An Interesting Perspective On Remote Rural Living
Hermit has been living way out in the sticks for a shade over two decades. He wrote down some interesting observations about it. Be careful what you wish for. You just may get it. This also reminded me of an article by a couple who are getting older in the woods that Backwoods Home Magazine published awhile back.
My paternal Great Grandmother lived alone in her rural home until 90. Part of what made that possible was a helpful long time neighbor couple who were 30 years younger. The last 4-5 years he chopped and stacked the firewood for her and handled a few other heavier chores. I think the helpful relationships you can make over decades in an area are priceless. Being able to call the Johnsons and have their boy (who is probably at 25-40 not really a boy anymore:) to come move a couple heavy things or whatever from time to time is really helpful. Or course for major tasks such as re roofing multiple buildings or whatever you will probably need to hire a more formalized contractor or company but far more common than that are the times you need to move a heavy thing or replace a couple shingles. A bottle of good whiskey a couple $20’s or a couple boxes of rifle ammo is a cheap price compared to a strained back or a hernia as these sort of things tend to spiral in older folks.
I think living at your ideal rural home for a long time is realistic for most people who are generally healthy. Technology and some investments can go a long way toward minimizing maintenance and the physical component of some labor. Of course keeping your hand tools as a standby is a good idea but until SHTF why not take advantage of technology like weed whackers with skill saw blades for trimming brush, hydraulic log splitters, an ATV with a small trailer instead of a wheel barrow and the like are helpful. Also as the BHM article noted minimizing non essential tasks is wise. The pretty flower gardens out by the barn were a great idea and easy enough to do when 40 might not be a good idea at 65. An hour spent weeding the flower garden is an hour you are not fixing the chicken coup or weeding the vegetable garden.
Guess those are my thoughts on that.
Redundancy VS Collecting
I think we all have the debate between the gun collector on the left shoulder and the survivalist on our right shoulder. Sometimes the collector wins and sometimes the survivalist wins.
The collector likes this and that because they are cool or historic and the survivalist thinks that having lots of compatible guns is a good thing.
At the two relative extremes are a man in MT who we know that seems to have a well stocked gun store full of AR’s and Glock 9mm’s or another man who honestly has at least one of pretty much every firearm I can think of (one could probably make a game of guessing what he doesn’t own)with some redundancy but a whole lot of breadth.
I go back and forth on this one. Last fall I had some cash and got an M1 Garand. Probably would have been better off picking up another AR or an FN- FAL from a strictly functionalist perspective. That being said my left shoulder collector simply loves the M1 Garand. When I raise it to my shoulder it just feels right. I love the way it looks and its historic value. I don’t regret purchasing this gun at all.
Recently I was in the position to get a pistol for my birthday. This time the survivalist won out and I got a spare Glock 19 (the pic of the two is mine). The survivalist likes this very much because it can take the mags and ammo I already have. That I literally bought the gun with the mags it included, took them home and already had a reasonable amount of mags and ammo was very nice. Of course my ratio of Glock 9mm/mags /bullets went from my ideal situation to 50% of my ideal situation but that can be remedied in time.
The collector would have purchased a Beretta 92 Inox instead of a second Glock. He would have liked having a cool new stainless 9mm lying around but it would be another mag to keep track of (already got em but that isn’t the point:) and another platform in general. Eventually one will come home with me but not just yet.
The downside of picking up another redundant gun is that there is almost no joy to it. My last two redundant purchases were made, handled once and put away. This is very different from purchases of a new gun even if it is relatively less cool then said redundant gun. Even a cheaper more basic new gun is a joy as opposed to just being conceptually useful like a redundant firearm.
I am not entirely sure this is even something worth thinking about. As Hermit noted this discussion is relatively academic. While common calibers are a whole nother discussion the two do blend. Would some goblin notice the difference if they took a 30cal round to the chest from a Winchester model 70, a Remington model 700, a Mosin Nagant, an Enfield, a Springfield, or a Mauser? I don’t think so.
What about a Glock, a Sig, a Beretta, a P-38 Walther, a Luger or even a Broomhandled Mauser? Some are so common they are utterly utilitarian and boring while the last couple are prime collectors pieces. While I do think it there are some real points to having the more common of these pistols (reliability, spare parts, etc); would it make a difference which one you were holding if there was a goblin with a ball bat at the other end of the hallway? I honestly don’t think so.
