Update: Slowing Down

I try and update this blog at least every other day or so, most of the time it's even done daily, but I'm not sure how long I'm going to be able to keep that up.  With my new job has come requirements for some out-of-state training, so for the next two weeks I'm going to be in the mid-west.  Woo hoo.

Actually, I'm really looking forward to getting the new job going, I'm just not looking forward to the training portion.

Anyway, I'm going to do my best to keep putting up entertaining and informational posts, it just probably won't have the frequency that I'm sure you've become accustomed to.

Range Review: Ruger Blackhawk Convertible

So, when I took my class for the pistol permit, one of the guns we shot was a Ruger Blackhawk Convertible.  It's a pretty nifty single action (manually cock the hammer for every shot) revolver, it shoots .38sp and .357, swap out the cylinder and it shoots 9mm as well.

When I got my permit, the first gun I picked up was a Blackhawk Convertible of my own.  This is the stainless steel version with a 6" barrel, cost was around $650.

(Bic is for size comparison)

I took it to the range today, put 300 rounds of .38sp through it.  I brought another revolver and a lever-action Rossi R92, my intent was to run 100 rounds through each but circumstances didn't work out that way.  The silhouette range was closed (I guess it's only open on the weekends), so lever action was out, and I had a mechanical issue with my other revolver (erm, I forgot the tool to 'unlock' the safety).

I would have put up some range photos but I spent the first 50 rounds realizing the zero was off (the elevation was maxed out by the factory), then the next 100 rounds trying to get it zeroed.  Then my arms were so shaky (this is not a light-weight gun) that I wasn't having the most accurate day.  But, hell, was this gun fun to shoot.

First 200 rounds were remmington .38sp 130gr, last 100 rounds were some generic FMJ .38sp 150gr I picked up at Sports Authority.  As for accuracy, I can't really say one was more accurate than the other (I was trying to get a good zero for half the time), but the 130gr had less kick (no big surprise there).  By the time I had a good zero my arms were pretty shaky too.  Either way, it was plenty of fun to shoot and I can't wait to get it back to the range.

(all cleaned up after a day at the range)

As for the convertible part of the gun, it's ridiculously easy.  No tools required, pull a pin, slide the rod, and the whole cylinder comes out.  The whole process takes about 6 seconds.  I was really impressed with how easy it was and look forward to putting some 9mm down range.  I didn't try it this time, but during class we shot 9mm out of this thing and it was a blast.

Overall, it's a fun gun if you like single action.  The 6" barrel takes a little getting used to, it's definitely barrel heavy, but it also helps with the recoil.  Even the 150gr was easily manageable, and I really like the versatility with ammo.

In fact, it's so fun to shoot that now I'm considering getting a Ruger Vaquero to go with it.  I did say I was a cowboy at heart.



Edit: I took it to the range again today.  This time I went to the silhouette portion and I had a blast!  My zero from yesterday meant I was denting metal as soon as I pulled it out.  There's something so satisfying about shooting silhouettes, BANG.. ping,  BANG.. ping.  You see some targets fall, others bouncing around with the shots.  Very fun.

I was very impressed with the accuracy out to around 75 yards.  I'm sure it would be accurate out well past that distance but 75 yards was about the limit of my accuracy.  In other words, the gun is limited by me, not the other way around.  That's a good thing, because my skills will improve with more practice.

You Know What Drives Me Nuts? Cell Phones

About a week ago I had to do a urine drug test as part of a job application.  These are annoying but I understand the necessity, so that morning I drank about a gallon of coffee and checked in to the medical center.  I sat down in the waiting area and waited for the coffee to kick in.  As I was the only person there, I started to wish I'd brought a book.

A couple minutes later a woman walked in, we did the nod at each in other greeting.   She checked in to the desk and sat down.  

As soon as she sat down she pulled out her phone and was instantly glued to the screen.

A little while later a guy came in.  We nodded at each other, he checked in, then he sat down and pulled out his phone.

