Be alert

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randyt

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I was chatting with a fella that took a "scout" class. One of the drills was to walk a course and shoot random hanging targets. He mentioned one of the other particiants had a difficult time noticing the targets. It prompted me to wondering on how a person can train themselves to be more alert, alert may not be the term I'm thinking of, maybe observant is the work.

Any thoughts?
 
I think what you are saying is about being in the "Yellow" zone, alert and aware. When walking or driving look for things that could hide a threat. I like to walk looking for sign, tracks, stop, listen for things in the canopy (squirrels and birds) and movement on the ground. When I was early into bow hunting I had a hard time judging distance, so as I was walking I would focus on an object near my intended path, estimate it's range, then pace it off. Eventually, I got pretty good at judging distances. As with anything practice helps.

As for threats, one bad experience can really improve your situational awareness... I got assaulted while walking down a corridor, it took me 6 weeks to heal. After that I made it a point not to walk were I could get hemmed in again, I started looking for where choke points were and where threats could be hidden. It really raises your situational awareness.
 
For me, part of it is picking out things that don't belong. Especially on the water I can spot boats, buoys, logs, etc. before most. Watching for movement and listening will take you a long way. Listening to that inner self can warn you of danger.

Learn the warning signs of attack. Someone bladed so as to hide a hand that might hold a weapon, or someone clinching and unclenching their fist.
 
Being more observant

There are multiple aspects of being observant including active and passive.

My eldest granddaughter can ( inherited from her Grampa) walk through a room and then answer Gramma asking "Have you seen my pink glass anywhere?"

In the library third book shelf from the left fourth shelf up next to the fairy princess.

That type of passive observation is God given gift.

But that ability can be augmented by self discipline and practice.

"Keep you head on a swivel."
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Take a lok at an old Trump rally and it was easy to tell which characters were the security. They were the ones not looking at the shinny object.

Waxing philosophical

I have pondered the sense of sight and processing the data gathered by the eye and processed by the human mind. Think of the various static opticle illusions you have seen that ask "what do you see?"

But we dont live in a frozen moment of time so our image processing and interpretation operates in the context if what we have previously observed.

I know heavy suff.

But one interesting aspect of what we perceive is heavily influenced by what changes from moment to moment. We see difference and that is 2hy magicians tricks work and the shiny object catches our attention.

It reduces the amount of work our brain has to do to determine what we are looking at. That car that was in front of me is still infront of me but the brake lights are now on.

That gets through life in one piece.

But it us the easy lazy way to see the world.

Back in the 70s I was given books by (?) Don Juan ? Carlos Cosanado ? that investigated datura root and mescaline in old mexican folk lore.

While I never had access to the drugs in question there was a technique to improve observation. It involved purposely un focusing our eyes on a specific object and learning to see the entire blurred field if view as a whole.

It takes effort but it can be done.

That is what I think the security at Trump rallies does. Look into w mass if humanity and fine the threat.

Nuff nonsense for now.

Ben
 
This is "ONE" of those very-very-very "tricky" threads for people to respond to. I am not accusing you of this "randyt" (because you and I go way back in forums) But this is exactly the type thread that would be/and often is created by employees of three letter agencies. So don't expect in depth super detailed responses.

I hang spawned-out propane tanks on my "Private" trails. They are pure gold for teaching what you ask. There was a time I would paint them different colors, for "friendlies" or "Bad'asp Uglies".

We live in a world where-in 99+ % are spending 101% of their lives "Intentionally Distracted" from reality. This is actually a "wonderful thing and a gift" for those who are "not".

I should offer a cheap course in this. I'll walk the students past spawning areas where I know we will have bear encounters, without first warning the student first. After they nearly get eaten, and pooped their britches, they will notice a flea farting two hundred yards away.

The short answer to your inquire, is spend abundant time in the "Danger Zone". As others have said, learn to observe, but "nothing" will encourage that like being in "danger". When you are a "Professional Hunter" you don't look for the quarry, you look for an "ear" tip that does not belong where it is. If all the leaves are still and one leaf is moving, you "notice" but don't lock on that leaf, you have trained yourself "not" to get tunnel vision. You have a "special" expanded visual width and depth, I can assure you that even after 40+ years of going into very thick vegetation to finish wounded Grizzly Bears, you will notice everything.

Sadly we are able to "generally" survive in a totally oblivious state. (Till we can't).

EDITED to add: At a point, you are no longer in your body looking and hearing, and smelling for danger, you are above your body (slightly) and you see, hear, smell, perceive things.......even things behind you, you are in a dimension few will ever experience. There is a "purity" and crispness that is intoxicating. (You "were" the hunter, now you are the hunted, and generally by an enity vastly more skilled).
 
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I used to walk through Pioneer Square in Seattle twice every workday. It was filled with homeless people, addicts, drunks, and every imaginable type of lowlife. You quickly develop an awareness of your surroundings.
One afternoon walking to the train a woman walking in front of me was stopped by 3 really sketchy guys asking her for a nickel. She was young, well dressed, and obviously not paying attention to her surroundings. As I got close to her I said we better hurry or the train will leave us. She started walking with me and said that was weird.
I asked her if she thought those 3 guys were really after a nickel. She got a deer in the headlights look and turned white as a sheet. It had suddenly dawned on her that she was almost in a world of trouble. Every day after that when I saw her she was hyper-alert and always had something to defend herself in her hand. She also stopped wearing her fashionable heels and started wearing sneakers. We walked to the train together a lot.
Even the homeless guys that were normally friendly could be a problem when they were drunk or high.
In the winter when it got dark at 4:30 PM it was really a nerve-wracking walk.
I will admit I'm not as vigilant as I was back then.
 
