Don’t Become a Knockout Game Victim: Increase Your Awareness and Mindset

Posted on November 25, 2013 by Tony Blauer

Knock Out Game

Editor-in-Chief’s Note: I’m thrilled to welcome Tony Blauer of the SPEAR System as a contributor to ITS. I’ve just recently returned from an Extreme Close Quarter Counter-Ambush Course presented by Tony, along with Jeff Gonzales of Trident Concepts. While an AAR is in the works, I felt this article was important and timely to get out before I talked about all the great information I learned at the course.

DISCLAIMER: I need to be careful not to fly off on one of my tangents. There’s so much to say, this can easily turn into a rant that would make Dennis Miller’s swearing seem tame. This isn’t going to be a crash course in kung fu either; instead you’re going to get simple reframes, a checklist and a to-do list. The rest is up to you (as it always is).

This article is for YOU. It’s about your real world responsibility, (which should actually be written: “response-ability,” or one’s ability to respond.) It’s also about your vicarious liability (which should be written vicarious “lie-ability,” which is the act of putting yourself or your family in harm’s way while being cavalier or overconfident about real world danger.

Let’s keep this simple, blunt and strategic. To say I’m disgusted by the Knockout Game (KOG) would be an understatement.

Here’s what I’m not going to do in this article:

  • I’m not going to discuss race.
  • I’m not going to discuss parenting.
  • I’m not going to discuss the decaying moral fiber of society.
  • I’m not going to discuss how our PC world has contributed to these brazen acts of violence.
  • And lastly, I’m not going to discuss secret martial techniques.
  • My system is based on behavior. Therefore my observations and recommendations will all be about behavior. (That means you can change and apply it today.)

Reframe: The Ambush

First lets reframe something that will change paradigms. I get asked this all the time, “How do you defend against an ambush?” My answer: “You can’t, that’s why it’s called an “ambush.” Yes, you can train to anticipate, intercept and weather an attack, but there is no magic style or technique to defend against the non-telegraphic ambush. If you can’t defend against the ambush, then what do you do?

Get Off The X, Get to the Left of the Ambush

This isn’t Star Trek where people beam-down into your personal space. In other words, there are always pre-contact cues. Getting off the X is about situational awareness. It’s about being observant. I wrote about this recently. (Re-read “X” Marks the Spot. Get off the X after you’ve digested this article.) Bluntly folks, get your head out of your @ss and off your cell phone when you are walking and driving (I’d recommend the same thing when you’re at dinner in the company of other humans too.)

No Awareness = No Ability to Counter

No awareness = no flinch response = no chance. Everyone but one saw the bat coming in the photo below. How? Because they were watching (situationally aware.) They picked up on the pre-contact cues, (bat slips from hands) which allowed their body’s survival system to move first. Your flinch will always beat you to the punch in a surprise attack. This is the foundation of all S.P.E.A.R. System training. Photo Courtesy Sports Illustrated.

Flinch

If you lack awareness, your survival system can not do its job properly. You make it even harder if you are fixated on a smartphone. When you are out and about, pay attention.

Let’s call a spade a spade: you can’t counter a perfect ambush and that’s precisely why it was called “an ambush.” When the intended victim intercepted or disengaged the assault, it was called an “attempted ambush.” This is important because it helps you start thinking about the bigger picture and what it really means to get to the left of an ambush.

Vulnerability Assessment & Improving Awareness

How would you attack you? This is a neat concept. It’s so simple. Spend some time thinking about when you could attack you. Is it walking down that alley daydreaming, not noticing the gang of hooligans approaching? Do you sit in your car checking emails unaware of people studying your routine? Follow yourself for a week and make notes of when you could sucker punch yourself, grab your purse/wallet or steal your car. You’ll be amazed at what you can learn about your situational awareness. Now here’s the cool stuff, doing this activates your reticular cortex. Whenever you send a message to the reticular cortex, like “stay alert,” or “look out for gangs,” it actually makes the change in your brain and you become more intensely aware and alert to your surroundings. Scientifically speaking, “the reticular activating system helps mediate transitions from relaxed wakefulness to periods of high attention.”

The Three D’s:

  1. DETECT (to avoid)
  2. DEFUSE (to de-escalate)
  3. DEFEND (to protect)

“Action is faster than reaction; in-action is faster than action” – BTS Maxim

If you’re having discussions with your martial arts pals on best moves, or you’re searching YouTube for “counters for sucker punches,” then you’re already standing on the “X.” Understand? You completely missed detect and defuse. A lot of people get stuck in this trap, “What’s the best counter to XYZ?” The problem with this thinking is that to practice the counter, you must practice the attack. Therefore you always practice letting yourself get attacked in order to practice the counter. Interesting irony. But more importantly, no one is working on avoidance and de-escalation. Accessing the skills honed in the gym gets even more unlikely when you consider that in a true ambush, there’s no consent and no awareness of the attack. In the real world, the hand is quicker than the eye and the hand is quicker than the brain. If you’re trying to figure out which style of martial arts is best, then you don’t understand math, physics and physiology.

Let’s Play the Knockout Game!

What’s required to play?

  1. A complacent victim with little situational awareness.
  2. Douche-bags.

The first pre-contact cue is typically a gang and a lone person. (Light bulb!) Start there. See a gang? Get to the left of the ambush as soon as you. You’re alone? Find a buddy.

