The Farmer and the Viper Revisited

A couple of weeks ago, I discussed the Aesop's fables of "The Farmer and the Viper" and the "The Scorpion and the Frog," Both warm that evil people will act according to their nature, and being a good Samaritan to the wrong people can get you killed. My prior article was about Kayla Mueller who trusted that she could enter Syria and, because she was an aid worker, somehow be immune from the evils of the groups fighting for control there. But it is a risk here, as well. Case in point, as reported at The Daily Mail:

An Atlanta couple have told of the terrifying moment four men pretending to have had car troubles burst into their home and robbed them at gunpoint, shooting the father-of-two in front of his children.

Mike and Whitney Lash had just returned to their house with their two young children on August 16 when the men knocked on their door.

Mr Lash answered the door, and the men said they had just moved down the street but had a flat tire and wanted to borrow a jack, but Mrs Lash felt something was amiss from the start.

'I had a feeling that it was an excuse and we were about to be robbed. Right about that moment I saw them pull the gun on Mike,' she told ABC News.

As Mr Lash saw the gun, he tried to slam the door shut, but two other men suddenly appeared.

Mr Lash was shot three times in the his right leg as he attempted to keep the men out of his house.

The four men then forced their way in.

Mr Lash believed the gang were going to kill him and started praying.

'Lord, this is, I guess, the moment I will meet you today … if it is not your will, I am ready to stay,' he recalled.

Mrs Lash grabbed the couple's six-month-old daughter, Lucy, and the phone and ran into the yard calling 911.

Their other child, two-year-old Everson, was upstairs sleeping.

'I heard footsteps of someone running and two more shots that were aimed at me and my daughter,' Mrs Lash told ABC.

The intruder then caught up to her and the child and brought them back into the house.

Although the story is somewhat lacking in details, it appears that Mr. Lash simply threw the door open without ascertaining the identity of his visitors. Don't do that!

It is not uncommon for criminals to lure in a victim by pretending to need help or be hurt. A former colleague of mine, in explaining some bruises and scabs he picked up while on vacation, related that he and a friend had been walking back to their car when they saw a guy laying on the ground with another man next to him acting excited and calling them over for help. When they got close, two other men jumped out of some bushes and started to attack them. Fortunately, my colleague reacted quickly, kicking the one on the ground so he couldn't get up, and landing some solid blows on a couple of the others before grabbing his friend and running away.

I remember several years ago driving home with my family from a movie that let out late. It was dark. Turning a corner on which there was a convenience store, I noticed a young women laying on the ground around the side of the store. For just a second, I almost pulled in to see what was the matter, but resisted the urge. Sure enough, as I drove past, I looked into my mirror and saw the woman jump up, and a young man appear from the shadows. I'm sure she was bait for a trap.

The lesson here is that your need to feel better about yourself by being polite or helping someone is not worth the life or health of yourself or your family. I'm not saying to never help the person that comes to your door for assistance, or that is stranded along the road, but to act with prudent care.

Juxtaposition This--Answering for the Sins of the Father

• "The Case for Reparations" by Ta-Nehisi Coates, writing at The Atlantic. "One cannot escape the question by hand-waving at the past, disavowing the acts of one’s ancestors, nor by citing a recent date of ancestral immigration." (emphasis added).

• "Ending the Slavery Blame-Game" by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. at The New York Times. "The historians John Thornton and Linda Heywood of Boston University estimate that 90 percent of those shipped to the New World were enslaved by Africans and then sold to European traders."

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).

Quote of the Day--August 25, 2015

The only way to defeat the left is to revolt against them. Every institution they create must be smashed. Everything that gives them strength must be destroyed. Wringing our hands about Democratic constituencies, I mean dependents, being "unfairly" affected by doing things like terminating welfare with extreme prejudice has gotten us nowhere. 

--"Shut Up About Edmund Burke, Thanks" at The Right Stuff.

Juxtaposition This: The War on Coal and George Soros' Investments

Watts Up With That reports on collusion exposed between Governors, White House, and Tom Steyer’s climate advocacy groups. The article concludes:

“This is the 5th transparency report in a series that E&E Legal has published on the ‘green movement’ and its network of public, private, and business interests, and what is clear is that 1%-ers are using ‘climate’ policies to destroy politically disfavored industries in order to transfer wealth to the politically preferred,” said Craig Richardson, E&E Legal Executive Director. “The campaign by self-serving individuals must be made known to the public as policymakers consider this plan that will destroy parts of our economy and ruin the most efficient, affordable, and clean energy system ever created.” (emphasis mine).

