Personal Protectionl Skills - Use People Watching To Hone Your Threat Awareness

Most people walk around glued to their phones or wrapped up in their own thoughts when out and about. Some however will engage in "People Watching". Some times they're looking for pretty women or handsome men, others look for people with funny eccentric habits, whatever. I would encourage you, whoever you may be, to expand your range of  "people watching" to include potential threats.

I'm not telling you that you should become paranoid, but rather just to expand your horizons to include things that just don't look right to you when you're at a mall, a show, wherever. As another guy I know (Steve Forrester who has contributed several articles here at the blog before) at  a forum that I frequent (yes, I still use forums, Mr. Zuckerberg can take FB and stick it where the sun doesn't shine) engages in the type of "people watching" that I'm talking about. Specifically, he tries to identify people that are carrying concealed firearms. He lives in sunny Florida state where concealed carry is common, and the potential for picking out people who, while they carry concealed,  don't actually do it very well, thereby giving him a lot of practice.

The chart below provides a good frame work to build off of should you be so inclined to try out my advice on the subject of environmental awareness.

Remember to click on the image to see it full size.