"General Quarters"/Emergency HD Rig

[Claddagh]

Getting some flack from a few "friends" on FB after I mentioned that I keep an Emergency/HD rig prepared. When asked what that was and what it consisted of, I answered truthfully. "Paranoid" has been about the mildest epithet from the Pollyanna faction.

I put one together after reading one of "John Connor"'s columns in AH (American Handgunner) about a year ago. In it he pointed out several scenarios in which having all of your basic "General Quarters" gear assembled into a rig that you can just grab and put on instantly no matter how you're dressed (or not dressed) in the case of a home invasion or other emergency situation. Seemed entirely practical and reasonable to me, so I set about seeing what I could come up with right now.

Basically, I had an old GI pistol belt, a Bianchi military web holster, two-mag pouch and "H" suspenders already. I added a couple of GI surplus "Alice" gear pouches (Okay, so it's OLD stuff. But so am I, and I already had most all of it) for things like a cell phone, flash light, a "pepper blaster" and a couple of nylon cable ties long enough to be used as "handcuffs" if needed. I secured a GI surplus Ka-Bar to the right shoulder strap with parcord. As sort of an afterthought, I also got a mag pouch large enough to hold four 20 rd. spares for my stainless Mini-Thirty that can be clipped on when/if a situation warranted.

It is kept on hanging on the clothes rack on the inside of my bedroom closet door until bedtime, when it's placed on my nightstand.

Given the criticism I've received, I got to wondering whether there are any other INGOers with similar rigs, and what theirs might consist of. FWIW, I'm in the process of trying to locate a LH version of one of the "vest" type ready made outfits I've seen in some catalogs.

Anyone else out there as "paranoid" as I am?

 

[TaunTaun]

Just because you are paranoid does not mean that "they" are not out to get you.

 

[Kedric]

I think you will find out that many people who aren't wearing blinders or have their head stuck in the ground have some version of a Grab & Go / War Belt Rig / Minuteman harness. I know there have been discussions on this board about which belt to use, what pouches, etc.

I know I have not one but 2 such rigs, myself, as well as a Bug Out Bag!
If you don't have one of those , you don't qualify as "paranoid" yet, sorry.



I wouldn't worry about anyone who can't see what the state of the world is like criticizing you, however; when things do go down, guess who they will all be clamoring for?

 

[Cpt Caveman]

What do " FB " and " AH " stand for?

 

[threefiftyfour]

FB is face book

 

[jve153]

i dont have a "rig" per se. i do keep all my guns and respective magazines loaded. when i go to bed at night there is a shotgun in quick roll out of bed range.the nightstand has my 9mm with 5 extra mags loaded. the computer desk (w/o computer) has my .380 and 3 extras, along with the ar15 with a spare lying next to it. 4 more spares are in an over the shoulder mag pouch with an attached 17 shell carrier pouch on the shoulder strap. paranoid, not really, but in the unlikely event if something goes down, im ready to go. the truck has a 3 day supply of food and water (mostly chef boyardee and ramen) and my camping pack with firestarting materials, first aid, etc, etc.

 

[Westside]

amongst my family and myself, 4 homes have been lost to fire and 3 to severe weather. Keeping a bag/s with a few days worth of essentials is not a bad idea.

I don't prep for super volcanoes, coronal mass ejections, or Major civil unrest. right now I just prep for the clear and present dangers, severe weather, utility system failures (be they power, water, gas, etc), things of that nature. right now I am good for about a month my current goal is three months.

I don't plan to "bug-out" I plan to bug in and secure what I have.

 

[smokingman]

Why would you post such a thing on facebook to start with?

 

[CalebToNowhere]

This... Nobody needs to know what your preps are. They soon may wish to take them.

Why would you post such a thing on facebook to start with?

 

[Glock22c]

Just an idea and my opinion only
FB is not really a place to talk about those things
That's why you have INGO!
there is also the argument that the internet as a hole is not yge placec to talk about such things...

 

[Claddagh]

I mentioned "grabbing my emergency rig" in passing on a post concerning my having to stay up 'til the wee small hours of the morning because of the severe storms that were predicted to (and did) get here late last night "just in case".

A couple of folks asked what an "emergency rig" was and I answered. I'd ask that you take the fact that I don't have Facebook "friends" that I've never even met or who are "friends of friends" into consideration. These are all people whom I have known well or am related to in one way or another. That's why it sort of floored me when the flack started coming in.

Quite a few of them, to my certain knowledge, own and use firearms. Not surprisingly, none of the criticism came from any of these folks.

 

[SideArmed]

A couple of folks asked what an "emergency rig" was and I answered. I'd ask that you take the fact that I don't have Facebook "friends" that I've never even met or who are "friends of friends" into consideration. These are all people whom I have known well or am related to in one way or another. That's why it sort of floored me when the flack started coming in.

Quite a few of them, to my certain knowledge, own and use firearms. Not surprisingly, none of the criticism came from any of these folks.

Real simple way to end that conversation (with the ones giving you grief), just in turn ask them "So when someone breaks into your house in the middle of the night to rape and kill your family, what do you reach for?"

 

[fuzzbawl]

I'm personally working on building my own "GO" bag with not only weaponry but first-aid supplies, food, reference material (maps etc) and anything else I may need in an emergency situation to survive away from home for a week. I encourage anyone looking to build such a kit to include basic first-aid supplies in addition to a flashlight and radio. And don't forget the power may be out, so solar/battery/hand-crank power shouldn't be out of the question! And keep in mind if you have children and/or significant other that they should have such a kit as well. Between my wife and I we will carry enough provisions to keep us and the dog alive and bandaged up for at least a few days.

 

[SSGSAD]

Just an idea and my opinion only
FB is not really a place to talk about those things
That's why you have INGO!
there is also the argument that the internet as a hole is not yge placec to talk about such things...

^^^^^ AMEN to THIS ^^^^^ MHO ..... I don't do fb, and NEVER will .....

 

[churchmouse]

Answer to 1st question..Yes, but it is not just total paranoia. Chance favors the prepared mind (or something like that)
2nd, yes all my adult family members (immediate) have a BOB and tactical rigs. We can all be rolling in a short while if need be or hunkered down if need be.
The males all have a vest of their choosing for extra mags, K-Bar (or similar) extra carry pouches etc. These take the extra weight and spread it out over the body and mine actually acts as suspenders (old and a bit chubby) while holding a holster for a side arm.
Would only use this in worse case scenarios. With the BOB's we built up from reading these threads and the vests 72 plus hrs. is attainable. The woman have back packs that contain clothing and their needs. Nice system. We plan a 3 day camp out soon to test all of this. If nothing else it will be fun....cold but fun.....OOOORAH

 

[Claddagh]

@Glock22c & SSGSAD: My family and friends are scattered literally from coast to coast: New York state to Washington state and S.Dakota to Florida. Facebook made it possible to "reconnect" and stay in touch with many dear friends from my youth, my military service and members of my sizable extended family.

True, there are quite a few of them that I haven't seen "in person" for years. And since too many of our meetings over the past thirty-odd of those have been at someone's funeral, I like this way a whole lot better. YMMV.

We both (my wife and I) always keep a bag containing various emergency/"survival" gear and supplies in our vehicles. We also keep a sizable stash of essential "disaster" supplies in our home. Vanishingly few people (until now, that is) are aware of that. I may not be the sharpest pencil in the box in a lot of ways, but I am bright enough to not paint a big "bullseye" on our home by letting that info get around.

BTW: If anyone could point me to a place where I can find a good quality LH version of a semi-comprehensively equipped vest rig such as churchmose descibed, I'd be much obliged.

 

[buckstopshere]

OP - I don't personally have a fb account but I don't necessarily agree with others who are concerned about telling others your preps. The gear you described is a fairly minimal prep. Now, your 25k rds of 556, 15 ARs, 1 years worth of food may not be the best idea to post about but I think your actually helping your preps by informing others that you have some level of preparedness.

My best friends sister in law is a sheep through and through. She lives in St Louis and was in town last year and in the room while we were discussing some of our preps. She became very concerned and thought we had joined a militia! She went on about how the .gov will take care of us, blah, blah. We tried to educate her but she didn't listen. She thought we were paranoid.

Two weeks later she's calling saying that she asked a co-worker if they had ever heard of hit the fan. This co-worker goes into great detail on her and her husbands plan. She was shocked. Then she asked another and got a similar story. Now all the sudden, we aren't so crazy.

Point being, raising awareness can help others to wake up. The more people that wake up and start getting themselves prepared for whatever, the less we have to worry about them needing our preps. AND, if enough people wake up, perhaps we can stave off any political SHTF scenario.

Just my two cents.

 

[Glock22c]

OP - I don't personally have a fb account but I don't necessarily agree with others who are concerned about telling others your preps. The gear you described is a fairly minimal prep. Now, your 25k rds of 556, 15 ARs, 1 years worth of food may not be the best idea to post about but I think your actually helping your preps by informing others that you have some level of preparedness.

My best friends sister in law is a sheep through and through. She lives in St Louis and was in town last year and in the room while we were discussing some of our preps. She became very concerned and thought we had joined a militia! She went on about how the .gov will take care of us, blah, blah. We tried to educate her but she didn't listen. She thought we were paranoid.

Two weeks later she's calling saying that she asked a co-worker if they had ever heard of hit the fan. This co-worker goes into great detail on her and her husbands plan. She was shocked. Then she asked another and got a similar story. Now all the sudden, we aren't so crazy.

Point being, raising awareness can help others to wake up. The more people that wake up and start getting themselves prepared for whatever, the less we have to worry about them needing our preps. AND, if enough people wake up, perhaps we can stave off any political SHTF scenario.

Just my two cents.

Sharing with sheeple _ good
But we are talking about FB. Not in person.
Just be careful who you "expose your preps" to.
FB can be the sheepskin the wolves wear.

 

[DRob]

Facebook

I repeat: YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook are going to merge. The new version will be called You Twit Face.

 

[Claddagh]

I decided not to even respond to the critics, although it was highly tempting to put something like "Remember: When your life is at stake and every second counts, the police are only minutes away!" and let it go at that. As Ron White so succinctly put it: "You can't fix 'stupid'.".

As buckstopshere mentioned about his friend's SIL, the majority of them would seem to be suffering from either a bad case of wishful thinking or an overdose of "progressive" Kool-Aid. I can only hope that at least some of them will do some asking around and experience a similar epiphany.

Meanwhile, I still would sure appreciate a lead on that LH chest rig!