Letter Re: Rolled Oats Versus Steel Cut Oats for Storage

Hello Mr. Rawles,
I recently discovered something called ‘steel-cut’ oats which are healthier than rolled oats. Are you familiar with this and how do they differ when it comes to long term storage. I did find a small container in the store that was about 2-1/2 times the cost of regular rolled oats.

I have enjoyed reading your daily tips and the blog. Thank you, – Margo

JWR Replies: The advantages of steel cut oats are marginal. They do have slightly more nutritive value than rolled oats, but certainly not enough to justify their substantially higher price! Rolled oats are typically steamed, rolled, and then re-steamed and finally toasted dry. The steel cut variety are less heavy processed, so they have just a bit more nutritive value. They also supposedly are a bit more flavorful, but I guess my “Fresh Off the Turnip Truck” palate is not very sophisticated, because I can’t taste much difference. Oh yes, I should also mention that when cooked steel cut oats also swell up more than rolled oats.

All in all, I recommend buying rolled oats for storage. If it means the difference between supplying one family versus supplying two families for the same money, then I’m all for quantity! With rolled oats, you typically get more twice as much for your money. And BTW, from what I’ve read, there is no significant difference in shelf life between the two.

Letter Re: Advice on Resources for Canadian SurvivalBlog Readers?

Hello Jim,
I am wondering if there is anyone here in Canada doing the great work that you are doing?

I have just introduced my husband to the idea of getting prepared. I don’t know if I’ve seen one too many movies or if I have a premonition, but I would like to devise a plan sooner rather than later.
I am also looking for a place to escape to, if we (probably) have to get out of our area (which is just on Lake Ontario ). We are thinking that we should go north.

I live less than 30 minutes west of Toronto, in [deleted from OPSEC], which is about an hour from the Niagara Falls border.

Any thoughts or links you would recommend? Thanking you in advance, – Liz G.

JWR Replies: For our readers north of the border, I recommend Survival Bill’s Forums. There, you will find an interesting exchange of information, most of which has a distinctly Canadian slant. (The majority of posters are Canadians.) If you intend to “link up” with like-minded folks in your area, I also recommend the quasi-hidden(unlinked) web page sponsored by SurvivalistBooks.com. They have a surprisingly large number of postings from Canadians there. OBTW, if you use this free service, then please be sure to give SurvivalistBooks.com some patronage!

Letter Re: The Falling Dollar–Sheltering Your Assets in Steel and Alloy Tangibles

Jim,
I really appreciate your web site and your wisdom. I agree with your evaluation of the need or the wisdom in storing magazines. You recommend original factory or military surplus. My question is what would you advise as far as AK mags go? Any thought on the polymer mags would also be appreciated. Thanks, – Andy

JWR Replies: For steel AK magazines, I recommend buying any of the magazines made in the former Soviet Bloc that have a full length standing metal rib on the back. Virtually all of those are quite robust and reliable, regardless of the country of origin. (They were all made to essentially the same specifications, on USSR-supplied tooling.) The only steel AK magazines to avoid are: A.) the Chinese magazines (which can be identified by their lack of a “dorsal rib”), and B.) Aftermarket magazines from companies like USA Magazines and Triple K. Their quality control is pitiful, which generally results in unreliable junk.

For polymer AK magazines, I recommend buying either Finnish Valmet green “waffle” magazines (which can be identified by their molded-in lanyard loops), or Bulgarian waffle magazines. Both are excellent. Polymer magazines are available from KVAR, although I’ve noticed a few genuine bargains from time-to-time on Buddy’s Board.

I should also mention that most of the AK drum magazines on the market are overpriced and many of them have poor feeding reliability. My advice: stick with 20 and 30 round magazines.

