Gun & Prepping News #91

 Some links that may be of interest: 

• "Violence of Mind & Action: Combat Marksmanship"--Breach Bang Clear. 

    Combat marksmanship (CMMS) is the ability to place lethal precision fire on a threat target in all environments under the stress of combat in order to reduce a threat to a point that it is no longer viable.

    CMMS principles differ from those of marksmanship (MMS) because with the former, an enemy is either actively firing at you or has just been firing at you. In the latter, the Gunfighter has all the time to make a shot count. In CMMS, the Gunfighter has limited time to perceive a threat and then eliminate the threat. That time is literally the rest of their life.  

He goes on to discuss topics of preparedness, mental rehearsal, determination, passion, and speed in order to achieve violence of action:

Violence of action is the execution of actions with surprisingly overwhelming force. It is a culmination of all the passion, determination and speed needed to realize victory. When faced with violence of action the assailant must reevaluate the situation. Violence of action also diminishes the bravado of the assailant and increases the bravery of the Gunfighter. Violence of action is the one aspect that criminals use to surprise victims and totally dominate the situation. By dominating the situation, they control the victim. The Gunfighter must use all the aspects of the combat mindset to be the one that dominates the situation, eliminates any threats with the appropriate level of force and be prepared to go to that level of force.  Thereby controlling the situation and being victorious. 

• "Your Hunting Bullet Choice is Too Small: The Case for a .30 Caliber All-Around Rifle"--Shooting Times. The author's perspective is addressing a single rifle for hunting big game in North America, with his pick being either the .30-06 or .300 Winchester Short Magnum (WSM). He explains:

I recommend that most people wanting to be one-gun hunters focus on .30-caliber cartridges. Those can handle 180-grain to 200-grain bullets for black bears and big nondangerous game like elk and moose, where lighter, smaller-diameter bullets may be less effective.

However, he does recommend larger calibers for dangerous game (e.g., brown bear). 

• Speaking of .30 caliber hunting rifles: "Lightweight AR-10: Building a Hunt-Focused Backcountry Rifle (Part 1)"--American Hunter. The author begins:

AR-10 rifles are a lot of things, but “lightweight” typically isn’t one of them. That is, until the Ruger SFAR was released. But since that rifle is being discontinued, and the guns were somewhat scarce as it is, I thought I’d try my hand at building a lightweight AR-10 and getting it even lighter, if possible. I wanted to stay within a reasonable budget, though. That said, I observed diminishing returns in weight versus cost—it could be lighter by shaving off a few ounces (maybe as much as half a pound depending on the optic you pick), but it would be ridiculously expensive.

The first part focuses on the lower receiver, while the future part 2 will focus on the upper (including optic) and part 3 will cover tuning the rifle. The author used a Nemo Arms receiver set that is made of "billet 7075-T6 aluminum, it’s skeletonized in some places and has lightening cuts in others, minimizing weight." When I built mine, I used a Roam lower receiver made of magnesium which is listed as having a weight of 7.3 ounces. (I also used a Roam upper). 

Related:

• "Is an AR-10 a Good Hunting Rifle?"--Battlbox.  

Quick Answer: Yes, the AR-10 is an excellent hunting rifle. It is most effective for medium to large game like whitetail deer, feral hogs, and elk due to its semi-automatic action and chambering in powerful cartridges like .308 Winchester and 6.5 Creedmoor. 

• "How to Build an AR Hunting Rifle"--Peterson's Hunting.  Some discussion of building an AR-10 for hunting.
• "Building a Lightweight AR-10 on a Budget"--Shooting Illustrated.  

• On the subject of lightweight receivers (albeit for the AR15 platform): "33% Weight Reduction: New 1791 Industries LiteRaider MMC Receivers"--The Firearm Blog. Pricey, but here is the basics:

The weight race for AR platform receivers just shifted, and this is of interest for anyone who’s running & gunning a lot. 1791 Industries is introducing its LiteRaider line of ultra-lightweight uppers and lowers built from Metal Matrix Composite, a material engineered to sit 33 percent lighter than aluminum while matching the strength profile of 7075-T6. That's not a marketing-thin claim; it's built on an actual material science play, one that could reshape how builders approach the sub-eight-pound rifle conversation.

• If you are just looking for a lightweight hunting rifle, it is hard to beat a lightweight bolt action: "Howa Superlite: The Most Affordable Ultralight Hunting Rifle on the Market"--The Truth About Guns. The rifle, sans scope, is only 4.7 lbs. And as to price:

... Most of those ultralight rifles carry price tags north of $2,000, often $3,000 or more, before a scope ever touches the rail. The Howa Superlite in 6.5 Creedmoor breaks that pattern. At a street price that is typically under $1,000, you can easily build a complete rifle-and-optic package that comes in well under the price of other ultralight rifles. After putting rounds downrange from 100 yards out to 750 yards, it’s clear this mountain rifle backs up the affordable price tag with real performance.

• "I Want a Good Defensive Bullpup Shotgun…Is That Too Much to Ask?"--Shooting News Weekly. A quick look at the various bullpup shotguns on the market, including problems or downsides he sees to the different designs. He seems to lean toward the KSG-7 because he believes the extra tubes (and ammunition) just complicate the designs. And although the bullpup shotguns are slower to reload than standard layouts, the author does not believe this is a problem:

But I don’t think most people using a shotgun defensively will ever need to reload. I’ve looked, and I can’t find a single example of a civilian defensive shotgun encounter that required a reload. Even John Correia of ASP hasn’t seen a civilian defensive encounter that required a reload across the entire spectrum of civilian defensive firearms use. 

But, he also adds, "[a]t the end of the day, if having higher capacity and faster reloads is one of your must-haves, a shotgun probably isn’t going to be the weapon you’re going to pick anyway." 

• "KelTec KP50 Review: 100 Rounds of 5.7x28mm in a Compact, Folding Platform"--Guns America.  Another weapon you probably would not need to reload in a defensive context:

 KelTec completely reworked its original P50 concept, replacing the awkward top-loading design with a drop-free magazine, machined receiver and far more practical controls. We put the new KP50 through a high-volume range session, with and without a suppressor, to find out whether the unusual 5.7x28mm pistol is more than a novelty.

The review is very detailed--much more than most firearms reviews. However, the conclusion is:

    The KP50 is not for everyone, and KelTec clearly did not design it to be.

    It is heavier and larger than a conventional handgun. It lacks a last-round bolt hold-open, and its unusual internal arrangement requires the shooter to learn a different manual of arms.

    Ammunition cost will also discourage casual shooters from treating it like a rimfire plinker, no matter how mild the recoil feels. A 50-round box costs us $29, so it’s not ridiculously expensive but also not cheap like 22 LR.

    Within those limitations, however, the KP50 is a remarkably successful redesign.

    The new bottom-loading magazine corrects the original P50’s most awkward feature. The machined construction feels substantial. The folding brace, flat magazine orientation and uninterrupted top rail produce a compact package that is easy to configure and transport. Recoil is almost nonexistent, practical accuracy is excellent and the 9.6-inch barrel produces a meaningful increase in velocity compared with shorter 5.7mm pistols. 

     Most importantly, the KP50 is enjoyable to shoot.

    That may sound like faint praise, but it is not. Firearms do not always need to imitate existing service weapons or satisfy a narrowly defined tactical requirement. There is still room in the market for a well-built, mechanically interesting gun that is accurate, reliable under reasonable conditions, and genuinely fun on the range.

    The KP50 is strange, but it is not strange merely for the sake of attracting attention. Its unusual shape follows an unusual mechanical solution: fitting 50 or 100 rounds of 5.7x28mm into a compact firearm without hanging a large magazine underneath it.

