Online-offline Selling and You

In other words: *list. Sure, it's just a step from newspaper classifieds, but the fact that it's free - and easy - attracts a much higher volume. Pick any private classified section (i.e., not "legal notices" or "real estate") in your local litterbox liner. Count the ads.

Flip over to your local *list site. Find the same section and count. I'll bet you a stale donut there's several times if not an order of magnitude more.

Is it a good way to find a buyer for your stuff? Absolutely. I've sold all kinds of crap online. Old optical drives. Movies. Decoys. Cameras. I've bought all kinds of crap online too. Antiques, oddities, a gun, etc.

There's been one common theme about those things, though: they're portable.

The anonymity of *list works both ways. If someone is trying to do you (or anyone, really) harm, a gmail account is free and a pre-paid cell phone is $30. With those two things, I can be anyone I wish.

Remember all the advice you've heard over the years about meeting people from teh innertoobz? Take a friend? Meet in a public place? Just because you're not meeting this person with the intention/hope of swapping bodily fluids doesn't mean you shouldn't take the same precautions - or even more. You're going to be bringing cash to this deal, and in some instances, quite a bit of it. (I sold a camera for a few hundred bucks, I bought a rifle for about as much.)

Regardless of whether you're buying or selling, safety works both ways. Every time I've sold something, I've suggested meeting in a public place. The parking lot of a shopping center, a local coffee shop, whatever. When buying, I've tried the same approach, but some sellers don't want to go to the effort. Their choice - and if things sound hinky, don't be afraid to back out of the deal beforehand.

Going to someone's house to buy something? Take a friend, and preferably two. One should ride on your belt and say something like, "9x19mm," and the other should be flesh-and-blood and wait in the car while you do your transaction. This isn't paranoia, it's preparedness.

Occasionally, however, you're going to have to bring a buyer into your domain. Example: today I sold a washing machine. There's no way I'm going to load it into my truck and take it to the mall parking lot to show to a "maybe" buyer.

So how do you get ready for that? Have whatever you're selling in a "public" area of the house. Don't tromp someone upstairs and into the bedroom to look at a bed frame: have it in the den/dining room/kitchen and ready to go. Put away ANYTHING that could be considered "easy taking". Wallets, keys, cameras, purses, laptop bags, etc. Make a quick look around and try to make some effort to keep people out of sight of the "hard taking but worth it" targets: nice AV equipment, the desktop computer, or the gun safe.

If you can have two people home, then do it. The second person doesn't have to be involved, just around with a phone nearby. Make sure you've got the OTHER friend handy - and if it's practical, a bigger friend is not a bad idea.

Don't leave your buyer unattended inside - not even for a second. It's simply asking for trouble. If they ask to use the bathroom or a glass of water, deflect. "Sorry, we're having problems with the septic and can't run any more water than we absolutely have to." "Our water is terrible - lots of sulfur." Improvise!

Today, selling the washing machine, I had about twenty minutes warning that my buyer would be here. I made sure the washer was in the front room, ready to go, the closer on the door was removed (makes the door too narrow), the electronics were as put-away as possible, and the gun safe would be as much out of sight as possible. I had my normal carry piece on, but also made the 870 "cruiser-ready" - full magazine, hammer DOWN on an empty chamber - and slipped it in the hall closet.

As my buyer left, I made a note of his license plate. Do I expect any problems? No. But if something were to happen here in the next week or two, he would be Name One to give the police.

It's not about distrust, folks: it's about knowing that you are your own keeper.

Car Kit

Last week, friend and fellow blogger mhaithaca put together a post on the bare minimum of things he keeps in his car. It's a good start, and nudged me to put together a kit for MrsZ's car. Please understand, this is in addition to the permanent items like a flashlight, some hand tools, a fire extinguisher, a few road flares, tire sealant and compressor, etc.

Mark's entry was prompted by the lake effect blast that shut down several miles of the NYS ThruWay around Buffalo. Most drivers were only stuck in their cars for ten to twelve hours, which is unpleasant but generally not dangerous - at least in temperate climates. Given the unpredictability of snow in that (and many other) areas though, a motorist could easily be stranded for 24 to 48 hours. In remote areas that number could easily triple. (Remember that family on the West Coast that accidentally went up a seasonal road?)

