I'm baking salmon with tomatoes and basil tonight. The basil and tomatoes are the last from the garden. I took a brief break from writing today to process the sauce tomatoes into freezer-sized bags for marinara and chili over the winter. I also replaced the triggers in 2 Glock frames and tested out a couple of crossdraw holsters. My G26 slide is on the way back from Suarez International fitted with a Trij RMR, so I put the SI "flat and straight" trigger in the G26. I put the Apex trigger in a Gen 3 G17 frame that'll usually carry a .22 conversion unit from Tac-Sol. Will keep you all informed on which works best for me.
Yesterday, of course, I got a root canal, since I'm in the middle of my Festive AutumnFest 2015. Maybe tomorrow I'll accidentally punch a screwdriver into my ear. I never liked fall anyway…smells too much like death to me. OTOH, it is beautiful here at the Bunker. For the mule deers, I think we're close to the rut starting…the does are all over the place, and the little bucks are frisky. Only seen one big boy near the property, and he wasn't interested in the does yet.
But had a good hike with the beagle today, and the leg lifts are going great. And thank Good for gin and tonic!
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Saturday, October 24, 2015
I've Warned America, But No One Is Listening
From the UK Guardian:
US film of parachuting beavers found after 65 years (it's OK, they survived)
An Idaho historian has uncovered 1950s footage of a bizarre wildlife experiment when beavers were packed into travel boxes and dropped from a plane
I always suspected that, somewhere there was a cadre of Tier 1 beavers, bad ass mo-fos with beards, dip and big teeth, trained by the United States for nefarious purposes (or porpoises, as the case may be). Google "beaver attacks on the increase" and know fear. If I lived in Belarus, which is infested with psychotic beavers.…well, I wouldn't live in Belarus. I mean, who would, if they had a choice?
I've been on top of this beaver crisis since the beginning. And no matter how much I push, push, push, it keeps spreading.
Meanwhile, the United States is sprinting toward the Apocalypse and apparently there's not a damn thing any of us can do about it except worry about beavers and buy ammunition. From Fred, who makes me look politically correct, Wimp Nation:
The United States has become a nation of weak, pampered, easily frightened, helpless milquetoasts who have never caught a fish, fired a gun, chopped a log, hitchhiked across the country, or been in a schoolyard fight. If their cat dies, they call a grief therapist. Everything frightens Americans.
Then maybe read this by Robert Zimmerman on The Coming Dark Ages:
Sadly, everything depressed me to the point that I just did not want to pass it on to anyone. I am someone who is hopeful, who believes in freedom, who is willing to fight to the death for the right of someone I disagree with to speak their minds.
Unfortunately, I come from a different age. The age we are entering is a new dark ages, where knowledge and truth are not the goal, and keeping people silent and oppressed is the number one ideal. I find that a conclusion difficult to post about.
Of course, just because the Democratic Party now supports door-to-door firearms confiscation, just because university campus have been come punch lines, just because…oh hell, just because, I wouldn't worry or anything.
I just work on my rehab and accumulate more ammunition before .Gov goes ballistic on "ghost ammo."
BTW, here's another site I like, which you can read while I'm dragging ass My friend Kevin Brittingham from Sig Sauer got a Scottish red stage, and I have to say it's on my list.
I think this Christmas I'm going to get all my friends Tactical Candle Holders from my good friend Tom Hine's ODIN Works. I'm thinking of doing a big DRTV feature on ODIN Works, as soon as I don't have to walk to Boise. Tom does amazing work and is a true visionary in this industry.
Friday, October 23, 2015
In the Midst of the B-S Tsunami, Some Good Gun News!
So a couple of years ago as the SHOT Show was winding down, I ran into my old friend Gary Ramey, who wanted to talk about concealed carry. Gary and I have an interesting history…when he was at USA Shooting as their media guy and I was working with NSSF on some events to raise the visibility of the U.S. Olympic shooting team, Gary and I cooked up the idea to get a major arms manufacturer to do a special USA Shooting version of a popular gun, with some of the proceeds going to the perpetually cash-strappped Olympic team. The results speak for themselves — Kimber's special edition 1911 led that company to become the largest contributor to USA Shooting in history, and many other gun companies followed suit.
Yes, I know everybody and his dog Fred have taken credit for concocting that deal…Gary and I are certain they're all 100% right! LOL!
I worked with Gary when he headed up Beretta in the U.S., and we've remained good friends over the year. So that day at SHOT Gary asked a simple — and odd, to me — question:
If you had a blank slate, what would your ideal carry gun look like?
About the same time, I saw Rob Pincus and waved him over. Gun guys love stuff like this! So me and Rob and Gary blue-skied a single stack 9mm, available with or without a redundant safety (that's me), available with the option of a longer slide, since the length of the slide is not so much a determining factor for CCW as the length and shape of the grip, striker-fired, polymer-framed, east to disassemble (without pulling the trigger), etc. Gary took notes.
At the end of the conversation, Gary said, "What would you guys think of me building that very gun?" Great idea, but I believe I was honest about the long string of barriers to successfully bringing an independent gun to market.
Gary just kept smiling.
At NASGW next week Gary's Honor Defense will premiere their line of CCW 9mms. I am not only very excited for my friend, but I'm impressed as all get-out with the gun. He assembled an advisory board of experts and —get this! — listened to them!
After a long conversation yesterday, Gary did a quickie iPhone video of the disassembly and sent it to me. I've asked for his permission to post it here.
Marshal's and my plan is to get a full video report up as quickly as possible.
Congratulations, Gary! Great job!
