Lots of new video....

Apologies for not posting any blog content. I have been doing a bunch of video though. I think I'll probably need some companion pieces here in the future, so I haven't given up on the written word. (It is my original and main muse!)

In the meanwhile: my YouTube Channel.

You want a cheap knife? I got you...

Smith & Wesson Extreme Ops

Guys, this knife is $12. Buy two or three. If it dulls out or rusts out, break out one of the other ones. This is perfect for traveling or going places where you may have a knife confiscated from you. Did I mention, $12? It is far from my ideal knife, but my ideal throwaway knife is cheap, and this checks that box, nice and hard.

Please note that my Amazon links are affiliate links. If you purchase any of these items through these links it will get me a small percentage of the cost of the item, but at no cost to you. This helps me offset my expenses for running a business, such as hosting fees and buying items to review. Thank you for reading this review!

Vehicle Preparedness

Given what has happened on 95n in Virginia, as well as the current weather, here are some thoughts. Before we even get into the go bag that you should have with you, let's talk about your car.

Your vehicle should be in good repair. You should never let the gas tank go below half if you can help it. Your tire pressures should've been checked within the past month, and more often if temperatures have fluctuated severely. Ambient air temperature is the number one reason why tire pressures change. Also, checking your tire pressures regularly will alert you to slow leaks before they become disasterous. Your fluids should all be reasonably fresh and checked prior to a real trip. Your washer fluid reservoir should be full with the appropriate type of fluid for the outdoor weather. Additionally, if your brakes are even slightly suspect, get them serviced. Fresh pads and fluid won't crush you financially, but failing brakes may crush you for real.

Things you should have in your vehicle no matter what, and no matter the season:

• Cell phone and multiple ways to charge it.
• Spare tire or tire inflation kit in good working order.
• Water, at least a liter per occupant, and perhaps more depending on the weather.
• Snacks that are temperature stable and aren't too salty.
• Jump box/external battery charger. You can jump your car with it or power mobile devices.
• First aid kit, to include basics as well as trauma level stuff. (And training on how to use it.)
• Fire extinguisher.

You may also want to include a toolkit if you have the ability to use it.

In your personal/go bag, consider the following extras:

• Poncho
• Hat
• Gloves (work or cold weather or nitrile or all 3)
• Baby wipes/handi wipes
• Duct tape
• Paracord
• Torch/matches/fire starting materials
• Notepad and pens
• Spare batteries for anything that requires them

If the weather is cold, consider adding to your car:

• Snow brush/window scraper
• Extra coat
• Pack of handwarmers
• Snow pants

Things you should always have on your person:

• Sensible footwear for the environment
• Knife
• Flashlight
• Lawful self defense items

Sometimes bad things happen, and we are powerless to keep that from happening, but we can prepare for it and mitigate the consequences. Given what you're seeing on the news now, what do you keep in your car and on your person?

Travel Video

 Basically a video re-hash of my travel blog entry, with some additional goodies. There is also a shopping list in the description that you may wish to consult:

Travel Recommendations

Point Shooting

 Every time I see anybody say or write anything about point shooting it always turns into some crazy argument. I dug up several articles on it and they all try to say the same thing, but they all fail, near as I can tell. I'm about to say something radical and annoying and you can let me hear it in the comments, but here it is. Are you ready?

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS POINT SHOOTING.

There. I said it. Based on experiments I did with several of my colleagues, point shooting doesn't really exist. I should throw in one caveat. Taran Butler probably does it with his hip shooting. Aside from him, nobody is really doing it. What does exist is using the sighting systems of the gun to various degrees in order to get hits. Let me explain.

For those of you who have played with point shooting, did you do it with your eyes closed? If you didn't, then you were using your eyes and the relationship of the gun to the target to try and steer the gun. You may or may not have even been aware of the sights or dot or whatever, but I guarantee you that if your eyes were open, you were steering the gun by use of visual inputs. You may have been doing it in exceptionally coarse fashion, but, as I said before, you were still doing sighted shooting.

That experiment I mentioned before? I and several other shooters, including two national champions, shot some with our eyes completely closed. The results sucked. Hits were what I would call coincidental. Everybody was "in the neighborhood," but nobody was going to land hits that were even remotely close to what I would consider either competition or combat effective. In other words, true point shooting was a pretty solid failure for that round.

I have heard several people say that you won't use your sights under the stress of an actual encounter. What I think they mean to say is that THEY won't use their sights under stress. They have pre-decided, and therefore that matter is settled with them. I don't bother arguing or discussing the point with people like that. Much like me saying that I'm never going to go see Chief Keef perform live. Sure, I could, but I'm not going to. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate on The Chief. Love Sosa is really catchy, you should listen to it. But seriously, if somebody has firmly decided something, that is, as they say, is that. Now if you've already decided that you won't use your sights, then you'll certainly fail. The most powerful suggestion there is would be the one coming from your own mind. And let me tell you, I've seen a lot of shooters decide to not use their sights. In every case I've seen thus far, they've all failed to hit their targets. And I'm not talking about trying to get X ring hits, I'm talking about "trying to hit a cardboard backer" type of inaccuracy.

A completely different tale, as told by Annie Oakley's husband. Back in the day Annie told him that she didn't use her sights. He did the usual husband thing of going, "ummm hmmm," and said nothing else. Then when Annie wasn't looking, he moved the rear sight on one of her guns. The next practice session, Annie was missing all over the place and she was pissed. Hubbie told her what he did, they put the sights back correctly, and everything was fixed. She was operating at such a high level that her conscious mind wasn't moving as fast, and therefore wasn't comprehending what she was doing to get hits.

There are many lessons here. Firstly, anybody telling you that they're point shooting? Make them do it blindfolded. It is a true circus stunt. Secondly, you need to see what you need to see in order to get your hits. What that means at 1 yard and what that means at 25 yards are radically different things. If you have confusion on this, some practice is in order. If you want more help, we can get you there. Lastly, some pros do things at such a high level that they are sometimes not aware of what they are doing. I have found that in some instances it makes them unable to fully articulate their technique and how they got there. That isn't to say that all pros are in this boat. The exceptions that I've found would be people like Tim Herron and Gabe White. Those guys both shoot at a very high level, but they've also both picked apart what they do in terms of technique such that they can tell you exactly what they're doing. Also, they can tell you how you can do some of the same things. If an instructor can't get you some meaningful and measurable percentage of their ability, then taking a class with them is a waste of time and money. Don't get me wrong, some instructors are really entertaining, and if that's what you want, you should enjoy the entertrainment. But I do caution you to consider carefully how you spend your time and money. If greater skill and knowledge is what you want, pick your instructors appropriately.

Some links for further research:

https://www.police1.com/patrol-issues/articles/point-shooting-versus-sighted-fire-why-the-debate-M0Zup4VbfQmOWhjm/

https://www.luckygunner.com/lounge/are-pistol-sights-actually-useful-for-self-defense/

https://dryfiretrainingcards.com/blog/front-sight-focus-or-point-shooting-which-is-better/

Video Updates

 Started doing some YouTube work, because why not? Here's the most recent video, but there are several others:

Still Here!