The best radios for neighborhood security, patrol, and any short range use

I was asked today what my opinion was on the best choice for radios to provide communications in a neighborhood and for short range use like in a patrol after SHTF.

As of this time hands down the Motorola DTR series radios.For any needs where you are going up to a mile between houses, or 1.5-2 miles in open terrain, these are your best options.

Why? These radios operate in a frequency hopping, unique digital mode. What does this mean for you? It means that nobody out there with a scanner or other radio can listen in. It is not encryption, but because of the technology the result is essentially the same- you have a very high degree of privacy and security.

This is not true of the little crappy bubble pack FRS/GMRS radios. Note the ones at that link claim a “50 Mile” range that is pure BS. Note also they say they have “Privacy Codes”. That is just a CTCSS tone that they have renamed in a misleading way. It provides no security or privacy to you, it only keeps you from hearing if others are using that frequency- if anything it gives you less security.

But the biggest weak link is that the channels for these are well known. Anyone with any knowledge will have all those frequencies in his scanner and will be listening. Nothing you say on there is private.

Another advantage? No license required, you can just hand these out and use them. They are also simple to use with no learning curve.

Ohh, and you can send text messages between them too. Think about that for a minute- this means you can send a message that will be there until seen, so if somebody misses a radio call they still see it. It means you can send a message without making noise as well.

Do they cost more? Yes. Are they worth every penny? Yes.

If something newer and better comes around, I will definitely point it out. But barring a major change in available technology for close in communications these are as good as it gets.

The canvas scout wall tents are almost gone, sale price ends this week.

If you have been thinking about getting one of the scout canvas wall tents we have, better move quick. The sale on them ends this Friday, and after that we will probably run out not long after. This was a one shot deal, if we get more the price will be a lot higher.

Canteen Cup Stoves

Here is a quick original video we made about how the canteen cup stove sets we make work.

What is new in surplus?

First, my apologies for neglecting this blog, but its time to get it back active.

A bit on what has happened in the industry…

Woodland MOLLE gear is starting to dry up. It has been so for a while, but I can see the curve accelerating. The woodland MOLLE bandoleers that were plentiful 2 years ago are almost impossible to find now, the MOLLE packs and even more so pack straps are all but gone. If you like woodland, buy now before its all gone.

ACU stuff is everywhere. If the Army ever makes its mind up to transition even more will be out there.

Multicam stuff is starting to come out slowly.

Ammo cans are a but better than a few years ago, but still going for a lot more than they were 3-4 years ago.

More to follow…

 

This month in surplus

This is the first of what I plan to make at least monthly just to try and give updates on what is new in the world of military surplus, in the Asheville area and around the world.

Woodland Molle Gear is getting harder to find. The SAW pouches are all drying up fast, the rest will follow soon. So if you have been thinking of getting some, better do it soon. Supplies are drying up and prices are rising.

There has never been a better time to buy a Large ALICE pack. Prices are at rock bottom because the market is flooded, so buy them now. 10-15 years ago larges were $75 when and if you could find them. They are just as good now as they were then- great for hiking, camping, bug out bags, and much more.

We just got these amazing US Military Survival Nets in. They can be used for everything from camouflage to a hammock to catching wild game and fish. Before these we have not had any for 15+ years, and this looks like a one time deal, so don’t wait

We just got an amazing deal on these German Military HK-91 / G3 slings. These are real German military leather slings, they have the HK style hook and can be used with or without it. At this price a great buy for any rifles.

Lastly, we have a new section on the website showing all our new stuff and specials, so be sure to check it often to see what is new.

 

Spring Cleaning- Online yard sale this week, catch some great deals!

Ok folks, it is spring cleaning time, and we are going to try something new. All this coming week we will be posting things we come across as we clean on our Facebook Page and that will repopulate right to our Twitter feed. We will post a picture and the price- first person to post “I’ll take it” gets first dibs on the item. On small stuff I will try to include the shipping quote, on bigger stuff we will have to use your zip code to get a quote but we will only charge the actual Fedex Ground rates.

You don’t have to follow us on Facebook or Twitter, the pages can be seen by everyone, but you will stand a better chance of seeing the stuff first if you do.

Only one rule- don’t claim the item if you don’t intend to follow through and buy it, that just will piss off everyone else who wanted it.

This is all stuff we have that we don’t have enough of to list on the website, but it is good stuff and we will be letting it go cheap. And while we usually don’t take Paypal, for this event we will make an exception to that rule.

First Aid Kits For Home, Office And Car- Are Your Prepared?

Sorry for the delay in posts folks, I had planned to post more from Korea but stayed pretty busy. But I am back now, and we will pick back up.

In light of recent events on Japan and elsewhere, I think we should all take a moment to step back and reflect on how well prepared we are, as individuals and communities, for disasters large and small, so for the next few entries here we will look at what everyone should do to make sure they are prepared.

First thing to look at is a good first aid kit. If right now you, or your child if you are a parent, cut your hand badly, ask yourself do you have what it would take to properly bandage it up? If you were at work, would you? If you were in your car, would you?

If the answer is no, time to fix that. If your answer is ‘no, but I will just call the ambulance, that is what they are for” consider that many times just in bad snowstorms the EMS systems here are overwhelmed with calls for service. A large earthquake or a tornado or real blizzard would leave them overwhelmed- do you want to be “that guy” who ties up 2 paramedics and an ambulance for an injury you should have been able to bandage at home, keeping it from responding to people with more serious needs? I don’t.

This complete kit is under $40!

If you own a business or supervise people at work, have you provided a basic first aid kit for your employees?

