Some of the principles of guerrilla tactics are continued:
Abstract Attack
This is the art of attacking under conditions that seem unfavorable in the enemy’s eyes. Poor weather and/or terrain can be an advantage for the guerrilla warrior. Also, attacking when the opposing force is sleeping, worn down, or resupplying is advantageous. Sabotaging enemy soldiers’ resources is a very effective way to stun and demoralize troops. Another “abstract attack” is to convince weaker enemy soldiers that they are safer or better off fighting along side you rather than against you. This allows you to grow your numbers while diminishing the enemy’s. It also gives you the opportunity to have a “double agent”, serving in the opposing squad. Keep in mind that “double agent” use can go both ways and that your own “double” may be there for sabotage against your troops or to give you misinformation.
When recruiting combatants from the enemy force, make sure to take appropriate measures to “re-educate” the recruit by white washing their erroneous beliefs that the enemy leadership implanted and then upload the information you want ingrained in them. This needs to be done on three levels of consciousness.
- Level one is the conscious mind, which needs to be stripped down with interrogation techniques.
- Level two is the subconscious mind, which needs to be implanted upon at an instinctual basis in the subject.
- Level three is the habitual mind, which needs to be evoked through repetition and recitation.
Once these three levels have been correctly induced in the individual, a reasonable degree of trust may be assumed for the new recruit.
Use this same context in your own survival training and prepping. This means you must educate yourself on the target subject you are studying, make it a part of your natural way of thinking, and completely absorb it. (It helps to connect pleasant feelings with the course of study.) Then practice and repeat successes in training. Discard what is of little use, and narrow your focus on the important or lacking areas in your training.
Hide and Fight in The Shadows
There is a lot to be said about camouflage. Knowing how to use natural and synthetic materials to camouflage yourself, group, or equipment can mean the difference between freedom or capture and life or death. There is more to it than the uninitiated might think. Take into account your surroundings, time of year, type of animals in the area, and disguising the human form. Those concerns merely scratches the surface. Learn how to make natural camo paints for your face and body if in the wilderness. In an urban environment, use garbage instead of foliage as cover, and stay in the places others are afraid to go.
Camouflage is not just physical! Learn how to camouflage your plans and preps with rebuttals to questions commonly asked by prying outsiders. Deciding who knows your prepping strategies and who doesn’t should be entirely under your control. Hiding what you have and your full intent will make you far less of a target.
Use darkness, whether at night or in the shadows of daylight, for infiltration purposes and to attack enemies. Combined with an abstract attack, this method is extremely effective. If you have ever been standing out in the dark and saw something moving in the shadows, you know how fear can be amplified in darkness. Imagine a very fast, random attack bursting out of those same shadows. It’s an absolutely devastating combat technique. Keep these tactics in mind for home defense in a complete SHTF scenario.
Speaking of Combat
There are simple, cost-efficient, and effective solutions to getting nearly everyone the training and equipment that is needed for an individual, family, or group to intensively engage in combat. When it comes to unarmed hand-to-hand combat, there are a few simple, easy to learn, and highly effective systems available. Krav Maga is one example of these types of systems; KAPAP is another. These systems are designed to give the student the ability to enter into a combat situation and survive. One of the main objectives of these martial science systems is for the student to be able to use these skills immediately after being taught them, becoming proficient in a very short amount of time. There are plenty of ways to get this training very cheap and in several cases for free, and you can actually learn the method via video fairly well, and then keep up with the training. Then you become responsible for your safety, as opposed to relying solely on others.
By The Book
Books are good items to store for both a short- and long-term survival situation. They can be used for information, entertainment, barter, and in educating and occupying children. Other uses include for coded communications or to leave messages within a group or family. Books can also make an excellent armor when several rows are stacked front to back against a wall or stuffed inside the body of an automobile. Don’t forget, a soft bound book can be used as body armor against the walking dead (as seen in some popular Zombie movies and shows).
When it comes to books that have information that the Guerrilla practitioner can use for “on the cheap ways” to make several types of weapons, armor, gadgets, strategies, gain combat skills, chemistry and no budget-on the fly techniques used by spies, soldiers, and specialists, The Poor Man’s James Bond is an excellent resource for these and many more subjects related to survival and sustainability. This series written by Kurt Saxon is four volumes of collected knowledge and wisdom handed down from master tradesmen, smith’s, operatives, alchemists, chemists, and combat-hardened instructors; it’s all combined to give the reader a “black bag of tricks”. These are the skills that will allow a well practiced student of the series to have the ways and means to lead or create an effective Guerrilla attack for brief or prolonged periods of time. I have found the Poor Man’s James Bond Volumes to be well thought out, realistic, and user friendly, making for a power house and unique tool in my toolbox.
“My Way is Elemental, My Weapons Are Everything That Exists” -Unknown (Ancient Martial Art Creed)
Weapons are all around you but can you use them? From batteries (set dead ones aside for this purpose) to pocket change, many objects can be used in hand-to-hand combat to effect your survival. There are many good survival combat instructors spread across the world who are ready to teach their style. As a part of martial science programs, like the ones I mentioned earlier, the student is taught how to use any and all weapons available to eliminate the threat. Specific drills and techniques are utilized to train the mind to see all the possibilities around and yet decipher and execute an attack quickly and efficiently. As part of the training process, the extraordinary power of “situational visualization” is ingrained in the student, developing a sense of awareness they hadn’t had before and using muscle memory to speed the reflexes, ease the “panic response” when under attack, and create a condition of natural pro-action when responding to an enemy combatant.
As far as acquiring weapons is concerned, if you are on an extremely tight or no budget, take the latter approach and start out at ground level. If a kitchen knife is the only weapon you have available, learn to wield it like a ninja and become proficient enough that you can teach others.
A baseball bat, golf club, railroad spike, hammer, umbrella, and a broom are some common items that you can learn to be deadly with. If you have these items, learn how to use them as instruments of war. A bottle of alcohol or other highly combustible liquid can be made into a weapon. See, we already have an arsenal and we haven’t even gotten to the guns. Make no mistake, an entire war can be waged with improvised weapons.
If it is feasible for you to get a gun, there are several resources for “bomb proof” yet affordable firearms. There are articles on this site, as well as other reliable resources on the web, that cover the gambit of information that’s out there about getting firearms on a budget. Also, there are free courses designed to teach youth how to shoot and hunt. Sometimes these courses are run just by an individual in the area. Ask around and take advantage of opportunities like these. Every little bit helps.
A Final Thought
Survival as a whole is rarely looked at with the guerrilla mentality. By studying these and other unconventional techniques, one may broaden their survival spectrum and see that there are many angles and perspectives possibly not considered before. My advice, even if you choose not to use this method in your survival practice, is to be aware of this mentality if only in others. It may save your life.