Weekend Reading #45

You are probably going to be spending time following the news on the latest military operation against Iran. But if not, here is some longer and more involved reading:

• First up is Greg Ellifritz's Weekend Knowledge Dump.  In it he links to the latest Range Master newsletter which includes a "Baseline Assessment Drill" to determine your basic defensive shooting proficiency (and check improvement or whether you are sliding back). It only uses 20 rounds and tests drawing and firing, using your off hand, reloads, and rapidity of fire. Of course you will also need a timer of some sort (or someone with a stop watch). Among the articles in the newsletter is a good piece on situational awareness. 

 Some other links in Greg's Weekend Knowledge Dump that caught my eye, in particular, include:

• "How to improve your situational awareness with natural threat detection mechanisms" which discusses the natural threat detection mechanisms we have been born with and how to better leverage these to increase situational awareness.
• An article on the failure points of a red dot, both with the equipment (e.g. batteries dying, sheared attachment screws) but also environmental (obscured sight window) as well as some tips on mitigating these issues.
• A piece on the advantages to using a sling on a defensive rifle. However, the article also includes my primary objection to a sling on a defensive rifle: "Responding swiftly and decisively to a suspected home invader is going to be tough if the first step is disentangling the gun from the pile of deer rifles and three-gun shotguns that clatter from your safe, dragged by the draping folds of the Blue Force Gear two-point sling on your household AR-15." The solution may be folding the sling up tight and securing it with a rubber band, or storing the defensive rifle in its own location where it isn't going to get tangled up with other firearms or equipment. Grant Cunningham's book, Protecting Your Homestead: Using a rifle to defend life on your property, has quite a bit on storing a defensive rifle for quick access. 
• "The Danger of Higher Ready Positions" is notable mostly for this line: "One of these [principles] is safety—an important consideration in all law enforcement operations we cannot ignore. However, we also cannot allow ourselves to be hamstrung by an inappropriate emphasis on safety. We must maintain a balance between acceptable risk and safety to complete our mission." Notwithstanding that comment, the rest of the article is about why it is inadvisable to use the high ready position, not just from a safety perspective, but also because the weapon obscures your view of what is in front of you without any real benefit in terms of speed should you have to shoot. Greg offers a counter-argument in his article "Pointing Guns at People." As a civilian, you should be aware, though, that by the time you are pointing a weapon at someone you had better already have justifiable cause to use lethal force because, otherwise, you will at best get a brandishing charge and more likely be charged with aggravated assault (or its equivalent in your jurisdiction).
• Finally! From an article on eye dominance some truth: "Experts who expound the you-must-shoot-with-both-eyes-open doctrine do so only because they can. If you are one of the lucky few that can shoot with both eyes open, and never get double vision, do it. The unfortunate majority, however, should experiment to discover their optimum visual plan." 
• The small pocket sized pepper sprays only have a range of 4 to 5 feet. At such short distances, you cannot expect to be able to extend the arm and spray the attacker in the face. Rather, as the linked article explains:

 The best way is to stick the unit in contact with the predator’s upper lip with the nozzle turned upward and then spray the OC directly up his nose into the nasal passages. Or spray it into his mouth if you have to. It’s hard to do if you haven’t practiced it a few times.

• "The Unsolved Mysteries of Trapper and Hunter Deaths Still Haunt the Yukon Wilderness Today"--Outdoor Life. The author begins:

 A few years ago, while I was researching an article I was writing about a Nazi-killing mad trapper, I came upon unrelated stories of two expert woodsmen who went missing in the Yukon wilderness. The two tragedies occurred within 115 miles of each other but 27 years apart. Both men were alone and in both cases about two weeks passed before anyone knew something was wrong. At both scenes, only scant and bizarre evidence was found.     

The men were Ed Wilkinson, a 58-year-old trapper who disappeared in 1977, and Bart Schleyer, an experienced hunter who 27 years later was dropped off by a float plane to hunt moose and never seen again. 

• On a less serious note: "17 Hilarious Things To Think About On Friday"--Wilder Wealthy & Wise.

Why Do They Lie To Us? Native American Enslavement

I read a piece published by the New Yorker yesterday, February 26, entitled "The Hidden History of Native American Enslavement" by Geraldo Cadava.  While the facts set out in the piece may be correct, the article overall is a deception because it gives the impression that only Europeans (it focuses on the Spanish) were involved in the enslaving of Native Americans with no mention of the various Native American tribes involved in the slave trade; particularly the Comanche that built a powerful empire based on slavery, the horse trade, and trade in firearms. The article also fails to mention the efforts by the Catholic Church and Spanish authorities to purchase enslaved Native Americans from the Comanche and free them. 

VIDEO: The P38 Can Opener

I don't know if the military still issues the P38, but it was issued to troops through WWII and up into the 1980s at least. They are ubiquitous in Army surplus stores. And they are cheap. Preppers like to keep them stashed in kits and with food stores. Campers will often have them around as well. I keep a few in my kitchen as a backup should our regular can opener break. This video gives a bit of history on the P38, shows how to use them to open cans and how they can be pressed into a few other duties as well. 

