TMF

  At any given time somewhere on the planet, people are experiencing what most Americans would interpret as end days, if it were happening to them.  All over the continent of Africa there is brutal war, genocide and famine.  If we saw that on our shores, the average person would believe that the end of time is upon us, when it is really just our turn.  So in this context, I prepare for probability, not prophecy.  I have several courses of action which I can take based on the situation which put me in a higher bracket of survivability than the average person.    Nothing is 100%, but I won't fool myself into thinking that just because I know how to survive in the wilderness means I can survive in the wilderness when millions of others are trying to do the same.   I also understand that it is in our DNA to develop mutually beneficial relationships with other humans for survival.  This means that the average person is more likely to work out peaceful solutions than risk their life kicking in your door for some twinkies.  In most situations where a government breaks down and there is a period of lawlessness, it doesn't last long.  The primary perpetrators are younger males with no family, or no sense of responsibility to their families.  It's a small, but violent segment of society.  Most people will have people they need to provide food, shelter and security for, and will quickly understand that security is a communal concept in an environment of anarchy.  It is the natural default organization of small communities around the world.  The US would be no different in the absence of government control.

I don't understand the assumption that any catastrophic event in the US must have some biblical connotation to it.  Be it from economic collapse or natural disaster, things like this happen all throughout history.  The only difference is now you're potentially living through it, so man's self centered view of the cosmos extends to time itself, I guess.    I wish you the best of luck out in the wilderness.  You won't be alone.  The forests of our continent won't be as you remember them in peacetime.  Hell, you can't stroll through the forest during deer season without running into several people.  I don't see why it's so difficult to understand that when there is a shortage of food, every good 'ol boy and city slicker with a hungry belly and a boomstick will be crashing through the woods thinking he's smarter than all the rest of us.  Good luck with that.  Hopefully one of the few thousand people competing with you in the forest don't raid your campsite and kill you in your sleep.   Also, hunting on a full stomach (if you've eaten in the past 24 hours, you have a full stomach), versus hunting after not eating for several days is very different.  Wanna test this theory?  Great!  It's always good to be prepared.  Don't eat for 3 days, and no cheating.  Water is the only thing you're allowed.  Now, go to the forest for a couple of days and only eat what you can dig up or kill.  You'll find that it isn't easy.  You will expend more calories foraging than you will replace with what you find.  You'll notice that you can't walk very far without getting tired and having to rest.  That's where you'll learn that starvation in the wilderness is an exponential event.  But hey, what do I know?   I may die in my home.  But I will die with a roof over my head, my wife and kids at my side, a full belly, and a pile of expended brass and dead bodies at my feet.

Feral hogs are generally much leaner. Ones down in Florida don't have much fat for making sausage, and the bacon I've had off them isn't that great. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If I'm around I'm down for it. I travel a lot, but I live no more than an hour from several places in south Florida that have monster hogs. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  You think you'll be safer on the move, in a country of no law and dwindling resources?  No, I'll take my chances in a place defensible with resources.  I've carried heavy things long distances.  You simply can't carry enough to survive long, and if you think you're going to "hunt" your dinner when 350,000,000 are trying to do the same thing, you're in for an empty belly.  White tail deer would go extinct in less than a month.  Birds, squirrels, rabbits, dogs, cats.... they'd be gone soon after.    I know what it's like to be out in the wilderness and only be able to eat or drink what you can find.  It isn't easy.  It's harder in the winter.  I would reckon impossible when tens of millions of people are trying to do the same thing you are.

  If God can forgive the things we do in life, I can't accept that there is no forgiveness for one who lies to bloodthirsty savages for the sake of one's family.

.308 will do most everything you need it to.  If you're talking distances out past 600m, you're going to want something with a flatter trajectory.  Lotta good stuff out there that shoots flat, so the next question is how much kinetic energy do you want it to have that far out?  If you're shooting inside of 600m, .308 will not disappoint you so long as you're using decent ammo. 

