Civilian Urban Recce 

Hey man, quit pointing out that you "don't know what you're talking about". Nobody knows what they're doing talking about a potential collapse of the United States or Civil war, because nothing like that has ever happened in history. You're doing good work, using your head, and - more importantly - you're being honest and not trying to be someone you're not. Keep up the good work.

For what it's worth I'm a USMC vet with combat deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan. I still lean on people like you who get out and use their equipment regularly. "Down range" experience isn't a big deal for me. Thank you for what you do.

Today I learned that I should fill my closet with rice, oatmeal, peanut butter, canned veggies, and whiskey. Thank you Brass Facts!

I should probably do my "urban recce loadout" huh...

“Amateurs talk about strategy and tactics. Professionals talk about logistics and sustainability in warfare.”

Kids come to the living room, brass facts uploaded

just lost my dog a few days ago. your doggo portion was the first time I smiled in a while. content is dope too. thanks bro

Is raiding my local 7/11 for the last pack of gummi worms Recce?

Mentioned several things that would bring one to war with his neighbors. But I lived through a particular part of Katrina. They took us off the rig and roomed us inland to ride out the storm as they do with most storms. But when it passed there was nothing to go back to. We just tried to find our way home with no communications with home. I walked for 3 weeks from houma LA to Monticello MS. And everything between. You should read up on what the state of LA did to people during Katrina. I work even farther from home now and I expect it'll take me 2 months to walk home. And now I keep a colt and a glock with me at all time. Just for the day I have to walk again

I have a few things I’d like to weigh in with, that I haven’t seen mentioned. 1. Medical care - It’s going to be effectively nonexistent. Something as simple as an infected scratch could kill you, so being extremely cautious would be advisable. 2. Taking contact - Anyone who survives the first two weeks or so before things die down will be smart, skillful, and well equipped. And if they’re out doing recon first, they’ll have a better lay if the land than you. They will also probability be organized in groups, so will be very dangerous. I advise avoiding contact if at all possible. 3. Drawing attention - If shit has really gone sideways and people are scavenging to survive, then anyone waking around is a potential loot drop. If you get into a gunfight, expect additional people to come see what’s up - they might try and pop you in the back of the head to take your stuff. I would advise avoiding a fight unless absolutely necessary. 4. If Mil/LE are forced to withdraw, then people will have helped themselves to whatever was left behind. Getting into a gunfight with a group of looters is bad enough, but add in body armor, night vision, and automatic or heavy weapons would be a death sentence. 5. Ambush/sniping - There will probably be some form of organized groups - think gangs. If they hear someone is ambushing their guys, they’ll probably try to come take you out. Bottom line: It’s going to be insanely dangerous. Stay away from a fight if at all possible and don’t go looking for trouble. It will get you killed.

I appreciate your humble approach to these topics. Conversation and ideas like this among the entire community are important, not just ex spec ops guys.

It seems like one of the underlying assumptions made in this video is that reconnaissance must be done (or is done best) on foot, which I think is an outdated notion. There's no recon you can do that a drone can't do better (and without risking life and limb). It's one of the most valuable assets you can have in shtf. Having up-to-the-minute information on potential threats outside your line of sight is a game changer (to put it mildly). If you're considering purchasing a night vision loadout before you get a thermal drone, then I think you should reconsider your priorities. Commercial drones have incredible surveillance capabilities, and they're getting cheaper every year. The Autel Evo Max 4T has a 160x zoom camera (able to resolve clear details on objects up to 1.24 miles away), high resolution FLIR thermal camera, laser rangefinder, millimeter wave radar, 12.4 mile transmission range (max distance between rf controller and drone), and an automatic target acquisition and tracking system. At a price of $9000, that puts it in the same ballpark as a respectable night vision loadout. If the choice is between a night vision loadout or a surveillance drone, I don't think that's much of a choice at all. Having an all-seeing eye in the sky is always going to be more valuable than a guy with nods.

Man your channel is an excellent up-and-comer, thank you for the content.

I liked the fact that you mentioned - actually spelled out that police and military forces will be out in force early on and why it’s is important not to be out.

chad rimworld music enjoyer

Drone could also be useful here especially if you have IR or Thermal mount on drone.

Great info once again! Love the emphasis on the importance on food/water/ and knowledge is power. Also not many people actually dive into possible scenarios and walk through it so bravo. I hope everyone prepares for crap like this but pray to God this never happens because like you said a LOT of people would die! Keep up the content tho!

