Page 3 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast
Results 21 to 30 of 35

Thread: The Danger of Panicked Masses of Humans

  1. #21
    Site Supporter JodyH's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    New Mexico
    I like La Cantera, bought a watch and some shirts there a couple years ago.

    From what i remember there was plenty of decent cover (fountains, trees, brick planters, brick buildings) and open air exit opportunities.
    Step into cover/concealment, evaluate (smoke, gunfire, explosion, crash noises, angry yelling), look for an exit opportunity in a direction few others are going, plan to take care of any business that needs taken care of along the way.

    People almost always try to leave the way they entered (example: infamous Great White concert). I always try to spot and make a mental note of alternative exits (including windows, to open or break) when I'm in any location.
    Last edited by JodyH; 10-02-2019 at 08:28 AM.
    "For a moment he felt good about this. A moment or two later he felt bad about feeling good about it. Then he felt good about feeling bad about feeling good about it and, satisfied, drove on into the night."
    -- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy --

  2. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by JodyH View Post
    People almost always try to leave the way they entered (example: infamous Great White concert). I always try to spot and make a mental note of alternative exits (including windows, to open or break) when I'm in any location.
    My wife and I have made it a bit of a game. Yesterday, we're eating lunch at Olive Garden and she looks at me. She says "if things go south, we're grabbing these chairs and going out that window". She'd recognized that we were stuck in a maze of tables and chairs in the back of the restaurant and that was going to be our quickest exit. I think it's the first time I've ever had her make a comment like that. I'm not sure if I'm glad or not that my paranoia is rubbing off.

  3. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by JohnO View Post
    The ability to reason is what separates us from animals. Evaluate the situation you have been presented with and take an appropriate course of action..
    Good advice to live by.

    This is why the Reverend Mother tested young Paul Atreides.
    Last edited by Trigger; 10-05-2019 at 01:39 PM.
    "Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master"

  4. #24
    Member Hieronymous's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Location
    St.Louis, MO
    Quote Originally Posted by AKDoug View Post
    My wife and I have made it a bit of a game. Yesterday, we're eating lunch at Olive Garden and she looks at me. She says "if things go south, we're grabbing these chairs and going out that window". She'd recognized that we were stuck in a maze of tables and chairs in the back of the restaurant and that was going to be our quickest exit. I think it's the first time I've ever had her make a comment like that. I'm not sure if I'm glad or not that my paranoia is rubbing off.
    I think you should be proud of your wife! Sharing sensible knowledge about personal safety is something we could all do more of with our family. I think we let our insecurities about being called paranoid get in the way of that.

  5. #25
    Site Supporter
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
    Location
    Texas
    In the restaurants that I inspected, I noticed that the kitchen and storage area always had a back door used to receive shipments. If one is seated near the kitchen, then this service entrance makes a good escape route. Intuitively people will run toward obvious exits visible at the front. A walk in cooler is a place to hide. There is only one door which is easily monitored. Kitchens have fire extinguishers which could serve as a hefty club for the unarmed.

  6. #26
    The R in F.A.R.T RevolverRob's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Gotham Adjacent
    If you're stuck in/near a large mob of people, pressing yourself up against a wall and bracing yourself presents a smaller target for the mob to push along and out.

    I've had to use this technique a few times, in supremely crowded places when I'm trying to figure out where I am going, but the mob is moving in one direction. Press yourself up against a wall and you can use it to support yourself, while you stand on your tip-toes to spy over the crowd (if you're like me and short). You can also shove people off you this way, with your back pressed against a wall, you're braced better and supported.

    One reason I like to carry a shoulder bag with a sturdy, removable, strap is that I can quickly unclip it and wrap it around a pole/support column and clip it back and use it as a restraint in a big crowd, if I can't get to the edge. You can do this on a crowded city bus or train, for instance.

    I'd rather be held in place until I can get to the end of the crowd, if I can't get in front of it.

    ETA: I saw a nice trick the other day on Instagram. A guy was getting caught up in a panicked mob and set off a little hairspray/WD40/whatever with his lighter. A big, pretty much harmless, fireball erupted and BAM - the crowd parted around him, like Moses parting the sea.
    Last edited by RevolverRob; 10-13-2019 at 10:25 AM.

  7. #27
    Quote Originally Posted by RevolverRob View Post
    If you're stuck in/near a large mob of people, pressing yourself up against a wall and bracing yourself presents a smaller target for the mob to push along and out.

    I've had to use this technique a few times, in supremely crowded places when I'm trying to figure out where I am going, but the mob is moving in one direction. Press yourself up against a wall and you can use it to support yourself, while you stand on your tip-toes to spy over the crowd (if you're like me and short). You can also shove people off you this way, with your back pressed against a wall, you're braced better and supported.

    One reason I like to carry a shoulder bag with a sturdy, removable, strap is that I can quickly unclip it and wrap it around a pole/support column and clip it back and use it as a restraint in a big crowd, if I can't get to the edge. You can do this on a crowded city bus or train, for instance.

    I'd rather be held in place until I can get to the end of the crowd, if I can't get in front of it.

    ETA: I saw a nice trick the other day on Instagram. A guy was getting caught up in a panicked mob and set off a little hairspray/WD40/whatever with his lighter. A big, pretty much harmless, fireball erupted and BAM - the crowd parted around him, like Moses parting the sea.
    Seems like a cool idea, but the room required to do so would be pretty excessive. I have some experience using that technique to kill hornets and it actually takes quite a bit of coordination AND it draws attention to you when you probably don't want that attention.

  8. #28
    Modding this sack of shit BehindBlueI's's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    Midwest
    Quote Originally Posted by RevolverRob View Post

    ETA: I saw a nice trick the other day on Instagram. A guy was getting caught up in a panicked mob and set off a little hairspray/WD40/whatever with his lighter. A big, pretty much harmless, fireball erupted and BAM - the crowd parted around him, like Moses parting the sea.
    Do something that looks like arson or an attempt at an IED detonation in a panicky crowd?
    Sorta around sometimes for some of your shitty mod needs.

  9. #29
    The R in F.A.R.T RevolverRob's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Gotham Adjacent
    Quote Originally Posted by BehindBlueI's View Post
    Do something that looks like arson or an attempt at an IED detonation in a panicky crowd?
    I would probably advise against it, in almost every situation. But I think it’s worth thinking about the kinds of things that turn crowds/give you “operating space” within a crowd.

    People do tend to move away instinctually, from fire, smoke, gunfire, etc. What other types of things can shift a stampede? Elifritz suggests OC in some of the links that @Sidheshooter linked to for turning a flash mob, but I don’t think OC is going to work well for a stampeding crowd.

    Perhaps a really loud whistle, like a policeman’s whistle? Something that will snap folks out of the trance brought on by panic?

  10. #30
    Site Supporter
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    TEXAS !
    Quote Originally Posted by RevolverRob View Post
    Perhaps a really loud whistle, like a policeman’s whistle? Something that will snap folks out of the trance brought on by panic?
    Panic in humans doesn’t work that way, especially in groups. This would either not be noticed or it would increase the panic.

User Tag List

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •