Home Front: Home defence and preparedness.

The folks atSimpliSafe home security, have done a lot to help everyone understand the importance of protection. This month, they're having everyone think about the subject and hear how we'd survive if we found ourselves in one of our favorite scary movies or shows. I wanted to give you all my take on what items would you utilize to protect yourself and your home in the case of a zombie apocalypse or lawless nation?"

The idea being how it's hard to find accurate survival movies, and we can all agree there is nothing worse than an incompetent character trying to survive in a film. Being such an avid survivalist myself, or at least a vocal one, I wanted to give my take on protecting my home from the most terrifying of scenarios. Bug-in-style.

So first up, lets talk scenario:
Without going too supernatural, in which a lot of options are right out, I'd like to go for a grounded, realistic and scary situation, the top of my list would sit at the 28 Days later or Dawn of the Dead style zombie apocalypse: mass casualties, civil disarray, utilities slowly winding down as infrastructure collapses, total lawlessness, and fast, savage, infectious and hungry semi-living foes.

Not a lot of lead up, maybe a couple of days at most as the situation escalated from "this just in..." news on the TV to "martial law" and then "....static ..." of the fall of civilisation. Sure it would be possible to talk about "how to best make a fort, but I've covered that kind of thing before. This situation is "hey, the world just ended, how do you make your house safer?"

Aside from providing a secure wireless security system, the folks at SimpliSafe had this cool Layered Defense presentation that made a lot of sense, in a regular world security perspective, and I thought I'd build on that:

1.  The Safe Room: safe, flashlight, mobile phone.
2.  Inside the house: TV & lamp timers, hidden valuables, obstruction under windows, heavy drapes, wireless alarm systems.
3.  Walls, Doors & Windows: Garage with multiple locks, solid reinforced doors, waring signs, security film, keyed window locks.
4.  The Grounds: security lights, gravel, outdoor lighting, prickly plants, dog.
5.  Locked gates: low level fencing, more warning signs.
6.  The neighbourhood: Know your neighbours, street lighting, neighbourhood watch.

So that's a lot of good points. Do we have a "safe room" well, given the layout of the house, the best option is probably Tactical baby's room, which has a single window facing the side of the house next to us, and no access to it elsewhere. Protection through obscurity.

More on the neighbours houses later ...

Inside the house we have a lot of things covered, blinds and locks, including sliding windows blocked with rods dropped into the rails to prevent unwanted sliding, even if unlocked. In this situation, you wouldn't want timers switching lights ON at night, but rather, OFF, to obscure your presence, even if there were still mains power.

Our grounds could do with some serious work, but the solid wall of houses on one side acting as a double protection, the biggest concerns are the bay-window facing the street.

My plan would be to barricade this inside and out, using futon-bed slats as a basis to bar it and layers of cladding to seal it up. Higher windows aren't as much of a concern, except for noise and light discipline.  Our backyard fence is a bit rickety, but can be reinforced from the inside, and materials salvaged from our shed could also assist in reinforcing it, and barricading. In the worst case, we could just fall back, and barricade the back of the house, abandoning the back-yard. If I could rig up hurricane fencing, even on the inside of the wooden slat fence, I'd be a lot happier. as its a rental, the chances of getting the fence replaced is pretty slim.

Our front yard, with its white picket fence, and big windows presents its own problems. Not high enough or strong enough to obscure the home, or repel hordes, it does offer a buffer, and allows you some visibility as to what's going on. By reinforcing and barricading the windows, again, with shed walls, and bed-slats, you could quickly rig up a hurricane and zombie resistant house-front.

We recently replaced the aging fly-wire and aluminium frame screen door, with a steel mesh and framed security door, complete with new wooden beams to fit it to, giving us a much more secure front entrance. Coupled with our Strike Plate lock, the front door is more secure now.

Here's where my plans get devious. Given the scenario laid out, our home isn't great, defensively, but my neighbors house is. Walled in by our house, and their other side neighbors, and again at the back. Walled garden at the back. Solar power, rain tanks. Roof access between their and ours (the gap is only about 1.5m).

If the world came to a horrid, zombie infested end? We'd secure our place as best we could, and make plans to move one house over. Know your neighbors. Know your neighborhood. Be well respected, appreciated and valued. Look out for each other and be ready to help when called, and you'll be welcomed in times of adversity, AND know where the best bolt-holes are.

Home Front: shipping containers

 
I've briefly covered the use of shipping containers as houses, but I wanted to go into them in a little bit more depth. About 80% of the world's containers are either 6.1m, twenty foot or 12.2m, forty foot standard length boxes of the dry freight design. These typical containers are rectangular, closed box models, with doors fitted at one end, and made of corrugated weathering steel (commonly known as CorTen).
 
Weathering steel refers to the chemical composition of these steels, allowing the steel to rust in order to form the protective coating.
 

The containers are typically lined with a plywood floor, but bare walled and ceilinged. Corrugating the sheet metal used for the sides and roof contributes significantly to the container's rigidity and stacking strength, just like in corrugated iron or in cardboard boxes.
 

 
Standard containers are 2.44 m (8') wide by 2.59 m 8'6" high, although the taller "High Cube" or "hi-cube" units measuring 2.90 m (9'6") have become very common in recent years.
 
By the end of 2013, high-cube 40 ft containers represented almost 50% of the world's maritime container fleet, according to Drewry's Container Census report.
 

 
ISO containers have castings with openings for twistlock fasteners at each of the eight corners, to allow gripping the box from above, below, or the side, and they can be stacked up to ten units high. Regional intermodal containers, such as European and U.S. domestic units however, are mainly transported by road and rail, and can frequently only be stacked up to three laden units high. Although the two ends are quite rigid, containers flex somewhat during transport.
 
Their standardised design, high strength and durability materials, makes the use of shipping containers for domestic repurposing quite appealing. They can be stacked, staggered and arranged. The corrugated steel can be welded, cut and shaped, and the heavy beams at each corner and the solid base give you the ability to completely cut away the sides to give a open-plan effect.
 

 
The rest of the stats of the containers give you an idea of their workability, as far as architectural use goes: A 40' container weighs 3,800 kg and has a capacity of 67.5 m³, and are typically rated to have a net load of 26,200 kg. That's a lot of capacity. The internal dimensions are 12.03m x 2.35m x 2.38m, and externally 12.2m x 2.44m x 2.59m.
 

Converting them into homes isn't anything new, and there are loads of resources to review plans and different configurations are widely available.
 
There is also some good advice about what NOT to do with your shipping container, namely burying them, because they are not designed to take loads on the sides or middles of the panels, rather than on their stacking corner posts.
 
There are also the issues with the containers "floating" if buried, let alone at sea, if they fall off the back of a ship, which apparently happens more often than anyone wants, but other than that, they are very versatile, and readily available, rapidly pre-fabricated units.
 

They are, however, not designed to be bulletproof, and the folks from Civil Advantage put them to the test in the following video.
 
However, if you really need that kind of thing going on, there are of course, options. However, all told, it looks like they are robust, resilient and readily available home construction alternative. I think I would really like to do this at some stage, at least a two storied construction, and in my minds eye, a horse-shoe style two-story building, which can be buttoned up securely at the ground level.
 
 
What do you think?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Sneak-Peek: ADF ration pack H

Behold the full contents of an ADF Ration pack, menu "H".

I had the good fortune to have some of these fall into my grabby hands, and I wanted to show off the contents.

This represents an entire days consumables for an Australian infantryman.

 

 

 

Bundled in a heavy plastic cover (broken, for legitimacy's sake).

Snacks, three meals, drinks, tea and coffee, a FRED eating tool, spoon, matches, wipes, Vegemite, all a fighting body needs. 

Stay tuned and I'll cover what a meal is like in more detail.

Home Front: Power Outage

We had a scheduled power outage at our place over the weekend, which we had completely ignored, and it took us a little by surprise, but thankfully, we have gas-for cooking and hot-water.

 What we didn't anticipate is the power-hungry nature of the ladies Pokémon GO running iPhone 5's. We might have lost wireless internet, microwaved cooking and refrigeration but they still "gotta catch 'em all!"

 However, that said, we were prepared. I fired up my replacement Power Practical PowerPot XL and set up two battery-packs including the Lithium 4400 and Limeade Blast 18,000mAh.


I also set up my tea-light candle driven Tellurex tPod power system which coupled with the power strength meter Power Practical Practical Meter charged another battery pack inside, as well as having a LED output option.

We were fortunate that even though the power-outage went 3-4 hours over time (apparently the pole-replacement was too big for the hole dug) it was not as cool as it had been, getting down to 5oC at nights, as all our inside heaters are electric. However, running the stove, boiling water in the PowerPot for hot drinks as well as generating power, and our collection of candles and lanterns for lighting.

Outside, I ran our BioLite thermoelectric stove much to the delight of Tactical Baby, who insisted in roasting marshmallows over the flames, whilst I charged yet another Lithium 4400 battery and phones directly. I cut wood to run the BioLite, as it only takes short sized lengths of wood and twigs before dark set in. We were preparing to cook by candlelight when the power came back on.

With good use of ambient light, not opening our fridges and freezers, and gas-cooking and water, we were hardly inconvenienced, and with my collection of thermo-electric power sources, we has device-running power aplenty.

Home Front: making braided rope

I wanted to have a go at making rope from plastic bags, a project I had seen online from a few sources, like MAKE magazine which I had a subscription to for some time (thanks Wombles) and Instructables, both excellent sites for finding crafts to engage in, especially to check out a range of ways to do similar things. There are certainly projects that would suit a range of needs, check them both out.

