The first day we did a lot of book work. John and Brent at DOA Tactical explained a lot about ballistics, how long range shooting works, shot books and so on. We also did a lot of shooting that day. We put about a hundred rounds of .308 downrange at 100 yards. The second day we did a lot of cool exercises. One of the most useful skills I learned during this class was how to range somebody with my scope. Using the mil dots in the scope, I became proficient at being able to determine if someone was 1500 yards away all the way down to 300 yards. This knowledge lets me instantly determine the rough distance I’m shooting at just as quickly as I get someone in my scope.

At the "Infinite Range"

We also received our shot books on the second day. These are incredibly detailed books that are customized to YOUR rifle and scope with all the distance calculations already figured out and printed for you! The book also has lots of room to log your shots so that you know what scope adjustments you need given different weather and climatic situations. We also learned what it was like to be shot at. We stood safely behind a berm about 150 yards out while the DOA Tactical Instructors shot over our heads, to the right and left of us and into the berm. It was AMAZING to hear what the bullets sound like as the wiz by you! This kind of experience is important so that if you are being shot at, you have the experience to be able to gauge what direction and distance the enemy is based on the snap of the bullet.

These are the kinds of things that you get from Instructors who are actually combat veterans and are trained and certified by the Military to teach this stuff! Brent and John are more than willing to show you their actual military credentials – they showed me. These guys are the real deal – not one of these chair-warrior wanna-be seals that are all over the place trying to teach firearms.

My 500 Yard Target

On the third day of class we started pushing out hard to gain distance. We shot all day long. We put hundreds of rounds down range and moved from 300 to 500 to 800 to 1000 to 1100 and finally to 1200 yards out. It was a crazy day and pulling triggers that long made EVERYBODY sore! Bottom line though is that by the end of that day, I was hitting 1200 yards -with some difficulty – but the beauty was that I was hitting 1,000 yards with no problems!

If you want to learn long range shooting, DOA Tactical is by far the best shooting school I’ve found around Utah County. I highly recommend them and can promise that every class you take with them (I’ve taken several now) you will walk away a much better shooter! I’ve looked at their schedule for 2012 and they have long range classes every month this year. You can call John Luthy, one of the owners, at (801) 661-6304 anytime or email him at doatactical@gmail.com and ask when classes are coming up. Feel free to mention that I sent you – he has told me that he’ll work to make sure anyone I recommend will be able to get a slot in the class they’re looking for.

My Blued Hawken

Gun ownership is a long-term investment which requires proper maintenance and cleaning in order to keep your guns working at their peak performance. A primary concern with long term storage of any gun — especially those stored in humid climates — is corrosion. Preventing corrosion is a multi-step process, starting with proper care of your firearm in the field, and followed with proper storage.  However, even if you take all the necessary precautions and care possible with your firearm, and even in the best of situations, if you use it corrosion or wearing will probably happen. How you deal with the results of such wear is the purpose of this article.

Most people when they imagine a gun will of course picture one that is “black” to most people. But of course my fashion-sense (my wife) would be quick to point out that it is actually a dark navy blue color when closely inspected. This color comes from a controlled corrosion called “blueing” in order to treat the metal so that bad corrosion doesn’t happen.  Alternative treatments such as parkerizing or Tenifer exist, but are more expensive. Also many people will opt for other metals and alloys such as stainless steel for increased protection.

This works due to the difference between normal corrosion (Rust) and this controlled corrosion. Normal oxidization (as seen here) comes from the chemical recipe of Fe₂O₃, which produces the familiar flaky, red remains of iron. Alternatively people discovered that you can create a very thin black oxide of iron that turns out to a similar, but different enough Fe₃O₄. The purpose to this is to create a layer of something between the oxygen and water that can bond with iron to create rust. This alternative oxide does just that.

Obviously the process works sufficiently in that it is the most common way to get a firearm, but it is definitely not perfect. Several methods of blueing exist nowadays, and can be performed inexpensively. But it is not perfect, no matter what method of application.

The thin layer of oxidization will over time wear off leaving bare metal open to attack. Beyond just allowing rust to happen, do you really want something you’ve invested so much money in looking worn? Thankfully the process is easy enough that it is something you can, and should attempt at home.

For my purposes, I currently had two firearms that I needed to take care of. One is from World War II, an old Russian Mosin. It saw use long before even my dad was born and thusly need to be cleaned up a lot. In order to practice though, I decided to start with another gun, a Hawken Rifle built from a kit (oh yeah, I need to post about that adventure). This was a clean(ugh, it already had some rust spots), new barrel that had never been treated. Of course, if your firearm bears any resemblance to the pistol pictured above, do not attempt to reblue and shoot. If you have that deep of damage your metal is probably brittle, and unsafe.  Reblueing is for restoring surface damage and wear, it is not a magic fix-all.

