I feel like I am unobservant. Especially since I own stock in Ruger.
But I did not know, until today, that Beretta was making a hostile takeover bid for Ruger. I think this might be great for my stock price, but I would very much regret seeing another independent gun maker become part of a larger conglomerate. On the gripping hand, there are probably worse companies that could buy Ruger…
And speaking of S&W, I got a press release today: Lena Miculek has returned to Smith and Wesson as their newest “ambassador”. I find this interesting, as she was previously with Sig Sauer, and was the front person for their ROSE program. I did know that she had left Sig a few months ago, so I guess this is the proverbial other shoe dropping.
This came across a mailing list I’m on, and I wanted to bookmark it: I may need this at some point in the not-too-distant future.
I have my share of issues with The Firearm Blog. But one thing they’ve been doing that I do like is “Small Business Spotlight”. Yesterday’s entry pushed my buttons:
As everyone knows, Bob, I already have my own official trainer. But Rick Barrett looks interesting as heck, and it seems like he’s up near Waco, which isn’t too far for me. I think I’d like to spend some time hanging out and talking with him.
And there’s a lot of good resources on his site about how Catholic social teaching interacts with the idea of self-defense. I think this site is worth a bookmark.
I refer from time to time to the “Hillary Hole”, aka the internal lock on many recent Smith and Wesson revolvers. This made a lot of people very angry, and has been widely regarded as a bad idea.
Greg Ellifritz posted this article in his weekly link roundup this week. While I do regularly read the Revolver Guy blog, I missed this one before now, and I want to bookmark it for future reference.
47. Carry a sharp knife, unless precluded by law or venue policy. It doesn’t have to be a machete or Bowie knife: even a small Swiss Army knife or pocketknife is worthwhile.
48. Carry a small flashlight. You can get ones that clip on your keychain and throw a surprising amount of light, and you have no idea how handy they are until you start using them.
Part of me thinks I should apologize for not posting yesterday. The other part of me doesn’t.
I got about 3.5 hours of sleep Tuesday night, though I did nap some on Lawrence’s dog couch. So I was pretty worn out yesterday and still had to put in a full day at work. Plus, as I’ve said before, I am not a politics or geo-politics person. I have some things I could say about politics and gun politics, like what I’m hoping for out of the new boss (same as the old boss) but I’d just be stirring the metaphorical pot with a metaphorical stick.
There are plenty of other people who are smarter about politics than I am. I’d suggest Lawrence and Borepatch to start with. I’d also recommend the folks on Lawrence’s sidebar.
At least I can stop muting political ads, and continue muting Medicare supplement ads and lawyer ads.
From the obit front: Geoff Capes. I’d never heard of him, but he was hugely popular in the United Kingdom. He was a multiple time winner of the World’s Strongest Man competition, a six-time winner of the Highland Games, and won the “U.K. Truck-Pulling Championship” in 1986.
This is one that I’ve been a little behind on: Richard A. Cash, big damn hero.
One of the things that people don’t understand until they’ve read at least a little bit about medicine is: dehydration will kill you. And there are lots of diseases, such as cholera and dysentery, that trigger fatal dehydration.
Dr. Cash and Dr. David Nalin were working in Pakistan in 1967, and together developed an experimental oral rehydration therapy. It worked exceptionally well in trials.
You can watch “select episodes” online. Why would you want to? Well, those select episodes include:
“Queen of the Orange Bowl”, a rom-com featuring Anne Francis (who is always worth watching) and…Johnny Carson.
“The Two Worlds of Charlie Gordon“, the original adaptation of Daniel Keyes’ “Flowers for Algernon”, predating “Charly” but also starring Cliff Robertson.
“Scene of the Crime”, a “grim and claustrophobic crime drama with a noir twist”…starring Betty White.
“The Rack“. “…a previously decorated Army officer faces court martial for actions taken while under duress of extreme torture in a Korean P.O.W. camp.” Teleplay by Rod Serling, later mode into a feature film with Paul Newman and Anne Francis.
It isn’t like I don’t already have enough stuff to watch: I should be able to survive the end of the entertainment industry with ease. But this seems like the kind of thing some folks might enjoy.
Every once in a while, I’ll mention a Smith and Wesson and say it is a J-frame or a K-frame or some other letter-frame.
