How To Select Firearms On A Budget
January 21, 2012
Guest post: by ‘TripodXL’
The dictionary defines logic as; a science that deals with the principles and criteria of validity of inference and demonstration: the science of the formal principles of reasoning. Basically this means that you use a reasoned basis, i.e. based in supported fact and deductive reasoning, to determine a particular path or decision that logically follows the preponderance of the calculated and obvious evidence.
The flipside of this coin is to use personal opinion for decision making as opposed to facts. Now while personal opinion may satisfy your internal personal desire, and most people will go with personal opinion, even though the evidence would show otherwise. This is perfectly “normal” in human nature, but it is not good for survival. It stuns me how stubborn people are on some topics, one of which is the BEST firearm for a particular survival situation because of non-factual perceptions, when the factual evidence shows otherwise.
You will hear people say things like “it shoots harder”, which can have two distinctly different meanings e.g. “it is very difficult to shoot” or “it has more muzzle energy at impact” and the latter is typically what people usually mean when you get them to explain what they said. Another one that people use is “high caliber”, what does that mean? If it means higher powered, then that equates to higher muzzle energy. If it means a larger caliber then you have a larger diameter bullet. Another term you hear that dovetails with that one is “high powered rifle”. Does that mean just the muzzle energy in absolute terms, regardless of caliber, does it mean just higher power in general or does it mean higher power in a particular caliber? Who knows? That is the point I’m trying to make. People will make decisions based on information that they’ve heard all their lives and just accept it as fact, even though it probably isn’t, or they will parrot what they heard grandpa say about his “thutty thutty” and how “hard it shoots” without questioning it’s validity.
When your survival is on the line (and you do want to survive, don’t you?), what is more important, your pride and your opinion, or what is best for you and yours? At some point, if it isn’t too late, you have to come to a point where you realize you don’t know everything about a topic and count on someone that does, regardless of your personal, one-sided point of view. You may have to acknowledge that some people that you look up to and “parrot”, don’t really know what they’re talking about. That’s a tough on “grandpa”, but yeah, you’re gonna have to come to grips with it.
To select a firearm there should be some defined criteria to use for the selection.
1. The first is the general quality and use of the weapon and the cost versus other alternative weapons.
2. Second is the performance, which includes accuracy, rate of fire, ease of use and dependability.
3. The third criteria would be durability, including the mean time between failures (MTBF), along with repair-ability. Repair-ability includes the AVAILABILITY of parts AND ease of repair.
4. Fourth is the COMMONALITY with other weapons AND ammo.
I think these four selection criteria are easily verifiable, objective and factual for determining the best weapon choices. If all other things are equal, then pick the one that you prefer, but seldom does that happen. Or, if money is no object, then buy what you want, lucky you. Most of us don’t have that luxury!
10/22 Ruger .22 LR
First, the number one weapon for any survival weapons cache is the .22 LR rifle. That’s a no brainer. Therefore I won’t explain it. The rifle of choice is also a no brainer. Now I said use, quality and cost of the weapon versus other alternatives. One salient and overriding fact is the fact that you NEED a semi-auto rifle of some sort in a survival situation and I don’t think that anyone can really argue otherwise. Yes, you can get a quality bolt action, rim fire, rifle for $120-$140, but since you need at least one semi-auto rifle, and since this should be your first and potentially only rifle, it should be a 10/22 Ruger .22 LR rifle at about $190.
It meets the performance standard, the durability and commonality. It is high quality, accurate, has high volume of fire and very dependable. You cannot survive a firefight with a bolt action .22 LR. With a semi-auto, .22 LR you at least have a chance. It’s durability is legendary, and deservedly so, and to repair it, short of running over it with a tank, a bolt and a trigger group will take care of any significant probable failure. As far as commonality, .22 LR ammo goes with out saying. What other .22LR semi-auto do you think you have a high probability of running across in the rest of the SHTF world, that you could use parts and magazines from? That should take care of .22 LR rifle.
Of course, I picked the most popular .22 LR and won’t catch much flack over it. But remember the principles. Not every choice will sit well with you, but it will be the right firearm, in general.
Glock 17
Now, you need a handgun. The first intuitive choice is to get a .22 LR; e.g. Model III Ruger, semi-auto pistol so that you have redundancy. That is a valid tactical concept but I think an even better tactical strategy is that you need a center fire handgun with significantly more stopping power than a .22 LR.
Now, before I finish the handgun choice, let me state, without equivocation, “I hate an effing plastic gun”. “I hate DAO (double action only)”. I am a dyed-in-the-wool 1911A1, .45 ACP fanatic. Period. Nothing shoots as sweet as a good single action trigger pull. I love a steel handgun. BUT that is my OPINION, it is my preference, it isn’t factual or evidence based. It also isn’t the best choice for survival circumstances. You ready? Here it comes. Drum roll, please. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrummpp! Glock 17, ooh, yuck! Plastic! First, I’ve heard people say they want the simplicity of a revolver and don’t want the complexity of an auto. Let’s check that out, factually.
With a revolver, you point and click (shoot). You press the button and open the cylinder and reload. Then point and click. Okay, now the Glock 17. You point and click! Hmmn! You push the button and mag comes out; insert new mag. Point and click!!! Hhhmmnn!! Maybe I missed something. Oh, yeah, the Glock has 17+1 rounds and the revolver has 6 (yeah there’s a 7 and an 8 shot, big deal), at some point round count matters, even over caliber. The functionality of a Glock is mechanically the same as the revolver; i.e. you pull the damn trigger and shoot, you push the button and reload.
