Gas Masks - SGE 400/3 (Update)

[Stereotypical Fear in a Capitalist Regime]

SO FINALLY after over a month the SGE 400/3 Gas mask I ordered FINALLY shipped. I put in the order on October 8th and today, the 21st of November it shipped. Can you believe that? When I called them mid-last month wondering what the status was the sales person told me (in a rather rude tone) that thousands of orders had been put in in a very short period of time and literally everything was back-ordered.

It's the perfect combination of the ease of modern capitalistic consumerism and that classic easy-spun public fear in the U.S. (of Ebola) that lead to this ridiculous situation. And of course shipping may be delayed because of winter storms. Maybe I'll get it just in time for Christmas and conduct a holiday review of it.

Ugh...

Original Post

Living With an Old Truck

[Personal Guide]

There is something to be said about owning an older truck. It can give you a sense of pride, a source of fun and even income if you're handy enough. Now for the sake of this post my definition of an "old truck" is, at this point a truck that is at least 15 years or rather anything pre-2000's.

Why Old Trucks?
For one - old trucks are cool. The boxier, bulkier and louder they are - the cooler they become. If I saw a '78 International Scout rumbling down the street I'd consider that the epitome of "cool". Less complexity - the fewer electronics and electrically-assisted aspects the fewer things to go wrong.  Dogs love trucks, so why shouldn't you? Remember the old Nissan commercials with the adage: Dogs love trucks!

 

Trucks nowadays find themselves the victim of what the rest of the automotive industry has been geared to: conformity. Everyone prescribes to the same designs, functions and features. I understand that there is a level of refinement and evolution from whence we came, but would it kill manufacturers to be a little more unique? I find myself either at first mistaking one truck for another or just not caring because "it looks like everything else".

I like the idea of a blue collar truck that is just meant for working. You haul, move, pull and push stuff around and generally do all the things the regular car can't. This isn't a daily commuter or for milk runs, this is for bringing home heavy duty building supplies and then plowing snow out of your neighbor's driveways.

Challenges
Old trucks rust - A LOT. The robust materials they are built out of are unfortunately susceptible to rust and rot unless you live in a very dry environment. I've lived in New England my entire life and all I've ever experienced is old rusty trucks and cars on the road. Not only do old trucks have the tendency to rust they also have more wear because of their uses and natural habitat.  Every aspect of the suspension gets more use and abuse than the average car because of the weight of the truck and the loads it can haul and tow. Same goes for the engine, transmission and transfer case if it's a 4x4.

Regardless of make or model get used to this sight

It definitely helps to be mechanical if you are going to own and keep an old truck. Most older models will often have a good base market for parts so finding replacements shouldn't be the issue, just make sure you or someone you know can install them properly.

Early implemented electronics are finicky too, but more often than not it's non-essential items.

Do Your Research!
I cannot stress this enough - research before buying! Always know what you're getting into before you smack down that wad of cash for an old truck. Know what the availability and price of parts is, know what breaks the most often and how to fix it and know how far your truck can go.

Personal Experience
I've owned two "old" trucks so far. A 1993 Chevrolet Blazer Tahoe 4x4 and more recently a 1998 Nissan Frontier XE 4x4 (both mentioned and pictured in my Bug Out Vehicle Part 2 post). For the price and effort both had done me well - currently I still own and use the Frontier and just only a day before writing this post I have just finished replacing the oil pan with the help of a good friend.

With all the time and effort it's still worth it especially if you own land or a house. A truck is an key part of being a Do-It-Yourself-er and considering the money you can save it's worth it in the long run. Beyond everything else older trucks are just a joy to own, drive and (usually) work on.

The Art of "Hodgepodge Cooking"

[Shoestring Cooking]

When things aren't looking good outside your home I find that cooking to be almost as important as practicing your marksmanship at the range. In the past I've mentioned the importance of your cooking capability and how it can play a big role in survival for when the grocery store shelves go empty and your bugging in. Not only do the general basics of cooking have high value, but also the ability to mix and match seemingly random food items to make a meal.

A good example of this skill is the competitive cooking show Chopped. Obviously this is more for high-range restaurant quality meals, but it does offer some interesting ideas on how to mix seemingly unrelated foodstuffs into elegant and very edible entrees. I have been mixing and matching foods into small and sometime even large meals for myself for quite a few years now. With a wife with an opposite schedule I often find myself cooking for one rather than two. Preferably I am not going to spend money and gas to go out and get food alone all the time, but rather put something together for myself in the comfort of my own home. Sometimes I'll cook a full meal and leave leftovers for her for when she does get home, but other times I'll just throw something creative together.

