Notes for Tuesday – October 20, 2015

October 20th is the birthday of actor Viggo Mortensen (born 1958.) He lives somewhere in the American Redoubt. On his ranch is his horse-for-life– “TJ”– who is one of the five paint horses used in the filming of the movie Hidalgo.

This is also the birthday of “fast and fancy” shootist Ed McGivern (born 1874, died December 12, 1957). He was born in Nebraska but was a long-time resident of Butte, Montana.

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Today, we present another entry for Round 61 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Tactical Self-Contained 2-Series Solar Power Generator system from Always Empowered. This compact starter power system is packaged in a wheeled O.D. green EMP-shielded Pelican hard case (a $1,700 value),
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate that is good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chromlined barrel and a hard case to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR type rifle to have quick change barrel, which can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools and a compact carry capability in a hard case or 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Gun Mag Warehouse is providing 20 Magpul pmags 30-rd Magazines (a value of $300) and a Gun Mag Warehouse T-Shirt; (an equivalent prize will be awarded for residents in states with magazine restrictions),
  6. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  7. The Ark Institute is donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package (enough for two families of four) plus seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book “Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times”, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate (a $325 retail value),
  8. A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
  9. KellyKettleUSA.com is donating both an AquaBrick water filtration kit and a Stainless Medium Scout Kelly Kettle Complete Kit with a combined retail value of $304, and
  10. Two cases of meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Second Prize:

  1. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  2. A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100-foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
  3. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  4. A Model 120 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $340 value),
  5. A $300 gift certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
  6. A Trekker IV™ Four-Person Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $250 value),
  7. Twenty-five books, of the winners choice, of any books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
  8. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
  9. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site, and
  10. Safecastle is providing a package of 10 Lifestraws (a $200 value)

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A $245 gift certificate from custom knifemaker Jon Kelly Designs, of Eureka, Montana,
  3. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  4. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  6. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
  7. APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit,
  8. Montie Gear is donating a Precision Rest (a $249 value), and
  9. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).

Round 61 ends on November 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Solar Power Crash Course, by K.K.

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First, this article is for entertainment purposes only. I have used all this equipment in the ways I describe, but I am not a licensed electrician. I am professionally trained in off-grid solar electric systems and have installed, consulted on, or maintained hundreds of systems, the most remote of which were in the jungles of Papua New Guinea. I do not advise setting up your own PV system without consulting an experienced and knowledgeable source.

After perusing the survivalblog archives for new ideas and methods in off-grid solar, and finding very little at all in the way of solar power explanations, I decided to add a little to the survivalist community by writing my own article. I figured “it cant be that hard… after all, I have written 1000’s of emails explaining these principles to individual clients.” But what I found is that it IS very difficult to summarize all aspects of solar power in one article, especially with an audience whose background and experience is as varied as this one. I am sorely disappointed in the outcome, but I do hope this article helps enlighten some of you to the possibility of off-grid solar, and saves others of you some costly mistakes. So forgive me for not being able to explain all the details, as that would be a book.

I do want to mention this article from survival blog as I agree with and have tried not to restate most of what was said.

Setup

For the sake of simplicity, I will use a specific set of equipment in the scenario described below. Obviously there are hundreds of different panels and charge controllers that can be used, but they are not all compatible with this example. In this example (and what I am currently using), we will use four UNI-SOLAR PVL-136 panels and one Midnite Kid charge controller.

Imagine you have arrived at your bugout or bugin location and have your KID charge controller connected to a 250 Amp Hour battery. You have rolled your flexible panels out on a south facing roof or lawn (provided you are in the northern hemisphere.) Now you will connect the panels. Connect the positive wire from panel 1 to the negative wire of panel 2. You now have one 48v string. Do the same to the other panels for a total of two pairs or “strings”. Connect the negative wires of each string together, along with up to a 30’ length of UV inhibited #10 wire. Do the same for the positive wires of each string. Bring two the #10 wires down to the PV positive and negative inputs on your KID charge controller and connect them (don’t reverse polarity). You’re done! You now have up to 30 amps of power charging your 12v battery.

Using Your System

With this system, you can expect to be able to run about 1.6 kwh. This is equivalent to a small DC freezer, a 12vdc pump for 1 hr, a laptop for 3 hours, a Ham radio for a half hour, and several 12v LED lights for several hours per night. Or you can just run a single super-efficient AC Upright fridge/Freezer (not recommended)!

