Mudderoy
08-13-2010, 11:51 AM
http://redvest.typepad.com/boggled/Picture%202.jpg
Maybe I've watched one to many disaster/zombie/apocalyptic movies but after seeing how badly people reacted to the category 5 hurricane Rita that was approaching the SE Texas coast I started thinking that what I saw in some of those movies could really happen.
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00005JMXX.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
In a normally tranquil neighborhood someone stole a 5 gallon can of gas from the driveway in broad daylight! Our neighbors tried to evacuate to the North of Houston, but in 12 hours they traveled 5 miles!
http://culturemap.com/site_media/uploads/photos/2010-07-16/Hurricane_Rita_Houston_evacuation_traffic.350w_263 h.jpg
All this and the hurricane never hit us, nor did the weather even get bad. What would have happened if the hurricane had hit and hundred of thousands of people were still on the highways and back roads trying to flee?
What would you do as fear gripped you with your wife and children looking at you for a solution. What if they were really young children? I'm sure many of the people would have hit the off road arena probably for the first time in their lives and with vehicles that were ill equipped to handle it. Youtube videos of off roading Priuses come to mind.
Several, if not most, of us have very capable off road rigs. Since they are station wagons we have a good platform for moving ourselves, family and some important things necessary to survive. One of the things we like about our customized rigs, is they LOOK customized and like tough go anywhere vehicles.
Now imagine what your vehicle would look like to a panicked, normally peaceful, man trying to save his family? If you were driving your 35 mile per gallon Toyota, or really pretty much any 2 wheel drive vehicle what would a customized Jeep Cherokee look like to you? It would look like a way out of the dire predicament you are in. A solution, but you would have to take that vehicle away from the person(s) that had it. You didn't plan and you're really sorry about that but you need a solution now!
It wasn't until after I started building up my Jeep that I really thought about this. I certainly would understand the panic, the fear, and the need to do anything to save my family, and in fact that was the primary reason I started building up the Jeep. But now I have something that is going to be the target of desperate people.
How could I ensure that I was able to keep my vehicle as people tried to stop me to take it? How could I do this without making their situation worse?
The only thing I could think of was something big and menacing. As in a gun. Big has it's problem especially in the confines of a small vehicle, so I would need something big and small. Gun was really the only thing that came to mind. Everyone knows what they will do and my hopes were that when a panicked individual was confronted with certain death over possible death they would at least decide to get out of my way and attack the next less well armed individuals.
I decided the best bang for the buck was a AK-47. It has high round capacity, known for it's reliability, and a large diameter projectile that can easily pierce vehicle sheet metal. One individual may be able to be reasoned with, a group less so and a crowd would really be a problem, so high capacity magazine and multiple weapons would be needed to give you a fighting chance to extract you and your family from this situation.
http://www.bearonarock.com/images/AK%20Folding%20Stock.jpg
I felt a folding stock was mandatory to be able to move the weapon in and our of the Jeep. I have added a front peg to assist with stability and accuracy when shooting the AK-47 with the stock folded.
Another excellent weapon to have is a short "defender" type 12 gauge shotgun with a pistol grip. Accuracy isn't really a problem here, and your ability to swing and aim in close quarters is key.
http://widget.slide.com/rdr/1/1/3/W/2200000006d03f30/1/79/egW3Rynl3T8bXyOsCUd87PiE1F2LqnwS.jpg
I don't think you could rely on these weapons alone. They take too much time and effort to use especially while driving which would most certainly be in a high stress situation. You need a high capacity large caliber hand gun.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/Gixerman1000/Handguns/GlockG22.jpg
The Glock 22 fires .40 cal and holds 15 rounds. The Glock 27 also fires .40 cal rounds and holds 9, however an inexpensive mod will allow it to hold 10 rounds in the clip. Both guns can hold one in the chamber, so 15+1 and 9+1 (10+1) would be the true capacity of the weapon. The nice thing about the Glock 22/27 combination (Having both) is you can use the 15 round clips in the sub compact Glock 27! Sure it sticks way out but we're going for survival here not looks.
http://www.thunderboltguns.com/images/uploads/G27.jpg
Lastly and this is just a good all around thing to have is a good knife.
http://www.hahnssurplus.com/images/P/KB1217.jpg
It looks impressive, it's long and it is capable of being very sharp. It is designed to be a fighting knife and was used for many years by the USMC. The 12" K-Bar knife.
