White,Yellow,orange,red

[bullseye]

I know that "white", means you really don't know what's going on around you. "Yellow" you are aware of what is around you. Your ready for anything. My question is what does "Orange and Red" mean.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[OD*]

White - Relaxed, unaware, and unprepared. If attacked in this state the only thing that may save you is the inadequacy and ineptitude of your attacker. When confronted by something nasty your reaction will probably be, "Oh my God! This can't be happening to me."

Yellow - Relaxed alertness. No specific threat situation. Your mindset is that "today could be the day I may have to defend myself." There is no specific threat but you are aware that the world is an unfriendly place and that you are prepared to do something if necessary. You use your eyes and ears, and your carriage says "I am alert." You don't have to be armed in this state but if you are armed you must be in yellow. When confronted by something nasty your reaction will probably be, "I thought this might happen some day." You can live in this state indefinitely.

Orange - Specific alert. Something not quite right has gotten your attention and you shift your primary focus to that thing. Something is "wrong" with a person or object. Something may happen. Your mindset is that "I may have to shoot that person." Your pistol is usually holstered in this state. You can maintain this state for several hours.

Red - Fight trigger. This is your mental trigger. "If that person does "x" I will shoot them." Your pistol may, but not necessarily, be in your hand.

.................................................. .......................

[KenpoTex]

White-Totally oblivious to what is going on around you (the condition most people are in 24/7)

Yellow-Aware of your surroundings and on the lookout for potential threats (where we should be)

Orange-You'e identified a specific potential threat.

Red-You've confirmed the threat and are acting or ready to act.

A great, in depth explanation of the "Color Codes" can be found here: http://www.teddytactical.com/Sharpen...0Awareness.htm

[QKShooter]

perfectly explained

[peacefuljeffrey]

I don't have it in front of me, but there was an issue of American Rifleman several years back that had an article that explained the color continuum very clearly. (It was also the first I had heard of it.)
It went something like this:

White - unguarded, little or no awareness beyond immediate proximity
Yellow - relaxed awareness of surroundings
Orange - unknown threat detected, heightened awareness
Red - response action initiated due to threat

You are not in red unless you are either fighting or fleeing. If you see a weird guy approaching you, you are no longer in yellow because you perceive a possible threat instead of just being aware of what's going on around you.


edit: I re-read the article. To wit;

White - No perceived danger
Yellow - Relaxed awareness
Orange - Unknown danger; high level of awareness
Red - Severe danger; action initiated

[Bando]

Black-engaging target, firing weapon.

[ccw9mm]

Cooper promoted the WYOR system; Ayoob's LFI and others promote WYORB, where R/red is a lethal force situation underway and B/black is the actual shooting (thanks, Bando). The distinction being that not all condition-Red situations must end in a shooting.

[retsupt99]

while I'm sleeping...other than that, condition yellow is my minimum.

Your color may vary...

Stay alert (yellow)...stay safe!

ret

[nn]

while I'm sleeping...other than that, condition yellow is my minimum.

Your color may vary...

Stay alert (yellow)...stay safe!

ret

Not I stay in condition or so it seems

[threefeathers]

I teach my students three colors. KISS, white exists only in Plesantville.
Yellow aware of surroundings, expect to be in danger in today's Urban world. Red- you must be ready to react and you are preparing to use your weapon or run.

[Linda]

Every CCW class I instruct, I pass out Jeff Cooper's color codes of awareness and talk to my students about mindset and having a heightened sense of awareness. It just seems to come naturally as your comfort level of carrying increases. I tell them "always yellow"!

[AZ Dog]

I teach my students three colors. KISS, white exists only in Plesantville.
Yellow aware of surroundings, expect to be in danger in today's Urban world. Red- you must be ready to react and you are preparing to use your weapon or run.

This post and a couple of similar posts of yours in another thread on the same subject have me confused. Orange is the condition where you evaluate the threat, to determine if it really is even a threat, and decide on your course of action. Going straight from yellow to red means that if you're walking in a parking lot at night (condition yellow) and you notice a vehicle traveling slowly through the lot with no lights on that you would immediately move to condition red? That means that immediately upon noticing anything slightly suspicious you either run, hide, draw, and maybe even shoot?

I just can't imagine someone attempting to articulate those types of actions to an LEO. "Well, I noticed a vehicle with no lights on, so I ducked behind that vehicle, drew my weapon, and held it at low ready." I know that's not what you're practicing or teaching so I'm just confused as to what you mean. I think what you mean is that you've removed white from the system and only use yellow, orange, and red but I'm not sure. Even then though, white does still exist. You may not use and I may not use it, but trust me, there are plenty of people that do. Some of them end up regretting it. Please explain in deeper detail.

I do believe that most people use the color system, even if they've never heard of it. Just like a 3 year old can speak English even though they don't really have a grasp of what that means. A person speaks English and uses verbs, nouns, pro-nouns, adverbs and adjectives, etc. very effectively for quite a few years before taking English classes and even learning what all these terms mean. It's the same with the color system.

[Ala Dan]

Great Explainations My Friends-

They don't get any better than these~!

[JimmyC4]

Well, this is the second "color" thread I looked at when checking in here tonight--all I now know for sure here in Minnesota is "don't eat yellow snow".....

[bullseye]

Thanks you guys for the imput.And esspecilly to KENPOTEX for the web site. I have been using these codes for years i just did'nt know the steps of awareness. My kids are sick of me preching to them about being in code "WHITE" I will not stop, someday they will listen to me, "HOPFULLY" it wont be to late!
Thanks again BULLSEYE