Sawyer water filters

I really enjoy Pat Cascio's reviews over on the Survival Blog, and every once in a while I find one I feel the need to post here. Well this is one of those times. Water is an essential part of our survival, we need it to live. But we need it to be clean, and drinkable. So I saw this review and thought "sweet" because I have many of these filters, they are my favorite because unlike the Lifestraw, these are back-flushable and thus will last much longer and cost the same. To me it is a no-brainer, so here it is folks.

“You Must Have A Source Of Safe Drinking Water. Without It, You Will Die!” I don’t know how many times I said this in my many articles over the past 25+ years, or when speaking to people about survival, but I still can’t drive the point home to some folks. I get questions like “but the water is crystal clear (from a stream or creek), so I know it’s okay to drink.” Many people just refuse to believe that it’s what you can’t see with the naked eye in crystal clear water that will kill you. You can die from a bullet instantly, or you can die a slow and agonizing death from the millions of bugs, bacteria, Protozoa, cysts, and other nasty things that neither the naked eye can see nor your nose smell nor your tongue taste.

We live on a very small rural homestead that is about six miles from one very small rural town and 10 miles from another small rural town that is well off the beaten path. Our water comes from our own well. We have a large filter in the pump house that must be serviced every two years because of iron bacteria. However, we also have water filters in our house, and we filter all of our drinking water before drinking it.

Our preps consists of many different methods of filtering/purifying our drinking water. We don’t believe in only having one source for access to safe drinking water. One is none, and two is one, and more methods are even better. We take safe drinking water seriously! Many readers who live in the big city, simply take it for granted that they will always have safe drinking water. However, what happens when the flow from the tap stops? Where will your drinking water come from then? And, how will you know it is safe to drink that water?

Like many preppers and gun guys, we are always looking for an excuse to buy more gear and toys (read: guns) for our survival. However, every now and then I run across a product and say, “How can I not buy it?” Such is the case with the Sawyer Mini Water Filter that we all have in our bug out bags. Sawyer is known world wide for providing filters for making water safe to drink. Millions of units have been sold, and they do manufacture many different types of filters. Long time friend and one of my old martial arts students, Rob from Colorado, recently told me about the Sawyer Mini Water Filter. I try to keep up on these things, but I wasn’t aware of this model.

The Sawyer Mini Water Filter is capable of filtering up to 100,000 gallons of water. Huh? What? Yes, you read that correctly. It can filter up to 100,000 gallons of water. This particular filter is meant for filtering water from a fresh water source– a fresh water lake, stream, or creek. It is not designed to filter sewer water or other “dirty” sources of water that may contain viruses. It is a very rare case for fresh water sources to contain a virus. So, please keep this in mind. This filter is for making water safe to drink from a fresh water source.

The Sawyer Mini Water Filter is one of the smallest types of water filters you can find. It is easy to store in your bug out bag or the glove box of your vehicle. It weighs only a few ounces. You get the filter itself, a water storage collection bag that holds 16 ounces of water, a straw, and a syringe to back-flush your filter when the flow of drinking water starts to slow down. You can even attach the filter to many sports drinking bottles. It simply screws right on. Make sure you have a bottle that fits the filter.

To use the filter, you simply collect fresh water from a stream, creek, or lake into the collection bag or into your own water bottle, and then sip through the top of the filter. It’s easy as easy can be! If you suspect that the fresh water source is contaminated in any way with a virus, you can add a drop or two of chlorine bleach into the water bottle or collection bag. However, as mentioned, it is a very rare case, where a fresh water source will have a virus. Act accordingly! One can carry a small bottle of water in their bug out bag that has chlorine bleach in it. Again, act accordingly.

When the water flow from the filter starts to slow, it is easy to clean by back-flushing. Take some of your filtered water, and draw it into the provided syringe, and squirt it through the opening of the filter– the top opening, where your mouth goes to suck water in. Do this a few times, and the filter has been back-flushed, and you are good to go for a long, long time before needing to clean the filter again. Did I happen to mention that this mini water filter can filter up to 100,000 gallons of safe drinking water? Yeah, I thought I did but wanted to mention it again. It is not a typo. It can filter up to 100,000 gallons of water, making it safe to drink.

I’m ready to turn 65 years of age. I never thought I’d live this long or I would have taken better care of myself. However, I’m not a math whiz, and I never have been, but I’m sure I won’t drink another 100,000 gallons of water for as long as I live. That means I won’t have to replace this filter.

I would be hard pressed to draw water from a mud puddle or other source of “dirty” water to drink, and I do have water filters that are capable of making “dirty” water safe and clean to drink. Now, with that said, I would still try to avoid collecting and drinking that source of water if possible. The Sawyer does not make salt water safe to drink, nor does any other similar water filter. That’s an entirely different process called desalinization, and it isn’t practical for everyday survival!

My family has been very impressed with other Sawyer Water Filters and are even more impressed with their mini water filter. Like most folks, my wife and I live from paycheck to paycheck most months, and we spend our money very carefully, always looking for the best bargains we can find. However, when it comes to survival gear and our safety, we refuse to cut corners. There is no junk for us! You can go into any of the big box stores and find all manner of camping equipment by names that will be familiar to you. However, we avoid most of that stuff. It is meant for weekend camping, and it won’t last you in a survival situation. We look at military surplus or gear designed for the military and for serious survival. We just refuse to cut corners.

The water collection pouch that comes with the Sawyer is not the sturdiest bag, and I can see it ripping if not cared for. So, I would suggest having a sports water bottle, a good one, and using that for collecting your water you want to filter. However, if the provided bag does rip, you can always use duct tape (and you do have duct tape in your bug out bag, right?) to repair it. Or you can use the provided straw and drink directly from the water source. The only drawback to this method is that you can’t carry any extra water with you once you leave that water source, and it might be a while before you run across another fresh water source. Be advised!