I look at the defense as multiple circles or spheres around the point you are trying to defend.
Going from closest to farthest:
1. Knife 12" (0 to 2 feet - one target)
2. Pistol 9mm, .40, .45 (0 to 20 yards - usually one target at a time)
3. Shotgun 12 gauge (0 to 20 yards - multiple targets)
4. Assault Weapon 7.62x39mm (0 to 75 yards - multiple targets - knock down ability perhaps 3 to 5 at a time)
Arguably 75 yards is about as much as you would need to get away, assuming you still had your vehicle and it was drivable. However it is possible that you could need further defensive capability. I would really consider my next weapon suggestion an offensive weapon, but could see it's defensive possibilities. The long rifle. After doing some research it seems the best, cheapest long rifle is the same one that many police department snipers use, the Remington Model 700. It's 40 year old design hasn't changed much but it is a highly accurate out of the box weapon. Something like a 1/2 inch pattern at 100 yards.
http://securtex.cz/folder01/remington_700_223_I.jpg
5. Sniper Rifle .308 (0 to 500 yards longer kill shots possible)
I have taken care of 1 through 4 and I feel that I am well enough covered in case of an emergency.
I understand that you may feel you would rather just take your chances and hope people will behave themselves. That you may actually be able to help people along the way and not selfishly strand them there to be injured or die. That is of course your choice. I am not a survivalist. I do not wish for bad things to happen so I can go out and use some of these toys. The opposite is true. I hope they turn out to be a waste of money. I only have them to protect myself and my family. Sure they are fun to play with, but that lasts a few days then they just sit in the safe gathering dust.
Jeep parts, computer stuff, electronics in general are much more fun on a daily basis.
I only mention this so that if you haven't already thought of this, you start. I also mention it because if you were concerned that your friends, wife, husband, boyfriend, girlfriend, or children might think you are crazy for doing this, well if something bad happens there are going to be people that are prepared or not prepared. The government will not help you. Given enough time they may, but what will your situation be until that time? Perhaps your time will expire before they can help.
Please keep in mind that if you do go the route of stocking up on defensive weapons that far more relatives are killed with guns than BAD guys. You have to be very careful with these weapons. Even the knife could accidentally deliver a fatal blow by just falling on it. It's a huge responsibility, but so is your life, and the life of your family.
Ultimately you have to weigh what level of protection your feel comfortable with.
Other things to consider. Multiple weapons so that everyone in the Jeep has the ability to protect themselves, assist you, or take over should you not be able to continue. A way to carry ammo. Holster for your pistol, back up weapon. A tactical vest is great to carry additional clips, second full sized pistol, radio, etc... Some good heavy boots so you don't have to worry about where you are stepping during a retreat, or attack.
I recommend getting everything in black. Being seen with your bright shinny AK-47 might help with deterrence, however it also makes you a great target for those that are also armed. If someone is trying to take your Jeep an all black AK-47 will be VERY visible to them in most lighting conditions, and if not the first round that is fired will most likely blind them for several seconds. The won't be able to see or hear for 5 seconds at least.
Now, thankfully, I've never been in a situation like this. Fighting for my life, and protecting my family. So I can't claim that any of this information is based on experience. Even though I've thought about all this stuff, I could be wrong, or not considered "unintended consequences". That is the beauty of sharing ideas with people, to get other points of view.
