Friday, February 07, 2003 Washington today increased the threat level in response to intelligence that terrorists may be planning to target the U.S. over a Muslim holiday that starts Saturday. According to the Associated Press: Ashcroft also said that terrorists ""might also seek economic targets, such as transportation and energy sectors, as well as symbolic targets and symbols of American power." So you aren't really safe anywhere. But then, you never were. Safety is but an illusion interrupted by a few moments in which reality suddenly sinks in. Maybe it's a terrorist with a dirty bomb, but a stray bullet from a police shootout with bank robbers or a local crack dealer could kill you just as easily. A disgruntled employee or an angry spouse could come and shoot up your work place. A pack of wild dogs could attack you in the park. A burglar could kill you when you walk to your car or come in the front door. Your kids could get kidnapped in the mall or you could get struck by a careening car while running an errand. There's plenty that could go wrong almost anywhere. That's why you have to be prepared at all times for as many possibilities as you can reasonably be. Make safety, security and preparedness part of your every day life, and pretty soon it becomes part of your lifestyle without a conscious thought. Stick with us at Captain Dave's and we'll try to help increase your preparedness level and awareness.
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( 10:42 PM )
Terrorist Threat Level IncreasesThe intelligence indicates that al-Qaida operatives might attempt to attack "soft" or lightly guarded targets such as apartment buildings and hotels and that such attacks could involve chemical, biological or radiological devices. Officials have been particularly concerned about the use of a so-called "dirty bomb" that could spew radiation over a relatively confined area, but there was also the possibility of conventional explosives or even assassinations.
Thursday, February 06, 2003
( 11:50 PM )
Powell Convinces Anyone Who Was on the Fence
If Powel's UN speech wasn't enough to convince you there's something rotten in Baghdad, then you've got your head in the sand.
Captain Dave's prediction: France will come around and support us. Germany will not. Turkey will allow us to place troops there. A UN resolution will pass with a couple of abstensions. One way or another, Saddam will fall. #
( 11:39 PM )
A Dangerous World
When I checked the news online this yesterday afternoon, the three lead stories on Yahoo were: Powell Tells UN Not to Shrink From Disarming Iraq, North Korea Ups Stakes in Crisis as Reactor Restarted, and FBI Says Al Qaeda Still a Viable Threat to the U.S.
I think it's time to increase my Survival Quotient.
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( 11:01 PM )
Environmentalists Destroy Military's Readiness
Just as tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers are heading the Gulf for a war to prevent Saddam from using weapons of mass destruction against civilians, environmentalists and laws they inspired are destroying the U.S. military's readiness.
Take one example: Camp Pendelton, a 200-square mile military training ground in near San Diego. In WWII, marines used the beaches there to practice their Iwo Jima landing. But they can't use the same beaches to day to drive amphibious vehicles, hummers or even dig a foxhole because of environmental laws that protect the areas endangered species.
Now it strikes me as pretty silly trying to protect wildlife from incoming bombs and bullets, not to mention tire and tank treads. I mean, the whole reason we're practicing is to keep the America Marine from being endangered when he makes his next amphibious landing. But violating this law in the name of training your squad could ruin a Marine officer's career and result in criminal penalties.
But what's worse in my book is that the species are endangered not because of what the military does, but due to overbuilding in southern California. Each time a development goes up, wildlife is forced out of its natural habitat. So instead of nesting areas for cranes and terns, we have beachfront houses. And what remaining wildlife is not crowded out simply moves down the coast until it finds 15 or 20 miles of undeveloped land. -- Camp Pendelton. But do environmentalists blame the developers or the people who live in tract housing? No! Instead they want the Marines to stop using land as it has used since before World War II.
This is one of my chief complaints about liberals: They want what they want, but they don't want you to have or do the same thing. They are elitist, worried about the poor and downtrodden while stepping all over everyone else.
This is not limited to the Marines, virtually every base where the U.S. military conducts training has its own environmental restrictions. But even worse, the same thing is taking place in your area on a smaller scale.
