Prudent Prepping: Group Buy Product Unboxing

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Follow along as I build a long term plan via Prudent Prepping.

On the Blue Collar Prepping Facebook page ,Darryl Hadfield offered us an opportunity to save serious money on a Gerber Center Drive multi-tool via a $76 Group Buy.

Due to moving several times and a lack of space, many smaller items that I own and would like to use can't be found easily. I have storage totes stacked almost to the ceiling full of books, mementos and things that were in cabinets I don't own any longer. In one of them is at least one Leatherman (and more than likely three), so the chance to get a new tool I can put my hands on quickly was too good to pass up.

It came in the mail yesterday. This isn't really a test but a first impression. What's my impression? Very Nice!

Gerber Center Drive

http://amzn.to/2q3qSUb

What a tool it is! I now regret using the name One Tool to Do It All, because this beauty comes much closer to that description than a mere screwdriver ever will.

I have owned many different multi-tools and really like having one around or on my belt. Previous jobs didn't have me carrying around 1.5 lbs of waist-mounted gear, so a Leatherman (or similar) wasn't an actual drag on my belt.


From the Gerber website:
"Gerber’s new multi-tool offers uncompromising performance through revolutionary design. The innovative center-axis driver opens to align like a real screw driver, yielding maximum torque and rotation. No productivity is sacrificed with the addition of a 30% longer outboard blade and one-thumb opening sliding jaws. Full size, real tools - the multi-tool just got a reality check." 

Previous versions of the Gerber multi-tool allowed the user to snap their wrist down quickly to extend the jaws, but this model uses a sliding button (seen in the picture, close to the jaws) to unlock the handle and extend the jaws. I prefer the slide to the wrist-snap.

Now I have to dig into my stored gear to find a Leatherman so I can test them head-to-head... or jaw-to-jaw, as the case may be.


The Takeaway

• A no-fooling, solid multi-tool at a great price! 

The Recap

• One Gerber Center Drive tool
• Gerber MSRP: $119
• BCP Group Buy price: $76 including shipping. 
• Purchased through Amazon with Prime: $89.97 

If you plan on buying anything through Amazon, please consider using our referral link. When you do, a portion of the sale comes back here to help keep this site running!
If you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!

NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.

AR-15 Basics: the Deer Hunting AR

"Nobody hunts with an AR-15!"

This statement is uttered on nearly a daily basis, but it's not true. I hunt with an AR-15, one built specifically for the purpose. The firearm in this video demonstrates one of the neatest parts of an AR pattern rifle: its modularity.



Lokidude

Gun Blog Variety Podcast #142 - Cameron Diaz Meets Chocolate Godzilla at NRAAM 2017

That's a movie I'd go see!

Join Sean, Erin, Beth, Tiffany, Weer'd,  and Co-host Emeritus Adam as we record LIVE in the Media Room at the NRA Annual Meeting 2017. Subjects of discussion include:

• SIG pistols
• Grayguns
• Airforce Airguns
• Bribery Vodka from Covington
• C-Products Magazines
• Next Level Training's SIRT Pistol
• Infiltrating the Mom's Demand Action protest
• The derpiest holster EVAR!
• Mike Seeklander
• The NRA Women's Luncheon
• Safer Faster Defense's SFD Responder
• Second Amendment Foundation
• 10K for 2A
• Korth Revolvers
• Cabot Guns

Thank you for downloading, listening, and subscribing. You are subscribed, right? We are available on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, and Google Play Music!

Listen to the podcast here.

Read the show notes here.

Thanks to LuckyGunner and Remington for their sponsorship, and a special thanks to Firearms Policy Coalition for their support.

Forgetful Frugal Friday 5/5/2017

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!

I know that last week I said that I would be discussing "cheap and easy" yard work, but that will have to wait for next week.

Today's vlog is an expansion on the idea of schmoozing your community/ local social media with a great $5 score. Here in Northern Michigan it's the beginning of yard sale season, but social media shopping can save more than a few gallons of gas.

I will put together a couple of future vids surrounding my score and its potential personal applications.

Be good. Be safe. If you can't be safe, be be good and dangerous!

