Urban Survival Rifle - M6 Aircrew Survival Rifle

To answer the comment/question from Bob Halker on our AR-7 post of 24 Feb 2010, we feel there are many good choices for a pure Survival rifle, meaning a rifle that’s primary purpose is to procure game. The term “Survival Rifle” conjures up the image of a small, lightweight, small caliber, rifle that is stow away in the back pack, or behind the seat of a vehicle or aircraft. To get a rifle that will disassemble and stow away, perhaps even float, you are going to give up something, usually accuracy, quality machining and maybe even reliability.

If we had unlimited funds and were going to purchase a .22 LR rifle for small game procurement and secondarily for training a new shooter, we would not choose the AR-7 rifle even though it is now made by reputable Henry Rifles. Something in the line a semi-automatic, maybe the excellent Ruger 10/22 with a decent scope would be good choice.

The post we wrote on the AR-7 was because the AR-7 was meant to be a take down, stow away rifle, capable of floating on water and is intended to be carried as soley as a survival rifle for small game animals.

The M6 Aircrew Survival Rifle, originally chambered in .22 Hornet, and now .22 LR and .410 shotshell is a decent little fold away survival rifle and possibly better suited as pure survival firearm due to it’s .410 shotshell capability and therefore capability on scoring small birds for supper. It is a single shot for each bore, stores extra rounds in the hinge top butt stock, and has a terrible bar type trigger.

Between these rifles,…..six of one, half dozen of the other,…. Really. The advantages of the AR-7 is a semi-automatic action and box magazine, albeit only 8 rounds. Folds up, actually disassembles into a smaller package, but not nearly as fast as to get into action.

The AR-7 is now available on the market. We priced one at Wal-Mart for $188. The M6 Aircrew Survival Rifle is no longer manufactured and will set you back around $400 on the used market.

As we take people new to the concept of preparing for Urban Survival, life after the infrastructure collapse, TEOTWAWKI or whatever you have to categorize or name it, we do not want them to get the idea that it's an all of nothing effort. Each person reading this site has different motives, financial means and motivators.

Our intent is to address Urban Survival Planning for the new person and from the ground up aspect and not immediately delve into buying the latest customized .45 ACP handgun and tricked out M4. We carry these for a living. Most people do not. We'll have time in the future to address for advanced Urban Survival concepts,.......we will have that time, won't we?

Urban Survival Planning - Stockpiling Crop Seeds for Survival

A hybrid seed is basically a genetically altered seed designed to resist diseases and create more crop yield. The seeds harvested from plants and crops grown with hybrid seeds are useless and cannot be planted the following season. Therefore the Survivalist Farmer is forced to use new set of seeds for each subsequent crop.

A non hybrid seed is a seed that has not been genetically altered. There is some debate on if crops grown with non-hybrid seeds produce more of a nutrient rich or flavorful crop, but what is undeniably is that seeds collected from mature non-hybrid crops can be re-planted for a subsequent harvest.

Every Urban Survivor planning a future after the collapse would do well to stockpile a large supply of non-hybrid seeds for future farming and harvest. Maintaining a stock of these non-hybrid vegetable seeds at your Urban Survivor location, no matter how short you intend this to be, as well as in your Survival Bug Out Bag and in caches at or near your Survival Safe location should be considered.

While you can purchase non-hybrid seeds at retail locations, storage of these seeds for long term survival use is problematic. Purchasing sets of seeds in robust, vacuum packed containers is the best way to ensure you’ll have viable seeds when the time comes to plant, nourish and harvest.

We like the sets of Heirloom seeds offered by EarthWaveLiving, specifically their Garden Collection of Vegetables and Herbs including:

Asparagus, Bush Bean, Blue Pole Bean, Black Eyed Pea, Beets, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Collards, Popcorn, Eggplant, Leek, Romaine Lettuce, Buttercrunch Lettuce, Jumbo Cantaloupe, Curled Mustard, Spineless Okra, Sweet White Onion, Bunching Onion, Parsnip, Peas, Jalapenos, Red Sweet Pepper, Yellow Sweet Pepper, Pumpkin, Radish, Spinach, Summer Squash, Zucchini Squash, Winter Squash, Tomato, Giant Sunflower, Kohlrabi, Lima Beans, Cucumbers, Red cherry Tomatoes, Roma Tomatoes, Turnip, Sweet Watermelon, Jubilee Watermelon, Chard, Snow Pea, Casaba Melon, Curled Kale, Anise, Leaf Basil, Caraway, Chamomile, Cilantro, Dill, Fenugreek, Garlic Chives, Sweet Marjoram, Peppermint, Oregano, Leaf Parsley, Rosemary, Sage, Summer Savory, Spearmint, Tarragon, Thyme, Fennel, Cress, Chervil, Arugula, Lemon Mint, Hard White Winter Wheat, Hard Red Winter Wheat, Golden Dent Corn, Brussel Sprouts, Green Arrow Pea, Golden Bantam Corn, and Catnip.

We plan on several additional posts in the near term on Survival Farming both in Urban, Suburban and Rural environments.

