Mark@Sea

Nah. Graduated from a "womyns studies" course and can't find a job. Stuck in moms' basement with 120 grand in student loans and employed at Wendys.

Avoid Universal as you would that guy in the orange bathtowel at the airport. The AO is more like a door to door insurance salesman - you might end up needing to talk to the guy, but you won't really enjoy it. Any GI carbine is fine. Winchester is inland is rockola is... well, you get the idea. They all met specs. Use a borelight to check the bore for pits. Use a muzzle gauge if you have one to check the bore. Less than 1, very good. Less than 2, okay. Less than 3 is acceptable. 3+ = new barrel needed. Remove the action from the stock. Check receiver carefully at corners for (tiny) cracks. Use a glass and a light. Use that blue paste if you can get away with it. Deal killer. Things are near impossible to reweld correctly. Check the recoil block (the metal hook at top rear of stock inletting that holds the action) for cracks along the corners. Not a deal killer, they are available NOS, but something to be aware of. As long as you have it out of the stock, take a quick look at the gas piston. Should move easily, no pits/corrosion. If sticky, you might try cleaning it first. Do not oil. Do not oil. Do not oil. Springs - you're gonna replace 'em anyway if they are at all weak, they are easily found. No worries. Extractor - excessively worn? GI extractors are available, but are getting pricier by the week. Cracked stock? Fixable? Replacements are easily found, price goes up rapidly depending on condition/originality/proof marks. Rear of receiver loose, wobbles or rattles a little in the stock? Not an issue, as long as the recoil block is okay. It can be squeezed to tighten the receiver up. See the CMP forum tips on accurizing a carbine for details. Front sight loose or wobbly? Held to the barrel by a pin. As long as the keyslot in the barrel isn't AFU, front sight and pin are available and fairly easy to replace. Rear sight loose? Same deal. Mags. 15RD GI are the best. New production korean 15 rounders are very good. Other makes are crap. 30 round GI's are okay, but unless you have the right mag release, will fail to seat correctly due to weight. Also they won't fit in the standard mag pouch.

Regretfully and respectfully disagree. "I now define "moral behavior" as "behavior that tends toward survival." I won't argue with philosophers or theologians who choose to use the word "moral" to mean something else, but I do not think anyone can define "behavior that tends toward extinction" as being "moral" without stretching the word "moral" all out of shape." Robert Heinlein, The Pragmatics of Patriotism, 1973 speech to Annapolis graduates Heinlein referred to survival of the species, not the individual. For those who have not read the whole speech, I strongly recommend you take five minutes to google it. I have never found a better definition of morality. Given that absent advanced medical technology, a same-sex couple cannot reproduce, same-sex marriage is immoral.

The Chic-fil-a dude didn't start it. A national gay/lesbian group asked his corporate headquarters for a large donation. Corporate politely replied in the negative. The group immediately started media bashing Chic-fil-a as bigoted, racist, anti-gay, what have you. The owner of the company replied in an interview that homosexuality was against his faith, and therefore his (family owned) company chose not to donate to their political warchest. Does that make him a bigot? A homophobe? Isn't it okay to decline to fund something you believe is wrong? Some folks here have immediately leapt to the defense of Islam (whose practitioners worldwide kill homosexuals), then turned around and attacked Christians who don't discriminate, merely refuse to donate to an organisation they believe is promoting values actively hostile to their faith. This disconnect from rationality is called 'liberalism'. I'm not sure why, as 'liberals' are some of the most intolerant people I've ever seen. Any departure from their party line is met with scorn, hatred, libel, and threats. Apparently individual liberty is incompatible with their worldview.

I'd have to say that considering your previous post, you are more correct in this assumption than you may realize. It really upsets some people that others are allowed a differing opinion. Those who believe in the Bible believe that homosexuality is a sin. Those who understand morality know that homosexuality is immoral. They are entitled to this belief. They are entitled to support others who share this belief. Hate Crime legislation is as close as this country comes to thought crime, yet even the SCOTUS has said that people are entitled to express their opinions - even (maybe especially) when the opinion is unpopular. Having Gov't officials threaten his livelihood because of his beliefs - well, guess you're okay with that, then?

Morristown store swamped - cop directing traffic, parking lot slammed with pedestrians, drive-thru line through the adjoining grocery store parking and into the main road. Got nothing to do with homosexuals getting married. Has everything to do with the 1st Amendment, and as a bonus telling Rahm to take a long walk on a short pier.

Makes sense, if you add a couple words to the end of that sentence. Tennessee Ranks As 2nd Most Violent State for criminals I have long thought of Brady, et al as "Criminal OSHA".

A larger caliber would'a made good citizens out of 'em for about 60 cents.

Yeah, Terry has a lot of good pictures on his site. I think if you look long enough, you'll see a couple of my lanterns on there. I was very lucky and came across what is probably a prototype for the Coleman 327. Great lantern. I also had one of about 3 known factory plated 201's. I still have a plated Peak lantern (the really tiny one) which is a very rare bird indeed - about as common as rocking horse poo. The Optimus 8R is just a fantastic stove. Be aware, though, there are some low-quality clones out there... Avoid the clones! Although it's gone now (victim of my forced retirement) I picked up my 8R at a verrry reasonable price in a little shop in Australia. If you get the real McCoy, you'll never want another stove. They're grrreat! If I can ever get another shop built, I've got the plating equipment stored under the house. Most older lanterns were nickel plated. If you find a stove you want plated, I'll do it for you. Well, the fuel tank, anyway - I'm not gonna plate steel. Too much of a pain in the nethers. By the way, although the svea 123 is a self-pressurizing stove, it is possible to buy an external pump (about the size of a pack of rolaids) and fuel cap that will allow you to put a bit of pressure in it whilst it is cold. I have one, don't bother with it. I put about half an eyedropper of gas in the donut-shaped depression in the top of the stove and light it (thats' why the depression is there). It preheats the generator and expands the fuel enough to give you adequate initial pressure, no pump needed. You've probably discovered by now that there was an aluminum carry case / cookpot combo available for the 502 (as well as a heater drum). You can usually find a set on e-bay. If you get to where you're really interested in a svea, or an M1950, and are seriously considering taking the plunge; I will, if you like, mail you one for T&E, so you'll have a better idea of what you're getting into. You gotta pay shipping, and you gotta mail it back, of course. I'll also write up and send a 'real world' users guide with the tips and tricks you don't get from the manual.

Mcurrier is at least partially correct. The theory that oil was sourced from biomatter degeneration (dead dinosaurs, etc) has been fairly conclusively overturned. A chemical mechanism for abiotic oil generation has been shown, although no real-world examples have been found. Old, capped dry wells have been re-opened and found to be generating oil again.

Back to topic - looked at the jetboil. Looks like it would be fine for light hiking and instant foods. Liquid fuel stoves have a couple of advantages. First, it is very easy to tell how much fuel is remaining. Not sure how you'd do that with a cannister unless you had an accurate scale along. Second, if you've got 6 or 8 feet of aquarium tubing, fuel can be very easy to find* - without having to find an REI or other outfitters that will carry the one cannister that fits your stove. Lastly, IMO liquid fuel stoves are less affected by extreme temperatures. As far as SHTF, I'd carry a liquid fuel stove, and one of these for when fuel can't be had or I'm planning on living off the land. Again, my hiking stove of choice would be the svea 123 because of size and weight. If I've got more than a couple other people along I'd go with the bulletproof M1950, because it puts out the heat, but it does have some weight to it. The Coleman 502 is probably the finest liquid fuel single burner stove ever produced, but the size and weight make it unsuitable for anything more than short hikes. Great for car or motorcycle camping, though! *flag down a passing motorist, any sort of vehicle, and buy a pint on the spot. What did you THINK I was suggesting?

