Hi James,
I followed a link that you recently posted: Matt Bracken: Night Fighting 101. Matt Bracken wrote a fine article. He is correct that the deer hunter that proceeds to his hunting area in the dark has already approached quite a lot of what he suggests.
I would like to suggest this concerning chain link fences. Having assembled perhaps 800 feet of chain link fence, I learned how to break it in two and to reweave it together. If you have to separate a portion of chain link fence laying on the ground it is a snap. It is not under lateral tension and has no gravitational forces influencing it. Standing fence is more difficult but can be unzipped if you know how. All chain link fencing comes linked at the top and bottom in paired strands.
Each strand has a loop in the top and has that loop hooked into the adjoining strands loop.
To break a fence you must unhook the loops at the top and the bottom.
Doing so allows you to use the very top piece of the strand you choose as a crank.
Matt Bracken suggests you cut the fence and remove the strand. This is very difficult to do if you cut off the top strand especially if the fence is under lateral pressure.
Repeated cutting is noisy. If you intend to replace the strand to hide the fact that the fence has been penetrated you will need the uncut strand to reweave it.
It is much easier to un-loop the top and bottom by use of a grasping tool to turn the strand.
The best tool without a doubt is a pair of Vise Grip Pliers
You can clamp it on and use it with gloves under cold or wet conditions.
Once clamped on the Vise Grip will not fall on the opposite side of the fence.
You will lose considerable time recovering it in the dark and could break the silence barrier alerting people.
After you clamp the Vise Grip on to the top strand you just turn the Vise Grip in a cranking motion and the strand will begin to come out.
On a 6+ft fence you will find that you soon cannot crank this long strand coming out standing on the ground.
You will have to remove the Vise Grip and reattach closer to the top of the fence.
Even then at some point you will soon have 3,4 or 5 feet of wire making a big circle above you and arching down in a big curve.
It will catch on anything close especially tree and shrubbery branches.
You will need a second person to catch it when it comes around each time or to untangle it.
You could severely injure a persons eye or give them a significant skin scratch with the whipping end.
Control that end by having some one to catch it.
Be sure to carry out these operations with a good set of gloves on. Fencing of all types and tools will eat your hands up quickly. Avoid wounds that could impair you during the next 48 hours.
Better to remove tree branches before or select a spot in the fence that is entirely clear of woody obstructions.
As you remove the wire the other option is to just cut off 18 inches at a time.
But be sure to leave enough to clamp the Vise Grip onto each time.
If you decide to cut off the section being removed it can be cut into 4/5 pieces to use to wire the two ends back together again after you pass through.
This is a very simple maneuver to accomplish.
But only if you have the tools.
AND..if you have practiced this removal at night on a vertical fence under lateral pressure.
First do it in the daylight and then at night.
I believe that someone who has mastered this operation could unzip the fence put 10 people through it and have it put back together again in less than 15 minutes.
Putting it back in reverse order is really easy.
The first time you try it you will make every mistake you can.
That is the only way to break a chain link fence and reweave it, practice.
I have my doubts that a small block and tackle will lift the bottom of the fence as a useful method.
the top rails off the fence are not that strong.
Usually supporting line poles are 10 feet apart.
The top rail will bend downward and the bottom of the fence will come up 6 inches and you have left a very prominent bend mark on the fence that something happened at that point.
You want stealth and ease of penetration and crossing.
This method takes practice and is rather easy to do once you figure it out.
The best three tools for penetration of a fences are: (1. Fencing pliers
With these you can present your self prepared for barbed wire fences, chain link and wood fences.
Having your fencing pliers handles covered with electrical tape you could also handle some electrical wires. For that I have two sets of WWI-vintage insulated wire cutters marked 40KV.
The other item for crossing barbed wire fences is to have a piece of scrap rug 36 x 40 inches.
Place it over the fence to protect your clothing from being ripped.
Roll it up with cord or a strap and it is easy to carry.
Encountering chain link and wooden fences is more likely in urban areas.
Barbed wire fences in rural areas.
For gates an alternative is to consider a bolt cutter.
If you expect to have to cross many barbed wire fences perhaps a set of standard parallel-jawed 8 to 10 inch wire cutters would be considered.
Often called side cutters by some people.
Barbed wire is usually held to the posts with a soft straight line iron wire or an aluminum preformed clamp type wire.
The aluminum wire is larger in diameter but it is soft necessitating the larger size wire cutter.
Fences are perhaps the most formidable and most often encountered barriers.
If you are skedaddling, then many will be on the road or in the street.
They are the mullets that the sharks will find queued up and available for harvest.
You must make your trail across the barriers and stay off the roads in a skedaddle.
In a patrol mode you want to stay out of sight. Thus you must penetrate the fence or go under it.
Safety is what you get from pre-planning an exit or movement overland. Unplanned normal kind of exit will put you in the territory of the bad guys.
Carrying tools is heavy but being the recipient of a bullet, a machete to an extremity or a club to the head is even heavier.
Stealth and patience will get you to your goal.
Chance favors the prepared! – J.W.C.
Letter Re: Comments on Matt Bracken’s Night Fighting Primer
