Tools

A gun is just a tool. It can be a very dangerous tool when used improperly, but its still just a tool. A circular saw or pneumatic nailer can be just as harmful when treated as a toy.

Lets move on.

When you select a tool, you try to get the best fit for the job at hand. One would not want a tack hammer for building a pole barn, nor a 28 oz deathstick for furniture. Likewise with firearms. Chose what you need for the job.

Rather then feature a gun tonight, I instead chose to feature a tool from yesteryear. Tonight we have a bullet mold. This jewel is a .64 caliber mold from the civil war era. It has been in my family that entire time. The slugs are a bit newer, I made them on the kitchen stove using the mold. They still need a little work. Some smoothing to eliminate the sprue is needed in order for them to fly straight. I have used these in everything from slingshots to shotguns. They are a nice fit for a 20ga.

So what purpose would something like this serve today? The answer is simple, survival. We don't know what tomorrow holds. Last week the news featured an asteroid that missed earth my only a few thousand miles. Such a strike would radically change the dynamic of our lives. It could disrupt our power grid, and even collapse the fragile world economy. In such a scenario we would be totally on our own. If you don't have the tools to survive, you won't survive. Its that simple.

How many of you could make your own gun powder? I'm sure some of the older crowd remember the startek episode where Kirk makes a weapon to battle an alien. He used a chunk of bamboo for a barrel, rough diamonds for his shot. He made black powder by combining saltpeter, charcoal and sulfur. Mixing the stuff though is not as easy as it looks. Its actually quite an art, and extremely dangerous. It may be the ticket to living in a world gone wild.

So what do you have in your bad day kit? The knowledge in your head will be as important as the gear you pack. Give a man a fish you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for life. Plan ahead, survive for life.