VIDEO: Good Real-Life Example Of Dealing With A Dog Attack

Some video and analysis of a dog attack caught on camera where the man that was attacked was able to escape with just a few bites and the loss of a shoe. The author gives comments based on his experience and training in the military in dealing with dogs. You are probably more likely to be attacked (or threatened) by an aggressive dog than a criminal, and certainly more likely to be attacked by a dog than attacked by a bear or cougar in the woods, so this is important information.  

VIDEO: "Good Lesson On Defending Yourself Against Dog Attack"
Good Luck America (7 min.)

Do I Get Involved?

"Do I Get Involved in What Is Happening in Front of Me?"--USA Carry. The article begins:

Many people ask me if they need to get involved in situations where they could be helping someone. My question to them is, “Are you in fear of immediate great grave/or bodily harm for yourself or a loved one” in this scenario, or are you looking just to stop a “bad guy?”

Be honest in answering this question, because if it is the latter, you could easily be stepping into the proverbial minefield. As the author points out, if you do get involved, you had better know for damn sure who is the "good guy" and who is the "bad guy": 

Many of us with a great moral compass and a love for other humans want to be the good guy and
save the person in distress. However, if you stumble onto this and take action, you need to really be
sure who the bad guy in the situation is. What happens if the “bad guy” was actually the “good guy” and you stepped in? You may have just landed yourself in some deep legal waters. 

Massad Ayoob wrote in one of his books of an incident where a trucker driving through a large city saw a woman struggling with a man and yelling "rape!" The trucker went to stop the man and ended up shooting the man ... who turned out to have been undercover police officer attempting to arrest a prostitute. Needless to say, the trucker was imprisoned.  

    The article also notes that you should consider that someone responding to the scene or event, such as police officers or another person with a concealed carry handgun, may not realize that you are a "good guy" and shoot you.

Why The FBI Ammo Choice Matters To Civilian Defenders

Scott Witner, writing at The Truth About Guns explains "What 9mm Ammo Does the FBI Use — And Why It Matters to You." I'm not going to go back over the 1986 Miami shootout and the rest of the backstory that takes us to the present choice in 9mm by the FBI. You probably already know it and, if you don't, you can click over to Witner's article. The key points, however, are these:

•  "FBI is widely reported to be issuing Hornady Critical Duty 9mm +P 135gr (FlexLock/FTX) as its current duty load."
• The 135 grain (rather than 115 grain or 124 grain) is the important bit.

Without endorsing specific brands, the FBI’s own researcher offers practical guidance:

    Look for duty-focused projectiles in the 135–147-grain range, engineered for consistent barrier performance. Bonded or mechanically locked bullets — designed to hold together and expand reliably through intermediate barriers — are where modern defensive ammo earns its keep.

Ultra-light 115-grain loads optimized for raw velocity are, in his words, “old news” for duty criteria. Some 124-grain loads can perform well, but often depend on +P velocity to achieve consistent penetration through barriers. 

• Barriers includes not just glass or metal, but heavy clothing.  

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.

Article: Is Your Church A Sitting Duck?

From Shooting News Weekly: "Hope Isn’t a Plan: Is Your Church a Sitting Duck?" My church is. But I'm old enough to remember when churches didn't need church security teams. John Wilder touches on that era in his piece, "How To Break A Society, Part I." He begins:

    Picture this:  I leave my keys in the truck overnight.  Windows down.  Wallet on the dash.  Next morning?  Still there.  Nothing missing, though a cat might have explored an empty burger wrapper.  No viral TikTok™ of some “youth” doing donuts in my F-150®.

    Absurd?  No.

    And not because Big Brother has cameras up the backside of every squirrel, but because back in the day people just didn’t do that crap.  The neighbors would have known who did it.  Moms would have heard about it at church, and the father of the kid would have heard about it from his boss.

    Shame, accountability, and consequences work better than ankle monitors.

    That was the power of societal norms.  Invisible fences made of “What will people think?”  And the Founding Fathers knew it.  They told us so.

    Benjamin Franklin walked out of the Constitutional Convention and some lady asked what they’d given us. “A republic,” he said, “if you can keep it.” Not “if the government keeps it for you.” Not “if we pass enough laws.” If you can keep it.

    John Adams was even blunter in 1798: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

    They weren’t kidding.    

But liberals felt stifled and had to tear the whole thing down. Read the whole thing. 

Gun & Prepping News #69

Just some gun and prepping related links that I thought interesting or useful:

• Owning a gun--still hundreds of times safer than owning a swimming pool: "Accidental Shooting Statistics"--Ammo Land. Quick highlights:

• In 2024, 1% (438) of all firearm-related deaths (41,656) were due to accidental shootings.
• 30% (438) of the 1,457 unintentional firearm-related injuries in 2024 were fatal.
• There is an average of 114 accidental gun deaths among children and adolescents annually.
• Accidental shootings account for 0.004% of all injuries leading to hospital visits.

• "Does the ‘3-3-3 Rule’ Hold Up for Civilian Self-Defense?"--Guns America. The 3-3-3 rule--that gun fights happen within 3 feet, in 3 seconds, with 3 rounds being fired--is drawn from an FBI study of shooting incidents involving police officers. For the civilian it appears that the average is closer to 9 feet, in 6 seconds, with 4 shots fired.
• "Home Invasion! Grab The Defensive Rifle- Dead Trigger….What The Hell Do You Do Now??"--Shooting Performance. The answer is in the sub-title: "The Why’s and How’s of Transitioning to a Secondary Weapon." From the lede:

What the heck is a dead trigger?  Let’s define that term first:  Anytime you pull the trigger and expect it to go bang, and it doesn’t, that is a dead trigger.  If you are in a situation like the one described in the title of this article, it really doesn’t matter why the rifle didn’t go bang, just that you have a response when it does.  The article that follows discusses your options. 

The reasons for a dead trigger might be something simple like the rifle wasn't made ready in the first instance or ran out of ammo, but could also be due to some sort of malfunction. The article discusses why a weapon transition to a handgun is preferable at short combat distances to trying to troubleshoot the rifle; how to perform a weapon transition; getting the rifle back into action; and suggestions as to (safely) training for a dead trigger.

• "Your Mind is Your Weapon: Mastering Situational Awareness"--Taurus USA.  The author begins:

    The most important lesson I learned and taught as a firearms instructor for the CIA is that your mind is your primary weapon. Weapons evolve, systems come and go, but your ability to assess and respond to a threat ultimately determines your survival. A well-made firearm can be a powerful equalizer, but effectiveness depends on strategy and restraint – knowing  when to reveal your strengths and when to keep them concealed.

    Carrying a concealed weapon is not just about having the right firearm; it’s about being able to transition instantly from a passive state to full combat readiness. Success in a critical moment relies on both mental awareness and physical capability. The way you carry, conceal and present your firearm when a threat arises is determined by your training and skill. Simply owning a good gun is never enough. 

Good tips for learning and maintaining situational awareness and understanding when a threat arises. Be sure to check it out. 

• For those using firearms with manual safeties: "The Mechanical Safety:  Use it or take the gamble."--Paul Howe. He begins:

While training with more and more law enforcement agencies, I have found that a potentially dangerous practice has been implemented into their SOP’s. This being the ignoring of the weapon manual safety. Many tactical teams are moving from the Last Covered and Concealed (LCC) position to the breach point in a linear formation with a straight finger and the weapon on fire. Further, they conduct a great deal of interior movement and room clearing with the weapon on fire and a straight finger. 

The rest of the article goes over why you need to use the safety, the dangers to not using safeties, and why he thinks law enforcement got away from training to use safeties. 

