Posted on 03/24/2010 4:12:18 PM PDT by Noumenon
Most of this gear is off-the-shelf and relatively cheap. Check out Cabela’s, CheaperThanDirt.com or SportsMansGuide.com for the best deals.
Assumptions:
1. Civil unrest ensues.
2. Communications go down.
3. You may have to fight your way out of wherever you are. or on the way to your destination.
4 You may have to abandon your vehicle
5. You may have to walk to a prearranged safe place or rendezvous/rally point.
6. You will move quickly and not ‘camp out’. Rest, yes. Camp, no.
7. The weather may suck - majorly. Hot, cold, wet, snowy.
Strategy assumes that you may lose your backpack and/or your sling bag. Or that you may not have time to suit up, and that you can only grab your sling bag/backpack and weapons. Try to wear a pair of decent hiking shoes or durable shoes in case you can’t put your boots on in time.
First layer – Combat Uniform
I prefer the old 80’s era Swiss Alpenflage. Cheap and readily available (or used to be), works great for the inland Pacific NW environment. Rig for your area and circumstances.Strongly recommend good boots and a PASGT helmet with appropriate cover. Plenty of PASGT gear on eBay if you don’t have any. This is what works for my area. Think it through and pack what will work for your circumstances. The important thing is to have comfortable, durable clothing that you can wear for days.
Your pockets/belt will hold the following essential items:
1. Strike-anywhere matches in a waterproof case.
2. BlastMatch with tinder of some sort.
3. Maps or even Jeppesen charts are very useful. You should also do a custom Google map of your E&E routes. You DO have more than one route, eh?
4. Compass In a worst case scenario, you may not be able to rely upon a GPS device. Learn how to follow a compass bearing. You can guide yourself through thickly forested areas, featureless winter landscapes, foggy sagebrush areas, etc.
5. LED Flashlight and extra batteries. Use what works best for you. Carry at least two.
6. Energy bar(s). Something’s better than nothing.
7. Extra Clothing Layer. Poncho and/or parka. This could also be a mylar emergency blanket. Area / climate / season specific. A poncho will fold up into one of your pockets.
8. Sunglasses.
9. First Aid Kit. Carry basic first aid supplies such as sterile gauze and pads, Band-Aids, moleskin, etc
10. Knife / multi-tool Preferably one of each. An extra knife on a lanyard around your neck is good insurance.
11. Water and the means to carry it. Adopt/adapt for your circumstances.
12. Water purification tablets don’t take much room, either.
13. Wire saw. Notch a stick at each and lodge the saw's end rings in the notches and you've got a serviceable bow saw.
Extras if you’ve got the pockets or the inclination:
1. Small radio w/extra batteries. 22+ mile range/NOAA combo preferable. If you’ve made arrangements with others to meet up, that type of radio can be invaluable. But be secure about using one, though. Keep your plans confined within a small trusted circle.
2. 25-50 ft of parachute cord. Whatever fits. Very useful.
I’ve left off fishing kit and items like that because you’re probably not going to have the time for fishing and in any case, you have room for that sort of thing in either your sling bag or your small backpack. I’ve also not included magazines and ammo, because you’re probably going to be carrying that elsewhere.
Practice and test. Finally, when you’ve got that all together, field test it. See how fast you can get it all on, boots and helmet included. Do it again and again. Then do it at least once a week. Try walk, trot, run and see what rattles. Quiet the rattles. Then roll down an embankment, throw yourself down flat, crawl through brush, tumble if you’re capable and see what you’ve got left. Walk, trot, run. Still quiet? Good.
Second layer – Sling Bag
The sling bags offered by places like Cheaper Than Dirt and Sportsmans Guide are great. They’re easily snatched up and the contents will afford you an extra day or two of operations in the field. Plenty of webbing attachments for your customization pleasure. The premise is that even if you don’t have time to suit up, you can still grab your rifle and the sling bag and make a decent go of it. I wear mine on the left, since I’m a right-hander. The one I use also has a waist strap to keep it from flapping in the breeze. To a certain extent, I replicate the essentials listed above in the bag and the list below reflects that. But it differs in some details and sports a few additions. Ammo, for instance. I hang a 3 magpouch on it for my AR carbine, and there’s more ammo and an extra rifle/pistol in the bag. There’s an extra 15 round 10mm mag in there as well. Again, you’re not looking to camp out – you want to keep moving towards your destination. Rest, but don’t set up housekeeping.
1. Strike-anywhere matches in a waterproof case
2.Fire Starter. BlastMatch with tinder of some sort.
3.Maps. >Same as above.
4. Compass. Yep, another one.
5.LED Flashlight and extra batteries. If you’re smart, your radio, flashlight and any other device you might carry will all use the same batteries. Preferably AA.
6. MRE of your choice. A good meal (although some may dispute even the possibility) can make a big difference to your outlook. Even the (ugh) omelet ones.
7.Energy bar(s). Better to have 'em and not need 'em>
8.Extra Clothing Layer. Same as above.
9. Sunglasses AND regular glasses. For those of us who need glasses, the investment in an extra pair could be a life-saver. The sling bag described here accommodates glasses in hard cases nicely.
10.Binoculars. Compact, decent quality and keep them easy to get to.
