Infographic: High Altitude Sickness

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Even if you're not an extreme mountain-climber, altitude sickness can be an insidious threat. I learned this firsthand not too long ago on a hiking trail in the mountains above June Lake, California. Elevation at the trailhead was about 7,700 feet, but as I hiked the elevation rose to roughly 9,000 feet. I was carrying a light pack and moving at a moderate pace, but soon began to feel strangely nauseous and dizzy with a headache. My father-in-law, an experienced climber, recognized this as the early stages of acute mountain sickness (AMS).

Infographic altitude sickness mountain climbing safety oxygen medical health 7

A photo from my high-altitude hike above June Lake.

In the situation above, I was able to take more frequent breaks and watch for worsening symptoms. Fortunately, the symptoms plateaued as I reached the top of the trail, and diminished as I hiked back down the mountain. But left unchecked, altitude sickness can rapidly develop into severe and even life-threatening conditions: high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) and high altitude cerebral edema (HACE). It's essential to know the warning signs to avoid danger.

The following infographic from Worlds Ultimate explains some of the basics of altitude sickness, including symptoms of AMS, HAPE, and HACE. Click here to download the full-size graphic.

Infographic altitude sickness mountain climbing safety oxygen medical health 2Infographic altitude sickness mountain climbing safety oxygen medical health 3Infographic altitude sickness mountain climbing safety oxygen medical health 4Infographic altitude sickness mountain climbing safety oxygen medical health 5

For more information on prevention and treatment of altitude sickness, check out the following articles:

Review: Henry U.S. Survival AR-7 Rifle

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One of the most iconic “survival rifles” or “prepper rifles” of the past 60 years has been given a face-lift and embedded into a survival kit of its own by Henry Repeating Arms. The rifle in question is the AR-7, and it’s currently manufactured as the Henry U.S. Survival AR-7.

You may have seen it in its original form in one of three James Bond movies — From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service — or heard about it from someone who owned one over the past six decades since its inception. That can be good or bad, depending upon the particular rifle in question. The latest version from Henry appears to have greatly improved upon the basic model.

History

Designed in the 1950s by Eugene Stoner of Armalite, the AR-7 Explorer was based heavily upon Stoner’s earlier design known as the AR-5. The AR-5 was a take-down bolt-action rifle chambered in .22 Hornet, intended as an aircrew survival rifle for downed pilots.

The contract was filled, but the rifle was never issued to the Air Force because they had plenty of M4 and M6 Aircrew rifles in inventory. Most were given to U.S. Forest Service types.

The tooling at the plant allowed Armalite to develop the take-down concept as a semiautomatic .22 LR rifle for civilian sales. Almost all of the parts except the barrel liner and take-down screw were aluminum.

Stoner’s goal for the AR-7 was to have a rifle that could be disassembled into four components: action, magazine, barrel, and stock. Additionally, these components could be stored inside the buttstock.

The original version was a completely Mil-spec rifle, when the term truly meant something. However, contrary to popular opinion, the U.S. Air Force never adopted it, much like they never adopted the AR-5. There were three basic variants, based on the color of the stock: brown/orange, swirly camo, and black. The rifles were first sold in 1959.

In 1973, Armalite sold the design of the AR-7 to Charter Arms, which produced the rifle until the mid 1990s. They retained the basic black version and added variants in woodland camo and a hard chrome-plated version, known as the AR-7S.

henry-kit 020.JPG

A key feature of the Henry AR-7 is that its components can be disassembled and stored inside the stock.

By 1995 or so, the rifle was made by Survival Arms of Cocoa, Florida, which we believe was a rebranding of a division within Charter to set them off from the parent company. Around 1998, the rifles were made by AR-7 Industries, LLC of Meriden, Connecticut, and a year or two later by Henry Repeating Arms Co. of New York. We've heard that Armalite bought out AR-7 Industries in 2004, but have yet to see a new AR-7 manufactured by them.

Henry’s Changes

A few significant changes were made by Henry Repeating Arms to the original AR-7 design. The biggest was made to the stock. Rather than using a slick fiberglass design as found on the original, Henry added a more textured matte finish, with grooves in the grip area that offer improved handling characteristics. They redesigned the inside to store three magazines instead of one, with the third left in the magazine well.

Here you can see Henry's latest rendition next to one of the original Armalite versions.

Here you can see Henry's latest rendition next to one of the original Armalite versions.

Original AR-7s featured an aluminum barrel with a steel liner for weight reduction purposes. Henry opted for a plastic-covered steel barrel. The front sight is a high-visibility plastic orange insert that we found more effective than the original metal blade sights, particularly when shooting as the sun was going down.

Lastly, they added a rail for the user to mount a scope as an option. It’s a 22 tip-off type, not a Picatinny rail, and if you decide to add optics we recommend you leave the rifle in its assembled condition as opposed to taking it down, because you’ll lose your zero.

Range Test

When shooting an AR-7, the shooter needs to keep in mind it isn’t a bench-rest precision rifle. It was designed as a last-ditch bug-out or get-home rifle, mostly intended for taking small game, prized for its ability to be stored and carried in a small package. We decided to run it side by side with an original Armalite model. As mentioned previously, we’ve always felt Armalite was the best manufacturer for decades.

During our test and evaluation we used three ammo types: CCI High Velocity, Gemtech Subsonic, and CCI Mini-Mag High Velocity Landry edition. We had a few malfunctions with the Gemtech subsonic when used in the Armalite version. We had none, however, with the Henry. The other two CCI ammunition types functioned flawlessly in both rifles.

henry 410.JPG

Accuracy was another story. The Armalite AR-7 shot much bigger groups at the same distances. At 50 yards they were over 3.5 inches and at 25 yards about 2.75 inches with both ammunition types. Poor ergonomics, a 40-plus-year-old barrel that has seen a lot of shooting, and a heavy trigger are all culprits here.

We shot the best groups with Henry’s AR-7 with the CCI HV ammunition — three eight-shot groups, measuring from 1.25 to 2.45 inches at 50 yards. These groups could easily be tightened up with a rimfire rifle scope mounted to the rail. Note that if you break the rifle down, you’ll have to remove the scope.

Henry’s trigger isn’t particularly heavy; we just found the take-up to be a bit longer. Again, it isn’t intended to be a match-grade rifle, it's a very minimalist survival gun.

The Kit

henry 416.JPG

Given the fact that bush pilots in Alaska, the Israeli Air Force, boaters, campers, and truck drivers have been stowing these little rifles for decades, so can the modern prepper. Since it was originally intended as a survival tool for pilots, Henry recently embellished its offering to include some other implements suited for a crisis to offer a “Survival Pack.”

In addition to the rifle, the Survival Pack version comes with a nylon bag made by Allen that stores the rifle broken down as well as a starter survival kit. Included, among other things, is 100 feet of MIL-C-5040H Type III green camo paracord.

In case you can’t find any small game to feed yourself, a Datrex 1,000-calorie emergency food packet, containing four 250-calorie bars of all-natural ingredients, and sealed in a polymer foil package, certified to stay fresh for a minimum of five years, is also included.

While the Datrex bars may be a bit of a novelty, another implement Henry added to the Survival Pack with a large degree of practicality is a Life Straw Personal Water Filter rated to remove 99.9 percent of waterborne protozoan parasites and 99.9999 percent of waterborne bacteria, from up to 264 gallons of water.

An ESEE Fire Steel is another part of the kit as well as an H&H Mylar Emergency Hypothermia Blanket measuring 84 by 56 inches.

Additionally, Henry included a Buck Rival folding knife with a 2.75-inch stainless steel blade, black nylon handle, pocket clip, and a thumb stud for one-handed opening. While it may not be your first choice for a knife, it clips easily to the inside of the pouch, so you know it’ll be there if you need it and are otherwise separated from your typical EDC knife or you need it to skin game.

As is typically the case in an emergency, you or someone you’re with may be injured. Rather than include a worthless 100-piece first-aid kit with 99 adhesive bandages and a cotton ball, Henry included a SWAT-T black stretch, wrap, and tuck tourniquet that doubles as a pressure bandage and elastic covering wrap.

We have to say that Henry included a very decent starter kit in a pack you can stow in your car, truck, boat, UTV, aircraft, or RV that takes up about the same space as a floor jack and is perhaps one-third the weight.

Final Thoughts

We've been fans of the concept of the AR-7 rifle for decades. They're useful, compact rifles, so long as you don't hold it to the standards of a match-grade rifle or even a weekly plinker. Shoot it once a year, clean it, oil it, and put it back into storage so it’ll be ready in an emergency.

One of the features we would have liked to see in the 21st century version of this rifle is a threaded barrel in order to add a lightweight rimfire suppressor. The concept of a system that includes some pragmatic emergency items along with the rifle itself is pretty cool though. We could argue all day about what else Henry could've thrown in there, but the addition of ammo, a small lighter, or a signaling device for pilots would've made it even cooler.

Poor quality control by other manufacturers over the years coupled with misconceptions about its purpose has sullied its name in some circles, but there's something to be said for the unique design that has yet to fall out of favor.

It’s an inexpensive, modular rifle that suits a variety of purposes. And if the contents of the kit aren't your thing, you're free to build it out the way you want.

Specifications

Henry U.S. Survival AR-7

Action Type
Semi-Auto

Caliber
22 Long Rifle

Barrel Length
16.125 inches

Rate of Twist
1:16 inches

OAL
35 inches

Magazine Capacity
8

Weight
3.50 pounds (rifle)

Rear Sight
Peep

Front Sight
Blade

Stock Material
ABS Plastic

Buttplate/Pad
Rubber

Length of Pull
14 inches

MSRP
$550

URL
www.henryusa.com

More From Issue 26

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Read articles from the next issue of Recoil Offgrid: Issue 27

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Editor's Note: This article has been modified from its original version for the web.

The Disaster of Denying Disaster

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The Annual Disaster Statistical Review of 2016 ranked the United States second on the list of countries most frequently hit by natural disasters. A 2016 FBI report found that there was a 4.1-percent rise in violent crime in the U.S., totaling over 1.2 million incidents.

According to a Washington Post article, “a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) survey found that nearly 60 percent of American adults have not practiced what to do in a disaster by participating in a disaster drill or preparedness exercise at work, school, or home in the past year. Further, only 39 percent of respondents have developed an emergency plan and discussed it with their household. This is despite the fact that 80 percent of Americans live in counties that have been hit with a weather-related disaster since 2007.”

FEMA’s findings highlight that people still choose to be oblivious, nonchalant, or just plain irrational about the importance of preparedness, even when faced with the serious risk of a life-altering disaster. This behavior is often referred to as normalcy bias, a psychological state that causes us to ignore the likelihood of disaster and assume our lives will always remain normal.

A more common name for this type of behavior is denial. According to 19th century neurologist Sigmund Freud, denial is classified as a defense mechanism. He categorizes it in three ways:

  • Simple Denial: Completely denying that something unpleasant is happening.
  • Minimization: Admitting an unpleasant fact, but denying its seriousness.
  • Projection: Admitting an unpleasant fact and the seriousness of it, but choosing not to take responsibility for it or blaming someone else for it.

Simple Denial

Often when we hear about traumatic or stressful situations, the people who lived through them say something like, “I can’t believe this is happening to me.” The unfortunate reality is that bad things happen to good people every day. Whether we do it consciously or subconsciously, humans have a tendency to avoid negative experiences. Our lives slowly become one-sided, allowing us to experience only the things we feel are pleasant.

When we feel something may be unpleasant, we avoid or remove ourselves from it. This creates the illusion that we’re safe from the things that we don’t want to happen — that somehow we’re in complete control of our experiences in the world. However, when the unavoidable truth of an unfortunate event interrupts our lives, we can’t believe it’s happening because it’s not something we chose.

At martial arts seminars, we sometimes use aggressive language with people who aren’t used to hearing it. In response, students often freeze or need a break because they simply aren’t used to the projection of energy given off by aggressive language. Many people aren’t able to process it, because it’s abnormal and jarring. So, they deny it, usually leading to inaction. This happens in survival and disaster preparation as well. People are so far removed from the idea of a traumatic experience that they believe it’s impossible and choose not to prepare.

Unlike many natural disasters, manmade disasters have a tendency to be unpredictable and violent. Would you know where to go and what to do if you found yourself in the middle of a riot or coups d’état? Ignoring it won’t absolve you of the consequences.

Unlike many natural disasters, manmade disasters have a tendency to be unpredictable and violent. Would you know where...

Minimization

People with military experience have almost certainly encountered this type of denial. In order to keep up with the group an injured soldier will often minimize his or her injuries. The individual may say, “I hit the ground really hard and landed on my hip weird; it hurts, but I’m OK,” even as they’re barely able to walk. In the context of disaster, this happens when people repress situations they’ve lived through.

For example, think of someone who lost everything in a flood, or lost heat and power during a storm. Immediately after the event, they tell everyone how horrible it was and how they were on the precipice of not making it. The difficulty is made clear, but after a few months have passed, it just becomes a cool story. Gradually, the event fades into a distant fairytale, rather than a real and lasting memory that invokes action to minimize future risk. The survivor may make statements such as, “That was a little scary, but I was fine.” However, those who spoke with them immediately following the event may recall a much more dramatic and dire story.

Repression is tempting because few want to dwell on their hardships, especially those that were made significantly worse based on their own lack of action and preparation.

This then leads to a cycle of avoiding the truth in order to avoid acknowledging personal failures.

Projection

We’ve all seen it happen — a storm is reported moving toward an area, and residents are warned to leave that area. However, rather than evacuating, many choose to stay. Segments on the news feature locals stating, “I don’t think it will be that bad” or “I’ll just ride it out.” Then the storm comes, those areas are decimated, and some of those same people end up on the news complaining about the slow response time of rescuers and the lack of adequate medical care, food, and shelter.

Those of us watching are empathetic, but often wonder why they didn’t prepare or evacuate when the warnings went out. The answer is summed up in a word: projection. This is a state of denial where someone acknowledges the seriousness of a situation, refuses to take action, and then blames someone else for the resulting consequences. Projection can manifest itself in several ways:

Procrastination: A simple example of this inaction is in the field of investing and financial planning. A study done by Northwestern Mutual showed that 58 percent of Americans feel their financial efforts need improvement and that 34 percent have done nothing to plan for their financial future. Rather than attempting to adjust our priorities and plan for the future, we often choose to wallow in despair.