Somewhere in the 1950s or 60s, a few guys from the mill got together, raised a few thousand dollars and bought 600 or 100 acres of wooded land out in the middle of nowhere. With personal tools and borrowed or rented heavy equipment, they created a 200-yard rifle range, built a skeet and trap field and laid out a 25-yard pistol range. All the ranges were safe, with the bullets going into a hill or similar embankment. Almost overnight, a gun club was formed, and as membership grew, they built a clubhouse. Over the years, they met there on weekend and Wednesday night for rounds of trap, sighted in their deer rifles and held bachelor parties as they each got married. Later, their growing families picnicked there, held game feasts and every child learned the basics of marksmanship and firearm safety. Years past and weddings and wakes were held there.
But as urban sprawl pushed the boundaries of the city deeper into what was once the country, housing tracts encroached upon the gun club. At first, it was just small families in single housing, where the club officers could offer them a free membership and welcome them to the fraternity. But as more time passed, the roar of heavy equipment could be heard over the pop of firearms as developers destroyed hundreds of acres of surrounding forest and farmland to build developments of identical looking homes. And when smiling real estate agents sold these crisp new homes with their two-car garages to suburban families, no one ever mentioned the gun club. Moving day as great, until at 7 p.m. when the skeet shoot over the hill started. And while none the shot was headed the opposite direction of the development, it didn't matter to the new homeowners who suddenly worried that their property values were decreasing or, God forbid, their little Timmy might want to play with guns. So despite the fact that the firing range had been there 40 or 50 years, they complained to their county commissioners. They called the police every time they heard what might be fully automatic gunfire, believing that machineguns were illegal. They talked to the zoning board and called their representatives.
But while this as an inconvenience to the gun club, and expensive, they agreed to make some changes in their rules and allow no shooting until at 10 a.m. and stop at dusk. The zoning board couldn't do anything and the Police learned that not only were those guys with full-auto guns legal owners, the local sheriff had signed their Class III paperwork. But then one of the liberal homeowners had an idea, and called the EPA. After all, there were 40 or 50 years worth of lead in those hills where the bullets hit and in the field where the shot drifted down. Surely, it was polluting the water that ran off and putting nearby wildlife and even children who drank form wells at risk. Never mind that the community had city water, it was still a possible danger.
This story is being repeated all over the country. When local laws are not enough to stop something a liberal disagrees with, they find a way around it, using environmental laws in ways they were not intentionally designed to work. When gun control isn't working, they bring in safety laws, the consumer protection agency and environmentalists.
Since World War I, the army has realized that its best marksmen didn't learn in boot camp, they were good shots before they joined. The government formed programs like the DVM and the new CMP to ensure there were good riflemen that the country could call on in times of war. And in WWII, they responded, going off to war in the name of freedom or training the soldiers. Today, we face an attack not only on our right to own guns, but also on our right to have a place to shoot them. If they can restrict the activities of the Marines today, how long will it be before they restrict every gun club in the country, using environmental laws and penalties to close them down?
Act now while you still can. Write or call your senator and congressman and tell him you vote and you support the individual right to own firearms. Tell him to regulate power plants and chemical plants if they have to, but leave the small framer, the gun owner and the U.S. Marines out of it! #
Tuesday, February 04, 2003
( 11:28 PM )
Surrendurring Before the First Shot is Fired
This must be the official "Spam the World Day" only no one told me. On one e-mail, I received 57 messages, probably 50 junk, and on another, I received 71. That doesn't even count the junk mail account that I set up, which received 115. Since that account is a list of no-longer current e-mails ending in "@survival-center.com" it often gets two, three or even four of every message. I mean, how many lower mortgages do I need?
