Disarmament
There is always a drum-banging noise from the progressive left in America demanding that the population be disarmed by the government in direct contravention of the Bill of Rights – and the Constitution.
This blog has discussed Venezuela and the abominable position that the people voted themselves into by preferring a communist/socialist tyrant to freedom. Now they are reaping the same reward that all nations who follow that path eventually receive.
Consider if you will how Venezuela, which allowed privately owned firearms, banned and confiscated those arms (BBC report). Free people are armed, slaves are not. Free people can resist a tyrant, and slaves find it much more difficult. Consider the American experience with English tyranny in the New World.
US States with Constitutional firearms carry laws:
Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho (residents only), Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Dakota (residents only), Oklahoma, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming (residents only.
Where is Texas?
Global Cooling
It’s real. It’s settled science, and all of you climate deniers out there who don’t believe in the coming ice age, just settle back and wait. Meanwhile, there is a roaring (wood) fire at the White Wolf Mine in Arizona where we’re expecting somewhere on the order of a foot of snow tonight.
Military Intervention?
USGOV pulled all personnel out of the US Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela. Some see this move as a prelude to military intervention to relieve the suffering of 23 million Venezuelans. Others consider it to be merely precautionary since embassy personnel and their dependents are coming under increasing jeopardy as Venezuela disintegrates.
Should we send in Marines? Is this our fight? Or should we simply hand out firearms and ammo to the Venezuelan people and let them decide to handle it?
Snowbound
A friend of mine who is a retired USAF Col., fighter pilot, Distinguished Flying Cross, shot down in Vietnam flying A-1 Skyraiders (Sandys), lives near me in the Arizona high country. He was snowbound on his way home a week or so ago, couldn’t go anywhere and took a hotel room for he and his wife in Payson, AZ. There he sat. The restaurants and stores were closed. No food on the shelves, and nobody could get to him, really. There was between 3′ and 4′ of snow on the level. They subsisted on candy bars sold at the hotel front desk.
My question to you is what sort of food do you carry with you as emergency fare in your cars/trucks? I have a lot of ‘stuff’ but I think that I need to pack rations in case that happens to me. I figure that between all of you, there are a few good ideas.
There's always the Mountain House brand of freeze dried food. It's reasonably palatable and in its package will be good for years. It does require water to serve, and hot water would be preferred. Not a problem in a hotel. I've never tried it with cold water. Probably still better than the old lrp rations in cold iodine treated water.
Second the Mountain House freeze-dried food. When I was getting our "Earthquake Kit" stocked back in SoCal, I sampled 'emergency food' from several prepper supply places.
Most of it is edible and will keep you alive, but most of it is also not as tasty as an MRE.
The Mountain House stuff is 5-star gourmet food compared to 75% of the stuff out there. The other stuff will keep you alive, but that's about it.
I have a backpack that has mres, other freeze dried meals, a heating source, small pot, etc.along with water and energy packs in another small cool bag that all stay with me in the suv. When traveling with others it usually goes with me, especially if they don't appear to have a clue. I've been considering adding a solo stove lite, any feed back on it would be appreciated.
Need to think about food. Have a backpack and small duffle with survival stuff (shelter, water treatment, first aid,clothing, etc) but not food.
Maybe a case of Spam?
MRE's- a few in the car, heater packs and a gallon of water.
I know you military guys hate them with a burning passion, but consider- in one no-brainer pouch, a snack, a meal, crackers, coffee, drink mix, tabasco, matches and tp- and nothing needs to be packed or organized- just toss a few in the trunk- the packaging will outlast the vehicle. I have eaten many 20 year old mre's with no ill effect.
Mountain House is good, but what I'm thinking of is something more than granola and less than a freeze dried meal. If you're stuck in your car in a blizzard overnight or for a couple of days, you don't want to crack the door and start up a propane stove.
Maybe the MRE's with the heating sleeve is the answer. I hadn't thought much about those, but they work and the food is filling. Some of those newer MRE's are actually tasty.
Most of those freeze dried meals, even the good ones, presume that you're not trapped in a car or a truck. For the most part, the car is better shelter than anything you can erect in a blizzard, and you simply can't cook in one.
