London Bridge

In case you do not know much about the incident here are some links you can go to in order to catch up before you read this post.

The first is a news article with some video and links;

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/london-bridge-attack/london-bridge-closed-after-major-incident-report-van-hitting-people-n767966

This one goes straight to a video

<iframe src="http://www.nbcnews.com/widget/video-embed/959685187766" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

People were out enjoying their evening when they were attacked. A van ran people down. The occupants jumped out of the van,  attacking people with knives, until they were killed by police officers.

The entire incident lasted around eight minutes. Eight minutes before police were able to stop the threat. One minute, take one minute, just one minute and have someone hit you with a hammer! Yes, have someone get a hammer, allow them to beat you for one minute while you do nothing to defend yourself!!!!!! JUST DO IT!!!

Why won't you? Because we all know you will suffer bruises, maybe a broke bone, maybe a bleeding gash and heck you might even get knocked out!! Imagine being on the street and help does not arrive for eight minutes!! You are on your own......... we are all on our own for some period of time when bad things happen. What can you do or what do you know which could help?

These guys did not show up first. One "Bobbie" is credited with taking on all three of the attackers. This brave Officer is alive from what I understand. After he put up a fight the attackers moved on to take lives. The Officer is credited with buying other people time to flee.

Hopefully he fully recovers. We can only hope his actions saved some lives.

It was a while before these guys showed up.

While people waited....... well they did this.........

Others did this..........

At one point the attackers were reported to have gone into a pub and were chased out by the people there throwing things at them. Another man stood up and took on the three attackers. He was injured but will also survive.

The attack stopped when the attackers were shot and killed.

We have to strive to survive for the time we are on our own. We can not count on others to help us defend ourselves. We can not count on others to provide first aid. We can only count on ourselves for these moments.

What can we learn from this incident?

Situational awareness is very needed skill to counter these situations. If you are aware of your surroundings you might notice the truck jump onto the sidewalk in time to seek safety. If you are aware people are running through the streets attacking people you might be able to avoid the situation or response in some other way.

Being able to defend yourself might give you the ability to stop or counter an attack. Having some ability might mean you get to go home after the incident.

PLEASE NOTE..... Not once in this statement did I say you can kick the crap out of the attacker and save the day!!! NO! You might be able to get home at the end of the day still breathing, with no major holes in you and one hell of a story to tell!!! Maybe you could even help a few other people get home also.

Leave the fantasy, super hero Bull Shit at home!!! In the two cases of people taking on these three attackers the people defending themselves were injured, yet everyone says they had a positive effect on the ability of others to live.

Having some medical skills might mean the difference between you getting home or not. You might also be able to help others live to see another day. Remember even just putting direct pressure on a wound and being able to preform CPR might be the difference between life and death for someone.

The biggest skill you need during a bad day, after realizing something is going on, is the ability to control your fear. You have to control it, remain focused, take in information and make positive decisions. For those of us who have near been in a really bad incident this is right up there with breathing during an incident. The bad part, you can not be taught to stay calm during a bad day in one or two sessions somewhere. Experience is the best teacher.

Remain aware of your surroundings
Be able and willing to defend yourself
Have the ability to preform basic first aid
KEEP CALM AND FOCUS ON THE PROBLEM!

Of course people can argue with my short list for this incident. That is a good thing. We all come at these situations from different angles and have a different way of seeing the answer to the problem.

(The following section has been edited...... The first draft was loaded with heart felt anger, foul language and utter disgust at the authorities........ I edited this in the hoped people would read on without being turned off by the colorful language or rage.)

WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?!? This is the plan the London police put out for their people to follow? No really here is the link to this bullshit!!!

https://www.cityoflondon.police.uk/advice-and-support/countering-terrorism/Pages/stay-safe.aspx 

Here is a video the London police department put out to give citizens a plan to use during incidents........ nowhere do they say you should have a plan to fight? Or do they and I missed it? Because I do not think I missed it?

This bullshit shows a complete lack of understanding the basics of PREDATOR and PREY mentality! shows a complete lack of understanding how the human animal reacts as a predator when the other person runs like prey! Do these idiots even understand more kills are made when the "victim" has their back to the attacker? Do these fucking morons understand they are teaching their population to be god damn victims?!?!?!?!!?

(end of rant........ deep breath......)

You only rise to the lowest level of your training. If your training only consist of running and hiding you will fail when these two options do not work..........