Meanwhile, we learn of this:

Billionaire investor George Soros has opened new equity stakes in Peabody Energy Corp. and Arch Coal Inc., the country's top two coal producers, according to a Form 13F-HR filed Aug. 14.

Soros acquired more than 1 million shares of Peabody and 553,200 shares of Arch in the second quarter, according to the filing. He reported no other coal holdings in the period.

* * *

Both Peabody and Arch have seen their market values plummet amid extremely difficult operating conditions for domestic producers caused by competition from cheap natural gas, new environmental regulations and a slowing export market. (emphasis mine).

And that, kids, is the way to make money: use the government to drive down the price of stocks in companies you want, and then buy them up when they are cheap.

Magnetic Declination Map for North America

Click for larger image (Source) (h/t Woodpile Report)

A Quick Run Around the Web--August 24, 2015

"New Tricks" from National Geographic's photo of the day.

Some firearms related articles, and a couple miscellaneous articles that caught my attention:

Firearms Related:

• "Another 3D Firearm Approach: Plastic Casting"--at Weaponsman. Instead of 3D printing each receiver, casting the receiver in a mold.
• "Confessions of an Ordinary Gun Toter" at Shall Not Be Questioned. Some realities about concealed carry and your options.
• "A Different Twist On Home Defense – Manually Operated Rifles!"--Shooting Performance. An article exploring options other than the standard AR for people in jurisdictions with restrictive gun laws. Notwithstanding the title, the author explores the use of semi-auto pistol-caliber carbines and an M-1 Garand, in addition to lever and pump action rifles.
• "Hornady Critical Defense"--a 2011 article from Shooting Illustrated with ballistic information for the Hornady Critical Defense ammo.
• Terminal Ballistics Research reviews the 7.62x39 (M43). Basic report is that it is a poor to fair round for light to light/medium game. Because of its low velocity, it has poor expansion even using soft-tip bullets, which falls off rapidly after 100 yards; soft-points generally perform the same as FMJ by 200 yards.

Other Stuff:

• "Seven (7) Key Trauma Management Tips and Tools For the Armed Individual" from Shooting Performance. Good points for managing gunshot wounds, or even deep puncture wounds.
• "Antediluvian Methods? An Evidence-Based Approach to Wound Irrigation" from emDocs (h/t Active Response Training). Conclusion: (i) Tap water is equally efficacious as saline for routine wound irrigation in uncomplicated wounds and immunocompetent patients (actually, from the data in the article, it was somewhat better to use tap water); (ii) Ideal irrigation pressure can be achieved using a 19-gauge or similar needle or a tap faucet; avoid IV bags and bottles; (iii) Very little data exist regarding ideal volumes of irrigation – texts recommend 60 cc/cm.; and (iv) Data is promising, but not yet convincing, that clean scalp and facial wounds may be closed safely without irrigation.
• "Why salad is so overrated." "There’s one food, though, that has almost nothing going for it. It occupies precious crop acreage, requires fossil fuels to be shipped, refrigerated, around the world, and adds nothing but crunch to the plate." Some points:

1. Being mostly water, salad vegetables are pitifully low in nutrition.
2. Salad fools dieters into making bad choices. Once you've added the dressing and other fixings, not only does it lack nutrition, but it is now high on calories. 
3. Salad has unfortunate repercussions in our food supply, including that it is the chief culprit for foodborne illnesses, accounting for 22 percent of all food-borne illnesses from 1998-2008 according to the CDC.

• "Schengen in danger, Germany Warns." Schengen refers to the open-border agreement between most of the members of the EU. The article is about Germany and France wanting to set quotas for accepting immigrants in an attempt to force other EU members to take more illegal aliens. However, quotas are meaningless if the Schengen system continues; the immigrants will simply move across the open borders anyway, even if originally "assigned" to another country. 
• "At noon on August 24, 79 A.D., ... Mount Vesuvius exploded, propelling a 10-mile mushroom cloud of ash and pumice into the stratosphere."

