Defending Against Mobs

With the current social/political mood rather restless, I've had a few people ask me how best to react to mobs and/or riots. I live in a rural area, so we aren't expecting much in the way of violence (one murder a year in the county is big news), but most of us have to travel to “the city” for shopping or other business and there have been some disturbances down there. I've witnessed one good riot in person and have followed a few others closely, but I'm not an expert by any means and so I started looking for expert advice.

The best advice is the simplest: stay away from crowds. Use the “rule of thumb” for any disaster waiting to happen, by which I mean “If you can't cover it with your thumb held out at arm's reach, you're too close.” Avoiding problems is the easiest way to deal with them, so not being where the trouble occurs is the simplest way to deal with an unruly mob.

The worst thing you can do is to go looking for trouble. Unless you have serious back-up on many levels, from legal to firepower, you're not going to be able to do much good. The only time preemptive action will work is if we enter a truly WROL (Without Rule of Law) scenario and that is a “survive at any cost” situation.

Defense against an unruly mob or group of attackers is a roll of the dice.

• Locally, we had a bar owner shoot and kill a man who had already assaulted one person and was in the act of assaulting the bar owner. The local prosecutor looked at the evidence and decided to file no charges, but after a couple of days of “protests” he changed his mind and turned it over to a grand jury. The grand jury indicted the bar owner for murder.
• The lawyer couple in St, Louis that were armed while telling protesters to leave their property have been charged. That case is still ongoing.
• People who display a firearm against a crowd attacking their vehicle may get away unscathed, but there are groups ready to identify them and ruin their lives. Being fired from a job, having your personal information posted online, being defamed in public media and forums, and civil lawsuits are all tactics used by the organizers of some of these protests.

Some of you may have heard of Masad Ayoob. He's been teaching firearms use for decades internationally and is one of the world's experts on defensive firearms use. He did a rather long interview a few months back on this subject and covered it in detail. I strongly suggest you find the time to sit and watch or listen to his advice. At the very least, read through the shortened transcript.

The highlights are:

• Avoid crowds.
• If you run into a crowd, try to get away.
• If you can't get away, try to deescalate the situation.
• If your life is in danger, you do have the right to defend yourself against that threat, but only that threat.
• Know your target and what is beyond it. You're responsible for everything damaged by your bullets.
• Not everyone in a crowd is a legal target; most of them are not going to be violent.
• Handguns are easier to keep control of, are less likely to over-penetrate a target, and are easier to use in a vehicle than a long gun.
• Outside of WROL, you will be held responsible for your actions.
• Lawyers will be involved and they're expensive.
• Know your local laws and how they are enforced. Some areas are not friendly to self-defense.
• Being in a car adds to the problems; newer cars won't let you run over a person and airbags deploying will incapacitate you for minutes.
• Firing a weapon inside a car will damage your hearing permanently.

He did cover the “Rooftop Koreans” briefly, as well as a few other historical examples of people defending themselves against unruly mobs. The LA riots were a WROL situation since the police had been pulled back. There were about two dozen “unsolved” deaths, but no definite examples of defenders killing rioters. More recent events have been treated differently, depending entirely upon the political views of the courts and prosecutors involved.

Short of a total collapse of infrastructure I feel fairly safe in my area, but I know some of you are living in areas that are likely to see rioting if things don't calm down soon. Keep your eyes open, your training current, and your powder dry.

Prudent Prepping: Life During Curfew

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Follow along as I build a long term plan via Prudent Prepping. 

In this post from almost two months ago I was joking around by quoting a Talking Heads song. From the first part of March until now, the first part of June, what originally looked like a short-term limited response to a virus has turned into a large-scale disruption to our country. The news from the last two weeks makes being prepared for any change to your surroundings important, but the changes in the last 4 days have really made preparing for anything not just important, but required. Right now I'm making sure that everyone in my group is equally prepared.

What's Going On
I have friends living in what was considered a safe area... at least until the protests turned into an excuse for looting which has begun to be exported into the suburbs. These folks are older than I, and if anything happens in their city their  closest prepper friend is 20 minutes away, so the plan is for them to stay in place and friends will come to them. Due to health and mobility issues, keeping them in their house until things become really serious is the best plan so far. We hope it never comes to that, but keeping them safe is our priority.


