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Took a bunch of scouts camping this weekend. It was -3F when we got up this morning. We had a giant bonfire and had a ball. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that much of Old Hickory Lake frozen. I had forgotten how many truly strange noises frozen lakes make. It was groaning and whining all night long. We cooked in cast irons and Dutch ovens all weekend. I bet they all consumed 5000 calories yesterday.

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We took 16 scouts and 7 adults. I hate the cold - but you have the opportunity to teach so many lessons you just won’t get to teach otherwise. Starting a fire in the snow might save your life one day. You can’t teach it if you’re not out in it. I was really surprised that we had that many go - because it was truly cold. But I chalk that up to two things: 1. We’ve fostered an amazing amount of trust. Our parents know the ASMs and trust that we won’t put our scouts in situations where they’re in real danger. To be clear - cold like that we had this weekend is truly dangerous - but everything we did had guardrails. Being uncomfortable is fine. A lot of learning happens there. But, you need to have comfort as a parent that those guardrails are there. 2. After a week of snow - we had a bunch of parents who were like, “you need to be out of my house - right now.” Everyone was in zero degree bags - some with liners. We actually slept in a shelter - so sleeping temp was probably in the mid 20s. Where the boys slept was likely a few degrees warmer than that due to the fact that they were packed in there like sardines.

I don't think the question anymore is, Will things get bad? I think the question now is, When will things get bad? We have half the world mad at us and Russia, with even more nuclear weapons than us, threatening us. Everyone thinks Russia would never attack us with nuclear weapons as that would lead to mutual destruction. The problem with that line of thinking is Putin is totally in charge. He is an old man with not a lot of life left to live. He is not winning the war and knows he will not as long as NATO backs Ukraine. If he does not win this war, he is done. What does he have to lose. Even if Russia doesn't we still have Iran and North Korea who would. We have an election coming up and America has not been this divided since the civil war. The Democrats and the liberal media are trying every dirty trick in the books to stop Trump before the election even begins. They have tried impeachment, criminal charges, are are now trying to keep him off the ballot. I don't know if the election was stolen or not, but judging from the left's current behavior, I tend to think they are capable of it. And I can see where, if Trump loses, many will believe they did again. We are $34 Trillion in debt. Two of our biggest debt holders, China and Japan are both concerned about our ability to repay this debt and are selling our debt instead of buying more. The social Security Trust Fund was investing their surplus funds into government bonds and now account for 3 trillion of the government debt. Social Security is no longer running a surplus and will be cashing in their debt to pay their monthly obligations rather than investing more. Less people are willing to buy our debt. This will drive up the interest rates we have to offer to get investors to buy. In order to hold rates down, the Federal Reserve will have to buy more of our debt. Problem is the Federal Reserve does not have the money. That means they will have to print trillions more dollars leading to hyper inflation.

You'd think they would learn by now that this has no impact on us. If anything, it just distracts me and makes me less careful.

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You can find real bargains if you look around at Ham swap meets, eBay, etc. My first rig was a Heathkit that I built, but that really wasn't inexpensive. An older radio can provide a lot of hours of entertainment, you don't need the super-whiz-bang stuff to make contacts. I think my HF radio is about 20 years old now, and I bought it new. I expect it will keep working until I die.

I’ve wanted to do ham radio most of my adult life, but never took the time to learn it. In the beginning I was afraid of code, but then when that requirement went away, I was just too busy. I had to retire due to time off for prostrate cancer treatment and an uncooperative employer, so provided this treatment works I will be taking some classes or self study and get my license. I just wish I had bought a couple good radios before I retired and the money got short.

Gotta say I had a good chuckle reading this thread, after living most of my life in CT. For those that dont particularly like the way other folks seem to be moving here to TN (among other warmer, southern states) , picture the weather you have had for the past week or so lasting from November to April, only with a lot more snow. I remember a winter a few years before we moved that we seemed to get a blizzard every week in Jan and Feb. My mailbox was actually hidden by the snow for a week, had to dig it out when I was shoveling. The fact that I worked outside was the prime motivation for moving south. Moving here was the first time I moved without packing a shovel and snowblower-lol. For some strange reason my area only got a few inches of snow, I hear Knox got 10+ inches.

GOOD on you, and the parents, are most appreciative of the peace for the time you provided. LOL

God Bless the USMC! from an Old Corpsman.

I'll take it as per our PMs.

The sound this makes is "Marine" for they are the ones we call when the ####e hits the fan.

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We have one scout who is absolutely all gas no brakes. At one point yesterday I looked at him, and he was in one of our class B shirts - which is a dri-fit t-shirt. He was wearing snow pants - but he was sweating from all the activity. His metabolism must be roughly equivalent to a formula 1 car

As of right now, the road I live on is absolutely the slickest substance I have ever driven on in my entire life! You simply cannot stand on it. You will be at best gently gliding in one direction or another.