Revolvers ARE More Reliable Than Semi-Auto Pistols

Something you will never see with a revolver (Source).

Prepared Gun Owners has published a piece entitled "Why Revolvers Are NOT More Reliable Than Semi-Auto Pistols." In the article, the author cited Tom Givens for the proposition that the only reason that revolvers have historically been considered more reliable than semi-auto handguns is because in the early 20th Century, primers used corrosive salts (mercuric salts) that were hygroscopic (absorb water from the air) and, therefore, could over time, become unreliable in their ignition. Thus, according to Givens:

... when auto pistols first became common the mercuric ammunition was all that was available and misfires were common. If a revolver misfires the user simply pulls the trigger again and a fresh round comes up for another try. If a cartridge in a semiauto pistol misfires the user must perform an immediate action drill to get the gun back in operation. With modern ammunition a properly maintained semiautomatic pistol is about as reliable as a machine can be.

Givens is highly certificated as a firearms instructor, so hopefully this is situation where he is being quoted out of context, because there is a whole lot more to the issue than pre-WWII primers.

1.  Semi-Autos Can Be Finicky.

Since Givens begins by using the .45 ACP 1911 pistol as an example, I will begin there. Like many semi-automatic pistols made prior to the mid- to late-1980's, it was designed to use ball ammo. As in: "ye shall use ball ammo only, and only ball ammo. Ball ammo is all ye shall use." Older 1911's (and by this, I mean pre-1990) were extremely unreliable with hollow-point ammo. But it is not just 1911s. Other popular semi-auto pistols were (are) equally unreliable (the Walther PPK, in particular, comes to mind). See, e.g,:

• "Checking Your Handguns for Feeding Problems: Round Nose Versus Hollow Points, by Z.T." at the Survival Blog.
• "The 1911 Sucks" at The Truth About Guns.

And its not just older firearms. Seecamp's web-page contains the following cautionary note:

It is always good practice to familiarize yourself with a defense pistol by test firing it using ammo for carry from the same lot number you were shooting at the range. Ammunition, even from the same manufacturer, varies or there would be no need for lot numbers. It is better to shoot only 43 from a box and load the last seven for carry than to shoot 200 or 2000 and then load for personal protection ammunition from an entirely different production lot. That is about the same as buying two identical guns and test firing one to check out the reliability of the other. Neither approach makes sense.

The Kitchen Table Gunsmith also describes how his Taurus 24/7 will only reliably feed ball ammo (which is verified by the owner's manual). Note that all of these cases involve properly maintained semi-auto pistols using modern ammunition. They just aren't reliable unless that modern ammunition is ball (FMJ).  In short:

Revolvers will digest about anything with gun powder in it. Semi-autos are a bit more finicky. Every semi-auto has a different ammo it absolutely loves to feed, and some it does not. Try a few brands and choose the one that feeds the most reliably for you. The experienced shooter says, "Run at least 150-200 rounds of your selected defensive ammo thru your firearm. If it goes off without a hitch, then and only then can you call it your defensive load".

And my own observations are that if your semi-auto does not reliable feed certain ammunition, it is not just a case of having to run a failure-to-feed drill and resume shooting. Typically, it will be running a failure to feed drill multiple times--perhaps with every single round.

2.  Magazines Can Be Finicky.

We are all familiar (or should be) with how bent magazine lips can have a negative impact on feeding. But even the design of the magazine can impact how reliable the weapon is with different types of ammunition. See, "1911 Magazine Analysis" (discussing how different magazine designs (all for the 1911) can impact feeding with different types of ammunition).

3.  Poor Design

Even the most reliable manufacturers can sometimes have a lemon. This article at Loose Rounds discusses some of the design changes made to the Glock 42 after it had already been introduced to correct complaints of feedings problems, including changes to the frame, magazine, and other internals. I had a colleague who ended up returning a Kahr handgun a couple years ago (unfortunately I don't remember the particular model number--it was a small 9 mm, polymer frame) because the casings were catching on polymer around or near the feed ramp and inducing misfeeds. And we are all familiar with the problems with Remington's R51 when it was introduced.

