Longtime lurker. For me the best survival advice is the rule of 3’s
You can survive 3 minutes w/o air. 3 hours w/o shelter. 3 days w/o water and 3 weeks w/o food. I Plan my hikes and time outdoors based on that. For a longer term survival situation pack tampons and sanitary napkins. You may not need them but someone you know surely will.
Good to see you, don’t be a stranger and don’t forget the baby wipes. Took more baby wipe baths than I care to remember.
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Motivational Monday:
True grit here, hit the gym today.
For those not familiar with the Tactical Athlete Games, I will list their FaceBook page. Basically, it is Crossfit with weapons. All events are performed in full gear. I was on leave in May 2018 and was able to observe the competition on the last day. For me, great stuff. It is geared toward military and LE, but anyone can attend, who can prove to the directors your experience with firearms. A dentist from North Carolina took third place and beat out both military and LE personnel.
They have since added a woman’s division and this is the subject of today’s post.
All my respect, Mrs. Cole;
This lady right here proves that age is just a number and it is never too late to challenge yourself.
Nancy is 61 years old and competed in the Atlanta event. “I was pushed far beyond any limits I had set for myself and came out on the winning end. I was pleased with my shooting and left with a nice long list of things I need to work on to be more competitive with the other ladies with whom I had the privilege to compete… My “One Big Thing” for 2019 is in the books. I’m sore, bruised, grinning from ear to ear, and ready to do it all over again next year”
I am posting two other competitors to show you two other strength challenges.
Yesterday’ work and skills:
Had access to a high school football field. jog 100 yards, Kettle Bell swings. repeat until almost smoked. Save some energy for Kettle Bell grenades.
Questions of the day:
If you live anywhere on the East Coast of the United States: Do you have a 5 day supply of water and food? Does your vehicle have a full gas tank? Do you have a med kit? Flashlights or other power source? Prescriptions meds? Check your supplies and especially, you vehicle go bag in case you have to evacuate.
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Thought for the day: " A man’s home is his castle". Some advice on defending:
Sometimes you’ll have no choice but to move from one room to another during a break in: You’ll need to get to your family and your firearm. Once you’ve got both, don’t bother moving through the house like Rambo trying to take down the bad guys one by one. Instead, put yourself in a solidly defensible position, keep your family around the corner, out of sight, and behind whatever cover you can find. Call the police and keep them on the line. Then, if need be, open fire to keep the home intruders from entering the room you’re all hiding in. The best place for you to take cover is somewhere that allows you as clear a line of sight of their approach as possible, while allowing for as little exposure to your opponents as possible.
Remember, drywall doesn’t stop bullets, and neither will your kitchen table, couch, or mattress. Real cover needs to be legitimately solid (steel, concrete, a stack of logs) — so if you’re lacking in real cover, do your best with staying low and keeping the intruders back until help arrives.
Stay on the line with the police, even if you have to drop the phone to defend yourself. Keeping the line open will help them to understand what’s going on in the room for when the responding officers arrive. Remember, in this defensive position, you really are fighting for your life and the lives of your family. Most intruders will run rather than get shot or arrested, so anyone that’s willing to exchange gunfire with you to get into your bedroom likely has something worse in mind than stealing your wife’s jewelry.
If you’ve got the training and the confidence, clear your house the way you’ve been taught. But if you’re a normal mortal with a gun, your best bet is finding a defensible position and waiting for backup. It could save your life.
Yesterday’s work:
Heavy bag and speed bag
TKD and Kali Katas
Krav Maga class.
Question of the day:
Is your tetanus shot up to date?
I feel like these are wildly important statements that get absolutely no air time when it comes to self defense. Stay within your scope, you have the best chance of survival if you have a realistic view of your skills and scope of ability, I feel like everyone buys a gun (without a background in LE or Military) and immediately thinks they’re John fkn Wick, nah, my plan has always been to hunker and take pot shots to scare anyone off, and saving one in case they get close enough I can put it against their chest, having a real idea of your skill level, mental abilities in stressful situations, etc., is one of the biggest factors (to me) and for those of us without any formal training, it is all to rare.
Well said, brother. That goes for anyone from the highly trained to the average person. You must have a solid, realistic foundation of what you can do. Like you said, most people watching the “World’s Strongest Man” competition, would realize that could not do those feats of strength. They but a gun and they become John Wick.
Thought for the Day:
Paradise on my right, Hell on my left and the Angel of Death behind.”
― Frank Herbert, Dune
September is “preparedness month” at the 5.11 Tactical Company. During the month, they offer a wide range of classes on everything from medical to go bags. Most of these classes are free and are given throughout the United States.
Yes, I know they will promote their products during these seminars , but, you don’t have to buy and its cheap to listen to others talking about a variety of subjects that we discuss here.
Look over the list and see if you can attend a class.
Yesterday’s work:
On the range all day.
Question of the day:
Other than martial arts training, when have you attended a training seminar or class?
Just to throw this out there, as an EDC lighter, I just accidentally put the mini-Bic through the washing machine (forgot to take it out of the little pocket) and went into the dryer for a few seconds, heard the clunking-clunking. Took it out and it works a charm immediately. Not sure a Zippo can handle that.
$4 for a three-pack of lighters, never a worry about refill/drying out, smaller than my thumb. Mini-Bic for the win.
“When have you attended a training…?”
Not counting perishable skills/mandated training, this year…
Completed: April for 3 days (5 counting travel)
Scheduled & Paid: Next week for 1 day
Scheduled & Paid: 10 days by end of October
Hopeful: a 3 day class by end of year (if the leave and $ banks allow)
Prior years…got to grab my cert/training file to refresh my recollection.
HA, get a 6 pack and they would probably last you through a nuclear winter. I have them scattered through out my gear, great little things to have around.
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Nice job, you have the edge, brother.
Thought for the day:
“Desperate people are the most dangerous.”
A comment from a mother with a concealed carry permit, very sobering, but, its the times we live in.
As I get older, I really don’t trust anyone. My friends think I’m kind of crazy and somewhat paranoid because I’m constantly screening and watching people when we go out. I’m also the only individual in my group of friends who has a CPL and one of the only ones who’s into guns and shooting. I’m always aware of my surroundings when I’m by myself or when I’m with my son, who’s almost five years old now. Scanning, people watching, observing cars, noting how long people are standing around and their body language, observing who’s around me when I get out of my vehicle and even paying attention to where I park at the store—all of this makes me a much safer person but also generates a bit of ridicule from friends and even family.
But I certainly don’t go out of my way to talk about my concealed pistol license and carrying if I don’t have to. With all of the recent child abductions, I’m even more observant of what’s going on around me, especially when I have Colton with me. I’m on especially high alert when we go out into a public play area. I literally size up anyone who looks suspicious or even remotely gives me bad vibes. I will protect my son with my life, even if that means I’m reaching for the gun on my hip.
Yesterday’s work:
sandbag carries, farmers walk’s, sandbag carries with a serpentine run between the cones, carrying a lighter bag. Tennis ball agility drills and punishment push ups.
Question of the day:
Based on the comment above, regardless whether you carry a firearms or not, if you have children, do you have at least a rudimentary plan when you take them out in public? If you have a spouse, have you developed a basic plan if something goes wrong?
Re children.
The parents, in my admittedly ultra safe suburban subdivision, let children play up and down the street without supervision. I am talking as young as 4 years old, when many kids are still outgoing enough to talk to any adult. Saw a 7 year old walking alone to the pool last week - 1/4 mile.
Although l grew up doing the same and being away from home for many hours, this makes me nervous. This isn’t the 60s. There are still construction crews working the last street, yard crews, and package theft has occurred.
WTH parents? Zero forethought for safety, seems to be against all animals’ natures.
