Seen at CW’s place, this little item:
Of course, for the serious prepper, that’s pretty much amateur hour.
Try this one:
…although I have to think that stowing the Jeep Wrangler in yer bag is kinda silly.
Category: SHTF
Cooking In Extremis
I saw this pic over at CW’s yesterday, and I have to say that I recommend the concept (as opposed to the item itself, which I’m not familiar with).
I have two of these little cooker types (two in case one breaks or malfunctions), and a dozen or so butane cylinders. Used sparingly (meaning a cooking session of about 15-20 minutes), each cylinder will deliver close to a dozen meals (including a small kettle of boiling water for coffee or tea). When we had a 5-day power outage in the Dallas area about five years ago, it was a godsend to have these around — yes, I could have fired up the propane BBQ but it’s overkill if all you want to cook is a single skillet or a kettle. Pop a cast-iron grill plate on top, and you can cook a meal for two quite comfortably (and grill plates are easier to clean than iron skillets, too).
My cookers look like this (i.e. not as swanky as the one above):
The reason I like this as a SHTF thing (i.e. when there’s no electrical power and you can’t or don’t want to build a cooking fire) is size: the cooker is small and light, and the little butane cylinders are easily stowable. Also, they can be found at any Asian store, where both the cookers and butane are way cheaper than at camping stores. (At our local Yuk Fu market (not its real name), the stove costs about $25 and the butane less than a dollar per cylinder, which is unbeatable).
You’re not supposed to use this setup indoors, of course, but if you have a fireplace (as we did) it’s not a problem as long as you remember to open the flue.
What we also used to do was use it as an outdoors table-top cooker, with the grill plate in place. Best was to grill thinly-sliced lamb, with a dash of rosemary and salt, or similarly-sliced beef with rubbing spice and/or Liquid Smoke sprinkled over it. Many was the spring- or fall evening spent around the table on the deck, each family member responsible for cooking their own meat, with sides of pita bread, tomato slices and hummus (for the lamb) and crusty French bread and cole slaw (with the beef).
And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to the kitchen.
LOL Arsenal
From Fogs Noose comes this breathless tale (emphasis added):
A Wisconsin man was founding living in an undetected underground bunk in the Milwaukee woods for years with a dog and a stockpile of weapons and ammunition.
Deputies discovered hermit Geoffrey Graff’s odd, hidden abode on Wednesday after responding to a call of shots fired.
After entering the 8-foot-by-8-foot bunker – which was also 20-feet-long – the deputies found an arsenal of weapons including two shotguns, a rifle, a handgun, three knives, ammo and a bow with arrows fashioned from “snowplow stakes,” Milwaukee County Sheriff Earnell Lucas said at a news conference Friday.
Lucas said Graff’s bunker also had a grill, propane tanks, a generator, various power tools, boxes of food and canned goods.
I haven’t checked recently, but I think I could lay my hands on all that stuff (apart from the bow) within a few paces from my living room chair, a couple more are at arm’s length, and let’s not even talk about the contents of my nightstand.
I am curious, however, as to how one fashions arrows from snowplough stakes… I mean, how does one affix the flights to the shaft? Are the stakes made of wood, or metal?
I think we need to know all that, but of course media. They won’t even tell us the caliber of the firearms, which tells you all you need to know about journalistic standards.
Still Relevant?
I’ve been thinking about the SHTF thing recently (as one does), and a random thought occurred to me: is the venerable AR-7 Survival Rifle still a consideration for inclusion in Ye Olde Bugge Out Bagge? Here’s the original Armalite AR-7:
I tested one of these puppies many years ago, and I was seriously underwhelmed. I tried at least half a dozen different types and brands of .22 LR, and I got either flawless feeding and crappy accuracy, or decent accuracy and a 1:3 jam rate. So I wrote the thing off as a waste of time — just another gimmick.
However, time has passed and the AR-7 has now become the property of Henry Repeating Company — and they’ve made some changes, all for the better. So the question comes up again: is the little AR-7 still relevant as a SHTF option?
Apparently, it is — or at least, these guys seem to think so.
