After Armageddon continues in Week 19 with Chris, wife Ellen and son Casey continuing to walk through the hot Mojave desert - in daytime, rather than holing up during the day and walking at night.
When dehydrated, as Chris and his family are, decision making is impaired. A person can go two maybe three days without water but certainly the last 24 to 36 hours that person's physical and mental capabilities are greatly reduced.
When Chris approached the house and encountered the girl with the shotgun and took the shotgun away - he should have kept it, as well as searched the house for more ammunition. If there was no water, then he may have decided to take the girls with him and his family, they would die anyway - his wife may have been the best person to approach the children. I don't know - tough call. What would you have done? Certainly keep the shotgun I would.
Chris' argument with, then explosive behavior over his son not eating the snake meat is a result of extreme stress. If you can't keep cool, bad decisions will be made, and, in a survival group with people bearing firearms people very well may kill each other. Oh by the way, did you see how Chris killed the snake? Cutting his head off between the forked stick and the head - bad idea,,...once separated from the body the head could have flipped around and bite Chris. The head will remain dangerous for maybe several hours. Pin the head and cut behind the forked stick is much safer.
Chris finds luck where/when he could have least expected it with encountering the gentlemen he stopped to help days back, and ended up with a ride to a small community, where he and his family found shelter.
Small communities have the best chance of surviving extreme scale collapses of the economic, infrastructure and/or of a pandemic nature. Maintaining order may be hard unless entities such as governmental organizations, such as the elected community council and law enforcement, remain intact.
Religious organizations may become powerful enough to be the key decision making cog in small communities. If you end up at one, RUN AWAY if they have mandatory religious meetings. Our founders never intended our clergy to run the government, only provide religious and moral direction to those who desire it.
However, if a community if going to survive, mandatory meetings and decision making power will have to accepted and respected.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Urban Survival Skills – Using the Military Lensatic Compass
As a navigation aid, the two basic uses of the magnetic compass is to allow the user to determine the azimuth or direction in magnetic degrees of a desired diration, and to set a direction again in magnetic degrees on the compass using a rotating bezel and follow that azimuth (dead reckoning).
Compasses are an essential tool for the Urban Survivalist to have, even if you think you can make it from your urban location to your designated safe location via a wheeled vehicle without ever having to walk cross country. Knowing the basic uses for a compass are just common survival skills, like tying knots, building a fire or shelter, etc.
The magnetic compass has a magnetized NORTH seeking arrow which depicts magnetic NORTH as opposed to Grid NORTH which is what maps are oriented to.
One of the better compass to have is the military Lensatic Compass with Tritium Luminous index marks and luminous NORTH seeking arrow for use at night.
Parts of the Lensatic Compass.
Determining (Shooting) Azimuths.
1. Bend the rear sight with the sighting slot to a 45 degree angle over the floating dial.
2. Flip up the compass cover 90 degrees so you can look through the sighting slot and through the sighting wire on the compass cover. Just below the sighting slot is a magnifying glass that you look through to read the degrees on the floating dial.
3. As you sight on an object through the rear sight, center the sighting wire on that object. Holding the compass steady and level, look down, through the magnifying glass, at the floating dial and read the azimuth aligned with the fixed black index line. This is the magnetic azimuth from you to the object.
Setting an azimuth on the Lensatic Compass.
1. Keeping the compass level, rotate the compass until the black index line is on the desired azimuth. Then rotate the bezel ring until the short luminous line on the bezel ring is matched up with the luminous magnetic arrow.
2. You can move with the compass open keeping the short luminous line on the bezel ring matched up with the luminous magnetic arrow and you will be on the selected azimuth – this is called dead reckoning.
The Civilian Silva Style Compass. The use of the Silva style compass is very similar, rotating the bezel ring to line up a mark on the bezel with the NORTH seeking arrow. The disadvantage of the Silva style compass is that determining more precise azimuths from you to a distant object with harder without a sighting slot and sighting wire. However these are excellent compasses and cheaper than the Military Lensatic Compasses. Our motto is "One is none, Two is one" - meaning have a backup, so having one of each is not a bad idea for the well equipped survivialist. Silva Style Compass shown below:
Walking on short legs on a compass azimuth it is very prudent to keep track of the distance you have traveled and to match terrain that is depicted on the map to what you are seeing on the ground – this is called terrain association. You need to be able to determine what the terrain features are and how they should look in 3D. Using dead reckoning and terrain association together is your best chance of navigation through unknown country and is, again, a basic skills for Urban Survivalist as you never know when circumstances, vehicle failure, lack of fuel, criminal threats or the weather and environment will force you to move over land cross country.
Compasses are an essential tool for the Urban Survivalist to have, even if you think you can make it from your urban location to your designated safe location via a wheeled vehicle without ever having to walk cross country. Knowing the basic uses for a compass are just common survival skills, like tying knots, building a fire or shelter, etc.
The magnetic compass has a magnetized NORTH seeking arrow which depicts magnetic NORTH as opposed to Grid NORTH which is what maps are oriented to.
One of the better compass to have is the military Lensatic Compass with Tritium Luminous index marks and luminous NORTH seeking arrow for use at night.
Parts of the Lensatic Compass.
Determining (Shooting) Azimuths.
1. Bend the rear sight with the sighting slot to a 45 degree angle over the floating dial.
2. Flip up the compass cover 90 degrees so you can look through the sighting slot and through the sighting wire on the compass cover. Just below the sighting slot is a magnifying glass that you look through to read the degrees on the floating dial.
3. As you sight on an object through the rear sight, center the sighting wire on that object. Holding the compass steady and level, look down, through the magnifying glass, at the floating dial and read the azimuth aligned with the fixed black index line. This is the magnetic azimuth from you to the object.
Setting an azimuth on the Lensatic Compass.
1. Keeping the compass level, rotate the compass until the black index line is on the desired azimuth. Then rotate the bezel ring until the short luminous line on the bezel ring is matched up with the luminous magnetic arrow.
2. You can move with the compass open keeping the short luminous line on the bezel ring matched up with the luminous magnetic arrow and you will be on the selected azimuth – this is called dead reckoning.
The Civilian Silva Style Compass. The use of the Silva style compass is very similar, rotating the bezel ring to line up a mark on the bezel with the NORTH seeking arrow. The disadvantage of the Silva style compass is that determining more precise azimuths from you to a distant object with harder without a sighting slot and sighting wire. However these are excellent compasses and cheaper than the Military Lensatic Compasses. Our motto is "One is none, Two is one" - meaning have a backup, so having one of each is not a bad idea for the well equipped survivialist. Silva Style Compass shown below:
Walking on short legs on a compass azimuth it is very prudent to keep track of the distance you have traveled and to match terrain that is depicted on the map to what you are seeing on the ground – this is called terrain association. You need to be able to determine what the terrain features are and how they should look in 3D. Using dead reckoning and terrain association together is your best chance of navigation through unknown country and is, again, a basic skills for Urban Survivalist as you never know when circumstances, vehicle failure, lack of fuel, criminal threats or the weather and environment will force you to move over land cross country.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Urban Survival Skills – Foot Movement and Navigation Off Road
Jacob sent me a message on Face Book (see Urban Man at Facebook) regarding moving across country on foot. He saw the After Armageddon 6 of 9 video of Chris and his family moving in daylight on the two lane road and wanted to know, without a Global Positioning System (GPS), Land Navigation, Maps and Map Reading skills, what should Chris have done.
Chris should have had a plan with routes out of the city using PACE. Primary, Alternate, Contingency and Emergency Bug Out routes. At any given point during transit on any given route, you may have to give up your vehicle and move on foot.
Navigation has to be integrated into sound movement principles. Some considerations for movement are the same for Urban, Suburban or Rural environments or terrain. Principles are the same, techniques may be different.
1. You may have to move during the night and hole up during the day to conserve your energy and water. There may be times when you have to move during the day in order to gain distance from bad areas or bad people.
2. Move using the terrain to your advantage, whether it’s buildings or hills, bridges or fences or wood lines. Use terrain to mask your movement.
3. Do not move bunched up; instead move with sufficient interval between the people in your Survival Group to make harder targets for bad guys.
4. Try not to leave signs of your passage which is most important when you cross what we call linear danger areas (roads, trails, natural lines of drift, streams, etc). Danger areas, linear or otherwise, are likely places to contact the threat or places that expose you and your group.
5. Make sufficient halts to check navigation, rest your group, and for security. Consider moving off your route in a button hook fashion in order to check your trail for anybody following or tracking you. Choose locations for stops that are defensible and have an escape route away from any anticipated approach or attack from bad guys.
As far a Land Navigation goes, a GPS is a great tool given the satellites are working AND you have sufficient batteries. To tell you the truth I have a GPS but will never use it. The batteries are more important to me for other things such as radios, flashlights and lanterns.
You should have a compass, in fact have two, and know how to use it (we have a saying "Two is One and One is None" when it comes to our Survival Kit). Using a compass also requires you being able to read map (where you are at and where you want to go) then plot an azimuth (or direction) from here to there on a map.