I don’t understand this either, it is baffling to me. Does a 4 year old even know how to look both ways before crossing the street? I don’t care how safe a neighborhood is, unless you have one entrance with a checkpoint and armed personnel, you cannot keep anyone from driving through the subdivision. If a Chicken hawk ( old cop slang for a pedophile) wants to drive though looking for a kid to snatch, there is nothing to stop him.
During my narcotics days, landscaping and home construction companies were two of the most popular avenues for money laundering. Never knew who was working for those companies, dopers or just someone trying to make a living. Plus, construction crews means construction equipment and kids have no business playing around large equipment. Those parents must live in a dream world or a virtual world on their devices.
Motivational Monday:
This is the unknown that we train for. You may work most of your career before this happens or it may happen on your first day! Attack your weaknesses. Train today for tomorrow’s unknown.
Yesterday’s work and skills:
Mountain trail ruck and slingshot practice.
Question of the day:
Review Treco’s post and if you have children, do a review of their daily routine for security gaps. Are you aware of what can happen?
Not sure if I mentioned somewhere along the line in this thread, but years ago when the Carlie Brucia abduction happened (11-year old girl seen on video being abducted by one guy, ended up raped and killed):
I was teaching Phys Ed at a private elementary school, so I decided to review super-basic self-defense with some of the older kids (4th grade and up). Stranger danger, keep eyes open, use your voice, wrist escapes - simple stuff.
I ended up getting a note from a parent that one of the girls in class was “very upset” after the drills because her sister’s name was also Carly and the whole situation was very stressful so she’d prefer I not cover self-defense in gym class.
I was floored. The principal was on my side and gave it an “okay, yeah, whatever”, but still. The whole train of thought was absurd.
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Unrelated to anything else but relevant to the thread, I had a dream over the weekend that I was hanging out in Clint Smith’s house when he put on a pair of virtual reality goggles and started doing dryfire drills. I asked what he was doing. He said, “It’s practice. Now get the fuck out of the room.”
Might’ve been watching too much Clint.
The tenuousness of this distinction between “compliance” and “lethal” techniques, weapons, etc. has really hit home for me lately as I’ve been searching for a non-lethal weapon systems to carry with me into the city. I work in the academic arena in a large city, and I’m not allowed to carry a firearm, a knife with a blade over 2.5", or even any kind of blunt weapon. The research that I have done into tasers and pepper spray all seem to suggest that these weapons are of diminished effectiveness against people who really intend to harm you, and often completely ineffective against certain individuals in general. I am a decent practitioner of Judo, but I’d much rather rely on some sort of weapon than my bare hands.
@idaho, do you know of any non-lethal weapons systems that actually work in a variety of scenarios? My understanding is that traditional pain compliance weapons (pepper spray, stun guns) don’t work against someone who really wants to hurt you. Do you have any guidance?
There are a lot of factors that contribute to this, I think, one of which is a widespread lack of contextual perspective. People incorrectly equate their experience of a small portion of the world with the nature of the entire world. In general, people don’t experience or hear about child abductions on a regular basis, so they assume the world is actually safer than it is for their children and decide to move away from the practices and habits (like keeping an eye on their children!) that contributed to creating some of that safety! This problem is ubiquitous. Anti-Vaxxers think “measles is not a big threat” and refrain from vaccinating their children when the very reason it is no longer a major threat is that children have been vaccinated for a long time. Women tout the supposed beauty of “natural” childbirth, claiming that doctors and sanitary hospitals get in the way of the “natural” process, without realizing that doctors and sanitary hospitals are primarily responsible for the massive decreases in infant and maternal mortality rates. So few people have any historical perspective.
I agree and also agree with your decision to step forward and try to help. I have heard several teachers comment on this issue and I was once asked by a teacher to give a “talk” to 8th graders on situational awareness. It was cancelled due to being “non-educational”.
I know its a general statement, but, we are creating a country of snowflakes and victims.