HAPPY NEW YEARS !!!

 

Just How Good Are Your Defensive Shotgun Skills?

 Well, fear not. Chris Baker is here to help you determine whether or not you're up to par, or in need of some remedial training. The two videos below will both provide  a baseline for testing your abilities with a Home Defense Shotgun. 

At least that's the intent. So sit back, get a cup of coffee or your favorite adult beverage, and pay attention. 

 

Wheelgun Wednesday At The Blog - Today We Have An Indepth Review Of The Henry Big Boy Revolver

 

  https://www.gunsamerica.com/digest/henry-big-boy-revolver-a-new-classic/

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

 

"It Happened To Me" 3 Stories Of Citizens Defending Themselves From Various Criminal Situations

It Happened To Me: Home Invasion & Self-Defense Stories

 ‘It Happened To Me’ stories where would be victims overcame home invasion, dangerous deceit and a thug ambush.

Copyright@PersonalDefenseWorld May 2014

HOME-INVADER TAKEDOWN:
We live in a major urban area, which has its challenges. Our area has seen its crime sprees.Thankfully, it’s also gun friendly, and I got my gun permit, took some training and purchased a 9mm handgun for home protection.
Usually when I was home, I kept the gun near me at all times, out of a fear of someone breaking into the house. One night, we were all settling in for when we got the surprise of our lives. Three armed men kicked in our front door and burst into our home. The invaders started yelling for us to be quiet, sit down and do as they said. I was just processing the situation when, I guess, we weren’t moving fast enough and one of the invaders grabbed my younger daughter and held onto her in a hostage-like move as the other two began to ransack our home.

I was somewhere between disbelief, fear and anger. I guess the anger got the best of me because I remembered that I had my gun on me and drew my weapon. I drew my weapon and aimed at the suspect holding my daughter, who wasn’t paying attention because he was watching his two partners in crime. Taking advantage, I aimed at his upper body, well out of the way of my daughter, and fired. As the shot hit his upper torso, the invader released his grip on my daughter and fell to the ground. The other two invaders, hearing the shot, shouted some expletives and ran out of the house, leaving their comrade behind. I wasn’t sure if they were more afraid of getting shot or of getting caught. Either way, I was happy they left. One of my neighbors had heard the commotion and called 911. The police were there moments later. I was very happy that my family and I survived the incident, but I didn’t like the emotional toll it took on us. Regardless, that situation made us make the overdue decision to move, which we did to a much quieter area of town. –DL, AL

WRONG WOMAN:
I was driving home one day with both kids in the back seat when a car cut me off, forcing me onto the shoulder and off the road for a bit. After I got cut off, I got back on the road, flashed my brights at the driver (which was not the best idea) and shouted a few G-rated curses at them. As I was driving, I realized something was wrong with the car and pulled over. While on the side of the road, I called our tow service, since the car seemed unsafe to drive. While waiting on the side of the road, a black sedan pulled onto the shoulder behind me. The car looked like a police car but without the markings and lights. A man got out and walked up to the car, wearing a pistol on his belt.

I had all the windows up, and he approached the driver’s side of my car. Through the glass, he said, “Do you need some help?” I politely replied, “No, we are OK. I’m waiting for the tow service, which is a minute out.”
He looked at me, then at my kids, and said, “I’m a cop and can help you. Why don’t you roll down the window and let me check the car?” I started to feel uneasy and said, “Sir, we are OK, and if you are a cop, please show me your badge”. At that request he became visibly irritated and said, “Roll down the window!” Sensing danger, I reached inside my pocketbook and withdrew my gun. I carry a small Ruger .380 and pointed it at my window and said, “You aren’t a cop, and if you don’t leave us alone now, I’ll shoot! Plus, the tow service is about to arrive—now leave!” At the sight of my gun he seemed completely surprised and just turned around, got back in his car and left. The tow company arrived moments later. When I told the tow service what happened, they suggested I let the police know, which I did. I’m not sure who that guy was or what he wanted, but he picked on the wrong woman that day. –CH, NC

DERRINGER DELIVERANCE:
My story is actually my friend Mark’s story, but he is no longer alive to tell it so I will tell it for him. He would like that. Before his death from cancer, we were very close friends and saw each other just about every day. Late in his seventies, he purchased a small derringer pistol for self-defense. He paid about $500, which was a big deal for Mark at the time because he had only his Social Security check to live on. But, he said, people sometimes tried to take advantage of his age and push him around, particularly at night. So he needed a safe and reliable self-defense weapon.

A year after buying the derringer, he was accosted in a park by several tough young men who ridiculed and then attempted to physically harm him because, according to them, they did not like the way he looked. They got very rough with him despite his advanced age. Although he repeatedly asked them to go away and leave him alone, they began to get very physical with him and threaten him to the point at which he felt his life was endangered. So he slowly drew the derringer out of his jacket pocket. “I did not even point the gun at them,” he said. “I did not have to. I simply showed it to them.” “Was the gun loaded?” I asked. “Of course,” he said. But the sight of the gun alone, resting in the palm of his hand was enough. They immediately stopped bothering him and went away, never to return. “That little derringer was the best $500 investment I ever made,” he said. From Mark I had learned an important life lesson that I’m carrying with me for the rest of my life. A good handgun is the best defense against bullies whenever and wherever we encounter them. –JM, TX

Sunday With Blackthorn - "Tend To Your Own Business" and "Surveillance Detetction"

 The following two articles are from Claude Werner's Tactical Professor Blog. the first article is the latest one, but references the second one that was actually written a couple of years earlier. They go to the subjects of knowing when to, and  not to, get involved in a situation. As well as situational awareness if their might be some blowback afterwards.

 

Tend To Your Own Business

 https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2023/10/27/tend-to-your-own-business/#comments

 

Surveillance Detection 

https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2021/06/25/surveillance-detection/

 

How About A Pepper Spray Video From Mas Ayoob To Spice Things Up For Thursday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWUq-OEYpiI

Only In America!

 Any Of You Guys Remember Yakov Smirnoff?

Sunday With Blackthorn - Bet You've never Even Heard Of This Guy

He’s Got $250 Million to Spend on Communist Revolution

 Fergie Chambers is heir to one of the biggest American family fortunes. He’s also a revolutionary with ‘actual bloodlust’ building a mysterious commune in Massachusetts. His neighbors are scared. 

By Suzy Weiss December 4, 2023 copyright @ The Free Press 

Nestled into the mountains of the Upper Valley in New Hampshire, up a semi-paved road in a house next to a tiny cemetery lined with white picket fencing, Fergie Chambers, 38, leans over his kitchen island, worrying over his commune. 

 “It feels like we’re throwing the same half-assed solutions at this over and over again and hoping it will yield something different,” he groans into his iPhone, which is on speaker. Fergie’s slight, but buff, on account of his multiple times a day martial arts training and competitions. His hair is cut short. A silver boxing glove dangles from one of his ears. He is covered in tattoos, including a double portrait of Stalin and Mao inked onto his thigh. He looks as if the phrase “Fuck you, Mom and Dad” were a person. 

 I offer my hand to a wheezing bulldog named Madison while Fergie talks over the phone to his employee in Alford, Massachusetts—the tiny Berkshires town where he’s bought 300 acres since 2019. Around 10 people live there at any given time. But he’s unclear—with me, possibly with himself—on what that place is exactly. 

