Gun & Prepping News #70

 Just some gun and prepping related links that I thought interesting or useful:

• "Concealed Carry Corner: Can Carry Guns Be Outdated?"--The Firearm Blog.  An excerpt:

The hard truth about many older carry guns is the fact that they are almost all still extremely capable and good options. Of course, there will be better options that are more efficient with a higher round count and smaller overall size, but the older models can still be extremely effective. The two models that are still some of my favorites that many people have stopped carrying are the original Glock 43 and Glock 26. These two are still really useful and the overall size of the original Glock 43 is fantastic for smaller pocket carry where the slightly larger frame of the Glock 43X is better on a belt set up to me.

• "KelTec Announces the KP50 and MP50: 50 Rounds of 5.7"--The Firearm Blog. This appears to be an updated designs over the original P50 that moves the magazine to the bottom of the weapon making it easier to switch magazines, and also offering a better pistol grip. 

The original P50 was a proof of concept that happened to be commercially available. The KP50 is the finished product. Bottom-loading drop-free magazines, a proper trigger group, AR-style controls, and a real accessory mounting system. Everything that was awkward about the P50 has been addressed. 

• No. "Is the .380 Auto Obsolete?"--Firearms News.  The article isn't really about whether the round obsolete but how it can be made better. The author notes that there are three strategies: (i) use a lighter, faster bullet that will increase the odds of penetration; (ii) stick with something about the same speed and weight as Browning's original design; or (iii) use a heavier bullet with deeper penetration. Each as its own advantages and disadvantages. But here are the author's thoughts on a defensive load:

    While I am not normally one to advocate the carrying and usage of full metal jacket ammunition for personal protection, in this caliber FMJ provides peace of mind knowing you will get consistent penetration deep enough to reach vital organs. While the initial wound cavity might not be as drastic as a JHP, it has consistent performance from start to finish. The reason I choose a flat point over the more traditional round nose FMJ is due to the added and wider frontal area. This flat nose acts much like a 148-grain Mid-Range Hollow Base Wad Cutter from a .38 Special, producing a more pronounced wound cavity than that of a round nose, with penetration that leans less on the side of over penetration. Another advantage to the flat point is it is less likely to deflect off of bone or other tougher mediums, and will be less likely to push its way around vital organs (more likely with a round nose).

    While I and some others prefer to carry FMJ ammunition for the added penetration, the best performing .380 Auto JHP load is, in my opinion, hands down the Hornady XTP 90-grain JHP. This controlled expansion JHP design is the only one I have tested that will consistently provide enough penetration to meet the FBI protocol depths. Due to this it is the .380 Auto JHP load I recommend for self-defense. With an impressive advertised velocity of 1,000 feet per second, my chronograph results came in 4.9% lower through the Walther PPK/s, averaging 951 feet per second. While expansion is considered "minimal" at .40-.44 of an inch, the disruption to tissue due to this expansion places it above FMJ in terms of terminal performance. Penetration averages 13.5 to 14.5 inches which exceeds the FBI 12-inch minimum. It is also a great choice for those who may worry about over-penetration with FMJ loads.

You can get a sense of this dynamic between either good expansion or good penetration, but not both, by looking at the Lucky Gunner gel tests of the .380. The ShootingTheBull410 YouTube channel did a series of videos on trying to find a good .380 round for micro sized pistols, testing them in calibrated ballistic gel with a denim clothing barrier. His "wrap up" video setting out his conclusions can be found here. The top rounds he found were any of the loads using Hornady XTP bullets and the Federal Hydra-Shok. (As a side note, his videos can also be found on the Internet Archive and downloaded).

• "BCA Announces the .380ACP BC-102"--The Truth About Guns. It seems that .380 is regaining popularity as a defensive round. From the article-cum-press release:

    Bear Creek Arms (BCA ) just announced a new pistol, this time chambered in .380ACP.

    The BC-102 will be available as a complete handgun, or the barrel and slide will be offered separately as a conversion for existing 9mm guns. 