Now, before continuing I will say that if I wanted to be truly historically correct I would attempt to “brown” the Hawken rifle. Browning (not the brand) is a process of heat oxidizing that was more commonly used in the mountain man era the gun is from. However this kit rifle isn’t going to be perfectly accurate, and blueing is a slightly better, and much easier process.

To begin with, I needed a way to treat.  The first blueing on your firearm was probably done by some nice machine, and if a bit nicer might even have used a heat, or acid bath treatment to create a deeper, more even coat on your gun. This would be a bit difficult process to do at home of course, especially if you were simply trying to maintain a firearm in a less than optimal situation. Alternatively you can get very simple kits that include the basic chemicals you will need, and they can be applied with cotton swabs. This of course is the solution I was looking for.

After taking the time to read a few howto’s online, and then actually going over the simple instructions, I set out to blue my first gun. I did this knowing full well that my first attempt might not turn out very nicely, and I might be setting myself up for a lot of work undoing what I’d done, so I can retry. The steps though, are really quite easy. Before you begin remember that you will be working with caustic chemicals, so wear old clothes that you don’t care about, use gloves, and eye protection.

1. Take your gun all the way apart. If you dont’ know how, take the time to learn. You should know that already if you have any interest in blueing a gun.
2. Clean! Get the metal as clean as possible with normal cleaning materials.
3. Strip it clean – You need a blue/rust remover. Wear gloves, and scrub deeply
• If the gun is already blued, get rid of what’s already there. Anything left will cause spots or uneven colors
• If you are doing spot treatment make sure the area around the scuffs or rust are also stripped.
• Remove the rust. You are just wasting time if you leave any rust on the metal. If some is under your blueing, it’ll just grow like cancer. Or more aptly like the rust in any old car after dealing with Utah winters.
4. Clean Again! This time, your kit should have come with a deeper cleaning solvent, and probably some steel wool. You want shiny metal and nothing else (yes fingerprints matter)
5. If there is *anything* besides shiny metal, repeat the previous steps
6. Blue. Yeah, this step is actually quite easy. My kit had a tube of gel and a swab, and I’d just apply to the metal for 60-90 seconds, then rinse.
• Don’t do too much at once. You have to rinse with soapy water, and you don’t want it on too long so just do a small chunk at a time.
• Try to have clean cutoffs between sections. You are striving for even colors so make it easy to not double cover areas
• Coat evenly, try to keep it smooth.  The gel doesn’t always like to go smoothly, so use the swab so spread it.
7. Let Dry
8. Polish with finishing grade steel wool
9. Polish with a gun oil

Following those steps gives you one “protected” piece of metal. Depending on how closely you look at my picture there you might note that I do have some uneven bits in the color.  After a few minutes it actually became hard to tell unless you were looking closely.  It’s a job I’m satisfied with for my first time, but I know I can do better later.  I’m glad I played around a little, and I know that it’s much easier than I had originally thought. I’m looking forward to cleaning up the mosin now. I’m thoroughly convinced that blueing is an easy skill to learn, and a necessary part of any prepper’s skillset if they wants to keep their firearms in the best condition possible.

Birchwood Casey Perma Blue Liquid Gun Blue Kit Md: 13801.

New Birchwood Laboratories Inc Bc Barricade 6oz Aerosol Contains Fpr Wipe Off Corrosive Fingerprints

FPS by Zweroboi, on Flickr

A theme that is seeing increased activity on many of our friends blogs is that of the 5-gun challenge. What does that mean? Well it’s a way of answering the common question of “What gun should I buy?”  Chances are you’re one of two types of readers at this point; either you are already familiar with firearms, and you will want to read this simply to debate the opinions. Or, you are to some degree unfamiliar with firearms and will hopefully find this post very informative.

If you’ve ever been in a conversation with a firearms enthusiast, you’ll know that each person has their own strong opinions, so it’s always nice to get everybody’s input and reasoning behind their decisions.  This being a multi-author blog, this post will allow several of our authors to explain their choices for 5 guns, and give their reasoning behind each.  Please check out each page to get the full list of recommendations.

