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  1. #1511
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    Default Re: Meanwhile back in Finland...

    Quote Originally Posted by oafpatroll View Post
    I have arrived at the point where I am deeply embarrassed to be a saffer.
    Is there no end to the muppetry of this clown and his gang?

    President Ramaphosa ‘erroneously’ announces SA’s withdrawal from International Criminal Court

  2. #1512
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    Default Re: Meanwhile back in Finland...

    I understand the cognitive dissonance in the South African halls of power, since you are going to host a BRICS summit in August this year.

    Fun fact: if RSA is still a member of ICC and if the stereotypically fascist dictator Vladimir Putler visits there, he should be apprehended by the South African authorities and held for trial facing charges for acts against humanity by the ICC. That'll be the day.

    I just hope the dipshit is dead by then. The Russian flu is bad for Russian leaders who lose their charm.

  3. #1513
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    Default Re: Meanwhile back in Finland...

    The Great Trek, Part Deux - the Border Post Caper

    Now it seems funny, but at the time we were 'helping' Israel to reach the Sani Top (not!), KK had some moments of increased heart rate, like the moment when his side front wheel lifted way off the ground and he -without even thinking of the consequences- jumped on the vehicle hanging there as a counter weight. If he had jumped off, the car could've tumbled down the cliff because all the weight was now on the rear right, a top heavy car with badly built and weak suspension not designed for this kind of stunts, alas it could've happened anyway possibly taking poor KK down to his demise. And when the rear of the car was waaay off the road over the empty void in order to make the damn thing take the sharp turn in a too small place, his expressions were immemorable. Another memorable moment was when KK came to me and said 'You are a bastard' after I was pointing my finger at the Sani Top alas giving directions on the contrary... Good times.

    So, after causing poor Israel a bad case of disappointment, we drove back the Sani Pass trail and entered the RSA border checkpoint. Shouldn't be any problems there, since after all we just visited the Lesotho side briefly for some refreshments and pizza.

    Nope, how wrong can one be.



    As KK was parking our ride I went to the arrivals and presented my passport. When the border police noticed I'm from Finland, he got seemingly overwrought and asked me with which vehicle I had just arrived. I pointed at KK's car and he wrote down the registration number comparing it with the one he had on his note, gave me my passport, let me go and got up to talk to someone. I thought to myself 'did the fake cop call to someone on the RSA side just to make our day a bad one?' Maybe so. However, we did look like a pair of PMCs and as such quite ominous, but then again, we didn't have any problems earlier the same day at the same place. And the fact that the policeman was interested in our vehicle and me being a Finn.

    As KK went to the customs desk, he did seem a bit agitated: everything is not OK. Then he and four border cops, one woman and three men, came to the car and began verbally poking us, the woman being almost comically 'the bad cop' with foul language and stingy attitude: 'where did you come from, what illegal goods do you have in the car, why did you go to Lesotho, you are liars, there's something wrong with you' ...and then the bombshell was thrown on KK's lap: 'your gun doesn't have any permit, it must be stolen!'

    Bringing a gun to another country needs a lot of paperwork but there is a possibility to leave your gun to the border post for the duration of your trip to the neighbouring country. There were no problems with the pistol when we crossed the border, but now when we came back the 'green' permit wasn't good anymore. KK was taken inside and the three remining cops were on me like a swarm of hornets.

    'The bitch' interrogated me right there on the yard by the car:

    'Are you carrying a firearm?'
    'No, I'm not.'
    'YOU ARE A LIAR! I can see the bulge on your back!'
    Lifting my shirt 'Oh, that's just my knife.'
    'That's a big knife, where do you need a big knife like that?'
    'I need it for my manicure.'
    'You what?'
    'For my fingernails, I keep them nice and tidy with my knife.'
    'LIAR! You can't use a knife that big for your nails!'
    'Oh but I can, look at them, aren't they in perfect shape or not?'


    Another cop chimed in pointing at the clip of my folding knife: 'Why do you have another knife in your pocket'
    'That is actually my toothpick.
    ' which caused a few chuggles.
    'And what is the bulge on your left side then?'
    I raised my shirt showing my love handle 'Now that would be me.'

    This time even 'the bitch' was laughing. There's this notion of 'carrying a knife with intent', so carrying isn't illegal per se and I had proper reasons for having two knives on me.