[snip]

    The new BC-102 is BCA’s Glock 19 Gen 3 clone, but chambered for .380ACP. The pistol features a 15 round magazine capacity and a barrel made of 416R stainless steel with a stainless steel finish.  

• "Smith & Wesson Releases Model 940-3 J-Frame Revolver"--Ammo Land. A snub-nosed revolver using 9mm. The barrel is slightly longer (2.17-inch) than a .38 snub nose (1.9-inch) and it is heavier than the aluminum frame .38 Specials (23 ounces versus 14.4. ounces)--probably reflecting the higher pressures at which 9mm functions. It also has real sights. And, of course, it uses moon-clips. When I first got serious about shooting, .38 Special ammo was just as common to find as 9mm. But, at least in my area, the gun stores generally carry very little of it or .357 anymore. 
• ".41 Magnum – The ‘Do-It-All’ Caliber"--Guns Magazine. This sort of fills the same niche as .40 S&W and 10mm fill in the semi-auto pistol market. It can be downloaded to be an effective self-defense round and loaded up to almost .44 Magnum performance (but with less recoil) for hunting or a woods gun. 
• "The .338 Winchester Magnum Is a Cartridge That No Longer Makes Sense"--Outdoor Life. This seems like sacrilege. I have a book on hunting brown bear and polar bear that is adamant that the .338 is the smallest acceptable rifle cartridge for such game. But that book is probably 3 decades old at this point and times (and bullets and cartridge offerings) have changed. The author if this piece is an Alaskan guide that had relied on the .338 when trying to track down wounded bear, but now uses a .30-06 "loaded with 175-grain Lehigh Defense Controlled Chaos bullets which are fracturing copper hollow points. I can tell you from experience, those will shoot through a moose and leave a massive wound channel when fired from a .308. If I feel the need for more, I’ll step up to the .375 Ruger." The author isn't suggesting that you ditch your .338 rifle if you are already invested in the caliber, but that if you are just starting into rifles for larger and/or more dangerous game there are other cartridges that can do just as well or better with less recoil and/or greater terminal performance.  

• "NSWC Crane’s New Drone Killer Cartridge (DKC) Technology"--The Firearm Blog.  A couple new multi-projectile rounds intended to shoot down drones. "The primary advantage of the DKC technology over shotgun ammunition is its greater range. Additionally, this ammunition is designed to be used in standard-issue firearms with no modifications, so there is no need to have a separate dedicated anti-drone weapon or attachments." 
• "Suppressors and Hearing Safety: What Decibels Actually Tell Us"--The Truth About Guns. The author notes that "140 dB is the commonly accepted threshold where unprotected ears enter real risk territory for acoustic trauma when it comes to single gunshots. To put it simply, this means that if the noise you’re hearing is at 140 dB or greater, then you are actively doing damage to your hearing." Unsuppressed guns, according to the article, routinely exceed 160 dB at the muzzle and 140 to 150 dB at the user's ears. But because "the best suppressors meant for a 5.56 AR-15 on a standard 16-inch barrel measure around 138 dB peak at the ear," you will still want to use hearing protection even when using a suppressor. 

It’s not quite the same for rimfire guns with suppressors. Silencer Shop’s quietest suppressor guide shows .22 LR cans regularly hitting 110 to 125 dB at the ear with the right host and subsonic ammo. That’s well under the impulse threshold, but in reality is still pretty loud: in the realm of a jackhammer or passing ambulance than a gunshot. No surprise there: .22 LR starts from a lower pressure baseline, and suppressors can capture nearly every bit of muzzle blast. Those numbers make extended plinking sessions genuinely pleasant without uncomfortable muffs or plugs. 

• "The Ideal Buffer Setup for a 10.5″ Unsuppressed AR Pistol"--The Truth About Guns.  I know that I had linked to this article in a post this last week, but I thought these comments from the author to be apropos to the subject of silencers:

 The industry today is flooded with suppressors, and it’s becoming increasingly rare to see an unsuppressed AR out on the range.

