The Hippie Survivalist - The Future Has Arrived (for Combat Shotguns)

*There are now numerous hyper-deadly combat shotguns so heinous that they would make even Steven Seagall poop his drawers if he were to rest his lofty gaze upon one.  They tend to be bullpups, some with dual tube mags, though the AA-12 defies such categorization.

The Neostead Shotgun is a product of South Africa and has that god-awful South African bad-sci fi military design look to it.  However, DR gives it two hot boners, which it means it's worthy of Kick Ass status.  (Personally, I have an aversion to weapons produced in South Africa. The legacy of government oppression of blacks in South Africa is so evil that buying a riot/combat weapon produced there would, for me, be akin to purchasing a genuine Third Reich pistol that was used to murder Jews/Gypsies/civilians.  BAD, bad juju.  What do you expect?  I'm a fucking hippie!)

The UTAS UTS-15 is a Turkish-designed, modified Neostead, and clearly ups the ante with vivid, modular ball-busting capabilities not found on the original.  It one-ups the Neostead with an alternating feed capability and generally looks far more devastating.  I watched some heavy-breather fire one on YOUTUBE and it made me weep tears...of blood.  Notice how it resembles a SAW/Minimi more than a shotgun.  MADE BY TURKS.  WANT.

The two shotguns listed above are 12 gauge pumps with over-barrel dual magazine tubes, for 14+1 capacity.

Below is a Kel-Tec KSG, with UNDER-barrel dual mag tubes.  With a forward grip attached it looks nothing short of masturbatory.  I suppose this is the North American version of the afore-mentioned shotguns.  Gotta say it has high sex appeal to me, but then I'm bias towards blondes, big tits...and dual tubes (even I'm not sure what I mean by that).

Now, if the previous three ball-busters had you hot and hard, this next one is sure to cost you a pair of tighty-whiteys: The AA-12 is nothing short of horkening.  You already know all about it - all survivalists do - but for the civilians out there, the deal with the AA-12 is that it is a unique ground-up design, all stainless steel, box/rotary mag-fed with incredible shock-absorption capabilities that allow for TOTAL FULL-AUTO CONTROL.  I am having fun with wild, humorous and vulgar vocabulary this blog, but I assure you that the AA-12 really does allow for full control when fired in full-auto - I have watched YOUTUBE vids of one man simultaneously firing an AA-12 in each hand on full auto, without any visible recoil or loss of target acquisition.  You've got to understand that for a survivalist, that is akin to watching one man having two simultaneous, multiple orgasms, one in each hand.  Hork.  Wait a sec - that's disgusting.  Who would want to see that?  Oh, whatevs.  I've also seen a vid of a guy dipping an AA-12 into a vat of water, lifting it out and firing it full auto, with water and steam pouring out of both breach and muzzle, to no ill effect.  My only question is, why are US soldiers not already using this weapon in the field?  No comprendo, Jorge.

Another future-is-now combat shotgun worthy of mention: the RAAC Akdal MKA 1919 (say that 5 times fast, Ranger!), which is an AR-type, box-fed 12-gauger.  Who comes up with these names?  Seriously.  Pure Vulcan porn.  I find the RAAC Akdal hideously ugly, but I'm told all dragonslayers are.  And the arctic-urban camo IS kind of fun.  Good Lord is it a big bugger, tho.  One can only imagine the fun-stopping capabilities of this ball-buster.  Eek.

One last behemoth, which I also don't like: the Kushnapup Series V, which is a US$200 SAIGA bullpup conversion kit.  If you ask me, it looks like an IMI TAVOR clone in 12 gauge.  Except that I like the TAVOR.  Go figure.

 

OK, now for the money shot: the FRAG-12 HE grenade.  That's right - 12 gauge high-explosive grenades.  They make 'em and they work in the AA-12.  One word: Boobies.  That's all I got to say, my pecker hands are about to fall off from all this pecking, and I still need to milk some more mileage out of them before the sun sets.  Hyuck-hyuck-hyuck!  Have fun with this info.  Go wild with it.  Dream, and dream BIG.  Maybe one day someone, somewhere, will be able to print/CNC one of these bad boys in their own kitchen...LEGALLY.  Yeah, right.  Get some sleep and kall me when you wake up.  Heh-heh.