    The cops left me now alone and I was pacing by the car wondering what the hell is going on, not worried, I haven't broken any laws and kept my cool when I was obviously tested by the cops. Getting angry won't help anything, making them laugh and not lying is much more effective way of handling entanglements like this one. Not lying includes 'not telling everything', just a note.

    After a while one of the policemen came back to me, a very polite black man and began a casual conversation with me. I am trained with interrogation methods and I did very soon see what was going on: this 'harmless' yet armed police was in fact interrogating me using the most effective method of the craft, 'just talking'. People like to talk and especially talk about themselves. Heck, why would I keep this journal unless it would give me some kind of satisfaction?

    And boy, did he know his job: 'So you are from Finland, what is like there this time of year?' I told him what the climate is there right now and how it would change in a few weeks. Then he asked 'What do you do for living?' 'Oh, an IT consultant? What is your background? Oh, you worked for Nokia, what kind of a company is it? About IT, I have this problem with WhatsApp when I get messages from unknown people, how could I stop that happening?' followed by 'In the movies when the hackers break in computer systems, does it really happen like that?' He did ask me questions about KK, who and what is he, where does he live, why are we here etc.

    After this when he learned that I was visiting South Africa purely as a tourist and my friend is taking me places with great photo opportunities, he wanted to know 'Can you take a picture from where we stand right now from that sticker you can see on that AC unit so that we could see the small text in it?' I said, 'I don't think this 70 mm lens on the camera now is powerful enough, but shall we try?'

    And we did.

    No, we zoomed in and could not read the text...


    'How about if I change to the 200 mm lens, that should do the trick?' And he said yes, please do and asked how much does such equipment cost in Finland and in South Africa and he was very interested in what there was inside the car while I dug out the lens.

    And yes, now we can see even the fine print as I suggested we would.


    At this moment I did see the commander of the post we had met a while ago at the Sani Top pub drive in the post parking lot and walk inside, not even giving a glance at me looking serious and focused. I really thought 'he's a pro too'.

    The policeman asked me 'Can you take a photo of those people so you could identify them from the picture?' and I said yes, took the picture and he did agree, the faces were crystal clear on the pictures. After this the policeman went inside with his mental notes and I was left alone on the yard, sitting in the car almost laughing out loud to the 'another African adventure' I found myself in.

    So why did the policeman ask me all these questions? Because he knew the answers and he was checking if my story holds water. I did tell the truth, but did not tell everything, like the fact that I've been giving classes on shooting and military tactics or the fact that I'm a army captain and I know what he was doing. The stereotypical 'stupid African policeman' wasn't present there, not t all, this man knew exactly what he was doing and I got interrogated right there like we were two buddies having a chat. Good job, I have to say. After I heard what had actually happened inside the border post I realized the motive for the questions about my camera gear...

    After a long while the police captain came out and walked to me. I got out of the car and he asked me again some questions about KK, obviously confirming what he had heard from KK himself and eventually sounding happy with my responses he said 'I do believe we can get all things sorted in a few minutes' and got back inside the post. After a short while he and KK were walking outside KK looking a bit baffled but relieved, hence I knew the four hour ordeal had been sorted out in our favour. The commander said 'As always it took a captain to use the computer, find the serial number to check the permit and that the pistol hasn't been reported stolen'. He did apologise for the inconvenience and let us go on our way wishing us a good rest of the trip.

    Lessons to learn? Keep your head, be cool and smile even if you feel your balls retract and the holding cell feels a bit uncomfortable.

    Why did this whole episode play out the way it did? Arriving back from Lesotho the reactions from the border police checking my passport and the registration of the car is a dead giveaway that we were expected. Lots of questions remained: why didn't they thoroughly check the contents of the car? Why didn't they do a security check on my body and pockets? What were they looking for, or was this some sort of a retribution for me ignoring the fake cop at the Lesotho side of the border? We'll never know, but this is Africa and in Africa anything is possible, even the impossible. I found the charade rather funny and even entertaining, but KK four hours in the holding cell... maybe not so. And for a reason, he was in the grinder for sure.

