Hiding Out: The Real World Value of Hide and Seek as a Kid or an Adult

Posted on March 27, 2017 by The ITS Crew

In a small house on the outskirts of a bustling town, a hushed quiet permeates the structure. Barely a sound can be heard, apart from a child’s creeping footsteps as they swiftly move throughout the house, searching room by room. In the far bedroom, another child breathes as quietly as possible while lying completely still underneath a bed. After a few minutes of searching, the wandering child spots a foot sticking out from under a bed and exclaims, “I found you!”

Hide and Seek is a game most of us are familiar with and many of us have spent hours of our childhood quietly counting with our head in the corner, waiting for our chance to hunt down our friends. While this children’s game may just seem like your run of the mill boredom killer, Sir Robert Baden-Powell highlights the tactical values of the game in his book, My Adventures as a Spy. Today, we’ll be examining some strategies in Hide and Seek that transfer to real world skills, in both a Military and civilian context.

My Adventures As a Spy

We’ve highlighted Sir Robert Baden-Powell’s wonderful book My Adventures as a Spy before on ITS, so we won’t get into great detail on the whole book. It’s a quick read, but it contains an enormous amount of information that will definitely get you thinking. In addition to his great adventures as a soldier and a spy, Baden-Powell was also instrumental in The Scout Association of the United Kingdom, and credited with founding the Boy Scouts of America.

Throughout the book, Baden-Powell explains the actions undertaken by many spies and the art behind things like secret messages and hiding things in plain sight. One particular section of the book deals with the value of Hide and Seek, with Baden-Powell giving some real world examples of how playing the game as a boy was instrumental in his success as a spy.

Hide and Seek

The rules for the game vary slightly by region, but usually one person is designated as the “Seeker” while all other participants are designated as “Hiders.” Most often, some boundaries are defined, to let participants know where they’re not allowed to hide. The Seeker will then hide their face and begin counting, usually from one to two minutes. Once the count has been reached, the Seeker then sets about the area to find the Hiders.

One of the quickest lessons children will learn while playing the game is the value of hiding in places least likely to be checked. As mentioned in the example at the beginning of the article, a child that hides underneath something simple like a bed will usually be found the fastest. Finding areas that are off the beaten path, or seemingly hard to get to is usually a winning strategy, especially if there’s a time limit placed on the Seeker.

Another tip that Baden-Powell gives in his book is hiding above a person’s sightline. Humans will usually examine things at eye-level or lower, neglecting to check above them. In fact, this is such a widespread issue that many emergency response classes will spend a good deal of time teaching participants to scan an area in 360 degrees before proceeding with aid. Those responding to emergencies in the past have been so focused on providing aid that they only examined what was at their eye level and missed threats or additional dangers above or behind.

This creates a great cat and mouse effect

Many times in games of Hide and Seek, it’s not concealment that keeps you invisible, but the lack of any movement. By positioning yourself above someone’s sight light, slowing your breath and not moving, you can evade detection for long periods of time. A great example of a hiding spot for this technique is high up in a tree.

In addition to the many techniques learned when hiding from someone, some of the best lessons you can learn from Hide and Seek come by being the Seeker. A Seeker is at a natural disadvantage by the requirement to cover their eyes, however they can use the other senses available to them to get a rough idea of the location of the people hiding. For example, if the house the game is taking place in has stairs, the Seeker can listen for the sound of footsteps headed up or down to get a general idea of where to start their search.

Alternatively, as children play the game more and more, they’ll learn to conceal their movement from the Seeker or even offer diversionary sounds to trick them into heading into a certain area. This creates a great cat and mouse effect that encourages both sides to adapt and outsmart the other.

Practical Applications

In the Military world, children that grow up playing games like Hide and Seek will more easily grasp many of the fundamentals for things like reconnaissance and staying one step ahead of the enemy. The game fosters critical thinking and putting yourself in your enemy’s shoes. Many times, it’s tempting to find the most appealing spot to observe the enemy, but remember when the Seeker sets out to find you, they’ll look in the most likely place.

Most civilians don’t need to understand the fundamentals of a perfect recon operation, but can still benefit immensely from the principals of Hide and Seek. Hunting offers a great number of crossovers, blending the role of Hider and Seeker together to take down an animal. Techniques like remaining perfectly still and quiet offer a hunter the ability to have animals get much closer to them. Additionally, choosing a location above the sight line gives yet another advantage; this is a key reason why many hunters choose a tree stand over a ground-based hide sight.

So whether you’re raising the next Chuck Norris commando, or are just looking to give your child a lesson in concealment and detection, consider showing them the in and outs of Hide and Seek. In fact, we wouldn’t judge anyone that didn’t have kids just getting together with friends for a heated game.

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Handmade in the USA: The Last Wallet You’ll Ever Need

Posted on March 24, 2017 by The ITS Crew

Do you want to buy your next wallet or your last wallet?

