Retreat Security Myths, by Grandy

From SurvivalBlog.com

The following are some of my thoughts about our planning when it comes to preparing retreat defenses.  Some will work, others maybe not as well, but I intended it to be motivation for SurvivalBlog readers to start thinking about these issues.  This is written mainly from a TEOTWAWKI standpoint and not your typical short term SHTF event.  But some of these concepts apply to both situations.

#1:  The Location Myth

More often than not, our retreats are in a somewhat secluded location.  Rural areas are typically the norm and the further away from built up urban areas the better.  But in a TEOTWAWKI situation, the lines between the two will become blurred as people will escape from urban areas and seek out refuge in rural areas.  Sometimes it will take a couple of days; others will take weeks and maybe even months.  But as supplies start to dwindle in urban areas, you can guarantee people will start looking towards the countryside for additional supplies and places to live.  And suddenly your secluded remote area becomes less likely to stay hidden and on the radar so to speak.

Unless one is staying on a deserted island where there is little chance of unwanted visitors, then everyone’s retreat is at risk of being discovered.  And in that discovery means interest will be placed.  Some may be good, some may be bad, but rest assured, your location will become an area of interest before…

Pistol Shooting Practice

From SURVIVING IN ARGENTINA

Bug In, or Bug Out?, by H.C.

From SurvivalBlog.com

I am a double transplant recipient who is 50 years old and in fairly good health but with restrictions as to what I am physically able to do. 

My household consist of myself, my wife, and our 8 year old son. I also have a grown daughter that lives three hours drive to the west but she is not a major factor in emergency plans. I don’t say this to be heartless or imply I love my daughter less but,  from my standpoint, she is now on the periphery of my planning as is any other family member who is outside my immediate area of influence or impact. My wife would no doubt be more inclined to react to emotion than to the reality of our circumstances but, that is why God has made women look at things differently than we men do. Lest you get the wrong impression of my wife she is very detail oriented and can come to a logical versus totally emotional conclusion and I am sure if the worst set of circumstances were to present themselves she would no doubt support any decision I/We would make.

I have been retired now for a little more than 10 years because I am the recipient of a  double transplant and as a result I have restrictions on what I can do. 

My transplant was truly a God send for keeping me alive 10 years ago but as I…

Top Post-Collapse Barter Items And Trade Skills

From SHTF Plan – When It Hits The Fan, Don’t Say We Didn’t Warn You

The concept of private barter and alternative economies has been so far removed from our daily existence here in America that the very idea of participating in commerce without the use of dollars or without the inclusion of corporate chains seems almost outlandish to many people.However, the fact remains that up until very recently (perhaps the last three to four decades) barter and independent trade was commonplace in this country. Without it, many families could not have survived.

Whether we like it or not, such economic methods will be making a return very soon, especially in the face of a plunging dollar, inflating wholesale prices, erratic investment markets, and unsustainable national debts. It is inevitable; financial collapse of the mainstream system ALWAYS leads to secondary markets and individual barter. We can wait until we are already in the midst of collapse and weighted with desperation before we take action to better our circumstances, or, we can prepare now for what we already know is coming.

In today’s “modern” globalist economy, we have relied upon centralized and highly manipulated trade, forced interdependency, senseless and undisciplined consumption, endless debt creation, welfare addiction, and the erosion of quality, as a means to sustain a system that ultimately is DESIGNED to erode our freedoms not to mention our ability to effectively take care of ourselves. We have been infantized by our financial environment. In the near future, those who…

Rapture fail, Taurus Triad, shrinking circle of friends

From Notes from the bunker…

Well, the world didnt end (surprise!). No boom today. Boom tomorrow. Theres always a boom tomorrow.
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I see Taurus is bringing out a .40 S&W revolver. I suppose it makes sense on some level but it still isnt what Im after. Yeras ago Taurus announced their “Triad’ revolver. This would be a gun that fired .38/.357/9mm interchangeably. It isnt an impossible task, just a difficult one with some compromises. S&W made their 547 for a few years utilizing a unique extractor system that did away with the need for moon clips. The Medusa, later rebranded and aborted as the Colr Survivor, was supposed to be able to fire something like two dozen different .38/9mm cartridges but other than a few prototypes, including one that got loose and wound up on Gunbroker, the gun was essentially vaporware. Ruger, obviously, made the Blackhawk convertible in 9/357 but required a cylinder change. The idea of a gun that would shoot 38/357 and 9mm/380/38 Super (or a handful of other wierdness like 9×21,9×18 Ultra, 9mm largo, etc.) still seems to elude me. Why my interest? Well, obviously it would make a nice little gun for when youre not sure what kind of ammo youre going to come across. A gu that could digest 9mm, .38, .357, .380 and .38 Super would be a pretty easy beast to feed in a pinch. I suppose for the right amount of money I could get a spare…

Extended reply to comment

From Notes from the bunker…

This came up in the comments section and its worth putting into a post:

Let’s imagine that you pass away comfortably in your bed many years from now, wife by your side and dog by your feet. Toilet paper and fresh fruit and vegetables are still readily available daily at your local grocery store. Hi-cap magazines are still legal, and ammo is available at Walmart 6 days out of 7. Gas is 10 bucks a gallon and silver is $ 70 an ounce, but hey, that was probably gonna happen anyhow.