I started collecting plastic shopping bags when we went shopping, bags I would have ordinarily recycled either when we did our fortnightly recycling bin, or back to the supermarket to the dedicated bag-recycling point. I also had a friend bring a butt-load of them as well.

The primary construction of a strand of bags rope is to cut the bag from the bottom of the handle loops, on both sides, down to the bottom sealed hem. this gives you a double loop of plastic fabric, that is very sturdy in the up-down axis.

It's possible to then loop one bag into another with the working bag looping through the exposed loop of the standing bag, and then through itself, and when the knot is sured up, a very solid join is made.

Repeating this process, with a fresh bag being looped into the end of the standing end, the chain is continued for as long as you want. I wanted to braid my strands, so I created three fifty-bag chains, and lined them up. This was a mistake.

I found that having the full lengths meant that when I was braiding the lengths were constantly getting tangled with each other.

My solution was to bundle up the three lengths into some of the heavier bags I had left over. These gave me a far more manageable bundle to braid with, but were still bulky.

A far better idea would have been to make short lengths of 6-7 bags long and added more as the braid progressed.

One trick is to ensure that the three chains are off-set such that the knots don't bunch up in the braid, and this gives the rope something that ALL "primitive" non-monofilament ropes benefit from. Weakness in individual strands are overcome by the braiding (or twisting in twisted ropes) and whilst there may be individual components of the cords that have damage, or weak points, the overall effect balance that out, and supports itself.

One thing I found during the braiding process, I encountered many of the sides of the cut edges hanging outside the braid, and these tags of plastic can be woven back into the rope fairly easily. Where I could, I knotted them and ensured they would not spring loose. I could have twisted the chains in order to capture the tags, but that would have increased the effort needed to make the rope considerably. All in all, once I had my three strands of chained bag-loops, the weaving process took around an hour, and was a reasonably simple process. Keeping a uniform braid is the key aspect for this, and those first few meters were the hardest to keep even, mostly because of the super-long chains I started with.

Making the chains was another time consuming but simple process, light work made quick by my Big Wet cyberpunk pals one evening as we watched John Wick (epic, awesome movie!) one evening. Ensuring the side-seam cut was correctly made, and didn't cut too far to either side, leading to failure of the loop, was one problem, and lead to some wastage. Generally, the plastic gags were remarkably robust, and the chains themselves were quite sturdy, especially if given a slight twist to gather them up.

Once braided, the resulting rope was really quite sturdy. I was able to loop it over a post and pull on both ends with all my strengths without any problem, and lean back with all my weight on it. I had hoped to get some better way to test it, but I'd say that for a static load, they are quite stable. I suspect they could be used for any number of lashing, binding or dragging tasks, but I wouldn't want to use them for any life-sustaining tasks unless there were no alternative.

So, from approximately 150 bags, I made a 10m length of braided, 3-strand chain rope, purely from salvaged shopping bags. None too shabby.

Events: 600 posts! 836,000 hits!

I clicked over a couple of big milestones recently. I cracked 800,000 page views earlier in the month, and looks like I've having even more success as well there, but also just published my 600th post.

Between my regular Reviews, Home-Front pieces, Wish-Lust pieces and Event reports. I've covered a lot of Kickstarter projects as part of my reviews, which have been great to.

I also have written a bunch of posts for Breach Bang and Clear and cross posted here too.

 It's been really great to see some high levels of interest in the things I've covered, as well as a bunch of LIKES and comments as well.

I'd be delighted to take requests of gear, events or topics to cover, so if you have a hankering to see me review something, try something, go or do something, to help your understanding of what I think it takes to be Apocalypse Equipped, do drop me a comment and let me know!

Ready For Anything. Are You?

Review: Street Kitchen spice set

This is one of the spice mix packs that my parentals-in-law sent me for Giftmas last year that I am finally getting around to covering. They know I have a love of exciting kit foods, cooking, camping and the like, so it's ace that they think to send me tasty treats to try. This is one of them. You might ask yourself, what is the point of putting spices and spice-kits into a blog about Apocalypse Equippedness?

I know it's not the same as me covering the MRE-style Mainstay Survival rations, or the just-add-water dehydrated meals from Back Country Cuisine or Outdoor Gourmet but there are some good reasons. One is morale. Food fatigue is something we can all avoid day-to-day, but in a disaster situation, where resources are limited, having something to spice up an otherwise boring meal is a much needed booster. The other aspects of having a pre-packed spice kit like this are that they can be used to improve otherwise unpalatable foods. I certainly don't advocate eating contaminated or tainted food, and the dangers of eating spoiled foods are well documented.
However, it is commonly held that heavily spicing meals can mask and even possibly improve the spoilage rates of food by killing microorganisms responsible for food going off. These studies however don't suggest anything more than heavily spicing food -may- assist, and that for the most part, the effect is to improve the taste. Be safe. Don't come crying to me if you give your self Bali-Belly, Tutankhamen's Curse or Masai Malaise.

So with that in mind, I'd like to tell you about one such spicing kit, the Street Kitchen "North Indian Butter Chicken" kit, which comes in three sealed plastic retorts, one for a dry-spice mix, one for the ginger and garlic marinade and the third is the tikka simmer-sauce.

These are all contained in a very easily packing flat pack with instructions.

You marinade 600g your meat (chicken, donkey or rat, what-ever) in the garlic and ginger, till it is well infused, softens, or as long as you can manage.

The spice pack gets flash fried in hot oil, to release its aromatics, and then the meat goes in the heat as well. Once browned, the simmer sauce goes in over the top and cooks down for even further softening. The recipe states this is a 3-4 serving kit, which will cook in 20 minutes, but you could stretch that if you're luck enough to have more main-protein than that. You could also substitute meat for beans, potato, rice or other dry-storable staple that comes in long-term survival bunker stores.

I used chicken, and fed the family of four adults and one Tactical baby happily with several chicken fillets and rice.

It was delicious and really easy to use. At 225g (8oz) it was a really lightweight way to significantly improve a meal that would otherwise could have been "grilled/boiled chicken" and white rice.

You can imagine the difference this would make after having to contend with basic rations for a while, and perhaps aging and degrading flavours in stored supplies, or at the worst, less than ideal meats, be they from unpalatable sources, or not as fresh as you might otherwise be used to.

People in hot climates have been spicing their foods for millennia. People have been fighting against microbial spoilage of supplies for even longer. With these long shelf-life spice kits, you can make use of those advances on the go and make an enjoyable meal!

Home Front: Modscape house

I came across this interesting house design, by Modscape.com.au which piqued my interest, as I always look out for good fall-back positions, or even first-front positions. I've covered walled security for homes in the past, and walled storage facilities I've also covered my own home and why it's not all that well suited to sticking out a disaster, so it's interesting to see a purpose built place, and not all that far from myself.

The design brief of this home was to "create an airy pavilion that takes advantage of the views while providing a private haven from the busy road below". Rendered brick walls frame the home to create a protective compound which not only the provides the homeowner privacy, but ensures the home is secure. The home’s long, linear form takes advantage of the northern sun and visually connects to the bush and mountain landscape beyond.

Here is the link to the house design brief.

This modular home, in Berry, NSW,  creates a private home behind security walls for the clients who were based in my own home town of Melbourne.

All of the services are concealed from view behind the high walls, with visitors entering via a large pivoting door that penetrates the wall. They then move through a timber battened walkway where dappled light from the surrounding bushland filters through before entering into the double height entrance space. The main living zone opens out to the north-facing courtyard.

Meeting all the functional requirements of modern, sustainable design, the home has a total floor area of 465 sqm and consists of 11 modular sections with a large, open plan kitchen/living/dining area at its heart. A timber joinery core conceals services such as butler’s pantry, laundry and bathroom and houses a staircase leading to an upstairs area. It should be noted that that upstairs area is exposed and visible from the outside of the walls.

The finished palette is minimal and modest with timber, concrete and zinc used in an uncomplicated manner create a design that is humble and nondescript. All landscaping, including the pool, was also coordinated by Modscape.

FEATURES
Open plan kitchen/living/dining
2 bedrooms with joint ensuite
Guest bedroom
Upstairs "music" room
Butler’s pantry + laundry
2 car garage + workshop
Ribbon strip timber cladding
Landscaping including pool
Hydronic heating
Grid connect solar
Built to Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) 29

Looking at the plans, and the layout, including both the property selected, but also the way it sets in to the surrounding areas, offering security through obscurity, I can see the real value in having a property such as this. Putting in extra rain collection reservoirs, solar and/or wind power generation and a fuel reservoir, vegetable beds and perhaps chicken runs to set up a more self-sustainable setup, you have quite a secure (from mundane risks) and off-grid home to fall back on.

Home Front: Reader pistol ownership answers

I had four intrepid readers contact me answering my questions about their pistol ownership, and I am grateful for their trust and openness is laying out for what to some is a rather contentious topic.I wanted to gauge what pistol owners had to say about their decisions, training and mindset. In Victoria, Australia, where I live unless you are in the Federal or State Police, a licensed private security guard or a competitive sporting shooter, there is very limited civilian pistol ownership here. 

I grew up in a staunchly "no-gun toys" house, with exceptions made for my 1977 Han Solo and Stormtrooper blasters (which I still have). I did manage to trade my way into owning a .177 break-barrel air pistol whilst living in Dubai, UAE, in 1989, and left behind in Calgary, Canada in 1991. My dad gave me his Vietnam era Army pistol instruction, and I plinked away at paper targets, bottles, cicadas and the like. I did some quick draws, turn-and-shoots and the like, and generally made like a teenage Billy The Kid.

 Other than that, I've only had a limited experience with live firearms and some with laser trainers.  This is why I go out to the people with the experience to ask the questions. 

Obviously, I only have the replies from those who wanted to and did reply, so it's a subsection of my readers, but I think these folks have some interesting views and offer some insight to why people carry, what they carry, and how they carry. 

So, here are the answers to my questions from four pistol owners, all from the U.S.A., with LEO and Mil experience in some capacity in all four respondents. Lets hear it from their perspectives: 

How much pistol is too much pistol? 

• Ed N: A pistol is all about what you intend to do with it. If you are carrying it concealed you want something comfortable that you can wear all day. I don't like to go any smaller in caliber than a 9mm. If you go too big, you won't carry it and it becomes useless.

what is your current go-to pistol? 

• Ed N: In the woods I carry a Glock 20sf 10mm. Day to day, I carry a Ruger Lc9 9mm. For plinking, I prefer a Glock 34 9mm.  
  
  • I did have a question. When out in the woods, what might you expect to need a pistol for? Hunting? Defense? And if so, what and from what?
    • Ed N:I am much more worried about the two legged problems than I am 4 legged. I am not a hunter and would go well out of my way to harm an animal unless it is an immediate defense situation or survival was in question. I carry the largest caliber pistol with the largest capacity I could find because in the end, I just want to be prepared for anything. When I went camping, I used to carry a 44 magnum. Honestly, they are just a little too loud and reloading can be a problem in a pinch. The Glock 20 in 10mm seemed like the best compromise. I say all of this having never had to shoot at anyone or anything in the woods in all of my years carrying. I keep my pistol concealed and don't broadcast it and have never had a problem. However, I carry it for the same reason I carry a firestarter I have never had to use outside of practice. I would rather have the option there when I need it, than wishing I had it. And there is a pretty dramatic trade off. A couple pounds is a lot when you are hiking in the woods. Having a large pistol concealed on your person, (because having it in my pack would defeat the purpose of being prepared), is tiring. But in the end I would not do it any other way.

• Hunato (CONUS):Sig Sauer P238 
• Richard (Virginia, USA): EDC a Glock 19. Also carry a Glock 26 during the summer months when the 19, as small as it is, is to much with holster for the humidity. 
• Rob (Pennsylvania, USA): My go to pistol is a 1911.  I have a full custom on order, and I should have it soon.  Right now, my 1911 is a Sig Nitron.

what caliber and cartridge, and was this a deciding feature? 

• Ed N: 9mm is my go to caliber. With modern ammo it is the equal to 357sig and 40 with almost no ballistic differences. 9mm allows more rounds and a lot of options. You can pick up fmj (full metal jacket) rounds for cheap practice and jhp (jacketed hollow points) for self defense.  
• Hunato: .380 various PDR (price forces choice) 
• Richard:  9mm hollow point. 9mm has enough strong power and the size allows for a bigger magazine capacity. An additional deciding factor was that my wife is more comfortable with the recoil than a .40 or .45.
• Rob: The caliber I prefer is the .45, It was not the deciding factor in my choice, I just like the .45 caliber.

what is your motivation to own a firearm? 

• Ed N: Self defense and it is just fun to shoot. I have been shooting for 25+ years and it is a Hell of a lot of fun. 
• Hunato: I am a free man in a Republic.  I have children under my roof and two legged wolves (literally) come down my street time to time. 
• Richard: Raised around firearms in a law enforcement and military household, so firearms safety began as soon as I could walk. After my service, my father gave me a sidearm, and I have carried ever since. It is always better to be prepared and [not] need it, than need it and not have it. 
• Rob: I grew up on a farm and was always around firearms.  When I got into law enforcement as a career, naturally, the pistol training came with it. 

 

what was your motivation to carry a firearm?

• Ed N:I started off in an action oriented career before giving it up and going for money instead. I have been shooting and been around guns most of my life. 
• Hunato: Travel and home defense.  I also enjoy the sport of shooting. 
• Richard:  (as with reason to own)
• Rob: Even without my career choice, this world is getting dangerous.  I would carry a pistol regardless.

 

do you open-carry, concealed-carry or store-secure?

• Ed N: I conceal carry 99% of the time. I have friends that are very open-carry oriented, but I can do without the hassle of a soccer mom feeling threatened by a pistol on my hip and calling the cops. In my opinion, it is best to keep it completely concealed and hidden away from private eyes.
• Hunato: On some rural land I own, open carry.  Out and about conceal carry (license) at home ALWAYS store secure.  My oldest child was 8 before he realized we even have firearms 
• Richard: I am fortunate to live firearm friendly state (Virginia) and carry concealed ever day. During the weekend, I may carry openly while running errands, and when I do that carry a Glock 17. 
• Rob: Conceal carry.

 

what features of your pistol made it appealing for your use?

• Ed N: Overall size, grip comfort, ammo capacity, and accuracy with the pistol.
• Hunato: Can be carried condition One with high reliability, thumb safety (1911-ish design) my wife and I carry identical weapons, interchangeable. 
• Richard: I have stuck with the Glock family as they are inherently simple and safe to operate. In addition, if my wife is carrying the 26, and I am incapacitated, she can reload using the spare magazines for my 19 or 17 as I always carry at least two additional. 
• Rob: My Sig is the standard Sig pistol.  However, my custom 1911 was ordered with Heine ledge sites, a light rail, and a magazine well.  These, to me anyway, are needed for a true combat style pistol.

what training have you had?

• Ed N: I have had and later taught gun safety and target shooting. I actually spent more time learning tactical shooting with a shotgun than a pistol. While a pistol is the best self defense weapon, overall it does not compare to a long-gun.
• Hunato: Scouting Merit Badges, Law Enforcement Explorer Academy, Concealed Carry Permit Class, Active shooter class 
• Richard: My farther is a firearms instructor with the state, and have also trained during military service, although not as extensively as I do with my dad. With him, quick draws, fire from concealment, weak hand operations, threat identification, and more 
• Rob: Like I said, I grew up around guns and used them my whole life, for not only hunting, but target shooting as well.  I learned the safety issues surrounding guns at an early age. After high school, and during college, I joined the military, where my training continued and became more advanced.  Finally, my law enforcement experience has continued my training over the years.

what regular training do you perform?

• Ed N: I shoot on a semi-regular basis. Currently I hit the range about once every month. I tapered off a bit a couple years ago when ammo prices went through the roof. 
• Hunato: Monthly Range Day, weekly Dry Fire practice (including draws with Blue Gun). I used to think the NRA was "over the Top".  Now, after NY, PA, CT, MD, CO, PA, IL, CA, DC, and the English, Oz, NZ, and Canadian removal of self defense rights, I am a member. 
• Richard: As accuracy requires constant up keep, my wife and I go to the range at least monthly, more so if our schedule allows. In addition to that, we will randomly load a dummy round to simulate a failure and build muscle memory. I hope this answers your questions, and to add additional information, both my wife and I are ccw licensed in multiple states. We carry to ensure we do not become victims, and offset if that is also not putting ourselves into a situation where that could occur. Neither of us have ever had to resort to our firearm as a civilian, and hope never to need to. But I believe that I would rather carry for another 50 years, before seeing harm come to a loved one, and not have the tools to save them. 
• Rob: I continue to receive training through my department, and I shoot when I can on my own.

So, thanks to all the folks who sent me in replies, and I hope I've represented you all well.  It makes for an interesting read, and I am pleased to see responsible gun-ownership mentalities in place in all the replies. 
Be responsible, stay safe. I hope that none of you ever feed the need to use your pistols for anything other than because it's fun to shoot guns, or to put food on the table!

For those who object to all of this (and are still reading) , or thick skinned gun owners don't mind a very Australian ribbing, here's Jim Jeffries talking about an Australian take on the very American gun-culture.

And finally, to throw my own hat into the ring, if I had my choice of pistols to own, it would likely be the 
H&K SOCOM Mk23-Mod 0, being a "big gun that holds a lot of bullets", because I would want to put a lot of big rounds on target until it went away and accessories are what I'm all about ...

Reblogging: Target as a bug-out-locaton

My awesome partner Omega is constantly on the lookout for articles and gear for me. She turned up a great one, from Kayla of Chicago who has a Tumblr blog. Kayla came up with a very similar assessment for Target as a bug-out-location as I have done for Bunnings, and Ikea


If there was a zombie apocalypse the best place to go would be Target.
Lets look at the facts:

• Targets have at maximum 3 windows. And those windows are also doors. Otherwise they are giant concrete cinder-blocks of prison like retail. 
• Target is filled with things to quickly barricade those window-doors. such as entire gazebos, lawn furniture, exercise equipment, etc. 
• From that point forward all you have to do is worry about the zombies that are inside.

 Follow the rest of Kyla's post here:
http://kaylapocalypse.tumblr.com/post/121358772274/if-there-was-a-zombie-apocalypse-the-best-place

Bio: a little about me

I've been interested in both cataclysmic disaster and preparedness since I was little. Growing up, my family moved extensively. My fathers work (petroleum geology) moved us from well-site, to well-site, and I had never lived in any given country for longer than 3 years until I was 16. Being a full time expatriate and part time nomad, and living in Texas and Colorado in the US, Surrey in the UK, Gabon in west Africa, Dubai in the UAE, New South Wales and Victoria in Australia and Alberta in Canada, as well as holidaying through Europe, Africa, South East Asia, the Pacific and the Middle East I have been exposed to not only a variety of cultures, but also conditions and experiences.

"Pack what you can carry" and "eat like a local" were two of the early travel and lifestyle choices that were instilled in me.

I remember living in the UK when both the IRA bombings were a frequent specter, as well as the Faulklands War, exciting in the UK in the way only 6 year olds truly appreciate. I picked up my first "survival guide" in "How to Survive" whilst at school there. I also received my first large Swiss Army Knife. 

Long distance travel, the tail end of the Cold War, as well as airplane hijackings and bombings as well as my fathers (whispered) Vietnam War experiences gave my dual citizenship (US/Aus) more meaning. Is was probably brought into further focus when whilst living in the pre-Gulf War Dubai, when Iraq invaded Kuwait whilst I was on holidays, in both the US and UK, and I couldn't "go home".

Even when we did, in the build-up of "Desert Shield" I was shown how to drive the newly acquired 4wd, we stocked up on supplies and had a go-bad, and my parents told me "if it goes bad, take your [10 year old] sister, and drive to Oman". I was 14. That puts a slant on your world views, I can tell you.

Eventually, we were sent to Calgary, New Year's Eve, and I watched "Desert Shield" become "Desert Storm" on CNN in -45C. Outdoor-Ed in Junior High was again an eye opening and awakening moment in preparedness, that never left me: I'd now lived in jungles, deserts, sub-zero conditions and some of the biggest cities in the world, as well as some crappy places too.

I followed my roleplaying through tabletop classics, miniature gaming, LRP in both fantasy and MilSim as well as my university and workplace career in microbiology and hospital science, then into hospital IT and project management.

I took up kendo whilst at university, and have achieved a respectable grade (3rd Dan) and competed at club, state and national levels. I've supplemented this with smatterings of other arts when my friends and I have pooled knowledge. I've climbed, taken up kayaking, and camp as often as family logistics will allow. I run to stay fit and build my endurance, and walk, take the stairs and carry my burdens in a pack to condition myself.


Earthquakes, forest and grass fires, floods, hurricanes, cyclones, civil unrest, international travel, blizzards,  lions, oh my. I've come to see preparedness as a lifestyle. Whether it is getting my family out of a full blown disaster, or helping someone fix their umbrella in the rain, I have striven to be Equipped, for any encounter.

I live in Melbourne, Australia, where the infrastructure of government is sound, and the legislature is relaxed. It's very pleasant and moderate here. We have a very functional social support system, including healthcare, and very little violent crime. I've lived in some places where these were not the case. I don't have any particular fears for the future, but if something comes, I hope to be ready to face it.

I've really enjoyed being asked to write first for KitUp!, then later on RecoilWeb and most prolifically for Breach Bang & Clear. It's been a real privilege.  

 

 #1086797

Home Front: Marina

We live a 5 minute drive from a marina, less than 2km by foot. I have often considered bug-out-by-water as one of our options, especially given how close we live to the Bay and that has been one of the motivators I've had to get into kayaking.

The marina we live near  features a 280m long pier, which meats up with a 350m long, curved piled stone breakwater which protects a anchorage with around 120 berths, most of which are suited to docking 2 small yachts.

Both the pier and the breakwater are topped with concrete slab walkways and fitted with guard rails on the windward side. The pier has its own small floating dock and we often see fishermen trying their hand to catch the fish that inhabit the bay from it in the evenings.

The breakwater has a harbourmasters hut, on a raised platform around its 250m mark, and at this point, it is around 240m away from the closest point of the spit of sand that makes up the closest bit of shore.

The marina proper is walled, with heavy duty fencing wrapping around its pier-side perimeter, with spiked ramparts, the marina's facilities are well protected from casual intruders. A motivated individual could make it over these walls without too much trouble, or even less if you approach it from the water, but this is designed to keep people from wandering into private property and making off with supplies, or interfering with the docked vessels.


 A variety of small boats are docked here, from yachts to a few powered launches and even a couple of small sport fishing boats, with a selection of runabouts mored to the marina walls as well. There are only limited facilities in the walled off marina section, but it is both raised from the water level, and walled off from the pier.

These traits are what make me consider the marina and the pier as bug-out locations. They are removed from the main thoroughfare of modern urban life, whilst being not too distant as to make it untenable to range out from.

The sparse local resources bring both a risk and a boon. Apart from the boats, there is little to salvage or scavenge, which would reduce its value as a raiding target to most people. If the threat faced required isolation, say a quarantine, and there were not many able-bodied people to worry about breaking that quarantine this might well make a very appealing site. Prevailing winds and the action of the waves give you some sound and smoke dissipation concealment,  and by the very nature of location, you might well have the advantage of obscurity. Assuming you were not concerned with natural risks coming from the water, or weather, or from able-bodied threats able to invade from the sea, a location like a marina might well make a good bug-out location to head for, even if you don't intend to use it as a staging point to flee by boat, their primary resource.

Home Front: Australian Hazards

I thought I might have a go at giving an insight as to the horrific and terrifying conditions that all Australians contend with from the cradle to the grave. First up, we need to discuss some myths: Drop Bears only ever attack tourists who are not anointed with sufficient Vegemite. The Australian Hoop Snake is NOT larger than its North American cousin, but it is purported to be more deadly. Australia is home to a variety of dangerous creatures, and conditions, and yet, even though its a matter of pop-culture, and they are even fictionalized in Pratchett's "XXXX", what are the facts behind it all?

However, Australia really DOES play host to a number of very dangerous plants and animals, as well as some rather extreme weather. The animals are nicely summarized by the Scared Weird Little Guys

Depending on what survey you look at, from the Top 30 Deadliest Australian Animals which runs from Box Jellyfish through to Giant Centipede (with the regular honey bee being #2, incidentally). Or take the more condensed listed but still exaggerated Top 10 Most Dangerous Animals list. There are some pretty scary animals on those lists right?

Who wouldn't be freaked out by the 7m long Saltwater Crocodile, Funnelweb Spider or the Inland Taipan? Well, as it turns out, including dumb-assed tourists and drunk local lads who ignore signs, the very scary flora of this Great Southern Land kill about 5 people a year, plus or minus.

We have a significant bushfire risk, usually at the tail end of the summer time, and I've covered these before, and sometimes we even get heatwaves that set new records for both duration and intensity.

In fact, while 173 people died in the 2009 Black Saturday fires, , 374 people died from heat stress around that time. The CFA upgraded their alert signs (many of which are now remotely controlled)which now go up to beyond EXTREME. Catastrophic is the new rating. It's rare to these signs below High, which tells you something about how we deal with these concerns. By not being concerned.

The same goes with the dangerous animals (and occasional plants) we have here. We're generally unconcerned.
I gave all of these facts and fictions some more thought, and hit up the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2012 Causes of Death, Australia records and did some analysis myself. Note: some of the numbers in the charts don;t add up, as there were some categories I didn't include because they were fiddly tiny numbers.

In 2012, there were 147,098 reported deaths. of these 93.7% were disease related. Of all those disease related deaths, only 1.7% accounted for ALL infectious diseases. Cholera, plague, HIV, TB, necrotising fasciitis, all the 'Flu strains, all of them. I'll just leave this here...

The scary thing there is the other 98.3% of disease deaths; cancers, heart and circulatory system, gastrointestinal and all the other things that can go wrong with our bodies accounted for  the overwhelming VAST majority of deaths in Australia in 2012.

Of all the deaths, that were NOT disease related, the "External Causes" that 6.3% of deaths in Australia, some 9275 or so people, I wanted to look into what caused that.

Suicide or other forms of "intentional self-harm" accounted for around a quarter, with our road-toll being around 15%. Both of these things are rather awful, and in my mind, preventable in some capacity, agencies like the TAC  and  the various suicide prevention agencies that exist, do great work. I don't have any firm stats on Australian Veterans suicide rates, but its reported as triple those lost in combat in Afghanistan.

I didn't look any deeper into the medical complications stats, but any surgery or intervention is risky. The nearly 50% "accidents" category was interesting. Falls, account for nearly half of these, with "poisoning" and various exposures for the majority of others. Thankfully, our "home is girt by sea" water awareness keeps drownings at low levels, interestingly as of 30 June 2001 more than 8 in 10 Australians (85%) lived within 50 km (30Mi) of the coastline of Australia.
What is really interesting is that "Forces of Nature" (which I presume is floods, storms, rock-falls and the like), account for 34 deaths and venomous animals (and plants) only account for 5. In 2012 there were 12 people killed by land-animals that were not dogs or rats (moooooooo!!!) and 2 by marine animals (think sharks). These fell under "animate mechanical forces" along with combine harvesters and hydraulic presses.

Hardly the Island of Death that people make Australia out to be, if you look at the numbers ....

Then there is the Most Dangerous Animal. Assaults in Australia in 2012 accounted for 273 deaths. 40 to firearms, which are heavily restricted, 97 to sharp objects the likes of which you'd find in any kitchen, workshop or woodheap, and 24 from blunt objects (like the chair you're likely sitting on). You can do the math. Humans are about 20 times more likely to kill you than all other animals on (or swimming around) the continent.  

So, when you're planning your next trip, before you cross Australia off your list for being to damn scary, over-run by killer giant spiders, sharks and Mad Max castaways, consider the true killers ...