What We Have Been Needing

[Good Ol' Boy]

I am prepared if not expecting to draw my firearm every day I leave the house. I'm not "hoping" to, just prepared to.

We live in a increasingly crazy world. To not prepare for unexpected crazy is just, crazy.

I live in the sticks where mostly there is nothing to worry about, but I work in the city where there is much to worry about.


I'm sure things are different for all folks.

 

[bdickens]

Some are conflating yellow and orange.

Some are also conflating the color codes and situational awareness.

 

[Zerodefect]

The idea of color codes, sit awareness, and being mindful of your surroundings, being different things, is kinda silly.

What technique do you wish to acheive?

"To have no technique."
-Bruce Lee

But it's a start. Once its unconscious nature, you won't have to sweat it, so much.

Trainers have to figure out ways, to put such things into words. Some times it comes out silly sounding.

 

[Anchorite]

I’m an OODA practitioner myself. Every. Single. Day.

 

[The Night Rider]

I’m an OODA practitioner myself. Every. Single. Day.

So is every other human being on the planet and most of the animals

 

[Kleanbore]

I have completed the material.

Now, I have been carrying for just under fourteen years. In the time following, I have taken classes, read books, watched videos of actual incidents, studied the outcomes of numerous actual appellate cases on the application of use of force law in different jurisdictions, and engaged in hundreds of relevant discussion threads here and on The Firing Line. The subject is not new to me.

But--I found this class extremely worthwhile, both as a refresher and for tying together the many diverse aspects of avoiding conflict and ambush and defending against it.

Did I learn anything new? Well, yeah. I had never even thought about using my smartphone as an already accessed defensive weapon already in my hand and immediately available for striking an assailant.

I strongly recommend the class.

 

[jeepnik]

Funny how folks just insist on reinventing the wheel for the purpose of making money. As others have eluded, Col. Cooper spelled it out very clearly and then wrote about it. It's pretty much available for free if one just bothers to read and pay heed.

 

[Kleanbore]

As others have eluded, Col. Cooper spelled it out very clearly and then wrote about it. It's pretty much available for free if one just bothers to read and pay heed.

What do you mean by "it" and "it's"?

 

[jeepnik]

What do you mean by "it" and "it's"?

Situational awareness and tactics. His whole idea was to avoid a gunfight.

 

[Kleanbore]

Situational awareness and tactics. His whole idea was to avoid a gunfight.

He defined situational awareness in terms of color codes. His subject was combat.

Pincus does discuss the concept of color codes--and he then tells why that is not the subject at hand.

The class covers a whole lot more than wha Cooper ever talked about. And it does not get into tactics.

 

[The Night Rider]

He defined situational awareness in terms of color codes. His subject was combat.

No he didn't.

I don't think he mentioned the word situational awareness one time in the video that Jeff White referenced

 

[Kleanbore]

I don't think he mentioned the word situational awareness one time in the video that Jeff White referenced

Right. Not in that video.

His idea of color codes, borrowed from the USMC, had to do with levels of alertness or awareness, and the terms were interchangeable.

Situational awareness involves much more than the level of alertness or awareness.

 

[Hangingrock]

This is not meant to be demeaning of Cooper. During WW2 he was not a participant in ground combat. He was the commanding officer of the Marine Detachment on the battleship USS Pennsylvania. He did do naval gunfire assessment as part of his duties. During the Korean War he was not a participant of ground combat in Korea either. Cooper developed is ideology from studying the subject. He had theories that he put into practice thru his teachings. I have seven books related to the subject Cooper's life experience. On the other hand I have only one book on Colonel Charles Askins (Unrepentant Sinner The Autobiography of Colonel Charles Askins) He was not shy about his experience in law enforcement and military experiences. Cooper was a teacher and Askins was a doer. .

 

[Kleanbore]

I did not take notes, so the following may lack some worthwhile points, but from memory, here are some of the important things that were covered:

• How people observe things and process their observations by noting what has changed or what seems out of the ordinary
• How people focus their attention, and how things that occur while people are concentrating on menus, electronic devices, etc. will escape notice, perhaps when it is too late
• How obviously watching someone can set off someone who may be predisposed to anger and cause a confrontation that otherwise would likely not have occurred
• The importance of early or preemptive deescalation, perhaps through apology, acceptance of complete blame, etc.
• How offering to assist someone can elicit an innocent explanation for what may have appeared to be suspicious behavior
• Ways of dealing with robbers, etc, including keeping perhaps $50 or more in a clip in a shirt pocket, and giving away all of it or peeling off what might suffice for a panhandler
• Points about where to carry a weapon, pepper spray, wallet, etc. so that starting to reach for it will be less likely to precipitate a violent response
• How a smart-phone already in one's hand can be used immediately as a defensive weapon that concentrates a lot of force in a small area
• The importance of decisively reacting to a threat after a predetermined line is crossed, and the importance of not wavering in that response once it is undertaken. That does not mean shooting if things change.

An old interview with the late dr. William Aprill is included. The discussion of the criminal mind is chilling.

The class is not about armed defense. As a matter of fact, Rob goes into the subject of staying safe in places in which one cannot have a firearm. He shares Greg Ellifiritz's ideas on that subject.

If I think of more I will add to this, but this post is no substitute for the class itself.

 

[fastbolt]

...
Did I learn anything new? Well, yeah. I had never even thought about using my smartphone as an already accessed defensive weapon already in my hand and immediately available for striking an assailant.

...

No martial arts background, perhaps?

If I'm holding it, or can grab it, it can be employed defensively as a weapon. I remember being taught to use pencils/pens for real-world use while being taught/trained using chopsticks. I carried thicker pens to substitute for the Yawara (because the Kubotan was so noticeable, and might put my keys at risk of being grabbed or lost).

The world isn't a safe place, but even moving about in our so-called civilized society, it's possible to learn to remain aware without tripping over the line into paranoid.

Pincus has been around for a while, so it's not surprising he might come up with a nice condensed curriculum dealing with this subject.

One of the issues is that learning to employ/apply knowledge can be a step that can elude us, unless we have some help. Even then, it can take time in actual practice to iron out things, which is where 'classroom' knowledge and experiential knowledge can hopefully meet and begin to merge.

I know that as a young cop, even while accruing a lot of training hours under my belt, it still took a while to figure out how to get things to work outside the training environment ... and that didn't really begin to gel until I acquired more time-in-service (application), letting it become more automatic and relaxed. When you don't have to work so hard at it, it becomes smoother and less distracting, too.

Glad you shared a bit of your experience with the class. Trying to find a way to help people learn how to begin to benefit from the lessons learned by a lot of other people, over years of experience, is a neat trick. Laudable. Hopefully useful.

 

[Kleanbore]

No martial arts background, perhaps?

None.

If I'm holding it, or can grab it, it can be employed defensively as a weapon.

Of course. But I have been accustomed to always trying to protect expensive electronics from scratches or impact.

I remember being taught to use pencils/pens for real-world use while being taught/trained using chopsticks

I carry a metal "tactical" pen in my shirt pocket. I find myself less apt to leave it somewhere than a regular pen. I am conscious of the risk of having it used on me.

 

[.38 Special]

Anyone who suggests hitting a violent attacker with a cell phone immediately gets moved to my "non-serious person" list.

 

[9x56MS]

Do you remember the old Pink Panther movies?

Inspector Cleseau would have Cato randomly attack him. That's how you learn situational awareness.




If you're not expecting a threat every time you walk out your door you haven't been paying attention to the news for the last year or so.

I'm not trying to say this to sound like a badass because I'm not but I live in the town that I used to work in.

Right after I retired there was two or three weeks where every single night there was a news report of a shooting or a robbery or a body found or a fight or a fire caused by a "homeless warming fire" and every single one of them was a place where I had a security check and about half of them occurred in the time frame that I would have been there.

There are very few places in my town that I can go where I don't have some kind of war story.

It does a pretty good job of keeping me on my toes

So you had on the job training

 

[fastbolt]

None.
Of course. But I have been accustomed to always trying to protect expensive electronics from scratches or impact.
I carry a metal "tactical" pen in my shirt pocket. I find myself less apt to leave it somewhere than a regular pen. I am conscious of the risk of having it used on me.

I put trying to protect gear, even electronic gear, in second place to protecting my skin.

While I enjoy collecting a few 'tactical pens' (as widgets of the current age of 'tactical accessories for gentlemen'), I don't carry them on my person. I prefer stealth, given the opportunity, and prefer to avoid relying upon them and risk them becoming a crutch.

I did, as a very young man and newly minted martial arts practitioner, carry a short length of lightweight dowel with me upon occasion. Back then it was a lot harder to find Yawara for sale, as they weren't common outside of some limited training supply stores. The Kubotan was too narrow, and it could become slippery, even with the token grooves.

The use of a pencil or pen, in lieu of chopsticks, means learning to acclimate the grip and manipulative techniques to the average pencil or pen barrel. Not an easy skill to acquire (despite the ice pick application ala John Wick), especially when utilized with an art like one of the Mantis styles. They can start to become looked upon as self-torture training devices during the early times.

Yep, there's always a risk of anything we may have ending taken and available to be used upon us ... including guns and knives. Most especially guns, since those are something that are most easily grasped and are simple to use (unless something about the design is unknown to someone just grabbing it and attempting to use it).

Remember the old Bic Pen commercial on TV, where the Bic is fired from the barrel of a .30-30 at an oak board, and the tip (having penetrated the board) is used to write BIC on a sheet of paper? That was one of my favorite commercials in the 60's, and it always came to mind when I was carrying my Bic pens at school.


Nowadays I prefer my pens to have metal barrels. I sometimes keep one of my sets of chopsticks available to let my fingers manipulate them while watching TV.

 

[Kleanbore]

Anyone who suggests hitting a violent attacker with a cell phone immediately gets moved to my "non-serious person" list.

Why?

The idea is to respond with it if you have it in your hand when you are grabbed. Do you have a better idea?

 

[.38 Special]

Several better ideas. One is to have - and know how to use - an actual weapon. Another is to learn a few simple unarmed defenses - an elbow, for example, is much more dangerous than a cell phone, and is always with you. And yet another is to simply give an attacker what he wants and hope that is enough.

Frankly, just about anything is better than whacking someone with a few ounces of plastic in the hopes of some miracle occurring. The far greater likelihood is that you'll just piss the guy off and make a bad situation worse.

 

[fastbolt]

Anyone who suggests hitting a violent attacker with a cell phone immediately gets moved to my "non-serious person" list.

A violent attacker?

Imagine the potential results of someone having a relatively narrow, but hard, edge of something a few inches long punched into their throat, or the pointed corner of it shoved against/into their eye, or the flat glass surface slammed into their nose (ahead of a palm being forcefully applied)? These are all blows that could serious injury, or perhaps even death, depending on the circumstances, the power behind the blows, etc. The level of force better be considered reasonable, necessary and excusable, though.

The use of a cellphone in self defense would likely catch most people by surprise, too, and that might be just enough to allow it to be effectively employed to save oneself from serious injury or death ... or to grab another ad hoc "weapon" within reach, or access one on your body. Having your hand already filled with a phone - and instantly using it - may offer a faster defensive response to an attack than trying to reach for something else. Like holding any number of things in your hand, comes to that.

In earlier days of police work, a cop holding a ticket book (especially if aluminum, with hard and sharp edges), or a 'clipboard' (ditto) - and obviously a flashlight - was already holding something in their hand that could be instantly employed in a defensive manner. The old 'brick' handheld radios could be formidable impact devices. The cute little lightweight clip-on radios in later years? At least useful as distraction devices.

 

[.38 Special]

A violent attacker?

Imagine the potential results of someone having a relatively narrow, but hard, edge of something a few inches long punched into their throat, or the pointed corner of it shoved against/into their eye, or the flat glass surface slammed into their nose (ahead of a palm being forcefully applied)? These are all blows that could serious injury, or perhaps even death, depending on the circumstances, the power behind the blows, etc. The level of force better be considered reasonable, necessary and excusable, though.

The use of a cellphone in self defense would likely catch most people by surprise, too, and that might be just enough to allow it to be effectively employed to save oneself from serious injury or death ... or to grab another ad hoc "weapon" within reach, or access one on your body. Having your hand already filled with a phone - and instantly using it - may offer a faster defensive response to an attack than trying to reach for something else. Like holding any number of things in your hand, comes to that.

In earlier days of police work, a cop holding a ticket book (especially if aluminum, with hard and sharp edges), or a 'clipboard' (ditto) - and obviously a flashlight - was already holding something in their hand that could be instantly employed in a defensive manner. The old 'brick' handheld radios could be formidable impact devices. The cute little lightweight clip-on radios in later years? At least useful as distraction devices.

Sorry, not buying it. A big aluminum clipboard, maybe. A D-cell Maglight, sure - assuming you're trained in that style of combat. But the idea that we're going to successfully - even lethally - counterattack a violent criminal with precise and powerful strikes of... a cell phone? It's magical thinking, and it should never take the place of actual training, actual weapons, or actual strategy.

 

[Kleanbore]

One is to have - and know how to use - an actual weapon.

That's great, if one can access it and use it timely and effectively.

Another is to learn a few simple unarmed defenses- -

Why would that be better?

an elbow, for example, is much more dangerous than a cell phone,

Probably not. The phone will provide much higher pounds per square inch of striking pressure, and it will not be injured.

And yet another is to simply give an attacker what he wants and hope that is enough.

If that will work, go for it, but we are speaking of self defense, not how to react to the demands of a robber.

Frankly, just about anything is better than whacking someone with a few ounces of plastic in the hopes of some miracle occurring.

An iPhone is made of aluminum, and an iPhone Pro is made of steel.

The far greater likelihood is that you'll just piss the guy off and make a bad situation worse.

Well, he would be unhappy, if his attack failed and his eye socket were fractured or his eye destroyed.

But the idea that we're going to successfully - even lethally - counterattack a violent criminal with precise and powerful strikes of... a cell phone?[/QUOTERob Pincus, from whom I first learned about this option, converses with many LEOs and defensive trainers. By the way, lethality is not the lawful objective.

It's magical thinking, and it should never take the place of actual training, actual weapons, or actual strategy.

It would not be my first choice, but neither would a ball point pen, which I would not hesitate to use if necessary. One strikes with the phone when it is already in hand and the gun cannot be drawn timely.

 

[.38 Special]

The argument that a cell phone can be used to fracture a skull and not even be damaged in the process is Jackie Chan-level silliness.