Self defense is more than just reading some “safety tips”. Here’s why.

Every morning I get up, make a cup of tea, and sit down to do my morning reading. One of the things that comes across my desk (well, my iPad screen anyhow) is a Google Alerts search for the term “self defense”. I get quite a few news stories in that feed; the most common […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On June 27, 2016

“All The Lumens”: how much flashlight do you really need for self defense?

I got an interesting email in response to my recent review of the FourSevens Quark Smart QS2L-X and Preon P2 lights. In that review I said that the lithium-powered Quark Smart, at 950 lumens, was actually more than enough light for my purposes and that the Preon at 220 lumens was still easily sufficient for […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On June 24, 2016

Boring doesn’t sell, and realistic self defense skills are kind of boring.

No matter what you’re trying to get people to buy — from cars to breakfast cereals to political candidates — you have to make it exciting, because if it’s not folks will just pass it by. (Yes, political candidates. Anyone remember Scott Walker? He was an early entry into this year’s Republican field and widely […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On March 11, 2016

Incident Analysis: Warning shots are a bad idea, especially when the run you out of ammunition.

Over at The Firearm Blog we read the story of one Bart Bryson. In investigating what appeared to be a burglary in progress he made a number of really bad decisions that could have left him very vulnerable. The short version of the story: he pulled up to an unoccupied home that he owns and spotted […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On February 15, 2016

Protecting others is a noble act. It’s also a dangerous one.

Today’s blog post was suggested by a reader. I wrote a piece a while back about the dangers of intervening in an active incident, and he asked if I could extend my comments to intervention in a chronic incident: one which has been going on for some time. Such situations do exist, and they can be very […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On February 12, 2016

My job is helping my students discover what’s important. Sometimes that takes guts.

Techniques, gear, and even concepts can be cool and exciting — but that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily important to your self defense. My job, the way I earn my living, is to figure out what’s really important for my students and readers and then how to explain it to them. How and why do I do […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On February 5, 2016

Do you carry religiously? You may not be as safe as you believe.

I know that most of the people reading this blog are here to learn about defensive shooting, concealed carry, firearms training, and related topics. The rest are interested in things like rifles, revolvers, reloading, and other technical issues. In other words, regardless of the group into which you fit, if you’re reading this you’re probably […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On January 18, 2016

The problem with defensive shooting is that it’s dominated by enthusiasts. That’s not necessarily good for you.

I have a confession to make: I once screwed up a lot of people who came to me for advice. Wait, it’s not what you think! It does, however, directly apply to what I do today, and probably why you’re reading this blog. Allow me to relate my short story. Back in my much-younger days […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On January 15, 2016

Your defensive flashlight: lithium or alkaline? You might be surprised which one I prefer!

In the last couple of years I’ve become a big proponent of the high intensity compact flashlight as a personal security and defense tool. I use those words specifically because the flashlight is the perfect example of a multi-use device: it serves as an early warning system, by allowing you to detect dangers before you […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On November 30, 2015

No, things really haven’t changed: self defense in a post-Paris world.

The bodies in Paris hadn’t even been buried when the agendas got trotted out. No, I’m not talking about gun control or immigration restrictions; I’m not talking about refugees or intelligence sharing or air strikes or border checkpoints, either. I’m talking about the “you need to prepare to deal with this new threat!” brigade. If […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On November 23, 2015

Halloween Safety Tips: how to keep your kids happy and healthy at the same time!

Halloween is upon us again! This is the time of year when the weather here in Oregon turns cold and rainy, but despite that kids still get out and trick-or-treat while their parents (or older siblings) go to festive Halloween parties. Everyone faces higher risks simply due to the activity level, but there are ways […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On October 30, 2015

On the Umpqua Community College killings.

I’ve had numerous emails and messages asking me what I know about the killings which took place in my backyard this morning. What I can tell you is that I have relatives and friends in Roseburg, some of whom are hurting tonight. Evil came to a beautiful part of the country — my part of […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On October 1, 2015

Personal safety apps: do they really keep you safer?

Sometimes I think people have a distorted view of personal security — particularly in the media! Now I know that’s hard to believe; after all, if you can’t trust the media, who can you trust? (In case anyone doesn’t get the sarcasm in that sentence, well — it’s sarcasm!) They’ve been reporting lately on a […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On September 17, 2015

Incident Analysis: family threatened, attacker shot at home in rural Oregon.

Oregon is a wonderful state, generally very peaceful and tranquil. That isn’t to say crime doesn’t happen here, however, and there is the need to be prepared — just like you would anywhere else. Today’s case comes from the Medford Mail-Tribune and offers some lessons to heed. On the evening of July 14th, a man […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On August 20, 2015

Is the old lever action half-cock safety really all that safe?

We’ve all been taught about the half-cock notch on lever action rifles. How safe is it, really? When I was growing up lever action rifles (with the exception of the Savage 99) had no safeties. It was assumed, and taught, that the safe way to carry a lever action with a round in the chamber […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On May 19, 2015

What can a foiled terrorist attack teach us about defensive planning?

