THIS made me laugh…

We’ve all been busy here lately so rather than provide any valuable content I might as well write some reviews.

Up today we have Magpul Dynamics’ The Art of The Tactical Carbine (vol. 1). This is a three DVD set that covers everything past entry level firearms training. There are a number of DVDs on the market that show off plenty of skilled riflemen, but Magpul really reinforces that they are there to teach, in their own words “problem solving”. An example being that a weapon has stopped working, is this caused by a lack of ammunition? A double feed? Broken shell? While the instructors, Chris Costa and Travis Haley clearly have strong opinions of methodology they encourage everybody in the class to find what works for them, this provides something a little more universal experience for people using something other than the AR-15 based weapons platform. There is a whole bunch to think about after watching this video and it is well worth the asking price of $40.

Available at Magpul.com

… it’s beginning.

Read all about it.

Break open the stockpiles, and fortify the cabin!!!

…ahem. Sorry.

Seriously. Stay sharp. The shit’s about to fly, so let’s avoid standing in front of the fan.

Dave was kind enough to point this article out to me:

sounds like a cover up is in progress…

I realized that we’re all preparing for the undead to come for us one night but after hurricane Ike and the associated fuel shortages and power outages I noticed how few were really at all ready to deal with even a short term interruption to our normal lives. It is a scary sight to see every gas station you pass out of fuel. I expect price gouging and lines whenever these sorts of things happen in the gulf, I can always manage to pay too much for gas and move on and complain about it later, I’m not sure what to do if I can’t find it. Panic is usually triggers the worst case scenario, rather than fill up when you normally would you panic and go to the nearest gas station with all the other panicking people and get every drop you can, just in case there is a fuel shortage, and because the infrastructure for fuel distribution assumes that people will fuel fairly evenly across the week there isn’t the capacity available to make sure that every citizen in a metro area can fill up every vehicle they own within 12 hours. What about power and utilities? Some friends of mine in Ohio were without electricity for over a week because of the storm. Don’t think you are out of Mother Nature’s reach wherever you are. It is vital that you have enough food and water stored to last a week, while cooking and cleaning are important in the long run if it is a short term inconvenience you’re not going to need to collect the rain water for washing clothes but having enough bottled water to make sure you and your family aren’t exposed to potentially contaminated ground water is imperative. I’m not going to get into the potential environmental impact of the millions of tons of plastic the bottled water may or may not be going into our landfills, don’t be lazy, recycle everything you can. Bottled water is fairly cheap if you’re not buying ultra premium and is very portable, portability is the key if you’re on the move. A 55 gallon drum in your basement might be a great thing if you’re hanging out in your house and your basement isn’t flooded but can’t really toss it in a backpack and hop in the car while trying to escape from certain death, furthermore having all or most of your water in one vessel makes contamination life threatening. I’ve found the 1-1.5 liter bottles from the store fit nicely in the water bottle holders on the sides of my backpack and the 1 gallon jugs have a nice handle to make moving them easier.

My advice?

• Make sure you keep a quarter to half tank in reserve at all times, if there is a fuel shortage you have two or three days to figure something else out. If you must bug out you can go about 100 miles before you need to refuel, because if you’re running things where you were had to be really bad, and 100 miles from really bad is better than a kick in the ass.
• Have a bike handy, it’s not a pretty or appealing option most of the time but it beats walking by about five to one (an average person walks about 3mph and bikes at about 15mph on roads) just having a bike doesn’t mean you have transportation, is the bike comfortable? Can you ride it the full distance of your commute? Do you know how to get to work or school without going on any restricted access roads like interstates? Do you know how to fix a flat tire in the field?
• Have a bug out bag ready, a bug out bag doesn’t need to have your zombiegeddon loadout in it, but it does need a change of clothes, some extra wool socks, a cheap emergency poncho, a space blanket, a jacket, a map of your local area, compass, waterproof matches, light sticks, flashlight and spare batteries, a quality multi-tool, a list of all contact information you have for everyone you might want to get in touch with in case of emergency, if you can laminate this info to make it waterproof. If your locality permits it a pistol, two reloads of ammo, and a holster you can conceal.

There will be those who say that bringing guns into a panic prone and emotional situation is only going to make things worse, but remember that law enforcement will be busy trying to fight whatever you are fleeing from and you will be surrounded by a mass of people who are all just as worried as you are. It is never a good idea to flash a gun around unless you plan on using it so keep it under cover but accessible you don’t want all that hard work you put into preparing to go to the guy who beat your face in. I plan on writing a whole article on creating a practical bug out bag but remember to keep the weight down and utility up.

Widgett sent this over to me, proving once again that those of us who know what’s coming know no bounds when it comes to efficency.

This is a magazine that delivers M16 magazines. Granted in the field you’ll want to stick with pouches, given their compactness and ease of use, this little item would be perfect for a mobile sentry from a defensive position. Under ideal conditions, in order to maintain sustained fire against swarms of undead, you’d want to lay out your magazines so you’ll never miss a beat on the firing line. This allows a wallwaker to keep his or her magazines on their person until the shooting starts. Or, under less than ideal conditions, this rig will allow you to keep your magazines protected until you’re seating them.
Since sentries don’t need to carry too much gear, they could carry two of these and be set for the field teams running back through the gates with a horde of baddies in tow.

Great Heston’s balls, someone actually did it. 

Link

Beautiful.  Designed for taking down big game, the WASP Knife injects the target with pressurized supercooled gas to freeze and rupture internal organs.  Since this would be most useful to us in a zombie’s skull, we’re working on modifying this as a better melee weapon.  Something along the lines of a pickaxe that delivers similar blows as shown in the video.  Imagine that happening to a zed’s brainbox.

Check it out.

Now that we’re back from our hiatus of filling our stores, it’s time to continue our presentation of melee weapons.  We’ve established that the best one to carry in the field is a titanium crowbar, for the best balance of utility and lethality.  But when you’re close to base, and not venturing out for long, you have more options.  In any case, it’s good to compile a collection of handheld weaponry.  Some things that are best for most may not work for some, so you need to practice with whatever works for you.

This is the tactical tomahawks page for rmjforge. The Eagle Talon and Crash Axe are good tools and weapons. Personally, I would go with the Eagle Talon, as it has that nice piercing spike that can easliy punch through skulls and armor, as well as providing aid in climbing and light utility work. With the long handle, you can maintain safe distance from any ghouls you have to dispose of, and the structure has been tested to extreme conditions. Aside from the price tag, it’s an excellent addition to any weaponry stock.