Self-Defense Tip: Know The Difference Between Cover and Concealment

1. Many of the fields in Afghanistan are covered in tall mounds. That’s what the LMG is resting on as he fires. Several feet of dirt is pretty good cover.

   Example: http://www.flickr.com/photos/violinsoldier/188715007/sizes/o/in/photostream/

2. Sometimes your war starts in the middle of a cornfield. It is what it is, you just have to deal with it.

3. Sometimes the other guy in the gun fight does not know the difference. Some people think that if they can’t see you then they can’t shoot you, or vice versa, especially during ‘the heat of battle’.

   You can use this to your advantage. For example, if a home invader has been shooting at you, then he ducks behind a corner (and you know no one else is in the line of fire), put a bullet through the drywall in the corner. It will kill him just as well.

   It is also very likely that a bad guy will stop shooting at you, if you duck behind a corner, even though the drywall between you is concealment, not cover.

   Use every slight advantage you can find…

   • +1

     Better to have holes in the drywall than to holes in you chest… or you family’s chests.

     • An pleasant evening spent reading http://theboxotruth.com/ will leave no doubt as to how ineffective drywall is at impeding bullets, slugs or buckshot.

4. +1 (meant to comment to Bob)

   • I’ve noticed a definite uptick in the number of misplaced comments since last night’s upgrade to the commenting system.

5. Cover, to the extent that it is cover, is also concealment, yes?

   • Trees may give you effective cover, but probably not concealment.

     • Not for the OFWGs, at least.

   • Yep. Cover = concealment with few exceptions such as bullet resistant glass or other transparent/translucent ballistic material. Concealment != cover.

6. It’s funny because we talk about this all the time playing Dungeons and Dragons where we have to teach people the difference so their characters can avoid an untimely death.

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