Gundata Bug Out Bag.

            A friend directed me to the following article on the contents of a Bug-out Bag. I though it might be useful to examine it with “Uncle Phil’s List”. Below are the items arranged in the categories and some suggestions and observations of my own.

Shelter (Sleeping, Clothing).
            The only real shelter item on the list was a small waterproof tarp. It may be prudent to include some spare clothing since theoretically you may have to grab your bug-out bag while wearing only what you are standing up in, be it day or night. Perhaps a spare bag with boots and travelling clothes can be placed nearby to by grabbed if needed. In the bugout bag itself a blanket is able to serve both as clothing and bedding. Items such as gloves and hats are useful to protect the extremities from the extremes. A large bandanna or shemagh can serve a number of useful functions. A natural disaster often means bad weather so waterproof clothing is useful too.

Fire
            Waterproof matches and butane lighter(s). You might as well throw in a candle or two. They are good for getting fires going as well as illumination.

Water
           A means to purify water but also ways to carry water. A bottle or so of preboiled water should be in the bag to keep you going until you find a new water source.

Food Supplies, Hunting/Fishing, Cooking.
           Food suggested was Peanut Butter or Power Bars. Either are high calorie, can be stored for extended periods and can be consumed without cooking or heating. A number of alternatives may be chosen instead. Regular readers of the blog will know that I have experimented with pinole. A basic means of cooking such as a metal canteen cup would also be prudent. This item can also be used to pasteurize suspect sources of drinking water. A basic fishing kit is worth including since it takes up very little room and the items can be useful for other purposes.

First Aid (Medication, Washkit, Hygiene)
           The article suggests the bag carry a Small First Aid Kit and some personal hygiene items too. Personal medication might come under “last minute items” that are added to the bag just before use. Hygiene items would be at the very minimum a spare toothbrush and a bar of soap. A supply of feminine hygiene items should also be included if there are female members of your party. Such items can also be used as field dressings and tinder. Toilet paper can prove useful too.

Tools (rope, repairs, money)
           The author of the article suggests carrying some paracord, which is good advice. My kit contains a long hank of it tied Hojo-jitsu style. He also repeats the often seen advice of replacing your bootlaces with paracord. This isn’t going to give you a lot of paracord and it is unclear how you keep your boots on if you need paracord! I’d also include a bundle of more basic string in the bag too to conserve the paracord for jobs than need its abilities. Duct tape is also suggested and have numerous uses. (perhaps you can tape yourself into your boots when you need some paracord!). Some needles and synthetic thread take up little room and cost little so are worth adding.

            An interesting suggestion is to include a small roll-up tool kit in the bag, about the size of a toilet roll. This can be used for repairing vehicles or liberating needed supplies. A small crowbar would be a useful addition to this kit. The author of the article suggests the bag contain a Swiss army knife or “good quality” multi-tool. My personal inclination is towards the former (I actually carry one on my person all the time but this list is on what to put in the Bug Out Bag). Multi-tools tend to be expensive and often heavy. In reality a good pair of insulated pliers included in the tool kit is cheaper and more capable.

Personally I would make sure a bug-out bag also includes a larger blade such as a kukri, short machete, tomahawk or golok. When you need shelter or fire you often need them in a hurry and a good cutting tool can make a lot of difference.

Disasters often bring out the best in people and encourage them to help their neighbours. Or sometimes it doesn’t! Thus the bug out bag includes a defensive pistol in locations where such things are legal and the owner is properly training in their use. The final “tool” is a supply of money.

Navigation
           Maps and Compass. GPS is nice, but you need a map and compass too, and the knowledge of how to use them for when it decides not to work.

Signalling
            Signalling equipment includes at least one flashlight. Bombproof, waterproof “tactical” survival torches are very nice. A flashlight should not be too heavy or bulky and ideally should be an item that works without batteries. Hand-cranked LED lights can be found for just a few dollars and are fine for an emergency kit. Some have capacitors in them so you do not have to crank them continuously.

An AM-FM portable radio or scanner can provide useful information in times of trouble. Like the flashlight this is ideally hand-crank powered and not too large or bulky.

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Working Harder to be Lazy!

            Since my last blog post was rather poignant today’s will be in a much lighter vein. This made a friend of mine laugh a lot so I might as well pass it on.

            The other day I was entering an Underground station. There is a large staircase going down one level and beside it there is a lift. Ahead of me is a man already about a quarter to a third of the way down the stairs. He suddenly realizes that someone has called the lift and the door has opened. He reverses direction and rushes back up the stairs to try and get in the lift!

            I continued my leisurely descent down the stairs and noted at the bottom the individual had yet to emerge for the lift. He had actually used more energy trying to get in the lift than it would have taken him to continue down the stairs, only to travel down even slower.

            One of the dumbest things I have seen in some time, which is saying something!

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Great Ultimate Erle Montaigue

Decades ago I became interested in Tai Chi. The World Wide Web and Google was still in the future so a friend and myself headed into Chinatown to see if I could find any books on the combat uses of Tai Chi. In one store I came across a small book called “How to Use Tai Chi as a Fighting Art” by Erle Montaigue. Pretty much what I was looking for and "did what it said on the label", as they say. Some parts of that book at the time I did not understand, while others had a far greater impression on me that I then realised.

 

A decade or so passes and I am inspired to write a book about self-defence and common principles found in various martial arts. While I am researching various aspects of this I discover Erle Montaigue’s website. I suddenly realize that a lot of what I have written about principles behind self defence have come from Erle’s book. Rereading the book again I see that many of the passages that previously I did not understand are describing concepts and conclusions that I had arrived at by other routes. Also on Erle’s website was the text of several other of his early books. As I read through these I realise that they could be combined to form a more comprehensive book on Tai Chi and Pa Kua.

 

I emailed Erle and explained that inadvertently my book had a lot more of his ideas in it than I had realised. Erle had nothing but encouragement for me and I ended up adding a very useful section on Long Har Chuan to the book. An occasional correspondence ensued, with Erle always willing to answer questions and offer encouragement. During this time I took the text of the books that I had found on his website, combined them and wrote some text to bring the various parts together. Erle took this rough work, turned it into a PDF and placed it on the website as a free “Tai Chi Compilation” book. At the time this was a side project for both of us so he never got around to adding the photos referred to in the text. Things got a bit garbled too. Erle labelled some of the text that I had written as his own and some of his comments as made by me. I consider this something of a compliment and an indication that some of my interpretation was on the right track.

 

 

Erle continued to provide encouragement with my own book, suggesting several publishers that might be interested. The book acquired some useful passages on Tai Chi based combat and a sizeable and detailed section on Dim-mak using my own system for locating points. A pleasant surprise was when Erle volunteered to write a foreword for my book. Erle was also an ex-wrestler so I was pleased he considered my section on ju-jitsu worthy of special mention.

 

For a number of reasons it was some time before my book was finally published in mid-2011. I emailed Erle to tell him the good news only the receive a reply from his son informing me Erle had been suddenly taken from his family that January. Today is Australia day, the anniversary of Erle’s death.

 

I have heard that some elements of the Tai Chi community took exception to Erle. Erle was a plain speaking Aussie who had some strong opinions about some of the courses modern Tai Chi had taken. Many people are not even aware that Tai Chi is a martial art. It is largely thanks to Erle that many people now know better and know that Tai Chi is a potent fighting art. My own experience was of a man who was both generous and encouraging. He made a big impression on the world while he was in it and I believe the effect he had was beneficial.
 

Thank you Erle.

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Spears; One Handed.

            The other week I saw a photo of a model of an ancient warrior holding a spear. A familiar image but this time something about it got me thinking. I don’t have the particular picture but the drawing below shows the same pose in the left figure.

            What occurred to me was this. Why is the warrior holding the spear in the middle? Why carry a spear eight or nine feet long and only use four foot of its reach? Some of you will have said “for balance” and I will deal with that in a moment. Note that when the fighter holds his spear single handed in this way about a metre projects behind him. Ancient warriors often fought in close formations so the length of spear behind a warrior is going to be a hindrance to the rank behind. Often the butt of a spear was fitted with a spike such as the “sauroter “(lizard killer) used on some Greek spears and this would prove a real hazard to the ranks behind.

            My favourite way to use a fighting staff is for my rear hand to grip it about a foot from the butt. This gives me a length of material below my hand to defend or attack with which is not so long that it cannot be moved past my torso in certain movements. Since the staff is a long homogenous cylinder this grip point is nowhere near the balance point. The staff is mainly used two-handed but some moves just use the rear hand. This is practical because when I make such moves the bottom part of the staff presses up against my forearm above, counterbalancing the greater length of the forward part.

            I don’t know any ancient spearman but I do have a friend who was a pikeman in English Civil War re-enactments. I ran some ideas past him. One thing I learnt was the balance point of a Civil War era 16 foot pike was a third of the way up from the butt. Grasping at this point it should be possible to hold the pike single handed at chin level. Given how pikes were used it is logical their balance point should be more towards the user. My friend also observed that my five foot fighting staff was actually heavier than many longer spears. He also observed that pikes and indeed many spears had their shafts tapered towards the head.

            Unless the head fitted was very heavy tapering a spear shaft would shift its balance point rearward. We know that some spears such as those of the Persians were fitted with counterweights at the butt. Fittings such as the sauroter may have had an additional role in adjusting the spear’s balance. There are therefore a number of techniques a spear maker could use to construct a spear that could be wielded while gripped closer to the butt end. In Cowper’s book “The Art of Attack” he mentions spears with a swelling or other arrest near their butt and describes that these were so the spear was not lost when darted through the hand to provide more reach. It is obvious from this that spears were sometimes gripped below their middle.

            Gripping a spear about a cubit from its butt would give more reach and allow comrades behind to fight with less hindrance and hazard. Rearward ranks could also move closer to the forward ranks so be able to offer more support to the forward warriors.

            Here is a video on the single handed use of spears.

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