What if I told you it was possible to stay in shape AND carry a spare magazine, and that the two aren’t mutually exclusive?
The gear I carry is a negligible addition to what is already me. I don't notice it when I'm wearing it.
What if I told you it was possible to stay in shape AND carry a spare magazine, and that the two aren’t mutually exclusive?
Just don't want to die for a lack of shooting back. I still have three people counting on me being around for a while. If it were just me this entire life conversation would be different. My two kids have saved peoples lives and me a lot of jail time or worse.
John Murphy will be back at the Riley Conservation Club in April 2020. I want to get Randy Harris up here at some point as well.
The gear I carry is a negligible addition to what is already me. I don't notice it when I'm wearing it.
Remind me . . . can't place that quote. I think it's a western. Maybe "Unforgiven"?
Remind me . . . can't place that quote. I think it's a western. Maybe "Unforgiven"?
You carry more knives than Cabela’s.
Yes, a cinematic masterpiece.
The guy with one hand carried two guns IIRC.
*Just don't want to die for a lack of shooting back. I still have three people counting on me being around for a while.* If it were just me this entire life conversation would be different. My two kids have saved peoples lives and me a lot of jail time or worse.
You carry more knives than Cabela’s.
Yes, a cinematic masterpiece.
The guy with one hand carried two guns IIRC.
This ^
I always carry at least 2 (x 13) spares... I have carried up to six, though I was mostly testing out the super secret squirrel pockets-in-a-pocket on some tacticool pants; they work fine, though it's amazing how much heat all that mass can return to you after a time
I need to partake of some of this "training" thing of which you speak.
On duty, I carry 4 magazines for my duty gun. Each has +6 TTI extenders on it. So, a total of 93 rounds for that gun. Add in 20 more in my backup gun, plus 28 5.56 rounds on my duty belt, should I need to deploy my rifle. I've never met anyone involved in a gunfight, who said, "Damn, I really wish I had less ammo!"
Off duty, I carry the mag in my gun, plus one or two spares (anywhere from 39, to 58 rounds).
Do you carry a spare magazine, (speed loader)
... where and when will you reload the gun or will you?
Is the plan to shoot until it is empty and then reload and shoot more if necessary?
Are you planning to reload before for scanning for additional threats?
With the exception of while jogging as my current runner's pack doesn't have room for a reload for my Shield, yes. My normal carry (as in, while not engaged in activities that preclude it) is still strong side carried Glock 17M and a spare magazine. The Shield has replaced my LCR as my backup.
Depends. I've done both. After my police action I knew I still had 28 in the gun and knew the gun was running fine. I saw no reason to reload in that situation and have a single shot for even a small amount of time, just in case things kicked off again. I have also seen (in training, competition, and real world) flubbed reloads where a functional firearm was taken out of service for, in gunfight terms, a lengthy period of time and the person's attention was then drawn to the gun instead of the problem as they tried to rectify it
Contrast to shooting the pitbull that latched on to my arm while jogging and then being confronted by the owners. Once more pressing tasks were accomplished, I used a speed strip to replace the fired cartridge. "More pressing" was assessing my injuries, calling 911, verbally de-escalating with the owner (who I later learned was a burglar and felon), and only then did reloading get it's turn.
Note in neither case did it affect the outcome.
No. The plan is disciplined and effective fire. What I've seen for people who shot their gun dry was a failure of both almost without fail. They ran the gun faster than their abilities, took multiple low probability shots (sometimes even at targets that were no longer even visible), and/or failed to complete the next cycle of the OODA loop and recognize the fight was over. As such they fired a lot of rounds that missed, were marginal hits, or were shooting at a corpse or fleeing suspect until the gun went dry. I've satisfied myself through both training and experience that I can resist the urge to run the gun like a sewing machine, can hold my fire until I have a high probability target, put effective hits on the target, then recognize the fight is over. As such, I'm fine with a partially loaded gun until I'm pretty danged sure I've got time and opportunity to reload with no consequences if I'm interrupted. The exception would be a tube fed shotgun where an aborted reload only costs you the shell you drop and doesn't affect the readiness of the gun.