Two Letters Re: Influenza Exercise Shows the Potential for Major Infrastructure Disruptions

James:
In deference to Ben, his numbers are a little off.
I have been spending a great deal of time studying everything I can get my hands on about a pandemic flu. (I am the Emergency Preparedness Specialist for my Church) If you go to www.pandemicflu.gov you’ll see that the “experts” expect a morbidity rate (those who will become sick) of 40% of the US population.and a mortality rate that would be about 20%. If you do some quick math:
360 million Americans
144 million Americans sick
28 Million Dead.
One of the reasons that the numbers would not be as inflated as Ben states is that, while H5N1 is killing at a 50% to 70% range, when and if it mutates, the mortality and morbidity rates would be much lower. Any virus that wants to propagate itself needs to keep a higher rate of “Typhoid Mary’s” just to survive. If it kills it’s host too well it wont be a global threat. Think back to other viral scares. Ebola, although tragic to any who come in contact with it, it kills so well and so fast that it doesn’t spread very effectively. Same goes with the SARS scare in the 1990s.
A pandemic flu will be disastrous and possibly the worst thing we have ever experienced. Couple that with an economic downturn, a massive hurricane, earthquake, flood, ice storm, or war, and it may be the kind of “event” that changes the way we look at TEOTWAWKI. Regards, – KM

 

Jim,
The 1918 Flu is normally used to project/predict the effects of Avian Influenza because it is the last major flu epidemic for which we have decent records. Apparently, the current virus also seems to share some characteristics with the 1918. With regards to Ben’s figures on higher mortality: the fact is we don’t know what the mortality rate of adapted Avian Influenza will be. Usually, when a virus makes the jump to easy transmission between humans, it loses some of it’s potency. This isn’t guaranteed, but it seems to be the general trend, and so the models used to predict Avian Influenza generally follow this reasonable assumption. All the predictions being made are based on history, understanding of mutation mechanisms, and the like–but they are still basically guesses, since we won’t really know how the virus will mutate until it does.

I’d suggest doing some Operational Risk Management, balance the potential impact with the reasonable probability, and apply preparation resources accordingly. From my reading on the subject, there is a theoretical “tipping point” in pandemic disease casualties (whether natural or bio-warfare) where society may disintegrate–possibly between 10 and 20 million for the modern US. The projections based on 1918 are below the admittedly “fuzzy” guesstimate of this point, while the worst case (lethality of Avian Influenza remains in the 50% range without affecting its ability to spread) are well above. It’s food for thought. Regards, – PSJ

Odds ‘n Sods:

Thanks to LW for sending this: The $915 Billion bomb in consumers’ wallets

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I just received a review copy of Michael Z. Williamson’s latest science fiction novel “Better to Beg Forgiveness”. I really like his books, so I can’t wait to dig in to this one. I will post a full review once I’ve finished it. The novel is now available from Amazon.com.

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RBS flagged this one: US Mint considering cheaper coins. Our currency has become a pitiful reminder of its past greatness. So go all irredeemable fiat currencies, in time.

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Our friend Chuck mentioned: “Chris Nelder, an editor and frequent contributor at Energy & Capital took extensive notes on each speaker’s presentation at the ASPO conference in Houston. The notes (47-pages) are very useful for those studying the peak oil issues.’

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"It is well that the people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning." – Henry Ford

Note from JWR:

A reminder that tomorrow is the last day of the special “six pack sale” for autographed copies of the latest 33 chapter edition of my novel “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”. The sale price of a box of six books is still just $90, postage paid. (Normally they are $24 per copy, but during this sale you get six autographed copies for $90, mailed in a Priority Mail Flat Rate box, sent to anywhere in the United States, including APO/FPO addresses.) This sale ends on October 31st. This is your chance to buy some extra copies for Christmas presents. Note that because of the recent rush of orders, I am now out of stock. I will continue to honor the special $90 six pack price, but there will be a delay for re-stocking, possible until mid-November, when the remaining six pack orders will be shipped. Orders will be shipped in the sequence that payments are received. Do not order from me unless you are willing to wait until the third week of November for your six pack of books to arrive! (If you are in a hurry, you can order from Fred’s M14 Stocks. They recently bought 1,000 autographed copies for resale.)

Letter Re: Whole Grains Versus Milled Grains for Storage

Jim:
With regards to food storage, I’ve heard a great deal about people buying buckets of wheat to put away. What would be the feasibility of just cutting out the middle-man and stocking up on baking flour, cornmeal, etc.?
If this were possible it would allow one to forego the price of a grinder and put those funds toward even more foodstuffs. I imagine it would keep pretty well if packed with a good vacuum-sealer and socked away in food grade buckets. What am I missing? – L.C.

