(Book Report) "Mantrapping," by Rangar Benson

War is hell, pain is sufferable, and death is final. Learning to cope with the harsh realities surrounding use of force issues are essential for newer libertarians in their understanding of the non-aggression principle. One way to do so is to study the literature and discuss with each other what has been developed in terms of exercising the right of self-defense in a pragmatic manner.

Truth be told, I was pleasantly surprised by how simple and straightforward this book was written. Ragnar Benson got to the point by making his observations succinct and concise before detailing how to establish these various kinds of traps. The 11 featured mantraps are not only analyzed but implemented in a no-nonsense manner.

Within the introduction, Benson says:

“Americans and members of other urbanized civilizations have not fared very well on a one-to-one basis against societies that have attempted to mantrap them. But, because subsistence tribes tend to be small, suffering mightily from a high infant mortality rate, they have never posed much of a threat to civilizations like ours.”

This observation would explain the violent strife between, for example, the United States federal government and the Lakota people, at least in part. Benson also wrote:

“Today, mantrapping naturally has evolved into the science of booby-trapping. Modern booby-trappers use explosives, complex electronic devices, and space-age fabrication processes to produce contrivances that, when left secretly behind, will kill or maim the enemy.”

These would be more like the contraptions you’d see on a fictional television series like MacGyver or Burn Notice. Benson makes a further distinction:

“Booby traps are not what this book is about. Rather, it is about constructing primitive mantrapping devices using only handsaws, axes, shovels, rope or wire, and knives. The assumption throughout this book is that the reader will not have explosives, detonating devices, flammable liquids, manufactured chemicals or any other modern instrument of war at his disposal.”

So, generally speaking, these mantraps are going to be (arguably) better suited for rural and wild country settings, rather than an urban or suburban one. Unless you are going to dig a pit on a highway median or carefully stack a pile of rocks on the edge of a rooftop, I’m personally having a hard time imagining how such “primitive” tools and techniques can be easily translatable to an asphalt jungle.

Perhaps the most value this book could give its readers are the pictures and diagrams of the various traps. Whether it be the pit trap, the sheepeaters’ rockfall, the Malaysian hawk, the Chinese chopper, the Cuban water trap, the Andes Mountain trail trap, the spike trap, the jungle snare, the Jivaro catapult, the armored personnel carrier trap (also lovingly referred to as “Jack, the Tank Killer”), or Benson’s Log Snare, these mantraps are depicted in the implementation as being suited for wilderness use. Although Punji sticks were absent from his narrative, Benson appeared to focus on “primitive booby-trapping,” rather than translating that skill set to a more urban environment.

Interestingly enough, Benson tied his knowledge of mantraps to the military-industrial complex. As he put it:

“Mantrapping, which is almost always defensive in nature, can doubtlessly be used to help win wars. Where the terrain is rugged enough and the country expansive, traps can be set that so demoralize the attackers they will come to the conclusion that the game is not worth the candle.”

In the context of traditional guerrilla warfare, then yes, he is correct. Unfortunately, given the fact that 81.4% of the total American population is urbanized, I’m not quite comprehending how a working knowledge of mantrapping could potentially be helpful during a future hypothetical “Second American Revolution.” If anything, most of the combat, it seems to me, would be done quite literally on the streets of the major cities, as was the case during the last world war, primarily in Europe. Benson elaborates:

“If we are over involved in another international war – and I think we will be eventually – then many readers will undoubtedly end up fighting overseas in some God-forsaken stinkhole where people still practice the art of trapping other humans. At this future date, staying out from underneath your enemy’s chopper log will become a matter of life and death. So remember those lessons well, particularly if you are of conscription age.”

Granted, while compulsory registration for the inactive draft is absolutely a real grievance, the risk of younger Americans finding themselves in such a situation as Benson describes is quite low for now, unless Elizabeth Kyle’s ass-backwards lawsuit is used to push a “social justice” agenda to forcibly impose even more authoritarianism upon the young that the government schools already do (I’m old enough to remember when progressive socialists used to be antiwar).

Ragnar Benson’s Mantrapping is an insightful look at the curious defensive practice of using nothing more sophisticated than logs, rope, nails, and rocks to inflict unbelievably painful injuries and quite possibly some lethal endings. Practicing these skills is not something I would necessarily recommend, because doing so might increase the risk of accidental injury to yourself or others; even then, I can only imagine it be most practical in defending your “cabin in the woods” from criminal riffraff, not waging a successful guerrilla campaign. Should you be more interested in defending your house, I suggest you peruse the strategy of home hardening.

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Kyle Rearden is a blogger, podcaster, and videographer who started The Last Bastille Blog in 2011 since he thought the blogosphere would be more conducive to his study of a wide variety of subjects within the alternative media. From 2009 – 2012, his former YouTube channel amassed over 127,000 total upload views with 150+ videos; and between 2012 – 2014, his blog has received approximately 81,000 total views. Currently, he is the creative consultant for Liberty Under Attack Radio, a co-host of Behind Enemy Lines, and records the Liberty Intelligence Files alongside Alex Ansary.