The same could be said about a Taurus model 82, Smith and Wesson model 10, a Colt New Army, or a super rare and expensive Korth. Assuming the pistol in your hand or nightstand is in good working condition they will all do the same job. A Korth in the nightstand of a well off man isn’t going to do anything that a beat up (but still serviceable) old Taurus m82 or S&W model 10. I think revolvers are a somewhat unique case because they are close to impossible to easily repair on your own. As they say fixing an automatic (or most rifles) is as easy as a box of spare parts while a revolver is as close as a qualified gunsmith and while that may be an exaggeration it probably has at least some truth.
One great thing about common calibers is that in addition to being common for a very good reason they also tend to be chambered in a lot of different weapons over a long period of time. One could easily have a broad and diverse collection of firearms spanning the last 100 years chambered in 3-4 calibers for rifles and the same for pistols. While this isn’t quite the smallest logistical footprint it certainly isn’t a different caliber for every gun you own which is a nightmare.
The prudent collectors I know tend to have a good stash of mags and spare parts for most if not all of their weapons. They might have a gun or two for which spare parts are not available but their core stash of Enfields or Mausers or SKS’s or whatever are almost surely backed up by a tackle box full of spare parts and a good armorers book.
I believe that people who can only have a small collection of firearms; such as a basic firearms battery plus another gun or two would be best to stick with currently produced common caliber firearms from major manufacturers (unless they already own some relatively useful guns) . You might not think this is good advice and like anything else I say you have the inherant right to round file it but it is what I think. However for those who are going to own significantly more than that a relatively reasonable case could be made that guns which lean towards the collecting side of the house can be a useful part of your firearms collection. It is worth noting that of the people I know who lean towards the collecting side of the house there are usually some common caliber major manufacturer guns lying around.
Finances, Individual Responsability and Choices
In response to a couple of comments on a recent post. Bad things can certainly happen to anyone. No matter a persons job, income level, or other elements of their situation there can be a ‘perfect storm’ which will leave their financial situation completely fucked. The current economic situation (and past ones) has left many people in bad spots.
I however can not help but theorize that people with good skills/ incomes, relatively low debt and good habits of saving are probably doing better now then those without even if it is just relative. Having your 401k’s value take a nose dive is a lot better then having ‘your home’ foreclosed on and living with the Mrs and your 3 kids in Grandma’s spare room but it is still not a pretty picture. To this specific picture I have thought a lot. Unfortunately I have no helpful thoughts for those who are close to retirement age and just took a huge financial hit.
I do however have two thoughts for those between my age and 40ish.
1. As our recent relatively financial problems have shown, companies fail. This shows the benefit of having your money ‘in the market’ in a broader way such as index funds or mutual funds. While those can take a beating also they don’t get killed by an individual company failing. If you want to do a stock club with friends or stumble into a great potential stock by all means throw some cash into it. The people who pick winners and losers have lots of money to play with and time to do research plus all the great connections still can have iffy results. It might be prudent to only have individual stocks as a portion of your ‘money in the market’.
2. I heard somewhere that if you are going to need money inside of 10 years it should not be in the market. While I am sure the exact period of time could be debated (think I might have heard 5 years somewhere also) this principle makes a lot of sense. In any case I think any ‘expert’ worth their comfortable stylish office chair would say that the closer you get to needing your money the more it needs to be safe. At my age I can ride out a lot of up and down so the giant bag of pennies allocated for my retirement is mostly in stocks. Someone much over 40 is starting to run out of time for their portfolio to recover from a big hit.
3. This isn’t really based on anything but is probably worth thinking about. Diversify, diversify, diversify. Stocks and investments are great. CD’s and money market accounts are fine also. Having a nice little 5 acre place in the mountains to hunt or camp at is also great. A good stash of precious metals is a good thing. Maybe buying a couple firearms with cleaning kits, magazines and a few hundred rounds of ammo each could be a good way to hold value or even make a profit. I’m not so much trying to open the whole ‘tangible investments’ as I am saying to put your wealth into as many diverse areas as possible. This might not make you a millionaire but it might just help prevent you from becoming a hundredaire.
