OOoooKay! back.
what is an EDC?? dont be knowin no codes bro sheeeeet
Situational Awareness starts as you get dressed to walk out the door.
If you can do so, now would be the time to start carrying your weapon 24-7. If you have a spouse, the two of you should be checking each other to see if your "slip is showing" as it were. RELIC and I do challenge each other to determine whether or not either one of us is carrying...
With my current weight structure the Glock 22 doesn't print anywhere, and the Charter which has been my EDC (when I carry) for eons hides even better. I'm not advocating violating any laws here so you need to be aware of what your state allows. You also need to have been to a range recently so you are comfy with what makes your EDC go BANG, and so you are comfy with what happens when it DOES go BANG. Enough said on that because it COULD become a whole thread....
So, once you get dressed, you put on your Color of the Day. If you are SERIOUS about your Situational Awareness you put at LEAST YELLOW on which means that you are pretty much ready to handle most untoward things, and won't be standinig there slack jawed thingking "this can't be happening" as the gobblin points a rather long finger at you....or your loved ones. or the guy next to you.'
Living in YELLOW means looking around and being ready to react if needed but NOT stressed tightly.
Living in ORANGE means that you are expectant of some kind of attack and are actively looking for it every minute of the day. You want to live in YELLOW, really. ORANGE is WAY too tiring to live in 24/7/365. Ask me. When they put a Contract out on your Wife you live in ORANGE for a LONG time...until it gets bought off...or otherwise fixed.. but I digress.
You want to live in YELLOW since that is an expectant, but not wired tight mind set. You are aware of your surroundings, and aware that they can change and that you WILL have to react/respond to that change.
SO.
You have put on the Color of the Day, and now it's time to go outside.
At this point you start looking around....Is everything around your home the same as it always is?? Kids toys and "stuff" in the yards around your home and the neighbors' homes? Are there any different kids or "kids" hanging around? is the traffic on your street normal? or Heavier than usual or lighter than usual?
Did you listen to the radio to hear about traffic delays on the way to work or wherever you are going?? NO?? Shame on you...start THAT habit TODAY...
Walk to the bus?? Is the 'hood normal?? On the bus, is the ride in to work normal, anything out of place, or odd on the way in?? You need to start looking TODAY to KNOW what is Normal so that in the coming days you can identify an abnormality.
Get to work, is the work location normal? the usual street vendors selling the usual morning stuff?? the shoe shine guy in the lobby the usual guy? the lobby coffee shop normal? etc etc.
When you go to lunch look around the work building as you go. Is everything the way it usually is? Any unusual vans or trucks parked in odd places? Are the street vendors the usual lunch vendors with the usual fare???
When you get back to your desk, do you have your bottle of water, protein bar, walking shoes and a change of sox in your drawer? Do you know what the FASTEST way out is, the safest? Can you walk home with what you have in your desk?
On the way home, on the bus or driving, is everything normal on the way?? Unusual trucks parked anywhere?
When you get home and you go out to eat, watch for oddities and KNOW WHAT IS ODD.
Once you are seated in the restaurant, can you get out fast?? What IS the fastest way out if they come in the front door? the back door? Do you know if you can go out the front window? Locked you say?? You are sitting on the key, you toss your chair through the window and exit. AS long as you aren't crossing the gobblins' line of fire (and on the ground floor)....Who knows, you may lead the whole restaurant out that way.
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What happens if any of the "are these things normal?" questions come back "NO!!!" What do you do then??
You call the police in the area. It is YOUR decision as to 9-1-1 or the non-emergency number if you know it (you ought to for the municipalities you spend a lot of time in, BTW) but 9-1-1 is ALWAYS appropriate. tell the operator/dispatcher what you have seen that is odd. TELL him or her WHY it's odd and THAT it's odd. Then they get to deal with it.
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Start walking around the block at home.
Make mental notes of the deserted houses, where cars ought NOT be parked, and if there are cars parked there but it STILL looks deserted let the local constabulary know that there is something out of the ordinary there. If you have an industrial area in your 'hood, get to recognize what is normal for activity there. If it starts to look odd, call the constables and let them know. Do NOT hesitate to call....I once saw 2 suburbans sitting up watching the train tracks in my neighborhood... I completed my walk around the block and they were still there an hour later (6 mile block),,,damn straight I called my local LEO's because there wasn't ANYTHING on the Suburbans that said N&W on it and they checked em out.
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GET TO KNOW WHAT IS "NORMAL" NOW AND WATCH FOR CHANGES.
EVERYWHERE YOU GO KNOW HOW TO GET OUT QUICKLY AND SAFELY.
HAVE A PHONE WITH YOU OR KNOW WHERE THE NEAREST ONE IS SO YOU CAN CALL IF SOMETHING ISN'T RIGHT.
AND CARRY YOUR DAMN GUN (legally).
chuck