Generally, I try to provide some context, for the benefit of the non-Smith and Wesson fans who make up part of my audience. However, I am not always successful at that.
I could have out this in an earlier entry, but, well, I forgot.
After dinner at Mala, Mike the Musicologist stopped off at Anvil Bar and Refuge for a drink. Because it was in the neighborhood, I’d heard about it but never been, and it was a weeknight so the crowd was more manageable.
One of the classic cocktails on their list – which I had not heard of before – was the Up to Date. This cocktail is credited to Hugo Ensslin – who I had also not heard of before – around 1917.
Mr. Ensslin was an interesting guy. In 1917 (or 1916 – sources differ) he published a book called Recipes for Mixed Drinks, which many people consider the last gasp of cocktail culture before Prohibition. Mr. Ensslin was a hotel bartender, and Mixed Drinks is mostly based on his hotel recipes, not on ones he got from other people. It is supposed to have been a big influence on people like Harry Craddock (of The Savoy Cocktail Book).
I think it’s a pretty good explanation of why scandium is significant, and the basic metallurgy of the aluminum/scandium mix.
One thing that isn’t mentioned, except in a passing reference in the end-user chart: Scandium is also being used in firearms. Smith and Wesson in particular has built a number of guns using scandium frames, like the 1911 E-Series.
One of the reasons this past weekend was so busy is that I got up brutally early Saturday morning and drove out to the KR Training facility (KR Training, official firearms trainer for WCD) to attend a “Stop the Bleed” class taught by Levi Nathan.
I know there are many gun bloggers who feel like: if you carry a gun, you should carry a tourniquet, too. I haven’t been doing that because:
I didn’t have the training.
I have heard a lot of horror stories about low quality knockoff tourniquets made of Chinesium. I wanted to make sure I knew what suppliers were reliable, and how to tell a counterfeit tourniquet from a real one, before I started spending money on putting together an emergency kit (or what people in the biz call an IFAK).
I also wanted to know what I should – and should not – put in my emergency kit.
Summarizing: I got exactly what I wanted out of Mr. Nathan and the course, and I heartily endorse this event and/or product.
And even though this was at KR Training, this isn’t just a gun thing, for all my foreign readers. People hurt themselves badly and suffer life threatening bleeding in all kinds of ways: car accidents, construction accidents, kitchen accidents…
I also heartily endorse the idea of taking an official “Stop the Bleed” course from someone, anyone. You’ll get hands-on practice with stuff, and hands-on practice is good.
That being said, today’s videos are all StB related. Some of this is for my own personal bookmarks, and some of this is for the benefit of my loyal readers who want the knowledge, but may not yet be able to step out and take a StB course.
Remember: Have gloves. Wear gloves. Nitrile is recommended.
This is a compressed (slightly over 15 minutes) version of the “Stop the Bleed” presentation.
Here’s a longer version (a little over an hour) with demos.
Again, these are not substitutes for taking a for real actual course from someone who knows what they are doing. But I know a lot of people still don’t feel like it is safe to go out and mingle in public, so this is better than a poke in the neck with a sharp stick.
And from North American Rescue, makers of the Combat Application Tourniquet (C-A-T), here’s how to apply one:
And from ITS Tactical, here’s a video on using the Israeli bandage:
Finally, by way of SkinnyMedic, “How to use your IFAK”.
Note that some of these channels talk about stuff other than trauma dressing, gauze (for packing) and the C-A-T: for example, chest seals.
The advice we got in class for using chest seals (and even more emphatically, chest decompression needles) was: don’t. Chest seals seem to show up in a lot of pre-packaged IFAKs, but as Mr. Nathan put it, this is not within your scope having taken just a “Stop the Bleed” course. This is the kind of thing that EMTs with higher level certifications do, not random hobos such as myself.
Also, if you get someone else’s blood on you: tell the responding medical people. We all know about HIPAA, right? Well, there’s a limited exception in the law: if you get someone’s blood on you, and it is documented, and it turns out that person has a blood-borne pathogen, you have a right to be informed of that as long as it is documented. You don’t have a right to know how and where they got it, just that they had it.
Now all I need to do is get my (stuff) together. I’m actually kind of surprised at how many of the companies selling IFAK pouches don’t make them in red. Condor is the only one I’ve found: 5.11 doesn’t, for sure.