The more complicated they make things the more jobs they create for their friends Simply put that's my take on a lot of stuff

Background checks are only good for 30 days if I recall correctly. Then one is guilty until proven innocent again. Just an annoying under the table tax on one's rights.

Lets just say I have been preparing for trouble long enough that it has become tiring. The current snowstorm all the way up to full SHTF can be cause for worry. I suggest to anyone that you set down and write out a plan. It helps to organize. Go over what you use and need. Look at storage space you have and whether you need to bug in or out. No good to have a thousand cans of soup if you have to bug out. Or to have a case of sardines if no one eats them. Also, if you buy $1000 in comms but have no one to communicate with aside from random strangers. There are lots of good resources out there. It can be kind of a rabbit hole. A shameless self plug though is a site I set up years ago. I have not posted to the blog in a while, but it explains my 'leveled' approach to preparing. I really need to post some new stuff when I get time but the basic ideas never change. http://leveledsurvival.com/ I set this up to help people new to the idea of preparing start out without feeling like they are drowning. Starting by trying to buy it all can overcome most finances and personal energy. Plus a generator and 500 gallons if fuel is no help if you have 5 cans of corn in the cabinet. Planning lets you add things in the most sensible (for you) order and not all at once. So you can shop for deals too. It also lets you see shortcomings. Like if you live in an apartment, you are going to have different limits than someone in a house in the country. In my case one huge limiting factor is the lack of buy-in from the wife. She does the grocery shopping and refuses to 'stock up' on much. She told me I was being a hoarder when I tried to buy a second 30 something roll pack of TP. So I have to hidey hole some stuff away from prying eyes and pesky mice that seem to get into the unfinished part of the house every couple years.

All the handhelds are basically the same power. Five watts. There ain't any " superpower handhelds ". I'm sure the portables n base receivers can be souped up, but ya have to know what ya are doing. Lotsa folks like the Bofeng stuff, I'm wary of it. I never recommend em unless ya are broke. The mainline radio guys are the standard of the radio industry. Bofeng ain't. Let that sink in a bit and see if ya are willing ta chance em in a serious situation. That said; I know Lotsa folks who like em, but they are playing with em, not using them in serious situations. Additionally, I had a " senior " moment, and failed to mention one of the great radio lines, ICOM ( AKA Standard Horizon ). They own the marine radio business. We used em everywhere in marine operations. The " marine band " is a VHF band. I highly recommend em leroy...

Illegal to transmit without a license. Listening is fine. If society collapses, I doubt the FCC will be taking names.

SOLD Picked this one up not too long ago with plans on sprucing it up and then something else came along New in the box, just like it came from the factory $550

Kalashnikov KS-12 TSF semi-auto 12 gauge Has the adjustable side folding stock Comes with two 10 round KUSA factory magazines for no issues Original case paperwork etc Cash only located in Greenbrier Tennessee must be purchased here May trade for Beretta 92 variant pistol

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to share your suggestions. I went to Opry Mills Mall today and discovered there is a Merrill store in the mall. I tried on several boots and finally chose the Merrill Thermo Snowdrift 2 Mid Waterproof boot. It was $89. It came in Wide and I was able to add a wool insert that I were in my other boots. It was buy one, get two more at half off so I picked up a pair of trail running shoes for that felt great for $35. I plan to try them out tomorrow with a pair of SmartWool heavy boot socks.

No one wants a great deal?

I’ll second or thirds this. That’s my local shop. I always try to buy something from them if I get a transfer.

When I was a young Jarhead I used to love to take my old pickup to Lake Arrowhead and snow camp during the winter. There was never anyone else there, and a weekend of fishing and solitude was great. You, however, are FAR tougher than I ever was if you can do that with a bunch of kids!

Claim you have hearing loss Then just do what needs doing.

If storing in mylar you still need O2 absorbers and many people use Nitrogen gas to force the O2 and moisture too. You still need to store them in metal cans or buckets. I think on sale things like #10 cans from Mountain House are a decent deal because they are already sealed in (mostly) rodent proof cans. But things like you listed are hard to pay for like that unless you just need the shelf life. Rice, dried beans, powdered milk, corn meal, yeast, and powdered eggs are a few more items to look at storing.

Spent a few hours last night reading up on emergency rations. Most are NOT worth the money they charge. Here is what I've found : * Oatmeal, quite a lot of them have oatmeal * Pancake mix is another big one. * Powdered Eggs and Milk So what I'm thinking is to get a vacuums sealer, and get pancake mix and oatmeal from Costco. Should be able to keep for a long time. Even the quake oat oatmeal in packets, 52 packets for $10 is a lot better than in the kits. Same thing with a few big bags of Pancake mix. Pasta as well, or at least flour. Spend the money for freeze dried meats and other things that normally can't get that easily. Another thing I came up with are seeds. $20 for hundreds of seeds for all types of veggies. If SHTF then this will be necessary eventually, they recommend sealing in a mylar bag and in a cool dark place (ideally fridge or freezer). Need to remember to try and store all of these things in a way that mice and bugs can't get into it and / or are attracted to it. That's why I think the vacuums sealing is important. But don't forget to put into food storage containers, and maybe surround the whole thing with mothballs. Thoughts and opinions?

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Selling my Demilled 12ga police 870 magnum 14” SBS kit. Just needs an 870 receiver and stamp. Feel free to message me if you need pictures of anything specific $410 net to me shipped or FTF in knoxville

This one is decocker currently but it's easy to go either way on the px4

A have a couple of Baofengs. Baofeng is the way to go if you don't have a radio and want to get your feet wet. You can get into a nice Baofeng setup for well under $50. I have had zero issues out of mine. It is my understanding you can use them in certain frequencies such as VHF (156 MHz specifically) without a license. These are the frequencies that are available on a VHF handheld. We use VHF to communicate when hunting pigs/bears in mountainous areas with no cell signal. It's not uncommon to have 10 plus people in our hunting party spread out miles apart. Everyone else in the group uses a VHF handheld, I had to be cheap/different and went with the Baofeng. Recently I had to get into a rough area to get a pig, the guys were impressed that I was able to get out at all and said that the Baofeng sounded good down there. I also use it to monitor our local county emergency management frequency.

I guess we're in just the right place. Temps have remained below freezing, but the sun has been bright and working overtime. In my neighborhood driveways and sidewalks are now clean and so is much of the street. I haven't gone anywhere, so no idea what the rest of the city is like.

HAM is a cool hobby. I have my Amateur Extra license and all sorts of radios from the inexpensive Baofengs to Uniden, Icom, Kenwood and Yaesu and some others. Talked to people half way around the world. Working with Antennas is really cool. I currently have them in trees and in my attic plus some portable stuff. Getting started is easy and there are some great YouTube channels that are free and walk you through getting licensed etc.

We haven’t had a regular TV service provider in probably 12 years. I only watch shows once they are complete and I can binge watch them all at once, for which I use Netflix and Prime. The wife only watches HGTV and college football, which she streams through something, not sure which one. I do watch a lot of free YouTube and my son and I both game a good bit. We’ve had AT&T fiber for a few years and it’s kept up with our needs. I have about 32TB of movies that I downloaded via bit-torrent while working overseas. I could probably watch then delete a movie every day for the rest of my life and still have some leftover.

Have owned and hunted with five .243's over the years and still have three including my first one. I own a bunch of deer rifles in other calibers but only because I want them, not because I need anything other than the .243 for deer. I have been shooting one load since 1970 and have no plans of ever shooting anything else as it does everything I need it to do and has always been as accurate as I can shoot. I use the now discontinued Nosler flat base 100 grain Spire point with CCI LRBR primers and 34.5 grains of IMR 4320 . That's the minimum load and was the accuracy load in the Lyman 1970 load book for a 100 grain jacketed bullet. Both of my sons have .243's they started hunting with and neither one would part with them.

I've yet to find an inaccurate rifle chambered in 243, and haven't found an inaccurate load either. More than enough rifle for anything in Tennessee. I currently have a Savage 99F and a pre 64 Model 70 Winchester Featherweight so chambered. They both shoot tiny groups with both factory and handloaded ammo. Were I wanting to buy a particular rifle, I would consider a 243 Winchester chambering a plus.

Good as any. Unless it's recently changed, if a store has any centerfire rifle ammunition, they'll have 243 Win. Like Darrell, I roll my own.

Training requirements are nothing more than a) cash grabs and b) a path for more regulation. And by the way, it should very easy to prove your thesis: WA (no training) vs. Or (training), AL vs. FL, AL vs. TN, AZ vs NM etc. etc. Training Fudds are almost worse than OC Fudds.

Every time I reach in the bag, this little guy pops out and very quietly says, “shoot me first!”

My old Ruger P89 goes with me to shoot almost every time no matter what I go there to shoot with. I still carry it occasionally but it's a bit fat. Boy they sure are fun. The slide cycles on these things a bit slowly and sounds like "ka-chunk" but it's extremely reliable.

My local church have classes in Ham radio and prepping. Maybe some in your area do that