First Aid kits

There are first aid kits and FIRST AID kits. The former are suitable for little boo boos and the like and they’re OK in the current milieu where having the opportunity of actually going to an Emergency Department and have that gash sutured closed under sterile conditions, get an XRay, a  tetanus shot and fill the Rx at a nearby pharmacy is taken for granted. These are easily found from brick and mortar stores to on-line merchants. What I need and continue to develop is a First Aid kit that will be useful when professional care is not available.

There are a few “levels” of kits I keep in mind, paying attention to likely injuries and weight penalty. I have not figured it out, but redundancy is actually helpful despite the weight penalty.

The kits are in molle pouches to allow them to be attached to different bags, tactical vest or tossed in the car. Like a pistol, it does you no good if it’s not readily available.

The ‘lightest” kit I have is a small molle bag on the top of my BOB. It is my most easily accessible kit has stuff for ‘boo boo’s’ that I expect to encounter while walking. It has bandaids, neosporin-like goop, and the usual mundane stuff for little boo boos. But it does have some extras.  I packed some moleskin because, well, blisters happen when you’re humping a bag that weighs too much! It also has a few tubes of Superglue - I don’t know if “Bonds skin instantly” is a warning label or directions. Excellent stuff for smaller clean-edged lacerations. Even large ones in some circumstances. Some steri strips (the modern version of ‘butterfly’ closures. The kit is easy to get to to minimize the odds a small cut will get infected, culminating in septicemia (infection in the blood stream and you’re a dead man walking unless you get some serious antibiotics).  If it wasn’t easily accessed, it would go unused, and that blister, scrape or whatever would go untreated (or under-treated) and risk escalating into a real medical problem. A stitch in time sort of thing. 

My medium size kit, in a pouch on the outside of my BOB, skips supplies for the small stuff and is for serious wounds. A few Israeli bandages (look them up and buy a few), a few bags of Celox (a powder that  stops bleeding -even from an artery), some tampons (sprinkle on the Celox and push it in the penetrating wound - as in bullet wound), some more steri strips, a pair of CAT’s (Combat Applied Tourniquet - one should be attached to you MBR (Main Battle Rifle), some sterile 4  X 4’s, a few sutures, Coban wrap, trauma scissors, a pair of space blankets (actually space sleeping bags) for someone in shock, a high volume water filer (1 micron) to hydrate and wash wounds with unsterile but clean as I can get it water, a bottle of betadine and some neosporin goop. I don’t have the space to pack splints and the like, and will need to resort to tree branches. Lots of available tree branches where I am.

I’m (too) slowly working on a larger kit which has the above and a bunch of surgical tools (more scapels/blades, hemostats, needle holders, some small retractors).  It is a work in progress and will be stored at the Refuge.

I have yet to figure out is the amount of supplies to carry. Believe me, the number of bandages, wraps, and the like that is normally used in a single trauma is already far more than I’m carrying. Getting wounded or injured in field conditions will be very bad and likely life-threatening at the very least. With these First Aid kits, I hope to minimize odds that small injuries become large ones.

For me, one of the saddest thing is that if the balloon does go up, there’s a possibility that we will devolve back to medicine at the level of the Civil War - no antibiotics, no IV hydration let alone transfusions, anesthesia limited to alcohol... at least the meme of bacteria and sterility may survive for awhile. Where a simple splinter can lead to death, and bronchitis and pneumonia will be once again deadly. 

So the necessities you should look for:

Israeli bandages (CountyComm.com often has a good price). Theses are made to place a nice wad of gauze on a wound and then wrap the ACE bandage like arms around to create a pressure dressing to minimize blood loss. Easy to use. Packs OK and is light. Use with Celox!

Celox (clotting agent) available in powder form and also bandages impregnated with it. It stops bleeding, even arterial bleeds. Yeah, it saves lives.

Tampons (many more uses for them like starting a fire). Got a penetrating wound that’s hard to get pressure on? Grab some of these and jam them down the wound track. Get some Celox on them first if you can.

Coban wrap - used from holding a bandage on to wrapping a sprained joint to stabilizing a splint. 1001 uses. Gets some.

CAT (tourniquets). Do I need to state the obvious?

Betadine - a large weight penalty but great stuff. Better shelf life than hydrogen peroxide.

These items are good to have - if you don’t know to use them, someone else might.

Some training on first aid is good, but for most, will always be on the ‘to do’ list. Do be one of them.

Legal disclaimer - the usual- this is not medical advice. Get trained up before using any more advanced than a band aid. We’re talking about first aid when there are no other alternatives. 

Side notes -- Looks like Costa Rica is going to default very soon. Soros is buying gold and every day that passes, the likelihood of an Israeli-Iran (Israeli-moslem brotherhood??) war increases towards certainty, corn harvest devastation already having ripple effect in the world .... Oy vey!

