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New Glock 47 – pfft…

Glock 47 CBPIn early April, Glock announced a new model as part of an $85 million contract with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The Glock 47 is the same size as a Gen 5 G17, and not available to civilians. It does have some interesting features though, so it’s worth checking out. I first read about the G47 on a blog I used to respect (emphasis on used to).

Late to the dance and full of… nothing burgers

The post I read was written on May 18, but the gun was announced in early April. In spite of the time lapse, the author manages to write about the Glock 47 without saying ANYTHING about the G47.

Instead, he starts out by berating ‘all the “experts” posting about this new Glock 47 and all the conjecture and general “making shit up” going long(sic) with it.’

Next, he informs us he knows where they get their information and what they’re trying to do with it: ‘They are all surfing each others web postings, trying to be the first to post something significant.’ 

At least he’s a real expert… ‘I’m going to be issued one, and it will be the pistol riding in my holster until I retire. So when I’m getting hands on, while the rest are still reposting the same conjecture you’ll see it here first.’

Facts, not conjecture…

Well, I didn’t want to be mislead by all the “experts” the author is warning about, so I did a Google search for Glock 47. I didn’t find a lot of stuff, but what I did find was factual – no “made up stuff” and no “conjecture.”

The Truth About Glocks…

The truth about Glocks – including the new Glock 47 – is they’re really simple. You don’t need to be too much of an expert to understand them. A current production Glock only has 34 parts, and most parts are interchangeable across the entire line. So I really don’t understand why this particular blogger feels the need to grandstand on this issue. Especially since I’ve never seen him write anything on Glocks before.

What’s special about the Glock 47

So what’s so special about the G47? Not much. It has a full size (G17) frame and a G17 slide. The only thing special about it is the frame will take a G19 slide. That’s it. With the G19 slide, a G47 is the same size as the G19X/G45 (compact slide, full size grip frame).

Before the 19X, G17 slides fit G17 frames and G19 slides fit G19 frames. The 19X frame is basically a G19 frame with a G17 grip. Another way of looking at it would be to call it a G17 frame modified to accept a G19 slide. A G17 slide won’t fit a G19X/G45 frame, just like it won’t fit a G47 frame.

So how do they do it? The logical conclusion is the Glock 47 slide is a G17 slide modified to fit a Glock 19 (or G19X/G45) frame. That’s not “conjecture” or “making shit up.” It’s applying deductive reasoning to commonly known facts about existing Glock pistol models. I don’t see how one “riding in my holster” would make it more understandable.

Glock 47 – bottom line

The G47 is an interesting pistol. The ability to switch between short and long slides makes a lot of sense – especially if you’re a federal agency deploying thousands of pistols. For the average Backyardsman looking for a carry or trail gun? Still interesting, but that’s about it. Would I buy one if they were available to civilians? Probably not. For 9mm, my Glock 17 and Glock 19 suit me just fine.

Peace out,
porcupine

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Solitude in the city?

Solitude in the cityI stay pretty busy at work and my side jobs, so it’s hard to find time to get out of the city. Last Saturday my church hosted a youth hike at a local park, so I decided to check it out with my son. Is it possible to find solitude in the city? I was kind of disappointed when we got there. The small parking lot was full and there were lots of families in the picnic area. It turned out to be a good day anyway. Once we got away from the picnic area there weren’t many people.

The good…

The park is a small picnic area and a big “nature study area.” It’s a city park, but the study area is maintained by the state Division of Wildlife. There’s a trail loop that runs about a mile, with the first part of the loop running along the river. The river is running high and the sound of the rushing water was very relaxing. After veering away from the river, the trail winds through trees (cottonwood and Russian olive), through a small meadow, and past a small wetlands.

According to signs along the trail, the area is home to herons, hawks, mink, beaver, mule deer, coyotes, rainbow trout, and more. We didn’t see any of those, but there were lots of quail and blue jays. I didn’t see any “no fishing” signs so later in the year when the river goes down I’ll check out that trout claim.