Do you have enough in your car to survive for six days in winter?

First and foremost: there is no such thing as "just a quick trip to the store" in winter. If you run out of gas, or get a flat tire, or slide into a ditch, are you dressed to deal with the situation without endangering yourself? Grabbing a three-season coat and light gloves to go from the house to the garage and the parking lot into the office is fine - but make sure you've got an extra sweatshirt, a winter hat, and some real gloves or mittens in the car. Throw an extra pair of wool socks in there too.

If you're stranded on the highway, how are you going to keep warm? Hopefully you're keeping your gas tank at least half-full at all times. Make sure your exhaust stays clear, and run the car for 15-20 minutes out of every two hours. Turn the defroster and air conditioner OFF - just use the heater and fan. Crack a back window to get a little bit of fresh air without losing all the heat. Cycling the engine like this should allow a half-tank of fuel to last a few days without any trouble and will keep the car tolerable if not exactly comfortable. (Most cars and light trucks will go about 300-400 miles on a full tank of fuel at highway speeds; that's five to seven hours of running time.)

Have something to eat? (A pack of gum, a box of tic-tacs, and an old package of Ding-Dongs really doesn't count.) You want something calorie-dense. Clif bars are a good option, as are most granola bars, and peanut butter.

How about water? A nalgene bottle kept 3/4 full won't burst if it freezes, and will keep you from going terribly thirsty too fast.

Now, how to make it all much easier? Put together a car kit. A backpack, plastic tote, cardboard box, whatever - put everything in one container and make it easy. I went through Walmart on my way home from work this morning, and this is what I put together:

• A Rubbermaid "Action Packer" tub (small size)
  
• two light fleece throws
• an enamel mug
• Bic lighters
• a watertight match container
• a collapsible candle lantern
• spare candles
• a whistle
• a lightweight poncho
• two cheap folding knives
• half a dozen chemical heat packs

Grand total: $66.

I supplemented that when I got home with two MREs, a few tea bags, two envelopes of cocoa mix, a mylar "space blanket", two "Frontier" filter straws, and a Nalgene water bottle.



A candle lantern, by itself, will put out enough heat to keep a car tolerably warm. Interspersing that with running the engine will keep the temperature up even longer. In addition, you can put the mug on top of the lantern to melt snow or heat water to make tea or cocoa.

Chemical heat packs will keep fingers and toes warmer or help thaw out frostbitten parts.

The fleece blankets, particularly when combined with the mylar blanket (fleece inside, mylar outside!), will keep one person VERY warm in extremely cold weather.

Lighters and matches are great for building a fire, lighting that candle, and are just a good thing to have around.

Cheap knives - and there are two, because two is one, etc - can be used to fir a stick for tinder, or anything else your little heart desires. Would a better knife be a good idea? Perhaps. But for a buck apiece, these are a pretty good value.

A Nalgene bottle part full lets you have an initial supply of water, and keep whatever water you melt. If you're not sure of your water source, use those Frontier filter straws to reduce the chance of getting sick.

Tea and cocoa... hot liquids are a great way to raise the core temperature quickly. It's important to remember that tea (non-herbal) generally contains caffeine, which is a diuretic. If you're like me and a bit of caffeine daily is necessary, make sure you drink a bit more water to avoid dehydration.

MREs aren't necessarily tasty, but they are calorie-rich and include a heater so you can have a hot meal. They can be a bit pricey - about $70 for a case of 12 - but it's worth it. If you stretch the meal a bit and aren't working hard, it has enough calories to feed you for one day - approximately 1,250cal. (If you're buying a case of MREs, make sure you buy them with heaters. The food is edible without, but wouldn't you prefer a hot meal?)

Finally, the whistle is great for signaling if you are off the road a bit.

All of this fits easily into the tub, with a bit of room to spare for whatever you think is appropriate - an extra pair of socks, a hat, a paperback novel, spare box of ammo, etc. That tub should fit in the trunk of nearly any car on the road today, excepting exotics - and if you get stuck in a blizzard in your Ferrari, I don't feel too bad for you.

(Side note: Why didn't I get into firearms in this entry? Because you should already have your carry piece with you, and this isn't about that. Suffice it to say that there may be "have-nots" who wish to become "haves". Discourage as appropriate, but share if you can.)

Chainsawin'

I spent a bit of Sunday afternoon helping a friend clear up a fallen tree at their house. Before I'd gone over, she told me I'd need a big saw, because her 16" wasn't doing the job. I was trying to picture the tree that fell, and couldn't figure out how a 16" saw wasn't big enough.

The answer was easier than I'd expected:
Maintenance is everything.

If you own a home and have trees, a chainsaw of some kind is a worthy investment. If you lose one big branch and have to call a tree service, you've likely spent more than the cost of a basic chainsaw on one service call.

If you're in suburbia - half- or quarter-acre lot with a couple trees and a house - you can likely squeak by with an electric chainsaw. They're great for pruning and trimming, or cutting up a large limb that's fallen. They require minimal maintenance beyond sharpening the chain and keeping the bar oil topped up. Just keep in mind that you'll be working with a Very Sharp Thing near an extension cord, and be careful.

Once you're edging up to an acre and maybe some heavy brush, it's time to forego the electric saw and pony up for a gas-powered model. Don't rush out and buy the biggest most powerful saw you can afford; buy the saw that's appropriate for your usual tasks. If you expect to run the saw five or six times a year to clear up some brush and limbs, or clean up a windfall, you don't need a 60cc (or bigger) behemoth with a 20" bar. A 35cc model with a 14" bar should do anything you'll need most of the time, and won't fatigue you more than necessary.

If you've got woods that you plan to timber, or heat with wood, it's time to look at the larger pro-level saws. 50-60cc, with an 18" bar will fell almost any tree and let you limb and buck it without wearing yourself out or overloading the saw. (There are, of course, even bigger saws out there, but if you need one of those, you're probably not reading this for saw advice!)

Chainsaws are like guns, of course - if you ask five people what model is best for you, you're going to get six answers. I freely admit to being a fan of orange paint. If I'm buying a saw, my first answer will always be, "Stihl". A distant second is Husqvarna, followed by Jonsered. My personal saw is a Stihl MS-180 with a 14" bar. It's light, powerful, and handles everything I've asked of it. They run about $200 brand new from a Stihl dealer.

If I needed a mid-range saw, I'd probably look at a Stihl MS-270 ($450), and for a big saw, I'd be shelling out for an MS-360/362 ($650). There are plenty of used saws out there - including at your local shop. If you know what you're looking for, a great deal can be found. If you're not careful, it's easy to lose money on a saw. Like buying a used gun, if you don't know, take someone with you. I lost a bit of money on a saw that wasn't everything it appeared to be. Not much, but enough to make me more cautious in the future.

Of course, the saw isn't the only thing you'll need. Proper safety gear can save you - literally. Gloves, helmet, chaps, and boots are important. If you don't respect the saw, even for one second, it can seriously injure or kill you. My little MS-180 turns at 14,000rpm - about six times faster than your car motor cruising down the highway, and twice what most NASCAR motors run. That kind of engine speed translates to the chain moving at about 45mph. You are not faster than the chain, I promise.

After you've picked your saw - and ideally, as part of the same purchase (ask for a discount on accessories with the saw, the worst they can say is no!) - you should pick up at least one extra chain, bar oil, 2-stroke oil, a chain file, sprocket grease gun (if needed, not all saws do), extra scrench, extra sparkplug, and a couple plastic wedges. Milk crates are great for carrying all this stuff around.

As an aside, I *highly* recommend purchasing your saw from a shop that specializes in chainsaws and outdoor power equipment. The folks at Home Depot or Tractor Supply aren't necessarily going to know the difference between a 0.325" or 0.375" chain pitch, or why it's important to match chain gauges, or if you want a safety chain or skip chain. If you're buying from the local shop, ask to try a saw before you buy - many of them will have demo saws and a few logs to work with. Ask them to show you how to sharpen your chain and adjust the tension. You still may screw it up down the road, but an honest mistake is how you learn.

I can't teach you everything about sawing in a blog post - it's just not possible to explain the nuances and subtleties of really running a saw. I'll hit the high points, though:

- First and foremost: SAFETY FIRST. 30,000 people go to the ER with chainsaw injuries each year. Don't be 30,001. If you are tired, drunk, or under the influence of a drug or narcotic, it's not a good time to be sawing. Work, THEN play.

- All the gear all the time. Like bikers with their leathers, it's that "one quick cut" that will bite you.

- Size your saw and bar to your work. A 16" bar on a 45-50cc saw will handle almost any residential task, and a 20" bar on a 60cc saw will handle almost any firewood job.

- Take breaks. Running a saw is hot, energy-consuming work. You have to be focused on what's in front of and around you the whole time the saw is running. Most saws have a fuel tank sized to run the saw for about 30 minutes. When the tank is empty, take a break. Sit down, stretch, drink some water, service the saw, and then get back into it.

- Maintain your saw. Whenever you fill the gas tank: fill the bar oil, touch up the cutters (one or two strokes of the file is all it needs), check the chain tension, and scrape out any obvious excess dirt.

- If you've hit a nail or fence insulator or rock while you're cutting, swap chains and set the damaged one aside as a utility chain for the next time you're working on the ground.

- Change your sparkplug every 100 hours or every other year.

- Clean the air filter every 5-10 hours of cutting, replace as needed.

- Make sure you run the right blend of gas:oil mix. 50:1 is fairly common now, but older saws may run 40: or 32:1. (REALLY old saws were as rich as 8:1.)

- Every couple months of regular use, take your chain to the shop to have it professionally sharpened. This will get rid of any burrs or misaligned teeth from your home sharpening, and should also get the rakers to the right depth.

- A good sharp saw will throw chips, not dust. If you're cutting and seeing dust, the saw is trying to grind through the tree instead of cutting. Stop, sharpen and tension your chain, and try again.

- Finally: SAFETY LAST. 30,000 people go to the ER with chainsaw injuries each year. Don't be 30,001. If you are tired, drunk, or under the influence of a drug or narcotic, it's not a good time to be sawing. Work, THEN play.

A chainsaw is a hell of a tool, and knowing how to use and maintain one will serve you in good stead for most of your life. Hope this helps!

Winter Preparations

The squirrels are out in full force these days, rustling through the leaves looking for missed acorns and other edibles. While they drive me nuts as a hunter (it took me forever to distinguish between "squirrel rustle" and "deer step" and I still goof it up sometimes), it should be a solid reminder to all of us that it's time to make sure we're ready for winter.

Tires are going to be a bit softer as the weather cools - get them back to proper pressure. Rotate them. Replace them if needed or swap them for your snow tires.

Get your oil changed and your antifreeze checked.

Put on fresh wiper blades, switch to winter-mix washer fluid.

Make sure your car has a spare blanket and a few pocket heaters in it.

Make sure you've got at least a few days worth of food tucked away at home.

Get your flues and chimneys cleaned and inspected.

Switch your ceiling fans from "down" to "up".

Pull out window A/C units and close your storm windows.

Drain the garden hoses and put them away.

Put Sta-Bil in your lawnmower and run it through for a bit.

Change the oil in all your power equipment. Mowers, generators, tillers...

Run your two-strokes dry.

Make sure your stored gas is treated and full.

Have your oil or propane tanks filled.

Split and stack one more cord of wood.

Put a few flats of bottled water in the basement.

Make sure all the ammo is organized and the guns are clean.

Change the batteries in your clocks, smoke detectors, and CO alarms.

Put away the Tevas and get out the Bean Boots.

Have a little campfire, enjoy an evening with friends, admire the colors, and smile because you're ahead of the squirrels. Hooray for opposable thumbs!

Find the lessons...

... wherever they find you.

We have a detached garage with no doors on it. As should be expected, some birds have taken up residence, and the babies have been popping their heads up to watch me whenever I'm in there.

Today was flying lessons. I went out to do some work on the truck, and was greeted by a not-yet-mature robin sitting on the mirror of my truck. It took one look at me and took wing - directly into one of the exposed wall studs in the next bay of the garage.

*flapflapflapTHUMPplop*

I wandered over to where it had fallen behind a stack of lumber and found it staring up at me looking slightly confused. I left it be. (It was gone by the time I finished working on the truck.)

So where's the lesson?

Being that humans are ostensibly one of the higher-functioning animals, we should be able to *think* before flying into a wall. Some folks call it the OODA cycle, those in the fire service may recognize it as "GEDAPER/DECIDE".

At some point in life, every one of us is confronted with a Major Event. Some of us will face more than one. A Major Event is a situation that has the potential to be utterly life-changing, and is usually thrown at us with little warning or preparation.

It could be as (relatively) minor as a deer in the roadway, as long-term as cancer, or as sudden and violent as an home invasion. Each of these requires us to react in one form or another, and ideally we will do it without hitting the wall.

"OODA" means "Observe, Orient, Decide, Act". In other words, get your information, plan out your action, decide to do it, then DO IT.

GEDAPER/DECIDE is a fire service thing for HazMat incidents:
* Gather information
* Estimate potential course and harm
* Determine strategic goals
* Assess tactical options and resources
* Plan and implement actions decided upon
* Evaluate
* Review

* Detect the presence of hazardous materials
* Estimate the likely harm
* Choose a response objective
* Identify the action
* Do the best that you can
* Evaluate your progress

Either of these decision-making loops is perfectly acceptable, and shouldn't have to be conscious thought. If you train yourself to think about your actions before acting, and train yourself to specific courses of action with specific events, the loop should be entirely automatic:

If X, then Y.
Y is/is not working.
Z? Flee?

The lower animals (and a lot of people) fail on Step 2 of any of these cycles: "Orient/Estimate". They perceive a threat and go directly to either "fight" or "flight" - or worse yet, "shut down". Once you're out of this decision-making loop, it's VERY hard to get back in.

Teach yourself: think, then act. The consequences otherwise could be devastating.

------------------------------

In other news, this gem was posted on the S&W Forum last night:

Why do people get wound so tight in internet discussions?
I mean, what exactly sets folks off- just the fact that others have different opinions, or the fact that they refuse to adopt your opinions/preferences?

It ain't that complicated.
If you see the merits in another's viewpoint and learn something new, and want to change your opinion, change it.
If you prefer to keep your original viewpoint, keep it.

On a board primarily filled with alpha males, you probably won't have much luck forcing people to agree with you when they are not inclined to do so.

Good things to remember...

Oh Boy. Oh Boy. Snowmaged- ... what?

The forecast for the past few days has been progressively doomier-gloomier, with snowfall total starting around six inches and increasing to 14-20" as of late morning today.

Every school in the county closed preemptively. Most of the services and shopping closed early. The YMCA. Meals-on-Wheels. Etcetera.

I drove downtown around 11 for a service appointment on the truck. The roads were generally wet with a bit of slush where things had drifted. I picked up MrsZ from work around 2 and we moseyed home - still on wet roads. School buses would have been able to handle things just fine.

I shoveled the sidewalk and steps and deck clear of the four or five inches of fresh/drifted snow and went to bed. Got up around 7, had a leisurely dinner, and went back out to shovel the sidewalk and deck, as well as the driveway. Sidewalk and deck took a few minutes, as there was only a couple inches of fresh snow. I headed to the driveway, and did a double-take ... because it was clear. Turns out our neighbor down the street came down and cleared us out with his tractor. We wandered down there (a brisk half-mile walk in 25-degree snow, minus wind chill) and took them a loaf of fresh-baked bread MrsZ had made, sat and chatted and had a drink and half-watched the end of "Idol".