The Glock 17, Gen 4, is cheaper than all but the most basic 1911A1, its quality is without compare, its accuracy is unassailable and its dependability is without question, period. Its MTBF is higher than any other gun tested. Revolvers are tested in “thousands of rounds” and semi-autos are tested in “tens of thousands of rounds”. Oh, yeah, commonality. It is the most sold center fire handgun in the U.S. So, if you need to repair it, you just put the parts in, you don’t have to be a gunsmith. If you need a magazine, ammo or parts, bet that guy you just found has some. If not, then the next one will. The most common center fire handgun ammo you will find on an unconscious National Guardsman, or anyone else for that matter, will be 9mm, not .357/38spcl, .45 ACP, .40 S&W, .44 magnum etc.
What other 9mm, polymer, center fire handgun, or any handgun for that matter, would you want to have in your hand if you needed ammo, parts, accuracy, dependability, firepower and ease of use and repair. Now, I didn’t say you would like it. IT AIN’T ABOUT LIKE. It’s about all the things I mentioned above and the expedient logistics that go with you surviving in spite of your bias. You can’t refute the logic. Yes, you can say you want something else, but you can’t refute the logic.
12 Ga. Mossberg (OR the other two)
Okay, 3 and 4 are a push as to which one you get next. This one is situational and only you can determine which one comes next, but the need for both is without question. Your tactical circumstances should determine what you get next. You NEED a 12 Ga. shotgun AND a lightweight, accurate, moderate range (300-400 yards), center fire carbine.
So, here we go on the 12 Ga. shotgun. You should have one, if at all possible. The first two alone (.22 LR rifle and 9mm handgun), at least give you a fighting chance to survive lethal confrontations. Now, you need some oomph! A 12 Ga. Pump will give you that, along with dependability, accuracy, high rate of fire, high MTBF, reparability, and commonality of ammo. There are three brands, all of which are comparable, except for price and they are Winchester, Remington and Mossberg.
An 8 shot, straight stock, groove and bead sight, synthetic stocked, double slide, can describe all three. The Mossberg 500 A “riot gun” versus comparable models of Winchester and Remington, is $209 as of January 2012, compared to $330 + or more for the other two. Now these are real world prices, NOT MSRP. You can find the 500A for $209 all day long and I have yet to find an 870 for less than $339 and I go to a lot of gun shows (the largest ones in the nation) and gun shops. A $100+ will buy a lot of stuff. It will buy 5K rounds of .22 LR, ammo; it will buy the parts for backup repair, etc. The Mossberg is just as durable and functional as any other shotgun made. We used them over in the desert and GIs prefer them to the other shotguns in our inventory.
As far as the criteria, they’re the same as the others except for price. You don’t have to like it, but it’s true and if you’re on a budget, it’s the way to go. If you buy one of the high-end SPX 590 models, there is no comparison. It is the only shotgun to pass the Mil-Std 3443G (MIL-S-3443G, 1995) for shotguns in the U.S. military, and it is 1/3 to 1/2 the price of a comparable Remington 870. These are indisputable facts. You can’t go wrong spending your money on the Mossberg OR the other two for that matter. Now, if money is no object feel free to get whatever you want, but that is not the point of this article.
The military (both ours and the Russians) did studies in the late 40s as to the nominal ranges that infantrymen would engage the enemy. What they found was surprising. Most men would not shoot AT the enemy. They would shoot TOWARDS them, and they would only shoot when they were within 200 yards. That was a big surprise. The philosophy of both governments changed from the long-range potential of standard big bore, higher powered calibers, to something of lesser range and lesser weight, since the infantryman was not going to use the greater potential accuracy and lethality anyway.
AR-15
You need, as part of your survival weapons, a small bore, center fire rifle for LONGER (not long, longER) range targets and more precise shooting at those ranges as well as a carbine-sized weapon for CQB in an urban/suburban environment. There are four rifles that come to mind.
First is the generic bolt action .223. Go back to the .22 LR rifle selection process to figure out why this one isn’t right. That leaves three rifles. The Kel-Tec Su-16, the Mini-14 and the AR-15 style rifle/carbine.
The Kel-Tec is a neat, light, functional rifle. It takes STANAG (NATO STANdardization AGreements) magazines, e.g. regular AR-15 magazines. It is the least expensive of all the three rifles, though it is very HARD to clean. It is better to have one of these than nothing, although the jury is out on its long-term durability.
The Mini-14 is very functional and very durable. Supposedly, Ruger has dealt with the accuracy issues with the previous generations of Mini-14s as compared to AR-15s, and improved them. Both the Kel-Tec and the Mini-14 are very difficult to clean and to repair. Yes, the Mini-14 is very durable, but you can’t get the parts for either of them, the Mini-14 or the Kel-Tec SU-16, like you can the AR-15s, if they do need repair.
First, you can’t get any parts that are “gunsmith” installable from Ruger or Kel-Tec. They won’t sell them to you, period (and there is no aftermarket for them, so they aren’t produced by anyone else). That includes barrels, and most of the trigger group and they use proprietary magazines for the Mini-14. That leaves the AR-15 based carbines and rifles as the only alternative that satisfies the criteria given for the selection process.