11. First Aid Kit. Carry additional first aid as mentioned above.
12. Knife / multi-tool. /b> Preferably one of each. Again.
13.Empty Water container. You can fill it later. It’ll add to the one on your backpack.
14. Water purification tablets.
15.Rifle / pistol mag(s). Full, and one of each. They’ll be inside the pack along with as much extra ammo on strippers as you deem fit. Don’t overload it though.
16.Rifle ammo on strippers. 5.56 mm doesn’t take up that much room and you can probably carry an extra 2 or 3 magazines worth. Remember to include a couple of extra stripper guides. Wear one around your neck; keep the other in a zipper compartment in the bag.
17.Rifle mag pouch. Hang this in an easy-to-get-to place on the outside of the sling bag. Most will hold three AR-style mags.
Again, practice and test. Still have everything? Good.
Third layer– Small Backpack
Cheaper Than Dirt and Sportsmans Guide offer some nice compact backpacks. I like the Level III ‘assault’ pack. It’s big enough to hold more of what you need for an extra two or three days in the field, expands your available food and ammo stocks, provides for a change of socks, underwear and t-shirt, insect repellent, a small folding shovel and a hydration pack. Depending upon what you feel like stuffing in there, you can add a small waterproof bag with a towel and some baby wipes
Again, practice and test. Same as above. Still have everything? Excellent.
Weapons
When things get dicey, don’t assume that you’re going to just drive or stroll home. Rifle, pistol and a good fighting knife (that is, a knife that you actually know how to fight with) are essentials. The last thing you want to do is to get into a firefight. But you do want to have a chance to prevail if it drops in the pot. Again, carry what you know how to use. This will be no time for on-the-job training. If you don’t have the skills, take a martial arts class of some sort (NOT tai chi or freakin' yoga) and get thee to an Appleseed event to learn how to shoot like a rifleman. www.appleseedinfo.org.
Everyone’s got an opinion – so I’ll just tell you what I picked and why.
1.Rifle. CAR15 or equivalent. Light, accurate within reason and you can carry lots of ammo. I carry 7 loaded mags – one in the rifle, three in a quick-access pouch on the sling bag and two more in the backpack.
2.Pistol. Glock mod 20 with 1 mag in the pistol, two in the carry rig, one in the sling bag and two more in the backpack. This is a hard-hitting pistol, a real fight-stopper. No aspersions on .45s - I just like having 15+1 rounds of near-41 magnum persuasion on tap. Besides, if you’re down to your pistol, then you’ve got other things to worry about besides calibers.
3. Tomahawk. One MOLLE’d to my backpack. I like tomahawks.
4. Fighting knife. One MOLLE’d to my sling bag.
5. Miscellaneous small knives. Everywhere.
Car Kit
I carry pioneer tool items that could prove useful in some circumstances. This is in addition to the usual road kit with flares, gloves, rope, a regular tool kit, etc. Let your experience and imagination be your guide here.
1. Shovel.
2.Pickaxe
3.Axe.
4.17 pound tamper bar. With a tamper on one end and a wedge on the other.
5. 24” bolt cutters.
6.Extra food and water.
7. Sleeping bag.
Again, your circumstances and training will produce endless variations of this list.
Mmmmmm....raspberries. May have to settle for blackberries, though.
Food, Guns and Ammo! And Now!
http://www.green-trust.org/freebooks/Preparedness.pdf
http://nationalexpositor.com/News/2133.html
Yep - LDS in particular have a strong sense of being prepared. But you ccan’t carry yourbasement on your back, much less fight with it.
What I’ve offered here is a basic, on your feet, get out of Dodge kit that works pretty well for me. Total weight is right around 45 pounds. Any reasonably fit backpacker can haul that. I’m not fit enough to carry the 80 to 120 pound rucks that some of our troops do. But for 3-5 days, this will do.
Nice post. 10mm isn’t my cup of tea, but I’m a .38 Super fan so I don’t have room to talk. Realistically, I’d probably take a Smith 27 (.357 and .38 capability).
Thanks for the info.
PS: Although I’ve got the AR route covered, my standard truck gun is a Winchester 94 in .30-30.
I don’t understand where all this mobility is taking you in the SHTF scenario. Off into the woods, then what?
God, I love those old S&W N-frame revolvers. Had a 6” 27 for a long time. Lost it in a burglary 25 years ago.
BOOKbump
I work in Spokane - 48 miles from our place. We’re located in a relatively out-of-the-way area. So are our other rally points. No one can really say how things are going to play out, but I sure wouldn’t want to stick around an urban area to see what happens.
The N frames are some beautiful guns. My current favorite is a pre-27 in 3.5” with coke bottle grips. The trigger is like squeezing warm butter.
Forgot to mention the gas mask.
Fortunately, I live in a rural neighborhood. Getting out of Albuquerque might be a problem if things go south really fast, but I doubt that would happen. Plus, with my ID I could make most of that trip on the Airbase.
The neighbors are all good folks, we take care of each other in times of bad weather, etc... We could organize a unwelcoming committee for any visitors pretty quick.
I should also mention that I can get to semi-rural areas within a few miles, rural not too long after that. I’ve got routes through industrial areas that offer good concealment. More than that, I won’t say.
Around here you MUST have three gallons of water per day per person or risk severe dehydration.
Yes, we also have a special neighborhood welcome on tap for impolite guests. It’s nice to live in a Class III state.
That is another whole thread.
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