Hello my friend and welcome back! In today’s post, we are going to look at how being able to communicate in tactical situations is critical and what you need to know. Sit back and grab a cup of coffee while we visit.
We all know that communicating is critical in tactical situations, but with so many types of communications available today, what should you use? Well this too should be determined by the situation you are in and we will cover a few scenarios in this post. Let us first look at some of the different types of comms available to you.
Hand signals are easily the best when line of sight is possible. You just need to be sure that everyone on your team knows without a doubt what each one means. These are ideal for close quarter’s situations and should be practiced often. If you are mounting a surprise attack then this has many advantages such as no sound is involved with communicating with one another and making your actions know. In order for this to even work, it has to be practiced over and over because once the adrenaline kicks in it will become very hard to stop and think about what someone is trying to tell you and these kinds of mistakes can get people killed.
Two way radios are great for use around the compound as well as when out on patrols. I would however, suggest that you get the Baofeng UV-5R with an earpiece to go with it. They are both cheap and can be gotten for as little as $28 for the radio and $15 for a good earpiece. The reason I suggest this particular radio is that besides being cheap, they have a longer range than most of the ones you can get in the stores. Another big advantage is that they are completely programmable and give you access to many more frequencies than those sold in stores. Just remember that you will need a Ham Radio license to use some of the frequencies before SHTF. I would recommend that you get at least a basic Ham Tech license so you can get more familiar with the radios and how they work and what they can do. You may also want to work out some signals using a series of clicks rather than words just in case your enemy is listening on your channel. It too will take practice and I suggest you keep it as simple as possible. Something along the lines of 1 click to let others know you are ready and 2 clicks to tell them to attack. I’m sure you can come up with plenty of codes if you only use your imagination.
Another form of communicating, that many have adopted, is using Lasers for communicating over short distances. By using a series of dots and dashes similar to Morse code, you will find that it can be quite effective. By aiming the laser at a spot near the intended person you can receive a message of varying complexity. I would suggest that you be very careful with this method, because you could give away your position. Like most forms of tactical comms, you need to practice them often.
Mirrors and Bonfires are also another way of communicating over long distances and have been used for thousands of years as a way of signaling that help was needed or that danger was coming. Both of these have several limitations such the sun being out for the mirror to work or the wood being dry for the bonfire. They are none the less, a way to get a message through when no other way is available.
Once SHTF hits, communicating with others will become critical to your survival and your very life and those who depend on you would depend on your ability to do so effectively. Well, that is it for today’s post and I hope you have enjoyed it. Until next time, stay safe, stay strong and stay prepared! God Bless America!
-The Sargent-
