Don't Be A Sheep

Sometimes I seriously wonder about people. I remember hearing some time ago about a parent and kid who went shopping at a big box store. I don't remember the details but somehow they ended up in the security office with the kid, who I think was 7, in his underwear. This went on for hours. I really wonder what this Dad's deal was and why he let any of this happen. I couldn't find the story but found one about a man who was "forced to pull down his pants" in Walgreens.

Somehow this topic came up between Wifey and I recently. Off the cuff I said that my response would be "F#*$(@ you, I'll kick the #*$) out of you if you don't get out of my way." Wifey nicely said I am a bit grown up to talk that way and that "I'm leaving" would get the same affect across. In any case the point is that minimum wage retail store security goobers are not on the list of people who I must or will take any flack from. They don't get to make me go anywhere or detain me and their medical insurance isn't good enough to lay a hand on me. The idea of letting some buffoon touch my kid is even more ridiculous. Just not on the list of things I am going to let happen.

I heard recently on the TV that bill collectors threatened to take some woman's kids away from her. That should set off the "this guy is talking out of his behind" bells but hey, some folks are smarter than others. How would I answer that "get a couple guys, come to my house and try it."

I think protecting your kids is something that is hard wired into us. Also assuming you don't start shooting random people in the street or murder an old woman who goes to say hi to your kid I do not think it is a bad thing. Protecting your kids is part of a parent's job.

However having the will is only part of it. Will in and of itself doesn't make anything happen. You have got to be able to back the will up with action. You have got to have the skills to fight and the muscle to make it work. Also having weapons and the ability to use them is pretty darn useful if things get really bad.

 If this isn't a reason to train aggressively I do not know what else is.

Wanna Be On Tv

CASTING:

SURVIVALIST AND PREPPERS, WHO ARE SINGLE AND LOOKING TO DATE

DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THE END OF THE WORLD IS NEAR, YET YOU ARE STILL SEARCHING FOR SOMEONE TO FALL IN LOVE WITH?

A Major television production company is casting single men and women who share the belief that the world is soon ending for a new major television series. We are in search of people who passionately believe in the world’s inevitable end, are serious about survival skills, but are also single and looking for someone to enjoy the rest of their time on earth with! Please tell us your story.

Please email us with your story with a current photo of yourself along with a current contact telephone number and email address to Sean De Simone (http://seandesimonecasting.com/) at survivaldatecasting@gmail.com

 

[TOR here: I have no interest in the current TV fascination with preppers and survivalists. I feel this way for a lot of reasons including that I am rather cautious about personal security. However I figured some of you might just be interested in this type of thing. Please think hard about it though.]

Biggest Wastes of Money in Preparedness

Lots of folks seem to feel the need to waste a ton of money on watches. You do not need a super seal swimmer watch or a Suunto or anything fancy and expensive. Here is a hint, the "cool guys" wear that stuff but largely because they have substantial budgets without a whole lot of oversight. A watch that is waterproof, tells time and has an alarm is all you need. If you spend a lot of time mountaineering and prefer to have an altimiter on your watch (vs GPS or another separate gadget) then I guess that makes sense but for a typical guy or gal all of these features are a huge waste of money. If you want a nice watch then get one but don't pretend it has anything to do with preparedness. I wear a timex and it works just fine.

The newest waste of money trend is "tactical pens". First let us look at the concept. The concept is that you can use this pen as a weapon, maybe in an area where better weapons like guns are verboden. This is just about the dumbest thing I have ever heard of. Seriously if you want to waste your money then send it to me. In the extremely limited circumstances where you have to fight somebody using a pen the important factors will be skill, violence of action, strength and then luck and somewhere after that the completely sub optimal improvised weapon in your hand. I really just don't think it is going to matter if you have a bic or a super tactical titanium fighting pen. If you are seriously worried about it buy the cheapest ballpoint pen you can find with a steel body, there is no need to spend a ton of money here.

Lastly knives are an ever present place to overspend. Between Gerber, Buck, Spyderco and Cold Steel (among others) there are so many high quality knives in the $35-75 range that you don't need to spend a ton of money. You could have a very nice collection of knives never spending more than $100 a knife. Even if you feel like being pretty fancy you could definitely stay under $200 a knife.
You are adults and it is your money so do whatever you want. I'm just saying that if you are hurting to figure out how to pay for gear these are some places you can have a pretty tight budget.

Still Sick

The title pretty much sums it up. Making it through work and doing family stuff in the evening is taking about all I have got. By the end of the day I am completely physically and mentally drained. On the bright side I sought medical care today and I do not have pnemonia or wooping cough or the plague. Expect short posts, quotes and videos for a few days. Please bear with me until I don't feel like the walking dead.

Context: George Zimmerman

Interesting read. Does he sound like an evil Wacist just itching to kill someone now?

Sometimes Crooked Cops are Funny

What Did You Do To Prepare This Week?

This week I stumbled into 4 brand new pair of multicam uniforms and a couple combat shirts. Also when at the local PX I swung through the outdoor section just to check things out. Products sort of rotate sporatically so it is good to see what they have got. I was pleased to see they had the Buck 110 with a black leather sheath in stock.  I have been trying to order one through amazon but nobody would ship to me which is one of the joys of living over here. Anyway I picked one up. I also picked up one of those magnesium and flint firestarter jobbers.