I'll pull from random leftovers in the fridge, something neglected in the freezer and maybe something in the pantry that I totally forgot about for a couple months. Your mind has to be able to see the individual parts as a completed whole and go the extra step of understanding what it will taste like altogether. Not everybody has this innate understanding, and even if you do it requires LOTS of consistent practice - much like spending time on the range.

I look at my meals in a way that I know that if I was in a situation where food wasn't readily available I could sustain myself and be relatively healthy with each meal as opposed to just consuming calories for sustenance. You may not always have a box of pasta and a can or bottle of tomato sauce to whip up dinner in a jiffy. There may only be a few things left in your house to eat or the things you have may not at first glance seem to match up into a cohesive meal idea at first.

There exists literature and obviously even televised shows about this subject that are easy for just about anybody to access and learn from and it is surprisingly important skill to have. So I say... go ahead and try it!

Below is one of my examples of "Hodgepodge Cooking":

"Poor Man's Stir Fry"

From the Fridge:
Leftover Bamboo Shoots
Lettuce from salad
Sweet Peppers
Sriracha Sauce

From the Freezer: 
Crab Rangoon

From the Pantry: 
Canned scallops
Bean thread noodles

Gas Masks - SGE 400/3

[New Paranoia]

Now that Ebola has skipped the pond to both North America and Europe I feel it is time to get a new and up-to-spec gas mask. With a new one I can retire my more or less novelty ex-Soviet and Czech masks as well. Just ordered an SGE 400/3 NBC gas mask to help ease my mind on the subject. I'll be looking for a decent-priced pack of 40mm filter cartridges as well to pair with it.

 Full review to come soon.
















*Update 10/27/2014*

Called the vendor to get an update on this mask and it seems that it's now back-ordered 2 months due to the Ebola scare. Sadly I'm not surprised.

Alternate Heat - Winter Months Part III

[Last minute changes]

So I've run into an issue with converting my less than efficient fireplace with an exterior-wall chimney into a super-heating machine. My new wood stove with included blower, being as small as it is... is still too big. Just small enough to be inserted, but after that you'd never get your hands in there to attach a lined chimney to it. So... back to plan B!

Back a couple months I got myself a barely used wood stove and now I think I'll be using it this season and in the room I originally wanted to utilize one in. Instead of heating my den at the far end of the house I'll be heating my living room, which is more central to where we spend most of our time in the homestead. Not only that, the floor above it is where our bedrooms are located so with enough heat it should transfer upstairs a bit as well - especially if we cut registers into the floors for the heat to travel up.

Luckily a local vendor is going to assist with the process and make sure the outside double-walled chimney will be up to code when being run up the side of our house. More on this soon...

Alternate Heat - Winter Months Part II

[Options]
[Part I]

With a heavy reliance of heating oil in large areas of New England many are looking elsewhere for heat sources. Wood and pellet stoves are often the first to come to mind or even the ability to switch to natural gas and be hooked up to the grid. Originally when we bought our house in southern New Hampshire we thought that may be a choice, but soon found out that natural gas lines didn't even run under our street. Scratch that idea. I grew up in a small, coastal town a couple states away that was almost entirely heated by natural gas lines and I didn't have much experience with oil heating. The only exception to that was visiting relatives far out in the boonies in Cape Cod, MA.

You have to get deliveries of fuel? 

It isn't just in your house from a gas line? 

Preposterous!

Original 50-year old boiler in our home

Well I soon learned how that worked. Last winter we had filled our old tank three times and once before that after we initially bought the house. After moving in I had a brand new boiler installed and mid winter at the beginning of 2014 we also replaced our oil tank with a brand new one. So at least going into this winter everything is new and as efficient as it can be - for oil, that is. I believe the oil boiler is in the high 80's for percentage of efficiency - whatever that really means in the grand scheme of things. The new tank is a Roth double-walled 275 gallon unit that has a proper line running along the basement ceiling to the new boiler as well.

But with the house being over 150 years old it isn't like we can keep all that heat in. Sure we can tear apart the walls of the original horsehair plaster and try re-insulating the entire house, but I'm no masochist. Instead we are looking towards alternatives to heating. Granted we are doing insulation bits here and there to help keep heat in, but mostly we're shying away from a reliance on that deliverable fuel everybody requires to survive in the winter and keep their pipes from freezing.

New oil boiler and water heater system

In August I talked about picking up the wood stove to heat the main living room, but I know considering all the projects I'm trying to complete I will not be able to utilize it until next year at the earliest. As it will require cutting a hole through an exterior wall and installing a rather expensive chimney system up the side of the house. But what I can do is install a wood stove insert in our den's fireplace and re-line the existing brick chimney for it. With an included electric blower I can heat at least two (maybe even three) rooms quite well with just wood.

