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Phillosoph

Single Whip and Horse Foot Palm

One of the advantages of writing this blog is that I can often cover topics that there was not room for in either of my books.
Today I am going to write a little about the “hooked fist”, which in turn leads to some discussion of tai chi’s single whip movement.
Single whip has a number of variations, and this is worth bearing in mind when you view videos of the movement.
Some are variations between different styles of tai chi, while others are different interpretations.
While tai chi is a potent martial art, many of its practitioners only study it for health or meditative purposes and this should be kept in mind when viewing movements.
For purposes of today’s discussion, the “whip” part of the movement will be considered to be with the right hand and the movement has three components I will discuss.

The first “component” is the right hand which comes up to chest level and moves outward, the wrist bending so that the closed hand hangs down. The arm looks a little like you are whipping the rump of a donkey with a riding crop or switch, hence the name of the position.
The shape the hand makes has a number of names. It is sometimes called “Hooked Palm” while the name “Turtle Head” is probably the most descriptive. Some instructors liken it to the “Crane Beak” hand form.
Given the equestrian aspect of the single whip position, the “Horse Foot Palm” name is perhaps most apt.
After the right hand has assumed position, the body turns to the left and the left hand comes up in an open palm. On some variants this is a simple semi-circular movement, while other variants cause the hand to roll over or spiral.
At the same time that the left hand moves the left foot steps forward and outward slightly. I used to find the turn and step unusually difficult until Erle Montaigue told me that you should keep your left elbow above your left knee when making that part.
In English, we tend to call single whip a posture or position, but it is actually a sequence of movements.
When movements from a kata or form are used in combat it is unlikely the whole thing would be used, and used exactly as you would perform it during a kata.
Elements of a kata or form are rather like clay from which you build the thing you need at the moment that you need it. They are not rigid geometric or mathematical constructions, or at least, they are not once your use of them matures.
Most tai chi moves are multifunctional. One instructor may tell you the combat application is one thing, another that it is something else. In reality there may be many more applications.
With that in mind, let us investigate some of the combat applications of the components of single whip.
Single whip is very much the signature move of tai chi.
In movies such as The Matrix you will see single whip used as an opening posture. In reality, it is better reserved until range has been closed with an opponent.
The left palm’s most obvious application is that it is a palm-strike. It is in a good position to hit the chest region or the chin, and the accompanying step forward adds power.
The open palm can also be used to parry, either with the palm or either edge of the hand. The spiralling motions used for the left hand in some varieties of single whip can be used to neutralize a wrist grab.
The horse foot palm is probably most widely understood as a parrying hand form.
It can hook over an enemy’s arm and pull it out or down.
It can parry to either side or upwards.
In his book “Knives, Knife Fighting and Related Hassles: How to Survive a Real Knife Fight” Marc MacYoung describes a tai chi-inspired “Whip Parry” as a defence against knife attack. Since the arm is semi-relaxed, the parry has a very short response time. Marc recommends that you move the wrist and let the hand go along.

Horse foot palm can also be used offensively in a number of ways.

The most obvious is to use it as a hammer-fist strike against targets such as under the arm or the temple.
The hand can also be used as a reverse hammer-fist: swing inward to hit targets such as the back of the head or the shoulder blade.
The hand can also be used to execute a downward glancing punch against certain bony areas of the body. For example, the hand hits under the armpit and the knuckles scrape downwards across the points below. These points (GB 22 and SP 21) are three to six cun below the armpit (HT 1).
The hand posture is such that the force of hitting a bony area is dissipated along the arm.
Another targets for such attacks is the area just below the pectoral muscle. The latter are Liv 14 and GB 24, on the mammary/mid-clavicle line, a couple of ribs down from the muscle in the sixth and seventh intercostal spaces, below the pectorial muscle.
These are all potent and potentially very harmful targets which can also be attacked by a hammer-fist from a horse foot palm. Horse foot palm can also suddenly be flipped over to make a back-fist strike to the enemy’s nose!

