ZOMBIELAND 2: DOUBLE TAP

Saddle up boys and girls, its been 10 years and we're back for more. Like the name suggests, I'm seeing bizzarro.

Woody Harrelson's an old fave, and this Statue in Budapest meme always leaves me in stitches.

Someone from my family needs to see it for a selfie someday. 

Stay vigilant!

Earthquake in Batanes

screenshot from the US Geological Survey

  

click to enlarge

photo from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

Calamity has struck the Batanes group of islands. Located at the northernmost part of the Philippines, this location is world renowned for its unique centuries-old architecture that withstood the worst tropical storms.

Today at 4:16 AM they were hit by magnitude 5.4 tremor, followed by a stronger one measuring 5.9 just under four hours later. Another strong jolt happened at 9:24 AM measuring 5.8 in magnitude. Several aftershocks continued throughout the day.

There were 9 fatalities and more than a hundred injured as of this writing. Unfortunately a lot of the fatalities were asleep when the first quake hit early in the morning.

Social media is abuzz with photos of the devastation, injured, and dead.




Batanes in our Hearts

The whole country is deeply affected by this tragedy as it holds a special place in our hearts. It is known to be one of the very few places in the Philippines where there is practically no crime and the local police station closed down for crying out loud. There's an honesty cafe too because of how people there in general are wonderful. Find out more at the Outoftownblog.

The sights here are dreamlike and breathtaking,  them out here. You'll see why people say "I wish I could visit Batanes someday" with reverence. Its got everything: people, sights, culture, and more.

That's why this earthquake was pretty bad and hits home.


Who are the Ivatan? From http://www.ethnicgroupsphilippines.com:

Inhabiting the Batanes, a chain of small islands at the northernmost point of the Philippines, were the Ivatans.  Of the island chains, only three islands were inhabited:  Batan, Itbayat, and Sabtang.  The Ivatans of today are considered to be the Christianized surviving group of the ancient people who once inhabited all the islands of Luzon and Taiwan.  

Culturally, the Ivatans have been influenced by the climate of Batanes – often times, exposed to high risks of agricultural disruption, they adopted strategies that ensured their survival.  Due to the frequency of typhoons and drought, they planted root crops that were more resilient to the destructive forces of the environment; these include yam, sweet potato, taro, garlic, ginger, and onion.  

In addition, the Ivatans possessed a unique skill to predict weather, namely thru the study of animal behavior, sky color, wind, and clouds.  For example, upon seeing their livestock take shelter, they too sought shelter.  Although abundant exclusively in the months of March to May, the Ivatans also depend on the flying fish, dibang, and dolphinfish, aravu, that are present on the shores of Batanes.  Unique to their culture is their stone houses adopted from the Spaniards and made of limestone; the walls were as thick as one-meter and able to withstand the terminal passage of typhoons in the Philippines.  The roofs, on the other hand, retained the traditional thick-fabrication of cogon grass designed to weather the buffeting winds.  The vakul, a traditional headgear designed to shield the wearer from the sun and rain, is another cultural feature unique to the Ivatans.

From a Survivalists's point of view, take note of that second paragraph. 

Reality Check

We've had at least 3 other strong quakes to hit us this year, however this one caused the most damage and hurt because of its proximity to a population center. We had much stronger ones but they hit far off the coast line.

All this reminds us that urbanized centers are long overdue for a powerful quake. The government has been taking steps in the last 3 years to prepare for the so-called Big One. We have earthquake drills, and preparedness movements have become almost mainstream. The word "prepper" is almost a household word now due to mainstream infodrives. I'm very alright with that since the term is no longer holds a negative connotation.

If we do get hit tomorrow I'll wonder if my preparations for the damage would be enough? Enough means mitigating damage to our home, preventing and mending wounds, having food, water, and security.

I'll do my part and send some support over there. Let's pull together.


Stay vigilant!

спасибі "Thank you" Ukraine

click to zoom in

So this happened again, first with Russia and now with the Ukraine.

Over 130 people visited from over there and checked out this blog. Every once in a while, like 3 or 4 times a year I'd get a few hundred visits in a space of a day.

Bots? Survivalists? Family oriented people? I sure hope so. Maybe it ain't bots. I hope our message of preparedness is reaching you guys over there. I also hope to visit sometime as our values are similar.

So from my humble home in the Philippines, I say a sincere спасибі from The Zombie Hunter.


Stay vigilant!

Department of Health Declares National Dengue Alert

The rainy season brings all kinds of bad news.  Heads up people, we've got a Dengue Outbreak in some parts of my city as well as dozens of places all over the country.

Click to zoom in

From the Department of Heath (DOH):

Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III today declared Dengue Alert Status in selected regions in the country. This is in response to the rapidly increasing number of cases observed in the Philippines. 