There are, however, those of us who choose to remain unsuppressed; whether it’s the NFA red tape, the cost of a can, or simply the fact that a suppressed AR-15 still isn’t hearing safe. You’re still going to reach for your ear pro regardless, so why bother?

• "Preppers: Choose Your Weapons"--Shooters Log. Some thoughts on weapons for a battery of survival/prepping firearms and why we need them. As to what, the author writes:

We need a rifle, shotgun, .22 rifle, a scoped rifle, and big and small handguns. The rifle is likely going to be the AR-15. I think some compromise may be in order and a versatile scoped rifle such as the M1A may take the place of the AR and the scoped rifle—unless you live out west and need to hunt the mountains. The .22 small game rifle must be chosen. 

The rifle he recommends is the AR15, although he notes that an M1A with a scope could pull double duty as the defensive rifle and scoped rifle.  As to the why:

    Not long ago in my home county, a man and woman, both about 60, were murdered in their own home in a vicious, edged weapon attack. A young man they had befriended was killed as well. The monsters responsible traveled three states to the south and murdered again before being caught.

    The neighborhood was good and a place many of us would like to live, nestled in the mountains. The POS involved was staying at his mother’s house across the way and chose a likely victim. Many such convicts are filled with hate and intense self-loathing. They will kill at some point; it depends on the trigger.

    The worst possible combination in a human being is being mean and stupid, and we see no end to these traits among criminals. In my own neighborhood, I enjoy a good relationship with my neighbors to the north, south, and east. I have a buffer to one side that is a lot at present.

    We had a doper in a rental house—that didn’t last long. We had a drunken no good—who a pastor befriended—take his car and crash it. A pastor that lives beside him gave a fellow a ride to what was supposed to be his mom’s house and it turned out to be a drug den.

• And from a slightly different perspective: "Three Weapons Every Prepper Needs"--Prepping to Survive. The author explains:

    The new post-TEOTWAWKI world will find many people looking for food through the traditional techniques of hunting and gathering. Hunting is far easier if you have the right weapon and ammunition for the game you’re attempting to capture.

    At a minimum, there are three key weapons that every prepper should own. These weapons are not the extent of the prepper’s arsenal, just the bare minimum required to allow the widest variety of hunting options.

The weapons he recommends are: a .22 LR rifle, 12 gauge shotgun, and a .30-30 rifle.

• "Lifeboat Supplies"--Blue Collar Prepping. A list of items required to be carried on a lifeboat. But even if you don't need all the items for bugging out (or bugging in), it is yet another list to check to see if you have your bases covered. 
• "Understanding the Difference: Prepping Vs Hoarding"--SHTF School. Brief synopsis from the article:

... Prepping involves proactive preparation for potential disasters or emergencies, focusing on being self-sufficient and prepared to take care of oneself and others. Hoarding, on the other hand, is a reactionary response to perceived shortages, prioritizing self-interest and often causing harm to others. Preppers emphasize community and working together, while hoarders only care about themselves. Organization and practicality are important for preppers, who prioritize essential items with a specific purpose in mind. Hoarders, on the other hand, tend to accumulate valuable items without a specific purpose or usefulness. Preppers keep their stockpiles organized and out of sight, only checking on them periodically, whereas hoarders are constantly surrounded by their items and do not prioritize organization. Prepper stockpiles are not valuable or rare items, and preppers are not attached to their stockpiles but rather to the practical use they provide. In contrast, hoarders are emotionally attached to their hoards. Overall, prepping and hoarding are two distinct practices with differing intents and outcomes.

• "Best Jumper Cable Gauge (Size Chart) – What Gauge Do You Need?"--Modern Survival Blog. Not just the gauge, but also discusses how long a cable. Be careful of the ones that come in the cheap car emergency kits because they are often the smaller gauge cables only appropriate for small engines.
• "Is Manganese Steel Good for Swords?"--ZGT Steel.  The basic answer is "no". I've seen some ads for swords and knives for preppers made of manganese steel. This type of steel is very tough--it can withstand a lot of pounding for instance--but it is too soft to hold an edge, making it more suitable as a decorative item (a "wall hanger") than a real sword or knife. 
• "Thoughts on Traveling to Mexico"--Active Response Training. Greg Ellifritz writes:

    The cartels are responsible for bringing over 90% of the heroin and fentanyl smuggled into the USA.  They also bring in significant quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana.  In Mexico, the cartels often work extortion and kidnapping schemes against both Mexicans and foreigners alike.  Many cartels are also engaged in protection rackets extorting money from local businesses. 