Both hands can of course be used together. Either hand can parry while the other counter-attacks.
If one hand grabs the wrist, the other can contact the elbow in various ways and apply various varieties of lock. This is another possible application for the spiralling movement of the left hand. Armlocks can be used to unbalance a foe.
The step forward with the left foot also has martial applications. In high level tai chi it is supposed to strike the KD 5 point on the enemy’s foot and drain their qi.
For the less advanced of us, the foot can be positioned to stop an enemy stepping back to regain their balance when the balance is disrupted by hand techniques.
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Phillosoph

Survival Fishing: Part One

A friend of mine requested that the blog has something about survival fishing.
The section below is adapted from a book chapter by myself that was never published.
Many survival guides will explain how to catch fish in greater detail that I have room for in today’s blog.
They usually include ways of fishing without using a line such as trapping, lassoing, tickling, spearing etc.
Some of these techniques are described in my book on Survival Weapons.
Today’s blog will manly cover the selection of items for an emergency fishing kit, but we will include some information on their use, since many people find the depth of knowledge given in fishing books confusing. Also most such books are written from a sporting perspective: when the alternative is going hungry. your methods may not be so elegant.
This blog is about survival fishing for food. Using some of these techniques when your survival does not depend on them may result in prosecution.

Where to look for fish:

  • Weirs ( a good place all year round)
  • Edge of reed beds
  • Eddies in streams and rivers or known deep pools
  • Overhangs of trees (Watch your line!)
These are usually the places fish congregate most, but use your eyes and look for them.
Some cunning may be required and creeping up to the water's edge may be necessary to see and catch fish. Keep low so as not to skyline yourself.

The Minimal Fishing Kit

  • At least 10 m of line (10 to 15lbs), possibly wrapped around a half of matchstick or held in a coil by a rubber band or wire tie.
  • Pack of hook to nylon size 12. Depending on how these are carried, the points may need to be taped over.
  • Small assortment of split shot (BB are probably the most useful size).
This minimal kit will all pack into a 35 mm photographic container or similar and the outside of the tube can have a length of brightly coloured tape wrapped around it.
There will probably also be room for a spinner, wire leader, swivels and a small cork/piece of foam/old ear plug to act as a float (cork of about ½ x ¼ x ¼" drilled with a 2 mm hole).

The kit in my personal emergency kit also includes:

  • A coil of braided fishing line, turquoise in colour, carried in a loose coil. The rings of the swivels carried should be large enough for the braided line to pass through. Likewise the rings of the loose hooks and lures are of sufficient size they can be fitted onto the snap links.
  • A small tube filled with BB split shot.
  • About 10 metres of 6 lb test monofilament line, wrapped around the tube of shot and secured with a piece of tape. In retrospect I'd have the monofilament in a looser coil.
  • Five wire traces, about 18-24" with a swivel at one end and a snap swivel at the other. Wire traces can be brought though mine were made from brass picture hanging wire, unbraided into four or three strand pieces. These can be used as snares but do not look as suspicious as custom-made snares.
  • Various hooks, most of them small (size 12), attached to monofilament with a swivel at the other end
  • Loose hooks.

The hooks and hooks on nylon fit in the little plastic wallets the hooks came in, and these fit in a plastic bag with the wire traces as well.

The knots attaching the hooks and swivels to the line are varnished over for added security.

When you are cold, wet and hungry is no time to be trying to tie fishing knots.

I prefer to sit in the warm comfort of my home and attach as many hooks as possible to a short length of line, tying a loop in the other end that can easily be slipped through a loop tied at the end of a longer line.

For some useful fishing knots see my free on-line book on knots.

A Mepp-type lure (above) with a little silver spoon that spins around and attracts fish is also in the kit. It also has a piece of red rubber covering the shank (most fish and sea birds have their vision biased towards the red end of the spectrum).
White and/or red “mackerel feathers” would make good additional lures, as do hooks with sections of tin can or tin foil added. A piece of white plastic cup will also make a good lure.
See a later blog for more on fishing lures.

Fishing Methods

Passive fishing is to set up a rig and leave it unattended although there's no reason why you can't sit and watch it if you like.
The most common way to do this is to set up what is termed a “nightline”.
As the name suggests, this can be left overnight and any catch collected in the morning, which is useful if you spend the daylight travelling to safety.
There's no reason why you can't rig up a nightline during the day, of course.
It's a good idea to check the line several times during the night, since some beasts such as frogs and turtles can break free if left long enough.
Attach one end of the line to the bank and the other to a weight, and attach leaders with baited hooks at intervals along the line.
Throw the weighted end into the water. This is easier if you use a forked stick since it prevents getting caught by your own hooks.
Drive a stick with a notched top between the water and the anchor point on the bank and run the line over the top. Movement of this stick will show something is hooked. Placing a pebble or chunk of mud on top of the stick provides further visual clues: if it has dropped off, you've caught something!
Alternately, run the line over the water between two points, like a washing line with the baits suspended at different depths.
An improvised bell (empty tin can) can be used to signal a catch.
Vary the baits and take note of which ones seem to be taken most often.
You can also hang lines from branches overhanging the water.

Active Fishing

Active fishing involves you holding onto the line and sometimes actively moving the bait or lure.
Such fishing prevents you from doing anything else, so is best considered if you have to remain in the same location, such as near a crash or a broken down vehicle, or are with a companion who can't travel.
Active fishing and other methods will be described in following blogs.
******************************************************
I never did get around to posting the second part of this article!
Rather than have the two parts separated by hundreds of other posts, I have decided to add the rest of the chapter below.
Some of my ideas on the topic of survival fishing have evolved in the decades since I originally wrote this. I think many survival manuals and kits put too much of an emphasis on active fishing with a line.
See my post on trot lines (coming soon!).

Part Two

Active Fishing

Active fishing involves you holding onto the line and sometimes actively moving the bait or lure. Such fishing prevents you from doing anything else, so is best considered if you have to remain in the same location, such as near a crash or a broken down vehicle, or are with a companion who can't travel.
In the fishing kit detailed above, you use a hook to nylon attached by the swivel to the braided line, or a wire trace with a hook on the end attached to the braided line if you are after sharp toothed prey, such as pike or turtle.
A nice thing about braided line is it is a lot less fiddly to tie when you're cold and tired. You have several hooks, so there's nothing to stop you placing several traces on the handline, so you can vary the bait or depth you are fishing at.
The most basic method of angling is to put your bait on a hook and line and just dangle the bait in the water.
Some bait will float on the water, such as an artificial fly or lump of bread and will be taken by surface feeders. If the bait sinks, it will be taken by fish that feed at the level the bait stops at. You can control this by adding weights. That's it really.

Spinning

Spinning is done with lures or any bait that is highly visible.
What you're doing is pulling the lure through the water to make the fish think that the moving bait is a swimming fish. The line is lightly shotted, just enough to take it down to a depth predatory fish may be at.
Cast your line as far as you can, or beyond were you suspect fish, then reel it back in, passing any reeds where predators like to hide, and pausing occasionally: fish seem to like a jerking progress.
In fast moving water the lure may appear active enough without you reeling it in.
This method is a lot easier with an improvised reel: usually a stick or some other object you can wind the line around as you take it in.
A “classic” improvised reel is a tin can, a plastic bottle or similar on a stick. The line slips quite easily from its large diameter, so it can be used as a casting aid.
Attach the other end to the stick, or better still your belt in case your hand slips.
You can also throw out your line as one would a grappling hook, fire it by catapult etc.

Ledgering

Ledgering uses a weight at one end of the rig.
When using a rod, the weight may hang in free water but when using a handline it will usually rest on the bottom unless you are directly above where you are fishing. The diagrams illustrate several ledgering rigs for different waters.
When using survival fishing kits, it can be confusing as to where the large weight comes from.
One answer is the link ledger weight illustrated, which is a piece of line and several BB split shot.
Or you can use lead or stones in a piece of leaf, woven grass, hide or cloth. Some stones can be tied to the line directly with a Killick hitch.
The film canister used to carry the kit can be packed with earth or gravel and used as a weight.
Steel or brass washers have also been used as weights, and have the advantage they are relatively compact and will fit nicely into some fishing kit containers.

Float Fishing

A float is a buoy to suspend your rig from and also acts as a visual signal of a bite.
Just as anything that sinks and will remain attached to the line can be a weight, so anything that floats and stays attached can be used as a float.
The film canister can be taped or tied to the line. So can twigs, feather quills, porcupine spines, bits of polystyrene cups, inflated condoms etc.
A floating branch can support several lines.
Coloured tape can be added to floats so they are more visible.

Fly Fishing

You can do this with or without a rod.
Flies can be made from thread (frayed cloth from clothing), fur, feathers and hair, so can be field improvised.
You can use real insects too: anything that will sit on or float in the surface layer of water.
Think of when you used to play in the paddling pool on sunny days and insects would land in the water.
Remember the weird shadows they created on the pool bottom? Dark ovals outlined with silver?
This is because they deform the surface layer of the water, refocusing the light. This is really visible to fish under the water, who know this means something edible.
For fly fishing, don't shot the line and use a monofilament trace. The braided line will be too heavy.
Greasing the line so that it floats may be advisable since we won't be using special fly trace.
Best place to fly fish is where you can see real flies and fish disturbing the surface of the water to take them.
Try to imitate the flitting motions of the flies.

