When I was active duty in the Marine Corps and deployed to the Med for 6 months, I had some downtime for reading. Back then one of the more popular book series to read amongst military guys was either Tom Clancy or Rogue Warrior. What really intrigued me while reading these books, was the ability for the characters to immerse themselves into their environments, acquire the needed tools/weapons, accomplish the mission and then disappear. Plan, execute and vanish.
Fast forward several years and now we have the concept of the Violent Nomad. Clint Emerson (Author of 100 Deadly Skills) came up with this concept while still active with the SEAL Teams. On paper, Clint developed a list of skills every operator would need if they were to transition to the operative world. Once that list was completed and the sensitive skills were removed, You had the beginnings of the 100 Deadly Skills book. In short, the concept or idea was to develop a government program that we could put guys through to make them literally 100% ‘naked warriors’. By that, I mean that they can be inserted into any environment without any weapons and a minimal loadout and still be able to complete the mission with Macgyver like skills and techniques by leveraging the environment around them. This would make for a very low investment with high-profit margins for striking at targets for the U.S. government.
Even though many of us have never been tier 1 operators or have served as NSA/CIA operatives, we can still adopt this mindset, get a certain amount of training and start to become more self-reliant and rescue oriented. We need to stop relying on 911. When seconds count, law enforcement, and first responders are minutes away.
One of the first orders of business in the first 100 Deadly Skills book is the anatomy of the Violent Nomad. In other words, the gear carried and used to accomplish the missions. Let’s take a closer look at what the anatomy looks like when broken down into 3 levels or tiers. Keep in mind that your skill level, environment, and threats will dictate what gear you should carry and train with.
The anatomy (EDC) of a Violent Nomad broken down into 3 layers
Pocket kit
The pocket kit is exactly what it says; the contents that you carry in your pockets every day otherwise known as your EDC.
- Glock 26 in a Raven Concealment Eidolonholster
- SWAT-T Tourniquet
- Streamlight Protac 1L-1AA
- Concealed SAYOC fixed blade
- Gerber Mini Covert folding knife. The folding knife may change from time to time depending on what I’m testing. I personally do not clip any folding knives to my pocket as that advertises the weapon to a potential threat.
If I’m traveling my pocket kit would obviously change a bit. For legal reasons, I would not be carrying a concealed fixed blade or my folding knife. For air travel, my pocket kit is slimmed down quite a bit. I only have the Streamlight flashlight, tourniquet, and my Violent Nomad Discreet Stabbing tool. Most ‘tactical pens’ on the market look just like the name implies; Tactical. The Violent Nomad Discreet Stabbing Tool is a pen on one side and glass breaker on the other. The pen does not have an overt tactical look, but that of a quality made metal pen.
Container kit
A small kit that can be thrown into a desk drawer or any bag that you choose to take for the day. In other words, this small container kit can turn your existing bag into a go-bag to get you out of a bad situation. I’ve come up with two variations of the container kit. One for my day to day movement and one that is TSA approved for air travel. Let’s take a closer look at these two variations in more detail. First, the TSA approved air travel kit.
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Brandon Webb former Navy SEAL, Bestselling Author and Editor-in-Chief
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