    Most of the locals don’t like the cartels, but tolerate their operations because the cartels provide lots of jobs and occasionally fund infrastructure projects (building hospitals, schools, and roads) in the place of an impoverished government. 

    Since we are mentioning the government, we also need to note that the cartels have completely infiltrated all levels of the Mexican government including the politicians, judiciary, law enforcement, and the military.

The last paragraph is important. The massive corruption that we have seen in Minnesota and is being revealed in other states should tell us that the U.S. is in a similar position--criminal organizations have completely infiltrated all levels of our government, including the politicians, judiciary, and so on. That is why in the aftermath of the 2020 election various investigative agencies and courts not only ignored allegations and reports of voting malfeasance, but worked to shut down anyone attempting to investigate the matter; and it is only now that we are starting to see the reveals of fake ballots, miscounting, voting machines being hacked from foreign countries, etc. It was all to protect this criminal enterprise. 

• Related: "Model City: Portland’s Journey From Symbol of Chic to Shabby"--Real Clear Politics. An excerpt (bold added):

    Early last year, for example, Eager reported on his Substack, Oregon Roundup, about a man named Kevin Daniel Sanabria-Ojeda, whom authorities say is a member of the violent Venezuelan Tren de Agua criminal syndicate and who was arrested for attempted murder. According to Eager, Sanabria-Ojeda, along with an accomplice who remains at large, “kidnapped Maria Guadalupe Hernandez Velasquez outside her Seattle home, drilled into her hands with a power drill to force her to provide them her PIN for her debit card, robbed her of gold and cash, shot and wounded her and left her for dead in rural Washington.”

    Somehow Velasquez survived the ordeal and police traced the two criminals to a house in a Portland suburb that police reports describe as a drug den, with “residents possibly using drugs in the back yard, large numbers of people coming and going at night, possibly entire vans full of people, and people being dazed or drugged… and on a few occasions groups of young women or girls being present at the address.” 

    That house was also listed as the address of Uplifting Journey LLC, an addiction recovery provider that received $2.3 million in state Medicaid funds between April of 2024 and March of 2025. Eager has further documented that owners of Uplifting Journey, Julius Maximo and Espoir Ntezeyombi, have multiple ties to three men indicted in Arizona for setting up a $60 million Medicare fraud ring that was laundering money by sending it to Rwanda. One of the leaders of the Arizona fraud even co-signed the lease on another dubious residence owned by Uplifting Journey in the Portland suburb of Gresham. 

Bicycles After SHTF

I recently came across an article on bicycles as a mode of transportation for preppers/survivalists at Survival Blog, entitled "Mobility Without Petroleum or Electricity." The author goes over some of the different types or classes of bicycles--road bikes, mountain bikes, hybrid/commuter, recumbents, gravel bikes, and single gear--before discussing accessories and equipment for bicycles and a few other thoughts. 

    I've discussed bicycles before (see "Post SHTF Bicycles--Some Thoughts" and "Self-Defense While Bicycling") with both articles including links to other articles and resources. Like many other things involving prepping and surviving a SHTF event, what bicycle to choose is going to depend on many different factors such that it is not really possible to point at any one solution. But having used a single speed bike for two years as a missionary*, including in the winter and snow, I can tell you that such a bike may not be the best at any one thing, but it can probably do 90% of the things you would need from a bicycle as far as transportation and is mechanically simple. But if you are going to be doing a lot of rough riding on trails, you probably need something built for trails; and if you are going to be travelling a long distance on roads (by which I mean trying to cover long distances at a time, not a thousand trips back and forth to the local grocery store) you will also want a different bike; and if you have to do a lot of climbing hills, you definitely will want something with more gears.