Correction: Ooops, not Costa Rica, but Belize.... [21 Aug 2012]

Daniel hits another home run, or better, a bullseye in his Monday column.  Please read it.

He writes, “The rivers of tears keep flowing and, while Israeli spokesmen can list in detail every single casualty, tears don't protect against murder. Neither do peace treaties. No amount of tears stopped the murder of Six Million Jews, convinced the British Foreign Ministry to allow Jews fleeing the Nazis into Israel or the State Department to allow them into the United States.” He is speaking against the lack of appropriate violent action against terrorists, by Israel, by the world. He concludes, “Tears don't protect against murder. Bullets do. “

And from a letter to Ann Barnhardt, “Please pay particular attention to the section on equitable subordination, on pages 6 through 8. Unbelievably, the court acknowledged in that section that even though some of the bankers lied under oath during the trial, that fact did not prove "sufficiently egregious" actions on the part of the bank.

I will quote the opinion: "Instead of finding that their testimony [i.e. their lies] justified a finding of egregious bank behavior, the district court essentially found that the bank officials were such artless liars that they couldn't have been concealing deliberate wrongdoing." See page 7, column 2.

So in other words, a U.S. Court of Appeals has found that if a banker lies under oath during a trial, that fact proves that the bank was innocent of any misconduct with respect to the subject matter of those lies.”

Those two quotes kept bouncing around in my head (there’s plenty of empty space there) while waiting for my car’s oil to be changed. What kept them orbiting together? What was held in common?

Perhaps this: in a just world, a terrorist would be killed, those who enabled terrorists would also be meted out Justice. In a just world, even “artless liars” in a court of law would be found guilty of perjury. Imagine a mugger so feckless that the judge lets him free. Perhaps this is what a world turned upside down looks like to those still somewhat sane. A world that condemns “Israeli apartheid”  regardless of the many facts to the contrary. A world where one country is condemned for building apartments and its enemy receives a wink and a nod after declaring it’s intentions to build a nuclear bomb and wipe it off the face of the earth. A world where friends of the most powerful man in the world produce a blatantly false commercial accusing his competitor of not only a felony (as in not paying taxes) but being a direct path to the death of a woman from cancer. 

Conclusion: We are not living in a just world.

I hope my bullets are never put the test of being used justly. I train to protect myself and loved ones against murder. Enough tears.

Without The Rule Of Law

From market-ticket.org; that Deninger guy is pretty damn smart. He talks about the loss of the Rule Of Law in government. I can’t imagine how large the loss of the ROL negatively impacts society; perhaps to the point where society devolves. Where might makes right. 

Nobody Committed Any Crimes (Except Treasury and Obama)

Where are the cops?  Oh yeah, I know --- Eric (Place)Holder is right on it.... sitting on it, that is.

Emails obtained by The Daily Caller show that the U.S. Treasury Department,  led by Timothy Geithner, was the driving force behind terminating the pensions  of 20,000 salaried retirees at the Delphi auto parts manufacturing company.

The move, made in 2009 while the Obama administration implemented its auto  bailout plan, appears to have been made solely because those retirees were not  members of labor unions.

....

One email dated Thursday, April 2, 2009 shows PBGC staffer Joseph House  discussing a meeting he and his colleagues were anticipating with the entire  auto bailout team the following day.

House emailed PBGC colleagues Karen Morris and Michael Rae that during the  Friday morning meeting, the “agenda is everything — lead off with Chrysler, then  we’ll get into GM/Delphi.”

....

But after the Friday meeting, House emailed PBGC staffers Karen Morris and  John Menke. “We’ve been disinvited,” he wrote. “It’s for the best.”

“Who uninvited us?” Morris replied.

“Treasury,” House responded.

It’s unclear how many additional meetings about the Delphi pensions took place,  and whether PBGC staff were invited to participate in them. But Treasury excluded them from the meeting during which the discussions began, which is  likely a violation of 29 U.S.C. §1342. Without a PBGC representative in the  room, Treasury officials were legally prohibited from making decision about  pensions — or even from moving toward them. [my emphasis]

It also appears that perjury was committed:

The internal government emails contradict sworn testimony, in federal court and  before Congress, given by several Obama administration figures. They also  indicate that the administration misled lawmakers and the courts about the  sequence of events surrounding the termination of those non-union pensions, and  that administration figures violated federal law.

Does anyone care about the rule of law any more?

We already know, for example, that the administration wantonly violated contract rights when it "re-ordered" priority so that union health benefits would be funded while bondholders who had a contractually senior position got screwed.  The bondholders sued and lost, incidentally, effectively giving the government plenary authority to seize their money -- but that doesn't make it right.

...[snip]

It does, however, make crystal clear exactly how the Federal What we continue to see examples of, day after day, is evidence for why this nation and her people are fully-justified in believing that the rule of law doesn't matter any more.  We have essentially completed a transition from the "Golden Rule" to the "Rule of Gold" -- that is, Do unto others then get the hell out of there, and if caught simply say "but nobody committed any crimes" -- after you duct-taped the cops eyes closed!

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I still read the frequent abuses of the current administration’s policies, perhaps to prove myself again and again, that some sort of calamity comes our way. Our way, as Americans and as Jews. 

What good will your 401K be if the government wrests its control from you (see Ann Barnhardt’s spiel)? What good is anything you own by contract, as opposed to having it physically, when the friggin government can take it away? What does George Zimmerman feel as the weight of the government ignores laws and evidence and hounds him beyond sense of decency? Is there a limit to the lawlessness?

Where are you going to go if things go bad? Whether you think it is more likely than not or as likely as getting hit by lightening. Remember, people do get hit by lightening.

Once you’re there, then what? Got food and water? Got means to protect said food and water? You might not get .gov help if you’re not a member of a union or registered to the ‘correct’ political party. There are 20,000 people who had their retirement stolen. I guess swindling one pensioner is a crime, but swindling 20,000 pensioners is a statistic.

My guess is that the means to defend yourself -ie gun ownership - by the Progressive Statists will soon start. Not sure if if ‘soon’ means before the election or after.  Soon though.

Gun up & ammo up

Daniel Greenfield, aka the SultanKnish, pointed out the insanity of the Left's dream of disarming citizens: "And yet Colorado has half the murder rate of Illinois, as adjusted for population. Idaho, Utah, Wyoming and New Hampshire, all full of guns, have far lower murder rates than gun control states like New York, California and Illinois. According to Bloomberg, "If we had fewer guns, we would have a lot fewer murders." But guns are not proportional to murder. [emphasis added] But guns are not proportional to murders. 

Utah has the second highest gun ownership rate in the country and the eighth lowest homicide rate. Wyoming, the state with the fourth highest gun ownership rate has the fourth lowest homicide rate. Meanwhile New York is 48th in gun ownership, but is the 18th highest in its murder rate. " 

Guns do not kill people, people kill people.

Imagine if the looney tune in Colorado could not get guns, what's to have stopped him from killing those in the movie theatre with other, simpler means. A bit of gasoline and a match. You can't stop crazies from trying.

So why does the Left want to disarm me? I can't be sure. I do know a bit of history, and civilians that are disarmed come to harm, either by those stronger (much can be done with a machete) orby those more organized and armed. Like Nazi Germany... national socialists, no? I can't go toe to toe in a brawl with 2 or 3 young thugs. A pistol evens the fight. Hell, it gives me an advantage.

Get gunned up before you can't. Learn as soon as possible, but have the guns now, you can learn later or let some one else use the damn thing to save your life. My suggestions start with a 45 cal, Glock model 30 or 21 (better - get both, they can share magazines) or a 1911, for those of smaller stature, perhaps the Ruger LCP in 380. Get one now; if you don't like it, you might be able to swap it for something you like better (check the laws!). For a rifle, well, can't go wrong with either an M4 (so many brands to chose from,your held will spin), or the Ruger 10/22, the 22 LR rifle. I bought a Mossberg Plinkster (damn that cute name) on sale. It's nice rifle, but I should have gotten the Ruger. I just don't think the Left Progressive folks will ever stop their war on the Constitution, and may someday soon be 'victorious' in banning the sale of firearms.

Get ammunition before it too becomes illegal. I suggest ammoman.com or luckygunner.com off the top of my head.  I have no financial interest in those companies. Damn, if you can find better prices, please email me!  Get ammo even if you don't have a gun; a friend - old or newly discovered - may need it to save you. You can't go wrong with 5.56, 45 cal, 9 mm or 308. 

LOL, I frequently buy 308's  and 45's in lots of 500 rounds, and the last 2 times I purchased 5.56/.223, the boxes contained 1,000 rounds. Lots cheaper than buying them box by box at Walmart.  Yup, I may be on a list or two.  I practice alot and most of them are gone. I need to order some up and start 'stockpiling' them. Perhaps as an investment. Ammoman had a sale on Federal Gold Medal Match 168grain 308's for about $1 per round when purchased in bulk. Otherwise, you're looking at $1.50 or more a round. OK, so I'm cheap.


Bottom line: Be safer by knowing how to use the firearm(s) you own. Step 1 is to buy the firearm before it is too late. Step 2 is to buy at least 1000 rounds. Step 3 is to learn ow to use it. We are so lucky to be among the incredibly small per centage of humans the world over to have a guarantee  ("...the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."), it should be exercised in memory of those would would still be alive if they had a firearm to protect themselves.


If you have specific questions, feel free to email.