And I really like what Henry’s done with it. The component stowage has been tidied up:
Of course, the packed-up rifle is still not only waterproof, but it floats as well:
…and the addition of a high-viz front sight and scope rail, in my opinion, has made all the difference.
So the original concept has been refined enough so that it is, at least, a viable little firearm — and Henry’s creation of an accompanying mini-bug-out pack (see the first link) has made it all the more appealing.
Nevertheless, I’m still a little dubious about the AR-7, and here’s why. If one is wandering around in the wilderness after the S has HTF, the whole palaver of having to assemble the rifle into an operating firearm is somewhat time-consuming — and given the exigencies of such a scenario, wouldn’t one want the thing to be ready at all times?
(And I’m not going to get into the argument about whether the .22 LR cartridge is a viable SHTF option because it is, in the function for which it is intended: popping small game for the pot. No problem with that.)
My question is that since a modern SHTF scenario involves not only wandering around in some post-apocalyptic landscape looking for squirrel snacks, but avoiding (or at worst, fending off) feral critters of the human persuasion, would the .22 requirement not be better served by a longish-barreled handgun such as the 10-round capacity S&W 617, worn on the hip?
Sure, the 16″ barrel of the AR-7 is always going to be more accurate than the 6″ barrel of the 617, but in reality, if one is potting critters over unscoped sights, the shorter distances in practice make the issue somewhat moot, I think. And if we’re going to insist on a semi-auto .22 firearm, then there’s always the Buckmark URX Contour, with a 7″ barrel (and rail for a scope/red-dot arrangement):
Here’s what I think, at the end of all this. I like the AR-7 concept, a lot. I think that as a “stow away and forget about it” addendum to the trunk of your car or storage space in your truck — especially with that survival pack — it’s a winner. Henry’s rather clever payoff line for the AR-7 is “Don’t leave civilization without it”, and I sorta-agree with that.
But I think that as a SHTF tool, the .22 LR function would be better left to a handgun, while the actual survival function is delegated to an AR-15 or AK-47. But that said, there’s nothing wrong with having an ultra-lightweight rifle in your hands or in your backpack, either.
As you can see, I’m hopelessly conflicted about the AR-7. Feel free to untangle, explain or even cast insults upon my thoughts, in Comments. All such would be quite welcome.
Forward Buying
This term defines when one buys something in greater quantities than normal, in anticipation of the supply thereof being interrupted, or to hedge against price increases. Which was all brought to mind by this post of Insty’s:
“The U.S. plans to swiftly impose tariffs on $7.5 billion in aircraft, food products and other goods from the European Union after the World Trade Organization authorized the levies Wednesday, citing the EU’s subsidies to Airbus. . . . The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said it would impose the tariffs starting Oct. 18, with 10% levies on jetliners and 25% duties on other products including Irish and Scotch whiskies, cheeses and hand tools.” [emphasis added]
In other words, this weekend should be devoted to laying in a hefty supply of yer favorite single malts, and those snot-textured Frog cheeses (if you’re that way inclined).
Aaaargh. As always, this is never a simple operation for me. Do I go for variety?
…or volume?
And don’t give me that “embrace the power of and ” nonsense. If I do both, then I can’t buy any more of this:
It’s hell being in the working class, I tell ya.
SHTF Talk
Yesterday’s post about Britishland’s .gov SHTF preparations triggered a response in Comments about a post from the old blog. Here it is:
No Helping Hand
January 6, 2007
5:00 AM CDT
I thought I’d share with you an email exchange I had recently with Reader Jim K. from the Seattle area:
Years ago, I was a FFL firearms dealer. I was Clintoned out of my license (that’s another story), but I still have leftover inventory including an unopened crate of semi-auto AK-47s.
Recently, four young families moved up here to Washington state after making small fortunes in the California real estate boom. These people are all friends of a friend so I run into them frequently. They are all liberal, but not of the raving moonbat type. None of them are anti-gun, but neither are they much interested in fireams.
Last summer I mentioned to several of these Silicon Valley escapees that I had a crate of AKs (I love doing this – the reactions are usually interesting). One guy responded with something like “when things get bad, we’re coming to your house.” He said this as a joke so I did not think much of it.