    I think the three most important equipment or accessory items you will need for a prepper bicycle, however, are lights (both so you can see and be seen), some way to carry items, and fenders. 

    The lights we used on my mission were small lights attached to a generator or dynamo. When you wanted the light on, you flipped the generator over so the wheel of the generator rested against your front tire (the light and generator attached to one of the front forks). As you peddled, the generator would produce the power for the light. You can still get lights like these. However, you can also use a headlamp (which you should already have anyway) if needed. The advantage of the light and generator combo is just that you don't need to recharge it or get batteries. But it is another mechanical component that can wear out or break down, and it does add extra resistance making it harder to peddle--so, like everything, there are tradeoffs. 

    The prepping bike is useless without being able to carry cargo. The most basic equipment for carrying cargo is some sort of cargo rack to which you can strap items or attach panniers (aka, saddle bags). One time, while on my mission, we had to transport a fairly large TV from the local church to an apartment (and this was back when TVs used picture tubes, not the lighter flat screens of today). While probably not the safest thing to do, we were able to strap it to the cargo rack on the back of a bike and transport the TV from and back to the church. And while most delivery people had switched to gas powered scooters, it was not unusual to see someone delivering food on bicycles with special boxes on the back of their bikes to hold and insulate the food. 

    While panniers are great for protecting your gear or supplies from rain or prying eyes, they have their limitations which is the size and lack of rigidity. I would recommend having a basket of some sort to carry items like milk jugs and other groceries that might be of irregular size or that you don't want squished (e.g., loaves of bread). Better yet, have a couple. A basket attached to the handle bars works well for many items and, if you need to, you can put a daypack into the basket. I've also seen fold up baskets that attach to the side of cargo racks much like a pannier. While I haven't tried them, I've thought that it might be useful to have a basket like that on one side of my bike rack and a pannier on the opposite side. If you want to go low-tech, you can simply strap a basket (a plastic milk crate works great) to the cargo rack. 

    Another piece of gear I would make sure to have are fenders to help keep down the amount of water that will be splashed up onto you or your equipment when riding. 

------------------------------

* I just want to clarify that it wasn't a simple matter of biking from our residence to a church or some other location at the beginning of the day and returning in the evening. Rather, because we proselyted by stopping people on the street, we were on our bikes all day long, rain or shine, unless we were teaching lessons or taking meal or bathroom breaks. We generally would ride along a route, stopping as needed to try and talk to people, then ride a bit further, and so on. This was all week long (although we took time off on Sundays to go to church and had roughly 8 hours on another day--our Preparation Day--to do any shopping, write letters, engage in recreation, etc., followed by more proselyting in the evening). And, of course, being youths, we also did a lot of crazy stunts with the bikes, raced each other, and used them on trails and such for which they were probably never intended. 

Some Recommended Field Manuals from Raconteur Report

The Raconteur Report recently suggested four Army field manuals that readers should try and track down, being on the subjects of animal transport (1939), Army recipes (1946), repair of tents, canvas and webbing (1974) and tents and tent pitching (1956). 

    For the benefit of my readers, I have found sources of these manuals in PDF, although they might be earlier or later editions. I will link them by the year, so click on the date to go to the download link.

• FM 25-5 Animal Transport (1939). See also FM 25-7 Pack Transportation (1944) and FM 3-05.213 (FM 31-27) Special Forces Use of Pack Animals (2004).
• TM 10-412 Army Recipes (1944) (2003).  See also FM 10-23-2 Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures for Garrison Food Preparation and Class I Operations Management (1993).
• FM 10-16 Repair of Tents, Canvas and Webbing (now titled General Fabric Repair) (2000) (2013).
• FM 20-15 Tents and Tent Pitching (1945) (alternate).

Self-Defense While Bicycling

(Source)

Greg Ellifritz has a new post with the title "Your Tactical Training Scenario- Attacked on a Bicycle". It's not the first time he has addressed this topic, as this article is an updated version of an article published in 2014, and in 2013 he posted at his blog an article he had written for Concealed Carry Magazine on the topic of 10 self-defense tips for using a firearm when bicycling together with photographs that had not made it into the print edition. 