• Some firearms history: "StG 45(M): The Last Sturmgewehr"--The Armory Life.  This used a roller delayed blowback action and is the predecessor to the CETME Model C and, subsequently, the HK-91 and all subsequent roller delayed firearms manufactured by HK. This is a long and detailed article, but worth your time. 
• "Your First Suppressor: A Short(ish) Guide for First-Time Buyers"--The Truth About Guns. A look at some suppressors for ARs, 9mm, and rimfire weapons.
• Of course, you'll want some ammo to go with that new suppressor: "Pairing Your Suppressor With The Right Subsonic Ammo"--The Truth About Guns. Some suggestions on subsonic ammo in 9mm, .300 BLK, .22 LR, .45 ACP, .45-70, and .458 SOCOM.
• Speaking of handgun ammo: "Brink’s U.S. Selects Liberty Ammunition for Executive Protection"--The Truth About Guns. Specifically, the 9mm Spike load which the article describes as "55-grain, all-copper projectile features an integral spike design that enables deep penetration through barriers while creating a permanent wound channel—critical capabilities when threats may involve vehicle glass, heavy clothing, or intermediate obstacles." The round is supposed to have 1,900 feet per second muzzle velocity giving 441 foot-pounds of energy on target. 
• And some more on ammo: "Here’s Why the .223 Remington Is the Most Underrated Deer Cartridge"--Outdoor Life. By "deer" the author is probably meaning whitetail.  An excerpt:

The .223 is inherently accurate, ammo is affordable, and modern purpose-built bullets have elevated its effectiveness even further. The key here is that the .223 is fun and affordable to shoot. So deer hunters preparing for the season have no excuse to not practice shooting from field positions.

As far as the ammo to use for hunting, the author recommends "heavier tipped, lead-core bullets that offer dramatic expansion that is controlled by a thicker jacket. These offer the expansion that causes larger wound cavities but will often penetrate deeply enough to pass through a deer entirely," specifically mentioning the 69-grain Sierra GameKing. However, he notes that "[q]uality bullets in the 69- to 80-grain range are more than capable of" providing the necessary 10 to 12 inches of penetration needed to take whitetail deer.

• Related:  "Best 223 for Deer Hunting: Taking Down Whitetails with 22-Caliber Bullets"--Ammo Land.

• And for the deadliest game: "223/5.56 Duty/Defense Ammunition Selection"--Tactical Anatomy. After discussion of the failures of different types of ammunition and why, even with rifles, penetration is king, the author concludes:

    The clear answer is that for general patrol/defensive rifle duty, we want a round that both expands well and penetrates deeply, while maintaining reliable functionality and accuracy. This is the ideal.

    That being said, and no disrespect intended to any of the runners-up, my personal and professional 5.56 ammunition choices based on the recommendations of true experts like Dr. Roberts–and my own experience on live animals and tissue simulants–tend to run along the lines of Federal TRU 55/62gr bonded, Black Hills/Nosler Partition 65 gr, and Winchester JSP 64 gr. These rounds will defeat intermediate barriers and will penetrate deeply through tissue, and will work accurately in barrels from 1:7 through 1:10. All of these rounds have an excellent record in OIS’s over many, many years, and as such I have no reservation in recommending them. 

• And if you want something for hunting that is light recoiling but believe that .223 is too small or under powered, there is this: "Best 243 Ammo for Deer & Other Hunts"--The Shooter's Log. 
• "CCW Range Bag Essentials: What You Need to Train With Your Carry Pistol"--Ammo Land. The author selected the Propper Bail Out Bag to carry his stuff, and then describes what he carries and where he stows it in the bag. (BTW, it is $9 dollars less to order from Propper over Amazon, but Amazon offers "free" shipping--so it might be a wash when all is said and done).
• And once you get to the range: "Five Drills for Beginners at the Range"--Ammo Land. The author, Travis Pike, explains:

    A drill is a shooting exercise that prescribes nearly every element of your shooting. It describes your distance, your accuracy standards, the time you have to accomplish the drill, how many rounds are fired, and more. Most importantly, it has a time and accuracy standard.

    A time and accuracy standard gives you a goal to meet. If you can’t meet these goals, you’ll be able to identify your weaknesses and, hopefully, improve your shooting skills continually. Shooters should never dive too deep or too fast. Attempting the FAST Drill as a new shooter can be a recipe for disaster. 

• "Daniel Defense H9 9mm: The Hudson Concept, Perfected"--The Truth About Guns.  The Hudson pistol was one that featured a very low bore axis by lowering the recoil spring assembly so it was ahead of the trigger guard. The original design and execution had issues. But according to this review, Daniel Defense has cleaned it up and has a workable pistol. MSRP is $999 but the street price is higher--closer to $1,300, the author writes.
• "Securing Backyard Fences"--Active Response Training.  Greg Ellifritz writes:

    In my police days, it was very common to see heroin addicts cruising around wealthy residential neighborhoods looking for places to burglarize in the daytime when most residents were at work.

    Their most common MO was to find an attractive house and then knock on the door. If someone answers, they play it off by pretending that they are looking for someone.

[snip]

    If they didn’t get an answer, they would go around to the back of the house where fewer people could see them,  They would then break in to the house via a back door or window.

    I never saw one of those burglaries happen to a residence with a locked back fence. 

• "Locked Down. Rounded Up. Warehoused. The Rise of America’s Concentration Camps"--SHTF Plan. From the article:

    In 2021, amid a global pandemic, warnings that the federal government might repurpose warehouses into detention facilities on American soil were dismissed as speculative, alarmist, or even conspiratorial.

    Five years later, what was speculation is a blueprint for locking up whoever the government chooses to target.

    According to investigative reports, the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement are actively purchasing warehouses, factories, and industrial buildings across the country for use as detention centers—often with little public notice, minimal oversight, and virtually no accountability. 

We saw this happen in Australia to those who refused to take the vax, and many elites here in the United States expressed a wish that those who refused the vax be rounded up and imprisoned, so this seems likely if there is a real pandemic. 

• "Wheat Grinders 101"--Blue Collar Prepping. While you can use whole wheat corns, they will be more useful ground into flour as you need it (wheat can store for decades, but flour only for months). This article discusses the three basic types of grinders--manual, electric, and hybrid--as well as some advice on accessories and using the grinders. 
• "Power Outage? What Size Generator for a Freezer (And How Long to Run It)"--Modern Survival Blog. From the article:

Most chest freezers use 80–150 running watts, but need 600–1,200 starting watts for a brief moment when the compressor turns on. A 1,000-watt generator or larger is usually enough to run a freezer. If running both a refrigerator and freezer, a 2,000-watt inverter generator provides comfortable capacity.

And:

 You don’t need to run a generator continuously. A full chest freezer can stay frozen 24–48 hours without power. During an outage, many people run a generator about 1 hour every 8–12 hours to maintain safe freezer temperatures. Use a thermometer and keep food below 32°F (0°C).

The goal is to cool the freezer back down before food temperatures rise above freezing.

• "All Tied Up: Basic Survival Camping Knots"--Gat Daily.  It goes over the following:

• Basic Knot Lingo
• Square Knot (Reef Knot)
• Bowline Knot
• Jam Knot (Canadian Jam Knot)
• Clove Hitch 

More importantly, and unlike many other articles or books on knots, it also tells you what each knot can be used for.

•  And from Survival Blog: "More Inflation Ahead: At Best, Plan on Semi-Retirement." Congress has spent so much of the Social Security Trust Fund as a backstop to its other profligate spending that there is not nearly enough money coming in to maintain current payouts. So the government will likely resort to inflating itself out of debt, devaluing personal savings and investments. Consequently, Rawles warns:

... Inflation will deeply degrade the purchasing power of savings, annuities, stocks, mutual funds, CDs, bonds, ETFs, pension funds, and Social Security payments. Even the best contrarian hedge fund won’t fully protect you when the dollar itself is wiped out. Day-to-day living will soon become very expensive. So, at best, we need to plan on semi-retirement in the latter decades of our lives.  ... 