So, we were pleasantly surprised that the Sawyer Mini Water Filter is selling for under $20. Yes, you read that right. It is under $20, if you shop around. How can you not justify buying one of these water filters for each member of your family, and having a few extra on-hand? On Amazon, a single Sawyer Mini Water Filter is selling for a few cents above $20 each with free 2-day shipping to Prime members. There are deepening discounts for 2-packs and 4-packs, which get the price per unit down to about $18.50.

For those of you who aren’t listening to what I and others have to say about water, I’ll repeat myself once again, and I’m yelling as loud as I can. “You Must Have A Source For Safe Drinking Water. Without It, You Will Die!”

Original Article

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Lifting the veil

Video shedding some light on and lifting the veil on militias. What they are, and why militia is not a bad word. The liberal main stream media has tried as hard as they can to demonize the militia and turn it into a negative term. The militia is called out for in the US Constitution, and almost all State Constitutions.

Fight the Tyrants

I just wanted to post something today, I found this, I think you will enjoy it.

Death of the Constitution

A buddy of mine modified the speech given my Mark Antony in the movie Julius Cesar to be about the death of our Constitution, I thought you might like to read it.

Friends, Americans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury the Constitution, not to praise it.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with the Constitution. The noble Politicians
Hath told you the Constitution was Inconsequential:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath the Constitution answered it.
Here, under leave of Politicians and the rest--
For Politicians are honorable men;
So are they all, all honorable men--
Come I to speak in the Constitution's funeral.
He was our friend, faithful and just to us:
But Politicians says he was Inconsequential;
And Politicians are honorable men.
they hath brought many taxes home to Washington
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill:
Did this in the Constitution seem Inconsequential?
When that the poor have cried, Our Constitution hath wept:
Inconsequence should be made of sterner stuff:
Yet Politicians says it was Inconsequential;
And Politicians are honorable men.
I speak not to disprove what Politicians spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
You all did love it once, not without cause:
What cause withholds you then, to mourn for it?
O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason. Bear with me;
My heart is in the coffin there with the Constitution,
And I must pause till it come back to me.
But yesterday the word of the Constitution might
Have stood against the world; now lies it there.
And none so poor to do it reverence.
O masters, if I were disposed to stir
Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage,
I should do the Politicians wrong, and the Bureaucrats wrong,
Who, you all know, are honorable men:
I will not do them wrong; I rather choose
To wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you,
Than I will wrong such honorable men.
But here's a parchment with the words of our Founders;
Let but the commons hear this testament--
Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read--
And they would go and kiss dead Constitution's wounds
And dip their napkins in it's sacred blood,
Yea, beg a scrap of it for memory,
And, dying, mention it within their wills,
Bequeathing it as a rich legacy
Unto their issue.

Good friends, sweet friends, let me not stir you up
To such a sudden flood of mutiny.
They that have done this deed are honorable:
What private griefs they have, alas, I know not,
That made them do it: they are wise and honorable,
And will, no doubt, with reasons answer you.
I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts:
I am no orator, as Politicians are;
But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man,
That love my country; and that they know full well
That gave me public leave to speak of it:
For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth,
Action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech,
To stir men's blood: I only speak right on;
I tell you that which you yourselves do know;
Show you sweet Constitution's wounds, poor poor dumb mouths,
And bid them speak for me: but were I a Politician,
And Politician I, there were an I
Would ruffle up your spirits and put a tongue
In every wound of the Constitution that should move
The stones of America to rise and mutiny.

O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
Thou art the ruins of the noblest Constitution
That ever lived in the tide of times.
Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood!
Over thy wounds now do I prophesy,--
Which, like dumb mouths, do open their ruby lips,
To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue--
A curse shall light upon the limbs of men;
Domestic fury and fierce civil strife
Shall cumber all the parts of America;
Blood and destruction shall be so in use
And dreadful objects so familiar
That mothers shall but smile when they behold
Their infants quarter'd with the hands of war;
All pity choked with custom of fell deeds:
And the Constitution's spirit, ranging for revenge,
With Ate by his side come hot from hell,
Shall in these confines with Liberty's voice
Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war;
That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion men, groaning for burial.

Sig MCX

I am not into proprietary weapon systems, I like sticking to the good old proven platforms that have a large following in this country such as the AR-15 and AK-47. I choose these weapon systems due to the availability of magazines, ammo, and parts. I feel like these systems are the best option for us as patriots for the coming troubled times, but with that said I really like the SIG MCX. I know it is not that readily available, and I am not recommending it for you guys as your primary, or secondary long arm, but what I am saying is if you are already squared away in those areas that you might want to look into this gun.

There have been a lot of others that have come along, but they have all had their own issues. From what I have seen this (Sig MCX) is a very viable option for an accurate, reliable and tough weapon system. So check it out if you want to, I do not thing that you will be sorry, who knows it may become your favorite system.

I have put a link to "Nutnfancy's" video on YouTube here. I would have embedded it, but that feature is disabled. Check out the video, it is pretty well done, and will answer your questions about this fairly new system.

Sig MCX

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Intelligence Part 1

Intelligence is vital for any effective operation. We need to learn about how to gather intel, and how to make use of it for the times ahead of us. Please add this information to your training, you will not regret it in the future. We cannot be effective fighters if we do not know how to scout, gather intel, and know how to make use of it.

