We're not mean, just 'playful. Sort of along the lines of this cartoon...
Posted on 10/14/2013 3:13:03 PM PDT by The Working Man
ping
Easy, big fella.
This actually is a good reason that Preppers should make connections with like minded folks in their neighborhood/area. A "HQ" house in the center of a defended buffer zone would be fine with the generator and smoker. Just make a plan that an attack on any front will be defended by reserves from across the compass.
I'm a big fan of the AK47 - 7.62x39 is generally plentiful and usually cheaper than 5.6/.223 used by AR15 type weapons. You can get 1000 rounds of 7.62x39for about $300 nowadays.
It also has better stopping power and the rifle is accurate out to about 350 yards; most firefights happen inside of that range. Additionally, you can tacticool the weapon in many of the same ways as an AR, (collapsible butt stock, quadrails, forward hand grips, optics etc) and the platform is generally a lot cheaper. The AK is also more durable and better able to withstand the elements and combat environments. As an added benefit, the same ammo can be used in an SKS - another cheap battle rifle.
The price of 30rnd and 40rnd mags has come down; same with 75rnd drums.
A Mosin Nagant fires 7.62x54 (a spam can of 440 rounds can be had for less than $100), can reach out and touch you and as the benefit of the most mass produced rifle in the world - you can find them for under $200. As an added bonus, most of the ammo is steel core. You can buy several (and a stockpileof ammo) and bury them without breaking the bank.
12 gauge shotgun. My personal preference (your mileage may vary) is the Mossberg 500. I prefer just the pistol grip as it shortens the weapon up nicely for Close Quarters Battle (read indoors) and for breaching. I like .OO buck and I keep one in the hole. The less you have to do in a high stress life/death situation, the better.
9x19mm pistol. I'm heavily biased in favor of Glocks. Easy to maintain and in my opinion the Kalashnikov of handguns. Durable, accurate enough, and easy enough for the most basic idiot to use and maintain. Yup, I'm well aware of the adage never get into a gunfight with a pistol caliber that doesn't start with "4." But, you can generally have a larger capacity mag with 9mm, and the round can be used in carbines such as an Uzi - and the round is versatile enough.
As for particular handgun, ignore the hype - go with whatever you are most comfortable handling/shooting that fits your budget.....just so long as it isn't completely garbage. You have Sig guys, Glock guys etc - handle a bunch, shoot a bunch and go with that.
Anything .22 lr. Stock pile. At the very least you can drop a zombie with it and pick up zombie weapons.
I like your 30-06; however, while ammo may be less expensive, the rifles (M1 Garand) are not always so economical if you're looking for a battle rifle. If you really want something that will reach out and you're not looking for a sustained shooting scenario - maybe catching a deer for 700+ yards, I'd say a Remington 700 (in .308) and add scope/accessories from there; chances are unless your Chris Kyle or Carlos Hathcock you will not out-shoot the capability of the rifle.
Just my two cents.
“Ditto, cooking ribs (or anything else) in the open air.”
Seriously? Dammit! I’ve been hoarding canned ribs for nutin!
We're not mean, just 'playful. Sort of along the lines of this cartoon...
I sure miss Gary Larson’s work!
Those who've been in actual combat will tell ya some of the worst, most difficult, costly, most dangerous and deadly battles were in the bigger cities.
Even when bombed from the air, powerless, burned out and war ravaged cities have created nightmares to control and conquer.
For every person in a rural environment who's relatively prepared, there are probably 500+ in and around the population centers who are also relatively prepared.
Those who’ve been in actual combat will tell ya some of the worst, most difficult, costly, most dangerous and deadly battles were in the bigger cities.
In the scenario the cities were meant to survive, they weren’t a hostile target, the population there was relatively well-fed, there was entertainment, etc. And if the News, (propaganda), they were receiving convinced them that all was well, then there would be no need for them to become hostile to the government.
This is an extrapolation of what we see today, as long as the EBT cards work and they can watch TV etc., they are content to go along. Of course this is a HUGE generalization, but I can see it working to a degree especially if population reduction is the goal.
A very good idea!
The story is more aimed at people who prep or think about prepping and how they were ‘unprepared’ for a deliberately engineered plan to strip them of their primary supplies and let them die in place.
There is also the unwritten but implicit idea that the Government didn’t think the people they were stripping of food, guns and ammunition or anything else of value were ‘worth’ the expenditure of a bullet to make sure that they would die off.
As I once read in a how-to book on writing genre novels, you can present anything as true within fictional context IF you can sell it to the reader.
My guess is that the average reader with no real knowledge of firearms, electrical grids, tactics, would accept the details of your narrative on its surface. What is more difficult is the human actions/reactions, because everyone would refer to themselves, those they know and their own experience.
Rural areas (perhaps ex-urbs, too) would perhaps send out patrols,with runners, just for safety in a grid-down situation. Millions of walkie-talkies exist. At least some people would be able to cache supplies against confiscation. Convoys of DHS confiscators can be attacked and hijacked. There are skilled linemen in the country and many folks capable of rigging electricity via various means, at least for small areas. Every farm has underground diesel tanks, some have more than one. Seeing one government crew draining cars/tractors/tanks could result in runners being sent out to spread the word. Small villages would hide chickens and rabbits, send out trappers,organize ice fishing, etc, etc, all possible without power.
IOW, the scenario is similar to Ayn Rand’s Starnsville, where demoralized people have reverted to Dark Ages peasantry. However, Starnesville declined over years. Since even your rifleman is still carrying excess weight, has a plan and is carrying it out, it is likely other people are also still capable of resistance.
This was an exercise. Consider us all your beta readers/expert advisers. If you intend to continue, just rewrite, revise and expand. The real story is the triumph of human will, the perversion of human power and human ingenuity. Example: the crying female soldier claiming her kids were held hostage, might engage in small acts of subversion. Pits and IEDs might be used against the troops engaged in confiscation of supplies. Locals might engage in swarm tactics to disable MRAPs. etc, etc.
In my area, there are people capable of producing alcohol and biodiesel fuel and others capable of rigging at least a few vehicles or tools to run on it. Grain is stored in such large amounts that it would take a railroad and trucks to cart it all away and no one would even know how much was supposed to be there or if they had it all without scales and records. The ethanol plants have huge tank farms, easy for locals to drain off for their own use. Underground gas tanks could be accessed with tractor PTOs. Storage battery banks, inverters and windmills still exist with the knowledge of how to use them. Scrap yards abound everywhere and every farm has its *boneyard*. Horses and large dogs can pull wagons, sledges and sleds. Amish run a lot of tools and equipment with belts and pulleys and would just need biodiesel. Hillsides can be excavated for food storage. In WROL scenarios, some Government troops and some thugs would be out for themselves and corruption would abound on all sides. Roads can be blocked. Rural roads run through wooded areas, good for snipers and cover for attacking resisters.
Every rural area is full of deadfall wood that can be burned. A majority have 5-10 cords of firewood stacked at any given time, especially in Fall/Winter. Charcoal can be produced in pits with salvaged metal covers, perhaps buried under green pine boughs for insulation and to cut down on heat signatures (don’t know if this would work, just top-of-my-head stuff). Same set up could be used to dry fish and game. Rural folks know how to rig pipe or even buckets to get water from formerly powered wells.
Flyover Country would not be a pushover. Some Governors and NG units would rebel against the Feds. Equipment would walk away or have vital components removed. As for the intent and capability of Government, well, it is variable. They aren’t all RoboSoldier. No communication means no dissemination of law and in extreme circumstances, no one would care, anyway. Radio communications could be intercepted. A thug army of gang bangers would have internecine conflicts and could even organize against the Government.
My experience in writing is that you begin with a plan and the characters assert themselves. The villains can have moments of heroism and the victims can turn on their own. All of this is just as important as the details of infrastructure.
The reader wants to see all the ways people could resist and eventually triumph, even if just for the moment. Well, at least that is what this reader wants to see.
Great Critique, thank you for your input!
I would research the situation in the USSR when it died. There would be lots of real life examples for us there.
At the time of the 2nd Russian revolution, we had a big moveable satellite dish. This was prior to the small dish sat TV and hardly anything was scrambled. We could get the pool report sites and the editing bay sites, usually without sound.
We watched coverage that was not broadcast in the USA of big burly working class men moving small cars, rubble and lumber to form barricades. Every one of them could be seen carrying at least two clear glass bottles 1/2 filled with yellowish liquid that had rags stuffed in the neck and positioning these by the barricades, along with big chunks of concrete. There were hand-to-hand skirmishes with some shoving, but for the most part, what we saw was that no one intervened, although you could see tanks a ways away. No one was gathered to gawk, either. It was 20 years ago and while I don’t recall a lot of what we saw,the barricade-building and Molotov cocktail positioning has stuck in my mind.
I have read some Bosnian survivor sites. They are quite interesting. All cities are porous. Even with military blockades, people got in and out, mostly to get to the countryside to obtain food and medicines, probably fuel, too. The Bosnian sites even have recipes, very basic, some sounding inedible, but a testimony to how people feed themselves under siege. Barter economy on steroids developed. All locals know routes the invaders are unaware of. Bigger cities have tunnels for services, water, sewage, transport. Blockades tie up personnel. Diversions can create openings in a perimeter. My area is full of caves and every local male, including kids know where some are. They are not mapped or obvious. Good places for caches.
My property is indefensible since it is in a valley and it would take a brigade to control its perimeter. OTOH, there are areas of thick old woods where we know the terrain, routes to the ridges and an invader wouldn’t. Blackhawk and his men successfully hid in these hills back in the day. At one point, a US General thought he would need elephants to get to the Indians’ hiding places. We have ferocious gnats, mosquitoes and ticks, most carrying debilitating disease. Temps range from 100F to -35F over the year.
I think we have 4 HS chem labs within 20 miles and I don’t know how many ag supply stores, not to mention the stuff stored on most farms. So many small machine shops, I can’t really count them. Blacksmiths at all levels of skill. We likely could make incendaries and various smoke devices w/o using gasoline-filled bottles. Caltrops would be a snap. Maybe 1/2 the population reloads at various levels of production. Same folks are all adequate gunsmiths, especially combined with the skills/supplies listed above.
Personally, I know people here who have discussed holding off invaders of all skill levels since the 1970s. It isn’t an alien concept, nor is survival. Out of 37k people, maybe 1/2 are interrelated, another 1/4 are tied into these clans one way or another and everyone knows whom not to trust. Lots of military vets, lots of medical skills, hunters, food preservationists, skilled fabricators in everything from fabric to wood to metal, mechanics, electricians. We aren’t European peasants or even late 20th century proletariat. We are used to innovating and to bootstrap entrepreneurship.
I think the above is typical of most rural areas. Desperate people with skills, knowledge and even limited materiel make a challenging enemy to invaders and an survive.
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