The latest issue of Recoil Offgrid just published a review of my travel safety book. Book Review: “Choose Adventure: Safe Travels in a Dangerous Place” by Greg Ellifritz Leaving the Comfort Zone Some highlights for those of you who don’t want to click through: “If you’ve never traveled outside of the […]
Trainers You Should Know- John Murphy
Written by: Greg Ellifritz There are more competent firearms instructors teaching quality classes than ever before in human history. None of us has a corner on the market. Just like I’ve trained with dozens of top instructors over the years, my students will also train with other teachers. That’s a good thing. In […]
Best Law Enforcement Fixed Blade Knife
Written by: Greg Ellifritz I recently received an excellent question from a reader. It’s a valuable topic so I decided to address it in this public forum rather than simply replying to his email. “I have been reading your blog for several years and been impressed by the content. If you have some […]
Weekend Knowledge Dump- December 4, 2020
Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend. How to Survive a Mass Shooting The post-Covid quarantine mass shootings are starting to kick up. This is good advice to review. We had a respite for awhile, but there are lots of people […]
Free Books- Part 216
Amazon has a tremendous number of FREE ebooks on their website. You can find thousands of free kindle books on Amazon’s site every day. These books can be downloaded to a Kindle reader or a free App on your phone or personal computer. Even if you don’t have a Kindle, you can download a free […]
Your Tactical Training Scenario- Carjacking and Denial
Written by Greg Ellifritz Place yourself in Carolyn Meadows’ shoes. It’s mid day and you are leaving a large grocery store. You get into your car and start to back out of the parking space only to be startled by a shirtless man yelling and banging on the rear of your car. The […]
Lessons From the Revolver Roundup
Written by: Greg Ellifritz Last week I was honored to have been invited to teach at the annual Pat Rogers Memorial Revolver Roundup organized by Hardwired Tactical. It was a weekend training event focused solely on using the revolver. Instructors Darryl Bolke, Wayne Dobbs, Mark Fricke, Chuck Haggard, and I all taught three to […]
Weekend Knowledge Dump- November 27, 2020
Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend. My Mistakes in the Knife Teaching World. Hock’s valuable thoughts about the evolution of knife training. Understanding Police use of Force Massad Ayoob drops some knowledge. What About BB? “Let’s […]
Shooting Drill- Double It!
Written by: Greg Ellifritz I got the idea for this drill from Rich Grassi’s article in The Tactical Wire. In the article, Rich suggests that for a more challenging training exercise, police firearms instructors should shoot their state’s qualification course with TWICE the number of required targets in the same time limits as […]
Eye Gouges vs. Finger Peels
Written by Greg Ellifritz Read the story below. It’s a prime example of everything that shouldn’t happen in a fight, but sometimes does anyway. Victim at WIBW-TV hangs on to attacker despite punishment The story describes a situation where an irate man attacked several people who were working at a TV news […]
Teaching Tips- One Word Cues
Written by Greg Ellifritz I was recently reading an article called The Coach’s Cue – Breaking the OODA Loop. It was an excellent read for me because it combined two passions, combative strategy and strength training. In the article, the author speaks about the importance of simple, one-word, vocal performance cues. He was speaking […]
Weekend Knowledge Dump- November 20, 2020
Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend. Battle of the Nines: 9mm Luger vs. 9×19 vs. Parabellum Everything you could ever want to know about the differing 9mm cartridges available on the market. I Guess I Should Buy a […]
Free Books- Part 216
Amazon has a tremendous number of FREE ebooks on their website. You can find thousands of free kindle books on Amazon’s site every day. These books can be downloaded to a Kindle reader or a free App on your phone or personal computer. Even if you don’t have a Kindle, you can download a free […]
Questioning the Effectiveness of the .380 Auto Cartridge
Written by: Greg Ellifritz You folks really like your .380 semi-automatic pistols. Two of the top 10 most read articles on my site are about the .380. Every post I’ve written about this caliber has been consumed voraciously. Lots of the email questions I get from readers concern the .380 as well. […]
Ka-Bar TDI Shark Bite
Written by: Greg Ellifritz *I’m re-posting this article from a couple years ago. I recently learned that Ka-Bar has discontinued this model. Whatever inventory is available right now is likely the last opportunity to purchase this excellent non-metallic defense option. The Shark Bites in the supply line now will soon be sold and there […]
Weekend Knowledge Dump- November 13, 2020
Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend. Why “Cruiser Ready?” Tim describes the “cruiser ready” storage status with a shotgun and demonstrates that it provides a tremendous safety advantage without slowing down presentation speed. Link and video open to Facebook. […]
Dealing with Disruptive Airline Passengers
Written by: Greg Ellifritz Air travel is starting to increase from the nadir of the Covid-19 pandemic. As more and more people feel comfortably flying, I’ve seen a huge number of incidents where violent or erratic passengers have disrupted airline flights in the past few weeks. Before reading further, check out the articles below […]
Ammo For Sale
I’ve been in the gun game for quite a while. The first “ammo shortage” I experienced was more than 20 years ago. I vowed a long time ago to make myself immune from temporary ammunition shortages by stockpiling a lifetime supply of ammunition. Back in the day, my police department only allowed .40 […]
Damaged Defensive Ammunition
Written by: Greg Ellifritz I recently had a reader reach out to me with a very intriguing question: “I’ve got about 50 rounds of quality JHP in 9MM divided between three guns (mine+wife) and they are getting beat up. Question is, do I stick with the beaters (dinged cases or heads, etc.)or switch to […]
Weekend Knowledge Dump- November 6, 2020
Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend. TESTING .300 BLACKOUT BALLISTICS Gel testing subsonic .300 Blackout rounds from a short barrel. Speaking of ballistic gelatin, you may also like Ballistic Gel: Purpose, Protocol, & Best Ones. The Smith & […]