Jayce

1. Remington 870 12 gauge (Shotgun) – For people looking for a first firearm, usually under the “Home Defense” concept, I’ll normally suggest getting a shotgun.  The general skill level needed to scare the beejebus out of an intruder is lowest with the shotgun. Even somebody with little experience, in the dark, can still do heavy damage with one, and minimize the risk of hitting the neighbors.  The Remington 870 platform is a well tested, simple design that is very commonly available at a low entry level price point.  You can get packages with extra features such as a home defense barrel, hunting barrel, etc if you want, or you can get them later quite easily.  Also, for a more powerful weapon it can be relatively inexpensive to go shooting for practice with the family.  My favorite has been giving examples to my children on how dangerous firearms are with watermelons and pumpkins.
2. Ruger 10/22 (Rifle) – The second weapon I suggest is usually a .22LR rifle.  Something that you can easily practice with, cheaply.  Even better, you can teach your kids with.  The Ruger 10/22 is a very well known semi-auto .22 that is quite dependable.
3. Springfield XD-40 4″ (Pistol) – My choice in pistols is one that is becoming increasingly popular.  The XD platform combines many of the features people liked in the well known Glock style of pistols, but also ‘fixed’ some of my annoyances in them as well (such as the grip angle).  The XD pistols are very rugged, affordable, and dependable which is often hard to find in a single pistol (for my definition of affordable).  The .40S&W round was picked because it held a great balance of a heavy punch on the receiving end (much like a .45ACP), but a more manageable kick (closer towards a 9mm – My wife is able to shoot it rather easily).  The .40 is also now a quite common round, so it is readily available.  The 4″ was chosen because it was the good middle ground for usage.  It can be easily carried in my bag, but it doesn’t pretend to be a small concealable firearm.  It’s also not so large as to get in my way.
4. Tikka T-3 Light (Long gun) – This is my current choice in the “Long gun” category.  Growing up I learned to idolize my dad’s old .30-06 Springfield, which he used for hunting.  And while I still love that rifle, and it’s amazing power, this past year I found good reason to move on.  After being hounded for ages to finally switch over to the .308 round for a hunting rifle, I decided I’d try it in a new platform.  I spent a long time researching many of the great rifles in my price range, and even spent many hours longing for those above it.  I finally chose the Tikka for several reasons.  First off, the bolt action is unlike any other that I have tried.  Smooth as silk, perfect length.  The rest of the rifle is well built, based off the technology of it’s more expensive cousin, the Sako, but coming in at a much more reasonable price.  The accuracy has been better than expected, even with cheaper ammo.
5. SKS (Rifle) –  If you want an inexpensive rifle that can fire in a semi-automatic fashion, the sks is a great way to start.  If fires a stronger round than the AR rifles that are popular in the US, so it can still be used for hunting smaller deer and below.  The ammunition is common and relatively inexpensive.  It also is an easy to work on platform, allowing you to get familiar with the workings of the rifle as you play around with upgrading different pieces.  As much as I enjoy the workings of a nice AR rifle, if you are looking at a cheaper way to get an ‘Assault Rifle’, then the SKS is hard to beat.

Runner-up: Mosin Nagant.  This is the old Soviet/Tsarist Russia bolt action rifle.  You can pick up leftovers from World War II that are in good condition for under one-hundred dollars.  Heavy rifles, they shoot a powerful bullet along the lines of a .30-06, and you can get 440 of them in a can for around the same price as the rifle.  It’s a cheap way to pick up a rifle that can take down anything you’d conceivably hunt in North America, and you can actually shoot it without causing screams of pain in the wallet (your shoulder however might make up for that).

Phil

At an absolute minimum, you should have 4 guns – a sidearm, a long gun, a shotgun and a battle rifle.  Each one has their uses and purposes.

1. Sidearm – for me, this is a Springfield XD .45, for my wife it’s a 9mm.  The sidearm is primarily for close quarters personal defense, it also has the benefit of being easy to conceal and carry with you.  The caliber really depends on multiple factors, all of which are personal.  Those factors include your ability to control the firearm, or whether you can consistently control the kick when you shoot it.  It also depends on your ability to fire it accurately – meaning aiming – you need to be able to aim, fire, and immediately aim again.  It can’t be a caliber that rocks your body too much.
2. Long Gun – for me this is a scoped 30.06 or a 30-30.  This is your weapon to reach out and touch something.  You should be capable of controlling the recoil on it and accurately using the scope to hit what you are aiming at.
3. Shotgun – for me this is a Mossberg 500 but that’s because I can’t afford a Benelli :)  – also called a scatter gun, the shotgun is the perfect home defense and close quarter defense gun.  In the home, it has less of a chance of penetrating walls and hitting things you didn’t intend to hit – this of course depends on the shot that you are using.
4. Battle Rifle – for me, this is an AK-47.  This firearm allows you to defend yourself from multiple attackers with its high power rapid fire.  I prefer the AK because it can take more abuse than an AR – but I love ARs too :)
5. Plinking Gun – the Ruger 10/22 is one of my favorite guns.  It allows you to put tons of bullets down range for a very low cost.  Most importantly, it’s a great firearm to train your kids on and let them get very comfortable and accurate with a rifle.

]]> http://www.utahpreppers.com/2011/02/the-5-gun-challenge/feed/ 7 http://www.utahpreppers.com/2011/01/discount-on-utah-concealed-carry-permits/ http://www.utahpreppers.com/2011/01/discount-on-utah-concealed-carry-permits/#comments Fri, 21 Jan 2011 19:51:54 +0000 phil801 http://www.utahpreppers.com/?p=3333 ]]> If you’ve been waiting/wanting to get your Utah Concealed Carry License, here’s a great opportunity for you!

