East_TN_Patriot

Yeah, I guess it's better to say that I have a collection of emergency supplies I keep should I get stranded, as a starting point for a bug-out should that be an option, casual day hikes, along with a get-home bag.

  I have several packets of that TP from the MREs that I would use in a pinch.  I own a Ruger 10/22 Takedown, but I don't typically keep it in my car although I have considered it. I do have a good space to stash it and the bag it comes with would hold some of my extra items.  If it were stolen, it's not like I would be out a ton of money.   I could easily boil water instead of using filters, but I'm into redundancy so in a pinch I keep the water filter in the waist pack and the stove in my larger pack.  In fact, I'm mostly concerned with the cup since I could boil water in that over a small wood fire using rocks to hold the cup.  As a result, I actually have two cups; one in my waist pack and the other is the cookset in my larger bag.  Liquor would be good.  I have a small hip flask I keep around for trips.  I could easily keep it with me.  A candle isn't a bad idea at all. I've also added some of those SOS 72 hour emergency rations to my car so I have something to eat that doesn't require cooking or re-hydration first.  Push comes to shove I could dump the meals and take that block of delectable goodness with me instead.     The waist pack weighs 6 pounds 2 ounces without water per my postal scale.  The large pack weighs 15 pounds per my bathroom scale.  I adhere to the "worry over ounces or cry over pounds" philosophy, so the items I've gathered are the best compromise between weight and functionality I could afford.  I think the way I have it organized, I can easily shed weight should I need to. I also have built-in redundancy, so I can give up one thing without losing too much.  For example, the SOL poncho could work on its own if I absolutely had to give up the bivvy and the tarp shelter.  The kevlar thread I have could probably take the place of paracord, plus it's a three strand cord so I can pull the strands apart and have some very thin, but very strong, thread I can use for clothing and equipment repairs, fishing line, etc.  I dumped my CRKT Eat'N Tool for a Sea to Summit titanium spork that saved me 1.1 ounces on just that one item.  Truth be told, I expect I would easily shed a couple of pounds before I set out on my jaunt after I had time to assess my situation.  I'm not above dumping stuff along the way should I need to shed the weight.  All in all, I feel like I have enough stuff to sustain me for a fair amount of time should I be stranded with my vehicle and need to stay put.   Extra socks is wise.  I have a GPS on my "to do" list, but for now I keep some paper road maps in my car.  Not as good as topo maps, but better than nothing.  I agree the communication issue is another that needs to be addressed.  I have been looking at some of those recreational radios, but I have also considered getting my ham radio license.  I'm putting no confidence in cell service in a bad situation.  

