From the Workbench of Kali

Building a home defense plan should be at the top of everyone’s list. Are you going to dig in. Are you going to escape? Who can you lean on? Are your neighbors safe? These are are all considerations that individually we need to contend with.

A lot of us like to imagine that we would instantly turn into operators and door kicking bad asses in a Without Rule of Law Scenario. I would even say that As recent as the Black Lives Matter riots I had that mentality. Stupid I know, but it’s true. The reality is we really don’t want to be like that regardless of what your wildest dreams may be. Maybe it’s due to being in a family way now; but I have no interest in being on the front lines of an insurgency/counterinsurgency/revolution unless I really have no choice, and neither should you for that matter.

So what should be your priorities in a SHTF scenario? Living close to problem neighborhoods I have decided that evacuation is in my family’s best interest. I have 3 small children and a pregnant wife, as well as two Huskies that are going to be hard to handle, but will all need Evac. This naturally requires a degree of planning and forethough, as well as contingencies. In the broad strokes, we have two safe places, in two different directions, and multiple methods to get to them.

Your resolution might be to prioritize Bugging In and Fortifying, in which case your priority should be setting up a perimeter, building alarms, establishing a watch schedule, and making sure everyones properly equiped for rotation. Ultimately your plan is individualistic, and should be built around your specific needs, and goals. This by itself can be broken down to multiple posts, but i want to move on to addressing the post.

A friend recently posted an interesting exercise. You have $5000 to equip 3 adults to respond to a SHTF situation. the 3 People you have already come equiped with a Glock and basic firearms training. What was interesting is that a good many people (the people in the discussion) seem to think $5000 across 3 people is impossible. But the point of the exercise is that because of your limited budget you dont get to equip yourself perfectly. You have to figure out what your musts are, what sacrifices you need to survive this non-descript SHTF scenario.

We have $5000 to outfit 3 adults in my party. They start with their own side arm and basic training on operation and maintenance of the weapon, but we assume they have nothing more than the clothes they have on their back in this situation. In my plan of escape and evasion, we have an emphasis on looking as inconspicuous as possible. No camo. no identifying markers, no identifiable tactical gear (that they can see). We will need Load Bearing Equipment, Backpacks, some emergency food, first aid, extra magazines, and ammo for the hardware we have.

The standard loadout is going to be a Braced Glock Pistol with 6 magazines each. The 20/20NMG kit gives you the brace, a shockcord sling, a holster, and a brace mounted magazine holder/AFG. When you pair the braced pistol with the Microdot (through the upper rail kit) and large magazines, and the TLR1 clones, you have an easy to control Personal Defence Firearm that can easily be hidden under your poncho. This concealability is important if you will be primarily traveling on foot. The Pistol Belts are set up to carry 4 magazines, dump bag, and one of your IFAKs. The Other IFAK will be attached to the backpack, which will house the food, tarp, bushknife, and binoculars. the back pack can be exposed, but everything else will be hidden under your large, and Cozy, Alpaca Hooded Poncho. Earth Tones because you will blend in better, and while we are not using Camo, this will help you a bit if you are going off road.

Why the Shotgun? Because it I had nearly $1000 left over and I wanted to spend down in case of an emergency that a braced handgun was not enough for. , you can fill this with a better quality shotgun, or even a Carbine, but the goal is to make it smaller than it normally would be to hide under the poncho as much as possible.

Youve got some emergency food on hand as an extra precaution, but you should probably add something that you can eat on the go. I did forget to add a water solution. But given we still have money left over, there is plenty of flexibility at hand.

I included paracord for utility, and an extra large Tarp as a temporary shelter. You would probably make better use of multiple smaller tarps, but this is what I chose in my case.

Now I’m sure you might look at this with a little bit of a shock. No Body Armor. Yes, no armor. Why? Armor is heavy. Our goal is not to engage with threats, we are in escape and evasion mode, we need to move fast and efficiently from cover to cover, even if we get caught in a firefight, we are not planning on trading with them, we focus on escape because the people that depend on us need us around. You also might ask why not load up on AR’s to be able to engage in a conflict should it arrive? Because conflict should be our absolute LAST option, and should be done only when conditions favor our group.

This is by no means exhaustive, nor is it perfect. But this is a fun exercise in identifying what YOU believe is a priority in a SHTF scenario. Bugging out, or Digging in are two sides of the same coin, and should be considered part of your Home Defense, as well as your Personal Defense system and Plan.