    KelTec took an intriguing but awkward concept and turned it into a much more mature platform. The KP50 remains unmistakably KelTec, but this time the unconventional engineering is paired with unexpectedly good execution.

• "How the Kentucky Rifle Turned Frontier Hunters into America’s First Snipers"--Outdoor Life. A reprint of a 1948 article. An excerpt:

     It was in response to the demands of obstinate frontiersmen that the famous Kentucky model evolved. It hit its stride by about 1730 but underwent steady change for many years. Most rifles were built to the buyer’s specifications or according to the maker’s latest experiments, and the resulting new ideas were eagerly seized upon by competing smiths. For this reason, surviving examples show wide variations in detail. 

    No frontiersman wanted to carry a heavy weapon on his long treks in the wilderness. The weight was steadily reduced until the average Kentucky hunting rifle weighed between 9 and 10 pounds. (Those made for match shooting averaged about 19 pounds.) Similarly, using a large-caliber rifle meant that the lone pioneer had to carry a heavy load of bullets. So the caliber was reduced from the .65 and .70 common in Europe to about .45. The pound of lead that once yielded sixteen .70 bullets now gave forty-eight .45 balls — three times as many shots. 
    
    Simultaneously the front sight was enlarged and the trigger guard strengthened while it was stripped of its old bulk. But probably the most distinctive change came in the barrel, which on previous rifles had been uniformly short and heavy.

    Now it was lengthened, ranging in the early Kentucky models from 51 to 77 inches, or up to more than triple the length of the average big-game rifle of today. This meant that less powder was needed than before, because it burned cleaner. In the opinion of several authorities, this long barrel which gave great accuracy at the same time that it deadened the noise of the firing was the main factor in the success of the Kentucky rifle. 

    Coupled with this was the novel “patch” method of loading invented by some unsung genius. Thanks largely to this discovery, rifles could be reloaded in one fourth the time it took before, and eventually backwoodsmen were getting off their second shot in less than half a minute after the first.  

• "Butterfield Effect Hits ‘The Trace’ Hard as They Try to Reconcile Lower Crime, Higher Gun Ownership"--Shooting News Weekly. It's hard for gun haters and cowards to understand how gun crime can be declining at the same time as gun ownership continues to climb. 
• "Separate outbreak of diarrhea parasite with dozens of cases not related to recalled lettuce identified"--Daily Mail. 

    Health officials are tracking another outbreak of the 'explosive diarrhea' parasite as the disease runs rampant across the US.

    The FDA said 72 people had been infected with cyclosporiasis, a disease transmitted by food or water contaminated with human feces, in a separate cluster than the one with thousands of suspected cases potentially linked to lettuce and Taco Bell. 

• "How to survive the apocalypse, according to the world's best doomsday preppers"--BBC Science Focus. This article is mostly about the booming underground shelter business in the UK and the different survival needs a shelter must address. But there are some tips on storing food and water.
• "Why 20 Million Americans Now Identify as Preppers—and What They’re Buying"--Inc.  The article itself is not significant as it is just another piece on how the underground shelter business is booming--this time focused on the U.S.--but I was somewhat surprised at the statistic of 20 million Americans identifying as preppers, a number that has doubled since 2017 according to the article. 
• Perhaps more realistic for many Americans: "How to prepare for a huge disaster when you live in a tiny apartment"--Vox. An excerpt of an interview with Anna Maria Bounds, a sociology professor at Queens College in New York, and the author of Bracing for the Apocalypse: An Ethnographic Study of New York’s ‘Prepper’ Subculture. (There is a link to the podcast with the full interview). It has some useful advice on storing food and water when living in a small space. For instance, Bounds related:

    ... Another myth about prepping is that people think that that means that you have to have a whole room dedicated to stacks of toilet paper and rice and spaghetti sauce. Absolutely not. You just need to think carefully about how you live in order to learn how to manage your space.

    In the living room in the corner, I had a white freezer, which looked absolutely ridiculous. So I applied wallpaper to it, and I think it looks really cute. The things that I keep in there are varied. I keep several different types of meat. I have some uncooked, and then I have some that are cooked and sliced and that I’ve cooked and ready to go, and I’ve packaged them. We have vegetables, we have pasta, and we have soup. We have pot pies and extra bottles of water because in the event of a blackout, our food will stay colder longer because we have the frozen bottles of water in there. If we get an injury and I need to place something cold on our leg or on our back, we could use that. 

• "CPAP Battery Solutions" (Part 1) (Part 2) -- Blue Collar Prepping. The author discusses her solution for powering her CPAP is the power should go out. Her solution involved the Rockpals Freeman 600 power bank (which can be charged by solar) and some cords so she would power the CPAP using a 12 V output rather than AC. 
•  "How Long Do Firestarters Typically Last?"--Modern Survival Online. This is discussing ferrocerium rods. There are a lot of variables, not the least being the composition and hardness (or softness) of the rod. However, the author states they generally last between 5,000 and 15,000 strikes. However:

    The rule of thumb is that harder alloy compositions last much longer but they don’t produce as many sparks from a typical strike. That’s because less material is physically being consumed.

    Conversely, your softer alloy blends produce a much larger and more intense shower of sparks but they wear out much quicker due to greater consumption.

VIDEO: Removing Sticky Goo From Rubberized Optics And Electronics

 VIDEO: "Remove Sticky Surface From Old Plastic Products"
Praxis Adventures in Living (3 min.)

Gun & Prepping News #88

Some links that may be of interest: 

• "Goodbye M7, Hello XM8"--The Firearm Blog. Key bit:

The Pentagon's FY2027 budget request booklet outlines continued investment in the Generation Squad Weapons program but previously planned procurement of more M7s will now be replaced by the XM8. The US Army hasn't procured any M7 rifles in Federal FY2026 (which began on 1 October 2025).    

Also:

The Army states that the XM8 is approximately 3.5 inches shorter and over a pound lighter than the M7. The XM8 features a slimmer barrel, a shorter suppressor and new 25-round magazine. The XM8 also has improved hanguard rigidity and a fixed, rather than folding stock.

• "Field Shooting Positions & Real-World Hunting"--American Hunter.  The author observes:

    The reality is, hunting is chock full of randomness. Sure, you can pattern animals’ travel and, to an extent, timing, but everything else—such as where a big-game animal stops, the angle of its body, etc.—is unsystematic. Perfection is rare. And so it is with shooting, too.

    When a suitable shot is presented, and you’re confident in your abilities, you must do so at the earliest moment; procrastinating can cost you an animal, and potentially that once-in-a-lifetime trophy. Learning about, as well as practicing from, the various shooting positions can prepare you for whatever you encounter.

    In the subsequent sections, I detail some of the real-world field shooting positions, ranging from prone to standing, unsupported or “freehand,” along with middle-ground techniques. Not all shooters are comfortable with all of them, but the more versed you are, the better. Let’s begin with the most stable shooting position—prone. 

• "5 Red Dot Pistol Drills to Find the Dot Faster and Shoot Better"--Ammo Land.  This is an updated version of a 2025 article. The author begins by noting that it is not easy to switch from iron sights to a red dot, before giving a presentation drill. Alternatively:

    Another great way to get better at finding your dot is to work the draw and presentation in reverse. Start with the firearm extended and the dot on target, then reverse the presentation, breaking it down step by step. This is a great drill to do dry, but can be done with live ammo as well.

