Weekend Reading

Both Jon Low and Greg Ellifritz have new posts rounding up articles and videos on self-defense, shooting, and related topics. 

    First up, Jon Low's new Defensive Pistolcraft newsletter from October 31, 2023. As always, he offers a mixture of links, excerpts of interest, and his own commentary/experiences. A few of the latter:

•      My posting of the incident in the parking lot of my apartment complex was not to indicate what a badass or dumbass I am.  The intended purpose was to demonstrate that an immediate attack (or counter-attack, depending on your perspective) will usually take your enemy by surprise and cause a flinch / startle / flight / freeze reaction.  

     As Matthew S. Little says, that is sufficient to win. Of course, you have to press your attack.  Gouge his eyes (this should always be your first target), bite anything that comes near your mouth (bite hard to crush bone), stomp on the side of his knee, stomp on his foot near his ankle (the small bones in the foot are easily broken, not the toes, he may be wearing steel toed shoes), Karate chop or hammer fist to the side of his neck (vagas nerve), cupped hands clap to his ears (hard enough to break his ear drums and cause loss of balance, vertigo), knee to the testicles, palm strike to the nose, etc.  If you can get behind the enemy, blood choke (you will only have to stop the blood for 8 seconds, probably much less).  Practice with a non-cooperative training partner.  At least visualize.  

     As Matt says, to the untrained, this will appear brutal or excessive.  It is not.  Natalee Holloway kneed Joran van der Sloot in the testicles, but did not follow up with the suggestions above.  (Because she assumed that he would stop.  BAD assumption.)  So van der Sloot punched her in the face and then smashed her head with a brick.  You must keep on fighting until the enemy is incapacitated (which might mean dead).  You cannot expect the enemy to give up.  That is not reality.  

 

     There are idiots who will advise women to submit on the assumption that being raped is better than being murdered.  BAD assumption.  Joran van der Sloot was in prison in Venezuela for murder of a woman that he had raped.  So if you submit to rape, you will be murdered.  Criminal predators don't leave witnesses.  

•  John mentions that he recently finished the "Handgun 3" class taught by Jonathan Leverette and has some thoughts/lessons learned from the class, including the following:

     Leverette showed us a prone technique that U.S. Army Special Forces were using at Fort Campbell (he had been there recently teaching a class).  The standard prone is on your belly facing toward the target with both elbows on the ground and bent to bring the pistol sights up to your line of sight (eye to target).  This takes muscle tension.  Relax and the pistol drops down.  The SF guys were looking for a position that would allow them to stay in position indefinitely (and sleep in position if need be).  No the urban prone (lying on your side) does not meet their requirements either.  So they came up with a position where the body is angled at about 45 degrees to the target line.  Extend the firing side arm.  Rest the head on the firing side shoulder / upper arm (ya, it depends on your build, but remember what type of person we are talking about) like a pillow.  You ever play golf? or baseball?  Interlock your firing side little finger with your support side index finger.  Support side thumb is pointing up along the grip.  Make a fist with the support side hand to elevate the pistol.  Open the support side hand to lower the pistol.  You have to experiment because everyone's anatomy is a little different.  Yes, you will be able to sleep in this position while

keeping your pistol on target.  

 Also check out what he learned about getting back on target after a long day of shooting the handgun.

• He mentions several stories and incidents to remind readers that if attacked, you are on your own: the police are going to be too far away and too slow to react. In an active shooter event, they likely will set up a parameter rather than intervene to stop the shooting.
• Jon comments about a couple articles from Claude Werner (the Tactical Professor) on carrying with an empty changer (no, Werner does not recommend it; he just recognizes that some people will insist on carrying that way and instructors should, therefore, know the techniques):  

     You're not going to have time to chamber a round in combat.   

 

     Even if your situational awareness has allowed you the time, you may not be able to.  You may not have a second hand available.  You may not have a table edge or wall corner or boot heel or holster edge to rack your slide on with one hand.  You may be  under observation and the time to chamber a round could get you shot.  What good is your sub-second draw to first shot? if you have to expend time chambering a round.  I could go on, but you get the idea.   

 

     If you cannot safely carry your pistol with a round in the chamber, you need to get yourself a correctly designed pistol.  Or you need to get training to fix your thinking.  

 Amen.

    Second up is Greg's Weekend Knowledge Dump for this week.  A few of the articles referenced:

• I'm going to mention the link to the Rangemaster newsletter first because it touches on topics for which Greg has other links in this week's Knowledge Dump: dryfire practice, and using buckshot loads for a defensive shotgun.
• Greg links to a good article on equipment for dryfire practice.
• Greg links to an article on shotgun terminal ballistics, noting that you need at least 00-buckshot to still have sufficient penetration at 50 yards.
• An article with some basic tips/tactics to teach your daughter for self-defense. One of these is a foot stomp, which Greg points out has never worked in all the self-defense for women classes he has taught where he has taken the role of the aggressor. My guess is that they are either too small/weak to deliver an effective blow, or are just doing it incorrectly (see Jon's comments above as to foot stomps). Note that the article Greg cites isn't as much about how to do the techniques, but what techniques to use. For instance, it mentions eye gauges, but not how to best do them to cause actual harm (i.e., hand coming in low so the attacker doesn't see what you are doing and close his eyes first--I'll see if I can find a better explanation from someone that has taught it).
• An excellent article on basic footcare. While it is targeted to the hiking/backpacking crowd, it would also be useful for preppers/survivalists.
• An article on the dangers poised by nuclear explosions--something that should concern all of us since a lot of countries are rattling their sabers. The article, unfortunately, doesn't have much about protecting or reacting to a nuclear explosion other than a few bits of kit to help with not breathing in fallout.
• A handy article with prepping tips for when travelling. 

And more, so be sure to check it out.