Please take a moment and read this earlier post.
http://broadheads.blogspot.com/2015/12/active-shooter-incidents.html

Make fighting, defending yourself if you have too part of your personal and family plan.

Yes, we should avoid if we can.

Yes, we should find a defensible position, use the terrain, put things between use and the attackers.

Yes, we should call for help as soon as possible.

If you do not mentally prepare for the situation to progress or skip these other parts you will be caught flat footed. You have to visualize a really bad situation and you working through it. You have to acknowledge situations can spiral out of control to a point attackers are running through the streets attacking people. You must have a complete plan, a back up plan and a "no plan" for when everything goes to hell.

If you can arm yourself when confronted with knife wielding attackers. Be prepared to use whatever you arm yourself with. If this means you pick up a fire extinguisher, spray them with contents and then beat them with the canister until they are not a threat..... DO IT!! If you arm yourself and suddenly find yourself behind the attacker..... take the tool you have armed yourself with and bash the attackers head in until they are no longer a threat! If the attacker is busy stabbing someone else and you have something to hit, bash or stab them with........ run up behind them while they are distracted and stab them, bash them or hit them until you make them no longer a threat or need to employ the run portion of your plan again.

If you were squeamish or otherwise upset by anything you just read..... you need to mentally prepare yourself for the reality of a situation where someone is killing you or other people. You must tell yourself now

"I do not want to fight anyone but I will. I do not want to hurt anyone but I will. I will do whatever it is I need to get home today! I will bash someone's skull in! I will stab someone in their neck! I will throw them in front of a bus if I need to!"

There will be a moment in time when you will be on your own. Be prepared to take any and all positive steps you can to help yourself and others make it through this period of time.

Ok I rewrote this five times....... I am really upset by this incident! You have a right, everyone has a right, to defend themselves when someone is trying to kill them. I left some stuff in here this version.... I couldn't cut out all the language because I feel this strongly about each of us having the right to defend ourselves and loved ones. If you have no training, get some, please......

As Always,

Stay Safe!

Manchester Bombing - Teach your children

Not wanting to seem like we are capitalizing on incidents, this post is being written purposely later then others which have been posted here after an event has taken place. Of course other incidents have taken place since this one..... I do not think we will be delaying posting in the future. I really did not want to seem like the posts were taking advantage of situations.............

Completely trying to stay out of the politics........... Children, unarmed children, who pose no threat to you, are not legitimate targets no matter your cause....... Period, end of discussion.

Given the current attacks we need to cover something which came up while reading reports about the attack. Children did not know what to do. They had no idea what to do when things went south. Granted children should not have a complete skill set for dealing with bad days. They are children and should not have to deal with this S*&^, but they do have to deal with it. Even if dealing with it is just hearing about it on the internet or listening to adults talk. They have to process the information and deal with it using the tools they have been given. As adults we should be trying to prepare our children by giving them tools they can use when, god forbid, they have to deal with a situation.

WHY? 

Because they might not always run into someone willing to help them as this lady did for a group of kids.

http://news.grejeen.com/uk/2017/05/23/manchester-attack-angel-of-manchester-praised-for-leading-children-to-safety-following-bombing/

Wanna bet your kids safety on some complete stranger coming to their aid? Because.....

"People are 'good' and would not leave children to fend for themselves." 

REALLY? How many other adults left children not of their own to fend for themselves in the middle of this situation......

First, have a talk with your kids. Let them know if they are ever lost, not sure where to go or do not know where you went, to find a police officer and ask them for help. This is not just for a terrorist attack. This covers normal days at the mall or a trip to the beach.

(just seen this skill in action today at a fair. little girl was separated from her family, asked for help when she realized she was alone. she was brought on stage, an announcement was made and her father was found less than 100 yards away)

Even if they are older kids, teenagers, have a talk with them and put these idea in their heads. Under stress they will remember what you told them. Even if your "terrible teen" doesn't remember odds are someone in the group will remember this.

This would be another tactic to teach your kids. Do not tell them it is a survival tactic, do not freak them out, but encourage kids to travel in groups to events like this, walking home, leaving the mall or any other time they are out. Of course if the crowd they are hanging out with is less then........ well..... if they are dirtbags, do not encourage them to hang out with that crowd. That is a discussion for another time. For this, encourage kids to move in groups.