    While not as extensive of advice as Greg's, other authors have at least attempted to address the issue of concealed carry while biking, such as "Concealed Carry For Bicycle Commuters And Recreational Cyclists," a 2015 article from the Alien Gear Holster Blog, and this 2011 article from The Truth About Guns, "The Truth About Bicycle Carry." However, I used to be quite the avid biker and based on my experience with biking and concealed carry, I find the articles by Ellifritz to be more complete and accurate.

    For instance, my experience with concealed carry showed that certain carry methods were just not going to work well because of printing. If you have a loose, flowing shirt (e.g., the quintessential Hawaiian shirt), you can get away with strong side carry at a 3 or 4 o'clock position, but not at 5 o'clock. Small of the back is right out not only because of printing but because more than likely the shirt will ride up and get caught above the handgun clearly exposing it to view. I don't have experience with appendix carry while biking, but Ellifritz states that this method won't work very well because the bent over posture while riding will mean that you are constantly jamming the firearm into your body while peddling. 

    Greg recommends using a fanny pack, which is what I also found to be a good method of carrying, so long as the pack is rotated behind so it is hanging over your fanny (thus the name).  Otherwise it just gets in your way. Another advantage to the fanny pack is that you can wear a tight shirt or wear a shirt tucked in. In fact, if you go to my article on concealed carry and scroll down to the first photograph, you can see the fanny pack I use when biking. I've never had an issue with the fanny pack or losing my firearm, even after a couple violent accidents that had me flying over my handlebars. My particular pack was intended for a very small auto, but, with some judicious modifications, I was able get it to work with my snub-nosed revolver. It is so small that even people who themselves carry firearms don't identify it as a fanny pack for a handgun.

    In the last couple of years, however, I have actually switched over to using a Kit Bag made by Hill People Gear. The advantage I found to these is that they keep the gun in front of you (over the chest) and so are more accessible than the fanny pack with the pack twisted around to your back. The particular kit bag I have is the standard recon kit bag which features Molle attachments; but for lower profile, I think I would go with either the original kit bag or a snubby kit bag without Molle attachments.

    I had tried carrying a pistol in a pannier for a while, but it wasn't easy to access, I didn't always want or need to have a pannier, and I was uncomfortable with not having the firearm on my person. 

    Anyway, Ellifritz's article goes beyond just methods of carry to address potential ambush sites (although a person could simply push you over). He especially warns riders to exercise caution when riding on a roadway as a driver could easily strike you with the vehicle, push you, or force you off the road (see also this news article). 

    I guess to illustrate this point, I will relate a story told me by an avid bicyclist: He lived in Hawaii at the time and was riding on the edge of a highway when a truck coming toward him started to cross the lane and he could see the driver holding an arm out the window with something in the arm. He pulled loose his pump from under the bar and struck at the man's arm as the two passed. He heard something crack, but just kept peddling.

    Ellifritz also observes that speed is your friend, so keep going, don't slow down if someone attempts to stop or attack you. 

    If you are attacked and can't get away, Ellifritz advises using the bike as a barrier, weapon, or distraction. That means, putting the bike between you and a potential attacker. Even if the bike gets knocked down, the attacker will have to go around the bike or risk tripping and stumbling over the bike if he tries to cross it. Or, as Greg advises, push or throw the bike at them and use the distraction to draw your weapon or run away. 

    If you can lift the bike up a bit (about chest height) and angle the wheels so they are about knee high to the attacker, and rush toward the attacker you probably will force them to bend awkwardly at the hips to try and reach you or to back up. If they grab at the bike, it will probably be the wheels--just shove toward them and then let go once they grasp the wheels and make a break for it or draw your weapon.

    Finally, Ellifritz advises you to learn how to access your weapon if you have crashed--another reason not to keep your weapon in a pannier, basket or other type of bag attached to your bicycle--not to try and draw and stop at the same time, suggests attaching a less than lethal weapon (a baton or pepper spray) to your bike (even a bike lock can be an effective weapon), and recommends you unbuckle your helmet as soon as you stop so your attacker can't grab the helmet and use it to leverage you. Be sure to read the whole thing.

