November 18 - 19, 2000 FTX
by Kristin Stoner

The weather had turned quite chilly over the past week, so gearing up for training meant packing for contingencies. It wasn't quite cold enough for extreme cold weather gear, but the 20º bags and wool socks definitely got packed.

We had also received a call earlier in the month from Michael Moore, probably best known for his film "Roger and Me", which was a spoof about the GM plant closings in Flint, Michigan; he wanted to come out and film us train. We laughed at the idea, but invited his crew out anyway.

Before the film crew arrived, our group met on Saturday afternoon, and our FTX Officer for the weekend arrived with his schedule for training in hand. Hunting season had just begun, so several were out getting their deer. In the end, there were 7 of us, plus three kids.

We geared-up and did some gas mask shooting in combination with some cold barrel shooting drills. We each fired a single shot at 100 yards to see where a shot would land totally cold. All of us did fairly well, getting the shot on a 9" target, although not as well as when you have warmed-up your barrel and taken a few practice shots.

Next, we did a 5-shot group at 100 yards to compare to the single shot. All of us improved our accuracy noticeably, keeping the groupings much tighter and closer to center.

We did a few more drills with gas masks on, each noting the problems. One of the most significant problems to be aware of in cold weather while wearing a gas mask is that your lenses will fog up. This can be taken care of by applying a defogging solution to your lenses when the weather gets cold - before you get to the field, or before you are in a situation where your gas mask would be worn. Defogging solutions can be purchased at any gun & knife show, military surplus store, or a paintball supply shop (they have the same problem with paintball masks). If you don't have any defogging solution for your mask for cold weather, spit works (yes, saliva), although it tends to smear.

We then set up our sleeping areas, and gathered wood for the Griffin's Den, affectionately referred to as "Snivel Camp", or if you are a mom with three children, "Base Camp"…It's all in the eye of the beholder.

At this point, the FTX Officer gave a debris shelter class.

Outdoors Survival
by Walt Stringer

Anyone in the outdoors may be forced to endure an extended stay in the wilderness due to being lost, caught in bad weather, or injured. In military situations this also includes having to hide from enemy forces. The leading cause of death in the wilderness is death from exposure being outside without the ability to retain enough body heat to survive - resulting in death by hypothermia.

It has been said that the difference between being a survivor or becoming a victim lies in being able to anticipate and plan for unforeseen circumstances. To this end, I think it is important that all militia members have the ability to start a fire (with matches/lighter/etc.) and to construct a debris shelter.

Finding or constructing a survival shelter should begin as soon as you realize that you are going to need one. Do not delay - the sooner you start constructing the shelter, the sooner you will have it completed. Your efficiency and ability to do work will drop off rapidly as it gets colder and darker.

If it is possible to build a fire under the circumstances, and can be done in a short period of time, this should be the first thing you do once you realize that you will be spending the night outdoors. Then work must immediately begin on your survival shelter.

Making a Debris Shelter:
(Taken from an article on Cold-Weather Shelters by Len McDougall that appeared in the January 1997 issue of Michigan Out-of-Doors).

Called a "Debris Shelter" because you will use whatever materials you can find to build it.

Must be sited in as windless an area as possible, to negate the effects of wind chill.

The entrance should face the Southeast (this is the direction away from the prevailing winds in Michigan).

Lay down rows of dead sticks that are two to four inches in diameter on the shelter floor to create an uncompressible layer of wood insulation above the cold ground. On top of this add a top layer of dead dry leaves, ferns or pine branches. You now have the insulated bed you will be sleeping on.

The front open end of the shelter is enclosed the same way, leaving only a small triangle shaped entrance for you to crawl into. The completed shelter will resemble a tapered cocoon.

It was starting to reach early evening when the Michael Moore camera crew finally arrived. He tried relentlessly to get us riled on one issue after another, to attempt to make us look like idiots on film, I'm sure. What actually ended up happening, is that Michael Moore, anti-gunner, began to argue against himself. He would ask us why we own guns (those evil things that they are), and our responses were as simple as, "Because my family is worth defending with the best means possible".

He followed us around for a couple of hours asking questions like, "But why? Why guns?" Poor guy, he just doesn't get it. I guess he doesn't feel his family is worth defending with the best means possible.

It was already dark as he and his crew were leaving, and we geared up to do our 2-mile hike. We were about a quarter of a mile out when they passed us in their van, at which point we couldn't resist jumping out of the ditch and giving them quite a scare…

After the 2-mile hike, we got settled in for the night. In the morning we got the chainsaw fired up to cut some more wood for the tent. Walt set up a really cool surveillance camera to watch the road and fields. The kids had fun watching the television-receiver set up in the tent. Some of the guys practiced some more shooting drills throughout the afternoon, while we packed up and headed back.

It was another good training. Hopefully, Michael Moore won't slaughter us on film too badly (our hopes aren't too high on that one).

See you next month!