Coleman fuel is, for all intents and purposes, 54 octane unleaded gasoline. It does not have the many additives the fuel at the pump has. If your engine isn't high compression it will run (very very poorly) on Coleman fuel - but obviously you'd be more likely to try the reverse, running your white gas appliance on regular unleaded. You'll hear that regular will clog your generator, damage your valve, and collapse your arteries. For new(ish) stoves and lanterns, this could be an issue. Not the generator, but the valve. The fuel pickup tube, to be precise, is more than likely made of plastic. The additives in pump fuel will attack it. For older appliances (the 502 and before, the 200A or 220F or before) it isn't an issue. Everything is brass or bronze. It is true that using pump fuel will clog your generator faster than using Coleman fuel - but frankly, it is far, far cheaper to use the pump fuel and replace the generator. It isn't an issue - really. You'll burn something like 25 gallons of fuel before it becomes a problem. A generator costs, on average, $6 or $7. The savings in fuel cost over the life of the generator is in the neighborhood of $175. The 502 valve was relatively new. It came from the 501 (quickly withdrawn from the market - if you run across a Coleman 501, snap it up!). Totally different from the 500, an earlier series of stove. The valve design worked very well, and isn't far from what is on modern offerings - although the fuel pickup tube is much superior to anything that came after. Kerosene - in a properly designed stove odor isn't an issue, the kero is totally combusted. I have some dedicated kero stoves, if you're interested you ought to drop by sometime. The burner is similiar to that on the M1950, the big difference being jet orifice size. The generator has enough thermal mass to vaporize kerosene. The 502 and newer, not so much. The M1950 will, in fact, burn kerosene, although not as well as a dedicated kero design. There isn't a chance you could 'swap parts' in any modern coleman stove and get it to burn kero . As for alcohol, the company has released 1 lantern (it was green and yellow) that would burn alcohol or gas, and it did so poorly. As much as it pains me to say it, if you want to burn alky you might want to look at a petromax. As it happens, I have a matched set of P-max lanterns in a military shipping case with a very complete set of spares and accessories, a relic of cold war years that was never used. Truly multifuel, they'll burn anything from bourbon to jetfuel. I also have multiple 502's, M1950's, and one or two of the original squad stoves Coleman designed in WWII. (great story there - 30 days from RFP to the company loading the first 5000 on a boxcar for shipment to Europe - on a first-of-its'-kind design), and some real oddballs you'll never find 'in the wild'. I collected and restored gas and kero pressure appliances for many years, so I am a font, so to speak, of entirely useless trivia on the subject. MacGyver - dead on the money. Good tight closing mechanism, but nowhere near airtight. I have several - if anyone is really interested shoot me a PM and I will get photos and start a new thread.

I have a few of each, actually... Unfortunately, can't help the OP with the jet boil. I'm sure they're fine stoves, just not my style.

You use a hammer on it to get a nice sharp edge?

I'm in the wrong part of the state for finding flint Maybe I can trade for it at the next rendezvous...

If you call Coleman today and ask, they will deny that they ever made true multi-fuel lanterns or stoves. I'm not talking about duel-fuel; the difference between Coleman fuel and unleaded from the pump is about like the difference between 6 and half a dozen. I have, however, Coleman lanterns made in the late 40's and '50's that have directions for both kerosene and gasoline stamped on the collar band. Similiarly, the coleman pocket stoves from WWII, and their descendant, the M1950, will burn just about anything. They're on the heavy side these days, but are better built than anything on the market today. I particularly like the M1950 because a full set of spares is in a compartment inside the pump handle, and a multi-wrench is attached to the stove. The sterno is a good trick. The M1950 has a cup underneath the burner that (should) have an asbestos rope donut in it. Pump the stove, open the valve halfway for 15 seconds, shut the valve. The donut is now soaked with fuel. Light it and let it burn almost out, and you've preheated. As far as latter-day coleman single burners go, I don't think any of them can beat the 502. Unlike a lot of stoves, it simmers very well, and the bowl around the burner functions well as a wind screen. Lester, if your stove ever needs service beyond what you can do, give me a shout.

Find a good burning lense, make it a little protective pouch. Tried one with charcloth the other day - took about 5 seconds to get smoke.

Svea 123, or an Optimus 111T. Ebay is a good source, lots of folks get lucky at yard sales.

Dead on the money. The left attack ideology, policies be damned. Behaviour, moral fortitude, actual results have no place nor effect in their value judgements. Just look at the different response (or total lack) between Bush and Obama with the exact same practices and policies. Gitmo - Bush EVIL, Obama.... crickets Drones - Bush Evil, Obama.... crickets Warfare - Bush Evil American. Obama... peace prize There are, I'm sure, dozens of examples where the left crucified Bush, but lauded or ignored Obama doing the same thing. Bad people sometimes say the end justifies the means... Evil or terminally brainwashed people say the man justifes the means, and ends aren't really important. I've come to believe that leftism is a virulent deadly pathogen, with but one cure.

They couldn't get Dave down to his skivvies Did seem like maybe you tangled with a board stretcher in your youth...

Hey TS, I hear you're gonna make the cover, maybe even a centerfold, of Longhunters Anonymous....

I've been meaning to ask you where you got your trivet, TS. Also, have either of you ever tried lamp wicking for char cloth?

Well, I was in commo and I like antiques... it seemed the thing to do.

Remember, Jak, as my chief mate used to say; "If you can't tie a knot, tie a lot."

He can ask about guns. He can ask about fire insurance, for all I care. Unless he hangs a shingle from a gunsmithing school or shooting school on the wall of his office, I will treat it as I would any other nosy busybodys' question. Answer may range from silence to completely outrageous.