Walking slow, it took us about 45 minutes to walk the loop. We only saw a few other people on the trail, so yes we had solitude. It’s a city park, so no camping activities, fire making, etc. In other words, no practicing backwoods skills, but still a good place to see some wildlife and enjoy some peace and quiet.

The not so good…

Lots of the trail signs were sprayed with graffiti. Considering the people I saw using the picnic area, it wasn’t surprising. Still disappointing though. Also, in spite of the signs forbidding camping, there were a few spots that were obviously being used for camping by homeless people. I felt safe (I’m a guy, I was with a group, and I CCW). I don’t think I’d feel good about my wife walking there alone or with our kid though.

All in all…

All in all though I had a good time. I still haven’t found my perfect place but I’ll keep looking. There are some places closer to the back yard I’m checking out, hopefully a little more “interactive” if you know what I mean. Until next time…

Peace out,
porcupine

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A Bushcrafter, a Survivalist, and a Prepper walk into a bar…

Haven’t had much time to write lately. Went through some life crises but all is well now so hear I am. Anyway, a Bushcrafter, a Survivalist, and a Prepper walk into a bar. The bar tender looks up and says “Are you guys identical triplets?” I know it’s lame. If you’re reading this blog you already know what a bushcrafter is, but what’s the difference between a survivalist and a prepper? It’s something I wonder about and it seems to be a pretty common question. Last week at my monthly prepper group someone asked and for the first time I heard an answer that was simple and made sense.

The guy who runs our group is who gave the answer. He describes himself as a former survivalist who’s now more of a prepper (when I use those terms, it’s without some of the connotations the media likes to ascribe to them). His answer was short and sweet:

They both prepare. A survivalist prepares to do without. A prepper prepares so he doesn’t have to do without.

If you think about it, it makes sense. Take knives for example. A survivalist will want to know how to make his own. After all, ancient people did so why not? Find a suitable rock, figure out how to put a sharp edge on it, find a stick, figure out a way to attach the “blade” to the “handle” and viola! A knife. A prepper just goes out and buys a couple (or a couple dozen) knives.

Same with fire. A survivalist will know a half dozen ways to make a fire using nothing they can’t find in the wilderness. A prepper will have a couple ferro rods, several types of matches, a few butane lighters, and maybe a flame thrower.

I could go on, but that should be enough to understand the idea. A survivalist hopes to really mostly or entirely on skills. A prepper relies a lot (some say too much) on gear. Both have some valid points to support their views. A survivalist will say you can have all the gear in the world, but if you don’t know how to use it, or it gets lost or stolen, you’re still dead. A prepper will point out that sometimes you need gear know matter how much skill you have. For example, the world’s best skydiver falling out of an airplane without a parachute…

So what about the Backyardsman?

Where does this leave the Backyardsman? Is he (or she) a prepper or a survivalist? I think both. I tend to the prepper side. What can I say? I’m a gear junky. At the same time, I know my gear won’t do me or my family any good if I don’t know how to use it. I also know I need to provide even if I lose my gear. I know I don’t spend enough time learning skills.

What it comes down to for me is balance. If you’re just doing it for fun then do what is fun. If you’re concerned with the way things are going though, and want to “prepare” for bad times, keep it balanced. If you’re strong on skills but light on gear, look to see if there is at least some gear that can fill in on areas where skill might not be enough. If you’re heavy on gear but lacking skills, hide the credit card, get out in your back yard, and learn some skills.

See? Simple, short, and sweet. Peace out,
porcupine

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Dumpster diving without the dumpster

Maybe you’ve heard of dumpster diving. If you haven’t, here’s the definition from Wikipedia:

dumpster divingDumpster diving is the salvaging of waste in large commercial, residential, industrial and construction containers to find items that have been discarded by their owners, but that may prove useful to the picker. It is not confined to dumpsters specifically, and may cover standard household waste containers, curb sides, landfills or small dumps.