As someone who also has not been there and done that but thinks about this stuff all the time and is actively preparing for it I really appreciate this channel. I’ve managed to make some friends who are now part of my group who actually have service under their belt and it’s always really nice to be treated with respect when you’re into survival and tactical stuff but you’re not an ex operator. I just wanna be around after all the cards fall.

Didn’t really expect to get this kind of detail from my recommended page and a channel I hadn’t heard of. Excellent content man. Subscribed

Also keep in mind everyone one and their grandparents probably have thermal optics. Especially since they're cheaper and more available than night vision. Everyone should also tailor their loadouts to this reality. And the ppl who are definitely going to have thermals are the Hicks and farmers who live in the boons and use them on a regular basis to protect livestock.

Im about 40sec into the video. The fact that you point out that your thought can infact be shit is so underrated and makes you far more believable.

I was involved in a discussion similar to this topic on a Facebook “prepper” group. Someone had asked about prepping in an apartment, i was trying to tell them to scout for empty houses in the county they could walk to. They was hell bent on staying in the apartment and a bunch of people felt the need to call me a retard. If you’re in an apartment and surviving without leaving eventually neighbors will catch on. And depending on what kind of complex you live in you can fortify doors and windows all you want,it may only take a few kicks to come through the wall. Once people start to get hungry everyone/everything will become a target. Running to the Forrest to try and survive with no other plan is the same idea of a lot of other people. Wild game won’t last very long, stack/grow food, if you have a decent sized pond stock it to capacity. And don’t forget about water. P.S DONT PLAN TO SURVIVE A SHTF SITUATION WITH A 10/22

The problem: people rioting, scavenging, and fighting. The cause: people who haven't prepared because either they did not have the means, or they were too confident in the system. The solution: That's my issue with so much of the folks in the prepping community, Their solution does not address the cause. You got a piece of land and your solution is to build a wall around it? It's self defeating. Ultimately your family dies off because all you can do is isolate. One solution which addresses the problem, is that if you have made yourself into a person who can help others, just do that, allow some families to live on your land and help farm. Organize your community and get skills and supplies shared so every one has a better chance. Humans did not survive the ice ages or other times by isolating, we survived in groups and those groups found other groups to share knowledge and supplies with.

One thing you didn't mention verbally but showed with your footage was how time of year and where you are can affect your decisions and needs in such a scenario. Winter time in North Utah or Minnesota will require very different things than summer in west Texas or Florida. If there is lots of clean snow on the ground you have the potential for an easy water source. But leaving your house will require more weight as you bundle up against the weather (which will be that much colder at night), assuming you aren't bundled up constantly because you have a sustainable heat source after power is out. As compared to a hot summer where clean water is more needed but harder to find. Also, wildlife (either escaped from zoos or from neighboring rural areas) may begin to make life interesting after the initial drop in human population.

Love the channel, and your perspective on things. I feel like not many other people on RU-vid go into this sort of stuff

I really enjoy this style of videos. Hearing the what is being done on reconnaissance and why, even they hypothetical and not so hypothetical reason as to why one may want to do this during a situation.it makes me realize that I'm not prepared or have any idea what to do.

Keep this discussions coming. I like all the points you made here.

Found your content today, ive been binging it while driving around for work podcast style. No fluff, no sugar coating it, just some ideas to bounce around and consider depending on your location. I like the cut of your gib 😎

keep in mind NV uses lots of batteries, should have a good stockpile of those as well or a means to keep rechargeables topped off

Great info and your communication of getting a point across makes it stick with you. Thanks for what you do.

You have a really decent understanding I appreciate your thoughts and explanations

Imagined a similar scenario but I’m 45 minutes from two major cities, in farm country. On 40 acres tucked in the woods but surrounded by farmers who, without their tractors (steady gas supply) Monsanto seeds that need to be replaced yearly, herbicide pesticide fungicide.. *you get the point* will not be able to continue to produce food long. This and we are close enough to these cities with well established gangs that will probably take out half of the farmers who had half a clue how to produce food. The hippie homestead hand tool farmer like me? Most are not into guns, few will be producing food within a year. sadly people will resort to cannibalism. Hope I never have to and farming fits into my life’s goals/ path really well anyway as a health coach whose main push is to encourage people to buy from local farms who are trying to grow the most nutrient dense foods possible, not just some commodity to fill holes (stomachs) with macronutrients and glyphosate. Hope this never happens, but also, worst case.. 2020 is kinda lame with video games and guaranteed survival, Ubi on the horizon and impending tyranny. I think I would take this kind of apocalypse over the new world order great reset own nothing and be happy.. LIVE FREE OR DIE, am I right?

Love these videos !! Keep them coming

So the thing that gets me about operating in this SHTF/WROL scenario is the amount of powered equipment everyone plans on having, ESPECIALLY on their firearms. Like how long do you expect your nods to be operational without a consistent way to recharge them? Does that mean you need to minimize your activity during the day? At night? In general? Also, I think the most important part of dealing with this scenario imo is community-building. At the end of day, trying to survive that scenario alone ends in getting cut down sooner or later so I don't think Lucas was too far off with the whole "larger force" idea. If you don't have a community, you're really just biding your time until the wolf arrives.

Even guys who have been there and done that can be full of shit. Doesn’t matter your background. Does it help? Suuuure. But is it the end all be all? No. That’s why sof contracts out to comp shooters not other sof to teach them how to shoot. Everyone who has put in the time to study and practice has a skill they bring to the table. Just because someone was in, (in any capacity) doesn’t mean anything. If that person only has that as their “who I am” then they aren’t anybody, or aren’t worth your time. Look to and for those who are humble and know there is always a bigger badder guy out there. All agencies and units LARP. Until it’s time to suit up and put down those others think don’t exist. Keep it up brother. Good content, good mindset.

I think you did a good job explaining everything and made perfect sense. I think in most scenarios we will find ourselves in will be close quarters. I doubt people will be sniping people off because they know they are enemies, this will be a rare occasion. Either way, everyone is better off forming groups or getting their community to work together. I know for me, I'd be helping out in the community. However, many people will be out losing their minds and there will be complete chaos.

I really enjoyed listening to you explain this scenario. It was very well thought out good insights. I work in sales and we always tease that we prefer to hire people with no sales experience because they haven't been corrupted by bad habits yet. Similar concept with military trying to take on a situation on American soil. Maybe it's a good thing you haven't been corrupted by military philosophy.

I love these videos man! 👍

Awesome stuff, thank you!

well thought out and presented video thanks

From my urban-ex days in my youth, I'd highly recommend a crowbar (not necessarily full size, but I guess medium?) for forcing locked doors and windows and bolt cutters or similar for cutting through chainlink fences as it's quite a bit easier than climbing. Although first look to see if there's already an appropriate hole to use and of course you could cut a lock if that'd get you through, but a hole in the chainlink leaves less evidence someone deliberately entered. Obviously you'd want to avoid breaking glass for your own safety, noise as well as stealth. Since a forced door or window can be put back in place to some degree, again making it less obvious someone forced their way in recently. However it may not go back completely, so still try to chose a window or door that's not the most visible to the public, as well as will be less noticeable when you enter. The other thing, which should go without saying is to make sure to practice light discipline inside as that's the biggest thing that'll give you away. If you don't have NVGs a headlamp with red light pointing more downward than normal is pretty safe. Depending on what you're there for you may also want to bring a sharpie to either mark places you've checked out (if you're searching the place for stuff to take) or to leave signs for future use, like if you decide to cache something there or to direct other people in the future to a particular spot that's good for observation or maybe somewhere that radio will work. Something else to consider as well is getting roof access. I'm not familiar with how roof access works on most buildings, I'd have to look into it. But the crowbar doesn't work very well on normal doors it's better for windows and some odd doors like sliding ones. For roof access maybe a screwdriver would work if the hinges are on the inside, but idk if that's the case. Also for general entry a bump key would probably be a good idea, but I don't have any experince with that and probably wouldn't work as well on commercial buildings which often have much better locks as opposed to residential doors (which are pathetic and trivially easy for an adult male to kick in) Something else to keep in mind is there's something called a "wilcox key" that's used for opening some outdoor building faucets. Consider them if you're in an urban environment as a potential water source. Edit: Also it might be a good idea to bring some gifts for any inhabitants to get on their good side. Also to clarify this is all about the popular cross platform video game minecraft of course.

Really wish I could record/take pictures as good as the opening videos. That is one crispy GP tube too, reminds me of my first L3 GP RNVGs

15:03 NOVAAAAA YAYYYY

Excellent video. More content like this please.

Always skeptical of RU-vid videos like this. Appreciate you being honest upfront and saying you don’t have any real world experience.

You should be doing an area study of your neighborhood before SHTF

So glad I found this channel! Lots of content that covers some of my interests lately. Keep up the great work man

i love this kind of content!

And btw guys who run braces are exactly the people who push all out blood bath boogaloo scenarios. Fed.

Comment for the algorithm Yeah: I’m one of those guys who throws the word Recce to any rifle that fits that purpose: mainly looking Kool. Yeah: let’s go Brandon

You not missing anything. It nice to have the bells and whistles.. you can fight with out them.

