P38 can opener

One of my daily carry essentials, the P38 can opener. Developed in WW2, it was the standard issue can opener used to open military rations. Used all the way up until the advent of MRE's (meals ready to eat) in the early 80's. It is a much smaller, and lighter alternative to a standard can opener. It's foldable and easily stores in a wallet or on a keychain. At a price point of under a dollar you can't beat it. Pick one up on Amazon or at any military surplus retailer.

Regularly inspect your ammunition

Firearm safety is of utmost importance to me. Properly maintained firearms and safe practices are the best way to avoid accidents. One thing that I used to give little thought to was my ammunition. I rarely purchase low quality ammo, and I don't reload my own. So what could go wrong with factory loaded ammunition? Lots apparently.

A few years back I got my full carry license, carried nearly every day since. My first choice for carry ammunition was Hornady TAP. Being that they are expensive, I rarely used them at the range. I ran a box through it with no issues, so I loaded them up and carried them in my gun for about a year. Then Hornady comes out with "TAP, Critical defense." So I picked up a couple boxes and brought them to the range to see how they would run. I decided to blow through the old carry stuff since I would be switching over anyway. To my dismay, my gun jammed up after every shot. So I load some target rounds, with no oiling or cleaning the gun runs fine, the ammo is the culprit. Upon closer inspection I notice that every round that had been in a magazine for over a year, was slightly egg shaped. The pressure from the magazine spring, pressing in one spot, for months and months, had deformed them all. So lesson learned, cycle through your ammo, unload and reload magazines regularly to prevent this. I haven't had this problem since.

Fast forward about two years, I have now purchased a Springfield 1911 in .45 caliber. My first choice again was Hornady TAP, Critical Defence in .45 +P. I had issues immediately, I was unable to unload the gun after a round was chambered. Very scary situation. Finally, I was able to force the slide backwards ejecting the round. So after some Googling, and some show and tell at the gun shop, we determined that Springfield handguns with "match" barrels don't have the headspace needed for these specific rounds. So back to regular old TAPs in this gun.

For those that don't know, 1911 is a big, heavy gun. The .45 is also a very powerful cartridge. This means that the recoil spring in the gun is comparably heavy, making the slide mechanism have quite a bit of oomph when loading the next round. Too bad that this can mean major damage to shells when they don't eject properly while unloading a live round. I have had a multitude of damaged bullets from this. The damages include bent cases, dented cases, and probably the scariest one, pressing the bullet further into the case. I have never seen anything like this before, but there it is. (pictured left) The reason this is so bad is because the bullet being pressed further into the case will increase the pressure when it is fired. This slightly shorter bullet could have resulted in a blown up gun. (worst case scenario) So when unloading a gun, point down and away from anything, eject the magazine and pull back firmly on the slide. The live round should eject normally, if it doesn't, lock the slide back and remove the jammed round.



My practice now is pretty simple to avoid these issues. I clean all my guns once a month, (a good practice to be in anyway) while doing so I empty all magazines and inspect every round. I lightly oil them as well with Rem oil from a spray can, I find this helps prevent corrosion and reduces jamming. In addition to that I inspect any live round that I eject when unloading my carry gun.

Surviving the next Sandy

For those who have experienced this first hand, this post is coming a bit too late. But if you have been reading you'll know that there are a few posts that apply to this disaster. I am very disheartened to see that no one takes their own survival seriously until the news and Facebook tells them to. Preparation is paramount living anywhere in the world. Now it seems that these types of extreme weather are happening more frequently, making long term preparation more necessary. You cannot wait until the day before the storm to stock up, and a run on the gas stations days after only causes panic and gas shortages. To tell everyone that they should get gas today because "all those assholes from Jersey are gonna buy up all our gas" is a self fulfilling prophecy. We did run out of gas here, for one day. Solely because everyone filled up at once. Why was every gas can in the state bought up? I have five or six gas cans. You would think that anyone with a car or a lawnmower would've picked one up before then.

You wanna know what my preparation for this was? I started the generator for a few minutes to make sure it was running ok and Jenna put all the lawn furniture in the shed. No hoarding gas, no running to Home Depot to fight over generators, no buying up a hundred C batteries. (By the way if you still have one of those giant Mag lights that even uses C batteries you are severely outdated in the lighting department) Granted, I am a crazy person, so I am very over prepared for something like this, but there is really no reason to not have five days worth of food in your house. In this post I am gonna lay out a really cheap survival kit, this combined with a five day food supply and you should be able to ride out about anything that might hit the Northeast.