The Everywhere Sharpener

You're out somewhere, your knife is a bit dull from use, and you need to bring the edge back.  But for some reason you don't have any of your usual equipment for this.  What to do, what to do...

Find a coffee cup or mug, and flip it over.



The ring on the bottom that actually contacts the table (the saucer if you're fancy) is not glazed, so the bare ceramic is exposed.  That ceramic is quite abrasive, and you can use that ring to sharpen your blade.

I deliberately dulled this knife to the point it wouldn't cut anything (including paper) cleanly, and it took about a minute of strokes with light pressure on this mug ring to bring it back to a quite usable edge.

Note that it might upset the waitress at a cafe if you start using your coffee cup for this, so keep that in mind.

Prudent Prepping: Last Minute Preps

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Follow along as I build a long term plan via Prudent Prepping.

The topic of Last Minute Prepping came up while talking to a friend who recently moved from Oregon to Tennessee and who is renting a house while waiting for the sale of his Oregon house to close. He can't do much in the way of structural or permanent changes to his rental, but he has done several temporary and very simple things to be ahead of the changeable weather where he is now. Over the past month, the weather in Tennessee has gone from 30's and rain to 90's and cloudy, with wind, thunder storms, and tornadoes thrown in randomly. My friend has improvised some low cost and easy things to be safe in the crazy weather.

Quick and Easy Preps Around the House
Since he is on the outskirts of town, when the power is out his doesn't get restored quickly. This means he has to be ready to cook, heat his place and have lights. The last time lines went down it took 4 days to get everything restored.

Heat

If you have a fireplace or a wood stove, make sure you have enough wood to keep going for at least a week. Since weather knocks out the power regularly where my friend lives, he has several cords of wood on hand. 

Light

A generator is not in my friends budget, so gas or Coleman lanterns are his primary backup light sources, along with flashlights for personal use. He does not like candles, having had a bad experience with a fire as a kid. 

Cooking 

An expensive gas grill was moved East and it has been given a workout this winter. If no grill or barbecue is available and you have a wood stove, cooking can be done on top if that. An extra propane tank or two is not a bad idea, either. 

Weatherproofing

The house doesn't have window shutters, but it does have an overhanging roof that should offer some protection from falling branches. To prepare for window breakage, several rolls of 10 mil plastic and duct tape are placed around the house. 

Waterproofing 

No, not like that! The town temporarily ran out of sand bags early in the winter, so my friend filled trash bags with dirt to keep water out of his garage. The bags aren't in very good shape now, but are filled with dirt which can be easily dumped/shoveled or broomed off the concrete and back to where it came from.

Personal Care
With power potentially out for a week, plans needed to be made for the care and feeding of the people in the house.

Food

Because my friend moved from a semi-rural area in Oregon to a similar place in Tennessee, a reasonable supply of emergency food is on hand. The freezer has water-filled gallon zip lock bags which can be used for ice or in a portable cooler if needed. Before the bags freeze, they flow and fill gaps between the items already in the freezer, meaning they take up less obvious space than one-gallon milk jugs. 

Water

I've spoken to him about a bath tub water bladder for water storage, but there isn't any interest. What has been done is just filling the tub. As a camper, he does have a water filter system as a backup; I'm not sure which one or how big it is though.

Backup Supplies 

Smaller amounts of everything, including clothing, is placed into my friend's small motor home in case the house takes any major storm damage. Personal information like prescriptions, documents and spare glasses are also in the motor home. Everything is in plastic bags or in totes, just in case the motor home takes a hit too.

The Takeaway

• Any place can be prepared for bad weather or emergencies in just a few hours.
• It's better to be prepared ahead of time to reduce the amount of stress on everyone around you. 
• Any of the listed steps can be done in less than a day if you know there is a storm coming, but reasonable people living in severe weather areas should already be prepared for the worst.

Nothing was purchased this week or removed from my gear.


If you plan on buying anything through Amazon, please consider using our referral link. When you do, a portion of the sale comes back here to help keep this site running!
If you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!

NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.

AR-15 Basics: Precision Rifles

Last week we covered setting up an AR in a light, handy configuration. This week we're going in the opposite direction, trading weight and short length for range and high precision.



Lokidude