Depending on how you look at things, dumpster diving might sound like fun or it might sound gross. Some say it can be profitable. I don’t know about that but I do know that dumpster diving can save money if you find something useful that’s also free. I guess dumpster diving is popular too; Amazon sells at least a dozen books on the subject of dumpster diving. I know, hard to believe… Some people will take food from dumpsters, but I’m not quite ready to go “there” just yet. I’m mainly interested in discarded stuff I can use myself or maybe sell.

Downsides to dumpster diving

Dumpster diving can be fun, maybe even profitable. It might get you arrested if you do it in the wrong place. If you dumpster dive in an urban area you could be competing with homeless people who might not be friendly (or non-violent). Maybe it’s just cold and snowy outside. Whatever, traditional dumpster driving might not be something that’s your thing. But all that free treasure…

Dumpster diving without the dumpster

You know what? You can dumpster dive without ever touching a dumpster. It’s called craigslist. All you have to do is go to your local craigslist site (for example fresno.craigslist.org), go to the “for sale” block near the middle of the page, and click on free. Most of the stuff you’ll find is junk (just like real dumpster diving) but if you’re patient you can find some really useful or even valuable stuff. Like what?

In the past week on my local craigslist I’ve found  a stackable washer/dryer set (working), brass door hinges, wood pallets, hay bales (great for garden mulch or “green manure”), tin cans (useful for lots of things), and a 65″ projection TV (the TV is useless but not the fresnel lens in it). I’ve even seen free pianos and free haircuts (from a cosmetology school).

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The problem with prepper sites…

When I first started on my prepping journey I spent a lot of time on prepper sites trying to learn. Unfortunately I also spent a lot of money on prepper books (most of which were a waste of money). I started thinking about this recently because a new member in our group is asking for some good prepper sites. I don’t spend a lot of time on prepper sites any more so I had to think back to which ones I found useful. Since I couldn’t remember any specific sites, I started looking so I could give her some good recommendations. Now I remember why I don’t spend time on such sites any more – most of them are a waste of time.

The problem with prepper sites…

The first problem with prepper sites is repetition. When you think about it, prepping is pretty basic. You need water, food, shelter, security, and communications. Guess what? There are only a few ways to store (and purify) water and a few kinds of food that are good for long term storage. Of course every prepper site has to talk about them, so you get lots of repetition. And even with all the repetition, you still get incomplete or sometimes incorrect info. For example, one very popular prepping site has a “12 month prepping plan.”

At the end of 12 months (if you follow the plan) you’ll have 6 gallons of water, 16 cans of meat/fruit/vegetables, and 3 boxes of crackers/cereal – about a weeks worth of food and water. I don’t know about you, but after a whole year of prepping I’d want to have more than a week’s worth of food and water. The food list isn’t broken down by calories. I do know that an average adult needs about 1500 to 2000 calories per day, and only 1 gallon of water is pretty sparse, especially if you use some for cooking or hygiene.

Who’s the expert?

Another problem with prepper sites is that a lot of them talk about things they don’t seem to know much about – for example communications (comms). Just about every prepper site that mentions comms says to get a hand crank AM/NOAA radio and FRS/GMRS walkie talkies. The problem? An AM/NOAA is a receiver, NOT a communication device. You can only listen, not talk. The FRS/GMRS radios have limited range and limited channels.

A much better solution is a UHV/VHF walkie talkie like the Baofeng UV5R. Better range than FRS/GMRS (especially on a repeater network), more channels (frequencies), and it can be programmed to scan AM broadcast and NOAA bands. So why don’t most prepper sites (a few do) recommend it? Maybe spending $15 and a few hours of studying to get a license is too much trouble for serious preppers?

Drama Queens (and Kings)…

This is really noticeable on YouTube prepping channels. I guess everyone wants to have something that makes them stand out from the other 460,000 best prepping blogs and forums. You know the drill…

“‘I only need to walk 10 miles to get home. That attitude will get you killed.’ What if those 10 miles are through a burned out city? Your direst route home is blocked with flames, people, rabid animals, dust, chemicals… you need to do a 90 degree offset using a compass blah blah blah… those 10 miles could easily turn into 30 miles blahh blah blah… AND THEN – what if I go through those 30 miles of misery and find out all my friends and family are dead. My house and my bugout bag are destroyed… suddenly a mere get home bag doesn’t cut it…”

Come on… seriously???

