1 00:00:00,470 --> 00:00:03,870 Hello, this is Robert Riggs. Before I start this episode, 2 00:00:04,220 --> 00:00:07,390 this is a message to fans in Australia and New Zealand. 3 00:00:08,370 --> 00:00:09,630 As of September 30th, 4 00:00:09,630 --> 00:00:14,150 the True Crime Reporter podcast will no longer be available on the listener app. 5 00:00:14,900 --> 00:00:17,260 I know from your emails how much of you enjoy my stories, 6 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:22,620 so please keep listening by following the True Crime reporter on Apple, Spotify, 7 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:24,660 and the many other apps where you can listen. 8 00:00:25,590 --> 00:00:30,130 You can also go to the true crime reporter.com/follow website 9 00:00:30,550 --> 00:00:32,530 to pick your preferred podcast app. 10 00:00:33,220 --> 00:00:37,610 We're developing new stories that I think you will really enjoy. Now, 11 00:00:37,750 --> 00:00:39,250 here's today's episode. 12 00:00:40,970 --> 00:00:45,880 There is absolutely a trend of people checking doors in 13 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:48,360 driveways at 2, 3, 4 in the morning, 14 00:00:49,060 --> 00:00:51,360 and the police have no response, 15 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:54,120 absolutely no response to this, 16 00:00:54,310 --> 00:00:59,240 because these gangs are 100% coordinated and 17 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:02,080 they make it a competition to see who can get the most stuff. 18 00:01:04,330 --> 00:01:09,120 Kevin Estella is here to offer practical advice on how to survive in a violent 19 00:01:09,290 --> 00:01:12,920 world, whether it's a criminal assault, car accident, 20 00:01:12,980 --> 00:01:17,840 or natural disaster. Hello, I'm an investigative reporter Robert Riggs, 21 00:01:17,870 --> 00:01:20,960 back with another story from Inside the Crime scene tape. 22 00:01:22,150 --> 00:01:26,840 This episode of the True Crime Reporter Podcast responds to those of you who 23 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:31,520 have been asking me what they should do in the midst of a growing wave of 24 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:34,280 violence in urban America and overseas. 25 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:40,120 A US businesswoman recently told me that she is afraid to work alone in a big 26 00:01:40,150 --> 00:01:44,080 city. In response, I reached out to Kevin Astella, 27 00:01:44,660 --> 00:01:47,440 the director of Training for Field Craft Survival. 28 00:01:48,540 --> 00:01:53,200 Its founder Mike Glover, served as a sergeant major in the Army Green Berets. 29 00:01:53,860 --> 00:01:58,720 He deployed 14 times to combat zones with special forces and the C 30 00:01:58,800 --> 00:01:59,633 I A, 31 00:02:00,060 --> 00:02:04,800 but don't expect his director of training to teach that every threatening 32 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:06,360 scenario requires a gun. 33 00:02:07,210 --> 00:02:11,400 Kevin Ella taught advanced placement high school history for 14 years. 34 00:02:12,790 --> 00:02:15,760 He's about using your head and being prepared. 35 00:02:16,740 --> 00:02:21,400 His survival skills were influenced by his Filipino father who hid from the 36 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:25,600 Japanese army in jungles and caves during World War ii. 37 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:36,470 Kevin, you're the director of training at Field Craft Survival. Been, 38 00:02:37,090 --> 00:02:40,430 you teach a range of survival skills, but you know, 39 00:02:40,430 --> 00:02:43,310 the most immediate threat that I hear about from my audience is, 40 00:02:43,370 --> 00:02:48,280 is violent crime. Will you take me through, you know, 41 00:02:48,640 --> 00:02:51,040 survival methods, how to survive a violent incident, 42 00:02:51,060 --> 00:02:53,160 how not to become a victim in what you're teaching, 43 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:55,320 and then I wanna get into some of the other skills you teach. 44 00:02:56,290 --> 00:02:59,840 Well, to understand violence, you have to study it. 45 00:02:59,870 --> 00:03:04,680 There's a lot of people who want to turn their head whenever they see something 46 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:09,480 violent, and many times people can't distinguish that, 47 00:03:09,740 --> 00:03:13,360 you know, violence is not necessarily a, a bad thing. You know, 48 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:18,240 you can have a very violent resolution to an ailment that you're having 49 00:03:18,770 --> 00:03:22,760 where you're using the most powerful drugs to combat it and 50 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:28,720 conflict and violence, those two categories are two categories, again, 51 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:31,400 that people don't like looking at because they want to say, 52 00:03:31,420 --> 00:03:32,360 it can't happen to me. 53 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:37,280 There's a lot of doubt that that could in fact happen to 54 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:40,680 them. So in order to to understand violence, 55 00:03:41,500 --> 00:03:43,280 you have to find it in different ways, 56 00:03:43,300 --> 00:03:46,920 and you have to look at what is both possible and probable in your lifetime. 57 00:03:47,380 --> 00:03:47,680 You know, 58 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:51,440 there are a lot of people in the training space right now who are training with 59 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:55,280 outside the waistband holsters, and they're training with plate carriers, 60 00:03:55,340 --> 00:03:56,173 and yet, 61 00:03:56,780 --> 00:04:01,080 if there were a violent encounter in their civilian life mm-hmm. , 62 00:04:01,230 --> 00:04:04,720 there's most likely the chance that they're not gonna have time to throw on that 63 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:07,760 plate carrier. And there's not gonna be a time to, you know, 64 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:11,040 change out their inside the waistband holster and the gun that they everyday 65 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:14,600 carry for the gun. That's a lot of fun to carry at the range. 66 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:16,960 So I'm not downplaying that, 67 00:04:17,060 --> 00:04:21,880 but I'm just saying you need to mix in reality based training if you want to, 68 00:04:22,700 --> 00:04:25,560 uh, have a fighting chance in reality. 69 00:04:25,860 --> 00:04:30,030 So I think what people tend to do, like I said, is they, 70 00:04:30,180 --> 00:04:35,070 they paint a narrative in their head of what they think they can do and, 71 00:04:35,370 --> 00:04:36,510 and how they'll do it, 72 00:04:36,890 --> 00:04:41,630 but they don't wanna look at the reality of the most likely types of violent 73 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:42,310 encounters, 74 00:04:42,310 --> 00:04:47,230 and whether that's a gas station holdup or it is an a t 75 00:04:47,350 --> 00:04:51,070 m robbery, or, you know, it's a home invasion, whatever it is, 76 00:04:51,370 --> 00:04:53,150 people don't wanna train for that. 77 00:04:53,380 --> 00:04:58,190 They want to train for what they can do really well because 78 00:04:59,090 --> 00:05:03,630 we have an aversion to training what we don't do well. And it's easier to say, 79 00:05:03,630 --> 00:05:07,470 oh, I'll train it next time than to experience training and not do it. Well, 80 00:05:07,820 --> 00:05:10,800 when, you know, when you allot the time to, it. 81 00:05:11,460 --> 00:05:15,200 Is the first line of defense in a, uh, in, in our violent crime situation, 82 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:19,120 and I've got listeners that are American businesswomen that are saying they 83 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:22,040 don't feel safe in American cities alone anymore, 84 00:05:22,820 --> 00:05:27,280 is the first line of defense a some type of weapon that they're well-trained on? 85 00:05:28,020 --> 00:05:32,400 If we're looking at women who biologically are smaller than men, 86 00:05:32,830 --> 00:05:33,663 therefore, 87 00:05:33,900 --> 00:05:38,760 the greatest way that you can improve a person's capability is by providing them 88 00:05:38,850 --> 00:05:42,240 tools that will not discriminate who the user is. 89 00:05:43,030 --> 00:05:47,160 It's very common in tribal cultures around the world, 90 00:05:47,840 --> 00:05:49,280 historically, and in the present day, 91 00:05:49,740 --> 00:05:54,200 for women to be on equal footing with men when they use the tools that men use. 92 00:05:54,990 --> 00:05:57,080 There's, again, no discrimination there. 93 00:05:58,060 --> 00:06:00,400 If we're looking at resolving a conflict, 94 00:06:00,780 --> 00:06:04,480 one of the greatest defenses is distance. You know, 95 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:07,840 putting distance between you and the threat where the threat no longer has the 96 00:06:07,840 --> 00:06:10,120 capability of doing anything to you. 97 00:06:10,380 --> 00:06:15,360 So I would say putting distance between you and the threat would be top of my 98 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:15,910 list, 99 00:06:15,910 --> 00:06:20,880 because even when you have two very capable individuals competing 100 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:22,480 against one another, fighting against one another, 101 00:06:22,630 --> 00:06:24,800 they're probably both going to sustain injuries. 102 00:06:25,140 --> 00:06:29,600 And I would rather have someone avoid injury at all costs than to take it on 103 00:06:29,710 --> 00:06:33,040 voluntarily. So I would say distance is a great friend, 104 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:37,800 learning deescalation skills, another excellent, excellent skillset. 105 00:06:38,700 --> 00:06:41,440 But in my opinion, there is no doubt about it. 106 00:06:42,210 --> 00:06:46,870 If you want someone of smaller stature to have a fighting 107 00:06:46,870 --> 00:06:50,070 chance against someone who might be larger, and again, they might be smaller, 108 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:55,500 you need to put tools in their hands, whether it's an impact weapon, a blade, 109 00:06:55,700 --> 00:07:00,470 a pistol, something that will absolutely level the playing field. 110 00:07:00,970 --> 00:07:04,790 And I brought up women because in my experience in reporting with the violent 111 00:07:05,150 --> 00:07:08,670 criminals in and outta maximum security units, often, uh, 112 00:07:09,280 --> 00:07:13,190 their motivation is sex. That's just it. 113 00:07:13,890 --> 00:07:16,590 So thus, women are targeted. That's, 114 00:07:17,020 --> 00:07:19,390 this is not to say women are weaker or anything like that. 115 00:07:19,540 --> 00:07:20,870 It's these are predators. 116 00:07:21,210 --> 00:07:24,950 That's correct. And women, because they're, they're targeted for sex, 117 00:07:25,180 --> 00:07:29,310 they can't leave at home what the men are targeting them for, 118 00:07:29,900 --> 00:07:32,990 they carry that with them everywhere, and as a result, 119 00:07:32,990 --> 00:07:37,470 they have to be hypervigilant and hyper aware of that. And there, 120 00:07:37,470 --> 00:07:41,630 there's no doubt about it. You want to make yourself appear like a hard target. 121 00:07:42,660 --> 00:07:45,350 Well, throughout my career in reporting this, 122 00:07:45,580 --> 00:07:49,390 I've heard from homicide detectives, us marshals, 123 00:07:49,990 --> 00:07:50,823 fugitive hunters. 124 00:07:51,450 --> 00:07:55,710 Bad things happen to people between the hours of midnight and seven in the 125 00:07:55,710 --> 00:07:58,470 morning. So don't put yourself there. 126 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:01,470 Don't be in the dark parking garage and other stuff. 127 00:08:01,490 --> 00:08:04,350 And then I'll sometimes get pushback of people saying, well, 128 00:08:04,950 --> 00:08:09,150 I shouldn't have to live that way. But again, it's, to me, 129 00:08:09,150 --> 00:08:11,030 it's just a fact of life these days. 130 00:08:11,770 --> 00:08:15,670 That's correct. And one of the expressions that we use in s o uh, 131 00:08:16,030 --> 00:08:18,350 Filipino Martial arts that I, I'm an instructor in, we say, 132 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:22,270 there are no victims. There are only volunteers. And people will say, 133 00:08:22,270 --> 00:08:24,390 that's not true. What about little kids? Well, 134 00:08:24,900 --> 00:08:29,870 your parent could volunteer you to be a victim if the parent is 135 00:08:29,900 --> 00:08:32,070 turning a blind eye to a known threat. 136 00:08:32,650 --> 00:08:35,710 And as far as not putting yourself in those locations, 137 00:08:35,710 --> 00:08:38,670 that's absolutely spot on advice. I mean, 138 00:08:38,670 --> 00:08:40,830 even look at a bar that has a happy hour, 139 00:08:41,060 --> 00:08:45,750 it's very easy to go from happy hour where everyone is in business suits or, 140 00:08:46,210 --> 00:08:46,470 you know, 141 00:08:46,470 --> 00:08:51,150 casual Friday attire from the workplace to when the college kid shows up 142 00:08:51,330 --> 00:08:54,870 or, you know, the stereotypical biker gang or whatever it is, 143 00:08:55,680 --> 00:08:58,360 a bar or a restaurant that has a bar attached to it. 144 00:08:58,460 --> 00:09:02,120 The atmosphere can change very quickly in a matter of minutes. 145 00:09:02,620 --> 00:09:05,120 And that can happen, not necessarily at midnight, 146 00:09:05,220 --> 00:09:09,200 but after that happy hour is over, people leave and other people come in. 147 00:09:09,700 --> 00:09:11,960 So you always have to keep your head on a swivel. 148 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:15,800 You have to be aware of your surroundings, and you just have to be ready to, 149 00:09:16,100 --> 00:09:18,840 to change your plans. Uh, you have to remember, 150 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:23,240 the world is not going to conform to you. You must conform to it. And again, 151 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:27,160 that's another reality. You can't say that everything should go your way. 152 00:09:27,260 --> 00:09:31,360 You have to do your best to make sure that you can get through the world that, 153 00:09:32,060 --> 00:09:35,200 you know, presents a lot of, lot, a lot of hazards along the way. 154 00:09:35,890 --> 00:09:37,860 Well, I know a veteran homicide detective, 155 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:41,700 and he has a saying that you better have a plan because they do. 156 00:09:42,490 --> 00:09:43,280 Spot on. Yeah. 157 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:47,380 And when you don't want to train your opponent or the adversary is training. 158 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:49,700 So it goes along with that. 159 00:09:50,410 --> 00:09:54,620 Well talk about the basics of training and basics of what you teach and what 160 00:09:54,620 --> 00:09:59,060 people should start to embrace if they wanna protect themselves. 161 00:09:59,950 --> 00:10:03,290 So the first thing that I would recommend as far as training is getting 162 00:10:03,290 --> 00:10:06,590 physically fit. Statistically, 163 00:10:07,450 --> 00:10:11,550 you'll need medical training before you need self-defense training. Uh, 164 00:10:11,650 --> 00:10:16,070 you'll probably encounter someone that someone might be you, 165 00:10:16,570 --> 00:10:20,630 you'll encounter someone who needs medical assistance before you need to pull 166 00:10:20,630 --> 00:10:24,630 out any self-defense weapon or strike someone with your fist or your feet or 167 00:10:24,630 --> 00:10:29,150 choke them with your arms or legs. So first thing is get physically fit. 168 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:32,220 Second thing would be learn medical training. 169 00:10:32,450 --> 00:10:36,940 Because before you learn to poke holes in people or break bones or whatever, 170 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:41,840 you should learn how to heal them. Another thing is learn safety. You know, 171 00:10:41,840 --> 00:10:44,640 when you get your firearm safety training, 172 00:10:44,660 --> 00:10:48,720 that's the first step where you're learning to learn that all guns are always 173 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:50,440 loaded. Right? Keep your finger off the trigger. 