Prepare for TEOTWAWKI and when SHTF by playing Airsoft

I've recently started participating in airsoft games again. It's an activity I used to enjoy a lot back when I was still in college.

I was so into the game that I reached a point where I spent a small fortune on a few rifles (a bolt action sniper rifle, a replica m4a1, an mp5 for CQB and a spetnatz), a few handguns ( the mandatory colt .45 pistol, a Glock and a revolver for showing off) and full military suits (a lot! For different situations, although I favored my black out suit the most). I also had a few plastic knives to complete the over-all appearance.

  

 Back then, playing this game was a bit restrictive due to the high cost of buying the guns. Marui was the only one providing guns then and they were really able to command a high price for their guns. And then the knock offs started arriving and everyone and his mother was playing.

It was at this time that I stopped. It wasn't because I was annoyed that the seeming exclusivity of the game was gone. It's just that a lot of undisciplined players started appearing on the field and was basically ruining the game.

                                       

The honesty system disappeared and rampant gunsmithing brought the FPS levels upwards from the usual 350 to 500 and beyond.

                                      

(Although, I am guilty of having my sniper rifle smithed up to 720 fps...)

There were a lot of zombies on the field (for those who don't know: zombie is the term used for an airsoft player who has obviously been hit by an opponent and yet refuses to acknowledge he is out).

                                      

I almost got into a few real world fist fight scenarios with a few zombies because of that.

And because that would ruin the game more for me and for the people around me, I decided to hang up my guns and move on.

----

So here I am again almost 15 years after I last played and I'm getting the same adrenaline rush from the game.

Now why would I even talk about a game here? Isn't this about prepping?

Well, yeah. If you really think about it, playing the game of airsoft can help your prepping skills in terms of home defense and firing skills.

Here's how:

1:1 Replica Ratio

                                        

Airsoft guns are the closest thing to having a real gun in your hand. It's non-lethal for the most part (unless you club an opponent's head repeatedly for an extended period of time with your gun's metal parts) and provides some very realistic simulation of handling a firearm.

If not for the orange tip, you'd swear it was the real thing.

You don't need a gun range

                                    

You can only fire your real gun in a firing range. There's no other excuse to take it out of the vault other than to clean it or to get rid of a real world threat.

This is usually the reason why a lot of gun owners aren't especially trained to fire their guns. They forget that owning a gun and firing a gun are two very different things. You will need to practice to be effective.

An airsoft pistol can be fired indoors. It can also be fired in your backyard. As long as you put the necessary protective materials around the vicinity of the place you're firing in, you should be able to keep firing to your heart's content or you finish an entire bag of BBs or until hand fatigue set's in, whichever comes first.

                                     

NOTE: Although an airsoft can simulate a real  handgun in action, it's still not the same as firing a real gun. For gun owners, get an airsoft replica of your gun and practice with it if you can't go to the firing range. But please make it a point to still practice with the real thing.

Obstacle training can be done with people around

                                     

One of the fun things I love about handling firearms is going through an obstacle course. The adrenaline rush one gets as bullets ping off metal targets is an ultimate high for me.

Sadly, you can only do this at the firing range and with an umpire or gun instructor behind you to gauge your accuracy and reaction time.

With an airsoft gun, you can do this on your own and even if a few people are around. Just make sure everyone has protective gear at all times.

Heck, they can even be the targets! And the cool thing is, they can shoot back!

Which brings us to the next item.

Real world scenarios 

                                      

This is what airsoft is really about. Getting a bunch of guys together, finding an open area and cordoning it off for safety purposes and shooting BBs at each other all day.

To make it more fun, you can devise real world scenarios and treat it like a training simulation so you and your gang of buddies can use maneuvers for when SHTF situations.

It can heighten your situational awareness

If you guys are serious about playing the game of airsoft, you'll notice that your situational awareness is going to double, triple, quadruple or quintuple. WHat's six? Sextuple? Seven?

Ah you get my point.

Play a couple of games and you'll start developing a sixth sense to a certain degree just so you don't get hit.

It's fun

                                         

Nowadays, there are millions of airsoft players worldwide. It has grown in popularity so much that a lot of companies have sprouted bringing back high quality guns without the hefty price tag attached to it.

I'd still prefer Marui guns over all others but I'm slowly opening my eyes to see what's out there.

                                          

And before I go, do these exercises:

• 100 pushups per day (spread throughout the day, try to do a minimum of 20 per session)
• 100 squats (spread throughout the day, try to do a minimum of 10 per session)
• 100 lunges (spread throughout the day, try to do a minimum of 10 per session)
• 300 crunches per day (spread throughout the day, try to do a minimum of 50 per session)
• brisk walk 15 to 30 mins for fat burning purposes
• light jog for 15 minutes for cardio

That should at strengthen your core and improve your cardio, 2 very essential areas to improve for prepping and airsoft purposes.

Be fit, Protect yourself at all times and only shoot at other active players.

Bye!

2 Powerful Earthquakes Woke Me Up Today

I usually take a break from working at around midnight.

That's when I fall asleep on my Lazy Boy.

I don't go to sleep immediately though. I read an eBook or two until I pass out.

Last night I fell asleep around 10PM instead of around midnight because I had a really heavy workload which I started working on at around 5AM of September 30th.

At around midnight, my cat was acting all crazy, scratching at the front door and then running towards the other door located near the kitchen sink. She was yowling the entire time which was a bit irritating since her loud sounds would bounce off the walls.

And that's when I first felt it.

At first I thought it was just vertigo from waking up but it was strong enough to be noticeable. The dogs outside were either barking or howling. Mine were whimpering.

So I grabbed the cat and went outside. Just in case the house I'm currently living in isn't strong enough to withstand that level of ground shaking.

It lasted for a few seconds I reckon. I didn't notice it anymore when I got out of the house.

"That was scary" I thought to myself.

It was the first time I experienced an Earthquake as strong as that.

I may have experienced more powerful ones but didn't really notice it because I was either busy or aboard a moving vehicle.

When things seemed to subside, I went back inside with the cat in hand.

I went back to work and tried to find out more about the Earthquake. There was nothing on the news yet.

A few minutes later, Ocean (the cat) started scratching at the doors again.

This time, I didn't wait for the earthquake to hit.

I grabbed her and we went outside.

And as soon as I was out the door, things started wobbling.

2 earthquakes, within minutes of each other.

The cat was right.

Is this the end of the world as we know it?


*** I just found out that they weren't really that powerful according to PHIVOLCS. They were just magnitude 3.8 and 3.0 respectively. But if that was enough to scare me, I wonder how people who've experienced magnitude 5.0 and above felt.***

2 years after Yolanda (Typhoon Haiyan)

2 years after Yolanda (Typhoon Haiyan)


It's been 2 years since Yolanda (international name Typhoon haiyan) hit my hometown, Tacloban City.


To this day, it still hurts to think about it and much more to even talk about.


Days before the disaster, everyone knew it was coming and some people made preparations while others just thought it'd be just anotherstorm that Tacloban has gotten so used to in the past. I can still recall that Storm Signals 1 and 2 were very common in Tacloban Cityand things were still deemed normal during a Storm signal 3.


No one properly anticipated nor prepared for one tagged as a Signal number 4. Not only did Typhoon Haiyan bring devastating winds, butit also caused Storm Surges which did most of the damage not only in the Philippines but in other areas that was in its path.



The devastation experienced by Tacloban City was apocalyptic in nature and the closest you could get to an End of The World Scenario.

Everyone lost someone. I lost some friends, some members of our extended family, classmates and others. To this day, I am struggling with Survivor's guilt.



This strengthened my resolve to be prepared for the worst. People died on a daily basis from lack of water and supplies after Yolanda.

There was chaos. There was strife. People looting for survival. People looting for the heck of it. The living conditions in the citywas downright apalling. Bodies were strewn all over the place. Decomposing bodies were left unattended. People got sick. People eventually died. Supplies ran out. Relief goods weren't enough. Some relief goods weren't even distributed and eventually rotted out.


And then you have the totally inept handling of the National Government led by the totally brain dead DILG secretary Mar Roxas who waseither high or blind to what was around him. I'm not very up front with my political views but if this is our next president, I'm moving to Guam!


Yolanda will forever be a name reviled as a killer in the figurative and literal sense. To date, there are 6,300 deaths listedofficially in the Philippines. Perhaps we can add another death to that list but this one is figurative in nature as this basically pertains to the death of Mar Roxas' bid to become the president.



His words and actions in and out of Tacloban City during the disaster has cost him the support of the majority of people in Visayas.

If he ever garners a lot of votes in Visayas, it should be investigated thoroughly because in Tacloban and Samar alone there's a boycott against his elitist political attitude.



But then I'm going off on a tangent here and let's bring it back to the main reason why I wrote this. Yolanda may have killed a lot of people but it also made something come alive. And that is hope. There were several acts of heroism amidst all that chaos. There was empathy shown by politicians who showed that they could walk the walk when talking the talk is done and over with. Mayors Rody Duterte and Alfred Romualdez let actions speak louder than words with what they did with the resources they had at that time.

People from Tacloban who weren't in the area when the typhoon struck sent in all the help they could provide from prayers to clothing.

There was a global movement unifying everyone to assist the people of Tacloban. And that's the positive thing you can derive from something so negative and devastating.

It's been 2 years since Yolanda and I still have my bug out bag ready and stocked at all times because you never know when something like that could happen to you, wiping everything in existence in the blink of an eye.

If you don't have a BOB or a bug out bag, I suggest you make one now.

It doesn't have to be a full out BOB like the ones you see on doomsday preppers. All you basically need in a simple BOB are these items:

 - Basic first aid kit

 - A utility knife

 - a length of rope

 - a change of clothes

 - a container with water (2 liters at best)

 - some food (biscuits, jerky and other things that don't need cooking)

 - a lighter

 - some money or currency to trade with

with these items you can work your way out of the disaster area and get to a place of relative safety. Don't stay too long in the disaster area and wait for relief goods to come or people to aid you. Make your own way and get out as fast as you can. After you're out of there that's when you can think of saving others. The key thing here is you have to survive in order to help others survive as well. You're no good to anyone when you're dead (unless you're a martyr).

My BOB is two years old now and I check it from time to time to make sure every thing in there is still in its optimal condition.

Once again: If you don't have a BOB or a bug out bag, I suggest you make one now. Don't wait for a disaster to hit you unaware.

And boycott Mar Roxas' bid for presidency! Don't vote for an idiot to replace an idiot.

If not now, when? Start Preparing for tomorrow today!

Earthquakes.

Typhoons.

Global Warming.

Political Unrest.

There are so many negative things happening in the Philippines today that it is hard not to envision an apocalyptic future coming about soon.

Prepping


Know what to do during a disaster or a calamity