Notes for Tuesday – February 14, 2017

February 14 is the birthday of Medal of Honor recipient Jack Lucas (born 1928, died June 5, 2008). During the Iwo Jima campaign, this 17-year-old won the Medal of Honor for unhesitatingly hurling himself over his comrades upon one grenade and for pulling another one under himself. One of the grenades exploded, and Lucas absorbed the entire blasting force of it with his own body. PFC Lucas was the youngest Marine ever to receive the Medal of Honor. (He was just 13 when he forged his mother’s signature to enlist.)

Observations and Lessons from the Oroville Dam Evacuation

I felt obliged to pass on some observations and potential lessons on the developing problems at the Oroville Dam here in northern California.

For those who may not have heard, the Oroville Dam has had some major structural issues with the spillways, resulting in mandatory evacuations for as many as 180,000 people. It is an earth fill embankment dam on the Feather River east of the city of Oroville, California, in the United States. At 770 feet (230 m) high, it is the tallest dam in the U.S. and serves mainly for water supply, hydroelectricity generation, and flood control. It is supplied by the impoundment of the Feather River, and the Oroville Dam also manages an incredible amount of water; its full capacity measures 3,537,577 acre-feet, and it has a drainage area of 3,607 square miles.

News media had been reporting on some erosion in the main spillway of the dam since Tuesday, the 7th of February, 2017. There was some video that can be found where big chunks of concrete are seen being thrown through the air by the water. Up until late afternoon on the 12th of February, all news media were still reporting that while there was a problem with the main spillway, and for the first time in the dam’s history the emergency spillway began overflowing by about 6:00 am this morning, that everything was going to be okay. However, by about 4:40 pm, there were mandatory evacuation orders beginning to be issued for Oroville and low lying areas downstream. There are a number of communities downstream on the Feather River water course: Oroville, Gridley, Live Oak, Yuba City, Marysville, Plumas Lakes, Nicolaus, Linda, Olivehurst, and Knight’s Landing.

When I first saw this on the news today, I immediately called a friend from church that lives in the rural area east of Gridley and close to the Feather River in the flood zone evacuation map, to see what they were doing. This was at about 5:00 pm. They had been out walking and had not yet heard the mandatory evacuation news, and they were already about 15 minutes into a 60 minute mandatory evacuation. I told them that they could evacuate to our house, which is about a 40 minute drive in normal traffic. He said he would grab a few things, load his wife and kids, and head out immediately for our place. Our idea was that the more minutes that went by, the worse the traffic would be. We were right. My friend left about ten minutes after hanging up the phone and went by a slightly more circuitous route I told him about to avoid the bottleneck that I knew would be happening around the Yuba City/Marysville area. He arrived at our house in rural Placer County at about 6:50 pm. Even acting quickly and leaving less than thirty minutes after the evacuation order was announced, it still took him more than two times the normal travel time. At this point when I am writing this (about 10:30 pm), the news is reporting that it is now taking about three hours to travel one mile in the Yuba City/ Marysville bottleneck area.

We can also learn a few things from what my friend saw on his trip here. He got a jump on nearly everyone, by acting immediately and by having a plan on what he was going to take in an emergency. He also says he should have had a checklist, because he still forgot a few things. He encountered several crazy drivers, including one in a 4WD crew cab truck that was driving at over 100 MPH cutting in and out of traffic, obviously panicked although no true breach of the dam had yet occurred. This was just an average idiot. By 6:30 pm, evacuation orders were spreading, and as they went through one community with mandatory evacuation orders, they noted that no one was reacting to anything. The communication was not very effective either. Up until about 5:00 pm, there was little being said on either television or radio locally. He could find nothing on the radio news, until one mention on KFBK 1530 at about 6:30 pm began reporting on it. KFBK 1530 is the emergency broadcast station for the greater Sacramento Valley area. By about 7:00 pm, it was all over local news, and since the evacuation was affecting by some reports up to 180,000 people and other reports of 130,000 people, it was being covered on the national cable news to some degree. My daughter who was in Denver for business called us to check in per protocol after seeing it on Fox News. As my friend got south of Yuba City on Highway 99, he was going to cut across to the east at the community of Nicolaus. They are right next to the Feather River, with only the levee separating them from the river. As he drove through that small community, he saw no activity of people getting ready to evacuate. A little bit out of town he did see a couple of different rural property owners loading horses and household goods into trucks and trailers. Once on these rural back roads headed towards Lincoln, the traffic was minimal.