Partially due to recent events (Katrina, the Indian ocean tidal wave) and following your and Instapundit’s suggestions, I have created an emergency “abandon house” kit and also stored several months worth of unperishable food. I have also urged my friends and family to do the same. Most have, to some degree.
Recently I was at a party with these four families present. I was encouraging them to make their own emergency kits and store food. Also, I described my efforts in this area. Once again someone made the “when things get bad we’re coming to your house” statement. This time it was not a joke.
They seemed to believe that I would feed and protect them in dangerous times; almost as if it was my responsibility to do so.
This pissed me off. I did not slap down the idiot because I really was trying to get these people to become riflemen and prepare for emergencies. I said nothing. Yelling at them would not help, but I don’t know how I should have responded. What would you recommend?
Well, you all can guess my response:
Tell ‘em straight: “You come to my house, you’re going to get chased off. It’s not MY responsibility to look after you; it’s YOUR responsibility to look after yourselves.”
Then offer to show them how to shoot, on the condition that they buy their own guns—NOT your AKs, but other guns—and offer to help them buy their guns.
If they refuse all that, tell them that they’d better pray that disaster doesn’t strike, because you’re NOT going to help them—you have enough on your plate just to look after your own family.
And about a week later, I got this back from him:
On Christmas Eve I went to a party where the four liberal families I previously discussed were present, and followed your advice. After bringing up the emergency kit issue again, lots of people complained and teased me (in a good-natured way) but as expected, the “we’ll just come to your house” meme reared its ugly head. I stated, as you suggested, that I would *NOT* help them in an emergency unless they first took measures to help themselves. This did not go over well. Much argument followed. The net result:
1) I am no longer welcome at any of the four homes (no great loss).
2) I am now morally equivalent to Hitler and George Bush.
3) One woman called me a potential child molester (I’m not sure of the logic, but it had something to do with not helping her starving kiddies when the world goes whacky).
4) Republicans are evil, therefore, I am evil (being a Libertarian, this seemed a bit unfair, but the finer points of political philosophy were lost in the debate).
5) Another woman (a hardcore feminist) screamed: “I’ll call the police!! Hoarding in an emergency is just wrong. You won’t get away with it.”
6) The case of home brew ale I brought to the party was consumed (even some liberals have good taste in beer).
7) It was the females who did most of the ranting about my vile character and lack of moral fiber. They also had the worst potty mouths.
8) As I was leaving (actually, “kicked out” ) one of the guys said, with complete sincerity: “If things get bad, I really hope you’ll help us out.” I said nothing, just shook my head and left.
On the plus side, one guy asked me for help concerning firearms. We will be heading to the local range in a few weeks. Even more spiffy (spiffier? of greater spiffyness?), a city politician at the party told me that the city was also making plans for a disaster situation which included stored food, medicine and fuel, neighborhood leadership organizations, a volunteer emergency police force made up of armed citizens, a “sudden lack of resources to investigate shot looter issues” and a “flying sanitation training squad”, among other things.
For the first time, I feel semi-good about my city government. They are still tax-swilling scum, but at least they have the foresight to prepare for bad times. Furthermore, I am now officially part of the emergency police force. In an emergency I suspect a shovel will be more useful than a revolver, but I plan on carrying both.
Thank you for the advice. Using it was educational and entertaining.
My only comment, after re-reading this prior to posting it, is that I would have suggested, in the friendliest manner possible, that “Anyone attempting to storm my house to get at the supplies will be shot—present company included.”
What a bunch of dicks: but of course, considering the heritage of this bunch, not entirely unexpected. I am also not surprised that the women took the greatest umbrage at our Reader’s position—but I’ll bet that their husbands, if they are men at all, will be making quiet plans to set up a SHTF box or two in the not-too-distant future. Good grief: they’re Californians; one would think, given the earthquake situation in California, that this would be a group quite familiar with the concept of preparing for disaster.
But hey… if they don’t wake up and make preparations, then it’s just a Darwin situation. That would be doubleplus spiffy, considering they’re California liberals.
Incidentally, I had a brief RCOB at the suggestion that SHTF preparedness could be characterized as “hoarding” by the Unprepared. Reader Jim should count himself well rid of them. Socialist pricks.
And one more observation: I just wish I’d been at that party when the fur and feathers flew.