Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.
Not Just The Big Booms – Repeated Blast Pressure
A very interesting article about how a relatively minimal amount of gunfire can cause brain-harming overpressure events under some circumstances.
Defensive Shotgun Selection: Which is Right for You?
Justin gives us an in-depth evaluation of the shotguns on the market today and provides his advice about which to choose. On the topic of shotguns, Rhett’s video about prioritizing shotgun training during periods of time when ammunition is expensive makes lots of sense. Pick up those practice shells now. An industry insider informed me that both Federal and Winchester will be raising their ammunition prices six percent starting August first.
Strong-Side Carry: A Practical Guide
Although most of the cool kids in the gun world carry their pistols in the appendix position these days, there are good reasons to carry behind the hip as well. This article covers the relative advantages/disadvantages of carrying at three to five o’clock.
12 Easy Ways to Secure Your Home Against Bad Guys
Inexpensive options to make your home more difficult to enter.
Open Carry
John Farnam shares some very astute observations about open carry. You will also want to read his followup analysis of an open carry case described by a defense attorney friend. For my thoughts on the topic, read Friends Don’t Let Friends Open Carry.
P&S ModCast 456 – Women’s Insights For Teaching Women
An excellent discussion for anyone who teaches female shooters. I know all of the panelists. I’ve taken classes as a student with all of them. All of them have taken at least one of my classes. Some have taken my close quarters gunfighting instructor class. They are dedicated to learning and sharing best practices with the students they teach.
The Most Valuable Endorsement: A Girl & A Gun’s Instructor Gear Report
Continuing on the topic of female shooters, here is the chosen gear selection from a recent A Girl and a Gun rifle instructor class. On the same site, you will also want to read Tatiana’s article on Does This Gun Actually Fit You?
Frost Rising: Book 1 In The Crown Acres Series (Crown Acres: Community After the Fall
What I’m reading…
Reading a Lot Doesn’t Make You Open-Minded. Reading the Right Way Does.
On the topic of reading books, you might appreciate this article.
“Reading doesn’t make you right more often. It makes you wrong less painfully.
It shows you, over and over, across centuries and disciplines, that the smartest people who ever lived spent most of their time doing exactly what you’re doing right now: figuring it out. Getting it wrong. Revising.
But only if you let it. Only if you read the things that challenge you, not just the things that confirm you. Only if you treat your bookshelf as a tool for growth instead of a trophy case for what you already know.”
The Collective Mood and You
I occasionally am asked how I assess the relative safety of the areas I inhabit when I travel to third world countries. Different customs and language change societal norms, but these factors remain relatively constant no matter where you are in the world. Take a look at this article and learn how to assess the baseline. It will help you make a good decision. The techniques are mentioned by the authors of Left of Bang, an excellent book to check out if you want to learn more about baseline behavior profiling.
Collectors’ Quirks – The Little Things That Matter
Quirky gun features that may make your gun more collectable.
Carrying Concealed: How to Overcome “Condition One” Anxiety
If you get anxiety about carrying a pistol with a loaded chamber, some of these tips may help. I firmly believe the best course of action for someone worried about this issue is to convince them to carry a revolver instead. I’d much rather have a revolver with six rounds ready to go than a 15-shot auto pistol with an empty chamber.
Defensive Firearms Training: Preparing for the Reality of High-Stress Encounters
Massad Ayoob shares some advice on dealing with stressful encounters. You might also like Massad’s take on “Suicide by Cop” encounters.
Keys Between the Fingers – On Her Own
It seems like I have been trying to debunk this self defense myth for my entire lifetime. Hitting someone with car keys between you fingers is an absolutely useless fighting technique.
If Annette’s video didn’t convince you, watch my friend Nic allowing a student to hit him full power with the keys in her fist. She suffered more damage than he did. Link opens to Facebook video.
Scripting Your Attack
I like Kevin’s idea of “scripting” potential attacks. You might also like his article on the FEAR Bag.
.22 Mag Rivals 9mm for Self Defense! Speer Gold Dot – Ballistic Gel Test W/Steel Barrier
Why I really like the .22 magnum and occasionally carry one for self protection. While on the topic of .22 defensive rounds, you might also like to see how the Stinger performs out of a short barreled revolver.
Dewine signs law requiring anyone pulled over to disclose name, address, date of birth
For my Ohio readers.
The More You Know: Living With Astigmatism When Using Red Dot, Holographic and Prismatic Optics
Great advice for seeing a red dot more clearly if you have an astigmatism.
Improving Your One-Hand Shooting
Tips for shooting better with one hand.
The Shape of Enshittification.
A very interesting long form analysis on the impact that AI will have on our culture, especially writing. As a guy who makes a significant portion of my income from my writing efforts, this concerns me. This excerpt is important:
“So does that mean that the book is dead??
Not quite.
And the distinction here is important:
What’s dying is a specific kind of book. The how-to book. The one you bought to get the seven-part formula on how to do something step-by-step.
In 2019, the best place to get that type of information was a book.
In 2026, it’s a chatbot that has already read that book, plus a thousand more like it, and will hand you an answer in fifteen seconds, shaped to your exact situation.
Which means the how-to book has the same problem as an AI story.
It has a “shape” that AI can easily copy.
But Tim is just as clear about what doesn’t.
The market for information is collapsing into the chatbot. But the market for transformation is moving the other way.
Books that offer a unique point of view.
Books that offer a bold new Big Idea.
Books that offer an escape.
Books that tell a story only a single person in the world can tell.
Books that transform your thinking.
Those kind of books….
Are actually hotter than ever.”
You’ll notice that I’m taking this advice to heart. I’m writing fewer and fewer “how to” articles and more articles with unique perspectives. I’m focusing on sharing my experiences of taking almost 5000 hours of professional firearms and combatives training, 25 years of police work, and 30+ years of training thousands of students on the range. AI can’t compete with that. I think you’ll enjoy the metamorphosis.
The Scourge of Teen Takeovers
A deep dive into one of the more pressing crime problems in today’s age.
Quote to Ponder:
“Part of you knows that there is some wisdom in voluntarily exposing yourself to terrible things. Because terrible things are coming your way and you’d better get used to it and maybe get good at it. And one of the ways you can do that is to practice a bit. You don’t want something terrible that happens to you to be the first difficult thing you’ve ever contended with.”
– Jordan Peterson
Some of the above links are affiliate links. I earn a small percentage of the sale price from qualifying purchases.
