American Bags

So I've been looking for a decent pack for a 72-hr application.  Most of the items of non-domestic manufacture are of poor design, so I'm looking for domestic-made gear.

• Kifaru
• Triple Aught Design
• Mountain Ridge Gear
• Hill People Gear
• Sandpiper of California

I believe these are all U.S.-made, but I'll have to verify.  Also, Spec-Ops Brand seems to be domestic MFG.

gizmag

Links I found as a result of an article on Jet Capsule's floating ocean home.

• Tracked concept motorcycles
• Loft beds
• Manta saddle (I may need one, even at GBP125)

Finex Cast Iron Skillet

Wired had a post regarding the Finex Cast Iron Skillet that's on Kickstarter.  The skillet looks pretty cool.  Incidentally, apparently Siemens VAI has an ironmaking process also called Finex, which is a registered trademark.  It's unclear if there's any relation...seems unlikely.

Shooting Mask

One of the learned gentlemen noted that he's taken to using a mask when shooting at the SMSC indoor range due to the lead residue from the primers.  He indicated that a 3M 7500 with filter 2097 P100 is most suitable for minimizing lead absorption, the latter being the chief reason that I no longer attend the indoor sessions.  Supposedly the 8233 N100 filters also cover lead exposure, but the lack of a tight seal around the mask makes this a less desirable solution.

Aeon Fawkes

Someone posted a link to this store on a PTR-91 forum.  They have some interesting stuff, like NBC gear.  The name sounds like a cross between Aeon Flux and Guy Fawkes....

Decrimping Military Primers

I was looking for opinions on primer decrimpers, in particular, to see if the Dillon Super Swage 600 was really the one to get.  One site had an interesting review of several products.  He covers both reaming and swaging tools.

There was another article about bullet pullers, too.  He claims that Lee has a bullet puller in development.  He didn't like the RCBS tool.  Other reviews I read on the Hornady tool said the cam system has problems, but he didn't have anything bad to say about it.

Generators

I've been looking into buying a generator for quite some time as part of preparedness planning.  The practical elements: with a refrigerator and deep freezer full of food, not having electricity for a week could mean major spoilage.  Furthermore, without electricity, the gas furnace won't work, since the ignitor and blower motor both require juice to run.  (I have a propane heater that doesn't require electricity and a small wood stove, but both exhaust into the room and so would be a last resort.)

Three years or so ago I was at an out-of-state Honda dealership and they had literature for other Honda equipment, including tillers and generators.  The EU2000 model struck me as neat due to its low noise levels, fuel economy, and the option to cascade the companion model for greater capacity.  Still, generators are expensive, have to be maintained (and run periodically), and require sufficient fuel be stored.

A friend told me that a good place to buy the EU2000 is Mayberry's, as they have a low price and free shipping.  This was right around the time that "Superstorm Sandy" hit, and Mayberry's, located in New Jersey, was without power and had sold out of most of their generators anyway.  Another place I found to buy the EU2000 is Wise Sales, which in Illinois.

Regarding fuel storage, I had been led to believe that regular gasoline has a fairly short shelf life.  Other reading I've done (such as on Wikipedia) and discussions with prepper types indicates that gasoline without ethanol is fairly stable.  A 30-gal drum full of ethanol-free gas, which is available locally, could run the EU2000 full-bore (2kW at 1.1 gal every 4 hrs) for 9 days, or at quarter duty cycle (500W at 1.1 gal every 9.6 hrs) for three weeks.

This is seeming more and more like a worthwhile expenditure.

The Flying Dutchman has another good praxis post, this time regarding a site selling stuff to "combat pack" 5.56 NATO.

Lists

While searching for inverters, I ran into an interesting list on Amazon: the "Post apocalyptic disaster preparedness list".  Well, I'm already covered in most of the suggested areas, but it's interesting to see what other people are putting in their kits.

The portable solar panel is another list has a review that claims monocrystalline panels last 25 yrs, and that amorphous silicon only lasts 5.  Since that's one thing I have yet to get, the info is good to know....

Steel Targets

Gongshot, a place to buy AR500 steel targets (link via the good doctor).

Link Dump, 2012.07.23

Since I found out that Firefox really sux the CPU cycles--although I don't know if that's due to Ajax or not--I need to clear some tabs.  The problem is, I usually forget that I cleared them, and never get back to them.  But I suppose if it didn't come up again, that's ok.