Teach your kids to act when something bad happens. Acting being the opposite of just standing there frozen. Teach them what stops fragments and bullets, yes you can just have a discussion with them about what will and won't stop fragments and bullets! Because if things keep escalating one explosion will be followed by another! Just look to what happens in Israel, Syria and other places where bombings take place. These incidents will escalate to where the bombers set off secondary devices to catch first responders and others trying to help.

Next, teach your children first aid. As with everything we talk about here we try to cover as many situations as we can. First aid is a skill not just used if your child is caught in a terrorist act. They can use this ability when they get a paper cut or skin their knee.

Think about it for a moment, what if your child is caught in an event? What if they have enough training to seek help, find a safe position and administer first aid to themselves or others? This saying has proven true more times than I can remember; you only rise to the lowest level of your training during a bad day.

Just think how much better the situation is going to be for them!

Think about your child being able to fend for themselves during those moments of chaos. Think of the advantage you have given your child by having a few conversations and providing basic skills to them............

We can not always be there for our children. At some point we have to let them live their lives. As a parent of grown children I completely understand this, do not like it, but it is something we all have to go through as parents.

Actions taken in the first few moments and minutes after an event can make all the difference in who lives and who dies. This is especially true for medical issues. There is a "Golden Hour" talked about in medical training. If you have access to advanced medical care the first hour is vital. What your child does for themselves or others can make all the difference. Putting direct pressure on a wound, wrapping the victim or themselves in something to fight back shock and keeping a positive mental attitude sounds like nothing yet could be the deciding factor in an emergency.

Of course there is only so much we can expect children to do. We all know kids who are act like they are not listening when you are talking. They will resist any training or conversation which make them uncomfortable. As a parent still have the conversations, still have them take training or teach them ourself. We can not expect children to take charge of a scene or acting as medics. All we can hope for is to give our children tools, training, principles and ideas they can pull from is they ever need to.

Take the time to teach the children.............

As Always,

Stay Safe!

Security Habits - Get Some!

Any where on the net you can find articles and videos showing crime. Crime seems to be on the upswing in my local area. One thing in common with all of these crimes you might notice is the vast majority of crimes seem to start with an opportunity. "Well duh!" Yeah, yeah I realize the statement seems obvious and rather dumb of me to make. Let's take a moment and look at the word 'opportunity'.

"A crime of opportunity is a crime that is committed without planning when the perpetrator sees that he/she has the chance to commit the act at that moment and seizes it. Such acts have little or no premeditation." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_of_opportunity 

The first step would be to take your face out of whatever is stopping you from having good situational awareness. We have covered situation awareness before yet it needs repeating. If you want to lessen the chances of your security being breached the first habit to ingrain into yourself and your loved ones is situational awareness! Everything else starts from here. You can stop most crimes simply by building good habits. The first step is to build the habit of awareness. 

Awareness of your lack of good habits, awareness of the fact there is crime, awareness most crimes are crimes of opportunity and awareness you can cut down on the chances of being a victim of these crimes by practicing good habits. 

It may sound simple BUT acknowledging there is crime is the first step. Kind of like the 12 step program some of us might know about. First, you must acknowledge there is a problem before you can address the problem. 

Next you must look around you to see what you can do to make the chances of you being a victim much less. There are several studies on the behavior of criminals which tell how they pick their victims for physical attacks, robbery, rapes etc. Each one of these studies has one thing which seems to be included in all of them, the person looked, acted, or gave of a victim vibe. 

Which one would you rob if you had to? Which one would you attack if you had to? 

Our first habit we need to develop is being aware of what could be around us. Next is to develop a habit of doing things to counter or lessen the chances of us becoming victims. But let's not focus on being physically victimized by someone. Because if you have ever had something stolen from you, you will understand finding your wallet missing, car gone or house broken into is another form of victimization. 

This should be an easy habit to form. So easy some of us might feel silly when we do not do it and something happens. Lock your doors and windows to your home.......... I know sounds simple yet so many thieves walk in through open doors or climb through unlocked windows. Even seen the TV show "It Takes a Thief"? 

These two guys would show how easy it is to break into most people's homes. They would also show you how to counter the break in's. Good show, was only on the air for a year or two. What would surprise you was how many times they found an open door or window. So often in fact checking doors and windows is the first thing thieves do. 

Make securing your home a habit. Before you go anywhere make sure the house is locked up. This might be enough to cause a thief to move on. Remember we are talking about crimes of opportunity here. This also goes for your vehicles or any out buildings you might have. The shed you put your lawn tools in is as much of a target as your home. A person with an addiction will steal your lawn mower or TV, they just want money for whatever they can get. The easier they can get something, the better it is for them. Heck if it is real easy odds are they will be back to take advantage of the easy again.

We are not talking about turning your home into a fortress (yet) when you leave to go to the store, work or somewhere else you go everyday. What we are talking about is taking away the easy ways in. You can never really make your house thief proof, but with the addition of a simple habit you can stop the lazy thieves from having an easy day.  

If we had to focus on two habits to put into practice these two habits would be the ones we should focus on the most. Being aware of our surroundings and locking things. How many events or incidents could be avoided if people had these two habits? 

Situational awareness stops you from walking down this alley even if the phone tells you the shortest route takes you this way. Instead you take a less victim making route. 

Locking doors and windows as a habit stops you from becoming the "easy" victim. This guy made an entire city live in fear because he would go through open or unlocked doors and windows.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Ramirez

I remember as a child the adults talking about this persons crime spree. They would debate leaving windows opened or closed, which ones to leave open and what to do if they thought they heard or seen something. 

(NOTE for the young folks. We did not all have cell phones back then. Odds were the phone was in the kitchen. Which didn't do you a lot of good if someone was already in the house. That summer was hot and no we did not have AC units like a lot of people do now. Yes, it was the dark ages......) 

Of course using this as an example is extreme and done on purpose. Yet if we lock our doors and secure the house to keep out the lazy thief we can also keep out the serial murderer...... 

Start building these habits today. Before you go to bed check every door and window. Go out and make sure you locked up the cars, shed and garage. In the morning and through out the day tomorrow take a look around your neighborhood. Who lives there, who is coming and going on a regular basis, basically who belongs there? 

Do this every time you leave the house. Lock the place up and see who is around. Do it all week and see what you learn about your neighborhood. See how many times you find an open window or door. See how many times the lazy thief, or murderer, walking down the street could have made you a victim........... 

As Always,

Stay Safe!

CVS survival pre-pack review

While waiting for a prescription the other day I looked over and spotted this item. Figured I would pick up a couple and see what they might be good for. To start the price was about $6.50 a piece.

Not to be a complete ass BUT.... the package states this is a "first aid survival prep-pack". Guess what is not inside the package? One piece of first aid kit! The packaging does say this contains supplies for emergency survival situations which it does.

The back of the package does have some good advice if you have no prior planning or training and suddenly find yourself in a bad situation. You can not fault the advice to "Stop, Think, Observe and Plan". The direction on how to use the included whistle is accurate also. The directions on the back are a pleasant  surprise considering some of the stuff we have seen being passed off as emergency equipment.

Inside you find two emergency blankets, two whistles, a button compass and instructions. Not much but if we had to pick between nothing and this, this is a good start. The enclosed items come from Adventure Medical Kits. A good company with decent quality products for the prices they charge. I personally have a few of their kits for my own use. Which is probably the reason this kit is of higher quality then some other low priced kits we have seen which are similar to this one. 

The directions are good to go even if the kit does not include items you would need to follow the directions. The whistles are loud, kids tried them out for me. Compass worked, unlike some we have come across. Blankets are the same kind we see time and again. To thin, rip easy and are impossible to fold back into the little bag they come in. Overall this was not bad for six dollars and the Ziploc bag it comes in allows you room to add things.

A suggestion would be to take these items out the package they come in, find you a gallon zip lock bag and throw them inside. The zip lock is thicker and allows for easier opening and closing multiple times. While you are tossing things into the zip lock grab a few others things and toss them inside.

Throw in some band aids. A small kit like this one would fit.

Something sharp, swiss army knife or a multi-tool. Nothing to big or fancy but something with a blade at the very least.

Finish off with something to start a fire with. Odds are you could pick up a lighter at the same time you picked up one of these packages.

This is not the worst kit I have seen sold in stores. For six dollars it wasn't that bad. Given it says first aid supplies a few band aids could of been included. Over all if I wanted to give someone something to start from scratch with, something to throw in the truck or glove box and forget about until you need it, this is not a bad place to start. You would have to add a few things to keep from being really disappointed if an emergency did find you trying to stay alice with this kit alone.

As Always,

Stay Safe!

