self defense

EDC blades

/ hsoi / 14 Comments

Inspired by this post over at The Packing Rat, here are my EDC (Every Day Carry) blades:

The leftmost is a Leatherman Wave which is certainly the most action-packed of the EDC blades… because it’s more than just a blade. In fact, I use it more for the non-blade tools than the blade. But certainly if I want a saw or a serrated edge, that’s what I go for.

The other two are Spyderco Delica‘s. Yes, I carry two of them, one in each front pant pocket, both tip-up. This is a training artifact from an Insights Training Center Defensive Folding Knife class. You don’t think you need two knives until you can’t get to the one you need….  I like plain blades because it gets the job done just fine, and honestly it makes the knife less scary to grass-eaters. I also like the simplicity of the Delica… small enough in the hand so it’s not something to fumble or difficult to manipulate, but big enough to handle most chores. The large thumbhole is very easy to operate, even under pressure. It’s very sturdy. Holds a good edge. And if it gets lost or breaks, it’s not too expensive to cry over and easy enough to replace. The only trouble I keep having is the clips keep catching on various things that I brush up against so I’m always having to fix the clip (#6 torx bit is your friend). At least the clips are metal so it’s easy to bend back into shape with even a little overbend for better holding power.

One thing I often hear from folks is to not use your “self-defense” knives for anything else. Uh… why not? You should use it for everything. Need to open a letter? Use it. Need to open a box? Use it. Need to cut something? Use it. Or like Derek at TPR, “I’ve cracked open crabs, gutted fish, open beer bottles, cut tinder, start fires, etc.”  It’s a tool, use the tool. The more you use it, the adept you get at manipulating it, drawing it, opening it, and having it feel comfortable and usable in your hands. So the blade gets dull…. sharpen it!

Knives are useful tools. Oldest has a pocket knife but despite my constant prodding for him to carry it he won’t. Daughter adopted my old Leatherman Micra and did carry it around some but lost it. I figure a replacement will come eventually. Youngest, he needs to gain more confidence in using a knife first. But we’ll get there. 🙂  Hrm… maybe a Delica or a smaller Leatherman for Christmas stocking stuffers…. hrm…. 🙂

I refuse to be prey

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

I know a fair number of my readers come for the gun stuff, the self-defense stuff, etc.. Given that, a lot of you probably find my fitness stuff something to ignore.

Don’t.

If you don’t want to care about my nitty-gritty, certainly that’s fine.

But you should care about fitness. You should care about the state of your body and what it can (and perhaps can’t) do.

One good aspect of self-defense? Being able to run away, and I do mean run. People have a mistaken notion they will rise to the occasion — you won’t. Or even if you will, and even if you get that fabled super-human strength well… can you bank on that happening? Should you bank on it?

If you struggle to get out of your desk chair, that’s not good. If you can’t squat down to pick things up off the floor, apart from the fact bending over probably makes your concealed handgun print like crazy or just be flat-out exposed, if you can’t move around your own bodyweight either you need to shed some of that bodyweight or get strong enough to carry it around.

When the fur flies, you need to be able to handle the physical aspects involved, even if that’s just running away. If the struggle is physical, can you handle the event? And while being and presenting the appearance of a big strong lion doesn’t prevent attacks (I believe one of Karl’s students, big huge muscular badass guy, was explicitly targeted during a gang initiation attack because they wanted to try to take out the biggest baddest dude they could), on the whole I’d say looking like the baddest sheepdog will tell the predators to go find easier prey.

Can you run to the end of the block and not bat an eye? Or does it kill you just to walk to the end of the driveway? Can you lift your range bag into the car without a struggle and carry it around the range without huffing and puffing?

Be honest with yourself.

Sure, I’m really enjoying lifting weight and working on a strength-building program. I even had a fleeting thought that it might be fun, once I get up there in poundages and if I’d be competitive, to try out an amateur powerlifting meet. But I’m not doing this because I want to be some big strong guy.

I do this because I don’t want to be decrepit.

I see how many people 50+ years of age have trouble getting around and even doing simple things like picking stuff off the floor or getting out of a chair. I see people with canes and walkers and struggling to get around. Heck, going to Mass and all the sitting, standing, and kneeling that Catholics do and I see how many people struggle to just get through a Mass! It’s not that strenuous, but there’s also no reason to be that way… it’s preventable.