Parent Article

This is the first article in a series about using intelligence for preparedness. I’m starting from square zero in order to introduce a new crop of Americans to the concept of using intelligence, to prove that there’s a need for intelligence and to get readers quickly up to speed on how to incorporate it into their security planning. After getting caught up to speed, if you’d like to read more in-depth and put theory into practice, a book entitled SHTF Intelligence will show you the way forward. You can find a small homework exercise here.

Why do I need intelligence?

You need intelligence because everyone has blind spots. A common theme in the preparedness community is beans, bullets, and band-aids. We need food and water to survive, we need medicine to treat injuries and illness, and we need guns and ammo for defense… but against whom?

In a S***-Hits-The-Fan (SHTF) or survival situation, if we’re dumping hundreds or thousands or more dollars into beans, bullets, and baid-aids, doesn’t it stand to reason that we should investigate our surroundings as well?

I think so. I was a military and contract intelligence analyst, and we in this country are likely to face a lot of the same types of situations that we dealt with in Iraq and Afghanistan. We need to look at:

•Our neighbors and the populace. Are they for us or against us? What are their politics and attitudes? Which households should we approach to build community security in a SHTF situation? Which households will be adversarial to us?

•Key human terrain. Who wields influence in the area? Where do the nearest tradesmen, engineers, and medical professionals live, in case we need their help?

•Known bad guys. Who are the active criminals and gangs in the area? What are their activities, and how can we identify their indicators?

•Future bad guys. Who’s likely to engage in criminality in the future? Which parts of the population are going to resort to criminal behavior in a time of need? Most importantly, in what areas will they be active, and how will they affect my community?

•Law enforcement. How will they respond to a SHTF situation? If they’re going home, as is often assumed, then where do they live and how can we work with them?

•Critical infrastructure. What keeps the world spinning in our area? Do we have critical infrastructure that would invite armed security or suggest an increase in criminal activity? Where can we get the things we need to maintain our survivability?

These are just a few questions that intelligence can answer. At the heart of intelligence is the ability to reduce uncertainty. If you’re concerned about grid-down or financial collapse or the Golden Horde or some other event or threat, then some basic intelligence work should be at the top of your To Do list. Ultimately, what intelligence brings to the table is an ability to make well-informed, time-sensitive decisions.

Colonel John Boyd, an Air Force fighter pilot, was the first to describe the decision-making process he called the OODA Loop. Because fighter pilots have to make split-second decisions, their ability to Observe a development, Orient to what that means, Decide which course of action they should take, and then Act on it is a critical part of their survivability in combat. Similarly, lots of tactical shooting trainers have incorporated the OODA Loop into their curriculum for the exact same reason.

That ability to Observe and Orient is the informational phase of the decision-making process. Can you imagine getting into a gunfight, if you can’t see or hear your opponent? Yet that’s exactly what many are preparing to do on a larger level. We’re limited by our field of vision and line of sight, but with an intelligence effort, we can begin to see well beyond just our line of sight.

So what intelligence allows us to do during a SHTF scenario is not just see our opponent but potentially observe him before a conflict arises. This is called Early Warning, and it’s one of the two key responsibilities of our community security element.

The second major responsibility is producing Threat Intelligence. Knowing that a gang is active in your area is a good first step. We need to move beyond our intuitive approach to information and start using a structured, methodical process to completely remove our blind spots. In essence, we need to graduate from mere information and start producing intelligence.

The difference between information and intelligence is simple: information is raw data, and intelligence is the evaluated, assessed, and synthesized information that answers, “So what?” Hearing that there was a murder in your community is not intelligence; it’s just information. Identifying the perpetrator and his current location, finding out where and why the murder took place, determining how it’s going to affect the community, and compiling it into a consumable product is intelligence.

Intelligence_Cycle

We do this through the Intelligence Cycle. There are five phases, and I’ll briefly detail them in order. In Phase One, we understand our mission, assign analytic tasks and responsibilities, and begin generating our intelligence requirements (covered in the next section). In Phase Two, we task those requirements out for collection. Once that information is collected and reported, we start with Phase Three, where we analyze the incoming information. After filtering out the bad information and analyzing the good information, we produce the actual intelligence. We provide predictive intelligence, which is describing what might or is likely to happen in the future, or estimative intelligence, which is describing an organization’s strength and capabilities. Finally, once we produce the intelligence, we need to ensure that it gets into the hands of the right people. In Phase Five, we disseminate the intelligence to our leadership, our community security team, or the community at large.

Let’s start with Phase One. We need to generate some intelligence requirements or, in other words, statements or questions that describe intelligence gaps.

Let’s say that you do have a gang in the area. What don’t we know about that gang but need to? Do we know how many members are associated with the gang? Do we know where those gang members hang out? Do we know where those gangs are criminally active? Do we know if certain areas are at a higher risk than others (and have we mapped out those areas)? There are potentially lots of intelligence gaps we have, especially if we expect them to be active in a SHTF scenario.

So we can take these questions and start a list:

1.How many members are in the Leroy Jenkins Gang?
2.What are the known hangout spots for Leroy Jenkins Gang members?
3.Identify all high-risk areas for Leroy Jenkins Gang activity.
4.Et cetera…

If we’re building a house, or in our case an intelligence product, then this list of requirements represents our building materials. This is all the information– the lumber, nails, bolts, roofing shingles, doors, and windows– we need to finish our intelligence estimate. Without knowing what we need, we won’t build a very good house.

And thus ends lesson one. Head on over to our homework page for a practical exercise. I’ve also posted a video that will step you through the process of analyzing your community from multiple angles.

Samuel Culper is the Executive Editor of Forward Observer Magazine

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Constitution Party

Sorry, but I had to add in some politics, seeing as our nation is in severe trouble right now, and coming into this election cycle. I think and hope that the readers of this blog believe in and support/defend our Constitution, so how to better do that then to vote for a member of the Constitution Party. Anyway, check this out and think about it.

Article Source

Constitution Party Candidate, Darrell Castle, Says He’s More Libertarian Than Gary Johnson

Darrell Castle is The Constitution Party’s candidate for president this year, and I was fortunate enough to come in contact with his campaign. They were very kind, and when I asked Mr. Castle for an interview he was more than willing to do so. The following are the questions and answers which were given through email.

For any who may be unfamiliar with you, could you please tell a little about yourself and about The Constitution Party?

I was born on a small farm in East Tennessee. I have degrees in History and Political science from East Tennessee State University and a Law degree from The University of Memphis. I was a Commissioned Officer in the United States Marine Corps with foreign service around the world.

In 1992 the Constitution Party was founded by a group of men who were all inspired by one man, Howard Phillips. I was one of those men so 24 years in the Constitution Party. It was founded on the principle that the original intent of the founders was still relevant and could be intellectually defended to the nation. I still believe that today.

I served 3 terms as National Vice Chairman of the Party and 3 terms as chairman of the Platform Committee. In 2008 I was a candidate for Vice President of the United States.

This year’s political climate is ripe for a third party, what is your plan to stand out to voters as a viable alternative to Trump and Clinton?

My plan to stand out is to travel the country and speak to as many people as possible. It is easier to stand out now with the new technology of social media and Internet but more difficult with a virtually total media blackout of my campaign in the mainstream media. I distinguish myself as the only candidate who seeks to save the Constitution and the rule of law in general. It will be dead if one of the others is elected.

With the nomination of Gary Johnson and Bill Weld, many Libertarians, myself included, are feeling disenfranchised. What is your pitch to those voters? Why should libertarians support you?

Libertarians should support me because I am more Libertarian than the two candidates of that Party. They are both CFR members, both open borders and both pro abortion. I am the opposite on those issues while holding Libertarian like views on many other issues.

I’ve heard you say that you’re in favor of a “secure border.” What exactly would your immigration policy entail? Is it the same or similar to Donald Trump’s and what is the constitutional basis for your policy?

I believe that securing the border, i.e. protecting it so that no one enters without consent and halting immigration completely until that is accomplished is one of the most important issues America faces. The halt to immigration would last until we could be sure who is coming in and with what intent.

Do you see yourself taking an interventionist approach or non-interventionist approach to foreign policy? How would a Castle administration handle our foreign conflicts?

I am a non-interventionist, mind your own business candidate. I would only involve us in foreign conflicts if the United States was directly threatened and in danger.

What’s your view of the drug war? And what would be your approach to drugs, as President, from a constitutional standing?

I view the drug war as a total failure and would stop it immediately. The United States certainly has a right to determine what crosses its borders but in general drug policy should be on the state level. I personally favor decriminalization of drugs.

This next question ties in with drug policy. Do you see a role for the federal government in regulating and/or prohibiting things such as prostitution, gambling, smoking, polygamous relationships or any other activities made by consenting adults?

No I really don’t. The states are free of course to regulate if their people prefer but I see no Constitutional role in such things except possibly to control the spread of pandemic disease or something of that nature.

If you are elected president and could only accomplish 3 things, what would they be?

Secure the borders/Control immigration.

Withdraw from the United Nations, NATO, TPP, Nafta, Cafta, Gatt, WTO, etc.

End the Federal Reserve and return monetary policy to Congress where the Constitution places it.

Rapid Fire:

Who would you nominate for the supreme court?

Herb Titus. He’s a Harvard lawyer and Constitutional lawyer and an old friend.

How many states do you plan on having ballot access in?

I plan on 42 and we are working hard on it.

In 2008, Ron Paul endorsed Chuck Baldwin and yourself when you were the VP candidate for The Constitution Party. Are you seeking Dr. Paul’s endorsement now?

Yes I am seeking Dr. Paul’s endorsement and would be honored by it.

And finally, is taxation theft?

Yes, especially when we are directly taxed by the federal government

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Tuning FAL Gas Systems

I found this interesting article and thought that those of you who own FALs would be interested. Also those of you unfortunate souls who do not own one might think about it, it is a serious battle rifle, I love them for what they are, they are not tack drivers, but they are reliable workhorses that I would trust my life to.

Considering the political climate these days, a lot of people are buying semi-automatic rifles in fear of looming restrictions. Although there are many choices out there, for those looking for a full-size 7.62x51 mm gun, the FAL-pattern rifle can make an excellent choice. Adopted by nearly 100 countries and manufactured in massive numbers, the FAL represents a proven and established design.

The FAL has many positive attributes, including impressive power, good reliability, plentiful spare parts, etc. It also has one other unique attribute—a highly adjustable gas system that allows users to tune the rifle to a particular loading.

Devil's in the Details

On its surface, the metric-pattern FAL's adjustable gas system seems reasonably simple and straightforward. Located in the gas block in the forward portion of the handguard and integral to the front sight assembly, the gas system features a large gas plug on its forward face that retains the FAL's gas-piston assembly. The rotating gas plug has two settings—"A" for open and "Gr" for closed. The "A" setting is the normal setting that allows gas through to cycle the action. The "Gr" setting cuts the gas system off completely for when the rifle would be used to fire grenades.