Tips & Tricks

  1. Identify your routine and any opportunity you provide to “opportunistic douche-bags.” Change what they’re looking for and then you’re not “it.”
  2. Walk with your own gang when you know you’re going through choke points. Leaving a restaurant alone? Ask the manager for an escort. Same for underground parking lot, ask for an escort. Four eyes are better than two. There are lots of courageous bystanders and good samaritans near you, look for them. (Also, how you ask will also influence their willingness to assist. Be honest and be smart.)
  3. Walking solo in a subway, bus stop, etc.? Think about your next step. Pause, assess and scan. FYI, you do this every time you step off a side-walk (in other words, it’s not a new behavior and it’s not a paranoid behavior.) See #2 – practice the lost art of talking to another human – ask if they’d walk with you.
  4. Keep your head up & eyes alert. Diffuse your vision.
  5. Keep your hands free (yep, no phone.) *While this can happen anywhere, you should know when its pseudo-safe to have your phone out.*
  6. Trust your gut. Re-read my article on the Economics of Violence for a review on “paying attention.”
  7. Err on the side of safety. Even if you think something is about to happen immediately, change your direction, make noise, create attention. If you were wrong about the pre-contact cue, (i.e. false alarm) the worst that happened is you are embarrassed. The alternative (ignoring the perceived threat) could be much worse.
  8. If you’re driving and see someone walking into the kill zone, slow down and honk like an idiot (same if you’re on foot, yell.) Don’t hesitate just do something (you’d want someone to do it for you!) If you can roll down your window and shout, “the police will be here in a moment. The cameras are recording this.” (Point to the pretend CCTV camera.) Verbal deception is a great tool to create a mental distraction in the bad-guy’s mind. It creates doubt & hesitation and it just might dissuade or divert the attack. At a minimum, it buys you time and allows you to shift psychological gears.

Just reading this has activated your reticular cortex and now you are safer than you were 10 minutes ago.

Step 1. Commit to the homework. Think about and apply the suggestions.

Step 2. Practice all the skills and drills suggested in advance of any real threat. Do it, rehearsals are great.

Think of self-defense as a behavior not a technique. Remember, you are a human weapon. Be your own bodyguard.

Bonus Section – Value Yourself

(This is why you might not do any what was suggested above.) You actually need to think that you’re important and worth fighting for. This might seem stupid or confusing, but there’s more to it than just reading the sentence. In fact, there’s a profound depth to this principle and the conversation you need to have with yourself.

Cognitive dissonance, apathy, denial or other avoidance strategies convince us this training and awareness isn’t really necessary. Logically, you do agree with me that you’d rather make a speech than get your ass beaten, right? But fear of public speaking is usually #1 on the list and the threat of physical violence doesn’t even surface. If you’re tracking my philosophy then you understand that all our training is behaviorally based and in that reality, the mind navigates the body. How you feel about yourself can influence how you would react and what you would (or wouldn’t do) will affect your performance. It’s a subtle truth, rarely discussed but integral to tapping your indignation, which I liken as “fuel for the fight.” You need to know in advance of an attack that you will protect yourself and your family. On the other side of the coin is the false assumption that you need some sort of technical or tactical training, or background, to fight back. You don’t. You just need to fight. So give yourself permission to fight back. Review this article for more insight: Thou Shalt Not Fear Fear

To practice self-defense properly you need to value yourself.

Stay safe,
Tony

Editor-in-Chief’s Note: Tony Blauer is a world renowned combatives instructor and the developer of the SPEAR System. His philosophy and mission has remained constant since 1979, always searching for a better way. Not trying to perpetuate a style; instead to educate an international community on the importance of psychology, fear management and behaviorally sound tactics.

His company, Blauer Tactical Systems (BTS) along with his Personal Defense Readiness (PDR) team continues to research and evolve personal and professional safety training and products. Tony has also recently partnered with CrossFit to develop CrossFit Defense, promoting the parallels between the CrossFit philosophy and the SPEAR System.

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How To Be Safe in Crowds: Adopting a Bias Towards Action

Posted on November 22, 2013 by ITS Guest Contributor

Airport Crowd

I’ve been asked several times since the Boston Marathon Bombing about how to manage risk in a large crowd environment. One answer is simple: Unless you are absolutely required to be in attendance, AVOID large crowded environments. Of course, when there are times when you have limited choice and must venture into that environment, then use good habits of situational awareness and adopt a “bias towards action.”

Large groups of people will always attract a certain amount of risk. Never underestimate the volatility of people in large groups. Any significant event, even a “perceived” event, can result in a stampede. People are injured and die every year during Black Friday Sales events when they become victims of a frenzied mob. A fire, an explosion or an active shooter can all create a mob mentality that will take on a life of its own.

The KEY to surviving any event in a crowded venue will depend almost entirely on your ability to control personal panic, to assess the situation and to take immediate action. If you panic, you drastically increase your odds of injury or death.

Here are a few strategies that will decrease your risk. Concentration is initially involved, but after practice, these habits can become natural and seemingly effortless.

1. Maintain your awareness. Keep your eyes up, off the smart phone and scan your environment. This can be challenging due to the large volume of people. But try actively scanning and looking for “out of baseline” behaviors. People moving upstream and against the flow, for example, are out of baseline. People moving faster or slower than the baseline, or whose gestures or furtiveness do not match the event.