Now, I'm not an old fashioned, anti-technology, kind of guy, but it really disturbed me that over the next half an hour not a word passed between the three of us.  I sat there, twiddling my thumbs, memorizing the health posters on the walls... and they were entirely occupied by "angry birds", or whatever it was they were doing, thumb-typing away.

Not that long ago, before "smart phones", we might have been chatting away, BS'ing about our bosses or work (or how hydrated we were).  These days though, as soon as there is a slow second, out come the phones.  We're becoming a nation of ADD cell phone addicts.

It's almost like an insulation against the real world, against interacting with fellow human beings.  We don't talk to each other any more, we 'go online' and chat with like-minded people thousands of miles away, or we post/tweet about our day instead of actually talking to loved ones.

A while ago, I got an important phone call (about that job application previously mentioned) while I was waiting to get rung up at a UPS store.  I stepped away, conducted my conversation, and went to the back of the line.  When I eventually got to the front I apologized for the interruption to the cashier who had been helping me.  She said, "No big deal", and went on ringing me up.  I stopped her, told her that it was a pet peeve of mine when people were face to face and one answers their phone, ignoring the other.  She kept brushing me off, I kept telling her that it wasn't ok.  It seems that popular culture is adopting the attitude that a phone always takes priority over people in any situation.

Not only does it bother me when people are so rude, it bothers me that this is so common it is 'acceptable' behavior.  Seriously, look around when you're out in public, it's like everyone is buried in a phone screen.

When a society avoids face-to-face communication, how long can it last?  Right now, we are at a tipping point and leaning the wrong direction.  Think about that the next time you reach for your phone.

Gear Review: Gerber Gator Machete Jr

Sorry about the condition of the packaging in the following photos, I hadn't planned on doing a gear review.  I saw the Gerber Gator Machete Jr ($24) at the store and figured it'd be good addition to my camping gear.  Machete on one side, saw on the other, what's not to like?  Half way through opening the package I noticed something strange.

Yes, that's a zombie on the package.  There are two more on the back.

When I purchased this I had no idea I was feeding into the Zombie Apocalypse Gear craze.  In case you hadn't noticed, there is a huge advertising trend right now on throwing a picture of a zombie and some ooz-green writing on everyday items and proclaiming them "Zombie Killers" or something.  Now, I love me some zombies, books, movies, whatever... but the merchandising is getting kind of crazy.

(Hornady Zombie Max Ammunition)

(Yes, that's a Zombie chainsaw bayonet)

(Ka-Bar has a whole line of Zombie knives, this is the Zombie "Chopstick")

Now, the gun and knife products I can almost understand.  But Zombie hot sauce?  Or Zombie dog toys?

Yeah, I think the popularity of "The Walking Dead" and various movies like "Zombieland" has turned Zombies mainstream.

Anyway, apparently the Gator is a specialized "Zombie Killing" machete, which is strange because I'm pretty sure I saw the exact same model a couple weeks ago and it was just a 'regular' machete.  Is there some sort of test they run an item through to get it certified for killing zombies?  Maybe it passed the test and now it's upgraded to a "zombie killer"?  Man, I hope they didn't jack up the price on me.

Anyway, it seems like a pretty decent machete.  It's got a good thick blade, the saw blades on the back actually seem well made and sharp.

Apparently when they were running this thing through the test for "zombie killing" they had problems with the hand slipping off the handle toward the blade.  There are some very specific instructions, they tell you to loop the lanyard over the handle before you use it.  There are also blank sections of the blade on both sides above the handle, I'm assuming for the same reason.

I didn't notice any problem with hand slippage, but maybe if you were using the saw on a stubborn log (or multiple zombie attackers) it would be more noticeable.  If you put the lanyard on, as instructed, then the grip is very secure and it would be very difficult to slip either up or down off the handle.