I did a nice 5 mile trail run and had some good times at the weight pile which was nice. I feel like things are getting back onto track. Also I was able to get a lot of sleep this weekend and am on the upswing from the cold. Had some good times with the wife and kid too. All in all it was a week that I am pretty happy with.

What did you do to prepare this week?

We Would Like To Welcome Our Newest Advertiser; Stacey's Quest

Four teen-age girls just wanted to shop, having no idea what to do when civilization fails them. Now, Stacey, raised all her life as a material girl, must face the unknown to save herself, her family, and her friends in a suddenly hostile world.

An 86 Year Old Real Life Robinson Crusoe

Interesting story and video.

Weekend Roll Up

This video is kind of scary

Hat tip to Chief Instructor for the find.

FerFal did an interesting video on big knives. It is pretty long at a bit more than a half hour but if you have the time consider checking it out. His point that large knives are far more useful for fighting is valid but pretty much a given. Really you want the closest thing to a sword you can get if a gun is not an option. Something like a Bowie/ Arkansas Toothpick/ Dirk/ Falcon/ Kukuri/ etc would be the way to go.

I wouldn't say that I agree with the whole thing. He sort of combines the roles of knives and bigger tools like machete's or hatchets. In my mind they are distinctly separate categories for distinctly different tools which may admittedly be arbitrary. A machete is pretty much an essential in the Jungle or dense warm enviornments like the Deep South or the sort of Swamps you find in LA and FL. Conversely a hatchet or small ax is probably more useful in the sort of forests found in the Northern parts of the US. For whatever it is worth my experiences in the PNW tell me that a decent medium sized knife (say 3.5-5inches) and a hatchet or small ax are a darn good combination.

Some folks seem to use a tomahawk for this role. I can't speak to that at all because I have never tried it. The bigger more functional tomohawk's like those made by Cold Steel may be a viable option. The Trail Hawk is a beefy and substantial tool.  I like that it has some heft and a hammer head (though probably better for tent pegs than framing a house). I have handled one of them but never actually used it.

However it sort of depends on what you plan to do. If you are going to clear a little bit of brush to make a campsite, cut some sticks to cook marshmellows and trim up a few small pieces of firewood a machete would work. If you plan to cut enough firewood to warm and cook for a dozen people for a week then you want a hatchet or ax. If you want to go into the woods and pull a Dick Proenneke an ax and a saw would be a decent start. Anyway enough on that topic.

That whole foot in mouth from some random Democrat recently was big fun. Recap “Guess what?” asked Rosen. “His wife has actually never worked a day in her life. She’s never really dealt with the kinds of economic issues that a majority of the women in this country are facing in terms of how do we feed our kids, how do we send them to school and why we worry about their future.” Patrice wrote about it here. I definitely wanted to say something but didn't really have a full post worth of content. Obviously that she never had a job has far less to do with her arguably not "dealing with economic reality" than marrying a rich guy who became a lot more rich.

Anyway I think that having a parent stay with the kids and not earn any (or any meaningful) income is sort of a luxury. If the family can't keep a roof over their heads, food in the cupboard and generally meet basic life expenses then both adults need to be doing their best to earn as much money as humanly possible until things get better. If one or both parents insist that (typically) momma stays at home while they go hungry or become homeless there are some serious issues. Having beliefs and ideals is fine but sometimes practical concerns have to trump them, at least in the short term. In fairness also on a comparable level of luxury are beer/ wine/ alcohol, tobacco, soda, coffee and tea, prepared foods, eating out, entertainment other than the library or other free stuff, cable or satelite tv, having the internet at home, eating out, toys like jet ski's/ dirtbikes/ snow mobiles/ travel trailers and if we are really being honest owning personal vehicles. As we can see pretty much all middle class and most supposedly poor people consume or own some of these "luxuries." You certainly don't need Romney money to pull off having the wife at home, coffee in the cupboard, beer in the fridge, a few toys and the internet.

As Patrice noted often if you really look at the income vs necesssary costs (reliable second vehicle, fuel/ insurance/ maintenance for said vehicle, child care, professional clothing, more eating out/ prepared food, the list could go on) women who work often take home a lot less than you would really think. This is especially true with low skill women who will need to pay for childcare. In many cases the income difference if expenses are subtracted is just a few hundred dollars.

Obviously if the potential single wage earner works part time for minimum wage this is probably not viable unless you want to go full on so far out of the box that you can't see it anymore James Dakin, Off The Grid: Life on the Mesa style. However assuming the potential single income is some sort of adult job that is close to full time money isn't the biggest obstacle. I hesitate to say a specific dollar amount because cost of living varies by region. For example 40k is doing pretty decent in Idaho or Alabama but definitely is not in LA or NYC. That being said when people talk about how "they can't afford to have a parent stay home" what they really mean is that they are unwilling to give up some stuff to make it happen and or have a pretty high debt load. I wrote more about this here.

Anyway that is about all the stuff I can think of right now and I am about bored of writing.

Hope you had a good weekend,
Ryan