The most sold rifle in the U.S. (OBTW, this is where we live, not Africa, not SWA, not SEA, not the Balkans, not China, not S. America etc., we live in the U.S.A.) is the AR-15 style rifle. It outsells all other rifles by orders of magnitude. FYI, the price of good quality ARs is down in the $600 range, the Kel-Tec is in the $450 range and the Mini-14 is in the $750 range, new.
AR-15s are accurate out to 600 yards for the 20” rifle version (it’s what they shoot 600 yd service rifle competition with, and they out shoot MATCH M-14s, ask the Marines). They are accurate, well priced, reliable, durable, easy to repair, easy to use, have a high MTBF and above all have the ultimate commonality of being the service rifle of the U.S.A. That way ammo and parts are not an issue. With the right ammo, it is the perfect lightweight carbine for close to intermediate range self defense and survival.
Now, which one should you get? I would use the standard carbine length, 16” barrel “M-4gery” (that is M-4 forgery, a play on the pun). I would only get the 20” full sized AR-15A2 rifle if I lived where there were some wide-open spaces. I would not put any bells or whistles on it, just a plain AR with the standard A2 iron sights and the Mil-Spec 6-position collapsible stock for the carbine.
As to brand, there are many out there and the names that come to mind are Rock River Arms, DPMS, Double Star, Olympic Arms and many other reputable manufacturers. The main thing that you want to look for is that it is a FORGED receiver weapon, made from 7075 T6 anodized aluminum. You can go to AR15.com and look around and make an educated choice from the testimony on the forum. If you have absolutely no knowledge about ARs at all, then find someone to help you.
Now this would be where the article should end with me summarizing the four weapons, the 10/22 Ruger, the Glock 17, the Mossberg 500A and a quality “plain Jane” AR-15 M4gery. Now, I would not tell anyone this is the ultimate list of survival firearms. It is though, based on objective selection criteria, the best four choices for your first four firearms. This is based on a MINIMAL budget, maximum utility and getting the best bang for your buck (pun intended) versus its value and use to you as a survivor.
If you wanted to make it more inclusive, you could include a large-bore, scoped, bolt-action rifle. You could also include the .22 LR Ruger pistols that we ditched in the handgun selection. Another add on, to expand your capability to use other calibers that you may come across in surviving, is to acquire an AK style carbine/rifle. The only other thing to add to cover MOST potential populous ammunition would be a .357 magnum revolver just to eke out the most you can from ANY available ammo supply, for as many years as possible.
I know some of you are gnashing your teeth about now, over the fact that I’ve excluded your favorite pistol, rifle, handgun, shotgun or caliber/both. Let’s start with .40 S&W. It is a COP cartridge and they will shoot themselves out of ammo when TSHTF. Yes, some civilians have them but not as many as have 9mm. They (cops) will run out of ammo before most civilians and they will become a useless societal force unless supported by the military and what do they shoot?
On the point of the AK, it isn’t a small-bore rifle, it isn’t as accurate as an AR and it doesn’t meet the commonality of parts and ammo criteria. It has its purpose, but not here in the “first four” budget. Here are a few other salient facts about AKs. Over 90+% (it’s actually higher than that, I’m just being generous) of the 7.62×39 ammunition AND parts in the U.S. are imported from overseas. How long do you think that will continue in a SHTF situation? How much of it do you think you will find in a National Guard armory? How many parts do you think you will find there for your AK? How many magazines? The spare parts for an AR fit in a Ziploc, but the AK-47 parts don’t. AK costs are rising, but AR costs are falling. An AR has better accuracy than an AK (significantly better, that’s a fact, it’s not negotiable).
I stood in a room with over 25 Rangers in battalion and asked them “If you had the chance to pick up an AK or an M4, both fully loaded, which one would you pick up?” They laughed. They thought I was bullshitting them. No officers were around, just me and they said “are you kidding Sarge, it would be the M-4, who’d be stupid enough to pick up the AK, is this a trick question?” I also asked them, since they came from different platoons, if they had ever seen one fail. Their answer to a man was “no”.
My career has spanned almost 4 decades and I want people to have the benefit of my experiences and be able to survive. I share this because I want to. I have never seen an M-16A1, A2 or M-4 fail that wasn’t broken to begin with or had bad ammo (dead primers or malformed). All rifles break and all rifles need to be cleaned, period. If you don’t take care of it properly and maintain it properly, it WILL NOT work properly. If you think AKs never need to be cleaned, how come the Russians issued cleaning kits with them? Also, they are not 300-400 yard rifles, at least not on purpose. So, all the BS from uncle Bubba, about the M-16, “made by Mattel” back in 1963/64 is not valid today, regardless of how much he hates them. Read the history of the M-16.
I am a decorated combat veteran. I am a professional military instructor. I am a certified NRA instructor. I am a state certified Concealed Handgun instructor. I also teach private classes for tactics, techniques and procedures for immediate action scenarios. I have been an NRA 3-gun competitor since 1976. I have competed in International Air Pistol, Service Rifle, IPSC, small bore rifle, I teach the rifle and shotgun merit badges for the BSA and engage in other martial style competitive shooting. I was one of my units designated marksmen and one of the “expedient gunsmiths”. Most of the online, armchair, commandos have none of the individual experiences that I have, much less the sum of them. Anyone with similar experience that has a reasoned, thought out, cogent thesis, is welcome to disagree with me and we can discuss it along with those with questions. I think that I have provided the inexperienced with a viable, easy-to-understand and appropriate course for understanding and getting the best firearms for their survival dollar. Survive well. Enjoy.
