You know the End is Near

[Paradoxium]

I am wondering, if I started talking about uh.. small unit tactics, that applies certain military principles and ideas, is that alright or is that creeping on probation/bansville?

 

[Zephyr Alexian]

How large an accompaniment are you planning for? A dozen, 20, 50?

 

[Paradoxium]

Definitely a dozen to 20. It might be a while before I post it up though, bit iffy about the limits I can post on this site. I have been doing a bit of "homework" on this topic, more to it what the American military (or the general whole of western military) ought to consider integrating into schema of things (smart and low tech). There is quite a bit of literature on this and it is a interesting subject matter for me.

I might try to innovate techniques out of this literature that I have (and will) absorbed, into something "civie-friendly" of course. But I also have to be realistic: to have 'that many' people who can 'handle it' - might be difficult in of itself

 

[Zephyr Alexian]

You will need a simple way to make complex decisions very quickly. That's challenging, but would you have different people specialize in certain areas, or require that every person is self-sufficient to the degree necessary or possible?

 

[Paradoxium]

One of the ideas I had goes something like this

Suppose the Objective is get A. We will treat A as some McGuffin. What I am about describe is a rough abstract approximation.

Traditionally a western style would be a top down chain, and in within that chain the higher up denotes authority. The Authority figures give out commands to the appropriate chain member (who can be a trade specialist) to achieve "A". Each member of the chain knows of his function only and is mechanically efficient at it. Their communication is vertical. Hence the top-down style.

The Eastern style of thinking is more decentralized; there is some form of authority figures. Each member knows of A, and the whole picture (less mechanical and more organic). They are given the flexibility to achieve A, in what they deem best - and they are able to adjust to circumstance. Their communication is both vertical and horizontal. Effectively the leader puts his trust in his small unit to execute on their own. I am after the Eastern style in this circumstance, and that would (as you put it) require members to be: "self-sufficient to the degree necessary or possible".

In reality that takes some degree of training. The hope is - you start out as a typical top-down type of command line based on experience. But as time passes by, each member trains one and another on their trades, tactics and ideas in order to improve each others human capital. This way you will gradually create self-sufficient team members with larger knowledge bases to adopt the more eastern method. Suppose you sustain losses, the whole unit does not collapse. More importantly, having more smarter men will help keep everyone alive and more trusting of each others ability.

I just threw this post together off the top of my head, there might be holes in it.

In other words more Sun Tzu, less Clausewitz

 

[BobJM]

Find religion.

I've been out of touch with my religion for a long time now. With one year left to live, I'd want forgiveness for my sins and find a peace within myself.

 

[sithgoblin]

Bugout Kit
Head back here for the index.​

You have a backpack that has all the things you need to survive on the short term, whilst giving you mobility to get a destination or scavenge around. So if things get dicey, you grab this bag and head out. If you are not too prepared, it’s better than nothing. It’s not expensive and much of the items – you could use anyways even if things don’t turn out bad. A lot credit goes to the SAS Survival Guide. I streamlined it a bit to fit the more urban and suburban folks.

Knife – I would go against anything cheap here. You will need your knife a lot, and you want something good and reliable. Don’t get a folding knife either. Get a k-bar with a rounded handle, because you don’t blisters from excessive use. Make sure it has a positive fastening and tunnel belt loop.
Multi Tool - I would get a Leatherman, Gerber Multi-Tool. Forget the Swiss Army novelty knives.
Hand Gun: Glock 17, reliable (can tolerate water and sand), very little moving parts, light weight
Bottle – For water. Consider buying condoms too, they are good for being impromptu waterbags. Avoid tin.
Candles
Waterproof Matches
Flint with Striker
Needles and Thread
Compass – liquid filled since pointers rust. Have a map on hand, and a pencil and eraser or pen.
Pencil Size Torch - flip batteries wrong way so you don't accidently turn it on and waste it
Survival Bag - heat insulated. Reflective material to keep you warm and free of condensation.​

Medical Subkit
For these medications, copy the list down and head to some drug store (or Walmart) and ask some sales or pharmacist for these items:

Analgesic - pain relief
Intestinal sedative - for diarrhea
Antibiotic - for infections
Antihistamine - for allergies​

Here are the rest non-medication items:

Alcohol Pads
Cotton Wool
Water Sterlizing Tablets
Surgical Blade
Butterfly Sutures
Waterproof Plasters
​

Hygiene Subkit
It's up to you if you want to anything more like a deodorant, keep in mind anything more is going to be luggage.

Toothbrush + Toothpaste
Floss (do it everyday!)
Tea tree castille soap - as a soap, as paste and moisturizer (thanks Zephyr Alexian)
Straight or Safety Razor​

Food
Make sure you have Mess Tin and have the utensils in it as well. As common sense dictates you should pay attention to food expiration. The food for the bugout is only short term – you cannot rely on it. And it is for you to have when you are on the move.

Granola and Chocolate bars (or any of those meal replacement energy type bars)
Beef Jerky
MRE (Meals Ready to Eat) - make sure you have the chemical heaters.
Multivitamin Pills
Tube of Butter
Egg Powder (Properly Sealed)​

On staying hydrated: Keep cool (obviously), so don’t over exert. Remember if you eat too much, the act of digesting food uses flood. You want to retain as much as possible. Cut off caffeine and alcohol, they dehydrate you. Particularly the later.

I would suggest adding water purification tablets in there, and maybe some sort of radio?

 

[Fading]

Some of you guys have well thought out strategies. It depends tho, do only I know, or is this an impending doom that everyone knows about? Are we talking Mad Max, or just temporary but can rebound chaos?

I guess the first thing would be to stock up on supplies. Batteries, Flashlights, a radio (that runs on batteries), various utility knives, medical supplies. Of course lots of bottled water. Foods that keep such as MRE's, Beef Jerky, Nuts.

As for preparing, that depends on how bad we're talking. Total anarchy? Then I'd buy a remote plot of land, and grow crops, but not so remote I wouldn't be able to find out if things reverted to a more normal state. Just everything crashing? I'd probably wait it out a bit at home and wait for a reboot. If nothing improved, then I'd move as ppl can get panicky and riot, or loot. I'd try and make sure I wasn't in a large city on the day everything went down either way.

Money wise...pull it all out. If everything crashes and bankrupts, $$ in the bank will disappear.

 

[Zephyr Alexian]

I just threw this post together off the top of my head, there might be holes in it.

In other words more Sun Tzu, less Clausewitz

Using one philosophy as the basis or bridge to employing another is an ambitious undertaking. Do you feel that such a transition could render seamlessly, or what I'm curious about is: how would you attempt this?

Do you use a democratic process or do you gently guide its manifestation in a more covert, possibly even quasi-totalitarian manner? How do you embark upon this with so many people in the group who will undoubtedly have their own concerns, questions, and apprehensions?

Who is the authority and will people listen? Under the eastern philosophy, I see a great deal of accepted cooperation, but perhaps its at the detriment of decisiveness within the group. For example, during physical confrontations, that could prove fatal. On the other hand, the western analytic you mentioned has some beneficial qualities like attack and defense response, but I'm not sure the coordination of such intricate feats are grasped over night. What kind of time table would you have in mind for this type of thing? Your calculation may not be the liability? What if it's the sum of the parts or IOW, the people in the group? Do you have a contingency for this?

Do you start to educate and intergrate before the events with a rough strategem that evolves or do you set a concrete deadline?

I feel that more people increase the chances of survival, but also the odds for complications and possibly an insurrection, if it's even viewed as such in the end. It's a double-edged sacrifice to a certain extent.

 

[Paradoxium]

Using one philosophy as the basis or bridge to employing another is an ambitious undertaking. Do you feel that such a transition could render seamlessly, or what I'm curious about is: how would you attempt this?

Do you use a democratic process or do you gently guide its manifestation in a more covert, possibly even quasi-totalitarian manner? How do you embark upon this with so many people in the group who will undoubtedly have their own concerns, questions, and apprehensions?

Who is the authority and will people listen? Under the eastern philosophy, I see a great deal of accepted cooperation, but perhaps its at the detriment of decisiveness within the group. For example, during physical confrontations, that could prove fatal. On the other hand, the western analytic you mentioned has some beneficial qualities like attack and defense response, but I'm not sure the coordination of such intricate feats are grasped over night. What kind of time table would you have in mind for this type of thing? Your calculation may not be the liability? What if it's the sum of the parts or IOW, the people in the group? Do you have a contingency for this?

Do you start to educate and intergrate before the events with a rough strategem that evolves or do you set a concrete deadline?

I feel that more people increase the chances of survival, but also the odds for complications and possibly an insurrection, if it's even viewed as such in the end. It's a double-edged sacrifice to a certain extent.

I don't expect it to be seamless, the East and West thing is more of a dichotomy or scale. The Chinese (against the Japanese in WW2) still had some form of top-down authority in the military, albeit less cumbersome. So, I don't think dealing in either absolutes will be possible or practical. You need some kind of hybrid - to find this equilibrium will be difficult. Some of the literature I have on this topic, also advocates a hybrid form, dependent on scenarios. But ultimately, you will need one authority/alpha of the pack, and he can't please everyone. After all, this alpha is probably the one who will propose and gather the unit together in the first place.

But as you mentioned, the concrete deadline is a huge problem (training wise). A topic that must be dealt with is: group/unit size and level of trust. Another problem is scenarios where you have vulnerable women and children, how to protect but also accomplish certain objectives. It will be messy.

Anyways you make a lot of good points, I am not sure I can answer it all at once. I will try to post some ideas before "indexing" these ideas into the main index.

 

[Paradoxium]

The Yurt
Head back here for the index.

What is this?
From Wikipedia:

Enthusiasts in other countries have taken the visual idea of the yurt -- a round, semi-permanent tent -- and have adapted it to their cultural needs. Although those structures may be copied to some extent from the originals found in Central Asia, they have been greatly changed and adapted and are in most cases very different.

In the United States and Canada, yurts are made using hi-tech materials. They are highly engineered and built for extreme weather conditions. In addition, erecting one can take days and they are not intended to be moved often. Often the designs of these North American yurts barely resemble the originals; they are better named yurt derivations, because they are no longer round felt homes that are easy to mount, dismount and transport. North American yurts and yurt derivations were pioneered by William Coperthwaite (founder of the Yurt Foundation) in the 1960s[1], after he was inspired to build them by an article about Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas's visit to Mongolia[2].

In Europe, a closer approximation to the Mongolian and Central Asian yurt is in production in several countries. These tents use local hardwood, and often are adapted for a wetter climate with steeper roof profiles and waterproof canvas. In essence they are yurts, but some lack the felt cover that is present in traditional yurt.

Different groups and individuals use yurts for a variety of purposes, from full-time housing to school rooms. In some provincial parks in Canada, and state parks in several US states, permanent yurts are available for camping.

To summarize: it's cabin-lite. The ultimate in frugal, nomadic and minimalist lifestyle.

Why?
As a contingency, you have a shelter of sorts. Particularly if things gets dicey in a highly populated area (such as deviance and looting). Like a cabin - there is the option of plumbing and electricity. You can also stock it with extra clothing, tools and even perishable food (although temperature dependent - the region you live in is important).

This site covers a lot of FAQ: http://www.rainieryurts.com/faq.html

How much?
The can range from 7-10 grand for a small one, and a 15-20 grand for a much bigger one. The more you want, common sense dictates the more it will cost. It takes only takes a couple people to build a yurt.

A Community?
If you have small group of people working through this, you can create a community of yurts (or bunk in one or two). More to the point you can have people to rotate and keep watch of the community.

 

[The Incredible Hulk]

are we to assume the presence of zombies or another form of mutated subhumans that would prey on us?

 

[Paradoxium]

are we to assume the presence of zombies or another form of mutated subhumans that would prey on us?

Funny you mention this, was reading this article

5 Scientific Reasons a Zombie Apocalypse Could Actually Happen
NSFW since it uses some image caps from zombie movies (even though the gore is fake) + some swearing (just covering my bases). I used a Google link just to be extra careful

 

[Paradoxium]

Ironically I was working on an article on this topic. So I should have something up tonight or tomorrow for this. Still, those who took the preparations, now it is going to pay off. Remember I told you so; oh wait I am a fear monger oooops

Steep food price increases on way: experts