If Things Change
At that point, getting out of their neighborhood could be a problem. In fact, getting to them could be a problem, since they live on the other side of town from all of us and have the usual targets for looting near them. They have supplies for several weeks, and we all have enough to add several weeks more to the total. Luckily for all of us, a friendly neighbor has an amazing camera setup and a couple are pointed at the house for protective surveillance.

Closer to my home is the local destination mall, with the usual anchor tenants you have seen targeted in your local news. On Monday night, about 40 cars bypassed the flimsy barricades blocking the entrances. Fortunately, no damage was done, several arrests were made, and not long after that serious water-filled barricades were placed at the entrances. Even closer to me is a  national used car chain that advertises late at night, and across the street from there is a Target.

I'm not necessarily worried by all this, since with all the fires the past 2 years, this household has had practice getting out of Dodge. Any civil unrest in my neighborhood can be seen coming from a long way off, decisions on what to do will be made calmly because everyone has talked this through and some of us have had practice leaving places in a hurry.

I don't have a snappy or funny wrap up to this post and, like Lokidude said in yesterday's post, if you don't figure things out calmly when you have plenty of time, you likely won't be making good choices under pressure.

* * *

Just a reminder: if you plan on buying anything through Amazon, please consider using our referral link. When you do, a portion of the sale comes back here to help keep this site running!

If you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!

NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.

Why I Bug In

My city, like so many other cities across the USA, experienced rioting this past weekend. The overall scale and destruction were less brutal in mine than in larger cities, but it remains a terrifying event that occurred only five miles from my doorstep.

While discussing these events with Erin and the BCP staff, the question of bugging out has come up and how this may differ from a natural disaster. Considering the circumstances, in these events, I'm almost mandated to bug in.

My biggest consideration in how to handle unrest is familial. My mother-in-law lives alone, about 2 streets over from us, and my brother-in-law lives about a quarter mile further away. In a natural disaster, we could round up my mother-in-law and the dogs and head in a safe direction, and let my brother-in-law and his wife do similar. However, in a time of unrest when strength comes from numbers, there is no way my mother-in-law would leave her son to fend for himself, nor should she. I'm plenty happy to have them along in any case; he has skills and tools and they're both smart and capable, so in a time of emergency he's one of the best people I could have around.

In an evacuation, though, they also bring a headache. They've got three dogs, which added to mine brings us to 5 humans and 6 dogs, and this is a huge issue for transport and lodging. My brother-in-law's wife is also going to be reluctant to leave without her father, stepmother, and sister, who also has a dog. That raises the count to 8 humans and 7 dogs, three of which are large and very energetic. Moving that many beings necessitates an entire convoy, which is something I'd rather not attempt during an uprising.

The other issue with bugging out is where we would end up. My brother's house is too small to house that many people, and my parents are renting their home to some family friends. They could probably accommodate myself and my wife, but the rest of the mob would make it an unreasonable request. I could possibly call in favors from extended family on the other side of the mountains, but again, it's a massive request to bring the whole clan.

If the neighborhood is quite literally burning down around my ears, I'll have no option but to leave, call in any favors I have, and make do, but short of smelling the smoke I'm pretty much anchored. My people are here and hard to move, my supplies are here, and I'm able to hold things down at least as well as anywhere else.

Don't go looking for trouble. Actively avoid it if you can. But don't go running from it without a plan and serious thought to all your options.

Lokidude

When the Balloons Go Up

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

"The balloon has gone up" is a phrase dating back to World War 1 which means that the situation has suddenly, perhaps unexpectedly, become very serious and probably violent. Observation balloons were used in WW1 to spot for artillery, and seeing them in the air meant that a barrage of shells were about to go out, and war being war, receive a counter-barrage in return. in WW2, barrage balloons were fielded over London to protect the city against air raids. In either sense, seeing a balloon meant that something nasty was about to happen.