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Terahertz Radiation Scanners for NYC Cops
January 17, 2012
fictional representation
Police in New York City, along with the U.S. Department of Defense, are researching new technology in a scanner placed on police vehicles that can detect concealed weapons.
It’s called Terahertz Imaging Detection. It measures the energy radiating from a body up to 16 feet away, and can detect anything blocking it, like a gun.
Source: CBS New York
Terahertz radiation can pass through clothing, paper, cardboard, wood, masonry, plastic and ceramics. It can also penetrate fog and clouds, but cannot penetrate metal or water.
Terahertz radiation can be used in surveillance, such as security screening, to uncover concealed weapons on a person, remotely. Many materials ‘of interest’ have unique spectral “fingerprints” in the terahertz range. This offers the possibility to combine spectral identification with imaging.
Safety of Terahertz Radiation
A study published in 2010 and conducted by Boian S. Alexandrov and colleagues at the Center for Nonlinear Studies at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico performed mathematical models how terahertz radiation interact with double-stranded DNA, showing that, even though involved forces seem to be tiny, nonlinear resonances (although much less likely to form than less-powerful common resonances) could allow terahertz waves to “unzip double-stranded DNA, creating bubbles in the double strand that could significantly interfere with processes such as gene expression and DNA replication”
Source: Wikipedia
Liberties
Will Terahertz Radiation Scanners be an invasion to your privacy as you walk down the street and are unknowingly scanned? Could your life be put in danger by a false-positive scan while your Leatherman on your belt or in your pocket is misconstrued for a weapon? What if you actually do have a license to carry? Will you be in danger from the agent doing the scanning who will not know that you have a license to carry? Since the U.S. Dept. of Defense is involved, how long will it be before this is federalized via the Dept. of Homeland Security across the nation? Will this scanner show nearly nude images similar to the scanner used by the TSA? If so, will agents start scanning the ‘hotties’ as they walk to work to get their kicks? Are you all okay with this? Are we still free?
Leave your comments…
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Not Your Mother’s Air Rifle
January 6, 2012
Guest post: by ‘TripodXL’
An often, overlooked survival item, is the air rifle, as it is looked upon by many as a toy. Today’s air rifle has the capability to take LARGE game, and we’re not talking BB guns, not pump and pump and pump pellet/BB guns, but real honest to God air RIFLES. There are basically two types, the single stroke, spring piston (SSSP, S3P) and the pre-charged pneumatic (PCP). They both have advantages and disadvantages as it relates to the survivalist’s arms needs.
What do I need an air rifle for? Well, if you are hunting squirrels, rabbits and other small game they offer a very significant decrease in price, even over .22 LR ammunition, on the order of .5 cents per round versus 4-6 cents per round of .22 LR, that’s a 10:1 advantage. Second they offer as much stopping power, with the correct pellets and rifle, as a .22 Short in the small bore versions and in the large bore versions they offer as much stopping power as a hot, .38 special/ 9mm. Third, this allows large and small game to be taken at intermediate yardages without the use of a manufactured substance, other than the projectile. Fourth, they are quieter than regular firearms, which may be a concern or necessity in a survival situation. Fifth, since they will kill animals…well, guess what else they can kill?
Okay, so tell me about them. Okay, first are the S3Ps, they are typically in .177, .22 and .25 calibers. They are suitable for small game, and they are quieter and cheaper to shoot, than a .22 LR rifle. The .22 and the .25 are capable enough to kill a human with the right shot, through an eye socket or the side of the temple. Now, I don’t recommend getting in a firefight with a pellet rifle, as I don’t think you can reload fast enough, unless there is only one and you cap him/her first (equal opportunity) with a fatal shot, not that it can’t be done. Their number one quality is that it only takes ONE stroke to cock them. You aren’t pumping them. The one stroke cocks, a spring-loaded piston, you insert a pellet and close the bolt, and you are ready to shoot. When you pull the trigger, the piston is released (single stroke, spring piston) and almost instantaneously compresses the air in a cylinder to the point that it blows the pellet out the barrel at anywhere form 850 feet per second (FPS) to 1200+ FPS, depending on the caliber and weight of the pellet. This will produce energy sufficient to kill many small game animals, and as stated before under the right circumstances, can produce a fatal shot on humans, given the right aim point. Their downside is their noise. While quieter than a .22 rifle, they still produce a significant noise when fired. These run from anywhere in the $150-500 range.
PCPs are the “nuclear weapon” version of air rifles, in that they are all of the same calibers as mentioned before and much larger calibers as well. A pre-charged pneumatic is a pellet rifle that has a cylinder on it that holds a supply of compressed air, usually supplied form a larger tank, and the user controls how much energy will be expended, with a control valve that they can adjust to a certain level to determine the FPS of the projectile for each shot. PCPs have the advantage of NOT having to be cocked. You just load a pellet and pull the trigger. They are also capable of multiple shots on a single cylinder of air, requiring no effort, at that time, on the user, other than reloading a pellet. They can shoot projectiles that are 9 millimeters in diameter at 700-900 FPS. This is a lethal velocity and is a deadly projectile. Large game and humans are at risk from these weapons. Their biggest advantage is that they are SIGNIFICANTLY quieter than a S3P rifle. As a matter of fact they are significantly quieter than a suppressed (silenced) .22 LR. Their one disadvantage is that they run in the $900-1500 range. Kinda pricey!
I personally own an RWS Model 48, which is a quality, German, S3P, .22 caliber air rifle. I have personally taken small game with it and it works well at that. It would probably kill a human being if the shot were well placed. I have personally shot it through a 3/8” piece of hardwood at 30 yards, nuff said. This rifle cost me about $400 about 5 years ago.
Are these weapons worth their price? Depends on your price point, personally and need. Is a perfectly quiet, one shot, one kill, weapon worth it? You have to answer that yourself, but the stealth factor is very desirable. Survive well. Enjoy.
As always do not assume that everything discussed here is legal in your locale. Discuss your personal tactics with someone in the legal profession that is capable of answering your questions for your area. Nothing here should be construed as advice for the conduct and action associated with a certain set of circumstances, as all circumstances are individual and unique, and should be treated as such. Any such action, as you take, should be considered your own choice and responsibility.
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New York Gun Laws Imprisoning Tourists
January 3, 2012
A Marine is the latest in a series of arrests and prison sentences in New York for tourists unknowingly breaking a gun law. Some tourists while attempting to be responsible when seeing a ‘no gun’ sign and asking security where to check their gun, have been arrested and thrown in jail – even though the citizen has had a valid permit to carry (in another state), and had been misinformed regarding the legality to carry elsewhere.
This kind of enforcement should NOT be what these laws go after and prosecute (e.g. responsible carry of licensed citizens). Laws like these only hinder the innocent and responsible from carrying, while the criminal element thugs carry on.
The lesson learned from this story might be, if you are carrying and you wander into an area that is restricted, do not reveal to ‘authorities’ that you may be carrying – else face the wrath of the system. Just get out of that area, which you should have not entered in the first place…
Ryan Jerome was enjoying his first trip to New York City on business when the former Marine Corps gunner walked up to a security officer at the Empire State Building and asked where he should check his gun.
The 28-year-old with no criminal history now faces a mandatory minimum sentence of three and a half years in prison. If convicted, his sentence could be as high as fifteen years.
“I’ve been a law-abiding citizen my entire life, and for something like this to come down, it rips me apart,” Jerome told the New York Post. “It’s like taking a good dog and scolding him for something he didn’t do.”
In December, Tennessee nurse Meredith Graves noticed a “no guns” sign at the World Trade Center site and asked where she could leave her weapon, only to face similar charges.
Source: The Daily Caller
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THE SUB/URBAN WARRIOR
December 22, 2011
Guest post: by ‘TripodXL’
What does the sub/urban warrior wear and carry?
If you are a commuting apartment dwelling urbanite who is riding public transportation, it will be somewhat different than the minivan driving soccer moms and dads of suburbia.
The three biggest differences are; multi-family versus single-family dwellings, public transportation versus personal transportation, and the biggest one is interfacing with city life, the crowds and the “urban dynamic” versus not having to do that. That sounds prejudicial in inflection, and it is to a degree, but not because I don’t like the city or city people. It is because I tend to be a logical functionary.
In a SIGNIFICANT SHTF scenario, the deeper you are into the city, the more difficult it will be to survive in almost all possible scenarios. Anyone reading my musings, where the topic has come up, will affirm that. I preach getting out of the city and even out of suburbia as THE number one strategic survival strategy. Even if you live in the ‘burbs’ e.g. outside the D.C. city limits, it hardly qualifies as not being in the city and this applies to almost any large suburban areas. Granted, you are not inside the loop, but anywhere you get the message on the radio “and today we’re experiencing a ‘capacity usage slowdown’ on the loop right now”, you are still too deep in the urbia part of suburbia. I asked my wife what that was (capacity usage slowdown) when I visited her when she was stationed at Walter Reed a few years ago. She said she didn’t know as we motored along the loop at less than walking speed. I thought about if for a few minutes and came to the conclusion that it was that there just aren’t enough roads to service the number of people that need to use them in that geographic area. This is without an emergency! This is “normal”! Now, having used 300+ of my words for that thought, those issues of where you live will affect what you will/CAN carry as a sub/urban warrior.
Everyone’s circumstances are different and there is no correct answer as to everything you should have with you. Local political climate will affect what items you can carry, particularly if you travel into the city from another state, or the city attitude is significantly different than the rest of the state.
If you commute by car to the Metro (train subway) and rail into the city to become a “city dweller” by day, you may need two bags, one in the car and one on the Metro. We all should have our BOBs but they usually wind up in one of two states. They’re either used daily and become a purse (guys too) or they are “for emergency use only” and we don’t touch them. When was the last time you inventoried your BOB, “carry” or not? I advocate the “CARRY” of your BOB without it becoming TOO much of a purse. I was riding the Metro into D.C. from Wheaton with my wife and when we got out onto the platform to change trains I asked her if she had a flashlight. She said “no, why?” I asked her how she would get out of the Metro tunnels without one, if the lights went out. And, as my wife is wont to do, “well they have backup lights” she shoots back, because she knows where the discussion is headed. Mindset folks. Mindset. Anyway, I bought her several LED thumb lights for her purse, keys etc. and a small 100 lumen LED flashlight for her backpack. I’ll bet if you stood at the Metro entrance and took a survey, that less than one in a hundred, and that’s generous, has a WORKING light source. A lighter is not a light source.