Venezuela update.

A while back we talked about Venezuela and the crisis they are having in which people could not find food or other basic items to survive. Again we will try to stay out the politics and focus on what the people are doing to survive. By doing this maybe we can pull ideas or answers which can assist us in our own emergency preparedness. If the opportunity presents itself we should learn from other people's experience instead of having to learn the hard lessons ourself.

Here is link to the original post. 

http://broadheads.blogspot.com/2016/05/venezuela-reality-check.html

Not much has changed from the time we originally looked at the situation. This is a really good example of why people need to realize emergencies can last long than a day or two. Help just might not be coming along any day soon, preparedness needs to be thought out for both the short and long haul and at the end of the day, you are responsible for your family.

The bridge talked about in the link below. Read the article. These people traveled by public transit and walked to secure food for themselves. Then look at the photo of what they came home with. These were not people already close to the poverty line or part of an underserved community. No, the husband was an auto mechanic and had his own garage before things started going south. The wife has a good job but with the situation spiraling downward her income is not enough to sustain the family.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/venezuela-food-shortage-family-liquidates-savings-to-stockpile-food/

  

I hope you read the article but if you did not here is what they brought home. How long could you and your family live on this amount of food? 

Here is what another family brought home after "shopping". They expected to eat for two weeks off of this amount of food.

Daily people stand in these lines hoping they can afford the prices of what little might be in the store.

Everything you might have stored up is likely to be used up after what, two weeks, a month, six months? Most of us do not have the space to stock up on much more than a maybe a weeks worth of food.

Yet food is not the only thing in short supply. Medicine is also lacking with doctors and hospitals not having anyway of getting more.

How long could you last on this? Heck do you even have the cooking skills to utilize these ingredients? Some of us have no idea how to cook from scratch and for these folks at this point in their situation all there is to work worth is items to make food from scratch.

http://todayvenezuela.com/2017/01/10/venezuela-set-for-murderous-2017/

The situation is not just one in which people can not find food. Read the article linked above. Not only are they looking for food people are more and more having to defend what little they have. Protecting their supplies not only from other hungry people. They have to defend themselves against gangs and the government. Problem for most of this people is when they try to defend themselves the gangs, police and military are the only ones who have firearms.

This is starting to get kind of long. Let's bring this around.

Prepare for the 'quick' emergency. Three days maybe a week.
Always be mentally prepared to go longer.
Utilize whatever supplies you have but always work to add more. Do not wait till you are running out of supplies to try and acquire more, everyone else is probably doing the same thing.
Be prepared to defend what you have, even from people you shouldn't have to defend things from.

As Always,

Stay Safe

7.4 - Ok I will just say what I believe folks need!!

Some folks want to give me a rough time about not just coming out and saying what types of guns I think you need to have. Well there is a reason for this. I want folks to increase their knowledge on the subject by researching things, trying things out and taking responsibility for their choices. Remember a big part of all these conversations if you taking responsibility for you! Ok, here we go......

Well here we are, what do you need for planning when talking about guns! Guess what? You need training! Yeah not what you thought I would write. Here is a link to NRA certified instructors. I happen to be one and think the program gives you a very good BASIC foundation of knowledge. Especially for someone with no or very limited experience with firearms. Of course like anything else, the quality of instruction varies by instructor. 

http://www.nrainstructors.org/Search.aspx 

Follow the link and you can find something in your area. They offer classes from basic pistol, to home defense and even reloading ammo. Again quality may very depending on the instructor. 

Let's cut to point of all this. When we are discussing planning for emergencies and the subject of guns comes up we are only thinking of one reason off the tops of our heads. Protecting the family. Now maybe some of us live in areas where this is not the first concern. Your nearest neighbor is down the road there, about three miles or so, as the crow flies. Groovy, for the rest of us we got people living a stones throw or closer who are the reason we lock our doors at night. Hence protection is the first reason we can think of for owning a firearm. Heck I got a dude across the street I thought I was going to have to shoot a few years back during a normal day. He is on the short list if everything goes to hell!! 

Let's be realistic here, the world is full of bad people, idiots and during some situations people will do things they might not have done during a regular day. We need to take this reality in to consideration when planning for emergencies. To not take this into consideration....... well if you choose not to that is your decision.......

So, what do you need? You need the right tool for the right task. We have already talked about that in other post. Just like in our post about fire starting or other subjects let's try to give ourselves the greatest amount of options with each choice we make when it comes to firearms. 

Before we go any further, I am not going to suggest anything I do not do myself. Unlike some folks I will not sit at the keyboard and suggest things, firearms or otherwise, I do not rely on myself for my own family. 

Revolvers

He is a good place to start. We all need something in the home we can get to if something is happening right now. Revolvers fit this need. They can be left loaded almost indefinitely, their a few moving parts on them and they are simple to use. 

You can easily conceal a revolver and they are easy to transport if you have to leave. In a really bad situation even the worst marksman just has to put the barrel against the bad guy and jerk the hell out of the trigger. A good thing about revolvers is they are not meant to have a bunch of fancy gadgets strapped to them and have no duehickys to confuse anyone in the house on how the operate. Every home should at least have one. Kept in a pistol box, somewhere the kids can't reach.

This would be my baseline for home defense, emergency situations, bugging in (staying home) and bugging out (leaving home). Yes we have one in our house. No I am not telling you where it is. Yes it is in a pistol box. Yes it is where the kids can't get to it. 

Side note on kids and guns. I have two grown children who were around guns all the time but had no idea. It wasn't until recently I told my 20 something son where I kept the guns when he was little. He admitted they knew I had guns but he and his sister had no idea where they were at. Sooooo do not give me an BS about guns are too dangerous to have in the home. The danger comes from having parents who do not know how to handle firearms....................

Pistols 

Next on the list of options are pistols, these are the most common to see. Most people do not own revolvers now days. Modern pistols allow you to carry much more ammunition then a revolver. Why would you want a pistol compared to a revolver? For the reason I just wrote. More is better if you are involved in a self defense situation with firearms! What? Having more rounds increases your chances of stopping the attacker and gaining control of the situation. Also, unlike hollywood shows people do not allows stop when they are shot once and believe this or not, you might miss!!! I know shocking!! 

As we talked about before I personal feel the M-9 or 92f is one of the best pistols for people with little experience or training. WHAT? WHY? Easy one to answer. You have to take the weapon off safe and the first round is double action. What this means is even in the fractions of a second these two things take you have time to decide not to fire a round. They also make it difficult for the firearm to fire when you do not want it to. 

I realize this can get expensive once you start investing in these tools. Every adult in your home should have a pistol. These are tools you keep in the safe for a really bad day. If you carry them otherwise make sure you have the appropriate licenses for your area. 

I wish I could hear they yells when people read this next part!!! My next choice would be a Glock. (oh how the moans and screams feed my soul) Something in 9mm. They are simple, lightweight and have been proven to work. My downside to them is they do not have a safety most people would understand and the whole having to pull the trigger to disassemble the pistol bugs the hell out me each time!! You can adjust the grips and other parts to fit the needs of the user and you can even put all kinds of extra stuff on them if you want. 

  

Try not to get caught up in all the hype of strapping on flashlights, laser beams and super cool sights to your pistols. Sure those things help if you train with them enough. Most of us will not train enough, because we have to work, go to soccer, etc etc, for all these cool add ons to really be of any use to us. 

Whatever you buy try to keep it simple and train with what you buy. It would take me a minute or two to figure out this pistol if I picked it up. Some pistols come with all kinds of levers and buttons I have a hard time figuring out what they are all for! If you have experience with a certain type of pistol stick with those. Remember during a bad day you only rise to the lowest level of your training. Do not set yourself up for failure!

Moving out a bit, increasing the range some, increasing the ability of the tool and giving the user more options we have to move to the shotgun.

If you have no idea about firearms, have a small budget and want a simple yet proven tool to add to your toolbox the Winchester 870 shotgun can not be beat. (if you are yelling about a different type, shhh) These shotguns have been around a long time. They have been used by the military, police, hunters, farmers and grandmothers everywhere. You can defend the family and put meat on the table with this tool. If you can not afford anything else, afford one of these. Every home should have at least one shotgun. Shotguns do not need to have a lot of fancy gadgets on them, they can be fired by anyone in the home, after some very basic training and the types of rounds they can fire are impressive.

Unlike other firearms shotguns have the ability to fire more than one projectile at a time. This means you get a bigger pattern coming out of the barrel and increase your odds of hitting something at the range the rounds are designed for. On the left of the above photo is bird shot, used exactly for what it is called. You can drop birds to put on the table. The rounds on the right can be used for hunting, I have never done it, and for defense. What is called double odd buck "00", will put a hurting on anyone hit within range. A slug round, far right, is only a single round coming out of the barrel but packs a devastating punch. Slugs can go through the door of your house, walls, cars and can really screw up a vehicle engine if they are fired into an engine. (don't ask how I know the last one) Loading a shotgun with buckshot and slugs is a standard loading for self defense.

You can even fire Less Then Lethal rounds just like law enforcement uses. Giving you an option you do not have with other firearms. With a shotgun you can also fire other 'exotic' rounds.

 
Flechette rounds are mostly used for anti personal uses.

"Dragon Breath" rounds fire well, fire out of the barrels. Before you get all excited about the exotic rounds you can fire CHECK THE LOCAL LAWS! In California almost all of the exotic rounds are illegal!

I can tell you first hand the exotic "salt rock" round works really good! Especially when deployed against dumbass kids trespassing. My leg and ass burned soooooo bad I stood crying in the yard while my buddies mom used a hose to get the rocks out. I think she could of got them out faster picking them out but I think she was teaching use a lesson or two.

Even if all you can afford is a single shot 12 gauge you would do good to purchase one. The shotgun is really a kind of all purpose emergency planning tool. Yes they kick. With a little training you can still get everyone in the family to use one. And just to be fair, my shoulder hurts also after a dozen or so rounds.

Long guns, rifles or carbines. Anything you can use to reach out over a hundred yards and hit a target.   They can be the humble bolt action rifle or a lever action as in the picture above. These are just another tool which gives the user a different set of abilities.

With one of these you can put food on the table and defend yourself if need be. The sight of a rifle now days has kind of taken over the place of shotgun for the intimidation factor. Not long ago a shotgun racking was enough to make people run, now days the sight of rifle will make people panic! This could be an asset or cause you more problems than you need.

These fellas were able to defend themselves and their property during a riot. Side Note: having seen these guys first hand I can tell you it was intimidating. They also caught flak during and after the riot because they had the rifles........ welcome to California. Take note those rifles are not the scary black ones but just as effective.

Most of us are never going to be in a situation where we have to kit up like this just to make a run to Starbucks. They need for most of us to purchase these rifles has more to do with training than need. I know lots of folks who were trained on the M-16 or AR-15 platform and are comfortable with the system. Remember stay with what you know if you can.

Of course some people like the "this is cool" effect of having a tool like the military or police have and there is nothing wrong with this. If the tool works for those groups of people why would you not want to use what they have proven to work?

Just do not get caught up thinking because you can carry the gear and dress like the military or police, you have the skill level they have with the tools. Ladies do not get mad, here is a "tacti-cool" fella for you.

It would suck to have to feed this fella during an emergency............... just saying.

Remember, Keep It Simple Stupid, KISS. You do not need to run out and buy the latest gear or the newest gun. You need the kit and tools for the problem you are dealing with or could have to deal with in reality.

The humble M-16A2 and it's grandchildren are all the rage in the news. Every gun fearing person sees them as an enemy of peace, love and happiness. They are just a tool and just like every other tool they have a purpose. Long guns are just that, guns which allow you to send rounds further. You can feed the family and defend yourself with one. They are not as easy to use in confine spaces, buildings, homes or cars. This is why you see shorter versions. You might not want this to be your first line of home defense for this reason. They are hard to use effectively inside of the house. These tools are for use at longer ranges and primarily for hunting. Deer and such do not like to let people walk right up to them and shoot them with a pistol or stab them with a knife. Every home should have at least one rifle. Be it a AR-15 type rifle or a bolt action hunting rifle each person old enough should have a rifle.

Do not think you are doing the "gun thing" wrong if you do not look like this guy. Honestly, he has too much crap on that rifle. You can plan, prepare and utilize firearms as tools without having to break the bank or scaring the family. As with everything we discuss here, tailor your planning to your needs not what someone else is doing. Each of us is unique and we have our own situations. To rap this up, it became longer then I thought it would, here is what you should consider having for emergency planning.

Revolver - home defense, easy to conceal, simple to use. At least one.
Pistol - home defense, primary side arm. At least one, preferable one per adult in home.
Shotgun - home defense, hunting. At least one.
Rifle - home defense, hunting. At least one, preferable one per adult in the home.

Something to think about...........

As Always,

Stay Safe!