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    Default Tactical carry and the GO Bag - By abhm

    Tactical carry and the GO Bag - By abhm

    I am going to break this down to try and make it useful for the working professional, who has a bit more choice in terms of gear, industry fashion etc, and the serious civvy or professional who has to mingle and work in a more corporate type environment.

    Dressed for success in a tactical environment.

    One of the things I have noted on courses I have attended and presented is that almost everyone (myself as well in the beginning) pitch up on the first day kitted to the nines and beyond.

    I can remember one of my first serious tactical courses where I arrived dressed and kitted pretty much as follows:
    Boots, police issue canvas type
    Uniform field wear
    Belt kit, police issue leather holster, 3 mag pouches, torch and baton holder (back in the day of the big maglites), tear smoke canister (policeman with the red cap), tear smoke grenade, stun grenade, smoke grenade, knife (Swiss army pocket knife), 3 x R5 mags, Z88 and R5, body armour with plates and topped it off with the stupid cap!

    All of the above was packed onto my belt kit! (Note: I was young and dumb and had a much stronger lower back; I have learnt a bit since then!)



    After the first wake up, shake up morning jog I re-learnt a few lessons which had been taught to me in basic training, but which I had ignored by wanting to be, look and feel like the MAN! So generally, after the first day of the course, vests, bags and belt kit gets re-looked at and refined to encompass only the bare minimums; the 'nice-to-haves' and 'snivel gear' goes to 'only carry if you have to'!

    Yet after the course, once we have had a radox bath or two, our bodies, aided by the endorphin binge of the previous few weeks, revert back to packing on the kit again. The truth is you need to balance mission specific and generic carry and even in civvy life you need to apply the principles of planning before you walk out the door loaded for bear on a duck hunt!

    Footwear
    Stockings are not just for women, they really work on preventing chafing!! If you really don’t want to wear stockings, rather get the nut cruncher bicycle shorts!
    Socks are one of the most important parts of your tactical kit! Invest in good ones because hot and sore feet are going to get you faster than most other injuries. Falke is really great, under armour socks are not half bad and for the cold weather a pair of the big thick jobs are the bee’s proverbial’s!

    Second in importance is boots and believe me when I say this: your feet become your focal point when you stand a lot as they bear your entire bodyweight and if you don’t take care of them, they ain’t gonna take care of you. I have experimented with various types of footwear and have found two brands which suit me for tactical wear and one for CP work.
    - Original SWAT: both the boot and the shoe are great, lightweight, cool and comfy and at a pinch the SWAT shoe works in the CP role, especially during less formal events.
    - Converse’s desert pursuit boot was another inspirational find.
    - Hush Puppies or Bronx for CP work, but more on that later.

    I also tried out 511’s, Oakleys, Bates and various others and found they did not suit me. 511 and Oakleys are not good boots, as good boots last and every pair I got of both of these brands did not; maybe these manufacturers should stick to making either clothes or sunglasses, because they don’t make good boots! Bates lasted but I could never find a pair which were cool, as in temperature, enough!


    Communications
    There are three pillars of a fight: shoot, move and communicate. Communication is the one aspect which, should you get it wrong, nullifies the other aspects. You can still move in other aspects, you can cycle to secondary weapons or pick up another weapon, but if your communication is dead, it's dead and you... well, you are neck deep and digging! Oh, I am going to add navigation equipment to this little section as well, because you need to be able to communicate where you are for the help to get to you! Let me re-emphasize the importance of communication because if you skimp on this you might as well pack your bottle of “and shoulders” into your GO bag.

    So break down your communications into three basic segments:

    1 Communication backwards
    2 Communication laterally
    3 Communication downwards. (Confused? Don’t worry, more to follow!)

    Communication backwards:
    This is your communication back to base, civilization or home! I carry, depending on where I am and what I am doing, an Iridium sat phone and at least two mobiles – with the Blackberry I am upping that to 3. One phone will have a local number, one an international roaming one and the other my e-mail, etc. In seriously isolated areas, I add a B-Gan to that as well, but that is expensive. By the way, the internet is great for this as well, so get a Skype network up or similar I have a Soft phone. Wherever I can, I set my laptop up and, using either the 3G card or B-Gan, I can phone on VOIP (just be aware that in some countries this is against the law!) on that token, using car chargers for everything! A good idea is a solar charger for your laptop and the universal charger kit, which allows you to charge all your other phones from the laptop! On laptops: I use a Lenovo T60, but in the past I have used a Panasonic Toughbook and Toshiba, both of which held up really well!

