E-Mail 'Perspectives on Patrolling- Part 2, by J.M.' To A Friend

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1. I see this article “straying” into a fiction/parody of reality. Kind of a militia/”one second after” kind of projection. For example the author suggest that “contact specialists” in jeans and a shirt should walk ahead so as not to scare the citizens. Then suggests that this specialist carry camo clothing including a camo mesh suit. Seriously? Step away from the camo! Even in a full SHTF situation I can only see full camo as attracting unwanted attention.

   It is damned near impossible for half a dozen men or more to “gear up” and “patrol” without attracting attention. The “uniform” absolutely assures you will attract attention. I would rethink some of this with the goal being to fit in not stand out.

2. I believe you’ll need to tailor your approach to the situation and location. For example, where I live here in New England there are lots of heavily forested areas and I can walk for miles without leaving them. Wearing some appropriate camo clothing would reduce the chances of being spotted if I need to perform some reconnaissance without being seen.

3. I would argue that the decision as to whether or not to employ camouflage uniforms depends a lot on the situation and location. I live in New England, and there’s a lot of heavily wooded areas, so I can walk around for hours and never leave the woods. If I wanted to run a recon patrol and minimize my chances of being seen, some basic woodland camouflage would help a lot.

4. Being a New Englander as well except living in the city , camo would definitely stick out although one doesn’t have to travel far to find large sections of wooded area.

   We have the opportunity to relocate just 12 miles outside of the city to a suburban area. One area of the town is boarded by an old army base since donated to the state as a park and another large Recreational Park area on the other side of town.

   These act as natural buffers to the undesirables in the surrounding areas however would become infiltration points for such riff-raff. Having some camo to blend in while observing bad guys moving into your AO is not a bad idea.

   Getting your neighbor Joe six-pack on board ? Well , that’s another story.

5. As a child I remember the Scrooge McDuck comic and in it were the bad guys; the Beagle boys. They looked the part and always wore an eyemask. Silly stuff.

   Here is the problem with full camo; you look the part. You may look perfect out in the woods during bowhunting season but otherwise you look para-military and attract attention which is the exact opposite off the purpose of wearing camo. Every now and then some perp gets arrested wearing some kind of disguise and the police who have a sense of humor will take pictures of them in their disguise which makes them look, well pretty foolish. If you are in full camo you will look pretty foolish not to mention attract everyone’s attention. If you are in a group all in full camo than simply multiply that bad effect by the number of your group.

   There are alternatives. Dark, not all black clothing. Not matching as in black shirt, pants, hat and jacket. Not all grey or all khaki either. Wear what most people in your area would wear at that time of year but in more muted tones. If you are in the city you could wear greys and browns. If you are in the country/woods you could wear browns and greens. If you are in the desert you could wear browns or tans. Also if you are in a group wear different things.

   Just an aside; where we live there are about half a dozen Mormon missionary pairs around and you will see them walking, sometimes biking on the street or in restaurants. They stand out; tie, black pants, white shirt and a black or dark jacket (not suit jacket). Don’t get me wrong, not dissing them, in fact the opposite they are always great people and I respect them for their efforts. Just a good example on how to stand out vs not stand out.

   Where I live most men where jeans or khakis. Most women too. A simple shirt or sweatshirt and a light jacket in poor weather. Most guys wear a baseball hat. The last 100 people that passed me in the last few days dressed like this I could nnot tell you anything about them. However the girls in pink and blue hair stand out as does that poor young lady weighing about 400 lbs wearing short shorts yesterday. As do the last two sightings of Mormon missionaries. In my local Safeway management is on a spruce up effort probably to better deal with the local Walmart store. They all wear dark slacks, white shirt, dark tie and a jacket. I can spot them a mile away. If there are two or three or four I know they are all together. Now this is fine for Safeway management types but it is the death knell for a group trying to be covert.

   Honestly, not intended to offend, it would be smarter to dress like Dumber and Dumber in the movie than to wear camo or anything even approaching a uniform. dress like a slouch/slob. Maybe one guy dresses like a homeless/hobo, one dress like a retiree having coffee with friends, another dress like a nerd, another like a 20 something high school dropout looking to buy some pot. Dress down, wear muted colors, intentionally dress different from the others in your group, carry cheap Walmart backpacks vs the latest GI OD pack with all the neat stuff on it. Don’t dress like a Marine patrol.

6. I appreciate all of the comments. I would argue that whether or not wearing camo makes any sense depends a lot on your situation and location. There’s a lot of heavily wooded areas where I live, and if I wanted to run a recon patrol just to collect intel and not be seen by or interact with anyone, wearing camo would make a lot of sense. On the other hand, if we plan on making contact with folks we come across dressing more casually would be a better approach.

7. Patrolling with deterrence as objective will benefit from wearing a uniform of some kind. If reconnaissance is the objective, blend in with the environment and avoid the unfriendly element. Use force multipliers.

   Consider a different purpose: recovering livestock.

   One aspect that might be contentious in scheduling patrols is taking the moon phase into account and also seasonal, monthly and weekly crime trends in a prolonged breakdown.

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