Spam is a good option, possibly as part of a larger kit with granola and other food you don't have to heat.
I don't dislike MRE's (Meals Rejected by Ethiopians) at all. You know when I wrote this post, I wasn't thinking along the lines of you and Brig (above), but that may be where I need to go, along with WSF's suggestion of Spam and some munchies.
All the surplus stores sell those little cans that you open that burn to create a fire. You could add a couple of those to your kit. With water and the freeze dried stuff. Granola bars are good. As I understand it, MREs are actually edible now. A company called Epicenter dot com even offers pizza, turnovers and sandwiches!
During Desert Shield/Storm, I watched an Egyptian stray dog (canis lupus familiaris variety) bury a MRE offering in sand rather than eat it. Corned beef hash, IIRC.
In my GO-bag, I carry low-carb/low-sugar protein bars, snack-pack crackers, and "fruit squeezers" (applesauce/fruit puree pouches) whenever I know I'm going to be off the beaten path on foot for a while, or out running errands all day. MREs in the trucks where weight/bulk is not a problem.
Proteins fill you up more, digest more slowly, don't spike blood sugar. Fats help keep you warm and are slower-release energy than carbs and sugars
Bariatric surgery makes one more situationally aware where the next meal is coming from. Constant snacking, small meals…
And my LMTV is fueled up, heater plugged in for the blizzard that NE Colorado is expecting tomorrow.
Wandering Neurons
Power bars. 'nuff said.
This is what I carry year round. 30 years of doing Search and Rescue in Washoe County has given me lots of experience with trial and error. Just make sure you like what you store in your vehicle. Beef jerky, tiger milk bars, trail mix, cliff bars, water, Gatorade. Be careful with MRE's….they can quickly go bad in the heat. Don't ask me how I know…..it gets hot in even in Northern Nevada.
If you're safe to run the engine while 'trapped' in the car, then get one of those "coffee heaters", and warm some water that way. You don't need boiling water to reconstitute them, but it speeds it up greatly.
Perhaps look into the "survival bars" with a USCG approval. I had one of those sometime back, and it was very edible.
And there's always the American Indian favorite…..pemmican! I've got some made with bison (about as **American** as can be) and they're very rich and filling and tasty.
I you have storage space it is no problem and you keep rice, water and all kind of good stuff to eat. Electricity even better meat, fish and so on frozen.
But if you are on your own and need a solution for some days or a week this works realoutdoorfood.com/about-us/?noredirect=en-US
and it is useful to have one of these youtube.com/watch?v=adEkfLHNyHc this kind is fine since it is multi fuel. Here you get heat too.
Water you get from the snow.
Sleeping bag is always useful (the new smart one takes almost no space and is very warm and comfortable, but you need one of these practical items to have your best sleep thermarest.com/mattresses
Good luck!
I have solved the survival food problem by being fat! Several weeks w/o food would just make me healthier. Also helps with the cold.
Might not be the most prudent strategy for the rest of the time, though.
-Kle.
The Donner Party came to mind…
At the house I have a Generac (back up) propane powered electric generator so in the short term, there's power. It's not a survivalist solution but providing that the world doesn't go to hell in a hand basket and that it's just snow, I have power. And if it's snow, I can always freeze things by leaving them outside. When I first moved into the new house, I didn't have a refrigerator up here yet and used that solution. If it needed to be kept cold, it went onto the floor of the garage. If it needed to be frozen, I put it out on the deck.
All of that makes perfect sense. I was thinking about canned fruit with the easy pull off lid too. They won't go bad the way that MREs are prone to after about 3 or 4 years. The idea is to get through two or three days and just leave the kit in the truck/car. Jerky is always a favorite as well.
It's the blizzard think that has me thinking about the kit. In summer, I always pack goodies in the load-out when I go off the beaten path. In winter, I had not thought much on being snowed in – in my rig – in Arizona. But it happens up here. Not often, but better to have and not need than need and not have.
Yes, but man does not live by power bars alone. Well, I guess you could, but it's nice to have a variety of stuff to eat in a kit.
Pemmican and jerky works. And I have my 'favorite jerky' types, being somewhat of a jerky snob.