    A friend was once in a chopper which made a hard landing on an out-of-the-way site and found that their only comms back was e-mail! We were able to direct help to them, thanks to their B Gan.

    Aside from the mobiles and sat phone, the rest of the back communications should be stored in your vehicle or inside your GO bag. Do not store it loose, but in the bag that you are going to grab should you ever need to exit that vehicle in a hurry. More on the go bag later, but this should be considered your double arms length kit! Another note: a Bluetooth headset for your primary mobile is really handy, just get one that’s comfortable and doesn’t hurt your ear.

    HF radio is great if you are on extended trips; if you are working in hostile environs then yes, it is important, but bear in mind it is technical and you need the support of a good radioman on your team. If you have HF, remember to equip ALL your vehicles.

    Communication laterally:
    This is also important, as you need to be able to speak with your team mates! This is primarily accomplished by a mobile phone, especially for the serious civvies and some CP taskings, but a short range two-way radio is a great asset; even those two-car trips down to Cape Town are made so much easier by having that cross-ability. One of the lasting lessons from Northern Ireland to the British Army was the importance of this level of communications: it is reflected in their current use of the PRR (personal role radio), which allows the lowest ranking squad member access to a radio net. The use of headsets in this role is also important, as it keeps your comms somewhat more private in the sense that your principal won’t hear your conversation. Bear in mind, however, that no voice transmission is ever really secure, so work out a code and use it.

    So what to use?? I like the Motorola’s and Entel’s as they give me about a 1,5km range in a built up area and about 2,5km in an open area on non repeater transmission, as the chances are you will never have access to temporary or mobile repeaters. Even the little Motorola Talkabouts are handy little pieces of kit and if you can get the ones with the IPICS interface, you are cooking with gas!

    Communications downward
    Knowing where you are relative to where the cavalry is has always been a major part of my planning. I never, ever want to be the one on the net requesting help and not knowing where to direct the help to! I have grown attached to my posterior and wish to keep it lead free for as long as possible. So, base your downwards communications on two principles:



    GPS: I carry three: one on the vehicle, a Garmin e-trex on my person and a Nokia Navigator mobile phone. The reason for the phone? I am often on jobs in countries where standing outside with a GPS and taking waypoints can get you into a lot of trouble, but standing outside sending a text message is OK. Update your position every hour, if on foot, and every 20 minutes if in a vehicle. This provides a reasonable search radius for someone in a helicopter coming to help.

    Maps: Paper does not have battery issues; keep your position updated, as you don’t want to write down too much info on the maps. If you need to mark anything, keep it in code and make sure that whoever is doing your journey management or your ops management has a copy of exactly the same map in their ops room. An ops room map can be marked with emergency rendezvous points (ERV’s) and you need to know where these are. If you lose comms, consider that an emergency and you need to re-establish; if you can’t, move to the agreed ERV.
    "You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life."
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    Default Re: Tactical carry and the GO Bag - By abhm

    Weapons



    There are always ‘nice to haves’ and everybody has a favourite, but bear in mind that, at some point, you have to carry all your gear so I like the ‘Simple is better’ part of the rulebook here!

    I go with one primary and try and stick to a decent medium distance and accurate package which is light, reliable and can maybe go a day or so without being cleaned, although I do weapons admin whenever I can. For me it’s an M4 type that is reliable, fires 5,56mm (available most anywhere) and gets the job done. I like weights but not in a rifle when I might have to hold it into the shoulder for long periods, so the Galil and R series are not firm favourites of mine. Should the task be of a nature where I am compelled to use a SMG, I favour the MP5 and, despite what a lot of people say, I have only ever had good experiences with the Pakistani versions.



    I leave out machine guns and shotguns as they are a ‘horses for courses’-type of tool: great to have, but not always practical. I do like the SAW, in fact I love the SAW, and if possible I would take a Para bat SAW with me everywhere! This would give me a great advantage during my budget meetings, but my wife might not like that too much though! In Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan these ‘horses for courses’ fall away and both machine guns and shotguns become, in my opinion, an essential part of the vehicle kit.