I will touch on food only briefly, just think of three simple meals per day, per person. (Non-perishable of course) Might be a good idea to avoid foods that require cooking, think of soup, spam, stuff like that. Personally I like to stock up on rice and dried beans, the main reason is that they're cheap and last indefinitely if kept dry. These do require cooking but if you have a camp stove or a generator (or the simple ability to make fire) this isn't a problem. For simple indoor cooking I like Sterno, they work well and it's easy to cut up a soup can to make a little stove. Make sure to buy the name brand ones though, they are the only ones I've found that guarantee safe use indoors. I also have a butane stove from MSR that i really like. (purchased at Eastern Mountain Sports) If you can spare the cash commercially available emergency food is a good bet. Most of them are freeze dried and require boiling water. A really good option are military style MRE's. (Meals ready to eat) These can be opened up and eaten as is, or warmed up. Some even come with a heater that uses a chemical reaction to heat your food, it only requires a couple ounces of water to do so.



-First thing in your kit should be flashlights. Buy good ones! Cheapo flashlights are not bright, unreliable and they chew through batteries. Mini Mag Light LED is a cheap, reliable option. They will run about four hours on one set of batteries. Swap new batteries into the kit every two years.

-Next have a mylar survival blanket for each person in the house, you can get them in the camping section at any store that has a camping section. You never know how long the power will be out, or how cold it will be while it is.

-A good first aid kit is important to have in the house any way, build one or buy one.

-A bunch of guns. Not for everyone, I know, just saying is all.

-At least two road flares, important for signaling for help.

-A crank or battery powered radio.

-Two lighters and matches. The best kind to get would be the strike anywhere waterproof ones. (camping section)

-At least six 9 hour emergency candles (camping section as well)

-A solid muti-tool is a must, if you don't know your knives you can't go wrong with a Gerber, they sell them at Dick's. I prefer Columbia river, they sell them at Eastern Mountain sports or on Amazon.

-Some kind of water container is possibly the most important, at least five gallons worth per person. With flooding comes sewage and seawater, possibly contaminating the drinking water supply. Fill your containers before the storm and if there is flooding, do not trust the tap water until it is deemed safe. If you don't have a container, fill the bathtub.

When you get the news that a storm is coming, go through and check the kit, test batteries and check your water supply. You should also pack a bag for each person in the event of an evacuation. I also cannot stress enough how important cash is. If phone lines are down and power is out, you cannot use your debit card or withdraw money at the atm. If you are evacuated a couple hundred bucks will be a good thing to have with you. And yes, you should have a full tank of gas. A good rule of thumb is to always keep a half tank in your vehicle, true for hurricanes and the zombie apocalypse.

Having now covered the basic survival end of things I want to talk about one of the simpler things. As we have seen, people in the city were desperate to simply charge their phone. It may sound stupid, but a charged phone could be a lifesaver. Not just from boredom, but in the event of a medical emergency, or to simply let a loved one know that you're ok. If you have a smartphone, and no way to charge it, turn the damn thing off. Change your outgoing message to reflect that, and turn it on a few times a day to check it. If you have a car, make sure to have a car charger, worst case you can charge it out there. If you don't have a car you're gonna have to plan ahead. One of my many contingencies is a solar backup battery, I did a post on it a few months back. (Solar Battery Backup) This thing is pretty cool, and it can give you about a charge and a half before it dies. As long as its sunny you can top it off all day and charge at night.

For a longer term solution, I have a D/C system set up in my closet, using two car batteries and a solar panel. I did a quick video on it awhile back. (Be inventive) This is a bit ambitious for most. The simple way to make one of these small systems is an automotive jump box and a 12 volt solar panel. These can be picked up at place like Autozone or Advance auto parts for under 150 dollars. Most of these jump packs have a 12v power outlet you can plug a car charger into. So just keeping it plugged into the wall until the power goes out will probably give you enough to charge your phone for a week.