Ultimately, between 130,000 and 180,000 people from a dozen communities were affected by evacuation orders. By 9:00 PM, news was reporting 25-30 miles of bumper to bumper, nearly stopped traffic heading south toward Sacramento on Highway 99/70.

Fuel

Fuel was obviously a problem for many, who for some reason sit around with near empty tanks rather than keeping them filled, as we all know we should. Don’t be lazy about that. It could cost you. News reports show very long lines at all fuel stations. Fuel quickly ran out at many of them in the affected flood zone, as people tried to fill up for the evacuation. Interesting note: It is often said to carry cash for purchases in emergency situations, but something worth thinking about too is that several fuel stations evacuated their personnel; however, fuel could still be purchased at them at the card reader on the pump but only with credit or ATM cards. So, it’s better to cover that base, too.

Where To Go

Lodging in hotels/motels in nearby communities in the safe zone are reported as filled to capacity by 10:15 PM. Having a place to go is critical. Talk to people ahead of time, and have a plan so you don’t end up stuck on the side of the road with no fuel and no place to go if you had it. Many of the evacuation centers filled very quickly, and people were left hunting alternative shelters.

Livestock and Animals

The adjacent communities, especially up north toward Chico, really stepped up to help those with horses that were evacuated and needed boarding for them. Several adjacent county fairgrounds were opened. A lot of evacuation centers were opened pretty quickly, most by 7:30 PM or so, that could take evacuees with small animals. Plan for your pets and your livestock, and know how long it will take to load them and move them.

At this point in the evening (now about 10:40), the Department of Water Resources is reporting that the water level is now below 901 feet, the level of the emergency spillway, and water is no longer spilling. Now, they are working on a plan to address the failed concrete in the main spillway and get a plan of action together before the next storms begin arriving next Thursday on the 16th of February. North bound highway 99 has now been reopened to traffic. Marysville remains shut down to access at this time. At after 11:00 pm, we are finally getting some comprehensive reports from the various emergency services agencies. I am sure that there will be some questions about why the initial damage to the main spillway that initiated this event was not addressed by the Department of Water Resources when it was first documented about three years ago, when we were in official drought status. Go figure. No doubt a custodian someplace will be the one to lose their job over it; there is always a scapegoat.

Blessings to all. Stay safe, and be prepared. You never know what might happen. – Behind Enemy Lines in the People’s Republik of Kalifornia

Letter Re: Sad and Silent

Dear Sad and Silent:

I have learned to speak in terms of resilience and not prep. I regularly engage in DIY projects because of the mental stimulation. I seek to know about all things, saying that I am a very curious fellow. Every fifth person laughs.

When I buy, I grab a little extra of nails, screws, oil, filters, et cetera. Commonly, I do household projects out of inventory, in terms of screws and nails, making sure to replace them. That does not mean it did not take three trips to the hardware store to finally get the stove installation parts right. Why is 15/16ths smaller than a ¾ fitting? My problem is that it seldom spontaneously occurs to me that I am wrong, scrounging electronic parts and tools in conjunction with what my Ham radio license teaches me.

Scrounging tools, dealing with metal cutting, and welding will eventually teach me. I’m yet to produce the first electronic gizmo or welded object, but I will. Gardening in GA clay is tough. Tree services have to pay to dump wood chips. Arrange a spot for one to dump on your property for free when convenient. Turn that with lime and/or gypsum into the soil. It is not as bad as you think; it’s only highly acidic.

You are not as alone as you think. Leaf covered water cubes, pallet tanks, or IBC totes adorn back yards. Hi-lift jacks hang on vehicles here and there. I am never the only one zeroing my latest acquisition at the range. When someone inevitably spots the pistol under my coat, they tell me about their favorite. Oh! And for the record, open carry is like having a “shoot me first” sign.

Yes, my wife makes fun of me rolling her eyes. She is also pleased when it is easy to plug the generator into the transfer switch and have lights and refrigeration (but not at the same time). Likewise, there was some potential event that came across the news that had the government saying it was important to have 30 days of food. It was a satisfying moment to be able to greet her raised eyebrow question with a confident nod. She was raised German, and those people shop nearly every day. Guess what she thinks of “one back” on the shelf much less 6, 12, or 18. I have won her over with my Sam’s TP, paper towel, paper plate, and napkin purchases. I load the dolly up every couple three months. – RV

News From The American Redoubt:

Many folks living in North Idaho and Northwestern Montana are probably already familiar with a great old-fashioned military surplus store in Sandpoint, Idaho called Army Surplus 1. It was probably the inspiration for the fictional “Grogan’s War Surplus”, in the humorous books written by Patrick McManus. Their motto is: “We probably have it.” And in my experience, that is true. A great store with a 40 year history of fine customer service and a great selection. Stop by and check it out. – JWR

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We note with interest that Primary Weapons Systems (of Boise, Idaho) has greatly expanded their product line. Their fully ambidextrous AR-15 upper and lower receiver sets are a left-hander’s dream come true. And their PicMod rail system (A Picatinny rail that also accepts Key Mod attachments) is a great solution.

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Idaho custom knife maker Robert P. Martin—best known for his gorgeous pattern-forged welded damascus blades—has expanded his line. He now does custom knives in a wide range of materials including A-2, D-2, O-1, CPM 10V, CPM 3V, L-6, 15N20, 52-100, 51-60, 51-50 carbon steels as well as CPM S30V, CPM S60V, CPM S90V, CPM 154, CPM 440C, ATS-34. He even custom formulates steels in 20 pound batches in his own smelting forges. Check out his amazing work!

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Jon Kelly Designs (in Eureka, Montana) has added a few new designs. They also offer a 10% discount to active duty military and law enforcement. Visit their site and check out their amazing hand-made knives!

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Wyoming flood fighting efforts

Economics and Investing:

EU Bureaucrats Escalate the War on Cash: Will Precious Metals Be in the Crosshairs? – DSV

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Are Gold Prices Finally Beginning To Crack?

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Artificial Intelligence To Reveal The Biggest Secret In Oil. No one really knows how much oil the countries around the world are storing, but a new satellite technology may soon bring those numbers to light.

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The most depressing chart showing US imports and exports in 2016 with top trading partners.

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SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Video: Gun Control’s Racist History – D.B.

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11 Reasons You Should Drink A Tbsp Of Apple Cider Vinegar Every Day – DSV

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Sharp Rise Reported in Older Americans’ Use of Multiple Psychiatric Drugs – DSV

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Nearly 200K Remain Under Evacuation As Concerns Remain Over Oroville Dam Spillway. Note the mention of “gridlock”. Wait too long and you’re in trouble. – RFJ

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If you are thinking about building a large boat, but wondering how you launch it without a crane, then you might want to read this: Parbuckle and Launch

Springfield Armory Saint, by Pat Cascio

It happens! Sometimes, it just happens! I don’t know how or why and neither does my contact at Springfield Armory, but I was somehow left out of the loop on their new Saint AR-style rifle. Grrr! I didn’t get a sample on the day they were released; it took more than a month before I got a gun in my hand. Many “gun writers” that I’ve never ever heard of were invited to shoot the new Saint a month earlier at a top secret event. Again, I don’t know how I wasn’t invited, but it happened. Honestly, I don’t know of any writer who has written more articles about Springfield Armory products than I have, but I was somehow left out in the cold. However, it’s okay. It gave me more trigger time when my Saint finally did arrive.

Quite honestly, there were some “gun writers” who, once again, I’ve never ever heard of who were busy burning up their word processing program writing about the new Saint, when I don’t know if some of them even had a sample to test. They didn’t say they actually shot the gun but just rehashed what the press release stated. Hmm.

I asked my contact at Springfield Armory well over a year ago if Springfield was ever going to come out with an AR-style rifle. I remember asking on three different occasions and not getting an answer. My interest was piqued by this lack of response. To be sure, I couldn’t even get a hint as to what the new firearm was that Springfield Armory was coming out with. It was announced on their website that there was a new gun coming out in November, but I couldn’t get any information on it.

A Saint finally did arrive, and I had some trigger time, some serious trigger time. Yeah, I wasn’t the first to report on this new gun, and it was very frustrating having to read all the reviews of the gun on the day it came out. But it isn’t always about being the first to report on a new gun. In the past, some big name printed gun rags reported on new firearms that they didn’t have or test, based on just a press release and a picture, which was all they had.

Let’s take a quick look at some of the specs on the new Saint. I won’t cover them all; just check out the Springfield Armory website for complete information. One thing I like is that the Saint comes in 5.56 NATO caliber, and of course it can safely fire .223 Remington ammo. The gun only weighs in at 6 lbs 11 oz, and I was surprised because many similar ARs weigh a lot more than this. The upper and lower receivers are type III hard coat anodized aircraft grad 7075 aluminum. I like that the upper has M4 feed ramps, too, make feeding more reliable. The barrel is 16 inches long and is Chrome Moly Vanadium with a 1:8 twist that is Melonite coated. The gas system is direct impingement.

The Saint comes with a flat top upper receiver, and it has an outstanding flip-up rear sight that is fully adjustable, too. It’s one of the better rear sights of this type I’ve run across. The front sight is the standard, fixed, A2-style. The gas system is a mid-length, not the shorter carbine length, which is an outstanding feature, if you ask me. The trigger is micro-polished and Nickel Boron treated and offers a very smooth trigger pull, too.

The furniture deserves mention. The hand guard is from Bravo Company, PKMT KeyMod, which is all the rage these days. It’s easy to attach whatever you want to the hand guard. I also like the Bravo Company 6-position butt stock; it is rattle-free, which is nice, very nice, and it locks-up tight. Of course, the pistol grip is also from Bravo Company and very comfortable, too. Springfield says the Saint has a Accu-Tite system that keeps the upper and lower receiver from rattling, and it is a very tight fit. The Saint comes with one 30-rd MagPul PMAG Gen M3 magazine. That’s the best of the best, if you ask me.

All-in-all, there wasn’t much I could complain about on the new Saint. It is a first-class AR in all respects. It isn’t a bottom of the line, entry level AR, nor is it an upper level AR. It falls in the “just right” price range, too, with full retail at $899. Be advised; they are in very short supply. They are made in the good ol’ USA, too!

I spent quite a bit of time behind the trigger, first just doing some function testing to make sure the gun would run 100% of the time. I had no problems there, and I used Black Hills Ammunition 55-gr FMJ remanufactured ammo for this portion of my testing. Also, from Black Hills, I tested their 40-gr Hornady V-Max, 52-gr Match Hollow Point, 55-gr FMJ (new ammo), 55-gr Barnes TSX, 62-gr Barnes TSX, 68-gr Heavy Match Hollow Point, and 75-gr Heavy Match Hollow Point. I only had one load on hand from Buffalo Bore Ammunition, and that was their Sniper 77-gr JHP load.

In all my testing, I managed to put 600 rounds down range. Again, there were zero problems of any kind. I do like the mid-length gas system; it seems to make the gun run a little bit smoother. Accuracy testing was done with the supplied sights, and I only fired out to 50 yards. Accuracy testing was done over a rolled up jacket, over the rear of my pickup truck. I think the 1:8 inch barrel twist is ideal for most AR applications. It can handle the light-weight bullets as well as the heavier ones.

At 50-yards, I was getting groups well under an inch, if I did my part, and that wasn’t all the time for some reason. It was not the gun nor the ammo; it was just me. Some days I was on my game and some days not so much. Hands down the accuracy winner was the Black Hills 68-gr Heavy Match Hollow Point load. It would give me groups just slightly under ¾ of an inch; however, the Buffalo Bore 77-gr JHP Sniper load was hot on the heels of the Black Hills load. Least load of the testing was the Black Hills 55-gr FMJ remanufactured load, and it was around one inch. It’s just that it gave the least accuracy out of every load tested. I can easily live with groups of an inch with a remanufactured load at 50 yards with open sights. I’ve shot this Black Hills load for many years, and it has never let me down.