Shifting responsibility: People sometimes don’t take action because the task is so overwhelming that they have a hard time imagining an outcome and thus a solution. Instead, they often push the responsibility off on a perceived authority. Victims often make statements like, “That’s why I pay taxes, so emergency responders can be equipped to help in a disaster.”

Even with advanced notice about certain disasters, many mistakenly assume that rescue workers will be there to save them. Education, self-reliance, and practicing response plans is the best way to avoid becoming another statistic that chose to ignore the warnings.

Even with advanced notice about certain disasters, many mistakenly assume that rescue workers will be there to save...

Peer pressure: Often a response to an issue can be tempered by our desire for social acceptance from our peers. If a friend or a neighbor feels like it’s not a concern, we may conform our own beliefs. Humans naturally resort to pack mentality when the going gets tough. For example, when a storm warning is issued, milk and bread are often sold out at grocery stores. Despite the fact that shelf-stable items and canned food would be better options during a disaster, shoppers follow the crowds and fight over items that appear most desirable, regardless of their actual value.

Simple Solutions

As you can see, failure to prepare is often a result of denial. It’s OK to be skeptical about what could and will happen, but to stick your head in the sand and deny the possibility of danger is unhealthy and foolish. You don’t have to become a disaster guru or a doomsday prepper to be prepared for a natural disaster; all you need is a slight change in mindset and to take some small actions that’ll lead to big results if something does happen. Here are four simple steps to defend against disaster denial and prepare for the inevitable storm:

Accept that it’s a good idea to have some bare essentials around the house just in case you need them. This forms a general foundation of preparedness, even if the possibility of a disaster seems unlikely. Better to have it and not need it …

Accept the fact that disasters are inevitable. Turn on the news, and you’ll see disasters happening everywhere. It may not be today or tomorrow, but something may happen close to you at some point. If you accept this truth, it’ll make facing the shock of a disaster a lot easier to overcome, potentially improving your response time.

Study the type of disasters that have happened in your area, even if they’re not recent. A few decades ago, you’d have to go to a library to figure this out, but now the answer is one Google search away. Once you’ve done some research, compile a list of preparations to improve your situation during an event like this.

Don’t allow yourself to get overwhelmed or burned out. Think of training to be fit or studying for a degree — none of this happens overnight. This is a marathon, not a sprint, so gradually get to a point you feel comfortable. As is often the case with New Year’s resolutions, biting off more than you can chew tends to lead to failure.

Although you may never need it, you’ll certainly wish you’d taken the time to assemble some disaster provisions...

So rather than trying to become a full-on disaster prepper tomorrow and wiping out your bank account to buy a bunker, start slowly. Buy an extra case of water or canned food once a month. Find room in your budget to gradually accumulate supplies. Soon you’ll find that you’ve built a strong emergency kit. Enroll in basic first-aid classes to learn CPR and skills that could potentially save someone’s life. Spend a weekend taking an urban or wilderness survival course. Once you take that initial step, things become easier, and you find ways to incorporate further preparatory measures into your life.

As far as others you know who have a history of avoidance problems, you might not be able to convince everyone to also become more interested in prepping, but you have nothing to lose by trying. Invite friends or colleagues to attend those same classes with you. That first encounter may be enough to get them thinking about their thinking more. You’ve planted that seed, and that may be all it takes for them to see the importance of changing some bad behaviors and becoming more proactive. What’s the worst that can happen? They might say no, but that doesn’t mean you can’t keep trying.

Conclusion

As we become more technologically advanced and wrapped up in our digital reality, our physical reality becomes much less pressing. We don’t experience danger or fear the same way our ancestors did. We’re quick to remove ourselves from environments we don’t enjoy or that make us uncomfortable, surrounding ourselves with our social media echo chambers. Our new belief is that reality is only what we want to be real, and facts are only what we choose to believe. Unfortunately, when life and nature prove us wrong, we find ourselves grossly underprepared. This isn’t because we weren’t warned, but because we chose not to act.

What will you do with this knowledge? Will you shrug this off as an interesting read, or will you share your passion for preparedness with your family, friends, and neighbors, encouraging them to take some small steps to prepare themselves for what will come? Make today the day you accept denial for what it is, in yourself and in those around you, and work to defy it. Be as ready as you can be with the knowledge and resources at your disposal.

Sources

About the Author

Denial survival psychology mindset mental shtf preparedness Hakim Isler 4

A former psychological-operations sergeant with the U.S. Army, Hakim Isler is the designer of several wilderness survival products and the owner of Elevo Dynamics, the first “Dojym” (a 24-hour gym and martial-arts facility) in the United States. He is also the founder of the SOIL Foundation, a nonprofit that offers off-grid training and excursions to help veterans, law enforcement, and civilians recover from anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Isler is a fourth-degree black belt in To-Shin Do.

More From Issue 26

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Read articles from the next issue of Recoil Offgrid: Issue 27

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Editor's Note: This article has been modified from its original version for the web.

Cody Lundin Spotlight – Moral Compass

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Photos by RCP Photography

In a world where a compulsion for media appearances, showboating, and followers on social media has become a metric of credibility, people often mistake pretentiousness or marketability for truth. Cody Lundin doesn’t have millions of followers on social media. He doesn’t pawn his students off on questionably experienced underlings. He detests the word “survivalist” as well as the question, “What’s your favorite survival tool?” For Cody, the best survival tool is something you can’t buy at a big-box store — your brain.

But even after some 30 years as a survival instructor, Cody still manages to remain humble. There’s no mistaking the tone in his voice for anything other than what it is — a passion for teaching people skills that will keep them alive.

Cody Lundin survivalist spotlight interview bushcraft wilderness education preparation 12

“People are quick to want a black-and-white answer to a profession that has millions of variables,” he says. “Whenever you put human nature into Mother Nature, in other words, scared people into wilderness, all hell can break loose and it can break loose quick. The coolest thing about my job is what I hate about my job — variables. You never know. You’re never really sure. You never have it locked in. There is no expert. You’re always on your toes. The most stressful thing about my job isn’t physical; it’s psychological. It’s dealing with the stress of wanting my students to be OK, but not having all the answers. The more I think I know, the more I realize that I don’t really know sh*t.”

There was once a time when methods now known as “survival” were simply just known as “life.” People had no fancy gear to rely on. It was a common sense existence free from the modern conveniences society has become dependent on — and many wouldn’t know how to get by without. Many of these practices have been lost to time, but more have been lost to human complacency. Cody is one of the few people left who safeguard these traditions.

Our Interview with Cody Lundin

RECOIL OFFGRID: Where did you grow up?

Cody Lundin: My dad was military, so it’s like, where didn’t I grow up. I grew up all over the place, including Europe.

Learning to process poi in Hawaii.

Learning to process poi in Hawaii.

What early experiences made you understand the importance of learning and practicing survival techniques?

CL: Being an only kid in a military family that moved a lot, one of the main things that I could have as a constant in my life growing up was the outdoors. I spent a lot of time outdoors and got well-acquainted with wherever we went. Later on, my folks were pretty aggressive about going outside, whether it was canoeing in Minnesota or other things; we were outside quite a bit. The outdoors was a friend you could count on [laughs] because wherever you went it was always there.

What does the term “survival” mean to you?

CL: It means nothing. It’s just a catchall word that used to mean that if you didn’t do something correctly, you were dead, but it’s gotten a lot worse because of the media, YouTube, Facebook, TV shows, etc., where you have people reciting a word they have no experience with. The word I dislike even more is “survivalist,” because it has no definition and that’s why the media uses it. They can get away with a no-definition statement about someone, and therefore they don’t have to vet that individual.

Also, regarding survivalists, last time I heard they shoot cops and blow up federal buildings and that’s not what I do in my courses. I had a lady from a newspaper back East ask me about that term. Do you remember Eric Frein, the guy who was shooting those cops?

Yes, that was in Pennsylvania if I’m not mistaken.

CL: It was. I think it was a Pennsylvania paper, and the lady called me up because they were calling him a survivalist because he went camping or some bullsh*t like that, and she was the only one in 20-plus years who asked me, “What the hell is a survivalist? What does that term mean?” and the whole article was just about that. The bottom line is we didn’t have a definition, but she was the only one who ever asked about that in all this time.

The reason I think that terminology is important is because I’m dealing with people’s safety. If I made a show about “cityists,” it’s like, what the hell does that mean? A city expert, right? Because we have all these survival experts out there, so what if I called you a city expert? How would you define that on a professional résumé? But this was done intentionally. One, through ignorance, and two, again you don’t have to vet someone who is a survivalist. If you don’t have to vet them, they can be your everyday expert on your next TV show.

Lecturing about thermoregulation at Penn State.

Lecturing about thermoregulation at Penn State.

How would you define what you do?

CL: I think what I do is I keep people alive, and in that respect, I give people more confidence and freedom. We have the big four at my school. One is modern outdoor survival skills — that’s what happens if you and your sweetheart are out and the Jeep breaks down or the classic day hike gone bad where someone needs search and rescue. That’s modern outdoor survival skills or wilderness skills.

Then there’s primitive living skills. People refer to this as bushcraft, and that’s the course where you can make fire with sticks, make stone knives, live like indigenous cultures, and learn about the native cultures of whatever continent you’re on, and that really isn’t as applicable to a modern survival situation.

We also have urban preparedness without the zombies, so that’s like if the grid goes down because of an electrical storm or whatever, and you learn how you go to the bathroom in your backyard safely, how to have alternative communications, hygiene, sanitation, knowing where the water’s coming from, how to disinfect it, stored food, etc.

And I teach homesteading as well, which is more long-term survival. I hate to use that word, but both grandparents in South Dakota were part of the Homestead Act of the 1800s. I have pictures of them in a sod house to prove it. But it’s more endurance type stuff and sustainable living. So, when you say “survival” to me, I’ll say “What kind?” I’m dealing with people’s safety, and it’s important to inform a potential student what they’re getting into because when you’re dealing with content without context you can get people hurt or killed.

What made you decide that you wanted to teach these kinds of skills?

CL: I just really love doing more with less, and I have for a long, long time. My motto for my school is “The more you know, the less you need.” We are not a gear-based school. We are a knowledge- and wisdom-based school, like pretty much all the native people out there. Even during high school in Wyoming we’d go out to the backcountry with limited gear and a piece of fishing line and jig for brook trout or whatever it was. I’ve always had that bent and that probably goes back to that nature connection we talked about.

I tried to advertise my school to all the summer camps in Prescott, Arizona, and no one gave a damn. I didn’t get one response after sending out about 20 letters. Then, I had a friend at the time make me a flyer, and I’d paste them on phone booths. That’s how I started in 1991 doing that. I started with a passion to teach people how to stay alive. I started honestly with a handwritten mailing list of people I thought gave a sh*t, stamps, and envelopes.

There was no Facebook, YouTube, no TV survival shows, or all of these ways there is to lie now and bullsh*t about all this experience you don’t have, but make it appear like you do because of social media. It was an archaic way to market, but it was honest and I miss it. Now it’s too easy to lie about being a survival expert, whatever the hell that means. Back in the day, with my teachers, it was just about more honesty and integrity in the craft, and a lot more people who were teaching because they loved it and weren’t trying to get famous.

Month long Prescott College course, Aboriginal Living Skills, 1994.

Month long Prescott College course, Aboriginal Living Skills, 1994.

So you started in 1991 as a teacher?

CL: That’s when I started my Aboriginal Living Skills School. I started teaching at Boulder Outdoor Survival School in the late ’80s. Hopefully you actually have experience before you start your own survival school. Nowadays you just need a TV show and that automatically means you somehow have experience, which is a huge mistake. I worked for a couple years on and off for another school, and then started my own in 1991 in Prescott, Arizona.

What are the key concepts you stress in your instruction? Is there sort of an overarching theme in each of your courses?

CL: Yeah, the more you know, the less you need. I’m interested in imparting real knowledge to people without selling them bullsh*t gear. A lot schools out there, a lot of people, etc., they have their name, school, and courses attached to a plethora of sh*t they think that you need to survive. In Arizona, that’s called camping. When you have all the survival gear you need, that’s camping, that’s not a real survival situation.

What denotes a real survival situation typically is a lack of gear, resources, and an absence of whatever. We’re training people for worst-case scenarios. We’re training people with no food, no water, whatever. We don’t have all this sh*t in our backpack to trap a rabbit. That’s, again, a real lacking of context with typical survival instructors, and I use that term loosely. There’s so much gear focus and marketing on that. That’s not what it’s about because that’s not a reality in a situation where people end up dead. People end up dead due to a lack of resources. Whether that’s a lack of heat and they die of hypothermia, whether it’s a lack of cool and they die of hyperthermia, whether it’s a lack of water and they die of dehydration, or whatever, those are the biggest causes of death.

What we try to instill in our students is doing more with less, being smart, preparing wisely, not being focused on gear, but knowing what gear would be nice to have in a certain situation, and trying to turn out a student who is free from me. What I mean by that is some instructors really love to have their ego stroked and turn into a cult figure and then brand and sell all this sh*t with their logo. I don’t want that. I’m pretty hard on my students because I care about them and I want them to live.

What were some experiences that influenced you to design your course curriculums in a certain way?

CL: One of the things that I was so fortunate in was to have really good instructors who taught me. I had instructors who were really honest. I admired their integrity, they were really good at their skill set, and they really wanted to teach it in a way that was pure because they realized they were dealing with people’s safety. Just like if you have good parents or grandparents, and you’re raised in a really supportive upbringing, that rubs off. And I realized how serious the profession I’m involved with is. When you’re dealing with people’s safety, you can’t cut corners or be deceitful. It’s unethical and it’s very, very dangerous. So I think knowing the gravity when people trust me with their lives, it’s really important to be honest. I hope that integrity is all throughout my school because I care about the people who are training with me.

By knowing what causes people to die, that helps formulate the curriculum of survival training, but it’s always backed up by real statistics, physiology, and fear psychology. A lot of the sh*t people teach has no application in a real-world survival situation because it’s impossible to deal with people who are under stress and fear.

Who were some of your mentors?

Learning from master mentor Mors Kochanski, Rabbit Stick Rendezvous, mid 1990’s.

Learning from master mentor Mors Kochanski, Rabbit Stick Rendezvous, mid 1990’s.

CL: Mors Kochanski, who I’m sure that you’ve heard of, and if you haven’t, you should have. He was one of my greatest instructors. He’s up in Canada. He’s a boreal specialist, so I didn’t learn desert survival from Mors, but what I did learn is that a lot of people are ripping him off and don’t give him any credit about the knife hanging around their neck or the fact that he introduced Mora Knives to North America. Everyone you see now with these knives, it all came from Mors essentially.

Dave Ganci, for desert survival. Dave was a master in the 1980s with teaching this new unit called SEAL Team 6 how to survive in the desert, and teaching this new unit called “The D Boys,” which later was known as Delta Force when they were first initiated into the military. Dave has written several books about desert survival. These are two no-bullsh*t guys. They might not know how to use a computer very well, and they don’t give a sh*t about Facebook [laughs]. They were training before most of these people on TV were even born. There’s many more.

Dave Wescott is another. I learn a lot from my students because they don’t have any bias on how things have been done. John and Geri McPherson were also some of my earliest instructors.

Melvin Beattie was my tanning buckskin mentor, and this goes way back to 1989 or 1990. There are really too many to list. These were some of my core instructors and how I learned how to teach. You can be good at skills, but you can suck as a teacher. You have to be able to translate those skills to people sitting in front of you. Mors was a great teacher. He had a unique way because he dealt with so many kids, had so many curriculums at the University of Alberta, and he’d been doing it for so long that I really sucked his brain and patterned my teaching methodology after him more than anyone else.

Generations... with Dave Wescott and Larry Dean Olsen.

Generations… with Dave Wescott and Larry Dean Olsen.

What do you think differentiates you and your approach from some of your other instructor contemporaries?

CL: Field experience. Most of the people you may think of, I’d ask for their résumé and see how long they’ve really been around. There are my instructors who have seniority over me by far because they taught me a lot, but we’ve been around a long time. This is an institution where, if you sign up for an Aboriginal Living Skills School course, you get me. You don’t get some other instructors who might have a year or two of experience. You get me when you come to my school and this will be our 27th year coming up. There are very few schools that can say, yeah, this is the core instructor you’ll get when you sign up as opposed to just a bunch of other helping instructors that rotate in and out.

Tell me a little about being on Dual Survival and Lost in the Wild. What were those experiences like?

CL: Lost in the Wild was a pilot that never went to series. We did two episodes. That was in 2003 and well before Man vs. Wild or Survivorman. That was essentially one of Discovery Channel’s first survival shows, ironically. It didn’t go to series because it was broadcast at the same time as this other show that was kicking ass called Survivor. Of course, everyone was watching Survivor, or so I was told.

With Dual Survival, I was the first one picked and I helped develop that show. It started off being one of the coolest things that ever happened to me and ended up being the worst thing that’s ever happened to me. And mainly that’s because of a lack of leadership and lack of integrity of people involved with that show.

What do you think TV survival tends to overlook about real life survival?

CL: Everything [laughs]. It overlooks intention, content, context, integrity, honesty, realism, and it replaces it with phony drama and phony so-called survival experts to the detriment of millions of people all over the world. Survival TV is one of the worst things that’s ever happened to the professional outdoor survival instructor as far as realism and truth.

Dateline NBC winter survival shoot, 2001.

Dateline NBC winter survival shoot, 2001.

On the flip side, it has got more people interested in real survival skills if they can find a real survival instructor. But if they insist on believing what they see on TV, if they live long enough to find a real survival instructor, then we’ll train them. If not, it’s called the gene pool.

What do you think are the biggest things people should look for in a survival instructor?

CL: I’ll rattle some off, but you can view a link on my website called ‘Choosing the Right Instructor’ that has a whole bunch of stuff to look for. Off the top of my head is a professional résumé that has your experience, the years you’ve worked, and some contacts of people who could vet your résumé to make sure you weren’t lying. That’s No. 1. If you’re going to put the safety of you and your family in someone’s hands, and they don’t have a résumé about their experience, then that’s a very stupid, dangerous thing to do.

The other thing would be, do they live what they teach? If they’re teaching desert survival, do they live there? Do they have access to it? You don’t teach desert survival if you live in New Jersey. The nice thing about Arizona is we have all four North American deserts, three geographic provinces, and 10 different biotic life zones. We have more biodiversity in the shortest drive time than any place in North America.

So just beware of the social media stuff, résumé is No. 1. And are they respected by their peers? If you have a name that’s not known who is new, there’s nothing wrong with that. I was new at one point, but a lot of the new people are being passed off as experienced survival instructors and you can’t fake field experience. You can’t Google field experience. The reason field experience is important is because any TV production company can Google content. They just rip off other people’s blogs, websites, or whatever, and they steal their content, but they have no context for it because these people don’t have any experience with outdoor survival skills. So what sets the qualified outdoor survival skills instructor apart from the novice is they know the content, but they’ve been out in the field enough to where they have a wide array of contextual experience for that content. Period. And you can’t fake that.

ALSS Arizona Combo Special course, getting water in the desert.

ALSS Arizona Combo Special course, getting water in the desert.

What do you think some of the biggest fundamentals are that apply to both wilderness and urban survival situations?

CL: It could be hypo and hyperthermia. The reason I say that is because it happens in a lot of grid-down scenarios. Everyone, with some exceptions, is living in a house that’s horribly linked to the grid. In other words, if it doesn’t have grid power in the winter, all of a sudden it’s 30 degrees in their living room, or it’s 115 degrees in the summer, but it happens, especially with young people and the elderly.

The other thing would be water. Dehydration in a wilderness setting is the same as it is in an urban setting. At my school we talk about what’s the most common ways for people to die. Hypothermia and hyperthermia are exacerbated by dehydration. That can happen in a city, desert, or mountains. And then it gets more case specific. Food is way out there. It has more predominance in a cold-weather situation because food is metabolism for the body, but there’s no one-size-fits-all answer.

If you back it up and look at the statistics of how most people die, those would be three biggies right there. France had a heat wave go through the country a few years ago. It killed thousands of people in their own homes from hyperthermia and dehydration, which is something you’d typically only think about in the desert.

At my school we’re dealing with human physiology, physics, and psychology. If you have a survival instructor who doesn’t understand these three concepts, run! A lot of people out there don’t have any medical experience and we’re trying to keep the human body alive. You need to understand basic physiology if you claim to be a survival instructor, otherwise it’s like going to a mechanic who doesn’t understand how an engine runs.

I’ve heard you have a house that’s essentially off the grid and you live a self-sustaining lifestyle. Tell us about that.

Cody’s self-sustaining home.

Cody’s self-sustaining home.

CL: I wish I had a self-sustaining lifestyle. I go to the grocery store, so my missing link is growing food because I don’t have time for it. My homestead is off-grid, it heats and cools itself, ventilates itself, and it has it’s own solar power supply. I catch rain, I compost my own waste, and I recently got a well. So the only thing it’s missing is food production. To have food production in a sustainable state is a hell of a lot of work. I wanted to design a home that would heat and cool itself without grid power and I’ve done that. I don’t burn wood, I don’t do anything. I go into my house in the wintertime and it’s warm; I go into my house in the summertime and it’s cool.

Cody Lundin survivalist spotlight interview bushcraft wilderness education preparation 9

I’ve dealt with the physics, the heat lost and gained, by dealing with the orientation of my home’s thermal mass and insulation. Essentially I’ve taken the best of 21st century design concepts and linked them with native technology and indigenous strategies. I’ve painted it with concrete dye, so I don’t have to paint it ever again. The roof has grass and plants on it, which attracts rabbits, and I eat the rabbits. I tried to take designs and materials that’d work a long time for the budget and time I have that’d be as self reliant as possible and I’ve done that.

Cody Lundin survivalist spotlight interview bushcraft wilderness education preparation 10

What gear or resources do you think people have become the most over-reliant on?

CL: There’s a lot of gear replacing common sense in the military, in survival training, and in the general population of day hikers. There are many people who go out there with a cell phone and nothing else because they expect that cell phone to bring them out of danger if something goes wrong. These people are just a gene pool washout. What’s happening is technology is replacing common sense, and when anything replaces common sense, death goes up.

What do you think the biggest misconception is that people have about survival in the sense of doing what you do and keeping people alive?

CL: I think the biggest misconception people have about survival training, is that it can’t happen to them. They think they don’t need that survival training because they don’t go backpacking or go out in the woods. Those are the first ones dead in their living rooms. They’re just not interested and haven’t made the crossover to how wilderness survival training would help them in an urban scenario or in their backyard with fire skills and how to keep warm when there’s limited resources. So denial is a big one.

Another answer to that question is survival TV shows. Survival TV shows have been lying to the world for more than a decade and promoting personalities to rock star status who have no experience in outdoor survival skills at all. That’s dangerous not just on TV, but then some of those people start survival schools and sell gear at the big-box stores, made in China of course. I see this real dishonesty taking hold in social media, blogs, TV, and books where we have the “expert” who knows whatever needs to be known and that’s not true.

Cody Lundin survivalist spotlight interview bushcraft wilderness education preparation 12v2

Is there one recurring issue in the world you think people need to be more prepared for?

CL: Themselves. It rolls right back into denial. A lot of people might think that you’re a doomsday prepper freak because of your magazine. The reason they think that is we’re so far removed from sustainability and what my grandparents called common sense. We are just people who want to understand life at its basic elemental level and that’s seen as weird. If you’d have told my grandparents they were preppers, they would’ve laughed in your face.

In an environment like South Dakota, with kick-ass winters, you just kept extra food, extra firewood, and extra blankets. And it wasn’t just for yourself. It was also to help out your neighbor if they needed help, which is also a thing of the past unfortunately. So I think what’s missing in all of this is that people have forgotten how reliant they are on technology and how clueless they are about the physics of their own body and how to keep it alive in situations that don’t involve big-box stores and commuting to work.

I was doing research for a book years ago, and there was a Red Cross statistic that I probably won’t get completely right, but they did this survey and found that less than 5 percent of all Americans felt prepared that they could handle an emergency for themselves and their family. What that means is that we have 90-plus percent of people who don’t have a clue about what’s going on that will be the walking wounded, crowding the hospitals, and whatever. This country was founded on self-reliance, damn it! It’s not some abstract, weirdo thing. The stronger we can make our communities and our planet, because we’re all in it together, the better off we are.

The biggest thing that’s missing is a failure to realize that we’re no longer sustainable on this planet.

About Cody Lundin

Cody Lundin survivalist spotlight interview bushcraft wilderness education preparation 11

Recommended Reading List:

  • The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom by Slavomir Rawicz
  • 98.6 Degrees: The Art of Keeping Your Ass Alive by Cody Lundin
  • When All Hell Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need to Survive When Disaster Strikes by Cody Lundin
  • Northern Bushcraft by Mors Kochanski
  • The Basic Essentials of Desert Survival by Dave Ganci

Favorite quote:
“The more you know, the less you need.”

The one thing you never leave your home without:
Common sense

URL:
www.codylundin.com

More From Issue 26

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Read articles from the next issue of Recoil Offgrid: Issue 27

Read articles from the previous issue of Recoil Offgrid: Issue 25

Check out our other publications on the web: Recoil | Gun Digest | Blade | RecoilTV | RECOILtv (YouTube)

Editor's Note: This article has been modified from its original version for the web.

Save Your Breath: Preparing for a Chemical Weapon Attack

Written by

Imagine that you’re strolling by a large city park near your home on a beautiful sunny day. There’s a popular museum across the street and a busy metro line on the corner, crowded with locals and tourists throughout the day. Your heart skips a beat when you hear a muted bang. You turn to see a large white delivery van parked at the curb with smoke and mist starting to billow out of the back.

Something else seems odd about the van — then it dawns on you that there’s no driver. Suddenly, screams begin to fill the air. Some people appear to be choking, grasping at their throats while their eyes tear up; others begin vomiting. The pedestrians closest to the vehicle collapse to the ground and start convulsing. Is this really happening? What’s actually going on? You’re at the epicenter of a nerve gas attack.

Recent chemical attacks in Syria show just how deadly and widely used chemical weapons are. Many can be made using common household materials.

Recent chemical attacks in Syria show just how deadly and widely used chemical weapons are. Many can be made using...

Terror attacks have unfortunately become more common in metropolitan cities. There are terrorist manuals regarding chemical weapons on the Internet. Toxins can be made with household items available at local supermarkets and hardware stores. Because lone wolf or non-state actors can obtain them, these are no longer events that might only be encountered by soldiers in faraway battlefields. The reality is that the fight can be brought to your city, as evidenced time and again in the news.

This type of danger needn’t take the form of a deliberate terrorist attack — it might be the far more common industrial accident. A freight train or tanker truck carrying chlorine through your town could derail or crash, leaking near residential houses or your workplace. Much of the information presented here applies to those scenarios as well. Are you prepared for such an occurrence?

Chemical Warfare

The history of chemical warfare dates back thousands of years, to when natural animal and plant toxins were used to coat arrowheads and increase their lethality. In the 5th century BC, Spartans burned coal, sulfur, and pitch to gas the Athenians in the Peloponnesian War. In more modern times, chemical agents have been used in both World Wars, Vietnam, Iraq, and recently in Syria. Nerve agents have been used to assassinate former Russian and North Korean operatives in public spaces in western countries — with the potential for collateral civilian victims. Terrorists have also exploited this weapon, from the sarin attacks in Tokyo to attempted cyanide plots on the NYC subway.

Types of Chemical Weapons

Choking agents, or pulmonary irritants, attack the eyes, airways, and lungs. These gases form hydrochloric acid and other chemicals on contact with moisture in the mucous membranes, causing burning and tissue destruction. When inhaled, the lungs fill with fluid, essentially drowning the victim. Chlorine and phosgene belong to this class. A distinction between the two is that chlorine will cause immediate irritation, whereas phosgene can start to affect you sometime later, even after you’ve left the area. Chlorine and phosgene are mass-produced and used in various industrial processes. They’re transported in large quantities, making them both a danger due to accidents and an opportunity for terrorists.

Nerve agents can kill in minutes, affecting the central nervous system. They’re the quickest acting and most lethal of all chemical agents. They cause constriction and tearing of the eyes, salivation, loss of bowel and bladder control, breathing difficulty, seizures, and death. Sarin and many pesticides are in this category.

Blood agents kill by blocking an enzyme critical for normal energy production, stopping the cells’ ability to utilize oxygen. High oxygen-consuming organs like the brain and heart are affected first. Since the agents affect the body’s ability to process oxygen, not the intake of oxygen into the body, merely giving more oxygen to a victim has no effect. An antidote is required, given in large amounts through an IV.

Hydrogen cyanide is a type of blood agent; it has the odor of bitter almonds when in the air. Victims become rapidly unconscious, convulse, and then suffer cardiac arrest. The skin of those suffering from cyanide poisoning may sometimes appear red, though this is a very late and unreliable sign. Terrorists had developed an efficient cyanide gas dispersion device to be used in a plot to attack the NYC subway in 2003. For reasons that are still unclear, the plot wasn’t carried out.

Chemical irritant agents, like pepper spray and tear gas, are usually used for riot control or self-defense. They cause intense pain, coughing, breathing difficulty, and tearing. They’re not usually fatal except in certain special circumstances, such as in a confined space without any means of escape. Symptoms can be mitigated by moving the victim away from the area and washing off the agent.

Blister agents cause blisters and burns on contact with the skin and eyes. They’ll also burn the lungs if inhaled. Sulfur, mustard gas (so named because of its garlicky-mustard odor), and Lewisite are in this class. In the initial moments of an attack, blister agents may be mistaken for riot control agents, except symptoms will get severely worse with time and won’t subside if the victim is removed from the area.

U.S. Army photo by Fort Leonard Wood Public Affairs Office

U.S. Army photo by Fort Leonard Wood Public Affairs Office

Situational Awareness

Always be aware of your surroundings and leave immediately if you feel uncomfortable or if something doesn’t seem right. Be vigilant, especially in large crowded areas, transportation hubs, parades, and concert events.

Clues that may signal an impending terrorist gas attack include strange vapor clouds or mists, unusual odors or tastes, and unattended vehicles or packages, especially if they’re leaking fluid. The Aum Shinrikyo terrorists of the 1995 Tokyo subway gas attack punctured their packages with sharpened umbrellas and left the train stations as the sarin leaked out. The packages were simply plastic bags of sarin wrapped in newspaper.

Explosions are an obvious giveaway; however, they may be small or contained. While in combat in Mosul, this author quickly learned that during mortar attacks, the muted thuds or softer explosions were usually shells carrying chemicals. The same lessons could apply to the civilian world. If you’re in the vicinity of an explosion that sounds muted or like a dud, it might be a delivery device for a chemical or biological agent.

Explosive devices, when used, unintentionally burn or destroy some of the agent. Therefore, terrorists generally use lower quantities of explosive material in these devices to maximize the impact of the toxins. Also, larger quantities reduce the concealability of a device, compared to one that fits neatly in a backpack or other small container that can be planted or transported inconspicuously. Some agents, like sarin, only take a drop to kill an adult.

Efficient dispersion of an agent is a constant challenge with chemical weapons; thankfully, terrorists haven’t fully figured this out. An indoor release of chemicals is more concentrated and effective; however, it limits the number of potential victims to those within the structure. An outdoor dispersion can cause more chaos and reach more of the population, but it can be diluted in minutes or hours depending on wind and weather conditions.

If you see something suspicious along these lines, get at least 300 feet away, preferably upwind, before using your cell phone to alert authorities. Cell phones and radios may inadvertently trigger some explosive devices. When at all possible, use a landline to report a device that’s nearby.

Barrier and Distance

In an outdoor scenario, wind direction is a factor. You always want to be positioned upwind of the device, so the toxin won’t be blown toward you. This may mean modifying your escape route. Most devices have a dispersal radius of less than half a mile.

Move indoors as fast as possible. A building with its windows and doors closed provides a lot of protection. If the option is available, try to get 30 feet or more above the ground. Many poisonous gases are heavier than air and concentrate low to the ground and in basements. That’s why they were so effective in the dug-out trenches of past wars. Trenches, which protected the soldiers from gunfire, would concentrate and collect the deadly gases, killing or flushing out soldiers.

Climbing to a higher floor (the higher, the better) will not only decrease the concentration of the gas due to altitude, but will also place more distance between you and the source. Remember, distance is measured not only horizontally, but vertically. Use both of these factors to your advantage. A device releasing phosgene on the street may not reach the 14th floor, even if it’s right in front of your building.

Reports show that victims of the April 7, 2018, chemical attack in Syria were brought to the hospital smelling strongly of a chlorine-like substance and presenting symptoms that included cyanosis, foaming of the mouth, and corneal irritation.

Reports show that victims of the April 7, 2018, chemical attack in Syria were brought to the hospital smelling strongly...

Decontaminate

Hose yourself off as soon as possible and remove all your clothing. You should try to do this in the first minuted or two after exposure. Don’t lift clothing over your face and head, to avoid passing contaminated material over your nose and mouth. Remove your top by ripping or cutting it off if necessary. Put the contaminated items in a plastic bag and tie it off. Place it in a second bag, tie that off, and discard it outside your shelter — out a window, on a fire escape, or in the backyard — to avoid further contact with the chemical agent.

When decontaminating yourself, a shower is your best option. If no shower is available, improvise using faucets, water coolers, hoses, and so forth. For most chemicals, removing your clothing and washing with soap and water is sufficient. Pay particular attention to armpits, genitals, and inner thighs. Warm, moist areas activate blistering agents like mustard gas, and injuries can be intensified in these areas. Don’t use a brush or scrub too hard — you don’t want to break or abrade your skin, which would make it easier for contaminants to enter the body. Use cool water; hot water opens pores, facilitating entry of the chemical.

Thick, stubborn, oily liquids stuck to the skin can be removed using a credit card or spatula; be careful to not scrape the skin. You can put calcium chloride (ice melt salt) and magnesium oxide (indigestion medication) powder on affected areas. If you don’t have these items, you can use flour or talcum powder. For eyes, use sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) solution or diluted infant shampoo to decontaminate and help neutralize burning. Remove contact lenses and throw them out; don’t put new contacts in. Wash your glasses thoroughly with soap and water and air-dry before putting them back on.

Shelter

Find a windowless interior room if possible. Lock and seal doors and windows with plastic bags and duct tape. Make sure air conditioners, vents, and fireplaces are closed. Tape plastic over electrical outlets. Use improvised items, such as towels or sheets, to shove under doors to seal cracks. Businesses and homes can prepare in advance by pre-cutting 2- to 4-millimeter-thick plastic sheeting to size, so that you can quickly cover any openings in preselected interior rooms.

Store food, water, and a battery-operated radio in these rooms. The Department of Homeland Security recommends 10 square feet of floor space per person to provide sufficient air to prevent carbon dioxide buildup for up to five hours. Outdoor chemical releases are usually diluted to safe levels within a few hours, so you’ll likely only need to shelter-in-place for a short time.

Listen for the emergency broadcast on your radio to confirm it’s clear to leave shelter. Your shelter-in-place kit should include your 72-hour go-bag, food, water, chemical suit (assuming you’ve been properly trained to use one), gas mask, battery-operated radio, and an M256A1 kit. The M256A1 kit is a chemical warfare agent detector system. It uses reagents and detector paper to alert you of a blood, nerve, or blister agent in the atmosphere. This will allow you to know what threats you’re facing and confirm their status when you get the all-clear.

First Aid

Other than showering off and removing contaminated clothing, there are no readily available home antidotes. Antihistamines can reduce skin itching if it occurs. Treat skin blisters with standard burn therapy, preferably with silver sulfadiazine cream.

Don’t bandage eyes that are irritated or have chemical burns. Petroleum jelly can be used along the eyelash margin to prevent sticking of the eyelid edges from the burns and irritation. If bright light causes eye pain, use sunglasses or dim the lights.

In the event of a nerve gas attack, prescription atropine auto-injectors are carried by first responders. Atropine exists in nature, in plants such as belladonna or the nightshade family and Jimson weed. Some sources have advocated ingesting portions of these plants as a treatment, but is extremely dangerous. There’s no way to know how much atropine is in a given plant because it varies from sample to sample. Overdose can result in death; therefore consuming these plants isn’t recommended as an antidote.

Not only should a kit built to deal with a chemical attack contain the usual supplies, like food, water, and a radio, but there are many over-the-counter medications that should be included to help stave off the effects of a chemical exposure.

Not only should a kit built to deal with a chemical attack contain the usual supplies, like food, water, and a radio,...

In fact, the name atropine comes from Greek mythology — Atropos, one of the goddesses of fate, would decide how people would die. That fact alone should tell you that eating these plants isn’t a good idea. Another problem with this scenario is that your gastrointestinal system would be affected by the nerve gas and not be working properly to process anything you took by mouth safely or reliably.

For chlorine, often just removing saturated clothing and showering off can relieve symptoms. Remember: Don’t pull clothing over your head. If you or a family member has a home nebulizer machine for asthma or emphysema, you can place a water and baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) mixture in the nebulizer and inhale to help relieve persistent pulmonary irritation symptoms like wheezing and coughing.

A room humidifier can be used if you don’t have a nebulizer. Place your face above it and inhale the mist. Of course, you should go to an emergency room if you have these symptoms, but if that’s not an option due to civil chaos and unrest, you can try these methods.

Gas Masks

Masks must be from a reputable seller and not just a surplus store. Many masks from these discount centers are older, obsolete models and have been proven ineffective. Make sure your mask is approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and is CBRN rated. A gas mask won’t prevent the rest of your body from absorbing chemicals, but can decrease it by as much as 90 percent in some cases. Good chemical overalls and gloves are cheap and can cover the rest of your body. They’re only effective if donned in advance of exposure or after you’re thoroughly decontaminated. See our gas mask buyer’s guide in this issue for more info.

Detection Meters

If you’re wondering if meters for detecting chemical agents similar to the ones that the gas company uses to find gas leaks in your home are available, the answer is yes, but you shouldn’t rely on them to keep you safe as they’re limited in scope.

Various companies offer them for industrial gases, cyanide, chlorine, etc., but won’t detect nerve gases or some specialized warfare agents. These meters are usually handheld and look just like the fire department or gas company ones. Many of these are only calibrated to detect one type of gas.

The U.S. Army has the Joint Chemical Agent Detector (JCAD) M4A1, which is another handheld unit and pretty bulky. They start at around $2,500, with many in the $7,500 to $10,000 region.

Conclusion

Toxicity from chemical agents is related to their concentration and the amount of time you’re exposed. Both of these factors are decreased by placing distance and barriers between you and the source. We hope you’ll never face threats of this nature, but knowledge and preparation will go a long way to increasing your survivability.

Surviving a chemical gas attack requires planning. The phases to consider are:

  1. Preparation (equipment, resources, and plan)
  2. Actions during the event (escape, decontamination, and shelter in place)
  3. Actions immediately post-event (medical care, communication, and testing for all-clear)

Toxicity from a gas is related to the concentration and the amount of time you’re exposed. Both of these factors are decreased by placing distance and barriers between you and the source.

There are several good resources for further reading on terrorism, chemical attack preparedness, and mitigation on the web. Information is available at the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency websites.

Online Resources

Biological weapons, such as anthrax, have also been used by terrorist groups throughout history. Refer to our previous article, “The History of Bioterrorism”, for a recap of three past bioterrorist attacks and some lessons learned from each.

The CDC has a program where chemical antidotes are stored across the country in the event there’s a chemical emergency. The program is known as CHEMPACK.
> www.cdc.gov/phpr/stockpile/chempack.htm

Alternative resources:

> emergency.cdc.gov/chemical/
> www.ready.gov/chemical

More From Issue 26

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Read articles from the next issue of Recoil Offgrid: Issue 27

Read articles from the previous issue of Recoil Offgrid: Issue 25

Check out our other publications on the web: Recoil | Gun Digest | Blade | RecoilTV | RECOILtv (YouTube)

Editor's Note: This article has been modified from its original version for the web.

Off-Grid Driver’s Ed: Learning to Drive a UTV

Written by

Photos courtesy of Joey Nickischer and Team TORN

In Issue 26 of RECOIL OFFGRID we discuss using a Utility Terrain Vehicle (UTV) as a potential bug-out vehicle. UTVs are quick, agile, and designed to handle all but the toughest ground conditions. They offer all the off-road benefits of their ATV siblings, but unlike ATVs, UTVs can accommodate between two and four passengers and most models feature a pickup-style bed for additional cargo. All but the most bulked-up UTVs can fit inside a two-car garage and be hauled on a trailer.

UTV learning to drive offroad bugout vehicle car truck atv trail shtf 2

While they offer many benefits, some people are easily misled to believe the only prerequisite to driving a UTV is having a license. Wrong answer. Just like novices who pilot a boat or personal watercraft for the first time, thousands of people are injured every year who mistakenly assume that driving a UTV is just like driving a car on a dirt road. Before you go down the proverbial road of purchasing one, we’d like to give you some advice. Like anything with an engine, UTVs require skill, experience, and more than a little respect to be used safely and effectively.

We spoke to two off-road experts specializing in the selection, fitment, and use of UTVs in austere environments. They gave us some pointers on the perils of driving UTVs under various conditions as well as what to look for in a UTV you may have to stake your family’s survival on.

 

UTV Expert Interview

RECOIL OFFGRID: What are the biggest differences between driving a UTV and driving a car?

Joey Nickischer: The biggest difference is that a UTV does not handle like a car. Aggressive off-road tires, high ground clearance, and a narrow wheelbase, while assets in the off-road environment, give the UTV a higher center of gravity compared to the average road vehicle.

“Muggs” McCoy: For starters, the characteristics that make a vehicle suitable for off-road and rough terrain often detract from on-road performance. Flexible suspensions with long travel, high ground clearance, and heavier driveline components can cause a UTV to respond to driver input in ways that the uninitiated may be unprepared for. The UTV’s higher center of gravity and narrower width means less stability. This, in addition to their increased suspension travel, causes the UTV to have more body roll when swerving or cornering than a typical car.

If the UTV driver isn’t accustomed to this feeling they may not know how to correctly manage it. This can cause them to either over-correct, which causes the UTV to sway and swerve back and forth, making the vehicle hard to manage, or, they interpret the body roll as impending rollover and instinctively apply the brakes, unintentionally increasing the chance of the back tires catching on rocks or dirt buildup. As a UTV driver, you need to start out slowly, get a feel for the suspension, and understand what your vehicle is doing underneath you.

UTV learning to drive offroad bugout vehicle car truck atv trail shtf 3

Inexperienced drivers often feel the temptation to take unnecessary chances with a UTV to test its capabilities. In an...

Do the rules change when the environment changes?

JN: Absolutely. Speed can be your friend in certain circumstances, such as when driving through mud. That same speed can lead to uncontrollable driving in wet/icy areas.

MM: The terrain dictates how you must drive. In a sandy environment, the vehicle is going to react a little slower and follow any grooved path in the sand (the path of least resistance). If that “line” is good, stick with it, but if not, it can be difficult to drive out of. Driving out of grooved or rutted terrain in the sand, mud, or hard packed dirt requires caution. The best approach is to keep your eyes up and look ahead for the best place to exit; commit to your decision and don’t second-guess yourself (hesitation can lead to its own issues).

Be prepared to manage abrupt steering jerks and try to keep the wheels as straight as possible. In rocky terrain, you need to slow down. Going fast over rocks can quickly overwhelm and even damage your suspension. The size of the rocks dictates how much you must decrease your speed. Slowing your speed down enables you to successfully negotiate obstacles and increase your vehicle’s survivability.

Your vehicle’s electrical components are exposed and can easily get wet and short out. Additionally, you could get water in the air intake and sucked into the engine, creating a very bad day. The best approach for a water crossing, if the situation dictates, is to get out of the vehicle prior and test the depth and bottom composition of the water. Determining the water is at a safe depth ensures it will not reach the electrical components and, more dramatically, ensures you won’t drive into a huge hole. Once you’ve check the water”s depth and bottom composition, drive through slowly and attempt to keep the water as low and still as possible. Too many people worry about getting stuck during a water crossing and try to “gun it” to get across. That’s the worst thing you can do.

UTV learning to drive offroad bugout vehicle car truck atv trail shtf 1

Team TORN provides UTV as well as motorcycle training in various scenarios as part of their curriculum.

When you teach UTV driving, what are the most common mistakes you see students make?

JN: The average person isn’t accustomed to driving on steep slopes, boulder fields, and other low-traction terrain. It’s a completely different driving experience. When surmounting obstacles, it’s common to have one foot on the gas and the other on the brake. You want to climb your obstacle with control and ensure you don’t start to slip backward.

The steering wheel can also kick back violently and unexpectedly when the front tires encounter certain obstacles. As such, it’s imperative that you keep your thumbs outside of the steering wheel. The common 10 and 2 or 9 and 3 hand positioning is fine, but make sure your thumbs are out if you don’t want a very painful thumb injury.

Another thing that takes getting used to is not being able to see the terrain and having to rely on the spotter. The spotter can see a lot better than you can, and it’s imperative that you trust him or her. If your spotter says turn the wheel left and move forward 12 inches, then you need to turn the wheel left and move forward 12 inches. When the spotter says stop, then stop! One of the drills I have my students do is driving through a typical traffic cone driving course while blindfolded. This way, they learn to trust the spotter and to only do exactly what the spotter says, lest they “crash” into a cone.

MM: The greatest and most dangerous mistake students make is being overconfident in their abilities. The similarities with a car (the side-by-side seats, seatbelts, steering wheel, etc.) give first-time drivers the impression the UTV will handle like a car, and provide the same level of protection. Students end up driving too fast which gives them little to no time to react to the terrain in order to correct mistakes before they lose control.

For people who are considering buying a UTV as a potential survival tool or bug-out vehicle, what would you recommend they look for?

JN: You want a vehicle that has known durability, easy-to-find spare parts, and is easy to service/repair. The best-selling UTV is the Polaris Ranger and they even make a special line of vehicles strictly for the U.S. Government. Those vehicles are built around commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components.

Something else that could be mentioned is drive systems. Many of the common UTVs feature a belt-drive CVT drive system. These transmissions require a certain amount of engine rpm before the belt engages between the sheaves of the transmission. Having inadequate engine speed coupled with a difficult to turn tire can lead to belt damage or failure, a term known as “smoking the belt.” CVTs are found on the Polaris Ranger, Can-Am Defender, John Deere Gator, and others.

Few UTVs utilize a hydraulic drive system, like those found on hydrostatic tractors. With these, the engine runs a hydraulic pump, which funnels fluid to the drive system. They tend to be very torquey in the low end. The Kubota RTV uses this system. As an added bonus, the hydraulics can also be used to power other components.

Some UTVs use a gear drive, which is a little more familiar to the average driver. However, unlike modern vehicles where you can switch between 2×4 and 4×4 on the fly, you usually cannot do so on gear-drive UTVs. The Honda Pioneer uses this type of drive system. As usual, safety should be discussed. Always, always, always wear your seatbelt. You should also consider upgrading the three-point seatbelt to a four-point harness style.

Before attempting any water crossings, get out and check the depth of the water first to avoid drawing water into the UTV’s components.

Before attempting any water crossings, get out and check the depth of the water first to avoid drawing water into the...

The harness-style seatbelt will hold you in position a lot better in the event of a rollover. In UTVs with a full rollcage, you should still wear a helmet, even if it’s only a half helmet. And never, never, never hold onto the rollcage. Only hold onto manufacturer-specified grab bars. If the vehicle rolls over while you have a death grip on the cage, there’s a very good chance your hand will be crushed and amputated. And to go along with that thought, don’t try to stop a rollover by sticking your hand or leg outside of the vehicle. You’re not going to hold up, or even slow down, a 1-ton (or heavier) vehicle that is rolling over. You will most likely lose that limb in the rollover.

MM: The No. 1 thing I advise people to look for in a UTV is durability. If SHTF, you won’t have the luxury of taking the UTV in to get serviced or parts replaced. Therefore, look for a brand with high durability ratings. Don’t simply look at popular opinion on the “cool factor” or the latest gadgets and features. Get under the vehicles, look at their components and how well they are made. Research the engine — how does it perform? What are the top service issues? Even for new UTVs, most of their engines are the same or similar ones that have been used in snowmobiles for years.

Meet Our Panel

Joey Nickischer

UTV learning to drive offroad bugout vehicle car truck atv trail shtf 6

A nationally certified Search and Rescue Technician 1 Lead Evaluator (SARTECH1), Joey Nickischer is also a retired New York City Police Department detective. Over the course of 20 years, his assignments in NYC have included uniformed patrol, Tactical Patrol Force, Citywide Task Force – Plainclothes and Pickpocket Squad. Additionally, for 14 years, he was assigned to the Fugitive Enforcement Division, where his job was to track down people who didn’t want to be found. He currently works as a lead technical rescue instructor for RIT Safety Solutions, AAA Emergency Supply, and Newburgh Rescue Supply.

On the volunteer side, Joey is the Chief of New York Search & Rescue and has led his team through searches ranging from the Word Trade Center Terrorist Attacks, to Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans and through the Catskill Mountains of New York. He serves as a team leader with both the Westchester County Technical Rescue Team and the Putnam County Technical Rescue Team, as well as an Assistant Chief with the Patterson Fire Department.

“Muggs” McCoy

UTV learning to drive offroad bugout vehicle car truck atv trail shtf 7

The owner of Team TORN (Technical Off Road Navigation), Muggs is a retired, 24-year veteran of the military. With 18 years in special operations, Muggs’ professional experience spans a broad range of technical and tactical skills essential for training the nation’s elite forces. Throughout his career he has trained hundreds of members of the special operations community in tactical mobility, as well as developed and utilized mobility tactics, training and procedures in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Muggs began motorcycle and UTV racing during his military career, culminating in the country’s longest off-road race: Vegas To Reno.

During his military training, Muggs noticed a gap in instruction that’d link superb riding training and tactical mobility needed for special operations professionals. He then approached race-professionals Jimmy Lewis and Shane Watts to create a program that combines the necessary skills for riding with the tactical knowledge necessary for real-world missions, thus starting Team TORN. www.teamtorn.com

More From Issue 26

Don’t miss essential survival insights—sign up for Recoil Offgrid's free newsletter today!

Read articles from the next issue of Recoil Offgrid: Issue 27

Read articles from the previous issue of Recoil Offgrid: Issue 25

Check out our other publications on the web: Recoil | Gun Digest | Blade | RecoilTV | RECOILtv (YouTube)

Editor's Note: This article has been modified from its original version for the web.

Vaporwear: Gas Mask Buyer’s Guide

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The history of gas masks is long and varied, in hopes of matching the threat from various different types of agents. Early “masks” were just wet sponges covering the user’s mouth and nose. As threats changed, so did the masks and the technology behind them. Lots of people are familiar with the M17 military gas mask, but like everything in life, filters and composition have improved. Today, the M17 is nothing more than a conversation piece since the filters contain chromium, which we now know to be a carcinogen.

The first question you should consider is whether you even need a gas mask. If the anticipated threat is simply riot control agents (RCA), then any of the masks listed here will be fine. And depending on how uncomfortable you want to be, so will a wet sponge. The penalty for exposure to RCAs is discomfort for a brief period of time. If it’s something more nefarious, like VX nerve agent, then a mask is only the first step since the agent can also be absorbed through exposed skin. That type of threat requires full body protection and coverage — but level A to D chem suits are a topic for another day.

In this article, we’ll discuss two types of threats: CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear) and RCAs. Considering the nature of these hazards, only full-face respirators are considered. These types of agents not only affect your breathing, but they’re particularly good at disrupting your moist bits, like eyes, mouth, and nose. All of those areas need to be covered to be properly protected, hence the need for full-face protection.

Photo courtesy of Avon Protection

Photo courtesy of Avon Protection

Plenty of people lose their minds as soon as the “octopus” attaches to their face. Hyperventilating and feelings of claustrophobia are fairly common. So, if the face-hugger creatures from the Alien franchise really freak you out, air-purifying respirators (APRs) will take some getting used to. Drawing breath will be harder in an APR — you’re pulling air through a fairly dense filter, so normal breathing will be affected. Add in any physical activity, and it only gets worse.

It goes without saying that you should be checked by a doctor to determine whether you’re healthy enough to wear a mask, how long you should wear it, and whether or not prolonged use might have adverse health effects. Most occupational health clinics can perform this type of checkup since they routinely do it for cops and occupations that require respirators.

Of course, if you’re faced with a situation where a mask is truly needed, you’ll need to weigh the potential health risk of wearing it versus that of exposure. The general health checkup is still important for training in a mask though, so please don’t neglect it.

Selecting a full-face mask isn’t enough on its own — you’ll also need to consider its level of protection. In conjunction with the type of filter chosen, the mask’s materials are also important. Butyl rubber (BR) and silicone are the most common, with butyl rubber being more resistant to UV and different types of chemicals. BR and silicone are most common since they provide a great sealing surface as well as resistance to a large variety of agents.

Ideally, the mask you choose should accept filters with a 40mm NATO thread. This will allow you to choose from a variety of NATO filters. A NIOSH-rated (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) CBRN filter will handle damn near everything. The MSA Advantage doesn’t have this feature, so its value is diminished as a result. Filter adapters are available, but introduce an additional point of potential failure in a very important system. Masks are certified, but only filters are rated. To learn more about the accreditation system you can visit www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/topics/respirators/disp_part/default.html.

The upper portion of your mask should provide clarity of vision and keep peripheral vision obstructions to a minimum. It should be easy to don without a complex webbing system, and lastly it should be comfortable to wear for prolonged periods. A hydration tube port is always a welcome feature — in some hotter climates and more strenuous conditions it should be considered mandatory. Remember that you may not be able to take off the mask for several hours, and without a hydration port, you won’t be able to drink anything during that time. A CamelBak adapter is readily available for most masks with drinking tubes.

The addition of voice amplifiers and radio cables might also be mandatory depending on your task and purpose. And if you’re using it frequently for police or military operations, or if you’re really committed to making sure it can save your life, then you need to be clean shaven to ensure the best seal. Sorry neckbeard dudes, but no amount of Vaseline smeared into your beard will give you the same seal as bare skin.

Testing

An OHD fit machine.

An OHD fit machine.

All of the masks evaluated were size medium, and this author tested all of them for “fit factor” on an OHD Fit Testing Machine. The OHD machine is designed to test the overall fit of the mask on an individual user. The filter is removed, and the machine is hooked to the filter port of any mask with 40mm threads. Once hooked up, the wearer goes through a series of tests while holding their breath. The machine purges the air from the mask and creates negative pressure. Sensors determine the overall “fit” of the mask to the wearer. This takes the guessing game out of what size is best for you, and helps determine the best size based on the shape of your face and head. The test procedure includes standing straight up, bending over at the waist, vigorous shaking of the head from left to right, and so forth.

Gas mask buyers guide survival prepper shtf emergency chemical biological weapon safety 3

You’re allowed to breathe in between each test, but you must hold your breath for each event. The end result is either a pass or fail, and the machine will provide a number, or “fit factor.” The higher the number, the better the seal and fit of the mask to the user. If you don’t have access to a machine, a negative pressure test or the use of strongly scented sprays like Bitrex or banana oil are good alternatives. The latter items should be available through safety supply distributors that cater to industry professionals. We’ll explain negative pressure testing in a bit, but for now let’s talk about the masks that were tested and evaluated. A minimum point value of 500 is required to get a pass; there’s no maximum number that we’re aware of. The higher, the better.

Evaluation Procedures

With the exception of the Mestel mask, this author has worn all of these masks into RCA environments for prolonged periods of time during building searches for criminals. Agent exposure was CS and OC — in other words, tear gas and pepper spray. In most cases the agent was in both liquid and powder form, and usually both types of agents were deployed on the location. The Mestel mask was worn for a period of 90 minutes to test for comfort and weight, but due to the lack of a location to deploy live agents, no agent exposure test was performed.

In addition, we conducted peripheral vision measurements using a standard tape measure. These measurements were taken while standing with head straight up and then while casting eyes down to determine how far forward we could see on the ground without tilting the head. This is important if you’re navigating through a congested space, even more so in low light. We also took a measurement looking straight down at the ground with head tilted forward. This simulates having to climb down something or just looking for obstructions directly at your feet.

Lastly, we measured with head straight and then eyes moved hard left and right to determine how much peripheral vision was available. These measurements are indicated below by straight, downward, and peripheral vision loss, respectively. This was conducted using a tape measure with the base of the tape at the wearer’s feet. Zero inches would indicate no loss of vision and then extends out from there. So the higher the number, the further away the visible point is.

Negative Pressure Testing

While the OHD machine provides the best measurement of fit, negative pressure testing comes in second, followed by a squirt of Bitrex or banana oil as mentioned before. A negative pressure test is easy to perform and can be done every time you put the mask on to ensure you have a proper seal. If you think you’re already exposed, hold your breath first. Don the mask, cover the exhale port, and breathe out forcefully. This will vent the contaminated air that you just scooped onto your face. Immediately cover the filter inhale port and attempt to breathe in. You shouldn’t get any air.

If you do get air, the mask isn’t secured properly and is allowing air to pass — or you didn’t completely cover the filter inhale port. Reposition and try again. Adjust the head harness accordingly. If you still sense agent, vent the mask again using the procedure above, but don’t remove the mask. Start at step two. If you’re simply putting your mask on due to concern about possible agents being disseminated, there’s no need to hold your breath during the donning procedure.

Fogging

If the eyepiece is fogging, it’s generally an indicator of a bad seal. Reposition and go through the aforementioned steps again. The mask is designed so that contaminated air gets pulled through the filter and cool air goes over the eyepiece to de-fog. The air is then drawn into the mouth/nose piece, and you breathe the filtered air. When you exhale, diaphragms in the nose piece are sealed. This forces the condensation and exhaled air out of the exhale port. Breathe in and the diaphragm on the exhale port is sealed.

Filter Changes

Filters with red circles highlighting protection level, CBRN, and CS/CN/P100. P100 means it’ll filter particulates out of the air down to 1 micron in size. The width of a human hair is 75 microns. CN is a riot agent that’s no longer used due to its high carcinogen factor, but it’s still indicated on filters. OC is generally never listed as an RCA, even though you wouldn’t want to inhale it — OC is a derivative of hot peppers, thus it’s considered a food product not an “agent.”

Filters with red circles highlighting protection level, CBRN, and CS/CN/P100. P100 means it’ll filter particulates...

If you’re in a chemical environment and need to conduct a filter change, take a deep breath and hold it. Unscrew the old filter and screw on the new filter without taking a breath. Once the new filter is seated, cover the exhale port and forcefully breathe out. If you inadvertently breathe in with the filter off, you’ll draw contaminated air into the face piece. Once the new filter is on, breathe normally. It’s worth noting that this procedure is different if you have an Air Boss LBM. The LBM is designed so that when the filter is removed, a spring-loaded mechanism seals the mask. If you attempt to breathe in, you won’t get air until the new filter is seated. It goes without saying that you need to be able to conduct a filter change rapidly while wearing the mask in any condition.

Maintenance

Maintenance for all the masks is simple. Remove the filter. Filters can be exposed to rain and fog, but shouldn’t be submerged in water. Once a filter is removed from its foil pack, it’s certified for 15 minutes of use for the agents it’s designed to defeat. For riot control, you can reuse the same filter over and over until you start to sense agent. Then replace as necessary. For CBRN, you better have new ones in foil pack ready to go that aren’t expired, per the date on the package. If you don’t, use what you have, but you’ll be taking a chance.

Once the filter is removed, the whole mask can be dunked in warm soapy water and rinsed clean. Air-dry and then use an appropriate lens cloth on the eyepiece. If the mask is contaminated with CBRN, you can’t just pop it off and start cleaning it. You need to go through an entire decon process. For RCA, you can just clean it, but be careful about touching your eyes, face, and other sensitive areas until your hands are thoroughly washed as well.

For peace of mind, a certified CBRN filter from a reputable manufacturer will work for both CBRN and RCA. They are fairly big, however, so police officers may want a separate RCA-only filter as well as CBRN filters stored in foil packs. This keeps the good ones ready and the smaller, usually cheaper RCA filters for most common use.

Review: MSA Millennium

Gas mask buyers guide survival prepper shtf emergency chemical biological weapon safety 8

Allows for hydration and the use of a voice amplifier that attaches to the front of the mask. It has a 40mm NATO thread for filters of all types and ports on each side. The user can mount the filter on their support side so it doesn’t impede shouldering a weapon or using two filters simultaneously. The face piece is huge and flexible, allowing the mask to deform slightly when shouldering a weapon to facilitate use of the sights. This deformation can also cause distortion, so user beware. It’s very comfortable to wear over prolonged periods. It’s lightweight, there are no pinch points, the material is soft and seals easily, and the head harness is easy to center and tighten. The interior mouth and nose cup are also soft and seal easily. Electronic voice amplifier doesn’t come standard, but is easily attached if you want to spend the money.

Weight
19.9 ounces

Straight vision loss
91 inches

Downward vision loss
22 inches

Peripheral vision loss
1 inch

Overall Fit Factor on OHD
Pass / 1,537

Our overall rating
8/10

MSRP
$632

URL
us.msasafety.com

Review: Mestel SGE 400/3 BB

Gas mask buyers guide survival prepper shtf emergency chemical biological weapon safety 9

No hydration value or electronic voice amp is available for this mask. The mask has 40mm threads for filters and is outfitted with three ports, one on each side and one in the front. The face piece is hard plastic and quite large; however, only the center portion is optically correct. The rest of the clear portion is distorted due to its curvature, so only the section that’s about the size of a standard set of dust goggles is usable. This design also makes prolonged wear uncomfortable since it causes some eye fatigue. You tend to look through the distorted sections because they’re clear, but the resulting image is blurry. It was comfortable on the face during the test, and the head harness centers easily. Each strap on the head harness has positive “clicks” when you tighten them. This allows you to better center the head harness with clicks and feel. This mask was unable to pass the OHD machine testing in size medium on this author. It failed three times in a row before we could even start and a fourth time after the first stage. Mestel then sent a small. It passed on the OHD machine, but compressed eyebrows down to the point that it was uncomfortable and impeded vision.

Weight
22.5 ounces

Straight vision loss
107 inches

Downward vision loss
13 inches

Peripheral vision loss
1 inch

Overall Fit Factor on OHD
Pass / 1,194

Our overall rating
5/10

MSRP
$299

URL
www.mestelsafety.com

Review: Avon Protection FM53

Gas mask buyers guide survival prepper shtf emergency chemical biological weapon safety 10

This mask accepts both hydration and an electronic voice amplifier. Of all the masks tested, this is the only one that currently supports a direct comm cable for a radio, providing much clearer radio transmissions than a voice amp to boom mic setup. However, the design of the mask puts the internal mic on the mask, exactly where all of your breath condensation and sweat accumulate. As a result, members of this author’s team constantly ruined the mics. Sometimes they could be recovered by popping them out and throwing them in a bag of rice overnight. Other times, they were just fried from moisture and had to be scrapped as a total loss. It’s very easy to change them out, but it gets expensive. The mask is very comfortable to wear and the viewport design is very much like a set of old-school shooting goggles. The mask is supple and seals easily, and the head harness is easy to adjust and center. Donning the mask is fast and efficient. It accepts 40mm NATO thread filters on either side to aid in shouldering weapons. The only downside to this mask is its long, protruding shape. Other than that, it’s a great mask and has served well on countless barricades and warrant services.

Weight
26.8 ounces

Straight vision loss
75 inches

Downward vision loss
18 inches (long face piece and protrusion)

Peripheral vision loss
3.5 inches

Overall Fit Factor on OHD
Pass / 1,156

Our overall rating
9/10

MSRP
$1,218

URL
www.avon-protection.com

Review: Air Boss LBM (Low Burden Mask)

Gas mask buyers guide survival prepper shtf emergency chemical biological weapon safety 7

This mask allows for hydration and an electronic voice amplifier with an adapter that Air Boss provides. We used an MSA brand voice amp with this mask on duty. It doesn’t have a radio cable, but our understanding is that one is being developed. It accepts 40mm NATO thread canisters. The mask is extremely lightweight and supple. The eyepiece is also the same design as a pair of shooting goggles; however, the lenses are hard. Users can purchase tear-away lens covers to protect against scratches, smudges, and other marks. In our opinion, this is the optimal way to do it. We want to be able to tear-away the covers and have the hard lens remain for protection without adding a hard cover. It has a very short front profile and doesn’t protrude very far. The eyepiece sits very close to the eyes, which is a bonus if using night vision devices since they can be positioned closer to your eyes. This may vary depending on the wearer’s facial features, but we do notice a difference compared to the other masks tested. The mask seals easily, and the head harness stays centered. Subjectively, it’s the most comfortable mask we’ve used, and it’s been fantastic on numerous barricades and warrants with live RCA agents. We could sleep in this thing. It also has the lowest weight, best vision measurement numbers, and highest fit factor of any of the masks evaluated by a wide margin.

Weight
17 ounces

Straight vision loss
59 inches

Downward vision loss
0 inches (no loss of visibility)

Peripheral vision loss
0 inches (no loss of visibility)

Overall Fit Factor on OHD
Pass / 1,732

Our overall rating
10/10

MSRP
Approx. $500

URL
www.airbossdefense.com

Conclusion

This article covers just a small sampling of the many masks available on the market. Most of them were chosen with the fighting man’s needs in mind, but many of those same needs are common for the citizen. A base guideline would include: full face piece, 40mm thread compatibility, comfort, and hydration, with the cost factor considered after all the others. Anything manufactured prior to 2000 shouldn’t even be considered for purchase, as technology has advanced way too far to accept anything else.

Gas Mask

A mask is also only the first step in protection. Dermal exposure is a concern for many CBRN agents, but that’s an entirely different topic. A tall optic mount for your rifle allows for faster and easier acquisition of sights, but a laser aiming device is best when wearing a mask. If the mask manufacturer makes a lens cover, they’re highly recommended to keep the viewport clear. Most do, and some even offer smoke, yellow, and laser safety lenses.

Lastly, if you’re considering starting a riot or helping to maintain a riot, and you’re reading this article to thwart law enforcement attempts to maintain the peace, then shame on you. No mask will protect you against a barrage of less lethal munitions or a pair of handcuffs.

About the Author

Bill Blowers spent six years in the U.S. Army before becoming a police officer. He recently retired from law enforcement after 25 years, 22 years of that assigned to SWAT. He was his department’s respiratory protection specialist for several years and his last assignment included supervising the program. Bill is the owner of Tap-Rack Tactical, LLC, a police training company focusing on SWAT topics. www.tap-rack.com

More From Issue 26

Don’t miss essential survival insights—sign up for Recoil Offgrid's free newsletter today!

Read articles from the next issue of Recoil Offgrid: Issue 27

Read articles from the previous issue of Recoil Offgrid: Issue 25

Check out our other publications on the web: Recoil | Gun Digest | Blade | RecoilTV | RECOILtv (YouTube)

Editor's Note: This article has been modified from its original version for the web.

New: Boker Plus Wasabi Folding Knife

Written by

Differing tasks require differing blades — you'd never chop wood with a scalpel or perform delicate surgical cuts with a machete. While a single mid-size every-day-carry knife can suffice for most ordinary tasks, it's nice to have a few folding knives to choose from, depending on your activities and attire. Often, all you may need is a small and lightweight pocket knife that won't feel like a boat anchor clipped to your pants. These light-use tools are sometimes classified as gentleman's knives.

Boker Plus Wasabi slipjoint folding knife pocketknife edc blade 3

German knife company Boker recently released a new folder called the Wasabi under its affordable Boker Plus line. The knife is a non-locking slipjoint — for those not familiar with this mechanism, it uses the tension of a backspring to hold the blade open or shut, rather than a lock. It also features a flipper for quick opening, and a slender tip-down pocket clip.

Boker Plus Wasabi slipjoint folding knife pocketknife edc blade 5

The Boker Plus Wasabi was designed by bladesmith Kansei Matsuno, and its slim shape and Japanese tantō profile match its origin. The blade is made of easy-to-sharpen 440C steel. Blade length is 2.88 inches; overall length is 7 inches.

Boker Plus Wasabi slipjoint folding knife pocketknife edc blade 4

This knife is available in three variations:

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The Road Less Traveled in a Yamaha Wolverine X4

Written by

Photos by Mark Saint

The dreaded, high-pitched buzz of the Emergency Broadcast System simultaneously came across my phone and television. I was finishing my coffee and bracing myself for Friday morning rush-hour traffic, but realized there was something unusual about this broadcast. I was so used to hearing the word “test” after these alerts began that I initially ignored what was being said. As the message continued past its usual duration I realized things were about to get hairy real quick.

Yamaha Wolverine X4 UTV review offroad bugout survival vehicle car truck 2

A massive chemical spill had occurred at a railway junction less than two miles from my home. The broadcast was unclear about the contaminants being released into the air, but what I knew for sure was that staying here was dangerous. It was time to beat feet. Since the freeways were gridlocked due to time of day and others surely looking to bail after hearing the broadcast, I determined that the best thing to do was to drive my UTV (Utility Task Vehicle) away from the direction of the accident using an escape route I’d plotted a while back. I grabbed my backpack, strapped down some other ancillaries as fast as I could, started up the UTV, and split like a bat out of hell toward my bug-out location.

This is Only a Test … This Time

Although the aforementioned prompt is fictitious, it’s meant to get you thinking about your means of transportation and evacuation plans if you were faced with a similar situation. The train crash mentioned was based on the Graniteville, South Carolina, rail disaster in 2005 where tanker cars hauling chlorine ruptured after a collision, releasing poison gas into the atmosphere. It was considered by many to be the worst chemical accident in U.S. history. Nine people were killed, several hundred were injured, and thousands were forced to flee their homes. Had winds been stronger, the death toll would’ve undoubtedly risen.

According to a Department of Transportation report, Train Wreck and Chlorine Spill in Graniteville, South Carolina by A.E. Dunning and Jennifer Oswalt, “The emergency response community has recognized a need to reduce the chaos of the type experienced in Graniteville. Poor communication between agencies and lack of clear decision-making authority exacerbated the disaster. Responders disagreed over how to evacuate the town, and this disagreement resulted in inaction. While the Reverse 911 system worked, the timing and decision making of the evacuation actions rendered the system only marginally effective. Responders couldn’t quickly and positively identify the hazardous material or the proper procedure.”

What does this tell you? As we’ve said in RECOIL OFFGRID before, sometimes you only have yourself to rely on. Unfortunately, in instances like this, hazardous materials are often transported through rural areas that are ill-equipped to deal with such a large-scale incident. When you combine that with bureaucratic bungling, sometimes it’s better to preplan rather than risk your life waiting for rescue personnel who could be hours away to handle the situation. That being said, how do you plan to evacuate if fleeing on foot may not be realistic?

Getting Out of Harm’s Way

Here we’re exploring the use of a UTV (also called a side-by-side) during bug-out for several reasons, including the number of advantages it offers over a conventional vehicle. We won’t get into criteria for selecting a temporary or permanent bug-out location, as that’s a whole other list of priorities to cogitate on. This article is more focused on what transportation you’ll use to get there and related considerations to make when traveling off-road.

There’s no right or wrong answer when it comes to the method you use to evacuate, but there’s no perfect solution either. While every vehicle has strengths and weaknesses, consider that various catastrophes may render surface streets and highways impassable. Here are some things to keep in mind if you’re in the market for a UTV. Your initial intentions to buy an off-roader may be strictly recreational, but let’s examine how it could also double as a very practical escape vehicle.

Yamaha Wolverine X4 UTV review offroad bugout survival vehicle car truck 5

Why a UTV?

Mobility and Access: Remember that gridlock mentioned earlier? The UTV can get places a standard car or truck can’t. When the usual roads and highways are inaccessible or jammed with commuters, you may find yourself wishing you had an alternative to your daily driver. If you’re forced to cut through firebreaks, access roads, horse trails, or other off-road thoroughfares, a vehicle designed specifically to negotiate that kind of terrain could prove invaluable.

Maintenance: The more features you have on a vehicle, the more things can break. You won’t care about the convenience of cruise control or parking sensors during an emergency. A UTV’s simplicity makes it desirable since it’s devoid of the abundance of electronics most standard vehicles are becoming dependent on. UTVs are built for durability and easy maintenance or repair in the field.

Size/Signature: Not only does its smaller size and design enable a UTV to traverse unforgiving topography and obstacles, but it also increases your ability to remain hidden if necessary. It’s much harder to conceal a larger vehicle when parked, as well as the footprint it leaves behind. Having a smaller vehicle will draw less attention to your escape route. While you may be concerned about the noise UTVs make versus a car, there are plenty of mufflers and exhaust systems you can use to minimize sound output.

Modifications: The aftermarket support for UTVs is huge. Tons of companies offer modifications for your UTV’s drivetrain, suspension, lighting system, cargo storage, fuel capacity, and other features. One can easily upgrade a stock UTV to support a heavier payload or haul a trailer. It all depends on what your intentions are and how much weight in people or supplies you intend to carry. But rest assured that consumers have plenty of choices to improve upon the vehicle’s existing capabilities. Many require only basic tools and knowhow to install.

Where Are You Going?

Although many bemoan the range and carrying capacity of UTVs as being limited compared to standard vehicles, that may not necessarily be a deal breaker if you’ve preplanned your escape routes and destinations. The first determination you should make is whether the range of a UTV you’re considering is conducive to your destination. For instance, if your bug-out location is 100 miles away, can you get there on a full tank of gas with plenty of margin for emergency detours? How will that range be impacted by the amount of people and supplies you’re loading? Research the range, fuel capacity, and payload capacity of the vehicles you’re considering.

Determining possible routes out of the area shouldn’t be something you put off to the last minute. Unless you already have a bug-out location in mind, find some suitable spots that are reachable in a UTV. Plan alternate routes and revisit them every few months to confirm they’ve remained unfettered. Better yet, test them out with your UTV, preferably loaded up with supplies to ensure they’re as accessible as you think they are when you’re fully laden. Continued urban and suburban development has a way of throwing up obstacles and changing topography from when you initially scouted out access to a locale that works for your purposes. You might return to an escape route you’d planned out six months ago only to find much of the property has been built up, which forces you to rethink the whole strategy.

Yamaha Wolverine X4 UTV review offroad bugout survival vehicle car truck 1

What Should You Bring?

Your load-out, and the weight thereof, will be just one of the factors that affect fuel consumption. The range ratings for vehicles are measured on flat surfaces, so rough terrain, other passengers, and how heavy your right foot is are variables that make it difficult to determine the total range you’ll get out of an off-road vehicle. If you have friends with UTVs, borrowing theirs would be another way to help get an accurate idea of the range before you make that initial purchase. Do some test runs loaded up with the supplies you plan to bring so you have an accurate baseline of the fuel consumption. That will help determine how much extra fuel you should carry.

Fuel Storage: Aside from possibly adding a secondary tank, RotopaX or Cam Cans are great ways to store additional fuel or water on the vehicle and take up a bare minimum of space. Due to the additives and compounds found in modern pump gasoline in the U.S., assume fuel will begin degrading within a year or so to the point where it loses much of its volatility and gums up with resins. This may clog fuel lines and pumps. Even with stabilizers added, gasoline supplies should be rotated at least every six months if you plan to cache any fuel.

Yamaha Wolverine X4 UTV review offroad bugout survival vehicle car truck 4

Keeping current maps of the areas you need to travel through during an emergency is essential in the absence of GPS or...

Maps: Remember those? Local automotive stores and online retailers are great resources for maps. These will show off-road trails that your smartphone’s map app or GPS might not clearly identify (assuming you’ll even have reception). You can also visit MyTopo.com for USGS Topo, satellite, and even lake maps. Replace your maps every year or so to ensure you have the most up-to-date versions available.

Tools: Bolt cutters or a small breaching saw will come in handy if you have to cut through locks, chain-link fences, or barbed wire to save your skin. A toolkit consisting of wrenches, a ratchet and sockets, screwdrivers, locking pliers, zip ties, duct tape, epoxy, and a multi-tool should be enough for the repairs you may encounter during a breakdown. Many UTVs come with toolkits designed specifically for that vehicle. Aftermarket accessories such as a winch, Hi-Lift jack, and MaxTrax ramps can help you bail yourself out if you get stuck on a remote trail.

The rest of your supplies are only limited by your imagination. Carrying a tent, stove, cooler, flashlights, first-aid kit, binoculars, clothing, radio, fire-making supplies, power supply, and firearms/ammo is really up to the user. Assemble your desired contents and start Tetris-ing them onto the vehicle to figure out the best configuration to economize space and to get an idea of how much weight they’ll add.

Don't wait until an emergency arises to scout out potential bug-out locations. Do your homework on suitable places to hold up well in advance.

Don't wait until an emergency arises to scout out potential bug-out locations. Do your homework on suitable...

Do Your Homework

A golf cart is not a UTV, so don’t think it’s a suitable vehicle for driving on anything other than nicely manicured lawns. If you own a large piece of property and use construction or ranching-style vehicles to get around and perform menial tasks, don’t assume these will work for bug-out purposes either. Visit trusted manufacturers, test-drive as many as you can that are within your budget, ask about their warranty programs, and spend some time getting off-road training from certified instructors. Driving a car on surface streets is vastly different than driving an open-cockpit vehicle like a UTV through rough terrain during an emergency, especially if you have no prior experience.

Also, ask yourself if you can save weight by taking off anything that you feel is unnecessary for your intentions (and consider if removing those items will void your warranty). Spare tires or features meant to protect your suspension like glide plates should not be sacrificed to save weight. Spend some time changing parts yourself and outline some practice situations that would simulate problems you might encounter in an emergency. Extraction in water crossings, deep sand, mud, and low-light conditions are all great ways to become familiar with how the vehicle handles and what to do to mitigate potential obstacles. The more time you spend getting the feel for a UTV’s capabilities, the better off you’ll be if you have to make a quick departure. For a full review on the Yamaha Wolverine X4 SE seen here, check out Issue 37 of our sister publication, RECOIL.

Sources

Flashlight
SureFire EDCL2-T
www.surefire.com

Yamaha Wolverine X4 UTV review offroad bugout survival vehicle car truck 10

Tent
PahaQue Green Mountain 4XD – Blue
www.pahaque.com

Rifle Bag
5.11 Tactical VTAC MK II 42” Double Rifle Case / Rush Tier System
www.511tactical.com

Gloves
Mechanix Wear M-Pact Woodland Camo
www.mechanix.com

Tomahawk
SOG Knives Voodoo Hawk
www.sogknives.com

Stove
Camp Chef Rainier Campers Combo
www.campchef.com

Solar Charger/Panel/Power Bank
Goal Zero
Venture 70 Power Bank
Guardian 12V Plus Charge Controller
Nomad 28 Plus Solar Panel
www.goalzero.com

Extra Battery & Charger
Shorai LFX36A3-BS12 / Battery Management System (SHO-BMS01)
www.shoraipower.com

Yamaha Wolverine X4 UTV review offroad bugout survival vehicle car truck 8

Binoculars
Bushnell Engage 10×42
bushnell.com

UTV
Yamaha Wolverine X4
www.yamaha-motor.com

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Editor's Note: This article has been modified from its original version for the web.

What If Your Subway is Attacked With Chemical Weapons?

Written by

Illustrations by Joe Oesterle

The rhythmic vibrations of the subway car had almost lulled me back to sleep, even though the cabin was crowded with morning commuters. Strong scents wafted back and forth. The cologne and perfume of the passengers, as well as the countless cups of coffee, created a riot of scents assaulting my nose. I tried to ignore the odors in my groggy state, shutting my eyes and blocking everything out. It was working, until the passengers at the end of the subway car started screaming and a new smell caught my attention.

Nostrils stinging, I began to process the new information. My eyes opened as the stinging sensation traveled from my nose into the back of my throat. Scent can trigger memory, and as I fumbled for recognition, it hit me — bleach, it smelled like chlorine bleach! As frightened people began to rush past me, I wondered if this would be my last subway ride.

For this episode of RECOIL OFFGRID’s “What If?” column, the editors gave us a nasty urban nightmare. We had to work our way through a terrorist attack in a crowded subway car. Continuing our new format, the editors asked us to explain what we would personally do in these emergency situations. This isn’t some random character stumbling through a scenario, this is exactly what we’d do in a packed subway car full of panicked people and poisonous fumes. Try not to hold your breath while reading!

The Scenario

SITUATION TYPE
Traveling to work
YOUR CREW
You
LOCATION
New York City
SEASON
Spring
WEATHER
Rainy; high 47 degrees F, low 39 degrees F

The Setup: There’s been recent news of intercepted communications that an unnamed terrorist group is threatening to attack a major New York City subway line with a chemical gas attack. It has been two months since the initial reports, but media coverage has subsided so you begin to assume the reports may have been exaggerated. While these current events are still unfolding, you’re attending a daylong lecture at Columbia University.

Chemical weapon attack subway what if survival preparedness emergency shtf 3

Since you don’t own a car and the subway is your usual method of travel, you board the subway near your home at the Bedford Park Station at around 7 a.m. on your way to the 116th Street station near the University. The train is full of the usual commuters and nothing seems out of place.

The Complication: After the train stops at the 155th Street station and then resumes its course, you notice a commotion in the car behind you. People start fleeing that car and entering yours, covering their mouths with their hands and clothing, acting like they’re in pain and choking. At this moment, you notice a distinct acrid smell and yellow-green haze that, based on your research and knowledge, you believe to be chlorine gas.

You suspect your subway has been the victim of a chlorine gas attack/domestic terror incident. The conductor is obviously not aware of what’s going on. What can you do? There may be multiple chemical gas attacks happening simultaneously in various cars; you’re just not sure yet. What steps can you take to help protect yourself, save lives, and alert authorities?

SURVIVAL EXPERT: Tim MacWelch's Approach

Prep

The sprawling public transportation system of New York City safely moves over 1-billion people a year, but with the threat of a terrorist attack in my mind I’d think long and hard whether to ride a subway car with that looming threat. Sure, more people die every year from automobile accidents than train wrecks and terrorist attacks combined — so much so that car accident fatalities rarely make the news. But that doesn’t mean that I’d be eager to get into a crowded underground facility with limited exit strategies.

In my preparation, job one is to study the subway transit system. Learn its routes, its safety procedures, and escape routes, with particular attention to obvious bottlenecks or other points that would hinder evacuation.

My second specific piece of preparation for this type of threat would be to research previous terrorist attacks on subway cars and trains. In 2004 in Madrid, terrorists set off 10 backpack bombs on the commuter rail network, killing 191 people and wounding more than 1,800. One year later, a sarin gas attack occurred in a Tokyo subway. This attack was perpetrated by the Aum Shinrikyo (Supreme Truth) cult, a group of doomsday fanatics with thousands of followers all over Japan. Their insane leader, Shoko Asahara, gained access to the wealth of his followers and employed a chemist to create the sarin gas weapons that killed 12 people and injured more than 5,000. While the motives of these nut jobs are part of the research, their methods would be my primary area of focus.

My next job would be to research respiratory devices. Many of us include simple masks (like an N95 mask) in our everyday preps, but it’s largely useless in a gas attack. Vapors, fumes, and gases go right through the mask — just like the air we breathe. And even though N95 masks will filter out anthrax and the cough droplets that transport the flu virus, you’ll need something made for gases to remove them from the air you’ll breathe.

One commonly available filter that can be found at most home improvement stores and attached to half masks or full face masks is the 3M Multi Gas/Vapor Cartridge (filter #60926). This affordable cartridge can attach to a variety of respirator masks and remove chlorine, hydrogen chloride, chlorine dioxide, plus a number of other nasty chemicals. Just remember that a mask is only as effective as the surface it seals against. Mustache, no problem. Soul patch, OK. But full beards keep the rubber mask from sealing against your skin.

As my final prep for close-quarters travel on a subway, I’d want a city-friendly EDC kit. This assortment of everyday carry gear would include a whistle, a flashlight, a first-aid kit, and a small pry bar. It wouldn’t hurt to have an element that prepares you for a possible chemical attack too (besides the respirator). A product called Reactive Skin Decontamination Lotion is now available to civilians. RSDL is the only decontaminant cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to remove or neutralize chemical warfare agents such as tabun, sarin, soman, cyclohexyl sarin, VR, VX, mustard gas, and T-2 toxin. It’s a simple little packet of lotion-like neutralizer. Each kit comes with instructions and a training product, so you can get a feel for it through realistic practice. It also comes with a packet of decontaminant for one person, which removes the chemical agent from the skin in a single step. It won’t help with our chlorine gas scenario, but against other agents — it’s better to have it and not need it ….

On Site

After deciding to take the subway, my first safety precaution would be to choose what I perceive to be the safest car on the train. But which car should I choose?

Conventional wisdom would lead us to believe that the front and rear cars of a subway train (or other type of train) are the most dangerous places in a crash. The front car would take the brunt of the damage in the event of a head-on collision, with the rear car taking damage if the train were rear-ended. But a terrorist attack is a very different event compared to a train wreck. In the event of a terrorist attack, the most crowded car would likely be the most tempting target.

Just one example of this sinister planning can be seen in the London subway bombings of July 7, 2005. In this attack, three suicide bombers detonated explosives onboard subway trains during the busy morning commute. While a number of people were also killed and injured that morning in a double-decker bus bombing perpetrated by a fourth group member, the subway portion of the attack killed 39 people and wounded hundreds more. Each of the three subway bombers sat or stood near the train doors, where the highest concentration of passengers would be located.

From my perspective, the least populated car is the least desirable target for someone intent on causing mass casualties. Once onboard the undesirable subway car, I’d take history’s lesson to heart and stay away from the double doors in the car. Sure, this would typically result in more walking, but that’s a small price to pay for a greater margin of safety. And whether I was in the subway in NYC or in a tube in any other part of the world, I’d find the emergency exits and alarms.

Once I’ve chosen my seat on the unpopular car (story of my life), I’d still remain vigilant for suspicious activity. In a less populated car, there would be fewer people to observe for any odd behavior or packages. This quieter area might be chosen as a setup or staging area, where a terrorist could potentially prepare to launch an attack.

The Crisis

Chemical weapon attack subway what if survival preparedness emergency shtf 1

In the midst of a chlorine gas attack on a subway, with the circumstances still unclear, the first thing I’d do is use the passenger alarm or passenger emergency intercoms to notify the train crew that something was seriously wrong. I’d have scouted out the location of these when boarding. Once the commotion started and I smelled a noxious gas, that’s the time to hit the “panic button,” though I’d want to avoid actual panic internally and avoid the frightened throngs of people that may be rushing my way. I could also try 911 on my phone, but there are no guarantees with mobile phone reception in a tunnel. It’s also possible that the systems that support the phones would be flooded with calls during a crisis.

As for my position, I wouldn’t want to be far from an emergency exit, but at the same time I wouldn’t want to be in a spot where a crowd could crush me up against a wall or unopened door.
I definitely wouldn’t try to get down low toward the floor. First, gaseous weapons wouldn’t necessarily rise like smoke, and secondly, I don’t want to be trampled.

Once I sounded the alarm, I wouldn’t expect the train to stop between stations. If I had a multi-gas half-mask, I’d don the respirator and hide the mask by pulling up my shirt. I wouldn’t want desperate people to rip the mask from my face. With the mask covered by clothing, I’d look like everyone else.

Without a multi-gas respirator, I’d have few choices for protection. I could use clothing as a filter and also attempt to limit my breathing. I could also try to move to an area with clearer air. If the agent gives any visual cues, such as dust, haze, or color — you could move the other way. Once the car stops (on route or at a station), I’d get out and seek medical attention. I may not immediately notice signs or symptoms of poisoning, so outside help is definitely warranted.

PHYSICIAN AND INSTRUCTOR: Lorenzo Paladino’s Approach

Prep

Chlorine gas forms hydrochloric acid on contact when it’s inhaled. Its victims suffocate to death from fluid accumulating in their damaged lungs, and escape is difficult when afflicted with burning, tearing eyes. There has been increased chatter of credible threats, and you know the subway has been targeted before. Preparing for your commute under these circumstances isn’t being overly paranoid, it’s the responsible thing to do.

Packing for the commute: Many discreet tactical bags, eschew an overtly military look, while still featuring plenty of rapid-access pouches, MOLLE, and Velcro in the interior to hold all your essential gear. While many are primarily designed to facilitate the quick draw of a firearm, in this situation having instant access to the key contents such as those below can be just as life saving.
Flashlight. In a confined space, a little bit of smoke or gas can severely limit your visibility. Also, yellow/amber lenses seem to reflect less (or appear to reflect less) than standard white light on particulates in the air (smoke and fog).

A cell phone. Remember, many phones have a flashlight feature. While not as effective as a tactical flashlight, it’s another resource. Although your phone probably has a digital compass and GPS, the only directions you need to know are a route away from the source and up the stairs.

Backup power. A charger that’s rugged, drop-proof, water-resistant, and has a built-in light can serve as an emergency backup to your primary light. Redundancy is always good. Aside from your phone, it can also power a rechargeable flashlight, should the situation get prolonged.

Knife or multitool. Assuming local laws permit carrying such an item, something sturdy that can pry and has a glass breaker is ideal. The glass on the trains is heavy duty and won’t shatter as easily as a car windshield. They also have a plastic film that’ll keep the glass in place to avoid injuring others when blown out. For these reasons, they’ll require a forceful shove or kick after being shattered. You may have to kick through broken glass, and in the worst case, walk on the tracks.

Footwear. I’d wear a trail running shoe that’s sturdy enough for climbing but comfortable to run fast in.

Gloves. Another carry item to consider is heavy work gloves. These will come in handy in case you have to hold onto a windowpane studded with broken glass and for climbing over debris once the train stops.

Bottled water mixed with baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). This mixture can be used to flush your face and wash out eyes if they’re tearing and getting blurry.

Respiratory protection. A CBRN (Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear) mask isn’t as common or easy to carry as the above items, but there really is no safe solution that can be improvised. There are historic accounts of soldiers using urine-soaked socks to combat chlorine gas in WWI. This doesn’t work well in actual practice (not enough ammonia) or logistically on a subway with only seconds of warning.

In a pinch, you could pour the water and bicarbonate solution over a thick cotton rag and attempt to breathe through it. You’d probably still get sick, but maybe not as sick as having nothing. Wool shouldn’t be used as it’s too difficult to breathe through when wet. Another problem is that holding the rag tightly to your nose and mouth would tie up your hands, impeding your escape.

Emergency escape hoods. These are a more practical alternative to carrying a bulky full gas mask on a commute all the time. More importantly, when an attack happens, you’ll have little to no warning and will need to resort to something you can deploy and don quickly. Emergency escape hoods are one-time-use head coverings with built-in filters and an elastic neck seal. It’s as fast and simple as opening the wrapper and pulling it over your head. They’re packaged small enough to fit in your bag, briefcase, or in a pouch on your belt. Emergency hoods provide chemical air filtration for 15 to 60 minutes, enough to escape a situation. They should deploy in one step, without straps to adjust. You should look for hoods that are CBRN-rated and “NIOSH-approved” (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health). The Avon NH 15 and RSG CE 200 series are a few models that fit this need nicely.

Like all emergency equipment, you should train and familiarize yourself with their use before you use them in a real situation.

For even more portability, rapid deployment, and a quarter of the cost, Scott Safety has an alternative — the Emergency Escape Mouth Bit Respirator. It’s like the mouthpiece of a snorkel with a filter attached, so it won’t protect your eyes and face. You could put on swim or ski goggles if using this option.

It’s important to point out that gas masks and hoods filter air but don’t create oxygen. In a scenario of a confined space where a poison gas is displacing atmospheric gases, this deadly fact should be kept in mind. A solution to this and alternate option to an emergency hood is to carry a small portable air supply. The aviation industry uses the HEED (Helicopter Emergency Egress Device) and the diving industry uses a version called Spare Air. It’s basically a small scuba tank the size of the water bottle you carry to the gym, so it’ll fit in your commute bag. It supplies approximately 30 breaths or up to 3 minutes of air. Considering the average subway stops are two minutes apart, it should give you what you need to get out.

Swim or ski goggles. These are useful if you don’t opt for the escape hood, or as a backup to it. They can help to minimize burning to your eyes from the irritating gases, so you can preserve your vision while looking for an escape. Mucous membranes absorb faster than skin, so they may decrease the possible surface area for entry while protecting your eyes from burns and blinding. It’s not what will kill you, but being blind in the subway might.

I wouldn’t carry a chemical suit as it takes minutes to get into and tape up. Many aren’t available commercially anyway without special certifications and substantial training to use properly. It’s impractical to don in a subway car full of panicking people and will waste precious time. Suiting up can take several minutes, whereas escaping can take seconds.

Know your environment: The NYC subway system maintains two separate fleets with at least three different model cars. The dimensions of subway cars vary from 51 to 75 feet in length and 8 to 10 feet in width. Know how many steps this translates to for you. On average it’ll be approximately 22 to 32 steps in length, depending on the car. I do a similar calculation in airplanes, counting steps from the entrance to my seat. I also count headrests with my hand.

In a dark or smoke-filled airplane, you may lose track of steps because you’re taking longer strides or jumping over things, so the number of seats you can touch by extending your hand while running is a nice tactile backup. You can also make it a game during your morning commute to count how many stairs and steps from turnstile to platform edge. This will give you an idea of the average distance you’ll need to cover to reach the relative safety of outdoors.

On Site

Sit at the front of the compartment by the door between the cars. This door is easy to open (even when the train is moving), doesn’t require the train to be stopped, and doesn’t have to be pried open to escape the compartment. In a panic, most people will stampede and crowd the exit doors to the platform; not many will think of escaping through the door in between cars if the train is stopped.

If the train is moving, people will quickly realize your door is their only escape, so be prepared for the rush toward you and possibly getting crushed. Being between cars while the train is moving is dangerous, but when the train comes to a stop you can jump to the platform from there. If you can, continue into the next car and keep moving further and further away from the attack, putting more distance between you and ground zero.

Why the front end of the compartment as opposed to the rear? It increases your likelihood of being upstream from an incident if it occurs. If gas is escaping a stricken car and spreading to other compartments, in a moving train it’ll spread primarily backward, pushed by the wind currents, not forward and up wind in the direction of motion. You want to get upwind.

Crisis

When it comes to communicating for help and alerting authorities, the NYC subway system offers Wi-Fi and cellular service in all its stations. In a simple gas attack without structural damage from an explosion or collapse, the system will likely still be functional. Texts require less bandwidth than cellular calls. Oftentimes, a signal too weak for a successful phone call will still be sufficient to bounce around and eventually complete a text or post to social media.

Chemical weapon attack subway what if survival preparedness emergency shtf 2

If signal isn’t good enough to call for help, you can alert authorities using these means. The NYPD and many large city law enforcement agencies have social media accounts such as Twitter and Facebook. The use of social media to alert and contact for help has been proven in disasters before. You should move toward the very front car of the train, placing the largest distance possible between you and the gas release and alerting the train operator to what is happening. They can radio the authorities.

If you’re stuck in a compartment that is gassed and can’t get out for whatever reason (doors jammed, crowd density, etc.), use your glass breaker on the windows and start ventilating to dilute the gas. This is where you’ll be thankful that you always put your EDC gear in the same place in your bag every time and have rehearsed grabbing each item without looking. You need to find that glass breaker in low visibility, heavy smoke, or through tearing eyes. Instruct other passengers in the car to “ventilate” the train too.

Keep in mind you don’t want to stick your body too far out of the broken window if the train is in motion, as you can get hit by a passing column. Stand on seats or climb up a pole if you can. The gas is heavier than air, so the higher you go, the less the concentration of the chemical agent.

This is the opposite of the crawl you’re taught to avoid smoke when escaping from a fire. The reality is that this principle works best when we’re dealing with greater heights, such as going up another floor or two, not so much the 2 feet you get by standing on a seat, but it may buy you a few seconds as you survey your escape route and break glass. If you were out of the train, getting to a higher level by stairs should definitely result in a noticeable change in concentration gradient of the gas.

Though getting away from the gas is the single most important key to survival, if stopped in a tunnel, leaving the train and heading out has its own hazards. There’s also the danger of being hit by another train or coming into contact with the electrical supply and being electrocuted. Also, the tracks are the lowest point in the station and that’s where the gas accumulates. Many of the tunnels are several blocks long. You’ll have to weigh these dangers and decide if it’s worth the risk.

Trains are frequent targets for terrorists. Escaping the epicenter of the attack to the outside is the key. Dilution is your friend — get to higher ground, as most chemical gases sink.

Conclusion

Terrorism does part of its job when people are harmed, but it also succeeds when people are afraid to go about their normal lives. Terror attacks instill people with fear, in addition to causing physical harm to people, systems, and places. This threat may cause some people to go about their business with a sense of unease. It may keep people from traveling to crowded places or visiting certain cities that may be considered a likely target. Or it may leave people paralyzed with paranoia.

So how do we find a balance between keeping ourselves and our families safe and walking boldly through life? Terrorists win when good people cower in fear, but this doesn’t mean we should be foolhardy in our defiance and willingly place ourselves in harm’s way to prove how brave we are. There’s always a middle road we can travel, avoiding the greatest risks while exercising reasonable caution. And the key to staying on this middle road is situational awareness. During your daily routine, pay attention to people, places, situations, and your instincts. Be vigilant as you go about your day. Transform from a nation of sheep into a nation of sheepdogs, ever watching for the wolves that would try to harm the helpless.

Meet Our Panel

Tim MacWelch

Tim MacWelch has been a survival instructor for more than 20 years, training people from all walks of life, including members from all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, the State Department, DOD, and DOJ personnel. He’s a frequent public speaker for preparedness groups and events. He’s also the author of three New York Times-bestselling survival books, and the new Ultimate Bushcraft Survival Manual. When he’s not teaching survival or writing about it, MacWelch lives a self-reliant lifestyle with his family in Virginia. Check out his wide range of hands-on training courses that are open to the public at www.advancedsurvivaltraining.com.

Lorenzo Paladino

Lorenzo Paladino MD is an emergency physician at a large trauma center and an EMS medical director. He’s an advanced trauma life support and a tactical combat casualty care (TCCC) instructor, frequently working with DOJ, DOD, Air Force Pararescue (PJs), Army Special Forces, and SWAT personnel. Dr. Paladino is a Team One Network instructor (teamonenetwork.com) and a medical director for ADS Medical Support Team International on overseas deployments. Expertise includes penetrating trauma, critical care, blast injuries, injury ballistics, chemical attacks, austere and hostile environments, K9 medicine, scuba rescue, and emergencies. He can be contacted at Lorenzo.Paladino@gmail.com.

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Editor's Note: This article has been modified from its original version for the web.