But a closer look reveals more. To the rear of the gas block is a regulator sleeve that wraps around the rifle's gas tube. This regulator controls the amount of gas bled from the bore used to drive back the piston and cycle the action. Rather than simply two or three settings as is common with other systems, this regulator features 14 adjustment settings with seven numbered markings. It is important to note that some standard-pattern (as opposed to metric) L1A1-style rifles do not have numbered markings on their regulators.

These finely tuned points of adjustment on the regulator sleeve allow users to tune the system. Shooters can allow just enough gas through to the piston to cycle the action while minimizing fouling and unnecessary wear and tear on the rifle.

My Turn

So, how does a new FAL owner get his rifle set up for his preferred loading? I actually had an opportunity to learn this for myself recently, as I decided to add an FAL to my collection. The rifle I selected was a DS Arms STG58 (www.dsarms.com), one of the best deals on the market right now in my opinion. It combines original new-condition Austrian parts with new U.S.-made parts for an FAL retailing just under $1,200.

Included with every FAL rifle from DS Arms is an FN FAL owner's manual with concise directions on the operation and maintenance of the rifle. A quick flip through it brought me to a section on adjusting the gas setting of the rifle, and it had me up to speed in no time. I then headed out to the range with the rifle, the manual and a few boxes of Black Hills Match 168-grain boat-tail hollow-point ammunition.

Following the instructions, tuning the FAL's gas system proved to be quite simple. Adjustments to the regulator sleeve can be made with either a special wrench or by using the tip of a bullet inserted into the numbered holes on the sleeve.

Step by Step

The user should begin with the rifle empty and clear. Adjust the regulator so it is fully closed against the gas block and the "1" setting is visible on the top portion. This setting allows the maximum amount of gas through to impact the piston. Conversely, the "7" vents the most gas away, allowing only a small amount through to impact the piston.

Operation 1: Unscrew the regulator sleeve from the gas block until it is in the fully open position with "7" visible on top. After inserting an empty magazine into the rifle, single load a cartridge through the ejection port and then fire the rifle. This should result in a short recoil that does not allow the magazine to engage the hold-open device.

Operation 2: Screw the regulator sleeve forward click-by-click, firing one round after each change until the action is locked open by the empty magazine. At this point, you know enough gas is being allowed against the piston to cycle the action.

Operation 3: Fire several more rounds in this method to verify it will reliably cycle the action fully.

Operation 4: If any shot results in a short recoil failing to lock the action open, click the regulator forward one more setting and test again.

Operation 5: Repeat operations 3 and 4 as needed until the rifle cycles reliably.

Operation 6: The correct gas setting should now be determined. However, it is a good idea to click the regulator forward two more settings. For example, if you found that setting "4" cycled the rifle, click two more positions down. Counting the half-position setting between "4" and "3," this would put you on the "3" setting.

Just Right

With just a little bit of effort, thanks to its highly adjustable gas system, an FAL owner can tune the rifle to a particular loading. This allows you to regulate the system so enough gas gets through to cycle the action, but not so much that you cause premature wear and tear on your rifle. This is just the sort of firearm regulation we can live with!

Original Article

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Force on Force Training

I know this is a long post, but it is well worth your time to read it. I love the stuff Max puts out, and his training concepts. It is important that we "DO", and not just "TALK", just like Max talks about in this post. Please go to him for training if there is any way at all you can possibly do it. Training is vital like I have said so many times in the blog, we have to be ready. So, please go to his site, and check out the classes he offers, where they are, and when they are, and do everything you can to get to some of them.

So the following post comes from two different posts, the first one from the MVT Forums, and the second, or main post is from the MVT Blog, see link in the body.

In comments on the forum version of ‘Tactical Notes: Force on Force Team Tactics‘ Diz and Robert make some pertinent comments.

Diz: You know, this is the irony of the internet. This is probably one of the most important posts on this subject ever to be published on line. Yet I would wager that the vast majority of guys in the co-called tactical community, or even the patriot movement if you want to go there, are off in the weeds arguing over stupid things, or discussing the latest spring fashions.

I don’t know how you could get closer to an actual firefight than this. Theory and opinion are one thing. What actually works in realistic training is another. Regardless of all the pet theories on-line, or what your buddy told you, etc, it either works, or it doesn’t.

Kudos to Max for doing this. And to all the lab rats who went through the first class. You guys (and gals) all rock.

Robert: Can I get an amen!

I wrote that fiction story that comprised our first engagement Sunday at the class, with some embellishments added in (retreat, drone, FLIR) to make the material applicable to SHTF stuff. I posted it far and wide on the internet and got a lot of Monday morning QB’ing from people not there (of course) but my FAVORITE was one guy on a survival forum telling me that

“almost nobody has that level of training…”
Really? Well damn who knew???

I can hear the discussion in the PAW, “Frank, Ted, Bill, Ed, Jones and Smith got whacked out.” “Who killed them?”

“Almost nobody got them…”

These things illustrate the entrenchment of the patriot and survival community behind their walls of self delusion, bitterly defending their (false) pride and ego.

But alas, there is always a remnant!!! :good: And it’s those 5% or less that will learn the lessons ahead of time, that will keep their mouths shut and LEARN, that will be willing to risk their vanity and false pride to put their skills in the crucible.

THOSE are the ones we need to focus on, let the talkers keep talking- that’s all they ever do. Blah blah blah “I would have done this…” blah blah blah “almost nobody has that level of training…” blah blah blah “why do I need to know that…” blah blah blah. They will realize one day no one is both listening or caring a rip….

The ones that truly want to make it, WILL put in the work, will make the sacrifices necessary, those are the ones that attend training, that are constantly trying to better themselves, to prepare, etc.

So I ask you, please help to spread the word. Best to use the blog version of the post, which can be found HERE. Link: http://www.maxvelocitytactical.com/2016/03/tactical-notes-force-on-force-team-tactics/

You will also note that I have social media buttons at the bottom of the blog posts, which you are able to use.

There is something very relevant in those comments. Here at MVT we are running a unique thing, real combat proven well thought out tactical training. We have invested heavily in training equipment such as the electronic pop-up targets, the training facility, the steel target shields to take the show on the road, the UTM bolts. The real deal. The problem is getting the word out, and weaning people off of the ‘tacticool’ BS.

If you find this website/blog/forum/training helpful, then please help to spread the word. Put it out there on other sites.

We know that there is whole lot of ignorance out there, and worse than that, there is the deliberate desire by those we may call ‘mainstream’ ‘tacticool’ trainers to prevent the emergence of training such as MVT. I know, I have experienced it. These are the same law enforcement focused trainers who do not believe that civilians should be taught small unit tactics, or anything above buddy pairs. These are the same clowns who only allow ‘vetted’ civilians to join them to run through SWAT fantasy camp, where BS dangerous ‘tactics’ are taught.

I am absolutely convinced that MVT has it right, and is offering unique and real combat proven training, and the word needs to be spread, and the ignorance needs to be pushed back.

Thank you.

Max

Team Coyote

Max Velocity Tactical

Tactical Notes: Force on Force Team Tactics

Posted by Max in Small Unit Tactics, Tactical Comment, Training, Uncategorized on March 29, 2016

Combat Team Tactics (CTT) can be viewed as the MVT ‘basic training’ class, which acts as a gateway to the more advanced classes. CTT puts everyone on the same page with a solid view of ‘what right looks like’ and ensures that everyone has a good grasp of safety and TTPs moving forward. CTT is a prerequisite for both Combat Patrol (CP) and Force on Force Team Tactics (FoF). Both CP and FoF complement each other, with CP teaching TTPs that will help during FoF, and FoF giving immediate feedback on whether or not you are doing things right or not.

You may have noticed that I have reduced prices on the 3 day CTT class (from $600 to $500), and made an effort to promote the Rifle Skills (RS) day along with CTT as a 4 day training event, total price $600, which is the same as the previous 3 day CTT price. This is an effort to not only promote the idea of more and better training, but to get students in through the gateway of CTT in order to allow them to progress to the more advanced classes, such as CP and FoF. CP is a 4 day class at $650 and FoF is a 2 day class at $350 (plus the UTM ammo purchase).

Thus, I want students to see the RS/CTT class not as something that must be crammed in at the weekend, in order to ‘tick the box’ but as a significant training event that requires investment of time. With tactical training, you cannot simply ‘tick the box’ by showing up once. I suggest a professional class such as CTT, CP or FoF at least annually, with your own regular training thrown in. Otherwise, these skills will perish. Many students who return to CTT time after time will attest to how perishable these skills are, and how much more you understand and retain if you return. A single attendance equals a superficial grasp of the concepts, that will soon degrade if it is not reinforced by both home and return training classes. It is possible to reach a very high skill level at small unit tactics, but you have to put the time in on the ground to do so.

This leads me on to FoF Team Tactics. I am enthused by the class not only because of the value of the class itself to the training and readiness levels of the students, but also because of how well it progresses the student from CTT/CP, and illustrates many areas in which lip service can be paid during the live fire training. The live training such as CTT/CP has such value in terms of the basic understanding of TTP’s, of safety, of battle inoculation and operating in an immersive small unit tactics (SUT) environment. However, for the very reason that the CTT/CP class may be only the first, perhaps second exposure of a student to such things, it means that some of it escapes them, or lip service is paid, which is where FoF comes in and delivers the hammer blow, and really nails this down. In effect, there is so much going on in CTT/CP that is new to the student, that some of it will escape him; FoF illustrates the basics, and the importance of them.

Tactical Notes from FoF Team Tactics:

I found myself going over many of the same basic points again and again at FoF Team Tactics, which are the same points that I hammer at CTT and CP classes, and it took a lot of ‘dying’ on behalf of the students to really hoist these things in. At CTT, a mix of poor physical preparation on behalf of the student, plus the ‘firehose’ information dump of the class, often result in poor attention to some of the basic areas that will keep them alive in combat, such as taking effective cover, and moving rapidly from cover to cover, or no movement without effective suppressing fire. Ivan does not shoot back, but in FoF when the live enemy is putting UTM rounds at you, and they are striking you in the face, or zipping past your head, it really makes the point. Here are some notes:

Rehearsal of team SOPs is vital.

Make a plan, and have a leader. Follow the leader, and allow him to direct you to achieve the mission, which means paying attention.

Effective scanning is essential. Head out of your weapon! Situational awareness, which includes scanning to the flanks, or you will be rolled up. How many times do cadre tell the students “get your head out of your weapon” and “scan means scan” on a CTT class? Tunnel vision and staring at where Ivan last was seems to be the trend!

Ensure you look in often for hand signals, otherwise you will be in your own zone, and have no clue what is going on.

Hand signals are essential during silent patrolling. The leader needs to be able to signal intent. Some of the things that you will need to consider hand signals for, that you may not have considered before, are as follows (examples will be given at FoF classes):
•Axis of advance / on line.
•Enemy direction
•Hasty ambush
•Bounding overwatch – forwards and backwards
•Peeling
•Flanking
•Move up / get on line / change axis

None of these hand signals will work if team members are not paying attention, by regular scanning of their sectors and to their buddies. If you get a hand signal, react to it and make it happen.

When it goes noisy, you need to be able to yell. Team members must listen, and every man is a link man and must pass the direction on. You may still have use for hand signals at this time, particularly if units become separated on something like a flanking move. Ensure that if you see something, you also communicate it effectively to other team members and the team leader. No secrets!

Do not be too hasty to rush to your death – do not attempt fire and movement if the enemy is not effectively suppressed. Rounds whacking into your team members every time they get up to run forward means the enemy is not suppressed, and in fact you are under effective enemy fire.

Ensure you identify cover before you move to it – and do not be hasty to rush to your death.

Ensure that if you have any type of stoppage, you improve your position of cover. Kneeling in the open to take care of a malfunction is not the recipe for a long life. This is taught all the way from the square range.

Suppressing the enemy means exactly that – effective accurate fire that will change the behavior of the enemy to where he can no longer suppress you.

To suppress the enemy you have to ensure team members have located him/them – use target indication ( 3 D’s) and ensure the information is communicated along the line. If team members are having their own individual fights with ‘their’ enemy, it means as one group gets up to bound forwards, ‘their’ enemy is not suppressed, and will kill them. SCAN! Do not get tunnel vision.

You must suppress the entirety of the enemy facing your team if you are to move without casualties. Due to inherent safety angles of moving groups (target obscuration), this will entail breaking the F&M down into smaller groups along the line as you get closer (i.e. breaking down from pairs to buddy fire and movement as the team gets closer – now taught on both the CTT and FoF classes).

Ensure that you are actually doing ‘short bounds’ and not ‘hero bounds.’ Move fast and low from cover to cover. ‘Keep low, move fast.’

Never underestimate the actual and psychological effect of a flanking move. BUT: ensure you are watching your flank so it does not happen to you, and ensure that separating groups does not lead to blue on blue situations.

Positively Identify (PID) your target before you engage. Not everything out there is the enemy, and just because it is moving, it may well be an injured team member that you just lit up.

Untrained armed teams will be responsible for a large amount of fracticide, both due to incompetence when first encountering the enemy and attempting to effectively return fire, and also due to indiscriminate target engagement. A large focus of MVT training is on buddy awareness, and breaking the tunnel vision of your ‘relationship’ with ‘Ivan’ so that you do not kill your buddies. This is something that is not understood in the ‘tacticool’ world of the square range, and is applicable to real combat.

Training, or ‘operant conditioning’ will reduce freezing, something that was also apparent on the FoF class. Yes, you should not be too hasty to rush to your death and you should suppress the enemy as best you can before you move, and you should identify your next piece of cover before you move to it, but at the same time, if you are doing a maneuver, such as a peel, then do it, don’t freeze and become unresponsive to the team. That will likely lead to the team’s death in place.

If you have a competent leader with a plan, then you as a team member should allow him to ‘use you’ as a ‘tool’ to accomplish that plan. If you are a follower, be a follower. That still allows you, as a ‘battlefield sensor’ to input information on newly located enemy, or flanking moves, or whatever, but you should do that and remain as a responsive weapon that the team leader can use to accomplish the mission. In team tactics, the leaders are using the ‘resources’ to put effective fire on the enemy and maneuver to accomplish the mission. Team members must be an active and useful part of that scheme, or the maneuver will stall, and you will start to die.

You can only develop the competence stated in the paragraph above, where everyone is a useful and active/attentive member of a team, alert to the situation, if you have trained and moved past the tendency to be an unresponsive blob, locked in tunnel vision.

That’s all that comes to mind right now, but I will update as appropriate if/when I realize that I have missed something.

You may note that most of what I have mentioned here is to do with the actual practical application of fire and movement, and SUT. This is not the sort of thing that will be grasped by reading manuals or watching videos. It needs to be trained, and it needs to be trained enough, through a mixture of live firing and FoF training, so that students will grasp this at a deep and unconscious level, thus significantly enhancing their chances of survival in a combat situation.

I cannot stress enough how I urge you, if you are a one-time or some-time-ago alumni or simply a blog or forum reader, to invest the time to get to a training class. It should be at least an annual event, with home based training for the rest of the year. If you can get CTT, CP and FoF done in the first year, you are hitting the jackpot and will be making significant advances not only towards the survivability of your tribe, but also in becoming dangerous to your enemies.

‘Team Coyote’

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A Message to Garcia

This is an important message, one that I hope you will get. Think about what you read here, it is an important lesson we all need to remember, and to be like Rowan. Please read and pass on to anyone you think needs to read or hear this message, I will be reading it to my youngest tonight when I get home.

1899

A Message to Garcia

By Elbert Hubbard

In all this Cuban business there is one man stands out on the horizon of my memory like Mars at perihelion. When war broke out between Spain & the United States, it was very necessary to communicate quickly with the leader of the Insurgents. Garcia was somewhere in the mountain vastness of Cuba- no one knew where. No mail nor telegraph message could reach him. The President must secure his cooperation, and quickly.

What to do!

Some one said to the President, “There’s a fellow by the name of Rowan will find Garcia for you, if anybody can.”

Rowan was sent for and given a letter to be delivered to Garcia. How “the fellow by the name of Rowan” took the letter, sealed it up in an oil-skin pouch, strapped it over his heart, in four days landed by night off the coast of Cuba from an open boat, disappeared into the jungle, & in three weeks came out on the other side of the Island, having traversed a hostile country on foot, and delivered his letter to Garcia, are things I have no special desire now to tell in detail.

The point I wish to make is this: McKinley gave Rowan a letter to be delivered to Garcia; Rowan took the letter and did not ask, “Where is he at?” By the Eternal! there is a man whose form should be cast in deathless bronze and the statue placed in every college of the land. It is not book-learning young men need, nor instruction about this and that, but a stiffening of the vertebrae which will cause them to be loyal to a trust, to act promptly, concentrate their energies: do the thing- “Carry a message to Garcia!”