Bait

Fish will take artificial bait such as flies, lures, feathers and bits of wool or shiny metal.
Worms are not as common in some environments as you might expect, so often your best bet is to split open a rotting log and take your pick of the grubs and beetles you find.
Caterpillars are also easy to catch.
Bits of entrails from a previous catch or an animal you've trapped are good too.
In both cases you're turning something you probably don't want to eat into something you do.
Many fish are quite fond of berries, so when in season these should not be overlooked as bait.
[When I was originally writing this, there was a story in the press that fishermen were finding that female pubic hair was an excellent bait. This is supposedly something to do with the oestrogen so it needs to be fairly recently “collected” and isn't something you can keep in your kit till needed. Some of you reading will have a ready supply, so I'll pass the idea on though I can't testify to if this really works. If someone manages to get a meal out of this bait, maybe they'll let me know.]
The above all turned out to be bogus newspaper BS, but pubic hair (male, female or preferred identification) may be a useful material for making fishing flies.)

Rod Fishing

Dave (my intended co-author) is a far keener fisherman than I and uses the following rig for passive and active fishing.
In addition to hooks and spinners, this requires tape, a spool of line and a 4" piece of coat hanger wire or large paper clip.
Dave has used such a rig often, though being a Signalman his “rod” was often the antennae of a land rover.
If possible select and cut a length of sapling/wood for the use of a rod approx. 8 to 9 ft in length and inch to inch half in diameter.
With the wire, fashion a loop at the top end and secure this with your tape and short piece of line. Then attach the reel to the other end***(diagrams were to explain and show how)*** Now run the line through the loop and attach a hook to the end with a weight attached, Hey presto, you a ready for the off to go fishing!!
A rod needn't have eyelets and a reel.
The roach pole is a long pole used for float fishing with a fixed length of line attached to its tip, usually up to half the length of the pole.
This setup needs a little “give” to absorb the energy of a strike, and this is done either by the springiness of the rod or by including a section of rubber band in the trace. A couple of rubber bands can be used to hold together some of the items above. Or you can use knicker elastic.
The trick to using the roach pole is to always keep the tip over the float.
An improvised tenkara rod is another possibility. In Bushcraft 101 by Dave Canterbury, a “lillian braid” for a tenkara rod made from the mantle of some paracord is suggested. The “lillian braid” is how the rigging is attached to the rod.

Dave's Fishing Kit

Dave suggests the following as a kit suitable for carrying in a backpack, and suitable for both survival and recreation fishing.
1. 50 metres of line (10 to 15 lbs)
2. 3x Mepps (small spinners)
3. 1x container of split shot (assortment or BB)
4. 4 inch piece of coat hanger wire or large paperlips.
5. Packet of size 12 hook to nylon
6. 3 small traces
7. An assortment of other hooks large and small (loose)
8. 3 treble hooks about size 12: used for live bait.
This equipment to be packed into 35mm photographic containers and bound together with electrical tape (1 metre).
There are several options with this kit.
If you are going to carry 50 metres of monofilament line you might as well carry the spool you brought it on.
Loose hooks and maybe spinners can be taped to the side of the spool if desired.
Gluing a small length of dowel to the spool will help in using it as a reel.

Sea Fishing

For sea fishing, other elements come into play such as tides and conditions.
If one is going to be near the coast then you must be prepared for this eventuality.
By this, I mean carrying stronger lines up to 30 lbs test, larger hooks and swivels.
Weights pose their own problems but these can be substituted by stones from the beach.
Methods vary somewhat to those of freshwater fishing by using the tides.
Wait till low tide, wade out and lay a long line of baited hooks. Leave them secured to the bottom and return after the tide has come and gone and see what you have caught (Not very labour intensive!)

