09:36 – It was 55.5F (13C) when I took Colin out this morning. They’ve called off the blizzard that was to arrive later today. Instead, we’re to have very heavy thunderstorms this afternoon and early evening, with very high wind gusts, and then heavy rain overnight. A cold front is moving in, and temperatures are to fall to near freezing over the next 24 hours, and then to well below freezing after that. Barbara is off to the gym and to run errands, after which we’ll be doing kit stuff.
Colin was running short of his Alpo Snaps treats, so yesterday I ordered several more boxes for him on Walmart.com. While I was at it, I added a 26-pound bucket of Augason brown rice, another #10 can of Augason dehydrated celery, and another #10 can of Augason cheese powder.
Speaking of which, another country heard from. I got email from a woman named Jane. She and her husband, Tom, have been married for about three years now. She’s 24 years old and he’s 26. They live in a small town in a rural area that sounds a lot like Sparta, with maybe 50% more population. He’s a utility company lineman, and she’s a teacher at the county middle school, where she got on full-time a year ago last autumn. They’re both from the area, and have millions of family members who live nearby. Well, dozens anyway. They bought a house a year ago, soon after she was hired on full-time, and she found out recently she’s expecting their first child this summer.
She’s been following my blog since she graduated college, moved back home, and got married. She mentioned that she’d emailed me back around then to ask advice about prepping on a budget. I don’t remember that message, but I respond to a boatload of similar emails so that’s not surprising.
She says she started small, both for budgetary and space reasons. (She and Tom were living in an apartment before they bought their home.) Originally, she’d just buy a few extra items at the supermarket every week. If she had one can of something on her list, she’d buy two instead. That progressed to the point that she’d wait for a sale and then buy a case of this or that. Eventually, they decided to join Sam’s Club and started making the three-hour round trip to Sam’s once every few weeks to fill up the back of their SUV.
Tom originally wasn’t very enthusiastic about prepping, but he wasn’t opposed, either. Like most husbands, he learned pretty quickly that “Yes, dear” was the easiest way to ensure domestic tranquility. Watching and reading the news over the last couple of years gradually converted him to being more supportive, and the 2016 campaign finished converting him completely. Finding out he was going to be a father just redoubled his determination to do everything he could to protect his growing family. So now they’re both on-board.
Jane says they think of themselves as “sane preppers”. They haven’t gone overboard on any one aspect of prepping, except perhaps LTS food. They have a ton of that–actually much more than a ton–and are continuing to build their stockpile. But, as Jane says, this is all stuff that they eat anyway, and it’s not going to go bad anytime soon.
I’ve said before that I’m uncomfortable going into detail about what I buy, not from any OPSEC considerations but because I don’t want people to just copy me. And I know from hearing it from numerous people that that’s just what some people do. Including Jane, originally. I’d mention ordering, say, six #10 cans each of Augason egg powder, butter powder, and cheese powder, and she’d place exactly the same order as soon as she read it.
I finally decided it really shouldn’t bother me. It’s not like I’m buying a lot of useless stuff, so if people buy what I buy they’ll at least be advancing their preparations. I just hope they also listen when I talk about buying boring stuff like bulk staples. And if Jane decides to order the same Augason stuff I mentioned above, that’s okay with me.
Jane isn’t looking for any advice at this point. She thinks they have all the important stuff taken care of, so now they’re just filling in some minor stuff. She says they’re fortunate in every way. They live in an excellent location. She and Tom both have secure jobs with decent incomes and good health insurance through their employers. With her parents’ help, she’s already paid off her student loans. They owe the bank only for her car loan. Their house was purchased from a family member, whom they’re paying back directly under a formal loan agreement. They won’t even have much in child-care expenses because they have two grandmothers and several aunts and great-aunts who are looking forward to helping them with daycare when their grandchild arrives. So they’re in just about an ideal position.
* * * * *
Is there enough variety in the questions and the responses that they would cover most not-yet-preppers’ situations? If yes, clean them up (esp to remove identifying details), bundle them up, and you can sell a quick and easy guide for those interested in prepping but who don’t know where to get started.
I may do that. I already have a pretty long canned response that I can just paste into a reply.
That list doesn’t mention medical preps, hopefully they’ve been making progress along those lines too.
The addition of a child will/should impact preps. Any bug out is essentially now a medical evac. The amount either parent can carry is significantly reduced. Walking out just got exponentially harder.
