Found via TPI, a collection of videos on reloading a revolver.
Month: October 2009
Quirkology
Quirkology. A term coined by author Richard Wiseman to refer to psychological research that is quirky. Much of this work uses mainstream methods to investigate unusual topics, or unusual methods to investigate mainstream topics. Read more about it here.
What got me about it was this video on the color-changing card trick.
Just watch it. I don’t want to spoil the trick. After you watch it, go read about the trick and see another interesting video that supports the original.
I’ll just say, it has interesting implications for eye-witness accounts.
He’s got a lot of other interesting videos and studies on the Quirkology website. Check it out.
M16 A1 vs. AK-74
I have no idea what they’re saying in this video. Sounds Japanese. Anyone translate?
Regardless, it’s a neat video with some interesting ballistics testing and a lot of cool slo-mo video. The clay at 1:28 is cool to watch.
Sunday Metal – Alabama Thunderpussy
A band whose name you may not be able to utter in polite company, but then there’s nothing polite about the band.
Heavy southern stoner rock at its finest, you have Alabama Thunderpussy.
I like their older stuff:
I like their newer stuff. I think Kyle Thomas’ vocals were great.
It’s a shame the band wasn’t able to hold it together long term (tho 12 years is a great run), always rotating vocalists and other troubles. But they ended things on good terms and we’ve still got a lot of good albums and music to go on.
Glenn Danzig, martial artist
I knew Glenn Danzig was a black belt in something or other but had no solid idea of what his training was in.
I guess he studied Jeet Kune Do, at least in part (don’t know if he’s ranked in that… Google isn’t turning up any real solid information on his martial arts background):
Then of course, there’s the whole North Side Kings incident. I think Danzig brought that on himself (at least, based upon what you see in the video). Goes to show that no matter how badass you are (or think you are), if you’re an asshole sooner or later you’re going to get your ass beat. 🙂
Looking for canes
I’m wanting to buy a cane… fighting cane.
The following is no endorsement. Just me Googling and listing what I find. I have no direct experience with any of these products… yet. I’m hoping to find someone to buy a good cane from.
There’s Cane Masters. There’s Goju-Shorei. But I want to find something else. Just because I want to see if there’s anyone else out there producing good product at perhaps a better price.
All I want is something simple. Wood cane, of a strong hard wood that can take a beating (e.g. oak). Crook neck/handle. I’d like the opening to be “straight” (no crook going inwards and closing the opening off). Keeping it very simple so it blends in; think: can I take this onto an airplane? That I can use as an actual walking cane, but can use for self-defense purposes as well.
I just found this website, simply enough: walking canes. Lots of great selection, but unsure of the fitness for the purpose.
I do see a lot of the same canes listed at the 3 above sites. Not 100% overlap, but a decent amount.
In the end, wood is wood. If it’s oak, it’ll be strong. It’s then a matter of diameter and things like the size of the opening to ensure it can properly hook onto things.
This looks like a small-time shop doing their own thing: Kentucky Walking Sticks.
Hrm…. most other things I find are crap like umbrella canes, sword canes, rattan canes (I like rattan for my staffs, but not for my cane… too much flex to support my weight). I guess my Google-Fu is weak.
If you have any good suggestions or outlets for quality canes, please comment and let me know.
Concealed Carry Responsibility
Just two days ago I was writing about the importance of getting training. That to obtain your concealed handgun license was not an end, it was the key necessary to open the door to more and better training.
Over at the Nebraska CCW blog, they just posted a similar piece. The article does discuss how obtaining your license/permit is not the end but means you need more training, more practice (and if you can’t afford the training, everyone can afford dry fire practice). However, the main thrust of the article is about the responsibility of a permit/license holder. The article made an interesting observation:
[A] firearms Instructor I had in a course once stated, “Now that you have a CCW permit you have LESS rights and MORE responsibility”. Very true, think about it…… With a permit, now you no longer have the right to go into a restaurant and have a beer. You can no longer just go freely about your business without a care in the world. Being armed, you must be constantly aware of your surroundings at all time. If you are pulled over by a Police Officer, now you must disclose to them if you have a firearm in the vehicle. You cannot always dress the way you want to in order to carry concealed.
I hadn’t explicitly thought about it that way, but this is true. While there’s now one thing I can legally do, conversely there are many things I can no longer legally do. I have willingly entered into this state, and have willingly accepted this greater responsibility. Furthermore, it’s not just simple legal enumerations:
You no longer have the right to get angry or lose your temper since you are carrying a gun. If you have any sort of temper, then you must get rid of it before you carry a gun. There is ZERO room for CCW permit holders to have a temper. Somebody cuts you off in traffic? Smile and look the other way. Somebody tells you that your mother is ugly? Ignore them and walk away. Somebody looks at you funny? Ignore them. If you cannot keep a calm demeanor and blow off these types of petty things, then do us all a favor and don’t carry a gun.
Questions from the search stats
It’s always interesting to see what the search stats turn up.
This has been an amazingly popular search term. I haven’t seen anything like it in my blog stats before. People are really curious about this firearm. It’s interesting for sure, and to me the real interesting factor is the possible side-effects of producing such a firearm. I still have no compelling reason to buy one tho.
Hornady Critical Defense
This is another very popular term. My initial posting is here, but if you search my blog for it you’ll find other postings on it as well. The ammo is certainly interesting and I applaud Hornady for continuing to find ways to serve the civilian self-defense market. I also applaud their efforts to focus on “small calibers” popular for concealed carry and trying to find ways to improve upon the terminal effectiveness of cartridges in those calibers. That all said, I’m not yet sold on this ammo being something for me to trust my life on. It’s too new to the market and there just hasn’t been enough testing beyond some simple ballistics gel and newspaper wetpack testing. I’d like to see more data. Meantime, I’ll stick with Gold Dots for my 9mm and the LSWCHP’s for my .38 snub.
is a 9mm gun good self defense
Nope. It’s a good tool that can help you physically defend yourself, but really the best self-defense is using your gray matter. Get training, get skills, gain awareness, and conduct your daily life in a manner that works to keep you safe. That’s really better for self-defense. But if it comes to that point, I feel my 9mm handgun is a useful tool to have.
how to expand compress in snow leopard
(but I’m biased)
can you shoot a 45 bullet with a 9mm
Sure, if you’ve got really good aim and a steady hand… amazing what those sharpshooters and trick shooters can do. 🙂
But if you mean can you chamber a .45 ACP cartridge in a gun chambered for 9mm Luger? Nope. A .45 bullet has a larger diameter, just won’t work.
kimber with dawson precision sights
Envy. A 1911 is in my future… someday.
what does chl exam looks like
If you are curious about the Texas Concealed Handgun License course of fire, here it is.
“fear of girls”
9mm +p+ in any pistol
No. Only in pistols specifically rated as being able to handle +P+ (means that the round has about 15% greater pressure than a standard round). Using +P+ in a gun not rated as being able to handle it could have catastrophic results. If you’re not 100% sure the gun can handle it, don’t do it. If you’re not 100% sure, contact the manufacturer and ask (or check their website, they may have manuals online).
martial arts canes
Damned if I can find sources other than Cane Masters and Goju-Shorei for good fighting canes. I myself am looking for others. Not that I have a problem with what these guys are doing (I hear only good things about the quality of the CM canes) but I just want to see more selection.
If you know of any other cane makers, especially small guys that do good hand-crafting, please let me know.
selecting a gun for kids
Depends what you want to do with them (and I’ll avoid the obvious jokes and snark on this one), plus it depends upon the kid. But IMHO the best way to start out is with a .22. This is because for most kids, the power of recoil may be more than they can handle. Plus larger calibers are going to be louder, which can affect a lot of kids in negative ways. Ease them into things. Make it fun, make it easy (e.g. put the target at 5 yards not 50). If they can do something like shoot at some cans or gallon water jugs… i.e. make the target do something, that helps to make it fun.
But even tho they’re kids, don’t overlook getting them good training and ingraining proper safety habits. Safety is paramount.
Rain rain go away
…. actually no, don’t go away because we need a lot more to recover from this drought. In fact, even more rain would be appreciated.
The bummer is that I’ve been trying to do some action shooting competition, be it IPSC or Steel Challenge stuff, and every match the past some whiles and into the foreseeable future have been cancelled due to rain… either rain coming down or too much rain beforehand and the ranges are soggy messes.
Such is the case again this weekend.
*sigh*
I really want to start, I try to keep my schedule open… but the rains come. I’m happy for the rain tho.
Changing my stance on WKSA
Yes I know. I’ve been pretty critical and unhappy with the direction the World Kuk Sool Association has been going. Just look at past postings and you can see.
Yesterday’s meeting changed me a bit. I gained some deeper insight into many things. I saw a little more of the human side of things. I see what In Hyuk Suh is doing, and I really don’t blame him. In the end, he’s just a man that wants to take care of his family, and I find no fault with that; in fact, that’s how any good father and husband should be. I still don’t think the franchise agreement is sound business… I think existing schools may get by but the agreement is mighty scary for any new franchisees. So while the implementation may not be best, the goal… well, I’m a little warmer to it.
I think what really changed was a solidifying of a stronger separation between the art and the business. You see, I really don’t have a problem with the art. I think the art itself is good, is sound. There are only so many ways the body can move, and things like the main curriculum really work to help teach you that: both how to move your body and how to move someone else’s body. The structure of the curriculum is very well done, and there’s a lot of subtle things in the structuring that are well thought out. Sure it’s not perfect and there are arguments that moving some things around might be better, but on the whole it’s pretty well done and not just something slapped together. Is it a perfect art? No, but there’s a lot about it that is good and sound. I still love the art itself.
But the business of the art… that’s really what drove me away. Be it this franchise stuff, be it all the politics, all the bullshit, all the watered down teaching, the memorization-regurgitation aspect of it all, money money money “>money money money, buy t-shirts! buy merchandise!… this is all business stuff. In the end, business killed it for me.
So like I said, yesterday really revitalized me. It was a situation that, business wise, was well… practically business free! So little bullshit. The teaching was sound, working towards truer understanding and application. Old school, where business doesn’t really matter and it’s just art. Man, that’s great. So yes, I’d love to have more private lessons if he’s willing to do them. 🙂
I’ll still be critical of WKSA, if needed. I don’t tolerate bullshit. But let’s not confuse the business and the art.
Stuff From Hsoi 