During my hiatus from blogging regularly (which has come to an end by the way, expect to see a lot more from me) I spent a lot of time in training.  I learned lots of new skills and got certified in several things.  One of those was becoming certified to teach the Utah Concealed Carry License course. 

Next week I’ll be teaching 3 classes that are meant to help me get familiar and comfortable with presenting the material.  Since I won’t be 100% up to par as an instructor (but I’ll still be good!) and since I need actual students to teach I’m offering these three classes at a 40% discount.  You’ll still get to get a real license and all that – I just might stumble over my words a time or two.  Here’s the details:

Normally $50/class – these 3 classes will be $30.00 each.

• Wed, Jan 26th from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm
• Fri, Jan 28th from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm
• Sat, Jan 29th from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm

To Register for any of these classes, go to my website, Command Tactical and sign up!

All classes will be taught in Highland, Utah.  You will be sent the exact address and directions within 24 hours of you payment being received.  The cost of the class covers ONLY the instruction.  You will still need to pay the fee for your license (I’ve got no control over that) and you will need to get a passport photo taken.  The class will cover the instruction and fingerprinting.

If you haven’t been waiting/wanting to get a Utah Concealed Carry License and you don’t already have one – and you’re a gun enthusiast, let’s talk about the benefits of being licensed.

Having a Utah CCW permit allows you to open carry and to conceal carry on your person or in your vehicle with a loaded firearm (you can open carry and conceal carry in your vehicle without a license but it has to be statutorily unloaded).  The benefit to being able to carry a concealed firearm is that if you ever feel uncomfortable going somewhere or in a particular situation, you can legally carry (and use if needed) a firearm into that situation/location.  This can be a huge stress reliever and comfort if the situation is right.  Furthermore, concealed carrying every day (which is what I do) allows you to fully exercise your 2nd Amendment rights and allows you to be a proper sheepdog – always able and ready to defend yourself and others.  If you’re of a mind to be able to do this, getting licensed is the way to go!

Finally, the Utah Concealed Carry Permit is one of the most recognized permits in the country.  With it, you can legally carry in over 38 states without having to get a license in that particular state.  This can be a HUGE benefit if you are traveling cross-country and like to carry a firearm with you when traveling.  If you are pro-gun and pro-carry, then a Utah CCW is the way to go!  If you live outside of Utah and have an interest in acquiring a Utah Concealed Carry Permit, contact me.  As long as you’re legally allowed to own a firearm, you can get your Utah Concealed License – we can set something up to get you certified.

]]> http://www.utahpreppers.com/2011/01/discount-on-utah-concealed-carry-permits/feed/ 3 http://www.utahpreppers.com/2010/08/front-sight-4-day-tactical-handgun-course-for-69/ http://www.utahpreppers.com/2010/08/front-sight-4-day-tactical-handgun-course-for-69/#comments Tue, 24 Aug 2010 16:30:23 +0000 ekim http://www.utahpreppers.com/?p=3219 In February of 2009, Connor attended a 4 day handgun course at the world famous Front Sight training facility near Las Vegas, Nevada. You can find his review of the experience here.]]> In February of 2009, Connor attended a 4 day handgun course at the world famous Front Sight training facility near Las Vegas, Nevada. You can find his review of the experience here.

Today I found an unprecedented offer from Front Site. For a limited time they are offering their $2,000 4 day tactical handgun course for $69.

It appears that the certificate that you will receive is good for any Monday through Thursday handgun course and is fully transferable to someone else which makes this an even better deal. Remember though, in addition to the $69 for the course, you will need to pay for a $50 background check as well as bring 600 rounds of ammo. For more information, please see this link. Hopefully we’ll see you there!

]]> http://www.utahpreppers.com/2010/08/front-sight-4-day-tactical-handgun-course-for-69/feed/ 0 http://www.utahpreppers.com/2009/10/preppers-meet-upfun-shoot-north-springs-shooting-range/ http://www.utahpreppers.com/2009/10/preppers-meet-upfun-shoot-north-springs-shooting-range/#comments Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:50:01 +0000 ekim http://www.utahpreppers.com/?p=2712 I’ve been hearing about a new shooting range out near Price for about two years now. The pictures and descriptions I kept hearing made it seem like a great place to check out, but the distance has kept me from visiting it. Until last weekend that is.

Now, I can’t wait to go back, this time with some firearms! Some of the Utah Preppers authors are heading up again on October 24th to watch some Cowboy Action Shooting and to do some shooting of our own. Read on to learn about this shooting sports venue, see some pictures and find out when some of us will be heading out.

