Situational Awareness

Situational Awareness

  When people are travelling they seem to enter a mental bubble where they are much less aware of what is going on around them.  This lack of awareness does not end with travellers.  If you look around you, you will find many examples every day.   Many London Black Cab drivers are fitting dashboard cameras after near misses where people step out in front of them talking on mobile phones or listening to music players.

 - British SBS at the battle Qala-i-Jangi, situationally aware af. - There's a great documentary on what happened early 2000's during that battle. You can find it here

  If you are aware of your surroundings you will be much safer.  There are many models of levels awareness, such as Cooper’s Colour Codes, most of which are aimed at Law Enforcement or Military.  Clearly this is more than most people need so I will not drag you down that particular rabbit hole. 

  So what is situational awareness?  Basically it is being aware of your surroundings and identifying potential dangers and threats.  It is more of a mind-set than a tangible hands-on skill.  In order to develop this mind-set you need to accept three things.  Firstly, that threats do exist.  You need to lose the “it can’t possibly happen to me” attitude.  Next, trust your instincts.  Thousands of years of evolution has given us a well-tuned set of “spidey senses”.  If something feels wrong it probably is.  Finally, take responsibility for your immediate personal safety.  The Emergency Services cannot be everywhere all the time.  They are necessarily a reactive service.

  Being aware is a conscious choice, and something you need to work at.  Here are some simple ways in which you can improve your situational awareness.

• Next time you come out of a shop into a carpark take a mental note of how many cars have people sitting in them.
• Try to identify all exits when you go into a building.
• Count how many people are with you in a restaurant or in a train carriage.
• Make a mental note of any cars which take the same turns as you when you are driving.
• Start people watching.  Try to work out what their story is.  What kind of mood are they in?  What do they seem to be doing?  What do they do for a living?

Barriers to Situational Awareness

  Previously I stated that situational awareness was something you must make a deliberate effort to cultivate.  As with any other endeavour there will be barriers to fully following through with this commitment.  Being aware of this will help you in developing your awareness.

• Perception – Our own mental interpretation of reality can have a significant effect on our awareness.  Our own perception can colour how we react to a given situation.  Our perception can be influenced by;
• Past experiences – We react to things based on our past experiences.  If it looks like something we have seen before we will instinctively react as we have before, but things may be different this time.
• Expectations – We interpret information in ways that ratify our beliefs.  We rationalise things are a certain way because we want it to be that way.
• Filters – We are constantly provided with information.  However, we don’t always use it.  We often ignore information which doesn’t match our mental perception or expectations.  This is the mental equivalent of “selective hearing”
• Over Motivation – Being overly or excessively motivated can affect your ability to fully assess a situation.  This might cause you to miss risks and overlook safety.  An overriding sense of “mission importance” could jeopardise sound judgement and objective thinking.
• Complacency – Don’t assume that everything is under control.  This will affect your vigilance.  When things are slow or you are carrying out routine tasks your awareness will diminish.
• Overload – Doing too much will cause distraction and stress, and will result in increased errors.  Prioritise and delegate to minimise distractions.
• Tiredness – This will affect your ability to concentrate on your surroundings.  Make sure you take time to unwind in an environment that doesn’t need your full awareness to remain safe.  Make sure you are getting enough sleep.
• Poor Communications – Teams are more efficient if they have high quality communication.  Working together and communication effectively will act as an awareness amplifier.

 This Kit Pest Article was written by Ben OToole. Hopefully you enjoyed it and if you have any thoughts or comments related to this article then leave a comment! 

 If you'd like to visit Cooper's Kit Corner, you can find it here.

 If you'd like to visit Gen Kit Exchange, you can find it here.

Condor Mesh Tactical Cap

Condor Mesh Tactical Cap

• Cost: ££££ (£12.09) GET IT HERE
• Value for Money: 4
• Ease of use: 5
• Construction: 4
• Alliness:         2

*TRIGGER WARING* – Review of an airsoft brand!

