Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.
Getting Friends and Family (Slightly) More Prepared
How to gently steer reluctant friends and family members in the direction of being better prepared for emergencies.
Factory 6.5 Creedmoor Ammunition Accuracy
Velocity and accuracy testing of a large bunch of factory 6.5 Creedmor ammunition.
Rasmussen and practical drift- Drift towards danger and the normalization of deviance
This is a bit deep and academic, but it clearly describes how in police work (and likely many other fields), shortcuts are developed and then followed until the point of becoming dangerous. This is the scientific proof of the idea that “good luck reinforces bad tactics.”
This meshes with the idea of “Survivorship Bias.”
“A stupid decision that works out well becomes a brilliant decision in hindsight.”
— Daniel Kahneman
Vehicle Ramming – Indicators
Terrorist vehicle run down attacks are still being advocated by Islamist terrorist groups all around the world. Watch this short video to learn about some potential indicators of terrorist vehicle activity.
Cop Safety in Restaurants
The tips in this article are great. My tip is better. Don’t eat at any restaurant in uniform. It’s simply not worth the risk of poisoned food. Pack your lunch. It is healthier and safer. Stay out of restaurants when you are working.
Why do some cops have misplaced off-duty priorities?
One more article for my cop readers…
“So, back to that priorities thing. I’m no Jedi Master, but I think that if you wear a badge for a living, then you need to be good with your duty weapon and you need to keep your skills sharp. I also think you need to have a reliable backup weapon, which you are equally competent with. If you don’t have two decent guns, or if you’re not good with either of them, then you need to fix that – now!
If this means that you have to cut back on some leisure time activities and expenses in order to have the time and money to make this happen, then that’s what you need to do. You need to make this a priority in your life – the priority – instead of letting it slide while you whack little white balls with an expensive stick up and down manicured fairways.”
Kahr CW9 200 Yard Shot
I find that the technique of “shooting out of the notch” to be much more reliable than merely “aiming high” for long distance handgun shooting. As you can see, once you figure out how much of the front sight needs to be out of the notch, long distance hits are quite easy.
The other variable not addressed here is “accepting the wobble.” Your sights will be wobbling (not steady) at long distance. If you wait until the sights are perfect and then hurry up and snatch the trigger, you will miss. Try to hold the sights steady, but accept some movement. Concentrate on a smooth trigger pull and you will make the hit.
The Key to Cutting Deep
Michael Janich describes how differing blade shapes affect the knife’s slashing or pressure cutting abilities.
How Social Media Hacked Civic Conversation
“The sooner those who write about social media accept that the current importance of these technologies are inflated, and that for most people these platforms don’t need to play a major role in their civic or personal lives, the sooner we can get about repairing the damage that we’re only now beginning to fully understand.”
What is +P Ammo?
Good information for anyone who doesn’t fully understand the performance difference between normal ammunition and ammunition designated +P. For another good article intended for firearms novices, check out Single Stack vs. Double Stack.
Book Review – Combat Pistol Shooting
One of the few historical gunfighting books I haven’t yet seen.
Fighting or Shooting?
“So, can we teach fighting? We can, but it is more difficult than teaching shooting…and it’s not near as much fun on a weekend. The skills of shooting and fighting are similar, but their application is different. How can you tell? Well, while not all inclusive, here are a few examples: If you are mostly concerned about your split times, draw speed, perfection on a particular drill or how you look when you do these things, you are probably shooting. If you are focusing on hitting the thoracic cavity multiple times every time you shoot regardless of the orientation of your body or how you look when doing so, you are probably fighting. If you are engaged in regular interactive training and not bitching, crying or making excuses for poor performance…just trying to get better each time…you are probably training for the fight.”
Shooting on the move or move then shoot?
I have mixed feelings on this issue. I did a study looking at how officers performed using simulated ammunition (Simunitions and Code Eagle). In my study, officers who shot on the move were hit about half as often as those who stood still. The moving officers only lost about 10% of their accuracy when returning fire. This is a clear argument for shooting on the move. The fact remains that one cannot move as fast as he possibly can while shooting at the same time. It’s difficult to hit when running at a full out sprint.
If movement is the priority, MOVE. If shooting is the priority, SHOOT. The latter can be done while moving, but the former cannot be done (well) while shooting. I still teach shooting on the move, but not as a tactic. In my mind it is more of a skill building exercise. A gunfight is a “divided attention” event. You must do multiple things at the same time. Teaching students to move and shoot accomplishes that…it builds the skill of “multitasking” with a gun in the hand. That’s a good thing.
Speedloader Tips and Techniques
Some “lost knowledge” about revolver speed loader use.
Unfuck Yourself
This is useful advice. I’m sad that most of you won’t embrace it.
“In the end, it is all about thinking for yourself, practicing the non-aggression principle and leading an examined life.
Remember, fashion is, by definition, conformity.
Resist.”
Best spork for eating brains in the zombie apocalypse
I bet this is a topic about which you haven’t spent much time considering. My favorite spork is one that they didn’t evaluate. The Ka-Bar spork has a hidden polymer blade that is invisible to metal detectors and X-ray machines.
Becoming Supernatural: How Common People Are Doing the Uncommon
What I’m reading…
Because I like doing uncommon things.
Situational Awareness With Children
My readers regularly ask for more articles about protecting their family. Unfortunately, I’m not the expert they seek. Being unmarried with no desire to have children, my experience in this topic is rather limited. Melody, however, has three kids and knows of what she speaks. Check out her article about maintaining situational awareness with rug rats in tow.
What’s Next? Understanding and Misunderstanding America’s Gun Culture
A book chapter from Dr. Yamane discussing what “gun culture” might look like in our country’s future.
Making Lidocaine for Injection
This might be useful information for some of you.
METT-TC and how it applies to us
I absolutely despise military acronyms. With that said, ignore the acronym but don’t ignore the concept. The roles of soldier, police officer, and armed citizen are VERY different. You need to consider that whenever you seek out training classes taught by military vets and cops. They have lots of experience operating with guns, but that experience may not necessarily be applicable to the skill set you need to survive against an armed robber or home invader.
Criminals Do Not Think The Same Way You And I Do
Sometimes watching videos like this are an important reminder that there are some truly evil people in the world who could care less if you live or die. It’s a vital concept to understand.
The B-27 Target: Commonly Seen, But Is It Any Good?
This is NOT the target you should be using for serious training.
The Nine Worst Holsters
Excellent holster advice here. Please don’t carry in any of these monstrosities.
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