Our new ITS Horween Leather Wallet is classic, timeless and built to outlast you. For this project, we wanted to make a perfect leather wallet the old fashioned way, with no high tech or fast-paced manufacturing. Continue reading →

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Jason McCarthy from GORUCK on Assault Packs – Gear Tasting 81

Posted on March 23, 2017 by The ITS Crew

What is an Assault Pack? On this episode of Gear Tasting, Jason McCarthy from GORUCK stopped by to help answer that question on our Questions Over Coffee segment. In addition to some great insight on what gear assaulters use, he offers his thoughts on why it’s hard to pin down a definition for assault packs.

Also in this episode, Bryan walks through all the trekking poles he uses out on the trail, including some new ones we recently received to evaluate.

In each episode of Gear Tasting, Imminent Threat Solutions Editor-in-Chief Bryan Black answers your gear-related questions and shares his insight into what we’re currently evaluating at ITS HQ.

For more on the gear we review, check out our GEARCOM category here on ITS.

To have your gear related question answered on an upcoming episode, tweet us using the poundtag #GearTasting on Twitter.

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Breathe It In: The Advantages of Closed Circuit Rebreather Diving

Posted on March 22, 2017 by Derek Gill

This article aims to answer a lot of questions and clarify some lost points and misconceptions about rebreather diving. You won’t be an SME (subject matter expert) by the time you’ve read this, or any other article on the topic, but you will have a clearer understanding of the sport. Let’s jump right in (moderate pun intended).

What’s a Rebreather?

There are so many infographics, presentations and slideshows on the matter of rebreathers. You can find much of your “How does the [insert CCR model here] function?” questions by visiting a popular search engine, but here’s the gist of it. Imagine you’re breathing into a super technical rubber-ish bag thing that doesn’t let any outside air in.

Two things need to happen for this process to be successful for any duration outside a few minutes. We need to replace metabolized oxygen and remove expired Carbon Dioxide. These are quite simple tasks, really. So as not to confuse anyone, we’re going to move through the two primary types of rebreather circuits in separate sections.

The Semi-Closed Circuit Rebreather – SCR (Nitrox Rebreather)

Ok, so you’re breathing on this bag and you feel your respiratory rate increasing. Your lips are tingling and you’re becoming confused. Either you’ve put spray paint inside the bag or you’re experiencing a “CO2 hit.” Should the oxygen level remain high enough to sustain life, you’ll pass out soon from hypercapnia.

This is the medical term given to an unsustainable level of carbon dioxide buildup in the bloodstream. To mitigate hypercapnia and your doubt-filled friends, you devise a plan to remove the carbon dioxide from the bag by creating a mesh-lined basket to hold some highly corrosive calcium-hydroxide. You then place it in line with the opening of the bag. It’s airtight around the edges, so the air must pass through this material. Great, no more pesky CO2 makes it back as the chemical trades CO2 for heat. That’s really nice; warm, moist gas.

So your CO2 “scrubber” is a success., but while showing it off to your friends, you simply pass out. What happened? Ah, the oxygen level has fallen below a sustainable level and you’ve lost consciousness. You’ve just killed some brain cells and some popularity thanks to “hypoxia.” Too little oxygen in the bloodstream caused your brain to shut everything down in order to preserve life.

However, you’re smart and you’ve got a plan for this oxygen problem. Thinking ahead, you add a vent to the bag so the air in the bag is expelled, should the pressure become too high. After all, if the bag is forcing back under pressure then you can’t hold it in your mouth. Then you take a bottle of Nitrox out of the garage and plug it into a fitting you’ve installed on the bag. After carefully calculating a gas flow rate on your regulator, you crank the valve wide open to hear a faint hiss. The gas is now flowing at a rate that will keep your oxygen level safe.

It’s important to remember that because the oxygen content is significantly lower than 100% O2, the flow rate must be higher than it would be on a fully-closed system. This increases hydrostatic loading against your lungs, but makes a back-mounted counterlung more enjoyable. We may discuss counterlung styles and other specific equipment in later articles, but for now just remember a counterlung is that bag we’ve been breathing in since the beginning of the article.

The SCR pumps Nitrox in to ensure you always have fresh gas in the loop. This can extend the usable duration of a standard aluminum 80Cf bottle by ~3.5 times, or allow you to carry a third of the gas for the same dive duration. Consumption rates don’t change with depth either, excluding diluent gas used to maintain ambient pressure in the loop. Two hours at the surface is two hours at 130 feet.

Drager LAR V Rebreather

Congratulations on building your first semi-closed circuit rebreather! Offering a special mention for the Dräger LAR-V and a few other O2 rebreathers, let’s discuss how this machine differs. Basically, it doesn’t. Simply decrease the gas flow and switch the Nitrox with 100% oxygen. The only catch is that you’re limited to 33 ft (10m) by the US Navy or 20 feet (7m) by recreational agencies. The “why” of this chaos comes later.

