Security and Survival

I don’t like to think about it either, but in conditions of instability and disintegration, it is only prudent to give some thought to possible scenarios and acquire some basic knowledge that you may need.

I am very impressed with the quality of the advice provided on the Survival Podcast. This latest episode addresses the topic of  Security During a Breakdown.

Here’s a description from the website:

We are going to look at a bit of a darker subject today.  We are going to discuss security and not security on a day to day basis against say robbers, thugs and general low life.  We are going to discuss secruity and security planning for large scale and long term break downs.  Today’s show was prompted by Episodes 1 and 2 of season two of Discovery Channel’s show “The Colony”.  I have watch thus far in disbelief at how little attention the people on that show have paid to security and how little they understand the threat and honestly survival as a whole.

Today’s show won’t be totally based on The Colony, it will simply use it as a jumping off point so even if you haven’t or don’t plan on watching it today’s show should be a good one for you.  Security is one of the five primary components of survival and the one that is most overlooked, often not an issue but the one that when needed can get you killed in a milisecond.

Join me today as we discuss…

• The five primary components of survival
  • Food
  • Water
  • Shelter
  • Fire
  • Security
• Understanding the threat to your safety
• Consideration about where you “make your stand”
• Six methods of attack mitigation
  • Appease
  • Impede
  • Repel
  • Evade
  • Misdirect
  • Terminate
• Identifying the weak spots
• The lesson of 300 – Funnel an enemy to counter large numbers
• How and why guns change the entire equation on both sides
• The importance and difference between security “protocols” and “procedures”
• Splitting up resources – no central storage points
• Developing and deploying decoy resources
• Developing timberlines and evac plans

I highly recommend it. A little bit of forethought can make a big difference in the quality of your life, in any situation. — t.h.g.

Haiti, a sobering reminder of the need for survival planning at the grassroots

The situation that has been unfolding in Haiti following the recent earthquake is a sobering reminder of just how vulnerable our modern way of living is, especially for those of us who live in urban areas. Having spent some time in big cities, I marvel that they work at all. People have grown to depend upon the intricate interrelationships of very complex systems that provide us with the essentials of life–food, water, shelter, transportation, medical care, and SECURITY.

I like to think that in an emergency situation, people will pull together to help one another, but we’ve seen plenty of evidence that when people are in desperate straits, some of them can get very nasty and behave badly toward one another. The breakdown of order is probably the greatest worry.

Besides the limited and damaged port facilities, security concerns seem to account for the long delay in the arrival of rescue teams and the delivery of emergency relief from outside. A report in the UK Telegraph titled, Haiti earthquake: gunshots and panic as locals fight back against looters, describes what is happening in Haiti. I have heard that in such situations it takes about 72 hours for order to break down if relief supplies and peace-keeping forces do not arrive within that time.

It is true that Haiti is underdeveloped and lacking in resources, but that should not cause us to think the same cannot happen here in the US or other “developed” countries, it has– in New Orleans, just a few years ago.

Sustainability groups everywhere would do well to include emergency preparedness and disaster planning in their studies and action plans.

One useful source of information on this comes from James Wesley Rawles, an experienced military planner. See his The Daily Web Log for Prepared Individuals Living in Uncertain Times.