    Start in the ready position, on target. I use a B8, but you can use anything. With the dot on target, fire a shot, and then break the position down. Pull the weapon inward to the pre-presentation position, but try and keep the dot on target until the gun dips below your eyesight.

    From there, you can reverse the draw and reholster the firearm. Now you can draw and do a presentation drill. Then, repeat the process: start in the ready, fire a shot, and then break the form down, constantly looking for that dot.

• "Silencer Saturday #438: Wheel Gun Suppression With Revolver Seal"--The Firearm Blog.  In interesting product: a shroud that goes around the frame and cylinder of a Heritage Rough Rider to seal the cylinder gap when using a suppressor. 
• Mixing two great things: firearms and the Cthulhu Mythos: "The Tandemized Ruger MK IV"--The Truth About Guns: 

    I talked to the folks at TANDEMKROSS last year at GunCon and had a chance to shoot some of their customized guns at range day. Late last year I followed up with them and picked up the parts to do a build of my own. While TANDEMKROSS does offer complete pistols, I opted to put one of my own together.

    The MK IV is a pretty popular mod platform so you can buy just about any component you want individually. I picked up a new 22/45 Lite barreled upper in Flat Dark Earth as my base. It came with a threaded barrel, iron sights, and a Picatinny rail, but no bolt. From TANDEMKROSS I got one of their Cthulhu grip frames, bolt with Halo extended charging ring, compensator, fiber optic sights, and upgrade components for 22/45 magazines. 

    The primary upgrade piece from TANDEMKROSS is their Cthulhu lower. Cthulhu is an ancient eldritch horror from H.P. Lovecraft’s 1928 short story, The Call of Cthulhu. He’s represented as a colossal being with a tentacled face and is pretty much the epitome of uncaring evil. Why is the TANDEMKROSS lower named the Cthulhu? You’ll have to ask them that. I’m an H.P. Lovecraft fan so I’m good with it. I will say though, there’s nothing evil about their Cthulhu. 

• Some firearm history: "Beretta 1934: First Hit by the World’s Oldest Gunmaker"--Breach Bang Clear. Although Beretta is 500 years old, the article indicates that they didn't actually start manufacturing whole firearms until WWI. The Beretta 1934 was a .380 caliber that was adopted by the Italian military in 1935 and continued in production until 1991. The article discusses the history in more detail as well as describing how to field strip the pistol. 
• ".30-30 Winchester Ammo — Performance and Top Loads"--Mag Life. An excerpt;

    Shooters can expect 20 to 30 inches of penetration with the .30-30 Winchester. Traditional soft point ammo tends to penetrate about 20 to 25 inches, while solid copper monolithic rounds can achieve over 30 inches. Because of the slower velocity and heavy bullet design, .30-30 will typically travel through light barriers and bone without much deflection.

    Both soft point and hollow point rounds expand to roughly twice their original diameter, resulting in 0.60 to 0.65 inches. .30-30 is known for its excellent weight retention, and quality expanding loads retain 80 to 95 percent of their initial weight. Again, this is due to their moderate velocities, which prevent the intense forces that tear bullets apart. 

• "50/200 Yard Zero Simplified for 5.56 and .308 Rifles"--Ammo Land. The author writes:

The concept behind a 50/200 yard zero is straightforward: zero your rifle at 50 yards, and the bullet will cross the line of sight again at approximately 200 yards. This means that within this distance, your point of aim and point of impact will be very close, minimizing the need for adjustments. This is particularly advantageous in dynamic situations where quick target acquisition is crucial. I live in Northeastern Ohio where the longest shot I would realistically take is 200 yards, so this zero makes sense for my area. 

• "Concealed Carry Corner: Useful Vs Necessary Concealment Items"--The Firearm Blog. The author discusses three items: red dot; "upgraded" parts; and weapon lights/lasers. He considers the red dot to be necessary and the other two items as unnecessary. I am going to have to disagree. Red dots work well with race guns and openly carry duty weapons, but create snagging problem and increase bulk with concealed carry making it more difficult to conceal carry a weapon. Thus, they also fall into the "useful" category and, I would argue, actually detrimental with pocket carry. 
• "One Law at a Time: How Congress Dismantled the Second Amendment Over 90 Years"--The Truth About Guns. How Congress usurped the Second Amendment starting with the National Firearms Act, which tested the waters by justifying the violation of the Second Amendment as merely a form of taxation; and then when nothing happened, abandoning the taxation excuse and just moving on as if Congress had the inherent authority to regulate firearms. 
• "How to Vacuum Seal Rice for Long-Term Storage"--Modern Survival Blog.  Short version: "Yes, you can vacuum seal rice for long-term storage. For best results, use dry white rice, seal it in smaller vacuum sealer bags, keep it cool, dry, and dark, and protect the bags inside a bin or bucket so they do not get punctured."
• "14 Survival Supplies Most Emergency Kits Are Missing"--SHTF Preparedness. Some things that can be easy to overlook: a manual can opener; extra eye glasses; important documents; work gloves; dust masks or respirators; etc. I was a little disappointed to see no reference to nail files or clippers which are important to avoid injuries (and infections) that would result from a torn nail, and just plan hygiene benefits by having short nails which won't accumulate dirt and other material. I would also include nail brushes. 
• "How to Sharpen a Knife"--The Alpha Survivalist.  The author begins by noting that "[i]f a knife is properly taken care of,  it should never have to be “sharpened” it should only have to be honed or touched up. So to start honing your knife you can use many different things, but for this I will  just use the tools that are made for the job. I’ll start with an Arkansan sharpening stone."
• "How Many Gallons in a 20 lb Propane Tank?"--Modern Survival Blog. From the article:

Quick Answer: A properly filled 20 lb propane tank holds about 4.7 to 4.8 gallons of propane. Many exchange tanks contain only 15 lb, which is about 3.6 gallons.     

• "My 10-Step Guide to Preparing for an EMP"--Modern Survival Online. The author discusses each, but the basic 10 steps are:

1. Stock up on basics;
2. Assess vulnerabilities;
3. Get a generator;
4. Invest in radios;
5. Consider an older vehicle;
6. Protect critical gear with a Faraday cage;
7. Have an alternative method of heating your home;
8. Get analog tools and gadgets;
9. Establish a family contingency plan; and
10.  Improve your skills or learn new skills to become a Renaissance man.

• "Real World Solar Charging"--Blue Collar Prepping. 

    This winter, my parents gifted me a set of RV solar panels that they have no real use for as virtually all of their RV time is spent in parks with full hookups. Most of mine is as well, but there are places that I enjoy camping that do not have utilities at each site. In these places, you're constrained to what you can haul and what you can generate, and these constraints mean I have 58 gallons of water and whatever amperage my batteries are charged to when I leave home. When I reach the ends of that, I need to either be headed home or have a way to resupply.

    Today we'll look at recharging those batteries. Without an electrical outlet to plug into, my charging options are pretty limited:

•  I can hook my truck electrical system to the trailer, similar to jump starting, but that's very inefficient and doesn't provide a good charge to RV batteries. 
•  I can hook a generator to my trailer and create 120v power, which works very well with regards to convenience and utility, but it is quite loud, which the neighbors don't appreciate. Generators are also fairly heavy, require regular maintenance, and take up quite a bit of space. 
• Use a small solar array.