I thought I'd follow in the footsteps of Dolomite and post the contents of my kit to see what people thought.  My philosophy is to keep more on hand than I will likely need in any given situation, then I can pick and choose what I need after I can evaluate the given situation.  I also tend to pack in layers so I can quickly add or shed items.   My main bag is an LL Bean Trail 500 waist pack, which it appears is no longer available except for used ones on eBay.  It has plenty of room for my gear, including two pockets for water bottles.  It also has lashing points on the front and some shock cord to hold items.  Here are the contents: Water: - Frontier Pro Water Filter w/ water heater adapter - Potable Aqua tablets - 1L Nalgene bottle - GSR Glacier stainless steel cup Fire: - Gobspark Armageddon fire steel - Bic lighter - Homemade cotton ball fire starters - Esbit stove with fuel tablets Shelter: - UST Hex Tarp w/ line and Coghlan's ultralight stakes - SOL Emergency Bivvy - SOL Emergency Poncho - Gear Aid patch kit Food: - 2 Cliff Bars - Starbucks VIA coffee packets  ***Additional food in pack listed below Light: - Cyalume lightstick - Energizer headlamp - Streamlight Sidewinder Compact flashlight PSK (packed in a size 1000 OtterBox): - Utility knife blade - Leather sewing needles - Tool Logic Survival II (small knife, LED, whistle, ferro rod) - Readyman Escape Card - Readyman Survival Card - Foam ear plugs - Mini Bic lighter - Misc fishing hooks and sinkers - Short pencil w/ eraser - Button compass - Potable Aqua tablets - Streamlight Nano LED light - P-38 can opener - Spool of Kevlar thread - SOL Fire Lite striker and tinder - DMT mini diamond stone - UST button compass on lanyard - Light My Fire Swedish Fire Knife - Signal mirror - Misc first aid (Band Aids, Steri strips, WoundSeal blood stopper, etc.) *** I have applied some SOLAS tape to the box and a couple of items in the box.   Miscellaneous: - Grabber Outdoors insect headnet - 50 ft paracord - Heavyweight waxed nylon thread - Zip ties - 10 ft Gorilla Tape - N95 particle mask - Write in the Rain paper and pen - KUM double pencil sharpener (large and small with bonus because it’s made of magnesium) - Smith’s PP1 knife sharpener - Carmex lip balm - Nitrile gloves - 2 OB tampons My additional bag is an REI Traverse 30 pack that contains a variety of items including: - A well-stocked first aid kit - Over 72 hours of freeze-dried food - Additional firestarting items - More paracord - Streamlight Polytac flashlight and extra batteries - SnowPeak Trek 700 titanium cookset  - Micro folding isobutane stove (very similar to the MSR Pocket Rocket) - Isobutane fuel canister - Katadyn Hiker Pro water filter - Brunton compass I chose the packs I did because they are convenient, comfortable, durable, and help me maintain a low profile since they are typical hiking gear rather than screaming "tactical" to everyone.  I also have the personal defense firearm covered.  I keep other items in the car, like a surplus trenching shovel, Gerber ASEK knife, wet weather gear, ENO hammock, footwear, etc.  I am usually within 20 miles of home, but feel I have enough gear on hand to sustain me should I need to travel further to get home.  So, with all that said, what's missing?

  Don't forget about Memphis.  That city has one of the highest murder rates in the US. Here is the data from the latest FBI Uniform Crime Report that shows the murder rates per 100,000 residents for each state and the District of Columbia.  I have ranked them from lowest murder rate to highest.  States that saw an increase between 2013 and 2014 are listed.  As you can see, many of the states seen as bastions of liberal villainy and scum have lower murder rates than Bible Belt states like Tennessee.  Politics has virtually nothing to do with crime. Factors like urbanization, income inequality, number of young people in the population, and level of cultural acceptance for violence are all commonly found to be correlated with crime. 1) NH   0.9 2) ME  1.6     MN  1.6     VT   1.6 3) HI    1.8 4) IA    1.9 (+ 46.3%) 5) ID    2.0 (+ 8.9%)     OR  2.0     MA  2.0 6) SD   2.3 (+ 10.1)     UT   2.3 (+ 29.6%) 7) CT   2.4      RI    2.4  8) WA  2.5 (+ 2.9%) 9) WY  2.7 10) CO  2.8 11) NE   2.9       WI   2.9 (+ 1.2%) 12) ND  3.0 (+ 34.6%) 13) KS   3.1       NY   3.1 14) KY   3.6        MT   3.6 (+ 59.5%) 15) NJ    3.9 16) OH   4.0       WV  4.0 (+ 19.6%) 17) VA   4.1 (+ 4.9%) 18) CA   4.4       TX   4.4 (+ 2.1%) 19) OK   4.5 20) AZ   4.7 21) NM  4.8       PA   4.8 (+ 0.5%) 22) IN    5.0 23) NC   5.1 (+ 9.1%) 24) IL     5.3 25) MI    5.4 26) AK   5.6 (+20.7%)       AR   5.6 (+ 4.2%) 27) AL    5.7       GA   5.7 (+ 2.0%)       TN   5.7 (+ 9.9 %) 28) DE   5.8 (+ 30.2%)       FL    5.8 (+ 16.5%) 29) MD   6.1 30) SC    6.4 (+0.7%) 31) MO   6.6 (+ 8.9%) 32) MS    8.6 (+ 18.8%) 33) LA    10.3 34) DC   15.9 (+ 0.4%)

Streamlight all the way.  I've owned multiple Streamlight products, carried them as a LEO, and have never had a problem.  On the few occasions i have contacted them for product info, they have been excellent about replying in a short amount of time.   Not so with Surefire.  I have owned two Surefire lights, both failed in a VERY short amount of time, and I am still waiting (several years later) for a reply to my multiple inquiries for warranty service.  