On top of the addition of a wood stove fireplace insert I have bought an efficient electric infrared stove for the bedroom as well. For my attached home office, which is just shy of 200 sq. feet, I will be utilizing a portable kerosene heater.

Not only do I have alternatives, but I have different types of options. If we lose power at any point this winter we can still use the wood stove insert and take the kerosene heater to whatever room we need it in.






Review of the above KeroHeat Kerosene Heater by TacticalIntelligence

Glock 30SF Facelift

[Glock Redux ]

After having my Glock 30SF (Gen 3) for quite a few years while keeping it stock I have finally decided to spruce it up a bit. Just recently got it professionally coated with Magpul OD Cerakote by a trusted local vendor - Wicked Weaponry.

The owner, Ben, actually posted my personal Glock on his website and Facebook page as part of his portfolio of Cerakote coated firearms. Not only that, he even installed a pair of Meprolight Tru-Dot Night Sights on it as well. Suffice to say I'm very happy with the work he does.

More about this and my other on-going projects on my Projects - Weapons page.

Ebola Virus in 2014

[Dangers of the Modern World]

Long have I pondered and even conceptualized a post-apocalyptic world - natural disasters, global economic collapses, the ever-popular zombie hordes, but not Ebola.

The Ebola virus is something else entirely. It's incredibly deadly with a 50-90% mortality rate and although it is not an airborne virus much like SARS it is still extremely contagious through food, fluids (even semen) and close contact. Since its discovery in 1976 there have been at least 7-8 major outbreaks, but none as bad as the current 2014 one, which the World Health Organization now estimates at least 20,000 being infected before it can be properly contained due to dense pockets of population, lack of education and knowledge, and poor infrastructure in parts of West Africa.

Looking back at August 1976
In Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) the first recorded victim - village school headmaster Mabalo Lokela was touring an area near the Central African Republic border along the Ebola River (from which the virus is named). On September 8th he died from the disease first thought to be the similar Marburg virus. After the WHO had helped contain the Ebola virus infection there was 318 cases and 280 deaths in Zaire - a mortality rate of 88%.

The 2013/2014 current outbreak is only the second case of the Ebola virus infecting over a country's borders, the first time being in 2001-2002 between Gabon and Republic of Congo, which also marked the first time the virus had been recorded in the current country of the Congo.
 

From: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/07/31/world/africa/ebola-virus-outbreak-qa.html

Not only is this the worst outbreak of the Ebola (EBOV strain) virus in terms of pure number of cases and deaths, it's also the fastest and widest-spreading outbreak thus far of any of the  known strains. It's been reported in four countries in West Africa with an overall mortality rate of 64% with over 3,000 deaths (as of late August 2014). Although the chances of the infection spreading outside of the African continent is somewhat limited it is still a possibility via air or sea transport as the symptoms sometimes don't present themselves until a couple weeks after initial transmission.

Most First World countries do have multiple fail-safes in place to prevent massive epidemics as well as the ability to transmit news and media very quickly (if the government is operating correctly, that is). In the United States the CDC and military have multiple planned scenarios and fail-safes, but still you never know...

Public awareness is of the utmost importance on a local and global scale when events like this take place. In the U.S. especially it's too easy to pass over an internet article or change the channel on TV when news like this comes up. People need to take an active interest as the whole zombie sub-culture has historically shown that a lack of public awareness will inevitably be the end of us all. Quite frankly something like this has already happened due to a long period of little to no public awareness in the U.S. Can you guess what it was? How about a little thing called HIV? By the time HIV\AIDS was properly understood it was basically too late. As of now the death toll is over 30 million and growing.

Like times of specific flu (ex. H1N1) strains being prevalent being extra hygienic is always important. Wash your hands as much as possible, don't share food or drink and generally be careful with close contact with others. As I mentioned earlier the five known strains of Ebola are not airborne, but if someone coughs hard enough they will expel saliva which could contain the virus if they were infected so be weary. Basic rule of thumb would be to take the precautions everyone followed during the 2009 Swine Flu pandemic, which killed 14,286 people globally and 3,642 in North America alone - one of which was a dear childhood friend of mine.

Be safe and be mindful of your surroundings and be aware of developing news.

Endless Projects - Part III coming soon

Outdoor projects and cold weather preparations have been taking over lately... more on their developments soon.