So please tell me what you think. Tell me where I am wrong, or what I have missed. The whole idea of this is to be prepared. :patriot:
Maybe I've watched one to many disaster/zombie/apocalyptic movies but after seeing how badly people reacted to the category 5 hurricane Rita that was approaching the SE Texas coast I started thinking that what I saw in some of those movies could really happen.
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00005JMXX.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
In a normally tranquil neighborhood someone stole a 5 gallon can of gas from the driveway in broad daylight! Our neighbors tried to evacuate to the North of Houston, but in 12 hours they traveled 5 miles!
http://culturemap.com/site_media/uploads/photos/2010-07-16/Hurricane_Rita_Houston_evacuation_traffic.350w_263 h.jpg
All this and the hurricane never hit us, nor did the weather even get bad. What would have happened if the hurricane had hit and hundred of thousands of people were still on the highways and back roads trying to flee?
What would you do as fear gripped you with your wife and children looking at you for a solution. What if they were really young children? I'm sure many of the people would have hit the off road arena probably for the first time in their lives and with vehicles that were ill equipped to handle it. Youtube videos of off roading Priuses come to mind.
Several, if not most, of us have very capable off road rigs. Since they are station wagons we have a good platform for moving ourselves, family and some important things necessary to survive. One of the things we like about our customized rigs, is they LOOK customized and like tough go anywhere vehicles.
Now imagine what your vehicle would look like to a panicked, normally peaceful, man trying to save his family? If you were driving your 35 mile per gallon Toyota, or really pretty much any 2 wheel drive vehicle what would a customized Jeep Cherokee look like to you? It would look like a way out of the dire predicament you are in. A solution, but you would have to take that vehicle away from the person(s) that had it. You didn't plan and you're really sorry about that but you need a solution now!
It wasn't until after I started building up my Jeep that I really thought about this. I certainly would understand the panic, the fear, and the need to do anything to save my family, and in fact that was the primary reason I started building up the Jeep. But now I have something that is going to be the target of desperate people.
How could I ensure that I was able to keep my vehicle as people tried to stop me to take it? How could I do this without making their situation worse?
The only thing I could think of was something big and menacing. As in a gun. Big has it's problem especially in the confines of a small vehicle, so I would need something big and small. Gun was really the only thing that came to mind. Everyone knows what they will do and my hopes were that when a panicked individual was confronted with certain death over possible death they would at least decide to get out of my way and attack the next less well armed individuals.
I decided the best bang for the buck was a AK-47. It has high round capacity, known for it's reliability, and a large diameter projectile that can easily pierce vehicle sheet metal. One individual may be able to be reasoned with, a group less so and a crowd would really be a problem, so high capacity magazine and multiple weapons would be needed to give you a fighting chance to extract you and your family from this situation.
http://www.bearonarock.com/images/AK%20Folding%20Stock.jpg
I felt a folding stock was mandatory to be able to move the weapon in and our of the Jeep. I have added a front peg to assist with stability and accuracy when shooting the AK-47 with the stock folded.
Another excellent weapon to have is a short "defender" type 12 gauge shotgun with a pistol grip. Accuracy isn't really a problem here, and your ability to swing and aim in close quarters is key.
http://widget.slide.com/rdr/1/1/3/W/2200000006d03f30/1/79/egW3Rynl3T8bXyOsCUd87PiE1F2LqnwS.jpg
I don't think you could rely on these weapons alone. They take too much time and effort to use especially while driving which would most certainly be in a high stress situation. You need a high capacity large caliber hand gun.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/Gixerman1000/Handguns/GlockG22.jpg
The Glock 22 fires .40 cal and holds 15 rounds. The Glock 27 also fires .40 cal rounds and holds 9, however an inexpensive mod will allow it to hold 10 rounds in the clip. Both guns can hold one in the chamber, so 15+1 and 9+1 (10+1) would be the true capacity of the weapon. The nice thing about the Glock 22/27 combination (Having both) is you can use the 15 round clips in the sub compact Glock 27! Sure it sticks way out but we're going for survival here not looks.
http://www.thunderboltguns.com/images/uploads/G27.jpg
Lastly and this is just a good all around thing to have is a good knife.
http://www.hahnssurplus.com/images/P/KB1217.jpg
It looks impressive, it's long and it is capable of being very sharp. It is designed to be a fighting knife and was used for many years by the USMC. The 12" K-Bar knife.