The Hippie Survivalist - The Horkening

*This new Wrist Rocket Pro slingshot looks really cool.  It folds up and locks shut with the aid of a padlock, and it uses flat power bands.  It gets high reviews for durability and design.  You can find the basic unit for about US$45 with free shipping if you spend the time to google it out.

I gotta say, I have a thing for slingshots, particularly the old-school one-piece wrist rockets.  When I was a kid they were the height of cool.  I still have an aluminum one that I bought off my brother somewhere around 1980.  Every few years I go buy some power bands and have fun for a few days, til I break the bands by pulling too hard, then I pack it away in storage once again.

*Awesome images of a custom, movie-prop crossbow below.  Folding stock, folding prod, wooden frame, metal hand guard, pistol grip.  If only...

 *Thank God Winter Solstice has come and gone - now the days are getting longer!  It's cold as hell though, and I'm not enjoying that one bit.  No house heater!

*Finished watching the BBC 6-episode PA TV show called The Last Train.  It's on YouTube in 9-minute chunks.  It ROCKS!  Seriously!  It's got awesome ruins and it's bleak and unique.  It's a grim little fairy tale.  Go BBC!

*A Zombie Killer, made from lengths of bike & machine chain wrapped around a stout hammer handle.  A "restored" relic from the Dark Years - that time after all the ammo was gone and most of the adults were dead, when humanity was saved by the child soldiers who used crude, neo-medieval weapons to literally hammer down the zombie uprising.  Them was the heroes who measured thems' daily victories in tons of undead flesh.

The Hippie Survivalist

*My favorite survival firearm of all time is still the 7.62 mm Chinese SKS carbine.  They haven't been available for years, but they retailed for US$99 - US$199 back in the late 80s.  Why I wike 'em so much?  Lemme tell yer.  I rike 'em cuz they butt-ass cheap, they MACHINED (not stamped or die cast), they gots an integral 10-round mag, they haz an integral bayonet (actually the carbine did not, cuz it had a shorter barrel), they gotted a cleaning kit stashed in the stock, and they built to last a rong, rong time.  They fire a robust, cheap round.  They promote conservation of ammo because of the integral mag.  The loaded stripper clips are lighter and much less bulky than box mags.  Truth is, the SKS is a poor man's AK-47.  AND there are still lots of after-market accessories available, like detachable, hi-capacity box and drum mags (only legal in some states, of course), synthetic/folding stocks (same shit again), optics, etc.

In my fantasies I outfit a militia with 'em, and they serve my men well.  While other survivors burn thru their ammo with high-capacity mags, and find their ARs to be high-maintenance sticklers, my men trudge on with their SKSs and Spetsnaz fighting shovels and out-endure them all.

*Spent some time in the shed today cobbling together a zombie club out of a hammer handle and two lengths of bicycle chain.  It's a real ugly PA beaut', yes Sir.

*The kitteh is giving me hot bites, not sure why.

*Dammit, I got a fucking cold.  I HATE getting sick.  Sore throats suck.  Coughs suck.  Pain sucks.

The Hippie Survivalist - Amazing Facts!

*ONE out of a BILLION people reads this blog.  Who says one simple fellah can't fuck up the entire world?

*The toy shield shown below is a genuine "restored" artifact from The Zombie Wars.  Reinforced in a back room weapons workshop in 2026, it was wielded in battle by Darth Colbert Edison, the legendary 9-year-old commander of the Children's First Regiment of Zombie Hunter/Killers.  The C1RZHK is credited with keeping human civilization intact in San Francisco during the Dark Years.  This shield was found in the basement of local resident Ms. Tomei Ryder upon her death in 2067, and now resides in Special Collections at the Stronghold ArchMuseum on Alcatraz Island.  Darth's fate is unknown.

*If you have internet access and some spare time and like PA flicks, check out the BBC miniseries The Last Train.  Very realistic ruins (for a change).

*OK, if you want a really cool PA read, start with Ship Breaker, then follow it with The Drowned Cities.  Written by Paolo Bacigalupi and sequentially aligned in the same deeply effed future world, both are excellent and unique young adult reads.

