Slumming It - Thrifty Gear Practices

Gear is not what makes the man, especially not the fighter - but gear is a great aid to us in self defense and survival. The right gear, good gear, can make your life that much easier.
Concealment vests, solid and reliable footwear, etc. are key elements for how many of us "dress for success" when appropriate.
The right clothing is essential for survival in harsh conditions.
A nice gear-bag to stow all your off-body kit in helps keep things organized so you can find stuff when you need it.
You can spend hundreds of dollars on all these items - and they are well worth it. Or, occasionally, you can get lucky.
I've got a favorite thrift store that I visit occasionally to get cheap books (First Editions are a hobby and side-business for me, and this is a great source) and just have a look-see at what they have.
A couple months ago I found a really nice reversible lightweight synth-fleece vest, no label but of high quality manufacture, that makes a really nice cover garment. Paid around $5 for it.
Today, I stopped by there again, and managed to make several good finds.
I found a very nice PolarTec brand cold-weather hood/neck covering - in excellent shape, no stains, tears, or busted stitching. Excellent piece of kit, $1 - for an extra buck each I grabbed two good watch caps, one Old Navy synthetic fleece in "friendly" yellow, and one of wool. I'm big on watch caps, and am always glad to have a few around.
I found a fairly spiffy Old Navy bag, sort of a "messenger" style but a little larger - Faux surplus gear, made out of canvas and actually very sturdy. Lots of pockets, and "stylish" enough to blend nicely, and still "tactical-ish" enough to make me happy. Around $5.
Found another interesting vest, this one for $15 - black with OD green interior and edge binding, multi pocket, fairly well made nylon vest, "modern urban wear" of some sort. Drapes well, should make a nice cover garment (looks "faux-tactical", which just blends as being hip) - and has the interesting feature of having a small backpack built into the back. No idea how much it can support, but am going to put it to the test. Even if that aspect of it is crappy, its another good vest - emergency fall-backs in case something happens to my KAVU Baranof.
And, last but certainly not least - on my way to check out I happened to see a pair of boots that looked nice, so I checked them out. A brand new (I mean brand new, clean, un-scuffed, perfectly clean soles and still the "new shoe" smell) pair of Rocky 9" Basic duty-boots - a MSRP $230 "tac" boot - and in my size. The price you ask? $29.
So a Thrift Store may not be anything like the equal of your local tac-gear shoppe, but keep your eyes out - you never know what you might find.

16-Hour Survival (or "The Little Events that Become Emergencies") - A Way of Life

The power just came back on a couple hours ago, after having been off for a little over sixteen hours. It went down while we were gathered around the idiot-box last night watching, of all things, Survivor.
Now, this isnt uncommon out here. I live an average (there's two ways out) of 45 miles from a paved road, and about 60 miles from any town of more than 1,000 people. There is one power line that runs out here - it serves about 18 homes, and was put in in 1998 on the condition of a 15 year fixed-rate contract (average of $500 a month) to pay for the installation costs.
The reason the power goes out a lot here is thus two-fold: Its a single line, with no backups or ways to re-route power around a problem like in the city, or even rural areas surrounding a city. So, if something happens, until its fixed we're without power. The second half of the equation is that its 40 miles of line, strung between poles, through some pretty rough and busted up country that can wash like crazy when it does rain. It stands alone as a major attraction for lightning. So, if lightning doesnt hit it, the rain washes something out, and so on. A myriad of problems can happen in 40 miles of isolated, and ignored (until there is a problem) line.
So, what happened this time? A power-pole washed out in the large rains we've had recently, and they couldnt get any trucks into the location (yes too rough for even 4wd) so they had to walk in with their gear to fix or replace the dislodged pole. Sixteen hours later, the power is back.
Most people probably think of that as a long time. Its not, not here. But, part of the reason its not is that we are prepared to deal with it better than most, especially those who dont live like this.
My family has been in this place pretty close to 100 years. My great-grandparents were homesteaders, and eventually expanded the homestead into what is the ranch of today. My grandparents lived here and maintained the ranch for many years until it came under the control of my mother, and she and my dad have maintained it since then. Until the 1980's there was no phone out here - and we didnt have one for many years after that - and until 1998 the only electricity came from generators and most light was provided for by kerosene lamps, the cooking done on gas or wood stoves, and heat from gas heaters or the wood-burning fireplace. We relied heavily on dry-storable foods because of the limited reliability of gas fridges. When the electric line came in, we didnt get rid of any of those things we just phased them out of primary usage.
So now, when the power goes out - we're fine. We have light, we have heat, we have food.