The sheath is usually where I find problems with cheaper blades but this one looks surprisingly well built.  It looks sturdy and fits the blade well.  It has a guard on the back inside the sheath, to protect against the saw blades.  The only complaint I have with the sheath is that the belt loop is a little small and very high up on the back of the sheath (I would have preferred a larger loop and it be placed a little lower to minimize bouncing if worn on the belt).  Otherwise it's pretty nice.

Picture this, you're out on a camping trip and you're clearing some brush.  Two zombies break out of the underbrush and charge at you!  Do you need to run back to camp?  No way!  You've already got a certified zombie killing weapon in hand!  With that kind of versatility you've got to enjoy your Gator Machete.

And if the Zombie Apocalypse doesn't happen at least you didn't overpay for a useless piece of junk.

Edit 11/16/2012:  I actually noticed the main character using the large version of the Gator in a recent episode of The Walking Dead.  At least on TV this appears to be quite the Zombie fighting weapon.

Libby's VS Armour... Battle of the Vienna Sausage

Ever since SPAM vs Corned Beef it's been hard to come up with a food battle as good.  Everything else seems trivial in comparison...  Until now.  Vienna Sausage, what could be more important than finding the best Vienna Sausage brand?

The battle of the Vienna Sausages!!!!

Libby's ($.99) VS Armour ($1.09).  Two popular, cheap, brands of Vienna Suasage.  Both of these can be found by the case very inexpensively.  For how cheap they are, I'd be surprised if any prepper didn't have a few cases in their closet.  But which one should you be stocking?

Can you tell the difference by looks?  I couldn't.  For both, it looked like someone had cut up some hot dog pieces and put them in a can.  Nearly identical.

Nutritional Information:
Libby's
Serving size: 3 pieces, 2.5 servings per can
Calories: 130, Fat 110
Total fat: 5g, 18%
Cholesterol: 40mg, 13%
Sodium: 260mg, 11%
Total Carbs: 1g, 0%
Protien: 5g


Armour
Serving size: 3 pieces, 2.5 per can
Calories: 110, Fat 90 15%
Cholesterol: 45mg,  15%
Sodium: 490mg, 20%
Carb: 1g, 0%
Protien: 5g

Libby's had slightly more calories, Armour had slightly more sodium...  Overall, there wasn't a distinct difference when coming to values on the Nutritional Information.   Both were very, very similar.  Even the ingredients are nearly identical.


Taste test.
Raw:

(Doesn't that look wonderful?  The sacrifices I make for you people...)

There was very little to distinguish the two in the raw form.  Both were similar to uncooked hotdogs, though tasted slightly more like ham.  The textures were on the softer side, they kind of fell apart once bitten.  A hotdog is far more solid, these were much more processed-meat-shaped-into-cylinders than solid food.  The Armour might have been very slightly better, slightly saltier, slightly better texture, but not by very much.

(At least they look slightly better now)

Cooked:
Can you tell the difference cooked?  I think the only difference in looks is because the ones on the left were put into the pan while it was still heating up, the ones on the right were put in the heated pan after the first cooked.  Other than that, there was very little difference between the two.  (Libby's left, Armour right)

In short, they taste exactly the same cooked.  I mean, exactly the same.  Just warmer.  It was actually kind of disappointing.


Conclusions:
Yeah, I have to admit that this was a very anticlimactic battle.  I mean, they were very nearly identical.  The Armour might have had a very, very slight taste/texture advantage, but that was it.  And that might have just been my brain struggling to find a distinction.

Both were cheap, the same size, basically the same nutritional information, tastes almost exactly the same...  I'm not sure how to call this one.  Either would be a good addition to your stores and I think price would probably be the deciding factor as to which one to stock up on.

Tsunami Bug Out Pt 2

Alright, I'm going to go through the detailed plan/execution of my Tsunami bug out.

I previously mentioned how the tsunami bug out started.  It was basically a practice bug out to see how everything would work during a real bug out.  This post starts after I grabbed my BOB.

I planned on getting to the Pali Look Out.  It's one of the highest on the island that you can get to in a car.  If there weren't places at the Pali than I had two back up places to pull off the highway.  All those places have access to my favorite trail network, all were above the tsunami zone.  I was lucky to bug out earlier than most, and made it to the Look Out before it ran out of parking spaces.