The balloon went up over several cities last night (29 May 2020). There are now riots in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Atlanta, Washington D.C., New York City, Los Angeles, Denver, Kansas City (MO), Houston, and elsewhere. We here at Blue Collar Prepping try to stay politically neutral; however, we draw a distinct line between protesting, which is political in nature, and rioting, which involves looting, vandalism, arson, and potentially violence, all of which are criminal in nature. We do not condone such criminal acts and in fact roundly denounce them. 

If you live in a big city, act as though the balloon has gone up. Lawfully carry the largest firearm you can with as many magazines as you can (known in BCP parlance as "rolling heavy"), stock up on groceries, fill your vehicle's gas tank and make sure your get-home bag is in place and in good order. Keep your head on a swivel, stay away from crowds, and if things start to look hairy, get out of there.

In addition, we recommend you review the following articles on surviving crowds and riots:

• What "crowd crush" is and how to survive it
• What to do if you're accidentally caught in a protest or riot
• How to driving home during urban unrest
• Chaplain Tim's story of getting caught in a riot in Berlin, and what you can learn from his experience
• Tim's thesis on crowds and survival

Be safe, everyone. 

Prudent Prepping: Big Crowds, Big Problems

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Follow along as I build a long term plan via Prudent Prepping.     

I spent last weekend at a convention attended by 5,000 like-minded people. We all had a great time, learned some new things, and figured out how to apply what we learned to our lives and the lives of  those around us. It was wonderful... except for the other 4,985 people in the building.

I was with team members from around N. California, most of whom I've never met in real life, along with my direct contacts. I sat and met with the local team of 15 several times after the presentations to plan dinners and recap the days' events. Many of these meetings were less than 10 minutes long at the convention site, with a few lasting much longer. The off-site meetings were not a problem because they had less noise, were easier to be heard and had more room to move. Noise, hearing and space/room around me are a concern as a safety matter, not an emotional one.

My closest friends and I planned out what to do in an emergency, but the other people did not think it was necessary. We looked for emergency exits, staircases and even fire extinguishers, even if we were never going to use them. The leaders of my team were somewhat surprised when they overheard us setting up a meeting site if something happened. After a short explanation of why we were doing this, the rest of the team was called together to be told about our rally point.

When the discussion turned to why worry about meeting up, our leader explained how hard it was to get everyone in one place when 5,000 people were exiting a 3rd floor convention space, let alone if there was a panic. It turned out I was the only one carrying a real flashlight, not those midget door lock finder lights carried on a key chain. I was also the only one to stop and get a map of the building from the security office, which they gave me only after I proved to their satisfaction I was attending the event. It was a copy of the publicly available info, similar to what you could find online when planning an event, but expanded to include the (public) exits.

Just like in the pre-flight talk from your airline's flight attendant, our closest exit wasn't the obvious one. It turned out that around a corner was a set of emergency stairs leading to the loading dock. If I hadn't asked for the map, I'd have never thought to look down a corridor that would normally be for the catering staff. Access would be difficult if everyone rushed to the main exit doors, but we saw there were other doors to the side of the hall, and our plan was to stay together and stay put for a minute so as not be trampled and then  move to the side and safety. 

Like with most emergency plans or even insurance, you hope it never gets used but you should have it already!

The Takeaway

• "Plan your plan" and be prepared to change it to previously discussed alternatives.
• Get everyone on board and clear on what to do. During an emergency is not the time to discuss how to survive.
• Information is usually there, just for the asking, so ask!

The Recap 

• Nothing was purchased this week, but info was gathered for expanding my long-term food storage needs.

Just a reminder: if you plan on buying anything through Amazon, please consider using our referral link. When you do, a portion of the sale comes back here to help keep this site running!

If you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!

NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.

GunBlog VarietyCast #164 - Will the Junk in Sean's Trunk Crush a Crowd in a Hurricane?

Whatcha gonna do with all that junk,
All that junk inside that trunk?
I'm a get get get get a TrunkCratePro!

