Learn the Rules

I’m traveling this weekend for our first class of 2019 down in Florida. I get asked this all the time; what do you do when you travel? Well, it is really not complicated. What I have learned over the years continues to guide me moving forward. Most of these tricks are not really tricks, but experience. The next most often asked question is how do I travel with firearms and ammunition. Simple, know and follow the rules. If you haven’t visited the TSA’s website for transporting firearms and ammunition, stop reading my article and go read up on their regulations. You cannot be surprised if you have an unpleasant experience when you are ignorant. However, you can do everything by the book and still get jammed up. My best advice is to be nice. Be nice, if you studied the regulations, packed smart and arrived early to the airport then smile. I’m almost positive I’m the smartest person on this subject at the airport. I don’t flaunt it, I just smile.

Ounces to Pounds

Everyone has probably had a travel horror story to share about a bad airport experience. I have plenty and if I was smart I’d switch professions to be a paid consultant for the airlines. When it comes to packing, my game is strong. I invest in quality and rugged luggage. The days of having the super sized “dead hooker bags” are over for me. All they do is attract unwanted attention and extra fees. You are restricted to 50 pounds on just about every air carrier. If your bag or box weighs 20 pounds or more empty you end up not packing the gear you really need. When it comes to my travel bags and cases I’m a particular. What you are looking for is something with comfortable handles, big wheels and a sturdy frame with heavy lockable zippers or in the case of a hard sided case sturdy hasps. Also, you should expect about a two year shelf life no matter the manufacture. On my first trip with my current roller bag with the tags still attached, I lost a buckle. So, don’t get too attached.

One of One is None

When it comes to your firearms they will need to be secured in a lockable hard sided case. There are a lot to consider, but you have to remember their weight mentioned above. I have two different load-out methods; one for handguns only and the other for rifles and handguns. For my handguns only I take a smaller hard sided case and lock it in my checked luggage. This case is just large enough to secure both of my handguns. Then save yourself the hassles and use TSA approved locks. I recently started using a small hard sided case with bio-metric locks and what a great decision. The case is just big enough to secure two handguns. I can secure the case in my hotel room with the supplied cables and the bio-metric locks mean I don’t have to worry about forgetting combinations or giving the combination to the TSA agents. I still suggest you pack a spare set of locks for your checked bag and consider them to be consumable. The worse case scenario is on your outbound flight your locks get lost. Don’t ask, it happens more than you think. This will save you time and money trying to find a set for your return flight.

OCD to the Rescue

When it comes to training gear my suggestion is to pack them in individual smaller bags. For this task I have come to rely on the Daka bags from Magpul. I have an assorted collection of sizes and colors. One bag for my holsters, one for my magazines and box of defensive ammunition, one for my medical gear and my junk bag. I like to be as discrete as possible. Keeping all this other stuff under wraps helps. Then there is my compulsive need to be organized. Keeping gear separate in different bags makes it super easy to throw stuff into my larger roller bag. For those times I have to go heavy on my gear I get pretty technical, like a game of Tetris.

Pack Smart and Go Lite

I’m big on weight because I am done paying extra fees. Part of my experience has helped me to pack smart. Bring quality gear that is rugged and light. Think about items that can fulfill multiple roles and choose them over specialized items. In the beginning I suggest you invest in a hanging scale. I’m usually lighter coming home because I burn ammunition at the course. Going out I am spot on to a pound. Partly because I’m a creature of habit, but also because I weighed my bags every trip. In the off chance I screw up, I pack a small duffel bag I can quickly use as a second carry on to avoid overweight fees. Remember, the bigger the bag…the more stuff you will pack. After a couple of trips ask yourself if you really needed all the items. Eventually you will find the sweet spot. As for packing my carrying on bag, I have the bare essentials to teach. My schedules, rosters and supporting classroom material. Fortunately, most are digital. Then the minimum personal safety equipment such as eye/ear protection and a small medical kit. I can get by for a few days while my luggage catches up to me.

I enjoy traveling, don’t let the sour opening fool you. Give some thought to these lessons learned, because I had to learn the lessons.

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What if

The moment any of these tragic events take place there is a major amount of brainwaves dedicated to how we might respond. I’m not saying this is a bad thing at all, these “what if” games are crucial towards developing your situational awareness. A lot of times we hear comments like “keep your head on a swivel” or “stay alert”, but what does that really mean to the average person? I break this down into looking for things out of place, general alertness and high probability. While visualization will help with all of these, I find it very useful to the high probability events. These are events that meet a certain set of circumstances such as; time, location and history. These visualization games help us back things up a bit and look at the precursory clues or indicators in the hopes of spotting them while we are still ahead of the game.

The nitty-gritty

Even then, there are still lots of questions to ask yourself, such as will you make contact, will you seek cover, will you move to an exit. While each of these responses should be well thought out a big consideration is are you alone or are you with loved ones? If you are with family the dynamics are going to be significantly different. Your primary responsibility will be seeking and securing their safety. More than likely that will be moving to an exit or exfil to a known safe/secure location away from the area.

Move with a purpose

Even with the situation narrowed down as above, there are still many things to consider. The tactical imperative should be getting your party to safety in the most expeditious manner possible. While you may not be able to predict with absolute certainty what is going to happen, what you can do is familiarize yourself with the current location you happen to be occupying. I break these down into hasty, fixed, mobile and in extremis. Either case, there are some principles that transcend these scenarios. I’ve mentioned them before, but they are worth restating, any tactical movement you perform should have these principles in mind; where is the enemy, where is your next piece of cover, where is your last piece of cover, where is your exfil/exit and where are friendlies/support.

Be prepared

Yes, this is a lot to think about, but like anything we do practice helps to make things smoother. Chances are you already performing something similar when you drive, you just haven’t thought about it from this perspective. These principles help you make better decisions under pressure, narrowing them down will also speed up the decision making process. My last visit to a well  known restaurant drove this point home during a brief incident. While the commotion happened outside, it happened within eyesight of the customers. Since I was with my family and I had no idea what the commotion was all about I put into place some immediate prerogatives. Fortunately I did not have to initiate any of them, but the point was once again driven home. I believe it is more than reasonable for folks to come up with their own as they see fit.

Even a poorly thought out plan executed swiftly and aggressively will beat not doing anything in these critical incidents. Getting off the proverbial “x” should be your tactical imperative.

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I would come to find out that many of these commandos were, in the immortal words of R. Lee Ermey “disgusting, fat bodies”. In other words they weren’t what they appeared to be.

Why do I bring this up, recently two friends of mine have found themselves embroiled in a major internet drama. One with empty promises, false friendships and privacy violations. Luckily the damage was minimal and steps have been taken to ensure personal security. It does warrant a review of personal security protocols. In today’s internet sensitive world, it is easy to be scammed, duped or even swindled.

So, how did this start, innocently enough. Harmless messages where rapport is established, trust is gained. First off, it’s ok to trust to a certain level, but verify who your talking to is actually who they say they are. That’s the easiest and most important step.

Actually, let me backup a little bit. If you don’t want people to know something about you, then don’t put out in the internet. No matter how “secure” the group, message or system is you should assume that it will eventually see the light of day. If you don’t want that to happen, then don’t send it. It’s just that simple. Next, if you participate in the social media scene recognize there are predators of all sorts lurking in the shadows. They could be sexual predators, but they could also be foreign governments or even terrorists. That’s a real concern, more than most folks recognize.

In this case, what was happening was someone was “friended” by someone who had an established reputation. Then the new friend began to friend more friends through the perceived association with the original friend. My suggestion on dealing with this is two fold. First, you need to have various levels of “friends”. Inner circle of Family, next circle of known friends and outer circle of acquaintances and lastly unknowns. Based on the interconnectivity of this new friend if they are in the inner circle, but you don’t really know them it may not be a big deal to friend them. If however, they are an acquaintance or an unknown then don’t friend them or at the very least confront them on how they know you and why they want to friend you.

So, back to the original point. Once friended if request to message or dialogue comes up proceed with caution. Many messages are harmless in nature, a “thank you” for friending. Others could be a gateway to further conversations. Weigh your actions off the level of their friendship. It’s one thing to be polite and not want to be rude, but it’s another thing to follow basic PERSEC protocol. If they are offended by your actions then you didn’t have to go far to see their true colors.

Other red flags seem obvious, but I’ve got to say it anyhow. If there is a request for the exchange of photographs…STOP. Take a second or longer to really think it through. Remember once you send that photo out, there is no coming back.

While technology can work against you here, it can also work for you. If you have questions about this person or something doesn’t seem right, but you are compelled to continue request to have a video chat. A sure way to confirm the person matches the pictures is a face to face, but that is not always possible so video chats are the next best thing.

Again, it seems obvious, but you should never give out your personal information or information about your family. Keep that close to the chest, again if they are offended, then they saved you the hassle. Stay safe out there.

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