JWR Replies: As described in my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, once ground, wheat, corn, and other grains begin to lose their nutritive value almost immediately, and their shelf life is shortened drastically. Once the outer kernel (bran) of a grain is penetrated and the inner germ is exposed, the inevitable degradation begins. Here are some rough storage life figures to consider:

Whole corn: 8 to 12 years. Cracked or ground corn: 18 to 36 months

Whole wheat: 20+ years. Flour: 24 to 36 months

If you were to bake all of your own bread each day, and religiously rotate your supplies of flour and corn meal every 18 months, then I suppose that you could get by without owning a grain mill. But if you want to store more than an 18 month supply of grains, or have extra on hand for barter and charity then the only viable alternative is to buy whole grains and a grain mill.

Letter Re: Influenza Exercise Shows the Potential for Major Infrastructure

Jim,
With all due respect (to Chris in Utah and the folks cited by Computerworld), “If a pandemic strikes the U.S., it will kill about 1.7 million people” is a fantasy, because it is based upon the 1918-1919 flu’s death-rate of 2.5%, and also that the United States’ population of the time was around one-third of the present number.

It was said that, in “normal” times, flu killed some 0.25% of those afflicted. In 1918-1919, that figure skyrocketed to 2.5%. Triple the U.S.’s population (in regard to the earlier 20th Century figure), and the post-WW1’s death-rate goes to slightly over 2 million. But, as I indicated earlier, that’s with the 2.5% rate.

In Indonesia and elsewhere, the death rate [for H5N1] is not even close to 2.5%. It is more like 53% to 60%. I made some further calculations (2.5 x 20, for starters, although that is a rather conservative figure), an came up with the following figure[s], that the death rate, in the U.S. alone (675,000 x 3 x 20), will be more along the lines of 40,500,000 (say a round 40 million, just to keep things tidy.)

Anybody who is of the opinion that a mere 1.7 million–approximately 3 times the 1918-19 rate–will be in their shrouds is living in Fantasyland. That-all is based on percentage that catches the flu, not the entirety of the U.S. population. Regards, – Ben

Letter Re: Advice on a Rust-Resistant Method to Store Spare Magazines

Hello Mr. Rawles,
I just read your recent post on investing in full capacity magazines and was motivated to place several large mag orders. I already had at least 150 rifle mags, so I have quite a few mags around. I recently have been trying to get my preparedness storage organized so that items can be stored for long periods without being damaged. As part of this I have been vacuum sealing mags in my Tilia Food Saver with an oxygen absorber thrown in for good measure. These will then be stored in bins in my clean, dry attic. (I live in the Midwest – extreme hot & cold temperatures). Many of my AK mags are polymer, the steel mags I have given a coat of Break Free Collector before sealing. The AR mags are of course either aluminum or the new Magpul polymer mags.

Do you think this is a good idea, or is there a better way? What is your recommendation for long term mag storage? My indoor climate controlled space is at a premium for food and ammo storage, so I would love to be able to keep these in the garage or attic if possible.

By the way, your book “Patriots” was instrumental in my starting my prepping journey, six years ago. Your Brother in Christ – EWG

JWR Replies: Proper magazine storage depends a lot on your climate. If you live in a humid climate and you want to store your spare magazines in a garage or attic, then you should first heavily oil any steel magazines and store them in sealed ammo cans. Be sure to also include a large packet of silica gel desiccant in each storage can. In the less humid western states, just a light coat of oil will generally suffice. My favorite airtight containers for storing bulky but fairly lightweight items such as magazines are USGI 20mm ammo cans, which are available at most gun shows and surplus stores. They are also fairly inexpensive via mail order, but typically by the time you’ve paid for shipping, your cost will double.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Stressed borrowers use plastic to delay default

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Writing in his most recent quarterly newsletter, economist John Mauldin mentioned: “…at the end of the second quarter, household mortgage debt [in the United States] totaled $10.143 trillion, compared with $4.295 trillion in 1999. Thus, in six and a half years the household sector’s mortgage debt increased by $5.8 trillion, or 136%.”

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Chester sent us a link to a hilarious YouTube video on hedge funds, credit derivatives, SIVs, and government bailouts.