I suspect that if it weren't for the massive fraud of which we are barely scratching the surface, there would probably be plenty of money for Social Security. But when some elderly immigrant steps of the boat and immediately races to the Social Security office, it becomes unsustainable. 

• "Build a brick rocket stove for emergency water purification"--Survival Common Sense. 
• But you need to use the right materials: "Build a brick rocket stove: Is it safe to use concrete blocks?"--Survival Common Sense. The short answer is that you will probably be okay using concrete blocks, but they will probably erode over time. So, to make something that will last long term, use the firebricks.
• "The Ultimate First Aid Supplies List: Be Ready for Anything"--More Than Just Surviving.  This is not about a first aid kit for traveling or hiking, but something at home intended to handle a larger variety of problems. The author comments:

This list is broken down into two major sections: medications to stock, and situation specific kits you would ideally keep in your home. Both these sections then have particular subsections in them, though because it’s only two main sections, we’ve decided to just number these subsections straight through as though they were in just one group. If you’ve got a little bit of everything from each of the subsections, I’d say you’re pretty set. Certainly pick and choose what you feel is best to have for your own peace of mind at home. As I said, I know not everyone will want to keep everything here in stock (though I will be aiming for hitting as many items on this list personally), I just wanted to make sure this list was as comprehensive as possible so that in case you’re redoing your traveling first aid kit, or your at home first aid kit, you can look over this list and know you probably haven’t missed much if you’ve got all you want off of this behemoth. 

The list includes not just what to buy but what it is used for. 

• "Tucker Carlson stunned as ex-Bush official reveals US has doomsday bunkers for elites"--Daily Mail. This 2025 article relates:

    A former Bush administration official has made a shocking claim that the US government is secretly preparing for a mass extinction event on Earth. 

    Catherine Austin Fitts, who was the US Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for Housing, joined Tucker Carlson on his podcast this week, saying she found $21 trillion in unaccounted funds was diverted to covert projects between 1998 and 2015.

    'One of the things I've looked at in the process of looking at where all this money is going is the underground base, city infrastructure and transportation system that's been built,' Fitts said.

It's interesting speculation, but the more likely explanation is that the missing money went to fraudulent payouts. 

Weekend Reading #44

Longer and more involved reading:

• Jon Low has a new Defensive Pistolcraft newsletter.  He includes some thoughts from John Murphy on how dealing with terrorists is different from other criminal threats:

     "Get this straight in your head.  Terrorists are not criminals out to support their drug habit, or a drunken bully looking to throw you a beat down.  This isn’t a parking lot dispute, a road rage incident or a conflict you can solve with de-escalation.  These are ideologically committed killers determined to use violence to achieve global religious/political change.  Killing as many as they can to maximize the terror impact of their acts is their goal.  Do NOT underestimate these people.  Take careful note not of just the mass beheadings that were once in vogue overseas, but the artful way they were staged and recorded, with high production values throughout.  That is highly evolved messaging leveraging modern technology with ancient terror tactics.  More recent attacks from various evil parties have even been “livestreamed” to an eager international audience.  Remember that dying for their cause is considered the ultimate reward.  They won’t be dissuaded and they won’t be bargained with.  They will be heavily armed and adequately trained for their task, which is to slaughter unarmed innocents to further undermine governmental authority.  Unlike your typical criminal crew, a few shots won’t send them into flight.  They’re on a mission."  

     "So, with that in mind, the rules change.  Back shoot them without hesitation or warning.  The cheaper the shot, the better.  To ensure there’s not a threat from behind as you move past their bodies, “anchor” shoot them through the brain and from a position of advantage.  While these methods of engagement are illegal and inappropriate for a criminal encounter and would likely see you charged with murder in that context, I suspect a citizen acting this way against a terrorist threat will be given a pass.  (Differentiating between the two, at that time could be difficult.  Choose wisely.)  This will essentially be participating in no notice infantry combat in your hometown."   

While he suspects that a citizen acting this way against a terrorist threat will be given a pass, I have my reservations--particularly if this were to occur in a Democrat controlled jurisdiction. To them, you would not be killing a terrorist, but an ally. Moving on, commenting on an article encouraging women to take responsibility for their safety, Jon adds:

     In the real world, no one is coming to your rescue, not the bystanders, not the police, not even your friends and relatives who are with you.  I know this is a horrid depressing thought, but it's true.  Accept it and prepare accordingly.  Because gouging the bad guy's eyes is not something that you will do automatically, unless you have practiced, a lot.  The highly trained will not gouge and pull their hand out.  Rather, they will drive their fingers through the eyes into the brain, curl their fingers to grab the cheek bones from the inside, and drive the bad guy's head to the ground, hard in order to crack the skull.  As Tim Larkin says, the ground is your best impact weapon, and it is always available, and gravity is always helping you.   

Jon has a lot more, so be sure to check out his newsletter. 

• Greg Ellifritz at Active Response Training has a new Weekend Knowledge Dump. His linkage includes, but is not limited to, cover and concealment around vehicles, examining your target to try and analyze shooting errors, levels of eye contact (and what they mean),  info on the AK and shooting one, advantages and disadvantages to having a weapon mounted light on a concealed carry pistol, and advice as to concealed carry belts. I'm glad that the author mentions that is possible to have too stiff of a belt. Given my experience with several gun belts with the stiffened cores, I've gone back to just wearing a good leather belt. 

    And special mention goes to the video "Crazy Oakland Pawn Shop Gunfight Caught on Camera" where a group of thugs is admitted through a locking security door, then tried to rob the place. When the owners of the pawn shop got weapons and start shooting, the criminals turned to hightail it out of the place ... but couldn't because the security door had locked behind them. Consequently, they feel obliged to enter into a gun battle with the owners of the pawn shop in which at least one of the owners is wounded. During the gun battle, the criminals found at least one weapon that the pawnshop owners had stashed, fully loaded, in the event of a break in. I think that the primary lesson here is that sometimes it is better to give criminals an opportunity to flee than risk a prolonged fight.

• "A Polar Bear Tried to Eat My Neighbor — and Other Close Calls With Nanuq in Alaska’s High Arctic"--Outdoor Life. 

During the time we called Alaska’s North Slope home, from 1990 to 1997, Native hunters killed approximately 110 polar bears annually in Alaska, with most being taken in the dark winter months. Male polar bears are active throughout the winter, unlike pregnant females that seek dens to enter their deep winter sleep and give birth. That year in Point Lay, the pack ice created an open lead very near shore. Seals hauled out on the edges of the open water. During winter in the Arctic, where there are seals, polar bears will be nearby. 

• "A City Cast in Concrete, Trapped Under Unbearable Heat"--The MIT Press Reader.  How rapid urbanization and loss of green space turned Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo, into an unbearable heat island.

In a collaboration between Rajarata University of Sri Lanka and the University of Tsukuba in Japan, researchers used LANDSAT data to examine surface temperatures in Colombo at different moments during the decades-long process of rapid urbanization. Using temperature measurements from 1997, 2007, and 2017, the study tells the story of a cooler city by the sea, and how it went from a pleasant 25–27°C (77-80.6°F) to a staggering 31°C (87.8°F), or more. The heat maps created by the authors for 1997 are dominated by calming hues of green, but by 2017, a sprawling fungus of red heat spreads its tendrils in every direction. The old-timers weren’t just being nostalgic; in their time, it would indeed have been much, much cooler. 

• "Most normal matter in the universe isn’t found in planets, stars or galaxies – an astronomer explains where it’s distributed"--The Conversation. 

In the new study, published in June 2025, a team of astronomers from Caltech and the Harvard Center for Astrophysics studied 69 fast radio bursts using an array of 110 radio telescopes in California. The team found that 76% of the universe’s normal matter lies in the space between galaxies, with another 15% in galaxy halos – the area surrounding the visible stars in a galaxy – and the remaining 9% in stars and cold gas within galaxies.