The Revered and Feared Closed-Circuit Rebreather – CCR

Many of the characteristics from the SCR carry into the CCR, so I’ll assume a good understanding of the information we’ve already covered. As you may have heard, the CCR uses 100% oxygen, as does the O2 rebreather. The major difference is that the CCR is not depth limited by the oxygen. The machine is depth limited by it’s diluent gas.

Here’s how this works; imagine that bag you built in the last section. You’re not a fan of being depth-limited by the Nitrox mixture in your breathing loop, so you decide to change the reservation a little. The vent stays on the bag for good measure. Let’s add some oxygen sensors and connect them to a computer readout so we know what the theoretical oxygen content is at all times. This “theoretical” fraction of oxygen is called the Partial Pressure of Oxygen (PPO2). More on theory later.

Next, we replace the Nitrox bottle with pure oxygen and a “manual addition valve.” I personally use an electronic CCR, but the only difference is that the electronics handle gas addition for you.

For the sake of the explanation, we stick to manual. So you’re breathing in this bag with a perfect balance and adding oxygen manually as it falls below the PPO2 you’ve selected.

Sounds like you’ve got a rig that will run forever, but you need to figure out how to descend below 33 feet (10m) without raising the gas content above a safe level. You could go really really slowly and metabolize the O2 as you descend, but we also have to contend with Boyle’s Law. Oh and additionally, if the bag has crushed to nothing in just a few feet, then we can’t possibly breathe on it. It would be suicide and adding O2 would be suicide. What are we going to do?

Enter the diluent gas. Plain and simple, diluent gas is the gas we use to maintain ambient loop volume. It’s essentially a modified Open-Circuit regulator (you know, the piece you breathe on underwater when you have a big bottle on your back) that adds gas as the loop falls below safe/usable volume. This gas is in a separate bottle and regulator, typically mounted separately on the diver’s back.

There are other mounting options, but they’re beyond the scope of this particular article.

This gas can be anything you want it to be, but remember that this gas determines your depth limitations. This is a good place for HeliOx or Trimix if you’re diving deeper for longer durations or you can simply run Air Diluent if you’re above recreational limits.

Do I Need a Rebreather? WARNING: Extremely Subjective Content

Me, personally? Probably not. Honestly, you probably don’t either. The question is different for everyone and for each rig. SCR divers should be more common than they are and SCR manufacturers should stop making them so expensive and complicated. SCR is almost as simple as Open-Circuit, but with a few extra moving parts.

I still dive my Dräger Dolphin (SCR) on recreational dives because it’s so easy to use. The search for CE compliance on every piece of equipment has caused manufacturers to make rigs “safer” by also adding pre-dive failure points. I know many people that have to bring open-circuit gear with their new SCR models in the event they can’t pass pre-dive checklists. SCR is likely what you need if you’re asking the question.

Oh but Witch Doctor, you say, I want to go deeper, longer and further. Ok, get a CCR. Get lots of training, because there’s a lot of training to be done. If you need to explore and you need to go places that require a lot of resources, then you need a Closed-Circuit rig. Which one is up to you. I will say that the single thing that sold me on the CCR over anything else is the silence.

There’s so little noise that you can enter a tranquility you’ve never experienced before and can do it at any depth. I also don’t like feeling rushed. There’s virtually no “time” pressure on a dive under 200 minutes with my CCR machine. We check our gauges, but the pressure to get out of the water in an emergency isn’t there. If your loop is functioning the way it’s supposed to, then you have all the time in the world to solve problems.

Diving an SCR is easy, Dive/No Dive and troubleshooting is easy. No Problem? Continue Diving;. Yes Problem? Bailout to Open-Circuit. You’ll avoid more than 10 minutes of decompression diving with an SCR, so everything is simpler. Let’s look at the advantages and disadvantage of the CCR.

CCR Advantages vs. Disadvantages

Advantage: Dive duration is dramatically increased with very little gas. (I’m not telling you about theoretical scrubber limits in a public article.)

Disadvantage: You still have to carry enough bailout bottles on your person in case the CCR breaks down. This is subjective as some dive teams opt for a “team gas” model which limits the number of bottles necessary on a group dive. I personally don’t recognize team gas to be safe, but I know many that do.

This takes more time than any other skill to perfect.

Advantage: The fish think you’re just another fish. There are very little bubbles made with a CCR donned by an experienced diver. The atmosphere is tranquil and fluid. You can meld into the environment and become one with your surroundings.

Disadvantage: Task loading is astronomical. In the beginning of a CCR diving hobby, many people feel the desire to quit the course and move back to the simple ways of open-circuit.

Trust me, you will streamline the task loading that comes with managing multiple systems. This is why training agencies require so much time on the machine before they give you certification cards.

