Here’s A Target Rich Environment!

by Todd Walker

As most of you know, I don’t advertise on my site. Not in the traditional sense. I do promote products that I find useful and of high quality from time to time. This is one of those times.

First, I have no financial interest in any product I promote here. The Target Source is no different. I’ve mentioned Clark Ellard’s targets before here. He makes his targets at his home in his shop from AR500 steel. I’ve shot other “walking” targets before that were cheaply made. That shooting experience made me want to go back to shooting tin cans off a log.

Clark’s targets are made here in the U.S.A. with the best materials. I’ve gotten to know him over the past few months and can attest to his character, business practices, and customer satisfaction. He’s an avid supporter of our 2nd Amendment. His background in construction allows him to customize targets, shooting houses, gun storage safes for vehicles and homes, and even safe rooms if you’re in the market for one.

With the squeeze placed on family budgets these days, you might be thinking shooting targets are down on my wish list of preparedness items. Every family should prioritize when prepping. You know the three areas experts parade out: Beans, bullets, and band aids. Great advice. But what are those bullets for? They’re a tool, like your gun, of self-defense, survival, and … family fun!

Looking at the crazy spike in ammo and gun sales since Barack Hussein’s re-election, coupled with the Newtown shooting hysteria, millions of Americans who have squeezed a trigger ran out and bought guns and ammo. Smart move. Now it’s time to train with your new tool.

No amount of watching the “Die Hard” movies will make you a proficient shootist. Like any other skill, you must practice the fundamentals. One of the best ways is to make range time a family event. If you are a gun ‘newbie’, get the proper training for yourself. Then introduce your kids to this right of passage. Watching Clark’s young son plinking a target with his lever-action .22, quite accurately, made me smile and reminisce.

I was fortunate, like so many others growing up last century (makes me sound old), to have parents that taught me how to shoot. Back then, my daddy would haul a load of trash up the dirt road to the dump. Sounds like the story line from Alan Jackson’s song “Drive.” I’d always tag along. He’d let me drive his old truck with a three-on-the-tree, too. He backed the truck up to the pit, we got out, I loaded the shotgun, and the fun began. Daddy would throw bottles into the sky for me to shoot. That’s where I learned wing shooting. Thanks for the memories, Daddy!

Drive (For Daddy Gene) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I don’t recommend that practice today. If you don’t have a trash dump to shoot bottles and cans, I’d recommend these quality steel targets.

They’re so much more fun than shooting holes in paper. With ever hit, there’s immediate feedback. The target ‘pings’ and moves. You know you hit your mark. No need to grab optics to confirm your accuracy. They’re a great way to keep new shooters on the range, and adds variety for experienced marksmen. For less than the price of dinning out with your family, you can purchase one of the plinkster targets. You won’t be unhappy. Plus, the little ones will thank you for introducing them to my favorite past-time.

You can click on the logo at the top of this page and you’ll be directed to Clark’s new website – The Target Source. His site is new and will be adding a price list soon. Until then, you can contact him via phone on his website.

If you’re not totally satisfied with his targets (or any product he builds), he’ll make it right. If you decide to buy from Clark, tell him I sent you. I’d love to hear your feedback.

Happy shooting!

Follow me on Twitter for the latest on our journey to self-reliance, preparedness, and resilient living: @SurvivalSherpa

Related articles

• Quality USA Made Steel Target Review and Video (survivalsherpa.wordpress.com)
• DHS trains with ‘No Hesitation Targets’ (americanclarion.com)

7 Surprising Reasons Why Americans Aren’t Prepared for What’s Coming

by Todd Walker

I’ve never suffered a gunshot wound.

I had a friend who was ventilated by some grudge-holding thug. Apparently, this idiot wanted to get even for a business deal that went south. He chased my friend through the bays of his car wash shooting at him with a .22 revolver. Fortunately, only his love handles got pierced.  After recovering, my buddy began making a plan to never get caught defenseless again.

Tobacco Smoke Enema – Nice!

What follows may be painful for some. It may hurt as much as the old tobacco smoke enema. The only difference is that I’m NOT blowing smoke up yours.

Why do so many Americans refuse to prepare for worst case situations?

Or better yet, why do they not even prep for potential everyday emergencies? You’ve seen them pass you on their donut tire at 67 miles per hour heading to the 7-11 to get their winning lotto ticket. I’m sure with all their winnings they’ll be able to prepare, right?

Being prepared doesn’t take huge financial windfalls. So why do so many people think it’s a stupid idea to be prepared? Here’s my list.

A) Peer Pressure. Remember school days? Who wants to be standing outside looking in on the popular group? We all want to feel important and part of a group. We’re social animals. The group we associate with can determine our future.

My daddy always told me, “If you lay down with dogs, you’ll get up with fleas.” If you hang out with prepared individuals, you’re likely to become more prepared. As prepping goes more mainstream, many in the media portray preppers as crazy, racist, isolationist, anti-everything survivalist. None of us want that label. There’s always a few fringe types in any group that make media salivary glands wet. The new growth to the prepper movement is fueled by “normal” people like soccer moms, taxpaying business owners, and law-abiding folk.

B) Government Schools. My day job is to teach at a local school government indoctrination center. My advice to any preparedness minded parent of school aged children: AVOID GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS NO MATTER THE COST! Government schools manage ignorance for profit. Read more here.

Preparedness and survival requires self-reliance and the ability to think for yourself. The State forces kids to spend their most formative 12 years (16+ including college) learning how not to learn, but conform. Finding learning in government schools is as hard as finding a corner in a round room. A quarter of their lives circle the toilet bowl taking the path of least resistance to the collective’s sewage plant to be recycled and made “safe” and useful tax-payers.

Parent choices greatly increase or decrease their kid’s survivability. So what’s the solution for educating prepared individuals? Homeschooling may seem impossible. Both parents have to work to keep the family feed, clothed and sheltered. It comes down to our priorities. What “important” stuff can we kick to the curb to rescue our kids from government gulags and offer them a real education? I can’t answer that for you. Humans are individuals with unique situations. One size does not fit all. Homeschool, unschool, anything but government school.

C) Dependence. We’ve abandoned our roots. Due to reason # (B), our history is intentionally distorted. I often ask kids to tell me about historical figures and events like Abraham Lincoln, the War of Northern Aggression, or more recently – the Federal Reserve. As to Lincoln and the unCivil War, kids today are taught that Lincoln invaded the south to free the slaves. While I abhor the concept of someone owning another person, I know that Lincoln didn’t care about slaves being freed. Follow the money.

When my ancestors stepped off a boat in 1735, there was no free lunch or welcome basket full of government goodies. dependence on their own ability, family, and immediate like-minded friends started my family journey in America. Their self-reliant skills didn’t insulate them from set-backs and calamities. The find-a-way-to-get-the-job-done attitude is what helped me and my family survive to this point. Thankfully, I’m part of the remnant of self-reliance left in our country. When their Katrina-style disasters hit, communities rebuilt without the help of FEMA. This spirit of pioneering one’s own life has been traded for dependence. Even after natural and man-made disasters, I’m amazed at the false hope Americans place in our government’s ability to sweep in for the rescue. It’s a stupid idea most Americans hold.

D) MBM (Morally Bankrupt Morons). ”All I need is guns and ammo to survive. When the SHTF, I’ll just take what I need.” I’ve read this statement, or similar sentiments on many preparedness/survival forums. I want to think they were just trolls. But I know there are lazy, corrupt individuals that will resort to this style of survival – for a while. Do they think that the very people they plan to plunder are not able and ready to defend their personal property?

I saw an episode of Doomsday Preppers where one in their group stated that they don’t buy weapons and ammo. Their plan, when the armed  horde of hungry looters show up, is to show them all their food and offer more if they leave them unharmed. Maybe some MBM’s will live to loot another day. I wouldn’t place my hopes of survival in this strategy. Your mileage may very.

Some people have an aversion, even a fear of tools called guns. In the wake of Sandy Hook, I’m encouraged by the bare ammo shelves and empty gun stores. It gives me hope that people are listening to their “gut” and making preparations for their future. Defending their life, liberty, and property against enemies, foreign and domestic, seems to be catching on. Why shouldn’t it? It’s our natural right.

I’ll put real simple here. I don’t care who, whether pastor, clergyman, senator, family member, or Santa Clause tells you guns are evil and you don’t need them, put as much distance between them and you as possible. Part ways. Period.

Back to the MBM. These individuals embody the entitlement mentality and our moral backsliding in this country. Hunger is a strong motivator for stupid stuff. I’ve never been shot, and I’ve never shot anyone else. I pray to Papa that I never have to face the choice of kill or be killed. If that time comes, and I’m afraid it will, we each have to wrestle before hand with our resolve to protect our life, liberty, and happiness.

Read the signs and heed legitimate warnings. Don’t live in fear. Prepare accordingly my friends. Avoid being low hanging fruit.

E) Nationalism. Arrogance leads to a fall. It could never happen here. This is America! We’re the envy of the world. I’m convinced that this is the thinking of the mentally ill – or the historically illiterate. I hear the disdain coming from ‘educated’ folk all the time. I think they suffer from altitude sickness in their ivory towers. Totalitarianism happens one step at a time. As long as we are allowed to wake up in our homes, drink our coffee, go to work, watch our TV programs, rinse and repeat, tyranny becomes routine. Vigilance dies. It’s frog-boiling 101. Gradually heat the pot of water and the frogs don’t jump out.

I love my country. I love my freedom more. Humility and honesty seem to be lost traits. I hope that there are enough people waking up to help rebuild our crumbling republic. .