Guest Post: Zombie Apocalypse Movie Theater, Part IV - Micro-Theater

The Realist is back with another guest post:

Post apocalyptic improvised movie theater inside an
abandoned building. (Bing AI Image Creator https://www.bing.com/images/create/)

Zombie Apocalypse Movie Theater, Part IV - Micro-Theater

Disclaimer: All products mentioned in this article were purchased by myself. I did not receive free samples, evaluation models, or other compensation from any manufacturer or retailer. I have no formal relationship with any manufacturer or retailer mentioned in this article - I have only been an arms-length customer. All brand names and product names used in this review are the trade names,  service marks, trademarks, or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Further, this article reflects my unique circumstances and subjective opinions with regard to performance and other characteristics of the products discussed. Your mileage may vary.

    The power has gone out and you don't know if it will be returning any time soon. Your family is going stir-crazy. To provide a couple hours of normalcy, you invite your equally stir-crazy neighbors over to your home for Zombie Apocalypse movie night. You pop some popcorn on a small gas camp stove and set up a small movie theater with your battery powered projector to watch a few hours of movies.

    While most of the Zombie Apocalypse Movie Theater project has focused on ways to set up an informal movie theater environment for larger groups of people, I have also been looking at trying to produce a minimalist ZAMT configuration for a small group of people.

    A minimalist movie theater should include a battery-powered projector, a battery-powered amplified speaker, an audio cable to connect the projector to the speaker, a smaller projector screen, and a USB flash drive for storing movies. Optionally, a tripod could be included to support the projector, and a small power-bank with an appropriate charging cable could be added to extend the operating time of the projector. Further, the components of this minimalist movie theater setup should be selected such that they will fit comfortably in a small backpack.  

Micro ZAMT components. From top to bottom, left to
right: three small Bluetooth speakers including a JBL Flip 4 on the right, the
TMY V98 projector with its remote control, the Kodak LUMA 350 projector with its
remote control, the Kodak LUMA 75 projector, a small hard case, a zippered EVA
case, and a nano USB flash drive in the foreground. The 12 ounce soft drink can
is for scale.

 Projector

    There have been many battery powered "pico" projectors sold over the years.Unfortunately, most battery powered pico projectors seem to have a relatively short market life before they go out of production.

    (Terminology note: Some people differentiate between "pico" and "pocket" sized projectors, with the pocket sized being a little larger than the pico sized projectors. Both are still very small.)

    I have tested three currently available DLP (Digital Light Processing) "pico" projectors that are very small, operate for at least a couple of hours on their built-in battery, and have an audio output jack to facilitate hooking up to an amplified speaker. Two of these projectors have a native resolution of 640x360 pixels (360P), which I have found to be acceptable for movie viewing (see the Kodak LUMA 75 DLP projector discussion in Zombie Apocalypse Movie Theater, Part II (https://practicaleschatology.blogspot.com/2024/10/zombie-apocalypse-movie-theater-part-ii.html)), while the third projector has a native resolution of 854x480 pixels (480P).

    Kodak LUMA 75 DLP projector (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078NCG82N/): This projector has a native resolution of 640x360 pixels (360P) and properly handles higher resolution source material with varying aspect ratios. I measured its light output at 57 ANSI lumens. It ran 1.9 hours on its built-in battery. This projector requires 5 VDC (Volts Direct Current) via USB-C for charging. This projector does not support a remote control. This is the smallest of the three projectors discussed in this article.

    TMY (NUTROMO) V98 DLP Projector (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GWHV8P2W/): This projector has a native resolution of 640x360 pixels (360P) and properly handles higher resolution source material with varying aspect ratios. I measured its light output at 50 ANSI lumens (45 ANSI lumens advertised). It operated 3.2 hours (3.5 hours advertised) on its built-in battery. This projector requires 5 VDC via USB-C for charging. This projector comes with a remote control.

    The TMY V98 is a strange little projector, with the reviews suggesting lots of problems (dead-on-arrival, failed after a few minutes, customer returns sold as new), and the seller creating a new Amazon listing to escape all the bad reviews. While my V98 projector may have been a customer return, it worked perfectly out of the box and performed properly for several hours of operational testing. I bought it because it was deeply discounted, but would not have considered it at full price. At full price, the V98 is the same price as the Kodak LUMA 75, with the Kodak LUMA 75 being a better projector.

    Kodak LUMA 350 DLP projector (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWMFDL3J/): This projector has a native resolution of 854x480 pixels (480P) and properly handles higher resolution source material with varying aspect ratios. It has three brightness modes: "High", "Normal", and "Eco". I measured its light output at 154.1 (high), 116.0 (normal), 85.8 (eco) ANSI lumens. Battery operation was 2.0 hours hours on high, 2.8 hours on normal, and 3.6 hours on eco. This projector requires 15 VDC via a small barrel connector for charging. This projector comes with a remote control.

    The Kodak projectors have been on the market for several years, which is both good and bad. The good is that these projectors have a proven track record and the manufacturer has had time to work out the design bugs. The bad is that some may consider their limited feature sets and lower resolution to be a detriment. I don't care about being able to stream from Netflix or do wireless smartphone screen mirroring. The lower resolution does not annoy me when watching a movie, although it would drive me crazy if using any of these projectors to display a PowerPoint presentation. I do care about portability, battery operating life, and how well they handle the aspect ratios of various movies. Both Kodak
projectors perform well for my needs.

    There are many pico/pocket DLP projectors sold on Amazon. Very carefully scrutinize the descriptions, especially for the more inexpensive listings. Some are just a bare projector with no ability to play movies from a USB flash drive or a micro-SD card. Others lack an audio output jack, and rely solely on Bluetooth for connecting to external speakers. If possible, find and download the owners manual for the projector to verify features if you are unsure. (Just because a USB-A port is present does not mean it will play movies stored on a USB flash drive. Similarly, what looks like a hole for the audio output jack may be a window for the IR sensor for the remote control.)

    The cheap twenty-dollar projectors might be categorized as "pico" (or "pocket")size, but they don't have built-in batteries and they otherwise suffer from poor performance. The twenty-dollar projectors operate on 12 VDC, although most will also operate on 5 VDC. But, at 5 VDC, the already dim light output is much dimmer. They could be powered from an external 12 volt battery, but that is added complexity for a very poor result.

Speaker

    While these pico projectors have surprisingly capable built-in speakers, a battery powered external speaker would improve the overall sound quality of the movie viewing experience.

    The external speaker I have decided on is a standard battery-powered Bluetooth speaker that has a 3.5 mm audio input jack. Even though many projectors can pair with a Bluetooth speaker, I do not want to use Bluetooth because the 200 millisecond (one-fifth of a second) delay in the audio can be very annoying.

    There are many battery-powered Bluetooth speaker options available. I settled on a JBL Flip 4 speaker, which is the last of the JBL Flip series to have a 3.5 mm audio input jack. Later models of the JBL Flip lack the input jack. Many, but not all, of the no-name Chinese Bluetooth speakers also have a 3.5 mm audio input jack.

Movies

    I did not include a DVD or Blu-Ray player due to the extra bulk and setup complexity. Instead, I decided to dramatically simplify the setup by relying on a USB flash drive to store the movies. I specifically chose a 64 GB nano flash drive because of its low profile and because some projectors cannot read a USB flash drive larger than 64 GB. A low-profile USB flash drive makes it easy to just leave it plugged into the projector - one less item to worry about losing.

    The movies loaded onto the USB flash drive were either ripped from DVDs I own or public domain movies downloaded from Internet Archive.  

Side view diagram of projector and screen
alignment. With regular projectors, the axis of the lens must be aimed at the
center of the screen. With DLP projectors, the axis of the lens must be aimed at
the bottom center of the screen. The axis of the lens should be perpendicular to
the plane of the screen.

 Projector Screen

    If practical, avoid using a blank wall as an improvised screen with these pico projectors. A quality projector screen will dramatically improve the viewability of the projected image. For this micro ZAMT setup, a Da-Lite pop-up screen or a vintage tripod screen is not practical since those screens are bulky.

    For the projector screen, I decided to go with a small IOLIEO fabric screen. As discussed in my ZAMT Part III article (https://practicaleschatology.blogspot.com/2025/06/guest-post-zombie-apocalypse-movie.html), the IOLIEO screens consist of two cloth layers sandwiched together - a thick white front layer, and a black back layer. The black backing solves the problem of light passing through the screen reflecting back from whatever is behind the screen. The IOLIEO screen discussed in the ZAMT Part III article was 84 inches diagonal (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D9VPRNNW), but 72-inch and 60-inch diagonal IOLIEO screens are also available.

    Since the IOLIEO screens are cloth, they fold up very compactly. The IOLIEO cloth screens come with two different types of mounting hardware for attaching the screen to a wall, along with cords for suspending the screen between two trees or two vertical support columns. The eyelets on the IOLIEO screens are large enough that screws or nails could also be used to attach the screen to a wall.

    Due to the widely varying circumstances under which this micro ZAMT may be used, I'll leave supporting/mounting of the screen as an exercise for the reader.

Tripod

    While a small tripod is optional, it will make setting up the projector much easier. Since these projectors are small and light weight, an inexpensive aluminum tripod is a practical option for supporting the projector. These inexpensive tripods are fairly light weight, with some weighing as little as 1.3 pounds. A tripod will make setup and proper alignment of the projector with the screen easier.

    I would not recommend a tripod any cheaper than the Amazon Basics 50-inch tripod. There are cheaper tripods, but they are very flimsy and have leg sections thinner than a regular pencil.

    If you want to purchase a used tripod, make sure it either has a captive 1/4"-20 screw or comes with the quick release plate with its captive 1/4"-20 screw. Avoid the tripod if the quick release plate is not present. While modestly priced quick release plates are readily available on Amazon (there are many styles and sizes), having to purchase a quick release plate could eliminate the cost savings of a used tripod.

    If you have a tripod, first set up the screen, then mount the projector to the tripod and adjust the height of the tripod so that the projected image is properly placed on the screen without any keystone issues.

    Most regular projectors (i.e. non-DLP projectors) require the lens to be pointed at the center of the screen. Most DLP projectors require the lens to be pointed at the bottom center of the screen. (Ultra Short Throw projectors are outside the scope of this discussion.)  

Kodak LUMA 350 projector charging with a PD trigger
cable, set to 15 Volts, from a PD power bank.

 Accessories

    I highly recommend some kind of case to protect the projector during transport. While I prefer hard cases, they can be bulky. EVA (Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate) zippered cases are inexpensive and will protect these projectors from most normal handling and transportation abuses. EVA cases are generally cheaper than hard cases.

    A power bank would allow you to extend the operating time of your projector (e.g. show more than a single movie), and potentially allow you to recharge your projector and Bluetooth speaker while AC power is not available.

    If your projector operates/charges off a 5 VDC power source, an inexpensive power bank is sufficient. If your projector does not operate/charge from a 5 VDC source, there are more flexible power bank options available.

    With the advent of rapid charging for tablets, smart phones, and some laptop computers, the USB Power Delivery (PD) standard was developed to provide a way for a PD-compatible device to negotiate with a PD-compatible power source to provide the needed charge voltage. Every PD-compatible device I have personally seen uses USB-C for its power input, although not all devices with USB-C are PD-
compatible.

    To charge/operate the Kodak LUMA 350 projector from a power bank, I purchased a "PD Trigger Cable" (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FNMV127Y/) and a PD-compatible power bank (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BJQ7F16T/). The cable incorporates the smarts necessary to negotiate with a PD-compatible power source to have it deliver the selected voltage. The USB-C end of the PD trigger cable plugs into the power source, in this case a PD compatible power bank, and the other end of the cable plugs into a non-PD device, in this case the projector. The cable comes with a variety different adapters for various sizes of barrel connectors.

    (If you want to know more about USB Power Delivery, this web page is useful: https://www.ecoflow.com/us/blog/usb-pd-versions-complete-guide)

    If you include a power bank, be sure to include the necessary USB power cables to reach your projector, and to recharge the projector and speaker after use.

    The only audio cable that is necessary is a 3.5 mm audio cable. If you want the amplified speaker to be placed in front of your audience, a cable that is ten to twenty feet (3 to 6 meters) would be necessary. If you hang the speaker from the tripod supporting the projector, a short 3 foot (1 meter) cable would be adequate.
 

Everything needed for the micro ZAMT, including an
inexpensive aluminum tripod on top of its storage bag, the JBL Flip 4 Bluetooth
speaker, an IOLIEO cloth screen, the Kodak Luma 350 projector (USB flash drive
inserted in the back of the projector) with its remote control and EVA zippered
case, a PD power bank with a PD trigger cable, a ten-foot audio cable, and a
micro-USB charging cable for the Bluetooth speaker. Fully collapsed, as shown,
the tripod is 17 inches long.

 Conclusions

    The micro ZAMT is optimized for maximum portability and setup simplicity. The equipment selection described above is sufficient for a living-room sized venue. Battery-powered pico projectors are surprisingly capable for their size, and if used in a darkened room, they project sufficient light to fill a moderately sized projector screen with a bright crisp image. A battery powered Bluetooth speaker allows the movie sound to be heard by everybody in the room. And, a small USB flash drive for storing several movies further simplifies the ZAMT.

    While highly recommended, a case for the projector and a tripod are optional. A moderately sized power bank and necessary cables are optional but beneficial.

Postscript

    In case you are wondering, I am having way too much fun with the Zombie Apocalypse Movie Theater project, which is why there is another installment to the series.

Gun & Prepping News #84

Some links that may be of interest:

• "Concealed Carry Permit Holders Remain Among America’s Most Law-Abiding Citizens"--Ammo Land.  The article notes that "[t]he arrest rate for concealed carry permit holders is about 1.7% of the arrest rate of the general population," and about 1/5 of the estimated arrest rate of police officers. 
• "CMP Doubles Lifetime Limit on Surplus 1911 Pistols"--Guns America.  CMP has been trickling out the military surplus 1911 and 1911A1 pistols, but I suppose that even with that the pistols must not have been selling as strongly as they hoped, because the lifetime limit has now increased from 2 to 4.
• "Century Arms’ Centurion 11: Can A $400 1911 Be A Good Buy?"--The Truth About Guns. The reviewer thought it was a pretty decent firearm for the price, but it comes with standard 1911A sights, so not easily adjusted. 
• "The Magnum Legend: Ruger Super Redhawk"--The Mag Life. The author relates:

The Ruger Super Redhawk is a large-bore revolver that hit the gun market in 1987, meaning it has nearly 40 years of use under its belt. That first model was released in .44 Magnum—understandably so—with later models including .480 Ruger and .454 Casull. The Super Redhawk came on the heels of the Redhawk, launched in 1979. Unlike the original Redhawk, which is designed more for carry and self-defense, the Super Redhawk is definitely a hunting handgun. There’s no denying it. That doesn’t mean it isn’t fun to shoot in general, though, because it is.    

It is long barreled weapon designed to mount a pistol scope. I've shot the Redhawk (I know a guy that has one in .45 Colt/.45 ACP) but never the Super Redhawk. 

• "Concealed Carry Corner: Is The Glock 48 the New Standard?"--The Firearm Blog.  The author essentially is arguing that with the new higher capacity magazines available for the Glock 48, it will replace the Glock 19 as a default "do it all" self-defense, concealed carry weapon. He writes:

For over two decades now, the Glock 19 has been the golden child of concealed carry pistols, with what many call online the perfect blend of size, capacity, and weight to be an all-season carry gun compared to other options on the market. Combine that with the reliability that Glock is notorious for and there was a gold standard born. If you read online forums where people debate the best carry gun of all time or even read a Top 5 article about carry guns, the Glock 19 is almost always on the list, if not on top of the list. Being a mid-size option on the market with 15+1 capacity and being bulletproof reliable makes it a tough option to rule out for something to depend on to protect yourself day in and day out. 

 But, he adds:

[I]f we are looking at a direct comparison to the Glock 19, the Glock 48 has a number of similar features while being almost half the width. With the release of Glock’s factory 15-round slimline magazine, the Glock 48 becomes a slim variant of the Glock 19 with the same length and height but significantly thinner than the Glock 19, while offering the same capacity. The most important factor after overall weight when it comes to a carry gun is the overall thickness and size. The length of the Glock 48 doesn't affect concealability, but being a slimmer version of the Glock 19 makes carrying it all day, every day in hot weather much easier.  

• "The SIG P365 Family: Still the Benchmark for Everyday Carry"--Guns America.  I think the author of this piece may disagree with the author of the article just above this. This author claims: "The plain SIG P365 still earns its place as a daily carry pistol because it balances concealability, capacity, shootability, and trust better than almost anything in the micro-compact 9mm world." The author also states:

    The standard P365 is still the heart of the lineup and, for my money, still one of the best pure carry guns ever made. Mine wears a Wilson Combat grip module, a red dot, an aftermarket slide because my original slide is too old to be cut for an optic, and that is the extent of it. The Wilson grip improves the texture and the feel in my hand without changing the footprint, and the optic does what optics do, which is let me put rounds where I am looking faster and with less thought under stress.

    What I want to emphasize is that those two changes are preferences, not corrections. Out of the box, the P365 ships with steel tritium night sights, a usable trigger, and a degree of reliability that has been proven across millions of rounds in the field. I have never felt undergunned with it, and I have never felt the need to fix anything fundamental about it. It conceals so well that I genuinely forget it is there, which for an all-day, every-day carry gun is the whole point. This is the one I trust when the day is ordinary and when it is not.  

He also discussed the P365X, XL, and Fuse. Frankly, I wonder if the P365 or one of the larger variants will be the one to inherent the generalist pistol category from the Glock 19. 

• "Harry’s Holsters IWB Speedloader Carrier"--Revolver Guy. The article outlines the process the author went through with designing a product in conjunction with Harry's Holsters and some experimentation on where to carry such a speedloader carrier. As for placement, the author states: "I think the most promising place to carry a speedloader on the belt, when you’re carrying your gun AIWB, is to take advantage of the hollow created by the gun’s cylinder, immediately forward of the gun." As for the final product:

The Harry’s Holsters IWB Speedloader Carrier is composed of a tall and thin body with an IWB clip on the outside, and a leather backer on the inside. The body is 3-D printed, and sized to accept a specific model of speedloader. My two samples were for HKS J-frame and K-frame .38/.357 revolvers, but there are available carriers for 5-Star and Safariland loaders, and .32/.327 caliber options as well.

They are selling for about $90. The article also covers the author's testing of the product.

• "The MAC IX Review: An MP5 Alternative Most Shooters Can Actually Afford"--The Truth About Guns. It's almost $800 which is nice, but it is a direct blowback design, not a roller delayed like the MP5. About the only similarity is that it uses MP5 magazines. 
• Related: "Best MP5 Clone Buyer’s Guide [Field Tested]"--Gun Digest. This 2025 article covers some non-HK clones (although some are built on HK machinery).  But their prices, as of last summer, were also $1,300 or more (unless you wanted the .22LR version).
• "Best Ranch Rifles: A Modern Ranch Rifle Revival"--Recoil.  By "Ranch Rifle" the author is looking at something that is semi-auto with a traditional butt stock, using a detachable box magazine, and shooting .223 or an intermediate cartridge like .300 BLK or 7.62x39. Like Ruger's "Ranch Rifle" back in the day, which was simply a Mini-14 with the cuts necessary to mount scope rings. The rifles the author is comparing are the Ruger Mini-14, CMMG BR4 Dissent, Fox Trot Mike Ranch Rifle, and SIG Sauer MCX Regulator. The latter three are AR-15 derived weapons mating an AR style upper with a redesigned lower that could accept a traditional style stock. While the free-float barrels and skeletonized hand guards are great for attachments and help with accuracy, they lack the clean lines of the Mini-14 and look "tactical" rather than "ranch". 
• "How to Start Dry Fire Training (Without Overthinking It)" by Grace Torrence, The Firearm Blog. The author explains: 

    I define dry fire as the act of practicing firearm handling and shooting skills without live ammunition. It allows shooters to build repetition and consistency without having to make a range trip or spend large amounts of money on ammo. While I was in college and then in grad school, dry fire became crucial to my development as a competitive shooter, and I attribute much of my success to it.

    Many skills can be improved through dry fire, including trigger control, sight alignment and acquisition, draws and presentations, reloads, and target transitions. More advanced shooters can even train movement and firearm transitions. Dry fire is a great way to develop these skills at home while simultaneously building muscle memory.

    Although dry fire can never fully replace live fire, it can make live fire training more productive. As you develop new skills, the muscle memory you’ve built will help make the application of these skills to your live fire practice much easier. Dry fire can also help with skills maintenance for shooters who have limited range access. By using dry fire to routinely practice specific skills that don’t necessarily require ammo, like draws and reloads, you can free up your limited range time to focus on shooting-specific skills.

• "Can Civilians Buy Body Armor? Laws and Restrictions Explained"--The Tactical Gear Blog. Not something I have to worry about in Idaho, but something that might be an issue in some states or jurisdictions. 
• "Caches – Preps of Last Resort"--Gat Daily. The author explains: 

Caching is a concept that’s been around for a very long time. The basic idea is to stash gear and supplies in a hidden location so that they can serve as either a resupply point or a backup to your primary equipment. This presupposes that your cache remains undiscovered as well as undamaged between the time you place it and when you go to retrieve it.

He then goes on to discuss appropriate containers, contents, and what can go wrong. For instance, writing about containers, the author notes:

Traditionally, these sorts of caches are buried, so the container needs to be able to withstand the pressure and weight of the soil above and around it. While there are numerous ways to pull this off, one of the most common approaches is to use PVC pipe as the cache container. That’s what was recommended in Ragnar Benson’s book forty-odd years ago, and it’s still a workable solution today. 

One of problems that is too infrequently discussed is the difficulty in retrieving a buried container. If you have watched any videos of people trying to recover buried containers, what they often discover is the pressure of the earth packed around the outside of the cache makes it extremely difficult to remove the cache container from the earth, particularly if it is in a tube buried perpendicular to the ground surface. And it is problematic if you are having to quickly retrieve material from a cache but it is going to take hours to dig out the cache tube. The author suggests using two tubes: an outer tube into which a smaller tube (with the cached materials are stored) is inserted. Make sure you have a strong enough strap or handle attached, however, to lift the full tube out.

    Another great piece of advice: "The biggest rule of caching is never put anything in a cache that you’re not comfortable never seeing again. This isn’t the place for treasured family heirlooms or anything exceptionally valuable. Instead, think along the lines of you’re down to nothing, and you desperately need to resupply as you travel from Point A to Point B. What would you want or need?" 

• "Power Outage? What Size Generator for a Freezer (And How Long to Run It)"--Modern Survival Blog.  The author outlines the issue:

    A long power outage doesn’t just mean the lights go out. It can quietly wipe out hundreds of dollars of frozen food sitting in your freezer.

    Meat, garden harvests, bulk buys… all of it starts warming the moment the power stops. And the worst part? You often don’t realize how close you are to losing everything until it’s too late.

    The good news is that keeping a freezer (or refrigerator) cold during an outage is much easier than most people think. You don’t need a huge generator. You don’t need to run it 24/7. And you definitely don’t need to burn through fuel unnecessarily.

    That means even a small portable generator can prevent hundreds of dollars of food loss.

 He also notes:

You don’t need to run a generator continuously. A full chest freezer can stay frozen 24–48 hours without power. During an outage, many people run a generator about 1 hour every 8–12 hours to maintain safe freezer temperatures. Use a thermometer and keep food below 32°F (0°C).

The wattage you need will vary according to the size and type of freezer, with the author giving the numbers for a small chest freezer, a medium chest freezer, and a refrigerator/freezer combo. He also ran a test using his freezers. He has a lot more advice and tips on the difference between starting watts versus running watts, suggestions as to types of generators, how long to run the generator to keep the food frozen, and more, so be sure to read the whole thing.

• "An ancient solar storm left clues in tree rings and a famous poet's diary: 'Red lights in the northern sky'"--Space.com. From the lede:

The solar cycle was several years shorter and the sun was experiencing an unusually active phase at the beginning of the 13th century — at least, that's the story told by evidence left behind in tree rings and historical records that suggest a burst of protons and enhanced coronal mass ejections battered Earth between the years 1200 and 1204 CE. 

•  "The 2026 Hybrid Survival Kit: Smart Tech Gear With Analog Backups"--Survival Life. The author explains:

    A Hybrid Survival Kit is a deliberate pairing of modern, battery-powered technology with a mechanical, physics-based backup. It means building a loadout where your Plan A runs on microchips, but your Plan B runs on gravity, friction, and magnetism.

    For every digital tool in your bag, there is a low-tech, bombproof equivalent sitting right next to it. It is not about “buying more stuff” to be a gear collector; it is about building a Silicon-to-Steel Bridge. You use the silicon (chips) to buy you time and awareness, and you use the steel (analog tools) to ensure you don’t die when the chips fail.

An example: a GPS unit backed up with a map and compass; or a USB-rechargeable dual-arc plasma lighter backed up with a ferro rod. 

•  I had included this in a recent Weekend Reading post but thought I would include it here in case you missed it: "Government Food Confiscation Laws: How Private Food Stores Were Seized in History and What Legal Mechanisms Still Exist"--Preppers Will. The author begins:

    Most people assume that the food stockpiled in their pantry, freezer, or basement belongs to them unconditionally. Under normal circumstances, they are absolutely right. But history tells a far more complicated story, and the legal frameworks governing food supply, distribution, and access during emergencies reveal a side of government power that most people rarely think about until a crisis forces them to.

    Government food confiscation laws, whether formally codified or embedded within broader emergency statutes, have existed in various forms across nearly every major civilization. And in the modern United States, the legal infrastructure for federally directed food resource management remains very much intact, even if rarely invoked.

    Understanding the history of how governments have seized, rationed, and redistributed private food stores is not just an academic exercise. Whether you are a prepper planning for long-term food independence, a policy researcher, or simply a curious citizen, knowing how these laws work and where they come from gives you a clearer picture of the relationship between individual property rights and state power during crisis scenarios.

    From Stalin’s grain brigades to the U.S. Office of Price Administration during World War II, and from the Defense Production Act of 1950 to the FDA’s modern mandatory recall authority, the legal machinery behind food control has always been more extensive than most people realize.

While we generally think of OPSEC regarding food stores as necessary to prevent a mob of hungry people from showing up at our doors, the more likely scenario might well be police or other law enforcement showing up to confiscate your food items. You might also want to check out my post, "An Example of Why OPSEC is Important" for an example of the application of anti-hoarding laws in place during WWI which resulted in the prosecution of a couple living in Washington D.C. for hoarding. As I noted, "The 'offenders' were caught because they were informed on by a friend of the local 'Food Administrator.'" 

Signs You Are In A Collapsing Society

The New York Post reports that copper theft has become so prevalent in Los Angeles that the City's Department of Water and Power wants its own police force to deal with the problem. 

    The LA Department of Water and Power made the request in a letter sent to the City Council, pointing out that the Port of Los Angeles and Los Angeles airports have their own police authorities.

    The agency already employs security guards, but “they lack the authority to detain or arrest suspects, intervene in crimes in progress, conduct searches, or carry firearms for enforcement purposes,” the letter said. 

    The department currently depends on local law enforcement to respond speedily, but that’s unreliable in remote locations where there is critical infrastructure, it added.

    If such an armed force was granted, the department expects to add 20 to 50 officers, who would have the authority to carry a firearm, make arrests and investigate thefts, in addition to handling jobs like dispatch and crime analysis. 

The article indicates that wire theft alone costs the city $20 million per year, while setting up such a police force would cost $9 million with an additional $6 million per year operating budget.  

     Of course the problem is not limited to just Los Angeles as this 2024 article from Wired makes clear: "The Green Economy Is Hungry for Copper—and People Are Stealing, Fighting, and Dying to Feed It." The article begins by recounting an attack on South African utility employees by a gang armed with automatic weapons, adding:

    In most places, power companies are a pretty dull business. But in South Africa they are under a literal assault, targeted by heavily armed gangs that have crippled the nation’s energy infrastructure and claimed an ever-growing number of lives. Practically every day, homes across the country are plunged into darkness, train lines shut down, water supplies cut off, and hospitals forced to close, all because thieves are targeting the material that carries electricity: copper.

    The battle cry of energy transition advocates is “Electrify everything.” Meaning: Let’s power cars, heating systems, industrial plants, and every other type of machine with electricity rather than fossil fuels. To do that, we need copper—and lots of it. Second to silver, a rarer and far more expensive metal, copper is the best natural electrical conductor on Earth. We need it for solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicles. (A typical EV contains as much as 175 pounds of copper.) We need it for the giant batteries that will provide power when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing. We need it to massively expand and upgrade the countless miles of power cables that undergird the energy grid in practically every country. In the United States, the capacity of the electric grid will have to grow as much as threefold to meet the expected demand.

    A recent report from S&P Global predicts that the amount of copper we’ll need over the next 25 years will add up to more than the human race has consumed in its entire history. “The world has never produced anywhere close to this much copper in such a short time frame,” the report notes. The world might not be up to the challenge. Analysts predict supplies will fall short by millions of tons in the coming years. No wonder Goldman Sachs has declared “no decarbonization without copper” and called copper “the new oil.”

    As the energy transition gathers speed, the value of copper has also soared. In the past four years, the price of a ton of copper has shot from about $6,400 to more than $9,000. That, in turn, has made electrical wiring, equipment, and even raw metal fresh from the mines into juicy targets for thieves. All around the world, hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of the metal has been stolen—and countless lives have been lost. With the possible exception of gold, no other metal has caused so much death and destruction.

 After describing expanding copper production in Africa and environmental impacts of a huge open pit copper mine in Chile, the article returns to copper theft:

    The treasures these mines produce are magnets for some astonishingly brazen criminals. By the light of the full moon, bandits in Toyota Tundra pickups roll up alongside trains that are hauling copper slabs from the mines high in the Atacama down to the coast. With perhaps a whispered prayer to the spirits of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the bandits leap aboard the copper cars, slice through the ropes securing the 180-pound slabs, toss them into the beds of the speeding trucks, and disappear into the night.