Too much click bait…

I get that people need (or want) to make money from their blogs. Heck, I’ll admit to having some Amazon links once in awhile. But when every single paragraph in an article has an affiliate link it makes me wonder… did they really test the product they’re promoting? Is it just a coincidence that the product they chose to link to on Amazon (or whatever) just happens to be the most expensive one in its product category? How come so many sites never seem to review something and then recommend that you NOT buy it? I’m not accusing anyone of anything, but sometimes I wonder…

Until next time…

OK, so what web sites do I recommend? Well, this is getting kind of long so that will have to wait until next time. I will say that I don’t like most general prepping sites because, well, they’re too general. Next time though I’ll share some of the sites I do like, along with some books I find useful.

Peace out,
porcupine

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Can’t fix stupid…

I grew up in a small town. Most of the land was (is) controlled by a distant city for the water rights. A few days ago, the city proposed selling some of the land to locals as long as the city retained water rights. Predictably, some idiots living in the small town think this is JUST GREAT. One in particular, “our small town REALLY needs more housing.” So I asked why? Are there a lot of unfilled jobs? Are businesses having problems finding workers because there aren’t enough people to fill the jobs? Well, no, according to this person there aren’t enough jobs, so it’s very hard to find a job. COULD SOMEONE EXPLAIN TO ME how bringing in MORE workers to an already saturated job market would be good for anyone who already lives there???

So I asked her about that. Her reply was that it’s hard for employers to find people to hire because housing is too expensive. What? Just before that she said it’s hard to find a job. I’m not understanding this… it’s hard to find a job because too many people are looking for too few jobs, but somehow bringing in MORE job seekers would make it EASIER to find a job???

I guess it’s true, you can’t fix stupid

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What have you been doing to prep lately?

This week’s (???) preps – January 6, 2019

This post is more about what I didn’t do than what I did. A few months ago I was talking to some friends about balanced prepping. Some of them think that people tend to get hung up on one or two favorite things and spend most of their time on money on just those things. I agreed with what they were saying – then I got home and it kind of dawned on me that I do that all the time. My preps are way out of whack…

What I didn’t do to prep…

Keeping the talk with my friends in mind, I didn’t do some things. It was hard, you know old habits die hard and all that. But I didn’t:

  • Buy any new gardening books
  • Get any new Glocks
  • Make any new lists on “preps I need”
  • Waste a bunch of time watching videos on “how to prep,” “what you need to prep,” “the best way to prep,” etc.
  • Waste money on “prepper food” I’ll probably never eat

OK, so what DID I do? I thought a lot about my prepping balance. Lets just say I figured out I’m pretty heavy on gear and very light on necessities like food and water. I’ve been working on correcting that. I already have a 5 gallon bucket each of rice and lentils which is about 3 weeks of (very bland) food for my family. I got another bucket and filled it with olive oil and seasonings which might actually make the rice and lentils taste good. I also got a case of canned salmon and a few 8-packs of Dennison’s chili to put up.

For water, I ordered a 10-pack of 3.5 gallon water bricks. Not enough, but I do have my Berkey system. I’ve also set aside enough money to get another 10 water bricks, two 55 gallon water barrels, and another set of Berkey filters. By the end of January, that gives me enough water to supply my family for a little over 3 weeks.

Besides that I’ve been looking into doing some hunting in California. I can’t (won’t) live there, but there are still good places to hunt and I’m familiar with the state. Their non-resident hunting and fishing licenses aren’t too pricey so I’ll probably be doing a lot of hunting there in the fall.

Until next time, peace out…
porcupine

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Glock – best pistol for the Backyardsman?

Glock pistol detail strip

One of my friends is a gunsmith. One of my shooting buddies is in law enforcement. A couple other friends shoot IDPA. Thanks to my friends, I get to handle and shoot a lot of guns I wouldn’t be able to if I had to buy them all myself. If I could have only one handgun it would be a Glock. I can make a pretty good case that a Glock is the best pistol for the Backyardsman.