Now I’m not talking people who might have medical conditions or other issues that necessitate such assistance. And I know that I can’t guarantee that I won’t have a stroke at age 50 and need walking assistance. But apart from those extenuating circumstances, I lift because if I do live to be 80 I want to still be able to bounce around and enjoy the life I have while I have it.

And who knows… if I’m 80 that also puts me in a position of being more vulnerable to predators. I refuse to be prey.

Quote for the day

/ hsoi

When it comes to preparing for individual security….

Amateurs think equipment,
Students think techniques,
Experts think tactics.

– John Holschen, Insights Training Center

Gear is fun, but get something that works and run with it (e.g. Glock’s aren’t pretty, but they work and they’re reliable). Techniques help you know what to do with that equipment. But tactics are what see you through the situation.

When you seek instruction, yes seek instruction on gear, yes seek instruction on technique. But too many people stop there. You really have to go to the next level and think about tactics and how to work and think on that higher level.

Personal Security Checklist

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

Another nice find from The Packing Rat, a personal security checklist. Even if you’re not into firearms but appreciate the notion of staying safe and out of harm’s way, you should read and heed.

Attacked in his own home – lessons to learn

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

A man was attacked in his own home by two men armed with knives: (h/t to LowTechCombat’s FB page)

 

A man was attacked with a knife in his own home, police said. […] The 52-year-old found two strangers in his hallway. When he confronted them, one of them struck him with a knife. Police said they think it is a case of mistaken identity. The two men then left the house and the injured man alerted emergency services. […] Detective Constable Nick Gribben, at Pollok CID, said: “This would appear to be a totally unprovoked attack on an innocent man.

 

 

Scary eh?

I found a BBC report that seems to be the same, with the only added detail that the man was home when he heard a noise and went to investigate.

To me, the lesson is preparedness.

My first thought was, the man was out of his home, the thugs broke in, and when the man returned home he was attacked. Many people are all into the notion of home defense, but it’s curious why that doesn’t extend into personal defense. The fact is, most attacks occur outside the home, so all your “home defense shotgun” stuff doesn’t do you much good in the parking lot of the shopping mall. Then, if the attacker is already in your home, what good does the shotgun do you if you can’t get to it when you need it?

But since the man was home, he went to investigate and wasn’t prepared for what he found. Granted, most of us don’t expect to find someone else in our home like this, but that’s what being prepared is about.

A solution in both cases? Like Tom Givens says, “carry your damn gun, people!” If it’s on you, it’s there when you need it. Because the reality is, you don’t get an invitation with an R.S.V.P. weeks in advance to when you’ll be attacked. It will be sudden, unexpected, and a surprise.

It’s a shame tho. This gentleman was in the UK…. a country that now puts the rights of criminals above those of the good citizenry, that empowers thieves and robbers and cripples the law-abiding.

 

That’s right, just be a victim

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

18 year old woman is attacked. Fights back. Comes out on top.

Good for her.

What boils my blood?

 

“We are well and truly impressed. Often we don’t encourage people to fight back, because it can make things worse, but she acted with a great degree of bravery and she’s done a great job,” Detective Sergeant Shane Dye said.

 

So their official protocol is to just be a victim, to just lie there and take it and let violent criminals have their way with you.

Based upon that, I’m supposed to look my daughter in the eye and tell her if some man attacks her, she’s supposed to just lie there and take it.

If someone attacks my wife (again), she’s supposed to just “give them what they want”, even if it’s her dignity and life.

I have a problem with this. I wish more people did too.

Rangemaster’s Defensive Shotgun – AAR

/ hsoi / 13 Comments

I spent yesterday as a student in Rangemaster’s Defensive Shotgun course, hosting at KR Training. This is my After Action Report (AAR).

Background

I’m mixed on the use of a shotgun for self/home/office defensive purposes. While there’s no questioning the brutality and lethality of a shotgun, there are numerous limitations of the platform. I still tend to lean towards an AR for home defense, but I’ve softened my stance towards the shotgun. Consequently, I’ve wanted to learn more about the “fighting shotgun”. I picked up Magpul’s Art of the Dynamic Shotgun. Last time Tom Givens was in town I picked up a copy of his new Defensive Shotgun DVD. Naturally, when I heard Tom was coming back to town to teach a shotgun course, I had to take the class. Not just because of the subject material, but I hate missing opportunities to train with Tom.

