John Wayne
Member
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2007
- Messages
- 1,133
Don't go somewhere you normally wouldn't just because you are armed.
Everyday Safety Tips
- Thread starter jpruitt
- Start date
- Status
leadcounsel
member
Identity theft is a silent and growing crime. Shred or burn all sensitive mail and documents. Get a mailbox that has a slit and a key for access. Mail theft is a growing crime.
Stockpile: Food, water, batteries, flashlights, and batteries and medical supplies for energy shortages. $100 buys a lot of emergency supplies that can mean the difference in life and death.
A spare key on a lanyard in your bedroom is handy for throwing out to police if you call them to your house to investigate a home breakin. Barricade yourself in your room and throw the key to them out the window along with a premade map/layout of your house.
Eye-hooks screwed into a door frame, along with a length of steel/iron re-bar makes a GREAT door barricade and will buy minutes of time from someone trying to break in.
Inexpensive motion alarms placed in your home will alert you of home invaders, especially in basements, attics, unused rooms, etc. Also, consider those alarms that attach to windows and doors that screech when the magnetic seal is broken. These are really inexpensive and invaluable.
Never walk along the edge of parked cars in a lot. It is very easy to snatch someone walking along the edges of parked cars. Walk down the middle of the road.
If you need help, don't yell 'help.' Yell "FIRE." People respond to 'fire' more often than 'help.'
Always carry a charged phone, spare battery and charger. Always carry a flashlight, even if it's just a small LED keyfob. They are small, cheap, long lasting, and bright. Always carry 'something' you can use as a weapon; knife, gun, OC spray, kubaton, etc. Never surrender your weapon to a bad guy. Carry a dummy set of keys and wallet to turn over to a robber.
Know how to do simple car maintenance such as changing your tire.
Never accept rides from strangers or give strangers a lift.
I'm guilty of this, but have begun to break this pratice: Don't let door-to-door salesmen, magazine salesmen, or even people from craigslist or ebay into your home to make transactions. It is becoming a way that criminals case your home or even commit crimes on the spot.
Don't leave windows or doors open for fresh air, especially at night or when you are gone.
Pay attention to your surroundings when walking and driving particularly. Keep your head up, stay off the cell phone, and keep your ipod off until you are in a safe area (e.g. gym). Keep your car doors locked. Watch your mirrors when stopped at a stop light. Keep enough distance between your vehicle and the one in front so you can escape if needed. Watch your escape routes at all times.
Consider wearing stylish clear or tinted safety glasses everyday, but especially when shooting, driving, and using power tools or mowing the lawn. Eye injuries are very common and easily preventable. UV damage is very real.
Use ear protection when using machinery (lawn mower, power tools, shooting, etc.). Hearing damage is very real and easily preventable.
Wear your seatbelt in any seat in a vehicle.
Avoid driving at 'high traffic' accident hours, such as when the bars are letting out on weekends.
Cover your hand when entering your debit card pin number at the grocery store or ATM.
Eat healthy. Exercise daily. Stop smoking. Drink responsibly. Heart disease is a #1 killer of men. Obesity is a silent killer. We all spend copious amount of time practicing self-defense from criminals, but most of us don't spend enough time on our health - and the irony is that most of us will die sooner than we should because of poor health, not becuase of an armed criminal.
Don't leave a spare key outside your home. Criminals know where it will be hidden. Keep it with a trusted friend or neighbor.
Keep as much emergency cash as you can in a safe. Use a credit card for daily purchases (gas, groceries) keep the limit low and pay it off every month. Don't carry much cash. You are protected if it is lost or stolen. Use your credit card at gas station pumps so you don't have to go inside. You will safe money, time, and it's much safer to avoid going into gas stations because they get robbed with high frequency.
Always keep your gas tank full enough to drive at least a couple hundred miles at a moments notice.
Keep an emergency kit in your car including tow straps, non-perishable foods, handsaw, flashlight, ax, shovel, wire cutters, basic tools, and a good weapon.