We came home around 10, and the sidewalk I'd cleared two hours ago had two inches of fresh white stuff on it. Inch an hour. Not bad. If we catch one of the "heavier narrow bands" they're forecasting, we might end up with some real snow, otherwise there will be another 6-8 inches overnight for a total of maybe 14 inches. Nice snowfall, and slow. Keeps things pretty.

The money quote from the local rag, though, is this:
"This is not a "snowicane." "This is really a typical storm. It's nothing unusual. We've had them before, we'll have them again," said New York State climatologist Mark Wysocki.

Precisely. I went through the store after getting the truck worked on, and there were still plenty of french-toast fixin's there. I got marshmallows, baguettes, and some cheese and crackers. We've got plenty of staples. I spent half an hour this morning making sure the generator was running well and that the chainsaw had fuel and oil and would start. There's a hair over a half-ton of coal in the cellar and plenty of food and water. We wouldn't suffer for several days, just smell a little funky.

Life is good. I like snow.

Quick Product Pimp

I don't often do this, but today's (2/23) Woot Sellout Item is a crank radio/flashlight that gets the NOAA weather channels and AM/FM bands. I've got one similar to it that lives in the bin of emergency gear. $25 is a good price. If you don't have something like it, you should. Most household or car radios don't pick up NOAA weather, and if things are going sideways, battery life will be at a premium. This doesn't need them.

Ready for the season?

Those of us here in central NY got a small taste of winter last week, with three inches of the white stuff appearing one night and disappearing nearly as fast. There were some initial concerns of a much heavier fall, and the problems incident to that. Leaves still on trees means lots of stuff coming down and taking the power with it.

Our house is pretty rural. Yeah, we have neighbors, but the demographics lean heavily to "bovine". If there is a widespread power outage, our area will not be high on the list of priorities for the electric company. We have two primary methods of heating: the furnace (forced air from an oil burner), and a Keystoker automatic coal stove. Both require electricity. Our water comes from a well; the pump requires electricity. Seeing a pattern?

I dumped out my change jar(s) and started counting. I had a lot of change. Enough to purchase a small generator (1000W) straight out. I discussed it with MrsZ and laid out my reasoning: heat, refrigeration, and maybe water would be a Good Thing if we have an ice storm or blizzard, both of which seem to be good possibilities this year. We discussed power requirements, wattages, draws, starting load, and what we'd consider "necessary". The short list came down to: a couple lights, a radio, the coal stove, the fridge, and maybe the water pump.

A 1000W generator would run the fridge OR the stove, and a couple lights and the radio. No water pump, certainly. Some math and cogitation got me to a 3000W genset probably being the bare minimum; it would run the stove and the fridge and lights and radio simultaneously. Running the water pump would mean shutting down everything else while the pump started and ran, but that's acceptable. Water can be stored in bottles and pans.

So off we went to the local home improvement big box stores... neither Lowes nor Home Depot had anything that we considered reasonably priced and with sufficient power. We left it be and I did some more research at home. I looked through the catalog for Northern Tool, which had a couple "maybes" but nothing real obvious. The higher-end brand-name stuff was out of our price range, and the stuff we could afford generally didn't have the features (or reviews) I wanted.

I finally checked the web site for Tractor Supply, and they had a generator listed that looked like the right combination of features and price. I did some digging online and found the reviews were generally pretty good, and the ones that were negative were complaining about noise and weight. *blink blink* It's a damn generator. It makes power. It's going to be loud and heavy. I ignored those comments, and called our local TSC to see if they had one. They did, and I went downtown and picked it up. It's a Champion C46514, rated for 3500W continuous and 4000W peak.

Picked up oil and such from the local mart of Wal, and took the box home and set it aside. Fast-forward a week. This morning I lugged it outside, fueled it, started it, and threw a voltmeter on the terminals. It puts out a nice steady 124V on the 120 circuits, and 245V on the 240 circuits. I didn't try loading it yet, but that's next. I put a 1/2" eye bolt in one of the 6x6 poles in the garage and JB-welded the nut on - it'll take some dedicated effort to remove it. A 1/2" cable and a masterlock can secure the generator, and life is good.

The previous owner of our place built the (detached) garage right - it has a sub-panel for electric and he also pulled 6ga wiring separately from the panel with the express intention of putting in a generator. All I have to do is wire in a L14-30P and put an interlock on the main panel and I can backfeed the house, safely and legally.

Along with a generator comes the problem of fueling it... this generator runs on gasoline, and a full tank (4 gallons) will run it for about 10-12 hours at half load. We currently have 20 gallons of gas stored in the shed, which gets cycled through pretty regularly - the lawn mower, the car, the truck, etc. The generator got topped off with treated gas this morning, run long enough to warm up, and then shut down. Over the next few weeks I expect I'll add another 20 gallons of stored fuel; that will give us about 4-5 days of continuous run time... hopefully that's enough.

Bug Out!

About a year and a half ago, I picked up a sturdy backpack with the intention of turning it into a Bug Out Bag. Grab Bag. Ready Bag. Whatever you care to call it; the intention is a bag that is always ready to go and will keep me relatively comfortable with essentials for 48-96 hours.

In the hustle of wedding, house hunting, moving, etc, the bag got a few items tucked into it and then was stuck in the back of a closet and forgotten. As we've moved and unpacked, the bag got unearthed. I pulled it apart last night, and it's ... well, pretty empty. Right now, it contains: (1) micro LED headlamp, (1) larger LED headlamp (Black Diamond IQ), (1) large folding knife (CRKT Point Guard), 100 rounds of .22LR, 50' of OD 550 cord, (2) D-carabiners, (2) mylar "space blankets", (2) Aquamira Frontier filter-straws, and the (empty) hydration bladder it came with.

Must add:
Two universal holsters
one pistol mag pouch, 2 full 1911 mags
one rifle mag pouch, 1 full AR mag
fixed-blade knife (GLOCK knife may win this one)
spare set(s) of batteries
compass
copies of: driver's license, pistol permit, marriage certificate, deed, titles, and birth certificate
three pairs of cotton socks
two pairs of wool socks
three pairs of underwear
two t-shirts
lifeboat rations (4500cal)
Nalgene bottle(s)
Advil
watchcap
50rd .45ACP ball
50rd .223
matches/lighters
hotel soap
deodorant
$100-300 cash in nothing larger than 20s

One thing many people run into when planning their BOB is weight. The instinct is to pack as much crap as possible in, and think it'll either be tossed in the car or items ditched along the way. Here's the thing: this is three days of minimum necessities. Not niceties, necessities. Clean, dry, fed - and the clean is somewhat optional, as is the dry. You might be lugging this a ways, so keeping it light is critical.

Here's the game plan: fire, flood, riot, whatever; I have to leave. In my own truck, in the wife's car, in the back of a National Guard 6x6, on my own two feet - it doesn't matter. I've got short-notice to do this. Stop at the gun safe and grab the AR, 1911, and 22/45. Poop one last time on my own toilet. Pull on comfortable shoes and an appropriate layer of outerwear. Crate the cats and their food if possible, turn 'em out otherwise.

Off we go. Time elapsed: 5-10 minutes. Necessities on hand: 100%. I can move on foot if need be, survive for a couple days easily and longer if necessary, am comfortable with defensive needs, can supply my own clean water, and have cash to get things I may need along the way. Family, friends, motel ... but not a shelter if I can possibly avoid it. MrsZ and I have family scattered literally across the continent; New Hampshire to North Carolina and Texas to Alaska. We've got choices.

(Commander Zero Rule One: Don't be a refugee. It's good advice.)

Disaster Strikes

I subscribe to "Field & Stream". Its quality has declined over the past few years, but I seem to come up with a coupon for a free or significantly reduced subscription on a regular basis, so I keep ordering it. Good reading for the seat where all men are equal.

I was flipping through the latest issue (Aug 2009) yesterday, and reached the last page. The inside back cover is an advert for The Outdoor Channel's new show "The Best Defense Survival" (hosted by/starring Michael Bane). The add slugs with, "You never know when DISASTER might strike..." and has a few ginned-up newspaper page-1s, partial headlines include "BOMB KIL", "SWINE FLU PANDEMI", and "SOUTHEAST STRUCK BY TORNADOES; 6 DEAD". Tag line: "In an unsafe world, knowledge and preparedness can be the difference between survival and the unimaginable."