I have a friend who works in a department store in theft prevention. In a glance, he can spot someone about to shoplift. Their behaviors are out of baseline. A shoplifter will always stand right next to the shelf before he pockets the item, whereas a normal shopper stands back to be able to see the contents of the shelves. Out of baseline.

2. Identify specific threats or threatening behavior. Look for menacing behavior or people who by their looks cause you to feel uncomfortable. Trust your gut. There may be a valid reason why they make you feel uncomfortable. If you are in proximity, move away. As always, look for “orphans:” bags or packages without owners. Alert security if you see them, but do not stand next to them waiting for security to arrive.

3. Identify exits. Whenever I enter a room, or area, one of the first things I do is scan for exits. Are there emergency exits? Are they alarmed? Are they locked? What about windows? Can they be opened? Is there a heavy object like a chair I can throw through the window to create an exit?

4. Look for exits on the opposite side of the room from the entrance or at right angles to the entrance. Most people will bypass emergency exits in close proximity to them to go back to the entrance they came in through. This behavior has led to many deaths in ballroom and concert fires. People who are panicking seek the familiar.

5. Identify cover. Cover refers to safety from fire. A brick wall may stop bullets, but sheetrock walls will not. Solid furniture may seem solid, but even a two inch thick oak table will not stop a 9mm round. You must find something substantial if shooting starts. The engine block and front axle of a car for example may provide enough cover for one person. The car door, not so much. There generally isn’t much cover inside of a building and it’s best to head for the exit.

6. When an event occurs, grab your family members and head for the exit. Pick up and carry children. Have your family members (spouse, others with you) grab a hold of your belt. Move assertively towards the PRE-SELECTED exit. Move with the crowd “downstream,” but also in a diagonal direction until you can reach a wall inside. If outside, move along the edge of the crowd, where you can better control your movement. Don’t be afraid to damage or destroy the fixtures, or even the building itself to get out. This may include breaking open windows, kicking open doors, or breaking locks. Timidity will not be helpful, your primary concern must be your family. Once they’re safe, you can decide whether or not to render aid to others.

7. Carry essential gear. Essential gear for an outside event: Water bottle, First Aid Kit that includes a Tourniquet, knife, multi-tool, sunglasses that also provide eye protection. For indoor essential gear, add a small pocket flashlight, as cell phone flashlights will not penetrate smoke and haze.

It’s impossible to anticipate every event. However, most events will precipitate the need to move. MOVEMENT to SAFETY will generally always be your highest priority. If the event is localized to your immediate vicinity, then safety generally lies elsewhere. The most important trait here is a BIAS TOWARDS ACTION. Take action to improve your crowd situation.

Editor-in-Chief’s Note: Kevin Reeve is the founder of onPoint Tactical, training professionals and select civilians in urban escape & evasion, urban survival, wilderness survival, tracking and scout skills. I’ve personally taken onPoint Tactical’s Urban Escape & Evasion class and highly recommend it as a resource!

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Squawk Box Broadcast 003

Posted on November 21, 2013 by The ITS Crew

Squawk Box Broadcast 003

The Squawk Box Broadcast aims to highlight a few of the stories that have caught our attention recently. It’s also a way to broaden your horizons and explore new ideas.

The Explorer >> The North Face

If this video from The North Face doesn’t get you fired up and ready for adventure, you may need to check your pulse. “Humans have always been driven by curiosity and fed by an innate need to explore. There is an allure in the pursuit of the unknown. Never stop exploring.”

Muir Inspired, Mountain Filled >> Huckberry

Whitney James spent every weekend last summer exploring the great outdoors. “The mountains have a way of fixing things.” Her desire to escape the office and simply get outside is inspiring and will have you longing for some fresh air.

20 Best Adventure Books >> Gear Patrol

Do you have a sense of adventure? An urge to explore the unknown? While you can’t always just get up and go off to wherever you’d like, with a good book, you can. We’ve shared a few of our favorite books in the past but you should certainly pick out a new read from this lineup too.

The Soviet Superplane Program that Rattled Area 51 >> Wired

This massive aircraft flew below radar and had the capability to launch anti-ship missiles that could reach Mach 3. It also had a range of 1,200 miles and would last five days without any resupply. The CIA was so unnerved by this new aircraft that they built a drone just to spy on it.

The personalized leather jackets of bomber crews >> Flickr

“Fancy Nancy”, “Grin’n Bare It”, “Belle ‘o the Brawl”. These are just a few of the personalized jackets that bomber crews wore during their missions. These jackets and men have character and it’s great to see them preserved in photographic form.

Like these posts? Stay up to date by following the Squawk Box daily.

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Can You Truly Benefit from Using a Ghillie Suit?

Posted on November 20, 2013 by Matthew Dermody

Ghillie Suit

“Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent’s fate.” – Sun Tzu, the Art of War

Formlessness is the endeavor of every ghillie suit user. Detection of any kind can tip the scales of success and failure plummeting into failure’s favor. Sun Tzu, the famous Chinese war strategist, wrote that in order to directly control the fate of one’s opponent in battle you must be unseen and unheard. Even in the annals of ancient warfare the need for stealth was emphasized.

Today, personal concealment and camouflage relies heavily upon a working compromise created by printed camouflage fabric in order to overcome the drawbacks associated with ghillie suit use. But why a ghillie suit at all? With its added bulk, weight and potential fire hazard, are there any justifiable reasons for employing the use of a ghillie suit?