    My pistol of choice remains a GLOCK; I am a specific fan of the Glock 19, but like the song says any GLOCK will do! I usually opt for the 9mm as I know that the ammo is available all over the world, except for South America, where .380 is the way to go! Why the Glock? Simple, the system is easy, straightforward, reliable, tough and safe. I do not like the Tokarevs and Makarovs, but familiarize yourself with the platform, in case of emergency.



    Ammo
    The type of ammo you carry is not a major factor, but there are two rules to this. Firstly, make sure it is generally a good brand and secondly, make sure you have enough! To those who endlessly debate the merits of the Gold Dot over the Black Talon or Federal Hydra-Shok: you are focusing too much on the niche aspects and losing sight of the big picture. Rather leave the science to the scientists; the cardinal rule of the fight is if the target does not go down on the first shot, shoot it again or run! Also don’t boutique your lead; don’t think about the first shot being snakeshot, the second FMJ or whatever. It’s not cocktail mixing; it’s a fight, so keep it all the same, because when the two way range is opened you are not going to be round counting!

    Magazines
    Make sure your magazines and springs are good, load it to the max then take two rounds out. It’s faster to change a magazine than to clear a jam, so keep your magazines clean, all of them! Don’t clean them all at the same time! You want a minimum of 6 for a rifle and 4 on the pistol.

    Knives
    Rule 9, always carry a knife!
    I like knives; it’s pretty much the one weapon you can take anywhere except aboard an aircraft and into the United Kingdom! I like the Smith and Wesson fixed blade types and the Kershaw folders; also pack in a Leatherman multi-tool and for serious jobs I keep a Ghurkha Khukri in my GO bag! Always have at least two knives on your person in different positions so you can get to them. If you’re upside down in an overturned car and the seat belt release has jammed, you’ll need to access either of them!

    Torches
    I have graduated from my large Maglites and am a recent convert to the Pentagon series. I really like the LED variant and even though it has no bezel, it serves me well. They do make a nice bezel version which runs a halogen bulb. I also keep a blue light Inova key ring light which has a nifty strobe function and also had a US military spec IR strobe as well, but it’s not in my carry bag anymore. That being said: if you are vehicle-based, then get one of those rechargeable spotlights. They are worth it and for home use, stick with the Maglites or get a nice, rechargeable, high candlepower spotlight and leave it on charge where it’s easy to access.

    Slings
    I like the simple one point slings; either that or a wolf hook, while others like two point slings or ten point slings. I am a simple guy and like simple things, hence I like a simple one point sling.

    Gloves
    As with the socks, invest in a pair of nice gloves. I used the Jack Wolfskins which, having lasted in the mountains of Afghanistan and the deserts of Iraq, could not survive my four year old! I have recently found a small niche supplier who can get me great quality gloves branded to his name which I think are just brilliant.



    Holsters
    If you need it, a leg holster is a good thing, but in my opinion only wears it if you really need it. Unless you are active duty and in a uniform, I think they look really stupid. In fact, I cringe whenever I see someone’s sidearm in their holster; if someone else needs to see your sidearm, it should be in your hand!
    Now there are about 5000 different holsters, some of which are good, some of which are OK and some are just yeugh. Talk to Geoff Carter; in fact become a dripping tap with Geoff Carter, because he is the king as far as tailor-made Kydex goes! If you like leather, well there are hundreds of choices. The cardinal rule is to buy quality, as buying cheap and nasty does not work. You should also consider the conceal ability of the holster, because this is a key aspect: the more, the better.

    Clothing
    Dress to blend; unless you are in a uniform or on the range, paramilitary is not a good look. 511 trousers and all that are great, but they make you stand out as much as wearing a neon sign on your head! One thing that really sticks with me from my travels is going through Dubai airport and seeing all the PS contractors and Military guys cycling through. You could almost identify them by nationality and almost by company or corps!

    The US guys would have lots of tattoo’s, goatee beards and whip-ass t-shirts. The Brits would have Oakley glasses on the top of their heads, wear their access cards around their necks and also sport lots of tattoos, mainly Para wings or Celtic designs. The South Africans would, almost to a man, wear khaki shirts and jeans with Hi-Tec hiking boots.

