Status Check Time

It’s time for a real-life status check. We just saw mass protests around the country that got fairly violent. The US has bombed Iran and just prior to the bombing, the Ayatollah sent a note to President Trump warning that if we attacked, he would activate terrorist sleeper cells within the US. This morning, a man attacked a Christian Church with a rifle and a handgun.

then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning and the sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be on their own head.

Ezekiel 33:4

It is time to really assess our readiness.

Could you, with what you carry on your body and in your car, walk home over 2-3 days and survive? I don’t mean the kind of answer we always give on Twitter or Facebook, where we are all constantly ready and aware superheroes who can do anything, but for REAL. I’ll be honest, some days I don’t take a full load out. Even my current get-home bag is light on food. I’ll be fixing that.

The idea for this article came Saturday morning, as I was out rucking on a trail I had never been on before. I was checking it out for a class idea I have, and decided to just walk down it a bit. It’s a highly technical trail with serious elevation gain and a couple of rock-slides across the trail at high elevation. Once I got two miles out, I assessed my gear. I decided that I was carrying too little water and no food, which would not serve me well if something happened.

Then we attacked Iran. That will cause some assymetric attacks in the homeland (and may very well have this morning in Wayne, Michigan). That led me to assess what is in each car.

Have your fully stocked Get Home Bag in the vehicle at all times. If you’re jumping in the spouses car to run errands together, grab your bag and put it in their car, just remember to put it back. This bag should have everything listed in TW-01 (Baseline Training Manual), but make sure you include some food and water. It doesn’t have to be 72 hours worth of full meals, but have something in there to get you through.

Now, there are a lot guys who tell me “If it’s less than 72 hours, I’m not taking food, I’ll just tough it out”. That’s a terrible idea. Sure, you can do that during training, when your life isn’t really on the line. When moving, under stress, you’re going to need food. Lack of food leads to poor decision making. Sure, you can survive 3 weeks without food, but surviving doesn’t equal beng effective or moving over the ground carrying a load.

It’s easy to just say, “I don’t need it…we’re just running to the store…” but resist that tempation. The truth is that you don’t know when something is going to happen. I imagine a bunch of people thought that they were just going to church this morning. “Nothing ever happens” syndrome kills people.

At a bare minimum, in the current environment, if you are leaving the house, you should be carrying a sidearm and a first aid kit. Make sure that the kit is fully stocked. You should have some type of mass-casualty kit in your car as well. I double checked mine today.

When I reported to the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare school at the ripe age of 19, the senior instructor told me something that I have carried with me to this day: Every Marine is expected to be carrying a high-quaity fixed blade knife at all times. Check. Always do. Add a quality multitool as well. There aren’t too many problems that you can’t solve with a good fixed blade and a multitool.

Something I have in my Get Home bag is a bullet-proof laptop case from Premier Body Armor. It just lives in the laptop slot. I don’t even keep a laptop in it. It just provides me with back protection. No, not because I’ll be running away, but because if I’m treating a casualty, my back will be exposed. Also, if the attacker is in front of me, I’ll be engaging him. If he’s behind me, I’d like some protection. I can also take it off and hand it to someone else if they need to move.

Consider keeping soft body armor or plates in your vehicle. If you have a “truck gun” like most of the folks out here in the mountain west, you should keep a chest rig and additional ammunition in the vehicle. Out here, it can be a LONG time before law enforcement shows up. Something else I always keep in the vehicle is a wool blanket. I can use it myself or cover a casualty with it. My newest addition to the vehicle kit is my Tactical Wool Poncho from Free American Clothing. It’s warm & cozy and it has a patch panel for my tacti-cool patches.

For personal protection, in addition to regular gloves, I keep a 50 pack of nitrile gloves in the map pocket next to my seat. After the bloody car accident I rendered aid at a few months ago, I always have these where I can grab them on the way out. Since the No Kings protests, I’ve started carrying my PD-101 mask (see link above) in the car, just in case. That mask came in a BattlBox a few months ago – see link below to sign up. If I have to abandon the vehicle in the middle of a protest, I will want it. I know lots of us keep them at home, but the odds are that you will need it away from home before you need it at home.

Therein lies our biggest problem: We build big stockpiles of gear at home, but we are rarely home when we need our survival gear. It’s a catch 22 and we need to strike a balance, carrying a limited amount of stuff with us that we might need when away from home. Right now, in the current environment especially.

Make an honest assessment of your readiness right now, and make a conscious effort to upgrade it match the current risk assessment. It’s also a good time to update your area study as we move into a summer of protests.

A great way to get gear at a lower price is Battlbox. Every month you save about 30-40% off retail. I love the boxes. My link (https://myrefl.ink/v/D72003E) gives you 25% off your first box.

We will be hosting Shield Field Days here at Camp Ponderosa July 25-27. It will feature vendor displays of outdoors and preparedness gear, and classes/information sessions on a variety of skills.

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