Survival Chronicles of Jim – Chapter 10

Just when I think I’m well on my way to be being set, the Survival Cadre thought another set of Survival Circumstances to think about. The first one being Radios for Survival Group Communications after the collapse. I know they talked about it before, but it really didn’t hit me until after their last post of Survival Radios and Communications.

I can see now that even in an Urban Survival situation radio communications between members of the Survival Group, only if there are two, will be huge. They talked me through scenarios such as one person on security watch and needing to alert the others in the group without leaving his/her security post.

Another situation they talked about was when I executed my Survival Bug Out plan from my urban location to my safe location and was established at the family cabin, that I would need to be able to leave the cabin to conduct food procurement, security patrols, wood gathering, etc., and that radios were instrumental in letting others know at the cabin that I was returning so I wouldn’t get accidentally shot! Now I’m certainly for not getting accidentally shot.

They also mentioned “brevity codes”. Since the FRS/GMRS radios that I will be buying are not encrypted, anybody with another radio on the same frequency or which a scanner could pickup our radio conversations. The Survival Cadre said the shorter the communications the better, AND, that what we say over the radio had to structured so that anybody listening could not exploit it to our disadvantage.

They said not to “militarize” the communications with terms like “patrol one”, “conducting a recon”, arrived at the “LP/OP”, etc., but to use fake names and common terms like “This is Mike, Refrigerator”, which could mean “patrol one, entering immediate vicinity of the cabin”.

This is going to take some thought. I already know that I’ll need a minimum of four radios. I already have two people (my son and Neomi) that I’m planning on taking to safe location. Maybe my son’s on again – off again girlfriend as well.

I’m almost finished reading “One Second After”. Wow, what a depressing book. Well, it’s written about a depressing subject, EMP taking out electronics and putting us back into the semi-stone ages. What struck me in particular was the medical condition of one of the book’s subjects. I also have a need for day to day medications, but I’ll write about that later, once I absorb what the Survival Cadre have written about stockpiling medications as part of a general Urban Survival Preparation Plan and figure out what I am going to do about it.

Urban Survival Planning – Disease/Healthcare Medications after the Collapse

This post could alternatively be titled: Stocking Medications for the Collapse. If you are currently on any life saving or life altering prescriptions, have you thought about what you are doing to do in the event of a collapse of society as we know it and re-fills are no longer available? Part of your Urban Survival Plan has got to be preparing for this if and when catastrophe strikes.

Pharmacies will be some of the first places looted in the event of a large collapse. Some of that will of course be due to thugs looking to get a supply of over the counter stuff they can get high with and some people will be making the pilgrimage to the Walgreens, Albertsons, Wal-Marts, etc., in order to stock up on prescriptions they need to make life possible or even just bearable.

In the novel, One Second After by William Forstchen, after figuring out that the power ain’t coming back on the novel’s main character had to compete with many angry people to get an adequate stock of insulin for his young daughter.

Depending upon the time of year, storage is problematic as well, especially for medications requiring stable storage of the drug.

Disease is going to be a problem. Protocols from quarantining new people you encounter or are trying to absorb into the group; to how you handle new people or dead bodies; protocols for sanitary measures; field expedient means to initially treat injuries especially open wounds are all going to be very important. Much more important when you consider the probability of having a dwindling supply of medical material without any re-supply potential.

Animal feed stores or Veterinarian offices and supply shops may be a source of some medications, such as pain killers, muscle relaxers and anti-biotics, however if will require some training to be able to recognize what you have and convert animal units of delivery to human uses. Secondarily, the same scum bags looted Walgreens will also be at the local Vet Clinic.

We hope that you all reading this do not require a daily intake of life saving drugs like insulin for Diabetes Type I, as it will tough tot stock an adequate amount (we consider 6 months about minimum). However Diabetes II or adult on-set diabetes cam be controlled largely through nutrition.

The good thing, in a Collapse, is that there will be less junk to eat to compromise your health. The bad thing is that there will be less to eat. Most Americans can stand to lose a few pounds, but most people want a diet to be their idea.

A total change of diets may even be healthy for people suffering from high cholesterol, blood pressure and degenerative diseases that these.

Herb gardens with medicinal herbs may help alleviate a shortage of medications. The Urban Survival Seed Procurement and Stockade Plan should consider these herbs as well as regular vegetables.

The savvy Urban Survivor should also consider stocking vitamin, mineral and anti-oxidant supplements. One of the best ways to minimize health issues is to build your body’s immune systems with nutritional supplements. However not all nutritional supplements are the same. Virtually everything you buy off-the- shelf is a “food grade” product and not regulated for quality, potency – you are most likely throwing money away. Our plan is stocking six months worth of a pharmaceutical grade daily nutritional supplement. Each month that goes by we buy one month’s supply and place the new order at the back of the shelf. Same as what you should be doing with canned foods and other food stuffs in order to use the oldest item first. For more information on the supplements we recommend you can visit the following website: http://www.bobshehan.com

Again, we hope that the reader does not have a requirement to take life saving drugs each and every day. If so, the smart Urban Survivor planning for life after a collapse needs to solve the problem on how they are going to access and store these drugs.