When riding the train

Many of us spend a good part of the day traveling via public transportation. I'm not a commuter myself but I am currently riding the train on my way to Grand Central. Travel by train is incredibly safe, much more so than by car. Same goes for buses and airplanes. This being said, when things goes awry on these types of transport, it can be disastrous. So heres few tips for traveling via train. These are easily applied to bus and air travel as well.

First things first, choose your seat. (Whenever possible) I prefer to choose the seats at the ends of the train when the train is a bit empty. Gives me four seats to spread out a bit, and usually a power outlet. Another big advantage to these seats is also the close proximity to the doors and your choice on direction to face. Being near the door is a no brainer, but the direction you're facing in the event of a crash can minimize injury. Facing backwards limits the likelihood of being thrown from your seat. Admittedly it would be of little help in a derailment, but I feel it can't hurt. 

Next know your exits. Make sure you have two exits in mind at all times. Count the number of seats to each, so you can reach them in the dark. (You should have flashlight on you, I carry a penlight in my pocket at all times) If you aren't seated by the doors I recommend sitting in an emergency exit row. Even when seated in this row, be sure to memorize the route to the nearest exit on the opposite side of the train. If the train becomes derailed it is very likely that your car will be on its side when it comes to a stop. Read the directions on how to operate the emergency exit a couple times so you don't have to do so under duress. Take note of where emergency tools are located as well. On my train there's an emergency pry bar above the exit closest to me and the emergency door controls are to my left.

The more likely emergency that you will encounter would be something like a fire. This is unlikely to be a real emergency as the car you're on catching fire is near impossible. A diesel locomotive can catch fire, but there are many redundancies to keep that fire from spreading to the passenger cars. In this scenario, passengers panicking is probably the bigger danger. All you can do is pay attention and keep calm. I also like to keep all my stuff together in my bag so I'm not scrambling if they evacuate the train. 

These scenarios are highly unlikely, but don't be complacent! Being aware of your surroundings becomes second nature very quickly, and takes no time at all. Those few moments of looking around while choosing your seat could save your life.

-Update, 5/18

Thankfully no one was killed, but yesterday at 6:10 pm there was a derailment on a Metro North train in Connecticut. About 60 people were injured, 5 critically, when a New Haven-bound commuter train derailed and struck a Manhattan bound train on the track beside it. It is unclear as of yet what caused the derailment.

Read more at NY Daily News

Photo courtesy of NY Daily News.

Living Outside, with Cody Lundin

Henry Ar-7 Survival Rifle

 

Guns, whatever your opinion on them, are an excellent survival tool. While my AR-15 might be a great tool for self defense if the proverbial "shit hit the fan" it would certainly be a bit much for varmint hunting. I have been wanting a .22 caliber rifle for awhile for this purpose, and one that is this tailor made for survival is right up my alley. The Henry U.S. Survival rifle is a semi-automatic chambered in .22 LR. The biggest selling point being that it all breaks down and stores in the buttstock. It also floats when stowed. You can get it in black or camo and it comes with two eight round magazines.

First impressions, well made and sturdy, despite the light weight. Solid construction and ease of use make it the perfect survival weapon. The light weight and low recoil make it feel like the ideal weapon to hand off to a novice shooter. Right out of the box it fired dead center at 25 meters and 3 inches low and left at 50. Had it firing consistently within the 20 ring in minutes. Over the day at the range I fired off about 280 rounds... with 6 malfunctions. Normally I would consider this pretty bad, but all but one were misfeeds on loading the first round. I think the issue was mostly due to the hollow point ammunition I was using. All I shot was CCI high velocity hollow points in 36 grain. I didn't have an issue until after the 200 round mark, so I think lead fouling was a bit of an issue. From what I have read these rifles don't like hollowpoints, that is all I shot today so I guess I did pretty well. The only malfuction I had while firing was a stovepipe ejection. For those that don't know this is when the empty shell lodges in the ejection port. Other that that all malfunctions were on loading the first shell.

Overall I think that the benefits of this rifle handily outweigh its shortcomings. I don't have any reservations about adding this rifle to my kit. Aside from the couple misfeeds I had, the rifle shot well and was accurate enough to hunt with. Firing a consistent 5 inch group with hollow points is just fine at 50 meters, and at 25 the groups dropped to about three inches. Did I mention it's fun as hell to shoot?