*Sometimes the word groove just isn't here, I don't know what to say, the syllables don't flow, this blog comes out stilted, fer fuck's sake I just write what I can and try to make it palatable if not funny...I understand if you are not overly impressed by the content, but then again it's free and you don't have to read it, so STFU about it already. ;-)

*The damnedest thing happened the other day.  A colleague brought me to a restaurant that did not exist!  It was in an old Metro bus in a secret location and for a small fee we ate soup to our hearts' content.  No permit, no license, no menu, no address, we brought our own wine...my kind of place.  Nearby was a store that did not exist.  It sold crafty things.  Thank God the Underground World is still out there...it may be the last bastion of creativity, character and sanity.

*Good day, Lords'n'Lasses!  May the Force be with you as you navigate the post-Christmas sales and approach New Years.  Don't drink too much, fer God's sake stay off the roads, and don't bother with Resolutions (they are forced and phony and never work out no-hoo!).

The Hippie Survivalist - Xmas Day Updates

*Merry Christmas, to all you Christians and consumers.  Don't know about you, but Christmas was never a religious holiday for my family - more a time to visit kin and exchange presents.  I find the tradition lacking, but hope to resuscitate it with Christmas Eve presents, a Christmas Day Picnic and the Legend of Santa Zombie when I have my own brood.

*Four awesome car gimmicks of yesteryear - press HERE.  The 45 rpm record player is my all-time fav.  Can you imagine?  It's nothing short of genius.  The 8-track tape was a close second, in terms of pure unwieldy-ness.

*An intriguing new all-electric vehicle that gets good mileage but is (as usual) no steal at 16-20K.  Press HERE.

*299 Days: The Community - a kindle survivalist ebook (US$9.95) that may be of interest to Hippie Survivalists.  I couldn't tell you for sure, since I haven't read it.

*The Snare-Vival-Trap looks like a good gizmo for a bugout bag, no?  It doesn't look like a deal at US$14.95 IMHO, but that's our economy for you.

*With a name like MAGS: Building A Mutual Assistance Group for Survival, this US$3.95 ebook was almost certainly written by an old-school, gun-loving survivalist.  It probably contains useful info - plz let me know if it does!  A year ago I would have purchased this without a second thought, but times change and I am reducing expenditures now, so I will forgo the purchase unless someone convinces me otherwise.

*This blog entry contains a useful basic intro to building a weapon from an 80% blank and a parts kit.

*More info on the planned survivalist community called The Citadel.  It's a fascinating idea and it's sure to be a useful experiment.  It doesn't quite suit my predilections, though - too utopian, too gun-oriented, too Patriot-oriented.  When I start my own community I intend to keep it solution-oriented and forward-oriented above all else.  This will allow the community members to be unencumbered by old notions and history as they let go of the past and embrace the changing present to create a more functional future.

*Jeez, just pumped this entry out in order to maintain my own space in the face of overwhelming family members.  Enjoy!

The Hippie Survivalist - How I Found My Intuition (A Dude's Confession)

* Years ago I read in a spiritual book (title long-forgotten) that one way to get in touch with one's Inner Voice (aka intuition) was to go on walks with no set course, and to consult one's Inner Voice for directions.  Well, walking is one of my favorite activities, and so at some point I began following these instructions.

What I found was that I would pose questions to my chest, and I would receive answers.  In fact, my Inner Voice (apparently based in my body) would talk to me in much the same way my conscious mind does, and I would end up having conversations with myself - Me versus my Inner Voice.  The directions my Inner Voice gave me were often at odds with where I consciously wanted to go.  In time my Inner Voice began kicking in when I was driving, and then later when I was at work.  It is loudest when I am under duress.  During periods when I am upset emotionally, it speaks very loudly and insistently to me, sometimes to the point where I argue with it (myself) because I don't want to do what it urges me to do.

The truth is that my Inner Voice, while not logical or even part of my conscious mind, is almost always right.  And as much as I sometimes resist the advice it gives me, I am aware that it is right.  I have ignored it at my peril on more than one occasion, and almost always lived to regret the decision.  At other times I have argued with it until I have arrived at a middle ground.  But by-and-large I have learned to simply abide by what it tells me to do, and let my own desires fall by the wayside.  That is the easiest path and I don't recall it ever steering me wrong.