 VIDEO: "Not JUST a can opener…| How to use a P38"
Echoes Of The Past (5 min.)

How Democrats Win Elections

From the New York Post: "$900M taken from solar panel program and pumped into Dem. voting activism, CAL DOGE claims." 

Kristi Noem Stumbles On A Deep State Intelligence Operation

Anonymous Conservative has some X posts from Kristi Noem, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, that are interesting. AC sums it up:

Kristi Noem’s employee is walking by an unmarked door at DHS, and wonders what it is. They investigate and find it is a SCIF, and inside is a whole secret agency within the agency, with employees with top secret clearances, working on files nobody knew existed. Apparently the employees could not just explain what they were doing, so Noem had all the files seized and given to her lawyers to try and figure out what they were up to[.]

And a couple other X posts reveal that she had, with the help of Elon Musk, discovered spyware installed on her phone and computer by DHS staff. 

Magic Prepper: Things To Make Your AR Better

The Magic Prepper channel has some recommended modifications to a stock, bare-bone AR system. First, if your AR came with a standard A2 pistol grip, he recommends upgrading it something that has less of an angle. Second, is to upgrade the buffer system--assuming you are not running a rifle buffer system, he recommends going with an H2 buffer and a better spring. Third, he recommends a quality sling. Fourth, if you are planning on running a suppressor, that you replace your muzzle device with one offering a quick detach for the suppressor (otherwise stick with the A2 flash hider which is overall a good system). Finally, if you have the standard M4 adjustable stock (he calls it the "cheese grater" stock) he recommends that you upgrade it to one offering better features for attaching a sling, a rubber butt pad, and just a bit better quality.

    Magic Prepper has some suggestions as to brands and models, but there are plenty of choices out there. But these upgrades will just make the rifle easier and more comfortable to use.  

VIDEO: "The Best 5 AR-15 Upgrades Worth Doing"
Magic Prepper (14 min.)

The Largest Pterosaur

 From Atlas Obscura: "Was ‘Dracula’ the Biggest Flying Creature Ever?" The article begins:

    “It’s just such an awesome image to think about: a giant flying dragon, essentially, coming down and preying on these dinosaurs,” says Ben Thomas, a paleontology graduate student at the University of Portsmouth, England. Earlier this year, Thomas released a video on his paleontology-themed YouTube channel about his visit to the Altmühltal Museum in Denkendorf, Germany. There, he spoke with paleontologist Nizar Ibrahim about one of the museum’s most remarkable specimens. It’s the fragmentary remains of a pterosaur—a flying reptile—that lived in Transylvania, Romania, 66 million years ago, and just might be the largest animal that has ever flown. Scientists have nicknamed it “Dracula.”

    The Altmühltal Museum displays a cast of Dracula’s remains, alongside a model skeleton and a life-sized statue of the creature. At an estimated 11.5 feet tall, with a wingspan of 37.4 to 39.4 feet, Dracula was comparable to a giraffe when standing, or a small airplane in flight. “Seeing it on the ground really gives you a proper sense of scale, that these were absolutely terrifying animals if you ever encountered them,” says Thomas. Members of the Azhdarchidae family of pterosaurs, to which Dracula belonged, are famous for their size, but “generally the accepted wingspan for all of the others is about 10 meters [32.8 feet] at most,” says Thomas, making Dracula a giant even among its relatives.

 Also:

    ... Some paleontologists theorize that pterosaurs launched themselves into flight from all fours, pushing off with their front limbs, a method not seen in any living creature.

    Thomas explains how pterosaur anatomy confirms the theory of “quad-launching.” While birds have enlarged muscles in their wings for flying and in their legs for launching, “with pterosaurs, you have that all sort of contained in one area” in the chest, he says. “It’s essentially a more mass-efficient way of taking off, which is presumably how they got so much bigger than birds.” 

Khyber Optics Mini Dot Optic (MDO)--Initial Impressions

Earlier this month, I happened across a review from the Tactical Hermit about the Khyber Optics Mini Dot Optic (MDO). I hadn't heard of the company before, but based on the Tactical Hermit's post and the website, it is related to NC Scout over at Brushbeater. It costs $199.99 and comes with a green reticle that can switch between a circle-dot, dot-only, or circle-only. I have a multi-reticle circle-dot from Holosun that I really like and that type of reticle has become my preference because it is quicker to pick up than a plain dot. 

    In any event, I was moving my Holosun HS515GM red dot to a different upper and was in the market for a new red dot. I had been looking at getting an inexpensive Holosun model for roughly the same price with similar features (i.e., green circle-dot reticle) to the Khyber MDO anyway, so I pulled the trigger, so to speak, and ordered the Khyber MDO. What tipped the scale for me on this one over the Holosun is that the Holosun model I was looking at has a small tray to hold the battery that uses a couple really small screws to hold it into place whereas this one has a large cap over the battery that can be unscrewed with a coin or regular flatheaded screwdriver, making it much easier to change batteries and less likely to lose critical parts. This model also had a significantly higher shock rating than the Holosun model. 

    I ordered it on a weekend, but the sight promptly shipped on the next business day which I appreciated and took roughly a week to reach me. (You would not believe the number of items I order where "shipping" just means that they printed the shipping label and then it sits for several days or more before it is actually shipped). The sight comes in a fairly sturdy padded plastic box (see below).

 

 

Inside was the optic with a large Khyber Optic logo on the top, already mounted on the higher riser; a battery; a lower riser for rifles or shotguns with traditional drop-comb stocks; a lens cleaning cloth; and a couple tools for mounting the optic on a Picatinny rail and adjusting the sights. There is also a small booklet with instructions and information on the optic tucked behind the foam padding in the lid. There is no cover for the optic. 

Here is a better view of the optic itself:

 

    As you can see from the photos, the optic is roughly 1.25 inches wide and about 2 inches long. 

    Although the website indicates that the optic is "IP67" I believe this might be a typo as the literature that came with the optic indicates that it is IPX7, meaning that it can withstand temporary immersion in water up to 1 meter (roughly 3.3 feet) for up to 30 minutes without sustaining damage. However, if the website is correct, a 6 rating for dust would be pretty good. 

    Many optics come with visible lens coatings, such as a ruby coating, for clarity and protection, but I could find nothing in the booklet about coatings and do not see any visible coating. I did note that looking through the optic that it can catch reflections of brightly lit objects from behind. 

    The controls work fairly well. To turn on the optic, you have to push and hold the + button for a few seconds. Pushing and holding the + button for a moment also allows you to cycle through the reticles. Pushing and holding the - button will turn off the optic. The + and - buttons will also increase or reduce the brightness of the reticle, respectively.

    Because it is  green reticle, it shows up better in bright light than a red reticle and does seem to work better for my slight astigmatism--red colored dots always seem to be slightly smeared in my vision rather than a crisp dot that most people see. The circle on this is much smaller than the Holosun circle-dot that I own. At first this bothered me, but then I realized that the circle was small enough to use by itself to aim the weapon. 

    Brightness is manually set only. I have a few other red dots that automatically adjust to brightness, but this is not one. It does, however, have a "shake-awake" feature that turns off the optic if it doesn't sense movement for roughly 220 seconds per the instructions. This feature is very sensitive. I had a hard time telling if mine was working correctly because just the vibration of opening the door to where it was stored or the vibration of footfalls was enough to light it up. I had to leave the door open and carefully walk up to it to spot whether the emitter had gone off. Whatever sensors it uses would be great for a perimeter alarm!

    The glow from the reticle or emitter is quite visible from the front of the optic. Khyber Optic lists a kill flash for the MDO, but it has been out of stock. If they get more in stock, however, I plan on picking one up. 

    I haven't had a chance to go out shooting and test this in the field. However, I did roughly zero it using the backup iron sights (which were already sighted in) and I have to say that the clicks for the adjustments were very solid and easily felt. 

    Now I just need to get something to keep dust off the optic. I've had to resort to baggy neoprene covers on a couple other optics, so that will probably be what I do on this one as well unless there is a tighter formed rubber cover that will fit.

True Prepper Offers Free E-Book Downloads

 From True Prepper: "Free Survival PDFs, Manuals, & Downloads." Sections or categories include military manuals (including survival guides and skills useful to preppers); survival and bushcraft skills; preparedness manuals for civilians; first aid; a couple books on specific threats like EMP and nuclear winter; surviving nuclear war; a variety of checklists; and a couple useful references on the military phonetic alphabet and testing whether a plant is edible. 

Wilder: Another Lesson On Indian Culture

In his post "Jugaad And The Mumbai Mafia," John Wilder teaches us some more about Indian culture.  And excerpt:

    “Jugaad is the dishonest and deliberate bending of the rules and laws to one’s favor. In India, such underhanded and self-serving behavior is celebrated, especially among the upper/middle classes. It can also mean ‘doing the bare minimum to get by’ which is why Indian coding, craftsmanship, etc., is so terrible.”

    Ouch.  Kicked straight in the Microsoft©.

    But we see jugaad continually exhibited by the Indians who have fled that paradise of the world’s largest trash mountain stunning Mumbai skyline and open sewage the Ganges. They cheat everyone at everything.  And when there are bunches of them, they cheat in organized groups that would make the Mafia blush. 

He also offers some thoughts on why they are so disliked even by the Left. One reason not listed but which is important is that they are moving into economic sectors that were historically dominated by another ethnic group. (See, e.g., "How Indian families took over the Antwerp diamond trade from orthodox Jews"--Quartz).