Consider Horde Mentality in Your Planning – Part 2, by Ani

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(Contined from Part 1. This concludes the article.)

If it were spring or summer, I would also expect many refugees to head to what they perceive of as a good place to pitch a tent and set up “camp” such as farm fields, your “back forty”, the woods behind your house, any stretch of land that appears “unoccupied” etc. I know for sure that many urban/suburban people don’t view rural land as being “owned” in the same way they do their apartments or front lawn/back yard. They also see this as being way more than anyone needs. So why not help themselves to it? They will also figure that you’ve got plenty of apples, pears, berries or whatever it is growing on your land (way more than you could possibly need) an  that they therefore can take some. After all, it’s greedy not to share!

Similarly, if you’ve got livestock of any kind that are visible from the road, I wouldn’t put it past people to decide that you’ve got plenty and they need some of what you’ve got. Lots of city people have access to guns and some might not be those who you’d want to have them.

There’s an expression that describes many city/suburban types as those who “would starve to death with a field full of wheat and a fresh cow in the barn”. I recall saying that to someone I knew and he responded by stating that he’d just kill the cow and eat it so he wouldn’t starve! So don’t count on everyone realizing that slaughtering your milk cow is a bad idea!

So other than rural locales close to a city or those located in areas with lots of vacation homes or campgrounds, which other areas might be at risk to the hordes descending on it? As has been written here and elsewhere, many people will just use their apps(if still functional) or maps that will give them directions to where they are heading. Mostly, I’d suspect these will prioritize the main roads, especially the interstate. With this in mind, anyplace that’s on a main road, visible from the interstate or easily reached by an interstate exit would be more at risk. The notion that one wants to be at least 3 turns off of a main road makes sense. If you’re easily visible you’re probably at a higher risk.Continue reading“Consider Horde Mentality in Your Planning – Part 2, by Ani”

The Gun-Buying Frenzy: Holding The Line

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A special note from SurvivalBlog Editor JWR:

As most of you know, my web-based antique gun business is called Elk Creek Company.

Despite the current frantic “run on guns” at gun stores, nationwide
And despite galloping prices at both gun shops and on-line auctions
And despite NICS system interruptions
And despite unconstitutional gun store closures in many cities…

I’m still very much in business and I’m defying any unconstitutional gun restrictions by local petty tyrants. I am stating bluntly: Your non-legislated fiat decrees create no jurisdiction over what I sell here.  And as far as I’m concerned, when I make a sale, it is on my local server, in my jurisdiction, not yours. Go peddle your tyranny somewhere else. I’ve drawn this line in the sand.

Even before the recent decrees, I regularly shipped to California, Washington, and Illinois (except Chicago — see the list of legislated restrictions.)

How I Do Business

Elk Creek Company is essentially a “Mom and Pop” business. Our overhead is minimal. While some dealers have jacked up their prices, I decided hold the line, as long as possible. I have even reduced a few prices. The only price increases that you will see in the weeks to come will be when I re-stock, reflecting my actual replacement cost.

Elk Creek Company accepts credit card payments.  We also accept USPS postal money orders and even payment in pre-1965 silver coins, at 15 times face value.  (Just take the listed price, and divide by 15. That is like stepping into a time machine.)

Most of my inventory is pre-1899 cartridge guns from the 1880s and 1890s, and these guns are practical shooters.

NO FFL is required for pre-1899 guns, in most jurisdictions. (But of course check your state and local laws before ordering. That is your responsibility, not mine.)

With the nationwide gun-buying frenzy continuing apace, I expect brisk sales to continue–so don’t hesitate. (I’m re-stocking as quickly as possible, but I’m not keeping up.) All items are first-come-first served.

Note: I’ll also consider some trades, for any choice pre-1899 antique cartridge guns–especially any .38 caliber or larger cartridge revolvers that you have available.

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “JWR”. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. Today, we look at more coronavirus news from southern California.