This is a very brief and incomplete explanation of my relationship to my intuition, but my point is this: Intuition is a powerful survival tool.  It is so powerful that it could easily keep a person with no survival skills alive, if that person had the ability to tune into it clearly enough.  It could tell a person to leave an area immediately, to go right instead of left, to head towards that far hill, to drink from this puddle but not that puddle, to not fight back in one situation and yet to yell loudly in another - the list is endless.

Intuition, being illogical and non-quantifiable, is a spiritual attribute IMHO.  Accessible by anyone of any caliber or faith, it provides us with knowledge that we can't (otherwise) consciously access.

The cat just puked.

*Watched Breaker Morant last night, for the first time.  Well now, there's a movie with a perplexing moral message.  On one hand we like Morant for his sophistication and his ability in the battlefield, and on the other hand he is a killer of unarmed men.  We hate the fraudulent manner in which his farcical trial progresses, yet he is indeed guilty of the crimes he is charged with.  Can anyone truly say that a man who kills such as he did doesn't have a bullet or ten coming to him?  Live by the sword, die by the sword.  And yet, he is clearly a scapegoat, a pawn in a larger political game, and a victim of fate, egotism, cowardice and inhuman government bureaucracy.  I suppose that in the end the movie is simply a commentary on the utter pointlessness and unfairness of war.

Happy Sunday!

The Hippie Survivalist - Sunday Stuff

*I need to once again hype John Robb at Resilient Communities.  He offers a free weekly newsletter and also a paid monthly newsletter (both of which I receive and rate very highly).  In a world awash with low-end survivalist porn (this site included), John offers simple and unadulterated advice that promotes resilience without getting hung up on weapons and gear.

*I also need to once again hype John L Peterson's The Arlington Institute, which offers a free monthly newsletter called The Future Edition.  The Future Edition is one of my favorite monthly reads.  Over the years John's interpretation of current world events has taken a decidedly spiritual turn, and I am OK with that...although I question the validity of some things he discusses (such as UFO sightings and crop circles).   Still, he promotes the belief that humanity stands at a crossroads and that the way to embrace the future (and present) is to let go of the past and find new ways of being...and I can't argue that!

*Lastly, let's not forget to donate money to legit and responsible nonprofit entities that promote self-sufficiency and resilience in disadvantaged communities.  My own favorite nonprofits include Solar Cookers International, The Prison University Project at San Quentin State Prison, the Santa Cruz Homeless Garden Project and the Walker/Hupp Fund which pays for kids to attend Headwaters Outdoor School in Shasta.

 American Christmas in full glory, circa 2012 CE.

A scathing YELP review so inadvertently perfect that the proprietor of the

(local) business taped it to the front window for all to see.  My favorite bookstore.

Wasteland Weekend IV Hood Ornament

The Hippie Survivalist - Saturday Blog

*A mass shooting yesterday that left over 20 KINDERGARTENERS dead.  Endless drive-by shootings in Oakland.  Our society grows sicker day-by-day.

*My own week was difficult also, for lesser reasons - work stress, reduced income, a cold house with no heater, conflicting feelings that on one hand life is not fair, and on the other hand life owes us nothing at all and I am lucky to have anything more than a shirt on my back and enough food to survive.  And also, in some strange way I am glad to feel so down-and-out...it reminds me of the bottom line, it reminds me that I am a hard worker, it reminds me that I am a survivor.

I feel as if I am a spiritual person who is living a materialistic life in a society that corrupts the soul incessantly and invisibly.  I remind myself that it is more important to care and to give than to indulge and to take.  I remind myself that when I die I will die naked, penniless and alone - all I will bring with me into the energy world is the sum total of all I've been.  And the sum total of who I've been is the result of the choices I have made, the intentions I have chosen, and the efforts I have put forth.

*A thought or two on pornography: There is a lot of buzz on the internet that a recent study showed that porn stars have higher self-esteem and are happier than civilians.  Yeah, right.  I don't believe it for a second.  That kind of sensationalist BS is exactly what our sick society would have us believe, so that greedy people can make more money on our blind indulgences.  Most porn is grotesque, demeaning and blatantly indecent and immoral.  It doesn't take a theologian to figure that out, all it takes is a moment of inner reflection.

