It’s been a while and I’ve accumulated a few things you’ll be interested in. Interestingly enough, they aren’t in browser tabs, so this one isn’t a tab clearing post.
The first is Shooting Performance. If you’ve watched any of Michael Bane’s The Best Defense shows the last few years, you’ll be familiar with Mike Seeklander. Mike is a fixture on that show, and with good reason–he’s good. He runs his own training school, Shooting Performance. Like many trainers, he gives away quite a bit on the Internet for free, both as a way of getting people to take the paying courses/buying the the materials and as a service to the shooting public. I’ve watched a lot of the free stuff and bought some of the materials, which I’ve found to be of very good quality. I hope at some point in my life to work in a class or two if things permit.
The second item is from the October 30, 2015 Shooting Wire. Paul Markel pens a guest piece on “Crushing the Anti-gun Argument”. As he notes, this argument only works if your opponent has the ability for rational thought, so if you’re up against one of those emoting assholes who pleads that “We have to do something for the childrennnnnn!”, it ain’t going to work. However, if you’re having a holiday discussion with your sister-in-law and she is a fence-sitter, having this one in your pocket can’t hurt.
The third piece is from the Tactical Wire for November 5, 2015. Tiger McKee has some thoughts on field maintenance of firearms. He starts by setting the scene:
It’s been a long day of walking, evading and hiding “Worst-case” has become reality. Civil unrest has forced you into escape mode. Thankfully you’re prepared and ready. You find a safe place to secure for the night. No fire or light tonight. It’s still not safe to attract attention.
Not a place any of us would care to be. He goes on to point out that even though you haven’t fired your gun, it still needs to be maintained, because a day in the field exposes it to all sorts of dirt and nastiness that could cause it to misfire when you need it. True enough, and a small cleaning kit should be a part of your Get Me Home kit if you think there is any chance that getting home will take more than a day.
I’m going to part company with him on the spare parts, however. As has been noted here and in other places, the amount of gear you can carry is finite. The more you carry, the less mobile you are and the more likely you are to have an accident that injures you and further decreases (or eliminates) your mobility. Not what you need. The Get Me Home kit needs to do just that, and it needs to do it in a spartan manner. You’re not going to rebuild Western Civilization with it, you are going to get home as quickly as possible.
YMMV however. Take everyone’s advice, look at your particular situation and make your own choices.
And that’s it for this round of not tab clearing tab clearing.