Taking Responsibility

The most important trait I see in a leader is an outward facing view, versus an inward. A selfless versus selfish. I struggled with this early in my military career for lots of reasons. I was fortunate to have great leaders show me the way. The easiest way to describe the journey was by taking responsibility. I know that sounds silly, but it is a powerful and simple step. By taking responsibility it forced me to be more assertive, focused and goal driven. I liked it and it worked well for me, but sometimes it is easy to return to old habits. To pass the buck, shuck responsibility or the worst…blame others.

Risk Avoidance

Recently I had a less than pleasant experience with a holster manufacture. I’m working on a project to outfit various compact pistols with weapon mounted lights. That’s a whole other story, but the project has identified a major failure point. There are not many holster manufactures producing quality gun/light combos. The problem with such poor options is mainly tied to risk mitigation. It takes time, talent and treasure to invest in a new product line and many manufactures will wait to see how the industry reacts to the new product. Will it do well, and be popular. Or, will it tank and be forgotten the next week. Even as an outsider, I can empathize. One reason this was such an interesting project. It reaffirmed the importance of agility, and future vision.

Being The Grey Man

The other problem is largely generated from my end. I tend to be low key and often purchase equipment through personal accounts with little to no connection to my business or reputation. Early in my career I got burnt and burnt bad so these days it is better to remain the grey man. What I like about being low key is I’m just another paying customer. A regular guy who expects nothing other than what I’m purchasing with my own funds. There are no expectation of freebies, discounts or quid pro quo. If I don’t like something I either toss it, or try to find it a new home. Very rarely will I work with the company to help improve their product. But on occasion I will share my observations. Of course, this insight comes from a “nobody” so can be perceived to be of little value by the vendor.

Troubleshooting a Problem

The ugly side to this methodology is when the situation turns sour. This is my fault because in this case the manufacture doesn’t know me. I always remind folks, you never know who you may be dealing with so treat them as if they know more than you. Until proven otherwise. It is a great philosophy! The holster was somehow defective or didn’t safely work. The problem was unique and in all my years the only time I’ve seen this occur. I couldn’t reinsert the pistol without removing the holster from my body. It was too risky to try and “shove” it into the holster when clearly there was something preventing the pistol from being properly and safely reinserted. Even when I removed it from my body there was still a sticking point. I initially reached out to request a refund and the manufacture wanted to troubleshoot. No problem, I provided some context along with a video showing the problem when attempting to re-holster. Their response was ultimately to blame me for the problem. Their reasoning was my belt was too tight or I needed to move the holster to a different position. Could this be possible, of course, was it probably, nope. In the end, I settled for a refund minus a restocking fee and that was the rub.

What Is The Lesson

My lesson seems so clear now. If I choose to provide feedback, I should have done it in a better way. Through a formal introduction. An offer to assist in the trouble shooting and solution with no strings attached. Maybe there isn’t a solution, maybe this was just a defective product or maybe this points to a broader production issue. Maybe the manufacture is not interested even after the formal introduction and that is fine as well. The bottom line is I should’ve taken ownership of the situation from the beginning in a better way. My intention was to help, to genuinely assist with this problem I believed was a one off issue.

Instead, I missed this opportunity. Mea culpa.

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Close Call

Why the big change? Because, only a few days earlier my son and I sat in that very same movie theater. After enough accurate information was released I put myself back in those seats to brainstorm how I would’ve handled a similar situation. I’ve had many conversations about my thoughts with close friends. The big take aways were; low light, moderate distance and high percentage shots. I try not to let a single event reset my own system, but I’m all for allowing it to influence my thought process and in this case my loadout. It just so happened around that time, I had finished a 6-month experiment working to solve a problem for my old community. This problem centered around low light and running with pistols. In the end, mini-red dot sights or MRDS were the clear winner. I hadn’t put much thought into them for everyday carry scenario. This problem was very unique. Flash forward to the theater shooting and all of a sudden I’m interested.

