Firearms, GPS, Night Imaging and Prepping

[marineimaging]

I have seen a lot of new gun owners purchasing firearms for their go bags and other prepping setups and just want to add a piece of info that some do not seem cognizant of. Electronic and digital GPS and sighting systems such as night scopes, red dot's, holographic, thermal imaging, and like the digital ATN day/night scope are great assets as long as everything is normal. However, if you are planning to engage in prepping I wanted to suggest that you not rely on anything that requires a battery of any kind. At least not for your prepping needs. Learn how to read a terrain map and use a compass without a GPS. How to track and map your location without any other digital system. Learn how to overcome a jam or stuck round, and maybe how to disassemble and assemble your rifle, pistol, and manual sighting systems quickly and put them back in service with your eyes closed. The main thing is to not rely on electronic devices or batteries or flashlights (unless you can build them from earth and charge them from the ionosphere or something like that.)

 

[Aryeh Jay]

I have seen a lot of new gun owners purchasing firearms for their go bags and other prepping setups and just want to add a piece of info that some do not seem cognizant of. Electronic and digital GPS and sighting systems such as night scopes, red dot's, holographic, thermal imaging, and like the digital ATN day/night scope are great assets as long as everything is normal. However, if you are planning to engage in prepping I wanted to suggest that you not rely on anything that requires a battery of any kind. At least not for your prepping needs. Learn how to read a terrain map and use a compass without a GPS. How to track and map your location without any other digital system. Learn how to overcome a jam or stuck round, and maybe how to disassemble and assemble your rifle, pistol, and manual sighting systems quickly and put them back in service with your eyes closed. The main thing is to not rely on electronic devices or batteries or flashlights (unless you can build them from earth and charge them from the ionosphere or something like that.)

I was giving a class on land navigation a few months ago to my platoon (Michigan Army National Guard) using a paper map, lensatic compass and plastic protractor. One of my soldiers started asking why not just rely on the GPS and if that fails, out smartphones. He went on to say how he has a sweet GPS in his bug out bag and an external battery with a solar charger for his smart phone and with the TOPO maps he had loaded in his phone he was good to go. He was completely unaware that his smart phone would give his location to whoever he had to bug out from. Technology is great sometimes but it can also work against you.

 

[marineimaging]

I was giving a class on land navigation a few months ago to my platoon (Michigan Army National Guard) using a paper map, lensatic compass and plastic protractor. One of my soldiers started asking why not just rely on the GPS and if that fails, out smartphones. He went on to say how he has a sweet GPS in his bug out bag and an external battery with a solar charger for his smart phone and with the TOPO maps he had loaded in his phone he was good to go. He was completely unaware that his smart phone would give his location to whoever he had to bug out from. Technology is great sometimes but it can also work against you.

I have a job that requires me to visit job sites all over Houston. Well, driving in Houston traffic is horrible, especially when the weather is bad. I rely on my phone map to voice directions as I am driving because it allows me to focus on the road and other drivers. Yesterday I was in the middle of a significant jam in the middle of a rainstorm and suddenly the phone starts giving directions which have me exit. Cool, I thought. It is going to get me around the jam. No, somehow the entire system went haywire and had me turning into a neighborhood, then back around, then U turn, then back toward work..., all of this in the midst of a storm. No, you should not rely on GPS because given one massive solar burst all of the sat's and most of the devices are toast. Secondly, as you said, every digital communication device is traceable. Even better than the German Nazi's who drove around in vans with radio frequency direction finders to locate allied radio transmitters, they can find you without you ever transmitting because the device transmits automatically. It is o.k. to use these devices, but not at the expense of not knowing how to manually navigate or communicate, such as Morse code with mirrors or sound.

 

[Newtheran]

I have seen a lot of new gun owners purchasing firearms for their go bags and other prepping setups and just want to add a piece of info that some do not seem cognizant of. Electronic and digital GPS and sighting systems such as night scopes, red dot's, holographic, thermal imaging, and like the digital ATN day/night scope are great assets as long as everything is normal. However, if you are planning to engage in prepping I wanted to suggest that you not rely on anything that requires a battery of any kind. At least not for your prepping needs. Learn how to read a terrain map and use a compass without a GPS. How to track and map your location without any other digital system. Learn how to overcome a jam or stuck round, and maybe how to disassemble and assemble your rifle, pistol, and manual sighting systems quickly and put them back in service with your eyes closed. The main thing is to not rely on electronic devices or batteries or flashlights (unless you can build them from earth and charge them from the ionosphere or something like that.)

Agreed. Also, GPS can be turned off or jammed. Last year, NOTAMS were published advising pilots of GPS jamming tests being carried out by the military out west

 

[marineimaging]

Agreed. Also, GPS can be turned off or jammed. Last year, NOTAMS were published advising pilots of GPS jamming tests being carried out by the military out west

Anything that processes information is transmitting information. I have never assembled a marketable device that did not feed back information. A traditional map and compass doesn't transmit your location.