If you were to upgrade to 6 of these panels, an Outback FM80, and a 500 AH battery bank, you would have the ability to a large (8 CuFt) DC Fridge and a small DC Freezer, 5 hours on a laptop, 2 hrs from a12vdc water pump, a couple hours on the Ham radio, a couple hours of TV/DVD, and several LED lights for several hours per night. This is about 2.9 kwh.

However, you would need larger wires and fuses. The complexity rises some, though it’s far from prohibitive.

All this is obviously dependent on the amount of sun you get, which varies greatly based on your location and time of year. For the above example I used an average of 4.5 hrs of usable sunlight per day. You can find daylight information specific to your location by going here. During the months of November, December, and January when you may only average closer to 3 hours of sunlight per day, you can get by with disconnecting the freezer at night

The Details

PV Panels and why UNI-SOLAR?

The Uni-Solar are lightweight, easy to transport, and much more resistant to breakage. There are lots of other panels out there that will work, but they are heavier, fragile, and hard to transport. Four Uni-Solar panels can be rolled up and stuffed in an oversized duffel. Be careful not to roll them up too tightly as they CAN CRACK! The downside is that Uni-Solar panels are no longer manufactured. They are also amorphous silicon, and therefore take up more space per watt than any other type of panel. There are other Amorphous Silicon Roll-up panels available on the market, but they are generally very expensive.

All panels HATE shade, but the UNI-SOLAR can tolerate it better than most. The output of a monocrystalline or polycrystalline panel will drop by 33% by simply placing a quarter in the middle, while the Uni-Solar will drop by only about 10%.

Charge Controllers and Why the Midnite KID?

PV panels can be directly hooked to a battery… BUT there are LOTS of problems with this. One, without blocking diodes, the batteries will back-feed the panels at night. Two, most panels (30 cell panels are the exception) can quickly overcharge and destroy your batteries. I have connected 24v panels directly to a 12v battery in an emergency, and using a multimeter to constantly monitor the voltage and amperage, was able to charge the battery without a problem. A charge controller does this for you.

The Midnite KID is a robust MPPT charge controller that is competitively priced, made in the USA and appropriately sized for small offgrid applications. If you are using 12v panels with a 12v battery, you can go with cheaper and simpler PWM charge controllers. But the UNI-SOLAR PVL-136 are 24v panels, and I have them hooked up in a 48v string. The KID has so far proven to be a very reliable unit. The KID can be over-paneled with no problems. In other words, you can hook just about as many panels as you want to this little unit (not to exceed 150vdc if wiring in series). But regardless of how many panels you use with a Midnite Kid, it will never output more than 30 amps to the batteries. Six panels (800w) will increase your charging capacity during cloudy weather, and allow you to charge a little more into the afternoons than if using 4 panels (540w). I tried 1480 watts of panels on a KID with a 12v battery bank for 2 months just to test it. The Kid did fine.

Capture

I have also used Steca charge controllers, which seems to do fine, but I find them a bit overpriced. I have used BZ (and other similar Chinese controllers) but they are not reliable enough to recommend. In my opinion, the cream of the crop for an offgrid system is the Outback FM80 or the Midnite Classic, though both will cost you well over $500.

Most MPPT controllers allow you the option to connect to a 12v, 24v, or 48v battery bank. A Midnite Kid on a 12v battery can pass through around 400 watts from the panels to the batteries. When hooked to a 24v battery, it can pass through almost 900 watts. However, I would discourage 24 or 48v battery banks in survival scenarios. If for some reason you need to power a 12vdc device (a likely scenario in a desperate situation), and you tap one of your 12v batteries (that you have hooked in series to make your 24v battery bank), it will become extremely difficult to balance your battery bank and most likely lead to accelerated battery failure. There are ways to power 12v loads from a 24v battery bank, but the simplest answer is just don’t do it.

A word on MPPT. Maximum Power Point Tracking is a more efficient way to transfer energy from the solar panels into your batteries. A MPPT controller constantly monitors the output of the panels and adjust the voltage to facilitate maximum power production. These controllers can take high array voltages (up to 150v in most cases) and convert it down to nominal battery voltages. The “other” kind of controller is PWM, Pulse Width Modulated. They work basically by turning the PV panels on and off until the battery is fully charged. They are typically 20% less efficient and cannot convert voltage down, which necessitates lower array voltages, which leads to higher array currents, which requires much larger wires between the charge controller and the panels.

Wires and Fuses

The Uni-Solar PVL-136 panels come with the older mc3 style connectors (not UL listed). Amazon and Ebay are full of MC3 style connectors. You can find MC3 branch connectors that will combine your pv positive and pv negative wires together. The “right” way to connect PV strings together is with a commercially available combiner box. But these are expensive and not as useful for small offgrid systems. They do incorporate DC breakers for each separate string, which will help to protect your wires and other components. A third option that I have personally used on some of my own smaller systems (shhh, don’t tell anyone) is to make my own “combiner.” I take a 4” section of PVC and drill a hole at both ends. I use 1/4×20 Stainless bolts through the hole and throw a nut on. I now have 2 studs to use to combine all my negatives and all my positive pv wires, as well as the main #10 cables going down to my charge controller. I simply cut the MC3 connectors off the string ends and solder on a suitable ring terminal. This may not be considered a safe practice by some, but it small, lightweight, and works in a pinch. If you use oxide inhibiting grease, the connection will last for several years. If you don’t use a UL listed combiner box, I highly suggest you install a DC breaker (or fuse) between the charge controller and the PV panels. In our example above, we have two strings of panels each capable of producing a short circuit max of 5 amps. A 10 amp DC breaker would be the smallest you could use, while a 30 amp would be the largest (#10 wire can safely handle up to 30amps). Also worth noting: anything over 60vdc can be an electrocution hazard and it is worth taking precautions.

You must install a breaker or fuse on the output of the Charge controller. You will use 10 gauge wire to connect to your battery (keep it under 6ft), and either a 30 amp (continuous duty) DC breaker or 30 amp DC fuse. If you wish to increase your charging ability, you can install a second KID for a max output of 60 amps.

Batteries

I am assuming that you will be using standard Lead-Acid, AGM, or GEL batteries. There are more technologies out there, such as Nickel Iron and LFP, but they require more specific charging parameters. Most car batteries are Lead Acid batteries with liquid electrolyte. They WILL WORK on a solar electric system during an emergency but they are far from ideal. Deep Cycle batteries, such as marine and golf cart batteries, will work better and are still rather easy to come by. AGM and GEL batteries are the ideal choices for offgrid systems, but are more expensive and harder to find in a shtf scenario. All batteries can be permanently damaged without proper care. In my experience, discharging too far is the #1 cause of premature battery failure. High heat and low electrolyte levels are top battery killers as well. I always like to keep my batteries (AGM) over 65% full and ensure they get a full charge at least once a week. Discharging more than 50% can cause premature battery failure. Failing to fully charge at least once per week can cause premature failure. Most lead acid batteries are around 50% charged when they read 12.2 while resting. So if I wake up in the morning to a battery at 12.4 volts, I am happy. If I wake to a battery that says 12.2 volts, I know I need to manage my power use better.

Fridge / Freezer

I haven’t seen a lot of preppers planning to use a freezer long term, but I say why not?! I planned the above system around one to show that it is possible. The most costly part of adding a freezer to your system is the unit itself. Don’t skimp on this! Most of the “Cooler Style” dc freezers are too inefficient to bother with. The only brand I can currently recommend is the Steca chest style freezer, model PF166 and PF240. The Steca uses an ultra-efficient, computer controlled Danfoss DC compressor with a well-insulated cabinet and all aluminum coils. I have seen two kinds of failures with these units. Lightning induced surges will cook the ECU on the compressor. This needs to be well protected with whatever type of surge suppression you can dig up (ferrite?). The electronic thermostat in the handle can short out from water getting in the handle. Don’t set things on top of the fridge to defrost. Sundanzer makes a slightly cheaper alternative, but they use steel for their condenser coils, and this tends to rust out after a few years.

If you have sized your system for a fridge, it is possible to actually run a dehumidifier instead. “why would you do this” you ask? Well, after dumping gallons of water down the drain from my basement dehumidifier, I thought this might be an additional source of drinking water (after running through a filter!) I haven’t tested this long term, so I cant offer specifics.

Customizing Your System

This is where it can get tricky, but I can’t count on the above setup working for everyone. Skip this is your eyelids are feeling heavy, but here are some simple tips to keep in mind if you design your own solar electric system.

