• By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted June 2, 2021

past, present, and future of this blog

Some of what follows will be familiar to certain readers, as portions were sent in an email to everyone on the mailing list a couple of months ago. However, not everyone opened it, and we’ve had a bunch of new signups in the interim. So, in order to get everyone up to speed, here it […]
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted June 1, 2021

Test post. Or, rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.

Hi everyone! This is a test post with two purposes: first, to check the RSS feed of my revamped, remodeled, and generally all-new website. (You should check it out…) Second, it’s to announce that you’ll soon see new articles on the blog. I know, I’ve been away for a while, but it was a much-needed […]
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted March 25, 2020

Should you have a “bugout retreat”?

Lots of people recommend buying a bugout retreat as an essential part of preparedness. How realistic is that, and is there a better way?
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted March 19, 2020

Living through the pandemic — and beyond

The coronavirus is going to grow exponentially in the next couple of weeks. Here's how to prepare for the immediate future — and beyond.
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted February 27, 2020

Coronavirus: What we know now, what’s coming, and how to prepare

This is going to be a very long post, and for that I apologize. The situation with the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease known as COVID-19, has been both fluid and unclear. I’ve avoided posting anything specific to this point, simply because we didn’t know enough. Today we do, and the situation has focused […]
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted September 13, 2019

The Ambiguity Zone, Part 2: Crossing the line

The Ambiguity Zone is that space of time, no matter how long or short, where potentially life-altering decisions must be made with the limited information available. Do we respond, or wait for the situation to become clearer?
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted September 6, 2019

The Ambiguity Zone

There is a time in any incident where it's not clear what's happening — or even that anything is happening. How do we handle that?
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted August 30, 2019

Going shooting in the wilderness? Be safe!

Instead of belonging to a gun club or using a commercial range, many gun owners enjoy heading out into the countryside to shoot. In my area of the world, this is often an old gravel pit out in the woods. There are lots of such locations scattered around the Pacific Northwest, as they’re used to […]
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted August 23, 2019
  • In mythbusting, realistic

Retrieving the rifle: an overlooked skill

One of the things I teach is the idea that the rifle is the gun we are most unlikely to have on our person when we need it. It’s the firearm that needs to be retrieved in order to use, and that affects how we train and practice.

How to get politicians to listen to you

  There is a lot of activity, at the federal, state and local levels, on various bills of interest to those of us concerned with personal liberties. Because of the unsettled political climate, we’re seeing more and more calls to “write your elected representatives”, but no one ever explains just how to do so effectively (if […]
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted July 28, 2019
  • In confidence, context

All or nothing? Not in my world.

Getting started in preparedness, whether the entry point is in self defense or in disaster survival, can seem daunting. Even moving from one area of preparedness to another, particularly if they’re unrelated, can also be intimidating. Unfortunately, sometimes the people who are well-versed in those topics don’t make the situation any easier. Here's how to deal with those people.

The myth of the “concealed carry lifestyle”

  People very often refer to concealed carry as a “lifestyle”. I’m not sure I can agree with that. A lifestyle is a behavioral pattern which expresses how someone sees him or herself, and how they want others to see them. Their activities, opinions, and even how they spend their money are all reflected in […]

Is there value in competitive shooting?

  Much has been written about (and many arguments started over) the value of competitive shooting for the person who owns or carries a firearm for personal defense. There are generally two polarized views in this manufactured controversy.  The first states that a defensive shooting is always a competition and that only competitive shooters can […]

Following up on the Three Easy Steps: Readiness as a habit

  Last week I introduced Grant’s Patented Plan To Becoming More Self-Reliant In Three Easy Steps ™: Buy a pocket knife. Buy a small high-intensity flashlight. Carry them with you every day. My approach to preparedness, whether the subject is self defense or disaster readiness, is to start with becoming better prepared to handle common, […]

How to get prepared in three easy steps

  I admit to a bit of creative over-simplification in today’s title, but there’s an important lesson in it. My wife and I were walking in the woods recently, and the topic of conversation touched on preparedness. Rather, the lack of preparedness amongst a large percentage of the adult population. How the other three-quarters lives […]
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted June 14, 2019
  • In ammo testing, hollowpoints

What if you can’t get the ‘best’ ammunition?

The other day I got a message from a fellow who’s been asking me questions about a new carry gun purchase. He finally decided on the model he wanted and had bought it, and now wanted to know about ammunition. Not what ammunition I recommended — he already knew that — but what he should […]

There are no defensive shooting experts.

  If, by “expert”, you mean someone with a significant amount of first-hand experience in the activity (i.e., shooting people who attacked them) . Here’s the dirty little secret no one in this business will admit to: none of us have enough — in most cases any — shooting experience defending ourselves against a criminal […]
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted May 31, 2019
  • In attacks, negative outcomes

This guy got lucky. You might not.

One of my big peeves in this business is the number of bad lessons that are presented in the context of “he had it coming!” In these stories there’s usually a petty criminal (these are almost always minor property crimes) who is caught “red handed” by a virtuous (and obviously very manly) gun owner. The […]
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted November 5, 2018
  • In teaching

Revolver Knowledge: Resetting the double-action trigger

A revolver shooting issue that comes up frequently is resetting the double-action trigger (or, more correctly, allowing the trigger to reset.) This problem seems to be more common among those who are accustomed to shooting autoloading pistols, as they tend to develop habits that shooters of lesser experience do not. (I’m not saying the problem […]

The critical skill no one teaches

The ability to judge risk is critical to the long game of self defense. (As it happens, it’s also critical to efficient preparedness, investing your retirement funds wisely, and the choice between flying or driving to your vacation destination.) Yet, despite its importance, it’s very rarely talked about — especially in the self defense community. […]

You shouldn’t listen to the “shoulds”. Or should you?

Lately I’ve been allowing myself to do something I caution others to never do: read the comments.  Whenever I’ve come across a news story that has something to do with self defense or disaster preparedness, I read a few of the comments left by others. I’ve noticed something interesting: they often use the word “should”. […]

The “long game” of self defense

It’s easy to think of self defense as a thing you do in response to a bad guy. After all, that’s what most self defense courses focus on: bad guy appears and you perform the indicated response. So neat. So tidy. So precise. And so misleading. Self defense doesn’t start when the bad guy appears, […]

Interchangeable chokes for defensive shotguns? Why not!

Instructor Georges Rahbani showing a kneeling position with the defensive shotgun If any firearm could be said to be overlooked, it’s the defensive shotgun. While not a tool for the inexperienced, it must be acknowledged that the shotgun loaded with a defensively-appropriate shell (preferably in the buckshot category) is a force to be reckoned with. […]

Safe storage and self defense aren’t incompatible

I recently shared to my social media accounts a story of an attempt by a local government to impose storage restrictions on gun owners in their city. The ordinance specified that firearms had to be locked up, except when they were “in use” (whatever that means). Of course this drew the ire of many people, […]
  • By Grant Cunningham
  • Posted July 30, 2018
  • In integrity

“Justifiable” isn’t the same thing as “desirable”.

It’s been my observation that only a very small percentage of gun owners think deeply about this business of shooting another person. By that, I mean beyond the aspects of sight picture and trigger press. What brought this to mind were the reactions of people to a recent story out of Oklahoma. A landowner’s tale […]

Self defense, quantum physics, and negative outcomes

The great physicist Werner Heisenberg is responsible for describing a very interesting phenomenon in quantum physics: our observations effect the behavior of quanta (quantum particles). In other words, by simply observing an experiment, it’s possible that we inadvertently change the outcome. Quantum physics gets really weird after that, but this is as far we need […]