Back-Up Sights for Your Rifle

If you don’t own an AR-15 yet, I encourage you to put it on your Christmas list. Since there are dozens of companies who produce ARs (I like Rock River Arms and Colt), I’m sure somebody is having a Black Friday deal.

Of course, once you get an AR it becomes tempting to put a million bells and whistles on it and many folks end up spending more money on accessories than the actual AR itself. Personally, I’m a minimalist and believe the only things you truly need on an AR are a sling, light, and solid sights.

When it comes to sights for the AR, there are dozens of companies who make excellent optics. These include Aimpoint, EOTech, and if you really want to spend some money, Trijicon (get the ACOG or wait until the new year and get the VCOG.)

But even if you buy a quality optic…

I believe it’s extremely important that you have back-up sights on your rifle. The fact is, I’ve taught too many defensive rifle courses where a person’s battery has died on their optic and they have no back-up sights to rely on. Just imagine if you were using your rifle to defend yourself and the battery died and you had no other sighting option as someone was trying to attack you?

The good news is, if your AR doesn’t come with iron sights, they’re easy to purchase and install. For instance, Magpul makes back-up sights called the MBUS. These sights are made of polymer and you can get both the front and rear sight for about $100. Fab Defense is another company that makes polymer sights similar to the ones of Magpul. You can get a Fab Defense front and rear sight for around $75.

When most people think of the Blackhawk company they think of holsters. But Blackhawk also makes back-up sights that run around $100 for the combination. I could go on and on because many companies make back-up sights, but here’s the important thing to remember: Don’t be cheap about your back-up sights. Spending $75-$100 for a set of sights is nothing if your battery ever dies and you need those back-up sights to save your life.

Of course, if you decide to get back-up sights make sure you practice with them and that you also zero the sights. If you simply install them and never zero the sights they’re pointless because you have no idea if you’re actually going to hit your target when using them.

This Will Make You Cringe

Not too long ago, you may have heard about the California man who was sadistically tortured and even had his private part cut off. The man was a successful marijuana dispenser who apparently bragged about his wealth. 

One of his clients told some friends that the marijuana shop owner had a lot of cash so they hatched a plan to kidnap him. Before the kidnapping, the group of three criminals ran surveillance on the shop owner and noticed him going out to the desert quite often. For some reason, they assumed he was burying cash in the desert and they were determined to get it (he was actually out there looking at a land deal.)

One evening, the three criminals burst into the shop owners home. They bound him and his roommate’s girlfriend with zip ties, threw them in a car, and started the drive out to the desert. Along the way, they tortured the man with a blowtorch. 

Once they got to the desert and realized they weren’t getting any money from the shop owner, they cut off his private part. According to the news, “the three men then drove away with the penis so that it couldn't be reattached.” 

The man survived, and four people have been arrested in connection with this horrific crime. Hopefully, you’re not involved in the marijuana business, but I think this is a good reminder that everyone ought to do a quick threat assessment on their lives right now.

What I mean is, there are obviously certain people who are at higher risk for getting kidnapped and robbed. For instance, jewelry store owners, plumbers, and other handymen who carry around a lot of cash, and obviously, marijuana dispensers. But take a quick look at your own life and determine if there are any reasons why you would become a target. 

Do you own a cash business? Do you drive a high-end car? Do you associate with anyone who is considered high risk? Do you travel to any high-risk locations? Have you had any threats against you or a family member? Do you go to the shooting range? (Criminals love to watch cars at the shooting range, follow them home, and then break in and steal the guns when the person is at work.)

My point is, hopefully your life is nice and safe. But if you really think about it, is there any reason why you’re more likely than the average American to become a victim? If so, what measures are you taking to protect yourself? Are you carrying concealed as often as you can… making sure you’re not being following home… and do you have your tactical pen on you when you can’t legally carry other self-defense tools?

Even if you’re not a “high risk” person, it’s obviously still a good idea to take security precautions that the California shop owner probably didn’t take. 

For example, do you have at least one gun in the home, if not on every floor of your house? If someone bursts in your front door is there a gun within a few yards of you no matter where you’re at in your house (if you’re in the basement, in the shower, etc.)

Do you make sure you’re not being followed after you leave the shooting range, a jewelry store, or a very fancy restaurant? Do you have an alarm for your house and do you have the alarm turned on even while you’re home? (At least have a doorstopper alarm if you don’t have a “real” alarm.) 

The fact is, if you spend 10 minutes today thinking, you’ll uncover if there are any vulnerable areas of your life and then you can take the appropriate action to fix those areas. (Such as if you don’t have a gun on every floor of your house yet, you now have another excuse to get your next gun.)

Why You Need a Cache

This past weekend, I was teaching a Spy Escape & Evasion course in the Washington, DC area. We got to the topic of caching (storing items in another place besides your home) and one fellow couldn’t understand why in the world anyone would need to do this if they were a law-abiding citizen.