Gun & Prepping News #68

Just some gun and prepping related links that I thought interesting or useful:

• "How to Shoot Faster (and Actually Hit)"--Armory Life.  Advice and drills to help you shoot faster while maintaining acceptable accuracy. An excerpt:

    For me, one of my bigger challenges as an instructor has been helping people with a modest level of proficiency reach the next level. They may very well be safe gun handlers and capable of posting a satisfactory score on a course of fire, but are locked into their comfort zone and are not especially confident when it comes to pushing the gas pedal just a little bit harder.

    By reinforcing combat shooting fundamentals such as grip, index on the target, and trigger management and slowly introducing them to a few different drills, I often see great improvement. The ultimate goal is to set each individual’s mental clock so they can strike that ideal balance between speed and accuracy.

    What follows are a few exercises that I have used over the years to teach people how to shoot faster. Perhaps there is something you can use in this mix to improve your skills. 

• "Physical Fitness; The Foundation of all Training"--Combat Shooting & Tactics. As the author points out: "Again, what good is your rifle marksmanship if you’re not strong enough to carry the weapon and spare mags? What good are your hand to hand skills if a 30 second scuffle leaves you bent over, hands on knees, gasping for air."
• "Escalation of Force: How to Choose the Appropriate Response to Potential Violence"--Organic Prepper.  A big issue with self-defense is that the amount or level of force must be reasonable or proportionate to the threat. An excerpt:

    We’ve all heard the saying, “When your only tool is a hammer, you treat everything like it’s a nail.”  The same is true when your only tool is deadly force.

    Obviously, there are life and death situations in which deadly force is the only possible response if you want to live. When someone bursts into your home waving a gun screaming that they’re going to kill you, when someone in a mask is trying to drag you into a van with dark-tinted windows, when someone is clearly intent on beating the crap out of you until you’re dead – all of these things are situations in which your use of a lethal response is entirely justified.

    But… a lot of situations require more finesse unless you want to risk a) spending the rest of your life in prison and praying you don’t drop the soap or b) waiting for bloody vengeance from your adversary’s friends or family or c) criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits forever and ever until you die. 

This is an important topic so please read this. 

• Mossad Ayoob: "Firearms Refresher" (Part 1 - Handguns) (Part 2 - Shotguns) (Part 3 - Rifles). Just a quick review of basics for each type of firearm: checking your weapon and ammunition, checking if it is loaded, weapons handling and safety considerations, tips for drawing the handgun, ammunition selection, straps and slings for the long guns, and more. Just a good review of the basics, but still some tips or ideas for the experienced shooter. If you are teaching someone about shooting, these would probably be good articles to supplement what is your class or teaching session. 
• Some firearms history: "M1 Garand vs. M1941 Johnson Rifle Debate"--Armory Life.  The Johnson rifle was a semi-auto rifle that competed against the M1 Garand. It used a 10-round rotary magazine and saw some very limited use in the war. However, it was too little, too late and so it never replaced the M1 Garand with US forces. 
• And some more firearms history: "The MAT-49: France's Mid-20th Century SMG"--American Rifleman. At the end of WWII, the French were left with a multitude of different weapons and embarked on a program to standardize what they had. The MAT-49 came out of this.

    ... The MAT-49 was simple and rugged featuring a retractable stock made of heavy gauge wire. With its stock retracted the MAT-49 is just 18 inches long—with its stock extended, it is 28 inches (with a 9.1-inch barrel). 

    A unique feature is the folding magazine well, which tucks in neatly beneath the barrel—allowing a safe, compact carry that was particularly appealing for paratroops and vehicle crews. The magazine well could be quickly folded back into the firing position, and the well provides the forward hand grip. The weapon has a bit of heft, weighing nearly 9.5 pounds with a loaded 32-round magazine.

    There is no manual safety on the MAT-49, rather, there's a prominent grip safety. The gun is blowback-operated, firing from an open bolt, with a cyclic rate of 600 rounds per minute. An experienced shooter can easily trigger single rounds. The MAT-49 uses a 32-round, double-stack, single-feed magazine—spring tension is tight, and the magazine loading tool is essential. There was also a 20-round, single-stack magazine, designed to be more resistant to sand and grit, and this was issued to troops in desert environments. 

• While most of us probably think rifle accuracy begins and ends with free floating the barrel, that is not really correct: "Understanding Barrel Bedding"--Rifle Shooter Magazine.  An excerpt:

There are a number of ways a bolt-action rifle can be bedded. Bull barrels and heavy varmint/target barrels oscillate less violently than sporter-weight ones as a bullet accelerates down the bore and generally shoot just as well when free-floated as they do when bedded. Some competitive shooters, however, have been known to glass-bed the barrel and leave the action floating while others permanently bond the barreled action and stock together by not using release agent. Most sporter, carbine and ultralight hunting rifles, however, respond better to other bedding dynamics.

• Related: "How To Adjust Forearm Tip Pressure"--Shooting Times. The author's experience is that most rifles will do best with a free floated barrel. "But in perhaps less than five to 10 percent of the rifles, I run into one that will not shoot well after my initial accurization work. At that point I look at the possibility that this rifle may need some pressure on the barrel. In these cases a pressure point in the stock may help to stabilize or dampen erratic or nonsymmetric barrel movement."
• Related: "Use of Barrel Harmonics For Rifle Accuracy"--Tactical Link.
• Related: "What are barrel harmonics?"--Gun Tweaks. 

• You can't stop the signal: "Airsoft SCAR SMG conversion gang caught"--Impro Guns. The illicit manufacturers here took Airsoft versions of the SCAR, and replaced the guts and barrel with those for a simple submachine gun. Gave the user a nice stock and appearance. There are some photographs showing how things were fit into the Airsoft shell/chassis. 
• "Luth-AR Globe Charging Handle: Why Didn’t I Think Of That?"--The Truth About Guns.  Something that might be useful for those with arthritis. Essentially a ball like that on the bolt handle of a bolt action rifle attached to one side of the cocking handle for an AR. A lot of the comments complain that the ball would hang up things, but since generations have survived using bolt action guns with a ball sticking off the side on a cocking handle, this seems more an imaginary concern than a real one. You know what really hangs up on things with an AR? The pistol grip and long magazines and weapon mounted lights and the tall sights and stocks shaped like giant hooks. 
• "Choosing Your First Hunting Rifle"--Armory Life.  If you are like me, your first hunting rifle was probably a gift or hand-me-down. But if you are looking at getting your first (or just getting another rifle) this article has some tips and pointers starting with cartridge selection, type of action, the importance of keeping the weight down, what game species you are going to be hunting with it (which, frankly, should have been at the top of the list of considerations), and accessorizing it. 
• Related: "Top 5 All-Around North American Big-Game Cartridges"--American Hunter.  
• Related: "The Top 10 Rifle Cartridges for North American Big Game"--Peterson's Hunting.
• "25 Most Popular Survival Books (My Favourite is #5)"--More Than Just Surviving.  This is originally from 2014 and updated in 2015, but is still probably a pretty solid list. I've read 5 of the first 6 books and several of the books in the remainder of the list. I would note, however, that it is mix of wilderness survival and prepping books. I was somewhat disappointed though that the list did not include Cody Lundin's book, When All Hell Breaks Loose, which I consider the best overall prepping book as it goes over mental/emotional preparation and concerns, then goes into topics of shelter, water, food, sanitation and hygiene, and other topics for someone surviving a major disaster, with the emphasis on people surviving in their homes. 
• "Choosing the Best Water Purification Tablets – Everything You Need to Know!"--Alpha Survivalist. The article says that it is reviewing 5 different brands, but only 4 are discussed. There is a brief overview and review of each brand. The author also discusses historical (mostly military) experience with water purification tablets and practical uses. The article also discusses the three general chemical compounds used in such tablets. But this may be the most important tip of all from the article:

    It makes sense to use multiple water purification methods, you can not be careful enough right? Purification tablets work best when they are paired up with quality water filters like the Lifestraw or the Sawyer Mini.