Regions IVB, VI, VII and X have exceeded the epidemic threshold while Regions I, II, IVA, V, VIII, IX, XI, BARMM, and CAR are in Alert Status.





Actions:

Use Mosquito repellent daily in areas where the alert has been raised. School systems in these areas are particularly vulnerable.

Good hygiene can prevent bites as they're are attracted to perspiration. In a humid county such as ours, having a washtowel and cleaning up through the day can certainly help.

Look for plants and flower pots that could be breeding places for mosquitoes.  It does not take a lot of water for them to find a home.

Speaking of breeding places, inspect your trash and make sure that its dry. It rains often so you could miss some new places where they can lay eggs.

Citronella oil sprays, electric bug zappers, and fumigation are far better than getting sick.

What's dengue fever? Click the video above to find out. 

This is serious, the time to act now.



Stay vigilant! 

Product Review: Kel-Tec P3AT (After 6 Years)

Shooting footage! YEET!

I've had this pistol since 2013 and ran it like crazy over the years, easily over a thousand rounds. What a wild ride its been. Today I will do my best to give an honest review and the history of my second EDC pistol.

photo by Oleg Volk

I purchased it in 2012. My first carry firearm was an Armscor .38 spl revolver, the M206. It was heavy, bulky, but it was adequate at the time. 

That wheelgun was on my hip and man bag for more than a year and I felt that a change was needed. 

Back then the Kel-Tec fever was in full swing as it revolutionized the pocket pistol world. Reviews of their guns were all over YouTube like Nutnfancy's P3AT Review. He's controversial, but I think he's a fun guy and has his heart in the right place.

Oleg Volk released iconic photography for the little pocket pistol.


RISE of the .380 ACP

The Ruger LCP made its debut soon afterward. Sites like Brass Fetcher, Poboyspecial and PocketGunandGear were around this era as well. Tests for the viability of the .380 acp helped a lot of firearm owners to rethink this cartridge.

Today it is considered to be the minimum caliber for personal protection.

Specifications

EDC lineup circa 2013

• weight: 7.7 oz

• overall length: 5.2 inches

• height: 3.5 inches

• width: 0.77 inches

• magazine capacity: 6

• caliber: .380 acp

Rough Start

I had to return the pistol to the company that I got it from for a week right after buying it. The gun had at least 1 failure to eject in every magazine for the first 200 rounds. That freaked me out. They fixed it and gave it back to me.

I started carrying it and trained with at least 100 rounds a month. That is a lot as far as pocket pistols go. 

Strong Points

This was indeed the lightest and most concealable pistol that packed a reasonable punch.

The P3AT was so light I could wear it on my BOXER SHORTS or go jogging with the help of that nifty belt clip and soft holster. It could even hide behind a big belt buckle with a little creativity!

As long as I'm awake, I could actually be armed 100% of the time.


Challenges

The pistol's sights were practically nonexistent but that wasn't a problem. I was determined to shoot it well and I was able to reach an acceptable level so it saw tons of range time.

The long trigger pull is part of the firearm's safety so it was a bit tricky for guys like me who are used to single-action triggers. Good thing the break at the end was predictable enough.

Recurring Problems

Trouble seemed to follow me in the form of infamous malfunctions such as the "P3AT Smiley". Google it or click that link to see what I had to endure. There were Failure to Feeds as you'll see in the video below and the FTEs had returned about two years later.

An old friend Huey's Gunsight also FTE issues but I'm really glad he was able to solve it.

not again

I also had light primer strikes, but they only happened on the reloads and magtech ammunition. 

The slide stop takedown pin also broke at least 3 times. I don't live in the USA so I had to wait a few months for me to travel to Oregon and order parts from Florida.

To their credit, Kel-Tek's customer service phone number people are VERY helpful. They even answer their email. I got a few replacement pins for free and I could hear their smile from the other side of the line. Thank you.

A few years after I mothballed the pistol it would finally light strike every single time. I believe the hammer spring had finally worn itself out. Sadly that would mean I would have to order parts from the plant again. 

The Good Times

When it was good, it ran well. Perhaps I was expecting too much out of this little gun. I was running it IPSC style fast and hard. I could ring steel plates at 15 meters, double tapping paper at point blank or in-between no-shoots. I was John-Wicking the thing because I needed to.

I made this video to remind me that there are many P3AT owners who have had nothing but good luck with their purchase. Perhaps they're the majority and I was just unlucky.


Hindsight is 20/20

I don't regret this whole experience even if I still feel a little bad about it because I wanted to make it work. And for a time it did.

This gun would have served me better if I had spare parts that could be delivered to me quickly. They're all minor parts. A few springs and pins, who cares? Well, I live in the Philippines. Oops.

For those who have proper support and who are among the majority of these pistols that work FLAWLESSLY, then you have an ideal backup pistol. There's loads of positive video reviews out there to prove it.

It was a tough relationship, but we made it WORK

All of this has taught me to put reliability out of the box at the very top of my requirements for any gun. Even if its a little heavier, I'll find a way. As long as I can trust it 100%, then its worth the minor inconvenience.

I still haunt the KTOG forums (Kel-Tec Owner's Group) and see that most of the guys there are happy with their purchase, especially with the later production models. 

Since then I've moved on to carrying a fantastic carry gun that has never ever let me down.


Stay vigilant!

I'm on Instagram!

Click here to find my Instagram account

I enjoy photography. There are entire afternoons where I line up my gear and snap a few dozen shots.  My favorite subjects aside from cool gear are my pets, home, and travel.

More than a decade ago there was Flickr which was cool. Today we have Instagram.  As ya'll know by now I'm not really trying to boost my own signal. I'll put some of my stuff there because it makes me happy.

I'm basically using a few platforms to keep tabs on possible outbreaks, contagion, disasters, terrorism, and basically all kinds of boogaloo. For equipment and combat related eye candy and trends Instagram and Pinterest come in handy.

If anything, its another fun way to keep my eyes peeled and gather more intel.

Hey cool, this is some kind of a milestone. Thanks for sticking around!



Stay vigilant!

Smashing Coconut Test IV: Marlin XT-22 YR (Youth Rifle)

press "play" to watch the video

The humble .22LR, its the smallest, cheapest, and most readily available cartridge worldwide. We also put it in one of the smallest rifles you could buy. Is it up to the task?

Dear friends, I present to you the Marlin XT-22 YR. I got this for my daughter, and on her first day she was landing hits on 2 inch targets at 35 meters. She was 5 years old at the time. I bought it at PB Dionisio. 

Features:

• Caliber: .22 Long Rifle

• Capacity: 7 shot detachable magazine, compatible with Marlin's 10 round magazines

• Pro Fire Adjustable Trigger

• 12 Inch length of pull suitable for children

• 1:16 twist rate, 16 1/4 inch Micro-Groove barrel 

• Weight: 4.5 pounds 

• Adjustable open rear sights, ramp front sights, receiver ready for scope mounting 

Objectives: 

• Will a youth rifle loaded with subsonic ammo take down the UNDEAD??

• How does it perform with a suppressor?

• Compare loudness between high velocity and subsonic ammunition.

The targets: FOUR coconuts. husk removed. ripe for maximum shell strength

Introduction

Click to zoom

The effective range of .22lr is traditionally between 50 to 100  yards depending on the sighting system or riflescope being used. For this test, we are using the Leapers UTG 4-16x. This is a popular choice for airguns.

Our best groups with Armscor Super Quiet, Standard Velocity, and High Velocity ammunition were a little above 2 inches. Velocities of these averaged 840, 1010, and 1250 fps respectively.

I just used a bipod and these are pretty cheap ammo.  I'd expect to subtract a whole inch off with Eley, CCI, RWS, and other high-quality brands.

I'd love to make a comparison of those sometime.

                      

Bonus: When using our suppressor the groups were slightly tighter and the velocity went up by at least 50 fps. Cool!

Our can is made of T6 Aluminum and CNC machined. In the Philippines, accessories such as suppressors are not regulated by the government. 

that's the semi-auto Kel-Tec SU22 beside the Marlin.
Its accuracy was just below .5 inches compared to the bolt-action rifle

Noise Levels & Accuracy

The loudest and the quietest went head to head: High Velocity VS Super Quiet. The suppressor was not able to mask the supersonic crack of the hot ammo.

Humans and the undead will hear it from beyond 200 meters or more. Unacceptable. 

Bullet drop was also a major consideration between the two. At distances over 100 meters, the drop was measured at 4 inches. It increases dramatically further than that.

The best quality of Armscor Super Quiet is... its quietnes and it works as advertised.

I got a bolt-action rifle so that we could have the stealthiest firearm possible in our collection and I was not disappointed. With the suppressor it was a soft "pop" completely hearing safe. Even Remington "CB" ammo was louder.

Unfortunately it was less accurate. Hey its bulk ammo.

With this round I could make 1/2 inch groups with this at distances below 50 meters, and 2 inches at 100. This tells us from how far we could plant a bullet into a zombie's eye socket.

To put this into perspective, a match-grade bolt action rimfire rifle and good ammo can easily land same-hole shots at 50 meters and 1/2 inch  at 100 meters. That's easily twice as accurate as our rifle. 

Conclusion:

What we have is one of the best zombie hunting weapons around: virtually noiseless, deadly, and accurate firearm that could take out countless brain-eaters with mountains of cheap ammunition.

It is really satisfying when the concept of this platform proves itself in the real world.

"shhhh"

As you will see in the video montage, the photographs were from 2015. My daughter has come a long way since then and is now handling larger firearms. This is her first gun and its great to know that it can help her take down countless hordes with it all by herself. 

Stay vigilant!