Weapon? Basic load? Body armor (for any value between T-shirt and Level IV hardplates, with helmet. And gas mask.)? Sustainment supplies? For up to 72 hours? Eye and ear pro? At any point beyond "P" in your comms PACE plans? Boots (broken in!)? Clothes appropriate for the weather, including the next few days? Car Keys (with a full tank, and ready to rock!)? Go-To-War Jump Bag?
What if your neighbor called you?
A relative?
A relative some distance away?
Spouse or kids, not at the homestead?
What about with one minute's notice?
Don't lie to me, and don't even try to b.s. yourself. How would you fare, with yourself as the grader for this exercise, supervised by the sweep second hand of your watch?
Could you, really and truly, hit the Batpole, and come out at the bottom ready to face the forces of evil?
(And nota bene: We're not talking about your "Repel Boarders" response time, which must needs be about 0 seconds, unless you want the Second Place Home Invasion Trophy. We're talking about how long before you could go out hunting them, or dissuading them at range, starting long before they ever get to your door.)
Ponder the above. Hard.
The pre-Revolutionary militia standard was ready to mount or march, 60 seconds, with musket, powder and shot, water, one day's ration, bayonet, and hatchet. In 60 seconds, at your front door, or beside your saddle mount.
It's still a damned good standard.
And BTW, while you're thinking: Just exactly how long do you think you have to get this together, without looking like a soup sandwich, before this isn't a thought exercise, or just a drill?
As a rule, when TSHTF, it doesn't make a reservation.
WARNING:
OBJECTS IN CRYSTAL BALL MAY BE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR.
24 comments:
Uh, living in the boonies, between two blue hives, each an hour away (hint; both removed their statues of General Lee) home invasions are actually a thing. You "home carry" don't you? And the pistol is just there to fight your way to the rifle. Sixty seconds is far to long, we are sub thirty seconds, and have been for over a decade.
Repelling boarders should be 0 seconds.
"Rooftop Korean" means ready to go hunting them before they're coming in your door.
Since I don't have crenellations on my roof, I'm afraid it would take me a bit longer than 60 seconds to get some built that are sturdy enough to withstand small arms fire. ;)
A recurring thought. Many years ago, I was a cop in a very well recognized and violent ghetto city. The lessons there learned do not whither in the mind. At 75 years of age, I can give book to the fact that I might die from a shot...20 percent +?
Not from a hypodermic needle, but from someone wearing a uniform.
Never would have thought it would come to this.
Helmet huh? Yeah that's an absolute necessity. You won't be mistaken for military/police (and treated as such) at all.
This is an excellent planning-to-execute project ("thought game" or "table top game" is too shallow a phrase for such an important project. Living in a town where the Minute Men are on our County Seal, it really hit me how unprepared my family is for what could, realistically, be marching toward our home as we speak.
That said, I am reminded of a story that was published about a thousand years ago in Popular Mechanics magazine. I was about 10 - and so intrigued that I can safely credit that as the moment I became a prepper. The deal was that the outdoors/field editor person was told by his boss that he (the OD/FEP) had 10 minutes to get home, gather his family, and prepare whatever he/they were going to need because they were being picked up by a company car and taken to an unknown location where they would be dumped for two weeks, without contact, without support, have a nice life. This was considered necessary because the boss had been challenged that his outdoorsy specialist was talking out his ass and couldn't survive on his own advice.
Ten minutes. Total.
As Spock would say, "Fascinating."
I've tried to find that article many times since (I cut it out and filed it with my kid stuff and have no idea where it is now. Probably mouse bedding.). If anyone can find a link, plz send it on. Definitely worth reading.
Hard questions, Aesop, phrased in a hard milleau.
Even aside from the (potentially)LR recon/interdiction patrol scenario, am I hard enough of heart, even if not of body, to do so?
I need to know, before the party begins.
I'm gettin' old and slowing down so you'll have to give me at least 10 seconds . From anywhere on the homestead . Full bore .Too old to run so I figure I'm gonna' fight . Gonna' put me in jail for life ? Ha!Ha! I done lived my life boy ! All I gotta' do is take your life before I go . Don't fook with an old Irishman . You'll only do it once .
5 minutes? Hell, I can make it to my rooftop in under 30 seconds, fully loaded, from a sound sleep. As Aesop says, repel borders from my easy chair takes about Seven (.70) Tenths of a second. Addition to the fertilizer pile might take as much as 5 minutes though.
When the governed become ungovernable – Let Them Herd Cats…… Rattle Rattle!
Whoever @11:25A would like it known by one and all that his head is either bulletproof, and/or not worth protecting.
Noted. We tend to agree on both counts, based solely on available evidence.
As far as being "mistaken for the police or military", better than even odds they'll know their own, and will be the likeliest (though by no means only likeliest) OPFOR in the presented thought exercise. If your tribe or clan imagines that the police or military are likely to be on your roof in the first place, you have much bigger problems ahead of you than getting your sh*t in one bag in 5 minutes' time. Best wishes with that.
G ... suggest tires filled w'dirt and gravel, stacked as high as needed for protection
spray painted to match house color they don't draw attention amid landscape / shrubs / trees around your property
tire shops pay to get rid of them and will be glad for you totake a couple dozen
Plant square-foot and herb gardens in the top of them, and if anyone from the municipality bitches, tell them you're going green, and recycling to save the planet. That usually gets them to STFU at warp speed. If you plant most ivy types, it'll cover the tire sides in about a year, and after that, they're invisible. Fill the bottom few feet of any wall with gravel or concrete. That's how they used to make CQB kill houses back in the day, and hesco barrier walls today. They'll stop RPGs and trucks equally well. And if you slope them properly, the only place to hide really well behind them is on the inner side. People on the outside are mostly exposed.
Just make sure to take appropriate steps to mitigate them
from collapsing your roof and crashing down onto family members
inside...not good..not good at all...
Better strategy...DON'T be there when they come a-calling;
set up a near by ambush and bushwack them right proper when
they're on their way to visit you and yours.
Put 'the skeer in 'em' as 'Ol Nathan Bedford Forest
would say.
Remember, Pineland Rules Apply and Remember 'Ol Jack Hinson.
NorthGunner - The Truth Is It's OWN Defense!
Yup. Range card already filled out.
Used rubber tracks off of farm and construction equipment make good functional raised landscaping and can be obtained cheaply.
The point is that going from "repel boarders" to "roof top Korean" should be a smooth transition that takes sub 30 seconds to move to. The transition from pistol to rifle includes transioning to your LBE. Assuming your logistics are under you while you are on the roof top.
Russell Tinsley 10 minutes to survival. Part of a Popular Mechanics google book link. Author described journey to Texas Hill Country property to live off the land. Part II September 1961. Hope this helps
Your thoughts belie your AO (nit that you keep it a secret)... what I mean is your environment is conducive to rooftops. Out in the hinterboonies the pitch is too steep, need prone positions on the ground.
I keep a go bag in my trunk, batteries, isopropane cooker, instant coffee, canned goods, water filter, anti bug kit, sleeping bag and led Christmas lights.
I can't mount my rooftop but to the angle, but can be armed with long arm, and loaded magazines in under 1 minute.Roof Koreans managed to keep what they surveyed from their vantage point relatively secure.
We might not be as successful depending on your AO.
Minimal body armor, no gas mask, the rest is a go.
60 seconds? 5 minutes? So you're expecting enemy paratroops to darken the sky this afternoon?
It's all ready -- armor, ballistic helmet, battle rifles. Good choice of side arms. Radios ... "Say when."
And don't forget a chain saw.
Good thought. Home time is zero. Reaching out would (now) take more than a few minutes.
(have a good go bag in the cars)
@Anon 1:17P,
Not at all.
I'm expecting that when TSHTF, it may not send advance notice, and your first clue may be a mere few minutes' prior notice, or even just concerning developments that just keep cascading into a massive failure.
I can think of dozens of fictional scenarios where Bad Things Happen Fast, none of them requiring a Red Dawn prologue, but just as bad to Joe Average.
For but one firsthand example, the Rodney King Free TV and Nike Shoes Festival unfolded within an hour's time, and an entire megaplex of multiple millions of people went from normal to SHTF within that time, with zero prior malicious planning. It just happened. On one spring day between 4PM and nightfall, all civil order collapsed across hundreds of square miles, catching all civil authorities and most of the population with their pants completely around their ankles. People went into a movie in Normal Life, and emerged after the credits into Hell On Earth. A lot of people left work in Normal Life, and during drive time home, were presented with a Sh*t Festival, while neither at their residence, nor their place of employment, and nothing to wave at Bad Times but their Johnsons. And by dark, it was city-wide, 30-50 miles in any direction, and included the 'burbs, because the Diversity is everywhere.
Shit goes down that fast, and it doesn't send you an engraved invitation.
You're either ready for that, or you're not.
"Not" is a poor option to select on purpose.
Hence the suggestion to do some mental and physical preparation to minimize the effect of that on you and yours.
And what if you had to run a mile to that roof, or hike ten?
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