Technology & Equipment

Low light is always challenging. You come to depend on technology and equipment. The use of night sights have been around for decades, but they somehow were not enough to solve my teammate’s problem, hence my involvement. Using a MRDS gave them anytime view ability, especially under night vision. In a darkened theater the MRDS would be hugely valuable, but under low light conditions it only tells me where I’m aiming. Sure, I could take aim at the muzzle flashes, but positive target identification is paramount. I’ve long opposed the necessity for weapon mounted lights for everyday carry. The added weight and size are barriers to entry for many. Over a decade and weapon mounted lights have come a long way as far as size and output. Now, I can have a smaller, more powerful light better suited for concealed carry. The problem wasn’t necessarily the WML, the problem was finding a good holster, comfortable for all day, every day type wear. Even today, there are very few. Of those around, even fewer that do a good job.

Surgical Style Shooting

Depending on where you sit in a movie theater you could have a close shot, or an extended shot under low light conditions. I have long commented the greatest MRDS advantage is accuracy at distance. Distances in movie theaters can vary, but a 10, 20 or 30 yards plus impossible shots becomes possible. High percentage shots were similar to a hostage type shot. Where there was minimum target availability along with maximum risk. With people running through a smoke filled theater it would be chaotic to say the least. Should you have a clear shot, you still have to be aware of your backstop and surroundings. While not technically a hostage the field of fire would more than likely be small if not tiny. The level of precision again is something a MRDS does exceptionally well. But, when you merry up the use of a powerful white light and target focus, it makes for an impressive package. Those that work in low light enough know the narrowing of your perceivable field of view. In this case, narrowing on the target and still being able to aim precisely are a winning combination.

The Tradeoffs Are Big

Up until the beginning of the pandemic I carried a compact as my daily carry pistol. At the time, it was not equipped with a MRDS or a WML. The primary reason was simple, many of my government clients were running iron sights on their duty pistols so it didn’t make sense for me. I would add the WML during training and remove it for concealment work after hours. Flash forward and currently the proliferation of MRDS at the government level is quickly growing. A client’s new program had me revisiting the subject, but in reverse. Now, I don’t want to be the only one without a MRDS. Due to the nature of the program it also required a WML. I was back to solving the problem of size and weight. As I mentioned so many advancements have made this easier today. Even so, there is still a massive difference in size and weight that cannot be ignored. The tradeoff is the very small percentage of scenarios where this combination would dominate versus the most likely scenario where they probably wouldn’t make a large enough difference.

Forward Thinking

With hostilities increasing on the home front I thought about this mass shooting and our new program. I don’t feel “under-gunned” running my micros, but I’m limited with WML’s and available holsters that accommodate both. This problem was the reason I revisit my compact pistols. I’m still carrying the micros, that’s not changing, but I had to be honest about my movie theater debrief. Was I ready for another similar type of event? Don’t mistake my commentary for only being able to solve this type of scenario with technology. It will always be the indian and not the arrow. But, it did spark my loadout reevaluation. My loadout also depends on the perceived threat. For instances, during the pandemic we saw some crazy behavior. Did it make sense to go with a heavier loadout, absolutely. Does it make sense to default to this condition, absolutely not.

The point is we all need to periodically review our loadout and preparation. Have you put critical thinking into these topics and if so what has changed as a result.

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There will always be a tipping point, where too much of a good thing can be bad. One scenario I have paid more attention to is with rifles; their weight and its effect on performance.

It’s Always About The Ounces

Ever since I can remember, there has always been an association with lighter being better. Again, not a blanket statement you can easily make when you factor in durability and reliability. The lighter option may not have the ability to take higher use. I saw this first hand in my military career when we were always trying to shave ounces off our gear. Having to carry the weight is one thing, having to fight with the weight is a completely different story. You feel its effect most often in a negtive manner. But, there was always the need to have a high reliability on the gear we used so it still had to be tough. Flash forward to modern times and you can still see a similar trend.

If You Know, You Know

We have a rifle weigh-in at the beginning of our rifle classes. What we are doing is collecting metrics to compare with performance. Do we see a trend of heavy to light weight rifles effecting shooting performance. By shooting performance we are talking about scores and overall final grade. Generally speaking the lighter the rifle, the higher the chance of passing the class. There could be a lot of different reasons for this trend. Maybe it has more to do with the end user understanding the idea of minimizing his loadout to the bear necessities. Someone with this mindset, might already have the prerequisite skills to be an above average shooter. Their marksmanship skills are tied to the idea of understanding performance.