The pouch should be the cheapest part of your kit, as long as it holds everything in place. But in a high stress emergency situation, I’m personally thinking “red = first aid”, and I want to be able to tell people “grab the red pouch”, not “grab the black pouch, no, the small black pouch, no, the other small black pouch, no, that’s the dark purple one, grab the black one…” Know what I mean, Vern?
A while back, when Morlock Publishing’s Twitter feed was public, he retweeted a fascinating quote from someone’s book.
“The meteorite itself was so massive that it didn’t notice any atmosphere whatsoever,” said Rebolledo. “It was traveling 20 to 40 kilometers per second, 10 kilometers — probably 14 kilometers — wide, pushing the atmosphere and building such incredible pressure that the ocean in front of it just went away.”
These numbers are precise without usefully conveying the scale of the calamity. What they mean is that a rock larger than Mount Everest hit planet Earth traveling twenty times faster than a bullet. This is so fast that it would have traversed the distance from the cruising altitude of a 747 to the ground in 0.3 seconds. The asteroid itself was so large that, even at the moment of impact, the top of it might have still towered more than a mile above the cruising altitude of a 747. In its nearly instantaneous descent, it compressed the air below it so violently that it briefly became several times hotter than the surface of the sun.
Here’s a talk at Google from 2017. He does go off into climate change about 25 minutes in, so you could maybe punch out when you’ve had enough. I think his discussion of things like Chicxulub make this worth it. (I was actually not aware that there was a controversy over whether that killed the dinosaurs: I thought the science was settled.)
Bonus: since the Ides of March have just passed, how about an episode of “Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall Of An Empire” on Caesar?
Bonus #2: while I guess this is semi-thematically appropriate for St. Patrick’s Day, I’m bookmarking this here because of my interest in crime, law, and prison breaks.
“Unlocking the Maze”, about the escape of 38 IRA prisoners from the maximum security Long Kesh prison on September 25, 1983. Again, I am not making a political statement here: I just find prison breaks fascinating.
Does this mean that we are out of jail? In my opinion, not yet.
This doesn’t take effect until next week.
I’m still a little concerned that we’ll see a surge after this goes into effect, and we will all end up back in solitary confinement.
I want to see how far I can take this: maybe up to 365 entries?
While the state has repealed the mask mandate, individual businesses can still require masks. Perhaps when I see more businesses dropping the mask requirement…
Finally, I’ll consider myself out of jail when I get my Chinese rabies shot. I’ve been trying: I actually spent an hour last night on the Austin Public Health website trying to book an appointment, with no luck. There was about a 10:1 ratio of people waiting online to actual appointments.
In the meantime, it’s been two weeks since our last round of random gun crankery, so why not take another spin at the wheel? Especially since this came up recently and is relevant to my interests: Jerry Miculek demonstrates his technique for speed reloading a revolver with moon clips.
Bonus #1: “Taking A Break From The B S Of Life” from Blackie Thomas.
“A lot of you probably started out with one of these Red Ryder BB guns too.” (raises hand) Still have it, too.
Bonus #2: I haven’t run across Target Suite previously, but I wanted to link this video of him discussing the Ruger Single Six he picked up at a pawn shop.
I own a Single Six with both the .22 LR and .22 Magnum cylinders, and I think it is a pure fun gun to shoot. I’m actively looking for a second one at a reasonable price for something I have in mind. I might have to start visiting more pawn shops.
Bonus #3: “Using a Sling”, from our friends at the Army Marksmanship Unit.
From the “Food Wishes” channel, a couple of things I’m bookmarking because I’d like to try them:
“Homemade Eggnog Recipe – How to Make Classic Christmas Eggnog”.
I just bought a bottle of 18 year old rum. But I’m lazy, so I may just purchase a good commercial eggnog (like the Promised Land Dairy one) and add rum to that.
Speaking of rum, “Hot Buttered Rum”.
Not food, just for grins: Mireille Mathieu sings “La Marseillaise” in 1989 at the foot of the Eiffel Tower for its centennial. And it has English subtitles. I am currently immersed in the French Revolution block of the “Revolutions” podcast, so this is relevant to my interests.
Last one: “No Regrets: The life and music of Edith Piaf”, a short (about 15 minutes) documentary from France 24 English.
“How to Order an M1 Garand from the Civilian Marksmanship Program”, by way of Black Flag Armory. Take advantage of this now: you never know what might happen in the future.