I just finished reading Tom Givens’ Concealed Carry Class: The ABCs of Self-Defense Tools and Tactics. This was the first book I read this year, and one that is worth sharing with the audience here. Bottom line up front: I will probably be purchasing a few copies of Concealed Carry Class for a few of my friends and family members…but this review isn’t all praise.
2020 Goals: 3,660 Minutes of Dry Practice
Last year, on one of my other blogs, I documented my (successful) attempt to do 3,650 minutes of dry practice in 2019. I learned a tremendous amount during that exercise, and one of those lessons was that putting some social pressure on myself through the blog helped me tremendously. This year I’m going to do a similar thing here.
Book Excerpt: “Digital Self-Defense”
Most of you probably don’t know that my day job is an instructor of digital security tools, techniques, and procedures. The company I work for provides training to a variety of military and intelligence activities. I am extremely lucky to have my job because I absolutely love what I do. I love teaching, and I love the topics that I teach.
Malfunctions: The Squib Load
Last week I had a squib load…and then another. Both were from the same box of factory ammo. If you shoot enough, eventually you’re probably going to run into this ammunition-related malfunction. It’s important to know to recognize this one. Failure to recognize it could result in serious damage to your gun and serious injury to you.
Micro-Preparedness: Store Your Gear in Ready Condition
I have gotten a ton of good feedback on my last Micro-Preparedness post about staging your clothing. Today’s post is along the same lines, and comes to you courtesy of cutting some firewood.
The Spyderco Sharpmaker
Welcome back to another short little post between regular posts. This time I’m talking about the Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker sharpening system. This gadget has literally changed my life as far as knives are concerned.
EDC Flashlight Review: NiteCore MT1A
This month’s flashlight is the NiteCore MT1A EDC flashlight. The MT1A is a single-AA light at a mid-range price point. Overall it seems like a well-built light, but one with a few design strikes against it. Let’s take a look at its features.
Some Thoughts on Asolo Boots
A reader recently wrote in asking for a review of Asolo boots. I have a fairly rich history with Asolo boots and I would love to talk about them. A couple disclaimer notes before I begin…
Getting Friends and Family (Slightly) More Prepared
As I mentioned in my article on building rapport with your neighbors, I have recently become interested in making those around me – especially my friends and family – better prepared. After this article they’ll only be slightly better prepared, but that’s a heck of a lot better than nothing. And maybe it’s the start of something bigger…
Five Steps to Protecting Your Home Address
Achieving comprehensive personal privacy is a complicated goal involving a lot of complex, discrete steps. On this blog I spend a lot of time focusing on the highly specific, individual steps. Often we fail to provide a lot of context for why we’re doing them, or how they fit into the bigger picture. This was called to my attention recently when an old friend contacted me. He has a legitimate safety reason to wish to be more private, and asked me for advice. Unfortunately, I don’t have a single blog post I could offer him that effectively introduces the basic steps of protecting your home address.