Define The Mission

When we see rifles weighing more than normal, does it help or hurt the student’s performance. In general, weight and its effect on performanceit has hurt their ability to score high or achieve a passing grade. While we have only been collecting the rifle’s weight and its effect on performance for about three years, it does illustrate a belief that I have had for as long as I can remember. Having a light weight rifle with the minimum gear necessary to complete your mission should be your top priority. This goes further into defining your mission, specifically the mission of the rifle. Here is where we see many folks make mistakes. Without having a weight metric to include with their decision making matrix this very important point is left out. When you start to get into the weeds you have a better chance of identifying your needs more clearly.

Needs Vs. Wants

Define the mission for your rifle. For the vast majority, the rifle will fullfil an urban defensive mission. The range to target in these self-defense shootings will be close. What you need, versus what you want are two different subjects. When you start adding up all the accessories are they offering you advantage, a force multiplier. Or are they just there as a decoration. I refernce decoration for a lot of add on’s because most truly have no real need for some items. But, just because you don’t need them doesn’t mean you don’t add them on to the rifle. If you do, how will it affect your performance. Rather than tell you what you need, I will provide you some observations as it relates to the overall weight of the rifle unloaded.

What Is The Magic Number

I have found if you can keep your rifle to 8 pounds or less you are heading in the right direction regarding weight and its effect on performance. While I’ve seen rifles much heavier in our classes, the scores were also lower. I’m not saying don’t add to your rifle, but before you do ask this question. How will this positiviely and negatively effect my performance. If the added weight is going to push you over that 8 pound mark then you have that information in advance and make a more informed decision. Does the percieved advantage outweight the added weight…literally. Here is what we typically see on rifles in our classes that come in at the 8 pound mark. They are a light weight rifle to begin with, with some type of optical sight, usually a red dot sight with back up iron sights. They are all equiped with a sling and some have a weapon mounted white light. We will see short barrel rifles come in much lighter and when we add surpressors they typicaly come in a bit heavier. If you can combine the SBR with suppressor you get the best setup regarding weight.

Of course, you can still use a heavier rifle. You can build up a tolerence to the extra weight and to some extent bring balance to the equation, but always consider if it is a want versus a need.

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There are so many things we need to be thinking about when it comes to self defense. Have I trained enough, is my gear ready am I paying attention to my surroundings so testing defensive ammunition is easily lost in the commotion.

The Nuts & Bolts Of Performance

Over the years I have fired thousands of rounds testing defensive ammunition. These typically are of the hollow point design. The idea behind their design is pretty simple, the hollow point cavity expands through soft tissue. This expansion serves two purposes; creating a larger surface area for more damage as well as helping to slow down and limit penetration. When watching the various defeinsive ammunition review videos this will always be a metric that is collected and evaluated. The other metric commonly collected and of greater importance is the depth to which the projectile will penetrate. While the general understanding is a minimum of 12″ to a maximum of 18″ where did these figures come from.

The Ballistic Testing Origins

The FBI has long been the custodian of all things terminal performance. Dating back to shootout involving some harden suspects it was believed their ammunition failed them and thus began the caliber wars. Truthfully, ever since there has been mulitple calibers, there have been caliber wars. However, this was a watershed moment since it started to standarized how the industry develops and tests the terminal performance of projectiles. Decades ago, this information wasn’t as readily available as it is today so many were left to fend for themselves. There were a variety of test mediums that were believed could replicate or at least provide good feedback. Sadly, they were less than ideal. I used some of these tests myself, the half gallon milk carton test. My family would be forced feed milk and orange juice so I could collect enough cartons to conduct multiple tests. Believe me, you have no idea how good you got these days.

The Dreaded Curve Ball

As a consumer, I want a quality product for self defense. As a professional, I want to squeeze every ouce of performance I can from the available options. Everything was going well until the subcompact pistols with 3″ barrels or less entered the market. While I was quickly enamored with these little pocket rockets the problem wasn’t well known. These micro, short barrel pistols had a difficult time meeting typical ballistic performance standars we have all come to accept. Penetration and expansion were all suspect or at best inconsistent. As the popularity of these subcompact pistols grew so to did the available self defensive ammunition options. Now, the consumer and professional have some great choies to consider. Many well known ammunition brands have started producing “micro” or “short barrel” choices. After such a positive experience with a particular brand, I decided testing defensive ammunition to update my current subcompact ammunition choice.

