Posts By :

Greg Ellifritz

Safest South American Destinations?
Safest South American Destinations? 1024 683 Greg Ellifritz

The article below has a lot of good information.

 

Safest countries in South America to visit: 6 places to travel stress-free

 

I’ve personally traveled to all of the countries (and most of the sites/cities listed as well) and generally agree with their assessment.

 

With that said, I would exercise caution in two places mentioned.  The first is Buenos Aires, Argentina.  It’s a big city in a country suffering an economic collapse.  While most areas are probably OK, I’m hesitant to give the entire city a “safe” rating.

 

The second is Ciudad del Este in Paraguay.  On the border of three countries, this city has a lot of drug trafficking, human trafficking, and stolen goods.  Be exceptionally careful here.

 

 

Traveling with Pets
Traveling with Pets 640 457 Greg Ellifritz

The rules with regards to traveling with your pet as an “emotional service animal” have recently changed.

 

This article explains everything you need to know about flying with your pets.

 

Flying With Pets? Read This Guide Before You Book Your Next Trip

 

 

Be the Grey Man
Be the Grey Man 316 160 Greg Ellifritz

This article contains some great information.

How to Travel Grey

 

It’s very good advice for travelers, even those of you who only travel domestically.  Lose the tactical pants, Molle-covered backpack, and ballcap advertising your favorite gun company.  When I fly, I wear a loose fitting T-shirt and jeans.  My carry-on is an Arcteryx Blade backpack that looks like something a business traveler would carry.

 

My size attracts some attention in foreign countries, but I can’t do much about that.  T-shirts and jeans are the uniform of the day for young men in every country where I travel.  If I’m wearing that, I usually don’t attract too much attention even when I am walking around at twice the average weight of a local male in my host country.

The author’s comments about the beard are right on as well.  Several years ago I remember being constantly asked if I was a cop by immigration and customs officials when traveling.  I think it was the fact that I was big, clean shaven, and had a very short haircut.  I decided to grow a beard during an exceptionally long trip.   It didn’t work.

 

I still got lots of attention from the local cops and immigration officials. When I came home, my then girlfriend’s teenage son asked me about the beard.  I explained how I was trying to avoid looking like a cop, but somehow it didn’t work.  He said “Of course it didn’t work.  Now you don’t look like a cop.  You look like a terrorist!”

 

Be aware of what your appearance says about you in other countries.

Preparing for Foreign Travel- Guns
Preparing for Foreign Travel- Guns 620 465 Greg Ellifritz

I’m currently on a short trip to the Dominican Republic.  My trip prompted some friends to ask me how I planned on protecting myself in a third world country where it is illegal for me to carry a firearm.  I’ve spent an average of at least six weeks a year for the last 10 years traveling outside of the country.  My usual vacation spots are the kinds of places that most experts will advise you to stay away from.  Despite that fact, I’ve managed to survive pretty successfully without a gun, spending a grand total of more than an entire year traveling through nearly 40 foreign countries.

 

If you think that you absolutely need a gun to survive, you are seriously misguided and are missing out on some awesome life experiences by limiting yourself to only those places that allow your concealed pistol.  Here’s the crux of what I have learned in my travels: If you don’t act like an asshole, people generally won’t try to kill you. 

 

I’ve traveled through some of the most dangerous countries on the planet without a gun.  I try to make friends with the locals.  I don’t act like the “Ugly American.”  I don’t pick fights.  I try to smile a lot.  I don’t display indicators of my wealth or throw large sums of money around.  I buy my local friends a round of beer on occasion.  I learn some of the local language.   That’s it.  That’s my grand self defense strategy.  It’s kept me quite safe throughout the last decade of my life.  If you are honest with yourself, doing these same things and not acting like an asshole will keep you safe here at home as well.

 

With all this said, it doesn’t mean that I don’t prepare for violence before I travel to other countries. Before traveling to any foreign countries, I research crime trends and common scams in the areas where I’ll be visiting. I pack and carry both less lethal and lethal weapons (other than firearms) and will be writing about those options next week.

