Tag: riot safety

How To Stay Safe and Survive During a Riot in Colorado

On By The.Daily.ChristianIn Colorado, RIOTSLeave a comment

If you live in Colorado, or anywhere that has seen rising tensions and civil unrest, you need to understand one thing: hope is not a plan. When a riot breaks out—whether it’s due to political turmoil, racial tensions, or widespread panic—you must already be ten steps ahead. As someone who’s trained in survival and self-defense for over 15 years, I’m going to give you hard-earned advice that could mean the difference between getting home safe or becoming a statistic.

Let’s break it down into what matters: how to stay safe during a riot, defend yourself if needed, and even improvise weapons if you’re caught with nothing but your wits and your environment.

8 Self-Defense Skills Every Prepper Must Master During a Riot

  1. Situational Awareness

Your first and best defense isn’t a weapon—it’s your mind. Situational awareness means reading a crowd, noticing exits, spotting threats early, and trusting your gut. During a riot, never put in headphones, never stare at your phone. You should always be scanning, assessing, and planning a route out.

  1. De-escalation and Verbal Judo

You don’t want to fight in a riot unless you absolutely have to. Learn to talk people down, mirror their body language subtly, and maintain non-threatening posture. If you can talk your way out of a fight, you’ve already won. Riot situations are chaotic—don’t add fuel to the fire.

  1. Escaping Grabs and Holds

Crowds can get physical fast. Learn how to break wrist grabs, choke holds, and bear hugs. Use your hips and leverage, not brute strength. Techniques like the “C clamp” on the wrist or “shrimping” away from a bear hug can give you just enough space to escape and reposition.

  1. Blunt Force Defense

Learn to wield everyday objects as blunt weapons. A flashlight, walking stick, umbrella, or even a full water bottle can be used defensively. Your goal isn’t to fight like it’s a movie—it’s to strike, stun, and flee. Aim for the nose, throat, or kneecaps.

  1. Knife Defense and Retention

If you carry a blade for self-defense, you better know how to use it and keep it. Practice drawing and deploying your knife quickly, and more importantly, know how to stop someone from taking it. Use tight body control and guard your dominant side when moving through crowds.

  1. Improvised Shielding

Trash can lids, backpacks, and even car doors can be used to shield against thrown bottles, rocks, or blunt weapons. Carry your pack in front when things get hairy—it’s extra padding for your vitals and can act as a push-shield through crowds.

  1. Mob Movement and Escape Routes

Move with the flow of a crowd, never against it. Fighting it will wear you out fast. Your aim is to drift to the edges and duck into an alley, store, or underground passage. Practice spotting side exits and fire doors. Know Colorado’s downtown layouts if you live in places like Denver, Boulder, or Colorado Springs.

  1. Striking with Purpose

If escape is not an option and force is necessary, don’t throw wild punches. Aim for disabling strikes. A palm heel to the chin, elbow to the temple, or knee to the thigh can drop someone fast. Remember: defend, disable, disengage, and disappear.

3 DIY Survival Skills to Build Improvised Weapons

In a crisis, your ability to improvise may be your only advantage. Here are three quick DIY weapon-building skills every serious prepper should know:

1. PVC Pipe Baton

Grab a 1″ thick PVC pipe from a hardware store (or scavenge one from an abandoned property). Fill it with sand or small rocks for weight, cap both ends with duct tape or rubber stoppers, and you’ve got a homemade baton. Tape the grip end for better handling. Blunt, durable, and totally legal to carry in most states if you call it a walking stick.

2. Sock Sap (Blackjack)

Find a sturdy sock and fill it with quarters, rocks, or small metal parts. Tie it off and you’ve got a sap—a flexible, concealable striking tool that’s effective at close range. It’s not meant to kill—it’s meant to discourage and disable.

3. Makeshift Spear or Pike

Duct tape a kitchen knife, broken bottle, or even sharpened metal object to a broomstick, curtain rod, or branch. You’ve now got a spear-like weapon that keeps attackers at a distance. This is ideal for home defense during extended unrest when your doors or windows may be compromised.

Mindset: The Prepper’s Edge

You can have all the tools, all the training, and still panic if your mindset isn’t right. Panic is the enemy. Your goal in a riot is not to play hero. Your goal is to get home alive.

Here’s the mental protocol I run through in every emergency:

  1. Assess – What’s happening? Where is the threat?
  2. Plan – What’s my nearest safe route or cover?
  3. Act – Move with intent. Don’t hesitate.
  4. Adapt – If the plan fails, switch immediately. No freezing.

Practice these scenarios in your mind often. Walk through local areas you visit frequently and note exit points, choke points, and places to hide. Knowing your environment is as critical as any tool on your belt.

Riot Survival Kit: Essentials to Carry in Colorado

Always keep a compact go-bag in your car or backpack. Here’s what should be inside if you live in a volatile area:

  • N95 mask (for smoke or pepper spray)
  • Goggles (to shield your eyes from debris or chemicals)
  • Flashlight (blunt and bright—can double as a baton)
  • Multitool
  • Water bottle
  • Compact first aid kit
  • Leather gloves (to grab hot or broken surfaces)
  • Map of your local area (GPS may go down)
  • Energy bar or compact food

Add a bandana, whistle, and cash—because ATMs and credit cards may not work when cities shut down.

Final Word: Train Now, Thank Yourself Later

Don’t wait until the sirens wail. Learn the skills. Drill them. Practice with friends or in self-defense classes. Colorado is beautiful, but even beauty can turn chaotic in the right storm. Whether you’re in Aurora, Pueblo, or Fort Collins, remember this:

No one is coming to save you. You are your own first responder.

Prepare now, move smart, and you’ll not only survive—you’ll lead.

How Not to Die During a Riot in Minnesota

On By The.Daily.ChristianIn Defense Skills, home defense, Minnesota, Minnesota Preppers, self defense, Survival DefenseLeave a comment

Let’s get this straight: when chaos hits your backyard—whether it’s a protest gone rogue or full-scale urban collapse—you don’t get second chances. Riots are loud, chaotic, fast, and unforgiving. I’ve walked through enough civil unrest zones, from Minneapolis to Atlanta, to know that what saves you isn’t luck or brute strength. It’s preparation, awareness, and controlled aggression.

In this guide, I’ll break down the real skills that’ll keep you alive during a riot in Minnesota—or anywhere else it kicks off. And we’re not talking theoretical fluff here. I’m giving you 8 street-proven self-defense skills and 3 DIY methods to rig up survival weapons if you’re caught empty-handed. You’ll walk away with the mindset of a hardened prepper, not a scared civilian.

🛡️ 8 Self-Defense Skills to Survive a Riot

  1. Situational Awareness (The Most Important Skill)
    Before you even throw a punch or grab a weapon, train your eyes and brain. In a riot, you need 360-degree awareness—who’s moving, who’s armed, where the exits are, where the bottlenecks are. Practice “war-gaming” situations in your head when walking down a street. Anticipate trouble before it explodes.
  2. Verbal De-Escalation
    Not every threat needs to be neutralized with force. Sometimes, the best win is walking away. Learn how to use your tone, body language, and words to defuse aggression. A low voice, non-threatening posture, and firm tone can buy you the seconds you need to slip away.
  3. Palm Heel Strike
    Forget Hollywood punches. The palm heel strike is fast, powerful, and won’t break your knuckles. Aim for the nose, chin, or solar plexus. It’ll stun your attacker and give you the opening to escape.
  4. Elbow Strikes in Close Quarters
    If you’re shoulder-to-shoulder in a dense crowd, fists won’t work. Use elbows—downward, across, or upward strikes. These are short-range power tools for busting jaws and breaking free.
  5. Knee Strikes to Thigh or Groin
    When there’s no space, your knees become battering rams. Slam them into the thigh to deaden the attacker’s leg or go for the groin to drop them instantly.
  6. Escaping Holds
    Whether it’s a bear hug from behind or someone grabbing your arm, learn how to break out. Drop your weight, twist your body, and use leverage. If you train in anything, make it Krav Maga or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, which both excel in real-world escapes.
  7. Improvised Weapon Use
    Bottles, pens, belts, keys—learn to use what’s around you. A pen jammed into a neck artery or a belt swung like a flail can buy you time or space. Train with random objects at home. Make it muscle memory.
  8. Team Movement and Buddy Cover
    If you’re with friends or family, never separate. Move like a team. One person watches the rear, another scans forward, the rest guard the flanks. Practice this in your house or yard. During a riot, unity is survival.

🧰 3 DIY Survival Weapon Skills (Urban Guerrilla Edition)

You might find yourself unarmed. You still need to defend. Here’s how to rig up protection on the fly:

1. PVC Pipe Baton

  • Materials: 1.5″ thick PVC pipe, duct tape, sand or nails.
  • Fill the pipe with sand or metal bits, then seal both ends with duct tape. This adds weight and turns it into a club that hits hard.
  • Grip the handle area with paracord or tape for extra traction.
  • Use: Cripples limbs, breaks glass, and fends off attackers in close combat.

2. Tactical Slingshot

  • Materials: Y-shaped branch, rubber tubing (bike inner tube), leather pouch.
  • Carve the branch into a slingshot frame. Tie rubber tubing to the forks, attach leather in the middle. Use stones, ball bearings, or hex nuts as ammo.
  • Use: Long-range defense, distractions, disabling threats from a distance.

3. Canister Mace (Chemical Defense)

  • Materials: Small spray bottle, vinegar, black pepper, hot sauce.
  • Mix ingredients, shake well, and fill a spray bottle.
  • Aim for the eyes and face. It’s non-lethal but incredibly disorienting.
  • Use: Crowd deterrent, escape tool, surprise countermeasure.

🧠 Mental Game: The Unseen Weapon

Weapons and fighting mean nothing without the mindset. You’ve got to decide—before the riot breaks out—that you’re not going to freeze. Train your instincts, rehearse your escape plan, and practice drills in your garage or backyard. The goal isn’t to fight for fun; it’s to neutralize and escape.

📍Minnesota Specific Riot Survival Tips

  1. Know Your City Grid
    Minneapolis and St. Paul have river divides, skyway systems, and alley loops. Use them to vanish fast. Train yourself to know at least three escape routes from any location you frequent.
  2. Avoid Major Intersections
    Riots love to choke traffic and trap civilians in intersections. Use side streets, parks, and bike trails to move unseen.
  3. Cache Supplies
    In riot zones, access to gas, food, and clean water gets cut quick. Store mini survival kits in your car, garage, and backpack. Include: multitool, flashlight, pepper spray, emergency phone charger, protein bars.

🏕️ Final Thoughts from a Seasoned Survivalist

Look—I’m not writing this to scare you. I’m writing this because I’ve seen good people get chewed up in bad situations because they thought it would never happen in their town. Riots move fast and break things, and if you’re not thinking three steps ahead, you’ll be the one on the pavement while others walk away.

Train your body. Train your mind. Learn to use what’s around you. Build your team. Run drills. Think like a predator but act with discipline.

Minnesota isn’t exempt from unrest. If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that even the most peaceful cities can become war zones overnight.

So here’s the mission: Get ready now. Because when the streets go hot, you won’t have time to read a guide.