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Greg Ellifritz

Burning Man
Burning Man 2560 1920 Greg Ellifritz

For many people, Burning Man is the ultimate bucket list travel destination.  The physical event was cancelled last year because of the Coronavirus.  With hope, the event will be open for 2021.

I’ve been lucky enough (or maybe foolish enough) to attend Burning Man on five different occasions.  It takes a tremendous comittment and a lot of enduring brutal weather to have a successful burn.

 

If you are thinking of going to the event (the week before Labor Day) in Nevada, you should probably start planning soon.  Getting tickets is difficult in the lottery system.  Renting RVs that week is insanely expensive.  The tent might be a better option (probably 2/3 of burners are sleeping in tents and 1/3 are in RVs).

The following articles provide good information for any of you planning your first burn.  Photos taken from my Burning Man adventures.

 

The Beginner’s Guide to Burning Man

 

How could I pass up a flame thrower shooting gallery?

 

First-Timers Guide To Burning Man (Everything You Need To Know)

 

Some of the amazing art before it gets burned to the ground.

 

The Ultimate Survival Packing Guide for Burning Man

Fireworks before the man burns

 

First-Timer’s Guide

 

The man on fire

 

Everything you’ve been wanting to know about Burning Man, the wild 9-day arts event in the Nevada desert frequented by celebs and tech moguls

 

The man looks different every year

 

Surviving Burning Man

You’ll need a bike to get around. Be ready for daily sand storms.

Can You Find a Country That is Both Cheap and Safe?
Can You Find a Country That is Both Cheap and Safe? 1172 375 Greg Ellifritz

The Nomad Capitalist attempted to address this issue in an article and video.

 

The Cheapest and Safest Countries to Live In

 

A lot of their suggestions are in Eastern Europe.  I have zero experience in that area (hopefully rectified soon), so I can’t weigh in there.

With regards to places I’ve visited, I think I could live safely for less than $2000 a month in the following countries:

Mexico

Colombia

Ecuador

Peru

Panama

Uruguay

Thailand

Vietnam

 

I’d also consider Costa Rica, Chile, Singapore, and Belize as safe locations, but they may require a little more money to live a lifestyle similar to what you may be used to.

Check out the article for another take on the issue.

 

 

Best US Hiking Trails?
Best US Hiking Trails? 1000 667 Greg Ellifritz

I’ve long enjoyed hiking.  I’m getting reacquainted with longer hikes now that I’m retired and have more time.  I’ve been averaging hiking about 25 miles a week so long as the weather cooperates.

 

I regularly use the AllTrails app on my phone to suggest good nearby trails.

 

The App owners tallied the ratings on all of the trails in their system and listed the favorite trails by each state.  Check out the article below.

Best hiking trails in every US state

 

All of the listed trails in my home state (Ohio) are more than a two-hour drive away from me.  I haven’t hiked any of them.  I wonder if there is a location bias.  All of the Ohio trails are near a large population center (Cleveland/Akron).  More people probably means more ratings.

I would guess that some of the remote trails in SE Ohio that get less traffic may even be better experiences than the listed trails.

 

 

 

Faked Covid-19 Tests
Faked Covid-19 Tests 670 300 Greg Ellifritz

Check out the two articles linked below.  There seems to be a cottage industry producing paperwork for fake negative Covid-19 tests.

Passengers Are Faking Negative Covid Tests In Order To Travel

 

95% Of Passengers On One Flight Faked Their Negative Covid-19 Tests

 

I predict that in the future making faked Covid-19 test results and vaccinations will be a profitable enterprise.

 

Besides the fraud, there are lots of other reasons why requiring testing before boarding a flight would be a really bad idea.

Environmental Medicine
Environmental Medicine 200 181 Greg Ellifritz

Interested in a summary of the best practices for practicing environmental medicine? Those skills are important when you are spending time outside in austere environments.

Here’s a link to papers covering best practice medical treatments for heat injuries, hypothermia, and altitude illness.  This is really good knowledge to have.

 

AIR Series: Environmental Module

Fighting Against the Odds
Fighting Against the Odds 620 465 Greg Ellifritz

Read the story below:

In Kenya, Al-Shabab gunmen slay 28 bus passengers who could not recite an Islamic creed

 

A band of 20 Islamist terrorists armed with automatic weapons tried to stop a bus filled with local citizens in Kenya. The driver heroically kept driving. The terrorists raked the bus with gunfire before bringing it to a stop by using an RPG round.

 

Terrorists quickly take control and separate Muslims from non-Muslim passengers. The non-Muslims were ordered to lie face down on the road as they are systematically shot in the back of the head.

 

This story hit me pretty hard. I’ve spent a lot of time on buses just like this one riding through rural Kenya.   It could have very easily been me on that bus.  This is one of the few “unwinnable” scenarios that everyone will occasionally face. You are unarmed and have no friends on the bus with you.  Have you considered what you might do?

 

I find it curious here that no one tried to fight or escape. Odds of winning are non-existent when facing 20-1 superior numbers, but why not try? You know you will be killed if you comply. There is a small chance you will get away if you fight or flee. The choice is pretty clear to me.

