Packing

“I know how good a gun feels. It makes you bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, three meters tall and covered with hair. You’re ready for anything and kind of hoping you’ll find it. Which is exactly what is dangerous about it – because you aren’t anything of the sort. You are a feeble, hairless embryo, remarkably easy to kill.
- Tunnel in the Sky by Robert A Heinlein

The protagonist in Heinlein’s novel is wondering about what sort of gun would be best for a survival test, and his advisor convinces him not take one. I’m not going to say you shouldn’t carry a weapon, but I do want to talk about the role firearms should play in your preparations.

First, let’s be honest. Guns are cool. Carrying a gun makes you feel cool. Further, it makes you feel powerful and in control, whereas in reality you are not. It does have its uses, and to be without a firearm in a major crisis that involves a serious breakdown of civic authority will likely make you a victim.

Unfortunately, a disproportionately large amount of writing, money and effort have gone into the firearms aspect of prepping. What gun to buy, how many, marksmanship, small unit tactics and endless thinking about scenarios (or fantasies) of how they might be used take up far too much time and effort. Far too little time is spent on how and when not to use them and what might be the disadvantages of using firearms.

The first disadvantage is illustrated by the quote at the start of the article. Guns make you feel confident, safe and secure, when in reality you are nothing of the sort. It doesn’t matter if you are carrying the ultimate battle rifle and plenty of ammunition if someone shoots you between the eyes with a single shot bolt action .22 as you saunter down a trail armed to the teeth. A rifle won’t save you if you step in someone’s well made punji pit, or take cover behind a rock that has a black powder nail bomb waiting for you.

The second disadvantage is that once you pull the trigger, you have announced your presence to anyone within a mile or two at the very least. In my opinion, one of the highest priorities after a major collapse would be keeping a low profile and that includes strict noise discipline. The report of a rifle is pretty much unmistakable for what it is, and is going to give anyone that wants it a rough bearing to your location.

Some might argue that a firearm is necessary for gathering food. In response, I’d argue that hunting with a rifle is a remarkably inefficient way to harvest wild game. You are far better off using traps and snares which multiply your effort for little expenditure of energy, and will not startle other game in the area. Even larger game such as deer can be taken with appropriate traps.

If you must hunt, consider using a bow. Although some types of bows require a fairly large investment of time to master, crossbows are easy to use and configured much like a rifle. All bows are almost silent in use (compared to a gun), and often as deadly in hunting.

Let’s look at some of the things that go along with guns and prepping. One is marksmanship, which I have no argument with, other than you also need to practice with things like bows and slingshots, in my opinion.

Another thing is the heavy emphasis put on small unit tactics and training. I;ve lost count of the videos I’ve seen with camo-clad guys sneaking about the bush in the best imitation infantry style. While training to work and fight as a team is good, too much time and effort go into it, and very little on camouflage, evasion, noise discipline and so on. You know, the things that keep you from being noticed and keep you out of the firefight rather than being in the position of having to win one.

Again, I’m not saying guns are bad. I believe that they are essential tools to have in the event of a major collapse. I just believe they should be the last option you go to, rather than the first. Once you start shooting, someone is going to get hurt, and that someone might be you, or someone close to you. So avoiding confrontation through other methods is far preferable than a shootout at the O.K. Corral.

It’s just common sense.

Apartment Survival: Security

In deciding to ‘bug-in’ in a city, and especially if you are bugging in to an apartment, there are a lot of challenges. Food, water, and heat will all be difficult to manage, but next to the monumental task of your physical security, they are easy. Getting the essentials for survival might be less difficult than keeping them. And by deciding to try to survive in your apartment, you’ve made the task that much harder, but not impossible.

First, let’s look at your own apartment. How secure is it? Hopefully, you are in a poured concrete or metal and cinderblock building rather than a wood frame type. Obviously, the more robust the construction of your building, the better, but the unfortunate trend in modern construction of two and three story apartments is to lighter and shoddier construction. Hopefully, you are relatively secure as far as walls go, but windows and doors will remain a problem.

Starting with your front door, you need to make sure that this access point is hardened. If your landlord will allow it, replace a hollow core or wooden door with a steel one. Sometimes this will be allowed if the original apartment door is replaced when you leave. If you can’t get this concession, consider hardening an interior room’s door instead. Make sure that you have locking hardware that consists of a minimum of a deadbolt on your doors, exterior and interior.

Windows are also a concern. Again, aftermarket hardware is available to make entry more difficult, but by their very nature, windows are always vulnerable. Still, there are things you can do, such as having metal grills made that you can bolt over the windows once a crisis arrives.

Being on the second or third floor may be desirable. The elevation gives you a small measure of added security, especially if you are able to chain, lock, or otherwise block stairwells to your floor. Remember that this has consequences with regards to escaping fire or other circumstances, but may be preferable to unfriendly folks having easy access to your floor.

If there are vacant apartments above, beside or below you, consider, mouse-holing into adjacent spaces to provide alternate escape routes, better fields of fire, or just to enable tactical movement. Be aware that you will need to secure these alternate routes as well, or they become a liability instead of an advantage.

You will need to consider ballistic protection. While concrete is ‘reasonably’ resistant to high velocity impacts, cinder block will disintegrate under repeated hits and anything less is little barrier at all. The easiest solution is to sandbag what you will use as your fighting positions, at the very least.

If bags are not available (and you can stock a lot of them empty), or if sand is not nearby, improvise. Hard packed (not loose!) dirt in a suitcase is better protection than nothing at all, and pillow cases, boxes, and in fact any container at all that will hold packed earth or sand will offer some protection. Multiple layers are recommended, and don’t overlook materials at hand such as books, furniture, appliances or whatever else can be pressed into service as a ballistic barrier.

Just remember that it takes a LOT of mass to protect you, and a washing machine that is mostly sheet metal and empty space may not do the job, although that might change if it is packed full of dirt or sand. As well, try to get at least one layer under you if you are on an upper floor, to protect from angled fire from below.

As for weapons: whatever you can get. If legal, consider the types of weapons police carry, who are operating in an urban environment: handguns and shotguns are most common, followed by compact assault weapons. If not possible to obtain, weapons such as crossbows are as deadly at short range as any firearm, and may have to do in a pinch.

Better yet is avoiding the need to defend your apartment. If you must shelter in place, do everything you can to avoid drawing attention to yourself. This will require you to maintain tight control in several areas.

The first of these is light. A candle can be seen at a range of a couple of miles if there is no other light source, and in a grid down crisis, a lit window in an apartment is an open invitation to ne’er-do-wells. If you must have light after dark, ensure that it is in a light proofed area of your apartment, safe from observation and accidental exposure by you or other inhabitants.

Another area is noise discipline. In a situation where the background noise of city life is absent, any sound will have the potential to betray you. Running a generator, hammering a nail, or even calling your dog may have unwanted consequences. Every activity you undertake must be assessed as to how much noise it will make.

Smell will also inform on your location. Have you ever walked through a neighborhood in the summer and had your mouth water at the smell of someone’s backyard barbeque? Your cooking smells will carry an amazing distance, and lead someone right to you. At least initially, try to stick with things that can be eaten cold, prepared using boiling water (e.g. cup of noodles), which will limit the amount of aroma given off.

Finally, try to eliminate visual clues. Smoke from a fire, laundry on a line, recent tracks and pathways, and you standing in a window are all giveaways. Try to maintain as low a profile as possible, and be aware that even though you can’t see anyone, you might be observed when you go out. Take circuitous routes back and make sure you observe your own trail when you return.

As you can see, security for the apartment survivor is a tough proposition. Not impossible, but definitely a big challenge. Next we’ll look at what you can do to make this challenge, as well as food, water and so on, a little easier to manage.

Originally posted April 25, 2011 @ MPN