The Tactical Life

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2309

Logged in to say YES to keeping this thread going. I cannot express how much I have learned from you men here. As a “young buck” turning 30 this year, I have really focused on making myself the best man I can be for myself and my family. I think the areas of self defense/ protection are my weakest, as I was raised very sheltered- I have never been in a fight. I know I need to join a martial arts class and get punched in the fucking face. Until then, I will continue to implement the tools and advice that you all have provide here in regards to overall safety in the home, parking lots, bathrooms, etc.

Keep it up!

2310

Dude pounding on entry tube didn’t appear to have weapon drawn. Otherwise, it was surreal, like a movie hero climbing on an airplane.

On second thought, USCG needs a tractor beam. :grin::grinning:

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2311

Don’t take this as me steering you away from training martial arts, which are great for so many reasons, but achieving any real proficiency takes a long time. 2.5 years in for me and I’m just getting comfortable calling myself a proficient grappler against most untrained people in uncontrolled circumstances.

Even still, I don’t hang my hat on jiu jitsu except when I’m training or bouncing. When I’m just out-and-about, I hang my hat on having good awareness of where I am, making safe decisions, minding my own business and carrying my Smith and Wesson Shield to deal with violence, should it find me.

Assuming you have the option in your jurisdiction, firearms training and education would be a much faster path to real protective abilities. If you haven’t trained in that either, one of the things that makes it so great is that any good instructor and many great authors really hammer home a lot of great ideas that extend far beyond actively using your gun for protection.

That said, go get lit up somewhere. The jiu jitsu guys will probably be gentle as they manhandle the shit out of you, but there’s lots of value in getting punched in the face too. That’s another quick investment you can make that will give you a better perspective on violence.

2312

On the subject of minding your own business while out and about…

This Disney fight video has been making the rounds on my little slice of social media, and some of the martial arts guys I know are saying things to the effect of…

“Why did it take so long for someone to step in? If I was there, I’d [knock him out, choke him out, take him down, etc.]”

Well, I wouldn’t. Not unless I was visiting Disneyland with all of my jiu jitsu and/or LEO buddies and we step in as a coordinated group. That’s not happening, but I have been to Disney with my kid and his mother, and I’m pretty sure that crowd is full of parents with their kids and not groups of martial artists. I’m not intervening in what I saw there. I’m keeping my people safe.

Could I control the one really aggressive guy? Most likely, yes. But who knows what happens after that. There’s a lot of people in play. I don’t particularly care about PC notions when it comes to my safety, and I have to entertain the possibility that I’ll have a group of people on top of me even if I do manage to choke out/take down/clinch up the bad guy. Who’s got my back if that happens?

Bloodborne diseases, assault charges, civil suits, personal harm and the possibility of being part of a viral video unlikely to do my life or career any favors is enough to keep me out of this particular spat.

If someone was getting severely beaten to where death or great bodily harm seems imminent, maybe I roll the dice and intervene. But that’s not what happened here.

Let security handle this shitshow.

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2313

Is this more of a domestic issue? It didn’t seem like two distinct crowds of people. The main assailant was saying, “Get out of my house”.

2314

I would consider it such, yes. A number of people became involved over the course of the encounter, definitely not one group vs. another.

2315

I saw that video the other day. It’s an excellent demonstration of how bad at fighting most people are, even big, aggressive, seemingly intimidating ones. The big aggressive guy couldn’t put a girl down without multiple attempts, and once down she didn’t stay down long, or seem particularly affected by the punches.

It’s a really excellent example that, while a good big 'un beats a good little 'un, even moderate skill and experience managing that initial dump of adrenaline puts you at a huge advantage.

2316

Back from the darkness: First post in three years on keeping this thread. Thank you, I am honored.

I can thing of no goal more worthy. Well said.

Yes, I agree you need to start, but, not because you haven’t been punched in the face. All martial arts have one thing in common, they force you to learn movement; What it is, how you move, how other people move, because, movement is what saves you life. Learn to move you body and a whole new world will open up. Example: moving your center 4 in. to the left or right will throw off the aim of a shooter.

After years of training, one thing stands clear: The best way to survive a fight is not get in one in the first place.

2JS is point one with the firearms suggestion. Read his post twice.

Don’t be stranger, brother.