    Specific protozoa species like cryptosporidium usually have a strong resistance to chemical purifiers, however, they are too big to go through many water filters including the two just mentioned above.

    Always keep this in mind when choosing a purification tablet.

• "Seasonal Changeover"--Tactical Wisdom.  The author, Joe Dolio, discusses what he does with his vehicle bags, get home bags, EDC/Patrol bags, and full ruck as the season shifts from winter/early spring to warmer weather, including updating clothing, checking that MREs and other gear is still current and so on. He expects the readers to be familiar with his recommendations for such kit set out in his book, Baseline Training Manual, but the general concepts are valid no matter your set up.
• "15 DIY Instant Soup Mixes"--Urban Survival Site. This is exactly what it sounds like: some recipes of dry ingredients that can be stored in Mason jars or Mylar bags, needing only the addition of hot water to make soup. He warns that some of the ingredients, such as freeze dried chicken, may be hard to source, however.  
• "36 Cool Ideas For Your Paracord Survival Projects"--Survival Life. Belts, keychains, monkeyfist slungshots, chair, sling, etc. 
• "Frightening reality of California’s homeless epidemic laid bare as disease outbreak could threaten LA"--New York Post. 

    The bacterial disease leptospirosis was found in rats at encampments in the hippie college town of Berkeley, leading health officials there to issue an urgent warning to the homeless to clear out.

Per the article, "Flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache and vomiting appear between five and 14 days. If the infection isn’t detected and treated with antibiotics, it leads to organ failure, internal bleeding, meningitis — and death."

     Officials told them to relocate at least a third of a mile from the “red zone” encompassing several square blocks as soon as possible. The warning comes as authorities attempted remove the encampment last year but were blocked by a federal judge. 

I find it interesting that the judiciary had no problems with locking down the population for a largely imaginary threat, but suddenly find it objectionable to address a real public health threat.  

Weekend Reading #43

Longer and more involved reading:

• First up, as always, is the Weekend Knowledge Dump from Active Response Training. Some of the topics that were more notable to me:
• Gun Nuts media asks if we are in a golden age of handgun optics with a plethora of inexpensive but dependable optics. Quick takeaway: "So there’s the buying advice. Stay above $100 bucks, and get the dot from the company that you like most."
• The lesson from the Alex Pretti incident: "When you carry a firearm, you do not get to fight anymore unless you truly believe the situation has reached the threshold of life or death."
• Defense against "social engineering" (psychological or emotional manipulation) attacks.
• Paul Martin warns us to prepare for the responses of the unprepared when SHTF, while offering some suggestions on how to be better prepared.
• Federal has finally started producing a 20-gauge buckshot load using the Flite-Control wad that might very well be a viable self-defense load. 
• A couple real world examples of why you should always carry a concealed carry handgun.
• A discussion about cross-draw carry. Although the article mentions the people that might benefit from a cross-draw style of carry (in which the author also lumps shoulder holsters and chest holsters) most of the article is about the downsides. And most of the downsides have to do with flagging yourself or others (although I don't see where appendix carry is much better) or retention issues from the front (there doesn't seem to be any consideration that the disadvantages to retention from the front turn into strengths in retaining the firearm from someone standing behind you, like in the check-out lane of a supermarket).  
• "You Can’t Share a Country With People Who Hate You"--Celina's Substack. The article addresses the inherent problems with a multicultural society, using South Africa as an example. An excerpt:

    The story of South Africa demonstrates that the removal of one system (apartheid) does not guarantee the arrival of a better one. The empirical evidence suggests that for the average citizen, regardless of race, the safety, economic security, and public services provided by the state have deteriorated since 1994.

    The “Broad View” of history tells us that European colonisation brought with it the engines of modernity: medicine, infrastructure, and the rule of law. When those engines are neglected or dismantled in the name of decolonisation, the result is regression.

    Furthermore, the South African experience challenges the liberal dogma of multiculturalism and multiracialism. The friction between the various nations of South Africa, Zulu, Xhosa, Boer, English, did not vanish with the vote. It merely changed form. The violence of the Bantu expansion, the segregation of apartheid, and the reverse-racism of the BEE era are all symptoms of the same underlying truth: that diverse peoples with distinct histories, genes and competing interests struggle to coexist within a single political unit without one group dominating the others. 

•  "Fables For Young Wolves"--Postcards from Barsoom. A review of the book of the same title, which includes fairy tales intended to teach lessons like those from Aesop and the historical fairy tales. The author begins:

    Children’s literature has gotten soft. Disney turned every woodland creature into a cute little forest friend, and tacked a happy ending onto every dark fairy tale. The bloodstains were scrubbed out, death was swept under the rug, and the moral lessons became saccharine platitudes about being kind and sharing ... a helpful aid to management of kindergarten classrooms, perhaps, but worse than useless for the moral instruction of the young, who will one day need to navigate a world where the shadows of the human soul conceal sharpened knives, and the truth is not always what well-meaning young women with associates degrees in early childhood education might wish. Children go along with it, but deep down they know that they’re being lied to, that the adult are keeping something from them when they pretend that every story has a happy ending, that everyone can be friends and get along if they’re just sufficiently nice to one another.

    Contemporary children’s literature has gotten even worse under the pressure of politics, with bookshelves filling with stories about antiracist babies who grow up to become boys who become girls, and girls who save themselves from dragons and therefore don’t need help from the boys who foolishly refused to become girls. This is less moral instruction than moral inversion, literature meant to turn children against their own natures, stories that deliberately deceive developing minds in order to neuter them, soften them, make them malleable and unthreatening for a managerial culture in which the socially acceptable lie is always preferable to the uncomfortable truth.

    Fables For Young Wolves is not that sort of book. 

•  "Confronting the Unspeakable Truth"--Aaron Renn. This piece springboards off Jacob Savage's piece “The Lost Generation,” describing how white men have been frozen out of many jobs because of discrimination due to DEI policies, providing more context and exploring issues not addressed in Savage's essay. Some of his strongest words are reserved for religious leaders:

    I’ve talked before about how roughly 70% of divorces are initiated by women. While the exact percentage varies by study, this is one of the best attested statistics in social science. But I’ve never seen this statistic mentioned in sermon or book on marriage by a major evangelical pastor.

    Similarly, have you ever heard one of them talk about discrimination against white men today? I haven’t seen it.

    My observation from over a decade ago, from before I even started this newsletter, is that the average evangelical pastor is terrified of offending women. You can almost smell the fear on them.

    Similarly, when it comes to things like what Savage discussed in his article, we see a lot of what looks like the fear of man.

    Everybody has to pick their battles. I don’t think we are obligated to go around giving our take on every single subject, or even every nuance of every subject.

    But when you talk frequently, and often loudly, about topics like marriage and racial justice, and never mention much less address very core and relevant facts, you are not being honest.

    You also forfeit the moral standing to critique the people who are mentioning them. ... 

World War II Hand-to-Hand And Knife Combat Training

When I was looking for videos on bayonet training I came across the three videos below on hand-to-hand combat and knife & club fighting:

 VIDEO: "U.S. NAVY WWII ERA TRAINING FILM HAND TO HAND COMBAT PART 1 & PART 2" -- PeriscopeFilm (31 min.)

 

 VIDEO: "US Navy Training Film 'Hand to Hand Combat' (Part 3/3) 1942"
Baltimore Academy of Defence (16 min.)

 VIDEO: " “CLUB AND KNIFE FIGHTING” WWII U.S. MARINE CORPS BASIC TRAINING HAND-TO-HAND FIGHTING FILM" -- PeriscopeFilm (22 min.)

