Q&A

Some Quick Questions About Me

What is your favorite rifle?  If I really had to pick one, I'd say the H&K 91.  I became enthralled with it back in the early 80s when H&K had cool ads in all the gun magazines.  It was one I always lusted after but could never afford, especially after Bush 41 signed the import ban.  I'm fortunate now to have the American-built of mostly H&K parts PTR 91.  It's a keeper.  One that got away that I wish I still had was an Iver Johnson M1 Carbine with a Choate pistolgrip stock.  Incredibly handy, and very underrated by the "gun experts."

What is your favorite pistol?  I really, really, really want an early model Colt Python with a 6 in. barrel, highly polished nickel finish, and original wooden grips.  After that, it would be an early model S&W 29 with a 6 in. barrel in highly polished blue with original wooden grips.  Those were two that filled my boyhood dreams.  In all practicality, though, I really love my Sig Sauer P220 in .45 acp that I've carried since the early 90s.

Shotgun?  I've never been a big shotgun guy, but I guess a regular old Remington 870.  It is truly versatile and there is a world of accessories available for it.  It is as reliable as the day is long.

What survival skill do you want to learn next?  Food canning.  I know the basics of water bath canning, but I want to get more comfortable doing it, and I want to learn pressure canning.  These skills are very valuable in everyday life just for preserving the harvest and taking advantage of sales.  It can also be used for wonderful Christmas gifts.  In a breakdown situation, having home canned foods will really stretch the store-bought long term storage and provide needed comfort foods.

Who should you have learned more from?  My Grandpa, Ray Green.  He was a master with machinery.  He traveled the Pacific NorthWest, and later the country troubleshooting and repairing mills.  He could build anything.  He could fix anything.  He was a big time hunter up until the late 50s, and was a great fisherman into the 80s.  He came of age well before the Depression.  He smoked meat and fish, he helped Grandma can fruit, jelly, veggies and fish.  He had all kinds of hand tools - and knew how to use them to their fullest extent.

What is your preparedness motto?  Back before Y2K, as friends and I were prepping, I coined the phrase, "You'd be damn glad to have a _________ in a breakdown situation." 

If money were no object, where would you have a retreat?  We dreamed for a number of years about moving to Wyoming, but it just doesn't look like it is going to happen.  I've really become interested in eastern Tennessee, in the Smokey Mountains.  Beautiful, rural, hilly country, little regulation, good climate, no income tax, far enough from big cities to not worry about refugees, but close enough to go to town if we need to.  It's also close enough to home and family for us.

What does your wife think about your prepping?  She is supportive and encouraging.  She trusts me to know what is going on and to get us ready for it, but she is quite capable herself.

What's the first advice you would give to someone starting to prep?  Don't go overboard.  Think things through.  Don't go into debt to prep.  Take care of the basics - a few weeks of food (check out my affiliate link with Emergency Essentials), water and hygiene products, a long gun and a pistol, a 72 hour kit and a couple of Get Home Bags (check out my affiliate link with Survival Gear Bags), and a NOAA Weather Alert Radio.  Fully tricked out M4s and a pallet of Mountain House foods are cool and great to have, but start slow and learn as you go (and from other people's mistakes).

I'd love to see your responses to some of these questions in the comments section!