General Garcia is dead now, but there are other Garcias.

No man, who has endeavored to carry out an enterprise where many hands were needed, but has been well nigh appalled at times by the imbecility of the average man- the inability or unwillingness to concentrate on a thing and do it. Slip-shod assistance, foolish inattention, dowdy indifference, & half-hearted work seem the rule; and no man succeeds, unless by hook or crook, or threat, he forces or bribes other men to assist him; or mayhap, God in His goodness performs a miracle, & sends him an Angel of Light for an assistant. You, reader, put this matter to a test: You are sitting now in your office- six clerks are within call.

Summon any one and make this request: “Please look in the encyclopedia and make a brief memorandum for me concerning the life of Correggio”.

Will the clerk quietly say, “Yes, sir,” and go do the task?

On your life, he will not. He will look at you out of a fishy eye and ask one or more of the following questions:

Who was he?

Which encyclopedia?

Where is the encyclopedia?

Was I hired for that?

Don’t you mean Bismarck?

What’s the matter with Charlie doing it?

Is he dead?

Is there any hurry?

Shan’t I bring you the book and let you look it up yourself?

What do you want to know for?

And I will lay you ten to one that after you have answered the questions, and explained how to find the information, and why you want it, the clerk will go off and get one of the other clerks to help him try to find Garcia- and then come back and tell you there is no such man. Of course I may lose my bet, but according to the Law of Average, I will not.

Now if you are wise you will not bother to explain to your “assistant” that Correggio is indexed under the C’s, not in the K’s, but you will smile sweetly and say, “Never mind,” and go look it up yourself.

And this incapacity for independent action, this moral stupidity, this infirmity of the will, this unwillingness to cheerfully catch hold and lift, are the things that put pure Socialism so far into the future. If men will not act for themselves, what will they do when the benefit of their effort is for all? A first-mate with knotted club seems necessary; and the dread of getting “the bounce” Saturday night, holds many a worker to his place.

Advertise for a stenographer, and nine out of ten who apply, can neither spell nor punctuate- and do not think it necessary to.

Can such a one write a letter to Garcia?

“You see that bookkeeper,” said the foreman to me in a large factory.

“Yes, what about him?”

“Well he’s a fine accountant, but if I’d send him up town on an errand, he might accomplish the errand all right, and on the other hand, might stop at four saloons on the way, and when he got to Main Street, would forget what he had been sent for.”

Can such a man be entrusted to carry a message to Garcia?

We have recently been hearing much maudlin sympathy expressed for the “downtrodden denizen of the sweat-shop” and the “homeless wanderer searching for honest employment,” & with it all often go many hard words for the men in power.

Nothing is said about the employer who grows old before his time in a vain attempt to get frowsy ne’er-do-wells to do intelligent work; and his long patient striving with “help” that does nothing but loaf when his back is turned. In every store and factory there is a constant weeding-out process going on. The employer is constantly sending away “help” that have shown their incapacity to further the interests of the business, and others are being taken on. No matter how good times are, this sorting continues, only if times are hard and work is scarce, the sorting is done finer- but out and forever out, the incompetent and unworthy go.

It is the survival of the fittest. Self-interest prompts every employer to keep the best- those who can carry a message to Garcia.

I know one man of really brilliant parts who has not the ability to manage a business of his own, and yet who is absolutely worthless to any one else, because he carries with him constantly the insane suspicion that his employer is oppressing, or intending to oppress him. He cannot give orders; and he will not receive them. Should a message be given him to take to Garcia, his answer would probably be, “Take it yourself.”

Tonight this man walks the streets looking for work, the wind whistling through his threadbare coat. No one who knows him dare employ him, for he is a regular fire-brand of discontent. He is impervious to reason, and the only thing that can impress him is the toe of a thick-soled No. 9 boot.

Of course I know that one so morally deformed is no less to be pitied than a physical cripple; but in our pitying, let us drop a tear, too, for the men who are striving to carry on a great enterprise, whose working hours are not limited by the whistle, and whose hair is fast turning white through the struggle to hold in line dowdy indifference, slip-shod imbecility, and the heartless ingratitude, which, but for their enterprise, would be both hungry & homeless.

Have I put the matter too strongly? Possibly I have; but when all the world has gone a-slumming I wish to speak a word of sympathy for the man who succeeds- the man who, against great odds has directed the efforts of others, and having succeeded, finds there’s nothing in it: nothing but bare board and clothes.

I have carried a dinner pail & worked for day’s wages, and I have also been an employer of labor, and I know there is something to be said on both sides. There is no excellence, per se, in poverty; rags are no recommendation; & all employers are not rapacious and high-handed, any more than all poor men are virtuous.

My heart goes out to the man who does his work when the “boss” is away, as well as when he is at home. And the man who, when given a letter for Garcia, quietly take the missive, without asking any idiotic questions, and with no lurking intention of chucking it into the nearest sewer, or of doing aught else but deliver it, never gets “laid off,” nor has to go on a strike for higher wages. Civilization is one long anxious search for just such individuals. Anything such a man asks shall be granted; his kind is so rare that no employer can afford to let him go. He is wanted in every city, town and village- in every office, shop, store and factory. The world cries out for such: he is needed, & needed badly- the man who can carry a message to Garcia.

THE END-

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Info you can use 7/1/16

Check out this tool for AR-15 users: Manual bolt extraction device

Check out what Silver is doing: Kitco Silver Chart

Site for really good quality tactical gear/uniforms: Tactical Performance Corp

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