Fishing Kits for Life Rafts and Ditch Kits

Fishing is obviously one of the main ways to get food if in a life raft, but the kits often supplied are insufficient in both quality and quantity.
If you hook a big fish such as a shark, your safest option may be to cut line, rather than try to get it in the raft and kill it.
You may also have to rely on this kit for months, so plenty of spares make sense. So too does the extra expense of stainless steel hooks.
Another thing that is often lacking from kits but will prove useful is some form of winder, such as those used for kites.
Suggested fishing kit contents (courtesy Doug Ritter of Equipped to Survive):
400 ft. – Monofilament Fishing Line, 20 lb. test
36+ – Barbed Hooks, size 2/0
36+ – Barbed Hooks, size 2
24+ – Barbed Hooks, size 6
6 – Barbed Treble Hooks, size 1
6 – Barbed Treble Hooks, size 6
6 – Barbed Treble Hooks, size 8 or 10
24 – Nylon Leaders w/ Snap Swivels, 10-12 inch
12 – Wire Leaders w/ Snap Swivels, 8 inch
24 – Snap Swivels
24 – Assorted Sinkers
12 – Chrome Spoons and Lures
3 – Straight Shank Hook, size 9/0 (for gaffing)
2 – Winders
1 – Waterproof Fishing Instruction Booklet including illustrations of fishing knots

Fishing Nets

A net or fish trap is often better than a line if you can make one.
An “instant” net is a lady's stocking or tights. A fish becomes easily entangled and damaged in these, so this is a survival only technique.
When she was living in Brazil, my girlfriend regularly fed herself by fishing. Her father was a fisherman who had worked on the ocean-going boats. Her father would fish with a handline, but my lady preferred a net.
The net she used she calls a “pulsá”. It was round and had hooks for bait in the centre. It sounds like a lift-net in form, but she used it by throwing it into the sea and then hauling it in, which sounds like a type of trawling.
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Phillosoph

Sandbags. Alternate Uses

Recently I have been reading about certain aspects of World War One, in particular the stosstruppen or “stormtroops”.
A common and distinctive element of the stosstruppen equipment is the grenade bags underneath the arms. These were often sewn from sandbags. Sandbags had other uses too. One illustration I saw had a soldier carrying a sandbag to collect any booty or intelligence material he came across in a raid. Another feature of the stosstruppen was that they did not bother to carry their backpacks into battle. Backpacks were for the march to a position and were usually placed in storage once there. Instead the stosstruppen created an “assault pack” by rolling their greatcoat in their shelter cloth and strapping it as a horseshoe shape around their mess tin.

If attempting to capture a position a unit was required to carry four days’ worth of rations. Units in newly captured locations could easily become isolated. The rations of a German soldier a century ago were somewhat more spartan and modest than those of modern soldiers but I suspect he would still be hard pressed to carry four days’ worth in just an assault pack and the “bread bag” on his belt. A feature of trench fighting was that it was often only the lead elements that would be doing any actual fighting. The point would be taken by a couple of rifle, pistol or SMG men and close behind a “bomber” would toss grenades into the next trench section. Most of the unit would be carrying entrenching tools, sandbags and any other items needed to consolidate a captured trench section. These bearers would doubtless have also carried the bulk of the unit’s four day ration. This still raises the question as to how to carry those rations without backpacks. What I suspect is that often the rations were carried in the unfilled sandbags the unit was required to take along.
Sandbags had many other uses too. A sandbag could be wrapped around a rifle barrel to camouflage it when sniping. Camouflaged face veils for snipers could also be made from sandbags. Sandbags were used to make helmet covers, making your head less of a target when moving behind sandbagged parapets. Frayed bits of sandbag could be sewn to a garment to break up the shape and provide additional camouflage.

When it comes to using a sandbag as a carrying sack it is informative to look at the Russian veshmeshok. The neck is twisted closed and the carrying strap used to form a sort of lark-tail knot. A typical sandbags is 14-15" x 26-32" and can hold about 30-35 lbs of dirt so a carrying bag made from one can hold a useful load. Holes punched in the bottom corners, possibly eyeleted can be used to take a cord and made adjustable with a simple bowline knot. Alternately a small object such as a stone can be placed in the lower corners and a constrictor knot or round turn and half hitches can be tied around the material behind the object. The latter technique, incidentally is useful when you need to use a shelter sheet that does not have eyelets. There is not frame in a veshmeshok or sandbag, of course, so you have to give some thought to what you put in and in what order. Make sure there is something soft against your back!

In my book I mention that claymore mine bags often were used as handy ammunition carriers. A sandbag could provide the basic material for a similar but lighter carrier with just some basic sewing. Sew up the mouth and open one side, divide the compartment in two and add a strap, flap etc.