Oh yeah I am just some dude in his mid 20’s who knows almost nothing about money. I have not made a bazillion dollars in real estate or stocks not do I think the above ideas will help you do that. It’s your money so make your own choices but consider yourself disclaimed.
Thoughts?
quote of the day
“I generally ignore stupid laws”
-Hermit
My life experience has shown that most people tend to do more or less the same thing.
Hermit on FMJ’s for Self Defense
“I was once told by a fellow that being shot with ball is “only like being stabbed with an ice pick, while a hollow point makes a big hole.” My response was that if I stabbed him in the chest three or four times with an ice pick, I would probably accomplish what I wanted to anyway.”
-Hermit
Hermit on FMJ’s for Self Defense
“I was once told by a fellow that being shot with ball is “only like being stabbed with an ice pick, while a hollow point makes a big hole.” My response was that if I stabbed him in the chest three or four times with an ice pick, I would probably accomplish what I wanted to anyway.”
-Hermit
Got Nothing
I really just don’t have much of anything to say. The news is pissing me off and I think it may be time to take a cue from Hermit and not watch it for awhile. My concern that our economy is going to see a flight of investment after it becomes abundantly clear that private property and codified law are not respected. Not that I really care about some pension fund in Indiana (who would hire a money guy dumb enough to invest in American car makers anyway?) but when the rules change investors get scared off. Without enormous potential for returns (3rd world mining/ oil, etc) it doesn’t pay to play when the rules can suddenly change.
I am in a two week long combatives class which is good. Polishing up and refining old skills plus also gaining new ones will be a good thing. Also I am busier during the day which is good though needing to fit PT in earlier than normal (not going to happen on an individual basis) or in the evenings is lame, being constantly sore and covered with bruises is also lame but oh well. I have a couple of posts on combatives and stuff floating around the brain.
We are getting out of town this weekend. We are going to Panama Beach. I have not really seen much down here except a lot of woods so it will be good. Also I can really use some sort of a change of pace as I’ve been somewhat down in the dumps lately.
Went for a run this evening. Seems like you really need to exercise early or late down here to avoid heat stroke.
Will try to get something more normal up tomorrow.
Thumbing Through The J&G Catalog
I bought something from these folks at one point or another, think it was M1 Garand en bloc clips. In any case I get their catalog. Lots of guns and some ammunition. As Hermit has noted in the past anytime you see CALL instead of a $ amount that means things are changing very rapidly. Did see a few interesting things:
Arsenal Refinished Mosin Nagants for $79.95 which is pretty normal. Lots of gun for a little money.
Interestingly the price of 7.62x54R has gone through the roof. Those 440rd Spam cans are costing $84 a piece. Think they were about half that price a few months ago. Really sucks for low budget folks who wanted to stock up on ammo for their MN’s.
Lots of used Smith and Wesson .38’s. Model 10’s and 64’s lots of them with bobbed hammers. That is a pretty darn good gun for not a lot of money. The model 10’s were a bit under $200 and the model 64’s, alas with bobbed hammers otherwise I would get one for my upcoming birthday:( at around $225. I will probably get one of those eventually but a spare Glock is calling my name. I would guess you could get those guns for $225 or $250ish delivered.
If you don’t have a handgun one of these is a darn good option if money is tight. They are not flashy and fancy like the newest tacticool hi cap auto loader however if you hold up your end of the bargain these pistols certainly will. Also for the budget conscious there is no need to go out and purchase expensive spare magazines. Depending on how many you want to have (some folks say 6, I say 10, some say more) mags are a real significant expense. One of these with a good holster, a cleaning kit and a few hundred rounds of ammo and your pistol needs are covered.
They also have a good deal on shotgun ammo with 250rds of 2 3/4 OO Buck for $149.75.
I like looking at these even when there are no purchases on the immediate horizon. It is nice to see what is and isn’t available and at what cost. Sometimes you see something that wasn’t in your plan but is a great deal or is just awesome.
Unconventional Living Situations: Moving For Work
First of all you might want to swing by Hermits place and give him some positive wishes. Tomorrow his wife and 20 something children are headed down to Florida to find work. Kids moving to find work and social stuff isn’t anything new but well established and highly qualified adults (still can’t consider us 20 somethings ‘adults’) needing to change states to find jobs is disturbing. It is one thing to need to make a long drive but it is another to move hours away.
