Know Your AO

OK, you know your way home from work and how to get to the store, but what else do you know about your AO ( area of operation ). Do you notice what stores you pass, new house construction, how big the park is? Probably not. Most people don't look around that much when they are driving, but you are not most people, you are a survivalist. So today we will talk a bit about what you need to see and know in your area.

Get a city street map and some colored pens. What are the routes you would take to get home from work and out of the area should a situation occur? If there were no problems you can easily say, but what if there are problems? You need to have several different escape routes, for several different levels of threat to you and you family. And having them mapped out ahead of time will save you from having to think about adjusting on the move and maybe making a mistake. Let's look at some examples.

What streets are heavily trafficked and would be slow going? Lots of stop lights? Which roads have bridges, are prone to flooding, have very little side areas or sidewalks you could use in an emergency? What roads would the police or military probably restrict access to or funnel the entire town onto during an evacuation? These are all thoughts that you be considering before you draw on your map. Any number of situations can change that will slow you down or stop you when you need to be getting out of town fast.

The map now in front of you, we will start to pick our routes. The green pen is for normal non-life threatening situations, the blue for still not urgent but a bit more serious, yellow, orange and finally escalating to red, which is 'haul your ass driving through backyards while being shot at' routes. I learned the importance of this ability during my early dating years.

Let's look at a few situations where travel may be important and the problems you might have.We can start off mild: Natural disasters, wildfires, tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes. You need to get to safety, you are doing it by vehicle, how are you going to do it? Of course the government officials will have their own ideas of what they want you to do. But having seen their efforts before in many situations, do you really want to be sitting on an overcrowded highway with all of the other sheople (people who follow blindly like sheep) visiting with your neighbors when you could be already miles from danger with your camp set up, some food on the grille and a cold beer in your hand? A survivalist does not follow like sheep, he leads the way. A survivalist thinks on his own and plans ahead, usually better than the government does. Most sheople do not plan ahead, they expect the government to tell them what to do and where to go and they assume the government has their best interest at heart. You know what happens when you assume.

You know where you want to go and you have the ability to get there. As Nike says just do it. Grab your gear and go. Now with your map in hand you have alternate routes you can choose from based on the situation, what roads may be clogged or flooded or impassible. You can at a glance turn here and be to safety before you know it.

Number two: man made disasters like train derailments, chemical spills, etc. Now this is a bit more serious but still not life threatening. Again you have your own plan and direction so you will not be caught in the mob and waiting for the pittiful help from the government officials. Look at the situation, asses your options and go.

Number three: complete social meltdown and martial law, city wide riots, terrorist attacks, government takeover, etc. This is serious shit, use the red route. Get your ass to your safe house, arm up and bug out! Your lives are in danger, it is 'mad max' time, so don't stop and give the cute half dressed blond a lift. Her 5 boyfriends are hiding behind that burned out car just waiting for some idiot to stop so they can benefit from what they have. You need to get to safety as fast as possible without distractions. The government will be in control of the main roads at this point. This is where knowledge and planning ahead will pay off. What back streets and alleys will get you where you need to go? Will your vehicle fit between houses so you can drive through backyards? P.S. watch out for swimming pools. Also avoid gunfights as you flee. It tends to draw unwanted attention, slow you down and wastes ammo. We will discuss proper gunfight tactics later for situations like this, but it is still best to avoid them if possible. Right now just work on coloring your map.

Use this method to map out your neighborhood, city, county, and state as much as you need to. Pick areas to run to that are away from all of the dangers that you can think of, and they may be different locations for different situations, that is fine. Just make sure you have put thought into it so it will work. Speaking of thinking ahead, you also need a small notebook. Why you ask? Well along with mapping your escape routes, you should travel them several times and take notes as to what types of businesses and buildings are along and a block or two each direction from your route. What you are looking for here is supplies, gas, food, weapons and ammunition, medical supplies, etc. Write their locations in the notebook and keep it with the map. That way if you need some gas as you go you don't have to find a station, you know where to go. Grab some extra camp food as you drive by the store if you have time. This is important information for you to have.

As a side note, I know that you will probably get tired of hearing me write this, but knowledge and planning is the difference that will save your life in a bad situation. I will get to the fast action defensive driving, shoot from the car window, how to kill someone 10 ways with an ink pen, I promise. But all that knowledge will do you no good if you don't have the right foundation to back it up. Survival is not like the movies. It is done and done well by the kind of people who have put in the work and time to know what to do almost by instinct and have the plans to put into action. Enough preaching.

Get the maps and do the work. It will be worth the time. More to come.