So basically–if you die comfy in your home and the S never hits the F, do you leave this world with any regrets on how you lived your life and spent your efforts?

If you have medical insurance and you die of old age, having never been sick a day in your life, do you look back at it bitterly as a waste?
If you have homeowners insurance and never, ever, have anything happen that causes you to file a claim was that a waste?
If you stockpile food in your pantry against the day you can’t get anymore food and that day never comes to pass, was that a waste?

Of course not. Those forms of insurance allowed you to enjoy your life because those risks/threats had been reduced/mitigated/transferred. I would imagine that every person who prepares for the end of the world would be happy to die…

Pat’s Product Review: LaserLyte Products

From SurvivalBlog.com

I still remember when some of the first lasers for handguns came on the commercial market. At the time I was working for the late Col. Rex Applegate, and he received several handgun lasers to test. As was usually the case, the job of testing was passed along to me, and I reported my findings back to Applegate. At the time, I thought that lasers on firearms were more of a gimmick or for that matter, just plain ol’ toys. No one made holsters for handguns with laser – simply because the lasers were so big – it wasn’t practical to carry a handgun with a laser mounted on it.

Well, times change, and product improvement and technology have produced some very small lasers for firearms. I no longer think of lasers as mere toys to play with. I sincerely believe that, lasers can aid a shooter under the right circumstances, especially low-light shooting. I’ve been testing some LaserLyte products for about a year and a half now, and I’m amazed at just how small, and effective their products are.

One of the first products I tested wasn’t a laser. Instead, it’s a very small flashlight that they dub "FlashLyte": that mount on the Picatinny-style rail on a handgun’s rail (semi-autos). Now, the FlashLyte isn’t designed for law enforcement or military use. Instead, this product is designed (and priced) for the home owner to use on their "bedroom gun." You know what I’m talking…

Initial Experience With a Slide Fire AR Stock

From SurvivalBlog.com

Courtesy of one of my consulting clients, I recently had the opportunity to shoot more than 120 rounds through an AR-15 equipped with an SSAR-15 SlideFire Solutions stock. These are legal "bump fire" stocks that slide 1/2-inch, allowing you to very rapidly re-press the trigger, under recoil. The effect sounds just like full auto. It takes a few minutes to get accustomed to controlling the length of bursts. The trick is using a slight forward pressure on the foregrip.

As with full auto, don’t expect much accuracy after the second shot in a burst. (I was able to keep two rounds inside a 6 inch circle at 10 yards.) The stock can also be locked in the rearward position, for traditional (non-bump firing) function. Each stock sold comes with a copy of the ATF approval letter, certifying that rifles in equipped with this stock are exempt from the National Firearms Act $ 200 tax requirements. (Technically, under U.S. law, they are not full auto, because you are firing the gun semi-auto with individual presses of the trigger.) Don’t be surprised if this ruling is reversed in a few years, on a bureaucratic whim, or at the insistence of higher ups in the Executive Branch. If Senator Schumer saw one of these guns in action at a rifle range, I think that he’d lapse into apoplectic spasms. Given the attributes of these stocks, be prepared to answer…

Rain, Expo, Ruger

From Notes from the bunker…

Its been raining to beat the band here in western Montana the last few days. In this neck of the woods, rain is good. We’re only an inch or two away, in average yearly rainfall, from being classified as a desert. But, its a mixed blessing…the rain is great and makes stuff grow, but then in the late summer when it gets dry all that growth goes up in great conflagrations. Feast or famine, I’m afraid.
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I noticed over at ,Rawles’ website that there is apparently some sort of preparedness gig going on in Kalispell in a week. I might go just to look around and see if theres any vendors with anything interesting. I’m less interested in the speakers. I’ve met and chitchatted with Randy Weaver before, so thats nothing new. I certainly won’t be there for the religion-oriented parts. But, if theres some vendors with some cool goodies and decent prices, well, then maybe it’ll be worth the trip.
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I was playing around with my 10/22 the other day and while it is a handy little gun, it could be handier. What I’d like is a side mounted sling. Not a three-point sling, but rather a sling that is mounted on the side of the rifle rather than the bottom. Something much like what you see on old Mausers. The first step is finding a side mount sling attachment for the front end. To…

Understanding Metric and Inch Bore Dimensions

From SurvivalBlog.com

I often have blog readers and consulting clients send me questions about firearms calibers. They are often confused, but this not always their fault. It is a confusing, complex, and often arcane topic. A lot of the facts that you will find are mere trivia, but since safety is an issue–(we mustn’t fire the incorrect ammo in our guns!)–it is important to study.

To begin: Metric caliber designations are usually written with an "x" in the middle to distinguish the bore diameter and case length. For example, the 6.5×55 designation tells us that the cartridge uses a 6.5 mm bullet, and a case that is 55 mm in length.

The following table is partly public domain (courtesy of Wikipedia), with additions by JWR (such as 7.5mm, 7.7mm, .375 H&H, .455 and .577) and minor corrections and comments. Hence, this table is copyrighted.

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