 

One additional preparation I make is that I prepare to use any “battlefield pickup” weapons I may be able to acquire overseas in an emergency. I look at the weapons that local cops/soldiers/security guards carry and make sure I can use them proficiently. The chance of me needing some local cop’s gun is extremely low, but so is being caught in a hurricane or trapped in a volcanic eruption. I’ve experienced both of those events while traveling and want to be prepared on weapons side of things as well.

 

Since I most recently traveled to the Dominican Republic, I’ll give you my pre-trip range training practice session details as an example of what I do for most of the countries I visit. In the Dominican, you generally see a lot of .38 revolvers. You also see pistol gripped pump shotguns (usually Winchesters).   In a crisis, if I had to arm myself, I would either offer to buy one of those guns for an exorbitant sum of money or I’d choke out an unsuspecting security guard (sorry dude) and “acquire” his weapon.  I need to make sure I am very proficient with both weapon types.

 

Would you know how to use this gun (seen being carried by an Ecuadorian security guard) in an emergency?

Would you know how to use this gun (seen being carried by an Ecuadorian security guard) in an emergency?

 

I broke my Winchester pump out of the gun safe and did a little dry firing. The big difference between the Winchester and other brands of shotgun is the location of the safety. I spent a few minutes dryfiring and working the safety until I was completely comfortable with it.

 

I also took a 4″ Model 10 .38 revolver out of my safe and took it to the range. Because the security guards who carry these revolvers rarely carry spare ammunition (and the ammunition they do carry is 158 grain lead roundnose), I knew I had to focus on extreme accuracy and making fast head shots. One round of round nose .38 to the chest isn’t a likely stopper and I wouldn’t have extra bullets to spare, so I planned on using more head shots than I normally would. The combination of faster stops and less ammunition used is exactly the solution I needed. Reloads weren’t likely to be possible, let alone a realistic option, so I didn’t waste any time working on them.

 

Since accuracy is paramount, I started out with a modified version of the Humbler drill shot at 50 feet to ensure I had good trigger control with the revolver.  After shooting the Humbler, I put a full sized silhouette target up at 20 feet.  I ran two cylinders of ammunition through the revolver on each stage.  I shot each stage from the ready position because I was unlikely to be using a holster for a gun I had to steal from an unsuspecting security guard.

 

– Six fast body shots

-Three body shots right hand only

– Three body shots left hand only

– Two to the body and one to the head

– One to the body and one to the head

– Single head shots as fast as I could make my hits

 

With a little over 100 rounds fired, I felt pretty good about my abilities to use a .38 revolver if necessary.

 

You will find different weapons carried in different countries.  In Latin America and the Caribbean, the .38 revolver/ pistol grip pump shotgun combo is exceedingly popular.  Those are two guns you should definitely understand how to work.  In all my other travels in third world countries, I see the following other guns most commonly carried on a regular basis by the local cops/soldiers/security guards:

– Glock pistol

– Beretta 92 (or Taurus Copy)

– M-16/AR-15 variant

– Ruger Mini-14

– FN/FAL Rifle

– AK 47 and AK 74 (full auto- Know the safety differences between these and their semi auto cousins)

 

To be a well rounded and prepared traveler, you should understand basic operating functions of all of those weapons.  They are the ones you will most likely see.  If you have time, use Google Images and search “xxxx country police weapons.” Look at the guns you see the cops carrying and make sure you are at least proficient on those weapon systems.

 

I’m hoping that the only danger I face in the Dominican Republic is sun burn and alcohol poisoning.  But it’s still nice knowing I can take care of myself should the need arise.

 

Check in next week for my article on the weapons I carry when I travel in foreign countries.

Tourist Visas
Tourist Visas 800 533 Greg Ellifritz

Visa requirements can be a real pain in the ass for world travelers.  Every country is different.  Some do not require visas.  Some provide visas on arrival.  Some require that you send your passport to the country’s embassy to apply for a visa before you travel.

 

The article below covers almost all the issues you might need to understand with regards to foreign visas.  Read it and learn.

 

The Longest Tourist Visas for U.S.A Citizens, How to Extend Visas and More

 

 

Imodium for Travel
Imodium for Travel 259 478 Greg Ellifritz

Read a little about Loperamide.

