The Bug Out Bag v The Go Bag (reality, practicality and myth) Part II

The Bug-out-Bag's portability and maneuverability fails (in my opinion) in one immediate regard.

Water.

The recommended amount of water per person per day is a gallon. A gallon of water roughly equals 8lbs. Three gallons=24lbs.

This doesn't take a lot of things into account.For instance the joy of hot Summer conditions and, that the easiest walking routes are covered in black asphalt. Or that traveling off road can mean climbing hills and, hacking through green under growth. Both will require frequent replenishing of fluids.

Cold Winter brings with it an increased weight of gear overall due to heavy clothing and bulk. Toss in food, guns and ammo, and any personal items and it get damn heavy damn fast.

Though there was an interesting article not too long back in National Geographic about African Aid workers purifiying drinking water by laying out disposable water bottles filled with clear but unsafe water on sheet metal. After six+ hours in the sun the UV light killed live protozoa. (post edit and thanks for the reminder anonymous reader).

Adding ammunition into the mix looks something like this:

A fifty round box of .45 acp 230 grn FMJ weighs 2lbs 4.7ounces, a fifty count box of 9mm 115 grn goes 1.61lbs. Three 30 round AK-47 magazines weighs 4lbs.

Bags also have an funny way of getting outdated or deteriorating. One day you open up your pack and discover your magnesium fire-starter has left a lovely grey film on everything (tip: wrap it in with aluminum foil) or the other bane of a survival kit. The gummy black bastardness of electrical tape over time.

Think all of this Bug out bagging is wrong. Go take your 72 hour kit and stay away for 96 hours. Don't head to the woods go to the shittiest neighborhood you can find in the dead heat of summer, locate and abandoned building and lie low. Then by comparison do a 96 hour drill at your domicile. Shut the power off, shut the water off and hunker down for four days. Either way you come away enlightened.

So what about the whole "Go Bag" concept?

The Go Bag was once defined for me by a former spook-turned-instructor in my formative years of Executive Protection as a professionals personal kit that combines daily use along with contents that may only see use during selected occurrences. This rings true for the SOF Operator, the Patrol Officer, the IT guy, right on down to yours truly. If there is one piece of worth while advice I have learned over the years and it may sound stupid don't pack for comfort, pack for use.

The creature comfort feature is what ends up making a bag unbearably heavy.

Case in point. Once before heading over seas with a client in the dead of winter we were spending the night in New York. The Principal a very corporate casual kinda guy (no ties I was told) and given that we were going to be spending three weeks in India taking a parka for one night seemed stupid. So instead I packed the heaviest wool sweater I had. Did we (and I mean him) decide to walk through half of Manhattan's neighborhoods after dinner in 20 degree weather. Yep. Did I buy a stocking cap from a street vendor in China Town. Yep. Was it freezing cold. Yep. Was I happy two weeks down the road in 95 degrees in Mumbai that I didn't have a parka in my bag. Ye....you get the picture.

Bags will evolve and change over the years as need be. And I actually keep somewhere around four to five bags in a ready, to semi-ready, to three-quarters empty state. The bags themselves range in size from small and medium daily carries to larger ones that may see use once a month. All of them have small shaving and first aid kits, cliff bars, spare batteries, spare knives, and an assortment of needs as the size of the bag increases. While they are not always overly tactical, they are always practical....for me and my needs.

Of the bags I consistently operate from the second and very heavily relied upon is a Duluth Trading Company's Cab Commander (in tan). If you don't have one buy one. It's stays loaded and in the 4runner with everything from a spare coffee thermos and water bottle, knife, picks, maps, compasses, rain jacket, food and so on. The nice thing aside from being within arms reach. If I switch vehicles it's as simple as grabbing it and go.

In the winter I keep a very very upscale winter kit (sarcasm) made up of my cold weather hunting gear, a spare sleeping bag, long underwear, jeans, socks, sweaters, etc all nicely packed in a $10 east German surplus duffel bag (see I told you OD was fashionably pre-war-on-terror). Around Christmas this past winter I received a call from a colleague at 4pm on a Friday afternoon regarding a somewhat dubious missing persons case. The weather was bad, we had just dug out three days prior from a massive snow storm and more was on the way. Since my cold weather Go-Bag was already packed and loaded I had very little in the way of prepping needed other than filling my coffee thermos.

I'm not going to fall into the trap of telling you what you MUST have in your kit, but there are a few things I heavily recommend regardless of size. A decent to very good tactical folder, an LED light of some type with one or two sets of spare batteries. A water bottle. I like a stainless one unpainted, because my thought is should I ever end up where its an emergency situation I can boil water in it over a small fire. A substitute is a plastic Nalgene bottle that fits into one of these. I may have ripped on packing 20+ pounds of water but, I didn't say don't carry any.