Honestly, I figured the Pali would be full.  It was one of the highest places and I thought that most people leaving Honolulu would go there.  Luckily, that wasn't the case in this situation.  For me, the Pali was good for a multitude of reasons.  It was high, to get me away from tsunami waves, it had a clear view of the affected area, and it had direct access to the trail system that I planned on bugging out to.  The area is close to the mountains, good sources of water, and you can get away from more dense population areas.

These are a few things that I took note of during my "bug out":

• How few people bugged out to high ground.  I almost didn't, after all the false warnings we've had.  That Pali lookout is right above Honolulu, THE major population center, and yet it wasn't nearly as full as I thought it would be.  The actual parking lot was filled but there were still plenty of places along the road.
• How many people did not bring any supplies with them.  Out of all the people that made it to the Pali Look Out, I didn't see any that seemed remotely prepared for a large scale natural disaster.  There were families in their minivans, but few even thought to bring a sweat shirt or jacket (the Pali look out is one of the windiest places on the island and there were intermittent rains that night, lots of shivering people).  They would have survived the initial Tsunami, but few seemed prepared for anything more than an immediate emergency.  No extra food, water, or other supplies that I saw.
• How many people were drinking.  There were at least four groups I saw that were actively drinking in public during the emergency.  Having lived in Florida, through several hurricanes, I recognize this as something I call "The Jimmy Buffet Disaster Plan".  Drink as much as you can so that no matter what happens you're having a good time.  I hosted several "hurricane parties", so I am familiar with the concept (that was all before I started prepping).  
• Patience was a problem for most people.  The tsunami was predicted to hit at 22:38.  When nothing had happened by 23:00, a lot of people had already left the high ground.  It would have taken very little for the original prediction to be off, yet these people were already headed back into the danger zone.  I stayed at high ground for over an hour, which was still well within the "warning zone" of three hours, and yet when I left 2/3 of the people had already gone.  Our modern civilization has not prepared people for the patience necessary to survive a natural disaster.  These people waited an extremely short period of time and they could easily have been driving into a deadly tsunami wave.
• I realized I did not have any form of personal defense.  This being a short term natural disaster I didn't think it would be necessary, but after seeing that no one brought any supplies (and how many were drinking) I'm rethinking that.  (I bought some pepper spray and added that to my BOB, I think it's a better option than a gun for a short term bug out like a tsunami)

We were lucky that we had a three hour warning of this potential natural disaster, yet very few people responded to the threat.  I wouldn't have even known of the hazard if they hadn't used the air raid siren.  How good is prepping if you don't notice a warning or react when one is given?  A surprisingly few number of people left their homes for higher ground.  

I'm glad I decided to do this practice bug out, it gave me a lot of things to think about. 

Tsunami: Epic Bug-out Fail Pt 1

I'm going split this into two posts.  This one, the first, is kind of a lessons learned post.  The next will be more of an overall bug-out experience.

Alright, this post is going to be a bit more wordy than usual.

Last Saturday night, I was watching a movie and noticed this strange sound.  I muted the TV and the sound was still there, almost sounded like one of those old air raid sirens.  So I pulled out the laptop and checked the local news.  Turns out Hawaii was under a tsunami warning.

I went back to watching the movie.  The last three times we had a warning you could have stood in the surf and not noticed the 'tsunami' when it arrived.

Then I thought about it a little more and decided to "bug out" to high ground for two reasons; 1) it would be a good practice run, and 2) I can just see my obituary "Newbie Prepper Dies, Surrounded By His Supplies, Because He Stayed In The Tsunami Zone".  With that irony I'd never be able to rest in peace.

Lets just say that this was an eye opening experience for me.  Here is a list of the many thoughts, lessons, and issues that I came up with during my two hours "bugging out" in my car.

