Advantages of the Push Dagger for Self-defense

I was going through my knife collection the other day and came across an oldie but goodie: The Cold Steel Safe Keeper Push Dagger.

In the world of edged weapons you rarely see or read much about push daggers/knives.
It’s usually folders or traditional fixed blades that end up in the spotlight. Nothing wrong with these no doubt but the push dagger does deserve your attention because it certainly has its attributes.
1)Fixed blade
It’s not a folding blade, usually a single piece of steel. This means you have all the rigidity and strength of a fixed blade knife.
2)Ease of carry
Because the handle is perpendicular and not in line with the blade. Push knives can be very compact in spite of blade length. It is fairly easy to carry concealed a four inch blade, let alone smaller 2 or 3 inch ones which are still formidable weapons. The one pictured was carried by me on several occasions in Argentina. I remember how comfortable it was and feeling rather well armed with it.
3)fast deployment
Unlike folding knives there’s no blade to flip or other deployment mechanism. Just grab and pull out ready for use. Neck knife models are particularly well suited for quick access. The Cold Steel Mini Pal can be kept handy in a key chain. Don’t let the small size fool you. That little Min Pal can cut.
4)instinctive use
Because it is held in a balled fist and used in the same manner as punching, the push knife lends itself nicely to not only different martial arts disciplines but also more instinctive punching.


Safe Maker II at ColdSteel.com
5)Almost impossible to disarm
Besides its ease of carry, this has to be one of its most valuable traits: retention. Anyone that ever took a knife fighting class and practiced some CQC with practice knives knows how likely it is for knives to be dropped during a fight. In the case of women or smaller frame people there’s also the risk of being overpowered and disarmed, a position you certainly never want to find yourself in. With a push knife, such a thing is almost impossible. For most models none of the handle is left exposed for grabbing and the only surface protruding is the blade itself, which your attacker certainly doesn’t want to touch.
FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”

IPCS and Defensive shooting skills

Yesterday I shot in the local IPSC Production division competition. It was fun, got to practice a bit and (allow me to brag a bit) I did end up in first place which is always nice.
I was planning on writing this post before I knew the results though, mostly because I feel that this kind of competition, done right, greatly improves your defensive shooting skills.
A few points I’d like to make:
1)Train as you fight
Practice with the kind of gun you’re likely to carry, which means you’ll most likely compete in Production (meaning common guns with little in the way of mods or custom jobs)
The only customisation my Glock 17 has is Mepro tritium night sight. I did install a ZEV V4 race connector a few weeks ago for 25m precision shooting competition but I got rid of it. It did improve the trigger pull but it also caused a noticeable click before resetting the trigger that was driving me nuts. For IPSC I didn’t see any noticeable improvement anyway and its not allowed as a modification for Production division anyway. For precision shooting at 25 meters the Glock 17 simply isnt the gun for that kind of thing either so there’s not much of a point.
You have to be honest regarding what you are trying to achieve here. If you want to train for defense or if you just want to win competitions, which is your priority. You CAN win with your stock Glock. I did. Other shooters had nicer Sig Sauer x Fives, Tanfoglios. Do these give you an edge for the competition? Maybe, I don’t know. The shooter is the one that matters the most though, and if you are doing it for the training like I ‘m doing, you simply won’t care. Whatever your carry gun is, if permitted in the production division, that’s what you should use. Same goes for holsters, their location, mag carries, even clothes, everything should be as close to what you wear and use on normal basis as possible.
2) Different stages, skills, learning to think
The mindset aspect of how to resolve a stage is also interesting. What sequence is more effective, faster or easier. For example, if you shoot a popper that will bring up another target, then you want to shoot that, shoot another card and only then go back to the new target that popped up so as to save time. Little things like these are mental exercise for your shooting brain. The you get to practice more typical stuff of course like drawing, reloads, shooting with either hand single handed in some cases, going prone, dropping to one knee, shooting around corners. Its fun but you also practice memory muscle that adapts to potential real world scenarios.
3) Fitness
Something else IPSC reveals is how good or bad your fitness level is. Sure, some stages have more running, kneeling or other physical requirements than others, but fit people do move faster and cut time, end up with faster and more accurate reflexes as well in general.
4) Working with stress
It may not seem like much but having a small crowd behind you and someone timing you does add a significant amount of stress, especially for new shooters. This stress serves as practice. If a timer stresses you then you don’t want to know what someone shooting at you will do for your nerves. The more you practice, the better you learn to control your stress. Sport and actual fighting aren’t the same thing, but this is just like a boxer going against someone that trained self-defense moves but was never in an actual fight (even one in a ring) Believe me, the guy that stepped into a ring for a few years always beats the one that never set foot in one.
The more you practice and compete, the better you get at shooting accurately and fast.
5) Meeting like-minded people
And of course there’s meeting people with your same interests. There’s usually a number of LEO and military, but then you just have guys (and women of course) from all walks of life with shooting as a common denominator. Shooters are pretty peculiar people in some cases. I at least have a bit of a problem making friends with people I have little in common so I tend to gravitate towards people that like firearms. This social circle can mean not only friends to shoot and hang out with, but also people you can count on when you need them.
FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”