I look at the defense as multiple circles or spheres around the point you are trying to defend.
Going from closest to farthest:
1. Knife 12" (0 to 2 feet - one target)
2. Pistol 9mm, .40, .45 (0 to 20 yards - usually one target at a time)
3. Shotgun 12 gauge (0 to 20 yards - multiple targets)
4. Assault Weapon 7.62x39mm (0 to 75 yards - multiple targets - knock down ability perhaps 3 to 5 at a time)
Arguably 75 yards is about as much as you would need to get away, assuming you still had your vehicle and it was drivable. However it is possible that you could need further defensive capability. I would really consider my next weapon suggestion an offensive weapon, but could see it's defensive possibilities. The long rifle. After doing some research it seems the best, cheapest long rifle is the same one that many police department snipers use, the Remington Model 700. It's 40 year old design hasn't changed much but it is a highly accurate out of the box weapon. Something like a 1/2 inch pattern at 100 yards.
http://securtex.cz/folder01/remington_700_223_I.jpg
5. Sniper Rifle .308 (0 to 500 yards longer kill shots possible)
I have taken care of 1 through 4 and I feel that I am well enough covered in case of an emergency.
I understand that you may feel you would rather just take your chances and hope people will behave themselves. That you may actually be able to help people along the way and not selfishly strand them there to be injured or die. That is of course your choice. I am not a survivalist. I do not wish for bad things to happen so I can go out and use some of these toys. The opposite is true. I hope they turn out to be a waste of money. I only have them to protect myself and my family. Sure they are fun to play with, but that lasts a few days then they just sit in the safe gathering dust.
Jeep parts, computer stuff, electronics in general are much more fun on a daily basis.
I only mention this so that if you haven't already thought of this, you start. I also mention it because if you were concerned that your friends, wife, husband, boyfriend, girlfriend, or children might think you are crazy for doing this, well if something bad happens there are going to be people that are prepared or not prepared. The government will not help you. Given enough time they may, but what will your situation be until that time? Perhaps your time will expire before they can help.
Please keep in mind that if you do go the route of stocking up on defensive weapons that far more relatives are killed with guns than BAD guys. You have to be very careful with these weapons. Even the knife could accidentally deliver a fatal blow by just falling on it. It's a huge responsibility, but so is your life, and the life of your family.
Ultimately you have to weigh what level of protection your feel comfortable with.
Other things to consider. Multiple weapons so that everyone in the Jeep has the ability to protect themselves, assist you, or take over should you not be able to continue. A way to carry ammo. Holster for your pistol, back up weapon. A tactical vest is great to carry additional clips, second full sized pistol, radio, etc... Some good heavy boots so you don't have to worry about where you are stepping during a retreat, or attack.
I recommend getting everything in black. Being seen with your bright shinny AK-47 might help with deterrence, however it also makes you a great target for those that are also armed. If someone is trying to take your Jeep an all black AK-47 will be VERY visible to them in most lighting conditions, and if not the first round that is fired will most likely blind them for several seconds. The won't be able to see or hear for 5 seconds at least.
Now, thankfully, I've never been in a situation like this. Fighting for my life, and protecting my family. So I can't claim that any of this information is based on experience. Even though I've thought about all this stuff, I could be wrong, or not considered "unintended consequences". That is the beauty of sharing ideas with people, to get other points of view.
So please tell me what you think. Tell me where I am wrong, or what I have missed. The whole idea of this is to be prepared. :patriot: