I know it's silly to post sensationalism like this, but with people posting all these stupid things about pokemon and politics, I just can't help myself! Seriously though, this is an important part of your life and times.
Everyone has a favorite pair of shorts, pants, shirt, shoes and (especially important) underwear. Sometimes it's purely emotional, like that lucky pair of drawers you were wearing that time you met that double jointed Swedish stewardess! Or not. My favorites all come due to comfort and/or usefulness. It's really important to have functional clothing at your disposal when the chips are down or you have to switch gears quickly. Case in point
Sunday, July 31, 2016
Thursday, July 28, 2016
New Truck Kit.
It seems that my various kits have been pillaged a time or two for replacement gear and such. When a flashlight fails or I need a hank of paracord, my truck kit takes a hit. This recently cost me a bit of trouble. I needed some paracord to tie down an unruly piece of equipment, but there was none to be had after I used it to batten down a SilNylon tarp at my last training session with students. I had to keep them and their bookwork dry in a pounding rain. My SOE belt cam in handy for the task of ensuring the equipment didn't topple out of the truck bed, but I looked funny holding up my pants the rest of the trip.
The answer, in my eyes is to have 2 kits in my truck. My regular truck kit that is used and replenished often, and a true survival kit/get home bag. Nothing too large because I always have a full kit when I drive out of the 50 mile radius of my home. That being said, I should be able to walk 50 miles in 2.5 days without any trouble, even if I stop and rest and even get some shuteye. What if I'm on the direct opposite side of the large metropolis in my area. I'm sure as heck not going to walk through hood rat central without being forced to. This could add at least 20 miles to the commute. Add in social unrest, injury or the need to skirt checkpoints and I could be out for a week.
This isn't anything new to me. I've always kept a few days worth of food in the car and truck, but never really in appropriate amounts. With the various situations I find myself in, I will sometimes need to be on site for a day or two without leaving so having a couple cans of soup or a mountain house meal is a lifesaver. I never kept a stove because I keep a propane torch in my truck at all times. That's not something I really want to carry long term though.
What I want is a full emergency kit plus a survival/Escape and Evasion style kit. Something light weight, easy to use, and farm animal simple. It must fit underneath my truck seat without being exposed to prying eyes. I'm thinking a sling bag or very small but long non tactical looking pack. There are several out there that fit the bill, but I want something inexpensive.
Contents will look something like this.
Shelter: Silnylon tarp or Bivy and a fleece liner.
Cooking kit: Hexamine tablets, MRE spoon, and an ESEE mess kit/survival tin
Navigation: Cheap compass and state map
Illumination: a couple glow sticks and a Princeton Tech headlamp with extra rechargeable batteries
Cordage: Spool of #36 tarred line, 100' paracord
Tools: Multitool, medium folding knife, Etool or prybar.
Incidentals: Gorilla tape, Shemagh, zip ties, trash can liners, bug spray, fishing line, tin foil, clothes pins, solar charger, Beofeng radio, wash cloths, antiseptic soap, water filter.
Food: Freeze dried and instant meals, gatorade powder, tea and sugar, cheapo Binoculars. Smart Water bottles for containers. I love them!
My regular emergency kit covers the medical and tactical aspect very well. It also has some redundant supplies such as water tablets and water bottles plus some snacks. Its various helpful supplies will augment this future kit.
Updates with pics to follow.
The answer, in my eyes is to have 2 kits in my truck. My regular truck kit that is used and replenished often, and a true survival kit/get home bag. Nothing too large because I always have a full kit when I drive out of the 50 mile radius of my home. That being said, I should be able to walk 50 miles in 2.5 days without any trouble, even if I stop and rest and even get some shuteye. What if I'm on the direct opposite side of the large metropolis in my area. I'm sure as heck not going to walk through hood rat central without being forced to. This could add at least 20 miles to the commute. Add in social unrest, injury or the need to skirt checkpoints and I could be out for a week.
This isn't anything new to me. I've always kept a few days worth of food in the car and truck, but never really in appropriate amounts. With the various situations I find myself in, I will sometimes need to be on site for a day or two without leaving so having a couple cans of soup or a mountain house meal is a lifesaver. I never kept a stove because I keep a propane torch in my truck at all times. That's not something I really want to carry long term though.
What I want is a full emergency kit plus a survival/Escape and Evasion style kit. Something light weight, easy to use, and farm animal simple. It must fit underneath my truck seat without being exposed to prying eyes. I'm thinking a sling bag or very small but long non tactical looking pack. There are several out there that fit the bill, but I want something inexpensive.
Contents will look something like this.
Shelter: Silnylon tarp or Bivy and a fleece liner.
Cooking kit: Hexamine tablets, MRE spoon, and an ESEE mess kit/survival tin
Navigation: Cheap compass and state map
Illumination: a couple glow sticks and a Princeton Tech headlamp with extra rechargeable batteries
Cordage: Spool of #36 tarred line, 100' paracord
Tools: Multitool, medium folding knife, Etool or prybar.