• Beth is on assignment and will return soon.
• The Charlotte police and fire departments have no plans to search for a Dilworth, NC carjacking suspect who may have drowned. Given what Sean found out about the suspect that they did capture, it's not surprising that no one seems to care.
• Barron is on assignment and will return soon.
• Why would anyone live in Florida when it has all those hurricanes? Miguel explains.
• Erin is back from Gun Rights Policy Conference, and she's ready to tell us all about what she learned, who she met, and how her presentation went.
• Tiffany is on assignment and will return soon.
• When you're in a crowd of 20,000 people and someone starts shooting at you, bullets are probably the only thing you're thinking about. Erin teaches us about another less-known killer: Crowd Crush.
• After the mass murder in Nevada, Jimmy Kimmel leaped onto the stage to give an anti-gun monologue. Weer’d takes it apart in his unique fashion.
• And our Plug of the Week is for the TrunkCratePro Collapsible Trunk Organizer.

Thank you for downloading, listening, and subscribing. You are subscribed, right? We are available on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, and Google Play Music!

Listen to the podcast here.

Read the show notes here.

Thanks to LuckyGunner and Remington for their sponsorship, and a special thanks to Firearms Policy Coalition for their support.

Blue Collar Prepping Transcript -

Surviving Crowd Crush

By now everyone knows about the mass murder in Las Vegas, and you’re probably expecting me to do a segment on it. 

Sean even asked me to do a segment called “Carry Medical Gear”, but the truth of the matter is that this subject has already been covered quite expertly. In Episode 160, Sean talked to paramedic Kelly Grayson on what first aid gear we preppers and gun owners should carry on a regular basis: tourniquet, hemostatic dressing, chest seal, wound care supplies like gauze, gloves and a CPR pocket mask.

If you carry an SFR Responder around your ankle like Sean does, you’re all set. Or you can carry these in a purse, backpack, or cargo pocket.

There. That’s your Every Day Carry Medical Gear. Boom, done, end of segment. Right?

... except that there’s something which has been bothering me about Vegas. The hard numbers haven’t yet crystallized, but here’s what I’ve seen:

• 59 dead, one of which may have been the shooter. I personally never count the perpetrators in the death count of any murder, because fuck those assholes, only innocent victims count. 
• 527 injured. This number keeps fluctuating; I’ve seen it as low as 515 and as high as 528, but 527 seems to pop up the most. 

What we don’t know -- what we may never know -- is how many people died as a result of the stampede to escape the gunshots vs. those who were actually shot.

This is of interest to me because there were 22,000 people at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. Past a certain density, crowds stop behaving like groups of people and begin acting like fluids. When this happens, all sorts of tragedies occur, because the mass and motion of the people at the back of the crowd can literally pick up people at the front of the crowd and move them against their will… or, worse, crush them against an obstacle.

Just six or seven adult humans pushing in the same direction can generate up to a thousand pounds of force, enough to break down gates and bend steel guardrails. If that force can bend metal, imagine what it can do to a human body!

Actually, there’s no need to imagine; it’s been documented. The proper name for this is Crowd Crush, and it kills hundreds of people a year. This is most common during the Muslim pilgrimage known as the Hajj, where large numbers of people are forced through a small area on a tight schedule. Hundreds of people die on a regular basis during the Hajj; the worst of which was the 2015 Mina Stampede, which killed over two thousand people.

The critical number for a crowd crush scenario is five people per square yard. 

• At four people per square yard, you are being touched on all four sides BUT you still have the ability to turn around through a full 360 degrees. At this point, you still have room to make decisions and you move as an individual. 
• At 5 people per, you are unable to turn around. This is the point where the crowd begins to act like a fluid, with shockwaves that ripple through it as a result of the people pushing and being pushed. You are no longer part of the crowd; you are the crowd, and you go where it goes. 
• At 6 people per, your life is in danger from two equally horrible fates: crowd collapse and crowd crush. 

Crowd Collapse is when someone in a crowd falls, and the mass and motion of the crowd forces the people behind that person forward. They trip over the fallen person, and fall down themselves, usually atop the first person. This continues as more people from the back are forced forward in a fatal dogpile. This results in broken bones and even death.

Crowd Crush is what happens when you are packed together so tightly that the weight of the person behind you crushes you against the object or person in front of you with such force that you are unable to inhale. This is called compressive asphyxia. In effect, the crowd acts like a gigantic constrictor snake, waiting for you to exhale and then pinning your chest so you cannot breathe in and you suffocate while standing up.