Streamlinging To A Couple Choices

Like many others, I can be lazy or maybe I’m too busy to really put the time into research. Plus, with so many different carry pistols it was a pain to have a specific load for this pistol and a different load for that pistol. It would be nice if I could find one that does it all. At the very least for all my 4″ barrel or shoorter the Federal Personal Defense HST Micro 150gr JHP is a great choice. The real question is how does one go about “testing” this load for themselves. You start by reviewing all available resources online when it comes to terminal performance in gelatin. Ballistic gelatin has become the standards for penetration and expansion purposes. But, do you need the projectile to meet all the FBI standards? In my opinion, you do not. Bare and demin covered are more than adequate for the average consumer. Once you have watched several videos and reviewed the data you probably will come up with a couple of loads you might want to try. These loads have at least been through independent testing to meet the minimum requirements for penetration and expansion. Now what?

The Two Tests You Should Use

Testing defensive ammunition is pretty simple. I want to see how well they will perform at close range under rapid fire conditions. Then I want to see how well they will perform at extended ranges under slow fire conditions. The two tests I use are pretty simple and total 20 rounds, the typical single box quantity. Both of these tests are shot in our pistol classes so I have plenty of big picture data for comparison. The first test, the “TC Test”  is a modified version of the excellent “Test” from my good friend Larry Vickers. You will need a magazine of 9 rounds with a reload magazine of 1 round. Starting from the ready position at the 10 yard line at the signal the shooter will fire all 9 rounds, reload and fire the last round. The target to be used is the excellent TCT MK4 or NRA B8 target. The par time is 12 seconds; which is pretty generous and just enough to push the envelope. If you are scoring 80 points or above the take away is the recoil control with this load in a subcompact pistol is managable and appropiate for self defensive situation. The second test, is the “TC Bullseye Qual”. You will need two magazines of 5 rounds and repeat the drill twice. Starting from the holster at the 25 yard line at the signal the shooter will fire all 5 rounds. The target to be used is the TCT MK4 or NRA B8 target. The par time is 10 seconds; which again is generous. If you are scoring 40 points or above the take away is your ability to be accurate enough within a modest time constraint using a subcompact pistol with a short barrel for the extreme range of self defense use.

These two test are great not just for evaluating self defense ammunition, but your skill. While there are many others out there, these two are almost always shot during my own professional development and so should you.

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The hardest thing anyone can do is separate their wants from their needs. You may want a general purpose rifle with all the latest technology, but do you need the gear more than the skill.

Skill Trumps Gear

Don’t get me wrong, if your are reaching the upper limits of your skill development and looking to squeeze out the tiniest advantage you are probably well ahead of the pack. But there is no replacing skill with a piece of equipment. You may want that pretty, shiny or new thing, but need is probably not accurate. At some point you will have to define the mission, what is the purpose of the rifle. For the vast majority of utility, a general purpose rifle is hands down going to meet your mission needs. The problem is how do we define a general purpose rifle, how does it look. You can start by laying out some generalities. Such as you want your rifle to be accurate, reliable, modular, ergonomic and light weight. From there, we get into the weeds.

Offensive Or Defensive Roles for the Rifle

In the past, we use to define the rifle into offense or defensive roles. Offense was typically reserved for law enforcement and military personnel. That left defense for the every day citizen. I still believe this is true, the rifle will more than likely be used in a defensive nature, not offensive. A general purpose rifle is one that could perform in either of those roles and the biggest characteristic would be barrel length. I could talk about barrels all day long. To me, they are the heart of the rifle. I break rifle barrels into three lengths, short barrel, general purpose and long range. Long range will typically be 18″ or greater to squeeze out as much performance. Not ideal for close quarters movement. Short barrel will be anything under the legal length. While ideal for close quarters, they are difficult and expensive to obtain. Just remember the rifle does you no good while it sits waiting for the government’s permission. That leaves us with the general purpose barrels; which are 14.5″ with permanently attached flash hider to 16″. Short enough to do work, easy to obtain.

The Barrel Is The Heart Of The Rifle

My recommendation is to go with a 1:7 twist rate and a 5.56mm chamber. There is a lot of details in those characteristics so I will leave them for another time. Suffice it to say, they will provide you with the best all around performance. As for a flash hider, the standard A2 bird cage is more than adequate. The recoil impulse for a 5.56mm round is negligible. It is there, but technique and strength are your friends. Nothing will make up for poor technique and if you cannot hold the rifle steady for the time required you might have bigger issues.