Main topics of concern are personal protection and security, health and well-being, food, clothing and other comfort items. Personal protection items will vary according to politics. I typically do not recommend non-lethal weapons but you have to do what you are comfortable with and improvise.
It may be illegal for you to have handcuffs but electrical zip ties have hundreds of uses and if you needed to restrain someone, they would work with out having “zip-cuffs”. A quality wooden potato masher from a kitchen store would make a nice short club. Be sure it is solid and leave the tag on it so that it remains a “potato masher” if anyone asks what it is. A replacement hickory, hammer handle, 12-18” could suffice. It is important, for legal considerations, that you don’t make any modifications to these “improvised” weapons.
While on the left coast and the yeast coast in the big cities, I carried my CRKT M16-14T 5.25” (they make smaller ones), which was probably illegal, but then you do what you have to do. I guess I would have to play the dumb southern boy if I got snagged.
Some sort of knife should be carried if at all possible, not so much for defense as much as its’ utility use, like a Swiss Army knife. Get a real one. You do get what you pay for. Gerber’s little Paraframe folder #22-08485, at 2.25 inches is high quality and should be legal almost anywhere except the airport and the courthouse. That not withstanding, please obey your local laws. When I stopped for gas at exit 138 on I-20 in Louisiana, I noticed a small sign at the gas pump that noted that it was illegal to carry a concealed knife longer than 3.5 inches. I’m from the south and never heard of such a thing. I’ve carried a knife of some sort since I was old enough to not lose one, too often.
Pepper spray or a stun gun is better than nothing if it is legal. Most places that don’t like guns don’t like you having ANY power over anyone else, which is why they need to control you and your ability to defend yourself because you might hurt some unfortunate criminal who had a bad childhood and needs to be rehabilitated. In other words, you don’t understand how to use such complicated things like the trained police do. Personally, I recommend carrying a concealed firearm, legally, and being proficient with it and carry it safely. I carry mine religiously, everywhere that is legal, why have the license if you aren’t going to carry? 36 states have “shall issue” concealed carry. 4 others have no prohibition against concealed carry. The rest have “may issue” (maybe they will, maybe they won’t). EXCEPT for Illinois, which doesn’t care what your rights are or what happens to you because you can’t carry AT ALL.
Other security items should be backup copies of all your major identification. Sure it’s not official but it shows you have the foresight to have copies and if your wallet is stolen it may help smooth the way with out actual ID. Also have a backup copy of your necessary keys, phone numbers and medical info. Don’t leave any tags on your keys. If you want them returned pay for a service to return your keys and put their tag on your keys. That way you, your phone number and address are not associated with your keys. Reverse phone book anyone?
If you live in a high crime city, I would carry a first aid kit. No band-aids – leave that at the office. (FYI at the office I would have a rescue mask for exiting a burning building) The zip ties make a great tourniquet. I would carry 2 N95 masks, 2 pair of latex gloves, a bag of quick-clot and five 4”x4” pads, ace bandage w/clips, a roll of kerlix, a roll of gauze and a mouth to mouth shield, betadine/alcohol preps and that’s about it for the kit. I would also carry at least 3 days of meds. If you’re diabetic and inject I would leave an extra vial/dose pen etc. in a locked box in the office fridge and rotate it out every time I got a new one.
Food, clothing and comfort items fall into the same general category. What happens if you get snowed in the city for three days? Are you going to live out of the vending machines? What happens if you are stuck at Union station for three days because of a rogue blizzard in Virginia, D.C. and Maryland? The shops and restaurants are good for about 12-18 hrs and they are out of supplies. A large bag of beef jerky, 3 cans of Beanie Weenies, 2 Ramen Noodles and a bag of hard candy make miserable into bearable. An extra pair of socks, underwear, warmer clothing and motel soap, toothpaste and brush and you would be the king/queen. This will show my age, I have a cell phone that rings…it doesn’t do anything else. If you are so inclined, have an Ipod for music, a game (I actually have a Nintendo DS with 10 games), book or a Kindle etc. you can be entertained. A super phone would have all this. Be sure you have all the chargers/batteries that you need for these items. Dress like you want to survive. The right shoes, pants socks outer wear etc.
Running down the main things that you should carry with you, I have come up with the following list, which is not complete by any means but gives you a start. Now these items can be arranged to suit your needs, with some in the car if you are a car/train commuter, all in your pack or some in your office and the rest in your car/pack. Whatever combo works for you. Here is the list and feel free to adapt it to your own needs.
1 Pack..Spec-Ops T.H.E. (The Hold Everything pack, pricey but very good)
I have carried this pack all over the world, it has NEVER failed me!
1 Wooden potato masher/wooden hammer handle or other…no mods
1 First aid kit
1 Lg quick-clot
2 latex gloves
2 N-95 masks
5 4”x4” pads
1 Ace bandage w/clips
1 Kerlix wrap
1 roll gauze
1 resuscitation shield
1 4oz betadine or alcohol preps (betadine preferred)
1 3day supply of meds, insulin or epi-pen
3 copies of meds list and med history
1 OTC med; Tylenol, Aspirin, Pseudoephedrine etc.
1 Knife (legal) potential weapon
1 Multi-tool (I prefer Gerber)
OR 1 Swiss Army knife to replace both
20 Zip ties (tourniquets and restraint etc.)
1 100’ 550 (para) cord
1 10-18yd roll of duct tape (fix anything and medical)
2 photocopies of main ID items, addresses, ph. Numbers etc.
Food
3 High calorie survival bars
3 cans chili mac, Beanie Weenies etc.
2 Ramen Noodles
1 Lg bag hard candy
1 Lg bag beef jerky
3 20 oz bottles of water (don’t use these unless you can’t buy any)
1 Raincoat/wet weather gear (station in office or car as sit. permits, don’t carry)
1 Shoes or boots to change to, see raincoat notes
1 cold weather clothing
1 box of waterproof matches
1 Lighter (unused but tested for function)
1 package of rain lightable tinder
Light; 1 thumb light, [1 head light, 1 flashlight (AAA battery type)]
2 12-hour light sticks, yellow or green
2 sets of batteries for head light and flash light
2 space blankets
2 plastic $2 ponchos (for sharing or expedient shelter)
2 garbage bags (see above)
1 road map of surrounding area all the way home (topo too?)
MISC. items
1 prepaid Go-phone
1 prepaid Visa card
$200 in 20 $5; 50 $1; 3 Quarters; 3 Dimes; 3 Nickels
IF LEGAL; 1 pistol with magazine and 3 spare mags, loaded (4 total)
1 holster w/mag pouch for extras
1 belt for holster
1 change of FUNCTIONAL clothes (especially if you are a suit)
1 rescue whistle
1 rescue siren w/ strobe
4 qt Ziplocs and 4 pint Ziplocs (freezer kind)
Entertainment; puzzles, book, Kindle, Ipad, Nintendo DS etc.
That’s the list. It is not comprehensive, just food for thought and a building block. The items should be packed in a logical, useful manner and not just thrown in the pack. Test the items; the whistle, the matches, the strobe, the lights, etc. Make sure everything is functional and arranged for expedient use. Add to this, change it, make it better as this is not the be all and end all of Go-bags, BOBs, get home bags, whatever bags. Survive well. Enjoy.
None of this should be construed to be legal advice. If you have questions about the laws in your state and locality you should consult a professional that works in that area. None of this should be construed as advice for your situation, as every situation is different and requires your thought process to manage it. Furthermore there is no medical advice offered here and if you have such questions you should consult YOUR medical professional. Survival is a personal choice and as such is your personal responsibility. This article is for the intellectual exercise of thought about possible circumstances and possible responses for which the choice of action is solely YOUR responsibility.
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Situational Awareness and Your Personal Protection
December 18, 2011
Guest post: by ‘TripodXL’
In having a personal protection plan (and you do have one, whether you’ve thought it out or NOT), before you make a personal protection plan you have to ask the following question… “What is a survivalist?”.
Now this will sound obvious after the question, but if you get up and manage to get bathed, fed and make it to work without dying and get home the same way; if you can get up, find breakfast, make it to school and back without dying, are you a survivalist? Of course, you are. You survived! That is the definition of survivalist in its simplest form. So, in essence, everyone is a survivalist to some degree or other and is differentiated only in the degree of survivalism that we embrace.
This would come as a great surprise and shock to those who would claim to not be “one of THOSE survivalist people”. Survival is one of the strongest elements in our human nature and perception of life around us. Some think it barbaric to address such an issue and others will embrace it. I embrace it. The freedom to survive, the RIGHT to survive is, as far as I’m concerned, a God given right, or if you are so inclined, a natural right.
Anyone that stands between you and your survival implies that they don’t care if you live or die, they don’t care what your quality of life is, and you are of no consequence or meaning to them. It becomes a key philosophical mountain that you must climb and conquer conceptually, to have a basic survival MINDSET, with which to use for you and your family’s survival. If you do not come to a point where you think that you have a right AND an obligation to your family and self to survive, then you will probably not survive, except by luck, and if that’s how you manage to survive, you may not be happy with the outcome.
So, what does a personal protection plan encompass? First, have a plan. A proper plan encompasses situational awareness, physical and mental preparation, and proper equipment and execution (tactics). The equipment is easy. All you have to do is buy it after researching what is best for YOUR situation.
Situational awareness is a mindset of just being aware of what is around you and the dynamic circumstances related to you.
Expertise is also something that you can buy, sort of, but will require practice, whether it is a classic martial art or some other training by either getting DVDs, or books and/or professional instruction. You have to have the discipline to accomplish it.
Mental preparation is also something you can get training on, or read books and listen to CDs/DVDs. It is something that takes place inside your head. Your psyche MUST change to the point that you understand (in advance of needing it) and will do whatever it takes to survive and protect you and yours. It will require getting past the lame, egalitarian, sheeple crap that you are taught in school, from liberal academia and society in general, about not hitting, not fighting back and just being a cooperative little sheeple in general.
Execution, both mental and physical requires practice, practice and more practice. Practice your plan mentally and brainstorm scenarios as well as hone the physical skills needed to have reasonable physical prowess and execute the appropriate skill sets successfully.
