Night Vision

Hi ferfal

Love thebook and the blog, thanks for all you do to help get people ready for tough times ahead.

I am pretty well along with all of my peeps and supplies etc.  I have been thinking about night vision goggles and/or scopes.  Admittedly, I love gadgets and NV gear is pretty darn cool.  But do you think such items have a valid place in the preppers equipment inventory, and if so can you make any suggestions on how to shop for one that is appropriate?

I'd love to hear your opinion on this subject.

Thanks again.

Eric

Hi Eric, night vision can give you a huge strategic advantage during certain situations. People with military experience often mention how important it can be and some of them will make it part of the must-have equipment. Folks here that live in the country and take their security seriously will also make the effort to find and afford night vision gear, which is hard to find and much more expensive than in USA.

I wouldn’t consider it must have equipment unless your circumstances make it so. In general terms even if power goes down there’s backup systems, battery operated emergency lights, vehicles. Combined with being responsible about the gear you carry and always making sure you have an LED light with you, you will be able to see and move around with confidence. Now If you are away from the city and within certain isolation, you might want to look into it more seriously.

Think about the use you will have for it. Its mostly going to be used for defensive purposes, not wildlife sighting,  so you basically have three options. Goggles, monoculars or scopes.

These come in all sorts of quality an prices, going up to several thousands for gen4 goggles and monculars to setups costing a couple hundred bucks. In this filed, you usually get what you pay for so don’t expect the latest tec to be cheap.

  

ATN PS15-4 GEN 4 Night Vision Goggle System 

  

ATN 6015-WP Gen WPT Night Vision Multi Purpose Monocular 

For those that need it but can’t drop several grand on NV Yukon is making a pretty acceptable product. Again, don’t expect it to be the same a goggles costing several grand, but the reviews in their products are very good. If I had to get NV due to my situation within a limited budget, I’d go for their headmount monocular kit.

  

Yukon NVMT 1x24 Head Mount Kit 

If your terrain makes it possible that you may need to defend your home from attacks further away, then a night vision rifle scope may be waht you need. Given that this is rarely the case, Id take the moncular head kit.
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FerFAL

Socioeconomic Collapse and Preparedness Timing

Fernando,
 I really enjoyed your book, (so have my parents, my wife, my friends and a dozen people in my office). It is very well written and packed with useful information. In fact, your book occupies a place in our law firm’s bookcase next to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Your book and your blog bring credibility to the debate over whether and how to prepare for a financial or other collapse
     One topic I have not seen covered deals with the timing of events. Most people I know who “prep” talk about “bugging out” and scenarios that rely on “triggering events.” Even in your case, you had a fairly short window of time during which time the currency collapsed. A currency collapse would definitely be a “triggering event” to almost everyone I know. In the last two years, however, I have come to believe we are in slow decline here in the U.S., and that there will not be a single “triggering event” that signals the time to start wearing my body armor (or whatever other example you want to use). The endpoint will be the same, but perhaps less dramatic than in Argentina. The problem is, there is a lot of danger and mayhem between now and what may be the final collapse of U.S. social order, perhaps even a generation. I am worried that in a slower, more orderly decline, it will be difficult to match my level of security with the level of threat. Many more people, even well prepared people, could be taken by surprise
     Most of the skills you recommend to your readers are good life skills that all people should have to enhance the chances of daily survival, even under normal circumstances. That said, constant, extreme vigilance is not anymore practical than having Uncle Bob come over and help me guard my house 24/7 WTSHTF. While I am raising my children to be watchful and vigilant, there is a whole different level of vigilance I would apply if I lived during a triggering event like a currency collapse. For example, I let them play outside with their friends in the neighborhood without adult supervision. To disallow that would be unhealthy to their development, and the threat to their safety at the moment is not extreme. If the dollar were worthless and crime rampant as you have described in your book, there is no way I’d let them outside without an adult.
 My question to you is this, assume I have taken all the advice in your book and acquired the skills, equipment and commodities to survive a pretty long time; what would be the top five or ten subtle changes in society, government, or markets that would cause you to go from a normal state of awareness to the “never let your kids out of the house to play in the back yard level of awareness?” Thanks,

Andrew.

An economic collapse in many ways is similar to the decline of an empire regarding how complex it is to prepare for it. Unlike defined disasters, natural ones like Katrina or man-made, there’s no clear beginning to it. It is a complex, multilevel event that in some aspects may have a clear trigger or milestone (such as defaulting or bank holydays) but on other aspects it may have been cooking slowly through inflation and unemployment for months, even years. Certain economic events may be easy to pinpoint, but how does unemployment affect people, when will this cause an increase in crime, or affect me directly leaving me without income? When will crime stop being only a factor related to the harsh economy and also be influenced in terms of how violent it becomes due to social hatred because of social polarization? Then there’s also the consideration that it may have been affecting people in different ways based on socioeconomic level and location in the country. Calling such a situation complex is an understatement.

Given such complexity and all the variables impossible to ponder, all you can do is stay informed, learn to tell the different signs and know how to interpret them so as to know what the future holds within a certain margin of error.
Things to look for would be unemployment, rumors from people within the banking and financial world (some of those rumors saved people millions when our economy collapsed) crime and what type of crime is taking place, corruption, debt and inflation. You must also become pretty skeptic regarding the information the main stream media provides. Who OWNS such media channel? Who are their sponsors and advertisers? What political agenda do they have or slightly tend to favor? If the media says the economy is doing wonderful but people on the street are barely getting by and you see more industries moving abroad, do have your doubts.

All these events and signs do tell you something. Don’t wait for the official SHTF day, in socioeconomic terms that simply will never happen, you will simply look back one day and realize the world around you has already changed. That is indeed how people will be taken by surprise.  People sometimes talk about rule of law and no rule of law times, as if it were an on/off switch. One day everything is fine but the next week, ups! No ROL folks, so its madness out there, I’ll wear my MOLLE vest with armor plate to work and leave my Keltec 32. In the safe and pick my 1911 instead. Carried in a drop leg holster or attached to my vest of course. People that think this way are the ones that will indeed fail at protecting their families today, ROL or no ROL.  If you suffer a violent home invasion in an upper class neighborhood like the Petite family did, does it really matter if some nutcase declared that ROL is still in effect, or that it isn’t?  Preparedness is now folks. Modern survival is the way you analyze events, make decisions and ultimately live your life from day one, not after an event. In states where its legal to carry, I would get my CCW permit and carry today. Doing so wont bring any disadvantages to my lifestyle. My kids playing in the street with friends unsupervised? I´d be honest with myself. Can my son defend himself from a social predator? I wouldn’t leave a 10 year old kid unsupervised no matter where I live. How about 13 or 14 years old, and the general area you live in being pretty safe? Then I might be a bit more flexible.

What would be the top five or ten subtle changes in society, government, or markets that would cause you to go from a normal state of awareness to the “never let your kids out of the house to play in the back yard level of awareness?”
Unemployment: If unemployment is over 15-20% there will soon be serious social changes involving desperate people.
Poverty: Are half the people around you poor and looking your way with resentment? In Argentina the numbers are still pretty bad. 50% poor and 25% below the poverty line. Of the remaining 25% only 3% make enough money to life a life standard similar in quality to what middle class Americans are used to. Watch out for poverty and not only what the newspaper says or what the president announces. Do you see more people begging on the streets, more dumpster divers? How about shanty towns or tent towns? If you have any of those close keep an eye on your kids, your property and yourself.
Inflation: Right now Argentina ranks at the top 3 worst inflation in the planet. That’s a sign of bad times to come. We have unions forcing higher wages that chase after ever increasing prices and still losing millions keeping an artificial exchange rate with the dollar around 1 to 4,2. When the peso devaluates again, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it go to 7 or 8 pesos per dollar. Rising inflation is perhaps one of the final stages before the collapse, and something Americans should pay special attention to.
Businesses and Infrastructure: Are roads being repaired, parks kept tended to? Do you see a general sense of decay in the overall infrastructure? Neighbors keeping their houses well kept are a sign of good times. When the economy collapsed here in 2001 middle class people wouldn’t even buy a can of paint let alone remodel, and it showed. Things like stores closing and going out of business, shops boarded up, sometimes being replaced with cheapo discount stores.
Crime and Rumors: Crime will be a clear indication of you having to go from yellow to orange in terms of awareness. Now, it may not appear on the media as much as it should and negative news may be avoided entirely by news groups trying to be “team players” with the government. You on the other hand cannot afford the pink shaded glasses. Pay special attention to the local gossip and rumors, and when something catches your attention try verifying through other sources. Who got mugged, robbed or suffered a home invasion. Don’t wait too long. Once you know this is happening in your general area take the extra precautions you know you must take.
You can still have a pretty normal and happy life in spite of being forced to be more cautions and more aware given the circumstances. I believe its much better to take those measures while still enjoying the things I can, than taking the easy road and not doing it, and maybe one day regret it.

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FerFAL

EDC gear, Survival Mindset and Commitment

FerFAL

10 Steps: Installing Night Sights in your Pistol

Sights are the only part worth replacing in a standard Glock pistol. Fumbling with other parts isn’t just unnecessary, it often leads to malfunctions. You know what they say about fixing that which is not broken. Also, sights are the weak point in the Glock due to being made of plastic and relatively fragile. During torture tests where Glocks are put through hell, the part that often breaks and does so before all others are the sights. Throw a Glock form a plane or car driving at 80 mph? No problem, but the front sight is likely to pop off.

To make it indeed perfect you need steel sights, and the tritium inserts are a nice addition too. Don’t go for sloped snag-free rear sights, go for square ones. It’s quite important for the rear sight to snag on your belt or clothing during single handed reloading and failure resolution drills.
This is a short video explaining how to install night sights, in this case Meprolights. This is one of those things people often ask someone else to do but if you can get around to do it yourself that’s much better. It often happens that dovetails get chipped or bent, tritium tubes break during installation. This has little to do with the quality of reputable products and everything to do with sights getting forced, sometimes hammered into place by gunshop employees with little patience and even less experience. Better to take the time and do it yourself:

1) Buy the night sights. Since you’re changing them get good ones, with tritium inserts. Which one to buy? Some people like XS Big Dots, but I honestly didn’t like them much. I get it that the “golf ball” front sight is very visible, but to me it just gave up too much accuracy.  Good for an express rifle, not so good for a handgun. They are highly visible though, so if your eyes aren’t 100% they might be the right ones for you. I know some people are accurate with them too, not my case. I ended up with  Meprolights TruDot, and after testing them myself as well as several other shooters I can highly recommend them:

Meprolight Glock Tru-Dot Night Sight for 9mm, .357 Sig, .45 S and W . 45 GAP Orange Rear Sight with Green Front Sight – Fixed Set


2) Put together the tools needed. Hammer, needle pliers, front sight Glock tool, alcohol, paper, vice or c-clamp, fine sandpaper, Loctite, mechanic pencil, ruler, plastic punch and a table to work.

3) If your sights are on target, then mark with the pencil their exact center in the pistol frame. This will be used as reference later so as to make centering the new sights easier. Use a fine mechanic pencil for greater precision.

4) Make another mark in the sights you are about to install in their exact center. This mark will be aligned with the one in the frame.

5) Remove the existing sights. In 3^rd gen Glocks and older you just pull the front sight out easily with pliers. In the Gen4 they have a small hexagonal screw that requires the front sight Glock tool or fine needle point pliers. Use a vise or C-clamp with some paper so as to not scratch the frame and using a punch and light hammer taps remove the rear sight. I found that it came off easier in the older models.  The gen4 requires some intense hammering that destroyed the plastic rear sight.

6)Use alcohol and tissue paper to clean the surface where the new sights will be installed, make sure there’s no oil left. Carfeful not to remove the pencil marks.

7) Apply a drop of Loctite in the contact surface and install the front sight. Make sure the pencil marks are aligned before tightening the screw.

8)Test the rear sight, if it doesn’t slide in with a bit of hand pressure, place the sandpaper on a flat surface. Firmly holding the rear sight with its bottom against the sand paper slide it back and forth, then left and right five times. Try sliding it again into place. Repeat this process until it slides snuggly into place with hand pressure alone.  Dont rush it, and don’t overdo the sandpaper or it will fit too loose.

9) Once it slides into place, remove it, clean the area again with alcohol, let it dry, then add a drop of Loctite and slide until the two marks align.

10) Let the Loctite dry according to the product’s instructions before using. Usually 24 hs will do. Wipe clean any product that may have been smeared in the slide and you’re done.
Here’s the video:




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FerFAL

Survivalists and Preppers

              Dear FerFAL,

First and foremost, thank you for taking your precious time to share your experiences through this blog. The information here is by far the best, at least in my humble opinion, in regards to real and no-kidding modern survivalism. I am so sick of the wanna-be commandos, the EOTWAWKI preachers, and the zombie hunters. Your book reflects the crude reality; which may be something new for some folks. Personally, born and raised in a latin culture (Puerto Rico), it all sounds very familiar (with the exception of a full economic collapse, of course). We are very lucky to be a U.S. Territory; I really can’t imagine our little island being run without the oversight of Uncle Sam. As it is, the monkeys that try to run the island (our politicians) are extremely corrupt that even with millions of USD provided to us and all the freaking taxes the government of Puerto Rico takes from us, our roads are as crappy as the surface of the moon, our education programs are unfit, our government services are by far third-worldly, crime is rampant (drugs, murders, robberies, car-jacks, home invasions), unemployment up the roof… The sad thing is that we are used to this; it’s our accepted lifestyle… Gee, what would happen if the U.S. decides not to babysit us anymore?

Gracias, Fernando. I’ve been prepping for a few years now, out of common sense. My wife told me that I was crazy, especially when I started coming home with guns, ammo, and a shitload of canned food. I guess I’m not the only one!! I wish I could’ve read your book a long time ago. It’s a very good book. Barbarita’s story really broke my heart. I have kids myself; a 6 year old daughter and a 1 year old boy (will be 2 in October). I don’t ever want them to suffer hunger like Barbarita did.

I also wish my Rockerfeller wanna-be neighbors read and digest your words of wisdom. You wouldn’t believe how many of my idiot neighbors rather spend $6,000 USD on a beautiful garden, than investing on a water cistern, or security doors, or having a gun for home defense. Let me tell you, we just got hit by tropical storm Irene (a storm; not a hurricane) and people were not ready. Stores and markets were packed by people doing last minute purchases; goods were running out in a matter of hours. Gas stations were packed before and after the event… Many stations were dry in no time. The power and water services were shutdown; and people were going nuts! Have you seen people fighting for ice, a galon of water, etc? Many of my neighbors can’t cook since they rely on electric stoves and microwaves and don’t have a gas grill as a back up. Again, this was just a storm that had no significant damage to our infrastructures… Imaging something bigger and how people would react!
Out of curiosity, how is the mail working in Argentina after the collapse? Do they confiscate the items they send you?
Carlos

Hi Carlos,

Thank you for your words of encouragement. Sorry for the delay in replying, sometimes its hard to keep up with everything and email piles up quickly.

In the last few years survival and preparedness has gained much more notoriety and its becoming more accepted. The media has a lot to do with this, seems you can’t throw a dead cat without hitting a survival show of some sort. While it’s good that people are getting used to words such as “survivalist” that used to have a more negative connotation, on the downside the media has to make sure before anything else that it keeps a healthy amount of raiting so as to survive itself. This means that what you see on TV must be entertainment before anything else, and only after that can actual information be added to it. Documentaries are a bit more informative but reality TV shows need a fair amount of visual impact and pace so as to be digested by the mass viewer. So now we have preppers and survivalist all over the place, but when it comes down to it, are you simply begin entertained, or are you learning things that you can actually put to use? Thanks do Bear Grylls I now know that I can hydrate by squeezing elephant poo but somehow that’s not helping me a whole lot. That’s how on one hand you have a guy sitting in a couch “learning” how to survive in the Siberian wilderness but at the same time he hasn’t got a few cases of water in foresight of the next storm or hurricane which he will most certainly have to go through.
In spite of preparedness and survivalism hitting the main media, the vast majority of people still don’t get it. They don’t understand the life changes involved, the new set of priorities they should have because as the different social safety nets start failing the future in USA or anywhere else will not be nearly as forgiving as it used to be for a long time. You’d think people would know that there’s always going to be another tornado or big storm, that there’s the possibility of flooding in certain areas, yet as you noted they will wait until the last minute to rush to the supermarket.
For people used to living in first world countries, the impact will certainly be greater. They are used to a system that works, while in the third world you already don’t expect much from the authorities. You learn to make your own retirement (the government here just steals your retirement plan) you learn that water or power may be cut off for days and no one is really surprised when it happens. Floods? Evacuate yourself buddy, no one’s coming to help you. If they do, its mostly neighbors and ordinary people. I remember during the Santa Fe flood of 2003, the help was only in the form of people’s donations. What did the local authorities do? They “helped” once the donations reached the disaster area by locking them up in warehouses and SELLING the donations to the people that lost their homes afterwards.

At least around here, every guy knows how to cook with charcoal or wood and of course, start a fire. Every self-respecting Argentine is expected to know how to cook an “asado” and prepare meat and offal (intestines, kidneys, etc) . Instead of firing up the BBQ , people here can cook with any wood they come by. I knew a guy that actually preferred pallet wood for his asados, go figure.

In the end, what does it mean to be a survivalist or prepper? I still find it hard to define completely. What we all have in common is that we foresee the possibility of problems and disruptions down the road, and take the necessary steps to be ready for it. But more than that, its also about a way of living, heavily inclined towards practicality, appreciative of freedom and individuality. It’s not only about being ready but ensuring a quality of life and way of living. Some people consider that the difference between self-claimed preppers and survivalists is that preppers are “lite” versions that get ready for emergencies and disasters but do it in a way that doesn’t involve any significant changes in their lifestyle. In some cases people define themselves as preppers because they have a bug out bag, and a Rubbermaid with a few supplies. It seems to me that when someone defines himself as survivalist he’s generally more committed. The difference isn’t because of the amount of stuff one or the other has, but the mindset involved generally speaking. At the same time some people that call themselves survivalists do fall into that preconceived and much stigmatized version which involved individuals with “issues” and certain detachment from reality.  This is yet another example where you have to deal with people on a per case basis and survivalist, prepper or whatever they choose to call themselves aren’t a clear indication of what type of person you’re dealing with.

About your question, yes mail here is working much better than it used to and shipments dont get…err.. “lost” as much as they did. This may be due to the 50% tax on the items (plush the shipment cost) they are now applying. Usually there’s no problem receiving shipments, but unless its pretty small like a folding knife or some other small box, you’ll have to go pick it up at customs and pay the 50% tax over its value. Small items and envelopes are more likely to pass unnoticed.
Take care and again, thanks for your email.
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FerFAL