One of the best pieces of advice I've ever applied to all of my go-kits is simply a bar of soap, a wash cloth and a hand towel. A Steward (which is more applicable than 'flight attendent')I knew who worked aboard a billionaires private jet remarked that "hot soapy water, a nice soft towel and a clean face and new shirt can literally change your mental ability to work a 20+ hour day". He is very very right. I consider just as important as my night scope to be honest.

The inherent value of a go-kit, is that regardless of your profession, it gives you physical resources for the various demands placed on your professional and personal life.

In one of the more infamous cases where I was very thankful to have a "Go Bag" at the ready was several years back. A buddy and I were out on a morning bow-hunt when my phone began a non-stop buzzing. When I finally answered there was a very panicked stricken secretary on the other end asking if I could be at a local private airport to fly out. Thinking these thing always take a couple of hours to get fully prepped I said "sure, when do I leave?" her response "30 minutes", as I looked at my camo laden self I went rather slack jawed momentarily and said "can we do 45?" she confirmed that would work and that the plane would be held for me (my ego was something stupid for the next several days from that statement alone).

Fortunately I was less than three miles from the airport in question. Unfortunately my "go bag" was about 20 miles away so I did what any single (at the time) professional security spook would do. I called my mom (lest you think that I think far too much of myself not to give this woman the credit she deserves).

I walked on the plane inside of 40 minutes unshaven, head to toe in ASAT camo with five corporate executives all in suits. Waiting and smiling.

The end game is this. A kit should be reflection of you, the inside of your head, and the needs of your daily life. I see my bags in the same light that I do the pockets on my pants, (see Rule 8). Preparedness even on a small level makes all the difference. You learn from it. You'll never have every single specific thing you need, but with a good kit you learn to make things happen and adapt to it as they come.

Because real cowboys ride in the rain.

If you haven't seen it, it's well worth watching

Well done Martin Short

The Bug Out Bag v The Go Bag (reality, practicality and myth) Part I

Faced with a half a pot of coffee at 10:30 on a Sunday night and the dire need to finish a case summary of an eight month investigation that is formally being taken over by the Feds; now seemed as good of time as any to blog.

Amongst Internet lore few things spark more debate, discussion and “expert” rambling than the mysterious “Bug Out” or “Go Bag”. Yet lest I split unimportant hairs here, contrary to popular net speak the two bags are not actually one in the same.

The infamous bug out bag is for those situations that have deteriorated due to potential deadly natural disasters or human induced “problems” (like your aerial surveillance plane was shot out of the midnight sky in unfriendly territory and AAA stopped taking your calls over that pesky $55 fee). But if you read many an experts (real and self-titled) opinion of contents it can be somewhat overwhelming and discouraging.

First requirements are fashion (sarcasm) it should be black, coyote, or dark earth in color . Olive drab is sooo pre-Afghanistan (consequently I have bags in all these colors). Second it should have literally the best of everything from a price perspective. From a top of the line M4 with no less than ten mags and ammo to a tactical pistol with six mags, Sure-Fires most expensive and brightest flashlight, spare batteries, and enough food, clothing, and medicine to keep you alive for the next 72 hours.

This goes for every member of the family....yes the dog too.

The problem with this mythic monolith should the feces hit the impeller is that according to the recommended list of contents you realize you need a bug out trunk, not a bag. For a new comer to the area of self-preservation it can all be a bit mind numbing, akin to putting together a tricycle blind folded three hours before sun up on Christmas morning.

But mockery and sarcasm aside, you need to be prepped with a system that is ready. As the Wife, The Dog, and The Mouse have since relocated to Little Farm (still under development) we have seen severe storms come through the area in all kinds of temperatures that by God's grace we have been missed.

A month ago when several tornados ripped through our area, one missing us by 3/4 of a mile, we were again spared but did lose power for ten + hours. I decided to relocate the Wife and Mouse to my folks house for the night a few miles away who still had power, and then come back to watch over the house. Before climbing into the 4Runner to drive them over I put my Remington 870 behind the seat stoked with #1 Buck. Already wearing my .45 she said to me "a little paranoid aren't we?". I explained that she had never seen civility amongst the population break down in the same way I had and if I was being paranoid I'd be wearing a bandoleer of shells.

I say that to say this.

While I don't have any actual bag or bags packed for emergency evac these days like I did when I was single I do have my gear organized and stowed under the basement stairs. My feeling being that this area is tornado and earthquake resistant. It would take a pretty substantial situation for me to feel we need to "bug out". To that end an example would look like a biological or nuclear attack or a substantial natural disaster like Japan 2011 or New Orleans in '05 post Katrina. Something that makes the region either toxic in the health sense or social collapse in epic..epic.. scale.

Despite all of its darkly romantic notions bugging out presents far larger issues than staying put. I have tools, vehicles, defensible structure, multiple firearms, ammunition, reloading capabilities, food, clothing.....resources.I'd much rather stay, live uncomfortable for a time, fight when and if I have to than run-fight-survive.

As we go about structuring Little Farm my concept for this home is that it is also a micro-training facility, an urban farm and a fortified location. Should the need arise that we absolutely must leave we can, but staying is vastly preferred.