The number one part of a Personal Protection Plan and probably the most difficult to achieve is situational awareness (SA)? Simply put it’s your situation and your awareness of it. The best way to deal with trouble is to avoid it in the first place, which is the purpose of SA. No trouble, no problem!
Next time you go to Wally World, perform this exercise. Sit way out in the parking lot for a while and watch how insipidly and inanely people do things. They will walk down the middle of the driving lane, talking on their phone, completely oblivious to the 8 cars they are holding up, right behind them, motors running. Or they will just walk out in front of oncoming cars, pedestrians have the right of way don’t they, and just walk on in complete bliss and oblivion. No one will look around and they won’t look behind themselves to get some idea of what their situation is, day or night! They will mosey on and never look back. How dumb.
Here are two real-life examples of SA or the lack of it.
A young Wally World employee was walking out to her car after work, in the dark, and you can see on the parking lot video as she walks along, oblivious to all around her. In the dark a guy runs up behind her as she nears her car and abducts her in her car and as you can probably imagine she was found dead some days later. I’m not blaming this on her, it is solely the killer’s fault for killing her, but she does bear responsibility for her own well being, or lack thereof.
This next one is personal. My wife calls me one morning from work and asks me to go home at lunch and see if her purse is there. I do and it isn’t, the purse is gone. After hindsight and thought, we came to the conclusion that when she dropped off the baby (you park, run in, throw the baby through the window and sign the paper and leave), someone in an adjacent parking lot watched her at daycare and noted she did not have her purse with her, ran over and took it out of the running car. Wow, how much worse could that have been? Less than two minutes.
Some people are nothing but trash and you accommodate them (by being easy prey) at your own peril. Others are very opportunistic and will stab you in the back, literally. You will have to learn to be steely hard and be aware of subterfuge and cunning when dealing with everyone, even a “defenseless” mother and child. Beware, who’s watching you? That’s scary isn’t it?
Don’t just daydream and walk along…quit it! We all do it but when you make an active personal protection plan, your ways of looking at the world change and your mind changes the way it functions. You develop a cognizance of the world around you.
Some of the things you need to think about or be aware just don’t occur to you because you’re not a criminal by trade. I remember someone said something about having their rural house broken into and they performed some serious security upgrades to the house. The next time the crooks just chopped a hole in the roof! I remember thinking to myself, “why would they mess up the roof that way”? Oh, they’re criminals and don’t care about the mess they leave. To deal with the criminal world around you, you have to think like a criminal.
Also, listen to the “inner you”. The INSTANT a thought goes through your mind that, “that doesn’t look right”, it probably isn’t. You should do a 360, both mentally and physically right then, just stop, spin around and reassess your situation (I don’t mean bust a dance move or behave in a manner that would cause stress to people, just stop, look at your watch, dig in your pockets like you’re looking for something ALL the while looking around you and taking it in).
You should look around and watch people. I never park by the door at the big box stores. I need the exercise and it lets me overlook the parking lot and see who’s watching whom. What looks odd, out of place and not right? Be observant, it is a learned habit. It should become second nature to look for oddities in people’s behavior.
Not to be sexist, but women are taught to be nice and tolerant. They will climb into a locked, soundproof, isolated, metal box (elevator) with someone that gives them second thoughts, but they don’t want to be impolite or rude, even though they get bad vibes they do it anyway. Ladies AND gentlemen, quit it! In the military it’s called “watching your six” (your six o’clock position, directly behind you).
Be aware of what and whom is/are around you, with out fail. If it doesn’t look right, feel right or you’re just not sure, then BREAK OFF THE ENGAGEMENT (be impolite) with the situation so you can back up, observe, consider the facts and reassess the situation.
The key to SA is to stop, look, assess and then act on that information. The better you get at this, the more likely you are to ACT in advance of some event, instead of REACT to it as it occurs. Which do you think is to your advantage?
Remember, the best way to use your Personal Protection Plan is to avoid using it with situational awareness.
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Holiday Gun Sales are Smashing Records
December 14, 2011
Gun sales are surging off the charts this year as more and more people are ‘locked and loaded’. Holiday gun sales are setting records this year, according to firearm dealers, with shoppers snapping up Colts, Glocks, Smith & Wesson’s and more, with a fever usually reserved for Elmo and Transformers.
Apparently, people are doing what they need to do to protect themselves and their families. The category of firearm that has continued to sell very well is something one would have if they were concerned about their personal safety. There’s a lot of things going on in the world that are getting people thinking – like desperate criminals breaking into homes while people are sleeping…
During ‘Black Friday’ this year, gun dealers flooded the FBI with background check requests for prospective buyers, smashing the single-day, all-time high by 32%, according to bureau records. Deputy Assistant FBI Director Jerry Pender said the checks, required by federal law, surged to 129,166 during the day.
Larry Keane, a spokesman for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, said 25% of the purchases typically involve first-time buyers, many of them women. “I think there also is a burgeoning awakening of the American public that they do have a constitutional right to own guns,” Keane said. “It’s really pretty amazing,”
Another hot stocking stuffer: Personal defense items like pepper sprays and stun guns, with one of the country’s biggest manufacturers saying sales are up significantly over last year.
Have you recently purchased a gun? Leave a comment and tell us what you purchased, and why…
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