    I firmly suggest dressing like a drifter type, not too scruffy to get you thrown out of McDonalds, but scruffy enough so that no one will ping you on the first glance. Also, be culturally sensitive: one of the aspects I enjoy most about working in the Middle East is the traditional dress, which I find nice and cool and helps you to blend in for the first couple of seconds. If you do go this route, make sure you wear everything properly and bear in mind the regional specifics; I remember a South African PSC who bumbled around Afghanistan in traditional Arabic get up, not a good idea!

    Another aspect is neutrality: loud and bright are not your friends and grey is the new black, because the grey man is not just a mindset, but also a good, forgettable colour. The trick is to be the person in the crowd that someone can look at and then instantly forget. In a business environment, grey or light, neutral colours for the shirt and black in business suits is a workable option as most wear it, but take a cut or two larger than your body size just to enable concealment of all the gear.

    Carrying it all
    Setting it all up is based on your principles of shoot, move and communicate. Also you need to carry certain items across kit in case you lose one aspect.

    Belt kit and Vest
    The belt kit and vest is meant to carry your most needed items, i.e. the things you need to access immediately. Let’s call this your arm’s length kit, as it should never be more than an arm’s length away from you. A belt is not a one layer piece of leatherette look-alike, its serious leather, preferably double-layered and hand-stitched. Your sidearm goes here too.

    Immediate Kit: (on body- vest, LCE, etc.)
    • Bolt hole cash: at least $100-00 worth, but I would suggest about $500-00 worth. Keep this safe and separate from your wallet; also, as per the previous article, keep you credit cards separate from your wallet as well.
    • Extra ammo
    • Fire: matches need to be waterproof and a few disposable lighters
    • Light food: Energy bars are good, Granola Bars are a firm favourite and include one slab of dark chocolate
    • Water: invest in a hydration pack and also keep plenty of water. You want about 6 litres per person per day, so keep 2 litres on your person.
    • Comms: Radio and cell phones
    • GPS/navigation, maps, compass
    • Signal mirror, whistle, pen flares,
    • Immediate tools
    • Small trauma pack, one shell dressing and a quikclot pack

    For the business-type environment, you can pack a lot of this into a Maxpidition-type bag and carry quite a bit on your belt.

    GO Bag
    1. A sturdy, well-designed, mid size bag in brown, tan or dark blue.
    2. A roll up medical kit geared to trauma management. Even if there is a large medical bag close by, your grab should have its own medical kit in case you are separated from your main medical bag. I bought a little trail medical roll from Due South then added to it.
    3. Water: At least 4 litres.
    4. Hand held steel mirror and 1 metre square roll of Day-Glo cloth.
    5. GPS, compass, map of area.
    6. MRE x 2
    7. Satellite Phone: Thuraya or Iridium with a recharge voucher. Remember the yearly expiry of sim cards. B Gan if applicable
    8. Space blanket
    9. Pack of condoms: Carrying water or in case you get lucky!
    10. Knife: fixed blade of good quality, in addition to the ones on your person.
    11. 6 packets of Rehidrat and water purification tablets.
    12. 100 meters Para cord (501 cord): Para cord is probably one of the most useful pieces of kit ever developed. Include some Duct tape.
    13. Two old books: both to defeat boredom and provide kindling. Tampons are also good kindling and wound stuffers.
    14. Your large flashlight: the wind-up flashlights, whilst not tactical, are great in this arena of your kit.
    15. An old jersey, a change of underwear and a change of socks.
    16. Two bars of dark chocolate and a tin of sardines: Comfort food and mega protein boost!
    17. Some tools: a dual screwdriver, pliers, a small hammer and an e-tool.
    18. Ammo
    19. Laptop

    A lot of your belt kit might need to be distributed from/to your GO bag and vehicle kit if you are in a business environment.