So, if you’re in the market for a new AR, take a close look, a very close look, at the new Springfield Armory Saint. I think you’ll be impressed with everything it has to offer, and it comes with some outstanding furniture that would set you back a couple hundred bucks, if you were to add it to any AR.

– Senior Product Review Editor, Pat Cascio

Recipe of the Week: Dutch Oven Pork Hock Stew, by R.T.

This is a good meal to prepare on a camping trip in a 3-legged Dutch oven, or at home in a stovetop model, as it can be left to cook all day while needing only occasional attention. The pork hock, or leg, is inexpensive and is enveloped in a thick skin (not fat) that is rich in collagen.

Ingredients:

  • a fresh pork hock,
  • carrots,
  • onions,
  • red potatoes
  • Seasoning blend of salt, cayenne, black pepper, coriander, garlic, and Spanish smoked paprika, adjusted to taste

Directions:

  1. Heat up a lidded 4-quart Dutch oven swabbed with a coating of oil, slowly to a moderate heat.
  2. Add the pork hock, water to cover, and seasoning blend; cover pot with the lid and bring to a simmer for several hours and then turning the hock over and continuing to cook for another several hours. (Don’t let it sit in warm water and think it’s cooking, nor let it get so hot that you have to scrape a burnt sludge off the bottom of the pot.)
  3. When the structure of the meat tissue collapses and the bones separate from each other, the bones can be removed. The carrots, onions, and red potatoes are cut up in large chunks, two or three times the volume of the fresh pork hock, and added at this time.
  4. Over the next hour, the steam from the savory collagen broth will permeate the vegetables in the low-pressurized environment within the lidded Dutch oven.
  5. Serve. (I like it served with a vinegar/mayo-style coleslaw on the side.)

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Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

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Letter Re: Misguided Youth

Hugh,

Periodically, I check on on a few different blogs, and one recent post has cemented my belief that this country is going to have a difficult future with or without a serious economic downturn.

This particular blog advocates living on about 25% of one’s income, which I find admirable; however, I have two concerns that I find troubling:

  1. The authors have themselves in the past and do advocate that their readers get all the free goodies from the government and other social organizations that they can obtain, regardless of need. If one qualifies, grab it. Hmmm. I do find it difficult to want to extend Christian charity and tax dollars to those who are not in need but are merely grabbing freebies so they may pocket more money. However, I am an older, conservative, Christian farm gal. I do not find it a far jump to assume that, in a dire situation, what is mine should be theirs if they were to actually need it. It’s a very good reason for stealth.
  2. Even with enough saved to buy their 66-acre New England house in the country, the authors and commenters (except myself in an attempt to inject some level headed sensibility to the discussion) advocate putting the money in the bank and getting a mortgage on their primary home for their family with a young child.

I continue to state that the vast chasm in this country is more about knowledge than money. Money is a tool and needs to be treated as one, but knowledge can keep a family fed and housed when the world is in turmoil.

Just wanted to share. – PGT

Odds ‘n Sods:

100,000 People Are Evacuating Over “Imminent Failure” Of California’s Oroville Dam – Live Feeds – P.S.

HJL’s Comment: I would note that one of my friends who lives in Orville was notified that looters are having a heyday. In addition, I listened to a 9:40pm (PT) update from the sheriff’s department who admitted that the “might fail within an hour” language was not true and was designed to get people to move from their homes immediately. It’s sad and harmful that you can’t get truthful information from your own government when it counts.

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Congressional Report Warns of Grim Terrorism Outlook for 2017 – D.B.

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President Donald Trump is enforcing the law of the land. But check out how this country treats Muslim illegals entering through their boarders. It makes Trumps plan look tame. – J.H.

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Woman shot in donut shop after gun drops from man’s clothing. Makes one wonder why they invented holsters – T.J.

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Freedom granted to man who beheaded bus passenger in Canada