 

To Read The Rest Of This Article, Click on the link Below; 

https://www.thefp.com/p/hes-got-250-million-to-spend-on-communist

Static Counter-Knife Defenses By Carl Cestari

 OK, no fancy footwork, flashy techniques, or showy manipulations.

 Just Carl C. doing what he knew best.

 

 

 

 

More Classic Groundfighting From Carl Cestari (Circa 1991)

Home Protection Humor For Thursday

 

Bob "Gold Bar" Menendez Is The Gift That Keeps on Giving

 Someone should have told him that when you take bribe money, even in the form of Gold Bars, you should make sure that the Serial Numbers have been removed. The best part is that the Gold Bars were traced back as belonging to  the Real Estate developer he's been accused of giving favors to, including trying to keep the developer from being prosecuted by the U.S. DOJ.

 https://nypost.com/2023/12/04/news/gold-bars-found-in-sen-bob-menendezs-home-linked-to-2013-robbery-report/

 

Sunday With Blackthorn - Today James Reeves Of TFB TV Reviews The New Glock 49

As Rod Serling used to say "Submitted for your approval".

 

Friday Humor

 

Wheelgun Wednesday - A Review Of The Henry Big Boy Revolver

 

 

 I'm a big fan of Henry Rifles/Carbines. Earlier this year they introduced a .38 Spl. revolver in two configurations. One has the old School 'Gunfighter' type grip, and the other the is a 'Birdshead' grip. 

If I ever get around to dealing with the bureaucracy  of obtaining a handgun permit, I'm probably going to get one of these for myself. Most likely the Birdshead grip model.

 

 https://www.gunsamerica.com/digest/henry-big-boy-revolver-a-new-classic/

Wisdom For A Monday Morning

 

Sunday With Blackthorn - Ed Calderon Interviews A Coyote (Border Immigrant Smuggler) PLUS an article on Israel Successfully Using A Laser To Shoot Down Hamas Rockets

 I'm sure most of you know who Ed Calderon  is, so I won't give you any unnecessary background on him. If you don't know who he is, just do an internet search for his name on DuckDuckGo or Google.

https://www.athlonoutdoors.com/article/real-life-coyote-human-smuggling/

 

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Between the Current Russian-Ukrainian War, and the conflict between Israel and  Hamas in Gaza, whole new technologies are being tested under real time combat conditions that will have an impact on the future of Warfare.

 

https://www.themirror.com/news/us-news/lasers-used-burn-through-hamas-204899

Happy Thanksgiving!!

 

Wheelgun Wednesday - Massad Ayoob Talks About "The Revolver, Why It Ain't Dead Yet!"

It's been a while since we indulged in some Wheelgun Goodness! So sit back, get comfortable, and enjoy the read.

 

https://americanhandgunner.com/our-experts/the-police-revolver-it-aint-dead-yet/

Sunday With Blackthorn - Reviews a $119 Chinese Made Shotgun - AND - It Turns Out James Reeves Is Actually A Lawyer, Who Knew?

 Okay, so first up, Apparently The Stevens Firearms Company has Farmed Out It's Shotgun Mfg. to China.  I will for the moment forego my personal opinion of American Companies doing Business with the CCP, and Let James Reeves get through his review and 500 round Burndown of the aforementioned Shotgun.

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQkZqXaLJSw

 

 Now, most of us have heard that the name of your gun or knife or some other personal self defense tool will get you in trouble. Laser etched skulls on the slide of of your Colt 1911, the words Death Dealer 2000" emblazoned on the blade of your "Zombie Killer knife", etc. These people are usually not lawyers.

Then there are those who will tell you that a "good shoot, is a good shoot" or something to that effect with some variation, again, based on what type of tool you used to protect yourself. And again, these people are usually not lawyers.

Well, Mr Reeves makes the point that in the real world, the truth about how things play out in the courts is another story entirely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSduvxQO7TA

 

 

Bidenomics In The Real World

 

Sunday With Blackthorn - What Do You Do If You Find Yourself in Your Car And Surrounded By An Angry Mob

 Probably not the most likely scenario for most people, but considering the events we've seen over the last 3 plus years, not completely beyond the realm of impossibility. The  link below goes to a Youtube Video (and again as I mentioned in the last Blackthorn Post I can no longer embed the video here due to the New Google policy of requiring that I allow 3rd Party Advert. Trackers to be permitted) from a Law Firm that specializes in Self Defense Law.

I'm sure  a lot of you would, if you found yourselves in the situation I described above,  just hit the gas and plow your way through.  Especially if the mob was pounding on your vehicle. Well, the fact is that while doing that could actually be legal in certain circumstances, there are circumstances where it would not work out very well for you.

I hope the video provides you with some guidance on what you Can an Cannot do.

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_PR5RaDE38

Michigan Town Recalls And votes Out Entire Town Council After The Council Voted To Let Chinese EV Battery Company Build A Factory Over The Objections Of The Entire Town

 https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.casinobonusoffers.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2FChina-Flag-Ban-Symbol-400px.png&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=d0cbf669840d4d8cd96a008dbd047143af2db9fc5edd376e5243bbdb72df88d1&ipo=images

Click Above Link For Image 

 

Looks like people are getting wise and starting stand up for themselves. After The election, the town had a locksmith change all the locks on the Town Hall and all the offices just to make sure there'd be no Bullshit from the former Town Council.

 https://www.newsnationnow.com/world/china/election-government-chinese-factory-plans/

Another One of Those Pesky Details About EV's (Electric Vehicles) That Nobody Seems To Mention

https://images.wsj.net/im-880449/?width=1278&size=

 Click On Link Above For Image

 Weenie Roast anyone?

 https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/best-way-to-extinguish-a-flaming-electric-vehicle-let-it-burn-f1fa2b53

 

NOTE - Please Read!

You will notice that I directed you to a link to see the picture of the burning car at the top of the page. Apparently Google is now forcing me and everyone else on Blogspot to allow them to attach 3rd Party Tracking Cookies in order to put up images and Videos. This includes Youtube videos as well as any of my personal videos. At least I can put the link up to the Youtube videos. And If I want to put any of my own videos up, I can upload them to Youtube first, and then put the link up.

The link below is a breakdown of of how 3rd Party Tracker Cookies work. 

 https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/third-party-cookies-firefox-tracking-protection

 

 This link is essentially Googles line of BS.

 https://support.google.com/drive/answer/13812413?visit_id=638350583483850698-2210313825&p=enable_storage_access&rd=1#allowgoogledotcom&zippy=%2Callow-googlecom-to-use-cookies%2Cin-other-browsers

Sunday With Blackthorn - Today Massad Ayoob Discusses The Richard Palmer Case And The Legal Concept Of 'Furtive Movement"

 From Massad Ayoob by way of American Handgunner Magazine. This is a case of a Police Officer being cleared multiple times of a shooting incident, but still wound up being prosecuted by the U.S. Dept Of Justice.

 

 ************************

Ayoob Files: Furtive Movement:The Richard Palmer Case

by Massad Ayoob copyright@Americanhandgunner.com

 

 

Situation: The suspect is reaching for what looks like a gun in their pocket. It looks like “shoot now or die.”

Lesson: The rule is, “You don’t have to be right, but you do have to be reasonable.” You can be cleared four times over in a shooting and still be criminally charged. If you’re a cop criminally charged, we hope you belong to a union or fraternal organization.

 

 A furtive movement shooting occurs when someone appears to be going for a gun, gets shot for it and turns out not to be armed. Sometimes the movement is a deliberate faking of the menacing gesture — to intimidate a victim or to achieve “suicide by cop” — and sometimes, it is unintentional.

To read the rest of this article, click on the link below;

 https://americanhandgunner.com/our-experts/ayoob-files-furtive-movement-the-richard-palmer-case/

 

Massad Ayoob Breaks Down 2018 Incident Of Spree Killer Stopped By An Armed Citizen

 

Armed Citizen Stops Spree Killer

the Tumwater WalMart Incident

Written By Massad Ayoob

copyright @ American Handgunner 2020

 

Situation:

You are shopping with your family when a gunman on a rampage opens fire in the store … and you are armed.

Lesson:

Planning for emergencies — and training for them — can save more lives than just your own.

 

Sunday, June 17, 2018, late afternoon. It’s Father’s Day. David George, 47, enters the WalMart in Tumwater, Washington with his wife, his adult daughter, and his young granddaughter. They are exchanging the little girl’s tricycle, and David heads to the customer service desk at the front of the store. It’s a pleasant day and David is dressed casually, in shorts and a tee shirt. The untucked tee conceals a Gen3 GLOCK 19 pistol with Ameri-Glo sights, worn at the 3:30 position behind his right hip in a Blade-Tech Nano inside the waistband holster. A pastor by vocation, he’s also a volunteer EMT. Both jobs have made him a natural protector of others and his daily wear of a concealed handgun is simply an extension of this identity.

In the next few minutes, David George will find a desperate need to use his GLOCK.

 To read the rest of the article click on the link below:

 https://americanhandgunner.com/our-experts/armed-citizen-stops-spree-killer-the-tumwater-walmart-incident/

Only In New York!! LOL!!!!!

 

Sunday With Blackthorn - Today We Have A Two-For-One Deal - First-Up We Have The True Story Behind The Michael Mann Movie "Heat". That's Followed By An Article On How Hamas Pulled Off The Surprise Attack On Oct 7 Of This Year

 I',m pretty sure most of the regular Blog readers have seen the Movie 'Heat' With Pacino, DeNiro, Kilmer, et. al. The final shootout after the bank robbery is one of the most well choreographed, and now Iconic gun battles in the annals of Crime Movies. The video below will explain what really happened on March 25th, 1964 on the streets of Chicago.

**********************

The link below goes to an article explaining how HAMAS  successfully pulled off their infiltration of the Israeli border with Gaza.

 https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/how-hamas-broke-through-israel-s-border-defenses-during-oct-7-attack/ar-AA1iXGuM

Where NOT To Go On Your Next Vacation!!

 Definitely NOT on my Bucket List!!

Monday Morning Humor At The Blog

 

Sunday With Blackthorn - Today We Discuss Which Is More Productive For Self Defense - Long Term Training or Basic Skills Development

For those of you who read this Blog I’m going to assume that you do so to a large extent for helpful information on Self Defense. Now this begs the question, which is more worthwhile and efficient, to stick to basic techniques and just work them on a regular basis, or to devte your time and effort to long term (almost lifetime) training?

Most criminal assaults are not convoluted affairs, but rather are themselves simple and straightforward situations that require only basic strategies and tactics.

I’ll let regular contributor Steve Forester give you his take on the matter

Long Term Training Or Basic Skills Development?
by Steve Forester

So, I was reading about Paul Vunak's Enigma videos below;

"How does one train for now and how does one train for a life time in the martial arts. This balance for learning how to fight now and not 10 years from now was a point that is invaluable to so many martial artist , fighters , instructors , law enforcement, military and everyday people like you who want to protect themselves and loved ones .

Fast forward 10 years later and now we have the next phase of the Enigma Series. Paul continues to show you what its like to take the guess work out of your training.
 
This is where Paul Vunak and Contemporary Jeet Kune Do steps in. The turn around time and demand for learning to be functional now is the goal. To be a complete street fighter or martial artist that can train for a life time but have the necessary skills now to protect yourself and loved ones".

*****************************************************************

That caused me to think about the shift from the emphasis on skills that can be learned quickly for self-defense, versus lifetime training skills.

1. Specifically, who has the time, motivation, money, etc. to train for a lifetime? Now most of us do some sort of regular maintenance training. I talking about someone who goes to a gym/dojo 2-3 nights a week for 1 1/2 hours, and paying someone for training.

2. And, is long term training beneficial?

Personally, I have only known one person who truly devoted themselves to life-long martial arts study. What I saw in my own formal training was the typical beginning student stuck with it for a few months and then quit. A few lasted a year. 2 or 3 out of an original beginning class of 30 will continue for two years.

I have mentioned before about talking with a contractor who was working in my home and I asked him if he trained, as he had the look. He said he did when he was younger, but then he got married, and now has two kids which brought an end his training career. That is more typical of what I see.

Yet, long term training seems to be the rage now and has been for some time. Not picking on Vunak, but he used to emphasize the RAT system he trained SEALS on, and his Street Safe series which was simplified civilian self-defense. His Enigma series seems focused more toward long term, MMA type training.

We look at another example in BJJ. It takes about 10 years, more or less, to earn a BJJ black belt. Two years of whichis spent at the blue belt level just perfecting the guard position. Many BJJ students never make it out of the blue belt stage.

I am not knocking any of these arts, or long term training. My instructor Carl was a devotee of long term training.  He always said that he believed WWII Combatives provides the best foundation skills for self defense, but  then went on to say that one can go further.

Now that leads to the question of how beneficial is long term skills training? Long term skill development - not maintenance practice.

There is an argument to be made that for only personal protection against a street assault, long-term, complex, skills training may actually be detrimental.

We know street assaults are very quick and very violent affairs. In training for something like this, how many complex skills will one be able to perform, or even remember? How many skills can one make instructive, reflexive, and convulsive? How many complex skills will be usable under severe Sympathetic Nerve System (SNS) stress?

The argument against long term training for street survival goes something like this. Instead of learning more and more skills, what about if we just take the Fairbairn/Sykes WWII “Gutter Fighting” techniques and work on perfecting those skills. Honing them until they are implanted in our sub-conscious and can be used without thinking?

After looking at all sides of the argument, and doing some longer term training that was not Fairbairn/Sykes related, I can say that I, personally, can see the merit in this argument. But my training goals are only to protect myself from street assaults.

Lets look at it this way. Anyone who has seen what is on Carl Cestari’s Old School 1 DVD. Knows how to position themself, control distance, and make a preemptive strike using only two techniques: the Edge Of Hand (EOH) and the Heel Of Hand (HOH) blow.

Simple, right? Any one of us could teach the average new student these skills in one day or less.

But, now what if we took those same skills and relentlessly trained them into the ground. Start with just the drop-step EOH. Do just that for say, 10 sets of 10 reps, on both strong and weak side. Perfect establishing distance. Perfect your relaxed ready position and your position of advantage. Are you really in a solid, balanced position? Are you telegraphing your axe hand strike? Are you hitting with power, speed, and accuracy? Do you have that elbow up and chin down, snapping that axe hand out and back?

Now, after a few days, add a second, follow-up, short EOH. Are you moving your training dummy or Heavy Bag. Are you establishing Aggressive Forward Drive?

When the two axe hands are perfected, then add a third.

I have been doing this type of training recently and this is what I discovered. Doing this repetitive training of simple, basic, skills, imparts them not only into your sub-conscious, but into your very soul. They become who you are.

You are developing an aggressive MINDSET, which is critical. You are taking charge of the situation instead of reacting to the assailant. This is what you will automatically do under pressure. You are training the subconscious to automatically assume the relaxed-ready POSITION when our situational awareness detects a possible threat. This automatically put us in Condition Orange if we want to think in those terms. We automatically are controlling DISTANCE. Not letting an attacker stand in our safety zone and attacking anyone entering that zone.

We are training to take his BALANCE and establish MOMENTUM by using aggressive forward drive. Developing POWER, Speed, and ACCURACY in our blows.,

I believe this is critical for dealing with real life attacks.  While the skills are simple, doing them under the pressure of SNS stress in a real life attack is NOT. Go to Youtube and look at videos of real attacks. Look at the videos of the recent knife and unarmed attacks and how they are initiated. Imagine, if the victims had employed these simple tactics?

If we are totally honest with ourselves, have we really trained these simple skills into the ground till where they can be used without conscious thought. Automatically (notice I use that word repeatedly) kick in when a possible threat is detected?

Here is something else that we may think obvious, but are we really studying video of real street attacks and visualizing these in our training to see how out training prepares us to handle that assault? Basically, taking our basic technique skills and tactics and applying to real self-defense situations we will encounter on the street?

Again, it sounds simple and obvious, but are we really that?

Now, lets add the HOH to this this intensive, daily training. Developing the power in the HOH to really take someone out. To perfect that HOH take-down and then use follow up methods as needed. You can build a complete fighting method on just those two techniques.

Now think about adding a few other techniques such as Knee strikes, Elbows, Savate style Low Kicks, and the Head Butt, and then training to the level I described above

I was thinking of Aaron Cohen's book (Brotherhood Of Warriors) and how they trained Krav Maga. Along with the aggression training, they started with just one technique - the left jab - and trained that thousands of times before adding the straight right. Then that combination thousands of times.

It is almost overwhelming to me to think of training just these simple technique to this extent.

We talked about "training a little, a lot", as a valid training concept. Doing 3-5 blows a day is certainly better than no blows, or doing a lot of reps once a month.

But, what if we trained 30-40 minutes a day in this intensive routine for 3-6 months? Think about how much better we would be. How much more confidence we would have in our skills.

Now, to this, lets add a a separate physical conditioning program: free weights, KB's, body weight (or a combination of these) that focuses on developing strength, agility, and total body power.

To that, add EOH and HOH conditioning on the brick and/or iron palm bag to develop these blows into real weapons.

Do visualization to develop the combat mindset, and what-if drills in daily life to hone tactics. Practice assuming a position of advantage on people in everyday life without them knowing what you are doing.

We might be thinking: "Who has time for all that"?

Exactly!

If we have not developed our foundation skills to the point where they need to be, why are we even thinking of training long-term complex skills?  IF, our goal is only protection from a street assault.

There are many good reasons to train long-term complex skills. They are fun, and provide good exercise. They also provide some supplementary benefits to our foundation unarmed combat skills. But if real life self-defense is your primary goal, then I believe our training focus should be on just that.

Carl Cestari: "A student of close-combat trains just that. Close Combat".

Just empty words, though, without doing the work.
 

Oregon Gun Store Refuses To Sell Firearm To ANTIFA Member

And of course he's claiming his 2nd Amendment rights wee violated.

 https://www.kezi.com/news/florence-man-claims-gun-store-violated-his-2nd-amendment-rights/article_0886393a-67d8-11ee-b5e3-3b1367881876.html

Today We Have Two Retired Navy SEALS Trying Out WW2 Point Shooting

I've never seen these guys before, but they were pretty open-minded about giving Point Shooting  a fair shake. The bulk of the video covers old WW2 training, and 1950's era FBI era point shooting training using old training footage that I'm sure most of us have seen. In the end they were happily surprised and came to the conclusion that Point Shooting had a great deal of merit.

 However they did do quite a few jokes about the sometimes odd positioning of the Offhand position as regards those shooters who held their empty hand out to the side /up in the air. They referred to it as the "Yippy Ki Yay" position. 

At the end of the video they admitted to the fact that the hardest part for them was having to remember NOT to use the sights as they had been trained when they were still in the military. 

 

Wheelgun Wednesday - An Overview Of The Classic S&W J And K Frame Revolvers

The .38 Special revolver, an American classic. The sidearm of choice of  Law Enforcement for almost 100 years. In the snub-nose (J-frame) variation it was the choice of Detectives (Police and private) and in the 4' or 6" versions (K-frame), carried by both Beat and Highway Patrol officers. These days the most common ones are the J-frames, small, light, and easily concealable, being carried by regular citizens for self defense.  This article covers their history and both their Pros and Cons in the modern era currently being dominated by Semi-automatics.

https://www.swatmag.com/article/smith-wesson-classic-fighter/

Sunday With Blackthorn - Today Paul Harrell Discusses 20 Ga. #1 Buckshot For Hunting And Home Defense

 As a 20 Ga. shotgun owner myself, I can attest to the difficulty in finding any buckshot other #3. Even after viewing this video I doubt I'll be able to find any in the area where I live. But you never know, it might turn up some time in the future and I'll get the opportunity try it out my self.

In any event, here is another fine review from the inimitable Paul Harrell.

 

It Appears That The Israeli Military And Or Intelligence Was Compromised By Hamas

There's no other explanation, based on  information and video footage of an attack on a major Israeli Intelligence Hub at the beginning of the attacks.

 https://dnyuz.com/2023/10/13/the-secrets-hamas-knew-about-israels-military/

Some News From Paul Harrell

 And it's not great guys.

Sunday With Blackthorn - Today Chris Baker Discusses The Pros And Cons Of Pistol Caliber Carbines

 For the past few years the PCC has become the big thing in long guns. A lot of the popularity is centered in Urban Areas where full power rifles for self defense are more than problematic for self defense use. Short, light, maneuverable and capable of using matching handgun ammunition, in both Semi-Autos and Lever Actions. Their current popularity is right up at the top of the list. Today, Chris Baker gives us an overview of the good and the bad of the PCC.

Think Your 'Right To Privacy" Is Safe In Your Car? ....Think Again

Check this Bullshit out. Read the article in the first link , then click on the second link and select the manufacturer of your current car.

https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/podcast/2023/09/what-does-a-car-need-to-know-about-your-sex-life

https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/categories/cars/

 

Just An Example Of Just How Fast A Situation Can Go Bad

 I have no background info on where/when this took place, or what prompted what looks like it started out as a routine traffic stop. As I said in the title, an example of a routine traffic stop going bad.

Sunday With Backthorn - The Escape Of David Sweat And Richard Matt

In  June of 2015, two convicted criminals both convicted of murder, escaped from Dannemora Prison in NYS. The following article written by Massad Ayoob describes the background of the two escaped killers, an overview of their escape, and the following manhunt.

This is a bit of a long read guys, but as worth reading as it is chilling.

 

                    Photo of the Dead Richard Matt

 LETHAL MANHUNT
Written By Massad Ayoob
copyright @ AmericanHandgunner.com

https://americanhandgunner.com/our-experts/lethal-manhunt/

Situation: Two particularly vicious murderers escape from prison, holding a whole region in a grip of fear.

Lesson: There are some situations only righteous gunfire can solve. Marksmanship matters.

In the northwestern corner of New York state sits a little village called Dannemora. It is populated by some 4,000 people, roughly three-quarters of whom are inmates of the prison known as Clinton Correctional Facility. Many of the law-abiding residents work at the prison. They and other residents call the prison “Clinton.” Most everyone else colloquially calls the prison simply “Dannemora.”

Among the men listed as the most potentially dangerous of those thousands of inmates were David Sweat and Richard Matt. Despite their history of ruthless, murderous sadism and escape attempts, they had of late maintained “good behavior” and earned some privileges inside the walls. They also groomed at least a couple of prison employees as friends who would bend rules for them. As a result, they were able to escape during the first weekend of June 2015.

In the days that followed, my wife and I were teaching in upstate New York, Saratoga Springs, and like everyone else in the region kept an eye out for the faces in the mug shots that dominated the news media. Half a decade later, I came across the most thorough documentation I’ve seen yet of the escape and the massive law enforcement operation that followed, the book Dannemora by Charles A. Gardner. Aptly subtitled Two Escaped Killers, Three Weeks of Terror, and the Largest Manhunt Ever in New York State, it was written by a municipal court judge retired from a quarter century career with the N.Y. State Department of Corrections who lived in the area.

Preludes

It is axiomatic in criminology many violent criminal actors had troubled childhoods, and equally true that a great many people with those disadvantages grow up to be law-abiding, productive citizens. Not David Sweat, violent even as a child and kicked out of elementary school at age nine for carrying a concealed butcher knife in class. His adventures in drug dealing and burglary saw him in and out of penal institutions starting in his teens. By 2002, he was into ripping off gun shops, and bragging to acquaintances how he would kill anyone who might send him back to prison. One night in July of 2002, he and a couple of cronies were gathered in a darkened parking lot celebrating a successful gun shop burglary when they saw a Broome County Sheriff’s Department patrol car pull into the lot.

As Deputy Kevin Tarsia, 36, exited his vehicle, he was ambushed by the gang, Sweat firing at him with two stolen guns. Several bullets stopped on the lawman’s body armor, but not all: wound channels ripped through his intestines and one kidney. He was down but still alive when David Sweat drove his getaway car over him, brutally dragging the body across the asphalt parking lot beneath the undercarriage. Sweat watched as one of his thug buddies snatched the severely injured officer’s own issue GLOCK .40 and cold-bloodedly executed the now-helpless deputy with two shots to the face.

Hunted down not long after, Sweat proved to have no stomach for pulling guns on cops already pointing theirs at him and meekly submitted to arrest, quickly snitching off his accomplices. A year later, he pled guilty to first degree murder and was on his way to Dannemora.

The hulking Richard Matt was older than Sweat, and if anything, an even more vicious murderer. The son of a criminal, he graduated from foster homes to “reform school” by the time he was 14. A lifelong bully since childhood, he had a high IQ and talent in art, but it seemed from the beginning he would rather steal than work. He was skilled at manipulating people, particularly women. By age 19 he had twice escaped from jail. The escape from Dannemora in 2015 would be his fifth attempt and his third successful one.

His odyssey went on to include a stint in Elmira for a murder-for-hire plot. In 1997, on parole at age 31, Matt was offered a job and a chance at redemption by an elderly man who owned a food company. Matt thanked him by first stealing from him, and then finally abducting him and torturing him for the stash of cash Matt believed the man had squirreled away. Frustrated to find no money, Richard Matt broke the old man’s neck with his bare hands, dismembered the corpse with a hacksaw, and threw the body parts in the Niagara River.

Detectives cracked the case fairly quickly, but by that time Matt was already in Matamoros, Mexico where he stabbed an American tourist to death to steal a few hundred dollars. Quickly captured and imprisoned there, he was eventually extradited to New York for the murder of his benefactor, and in 2008 was sentenced to 25 years to life and on his way to Dannemora, where he would meet and conspire with David Sweat.

The Escape

I’m not going to publish a guide on how to escape from a maximum-security penitentiary. Suffice to say Sweat, and particularly Matt, had a trait common to sociopaths and psychopaths: the ability to charm the gullible. Particularly vulnerable was a heavy-set, middle aged woman named Joyce Mitchell, who ran the prison tailor shop where both convicts worked. It was confirmed she definitely had a sexual relationship with Matt and possibly also with Sweat and was excessively chummy with both.

Both cons had made life easier for themselves by informing on other criminals before they got to Dannemora, and inside the walls, Matt had cultivated prison guard Gene Palmer. The bulky killer con also painted portraits for Clinton staff to garner more favors, including getting situated in proximity to Sweat in the relatively lightly monitored “honor block” area of the prison.

Mitchell bought hacksaw blades, hiding them in frozen hamburger meat she smuggled into the prison, and gave to Palmer to deliver to the pair. They used the hacksaw blades to cut through the cell walls, allowing them access to tunnels that ultimately led to a manhole cover in a Dannemora street outside the prison grounds.

It would later be claimed (and denied by Mrs. Mitchell) the plan was for her to drive to a pickup site after Sweat and Matt had cleared the walls, and head for Mexico — and before leaving town, the cons would murder her husband so she could collect his half-million-dollar insurance policy. Exactly how this would work out if she was in Mexico with two hunted men, one of whom had a murder sentence to serve in that very country, was never explained. Detectives theorized the pair simply planned to murder her after the escape, dump her corpse, and drive on. It became academic when Mrs. Mitchell failed to show up at the pickup point, and the fugitives desperately headed into the surrounding woods on foot.

Enter The Governor

Andrew Cuomo, known to our readers as a sworn enemy of gun owners, doesn’t seem to have much love for police and correctional personnel either. The Governor of New York saw the whole thing as a PR opportunity and turned his tour into something close to The Convict’s Guide to Escaping From Dannemora.

Wrote Charles Gardner, “The visiting officials from Albany paraded through the prison with cameras and cell phones documenting the escape route and crime scenes. In one of the many ironies surrounding the case, this was a violation of several departmental policies, including strict rules against cell phones and cameras inside prisons. In other words, top state officials were breaking some of the same rules about which they would later beat up on Corrections officials. The governor’s entourage gave their photos and video to the news media and posted them on social media.” (1) Added Gardner, “Apparently indifferent to investigative protocols, the governor, acting commissioner, and their staffs crossed crime-scene tape and handled physical evidence while touring the escape route. Investigators watched silently as this parade of people contaminated active crime scenes. Why Albany bigwigs allowed photos and video from the crime scene to be publicized, the investigators couldn’t understand. But they kept their mouths shut.”

Gardner also noted the correctional officers and police officers alike were disgusted Governor Cuomo referred to the cop-killer and the torture-murderer as “gentlemen” and “Mister.”

Meanwhile, two desperate criminals with proven homicidal tendencies were at large.

Murderers In the Woods

While Andrew Cuomo was performing for the news cameras, the two fugitives were in the woods surrounding the area. They’d headed there as soon as they realized Mrs. Mitchell wasn’t coming with the getaway car. Realizing the futility of their plan to escape to Mexico without wheels, they headed north to the other border: Canada was very close, “hiking distance” if not “walking distance.”

Neither had a history of hiking, hunting, camping or other outdoor sports. They had managed to get hiking boots smuggled into their cells unnoticed, but as they plodded through the forest, they still gathered blisters, and were tormented by mosquitoes. Had they had to live off the land, they might have become starved enough to surrender.

Northern New York has much beautiful forest land, but it’s not all wilderness. Many consider it vacation land. Numerous cabins and modest, privately owned hunting lodges dot the area, and the pair broke into many such currently unoccupied structures.

The break-ins provided them with more than enough food to sustain them. Located for recreation, many of those cabins had an ample supply of liquor, and occasionally marijuana, to which the fugitives helped themselves. The pragmatic Sweat indulged moderately if at all, but Matt had always been an out of control drunk when he was free and reverted to type. He would stay under the influence of alcohol for most of his remaining time at large.

Meanwhile, law enforcement had mobilized en masse for what turned out to be a three-week search. I’ve heard no one challenge Charles Gardner’s assessment this was the largest manhunt in the history of New York State. Most estimates put the “cop count” at around 1,500. N.Y. State Police were naturally there in force. Numerous SWAT teams were called in. As close as it all was to the Canada line, there was a heavy Border Patrol element involved, including BORTAC, the elite Border Patrol tactical unit. Bordering Vermont cops were on high alert status as well, and RCMP and other Canadian law enforcement entities, likewise, on the other side of the border. Even the elite FBI Hostage Rescue Team was called in.

And the hunted killers had another faction to worry about: armed citizens.

Armed Citizen Factor

Matt and Sweat considered home invasions and car theft to facilitate escape early on, but decided against it. Part of what motivated that decision may have been fear of being shot to death by occupants. The perception of “anti-gun New York State” comes from the southern N.Y. megalopolis the locals call The City and The Island. Upstate New York is largely rural and home to many hunters, and concealed carry permits are much easier to get there than downstate.

The local populace was indeed up in arms. Bird hunters bought buckshot for their shotguns, broke them out of their safes and gun cabinets, and loaded them up “ready to repel boarders.” People were reported to be openly carrying loaded handguns, illegal as hell in even upstate New York but unnoticed by the police, who were out looking for Matt and Sweat. This was particularly true in and around Dannemora: The prison was the area’s primary employer, and a great many citizens worked there. They saw the face of the enemy every day and had already armed their households. Many residents who didn’t have guns went out to buy some: Firearms retailers in and around the area reported a major uptick in business.
Encounter

On June 20, the fugitives were holed up in a remote cabin accessible only by all-terrain vehicle. Its owner, who happened to be an off-duty correctional officer, brought his dog out to check on the status of the place. The dog alerted as they neared the cabin: Matt and Sweat were in fact there. The owner drew his handgun, took a cover position, and ordered the men out. He was rewarded with the sound of a back door slamming, and a glimpse of the two men running away. They were long gone by the time he could summon the cavalry.

The bad news was by then, the fugitives had found a 20-gauge shotgun, fortunately with no ammunition. They had no stomach to bluff what appeared to be an ordinary man armed with a loaded handgun.

Unfortunately, they soon broke into another cabin where they found a box of 20-gauge rifled slug rounds. The danger level had just increased.

Matt Goes To The Mat

The prison buddies had grown hostile toward one another. Matt’s drunken, stumbling slowness grated on the more athletic Sweat, who felt his partner was slowing them down. Moreover, Matt spoke of going to the road and carjacking to escape, and of dying in a shootout with police. They separated.

On June 26, Richard Matt, now a lone gunman, concealed himself by a roadside and fired the stolen shotgun at a passing pickup truck pulling a camper, striking the vehicle but missing the driver. The driver called in, and police converged on the scene. They found Matt lying prone by a log and ordered him to show his hands.

Instead, Matt swung his shotgun — now sawed-off with tools found at another burgled camp — at one of the officers.

It was a spectacular case of “cause of death: sudden and acute failure of the victim selection process.” Matt’s target was National BORTAC team leader Chris Voss, a combat veteran former Army Ranger.

Voss beat Matt to the trigger.

Aim the M4 carbine, press trigger, reset, repeat. And it was over. Matt’s head, Voss’ only exposed target, had taken multiple high velocity .223 hits. He had been killed instantly before he could fire a shot. Richard Matt had died a quicker and easier death than his victims.

No Sweat

No longer encumbered by his staggering, drunken partner, David Sweat had covered more miles in two days alone than the whole rest of their three weeks together. On June 28 he was walking along a stone wall through a field some 30 yards from Coveytown Road when he was spotted by passing N.Y. State Police Sergeant Jay Cook. Alone in his patrol car, Cook pulled over and asked the man to stop for questioning. Instead, Sweat ran for the tree line. As Cook ordered him to stop, Sweat kept running; he threw off his backpack to gain more speed and screamed he was unarmed. If he shouted that because he thought it meant the trooper couldn’t shoot him, he was wrong.

Sweat, 35, was outrunning the 47-year-old sergeant. Away from his patrol car, armed only with his pistol, alone without backup in a rural area he knew had spotty radio contact, the trooper couldn’t take Sweat’s word he was unarmed. He had positively ID’d one of the two then-most identifiable faces in New York state. And, the cardinal criterion of the governing case law, the U.S. Supreme Court’s Garner decision: Cook knew this man was a clear and present danger to innocent human life for so long as he remained at large.

There has been some incorrect info on what happened next. For example, the New York Times incorrectly published Cook went to a kneeling position. (2) Cook himself told American Handgunner what really happened:

“When I realized I had to shoot, I jumped into an Isosceles stance, with my left foot a little ahead of my right. I held the sights center mass and focused on the front sight: He was a little blurry blob. I fired the first shot and he pitched forward and almost lost his footing. His right arm flopped wildly up in the air. He managed to catch himself and keep running. I fired the second shot, and he dropped immediately.”

Cook continued, “With the heavy camo clothing he was wearing, I couldn’t tell how badly he was hit. I saw an empty knife sheath on his belt. I kept him at gunpoint with his arms out to the side. He said, ‘I’m gonna die … I just wanted to live. I just wanted to disappear.’ When backup got there, we handcuffed him and took off his upper clothing, and that’s when we saw where he was hit.”

Sweat would later say, “He hit me twice and it was — the first one hit me in the shoulder, the top. It killed this whole arm. I couldn’t move it. And the other one was on the other side. I thought, ‘Man, I’m going to hit the ground,’ and just started spitting blood up. He hit my lung.” (3) The 200-grain Speer Gold Dots from Cook’s department issue GLOCK 37 in .45 GAP had inflicted arm and thorax hits. The distance from Cook’s firing point to where Sweat collapsed from his bullet wounds was measured at 210 feet. Sweat’s empty knife sheath hadn’t been empty long: The blade was found later nearby, where the fugitive had either accidentally dropped or intentionally discarded it during the final foot pursuit.

The manhunt would later be estimated to have cost up to $28 million. Now, it was truly over.

Lessons

The two corrections officers both served time behind bars for their parts in the escape. Other occupational heads rolled, so to speak, at Dannemora. David Sweat was last heard from in solitary confinement for 23 hours per day for the rest of his life. It is from his subsequent confession we know what went on with him and Richard Matt during their fugitive time.

We know from Sweat they had monitored media; for one thing, he had a stolen transistor radio with him at the time of his capture. They had to have heard the media stories of citizens arming themselves, an obvious deterrent to attempting carjackings and invasions of occupied dwellings his drunk and perhaps suicidal partner wanted to perpetrate.

We learn twice over precision marksmanship can be critical to survival. BORTAC team leader Voss was looking down the barrel of a slug-loaded shotgun when he coolly put multiple bullets into the small target presented to him in time to save his own life and the lives of his brother officers. Sergeant Cook’s remarkable marksmanship with 100% hits on a running cop-killer after a strenuous foot pursuit, at three times the normal maximum police handgun qualification distance, was nothing less than what the late Col. Jeff Cooper would have called “a feat of arms.”
This article is dedicated to the 1,500 guardians who participated in the manhunt that ultimately kept many people safe from two particularly cold-blooded murderers.

Footnotes: (1) Gardner, Charles A., Dannemora, NYC: Citadel Press, 2019, pp. 163-164. (2) Rashbaum, William K., Swamps, “Marijuana, Moonshine: 2 Prison Escapees’ 3 Weeks on the Run in New York,” New York Times, Sept. 17, 2016. (3) “Rashbaum,” New York Times, op. cit.

 

 

Today, We Go To Our Friend James Reeves Of TFB TV To See Which Of The Current Crop Of Bullpup Carbines Is The Best.

 Once again, another, another well done review of the Pros and Cons of the current selection of Bullpup carbines. So get yourselves a cup off coffee, or maybe your favorite adult beverage, and get comfortable.

 

U.S. Senator Bob 'Gold Bar" Menendez Comments On His Indictment

 This quote from Senator Menedez has been seen and or heard on virtually every major media outlet. And It's priceless.

 “excesses of these prosecutors is apparent,” and the prosecutors are misrepresenting normal constituent services of a Congressional office".

So Bob, I have to admit that I wasn't aware that Egypt was now part of New Jersey!

Who knew?          🤣🤣🤣

Hot Tuna At The Beacon Theater 9-23-23 - The Last Electric Ride

After 50 years Jorma and Jack will no longer be doing any Electric concerts. Both are in their 80's now and have decided that it's become a bit too much. Accordingly, while they aren't  retiring, they will be doing the less demanding material. Went to the show last night that was billed ad 'The Last Electric Tuna Show" and they gave it their all and a good time was had by all!

US Senator Robert Menendez And His Wife Indicted On Multiple Charges Of Corruption

 

  "Gold Bar" Bob Menendez never seems  to learn

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/09/22/4-key-points-bob-menendezs-colorful-indictment/

Today James From TFB TV Reviews the S&W FPC

 A couple of the Blog followers have mentioned an interest in Smith & Wessons new Folding stock Pistol Caliber Carbine.

Well, here you go guys.

 

I also have a link to a written review From Shooting Illustrated. 

 https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/review-smith-wesson-fpc-carbine/

When You Can And Cannot Draw Your Firearm From USCCA

 Info you need to know, if you don't want to spend your life savings on legal fees, or end d up in prison.

 

Sunday With Blackthorn - Sept 23, 1989 - The Day Off Duty US Army Rangers Engaged In A Shootout With The Tacoma Washington Crips

 Not a good day for the Crips. 

 

Worlds Largest Known Lithium Deposits Discovered In Nevada

After locking up the mining rights to the two Largest Lithium mines in The Peoples Democratic Republic Of The Congo, and just last week making a deal with Bolivia for the rights to mine Lithium in the Bolivian Salt Flats which, up Until 2 days ago, was considered to contain the largest lithium deposits in the world, a figurative 'Bombshell' hit.

Apparently, what is now considered to probably be the new largest Lithium deposits in the world were discovered contained below an inactive supervolcano crater in Nevada. There are still more tests to be made, and even if the estimates are accurate, the discovery has been lambasted by local Native Americans who say the area is on sacred tribal land, as well as environmentalists.

Still, in spite of the several issues that are involved, the deposit is apparently worth nearly 1.5 Trillion dollars, and would put a very major dent in China's Lithium mining near-monopoly.

www.sciencetimes.com/articles/45907/20230911/massive-lithium-deposit-unearthed-nevada-oregon-volcanic-caldera-game-changer.htm

Two Fall From Rollercoaster And Survive **Graphic**

 

Sunday With Blackthorn - Notes From The Recent Hurricane Idalia Down In Florida

 So the Blog is going Prepper today people. The following write-up was from an exchange of emails I had with one of our fellow Blog Followers. He hasn't posted in a few years, but he's back now with some first hand insight on dealing with  the decision to 'Stay In Place' or 'Bug-Out'.  As well as the mindset of a lot of people in how they sometimes bury their heads in the sand as opposed to making even the slightest preparations for an emergency.

Also, if any of you have ever thought about getting a back-up generator for major sustained power outages, he has some interesting tips for you. Particularly about one "minor item" the generator companies don't mention in their advertisements.

In any event, I'm sure you'll all get some insight into what goes into the decision making process that goes into  preparing for impending emergencies.

Notes On Hurricane Idalia

by Steve Forester

Speaking of hurricanes, I am keeping a close eye on TD #1 as currently heading our way. I saw it included in your Early Warning Brief today. Thanks for that, BTW. I have done extensive hurricane prep research and come to the conclusion the best solution is just not to live by the coast - period.
 
Storms are so unpredictable that it will most likely be too late to do any long distance evacuation by the time it becomes apparent you should do so. And can't pack up and leave early at every tropical system that comes along. Best is to prepare to shelter-in-place as best you can and be prepared for an emergency evacuation to a storm shelter if necessary. Which would be if the home will be underwater.
 
The Gulf water is hot tub warm right now and if the TD tracks more north and allowed to develop it could easily turn into a CAT 5 in a matter of hours. Or just fizzle out and be nothing at all.
 
Now, if I can just escape getting blown away in a hurricane we should be fine. LOL!
 
We are experiencing tropical storm conditions right now. Winds are 25 mph sustained, with gusts to 40 mph, and heavy rain.
 
It comes in bands and is kind of neat to watch on radar and see the band sweep in and look outside and actually experience it.
 
The hurricane should make landfall well to the north of us - up around the Big Bend area. Tampa was freaking for awhile as it looked like going right into the bay but it won't be as bad as it could have been. The storm surge is the big threat there.

I am, of course, over prepared. I conned the wife into doing a shelter route recon yesterday and she said not to tell anyone. LOL!! We are having a FEMA MRE this afternoon to see how they taste. We got them during Ian last year and they expire next year. We might eat some if they are palatable.
 
Anyway, we are good. Just basically a heavy thunder storm, but lasts much longer than a normal storm. Probably be like this into tonight.

The FEMA "Ready Meal" wasn't all that bad. Compared to the older military MRE's anyway that contained so many chemicals it left an after taste for days and you couldn't poop for a week. I read the ingredient list and nothing too noxious. No worse than any processed food in the store anyways. They’re even low sodium.

It had a flame less heater like the MRE, but without the good accessory pack like the MRE. I guess FEMA cheaped out on that. The one we opened was a chili like connection with noodles, beans, and tomato sauce. Also had a chocolate protein bar that wasn't bad and a sweet potato-bannana smoothy that neither of us ias brave enough to try.
 
We got 10 cases of them that expire next year so got to do something with them. We kept going to the FEMA distribution center a good while after Ian had passed and I think they were just trying to get rid of stock. They kept piling cases of Ready Meals, bottled water, and blue tarps, in the car.
 
I am a soft core prepper and I noticed the new thing is the grow your own food movement instead of stocking long term freeze dried food. Maybe someone actually ate some of it, I don't know. They now are talking "No Grid" instead of "Off Grid".
 
I developed a fridge/freezer/pantry plan backed up with some long shelf life freeze dried food that we could probably probably make last 2-3 months if we only ate 1 meal per day. I don't know about growing my own food, though. There are ways to do so with minimum space, but animals and other people would steal.
 
I told my sister our Mom & Dad were the best survivalists even if they didn't know it. We lived on a farm and they had a huge garden and canned food. We had cattle for meat and milk, a chicken coop for chicken and eggs, and hogs for smoked hams. My Dad knew how to butcher and preserve the meat after growing up on a farm in the Depression. We had a wood burning stove and cast iron cookware for cooking and heat. We never had a/c. We has a cistern for water.

My grand mother was even more primitive. She had no electricity, no indoor plumbing, and a well with a hand pump for water. She had oil lamps, a wood burning stove for cooking, and a pot belly stove for heat. And she raised 9 kids by herself like that!
 
She was the one I described on-line as keeping a revolver in her apron. She was Scots-Irish, a descendant of the original settlers in KY, and she was tough as a pine knot.
 
What preppers call "off grid" was just normal everyday life for her. People couldn't cope with that today, though. We have all become dependent on inter-connected grids and inter-connected supply chains.

Yes, we are watching Invest 93 closely. I used to just be interested in hurricanes from a scientific standpoint, but now been in two major hurricanes since I retired and I take things more personally now. It is not lost on me the last two major hurricanes were Irma and Ian and Invest 93 would be Idalia. All "I" named storms.

Experience has taught me a lot about hurricane prep. I normally opt for shelter-in-place, but we could have to evacuate due to water. Water and fire being one of the few reason to evacuate.

One big thing I learned is it will be almost impossible to long distance evacuate simply because only two major interstates out of FL that will quickly become jammed. One can say to just evacuate early, but would you in this case? Right now, just an unorganized system that may not develop at all. Could go anywhere from the panhandle to SW FL as anything from a weak TS to a CAT 5 hurricane.

I told the wife if we were going to evacuate we would need to leave by Sunday or early Monday morning at the latest. She just looked at me like I was nuts. lol

I keep bug out bags packed, but by the time we see more what is happening with the storm this weekend and doing things like getting the house prepared for impact and getting all her cosmetics and fashion items packed it will be too late to start up I-75. 50 mile traffic jams and stations running out of gas. No thanks. I'll take my chances on shelter in place unless a mandatory evacuation ordered and then it then will have to tough out in a local shelter.

I could talk a lot about things I've learned about hurricane prep, but since no one else here is affected by hurricanes would be no point. I can say it is funny how few here take hurricanes seriously and how few make any preparation. I would guess if I ask our friends and neighbors that no one would even know about Invest 93.

I just saw the Dep Dir of the Hurricane Center on the Weather Channel and they asked if he knew what 93L would do over the weekend. He said no, but he knew what people in FL would do - which is nothing. They will do nothing unless 93L becomes a major storm heading for them and then they will flock to Home Depot and WalMart and clean out the shelves. Then, head out on I-75 when they get scared, and contributing to the 50 mile traffic jam.

It is the same every disaster. Everyone scoffs until they can't ignore anymore and then they panic. Doesn't give me a lot of faith in human nature.

"Those of you not in the path of incoming storm should use this as a reminder to take a look at your own preps and make sure everything is topped off and ready to go.

After all, it’s better to shore up when there isn’t a sense of panic and rushing".

This is SO true in every endeavor. Something that FEW do, however.

One thing I can vouch for sure is: "IT IS BETTER TO PLAN AND PREPARE BEFORE SOMETHING HAPPENS".

Or, as Retired Navy SEAL Clint Emerson put it: "A crisis is a terrible time to make a decision".

When SNS stress kicks in, the brain's ability to make rational decisions goes right out the window.

One thing I know for sure is, if you don't have a pre-made plan in place when a crisis happens, one's brain will turn to mush.

I remember in Ian, which was a relativity low-level stress event for us, but my wife commented at how she seemed to be confused and making bad decisions. Not something she is normally known for.

SNS stress makes good decision making impossible. Why I have disaster checklists, and pre-made plans for personal security.

When something goes down one will just react according to pre-made plans, or freeze in fear and information overload.

Situational Awareness and a Plan are the corner stones of a Survival Mindset. I see articles written on this topic that make it overly complicated, but this is the gist of it.

Awareness gives you a little warning. Having a plan gives the mind a path to follow under chaos.

Simple as that!

We didn't have that much impact here, but more than the wife expected. We have experienced tropical storms before and the wife joked she wouldn't have been able to tell it was a TS if someone hadn't told her. It just seemed like a regular thunder storm.

This time was a little more. It was pretty breezy Tuesday afternoon til yesterday afternoon. About 24 hours of 25 mph sustained winds and 40 mph gusts. And periods of heavy rain. It was sort of cool how you could look at the sky and see the bands moving over. The sky would be blue and when a cloud bank would move in very fast and bring the wind and sheets of rain that last a few minutes and then it would move on and blue sky again.

Still no damage though other than a lot of palm fronds down.

Ian was different and we lost power, water, internet, phone - everything for several days. We had the whole house Generac generator but the community propane tank ran out after 3 days of several generators running full time. I think 4 generators working off a 500 gal tank. If I had known that I would have put my own tank in.

Generators in general are something I now have mixed emotions about. Great when they work, but other than running out of propane, many generators didn't work when the power went out. They require a LOT of maintenance: a yearly routine maintenance that is about $150, and a lot more maintenance after they have run for several days. About $800 dollars worth. And the guarantee runs out after 10 years which about how long they last.

I think of I had to do over, I would consider a solar generator that would just run the fridge and a few lights. The solar power means no noise, no fumes, etc. and can keep inside the house. Of course have to run the connecting cords to the solar panel, and then plug everything in, but much cheaper than a whole house generator. Of course, in FL there is lots and lots of sunshine to power the panel. Other places might not work so well.

In term of plans and preparation, my plan has changed 5 times since moving here based on hard experience. Still, any plan is better than no plan. After a lot of research I have finally come to the conclusion it is best just to hunker down at home and go to the local shelter if water forces you out of the home. The reason why is rapidly changing conditions in a hurricane make it impossible to know when to make a planned evacuation (as opposed to the emergency evacuation) in time to beat the crowd up the interstate. And, no matter what the "experts" say local evacuation isn't really viable. Where are you to go? Hotels will either be closed or lose power and now sitting in a hot, dark, hotel room with no restaurants open or gas stations. And big hurricanes cover much of the state. One of my previous bug-out locations was right in Idalia's path and much worse conditions then where we were.

Some new things I’ve noticed regarding emergency planning.

1. I notice the new prepper term is "no grid" instead of "off grid". Orientating now more toward growing their own food instead of stockpiling food. I don't know. Seems a little over the top to me. I personally, think the most likely man-made disaster is an economic collapse, or severe depression. I looked to some lessons-learned books people in Venezuela and Argentina wrote about their experiences rather than plan for a TEOTWAWKI situation.

2. I was discussing Tac-Med with my swat team member nephew recently. He said the latest thing is to ditch the expensive hemostatic guaze and Israeli type bandages, and just use rolled gauze and self adhering bandages (ACE bandage) from Wall Mart. This a dirt cheap and according to him work just as well. He has really done wound packing and TQ application on several occasions and he seemed satisfied with how the cheap stuff worked.