    Your vehicle



    A vehicle is a great mobile storage environment because you can pack most of what you need in it.
    • Extra fuel: enough for 200 km. Remember to rotate this, so when you fill up, put the fuel from your jerry cans into the tank.
    • Water: you can pack plenty; a good idea is a 20L container.
    • Big Medical pack: this pack needs to enable you or the team medic to perform life saving medical procedures, so bear in mind all legal guidelines. I suggest you keep this in a backpack type bag so you can carry it. Also, a reflective jacket might be a good idea in case your emergency is on the side of a highway or road at night.
    • Blankets: at least two, these are great for all sorts of purposes.
    • Tow straps: again at least two, in high risk and on convoy ops, one needs to remain connected for quick getaways.
    • Spare tire kit, tire plugs and a tin of quick air or similar.
    • A small camping stove or portable braai: keep this in a Hessian bag.
    • Tin kettle or billy can.
    • Maps plus a spare set: maps are good. I have never had battery issues with maps.
    • Plug in air compressor: the lighter jack plug-in type, also a pump.
    • Tools: buy a ready-made kit or assemble your own.
    • Spare fan belts, radiator hoses etc.
    • Jumper leads
    • Extra ammo
    • Spade/shovel
    • Extra jack
    • Case of MRE’s: if you can get them, otherwise a stock of long lasting food
    • Air identification panel
    • Plug in spot light



    By abhm
    "You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life."
    -Winston Churchill

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    Default Re: Tactical carry and the GO Bag - By abhm

    Fantastic article! Thanks abhm lv29

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    Default Re: Tactical carry and the GO Bag - By abhm

    Good stuff thanks mate

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    Default Re: Tactical carry and the GO Bag - By abhm

    Thanks abhm, you certainly made me look at my current (lack) of preparation and re-think a few things!
    Prone to random kindness, lecherous behaviour, imitating D-cups at speed and an outstanding sense of humour. If you don't agree, well fuck you.

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    Default Re: Tactical carry and the GO Bag - By abhm

    no problems guys I know it all sounds expensive but it all helps out when it counts, buy the absolute criticals asap and the lesser criticals as you can.
    chat soon y'all
    I am studying an awesome brand of leg fighting which was inspired by dung beetles and I think my brand of Kraft Manure is superior to all other styles ever invented. Furthermore I challenge all other manurists to a rolling contest where we shall establish whose manure ball is the biggest! I shall call it Honest Kraft Manure and declare it superior to all other brands of manure and will tell you that I have claimed the lineage directly to Imshi the great Dragon Kru Master Beetler who invented manuring, by gathering all manure from different animals together and making it work as the worlds most effective fertilizer. I proved myself by being members of not one but three super elite special gardening departments who were responsible for spreading manure to combat weed infestations!

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    Default Re: Tactical carry and the GO Bag - By abhm

    Thanks for a very informative artical Abham! lv29

    One note: If you gonna use the condoms for "water" make sure they not scented... esp the stawberry ones... that smell gets EVERYWHERE (and explaing why you reek of strawberry maybe difficult to explain to your wife), and I can't imagine it tasting good...

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    Default Re: Tactical carry and the GO Bag - By abhm

    Thanks abhm for the article and Boerbok for your handy work. hpy180

    This definately is an eye opener and made me think about a few things.

    One or two questions about the the GO bag.

    1. Assuming you have a GO bag filled with some goodies, where should this be kept? Safe, Saferoom or easily accessable?

    2. And, assuming you carry a GO with a fair amount of rations, what would the police think of this should you be stopped in a routine roadblock.

    As for contents, I'm thinking, spare mags, ammo, knife, dressings, stuff like this. Would the police not consider this suspicious and what are the laws regarding carrying and storing of ammo?
    "You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life."
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    Default Re: Tactical carry and the GO Bag - By abhm

    Quote Originally Posted by shaan
    Thanks for a very informative artical Abham! lv29

    One note: If you gonna use the condoms for "water" make sure they not scented... esp the stawberry ones... that smell gets EVERYWHERE (and explaing why you reek of strawberry maybe difficult to explain to your wife), and I can't imagine it tasting good...
    Strawberry??? confused0068 Damn!
    Run Fast, Bite Hard!

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    Default Re: Tactical carry and the GO Bag - By abhm

    Quote Originally Posted by ikor
    Quote Originally Posted by shaan
    Thanks for a very informative artical Abham! lv29

    One note: If you gonna use the condoms for "water" make sure they not scented... esp the stawberry ones... that smell gets EVERYWHERE (and explaing why you reek of strawberry maybe difficult to explain to your wife), and I can't imagine it tasting good...
    Strawberry??? confused0068 Damn!
    Long Story.... nj

    Craig, surely if you are not carrying anything illegal in your Go bag there is very little the police could do to you if searched at a roadblock?

    I too am curious as to the laws pertaining to the storage of ammo.

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