Incidentals: Gorilla tape, Shemagh, zip ties, trash can liners, bug spray, fishing line, tin foil, clothes pins, solar charger, Beofeng radio, wash cloths, antiseptic soap, water filter.
Food: Freeze dried and instant meals, gatorade powder, tea and sugar, cheapo Binoculars. Smart Water bottles for containers. I love them!
My regular emergency kit covers the medical and tactical aspect very well. It also has some redundant supplies such as water tablets and water bottles plus some snacks. Its various helpful supplies will augment this future kit.
Updates with pics to follow.
Monday, July 18, 2016
Changes in the Blogoshpere.
It seems that a few long running Blogs have completely dried up in the past year. I hate to see it happen, but some times life just gets in the way. It's not like us little guys get paid much to do this. If we advertise with google, you might get a tank of fuel every quarter, if you ride a moped.
I do miss a few of the more solid guys out there. I know we sometimes get caught up with popular guns and ammo talk and bore the heck out of you with intelligence and toilet paper posts, but it's all important to us. Like minded people should stick it out for as long as we can, and when we just can't do it anymore, bow out gracefully.
This blog isn't updated regularly due to my time constraints and outreach programs. I know that can get annoying at times when you need a good read on a late night insomnia stretch. It's just how it is for me. It's free info. If you want get some high level training, I can get you taken care of but the price is steep!
Anyway, I'm not going anywhere. If the blog suddenly stops getting updated for a couple months, I'm dead. Probably by my wife for buying another gun. So worth it.
I do miss a few of the more solid guys out there. I know we sometimes get caught up with popular guns and ammo talk and bore the heck out of you with intelligence and toilet paper posts, but it's all important to us. Like minded people should stick it out for as long as we can, and when we just can't do it anymore, bow out gracefully.
This blog isn't updated regularly due to my time constraints and outreach programs. I know that can get annoying at times when you need a good read on a late night insomnia stretch. It's just how it is for me. It's free info. If you want get some high level training, I can get you taken care of but the price is steep!
Anyway, I'm not going anywhere. If the blog suddenly stops getting updated for a couple months, I'm dead. Probably by my wife for buying another gun. So worth it.
Sunday, July 17, 2016
Emotional and Psychological Issues Under Pressure
Spent 6 days at camp with the scouts. It was enjoyable, as always. My biggest issue was the fact that 2 of the boys in the troop have some serious emotional issues and required a great deal of assistance to keep them stable. One is a textbook case of manic depressive with zero short term memory due to heavy drug use of his mother during pregnancy. The kid is pure gold when he's comfortable, but when things don't go his way, or he's hungry/sleepy/tired or sick... Godzilla time. The other is an autistic boy that recently move to our troop. He needs constant attention and reinforcement. It's an exhausting mix. The good thing is that the boys are learning their limitations and beginning to understand why they react differently that the other kids.
What I learned was that in a dire situation, I cannot count on them to do anything but exacerbate the issue. Medications won't be enough to keep them in check if their world falls apart on them. Even mild dehydration can cause significant emotional swings in those hampered by emotional difficulties. In an emergency, your children can become a large hindrance to your plans unless you have made some allowance for their emotional needs prior to the event.
If your family member has serious emotional damage, or requires heavy medication to remain compliant, you might be in real trouble as the meds wear off. Planning for this eventuality is almost impossible. There are no good options when it happens.
One of the things that most people don't know is that most successful people have a diagnosed or undiagnosed mental impairment. Sometimes genius has it's torments, and sometimes OCD is the price of organizational perfection in a company.
The other side of this coin is those boys that were sharpened by conflict and testing. Many of the troop were tested by the Firecrafter program. This program is 100% volunteer and lies outside the regular scheduled classes. The boys can choose to start the program during a week long camp if they want to attain one of the three ranks. The first rank is pretty simple and is more of an orientation and molding campaign for 11-12 year olds. The next is more difficult and required the demonstration of fire building skills and the ability to learn productive woodcrafting skills, as well as volunteering for service work around camp. The final tier requires the candidate to make a fire with a fire by friction set they made at camp, and to display their leadership skills by running a campfire program.
Those boys that completed ranks were very proud and by the end of camp, far more self assured than prior to camp. Those that failed understood that personal responsibility is their doing, and that they were responsible to themselves for the failure to complete the skills. Yes, the ones that didn't pass were upset, by they accepted it and vowed to do better next time.
Another section of the troop had high hopes prior to camp, but once they arrived were more than happy to not attain a single Firecrafter rank, didn't complete their prerequisites, didn't complete a single merit badge and didn't help the troop run smoothly in a single manner.
It's like a cross section of society. I spent 90% of my time with 10% of the troop and the cream always rises. Those boys that are coddled and still tied up to momma's apron strings aren't faring well and will continue to lag behind those that were raised in a more traditional family setting with responsibilities of their own.
