Wednesday, March 23, 2016

grandpappy's prepping 3 of 5


GRANDPAPPY’S PREPPING 3
*
note: a very short review of Creekmore's new book "The Prepper's Guide To Surviving The End Of The World As We Know It".  It is a newbies book.  Perhaps one of the better ones, true, and there are hundreds of far, far worse ones out there, but a complete new to the field persons guide, nonetheless.   I found nothing new or exciting, and I found a lot of too brief coverage on almost everything.  If you don't plan on trying to convert someone to the Dark Side Of Survivalism, and use this as a Trojan Horse disguised as a gift I see no need for you to buy this book.
*
So, you earn far less with costs higher ( ignore the current slight dip on some things, as that is just Over Capacity/Shrinking Demand, no more credit offered by the banks due to derivatives fear and loathing in Manhattan.  Once the lower prices wipe out most competition the prices will rise-and don‘t expect that to take long as everybody was already overextended and weak from the last eight years of Greater Depression.  If you see a deal, as long as it doesn‘t require debt, You Buy NOW! And that is not even accounting for any sudden PetroDollar collapse ).  You have no option but to cut all expenses, to include prepping.  Why is prepping on credit stupid?  Because the economy implodes first, not the law and order infrastructure.  Live within your means rather than dreaming beyond them.  And most prepping “essentials”, to include survival batteries, are dream level insanely expensive and not necessary.  Yes, if you were Grandpappy, indeed you could have all the toys you wanted.  But since you ain’t, you can’t.  Deal with it by embracing the new normal, not by squealing like a first day prison bitch and denying it is happening ( “make the bad men go away!” ). 

*

Read almost any article or book on survival batteries and you “must” have a semi-auto battle rifle, a thirty caliber bolt rifle ( some even try to throw in a fifty cal, but that isn’t universal so I won’t include that ), at least one assault carbine, a shotgun, at least one auto pistol, a rimfire rifle and a rimfire pistol.  That is six different types of weapon if you don’t absolutely positively need both thirty cal long arms.  Now add in pellet guns, black powder, non-registered antique and any bow weapons.  At least ten different weapons.  Now, we all know that two is one and one is none, so every weapon needs multiples.  And since semi-automatic weapons are de riqueur,  you need at least five times the ammunition as “normal“, so expect a huge expense there.  And of course, let us not forget that a Democrat might be elected so you must buy dozens and dozens of magazines for each individual firearm.  Good friggin Golly Molly!  We are talking some serious bucks regardless of who you are, running the gamut from “Holy Sweet Baby Jesus, even penny pinching and bargain basement sales, I still need to sell the first born to white slavers AND liquidate my house”, to “only The Donald can afford this”. 

*

The too glib answer to this problem was always, “buy a little at a time”.  Every time I hear this advice from an author when it pertains to food I get an overwhelming urge to liquidate my assets, higher a private detective, find the author, travel to their home, and then either castrate or attach a chastity belt around them so they can not repopulate the Earth with their moronic offspring.  Can you guarantee something very, very bad can’t happen tomorrow, rendering your advice idiotic?  Of course you can’t!  Even after Katrina and Fukishama?  Are they willing to personally stock your larder as insurance their advice is correct ( they can take your beginning food and you get their fully stocked pantry-why not?  You have plenty of time! ), in case the PetroDollar collapses tomorrow or the Saudi oil processing plant is bombed by terrorists?  Of course they aren’t!  Everyone has heard the “better a bird in hand than two in the bush”.  What do you think it means?  Two birds are better than one bird ( harkening back to a time you ate birds ), but a flock would be even better.  But you’ll never catch a flock, nor even any birds over yonder in a bush.  The one bird you’ve already killed and stuffed into a pie is guaranteed supper.  The bush birds are just wishful thinking and fantasy.  Just like all that food you think you might be able to buy one day.  Just like all those guns you think you can purchase sometime in the dim future.

*

How about the saying “defecate in one hand and wish in another and see what fills up faster”?  That means your wishes don’t mean a damn thing.  An unwanted, smelly crap has more intrinsic value than your wishes.  You can wish for more food when you are starving and wish for more specialized weapons when you need them, but you might as well soil yourself, dig into your britches, and proudly wave around your fecal smeared fingers.  What is on those digits holds more worth than your airy-fairy pre-collapse plans to “do better in my preps, soonest”.  Continued tomorrow.

