I’ve decided to attend the 2008 Gun Blogger Rendezvous; an event organized by Mr. Completely.  It’ll be held at Reno’s Circus Circus Hotel in Nevada from October 9th through the 12th.  I’ll finally meet Phil and David from Random Nuclear Strikes, along with several other folks!

Because Obama sez so.

There are plenty ways to make cheap fire starters, but I bought a pack of WetFire Starters to try it out anyway. You can light ‘em while they’re floating on water, make shavings to conserve the entire block, or just some minor league pyro fun [The Packing Rat does not condone negligent fire play]. It’s not a magical block - it still needs a dry surface to ignite. The cool thing is that you can take the unused portions, dry it up, store it in a film canister to use it later. No burns were suffered during the creation of this film.

Okay. At least that’s what some will name the Bianchi M12 holster - it’s difficult to draw from. Carrying it usually implies you have a death wish. The flap is much too large and the hook on the bottom to retain the firearm occasionally gets caught.

I took this opportunity to modify mine in a fashion so that I can keep my index finger close to where it should be and get rid of the flap entirely. Here’s the result:

**Danger: I was too lazy to resize the image. Only click once if you must have mercy on your modem.

I just used some 1″ webbing, flat buckles, and four metal oval slides using the same concept that Kifaru uses. Why did I bother to modify and not get a different holster? I believe this will do well on my pack waist belt and pant belt when moving it from one position to another. If I must become left handed, I can still switch it.

If you’re not the DIY type, you can purchase the M1415 Thumb Snap System.

It’s been almost 8 years since the last time I visited the dentist.  Ever since I got my license, I was no longer forced to keep up with appointments and the whole 6 months routine just feel through.  Recently, I was forced to see a dentist to see where my wisdom teeth were at [damn those teeth].

X-rays were ordered and then I suddenly found myself back into a routine with a local dentist.  Now, I don’t have swiss cheese for teeth live David at RNS does [haha - I kid!], but I guess I had to catch up on my cleaning.  It wasn’t a deep cleaning, but an intermediate cleaning, above a “routine” cleaning.  Took two visits

As a side note, I feel guilty when I can’t hold a conversation.  They’re telling you what’s going on in manner where a reply might be reasonable.  It’s not like taking to the barber - you don’t have metal picks and hands in your mouth.

Anyway, no cavities, no aches, just some receding gum pockets that appear to be normal - so I guess my brushing paid off - or lack of Pepsi.  Now that I’m “back on track,” my next visit will be in 6 months.

For those wisdom teeth - all four will be pulled.  It’s a matter of me picking up that phone and visiting the oral surgeon.  I’m not looking forward to it.

I plan on backpacking for a two night trip in Desolation Wilderness starting at the Pyramid Creek Trailhead with a few friends. Being the good law-abiding firearm owner that I am, I called the NF office to assure myself that open carry in the Eldorado National Forest is legal and allowed.

It wasn’t so much that the fact that I can open carry in the National Forest I found interesting (I already knew it, just wanted to assure my tin-foil, hat-wearing self), it was the interaction I had with the operator and Lead Forest Ranger. They’re not worried about folks shooting firearms for recreational purposes or even having possession of them. It’s idiots with firearms - firing into granite and being a nuisance to other people who want to enjoy the quiet scenery. Never did they make any inferences that guns were bad or belittle me with my desire to carry while I enjoy the great outdoors, instead it was just a firm reminder about being safe. Nonetheless, I couldn’t help myself notice her initial reaction.

She wasn’t quite clear herself, so she referred the question to the Lead Ranger.  The Lead Ranger shared stories about “idiots with booze” [yes, that's what she said] and eventually acknowledged, albeit with hesitation, that their current policy allows the use and open-carry of firearms.  She did seemed to lighten up after I casually paraphrased Cooper’s four rules of weapons handing as it related to her narration. It might be me, but I think I’ve imposed a positive impression on that individual.

Though we’re likely to agree that most people, like at a post office, are generally unaware of current gun laws, it remains to be very important we maintain our “high road” in the eyes of those are likely to promote policy based on what they experience.

I know there are stupid people out their with guns, showing no muzzle discipline whatsoever. It is up to us [responsible gun-owners] to show that we are the majority.