F) Mental Enslavement. With enough time, falling water can cut through rock. Is what we call ‘freedom’ really freedom? Many in the patriot movement call themselves “freedom lovers” yet accept tyranny as normal. We’ve all heard the battle cry of patriot-lite types. You’ll have to pry my guns from my cold dead fingers! No worries. The State will gladly oblige. Yet, the water fall of tyranny continues to eroded our liberties. It’s like watching a catastrophic train wreck in slow motion.

“Necessity is the excuse for every infringement of human freedom.” – William Pitt

We have as much freedom and liberty as the State allows. To realize and enjoy our natural rights, we must free our minds. Stop listening to talking heads. Free your mind. Don’t be deceived. The smoke screen isn’t just coming from the liberal media types. I use to listen to conservative talk radio religiously. I can’t stomach the party line talk anymore. Some pundits distinguish themselves as conservative, not republican. Liberal vs. conservative, Democrat vs. Republican. They are just different sides of the same liberty-destroying coin. Flip the coin to choose your master.

Ancient Chinese proverb: “The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names.”

G) Stifled Self-government. Critical thinking is dead (See # F). Passivity is encouraged, even demanded. Habits form us. We prefer  our guardians of darkness. It hides our secret need for fake security. We are addicted to our velvet chains. The principles of non-aggression and self-ownership have been systematically eradicated. Most Americans favor State coercion over individualism and self-reliance. Voluntary relationships between free individuals is no longer viewed as common sense. Our State monopoly on schooling crusades for government dependence and even sites individualism as a mental disorder.

Rejecting government dogma invites the use of ‘legal’ force, or the threat of force, to reform rebellious subjects of the State’s idea of being a good citizen. We have to get over ourselves and our dependency on government ‘safety’ nets. That is, if we want to be self-reliant. Breaking the addiction sometimes comes step-by-step. Sometimes it’s cold turkey that works. We’re all different. Do what works for you.

Don’t wait. Take one step towards building preparedness and resilience each day. What physical, mental, spiritual, emotional steps did you make today?

Don’t beat yourself up if any of these 7 reasons apply to you. It’s hard not to relate to some of these reasons. But who wants to be the person walking out of the restaurant bathroom with a strip of toilet paper stuck to their heel? How embarrassing.

So much is riding on you – your family, community, and even what’s left of our country.

Free you mind!

Follow me on Twitter for the latest on our journey to self-reliance, preparedness, and resilient living: @SurvivalSherpa

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Quality USA Made Steel Target Review and Video

I met Clark Ellard just before Christmas this year to buy a present for Dirt Road Girl. The transaction went very smoothly and I knew I’d made a new friend.

Plinksters on the table top with Silhouettes on the bench

In our first meeting, we talked about preparedness, self-reliance, guns, shooting, hunting, welding, and targets. Clark makes his living building vaults and safe rooms. If your interested in hardening your home or retreat, he’s your man. His main business is Safe At Home USA.

The reason for this post is his side business – The Target Source. As you can see, I don’t do any advertising on my site. I’m not against advertising. Who knows, I may use ads in the future here. But for now, I only promote products on my blog that I’ve personally found useful, well made, and of high quality. His targets being one of them.

I bought three targets from him – Plinkster 22, Plinkster 9, and Plinkster Rifle. He hand delivered them one day after school. What service! He offers free shipping anywhere in the US on orders over $250 – other wise he charges the exact cost of shipping. Get a few buddies together and make a bulk order. He doesn’t have a website for his target business yet. I’m meeting him for lunch today. I’ve offered to set up a site for him free of charge. That’s how much I like his targets and his mission.

Here’s why.

Ping, ping, ping…Instant feedback

Which would you prefer? It’s like being asked at the grocery store – “Paper or plastic?” When it comes to lead striking paper, there’s no auditory reward…just a hole in the target. When your bullet hits the Plinkster, the distinctive ping becomes music to the ear.

Make ‘em walk

Then there’s the automatic reset on the Plinksters. Every time your son or daughter hit their mark, the target ‘walks’ (flips) giving you a fresh round steel target…as fast as you can shoot and strike the target. I found it to be a great aid in target acquisition yesterday with my Ruger 10-22. If only I’d had these growing up. Lot’s of tin cans and glass bottles would have been spared.

With every hit, the target moves a little further down the range – requiring more accuracy.

Just plain fun

I shot the Plinkster 22 yesterday with my 80 year old buddy on his property. After taking the target for a ‘walk’, I offered to let him shoot. He walks with a cane now and declined. However, that didn’t stop him from having fun just watching the target flip and ping. He loved the whole concept, target design, and shooting experience.

For anyone, beginner or marksman, looking for a fun way to improve their shooting skills, I highly recommend The Target Source. Take a look at the video below. I think you’ll be convinced.

Clark has hit the bull’s-eye with his targets!

Pricing information: I’ve compared prices and Clark has the best pricing on steel targets I’ve found.

AR500 Steel Targets Made Right HERE in the USA! We have QUALITY US made AR500 steel targets in Our famous Plinksters in Rimfire, Handgun 9-40 and Handgun 45 and Rifle(up to 30-06). Also Full and 1/2 IPSC in 3/8 AR500. Quality portable stand brackets too! Coming real soon “Glock the Plates” plate rack. We will custom build any target or target system you need or require. DEALER INQUIRIES WELCOME.

Plinkster Rimfire $22.00
Handgun 9 $37.00
Handgun 45 $39.00
Rifle(up to ’06) $47.00
1/2 IPSC $75.00
Full IPSC $150.00
Stand Brackets $15.00/set
Full IPSC with Hostage taker Head Target. One for hand gun and one for rifle. Stand included(breaks down with out tools) $379

The Target Source

Quality USA Made AR 500 Targets

You can contact Clark at:

Phone: 770-680-8950

If you decide to buy from Clark, tell him I sent you. I’d love to hear your feedback.

What Constitutes a Weapon? – by a 15 Year Old Author

I received an email from Carl Watner who produces The Voluntaryrist newsletter. He has graciously agreed to allow me to reprint an article his 15-year-old son wrote ten years ago – way before our latest “lone gunman” shooting in Newtown. I’m not sure, but from the looks of his son’s writing ability, I’d bet he skipped out on the compulsory educational system know as public schooling.

Samson’s wild weapon of choice

You can view more of The Voluntarist and subscribe if you wish via mail at: Carl Watner, Box 275, Gramlnig SC 29348 or email at: voluntaryist@windstream.net

What Constitutes a Weapon?

By William Watner

What is a weapon? Does it have to be big? Sharp? Powerful? Does it have to be something you can grab? Something others can destroy? What is a weapon? A weapon can be grasped, but it also can bet ungraspable. Weapons are very useful when not used as weapons. A weapon is a tool. A sheath knife can be a very effective weapon in the hands of a trained user, and can also be used to clean deer. Almost all weapons have a double ‘existence’, guns particularly. Major Smith and the rest of the crew have been saying: your best survival tool is the one between your ears. I would like to add to that. Your best weapon is the one between your ears.

A weapon generally has the capability to destroy in some way. Therefore a baseball bat can be classified as a weapon. A golf club could be just as lethal. For that matter a cast iron tea kettle would be extremely effective at close range.

The Netherlands is a good example of where the seed of weapon confiscation has bloomed and blossomed, and where it ultimately leads. The Government of the Netherlands is asking for the voluntary turn-in of weapons (those that turn in guns don’t face risk of prosecution). This includes baseball bats, CO2 pistols, and alarm pistols (from the journal of the NRA, THE AMERICAN RIFLEMAN, Feb. 2001, p. 73). Where will they stop? Where can they stop? They really can’t coercively confiscate all sport items, or can they?

One of the most interesting weapons, and effective at the right time, is non-violent resistance. It is a weapon, but not a violent one. It takes more guts to stand firm than to fall back on your animal instinct to fight. It means not cooperating with what you think is wrong or evil. Which brings to mind another weapon, a very valuable weapon, one which can’t be taken away without your consent:

It is your spirit; the flame that burns within each and every one of us. This, along with your brain, constitutes the two weapons that nobody, even if they have complete power over your physical body, can steal or put out. “But can’t they kill me?”, you say. Yes, they can. But all that does is entomb your spirit in history and eternity forever. When you are dead, your spirit is even further beyond their grasp than before. Look at Jesus as an example for a spirit never caught, a flame that will never be stamped out.

As Jungle Jim said recently, there are entities in the world that are trying to dumb down our spirits and our brains. ‘They’ are trying to make our flames burn low. Instead of trying to draw up the lowest flame to the highest (which can only be done voluntarily, not coercively), ‘they’ try to beat the highest ones down to the lowest. They’ are trying to make our brains follow them, the State, unquestioningly,
and not even to think about morals or right or wrong.

So what does make a weapon? To make it short and sweet, I would say it is anything that can be used in any way against your enemy.

As the last word, my advice is: Use your body—your spirit–your brain—and whatever tools you have, to your best advantage, whatever your situation.
[This article originally appeared in THE HOMESTEADER
(No. 10, Spring 2002), published quarterly
by Major Michael Smith.]

The following boxed quote was included with William’s article:

The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the minds of the oppressed.

—Steven Biko, South African Activist

Guns In Schools: A Teachers Response

Evil abounds.

I’m at a loss. I have no way of expressing my deep feelings of sympathy, regret, and anger over yesterday’s events. To the moms, dads, brothers, sisters and families, all I can do is pray for some kind of comfort. I have no idea how you will get through this wasting of life.

As the radio squawked the news, my first thoughts were on my 5-year old grandson. Then to my sister who teaches kindergarten.

Anger abounds.

A system wide email put us on “soft lock down” yesterday in the wake of unfathomable evil committed in Sandy Hook. I heard the horrible news on the radio returning from an errand at our the county board office. I was in my room during planning when a fellow teacher friend stopped by to talk.

“Who does something like this? I mean he killed little babies in a classroom!” he said.