Clearly Fiona is excited

Wood Stoves - Self Sufficiency

[Challenges of Heating an old New Englander ]

Long have I wished for owning a wood stove (or multiple wood stoves) and now that I have one I'm worried it isn't quite right for our house. In an oblong and quite frankly uniquely laid-out house heating is a big challenge.  The original 1858 house, was much smaller and simpler, but since then multiple add-ons (including the addition of a second floor about a hundred years ago) have made this house quite odd. The front room is a long, slightly narrow living room with 4 windows where we spend most of our time either relaxing, reading or watching TV. Quite frankly it's the perfect room to plop down a hearth and wood stove to cut oil usage during the winter, but... there lies a number of challenges. 

First and foremost the positioning of the wood stove would be a challenge due to the placement of the windows and existing baseboard heating AND on top of that (or rather, below that) the oil tank sits under this room. Second, there's two entrances to the living room - one on either end and I don't want to block or obstruct an exit. Third, the floor would need major reinforcing in order to support a 300+ lb. wood stove as well as a brick or stone hearth. Fourth, just the pure cost of the chimney that would have to be ported through the exterior wall.
  
Other than that it should be easy? Right? Ugh...

Besides the wood stove placement in our living we do have an existing fireplace on the opposite end of the house in a den-like room that is on a slab, rather than the house's original stone foundation. It's a small fireplace and hearth and it's cozy, but the chimney itself is built on the outside of the house, which is inherently inefficient due to the loss of heat outside of exterior walls. What would help mitigate this? A wood fireplace insert and the internal chimney that comes with it. What it comes down to these days is just pure cost effectiveness versus efficiency of the end product. Will a wood stove and wood fireplace insert eventually be worth the initial costs in the long run? Hard to say. More on this very soon...

Cozy, but sadly inefficient fireplace

Ukraine - Freedom Fighters

You want to know what freedom fighters actually look like?

Growing Your Own Food - Self Sufficiency

[The Concept]

There is something to be said for growing your own vegetable gardens and I know flower gardens are beautiful and smell nice and so on, but you can't eat much from them.  The practicality of having your vegetable garden grows everyday as of lately. Less and less foods in grocery stores are grown nationally and more and more foods are GMO-based or frozen by the time you get to set eyes on them.

Not too long ago I spoke with someone who was originally from Columbia who moved to the US a couple years ago. It wasn't until she moved she found that she was getting sick more than she ever had and then before she knew it she developed food allergies. So much for the standards of the FDA, huh? Coming from a country and living years eating foods that don't have preservatives, chemicals, etc. and then being thrust into something most of us have been used to our entire lives doesn't mix well...  She is now lactose intolerant and has a sensitivity to gluten and she'll never get back to the healthiness she used to enjoy back in her home country. Granted now she eats very carefully and well, but she was forced down that road because of our generally unhealthy food choices in the United States.

Health concerns aren't the only reason to grow your own vegetable garden though. A good-sized and successful vegetable garden saves you money too. With endless bills, gas prices rising everyday it's nice to know you're saving money somewhere. The ability to grow your own salad is certainly a benefit, but if you or someone close to you has decent cooking skills your choices for meal choices multiply exponentially.

Seedlings sprouting in our kitchen

I find that there's also a level of self-satisfaction directly linked to a successful vegetable garden as well. One things for sure though - patience is required. As with all kinds of gardening you must be a master of patience and attention to habitual routine. As my vegetable and herb seedlings are all finally beginning to sprout I continue my regiment of making sure they have enough sunlight and watering them daily.

Soon as they're transplanted into a raised garden outside I'll have to put up a chicken fence to keep some critters out as well as our curious dog Fiona.  The regimented process continues outdoors of course, except for the sunlight obviously. Going forward I can't see any better way to get fresh veggies than to grow your own. It's a subject that's been beaten to death, I know, but it's all the more reason to jump on this healthy band wagon. Jump on, why don't you? 

Current vegetables growing:
Tomatoes
Greenbeans
Squash
Red Pepper
Lettuce

Current herbs growing:
Dill
Parsley
Basil

Call of Duty® + VICE - Superpower For Hire

Shout out to EDC

Great site:  http://everyday-carry.com/

World News - Ukrainian Turmoil

Pay close attention to Ukraine in the coming days and weeks...

"The situation took an even more grim turn when a group of radicals that were taking part in a “peaceful march” of the opposition attempted to storm Ukrainian parliament. The violence spread, despite previous arrangements of a ceasefire between the opposition and the government."¹

Radical group clashing with Riot Police in Kiev, Ukraine

Men whom Ukraine says are Russian naval troops have blocked roads

Links:

• Ukraine crisis: 'Russians' occupy Crimea airport
• From a sea of flags to rivers of blood: How Kiev's peaceful protests turned into Maidan mayhem 1