I never did apply to internships exclusively during school. The job I’ve held since high school can’t beat the flexibility, culture, and the pay. I consider myself to be the luckiest student in retail, though I do have to admit that the job has it’s unique aspects. Over the years, I’ve experienced some wonderful and weird things. I suppose with this added category, it’ll give some readers more of an ‘inside look’ of the packing rat’s life.

A customer walks in to return a Betta fish - those colorful fish usually found in glass vases at your office or friend’s desk. The fish looked stressed: breathing heavily, lethargic, and formed quite a few lesions across the body. She wanted to know what was wrong it it since it was rather sudden. I ran down through the list of possibilities: was she changing the water, any recent chemicals in the house being sprayed, etc. It was stumped as to a clue why this fish appeared it was about to pass. I asked if there had been frequent temperature fluctuations since it might just be an accumulation of stress for the fish and she just hadn’t noticed.

Without hesitation or a blink, she admitted that the house was a bit irregular and that her bowl is next to a window in the middle of winter - so she decided placed her fish in the microwave for a few seconds to warm it up.

I couldn’t tell if it were a joke. I remained as professional as I could to not give the potential prankster their desired reaction. Telling her the fish is likely to die very soon, she left the poor swimmer on the counter. Nuke died by the end of my shift.  No, she wasn’t a blonde.

Sloth. I can definitely see such incompetence displayed lately will get me killed. But more specifically…

Mr. Chad Baus from Buckeye Firearms Association describes a 911 call from a CHL holding store owner who maintains a burglar at gun-point at a safe distance. During this call, the operator belittles the actual the store owner causing delays for his request for police…

There are many important lessons to be learned from this gentleman’s experience. … you should check it out at Buckeye Firearms Association.

Fordham University looks like they’re shaking in their boots.

Mike from Mike’s Spot recently sponsored a demonstration in conjunction with Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC) week. Despite a reluctant committee who approved his demonstration, Mike made the most of his time at [FU, New York!]

While I wish I had displayed such activism on campus, concealed carry on campus isn’t much of an issue at the University of California. UC Irvine, for example, will allow you to carry as long as you have a CCW permit and you notify campus police. UC Davis might’ve been different. The worst that could have happened, assuming I was legally issued a CCW permit, is expulsion. California Penal Code 626.9 actually exempts such restrictions from carrying on campus. The issue we’re having is the fact that California is a may-issue state and many sheriffs are very reluctant to hand CCW permits out. I digress.

In order to get his demonstration approved, Mike had to water down the display. He anticipated that the committee wouldn’t approve his application had he used empty holsters. Unfortunately, his anticipation was correct and there would have been no question about it that they would have denied permission. Nonetheless, with two other participants, the demonstration turned heads. Many students seem to acknowledge the problem and approve of SCCC’s message – he even had a small column in the Young Republican’s publication.

Until recently, he had thought that anything related to his on campus demonstration was done and over. More has to be done, yet homework doesn’t finish itself.

This morning I noticed something new about his blog entry – it has a disclaimer! You use disclaimers for two reasons: to cover your ass or to be satirical.

“This post is not intended to demonstrate that Fordham University, or any of it’s offices have the same view as I do. Fordham does not promote SCCC in anyway. The bulletin board was not intended as a slight at university policy or rules, it was merely a way of communicating interest about a group of young people who support civil liberties that ended up having a direct relationship to another event I was running. Again- Fordham U in no way supports any of the views expressed on my blog- now, in the past, or in the future.”

That’s not very funny.

I asked Mike about it. Turns out that the administration noticed his post within the first 48 hours and had some qualms about positively associating the demonstration to the views of the “administration.” In some crazy way or another, FU (haha. Suiting - Is it not?) thought that Mike was speaking on behalf of the campus.

Does that make sense? Had the topic been global warming, I bet they wouldn’t have bat an eyelash. It’s obvious that the demonstration wasn’t on behalf of FU – why would it be necessary to force Mike through meetings to edit his original post? On his own blog! Leave it to an “administration” to piss their pants when a student sends a message of self-reliance. He even thanked the red-tape bandits for the opportunity to voice his opinion!

I’ll be hearing from Mike if there are additional shenanigans. I wish him the best.

For those that use Kroil, here’s a great deal a few good gentleman passed on to me. I have a truck that originated from Chicago that could probably this, thus the reason for my order.

Many shooters seem to swear by this stuff, so I suppose now is a good time that I might give it a try on a few rifles. It’s a penetrator, not a lubricant - so keep that in mind.