"V for Vendetta" is post-apocalypse-ish and a great film.  I also like "12 Monkeys" and that old TV movie "The Day After."

I have a gripe about headlines like that.  It gives the impression that Waffle House has a company-wide policy, which is inaccurate.  It was a single restaurant owned by a moron.  When I was a LEO, I was never told to disarm at any of the Waffle House restaurants I ate at.     Now, if one wants to gripe about the general policy prohibiting firearms (except for law enforcement), that is a different story.

Absolutely!  I also think that people worry a tad too much about it.  I am all about staying legal, but I have known multiple federal LEOs and have a good sense of what federal prosecutors are willing to concern themselves with.  I am very confident that the likelihood of the average person being hammered over this nuance in the law is virtually zero.  On multiple occasions I saw the feds pass on cases involving convicted felons in possession of crack cocaine and a firearm used in a gun crime.  I have also personally dealt with a case where a woman lied on her ATF form to buy a pistol that she presumably planned to use to kill her ex-boyfriend who was a fellow LEO (the reason she was caught is that I worked at the gun store part time and knew she was under a domestic violence protection order when she tried to buy the gun).  If the feds aren't going to bother with those kinds of crimes, they sure don't give a hoot about Average Joe and whether his AR pistol might have ever had a 16" barrel on it.

I just feel compelled to reply to this thread since it is a piece of TGO history.  And for the record, I have a feeling that the OP was guilty of not letting the truth get in the way of a good story.  Multiple promises of pictures and video, complaints to Bud's, and then decides to keep it because it took him a couple of weeks to get around to sending it back?  I call BS on it.

Yes, and in all seriousness, the ability to distill water would likely be a very helpful skill. I have been reading that it really isn't all that difficult or expensive to convert vehicles to flex fuel so you can actually make your own vehicle fuel at home should it be needed or desired.

7448.  We must have joined at almost the same time.

I just have to say it... How effing stupid are these laws? US vs foreign parts and you end up with the same frigging firearm? Give me a break!

I agree with you there. I put some Talon grips on my Walther PPS and it made the grip feel totally different (in a good way).

He sure did.  I've said something similar to that every single time I watched Doomsday Preppers and these people showed their "secret" hiding places for stuff.  I remember one episode of a guy in Texas who showed them his super secret hiding place for his weapons and supplies.  It was hidden behind a pegboard door in his garage.  Of course they showed his house that had a big sign in front of it with the name of his contracting business so that anyone in the world could find him on Google, go to his garage, slide back the pegboard door, and get his stuff.   But man was he proud of his "secret" hiding place!

I like the setup, but I still think I'd toss some sort of food in there, even if it's a couple of granola bars.  A freeze dried meal wouldn't weigh much and would provide plenty of food should you have some issues getting home.  I'd really hate to get stuck for a couple of days by bad weather or a roving hoard of zombies without anything to eat.  I am a coffee junkie so I keep some packets of that Starbucks Via in my kit as well.  What I do that is a bit differently is I keep a bunch of stuff in my vehicle and I figure I can pick and choose what I need to carry based on the circumstances and leave the rest with the vehicle.  I'd rather have it and not need it than the other way around.   I really like the AK pistol.  I seriously need to get another AK....

The rights expressed in the Constitution are human rights that are possessed by all people; we just happen to live in a country that chose to express that in a very concrete way by making it the foundation of our government.  It's interesting to see people who claim to believe in the right of people to own firearms for self-protection so quick to deny that right to certain people in our society.

