Category: Self-Defense

Window of Opportunity: The Modular Pistol Revolution

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To begin, I should mention that our main carry pistols here at the ranch are all Glock Model 21 and Glock Model 30 .45 ACPs. I intend to keep those as our family’s standard for the foreseeable future. But in the past two years I’ve branched out into buying several SIG Model P320 9mm pistols. I like the clever modularity of these pistols. The same serialized trigger group module can be used in assembling everything from a subcompact pistol to a full size race gun. I also find their ergonomics quite good, their controls instinctive, and their trigger pulls decent–right …


The Mathematics of Countering Tyranny

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Introductory Proviso: The following essay on possible gun confiscation is a purely conjectural gedankenexperiment about the future that extrapolates from recent history and current trends. Nothing herein is seditious (per 18 U.S. Code § 2384), nor a call to arms, nor a threat to our government or to any individual, agency, or group. The Collectivist Dream The current mass media-driven “debate” on firearms (actually more like paternalistic lecturing or chiding) seems to be leading toward greater restrictions by Congress. The collectivist gun grabbers have the dream of ignoring the Second Amendment and somehow magically removing all detachable magazine semi-auto rifles …


Ammunition Depot, by Pat Cascio

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No matter how expensive of a firearm you might have, it won’t run without ammunition. Today we’re taking a close look at Ammunition Depot and their line-up of available ammo. A Few Things About Me Long-time SurvivalBlog readers will know a few things about me. Number one is, I love a bargain, and number two is, I demand quality. Quality never goes out of style, and it beats junk every time. Free Ammo For Testing Firearms I receive a lot of ammo for my firearms articles for free, from Black Hills Ammunition and Buffalo Bore Ammunition. Without these kind folks, …


Review of Max Velocity’s Defensive Concealed Handgun Class

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I am in my 50s and have been carrying a concealed handgun on and off since 1990.  Consistently every day for the last six (6) years.  I have read a number of books by Massad Ayoob, John Farnum, Jeff Cooper and others. I’ve studied a number of instructional DVD’s as well. I also practiced what I thought were the correct ways to draw and shoot. My training even included how I thought through the reasons behind why I carried a concealed weapon.   But I had a nagging fear that I couldn’t shake that I’d missed something or things weren’t as they …


Krav Maga – Militarized MMA, By krav maga practitioner

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Krav Maga  allows fast competency

Let me begin by stating that any martial art training is a good training. However, some martial arts take many years or repeating the same form until the repetition is perfect. And sparring in many (not all) martial arts is frequently with someone of the same size and power level with many rules to keep it a fair fight.

Origins

Krav Maga was originally developed by Imi Lichtenfeld for the Israeli military.  to quickly train their new military. Imi Lichenfeld initially based the training on his experiences fighting fascist groups prior to WW2. Krav Maga is constantly evolving. It is now based loosely on many martial arts, boxing, wrestling, Muay Thai, Akido, and Ju Jitsu/BJJ. Krav Maga uses the most efficient aspects of other martial arts…


Inexpensive, Effective, Firearms Training, by R.R.

Editor’s Introductory Note: Three important points should be kept in mind, while absorbing the following valuable article: While quite useful, dry fire practice should only be conducted in a room with a suitable safe backstop, such as sandbags or several thickness of thick metropolitan phone books in a large box atop a desk at chest and head level. And, of course, the weapon should be completely unloaded and ALL ammunition should be absent from that room to prevent negligent discharges. Double check all of this before conducting any dry fire practice. If you want to practice clearing stoppages, then do …


Letter Re: Glock 30 Pistol Product Review

Good Morning, I have used the Glock 30 and Glock 30S as back-up guns along with the Glock 21 and Glock 41 a primary carry guns. I started carrying a Model 21 several years ago after training at Front Sight. I changed to the Model 41 after it was introduced by Glock because I prefer the longer sight radius and increased muzzle velocity that  it offers over the 21 or 30. I also switched from a Glock 30 to the Glock 30S as a back-up gun when the [lighter, thin slide] 30S became available.   One item that Pat left …


Pat Cascio’s Product Review: Glock 30 Pistol

There seems to be some kind of stigma with the term “step-child”, for some reason. I should know. I had a step-father and was, therefore, a step-child. I can’t say that I was always treated the same as my half-sisters, but that’s another story. How many times have you heard the phrase “I’ll beat you like a red-headed step child” in your life? I know I’ve heard it thousands of times over the years and probably used it myself for some reason. There are some firearms that are considered a step-child for some reason, and I don’t quite understand why. …


My Personal Journey to Embracing the Second Amendment, by K.F.B.

My great appreciation and understanding for the need of the Second Amendment and the necessity for the right to own guns was a slow and incremental journey. No one in my generation of my family owned guns. I was not raised around guns. I grew up in densely populated suburban areas of California, the Midwest, and New England. I never served in the military or in law enforcement. My maternal grandfather was a highly decorated U.S. Marine in WWI with the Fifty-Fifth Company of the Fifth Regiment. He fought at Champaign, Belleau Wood, the Argonne Forest, Verdun, and Chateau Thierry. …


Letter Re: onPoint Tactical Course

Hugh and Jim, I won the opportunity to attend one of the onPoint Tactical courses through the SurvivalBlog writing contest. However, I knew my 23-year-old son would get a lot more out of it than I, and Kevin Reeve (owner) graciously allowed Luke to attend in my place. He couldn’t have been more grateful for all he learned in the Basic Scout course. He spent hours telling the rest of the family of all he learned, and we all practiced some of the skills. (Luke has practiced a lot more than the rest of us.) And Luke immediately started making …


Letter: Rebalancing Your Gun Collection

Daer Editor:I had a thought about JWR’s suggestions on re-balancing your gun collection.  While I own a few pre-1899 guns, they are now pricey, even for well-worn guns in shooting condition.  I believe an acceptable alternative would be to purchase new reproduction black powder revolvers (the Model 1858 Remington is probably one of the best) and obtain a .45 Colt conversion cylinder.  The BATFE does not consider these to be firearms, so they can be purchased with no paperwork locally or through mail order.  With the conversion cylinder installed they can fire modern cartridges, albeit at low pressures that replicate …


Letter Re: Sanitation Issues: Understanding Home Septic Systems

Dear SurvivalBlog Readers, Recently SurvivalBlog has presented several articles on sanitation issues. I’d like to add to those. Many homes are equipped with septic tanks to perform as a holding tank for waste allowing waste decomposition to occur. Reduction of solid waste through bacterial action works, but is a slow process and often incomplete; additionally, a large number of chemicals we regularly introduce into our septic tanks, such as common soap, dish washing and clothes detergents, bleach, commercial toilet cleaning solutions, etc., are toxic to the bacteria performing the job of decomposition. Septic tanks are one part of the equation, …


My Defenses- Part 2, by Sarah Latimer

Be secure and uninviting. Keep your gates, doors, and windows locked and secure as much as possible. Limit access to your property and home to one or two main entrances and keep those well guarded, monitored, and locked. Be sure to keep shrubs and trees trimmed so you can exit and see what is in the yard around your home. You don’t want to walk up to the front door with keys in hand and have someone jump out from behind your tall shrubs and push you inside and lock the door behind you to isolate you and do whatever …


My Defenses- Part 1, by Sarah Latimer

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So, in my last article, I referred to the young shepherd boy we read about in the Bible named David, who fought off a lion and bear while protecting his father’s sheep and boldly stepped into a one-on-one battle with Goliath who was taunting the Israelite army and mocking God. I am sure David had practiced his slingshot before engaging Goliath with only this one tool and no self-defense armor, and in the previous article I stated that we should be practicing our weapons also. Now, let me just say right up front that I am not a military or …


Pat Cascio’s Product Review: North American Arms .32 Auto– A Closer Look

Over the years, I’ve gotten quite a few requests for a followup article on a gun I tested either on SurvivalBlog.com or when I was writing for the printed gun magazines. I usually decline to do these articles for several reasons. First of all, it’s next to impossible to get one of the firearms printed magazines to accept a followup article. Secondly, I can’t duplicate the torture tests that most gun makers put their guns through. However, I have received quite a few requests for a followup article and report on several firearms I’ve tested for SurvivalBlog.com, and I thought …