Living in south Florida where everything is flat and a two story anything is considered tall, my recce routine is gonna fucking s u c k in the boog. Higher risk options might have to be what I default to (i.e. Night prowling block to block on foot to get reliable situation reports because vantage points don’t exist here.) Sucks to suck I guess lol

Great video! Reminds me of watching Nutnfancy videos back in the day. A couple of thoughts, though: a lot of people train and plan around having a QRF. I think this is based more on trying to rework current military tactics (which are based on having a large supporting force), and not based on most people’s reality. Most of us don’t have a QRF, a team, or anything like that. Maybe a friend or two, a couple of offspring, a spouse… we’re not calling in artillery, and the tier one guys aren’t going to bail us out if we get in over our heads. The other thought is this: why wait? Why not start practicing making observations about activity in your AO in peace time? It might be useless, but it will get you some practice doing “recce” and turning your sneaking around into useable information before people are shooting at you. Why wait until it’s life or death to learn that?

Interesting insight dude, thanks for sharing your view.

Good stuff. Moving to a new place soon, I have lots to consider.

"Get to a tall structure" 🤣 laughing so hard while watching this in a "tall structure"

1:39 being cool under nods is hard

I've put some though into this recently as well...I live in that gray zone just far enough outside of town that we are in the country but close enough that we are almost town. I'd be interested in hearing yours and others thought on how this would change up the "recce" mission.

You have put some thought in this. More people need to do a better job of assessing their situation. Good job.

You make a very good point that alot of people don't think about. If things go down, engaging is the worst thing to do. Alot of people thing they should be Gung ho and enter the fight. There is no point in it and your just going to get yourself killed. Staying put is the best thing you can do it until things calm down.

Excellent points and philosophy

Brilliant.

I think having a few drones to put up in the air would be helpful before you do your recon on foot. You can get some pretty good drones with good cameras for sub $1k. I'm doing my research on them now for this very reason. Obviously you wouldn't launch from your exact location so people couldn't follow them to your home.

Interesting topic. Helps to do this with a small team. Like most civilians will have a NODS night vision system - NOT. Just get a decent thermal imaging monocular to do night or foggy day recon. I like a PS90/RUGER 57 for urban use. But a 9 mm carbine and pistol is better for ease of finding ammo. Binoculars are surprisingly useful mayor night given city lights. At night, city lights or not, out comes the thermal monocular. Ammo, water and good 1st aid kit and some Snickers and you are good to fo for 24 hours,

I'm a prior 0311, combat veteran. When he said "...all the usual stuff." I chuckled a little. It may be all usual for him, but I don't have NVGs, I live in flat ass coastal Florida so the highest point to me within miles is a 4 story apartment building that I don't live in. Even from that building one wouldn't see much, as this is a (for Florida) "hilly area" that is heavily forested with your typical subtropical fauna. So, no recon by height advantage for us here. Inland (East) is the only direction we can go to get further from ocean water, though we do have miles of fresh water springs north of my town. Unless one is plysically standing on a highway there is no seeing more than 200-300 (mostly far less than that) meters due to vegetation. So, while the host gives great advice, each person must remember that their mission requirements/limitations are unique to them and their particular AO. Another factor that the vast majority of people never have to consider is that some of us (military centric folks like us/my wife, who is still active duty) only get to set roots down in shallow ways since we move to much different locales every three years. We can't keep a stockpile of food, or water, or ammunition or any of the commodities that most can. We are limited by weight and by what the military movers will ship regarding safety/legality, so regarding "prep" stuff all of that must go in our personal vehicles along with whatever posessions we need to last a month or more until our household goods arrive. I also have to bring all of the equipment (crates, bags, harnesses, leashes, muzzles, food, training aids etc) for my K9. So with all that it leaves little room for prep type stuff, or firearms/ammunition (the military movers will not ship any ammunition, or anything remotely flammable or explosive) and they'd straight up steal anything resembling a firearm so those must go with me. The real shitty part of being married to an active duty service member is that when any disaster happens my wife is either recalled to base or sent out of state to a secondary site so they can maintain global operations uninterrupted. I am not permitted to be with her in those cases (as evidenced by it happening when we got hit with hurricanes in both Louisiana and just two weeks ago here in Florida (hurricane Ian). So I am instantly on my own, with my K9, to survive. I'd l9ve to have a permanent location in the desert somewhere. A place that I could stockpile stuff, knowing that I don't have to limit myself because we will move again in 2 years.

great video!!!

You should do a video highlighting MUST haves vs. wants. As in, NVGs are great but out of some peoples price range. Is that a must have or a want?

I think the scenario is a bit drastic, but hey I get it, we want to prepare for the worst, hope for the best, and definitely be mentally ready for the hard decisions and things we may have to experience. I'm going to get a PVS-14 very soon just to have some of those capabilities you just mentioned. Keep the dialog going, I like the message overall.

I love my spr (my main squeeze) and I would likely grab her before anything else for all missions barring something like room clearing, which I would prefer to avoid like the plague anyway. I live in a semi rural area, so your mileage may vary obviously

US citizens: I'm ready to outlive the civilization that birthed me Rest of the world: I guess I'll just die

Makes perfect sense

Have you looked into using ATAK/CivTAK for mapping? You can use it to communicate with others using it in conjunction with Meshtastic if the cell towers go down/offline.

Hey man. You spoke about nods. Can you talk more about that. Like should one be planning for passive aiming only for near peer. Having one set of duals or 2-3 sets of 14s. Etc.

I think low visibility recce is something not often covered. I've lived through a few hurricanes where life is interrupted for up to a month. This is with the government coming in to maintain order. Under s situation like this you want to know how to navigate this situation without looking like a marauder.

stay ready so you dont have to get ready

Wendy's can't be closed! At least not the drive-thru. That would negate the entire purpose of my NOD setup.

Great topic to get the gears turning because it seems shtf is weeks/ months away and it will not be pretty. We just a snow storm of about 7or 8 inches and the stores we're hollow of certain goods. A rea long term emergency and it's going really dangerous out in the streets.

Good stuff

Always great stuff, always real..

I feel compelled to listen to, and trust, anybody who has a Howl's Moving Castle pad on their desk.

I really liked that you brought up the idea that maybe you need to act offensively from time to time. I think a lot of folks get a little squeamish about the idea that they might need to iniate contact, whether that's for moral reasons or whatever, it's definitely a subject that needs to be talked about more.

Love this video and the thought process behind it , I feel like a 16 inch carbine with a 1 to 6 and maybe an off set would be a pretty good option , would be able to make shots out to distance and close up , people have been clearing rooms and doing cqb with full sized rifles for a long time and the extra muzzle velocity helps . The only problem.with night vision is batteries get bunrt through like crazy for the nods and it laser and light and they will eventually be gone at some point during this shift event . This is very interesting thanks ....

Chaz is the city or block that was created in the Summer of 2020.

I'm always worrying about an EMP. I feel like we could be close to one going off.

Another point is that law enforcement will quickly turn into marauding pillaging gangs themselves in order to survive. Examples from South Africa, Columbia,Venezuela of "Law enforcement" vandalizing and looting stores and markets then pointing fingers. Always prepare a plan to eliminate these threats as well.

R E C C E L I F E good philosophy video and it gives credence to the sub 16" guns that are still built with intermediate ranges in mind as urban environments are going to varied.

great video

2:34 So, a recce rifle doesn't need me for a recce mission and it will do it on its own? Sweet, I might consider such weapon.

Unrelated, absolutely digging the RimWorld music.

From a vet u have just as much experience as Lucas, and more skill/better ideas.

Good video as long as you take the "Urban" out of it. If you do not know how we live in big cities, you cannot even fathom what day-to-day is like and what IS at our disposal and what is not. We have every race,color and creed within steps and that means we have every race,color and creed of skill levels around us. rock on!

Have you considered mounting rmr on top of your elcan. It gives you good height for passive aiming with your dual tubes

"Living in a safer spot for an event that may or may nor happen". You know there are alot more benefits to living in the country than that?

We know from an evolutionary perspective, cooperation = survival. The larger the level of cooperation, the larger the possibility of surviving. Meaning your neighbors are more likely to ensure you don't die or starve to death or die from infection than running around with night vision. Neighbors offer lots of security while you sleep. Point being, lone wolves, or a few friends running around with NV are likely to get their head blown off faster by some 68 year old hunter with thermal and a bolt action from 300 yards away than a community of people with an interest in mutual survival. If the world has devolved to the point where community isnt feasible (astroid strike, nuclear holocaust) you're not being saved by bullets and NV. Prepare for human extinction then.

Very nice

This is the way

i'm waiting for some esoteric Navy dude to tell you that you stole this from some esoteric article written 27 years ago. btw good content bro.

Lol. Honest info sir… respect

You should talk about load bearing equipment for these types of tasks and missions. I'd watch the shit out of that.

Whats the best way to film through night vision? Specifically a PVS-14. My phone is hard to hold steady.