END

Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon ad graphics at the top of the page.  IF YOU DON’T SEE THE AD, DISABLE AD BLOCK ( go to the Ad Blocker while on my page and scroll down the menu to “disable this site” ). You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase.  For those that can’t get the ads because they are blocked by your software, just PayPal me occasionally or buy me something from my Amazon Wish List once a year.  Pay your author-no one works for free.  I’m nice enough to publish for mere Book Money, so do your part.*** 
*Contact Information*  Links To Other Blogs *  Land In Elko*  Lord Bison* my bio & biblio*   my web site is www.bisonprepper.com
*Link To All My Published Books
* By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there

10 comments:

  1. Must agree with the List-mom. The "battery" of firearms recently posted over at XtianYuppie-Prepper.com is unavailable to the bottom 95% and not a good idea unless it's just change from vacay spending of the top 0.5%. But, everyone can get a .357 revolver and enough ammo to get proficient. Used military boltie rifle with spare parts is also priced within reach with ~$300 optics as an upgrade. Most of the money should go to ammo and reloading gear/supplies/training. I've been waffling on selling the semi-collectable pre-1989 .30 semi-auto as the election-time drives prices. Might fetch ~$3000, with mag's $20+ each. Ar-15 & clones were cheap enough (used-$250 %$300), aren't appreciated much, and they are "the gun of Bubba", so they get kept for a while longer. The Mauser-pattern .308 boltie is my favorite carry, since it's not illegal anywhere, lighter than the AR's (even in SS), and accurate as-heck. Casually shopping for Mossberg bolt-action .223 that accepts AR magazines, to take advantage of Bubba's ammo and mag's with bolt reliability and precision. Keeping brass from a revolver or a bolt-action is easy, as is how little needs to be done when processing for reload. Ever noticed how G-3 actions chew and dent brass?

    pdxr13

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was very confused over that thread on extended bolt mags ( love your name for the site, BTW ). If you have a bolt, presumably you have some distance between you and the enemy ( stalking, ambushing, sniping ) and don't wish to get into a close quarter firefight. So, how do you not have time to reload single rounds? What am I missing?

      Delete
    2. "So, how do you not have time to reload single rounds?"

      In a stressful situation, your fine motor skills suffer. Trying to fumble a single bullet from your pocket while in a sitting or prone position would be awkward. Better to have them in your gun and you only have to move the bolt or lever action.

      Idaho Homesteader

      Delete
    3. I knew I was forgetting something obvious. I blame the New Old Lady-she went off to visit family and I was left on my own this week. Haven't slept well at all.

      Delete
  2. There is something to be said for .22LR carbine and pistol, if you can lay in a pile of ammo. Inside of 100M, they are accurate and dangerous. The weapons are light & compact (10/22 Takedown with folding stock!), SR-22/MK-III are good reliable pistols. If you are willing to get tax stamp, adding a suppressor can make good varmint remover without bothering neighbors.

    Even more-better is tiny single-shot .22 like Cricket. You can get an adult-size stock, for near-nothing weight. Frequently available with great cheapness after Jr. grows up.

    pdxr13

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. IF you live in suitable terrain AND the 22 is your only rifle, then it is great. I own a Cricket myself, on the off chance I'm wandering aimlessly about and must conserve weight. Not sure how I'd eat, but, hey, I might be The Last Man On Earth or something.

      Delete
  3. Birds and poop...Ok

    Yes alot of things prepping wise can be done on the high side or the lower side. I don't want to steal your thunder for the sake of any new folks here. I look forward to your post on the 80-20 rule and the budget arsenal.

    They are great philosophies and I look forward to hearing your wisdom like seeing an old friend.

    Damn, that almost sounds poetic. Great hair. Been a while since I complimented you on the obvious.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thought I was being poetic, myself, on birds and poop :)

      Delete
  4. Guns aren’t an issue to me as I have been a hobby shooter since the mid-1980”s. I have more then any person needs, I have them because it’s fun to go shoot them. Without looking, I don’t even know how many I have at this point.

    I don’t really see the need for long-range shooting if you are planning for SHTF. Government is not doing away. It spends many times all of us combined to make sure it stays in power. So the idea that you will get away with killing someone at 500-yards is foolish.


    A good semi-auto gun to have is a Ruger 10-22, it can kill to 100-yards and beyond, it can hole 25 or 30 rounds (there are some 50-round mags but they are unreliable) so it gives you an assault style rifle that is affordable. It with a 22 revolver would do a person on a budget well.

    But honestly I like my bolt-action 22 rifle much more, It forces me to take time to aim and hit what I am at with every shot. It also saves you ammo.

    I know a 22 is not that powerful, and not a man stopper.

    To that I say “let someone shoot you with a 22 and tell me how it works out for you.”

    No a 22 is not the best man stopper, but it will do the job for those on a budget.

    Bolt actions are not something that should be shrugged off as they have been used in war to good effect. Learn to hit what you aim at and you will do well with one.

    A sniper uses a bolt action and a sniper can keep a whole company of men pinned down. An AR-15 will not do that most times.


    Chuck Findlay

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some form of govt. will always be with us, but not the govt. in present form. Resources dictates what kind you get, and without a surplus of energy you can't have a centralized empire govt. In our lifetime we most likely will get worse than what we have now, just before it implodes, but the long term trend is decentralization. If not 99.9% die-off and a return to tribal.

      Delete

COMMENTS HAVE BEEN CLOSED