I am not down on all porn, but there are many degrees of indulgence and debasement that occur within the realm of pornography, and it appears to me that the bottom line is pretty fucking low.  On the one hand pornography can enhance sexual freedom, excitement and pleasure, and on the other hand it can result in vulgarity, abuse and dangerous levels of debasement.  Sometimes I wonder what demons porn stars are cavorting with, or if some of them are demons themselves, born to spread the evil of total self-indulgence in the modern world.

I get sick of reading lies that portend to be truths.

*Scored this old-school kit crossbow at the Flea for ten bucks this morning.  Been looking for one for years!  It's got a wooden frame, a machined aluminum bow and a functioning aluminum action/trigger.  All I need to do is string it.  And I'll probably sand it and oil it with boiled Linseed oil.

*2.5 weeks ago I stopped eating gluten and refined sugar.  The first thing I noticed is that I was no longer hungry all the time.  Then I lost about 5 pounds, quite quickly.  I'm assuming those pounds were water, the result of incomplete metabolism of sugar.  I'm hoping to lose more weight, but it hasn't happened yet.

*Ticket sales to Wasteland Weekend IV got off to a rip-roaring start on December 6th at noon.  They limited total sales to 1,500 tickets, to keep the event small and awesome.  Apparently there are still tickets left in the $85 bracket...but if you want to go, BUY YOUR TICKETS SOON!  Next year's 4-day event will take place 9.26.2013 - 9.29.2013.  All I can say is, 4 days of awesomeness for less than $60 (in my case)...WOW.  Just, WOW.  It was a lot of fun last year and my WW buds and I are really looking forward to even more fun next year.

*So I finally did it - bought about 15 wooden cigar boxes of all manner of sizes and shapes, tore off their tiny hinges and catches if they had any, and added gate-sized zinc hinges, hasps and handles, turning them into "Crafty Mini-Boxes".  They are a bit crude, but cute as hell and usable for storing ammo, stash, lunch, snacks, matches, smokes, etc.  I want to mount one on the front fender rack of my bike, like a mini-trunk.  I'm giving them out as Christmas presents this year.

*The massacre at the kindergarten yesterday has brought up the issue of Gun Control, and given the heinousness of the crime it is difficult for me not to give the issue some thought.  I find that I can play Devil's Advocate for both sides.  The issue is convoluted and complex, and a great deal of it has to do with mental health, which is hard to quantify.  At the far end of the pro-gun spectrum is James Rawles, saying that teachers should carry guns, as they do in Israel and South Africa.  I don't know what to say to that...although my first thought is that Rawles is simply addicted to guns.  They seem to solve every problem in his world.  If we make concealed carry permits super easy to obtain, and everyone winds up armed, will this lead to a civil society or to a society that blows itself apart in an unending series of ever-larger gunfights?  We are a self-destructive, sick society, one that is waning and has seen better days.  And guns don't address any of that, nor do they solve, ameliorate or heal any of the underlying causes of crime - they merely have the capacity to physically stop crime from occurring.  The Wild West was a very different time and place than modern America.  Maybe morality and respect are alive and well in the American Redoubt...but I don't think they are in Los Angeles, with its teeming millions. 

Every time I contemplate the ills of our modern Western society, and the plight of the world as a whole, I am left believing that the trick to survival is to find and start lifeboat communities of like-minded individuals who are spiritual but realistic, talented and committed, and to make these communities as self-sufficient and resilient as possible.  Should they be armed?  Fuck yes.  My Inner Hippie is not stoned.

Designing A Resilient Community

If I had a billion dollars to spend, I might well spend it building a resilient community from scratch.

Community gardens would be spread throughout.  A maze of alleyways would provide thru-traffic for bicycles and pedestrians.  A loop street car system would provide public transportation.  There would be an industrial zone, but zoning would also allow permitted restaurants, retail shops, and maintenance shops to operate out of private residences.  There would be one central park that would be designed after the old French park in New Orleans that takes up a square block and is fenced and has a mandala pattern of plants and paths inside, and is locked after hours.  I love that park.  There would be a downtown commercial zone modeled after an old school Main Street, and there would be several smaller commercial zones spread throughout the community.  The phone system would probably be wireless.  The community would have its own power plant and a closed grid that would be fed extensively by residential solar and wind systems.