What your defensive gun says about you (When the Balloon Goes Up) - amusing...and startlingly insightful
Basic Gunshot Wound Kit (guns, cars, & tech) - could save your life
CJ GLS [Wikipedia][site] - a Korean shipping company that I was looking into as an alternative to the Greek ones
Hanjin Shipping [site] - another Korean shipping company
What is wrong with the world? (Write Science) - scientists (and engineers) need to learn to communicate better and teach laymen the importance of their work
The M1 Garand for Homeland Defense (some gun forum) - of course I'd rather have an M14, but they're way more expensive...
The Poor Man's Guide to Survival Gear (Alt-Market) - married men are economically poor

Diamond Gusset Jeans

Recently I read that Levi's supports anti-gun organizations and has such a policy.  Ah well, 501s fit like shit if you have testicles (I've tried them on multiple times and they always crunch my kiwis).  I used to wear their carpenter jeans because the fit was better in the crotch and have extra pockets.  However, their quality control went to hell and I had a number of them wear out in the back pocket--and I put my wallet in my front pocket.  Now I rather like Vertx tactical pants, except they're owned by Berkshire Hathaway....

Anyway, one forum thread had a link to Diamond Gusset, which has a gusseted crotch and apparently isn't anti-gun.  Looks to be worth trying.  Motorcycle riders might appreciate their jeans with kevlar to prevent road rash.

A bit of editorializing: anti-gun people are one of three things: ignorant, stupid, or evil, and none of those characteristics are good.

Shooting Glasses

Thus far I've come across three types of shooting glasses that accommodate prescription (Rx) inserts.

1. Radians StrikeForce and StrikeForce II (8600 & 8650), which use the RX-85 inserts
2. Revision Bullet Ant, Desert Locust, and Sawfly, which use the Rx carrier
3. ESS Profile NVG and Advancer V-12, which have an available Rx carrier

Radians is the cheap solution, but the Rx insert sits such that the top of the insert is slightly above the outer lenses, which is pretty uncool.  Revision or ESS are much more expensive, but appear to be much more rugged.

NSNs

I've seen NSNs on listings of military surplus (both used and new-old stock) for a while, and determined that only the items that actually had a NSN shown were the genuine article and not repro.  There's a site ArmyProperty.com that has a lookup of NSNs to goods, which is pretty handy.

As far as gas/water cans go, olive-drab.com has some detail on how they went from metal to plastic.

Sleeping Bags

So I was looking at the sleeping bags that FDG carries, as I've been considering what I ought to add to my prep kit.  There's the military ECW gear that costs some serious coin.  FDG has Wiggy's bags.  I was intrigued because supposedly the military uses them in some applications, but there're some forum posts that totally trash their performance.  Recommended in place of Wiggy's were Western Mountaineering or Kifaru.  Finding good gear without buying a bunch of not-so-good gear is difficult.

Apparently the buzzword in insulation is "continuous (filament) fiber", which doesn't require baffles or attachment to the bag shell.

Shooting Jackets

Fred's is now out of the XL shooting jackets, and apparently the manufacturer has gone belly-up.  A search turned up a few other choices, such as Creedmore Sports and Champion's Choice.  CMP also sells one, but it's blue.  Military Logistics has cloth jackets for reasonably cheap; the details are scarce and the country of origin isn't indicated.

Berkey Filter Problems

Apparently the Big Berkey black filters had manufacturing problems from the end of 2010 to mid-2011, as noted on APN and SB.  That sucks for people who thought they'd buy the Berkey system and put it away for SHTF: right when they need it, it might be unusable!

I'm glad I tried mine, which I got in April before the price hike, because one of the filters busted.  However, I have the additional problem that I have several units that I gave to family members for put-away purposes, so I need to go through the hassle of having them check.  Or perhaps I should just supply a tube of silicone caulk, although somehow I doubt that's food safe....

Cases for .50s

I saw an ad in VHP magazine for SKB's new .50-cal case, model ATA 50, so I had to look up the price.  Ouch.  $450 is a lot of money for a large piece of plastic.  Pelican's large case, model 1770, is similarly priced.  For that much, the Americase Aluma-Trans aluminum-shell case, model AT-50CalW, seems like a better buy.

Practice Rifle Grenades

Searching for some practice rifle grenades for an M4 (even though they usually have the M203 launcher), I found a forum post on Arfcom that linked to a set on Numrich.  Unfortunately they're out of stock at the moment, but it'd definitely be neat to play with, given enough room to shoot them (a few hundred yards, at least).

The description from the poster:

Current military issue. Used by the IDF for training purposes on M16 and Galil .223 rifles. Fully-inert 14" grenades are patterned after the IMI BT/AT-44 dual-purpose rifle grenade. New set is packaged in the original wooden crate, dated 1-98, includes 6 grenade assemblies and the following repair parts: 40 plastic fins, 32 body tubes, 12 outer sleeves, 30 spacer rings, 24 locking nuts, 2 nut wrenches, 1 key wrench, 20 M16 ladder sights and 30 Galil ladder sights in 35/60/85 meter graduations (197 pieces total). Weight, 27 lbs.

Link Dump

The time has come for another link dump so I can close some tabs in Firefox....

Blowout kit - Interesting praxis from 762rifleman
There's a Secret Patriot Act, Senator Says - From Wired
U.S. Housing Crisis Is Now Worse Than Great Depression - Uplifting news...
War Belt - By ATS, because it just sounds cool