If you're heading out to an OWS protest here's a couple of ideas

[Tx4obama]

Two ideas regarding a body shield and head protection

1) Round up a MOTORCYCLE HELMET or FOOTBALL HELMET to protect your head from flying tear gas canisters other projectiles
*paint it a solid color then add a slogan or peace sign or anything your want to be on it

2) Find a METAL GARBAGE CAN LID, paint the inside white and then paint your 'sign' on that
the can lid handle will make it easy to carry and you can use it as a shield to protect your body from flying rubber bullets, bean bags, etc


Any other ideas out there?

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Unfortunately either could be seen as escalation

I know, I know.

[Fire Walk With Me]

2. Ludicrous stuff in a "free" country, but obviously required, as is remedy for tear gas/pepper spray.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2210672

A 50% water/antacid solution will counter the effects of tear gas. Very useful information!

This needs saying...pepper spray is not tear gas
Treatment slightly differs

Pepper spray is essentially capsein. You know what makes peppers spicy. If you got milk, that's the best. If not lots of wate... Yes maalox sort of works.

Tear gas is a chemical weapon and this will work short term...you really need decontamination.

Remove clothes and a cold shower (20 minutes at least) is the procedure.

Oh and for both monitor patient fr breathing issues and take my word on this, even if you are just helping it hurts.

Oh and clothes. Pepper wash them a couple times, the same goes with tear gas, and use gloves to avoid getting crap on you. You may want to take pepper bags, large ones, to put contaminated clothes into.

Oh and if (when) it goes into eyes, remove contacts and wash for twenty minutes with water, or GI you have it normal saline

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Trust me giving that talk was....odd

[LiberalEsto]

12. don't wear contacts if you attend a protest

because the tear gas can get behind them and really irritate the corneas.

This was conventional wisdom back in the late 60s, early 70s.

[Fire Walk With Me]

4. Someone recently posted a pic of a home-made gasmask using a cut 2-litre cola bottle

and a regular shop filter mask (mouth only, the kind with a rubber band around the head). You cut away the bottom of the bottle so that it covers your eyes and forehead, with the nozzle pointing down below your mouth.

#OccupyMarines posted this:

Bodyhammer: Tactics and Self-Defense For the Modern Protester:

Version 1.1

By Sarin

Please read and educate others:

http://www.devo.com/sarin/shieldbook.pdf

There is a good page or two there about how to know what police are doing when you see them on scooters, empty buses, etc.

And this:

[Zenlitened]

5. Bring useful items to donate: food, blankets, rain gear, etc.

[Dover]

6. What that communicates is that there is an expectation of violence.

I think Gandhi would disapprove. It sets up a defensive/offensive relationship.
It sounds like those with experience in nonviolence might need to be more actively engaged
in education and group discussions about this, if they are not already, so everyone understands
what that means and what's involved. It's not just behavioral. It's cultivated from the
inside out so that it's felt and exhibited consistantly, without being drawn into fear or anger.
'Peace' is not just a word or concept. It's an inner experience.

[Tx4obama]

7. Well considering all the cops are dressed in riot gear

I think it is only fair that the protesters are 'dressed' in a fashion that protects them from flying canisters, rubber bullets, etc.

If Scott Olsen had something protecting his head the other night he wouldn't be in the hospital tonight with damage to his brain and unable to speak.

During the protests in Egypt many of the folks there suffered head injuries, then when they starting showing up wearing all sorts of things on their heads, like helmets and even cooking pots, the number of head injuries decreased.

I think there IS an expectation of violence already - FROM THE COPS,
and the protesters should protect themselves so that their heads, eyes, and bodies are not damaged.

[Dover]

9. So you are feeling fear?

Can you see how this allows them to dictate to you? You accept their game and their reality rather than living your own.
Being the change means exactly that.

True and lasting change has to come from within, otherwise you are just moving the furniture around but
remaining in the same room. It takes a great deal of courage to step outside of the box and away from fear.
If it were easy we wouldn't have wars. It's not easy.

Some thoughts on nonviolence for your consideration:
http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/treatment/nonviolc.htm

http://www.markshep.com/nonviolence/Myths.html

[Rabblevox]

8. Definitely disagree with both. Here's why

Motorcycle/Football helmets at an Occupation...BAD IDEA!!! Police riot squads are unfortuantely pretty damned good at situational awareness. If things look to get ugly, they will identify people in helmets, gas masks, etc as the people to take out first, and take out hard.

While not offering as much protection, bicycle helmets fit in pretty naturally at most occupations, and have a better chance of flying under the radar.

Metal garbage can lids as shields same reason as above (police will easily spot you as someone ready for trouble, and try and take you out quickly.

ALSO, have you ever wielded a can lid as a shield? I have and they are a bitch, unwieldy, and the handle slips really easily, and is hard to maintain a good grip for long.

INSTEAD, make your protest sign out of super-thick corrugated cardboard (like a refrigerator box) at least 2ft by 2ft, and put rope handles on each side. Looks just like an ordinary sign from a distance, and plenty thick enough to stop a rubber bullet or beanbag.

Bonus suggestions:
A pair of swimmer's goggles in your pocket to slip on if they start using gas.

Baggy, heavy clothing, with hockey pads on your arms and legs underneath.

Heavy boots and gloves. Police in our town loves them some fingers and toes.

A plan worked out in advance with friends/comrades about exactly what to do if you are arrested or injured. (including writing your lawyer's # on your arm in permanent marker.

Get rid of dangly things. If you have long hair, tie it back and tuck it under your jacket. If you wear earrings or other jewelry, take them out! (if you've ever had an earring ripped out of your ear, you know why).

[politicat]

10. Ground insulation. Craft. Universal power supplies

Even if you're not staying (I can't.-- I'd be useless by morning) the 24-hour crews are, and anything between their sleeping bags and the ground helps.

*Edited to add: while LE is, in many places, not necessarily on their best behavior, night and cold come every day. LE's weapons are attention grabbing, but Mother Nature is more insidious and less forgiving.*

The best bang for the buck insulation is 1" thick sheet styrofoam with tyvek on both sides. Half-sheets (4'x4') run about $2.50 at most lumberyards. (full 4x8 sheets run about 4 bucks, so are cheaper, but don't fit into most vehicles.) It can be cut with a box cutter or snap-blade as needed and it takes a duct tape hinge well. A decent sleeping board is made of 3 pieces of 2'x3' styro taped into a Z shape. Styro is light, cheap, helps soften the ground, has high insulation value, and cannot be misconstrued as a weapon (well.... The squeaks can be annoying....) It is not environmentally friendly, but there are very few green insulations commonly available, and the sheet varieties have yet to equal styro's R value per weight and thickness.. For places like Denver, which is getting dangerously cold and will not allow tents, ground insulation is critical, so if you can donate a hew half-sheets and a couple rolls of duct tape, you may save a life.

If you craft - knit, crochet, quilt especially - please make hats, mittens, scarves and basic tied quilts (3' x 6') from your stashes. Hats and scarves are fast, and basic quilts (2 pieces of fabric with a layer of old blanket or high-loft batting sandwiched between, turned and knotted) may save a life. We crafters have a historical precedent - the knitters of Paris took their stockings with them to the French Revolution's various events and were one of the strongest impetus for the civil egalitarianism of the Revolutionary period. (Dickens slandered the Tricoteuses but...)

If you have an uninterruptible power supply (a power strip attached to a battery that allows for safe shutdown and prevents power surges) for your computer or other electronics, please consider unplugging everything while you're gone to the site and taking your UPS with you. A UPS doesn't give much time to shut down a computer, but it can charge dozens of cell phones over the course of 5-6 hours. (Cells have a 5 watt draw, and most UPS can push that times 7 wall warts for 48 hours.) I know UPS aren't cheap, so ferry it back and forth with juice stored in the battery each time. Solar generation and human power is brilliant and wonderful, but it's not always sufficient. If you don't want to let it out of your sight, make a sign for your back that says something about free charges and carry it with you. Even one more functioning phone may capture critical photos or video, or call EMS for an emergency.

Fnally, if you're involved with a religious community, especially one of the Peace Churches or a Catholic community that is open to liberation theology, please consider trying to get your church charitably involved, as English congregations are doing for OccupyLondon St. Paul's. We don't all have to agree, but we're all walking the same road. Most especially, if your chosen faith has a facility near an Occupy site, please try to work with your institution and your leadership to consider opening their doors at night as a warming site. Even if your institution can't afford to turn up the heat, a 64 degree building that blocks the wind and wet may save a life when the alternative is a snowy patch of pavement at 10 degrees. (if you can get them to agree to more, like hot water/coffee urns, bathrooms or other donations, please do). You'll probably need to convince your leadership that you and others in your community that are personally known to the leadership will be present in the facility over night, but if your community has the time, resources and people, that would be a great way to show support. *Edited to add: I am culturally Quaker, and my local Friends Service does not have a facility near OD. Through the interfaith community, we're trying to get the Presbyterians and Catholic diocese (which have facilities within 2 blocks of OD) to help, but we could sure use help from those memberships.*

[Edweird]

11. Rockgardn Flak Jacket (it's for downhill mountain biking) I own one and it rules.

If I were going I would wear this - you can wear it under a winter coat and it will simply make you look super buff while protecting you. Personally, I'd go for the full face helmet and goggles as well with a mask underneath. I'm sure there are similar products out there, but I can vouch for how good this one is (mine is an '05)




(That's NOT me, BTW. It's just a random image from google search)