Keep your system balanced. Your array size, your loads, and your battery capacity should all be balanced with one another. Having a large array is not the problem it used to be, but having too small of an array is a death sentence for your off-grid electric system. Your array needs to be able to supply a charging amperage of at least the c20 rate (this is ABSOLUTE MINIMUM!). C20 is your battery bank Amp Hour capacity divided by 20. So if you have a 250 AH battery bank, you will need an array capable of producing 12.5 amps. Your power consumption can be about 70% of your array production, or about 20% of your battery size. So a 1000w array (assuming 4.5 hrs of avg insolation ) would theoretically produce about 4500 watt hours per day. So you could plan on using about 3100 watt hours per day. But if you have a 12 volt, 250 AH battery (which yields approximately 3000 watt hours), you should only be using about 600 watt hours from the batteries (at night).

Fuse your wires. Just because it is low voltage doesn’t mean it is safe. You will not get shocked (under 48v anyway) but the likelihood of a fire is extreme. You must fuse all your DC wiring with appropriately sized fuses or DC breakers.

Wire Size. When using low voltage, your wire size will increase dramatically. This is due to “voltage drop” caused by higher electrical currents in the wire. On a 120v AC system, a 1200 watt load is drawing about 10 amps (1200w/120v=10a). The same load on a 12v DC system would draw 100 amps (1200w/12v=100a). The more amps you draw, the larger wire you need. Try to keep all your wires sized to provide less than 0.5 volt drop. There are online calculators you can use to figure this out, but to be safe just stick with #10 wires for your 12v loads under 250 watts, #4 for 12v loads under 500 watts, and #00 for larger loads up to 1500 watts. These sizes assume your total wire length between the battery and said load is under 25’

PV array. Don’t mix your panels if you can help it. There are three main types of PV panel: monocrystalline, polycrystalline, and amorphous silicon. They don’t generally play well with each other. If you have to mix and match panels, make sure they are the same type. You will need to know that hooking up different wattage panels in series will reduce the output of each panel down to the output of the smallest panel. If you connect a 50w and a 100w panel together in series, both will output a max of 50w for a total of 100w. If you must, different size panels of the same type are best hooked in parallel, such as two 12v 50w panels in series, connected in parallel to one 24v 80w panel; effectively putting a 24v 50w in parallel with a 24v 80w for a total of 130watts at 24v. Bottom line: do your best to only use 1 type and size of panel.

What is “Series,” “Parallel,” and all this other vdc, vac, kwh stuff?

Series: connecting the positive of battery #1 to the negative of battery #2. You then get double the voltage between the negative of battery #1 and the positive of battery #2. If you have two 12v batteries in series, you get 24v out. The same is true of solar panels. Two panels, each capable of 12volts and 5 amps, when hooked in series, become a 24v array with a 5 amp output.

Parallel: hooking up the positive of battery #1 to the positive of battery #2 and the negative of battery #1 to the negative of battery #2. You get double the amps. So two 12v 100amp hour batteries in parallel give you a 12v 200 amp hour battery. Two 12v panels capable of putting out 5 amps each, when hooked in parallel, becomes a 12v array capable of putting out 10 amps.

DC: Direct current. Electricity flowing in one direction. Batteries and Solar panels provide DC power. Most DC devices are much more efficient than their AC equivalents.

AC: Alternating current. Electricity flowing back and forth at regular intervals. This is what you get when plugging into the grid or a generator.

Voltage: I like to think of it as the pressure behind the electricity. A high voltage power line is like high pressure water.

Amperage (Amp): I like to think of it as the volume of electricty. A high amperage device requires a very large diameter hose. A fire hose is able to move large amounts of water ( high amperage) at a very high pressure (high voltage). A pressure washer propels water at a very high pressure (high voltage) but doesn’t deliver as much volume (low amperage). Dumping over a 55 gallon drum delivers a very large amount of water (high amperage), but at a low pressure (low voltage).

Watt: without getting overly complicated, a watt can simply be said to be a measurement of electricity use. Watts can be calculated by multiplying Amps * Volts. (10 amps *12 volts = 120watts AND 1 amp * 120volts = 120watts). Power Factor can affect this measurement, but that’s beyond the scope of this article.

