The little things that changed.

Today I was running a few errands and took a couple pics with my iphone.

This one is yet another one of those analogies of what happened to our country since the economic collapse of 2001.
Iron storm drains get stolen to be sold as scrap metal. Instead of replacing them with iron storm drains, they just hammer a few pieces of hard wood into place. Of course many parts don’t even have sewer systems, so this is done in the good parts of the suburbs where a) there’s a sewer system to begin with b) they at least bother to place the pieces of hard wood, probably Quebracho.
It’s a good example because it represents the decay we’ve been going through. Its not as if they didn’t fix it at all. They half heartedly do something about it when there’s no other choice, but doing it poorly. Perfect analogy of the world not ending, just getting worse than the one we once knew.

As I took the bus, I was surprised to find that now even this is subsidized. The price of the bus ticket has doubled since 2001, but still you get told that the ticket is “subsidized by the national state”. Our power and natural gas bills have similar writing. It’s a way of saying, “look the government is good and is paying for your expenses”. Most people are stupid enough to actually believe that.

After that I went to the supermarket and bought some groceries. Ended up paying 1300 pesos about (350 USD) for a shopping cart full of groceries. Nothing fancy just food, toiletries, diapers and cleaning products. As I paid I remembered a time not that long ago and told the lady at the register “ You know, I remember a time when you could pay for a full shopping cart with…” . “A hundred pesos” she said. “ Not that long ago (before 2001) a full shopping cart cost a hundred pesos”. She stole my words “Yes, exactly. Oh well, have a nice day”.
Its crazy to see what you end up getting used to.

FerFAL

Differences between military survival and survival in the civilian world

One common mistake among people that are into survival and disaster preparedness is associating military operation procedures, the mental attitude, the gear involved and the tactics applies to tasks in the civil world during hard times. In some cases due to military backgrounds, in others because of the similarities when it comes to weapons, its easy to find lots of examples, cases where people clearly don’t understand the difference as well as they should.

From a mindset point of view you could say they are opposites: The military asks of you to follow orders, in many cases against your own preservation instinct, putting you in harms way. The main objective is completing the mission while the main objective from a civilian survival standpoint is keeping you and yours alive, avoiding dangerous encounters as much as possible. There’s a world of a difference between serving in the armed forces along with your brothers in arms and facing problems with a wife and a few kids to take care. In this case I think its better to look into several of the most noticeable differences. I’m just going to mention a few common points of conflict I often find in various survival forum discussions. You’ll soon see what I mean and learn to tell if some piece of advice works well for you in the civilian world or is better applied to military and/or law enforcement.

Firearms

This has been discussed to a degree in a previous post, when we talked about 7.62 battle rifles vs 5.56 rifles. From a military point of view, the ability to carry, and most important, manufacture and transport to the conflict zone two or three times as much 5.56 ammo for the price and volume of one 7.62, that’s a main strategic advantage. For the survivalist? If you are going to get one or two shots on target, you want them to be the best, most efficient shots you can put down range. Why does the military use 9mm FMJ? Because its again small and cheap to built, its easy to shoot, has little recoil, so it can be handled by the average enlisted person that has little or no firearm handling experience prior to his service. It penetrates barriers better, and has a greater chance of going through flak vests. One shot stops isn’t a main concern for the military. From their point of view, a wounded enemy is better than a dead one, since in average it will mean two other soldiers have to take care of him, and the one wounded soldier, screaming, bleeding, is more demoralizing than a solider that may drop dead and others may not even notice it until later on.

You, as an armed citizen, your main objective is to put the bad guy down, and you want that round to be the most efficient one you can put down range. You’re also less likely to have to face bad guys with flak vest. Military issued flak vests may or may not be penetrated by FMJ 9mm ammo. If they have body armor like the one used by civilians and police, average FMJ 9mm will not penetrate, so it wont make a difference either way, better to have hollow points that are much more effective against bad guys that aren’t using body armor. Also, the military simply cant issue JHP because of the Geneva convention.

Knives

While some military type blades are more than adequate, most of them are combat oriented with a bit of prybar thrown into it. That knife is mostly going to be used to open boxes, pry things, used for throwing around when the soldier is bored, maybe used in some very rare close combat fight as a last resort. You’re basically looking at a short bayonet of some sort. Military knife designs have improved and are more useful, with a more general purpose approach. The good old K-Bar is a good functional blade shape, the Cold Steel SRK is excellent, and both are used often for camping or survival purposes with good results. Now, are they the best? No. They are good but a survival purpose knife has to be able to chop wood, and build shelters too. You can do it with the previously mentioned knives, but there are others that are better at it. A larger bowie, or a short machete like the ones I often recommend here will serve better as all purpose survival knives, if one is all you can have.