No. My awareness of my surroundings is significantly more important to my survival than the number of rounds left in the gun. Even if I have two rounds left, my odds of successfully engaging another threat I'm aware of with two rounds is exponentially higher than my odds of successfully engaging a threat I'm unaware of with a fully loaded gun. You can make a pretty good argument for doing both at the same time, hanging your hat on the fact your reload probably won't take more time than your "OOD" time from the OODA loop and by the time you get back to "A" your gun is up again...assuming no bobbles of the reload. Self-awareness of your own skills and reaction to post-shooting stress can change that answer. I know how hard it is for me personally to break out of tunnel vision and the amount of concentration required to actually see vs just look around, so unless I execute the reload subconsciously I won't be tying up any conscious brain power until post-scan.
At this point, I'm more concerned with finding a way to carry a good tourniquet than more ammunition. I've been carrying a RAT, which is easy to pocket or ankle carry. I've learned that it's apparently not that great for adults, and the larger the adult the less effective it is. Probably better off as it's own thread, but finding a way to carry an effective tourniquet I can reach with either hand is probably my highest reward change to EDC at the moment. I'm experimenting with a belt carried small-of-the-back holder for the SOFT-T but am not impressed so far.
With the exception of while jogging as my current runner's pack doesn't have room for a reload for my Shield, yes. My normal carry (as in, while not engaged in activities that preclude it) is still strong side carried Glock 17M and a spare magazine. The Shield has replaced my LCR as my backup.
Depends. I've done both. After my police action I knew I still had 28 in the gun and knew the gun was running fine. I saw no reason to reload in that situation and have a single shot for even a small amount of time, just in case things kicked off again. I have also seen (in training, competition, and real world) flubbed reloads where a functional firearm was taken out of service for, in gunfight terms, a lengthy period of time and the person's attention was then drawn to the gun instead of the problem as they tried to rectify it
Contrast to shooting the pitbull that latched on to my arm while jogging and then being confronted by the owners. Once more pressing tasks were accomplished, I used a speed strip to replace the fired cartridge. "More pressing" was assessing my injuries, calling 911, verbally de-escalating with the owner (who I later learned was a burglar and felon), and only then did reloading get it's turn.
Note in neither case did it affect the outcome.
No. The plan is disciplined and effective fire. What I've seen for people who shot their gun dry was a failure of both almost without fail. They ran the gun faster than their abilities, took multiple low probability shots (sometimes even at targets that were no longer even visible), and/or failed to complete the next cycle of the OODA loop and recognize the fight was over. As such they fired a lot of rounds that missed, were marginal hits, or were shooting at a corpse or fleeing suspect until the gun went dry. I've satisfied myself through both training and experience that I can resist the urge to run the gun like a sewing machine, can hold my fire until I have a high probability target, put effective hits on the target, then recognize the fight is over. As such, I'm fine with a partially loaded gun until I'm pretty danged sure I've got time and opportunity to reload with no consequences if I'm interrupted. The exception would be a tube fed shotgun where an aborted reload only costs you the shell you drop and doesn't affect the readiness of the gun.
No. My awareness of my surroundings is significantly more important to my survival than the number of rounds left in the gun. Even if I have two rounds left, my odds of successfully engaging another threat I'm aware of with two rounds is exponentially higher than my odds of successfully engaging a threat I'm unaware of with a fully loaded gun. You can make a pretty good argument for doing both at the same time, hanging your hat on the fact your reload probably won't take more time than your "OOD" time from the OODA loop and by the time you get back to "A" your gun is up again...assuming no bobbles of the reload. Self-awareness of your own skills and reaction to post-shooting stress can change that answer. I know how hard it is for me personally to break out of tunnel vision and the amount of concentration required to actually see vs just look around, so unless I execute the reload subconsciously I won't be tying up any conscious brain power until post-scan.
At this point, I'm more concerned with finding a way to carry a good tourniquet than more ammunition. I've been carrying a RAT, which is easy to pocket or ankle carry. I've learned that it's apparently not that great for adults, and the larger the adult the less effective it is. Probably better off as it's own thread, but finding a way to carry an effective tourniquet I can reach with either hand is probably my highest reward change to EDC at the moment. I'm experimenting with a belt carried small-of-the-back holder for the SOFT-T but am not impressed so far.
How can situational awareness be so important and yet you end up with a dog latched on?
Because I sucked at it. Lesson learned, though, it was the last time I ever jogged with headphones in. I heard the clicking of the claws on the pavement just before it lunged at me from behind and got my arm. Had I not been wearing headphones I might have heard it in time to at least turn and confront it head on. Maybe that would have changed the outcome, maybe it wouldn't have, but it definitely started me behind the curve on that one.