Gun & Prepping News #67

Just some gun and prepping related links that I thought interesting or useful:

• "HB 2763 and How Public Shooting Ranges Quietly Disappear"--The Truth About Guns.  How bureaucrats close down public shooting ranges without public input and a bill in Arizona intended to curb such behavior. You have to understand that there are conspiracies both large and small all throughout society to advance both small and large purposes contrary to the will of public. 
• "UK Launches Project Grayburn To Replace The SA80"--The Firearm Blog. The UK is looking for a new military rifle; or, rather, a rifle system with multiple variants for different missions and purposes. 

While further details of what the British military is seeking with Project Grayburn are yet to be publicly released, many of the major small arms manufacturers including Heckler & Koch, Beretta Defense Technologies, SIG Sauer, and FN Herstal are already positioning themselves to make strong industrial cases alongside submitting their weapons for testing. Weapons we can expect to see submitted to Grayburn include Beretta’s NARP and SAKO’s ARG, Heckler & Koch’s HK416 and HK433, FN’s next generation SCAR and SIG Sauer's MCX Spear as well as likely entries from manufacturers such as Colt Canada, LMT, Knights Armament, Glock and CZ.  

• "Unarmed But Still Dangerous"--Guns Magazine. The author begins by noting that it is a simple fact of life that there are times and places where we are not allowed to go armed or choose to not be armed. In that case, your number one self-defense tactic is to maintain situational awareness:

    Remaining relaxed yet alert about the people, places, and nuances of the things around you is arguably the number one key to a long and relatively quiet life. You can’t become so enthralled with your phone, the basketball game, or the school play in which your offspring is currently singing loudly off-key that you forget to do a periodic quick scan of your surroundings. Live life, enjoy yourself, but remember there is every chance evil is hiding in the faces around you. By staying a tiny bit wary, you’ll be one of the first to notice if the unthinkable happens.

    If so, you have given yourself more choices aside from “wild panic.”     

Your options after that are to run away or what he calls "Plan B": use an improvised weapon. Some ideas:

    There are many schools of thought on the subject, but to keep things simple, my own belief is that you should concentrate on two main types of weapons: impact and stabbing/cutting.

    There are a myriad of possibilities in your surroundings right now. Have you thought about using a full drink bottle or even a laptop computer to club a miscreant into submission? A stout flashlight doesn’t look like a weapon, but trust me, it is quite effective at putting people in a different frame of mind. There is always the old prison standby of putting batteries, rocks, or a handful of bolts in a sock and using it like a blackjack.

• More: "Less Lethal"--Guns Magazine. A look at batons, Tasers, stun guns, CS/CN gasses and pepper sprays.
• "Shotguns: Cleaning Tips for Your Shotgun"--Shooting Illustrated.  Some advice on cleaning plus this:

Although there are many products that are intended to clean, lubricate and protect (CLP is the trademarked name for this, and it is good if you can only choose one), cleaning—meaning degreasing and removing carbon fouling, protecting and lubricating—is best served by individual products specifically designed to perform these different tasks. For removing carbon, lead and degreasing metal parts, a solvent like Hoppe’s No. 9, Gun Scrubber and many others are recommended, but then a lubricant should be applied. For lubricating moving parts, a basic, high-temperature, machine-grade lubricating oil is best. And then, for the final wipe down (level 1 cleaning), a thin, protective, lubricating-but-not-too-sticky product like Ballistol (this German-engineered product can also be used on metal, rubber and leather), Rem Oil or Barricade is suggested. Finally, if your shotgun is used or stored in particularly dusty or freezing environments, a ceramic-based or dry lube product is recommended for all metal parts. (Ballistol’s ceramic GunCer product is great.) Conversely, if your shotgun is kept in humid or salty areas, use a thicker, heavier lubricant for the final wipe down.  

• An interesting piece of gear: "Devil Dog Concepts: Hard Charger. A Side Charging Conversion For AR’s"--The Truth About Guns. This device attaches to the  Picatinny rail on the top of an AR upper receiver and replaces the regular charging handle, giving you a left-side charging handle. Basically, you end up with a long U-shaped charger--one arm being the external charging handle and the other arm replacing the standard AR charging handle. It looks like you can still charge it from the rear should you desire. MSRP is  $97.30 – $102.20 depending on options, which is about what you would pay for good quality ambidextrous charging handle such as those from RISE Arms or a Raptor charging handle. 
• Speaking of gear: "The Importance of a Good Muzzle Device"--The Shooting Wire.  The article is specifically about muzzle devices for the "rifle caliber pistol" (RCP). 

    That name of game, particularly when it comes to semi-auto firearms is “gas control.” When we were using semi-autos with 20-inch barrels, as were standard on the original AR-15s, a simple flash hider/compensator, such as the ubiquitous “birdcage” design worked just fine. The split brake on the front of the XM16E1, despite being decried by troops in the jungle for catching on vines, actually worked very well. Gene Stoner and his team were smart guys.

    However, as the barrels got shorter and the noisy end got closer to the shooter’s face other options were explored. Keep in mind, for a relatively small caliber, the .223/5.56mm has a sharp report. Though a simple AR-15 birdcage flash hider might have worked, even with the short 16 and 14.5 inch barreled M4s, when the length drops down to sub 1 foot barrels, we need something out front to push the gas away from the shooter’s face and to help reduce the flash.     

The author goes on to discuss the XM177E2 Flash Hider, Spike’s Tactical Barking Spider, and Primary Weapons Systems CQB.  I have a Kaw Valley Precision linear compensator on my .300 BLK pistol which I like, but they also make them for other calibers. 

• "SilencerCo Glock 43x Threaded Barrel"--The Truth About Guns.  Short take:

It’s a simple part, so I won’t belabor the point. It’s a barrel, with threads. SilencerCo doesn’t use the same polygonal rifling Glock does, so shooting cast reloads aren’t going to be a problem.  

• ".380 Auto ballistic test, updated"--Range Hot.  Test guns were a Bersa Thunder .380 with a barrel length of 3.54″ and a Diamondback 380 with a barrel length of 2.8″ in order to have results with a couple barrel lengths that would probably be common in most .380 concealed carry pistols. Test were in bare gel and gel with 3 layers of clothing. The good quality defensive ammo all seemed to have good expansion. Penetration was borderline acceptable, generally coming in at the 10 or 11 inch mark, except for Hydrashok which was in excess of 13 inches. As the author notes, the data he collected indicates that with modern defensive ammunition, it is a viable defensive pistol. 
• Related: ".380 Auto pistol vs carbine"--Range Hot. This was a follow up test to the one above, but shooting the ammo through a Hi-Point carbine with a 16.5″ barrel. Velocity was appreciably higher, resulting in a bit more expansion, which made penetration a wash versus those fired from a pistol. But the expansion was truly impressive for most of the loads; nevertheless, there were a few rounds which performed substantially worse out of the carbine. 
• "Hybrid IWB Holsters – No More?"--Tactical Wire.  An excerpt:

    I reached out to a marketing professional who works for a large holster company. He mentioned “a confluence of events that caused the precipitous drop in sales for hybrid IWBs.”

     Among these was the rise in popularity of “appendix” (front of the hip) carry. That calls for synthetics with outboard stabilization devices (“wings” or “claws”). A number of people hide large “double-stack poly pistols adorned with huge (flashlights) and (optics)” in those holsters.

    No less an authority than Caleb Giddings of Taurus recently made a social media post about that very issue. Carrying his personally-owned, slightly modified Taurus TX9 duty-size pistol in a Galco Summer Comfort IWB on the strong side, he said he’d forgotten how comfortable that carry mode was – when he compared it to front-of-the-hip carry.

    My source noted that a number of “influencers” had expressed extreme dislike of hybrid IWB holsters, some alleging they were “dangerous.” If the “shield” of leather behind the upper part of the gun folded over, there was some fear it’d get into the trigger guard. I didn’t test every type of gun against every permutation of hybrid IWB holster – I didn’t have access – but when I tested against what I carried, it wasn’t an issue. 

• And for open carry: "Safariland Retention Holster Options: When Overkill is Just Right"--Breach Bang Clear.  
• "Holosun LS321G IR/Visible Laser and Illuminator"--The Truth About Guns. Something that might interest those of you using night vision gear. 
• "Browning BAR Mk 4 DBM Hunter: Full Review"--Guns & Ammo.  The BAR has long been a solid choice for a semi-auto hunting rifle with a wide selection of caliber choices including some long-action cartridges like the .30-06 or .300 Win Mag, although the particular model tested in this review was .308 and the Browning website only lists .308 as an option. This newest version apparently offers two major changes over earlier models: a barrel that screws into the receiver (it previously had been clamped according to the article) and a 10-round detachable box magazine. 
• "Smith & Wesson 327 TRR8, A Fast Shooting Wheelgun"--The Loadout Room (2024).  This is still listed on the S&W website so I assume it is still available. This is an 8-round .357 Magnum. What makes it truly special, though, is that it comes with Picatinny rail sections that can be screwed on below the muzzle and along the top of pistol. So, if you want a rail (or both) you can attach them; and if you don't, you can take them off. It seems a neat solution and it would instantly make S&W's revolvers more useful if it expanded this option to other models. Nevertheless, if you wanted a revolver for your "nightstand" gun, this looks like it would be a good choice because you could attach a weapon light and/or an optic to it. 
• "Coyote Hunting 101"--NRA Women.  Advice on appropriate rifle calibers, other useful gear, and, most importantly, when and how to hunt the critters. That said, I don't hunt coyotes. Most of the time, at least where I live, they are very wary of people, so if I see them, it is generally at a distance. However, I surprised one years ago when I walked up to the edge of a deep gully filled with tumble weed. I heard rustling down in the weed but couldn't see anything. I raised my rifle to my shoulder and clicked off the safety when suddenly a coyote jumped up on the other side of the gully and we stared at each other for few moments, I debating whether to shoot it and it probably wondering what I was going to do. Then it turned and raced off into the sage brush. When I reported what happened to my father, he was shocked I hadn't shot it and asked why. "Because I'm not a rancher," I replied. 
• "To Oil or not to Oil"--Everyday Commentary.  A discussion of the benefits of oiling micarta knife handles, what oils to use, and how to do it. The author comments:

Micarta is definitely one of my favorite, if not my single favorite, handle materials on a knife.  The process of oiling it makes it smoother and nicer to look at without compromising its grip.  And, I think that truly appreciating your stuff, you have to make it your own.  Oiling the handles is an easy way to do that.  Plus, if you are dude like me, you probably need a bit of moisturizer.  Especially right now in the winter time.   

• For those of you that travel or work overseas, but also good advice for "bug out" bags: "How to Pack a Go Bag"--Harvard Global Support Services.  The article explains that "[a] 'go bag'” is an easy-to-carry bag that holds everything you need if you have to leave in a hurry or in an emergency. Think of it like a small backpack or duffle bag with your essentials." And, when packing such bag:

Strike a balance between being well prepared and having a go bag that’s easy to maintain and carry. Exactly what you pack depends on you and your location (e.g., weather; cash-based economy; availability of food, water, and medicine).

It then has what appears to be a fairly complete checklist of items. 

• "DO IT YOURSELF !! Building a 3500-Watt Portable Battery Bank Solar Power Unit."--Jack Lawson.  
• "Prepping spring garden beds quickly and easily for planting"--Creative Vegetable Gardener. The author's first recommendation is to set up a permanent garden design if you haven't done so and install a no-till garden:

     I don’t recommend tilling because it can create more weeds by bringing seeds to the surface. The soil structure in your garden is also a complex web of bacteria and fungi that serves your plants better if it stays intact. And, wrestling with a tiller can be a lot of work.

    I’m all for simple and easy in my garden. That’s why I always install permanent beds and paths in my gardens.

[snip]

    Establishing permanent beds often means building wooden raised beds, but there are plenty of other options. What matters most is that you’re garden beds and paths are staying in the same place for many years in a row so you’re not changing the layout over and over every season.

 Also:

One of the best ways to cut down on the time it takes to prepare your spring garden for planting is to keep it weed-free. And the best way to keep those weeds at bay to make sure your garden beds and paths are mulched all year round. 

•  "A Fresh Start: Easy Ways To Prepare Your Garden for Spring"--Lucerne Farms. An excerpt:

The simplest method to prepare gardens for spring is to get rid of old growths and unwanted materials. Start by clearing away the remnants of winter. Remove fallen leaves, debris, and any dead plant material that may have accumulated. This not only improves the aesthetic appeal of your garden but also helps prevent the harboring of pests and diseases.

•  "Growing potatoes organically: when and how to plant, hill and harvest"--A Way To Garden. Probably time to order the seed potatoes. An excerpt:

Q. When is the right time to plant—is there a cue in nature to remind us, or a soil temperature or calendar date we’re looking for?

A. At the earliest, I recommend planting two to three weeks before your average last frost date. Seed potatoes can rot if planted too early in cold water-logged soil.  If your potatoes do get a heavy frost after they emerge, they will put up new shoots, but every time they die back they will produce a smaller and later harvest.

I like to wait for the soil to warm up a little at which point they emerge quickly and grow steadily without stress.  Late March to early May is a good time to plant potatoes in the northern states.  In the warmer areas of the South they can be planted in late fall or early winter.

Where I farm the local point of reference is to plant your potatoes when the snow is almost melted off the mountain.  Whether it’s the first dandelions blooming or a particular bug emerging; if you talk to gardeners where you live they will probably have a local reference, too. 

• "Government's secret plans for apocalyptic events included total takeover or shut down of citizens' communication networks."  Although I haven't read the specifics of the laws or orders that are referenced in this article, I've read plenty of material dealing with government continuity plans. The ostensible purpose of such laws/orders will be to ensure that the government has access to sufficient communication resources following a nuclear attack or nationwide disaster necessary for waging a war or coordinating rescue or assistance. But continuity of government really is more about continuing the government and maintaining its power and authority than it is about saving civilians, and I expect such authority over communications would also be used to prevent the spread of unauthorized or disfavored news or information. 

Shooting From, Into, And Around Vehicles

My father had a videotape titled "Bullets And Their Affects" [sic]. This was a copy that my dad had made or gotten from somewhere, so I didn't have the original packaging or anything so I'm not sure who made it or when it was made, other than I would guess it was probably right around 1980 based on the clothes and hair styles. 

    A sizable portion of the video was testing the penetration of various calibers and styles of bullets against vehicles. This is not a subject the serious armed defender should dismiss. As many authors that have written about shooting in, from, or around cars have noted, we spend a substantial amount of the lives outside our homes and workplaces in or around vehicles. So, even if we are not going to be shooting our AR through the windshield to stop a fleeing vehicle as one famous video showed a state trooper doing, there is actually a good chance that if we are involved in an armed confrontation it may find us either in our vehicle or around vehicles (e.g., a parking lot).  
 
    The cars used in the videotape were a couple of the large, heavily built American made sedans typical of the 1970s. The producer of the video would set up cardboard silhouette targets just inside a door and then tried out various pistol calibers of different types (standard FMJ or round-nose lead, hollow-point--generally Super-Vel but sometimes others--and a smattering of specialized rounds like so-called "armor piercing" rounds or Glazer safety-rounds). Surprisingly (or maybe not considering how heavily built the cars of that time were), most handgun rounds would not penetrate the doors at all, and with some the penetration was so minimal--perhaps a bit of jacket--that it would have inflicted no real wound. You essentially needed something like .357 Magnum or .44 Magnum. Buckshot was also incapable of penetrating the doors on those old cars, but a standard rifled slug easily punched through one door and then exited through the other. Rifle calibers--even the .223--would do the same unless they hit something with particularly thick layers of steel like a pillar or other part of the frame.  
 
    I would note that even if individual pistol bullets did not penetrate a car door, when he tested some submachine guns, they were quite capable of chewing through the door even if the particular round had performed poorly in the earlier tests. 
 
    If he had made the video ten years later and used Honda or Toyota vehicles with the aluminum side-panels, the results would have been different with probably most anything going through the doors. But with automobile safety more paramount than gas-mileage, auto makers have abandoned the aluminum and gone back to steel bodies. I don't think that the sheet metal used in modern cars is as thick as on those older cars, but there is probably more stuff in the doors--electric motors to run the windows and additional interior bracing--such that I'm not sure how modern car doors would stand up when compared to the 1970's behemoths. 

    My point here is that vehicles are not monolithic objects providing uniform cover and concealment, but it can vary depending on the part of the car and even as to the make and model year of the vehicle. One author writing about this subject suggested:

The 17-year-old Honda Civic parked in my driveway (laugh it up, jerks, it still runs like a top after 250,000 miles) is probably not a great choice for stopping any type of projectile, be it a bullet or an errant corn dog. A semi built like a tank, on the other hand, will shrug off everything from firearms to a herd of cattle. ...

This is hyperbole, of course: the sheet steel used for the semi-tractor is probably no thicker than that used on the 1998 Civic, so the semi won't be shrugging off bullets and the Civic won't be destroyed by a corn dog. But the engine of the semi is much (much!) larger than that of the Civic, and the frame will be much heavier; so, in that sense, the semi will provide a much larger area of cover ("hard cover" for my European and Australian readers) than the Civic. But as a very good article from Redbeard Tactical explains:

... Vehicles are composed out of cover and concealment. The parts that can cover you are either to small to really fire from them without forcing you into some weird shooting stance or just prevent any [kind] of movement. Therefore we shouldn[']t talk about what vehicles “count as”. We should talk about the fact that concealment is better than nothing and that fire and maneuver always wins. Use the vehicle as concealment and shoot from it in either standing, kneeling or prone, get your head down while manipulating your rifle or communicating, move from one side of the vehicle to the other so you are a small target popping up at long distances just to fire at the enemy and dissapearing [sic] after that. Of course the vehicle will get pounded with bullets, but that[']s why you always employ fire and movement. 

The article covers quite a bit about fighting from inside or around vehicles beyond just the cover ("hard cover") versus concealment ("soft cover") issue, including shooting out of a vehicle, vehicle tactics (e.g., how to respond to an ambush), and some equipment considerations. Some other thoughts from the author on shooting from the vehicle:

When mounted you will have to fire out of the vehicle in most stages except defensive close range situations. Those that are able to fire will fire. Those that arent will disembark. Now there is a lot of talk on bullet deflection shifting your hits. Yes there is bullet deflection, but what is your first reaction when getting ambushed from the front? Opening the door, leaning out of the car and getting the perfect shooting position? I dont think so. You will either return a volley of fire through the window or just dive and disembark. Also a good volley of bullets, fired right after contact at longer ranges will propably suppress your enemy and absolutely punch a hole into the window that allows for precise shots. So your mounted shooting shouldnt be focused on range ballistics, you are simply losing time bylistening to some semi-autistic breakdown. “Your first shots will propably not hit, so suppress and shoot through the hole you just created” will do more for you than an one hour refferate on ballistics. Opening the door and firing through the gap? May work in some situations, I rather move or even drop out fast and move behind the vehicle, even shooting from prone supported is at the side of the vehicle is an better option as the enemy will propably concentrate fire on the car.

Rich Nable, in his article "Shooting From Vehicles: Basic Techniques" at Personal Defense Network, also provides a good introduction from shooting from inside a vehicle in response to a threat outside the vehicle. 

    While we mostly think of shooting from a vehicle in response to an attack or some kind, what about under other circumstances? Although I can't vouch for the writer's experience, this comment seems to offer some sound tips on the subject: 

    The difficulty isn’t shooting, it’s hitting the target.

    Here’s the thing, the point of shooting from a vehicle is that the vehicle moves in ways that cause the targets to become exposed. A shooter in a vehicle can rapidly threaten to obviate the cover of a potential target, forcing the target to try and dash to a different position or stay in a compromised or exposed one. The more often this happens, the more chances for a good shot at the target while it is out of cover.

    Dashing from cover to cover uses movement to lower the chances of getting hit, but if the shooter is already moving, the movement of the target is relatively less significant a factor.

    What this means is that, while you’ll have significantly more difficulty taking aimed shots at long ranges from a moving vehicle, you’ll get a lot more ‘easy’ shots at closer ranges.

This comment, of course, is more for combat applications and doesn't address the question of whether you should shoot from a moving vehicle. In his article "Tactical considerations for shooting while driving," at Police One, Mike Wood discusses some of the downsides and potential problems to shooting from a moving vehicle. While his article is intended for police officers, his points apply to anyone who, for some reason, may be attempting to stop a fleeing vehicle. Risks he addresses include losing control of the vehicle or unintentionally striking someone because you don't have full control of the vehicle, the possibility of injuring someone from stray rounds or ricochets, or injury or death that could result if the suspect loses control of his/her vehicle. He also addresses tactical considerations that might militate against shooting from your moving vehicle.

    There are quite a number of articles out there on shooting around, from, into, or at vehicles. A selection:

• "Self Defense with a Firearm Inside Your Car" by Sara Ahrens at Range365.  This article provides a good overview of the whole topic including ways to avoid having to use your firearm, methods of carrying your concealed carry weapon, and using the vehicle for cover and concealment, with a few videos included to better flesh out some of the topics.
• "Tactical Shooting: Firing From a Vehicle." This Guns & Ammo video is hosted by Kyle Lamb and Richard Nance. This video demonstrates some techniques for shooting a carbine from inside a vehicle at a contact to one side (the passenger side in the video) and then shooting from outside the vehicle while using the vehicle as cover or concealment.
• If you prefer reading to watching, Kyle Lamb's article "Rifle Tips for Fighting Around a Car" at Firearm News covers the same ground.
• "The Truth About Shooting a Short Barreled Rifle From Inside A Vehicle?" This video from Mike Seeklander is also about using a carbine from inside a vehicle and adds quite a bit information to the prior article and video.
• Another video on using carbines around a vehicle: "How to Survive a Gunfight in a Car" (Part 1) (Part 2)--Tactical Rifleman.
• Another video from Tactical Rifleman: "Combat Shooting around Vehicle | Cover points & Shooting Techniques | Tactical Rifleman." 
• "Shield From Shooters: Using Cars As Cover" from American Outdoor Guide discusses using a vehicle as cover and is illustrated with a few videos, including a couple from Paul Harrell on the subject. 
• "Using A Vehicle For Cover In A Gunfight." This article from The Armory Life delves a little deeper into the topic.
• "Self-Defense Behind the Wheel of Your Car" by W.H. "Chip" Gross, NRA Family. Although the title suggests it is an overview of the subject, it actually focuses on shooting through glass and the deflection you can expect shooting through the windshield.
• "Shooting at Moving Vehicles." The narrator of this video discusses when a police officer might want to take a shot or refrain from taking a shot at a moving vehicle.
• "15-14 - Shooting at Vehicle Tires." This is a guidance from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department which outlines why shooting at the tires of a suspect's vehicle is generally a bad idea and probably won't stop the vehicle.
• "Mythbusting: Shooting A Tire." However, if you do decide to shoot out a tire, this article reports the results of tests using 9mm, .223, and 00 Buckshot on tires. All three will effectively deflate a passenger car tire with a shot through the tread. However, when shooting through the sidewall, the 9 mm took much longer to deflate the tire than the other two options.
• Finally, a few articles on carrying or keeping firearms inside your vehicle:
• "Handbook: Carrying a Firearm in your Vehicle"--Shooting Illustrated.
• "Driving With Guns: How To"--NRA Family.
• "Storing Firearms In Your Vehicle Responsibly"--NSSF.  An overview of a few lockbox options.