How do you avoid dying from crowd crush or collapse? 

Follow these simple rules.

1. If you find yourself packed so tightly that you cannot turn around, get out of the crowd. You should already know where the emergency exits are, so start moving in that direction. 
• I shall reiterate for clarity: head for the nearest emergency exit, not the main exit. 
2. Keep your arms in front of your chest in a classic boxer stance. This will protect your chest so that you have room to breathe. 
3. Lift your feet high in the air as you move - at least six inches. This will allow you to step over most obstacles that could trip you and cause a crowd collapse. 
4. Do not push against the crowd. Instead, move in a lateral direction -- to the side, or at a diagonal -- to get to the edges. Not only will this get you to the exits and safety, but pressure will be lighter the further out you go. Do this by waiting for a lull in the pushing of the crowd and move quickly.
• Again, for clarity: You are moving laterally or diagonally in relation to the crowd. Your body should be moving forward whenever possible, not side-stepping.
5. However, be aware of where you’re going. You don’t want to be at the edge of the crowd and trapped between it and a wall, because if the crowd is panicked -- such as from gunshots on the other side -- it crowd could decide that where you are is now where it wants to go and crush you against that wall. 
6. Make sure you’re headed for an exit. If necessary, make one! I recall that one of the concert goers at Route 51 kicked down a segment of fence to escape. 
7. If you can’t escape, try to find a large, immovable object -- like a car or a pillar -- behind which you can hide. Remember, the crowd is a fluid, and when fluids flow around objects, there’s a space on the side opposite the flow that the fluid avoids. Take shelter there.
8. If you do fall, get up quickly. If you can’t, curl onto your side in the fetal position, with your arms protecting your face and your knees to your elbows in order to protect your chest. Your only priority at this point is to keep breathing. I’m not going to lie; you’re going to take a beating. But broken bones heal; death, on the other hand, is forever. 

Essentially, surviving crowd crush or collapse boils down to situational awareness: know where the exits are, look for the warning signs, stay near the edges, and get out before trouble finds you.

• 2015 Mina stampede - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Mina_stampede
• Compressive asphyxia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asphyxia#Compressive_asphyxia
• Hajj crush: how crowd disasters happen, and how they can be avoided - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/03/hajj-crush-how-crowd-disasters-happen-and-how-they-can-be-avoided

Prudent Prepping: Odds and Middles

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Follow along as I build a long term plan via Prudent Prepping.


The Difference Between a Riot and a Protest
I had a very nice side conversation with a more politically active friend about what I wrote in last week's post.

There was a good bit of back and forth, trying to define what was a riot, how it was separate from a demonstration or protest, and why someone might want to be involved in one or even several. We talked over the reasons for various gatherings of like-minded individuals, who might want to be in those groups, and why others might be opposed to them. While there was no disagreement on the points raised in my post, we were not able to come to a meeting of the minds on why a demonstration might turn into a riot.

In my opinion,  a protest is non-violent while a riot isn't. The rightness or wrongness of a rally, a demonstration, or a protest are are all based on your point of view,  but a riot has no shades of gray.

Leaving all politics out (which is one of the stated rules here)*, I don't plan to be near any gathering that even might become a riot. I would however like to hear from anyone who participated in any demonstrations recently, and what preparations they took to be safe.

*Along with No Politics, there are several other very important points in the pinned post at the top of the BCP Home Page. If you read and Like that post, it will give you 2 chances before getting hit with the Ban Hammer. Please, take the time to read it.

My Prepping Group
I have a small, very tight-knit group of friends whom I have decided to ask if they would like to start prepping with me -- or have all of us prep together. However it's said, I'm wanting to plan with friends. We live close by, but work can take some of us a good distance away for the day, so Get Home Bags will be our first priority. Getting my friends involved should be pretty easy, since the men (and one woman) camp and hike already, and the others know helpful skills like cooking, canning and serious sewing.

One thing I'm happy about is all of these people already know me, so I don't have to try and overcome the 'crazy prepper' image that is seen in too many cable TV shows and movies. I believe the learning curve should be pretty flat; half the group comes from places that have natural disasters, or have been through war/civil unrest, so they already have food on hand. Only one family knows about this blog and what I write, though, so the first order of business is get everyone else reading this blog.

What finally convinced me to do this was when a friend saw my GHB in my trunk and asked what it was.  Erin was able to give me a link for BCP posts on Get Home Bags, which I gave to my friend and now will pass on to my Prepping Family. Wish me luck!

The Takeaway

• Be open-minded and listen to all sides; there could be something you are missing by being in an echo chamber.
• If you have a stable group or family close by, prepping together can lower costs by buying in bulk and sharing labor.

If you plan on buying anything through Amazon, please consider using our referral link. When you do, a portion of the sale comes back here to help keep this site running!

If you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!

NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.

Prudent Prepping: What to Do When Things Turn Ugly

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Follow along as I build a long term plan via Prudent Prepping.

Given the current political climate, now seems to be a good time to do a review of what to do and how to act if I'm caught up in a 'disturbance.'

I wrote about this last November, right before the polls closed. Things have not changed enough for me to feel safe in the areas I drive, but I do have a much better feel for how I can get through the places I work and back home.

All those points still apply:

• Plan alternate routes
• Have places to stay
• Don't be afraid to turn back at the first sign of trouble. 

What still needs to be covered is...

What to Do If Accidentally Caught in a Protest

First of all, don't be where protests are planned to happen. The protests where the most damage has occurred have all had official permits, issued well in advance. The Public Notice periods usually last for weeks, so there isn't much of a surprise when and where the demonstrations start.

The Most Important Rule: Don't Get Caught In A Riot
Seriously, stay away.

When things get crazy, the police aren't going to care that you just left a birthday party or had to work late. They will have a difficult enough time picking out the rioters from the regular protesters and those who are just there by mistake, so be careful with what you do and how you act. During a riot, you are all potentially dangerous in the eyes of the police. When the the order to break it up and break heads comes, it doesn’t matter who you are or what you are doing there in the first place.

If you have not intended to participate in the riot (which I hope was the plan):

• Do not interact with anyone. 
• Don't look at anyone.
• Try not to have any physical contact with those around you while you walk out. 
• Do not become a target or get noticed.
• Just keep moving.

Getting Out
I'm old enough to have been around the riots in Berkeley and Oakland CA in the late 60's and 70's. (Yes I'm really that old.) I can say from first hand experience that old-style tear gas is no fun, and I was only getting a very diluted whiff from two blocks away from the canisters. When things go 'non-linear' it is best to be already on the way to safety. How do you do that?

• Start walking and don't stop. 
• Don't run. That will draw attention to you, both from the cops and those around you. 
• Look for the edge of the crowd and make your way there.
• If there is a store you can hide in, do that while you figure out an escape route. 
• Don't pick a high value target as your hideout! That Starbucks might seem inviting, but recent history says that is a poor choice. 
• Get to the edge of the crowd, but don't try to walk against the flow - that could get you knocked down. Travel at a diagonal to the direction the crowd is going until you get out of the main body, hopefully well away from the agitators and potential violence. 
• If the crowd is running, that is a bad sign that trouble is right behind. This is about the only time running might be advised, since you don't want to be on the tail end of the crowd and therefore the first to see what caused them to start running!
• Most importantly, stay calm and work you way out of trouble.

The Takeaway

• Plan ahead. No one wants to use their spare tire, but everyone should have one.
• Know what to do if things go bad.
• Stay calm, don't rush, and walk your way to safety.

If you plan on buying anything through Amazon, please consider using our referral link. When you do, a portion of the sale comes back here to help keep this site running!

If you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!

NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.

Crowds

I don’t like crowds. They make me anxious, cause headaches, and tend to make me more than a bit “on edge”. My wife has to drag me out of the house to go Christmas shopping, because I can’t stand being in crowded stores, but I usually get to quit shopping about the time I start making inappropriate remarks about mass casualty events and “thinning the herd”. Ol’ Remus has stated for years that the best advice is to “stay away from crowds”, since nothing good comes from them.

Crowds can be dangerous just because they exist and without any ulterior motive or bad intentions. Just by having large numbers of people in a small area, hazards are created. Here are a few of those hazards, along with advice on how to recognize them and how to minimize them if you’re in charge.

Density

If people are packed into an area, you need to look at how tightly packed they are. A normal human body has a “footprint” of about 2 square feet (roughly a foot deep and two feet wide), so if you have more than four people per square yard or square meter, they're going to be touching each other. That’s when the dangers start to appear, because people can’t turn or move without involving another person. This is often a precursor level to more serious densities once the doors open or someone shouts “Fire”. 

At six people per square yard, the individual can no longer move freely and the crowd will take on more fluid motions, where force at one point in such a crowd can travel like a ripple through a pond. If a person were to fall down at this density level, they’d knock down several others which would cause a domino effect (“crowd collapse” is the technical term). This is the point where managers need to start thinking about waist-high barriers to act as tidal breaks; such barriers won’t stop a crowd, but can stop the worst of the transmission of forces through it. 

At between seven and eight per square yard, you don’t have to worry about falling and being crushed because you can’t fall over. The bad news is that overheating from the bodies packed around you will cause some to faint, but the only way to get them to help is to lift them overhead and “crowd-surf” them to the edges. 

At nine people per square yard it becomes hard to breathe, since bodies are pressed tight together and the effect is like being buried in sand or grain: exhalation is easy, but once chest volume reduces it becomes a serious struggle to inhale and push against the material/bodies that have moved to fill in the space. At this point, it’s too late to do anything but get out anyway you can. Crowds at this level have lifted and crushed horses sent in to help disperse the crowd, in addition to causing thousands of deaths and injuries in a single incident. This PDF, from a company that specializes in crowd control, has an impressive list of crowd incidents.

Space
Look at the space you’re in and where the flow of people leads. Wide pathways that lead to limited entrances or exits is a bad sign.

Doorways have to open out, away from the building, according to most fire codes. This is to prevent a crowd from slamming into closed doors and being unable to open them. This works when the crowd is inside looking to get out, but if traffic is flowing the other way it could create a dam for the flood of bodies to jam up against. Doors that swing both directions and are sized for the expected crowds are becoming more common, but older buildings may not have been updated. 

Does the flow of bodies change directions? Corners and stairs are dangerous because people will find that the outside of a corner is larger than the inside, causing pressure when they hit the straight portion and have to sort out who goes where. Stairways have the potential for people falling over hand rails, since that is the only free space that they can fall into.

Dynamics
Is the crowd moving or static? 

• Static crowds are uncomfortable, and don’t normally become dangerous until they start to move.
• Moving crowds are okay if they have a short path to room to spread out.

Look at the layout of movie theaters and how they disperse people exiting a show: they tend to dump them into open areas (or outside) after a short walk. Compare that to a sports dome that has tens of thousands of people, all trying to get out at the same time through tunnels and ramps that lead to the exits. They’ve gotten better over the years, but I doubt I’ll ever step foot in a major arena during an event. There are too many bodies and too few doors for my comfort. 

Is the crowd worked up or angry? If either, get away as fast as possible. It doesn’t take a riot to get people crushed in a crowd; the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia (not a poor area) has caused some of the worst crowd incidents and killing thousands. Fervor -- whether religious, political, or tribal -- can turn a peaceful assembly into a mess in a heartbeat, and once the “leaders” show up and start working the crowd, it’s time to be elsewhere. If the “vibe” is positive and folks are in a good mood it may be safe to stick to the edges, within sight of the exits. 

Once the crowd density reaches a certain point (exactly which point is in dispute), it stops being a collection of individuals and starts to behave like a simple organism. Communications between parts is vital to the organism moving well and reacting properly to forces acting on it; otherwise, it becomes a collection of smaller organisms that are working against each other.


All in all, I prefer to avoid gatherings of people if it is going to involve more than a few dozen bodies. Gun shows, small-venue concerts, and such are about my limit. Major industry conventions in the past were uncomfortable, and as much as I enjoyed Las Vegas I doubt I’d ever go back at my own expense. I live in an area renowned for its politeness and hospitality, but I’ve seen too many groups turn ugly in a short period of time for me to be totally relaxed around people I don’t know.

Prudent Prepping: Driving Home During Urban Unrest

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Follow along as I build a long term plan via Prudent Prepping.

With the extra traveling I do for my job now, I needed do more route planning since my sales calls take me through two major cities and across a bridge every day. On top of the traffic, the possible unrest and demonstrations in the cities I cross makes knowing where to go and when to just stop and wait things out important. (I'm writing this well before the polls close in the East and Midwest and I personally believe there could be big problems if one candidate wins, but there could be problems no matter who is the winner.)

Have a Plan
I'm luckier than some of my co-workers in that I grew up here and know the freeway system well. What I don't know as well as I'd like are the surface streets and secondary routes through the areas where I work. Since I'm calling on a Big Box home improvement chain, the stores are usually located in the industrial areas of cities and sometimes well off the freeway. The neighborhoods that surround these stores are 'working class' at best. I generally know what areas to avoid but not what is the fastest way or shortest route to get me back on the road home.

I have a working radio in my truck and the two all-news stations are already programmed. My smart phone has a map app that is very good with real time traffic overlays available. I don't need a paper map, but I have the four needed to plot the way home if everything else fails. If the worst happens while I'm at work (earthquake or riots), I have enough friends to put me up. If there are problems after I leave, I may not have the luxury of getting off the freeway safely or at all.

This is where the extra planning will pay off.

Work The Plan  
When I haven't been too tired I've been driving some of the "second choice" streets the map program gives me. Several of the routes have already been eliminated due to having too many lights, being roads everyone else will try to take, or having me drive through areas even more marginal than where I work.

I try to keep in mind something a pilot friend told me years ago: "Don't let your ego get you in trouble. If you know there is weather in front of you, don't expect to get lucky and find a way through or around a storm." His advice to suck it up and turn around is what I've been trying one or two days a week by looking for a way to get off the freeway and back to a safe harbor or another, safer route home. The one and only benefit of a demonstration blocking a freeway is the fact that the demonstrators have to start walking to the freeway. These have all been newsworthy events, so this gives me and anyone listening to news a heads-up and a chance to get out of the way.

Plan For Failure 
So far (late Tuesday and Wednesday), I have missed the demonstrations that burned trash and broke windows in Oakland and injured a woman blocking a freeway. I can safely get home (once over various bridges) since I'm familiar with these cities. The big problem is still getting to these bridges.

I mentioned in this post the additional supplies in my GHB, and now I've added a wide-mouth container to the mix in case I can't get to a toilet. I do not expect to be caught in a blockade or stuck for long periods of time in my truck, but I have to be prepared.

Several people have mentioned YouTube videos showing how to get through a blocked street. No, I'm not linking them; they are easy enough to find so you don't need my help.

The important points seem to be:

1. Keep moving slowly and do not stop!
2. If blocked in, do not exit your vehicle.
3. If attacked, use the minimum amount of force to protect yourself and anyone else in your vehicle. All states recognize your right to defend yourself from attack.

The Takeaway

• If going to the same areas regularly, plan your route. Have a second, third or even a fourth way home. 
• Try out alternate streets and highways before you need them. 
• Don't be surprised if things don't work out. Plan for the worst but expect the best, that way you are never disappointed.

The Recap
Nothing was purchased this week... but if you plan on buying anything through Amazon, please consider using our referral link. When you do, a portion of the sale comes back here to help keep this site running! 

If you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!

NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.

Gun Blog Variety Podcast #67

Adam and Sean bring you our Thanksgiving episode!

• Erin Palette talks with her Blue Collar Prepping Blog co-blogger, Chaplain Tim about getting caught in a riot in Berlin, and the lessons that peppers can learn from his experience. 
• Nicki Kenyon talks about the new cyber warfare, internet hoaxes. 
• Barron B is still on assignment.
• Weer'd does his latest patented Audio Fisk™ on Hillary's Brady Campaign award acceptance speech. 
• And you don't want to miss the story of how Sean blew up his father's Dillon 650 in his wife's face! Check out the show notes for a photo of the powder burns on his arm. 

Thanks for downloading, listening, and subscribing. Please like and share The GunBlog VarietyCast on Facebook, and if you use iTunes, give us a review!

Listen to the podcast here.

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