IntenseDebate - wyzyrdap

13 years ago @ Survival Cache - Survival Gear Review: ... · 0 replies · -1 points

The Maxpedition is great quality, and worth every nickel. Great choice.

I have an old Sigma camera bag as 'everyday' EDC (if that makes sense. I carry my SLR camera in an old 6-pack cooler with a piece of ziplok bag sticking out of top so it looks like lunch..).
On the infrequent occasions I get more than about 4 miles from my home/office, I have an 'overloaded' Jumbo Maxpedition like this one (but black) with 3 more MOLLE pouches, and an extra water-bottle carrier attached. (the onboard bottle carrier has a dry Nalgene bottle stuffed with USB and RJ45 cables, cable ties and 'weird-shaped' items like fishing bobbers , packaged dry tinder blocks, multi-bit screwdriver and stainless steel chopsticks - I stick a fresh SS bottle of water or a fresh coffee thermos in the add-on)

The MOLLE add-on pouches help my aging brain remember "that one's first-aid, that's tools, that's energy bars, coffee, tea and soup..."

Great gear choices, Josh, keep up the good work .
(and a hi-5 to Cupric who knows what a buttset and punchdown kit is for - ahh.. the 'good' ol' days' dragging cable :) )

13 years ago @ Survival Cache - Tooth or Tail · 0 replies · +2 points

They definitely 'brought only knives to a gunfight' in terms of firepower and range. In a situation where mzb gangs could, flourish, it's always hunting season in the country.

There is also another minor aspect to keep in mind. In the post-war South, 'home', the gang had a 'Robin Hood' image - 'our boys striking back at the man' - away from home, just 'some SOB's robbing us'

13 years ago @ Survival Cache - SHTF - T MINUS 2 HOURS · 0 replies · +2 points

A good goose-neck crowbar is a very important bit of survival gear to keep in within reach in every vehicle. In addition to being an 'attitude adjustment tool', over the past almost 40 years, mine has been used as a prybar, nail-puller, post fender bender vehicle separator, campfire-poker and tentpeg hammer.

I started carrying one in every car I have owned, in the late 1960's, after attending a high school friend's Dad's funeral. The Dad in question had burned to death in his pre-crumple zone and airbag police patrol car in the line of duty. Evidence showed that he had broken his (then all- hardwood) nightstick trying to extricate himself from being pinned by his steering wheel. Needless to say, we both decided to always carry a better lever in the vehicle.

13 years ago @ Survival Cache - Survival Gear Review: ... · 0 replies · +2 points

LOL, CaptBart
<friendly banter>
- remember that if you're hungry and spot a squirrel (or similar small critter) , that li'l .22 can get you something to roast or stew. With the .45, it'll be sausage or 'burger:)
</friendly banter>

13 years ago @ Survival Cache - Grid Down Survival · 0 replies · +2 points

A 'semi-redneck-tech" solution that actually works well for small power loads could be based on a system built by an architecture-professor friend, back in the early 80's, when photovoltaic and wind sources were outrageously expensive. After he got divorced, he built (built, not had built) a downsized house which was wired for 110VAC, for later sale, but not grid-connected. All of his appliances were 12VDC (mostly from truck-stops catering to over-the-road truckers - primarily stereo equipment and a coffee-maker). He had his pickup truck fitted with a heavy-duty RV alternator and double-battery setup. When he got home at night, he would plug the house into the vehicle electrical system.

This would probably work even better now, with 'modern' lower-drain 12V appliances and LED lighting.

13 years ago @ Survival Cache - Grid Down Survival · 2 replies · +7 points

It sounds truly-stupid, and only really works well in Summer (or VERY sunny spots w/added insulation), but hit your local Dollar Store for some big rectangular black plastic pans, usually labelled as 'oil change drain pans'. Fill with water in a sunny spot, cover with clear plastic, leave them in the sun all day, and when you wash the dinner dishes, you will probably burn your hands and swear.

The more pans you have, the more hot (or at least very warm) water you have, and you have spent, maybe, 20 bucks on this particular prep.

13 years ago @ Survival Cache - Tooth or Tail · 2 replies · +2 points

I had a thought (yes, unusual.. I know...) about the cinema-famous MZB threat - that being "Northfield, Minnesota".

Back in (I think) 1876, the James-Younger gang decided to rob a bank in a 'new' territory. A townful of annoyed farmers and storekeepers (not Pinkertons or lawmen, or Cavalry or The Lone Ranger) gave the gang its first and last real "tail-between-legs-run-like-hell" defeat. Only the 2 James brothers 'escaped" (the rest died or went to jail)

We are talking Frank and Jesse James, Bob, Jim and Cole Younger, and some equally-experienced and nasty buddies, not a bunch of basically-urban guys with a half-gallon of gasoline and unfed substance-addictions.

Just food for thought. P*ssing-off country-folks can prove fatal.

13 years ago @ Survival Cache - Tooth or Tail · 0 replies · +3 points

I think the good Capt has definitely hit it on the head here. There are many skills that you need to practice to develop 'eye-brain-muscle memory", like shooting, etc. There are other skills/attitudes that can be learned by study/reading/listening to people who actually know telling you "DON'T do this, dude." or "try this, it works", THEN try it, or avoid it. Somebody did it first, and you can benefit from their advice, pro or con. (e.g. don't get wet f you cant get dry fast, don't lose altitude when ridge-running unless you cant help it, it hurts to climb, don't use your map as TP, carry more water than you thought you need , don't eat that , etc)

Some people have to learn by beating their heads against reality (I'm related to a lot of them :( ) . Hopefully, there are not too many here :)

13 years ago @ Survival Cache - 6 reasons Why Even Ske... · 0 replies · +1 points

I would tend to disagree, but just a bit.

A few rolls of 'junk silver' dimes, etc, might well be good to have, but my attitude is shaped by the comments of a (departed) coin-dealer friend, who grew up, and escaped-from pre-WWII Eastern Europe, who gave me his take on gold, when I wanted to buy..

What he said was "when SHTF, nobody makes change. You want a loaf of bread. You have a silver dime, it costs a silver dime, you have a gold Kruggerrand, guess what it costs?"

Go to a restaurant supply store and buy a couple hundred bucks worth of good quality (but cheap) $10 carbon steel kitchen knives, stainless steel pans, towels and tools. Now, you have trade goods. :)

13 years ago @ Survival Cache - 6 reasons Why Even Ske... · 0 replies · +2 points

Oddly, having very old parents was a big help. Mine made it through the Great Depression, and I grew up hearing their stories. My Mom was lucky. She and 2 of her sisters kept their jobs, the whole time, so the sisters all moved back in w/their parents and kept the family going. My Dad, on the other hand, drove a lumber truck for a papermill that went belly-up.

He, and about a dozen other out-of work drivers and lumberjacks, took 'adverse possession' of an abandoned lumber camp owned by the defunct company, fished, hunted, cut firewood, and, on occasion, used 'appropriated' company trucks to make 'friendly exchanges' of American cigarettes for Canadian alcohol with their similarly-unemployed relatives at a very lightly-guarded national border.

I still remember his look of wistful nostalgia discussing the "Hard Times", and knew that if he could do it, so could I.

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