Why?

Because I've been there. Skulking through the woods at night, leading somebody out of a bad situation with armed men about wanting to kill you. Shivering in the cold with minimal gear with people who also need part of that minimal gear and who are also in a constant state of panic out of said situation. And that is knowing mentally I need to survive this short time frame to get back to civilization.

Fleeing from it into a vast uncertainty, carrying a 70+ pound bag of gear, food and clothing along with several .45s and a rifle, with the Wife, and a kid who still doesn't have teeth, can't walk yet, let alone do any kind of over-watch. It's going to have to be TEOTW literally.

If you entrench yourself behind strong fortifications, you compel the enemy seek a solution elsewhere. - Karl Von Clausewitz

Part II coming.

The Cannabilism of CCW

When the Afghans finally forced the Russians out of their country it took little time before the tribes once united in a ten year war fell back to the old ways. Defeating the juggernaut bear with then modern technology allowed clans to began slaughtering each other in a more efficiently.

Today The Wife, my In-Laws, and I were all enjoying some local barbecue when in walked my old childhood neighbor who is a recently certified NRA pistol instructor. He had just finished teaching his first CCW course and I asked him where he went for a range, "Man it's tough. Nobody wants to let you in to their range and when they do they inflate the price because they consider you competition."

I nodded my head in complete understanding. Living in a relatively large metropolitan area anyone who shoots from my neck of the woods can tell you the location of every range, how far it is, and what the range's fees are. Supply simply doesn't meet demand.

Shooting ranges have always been right up there with nuclear power plants for their "Not in my neighborhood" associations. When the infamous "Flood of '93" ravaged the mid-west it led to a number of local ranges being destroyed. One took the insurance money drove 40 miles west and re-opened Benchrest Rifle Club complete with a 600 yard range. Other owners wanted to rebuild but everyone from the EPA to anti-gun municipal tyrants refused to issue permits. After all the Birkenstock 90's was about saving the children, and shooting ranges "obviously" (read: sarcasm first time reader) meant dead ten year olds.

We need more ranges, and not just in that "I want" sense. We really need them. There probably has never been as many first time shooters in America, ever. I can remember when seeing AR at the range was rare and SKSs were common. These days ranges are jammed with waiting lines, black rifles, and pistols and not just old white guys. If you seek "coexistence" and "cultural diversity" you can find it easier at a shooting range than the local Thai restaurant.

The more armed citizens we have the more we need them shooting and honing a lethal skill.
I LOVE shooting and have been at it since I was about eight. I joke that my blood is composed blood, lead, copper shavings, coffee grounds, and IMR 4064. I love it because it teaches me something new everytime, it is a highly enjoyable recreation, a great de-stressing tool, and as I said a lethal skill, all rolled into one.

Some guy over there is waving his arms and telling me "sssshhhh shhhh it's not a leathal skill...it's a gun...not a weapon."

Guns are lethal and they are weapons. Some are reverse engineered for Olympic sport with crazed looped grips and ten pound barrels, but they started out as something else. Manipulation of a firearm is a lethal skill.

So is driving a car.

"but but but not in the same vein" you cry. As a former ten year old who went over the windshield of a 1977 Yellow Gremlin (I didn't look both ways) I beg to differ.

We need more ranges which means we need more allies on local municipal boards who affect land permit issuance and zoning. The more ranges, the less monopoly happens.

Because that is what we are seeing. I don't begrudge anyone from making as much money as they can (okay maybe baseball pitchers I do), but when range owners who run open-to-public ranges and run Conceal Carry courses try to financially burden a fellow instructor by jacking up rates or turning them away I get a little pissed.

"Well were competitors!" Thanks Gordon Gecko, but when you wave that NRA flag on the front door we are also family. And an instructor from the outside who is paying for an hour or two of range time per student has just walked new customers into your door. Because where the instructor without a range sees that student once for training, the same student-now-CCW holder will come back over and over and over to your range. For advice, for ammo, gun rentals, holsters, guns, and (gasp) more range time. After that they bring other friends to shoot, including....wait for it.....new shooters.

I don't know why every range I go to there is always someone behind the counter who can tell you how they came up with the idea of gun ownership and implemented conceal carry all by themselves.

New shooters means strength in the maintaining of rights. New shooters leads to more conceal carry permit holders. More permit holders means more citizens fighting back against rapists, stalkers, and spree shooters.

Besides that if there is one thing I know about working for almost two decades in a specialized field where I have competitors, not all of them last.

"Well those guys aren't professionals. My guys are" says the range owner.

Clint Smith has professionals on his Thunder Ranch range, but I've been to plenty of ranges where the guy behind the counter is working part time for ammo and range discounts (and who can blame him), but ironically may also be in possession of the worst safe gun handling skills. Embroidered Polo doesn't equal a professional, it means employed here.

Am I dogging range owners here?

Yes.

Remember who your allies are. That the best marketing tool is word of mouth, it's what some people call reputation, and you either get a good one or a bad one. Being well funded doesn't mean shit when you have no street cred.