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Thanks to Eric S. for sending this article: NYSE Eliminates Trading Curbs Dating Back to 1987. Now wouldn’t it be ironic if…

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"It is almost as if you were frantically constructing another world while the world that you live in dissolves beneath your feet, and that your survival depends on completing this construction at least one second
before the old habitation collapses" – Tennessee Williams (1914-1983)

Notes from JWR:

A reminder that there are just two days left in the special “six pack sale” for autographed copies of the latest 33 chapter edition of my novel “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”. The sale price of a box of six books is still just $90, postage paid. (Normally they are $24 per copy, but during this sale you get six autographed copies for $90, mailed in a Priority Mail Flat Rate box, sent to anywhere in the United States, including APO/FPO addresses.) This sale ends on October 31st. This is your chance to buy some extra copies for Christmas presents. Note that because of the recent rush of orders, I am now out of stock. However, I will continue to honor the special $90 six pack sale price, but there will be a delay for re-stocking until mid-November, when the remaining six pack orders will be shipped. All orders will be shipped in the sequence that payments are received. Do not order from me unless you are willing to wait until the third week of November for your six pack of books to arrive! (If you are in a hurry, you can order from Fred’s M14 Stocks. They recently bought 1,000 autographed copies for resale.)

Today we present another article for Round 13 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best non-fiction article will win a valuable four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificate. (Worth up to $2,000!) Second prize is a copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, generously donated by Jake Stafford of Arbogast Publishing. I will again be sending out a few complimentary copies of my novel “Patriots” as “honorable mention” awards. Round 13 ends on November 30th. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival will have an advantage in the judging.

Building a Scout Rifle on a Budget, by Paul B.

The late Jeff Cooper described a scout rifle as “a general-purpose rifle [that] is a conveniently portable, individually operated firearm, capable of striking a single decisive blow, on a live target of up to 200 kilos in weight, at any distance at which the operator can shoot with the precision necessary to place a shot in a vital area of the target.” Some of the basic requirements are a maximum unloaded weight of 3.5 kg (3 kg optimal), an overall length of 1 meter or less, a Ching sling, a forward mounted scope, a .308Winchester / 7.62mm NATO chamber, and auxiliary iron sights (optional). In my opinion these characteristics lend themselves to a SHTF scenario. The rifle would be light enough to always be carried, yet powerful enough to be used for defense or hunting. Also as a bolt action it would be reliable and accurate. It also would not call as much attention to you as a semi-auto battle rifle.

Nowadays, several manufacturers make scout rifle variants. Some of the most popular are the Steyr Scout, the Savage 10FCM, and the Ruger M77 Frontier rifle. The problem is that these rifles cost in excess of $2000, $675, and $750 respectively. This places them out of the range of many gun buyers. The great news is that there is an alternative. If you have at least some modest gunsmithing skills, then why not build your own?

The first thing to do would be to find a starter rifle. Since you want a cheap rifle, I would suggest trying to buy a used hunting rifle or looking at the surplus market. A good Israeli Mauser (.308) would be a great starting point and there are plenty of aftermarket Mauser parts. If necessary, a 7mm Mauser would also work. Another option is the Enfield Ishapore 2A. This is the option that I chose due to its availability at my local gun shop, its reliable and fast action, its 10 round [detachable] magazine capacity, and its ability to be loaded from 5 round stripper clips. Another bonus for using the Enfield is that a “Shooter’s Special” version is now available from AIM Surplus for $99.95. Since we will be replacing the stock and cutting and re-crowning the barrel, some drawbacks of the ‚ÄúShooter‚Äôs Special‚Äù will not be an issue. Although the procedures below were performed on the Enfield, most could be universally applied.

After you have chosen your rifle, the next step would be to clean it thoroughly and then test fire it. This way you can return it if there is a problem. There is no point investing the time and effort into a faulty rifle.

If you are satisfied with the performance of the rifle, then proceed to the disassembly phase. The Surplus Rifle web site has excellent “walk through” procedures on how to do this. Make note of any damaged parts and order replacements from Gun Parts Corporation (Numrich), or a similar company. I would suggest at least getting another extractor spring, extractor (if available), firing pin, firing pin spring, a new magazine, and a firing pin removal tool. These are not requirements, but having these spare parts would be invaluable if the supply suddenly dried up. The extractor spring is probably the most important since if the rifle was stored with the bolt closed the spring could have lost some of its function causing the extractor not to grip the rim properly resulting in very poor extraction. As far as magazines go, the new manufacture magazine I got from Numrich worked decently, but the new ProMag ones were terrible. Something else to note is that about 80% of the small parts in a Ishapore Enfield 2A are compatible with the Enfield No 1 Mk 3 parts.

