Month: February 2010

Multiple attackers? Yes, you could survive!

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

In all the self-defense work I’ve been exposed to, the general feeling is if you’re dealing with more attackers than you have defenders (even as simple as 2 on 1), forget it. You will be overwhlemed, you’ll end up on the ground with them applying their boots to your head. The best defense for multiple attackers is to never get involved in the first place and a heavy dose of Nike-Fu (i.e. run), else you’re fucked. That’s the “common wisdom” of the matter.

Of course, it’s not always as simple as that, because you could have something that affects the force disparity, such as having a weapon like a big stick or a gun. But there’s just not enough groups out there that teach combining empty-hand combatives with firearms. Thankfully there is one such trainer that accepts this, Tony Blauer. His chief trainer, Tony Torres writes an article about dealing with multiple attackers which is well worth the read.

Yes, the reality of the situation is certainly not in your favor, but that doesn’t mean it’s a dead done deal against you as the conventional wisdom asserts. In fact, reading Tony’s article made me realize that we’re inconsistent in how we talk about surviving self-defense encounters. We talk so much about fight mentality and going into the fight with the attitude that you’re not going to lose, that you’re going to come out of this. But what do we do the instant someone talks about multiple attackers? We admit defeat. If our training is always admitting defeat, then that’s all we’ll ever have because we’ll be conditioned from the get-go that we’re screwed and in a no-win situation. Yes we should admit the reality of the situation, but then use that to find the positive and gear towards success.

For instance, I loved this bit in the article:

First Reframe: Addition
This starts as a psychological mobilizer. The additional opponents have now provided you with additional targets to hit!

That’s right, by using the BTS principle of Closest Weapon Closest Target (CWCT), the presence of more than one opponent just adds more targets for your tools to collide with. Capitalizing on this reframe will help you implement the next one.

That’s a great way to look at it! Instead of thinking more opponents means an exponential rise in your chances of demise, instead more opponents means more targets to hit! Win!

Reading this article was an eye-opener for me. It did make me realize that we don’t address the topic of multiple attackers in a proper way. We’re defeatist, we should be aiming for success. Yes the training must accept reality, but give Tony’s article a read because it accepts the reality but frames it in a positive way and provides tools that could lead towards success. Read the article!

The Fight to Save America

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

Ben Stein writes on the Fight to Save America:

I wonder just how much today’s leaders of this great country realize the exceptionalism of this nation. In the Marxist history departments of today’s universities, they don’t teach that we are exceptional. We are just another racist, money-grubbing country. We are just war mongers and exploiters like everyone else, say these people with their tenure and their hybrid cars.

Nonsense, say I. There is only one America where a man like Barack Obama, out of nowhere, with no family background of connections or power, could come to be president.

There is no other country that takes in the wretched of the earth and in two generations — in one generation — raises them to the ranks of the mighty. If America is murdered by the Muslim terrorists and the environmentalist dictators and the atheists who want to take God out of our lives, there is no other place for freedom to have its citadel. There will be just unending darkness across the earth.

I hope Mr. Obama knows this. I hope Nancy Pelosi knows this. I hope you know this. We are in a fight now to save America, and winning this fight is more important than political correctness or trying to forecast the weather a hundred years from now. We are in a fight to save the America that has given so many of us lives we could not have imagined. We simply cannot lose.

I am there

/ hsoi

Megadeth. Testament. Exodus.

On tour together during March 2010.

They will be in Austin.

I will be there.

Megadeth is headlining. 20th anniversary of “Rust In Peace” and they’ll be playing the whole album. Awesome. I must admit to not being the biggest Megadeth fan because far too often when Dave Mustaine opens his mouth it just makes me want to smack him… either because he’s saying something stupid or because his “singing” voice is rather whiney. Nevertheless, Megadeth’s place in metal history cannot be denied, they’ve got a lot of great songs, and I actually look forward to the show. “Rust In Peace” is a fantastic album. In fact, the new album, “United Abominations” is really good; that new guitarist is amazing.

