Map Reading and A Threat Map

I listened to a story of one of my Scouts one time. He told of being with his family traveling in a car. They got to a place where they weren’t sure about where they were. In the story the boy says that his father’s phone did not have service so they could not get a map on his phone and his mother’s phones battery was dead. I asked why they didn’t have a car charger? He didn’t know. I asked why they didn’t have a map? He didn’t know. His father is an Air Force pilot! I was dumbfounded. The lack of foresight was quite blatant. They obviously survived the incident. He was telling me the story. But having a clear idea of where you’re going and how you’ll get there is always important. So is knowing what you’re preparing for. Risk analysis can only be performed if you know what the risks are. This is why a threat map might be a good idea. So what are you going to mark on your threat map, and how should you do it? If you are using an electronic map, you can use any built-in tools on your mapping app, if you have them, or convert the map into a file format compatible with a graphics editing tool. Paper maps have more options. If you are marking on the map directly, you can use whatever you want; pens, pencils, markers, highlighters and crayon are all viable. Take care that what you use to write on your map does not bleed so badly that it obscures anything important on the front or back of the map. You might try overlaying the map with clear page protector or acrylic sheet to allow you to write on it with dry erase markers or grease pencils. This has the advantage of allowing you to change and update your markup as your plans and threats evolve without using a new map, but obviously markings of this kind are not indelible, so you’ll need to protect your map a little more from anything that could wear or wash your markup away. Before you go jotting down whatever crosses your mind onto your map, take a minute to gather your thoughts and align them with your goals: what do you intend to accomplish with your threat map? What details are most important to you? Will you be recording a lot of data or only a little on it? How will you indicate the data; color, pattern, symbol, or something else? Your map should be easy to understand at a glance, if only to you. Adopt a system for your markup and if you have a variety of colors, patterns and symbols included consider creating a legend for the map. Below are a few items you might consider marking on your map, and my thoughts on indicating each that can serve as a guideline for creating your own. Don’t be afraid to deviate from my recommendations; I am not using any standardized, official methodology, military regulation markings or anything else. Such things may add value for some, but for the majority of civilian preppers they are unnecessary. Areas in your locale that have a reputation for turning out criminal activity should be marked on your map, as any event that halts police activity or provides cover for criminal enterprise will see crimes increase, often with areas immediately around bad sectors affected the worst and quickest. You should be avoiding these parts of town at any rate if you have any choice in the matter. I like to mark the coarse boundary of these areas in orange on my maps, and lightly shade the interiors or run a few hazard stripes through it. Keep in mind that crime is not delineated by any “border” streets, and will readily spill over into more affluent or safe areas during or after a crisis. A good neighborhood is only good until some scumbag strolls into it. You should have a minimum of two routes into and out of town from your home or workplace marked on your threat map, with attention paid to likely sources of slowdown or any bottlenecking that may occur. Pay attention also to putting as much distance between your route and any rough parts of town as possible. Think carefully about how your route will be affected by a mass of panicking, fleeing people, or which ones might be shutdown or throttled by authorities in a crisis. I highlight my routes in light blue, and fill in any detours as a dashed line that will take me around potential roadblocks or similar obstructions. Narrow roads, bridges, and traffic-prone thoroughfares may become easily blocked or vehicle restricted in an emergency. Additionally roads and paths that are easily to render impassible should be illustrated also if they are a potential route out of town or to home, ones that have such features as very steep shoulders, flood easily or are lined with large trees . Any of those may become showstoppers for all but the most capable vehicles. I mark these items in red along my blue route shading, and usually with a tiny illustration of the hazard for easy ID at a glance. You don’t need to go overboard and do this for the entire map, only the routes that will see you in or out of town. I mark all safe havens where I can expect security, resupply or other aid on my map in green with a small note if the map does not have a symbol for it already. Things like hospitals, police and fire stations, EMS stations and city government installations. I also mark locations of my closest friends and family members where I know I can get a port in a storm, and to make sure I can find an alternate route to them in case they are imperiled. Now, I am aware that some folks consider major government and civic installations to be places to avoid in a disaster for a variety of reasons, from disease or possible targets (or dealers) of violence. This is a personal choice, but I advocate that we prepare for what threats are most likely to occur. Following that reasoning, most situations will see any of the above as centers where you can get aid or rescue, and I plan accordingly. Mark any natural terrain feature or man-made structure that could feature prominently in a crisis as a major source of danger on your map. This could be things like a nuclear or chemical plant that will release who-knows-what onto the wind if it should explode or burn, or a floodplain around a river that becomes notoriously impassible after heavy rains. Near mountains you might mark the paths of likely avalanches, or areas most vulnerable to lahars or pyroclastic flows near a volcano. Know what the biggest threats are in your area and understand how far their effects can reach. I mark these hazards in brown according to the nature of the threat. I will outline a floodplain or landslide zone like I do a high crime area. I will mark man-made installations with a symbol representing them and then an arc of projected effect according to the most common prevailing wind conditions in my locale. This lets me plan my movement or escape according to what areas are most likely to be impacted or rendered impassible. You should obviously change your priorities if you find out your home or office is in any of these affected zones. These are some other things to consider on your map. • locations of ATMs, in case they’re working and you need to make a quick cash withdrawal • locations of vending machines, so you can grab a few extra supplies • roads with steep slopes, because they might be hard to drive through, particularly during winter (unless you have solid 4X4 vehicle) As your plans change and threats evolve or recede, update your map. Also update your map with any observations that might indicate a new threat or point of concern. If you notice a road dealing with much more traffic than before and backing up a regular basis, you can depend on it being far worse in an actual disaster. Change your route, or just mark the sluggish stretch by itself. Places and buildings that are regular sites of protest should be marked as hazard zones, or perhaps removed from your list of safe havens if they were one before. You don’t need anything to do with teeming masses of stressed-out, agitating people in kind times, much less when the stakes are far higher. When updating your map, don’t make too many corrections, mark-outs, strikethroughs and the like before ditching it and recreating it. All those marks and scribbles get confusing quickly. If you used an erasable ink or grease then you are good to go, obviously, but take care that you completely obliterate any prior markup that needs removal. A crisis is no time to second guess that dashed line or errant squiggle. Once your map is updated and set the way you can make use of it, back it up. Make a high-res copy or scan it to a device so you can make use of it no matter how you are travelling. Put a copy in your BOB and vehicle. You might consider laminating a paper map if it is not weather resistant or placing it in a heavy-duty map case. Consult it regularly when trouble is brewing, even if just on the horizon. All that time and research will pay off when you need to decide on a course of action quickly and your map can help you do it. A threat map is not just a prop for the deranged and paranoid survivalist. A threat map, made with care and intelligence, is a valuable asset for risk-mitigation and disaster planning. Tailor yours to support your goals and you’ll greatly enhance your personal readiness. As a side note, learning to use a map goes without saying. A regular road map works fine but a topographical map gives you more information and you can navigate with compass anywhere. But this type of map reading and navigation takes a little training to know what you’re doing. It’s not difficult to learn but it does require some effort and practice. It is a less known skill as we are in this electronic GPS world. The problem is, like my story at the beginning of this article electronics can fail. This is a skill you can teach your kids. I first was exposed to this as a Boy Scout. As you teach your kids you can make it fun for them. It can be a competition or not. Go to a park or other open area and make your own map of the area. Then devise a compass course for your kids to practice on. I think the Boy Scouts and the military are the only ones that teach this anymore. Don’t let it become a lost skill. Semper Paratus Check 6 Burn