After the rifle is disassembled, proceed to remove the barrel mounted rear sight assembly. On my rifle, this assembly was fastened with a screw under the slider bar and a pin on the side through the barrel. It would be a good idea to clean the area around the assembly with acetone (or fingernail polish remover) to remove the enamel paint and gunk. I had to use a torch to heat the assembly enough to knock it loose.

With the sight assembly gone it is time to tackle the barrel. According to Tac Ops,, a .308 20″ barrel will result in complete powder burn, full velocity, and full accuracy, while an 18″ barrel loses slightly in velocity while accuracy remains the same. I decided the 18″ barrel would be worth the trade off. Mark where the cut will be made, secure the barrel in a vise, and proceed carefully with a hacksaw. After the cut is done, stuff a cleaning patch down the barrel (starting from the receiver) to prevent further metal shavings from getting into the barrel and receiver. Use a file to smooth out your cut and get it as close to straight as possible. The better you do here, the easier the next step will be.

To finish the muzzle you will need to crown it. You could take it to a gunsmith, buy the crowning tools from Brownell’s, or use WECSOG skills and a little creativity. I chose to buy the Brownell’s tools and they worked rather well. I had to sand down the .308 pilot a little to get it to fit, but other than that there were no issues. Use plenty of thread cutting oil or similar and go slowly, cleaning the tool often and clearing any metal shavings from the barrel.

Enfields come with a little magazine loop on the trigger guard where a chain used to hold the magazine to the gun. This was from the days when commanders feared their soldiers would misplace their only magazine. I cut this off with a Dremel as it is no longer needed and it looks cleaner without it.

Before you proceed you must refinish the rifle as you see fit. For me, this meant cleaning, sandblasting, degreasing, and finishing with Gun Kote.

After the rifle is refinished, you can attach the scout scope mount. I chose the XS Sight Systems mount due to looks and robustness. To attach this mount, degrease both the barrel and the scope mount, attach the mount with JB Weld, make sure the Weaver rail is aligned with the receiver, and let it dry. After the JB Weld is dry, use Brownell’s Acraglas or similar to fill any voids between the mount and the barrel.

The final step is to fit the stock. I used an ATI Enfield Stock, and it worked pretty well. Some work needed to be done to make room for the scope mount. I used a Dremel tool with a sanding drum tip and checked for fit constantly. At this point you could also glass bed the stock, add a third sling swivel ahead of the trigger guard for a Ching Sling, and clean up excess plastic around the seams. A handy thing about the ATI stock is that the butt is hollow, so you can remove the plastic butt plate and store survival items inside (fishing line and hooks, matches, para cord, etc.). To allow easy access, I bought a Limb Saver slip-on recoil pad and slipped it directly over the open stock.

A scope with intermediate eye relief will be needed once you have a completed rifle. My preferred scope is the Leupold FX-II 2.5 x 28mm IER SCOUT.

A Ching Sling is also a nice option, although a normal sling can certainly be used. The only officially licensed manufacturer of a nylon version of the Ching Sling is The Wilderness.

Now not only do you have a versatile survival rifle for around $300 to $400, but you also have the practical gunsmithing experience from doing the project yourself, which could prove invaluable when the SHTF.

The Falling Dollar–Sheltering Your Assets in Steel and Alloy Tangibles

In a recent e-mail, SurvivalBlog reader Mike the Blacksmith mentioned two articles that confirm what I’ve been saying for several years–that the US Dollar is headed for further significant collapse in foreign exchange: Jim Rogers quits dollar after declaring US recession, and IMF chief warns dollar may suffer ‘abrupt fall’. The latter article is frightening. It is noteworthy that since the first month that SurvivalBlog went live (in August of Aught Five) I have been warning readers to minimize their exposure to dollar-denominated assets. Instead, invest in tangibles, tangibles, tangibles!

Other than silver, and productive rural land that could be used as a survival retreat, my personal favorite tangible investment at present is full capacity magazines. I’m talking about the kind that hold cartridges for firearms–not Architectural Digest magazine. You should buy only magazines that either original military contract, or from original factory makers. (No aftermarket junk!) Not only will these shelter you from further declines in the dollar, but they are also likely to zoom up in price if and when another Federal magazine ban is enacted. (This is very likely if the Democrats win the White House.) During the last Federal ban, which ran for 10 years before thankfully expiring (due to a “sunset clause” in 2004), the price of Glock pistol magazines jumped from $15 each to $75 each. Even relative “commodity” magazines like USGI alloy M16 magazines doubled or tripled in value. Magazines would also, of course, be very desirable barter items WTSHTF. I expect that if and when a new Federal ban is enacted it will have no sunset clause. Thus, it will have the same effect as the civilian transferable machinegun “freeze” enacted in 1986. With no end to that ban in sight, prices have skyrocketed.

Keep in mind that several states and localities have enacted “high capacity ” magazine bans, so research your laws before purchasing. (I prefer to use the more accurate terms “full capacity” versus “restricted capacity.”) OBTW, I am pleased to report that Ohio recently enacted state preemption of local firearms laws, so the bans in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, and Toledo, Ohio are now null and void.

If you have any extra room in your gun vault, then stuff it full of what are commonly called “high cap” (11+ round) magazines. Specifically , after buying a large supply of magazines for your own battery of guns, I recommend buying the following varieties rifle and pistol magazines as an investment: M16, M14, M1 Carbine, FAL, L1A1, Mini-14, HK, Glock, SIG, Browning Hi-Power, Beretta M92, S&W 59/69 series, Ruger P85, ParaOrdnance, Springfield XD, Beta C-MAGs, Steyr, AK family (magazines from former Soviet Bloc countries only, not Chinese) Galil, and Valmet. Buy whatever you can find at reasonable prices. Since there are also semi-auto pistols and carbines out there that take submachinegun magazines (such as Uzi, Thompson, MP5, M3 Greasegun, Ingram M10 and M11/9, Sten, and Sterling), you might also buy a few of those.

To summarize, my guidance on full capacity magazine purchasing is:

1.) Buy only magazines that either original military contract, or from original factory makers. (No aftermarket junk!) Beware of marketing terms like “GI Type” and “top quality.” If it isn’t original, then don’t buy it, or you will be buying grief. Not only will they have poor feeding reliability, but they will also only have marginal resale value.

2.) First, buy extra magazines for the guns that you already own.

3.) Next, buy extra magazines for the guns that you definitely plan to buy. If a ban is enacted, then all semi-autos may be like Valmet rifles are today: where the guns are easier to find than their spare magazines. The law of supply and demand is inescapable.

4.) Next, buy extra magazines for the guns that you hope to buy, or expect that your children might need someday.

5.) Next, buy extra magazines for both the pistols and rifles that your local police and sheriff’s department issues. (If they don’t carry their long guns in visible racks, then ask them what model they carry in the trunks of their cruisers.)

6.) Next, buy a fairly large quantity of ubiquitous magazines that will serve well as barter items.(Mostly M14, M16, Mini-14, M1 Carbine, Glock, and Beretta M92.)

7.) Buy a smaller, but carefully selected supply of scarce European magazines. (Steyr AUG, HK, SIG, Valmet etc.) The day may come when not even large wads of cash buy you any full capacity magazines, but some owners will be willing to trade for magazines that they want or need.

8.) Once you have your supply of magazines in hand, divide them in three co-equal piles and store them in three separate locations, to protect yourself against burglary or other unpleasant future circumstances.

If you do decide to stock up on full capacity magazines as I have advised, then please buy from our paying advertisers, first: Gun Parts Guy (who, for example currently sells slightly used Imbel FAL magazines for under $8 each), Green Mountain Gear (who, for example currently sells new G3/HK91 20 round alloy magazines. for under $5 each). Then consult our Affiliate advertisers: US Cavalry Store, and GunBroker.com (auctions). If they don’t have what you are looking for, then some other magazine vendors that I can recommend are CDNN Sports, Cheaper Than Dirt, and Midway USA. (OBTW, if you buy from any of them, please recommend that they become SurvivalBlog advertisers. Thanks!)