To both the World War One and modern soldier, sandbags are readily available and worth utilising. If you are a civilian then sandbags can be purchased from builder suppliers and garden stores and can often be found for less than a dollar each. Modern types are of circular woven polypropylene but more traditional hessian is also still available. A synthetic may be better for a carrying bag while hessian is better for adding camouflage to a hunting outfit. Hessian is quite a useful camouflage colour, particularly if used with contrasting browns, greens or greys. If you are wrapping a rifle stock in hessian remember folds, creases and shadows help break up the shape. You can also apply some paint of dye in dabs of a contrasting colour but don’t go overboard. It is the contrast and irregular intervals that help break up the shape.
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Phillosoph

A Possible Con trick?

A friend of mine went out for a bite to eat and a quiet drink the other night. When he came back he did not look too good.
As the bar was closing a girl sitting outside collapsed. According to her sister she had been taking drugs. They had brought something that allegedly was “MDMA”. I say allegedly since a friend of mine was once concerned with analysing a large number of MDMA samples taken as evidence. The majority of them contained very little, if any MDMA but contained a lot of other things, many of them quite unpleasant or harmful.
As my friend and another customer attempted to help the girl she stopped breathing several times. My friend was able to get her breathing again by using artificial respiration. An ambulance arrived and the girl and her sister were taken away.
My friend felt that he had panicked a little and could have done more. I pointed out to him that he had undoubtedly saved her life and that at least he had done something positive when challenged. Some people would have run around like headless chickens. Some would probably have stood around videoing it on their phones. I did joke with him that in some countries he would now be sued by the girl for malpractice and sexual harassment! A joke sadly too close to the truth.
This had not been his only adventure that night. Minutes before this a fight had broken out in the bar between the landlord and a customer and my friend had helped keep them apart. What is interesting about this is the fight broke out a closing time with very little apparent cause. After they were separated the customer reached inside his jacket and produced a pair of broken glasses from his pocket. He then began to claim that the landlord had broken these in the fight and that he wanted compensation for them.
Certain aspects of how this was described to me suggest this might be a variation of an old con trick. Something to watch out for.
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Phillosoph

"The Northwest Passage" Lessons for the Modern World.

Yesterday I treated myself. I finally got around to unwrapping my copy of “The Northwest Passage (1940)” Finding this fine old film on DVD was to prove to be something of a task. After much searching I was able to find a copy in Spanish ("Paso al Noroeste"). Fortunately for me the DVD included the original English soundtrack too.

The reason I am posting about this movie on this blog is that a major theme in the movie is about motivation and leadership. If I had my way “The Northwest Passage” would be shown to all officers and NCOs.
Early in the movie Major Rogers (Spencer Tracy) realises that the way up-river is blocked by French forces. The only way pass involves carrying the heavy whale boats across country and up over a steep wooded hill. Instead of issuing orders Rogers asks his men (paraphrased):

“If you needed to get past the French without them knowing and knew you would need your boat later, what would you do?”
A ranger replies “I guess I would carry the boat overland till I found water again.”
“Then that is what we will do!”
Note that Rogers leads his men to the logical conclusion so that they understand the necessity, no matter how much toil and discomfort it implies. In some aspects the course of action seems to have been the suggestion of the men rather than an order by their commander
Another notable scene is when the rangers must cross a fast flowing stream.
Rogers: “If you had a chain stretched across this stream you would not think twice of about wading it. We will make a human chain! I do not know if such a thing has ever been done before, but we are going to do it!” Rogers is the first wade into the water and hook one arm around a tree to form the first link of the chain. This is an interesting technique for large parties to use to cross rivers, although I would recommend hooking arms rather than grasping wrists as shown in the movie.

The real Major Rogers’ “Rules of Ranging” and “Standing Orders” are worth a read, even today.
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Phillosoph

Perception, Alien Autopsy and Yeti Footprints.

Today’s blog is about perception. I have touched on this subject once or twice before since how you process information is a useful survival and self-defence skill. What you perceive can often be influenced by what you want to see, expect to see or are expected to see.
Back in the mid 1990s a video claiming to be the autopsy of an alien was broadcast. Last year I came across an article written at that time by a writer who had attended a press screening of the video. Although he was writing for a science fiction publication the writer was sceptical and suggested that a telephone visible in the film was too modern for the date claimed for the film. This latter statement made me find a copy of the film and sit down to watch it.
One of the claims I had heard made for this film was that the men performing the autopsy seemed very efficient, professional and were evidently doctors, coroners or scientists. Watching the film my impression was quite the opposite!
Anyone with even a minimal level of medical training would use a Y-incision to open the thorax of a humanoid. Instead, in the video a clumsy cross is cut in the torso and organs fished out. No attempt is made to film the inside of the torso and the relative positions of the organs before they are removed. One of the “doctors” attempts to open the skull and to access this area he peels the scalp upwards and flops it over the alien’s face. The rather awkward action shows that the “doctor” has never before performed this action, nor has he ever given any thought whatever as to what would be the best way to accomplish this. Not only is it obvious to me the two “doctors” have no knowledge of medicine, it seems very unlikely they are hunters or butchers or any other profession used to handling animal carcasses.
The makers of the alien autopsy video have now admitted that it was faked. While some people choose to believe they have been made to lie about falsifying it, the actions of the “doctors” in the video speak pretty clearly. And yet, many people claimed the conduct of the “doctors” in the video was evidence of its authenticity!
Below is another famous mystery, the footprint of a yeti found by an Everest expedition. Spend a couple of minutes studying this photo and see if you can work out what is “wrong” about it.
 
If you look carefully you can see the footprint is curved on its left side, suggesting that if this is a primate foot it is from the right foot. The largest toe impression, however, is on the right of the foot print. Either yetis have a very odd way of distributing their weight when walking or they have their big toes or insteps on the outside of their feet!
Is there an animal in Tibet that has a large toe on the outside of its foot. Yes, bears have this feature. Another interesting thing about bear tracks is at certain walking speeds the front and rear pawprints often overlap, creating what appears to look a bit like an elongated human or primate footprint! If you look across the centre of this footprint there appears to be what might be a second set of toe impressions, supporting the idea that this might be a pawprint placed close to another.
The perception of these things is something to reflect on. Humans are most interested in humans so they perceive a vaguely human-shaped track as being from a hommid, ignoring large discrepancies as the big toe being on the wrong side!
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Phillosoph

Goodbye to Two Longtime Travelling Companions

Many years ago I purchased a pair of boots from a shop in Camden called “Outdoor Emporium”.
They were a pair of black Hi-Tech Magnums and according to the label inside they had been constructed in Vietnam in 1999.
They were an interesting design since they were rather like Vietnam jungle boots in design. The bottom section of them was leather while the upper part was bulked nylon. The cuff of the boot had a suede-like material.
I don’t recall exactly when I brought the boots, but it would have been before the old Wembley stadium was demolished in 2003. I had originally met the proprietor of Outdoor Emporium at Wembley market and had ended up helping on his stall, so I can recall I had a good view of the famous twin towers of the old stadium.

Hi-Tech Magnum boots

Initially I only wore the boots occasionally.
My podiatrist one day advised me that given the problems with my feet and ankles I should wear something with more ankle support so I then began to wear the Hi-Tech Magnums all of the time.
These boots are around fifteen years old. They have been worn constantly for at least eight years and perhaps as much as thirteen or fourteen years.
The soles show a little wear but still have good tread on them after countless miles of London pavement.
Finally a crack in the leather upper is beginning to go all the way through so in January I will buy a new pair.
It is quite possible that they would have lasted me a few years more if I had been a little more diligent with polishing them more often.
I am pleased to see that these boots still seem to be in production. Hopefully my new pair will enjoy a similar lease of life.
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Phillosoph

Deer and Detergents

A friend of mine mentioned the other day that deer can see into the ultra-violet range. Naturally I did some research myself to confirm this, and found this interesting article.
I learnt that deer can see in colour, but not very well at the red end of the spectrum, which is why red and orange clothing can be used for deer hunting. (Bird hunting is another matter. Birds tend to have very good colour vision in general).

The UV sensitivity of deer vision has some interesting implications. Many laundry detergents include whitening agents that reflect UV-light. In short, what to our primate eyes may be a nicely camouflaged jacket may look distinctive and out of place to a deer. I suspect as this information becomes more widely known some clever company will market a detergent especially for hunters. If you are going to use this as an excuse not to wash your favourite hunting coat remember deer have a very good sense of smell too!
The discussion of laundry soaps reminded me of this statement made about US Woodland pattern camouflage garments:
“… When they are brand new this pattern choice isn’t bad. With daily (duty, military) use and washing the pattern starts a light graying process and doesn’t stop until they are lightened and useless for their intended purpose. With that said some of the woodland fatigues do start to "brown out" and that is a good thing when it happens. With normal civilian wash and wear this seems to happen more often. With most military personnel we notice the graying on a larger more pronounced scale.”
If this observation is accurate a likely explanation is in the laundering process. Civilian owned garments are less likely to be washed by industrial laundries.
As many of you may be aware, the US Army has had considerable problems with its ACUPAT camouflage. Supposedly this pattern is a mix of grey, sage and tan. Most garments you see in use seem to appear to be various shades of grey and dirty white with very little contrast between the elements. Is it possible, perhaps, that some of the problems are a result of the Army’s laundering system? Another element of the problem may be in using combat-wear as general work and barracks wear, increasing the frequency of washing. Worth investigating.
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Phillosoph

Umbrella Fighting : All the Links

I have just acquired a new umbrella for my girlfriend and joked that she could read my "How to poke people with a brolly" blog.
With that in mind today's blog will gather the links about self-defence with an umbrella together in one place. These articles are now collected together as a PDF document here.

Part One Fencing Parries with an Umbrella.
Part One and a bit An Interlude.
Part Two Swagger Stick Techniques.
Part Three Commanding the Blade or Brolly.
Part Four Offensive Techniques.

Vigny on Umbrellas.
Light-Hearted Article from 1897
 

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Phillosoph

Direction Finding by the Moon

The other night I was looking at the crescent moon.
Many readers of this blog are doubtless familiar with how to find direction from the moon, but some will not be, so indulge me for a moment.
By drawing an imaginary line between the horns of the crescent and extending it down to the horizon, the approximate position of south can be estimated if in the northern hemisphere, or north if you are in the southern hemisphere.
Idly, I wondered if the angle of this line had any relationship to the latitude of the observer. I recalled there was something about navigating by the moon in the Japanese Manual of Night Movements:
“Although it is difficult to determine direction by the position of the moon, the latter has the advantage of being recognizable even on nights when all the stars cannot be seen. The moon crosses the meridian about noon on the first lunar day, and it moves about fifty minutes behind the sun every day. Therefore, if the age of the moon be known, the approximate passing of the meridian can be easily computed. Its approximate age can be computed from the shape of its bright portion.”
Not really that helpful!
Something may have been lost in the translation.
Most websites I looked at had no answer but eventually I found this interesting paper and found the answer is “no”.
I later confirmed my latitude was 51 degrees so an angle of either 51 or 39 would have been expected if the hypothesis had been correct.
The range of angles the terminator can be at as it approaches and passes meridian will vary with latitude, however, but this has very little application to practical emergency navigation.
An alternate method for direction finding by the moon involves remembering that the sun sets in the west and rises in the east.
If the moon is up in the early part of the night, or in the evening before the sun has gone down, the illuminated side will be the western.
If the moon is observed in the latter part of the night or in the morning, then the eastern side will be illuminated.
In this context “latter” and “early part” of the night are defined in relation to the median point of the night, also known as Solar Midnight.
In other words, the middle of the period of darkness rather than the chronological “midnight”, 12:00am or 0000hrs on the clock.
This is more of a secondary method since if you can see the light and dark parts of the moon you can use the terminator method to find north or south. I suppose you could make a crude estimate of the time by establishing where south or north is located and then observing which side of the moon was illuminated.
You can also estimate direction from the moon using the shadow tip method.
This is often illustrated using the sun but the principle is exactly the same using the moon.
Place an object such as a stick in the ground so that it casts a shadow.
Mark the tip of the shadow.
Wait for at least fifteen minutes so the shadow has time to move.
Mark the tip of the shadow’s new position.
A line drawn between these two points will run east-west.
The first point you marked will always be west, the second east.
Easy for me to remember since my name is “West” so “West comes first!” 
Both the moon and the sun move from east to west and in the northern hemisphere they are always in the southern half of the sky, so shadows cast have varying degrees of northward orientation.
A line perpendicular to the east-west line will be north-south and the shadow will be in the direction of the pole of the hemisphere that you are in.
The advantage of the shadow tip method is that you can use it when there is a full moon and you could not use the terminator method.
In the daytime you can use the shadow tip method when the exact position of the sun cannot be seen because of clouds, so long as there is enough light to throw a shadow.