Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.
People Want Their Say, Not Their Way
This podcast has two very valuable concepts for conflict resolution. The first is making a distinction between a person who wants “their say” versus a person who wants “their way.” The second is a language tip. In your next confrontation, replace the phrase “calm down” with “just give me a minute to better understand the situation.” Listen to the whole thing.
Project: Improve Preparedness While Traveling
Paul provides very important advice to be more prepared when traveling. If you are traveling internationally, I might humbly suggest that you read my book as well.
Are Dry Fire Aids Worth It?
A valuable look at items that might help you dry fire more often. You may also like Which Dry Fire Tool is Best For You? and 5 Best Dummy Rounds & Snap Caps For Dry-Fire Practice.
Buckshot effectiveness at 50 yard range.
Ballistic testing of several types of shotgun ammunition at a longer range (50 yards). The test results start at around 7:00 and the shooter’s conclusions from the test start around 9:00. Bottom line: shotgun pellets lose velocity FAST. Anything smaller than 00 Buck isn’t likely to achieve the FBI minimum of 12″ of penetration at 50 yards or greater. If you anticipate longer range encounters, use the larger buckshot (or a slug).
Rangemaster’s Shotgun Instructor Class
A little more shotgun content for you. You might recognize the dude in the photo. I took the same class the author wrote about. Don’t judge my target. I’m sure all the misses came from my range partner, Apache Solutions instructor Zach Cox. This was a really fun class that you should take if you have an interest in the gauge.
Don’t Look at the Light: A Guide to Surviving a Nuke
Considering the dumpster fire our world is turning into, this might be worth your time to read.
NOVEMBER 2023 NEWSLETTER
You should be reading Tom’s newsletter every month.
5 Sure-Fire Training Drills For Your Concealed-Carry Pistol
If you are new to the CCW game, here are a couple drills to help keep your next training session street relevant. For something more challenging, try the Trying to Hack the iHack Shooting Drill. and The Zen Master Drill.
P&S ModCast 360 – Snubby Lessons
Quality snubby information.
Tend To Your Own Business
Solid advice from Claude.
Self-Defense Against a Knife: Tips & Tactics from an Expert
Here is some advice from Steve Tarani, one of the best knife guys on the planet. Steve’s awareness book is worthy of your attention.
Dream, The: The Extraordinary Revelation Of Who We Are And Where We Are
What I’m reading…
Manifesto + Demoler Q&A
Thanks to reader Fernando for sending me this link. It’s a good interview with Ed Calderon about Mexican Cartel violence, border security, and some tips to keep travelers alive. You may also enjoy Ed’s interview with a Mexican human smuggler.
6 Self Defense Moves to Teach Your Daughter
I like all of this advice except the foot stomp. I started out my training career teaching women’s self defense classes. In the last 25+ years I’ve fought thousands of fights as a padded “attacker” testing my female students. I never wore any padding on my feet. Despite getting foot stomped in almost every fight, I have never had any damage or significant pain from the stomps. They just don’t work.
Concealed Carry Corner: Concealment Defined
This is a concept I wish more CCW carriers would embrace. You are not trying to hide your gun from the “average” person. It really doesn’t matter if Suzy SoccerMom sees the bulge in your waistband. Instead, you are trying to conceal your weapon from the hardcore criminal who has been hiding guns and spotting hidden guns his entire life. Throwing a shirt over your OWB holster doesn’t pass muster for that scenario.
“True concealment is making our tools, intentions and capabilities invisible to the knowledgeable, determined threat that is actively looking for each of these items. Each of these elements are important. Often we focus on portions of this definition, but leave out key elements. Concealing from a disapproving aunt is far from concealing from a determined foe.”
Is the Res Q Me tool still relevant?
My friend Jonathan Willis discusses one of my favorite survival tools.
Make Your Own Luck
“Will you be one of the lucky ones? I don’t know, but I believe the harder you train the luckier you will get — and I would rather be good than lucky.”
Offgrid Foot Care
Doc Bones covers various foot injuries/conditions and how to treat them in the field.
RECOILtv Transport: How to Ram a Vehicular Barricade
A quick and dirty lesson about driving through vehicular barricades and roadblocks. It’s important not to hit the car moving fast. That will likely deploy your airbags. Hit the vehicle under 25 mph and then accelerate the moment after you make contact.
Gun Oil: Does It Matter What Kind You Use?
My preferred gun lubricant? Whatever is free. If I run out of that, I generally use Slip 2000 EWL.
An analysis of studies pertaining to masks in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report: Characteristics and quality of all studies from 1978 to 2023
A lot of the “science” done in academic publications is of poor quality and yield results that aren’t repeatable. This publication looks at the issue of effectiveness of wearing masks on morbidity and mortality, but the conclusions could be extended to almost any other topic as well.
“MMWR publications pertaining to masks drew positive conclusions about mask effectiveness over 75% of the time despite only 30% testing masks and <15% having statistically significant results. No studies were randomized, yet over half drew causal conclusions. The level of evidence generated was low and the conclusions drawn were most often unsupported by the data. Our findings raise concern about the reliability of the journal for informing health policy.”
What other scientific “research” are you using to justify your health decisions?
It’s All About Your Presentation
Erick teaches best practices for drawing a pistol smoothly.
Tomcat or Tomfoolery? Or, How to Break a Beretta 3032
On paper, this gun looks great. It isn’t the most comfortable gun to shoot and is really fat for carrying in a pants pocket. I think almost everyone would be better served with a Ruger LCP II in .22long rifle or the recently reintroduced KelTec P32.
Some of the above links are affiliate links. If you purchase these items, I get a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you.
