Urban Survival Equipment - Mil-Dot Reticle for Observation Devices

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received the following comment on the post about If Sniper Rifles were Necessary for a Survival Firearms Battery: "Anonymous said...Hey good post, made sense to me. Do you recommend a high magnification binoculars or a a spotting spot and if so what type and why? Does it make sense to get a rifle scope, or binocular or spotting scope with the mil dot setup?"

UrbanMan replies: Mil-dot scopes provide a way for the user to range his target. The basic concept here is the user knows the magnification setting on the scope for which to use the mil-dots as a ranging estimate. The distance between each Mil-dots are one Mil. Each Mil is about 3.5 inches at 100 yards to keep it simple.

Therefore if you were looking through your scope at a 3.5 inch index card, and that card measured from one Mil-Dot to the next (center to center), the distance would be 100 yards....as one mil equals 3.5 inches at 100 yards.
Actually, one mil equals 3.6 inches at 100 yards but I'm rounding down to make it easy for this post, for readers to understand and do the math.

If you were looking at a man sized target, lets say 18 inches from waist to chin and the distance that sight picture (from waist to chin) took up 5 Mil-Dots in your scope, then that distance would be 100 yards....Five mils equals 17.5 inches at 100 yards.

It's just plain math from here on out. That same man sized target, waist to chin, at 200 yards would take up 2.5 mils or the distance of 2 1/2 dots (center to center) in your scope.

So you pretty much have to know the dimensions, either height or width of your target in order to use the Mil-Dot ranging technique. Having said that, I prefer a Mil-Dot reticle in my bolt rifle scopes, however the only one I currently have is a 4.5x14mm Leupold on my Remington LTR.

As far as observation equipment for Urban Survival, having a good pair of binoculars are always handy. I own five binos. Probably won't be buying anymore soon, but you can tell the value I place in them. I have 10x50mm, 8x56mm, 7x50mm, 10x42mm and a small set, 8x24mm. Not counting the quality of lens and the coating, you can divide the magnification (the first number) into the second number (the size of the objective lens) and the higher than number the better light gathering or light transmission capability you'll have.

For instance a 7x50mm gives you a 7.1 factor, whereas the 8x24mm gives you 3.0. The 7x50mm will take in more light and therefore are more usable during periods of lower light (dawn and dusk).

Spotting scopes are generally bigger, more cumbersome but provide higher magnification. When using anything over a 10 power magnification, you will need to use a rest or a tripod as the image will dance around too much. I think that spotting scopes are great for observation at long distance, with variable magnifications usually in the 10 to 60 power range, however I think the Urban Survivalist's first priority would be several pair of decent binoculars.
All the binoculars at this page are good kit and fair priced. I own one set of Steiners and two sets of Leupold, but my cheaper binos (Bushnells) have given me good service.

Urban Survival Firearms - Sniper Rifle Necessity?

UrbanMan was asked a question about the necessity or priorities of having a "sniper" rifle as part of a Survival Battery.

I think you have to consider alot of factors first:
1. What are your other firearms in your Survival Battery?
2. Are to going to be soley operating and surviving in an Urban environment? What are you expected engagement ranges?
3. What is your experience level with firearms and especially scoped firearms?

If I did not have a Battle Rifle (e.g..M1A1, FAL, etc.) or Assault Rifle/Carbine (e.g..M-4 or variant), or any other magazine fed rifle/carbine, then I would consider the procurement of one of these rifles a priority before I purchased a scoped rifle suitable for sniping/hunting. In fact, especially in an Urban environment I would consider a battle/assault rifle or carbine, a 12 gauge shotgun and a magazine fed handgun to be a higher priority than a scoped rifle.

Not just because of the lack of longer engagement ranges, but due to the fact that the density of potential threats are much greater in an urban environment.

In my mind there are three advantages to owning a scoped rifle in a decent caliber, minimum of which would be .308 Winchester. These advantages are:
1. If you were decently proficient with the scope rifle (sniper rifle) you could expect to engage threats in the 600 to 800 meter range. But the question of how will you know they are a threat at this distance?
2. The scope, would give you an observation tool on your firearms as opposing to slinging your firearms and going to your binoculars.
3. A scope rifle is a definite advantage if you hunt game bigger than rabbits.

I have a Remington Light Tactical Rifle (LTR) with a 20 inch barrel and a Luepold 4.5x14mm scope, which lets me, on a calm day, rountinely ping the small LaRue steel targets at 600 meters. That's, of course, at the range. At home, from any window or potential fighting position in my suburban home, the farthest distance I can observe or the longest range I could engage at would be about 125 meters. Making that too easy of a shot with a M-4, scope or not.

When engaging at, say 500 meters and farther, there is a distinct advantage with a heavier caliber. If your Safe Location (Bug Out location) is a farmhouse or cabin with a 500 meter or more cleared field of fire, then it would seem a rifle calibered (as opposed to carbine caliber) scoped rifle would be a good tool to have on hand.

If you not accustomed to scoped rifles, either as a school trained military or law enforcement sniper, or have a butt load of hunting experience, then there is alot to learn about using scopes and engaging at long ranges, such as estimating range, reading winds, making scope adjustments, computing ballistics, hold off and hold over are examples. It's not as simple as placing the cross hairs on a target and pressing the trigger.

I am looking into a .338 Lapua calibered platform, but continually go back and forth between needs and wants. Everyone reading this know what that means. It would be a tool that would be very useful at my primary Bug Out location (Safe Location), but just an extra piece of equipment at my suburban home. Maybe just an expense that would be better spent on more food.

Answering Reader Comments on Economic Collapse Indicators

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received a couple quick comments about how local government bankruptcy are an indicator of a pending collapse.

Anonymous 1 said...Stop with the peyote! I was with you until now...and...Anonymous 2 said...How does these cities going bankrupt plunge us into a collapse?

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com does not believe that simply one or more local governments going bankrupt, or, a number of either government employee unions or commercial unions defaulting on their pension responsibilities will plunge us into anarchy or an economic collapse.

It is a combination of events and a chain reaction that may very well push us head down into a gradual economic collapse. One of the dangers of a gradual economic collapse is that it could pickup speed and very quickly over whelm us.

I friend of mine sent me an e-mail telling me his County, located on the Mexican border, has to cut $15 million from it's budget. This County has a population of 1.1 million spread out over 1,200 square miles. The proposal on the table is for the County Sheriffs Office to cut or lay off 65 patrol deputies from it's ciurrent staff of 270. This of course is occuring all across the country as local governments try to balance budgets and make payroll. Sure the County saves money, but who pays for the unemployment benefits of laid off patrol deputies? We're not even talking about the problems with a greatly reduced patrol and response capability and what that means to an increase in crime. What about City or County's going bankrupt and cannot meet payroll for utility workers? City or County Hospitals?

Same for other programs like the food stamp and other welfare programs. The Government is just going to run out of credit, as the deficit is 4 times larger than it has ever been in our history. No country has ever rebounded from such a economic condition. Manufacturing continues to go "off shore" reducing our self sufficency as a Country. Add increased taxes after the Bush tax cuts expire which will not only restrict the growth of business and jobs, and there is just no basis for solid hope that our economy will rebound, but there is plenty of analysis that we will go into a super recession and another great depression.

Some analysts call this the destruction of the American middle class. And the danger here is that without a middle class, this country will have only the "haves" and the "have nots", with the have not's out numbering the haves by a 20 to 1 ratio. With unemployment currently at 18 to 19% , counting the people who claim unemployment insurance and are theroretically looking for work and the people who have given up looking for work, and the annual in-coming influx of high school students not being able to find jobs, all indicate a large group of disaffected people who have grown up in an entitlement society. What would you think about a concentrated population group living nearby you who are without food, can't pay for utilities and are mad about the government not being able to take care of them? I think that's a powder keg.

Once the Obama Administration is successful in pulling out of Iraq and Afghanistan, mark my words, you'll see a reduction in the Military, both uniformed service members and civil service positions - it has happened after every war. This will add to the burden as there won;t be jobs for all the service members and civil service looking for work.

The stage is set for a great depression. This one will be much worse with the sheer numbers and population density of desperate people. So the point of the articles on economic factors is that 1 - this is not only possible but probable and therefore a scenario in which Survival Planners and Preppers need to prepare for, and 2- an gradual economic collapse is much more likely than a nuclear strike, panademic disease spread or whatever a person's greatest fear is.

Urban Survival Planning - Another Economic Factor Indicating a Collapse

The "solar storms" emanuating from the planet Mars, or was it coming from Klingon space ships?,..like some people are yodeling about this week, is a much less threat to us than a likely economic collapse caused by giant debt at all levels of government. Look at what it did to Greece.

Municipalities are declaring bankruptcy attemting to change the impact of Union pensions which are bankrupting them. A recent report outlined the massive deficit in Union pensions in Oakland, Newark, Philadelphia and Chicago. Kinda of poetic justice since corrupt, or at least inept local governments at these locations have partered with the Unions for years for political contributions, voter registration drives and even voter intimidation campaigns.

Many locations are not only mandating un-paid furloughs for city, county and state workers, but some of these government workers are emergency providers. If you are reading this site you probably have come to the conclusions that your first line of crime prevention is yourself and your gun, but it is troubling that at all levels of government we are seeing a great financial crisis.

This could easily manifest itself into a major and/or long term recession or even a depression. Tax rates have to rise, as unemployment will. What will happen when tens of thousands of unemployed workers, especially in large urban centers, cannot be taken care of by the Government?

This is the basic scenario outlined in the series "American Apocalypse", and represents a very likely happening that will threaten our security and our survival.