But as one reader reminded me, the coin is always two sided. As an independent instructor coming into a range we have the burden not to act like idiots and self-grandizing gurus. Range owners spend a considerable amount of their money on liability insurance because there is always some jack ass somewhere willing to do something you-tube worthy.

There are always problems in any sub-culture, but the American gun culture is rooted into our cowboy culture I like to think. We stand up to a worthy cause, we value the independent hard work of another person, and we ride for the brand. And for the American shooting community the 2nd Amendment is our brand.

We hang together or we shall surely hang separately.

There use to be civility and manners in civilization. Today we have "tolerance" which is nothing more than narrow minded insistence.

www.twitter.com/humanintel

Reasonable expectation of privacy......depends on who you ask

Privacy is a relative thing.

Today we live in a world where in order to do "normal and modern" things ....like communicate (or self-publish) we voluntarily sacrifice some level of privacy. And while we like to think that this is in our hands it really isn't. The decision to give it away or keep it is ours but once we give it out it's no longer in our control.

The use of any electronic communication device is routed through large corporations with government regulation. At any given time hundreds of people on a daily basis have access to anything about you minus your inner most thoughts.

Those crazy kids at the NSA have all of us under constant watch word surveillance, and dig moderately hard enough you can find out a lot about a person right down to the size of their skivvies (seriously).

But Big Brother is not alone.

In my work the coin is two sided; my clientele' ranges from private individuals, large corporations to governments......ah well not governments. Routinely retained to either safe guard an individual and their privacy or gain whatever intel I can ...just take your pick and we'll talk money.

As of this writing I have just finished drafting a proposal and concept for a large legal firm here in the U.S. titled "Enhanced Surveillance Techniques for use in Litigation".

Very legal and modern means of surveillance in the private sector. Ironically what a judge would have thrown out ten + years ago as excessive or extraordinary can be argued as quite normal. I won't say it reduces the cost of an investigation and in some cases increases it, it does make for better means of intelligence gathering with a lower to invisible profile not to mention providing a consistent flow of streaming intelligence versus a guy in a car down the street.

For years I have wanted to incorporate the use of R/C airplanes fitted with cameras to conduct aerial surveillance. Which may seem reaching, but truth is the Miami-Dade Police brokered a deal with Honeywell a couple months back and filed official paperwork with the FAA for unmanned aerial drones to fly over the county.

The first of its kind over a large metropolitan area. However not the first of its kind over rural areas (think outskirts of Denver). What was once limited to Kabul or Baghdad will now be over South Beach. And it's only a few short years before a private firms start picking up on this.

Trust me I ever get the scratch to effectively do it I am.

Oh sure you're thinking they'll never allow it. But if a person can privately own and fly anything from a glider to a Gulfstream there is no real reason an unmanned droned can't be either.

There are several local law enforcement agencies here in my part of the world that have police cruisers fitted with license plate scanners. The system has four cameras mounted on the front and back of the cruiser's light bar and are connected to a computer in the trunk, constantly and automatically scanning some 1,200 license plates an hour on parked and moving cars. Once scanned the system the compares scans with plate numbers of vehicles and vehicle owners who have outstanding warrants (local to national), and those databases are updated daily.

The NYPD? They are now armed with roving surveillance vehicles that uses back-scatter technology to scan people for weapons and vehicles for explosives. Ironically it can't tell you if the person with the SiG on their hip has a CCW or not.

Sure sure but what does this have to do with you.

Every-time we open a new profile on a social networking site, post our cell phone, use twitter we voluntarily give away our privacy. This makes it difficult if you ever are targeted by someone like me to argue that I've invaded your privacy when I can show what two hours internet search engines alone will produce. Not to mention any surveillance done or trash rooted through (by the way you need to recycle more).

A discussion I've been in with a colleague is whether or not putting passive GPS trackers on a target's vehicle is trespassing or invading privacy. And the Supreme Court is looking at this as well. Passive trackers don't tell me anything different than if I was following someone it just does it better. Nothing personal is revealed, these devices don't shoot audio or video, private conversations aren't compromised they just say where a vehicle went, how it got there and how fast it went. Was privacy really invaded? Especially since most vehicles and cell phones now come equipped with GPS that do exactly the same thing.

"YES" you cry.

"I don't know!" I respond.

Can someone live a modern life and maintain their privacy?

My best advice. Be intentional about it.

For starters if its reasonable block public views from your home windows. Drive around your life and see how someone can visually access your home life (think of it as self-surveilled) and then figure out ways to block those views.

If your world is windows, whether its a high rise apartment or glass office building three words of sage advice "White-noise-generator". In laymen's terms: speakers that play static facing a window.

You may think it 007 but, laser listening devices are indeed out there and it requires little more than youtube and a twelve year old with a how-to video up in regards as how to build one.

Think I'm paranoid? In the last decade I've seen these utilized by the opposition in 10-20 retained clients. The sound quality ? Meh, but good enough to get what is needed.

And I'm not alone in this threat assessment. Every new United States Federal building built has specs for white noise generators to cause reverb in all windows. What was once Tom Clancy is now $25, a soldering gun and a Tuesday night in the basement.

All of my personal mail and work mail go to a P.O. Box first. I make it a conscious effort to know all the vehicles that belong in my neighborhood.

I promise I do not own a tin foil hat (they're all been aluminum since 1946 anyway). It's just being conscious about the world around me.

I have clients who are well known and unknown that pay me an annual retainer to route everything from their cell phone bills, set social networking pages up, all the way to handling their apartment leases through my firm.

"good for them, I don't have that kind of cash"

If you don't mind The Man having some involvement most states have what is called a "Safe at Home" program generally run through the Secretary of States office. It's really just a mail forwarding service, but every little bit of backstopping helps.

Make a list of how and where you are publicly profiled and then see what you can do to curtail it. If you simply take down a profile it will still exist out there so go for disinformation. Then examine all areas of your life where you can do better at safeguarding your personal privacy whether it's the back yard to the internets.

Where there was once a social concept to mind your own business in another twenty will be "what do you have to hide!? What was once seen as a fundamental right will be looked at suspiciously and sadly deemed socially "unacceptable" and prosecutors in the future will talk about how we are trying to keep damning secrets to inflame a juries decision.

The more we attention-whore ourselves out the less we can lay claim to our rights of privacy.

Smart Concealed Carry

Fundamentally concealed carry is a comprehensive approach to predicting the future. No different than the reason we wear seat belts. One realizes that they live in society and several thousand years of recorded case history points out that not all members of society have good intentions toward everyone else. When we walk out the door there are inherent risks and unforeseeable events in the day ahead that may prove detrimental to your over all well being; therefore you take precautions.

Ironically, hoplophobes are always bent on making the world "safer" while simultaneously being the least prepared or capable of responding to a critical situation (but the first on camera after go figure). They also are the least flexible members of society where by comparison most licensed carry conceal permit holders tend to be more tolerant than often given credit.

We tend to be encouraging and welcoming of people with diverse backgrounds and life style choices who have a desire to learn how to shoot. The anti-self-defense people are intolerant and inflexible with attitudes that are borderline paranoid, classicist, and in my opinion often lack good mental fortitude.

The CCW permit is a state's recognition of the individual's positive mental capacity. To which one who does not hold a permit is hardly in the position to make a case against a weapons permit holder backed solely on generalized and, often inaccurate statements that permits are utilized by the ignorant or irresponsible.

For example. The permit holder has to have a decent to exceptional knowledge of criminal, weapon and transportation law. It matters a great deal to know where and how a weapon can be carried, what other states do and do not hold reciprocity with their state. What the consequences are for stalking, or adult abuse, or being intoxicated with a firearm. What places controlled by the Federal Government allow for concealed carry, peaceable transportation or zero tolerance towards weapons all together.

The hoplophobe is often ignorant in such civil matters and it could be argued that they are actually the more ignorant members of the citizenry.Though I suspect this would only lead to further weeping and gnashing of teeth amongst the elite.

No doubt there are permit holders who are bigots, idiots, sexists but, rarely are permit holders criminals (this can be confirmed through state and federal data bases demonstrating the low numbers of revoked CCW permits nationally). Consequently a large majority of violent protests and riots in the United States going back to then of the end of the 19th century with the labor movement stems from hard leftist radicals.

But I digresses; we do not live in a safe world.

We do not.

Some areas see less violence than others, but all areas contend with evil men bent on hell.

After logging in roughly thirty thousand hours carrying a handgun professionally as a civilian one begins to understand that there is a lot that goes into concealed carry. At best it holds an air of continuing education or a part time job. Our mistake can be that in the art of conceal carry and Personal Defense is assuming that when you receive your certificate and plastic ID card your are highly qualified.Knowing how to shoot and being authorized to carry is not the same as living with and understanding the intricate details of daily life with a handgun.

Surviving and thriving through a gun fight may come down to the time it takes to squeezing the trigger, but if you miss the shift in social dynamics, get caught with your hands compromised all that money you shelled out for guns, holsters, and class will have been in vain.

One: Set your own standard for responsibility.

Put it on the calender and get to the range once every three months (at the least) and qualify to your states standard of expectation for getting a permit. Better still go beyond the expectation. Shoot your carry guns at at a variety of distances and then keep the targets with notations on them.

April 8^th, 2011 ten rounds .38 special 7 yards from Smith & Wesson model 442

April 8^th, 2011 twenty-five rounds .45 ACP 25 yards Colt Combat Commander.

Get an expandable folder and file your targets after each range session. You should be nearly on par with your home states requirement for law enforcement qualification. Don't get high strung about having all your holes fill the size of a playing card (especially if you are new to it). If your level of suck is high and your target reflects it then there is your motivation to do better. It also demonstrates should they ever be called into use your marked level of improvement.The best part is you have a scheduled appointment to go to the range, which is far better than the dentist or oil change.