Stuff specifically for the baby needs to be added to bags, cars, secondary locations, and storage, BUT it has a very short shelf life, due to the baby growing rapidly. It’s harder to remember to update your edc “daddy bag” as frequently as needed to keep up with the growth. Diapers need to be replaced with bigger, change of clothes needs to be updated (and the DADDY’s change of clothes needs to be added to the bag. MINIMUM of a t-shirt, super light weight pants are a bonus- babies puke and shit on you sometimes.) Rolled up towel (shamwow style, or microfiber are great) is useful as a blanket, seat cover, sunshade, etc.
Baby and child meds need to be added to bags and storage.
Medical library needs to have kid stuff added.
A small cache should be added at each additional caregiver location, and updated frequently.
Real life example- my friend had to leave his house on 15 minutes notice. Brush fires in Cali changed direction, and were suddenly coming up a valley toward his subdivision. Sheriff knocks on the door says “Get your shit and get out, or burn to death” (paraphrase). Despite my hounding, he STILL didn’t have a BOB, but the one thing they didn’t have to worry about was having baby stuff at Grandma’s house. They had clothes, meds, toys, diapers, etc already there.
Having the baby is also an excuse to stock up on useful stuff like unscented baby wipes. If you don’t have a couple of cases, you’re missing out. They are REALLY great for hygiene for adults too, esp. grid down. I use/used them while our water was out, as a quick ‘whore’s bath’ after working outside, and to clean my hands in the car. SUPER useful, and very refreshing on face, chest, neck, etc.
nick
OH- Congratulations to the happy couple too!
n
Prepping for a long term event changes with the addition of a child too.
Now you need to stock clothes and shoes in increasing sizes…
n
From what details she provided, they’re in pretty good shape on medical. The area where they live is much like ours: no serious natural threats other than perhaps wildfires, which (again like us) might affect the general area, but not their home. They also have a built-in support system, with a bunch of aunts and uncles and a whole bunch of first cousins. Many of those have farms that raise everything from cattle to general crops to fruit. If TSHTF, they’re not planning to go anywhere.
I sense people are starting to feel too comfortable. The whining and rioting is everyday news and so is now ho-hum-yawn.
Beware the Ides of March.
I’ll leave the commentary relating to the Ides of March to the much better read and learned scholars than I (me?) to provide background and context.
An interesting post regarding Jand and Tom and the suggestion and RBT’s thought of a “canned respone” (or at least mylar packed with an Oxygen absorber) would be good for all of us.
I have joined the local RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service) group, and been to a few training sessions. Not a whole lot of useful information so far, but not bad. The training session later this month will be on personal preparedness, so I am looking forward to that.
If you are interested in prepping, I highly recommend getting at least a Technician class amateur radio license and seeking out the local RACES and/or ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) groups. Actually I didn’t have to seek them out. Shortly after passing the Technician class license exam, the local RACES leader sent me a post card.
Several of us have mentioned how to get amateur radio licenses in the US, so I won’t repeat all that here. If you missed it and want to get an amateur radio license, search YouTube for “Dave Cassler Technician” and you should find some useful information.
Regarding hams, there are probably more in your area than you think.
There is a mapping tool @ https://qrz.com/gridmapper
It may require you to register, if you are a ham you should anyway. It’s a great resource to look up callsigns when you are listening.
This is the ‘grid square’ for the area near my QTH (home.)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z1uyycpf4iqj3l3/hams.png?dl=0
In the past week, I’ve noticed antennas on several houses in my immediate neighborhood, including some very sophisticated ones, like remote aimable EME (earth moon earth) yagis.
Looking around there are several right next door (virtually) that I didn’t know about.
n
“Looking around there are several right next door (virtually) that I didn’t know about.”
Looking around.
Two points:
1.) Many, many moons ago, your humble northern correspondent (CONUS northern, tropical compared to Jen in Alaska) was getting some combat training in east Texas and the instructors had us out in a field with tall grass and some scrub but no trees. They told us there were several “enemies” out in front of us and we needed to observe and pick them out. We got the guys a hundred yards out and thought we were pretty dahn slick, and then a couple of them stood up out of the grass right in front of us, about six to ten feet. And the instructors told us we were “dead.” I had that same little lesson reinforced later in ‘Nam, the Philippines and Thailand when they introduced us to some Chieu Hoi (amnestied ex-VC or TC or Huks) and a few “Kit Carsons” (former NVA sappers).