The Class

This is a “level 1” course. Everyone in the class was familiar with shooting to various levels, so there wasn’t a need to get rudimentary about all things shooting, but the class was focused on shotgun background and shotgun skillset foundations. Note: the skills presented were in the context of fighting shotgun use. This was not about sport, no clays, no skeet, no duck nor dove hunting. It’s important to understand that context.

The background part was quite useful. Tom covered history of the shotgun, different types of shotguns, different types of ammo, nomenclature, modifications and accessories. Tom’s been around and involved in so much for so long, and while he may not always focus on history, if you pay attention to the things he says and the experiences he tells about, you wind up with a greater understanding of how the gun world came to be what it is today. This is part of the reason why taking classes with Tom Givens is so worth the time and money. Sure this isn’t “tactical”, but it’s good and important to know.

The other main portion of the class was focused on basic skills of manipulation. We all know how to shoot a shotgun and make a hit, that’s not a problem. Where is the problem? Manipulating the shotgun. That was the focus of the skills portion of the class.

We worked dry for a while, on basics of stance, ready positions, moving from ready to a solid firing position. One of the biggest things we had to learn was how to deal with a pump-action shotgun. See, we’re all mostly handgunners, and whether you shoot a semi-automatic or a revolver, we press the trigger and the gun goes bang… then we don’t have to do anything to chamber the next round in order for us to make the gun go bang again. With a pump shotgun, we have work to do! So when we shoot, pressing the trigger is NOT the end of our work cycle, we must also pump the gun and THEN we’re done. The mantra for the day was “click-chunk-chunk” (or “boom-chunk-chunk”) — I named it the Tom Givens Waltz. That’s what has to happen every time you fire that pump-action shotgun: click-chunk-chunk, click-chunk-chunk, click-chunk-chunk. That must become habit. Chances are you won’t have to fire again, but then there’s a chance you might — you need to keep the gun running and ready for action.

Keeping the gun running is really what it’s all about. So we have to learn how to keep the gun well-fed since the magazine doesn’t hold much ammo. Shoot one? load one. Shoot two? load two. Techniques for keeping the gun loaded and ready to go were taught, and you do come to appreciate shell carriers on the shotgun (e.g. butt cuff, side saddle).

Tom had us run a great drill called “Rolling Thunder”. Groups of 4 or 5 people stepped up to the line, each loading 1 round in the chamber. On the go signal, the leftmost person started and shot one. As soon as that person shot, the person to their right shot, and so on down the line until reaching the last person. When the last person shot, we went back to the start of the line and now this person fired 2 shots, and so on down the line 2 shots each. Then 3 shots. Then 4 shots. Note, this meant as soon as you shot, you had to get your gun reloaded with the correct number of shells for the next go-round. The goal was to have a constant string of “boom” going off, so you had to not only pay attention to what was going on so you didn’t miss your cue, but then you had to hustle and get your gun reloaded in time to not break the string. That pressure really tells a great deal about how you need to work and function, what equipment can work under pressure, what what won’t. And if you’re going to fuck up, you’ll do it here. 🙂  A great drill for not only working all the basic skills, but pushing you and putting you, your equipment, and your techniques on trial.

Another important skill we learned was dealing with “cruiser ready” as the proper mode for keeping a shotgun. It’s simple: shotguns are not drop-safe. Mossberg told me their shotguns are drop-safe, but I’m wary. Even if theirs are, others are not. Thus, storing a shotgun with one in the pipe is dangerous and should be avoided, so cruiser-ready is the way to go. We worked on how to set this up, how to get into action, and how to properly unload and restore cruiser-ready condition. Proper unloading technique isn’t as easy as you think.

We ran mostly birdshot because — birdshot is for birds. But it’s also good for practicing basic skills because it’s inexpensive. We did run some buckshot and even did Rolling Thunder once with buckshot so people could see how bad their stance was as the recoil pushed them backwards. 🙂  Oddly, we didn’t run slugs, tho we were supposed to bring some. Not sure why we didn’t.

