Author: hsoi

Any time any where

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

Midnight Rider recounts his home invasion story. (h/t to Xavier). This is worth reading, so you can learn from others.

Key points that stood out to me:

  • Scumbags are opportunists. The front door was open, the dude thought he could just walk right in. Note of course little thought was given to the fact someone might be home, and that person at home might be armed.
    • There is a preference for easy targets. Don’t make yourself one.
  • Training, Training, Training
    • Don’t think you can just buy/have a gun and it will be a talisman against evil. You have to know how to use the gun, but you also need that additional “mindset training“
  • Cops responded quickly, but still not quick enough if dude opted to get ugly. The well being and safety of MR and his family were his (and their) own responsibility.
  • No fear.
  • The handier your gun is, the better. When I was first picking up firearms I read Kathy Jackon’s take on safe storage around children. She said for defensive guns that a great place is right on your hip, which makes sound sense. Even when I’m at home, I carry because shit happens in a matter of seconds, and with a piece on my hip no matter where I am there’s a gun handy. Like MR, I too have folks thinking I’m nuts for doing that, but his story demonstrates why it’s good.

And to quote MR:

Gun control statistics are bullshit. This is one drawn gun incident that will never be reported as such because no shots were fired. How many more like this for every time a shot is fired in self defense?

Correcting handgun shooting problems

/ hsoi / 35 Comments

It’s not hard to shoot a handgun, but it isn’t easy to shoot a handgun well and consistently. I’ve spoken with numerous people that can get shots on paper, but not always where they wanted the shots to go. The nice thing is that, depending where those shots are landing, you use that to diagnose what the problem likely is.

The June 2009 Rangemaster newsletter has a helpful article on this very topic.

Another useful help is this “sportshooter.com” correctional target.  Aim for the center with each and every shot and see where your holes end up. Depending which section of the target the holes end up in you can use that as a tool to diagnose your problem. It is made for right-handed shooters (left-handers just flip it over). But I hacked up a version for the lefties! Choose accordingly.

Correction Target for Left-Handed Shooters

Correction Target for Right-Handed Shooters

Updated: Based upon a comment I received I went Googling for an answer. You can see the target (which, by the way, I didn’t create) lists that it’s based upon the US Army Marksmanship Unit Pistol Training Guide. You can find a copy of this guide at The Encyclopedia of Bullseye Pistol.

Updated 2: I realized that just saying “flip it over” wasn’t ideal. Sure you could if the paper you printed it on was thin enough but still, not ideal. So, I took a few minutes in GraphicConverter and made an inverted version just for you lefties!

Updated 3: While the above targets are nice because they tell you WHAT you are doing wrong, they don’t tell you HOW you can correct it. Click here for a brief article with some HOWTO’s for correcting the above problems.

Updated 4: Here’s perhaps a better (or at least more humorous, and arguably more accurate) chart. 🙂

Future Darwin Award winner?

/ hsoi / 5 Comments

Unfortunately I cannot embed the video, but go watch this video. If the video disappears (updated: it did. Here’s a YouTube link), it’s a video of a shooting drill in a handgun class. Large number of students up at the line, about 3 yards from targets. Instructor is actually up in line with the targets, kneeling down facing the students. Instructor has a camera and wants to shoot the students shooting at him! He gives the command to fire 5 rounds, all the students kneel and begin to fire… again, the instructor is downrange and the bullets are flying in his basic direction. The one student he is shooting with his camera doesn’t fire at first, I assume so the instructor can get a few pictures taken. Instructor then tells the student to start shooting (the instructor is kneeling immediately next to the target being shot at), more pictures taken, then before the student finishes shooting the student has a malfunction. I’m to understand sometimes this instructor has students load dummy rounds to practice malfunctions, so hard to say if this was a real malfunction or not but I suspect dummy rounds (you’ll note others in the video have malfunctions too). Nevertheless, the instructor drops his camera down and instructs the student on how to clear the malfunction and continue, again all done with the instructor downrange. Video ends.

The instructor appears to be James Yeager of Tactical Response. Even with all that training and résumé, he still violates the rules, has his students violate the rules. I’d love to hear his explanation for this one.

Yeah yeah, technically it’s OK because bullets only fly in straight lines and so long as you’re “off the X” and you trust all these students will fire directly in front of them well yeah… strictly speaking you won’t get hit. That doesn’t mean this isn’t stupid and doesn’t violate every damn safety rule. These are students. Note the one that turns around in “Full Sabrina” with his finger on the trigger. No doubt as well that the instructor got muzzle flashed during the one student’s clearing of the malfunction.

The instructor is either really trusting, really crazy, really stupid, or a combination. To me this comes across as irresponsible and reckless. But hey, if he’s been doing it for years and there are people that wish to train that way, I guess so be it. Not for me.

Updated: Ry weighs in.  Robb Allen too.

Updated: ToddG as well. I’m still waiting for someone to say “Wow, what a great idea!” and certainly curious what the justification for such behavior is. And all those people that come out of the class…. what do they think about that behavior?

Updated again: This video of course has been making the rounds and has been subject of much discussion. It has been confirmed by Yeager himself that this is video of one of his classes, but the guy taking pictures is “Jay” not Yeager.

My main beef here is, at least from what you can tell in the video, this is not a class of advanced students. If the one shooter has to be told by Jay how to clear a malfunction, this is certainly a beginner/intermediate-level class.

Furthermore, shit happens. Maybe the students are well and good enough and the “pucker factor” of a person downrange makes sure you keep all your rounds on target. But people screw up, shit happens, and while maybe you haven’t gotten shot yet all it takes is once. If we do all this training so we can preserve our lives, why willingly put yourself in such a potentially terminal situation? What end does this serve? It doesn’t make a lot of sense. But I guess it just means I’m not “man” enough or “warrior” enough to train with Yeager. Fair enough.

He’s gotten his 15 minutes and mountains of free P.R.. We don’t need to give him any more.

Learn to be still

/ hsoi

While a “newer” song by The Eagles (tho what now, 15 years old?), I always thought the lyrics to “Learn To Be Still” were spot-on good advice:

If the flowers in your garden don’t smell so sweet, maybe you have forgotten the heaven lying at your feet.

Learn to be still.

Continue reading →

Prevent rape? Fight back!

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Michael Bane provides a link to a study whose conclusion was simple: to stave off rape and/or sexual assault, fight back. In one case outlined by the study, a man raping a woman forced a kiss upon his victim and she bit his tongue. Yes I know, sounds gross, but it was effective.

From the article:

Forceful physical resistance is an extremely successful strategy. The completed rape dropped to 14% when the rapist’s attempt was met with violent physical force. Striking was more successful than pushing or wrestling. Physical resistance also appeared to be more effective when assault occurred outdoor[5].

Women who used knives or guns in self-defence were raped less than 1% of the time. Defensive use of edged or projectile weapons reduced the rate of injury to statistical insignificance[7].

Emphasis added.

Whenever you undertake a task you always do well to have the best tools for the job. And while a weapon, such as a gun, is a mighty effective tool in such situations, the most important tool is to have the mindset to fight.

Hooray beer!

/ hsoi

So apparently beer is better at rehydrating you than just plain water.

Professor Manuel Garzon, a member of Granada’s medical faculty, made the finding after tests on 25 students over several months. Researchers believe that it is the sugars, salts, and bubbles in a beer that may help people absorb fluids more quickly.

[…]

Garzon said that the rehydration effection in those who were given [two half pints of Spanish lager] was “slightly better” than those who were given only water. He also believes that the carbon dioxide in beer helps quench thirst more quickly, and that beer’s carbohydrates replace calories lost during physical exertion.

[…]

Based on the results of the study, researchers recommend moderate consumption of beer as a part of athletes’ diets. “Moderate consumption” for men is 500ml per day, and for women is 250ml per day.

Make some sense, but let’s not forget that alcohol is a diuretic; plus there’s that whole drunkenness thing. 🙂  So… non-alcoholic beer better for you post-workout? I see the line forming for future studies. 😀

Personally I’ll stick with water during my workouts, but I do like to have a glass of milk post-workout for the same basic reasons as the beer: it will rehydrate, there’s some sugars, and the milk has some protein; all good things to ingest post-workout. Heck, my old dojang was across from a McDonald’s. If after a couple hours of working out I was rather drained I’d sometimes pull through the drive-thru for a small french fries as the potassium in the potatoes, the salt on them, and the simple starches within were all good as a post-workout recharge. Maybe not part of some Olympic-athlete-level diet, but it works for me.

Frankly I think life is good if you enjoy a little of everything now and again — nothing in excess.

Sunday Metal – Lazarus A.D.

/ hsoi

Lazarus A.D. is a new band. I didn’t know about them until I saw them open for Testament. I caught half their set (they went on stage earlier than we expected), but what I did see was most impressive. This band has chops. They may be young guys but they know their thrash metal. The drumming is fast and furious but not overdone (i.e. not just being fast to be fast, blast beats to blast beat). The guitar riffs are melodic, fast, syncopated. Dueling guitars, harmony leads, but the two guitarists have unique styles… while listening to them at the show I thought it was much like Slayer in that regard, with Dan Gapen’s leads reminding me of Kerry King and Alex Lackner of Jeff Hanneman; they’re not a Slayer clone by any means, just that came to mind as I was listening to them. Still, if you like Slayer you will probably dig Lazarus A.D..

I also like their songwriting. Again, these guys know their thrash. They know how to structure songs. You will find your head banging along. Certainly the songs can inspire quite the pit.

Their live show was great. They worked hard to put on a show. Certainly I’d see these guys live again. But until that time, I’ll have to settle of their debut CD “The Onslaught”. They were impressive enough to make me want to plunk down $15 for their CD right there from the merch table at the show. The band was by their merch table meeting fans and autographing the CD liner notes. I got mine autographed, plus had a bonding moment with Alex Lackner. Apparently Alex is a Corrosion of Conformity fan as well; he was wearing a COC shirt that night and also had the COC belt buckle. I had my COC belt buckle on as well. We shared a little COC-fandom. 🙂  Anyway, I’ve been listening to “The Onslaught” ever since I brought it home, at least once or twice a day while I’m working. It rocks. “Every Word Unheard”, “Revolution”, “Thou Shall Not Fear” are choice cuts.

If you want some new metal that isn’t nü-metal, check out Lazarus A.D.:

State AG’s against gun bans

/ hsoi

Have I mentioned how I love living in Texas?

Texas State Attorney General, the Honorable Greg Abbott, was among 23 other AG’s sending a letter to U.S. AG Eric Holder opposing any attempts at gun bans.

It’s not about guns folks, it’s about freedom. And yes, freedom of choice, and the ability to protect that freedom of choice. If you don’t understand what I mean, ask.