The North Springs Shooting Range was created by and is entirely owned and operated by Carbon County. It’s construction was financed by the gas, oil and mineral rights of the area where the range resides. I have been to a number of shooting ranges throughout the western United States and this in my opinion is one of the nicest ranges I have ever had the pleasure of visiting.

Ranges

The range accommodates several different types of shooting sports.
Range Layout Map
This map is a little out dated, but shows the primary areas and their relation to each other.

High Power Rifle Range

This range has long line of well made concrete shooting benches under a roofed area. A section of this range even includes propane heaters in the ceiling for shooting on colder days or during the Winter.
The rifle range is divided into three sections from left to right as you face the range.
Section 1 has metal targets beginning at 600 yards at 100 yard intervals out to 1000 yards.
Section 2 has targets starting at 100 yards and going out to 600 yards.
Section 3 has some targets at varying distances up to 100 yards.
My only complaint about the rifle ranges is a lack of trenches at 600 and 1000 yards for raising and scoring targets. If the range had these, sanctioned competitions could be held there. A section of the rifle range is 3/4 enclosed for colder days. Use of the rifle range is included in your $5 user fee.

Shotgun area

The shotgun area is fairly basic right now. It consists of a picnic table, a few concrete pads to shoot from and an electric trap/skeet thrower. Using this facility costs an extra $2.50. You can purchase clay pigeons at the main cabin or bring your own from Wally World. Plans are in the works to expand this area by adding a few more throwers and some concrete lanes as you see in competitive trap and skeet. My wife loves shooting clays so I imagine I’ll be spending a decent amount of time in this area.

Archery Range

I didn’t get a good look at this area. I only saw a few archery targets from my vantage point on the road. I admit to not being much of an archer, but I should have paid more attention to this area. I watched a video online (sorry, I can’t seem to find it again) that showed a number of neat 3D targets like deer and even the Utah Raptor dinosaur. 3D archery is an extra $10 a day.

Law Enforcement Range

This is a mostly covered and heated area for law enforcement and tactical training. There are computer controlled reactive steel targets that are used in training law enforcement personnel. Due to limited numbers of range officers, this area is not open every day as an employee must operate the computer. The use of this facility is an extra $5 a day.

Castle Gate Cowboy Action Shooting Town

Cowboy Action Shooting is a very fast growing shooting sport. The Single Action Shooting Society is the group that organizes this sport. It involves dressing up in period clothes, adopting a period persona and shooting period weapons at steel targets.

I’ve been to a few of these events and they are always a lot of fun. Although some might discount this kind of shooting as impractical, I would beg to differ. If you can shoot a single action revolver quickly and accurately at ‘tactical engagement range’ you can do the same with a semi-auto. Maybe cowboy action shooting will become the new tactical training regimen du jour :)

The Caste Gate town also has a club house that is available for rent. It includes a kitchen, bathrooms and conference area. The club house is open during Cowboy shooting events and is available for 1/2 day and full day rental as well.

Basic use of the Castle Gate Town area in included in the basic $5 admission price.

Other features

The range also has 115 camp sites for those looking to camp in the area. Camping is $5 for Day camping and $8 for over night camping.

There are a number of 3/4 enclosed shooting areas with Propane heaters. The heaters cost $2 an hour to operate.

Utah Preppers Meetup

Since a couple of this site’s authors will be heading up to this range we thought we would invite our readers to come as well. Firearms are an important part of a well rounded preparedness strategy. So is knowing how to use the tools that you have. This will be a great opportunity to meet some fellow preppers from your state and have some fun.

The Castle Gate Posse will be holding their Cowboy Action Shoot on October 24th. Those who are interested in watching or learning more about this sport will be able to head up to the Castle Gate town to check it out. We also plan on shooting some rifles on the 1000 yard range. There may even be a .50 BMG or two in attendance. If you ask very nicely you will probably be able to shoot one as well.

Where

North Springs Shooting Range
MAP

When

Saturday, October 24th – 10 am
The range opens at 9 am but it is a 2 or more hour drive for many of us.

Below are some pictures we took last Saturday. In rough order, the pictures show the Rifle range, the Shotgun range, one of an archery target, the Law Enforcement range, the Castle Gate town and the camping areas.

I look forward to meeting more of our readers. Hope you can make it!

]]> http://www.utahpreppers.com/2009/10/preppers-meet-upfun-shoot-north-springs-shooting-range/feed/ 8 http://www.utahpreppers.com/2009/10/burying-a-gun-or-other-preps/ http://www.utahpreppers.com/2009/10/burying-a-gun-or-other-preps/#comments Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:18:19 +0000 ekim http://www.utahpreppers.com/?p=2615

Mossberg 500 JIC

I have to admit that I have been a little obsessed with finding a decent option for burying, sinking or otherwise hiding a firearm and other preps since I first saw Mossberg’s Just In Case line of products a number of years ago.

In case you aren’t familiar with it, the line includes a Mossberg 500 shotgun in a pistol grip configuration, a highly durable waterproof tube and depending on the version a survival kit, multi-tool, etc. For some reason I just fell in love with the idea of being able to tie a concrete block to a tube and toss it into a pond to hide it, or bury it somewhere up in the woods.

I can add my own survival kit and tools instead of relying on what I am sure is cheap Chinese made junk and I already own a number of shotguns and have never been a fan of the 500′s so I was more interested in the tube itself. Unfortunately, Mossberg doesn’t sell the tube by itself nor have I been able to discern the manufacturer.

In the few years since the JIC was introduced I’ve read a fair number of articles, reviews and opinion pieces on the Interwebs concerned with burying firearms or other supplies. People seem to have very differing opinions on all aspects of the subject, ranging from whether it will ever be necessary or even prudent to whether there is any way to successfully store a firearm in the ground for any period of time.

In my mind, the question was answered in January 2008 when an author for Backwoods Home magazine wrote an article describing his 15 year experiment burying and finding a Ruger Mini-14 The author used grease, mylar bags and PVC pipe to successfully bury, store and retrieve a rifle, ammunition and some tools in a wooded area for 15 years.

Some take-aways from this article

• Preparation is key. Be sure to properly prep and seal the contents and container against the elements.
• Find at least three immovable landmarks and measure from them to your burial location.
• Landscapes change over time and memories become distorted. Take non-descript pictures if possible before you dig
• Scout out your location before hand. Be familiar with the area you are planning to use. Know when people are there and when

In addition to PVC piping there are now a number of companies providing burial tubes and other products of a similar nature to preppers. The folk at PolyFarm of Idaho were kind enough to provide us with a sample of one of their products which we will review and test in a follow up post.

Our plan is to review the products offered by PolyFarm; then in a subsequent post start a one month side by side burial test to compare the PolyFarm MonoVault to the cheaper PVC alternative. We will also plan to discuss the methods we used to triangulate the location and some methods to help disguise the location from metal detectors or other detection techniques.

Stay tuned!

]]> http://www.utahpreppers.com/2009/10/burying-a-gun-or-other-preps/feed/ 6 http://www.utahpreppers.com/2009/06/evacuationemergency-combat-readiness/ http://www.utahpreppers.com/2009/06/evacuationemergency-combat-readiness/#comments Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:34:45 +0000 phil801 http://www.utahpreppers.com/?p=2037

Paris rioters in 2008

This is the seventh installment of the Evacuation Preparedness Kit Series.  The first post, on Evac Prep Basics is here, and the second post, which introduces the Evac Prep Master List is here.  The third post, and the first post on the list review is here.  This post will cover Combat Readiness.

Contrary to the belief of some, being a Prepper is NOT synonymous with being well armed and ready to protect yourself and your preps in a violent situation.  However, this article is specifically about being prepared to defend yourself, your family and your preps if it comes down to it.

History shows us that when things go bad we can expect riots, looters, roving gangs of marauders and plenty of random acts of armed violence.  We have witnessed this just this week with the riots in Iran that ended in violence.  Or we can look at the looting during Hurricane Katrina, rioting and looting during the L.A. Rodney King riots, the French riots (pictured above) and several others.

If you believe that a TEOTWAWKI is rapidly approaching, if you believe in being prepared for economic collapse, civil war, or any other kind of uprising within the United States then you should probably be considering what has happened around the world in the last couple decades when the same kind of collapses happened.   There is no logical reason to believe that if things collapse and your neighborhood can’t feed itself that you won’t become a target.  History tells us that some will ask but others will try to take.

There are several good survivalist books that envision TEOTWAWKI situations and discuss possibilities of what may happen and show possible outcomes.

Survivalist Author James Wesley Rawles who wrote the novel “Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse” about surviving a TEOTWAWKI situation envisioned many scenarios in the screenplay of Patriots called “Pulling Through”.  Consider the following scenario from that screenplay (I strongly suggest you read the screenplay and the novel Patriots) This scene occurs as the main characters are trying to escape civil collapse in their cities and get to their Bug Out Location:

JACK MOODY and TIM WONG continue their drive toward Idaho.

We see them take the Highway 97 turnoff from Interstate 5. As the pass through Weed, they see that all of the gas stations have signs spray-painted on 4 x 8-foot plywood panels that read “NO GAS”. The stations are guarded by men with rifles.

The highway is now deserted. Jack is now in the lead.

As Jack rounds a sharp bend, he sees a truck blocking one lane of the road, and a pickup parked alongside it, blocking the other lane. Jack slows down. The truck is loaded with railroad ties. Realization flashes across his face: This could be a road block! By the time he figures this out, his Bronco is within 50 yards of the obstruction.

