Author: hsoi

Smokin’

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Woke up around 4:30 AM.

Lit the charcoal. It’s makes it easy to get started.

Took the briskets out of the fridge. These are from the calf we recently bought. I thought about only doing one, but like all cuts from a calf, they’re smaller than you’re used to. If I’m going to run this much fire, might as well do them both. They’ve been sitting in the fridge for about 24 hours with dry rubs. Didn’t feel like putting my own rubs together, so I’m trying two commercial seasonings/rubs. One is rubbed with Good Shit. The other with McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Steak Seasoning. They might turn out awesome. They might suck. Either way it just means one must make more brisket in the future. Either way it’s a fun experiment. I am expecting the Good Shit to turn out pretty nice. No idea how the Grill Mates will turn out given how salty it is.

Around 5:20 or so the charcoal was ashy. Threw a few good-sized chunks of mesquite wood on as well as a nice oak log. I’ll be working to keep the temp in the 200 to 250 degree range all day. I’ll use mesquite and oak for the first couple hours, then oak only the rest of the day. I really like the flavor mesquite imparts into beef, but I also found if that’s all you use for long smokes like this it can be overpowering or even too much and get bitter. Oak works great for long smokes.

After another 20 minutes or so to stabilize the temps and ensure the wood caught, put on the briskets. I’ll check every hour or so. After the first few hours, I’ll wrap them loosely in foil. I usually don’t do that, but given how small these guys are compared to regular brisket as well as how tender the meat is from the get go, something tells me that’s a wise thing to do. The plan is to smoke them 10-12 hours.

Poured myself a Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale. Never tried it before. May not try it again. It’s a good ale in and of itself, but I’m so damn tired of everyone trying to make the most bitter, most hoppy beer. I had no idea when I saw the bottle in the store… that’ll learn me. Tho while at the store I also picked up some Brooklyn Lager. Never had that either, but it’s been on my radar so I figured why not try it.

Once everyone else in the house is awake, I have salsa to make.

We received about a pound of tomatillos in our CSA box this week. Wife found a simple roasted tomatillo & garlic salsa recipe online, so I’ll give that a try. We also had peppers and tomatoes and other goodies in the box, so I’ll also throw together a basic tomato salsa. Just tomatoes, a couple serranos (those were the peppers in the box), onion, garlic, cilantro, some lime juice, salt. Whirr it in the blender to smooth it out but still be somewhat chunky. No idea of the proportions… just going to wing it. 🙂

Should be a good day.

KR Training June 2012 newsletter

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The KR Training June 2012 e-news is now online. It lists all classes with slots available in the next 60 days, along with interesting links and other news.

Most of our classes will be morning-only (8-12), starting early to beat the summer heat!

4 hours too long?  Come out for a 2 hour Skill Builder course! Cheap ($40) and short. No lecture. 200 rounds of structured practice. Perfect to refresh skills you’ve learned in our classes and run those drills you can’t do at other ranges. Can be shot with a .22.

Carry a pocket gun or other small handgun?  Our new Defensive Pistol Skills BUG (backup gun) class was designed specifically to train you with the small, difficult to shoot carry gun.  It’s scheduled for July 28, registration is open now.

To see the entire 2012 schedule click here.

Karl, Penny and the KR Training crew

Socialization

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Whenever people learn we homeschool our kids, the follow-up response tends to be something asking about…

Socialization.

“But what about socialization?”

My response these days is that we let our children out of the dungeon for 30 minutes a day, they get to walk the perimeter of the yard twice, eyes downward, then it’s back into the cage.

Usually that response works because people see the exaggeration and realize the absurdity of not only my response, but their question. But for a moment yes, this is about what people think. That just because our kids don’t spend 8+ hours a day surrounded by others of their age that somehow our children will turn out socially retarded.

Today I hear about this story, of a 68-year-old bus monitor receiving all manner of abuse from middle-school kids.

Here’s the original video

What sort of socialization leads to this sort of behavior? Where 13-year-olds find it not just acceptable — but enjoyable — to abuse and drive an elderly woman to cry.

I refuse to allow my children to be around this is the sort of socalization.

So yeah… what about “socialization”?