The largest issue created by the power going out is medical - two family members are on full-time oxygen, and use Concentrators (sort of like a "scrubber") as the source for that. The problem is that those machines run on electricity. The solution? Reserves of compressed-gas or liquid oxygen. There's always enough for a few days without power.
In this most recent event the medical issue was compounded by the road conditions thanks to the rain - dirt roads tend to become very hard to pass after a lot of rain. In the case of a medical emergency, you might not make it out or you may spend several more hours driving slow and digging out of mud holes, than the normal hour it takes to drive out in good conditions. A well stocked medical kit, and the skill to use it can go a long way to make anything that happens under these conditions more survivable. And once again, this is one of those things that several generations of living out has guaranteed is available.

If you are not prepared the 16-hour events can become major, even fatal, emergencies or survival situations. If you are prepared, 16 hours or even a few days "stranded" 45 miles from town without power becomes a lot easier. When its just part of a way of life, it really doesnt bother you.
I think the ideal "survival skills" should put you in between the "prepared" and "way of life" mindsets - unless you live like this, it isnt a way of life, but if you put your skills to use, get out and be out, then you should be able to improve your comfort level. If you're more comfortable with a situation you are clearer headed and more rational when actually having to make decisions under less-than-ideal conditions.

Journaling and Training

Journaling is rather popular right now in all sorts of circles. Unlike a lot of other en vogue “pop culture” whatnots journaling is actually a very valuable tool. As a psych major I can tell you that journaling is a powerful tool for a person to learn more about themselves, and their lives. Things that may not have been apparent to us before writing down the days events, an argument with a family member, or at work, or just a string of emotions, can suddenly be very clear when writing. It can help to clear our heads, so that we can think more freely. It can also help us to retain things we’ve learned, and to work out ideas and new concepts, helping us with our continuous learning process.

The study of close quarter combatives is full of conceptualizations and new ideas, at least new for the student, and is definitely a continuous learning process. I have for a very long time kept notes and running journals about what I learn, new ideas and new concepts – and very often when writing out a thought or an idea, I will realize a mistake I was making or a new way of approaching what I’d been doing. It is very much like having a point/counter-point discussion with your self. It is a great aid to the concept of “Progression Training” as it helps the flow of ideas and improves the learning curve.
One important part of journaling is that you have to be comfortable doing it – this can mean calling it “my notes” and not “my journals”, or using particular notebooks or pens, or doing it in a particular environment. But for the real basic essence of journaling, all you need is a notebook and a pen. You don’t need a fancy leather bound notebook or fancy pens, just a plain old composition notebook and a Bic-Stic pen. If you want fancier, then get it – whatever makes you happy and comfortable, makes journaling easier. I actually have several “journals”, some for H2H, some for weapons, some for knife designs and notes on knife making, and they are all different.
There is no right way or wrong way to keep notes or journal. You don’t have to be deep, or philosophical, just write it out. What idea you just had, what your teacher imparted to you in the last class, what techniques you think you need to work on, anything. I have pages of my journals filled with bad sketches of the human anatomy as it applies to CQC, and sketches of fighting knives, others or my own designs, so I don’t have to tote around Grays Anatomy and all my knife books. Neat quotes, ideas, thoughts on classes, suggestions to yourself on what you need to improve, or how to possibly improve it. All this stuff can go in your notes. And if you don’t feel like writing after your training session or your class, you don’t have to. The idea is simply to keep a record of what you learn, your thoughts on things, so that as you write it out, or go back to it for reference, you can become clearer on things you are taught, or your own concepts.

