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Are you really going to be able to defend yourself if SHTF etc?

11K views 105 replies 43 participants last post by  Sonya 
#1 ·
Combat conditions are horrible, and most people ever involved in it arent exactly happy, or were really prepared. So, if SHTF, and you need to defend yourself in the woods, home, out where ever , will you honestly be ready.
Whats that 30000 rounds of 556 going to do for ya..
I think reality dictates you will be on the run with little time to carry a load of supplies.
So, what tactics can help you defend, hide, survive in suburbia, or even out in the wilderness when gangs of perps show up..
 
#3 ·
Had some experience. All I have to do it stop the ones that come for me. I am not running.
 
#11 ·
The trick is to not become a target in the first place. Don't let anyone know what you have. Just STFU. Don't brag, don't boast, and certainly don't advertise. Especially before SHTF.

If no one knows you're stocked up with food, water, medical supplies etc, you're far less likely to be a target. Don't go running around with fatigues, an 80-lb pack and 6 firearms screaming, "Hey! Look at me! I was prepared and you weren't!". That'll earn you a headshot in pretty quick order.

Just keep quite, keep your cool and lay low.
 
#27 ·
The trick is to not become a target in the first place...Don't brag, don't boast, and certainly don't advertise...If no one knows you're stocked up with food, water, medical supplies etc, you're far less likely to be a target. Don't go running around with fatigues, an 80-lb pack and 6 firearms screaming, "Hey! Look at me! I was prepared and you weren't!"...
I will do the same, and that's an essential point. Be the Gray Man.
 
#15 ·
My BOL is 123 miles away. We have 12 locations of ammo, water, first aid and dehydrated foods along with TVP every 10 miles. It is all vacuumed packed in 10" PVC tubes with caps. My wife was with me when I buried these, so if anything happens to me she can bug out. So with our folding bikes and MOLLE packs we can be there hopefully in 3 days.
 
#21 ·
You are doing well. My BOL is 50 miles away and I have nothing between here and there. I would like to put a locked Connex box up there with provisions, but I'm afraid it would be burglarized. We keep everything in our camper. We can hold out for about a month and then we are walker chow. I have water and shelter for a lifetime. Food, not so much.
 
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#17 ·
I will say again what I said on another forum:
I may not be as good as I was when I was young and even more handsome, but I think I'm good enough to discourage the hell out of them.
And to paraphrase Teddy Roosevelt, I can't shoot well, but I can shoot often.
 
#59 ·
I'm about discouraging the enemy. I'm no Teddy Roosevelt and I won't shoot often. But the few times I shoot, some poor soul will be maimed, and their blood curdling screams will be a warning for others not to get too close. If you are about 650 yards plus or minus, I got a round for you with your name on it. I will run and I will hide, but God help you if I find you in my crosshairs. I'm not into the Rambo running fire fights. I will set up an area where I can own and control, where every soul that approaches will be exposed. I won't be seen and my shots won't be heard. Sound crazy but this is my defensive preps.
 
#19 ·
There was a thread sometime ago about defending yourself against a younger person. It was eye opening when I had to wrestle a 20 something Officer on the mats and my back popped. I had shooting pains down my leg, stabbing pains in my feet and my legs buckled when I went out to my car. I almost busted my tail on the parking lot. It was very scary, but I recovered..............mostly.
 
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#22 ·
I am under no illusions, I am no super ninja of death combat warrior but I am old, mean, and will exact a price from those who wish me harm. I will do what I can, with what I have, for as long as I can under the circumstances.
 
#25 · (Edited)
So, what tactics can help you defend, hide, survive in suburbia, or even out in the wilderness when gangs of perps show up..
I wouldn't survive very long if armed thugs came to raid my house.The unarmed wouldn't likely try it due to the mastiff and the other dogs.

If people are holed up at home one strategy would be to keep the bulk of your supplies near where you sleep, or alternatively sleep near your supplies, so if someone breaks in you can lie in wait in dark hall or room, and shoot them through walls etc...before they know you are there. One person holed up in a dark room could defend against a group of thugs, just kill every one that steps into the doorway, after one or two get shot the rest won't even try, then pray they don't set the house on fire. Or if supplies are outside maybe keep them in a shed near the bedroom window so you have a clear line of site.

If the bulk of your supplies are at the other end of the house then you have to walk through the home which gives the intruders the advantage.

Another idea is think about how you would approach bad guys outside. I have a flock of noisy chickens and their coop is behind my house. I could imagine someone trying to steal chickens at night, and if that happened I would go out the front door then around back because there are sheds and other things for cover, and I could get close without them noticing. It's a minor thing that seems obvious, but if one hasn't thought about it, it probably wouldn't cross their mind when they are panicked over invaders in their backyard.

If things were real bad I might also consider sleeping outside at night in the woods near the house, so if bad guys expect you to be inside the house they could be surprised by someone shooting at them from the woods in the opposite direction. Because I live in a very small house with multiple dogs, I would not want to fire off a shotgun inside the house if at all possible.

These are just my humble suggestions, I know it would be very difficult especially for those of us that live alone. With only one person all they have to do is wait for us to go outside then pop a bullet in our head from 100 yards away.
 
#26 ·
I wouldn't survive very long if armed thugs came to raid my house.The unarmed wouldn't likely try it due to the mastiff and the other dogs.

If people are holed up at home one strategy would be to keep the bulk of your supplies near where you sleep, or alternatively sleep near your supplies, so if someone breaks in you can lie in wait in dark hall or room, and shoot them through walls etc...before they know you are there. Or if supplies are outside maybe keep them in a shed near the bedroom window so you have a clear line of site.

If the bulk of your supplies are at the other end of the house then you have to walk through the home which gives the intruders the advantage.

Another idea is think about how you would approach bad guys outside. I have a flock of noisy chickens and their coop is behind my house. I could imagine someone trying to steal chickens at night, and if that happened I would go out the front door then around back because there are sheds and other things for cover, and I could get close without them noticing. It's a minor thing that seems obvious, but if one hasn't thought about it, it probably wouldn't cross their mind when they are panicked over invaders in their backyard.

If things were real bad I might also consider sleeping outside at night in the woods near the house, so if bad guys expect you to be inside the house they could be surprised by someone shooting at them from the woods in the opposite direction. Because I live in a very small house with multiple dogs, I would not want to fire off a shotgun inside the house if at all possible.

These are just my humble suggestions, I know it would be very difficult especially for those of us that live alone.
the key is... have a rotating watch so nobody can sneak up on you while you sleep.....
 
#30 ·
Combat conditions are horrible, and most people ever involved in it arent exactly happy, or were really prepared. So, if SHTF, and you need to defend yourself in the woods, home, out where ever , will you honestly be ready.
As ready as can be.

I think reality dictates you will be on the run with little time to carry a load of supplies.
So, what tactics can help you defend, hide, survive in suburbia, or even out in the wilderness when gangs of perps show up..
Funny, I think the opposite. If I run, I leave all my stores & all my preparations. I don't think people on the run will survive long.

Tactics to survive are numerous, but as already stated, staying stealthy is important. My homestead is out in the country, off a small rural road on the way to nowhere, so I don't expect huge gangs of folks wandering around. So location is very important. IMO, preppers prepare to battle these hordes of city folks but fail to consider their neighbors. If you are prepared & have plenty of food, are you prepared to defend yourself against your friends & neighbors who are starving? I'm not, so a big part of my current preps is storing very large quantities of food for these neighbors. This tactic ensures we have a community working together as opposed to individuals fending for themselves. I can do this & not tell them, so no one thinks I'm some nutcase.
 
#34 ·
I will lay low (the whole gray man thing) and only engage as a last resort. I have no illusions of playing Rambo, I have all my toys, and will defend, but that is the last option. However, as many have stated it is something you really don't want to get into. I do know lots of prepping types go overboard on the entire Tactical thing. I enjoy the shooting and hunting sports like anyone else. Having firefights with rampaging gang members or whoever can be a very nice dream scenario, but not reality. And for the record, I am prior service, yes, but no combat experience, and I really don't want to gain that experience on my front lawn.
 
#37 ·
"Whats that 30000 rounds of 556 going to do for ya.. I think reality dictates you will be on the run with little time to carry a load of supplies."

Let me make one thing clear my friend, if they want what I have, they will have to kill me to get it. If they come after me, I will operate under the rules that the Army taught me. I will use deadly force, that is I will shoot them until they stop coming. And I don't care if there are 20 or 30 of them either.
The 5.56 will stop them, if I shoot enough of them; and if they get through, it will be over my dead body.
:snipe:
 
#39 ·
When we at our ages (mine is 71) have survived everything else * has thrown at us, . . .

It ain't no big deal that I don't survive this one.

I look at it kinda like the Pittsburgh Steelers, . . . if they won the super bowl 3 years in a row, . . . with three undefeated seasons, . . . beating that purple bunch from west of Wisconsin, . . . and the the purple boys beat them in the first preseason game the next year, . . .

Who really is the winner over all???

All of us have a date with destiny, death, and the Lord Jesus Christ, . . . and according to most indexes I've outlived my usefulness here, . . . so if they come knocking on mydoor, . . . darn right I'm going out in a pile of empty brass, . . . or at least try to do so.

What is mine, is mine, . . . legal when I got it, . . . paid for, taxes on it paid, . . . ain't nobody elses business what I got, . . . etc. I might share with a few, . . . but just don't make the mistake of thinking of running over the old man, . . . like someone else already said, . . . youth and vim and vigor can be scorched by experience and a little treachery.

May God bless,
Dwight
 
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