174 00:10:50,470 --> 00:10:52,000 Keep the muzzle in a safe direction. 175 00:10:52,010 --> 00:10:54,000 Don't let the muzzle cross anything you're not willing to destroy. 176 00:10:54,300 --> 00:10:56,400 And always know your target and what's behind it. Right? 177 00:10:56,400 --> 00:10:59,580 Always learn the four rules of a firearm safety. 178 00:11:00,170 --> 00:11:03,550 But once you get that firearm safety class, you can't settle there. 179 00:11:04,450 --> 00:11:08,770 You have to realize that there is a difference between safety training, 180 00:11:09,070 --> 00:11:13,930 and then there is a difference in performance training at your safety class. 181 00:11:13,930 --> 00:11:18,130 They're not gonna teach you how to do an administrative reload or a speed 182 00:11:18,410 --> 00:11:21,130 reload. Right? You're going to have to learn those elsewhere. 183 00:11:21,670 --> 00:11:25,210 And you can't assume that the only type of training you're going to need is 184 00:11:25,210 --> 00:11:27,970 gonna be firearms, because there's that old expression. 185 00:11:28,110 --> 00:11:30,610 If all you have is a hammer, all you see is nails. 186 00:11:30,990 --> 00:11:35,210 And there are people who carry pistols who think that they can, 187 00:11:35,790 --> 00:11:37,810 you know, travel through the world, and they'll, 188 00:11:37,810 --> 00:11:41,850 they have this lucky talisman that will keep them from, from any doom. 189 00:11:41,910 --> 00:11:45,330 But the reality is, verbal deescalation skills are important. 190 00:11:45,790 --> 00:11:48,610 And long before you pull your pistol, if a person's not trying to, 191 00:11:49,270 --> 00:11:52,730 if a person's not trying to end your life or do grave physical harm, 192 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:56,480 well maybe there's some other means that you can apply. Like, 193 00:11:56,480 --> 00:11:59,080 what if someone throws a punch at you? Are they trying to kill you? 194 00:11:59,830 --> 00:12:02,680 Does that mean that you can pull your pistol? Absolutely not. 195 00:12:03,210 --> 00:12:05,680 Maybe you should learn to run. Maybe you should learn how to block. 196 00:12:05,680 --> 00:12:09,800 Maybe you should learn how to counterstrike. So with your self-defense training, 197 00:12:10,310 --> 00:12:13,960 it's not just projectiles, which is the furthest range that you have. 198 00:12:14,350 --> 00:12:17,320 There's long range, which can be introduced with weapons. 199 00:12:17,940 --> 00:12:20,000 So learn how to swing a stick, learn how to, 200 00:12:20,060 --> 00:12:24,720 if you were able to grab a crowbar from your vehicle against a person who pulls 201 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:27,440 the baseball bat out of their car and you have nothing else, guess what? 202 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:31,400 It's better to swing a crowbar at someone than it is to swing your fists if they 203 00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:34,070 have a baseball bat. And then once you learn that, 204 00:12:34,070 --> 00:12:36,950 then learn how to punch and learn how to kick and learn how to grapple. 205 00:12:36,950 --> 00:12:41,740 Understand there are five ranges in any fight from grappling, close, 206 00:12:41,740 --> 00:12:43,900 medium, long, and projectile. Um, 207 00:12:43,900 --> 00:12:47,540 but there are instructors out there that will say, you only need juujitsu. 208 00:12:47,540 --> 00:12:52,220 And that is not true because juujitsu is ineffective against multiple opponents. 209 00:12:52,540 --> 00:12:56,460 Juujitsu is not great for mobility. And then there'll be people that will say, 210 00:12:56,480 --> 00:12:58,580 all you need is the firearm. But that, again, 211 00:12:58,580 --> 00:13:02,300 is not true because you might need to stop someone or move someone, 212 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:06,220 and you're not gonna point a gun because then that is threatening or 213 00:13:06,220 --> 00:13:10,140 brandishing. So this whole training idea that you're getting into, 214 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:12,820 if anyone's listening, who wants to know what you need to do, 215 00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:17,260 you need to do a little bit of it all. You can't say, I'm just going to do that. 216 00:13:17,570 --> 00:13:21,620 Because that's like saying the only tool that you'll ever need in your toolbox 217 00:13:22,040 --> 00:13:25,020 is that hammer or is that crescent wrench? 218 00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:30,540 But maybe you need Allen wrenches, maybe you need Phillips said screwdrivers. 219 00:13:30,540 --> 00:13:34,140 Maybe you need a tape measure and a level. Well, those are all tools, 220 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:39,460 and you can't assume that any one of them is going to be the, the only answer. 221 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:39,940 So. 222 00:13:39,940 --> 00:13:42,820 You personally, you have to make a commitment to education. 223 00:13:43,860 --> 00:13:44,990 It's all about willingness. 224 00:13:45,180 --> 00:13:48,750 It's all about how willing are you to defend yourself. 225 00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:52,390 There are people out there that will say that they don't have the time, 226 00:13:52,930 --> 00:13:56,390 but yet you look at their time that they spend on social media, 227 00:13:56,930 --> 00:14:00,030 and you'll see that they're spending three or four hours a day on social media. 228 00:14:00,100 --> 00:14:04,910 It's like you can use a half hour of dry fire or 229 00:14:04,990 --> 00:14:06,830 a half hour of shadow boxing, 230 00:14:07,330 --> 00:14:12,190 or you can go and you can walk a mile in 20 minutes and you 231 00:14:12,190 --> 00:14:14,590 can walk that mile with a weighted backpack on. 232 00:14:14,610 --> 00:14:16,230 So when people say they don't have time, 233 00:14:16,580 --> 00:14:19,190 they're lying to themselves and they're trying to make excuses, 234 00:14:19,930 --> 00:14:22,990 but the reality is there that they have the time, 235 00:14:23,300 --> 00:14:25,110 they're not allocating it correctly. 236 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:30,850 Well, in this state, Texas, with our wide open highways, 237 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:34,280 long distances and big vehicles, you know, it, 238 00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:37,360 there's the greatest chance that you're gonna be violently injured in an 239 00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:39,120 accident, car accident. Mm-hmm. . 240 00:14:39,340 --> 00:14:44,200 And I noticed y'all really do stress having a tourniquet in your medical 241 00:14:44,420 --> 00:14:47,240 kit and your car and other places. Talk about that. 242 00:14:48,020 --> 00:14:49,680 So we at Field Craft, 243 00:14:49,740 --> 00:14:53,520 we advocate carrying a tourniquet in your vehicle because again, 244 00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:57,640 that's a very likely place where you'll need it. And if you look at, uh, 245 00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:00,480 vehicular accidents, uh, where people have died, 246 00:15:00,790 --> 00:15:04,080 many of them have died from bleeding out because in an accident, 247 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:07,560 that car becomes a twisted heap of broken glass, 248 00:15:08,290 --> 00:15:10,520 sharp metal, jagged plastic. 249 00:15:11,250 --> 00:15:16,080 There are any number of ways that you can, you know, lose limbs with a vehicle. 