A foot of snow is no real problem. Two feet of snow with my 4×4 isn't much of a problem. If it becomes one, I put on chains (kept in the rig). When it gets over three feet, it's starting to be a problem.
When thinking about it I actually grew up in a time when refrigerators was not common and people still had their own ice cellar to keep things cold. I guess you can dig one on your own land and use it as storage and keep it cold all year round. Dry food kan also be kept in a separate building especially made for that purpose. All farms had that in the past. Made so no mouse ever could get inside. Since you also have animals around you should have no problem with being well prepared. You only need salt. You can also build your own smokehouse. You will be capable of making the best food available and stay safe when the glaciers starts making an impact on the society further north. I guess you made a wise decision with the location.
Where is Texas? Very good point.
We only JUST allowed open carry. I put it down to the initial influence of the HATED reconstruction government. And then the powers out of Austin wanted to restrict certain, ahem, segments of the population from access to firearms.
Of course if Beto & Gang seize control they'll ban guns.
I don't see that going down well outside of Austin.
Being from GA where we have no extreme weather conditions, I don't carry anything other than my Glock, jumper cables, channel locks and a couple of screwdrivers in my truck. But I had to wonder about your AF friend. Don't they have snowmobiles that could carry food to places like that? It would seem there would be some kind of 'disaster' type service for stranded peeps – even if they are in a motel or inn.
With all your meat options up there, you should develop your own jerky recipe.
We've been making our own jerky for 40 some years. Everyone who has ever tried it, liked it. Even an Air Force friend who told me she was a vegetarian enjoyed the little piece she tried.
I forgot to add, Louisiana is Constitutional Carry also. Except for Opelousas. They got to grandfather in their "no open carry", so when we travel we secure our guns in our vehicle – which is considered part of our home in Louisiana.
One of the commenters pointed out that the shelf life of the new MRE's isn't what it once was and that's true. They go bad, but while they're good, they are tasteful enough for what they are.
One of the projects that is currently on the shelf until I get this place finished and sorted out is a greenhouse. I can grow vegetables all year long. Don't ask me when that will be finished. Right now, I'm waiting for Global Strategies to make me a millionaire…
I would have expected for Texas to have led the way with concealed/Constitutional carry.
Keep Austin weird. At least that's what the sign proclaims
This sort of weather is rare here. They've had more snow than anytime on record here. The idea of using snowmobiles to deliver food to people in ARIZONA is just unheard of. Last year, all year, it was 6" of snow. This year it's over 60". Part of the coming ice age, I guess.
The Constitution should apply equally throughout America. But it doesn't.
You can get the catalytic heaters by themselves, which would be good for heating water in a snowed in situation. The MRE itself is a bonus, just rotate your stocks.
You are going to have a complete bug-out kit in your Pinz, right?
To expand on what Valusim said above, even a cold-room or a root-cellar, someplace in the dark and in the ground, sealed off from critters, is an essential part of backup preps. As long as it's dry. Wet-cold is no good, dry-cold is good. You've got the altitude and the terrain to make it work (though it might require a jackhammer.)
The Constitution should apply. But it doesn't. Damned progressives and Deep Staters…
Just… only stock things you'll eat. Know one chowderhead who, on recommendations from some survival dude, stocked a ton of sardines. And he hates fish. But he stocked them on the thought that if he was hungry, he'd eat anything. Big mistake during 2 weeks without power during the last big hurricane.
Heck, you probably know more about severe weather survival than most
'survivalists.' Just use what you know, and then add some common sense. And some candy bars. And salty snacks, because sugar and salt are things you'll be craving in a 'food desert' situation. I believe you Vet types call it 'pogie bait?'
Gotta add this- there is a guy on you-tube does mre evaluations- I think the oldest one was civil war hardtack, up to modern day mre's from all sorts of countries. A lot of them look better than US rations.
The Pinz is on hold. I have a 1948 Willys on the way. I have a complete bug-out kit in my Ford Raptor at present and in my Toyota FJ Cruiser. The Willys will be a ranch rig for local work.
French MRE's contain a cube of jello, called vin-o-gel. Add water and you have what passes for wine.
In your vehicle, about any good backpacking food will suffice.
For real survival food, vacuum seal dry dog food with silica gel, you won't eat it until you really need it.
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