• I need to have a radio on or something as an early warning system.  If they hadn't rung the air siren I wouldn't have known we were in a 'Tsunami warning'.
• I need to keep my bags bug-out ready.  I thought they were until I actually went to bug out, that's when I went through a mental checklist of my BOB and started coming up short.   I have all of the essential items for my BOB but I'm constantly putting in new things, taking out others, repacking it... and then when I needed my bag I had to run around my apartment piecing it all back together.  Things I realized were missing: food, water, an emergency radio (waiting on dehydrated meals, canteens, and radio from Amazon), ax, sheath knife, and a tarp.
• There were a bunch of things in the BOB that I didn't need: a stove without fuel, empty water bottles, and bedding (I could just sleep in my car)
• In this situation, a BOB was kind of over kill.  I already have a GHB in the car, which already has most of the essentials, adding the BOB meant I had three or four of everything I might need.  I'm now thinking that I might need to put together some kind of 'intermediate' bag, something for short-term natural disaster preparation.  It could be a small bag with extra clothes, water, and food.  Kind of an add-on to the GHB.
• BOB accessibility is an issue.  I have too many smaller bags inside my BOB, makes finding an individual item a pain in the butt.  I'll need to figure out a better way of organizing it.
• I realized during this 'emergency' that there were a lot of things that I should have been keeping in my car all along.  I mean, I've got a GHB but I don't have a general vehicle emergency kit?  Flares, tools, jumper cables, a spare set of clothes, a good jacket, Fix-A-Flat, spare vehicle fluids, a couple gallons of water, hatchet, folding shovel... there are a lot of practical things that I should have been kept in my trunk.
• I was lucky that my car was gassed up.  At the first whiff of an emergency the gas stations were packed.  I'm not very good about keeping it full, it was purely luck that I filled the tank the day before.  I need to be better about that in the future.
• My cellphone, kindle, and laptop were all at half a battery.  At the very least, I need to get a car charger for my phone to keep it going in an emergency.
• I need to eat food more regularly.  I'm sure that sounds odd, but I usually only eat two big meals a day.  When I heard the siren I had just been trying to figure out what to do for dinner.  So, I need to eat more often during the day.  It's always better to start an emergency with a full belly.
• I had about $20 in my wallet.  I don't usually keep much cash on hand (I spend it), I need to pull out some cash and either keep it in my car or in my GHB/BOB for emergencies.
• A motorcycle might be a good idea for an urban Bug Out Vehicle.  I saw a lot of people on motorcycles and the flexibility of a motorcycle over a car or truck.  In a real emergency they could get through stopped traffic and park pretty much anywhere.  It would limit the amount of gear, I can fit a lot in my car, but it would be really nice to have that flexibility if I need it.  Food for thought.
• My BOB is pretty big.  That didn't seem like an issue when it was sitting in the corner, but walking around my apartment building?  I got a lot of funny looks, it was the opposite of subtle.  Looking like an idiot on the average day isn't that big of a deal, standing out during an emergency could be.  Nothing screams "I have lots of supplies" like an over flowing back pack. 

This was a pretty good example of how planning will only get you so far, you need to actually practice.  You can only plan for so much, reality always throws us curve balls.  I packed my BOB for any Bug out situation, for this mini-disaster scenario a lot of that stuff wasn't really needed.  Especially considering that I already had half of the stuff in the Get Home Bag.  

Overall, my biggest frustration was that I wasn't set up to step-up or step-down my bug out, it was either take too little or too much.  I definitely need to figure out how to add more flexibility to my bug out supplies, that way I can adjust to the situation quicker and easier.

I'm really glad that I decided to run this little practice bug out instead of going back to watching TV.  One of the last things I grabbed was a note book and some pens.  I took notes through pretty much every step of this bug out and I ended up with over two pages of issues, problems, ideas, and things to think about.

Laugh at my slapstick bug out all you like, I hope my embarrassing mistakes can help some others in their own disaster preparations.


Stay tuned for a follow up post about some more Tsunami adventures and thoughts.