@backlash you brought out a point about what you wear making you the "target". I knew a guy who worked in downtown DC, he rode the METRO and he tried to make an impression at work (He liked wearing fancy suits). One evening he got mugged on the METRO by some interesting folks. When he recovered and reported it to the authorities they said it was just kids being kids and that wearing a suite through an impoverished area was just asking for trouble. He switched to hanging a suit in his office and wearing normal clothes like jeans to and from work......
 
Thanks for the replies.
It seems that observation and situationsl awareness, go hand in hand.

I am reminded of a story by Louis LaMour, it may have been one of the few non westeran books he wrote. Its about a pilot that gets stranded in russia. He is evading the locals and living in the taiga. He mentions his eyesight got stronger. We had discussed this and wondered if his eyesight really got better or if his observation and alertness improved. It would seem like the vision improved. Just a story but it made me wonder.

On another note , it seems that when im looking for morels until i spot the first one and my eye gets into a zone so to speak, i dont find many.
 
As for threats, one bad experience can really improve your situational awareness... I got assaulted while walking down a corridor, it took me 6 weeks to heal. After that I made it a point not to walk were I could get hemmed in again, I started looking for where choke points were and where threats could be hidden. It really raises your situational awareness.

That is very true. I got mugged at knife point twice within a span of 6 months. It definitely made me way more aware of my surroundings, the people I come across, where their hands go, who they're with, etc.
 
As far as being more alert is concerned, I like to just sit back and watch. I don't know, let the sense take over and not think too hard about what I'm seeing. Maybe that way the instincts kick in more easily. That's my guess, anyway.

It can also be relaxing (although that might be counterintuitive if you're trying to be more alert) but I think it teaches you to see the small stuff, things that could easily be overlooked but that are actually important or interesting.
 
Trying to teach people about situational awareness and the importance of it is a hard thing to convince people to practice.

I have tried to instill it in my girls, but they are easily distracted by their phones. My younger one does better than the other two, but even she becomes distracted at times. The times that she does pay attention more is when she has the little ones with her.

I am a natural 'people watcher', so it comes a bit easier.
 
EDITED to add: At a point, you are no longer in your body looking and hearing, and smelling for danger, you are above your body (slightly) and you see, hear, smell, perceive things.......even things behind you, you are in a dimension few will ever experience. There is a "purity" and crispness that is intoxicating. (You "were" the hunter, now you are the hunted, and generally by an enity vastly more skilled).

A Yaqui "Man of Knowledge" could have written that! Very correctly spoken.
 
For me, part of it is picking out things that don't belong. Especially on the water I can spot boats, buoys, logs, etc. before most. Watching for movement and listening will take you a long way. Listening to that inner self can warn you of danger.

Learn the warning signs of attack. Someone bladed so as to hide a hand that might hold a weapon, or someone clinching and unclenching their fist.
Nature has no straight lines.
 
Here is a thread Sentry started a couple years ago "The gray man concept".
https://www.homesteadingforum.org/t...o-improve-this-important-survival-skill.8113/
Situational awareness is an integral part of being a gray man. I took an urban escape and evasion class a few years ago in Atlanta, basically a civilian version of SERE. For me, knowing how to move through city streets or crowds unnoticed makes it easy for me to spot someone trying to be inconspicuous. A red flag I immediately notice. Frankly, most people are really bad at being unnoticed. Trying to be unnoticed just amplifies their presence.

Others have posted here about seeing past the noise, that's it exactly. It not how well you see the picture, its how well you see what doesn't belong in the picture.
 
From my experience as a police officer, and again after retirement, you actually have to go out and purposely look at everything. The best way to do this is the walk through the neighborhood and just look around. Maybe start by looking for something simple like flower posts in front of houses or looking at every house number. Then try you will start to notice houses without house numbers or where the numbers are unreadable from the street. Then maybe try to look for houses that have two things out front like flower pots and kids toys. If you are in the woods or walking a trail look for the dead trees, things you normally don't look for on your walks. In a store in in the mall look for signs with spelling errors. When driving look for the blue Buicks, you will be surprised how they will start to catch your attention just like when people play the slug bug game with VW Beetles.
When I retired it took me about 5 years to stop looking at license plates on cars. It was annoying as hell for me because I would read the letters phonetically because that is what I did for 18 years. Learning something new takes time but within a month you should be pretty good at noticing what you want to look for, and for me unlearning it was even harder because it took years.
 
Situational awareness is something i have been good at. I notice everything so to speak. I might even be called paranoid by some.

There is more to the original post. A few years back i went to visit a gun buddy. We walked around his trail and he had few targets sorta like what my other buddy talked about. He has bowling pins tucked here and there, mybe a hanging target. He called it stump shooting. I didnt notice these targets but on the other hand i notice other things. It kinda shook me. So that and my other conversation propted me to work on my observation skills
 
Criminals will constantly evaluate people. If you are alone, with your head in a phone, or otherwise occupied, you may well pass the test and become a victim. Someone who is alert, who can't be snuck up on, where they can't get the first blow in, will likely be left alone. I was flying back into Anchorage and had, had to park in one of the distant parking areas. A young man was rather interested in me so I backed into a narrow area between two cars. We stood there and looked at each other for a few minutes. He finally figured out that I wasn't going to panic and run, giving him a shot at my back, so he eventually left, as did I. Be aware when people are paying attention to you.
 
I have improved my skills in this regard over the years. I used to be oblivious. But I still catch myself losing focus when I'm shopping for something. I'll focus in on a product and loose attention to whats around me. Typically that's not a problem, depending on where you are. But it still makes me mad when I catch myself.
 
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