By now you’ve no doubt heard about the tragic incident in Garland, Texas. For those who missed it, on Sunday a “Draw Mohammed” Cartoon show was held in that town; contestants vied for the best cartoon in celebration of free speech. There were speakers who are active in the free speech movement, including a Dutch […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On May 5, 2015

Social conditioning and the unexpected attacker.

You may have more schooling and diplomas on your wall, but criminals are smarter than you are in some surprising and important ways. Take social conditioning, for example. Late last year there was a death in Atlanta, the result of a Craigslist sale gone bad. One Daniel Zeitz had gone to an apartment building […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On April 7, 2015

Someone once said that if you look like food, you will be eaten. Don’t look like food.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: Two guys met at a trail intersection while backpacking in the woods, and since they were both going the same direction they decided to walk together. Around a bend in the trail they came face to face with a very angry bear. One of the fellows drops to […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On March 23, 2015

Want to stay safer? Don’t draw attention to yourself. Here’s how.

Part of staying safe is not drawing attention to yourself — the kind of attention that makes you a target. That’s easier said than done, but it’s a necessary part of your defensive plans. I’ve said in the past that situational awareness is in reality managing distractions: not allowing yourself to get inappropriately consumed by […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On March 17, 2015

Can you really know what skills you’ll need? Not exactly, but you can do better than guess.

One of the more interesting comments I get in the defensive training world is that “you don’t know what the attack will look like, so you have to be prepared for anything.” It’s not entirely true and thus is dangerously distracting in its conclusion. I’ve talked about the fallacy of being prepared for everything before, so […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On March 6, 2015

A mob is heading into your space. What do you do?

Imagine this: you’re out for a nice evening with your wife. You decide that you’ll go see a movie at the local mall, maybe have a little dinner afterwards, and then head home for some much needed rest. A perfect date night, right? Well, it certainly would be, right up until the movie theater […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On February 17, 2015

A restraining order is a poor way to stop a bullet!

Oregon City, Oregon is an historic town. It was the first incorporated city west of the Rockies, sitting aside the Willamette River and just downhill from Willamette Falls. The Falls necessitate locks, and the first multi-lift navigational locks were built there. In 1889 the first long-distance transmission of electricity in the U.S. was from those […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On February 4, 2015

Incident Analysis: a 7-11 clerk gets shanked.

A big part of “situational awareness” is managing distractions. Here’s what happens when you don’t. Rancho Cucamonga is an upper-middle-class city in California, known for it’s nouveau riche attitudes and lifestyles. It’s home to people who’ve made a decent amount of money (by California standards; anywhere else they’d be seen as quite wealthy) and like […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On February 3, 2015

If the police can’t come, what will you do?

All over the country, police budgets are being slashed. For some counties here in Oregon, tax revenues have declined so sharply that police patrols are no longer 24 hours per day. What would this mean if it happened in your town? A recent story out of Dallas, OR — a small town west of Salem, our state capital […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On February 2, 2015

Would YOU know what to do in a mass-casualty attack? Here’s how to find out!

The world, many people say, is getting more dangerous. You can make it a little less so by knowing what to do if a terror attack happens to you! From all over the world we read of mass-casualty terror attacks. Shootings in Paris; bombings in other parts of the world; shopping malls and train stations […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On January 23, 2015

What can we as armed citizens learn from the Charlie Hebdo Magazine attack?

The recent attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo has brought organized terrorism back into our consciousness. What can we, as legally armed citizens, learn from this tragedy? Of all the things I’ve learned in the training world, the value of team tactics ranks up there with the scariest. Not in terms of being scared […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On January 13, 2015

Incident Analysis: Neighbor vs. Carjacker

Your neighbor has just been thrown out of her car by a carjacker — and he’s about to drive off! What’s the right response? Last August a Phoenix, AZ woman was pulling into her driveway when she was approached by a male who asked to use her phone. Still in the driver’s seat, she said […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On January 8, 2015

Are you defensively fit? This New Year, resolve to be.

I know, I’m not big on the whole New Year’s Resolution thing either, but I’ve found that it’s easier to make lifestyle changes stick when there is more than one benefit to the resolution! Lots of folks start off the New Year with a resolution to get into better shape. For most folks it’s about […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On January 6, 2015

How much training do you really need?

Claire Wolfe, the well known libertarian writer, recently penned a piece for SWAT Magazine where she questioned the need for extensive self defense training. She has a point: how much training is enough? I could be excused, I suppose, were I to tell you that you definitely need self defense training — and the more […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On November 18, 2014

Taking a larger view of situational awareness.

In the defensive training world you’ll hear lots of talk about situational awareness, but little about its actual meaning or application. In this article I’ll explain why I think it’s more than what you’ve been taught, and how to put it to work in a way you may not have considered! Bryan Black over at […]

Posted by Grant Cunningham
On November 11, 2014

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