2317

I agree 100% with your post. That is an internal security problem and not a threat to you or your family. Damn! that was a brilliant demonstration of fighting skills:)))

2318

Just for you: ))))sub

2 Likes
2319

Thought for the day: “rescue tool” eye candy: Benchmade needs no introduction.

bench

Damn, I can just see this on my range belt. 300 USD? mmmmm…

A closer look reveals not one, but a pair of blades housed between the black G-10 scales. A new variation of their Axis locking mechanism called the Option Lock was developed to accommodate two blades. The butt end of the 365 Outlast features a carbide tipped glass breaker. Finally, a rescue hook can be unfolded from the back of the handle as well. Making this one hell of a versatile rescue tool.

No expense was spared on the Outlast 365. Utilizing S30V steel for the drop tip blade insures a long rust free service life. The blades and tools are also Cerakoted matte black as this falls into Benchmade’s “Tactical” and “Rescue” categories. The second serrated blade is made from CPM-3V steel and features an oxygen bottle wrench as well as a blunt pry-tip that can be used as a flat screwdriver.

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2320

Yesterday’s work : Skills

Heavy bag: 5 three minute rounds, one minute rest.

MMA / Wrestling dummy: 5 three minute rounds, one minute rest. throw the dummy over your shoulder (front and rear) at least twice during the round. work ground and pound and knee strikes to the midsection

smoked after this.

2 Likes
2321

Hell yeah!
Honda came to my house after dozens of call and letters that l didn’t answer, to fix air bags. But l have my eyes peeled when walking across the church parking lot for ruffians on Sunday mornings…

@idaho @twojarslave
I know, know, know you are right about getting into other people’s business, (definitely domestic disputes) but dude is acting the fool and hitting every woman around him.
I’m not sure l could stay out of that. Even if it was only baiting the man by insulting his fear of mixing it up with a man instead of women.
Not trying come off cavalier, but respectfully, you two protect strangers/goods every day you get paid. Protecting the weak is ingrained in some (a small few).

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2322

This is basically interchangeable with most of the bar fights that have gone down on my shifts, minus children in the mix.

Don’t get me wrong, my impulse is to step in any time I see a man hitting a woman. It’s how I’m wired. If this were in a bar and I’m on CCTV and covered by their insurance, I’d be all over the aggressive guy. I’d also be in the presence of a bar tender, maybe another bouncer and definitely at least a dozen regulars who would, in fact, have my back if things went south for me.

If I put myself in my own shoes last time I was at Disney, my now-grown kid is 10 years old and I’m there with his mother for all of us to stay safe and have fun, not break up fights or act like a hero. I don’t know any of these people and I don’t know what will happen if I put myself in the mix.

And for the record, I’ve only ever bounced part-time. Two, three shifts per week max. Nowadays I’m basically retired, only occasionally filling in for early parts of a shift before my old ass needs to go to bed. I have a white collar day job in defense manufacturing. I guess they keep me around in case anyone gets too drunk on the job :slight_smile:

2323

How much did your dummy weigh? is it a better option than using my 100lb heavy bag for similar purpose?

2324

Video is too low quality and jumps around too much for me to tell what he’s wearing, but there’s a few different options for maritime work like that and I don’t know what CG’s SOP is for that.

We usually stuffed foam in behind our plates until our vest was as close to neutrally buoyant as we could get it. We also had these little belt mounted inflatables we were issued, some guys wore them some didn’t. Mustang (and probably a couple other companies) make a slim-line inflatable float device that will attach over your MOLLE, some are rip-cord actuated others inflate automatically when they get wet (which I always thought would be detrimental to anyone working in a maritime environment - look at how much water was sloshing around, guarantee if he had been wearing one of those it would have popped open).

And the final option (which we also had/have) is releasable body armor. Wire cable routed through certain grommets and loops holds the whole shebang together, and in an emergency you pull the loop or pillow on your front (depending on which model you have) and the vest falls apart. Unless you had done what most of us did, which was route your comms antenna cable through the MOLLE - this would then hold one side together rather than allowing front and back to completely detach from each other.

Sorry, little long winded. From what I can see, my guess would be a releasable vest, maybe with some foam in it. Doesn’t add as much bulk or weight as you would think. I know the regular ‘blue’ Coasties will wear the inflatable suspender kit, but from what I could see of this guy it didn’t look like he had the tacticolored one on his kit.

2325

Just watched video. Ugh what a-holes!

The aggression wouldn’t warrant my intervention if I was a guest there. Didn’t get to that level of violence/danger to innocent people. As 2JS said, internal security issue.

IMO that situation calls for other guests to be aware, observe, and be good witnesses if they really want to help bc after LE shows that’s what they need in order to get anything accomplished against the morons.

That said, it disgusts me for a “man” to strike a woman under any circumstances, plus there were children present which to me multiplied the offensive nature of it. Someone needs to pull those boys britches down right there in front of everyone and whoop their asses for behaving like little brats.
Alternatively, hang ‘em from a yard arm for that shit. Whatever. Not ok to behave like that.
Would I have physically intervened? No. I’d have shouted commands to stop, yelled for LE or security. IF that caused them to bring it to me then that would have been their mistake now wouldn’t it? :wink:

2326

Really, the tubby woman who I am thinking used the power chair horked right in the face of the man in the magenta shirt in the early going. I wonder what made her think she could do that with impunity.

2327

Had an experience today that got me thinking.

I just moved across country, work has me in San Diego right now. Also recently married, so living in a small apartment with the new wife and our dogs. Left a lot of gear behind since space is tight and I can’t have the home looking like a storage locker (well not without swiftly becoming single again…)

Sitting on the couch watching tv with the wife on my day off, and we heard a massive crash outside, followed by a scream. I jumped out, grabbed our med kit, and ran out the door. See a pretty big collision outside, one car flipped, the other smoking like crazy, a ton of people on the street just standing around. Pulled a lady out of the turned over car, got the engines turned off, got a bystander to call the paramedics, checked for cuts, bruises, head trauma, just the basics. Besides the lady briefly going into shock (laid her down, splashed some water on her face, she came around), no one was hurt.

Here’s what’s got me thinking. As I was sprinting to the crash, the only thing in my head was “I don’t have the gear to handle this.” Back home I had a pretty full med kit backpack where I could stabilize most anything at least temporarily. Now, we have a may 8x8 little red premade kit that I through a couple additions on, better suited for fixing a kids scraped knee than stopping bleeding. If there was real trauma, I’d be next to useless.

When we moved, I did the standard security measures. New locks, window security bars on the bottom (no idea the actual name of those), firearms available within 10 seconds from anywhere in the house. But damn, I let medical slip. I know better than this. Wife trained as an EMT before switching routes because EMTs aren’t paid a dime of what they are worth. I’ve had a fair bit of Navy emergency medical training. The basic skills are there, always could improve of course. But I was definitely caught slacking today.
Wife and I both said right after we handed things over to the paramedics that we needed to upgrade our kit.

I realize that medical training is easily the least sexy part of being prepared. No one gives a damn about what brand tourniquet you have, or whether or not you can treat a heart attack. But for most of us stateside, for every one instance a gun or some BJJ could save your life, there are a dozen where a good med kit and some basic training could save the day. I certainly forgot that, and have a bad feeling that others do as well.

Stay Safe y’all.

(Also, if anyone has good recommendations for must have medical gear, shoot em my way.)

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2328

So, an interesting little incident yesterday in my home town. In the middle of Manchester there is a shopping centre. The shopping centre has a big food court in it, lots of crappy food shops and a toilet etc.

Yesterday, someone stood on a table and started shouting for everyone to look at him, before starting to take his clothes off. Everyone cleared off out of the food court, security came over and the young man ran away, just before an armed police unit showed up.

Now, the thing with the food court is that the only entrance/exits to it are stairs or escalators. This means that yesterday, a few hundred people were trying to all run down a flight or two of stairs at the same time.

My family consists of me, my wife and our very young daughter. Yesterday the threat was not from the person making a fuss, bit from the crowd. Me and my wife had a chat about it, and decided the only sensible option was to not eat in the food court again, not that we particularly did anyway.

Just to be clear, we weren’t in the city centre at all yesterday, just read about it on the news. But it got us having the conversation about what to do in an emergency. I told her she needs to pick up our daughter and run, and where I can I’ll be with her. Gave her advice about if we’re in a shopping centre or a restaurant, to go through the storage rooms/kitchens for their fire escapes or at least somewhere to hide a bit better, and to always know where the exits are. Any more tips?