Our law makes it clear that we don't execute people who are mentally ill, and nobody who is objective and honest can say this guy isn't seriously mentally ill.  Besides, it costs more to use capital punishment than it does to put someone away for life.

I feel kind of dumb for needing to ask, but I have been looking around for a secluded piece of property that I could use to build small rustic cabin for a getaway as well as a possible bugout shelter if living in the big city becomes too perilous. It seems that every square foot of land in the state of Tennessee has been purchased and put on the market in subdivisions with restrictions. Is there a trick to finding the property out there that isn't designated for a gated community?

That is a STEAL at that price, even if it's a bit rough around the edges.

I have an REI Traverse 30 daypack that I regularly use as a hiking backpack. It's a backpack with an internal frame, sort of like a mix between a traditional backpack and a large hiking pack. It's black so it doesn't scream "tactical" should I need it in a SHTF situation. I keep a wide variety of items in it and I can pick and choose what I need to carry depending on the length of my trip, the weather, etc. Some items include: - a small Primue hiking gas stove - a variety of fire starting options - a couple of freeze dried meals - a Katadyn Hikerpro water filter - a titanium cup with lid for cooking and a titanium spork - a lightweight poncho - a Frontier Pro water filter (similar to a Lifestraw, but can be attached to a water heater outlet valve and a 2 liter bottle), - plenty of water treatment tablets - a SOL survival bivvy - lightweight cathole shovel - foam earplugs (think 9/11 and all those alarms from buildings and cars going off) - 1liter collapsible Platypus water bottle (can be attached to the Frontier Pro filter) - snap light - mosquito headnet - small first aid kit - compass - bug spray - solar/crank emergency weather radio - small Streamlight flashlight I also keep raingear, a high-quality camp axe, a military entrenching tool, an ENO hammock, larger first aid/trauma kit, and some other stuff tucked away in my car. Should I need it, I can pick and choose what I think I need to carry and head out. I figure having more than what I need available is the best option. When picking items to buy, I go for quality first and lightweight a close second.

Yup, I'm in for sure. I'd like a two-tone blade and #19 to match my Runt 4.

There is a difference between biological sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Gender identity and gender dysphoria are recognized as legitimate conditions that are the result of processes in the brain that medical professionals suspect are the result of how we respond to hormones we are exposed to while in the womb. This is not some modern 21st century construct either. Native American tribes recognized three genders, one being "two spirit" individuals who we would consider transgender. These two spirit people were respected and seen as having unique spiritual abilities and were free to marry either men or women. Other cultures also recognize transgender people as a regularly accepted part of society. For some reason, the United States has one of the most closed-minded and stigmatizing cultures among democratic societies. We talk about freedom and individualism, but as soon as anyone doesn't fit into the neat little boxes we create, they are treated as second-class citizens and denied the same legal rights and protections others enjoy. Transgender people are generally not protected from being fired by their employers, and Tennessee is one of the states that has refused to include that protection in its human rights law. in reality, the only time people have a major problem with transgender people is when it is a man presenting as a female, which is a reflection of how our society puts men in a very tightly controlled box when it comes to acceptable gender presentation. I was a cop, have a wife, two kids, shoot guns, do leatherwork, fix my car, can do carpentry, plumbing, electrical work, and other "masculine" things, but if I wear a skirt instead of pants, society sees me as a mentally ill disgusting freak of a human being. Nothing else has changed except how a piece of fabric is cut and sewn, yet it carries so much social weight. But if you call it a kilt instead of a skirt....

Wow... where was I when this was available.  That is a nice looking knife.  Hate that I missed it!

I am one to believe that gun ownership for the purpose of self-protection is a human right, not just a Constitutional one.  I don't care who carries as long as they don't use their firearms to offensively harm innocent people.

Where can a fellow find a Mosin these days? I had one a while back and had to sell it, but would like to get another. Unfortunately for me, it seems they have gotten scarce. If anyone knows of a shop in middle or east Tennessee with one for sale at a fair price, can you share the love?