  I have a thing about hats.  I wear a hat pretty much every day.  Imelda Marcos had shoes, I have hats.  I particularly like baseball caps.  The drawback I have always found is that after a while my head gets too hot.  Some of the places I work are very hot and I need to be able to protect my head from the sun and I need a peak that can shade my eyes, but I don’t want my head to overheat.  So, I went looking for a hat that was a bit different.  I was also looking for a hat in a plain colour because I like to wear neutral colours when I am working.  I also don’t like to wear bright colours when I am out and about in the woods or on the hills as I don’t like to jar with nature.

  One of the hats I already have is a so called “truckers cap” where most of the crown is made from mesh and is very cool to wear.  I saw something similar from a US manufacturer on Soldier Systems being sold as an “operator cap”.  I quite liked the look of it so I went to their website.  Given the places I work and the level of my ability to lose stuff I was not prepared to pay what they were asking plus delivery….

  Enter the Condor cap.  One quick google search later I found the Condor Mesh Tactical Cap.  So what makes it tactical?  Firstly, the range of different camouflage patterns.  If it’s in Ghost Recon Wildlands they have it!  Secondly there are Velcro patches all over it to stick morale patches to.  Finally it doesn’t have one of those annoying buttons on the top that would dig into your head if you wore a headset or ear defence over it.

  Frankly none of the above were of any interest to me, especially as I was buying a plain coloured cap.  At £12.09 delivered I was prepared to take a punt on it.  I was very pleasantly surprised.

  The hat is actually very well made.  All of the stitching is very neat, straight and uniform.  I was expecting lose threads to be hanging off all over the place, but there were none.  All of the internal seams are flattened and covered with a fabric tape to prevent any rubbing.  The peak and the front panel are made from a decent poly cotton fabric.  The remainder of the hat is made from a mesh which is slightly darker than the other fabric.  The Velcro patches are the same colour as the mesh.  When I got my hat, the Velcro was plain, but a look at Condor’s website shows the front patch to have a bloody great big Condor logo on it.  Whether this is the case when you actually get the hat or it is photoshopped on to stop the images getting nicked for Ali Baba, I couldn’t comment.

  The next feature I really liked was that the patches were all sewn on after the rest of the hat had been made.  This meant that I could remove them without destroying any of the other seams on the hat in the process.  Working abroad I prefer to be the grey man, as much as a pale white bloke can be, so ally morale patches are not my friend.  That said, if you are military or perhaps an armed security contractor a patch on a cap would be a good place to conceal some SERE kit like a handcuff key or shim.

  In terms of fit it was very good.  I have a 58cm head, which is about average.  For my head, I didn’t need to make much adjustment to the back.  If you were to leave yourself 10mm of overlap on the Velcro you could take this up to a 65cm head.  Likewise you could take it down to a 51cm head, although it would bunch up a fair bit at the back.  The crown isn’t overly large either.  Some caps have so much fabric on the crown that you look like your head is misshapen or the cap sits on the top of your ears, which is uncomfortable.  This hat fits nicely to the whole of my crown without coming down too far.

  The peak is a decent width and length.  It provides shade to the eyes very well and there is no issue wearing it with sunglasses or eye-pro.  I regularly wear it with a pair of Wiley X SG-1s and have no issues.  If you’re into having a back-pocket crease, like I am, the peak will take and hold it with no problem.

  Where Condor makes these hats in all of the different flavours of camouflage patterns, they only use genuine fabrics such as Crye, Kryptek and A-TACS.  Also, clearly the fabrics are not IRR coated, although I cannot see that this would be an issue, even Hereford use fabric softener on their kit so the coatings are normally destroyed the first time the kit is washed!

  I have recently retired mine, mostly because my missus claims the smell of it makes her eyes water…  I wore it nearly daily for the best part of 3 years and it never let me down.  The colour has never faded significantly, although that could have been because of the dirt.  There was some fraying along the front edge of the brim but that just added character!

In summary, I would say that if you want a really comfortable and cost effective baseball cap to wear in the field, on the hills or even in a pub beer garden I would go for one of these hats without hesitation.  In fact, my replacement I have just ordered is the same hat, but in the new brown colour.

  This Kit Pest Article was written by Ben OToole. Hopefully you enjoyed it and if you have any thoughts or comments related to this article then leave a comment! 

 If you'd like to visit Cooper's Kit Corner, you can find it here.

 If you'd like to visit Gen Kit Exchange, you can find it here.

Knowledge is Power

Knowledge is Power

 - Einstein giving zero fucks.

  When you are travelling, having knowledge of your destination will empower you to take precautions which will enable you to travel safely. You cannot assume that your destination is even broadly similar to your homeland. Individual rights, laws and law enforcement procedures are very different even in western nations. For example, in Canada it is routine for Police Officers to restrain any individual present at an incident with handcuffs. In the United States Police Officers may seize assets, such as motor vehicles and cash, if an Officer believes they may be linked to criminality. Also, in many other nations Police Officers are routinely armed and will approach individuals with drawn weapons as a matter of procedure. In Thailand possession of even small amounts of drugs, which would not even lead to a caution in the United Kingdom, can lead to lengthy incarceration.

 - Good advice... Read.

  What is common is that ignorance of local laws is no excuse. It is beholden on the traveller to be aware of laws in their destination country. What should you do?

  The answer is simple. Do your homework! Most western governments offer travel advice for free via their websites. The three best are the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the United States Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs.

- Here are some FAL's, just because.

  Clearly these organisations will be offering very broad-brush advice. Most travellers on short trips will find the advice given in these websites as adequate. Especially if the intended travel is to be confined to major cities or large resorts. They do however have their flaws. For example, in China it is not unusual for laptops to be taken away at airports and to have spyware placed on them. This is not mentioned in any of the sources previously stated. Clearly this would require a business traveller to take a stand alone device, with a minimum of data on it which is not to be connected to a corporate network. It is also worth noting that they will include everything, regardless of its true significance to the individual traveller based on their specific itinerary.

  For any more significant duration trips it is worth delving deeper into the country you are visiting. This can be more daunting. Media outlets are a good place to start. Reading through events over the past few months can identify issues which may affect you. Look out for high profile court cases which have attracted demonstrations. Elections can also be somewhat more “rough and tumble” affairs in some countries, with supporters of various political groups having confrontations with each other or the Police. Beware of media bias however. Al Jazeera will have a very different slant on events than the BBC. Misreporting is also common. For example, during the Arab Spring a colleague of mine was in Cairo, staying in a hotel on Tahir square. I saw a report of an ongoing riot in Tahir Square on the BBC and called him to check he was safe. He was indeed safe and was in fact having breakfast on a balcony overlooking a totally deserted Tahir Square!

  Do not confine yourself to legal and political investigations however. Climate and geography can also have a great influence. At the simplest it will determine your wardrobe. However, it can also determine your requirements for water intake; your activity levels; your requirement for sunscreen and so forth. When investigating climate, you will need to be aware of seasonal variations such as monsoon (floods and landslides); average temperatures; altitude and geological stability (earthquakes and volcanic eruptions).

  You should further investigate levels of healthcare provision and whether there are any reciprocal arrangements with your home nation. For example, a friend of mine was taken ill on a trip to the United States. As his travel insurance did not cover him for hospitalisation he spent 3 weeks in a bed in an Accident and Emergency Department, was presented with a bill for several thousand pounds and had to pay for a new flight home. In some parts of the world it is advisable to travel with your own sterile needles due to the prevalence of re-use of medical sharps. The United Kingdom National Health Service Website is a good source of information for medical risks but can be short on practical actions to take to reduce your risk. Avoid travelogues and blogs as sources of information as their knowledge is often only Wikipedia deep.

- Wikipedia is a great tool, but sometimes it's wrong.

  The best means of getting this detailed information is to purchase a threat report from a company which employs professional analysts. Corporately this makes good sense as it creates a clear audit trail demonstrating a commitment to reducing travel risk to employees. As an individual traveller navigating many different information sources can be somewhat daunting. Additionally, individuals often lack the knowledge to assess what is a true threat. A few pounds spent here can prevent greater loss or injury at a later date.

  This Kit Pest Article was written by Ben OToole. Hopefully you enjoyed it and if you have any thoughts or comments related to this article then leave a comment! 

 If you'd like to visit Cooper's Kit Corner, you can find it here.

 If you'd like to visit Gen Kit Exchange, you can find it here.

ESEE 5 - Survival Knife

ESEE 5

Cost: £££ Get it here!

Value for Money: 5/5

Ease of Use: 4/5

Construction: 5/5

Alliness: 4/5

 A good knife is an essential tool for any soldier – indeed for anyone who spends any time outdoors at all, particularly in remoter regions and for a prolonged period of time. A good multitool is almost as vital as a rifle in the right environment, not least because it can keep your rifle going, but a decent fixed blade can be equally important.  There is a lot to be said for the soldier’s classic, the Mora – it’s robust, great value for money and comfortable to use, but it’s just not enough knife to handle what I wanted it to.  I wanted to purchase the ultimate soldier’s knife, and there were several key criteria I needed it to satisfy.

• Robustness: Above all, the knife had to be robust.  There needed to be literally no question about it ever breaking, regardless of what I threw at it, whether I was on a two week exercise or a six month operational tour.  I wanted a tool that I could be confident would last me the rest of my career.
• Value for Money: I was content that this knife would not be especially cheap – like I said, I was in the market for something that would last for years, but I didn’t want to pay an outrageous premium – especially as if you pay too much for something, you tend to use it gently. I wanted a workhorse – something I could thrash and not be too concerned about.
• Size: A tricky one. On the one hand, I wanted a blade that could handle some rough tasks – batoning through wood, cutting through tree roots, felling small branches, what have you.  This would require a certain amount of size and heft.  But at the same time, I didn’t want a comically oversized knife – nobody likes some Rambo wannabe cutting around with what would probably be legally classed as a sword strapped to their webbing, particularly in the wilds of Thetford. 

  Enter the ESEE 5.

  ESEE, an American knifemaker, have been in the business for a long while.  They used to be part of Ontario Knives, but split over decisions to do with the steels used, and still share a few designs.  They have established a reputation in the military/law enforcement/survival community for absolutely bombproof knives, and to stand by this they offer an outstanding warranty – break one of their knives, no matter how, no matter when, and they will replace it.  They offer simple blades that are obviously utilitarian in nature – no fancy leatherwork, no pointless decoration, no saw backs, hollow handles or other wannabe nonsense.  Just straight-up, workmanlike tools.  Their knives come in all sizes, from the tiny Izula to the comically outsize Junglas, and are standard issue to a number of elite military units.  The one I opted for, after careful consideration, was the ESEE 5.  Originally designed as a survival knife for pilots downed over the South American jungle, it is meant as a utility knife which can, at a pinch, be used for fighting. 

  First, some specs. The ESEE 5 is 11 inches long overall, with a 5 inch blade.  It has a canvas micarta handle, a full tang, and a 1095 high-carbon steel blade (for ease of sharpening) with a textured powder finish and a sabre grind.  It comes with an excellent kydex sheath and is offered in plain edge (my choice) or part-serrated, in a variety of colours for both blade coating and handle.  And it is built like an absolute tank.  To be honest, it’s probably overbuilt for what a soldier needs.  The knife itself weighs almost half a kilo and is a whopping quarter of an inch thick at the spine, meaning you could use it to baton with a cricket bat and it wouldn’t even think about bending or breaking.  Hell, you could probably use a metal bar if you were that way inclined. 

  The knife isn’t light, but by God does it perform.  Once you’ve put a decent edge on it, it will chew through wood and tree roots like a hatchet.  If you use a stick or pick handle to baton with it, it can chop down small trees with minimal effort.  The point is remarkably sharp for such a wide-profile knife, and virtually indestructible – it would take some serious, deliberate effort to blunt it, and bending it is probably impossible due to the thickness of the blade profile.  If you ever found yourself in need of stabbing through some sheet metal, the ESEE 5 wouldn’t flinch.  You could pry open a door with it without worrying about it breaking.  The micarta handles are similarly bombproof, but can be easily replaced as they are held in place with exposed allen keys if they did happen to get damaged somehow.  The handle also offers a divot for bow-drill firestarting, which – let’s be honest – you’ll never, ever, use in our line of work.  I have large hands, so I found the handle scales very comfortable – they didn’t create fatigue or give any hotspots despite prolonged use, but be warned if you have tiny paws you may struggle.  The pommel is of the glass-breaker type, so it can be used to smash through windows or in a combat situation, but not to hammer with, which is a bit annoying given how hefty the knife is. 

  The Kydex sheath offered with the blade is outstanding – particularly given that in this price range (I paid £100 for mine from Amazon) you’re normally stiffed with some useless nylon rubbish which you have to replace.  The sheath comes with a handy belt clip which can thread onto either a standard belt or MOLLE PALS, but you can also purchase a MOLLE mount separately.  The blade locks securely into place with no movement and a satisfyingly meaty click, but if you feel like you absolutely, categorically want the knife to go nowhere, ESEE have thoughtfully provided a simple locking system which makes it impossible to extract the blade unless disengaged. 

  My one complaint about the knife is that it seems to lose its edge fairly rapidly.  Not a huge issue as this can be rectified with a sharpening stone and a few minutes’ work, but frustrating on a longer exercise when you’re living out of your Bergen and haven’t packed one to save weight.  However, given how well the knife performs in other areas I’m willing to overlook this.

  Could you fight with this knife? Probably – the makers certainly intended for you to be able to.  I’m no expert, and unless you’re either a fantasist or a wannabe you know that the chances of even an infantryman ending up fighting mano a mano with an enemy are slim – particularly as you have a rifle, a pistol and a bayonet with you to give the enemy the good news, so you’d somehow have had to exhaust all those options.  But let’s say, for the sake of argument, that you have.  Or, more plausibly, that you’re sat manning a night navigation checkpoint in the Kenyan Oloo and can hear creatures of the night rustling about in the undergrowth and have nothing to protect yourself with if they decide they want to sample you (not that a knife would do you much good, but it made me feel marginally warmer and fuzzier about things).  The ESEE is probably too heavy for the kind of ninja stuff you see people demonstrate on Youtube, as it’s likely too slow in the hand.  But ultimately, it’s a five-inch, sharp hunk of steel with a wicked point.  However, it’s not a combat knife in the true sense of the word, so if you want one, look elsewhere.

To sum up, then:

• Pros: Utterly bombproof, comfortable in the hand, packed with premium features (sheath, handle) at a reasonable price.
• Cons: Heavy, tends to lose its edge quicker than a harder steel would (but easier to put one on). 

If you’re looking for a premium, medium-length fixed blade which will never let you down, and which you can use for any variety of camp tasks within an exercise or operational environment without worrying about damage to the knife, then the ESEE 5 is the tool for you.  You can find it here.

This Kit Pest Review was written by Tommaso Lagana. Hopefully you enjoyed it and if you have any thoughts or comments related to this article then leave a comment! 

 If you'd like to visit Cooper's Kit Corner, you can find it here.

 If you'd like to visit Gen Kit Exchange, you can find it here.

How/Why GKE Exists Part 4

How/Why GKE Exists

...Back to the actual site. Whilst all of the above was happening I'd spoken to countless potential business' and retailers who I thought would be interested in GKE. One thing I found is that for every 100 e-mails I sent to various people/business, only 5-6 would reply. Was this down to poorly written e-mails or were people simply not interested? Me being super naive I didn't factor in that I'd have to develop a relationship first whit potential users, that's something I quickly learned to do and it just involves being as honest and sound as possible I've found. I decided to move my means of contacting new partners, (I like to use the word partner for business' or retailers that use GKE as it's a continuos development of partnerships that define a good working relationship, and 'user' sounds shit.), onto Facebook Messenger. Although this might not be the most professional of platforms, in my personal experience i've found that a huge percentage of people actually reply to messages sent on it than an e-mail. I rate it so highly purely for the fact that you can see if they have read a message and I'm sure this has something to do with the subconscious guilt tripping them.

  I can't thank the great business' and individuals that have supported this from the beginning enough, just a simple 'Yeah, sounds cool mate.' goes a long way and still does today. I decided to focus on the business side of supply for GKE at the start as it's always going to be a problem of the 'chicken and the egg' with supply and demand for a marketplace. How can a business justify using a new sales channel with little demand in terms of customer and how can I entice new customers to use GKE if there are no cool bits of kit? Slowly, that's how. Every business that loads kit onto the site is a resounding success, and with each sale that they make the trust they have in me and GKE furthers (I hope). Through extensive Googling and research a couple of the bits of information that stand out are that it can take up to 3 years for a new marketplace to gain real traction and that around 60% of marketplaces fail for the simply reason that the creators of them give up on it. So with that in mind I'm as focused on making this a success and doing everything humanely fucking possible to further my knowledge of the market, social media and general business knowledge.

One of the coolest features of GKE is Kit Pest Reviews which is a review blog collaboration of Cooper's Kit Corner and GKE. It's basically a handful of self-confessed kit pests reviewing down-to-earth kit in a way we all understand and know. It's slightly refreshing as a lot of the 'gear' reviews out there are aimed at ultra turbo complicated spec equipment and confusing terminology. KPR just keeps shit simple whilst being as informative as possible. Ben OToole, Callum J Bickerton, Tom Cooper and it's also attracted another Tom and Sam, I can't thank you enough for the effort you put in and i'm looking forward to prying as much information out of your massive kit pest heads as I can. 

I wrote the everything above this line on a night shift and I left it to settle for a couple of weeks before revisiting it. A lot has happened since then, as it usually does. 

I applied for another business accelerator programme around the same time as the Ignite one, only this time I was successful. This one is called Entrepreneurial Spark and is backed by NatWest. It has 'Hubs' in most major cities in the UK and I am on the 3 month 'Sprint programme', which is the first of a series of programmes/courses/enablements. It's a little difficult to explain but i'll try my best; So the actual application process' was simple, just apply using an online form about you existing business/idea/start-up and you'll find out if you're successful or not. If you're successful your first date is the 'GoDoBootcamp', which is basically a day of essential briefs to explain more about the E-Spark programme, what you can expect to do and what you can expect out of it. This was a little daunting as i'd not actually put my business model under the scrutinisation of any outsiders yet. 

 After the Bootcamp you're put into either 'virtual enablement groups' or 'physical enablement groups', (basically a group including yourself, 5 other business/individuals and a 'entrepreneurial enabler', this group is your support over the 3 month sprint and they're your go to people if you need any kind of support. These enablement groups meet once a month over the Sprint, (I missed my first one due to a fucking course at work), and include different workshops along the way on a bunch of different topics, all business/start-up related. 

 Thanks for reading and Stay frosty for the next instalment of the GKE story - Alex

This Kit Pest Review Article was written by Alex Miller. Hopefully you enjoyed it and if you have any thoughts or comments related to this article then leave a comment! 

 If you'd like to visit Cooper's Kit Corner, you can find it here.

 If you'd like to visit Gen Kit Exchange, you can find it here.

PTI Mirror

Ikea Flaanje Triple Full-Length Portable Mirror

•                   Cost: ££££ (£120) GET IT HERE
• Value for Money: 4
• Ease of use: 5
• Construction: 4
• Alliness: 10000

  As a PTI I spend a lot of my time in front of troops trying my hardest to make them puke.  As such it is vital that I look my best.  You can’t inspire soldiers if your hair is out of whack or your foundation is smudged!  I needed a mirror that would let me view myself full-length and also from the sides.  Gotta be able to check the definition on those guns!  I was prepared to spend a few quid, especially as I get a bit of extra cash on the side shagging providing personal training to pads wives.

I immediately went to Ikea.  It’s my kind of place, lots of slick modern and above all shiny stuff.  I will admit, I find the names of the kit a bit hard, but I can’t read English without my lips moving anyway, LOL.  I also like Ikea cos I can have a cheeky portion of yummy meatballs as my cheat meal.

It took me a while to find my way to the mirror section, always been an issue for me but you can always pretend you’re taking the blokes out longer cos there “monging it” if you get lost on a PT class.  It’s not like anyone has anything better to do anyway.  When I got there, it took me a while to get out again.  I mean I’d been for my weekly haircut, facial and manicure & pedicure that morning so I was looking good!

I eventually found the Flaanje Triple Full-Length Portable Mirror.  I must admit after I’d worked out how to read the name it made me laugh cos it sounds rude, LOL.  This mirror is awesome!  The whole thing is on wheels so that I can position it to catch the best light for when I’m taking selfies to post on my Grindr account.  It’s also like totally adjustable at the sides to make sure that I can see my “Airbourn” tat properly.  I mean you’ve got to have a huge “Airbourn” tat haven’t you, even if you’re not a Para.  How will anyone know you can run fast with logs otherwise.  I would have given this a 5/5 but it doesn’t have any built in lights so sometimes it gives me dark circles under my eyes.  Time for more botox.

I took quite a while to put it together, it really helped that there was no words in the instructions just them funny cartoons.  I must admit I cheated, I got the fat lads on remedial PT to do it while I cleaned the full-length mirrors on the Gym wall ;).

To sum up I would say that this is a top mirror for a PTI.  You can get great angles for selfies and really flex those guns for definition!  You can get one here.

This Kit Pest Article was written by Smudge Smudginson. Hopefully you enjoyed it and if you have any thoughts or comments related to this article then leave a comment! 

 If you'd like to visit Cooper's Kit Corner, you can find it here.

 If you'd like to visit Gen Kit Exchange, you can find it here.

Escape!

Can You Get Away?

  I have travelled to some pretty “fun” places around the world over the years.  In a lot of these places I have been in danger of being kidnapped.  Yes, I have had specialist kidnap insurance so that a ransom payment could be made if necessary, and have had the appropriate security.  But but what if the worst happens and I wasn’t kidnapped for ransom?

  Quite frankly, I really didn’t fancy ending up on Al Jazeera in an orange jump suit.  So, I made sure that should the worst happen I had the means to get myself free.  With an increase in home invasions and terrorist hostage taking I feel there is mileage in ordinary people having a working knowledge of these techniques.  Certainly, Serving Military and Contractors should learn how to do this as a matter of course.  In fact, it wouldn’t do any harm for Police officers either, as it will show you how some of the scrotes you arrest could get free and cause you trouble.

  Before you read any further please be aware that the following information is given strictly for use in the situation you are unlawfully detained.  Do not use any of these techniques if you are lawfully detained by a legitimate authority.  It will not end well for you if you get picked up in the town on a Saturday night and hand a copper his cuffs back when you get out of the back of the Black Maria at the nick…..

  Where to start?

  Firstly, you are probably going to be restrained in some way.  Chances are that it will be by one of three most likely means.  Zip ties/plasticuffs duct tape or handcuffs.  These are all readily available and can be purchased almost completely anonymously, especially the zip ties and duct tape.  There are other restraint options, but I will deal with them later.  What we need to know is how to defeat each of these means of restraint.

  Without Tools:

  Zip ties are used an awful lot for restraints.  They were certainly used for prisoners when I was serving.  The good thing about these is they are really simple to defeat.  It all comes down to how they work.  You might have a big thick plastic zip tie around your wrists, but the part that matters is the “buckle”.  Think about how they work.  The loose end of the zip tie is pushed through the buckle where it is held in place by a stud which clicks into a slot on underside of the zip tie.  It is not the zip tie we need to defeat, just this stud.  There is a simple technique for doing this, it works both with your hands in front or behind your back.  Given that a picture paints a thousand words, see here for in front and here for behind your back.  It also works if you are secured by two zip ties.

  Here’s the next fun fact the techniques above will also work for duct tape!  This time instead of defeating a small plastic stud we are taking advantage of the way duct tape is made.  Duct tape is designed to be torn across its width so that you can remove the length you want from the roll simply by tearing it.  When it’s wrapped around your wrists that tear point is neatly placed right where it will take the most force when you use the technique.

  With Tools:

  “What if I have an injury that stops me from using that technique?” I hear you cry!  Don’t worry I’ve got you covered.  For this you are going to need a tool.  There are two options for this, some type of blade or a type of saw.  Let’s deal with the blade first.  We’re moving on to something a little more advanced here as it means we will need to conceal an item on our person somewhere.  But that’s another post altogether.  I have a great little tool that I carry on a paracord bracelet.  I regularly get onto planes with this and can safely say it’s never been noticed.  

  I have a short length of paracord on it to make it easier to use.  You can also use a good old fashioned razor blade, but they are trickier to use and risk injury to yourself.  Other small concealable blades are commercially available but tend to be more bulky and harder to conceal.

  Ok let’s move on to saws.  Two types we can use here manufactured and improvised.  First up manufactured.  There are a ton of commercially available saws for SERE use.  The better ones, to my mind, are constructed so that they can also be used as a handcuff shim.  When you are trying to minimise your carried kit to reduce the likelihood of discovery it makes sense.  This is a very simple item.  It’s straight and it’s serrated.  Don’t think you’re going to chop down trees or cut through cell bars, but you will be able to cut zip ties, duct tape and good old fashioned rope.

  Next we have the improvised saw and this is my personal go to as it is easier to use, with the caveat that you have your feet free.  The improvised saw we are going to use is a friction saw.  There are, again several commercial products available but they all use the same technique.  Where I can, I use paracord for my laces.  Paracord is great for making friction saws out of.  If you have your shoes taken away, which is a possibility, you can make a friction saw out of pretty much any type of cordage.  Simply tie a loop at each end, hang it over the tape or zip ties you want to cut, put your feet through the loops and use them to work the saw back and forwards.  Keep going until you are free!  A good old wire saw in the hood of your smock with loops made from a drawstring would be a good solution for a soldier.

  Handcuffs

  Now we are stepping up another level.  Before we start looking at how we open them, we need to know how they work so we can understand what weaknesses we are going to exploit.  Ok, the bit that goes around your wrists has a hinged arm with several slots in it.  When the handcuff is done up a stud on the inside of the cuff clicks into these slots.  This is so that the cuff can be sized for whoever is wearing them.  Obviously, the arm can only click in one direction.  The stud is connected to the key mechanism so that it can be withdrawn from the slots, by use of a key, to open the cuffs.  Roger so far?  

  Shimming

  The first technique we will look at is shimming.  We’re not going to concern ourselves with the lock at all at this point.  We are going to use a tool to exploit a design weakness in the handcuff.  The tool is called a shim.

  

  It is designed to slide into the gap where the arm enters the cuff and to disengage the stud from the slot.  This will let the cuff swing open.  You don’t need to use a specialist tool like the one pictured above, you can improvise one very easily.

  Picking

  To start with I am going to include a technique that isn’t picking.  Use a key!  We’re going to exploit another weakness here.  Handcuffs pretty much have one key type regardless of the brand.  The rationale behind this is twofold.  Firstly, Copper number 1 arrests a scrote, handcuffs him and chucks him a Black Maria.  Copper number 2, back at the nick, takes the scrote out of the Black Maria, takes the handcuffs off and slings him in a cell.  Each set of cuffs needs multiple users.  As such, one lock and one key makes sense across an entire organisation.  This is based on the premise that only those who are meant to have keys do...  Secondly, the more complicated the lock, the more expensive the cuffs.  Make it too complicated and you will price yourself out of the market.  

  You can get a universal handcuff key from an online retailer for a couple of quid.  They’re pretty small and easy to conceal.  If you chose to go down this route avoid plastic or polymer keys.  You can break them in the lock and that then stops you from using any other picking techniques to get free.  As an aside, if you are a police officer/prison officer or similar, you should be carrying a spare key hidden somewhere on your person.  Nothing more embarrassing being found locked up with your own handcuffs should a scrote get the upper hand.

  OK, on to picking.  First, let’s understand how the lock works so we can find a weakness to exploit.  There are two types of handcuff locks.  Single and double locked.  Single lock handcuffs simply allow the arm to be released when a key is turned.  Double lock cuffs have a secondary lock on them, usually engaged by use of a spike on the back of the key which stops the cuffs from being tightened.  This is so that should you get cuffed and decide to struggle or mess with them they can’t overtighten and cause you nerve damage or cut off/restrict blood flow.  Police/prison officers will have double lock cuffs.  A handcuff key is a very simple key for the reasons already explained.

  Quite simply when you turn the key in the lock it does one of two things.  Disengages the double lock or disengages the stud.  In order to pick the lock, we will need a tool.  Our tool can be one of two types.  We can either make something that is essentially an improvised key.  Or a straight tool which just pushes the lock release mechanisms.  The best materials for both of these tools are paperclips or hair grips.  Both are easy to conceal and might not be removed if found during a search as they are so innocuous.  As you know I love my simple illustrations…

  I’m out of my restraints, now what?

  

  Well that’s another post altogether...

  This Kit Pest Article was written by Ben OToole. Hopefully you enjoyed it and if you have any thoughts or comments related to this article then leave a comment! 

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