    The problem is so acute that the Chilean national police have set up a special copper task force. But trains were still being robbed regularly when I visited Chile in 2022. And not just trains, for that matter. In January of 2023, a team of thieves hit the country’s main seaport, overpowered a handful of workers, and made off with a dozen containers full of Codelco’s copper—more than $4 million worth.

    No one knows exactly how much copper is stolen every year across the world. Thieves typically sell their wares to no-questions-asked scrapyards and recyclers, who strip off cable coatings and other nonmetallic materials and then shred or melt down the copper. Anyone can do it: The metal can be melted with blowtorches or small furnaces you can buy on Amazon. There are plenty of online videos that can walk you through the process. Once rendered into generic form, stolen copper can be mixed with legally obtained metal. At that point it’s easy to sell into the regular market, its origin essentially impossible to trace.

    It’s safe to say, however, that the amount stolen each year is many, many millions of dollars’ worth—possibly billions. In one particularly audacious theft in 2023, nearly $200 million worth of copper and other metals was lifted from Aurubis, Europe’s largest producer. The biggest heists, at least in the US, are often inside jobs. In 2013, police shut down a ring that had ripped off as much as $80 million worth of copper ingots from an Arizona mine. Prosecutors said that workers in on the scheme would open the gates for trucks driven by their confederates, who loaded them up with raw copper and drove right back out. The metal was sold to recyclers in California, who blackened it to make it look like scrap and then shipped it to China. Unraveling the plot took nerve. At one point, a company rep from the mine found a severed goat’s head nailed to his door.

    Most American copper thieves, however, are small-time opportunists drawn to a laughably easy score. So much copper is just left out in the open. It doesn’t take much skill or daring to tear out wiring in an abandoned building, break open an air conditioner sitting behind an apartment block, or snatch a manhole cover on a quiet suburban street. Thousands of copper thefts are reported each year. The booty includes fire hydrants, a 3,000-ton bell, a bust of Orville Wright, and at least one urn containing human ashes.

    The cost of fixing the damage often far exceeds the value of the stolen metal. Ripped-out cables have shut down drinking water supplies in Hawaii, streetlights in Missouri, airport runway lights in Washington, and whole subway lines in New York City. The US Department of Energy has estimated that copper theft causes $1 billion worth of damage every year to facilities and businesses considered critical infrastructure.

    Then there’s the shocking number of lives lost. Again, no one knows the exact numbers, but just from scanning through 10 years or so of local news articles I found dozens of reports of Americans who were fatally electrocuted while trying to steal live copper wire. And at least one security guard who was murdered trying to stop one of those thefts.

    In South Africa, though, widespread poverty, ineffective police, and soaring metal prices have turned copper theft into a major industry. Mines are rich targets, even those that don’t extract copper. Their subterranean networks of shafts and tunnels need power to run lights and digging equipment. That power, of course, is carried by miles of electric cable, conveniently left unguarded and out of sight. On any given day, hundreds of desperate people are risking their lives to get that metal.

    They’re known as zama zamas—roughly meaning “take a chance” in Zulu. These illegal miners clamber down mine shafts on ropes or handmade ladders, then make their way into the tunnels. There, they set up underground camps. Hundreds of zama zamas may be living underground at any given time, some spending weeks or even months down in the tunnels.

    It’s an astonishingly common and deeply disruptive crime. A single mining company, Implats, reported around 800 incidents of cable theft in 2021. Stolen cables have forced companies to shut down mines for weeks at a time.

    It’s also a phenomenally dangerous way to earn a living. Illegal miners have died by the dozens in gas explosions, floods caused by heavy rains, and other accidents. In 2021, a mining company sealed off a ventilation shaft that a group of zama zamas was using to supply their compatriots underground. Desperate, the miners blew open the hole with explosives. Police and private security guards wound up in a pitched battle with the escaping zama zamas. At least eight people were killed.

    Above ground, gangs have hijacked dozens of trucks carrying copper to South Africa’s ports, making off with millions of dollars’ worth of metal. Meanwhile, the electric grid is being plundered so often and so thoroughly that the whole country is affected. In 2021, the railway company Transnet reported that more than 1,000 kilometers of overhead power cables had been stolen. A recent report from the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime notes that “while two security guards may have proved a deterrent in the past,” gangs “now come in groups of 20 or 30 and are often heavily armed, with ‘spotters’ shooting at patrol vehicles.” Cell phone towers, water pipelines, and electric power stations are similarly under assault. Thieves disguise themselves as workers dispatched to tear up underground cables, or bribe actual power company employees, or just show up brandishing guns and use four-wheel-drive trucks to rip cables out of the ground.

    Ordinary South Africans pay a heavy price. Children have died falling into manholes after their covers were stolen. In addition to disrupted train lines and power, water, and phone service outages, a Johannesburg hospital was kept closed after someone stole its copper pipes, cables, and electrical equipment. Police believe rivalry between gangs involved in stealing cables spurred two mass shootings that left 21 people dead in the Johannesburg area in 2022. And a number of security guards trying to protect some company’s copper have also been wounded or killed—like Moqadi Mokoena, the Johannesburg guard shot to death in his truck.

    The wave of copper theft has sparked a backlash of vigilante violence in some impoverished townships. Suspected thieves have been assaulted, beaten and occasionally lynched. “This is the only language that criminals understand,” a resident of a town where an alleged cable thief was beaten to death told local media. In March of 2023, four electric company workers were killed in a Johannesburg suburb by a mob that mistook them for cable thieves.

The solution to all of this suggested by the writer is to focus on copper demand. And this means that rather than shifting from gas powered vehicles to electric vehicles, which will consume even more copper, that we build out "public transit, subsidized ebikes, and developed more walkable cities[.]"

    The Wired article indicates, however, that we have exploited the largest, easiest to mine, deposits. But that may not be the case. In March of this year, the discovery of one of the world's largest deposits was discovered in Argentina. Popular Mechanics reports: "Geologists May Have Found One of the World’s Greatest Treasures. Some Say It’s Too Dangerous to Dig Up." 

    Located along the border of Chile and Argentina, the Filo del Sol copper deposit has been under investigation for years for potentially being one of the largest copper deposits in the world. And that makes sense, considering this treasure is nestled along the Atacama Desert—long known for its immense copper reserves due to its location in the Andes and its placement within the eastern portion of the Ring of Fire.

    However, an initial mineral resource estimate completed in 2025 suggests that the companies in charge of mining this area—the U.S.-based Lundin Mining and BHP—may have stumbled upon five times more metal than they bargained for.

    According to a statement from Lundin Mining, the assessment estimates the presence of up to 13 million tonnes of copper, 907,000 kilograms (32 million ounces) of gold, and 18.6 million kilograms (659 million ounces) of silver. This update, gathered from data collected from 400 additional exploration holes, came from the discovery that deeper mineralization of copper far exceeded the estimates that were closer to the surface. According to AFP, Filo del Sol could prove to be richer still, as experts dig deeper and explore the resource’s northern and southern boundaries. 

It is the altitude at which the deposits sit that make it potentially dangerous to mine.

    And last year, Newser reported on a new copper mine in Arizona expected to come online in late 2028.  

    So not all is doom and gloom.   

Related:

• "Cable theft: A growing problem around the world"--Enlit. 
• "South Africa rail, power revamp hinges on ending cable theft"--Engineering News.  
• "The ‘perfect storm’ that could cost South Africa billions – and threaten power supply"--Business Tech.