The Tactical Life

Off Topic
2670

Thought for the day:

From Pat Mac:

tmac

Check out my Brother @bradhalling story. He’s on the left. I got spun up for this in May of 93. My Squadron ended up staying behind. It got pushed and pushed again. Brad and his guys exercised some Badassery

Oct 3rd 1993. The Battle of the Black Sea. We had already been out once on a flight and had returned to base. I, along with a couple of teammates, were walking along the beach against the shoreline when we got the call. Quickly we ran back to the hangar to get our kit on. Minutes later, we began to assemble at the aircraft to begin what was to become the longest workday in our lives. There are several books and of course the movie Black Hawk Down that depict the day. What I will say is that every man, some really young boys, were battlefield tested that day. There was no one that survived the 3rd and 4th with unanswered questions about their mettle! When at that time, the longest sustained firefight since Vietnam subsided, the Americans had suffered 18 KIA and about 80 wounded. Two of the KIA were from the 10th mountain who had formed a force to try and come in to exfil the trapped Task Force. .

The recce/sniper element took a very hard hit. Pictured is Dan Busch kneeling. Standing from left to right is myself, then, Medal of Honor recipients Gary Gordon and Randy Shughart. This would be the last picture in which I stood with these brave men. Dan, not often spoken about, was a kid from Wisconsin. Most notable about Dan was his strong Christian values. What I respected most about Dan is that he lived the life he represented.

Next to me are three dear friends. They would not survive the fight. It has been my obligation to make good and live the life they couldn’t…Each of these men were warriors but they were also kind and compassionate off the battlefield. It is my desire to carry on in life what they couldn’t.

Training:

Not much time today, work and a flat tire taking all the time, so went to the track for about 30 minutes for sprints.

Question of the day:

Next to me are three dear friends. They would not survive the fight. It has been my obligation to make good and live the life they couldn’t…Each of these men were warriors but they were also kind and compassionate off the battlefield. It is my desire to carry on in life what they couldn’t.

I have worked and known several men and one woman who gave their life in the line of duty, both LEO and military. I am asking myself this very question: Am I living a life that they couldn’t, am I an example of their courage and sacrifice? Instead of getting an of getting an internal “Hell Yeah” I am getting a feeling of not doing enough.

2671

I would not pretend to evaluate your results, although this thread by itself, is an area where your input has touched untold numbers, inspiring them to better themselves.

However, an old man lesson l would offer the thread: monitor activity and the results will be what they are. Example - l am going to lose weight replaced by l will drink 8 glasses of water per day & exercise 1 hour per day. And then monitor the action.

1 Like
2672

wise words, brother.

2673

Thought for the day:

I will not have open net access for 5 or 6 days. Train hard, be aware, and practice a skill.

2674

Pocket clips, especially shitty ones can make or break any knife or flashlight. The best I’ve found so far is the one on my Spyderco, which has been my daily carry literally, for 4 years now. As in, all day everyday, even at home and I sleep with it at work, and so far the clip has held up like a champ. The only thing I don’t like about this one is the blade is serrated.

The pocket clip on my flashlight is the Switchback 2.0 by Thyrm. I’ve only been using it for about 4 months now, which isn’t long enough for me to review an item, but is already longer that most clips last. The only downsides I see is it only fits on larger lights, and rules out the type of tailcap you press for momentary on, twist to stay on.

Keep us posted on your knife. Shitty clips have ruined many a good knives and flashlights for me.

2675

Forgot the pics

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2676

Still around Brother. Gearing up for ERT (Canuck SWAT) selection in a month.

Sample from today’s work:

Walking in/walking out drill: 5 rounds at 3/5/7/10/10/7/5/3 yards (40 rounds total) no time limit

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25 yrds 5 rounds strong side on barricade, 2 support side on barricade, 5 rounds kneeling strong side barricade 2 rounds prone. Should be 14 rounds total, but there’s an extra in there somehow. Counting is hard.

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Cadence fire at 5 yrds. Trying to work down from half to quarter second splits

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Targets are NRA B-8’s printed on letter size paper. Pistol is my work gun complete with 12 pound double action trigger.

3 mile easy pace run. 1 hour hike with kid/dog.

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2677

Shooting is only more impressive given this fact. Also, dear god why is that your issued Gun?

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2678

That’s a fair question. It’s a Smith and Wesson 5946. They stopped making it like 23 years ago. Some police agencies seem to be of the opinion that a really long, heavy trigger is “safer” because it makes ND’s less likely. I’d suggest that if you’re on the trigger, you intended to shoot so a lighter trigger making it easier to send rounds where you intended is “safer”, but what do I know?

