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2005-10-09 Home Front: WoT

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Posted by Jackal 2005-10-09 00:22|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 One of these might be useful. Of course it may be a bit before Textron's New Orleans plant is back on line.

Posted by Pappy 2005-10-09 00:42|| 2005-10-09 00:42|| Front Page Top

#2 In that kind of uneven desert terrain, your biggest concern is that you have a Humvee-wide wheel base. Other than that, light shielding, and "ramrod" defenses again being rammed, it can be pretty stripped down.

Other stuff that might be included would be a tear gas smudge pot, to create a blanket or strip of tear gas against a large crowd, or even a dry tear gas powder dispenser, so that even footfalls raising dust make an area difficult to pass.

It being the desert, that CS could last for months, and a bandanna over the face just won't cut it.

Posted by Anonymoose 2005-10-09 11:21|| 2005-10-09 11:21|| Front Page Top

#3 I wouldn't go with stripped-down, at least not wrt survivability; if there's an escalation it'd be nice to have a margin of safety built in now, instead of having to put up with the howls and finger-pointing later.

Posted by Pappy 2005-10-09 11:31|| 2005-10-09 11:31|| Front Page Top

#4 A lot of that terrain is hideous. For example, Hell's Trail in SW Arizona. Smokes, even a Humvee wouldn't last six months out there, without being rattled to bits. The typical 4WD is good for one trip only on 50/50 odds. Driving the trail is an extreme sport.

The biggest serious threat is a rifle, and there's not a bit you can do for it except stay bottled up.

Having maneuvered a lot in that desert, your #1 priority on foot is access to water, then to hug a trail or road. You don't have the time to starve to death before you succeed in the crossing or fail. That is why they have and are using vehicles, why ramming is the #2 threat.

I recommend the CS for two reasons. Most of the year, at night, you have an inversion layer, so the gas hugs the ground and makes an effective barrier. At dawn it lapses straight up and gets out of your way. The dry stuff is for the walkers who will have to retreat on their own. You can't travel any distance when blind from CS.

Lastly, putting up signs in Spanish warning of hazards is a very good idea. People just don't grasp that they either have 50 miles of desert in front of them, or that they will need 10 gallons each of water to have any chance of crossing it on foot. Simple signs for simple people.

Posted by Anonymoose 2005-10-09 14:05|| 2005-10-09 14:05|| Front Page Top

#5 I've heard two reports of armed Mexican government helicopters crossing over onto ranchers' land, moving drugs. One was from the founder of the Minutemen and the other from the rancher involved during an interview weeks apart. They need a lot more than personnel carriers down there...like armed Predators.

Posted by Danielle 2005-10-09 18:03|| 2005-10-09 18:03|| Front Page Top

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