Accuracy Is An Advantage

After the barrel we talk about the ability to accept modern day optics. With just about everyone producing a flat top receiver there really isn’t reason you can’t use some form of optic. The question is what kind. Do you go with a red dot or a low powered variable optic. Again, what is the rifle’s mission. Yes, I might want to be able to hit at extended ranges. Is it justified, legally and morally. About the only time I can get on board is if you intend on using the rifle for hunting purposes. If so, you will probably want a magnified optic of some kind, but more importantly is the caliber. You will probably not be using 5.56mm so that opens up another can of worms. The use of red dots is by far the most popular and also a low barrier to entry price point wise.

Know The Law

Adjustable stock and modularity are often overlooked characteristics. Like the flat top receiver taking advantage of the various attachment systems allow me to utilize other accessories such as lights. I believe a good general purpose rifle will need a light weight white light. No matter the lighting conditions, you are responsible for the terminal resting place of every round fired. Being able to identify a threat is your first order of business. Does a variable optic help with this…it depends. If you mount the rifle to utilize the optic to identify a threat whether near or far how is that different than using a weapon mounted light on a pistol to direct traffic. Not to mention the legalities of pointing a firearm whether loaded or not. Brandishing can ride a thin line of deadly conduct. If the victim feels you intended to cause fear or alarm you have a problem. Since we all come in different sizes, the ability to adjust my length of pull to my body type is a great advantage.

Keep Your Rifle Light

Of all the characteristics one of the often overlooked is lightweight. This rifle should remain as light as possible to increase shooter performance. You decrease shooter performance when fatigue interferes with your ability to stabilize for the shot required. The longer I have to support the rifle with my muscles, the faster fatigue becomes a factor. The greater the fatigue greater the wobble zone. When your wobble zone becomes so great the results is a decrease in accuracy. The rifle weighs around seven pounds with no accessories and the goal is to keep it below ten pounds, nine pounds is better. Where we see a conflict is when the shooter wants to add every piece of equipment under the sun. Anything you add to the rifle must be weighed, literally and theoretically to see if the juice is worth the squeeze. This is a game of ounces so know exactly what your rifle weights out of the box and each piece of gear you add.

The idea of a general purpose rifle is not new. What is new is technology and accessories that allow me to exploit every advantage I can out of a general purpose rifle.

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Biting Off More Than You Can Chew

Yes, some folks might be able to make heads shot, but at what range. Is it realistic to expect everyone be able to deliver a head shot at extended ranges on demand. I’m not saying it is not, what I’m saying is the average person fails to put in the minimum work to be proficient with a standard defensive response. Do you think it is reasonable to make a head shot at an extreme range under stress. I feel like this is wishful thinking at best, recklessness at worst. I’m all for the immediate stop to a deadly threat. How you do so will be dependent on the situation, but more importantly you’re skill. Should you fail, the consequences may be more than you bargained for in the first place.

Hard Versus Soft

Wearing body armor is not an end all be all. It doesn’t mean the head shot is the only available shot. You can still hit the torso covered with armor to great effect. Let’s look at what history has shown us from the recent mass shootings. Has any of the armor been more than level IIIa protection. Most of the news does not indicate the suspect was wearing hard armor, or rifle grade ballistic plates. Most if not all accounts indicate it was soft armor only. Still, it is capable of stopping some ballistic threats. Here is the key, you have to realize any armor, no matter how advanced is degradable. Even the best armor can only sustain so much damage before it is compromised. Most are designed to stop multiple projectiles spread out over a large surface area. Concentrated in an area and multiple shots have a better chance of penetrating the armor.

Getting Punched in the Gut

A real outcome to torso shots is blunt force traumaIf when wearing soft armor only. While the armor may stop the projectile from penetrating the body, it does nothing to stop the projectile’s energy. This energy has to be absorbed somehow and while spreading it across a wider surface area armor can dissipate the energy, it is still a tremendous amount of force. I have been around armor most of my adult life. When you wear it to save your life you take a vested interest in learning how it works. The part they don’t tell you is the back face deformation can still kill you.