Merrell Minimalist Shoes

Over the last couple years I have been really getting into the "barefoot" movement. I have been wearing Vibram Five Fingers every day since last Christmas and have done a few barefoot hikes and camping trips. The results I've experienced have been phenomenal, my back pain is all but gone and I don't feel nearly as tired after a hike. The only place I cannot wear my Vibrams is at work. Believe me, even being a mechanic I would still wear them at work if I thought I could get away with it. Two weeks ago I had finally had it with work boots. My feet hurt, my back hurt, my ankle is constantly getting tweaked. (Aggravating an old injury) So I began looking seriously at "barefoot" type minimalist shoes. 

There are a lot of these out there from nearly all running shoe manufacturers. I decided on a pair of Merrells, the "Barefoot Run Trail Glove". (wide width) The reviews were excellent and they had Vibram soles. The wide toe box was a nice selling feature as well. First impressions were not great, they seem a little cheaply made for the 110 dollar price tag, I heard a few stitches rip when using the heel loop to put them on the first time. 

When I did finally get them on they seemed pretty comfortable. (I knew that they would be difficult to fit at first, I'm used to this with Vibrams) I immediately noticed an odd feeling that I was facing uphill, almost as if the heel was lower than the front of the shoe. An odd feeling at the very least, but not horrible. I think it has something to do with the fact that they are supposed to be running shoes. The wide toe box is very nice, and they feel very secure going up and downhill. The following day I wore them to work, after that day I wasn't quite sold. The low heel makes it feel like you're doing toe lifts all day, something I've never experienced with a minimalist shoe. They also aren't very grippy on tile floors, not an issue on pavement or dirt, but an issue for daily use. I didn't want to make a decision based on one day so I gave it a week. At this point I've gotten used to the quirks and I'm fairly happy with them. There was certainly a transitional period where my shins hurt and my feet would cramp a bit. I went through the same thing when I went to Vibrams, but it passes quickly. Now aside from traction issues indoors, they work pretty well for my purposes. I'm sure for trail running or hiking they would be absolutely perfect. I really don't see myself ever choosing them over my Five Fingers, but on a cold day the ability to wear thick socks might make these tempting. For work they're passable, though they offer no protection in the shop, they look enough like sneakers that no one would question them. I would certainly choose them over a boot any day, but they don't even come close to the comfort of my Five Fingers.

Update 8/14/13

I have now been wearing these to work everyday for eight months. I gotta say, no complaints here. (just don't expect them to be waterproof at all) They have certainly held up better than any of my Vibrams have. I'm nearly through the tread and I've had nothing break down on me at all. They are light, comfortable and durable. I only wish they had toes. 

An Apocalypse Survival Christmas 2

So this is survival Christmas number two! Sorry I couldn't get this one out sooner, been a busy few weeks. Well it seems we have all survived the 2012 apocalypse then, oh well, I think we were all secretly hoping for it. Those who know me well enough to buy me a gift, I'm sure you've noticed my Amazon wishlist has a bit of a theme. Pretty much an even mix of survival gear and vinyl records. Apparently even with the survival gear I still qualify as a hipster. For the most part I have about all I need (or can afford) for gear. I certainly have way more than I can carry, so why more? It just seems like every time I feel like I have it all, I find out about some awesome new thing that must be mine.

 

 

My first gift this year was from my dad, a Smith & Wesson tactical pen. (Pictured right) There are a few of these types of pens out there, but I haven't really heard to much about them. The basic idea is an aluminum pen with a decent point at one end that can be used as a stabbing implement in a defensive situation. Now hopefully I won't have to resort to my pen for self defense, but you never know. Ideally I carry a firearm on my person at all times, but there are dozens of times a month I would say, where this is not an option. For instance when I head down to the city, or when at work. Now usually at these times I do have some kind of weapon on me, generally a knife at all times and the addition of my Kimber pepper blaster when visiting the five boroughs. Now the very few times that I would be without either I would say is if I left my knife at home by accident when I headed to work. This is a pretty rare occurrence. Being a mechanic I utilize a pocket knife dozens of times in a day, making my lockback as important to carry as my wallet. This being said, I like to have at least one backup for every piece of gear I own, and dual purpose items are a plus. I need a pen at work anyway, so it might as well have a tactical purpose. Now I know all of these factors are extremely unlikely to occur all at once, but I prefer to hedge my bets. So lets assume I head to work and forget my knife, then head to lunch with some of the guys. For the most part the guys at work are all into this kinda stuff, but there are a few that would be unnerved by "lemme just run out to the car and grab my gun." So in these situations, the weapon is safely locked away (unloaded and cable locked) in the glove box. In this highly unlikely situation, I would be completely unarmed. In my youth I would never have had a problem with this, but a couple pulled back muscles and an old ankle injury have made me question how well I could really handle myself in a fight nowadays. Something solid to defend myself with is just as much a sense of security as it is a real asset, so I'll take it. 

