Quote from: fastwin on February 10, 2012, 02:23:02 PM
And now for something completely different: Bug Out Bags

I joined homeprepping.com forums to learn..  watching vids on canning, dehydrating foods, etc...  if the shtf while still in nyc thgh, its going to be rough.. 

Quote from: cokey on February 10, 2012, 07:56:11 PM
if the shtf while still in nyc thgh, its going to be rough.. 

My sister used to live in Hell's Kitchen.

She asked me what she should do in case of a zombie apocalypse.

My advice was to head to the nearest Duane Reade for some condoms.

Ha...

Quote from: cokey on February 10, 2012, 07:56:11 PM
I joined homeprepping.com forums to learn..  watching vids on canning, dehydrating foods, etc...  if the shtf while still in nyc thgh, its going to be rough.. 

Most of what we eat, we grew, raised, caught or hunted.  Its just good to know where your food came from.  We can about 400 pints of stuff a year and dehydrate and freeze quite a bit too.  We had a bumper crop of peaches this year so we dehydrated a bunch of them - good stuff!   Made chili today with venison burger, canned and dehydrated tomatoes, onions, home canned chili beans, frozen peppers and a cube of homemade pesto with homemade cornbread made from leftover dehydrated sweetcorn ground into meal.  All out of the garden (including the deer)

Tasty!

If you carry a .45 instead of a 9mm you need to be about .2 inches less accurate to deliver a fatal shot.  Good luck with that, go with what you can shoot accurately and quickly.

   When You are looking for a pistol that You are considering to be a self defense tool,find one that You can repeatedly shoot and hit Your target.Looks ,brands, calibre, ect. should all fit into that criteria,what works for someone else might not work for You. as far as stopping power, if You can't hit them You won't stop them. Hell, a .22 has stopped more problems then One might think. Until You have put several hundred rounds through a pistol, in many different materials and situations, You will not actually know what You want in a handgun. Most of Us, from what I'v read, have owned or shot dozens of pistols and found what We like. Start somewhere and find what You can work with, if You don't like it, change.  As for Me, I enjoy a well built 1911 in .45, other than that the Sig .357 is nice also.....Works for Me. 

By far the most important part of the defensive handgun equation is YOU!  You are the weapon, the gun is one of your tools.  Find a reliable gun that you like and spend the time on practice with a purpose.  You will then be far better off than someone with the best defensive handgun that money can buy that isn't confident or competent with it.

At least for me, competent pistol shooting is a very perishable skill.  If I'm not practicing with a purpose at least weekly, I'm not as competent as I would like to be.  People that shoot a little bit at the range a couple of times and then think they are good to go are dangerously fooling themselves.  I try to shoot once a week and dryfire, practice drawing from concealment, mag changes, etc a couple times a week.  YMMV.

If all you are currently comfortable with is a 22, it will work but practicing with it will make it easier to step up to more effective handguns.  Practice,tactics,confidence and competence can make up for the tradeoffs in stopping power, carrying convenience, etc.

I approve of these last two posts.

The purpose of this thread is just what we've been talking about. You can call it "beating a dead horse" but the self defense caliber (9mm vs .45acp vs Louisville Slugger...) debate will rage long after we're all gone... by then it will be which particle disintegrator blaster is the best. But the ever present truth is find what works for you, is reliable, fits your needs, you can afford it and practice with it, did I mention practice?, take some shooting courses you can afford from qualified instructors and did I mention practice?

Yes the caliber is important but you the shooter is the most important X factor. I'd take my Ruger MKII .22 to a gun fight if the other guy sucks. I don't care if he has a SAW, 1911 or 12 gauge scattergun. As John Wayne would say "bold talk pilgrim" but the point is you and your actions will always be the most important element in case shit hits the fan.

I have several flavors of handguns, rifles and shotguns. OK... I have some minor gun/ammo hoarding issues. I consider it a blessing and one of my best qualities. But having lots of hardware means squat if you don't practice, stay efficient and have the right mindset. That's not me talking, that same sentiment comes from every professional instructor I have ever met and taken classes from. I'm just repeating what they have said for years. I believe DRKWNG would back me up on that.

Lastly and more importantly I can now not stop thinking about Warren's chili!! It's cold outside and the thought of chili will not go away! Damn you.

Who?

Live fire vehicle bailout drills.


http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa91/chiflado/718f81e3.mp4

Don't know if I'd want to be falling back from down range during a live fire drill unless I was working with pros. Not that I am a pro by any means... I'd just want everone else on the range to be. No offense to the shooters in the vid and I certainly saw nothing wrong. In an exercise I'd just want that cover fire to commence after I passed by. That's the civilian in me talking.

I've done lots of room/house clearing drills but only did one vehicle exit drill years ago at Thunder Ranch. It was fun, useful and gave you a whole hell of a lot to think about. Not something you ever really get to practice. My neighbors would be concerned if they saw me working on this in the driveway.

No worries, my young pipe hitters.are well trained by me. Cover fire is used when your back is to the threat, it's useless to wait for the other shooter to get to you before you start engaging.

  Understood. Just thinking drill vs real thing makes a difference. But if everyone is well known on the team and trains together on a regular basis then it's completely different than being in a typical weekend tact class and thrown together with a group of unknown shooters. Been in that scenario at classes. Great sometimes, scary in others. Good to shoot with a class for a couple of days before you get in a live shoot and move drill. You know what I'm saying.

Still, the vehicle exit drill is one not covered often enough. Standard issue civilians (like me)rarely even think about that possibility. Again, hard to find a range or facility set up for that drill and a staff/owner willing to do it. Hey... mind if we borrow your car for a few minutes?

CQB run from Friday


http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa91/chiflado/07e5da3b.mp4

Reminds me of the original Terminator indoor shoot house at Thunder Ranch. There was an overhead catwalk where instructors could follow you or teams through the facility and observe or video. Neat stuff.

What's used in the shorty shotgun on the door breachings? Bird? Buck? Something else?