Fighting/Confrontations

The civilian survivor will want to avoid fighting as much as possible, and very rarely find himself in offensive roles. Military missions may require purposefully going into harms way to achieve a mission, while your mission is always keeping you and yours safe. This not only changes the type of weapons used, it also influences the strategies implemented and gear carried.

A soldier is part of a bigger machinery, his role is pretty specific, as a survivor you have to be a jack of all trades and you lack the backup and the logistics police officers or military personnel have available. You will most certainly find yourself outnumbered during violent encounters, with the surprise factor turned against you. That’s why you have to train more both in firearms use and hand to hand combat if you want to have a chance at surviving such incidents.
The good news is that you also have the option to avoid combat, something LEO and military may not have an alternative. This is why awareness is paramount for the survivalist.

Distance of Engagement

Since we’re talking self defense for the armed survivalist, this means that distances of engagement will be short. Think “sidewalk” range most of the time. When you do detect threats before they get too close, your best tactic will be simply running away and avoiding the confrontation. When it comes to offensive military maneuvers, ranges increase some, but they are still much shorter than what most people think, specially in modern urban warfare. Ranges rarely exceed 100 meters, most often well within 50 yards, usually 20-30 meters. What does this tell you? Even in war, ranges are close and for the great majority of cases semi auto is the only logical way to go, even for designated marksmen. What does this mean for the armed survivalist? That even talking about a bolt action “sniper” rifle for survival clearly shows you don’t understand the realistic scenarios you are likely to face.

Target recognition

When wearing uniform, its easier to identify who the good guys are. The guy shooting at you or not obeying your orders is the threat that needs to get shot. You don’t have that advantage as an armed citizen or police officer. For you as a survivalist, you never know who the bad guys are until its too late. The two armed guys robbing the bank you are in, those are bad guys right? Would you fight them even if you have a chance, when you don’t know if one of the other “customers” all around you and to your back may pull a gun themselves and shoot you in the back?
When someone dies during a war without being involved directly in the conflict, its called collateral damage. When it happens in the civilian world its called murder and you go to jail for it, for a long time. Even worse than that you might end up shooting a loved one. During military operations you don’t have your wife or kids running around as bullets fly. Target recognition will therefore be the most important part of your training as an armed survivalist.

Personal equipment

How many times have you read that a person prefers to have a 223 caliber carbine instead of a 308 “because I can carry more ammo in my BOB (Bug out Bag)” If there’s a photo in the thread, you’ll usually see a bunch of other stuff, that closely resembles what a GI would carry. “Body Armor? Yeah right, I can’t carry that nonsense because I already have 100 lbs of gear on me” says the guy before pulling out 12 magazines, an entrenching tool, mess kit, NBC suit, axe… You even find people that put together a collection combining stuff carried by troops from WWII to Iraq and then another 20 lbs of every day carry ( which never gets carried, of course) and they’ve never even went backpacking with it. Rule of thumb, keep you bag at less than 10-15% of your body weight… IF you’re in good shape. If not, you probably can’t even carry that much. Try carrying it for some day trip and see for yourself.

A BOB meant to get form point A to B must be light. You’ll probably have friends or family to care for. Many of us have a freaking baby to carry on top of all that. A ton of guns and load bearing vest full of mags may be what you carry for warfare, but its not what you’ll carry when evacuating on foot, not unless you want to get shot or stopped by the police or national guard before you walk 100 yards. Lets not even get to the ton of stuff in these packs you just don’t need. If you are going from point A to point B during civil unrest, you better have a good reason to take such a risk. Staying put is the wiser choice. If there’s no option and you may end up doing the trip on food you’ll need some gear. Some food and water, spare change of clothes, a weapon and concealed armor. Maybe sleeping bags and a tent if you need a day or more to get where you’re going, other than that, leave infantry equipment for those that are in the military.

Team strategies

Since you have a family to take care of, your strategy will be pretty different. A wife and a few kids to protect will be your “team”, not many 18-40 able bodied guys trained to fight. Of course if you have an oldest son, wife, or other relatives that can handle weapons those are good assets, but most often its either kids that are too young or elder family members, or people that simply lack the skill and mindset to be of much use.

If you do have people, its wise to train together as a team. This involves more than plinking with them in the back yard and you should seek professional training to make the most of it. If you have neighbors, relatives or good friends near by, this could be a big asset for you, but in most cases the average survivalist family will be on its own and avoiding conflict as much as possible is recommended. As for the general strategy, you’re will be staying put. This typically means staying home until things calm down, not a shot fired. The military mindset type would be more inclined to get moving, patrol style. Big mistake, the most realistic thing to do is stay home unless you don’t have a choice.

Mindset… of the Third type

These are just a few examples of the difference between military mindset and civilian survival. There’s also a third kind, I’d call it the “Too much Call of Duty videogame” type, where as if from osmosis people think that what happen in combat videogames or action movies is the best course of action. This is not military thinking or wise civilian survival, its just stupid nonsense of course, but it never ceases to amaze me how often I come across it in the survival and disaster preparedness community.
Use your heads guys, and make both smart planning and decisions.

FerFAL

Assault rifles vs 7.62 Nato rifles

Don Williams said...

1) Note that most armies have moved to an assault rifle using a cartridge with intermediate power (M16, AK-47,etc) instead of the full power battle rifles like the FN FAL and HK 91.

2) Reasons are:
a) Most shots on battlefield against trained troops are at less than 200 yards. Under stress and physical exertion of combat, it's hard to hit a helmet partially concealed behind a rock at 200 yards while panting for breath --or to hit a target rushing from cover to cover.

b) By weight, You can carry three 5.56 Nato or AK-74 rounds for every 7.62 Nato round. You can carry three AK-47 rounds for every two 7.62 rounds.

c) Military Assault rifles can fire automatic. Automatic fire with the 7.62 battle rifles was never practical --rifle too light to control recoil, barrel heats up too rapidly and can't be switched out.

3) Rapid swings needed for quick kill shots at short range targets are hard to do with heavy battle rifles. Hard to carry them at ready position for minutes at a time.

4) It is poor tactical planning to rely on firing at human wave attacks from behind a fortified wall while under siege. What do you do come nightfall -- or against approaching trenches? You
have given up the initiative and are trapped.

Better to patrol and ambush threats far from your base -- and the assault rifles are better weapons for patrols than are the battle rifles.

5) Sniper doctrine calls for one shot -one kill and then moving to a new position. The reason is that several shots allow the enemy to precisely locate your position: they can get a bearing and by counting the seconds of time lag between the crack of the bullet passing by them and the report from your rifle muzzle, the enemy can determine the distance to you. (Because bullet travels several times faster than speed of sound, the supersonic crack of it passing by will occur several seconds before the report from a firer's rifle is heard.)

Whereas one shot out of the blue rarely betrays your position.

A bolt rifle can be fired almost as rapidly as a battle rifle for the first 4 or 5 shots.

The US Marines and Army found that it was much easier to maintain an accurate zero on a simple bolt action rifle being dragged through the field than it was for the mechanically complex battle rifles.

And without a dependable zero, one shot-one kill doesn't work.

Hi Don,
Funny, I’m writing a Military Mindset vs Survival Mindset post and just read your reply, which is sort of related to that.
I’ve got to disagree with you here man, at least partially so.
That the military issues an AR type selective fire rifle doesn’t mean that it’s the ideal solution for survivalists as well.

Easy to shoot, accurate, both light ammo and weapon, (at least without all the junk added later) those are reasons for the military to choose it. Heck, how much 5.56 fits into a cargo plane compared to 7.62. Twice as much? Those are very attractive things from a logistic point of view. It may win a war, but is it in your best interest as an individual? A survivalist has other options, and if you train enough then you don’t have to stick with the light .22 carbine with little recoil.
The AK47 is at least more rugged, fires a .30 round comparable to 30-30 and with good soft points you have an acceptable hunting gun.
Now for a one and only long arm and for someone that knows how to use it to its full potential, I’m partial to the FAL, preferably 16” barrel with PARA folding stock and good optics, maybe a trijicon. You have a terrific rifle, it may not be light but its compact enough and you’re shooting 7.62 NATO.

About bolt action speed beign comparable to semi auto, I guarantee you its not. Specially under stress, its not even close.
You also shouldn't mix sniper weapons with average shooters. As something in between you have designated shooters (who have a 7.62 semi auto. DMR is a scoped M14) and those are the guys actually scorign the most hits.

Even for snipers, the military now replaced the bolt action M24 Sniper Weapon System with a semi auto 7.62 AR, the M110 Semi-Automatic Sniper System.
What does this tell you? Semi auto capability is important, even for designated marksmen. For a lone rifleman (survivalist or other armed citizen) with no backup and no one watching you back, its not only important, its crucial.

The sniper role is very technical, very specific, and as cool as snipers are portrayed they are VERY vulnerable when caught outside their offensive role. The sniper is like a scalpel, works for delicate surgery but you can destroy him with an axe. If a sniper armed with a bolt rifle gets caught in a building and has to turn to defensive role, he’s pretty much dead. That’s why the spotter is usually armed with a PDW or other semi auto rifle, and of course why there’s a 2nd guy to begin with. The spotter provides the security. Its taken as a given that the sniper can’t defend himself properly at close quarters, not while focusing on a long range target and armed with a blot rifle.

A scoped FAL will be accurate enough for all your needs, will do almost anything a bolt action 7.62 can do in terms of accuracy and with the added bonus of having semi auto speed with a 20 round mag, putting it in an entire different ball game the bolt rifle can even compete in. Granted, a one mile rifle it is not, but you also have to be realistic of the ranges you’ll be using the weapon as well. If you’re doing 800 yard shots you are not a survivalist, you’re not a lone citizen defending himself, and if I have to pick one, I’ll pick the hard hitting semi auto that can make the 300 yard shot, and not go for the 800 yard rifle that is almost of limited use within the more common 50 yard range or less, where 99% of the self defense situations occur.

Don Williams said...

1) Most countries who adopted the FN FAL liked it, aside from the weight. However, Israel dropped it and moved to develop the Galil (and AK-47 type design) because the IDF felt the FAL was prone to jamming in desert conditions (fine sand,etc.)

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FN_FAL#Production_and_use and
scroll down to Israel.

Its true that they dropped the FAL but the reports of problems with sand are just an excuse (Afghans bought Argentine FALs a while back, very happy with them... they have sand of all sorts too) Truth is Israel dropped the FAL because they were getting the M16 for free from USA. If you think the M16 is tougher than the FAL you have to stop using drugs. :-) But of course it sounds better to those that dont know any better if you say you are using something else because its better and not because its cheaper, or as in this case, downright free!

FerFAL

FAL vs. HK91‏

Hello, Mr. Aguirre
I've been meaning to ask you, what is your opinion of the FAL vs. the HK91? A local gun shop here in the states has a Springfield SAR-8 (HK-91 clone) in like-new shape for a $1000 with 3 mags and accessories, and that has caught my eye. Also, your opinion of the Sig226? I know you like the Glock 31/32, and so that's at the top of my short list. Also, a guy from my work gave me several hundred rounds of 7.62 NATO, and advice? Im not sure what to do with it, guess I could store it "just in case".
Thanx for your time, and you can use any of this email you want, or not at all, I suppose!
E-

Hi E-,
The FAL is by far more popular and there's a good reason for that. Its a better weapon, more reliable and simply a smarter design. Mags will be cheaper and easy to find anywhere in the world. A short barrel FAL (PARA version) is a compact enough 7,62 caliber, you can get a standard one and add a scope with a good mount for a good designated shooter weapon. Instead of spending the $1000, keep saving a bit more and get a good FAL. You can get one built for $1500, check falfiles.com, you'll soon find a FAL for you. I know sometimes its hard to wait a bit more and get more money together but trust me, you'll be glad you followed that advice.

The Sig226 is an excellent weapon, no dobut, but I preffer Glocks and so do a lot of other people that know their stuff. Glocks arent fancy, but they sure do work.

"a guy from my work gave me several hundred rounds of 7.62 NATO, and advice? "

Yes! buy him a beer, you've got a good friend there! Get yourself a FAL, you already seem to have some ammo. Shoot half of it and save the rest for a rainy day, or until you go to the range and rotate it for fresh ammo.

FerFAL

Robberies in Argentina During the World Cup Matches

I just learned about this but it seems that during the last Argentina world cup match many stores were robbed a few blocks away from where I live. During the matches, the streets are deserted, even the cops stay indoors glued to the TV so its ideal for criminals.
The local store owners got together and agreed to close down when the national team is playing next time. Its also a good idea for the average folk as well.
Also worth mentioning, that those driving during the game or just before it starts usually drive like freaks trying to get wherever it is they are going fast, so its better to stay out of the streets as well.

FerFAL