Watt hour (Wh): the amount of watts used in one hour. 1 kilowatt hour (Kwh) is 1000watts per hour

Amp Hour (Ah): the amount of amps used in an hour. A 100 amphour (Ah) battery can theoretically deliver 100 amps for 1 hour. It’s not a perfect measurement when sizing a battery. A 100 Amp Hour battery might deliver 120 Ah if its taken out slowly at 1 amp per hour for 120 hrs. There are different ratings like c20, c/10, 20hour, 5 hour, etc. Interested readers can look it up at BatteryUniversity.com

Inverter: Converts DC power from batteries to AC power (like 120vac) found in your home outlets. I didn’t include an inverter in the above example, but you certainly could. PSW (pure sine wave) inverters are a must if powering high efficiency AC fridges, Laser printers, and running power in wires over 75’ long. The outback FX1312 or FX2012 is my choice as it can run ANY 120v AC load, which includes table saws with over 10,000watt startup surge (yes, I have tried this…over and over and over…). But those are transformer based inverters, very reliable but very HEAVY (60lbs)! If you need portability, Samlex makes a decent PSW inverter for a good price. I keep one of these in a duffle with 3 unisolars and a Midnite Kid, with a weight of about 8o lbs. The even cheaper option is the MSW (modified Sine wave inverter). Some people swear by these, but I have had lots of problems. They ARE NOT reliable when used daily… I get about 1 year out of them. They don’t reliably run small motors and water pumps and solenoids. They don’t handle high startup surges. They are GREAT for Laptop charging (the switching power supplies love these things for some reason.)

That’s all folks. I wish I could help each of you individually design the perfect system, but that’s just not possible… May God bless you as go out into the Darkness and shine as Lights.

Letter Re: Rawles Voyager Knife

Mr. Rawles,

I thought I would write a quick thank you to all of you over at SurvivalBlog.com. After reading the reviews and letters concerning the knife, I decided to purchase it. So I went over to the coldsteel.com website and had it in my basket ready to check out and pay for it, but a little nagging thought wouldn’t leave. “I didn’t see if there was another reputable place I could get it.” So, I went back to the review and noticed a link to LTSpecPro, so I clicked and low and behold the knife was $30 less. I was pleasantly surprised. The knife arrived today and boy was I impressed!! First is the size; I didn’t expect it to be quite so big in my hands. Next was the fit and finish, and lastly was how incredibly accurate Pat Cascio’s review was/is. My last thoughts on this is maybe to stress how sharp it is. I was holding it in my right hand, hit the unlock lever with my thumb and the blade swung down. Well, it swung a little farther than I was expecting, and now I have a nice little slice on the top of my ring finger. It’s not bad or anything, but from such little pressure how it could cut. Amazing. If I had the money, I would want to buy another one to either use or to put away in the box in a safe place.

I wish you all the best to you and yours! – Andrew from SW WA (yeah yeah, I know; I’m trying to get back to my birthplace– ID)

News From The American Redoubt:

Hundreds gather to remember the life of Dr. Pam Bird (Wife of the late Dr. Forrest Bird.)

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SurvivalBlog reader C.T. sent in the link to this Video (The Blaze) showing that there are political plans to increase the Muslim population in Idaho. It’s a bit dated, but the residents need to stay alert about these political moves.

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Grizzly cub struck and killed by vehicle south of Ronan (Ronan, Montana)

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Don’t let developer rob us of our beautiful property (Wyoming)

Economics and Investing:

SurvivalBlog reader sent in this link: L. TODD WOOD: The day China says its currency is backed by gold (Washingtion Times)

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Meanwhile, China’s Selling Tons of U.S. Debt. Americans Couldn’t Care Less. (Bloomberg) Sent in by G.P.)

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Items from the Economics Team:

US banks build defenses against downturn (Financial Times – Requires login)

Obamacare’s Latest Casualty: Largest Colorado Exchange Abruptly Collapses (Zero Hedge)

Public Remains Wary of Federal Government’s Power (Gallup)

Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalBlog reader Dan sent in this article: Refugees Over Run Germany, From an Expat’s Prospective (Prepardnessadvice.com)

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Even Sweden is close to collapse, due to the wave of migrants that just keep coming, according to this article sent in by J.C.

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SurvivalBlog reader P.M. sent in the link to this article on R.T. explaining how America is a bomb waiting to explode.

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Lucky Gunner has posted an article comparing more than 115 handgun loads tested in Ballistic Gel. It’s the test you always wanted to do but didn’t have the funds for. Ballistic Gel isn’t the total answer when you are shooting, but it’s a great resource. Look your favorite round up. (Scroll to the bottom if you are pressed for time.)

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R.B.S. sent in an article showing that Saudi Security Forces have arrested and expelled over 174,000 people in one month. It makes you wonder why we can’t even seem to start the process.

Notes for Monday – October 19, 2015

19 October is the birthday of three notables– the late Alexander Zeisal “Zus” Bielski (born 1912), investor Jim Rogers (born 1942), and James Howard Kunstler (born 1948). Kunstler is well known to SurvivalBlog readers as the author of the novel World Made by Hand and the nonfiction book The Long Emergency. A fictionalized portrayal of Zus Bielski is seen in the movie Defiance. This movie was loosely based on the excellent book Defiance: The Bielski Partisans by Nechama Tec.

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October 19th also marks the anniversary of Operation Gatling; the “Green Leader” raid in which Rhodesia attacked ZIPRA (Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army) in retaliation for ZIPRA shooting down a scheduled passenger flight, Rhodesia flight 825, during the Rhodesian Bush War. Rhodesia suffered only minor casualties, but claimed to have killed 1500 ZIPRA personnel as well as some Cuban instructors. Other sources claim that those killed were refugees camped near the ZIPRA border. Sadly, history does not seem to remember the two airliners shot down by Zimbabwe along with the innocent civilians killed on them, but emphasizes the retributory Rhodesian strikes.

Pat Cascio’s Product Review: Tristar L120 9mm CZ-75 (clone-esque)

For many years, I longed for an original CZ-75, but alas there weren’t very many in the USA back in the 1970s, and the few that could be found were high priced, to say the least. Then, we had the sorta clones, imported from Italy, including Tanfoglio and FIE. It was a hit or miss proposition whether you got one that worked, and they were a decocker model. I wanted a CZ-75 (clone-ish) that I could carry “cocked ‘n locked”. Then along came an almost dead-ringer for the CZ-75, imported from Switzerland, if I recall correctly! I don’t recall the exact price I paid, when I lived back in Colorado Springs, CO, but the gun was purchased at Long’s Drugs. I’m thinking I paid close to $500 for it. I loved it, until I shot it. No matter what I did, it wouldn’t function 100% with any ammo. It didn’t make any sense. The handgun was flawless in manufacture, but the thing wouldn’t function all of the time, no matter what I did to it.

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The Swiss CZ-75 clone was Swiss perfection. The grips were beautiful wood, and the finish was high-polished. It just looked like a high quality CZ-75 clone, and it was the only one I’ve ever seen. I never saw another one of these models, ever! I just wish I could have made it run, but run it wouldn’t! I’m a fair hand at gunsmithing, and no matter what I tried my prize wouldn’t run 100% for me. Since that time, I’ve owned quite a few CZ-75 clones and near clones; most worked, too. I didn’t care for the Tanfoglio models with the decocking lever. I wanted one so I could carry the gun cocked ‘n locked, like the original CZ-75.

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These days, there are quite a few different importers of CZ-75 clones, near clones, and clone-esqe handguns. I recently wheeled and dealed with my local gun shop for a brand new Tristar CZ-75 clone, made in Turkey (Canik 55). The “wheeling ‘n dealing” went on for two full days. There wasn’t anything “wrong” with the asking price at my local gun shop; as a matter of fact, they beat all other gun shops in most of Oregon on prices of most of their guns. The “problem” stems from the fact that they taught me to read the codes on the back of the price tags, so I know how much they have invested in their guns. (LOL!) In the end, I walked out of the gun shop with the Tristar L120 for $305 out the door. It was a steal of a deal, if you ask me.

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These days, I’m extremely impressed with the firearms coming out of Turkey, and that’s where the Tristar L120 is manufactured. The workmanship is second to none on their guns, and they make a lot of shotguns, too. The L120 is a dead ringer in all respects to the original CZ-75, and as a matter of fact it is much better made and a lot less money than the original . The model I picked up is the full-sized chrome-plated model with brushed chrome. It looks like a satin finish stainless steel. The chrome plating was flawless, too. Then add in the hard-checkered black rubber grips, and the gun is a real eye catcher, if you ask me.

The L120 comes with two 17-rd magazines, manufactured by Mec-Gar in Italy. These are some of the best mags to be had at any price. The original CZ-75 comes with a 15-rd mag. I like the Mec-Gar mags a lot, and they are every easy to load, too. Spares can be found just about any place; however, I picked up a few more spares from Midway USA for $24.99 each on sale! The average weight listed for the L120 is 1.75 lbs, but the gun actually weighs a bit more. The barrel is 4.7 inches long, and the gun is, of course, a 9mm , just like the original CZ-75.

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The front of the trigger guard is recurved. I can live without it, as the original is rounded. However, I don’t place my index finger of my off-hand around the front of the trigger guard anyway, so this feature is not important to me. The action is double-action/single-action. After you chamber a round, you can either apply the safety on the left side of the pistol and carry the gun cocked ‘n locked, or you can very carefully lower the hammer (don’t let it slip) and then carry the gun ready for first-shot double-action. The trigger pull is long for that first shot in the double-action mode, but it’s extremely smooth. I prefer to carry this gun cocked ‘n locked. Simply snip the safety down, and you’re ready for a super-nice single-action trigger pull.

The top of the slide has serrations front to rear, which is nice for cutting down on any glare in daylight. The front strap is also serrated, while the back strap is smooth. The safety is easy to snick off, but you have to shift the gun a bit to apply the safety. This is a big, full-sized handgun, and those with smaller hands probably won’t really like it. The double-action trigger pull is long, and your trigger finger probably won’t engage the trigger properly. Front and rear sights are outstanding and easy to see; the front has a white dot, and the rear has two white dots on either side of the rear sight opening. They’re fast to pick up. There is also a nice extended tang to protect the web of your shooting hand; this is something the original CZ-75 doesn’t have. BTW, the chrome finish is actually cerakote, which is tough and long-lasting stuff to be sure.

I will readily admit that there wasn’t anything I didn’t like about the Tristar L120 gun I bought. Nothing! I brought the L120 home, gave it a good cleaning, and lubed it up with Italian Gun Grease tactical lube– my favorite firearm’s lube, period!

I had a great assortment of 9mm on hand for testing, too. From Black Hills Ammunition, 115-gr JHP +P, 124-gr JHP +P, 115-gr Barnes all-copper hollow point, TAC-XP +P and their 115-gr FMJ ammo. From Buffalo Bore Ammunition, I had their 124-gr FMJ FN Penetrator +P+ round – hot! Barnes 115-gr all-copper hollow point TAC-XP +P+ load, 147-gr Hard Cast Outdoorsman load, and their 147-gr JHP +P+ load. This was a great assortment to run through my new toy.

I fired several hundred rounds of the above ammo, mixing various bullet weights, bullet designs, and different manufactures’ ammo through the L120. I had not a single problem. None. The gun perked along perfectly with the standard 115-gr FMJ ammo, up to the +P+ loads. It never gave a hint that it didn’t like any of the ammo. It was outstanding.

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For my accuracy testing, I rested a sleeping bag over the hood of my pickup and placed the target at 25-yards. No loads exceeded 4″ inches and most loads were in the 3″ range. The top winner was the Buffalo Bore Penetrator 124-gr FMJ-FN +P+ load. That surprised me. Most of the time, the hotter +P and +P+ loads don’t produce the best accuracy out of most handguns. Second place went to the Black Hills 124-gr JHP +P load. This is one of my favorite carry loads, to be sure.

As an aside, I believe one thing that makes the CZ style handguns so accurate is that the slide rails fit inside of the frame rails, instead of on the outside of the frame rails; there is no space between the slide and the frame on CZ-75 handguns. I’ve owned (own) handguns that cost two or three times as much as this Tristar L120 does, and some aren’t as accurate as the Tristar. What’s not to like here?

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The only problem with many new gun models, not that this is a new model handgun per se, is finding a good holster for it. I used a generic ballistic Nylon-type pancake holster from Blackhawk Products . The gun fit nicely and rode high and tight to my side.

Checking 100_6198href=”http://www.gungroker.com”>www.gungroker.com today, I found the Tristar L120 with prices from $329 up past $400, so I know I got a great deal on my sample when I walked out of the gun shop with it for only $305 plus two mags rather than just one, and a hard case, and a cleaning rod, and mag loader. This is one of those guns that you don’t mind throwing in your e-box in your vehicle and forgetting about it. For the price, you have a great handgun for emergency purposes, and with the Cerakote Chrome finish, it won’t easily rust either. Also, if you’re in the market for a nice bedside handgun for those things that go “bump” in the night, it’s hard to argue with a 9mm handgun that is 100% reliable, accurate, and can feed and fire anything you care to put through the barrel.

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These days, so many firearms pass through my hands for testing and for articles that I’m just to the point where it takes something really special to catch my attention. I’m a hard-worked stiff, and I have to always be careful how I spend my money. If something isn’t a great deal to my wallet, I’ll just pass on it. However, with this Tristar L120 at the price I paid for it and the outstanding performance it gave me, there’s nothing to not like about it. Additionally, they manufacture other firearms, including some compact models of the L120 and shotguns as well. I’m keeping an eye out for the compact C-100 models in 9mm, which would make a great concealed carry piece if you ask me.

– Senior Product Review Editor, Pat Cascio

Recipe of the Week: Morning Muffins, by C.S.

Ingredients:

  • 2 eggs
  • ¾ cup vegetable oil
  • 2 tsp. vanilla
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 tsp. baking soda
  • 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 1 ½ cups shredded carrots (2-3 medium)
  • 1 cup shredded peeled apples
  • ½ cup coconut
  • ½ cup raisins
  • ¾ cup sliced almonds, divided

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Paper or spray 18 regular sized muffin cups.
  3. Prepare the carrots and apple and set aside.
  4. In a large bowl, beat eggs, oil, milk, and vanilla. Add flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; mix until dry ingredients are moistened.
  5. Stir in prepared carrots, apple, coconut, raisins, and ½ cup of almonds.
  6. Fill muffin tins ¾ full, and top with remaining almonds.
  7. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes and remove from pan.

These muffins freeze well.

If you choose to use a jumbo muffin pan, like I do, you’ll have about 10 muffins and the bake time is closer to 25 minutes.

These muffins taste something like a carrot cake, just better.

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Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlogreaders? Please send it via e-mail. Thanks!

Letter: A Few Random Thoughts

Hugh,

Here are some random thoughts on more outdoor work than usual when water is precious: Stock talcum powder, no-rinse washes, Lubriderm (or generic) hand lotion, lip balm.

More on non-power tools: Get lots of can openers, because they all fail, older U.S.-made ones from yard sales will last longer; stock U.S.-made GI versions as backup because they always work. Egg beaters and hand drills with an idler gear on the back side are more durable, not just from the support but because they are better quality to begin with. Antique shops are high $ place to shop for hand tools; instead, estate sales are best because the next generation often has no clue about grandpa’s “junk”. I found a quality hand drill missing the back cap (where drills were stored) tossed on a workbench with junk without a price. I bought it for 25 cents on offer and pressed a PVC cap on it. Yankee screwdrivers can still be bought new and are worth their weight in gold, if you have to build or repair something with that large stock of drywall screws you wisely stocked. Without a power driver, you will quickly figure out why grandpa drilled a pilot hole. As with all preps, start using non-power tools so you’re familiar with the operation of these tools. – Susan

Economics and Investing:

This Is How Bad It Is: “The World Must Create 5 Million Jobs a Month Just to Prevent the Situation from Getting Worse” (SHTF Plan) Sent in by B.B.

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Items from The Economics Team:

Signal of Global Trade Collapse Coming From India (Zero Hedge)

The Scoop on When You Can Expect Your Stuff to Break (Frugal Living)

Glencore Watch: Glencore Plans More Debt Cuts (Wall Street Journal)

Bank Securities Analysts Cheating on Tests? It can’t be! (Bloomberg)

Rich Nations Lose Emerging Markets Motor (Wall Street Journal) This is an interesting article (and short read) which should give us all a moment of pause as we consider what will happen both as a consequence of global interconnectedness to people here when EM economies can no longer purchase our comparatively expensive goods, and how the people of EM economies will view us when the U.S. abandons them to preserve the illusion of its own relative affluence.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Mike Williamson, SurvivalBlog’s Editor At Large sent in this report on a comparison and analysis of 5.56mm and 7.62mm with several intermediate caliber cartridges and their effectiveness stating “This supports my previously stated hypothesis and prediction that intermediate calibers would do away with 7.62mm, possibly before replacing 5.56mm.

“Though I would be leery of the commentary from Program Executive Office Soldier and their love for ‘universal’ solutions to distinct environments, given that their previous effort along those lines was the “universal” camouflage now being dumped as a complete failure.”

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As the flood of Middle Eastern Refugees continues to overwhelm Europe, there is now a new problem that has to be dealt with. Europe’s Muslim Migrants Bring Sex Pathologies in Tow

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You knew it was just a matter of time before TPTB would want access to the DNA data collected by genealogy sites: Cops Want Customer Dna From Genealogy Sites… Sent in by SurvivalBlog reader G.P.

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SurvivalBlog reader, Steve C, sent in this article showing that Ebola can be sexually transmitted by survivors 180+ days later. (New England Journal of Medicine)

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Reader G.G. wrote in to let us know that practically every USGS Topo Map ever made can be downloaded for free.

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“How can we account for our present situation unless we believe that men HIGH in our government are concentrating to deliver us to disaster?” – Senator Joseph McCarthy