Glock vs. whatever…

Like I said, I get to try lots of different guns thanks to my friends. I also own a couple of handguns myself. I’m not close to having tried every handgun on the market, but I have tried a few. Charter Arms Bulldog. Colt 1911 (Series 70, Series 80, Commander) and clones. CZ-75 and clones. Kel-Tec P32. Ruger GP-100, Super Blackhawk (30 Carbine and 44 magnum), LCP, and LC9s Pro. Smith & Wesson Chiefs Special, K22, M57 (41 Magnum), 4006, and M&P Shield. Taurus G2C. Uberti Colt Walker replica. And of course, Glocks.

A Glock isn’t the best looking (1911 has that) or most accurate handgun (my S&W Victory holds that title) I’ve shot. Some people don’t like the grip angle (I don’t have a problem with it). It’s not as “safe” as some other guns IF you don’t practice good trigger discipline. Still, I think there are some good reasons why a Glock is the best pistol for the Backyardsman.

Popularity

First of all, Glocks are very popular. Being popular doesn’t make one thing better than another but when it comes to guns, popularity has its advantages. Being popular means that other companies like to get in on the action. I have a Charter Arms Bulldog. I love it, but it’s not a very popular gun. That might be why it’s almost impossible to find a holster for it. I’m guessing that holster makers only make holsters if they think they can sell a lot of them.

Compare that to Glock. Just about every holster maker on the planet makes holsters for Glocks. And not just holsters – sights, magazines, upgraded triggers, spare parts – you name it. Glock’s popularity also means that lots of gunsmiths know how to work on them, so in the unlikely event your Glock breaks it will be easy to find someone to fix it for you. Unless you decide to fix it yourself…

Simplicity

The Glock pistol is a really simple design with less than 40 parts (at least up to Gen 3). You only need one tool – the “Glock Tool” – to do just about anything that needs to be done. It’s also really easy to work on. I can detail strip a Glock faster than I can get the slide and barrel off a 1911. When I decided to upgrade the trigger on my IDPA Glock, I did it myself. It onle took about 5 minutes and no special tools. Try that with a 1911…

In fact, Glocks are so easy to work on that I put one together from a pile of parts. I just finished a Gen 3 Glock 35 based on a G17 RTF2 stripped frame. The entire “build” took about an hour. In fact I spent more time finding and ordering all the parts then I did putting them together. If you don’t want a factory frame, you can even build a Glock-like pistol with an 80% frame from Polymer80. It’s a little more involved than using a factory frame, but not by much.

Shootability

Lots of people criticize Glocks grip angle, I guess because it’s different than the 1911. Personally I don’t have a problem with it – for me, the Glock points more naturally than most handguns I’ve tried. The polymer frame and low bore axis makes the Glock really easy to shoot well, at least for me. I also like the rear outline/front dot sight picture – works better for my old eyes than 3 dot sights.

Glock Perfection

Yep, a Glock is the perfect handgun. OK, maybe it’s not. It would be nice if they would put steel sights on their guns instead of the polymer junk they use. The Gen 3 doesn’t hold up all that well with high pressure rounds like 40 Smith and Wesson. They fixed that with Gen 4, but the Gen 4 triggers aren’t as smooth as the Gen 3. The slide finish they went to sometime during Gen 3 isn’t as durable as the Tennifer finish they used before that. The Gen 5 slides have a finish that’s supposedly even better than the original Tennifer, but it’s to dark and too d@mn shiny IMO.

So maybe Glocks aren’t perfect. But with their simplicity, ease of repair, parts availability, and ergonomics, they make a great pistol for the Backyardsman. In fact, I think a Glock just could be the best pistol for the Backyardsman. What do you think?

Peace out,
porcupine

Related Links

Glock hater accidentally buys a Glock 24
Build your own Glock

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What did you do to prep this week?