 

I’m going to use my folding knife to get one of terrorists’ guns and I’m going to take as many out as possible. I’ll probably be killed, but I’ll most certainly be killed otherwise. Who knows, with dumb luck it’s possible that I survive.

 

In any event, every terrorist I kill will reduce the chance that innocent people will be targeted in the future. My attack may also provide the distraction needed for a couple other  people on the bus to escape.  If more people fought back, these terrorists might start thinking twice about targeting civilian passenger vehicles.  If I’m going to die anyway, I may as well make my death as meaningful as possible.  Laying in the dirt as I get shot in the back doesn’t accomplish that goal.

 

I can’t tell you what to do if you are thrust into a situation like this.  I can tell you that there are a few times when compliance has a very poor record for ensuring your safety.  In my study of events like this terrorist attack, I’ve noticed some very clear trends.  If the terrorists/criminals start doing any of the following, your chances of survival are extremely low:

1) They start killing hostages

2) They order people to the ground

3) They start searching hostages for weapons

4) They start restraining people

5) They move people to another location

 

Those are my “go” signals.  I may fight.  I may flee.  I may make up some other strategy on the fly.  But when those things start happening, I know I won’t meekly comply.

 

Unfortunately, no one on the bus thought like I do. Have you considered what you might do in a similar “against all odds” situation?  You should.  Because if you don’t develop your “go triggers” in advance, you’ll end up just like all the poor folks on that bus in Kenya.

 

 

Kenyan security forces and others gather around the scene on an attack on a bus about 50 kilometers (31 miles) outside the town of Mandera, near the Somali border in northeastern Kenya, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014. Somalia’s Islamic extremist rebels, al-Shabab, attacked the bus in northern Kenya at dawn on Saturday, singling out and killing 28 passengers who could not recite an Islamic creed and were assumed to be non-Muslims, Kenyan police said. (AP Photo)

Staying Safe in Hostile Environments
Staying Safe in Hostile Environments 1068 678 Greg Ellifritz

An article that provides great advice about how to stay safe during a riot or political unrest in a foreign country.  The tactics are also useful in the event that you stumble into a riot here at home as well.

 

Staying safe in hostile environments

Surviving in Captivity
Surviving in Captivity 300 199 Greg Ellifritz

Some thoughts on surviving captivity. This article is primarily written in the context of becoming an enemy prisoner or POW. The tactics described, however, are also useful in shorter term criminal abductions or hostage situations in foreign countries.

 

OK, You Survived…but What If You Have Been Captured?

 

On a similar topic, This is a good primer (with some quick videos) about escaping from various types of restraints.  Check them both out.

 

How to Get Out of Handcuffs and Other Restraints

 

 

 

Dealing with Disruptive Airline Passengers
Dealing with Disruptive Airline Passengers 664 381 Greg Ellifritz

Air travel is starting to increase from the nadir of the Covid-19 pandemic.  As more and more people feel comfortably flying, I’ve seen a huge number of incidents where violent or erratic passengers have disrupted airline flights in the past few weeks.  Before reading further, check out the articles below to get an understanding of what you might face on your next flight.

 

JetBlue Bans Passenger Who Repeatedly Hurled N-Words

Brawl Breaks Out In The Aisle Of Puerto Rico Flight As Police Board To Tase The Aggressor

 

American Airlines Passenger Sneaks Into First Class To Promote Her YouTube Channel, Kicked Off Flight

 

Woman Strips on Plane, Forces Flight to Divert

 

Two British Rappers Brawl On Emirates Flight While Passengers Dodge Their Blows

 

Woman Pulled Off A Flight For Drunkenly Arguing… Moroccan Politics?

 

If you were on one of the flights described above, would you intervene?  What would you do?  The correct answer in almost all these situations is “Sit quietly in your seat.  Protect yourself, but don’t aggressively engage the offender unless he/she is likely to cause the plane to crash.”

 

Since 9/11, folks have been pretty alert and quick to respond to violence on a plane.  That’s a good thing.  The problem we have is now the exact opposite of the one that we had before 9/11.  Hijackers aren’t likely to use physical methods to take over planes anymore.  Passengers are prepared to act and would slaughter them if they did so.  I doubt there will be another 9/11 style hijacking in the United States in our lifetime.

 

Even though it’s doubtful to be a hijacking, when passengers start getting violent on a plane, it becomes extremely problematic.  It could be a hijacker. It could be a drunk or mental.  Or it could be some combination of all these conditions.  No matter what the cause, violence on a plane puts all the passengers in danger.  Here’s what you should be thinking about if you encounter a violent airline passenger:

 

The person is probably drunk, someone on drugs, or a mentally ill passenger.   In fact, it is MOST LIKELY to be one of these categories.  Lots of people are just plain crazy.  Others get nervous before flying and drink too much or take sedatives and sleep aids which cause irrational behavior.  If you encounter one of these folks, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t respond, it just means that your response need not automatically default to breaking necks, crushing throats, and killing people until you are certain the plane is actually being hijacked.

 

Having visited more than 50 countries, I fly a lot.  There has only been one occasion where I have almost had to take out a crazy passenger.

 

I was on an international flight and was flying up front in business class.  A passenger (thin American guy who was about 25 years old) in coach was incensed that the seats didn’t have electric charging ports or outlets (neither did the business class seats).  It was an older plane that hadn’t been updated.  This passenger started screaming at the flight attendant when he learned there was no way for him to charge his phone.

 

He burst past me into the galley and tried to plug his phone in one of the electrical outlets there.  The flight attendants told him that he couldn’t use the galley electrical outlets.  He started screaming, threatening to kill the flight attendants.  They ushered him back to his seat.  As they walked away, he screamed “I’ll just break down the cockpit door and I’ll charge my phone up there!”

 

The flight attendants were scared to death.  As I was a big dude who was seated close to the cockpit door, they asked for my help to protect the cockpit if the crazy guy tried to break in.  My plan was not to get involved with the irate dude.  “Not my people.  Not my problem.”

 

But it suddenly became my problem when home boy decided to break into the cockpit.  I didn’t fancy dying in a plane crash.  Even worse was the idea that an armed pilot would shoot this dude with my row one seat as his backstop.  I agreed to help protect the cockpit.

 

I asked the flight attendant for a seat belt extension.  She gave me one and asked why I wanted it.  I replied “That’s what I’m going to use to smash the guy’s fucking skull when he’s busy trying to get in the cockpit.”  Both flight attendants smiled widely upon hearing my plan.

 

Expedient TSA approved impact weapon

 

I had my own defensive tools, but why bloody my flashlight on his face when I could use a weapon provided by the airline?

 

I fastened the buckle together and adjusted the length on the seat belt extension.  That gave me a nice foot-long flexible impact weapon with the buckle serving as a swinging weight on the end of a short length of seat belt.  I stood up in the aisle and asked the flight attendant to point out exactly where the man was sitting.

 

I caught his gaze and gave him what my girlfriend at the time called my “crazy cop eyes.”  It was the intimidating look I saved as the last step before throwing down with the violent criminals I arrested at work.  It usually works to convince people that it wouldn’t be a good idea to continue their current course of action.

 

It worked again in this case.  When we made eye contact, the crazy man man quickly looked away and never got out of his seat again until the plane landed.  I didn’t have to bash his brains out with the seat belt extension.

 

In my mental after action analysis, I realized that I could have de-escalated the whole situation if I had only been carrying a cheap power bank portable charger.  I could have loaned it to the crazy man so that he could obsessively charge his phone and that would have avoided all sorts of potential hassles if the guy became more violent.  Now I never fly without one.

 

Never leave home without it

 

There are a lot of really mentally ill individuals on this planet.  Some of them will be on your flight.  It’s best to have a plan to manage them.

 

All air flight crew carry flex cuffs. They don’t use them often and may forget they have them. If you have wrestled someone down, ask one of the flight crew to bring you the cuffs. That’s much easier than sitting on the dude for 40 minutes until the plane can land. You should probably know how to work flex cuffs in advance before relying on this tactic (hint, they are just like thick zip ties).

 

You should also know how to choke a person unconscious to get them under control if other means don’t work.  Hire a good judo or jujitsu instructor for a couple of hours to teach you some chokes.

 

This might be a dry run. There may be other unidentified accomplices aboard just watching to evaluate the response of the passengers and crew so that they can counter the responses in a future attack. After the immediate crisis is over, pay attention to who may be paying too much attention to what is going on. Try to watch to see who the “attacker” speaks to or makes eye contact with before and during the event.  Make sure you relay this information to the responding police officers when the plane lands.

 

It may also be a diversion. Always look for additional threats. This guy’s role may be to cause a problem to bring all of the resistance-minded passengers to one area of the plane so that an accomplice has additional time to break into the cockpit. The accomplice(s) may also be watching the resisters so that they can take them out before the hijacking occurs.

 

One other possibility is that they use a ploy like this to see if there are any air marshals or armed cops on board. The air marshals and/or cops are likely to intervene, making them vulnerable to a surprise attack as they take action against the unruly passenger. If you notice an air marshal or cop getting involved (and you are not already engaged in the act of ass whipping), watch the cop’s back as he takes care of the bad guy.

 

Keep these thoughts in mind the next time you fly.   Train hard and travel safely.

 

Evaluating Physical Threat Cues
Evaluating Physical Threat Cues 960 696 Greg Ellifritz

The author of this article provides 20 tips to better physically size up an opponent when threatened.

I’m not sure all of them are 100% valid, but many of his points match my experiences.  The “high walker” that he talks about may or may not be a good striker.  I don’t know.  What I do know is that A LOT of really good wrestlers walk like that.  I wouldn’t automatically discount the “high walker” as being ineffective in a fight.

If you like the author’s writing style, you can check out his unique books on Amazon.com.

 

‘Sizing Up a Stranger’ 20 Physicality Cues as to the Abilities of the Unknown Aggressor