Realistic Application of Sleight of Hand

Many people in the field of combatives, particularly edged weapons combatives, have devoted hours and thousands of words to the subject of slight of hand in relation to the use of weapons. I have encouraged those who would listen to read this material, consider it and practice it.
Some question this, and fail to see the relevance of learning the stage magicians skill with weapons. I can understand that, I didn’t “get” it for a long time either – but there is value to it, and it can be considerable.
Sleight of hand can be used to create fatal deceptions, tricks against the eye and mind of your opponent to defeat him, but it can also be used to hide something you don’t want seen by non-combatants. Active concealment is the term I use for the hiding, disguising or directing the eye away from a weapon that is in hand/in play.
Leading up to or during an engagement active concealment is a disguise or deception that tricks your opponent into giving you a place to hurt him, or draws him into a false confidence putting him between the rock and the hard place of “get hurt or get hurt”.
Post-engagement, during retreat/Nike-ryu/Escape & Evasion, active concealment is hiding your tools still at hand, as you quietly slip away from the scene.
Although you can plan it and execute your concealment to the prescribed pattern, the height of your ability to use sleight of hand and active concealment as fluidly as any other combat skill, acting and reacting with your environment as needed, with “no-mind” more than conscious effort. This is why we study and play with things in the safety of our own home, so that when we need them they come naturally.
Not long ago a close friend of mine had an incident in which he was forced to adjust the attitude of an aggressive drunk in a movie theater bathroom. Although the drunk had four buddies, he made the mistake of being the only one between my friend and the door. After assisting the drunk in breaking a wall tile with the back of his head, my friend stepped past him and out the door just as a police officer was walking in. My friend, smelling booze walking into the bathroom, had palmed a folding knife and it was still in his hand as he left. That hand having just come off the attackers face, it was up at eye level, palm out, with the knife still pinched in place by the thumb. Turning his palm inwards and muttering something along the lines of “Damn, those guys are drunk! So much for taking a piss” my friend looked the officer right in the eyes, then looked over his left shoulder drawing the officers gaze away from his right side as they passed. With his right side passing first, he slipped the folder into his pocket and let his hand dangle at his side as he walked calmly down the hallway to the exit. He used misdirection with his eyes, body position, verbal distraction (talking draws attention to you, but right choice of words kept the cop focused on what he was there for anyway) and sleight of hand to safely leave the scene without causing any other incident.
When he first told me about this we had to spend some time remembering what he did to divert attention away from his right hand and not accidentally present as a threat to the police officer, and be able to keep on heading away from the fight and home. Adrenaline clouds the mind, yes, but this too goes to the “no-mind” of a true skill, it comes when needed without forced thought to make it so.

His relatively short time spent practicing and playing in front of the mirror with a few simple ideas and concepts had paid off – when he needed it, it came naturally and probably saved him at the very least several hours worth of hassle.
Such a successful use of sleight of hand can almost seem unimportant when performing it, it is so subtle that even you can be lost to its quiet deceptiveness. This is a skill worth taking time with, on all levels. Learn what you can do with your eyes, hands, voice, feet and body. These ruses, deceptions, tricks and camouflages can save your life, end your enemies and keep you the “grey man” afterwards.

Some essential eReading on this subject, some of it directly related, some of it you have to make related through your own work.
Magic by Don Rearic http://donrearic.com/Magichoudini.html
Subliminal Gestures by J.A. Keating http://donrearic.com/SignalsKeating.html
Sleight of Hand in Knife Fighting by James Sass http://donrearic.com/sass1-sleightofhand.html
Now You See It, Now You Don’t by Pete Kautz http://alliancemartialarts.com/magic.html

Deceptions by James Keating http://www.jamesakeating.com/MjkG.html
Motion Camouflage http://www.dcs.qmul.ac.uk/~aja/motion_cam.html
Angle of Anothers Gaze http://www.rense.com/general38/gaze.htm

Motion Illusions & Active Camouflaging http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucbplrd/motion/motion_middle.html

The Crash Axe as a Tool of Terrorist Interdiction

Onboard most commercial aircraft are a selection of survival and rescue tools such as fire extinguishers, first aid kits, defibrillators and crash axes. Although the crew knows where such items are they are usually stowed behind unmarked panels that normally go unnoticed by passengers.
Most crash axes, although built to double as fire axes, are more along the lines of a hatchet in size, ranging between 16” and 20” long with a hatchet or tomahawk sized head. The smaller size allows them to be stowed easily and makes them easier to use inside the confines of an aircraft. Several types of FAA approved crash axes exist, but the average size envelope remains the same.
The two designs I have personally encountered are as follows: The first having a hatchet head, with a hammer on the reverse and a pry-bar extension protruding from the top, the second closely resembles the World-War II era “SPAX” military crash axe. This second axe is in fact much closer to the original SPAX in design than the current version manufactured by Ontario Knife Company, although the difference is mainly in the handles.
The value of these items as survival and rescue tools is well proven, documented and understood but there is another dimension to their usefulness. Although after the significant act of 9/11 the likelihood of further airline hijackings or incidents involving airplanes is reduced the possibility still exists. Lone extremists and “crazies” acting without direction from a group (save possibly the voices in their head) still can pose a threat. Airline related terror has had an extremely high international visibility in recent years and has a strong recognition level with the general public, making it an obvious and prominent choice for the lone actor.

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