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Monthly Archives: May 2012

Dealing with the Heat

Posted on by Posted in First Aid, Security, Self Defense 3 Comments

I’m teaching a class this weekend and the temperature has shot up 10 degrees this week.  I was really hoping it would stay down in the 80s, so much for planning and hoping.  This post is to help you deal with the heat, especially if you aren’t always outside.

First of all I’m getting acclimated again.  I’m sitting outside right now typing instead if my air-conditioned house.  If you know you are going to be outside in the heat in a class or just for fun and you normally have an office job, go outside as much as you can.  You don’t have to sit outside and work all day, but eat your lunch outside, and after work do something outside.  A little bit goes a long way.  I’m working mostly outside today and tomorrow and will do a run tomorrow morning instead of the gym to get use to the heat.

Next and most important thing is hydrate.  Drink more water then you think necessary.  Most people live in a semi-dehydrated state, which is no big deal if you stay in an office and your air-conditioned house all the time.  I have a big bottle of water that I will finish by the time this post is done.  Keep a full glass or bottle next to you for the three days before you will be in the heat.  It takes your body three days to get completely hydrated.

If you want a measurement of how much water, think a gallon a day.  Eight 8-ounce glasses is so you can function sitting behind you computer all day.  If you do anything else you need more.  The way to know if you are hydrated or not is by your bathroom schedule.  If you are totally hydrated you should be going to the bathroom about once every hour.  If you can’t remember the last time you had a bathroom break, you are probably dehydrated.  A quick (kind of gross way) to tell if you are hydrated or not is look at your urine color, generally the more yellow the color, the more you are dehydrated.  Keep drinking water until your urine looks clear.

You also need to lay off the soda (like none), cut out energy drinks, cut way back on the caffeine, and limit your alcohol to a drink or less a day.  I have to admit I have no problem without soda and alcohol, but I love my Monster Energy drinks.  If you must have an indulgence, drink more water.  I drank a Monster this morning and will drink an extra bottle of water.  If you are going to drink something that isn’t good for you, you should drink one for one of water to indulgence on top of the gallon you should be drinking today already.  So I will drink about 1.5 gallons today because of the Monster and I went to the gym.  Yes it’s kind of pain….hold on I have to go to the bathroom… okay I’m back.  Yes it’s a pain that you have to go to the bathroom all the time but the alternative is to go to the hospital for a heat injury, get sick, or just have a lousy day.  Going to the bathroom every hour is much easier.

When you are packing to go out into the heat, take at least a gallon of water.  Even if someone says there will be water there, just buy a $.99 jug and put it in the car.  If you don’t need, you lost a buck.  If you need it, it will be the difference between having a good time and getting sick.  Also don’t forget the sunscreen, bug spray, sunglasses, and hat.  Even if you normally don’t wear any of these, they will all make your day more enjoyable and the heat more bearable.  Just remember to put them all on before you leave the house.  Then put more sunscreen and bug spray on throughout the day.

Tomorrow we’ll talk about ways to stay cool when you are in the heat.

Stay Safe, and drink water,

Ben

Racial Profiling

Posted on by Posted in Security, Self Defense, TravelSec 4 Comments

This is completing politically incorrect, but when it comes to saving yourself and family from violence you are probably like me and don’t care about being politically correct.  I care about keeping my family safe.  I define racial profiling as just profiling.  I profile people by the their appearance, how they act, how they dress, and the environment they are in.  Skin color is really not a factor and only means something if they are in the wrong area.

In California I lived in a low-income part of Orange County, predominately Mexican immigrant area and highly infested with gang members (no one isn’t an effect of the other).   I think my roommate and I were 2 of 4 white people in the neighborhood.  It didn’t bother us at all.  They left us alone and we left them alone.  In fact, the culture was great.  It had some of the best food in the city and produce was locally grown and sold out of the back of trucks on our street.

The one dirt bag (career criminal) that came through the area was a rich white guy.  He drove a brand new bright red Ferrari, had a $2,000 suit and the locals held parking spots for him.  While he was inside one of the local gang members would guard his car.  I called the cops a couple times, but they never could do anything about it.  My wife joking called him Daddy Warbucks hoping that it wasn’t what it looked like.

Profiling shouldn’t have the negative connotations that it does, you should use it to keep you safe.  In self defense you are looking for the person that are out of place for that area.  Look at dress, mannerism, attitude, and the person’s actions.  Does that person fit where you are? Then look at what that person is paying attention to.  If the person is out of place and he is paying attention to you, you may have a problem.

Next time you are out look at the people around you.  There is a culture (for lack of better word) everywhere you go.  Even your local Walmart will have it’s own feel.  People will dress a certain way, look a certain way, and have mostly the same attitude.  Don’t believe me?  Go to your local Walmart and then go the next closest one.  If you are paying attention you’ll see the difference.  Pay attention to the culture of the area you are in and look for that person that is out of place.  As you go through life, pay attention to the culture around you and then look for those people that are out of place.  Very few criminals truly blend into their environment, mostly because they don’t care to.  After you practice it for a little while it will become second nature and you will notice things and people that you didn’t before.  It makes life more interesting.  Try it the next time you go out.