Related Posts:

"Post SHTF Bicycles--Some Thoughts"

Related Articles:

"Bicycle Maintenance"--Blue Collar Prepping.

"Bicycle Trailers and Cargo"--Blue Collar Prepping.

"BRACKEN: THE PATROL BIKE"--American Partisan. 

"This Is How to Survive an Animal Attack on Your Bike"--Bicycling.

"3 Smart Ways Cyclists Can Handle Drivers With Road Rage"--Bicycling.

"Bicycle Safety"--National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Post SHTF Bicycles--Some Thoughts

In most of these films, there always seems to be a gap between having a vehicle and gas and being shit out of luck, as if no other possibility existed.

--"6 Technologies Conspicuously Absent from Sci-Fi Movies" at Cracked magazine (discussing the lack of bicycles in post-apocalypse movies).

Adult Tricycle (Source)

The other day, while driving home from work, I noticed a couple older women (probably in their late-50s or early-60s) riding adult tricycles with the rear baskets/cargo areas filled with bags from the grocery store. Looking at them, I realized that the trikes would make pretty good post-SHTF transportation.

I suspect that most preppers think of a post-SHTF bicycle (if they consider it at all) as a "bug-out" bicycle: a mountain bike (typically), camouflaged and outfitted to carry lots of gear.

The ideal post-SHTF "bicycle"? (Source)

Something more realistic (Source)

The photograph immediately above is from an instructable entitled "Bug Out Bike - Apocalypse Bicycle," where the author describes how he/she made this particular bike, and the reasoning behind certain of the features. But a lot of people have thought about what is best in a "bug-out bike." See, e.g.:

• "Survival Bicycling: Part 1" at Survival Cache.
• "How To Choose A Bug Out Bike, by B.B." at Survival Blog.
• "Bug Out Bikes" at Bug Out Survival.
• "A Plan-B Bug-out Vehicle" at Survivalist Prepper.
• "Bug-In/Bug-Out Bicycle" at Survival Resources.
• "Build yourself a Bug Out Survival Bicycle…it doesn’t cost much to do it" (video) at Before It's News.
• "Bug Out Bike, The Benefit of Two Wheels" at Zombeas.com.
• "Spokes for Survival--The Bug Out Bike" at Stealth Survival.
• "My thoughts on bike as transportation in a zombie apocalypse" at The Morningstar Saga.
• "Bugout Bikes and trikes: How to Bugout by Bike or trike" by Happy Preppers.

However, if we are headed into a slow decline/economic crash, it is not like we will be heading for the hills. We (hopefully) will have jobs; we will still need to get to stores. But gas may be expensive or hard to obtain. Like many a third-world country. I suspect in that case many of us may have to resort to the humble bicycle for much of our transportation.

When I served as a missionary in Japan, and like most Japanese at the time, we used bicycles for our daily transportation, including grocery trips. (Since we proselyted in my area by stopping people on the street, we generally rode our bikes for 6 to 8 hours per day). The type of bike we used is referred to as a mamachari (mother's bike), although nearly everyone used them. (See also here for more information on the mamachari).

The mamachari (Source)

The photograph above is pretty typical of the type of bicycles I used in Japan. (It is similar to the bikes typically found in China and Korea, and Vietnam, and, I suspect, many other countries).  It is very simple (mechanically speaking) single speed bike. There is a basket at the front of the bike in which we would carry a backpack or bookbag with our supplies on most days, and groceries on a shopping day. On the back was a cargo rack, to which we could tie or bungy a box. On shopping trips, if we could not fit everything in the basket or on the cargo rack, we would dangle extra bags off the bicycle's handles. Since rain was a common occurrence, I carried a full sized umbrella stuck point first down between the seat and rear rack. Although I can't tell if this is the case on this photo, the small light on the front of the bikes I used was powered by a small dynamo (rather than batteries)--the light could be flipped so the wheel for the dynamo rested against the front tire and, as you peddled the bike, the turning tire would also turn the dynamo. Since it relied on friction between the dynamo wheel and the tire, it made it substantially harder to peddle the bike, as well. The bike stand (rather than a kick stand) made the bike more stable when loading materials on it. Although the mamachari is considered to be a city bike, we rode them everywhere. These bikes were easily maintained and cheap (so cheap, that, if anything broke or a tire went flat, most Japanese would simply abandon their bike or throw it away rather than fix it; this meant that there were literally piles of these bikes dumped in empty lots near large apartment complexes or train stations, providing a ready source of parts).

