Definitely interesting times……

Have we hit peak awful, yet?

The SU-16CA is a much underappreciated gem of utilitarian .223 firepower.  I’ve got three and wish I could find more to share with friends if the SHTF in the next few months.  CA-legal ARs are way more trouble than it’s worth, in my opinion.

I’ve got a .22 Benjamin variable pump that’s still working perfectly 40 years after I got it as a kid.  Never done anything to it besides a little lubrication.  It just works and they’re still making them. Can’t say that about my Benjamin Marauder.  Already had to replace all the seals on it 5 years after I got it.  Probably needs them again, by now.

Cold Steel has the largest assortment of folders with >5″ blades.  Unfortunately, their designs are kind of out there and probably not what most would consider a field knife.  I’ve got their Espada XL but it’s clownishly massive.

Seeing the bizarre behaviors in my home state of Oregon during the unprecedented demonstrations and wildfires has me quite gloomy about the future.  Honestly, I almost feel safer being in California right now, believe it or not.

I like your analysis here, especially the FLEE acronym, which is a scary unknown that’s essentially been a “Here be Dragons!” zone on my map for awhile.  Situationally, it seems like it wouldn’t take much for the lines to blur between preppers in FLEE-mode and the rest of the refugees on the roads.  It’s especially troubling because, like the situations you listed above, the reasons for FLEEing are largely necessitated by a shifting of the political sands and rule of law. Obviously, being as far away from this “vortex of doom” before the sucking starts is ideal, but timing is a bitch. Could you expand on what additional preps, beyond the extended BO, are essential to having a chance of successfully navigating a FLEE situation?

I’ve struggled for about a decade with portable 12V battery backup systems for use in grid-down or off-grid situations.  Through ignorance and negligence I’ve managed to ruin several hundred pounds of flooded lead-acid deep cycle, Gel cell, and even a high-dollar aerospace AGM battery in the process, as well as purchasing several hundred dollars worth of various 12V battery chargers.  And that doesn’t even include solar charging equipment. For years I’ve wanted to move on to lithium storage solutions, but it hasn’t been a simple path.  I’ve developed a level of confidence when using individual Li-ion cells (3.7V 18650 cells from LG, Panasonic, Sony, Samsung), especially the protected varieties produced by Orbronic and the flashlight companies, but I just never could work up the courage to make up my own battery packs for 12V applications by stringing a bunch of these cells together.  The chances of a fire/explosion due to mistakes on my part when wiring them up with a battery management board just wasn’t worth the risk. But I’ve finally found my solution for 12V storage and am in the process of moving on to LiFePO4 technology, specifically the excellent battery packs produced by Bioenno.  This lithium chemistry hits the sweet spot in terms of safety, energy density, portability, and maybe even price when looked at over the long haul.  I started out with their 20Ah pack with Anderson Powerpole leads and was totally blown away by the performance I got in testing.  I’ve since purchased their new 70Ah pack from Powerwerx and was equally impressed.  Just this week I placed another 20Ah pack direct from Bioenno, since Powerwerx listed them as being out of stock (I get most of my Powerpole stuff from them and typically order some of that stuff whenever I get a new Bioenno battery).  I was contacted yesterday by Bioenno and they informed me that they also don’t have that pack in stock but wondered if I’d be interested in their 40Ah pack with a charger at no extra charge.  Hells, yeah!  It was delivered today and I couldn’t be happier.  I can recommend both Bioenno and Powerwerx without reservation, the money I’ve left with them has been money well spent.

It’s been a huge worry of mine, and one that’s incredibly challenging to prep for due to so many unknowns.  

I was already fairly pessimistic about whether the social fabric would hold up this coming fall, well before COVID showed up on the radar, but now my sense of impending doom is much higher.  Despite prepping and saving as long as I have there’s still a lot of unknowns that could catch me flat footed.  But such is life in interesting times. 

The ClampTite tool allows you to use stainless steel safety wire to make a super-strong low-profile hose clamp when the S has HTF and you need a durable critical repair done ASAP.  The size of the repair is limited to the length of the wire.  You’ll need to watch a video and practice a few times, like a lot things in the prepper space, but it will put a huge grin on your face the first time it comes in handy for you. Premium Marine* ClampTite Tool – CLT01L

I avoid alkaline batteries when I can and try to only keep Energizer Ultimate Lithiums in devices to avoid leak damage.  Rechargeable cells would be a much cheaper method but I lack the discipline to rotate/charge Eneloop NiMH cells.  For me it’s worth it to pay a little extra for something that won’t ruin my equipment and has a long shelf life.

Glock 35 M1A SOCOM 16 (wood) 10/22 Takedown

Yes, it’s justified. Because the average person doesn’t fully understand the gravity of this pandemic.  “It’s just a bad flu, right?” No it isn’t. Those pictures are legitimate images of mechanically ventilated ARDS patients placed in the prone position to improve oxygenation.  These particular images could represent patients with non-COVID disease but this exact treatment is what is being utilized in the vast majority of COVID cases requiring mechanical ventilation. Mechanically ventilated COVID cases with ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome) have a lower overall survival rate when compared to other ARDS causes, plus they are requiring ventilators for a much longer duration when they do survive. It’s important to remember that COVID patients only have a 20% chance of being successfully extubated, so far (hopefully this improves with the relatively new data showing that treatment with corticosteriods is effective at preventing severe respiratory and cardiovascular complications).  And those 80% who remain in the ICU will likely die alone because of hospital isolation policies to minimize further spread of the disease. Hospitalization in the ICU causes PTSD in a large percentage of patients.  Plus, a large percentage of the healthcare staff caring for these patients during the pandemic are at risk for PTSD, too.  PTSD is horrible, often career-ending for people suffering from it, and sometimes life-ending by means of suicide. This is no joke.  This is an insidious pandemic that appears to be capable of slowly culling the human herd of its poor, old, unhealthy, and unlucky in the months to years ahead. Basic public health measures, such as contact tracing, isolation, and minimizing contact in public spaces is our best bet for containing this disease at this time.  If these pictures lead to increased social isolation, we’re all the better for it.

I can see the geological effects of the San Andreas fault from my backyard.  Everybody in my region knows we’re overdue for The Big One.  Nobody gives me any push-back on that fact if it comes up at a party. “Well, I’m just going to come and stay at your house, Uhlan,” they’ll say, “You’ve got us all covered, right?” And I say, “You’re more than welcome to stay with me…….but are you prepared for the two-day walk getting to my house from your work in the OC?  Because there’s a real good chance the roads won’t be clear enough to drive your car the whole way.”

My first handgun was a Taurus M94 9-shot revolver, because my only firearm experience was with a Ruger 10/22 (which is an excellent first firearm) and I was pinching pennies pretty hard at that stage in my life. Even the salesman at the counter said I should buy something else.  But, of course, I thought I had it under control because I read a Guns & Ammo article where the reviewer shot a rabbit with it on a horse back trip, yada, yada…. Biggest POS I’ve ever tried to fling projectiles from in my life.  A sling shot would have been more effective.  Half the screws rattled loose after firing each cylinder.  At 3 feet I was lucky to hit a paper plate half the time (same with any other experienced shooter I could talk into trying it).  Worst gun ever, totally disrupted my confidence and progress as a shooter.  I would have had to throw it a target to have a reasonable chance of hitting it.  And multiple trips back to the company didn’t fix it, either. “Buy once, cry once.”

I have, but it’s often easier to kind of cross link it between my left shoulder strap and the straps on the left hip belt, in more of a cross-draw formation.  The size and weight of the pack, as well as the thickness of the hip belt can make it easier to do one or the other.  I’ve even hung it off the sternum strap a few times for chest carry. It’s main strength is that it totally protects and conceals the weapon if you’re hanging on the side of cliff or doing some serious bushwhacking, while still leaving it relatively accessible along with a spare mag. And it’s Gray Man AF.  I avoid Tacticool whenever I can. I don’t know how many people you run across on your average trek, but in my AO I don’t need them knowing I’m armed.

Rockport dress shoes are the only ones I could walk all day in.

Nailed it! That should be required reading before anyone is allowed near the gear stuff.

I’m not sure how soon you’re planning to purchase, but I just looked at Turner’s inventory online and they’re still cleaned out of new stuff, only a couple 44 mag S&W revolvers was about all I could find.  There’s a tiny bit more in their used inventory.