I fear that unconventional living situations because of finances and moving to seek employment is a trend that is going to continue in the months and maybe years to come. Remember the roving groups of men who were searching for jobs in the Great Depression? I think this time will be a lot different because most couples are dual income. I don’t have stats from that era but I imagine most households were not dependent on both people being able to work to stay above water.
What does this mean? Back then assuming you had a place to live the family could more or less stay intact in their community. Unless a family lost their residence and ended up doubling up with some relatives they could at least stay in the same place while the man went onto the road. For families with young children one parent needing to relocate in search of work could very well upset the somewhat precarious ‘Dad takes the kids to school in the morning, mom picks them up from daycare at 5:00 after she gets off work’ sort of situations.
Also since both partners need to work that is double the vulnerability to potential job losses. Yes it also means there is double the odds that one job will survive but for most people that is not enough. If a family needs 80% of their total income to survive (I am being generous there for most it is probably more like 90% or more) and all of a sudden they are making 50% while they won’t starve to death there will probably be serious issues.
As for answers really wish I had some amazing solutions nobody has thought of. If you’ve got to go someplace to work you’ve got to go someplace to work.
It would probably be wise to minimize the expenses of a trip if you don’t have a sure thing job there. The only thing worse then not being able to find a job would be not being able to find a job and spending $500 on lodging. If there is someone you may be able to crash with for a couple weeks that would be a good option. If you are asking them in a clear way with a definite ending time the odds that you will get a couch to crash on are higher. Something like ‘I am going to look for a job for three weeks. After that time has passed I will either be headed back home, paying you rent or getting my own place.’ will probably be better received then ‘ um I am going to look for a job and stuff when I get there. Can I stay with you?’.
Also don’t forget about trying to work through friends in other places. The cliche that who you know is more important then what you know has a lot of truth to it. Obviously you need to be somewhat qualified (excluding engineers, doctors, etc) but a friend putting in a good word is often the difference between getting a job and not. I don’t look at this as nepotism (unless taken to extremes) but that the odds someone who a friend vouches for will be a fuck up are lower then the odds that candidate #4 will be. If nothing else lots of places hire through word of mouth instead of big advertisements and such. A friend (especially in a similar job field) hearing stuff will often be at least as useful as the classifieds.
Based on these things if all other factors were close to equal I would choose a place where I knew some people over one where I didn’t.
Once you get a job somewhere think outside of the box. Having that second income get going again but with another household full of expenses is not that much of a benefit to the family balance sheet. Maybe the traveling worker can find a few people to rent a little place with. Some jobs include housing and food which would be a big plus. If the goal is to send as much money home as possible having 5 guys in a 3 bedroom place makes sense. Instead of getting an apartment maybe you can rent a room in a house. Living in a little travel trailer makes sense also. Yeah these living situations can be kind of a pain but the goal is to make money. Working more hours or fewer longer days (4×10, 3×12) will let you make money and maybe go home every or every other weekend.
In these trying times I suggest that you lean more on friends and family and be willing to let them lean on you. The more we work together the better off everyone is. Maybe having a friend or two sleep in the living room for a month isn’t your idea of fun but in a years time situations may have changed and it could be you calling them needing a favor. Often folks are too proud or whatever to ask for help.
Help friends and family if they need it and don’t be afraid to ask them for help if you need it.
The Minimalist Firearms Battery: A Short Term Pause
Between FerFal’s great post today and some conversations with Maggy I have been thinking on this topic more or less for awhile. I genuinely believe everyone can and should have at least a basic firearms battery [It is wise to have some additional guns allocated for the spouse and older children but that is a whole different post.] and a good amount of ammunition for each.
The biggest stumbling block in terms of getting a basic firearms batters is usually cash. Getting good quality self defense weapons is not a cheap venture. I personally think my life is worth taking careful consideration and saving up to get good quality reliable weapons designed for anti personnel tasks. If you want to bet your life on the cheapest guns good luck and God speed but I’m sure not going to. Getting a couple of guns and taking some time to firm up your ammo stash for them a bit, save for the next couple guns and put money towards other purposes would be a reasonable way to go. The question is, what to get first?