This weeks preps – December 16, 2018

My prepping group met this past week. We talked about what to carry in your vehicle during winter months and alternative methods of heating if there’s a utility outage. One way that looked interesting is using two clay pots and a candle to make a small heater. I’ve got the stuff now so I hope to experiment with that this week. Next month we’re going to talk about home power generation so I’m also looking into solar panels.

Yesterday I took John Mosby’s advice and ground my own wheat to bake homemade bread. My mom has a wheat grinder so I borrowed that instead of buying one. The bread turned out OK considering it was my first try. The flavor was great, but the dough had too much water (or not enough flour) so the finished loaf was too doughy. To console myself I made a batch of homemade beef jerky.

I spent a lot of time cleaning and organizing my garage and the family room. My kid wants a punching bag for Christmas and I don’t have room, hence the cleanup. I also bought a floor standing drill press for some projects I have coming up, and a small band saw so I can start making handgun grips and knife scales.

Besides that, I’ve been looking pretty seriously into moving to a different state next year. What did you do to prep this week?

Peace out,
porcupine

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Finally decided to test the new WP editor

I never really understood why organizations take a perfectly good product and eff it up. For example the old Word Press editor. It worked fine. If I wanted to write “visually” I’d just pick the “Visual” tab in the editor. If I preferred typing in straight text and manually adjusting markup I’d select the “Text” tab. If I wanted to add a picture, it was really easy. All I had to do was put the cursor where I wanted the picture, click the “Add Media” button, and select my image. A very simple, 2 step process.

The new editor SUCKS…

Now it’s different. First I have to type my text into a paragraph “block.” If I decided later to add an image, I have to add an image “block.” Since “blocks” are added at the bottom of the edit window, I then have to position my newly added image “block” above the paragraph I want it inserted into, then tell the image block where to position itself in the paragraph and “OH GEE WHIZ it’s like MAGIC how the text of the paragraph magically wraps itself around the image. Except it’s not magic, it sucks. Why? Because what used to take only 2 steps now takes 4 – and the marketing geniuses at WP tout this as a “feature.” Yeah, right… So what about adding headings between paragraphs?

Yeah, what about adding a heading? In the old editor, it was really easy. Just put my cursor where I wanted the heading, type it, highlight it, click a drop down, and pick the format I wanted for that text (header and style or paragraph) and BAM!!! My new header positioned just where I want it. No fuss, no hassle. In the new editor though, same problem as adding pictures. I have to add my header block at the bottom of the post, then manually re-position it to where I want it. STUPID!!! So what about line breaks?

Line breaks…

Is it even possible to add a simple line break in the new editor? With the old editor, inserting a line break was easy – just make sure you’re in Text mode (by clicking the “Text” tab in the editor), put the cursor where you want the line break, hit “Enter” on your keyboard, and VIOLA!!! The editor would auto-magically put in a line break for you. It worked the same way in Visual mode, except you’d get a new paragraph instead of a line break. The new editor is different. You can still edit in raw text (now they call it “Code” instead of “Text”), but typing a return (or enter) character gets you nothing – you have to manually enter the </br> tag where you want it. I guess it’s OK if you know HTML (even though it’s an extra step you DIDN’T HAVE TO DO in the old editor), but if you don’t know HTML you’re screwed. Well, at least if you want a line break and not a new paragraph.

Other gripes, esp. Text (Code) editing…

In the old editor, switching between text and visual editing was easy – just click on the Visual or Text tab at the top of the editing field. In the new editor, you have to select the “more tools and options” icon in the top right, then pick what editing mode you want. Just another thing that used to be an easy, intuitive ONE STEP process that now requires two steps.

My other gripe about the new Text… sorry, “Code” editing mode is you lose EVERYTHING that makes adding elements easy. In the old editor – even in text mode – you could highlight text and format it by clicking a button above the editing field. In the new editor – NO. You have to be in block-head mode if you want to have the text formatting tools available. If it was easier to switch between modes (like it was in the old editor) it wouldn’t be as big a deal. As it stands, it’s just another DOWN-grade being touted as an upgrade.

Peace out (with manually added line break),
porcupine