Effective Fire Gets Results

Back face deformation is the energy transmitted through the armor into the body. It is generally measured against molding clay with a minimum depth to be acceptable. While we were so busy making awesome armor to stop threats we forgot to worry about the projectile’s energy and where it was going. Many of the hard armor is referenced as conjunction armor, meaning it must be used in conjunction with soft armor to minimize fragmentation and back face deformation. So, stop worrying about the head shot and direct your fire at the largest target zone you have with rapid and repeated hits. You are going to get a response, you may not get penetration, but you will get a response. This response may or may not stop the threat, but it may slow the body movement down or allow you the time necessary to make the more precise head shot.

Bad guys wearing armor is not as big a game changer as some people might believe. Rapid, repeated and accurate hits on the torso will have an effect.

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Learn the Rules

I’m traveling this weekend for our first class of 2019 down in Florida. I get asked this all the time; what do you do when you travel? Well, it is really not complicated. What I have learned over the years continues to guide me moving forward. Most of these tricks are not really tricks, but experience. The next most often asked question is how do I travel with firearms and ammunition. Simple, know and follow the rules. If you haven’t visited the TSA’s website for transporting firearms and ammunition, stop reading my article and go read up on their regulations. You cannot be surprised if you have an unpleasant experience when you are ignorant. However, you can do everything by the book and still get jammed up. My best advice is to be nice. Be nice, if you studied the regulations, packed smart and arrived early to the airport then smile. I’m almost positive I’m the smartest person on this subject at the airport. I don’t flaunt it, I just smile.

Ounces to Pounds

Everyone has probably had a travel horror story to share about a bad airport experience. I have plenty and if I was smart I’d switch professions to be a paid consultant for the airlines. When it comes to packing, my game is strong. I invest in quality and rugged luggage. The days of having the super sized “dead hooker bags” are over for me. All they do is attract unwanted attention and extra fees. You are restricted to 50 pounds on just about every air carrier. If your bag or box weighs 20 pounds or more empty you end up not packing the gear you really need. When it comes to my travel bags and cases I’m a particular. What you are looking for is something with comfortable handles, big wheels and a sturdy frame with heavy lockable zippers or in the case of a hard sided case sturdy hasps. Also, you should expect about a two year shelf life no matter the manufacture. On my first trip with my current roller bag with the tags still attached, I lost a buckle. So, don’t get too attached.

One of One is None

When it comes to your firearms they will need to be secured in a lockable hard sided case. There are a lot to consider, but you have to remember their weight mentioned above. I have two different load-out methods; one for handguns only and the other for rifles and handguns. For my handguns only I take a smaller hard sided case and lock it in my checked luggage. This case is just large enough to secure both of my handguns. Then save yourself the hassles and use TSA approved locks. I recently started using a small hard sided case with bio-metric locks and what a great decision. The case is just big enough to secure two handguns. I can secure the case in my hotel room with the supplied cables and the bio-metric locks mean I don’t have to worry about forgetting combinations or giving the combination to the TSA agents. I still suggest you pack a spare set of locks for your checked bag and consider them to be consumable. The worse case scenario is on your outbound flight your locks get lost. Don’t ask, it happens more than you think. This will save you time and money trying to find a set for your return flight.

OCD to the Rescue

When it comes to training gear my suggestion is to pack them in individual smaller bags. For this task I have come to rely on the Daka bags from Magpul. I have an assorted collection of sizes and colors. One bag for my holsters, one for my magazines and box of defensive ammunition, one for my medical gear and my junk bag. I like to be as discrete as possible. Keeping all this other stuff under wraps helps. Then there is my compulsive need to be organized. Keeping gear separate in different bags makes it super easy to throw stuff into my larger roller bag. For those times I have to go heavy on my gear I get pretty technical, like a game of Tetris.

Pack Smart and Go Lite

I’m big on weight because I am done paying extra fees. Part of my experience has helped me to pack smart. Bring quality gear that is rugged and light. Think about items that can fulfill multiple roles and choose them over specialized items. In the beginning I suggest you invest in a hanging scale. I’m usually lighter coming home because I burn ammunition at the course. Going out I am spot on to a pound. Partly because I’m a creature of habit, but also because I weighed my bags every trip. In the off chance I screw up, I pack a small duffel bag I can quickly use as a second carry on to avoid overweight fees. Remember, the bigger the bag…the more stuff you will pack. After a couple of trips ask yourself if you really needed all the items. Eventually you will find the sweet spot. As for packing my carrying on bag, I have the bare essentials to teach. My schedules, rosters and supporting classroom material. Fortunately, most are digital. Then the minimum personal safety equipment such as eye/ear protection and a small medical kit. I can get by for a few days while my luggage catches up to me.

I enjoy traveling, don’t let the sour opening fool you. Give some thought to these lessons learned, because I had to learn the lessons.

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The Carnage

Over the years I have seen plenty of gear related problems. In a recent Concealed Carry class we had a holster come apart, literally. We had some other gear issues requiring attention and luckily we caught most of them before they became real problems. In a separate incident I had a front sight come loose. I’m glad it was the sight and not my shooting. The damn thing was listing and I finally asked myself is it me or is my sight post leaning. It is virtually impossible to work with equipment that doesn’t have some type of fastener. It doesn’t matter how tight or the proper torque was applied or done per the manual. They require periodic maintenance.

The Basic Tools

One of the best tools I’ve ever brought was this small screwdriver. It had the various spare bits stored in the body making it super convenient for a range bag. I love this tool, it has done me right over the years. No matter how small your range bag, there’s always room for one of these or similar. In addition, a small tube of thread locker will help ensure you don’t have to repeat the process any time soon. While there are tons of tools you could have, these are the minimum in my opinion.

Maintenance Interval

When it comes to your holsters and magazine carriers I suggest once a month you check all the hardware. Some will go so far as to recommend using thread locker on all of your hardware. For some gear it is required and for others you might abstain. Learn what causes the hardware to come loose first. If you do apply a thread locker on your concealed carry gear, go with the lightest bond. You don’t want permanency, you want security. If you are attending a high intensity class with lots of drawstoke repetitions then at the end of the day do yourself a favor and check. If they are loose then hopefully you avoided a mishap. If you find yourself in a situation where you’ve lost hardware you could be in a tight spot. Most folks will have spare guns, extra magazines, but how many carry more than one holster. It may not be practical, but getting extra hardware is a simple solution.

Big Picture Logistics

There is a saying, amateurs argue tactics and professionals argue logistics. Many times in classes students find themselves in a pickle with their gear. If you have one of these niche guns you may be S.O.L. I’ve found most classes students go out of their way to help one another. It’s hard to help though when you are so far out on the fringe. I carry spare equipment and gear to every class and have loaned them out on more than one occasion. More than once I couldn’t help the student because our gear didn’t match.

Preparation can go a long way as can spare parts and hardware. Put some thought into periodic and mandatory maintenance routines.

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Avoid specialization

Here is the problem, anytime you create a specialized piece of clothing it is just that…specialized. Therefore it will be limited in scope and application. Let’s address some of the most common issues starting with you are going to wear a suit and tie daily and be armed. There is a limited number of individuals this actually applies to and in speaking with some them as well as training them it is not feasible to “customize” their wardrobe. Yes, they are in suits the majority of the time, but the cost of tailoring their entire wardrobe quickly becomes cost prohibitive. If they come to rely on a feature for one item of the clothing they have to modify all their clothing in order to create continuity. But here is the real kicker, when you look at those “modifications” they all are unnecessary if you adopt a more universal approach to defeat methodology.

Keeping it simple…again

The next common group of individuals who might wear a sports coat as a cover garment typically don’t. After completing a recent Concealed Carry seminar to a group of law enforcement officers I have asked those who’s duties include being armed in plainclothes and the reality is they are not wearing sports coats, like at all. That is not to say they don’t have them, they opt not to wear them for the majority of their duties. Again, why would they expend resources to customize cover garments they infrequently wear. They are better off investing in a broader wardrobe to better suit their daily concealment needs in the performance of their duties.

Sharp dressed man

Then there is corporate America and business attire. Having addressed this issue in the past many workplaces prohibit carrying concealed. A suit jacket or sports coat is one of the least advisable cover garment options for them since it is so narrow in it’s ability to conceal. The moment they enter their office, board or conference room and the first person takes off their jacket it is a domino effect except for the one guy trying to conceal their blaster. If they were to run the risk of being terminated for violating corporate policies this method of concealment is the worse option for them since it is the easiest to discover the presence of a concealed firearm.

Limited application

Many of the custom tailored options seem like a good idea, but they are crutches. It is far better to invest in a broader wardrobe and then spend quality time training on defeat methodology that covers a wide spectrum of clothing. From summer to winter, single layers to multiple layers you want to work at developing a better method for defeating your cover garments. What many folks forget is you may not be in the pristine range conditions when you have to defeat your cover garment. You could be on the ground, in a seated position or moving aggressively towards an objective. It is the methodology, not the clothing that will be critical in these situations.

Risking discovery is an everyday risk when you carry concealed, working to improve your stealth abilities with off the shelf items you can purchase anywhere is a far better investment. No one said it would be easy, but it is well worth the effort.

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Oh wait…what the hell am I talking about?

Evolve or die

It is entertaining to see these “experts” come out of the woodwork with their hard earned expertise and provide their view point. According to some on the internet I don’t know what I’m talking about and had I any experience on the subject I would clearly see the error in my ways. Tool… Let’s see, I first saw a red dot optic on a “combat” firearm back in the early 90’s and I’m sure they were around well before then. It has been amazing to see them evolve from the boat anchor I mounted on my MP5 (yah, that far back). Flash forward to about 07-08 when I get a request from members of my community to research and things change.

No stone unturned

It was during this phase of my “observations” I started to work closely with the various manufactures. Everything from procurement, testing and product review. Because my teammates were looking for a specific solution to one of our mission requirements I wasn’t about to leave a stone unturned. I developed both an appreciation and understanding for their capabilities and happy to see them employed operationally. This phase eventually resulted in me considering their use in a broader scope. I was again pretty fortunate to have penned a great article run in SWAT magazine (October 2013) on the subject. It was an honest and lengthy assessment of their capabilities as well as how they fared in our testing. But, nah…I don’t know what I’m talking about.

The big picture

I love how blogs produce the opportunity to have meaningful discussions. By meaningful I mean, “I’m almost a super, duper, really cool, grand master poo-bah shooter” and their grasp of the big picture. Yes, you may have “seen” a red dot sight used in competition, but let’s take a closer look at the evolution within competition. In my research, I spoke with those whom I trusted to get their feedback. One of the biggest pieces of feedback was the difficulty in tracking the dot when mounted to the slide. Hmm…interesting. What has changed since then? We no longer see red dots mounted on slides at the highest level of competition. They are mounted to the frame to allow for better sight tracking during shooting. Hmm…very interesting.

Holding you to task

Then there are those who have nothing but contempt for my “observations”. So, by observations allow me to elaborate to mean our observations of students during various graded evolutions. Or in other words versus standards, maybe you have heard of them. It matters not if you have heard of me, what matters is our aggressive manner at which we hold our students accountable to standards. Ask around, do some research because while I have been called many things during a graded evolution the constant complaint is our unapologetic defense of the standards. I don’t care who you are, I honestly don’t and make no mistake if I will fail one of my teammates for failing to meet the standard I will fail anyone.

Read between the lines

The beautiful thing about standards is if done correctly they are incredibly telling. What did they tell us, the told us under time constraints or high stress evolutions we saw many failures and not just at close range. The other interesting point is the accusation of our Concealed Carry Tactics class being a “basic” class. We have it programmed at the intermediate level, but never mind that little detail. I love how this accusation is slung out without having attended and only screams to the poor story telling we see these days. The interesting point about this accusation is how false it is, how we do see some folks who could use more marksmanship training, but the large majority of students are at the intermediate or advanced level. Of course, if you knew what you were talking about and spoke with our students you would realize our basic is more like an intermediate or so I’m told.

Hold the line

All this to say one thing, my original “observations” haven’t changed. While there may be some who can do well, in fact in our last class the only graduate was running a pistol with a MRDS, it does not discount the reality we have observed. To clarify we had 5 students in total running them and only 1 who passed. Yes, you may not like my observations, but they are based off this silly concept called performance. If you understand performance, standards and stress it might mean something to you as well. I don’t mind if you don’t like what I have to say, but it doesn’t mean it is not true.

The old adage of not arguing with idiots still stands true, but I would add how we as an industry don’t have time for this. There are those of us who are too busy actually teaching, educating and preparing folks.

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