Jack has no time to call Tim on the CB to warn him. And with trailers on behind their pickups, they cannot easily turn around.

Jack hits the gas and swerves around onto the shoulder, and narrowly misses one of the trucks. Two men dive out of the way. Tim follows Jack’s lead, also accelerating.

As they skirt around the pile, two men armed with traditional long-barreled pump action bird hunting shotguns stand up behind the truck on the right hand side. Tim and Jack instinctively duck down and keep going.

Four blasts come at Tim Wong’s pickup. The first takes out the windshield The second hits the passenger-side window. The third and fourth shots pepper the camper shell–the pellets shatter the back window.

Just down the road, Tim often checks his rear view mirrors, to be sure that the ambushers aren’t following.

Now we’re going to talk about guns and combat readiness.

If considering the things in this post make you uncomfortable and you aren’t interested in learning how to overcome that discomfort, please checkout any other post on Utah Preppers.

If this is new to you and you don’t know much about guns or which type of gun you would want in a certain scenario, please check out this guide for first time gun buyers on GeeksNGuns.com before reading on.  We’re not going to cover guns specifically in this post, mostly ammunition and other combat preps.

So what does all this have to do with 72 Hour Kits or Bug Out Bags or Get Out Of Dodge Bags?  Remember that in the last post I didn’t show my 72 Hour Kit?  That’s because my whole 72 Hour Kit is a little bit different than your normal bag.  Here it is:

My 72 Hour Kit is a breakdown solution.  The backpack pictured here is technically my 72 Hour kit but it is augmented with my combat vest which functions as a survival vest that I can survive for several days with.  My overall system is designed to be able to support me in a combat type situation while getting my family to safety.  My pack is loaded with everything I’ll need to be able to set up a camp for my family.  However, it is configured to be able to dropped in an emergency to allow ease of movement while surviving off of my Combat Vest.

My Pack

Here’s the breakdown of my pack:

There are 4 compartments in my pack – a top and bottom compartment and 2 side pockets.  In the background of this picture is my pack, sleeping bag and sleeping mat, tent and canvas tarp, medical bag and rations bag.

In the left pocket I keep:

• Sewing kit – taped to prevent breakage and filled with cotton to prevent noise
• Red lens flashlight
• Candles
• Hand Warmers
• Emergency Blanket
• Combat Survival Knife

In the Right Pocket:

• Twine
• Quick Access Toilet Paper
• 30 hour candle
• Flashlight
• Pen/Notepad
• Small Flashlight

In the Main Compartment – Top to bottom:

• Water Bottles
• Pack Lantern
• 10 ea Ramen Noodles
• 10 ea Instant Oatmeal
• Leather work gloves
• Playing Cards
• Hydration bladder
• Tums
• N95 Masks
• Backpacking stove
• Batteries (D & AA)
• Insect Repellant
• (2nd Row) Cotton Balls soaked in Vaseline
• Towels & Washcloths
• Qtips
• Hand Sanitizer
• Shampoo
• Lighter & Matches
• 3 Sporks
• Toothbrush
• Candles
• Toilet Paper
• Metal Mug & Bowel
• Contact Case/Saline
• Tissue
• Duct Tape
• Hand Free Talk for FRS radio
• Soap Dish

Bottom Compartment:

• Collapsible shovel
• Ice Treads (for boots, winter item)
• Heavy Duty Rain Poncho for backpacking
• Elbow pads
• Knee pads
• Neoprene Gloves
• Jungle hat

Combat Vest

My combat vest is put together as a multi-day survival kit.  It contains all the tools I need to protect myself and to survive alone for several days.

When fully loaded, my vest can carry 12 magazines for my Battle Rifle, 5 magazines for my sidearm and 12 shells for my shotgun.  It also carries my FRS radio and a survival pouch.  On the belt I carry a combat/survival knife, my sidearm in a drop holster and a leg magazine carrier.  Since I use this regularly to practice and train with, it also has my hearing and eye protection in the black cases on the belt (these would come off in a combat type scenario).

In my survival kit are:

• Altoid tin containing Cotton Balls soaked in Vaseline
• Emergency Blanket
• Flashlight
• Whistle/compass
• Binoculars
• First Aid Kit
• Hydration Adaptable Straw Filter
• Lighter
• Camouflage Face Paint

Nearly every item that I carry in my EDC kit would be transferred to this vest if I was bugging out.

This is a MOLLE ration bag that is normally attached to my backpack but can be removed and attached to my combat vest as needed.

