Half of warfare is logistics. You can be great in tactics, but if you run out of food, water, ammo you're done

"number one rule in a gun fight is bring more friends with more guns then the bad guy"- Earl Harbinger

Combat vet here, my buddies ask me how i would assult a gun fight situation all the time.... my first plan is avoid it at all cost. I don't have a 6 man team pushing with me plus if I'm out I'm usually with my wife and kids. Im going to get them far far away.

"Especially after it cools down a little bit..." this is so real it hurts. High humidity drains my soul.

prepared citizens should be looking at the average infantry kit, not SF kit

lol “what’s that in yards” has me dying

I definitely think backwoods hunting prepares for a lot of SHTF better than a lot of gear. Can you protect your family? Can you harvest meat and feed your family? All the guys in my unit hunt and walking around in the snow or rain in Alaska has prepared me as much as anything else.

As someone who's been a fireman and paramedic for 17 years now and dealt with many emergencies, when something goes down, it will never be how you thought it would be in any of your scenarios running through your head, it'll be at the most inopportune time, and itll be over faster than the shock of it all will be processed in your mind

I say it all the time and I’ll say it again here. Less contractor, more MACV SOG. The basic load for an infantryman is 210 rounds. There is a reason it’s called “the basic load.” Also I believe it would be a good idea to review what a patrol base is, what it can be used for and why it would be good idea to carry a collapsible day pack in your larger pack if your going to be out for several days.

Old advice from a WWII recon vet. He told me he only carried 2 or 3 mags for his thompson. I said only 3 mags? He said my job was recon, we would look at something and if it got hot that was enough ammo to dump and get outta the hot zone. Also for low viz kits, look at how resistance groups handled there kits in WWII. 99% of what they did was being invisible and recon/intel gathering. See what they did and then modernize it. The fighters that survived would do alot of studying and research on the environment, enemy, political situation and so on. Kits had to be quick and simple to not just put on, but quickly drop and become a gray man again.

USMC.. yes combat action. Don't go looking for a fight when you can avoid it. We went looking for the fight.. but it was the job. We had a full plan for: 1 - in fill 2 - on site action with clear objectives and clear cut bait point 3 - ex fill We had supporting units, QRF, docs for immediate care, plan for casvac, all kinds of high volume of fire tools, grenades, smoke, vehicles made for combat.. air support.. I can keep going. You get the point. Don't go looking for a fight if you can avoid it. If you have to defend yourself and your loved ones.. use extreme violence of action. The whole time you should be looking for a way to break contact and get out safely with your family.

I really like how reasonable and measured you guys are. You aren't just here glamorizing violence, guns, and being a "hammer". You talk about the realistic scenarios more than the fantasies. I appreciate that. You always give me tons to think about, and have even driven course correction.

Wearing plates and gear for a living full time, puts a deep understanding of how much it sucks into play. The less you wear, the more agile you are and more likely to survive a rapid, violent encounter. Gear does not equal skill, nor does more armor make you safer. It makes you slower and a easy target. Great video, excellent insight.

oh my god pipe layers and hitters hahahaaha had me cracking up

Running out of ammo in a middle of a gun fight is my biggest fear ..... mogadishu must have been horrible for the rangers during black hawk down incident

Hydration and Snickers is what you need to get home. Interesting conversation, most of us just want a safe trip to Walmart 😂

I need a Texas loadout that includes a misting fan.

Lost track of all our three letter acronyms 😂🤣

In SHTF or WROL nobody will stop you from dressing like Batman or wearing a cape

These guys could write an amazing action comedy, easy.

extra large sweat shirt and baggy pants over the legs, and regular hunting backpack with my stuff in it, I look homeless while having everything I need.

Honestly, I love this channel. I'm in-service, Airborne Infantry, but there's a lot here that I'm learning still even though it's literally my job to do this stuff. I've spent the weeks and months doing patrols and just sucking in the wilderness. I've got Ranger Batt buddies and Ranger-qualified buddies all giving me tips and tricks. But I'm still learning a lot here and I appreciate the time and effort you guys put into your videos. Cheers from JBER, Alaska 🇺🇸🦅

full circle, I used to get hated on by this type of crowd for saying water and water procurement is the most important thing possible. i was only a paratrooper, what did I know? water and community are more important than a slick kit. if it gets to that point where you dress up like cag and wander through rural areas, you are gonna get clapped when you roll up to farmer bubbas house for water and food. self defense and logistics

You're not living off the land, you're living in the land. It might sound pedantic but that's an important distinction because being comfortable with less isn't so much about macgyvering stuff from nature but being intentional about your gear choices, understanding your wants vs needs, and being realistic about your fears and what you need to mitigate them.

If I wasn’t told, I wouldn’t have known you were wearing a plate under that flannel

Been saying this since I got into this stuff. “A sound you can not hear from a place you can not see”. Recon and marksmanship is king for milsim guerrilla operations.

Honest opinion is that the best way to be prepared for ANY situation is to have a smooth carrier (nothing but plates) with a multipurpose chest rig that secures over it. Have a large backpack/rucksack that can hold SERE essentials and your overt gear. Have enough survival stuff to throw into that pack to sustain for a week with slim calorie intake, like stripped MRE and water purification stuff. Have a way to hide it all too. That way, you can move everything on foot easily, stop somewhere to drop the ruck, put on the gear you need at that time, and do what you need to do. But all of that assumes you KNOW what you are getting into. Knowledge of terrain like water sources, footpaths and roads, and where the bad people are (or would be, if you don't know) is a MUST. Many times it has been shown that light infantry with only the essentials can fight and successfully combat a well-armed military, but they MUST rely on civilian camouflage, hiding, traps, ambushes, and other unconventional warfare tactics. Not to mention being shoved into the most uncomfortable and undesirable areas unknown to man in order to hide stay ALIVE when that military force brings its might to bear. Otherwise, they can be trapped into open combat, where they will be slaughtered at a rate of 12 to 1. The takeaway? Food and water, aka SURVIVAL, is the first priority. You cannot win in the short term, only the long term, and you have to survive until then. Then, ammunition and arms that suit YOUR NEEDS. Not COD weapons and drones and unnecessary junk (though money spent on better, high-end gear is better than wasted) . A reliable rile, ammo, observation tools (optional, technically) and the equipment to give you the ability to detect enemy movements and hide quickly. If you plan on engaging, you will only be hitting targets of opportunity, and you may not have time to grab everything you earned before the enemy gets backup and tries to engage again. This also means you need TRUSTWORTHY people that have both loyalty to your cause and a good reason to fight. Without teamwork, as they mentioned, you wont be doing anything. Without places to stay and hide, the survival essentials, and the ability to dig in like a tick and disappear, you will die.

To add on the cellphone section, if you are worried about using your daily phone in a bad situation, burner phones are still a thing and you can get ones on different networks that might have less traffic or have better service where you are, my family's cabin doesn't have signal on our normal network, so we had burner phones on vacation so we had good signal.

Wearing uniforms has its own shock factor in SHTF a family of 8 dressed like Ghostbusters might not be messed with because people will assume they’re bats*** insane or they’re actually hunting ghosts

Thank you! I’ve been trying to explain this to my buddies especially about getting a plate strike. If you get hit anywhere, even in the plates, assume that you’re out. If you get hit anywhere and it hits bone, you’re out of the fight.

Dude, I LOST it at the Snickers part!😂

East TN, Late June 2024, >90F: I have been seeing men in long sleeve hoodies, long pants, some in actual coats with my car thermometer showing 95F in urban and suburban areas. They do stick out to me big time and I don’t remember noticing these behaviors in previous years. Also, WHY are there dudes actually doing this now!?! The guys I’ve noticed, are NOT tacticool dads like who are probably watching this channel.

Great video guys. It’s so common to see dudes kit reflect SOF, when they don’t understand the missions set or assets available to those teams. I appreciate y’all advocating for people to prepare for what’s most likely and scale up from there

I think its worth pointing out that there's a lot of situations worth preparing for that don't involve going up against an entire platoon of soldiers. shit getting "weird" probably doesn't require 12 mags and weeks of sustainment, but still might require some overt kit

We’re supposed to be the bangers 0:32 Speaking of bangers this videos is a banger.

Going on longer backpacking trips in the mountains is always an eye opener. Every ounce counts, as my dad says. Plus you figure out what you don't need, or what you wish you had.

The best case for a 'direct action' kit is Oct 7th and an open Southern border. The best lesson learned from that day was that the police were overwhelmed, and the IDF took more than 24 hrs to react. It was the reservist and off duty police that became the first line of defense where civilians were disarmed. In other areas where civilians did have guns, they became the resistance until the IDF could muster up a defense and counter attack.

man what you said at 24:00 is so true. August 2020 downtown Portland, OR was taking my mom out to dinner, as we were leaving to the parking garage a huge mob was rioting on the same street. We were pulling out of the garage and paying at the gate as one of the "proud boys" got shot twice in the back, less than 10 feet away from my car. I didn't even pay for parking I just laid my foot on the gas and got out of there. As I was making a turn to get towards I5 south, there was hundreds of people blocking the roads and burning the flag, I drove right thru no stopping. I looked in the rearview mirror and saw the gap close, I was the last car to make it out of there before it was completely blocked off by people. That was my last time in downtown PDX and have now moved to North Idaho. You never know when you need to be ready, so stay ready and don't bring any unwanted attention

Nailed it! I carry a low viz kit to get back home and keep me and my wife safe! Only the essentials for a 2 day hike.

Finally, I’ve been waiting for someone to address this topic. A term I was hoping to hear was scalability. Adding or selecting gear based on your tactical situation. Scenario: if I see you “foraging” near my isolated property, how can I tell if you’re one of the good guys. I’m going to assume you’re up to no good, particularly if you’re in full battle rattle. Similarly, a societal collapse won’t happen overnight. If the civil authorities are being with multiple insurgent groups, and you look militaristic ( camo, military boot, tactical bags) you just became a target. You want to draw the least amount of attention to yourself as possible. But when necessary, scale up to meet the threat.

Biggest thing ive learned about low vis kit is that the only people who might notice aren't necessarily the people your worried about. And the people your worried about are looking for cops not a dude with a ccw and a slick rig.

IMO the last thing a wise man should do is queue up with his buddies in the local state park wearing mismatched camo. “Our” military is too advanced for that approach. We’ve all seen what early 90’s antipersonnel ordinance could do and those optics are now 33 years old. Matt Bracken and Bear from Bear Independent have offered their respective bare knuckle commentary in recent months re: what appears to be unavoidable domestic catastrophe in mc’merica. “Jack Hinson’s One Man War” by Tom McKenney is probably the most grounded in reality for what we may face. It’s the story of a Southern man whose family is annihilated by Union troops in the War Between the States. He quietly becomes a surreptitious extreme range sniper whilst continuing his “9-5” life in anonymity.

Having a bigger build is such a bonus no matter what class setup you go with and I freaking love it

Going through the process of buying for and then training for a dark day can get so confusing. Thank you guys for knowing what’s up and giving us a direct guide to all of this. It takes hours of research and training and you save me so many hours in research and so much money by helping know what is needed and what isn’t. Time and money are in short supply for alot of folks these days. Keep it up

Even though your budgets are beyond mine, I really appreciate the fact that as Christian fathers and husbands, you take budget into consideration and place priority on taking care of your families and wisely working within a budget.

A Faraday bag with a prepaid burner phone and a battery/powerbank with a cable or two to keep it charged should be an essential piece of kit that everyone should keep in your low vis bag.

Having worked mountain rescue (1) Learn how to read maps and navigate without GPS (2) Good boots/foot wear (3) change weather gear in cooler climates/ water in hotter climates.

Love the fact that your approach to this subject is from the everyday person.

For 99% of civilians, a good concealable handgun, a pair of decent binos, and a good comms plan is a 90% solution to most problematic situations. Of course, I'm speaking in generalities.

The reality is, when shtf you're going to have to do everything in your power to avoid people at all costs, which I've already been practicing my whole life

The number of times you made clear that your not telling us what we need, or what will work for us, and clarified your only explaining what the consideration should be for our kits. Love it.

Keep up the great work guys - your videos have the most entertaining intros, and the content feels more relevant to anything I’d ever do than the full LARP. I’m really looking into expanding my low visibility options. The bag ideas gave me a good launch point.

Love the vids guys. Def using your kit for Milsim kit inspiration 😅

Spartan sells shirts, like undershirts, that hold 3a vests. I use them daily in inner city Philidelphia since nobody uses rifles here. I know if NYC rifles are a problem but at least in my city 3a is gonna cover you. That said if I get hit im probobly getting bones broken or my heart stopped since trauma pads dont fit but there wont be any penetration into organs which is the thing that gets people.

Retired army combat veteran, from middle Tennessee Retired here in East Tennessee Love y’all’s content Keep up the great work

I love the subtle digs at each other.

I'm a 40+ year old paraplegic. I'm a turret. I can "sit" watch at the entrance to my neighborhood. I can act as a delaying element while the women and children escape out the back. I can work trauma back at home. I'm the guy who covers the house while everyone else is on patrol. Someone has man the COC... I have radios, plates, medical, a rifle, pistol, spare parts, and an understanding of my limitations. My goal is to be an asset to my community until it's time to hand my kit to someone else and take the "long walk in the woods."

Back panels are great because even when in an organized overtly militarized mutual assistance/self rescue situation, you need spare empty capacity to carry picked up items. You're a scavenger. You need to be able to grab recovered gear, food, water, medical, firewood, etc from friendly and hostile alike. If your buddy gets injured or lost...how are you going to recover his stuff? Throw a laundry bag or stuff sack or nylon duffel in the back panel for extra carry capacity. Even if you're just out larping you can throw an MRE and trash bags in it to pack out your brass and trash.

We watch way too many movies and what really matters is this practical understanding. Thank you so much for this video.

I'm stoked to see how far y'all have come since I first started following you guys🤘🏼

“S-s-some grubbies?” Goodness. Drew, you always have a backup plan in acting.

I would say "look at Iraqis and Afghans for your fighting load. Look at Nigerians, Sudanese, and Somalis. Look at the South African and Rhodesian farmers." Imitate the people who are LIVING the the reality you are preparing for.

You don't have to worry about surviving a "gun fight," if you avoid it altogether. So many people approach this topic from the view point of CoD, or Battlefield, and those people are going to end up being loot drops for those that are more appropriately equipped, trained, and prepared. Short of making a show of force to try to deter interaction, the "low viz," for any sort of operations in this country, would be the best route to take, and only engage if you've already exhausted all other options.

Literally the best channel for the practical prepared citizen

I would just like to point out as a civilian its important to understand your role. You should NEVER have to leave your family to run into an active shopter situation. It is not your role and can get your shot by LEOs. Fog of war fellas.

If you get into a firefight, you've done something wrong. Ammo conservation should be paramount. But the most important thing is: "Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance!" - Pat McNamara

Man, you're right on target with the fitness aspect; not many guys factor that into their preparedness and training, nor do they care about learning H2H. And don't even get me started with medical trng lol. A bunch of guys don't know basic first aid, but they'll spend hundreds or thousands on firearm classes, but don't think about what if they, or a buddy, gets shot and how to deal with the injury. More tools for the box.

Great content. most people don’t realize they make themselves less mobile the more kit they put on. You are the only ones that have covered. Less is more in the civilian world.

Backpanels are good for hydration sources (CamelBak bladders) and food, meaning you should get a backpanel if you also plan on bringing a bladder, which should be always.

Wait, you guys have team-mates?

Everyone is a cool guy op till I’m 3 days late with the hot chow and water 🤣, now I’m the cool guy

Thanks for referencing old videos around 20 mins. I like seeing the graphics showing your information descended from where with that child/parent topic referencing.

I just sit on my couch with my 1911 and levergun. I wear a flannel, does that help me look more tactical? I call it my low speed high drag load out.

a conversation needs to be had for PID'ing friendly v foe

The most important piece of kit in my opinion that wasn't covered.. footwear.

As a TACP this the best breakdown I have seen. It also matches pretty closely how I have set up my Personal Kits over the past 15 years. I use: 1. The DA setup Crye JPC 2.0/ Ronin Belt / Eberlestock 3 day Assault 1. The Overwatch Setup Crye Cage/ VTAC belt / Mystery Ranch or LBT Ruck. 3. Recce or Long Range Strike Spirtus LBV / Haley Defense LBV/ Either Belt / Kafarau Ruck

First of all those handle bars have no streamers

Lol epic intro.

Loved this one. I feel like I started with the long range recon and survivability kit, then a battle load out, and into my low vis kit. For me low vis is the best because it’s the kit you have that matters the most. I don’t like fixed armor when you’re actually out and about it’s just so hot. I the best part of my low vis kit is a bulletproof backpack. As a dad with a baby and a pregnant wife the things I actually need the most are food, bottles, 1st aid, extra clothes, diapers, and wipes. Mine has a large pocket for the 3a panel where you can also fit a ruger 5.7 in holster with light and red dot, extra mags, a saw, a radio, a fixed blade, some emergency blankets, and panchos on a trip to gattlinburg in February. But I mix up what’s in there depending on what I’m doing.

You guys always speak that realness that why I’m glad to be following you. These guys are spitting……real facts

lets stop planning for the worst and go out and do something about this and make it better NOW, start with MASSIVE amount of praying together, when more than one believer prays God is with them.

Our government doesn’t think we should have body armor. We should have body armor.

It's super trippy to watch a random video and see a literal picture of me pop up @2:01. Took me by surprise

As a Civilian, I would model my gear after insurgent groups. Stay light with supply caches at different locations. Stay light be fast and as stealthy as possible and don't ever fight fair. Blend in with the population and have support people within the population.

25:35 nvg? you’re not gonna need that dude well be back in an hour.. 🤔 . Plates are going to be the biggest pain for people if you want green tip plates make sure it’s specified, a lot of lvl 3+ aren’t rated for m855/green tip. With mags combined weight can get insane. In Ukraine soft armor/soft with plates might be making a comeback due to so much h.e. Shrapnel. Whole weight vs protection wages on.

Just being a "military aged male" may be enough to put you on the radar or worse depending on the situation. Look into the three Islreali hostages that were obviously unarmed, shirtless, and waving a makeshift white flag in Gaza, due to tactics at that time, these three gentlemen were treated very unwell.

This has been so much fun, better than tournament casting. Please keep them coming.

Appreciate the honest thorough review of this topic

Not first!! 🎉🎉🎉(Where the heck am I!!!) 🇨🇦

airsoft banger best part of kit

Always a lesson in common sense and reality whenever you two put out a video. Thank you!

Appreciate the info, and that you aren’t gear salesman. Cheers guys!

Yes another post from Lucas Botkin and Brock from seal team

I live in what is already considered an occupied territory. It's extremely urban, and I'm most likely the only person in a 5 mile radius with the capability and determination to do work. I highly, HIGHLY recommend if this sounds similar to you that you exclusively look at low-vis as your main priority. You will have to procure items after hit and runs where you still need to disappear into a crowd or urban area. Anything that makes you stand out cuts your successful exfil down to one, maybe two missions. It's better to have a couple of reliable but cheap firearms, a Jansport with some mags and a water bottle, and some masks/balaclavas, and spend the most of your money on outfits, training, and ammo for continuous missions

Just $2c If you're running celphones, remember there are apps that let you run radio-like communication, and are compatible with bluetooth headsets. That's probably trackable, but so are radios. Also if you're in a more ~ fashionable ~ state, look at streetwear fashion: cargo pants and oversize hoodies are the staple of the style.

Love the production quality and subtle humor!

The thing that bothers me the most is the cult of plate carriers. As an European, watching closely the war on Ukraine, for low vis civilian I would choose a soft armor covering more space of my body. Mostly because of the reality - 9mm and .45acp are waaaay more common than any rifle caliber, but also because of the antifrag perks. Q: But what about the rifle calibers? A: Rifles are most likely zeroed to 50 or 100 meters [european metric system] so most likely being shot below this distance as a civilian you'll get shot in stomach, groin, balls or legs, because not a single shooter would remember to aim higher and as 'low vis' you dont have armor on those parts either.

Great video, but weird scare-mongering "already going downhill" vibes, along with spooky music, nudges me away from watching more

This intro landed y’all a new fan

Good starting point on gear. Knowledge is power, and without it your gear is free stuff for the guy that has the knowledge. Looking unimportant is a Murphy’s law for a reason. Even as a soldier, I tailor my gear to the mission and what I learned in training with gear.