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Welcome to the Hump Day Reading List! Here are what I believe to be the three most important articles you can read this week to enhance your personal and family safety:
This is another thought-provoking post from Greg Ellifritz. A 62-year-old woman is out walking her dog at 9:pm when she’s kidnapped, robbed, ...
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It’s Wednesday, and time once again for my hand-picked selection of the best articles to increase your safety, security, and survivability!
The holidays are a time when we typically invite guests into our homes to share in the celebrations. Everything gets cleaned and spruced up — but what happens to those defensive tools you have staged “just in case”? Those need to ...
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I’ve got another great selection of articles for you this week!
This one happened last July; yesterday I read of a 3-year-old who died when he got hold of an unsecured firearm. Too many kids are dying from accidental gunshots, and we as responsible gun owners need to be at the forefront of reducing them.
It’s ...
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I haven’t let this heat wave stop me from gathering more great self defense and preparedness articles for you! (Now, where did that iced tea go…)
“I don’t need to identify my target, because I can tell my girlfriend’s steps from an intruder in the dark”. Someone actually told me that, in explanation for not having ...
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Wow, is it ever hot here in Oregon! If it’s scorching where you are, cool off with a nice beverage and these great articles!
This is an article about how a photographer gets access to make pictures at the top of high-rise buildings. But it’s not a photography article! The reason it’s interesting and ...
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This week I bring you more great articles to help you and your loved ones live safer lives. Why not grab a beverage and do some reading?
An introduction to some of the ways to keep your guns from being stolen. (Frankly, I wish the author had simply said “never keep guns in your car, period.” I realize that ...
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Is it Wednesday already? Wow, how time flies when you’re busy collecting great self defense and preparedness articles to share!
Something that the gun world often gets wrong is the difference between training and practice — and it’s not just a semantic argument, either. Training is where you learn new things, new skills; practice is where you rehearse and replay ...
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It’s the last day of February and I’m finishing out the month with more great resources for your health and safety!
It’s probably fitting that, in some circles, I’m known as “The Revolver Guy”. I’ve written what have been called the “standard works” on the topic, teach one of the few national revolver-centric courses ...
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It’s Wednesday again, and here are more great self defense, travel safety, and preparedness articles for you to peruse while you wait for Friday to arrive!
Probably not, as John Farnam explains. I’ll deviate from his recommendations just a bit, though, and suggest that having fewer but higher quality lights is really the way ...
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More great articles for you! This week, some tips for the new concealed carrier; what happens when preppers (or anyone else) goes overboard; how to coordinate defensive actions with others; yet another shooting that a flashlight could have prevented; a comprehensive look at women’s carry options; snubbies are making a comeback, and it’s noticed in an unusual place; pepper spray gets oversold ...
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You do carry a high-intensity flashlight as part of your everyday ready kit, don’t you? If not, you should! I believe the compact high-intensity flashlight is the most useful self defense tool you can carry. It serves as a detection device, allowing you to spot danger before it can reach you; as a deterrent, using the bright beam to distract and disorient; and as ...
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In this week’s Reading List: how to deal with stupid people when you know them; the problems with using fingerprints for security; a look at pocket pistols; hacking the 911 system and why it’s dangerous; a flashlight saves the day; how to discuss preparedness with your spouse; what you should do with your kids if you’re attacked; and promising new defensive ammunition for ...
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One of the things I find myself doing on a regular basis is serving as a counterpoint to the fantasies running rampant in the defensive shooting world. I do this by bringing rational thought to the topic of personal defense, and today I’m doing it again!
A recent article on the Concealed Nation website dealt with what to with your carry ...
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Welcome to the first Hump Day Reading List of 2017! Today I bring you information about recoil springs and why you should replace them; an experiment that shows just because you look doesn’t mean you’ll really see anything; how to spot someone impersonating a police officer; two stories about silly self defense “tools”; another story of someone shooting a family member in self defense; and how and why you need to pattern your defensive shotgun. Much more to come in ...
Continue Reading →More Wednesday Wonderfulness! Massad Ayoob and Gail Pepin talking with Joshua Gideon; what happened at an airport when an active shooter alarm went out; doctors need protection too; defending against rioters with a rifle; Greg Ellifritz talks about defending against the surprise attack; the ways to use a defensive flashlight; being a survivalist doesn’t have to involve camouflage underwear; and understanding crying at the range. Another great collection of articles to help you and your family stay safe in this ...
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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 use as a defensive tool.
From the tone of the email you’d think I’d attacked holy writ! He told me that I was ...
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Last week I reviewed the new FourSevens Quark Smart QS2A-X and found it to be perhaps the ideal self defense flashlight for the average person. Now I said “average person”, not “training junkie” or “tactical hobbyist” — one of the reasons I put it that way is because it uses ubiquitous AA batteries, either alkaline or rechargeable, which are a cheap and readily available power source. The AA-powered Quark Smart is cheap to run, which means it’s more likely to ...
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This week we’re going to look at the importance of first aid during a terrorist attack; a man defends himself with a saucepan; some realities your CCW instructor didn’t tell you; why the pistol caliber carbine is a home defense winner; the fallacy behind night sights; understanding flashlights beyond lumens; senior citizens head to the range, for good reasons; why your defensive shooting instruction may not be all that valid; and finally, it’s not just the drug addict on the ...
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For many years now my carry light of choice has been the FourSevens Quark Tactical QT2A-X. It had most of the features I demand in a self defense light: it has sufficiently high output to work as a distraction tool, but at the same time has a fairly wide beam which is ideal for lighting up confined spaces; it’s long enough, thanks to the two AA batteries it houses, to serve as a makeshift Kubaton (which I’ve been trained to ...
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As I mentioned on Wednesday, I attended the NRA Annual Meetings (NRAAM) last weekend in Louisville, KY. The major attraction is the trade show which is an integral part of the event. It’s the country’s largest consumer trade show focused on shooting, whether it’s for sport, competition, or self defense.
It’s that last item which I’m most interested in and the reason I attend. It’s a chance to see what’s new in the gear for self defense but also to ...
Continue Reading →Another great collection of articles for you this week! Rob Pincus shows you how to take your guns with you when flying; Ian McCollum takes apart a Savage .45 pistol; a look at why safety isn’t in the gear you carry; how to recycle range brass for reloading; a detailed explanation of what “going gray” really means; how to keep your defensive handgun in perfect operating condition; and why 100-yard headshots with a pistol don’t make any sense. Read, learn ...
Continue Reading →Gosh, is it Wednesday already? This week renowned author Sam Harris expounds on self defense; we look at how people try to sell you fear, and how you can avoid it; Rob Pincus does his best to demystify the gun for non-shooters; how to keep your flashlight in perfect operating condition; a great article on the historical basis of self defense and why firearms are tied to that ideal; and Greg Ellifritz has some good advice about dealing with the ...
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I’ve got a lot to talk about, so this post will be longer than usual. I hope you’ll take the time to read, however, because I think there’s some really interesting news.
First things first: SHOT Show, for those who don’t know, is the shooting industry’s annual trade show. Held in Las Vegas, it attracts some 60,000 people over four days (five, if you’re in the media and attend Range Day before the show opens) of displays and seminars. Any company that’s ...
Continue Reading →This is SHOT Show week, but that hasn’t stopped me from bringing you another crop of great articles! First, Greg Ellifritz explains castle doctrine; then a PDN video about improvised weapons; after that, a look at shooting rifles to extreme precision; some talk about intuition and why it’s important; Ian McCollum looks at a gun so crude no one wanted to shoot it; I found a great article about flashlights and their beams; and The Tactical Professor talks about gunhandling ...
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Truth be told, I don’t do the New Year’s Resolution thing — at least, not in the traditional sense. I do take a look at the past year, figure out what I did well (and not so well), and make some guidelines to do better in the coming twelve months. I’m more interested in broad strokes, in general directions, than in the details; I’ve found that the more detailed my resolutions, the more quickly they give way to the realities ...
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I’ve come to the belief that one of the most profound questions (courtesy of Rob Pincus) you can ask anyone who purports to be a defensive shooting instructor is “what have you changed your mind about?” This isn’t an easy question to answer, and most people you’ll ask will try to wiggle their way out of it: “well, of course the world is always changing, and I’m committed to keeping my knowledge and skills in pace with those changes, blah ...
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This week I’ve got another interesting bunch of articles for you to peruse: Defensive Daddy talks about keeping your kids safe around your guns; a real-world use of the flashlight as a safety tool; dealing with predators that don’t walk upright; an old scam brought back to life by modern technology; guns aren’t just for men any more; Rob Pincus on how flowers really do keep us safe, when they’re backed up by proper use of force; and Jerry Miculek ...
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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 get to them — or they get to you; it sets up a psychological barrier against a human threat, by showing that you’re in control ...
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