4.  Break-In.

 Although Glock pistols often are touted as having "out-of-the-box reliability," is isn't always necessarily so. And it certainly has not been the case with most semi-auto pistols. In the 1970's and 80's, a new 1911 would generally require fairly extensive gunsmithing to be reliable as a defensive firearm; and that apparently is still the case. Fortunately, that is no longer the norm when buying a semi-automatic, but there is still a substantial break in period:

Operational break-in is most often associating with semi-auto pistols, however it applies to revolvers as well. Most semi-auto manufacturers and other firearms experts recommend at least some break-in for EVERY semi-auto pistol that will be relied upon for personal protection, with recommendations of 200 to 500 most often quoted for complete break-in and 100 rounds noted as an absolute minimum - these guidelines even apply to John Browning's venerable 1911 pistols. For example Kimber America - a manufacturer of fine rifles and quality pistols - states on page 27 of their Compact, Pro and Ultra Operational Manual (3 and 4" barreled 1911 pistols) "...for proper Break-in of the firearm, shoot 400-500 rounds of Quality Factory Ball (230g. FMJ) ammunition, cleaning and lubricating the gun every 100-150 rounds". Similarly, Kahr Arms states on page 17 in their Operating Instructions for DAO Pistols, "The KAHR Pistol must be run through an initial break-in period before achieving fully reliable feeding and functioning. This pistol should not be considered fully reliable until after it has fired 200 rounds". While many shooters consider it less critical, breaking-in a revolver is important too, with guidelines of 100 to 200 rounds most often recommended for complete break-in and 50 rounds generally considered to be the absolute minimum. I strongly encourage everyone to BREAK-IN EVERY HOME-DEFENSE, CARRY or DUTY handgun, when NEW and AFTER any MAJOR work or alteration, by visiting the range and firing several boxes of ammo downrange, which should include at least a couple magazines or cylinders of the ammunition that will be used for defensive purposes. Be sure to stop every 50 -100 rounds to clean and lubricate the handgun.

5.  Complexity.

The Prepared Gun Owner's article points out that revolvers are more complex than semi-auto designs. That may be true now, but it wasn't necessarily true historically. I will agree that if something goes wrong with a revolver, it is generally a serious problem that will not be quickly or easily corrected. But more complexity does not necessarily translate across to more failures. And a semi-auto with a stuck casing, broken extractor, or other broken parts can present just a serious failure as a broken part in a revolver.

6.  Other Considerations.

There are other things that can happen when shooting a semi-auto to impact reliability. In a close encounter, the barrel and slide can be pushed out of battery. It is not uncommon for inexperienced shooters to limp wrist the pistol. And I have, on a few occasions, seen floor plates suddenly pop off a loaded magazine, dumping all the ammunition onto the ground.

Conclusion

So, yes, if you have a good design and one that came off the manufacturing line correctly made, a pistol (and magazines) in good repair, and are using ammunition that you know that your pistol will reliably feed, the semi-auto can be just as reliable as a revolver. And certain firearms--Glocks in particular--have deservedly good reputations for reliably feeding all sorts of ammunition. But contrary to what Givens apparently said, there is a lot more to the "revolver is more reliable than a semi-auto" than obsolete primers.

For preppers, particularly those that envision a serious breakdown in society, the issue of reliable feeding is a big issue. With a revolver, practically anything you can fit into the cylinder chambers will shoot. But if you are having to buy or scrounge ammunition from questionable or irregular sources, there is no guarantee that you will find ammunition that your semi-auto likes.

In short, a flat out statement that "semi-autos are as or more reliable than a revolver" is simply not true; and for someone that hasn't fully vetted their pistol or ammunition, it can be a dangerous misunderstanding.

North Korea's Saber Rattling

Tensions ran high this weekend because of North Korea's recent bellicose actions, including deploying 50 submarines. The Chinese were so worried that they deployed additional troops (including a least a brigade of tanks and artillary) to China's border with North Korea. And South Korea and United States military leaders reviewed the joint defense plan for defending South Korea from an attack. However, news sources are now reporting that South Korea and North Korea have reached an agreement to de-escalate tensions.

Survivalist Rides Out Wild Fire

"Survivalist rides out Washington wildfire in specially built 'dome home' and SURVIVES, as more than 374 square miles are burned in series of fires that are sweeping state"--The Daily Mail.