Advantage: Have you seen the price of helium? CCR divers can run HeliOx mixtures as opposed to Trimix in their diluent and bailout cylinders. Yes, it’s still going to cost me $400 to fill my decompression and bailout cylinders, but that’s per year, not per dive. We fill bottles and normally don’t use them until next year when we have to VIP the cylinders. That gas has to be dumped and refilled once per year. A CCR can pay for itself in two diving seasons on average. Makes that “rule of thirds” look a lot more reasonable.

Disadvantage: A friend of mine always says “Buoyancy on Open-Circuit is like performing surgery with a scalpel, but on CCR it’s like performing the same surgery with a 12lb. sledge hammer.” This takes more time than any other skill to perfect. Helium responds differently in your wing (like a buoyancy compensator in SCUBA) than air and the ability to hold your breath or exhale for buoyancy is gone. This will take some practice.

How Can I Select a Quality Instructor?

I know a guy that knows a guy that was certified by an instructor that had gone off the reservation. He was teaching dangerous and incorrect procedures under the guise of a renowned agency. I’ll leave it at that.

So how do you pick a good instructor? First, realize that being certified to certify still doesn’t mean you’re doing the right thing. Do your research and don’t just take the instructors word for it. What are they saying in the forums? Post the question to technical groups to see who gets the most positive response. Find out what their backgrounds are in life and certification. Don’t fall victim to a smooth talker, but work with people that have achieved and been recognized for amazing strides in diving. Most of the time, they have the same prices for their classes. Search their name online and see what kind of crazy things have been associated with their name as it relates to diving.

How Do I Select the Right Rebreather?

If you think you may want to dive beyond 130 ft (40 m) or stay longer than 120 minutes, then you should consider a CCR. There are ways to store the scrubber material for continued use and if the checklists are completed, you can dive with recreational boats all the time. Buying a Dräger Dolphin on eBay and having it inspected/serviced is a great choice if you don’t know what you want to do.

This is a massive investment for almost all of us. I don’t know anyone that doesn’t cringe at a $12,000 charge on their credit card or bank statement, so it’s important to justify these decisions. Request a demo day with a training agency or go to a diving show like DEMA to get hands on with all of the manufacturers and their equipment.

How do you know which CCR is right for you? Honestly, spend a year or two with the machine you thought would be the best option at the time. Grow to hate it, buy a new unit and crossover. You simply can’t know what you want before you get into it. The only alternative I know to this is to request and fulfill a demo day or a demo weekend with a training agency.

All popular rigs and styles should be represented so that you can make the best decision. In the meantime, go buy a backplate, wing and harness. Get it fitted and make it yours.

PPO2 Theory, As Promised

In closing, I want to discuss the “theoretical” oxygen content theory I mentioned earlier.; it’s quite simple, really. On the surface we have varying mixtures of oxygen. The ratio of oxygen to everything else is measured in percentage totaling 100. This is called the Fraction of Oxygen (FO2). The air we’re breathing is 21% oxygen so our FO2 is 21.

Pure oxygen has an FO2 of, you guessed it, 100. In fact, it can never be more than 100 since we are using a scale totaling 100%. In Nitrox class, we learned that a mixture of 32% was safe to 111 ft (33.8m). This number was determined by something they called “PPO2.” The PPO2 of 32% oxygen at 111 ft (33.8m) is 1.4. 1.6 is the maximum number that our instructors pitched because it basically limits oxygen toxicity to the respiratory system where anything over 2.0 tends to affect the brain and the central nervous system.

Basically, in a bottle of gas we have a fixed Fraction of Oxygen, (or any other gas, but don’t worry about that for now). As we descend, the Partial Pressure of Oxygen increases until it’s no longer safe to breathe. It’s at this point we level off for the remainder of our bottom time on the dive, paying close attention to our CNS exposure clock.

Here’s where things get interesting. The very best way I can explain PPO2 is as follows. This is a theoretical percentage of oxygen (or any other gas, but seriously stop worrying about that right now). At the surface, 100% oxygen has an FO2 of 100% and a PPO2 of 1.0. At 20 ft (7m) however, 100% oxygen still has an FO2 of 100%, but it has a PPO2 of 1.6. Move the decimal over and you have what we call the theoretical content.

Because of the way gasses absorb into tissues, it’s easiest to say, “At 20ft (7m) you are breathing 160% oxygen.” At 33 ft (10m), you’re breathing the equivalent of 200% Oxygen. The body is not good with the toxic effects of long-term exposure to oxygen, so we keep these theoretical limits pretty low when planning our dives.

How does a CCR handle this? Set points. We can choose a PPO2 for our dive and the machine will maintain it. Mine is a PPO2 of 1.1. The CCR changes the Fraction of Oxygen to accommodate the Partial Pressure of Oxygen where Open-Circuit maintains a fixed fraction and maxes out at your set Partial Pressure. This makes CCR machines safer and more effective during decompression stops.

Conclusion

Nothing about this is easy or simple, but it’s a lot of fun. A CCR diver can go so many different directions with their training and hobby that the possibilities are truly endless. You have to find a machine and a diving style that works best for you and you alone.

This is your diving journey and it’s your life to live and maintain. There are many resources available to those looking to move into the higher tiers of diving. When you get there, you’ll understand what everyone perceives as ego in the industry. Not everyone will agree with what I’ve said either, it’s simply the nature of the industry.

Editor-in-Chief’s Note: Please welcome Derek Gill as a contributor on ITS. Derek has been a Plank Owner here at ITS from the beginning and has an extensive background in healthcare, pharmaceutical research and technical diving. He’s been certified in SCUBA since 2000 and diving technical/CCR since 2010. He speaks several languages including Russian and Spanish as well as several computer languages. These combined skills have opened the door to more creative ventures in Network Security and Physical Security consulting. Derek is a veteran of the US Navy and a former Navy Corpsman who worked alongside the US Marine Corps. His military nickname, “Witch Doctor,” has stuck with him ever since and it can now be found across many internet forums where he takes pride in trolling sensational zealots from multiple industries.

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Packs with Jason from GORUCK – Gear Tasting Radio Episode 07

Posted on March 21, 2017 by The ITS Crew

What’s the best type of pack to buy? Not only is this a loaded question, it’s something people will almost never agree on. No matter what you’re preference in packs, there’s no hiding that one of our favorite pack manufacturers is GORUCK.

On this episode of Gear Tasting Radio, Bryan and Rob sit down with Jason McCarthy, Founder of GORUCK and discuss all things packs. Beginning with his journey into starting GORUCK, Jason shared his philosophy behind gear design and what goes into making a GORUCK pack.

Episode 07 – Packs with Jason from GORUCK


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In each episode of Gear Tasting Radio, we offer an in-depth look into the usage and philosophy behind the equipment in our lives.

For more on the gear we review, check out our GEARCOM category here on ITS.

To have your gear related question answered on an upcoming episode, tweet us using the poundtag #GearTasting on Twitter.

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Suppressing Demons: Finding the Balance Between Confidence and Arrogance

Posted on March 20, 2017 by Nick H.

Have you ever felt like your life is walking a tightrope between insecurity and arrogance? One day you wake up feeling on top of the world, like nothing can stand in your way. If you quit your job, you’d have it replaced by the end of the day. If you wanted to be the President of the United States, it could be accomplished with a single tweet.

Then the next day, you wake up and wonder how you’ve been able to “Forrest Gump” your way this far through life. Surely, it was some lucky mistake and the bottom is about to drop out. You know that you aren’t good enough for anything that you have and you don’t deserve the love of anyone who would give it.

If this daily pendulum shift description sounds familiar, guess what, you’re not alone. We’re such fickle beings and our mental state shifts like a blade of grass blown by the wind. One minute, we view ourselves with too much esteem and the next with too little. Finding that balance is one of the most challenging things a person can do. In this article, I’ll be discussing how to identify when you’re on one side of the dial or the other, as well as a couple methods for pulling yourself back to center.

The Scale

Imagine an old fashioned scale, balanced at the middle with two suspended bowls to place items in. Something that the English would have used on a ship in the 18th century, you get it. If an item is placed on each end, the heavier object will lower to the max flex of the scale providing immediate feedback. Now imagine that one side represents our mental state when we’re depressed, down on ourselves and functioning with a low self-esteem. The other represents when we’re overconfident, blissfully ignorant and our ego is running amuck.

If you wake up from a bad dream where someone you trust disappointed you, or your boss was telling you how worthless you are, then you might find yourself immediately on the low end of the spectrum. Your scale is tipping too far in the negative direction. The same is true for the person who gets a big bonus with a promotion and is snapping their fingers singing Frank Sinatra’s, “I’ve Got the World On a String,” on his way out of the office and to a bar with an attractive co-worker, instead of going home to his family.

This person’s scale may be tipping too far in a direction that will prove painful when it snaps back the other direction. Simply knowing where you exist on that scale currently will give you the edge moving forward.

The Low End

Believe me, I’ve been down in the dumps. When I was contracting in Afghanistan, I injured my back and had to get a spinal fusion surgery. This meant that I’d need to find a new career and endure a great amount of pain through recovery. During that year, I experienced some major lows. It was very challenging financially and I gained weight from having to lie down all the time. As I watched my bank account lower and my fat content rise, I felt like a loser.

I’ve never felt such a strange brew of emotions.

The classic demon from the old cartoons showed up on my shoulder and started whispering harsh words in my mind. “You’re the shell of a man that you once were,” the demon would say.

Adding to my stress was the fact that my wife was pregnant with our third child and babies aren’t cheap. While we’d been living in our RV and traveling the country, with the pregnancy and new baby coming, we had to get a home. Obviously, I couldn’t afford it and for some time I had no idea what to do. “What a loser,” the demon growled.

Around this time, a good friend of mine offered me an opportunity to come live in his company apartment in exchange for working as a project manager for his specialty construction company. This was a great thing for my family, “Charity Case,” although it meant that I’d be working through the painful recovery process. “Wussy.” At least I would be off the couch. “Still fat.”

We got settled in and I really enjoyed working with my friend. It was a great office environment and we took regular breaks to throw the football, which is my favorite thing to do. My wife had a decent pregnancy and in the spring we were met with a beautiful baby girl.

While this was all great, I didn’t feel well at all. I was lethargic and tired all the time. I knew it was bigger than my surgery recovery, so I went to the doctor to get tested for low testosterone.

While I was there, I did a CBC blood test and the results were less than encouraging. My blood platelet level was 969, with the normal range being less than 200. I remember seeing my newborn baby’s face in my mind’s eye as the doctor told me that I might have leukemia.

The next couple months were a nightmare and I’ve never felt such a strange brew of emotions.

My life had gone downhill so quickly that I wasn’t prepared for what I was experiencing and the demon bellowed with laughter. Despite the bad news, I was committed to staying positive, “You deserve death,” praying to God for strength, “He’s abandoned you,” and trying to shine what little light on this world that I could.

That’s when things began to change. I was at a golf tournament helping my brother from the Teams with his non-profit, the SEAL Future Fund, when I met another Team Guy, Morgan Luttrell. He told me I didn’t look so great and asked me if I could use some help. He offered to send me to a clinic in Florida where they take athletes after bad injuries and get them back on the field. They had a tactical athlete program as well and he said I was the perfect candidate. It gave me something that had been absent from my life for some time, hope. I’m not sure why, but the demon didn’t show up on that one.

A little while later, about 2 months after hearing the bad news from the doctor, I got a bone marrow biopsy and it showed that I did not have leukemia. Instead, it was my body reacting negatively to major surgery; a condition to be mindful of moving forward, but not life threatening. A couple months later, I was at the clinic in Florida and for the first time in a year I was able to touch my toes.

Don’t take life too seriously,

That was one year ago. Right now, I’m sitting in a large house, doing what I love to do, feeling great and training for a marathon. The demon still shows up from time to time, but his voice is beginning to carry a little less weight. The reason I shared that story is to pass along the lessons I learned from when the scale tips to far in one direction.

The lessons are as follows. The demon isn’t your friend! You’re not the voices in your head, they’re just trying to have a say. Know when to listen and when to hit the block button.

We’re all going to die. This life is short and it doesn’t owe us anything. This is part of what makes life beautiful. Enjoy the people who love you, play with your kids, call your friends and tell them how much they mean to you. Have sex with your wife, I mean, hug your wife. Find God and hold on tight.

Don’t take life too seriously, you’ll never get out alive. A little bit of levity goes a long way. I know for a fact I can laugh my way through anything. It’s hard to illustrate how powerful a dynamic this is. The harder things get, the funnier they can become.

Take everything one step at a time. We’ve all heard the saying, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” You have to make the bigger things in your life more manageable by setting smaller, more attainable benchmarks. I may not know what’s outside, but I can find the front door.

The High End

While the low end is terrible, the high end can be equally perilous. It causes us to be reckless and to rely on getting lucky. The greeks call it hubris, the belief that your greatest strength will eventually be your undoing. Remember when Achilles’ mother dipped her half-god son in the river Styx? It was said to have great power to protect him.

Unfortunately, she was holding him by the ankle, which left that small area as the only chink in his armor. Achilles believed he was next to immortal and forgot his weakness until he was struck by an arrow from the bow of a much lesser man. This is a cautionary tale for the high end of the scale. When we forget our weaknesses and shortcomings entirely, we’re left vulnerable.

I can look back at my life and see how every time I got a little cocky, the universe had a way of smacking me back down to size. When I was in SEAL training about 14 years ago, I asked my wife to marry me. We planned our wedding to take place only a week after I’d graduate training. Yup, I got cocky.

On the last timed evolution in BUD/s, I failed a 2 mile ocean swim by 10 seconds. Since I’d historically struggled with swimming, this was my last fail. I ended up getting rolled back into another class and missing the graduation date that my wedding and honeymoon was dependent on. Instead of the stress free wedding of our dreams, I had to fly out after training ended on a Friday, get married in Texas and fly back through the night; only to meet the members of Class 255 for land navigation in the mountains of Southern California. What a honeymoon it was!

So Where Does Confidence Turn to Arrogance?

This is a fine line. We all want to be confident in everything we do and we should want that. However, when that confidence goes too far, we find ourselves too arrogant to know we’re staring hubris in the eyes.

Pride comes before destruction and an arrogant spirit before a fall.

We need a simple way of measuring which side of that line we’re on, because self awareness is our best bet at staying balanced. When you find yourself tipping to the high end, just tell yourself the following:

Confidence is knowing that you’re up to the task. Arrogance is thinking that you’re above it.

If you’re killing it at work and are finally getting the recognition you deserve, but start thinking you’re too important to take out the trash, be careful, your scale is tipping.

Remember, arrogance is the high end of the scale and confidence is the balance. You can achieve confidence through proper training, exposure and knowing your strengths and weaknesses. Arrogance comes when you deny those things, thinking that you’re somehow exempt from the rules of this world.

Don’t forget the ancient proverb, “Pride comes before destruction and an arrogant spirit before a fall.”

Join me in the effort to first identify what end of the scale we’re operating on and taking the necessary efforts to either remove the weight on the low end, by not being so hard on ourselves, or from the high end by remembering where we came from and where we want to be. Let’s do our best to work for the confidence that comes with achieving a more balanced life. One day at a time.

Editor-in-Chief’s Note: Nick recently left the Navy after serving for 10 years as a Navy SEAL with multiple deployments, having been awarded the Bronze Star for operations in austere environments. Nick’s been with us since the beginning here at ITS as a Features Writer.

Posted in Mindset | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Forget About Green, Score a Blue Bear Morale Patch with Any Factory Seconds Purchase

Posted on March 17, 2017 by The ITS Crew

Here at ITS, Blue Bear has the best intentions and loves to “help” out even if it’s not needed. But bless his heart, he does nothing but help make things worse.

We’ve dubbed our factory seconds, Blue Bear Approved and discounted them just enough to compensate for anything he’s managed to put his paws on. You’ll more than likely never even notice his personal touch, but nevertheless, it was enough to fail our rigorous QC process.

Our latest round of Blue Bear Approved products has hit the store and each item comes with an official Blue Bear Morale Patch to remember him by, which we can neither confirm nor deny will summon his help.

Blue Bear Approved ITS Nylon Zip Bags

Built right here in Texas, our ITS Nylon Zip Bags represent our take on the classic zippered pouch. Featuring sewn webbing handles on each side, these not only facilitate easy retrieval from a bag, but also enable a fixed grip-point to aid in opening and closing the zipper.

Get your ITS Nylon Zip Bag in the ITS Store!

Blue Bear Approved ITS Holster Inserts

The ITS Holster Insert was designed for our Discreet Messenger Bag and features a redesigned closure system that’s wider to mitigate any chances of interfering with your draw.

Click here to pick up your ITS Holster Insert in the ITS Store!

Blue Bear Approved ITS Tallboy ETA Trauma Kit Pouches

The ITS ETA Trauma Kit Pouch was born out of the necessity in developing both a pouch that could hold our Vacuum Sealed Tallboy ETA Trauma Kit, as well as the contents of the kit if the end user needs to break the seal, or wants faster access to individual components

Pick up the ITS Tallboy ETA Trauma Kit Pouch in the ITS Store!

Blue Bear Approved ITS Canvas Zip Bags

As with the Nylon Zip Bags, our ITS Canvas Zip Bags are built right here in Texas and represent our take on the classic zippered pouch. Made from Genuine Martexin Wax Canvas and featuring sewn webbing handles on each side, these not only facilitate easy retrieval from a bag, but also enable a fixed grip-point to aid in opening and closing the zipper.

Click here to pick up your ITS Canvas Zip Bags!

Blue Bear Approved ITS Fatboy ETA Trauma Kit Pouches

The ITS ETA Trauma Kit Pouch was born out of the necessity in developing both a pouch that could hold our Vacuum Sealed Fatboy ETA Trauma Kit, as well as the contents of the kit if the end user needs to break the seal, or wants faster access to individual components.

Get your ITS Fatboy ETA Trauma Kit Pouch in the ITS Store!

Blue Bear Approved ITS Memorial Bracelets

ITS has partnered with HeroBracelets to offer the ITS Memorial Bracelets, to honor all those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our country and our way of life.

Visit the ITS Store to get your ITS Memorial Bracelet.

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Making the Switch – Ridiculous Dialogue Episode 73

Posted on March 17, 2017 by The ITS Crew

Episode 73 – Making the Switch


When you’re 73 episodes into a podcast, subjects are bound to come up for a second time and for this episode, Bryan, Rob and Nick revisited their first concerts. They also discussed music and their evolving tastes throughout the years.

Increasing the nostalgia, the crew also dove into video games and Bryan told us about his recent adventure to purchase the Nintendo Switch. Try as we might to not discuss politics, we may have strayed into just a tiny bit of them in this episode, so fair warning.

Ridiculous Dialogue was created to share the banter that takes place at Imminent Threat Solutions on a daily basis. It’s us; candid, unedited and talking about everything from what movies we’re watching to the general geekiness that keeps us laughing here at ITS HQ.

While we generally keep the vibe in our articles PG rated, be warned, it may not be safe to blast over your speakers at work. We hope you enjoy the insight into ITS and who we are behind the scenes as a company; pull up a chair and tune in to Radio ITS.

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Live from ITS HQ – Gear Tasting 80

Posted on March 16, 2017 by The ITS Crew

Did you miss our live broadcast of Gear Tasting 80? Never fear, we’ve uploaded an HD version of the whole broadcast for you! On this special episode, Bryan showcases some new in-ear hearing protection from PremEAR. He also answers audience questions on night vision, favorite workouts and camo patterns.

We had a great time with this live episode and it definitely won’t be our last, so keep your eyes peeled for future live episode announcements!

In each episode of Gear Tasting, Imminent Threat Solutions Editor-in-Chief Bryan Black answers your gear-related questions and shares his insight into what we’re currently evaluating at ITS HQ.

For more on the gear we review, check out our GEARCOM category here on ITS.

To have your gear related question answered on an upcoming episode, tweet us using the poundtag #GearTasting on Twitter.

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Could Hackers Exploit Vulnerabilities and Disrupt the 911 Emergency System?

Posted on March 15, 2017 by The ITS Crew

When disaster strikes, who you gonna call? Most people in the United States are taught from a young age that 911 is the phone number to dial in the event of an emergency. In the normal process of events, your 911 call is routed to a dispatch center, where the call-taker can effectively dispatch the correct emergency service personnel.

However, what if that call-taker is unable to take your call? Today, we’ll be examining how the 911 system works and why recent developments could mean you’re unable to connect to the service.

A Nationwide Number

When telephones were first developed, all calls were operator assisted, requiring the caller to tell the operator the number they’d like to reach and then being connected via switchboard. During an emergency, the caller would simply explain the emergency to the operator and the operator would connect the call to the local police, fire or medical services location. This system required a free operator to connect the call and relied on the operator to connect the call to the correct facility.

In 1957, the National Association of Fire Chiefs recommended the development of a nationwide number for reporting fires. However, it wasn’t until 1967 that the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice recommended a nationwide number for reporting all emergencies. Finally, in 1968, 9-1-1 was agreed upon, after being selected by AT&T.

In what would become known as a public-safety answering point, dialing 911 would provide the caller access to police, fire or ambulance services. In recent years, Enhanced 911 services have been put into place to automatically provide the address of the caller to the dispatches. Using computer-aided dispatch and this enhanced information, dispatchers can more accurately and efficiently send emergency services to the area.

System Overload

In October of 2016, an Arizona teenager was arrested after he shared a link to an exploit to the iPhone operating system. In addition to other malicious activity, the exploit forced infected iPhones to repeatedly call 911 and hangup. The Maricopa Sherrif’s Office reported that they received over 100 hang-up calls within a matter of minutes. They also reported that this put their call center in danger of losing service to their switches.

In addition to the above incident, in September, researchers from Ben-Gurion University created a small experimental cellular network to test attacks on emergency services. Their tests concluded that just 6,000 infected smartphones could seriously disrupt services throughout a U.S. State. Nationwide, they estimate that only 200,000 infected phones would be needed to create a significant disruption throughout the entire United States.

Unfortunately, prevention of these kinds of attacks is difficult as the FCC dictates that mobile 911 calls be exempted from enhanced filtering. With a sophisticated enough attack, hackers could also generate audio along with the calls to make it even more difficult for call-takers to determine whether a call was legitimate or just automated.

What Can Be Done?

In short, not much. Due to the way the 911 system operates, placing any type of filters or screenings onto calls could mean that legitimate calls may not make it through. The Department of Homeland Security awarded the University of Houston with $2.6 million in 2015 to develop technology that could protect the emergency response system against these kinds of attacks.

The best preparation you can do for a loss of emergency services is have the tools on hand to better deal with emergencies. To be clear, we’re not advocating not dialing 911 in an emergency. Emergency services are one of our most valuable pieces of infrastructure and First Responders work tirelessly to better prepare themselves and their systems. However, during a natural disaster, planned attack or even hardware failure, the 911 system may not even be available to you.

Consider having tools on hand to deal with emergencies that may come up. Do you have working fire extinguishers in important areas of your home, office and vehicles? Do you have a trauma kit and the training necessary to stop things like massive bleeding from gunshot or puncture wounds? Is your firearm readily accessible and do you have necessary training to protect yourself and your loved ones?

The questions above are just a starting place when it comes to preparing for emergencies and just a small amount of planning can ensure that you’re ready to act if there’s no one on the other end of your 911 call.

Posted in Comms | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments