Roving Gangs - Counter Tactics?

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I like that you're thinking of a group, you increase your security greatly. I wish there was a registry or something to help me find others around here.
Brent S- What I think is that anyone that lives by you will want to get together to protect your area. Think about it your area is their area too!! If and When SHTF you get right away with them I am mostly sure that they will want to "join forces". The other Gain that you will then have will be what they have.. maybe guns, ammo, fuels, foods, water, water treatment items or supplies, clothing, seeds, and a wide a ray of skills. That just puts you from being isolated and defending just you and yours to a small community with strong forces!
 
Brent S- What I think is that anyone that lives by you will want to get together to protect your area. Think about it your area is their area too!! If and When SHTF you get right away with them I am mostly sure that they will want to "join forces". The other Gain that you will then have will be what they have.. maybe guns, ammo, fuels, foods, water, water treatment items or supplies, clothing, seeds, and a wide a ray of skills. That just puts you from being isolated and defending just you and yours to a small community with strong forces!
You're probably right about people coming around if things get really bad. I'm still kind of surprised how many don't think anything bad will ever happen, so why would they waste time preparing for it. It might be better to have a group that had been gathering resources and practicing all along, but if things get tough, it will be good to have anyone that's willing to chip in. I think I am pretty good at sharing/teaching the knowledge I've picked up, I wish they had classes at the local tech school here for prepping!
 
You're probably right about people coming around if things get really bad. I'm still kind of surprised how many don't think anything bad will ever happen, so why would they waste time preparing for it. It might be better to have a group that had been gathering resources and practicing all along, but if things get tough, it will be good to have anyone that's willing to chip in. I think I am pretty good at sharing/teaching the knowledge I've picked up, I wish they had classes at the local tech school here for prepping!
I agree about the classes. I do think that things are going to get bad but I also believe that even if the people next door or down the road did not do any prepping they offer a lot more! For one the property and the other all people have resources that can be used and MAN power!!
 
I think I need to follow my own advice and just get to know my neighbors better. I know some, but not all, and don't really see them all that much. Still, it's good to have SOME kind of foundation, even if just a short term, localized event occurs.
 
I think I need to follow my own advice and just get to know my neighbors better. I know some, but not all, and don't really see them all that much. Still, it's good to have SOME kind of foundation, even if just a short term, localized event occurs.
You got it darling! :p
 
The true Outlaw Bikers already know how to do all this stuff your worried about facing now. They're more organized and frankly behave "smarter" than your average banger thug in the street. They're mobile have a preexisting paramilitary command structure, they can build and maintain their own gear, they are HEAVILY armed, used to prolonged outdoor living on long rides, many have coms set up now via CB and shortwave. Lots of them have military backgrounds as well. They will be a group to avoid if possible.

Your run of the mill "gang bangers" most of them couldn't fnd their way across the street outside a major city, they don't stock food or water...or ammo for that matter. They also will be starving and going through DT's badly as a group. IF you are more than 30 miles outside a major city, your typical gang banger will probably starve or die from dysentery, get lost, kill each other, dehydrate etc before they ever get there.

Being off the beaten path will be helpful, hardening your position would be good and having a network of people to help would be a must.

"normal" people will get CRAZY should shtf though. They'll be desperate and panicked and violent. Most of them will be also, untrained non equipped and unorganized. They will do insane stuff.

You don't normally see bikers with any type of antenna other then CB radio that they can use helmet to helmet or the FM radio...
The scenario you are talking about - must be from the old movies - Road Warrior comes to mind.
If you have ever been in a disaster situation, the first thing to go is the fuel.
When there is no electric to pump it out of the ground, there is no fuel to burn.
There is no way that motorcyclists are going to be able to keep going once the fuel runs out, automobile drivers will just run out of fuel sooner then someone on a motorcycle.

Having been in New York after 911 and Hurricane Sandy = I can tell you for a fact that it was very hard to buy fuel within 40 miles of the city.

I will agree with the analogy of how the street thugs will not prosper outside of the limits of their own turf. Once the drugs and the money runs out, they will resort to killing each other and then it will be all over. A type of urban cleansing.
 
I think I need to follow my own advice and just get to know my neighbors better. I know some, but not all, and don't really see them all that much. Still, it's good to have SOME kind of foundation, even if just a short term, localized event occurs.

A couple of years ago, the neighboring town had a young man that was a fireman that was involved in arson. By the time the smoke cleared, he had burned down at least 12 different places. No one wanted to tell on him because everyone was friends and the places he burned down were mostly all dilapidated old houses and abandoned dwellings.
One building he burned down was a paid event. The fire had a little something to do with drugs I think, but the owner was exonerated while the arsonist was arrested and sent to prison.

I went to that town and put on a demonstration and presentation of amateur radio.
I even gave away two 10 / 11 meter antenna's and put up two towers free of charge.
I realized that in an emergency, the fire department was going to be busy doing its own thing.
The county agent was going to be stranded, since most floods closes off the highway in both directions and navigation around the town is very limited except by boat when flooding occurs. I offered to give a Technician Class License class and even offered a ham in a day class.
The fire chief rolled his eyes while everyone else paid no attention to what I said.
I explained how I would build a 440 repeater for them to use and I would conduct a daily net with check in's where each person could say hi and communicate with their neighbors and if they saw something during the day, they could call others to look out their windows or call for help. I did not get one interested person out of the whole town. I was offered the use of their town hall for one day for a VE test session - no classes. When the county did the SET with the amateurs - we were denied the use of the hall because there was a wedding pre scheduled.
This is after FEMA invested thousands of dollars into rehabilitating this building and supplying them with a emergency generator and giving them aid in the form of cots and bedding and food and supplies for their emergency shelter.

The assumption that anyone would want to get involved in Amateur Radio, much beyond wanting to use it as a telephone when their cell phone does not work, so they can call loved ones is ridiculous.
No one wants to be a ham as long as they have a working cell phone - where all they have to do is pay the bill.
No one wants to be a ham if to be a ham they have to buy a couple of thousand dollars worth of equipment and participate in amateur radio activities.

Many of the people that became hams 10 - 20 - and 30 years ago is letting their license expire on purpose - just because they never were hams and they don't want to be hams with what amateur radio has to offer today.
Most times it had something more to do with friends that talked on the CB radio that were looking for a quiet - legal place to talk. Or friends that talked on the ham radio that lost their members and now has no one to talk to - because they never called CQ before in their lives - just talked to each other on one frequency and never did anything as a group such as Field Days.

Or the old group died off and there was no one to give the VE test sessions and no one was willing to travel 50 miles to take a test so they just left their licenses expire.
The ones that bothers me the most is fathers and sons and husbands and wives.
They just wanted to talk to each other and when one died, the other just left their license expire.

You see none of this is conducive to having an active amateur radio community.
All these people did was take what they wanted for themselves.
In an emergency, these people are not the ones that participates in amateur radio type activities - such as manning a station at the hospital, at the fire house, at the ambulance, at the police station.

The more sophisticated the public service radio gets, the harder it is to keep it online and working after a event. Where as amateur radio is so simple - even if part of it fails, as long as we can talk simplex, we can still communicate. Does this make any sense.

In order to be an effective communicator - you first have to know how to get a signal on the air. It isn't as simple as programming a walkie talkie and talking.
It isn't as simple as throwing a wire in a tree and talking either.

If a person is too busy hanging out with their other punk biker friends, they are not going to have time to sit home in front of a radio and talk to a bunch of old geezers, or want to learn about something as obsolete as radio.
 
I imagine in a SHTF scenario, HAM will be the new internet. It's actually in my plan, but lower on the list than some other vitals that have more immediate benefits. I do want to get some good range radios though. They really aren't near as expensive as I thought, for some really decent range.
 
I imagine in a SHTF scenario, HAM will be the new internet. It's actually in my plan, but lower on the list than some other vitals that have more immediate benefits. I do want to get some good range radios though. They really aren't near as expensive as I thought, for some really decent range.

See, that is what I am wanting! I have no need now to have a long rang communication base! All I want is to be able to keep my own chatter to just a few but be able to communicate to my "group"!

Like you, Gazrok, I have that on my list!

Good luck, I hope you find what will work for you! I would be thankful if you could let me know what you get. Reliable, feedback is a plus in my book!
 
it'll be different in the UK I believe, I don't think British people will stray very far from their homes, sure this will be a problem in the big cities but where I live is very rural and a long way from any city let alone a big inner city, although I'm not complacent and have taken steps to deal with this IF it were to happen its not up there top of my list.
 
CB will actually work pretty good for my group. Both trucks already have them, so I just want to get one for home. However, there are some portable hand-held VHF/UHF radios (typically marine radios) that work well, and are under $100 each. I wouldn't mind getting a couple of these for more range than the CB (which is only about 3-5 miles). The tech has really come a long way. You can even get a portable HAM for that price.
 
Went to a website I used to post on several years ago where we disscussed shooting and tactics and some prepping . Actualy remembered my pass word . Now it has evolved into a site where if you were to mention prepping you would be pounced on . I no you have to be ready to bug out if needed but after reading some of their post it became clear . They will be some of the Roving gangs . These guys are not street thugs but close nit types that train hard and are organized . Glad I didn't teach them every trick in my book .
 
These guys are not street thugs but close nit types that train hard and are organized

Moral or not, it is a viable survival tactic. Just a risky one. Thing is, without modern medicine, most of these groups will likely fall apart fairly quickly as injuries mount that require more than field medicine.

Those with a base, will stick to a fairly local range. Those that roam, will be eventually limited by fuel (even scrounged fuel) and then become local.
 
I guess fuel (or the lack of it) will determine just how far anyone roams post collapse, we've been having this discussion on one of the British forums and once you get rid of the more fantastic ideas(Mad Max etc) it is realised there is a limit to how far anyone will travel to look for resources, even in our small island. British people on the whole are not know for their outdoor skills!
 
I like the idea of ambushes and guerrilla warfare tactics. That is attack them, if needed, before they reach your property. Less chance of direct retribution too ... as they won't know where you come from.

Otherwise, ideas that I have started to think of include being able to "hide" access to my property. That is make it look like an deserted piece of land. If they find the access then having obstacles in the way (anything to slow them down or make them have to go around things ... so not an quick in). Could also create bottlenecks for them on their approach (herd them to an ambush). This would work well for Zombies too (if that is your thing).

The other idea I have been thinking of is trenches. In Australia many farms have a cattle grid at access points (these are shallow ditches with a grid over top ... allows cars to drive on them but not cows). After the SHTF simply remove the grid (and replace as needed). My idea is that heavy objects on a road will hinder my movement, but at least a system such as this wouldn't be a permanent hindrance. Also could institute it now. The 'gangs' could get around this is they have a 'bridging' tool ... however it would still slow them down. Giving time for us to counter attack or flee.
 
I like the cattle grid idea. We have them in use here in the states also. Might have to incorporate that one. Only downside is that I'm not sure horses are smart enough to realize what to not do there. I'll have to ask around on that.

Right after the SHTF, I'll be pretty busy with obstacles and slow-down tactics....

Have to dig out the plants and soil from the planters around the house, to make them into pillboxes for sentry duty.
Have to dig the trench (with the tractor) anywhere vehicles could access.
Have to dig the footfall traps, insert the nailboards.
Chainsaw some telephone poles/trees, etc. to impede road access for vehicles (after making any last minute supply runs).
Have to fill a LOT of sandbags to fortify certain locations on the property.
Have to put in a LOT of posts (to work as vehicle stoppers, in addition to the trench and fences).
Lots more...
 
For those in Europe...I think its hard to picture the scale of area in the us. The distance I drive to work and back each day would be the width of nations in Europe. Lots more space here...so gangs have further to go.
 
In Australia we have huge amount of space and a small population. I could go one hour away from home and probably have almost zero chance of any "roving gangs" finding me.

I live in a state the size of Alaska, Texas and Montana (the largest, second largest and fourth largest states in the USA), yet have a population less than Nevada (35th most populated state). And 75% of that population lives in one city, Perth.
 

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