> TEOTWAWKI Blog: What have done lately to better prepare?

Pages

2/23/13

What have done lately to better prepare?

Been fairly good 'round here.

TEOTWAWKI wife volunteered me to give a disaster prep workshop for our church's women's group. Horrible operational security (opsec), but it was a small group of maybe 10 women - moms and so on - who are already of the same mindset and friends of the family.

That motivated me to put a few finishing touches on our bug out gear - namely stuff for the new Son #2; cloth diapers, some formula packets, etc.

So, our bug out stuff got sorted through and repacked. I'm pretty happy with where we're at with that stuff. I'll do a show-and-tell with my Eberlestock GS2 here in the next week or so. I know there are more than a few of you waiting on that one.

And, of course, to get all of our stuff to the meeting, we had a trial run of loading up the family Assault Utility Vehicle. I didn't time it, but with just me working, everything was loaded up in around the 5-minute mark that is the usual benchmark. We've got the bags, a big food bin, a cooking bin and propane stove, and then water and gas cans, which can ride on the roof rack.

At the workshop, I ended up talking for about an hour and a half--went a little long--on everything from everyday carry through to bug out bags, water filters, cooking and all kinds of things. Talked really fast and still didn't cover everything I wanted to, but it seemed to be well received by those in attendance.

One to-do that I walked away with was the need to put together a real budget sensitive kit, and from off-the-shelf stuff. I did the $40 a week series, but even that's out of reach for a lot of people. A $150 or so total investment is probably a good starting point. Will probably end up looking more like a fairly capable everyday carry bag than a typical bug out bag, which is generally where I lean for what's more practical anyways.

My new Mossberg 590A1 got a new buttstock. The factory stock has a very long 14 1/2 inch length of pull on it, which is awkward to shoot in the squared-up style that I shoot in, and even worse if you've got something like body armor on. So off it went and was replaced by a Hogue 12 inch length of pull stock. The Hogue stock is nothing to write home about, but it's substantially shorter and makes the gun handle and seat on the shoulder the way I want it to. If you've got long-stock problems with your shottie and don't want an AR-style buttstock, I'd check 'em out.

I want to throw some old-school wood on the Mossberg, but it looks like it's going to take some time to find the right wood pieces, since most of what I like is out of production at the moment.

Also got in some 12 gauge snap caps and have been practicing loading, combat loading, etc. with the shottie as well, as it is a new platform for me and significantly different from the semi-auto long guns that I'm used to. The goal is to get as fast as the competition guys are (or close), but not there yet.

Anyways, those are the highlights from around here. What's happening in your neck of the woods?