Stay out of poor neighborhoods if you can.
Never take out money to give to a homeless person. You can easily get robbed or swindled.
Stockpile: Food, water, batteries, flashlights, and batteries and medical supplies for energy shortages. $100 buys a lot of emergency supplies that can mean the difference in life and death.
A spare key on a lanyard in your bedroom is handy for throwing out to police if you call them to your house to investigate a home breakin. Barricade yourself in your room and throw the key to them out the window along with a premade map/layout of your house.
Eye-hooks screwed into a door frame, along with a length of steel/iron re-bar makes a GREAT door barricade and will buy minutes of time from someone trying to break in.
Inexpensive motion alarms placed in your home will alert you of home invaders, especially in basements, attics, unused rooms, etc. Also, consider those alarms that attach to windows and doors that screech when the magnetic seal is broken. These are really inexpensive and invaluable.
Never walk along the edge of parked cars in a lot. It is very easy to snatch someone walking along the edges of parked cars. Walk down the middle of the road.
If you need help, don't yell 'help.' Yell "FIRE." People respond to 'fire' more often than 'help.'
Always carry a charged phone, spare battery and charger. Always carry a flashlight, even if it's just a small LED keyfob. They are small, cheap, long lasting, and bright. Always carry 'something' you can use as a weapon; knife, gun, OC spray, kubaton, etc. Never surrender your weapon to a bad guy. Carry a dummy set of keys and wallet to turn over to a robber.
Know how to do simple car maintenance such as changing your tire.
Never accept rides from strangers or give strangers a lift.
I'm guilty of this, but have begun to break this pratice: Don't let door-to-door salesmen, magazine salesmen, or even people from craigslist or ebay into your home to make transactions. It is becoming a way that criminals case your home or even commit crimes on the spot.
Don't leave windows or doors open for fresh air, especially at night or when you are gone.
Pay attention to your surroundings when walking and driving particularly. Keep your head up, stay off the cell phone, and keep your ipod off until you are in a safe area (e.g. gym). Keep your car doors locked. Watch your mirrors when stopped at a stop light. Keep enough distance between your vehicle and the one in front so you can escape if needed. Watch your escape routes at all times.
Consider wearing stylish clear or tinted safety glasses everyday, but especially when shooting, driving, and using power tools or mowing the lawn. Eye injuries are very common and easily preventable. UV damage is very real.
Use ear protection when using machinery (lawn mower, power tools, shooting, etc.). Hearing damage is very real and easily preventable.
Wear your seatbelt in any seat in a vehicle.
Avoid driving at 'high traffic' accident hours, such as when the bars are letting out on weekends.
Cover your hand when entering your debit card pin number at the grocery store or ATM.
Eat healthy. Exercise daily. Stop smoking. Drink responsibly. Heart disease is a #1 killer of men. Obesity is a silent killer. We all spend copious amount of time practicing self-defense from criminals, but most of us don't spend enough time on our health - and the irony is that most of us will die sooner than we should because of poor health, not becuase of an armed criminal.
Don't leave a spare key outside your home. Criminals know where it will be hidden. Keep it with a trusted friend or neighbor.
Keep as much emergency cash as you can in a safe. Use a credit card for daily purchases (gas, groceries) keep the limit low and pay it off every month. Don't carry much cash. You are protected if it is lost or stolen. Use your credit card at gas station pumps so you don't have to go inside. You will safe money, time, and it's much safer to avoid going into gas stations because they get robbed with high frequency.
Always keep your gas tank full enough to drive at least a couple hundred miles at a moments notice.
Keep an emergency kit in your car including tow straps, non-perishable foods, handsaw, flashlight, ax, shovel, wire cutters, basic tools, and a good weapon.
Stay out of poor neighborhoods if you can.
Never take out money to give to a homeless person. You can easily get robbed or swindled.