2.) During my various rambles around Ye Old Homestead here I’ve discovered all kinds of chit that I had not previously noticed, including small boulders placed for some unknown reason at random under the back porch, at least two former windows blocked off at some point in the past, and various sundry other little surprises on all levels and out in the yard. More such discoveries when driving very slowly or on foot in the village here, WRT to wires, cables, poles, metal boxes housing electrical gear, culverts, fences, drainage ditches, etc., etc., and right now a section of the fire escape on the side of the town hall bouncing up and down in the wind.
The point being that a lotta stuff, more than you might think, is right under our noses. But we rarely see it or notice it in our daily humdrum busyness and of course being used to our surroundings.
So yet another plug for Outside Lies Magic: Regaining History and Awareness in Everyday Places by John R. Stilgoe
And A Field Guide to Roadside Technology by Ed Sobey
Infrastructure by Brian Hayes
Knowing some of this chit could come in quite handy at some point and is interesting in and of itself.
It’s not enough to “be prepared”. Being prepared is not just “stuff”.
You must always keep eyes and ears open. Watch/listen for changes. Distinguish between normal and not.
More often than not it’s the subtleties that will get you.
Yup, it’s like with the gunz; great to have a nice little arsenal and bricks of ammo, but you gotta go get the training. And at other than square range targets shooting paper and pictures of hadjis that ooze green stuff when hit.
If you’re younger than us and full of piss and vinegar, you need to hook up with like-minded and like-armed mates in your AO and go get SUT with a reputable outfit, preferably a place like Max Velocity’s. Because none of us is gonna be able to stand off determined multi-team assaults on our homes with our trusty little ARs for very long, plus, you may have to go out and confront the enemy, whoever that might be, a ways off from your home or engage in pre-emptive strikes.
But again, the primary directive is, as Mr. DadCooks says, Situational Awareness and watching your SIX. Even if you’re just running into the store to get the French toast supplies ahead of the storm or you’re gassing up your Hummer at the Shell station around the corner.
Sure, but supplies are the sine qua non, in the literal sense.
Whoa! sine qua non!
We got us another potential Latin tutor here!
So, WRT to supplies, as both Mr. Nick and others have said, you gotta use ’em or know how to use ’em, too. Does no good to have a spanking-new chainsaw with extra chain and oil and so on but you don’t know how to operate it safely. Or you have a pile of canned goods and other food but haven’t tried any of it out to make sure you can cook it easily and readily and that it tastes OK.
Hell, I’m still wading through the documentation and manuals, such as they are, for the various radios, and trying different locations and antennas.
Yes, “without which nothing”. And I even pronounce it correctly, sinn-uh qwaw nonn.
Are you better off having the gear but not the skills or vice versa (and I also pronounce that correctly)? Obviously, it’s better to have both but if you can have only one …
@nick,
Thanks for the link to the gridmapper. Only surprising thing was I don’t show up on the local grid. I would have thought they pulled the FCC License Database. Where I’ve been for at least a year.
I’d rather have the skillz and no gear than the reverse. Skillz might enable me to acquire gear. A pile of gear is worthless if no skillz. Food and water aside from gear.
” If yes, clean them up (esp to remove identifying details), bundle them up, and you can sell a quick and easy guide…..”
I have the title for this: “BTPPC” or “Building The Perfect Prep Cache”!
Then, when the acronym is googled, one receives links to two RBT publications.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: for @CowboySlim’s new quick and easy BTPPC suggestion.
McGuyver/MacGuyver skills come in handy.
Bwahahah!
An illegal immigrant decided to speak publicly at a news conference about her immigration status Wednesday. She was later detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
1. Marko Kloos’ next “Frontlines” book downloaded.
2. Snacks prepared.
3. Diet Ginger Ale in fridge.
4 Waiting for work day to end.
I wonder if the FAA will give them a ticket? I’d be rubber hosed just for flying my drones in a park. Probably get a mag emptied in me if my drone registration wasn’t on it. There is no justice.
Questions hover over Army drone’s 630-mile odyssey across western US
WRT illegal immigrant detained: obviously some haven’t gotten the word that there is a new Sheriff in town. Now if that new Sheriff would only really crack down on the sanctuary cities; take away all their Federal Money, lock up the mayor and top law uninforcement officers, and do a criminal illegal sweep.
@Dad’s Opinion: the churches that are providing sanctuary need to pray long and hard as they are condoning sin without repentance, IMHO. There are consequences, get used to it.
Check this out, MrAtoz. There’s a reason is bear cavalry and pig paratroopers. Someone must have been trying to innovate.
If only it were the entire SCOTUS.
Made dinner tonight from stores.
Curry chicken and rice, mango lassi.
Kirkland canned chicken, vermont brand curry cubes, did add some carrots, celery, and onion from the fridge, ‘cuz they was there. Could have used canned or dehydrated, and canned peas work well.
rice was prepared, shelf stable ready to eat.
Wife loved it, kids not as much.
Lassi made with plain yogurt from fridge, and cream, but the cream could have been canned. Added mango and mango nectar from cans.
Good eatin’, wish I’d made a full batch for the left overs.
nick
Made it to SA. I-10 through Houston was not too bad. Almost got smashed by some idiot. Traffic was coming to a stop, he was in my lane, going to fast to stop, swerved into the right lane, lost control and smacked the barrier. Karma. I kept going as I was not touched.
Did notice that in Louisiana I-10 East (opposite my direction of travel), that LA cops were in abundance. TX has a 75 MPH speed limit and I am guessing the LA cops look for people that are not accustomed to dropping their speed to 65. One guy on the side shooting radar, several chase vehicles on the side of the road.
That annoying bone rattling concrete section west of Baton Rouge is still there. A really bad section of road that has apparently not been changed in years. Lots of trucks with drivers that cannot read or don’t know their left from their right. When it says no trucks in the left lane how difficult a concept is that?
And why must a truck traveling at 65 MPH in a 75 MPH zone attempt to pass a truck that is doing 64.98 MPH? Blocked the lane for almost 10 miles and stacked about 50 cars up behind him. And why do the people behind me think riding my bumper will make the truck in front of me go any faster?
Tomorrow morning it is breakfast tacos at Taco Cabana. Dinner will be at Bill Miller BBQ.
Lot of AIS time on this trip.
Close your eyes (wait that wouldn’t be a good idea, I want you to read this), hold your nose and stifle your gag reflex and read this article by Ann Coulter. Yes, she over simplifies common sense, but is that really bad, so give it a try:
excerpt:
http://www.wnd.com/2017/03/how-to-provide-universal-health-care-using-1-easy-trick/
What sorts of projectiles would 3/4″ marble (might be synth, but I think it’s
rather cheesy natural) resist?
Just happen to have a couple of small slabs of this that might be more
useful, vertical in windows instead of horizontal as table tops.
Come to think, one 24″ square piece, inch thick, is off some gov’t building,
and could be better deployed than as a stepping-stone. This third one is
pink natural marble, but it’s not very pretty now… Tough stuff.
Guess I won’t wear the smaller piece around as a bullet~proof vest, but
maybe I should work up some straps for it, just in case?
“”And why must a truck traveling at 65 MPH in a 75 MPH zone attempt to pass a truck that is doing 64.98 MPH? Blocked the lane for almost 10 miles and stacked about 50 cars up behind him. And why do the people behind me think riding my bumper will make the truck in front of me go any faster?””
What is this “why” of which you speak?
That suggests some sort of rational decision making process. Duh.
The only real answer, especially as you’re not sure what it is, is “try it and find out”.
Because you didn’t have a rear-facing, high-intensity FLASHLIGHT deterring them from getting too close.
(I was going to write “medium-power LASER”, but then I remembered that not everyone’s first impulse is to kill anyone who annoys them. Strange and incomprehensible, but there you have it.)
I dont’ think marble will stop anything bigger than 22, but it might stop 9mm by acting as a frangible…
wouldn’t want to be near it when it explodes into pieces…
n
“”Because you didn’t have a rear-facing, high-intensity FLASHLIGHT deterring them from getting too close.””
Have had a reversing lamp switch (other than on gearshift, I mean) at times.
Some transmissions allow shifting into reverse while rolling forward, but that
does not work so well. I had some vehicle in times past that had the back-up
light switch over in that gap in the gate, so you could light up without actually
trying to get into reverse. Such input seldom works for folk whose magic
refuses to accept the basic laws of physics, of course…
Does seem that the rear-facing dash cam is occasionally seen by tailgaters,
when they look up from texting…
“”I dont’ think marble will stop anything bigger than 22, but it might stop 9mm by acting as a frangible…
wouldn’t want to be near it when it explodes into pieces…””
Thanks.
About what I was thinking. Better than two layers of ordinary window glass,
at least.
Guess the marble will fill the gaps (windows) between the bricks.
Could be worse.
Oh, and I’m sitting here about 40 feet from the location of that punk and
cop issue the other night (not that the cops dealt with the punk, note).
“”The only real answer, especially as you’re not sure what it is, is “try it and find out”.””
Valid enough if you have several samples.
How many preps are so expensive (or accidentally just sorta rare, like this marble)
that you don’t get to run a real world test before things get out of whack?
Valid enough if you have several samples.
You could use Bill Nye “The Douchebag Guy’s” head. That thing is so dense it would stop Mr. OFD’s “pig”. The Douchebag Guy was on Tucker Carlson and made a total ass of himself. I don’t think he’s looked at any real science on Climate Ejaculation. Just parrots what Libturdians say.
The Truth About Guns website shot a bunch of normal building materials. You can check them out.
Also, MD Creekmore at thesurvivalistblog.net did a test of filling 2×4 wall cavities with rock chips, it worked surprisingly well and is cheap and easy, and way better than nothing.
if you are really worried, FRP ballistic panels, 4x8ft for about $800.
n
Pieces up to a couple square feet shouldn’t be either rare or expensive. My wife can get as many as she wants from a nearby company that prepares marble and granite countertops for installation, and have mountains of oval cutouts from where the sink is going and thinner rectangles from where a slab needed to be trimmed a bit. We probably have 50 of the ovals in various colors which she set out as a footpath out back. There might be something similar near you.
“”The Truth About Guns website shot a bunch of normal building materials. You can check them out.
Also, MD Creekmore at thesurvivalistblog.net did a test of filling 2×4 wall cavities with rock chips, it worked surprisingly well and is cheap and easy, and way better than nothing.
if you are really worried, FRP ballistic panels, 4x8ft for about $800.””
………………………………………………………………………………..
Yeah, I’ll do all that with spare change lying round…
Not that I’m not really worried …
Opening up the walls of this old house, or adding expensive
wall coverings… Uh, right…
Btw… Don’t want to bash anybody, but if you look closer at
some of Cre3more’s stuff, he doesn’t walk the walk. That
retreat he had for sale was just a trailer in a trailer park…
“”Pieces up to a couple square feet shouldn’t be either rare or expensive. My wife can get as many as she wants from a nearby company that prepares marble and granite countertops for installation, and have mountains of oval cutouts from where the sink is going and thinner rectangles from where a slab needed to be trimmed a bit. We probably have 50 of the ovals in various colors which she set out as a footpath out back. There might be something similar near you.””
Good call, Mr. Steve F !
Note too that assorted ceramic and marble tiles (12×12″ or 12×24″) are often cheap…
Test a few, $1 each.
Secondary bright idea is to put a sheet of junk metal (side of old computer case
comes to mind) in the stack. That might contain the fragments…
I’m just thinking about the punk confrontation the other night… The other punk
once stole a 9mm so … …
It would be good to have full military armour, but stopping a wild bullet or two
from punks (holding the pistol sideways, of course) is the most likely scenario.
Drat… still need to get the rust off the flintlock, and find some flint!
WRT tailgaters:
My 1993 Volvo 850 GLT (Platina Beige Metallic, official ol’ fart color) has an option that I think may be illegal in many states. It has rear fog lights, activated by a switch on the dash that activates super bright tail lights. I have only used them a few times for tailgaters, all the tailgaters slammed on their brakes and swerved all over the road, one went into the ditch. Sweet.
Oh, though…
That walls full o’ gravel thing has gotta be pretty good,
since it “heals” itself, dropping more gravel into any hole punched.
I’d like to see someone test a couple of layers of the hard rubber mats they sell for horse stalls. That stuff is thick, stiff, and seems like it would make a good catcher, maybe in spaced out layers, or interspersed with something else.
If you were serious about defenses, you could stockpile river rock, wire fence, and pallets. Come the apocalypse, make your own Hesco (TM) barriers.
n
“”WRT tailgaters:
My 1993 Volvo 850 GLT (Platina Beige Metallic, official ol’ fart color) has an option that I think may be illegal in many states. It has rear fog lights, activated by a switch on the dash that activates super bright tail lights. I have only used them a few times for tailgaters, all the tailgaters slammed on their brakes and swerved all over the road, one went into the ditch. Sweet.””
I once dropped a guy off the road into a valley with the Pinto’s brake lights,
but that’s more of a suicide bomber technique.
Yeah, I really like the idea of the gravel wall. My concern would be long term settling, making the walls bulge out of flat, and losing a couple of inches at the top.
If I had an outdoor range, I’d test it myself. I can think of a couple of places where it would be easy to do and a big improvement (outer wall of my buddy the gun store owner’s office, forex….)
n
“”I’d like to see someone test a couple of layers of the hard rubber mats they sell for horse stalls. That stuff is thick, stiff, and seems like it would make a good catcher, maybe in spaced out layers, or interspersed with something else.””
For sure!
I saw a good idea about using that rubber mulch made from ground up
tires for gun or archery backstop. Gotta work (but it might be rough on
arrows).
[Do not forget the wire in most tires, which will do damage, and the
toxic cadmium and such in most tires.]
Still have to pile it all into the walls of your, uh, fortress.
Tomorrow morning it is breakfast tacos at Taco Cabana. Dinner will be at Bill Miller BBQ.
Rudy’s, self proclaimed as “The Worst BBQ in Texas”, also has a decent breakfast taco, made to order.
If you head back on I-10, take a small detour into Lockhart for lunch at Kreuz Market. Get the pork chop … if they have any left.
Don’t forget to stop at Buc-ee’s leaving Lockhart/Luling. Believe it or not, that isn’t the largest one in the chain.
Also, keep an eye on your car if you make a pit stop on I-10 in LA near the MS border. The last time we went through, I watched a family team case cars in the parking lot of a Wendy’s when we stopped near Slidel to feed our kids.
Most of LA along I-10 is the third world.
“” I can think of a couple of places where it would be easy to do and a big improvement (outer wall of my buddy the gun store owner’s office, forex….)””
A good citizen who handles guns with some frequency is to be commended for
containing any sort of accidental projectile within the walls of his premises!
We live in a brick house, so my concerns are the old wood doors, which I intend to rectify/reinforce this spring, and the windows, to which, when I also have a bunch of spare change lying around, affix ballistic film. Won’t stop the Pig or Ma Deuce but better than nothing, i.e., smaller calibers, rocks, bricks, Molotov cocktails, etc.
Then again, we can all be taken out quite nicely by a guy with a rifle a hundred yards away as we take out the garbage or do some other mundane chore around the homestead.
Ok, now I’m hiding behind the chimney…
I’d like to hear more about this ballistic film!
Ballistic film can be applied to glass windows in a building or a vehicle; it comes in various thicknesses and at various escalating costs, depending on effectiveness in stopping whatever. There are even two or three outfits in this AO who will do the installations for us, assuming we have the spare change lying around here.
http://www.windowfilmdepot.com/ballistic-window-film.html
http://www.danddsuncontrol.com/ballistic_film.php
For those interested:
A blog that spends a lot of time shooting through things:
theboxotruth.com
You can apparently send them stuff to shoot through. But they’ve done dozens of things already. Six inches of sand stops almost any reasonable round.
Hence the ubiquitous military sandbag.
The temp here has just plummeted from 58 to 53, with a “Hazardous Weather Outlook” from the NWS; i.e., 30-40 MPH wind gusts. We’ll be back down to winta temps in the next few days.
Off to vets group tomorrow and laundry details.
And thus comes to an end, Ash Wednesday, Anno Domini MMXVII
Memento quia pulvis es et in pulverem reverteris.
“I saw a good idea about using that rubber mulch made from ground up tires for gun or archery backstop.”
The backstop of my local 50m indoor range is a mound of chipped tyre rubber (minus the metal) about 2m (6 feet) deep, backed up with abrasion-resistant steel plates and covered at the front with strips of old conveyor belting. It is rated for rounds up to and including .50BMG. About twice a year, the mound is mechanically sifted (nasty, dusty job) to recover two or three tons of lead and copper.
The downsides of this system are (a) leakage out the front when the conveyor sheet becomes too holed (we shift the mats, and forbid shooting shotgun slugs), (b) dealing with the lead dust when sifting the pile and (c) that the pile is flammable. A similar backstop at another range in the region caught fire when some idiot fired (forbidden) tracer ammunition into it. As a result, the local authorities will no longer authorise chipped rubber for new backstops. Our one was saved by having an automatic fire-sprinkler system installed directly above it.
When I get to build my own range, I intend to use a backstop like the Savage “wet snail” http://savagerangesystems.com/shootingranges/ which actually looks like a feasible proposition for a savvy DIY fabrication; it’s just low-angle welded AR steel plate, with water recirculating over the bottom plate to trap lead dust.
I wonder if the FAA will give them a ticket?
There will be an investigation about this. Even the military has to answer to the FAA in times of peace.
Did notice that in Louisiana I-10 East (opposite my direction of travel), that LA cops were in abundance. TX has a 75 MPH speed limit and I am guessing the LA cops look for people that are not accustomed to dropping their speed to 65. One guy on the side shooting radar, several chase vehicles on the side of the road.
They are there most of the time when we go through LA, just for that reason. The area between the state line, Lake Charles, and the Kinder turnoff are well patrolled because of all the Texans going to the casinos.
keep an eye on your car if you make a pit stop on I-10 in LA near the MS border
I plan no stops in LA on the return. I will be spending the night in Alvin TX, then head out and probably make to Birmingham where I will stop for the night.
Currently set up in SA at the hotel I will be at for five days. Hyatt Place. I really like them. Large rooms, separate sleeping and work areas, nice desk, excellent WIFI, comfortable beds, etc. Highly recommended. Got this room for about $100 a night. North of I-410, south of 1604 and close to 281 north. Wedding is in Blanco which is about a 40 minute drive. Could have stayed closer but opted for the Hyatt instead. I have stayed at several and they are consistent. Also like Holiday Inn Express if a Hyatt is not close.
Had Bill Miller for dinner, Taco Cabana (breakfast tacos) for breakfast, Whataburger for lunch. Thus have hit the locations I remember from when I lived here. Have no idea what I will eat for tonight.
Fixed switch for the heater in the bathroom of the MIL house. Someone else tried to replace the light switch in the same box and got sparks and quit. MIL hired an electrician to replace the light switch (who installed the switch, a dual switch, upside down) but did not know the heater switch was bad. I now know why the person, a neighbor, got sparks. Two circuits in the same box and did not disable both before working. I don’t even know if code allows that anymore. This house is old and does not even have grounded wiring and still uses fuses. MIL needs to have all the wiring redone but she is procrastinating on getting it done. There are many problems with the house that have accumulated over the years.
Wedding is Saturday and I am taking the pictures. Wife is doing some decoration so we will be involved most of the day. Wedding has a full schedule all day Saturday what with preparations. Downside it is an outdoor wedding and there is a 70% or better chance of rain all day. The entire idea of an outdoor wedding was the sunset and backdrop. Maybe I can talk them into a “trash the dress” event where the pictures are just in the rain.
Good luck with that whole wedding deal, Mr. Ray; you must have the patience of Job; hats off!
Btw… Don’t want to bash anybody, but if you look closer at
some of Cre3more’s stuff, he doesn’t walk the walk. That
retreat he had for sale was just a trailer in a trailer park…
What ? I looked at the place on the tubes. It was 2 or 3 acres in the woods outside some little town.
you must have the patience of Job
No, I don’t. But I have done enough weddings to know how to get people moving and most importantly to control the people during the photographs. Wife helps a lot with some of those issues. I have had outdoor weddings get smacked by the rain. In one case it went on as planned with the wedding party using umbrellas, the guests on their own. Decorations were a mess. Afterwards I got the wedding party to shun the umbrellas completely. Everyone was a soaked mess (it was summer) and actually the pictures were kind of unique.
Don’t know how well this is going to go. The bride had planned some outdoor activities for the guests while pictures are being taken. That may be out the window. Sunset wedding pictures which the bride wanted will be not be an option.
Another challenge is that I have not seen the venue. Don’t know what is available when it is raining. Such is the life of a relative and getting sucked into the process. Wife is doing a lot of the decorations and will be pissed off at me for just existing. I try to make myself scarce during those times.