(Almost) Silent Walking...

-

Way back in the Day Before the Day (an indication of my advanced chronology), we were taught, and subsequently taught our students to walk in the following manner.  It's not easy, and will tire you out if you don't do your PT and practice.  

It's not complex, and it does work if you find yourself needing to traverse an area that provides a good amount of concealment, like woods or forests, or even well-treed suburban areas.  It's a given that silence is essential to your survival, and the urge to move with speed can kill you by getting you spotted by a bad guy, (the human eye is attracted to movement - the faster, the more quickly spotted), you may want to consider the following methods of stepping and moving:

  • Walk slowly; only a few steps at a time.  Then stop, look, and listen for a few seconds.  Emulate the deer - it moves a few feet...stops...listens...looks around...and then moves on.  Before you put your foot down, look at where you're going to step, and if you foot will make a lot of noise due to debris, don't step there!  Find another close by spot, or go around that small area.  Many is the time on a patrol that I've made 'mini-button hooks' for lack of a better term, to avoid making noise.  If you're not on concrete or asphalt, if you can help it, don't put your heel down first like you're walking through your local city or neighborhood.  Anything under your foot will snap, crackle, or pop, giving your precise location away from anyone listening.  And sound travels, especially at night.  Putting your heel down first then following with the rest of your foot causes you to shift your body weight forward and your foot comes down with a lot of force, so much so that good sized, dry branches will crack loud and clear as you step on them.  Leaves will crunch, paper will rustle, and you are now providing a sound signature and direction of travel.
  • A Better (but not perfect) Heel First Technique:  You can modify your step by lightly setting your heel down, almost parallel with the ground, and then rolling your foot down from the outside from the heel to the tip of your boot, with your little toe making contact before the ball of your foot and your big toe while feeling for anything that might break and make a lot of noise.  If you feel something, look down...if you can see what it is, move your foot away from the noise maker, and continue on.
  • The Toe First Technique:  Lightly slide the toe of your boot into the ground cover/debris while feeling for an obstacle free place, and then lower your foot from front to back while feeling for sticks and other things that will crunch (this is especially effective in 'leaf down' environments when there's a 'hard frost').  You can use your toe to move the offending piece of flora/fauna away.
Sure, the above is a LOT slower, but it's a LOT quieter.  

Comments

  1. Bad DancerJuly 21, 2021 at 12:09 PM

    My father called that last one fox step or fox walking and would exercise to keep in practice by standing with his toes on a stair and doing essentially "lifts and dips" with just his toes and maybe the balls of his feet supported.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Comments are very welcome with the following proviso: Comments can't detract from the subject in the post. Debate is fine; 'hi-jacking', ad hominem, vitriol, 'sniping,' reprehensible language for the sake of it, and so forth will not be tolerated and get the offender banned. Once banned, there's usually no 'do over.'

Popular posts from this blog

Here ya go, Pete!

-
Image
          DTG’s 2021 Updated 10 Week (If You’re Lucky) Plan                      to Prepare for the Worst-Case Scenario     It’s been about 13 or 14 years since I wrote this under my since retired ‘nom de guerre’, and commenting on a blog post recently, CA at Western Rifle Shooter’s Association asked me if I’d mind updating it.   This is a good base plan for folks you might know just waking up to the fact that things are spinning faster in the vortex than ever before, and this might be the best chance for them to get themselves in gear.   Feel free to add or take away as your situation and local area conditions may require.   Understand something, though:   You have a VERY small window; it may even be too late should something happen that accerlerates the current environment like a JATO (Jet Assisted Take Off) rocket on a C130.   So, if you’re just getting started, you need to act now, as in today.   Not next week.   Not in two weeks.   You may not HAVE two weeks. You may be thinking,
Read more

Beware of the Seductress...

-
Image
Just as Samson was seduced by Delilah, so can you be seduced by the internal desire you have to one degree or another to have all the latest, greatest, coolest, most technically advanced, and 'tacticool' weapons, gear, and associated support equipment available,  which, by necessity, will set you back many, many thousands of dollars,  usually.  When sporty times come, the first thing you'll need to be able to do is actually use what you have.   The you have to be able to carry it all.  I mention this Nevada a great many,  "gear-a-holics" are not in the best shape.   Remember a good rule of thumb:  All your gear,  including weapons, ammo, equipment (all types), food and water shouldn't weigh more than about 65 or 70 pounds.  Then, if you're planning on being mobile, you should be ruckingin all sorts of weather over varying distances at a pace of no less than 3 miles an hour over relatively flat and clear routes.  But, if you've been collecting gear, I u
Read more

Looking for Input...

-
Image
Ok, folks - I'm looking for opinions on the, "best place" to relocate to in relation to governmental adherence to the Constitution, personal freedom, and like-minded Americans.  It's time to get on the road. Please provide your objective suggestions. Thanks!
Read more