Communications with Your Network of Serious People
There are many ways to communicate. Taliban and many Iraqis used pigeons. Or pigeons if you choose variant spellings. So I bought a book on pigeons/pigeons and learned a lot or really cool stuff. Pigeons have been used extensively in war and still are. British fliers used to carry two pigeons on their missions to release if they crashed, and from the book, I read tons of fliers were rescued due to pigeons flying back to base with a note attached.
Afghans often used kites or mirrors, or — just name it. They did not use email much — like almost zero — and their electronic footprints were ‘nil. They would use FRS (walkie-talkies) which we intercepted, of course, and they paid a heavy price. Taliban would place repeaters on hilltops. One General believed in blowing up the repeaters. Another General thought it best to have repeaters in place to intercept comms. There is a complexity to this — there were dialects out there we could not interpret so might as well blow them up, was one line of thought.
Anyway…there are tons of ways to communicate.
I have a satellite phone beside me but that is not a great SHTF method for local networks. For many reasons. Such as need line of sight to the constellation, cost, and just often not fast and comms often not good. Recently in Darien Gap I tested Sat-phone many times and had many problems even with a clear line of sight from a dugout canoe to the sky.
More local, and very fast ways — can be a whistle, or a bell that you klang. Obviously, these are not for detailed messages, but they can alert a neighborhood very quickly that something is up. Whistles and bells are old-school and highly effective. I taught Hong Kongers how fast whistles were compared with phones that can be tracked. Whistles are very fast for simple, close messages. A neighborhood watch can greatly benefit from loud whistles.
What about radios? You gotta have radios. But then comes the questions of HAM vs GMRS/FRS vs CB.
For most people, GMRS will be the way to go, but if you have serious HAM skills or know someone who does, spread the knowledge.
Buy your GMRS or other systems now. GMRS can work for a few miles, or many, depending on circumstances. And GMRS is easy to take out of the box and use. (And can work with repeaters).
https://youtu.be/dJPzPgo5HVw
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