COVID-19: Increasing Ventilator Production

Washington state company increasing ventilator production in response to COVID-19.  Here is a snippet:

“Kiple is the CEO of Ventec Life Systems out of Bothell. Founded 12 years ago, Kiple says the company’s latest ventilator model meets those needs. It’s the 18th model they’ve developed.

Dubbed ‘VOCSN,’ the ventilator can act as an oxygen concentrator, a cough assist, provide suction for symptoms of pneumonia, which many COVID-19 patients exhibit, and can be used as a nebulizer should that person need medication.”

JWR’s Comment: Once the hospitals are filled to capacity, it will be YOYO time. There is no way enough ventilators can be built in time. Be advised that the window of opportunity to find used steam vaporizers and oxygen concentrators on Craigslist and Facebook is closing fast!

Now Everyone’s a Prepper

They prepared for the worst — now everyone’s a prepper. JWR’s Comment: My prediction for 2020 and 2021: Weeks of boredom and toiling labor, punctuated by moments of sheer terror.

Matt Bracken: DIY Face Masks

Some practical how-to from Matt Bracken, over at American Partisan: 5-Minute D.I.Y. Anti-Virus Face Mask

Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“As smoke from burning buildings smudged the skyline and the TV news showed vivid images of laughing looters smashing windows and carting off boomboxes and booze, I got a few phone calls from firmly anti-gun friends in clear conflict. ‘Umm, Chuck, you have quite a few …ah, guns, don’t you?'” – Charlton Heston on the L.A. riots of 1992, from his autobiography In the Arena (1995)

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — March 25, 2020

This is the birthday of English film director David Lean. He was born in Croydon, England in 1908. He died in 1991. He is best known for his films Lawrence of Arabia,  The Bridge on the River Kwai and Doctor Zhivago.

National Medal of Honor day is officially observed on March 25th of each year.

On March 25 1944 RAF Flight Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade survived a jump from a burning Lancaster bomber from 18,000 feet over Germany without a parachute. His fall was broken by pine trees and soft snow, and he suffered only a sprained leg. He died on June 22nd, 1987.

—

For those of you who are stocking up to be ready to hunker down for the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, I heard that Harvest Guard is offering a 20% discount just for SurvivalBlog readers. Enter the code “survivalblog” during checkout to receive 20% off any order for Harvest Guard Reusable Canning Lids.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 87 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up to a $2,200 value) good for 12% off the purchase of any of their sun-tracking models, and 10% off the purchase price of any of their other models.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 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. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. 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,
  3. A $300 purchase credit for any of the products from EMPShield.com
  4. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  5. 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).
  6. An assortment of products along with a one hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

Third Prize:

  1. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit.  This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag.  The value of this kit is $220.
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. A transferable $100 purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Round 87 ends on March 31st, 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.

Consider Horde Mentality in Your Planning – Part 1, by Ani

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As a prepper for many years, I’ve put some consideration into trying to understand the mentality of the “hordes” who might be forced to leave their cities and heavily populated suburbs, in the event of a major disaster. I think that while we may not know how things are going to unfold or what sort of disaster might provoke people into leaving and essentially becoming refugees, we can consider some of the more likely to occur scenarios. Doing this will let us examine how well-situated we are in our own homes, the risks that we might be most susceptible to, and actions that we could take. And if you’re reading this and still living in a city or heavily populated suburb, well, then this is also for you.

Lights of the USSo as someone who has lived my entire life thusfar in the heavily-populated eastern part of the US, I already know that wherever I may live here I’m at a higher level of risk than say someone living in a sparsely populated area of Idaho or Wyoming. One only has to take a look at those really amazing night sky maps of the US such to really get the picture of the difference in population numbers and density across the country.