What I learned was that in a dire situation, I cannot count on them to do anything but exacerbate the issue. Medications won't be enough to keep them in check if their world falls apart on them. Even mild dehydration can cause significant emotional swings in those hampered by emotional difficulties. In an emergency, your children can become a large hindrance to your plans unless you have made some allowance for their emotional needs prior to the event.
If your family member has serious emotional damage, or requires heavy medication to remain compliant, you might be in real trouble as the meds wear off. Planning for this eventuality is almost impossible. There are no good options when it happens.
One of the things that most people don't know is that most successful people have a diagnosed or undiagnosed mental impairment. Sometimes genius has it's torments, and sometimes OCD is the price of organizational perfection in a company.
The other side of this coin is those boys that were sharpened by conflict and testing. Many of the troop were tested by the Firecrafter program. This program is 100% volunteer and lies outside the regular scheduled classes. The boys can choose to start the program during a week long camp if they want to attain one of the three ranks. The first rank is pretty simple and is more of an orientation and molding campaign for 11-12 year olds. The next is more difficult and required the demonstration of fire building skills and the ability to learn productive woodcrafting skills, as well as volunteering for service work around camp. The final tier requires the candidate to make a fire with a fire by friction set they made at camp, and to display their leadership skills by running a campfire program.
Those boys that completed ranks were very proud and by the end of camp, far more self assured than prior to camp. Those that failed understood that personal responsibility is their doing, and that they were responsible to themselves for the failure to complete the skills. Yes, the ones that didn't pass were upset, by they accepted it and vowed to do better next time.
Another section of the troop had high hopes prior to camp, but once they arrived were more than happy to not attain a single Firecrafter rank, didn't complete their prerequisites, didn't complete a single merit badge and didn't help the troop run smoothly in a single manner.
It's like a cross section of society. I spent 90% of my time with 10% of the troop and the cream always rises. Those boys that are coddled and still tied up to momma's apron strings aren't faring well and will continue to lag behind those that were raised in a more traditional family setting with responsibilities of their own.
Friday, July 8, 2016
Late Night Rambling. Clinton/Dallas shootings
I see that we are now in open warfare with the authorities in some places. It's a shame, really. A divided public is far easier to subvert than a united citizenry. The Clinton Email charade and ensuing circus is just another dog and pony show that will not amount to much.
I will say that Matt Bracken's recent (July 6th, 2016) post about sniper team ambush tactics was prescient, like much of his work has been over the years. It seems that logic and sound research leads to an efficient forecast of future events. More likely he's just more attuned to historical observations and social reaction extrapolation than most. One of his best works, and a great study guide for the future lawlessness is this rather long piece on Civil War 2 {posted September 2012} and the indicators leading to it's eventual kick off. Dallas could be a False Flag op, but I doubt it. Both sides were shot up, like you would be trying to get both sides fighting each other, but who really knows at this point?
When the Music Stops
I highly doubt that it will be peace one day and a shooting war the next. More likely would be a slow, simmering guerilla war until enough order takers are killed that the other order takers quit taking orders, then the kickoff gets heated.
Some day we will look back at these times and wonder why we didn't do something to end evil, instead of choosing Evil A & B for almost a century. I just want this whole thing over with before my oldest son is of fighting age. He's a smart kid and he's got heart, so I know he will want to fight. He's a millennial kid so he's still awfully soft to be thrown into the fray. Kid 2? He'll be leading a squad of inglorious bastards into the fray without a second thought- At 12 years old.
I'm just a little bummed out over what's happening these days. Wake me up when it's time to do something. Till then I'm going to sharpen my blade and do recon. I have an active shooter class to plan for.
I Miss America
I will say that Matt Bracken's recent (July 6th, 2016) post about sniper team ambush tactics was prescient, like much of his work has been over the years. It seems that logic and sound research leads to an efficient forecast of future events. More likely he's just more attuned to historical observations and social reaction extrapolation than most. One of his best works, and a great study guide for the future lawlessness is this rather long piece on Civil War 2 {posted September 2012} and the indicators leading to it's eventual kick off. Dallas could be a False Flag op, but I doubt it. Both sides were shot up, like you would be trying to get both sides fighting each other, but who really knows at this point?
When the Music Stops
I highly doubt that it will be peace one day and a shooting war the next. More likely would be a slow, simmering guerilla war until enough order takers are killed that the other order takers quit taking orders, then the kickoff gets heated.
Some day we will look back at these times and wonder why we didn't do something to end evil, instead of choosing Evil A & B for almost a century. I just want this whole thing over with before my oldest son is of fighting age. He's a smart kid and he's got heart, so I know he will want to fight. He's a millennial kid so he's still awfully soft to be thrown into the fray. Kid 2? He'll be leading a squad of inglorious bastards into the fray without a second thought- At 12 years old.
I'm just a little bummed out over what's happening these days. Wake me up when it's time to do something. Till then I'm going to sharpen my blade and do recon. I have an active shooter class to plan for.
I Miss America
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