Another great sign and milestone in the path to normalizing silencers. From the American Suppressor Association, the industry lobbying group:
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Suppressor Association (ASA) is pleased to announce the introduction of the Hearing Protection Act (HPA) by Rep. Matt Salmon (AZ-05). This historic piece of legislation will remove suppressors from the purview of the National Firearms Act (NFA), replacing the antiquated federal transfer process with an instantaneous NICS background check. The HPA also includes a provision to refund the $200 transfer tax to applicants who purchase a suppressor after October 22, 2015.
This is a very important step, because it shows how far the drive normalization has come. As you know, SHOOTING GALLERY has been on the forefront of this drive since Season 1, when we called for all LEOs issues AR-15 pattern carbines to have access to silencers.
I suspect this first initiative won't succeed — it should, since we voted this clown car full of fools into office, but hey, they haven't done anything else — and should it actually succeed, the Other Fool will veto for certain. But is it s very important start!
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
A Long Day
Some days seem more like grinders than others. Today was like 2 10-ton stone milling wheels being turned, slowly, by arthritic aurochs on thorazine.
It's supposed to rain for a couple of days. When it stops, I'm going to go outside and shoot some .22 pistol. Am ordering suppressor for Sig MCX tomorrow, so that's exciting!
Best of luck to all my friends at the Trijicon Challenge at Rockcastle this week!
Saturday, October 17, 2015
No Really…It's Not Me!
From the Telegraph:
Who's a pretty boy then? Man cuts off his ears to look like a parrot
Ted Richards, 56, has already had his face and eyeballs tattooed, next he wants a surgeon to turn his nose into a beak.
Oh, you are so not getting a cracker from me! I love my parrots, except on the occasions when I consider barbecued macaw, but even though I am a self-identified llama, I've never actually wanted hooves…well, perhaps that's a personal failing.
Sorry for the absence…been a dreadfully busy week! I had crews all over the country filming on multiple series. Everything went off perfectly! I am so lucky to work with guys like John Carter and Jeff Murray and such a great group of people. Thank you all for covering my sorry ass!
For the first time since the surgery, I worked filming Friday and Saturday. Friday we filmed all day with suppressors, thanks to Jeremy Mallette from the Silencer Shop. It was great fun, and I was blown away by the Silencer Shop's software system for making silencer purchases easy [WARNING: Silencer Shop is a sponsor! But I believe so much in their system I'll be doing direct plugs on the podcast…the first time I'm ever done that….and no, I'm not being paid directly for that!]. Their system is a HUGE step forward!
After Friday, I am also SOLD on the Sig MCX 5.56, especially suppressed (we were using a YHM Phantom suppressor rather than a Sig, but I will be ordering a Sig SRD next week. Didn't notice the trigger as much running the gun (although I barely got to run it!), but I still think there's still a Geissele Super 3-Gun solution in this rifle's future. Definitely my 3-Gun rifle for next season (note optimism). Yesterday we were using the supplied irons, but today I went to a new Trijicon MRO…more on that later, but initially extremely positive. Used the lower third BUIS co-witness height mount, but may go to full co-witness. Will have to try it both ways.
In truth, I probably overdid it Friday…the most frustrating thing to me right now is how easily I get exhausted. Friday night was painful. Today we kept it a lot more moderate, so I don't feel as if I was run over by a train. Funny story though….my producer today used to produce for Animal Planet, so he knows Colorado flora and fauna. We were walking down one of the only flat paths on Bunker property, which runs past some dense bushes and rocks, when we both heard the telltale buzz and both of us just froze. We moved VERY SLOWLY backward until the buzzing stopped…definitely not a bullsnake imitating a rattler! My Sweetie stepped into the house and returned with the 870 new broom that swept clean.
Friday I also got a chance to shoot one of my favorite guns in the world. Remember when I built up the stainless Ruger Mark III for NSSF Rimfire? I added a Tac-Sol 6-inch threaded barrel, then I handed the gun over the Dino at Majestic Arms, who did (dare I say it?) a majestic job on the Ruger/Tac-Sol. Dino is a great undiscovered treasure for .22 Ruger owners. His magazines with aluminum baseplates are perfect and wood grips just beautiful! I absolutely loved the gun! Then we made an editorial decision to shoot and film the match in Idaho in the soon-to-be-discontnued "Manual" class with a revolver and bolt action rifle.
Friday I put rounds through it with a Tac-Sol suppressor…I have been privileged to have a lot of .22 pistols in my life, and I truly believe this is the most perfect .22 pistol I've ever shot. You'll see more of it on Marshal's and my new Internet project. It's sort of weird to "rediscover" a gun...I set it aside when we went to a revolver for the show, and I haven't been on top of rimfire for a few months. I'd love to see NSSF open the competition to suppressed guns! It makes a lot of sense, especially for a competition that reaches out to juniors and families!
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Where I Admit That Bill Baker Was Right
1) I'm not putting down fanny packs. I actually like fanny packs as off-body carry devices and have used on in the last couple of weeks. I do have a couple of over the shoulder bags that I want to experiment with next week.
2) The scariest thing so far is the loss of mobility. I've said, "Get off the 'X'" a lot of times over the years. I've practiced moving and shooting for a long time…if I can just buy a couple of seconds on the bad guy's OODA loop, that's all I (hopefully) need.
But what if that option is removed?
The reason I'm in this fix is because my knee failed. What should have been an embarrassing and ouchie everybody has a good laugh fall ended up in emergency surgery and 3-4 months of rehab. The knee failed. My quad is now stitched back to my kneecap (and pieces of my kneecap had to be cut out!), and until it is fully healed, it will fail again. There is damn little I can do about that. Regardless of which angle of the circle I choose to move, as soon as I put a lot of stress on the knee the quads will rip loose. I have had this explained that as WE ARE NOT JOKING ABOUT THIS, MICHAEL! Yes, I can make myself blow though the pain, but yes, I will end up on the floor anyway.
So my strategy has to shift. Yes, I need to plan to move toward cover, but it's not going to be a sprint. I am not motion stable. I am currently using a Ka-Bar aluminum cane most of the time, which is a formidable weapon in its own right (and I've already started working with it). I have shifted to carrying at least one auto-opening knife. I need to be able to deliver force immediately, to figure out a way to buy that 2 seconds on the other guy's OODA loop.
3) The Zen of the Shoulder Holster. I've learned a ton about shoulder holsters in the last few weeks. First off, right now I am wearing a Ken Null SMZ shoulder holster. I've been wearing it for several days…it is the lightest, most comfortable shoulder holster I have EVER used. It is also the most irritating. The release involves pushing, twisting, holding your mouth in a certain position, and mumbling something from The Book of the Dead. It's quick when you get it. You're dead if you don't
It conceals under a pullover shirt…amazing!
Right now I am carrying a Ruger LCR in 9mm, the one that loads from moon clips. I believe the LCR will stand as one of the greatest small revolver ever made. The trigger pull is world class for a small frame revolver; my experience with 4 of them has been that they are fiercely accurate and easy to shoot. I believe the polymer frame soaks up some of the recoil. I have shot them in .38, .357, 9mm and I have one of the new .327s waiting at the FFL.
By way of comparison, I own S&W, Charter Arms and Taurus snubs. I have shot numerous Colts, Chiappa Rhinos, Rossis and some of the real exotics. The Ruger LCR is the best snub I've ever shot.
[BS WARNING: Ruger is currently a sponsor; at various time both Taurus and Charter have been on board. I have visited the Ruger, Colt, Taurus, Rossi and S&W factories]
Still, the LCR puts them all to shame. I had considered carrying the new .327 because:
1) I like the cartridge, hence,have a bunch laying around
2) Six shots instead of 5
However, my friend Bill Baker called me out on that. Bill is a fine instructor and shooter in his own right. He and I go back to high school together, and I once had a thing for his sister.
Bill asked quite legitimately why, as someone who has been a big proponent of 9mm revolvers, I'd choose a .327 over the moon-clipped 9mm. I think the words "full of dookey," or something of that nature, were mentioned. He noted that I had been a proponent of 9mm revolvers, largely because of ammunition compatibility and the ability to use moon clips. So, he asked, "What's changed?"
Answer…nothing. Hypnotized by new gun and a caliber I'm fond of. OTOH, I have both an LCR and a Charter Arms in 9mm, and I opted to carry the LCR with a few extra moon clips.
The Null SMZ is the equivalent of the pocket pistol I would normally toss in my pocket as soon as I put my pants on. For the first couple of weeks, when I was on 2 crutches, I opted for a very different shoulder holster option. As I have mentioned here and on the podcast, Robert Humelbaugh of Survival Sheath Systems is, I believe the absolute genius of the shoulder holster.
This is redundant, but a few years back I asked Robert of build what i might call a "bug out" system. It consisted of a shoulder holster for a 629 .44 Magnum snub (the one I have was built by Jim Stroh of Alpha Precision and was a gift from my father). I would carry 2 speedloaders and on the off-side a unique SSS design to carry 24 rounds in an elastic pouch, along with the knife of your choice.
The idea is that if you gotta fight a war, you could fight it with what you had on your person. I know we all echo Clint Smith and say the purpose of a handgun is to fight your way to your rifle…but what if you can't? For the first few days, there was no way I could get to the heavy hardware. Here's an example…there was one day my Sweetie spent the day at a match. I'd just started walking with both crutches, but I was as slow as molasses at McMurdo Station. And terrified of dropping the crutches.
With the SSS "bug out" set-up, I had fighting tools — a .44 Magnum, 36 extra rounds of ammo and a 4-inch Buck Knife — with me all the time, and I didn't have to wrestle my crutches to get to them. When my Sweetie loaded me into the work truck for a trip into town, I threw a shirt over my t-shirt and it concealed perfectly.
Right now Robert is working on 2 new shoulder holsters for me…One for a Glock G26 on the left, with a spare G17 mag and a Spyderco Yojimbo 2, Michael Janich designed, on the off-side. He's also doing a chest holster for the Gemini Custom 3-inch Wiley Clapp GP-100 .357. It is a wonderful gun, and I think it would make a great hiking companion (yes…I am being optimistic). I have one of the SSS chest holsters for my .44 Charter Arms Bulldog, which replaced my S&W 296. Unfortunately, I smacked the Bulldog against a barricade and snapped off the front sight, which was a pinned-in plastic unit. It's still at the gun doctor having a steel replacement fabricated.
Once again, talk to Robert if you need a shoulder holster for a specialty issue. He is wonderfully creative, and his work is 100% first class.
I have a solid working unit I've used with my 4-inch Ruger Redhawks, a leather vertical shoulder holster made by my dear friends at Ted Blocker. Blocker made my cowboy leather, and I've used it for many, many years. It's more of a hiking/backcountry holster and I've easily concealed it under a fleece vest. Until I trashed my knee, it was my bear season hiker. I expect to be using it more.
I feel like I/m just tarting to scratch the surface of shoulder holsters; I'll keep you guys involved as I keep learning.
BTW, something went bump in the night tonight…not a big deal…a wind came up and knocked down a tree branch. As if by magic, my LCP 9mm was in my hand…once you get a grip,so to speak, on the SMZ result, it is fast!
2) The scariest thing so far is the loss of mobility. I've said, "Get off the 'X'" a lot of times over the years. I've practiced moving and shooting for a long time…if I can just buy a couple of seconds on the bad guy's OODA loop, that's all I (hopefully) need.
But what if that option is removed?
The reason I'm in this fix is because my knee failed. What should have been an embarrassing and ouchie everybody has a good laugh fall ended up in emergency surgery and 3-4 months of rehab. The knee failed. My quad is now stitched back to my kneecap (and pieces of my kneecap had to be cut out!), and until it is fully healed, it will fail again. There is damn little I can do about that. Regardless of which angle of the circle I choose to move, as soon as I put a lot of stress on the knee the quads will rip loose. I have had this explained that as WE ARE NOT JOKING ABOUT THIS, MICHAEL! Yes, I can make myself blow though the pain, but yes, I will end up on the floor anyway.
So my strategy has to shift. Yes, I need to plan to move toward cover, but it's not going to be a sprint. I am not motion stable. I am currently using a Ka-Bar aluminum cane most of the time, which is a formidable weapon in its own right (and I've already started working with it). I have shifted to carrying at least one auto-opening knife. I need to be able to deliver force immediately, to figure out a way to buy that 2 seconds on the other guy's OODA loop.
3) The Zen of the Shoulder Holster. I've learned a ton about shoulder holsters in the last few weeks. First off, right now I am wearing a Ken Null SMZ shoulder holster. I've been wearing it for several days…it is the lightest, most comfortable shoulder holster I have EVER used. It is also the most irritating. The release involves pushing, twisting, holding your mouth in a certain position, and mumbling something from The Book of the Dead. It's quick when you get it. You're dead if you don't
It conceals under a pullover shirt…amazing!
Right now I am carrying a Ruger LCR in 9mm, the one that loads from moon clips. I believe the LCR will stand as one of the greatest small revolver ever made. The trigger pull is world class for a small frame revolver; my experience with 4 of them has been that they are fiercely accurate and easy to shoot. I believe the polymer frame soaks up some of the recoil. I have shot them in .38, .357, 9mm and I have one of the new .327s waiting at the FFL.
By way of comparison, I own S&W, Charter Arms and Taurus snubs. I have shot numerous Colts, Chiappa Rhinos, Rossis and some of the real exotics. The Ruger LCR is the best snub I've ever shot.
[BS WARNING: Ruger is currently a sponsor; at various time both Taurus and Charter have been on board. I have visited the Ruger, Colt, Taurus, Rossi and S&W factories]
Still, the LCR puts them all to shame. I had considered carrying the new .327 because:
1) I like the cartridge, hence,have a bunch laying around
2) Six shots instead of 5
However, my friend Bill Baker called me out on that. Bill is a fine instructor and shooter in his own right. He and I go back to high school together, and I once had a thing for his sister.
Bill asked quite legitimately why, as someone who has been a big proponent of 9mm revolvers, I'd choose a .327 over the moon-clipped 9mm. I think the words "full of dookey," or something of that nature, were mentioned. He noted that I had been a proponent of 9mm revolvers, largely because of ammunition compatibility and the ability to use moon clips. So, he asked, "What's changed?"
Answer…nothing. Hypnotized by new gun and a caliber I'm fond of. OTOH, I have both an LCR and a Charter Arms in 9mm, and I opted to carry the LCR with a few extra moon clips.
The Null SMZ is the equivalent of the pocket pistol I would normally toss in my pocket as soon as I put my pants on. For the first couple of weeks, when I was on 2 crutches, I opted for a very different shoulder holster option. As I have mentioned here and on the podcast, Robert Humelbaugh of Survival Sheath Systems is, I believe the absolute genius of the shoulder holster.
This is redundant, but a few years back I asked Robert of build what i might call a "bug out" system. It consisted of a shoulder holster for a 629 .44 Magnum snub (the one I have was built by Jim Stroh of Alpha Precision and was a gift from my father). I would carry 2 speedloaders and on the off-side a unique SSS design to carry 24 rounds in an elastic pouch, along with the knife of your choice.
The idea is that if you gotta fight a war, you could fight it with what you had on your person. I know we all echo Clint Smith and say the purpose of a handgun is to fight your way to your rifle…but what if you can't? For the first few days, there was no way I could get to the heavy hardware. Here's an example…there was one day my Sweetie spent the day at a match. I'd just started walking with both crutches, but I was as slow as molasses at McMurdo Station. And terrified of dropping the crutches.
With the SSS "bug out" set-up, I had fighting tools — a .44 Magnum, 36 extra rounds of ammo and a 4-inch Buck Knife — with me all the time, and I didn't have to wrestle my crutches to get to them. When my Sweetie loaded me into the work truck for a trip into town, I threw a shirt over my t-shirt and it concealed perfectly.
Right now Robert is working on 2 new shoulder holsters for me…One for a Glock G26 on the left, with a spare G17 mag and a Spyderco Yojimbo 2, Michael Janich designed, on the off-side. He's also doing a chest holster for the Gemini Custom 3-inch Wiley Clapp GP-100 .357. It is a wonderful gun, and I think it would make a great hiking companion (yes…I am being optimistic). I have one of the SSS chest holsters for my .44 Charter Arms Bulldog, which replaced my S&W 296. Unfortunately, I smacked the Bulldog against a barricade and snapped off the front sight, which was a pinned-in plastic unit. It's still at the gun doctor having a steel replacement fabricated.
Once again, talk to Robert if you need a shoulder holster for a specialty issue. He is wonderfully creative, and his work is 100% first class.
I have a solid working unit I've used with my 4-inch Ruger Redhawks, a leather vertical shoulder holster made by my dear friends at Ted Blocker. Blocker made my cowboy leather, and I've used it for many, many years. It's more of a hiking/backcountry holster and I've easily concealed it under a fleece vest. Until I trashed my knee, it was my bear season hiker. I expect to be using it more.
I feel like I/m just tarting to scratch the surface of shoulder holsters; I'll keep you guys involved as I keep learning.
BTW, something went bump in the night tonight…not a big deal…a wind came up and knocked down a tree branch. As if by magic, my LCP 9mm was in my hand…once you get a grip,so to speak, on the SMZ result, it is fast!
Friday, October 09, 2015
Bullet Points on Self-Defense When You're Disabled
This is far from a comprehensive piece, but I wanted to start pulling together data points on what I've learned over the last few weeks. I'm not claiming any of the stuff is original, but I can claim an "organic" understanding of it now!
1) The diminished/complete loss of situation awareness, which wildly skews the awareness/avoidance equation. When I started walking on crutches, it was a struggle. For a start, it hurt like hell. Pain has a way of focusing the attention...on the pain. Secondly, at least initially there is a major gut-level fear of falling. After all, I was just coming out of the hospital where people had labeled to the tune of many thousands of dollars to put Humpty together again. With the rigid leg brace, which hindered a normal walking motion, my focus tended to be down, on placing the crutch tips securely.
Remember in TRAIL SAFE we talked about how one of the greatest fallacies people have about their own abilities is the idea they have unlimited awareness, unlimited focus. Need to concentrate on 2 things at once? No problem! Just dial up little more focus! Except focus is fundamentally limited. The analogy we used in TRAIL SAFE is from shooter/trainer John Shaw, with whom I co-worte YOU CAN'T MISS way back when.
His apology is that everyone is issue $1 worth of concentration...100 pennies. There are NO MORE pennies...just that 100. The only choice we actually have is where we place the pennies. There's a Zen saying something to the effect that, "When you walk, just walk; when you sit, just sit. But whatever you do, don't wobble." When we divide up the pennies, we begin to lose focus. That's why there is no suck thing as multitasking"," rather, we are doing several tasks sequentially, and poorly.
On crutches, especially in the beginning, about 99 of my pennies were stacked in a pile that read, "DON'T FALL DOWN YOU IDIOT!" If a predator had been watching me, the first thought in his head would be, "Prey."
2) There's a limit to the number of things hands can handle. Typically, I have 2 guns — a pocket pistol that goes into my right pocket the moment a wake up, then is transferred to the left picket when I put on my "real" gun. For a long time I've been singing either a Sneaky Pete magnetic latch holster or a SafePacker when on the road. At home I use an OWB...if I'm just going to be around the property, I'll use a Blade-Tech paddle or on the bigger revolvers one of the leather Ted Blocker strong-sides.
The crutches add a second level of things I need my hands to do — maintain control of the crutches. Secondly, the crutches themselves add a level of complexity in accessing the self-defense tools. I'd say pocket pistols are out the window, at least for me. Remember those pennies? Suddenly I have 40 pennies on the crutch, 50 pennies fumbling around in my pocket and 10 pennies left to scan for saber-toothed tigers.
In addition, both OWBs and IWBs kept banging against the crutches. I felt that the handle of the crutch also presented an obstacle to a clean draw stroke — once again, I was spreading my pennies across the table. Not so much appendix or cross-draw. However (and, once again, this whole experience has been filled with surprises, like the Cracker Jack box from Hell), because I'm wearing a large leg brace that now requires maintenance on an hourly basis (lock it rigid for leg lifts; unlock it for quad tightening drills) I am defaulting to shorts (and it's getting colder) or yoga/sweat pants, neither of which have a belt.
My initial response has been to go to the much maligned shoulder holster. I have several shoulder holsters made for me by Survival Sheath Systems and, for heavier revolvers, Ted Blocker.
I'll take you through those systems in the next installment...
1) The diminished/complete loss of situation awareness, which wildly skews the awareness/avoidance equation. When I started walking on crutches, it was a struggle. For a start, it hurt like hell. Pain has a way of focusing the attention...on the pain. Secondly, at least initially there is a major gut-level fear of falling. After all, I was just coming out of the hospital where people had labeled to the tune of many thousands of dollars to put Humpty together again. With the rigid leg brace, which hindered a normal walking motion, my focus tended to be down, on placing the crutch tips securely.
Remember in TRAIL SAFE we talked about how one of the greatest fallacies people have about their own abilities is the idea they have unlimited awareness, unlimited focus. Need to concentrate on 2 things at once? No problem! Just dial up little more focus! Except focus is fundamentally limited. The analogy we used in TRAIL SAFE is from shooter/trainer John Shaw, with whom I co-worte YOU CAN'T MISS way back when.
His apology is that everyone is issue $1 worth of concentration...100 pennies. There are NO MORE pennies...just that 100. The only choice we actually have is where we place the pennies. There's a Zen saying something to the effect that, "When you walk, just walk; when you sit, just sit. But whatever you do, don't wobble." When we divide up the pennies, we begin to lose focus. That's why there is no suck thing as multitasking"," rather, we are doing several tasks sequentially, and poorly.
On crutches, especially in the beginning, about 99 of my pennies were stacked in a pile that read, "DON'T FALL DOWN YOU IDIOT!" If a predator had been watching me, the first thought in his head would be, "Prey."
2) There's a limit to the number of things hands can handle. Typically, I have 2 guns — a pocket pistol that goes into my right pocket the moment a wake up, then is transferred to the left picket when I put on my "real" gun. For a long time I've been singing either a Sneaky Pete magnetic latch holster or a SafePacker when on the road. At home I use an OWB...if I'm just going to be around the property, I'll use a Blade-Tech paddle or on the bigger revolvers one of the leather Ted Blocker strong-sides.
