In the chaos of the aftermath of any survival incident, be it civil unrest or wholesale lawlessness, blending in with your surroundings until you can safely leave is critical.
Follow this advice to help you accomplish just that!
Control Your Emotions – Unlike the looters, you need to have self-discipline and be able to control your emotions. If you’re walking down the street and you see guys running out of Best Buy with TVs in their arms, just keep moving. Don’t stop and lecture them or yell at them or try and stop them. Yes, looters are low-lifes but now is not the time to give them a lesson on the Ten Commandments.
Blend in With the Enemy – If you have to make your way through town you want to blend in with the protestors or looters. If they’re holding a sign that says, “Death to Police” then you better start chanting that too or grab a sign of your own. The worst thing you can do is to let it be known that you’re not on their side because all of a sudden you could have 100 angry protestors turn on you.
Do Not Go Out at Night – I once heard a wise man say, “nothing good happens after midnight.” When it’s dark out, people tend to become more out of control and they think they can get away with more violent behavior. Unless it’s an emergency, do not leave your home after the sun goes down if your city is in the midst of chaos.
Always Have Your Gear on You – Since you never know when a city is going to erupt you always need to have certain gear on you. For instance, I always carry concealed.
In addition to guns, I always have a knife on me, usually a Benchmade clipped to my pants pocket or a TOPS Knife clipped to my belt. Other gear that I carry with me includes paracord, a lock pick set, bobby pins, a credit card folding knife, a hair barrette, a handcuff key, and $300 in cash with one $100 bill.
Watch the Flow – If you’re walking around in the streets and run into a mob of several hundred people never try to walk through them and go against the flow of traffic. Simply go with the flow of the mob and have patience. You might have to delay your plans to get to your destination but your life is far too valuable not to have patience and take your time.
Stay Away From the Leader – Every mob has a leader who others follow. He is usually found at the front of the pack and is the most vocal and draws the most attention to himself. If this leader starts fighting with police, others will follow…
The area around this mob leader is very dangerous and you don’t want yourself or your family anywhere around this person. Once you identify this leader keep your distance and stay near less violent and less volatile individuals.
Other advice is to have a plan to evacuate before you end up in the grasp of a mob environment.
If that is not possible, know who around you is of similar mind and build a bond with them to be able to pool resources if need be. Understand that in a mob environment, getting away from the mob is your goal, which means always being aware of your surroundings and seizing on opportunities to get away.
How you react in a mob environment will absolutely determine if you make it or not; for more advice on dealing with mobs, check out Survival Life.