The answer is an unequivocal yes.

History of modern warfare has proven ghillie suit effectiveness on both sides of the battlefield. Better concealment than that offered by standard camouflage apparel can give one a tactical advantage; greatly increasing successful mission outcomes. While warfare technology and personal detection advancements such as FLIR (Forward Looking Infra-Red) and thermal imagery have been used with great success to detect and reveal troop movement, the ghillie suited soldier or operator can still reap the benefits of stealth movement. The ghillie suit is far from the fabled cloak of invisibility, but it’s tactical stealth advantages certainly should make it desirable to have in one’s arsenal.

Buy or DIY?

Material technology has reduced a good portion of the associated drawbacks of a ghillie suit to a more manageable or tolerable level. Now it boils down to the not so simple question of “Do I buy a ghillie suit or make my own?” If you have more money than time, or access to a government agency expense account, there are manufacturers available to make a custom ghillie suit to your exact specifications. But why not make your own suit?

The advantages of constructing your own ghillie suit begin to yield useful results that will sharpen fieldcraft skill-sets almost immediately. The information you learn from scouting an environment makes you a better, more skilled hunter or tactician. Studying information about the vegetation in the area also gives clues regarding diet, habitat and territorial range aiding those in wildlife photography or animal research.

Ghillie Suit Sample

A main drawback to pre-made suits is that they usually come in only two different environments depending on the suit manufacturer. Most environments have a predominant color and many pre-made suits still cannot accurately match that color. While color is very important, avoid getting too caught up with the colors at the expense of texture. Texture often provides subtle color nuances. Examine the surrounding vegetation and landscape. Pay attention to the textures and shapes. Ask yourself what textures can be adapted into your suit.

Based on your data determine whether strands or strips of material or a combination of both will make your suit the most effective. Lack of texture is the major downfall of all the inexpensive, Chinese-manufactured ghillie suits. These poorly performing suits incorporate only a synthetic burlap material and provide no means of attaching additional fabric or vegetation of any kind.

Research

Ghillie suit construction is a skill that can be easily learned. We’ve all learned how to tie simple knots, identify/mix different colors and recognize plant shapes. These three skills are the heart and soul of ghillie suit construction. Proper fieldwork is a necessary task if you’re making a custom ghillie suit. Your fieldwork research, photos and notes will assist with the basics of color matching.

  • Take a notepad, a pen, a camera and even a deluxe box of colored pencils
  • Make your observations based on the approximate time of day you plan to use your ghillie suit
  • Go out to the woods, grasslands, desert plateau, wherever you plan to use your suit and observe the coloration with your own eyes
  • Varying degrees of natural light cause photographs taken at dawn to differ in color and contrast from those taken in the morning, at midday, mid-afternoon, and dusk

Even if you supply the information to a custom manufacturer, it doesn’t reduce the need on your part to have accurate descriptions of the environment. Custom ghillie suit manufacturers thrive off the perception that it is too time-consuming for the average person to construct a quality ghillie suit. There is no doubt about the amount of time needed to assemble a ghillie suit, but the advantages of three-dimensional camouflage will far outweigh the hours you will put into the project. This is why I make my own ghillie suits and provide consultation and instruction for others to do likewise.

Most people find themselves in the “more time than money” category. Therefore, the major contributing factor affecting the decision to construct a ghillie suit is the price. High quality manufactured ghillie suits are expensive because they are labor-intensive with no fast, mass production methods to drive down costs.

Benefits of Making Your Own Ghillie Suit

Making a custom suit puts you in charge of deciding what options you put on it without having to pay extra for those items. Constructing your own custom suit gives you options and a tactical advantage. If you are using the suit for hunting, the addition of a recoil pad pocket may mean the difference between a clean kill, a wounded animal or a miss. The addition of a hydration pack or mesh vents may provide you with the added comfort required to stay out in warmer climates longer than you could without those modifications. In wet environments, waterproofing areas of your ghillie suit that come in contact with moisture can help you stay dry. If a different type of situation or environment presents itself, you can modify your suit without having to return the garment to a manufacturer to make the changes or ordering another suit.

Another great aspect of making your own ghillie suit is that you decide where something is tactically and practically functional for you, not where someone else thinks it would be functional for an average person. After the amount of time and money that you will put into constructing your custom ghillie suit, you’ll also feel a new level of excitement in the activities you utilize your new ghillie suit. Your suit will become part of you, another aspect of your fieldcraft skill-set and a useful tool in your arsenal regardless of the chosen application.

In the next article, we’ll introduce and illustrate some ghillie suit designs that are inexpensive, lightweight and allow for tactical movement.

Ghillie Headnet Demo

Editor-in-Chief’s Note: Please join us in welcoming Matthew Dermody of Hidden Success Tactical Concealment as a contributor on ITS Tactical. If you would like to learn about personal camouflage, concealment fieldcraft or even more information about ghillie suits, check out hiddensuccesstactical.com

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55 Gift Ideas for the Adventurer in Your Life

Posted on November 19, 2013 by The ITS Crew

Christmas Gift Guide

The holiday season is fast approaching and some of you like to get your shopping done as soon as possible. While this is a gift guide for those who choose to live adventurously, it’s also very much a wish list for the staff at ITS HQ (hopefully Santa is listening). In the list below, you should be able to find a healthy mix of fun and awesome items, many of which are hand crafted right here in America.