Following a compass bearing (aka azimuth or direction) is called dead reckoning. If you dead reckon without regard to the terrain you may have a rough go over bad terrain that you could have walked around, so consider planning shorter “legs” of your journey to avoid bad terrain.
You will have to keep track of the distance traveled in help determine where you are at any given time. Using a pace count is great. Having someone in your group keep track of how many steps, therefore how many hundreds of yards or meters you traveled. For this to work, you have to know how many steps if takes for you to travel a given distance. Over fairly flat terrain, carrying a light to moderate load, I take 64 left steps to make 100 meters.
Terrain Association is where you see a particular piece of terrain, such as a hill, finger, saddle, fork in a river, etc., and locate that on the map to determine where you are at.
Now apply all of it: Reading a Map, plotting routes, dead reckoning using a compass, moving using principles of movement like a organized patrol would, integrate terrain association and keep track of your distance traveled. If you don’t have these skills or tools, start acquiring them.
You can start with maps of your present Urban/Suburban location to your planned Safe Location. Any map is better than none, but the US Geological Survey Maps in 1:25,000 scale or 1:100,000 scale should be available. Maybe you can get your hands on Military 1:50,000 scale maps – all of these are great assets to your Survival Gear and Equipment load list.
As far as Chris in the After Armageddon videos, without any plan, navigation aids, or Survival Gear or Equipment, when he was on foot he should have moved off the road at least 50 yards and check for oncoming traffic both ways. He could have moved further of the road keeping divergent terrain between his family and the road. He could have paralleled the road using it as a navigation aid but be a better position to hide from on-coming traffic and potential threats. He should have been moving at night and holing up during the day under shade or a field expedient shelter with a terrain feature or terrain between his hole up and the traveling paths for potential bad guys, such as the highway.
The same principles for Chris or anybody traveling in a vehicle. Use the aforementioned principles of movement when in a vehicle also. Get off the road in a covered and/or concealed position. Doesn’t need to be far in most cases, just out of line of sight off the road. You should cover the shiny parts of your personal equipment and vehicles to keep the sun from reflecting off of it and attracting attention.
Hope this provides a better understanding for you Jacob. Good luck and check preparing – skills, gear, mindset and planning.
Chris should have had a plan with routes out of the city using PACE. Primary, Alternate, Contingency and Emergency Bug Out routes. At any given point during transit on any given route, you may have to give up your vehicle and move on foot.
Navigation has to be integrated into sound movement principles. Some considerations for movement are the same for Urban, Suburban or Rural environments or terrain. Principles are the same, techniques may be different.
1. You may have to move during the night and hole up during the day to conserve your energy and water. There may be times when you have to move during the day in order to gain distance from bad areas or bad people.
2. Move using the terrain to your advantage, whether it’s buildings or hills, bridges or fences or wood lines. Use terrain to mask your movement.
3. Do not move bunched up; instead move with sufficient interval between the people in your Survival Group to make harder targets for bad guys.
4. Try not to leave signs of your passage which is most important when you cross what we call linear danger areas (roads, trails, natural lines of drift, streams, etc). Danger areas, linear or otherwise, are likely places to contact the threat or places that expose you and your group.
5. Make sufficient halts to check navigation, rest your group, and for security. Consider moving off your route in a button hook fashion in order to check your trail for anybody following or tracking you. Choose locations for stops that are defensible and have an escape route away from any anticipated approach or attack from bad guys.
As far a Land Navigation goes, a GPS is a great tool given the satellites are working AND you have sufficient batteries. To tell you the truth I have a GPS but will never use it. The batteries are more important to me for other things such as radios, flashlights and lanterns.
You should have a compass, in fact have two, and know how to use it (we have a saying "Two is One and One is None" when it comes to our Survival Kit). Using a compass also requires you being able to read map (where you are at and where you want to go) then plot an azimuth (or direction) from here to there on a map.
Following a compass bearing (aka azimuth or direction) is called dead reckoning. If you dead reckon without regard to the terrain you may have a rough go over bad terrain that you could have walked around, so consider planning shorter “legs” of your journey to avoid bad terrain.
You will have to keep track of the distance traveled in help determine where you are at any given time. Using a pace count is great. Having someone in your group keep track of how many steps, therefore how many hundreds of yards or meters you traveled. For this to work, you have to know how many steps if takes for you to travel a given distance. Over fairly flat terrain, carrying a light to moderate load, I take 64 left steps to make 100 meters.
Terrain Association is where you see a particular piece of terrain, such as a hill, finger, saddle, fork in a river, etc., and locate that on the map to determine where you are at.
Now apply all of it: Reading a Map, plotting routes, dead reckoning using a compass, moving using principles of movement like a organized patrol would, integrate terrain association and keep track of your distance traveled. If you don’t have these skills or tools, start acquiring them.
You can start with maps of your present Urban/Suburban location to your planned Safe Location. Any map is better than none, but the US Geological Survey Maps in 1:25,000 scale or 1:100,000 scale should be available. Maybe you can get your hands on Military 1:50,000 scale maps – all of these are great assets to your Survival Gear and Equipment load list.
As far as Chris in the After Armageddon videos, without any plan, navigation aids, or Survival Gear or Equipment, when he was on foot he should have moved off the road at least 50 yards and check for oncoming traffic both ways. He could have moved further of the road keeping divergent terrain between his family and the road. He could have paralleled the road using it as a navigation aid but be a better position to hide from on-coming traffic and potential threats. He should have been moving at night and holing up during the day under shade or a field expedient shelter with a terrain feature or terrain between his hole up and the traveling paths for potential bad guys, such as the highway.
The same principles for Chris or anybody traveling in a vehicle. Use the aforementioned principles of movement when in a vehicle also. Get off the road in a covered and/or concealed position. Doesn’t need to be far in most cases, just out of line of sight off the road. You should cover the shiny parts of your personal equipment and vehicles to keep the sun from reflecting off of it and attracting attention.
Hope this provides a better understanding for you Jacob. Good luck and check preparing – skills, gear, mindset and planning.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
After Armageddon 6 of 9 - A History Channel Program and Lessons Learned
This Chapter, week 17 into 18, begins with Chris and Ellen running away from the warehouse in an Industrial Section after Ellen shot a M16 wielding mutt (about to shoot her husband), and both Chris and Ellen failed to retrieve either weapon or water as they were fleeing.
After their escape in their vehicle, Chris pulls off on the shoulder of a road and within a short period of time a passing truck with armed men stop by and loot Chris' vehicle and steal the vehicle's gas while Chris and family hide in a ditch. Chris and family then set out on foot.
Watch the video below, thinking what you would have done, then come back and read the lessons learned.
When Chris stopped for his wife to throw up, he stopped without any consideration of a covered and concealed or defensible position. If he would have found a dirt road, driven slowly not to raise dust, then found a position concealed from the highway, he would still have what meager supplies and clothing the armed men in the truck took from him, not to mention still have a mode of transportation.
The commentator makes a great point of surmising no more big farms because of the lack of fossil fuels to run machinery. We will simply have to feed ourselves. Do you have a stockage of non-hybrid seeds? Have you ever or can you now grow your own food?
At the trailer Chris fails to search the entire trailer for Gear and Equipment that he could use for Survival; he fails to check the water heater for water; he fails to check the vehicles to see if he can get one to run; and failed to collect and purify more radiator fluid to filter and boil for drinking water.
Chris and his family were walking during the heat of the day as opposed to moving when it's the coolest (at night) then holing up under shade during the hot day.
Remember the commentator's excellent adage that people will form together in bands or gangs to search and take what they need. Don't be their victim. Be better prepared not only with Gear, Equipment, Food but also with a plan.
After their escape in their vehicle, Chris pulls off on the shoulder of a road and within a short period of time a passing truck with armed men stop by and loot Chris' vehicle and steal the vehicle's gas while Chris and family hide in a ditch. Chris and family then set out on foot.
Watch the video below, thinking what you would have done, then come back and read the lessons learned.
When Chris stopped for his wife to throw up, he stopped without any consideration of a covered and concealed or defensible position. If he would have found a dirt road, driven slowly not to raise dust, then found a position concealed from the highway, he would still have what meager supplies and clothing the armed men in the truck took from him, not to mention still have a mode of transportation.
The commentator makes a great point of surmising no more big farms because of the lack of fossil fuels to run machinery. We will simply have to feed ourselves. Do you have a stockage of non-hybrid seeds? Have you ever or can you now grow your own food?
At the trailer Chris fails to search the entire trailer for Gear and Equipment that he could use for Survival; he fails to check the water heater for water; he fails to check the vehicles to see if he can get one to run; and failed to collect and purify more radiator fluid to filter and boil for drinking water.
Chris and his family were walking during the heat of the day as opposed to moving when it's the coolest (at night) then holing up under shade during the hot day.
Remember the commentator's excellent adage that people will form together in bands or gangs to search and take what they need. Don't be their victim. Be better prepared not only with Gear, Equipment, Food but also with a plan.
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