[mosquitomountainman]

I just read in an older thread that one condition a prepper had for taking in others was that they also stand guard duty. Years back a bunch of us met together once a year to learn and practice survival skills. The first year we set out sentries to stand guard at night just as we would in a SHTF situatiion. What an eye opener! Most complained that their two-hour watch was too long, they were cold, they were scared, they were sleepy, they were ...? I think you get the point! Any who smoked couldn't do without lighting up on their two hour shift even though they'd been briefed on how far you can see and smell a cig. at night. They talked and joked and made enough noise to wake the dead when on shift and when changing shifts. Some abandoned their posts due to boredom. The next night they shelved the idea of standing guard.

Ragnor Benson mentioned in one of his books that the only reliable people he found to stand guard at night were widows who'd lost spouses and children to war. The only people we had that stood watch reliably (with the exception of one person) were veterans and some of them couldn't resist smoking on watch. It was a frustrating situation and I learned right away who I'd want watching my back while I slept.

If you haven't stood guard at night, try it. If a person wants to join my group I want to see them on post at night. No other thing on those campouts separated those who were mostly talk from those who were serious about survival as quickly as standing one, two hour, watch in the woods at night. If they do well the first night keep it up for a week. By the end of the week you'll know who you can trust with your life and who you can't.

 

[PamsPride]

Sign me up! I can and do do it! My part time job is working either a midnight 12 hour shift or 5 hour 2am- 7am as a night time security guard at a trucking company. It is dark and NO ONE is around! All by myself. I have to do a round around the lot at least twice an hour and sometimes the light goes out so it is DARK. I have to clock in every half an hour so that the boss knows that I have not fallen asleep. He came in and caught one of the men sleeping on his shift!
2 hours would be a cake walk...and having someone with me...yep, even easier! My mom has been doing this for over three years! She gets a 7 hour break after her 12 hour night shift and then does an 8 hour day shift. Over the long holidays we both pulled 12 hour shifts opposite each other for 3-4 days at a time.

 

[Elinor0987]

It would be easy for some people to be that way during a practice exercise when there isn't a real emergency, but I wonder how many of them would be sleeping peacefully in a societal collapse once the reality of how bad things are sinks in and once they realize how critical it is to their survival to have someone on guard at night.

Another group of people that would make good candidates for night watchmen are people that are naturally accustomed to being up at night. For over a decade I've had jobs working mostly third shift hours, with a few on second shift. The two temporary jobs I did working first shift hours only lasted for a few months and it was hell trying to get used to staying awake during the day and sleeping at night. Some people just function better at night where others do better during the day.

 

[ZoomZoom]

Pulled lots of guard duty in the USMC. Dedicated duty for a month (it was either that or the mess hall...). Almost shot someone that tried to "test me" when he took it a bit too far and didn't reply to my challenges.

 

[mosquitomountainman]

It would be easy for some people to be that way during a practice exercise when there isn't a real emergency, but I wonder how many of them would be sleeping peacefully in a societal collapse once the reality of how bad things are sinks in and once they realize how critical it is to their survival to have someone on guard at night.

Another group of people that would make good candidates for night watchmen are people that are naturally accustomed to being up at night. For over a decade I've had jobs working mostly working third shift hours, with a few on second shift. The two temporary jobs I did working first shift hours only lasted for a few months and it was hell trying to get used to staying awake during the day and sleeping at night. Some people just function better at night where others do better during the day.

Part of the orientation for guard duty was giving examples of North Korean snipers and sappers taking out sentries who smoked. It's unreal how far away a sniper can be see a smoker well enough to shoot them dead on a dark night. These people liked to think of themselves as survivalists but if they couldn't even "pretend" it was the real thing for two hours would you want them on your team?

The reason for rehearsing these things is to learn how to do it right. It's a time to "do" then evaluate the results, make changes, and do it all over again until you get it right. In a true SHTF situation, by the time school is over the student (and those who depended upon them), might be dead. In real surrvival situations grading is not done on the "scale." It's pass or fail. And the consequences for failure are generally pretty dismal. If they can't prove their reliability in good times why would anyone want to trust them when times are bad?

 

[The_Blob]

Pulled lots of guard duty in the USMC. Dedicated duty for a month (it was either that or the mess hall...). Almost shot someone that tried to "test me" when he took it a bit too far and didn't reply to my challenges.

the same thing happened to a friend in the Army, at the time I couldn't believe that anyone in the military would be so stupid, disrespectful, and undisciplined to pull such a stunt...

 

[mosquitomountainman]

Sign me up! I can and do do it! My part time job is working either a midnight 12 hour shift or 5 hour 2am- 7am as a night time security guard at a trucking company. It is dark and NO ONE is around! All by myself. I have to do a round around the lot at least twice an hour and sometimes the light goes out so it is DARK. I have to clock in every half an hour so that the boss knows that I have not fallen asleep. He came in and caught one of the men sleeping on his shift!
2 hours would be a cake walk...and having someone with me...yep, even easier! My mom has been doing this for over three years! She gets a 7 hour break after her 12 hour night shift and then does an 8 hour day shift. Over the long holidays we both pulled 12 hour shifts opposite each other for 3-4 days at a time.

I bet you could too. We did the two person thing because so many were afraid of the night. The bad thing about two people on an LP or OP is chit-chat. Few people can sit with someone else for two hours without talking. And sound carries quite well at night.

 

[mosquitomountainman]

Pulled lots of guard duty in the USMC. Dedicated duty for a month (it was either that or the mess hall...). Almost shot someone that tried to "test me" when he took it a bit too far and didn't reply to my challenges.

Know what you mean here! I pulled guard duty three times and mess duty twice. Only they didn't give us a choice. We'd often have the OD try to slip through and if he didn't identify himself properly and you did nothing about it he would make you very, very, sorry.

 

[mosquitomountainman]

the same thing happened to a friend in the Army, at the time I couldn't believe that anyone in the military would be so stupid, disrespectful, and undisciplined to pull such a stunt...

Amazing how many times you find "stupid, disprespectful and undisciplined" in people who should know better! These are the types that get their buddies killed in combat.

 

[Elinor0987]

If they can't prove their reliability in good times why would anyone want to trust them when times are bad?

That's a good point. I would like to be optimistic and think people will take the security aspect of their survival seriously. After giving it some more thought, the odds are a lot of the people that aren't planning for these things beforehand and have very little self discipline will make themselves a target of criminal acts. I still don't think they will be sleeping well once the panic sets in.

 

[PamsPride]

I bet you could too. We did the two person thing because so many were afraid of the night. The bad thing about two people on an LP or OP is chit-chat. Few people can sit with someone else for two hours without talking. And sound carries quite well at night.

Yeah, I better pull a two hour shift by myself! I am a talker!! :ignore: LOL! I can easily entertain myself by just talking in my OWN head for two hours! My mom is not a talker but I am sure she could easily pull a two hour shift by herself as well. Or she would pull a shift with me and make me be quiet!

 

[gypsysue]

I've spent more time than that sitting alone on a deer stand!

 

[Kai22]

I've spent more time than that sitting alone on a deer stand!

and I have in a bush, waiting for turkeys to walk by....

But really, good post. Eye opening for sure. I was just saying to DH today, when SHTF, it will be exhausting, standing guard all the time.
I realized, I have absolutely no idea how to do guard duty.

 

[HarleyRider]

Me too....

I've spent more time than that sitting alone on a deer stand!

I've spent much more time than that waiting for my daughter to get out of the bathroom!

 

[gypsysue]

I've spent much more time than that waiting for my daughter to get out of the bathroom!

:lolsmash: You're lucky I set my glass down before reading that!

 

[mosquitomountainman]

and I have in a bush, waiting for turkeys to walk by....

But really, good post. Eye opening for sure. I was just saying to DH today, when SHTF, it will be exhausting, standing guard all the time.
I realized, I have absolutely no idea how to do guard duty.

In this case we had LP's (listening posts) set up around the perimeter of the camp, about 100 yards out. All were camo'd. All that was expected was to go and come silently, be invisible while on post (no talking, smoking, or movement unless necessary), listen and report any suspicious activity, check in by radio every 30 minutes, and stay on your post until your relief shows up. Shouldn't have been a big deal but it was. It was very surprising to see so many grown men and women who were afraid to go out alone in the night.

 

[TrackerRat]

Yup, in the Marines I stood lots of guard duty. It was part of your duty to keep your brothers safe. Light and noise discipline applied. Many cold lonely nights but I never was tired. Just got to stand up and play some tunes in your head

 

[pmabma]

We did this Mothers day week-end, 3 of us every 2 hrs, one was in a camo tree stand to watch the road , we have a long drive to our house, then one in front and one in back,checked in about every 30 minutes with radio, worked out ok with us, but some of the adults in our group I would not trust to keep watch, to whinny, lol it,s the daughter-in-laws,they will never make it without help. Got my work cut out for me.nutsy girls:nutson,t know what my sons see in them got to be covered up. Anyway it was a great Mothers Day present. A week-end practice if shtf. The camo tree stand way up in woods worked well, with night vision to watch.It was far enough to see and still have time to come down if someone came up the drive.

 

[catsraven]

I have waited hours in trees and on the ground for deer. All I have to do is check in every 30 min and watch? Not talk or smoke for two hours? Peace of cake.

I did security work in my younger years. 10 hour shifts, 10 pm to 8 am by my self.

 

[BasecampUSA]

No guard duty here... no human error allowed, like falling asleep, etc.

1.) 7' high electric fence around compound - (If it is cut, an alarm goes off).

2.) Perimeter alarms - any motion (including wildlife) sets an alarm off.

3.) My very alert German Shepherd, sleeps on top of the bunker where he can listen with his sharp ears and smell with his fantastic nose. If it is human out there, he's trained to push an alarm button! (He will be inside with us in an ABC scenario).

4.) Furuno Radar on top of the bunker (see white radar dome on top of the armored gun turret) - picks up any movement 360 degrees around the compound. I programmed in all fixed objects to appear on the screen, anything else will stick out like a sore thumb, especially if it moves - it's dead!

That turret is also equipped with 2 day/night vision closed-circuit scopes mounted on 2 AK's with 100 round drum mags that are joystick controlled from laptops inside the bunker. There's a ladder inside up to the armored turret for loading and maintenance.

Yeah, that's right - I spent a LOT of time and $$ on security... it will pay WTSHTF...