2012-06-21 workout – Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 11, Deadlift/Press 1

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“Week 1”

  • 5 reps – Deadlift (working max: 335#)
    • 1x5x135 (warmup)
    • 1x5x170
    • 1x3x205
    • 1x5x225 (work)
    • 1x5x255
    • 1x8x290
  • 5 reps – Press (working max: 150#)
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
    • 1x5x60
    • 1x5x75
    • 1x3x90
    • 1x5x100 (work)
    • 1x5x115
    • 1x8x130
  • Asst. #1 – DB Rows
    • 3 x 10 x 75
  • Asst. #2 – Pulldown Abs
    • 3 x 10 x 40/50/60
  • Asst. #3 – Dips
    • 3 x 6 x BW
  • Asst. #4 – DB Hammer Curls
    • 3 x 10/10/6 x 30

Today was experimentation.

When deadlifting, it’s best to use double-overhand grip to build your grip. But when you’re hitting maximal weights, it’s better to use a mixed grip because that gives you some mechanical advantage in your grip. I’ve been having my left hand supinated and right hand pronated. That feels correct to my right-hand-dominant-self, but it’s a wee uncomfortable… it feels like my left is twisted a little too much. Recently read an article that mentioned how to determine which way you should mix. It said to just let your arms hang at your sides. Look at your hands. Likely one will turn a little more than the other, so there you go, use that natural setup. When I did that, I saw my left wanted to pronate more. So I tried that today on my last set (left pronate, right supinate). No question it made my left arm feel better… if it helps minimize risk of biceps tear, great. However, I don’t know if it was just because it was new and awkward feeling, but I felt like I did not have as strong a grip on the bar. So after about the 4th or 5th rep I switched hands (left supinate, right pronate) and continued… that felt weird since I was in the middle of things. Then I did a rep double-overhand, which was fine. And by the end of things I called it at 8 reps because I was blowing focus. If I had stayed the course I probably could have gotten 1 or 2 more reps, but my focus was blown. But that’s ok, I am experimenting. I only use mixed grip on my last (heaviest) set, using double overhand all other times to help build grip. I’m going to try mixed for a while on all my sets, using the left pronate right supinate and see how it goes, because if it truly is better for me, great; I just have to get used to it and more reps and lighter sets will get me there.

On Press… I’m starting to wear my belt, and really tight too (pulling the tongue of the belt against a pole to get some extra leverage to really tighten the belt). It helps me remember to tighten my whole body, especially my lower body, when pressing.

All assistance work is done as a circuit, about 90 seconds of rest between each cycle. I’m giddy silly at how well dips are going for me. I recall when I couldn’t do one, but now I’m zooming along. I’m happy to slowly climb with sets across until my old-fart body is more used to it (e.g. I’ll try 7 across next workout). But I think once I feel right, I’ll just try going for 10 across and if I miss, just keep going until I get 10 across… then try 15 across, and after that maybe consider adding weight.

The pulldown abs. That’s a replacement for the hanging leg raises due to the constant shoulder issues I have. I had NO idea where to start with it on weight, so I did 40 and that was too light. Upped it 10# each set and that still felt too easy. But I’m not sure if it’s easy, or if maybe I should do it for more reps. This is another place I’ll have to experiment. I need to really feel where it’s working because right now it feels just like hip flexors, which is fine, those need work too, but I do want to feel something in my abdominals. I am not liking how the rope basically hugs my neck… you know… jugular vein. But I figure with some technique experimentation and doing a little more research, that will be manageable.

An interesting workout to say the least.

Tyler Kee – back for more

/ hsoi

Looks like Tyler Kee from The Truth About Guns was back out at KR Training for another class.

I wasn’t out for that one (was out picking up my beef from Sand Creek Farm). I wish I had known Tyler was coming out. It was nice to meet him when he first came out, and it would have been cool to see him again.

Either way tho, just happy to see he came around for more and had a good time.

Carrying the Shield – an update

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I’ve been carrying my M&P Shield for a few weeks now.

I thought it was time to give an update on the carry side of things.

As a reminder, the reason I’ve chosen to carry it for a while is as an experiment. The reason we’re looking at the Shield is to gain first-hand knowledge if it’s recommendable as a handgun for carry and personal protection. On the surface it pans out pretty well, but it’s new and needs some mileage. So I opted to try it and see how it goes.

There’s a saying (I believe attributed to Clint Smith) that a carry gun should be comforting, not comfortable.

Well… at least for me, I find the M&P to be comfortable, not comforting.

It’s very comfortable. It’s small, it’s thin, it’s light. In my Comp-Tac MTAC holster worn IWB at 3 o’clock, the Shield just disappears into my side. Of course, this is with the flush/compact magazine. There’s no butt butting out, bumping into things, making clothing look bumping or odd. Truly, I can forget the gun is there… well, I don’t because it’s been rather a humid and hot June and so the holster sometimes sticks to my skin thus when I bend I remember the gun is there. But it’s the holster, not the gun, you see. I can sit in a hard-backed chair and there’s no gun butt smacking into the seat back, or causing things to have to shift around. I can lay on the floor and there’s almost nothing uncomfortable or bumpy.

So it’s a VERY comfortable gun to carry. At least for me.

But honestly, I don’t find it very comforting.

Previously I discussed the Shield’s capacity problem. At practical best, it’s a 6+1 with that flush mag. Get an M&P9c and you’re getting 12+1, but the tradeoff is a slightly larger gun which may be defeating the purpose. Of course, a full-sized M&P9 gets you 17+1 (16+1 really, since you should down-load the magazine by 1). But gee… 16 rounds in the magazine vs. 6… almost 3 times more ammo. And it’s a lot easier to do a speed reload with a full-sized gun, or at least, for someone with my size hands. See my most recent write-up about shooting the Shield.

I guess I just don’t feel like it’s enough gun.

‎”I have interviewed an awful lot of people after a gunfight. Not one of them has ever said to me, ‘I wish I’d had a smaller gun with less ammunition in it.'” – Tom Givens

And that’s the thing. You choose to carry a gun because you understand there may come a time in life when you’ll have to use it. In every aspect of our lives we (should) strive to be the best, to have every legitimate advantage possible so as to improve our chances of success. Why would you desire to intentionally handicap or cripple yourself? especially in a matter of life and death? If you can carry a larger gun, you should. And frankly, many people choose small guns for carry because they eschew comforting for comfortable.

Some will say “well, how much ammo do you need?” Well, I don’t know. And because I don’t know, I’d rather have more than less. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

That all said, I don’t think the Shield is a bad gun. I think it has a role. For me, it’s somewhere between my snub and my full-size. That is, my snub is my backup gun, but on rare occasion is pressed to be my primary/sole because I need as much concealment as possible. Otherwise, my choice and preference is to carry my full-sized gun. But there are times when the full-sized is too much for the situation and I could see the Shield filling the role. So, at the end of this experiment the Shield won’t be going into cold storage, but it may collect a little dust since it will not be my primary. But I will still bring it to appropriate KR Training class because I think it may have a role as a primary for some.

And that’s the thing… circumstances are different for everyone. The initial appeal of the Shield was as a possible solution to the “small/weak hands” problem we see in classes. There are some guns out there that fit small and/or weak hands, but usually those guns are also of variable or questionable quality and fitness for serious purposes. Could the Shield fit and be fit? So far results are promising, but it’ll take many people and much time before we can really say. Still, I’m high on the Shield for this purpose.

As for me, I still like it. It has a place, but it just won’t be part of MY regular use.

I’m going to switch back to my uncomfortable but more comforting full-sized M&P9.

DR Performance Practice Deck for iOS version 1.1 Now Available

/ hsoi

The DR Performance Practice Deck for iOS version 1.1 is now available.

Lots of good things in this update, the biggest news being score tracking is now available.

Please spread the good word!

Thank you for your support.

One punch too many

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Via KR Training’s Facebook page I get this story:

Mike Archambault told KMSP-TV that his longtime friend, Brian Vander Lee, was at a restaurant in Andover on Saturday when a stranger at another table asked him to be quiet.

“He did a Superman punch,” Archambault recalled. “Brian went back, feet up in the air, and the guy landed on top of him and his head bounced off the concrete.”

Archambault said the suspected fled the scene and Vander Lee was taken to a nearby hospital where doctors performed emergency surgery for bleeding on his brain.

Full story.

The assailant is a Sergeant on the Minneapolis SWAT team, but that doesn’t really matter other than you’d think a police officer would know better than to assault someone. In the end, he’s still human and who knows what led him to act this way, but we all make mistakes.

The point I wish to make is one I’ve made before about “unarmed”. Just because someone is “unarmed” doesn’t mean they are not dangerous. Just because someone is unarmed doesn’t mean they cannot do serious damage — Brian Lee has had 2 brain surgeries and is on life support. Yes, you can be put in fear of your life by someone that is unarmed.

The presence (or lack of presence) of a weapon is orthogonal to the threat and ability for harm.

2012-06-18 workout – Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 11, Squat/Bench 1

/ hsoi

Cue: tight.

“Week 1”

  • 5 reps – Squat (working max: 270#)
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
    • 1x5x110
    • 1x5x135
    • 1x3x165
    • 1x5x180 (work)
    • 1x5x205
    • 1x7x230
  • Asst. #1 – Chin-ups (supersetted with Squats)
    • 6 x 5/4/3.5/3/3/2.5 x BW
  • 5 reps – Bench Press (working max: 220#)
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
    • 1x5x95
    • 1x5x110
    • 1x3x135
    • 1x5x145 (work)
    • 1x5x165
    • 1x8x190
  • Asst. #2 – Back Raises (hands behind head)
    • 3 x 15/15/10 x BW
  • Asst. #3 – DB Bench Press
    • 3 x 10 x 100
  • Asst. #4 – Face Pulls
    • 3 x 12 x 75

I’ve been reading and studying more on how to improve my technique. Some EliteFTS articles, some stuff from Andy Bolton, and some other articles that I could find. Yes… thinking about driving my neck back into the bar really helped. In all my squat sets today only the 5th and 7th rep of the last set had some sort of falling forward. I was most pleased, but boy it made that last set tough. Still, I’d rather have a good tough set than and easy sloppy, or even a hard sloppy.

The other cue, especially from reading Andy’s stuff, was about keeping tight. This is a BIG thing I need to work on in all my lifts is the whole-body tightness. The place to work on it? All the lighter sets, even the warm-up set with an empty bar. I strove to do this on bench press today too, but gee… I’ve felt so “natural” with bench compared to the other exercises that I haven’t worked it as much, but alas that’s beginning to show. I just need work on everything. 😉 And you know, I think about looking for a good coach… maybe not full-time, but at least a good seminar or a couple private lessons to firm things up. Who knows.

Certainly I’m going to do all my assistance work as a circuit, as that seems to work well for me in terms of pumping me up a bit more and getting me in and out of the gym faster, because 2 main lifts takes up a LOT of time.

Onwards we go.

More Shooting with the M&P Shield

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At this past Saturday’s KR Training class, my M&P Shield saw some more action and had a few hundred more rounds put through her.

First, I’ll say, installing that Apex Tactical hard sear was a good decision. It really helps improve the Shield’s trigger. I cannot wait for Apex to put out their full trigger kit. Note that I don’t believe Apex is officially supporting this configuration… I’m doing so at my own choice and risk.

The first bit of action was lending it to a student. She shot it well, but it did give me some pause. First, one reason for the Shield is for folks with small hands. But as she showed me, even the Shield can be big for some hands. This student’s hands were alright for the Shield, but it was on the cusp of being big for her (in terms of proper gun fit and trigger reach). She told me she actually owned a Shield, but didn’t like it as much because it was snappy and hurt to shoot, or at least, hurt more than shooting her full-sized M&P9. This makes sense, and that’s a reality of a smaller gun: lighter in weight, the gun thus cannot absorb the recoil and so you get to feel it. These are the tradeoffs.

Apart from that, she managed alright… the lack of magazines and lack of capacity made using it in class tough. I really hope S&W will sell magazines soon, and that they won’t cost a fortune.

After class was over and everyone cleared out, I spent a couple hours doing some shooting on my own. I just wanted to shoot because I had the opportunity, but I also wanted to do some more work with the Shield to evaluate how it worked for me.

I shot numerous drills and standards, including some of the standards from the Rangemaster Instructor course, Paul Howe’s standards, the KR Training 3 Seconds or Less drill.

Overall the shooting went well, but I can make some comments.

Draw

My draw was slow. I was drawing from concealment, and I just felt like my arms were made of lead and I couldn’t get the moving fast enough. I used a shot timer throughout and most of my first shots were taking 1.5 to 1.7 seconds… and I felt so slow. So for the most part, I think it was me.

But I did notice on numerous draws that my grip was not solid. Was it because the size/shape of the gun? That when my hand met grip there just isn’t much to grip because it’s so short and thin? Or could it be because I’m just not used to it, after so many years of coming down on a full-sized grip? So many times I found myself, hand hitting grip, and then fiddle-farting for a moment or two to ensure solid grip. That’s going to take a tenth or two-tenths of a second. In the end tho, I chalk this more up to the man than the tool.

Reloads

Reloads were just hard. On a full-sized gun, everything sticks out so it’s easy to get into the magazine well and slam a new mag home. It’s even easier to let an empty mag drop free. But on this gun — and I strove to shoot with the flush-mount mag, only using the extended mag as the reload — everything is “in”, nothing sticks out. So when I press the magazine release button, I have to release my grip on the gun, gripping it almost like I’m trying to daintily hold a fancy champagne flute, so I can get my palm out of the way so the magazine can drop free. Then seating the new magazine is difficult because left palm meets right palm unless again I’m way out of the way. Then seating the magazine can be a bit of a challenge. Finally I have lost so much of my grip I have to reacquire it all over again and ensure I don’t rush and fumble and blow the first shot post-reload.

And it just adds up to precious time being spent in a way that I don’t prefer.

But this again isn’t the gun, it’s the person. The lady that shot the gun in the morning? I reckon she’d not have these same problems because her hands just don’t “consume” the gun like mine so.

Trigger

This is the one that really bugs me.

I have noticed when I shoot the gun weak-hand-only (left hand), sometimes the trigger hangs up on something and will not fully depress and the gun will not go bang.

That’s…. bothersome.

It only happened once today (and blew an otherwise perfect run on a test, argh!), but it’s happened to me enough times in dry practice too.

Frankly, that it happens once is one time too many. At least, for a piece of life-saving equipment.

I’m not sure what’s going on with it, why the trigger is hanging up like that. But because it doesn’t always happen and seems to involve the “angle” at while my left index finger is pressing the trigger and maybe “pulling” or “pushing” it into something well… this is not the man, this is the machine that’s at fault. The trigger should NOT require me to have to press it “just so” in order for the gun to work. There’s something wrong.

And if I remember correctly, this did happen before I installed the Apex hard sear, so I don’t think it has anything to do with that change or part.

Capacity

I’ve touched on this before, but gee, it really made things go slow. With only 6+1 (plus 7 in the extended mag for a reload), I would have to reload after almost every string since most required more than 3 shots. It got really old, things went really slow. It will be partially remedied when/if S&W ever starts selling magazines, but even still, a couple of the drills I had to modify because I just didn’t have enough ammo period.

On the one hand, having 17+1 in my full-sized M&P9 really helps with the administrative side of things. On the personal defense side having 17+1 means you can handle a lot more. While I just shot drills, that I couldn’t manage 2 strings in a row is a bit bothersome… what if that equates to having to deal with 2 bad guys in a row?

My Finger

Get this.

The day after, I noticed the pad of my right ring finger was hurting. There were a couple “white dots” on it, a hint of purple, and the pad was very tender… like it was bruised.

I realized it was due to the Shield. All that shooting with the flush magazine and how my fingers then wrapped around and interacted with the gun during recoil. It just beat the dickens out of my finger.

Never had that happen before.

It’s not a horrible thing, but when a primary activity in your day is typing, and a secondary activity is grasping things, well… you get a constant reminder of it being there. It’s annoying.

Conclusion

All in all, I shot well and did a lot better with the Shield than I expected. I did find myself mashing the trigger more due to the ergonomics of the gun. I haven’t touched my full-sized gun since I started this Shield experiment, but I really should go back and see how it goes. I hope I didn’t pick up too many bad habits, and I hope I can undo my trigger mashing. I didn’t think to bring the full-sized M&P with me so I could do some side-by-side comparison, but I now wish I had.

The trigger problem bothers me.

So I’m warming up to the Shield in some respects… but I’m still not sure it’s right for me.