I’d say if there was any band on the bill that I truly wanted to see, it’s Testament. I’ve seen then a couple times in recent years and they’ve been solid. I think I’ve become a bigger Testament fan these days than I ever have been before (since the “Practice” days). Just solid and bone-crushing thrash.

Exodus. Meh. I mean, I love “Fabulous Disaster” and some of their other stuff. No question they put out some good heavy thrash. But I’ve just never been into them. Don’t hate ’em, don’t love ’em, just indifferent. But I still expect they’ll crush for the 30 minutes or so they are on stage.

Should be on hell of a show. Why don’t you have your ticket yet?

My First Blog-o-versary

/ hsoi / 6 Comments

Wow.

Has it really been one year since I started this blog? Well, yes of course it has been, time is funny that way.

Let’s do the fun thing everyone likes to do, examine some stats. These stats come from the wordpress.com stats stuff.

Total Views: 66,971

Average Views Per Day: 238 (steadily rising)

Posts: 1394 (not including this one), averaging 3.8 posts per day

Comments: 2380

Top Referrer: survivalblog.com (shows how much readership they have)

Top 20 Posts: the main page is actually the top hit, but ignoring that:

  1. Correcting handgun shooting problems
  2. On a home defense tool
  3. The 9mm Handgun
  4. Hornady Critical Defense ammo
  5. Ruger SR-22
  6. Home Defense Shotgunning
  7. 50 things everyone should know
  8. Rikki Rockett, BJJ black belt
  9. I don’t make a wee bit of sense
  10. Ruger 10/22 – now with extended magazine
  11. Ammo for an M1A
  12. Why does anyone need one of those?
  13. Choosing a gun
  14. (Revised) Improved Battlesight Zero
  15. About Hsoi
  16. Storage for a self-defense handgun
  17. Buckshot for self-defense
  18. Snub ammo trials
  19. SR-22 side-effect
  20. On a home defense tool – part 3

I thought about just listing the top 10, but top 20 gives a better picture. What do I tend to write about? Well, lots of things actually, but guns are certainly my biggest category both in terms of what I write about and what brings people here. The self-defense angle is strong, and it shows people are very curious about that for whatever reason.

What I’ve wondered is, what is my writing going to look like this year? Most of those articles are from the early parts of the past year. We’ll see if I write anything as useful and good. Gun stuff is fairly steady and I expect it to remain as such. I’ve been sporadic with martial arts blogging, not sure why but I think it’s mostly topics. Politics… I wrote political stuff but have been quiet on it lately probably because there’s a bit of a political lull, but things are ramping up again so we’ll see how it goes. Other things? We’ll see. I know I have some categories and tags that haven’t been touched in a while. Also my regular Sunday Metal feature has been fun to do.

I made an effort to write every day. Even if all I could do because of circumstance was a “sorry, can’t write now” posting, at least I made the effort to never forget the blog. I’m pleased that I was able to keep it up and actually surprised that I was able to produce an average of almost 4 posts a day. People say I talk too much, this confirms it. 🙂

Yes I know my statistics aren’t much and really nothing to get too much into. I know there are sites that generate that much traffic in a day or an hour. But that I see a steadily increasing readership is kinda cool. I am curious how many (regular) readers I actually have. The statistics don’t really give that picture. I know I’m not writing in a vacuum, I know I have some regular readers, but I also know most of the readers are quiet and passively reading. I can’t help but wonder how many people regularly read.

Thank you for sticking around. I know some people blog purely for themselves, but and while I do write because I want to write, I cannot lie and say I don’t care what you think. If I wanted to write purely for myself I’d keep a diary. To blog means I want an audience, that I do want people to read and hear what I have to say. So I thank you for being out there and reading.

Thank you.

Plans for the future? I’ve been considering moving the blog from wordpress.com to my own domain. I’m not sure about doing it, mostly because of managing the old content. There’s so much already linked to, all the 1600+ posts linking back to other posts and causing breakage there. Many sites out there already linked up. The content being indexed as well as it is in search engines. It’s hard to want to let all that slip and go. But I figure I probably need to make the switch sooner rather than later.

And I plan to continue writing. I still want to write at least one post every day. What topics? We’ll see. Some things will continue to remain off-limits. Some things I’ll keep on with. Your input is always appreciated.

Thank you again.

Hooray Brian Johnson!

/ hsoi

Brian Johnson, lead singer of AC/DC had this to say about “helping others”, especially regarding those celebs that make a big to-do of it all, like Bono:

“I do it myself, I don’t tell everybody I’m doing it,” Johnson said.

“I don’t tell everybody they should give money – they can’t afford it.

“When I was a working man I didn’t want to go to a concert for some bastard to talk down to me that I should be thinking of some kid in Africa.

“I’m sorry mate, do it yourself, spend some of your own money and get it done. It just makes me angry. I become all tyrannical.”

What to do, what to do

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

This coming weekend (Feb. 5-7, 2010) Cabela’s is having a special promotion for NRA Members: 10% off all purchases. If you don’t have a Cabela’s nearby, I believe you can use the same promotion via their website. (Correction: seems the only thing you get online is free shipping, not the 10% discount. Bummer). All you have to do is obtain the coupon in your latest issue of your official NRA magazine (whichever you get) and you’re good to go. Being an (Endowment) Life Member of the NRA, I figure this is a good weekend to finally get some things I’ve been needing… and perhaps wanting.

Updated: this should be a link that takes you to the Cabelas.com website about the weekend.

On the need side, I’m out of some reloading components, most notably .38 Special bullets. So might as well pick them up this weekend with the 10% discount.

If you’re a regular reader, you also know I’ve been throwing around the idea of getting a new folder knife. Last time I checked, Cabela’s didn’t have anything that tickled my interest, but no harm in looking again as I know my criteria has changed since I last looked in their knife case.

I’ve had a minor itch to get a Hi-Point Carbine, just because it’d be fun.

I’ve also been wanting to get a 1911-style handgun, but given I’m really leaning towards an STI and Cabela’s doesn’t sell them that’s unlikely to happen this weekend.

Ah who knows. Just dreaming right now… and thankful that I can dream.

Personal Responsibility

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

TXGunGeek has rather a good rant today.

He recalls a situation he was involved in, where someone got injured, as an EMT he responded and did everything he could to save the guy’s life. Unfortunately the injuries were too severe and the person died. What did TXGunGeek get for his trouble? A lawsuit.

Reading TXGunGeek’s recounting of the story just made my blood boil. You really need to go read it.

The bottom line? It was everyone else’s fault this guy died. It wasn’t his own fault for being illegally in this country. It wasn’t his own fault for working for this company for “under the table money”. It wasn’t his own fault for walking behind an 18-wheeler dump truck. No. It was everyone else’s fault.

IT’S CALLED PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY!

This guy was responsible for his actions and everyone else was being blamed.

Unfortunately it has just gotten worse in this litigious society where not only does everyone sue everyone else, but, everyone blames someone else for what happened. It cannot be the fault of the person who actually did the action. It has to be the car or it’s manufacturer, the bartender, the gun or it’s manufacturer, seller or distributor, the trampoline manufacturer, the road crew or whoever.

Of course, much of this is drive by greed. Suing TXGunGeek really didn’t matter that much, because he didn’t have deep pockets (but hey, milk everyone you can, right?). Gotta sue the ones that have the deep pockets, because often it’s not about winning the lawsuit, just causing enough hell and grief to get paid off.

Scum suckers.

People need to be responsible for their own actions and parents are responsible for their children until they are old enough to be held responsible for themselves. Parents NOT SCHOOLS OR THE GOVERNMENT are responsible for teaching their children that they are going to be held responsible for their actions and just what that means.

Rant on, Brother Geek.

I don’t make a wee bit of sense

/ hsoi / 17 Comments

I saw that commercial for the first time last night.

I’m Scotch-Korean (well, German Scots-Irish, and Korean). So apparently I don’t make a wee bit of sense. Or maybe since I’ve got some Irish and German in me too, I make even less sense?

I’m offended.

Yes, my feelings were hurt.

They’re making fun of me.

They’re making fun of my ethnicity.

They’re putting me down.

They’re equating me with candy.

I have no self-esteem.

I’m going to sue! Sue I tell you! That’s The American Way.™

Nah….. not really. I think it’s pretty funny. Yes I know, strange thing this “sense of humor” and “thick skin”, not very common these days.

To Guide Rod or Not

/ hsoi / 6 Comments

The Springfield XD-9 Tactical (5″) has a “hollow” guide rod. It weighs about 0.80 oz or about 22.8 grams (I took it and weighed it on my powder scale).

PistolGear.com sells a solid stainless steel replacement guide rod. It’s listed as weighing 40.25 grams, or about 1.4 oz.

There’s a Canyon Creek Tungsten guide rod. It’s listed as weighing 3.2 oz or 90.7 grams.

Wow. That’s a lot of weight.

So… supposedly it will help with muzzle flip. But I also figure it may throw off the balance of the gun. Plus swinging the gun for target transitions, probably harder to move quickly and stop quickly. I know how it goes… there’s always a trade-off somewhere.

I wonder if it’s worth it. I don’t really have all the money in the world to play with and experiment this out. So, I figure I could think out loud here.

Being able to reduce muzzle flip and get back on target quickly is certainly welcome. But the world isn’t always about shooting at the same target. Is a solid steel rod enough extra weight to make an improvement yet not have too much degradation in other areas? I know you can’t have it all…. hrm.

Updated: Upon further reflection, I think if I went this route I’d go solid steel. The tungsten seems too heavy, and I’d be concerned about brittleness and breakage.  Now, will I get the solid steel? That still remains to be seen.

Alamo Tactical – Questionable Retailer?

/ hsoi / 10 Comments

I wanted to order a couple RINGS Blueguns magazines for my Springfield XD. Why? So I can safely practice reloads with a magazine that has the heft/weight of a real loaded magazine. Trouble is, finding a retailer that has them in stock.

Google said that Alamo Tactical had them. Now of course, maybe they don’t have them in stock, but they are listed as something one can purchase through their website. And hey, they’re just down in San Antonio. Sounds good to me. I put in my order for 2 magazines.

That was 3 weeks ago.

Immediately after placing my order I received the automated email confirmation of the order.

That’s all I’ve received.

I have emailed them a week ago asking for order status. Nothing.

I have telephoned them on numerous occasions. There’s never a response. No one picks up the phone. I couldn’t figure out a way to leave a message or even if their phone system supported that.

I called American Express and while the order was authorized it has not gone through.

The only way to cancel my order? Send Alamo Tactical an email. A few minutes ago I sent them an email. But given their lack of responsiveness so far, I’m wondering if the order will cancel.

I did a little bit more Googling. Seems the company isn’t very well regarded. Here. Here. Here. I’m not sure what the deal is, and I’d like to give the benefit of the doubt. But if these stories are true, damn…. yeah maybe you’re busy, but being an asshole isn’t a great way to build your reputation and give people a desire to do business with you. And even if you are busy, the amount of time I’ve waited seems like too long to have to wait. If you’re that swamped, maybe you need to hire some help. This is not a way to succeed in business.

I don’t write this to badmouth. I write this to convey my experience, which was a poor one. I don’t know what gives with the company, but I sure hope they can get their act together.

Updated 2 Feb 2010:

I just received an email regarding the cancellation of my order:

It has been cancelled.

Sorry for the lack of service on this order. We have been forced to move
into our new location over the last few weeks or so before it was ready for
us to move into. The data and phone service has not yet been moved over
here so we are answering emails from a single laptop with a wireless aircard
that has taken a while to get setup correctly so that our emails are
actually going somewhere- and even that is still hit and miss. I sincerely
apologize for your experience.

Chris

Well, it was nice to receive a reply. It was nice to receive an explanation. It was nice that he was nice (given a lot of other things I’ve read have demonstrated the owner was very caustic and rude).

But that said, if the above is the case, why is that not communicated to customers? Why isn’t that put on your website? Why isn’t that included in the order confirmation email? Why isn’t there an automated response whenever an email is sent to the contact email address? There’s little reason to not relay such important information to customers.