One great thing about being in class with a lot of other people and guns was being able to see what worked and what didn’t and how other choices worked out. This was most evident when we spent time patterning buckshot, which I’ll talk more about later.

The skills presented were the fundamentals. No, we didn’t shoot tactical courses, we didn’t get all high-speed-low-drag. In fact, most of our shooting was done standing at the 5 yard line. What we did do was learn the foundational skills necessary to run the shotgun in a defensive context and run it well, to enable us to fight and to keep fighting. Upon these skills everything will be laid.

My Takeaway

I’m happy I took the course because it addressed the key thing that I needed: manipulation skills. Whenever I tried working with a shotgun, I struggled with one key thing: reloading technique. I mentioned in my review of the Magpul shotgun DVD that the best thing I liked about that DVD was learning good reloading techniques. I took some things from the Magpul approach (e.g. first 2 shells in my side-saddle were brass up, last 4 shells were brass down), then went with Tom’s approach. In the end, I’ll probably have a hybrid of the two. But again, this key bit of manipulation is so fundamental to fighting with the shotgun and keeping it (and you) in the fight.

Another thing that that I improved upon was my grip and stance. I’ve been putting my head on the comb of the stock. No, I should be bringing the comb to my cheek. Keeps my head up, straight, and I’m not banging my thumb knuckle into my face any more. I still need to work on keeping my thumb from wrapping around the grip (that’ll be a hard habit to break), but I may not break that habit since if we’re talking “commonality of technique” across firearms well.. I keep my thumb wrapped with my handgun, why break that habit? Keeping my head up and back, bringing the gun to my cheek instead of my head to the gun, seems to have made a big difference and enough to keep me from getting whacked in the face along with the other advantages of that technique.

My shotgun is mostly factory stock. It’s a Mossberg 500, thus 12 gauge, pump action. It’s a field model (i.e. wood furniture), so it came with a long barrel, but I replaced it with Mossberg’s factory 18.5″ “security” barrel, which has a fixed cylinder choke and a simple bead sight. I learned a bit more about how to use that bead sight correctly and my confidence in using it improved. Frankly, I think the bead is pretty darn fast, due to its simplicity. Now that I know better technique, I’d like to now check out how accurate I can be with slugs; I wouldn’t be surprised if this is why Jay and I had some accuracy problems with slugs during our shotgun ammo trials.

It did make me think a bit about gun modifications. The only “true mod” to my shotgun is putting a side-saddle AND a buttcuff on it (why both? because the only ammo you’re going to have is the ammo on the gun, and is there any such thing as too much ammo?). Tom talked about decreasing the length-of-pull, and we all got to try his shotgun with a 13″ LOP. Big improvement, especially in terms of mounting the shotgun from the high-ready position. I’m going to look into doing that. Do I want different sights on the gun? Not sure, and probably not. The bead is quite sufficient, so it seems. I still tinker with the idea of putting an Aimpoint T-1 on it, mostly so I can shoot with both eyes open. But I’m really not sure. Part of the appeal of a shotgun is that it’s an inexpensive solution. Almost everyone in class had “black tactical shotguns”, save for (fellow KRT asst. instructor) Tom Hogel and myself, who both had wood furniture (Brian Brown, another KRT asst. instructor, ribs us for our use of “grandpa guns”… tho since Tom’s has an EOTech on it, it’s a tactical grandpa gun 🙂 ). When you start down that road, it’s just more and more money. Is it worth it? Perhaps. But I can tell you based upon what I saw that my almost-factory wooden Mossy did quite well, and it’s more about the person running the gun than the gun itself.

That said, I still think about getting a more “tactical” gun mostly for the extra magazine capacity and more steel parts (and less plastic). But really… there’s lots of frills and trinkets out there, whose purpose is mostly to separate you from your money.

But in the end, I’m happy with the class. I’m happy with my gun. I’m happy with how I did, and what I got from the class. Lots of practice ahead, and thankfully just about all these skills can be practice dry at home with a good set of A-Zoom snap caps.

Observations

  • 18 people in the class. All male. Ages ranged from 20-ish to 60-ish.
  • About half the people in class I recognized.
  • 15 pumps, 3 semi-autos. I think most were Remington 870’s, then Mossberg’s of various pump flavors, at least one Benelli, a Winchester. I didn’t get to directly survey every gun out there.
  • Semi-autos are going to have problems, be ammo finicky. Manual of arms may be simpler, but everything else is much more complex than a pump. Pump may require more manipulation skills, but it’s a simpler machine and should run almost anything.
  • When choosing a pump, make sure when the forend is pulled all the way back it doesn’t cover the loading port. If it does, replace it.
  • It’s important to label shotguns in class, esp. when you have a whole bunch of black Remington 870’s on the line… whose is whose? But when you have a wood stock, you don’t need a label. 🙂
  • Side-saddles and butt-cuffs are important.
  • Sling? In this context, more of a liablity than a help.
  • Rifled shotgun barrels have one specific application context, and this isn’t it.
  • If it screws onto the gun, it will screw off the gun. There’s a lot of recoil going on.
  • When it comes to buckshot, Federal’s 00 buck with FLITECONTROL, low recoil (if it’ll cycle in your gun… again, pump no problem) is going to run amazingly well. While shotgun ammo patterns can vary from gun to gun, this stuff was amazingly consistent out of any gun it shot from. Really, when it comes to choosing buckshot for your shotgun, this is the place to start… and try both the 8 and 9 pellet versions to see which works better in your gun (Tom made a good case for 8 pellet and I’ll probably pick up some eventually and see how it does in my gun vs. the 9 pellet in my gun).
    • Read my post on Shotgun ammo and patterns, with a lot of buckshot pattern pictures. If this doesn’t convince you to use Federal with FLITECONTROL….
    • Also read the Addenda because it has some good links to things like ATK’s brochure on their shotgun ammo.
  • If you pick up Rangemaster’s Defensive Shotgun DVD, it will cover a lot of what we did in class, without the shooting or helpful instructors. It’s certainly a good place to start, but I’ll tell you… I watched that DVD before I took the class. It was good, but taking the class made it come alive — you just can’t beat actually training with Tom. The DVD will be quite useful now as a reference resource, and I know watching it now that I’ll “get it” a lot more. Point? Train with Tom if you get the chance.
  • Speaking of DVD’s, the class gave me a different perspective on the Magpul shotgun DVD. I think Tom’s a little more focused, a little more no-nonsense. I’m not going to say what’s in the Magpul stuff is bad (a lot was consistent with what Tom said), but it’s a matter of the presentation. Tom’s is very honed and focused on one topic. The Magpul attempts to be honed and focused, but it doesn’t quite succeed as it’s attempting to mostly be able fighting but there’s some gaming and other presentational aspects to it. I think both are good, and them along with live-instructor training would be useful for anyone interested in using a shotgun in a fighting context.
  • And I’ve said it a hundred times and I’ll say it a hundred more… people, sunscreen is your friend. Use it.

A big thank you to Tom Givens and his crew for coming down here to teach us. Always a pleasure and always a highly educational experience. Plus hey… it’s a lot of fun. 🙂

Guns in bars

/ hsoi

There are people who wonder why anyone would want to allow someone to carry a gun in a bar.

This past Friday I went to a local club to see a band play. I don’t know of the venue policy towards concealed carry, but having been there in the past I don’t recall seeing any prohibitive signs (e.g. 30.06, 51% or other signs that prohibit legal concealed carry in Texas), nor do I recall any sort of check done at the door (e.g. wands, frisking, bag searches). So I’m pretty sure I would have been fine to carry. If I did carry, I would have chosen a more restrictive means of carry, since being in tight crowds, people are going to bump into it, you will get jostled about if you’re near the mosh pit, and things could be revealed or loosened.

Nevertheless, just because the venue was one way before doesn’t mean it’s that way this time around (I’ve been to venues with changing behaviors), so I just equip myself with alternative but acceptable mechanisms and leave the carry gun at home.

What always bothers me about it is I know what goes on at shows — especially heavy metal shows. There’s beer, there’s pot, and there’s a lot of testosterone. Mix that up with aggressive music, and it could mean trouble. Granted, most of the time it does not mean trouble. In fact, the only trouble I saw at this show was some kid and his friend getting kicked out for underage drinking. I’ve been to hundreds of shows over my life, and most of the time it is not a problem. If someone does get a little too stupid, usually it’s someone drank too much and can’t handle their alcohol so their friends or the bouncers take care of things easily. I’ve seen the pit get ugly a couple of times, but the group usually clamps down on that because there’s an unwritten code to follow and malicious violence is not tolerated.

But I guess… the day Darrell Abbott, better known as “Dimebag Darrell” legendary guitarist for Pantera and Damageplan, was brutally murdered while performing on stage…. and then some other stories not too long after that (I recall one of someone getting knifed)…. it gives you pause.

Then you have stories like these.

So why would it be bad if I carried my gun in a bar/restaurant/venue? Under the license agreement, I cannot drink. In fact, I didn’t drink at the show anyways because 1. it’s expensive, 2. I prefer having my faculties about me, not just if something went down but I can enjoy the show a lot more if I’m sober.

The reality? I’m sure there were people packing guns and other weapons at the show, likely illegally. You know… gang members don’t really care about laws. Even if the venue had signs prohibiting it, do you think they would have cared? Obviously no signs nor fences nor bouncers or lack of ticket nor much of anything deterred Nathan Gale.

Yes, statistics show that things are generally safe. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t have gone in the first place. But statistics are of little comfort to Rita Haney and Vinnie Paul.

Awareness FAIL

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

I was at the grocery store picking up a few things. Since it was only a few things, I used one of the self-checkout kiosks. There are 4 of them, and I was the only person using one.

While in the midst of checking out my basket of goods, a man walks right up to my kiosk and starts to try to use it.

“Excuse me… I’m using this.”

“Oh… sorry.”

I was stunned. How unaware could you be? Not the basket of groceries already there, the bagged goods, the kiosk screen showing a checkout in progress, not to mention me standing there checking out my groceries.

I finish up, head out, get home… and realize I forgot the ice cream.

I go back and pick it up… left it at the checkout stand.

I was so preoccupied and stunned by this person’s lack of awareness that I myself went unaware of my own groceries.

Kicked myself for my slip-up, but also served as a reminder to not be so harsh on others. We’re all human. We all make mistakes. We all go “code white”. I have no idea what he may have been preoccupied with or that was otherwise causing him to be so unaware; there may have been good reason. I certainly didn’t have a good reason for zoning out.

A good lesson for me, in a couple of ways.

Cover YOUR bases

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

KR Training instructors were having a small discussion about less than leathal options, force disparity, and so on.

My personal take? We never know what we’ll be faced with, so it’s good to have the bases covered. Immediate thought is that we don’t all have the time and trouble for this… do we carry a gun, pepper spray, baton, need to get empty hand training, and start to look like Deputy Jay as we walk around? That’s not feasible for most of us.

My take is you need to be able to handle the situations relevant to you.

If you’re a bouncer at a bar, you’re more likely to deal with drunks that need to either be told to leave, be made to leave, and need to sober up. Gun isn’t viable in most of your daily work, but empty hand skills (especially locks and controlling techniques) along with perhaps some pepper spray are good for your needs.

A police officer? They interact with a wide array of circumstances and people and need to be prepared accordingly.

A private citizen… well, we all deal with vastly different circumstances. So what do YOU need? If you don’t know, ask  yourself. Consider what you do on a daily basis, where you go, what you deal with, how you live your life, what you encounter, etc.. If you haven’t played the “what if” game, now’s a good time to start. You can start to ask “OK, what if this happened right here right now? how would I respond?” Maybe what you need are good verbal skills (e.g. a SouthNarc “Managing Unknown Contacts” skillset) and a good set of running shoes! If drunk Uncle Joe comes around a lot, knowing a few wrist locks might be useful to escort him to the bedroom to sleep it off. If you work the night shift, carrying a good flashlight at all times. I rarely have desire for pepper spray, except perhaps for dogs. And my desire for spray has upped because my dog doesn’t always play well with other dogs, and other dogs like to approach my dog. Point being, what was once my plan has changed, and I’m willing to let my plans change, evolve, or even be thrown out should my circumstances change. If you have a hole in your coverage, fill it.

Exactly what you need depends upon you and your situation. No one can give you a set list. The key, in my mind, is to ensure you have YOUR bases covered as best you can. If you don’t know what that is, figure it out now while you have time to think and formulate a plan, instead of later when you wish you had a plan.