Safety in Public – Immediate Actions

In the last couple of days, we’ve had some mass shootings (both stopped by good guys with guns), a lot of protests, and an explosion at Hoover Dam (they say it was a transformer). During this same period, we’ve seen Iran, Turkey, and Russia hold meetings as China threatened to shoot down Nancy Pelosi’s plane. Russia appears to have sabotaged a Ukrainian plane flying over Asia in an escalation outside the combat zone. The security situation in the world and the US is bad, and it’s only going to get worse.

The prudent see danger and take refuge,
    but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.

Proverbs 27:12

We need to take a few immediate actions to hopefully raise our protective posture just a bit.

I know, I harp on first aid kits, but be honest: Did you keep one with you all day today? Is there one nearby now? If I’m outside of the house, I keep one in my left cargo pocket (if you see me on the ground, find the kit). I keep a second one in my backpack, because you can never have too many. The one I carry on me is PTK and a Diplomat kit from http://www.solatac.com combined into one pouch.

I also recommend MyMedic kits because I like their “mods”. A “mod” is a module, and if you’ve read the Baseline Training Manual, you know that I like modular items that can be moved between bags. I get mods from MyMedic and put them in my different kits. Click the affiliate link above and check them out (yes, I might make a few pennies off links here, but I need a portable repeater). Remember, I never recommend things I don’t like, no matter how much companies offer me.

The next area is passive and low-key ballistic protection. We can’t walk around in public wearing a level 4 plate carrier and soft body armor is very obvious. A good solution is ballistic panels in your backpack. I use a Premier Body Armor laptop sleeve, but many options exist out there, like the new ballistic panels our friends at SLNT have recently come up with. Both the laptop sleeve and the ballistic panel for your backpack are level 3A and lightweight. Having some type of passive protection is a plus. Both of these options are TSA-compliant, by the way.

Aside from armor, always consider where you are standing in relationship to other people and always try to be near the edge, to leave yourself an out. With a little practice, you can become tactically aware at all times (Condition Yellow). In the mall situation, the threat emerged from the restroom, so always be aware of where threats can come from and that it’s not always an exterior door. The other one was at a large gathering in a park, so avoid groups you don’t know.

As the protests escalate, fire-bombings are increasing against churches. It’s not a stretch to say homes may be next. Check your home fire extinguishers and make sure they are all charged. Make sure they are stored where air can flow all around them, rather than on the floor (there’s a reason we mount them). Buy more if you only have one.

A side note to this is the incredible video of a young man, a pizza driver, who ran into a burning home to rescue the trapped children. While his actions were amazing and we should all follow his example, it leads us to some preparedness checks. Do you have burn supplies in your first aid kit? Fix it if you don’t. The other item to check off your list is to buy a “Fire Blanket” (link below). You can throw a fire blanket around you to protect you from flames. Keep one at home, and maybe one in the car, in case you happen across a burning building. In the personal protection field, it’s standard vehicle equipment.

Don’t forget to increase your communications planning. It’s good to have a plan to switch to the radio when the system goes down or is overwhelmed, but where is your radio right now? If you aren’t carrying one or at least having one immediately accessible, it’s not going to do you any good. Carry a radio and a spare battery in your Get Home Bag or Vehicle Kit. Personally, I carry a radio handset in the Get Home Bag and keep a mobile radio mounted in the car at all times.

On that note, my friend and fellow author Don Shift has written a short book called “Basic SHTF Radio”. No, Sad Hams, it’s not a Ham radio book, sorry. It’s a primer for people just getting into radio and setting up an emergency comms plan. It’s only $5.99 and I highly recommend picking it up if you aren’t a Ham. Hams: Trust me, you won’t like it. I love it, though.

There is also video of a scuffle between ANTIFA and some bikers. As hilarious as the video is, it highlights a few items. One, we are far closer to open conflict in the streets than you might imagine, so act like it. Two, it exposes the risk of bear sprays and pepper sprays as defensive tools. If you watch the video, you will see that as ANTIFA goes to spray the bikers, the wind blew the spray right back into their faces. For this reason, you shouldn’t rely on it as a defensive tool. Come up with a different less-than-lethal option, like an expandable baton or some type of cane or “walking stick” (wink-wink).

He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.

Luke 22:36

As Jesus told us in the Ultimate Tactical Handbook, “Stay strapped”. Be as armed as you lawfully can be.

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