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A few weeks back I wrote an article on why I don’t entertain the notion of “what-if” scenarios. If you haven’t read it, you should.
On a somewhat related note, I also don’t entertain the notion of the foregone conclusion scenario. It’s the one that presupposes a specific outcome or a specific event in an effort to support a particular conclusion. For instance, I was going ...
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Believe it or not, the job I do isn’t actually all that pleasant. I’ve run into a lot of people who tell me they’d “love” to have my job; they tell me that “it must be fun”. They see the travel, or focus on the guns and shooting, without thought to what those things represent.
Trust me, it’s not all sunshine.
The reality ...
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Why do so many survival kit suggestions have fishing gear in them?
Over the years I’ve noticed that survival/escape/bugout/get-home kit contents always seem to include fishing gear. I don’t mean poles, reels, and aluminum boats with fish-finding radar, but hooks, line, and perhaps some weights.
The idea is that if you’re stranded somewhere you can pull out the hooks, attach them to some line, and drop them ...
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Wednesday the 13th is extra lucky, and I’ll prove it by sharing some really great articles to help keep you and your family safer and more secure!
This article from the Preparedness Advice blog is pure gold. The author looks at five pieces of common preparedness advice and takes each one apart, and I agree with just ...
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It’s the first Wednesday of June? Why, let’s celebrate with some great self defense, personal safety, and family preparedness articles!
When you have children, defense planning gets substantially more complicated. The younger they are, the more impact they have. This article looks at the five biggest myths people have about keeping their kids safe, and it’s worth reading.
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In my job I get some wonderful emails from people who’ve read one of my books or taken one of my classes. I also get awful emails, usually from people who’ve done neither of those things.
There is a special class of email, though, that I really dislike getting. It’s the “but what if…” question about something I’ve said or written regarding the use of ...
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A couple of decades back I started to talk to my defensive shooting students about the likelihood of being attacked and needing to use their firearm to defend themselves. It seemed to me that some people, based on their lifestyle and habits, were more likely to need to use lethal force than others.
It also seemed to me that, even when the defensive firearm was ...
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A recent talk with a colleague reminded me that in our zeal to embrace the new, we sometimes lose sight of the virtues of the past.
Before you get all worked up and start calling me a “Fudd”, understand that I love the things modern technology has given us. Whether in firearms, electronics, or anything else, I’d never want to give up the progress we’ve made.
I’m ...
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Wednesdays are always better with great self defense and preparedness information!
Not every potentially dangerous situation is a surprise. Sometimes they develop from your interaction with another person. Anyone who has ever worked in a service job understands how unhinged people can become over seemingly innocuous things, and sometimes their anger builds to the point of violence. There are some ...
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A couple of weeks ago I talked about how the “I won’t go anywhere I can’t carry a gun” attitude affects the lives of those who pretend to put it into practice.
The people who say things like that also have a tendency to insist that everyone can carry all the time, and fail to understand that some people really, truly can’t. It just isn’t ...
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It’s Wednesday, and this week I have a particularly good selection of articles for your perusal!
Tomorrow evening, April 5, be sure to tune into Training Talk on Personal Defense Network. My special guest expert this week is Joshua Gideon, and we’ll be talking about active killers: what can we do to stop them? We’ll be looking at the ...
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For at least a decade I’ve subscribed to the idea that a teacher needs to be open to change, and that in fact one of the best ways to gauge the quality of a teacher is to ask what he (or she) has changed their mind about. If they’re learning, if they’re growing, they’ll experience evolution in ...
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Another hump day, and another great collection of articles to improve your safety and self-sufficiency!
Having a stash of food to see you through an emergency has long been recommended (even FEMA and the American Red Cross say you should have food stored). Six months of food is a good goal, and a year’s worth is even better, but many people don’t ...
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In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not a fan of macho nonsense. And I don’t particularly care where it comes from.
So much of the defensive training world is built around the lifestyles of people who spend all their free time on the range or at the gym; some shooting instructors quite literally live at the shooting range. Surprisingly few of them have ever held ...
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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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Ever heard of “defensive gun use porn”? It’s a term to describe a genre of stories where good guys use their guns to beat the bad guys. Such stories are a staple of many firearms-centric blogs and news sites, and they serve not so much an educational role as they do a cheerleading one.
You’ll notice you don’t see a lot of that ...
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A popular concept taught in many defensive shooting courses (including mine) is movement off the line of attack. It’s variously referred to as “getting off the X” or “lateral movement”, and probably some other terms I’m not remembering, but the concept is pretty consistent: make it harder for the bad guy to hurt you by getting out of his way.
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If you have a concealed carry firearm, and you use that firearm against another person, the chances of the police seizing that gun for evidence are very high. If your attacker is injured or dies, it’s a certainty that your gun will end up in the evidence locker.
Once in evidence, your gun will not be returned to you until after all legal proceedings are ...
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In both the self defense and prepping communities, people talk about preparing — training and equipping — for “the worst case scenario”. “We train for the worst case”, schools brag (and their students claim).
What, actually, is the worst case?
If you were to take a little time (or perhaps watch an apocalyptic movie or two) I’m sure you could imagine an absolute ...
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Christmas is coming, and I’m bringing lots of joy in the form of personal safety and preparedness information!
Most of these self defense myths have disappeared from the mainstream, but they seem to crop up whenever ill-informed relatives gather for a holiday meal. Jim Wilson explains three old saws that your Uncle might bring up over the mashed potatoes, and ...
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With the recent attack on a church in Texas, in which 26 people were killed and dozens injured, many people are looking for ways to prevent or respond to such attacks. And there are others ready to prey on that need with bad or incomplete information. Everyone, it seems, is suddenly a “Church Security Consultant”.
As a result you can find lots of misguided articles and ...
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Any preparations you’ve made for your safety and protection — whether physical skills, gear and equipment, or storage commodities — need to be maintained to be useful. There is a cost to maintenance, and it’s one we often ignore in our zeal to always acquire more.
That cost may affect your ability to respond efficiently ...
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It’s Wednesday, which means a new collection of great information to make your life safer and more secure!
On Monday I suggested that everyone — regardless of whether they carry a gun or not — should always have the ability to treat trauma that causes massive blood loss. There are a number of ways you can carry ...
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What’s in the Hump Day Reading List this week? A variety of articles on self defense, preparedness, safety, and responsibility — all aimed at helping you live a more resilient and happy life!
There is a perception, particularly among those who have little exposure to actual violence, that empty hands aren’t really dangerous — at least, “not ...
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Another Wednesday, another Hump Day Reading List! I’ve got quite a variety today, all aimed at helping you live a safer, more secure life.
We’ve all seen them, and perhaps even consulted them from time to time. Maps showing gun laws and concealed carry restrictions are common on the ‘net, but how reliable are they? As it happens, ...
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I’ve noticed a trend in the last year. More and more news stories are covering incidents where gun owners (usually with concealed carry licenses) use their firearms inappropriately or even recklessly. Along with this trend I’m also seeing more gun owners cheering them on, usually from a “get tough on criminals” point of view.
As it happens, more of these people being convicted for their ...
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Spring is taking its sweet time getting here, but that hasn’t stopped me from collecting great articles for you! This week: a look at how you walk influences predators; what not to do for home security; why you should stop buying and start practicing; a proper response to a potential intruder; and, believe it or not, someone used a snubby to defend ...
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A springtime Hump Day List, featuring: a look at hotel security you may not have considered; making a drill for an active shooter at work; the safe way to deal with a home invader; making self reliance a positive activity; what pepper spray can and can’t to; making your passwords more secure; a different look at open carry; and a sad tale ...
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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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It’s Wednesday — time to get your personal security in gear! This week: an expert looks at “going to the ground” in a fight, and why you should consider grappling in your training; easy ways to blend in with the locals while traveling; how to decide between a rifle or a shotgun to protect your home; why a bug out trailer beats ...
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