We sell a full line of first aid kits, ranging from a basic home and office first aid kit for $19.75 up to a professional EMT-B level jump bag for $$189.50. One piece of advice is buy the bag that is suited to your level of training and experience- not everyone needs the biggest, baddest kit unless you plan to take classes and learn to use it all. I usually suggest a kit like this one as a good kit for those with average training, not everyone needs the real expensive ones.

My opinion is you need a kit at home, at work, and in the car. However, if you get one bigger, more complete kit my advice is to keep that kit in your car. When you are at home, so is your car. When you are at work, so is your car- so keeping you best kit there keeps it close to you more of the day. After all, you can’t plan accidents!

Of course, to go with the kit your need training. A basic CPR certification and the Red Cross basic first aid are what I suggest at a minimum. If you are a parent, these basic skills are a bare minimum of what you need to provide for your family. I strongly suggest going further and seeking a first responder or EMT-B course at you local community college if you have the time. At least one school here in NC even offers EMT-B mostly online, with the hands on portions done on weekends.

One more word of caution- We sell a lot of kits, some of them are in a military style camo or green bag, some are in a civilian blue or orange bag. Unless you are military or LE and have a need for the camo, I strongly suggest you get an orange or blue bag or box that is easily identifiable as a first aid kit. I had one customer who purchased a green bag and came back a week later to get an orange one- he had a coworker injured at work, and sent someone to his truck for his first aid kit “in the green bag”- she returned with his green range bag full of pistols! So keep your kit easily identifiable, in case someone else needs to grab it.

So take some time to think about it. Do you have the first aid supplies and training to care for yourself and your family if need be? What about if resources are tied up and only the worst ones are getting medical attention because of a more widespread emergency?

Fire Resistant Clothing for Fire, EMS and Rescue

A great announcement to local fire departments and rescue squads- we can now get the Tru-spec X-Fire clothing, as well as the Tru-Spec Cordura Baselayer t-shirts. The X-Fire clothing is made from a new Interlock fabric that offers fire protection equal to or greater than than that of regular Nomex fabric, while being more durable. Developed as a spin-off of the fire resistant clothing that was developed for use by the military due to the IED threat, this clothing is now available for fire department uniform and station wear.

All of the X-Fire clothing is fully NFPA rated for use as station wear and as wildland fire fighting clothing, so you can provide your department members with one uniform that fills both roles. By having to buy only one set, you save money. It is certified to NFPA 2112-2007, NFPA 70E, and NFPA 1977 specs. Why settle for pants designed for cops or rock climbing when clothing designed for firefighters, rated to protect you, is available?

The Cordura baselayer shirts have a technology that gives you a fabric that is loose fitting, wicks moisture away like many of the sport fabrics, but is a no melt/no drip fabric for use in high heat/ high risk environments. This technology also developed off the new clothing developed for the military. The end result is a very comfortable T-shirt that also affords a layer of protection as well. These shirts are NFPA 2112 rated for thermal protective performance and NFPA 1975 for thermal stability, and are also fully screen printable. So the next time you are looking to buy some shirts for your department, consider buying some that have some protective ability as well.

For anyone interested in buying these, contact me at tim@oldgrouch.com and I can provide quotes and arrange for you to see some samples once I get back from Korea. I have posted all the technical specs at the bottom of this post for you to review if interested. We will not be stocking these since it is an item that will be almost exclusively department orders, but we can have most orders to you in under a week and can match, and almost always beat, any advertised price on these.

My apologies for the delay in posts, as mentioned I am in Korea for a few weeks on other business, but I am also trying to keep up with the stuff for the shop back home, and of course we are still open and ready to take care of you. With luck I will get to visit a surplus store in Korea and get you some pictures.

A great WWII photo of an immersion heater bathtub….

Looking through the latest issue of Army Motors, I saw a great picture of GI’s using an immersion heater like the ones we offer. Just take the trough under the communal well in the town, add an immersion heater, and you have a hot bath in the field! That is the WWII model, but the later M67 models we sell work the exact same, they just simplified the construction.

There is never any shortage of GI ingenuity!

Immersion Heater Heating Bath Water

Cotton shortages, new parachute cord colors, other great blogs

Yes, we have more colors of parachute cord now- 20+ colors! If you have been looking for more colors, we have them, and we expect to add about 10 more in a few weeks. There are even multicolored parachute cord weaves now! we source all our parachute cord from only US manufacturers, it is 100% MILSPEC made in the USA cord with the 7 strand core. With the growing popularity of braiding parachute cord into bracelets, keychains, and even rifle slings, sales have surged. A lot of customers are also buying our MOLLE Replacement Buckle Sets to use when making the bigger projects like rifle slings.

Made any neat stuff with our para cord? Send us pictures of your projects to tim@oldgrouch.com and I will post a gallery of customer projects!

Did you know there is a worldwide cotton shortage? Yep, there is. That has affected the supply of some items we sell. Right now manufacturers like Tru-Spec are having a hard time keeping up with demand because they cannot find cloth, so they are back ordering items like the 24/7 series pants on us, often for over a month. Prices on them have not risen yet, but we expect them too soon. On clothing there is about a 4-5 month lag time from price increase of material to price increase on the street.

However, canvas tarps have a much shorter lag time, and we are already seeing almost 20% increases on them. We have a new order due in this week, and will have to adjust prices when they arrive.

Bottom line- if you anticipate buying anything made with cotton in the next 12 months, consider buying now to beat the price increases.

Lastly, but certainly not least, a big thanks to John over at No Lawyers- Only Guns and Money for his kind words and great write up about our store! If you don’t follow his blog, you should, he is a great source of info on current 2nd Amendment Issues in NC and across the country!

Thanks everyone!

T