Well… first, let me go a little more into the definition of caching. When I recommend that someone store a gun and ammo, food and other materials it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to go dig a hole in the woods and bury a large container. A “cache” could also be a small rented storage unit or storing some items at a relative’s house or in a cabin in the woods.

My point is, when a lot of people think of caching they think of the extremist dressed in camouflage that’s caching ammo cans all around his property. I believe caching is for the prudent person who doesn’t want to keep all their eggs in one basket.

In other words…

Yes, there is a chance the government could try and confiscate our guns one day. But right now, there’s a more likely chance that one of our houses will burn down. And if you happen to come home from dinner one evening and your house is going up in flames you don’t want all of your guns and ammo to go up in flames too… you want to be able to go to another location and secure a gun and other needed items in the meantime.

To make this point even clearer, look at caching the way you look at the stock market. We’re always told to diversify and to never invest our money in only one stock because if that stock crashes (Enron) then we’ve lost all our money.  Caching is simply diversifying your life-saving gear to multiple locations, in addition to your house.

If you do decide to cache…

I believe it’s a good idea to spread things out. For example, you might have a storage unit for a few items, you might bury a PVC tube on your property or other land, and then you might fill an ammo can or two and bury that elsewhere.

Also, when it comes to caching make sure and bury items that work. In other words, I know of people who’ve purchased cheap guns for caching purposes. The guns are pieces of junk but these folks couldn’t see themselves burying a quality gun because they see it as a waste of a good gun and money. Personally, I think this is crazy because if you ever need your cache, you obviously want a gun that you can depend on.

So don’t be cheap when you’re assembling your cache. If you ever have to rely on your cache it means that something very bad has happened, and at that moment in time you’ll wish you cached the best guns, ammo and other gear that money can buy.

One last thing for today. To this article, I’ve attached directions for building a PVC pipe cache, plus a few of the items you may want to put in your cache.

Why You Need a Cache

This past weekend, I was teaching a Spy Escape & Evasion course in the Washington, DC area. We got to the topic of caching (storing items in another place besides your home) and one fellow couldn’t understand why in the world anyone would need to do this if they were a law-abiding citizen.

Well… first, let me go a little more into the definition of caching. When I recommend that someone store a gun and ammo, food and other materials it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to go dig a hole in the woods and bury a large container. A “cache” could also be a small rented storage unit or storing some items at a relative’s house or in a cabin in the woods.

My point is, when a lot of people think of caching they think of the extremist dressed in camouflage that’s caching ammo cans all around his property. I believe caching is for the prudent person who doesn’t want to keep all their eggs in one basket.

In other words…

Yes, there is a chance the government could try and confiscate our guns one day. But right now, there’s a more likely chance that one of our houses will burn down. And if you happen to come home from dinner one evening and your house is going up in flames you don’t want all of your guns and ammo to go up in flames too… you want to be able to go to another location and secure a gun and other needed items in the meantime.

To make this point even clearer, look at caching the way you look at the stock market. We’re always told to diversify and to never invest our money in only one stock because if that stock crashes (Enron) then we’ve lost all our money.  Caching is simply diversifying your life-saving gear to multiple locations, in addition to your house.

If you do decide to cache…

I believe it’s a good idea to spread things out. For example, you might have a storage unit for a few items, you might bury a PVC tube on your property or other land, and then you might fill an ammo can or two and bury that elsewhere.

Also, when it comes to caching make sure and bury items that work. In other words, I know of people who’ve purchased cheap guns for caching purposes. The guns are pieces of junk but these folks couldn’t see themselves burying a quality gun because they see it as a waste of a good gun and money. Personally, I think this is crazy because if you ever need your cache, you obviously want a gun that you can depend on.

So don’t be cheap when you’re assembling your cache. If you ever have to rely on your cache it means that something very bad has happened, and at that moment in time you’ll wish you cached the best guns, ammo and other gear that money can buy.

One last thing for today. To this article, I’ve attached directions for building a PVC pipe cache, plus a few of the items you may want to put in your cache.

5 ways to get your gun out faster

If you ever have to draw your gun in self-defense, the encounter will likely be over in a matter of seconds, although it will feel like an eternity. This is why it’s critical to practice your draw so you instinctively and quickly get your gun out and on target if you ever need it.

A perfect example of this is the recent pizza deliveryman who was (almost) robbed at knifepoint. The deliveryman quickly drew his gun and shot his assailant, who turned out to be a career criminal. It turns out that this deliveryman also happened to be a former law enforcement officer who no doubt had practiced his draw more than once.  

So what’s the best way to improve your draw speed?

Well, there are five different things that I recommend you try and that I do myself. First, you have to get a quality holster. You need to be able to get a solid grip on the gun while the gun is still in the holster. If you have to adjust your grip on the draw while you draw, that’s precious time you’re losing. You also want to make sure the gun comes smoothly out of the holster and the front sight isn’t catching on anything. A few good holster makers are Crossbreed, Milt Sparks, and Blade Tech.