There are disadvantages to such a bike, of course. Being cheap, they weren't always built to the best quality standards. The single speed made it mechanically simple, but impractical if you had to climb really steep hills, and, obviously limited its top speed if you had to travel very far. (The Japanese didn't travel long distances on these bikes, but as missionaries, it was not unusual to have to bike several miles to appointments). But the basic premise is sound--something with wider tires (but not too big) for decent traction and balance, fairly simple to maintain and repair, and set up to easily carry groceries or other cargo (i.e., something generic rather than specialized packs or specific gear/equipment), and a comfortable, up right posture. A few things I would change from the basic design would be multiple gears (although I don't think you need 20+ "speeds"--three choices would probably be sufficient), and better brakes than was typical (although I don't think disk brakes are necessary).

The Route Home (or out of Dodge)

Modern Survival Blog has some suggestions on preparing a route to get home in the event of a disaster. Basically, this involves making note of back routes that allow you to get home while avoiding choke points. The post focuses on choke points caused by highway exit and entrance ramps as people try to get on or off the highway, and major streets and roads.

However, be aware of other considerations. I would love to be able to plan a alternate route like that suggested in the Modern Survival Blog article, but I have a major problem if I'm trying to get back via a car--I have to cross a river to get to my home from where I work. I can plan all of the secondary and back street routes I want, but at some point I have to travel across a bridge. Bridges are a natural choke point.

Other geographic features (natural or man-made) may similarly limit access. For instance, bluffs or hills may may create a natural roadblock, limiting the number of access points up or through the bluffs or hills. An interstate highway will similarly only have a limited number of overpasses. If you have to cross through or over these obstacles you may have no choice but to go through a choke point.

In some locations, you may also have to plot a route that avoids certain neighborhoods because of the threat of crime.

If you map your route, become familiar with it. Try taking the route at different times of the day and night, or during the week. Some routes that have little or no traffic on a weekend, may be congested during the week. Or streets that have lots of commercial traffic during the daytime, may be largely abandoned in the evening.

Check the route(s) periodically for changes. New development or other changes may attract or force more traffic through a particular street or road, or close down the road you had planned on using.

You may also want to consider foot or bicycle routes to and from work. For instance, in my case, in addition to bridges for vehicles, I'm aware of several additional pedestrian-only bridges that allow access over the river I mentioned above. Thus, foot travel allows me additional options that are not available if I stick with my vehicle.

Bicycle Repair

As we progress through our economic collapse, I notice more and more people using bicycles. And not the spandex wearing health nuts, but people obviously using bikes to commute or run errands. As fuel prices increase (and they will more than likely increase under the current administration),  more and more of us will be using bikes for short errands.

I recently had a problem with my bike--it developed a grinding noise while peddling. Taking apart the crank mechanism, I discovered that I needed a new one of these:

... a bracket bearing for the crank shaft. There are two--one on each side--one of which had completely burst apart. I had an older bike that I had kept for some spare parts, but it turned out that the parts I needed were incompatible. I bought a couple new bearing brackets, and kept the old one that was still good as a spare. However, it made me realize that there are certain spare parts that I need to set aside for repairing a bike beyond tires and tubes. Some parts will simply have to be scavanged or traded for, such as wheels, because buying extras would be prohibitively expensive. Casting about for advice on bicycling forums, I came across this one that seems to have some good comments as to standard parts to keep on hand.