Prepare: Cleaning products, ammo prices

I put ammo prices on the headline today, but gun prices are looking good as well. I checked over at Impact Guns for my ammunition availability and found most stock is in and available. And the prices are going down as well.

Why? Most of the new buyers have purchased what they need. Many have gone to retail stores (although many ammo calibers are still low such as .45, .380, etc. in the big box stores.

Also, many buyers are feeling the pinch of this swell economy. So check out Impact and Classic Arms for some great bargains.

With the economy hurting, we are all looking for ways to save. But we also need solutions which work when the stores are empty too. At our house, we use plenty of household cleaners like you do. 409, Lysol, Windex, etc. But we also make our own.

We use several homemade cleaners for jobs around the house.

For wood floors we have Murphys, but my wife also makes a home made cleaner which really makes those floors glow. Vinegar, water, some peppermint oil and some alcohol.

We use this as an all purpose cleaner for surfaces as well.

We use a wood cleaner like Pledge we make out of water, some vinegar, vegetable oil and some oregano oil.

For bathrooms, we have a solution of soap of castille, baking soda and water.

For a quick air freshener its water and peppermint oil in a spray mister.

We clean the carpets with the vacuum, but first we sprinkle corn starch and baby powder or baking soda down on the rugs.

Cat litter in a pinch? Use shredded newspapers with baking soda. Change it daily, wipe out the pan well with diluted bleach or Lysol.

What's nice about any of these cleaning products is they are cheap. That comes in handy when money is tight and the house is dirty.

There are plenty of ways to clean on the cheap. Make sure you have plenty of rags on hand instead of paper towels.

Good luck,

Prepare: Guns SHTF Which Gun

The headlines scream about the numbers of AR this an AK that which are "flying" off the shelves at the gun stores nationwide. It's true, there have been a lot of semi's being sold in the past 9 months.

Next, the gun stores are reporting high sales in every other type of rifle and handgun as well. One could estimate that millions of weapons have been sold in the past year alone. All of those firearms are going home to first time buyers as well as several into the hands of savvy investors too.

Then comes the kicker: Ammo. There is none to be had say the arms merchants. Stories abound of Walmart stocks being bought out on the loading docks by greedy gun store owners. Of whole cases being auctioned off in secret sales before a single round makes it to the shelves.

True or not, ammo is indeed hard to get and only small amounts have been available when at all.

Since last year, I have been keeping tabs on the best locations, due to sheer number of stores and volume, in my area - Walmart. Walmart typically carries in the glass case any number of caliber desired and generally, the prices are good on most major manufacturers.

Starting last fall, the shelves started getting some holes in the stock. First went 5.56 (they kind fired by semi rifles like the AR15) and 7.62 x 39, the kind used by AK rifles.

Then the handgun calibers ran low. .380 and 9MM went first followed by .38, .357 and later .45. All this occured slowly, over a 6-8 month period by my calculations.

Over this past weekend, I stopped off at two Walmarts in my area. Let me temper this by saying, I live in one of the top gun-friendly states in the Union so firearm support i.e. retail availability has never been a problem.

At both Walmart locations, here was the scene. The glass ammunition case was stocked on each shelf, except for the top shelf and one of the middle shelves, with 12 gauge shells. Bird shot, slugs and buckshot.

There were three boxes each of 30-30, 30-06 and 270. There were about five boxes of 7MM. The top shelf had about ten boxes of 22 magnums. That was it. Everything else was 12 gauge.

Need a box of 9's? 38's? Forget it. Judging by the stocking, this was the case at most Walmarts and will probably remain this way for several months.

So what's the verdict? In all seriousness, if you have not purchased a firearm for preparedness, my advice is to pick up a pump action 12 gauge shotgun in short order. Not only is the shotty a versatile and handy firearm, there is plenty of ammo to feed it obviously.

Now, you can still purchase several types of handguns and other long guns, but there simply is not enough ammo to feed it beyond range time. Which means either your practice takes the hit or your stocks for post-SHTF. Not a fun place to be.

So consider getting a shotgun and take advantage of the plethora of ammo for that particular beast while it is available.

An interesting side note: There are more AR and AK available from the big online retailers once again. Before, places like Impact and Classic were reduced to only having Mosin Nagants, an odd Mauser and some knock off accessories. Not the case now. In fact, Classic has CETME's in stock again! Wow.

However, most of the ammo and nearly all the surplus ammo is gone and I hate to say it, it won't be back any time soon. Forget about South African and Lake City leftovers. It is not coming back.

So stock up on what you can get now and keep your eyes open for extras when it comes available. Ammo is definitely coming to be, as Col. Jeff Cooper calls it, ballistic wampum for the new world.