When you travel outside your home, you are exposed to a vast network of threats. Collisions, robberies, Identity and information theft, assault/battery, or freak accidents. Many of these issues are mitigated through preventative action and contingency plans. We mitigate vehicle collisions through careful driving and insurance. We mitigate assault by minding our business and de-escalation tactics. I do not see many people talking about mitigation of robberies or theft. The best case scenario in a robbery is to just comply and give the thief what they want if you are not trained to handle an armed threat. I recently developed an anti theft decoy kit for myself for when I travel to prevent a massive loss of funds that may strand me.

​Self-defense is a broad subject that many of my fellow gun geeks have distilled down to the act of shooting an attacker. Based on my training and experience, there is a whole lot more to defense than pulling a trigger. In fact, defense goes well beyond learning ‘Gun-Fu’. There are stages leading up to the attack that you can see, countermeasures that can be taken, contingencies you can/should train for, and even methods in which you should conduct yourself before/after the critical incident, in the eyes of the law. The greatest flaw in mainstream firearms training is they are only preparing you for pulling the trigger, even in “self-defense” classes. This merely reinforces the myopic ideology that defense revolves around the trigger. I get that instructors will pander to the mainstream to keep their business alive, but I feel that classes can at least be enhanced or modified to include the reality of defense. But in the meantime, let me fill you in on a few things to munch on in your mind.

​Since the beginning of my journey as a gun owner, I have wondered if it makes more sense to have one gun to carry all year or different guns for different occasions and seasons. I know there will be people who side with one option over the other, so I am going to briefly discuss both. Consider this a brainstorming session for evaluating both opinions. Who knows, there may be a compelling argument you hadn’t thought of before, so stick around and read through.

For civilians, EDC pistol selection can be one of the biggest and most trivial decisions we can make in our limited scope of tactical life planning. Selecting an EDC pistol should be done using tactical thinking not unlike Executive Protection Agents planning a trip. This means you have the opportunity to assess the situation, make a plan(s), and select the right tool(s) for the job based on YOUR intel, YOUR area, YOUR threats, YOUR laws, etc. Basing your selection off what someone else has is not only lazy but can also result in buyers remorse(Been there, done it, got several T-shirts), so don't do it. The process I am going to share can also help you figure out what kind of training you should focus on with your smartly selected  EDC pistol, but that will be an article for another time.

moving from a rural Alaskan home to an urban neighborhood in Northeast Arkansas has been quite drastic. The coolest temperatures at night are the highest temperatures you will see in the summers of Alaska. During the day, a vehicle is nothing more than an oven and the outside is humid and the sun threatens to cook your skin. Different climates such as this makes me have to readjust my gear and clothing for carry.

If someone would have said a year ago that I should consider a less-lethal option for carry, I probably would have laughed at them. My recent attendance at the Covered 6 Security Academy changed a lot of my preconceived notions about CEWs (Conductive Energy Weapon) and use of force in general as a civilian. In this article, I am just going to discuss the concept of carrying a CEW, such as a TASER Pulse+ and why it can be a good option.

​If you carry a concealed weapon, fashion should be a subject on your mind, especially in winter. There are a number of things to consider and plan for throughout the year, but sorting out your winter wardrobe is the most important. This is a subject that requires experience, planning, and practice. Your carry style will either be dictated by the changing temperatures, or you can compensate for them with your wardrobe choices. I prefer the latter.

​I would hate to think that people would view the term “EDC(Every Day Carry)system” as an extreme concept. Technically we all have an EDC system in some form or fashion. Think of a woman with her purse that she takes everywhere with her. Her purse is merely a form of off-body EDC with all the goodies and comforts she will need in order to function in her daily life from work to recreation. Heck, even guys have an EDC like their wallet, cellphone, and keys. The concept I am discussing in this article is intended to help you establish an EDC system that merely adds certain items in a way that has minimal impact on your daily life, but adds another level of preparedness, which never hurts.

There are plenty of people who have been carrying, or able to carry a firearm daily in their EDC. However, from many of the posts and videos out there, people have either not done much real thinking about how their EDC system works or they don't have enough experience training and using the gear they experience. In my experience, the more you use something and the harder you train with it, the more likely you are to uncover problems. This is what I like to do for my channel and blog. I like to push the limits of my gear and my own capability in order to expose weaknesses. In this article, I am going to share lessons with you that I stumbled upon or realized after making a grave error.

With the Fall season reaching it's prime and October being right around the corner, Alaska is about to dive right into Winter. This will entail us getting snow, very little light, and generally undesirable living conditions. With this seasonal change, it is time for me to think a little bit about my daily carry system in terms of weapons, clothing, etc. I will run you through my method for selecting the firearm I use and why.

Selecting a good carry ammo should not be about just getting something that will be enough for some tasks, but something that will cover virtually all tasks necessary during a defensive armed engagement. There are several things to consider when looking for a good ammo, and I am going to go through these subjects one at a time. I will attempt to be brief and concise. I classify ammo selection as being a fine art that requires alot of thought and critical thinking, which unfortunately is not trending in the gun culture of today. I hope this article encourages the masses to reconsider just taking someones word and recommendation. Instead, I think it would be healthier for everyone for all of us to do our own research and decide for ourselves what is an appropriate ammunition.

It has been a while since I last wrote on this blog. Things have been crazy in my personal life and I am finally getting my groove back and getting content out there for my awesome viewers and readers. For today I have a few subjects to cover such as practicing to get your proficiency back on point, reloading lessons, and an update on the SAR9 from Sarsilmaz.

Out of all the people that have a dedicated EDC system or kit, you can bet that they are going to have a knife, if not several on them. In this article, I figured that I would just add my input into the point of a carry knife and what I see them being good for. 

I often hear people talking about how they dress around the gun they want to wear or how they pick the gun that suits their wardrobe choice for that particular day. I personally do both depending on my mood and what I am doing. Sometimes, I choose a pistol that I want to carry, then decide on a set of clothing that is appropriate for what I am doing that day. For the most part, I do this in the winter time. Realistically, I mostly roll around in a hoody all year around in Alaska, which sets me up to carry full sized guns with relative ease. But then there are days in the summer where I just cruise around in a t-shirt and jeans. In that case, I will have to choose a pistol that fits my clothing choice.