If your new to shooting and/or your first target for record has a pattern that is minute-of-dinner-table and you get into a self-defense shooting the next week you might be just as wise to burn the damn thing and say nothing to no one about it.

Another area of personal responsibility is that long ago I set up a code system for my brain in contending with keeping a handgun around the home. In a holster means chambered and ready to go. A handgun that is not in a holster is not chambered (on a revolver I open the cylinder), and needs to be manipulated into working order.

Two: Measure out your life

While some threats to our life are random and others are not we generally live under one routine or another. Within those routines are set distances and while the world still preaches that most self-defense shootings occur within seven yards (I still contend that this is changing) you might be surprised to find some very lengthy indoor areas.

The first time I can concretely attest to noticing was on a work place protection detail for an internet firm before the dot-com-crash ten years ago. The floor plan was very modern and open and in three areas existed corridors for 43 yard line of fire.

A few winters ago when I was protecting a wealthy client who was fearful that a hit had been taken out on his life I maintained a two week vigil at his very spacious home. From the kitchen to the first decent form of cover was fifteen yards (again inside).

Lest you think these distances apply only to the rich, the children's area at my church had a hallway corridor of 39 yards with the fire doors closed.

You don't have to have a Rain Man compulsion about it, but its applicable if you carry a firearm in your work place or any day-to-day area to know. Even if it is to good cover (cover not concealment).

Which is worth mentioning as well. Do you actively look at things in your life and say (inwardly) "this is concealment (drywall walls for example) and this is cover (concrete pillars, trash dumpsters)". It behooves you to study what bullets penetrate and what they do not.

Case in point. In a street crime shooting your attacker is likely to have a handgun more so than a long-arm so coverage has some flexibility. Spree shooters show a case history that these murderers have a blaze of glory mind set so there is a high probability that you are going to encounter Rambo who will be armed with a couple of pistols, a rifle and a shotgun.

Sound outlandish? As I am compartmentalizing and studying spree killers multiple firearms are the norm.

My end goal is to get you beyond the seven yard target. Start seeing some of the distances common to your life you'll embrace the idea and set aside the ego of shooting "good targets" at short ranges and stretch things out and start working with your gun...and not against it.

Three: Anatomy 101

We are told “aim center mass” but, do you understand why?

In the simplest of terms gun shot wounds to the lower abdomen generally are not fight stoppers in the same vein as the upper. With the exception of killing a kidney causing rapid blood loss, a fight could last several minutes. The upper chest allows for multiple immediate fight stoppers. A bullet puncture to the lung leaves the target with little or no ability to resupply oxygen to the body, add to it the blood loss that incurs and we get a one-two punch. One round (especially from a service caliber) will likely penetrate through and through. From this we get a potential force multiplier of four when everything goes right. A sucking chest and back wound and, two blood loss locations. Multiple rounds and the rate of destruction increases.

This doesn't take into account if the heart is destroyed. When a bullet smashes through the sternum the heart has to contend with damage from not only from the bullet but bone fragmentation as well.

This forward path of destruction is not over.

Straight to the chest gun shot wounds present potential injuries to the Spinal cord (lacerations, severing, etc.). Shattering the vertebral bones can punctured the spinal cord with a potential result in paraplegia, or full body paralysis below the site of injury to the spinal cord for the attacker.

Removing the actual ability to continue the attack by the aggressor.

The head shot while valuable.... and hittable as a target of potential fight stoppage is not a guarantee. Modern dictum from the arm chair is that a head shot equals death is something like 1/10 of a second. This is talking about a brain shot respectfully. The brain cavity takes up roughly half of the head. Shoot from the nose down and your attacker my lose some teeth but not his ability to fight.

Connect with the cervical vertebrae and death is instantaneous but hitting essentially a violently moving saltine cracker size target is tough.

Four: Turn your gun around

There is no way to deny that this isn't a pet peeve, a valid one, but willfully admitted pet peeve. I'd say this is common amongst new conceal carriers, but when I did my stint in corporate security this was very normal amongst guys who were retired law enforcement.

This method of carry is to place the gun in the small of the back either sans holster or in-the-waistband with the butt facing forward. The problem with this is two fold.

One, the gun is drawn by sweeping its owner. It may sound trite, but Rule 2 of gun safety is never allow the muzzle to cover anything you aren't willing to destroy. Conspicuously and continuously violated, especially with pistols, Rule two applies always under all circumstances

Oh sure I know your not gonna shoot yourself....unless of course you do.

Being involved in a gunfight is more than slightly stressful than you might assume. A negligent discharge when drawing strong side butt reward means at best a round goes into the floor. The worst is it goes into your leg (this happened to George Patton with the 1911 allegedly), but shooting yourself in the leg means you may be down but, not out.

Put a round into your guts from muzzle contact range however and you are your own first and last casualty. Extended beyond that, you just shot the only person able to thwart an attack, thus leaving the attacker to do as he pleases. Whether that is shooting your co-workers or raping your wife.

The second problem is it requires extensive chicken winging getting the gun into action. Should the encounter go into a close proximity fight inside arms reach your aggressor merely has to lock your arm behind your back...because that's where it is.

There is a subsection to this ...call it 2b if you will.

Were you to find yourself in a tight quarters brawl or attack in the midst of drawing the pistol in the conventional manner of barrel top forward butt rearward and your arm was locked low you still have the bad guy's groin or leg being easily targeted. In the opposite direction you are now fighting not to be a target from both yourself and the attacker.

Small things are only small things until they become big things.

Five: Understanding The Tactical Reload

In self-defense circles, IDPA, and the like this is often a hot button topic that in my very very humble opinion is misunderstood. The idea is to fire two to three rounds, then pop your magazine and insert a fresh one, while retaining your partial magazine in the process in case you need it.

You probably will need it ….so leave it in your gun.

The actual idea with tac-reload is to wait for a lull in the fight. A lull is different than dropping behind cover. IF your getting behind cover its generally because you are being shot at. A lull is when things get oddly quiet.

How long exactly? (here come the nasty e-mails) Think ten seconds; one-Mississippi two-Mississippi...... all the way up to ten.

I know you can hit a combat tactical reload in under 1/10 of a second. You know what is faster?

A loaded gun.

My predominate side arm is a Colt Combat Commander with 8 round mags and one in the pipe. If forced to fire off three rounds I still have the same amount of cartridges in the mag as a six shot revolver is starting off with. A modern designed high capacity handgun shooter should really question this mentality.

Why begin disassembling your pistol when you are in the fight of your life?

That guy over there just said “but what about...how do I remember how many rounds I fired?

You won't and seriously don't worry about it. That's why the gun manufacturers were kind enough to add the nice slide lock feature.

Six: Buy snap caps

Everyone will tell you dry firing doesn't hurt center fire handguns. They are right. The gun is fine but you can break the firing pin. I dry fire somewhere around two to three accumulative hours a week and have for well over a decade. I use to fire over an empty chamber. I've also broken three firing pins. Which is considerable considering on two of them I carried day in and day out for at least a couple of weeks before I discovered that my pistol didn't function (read: fire).

*Click* is really something you don't want to here when you expect the gun to go off.

It is worth mentioning (hat tip to tgace and Lead Chucker ) on this re-edit that this tend to be a bigger issue with hammer fired over striker fired handguns. Though the first gun that I broke a firing pin on was an early Kahr E-9 (yes I said E not K ) which is striker fired. Whether it was an early design flaw or excessive dry firing I can't say. I've only ever heard of one Glock firing pin breaking ...and I heard about it didn't see it.

Seven: drop a round from your magazines

The most wide spread complaint you will hear in regards to semi-automatic handguns is that “it's not feeding”.

Some will site a dirty gun or a weakened recoil spring, but more often than not it comes from weak magazine springs. For whatever the reason, and don't ask cause I still don't know even after asking people who make them. The last round in the mag is hell on the spring when compressed for a significant amount of time. This is especially true on high capacity magazines.

Where as drop loading or loading your magazine minus one round is not. For day in and day out I keep my mags downloaded by one. If something comes up, I'm traveling or feel the generalized need for it I take the three rounds that reside in my night stand box and insert them into the mag and go about my business.

I've run various tests over the years on this. Loaded mags, dated them and put in the safe only to be pulled out a year or two later and have the same failure to feed problem (and I use good magazines). The good news is you can easily and relatively cheaply replace the springs all by themselves. Two years ago I replaced six mag springs for $24 from Chip McCormick after twelve years of use.

Another good idea is to rotate your magazines (this is to imply that you have several) I generally rotate in and out of service every six months with a routine cleaning after every range session.

Eight: Wear a very good belt

One that is denoted as a gun belt.

I tried Duluth Trading Company's (great products) heavy duty leather belt but after two years of continuous use it fell apart. My current favorite is a Gould & Goodrich B52 leather pants belt. I just crossed the one year mark with it and it is in fantastic shape. Around $50 (US).

Nine: Wear good holsters

Like everything else in the gun community holsters are one more area where opinions are numerous. The current trend building is to carry police type security holsters, and to each their own. But where I have never had a problem making the transition from one type of pistol to another (i.e. 1911 to DOA automatic or revolver) I can not say the same for holsters.

I've carried enough and am familiar with a variety of handguns that muscle memory assumes control as soon as I get a grip on it. But with a holster your hand never touches it so there is no muscle memory building. May not sound like an issue, but after 15 years of dedicated daily carry it's one where I like consistency.

My belt holsters both in and outside the pant usually rely on tension screws or pinched leather to retain the handgun. The idea most folk fall into is that the strap aids in weapon retention in a struggle (which undeniably it can) but since police officers carry openly their threat is greater as opposed to someone who is carrying conceal.

Should you wind up in the unlikely position of fighting to maintain control of your sidearm it will likely already be in your hand. Conveniently enough you can go ahead and shoot. Thus ending that debate.

Personal preferences as far as holster makers go. I like Galco a lot.

My Jackass rig is very close friend of 18 or 19 years and a variety of countries and assignments.

Shoulder holsters get a lot of very bad press. I think the reason for this is most people wear the holster far far to low where the holster swings (would someone please tell the military this!) Mine rides directly under my arm pit and I like it there thank you very much.

The other advantage for a shoulder rig is going to the bathroom. Gone is the dilemma of catching your pants before they hit the floor with a thud, or sitting with a gun in your hand (I hang mine on the coat hook....and no I've never discharged a round into the ceiling) .

I also have come to appreciate El Paso Saddlery. They have quality holsters for reasonable prices to those of us who prefer leather.

My Smith 442 rides in a Galco S.O.B. (small of back) rig, but after several hours with it on I know its there. Anything heavier than the little snub nose I'll pass. On an up note the little SOB did save me from an otherwise nasty kidney punch on a detail once and it did nothing good for my attackers hand nor wrist.

Ankle rigs.

Where they shine (good ones) are in semi-formal events or situations where a tucked in shirt and no jacket is expected to be worn. Hot summer weddings are a good example. A good rig that is secure passes the dancing test. My Galco (again.....really) has no security strap on it only a tension screw, but I assure you I can do a full and complete hand stand and not have it fall out.

I have also driven across the country on four occasions wearing it for ten and 12 hours at a stretch behind the wheel and never been bothered by its presence. A bad or cheap ankle holster will make you drag your leg like Quasimodo or squint like Jack Elam.

By black it disappears with black socks better than a brown one by the way.

At the end of the day the holster that sees the most use is an old Dillon Leather IWB. Which for the private citizen this is going to be the usual method of carry.


Ten: Be Polite, Be respectful, Be in control but don't be a Pussy.

If you have to engage in a verbal altercation do so with steadiness and surety. Don't mince words with them or apologize. The beautiful thing about the human voice is that its user has volume control.

Use it.

Screaming and yelling looks good in the movies where all the cops swarm in, but when you scream at people you elevate the stress level of everyone involved...and there won't be a swarm of other guns behind you. It's also very very difficult for future potential witnesses to know who the rational one was when both of you are yelling.

And truthfully if you have enough time to delve into a Dr. Phil/Clint Eastwood combination monologue you have time to leave before the shit really hits the fan. And the less you talk the less likely you are to say something stupid.I have found is that the rank and file citizen actually fairs quite poor at confrontations and de-escalation. They either tend to go over board with the tough talk or they come across weak and pathetic. Both can get you killed.

Short sweet, even tones and straight to the point.

Over the top would be “Motherfucker I'm gonna kill you now if you don't put down that gun!”

While just as equally bad is “Can we talk for a minute?”

Any aggressor who creates a situation with brandishing a gun whether he begins to actively shoot or threatens to, needs to be shot.

It is just that simple.

Don't complicate it.

Pull your gun (while going for cover if possible) put your sights on the target and fire.

No talky talk, fire.

A deranged man with a gun who hasn't shot anyone is generally recognized to be within ¼ of an inch as being later identified on the evening news as a deranged murderer with a gun. Shooting a bad man who is armed is preventing murder.

But diagnose the situation even if it requires a mere (or lifetime) of ten seconds. It's important to note that I said BAD GUY with A GUN. With the prevalence of people carrying concealed out there you need to make sure that just because you see a pistol drawn in public that it isn't a fellow good guy reacting to a situation that you may not be seeing.

Currently I am not aware of any CCW law in the country that requires a civilian to issue a verbal command before he or she can fire at an attacker (if I am wrong on this jump in an let me know).

Eleven: ID yourself

I don't carry a badge of any type. In my earlier days I did.

A very nice Blackington one that read PRIVATE DETECTIVE, but my work is a bit more....uh... specialized anymore and to be honest police officers don't appreciate it. I get it.

I worked with a Dade County undercover cop once who told me that if “the shit ever went down” open your wallet and show your ID, that's what undercover police officers do when badge carrying leads to life insurance policies getting filed.

Flashing your wallet open isn't claiming to be a cop it says “please make note I am a good guy”....or they will at least think you have a concussion and be slightly more sympathetic.

To voluntarily carry a handgun amongst the populace is a great and grave responsibility. It is the most serious of social purposes and since it is voluntary we must choose to do everything involving it better.

Lives are at stake.

And not just ourselves or that of the B-I-Q (bad guy in question), but also of any bystander. There is very little room to maneuver legally or ethically that a mother of three was collateral damage when you were forced to fire to stop an attacker.

The short of it is this. Some men are bent on destruction, their end goal is to inflict mental and physical trauma on people, make widows and orphans and take the lives of children from their parents. Know your target, accurately assess the crisis at hand and engage. Men and women who aren't willing to stand up and fight to safe guard life are in the way of those who are.