The second way to improve your speed is through dry fire practice. At your home, using a safe and empty weapon, practice your draw for 5 to 10 minutes every day. At first, start slowly to ensure you’re getting a solid grip on the gun and that you’re drawing the gun straight up, rotating it toward the target, and then driving the gun straight out.

Once you’ve practiced the draw several times and you’re confident that you have the basics down then it’s time to introduce the third way to improve your draw speed, which is using a competition timer.

You might think you’re already fast, but a timer helps you push yourself even further. Use a timer on your phone or a competition timer (I use the Pocket Pro II) and get yourself to the point where you can get the gun out and on target in two seconds or less. Two seconds or less may sound fast now, but after some practice it’s very achievable. I’m willing to bet that the pizza man had his gun out at least this quickly or else he probably would’ve ended up dead.

The fourth way to improve your draw speed is to videotape yourself. These days almost everyone has a smartphone with a video camera or you can get one of those inexpensive flip cameras. Set up the camera in your home and videotape yourself practicing your draw using the timer.

After filming your draw for about 5 minutes, go through and evaluate the tape. The #1 mistake that folks will discover is that they’re draw is not efficient and they’re not going in straight lines. In other words, many people go “bowling,” which means they are drawing the gun and then bringing it up on target at an angle, instead of driving straight out (picture a person doing the bowling motion with a complete follow though). Many people also “go fishing” where they draw the gun too high and make a circular motion as they bring it down toward the target (picture someone casting).

Another benefit of videotaping yourself is that you might realize your stance is wrong and if you videotape during live-fire training you can see if you’re flinching or jerking the trigger.

The final thing you can do is the Tueller Drill created by Dennis Tueller. In short, have somebody stand seven yards away from you, and on the “go” signal have them rush you. You need to use a blue training gun for this drill, NOT just a safe and empty weapon. You want to see if you’re able to draw and “shoot” before the person touches you.

The fact is, even if you’re the world’s most accurate shot, if it takes you 5 seconds to draw your gun… well… you might not survive the gunfight, unlike the pizza man mentioned earlier. So work on improving your draw speed today, even if you spend just five minutes doing it.

How to Avoid Getting Attacked in Your Car

This past Sunday, a man and his wife were driving through Brooklyn, NY. They were sitting at a stoplight when a group of 10 teenagers started crossing in front of them. The light turned green and the teenagers were still in the road when the man honked at them to move out of the way.

As soon as he honked, the youths started kicking and pounding on his car. He got out of the car to assess the damage and they turned their attack on him. He was severely beaten by the pack of teenagers and according to the news, he had a fractured nose, broken septum, and multiple bruises on his body.

As the driver was getting beaten, his wife began dialing 911 as she was dragged from the car and beaten too. Thankfully, the couple didn’t have any life threatening injuries and they survived the attack by these 10 kids.

Stories like these are becoming more commonplace, such as the incident that happened in Virginia when a man was stopped at a red light and someone threw a rock at his car. When the driver got out of the car, he was attacked by a group of 100 youths. Thankfully he survived too.

The fact is, when groups of teenagers (or any group for that matter) get together they often do stupid and dangerous things. That’s why every time you get in your car you should first lock your doors. It doesn’t matter if you’re driving 2 miles to get milk, get in the habit of locking the doors as soon as you get in your vehicle.

Also, it should be obvious that you should never get out of your vehicle if it comes under attack. If kids start kicking your car or someone throws a rock at your car, hit the gas pedal and get out of the area. If people are blocking your forward movement then either run them over (depending on the severity of the situation and whether your life is in danger) or throw it in reverse and back up.

Drive to a police station or someplace safe, call police and only assess the damage done to the vehicle at that time. If you have no way out and you feel you can’t go forward, reverse, left or right, then it’s time to draw your firearm. If a group of people are surrounding your car then simply displaying your firearm will often get them to disperse.

Of course, you never draw a gun just to display it, you draw it because you believe you might have to use deadly force to save your own life or that of a loved one. And if the group of attackers starts smashing your windows and you or your loved one are about to get dragged out of a vehicle then that would be the time to defend yourself with a firearm.

Remember, you can easily shoot through your front windshield just as easily as a side window. So if people are smashing your car or threating your life and they’re directly in front of you, you don’t have to wait until they’re at your door to protect yourself.

Besides using good situational awareness and hitting the gas pedal to escape a dangerous situation, don’t forget to practice drawing your firearm in your vehicle.

Do this in your garage with the garage door closed (so your neighbors don’t get spooked) and with a safe and empty weapon. Make sure you can quickly get to your gun while seated from wherever your carry position is. You should be able to draw your gun in your vehicle in two seconds or less, just like you should be able to do it in two seconds or less while standing.