 

First impressions of it are that it feels pretty solid, with a nice clip that is bolted on with two torx screws. This was one reason that this model caught my eye. Many of them have a clip that is attached with a semi-circle of metal that can easily pop loose when snagged. An issue I constantly run into with Streamlight pen lights. (more on that in a bit) One surprise was that it had a screw on top, making the "stabby" end the bottom of the pen. The top unscrews from the main body of the pen and sits on the pointy bit while writing. At first glance on the internet it looked like a click or screw type retractable. Not really an issue that affects performance, but with daily use it is a little more annoying to be constantly unscrewing the top to use it. As far as quality it is akin to a decent quality aluminum flashlight. The screw doesn't have a seal of any kind so submersion in water probably wouldn't be an option. Though all that would be damaged is the refill, I won't be checking how well the machined aluminum seals until I have a refill in hand. The only major disappointment in the pen I would say is that it's kind of a crappy pen. For stabbing, seems great, pen part not so much. Writing feels like a cheap-o bic. Admittedly I am a bit of a snob in this regard, preferring Uni-ball or Pilot Precise for daily use. Hopefully the refill is a common type, allowing for the option to upgrade to a fountain or higher quality roller ball. Overall seems like a good deal, especially since it it only costs about 20 dollars on Amazon. For something like this the thing you need to consider is that you can't plan for everything, and sometimes you cannot justify paying a lot for something you will hopefully never use. Until I hear of someone actually having to use this, there is just no way to know what the performance will be. All I can put forward is that it's a working pen, and I would not want someone to stab me with it.

 

Another gift I got (also from Dad) Is the Streamlight ProTac 2AA LED flashlight. (Pictured above) I have owned one in the past but had lost it. I am extremely happy with pretty much any Streamlight product I have used. I believe I have reviewed them before so I won't be too long winded with this one. Solid, durable and reliable, you really can't go wrong with this light. With a 120 lumen max output it is really bright. It has a 1.75 hour run time on the highest setting, 4 hours on the low setting. It also has a strobe feature and a rubber push button tail cap. Excellent tactical flashlight and small enough for everyday carry in your pocket. The only real down side to this light is the clip, if it gets snagged on something it goes flying. I have had this issue with all of my penlights from Streamlight. I think I have four or five AAA versions missing the clip. If you were to use the included nylon holster this wouldn't be an issue I suppose, but I just have too much crap strapped to myself already. 

 

With the help of Christmas money I was able to finally purchase a decent bicycle, something I have wanted for a long time. A bike is something everyone really should have, It's great exercise, (something I certainly need) as well as a gasoline free form of transportation. Just seeing the panic that ensued at the pumps after hurricane Sandy, I can only wonder what would happen if there was a national fuel crisis. With my bike I could get back and forth to work and the store, albeit much more slowly. At about 10 miles it will be a bit of a haul to work but it is doable. I look forward to giving it a shot when it gets a bit warmer. When I went to get my bike I had a Cannondale Quick CX in mind. Msrp was around the 600 dollar mark. What I really wanted was the higher end one with disc brakes, unfortunately way out of my price range. So while at the store I asked about some of the other brands to see if there was something comparable in my price range. The salesperson suggested a Specialized Crosstrail. All the same features of the Cannondale I wanted, but below the 600 dollar mark. I felt the disc brakes were more important than the brand, so after some quick Googling of reviews on my phone, I went with his suggestion and I am very happy with it. Riding around the city of Poughkeepsie, the ability to stop on a dime makes me feel much safer. When selecting a model, front suspension and slightly aggressive tires were important to me. I like being able to cut through parks and hop up and over curbs easily. Though I don't think this particular model would be great on the trail, it works well for mild off road use. Today after work will be my first long distance ride, hoping to get 20 miles in before dark.