Residential lots would face South to maximize sunlight.  Rainwater catchment would be mandatory for all buildings.  A simplified building code would be enforced.  Alternative building methods and materials would be promoted.  Small scale solar electric and solar heating systems would be ubiquitous.  Series hybrid vehicles would be encouraged, as would home charging stations.

A central database would exist that would promote DIY self-sufficiency among the residents via a website.  A program would be set up which would encourage residents to give to the community and create their own community projects.  There would be no paid public officials - all positions would be voluntary.  

A raised berm would surround the community.  It would be fronted by a ditch and topped with a defensive concrete wall.  There would be a set number of access points to the community, each of which could be shut with ease.

While I would want to cultivate a small-town ambiance, there would be one central "super road" thru town which would be specifically designed to allow motorized traffic to get across town as quickly as possible.  Stop signs would be discouraged, and be replaced with traffic circles.  Bicycles would have their own, more lenient set of traffic rules.

The town would be built on, and governed by, several basic tenets, including "Git 'er done", "Do it right the first time" and "Simple don't break".  A general Common Sense ethic would pervade the community, too.  In addition, discretion, courtesy and mutual respect would be embraced as community tenets.

I would want the community to look and be interesting, and I would recreate parts of my favorite places in the town.

The town would also have a public lake or river...with a beach, of course.  :-)

Saturday Night Blog

* Woke up this morning, ate oatmeal, walked to get coffee, then bought organic produce at the local farmers market and ammo at the local sporting goods store.  It was an urban Hippie Survivalist kind of AM.

* Been raining heavily off and on for the last few days.  Nice set of storms, though - they are warm, from Hawaii.  It is cozy weather, kitty cat weather.  As soon as it clears I'll install one last rain gutter on my laundry room roof and attach it to the 3 recycled 50-gallon rain barrels I recently purchased.  They will be daisy chained together.

 

* Really awesome video HERE showing how to easily and inexpensively set your wrist rocket up to shoot arrows.  I am very happy to have found this video.  I think this guy's setup is ingenius, and I'd rather have a single folding slingshot than a bow.

* Lest you forget how to make a grid-down refrigerator, go HERE to polish up your skills.  This is must-have, must-know information for our energy descent future.

* I thought these Survival Tube Kits were cool, and it will be fun as hell to make my own out of PVC and my own gear.

* Recently watched Blood of Heroes for the first time.  Can't believe I never knew about it!  It's part of the PA canon.  Going to have to buy it and study it.  Found out it was filmed in Coober Pedy, Australia, too.  I was there a couple of years ago, spent the night in an underground hotel.  Here is a cool LINK to a neat Jugger story concerning the movie - be sure to follow the link at the end to see the awesome costume photos.

* In case you are in need of awesome PA flicks to watch, I want to recommend a few (in addition to Blood of Heroes).  The Horde is hands-down one of the best zombie flicks ever made.  You MUST watch it.  Stakeland is ostensibly a "vombie" flick, but really an atmospheric PA flick of epic proportions.  It never ceases to amaze me - I can watch virtually any/every scene repeatedly, it's like poetry.  Bellflower is not truly PA, but it contains enough homage to Mad Max to make it a must-see.  It is an experimental, low-budget film with epic cinematography.  Another zombie flick worth watching is Rambock: Berlin Undead.  It's only an hour long but that's alright.

* Passed this old Dodge Power Wagon outside the Farmers Market today.  What a truck!  Note the tool/battery boxes built into the fenders, the heavy duty front grill, the winch and the epic front bumper.  There was a homemade hippie camper on the back, with a loft tacked onto the top.  What I like about this old truck is it crosses the line between tractor and truck, and it is more of a motorized platform than a regular vehicle.  If I win the lottery I will refurbish one of these puppies and put a custom aluminum flatbed on back.

* HERE is a a cool little gizmo made by Revelate Designs which attaches to your bicycle's handle bars and allows you to carry a stuff sack.  I just got it and I'm going to test it out.