250 00:15:16,780 --> 00:15:21,200 So we say that you should carry a tourniquet in your vehicle in a way that it 251 00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:24,680 will survive a crash. So I always carry my tourniquets, 252 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:28,880 I have 'em in the center console, but I also have them on the, 253 00:15:29,180 --> 00:15:32,920 the off-road handles. The handles that, you know, you grab when your vehicle is, 254 00:15:33,180 --> 00:15:35,760 is articulating over rocks and whatnot, and they're, 255 00:15:35,790 --> 00:15:39,240 they're strapped in there pretty quickly and pretty tightly, you know, 256 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:41,680 so that way if I were to get into an accident, 257 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:46,240 I could self-administer one on my leg, on my arm, wherever I need to. 258 00:15:46,900 --> 00:15:48,720 The other thing is, you might drive and, 259 00:15:48,740 --> 00:15:53,360 and stumble upon an accident where someone has been injected from a vehicle or 260 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:57,520 someone is still in the vehicle and they need medical care. You know, 261 00:15:57,710 --> 00:16:01,910 it's a common, common occurrence where people will, 262 00:16:02,610 --> 00:16:02,870 you know, 263 00:16:02,870 --> 00:16:05,430 show up on the scene of a crime or show up on the scene of an accident, 264 00:16:05,970 --> 00:16:08,950 and they run to the scene of the accident and they don't have medical gear with 265 00:16:08,950 --> 00:16:11,910 them, which means they have to run back to their vehicle, get the medical gear, 266 00:16:12,090 --> 00:16:15,710 run back to the vehicle that's in the accident, and they've just wasted time. 267 00:16:16,330 --> 00:16:20,390 And that critical time from when the accident happens to when help arrives. 268 00:16:20,890 --> 00:16:25,270 So if you can stage that equipment in your vehicle, 269 00:16:25,850 --> 00:16:28,830 so when you do stumble upon that accident, you can grab it, 270 00:16:28,970 --> 00:16:31,950 run up to the vehicle, and now you have your gear ready to go, 271 00:16:32,570 --> 00:16:35,150 as opposed to running back and running back again. 272 00:16:35,940 --> 00:16:38,910 That could be the difference in life or death for someone that you might be 273 00:16:38,910 --> 00:16:39,743 helping out. 274 00:16:54,590 --> 00:16:57,140 Kevin, gimme a little background of Field Craft, 275 00:16:57,240 --> 00:16:59,860 how it came about and what attracted you there. 276 00:17:00,850 --> 00:17:04,990 So Field Craft started in 2016. The owner of the company is Mike Lover. 277 00:17:05,100 --> 00:17:10,070 Mike is a former Green Beret and ground branch operator for the C I A. 278 00:17:10,570 --> 00:17:13,630 And Mike was in a shipping container in the Middle East, 279 00:17:13,930 --> 00:17:17,350 and he realized that civilians should receive the same training that the 280 00:17:17,510 --> 00:17:22,230 military receives in terms of being prepared for a worst case 281 00:17:22,550 --> 00:17:25,830 scenario. And that worst case scenario could be a car accident, 282 00:17:26,090 --> 00:17:28,910 or it could be encountering someone with a firearm, 283 00:17:29,210 --> 00:17:32,430 or it could be being lost in the woods. So over the years, 284 00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:36,550 field Craft has evolved to offer medical training, survival training, 285 00:17:37,230 --> 00:17:41,390 firearms training, and different types of resilience training, uh, 286 00:17:41,390 --> 00:17:45,430 as well as mobility, uh, with vehicles. Now, I joined the 287 00:17:49,080 --> 00:17:52,560 one, Mike had read my book the year before, 288 00:17:53,060 --> 00:17:57,160 and his girlfriend at the time said, Hey, take a look at this book. 289 00:17:57,620 --> 00:18:01,920 He told her, this is the guy who I want to run the survival side of my company. 290 00:18:02,460 --> 00:18:05,920 And Mike paid attention to my social media. He had me on the podcast. 291 00:18:06,580 --> 00:18:10,800 He realized that not only am I a primitive skills guy all the way through the 292 00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:13,920 modern, with heavy emphasis on bushcraft training, 293 00:18:14,290 --> 00:18:17,960 which is all traditional living skills, living with the land as opposed to, 294 00:18:18,260 --> 00:18:21,400 you know, man versus wild. And not only do I have that, 295 00:18:21,420 --> 00:18:25,320 but I'm also into martial arts. And I've gone to multiple shooting schools. 296 00:18:25,500 --> 00:18:29,160 So he had me out there in Prescott, Arizona, 297 00:18:29,930 --> 00:18:32,440 which is where the company was based for quite some time. 298 00:18:33,360 --> 00:18:36,680 I did a trial class out there teaching a course. 299 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:40,720 I really fell in love with the company, what it stood for, how it was being run. 300 00:18:41,380 --> 00:18:44,600 And that's when I made the decision. I was like, okay, 301 00:18:44,760 --> 00:18:47,880 I will leave my regular daily job, 302 00:18:47,930 --> 00:18:51,320 which was teaching high school history. I did that for 14 years, 303 00:18:51,940 --> 00:18:55,960 and I moved out to Utah from Connecticut to join the company full time. 304 00:18:56,020 --> 00:18:59,880 And I've been working at Field Craft ever since. But last year, 305 00:19:00,390 --> 00:19:04,680 just around this time, I moved from Utah to North Carolina, 306 00:19:04,780 --> 00:19:07,760 and I've been heading up the North Carolina office, uh, 307 00:19:07,930 --> 00:19:09,680 since November of last year. 308 00:19:09,750 --> 00:19:10,040 Well, 309 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:13,720 I wanna tell our listeners that book you mentioned is 101 Skills You Need To 310 00:19:13,750 --> 00:19:18,360 Survive In the Woods. Y'all talk about survival. Other people calls it, 311 00:19:18,570 --> 00:19:23,160 calls it preppers. Somehow that's gotten a, you know, 312 00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:26,000 a bad connotation yet, you know, I, in high school, 313 00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:29,600 I was sea scout part of Boy Scouts, you know, what's the motto? Be prepared. 314 00:19:29,870 --> 00:19:33,240 Then I was an adult leader in a Boy Scout troupe where my son got his eagle. 315 00:19:33,500 --> 00:19:34,333 Be prepared. 316 00:19:34,990 --> 00:19:39,600 What happened that suddenly preparedness has become kind of a dirty word in some 317 00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:40,520 parts of the media? 318 00:19:41,790 --> 00:19:45,840 Well, I mean, if you wanna really take it back about 30 years, 319 00:19:45,980 --> 00:19:50,920 you can take a look at Oklahoma City, right? Timothy McVay, Terry Nichols. 320 00:19:51,470 --> 00:19:56,040 That was really when the survival community was shaken up because Timothy 321 00:19:56,450 --> 00:19:59,320 McVay and Terry Nichols were both considered preppers. 322 00:19:59,470 --> 00:20:02,400 They both were considered doomsday, uh, preppers. 323 00:20:02,700 --> 00:20:07,240 And if you wanna take it one step further back, and you look at Ruby Rich, 324 00:20:07,830 --> 00:20:11,040 that group was considered a group of preppers. And then you look at Waco, 325 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:12,400 and they were considered preppers. 326 00:20:12,820 --> 00:20:16,760 And it seemed like for many years there was a shift from 327 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:21,400 learning just wilderness survival skills and, you know, 328 00:20:21,930 --> 00:20:23,160 being into firearms, 329 00:20:23,580 --> 00:20:28,320 to having this perception that if you were preparing for 330 00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:30,960 disaster, you were anti-government. 331 00:20:31,460 --> 00:20:35,480 So that anti-government slant existed for many, 332 00:20:36,790 --> 00:20:40,200 many, many years in the survival community. And keep in mind, 333 00:20:40,270 --> 00:20:44,160 I've been following the survival community closely since approximately September 334 00:20:44,180 --> 00:20:48,680 of 1994 when I received my first issue of American Survival Guide. 335 00:20:48,700 --> 00:20:52,160 So I've been in the survival community for quite some time and, 336 00:20:52,180 --> 00:20:57,120 and reading the articles and talking on discussion boards and going to meetups 337 00:20:57,140 --> 00:21:01,960 and whatnot, like I've been fairly, fairly, uh, intertwined with it. Well, 338 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:04,040 September 11th happened, 339 00:21:04,580 --> 00:21:09,200 and it was a positive spin for prepping because we realized 340 00:21:09,820 --> 00:21:12,000 you should have prep for disaster, 341 00:21:12,490 --> 00:21:17,470 especially terrorism on a scale of nine 11. And then after that, 342 00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:20,670 there was the whole community of, uh, 343 00:21:20,670 --> 00:21:22,910 people that went on cable television, 344 00:21:23,090 --> 00:21:27,030 and then there were the TV shows that were like Doomsday preppers, 345 00:21:27,030 --> 00:21:29,790 where people were showing off their, the gear that they had. 346 00:21:29,810 --> 00:21:32,270 And everyone was like, oh, they're crazy. They're paranoid. Oh, 347 00:21:32,270 --> 00:21:35,510 they're planning for the Yellowstone Supervolcano. Or, you know, 348 00:21:35,510 --> 00:21:37,750 they're planning on a biological attack or whatever. 349 00:21:37,750 --> 00:21:41,310 And people thought that was crazy. It could never happen to them, right? 350 00:21:41,390 --> 00:21:43,390 I don't know how many times I've heard that over the years, 351 00:21:43,930 --> 00:21:46,790 you're crazy for carrying a pistol. What do you think is gonna happen? 352 00:21:46,790 --> 00:21:49,790 You're gonna, are you some hero, da da da? Like, I, 353 00:21:49,790 --> 00:21:51,150 I've heard that I don't know how many times, 354 00:21:51,290 --> 00:21:55,950 and I just laugh because there's a double standard with preparation 355 00:21:56,980 --> 00:22:01,760 in my home state of Connecticut in 2007, Dr. William Petit, 356 00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:06,720 a good friend of my father, was the victim of a home invasion where his wife, 357 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:10,960 Jennifer Petit, and their two daughters were raped and murdered, 358 00:22:11,460 --> 00:22:14,920 and the house was burnt down. And people said, oh my gosh, 359 00:22:14,940 --> 00:22:19,000 how could that ever happen? And if Dr. Petit said, I want to carry a pistol, 360 00:22:19,550 --> 00:22:22,120 they would say, well, guess what? He's a victim. He, 361 00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:26,560 I understand why he carries one. Well, there's a double standard. 362 00:22:27,100 --> 00:22:31,960 You have to be almost be victimized or put into a position where something 363 00:22:31,980 --> 00:22:34,840 bad has happened to you for people to understand why you would do something. 364 00:22:35,260 --> 00:22:39,400 And if you have never experienced that, you're suddenly paranoid. 365 00:22:39,670 --> 00:22:43,770 There's absolutely a double standard. Well, , 366 00:22:44,210 --> 00:22:46,410 I think all of that, you know, 367 00:22:46,410 --> 00:22:50,330 we had that watershed moment in 95 with Oklahoma City. Well, 368 00:22:50,330 --> 00:22:53,570 we also had that watershed moment in 2020 with Covid. 369 00:22:54,310 --> 00:22:58,770 And we saw very quickly how fragile the supply chain was. 370 00:22:58,770 --> 00:23:01,730 People couldn't get hand sanitizer, they couldn't get toilet paper, 371 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:04,450 they couldn't get the face masks, 372 00:23:05,110 --> 00:23:07,450 and suddenly it was okay to be a prepper. 373 00:23:07,990 --> 00:23:12,810 So that negative connotation really reached a high point in the nineties. 374 00:23:13,430 --> 00:23:18,210 But we've had moments since then that have kind of made 375 00:23:18,570 --> 00:23:22,530 prepping acceptable. It's not as crazy as it used to be. 376 00:23:23,260 --> 00:23:26,810 There will still be people who will say that if you're a prepper, you're crazy. 377 00:23:27,830 --> 00:23:30,390 I don't care what those people have to say. I care about the people, 378 00:23:30,510 --> 00:23:33,830 I care about, my friends, my family, my loved ones. 379 00:23:34,470 --> 00:23:37,390 I know when something does happen, I will be ready. 380 00:23:38,210 --> 00:23:41,270 The people who called me crazy will probably be looking for help. 381 00:23:41,450 --> 00:23:45,760 And at that point, I'll say, it was on you and you failed. 382 00:23:46,610 --> 00:23:50,350 I'm glad you gave us that history. I was at Waco for all 51 days, 383 00:23:50,350 --> 00:23:52,470 then covered their murder trial. I, uh, 384 00:23:52,470 --> 00:23:56,270 covered Oklahoma City bombing thing and aftermath. I, 385 00:23:56,590 --> 00:24:01,510 I felt that there were more, to me, a cult than preppers. They just happened to, 386 00:24:02,010 --> 00:24:06,390 you know, being due in that other thing. You know, we, we got a, 387 00:24:06,550 --> 00:24:10,110 a lesson here in Texas back in February of 2021, 388 00:24:10,130 --> 00:24:14,430 in which we just about lost the entire power grid during a record 389 00:24:15,220 --> 00:24:16,630 cold front with ice. 390 00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:20,430 There were elderly people that literally froze to death in their homes and their 391 00:24:20,610 --> 00:24:24,910 lounge shares. What do you say in the wake of something like that, that, 392 00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:29,210 that the kinds of basic things we should be prepared for? 393 00:24:30,660 --> 00:24:35,580 I was in San Antonio in January of this year when the ice storm came in 394 00:24:35,580 --> 00:24:38,740 this year. So I know that Texas is not ready for ice storms. 395 00:24:38,900 --> 00:24:41,660 I know that the palm trees that people put in their front yards, 396 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:45,620 if they're not properly cared for, they're going to lose that investment, 397 00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:49,500 no doubt about it. You get a little bit of ice and the whole state shuts down. 398 00:24:50,290 --> 00:24:53,860 When we look at Texas and you look at what happened, 399 00:24:54,520 --> 00:24:57,300 the interesting thing is that cold front didn't last forever. 400 00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:01,420 It lasted this time a few days, 401 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:04,620 and I was able to fly outta San Antonio Airport, no problem. 402 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:06,980 But for about 72 hours, 403 00:25:07,070 --> 00:25:11,400 which is the given understanding of how long, 404 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:16,160 nine out of 10 emergencies last for in 72 hours, you need to address warmth. 405 00:25:16,340 --> 00:25:19,960 You need to address water, food, and sanitation. 406 00:25:20,300 --> 00:25:25,030 And people forget about the sanitation aspect because your 407 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:26,030 pipes could burst, 408 00:25:26,120 --> 00:25:30,830 which means that you now just have a toilet that will work 409 00:25:30,970 --> 00:25:33,950 if you manually flush it by adding water into the bowl. 410 00:25:34,610 --> 00:25:38,630 But additional water won't show up unless you've filled up the toilet, uh, 411 00:25:38,630 --> 00:25:43,150 filled up the tub, or you have gallon jugs of water nearby. So I would say, 412 00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:46,390 don't forget about the sanitation. And then once you do that, 413 00:25:46,530 --> 00:25:51,230 you start looking at how can you make your house the greatest indoor camping 414 00:25:51,230 --> 00:25:54,760 experience ever? And really it comes down to wearing extra clothing. 415 00:25:55,380 --> 00:26:00,000 It comes down to closing off parts of the house that you're not going to need to 416 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:03,600 go into. So you are able to warm it with your body heat, 417 00:26:03,740 --> 00:26:05,600 and you're able to warm it with candles. 418 00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:08,880 If you're okay with having a candle in your house and you're not worried about, 419 00:26:09,100 --> 00:26:11,960 you know, cat knocking it over, or kids putting something over it, 420 00:26:12,450 --> 00:26:14,360 after you close off your house, 421 00:26:14,620 --> 00:26:18,000 the spots that you don't need and you kind of trap in the heat, 422 00:26:18,020 --> 00:26:21,800 so you don't bleed heat, then you just make sure you have enough water, 423 00:26:22,210 --> 00:26:25,220 extra warm clothing. You could easily, 424 00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:29,620 easily purchase emergency hand warmers, the chemical variety. 425 00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:34,300 And if you were to put those against your body every eight hours, 426 00:26:34,410 --> 00:26:36,220 like the life of the chemical hand warmer, 427 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:38,660 you could easily get through 72 hours with a, 428 00:26:38,780 --> 00:26:41,420 a box for each person in your home. And it doesn't cost much. 429 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:45,210 So if you have a good set of warm clothing and you have chemical hand warmers, 430 00:26:45,530 --> 00:26:49,330 artificial source of heat, very easy to get by after that, 431 00:26:49,430 --> 00:26:50,730 it comes down to cooking. 432 00:26:51,270 --> 00:26:54,090 And there are plenty of ways that you can cook indoors. 433 00:26:54,300 --> 00:26:58,410 There are plenty of foods that do not need to be reheated in order to be 434 00:26:58,770 --> 00:27:03,090 consumed. I mean, you can get by with so many different high energy, 435 00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:07,010 high calorie bars, cliff bars, range meal bars, 436 00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:11,130 gorp, right? Good old raisins and peanuts. And at the end of the day, 437 00:27:11,310 --> 00:27:15,930 you have to remember, it's a finite, finite emergency power will be restored. 438 00:27:16,150 --> 00:27:19,890 People will come by to, to check on you. Grocery stores will reopen. 439 00:27:20,670 --> 00:27:25,650 We had a blackout here in December of last year where all of 440 00:27:25,650 --> 00:27:28,810 Moore County lost power for three to five days. 441 00:27:29,350 --> 00:27:32,890 But if you traveled outside of Moore County, you could find gasoline, 442 00:27:32,950 --> 00:27:36,010 you could find groceries, you could find bags of ice at night. 443 00:27:36,010 --> 00:27:40,890 It got dark enough and cold enough where you could take food and put it 444 00:27:40,890 --> 00:27:43,210 outside, and you don't have to worry about the refrigerator. 445 00:27:43,750 --> 00:27:47,280 So I'll say that it's not difficult, 446 00:27:47,700 --> 00:27:52,580 but you need to plan in advance to make your way through one of those 447 00:27:52,900 --> 00:27:53,570 emergencies. 448 00:27:53,570 --> 00:27:58,420 What do you think some of the potential survival situations are for this country 449 00:27:58,420 --> 00:28:02,900 that we need to be prepared for? And if you're traveling overseas. 450 00:28:04,370 --> 00:28:07,860 Well, blackout is one that does happen. Uh, 451 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:12,580 we saw one here in Moore County when substations were knocked out. 452 00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:15,900 We know that there is absolutely, 453 00:28:16,540 --> 00:28:20,780 absolutely a weakness to our infrastructure when it comes to the power grid. 454 00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:25,380 So you have to be ready for the blackout. That's something that, 455 00:28:26,180 --> 00:28:28,860 I mean, how far do you wanna stretch your preps? 456 00:28:29,110 --> 00:28:31,500 There are people who will prepare just to stay indoors. 457 00:28:31,710 --> 00:28:34,540 There are people that will say, well, I'm not gonna let it affect my commute. 458 00:28:34,650 --> 00:28:38,660 I've got a generator at work. Life is gonna go on. I mean, 459 00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:41,980 how far do you want to take your prep for a blackout? That is, uh, 460 00:28:41,980 --> 00:28:44,860 in my opinion, one of the top ones. Regionally, 461 00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:47,740 we have different national natural disasters that take place. 462 00:28:47,740 --> 00:28:51,380 Florida just got hit with a hurricane. The northeast has blizzards. 463 00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:56,500 The Midwest has, uh, tornadoes. You look at the West coast, they have wildfires. 464 00:28:56,600 --> 00:28:57,660 So you start, 465 00:28:57,660 --> 00:29:01,980 have to start looking at where you live and start planning for those accordingly 466 00:29:01,980 --> 00:29:05,300 as well. Now, internationally, internationally, 467 00:29:05,810 --> 00:29:09,060 they don't have the same level of security that we have here. Now, 468 00:29:09,060 --> 00:29:13,500 there are some exceptions to that. Switzerland, very, very safe country, 469 00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:18,340 Israel, very, very progressive when it comes to safety. 470 00:29:18,920 --> 00:29:23,580 But there are countries that border other countries that don't necessarily 471 00:29:23,890 --> 00:29:27,140 care about the people. They let in their, their borders, 472 00:29:27,140 --> 00:29:31,780 and they let people cross, you know, without any scrutiny. So I would say, 473 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:33,340 you know, when you're traveling, 474 00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:38,460 be prepared for civil unrest where it could be new 475 00:29:38,460 --> 00:29:39,940 politician coming into power. 476 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:45,080 It could be a new law that maybe you've been, you haven't been tracking, 477 00:29:45,260 --> 00:29:47,640 but maybe there's talk of, you know, 478 00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:51,440 workers getting paid X amount or not getting paid enough, whatever it may be. 479 00:29:52,520 --> 00:29:53,940 So with that being said, 480 00:29:53,940 --> 00:29:57,660 like you have to look at the local news wherever you're traveling and get an 481 00:29:57,660 --> 00:29:59,020 idea of, you know, 482 00:29:59,020 --> 00:30:03,740 what the climate is politically and socially now, across the nation. 483 00:30:05,040 --> 00:30:09,800 A aside from the natural disasters and aside from the blackout, 484 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:14,560 I mean, there is the possibility that so many things could happen, 485 00:30:15,300 --> 00:30:17,720 but there's a low probability that they will. 486 00:30:18,490 --> 00:30:22,950 And you can live very paranoid if you're trying to avoid 487 00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:25,590 everything that's possible. I mean, 488 00:30:25,690 --> 00:30:30,510 is it possible that the same type of attack that 489 00:30:30,710 --> 00:30:35,510 happened on nine 11 happens in the building that I'm in right now? Yeah, 490 00:30:35,510 --> 00:30:36,830 it's very possible. 491 00:30:37,100 --> 00:30:41,790 What is the probability next to nothing like 0, 0, 0, 0, 492 00:30:42,750 --> 00:30:45,230 a hundred times 1%? Right? 493 00:30:45,690 --> 00:30:48,270 So we need to look at what is both possible and probable, 494 00:30:48,450 --> 00:30:53,070 and that is really how you should be planning as you travel. Um, 495 00:30:53,210 --> 00:30:56,230 but the best way to do that is to just be alert, be aware, 496 00:30:56,890 --> 00:31:01,870 ask questions before you go join local discussion boards of a neighborhood 497 00:31:01,870 --> 00:31:05,550 that you're visiting and, you know, ask people there. You know, 498 00:31:05,890 --> 00:31:07,790 that's really your best defense is to, 499 00:31:07,810 --> 00:31:11,270 to just be aware of what could happen and then plan ahead of time. What. 500 00:31:11,370 --> 00:31:16,270 Is there one piece of equipment that people should always 501 00:31:16,270 --> 00:31:17,103 have with them? 502 00:31:17,950 --> 00:31:22,320 Gosh, I mean, I know personally a carry a Swiss Army knife every single day, 503 00:31:22,580 --> 00:31:25,800 and that Swiss Army knife is legal in every single state. Yeah. 504 00:31:26,120 --> 00:31:26,953 I do the same. 505 00:31:27,220 --> 00:31:29,280 You know, and I also have other knives on me, 506 00:31:29,580 --> 00:31:34,330 but those are not the ones that I pull out from day to day to do 507 00:31:34,330 --> 00:31:38,090 daily tasks. But that Swiss Army knife has gotten me out of a lot of trouble, 508 00:31:38,150 --> 00:31:40,770 and it's allowed me to teach classes over the years and, 509 00:31:40,990 --> 00:31:43,690 and camp and live in the great outdoors. I mean, 510 00:31:43,690 --> 00:31:46,010 I've cleaned fish in Alaska with it, 511 00:31:46,110 --> 00:31:49,140 and I've done all sorts of stuff with that knife. A lighter, 512 00:31:49,660 --> 00:31:51,620 a big lighter goes a long way. 513 00:31:51,660 --> 00:31:55,380 And it's only 99 cents a flashlight goes a very long way. 514 00:31:55,380 --> 00:32:00,380 And you'll probably use a small AAA flashlight or micro U s b 515 00:32:00,380 --> 00:32:03,300 flashlight that's rechargeable. You'll use that every single day, 516 00:32:03,920 --> 00:32:07,540 but you're probably not gonna use your tourniquet every single day. So again, 517 00:32:07,540 --> 00:32:10,740 you look at the, the different items that you may need, 518 00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:12,980 and if you do need something than tomorrow, 519 00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:17,180 you throw that item in a small Ziploc bag and you put it in your briefcase or 520 00:32:17,180 --> 00:32:20,500 your backpack or whatever. And over the days of, say, 521 00:32:20,500 --> 00:32:23,460 like a month or a few months, you start noticing the things that you're like, 522 00:32:23,460 --> 00:32:25,260 wow, I, I'm glad I had that with me. 523 00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:30,120 And what you're starting to carry is an emergency kit because you're dealing 524 00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:32,600 with daily emergencies. You might say, oh, 525 00:32:32,600 --> 00:32:35,480 my phone is running outta battery power. I wish I had an extra charger. 526 00:32:35,590 --> 00:32:38,960 Then you throw that in that bag, you might say, oh, I ran out of, 527 00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:43,280 of battery power here. You might throw a couple cr 1 23 batteries in there. 528 00:32:43,380 --> 00:32:46,640 You might say, well, I wish I had the ability to tie something down. 529 00:32:46,700 --> 00:32:49,520 So you throw a little bit of para quarter duct tape, and next thing you know, 530 00:32:49,520 --> 00:32:53,320 you have this emergency kit, and you'll feel naked if you're without it, 531 00:32:53,340 --> 00:32:55,680 and you'll understand the value of preparedness. 532 00:32:55,680 --> 00:32:59,960 It's actually a virtue because we don't wanna be people who, 533 00:32:59,990 --> 00:33:02,960 when something bad happens, someone says, well, 534 00:33:03,660 --> 00:33:06,440 can that guy get it done or not? And if they say, oh, they, 535 00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:08,120 that person couldn't, couldn't get it done, 536 00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:11,280 that person couldn't be part of the solution. You don't want to be that. 537 00:33:11,700 --> 00:33:15,320 It feels good when someone says, oh, thank God, Kevin's here. 538 00:33:15,650 --> 00:33:19,640 Thank God Robert's here. You know, like, that is a great feeling. 539 00:33:19,820 --> 00:33:23,640 And it's one that reinforces preparedness every single day. 540 00:33:23,740 --> 00:33:28,360 You don't ever want to not be that guy or that gal that someone needs 541 00:33:28,710 --> 00:33:29,840 when something needs to be done. 542 00:33:31,690 --> 00:33:32,700 Kind of getting to the end here, 543 00:33:32,700 --> 00:33:35,100 let's go back for a moment to personal protection. 544 00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:40,060 One of the things that's going on around the country are these gangs coming into 545 00:33:40,830 --> 00:33:44,340 brand name retail places and just clinging them out. 546 00:33:45,480 --> 00:33:49,380 If you find yourself caught in something like that, what's, what's your advice? 547 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:52,020 So my advice, if someone gets caught in, 548 00:33:52,020 --> 00:33:55,460 say like a Nordstrom or a phi or a big department store, 549 00:33:55,660 --> 00:33:57,020 'cause they're targeting department stores, 550 00:33:57,480 --> 00:33:59,820 but they're also targeting stores that are in a strip mall. 551 00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:03,820 My advice is go to the back room. Don't try to go out the front door. 552 00:34:04,310 --> 00:34:08,340 Every store that you're going to go into is going to have a back exit, 553 00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:13,860 and it's usually through the store room where they keep the inventory of shoes 554 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:17,510 and they keep the back stock of all the clothing. By law, 555 00:34:17,510 --> 00:34:21,190 it's gotta be identified as an exit. So you'll just follow the exit signs. 556 00:34:21,810 --> 00:34:25,950 My advice is if there are people who came in through that front door and they're 557 00:34:25,950 --> 00:34:26,783 just grabbing things, 558 00:34:27,130 --> 00:34:30,870 and many times what you'll see is you'll know you're in a bad store, by the way, 559 00:34:31,150 --> 00:34:35,430 , if you walk in and some of the coat hangers look like a question mark, 560 00:34:35,730 --> 00:34:38,950 and some of the coat hangers look like the mirror image of a question mark, 561 00:34:38,950 --> 00:34:40,110 and they alternate those, 562 00:34:40,420 --> 00:34:45,150 because what happens is people will come in and they'll grab a handful of shirts 563 00:34:45,150 --> 00:34:48,790 or jackets and then yank 'em off to the right if they all look like question 564 00:34:48,920 --> 00:34:52,430 marks. So if that's happened before, 565 00:34:52,970 --> 00:34:57,710 stores will get in the habit of alternating the coat hangers and putting a 566 00:34:57,710 --> 00:35:01,990 stop on the front. So you might wanna shop elsewhere if you walk in, 567 00:35:01,990 --> 00:35:06,590 and the clothing islands immediately look like that from the get-go. 568 00:35:07,170 --> 00:35:09,350 Now, as far as what you should do, 569 00:35:09,690 --> 00:35:13,130 do not go out the exit that they're going out in that moment. 570 00:35:13,130 --> 00:35:16,010 They're looking for property, they're looking for anything that they can steal. 571 00:35:16,010 --> 00:35:18,690 They're already committed to stealing from a store. 572 00:35:19,450 --> 00:35:24,050 I don't see why they would not steal from you. So in that moment, 573 00:35:24,280 --> 00:35:27,010 when all eyes are on the front door, 574 00:35:28,050 --> 00:35:32,410 I would run out the back door. And if you're saying, I need to get out of here, 575 00:35:32,910 --> 00:35:36,090 you know, I'm, I'm, I'm afraid for my life, who's stopping you? 576 00:35:36,790 --> 00:35:40,360 It would be in your best circumstance to run out the back door. 577 00:35:40,500 --> 00:35:43,640 And everyone came in from the store room and no one is guarding that back door. 578 00:35:43,640 --> 00:35:47,200 And you just get out of that and you put distance between you and the people who 579 00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:49,640 have friends waiting at that car. The other thing is, 580 00:35:50,130 --> 00:35:54,160 there are sales clerks that have confronted these 581 00:35:54,920 --> 00:35:56,800 looters. Now, back in the eighties and the nineties, 582 00:35:56,800 --> 00:35:59,720 this happened in New York City. It was called, uh, wilding. 583 00:36:00,180 --> 00:36:03,960 So now they call it a flash mob because of the whole dance craze thing. 584 00:36:03,980 --> 00:36:07,920 But in the eighties or nineties, gangs would do this in New York called wilding, 585 00:36:08,410 --> 00:36:12,470 and it's nothing new. And insurance will usually cover property, 586 00:36:12,690 --> 00:36:15,630 but many stores have rules in place where they say, 587 00:36:15,770 --> 00:36:20,390 do not confront people trying to steal because people will 588 00:36:21,030 --> 00:36:23,710 possibly pull a firearm. And if that's the case, then it's on you. 589 00:36:24,780 --> 00:36:26,280 Let insurance do its job. 590 00:36:26,750 --> 00:36:30,840 Your best bet that you can do is just try to get a good idea of who's doing it. 591 00:36:30,910 --> 00:36:34,200 Most people cover their face, get an idea of what the car looks like, 592 00:36:34,790 --> 00:36:37,400 call it in right away, right? I mean, you can do that, 593 00:36:37,460 --> 00:36:40,040 but I would not go out that same door that, you know, 594 00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:42,520 someone just came in and now they're going back out. 595 00:36:42,540 --> 00:36:44,320 You don't know who's on the other side of that door. 596 00:36:44,340 --> 00:36:49,250 You don't know if maybe that's the next new wave of people that are 597 00:36:49,260 --> 00:36:52,570 flash mobbing where they're trying to go after customers who are afraid. 598 00:36:53,190 --> 00:36:54,170 So go out the back door. 599 00:36:54,520 --> 00:36:58,250 From your students. Are you hearing about any other trends like this for, 600 00:36:58,310 --> 00:37:01,410 in terms of people should be concerned about for their personal safety? 601 00:37:02,340 --> 00:37:04,600 So I mean, aside from going into stores, 602 00:37:05,210 --> 00:37:09,720 there is absolutely a trend of people checking doors 603 00:37:10,060 --> 00:37:12,880 in driveways at 2, 3, 4 in the morning, 604 00:37:13,580 --> 00:37:15,840 and the police have no response, 605 00:37:16,840 --> 00:37:18,800 absolutely no response to this, 606 00:37:19,030 --> 00:37:23,040 because these gangs are 100% coordinated, 607 00:37:23,420 --> 00:37:26,320 and they make it a competition to see who can get the most stuff. 608 00:37:26,860 --> 00:37:27,720 Now in the news, 609 00:37:27,770 --> 00:37:32,360 there are examples of people confronting people in their driveway and 610 00:37:32,790 --> 00:37:37,650 they are getting shot at. Now, that to me, is a serious threat, 611 00:37:37,830 --> 00:37:39,610 and it's something that could happen to you. 612 00:37:40,270 --> 00:37:44,090 So I would advise you before you leave your car for the night, 613 00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:48,650 pull on that door handle, get in the habit. If you have a a key fob, 614 00:37:48,980 --> 00:37:51,690 close the door, hit the key fob, check the handle, walk inside, 615 00:37:51,750 --> 00:37:52,650 put those keys down. 616 00:37:53,380 --> 00:37:58,370 There aren't many stories of people having windows broken in when 617 00:37:59,030 --> 00:38:01,210 all they're doing is checking door handles. Now, 618 00:38:01,210 --> 00:38:05,410 there are stories in California, there are stories in San Antonio, 619 00:38:05,500 --> 00:38:09,890 there are stories in major metropolitan areas where people will break a window 620 00:38:09,990 --> 00:38:11,290 to steal change out of a cup. 621 00:38:12,030 --> 00:38:16,130 So don't leave anything in plain sight and lock your doors. 622 00:38:16,510 --> 00:38:20,770 And the other thing is don't confront the people who are trying to steal from 623 00:38:20,770 --> 00:38:21,330 you. I. 624 00:38:21,330 --> 00:38:25,050 Wanna close out talking about your high school history teaching. 625 00:38:26,180 --> 00:38:29,080 If you could be the education king for the day and go back, 626 00:38:29,510 --> 00:38:33,720 what would you change that would improve the education of our high school and 627 00:38:33,720 --> 00:38:34,553 junior high students? 628 00:38:35,030 --> 00:38:35,720 Immediately, 629 00:38:35,720 --> 00:38:39,840 what I would do to improve education is I would hold parents accountable. 630 00:38:40,550 --> 00:38:45,170 And what I mean by that is parents are the missing 631 00:38:45,490 --> 00:38:49,850 equation in education today. Over the years that I taught 14 years, 632 00:38:50,530 --> 00:38:55,290 I saw a gradual change from parents coming in and parents 633 00:38:55,290 --> 00:38:59,930 saying, what can we do to help my child succeed to 634 00:39:00,640 --> 00:39:04,530 what are you doing to make my child fail? What, what are you doing wrong? Right? 635 00:39:04,590 --> 00:39:05,570 And it was a shift, 636 00:39:06,190 --> 00:39:09,850 and part of that came in with parent access to the grade book. 637 00:39:10,570 --> 00:39:15,420 I would rather have parents come in during parent conferences and say, 638 00:39:15,750 --> 00:39:17,940 let's sit down and talk about my kids' grades, 639 00:39:18,360 --> 00:39:23,220 but I only had five minutes with each parent in a two hour block from six 640 00:39:23,220 --> 00:39:24,380 o'clock until eight o'clock. 641 00:39:24,750 --> 00:39:28,940 Every five minutes there's a new parent and you can't really do a deep dive and 642 00:39:28,940 --> 00:39:33,180 you don't really hear from the parents. Or the parents would say, uh oh, 643 00:39:33,220 --> 00:39:36,660 I don't have time for this. Tell me what's working. I'll do it at home. Well, 644 00:39:37,210 --> 00:39:41,820 many times parents would not be held accountable. Um, 645 00:39:42,050 --> 00:39:43,100 parents would, 646 00:39:44,250 --> 00:39:47,660 would be quick to yell at the teachers instead of saying, 647 00:39:47,660 --> 00:39:51,620 what can I do to help you at home? It was, why is my kid failing? 648 00:39:51,620 --> 00:39:53,180 You're a terrible teacher, da da, da. 649 00:39:53,410 --> 00:39:58,400 They would take the kid's side as opposed to being in it together, 650 00:39:58,490 --> 00:40:02,640 right? Like I truly believe that it's a community effort. What I would do, 651 00:40:02,660 --> 00:40:05,240 not only for parent accountability, I would get students involved. 652 00:40:05,760 --> 00:40:09,960 I would get high performing students to tutor the students that don't perform so 653 00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:12,400 great, right? I would absolutely, 654 00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:17,920 absolutely make it mandatory that there are these summits 655 00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:21,160 where kids are not forced to do standardized testing, 656 00:40:21,740 --> 00:40:25,160 but they get a chance to see all the different jobs that are out there that the 657 00:40:25,160 --> 00:40:27,080 Board of Ed won't necessarily show them. 658 00:40:27,190 --> 00:40:32,000 Because the board of Ed usually says all students should be college ready. Well, 659 00:40:32,000 --> 00:40:36,840 what if a kid finds out when he is 14 or a kid finds out in his senior year or 660 00:40:36,860 --> 00:40:39,400 her senior year, I really want to do this job, 661 00:40:39,830 --> 00:40:42,960 give me the classes my final year to get me to that job. 662 00:40:42,960 --> 00:40:46,280 That doesn't require college, but the board of Ed says, no, no, no. 663 00:40:46,280 --> 00:40:48,400 You have to take this class to make you college ready. 664 00:40:48,700 --> 00:40:53,080 That's a disservice to kids. So I think it needs an overhaul. 665 00:40:53,720 --> 00:40:58,120 I don't think the solution is every kid gets homeschooled because not every 666 00:40:58,120 --> 00:40:59,840 parent is a capable educator. 667 00:41:00,520 --> 00:41:02,960 I do think there will always be a place for public education, 668 00:41:03,460 --> 00:41:05,680 but it needs a serious overhaul. 669 00:41:09,300 --> 00:41:12,720 In closing, here's my reporter's recap and reflections. 670 00:41:13,660 --> 00:41:18,240 As Kevin Estella stressed survival depends on preparedness. 671 00:41:18,980 --> 00:41:22,800 For starters, he recommends carrying a tourniquet, good flashlight, big, 672 00:41:22,800 --> 00:41:24,840 lighter, a feral rod, 673 00:41:24,840 --> 00:41:29,480 which is a fire starter that can be used as an emergency signal and a 674 00:41:29,590 --> 00:41:30,423 bandana. 675 00:41:31,220 --> 00:41:35,120 His book is titled 101 Skills You Need To Survive In The Woods. 676 00:41:36,000 --> 00:41:39,160 A second book covering Advanced Skills is on the way. 677 00:41:39,800 --> 00:41:42,640 I have placed links to his resources in the show notes. 678 00:41:44,020 --> 00:41:48,040 You've been listening to the True Crime Reporter podcast. Stay true, 679 00:41:48,390 --> 00:41:49,220 stay safe, 680 00:41:49,220 --> 00:41:54,120 and stay tuned for more stories from inside the crime scene tape. 681 00:41:54,900 --> 00:41:56,840 I'm Robert Riggs Reporting.