The crutches add a second level of things I need my hands to do — maintain control of the crutches. Secondly, the crutches themselves add a level of complexity in accessing the self-defense tools. I'd say pocket pistols are out the window, at least for me. Remember those pennies? Suddenly I have 40 pennies on the crutch, 50 pennies fumbling around in my pocket and 10 pennies left to scan for saber-toothed tigers.
In addition, both OWBs and IWBs kept banging against the crutches. I felt that the handle of the crutch also presented an obstacle to a clean draw stroke — once again, I was spreading my pennies across the table. Not so much appendix or cross-draw. However (and, once again, this whole experience has been filled with surprises, like the Cracker Jack box from Hell), because I'm wearing a large leg brace that now requires maintenance on an hourly basis (lock it rigid for leg lifts; unlock it for quad tightening drills) I am defaulting to shorts (and it's getting colder) or yoga/sweat pants, neither of which have a belt.
My initial response has been to go to the much maligned shoulder holster. I have several shoulder holsters made for me by Survival Sheath Systems and, for heavier revolvers, Ted Blocker.
I'll take you through those systems in the next installment...
Thursday, October 08, 2015
Paul Prudhomme, R.I.P.
I was privileged and honored to have dinner one night at K-Paul's in New Orleans as "a guest of Chef." The restaurant was closed to the public, and I was lucky enough to get the seat closest to the kitchen. Chef Paul personally took the orders, and when he came to me I said, "Sir, I defer to your expertise."
"Then," said the great chef, "you'll be having soft shelled crabs with a tiny side of Bienville stuffing."
"And a cup pf chicken and sausage gumbo?"
He smiled. "Of course, Mr. Bane."
After the meal, which was as good a meal as I've ever had in my life, Chef said, "I'll bring you bread pudding with Chantilly cream…hopefully, you'll be able to at least taste it" I managed to stop myself from eating the plate.
Go with God, Chef…laissez les bons temps rouler!
Monday, October 05, 2015
FINALLY, A Home Improvement I Can Get Into!!!!
Yep, one full gallon of whoop-ass Glock trigger from the guys at Apex Tactical! The magicians of the S&W M&P trigger have turned their substantial home improvement skills on Austrian plastic. More pixs tomorrow, and an exclusive interview with Scott Folk and Paul Erhardt from Apex.
This comes at a PERFECT time for me, as I'm going through a Glockian phase. My 34 has a GlockTriggers Edge; my 26 slated for an SI "Tactical" and 2 dead stock G19s just crying out for the Apex treatment!
Sunday, October 04, 2015
Sunday Thoughts
The Congress of the United States of America arrive ready for work!
I see Hillary is proposing a no-fly zone over Syria, but why stop there? Surely Obama could declare the Middle East a gun-free zone and put that unarmed security guard in charge.
"What passes for thinking about the prevention of gun violence is not thinking at all. Thinking (as problem-solving) is a search for means that can be reasonably expected to achieve a given end. By reasonably I mean that supporting arguments can be provided to demonstrate to the satisfaction of reasonable people the connection between the means and ends. What we get from gun-control advocates is nothing like that; instead they operate on the magical belief that uttering certain words—codifying just the right incantation—will accomplish the end.
"We know they believe in magic, not logic, because those who propose to restrict individual rights regarding guns see no need to explain how their proposals would reduce or end gun violence. For them it's enough to declare their sincere belief that this is the case and to invoke polls showing that a majority of people also believe in whatever is being proposed.
"What's belief got to do with it?"
"Gun control is not a goal — it is really a means to an end, a vehicle the Left would drive to gain even greater power.
***"It is also a means for the Left to express it’s emotional and psychological discomfort about the citizen independence symbolized and promoted by the Second Amendment — from the ability of responsible citizens to defend themselves and their families, to the principle that an armed population should be a check against elite tyranny. It’s not so much that totalitarian liberals fear their quest for power will end with armed citizens rising up in revolt; it’s that they hate it when free people think that way. We’re supposed to be submissive, indeed reverent of authority. We’re supposed to be dependent children, helpless in a vast “gun-free zone” where our very lives are a gift from the benevolent State, placing our trust in a volume of laws that grows far beyond its demonstrated ability to actually prevent crime.
***"No, liberals, you can’t confiscate the guns of the American people you hate so very much. An ideologue like Obama knows that — curse that pesky Second Amendment! — but he brings it up anyway, because he wants to feed the emotional appetites of his followers, and he knows the non-starter of gun confiscation can be used as an opening bid to capture some lesser prize. If you resist total capitulation to the Left’s power grab, then surely you’ll be “reasonable” and agree to some partial capitulation, right? You wouldn’t want to be called an “extremist,” would you?"
"Air Force veteran John Parker, who had a licensed concealed carry gun on his side, was was situated in a building about 200 yards away from where the shooting began at Umpqua Community College yesterday. Instead of taking down the active shooter, Parker was prevented by staff from intervening in the shooting in which ten people were killed.
“There were a few people in the vet center and then when we heard the shooting happened, we got up and we were gonna go out and see what we could do,” Parker told Fox News’ Sean Hannity."
“Immediately the school staff stopped us and told us to get inside of the building….essentially the staff wouldn’t let us go to assist,” he added."
Every member of the UCC staff who prevented those men from running to the sound of guns should be charged with involuntary manslaughter and spend the rest of their miserable lives in prison as the bitches for a 350-lb bruiser named Jumbo.
Not to change subjects, but I think this is part and parcel of the same propaganda campaign that is spinning up against us:
Not to change subjects, but I think this is part and parcel of the same propaganda campaign that is spinning up against us:
"According to Dr. Warren J. Blumenfeld, who is a staff member of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, hunting animals for sport has many similarities to lynching African Americans.
In his article "White Supremacy and Devaluation of African [Heritage] Lives," Blumenfeld explains how hunting animals in Africa is very similar to murdering black people.
Dr. Blumenfeld begins, "The philosophy and practice of white supremacy devalues all African and African heritage lives whether human or non-human animal. White supremacy links slavery in the "Americas" with the ongoing police killings of unarmed black people and to the killing of animals on the continent of Africa."
I believe we're looking at the last great antigun initiative of the Obama administration, the final push. They know that the public has "tipped" against them. Their own spinners are telling them that the public is fed up with the lies and is voting with their wallets. They know that time is running out. That's why there's no option but to go for the long ball.
It will be quote/unquote built on the "Australian Model." But in an effort to show how "reasonable" the Dems/progressives are, there'll only be a teeny tiny first step, "universal background checks." Of course to make those universal background checks — such a little thing, really — work, our benevolent overlords will need to know the whereabouts and ownership of every single firearm in America. It's not really registration, you know, just one of those pesky simple bureaucratic necessity to make those reasonable background checks work.
They will try to play shooters off against hunters; "sportsmen" against self-defense militia type; women against men; NRA members against non-NRA members. They will roll out one "false flag" after another — "I'm a gun owner, but…"; I'm a shooter/hunter/competitor, but the NRA doesn't represent me…"; why do you need an assault rifle to hunt squirrels…" They will drag every Hollywood shill out of the closet. The levels of the lies will be staggering.
The MSM will be all-in…remember, Goebbels referred to the media as "a great keyboard on which the government can play." And play it they will.
So be strong, be ready, be honest, be true. We are all battle-proven, and we have all seen the elephant. More than anything else, remember the words of the Founders. These, from Sam Adams, are especially apt:
If ever time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.
It will be quote/unquote built on the "Australian Model." But in an effort to show how "reasonable" the Dems/progressives are, there'll only be a teeny tiny first step, "universal background checks." Of course to make those universal background checks — such a little thing, really — work, our benevolent overlords will need to know the whereabouts and ownership of every single firearm in America. It's not really registration, you know, just one of those pesky simple bureaucratic necessity to make those reasonable background checks work.
They will try to play shooters off against hunters; "sportsmen" against self-defense militia type; women against men; NRA members against non-NRA members. They will roll out one "false flag" after another — "I'm a gun owner, but…"; I'm a shooter/hunter/competitor, but the NRA doesn't represent me…"; why do you need an assault rifle to hunt squirrels…" They will drag every Hollywood shill out of the closet. The levels of the lies will be staggering.
So be strong, be ready, be honest, be true. We are all battle-proven, and we have all seen the elephant. More than anything else, remember the words of the Founders. These, from Sam Adams, are especially apt:
If ever time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.
Saturday, October 03, 2015
Enough
“One may question whether real civilisation is so safely afloat that we can afford to use our pens for boring holes in the bottom of it.”
F. L. Lucas, 1966
British anti-fascist crusader, WWII
So we have to listen to the same old crap from the same purveyors of lies. Personally, I'm tired of arguing. read this article, because it explains why a lot better than I can, Five reasons that the benefits that flow from guns far outweigh the risks inherent in guns:
E. The Only Way Gun-Control Activists Can Support Their Position Is To Lie.
And now we get to the reason that led me to write this manifesto. I’ve had several frustrating debates on Facebook with Progressives. These debates have revealed to me that I didn’t actually need to do all the above research to know that my fundamental principle – the Second Amendment is a good thing – is correct. What absolutely confirms the rightness of my cause is the fact that gun-grab proponents have only one way to support their cause: THEY LIE.
If you have to lie to support your position, you don’t have a case. It’s as simple as that.
***
Then, when you point out that these shootings invariably take place using legally obtained guns in heavily gun-controlled states and in designated “gun-free zones,” the same Progressives scream that you’re an idiot, a murderer, and a Nazi. And that’s when you know that you’re right.
Let me reiterate the point I made at the beginning of this section: You know you’re right if your opponent’s only evidence is fraudulent.
Read the whole thing. In fact, memorize the whole thing and pass this link onto your friends. I also refer you to this thoughtful commentary from the brilliant legal expert Eugene Volokh on Guns and Alcohol in no less than WaPo:
But let me offer a concrete analogy (recognizing that, as with all analogies, it’s analogous and not identical).
Every day, about 30 people are killed in the U.S. in gun homicides or gun accidents (not counting gun suicides or self-inflicted accidental shootings). And every day, likely about 30 people are killed in homicides where the killer was under the influence of alcohol, plus alcohol-related drunk driving accidents and alcohol-related accidents where the driver wasn’t drunk but the alcohol was likely a factor (again not including those who died in accidents caused by their own alcohol consumption). If you added in gun suicides on one side and those people whose alcohol consumption killed themselves on the other, the deaths would tilt much more on the side of alcohol use, but I generally like to segregate deaths of the user from deaths of others.
So what are we going to do about it? When are we going to ban alcohol? When are we going to institute more common-sense alcohol-control measures?
Well, we tried, and the conventional wisdom is that the cure was worse than the disease — which is why we went back to a system where alcohol is pretty freely available, despite the harm it causes (of which the deaths are only part). We now prohibit various kinds of reckless behavior while using alcohol. But we try to minimize the burden on responsible alcohol users by generally allowing alcohol purchase and possession, subject to fairly light regulations.And, perhaps incorrectly, the right to a decent beer wasn't written into the Bill of Rights. But the right to keep and bear arms, a God-given right of free men and women was specifically acknowledged and protected in the Constitution.
A few months back Charles C. W. Cooke, a Brit who now lives in America, wrote a simply brilliant rant at NRO calling out the antigun swine for what they are. It's especially relevant after the last few day's events, when the Great Fool went on television now once, but twice, and brought up the "successful Australian and British" models for "combatting gun violence."
That pathetic old broken down old prostitute Hillary chimed in with similar words, which tells me that "Australian Model" is polling well with the Dem/progressive base. Bye-bye to "commonsense gun laws," "things most Americans agree with," "we support the Second Amendment but…," "who needs military style weapons," all that other crap that didn't play worth a darn.
So now they're going for all the marbles.It is, as my old friend Jerry Miculek once said,"nut-cuttin' time." The "Australian Model" that Barry Obama so admires is basically the door-to-door confiscation, followed by the destruction, of all civilian firearms. Then draconian laws are put into place for the possession of any "unauthorized" firearm. Yes, there are still civilian weapons in Australia, but look at the year-long battle that has been going on over the introduction of a lever action shotgun…the slightly modern equivalent of the Winchester 1887 lever gun designed by John Browning. This slick piece of ultramodern killing technology is clearly too dangerous for even the few Australians who can qualify for firearm ownership.
This from today's NRO:
“Australia” is Obama’s preferred euphemism for that most cherished of gun-control ideals: mass confiscation of the citizenry’s weapons.
***
You will notice that the president doesn’t exactly spell out what following Australia’s model would entail. He speaks instead of “commonsense gun-control legislation,” “closing the gun-show loophole,” and “universal background checks.” In the last 24 hours, New York magazine, CNN, and NBC have also sung the virtues of the Australian model.
But the Australian 1996 National Agreement on Firearms was not a benign set of commonsense gun-control rules: It was a gun-confiscation program rushed through the Australian parliament just twelve days after a 28-year-old man killed 35 people with a semi-automatic rifle in the Tasmanian city of Port Arthur. The Council of Foreign relations summarizes the Aussie measure nicely: The National Agreement on Firearms all but prohibited automatic and semiautomatic assault rifles, stiffened licensing and ownership rules, and instituted a temporary gun buyback program that took some 650,000 assault weapons (about one-sixth of the national stock) out of public circulation. Among other things, the law also required licensees to demonstrate a “genuine need” for a particular type of gun and take a firearm safety course.Cooke suggests let's just cut though the BS…you wanna make a run n the Second Amendment? Make it a plank of the Democrat Party and get to it:
This, it is true, is not a mainstream position on the American Left — at least, it is not one that is argued openly. But it is a reasonably popular one on social media, it has strong support within the more leftward-leaning parts of the political commentariat, it is often implied by the casual manner in which progressives such as President Obama refer to “Australia” and other heavily regulated nations, and it enjoys indirect approval from around one quarter of the American public. When the likes of Rob Delaney and Bill Maher and Keith Ellison say that we need to get rid of the Second Amendment, they are not speaking in a vacuum but reflecting the views of a small but vocal portion of the American population. And they mean it. That being so, here’s the million-dollar question: What the hell are they waiting for? Go on, chaps. Bloody well do it.Read the whole thing…here's the punchline:
You’re not going out there to tell these people that you want “reform” or that “enough is enough.” You’re going there to solicit their support for removing one of the articles within the Bill of Rights. Make no mistake: It’ll be unpleasant strolling into Pittsburgh or Youngstown or Pueblo and telling blue-collar Democrat after blue-collar Democrat that he only has his guns because he’s not as well endowed as he’d like to be. It’ll be tough explaining to suburban families that their established conception of American liberty is wrong. You might even suffer at the polls because of it. But that’s what it’s going to take. So do it. Start now. Off you go.I am no longer interested in debating jackasses, whores and liars. I am tired of people threatening the lives of my friends, my family and myself, as we saw on Twitter yesterday, hoping to chum up another psychopath. I am sick to death of having it explained to me as if I was a 3 year old that when a fanatic Islamist commits an atrocity it is critical — CRITICAL — that I understand that all Muslims can't be held accountable. But that when a single maniac kills someone, EVERY SINGLE AMERICAN SHOOTER must pay the price. Enough.
Thursday, October 01, 2015
HOW MANY DAMN TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY THIS?!?
*BE ARMED*
Every friggin' day…every day of the week...every time you walk out of your house (and make sure you have a pocket pistol when you're at home.
*BE TRAINED*
Make your vacation a training vacation…check for training books and DVDs…practice with Airsoft or Next Level Training or LaserLyte guns. Training is more important than a new TV or an ATV.
*BE VIGILANT*
My friends, the wheels are coming off this thing. The America we grew up in is dead and gone. Mr. Friendly Policeman's job is draw the chalk lines around our bodies. We are on our own, and we ignore that at the risk of our — and our families' — lives.
* HAVE FAITH*
Today the God of All Things gave dozens of people the chance to stand; not to live, because those decisions are ultimately not ours. But the chance to stand. Sometimes I think we imagine the God of All Things sounds great horns that call us to battle, the great rattle of arms and rallying of troops. But I think God whispers, no more than the rusting of a single hummingbird wing. None of us will know those whispered words; they are for our hearts alone. I believe that today some people heard the rustlings of hummingbird wings, and they stood and took the bullet. I hope…I pray…that should the whisper come to me, it is from Psalms…blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle...
25. The modern man has no use for a gun. He doesn’t own one, and he never will.
Perhaps Kipling saw it differently:
When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.
They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "Stick to the Devil you know."
—The Gods of the Copybook Headings