the bells and whistles and maybe not.
I don't buy the 'need a 1000' rounds argument for a .308. The guys I knew in RVN who carried a 1000 rds did so because it often took multiple hits to get the job done. That and the doctrine at the time was suppression so full auto (that was the reason for the gun in the first place - the M-14 was too tough to control on full auto) was the rule. Since I think full auto is a waste and ineffective (unless tripod mounted, belt fed and HEAVY caliber) I'm extremely happy with 200 rds of .308 for bug out and everything else at the BOL. A 5 to 1 usage rate favors the heavier caliber in my not so humble opinion and you need much less of it.

I find it amusing that as a kid, the .30-06 was THE caliber that everyone, well all of us kids anyway, wanted. That round was KING! Now that I'm 63 (next month) and can have any caliber I choose, I STILL have never fired one. There was always something else more immediate or a DEAL came my way or ..... but I just never owned or fired a .30-06. I have the M1 Carbine and it is a solid weapon. A little lite for anything beyond 150 yards but I LIKE it and it is another one I've always wanted. I'd love to shoot the Garand; that has got to be a solid firearm. Any .30-06 actually; that is a round for anything in the Americas with the possible exception of the really big Brown bears or Polar Bears. Funny, to me at least, how I've never owned or even fired one. Your SKS and my .30-30 have the same basic ballistics and again that is a fine gun. I still think the .30-30 has put more venison on the plate than any other caliber out there and the .30-06 has got to be a close second. Funny how we get wrapped up in the 'next new thing' and forget about the good stuff we have in the gun safe.

Thank you for your comments sir. If you have not done so, you might look at the Survival Psychology articles. They were written after this series because I thought I saw a need to consider the effects on the person who is forced to defend themselves with lethal force.
http://survivalcache.com/survival-psychology-dead... http://survivalcache.com/survival-psychology-afte...

Well said, sir. You do understand.

Alex,
My apologies if you understood me to be critical of his self defense weapons. I was critical of his chapter 12 as being way too narrow and inaccurate as well. Actually, if he had simply reference "Boston's Gun Bible", for example, I'd have been a lot less critical. As it was, he pushed as the only correct options expensive weapons that I frankly don't agree with in the first place, was dangerous as he proposed it, and used the appearance of the AR platform as the prime reason for choosing it. Three really, really lousy reasons for a weapons selection. His chapter 12 was full of expensive, high tech options that while nice may be of limited use in a grid down situation. I thought that an good book was marred by what was a needlessly, self-inflicted wound.
It was my intent to say, read the book for the tactics and methods of defending your location but read something else before selecting weapons.