    Talking with KK turned out, that the suspicion on us was way deeper than what I had expected. They were asking him how come we have such expensive equipment and when KK asked 'What equipment' they said 'Surveillance equipment'. KK asked what are they talking about and they said 'Cameras and high power radios'. Well, I did have my rather expensive Canon EOS 5D Mark IV and several high end lenses with a total value of around 5000€, and we did have a pair of 8 W radios plus a base station radio for the farm security training they had seen when the tailgate was open. And we were wearing clothes which were perfect for hiding in the bush and my boots were high end military issue Salomons and my MultiCam jacket was also visible in the back of the car as was my MultiCam Eberlestock military issue backpack.

    Oops.

    KK had said the radios were there because his cell don't work in the mountains. They also asked if me and him 'worked together' and he said no, just like I had given the answer to the policeman. Also the car was causing suspicion, because it's registered in Pietermaritzburg, but the plates are of Durban North. KK is born in Pmb and works and lives in Durban, and until recently he had been a resident of Himeville. He even gave them the address.

    So the heat was really on inside the post, but KK managed to be convincing as an innocent man should be able to be. Not losing temper, telling just the facts. The good facts if you have to choose.

    On the RSA proper side of the gate we drove down the road for a few kilometres and then stopped to contemplate what the hell just had happened. I almost wanted to go back and congratulate the captain for his excellent subordinate, but thought we had been poking Lady Luck in her eye enough for the day and we continued our journey to the next African adventures. No rest for the wicked, they say....

    I did ask him 'How was the cavity search' and he said 'It was okey.' I looked like a question mark not really sure if I wanted to hear more about it, but it turned out that something was lost in my accent and KK had heard me asking about the 'captivity cell.'







    To be continued.

  4. #1514
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    Default Re: Meanwhile back in Finland...

    I don't know whether to be more impressed or pissed off with your characterization of the competence and behaviour of the plods to be honest. My default and probably prejudiced position is that all SAPS members are crooked and incompetent. Your experience suggests that there may be be flashes of competence in that mix. Not sure I like the idea of the combination of crooked and competent more.

  5. #1515
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    Default Re: Meanwhile back in Finland...

    I know, I know. No society would work unless there was at least some people in the police force who actually know what they are doing, and these folks were in this category. They seemed focused, knowledgeable and not the kind you can buy with the small change in your pocket.

  6. #1516

    Default Re: Meanwhile back in Finland...

    Paranoid Africa.
    Well done on holding the pose AK-Gunner.
    Have dealt with it many times in the past.
    Im surprised the "Give me dollahs" didn't pop up.

  7. #1517
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    Default Re: Meanwhile back in Finland...

    Hi AK-Gunner

    Thanks for all this info.

    I just bought a 11.5 SBR and can't decide between ASE UTRA S Gen 2 or the Silent Steel Streamer Micro

    Can you please help if you had experience in both the above.

    Thanks

    Izak

  8. #1518
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    Default Re: Meanwhile back in Finland...

    They are both excellent products with a bit different use: if you want to go full auto, or do five mag magdumps in a row, go with the Ase Utra, it will probably last longer because of its cast steel construction. However, Silent Steel is user repairable with quite affordable spare parts, which Ase Utra isn't, when it's done it is done. In 5.56 Ase Utra weighs 520 grams vs. Silent Steel's 350 grams, and at the tip of the barrel those grams do matter.

    The locking mechanism on Ase Utra is foolproof, but it also adds weight, Silent Steel may work itself loose if you fail to tighten it properly, which may cause a catastrophic failure.

    Ase Utra is a bit more efficient with suppression, but then again does it really matter: you will be using ear pros when shooting and both cans will reduce the pressure low enough to make shooting indoors quite bearable even to those who are not used to it.

    They are both high quality products, but my favourite is the Silent Steel which is on my 11.9" SBR. One of the reasons may be the fact that I was one of the people who expressed the need for a short and lightweight suppressing blast shield for a carbine, thus the product was developed by Silent Steel and it is now their most popular product. I tried this with Saimaa Still back in the day, but their owner didn't believe in the product and it never happened.



    ...and my Ase Utra (an older non flow through version, but similar) is on my full auto 18" M16 with a 60 round drum magazine waiting for the moment I really have to send some serious hatred at someone.



    Can not really go wrong with either.

  9. #1519
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    Default Re: Meanwhile back in Finland...

    The ASE Utra Gen2 works well on a 11.5” and I’ve shot few mags with no issues.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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