He then asked me if stun guns were legal to carry in school. He wanted some kind of protection if a maniac decides to visit ours. I showed him my plans, my tools, my teacher’s toolbox. Showing him my new addition to my toolbox, wasp spray with a 22 feet spraying distance, I advised him to go buy a can and keep it in his desk. It’s not much, but it beats cowering under a desk.

Another teacher and I talked in the hall. He thinks that school construction will have to change. They’ll have to start building schools like prisons he said. Everyone enters into a holding room to be checked out before they’re allowed to join the schooled population. Bad idea. Our schools are too similar to prisons now.

Next, I asked my friend why there were no mass shootings at police precincts in this country. Simple. They all carry have guns. They don’t work in Victim Zones like we do. We’re defenseless ducks waiting on a load of lead. My school has one very out-of-shape resource officer with a sidearm on his duty belt to “protect” 850 possible victims. As you can imagine, the odds of him being in the right place, at the right time to stop a shooting spree is very unlikely.

First step in my solution?

Arm the teachers like Israel and South Africa. Word would spread. Thugs and scum choose their killing fields based on the avenue of least resistance. Dirt Road Girl and I named several fellow teachers that would jump at the chance to go through any training, initial and on going, to be able to carry real tools of self-defense in our “victim zones.”

Gun-grabbers like Michael Moore and Piers Morgan, with the aid of our MSM dancing through the blood of innocents, will tar and feather me for suggesting my solution. So guns would be in classrooms? Won’t that endanger the children? This morning there are devastated, grief-stricken families that would have loved for their child’s teacher to have been trained and armed yesterday. Maybe the brightly wrapped Christmas presents under their trees could have been opened.

The collective has done a superb job at brainwashing the schooled children and parents in our society. Our state public policy for Weapons Free Zones invites violence. They say they’re concerned about the children’s safety to get re-elected. The system is rigged. The weak and defenseless are easily exploited by the strong. The tragedy in Connecticut sums up the death and destruction visited upon fellow humans by an institution whose objective is to plunder, steal, and kill. Don’t tell me Weapons Free Zones for the children’s safety!

If a handful of trained teachers been allowed to carry guns in the building, the senseless killings could have been prevented, or at least minimized. As a teacher, my natural right to self-defense can only be exercised with wasp spray and a jawbone of an ass.

Still doing the stuff,

Todd

 

Home Preparedness Guidelines

Source: Sensible Survival

Before you start on a program of home preparedness there are several questions that you need to ask yourself:

(1) What am I preparing for?

This list could include short-term power outage, seasonal weather like tornadoes or hurricanes, earthquake, unemployment, interruption to the economic system, collapse of the economic system, break-down of the social order, insurrections or riots, nuclear or biological war, electro-magnetic pulse attack, asteroid collision, and who knows what.

(2) Am I currently living in a survivable and defensible location?

Are you in a big city? (not good)  Do you live in a small town? (better)  Do you live in a rural community? (better still)  Do you live on a farm at least two hours from a major metropolitan area? (very good)  Are you well established on your farm with a good support group of like-minded neighbors? (best)

(3) What kind of financial resources do I have to devote to preparedness?

Preparedness is an investment, just like a bank account or stocks and bonds.  Some people live paycheck to paycheck and don’t have funds for investment.  Don’t let this stop you from preparing to the extent that you can.  Some people have money to invest, but they spend it on things that they want in the here and now.  Not a good approach to home preparedness or to life in general.  If this is you, you’re probably not reading this anyway.  Some people invest in bank accounts, stocks, bonds, 401K’s, life insurance, health insurance, long-term disability insurance, etc.  A person with this kind of money to invest can easily redirect part of their investment to home preparedness.  The amount would depend entirely on what level of commitment the individual wants to make, but I wouldn’t cash in my 401K or cancel my life insurance for the sake of preparedness.  Keep things in perspective.  You’re a lot more likely to retire than you are to get hit by an asteroid.  I hope.

So how should you go about preparing?

Read the rest here

Photo  credit: http://wallpapers.pixxp.com/

My MacGyvered Teacher Toolbox for Self-Defense

I’m a sitting duck. I work in a Weapons Free Zone – (A.K.A.) Victim Zone – with 850 potential victims.

We hate to entertain the thought – especially during the holiday season – of a crazed, heavily armed student strolling into school and spraying lead like he’s playing a video game. But it has happened – and could happen again. How likely would a massacre happen at your child’s school? Don’t know. One set on killing will simply stroll through the front door with the “No Weapons” sign posted. I’d call this fear mongering if school shootings had never occurred.

Bringing pencils and paper to a gun fight

I am not allowed to carry my normal tools of self-defense to my government school since I don’t wear a funny hat and uniform. That leaves me vulnerable. So, to minimize my sitting-duck-ness, I employ what’s legally available.

In any trade, craftsmen need the proper tools to get the job done right. My teacher tool box doesn’t contain bulletin board trim, red pens, pencils, or gold stars. My red toolbox is full of real hand tools.

I’m the resident school handyman. Teachers and administrators ask me to fix stuff from shelving to hanging white erase boards. Well, that requires tools. Think redundancy here. The small toolbox pictured above serves two purposes:

• The intended purpose – fix stuff
• Alternative purpose – tools of defense if necessary

Here’s a run down of my alternative tools of defense I’d employ only if escape and evasion is not possible with an active shooter inside the building. NOTE: This is my plan. Your mileage may vary. I’m not advocating that others (adult or student) use my plan. Until the Powers That Be issue me a permission slip (I’m not holding my breath on this one) to carry real tools of self-defense to my job, I’ll have to improvise. I mean, what makes the funny-hat-crowd more ‘qualified’ to carry guns into schools? That’s a topic for later discussion.

1.) Annihilator Ultimate Wrecking Bar

I bought this one just for my teacher toolbox. I’ve used to open a stuck locker before. It even has a bottle opener. It would make an improvised throwing axe if a target was in range. Closer, and with an element of surprise, it offers skull/bone demolition.

2.) Jawbone of an ass. Samson, of Bible fame, used a jawbone to put the smack-down on 1,000 Philistines. I’m not sure which animal donated this one. A fellow teacher brought it to me from a pasture. From an ass or not, it’s a menacing weapon in my Science class.

Samson’s wild weapon of choice

You’ll also notice a hoe handle and juggling pin in the photo of the toolbox at the top of this post. The hoe handle has the metal end attached. I found it in the throw away pile in the back of the school. Two more alternative tools of defense in my arsenal.

3.) Flashlight. Being a flashaholic, I carry a Streamlight ProTac 2L in my pocket at school. The tail button switches from high, strobe, and low. Strobe would be useful in a dark environment to disorient attackers and give me time to escape or use another improvised tool of violence on the shooter.

Clockwise from top: Aluminum clipboard, Swiss Army knife, StreamLight ProTac 2L flashlight

• Clipboard – From my contractor days, this tool filled with paper might stop a small-caliber pistol bullet intended for vital bodily parts. I’ll have to put it through testing to find out for sure.
• The Swiss Army knife serves as pencil sharpener, nail trimmer, screw tightener, and other handy tasks. It’s not for self-defense. It’s always in my pocket at school.

Escape is the first order of action. Which leads me to ….

4.) Alternate escape/concealed route. Bringing pencils to a gun fight is a bad idea. Escaping from the threat is first priority. If running out of the building exits is not an option for me and my kids, we will barricade the locked classroom door, climb on the lockers and hide in the ceiling until the treat is neutralized. Experts say that these types of incidents last between 3 to 15 minutes on average. There’s not much room to move about between the drop ceiling and the roof. But sitting quietly on the cinder block walls in the crawl space might work. If I’m without kids, I can move to the end of the hall along the top of the wall and drop into the hall at the exit door to make an escape.

On barricading my door, I have enough solid furniture to wedge between the door and the opposite wall. Making my door “hardened” might buy enough time to escape through the ceiling or shelter in place until good guys with guns show up.

Through the ceiling hideout

Peeking into the ceiling with my flashlight

5.) Fire Extinguisher. A blast from this to the face may give me the advantage needed to escape or overcome the attacker.

Unload on the shooter

I’ve tried to think of alternative weapon legally available to me in my gun-free work environment. While they are no match to a heavily armed crazy man, thinking ahead might save my life and those in my care.

Got any more ideas on tools to add to my teacher toolbox? I’d really appreciate hearing from you.

Doing the stuff,

Todd

 

6 Deadly Assumptions About Violence

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The “Treadmill Defense” made me laugh. Great idea! If it were only that simple. What if a zombie accidentally hits the kill switch? I think we all make silly assumptions about how to defend our property and person.

I was going to writing about the importance of shelter in this installment of my Individual Preparedness Series. My direction changed. You see, our daughter-in-law, having never fired a gun, wanted to shot a couple of our pistols. She was never exposed to these valuable tools growing up. After some basic instruction, she did quite well in her first shooting session at a five yard range. I think she’s hooked. I passed on a review from Docwatmo over at Average Guy Reviews on the XD9 Subcompact to our son for their consideration.

Staring over our fiscal cliff, home invasions and violent crime are increasing and not likely to decrease anytime soon. This article would become a book if I attempted to cover the many aspects of home and personal defense. Let me say upfront that I’m not an expert in self-defense. Never allow anything I write (or anyone else for that matter) override your real-life experience and common sense.

Most people, including myself, have never faced a real violent encounter. The more I think I know, the more I begin to see how little I know. I’ve always heard that the majority of shooting happen at up close and personal like. How close? Two yards are less. David Nash over at Shepherd School sites some real world stats:

These FBI-compiled numbers have been pretty much the same for many years: 50% of LEOs killed are killed at five feet or less, and 75% killed are killed at ten feet or less.   The second source is the Police Marksman Association survey done in 1992 showing the average police gunfight was won at about 20 feet seven yards (but note that this conclusion was from a pretty small sample.)   Finally, there is the data from NYPD’s SOP-9 that indicates that from 1994-2000, 69% of their shootings (of all types) were at two yards or less, and 88% were at seven yards of less.  These numbers are pretty consistent from year to year.

Priorities dictate that we address our most immediate threats. Evidently, they’ll be real close. Spending range time shooting handguns at paper targets 25 yards away is not the best use of time or ammo. Statistically speaking, long shots (over 10 yards) are not likely. It’s not so alpha-male-ish to shoot human silhouettes that you could almost touch with your outstretched hand. Ego wants to demonstrate my long shot accuracy. Could I hit that target when a chemical dump occurs in me when facing a kill or be killed violent encounter? I hope to never find out.

I’ve been guilty in the past of preparing for home and self-defense based on theory. I’ve been in fights growing up and one legitimate street brawl that Mama caused. Sounds like the making of a great country song. I’ll not divulge details now. Maybe later. The street brawl was nothing close to those you see in the movies. There was no script. Just crazy mayhem. See if any of these assumptions are putting you and yours in danger.

6 Deadly Assumptions

1.) I live in a “safe” neighborhood. A fellow teacher friend of mine had me over to install a security storm door and two motion detection flood lights on her house last month. She and her family live in an upper middle class neighborhood. Some thugs recently broke into a house two doors down, through the garage door, at 10:00 a.m. The next door neighbor was home during the robbery.

Never take for granted that your surroundings are safe.

2.) Violent encounters in the real world are similar to Hollywood versions. The good guys never run out of bullets and are able to summon superhuman strength to beat the bad guy. In my mind that’s a great theory. The theory is only helpful if it works – which is usually not the case. Let’s erase the visions of mall ninjas and Rambo action heroes. Predators don’t fight fair. There won’t be a referee to stop the guy before you lose that last breath of air “tapping out.” All the black belts you have won’t save you.

3.) Rules of engagement apply. There are no rules when dealing with violent criminals. They don’t fight fair. If you are fighting fair, you’ll loose and possible die. Criminals intent on violence don’t worry that you’ve had years of martial arts training or achieved top-gun status at your gun range. They get to pick the time and types of bad things to do to us. Their advantage is the element of surprise. It immediately puts us in the  mode of self-defense. Self-defense is reacting and recovering from being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

In my coaching days, I worked on both sides of the football. I made my living on the offensive side. I liked the advantage of knowing where we would attack. The defense was always guessing even though they knew our tendencies. I’ve always been told to go on the offensive in any unavoidable violent encounter. Take the violence to the attacker. This is not a school yard chicken dance with kids bumping chests and gums. In life or death situations, do whatever it takes to get the job done. The job will require losing our moral codes and niceness and do unthinkable violence to the him. That’s his intent for us.

4.) The police will help. I’ll not beat this dead horse. Even if you have time to dial 911, the response time is usually so slow they have to make a report and inform the next of kin. The police are not obligated to protect individual citizens no matter what the motto on the black and white cruiser says. NEVER delegate responsibility for your safety to someone else. With cities going bankrupt, we do indeed need to lock our doors and load our guns. San Bernardino has seen a 50 percent increase in murders this year. Don’t be a statistic.

5.) I am trained to handle violence. This has been a difficult article to write. Being a civilized, moral person, it’s depressing to delve into the mind of violent thuggery. Unless you’ve experienced this kind of violence and lived to tell about it, I don’t think it’s possible to fully wrap our minds around what it takes to flip the switch and become violent. From everything I’ve read (people with actual experience) and seen in real life, no one single act of violence is the same. No amount of controlled training in a class can prepare us for real world violence. Yes, Chuck Norris groupies are included here. You are a resource to predators. A piece of meat. There are no gyms that I know of that allows students to destroy/kill other students. Membership would shrink greatly. But that’s what it takes to stop predators hellbent on their mission – destroy, rape, pillage, and kill.

Will our social training and martial arts classes save us? I’m not anti-training. Get all you can get. I just don’t want you to assume that you’re trained for real violent encounters when your attacker forgets the rule about tapping out. Knowing how to perform roundhouse kicks is not enough. Being mentally able to flip the switch from controlled, moral, socialized citizen, to a primal eat-or-be-eaten violence machine is necessary – and dark – and outside the paradigm of who we say we are. I told you it’s depressing.

6.) I’m safe because I carry a gun. While I highly recommend this tool, it offers no guarantee of safety. Carrying my weapon gives me some sense of security. I’m not overconfident or cocky when carrying. Being aware of situations and surroundings is helpful. It’d be convenient if predators could be identified by external appearance. We simply can’t tell sometimes.

I’ve never shot another human being with a gun, unless BB gun wars count. They don’t. A higher standard is imposed on gun-totters. To quote Boston T. Party on why to pull the trigger, “You shot to stop – not to kill. Any kill is incidental, unless the only way to stop his lethal actions was to kill.” Mr. Royce does a great job explaining your responsibility and liability when pulling the trigger in Boston’s Gun Bible – a must read for anyone carrying weapons, concerned about liberty, personal safety, and defense. A gun is designed to put distance between you and those intending to harm you. After a certain distance, the threat is no longer a threat. It’s the great equalizer. Dirt Road Girl has an advantage over a 250 pound thug if she has her gun in hand.

A human being is the most dangerous animal in the world as it alone has the ability to strike a deadly blow at a distance. – Boston’s Gun Bible, p. 4/1

Neither DRG or I have had training from shooting professionals. Expert training is prohibitively expensive for us. We are self-taught. There are many learning tools on the internet and in books that have helped us. For affordable rifleman training, I’ve been planning to attend Project Appleseed. From their site: Through Project Appleseed, the Revolutionary War Veterans Association is committed to teaching two things: rifle marksmanship and our early American heritage.

When we assume, as the saying goes, it makes an ass out of u and me.

Are you guilty of any of these deadly assumptions? I’m sure you have some to add. Please leave a comment and share freely.

Doing the stuff,

Todd

 

Springfield XD9 Subcompact Full Review

For anyone considering concealed carry, Docwatmo wrote a review on the Springfield XD9 Subcompact over at his site, Average Guy Reviews. I’m a fan of XD’s and highly recommend owning one or several. NOTE: I don’t own stock in the company or receive any compensation from Springfield Armory or from any other product I recommend on this site. If that ever changes, and join the ranks of the big boys and girls, I’ll let you know. I intentionally don’t advertise on my site. If I promote a product, it’s because I found it useful.

Doing the stuff,

Todd

By Docwatmo

OK, I’ve had this baby at the range and am pretty darn happy with it.  I’m going to give it a thorough rundown.   First of all let’s talk about price.  You can get this guy from $300 to $500 (Don’t pay more than $500 for it; you can get it just about anywhere for less than $500).   It comes in two kits, The standard kit (Reviewed below) and the “Essentials” kit which drops the Holster, the reloading tool and the magazine belt pouch.  (See further down on the review for those components).  I’d recommend getting the essentials kit at a much lower price and getting your own personal preference in magazine and holsters.

Full Kit, 13 and 16 round mags, reloading tool, dual belt pouch, holster, gun lock and bore brush.

Let’s start with the magazines, this kit came with one 13 round mag (Flush) and one 16 round with grip extension.  I have large hands and the 13 round mag turns this into a 2 finger gun for me.  My wife has small hands and all 3 of her grip fingers are on the grip with the 13 round mag.  So I did pick up a Pierce Magazine extension.  This adds the length to the forward part of the grip to equal a full size mag, but still tapers back down to reduce the butt signature of the weapon to a point about ½ way between flush and full mag extensions.   This is a great compromise for me, still keeps the weapon small enough to carry easily while providing a full size grip for control.   Pierce grips are about $10 on Amazon.  See the two pics below for the visual difference with and without the pierce grip extension.  The magazines are stainless and slide like butter into the mag well of the XD.  Also the mag well is beveled very nicely and makes magazine swaps very quick and easy.  I did notice that the mag with the pierce grip extension was a bit harder to seat at first, but after a couple dozen mag exchanges it’s straightened out and works as well as the others.

Read the rest here

Protecting Yourself and Your Property After a Disaster

Chris Ray of Prepared Christian writes excellent advice for self-protection. I also want to thank Chris for posting Neighboring Matters on his site. Be sure to visit his site.

November 19, 2012 By Chris Ray

Scenario:  Jerusalem has been devastated by war and is in ruins.  It’s walls have been broken down and it’s gates burned by fire.  Nehemiah, King Artaxerxes’ cup bearer, has received permission from the king to go to Jerusalem and rebuild it.  Their enemies have plotted to catch them unaware, kill them and stop their work.  Nehemiah has discovered this and decides:

Neh 4:16 From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah 4:17 who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, 4:18 and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me. 4:19 Then I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. 4:20 Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!” 4:21 So we continued the work with half the men holding spears, from the first light of dawn till the stars came out. 4:22 At that time I also said to the people, “Have every man and his helper stay inside Jerusalem at night, so they can serve us as guards by night and workmen by day.” 4:23 Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards with me took off our clothes; each had his weapon, even when he went for water.

In every medium to large scale natural disaster there are people who come to the area to loot.  There is a second group of people; “disaster tourists”.  These are people who want to go to the disaster area to see, in person, what they have seen on TV.  One of these is obviously a criminal but the other isn’t as nefarious, at least not on purpose.

Looters

These dirtbags pray on the misfortune of others during what might be the worst time in their life.  I have heard of people both sneaking around and stealing items that have been relocated by the event, as well as people dressing up, pretending to be representatives from utility companies.  I have also heard reports of items gone missing once a restoration company is hired, the home owner believing their contractor’s employees stole from them.

Read the rest here