Welcome, Robo. You forgot to give everyone a safety tip.
Here are a few of mine:
Look twice, save a life - motorcycles are everywhere.
Find your keys before you go out to the parking lot.
Go inside if there's lightning.
Try not to marry a crazy person.
Here are a few of mine:
Look twice, save a life - motorcycles are everywhere.
Find your keys before you go out to the parking lot.
Go inside if there's lightning.
Try not to marry a crazy person.
In traffic:
The middle finger is ILLEGAL in the state of Texas. (Oh, yes it is).
Road rage is more of a threat to your safety than home invasions or hordes of zombies. If you really want to stay safe, keep your temper behind the wheel.
And if someone else is enraged at YOU, do not, DO NOT engage. Drive somewhere that he's not going to want to get out and start something....like the local precinct office or a fire station.
Your dignity, machismo, or self-esteem should not hinge on whether the person next to you succeeds in cutting you off or not. God created brakes on a car for a reason. Become acquainted with them.
Make it a point to let people into line. Smile and wave. You won't get where your going any later, and your blood pressure will thank you.
And....
for those of you with children...
remember that what you say and do when you're behind the wheel now is teaching THEM what to do a few short years from now when you've just given THEM the keys.
Springmom
The middle finger is ILLEGAL in the state of Texas. (Oh, yes it is).
Road rage is more of a threat to your safety than home invasions or hordes of zombies. If you really want to stay safe, keep your temper behind the wheel.
And if someone else is enraged at YOU, do not, DO NOT engage. Drive somewhere that he's not going to want to get out and start something....like the local precinct office or a fire station.
Your dignity, machismo, or self-esteem should not hinge on whether the person next to you succeeds in cutting you off or not. God created brakes on a car for a reason. Become acquainted with them.
Make it a point to let people into line. Smile and wave. You won't get where your going any later, and your blood pressure will thank you.
And....
for those of you with children...
remember that what you say and do when you're behind the wheel now is teaching THEM what to do a few short years from now when you've just given THEM the keys.
Springmom
Treo
member
ICE Entry On Your Cell Phone
EMS recomend that you put an entry on your phone labled ICE ( In Case of Emergency) listing NOK information.
Mine has my name NOK info blood type, allergy info and a list of my meds.
Mine
EMS recomend that you put an entry on your phone labled ICE ( In Case of Emergency) listing NOK information.
Mine has my name NOK info blood type, allergy info and a list of my meds.
Mine
Cesiumsponge
Member
Putting ICE information on a laminated business-card sized note with your license is probably more helpful and likely looked at before a cell phone. There are so many cell phone types and PINs and lockouts that there is no guarantee that the information can be accessed. This also assumes you have your phone on you at the time of the incident and it isn't damaged.
Treo
member
Since it's EMS that made the suggestion I assume that they will look at the phone. on my phone (which is locked) it comes up on the privacy screen, and I'm never W/out my phone.
That said, the card idea is a good idea too.
That said, the card idea is a good idea too.
FourNineFoxtrot
Member
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2007
- Messages
- 361
Avoid, when possible, wearing shoes you can't run in, or which leave your toes vulnerable. This is one reason I never wear sandals (also, I have ugly feet).
Most people, when walking, don't pay much attention to their surroundings. In fact, many people just look at the ground a few feet in front of them. "Victim" and "Oblivious" may not be synonymous... but there's a lot of overlap.
In addition to the above point, it bears thinking about that when it's raining, almost everyone walks with their head down, or hunched over, or otherwise with their eyes on the ground. Rain makes everyone withdraw into themselves a little bit; it's the enemy of alertness. Coincidentally, rain also masks nearby noises and movement. So, beware of rain; risk goes up, alertness (generally) goes down.
If you're about to go into an area/situation that you aren't sure about, take some precautions.
Here's an example that happened to me recently. I sold a portable air conditioner on Craigslist a while ago. A guy sent his (attractive, young) wife to meet with me, told me what kind of car she was driving, and that she would have $150 in cash! He did not ask for a description or vehicle make from me. We met at a fast food parking lot, around midday, which is possibly the only smart thing the guy did.
I asked a friend of mine whether this was a situation he would send his girlfriend into. His response was a rather profane negative.
If this guy had a brain in his head, what he should have done was get all the information he could from me, without telling me squat about his wife or her car. Personally, I would have just gone myself, instead of sending my wife (were I married): I had made it plain that my schedule was quite flexible, so barring laziness or physical handicap I can't think of a reason why he wouldn't just do this himself.
At any rate, she should probably also have made a "safe call", letting someone (probably the husband, unless he was about as worthless as I fear he was) know where she was and that she would be meeting with a strange man, who knew that she had a roll of cash money on her. She should have told this person that if she didn't call back in 20 minutes or so, to call the police. Also, she should have asked a friend to come along, if at all possible.
Sometimes, safety is simply having the good sense to be suspicious of your fellow man.
Most people, when walking, don't pay much attention to their surroundings. In fact, many people just look at the ground a few feet in front of them. "Victim" and "Oblivious" may not be synonymous... but there's a lot of overlap.
In addition to the above point, it bears thinking about that when it's raining, almost everyone walks with their head down, or hunched over, or otherwise with their eyes on the ground. Rain makes everyone withdraw into themselves a little bit; it's the enemy of alertness. Coincidentally, rain also masks nearby noises and movement. So, beware of rain; risk goes up, alertness (generally) goes down.
If you're about to go into an area/situation that you aren't sure about, take some precautions.
Here's an example that happened to me recently. I sold a portable air conditioner on Craigslist a while ago. A guy sent his (attractive, young) wife to meet with me, told me what kind of car she was driving, and that she would have $150 in cash! He did not ask for a description or vehicle make from me. We met at a fast food parking lot, around midday, which is possibly the only smart thing the guy did.
I asked a friend of mine whether this was a situation he would send his girlfriend into. His response was a rather profane negative.
If this guy had a brain in his head, what he should have done was get all the information he could from me, without telling me squat about his wife or her car. Personally, I would have just gone myself, instead of sending my wife (were I married): I had made it plain that my schedule was quite flexible, so barring laziness or physical handicap I can't think of a reason why he wouldn't just do this himself.
At any rate, she should probably also have made a "safe call", letting someone (probably the husband, unless he was about as worthless as I fear he was) know where she was and that she would be meeting with a strange man, who knew that she had a roll of cash money on her. She should have told this person that if she didn't call back in 20 minutes or so, to call the police. Also, she should have asked a friend to come along, if at all possible.
Sometimes, safety is simply having the good sense to be suspicious of your fellow man.
ICE is definitely a good idea, though, is it wrong that I giggle when I receive odd looks as "ICE Wife" shows up on my screen when she calls? lol
More POW (pearls of wisdom):
Make full use of surveillance cameras in parking garages etc. Though they do not cover every nook and cranny (great, now I want a Thomas' English Muffin), try to park in view of one whenever you can. If you are ever a victim of crime (theft, vandalism etc), the footage could be useful in establishing suspects and/or retrieval. Low probability I know but this is all about bettering odds. You may sacrifice some time searching for that space and you may have to walk further (hey, you sitting there not being thin, it's good for you)
but safety is an exercise in discipline and not something one should practice shortsightedly.
I also try to be mindful of vandalism to said parking garage cameras, blind-corner mirrors, locks, and so on. If they are broken, turned at odd angles, or all out missing, be aware that this can be a set up for future crime. If elevators have these mirrors, make full use of them. Also, be aware as you exit these elevators. This might not be practical for you if you have your hands full, but, I make a point to keep my arms folded loosely across my upper torso (picture The Thinker statue...trust me though I am clothed). Now, in my meager training in martial arts, this enables you to defend/block from a fairly benign looking stance that will not raise eyebrows (like doing a barrel roll parry out the elevator would) should you be taken from either side.
Another 'tip' I guess would be to always remember this terrific quote that another member used and I will never forget:
"A shark will usually bump its prey before an attack"- bumps can be verbal or physical behavior...think of crooks working in tandem i.e. lookouts, hand signals, verbal utterances made at higher volume (don't look back at him because his buddy walking toward you perfectly timed has just hit you with a sock full of rocks). Or whatever those crazy cats use these days.
and lastly...
Become acquainted with local gang tags, they are a harbinger of maleficence.
I like this thread. You all are giving me great ideas. Keep them coming.
More POW (pearls of wisdom):
Make full use of surveillance cameras in parking garages etc. Though they do not cover every nook and cranny (great, now I want a Thomas' English Muffin), try to park in view of one whenever you can. If you are ever a victim of crime (theft, vandalism etc), the footage could be useful in establishing suspects and/or retrieval. Low probability I know but this is all about bettering odds. You may sacrifice some time searching for that space and you may have to walk further (hey, you sitting there not being thin, it's good for you)
but safety is an exercise in discipline and not something one should practice shortsightedly.I also try to be mindful of vandalism to said parking garage cameras, blind-corner mirrors, locks, and so on. If they are broken, turned at odd angles, or all out missing, be aware that this can be a set up for future crime. If elevators have these mirrors, make full use of them. Also, be aware as you exit these elevators. This might not be practical for you if you have your hands full, but, I make a point to keep my arms folded loosely across my upper torso (picture The Thinker statue...trust me though I am clothed). Now, in my meager training in martial arts, this enables you to defend/block from a fairly benign looking stance that will not raise eyebrows (like doing a barrel roll parry out the elevator would) should you be taken from either side.
Another 'tip' I guess would be to always remember this terrific quote that another member used and I will never forget:
"A shark will usually bump its prey before an attack"- bumps can be verbal or physical behavior...think of crooks working in tandem i.e. lookouts, hand signals, verbal utterances made at higher volume (don't look back at him because his buddy walking toward you perfectly timed has just hit you with a sock full of rocks). Or whatever those crazy cats use these days.
and lastly...
Become acquainted with local gang tags, they are a harbinger of maleficence.
I like this thread. You all are giving me great ideas. Keep them coming.
rojocorsa
Member
Don't linger in parking lots at night. My uncle is a coffee shop owner in Tijuana, Mex, arguably the most dangerous Mexican city. We were robbed at gunpoint of our car because the criminals saw a very easy target (This happened in a strip mall. BTW Mexico has strict gun control laws and even common cartridges such as 9x19mm are considered "for the exclusive use of military personnel." I think you can only legally have pistols < than or = to .380 ACP in caliber. The only way you can legally have "proper" firearms is if you are a VIP or a cartel member). BMWs are apparently very hard to break into, but not when someone is inside with the windows down . The criminals got us at a very good time (for them). Fortunately no one was injured.
Mexico is a great example of the reality of gun control; we were robbed because we were disarmed but the criminals were not. Also, in Mexico, cartels are better armed than law enforcement. And sometimes law enforcement is bought off by cartels.
Technically, the only fair game for cartels is the Mexican army, or the very elite Mexican police units.
Mexico cannot become a first world country until it is not cleansed of corruption.
Mexico is a great example of the reality of gun control; we were robbed because we were disarmed but the criminals were not. Also, in Mexico, cartels are better armed than law enforcement. And sometimes law enforcement is bought off by cartels.
Technically, the only fair game for cartels is the Mexican army, or the very elite Mexican police units.
Mexico cannot become a first world country until it is not cleansed of corruption.
John Wayne
Member
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2007
- Messages
- 1,133
Maybe not an "everyday" tip, but be careful about using window-mounted AC units. A local store was recently broken into when the crooks pulled the AC unit out of the window and crawled through the hole.
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