We were sure to include a variety of different items that range across the board on prices, but are all functional and practical. There are also a few items that we own personally and the others we just think are cool. Either way, anything on this list should do well to equip the modern day explorer you can’t seem to find the perfect gift for!

Gift Guide

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Gift Guide

Is there anything special you’re hoping for this year?

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Disaster in the Heartland: Ways You Can Help Americans in Need

Posted on November 18, 2013 by The ITS Crew

Illinois Tornado Damage Photo by Jake Behyl via Shawn Reynolds

Hundreds of homes have been destroyed and lives have been lost in the wake of a tornado outbreak that hit the Midwest yesterday. While the 170+ mph winds have since subsided, the battle continues for many residents.

Note: Don’t drive through impacted areas. Emergency crews need unhindered access to help with search and rescue operations. Click here for a list of road closures.

Here are some links to help those directly affected or anyone wanting to help those in need:

Photo by Jake Behyl via Shawn Reynolds

Know of another way to help? Let us know in the comments and be safe out there!

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Living Better: How to Become an Organizational Ninja

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Bryan Black
3 of 6 in the series Living Better

This may seem a bit off topic to you for an ITS article, but allow me to present my perspective. Being better organized in all aspects of your life, reduces stress and sharpens your focus to allow you to work at a higher level. Almost ninja like!

I’m by no means where I’d like to be with my organizational skills, but I’ve been working hard at it for many years. It’s been a constant evolution that started when I was young. One caveat to what I’ll get into today; I have what the doctors call a “touch” of OCD. I’m obviously joking and don’t really have a diagnosed condition, but I am obsessive about organization and for a good reason. It works for me. It allows me to feel comfortable with what’s around me so that I can clear my mind and focus on the important tasks around me.

This being said, I relate organization to quelling the voice in my head that continues to remind me to put things away, or won’t let go to tasks. More on this in a bit. Everyone has those things that nag at them constantly, the to-do’s, the voicemail to return, the text message to answer, the dreaded emails that pile up. I’ll go into some techniques and tools that have helped me along the way and will hopefully help you as well.

My hope with this article is that you’re able to use this advice to help your stress level in some way, by being better organized and live better. This series is all about being healthy, which doesn’t just relate to your immune system.

Health-y  [hel-thee]  adjective: Possessing or enjoying good health or a sound and vigorous mentality: a healthy body; a healthy mind.

Organization and Getting Things Done

GTDEverything has a place, right? Determining what to do with something is one of the core principles I follow and one that I honed thanks to David Allen, the author of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. In his book, Allen talks about how we often look at a “to-do” the wrong way. While you may have “clean the garage” on your list, that might encompass a large list of separate action items, like “put up rake” or “take bag of old clothes to Goodwill.” By breaking down what Allen refers to as projects, into separate action items, it makes a project more manageable. These smaller action items can be accomplished in your down time or give you a better perspective at just what’s needed to mark a project as done.

Grouping all your action items by context can also help as well, for instance, you may have quite a few projects that each have individual action items to make telephone calls. If you knew all the calls you needed to make and had a few minutes around the phone, you could put a dent into those and move those respective projects closer to completion.

Just thinking about everything around me in this project/next-action mentality, has tremendously helped my overall productivity. There’s so much more to Getting Things Done or GTD then I have time to cover in this overview article, so do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of his book. It’s been out for awhile and is relatively inexpensive. I also use a few computer programs to help me with the GTD system.

Organizational Software

Part of the GTD system is ensuring that you get your thoughts out and into a trusted system so that your brain can let go. Remember earlier when I talked about “quelling the voice in my head that continues to remind me to put things away, or won’t let go of tasks?” This is a huge step in helping you to live healthier. It wasn’t until I read David Allen’s description of what was actually occurring, that this clicked for me. Until you put something you need to do into a trusted system that you know you’ll review and remind yourself about later, your brain can’t let it go. It will continue to remind you to do something until it gets done. Now take that and add in all those things right now that are pulling at your attention, lots going on up there, right?

apps_transparentYou need a trusted system that you can use to review all those things. A simple to-do list might work, but if you follow the project/next-action core of GTD, you’ll need something better. While I’d again encourage you at this point to read GTD, I’ll get into what I use to manage my life.

OmniFocus – Based on GTD, OmniFocus is designed to quickly capture your thoughts and ideas to store, manage and help you process them into actionable to-do items.

What I really love about OmniFocus is its ability to not only manage projects and next actions, but to truly organize those things with folders, due dates and integration with a calendar application.

Evernote – The application with the “never forget” elephant logo, makes it easy to remember things big and small from your everyday life using your computer, phone, tablet and the web.

I use Evernote for collaboration with others at ITS, as well as personally for storage of documents that I can easily reference on any of my devices. While OmniFocus is great for defining projects and next actions, it’s not meant to be a storage database for the support materials that accompany the projects you have on your plate. Evernote is perfect for this.

Calendar – For me this is iCal on my Mac, but I’m growing more and more dissatisfied with the new iOS7 version of it, that I’m looking for a replacement. I do like how it syncs with all my devices though.

Having a calendar is important for date specific items, things that have to be done on that specific date. If what goes on your calendar is treated as law, you’ll force yourself to not put anything on there that won’t get done. This can also be reminders you need on a specific date. I like iCal because it has pop-up reminders that force me to look at them and I can set as many of them as I want at whatever intervals I want. Sometimes I need a little more prodding or advance notice something is coming up.

Dropbox – Put your stuff in Dropbox and get to it from your computers, phones, or tablets. Edit docs, automatically add photos and access videos from anywhere.

I live on a computer and online, keeping all my documents organized is very important to me as well. I can’t stand a cluttered desktop and everything has a place on my computer, just as it does in the physical world. I use a combination of folders and Dropbox to make this work. Dropbox is great because it keeps documents in sync across multiple devices. While Evernote does this as well, Dropbox is specifically geared towards storage and I have a lot of it. My photos, documents, videos and more, amass quite a library and I need a way to access it anywhere and on any device. This is where Dropbox comes in.

Mailbox – Email isn’t going anywhere, why should you let it control your life? Mailbox is an app for iOS that enables you to quickly swipe messages to your archive or trash. Scan an entire conversation at once with chat-like organization or snooze emails until later with the tap of a button.

Using Mailbox has been revolutionary for me. While it’s still only available for iOS and Gmail, the revolutionary design of “snoozing” an email or getting it out of your inbox until a later time that you designate is amazing. Not every email needs to be responded to immediately and re-scheduling when emails reenter my inbox helps me keep it clear and stay on top of my correspondence. Until Mailbox came along I could have hundreds of emails in my inbox at once.

Thanks to Mailbox (and better time management) I’ve been able to respond to what I need to and stagger things that I can get back to a bit later. I’ve also been proud to have never declared email bankruptcy, the thought makes me cringe! A tip of mine is to not use your email inbox as a to-do list, if an email is actionable, make sure you put that action into a trusted system so you know that task will get done.

Physical World Application

Talking about how to stay organized digitally is great, but how does this all work with physical objects? The exact same way, until you find out “what” to do with something, it will continue to live where it’s at, taking up space and causing your brain to remind you. That stack of mail on the kitchen table, the chair in the corner that’s waiting on you to fix, all these things can be handled with the same GTD system mentioned above. That and a good file cabinet.

David Allen goes into detail on how to organize your file cabinet with a single A-Z index and a label maker. A label maker is something I can’t live without anymore, it’s about as OCD as you can get when it comes to physical organization. I’ll echo what Allen recommends, which is a top of the line file cabinet with an internal divider to help your file folder stand up (ditch the hanging folders.) Don’t skimp here and get a drawer system that’s cheap. You don’t want to be distracted by a squeaky drawer or one that eventually won’t close. After all the hard work you’ll do organizing your life, you don’t need an additional project to “replace file cabinet.”

Allen also recommends simply using manila file folders, by keeping a stack of them and a label maker at the ready, (all label makers aren’t created equal, the Brother Label Maker I’ve linked to is the best one I’ve found) you can quickly file things and get them out of your inbox. I’d also recommend buying reinforced tabbed file folders, they’ll last longer and look better after months of thumbing through your folders. While I didn’t really mention it above, the GTD system is all about getting “in” to “empty.”Getting your inbox processed and empty means that you’re deciding what to do with everything. Is is something that’s actionable? Are you waiting for someone else to move it along? Is it trash? Asking yourself important questions about just what “it” is, will allow you to get moving on what to do with it.

Allen also has a fairly unique system using an additional 43 folders to bring physical documents to your attention on specific days. Basically utilizing the same functionality your calendar has, but with documents in folders. I won’t get into this in too much detail, but will say it’s a manual system and works if you have the patience to utilize it.

TiBolt-Main2-01

Something I’ll also mention about items that are physical in nature, is the trusty pen and paper. Fancy apps are great and I utilize them heavily, but as simple as it is to add something to a digital “inbox,” there’s always a time and place for a good pen and notebook. I personally favor Field Notes, as I can put one into a back pocket or cargo pocket and always have paper on me. (FYI, the pen above is a TiBolt, which I reviewed here)

While I need to go back later and process the information I write down, it’s not always easy to use a phone to take notes, nor is it always courteous. I take being courteous very seriously and haven’t used a ringtone on my phone in years, it’s always set to vibrate. With smartphones being in peoples hands almost constantly these days, it’s often relaxing to me to write things down that pop into my head and feel safe in knowing I’ll go back and process them later. Plus, not having a smartphone in your hand helps with situational awareness.

Avoiding Clutter

Hopefully you’ve read a few things in this article you can start looking into that will help you avoid clutter, organize your life and lead you down a path to a healthier life. Clutter kills; those things we let sit, whether they’re digital or physical, are pulling at us whether we realize it or not. It’s time to take control of your stuff and what to do about it. Strive to become an organizational ninja and start working at a higher level of productivity!

What are your tips for avoiding clutter and dealing with all the to-do’s that come up in your life? I’d love to hear what solutions you have.

Posted in Mindset | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Beat The Clock: Most Burglaries Take Place in Minutes

Posted on November 14, 2013 by Kevin Raposo

Break In

What can you do in eight minutes? Check your e-mail, make a quick lunch, run to the store? Eight minutes doesn’t give law abiding citizens the opportunity to achieve much—but that’s all the time a burglar needs to ransack your property. Many burglars have said that it takes only 8-12 minutes to get in and out of a home.

That’s quick! But a burglary needs to be fast and the longer the crook stays inside your house, the greater the chances of being caught. So the experienced burglar develops a process that’s swift, efficient and very professional.

The tips in this article will help you to slow the burglar down—but before you read on, set your watch to synchronize with the break-in clock. By the time you’ve finished, the thief has loaded his truck and moved on to the next victim.

The Break-in Clock

1-2 Minutes

Once the burglar has gained access to your property, they’ll generally follow a set search pattern, providing a burglar alarm hasn’t sounded. First stop is the master bedroom, where most of the cash, jewelry and other valuables are likely to be found.

Homeowners still make common mistakes, leaving valuable items in obvious places such as drawers, dressers, bedside tables, or under the bed. Reformed burglar Richard Taylor gave an excellent insight into a thief’s mind when he revealed that 34% of criminals expect loot to be stashed in bedroom drawers.

Keeping a safe is your best deterrent, as burglars are working on such a tight schedule they just won’t have time to break into it. Just remember to bolt it down or that safe will go missing too!

3-4 Minutes

The bathroom is the next target, as the burglar targets prescription narcotics which could fetch a high price on the black market. Your medicine cabinet is an obvious place to look, so think about an alternative location for your prescription drugs, preferably hidden from view.

Under the sink or behind the toilet are two options to help throw a burglar off. Remember, the thief is likely to spend two minutes in here as a maximum so any delay should see them moving on to the next room.

5-6 Minutes

The thief is now running out of time, so the next stop could be the living room, the kitchen, or the family room. As they near the end of their brief but comprehensive spree, your burglar is now looking for high ticket items like laptops, iPods, digital cameras and tablets so don’t leave them lying around and in plain sight. Fit interior locks on doors leading to rooms where your electronics are usually kept. At this stage, the criminal is rushing to get the job done and extra security will frustrate and throw them off the trail.

Thieves can also target your personal information, so always switch your PCs and laptops off when they’re no longer in use. Always keep your devices password-protected and, if possible, look to store vital files on sites that are hard for thieves to access, such as Dropbox – an online data cloud storage portal.

To keep passwords and other sensitive information safe, try 1Password, a password generation and encryption software.

7-8 Minutes

The heist is almost complete and at this point, your burglar will usually call a colleague to meet them near your house to help load all your stuff into a car or van. Once safely on board, they’ll drive away to the next target and continue their never-ending cycle of crime.

If you’d rather not be involved in the first place, there are always ways to turn a burglar away at the door. Thieves are looking for a quick and simple theft, so any delays or deterrents are likely to steer them away from your property and switch their attention to an alternative target. An effective security system is the first step—if the thief can see you have equipment installed, they’re almost certain to pass you by.

You can also leave the TV or stereo on while you are out as this will give the impression that someone is at home. In addition, most burglars admit that they will not enter a property if a large dog is present.

Every house can be vulnerable to theft—once homeowners accept that fact, they can take a number of steps to protect against burglary and avoid becoming another crime statistic. Use the tips outlined in this article on ITS to help keep your valuables safe and to give you that important peace of mind while you’re away from home.

What could you do in eight minutes?

Editor-in-Chief’s Note: Please join us in welcoming Kevin Raposo of SimpliSafe as a contributor on ITS Tactical. Kevin writes about issues relating to home security, crime and safety. When not writing on security topics, he spends time with friends and family, as well as enjoying the occasional hike.

Posted in Physical Security | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

How to Become a Morse Code Expert

Posted on November 13, 2013 by ITS Guest Contributor

Morse Code

Before cell phones even before telephones, people communicated through Morse code. Despite being a technology that is over 160 years old, it’s still used today among amateur radio users and on some ships. If you were in Boy Scouts, you might have messed around with Morse code or maybe you had a grandpa who used it on his ham radio. While you might not find any particular use for Morse code in your daily life, learning Morse is a fun and engaging hobby you can share with gramps and an interesting man skill to possess.

The History of Morse Code

Morse code was invented by Samuel F. B. Morse in the 1830s. He began work on the electric telegraph in 1832, developed a practical system in 1844, and patented his technology in 1849. The code that Morse developed for use with his system went through a few transformations before arriving at the code we’re familiar with today. Initially, Morse code only transmitted numbers. The transmission’s receiver would then have to use a dictionary to translate the numbers into words. But that proved to be tedious. Soon the code was expanded to include letters and even punctuation.

In 1844, Morse appeared before Congress to show off his little machine. The first public message was transmitted on May 24, 1844. It was “What God hath wrought.”

The original telegraph system had an apparatus on the receiving end that spat out a string of paper with indentations on it. Short indentations were called “dots” and the longer ones “dashes.” As telegraph users became more proficient with the code, they soon dispensed with the paper tape and deciphered code by year. Self made tycoon Andrew Carnegie worked as a telegraph operator as a boy. He set himself apart by learning to decipher Morse code by ear.

Ten years after the first telegraph line opened in 1844, over 23,000 miles of line crossed the country. The telegraph and Morse code had a profound effect on the development of the American West. Railroad companies used it to communicate between their stations and telegraph companies began to pop up everywhere, shortening the amount of time needed to communicate across the country.

During this period, European countries had developed their own system of Morse code. The code used in America was called American Morse code or often Railroad Morse code. The code used in Europe was called Continental Morse code.

In the 1890′s radio communication was invented and Morse code was used for transmitting messages at sea. As radio frequencies got longer and longer, international communication soon became possible and a need for an international standard code developed. In 1912, the International Morse code was adopted for all international communication. However, many railroads and telegraph companies continued using Railroad Morse code because it could be sent faster. Today, American Morse code is nearly extinct. A few amateur radio users and Civil War re-enactors still keep it alive.

Morse code became extremely important in maritime shipping and aviation. Pilots were required to know how to communicate using Morse code up until the 1990s.

Today Morse code is primarily used among amateur radio users. In fact, up until 2007, if you wanted to get your amateur radio license in America, you had to pass a Morse code proficiency test.

Learning Morse Code

Morse CodeLearning Morse code is like learning any language. You have to practice, practice, practice. We’ve brought together some resources to help you get started on the path to becoming a master telegraph operator. Who knows? Maybe you can start your own telegraph shop.

Get familiar with the code. The first thing you’ll need to do is get familiar with what the alphabet looks like in Morse code. To the right is the International Morse code alphabet. Print it off, carry it around with you, and study it during your free time.

Click here to view and save the image.

For our Steampunk and Civil War re-enactor friends, we’ve also included the American Rail Road Code.

Start listening to Morse code. You’re going to have to actually listen to Morse code if you ever want to learn it. Head over to learnmorsecode.com and download some MP3s of some code. Listen to it and see if you can decipher any letters.

Use this nifty chart. Print off this dichotomic search tree to help you decipher code. Start off where it says “start.” Every time you hear a dit (or short sound) you move down and to the left. Every time you hear a dah (or long sound) you move down and to the right. Learnmorsecode.com has a dichotomic chart as well, except it’s the reverse of this one. (You go left on dah, right on dit). Use whichever one is comfortable for you.

Practice with this app. This is keen-o-reeno online app that lets you input any text and it will play it back in Morse code. Practice with it for 10 minutes a day and you’ll be well on your way to becoming a Morse code wiz.

There are also a number of mobile apps in the iTunes App Store and Google Play store for iOS and Android devices. Be sure to read their reviews before purchasing.

Tips to Make Morse Code Memorization Easier

Count the number characters. Knowing the number of characters in each letter can help you narrow down your possibilities when you receive a message.

T, E = 1 character each

A, I, M,N = 2 characters

D, G, K, O, R, S, U, W = 3 characters

B, C, F, H, J, L, P, Q, V, X, Y, Z = 4 characters each

Reverse letters. Some letters are the reverse of each other in Morse code. For example “a” is “._” while “n” is “_.”

Here are the rest of the letters that are the reverse of each other:

a & n   d & u   g & w   b & v   f & l   q & y

Do you have any experience with Morse code? Drop a line in the comment box and share with us.

Editor-in-Chief’s Note: This post was written by Brett McKay and originally ran on The Art of Manliness. The Art of Manliness is a fantastic website dedicated to uncovering the lost art of being a man. It features articles on helping men be better husbands, better fathers, and better men. Check them out and be sure to subscribe!

Posted in Comms, Tradecraft | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 24 Comments

Team Rubicon Responds to Philippines Typhoon Haiyan with Operation Seabird

Posted on November 12, 2013 by Bryan Black

Typhoon Haiyan Photo by Erik de Castro, via Creative Commons 01

With an immediate show of force, the veteran service organization Team Rubicon deployed a strike team to the Philippines yesterday. You read that right, on Veterans Day, 15 veteran volunteers selflessly boarded a plane bound for Tacloban to do what they can to help. When the Typhoon hit the Philippines on November 8th, the eastern city of Tacloban was the first hit with Haiyan’s 195 mph winds and sustained the worst damage.

Typhoon Haiyan 00

The damage was exacerbated by the fact that Tacloban is extremely low-lying at only a few feet at the most above sea level. The storm surge created by the Typhoon was estimated near 8 feet, which is considerably overhead of downtown elevation and many areas of Tacloban. It’s also estimated that over 10,000 have died as a result of the Typhoon and another 11 million have been affected, many left homeless.

Team Rubicon Operation Seabird 00

Team Rubicon’s first strike team has just touched down in Tacloban after a long journey that took them through Manila. The initial focus of Operation: Seabird will be search and rescue, patient extraction and medical triage supporting a field hospital stood up by Mammoth Medical Missions, whose staff have already conducted 55 surgeries. A second strike team has already been assembled at Team Rubicon HQ and will deploy for the Philippines today to establish a supply chain for the team in the field.

Those who are seeking loved ones in the Philippines are encouraged to utilize the Google Person Finder for Typhoon Haiyan as well as the Philippine Red Cross Tracing Form.

According to Philippine officials in Manila, Team Rubicon is the only confirmed official search and rescue organization in the area and we couldn’t be more proud to do what we can to help them out. In coordination with Team Rubicon, we overnighted multiple ETA Trauma Kits, Tourniquets and Microfiber Towels Friday with enough time to be packed up by their first strike team to deploy.

Please do what you can to help Team Rubicon by clicking here to donate directly to Operation: Seabird and also to those affected by the devastation in the Philippines. We’ll continue to provide additional resources and ways that you can help to this article, so please check back.

Philippines damage photo by Erik de Castro, via creative commons

Posted in News | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments