Sir,
Since I served as an NCO, 11B (Infantry, Ranger) for many years concertina wire (“C-Wire”) is something I am very used to working with. As with many skills and tasks concerning TEOTWAWKI, the tricks and short cuts can make things so much easier.
When deployed it is SOP that all vehicles have a roll of C-Wire. We tossed it on the hood and used it all the time, not to mention all the wire we set up around our outpost for physical security. Each squad was issued a pair of those fancy expensive leather gloves that has staples or metal rivets across the palm and fingers. The idea is the wire wont get caught in the skin, glove or whatever and you can let go easily. We all tried them and found they were only a little bit better than the gloves we wore all the time. One day our First Sergeant was with us and mentioned a good trick. He had us take engineer tape and then use 100 mph [“duct”] tape to tape a rock a bit smaller than a golf ball to the end. When I wanted to grab the C-Wire I just held onto the fabric of the engineer tape and tossed the rock into the wire. I then had a good way to hold and move the wire and let go. We ended up just leaving the thing in the wire till we were done and wanted to collect out wire and leave. Another trick is to discard the retaining wire that comes from the factory. Get a good wire coat hanger and use that instead. You can then put the roll back into a collapsed position easier and faster with this longer wire. It also works good as a pull handle when you need to run to position your wire. Shaking the wire as you try and pull it out or collapse it also makes working with it easier. Some people will try to undo every individual catch-up. This takes time and is not needed. Just pull and shake! You should remember not pull the wire out as far as it will go. This makes the gaps in between individual strands very wide. Also, what makes the wire work so well is that when something gets caught in it there is movement causing the prey to become more tangled. If the C-Wire is pulled tight there is less movement. A few moments of the razors caching and re-catching should talk any normal person out of continuing their approach.
And remember, if someone were to cut the wire in just a few locations the entire line of protection can be opened enough for a truck to pass by just pulling on one side, C-Wire if a continuous part. You should use strand wire also to slow down any breech. American Battle drills don’t work as well in other countries for this very reason!
Lastly, one of the most useful things C-Wire can do is stop a truck! I know people don’t think so but running over a strand of this stuff will stop most civilian vehicles. The tires just love pulling the wire into the hub, axle and other parts. It wont stop the cars inertia but will render the car or truck unable to keep going. Just put the wire out with enough stand off to allow the wire time to get caught up into the vehicle. Have a good New Year and keep the info coming! – J.D.J.