violent nomad

Dissecting 100 Deadly Skills | Improvised Sap

We’ve all been there, stuck in situations where we simply can’t carry a weapon. Government office, school, airport, or simply a rigidly enforced no weapons policy. Even worse, let’s say you flew to an exotic location and the entire country is basically a gun free zone for you. What happens when you need a weapon? Well, you make one. You can’t take the 80 lower route, you gotta go more caveman. Today we are going to Dissect the deadly skills and make an improvised sap. A sap is a powerful weapon, and it happens to be damn easy to make one.

What You’ll Need For an Improvised Sap

Fishing Weight 4 to 8 ounces
Bandana

The fishing weight is easy to find, but really could be anything that weighs roughly the same weight and is small enough to be wrapped in a bandana. * ounces is going to be your best bet. I listed 4 to 8 because a 4-ounce fishing weight could say fit on a key ring as an ornamental and unnoticed keychain. A six-ounce is actually what I used for testing because I found it easy to pocket and still be strong enough to break cause serious damage.

How to Build an improvised Sap

The first step in your improvised sap construction is to lay out the bandana and leave it fully opened.

Place the weight in the middle

Then pull one corner of the bandana to the other, forming a triangle.

Starting at the “top” of the triangle you want to start rolling the bandana inwards. Do so until you reach weight. At this point fold one end over the weight that’s in the center. If you are in a hurry you can deploy the weapon as is.

If you have another ten seconds you can tie the two ends into a knot and form one solid handle.

How well does this 99 cents improvised spa work? Well, I took it against a coconut. According to the 100 Deadly Skills Deadly Deck card a coconut is 10 times harder than the human head. I can’t find much to back that claim up, but I did find the study in the US National Library of Medicine that states:

Our results have shown that coconut can be used as an inexpensive screening model of the human skull, but only to determine fractures made by tools with a small striking surface.

Our improvised sap fits that description well.

Target: Coconut

As the video illustrates a few strikes from the sap to the coconut was enough to split and crush it. There are a few things to note.

One I didn’t use my full body weight behind the blows. If I was using my improvised sap in an actual fight I’d be swinging it more like a punch, with my hips rotating the sap towards my enemy. This would put a lot more force behind the blow, and likely deal a lot more damage.

Second, in the coconuts defense, it had nowhere to go. My work table was basically pinching it. If I struck a human the head could move from the force of the blow. This could potentially lessen some of the effects.

Overall, I think my improvised sap could take someone out a fight with a blow or two to the head. Easy blows to the body, especially near a bone, would be incredibly painful.l It’d be a better option than a fist.

Carry and Deployment

The first carry method is to carry the items separately. Like I said a 4-ounce weight on a keychain isn’t great for your ignition but won’t be noticed by many. Most people will think you are a little too into your fishing hobby and that’s it. It’s unlikely that’d you’d be stopped even at a metal detector with a fishing weight and bandana. The non-threatening appearance overall makes it a rock-solid choice for passing a pat down and getting in and out when you need to. Carrying them as separate items does give you the ability to get a weapon into nearly any situation.

If you can grab a 6 or 8-ounce weight I’d go with a heavier one. 6 ounces wrecked a coconut. If you have a heavier weight and entering a potentially shady area you can pre-make your improvised sap. Once it’s made you can set it in your back or front pocket and simply leave the handle hanging out.

If someone gets close, all you have to do is grip it, rip it, and swing it. It’s quick to deploy and a bandana hanging out of your pocket doesn’t look like anything threatening. It’s quick and easy to deploy and still hits with a sting.

Parting Shots and Final Thoughts

I will say after a few hard blows the bandana will start to tear. It’s not made for striking an enemy more than a few solid times. You probably got half a dozen good hits before it breaks. Overall this is a powerful striking tool that’s easy to make, and easy to break heads with.

Originally published on the Crate Club Knowledgebase

How to keep an active shooter out of your room

In the past, we published an article on protecting our kids while they are at school when confronted with an active shooter or other violent situation. The knowledge contained in both 100 Deadly Skills books are worth their weight in gold in this day and age. The skills discussed here is a must for school teachers and faculty to practice and know how to implement. With some basic items (zip ties, duct tape and any broom or mop sticks) you can buy yourself valuable time to take cover or escape through a window.

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“Senseless shootings of innocent people continue to grow. Whether the prick uses a handgun or a rifle – it doesn’t really matter – crazy is crazy and bullets kill. You must have an array of tactics to survive these kinds of events. In both books, 100 Deadly Skills, I show how to barricade doors in different ways – this video is just one of many improvised ways to secure outward opening doors. The goal of my books and videos is to instill “outside the box” thinking – better yet – there is no box. Do whatever it takes to survive. Thank you for watching and please comment with other positive ideas.” – Clint Emerson

A Superheroes Workout, The Arrow

We’re going to take a slightly different approach to this workout article. Instead of highlighting one of the Loadout Room writers routines, we’re going to look at what Stephan Amell did to prepare for his role as Oliver Queen in The Arrow. Now I’m not one to get all into the superheroes like I was as a kid, but there is something different about Arrow. In the show, Arrow, Oliver Queen plays a role that many of us could see as being a legitimate modern day thing. Now I know we’re not going to have masked archers swinging through our cities taking out the scum that walks the streets, although that would be pretty cool to witness. But think about it for a moment, in the show Arrow, he is considered a vigilante. Here is the definition of a vigilante.

“a member of a volunteer committee organized to suppress and punish crime summarily (as when the processes of law are viewed as inadequate); broadly : a self-appointed doer of justice” – Merriam Webster

Now I don’t know about you, but I could see people stepping into a vigilante role if they reach their threshold of waiting for local authorities or the government to handle things. It’s not really too far-fetched when you think about it.

Back to the fitness and workout piece. One of the obvious traits needed by a vigilante if they’re going to be going toe to toe with multiple bad guys is fitness and a will to fight. Similar to the Violent Nomad workout, they need to be able to run, fight, run. If you’ve watched and followed the show, you’ve seen the scenes where Oliver Queen is working out. Check out the following video.

The following video is actual footage of Stephan Amell going through a workout in preparation for the show.

After watching the two above videos, you should be pretty damn motivated to get outside and work up a sweat. No fancy equipment is needed to get a killer circuit workout going. Need some ideas? Check out our Workout section.

Get out there, better yourself and stay badass.

*Photo courtesy of Green Arrow TV Series Facebook page

Learn how to build improvised body armor

If you haven’t checked out book 1 of 100 Deadly Skills then you need to remedy that NOW. This first book covers many skills for personal protection whether you’re a normal dude working a 9 to 5 job, a world traveler or you’re an operative for one of the 3 letter agencies. There are many practical skills found in this book and the new Survival Edition that we all can all learn and benefit from. You’ll learn to look at everyday common items around you differently and see them as assets to your survival. Take the following skill for example; Improvised Body Armor. It’s a damn good skill to keep in the back of your mind if you’re traveling. Hopefully, you will never have to use it.

Check out the following video as Clint Emerson demonstrates making Improvised Body Armor by using two of his books, two small ceramic plates and some duct tape. As you will see in the following video, this improvised body armor was able to stop both .22LR and 9mm.

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*Featured image courtesy of Clint Emerson @ 100 Deadly Skills

Change up your workout by using a deck of cards

It’s easy to get bored or in a rut with your workout routine. I like to change things up every once in a while to keep things fresh. I’m a big fan of body weight exercises in conjunction with some type of cardio, whether that is swimming, running, rucking or biking. I’ve been doing the Violent Nomad Workout for a few months now and wanted to incorporate something different. Some of you have probably already heard of using a deck of playing cards to determine what exercise to do and how many reps of each. The reps of each are determined by the number of the card. Be sure to shuffle the deck of cards thoroughly or you’ll end up doing the same exercise over and over and over. Once you make it through the deck of cards you’re done!

Hearts = push-ups or benchpress
Diamonds = kettlebell swings
Spades = sit-ups
Clubs = squats
Jack – 10 reps
Queen – 10 reps
King – 10 reps
Ace – 12 reps
Joker – 1-minute rest or whatever you want to make it

The Joker is a wildcard, so make it whatever you’d like. When the weather breaks and I start doing this workout outside, I’m thinking of making the joker a 1/2 mile run.

Crate Club tactical pen: Stabbing with style

The Benchmade SOCP changed the knife realm a bit. It wasn’t a huge influence on the tactical world overall but created a completely new genre of tactical knives. The close quarter’s tool was developed as the last line of defense for extremely close quarters combat. It’s made to be used when grappling on the ground when fighting over your weapon, or in any situation where things are too close to pull a gun. That works in the tactical world because in tactical situations you aren’t stressed about concealment. What about in your world? Or the Conus world in general? You can’t carry a SOCP with your khakis and polo. What you can carry is the Crate Club Tactical Pen.

Why the Crate Club Tactical Pen?

Like the Benchmade SOCP or any CQB tool in general, the Tac Pen is designed for extreme close quarters use. Unlike the SOCP it’s discrete, very discrete. It just looks like a pen. You can stash it in your front shirt pocket, your front pocket, or just clipped to your shirt. Or you can just carry it around in your hand. No one will know you have a weapon in hand.

Imagine a situation where you get taken to the ground before you can grab your gun or your knife. Your wrestling with an opponent, and maybe even fighting over your firearm. What can you do? How about you drive a sharp tungsten tip into your attacker’s neck, armpit, chest, eyes, or wherever else. Then do it again, and again, until you get away or get a bigger weapon.

What Else?

I would never break the law and try to sneak the Crate Club Tactical Pen onto a plane, or into an area that prohibits all weapons. However, in certain situations, there is a difference between policy and law. Maybe policy says I can’t carry a knife or gun, but does it say I can’t carry a Tac Pen? If so is it against the law? It’s up to you, but policies not backed by law have never been a concern to me.

I like having a small tool that gives me each and every advantage possible in a fight. I only got one life, you’re damn right I’ll use tooth, claw, and pen to defend it.

Lastly

The Crate Club Tactical Pen is a Discrete Stabbing tool, but it’s also a half decent survival tool. In a car accident where you need to punch out a window, you are well equipped to do so. The same goes for breaking in and out buildings during disaster situations. There aren’t many windows that can’t be opened with the Crate Club Tactical Pen.

Design Details

The Crate Club Tactical Pen is designed for stabbing. It features three textured rings for increased control and to really cement in your hand. The pointy end is raised around the grip to help prevent your hand from sliding forward when you meet resistance. The tungsten tip is strong enough to punch through thin metal.

On the backside, the cap comes off and it is an actual pen. I don’t know much about pens, but the Crate Club Tactical Pen writes smoothly and looks stylish. Let’s be real though, it this isn’t for signing your John Hancock. It’s for stabbing bad guys.

Visit the Crate Club store to purchase one

Originally published on the Crate Club Knowledgebase