Gun & Prepping News #9

 Just some articles that caught my attention for one reason or another:

• "Weekend Knowledge Dump- December 6, 2024"--Active Response Training.  Links to articles on carry holsters and guns used by the experts; controlling fear; cold weather concealment; the bystander effect; the importance of learning when to stop shooting when the threat is over; and more.
• "First Look: Ruger RXM Pistol"--Shooting Illustrated. Ruger and MagPul have teamed up to create a Glock 19 Gen 3 clone but with some improvements (including being optic ready) at a lower price point than a Glock pistol. One major difference is that it uses "a removable stainless steel Fire Control Insert (FCI) that is set inside an interchangeable Magpul Enhanced Handgun Grip (EHG)," which insert appears to be the serialized part of the weapon.
  
• "Training day: Gun retention techniques"--Police 1. The author notes that typically when a perpetrator goes for an officer's gun, the officer and the perpetrator were already in a physical fight. The author offers some pointers as to firearm retention:

1. Learn to fight on the ground;
2. Your holster must make your pistol secure just by putting it in the holster;
3. No mechanical device should replace training;
4. Practice soft tissue strikes;
5. Use a consistent response to any gun grab;
6. Reaching for a gun is a life and death struggle so respond in like manner.
   

• "Infinite Defense: Self-Healing Infinity Target Review"--The Truth About Guns. 
• "Concealed Carry Corner: Deciding The Best Carry Position"--The Firearm Blog. A review of several concealed carry positions and methods: IWB strong side; appendix carry; pocket carry; and shoulder holsters.
  
• "Why (& How) You Should Learn To Shoot One-Handed"--NRA Family. The primary reason given in the article is that when you are caught up in a life or death incident, you may very well have one hand occupied with carrying or holding something. And while you could drop that thing...
  

However, if what you are holding is a tiny human being, that is no longer an option. The same holds true for the cell phone, believe it or not. Tossing your device also means throwing away the ability to dial 911, and you'll need that. Of course, all of this implies that one hand isn't already injured or under the control of an assailant, which is another highly possible scenario.

• "EDC Gift Shopping List"--Tactical Wire.  A few gift ideas for the tactical minded. 
• "You See Me; and I SAW You"--Everyday Marksman. The author goes through a hierarchy of weapons in order of importance for a prepper--a mid- or full-size handgun, a PDW type weapon, and a rifle--but argues after those basics are fulfilled, making sure each fire team has a weapon suitable for suppressive fire. The obvious examples are military weapons such as the BAR, M-60, SAW, but an AR with a heavy barrel and bipod would suffice; or, "[g]oing further might be a similar build in 308. Picture a AR10 with a 18-20 inch HBAR and bipod.  Think of it as a Battle Rifle from the days when FALs and G3s competed alongside M16s against AKs for world domination."
  
• "Are There Holes In Your Preparedness Plan?"--Self Reliance. The author has actually lived the self-reliance lifestyle in an isolated homestead and so had experience with gaps in her plans. She shares some of those in this article relating to food storage, the need for an "evacuation" trailer, EDC items to carry, bug out bags, a bug out vehicle, and dispelling some myths about prepping. An excerpt from her comments about food storage:

    Buy as much canned meat as you can — a wide variety, not just Spam. Or, a better and more inexpensive option is to can your own meat. It is tremendously cheaper and you have the control of what goes into your jars. You do need a pressure canner to put up all meats and vegetables, but please don’t fear this essential but challenging piece of canning equipment. It will not blow up, I promise. All modern canners have at least one safety feature and most have two so they can’t overpressure.

    Along with canned meats, you can enjoy your other basics: rice, beans, cornmeal, flour, and other dried foods. They add variety, flavor, and nutrition to these building blocks. In addition, you can do as I do and can up “meals-in-a-jar” such as chili, stews, soups, meatballs and sauce, etc. You simply have to open a jar and dump the contents into a pan and heat thoroughly to use these. ...

• "'Miracle' as 20-year-old missing for 50 days in freezing wilderness after going on a ten-day fishing trip is found alive (but complains he didn't catch any fish!)"--Daily Mail. "Sam Benastick was reported missing on October 19 after he did not return from a 10-day fishing and hiking trip in Redfern-Keily Park in the northern Rocky Mountains, in Canada's British Columbia," the article reports.