• 2 Katadyn filtered water bottles
• 6 MRE packets
• 1 Energy Ration (tastes like coconut chalk but keeps you alive)

On Camouflage

You’ve likely noticed that all my gear is of the same camouflage pattern – it’s called the ACU Pattern.  It’s simply one that I like, there is no particular reason that I chose that pattern other than several of my friends use the same pattern.  I do have full body coverage in ACU though this includes camouflage pants, undershirt, overshirt, coat, hats, gloves, and boots.  I like having the ability to completely conceal or camouflage myself if I need to, it’s not necessary for everyone to do so though.  The rest of my gear matches that pattern so that everything is able to blend together.  I keep my camouflage uniforms hung up near my go kit so that everything is ready and available if I need it.

Mental Preparedness

This is really a topic for another post but it should be said here that all of these physical items are useless to me unless I am mentally ready to use them.  This means training and a certain mindset.  Just owning a gun doesn’t make you capable of shooting it.  It is paramount that you get out to the range regularly and shoot several rounds through each of your weapons.  This helps keep you familiar with their actions, helps condition you to the sound, feel and smell of gunfire and keeps your mind sharp on how to function your weapons. I strongly recommend getting out at least once a month and putting 20 – 30 rounds through each of the firearms you intend to use.

Mental Preparedness is also about coming to terms with yourself of what you are willing to do to protect your family.  It means picturing scenarios in your mind of what you think may happen and working through them – even practicing your reactions so you have trained your mind to respond the way you want it to. Time at the shooting range should not be limited to standing and firing at a fixed target.  Put yourself in different positions, even uncomfortable ones, and practice shooting from those positions.  Stand, kneel, squat, sit, and lay down and fire.  Practice firing and reloading with both hands in case your dominant hand is injured.

For handgun target practice, one of my buddies recently introduced me to Pistol Bowling as a moving target practice.  Purchase several bowling pins at a sporting good store (real ones that are solid wood) and set them up down range.  Practice shooting at one and when you knock it over, try to hit it again before it comes to a full stop.  Work your way through the pins doing the same thing.  This will give you good experience in tracking, correcting and quickly aiming your pistol.

Combat Ready

If you are inclined to defend yourself, your family and your preps, you need to make sure that you have thought through combat readiness as part of your survival planning.  Failure to do so will result in you not being able to defend at all.  My setup is what is right for me – yours may be very different.  What matters here is deciding what you’re going to do.

In the next post in this series, we’ll be talking about Bug Out Locations and Retreats.

]]> http://www.utahpreppers.com/2009/06/evacuationemergency-combat-readiness/feed/ 17 http://www.utahpreppers.com/2009/01/carrying-a-concealed-pistol-in-utah/ http://www.utahpreppers.com/2009/01/carrying-a-concealed-pistol-in-utah/#comments Fri, 16 Jan 2009 21:29:01 +0000 ekim http://www.utahpreppers.com/?p=994 Who has the legal obligation to protect you and your family?

Given the following:

In the 2005 Castle Rock v. Gonzales case, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that Jessica Gonzales did not have a constitutional right to police protection, even in the presence of a restraining order.

it would seem that YOU are the only one who can or should be depended on to defend you and yours in a dangerous situation. Law enforcement is often minutes away when a life or death situation is over and done with (for better or worse) within seconds.

That being said, carrying a concealed pistol is a very personal choice. The decision to do so means taken on a heavy stewardship. And in reality, personal protection is only one of several reasons to carry a weapon. I for one truly believe that a decision to not exercise a right greatly increases the chance that said right will be somehow legislated out of existence.

Today, I was introduced to www.utahconcealedcarry.com a forum dedicated to carrying concealed weapons in Utah. I haven’t spent much time on it yet, but I expect to be spending quite a bit of free time in the future attempting to understand the numerous laws concerning when and where I can carry a pistol concealed or otherwise.

In the past, I would use the now defunct www.packing.org for concealed carry information, but that is no longer an option as the site is gone. Are any of our readers aware of any other good/reliable sources of information on the subject Utah or otherwise?

]]> http://www.utahpreppers.com/2009/01/carrying-a-concealed-pistol-in-utah/feed/ 7 http://www.utahpreppers.com/2008/12/the-british-called-they-want-their-guns-back/ http://www.utahpreppers.com/2008/12/the-british-called-they-want-their-guns-back/#comments Wed, 10 Dec 2008 23:00:02 +0000 ekim http://www.utahpreppers.com/?p=604 Real world modern and historic data have shown that government efforts to suppress gun ownership negatively affects law abiding citizens while having little to no affect on criminals or the criminal use of firearms.  Citizens of England and Australia have come to that realization, perhaps too late.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Listening to these people talk about the incremental way that their rights were first infringed upon, then completely taken away reminds me of a famous quote by Martin Niemöller:

“First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist, so I said nothing. Then they came for the Social Democrats, but I was not a Social Democrat, so I did nothing. Then came the trade unionists, but I was not a trade unionist. And then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew, so I did little. Then when they came for me, there was no one left to stand up for me.”

As liberty loving Americans we need to stand up for not only our Rights but the Rights of others.

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