It is wise to get a pistol and a long gun. For most people getting themselves a good pistol and a pump shotgun then taking the above mentioned pause would be the best way to go. I say this for the following reasons. 1) You can certainly get the sort of shotgun you need for $300 or less, often in the $200 range. Usually you can get a pistol and a shotgun for the price of a rifle. 2) A shotgun can be learned in an afternoon while it takes a long time to get to the same point of competence with a rifle. 3) Shotguns are by nature a defensive weapon and that is the most realistic use we have for a long gun. The idea of shooting looters while they stalk through the field is nice but waking up at 2am to the door going crash or a couple of voices in the living room is probably a lot more realistic. Unless you already have a rifle or live in a place where neighbors are so far away that you can put a high powered rifle round through the wall and know it is not going to hit anyone a shotgun is almost surely the way to go. Since this applies to 90% of you we will assume for the rest of this article that a shotgun is what you go with.
As for which of these two guns to purchase first I think it is a question of if you are going to carry. Some people have little to no desire to carry a handgun. Maybe they like clothes that do not facilitate hiding a gun or regularly go to places where it is illegal to carry or just plain don’t want to. I am not making a value judgment on this just looking at it pragmatically. If you are not going to carry then a pump shotgun would probably be a better first purchase.
There is a good point that you can’t discretely answer the door with a shotgun. While I will not disagree with that you can take a shotgun to the door to ask who it is and then look through the peep hole. If you know them say “please wait a second” and stash your scatter gun in the closet. There are weaknesses to this plan. If suddenly things go to hell and it is worth wearing that big ugly sweater to carry a handgun you can’t because you don’t got one. Do keep in mind that this is a temporary situation while you save up for a handgun.
For this shotgun get the following: a butt stock shot shell holder, a sling, a cleaning kit, 100 rounds of 2 3/4 buckshot, 50 slugs and 100 rounds of assorted shot to kill a random bird with or whatever. To be honest if you need more ammo then that you are fucked. Get this stuff before putting anything away for the pistol because without ammo that shotgun is less useful than an aluminum baseball bat or that machete you got for those damn Zombies.
So now you are working on the pistol. I suggest getting something big enough to be really shoot able but small enough to readily conceal given your size and clothing choices. I am a big fan of compact sized pistols, going smaller than that you loose shoot ability really fast. Getting a .38 special or a 9mm with at least a 3″ barrel is probably wise. If you are small of frame or live in a very warm environment a single stack .380 like a Walther PPK or a Bersa could be an option.
For the pistol I suggest getting the following gear: a concealable holster like an IWB, an OWB holster like a kydex one (lot cheaper than leather), a cleaning kit, a mag pouch (even if you don’t plan to use it get one), if it is an auto get 4 more magazines or whatever it takes to get 6 total, enough good defensive ammo to load all your mags (or 100 rounds if the mags are small or you got a revolver), and lastly 250 rounds of hardball ammo because it is cheap so you can get a lot and will harm someone if you shoot them with it. Yes I am fully aware that .380 hardball (or to a slightly lesser extent 9mm or .38 sp) is not a fearsome load but I ask a simple question. Would you like to take a round of .380 hardball to the face? I personally would not, discussion ended.
[I personally like to have closer to 1,000 rounds of assorted shotgun ammo, 10 mags for a pistol and a full case of ammo for it but admittedly tend to go a bit overboard. Half of my ideal ammo count and 6 magazines is probably a reasonable long term stopping point.]
Some people do not have the inclination to learn to use a rifle. If you can’t use a rifle to a reasonable standard then purchasing it is a waste of precious resources. You can always pick one up down the road if you move out into the sticks, get more paranoid or want to start hunting.
Now you can put some cash towards other stuff or enjoy having a few more bucks in your pocket for a couple paydays before starting saving for center fire rifle or .22. I would be inclined to get the center fire rifle first because if somehow things do go all TEOTWAWKI it is what you want to have. I suggest the purchase of a good quality rifle, you will not regret saving over a couple more pay periods to get the one you want. There is a balance between getting a good gun and being realistic. If it is going to take 3 years of saving up enough money just to get the rifle then you’ve got to be more realistic about what you can afford. Be sure to consider the cost of equipping the rifle with ammo and if applicable magazines. Also take into account your locale. A nice little brush gun would be great for a good ole Boy in Alabama or Georgia but someone out in Wyoming needs a longer shooting gun.
Think I said my peace on this which is good because I am tired of writing.
Talk to you all tomorrow.
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