The Tactical Life

Coffee Break:

bands

red

Coffee Break:

Clearly in the category of WTF:

wtf

decker

Motivational Monday:

One of the biggest mistakes in life is being self delusional. There is a vast difference between what you THINK you can do, versus what you can ACTUALLY do. Be honest with yourself because your family, teammates, (whatever) may someday rely on you to save them.

So, are your mentally and physically prepared to do whatever it takes?

Fight

strong

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Thought for the day:

“if someone kicked your door in at 1 am, planning to rob, rape, and kill you and your family, what would you do?” or “What is your plan if you and the family are at Applebees tonight and the wolf walks through the door and starts shooting?”

A father eating at a Popeye’s restaurant – and carrying his licensed handgun – shot a would-be robber dead Wednesday after the thief threatened the man’s family at gunpoint and demanded the dad’s belongings.

The San Antonio Police Department said Ander Herrera, 19, walked into the restaurant on South Flores Street just after 9 p.m. Wednesday and demanded Carlos Molina hand over his cash.

Thought for the day (2):

army

Thought for the day:

craft

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Another view:

All of those guys out there who let their wallets outrun their brains…and their skill sets…and chase that ever-present demon. TACTICOOL!

Bottom line is this: Not everyone is made from money. Not everyone is made from common sense, either. If people were to invest equal amounts of capital in their training as their gear, we’d all be a hell of a lot better off. It’s unfortunate that shooters will spend money on vast amounts of equipment but fail to invest in the mental tool box_. Having the toys but not the talent is a tragic disservice.

Letting your wallet outrun your skill set.

_If you have NO prior experience, why are you buying a $2k AR with an additional $2k of strap on toys you don’t know how to use? Because you are going to learn how? Would not it be wiser to invest in a base model rifle and some classes with a professional instructor? Learn to basics and develop a set of solid fundamentals and then consider upgrading your gear once you are fully competent as a shooter? You can have all of the best gear on the planet, but if you can’t establish a baseline zero that gear isn’t going to amount to a squirt of piss.

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Thank you, Idaho. I answered back on the PWI thread, and I’m not sure if you saw my response. We’re all safe here, but the devastation is just horrible. Some of the pictures just stop your heart. Ongoing fires since early in the fall. So many people displaced, loosing homes. The Sonoma fires in October were just unreal. Now it’s still up north of us, although there have been some fires to the South in the San Diego area. When you imagine that a fire like this can cover a football field in 3 seconds, people can really underestimate their ability to outrun it. Hard to imagine.

Funny story for you, and for any of the first responders, LEOs who follow. @Uncle_Gabby, I’ll tag you. This probably won’t surprise you. People are NUTS. We’re not in the effected areas this time, but our area was effected by a terrible wildfire in the early 90s. It’s still one of the largest wildfires in CA history. We lived in an apartment at the time, but we were on the edge of the developed land, at the top of the hill. When the TV news announced that we were being evacuated, people actually drove into the area to see the fire.

We had people actually get out of their cars with lawn chairs and coolers to watch the orange glow on the hills. You’d think they were at a tailgate party. Idiots blocking the street so people would have had a difficult time leaving. I couldn’t believe it.

Powerpuff:
Thanks for letting me know, you and your family are ok. Your’e right, that is a good story and so typical of people. The stupidity of the human race never fails to amaze me. The only thing worse is our government.

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Thought for the day: From Mike Pannone:

“Injury or not, don’t neglect your training. Training is like a good woman to me, she needs my undivided attention, my best efforts and a lot of quality time … so I make it a point not to keep her waiting or wanting!! 4 years ago coming off a snapped Achilles tendon”

CTT

Wednesday’s Weapon: The Roman Gladius Sword

handmade-roman-gladius-historic-sword

Some History:

The Roman sword of choice was the gladius. Most Roman Gladius Swords were of rather short length, typically measuring between 18 and 24 inches long, although longer swords became more common as the Roman war machine grew and evolved. Gladius were typically considered to be stabbing weapons, thanks to their vicious point and wide blade, although their manner of construction made them quite effective at cutting and slashing, too. Gladius were typically made in one of two different types, being either a Pompeii styled gladius or a Mainz style gladius, with the main difference in construction being in the shape of the blade. As the gladius evolved the blade became straighter and longer, changing more and more into the sword that would inspire later era weapons like the arming sword and the long sword

True story brother. Always skills and attributes before tacticool toys (and most of us will need to choose). Like the man said, guns don’t kill people, people do, well guns don’t win gunfights either…

I once read an article on knife defense and the author stated that in an ancient Roman military manual on swordsmanship it was noted that new recruits instinctively slashed and had to be trained to stab. It was as though there was a natural inhibition towards killing. So in essence, they had to be trained to kill. The author used that information, as well as his own experience, to come up with the following generalized conclusions: if someone armed with a knife is slashing then they are scared and don’t want to kill you as much as they themselves don’t want to be killed. If they are trying to stab you then they are either trained to kill or are insane.

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Hey all,

Hoping to get a little perspective on some options for purchasing a hand gun. It’ll be my first weapon that I own, but I’ve shot several pistols and revolvers in the past. I don’t have a preference for one over the other at the moment.

In terms of what I’d be looking for, probably a 9mm semi-auto, or the equivalent for a revolver (would this be .38?). Someday I’ll likely upgrade to a larger round, but cost effective ammo will make it easier for me to practice with.

I’d probably be looking at something small-middle sized. The Glock 19 came to mind first, but I’m not sure about the blocky profile. The compact 1911’s are gorgeous but possibly a bit outside my price range.

In regards to revolvers, I don’t know too much about this line of weapon. There are some I’ve seen that look pretty sleek that I think are quite attractive. I wouldn’t be too interested in the ones that have a very thick cylinder/body. Seems carrying would be a nightmare.

I’d be looking to spend around $500 or so.

Appreciate any advice that’s available!

@mr.v3lv3t What is your intended application for this hand gun? Home defense, concealed carry, competition, fun, etc.

Home defense, concealed carry, and fun are the big three. Won’t be entering any competitions with it.

As far as fun goes, that’ll consist of the training exercises. That kind of stuff is enjoyable for me, not so much being a yahoo in the woods with beers and guns.

Well handguns are about as subjective as they come. What I shoot well you might not, what appeals to me may not to you.

I can tell you that I had similar purposes when buying my first gun, and I landed on a Glock 19. I still have it, it’s great, but I was not realistic about my willingness to carry it day-in, day-out. On paper it seemed like a great carry gun, and internet experts told me so too. Now that I’ve had one for years, I hate carrying it except OWB, which I rarely do.

If I had to pick ONE gun for those three purposes, I’d go with my S&W Shield in 9mm, which I’ve been very happy with. It isn’t as easy or as fun to shoot as my Glock, but I can put a few hundred rounds downrange in an afternoon with no problem. 8 rounds isn’t as good as 16 for home defense, but you’re not exactly anemic either. The difference is that I can (and, most importantly, DO) carry it comfortably all-day, even when I’m out and about being active.

In my opinion, the biggest factor you need to consider is how serious you intend to get with carrying. If you’re going to make it something you do day-in, day-out, get a gun AND a carry rig that makes that a reality for you.

If you just want to get your first gun and have fun with it, get what seems like a lot of fun. I love full-size .357 revolvers. Tons of fun to shoot, hold their value well, look great, durable, plenty of reasons to own one that have nothing to do with tactical considerations.

Good luck with this process, Goldilocks.

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@twojarslave do you carry when you are working the door? Or are there rules in place that bouncers are not aloud to carry?

I do not carry while working the door, although I would not be breaking any laws in MY jurisdiction if I did so. Carrying a concealed handgun in a bar might be a felony weapons violation in other parts of the United States.

I choose not to for several reasons. First, I get rubbed up on and hugged. A LOT. Any of my carry systems would get found out pretty fast, and I don’t think it would do me, the customers or the bar any good if people knew the bouncer had a gun on his hip.

I also put my hands on people from time to time, and they don’t always like that. Neither do their buddies, and me getting surrounded by drunk dudes is not unheard of. The carry systems I use in my personal life do not have the highest levels of retention since I almost exclusively carry in the waistband. Without getting a different carry system, I wouldn’t feel like my carry piece is fully secure against a grab during the situations I encounter on the job.

I’ve thought about this, and the only viable place for me to carry would be on my ankle, and getting a suitable piece and carry rig for my part-time bouncing job at my neighborhood bar is not a priority for me at this time.

That said, I have access to a wide spectrum of force, and am usually less than 30 seconds away from a loaded, secure firearm that is not on my body. Luckily, none of the situations I’ve encountered have required lethal force to resolve. We’ll see what happens in about an hour when my shift starts!

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The difficulty with the whole “one gun” proposition for those three applications is as follows in my experience:

Compact pistols which are suited to CCW are actually kind of a pain in the ass and not much fun to shoot (especially if you’ve got big mitts). They are also not great for home defense, better than fingernails and bad language but really not great. Basically concealability is all they have going for them.

Full size pistols are more fun to shoot. For pure fun factor many seem to prefer revolvers to semi-auto but I can’t speak to this. Full size pistols will allow you to deliver more rounds faster with greater accuracy and less felt recoil which makes them better for home defense but they are too big for comfortable concealment. Either way, pistols suck for stopping threats. They suck bad.

For home defense IMHO the best choice all around for most people is a 12 ga ‘tactical’ short barrel shotgun with a pistol grip, a simple red dot optic, a sling and a mounted light loaded with low recoil 00 buck. For a relatively low cost you now have a highly lethal package that with a modest amount of skill will allow you to put effective rounds on target and will knock people down and generally keep them down. You know what’s better than a 9mm double tap? 9 × 9mm rounds hitting all at once, which is essentially what 00 buck is. Of course CCW is out and most people don’t find it ‘fun’ to shoot (I do, but what do I know).

Not really what you asked, I know, but there it is. Of course I’m Canadian so take this with a grain of salt.

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Interesting perspective. Thanks for sharing. I have about 5 years training in Kali and I would say roughly 60 % of the moves involve slashing the extremities. However, I will be the first to admit, that Kali instructors are a lot like Krav instructors, it all depends what method their trainers used. I worked with a trainer for about 8 months who primarily just focused on getting in close and stabbing. I worked with another who was opposed to stabbing. I have often thought that students are taught what the instructor likes to teach, instead of what the student needs to learn. IMHO.