 

Imodium’s Survival Applications: What It Is & Why Carry It Everywhere

 

Imodium (or generic Loperamide) is an essential drug to stockpile for both travel and survival purposes.  In addition to the reasons mentioned in the article, in any survival situation the chance of consuming bad food and water increases.  You don’t want to be disabled from the resulting diarrhea.

 

One caution…

 

There are a couple of cases where you SHOULD NOT use Imodium to control your diarrhea.  If you have bloody diarrhea or diarrhea with fever, it’s best to let it run its course.  You can make your illness worse by “stopping things up” under these conditions.

 

One more interesting point….

 

Besides controlling diarrhea, Modicum can help people suffering withdrawal symptoms from opiate drugs.  A lot of people in this country are hooked on narcotic pain meds.  The withdrawal symptoms from not taking those meds in a survival situation would be horrible.  Although Imodium doesn’t cross the blood brain barrier (and get you high), it does have a weak effect at the opiate receptors and might reduce some of the physical symptoms of opiate withdrawal.  This article explains some of the details.

Street Food
Street Food 720 960 Greg Ellifritz

I make it a point to eat street food as often as possible whenever I travel in third world countries. Having just returned from a month in Mexico, I can assure you that I took advantage of the nearby food carts and taco trucks for lunches and dinners several times a week.

 

Contrary to popular belief, street food is usually fresher and prepared in a more sanitary manner than the food you will find in the tourist restaurants. Read the article for some tips and then go get some street meat!

 

How to Eat Street Food Without Getting Sick

 

How can you pass up a Belgian fry truck in Playa del Carmen?

 

I had to draw the line at the dude selling sushi out of a cooler from his ATV on the street. Not quite that adventurous.

 

 

Travel Log- Antarctica and Chile
Travel Log- Antarctica and Chile 940 705 Greg Ellifritz

*My Travel Log series describes various past travel adventures and provides perspective about living and traveling in different countries.  This particular segment covers a trip to Chile and Antarctica in December of 2017.

 

Written by: Greg Ellifritz

 

I returned last week from an epic two-week trip to Antarctica (via Chile).  Why Antarctica?  Because it was on our continent bucket list.  Both Lauren and I have been to all of the other continents in the world.  Antarctica was the last one.  So we went.

 

The trip started with an 11-hour flight to Santiago.  I booked an extra day on either end of the trip in the event of a scheduling problem, so we had a couple of days to explore the city.  I had previously been to Santiago about 10 years ago.  I didn’t care for it at all.  It was cloudy, smog filled, and I didn’t find the people to be very friendly.

 

This trip was completely different.  I loved the city.  I think part of the reason I hated Santiago 10 years ago was that I went in the winter time.  It’s a completely different city in the summer (like now).  Weather was clear and 85-90 degrees with low humidity.  It was a nice antidote to our cold Ohio winter.

 

The people in Santiago are quite different from what you would see in the rest of South America.  Chileans are a bit wealthier and better educated than some of their Andean counterparts.  They are also far less traditional.  The women regularly wore short shorts, bare midriff and see through shirts, and funky styles.  I saw more skin on display than any other South American city besides Rio.  Both men and women sported lots of tattoos and all kinds of crazy dyed and shaved hairstyles.  The general style trends seemed to hearken back to the early 1980s punk rock scene in America and Europe.  It was a big departure from normally conservative South America.

 

Santiago from the tallest building in Latin America

 

We spent time in Santiago walking the city, eating tons of good food, and hanging out in their amazing city parks.  Unlike parks in America, Chilean parks allow alcohol, grilling food, music, and unleashed dogs.  People would actually go to the parks and relax because it was a fun atmosphere.  Chileans would revolt at the idea of an American park that banned alcohol, cooking food, and loud music.  What fun is that?  We Americans can learn a lot from our southern neighbors.

 

Tuna Tartar with avocado for Lauren and Blood sausage with pesto and goat cheese for me- Santiago

 

We also went on a walking tour of the coastal city of Valparaiso about an hour drive away from Santiago.  It was a colorful city filled with painted murals on all the neighborhood buildings.

 

Valparaiso, Chile

 

Valparaiso mural

 

Valparaiso

 

After a couple days in Santiago, we flew three hours south to the southern tip of the continent and spent a day in Punta Arenas while waiting for a flight to Antarctica.  Punta Arenas was a small coastal town and seemed to be far more relaxed than frantic Santiago.

 

We wandered around the town and ate at some great restaurants there.  Interestingly, the town of Punta Arenas had concrete vehicle barriers protecting all of their sidewalks and parks from vehicles.  Take a look at the photo below.  Those vehicle barriers were present in every single part of the town with high pedestrian traffic.

 

I find it intriguing that a sleepy little town on the southern tip of South America has solved the issue of terrorist vehicle attacks while we still fumble to protect our own citizens.

No vehicle run-down attacks in Punta Arenas

 

As for self protection and gun issues in Chile, there were none.  In our five days in Chile we did not see a single uniformed cop.  Not even in the airport!  I have no idea what equipment the Chilean cops use and we didn’t talk to any gun owners down there.  There was a stunning lack of violence or drama in the country.  Drivers didn’t even honk their horns.  It was all quite civilized and very different from most of the rest of the continent.

 

From Punta Arenas, we took a two hour flight to a Chilean Naval Base with a gravel runway on the Antarctic King George Island.  From there we boarded a 100-passenger cruise ship and boated around the Antarctic peninsula, stopping a couple times a day for land excursions.

 

We did lots of hiking, tried stand up paddling (with dry suits), and had extensive opportunities to check out the wildlife.  We saw thousands of penguins, three different types of seals, and three different types of whales.

 

I wasn’t quite prepared for the penguins.  The penguin colonies were literally covered in pink penguin poop.  Inches of it on every horizontal surface.  We had to walk through rivers of the stuff.  Most of the islands smelled like a chicken coop.  Not quite what I was expecting to see.

 

Penguins and their stinky pink and green poop

 

mmm…more penguin poop

 

Besides the nature, we visited the Antarctic museum and a couple wildlife viewing stations.  During the five days we were there, we visited territory claimed by Chile, Argentina, Russia, and England.

 

On the Russian Naval Station at King George Island

On British territory in the South Shetlands

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A lot of people asked me about carrying weapons in Antarctica.  I traveled light this trip.  The cruise ship forbade weapons of any type.  Interestingly, the entire continent of Antarctica is a gun free territory.  Firearms and shooting of any type is expressly forbidden as it is a wildlife refuge.  Killing animals or frightening them with loud noises is against the international treaty governing the territory.

 

The only weapon I carried was a Spyderco Ark neck knife.  It was small enough to be considered a tool and is made of the same salt water resistant steel as my favorite Salt folding knives.  With the constant environmental exposure, I wanted a blade that wouldn’t rust.  It’s not huge, but is fast to access and would do a fine job if I had to stab something.  In reality, why would I need a weapon?  It’s not like I was going to get jacked by a penguin.  Thankfully, I never had to deploy the blade and had no hazardous encounters with either people or marine animals.

 

 

Here are a few more pictures of the landscape.  I hope you get the chance to see it someday.

 

Minke Whale

 

Chillin’ with a seal

 

21 hours of daylight each day. This is the view from the boat deck at 2 am. This was as dark as it ever got.

 

 

Using a Fire Extinguisher as a Weapon
Using a Fire Extinguisher as a Weapon 1173 880 Greg Ellifritz

As a traveler, you may not be carrying the same types of weapons you carry at home.  In a crisis, have you ever thought about the most effective way to use a fire extinguisher to your advantage?

 

Fire extinguishers are often advocated as weapons in areas where “normal” weapons can’t be carried, yet few instructors teach folks how to use them effectively in that role.

 

In a terrorist or active killer attack, setting up an ambush and using the fire extinguisher to strike the terrorist from behind probably has the best chance of success.  But if the encounter is face to face, without the element of surprise, the fire extinguisher might not be the best weapon for a single defender working against an armed opponent.

 

I don’t think I would use the fire extinguisher as an impact weapon against an armed attacker because I need two hands to effectively wield it. Unless you can get him from behind and knock him out instantly (not likely), I would rather have at least one hand to deflect and control his knife arm or the muzzle of his gun. If I have two hands on the fire extinguisher, I can’t do that. I’m betting on a knockout and if that doesn’t happen, I get shot. I don’t like those odds.

 

The spray from the extinguisher is a very dense powder. It would certainly blind the person sprayed and make them cough uncontrollably.  Similar to the teamwork displayed in the London attack, to optimize its effectiveness, I would enlist the help of at least one or two confederates. I would spray the terrorist until the extinguisher was empty and then start beating the dude with it. As I do that, my two confederates would both work to take the gun/knife away.  I think that plan has a reasonable likelihood of success.

 

I’m going to keep the hose attached to the body of the fire extinguisher.  Most people separate it (like the photo above) to spray a fire, but it doesn’t have to be pulled away from the body of the extinguisher to function.  Hold the grip of the extinguisher with your strong hand.  Support the body of the extinguisher with your non-dominant hand, ideally placing your thumb over the hose to keep it in place.  Aim the “muzzle” of the hose at the terrorist and keep spraying until the extinguisher is empty.  Once empty, keep the same grip and thrust the bottom of the canister into the terrorist’s face repeatedly.  Hopefully this will provide enough distraction/injury that your friends can wrestle away the terrorist’s weapon.

 

Keep the hose attached to the body just like this. Spray and then thrust with the bottom of the extinguisher's body.

Keep the hose attached to the body just like this. Spray and then thrust with the bottom of the extinguisher’s body.

 

In another effective counterattack, one person sprays, one person tackles, and one person gets the weapon. The tackler would be hard to stop because most people don’t practice tracking targets moving towards them when shooting their guns in practice. It’s tough to hit this kind of moving target even with practice. It would be almost impossible with a face full of fire extinguisher powder.  The tackling defender would serve to keep the terrorist from creating distance by turning and running when the spray is deployed.  It would be difficult to stop this kind of attack.

 

When the extinguisher is empty, besides thrusting, you can also swing the canister by the handle, using the body of the fire extinguisher as an impact weapon.  Depending on the size of the canister, this movement will likely take some strength to perform effectively.  It will also take a little bit of space and may not work in a tight location.

 

Use a pivoting swing technique similar to the way cops once swung their side handle PR-24 batons.  Hold the handle in your strong hand with a relaxed grip.  Swing the canister over your head or from side to side, allowing the handle to rotate in your hand.  Take a look at the short PR-24 video below to illustrate the technique.

 

This technique is best used by a strong defender in an open area as a finishing or knock out technique on an already stunned attacker.  If the defender used it as an opening move without distraction, the wide swinging nature of the attack might make it easy for the terrorist to block or evade.
Sometimes we are limited in the weapons we can carry.  Almost every public building has multiple fire extinguishers.  It’s probably a smart idea to consider how to best utilize them as an option for defensive weaponry.

 

 

Look for weapons of opportunity. These would make fine tools for an emergency.
On a boat in Ecuador.

 

 

African Counter-Ambush Tactics
African Counter-Ambush Tactics 620 413 Greg Ellifritz

In 2019, I went on a a two-week trip to South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Botswana.  The primary focus of the trip was going on safari to see all the legendary animals that inhabit the African plains.  On the trip I did 12 different safari outings, either on foot, by safari truck, or by boat.

 

I spent a lot of time watching animals, both the hunters and the hunted.

 

The African animals adopted very specific tactics that keep them safe from predators and allow them to survive.

 

I couldn’t help associating the animals’ survival tactics with tactics we police officers need to use to avoid being ambushed.  After a couple days of animal watching, the associations became crystal clear.

 

For my cop friends, here is some counter-ambush advice from the African Savannah.  You’d be smart to pay attention to the predator and prey species struggling for existence.  You can learn a lot from the techniques they practice.

 

Wide Open Spaces

Why do you think this African Fish Eagle is all alone at the top of this dead tree?

 

Sure it gives him a good vantage point for hunting, but can you think of any other reasons the bird is so isolated?

 

The Fish Eagle is both predator and prey.  It’s high up so that it can better see the critters it wants to eat.  That, however, isn’t the point I’m trying to make.

 

Note how isolated he is.  Note the fact that any predator would have to cross a lot of open ground to prey upon the Fish Eagle.  The Fish Eagle is likely to see any approaching predators and fly away before they get too close.

 

As cops, we need to adopt a similar posture.  When you are in your police car either working traffic or writing a report, think about your vehicle positioning.  You should be in a location where anyone trying to ambush you would have to cross a lot of open ground to get to your car.

 

Maximize your advantage.  Don’t make it easy on the killer.  Park in the middle of a large, empty parking lot.  Keep all your lights on.  Turn on the audio button on your radar for an additional alert mechanism.

 

Make it difficult for anyone to approach you without being seen.

 

 

Post Guards/Lookouts

These three cheetahs just ran down and killed a baby impala.  They are enjoying their feast.  As I watched them eat their meal, I noticed something critically important.  Only two of the three cheetahs were ever eating at the same time.

 

There was always one cheetah looking around for potential danger.  I never once saw a moment where all three cheetahs were relaxed and eating at the same time.  One always stood guard.

 

That’s a good posture to adopt as cops.  If you are responding to a potentially volatile situation, don’t get too sucked into the scene.  Keep looking around for additional threats.  If you are an “extra” officer on scene, direct your attention outward where you can scan for additional threats while your co-workers handle the business of the call.

 

These cheetahs are masters of the concept of “contact and cover.”

 

 

Everyone Looking in a Different Direction

These impalas are preyed upon by all the large African cats.  They are also regularly eaten by wild dogs, hyenas, and jackals.  They are one of the most common prey species on the African plains.

 

Take note of their posture.

 

Note how every one of the impala is facing a different direction.  They are set up for 360 degree predator detection.

 

We cops should adopt a similar posture.  Instead of everyone on scene facing the suspect or the complainant, mix it up.  Some of you should be looking at the victim.  Some of you should be looking at the suspect.  Some of you should be looking out toward the crowd to perceive any oncoming danger.

 

Orient your bodies so that all the cops on scene are facing in a slightly different direction.  That will provide the most advance warning in the event that a predator is stalking.

 

Team Up

Something I learned about African prey species is that they often team up and graze together.  Here is a perfect example of zebras grazing with giraffes.  Their differing heights allow them to detect danger coming from different locations.

 

The giraffes can see predators approaching from a long way away and can warn the zebras before they get too close.  When the giraffe’s face is obscured by the tree it is eating, the zebras can see any close-in predators.  The two species mutually benefit from each other’s relative advantage.

 

Don’t be afraid to ask someone else to watch your back.

 

I remember one call I responded to where an armed murder suspect threatened his girlfriend with a handgun and then ran out of their apartment.  As I was trying to find the suspect outside, I noticed a roofing crew on top of the neighboring house.  I gave them the suspect’s description and told them to yell at me if they saw him approaching.

 

It worked symbiotically the same way these African animals use other species to help them detect danger.  Even though the roofers weren’t armed cops and couldn’t help me in a gunfight, they had the ability to detect a threat and communicate that threat’s location to me.

 

Don’t be afraid to utilize advantages like this.

 

Hunting Happens at the Fringe

Here’s a picture of a female lion hunting for a meal.  Although it looks like the lion is taking a nap, she is really trying to get some food for her cubs (hidden in the brush behind her).  Note the lion’s position.

 

The lion is hunting from a shady position on the border between an open area where prey animals forage and a brush-covered area with lots of cover.  You smart folks will identify this type of environment as a “transitional area.”  It’s a place where status changes between one condition and another.

 

We humans have “transitional areas” as well.  They are areas where we transition from one status or activity to another.  Just like this African lion, the transitional areas are where the predator hunts.  Thank about areas of transition in your daily routine.  Exercise more caution when you make those transitions.

 

The predator may be watching.

 

The world is filled with both predators and prey.  Your attitude and tactics determine which of the two you will be considered.

 

Embrace the lessons from our African friends.

 

 

One more Africa picture just for fun