Stay Safe,

Ben

 

When an Attack Begins

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At what point are you actually under attack?  At what point should you react?  You are under attack as soon as someone does something you don’t want.  You should react as soon as possible.  I’m not talking about violence, at first, I mean use avoidance tactics to get away.

I’ll use an example from my own life when I was in college and living at home.  It was the middle of the day and I was home alone.  The day before I had a salesman come to the door that just wouldn’t take no for an answer.  I finally slammed the door in his face.  About the same time, there was another knock on the door and I stupidly (now I wouldn’t even answer the door) answered the door.  It was another salesman and he wanted in to show me something or another.  I told him no and he insisted.  When I tried to close the door, he stuck his foot in the door so I couldn’t close it.  I had done something right before answering the door and picked up a combat knife on the way to answer.  I had been holding it behind my back while we were talking.  I showed him the knife and said you aren’t coming in.  He removed his foot and I closed the door.

Looking back there are about a million things I could have done better, but I was just out of high school and didn’t know better.  But it did work and I never heard from him again.  I should have called the cops too, but didn’t.

So in this case, at what point was I actually under attack?  I was never physically under attack, but an attack had started.  This person may or may not have meant me any ill will, but he did violate my personal space and had started a personal attack against me.  I would say even before he stuck his foot in the door he started his attack when he refused to hear the word “no.”

I think when someone refuses to leave you alone when you tell them no, you are at the beginning of an attack and should recognize it for what it is.  You can’t punch someone or pull your gun on them, but you should realize that you could be in danger and should react.

First, dig down deep and find that command voice your parents used on you when you did something wrong (or you use on your kids), and tell that person no, leave.  Normally they will say something about you being a jerk as they leave.  It’s the reaction you want if you are going to be attacked.

If the person still persists, you know that person is up to no good.  If you are in a public place with people around, start yelling for help.  Yelling something like, “Help call 911, call the police this guy is attacking me!”  Unfortunately, in today’s society the likelihood that someone will actually help you is going down drastically, so you can’t count on actual help.  What you are trying for is to get the attacker to leave you alone.  Most people don’t want any attention and will hopefully leave.

If that doesn’t work, start thinking escape.  Push the person to the ground and run.  If you are at your door like I was, push them outside and close the door.  Then call the cops.  If you use any physical force, you need to call the cops.  Being the first one to call helps.  At this point you can also think about displaying a weapon, taking a fighting stance, or telling the person you have a weapon and will use it.  If you do this you also need to call the police even if the person just runs off.

If all this doesn’t work, have no doubt, you are being attacked.  You need to respond in kind and use that force which is reasonable and necessary to end the attack.  Then get out of there and call the police.

Stay Safe,

Ben

Memorial Day

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Today I sit and remember those who have come and gone before me and those that will continue to come and go.  Take a moment to remember those who haven’t come home fighting for our country.  Also remember those that have fallen here at home.  I’ve been very lucky.  Even-though I have tons of friends deployed throughout the world with our military, law enforcement, and as private contractors I haven’t lost many close friends, only one.

Officer Daniel Ackerman died in the line of duty, July 2011.  I met him almost 20 years ago while I was in high school.  We both volunteered as Police Explorers in California.  I went on to become a Marine he went on to become a SWAT Cop.  We trained together for years on the range and in the gym.  We planned for years to go on a Bear Hunt in Alaska together.  We never made it.  He is survived by his mother, sister, and two year old daughter.  We all miss him.

Here is a video my church put together about our Fallen citizens.

Stay Safe,

Ben

 

Memorial Day

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Two days ago I was on the road and stopped at another town in the middle of nowhere at another truck stop.  It’s my life, I travel for the company I work.  But I ran into an old veteran.   He had a Vietnam hat on that looked 20 years old and a Santa Clause beard with just a little less gut.  All the guys that served and died in Vietnam have a special place in my heart.  Even-though I wasn’t even born yet, I still feel horrible for the way they were treated.  And really that was our worst fear going to Iraq.   It wasn’t dying, losing, or messing up, it was that our country would turn it’s back on us after we did what it asked of us.  So now I try to thank every Vietnam vet for what they did and apologize for the way we as a country treated them.

On this Memorial Day, take a minute and thank all those that are gone.  Over our country’s short history, hundreds of thousands have died to make it what it is today.  Just remember the price that was paid on this day, thank a vet because they deserve it, go out of your way to find and thank a Vietnam vet, and have your BBQ and fun.

Stay Safe,

Ben

PS Thank you to all those vets out there, and especially those from Vietnam.