In general, more cities and more population isn’t a good thing if TSHTF. So why, knowing this, am I still here? For me as for many people, the reasons vary but mostly have to do with family commitments, money, and the difficulty of a long distance relocation. I’ve seriously considered moving to an area such as the “American Redoubt” not just for prepper reasons but also for the wide open spaces and lower population levels as well as the generally Conservative politics which I prefer. I’ve realized though that it’s just not feasible due to family here plus the costs of land and housing there which are beyond my means. So I’m here in the east and have to make the best of it. I suspect many of you are in the same boat. That is: Knowing what you might prefer to do but facing up to the reality of the factors keeping you tied down where you are.Continue reading“Consider Horde Mentality in Your Planning – Part 1, by Ani”

JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

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Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. The focus is usually on emergency communications gear, bug out bag gear, books and movies–often with a tie-in to disaster preparedness, and links to “how to” self-sufficiency videos. There are also links to sources for both storage food and storage containers. You will also note an emphasis on history books and historical movies. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This week, I’m featuring an antique .44 S&W double action revolver at my web store. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Books

LandBook: The small landowner’s guide to buying, improving, maintaining and selling rural land

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Some great reading for your time in “self-isolation” is this book that I’ve mentioned many times: The Encyclopedia of Country Living, 50th Anniversary Edition: The Original Manual for Living off the Land & Doing It Yourself

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This book is a must for homeschooling your kids: Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? A Fast, Clear, and Fun Explanation of the Economics You Need For Success in Your Career, Business, and Investments

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Antique Trader Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide 2019.Continue reading“JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:”

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — March 24, 2020

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March 24th is the birthday of Dr. Art Robinson, who was born in 1942.

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The bloodbath on Wall Street is continuing. Alarmingly, this is taking place soon after the Federal Reserve pledged to make “unlimited” stock purchases. This will be through a new round (or rounds) of Quantitative Easing (QE) –they’re already talking $4 trillion worth of stock buys! How’s that for yer “plunge protection? On Monday (March 23, 2020) the S&P 500 fell 2.9%, closing at 2,237. The S&P is now down 34% from its all-time high on February 19th. Meanwhile, the DJIA closed down another 3.04% to 18,591. This ongoing equities market rout is now rightfully being called The Crash of 2020. We are living through a turning point in history, folks.  Someday, your grandkids will ask you: “What was that like?”  I hope and pray that my readers took my advice and exited stocks early or at least had stop loss orders in place. One last thing: This is not yet the bottom. I predict that won’t come until the depths of the nascent recession or depression.  So be ready to sell your remaining stock shares into any market rallies between now and early December.

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 87 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up to a $2,200 value) good for 12% off the purchase of any of their sun-tracking models, and 10% off the purchase price of any of their other models.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 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. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. 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,
  3. A $300 purchase credit for any of the products from EMPShield.com
  4. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  5. 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).
  6. An assortment of products along with a one hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

Third Prize:

  1. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit.  This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag.  The value of this kit is $220.
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. A transferable $100 purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Round 87 ends on March 31st, 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.

Ensuring Winter Egg Production, by A.J.

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Canned, dried, frozen, and preserved foods are excellent for winter survival. And they always have been. A fresh bit of produce or dairy, however, can go a long way in keeping you healthy by providing fresh vitamins. And they break up the monotony of menus, as the cold days drift by.

Eggs are a prime food for such circumstances. Packed into each egg are a quality assortment of vitamins, protein, omega-3, and omega-6 fatty acids that are fresh, and simply a gold-mine during a long winter of canned goods and stockpiled food. I personally consider fresh eggs are one of my most valuable winter survival foods.

Eggs from a healthy free-range hen will give you:

  • Protein. About 6 grams per egg. Approximately equal to 1 ounce of meat.
  • Vitamin A
  • Vitamin D
  • Vitamin E
  • Beta Carotene
  • Folate
  • Omega-3
  • Omega-6
  • Choline
  • Vitamin B12
  • Vitamin B2
  • Iodine
  • Antioxidants (lutein and zeaxanthin)

…and many more nutrients, which makes a big difference when the garden is under the snow and fresh vegetables are months away. Especially when vitamin supplements are hard or even impossible to get.

For those of you who have chickens, you know how egg supply drops drastically—and sometimes stops—in winter. I’ve raised egg layers over a decade. Implementing the right strategies, we have a steady daily production of about 10 eggs per every 20 hens, all throughout the winter.Continue reading“Ensuring Winter Egg Production, by A.J.”

SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

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This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. (Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and Wyoming.) Much of the region is also more commonly known as The Inland Northwest. We also mention companies of interest to preppers and survivalists that are located in the American Redoubt region. Today, we focus on the coming American Redoubt real estate boom.  (See the Region-Wide section.)

Region-Wide

Reader C.D.M. wrote to ask: “I’m wondering if you have any thoughts about price trends in the Real Estate markets over the next 12 – 18 months?  I’m guessing that real estate will take somewhat of a hit, but that rural, retreat and farm properties will fare better than city and suburban homes.”  JWR’s Response: I believe that the pandemic will inspire another wave of relocation to the American Redoubt region. Seeing the locust-like stripping of store shelves made it clear to nearly all Americans that we have vulnerable supply chains. And the population density of cities and even suburbs is making millions of Americans feel very apprehensive while in “lock-down”. Note for instance how urbanites are buying guns in record numbers, and that many of these folks are first-time gun buyers. The collective anxiety meter is pegged! People will surely remember this crowded feeling, and they will naturally yearn for the hinterboonies. “In town” tract house sales have temporarily slowed, but real estate agents are already reporting to me that they are getting lots of phone calls, and e-mails from buyers with detailed property specification lists for “remote” properties. They are even receiving sight unseen offers on rural properties with water. So… what will things be like by August and September?  And by the May of 2021?  My #1 Son, who operates SurvivalRealty.com, expects a multi-year boom in the market for retreat properties. But the property inventory is thin, so prices can only head in one direction: Up! – JWR

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Wyoming Troopers Use Spike Strips to End Chase, Arrest Idaho Man

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At INW Report: When a Constitutional Sheriff becomes Judge and Jury

Idaho

Details on COVID-19 numbers and locales in Idaho. (That page will be kept updated.)

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The snow geese have arrived — and there are so many of them!. Here is a snippet:

“Last night I figured there were from 15 to 20 thousand and there is almost twice as many tonight.”

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Zombies and Cain’s dark 50: Court documents offer a look at what those close to Lori Vallow have to say

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt”

Preparedness Notes for Monday — March 23, 2020

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Today is the anniversary of Patrick Henry’s famous Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death speech. It was delivered to the Second Virginia Revolutionary Convention meeting at St. John’s Church, Richmond, on March 23, 1775.

This is also the birthday of Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. He directed 30 films. His samurai films (many of them starring Toshiro Mifune) such as Yojimbo, Sanjuro, The Hidden Fortress, Rashomon, The Seven Samurai, Kagemusha, and Ran are considered legendary in the cinema world.

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Now that I’m back at the ranch, I have reactivated the ordering system for Elk Creek Company.  Thanks for your patience. You’ll notice a lot of new listings. With the current nationwide rush to buy guns, I’m sure that my small inventory will sell quickly.  I’ve read that there are many planned and a few already implemented state and local sales restrictions because of unconstitutional decrees and “expansions” to COVID-19 lockdowns. (Bellingham, Washington, New Orleans, San Jose, Fresno, et cetera.) There have also been some foul-ups with completing NICS background checks, and the state of New Jersey intentionally stopped all NICs processing. But thankfully, none of those have any impact on my ability to quickly get pre-1899 guns shipped to most of you reading this. The restrictions don’t apply to pre-1899s–because they are not “firearms”!

—

Some eastern liberals attempt to explain prepper fiction, in the NPR radio show On The Media: In Prepper Fiction, The Preppers Always Win.  I should mention that in the 9-minute segment they started out with slur that my novel has “…just a touch of The Turner Diaries.” This implied that my novel was racist.  But Patriots–and all of my writings–are distinctly anti-racist. In the segment, they relied heavily on clips from the audio book of my first novel, Patriots.  Somehow, without any explanation, they included a rather bloodthirsty-sounding clip of an audio book from a different author, and a different narrator. I consider that much worse than someone quoting from my writings, out of context.

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Today, we return to regular product reviews by our Field Gear Editor, Pat Cascio.

Kimber Custom II, by Pat Cascio

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I’m a sucker for well-made 1911 handguns, especially when chambered in .45 ACP. It is just hard to beat this combination. I don’t think that John Moses Browning had any idea that his 1911 design would be popular for so long. We are closing in on 109-years since the 1911’s adoption by the U.S. military. Who would have believed that a gun that was first designed around 1904 would still be alive and kicking more than a century later. In fact, .45 ACP M1911 variants are still in limited issue by the U.S. Marine Corps, as the M45A1. The USMC says that they have “plans” to phase them out, by 2024. I won’t believe that until it happens.

I’ve tried – a number of times, to count the actual number of companies who are producing 1911 handguns these days. Im sure its safe to say that there must easily be at least 60 or 70 different companies producing  M1911 variants. And, the number of different models – as they say in the current parlance: “OMG! “It is impossible to count how many different models there are – from a shorty “Officers” model, to the “Commander-sized” to the Government sized, to long slides and everything in between! I cut my teeth on a full-sized Government Model, but I knew there were Commander-sized M1911s out there – in all-steel as well as with a light-weight Aluminum frame.  I’ve surely owned several hundred M1911s over the past 50 years.

Like everyone out there, who owns and shoots a 1911 handgun, I have my favorites, and hands down, I much prefer the Commander-sized, light-weight version – that’s one with a barrel length of 4-inces to 4.5-inches – depending on which company you decide to buy from. For a lot of years, I carried a full-sized Government Model 1911 and it was very comforting on my hip. However, as I grew older – and believe me, the years start to fly by, as you grow older, I decided on the Commander-sized, light-weight 1911 in .45 ACP. I still get this question, all the time from readers, and friends, “what is your favorite gun?” And, that covers a lot of territory. I believe they are asking what is my favorite handgun, and I still struggle with this one. For many years, I would simple answer a 1911 – without picking one particular model.

If push came to shove, I would still pick the Commander-sized 1911 over all the other versions. However, I don’t believe I would pick the 1911 – in any version, as my one and only handgun for an End Of The World handgun. My choice would be the Glock 19X over the 1911, for a number of reasons. One would be, the capacity – the Glock 19X comes with 17 and 19 round magazines, and a handgun chambered in 9mm with 19+1 rounds is hard to beat, when the lead is flying in my direction. There I said it, the 1911 wouldn’t be my first choice as my one and only handgun for the End Of The World any longer. Whew, got that one off my chest – at long last. Nothing “wrong” with a good ol’ 1911, but more ammo on-tap is more comforting to this old gent these days.

My local gun shop is always getting in some great deals on firearms, since they are also a pawn shop. Many times, a gun comes out of pawn, because the person who pawned it, didn’t pay the pawn ticket off, and the shop can then sell it. And, there are fantastic guns and prices to be had. I picked-up a Kimber Custom II, two-tone Government Model for $625 and it was like-new. A steal of a deal in my book.Continue reading“Kimber Custom II, by Pat Cascio”

Safety Versus Security, by Michael Z. Williamson

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I have a few brief observations:

Your typical citizen is a pushover who’s all-in on living in a police state to be “safe.”

Example 1:

A while back, I had an Australian woman perusing the wares in my booth. She looked at a reproduction rapier. “Very nice. But we wouldn’t be allowed to own something like that. Keeps us safe, though.”*

“Oh, are random rapier duels in the street something you worried about in Sydney?”

You could almost see her neurons engage.

*Swords are not, in fact, banned in Aus. But that she assumed they were proves my point again.

Example 2:

When I had my store in the mall. Lots of people buying swords, paying by check, and I ask for ID and note their info on the check against NSF.

“I assume you need my ID so these can be registered like guns?”

“No, I’m just making sure your check is good. Swords are not registered anywhere in this country, and very few places register guns.”

But they happily performed “Papers, please” for anyone asking, assuming it was some government purpose to keep them “safe”. – MZW

JWR Adds: All of the gun and knife shows that Mike Williamson had planned have surely been cancelled, for at least the next two months. But he is still operating via mail order.  Take a look at his knives in the “Handmade Knives” section at: www.SharpPointyThings.com