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1 Like
2679

If it’s in the holster, the trigger pull shouldn’t matter in terms of keeping things safe. If it is out of the holster, then I would damn well want a lighter trigger pull.

I also can’t shoot double action to save my life, so that may factor in my hatred for heavy triggers

2680

You won’t hear me arguing. They keep on saying we’ll be getting something else. Parts are becoming an issue, but the wheels turn slow. We’ll see what we end up with.

2681

Too right Brother. On a related note, many people underestimate just how physically demanding it is to provide meaningful CPR. My partner and I once did quality 2 person CPR on a 7 year old boy for 40 minutes straight. Not easy. Didn’t get the outcome we hoped for either.

If you are too broken down, unfit and immobile to get down and do the work, how can you save your child? People seem to imagine that they will somehow find the superhuman strength to do what is necessary in that critical moment. Sure, there are stories of ordinary people putting forth extraordinary effort in time of need, but I wouldn’t bet my life or someone else’s on it.

You don’t rise to the occasion. You sink to the level of your training.

2 Likes
2682

I recently got home mats, and I’ve had some fantastic local players in my basement over the last week. It’s been a boon to me on many levels.

One of the guys who came by to train recently asked me if I thought gi or no gi was better for bouncing. This was already on my mind because someone recently asked the same question in my log on this site. It was a simple question, but I’m going to go ahead and read into it more than is fair to my friend. This is a guy with tremendous physical attributes. He’s got legit training, mostly in judo, but enough grappling to know what’s happening on the ground. He’s a handful in no gi. Just trying to hold him down is a chore, no matter what position you’re in. So much strength and energy, and enough technique to know what he’s trying to do.

In the gi, he doesn’t do nearly as well. Attributes are still important, but you can’t play the game of being a powerful greased monkey when you’re wearing most normal clothing. Again, I’m not being fair to my friend here and I’m simply speculating, but he’s also possibly hung up on the practicality of gi submissions. Who walks around wearing that much durable fabric? Why not train submissions that don’t rely on a kimono?

These are good questions, and legit concerns. I’ll also say right away that training no gi is absolutely worthwhile and necessary to round out your abilities. Nor should you hang your self-defense hat on a bow-and-arrow choke or a Darth Vader choke.

That said, training in the gi has been far more valuable when it comes to controlling people in real-life struggles, at least in my experience. The value of the gi for me has not been in the submission techniques. The value is in grips and friction. Everyone I’ve had to put my hands on has been wearing clothes of some kind. Holding a clinch on a guy wearing jeans and a hoodie or Carhart is a lot different than doing the same thing to a guy drenched in sweat with in his underwear.

Belts are also very useful things to grab, and training in the gi helps you become aware of this option. Grabbing things that are worth grabbing can often help you out a lot when you’re struggling with another person, and the gi trains your mind to look for these types of options. Simply stated, you also get used to struggling with people who are wearing clothes.

I’m not diminishing the effectiveness or the importance of no-gi training, I’m simply asserting that training in the gi has been a closer simulation to the real life struggles I’ve experienced. If you’re the type of guy who finds himself getting into fights on the beach for some reason, you should definitely prioritize no gi training.

2683

Sometimes, you have to fight naked people. Not often, thank God, but sometimes.

2684

Have missed your posts @batman730.
Be safe.

1 Like
2685

This sounds like a story worth telling.

2686

The classic bro move is to angrily take their shirt off pre-fight haha. Probably too cold up in maine for those shenanigans though. Only ever seen cothed fights in that maine haha.

2687

Yeah the bro shirt removal in the lead up to a fight is a thing too, but I would like to think those types of fights are pretty easy to avoid.

At my age I would have no problem walking away from someone acting like that.

2688

This reminds me of one of the funniest fights I ever saw. High school, one kid was a real prick, other just a total country boy who was a nice guy, but didn’t really have a lot of patience. Other kid kept pushing him for some reason, things escalated.

Annoying kid starts yelling “you want to go?” And then goes to take his shirt off. The moment his hands are over his head with the shirt tangling his arms, country boy threw a solid right cross straight into center mass of the shirt, caught the kid straight in the face with his arms still tangled. I’ve thought about that literally every time I’ve ever seen some fool take his shirt off for a fight since then.

2689

I have seen men take their shirts off for a fight in the dead of winter.

I thought the purpose was to prevent your opponent from grabbing it, it might serve as a sort of a Gi, and also it might end up over your head which limits arm movement and blocks out vision.