A snippet extracted from C & S Oct2011

[NorthernRaider]

A snippet extracted from C & S Oct2011

I thought this small piece of wisdom from Octobers Combat and Survival by David Rubens was a worthwhile of note.

The article focuses on the mentality and motivation of both the rioters and police in London during the riots in Tottenham etc.

The bit I’m interested in was his “survival tips” which I categorise as SITUATIONAL AWARENESS. I quote Mr Rubens below

“” For the person caught in a street demonstration there are a number of survival tips. The first one most obviously is to try and not be there! Although mobs can quickly gather and turn violent very quickly, this tends to happen in places where there is a lower level of normal social discipline and cohesion.”

““In normal situations there is a transition from ‘crowd’ to ‘mob’ that is clearly recognisable to anyone who has basic security awareness (situational awareness for preppers) and which can give time for you to withdraw from an area. The two signs that we would always look out for are if (1) shopkeepers start closing their shops early and (2) if groups of young men start walking around with their faces covered; both usual signs that things are about to kick off.””

Other very wise tips Mr Rubens advises are that most mobs are usually fairly localised and by moving fifty meters away or to the next street or block you may well remove yourself from harm’s way.

Also he very prudently points out to “NOT DRAW ATTENTION TO YOURSELF, Don’t hang around (especially with EDC or BOB bags that riots may wish to take from you) don’t take photos and act in all ways in a respectful manner”.
Or in Prepper talk go the Grey Man route of low profile, uninteresting, unattractive and non-threatening posture.

I would add that in the recent G 20 riots, anti-public spending cuts riots and protests, and the militant student riots that because many ordinary London city workers, commuters, tourists, businessmen etc were NOT taking notice of events developing around them they ended up getting kettled or detained along with rioters by the police. Indeed one newspaper vendor was killed by the police for the crime of trying to walk home.

Be constantly vigilant when you’re out and about especially in cities, take note of what is going on around you and at all times ensure you can find routes away from any possible threats.