This past weekend, I sent out some 5000 copies of my newsletter. Every person on the list had filled out the online form on our home page at one time over the past six or so years specifically requesting it. About one third of the addresses were bad. I received 18 e-mails asking to be removed or to unsubscribe. Four people wrote thank you notes and one wrote to compliment me on the recent site upgrades. One fellow wrote complaining that I was just trying to take advantage of him buy selling a gas mask that would not protect him "the kind of gas likely to be loosed on our cities." Well, I'm not sure where he received his information, but clearly this is someone who has given up and decided that whenever "it" happens or "they" attack, it will be so bad, he'll just lie down and die. He's surrendered before the first shot has been fired.
Not me, brother, I'm waiting until I see the whites of their eyes and then I'm shooting back. And if they blow up a tanker of chlorine at the local waterworks or rail yard, I want to have a gas mask ready. And if there's a nuclear threat, I'm going to take my potassium iodate and put as much concrete and dirt between me and the fallout as possible. I had a smallpox vaccine years ago, and if they offered me another one tomorrow, I'd take it. And if we have another Anthrax scare, I want to be sure I have some Cipro in my medicine pack. In the last gulf war, every soldier had both a gas mask and 10 pills of Cipro, and I bet they do his year, too.
I wish they had more people like this complainer over in Iraq instead of Germany, where they must figure hand wringing will somehow keep them safe from terrorist attacks. These are the great socialists who had terrorist cells operating freely in their midst and didn't notice until it was too late. Who have to pay more than $4 per gallon of gas and where an average person is taxed at a rate in excess of 50 percent, just to pay for their bloated social programs. Well, Mein Herren and Damen, America Works and pretty soon, you'll see that America Fights, too.
I guess this was more a ramble than a rant, but I think you get my point.
Sunday, February 02, 2003
( 11:52 PM )
The Question of Caliber
I know we've been focusing on war and politics a great deal this past week, but one thing on my mind has been caliber.
For years, the question of caliber was usually one of pistols and 9mm vs. .45 ACP. This became a moot point with the development of the .40S&W, which gave you the best of both worlds -- high capacity and stopping power. Improved bullet designs also helped, and a fast-moving 115 grain 9mm bullet has a lot going for it, almost as much as a slow moving bullet that's twice as heavy.
But I'm talking about rifle caliber. For years, the .223 or 5.56mm has been the standard rifle caliber, not only of our armed forces but also for survivalists. On my list of survival weapons, it's the rifle of choice for a number of reasons: The AR-15 is common and there are lots of replacement parts and accessories available, ammo is relatively inexpensive and can be found everywhere, from Wal-Mart to the National Guard armory, guns are usually lightweight and low recoiling, and it is the round used by police and the armed forces. So a .223 rifle, preferably an AR-15 or similar, is a good choice for the survivalist, or anyone looking for a rifle that is both fun to shoot and good for self defense.
In comparison, the .308, or 7.62mm, rifle round is heavier, meaning you can't carry as much of it. It's more expensive (although surplus ammo is readily available if you buy 1,000 rounds at a time). It's not as common in police and military arsenals. It's considered a hunting round, so many commercial rounds will be esoteric bullets that cost $1 or so each. It recoils more. Guns made to fire it are heavier and tougher to lug around all day.
But there are two areas the .308 beats the pants off the .223 - stopping power and the ability to engage your target at longer range. And over the past year, I've grown to appreciate these and value them and believe they outweigh the disadvantages.
Stopping power with the 55-grain .223 didn't seem to be a problem in Viet Nam, and more recently the sniper in Montgomery County showed that it remains a deadly round. But the experience of soldiers in Afghanistan and Somalia showed that the .223 is not a good round for putting the bad guys down with one hit. Read Blackhawk Down, and you will see that the bad guys took multiple hits with .223s. Now, whether this is because of the use of penetrating 62 grain bullets that fail to cause as much tissue damage on impact, or because recent antagonists are larger and heavier than the average Southeast Asian opponent, I don't know, but I want a round that puts someone down and keeps 'em there. (Some have attributed the recent lack of stopping power to the shorter barrels of the recent M16s. This should be warning to anyone who is buying one - plan on a minimum of a 20-inch barrel to maximize the effectiveness of this round.)
The .308 has as much or more foot pounds of energy at 300 yards as the .223 has at the muzzle. And is capable of hard-hitting shots at 500 yards with an iron-sighted gun, and up to twice that with a scoped rifle. Now the .223 may be used in long-range rifle competition, but the little bullet barely has the energy of a .22LR at long ranges. And punching holes in paper is one thing, but bodies is another.
One of the advantages of a rifle is the ability to hit your opponent at long range, preferably before he even sees you or knows where you are. So it stands to reason that you want a rifle that extends your safety range to the max. And this is where the .308 comes into its own -- at 300 yards and beyond.
As for heaviness, many survivalists are going to be barricaded in a defensible position if the you-know-what hits the fan. So carrying around a rifle that's three pounds heavier isn't that big a deal. And the .308 also has better penetration of vehicle doors and other cover.
So, Captain Dave has reconsidered his position: Yes, every survivalist should have a military style rifle in .223, but they should also have a battle rifle in 308. For close-in fighting, for intimidation, for facing a group of unarmed or lightly armed marauders or rioters at 150 yards or less, an AR-15 in .223 is an excellent weapon. For lightly statured people, including older children and many women, the .223 is easier to shoot. But when the bad guys are not simply angry or hungry civilians but a well-organized group, then you want a heavy weapon that can engage them and keep them from closing with you. You want a round that can threaten cars, trucks, lightly armored vehicles or even helicopters. You want the cushion that having a gun that can reach out and touch someone half a mile away gives you.
Let's remember that our individual right to own firearms was included in the Bill of Rights as a final check on the powers of the government. Should the day come when the citizens need to grab their guns, as the Minute Men did more than 225 years ago, to act as that final check, we'll want every advantage that we can have, and a .308 is an advantage over a .223. Although this is not the disaster most of us perceived when we opted to focus on preparedness, a corrupt government run amok could be just as significant a threat to our lifestyles as the next hurricane or terrorist attack.
Let's briefly consider your weapons choices: the M14 is the highest evolution of the .308 battle rifle, but there are other good weapons available, including the FAL, the Garand (which is a 30-06, but has the same advantages as the .308), the CETME, the H&K 91 or 93. The FAL can be had for anywhere form $400 to $1,200 while the CETME sporter sells for closer to $300. A surplus Mauser bolt action can probably be found for around $100.
It would not be unrealistic to take $500 to $700 to a gun show and return with a good, legal, semi-auto .308 built on a U.S.-made receiver with imported parts, 1000 rounds or more of ammunition, 5 or 10 magazines, some mag pouches, a couple bandoleers with stripper clips, a cleaning kit, targets, shooting glasses and ear plugs. If this is too much scratch for you, you buy an SKS and all the gear for $300 or so.
Let's remember that the first rule of a gunfight is to bring a gun. So the most important thing is to have a gun, preferably a rifle. And yes, a .223 is better than nothing, much, much better. An SKS is also much better than nothing. Even a surplus bolt action in 8mm or some other less-common caliber is better than nothing. But if you take your survival armory seriously or consider yourself a rifleman, you should give serious thought to adding a .308 battle rifle to your preparedness plan.
Besides, think of the fun you can have at the range practicing! #
( 12:01 AM )
New Coupons for February
Time to wax commercial again… Captain Dave's Pre-Invasion sale continues at the Survival Shop. And for Blog readers, we have added these coupons, good for the month of February.
To use the coupon, enter it in the shopping cart AFTER you have the item in your cart
- Save $50 on the Security Unit or Deluxe Security Unit -- Coupon Code 1044153120
- Save $100 on the Family Unit or Deluxe Family Unit -- Coupon Code: 1038625683
- Buy four gas mask filters for $100 - Coupon Code 1038626164
Remember, your purchases help support the Blog and all the great free information on this web site #
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