Anyone who read my blog previously (over on livejournal, it's now all locked-up private) knows that I'm a proponent of preparedness and "survivalism". I don't understand the negative connotations that society places on someone who is a survivalist. Others have said it better, but essentially, by removing yourself from the load on a support/relief system, you're allowing the system to focus on those who need the help more urgently. Sure, not everyone can afford to put in backup power and multiple heat sources and so forth, but a few flats of canned food and some bottled water isn't hard or prohibitively expensive for anyone.

In any case, this entry was provoked by the tag line. Specifically, "the difference between survival and the unimaginable."

Unimaginable? If option (A) is survival, and option (B) is the opposite, then (B) really isn't that hard to figure out, is it?

I realize many people are rarely faced with their own mortality. We live our lives coddled from start to finish. Warming bassinets, 18,000-thread-count ultra-fine-sateen-weave-egyptian-combed-lambs-cotton sheets, foods flown around the world, modern medicine, etc. Cars are rolling marshmallows; a fatal car accident is far less common now than it was even twenty years ago.

Don't get me wrong - I have no objection to creature comforts. I like my bamboo-weave sheets, my six-airbag truck, buying oranges year-round, griping that the apples in May are cold-storage and kind of grainy... but I've looked at my own mortality. I *know* I can die. I have no intention of making it an easy bout for the Reaper; I'm a sick twisted sonofabitch and will play every dirty trick in the book to make sure I come out on top.

And therein lies the rub ... what is often called the "survival mindset". Not just wanting to live, but more than that, refusing to die. You're not going to learn that by watching a TV show. Oh, you might pick up some useful tips, but I wouldn't stake my life on anything I've seen Bear Grills or Survivorman do. You want to survive? Be not only willing, but able to do whatever needs to be done. I've talked with more than a few people who poo-poo my hunting, then throw another steak on the grill. These people are vegetarians who don't know it yet. Unwilling and unable to take game.

At the more intimate end of things is someone who is unwilling or unable to kill to defend their life or family. This isn't a decision to be made lightly, of course - but if you're a gun owner "for protection", it's a decision you better have made before you started filling out that 4473.

I've been reading On Combat by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman (USA, Retired) lately. It's dense material. It's also very good information, with many things to prompt further musing. One of the items covered is the concept of killing another human as the "universal human phobia". It's a very real phobia: Humans are by nature a fairly gregarious species. Community is critical to our well-being. Removing some element of that community is an inherently antithetical act. Being able to overcome this phobia at a critical time may be the difference between survival and death.

I sat through a training seminar recently, taught by a law enforcement officer with long experience. The training was ostensibly on active shooters and workplace violence - as you can certainly imagine, these are hot topics right now. At some point, he asked the assembled class who would be able to kill someone if it was "you or them". In a class of perhaps fifteen, only two hands went up. Mine was one. He singled me out, asking if I was a veteran. No, I am not a veteran. So I've never killed? (At this point his questioning was rhetorical, belligerent; I just sat and shook my head at him.) "You've never killed but you say you can? The only people I know that can honestly say they can kill someone are combat vets who have." He continued, "I've carried a gun and badge for [large number of] years and I don't know that I could pull this gun and shoot someone if I had to." I chose not to comment...

... but the one thought in head was, "If you are sworn to serve and protect and are that uncertain of your ability, then you need to take off the vest and shield, hang up the gun belt, and retire." A toothless sheepdog is nothing more than a loud bark - and a bark is harmless.

Death is real, folks. Very real. Every one of us will have our final moments. Those moments will be different for every one of us. Some of us will end our days quietly, some violently. Some alone, others with loved ones... but death will find us all in the end. Do not be afraid of that fact - face it, embrace it - and live your life the best way you know how.

I'll leave you with two pieces of Scripture:
John 15:13: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
Psalm 144:1: "Blessed be the LORD my strength which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight."