MacGyver
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Posts posted by MacGyver
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I sure like my current P99. I hope they don't screw it up.
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I'll post a link to a good thread on this following this post. On my iPhone, so going backwards and forwards is tough. Start with level I so that you always have something on you and move up to level III.
Survival gear is just like your carry weapon. If it's sitting at home - it won't do you any good when it comes down to needing it. Man has an incredible capacity to survive - but a little gear goes a long way. If you are going to stare down the reaper and send him packing, you have to be prepared.
My kits are broken down on a graduated basis as opposed to just a bugout bag - what if I'm not at home when it all heads south. I need to have some gear on me as appropriate for any occasion.
These kits are broken down into levels pocket, I, II and III and are fully 'stackable' That is, if I've got Level III, then I also have Level II and I.
Here they are:
Pocket kit - this stuff goes everywhere - everyday - to church, the grocery store, wherever - this is what goes in my pockets:
Multitool (currently Leatherman Skeletool CX), Knife with locking blade (backup is good - currently a Benchmade axis folder - a big knife can do a little knife job, but not vice versa), small lighter, small flashlight (Streamlight Nano is AMAZING), lip balm, space pen, phone, wallet, carry weapon - usually IWB
Level I kit - this should fit into a cargo pocket comfortably - some people like an Otter box or something like that. If you are old school, this is your tobacco tin kit. Both are too bulky for me, so I fit it in one of those wallets for kayakers that looks like two heavy ziploc bags and folds in half. Contents:
· Flint Rod and Scraper – 1 ea.
· Butane Lighter – 1 ea.
· Betadine – 10% solution ½ Fluid Ounce Bottle -1 ea.
· Signal Mirror – 1 ea.
· 24 Fish Hooks & Split Shot
· Large Fish Hook – 2 ea.
· Spool of Tripwire – 1 ea.
· Sewing Needles (Large Eye)– 3 ea.
· Fishing Line (10-12 lbs.) – 40 ft.
· 550 Para Cord – 20 ft. 2 ea.
· Eze-Lap Diamond Sharpener – 1 ea.
· Space Blanket – 1 ea.
· First Aid Kit – Personal
· Button Compass – 1 ea.
· Fuel Tabs (Hexamine)– 2 ea.
· Freezer Bags – 2 ea.
If I'm actually in the field then my other cargo pocket usually has a MS2000 rescue strobe, a MSR steripen, a better compass and a Garmin Etrex loaded up with the maps of the operating area. If I am in a more civilized area, the Level I kit goes on the inside pocket of my suit coat and the extra gear in my briefcase along with a bigger light and some extra AAs. Both make it through magnetometers at the airport fine - the kit is so crowded it just shows up a one mass - that or the fine folks manning it just don't get paid to care.
Level II kit - carried in a small (500 cu. inch) ruck or buttpack - Always in the car. I'm always stuffing things in here. Thus, there are always some extra goodies, but the contents always include:
· Insect Repellent
· 550 Para Cord – 50 ft. - (You really can't have enough)
· Ranger Sighting Compass
· Flashlight (larger LED light plus LED Headlamp)
· Dehydrated Sponges
· Mini Cable Ties – 50-75 ea.
· Commercial Game Snares – (4 ea. Small, 1 ea. Medium)
· Animal Scent Lures
· Fishing Kit
· Small Frog Gig
· Sun Screen
· Hygiene Kit (Campsuds, Toothbrush, Toothpaste, Dental Floss, Small Roll AP Paper)
· Clear Plastic Trash Bags
· 9 Hour Candle – 1 ea.
· Medium Fixed Blade Knife
· Notepad (Waterproof) with Pencil
· Tubular Webbing – 1 Inch, 15 ft.
· Carabineer (Locking)
· Sling Rope – 15 ft.
· Mini Chain Saw
· Emergency Bivy (AMK makes a great one that's cheap)
· Trioxane Fuel Tabs – 4-5 ea.
· Emergency Strobe
· Global Positioning System
· VHF Radio with Weather Bands
· Extra Batteries – 6 ea. AA, 3 ea AAA
· Leather Gloves with Liners
· Watch Cap
· Rations – 2 Day (3 High Protein Myoplex bars, 3 Gatorade, Peanut Butter, Bullion Cubes, Tea Bags, Sugar)
· Nalgene Canteen (1 Liter) – 2 ea.
· First Aid Kit (Rapid Deployment Kit)
Level III kit - carried in a small assault ruck (~1500 cu. inch) - this one is for when you know that you might be stuck out for a while - I guess this one qualifies as the 'bugout bag' - and for me, it's truly that - by the time we get here, things have seriously headed south
· Water Purifier
· Game Snares – (3 small, 2 medium, 2 Large)
· Utility Pot
· Military Fuel Tabs – 5 ea.
· Gortex Pants and Jacket
· Nalgene Canteen – Large
· Sling Rope – 50 ft.
· Hydration System
· Large Fixed Blade Knife
· Small Shovel
· Whetstone
· Gortex Bivy
· Poncho Liner
· Stove with Fuel
· One pair clothes - matched to mission, environment, season
· Extra Socks
· LRP First Aid Kit
· Pistol with Extra Magazine
· Ammunition (matched to objective, but typically 40 ea. Hollow Point, 10 ea. Shotshell)
· Rations – 3 Day (5 High Protein Myoplex bars, 5 Gatorade, Peanut Butter, Tea Bags, Sugar, Bullion Cubes)
Beside the Level III kit is a Sabre Defence M5 with an EOTECH 552 - I occasionally think that I need to swap this out for something that draws less attention, but keep coming back here. It's fast, light, and if it really heats up, I know it won't let me down.
Parting notes -
Unless you have a specific mission need, ditch the military surplus gear and go commercial. It's generally lighter, faster and a lot more comfortable. That said, some of the companies selling new military, tactical gear make great stuff - BlackHawk, Tactical Tailor, etc...
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You should really read Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilema. It was one of the sources for the movie. It is not an understatement to say that it changed my worldview.
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How times have changed since 1789. Imagine that being read today.
I found this article in the WSJ a couple weeks ago pretty meaningful:
No, Virginia, Christmas Is Not Here Yet
- By ERIC FELTEN
The autumn leaves, red and yellow and brown, are tumbling from the trees, resigned to their fate. Weekends are full of football and the scritching of rakes. Lazy squirrels are still munching on moldering jack o' lanterns left over from Halloween. In other words, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
Disney released a new version of the Dickens Scrooge story last week, timing it so that "A Christmas Carol" will be lucky to be in distribution past Thanksgiving Day.
Starbucks has already retired its white cups for the duration, replacing them with cranberry-colored, snowflake-flecked seasonal substitutes. Wal-Mart is just one of the retailers already Kringling away like crazy, running television ads with Andy Williams crooning "It's the most wonderful time of the year!" Who knew that the weeks between Halloween and Thanksgiving were the hap-happiest season of all?
The day after Thanksgiving used to be the official launch of the commercial Christmas season. Now Sears is running "Black Friday" specials all through November.
Given half a chance, retailers would probably try to get their plastic garlands hung just after Labor Day. (Ho-ho-ho, it's back to school!) But we've been spared that particular encroachment, thanks to a holiday that has proved capable of standing athwart the relentless forces of Christmas-creep—Halloween. Once a quaint bit of Americana built around the simple pleasures of costumes, candy-grabbing and petty vandalism, Halloween has become a marketable and profitable holiday, putting many official holidays to shame. If only Presidents Day had some sort of free-candy angle.
In contrast to Halloween's stalwart ability to keep Christmas from jumping the queue, Thanksgiving has lost its cultural muscle. The early advent of the Santa season may have less to do with the red-and-green imperative than with the weakness of Turkey Day. What happened to this quintessential American holiday?
Lydia Maria Child's ode to going over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house is a good place to start in decoding Thanksgiving's decline. First, there is the anachronistic attention given to grandmother. Thanksgiving is one of the few occasions left, in our fanatically kinder-centric culture, to honor the elderly. Picture the famous Norman Rockwell illustration "Freedom From Want"—at the Thanksgiving table grandpa and grandma have pride of place. No wonder the day gets short shrift.
And then there is all that over-the-river-and-through-the-woods business, which in our day means a choice between stripping for the nice TSA agent or creeping along I-95. Thanksgiving is the official holiday of planes, trains and automobiles. What the modern travel experience lacks in charm it makes up for with sheer ordeal. And what's the payoff for all this effort? A chance to make small talk with in-laws.
The Food Network may be the only institution in America unapologetically boosting the holiday. For weeks, the cable channel's programming is packed with turkey tutorials, stuffing suggestions and investigations into the mysteries of cranberry sauce. But Food Network's programming is less an indication of popular enthusiasm for Thanksgiving than a measure of the fear the holiday engenders. Hostesses know that they will be judged on the juiciness of their turkey, the cooking of which is an exotic undertaking chanced but once a year. And the result must be achieved while juggling a half-dozen side dishes, all the while making the above-mentioned small talk.
None of which would be so daunting if the day meant more to us. Could it be we've lost our capacity for gratitude? A successful harvest occasioned thanks back when it was all that stood between us and a long, cold, hungry winter. But now we're divorced from the seasonal rhythms of the farm, where the harvest is celebrated as the payoff of all the year's labors. Even in the midst of this Great Repression we enjoy perpetual plenty. What resonance does a cornucopia have to people who have come to expect ripe blackberries in February? If anything, we should be more grateful, but that's not our nature. Anything we struggle for, we hold dear; anything that comes easy, we take for granted.
Not only don't we celebrate the astonishing abundance that is our good fortune, we whine and moan about how it makes us fat. Lydia Maria Child's poem ends, appropriately enough, with dessert: "Is the pudding done? / Hurrah for the pumpkin pie!" A version for our time would read, "Is the pudding sugar-free?" And if that weren't enough to squeeze the pleasure from the day, no modern Thanksgiving is complete without a college student home from school, lecturing the family on the cruelty of meat. (To which the only appropriate response is: "Does that mean you don't want the drumstick?") That same sophomore is also likely to bemoan the grim fate of the Native Americans who made the strategic mistake of helping the Pilgrims avoid starvation. In some circles, Thanksgiving is second only to Columbus Day as an occasion for grieving.
There will be plenty of time next month for all the secular manifestations of Christmas: shopping, trimming the tree, shopping, mugs of frothing Tom & Jerry, shopping, and watching Ralphie get his Red Ryder BB-gun and Clarence get his wings. Oh, and yes, shopping. But before we break out the ornaments and dust off the Vince Guaraldi soundtrack, let's make the most of autumn and its particular pleasures. Jump in a pile of leaves. Savor the waning daylight. And go ahead. Week after next, eat that second slice of pumpkin pie—just be thankful for it.
- By ERIC FELTEN
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I really regret not getting my grandfather's big green egg when he passed away. I think those are the best you can get.
As a consolation, I've gotten pretty good at smoking chickens and turkeys on the grill. I use one or two burners depending in the size of the bird and don't put the bird on the grate. I put the bird in a roasting pan on a rack, so it never comes in contact with the flame. You can add chips or whatever you plan to smoke with - I've been using pecan chips lately. When you first put it on, check it every few minute until you get the equilibrium temperature you want, and then resist the urge to check it until you reach a safe temperature on your meat thermometer. I've had success with long slow smokes around 230F, and if I'm in a hurry with higher temperatures around 350F.
Good luck.
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Congratulations.
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That area can be kind of sketchy if you actually have to go out at night, but then you live in Memphis, so I guess you're okay with that.
We recently had some people come into town for business and stay at the place listed below, they were pretty pleased, and it was pretty cheap for a single room with two double beds
Extended Stay Hotel - Brentwood, Tennessee, TN - Homewood Suites Hotels
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Welcome. I like the Micro Eagle in .380 and the Walther PPS in the baby 9mm format.
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You know...I bad mouth Kel-Tec all the time. In saying that, though I think my attitude about them is influenced more by a few of the Kel-Tec owners I've known over the years than their products themselves.
I always wanted one of the Gredel p-30's, but know it had A LOT of issues. This is basically the same concept. I may have to pick one up to play with. Maybe it'll get me to come around on my thinking on Kel-Tecs in general.
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I also made some stops at a few Wal-Marts while traveling by myself yesterday. One in Atlanta, one in Dalton and one in South Pittsburgh. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, just wanted to see if the other stores had it as bad as we seem to. South Pittsburg had a pretty healthly supply of 9mm and 40, but outside of that, all of the shelves were pretty empty.
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I love how the finish on the grip safety has been worn down by the oil in someone's hand. You can tell that this is a trusted weapon.
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As someone who spends a lot of time in courtrooms, find a way to work this out without getting involved in a suit if you can. In so many cases in modern business litigation, it doesn't really matter who's right and who's wrong, it's all about the money. Litigation is really expensive, and so often the party in the right (assuming you in this case) still loses because they spent so much on litigation.
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When I get mine, it'll follow the .303 Enfield and the .30-06 Garand. I doubt I'll even notice it. LOLOLOL
I had the pleasure of shooting a .303 Enfield when I was 11. I've got a mark on the bridge of my nose from where the scope bit me. To this day, that is my standard point of reference when judging recoil. If I fire it, and I'm not bleeding when I'm done, then I just need to suck it up because it wasn't as bad as the Enfield.
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Without the government spending like there is no tomorrow, the economy is still locked up tight. And, I really think the other shoe has yet to drop. Commercial real estate collapse, personal consumer debt collapse, major terrorist event, Israel deciding enough is enough with Iran, etc... You name it, it may yet get a lot worse.
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If I were going with a red dot, I'd have my eye set on the Aimpoint Micro T-1, or maybe the H-1 since your weapon is stainless. They aren't cheap, but they won't leave you wishing you had something else.
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I put Crimson Trace laser grips on mine. They were a total splurge, but I've ended up really liking them. They hold their zero well, and are a lot of fun.
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"Capitalism offers you freedom, but far from giving people freedom, it enslaves them." --actor Ian McKellen, who has made an awful lot of money because of capitalism
This may be proof of why actors shouldn't open their mouths unless they're repeating lines from a script. I didn't really take it as an assault on capitalism. Anti nanny states - yes. anti uberpowerful corporations - yes. Corruption of power - yes. Anti-capitalist - not so much.
Mind you, this statement is coming from a free-market capitalist, so take it for what it's worth.
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Finale was pretty good last night. I won't post any spoilers, but thought they wrapped it up pretty well. I initially thought I would have done the last 30 seconds differently, but thinking about it some more, I'm okay with it.
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Yeah, with 2 episodes a night it's hard for me to block out time as well. Luckily on Comcast, AMC played them at 7&8 and then again at 9&10 so I was able to watch after I put the kids to bed.
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Anyone watching WWII in HD on the HISTORY CHANNEL?
I have a feeling I'll be picking this up when the DVD set comes out.
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Anyone watching AMC's remake of The Prisoner?
I was always a big fan of the original series- even though it originally aired 6 years before I was born. I was curious to see how a remake would fare, and so far have been pleasantly suprised. I think it pays proper homage to the original while dealing with issues in today's world. Overall, I rate it worth a watch.
On a related note, I think this would be a great way to get us past the bane that has become reality television. I know the networks produce the stuff because it's cheap to make, but it would be pretty cool if you got some great writers/actors together and make some shows with the understanding that they would only run one season. That way, you don't have to worry about stretching out plot lines to have something for next season, contract negotiations with actors who think they have eclipsed the show, etc... You could just have one season of a great show with a great story.
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Wow. Glad you guys made it through okay.
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Welcome.
TGO Christmas "Pay It Forward" 2009 Results
in General Chat
Posted
It was great to be a part of this, and I hope that a lot of families Christmas's will be at least a little bit better because of it.
Nice work TGO!