  Having participated in both Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, I've considered the many scenarios which may result from capture by various enemy organizations.  In Iraq, for the most part, I fought against Sunni insurgent groups, such as ISI, al Qaeda (Iraq franchise), Ansar al Sunna and so on.  In those scenarios, I planned to be such a uncooperative captive during the initial phase, in hopes that I would be killed out of frustration prior to being put on camera and having my head sawed off on YouTube.  This would not only include a profession of Christian faith, but very unkind words for Muhammed.  I'd probably see where it went with the Shia groups, but they weren't in the business of taking prisoners during conflict or cease-fires.   Afghanistan has always been a different animal.  As is evident by the continued oxygen wasting pile of flesh known as Berghdal, the Taliban are more likely to use you for bargaining leverage.  They do a much better job of keeping their prisoners alive.  I'd suppose I'd tell them anything they wanted to hear, so long as it wasn't on camera, didn't involve sensitive information, and wasn't critical of the US.  I'd convert to Islam, pray 5 times a day, and all that, until there was an opportunity to escape or be released.  I have a wonderful wife and kids that need me.  If lying to stay alive is required, that's fine.  Why would I care what a bunch of booger eating monkeys think about me?  I draw the line at providing damaging propaganda or sensitive information, as that affects those beyond myself, and it's pretty illegal.   So as for a whacko Muslim shooter, hell yeah I'd lie and say I was Muslim!  If that extra second or two afforded me the opportunity to end his life and save my own, as well as many others, why would any rational person not do that?  Because you'd feel guilty?  Guilty about lying to f'ing lunatic who is killing a bunch of people?

  I'm estimating 10-15 years before we see it.  Either the Israelis conducting a preemptive strike on nuke facilities in a Russia-backed Iran, or the Iranians lobbing one over the fence at Israel, like they've always alluded to.   Liberals may be correct, that warmongering and projection of our military in lieu of diplomacy lead to low intensity conflicts and regional instability; small wars.  I get that.  However, policies of appeasement and avoidance lead to very large wars, like WWII.  The bear will not be sated once he knows he is in total control.  Animals such as this only understand weakness and power.  Our continued perception of the US being weak will embolden Russian and her allies until we have painted ourselves into such a corner that war is our only option, and it will be a very large war.  One with the US being directly attacked.  The stage is being set and I don't think there is much we can do about it.

  I've made the switch from 5.56 to .300 blk and haven't looked back.  My 5.56 rifles are for range fun only and SHTF storage only, since the ammo is cheaper.  The .300 blk is go to for hunting and home defense.  I'd shoot it more if I reloaded.  Ammo for it is just too pricey to use beyond zeroing and applying.

I've taken two so far with my .300 with 10.5 barrel. One DRT and the other required follow up on a poorly placed headshot. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

While on the subject, it's sad that I'm looking at a POS commie like Putin, and wishing our own President had at least a fraction of his character.

Syria has housed a strategic Russian naval base for the Med for over 4 decades. Putin isn't going to give that up for the sake of not upsetting western powers; especially since using the term "powers" is misleading. The current US policy is that the Assad regime is bad, ISIS is bad, but anti-Assad moderates are wrapped in cloaks of righteousness. The reality is grey. Assad is mostly bad, ISIS is all bad, and the anti-Assad rebels only hate Assad slightly more than they hate us. Letting Putin keep his naval base maintains the status quo, and upsets nothing. Fighting a pseudo proxy war with rebels trained and equipped by US intelligence services/SOF is putting us in a position where we will be forced to react militarily eventually, or look weak. I'd prefer to avoid all that nonsense and suspend all support for anti-Assad fighters, telling Europe and the UN to lead the charge, and stop pretending we care about the plight of Syrian civilians: Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You obviously have some good and thoughtful friends. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've had many different expensive whiskeys in my travels, but JD Single Barrel is still my gold standard. There's nothing in the world like it, and it's like a taste of home when I'm traveling. A great companion to my breakfast this morning. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Forget those round ice balls you see in this thread... they are not the ice balls you are looking for: http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/f0b6/ I'm going dissent here though. I normally do a splash of water in my whiskey and forget the ice. The ice makes it too cold for me to enjoy all the flavor.

I'd love to have one myself, but they're a little pricy, and since they incorporate a lot into this upgrade, I don't see the price being reduced significantly. A sexy mod indeed. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My wife won't even let me have a milsurp Humvee, and they're super cheap. 

On a 240 the brass is ejected directly underneath, so it makes a nice neat pile for cleanup. Unless it's on a truck. Then you'll finding brass in everything. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Because in order for brass to come out where it does, the extractor is not parallel to the ground, but rather at a slight angle. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  Brass isn't ejected through the feed tray, links are.  Brass ejects from the port just below the feed tray, so it naturally comes out at a 45ish degree angle.

I added the Bear Grylls fire starter to my kit a few months ago.  I took my son to the woods for a few days of land navigation and survival training in July and used it out there.  Way cooler than the one I got in the boy scouts.

Looks like mags to some kind of subgun.  Don't think that concept would work on regular pistol mags, like a glock.  Pretty much the same concept as a speed loader with stripper clips, only the loader replaces the need for the clip.

  I loved that show as a kid.  I had all those Dukes round film thingys for my viewfinder.  Also had a Dukes of Hazard lunchbox.  I can't imagine what would happen nowadays if I sent my 6 year old to school with that.