This is how thugs are dealt with in Brazil (Gunfight vid, lessons learned)

Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”

“Dad, it hurts”

Last night in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 28 year old Martín Bustamante was walking with his 3 year old son Agustin to buy a pizza for dinner. It was 9pm when two scumbags robbed them. After taking their money they started walking away, but one of them turned back one last time and shot the 3 year old that was still holding his dad’s hand in the back. He smiled as he shot the 3 year old, his father would later say.

Agustin only managed to say “dad, it hurts” before dying in his dad’s arms who was rushing him to a hospital. The loot? 15 USd for a pizza and a cheap cellphone. The killers? 14 and 16 years old.
This happened in my neighbourhood where I lived most of my life, in Lomas de Zamora.
This is why I left my country, because you just can’t live like this. Because that could have been my son and once your son is dead then it’s just too damn late to take action.

Now people are pissed, a family has been destroyed. There will be a protest tonight, and people will speak on tv, and those 14 and 16 year old scumbags will walk because the idiotic Argentine laws protected them and the corrupt politicians who are just as bad as they are don’t want to lose any votes from criminals so they wont change anything. And 3 year old Agustin will still be dead.
When we talk about survival and specifically armed self-defense the idea of killing is glorified as a transcendent event. Experts debate about people being able to pull the trigger or not and being able to live with taking another life. Those experts never lived in Lomas de Zamora. How I wish someone had shot those two scumbags. I’m sure the family of Agustin wishes so too. There’s no remorse in killing these beasts because they aren’t even people, they are worse than savage animals. This is why killing one of these bastards isn’t a solemn event but a celebration, a service to society.  One less animal out there to murder, rape and destroy lives.
FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”

Choosing the right Red Dot/ Holo sight for you and why the answer is Aimpont

So I found myself in that position. A new gun that needs a glass. In this case it’s a Colt M4, 14.5 inch barrel. Sure enough, I’m looking at a gun that is intended for short to medium range, so not a big magnified scope but instead a red dot sight or holographic sight.
If you’re like me, you want quality but you hope there’s something good out there that doesn’t break the bank. Here’s the thought process I went through and how I ended up with an Aimpoint Micro in spite of having initially discarded it.

Eotech.
The military uses them, so they must be good. Circle and Dot? Sounds good. A big circle for quick shots close up and that 2MOA dot for more pinpoint accuracy at longer ranges. Perfect.
Well… no. Turns out the US military is currently suing Eotech because they have lied about their specs. They wouldn’t keep their zero and also had problems with their water resistance. While many people do still trust them, to pay that much money for a product when the company is being sued by its main client didn’t make much sense to me.
So a red dot it is.

Holosun, Vortex, Primary Arms…
Knowing that Aimpoint was crème de la crème but not wanting to spend that much money, these are the brands I started to look into. Most of the reviews were very good, lots of happy customers. Vortex are rugged and have good specs, Holosun have neat features, auto on/off, models that have motion detector to turn on, Solar powered sights. Vortex has the Spark AR which seemed ideal, using common AAA under the optic.
After taking a good long look at these brands, watching youtube reviews, reading articles and such I came to the obvious conclusion: These are nice “budget” red dots made in China. Some are better than others, have slightly better reviews or better durability, or better features, better runtime, but at the end of the day… budget light made in China.
What does this mean? Well, it means less quality, less durability. The battery won’t last as long, or the design and built quality isn’t as good. Even more important nearly all of them suffered sudden death at one point, even after one or two shots in some cases. Switches would break or fail, the red dot, was more of a line, the auto on feature would stop working, the zero would be impossible to keep. With every one of them there was always something. And here is where you come to the obvious conclusion I mentioned above, which is that if you want extreme reliability and durability in spite of the intrinsically fragile, state of the art tech, you need to buy the crème de la crème. You need that “Made in Sweden” quality. If you want to be sure that sight will still be on and bright 3 or 4 years from now when someone breaks into your house, if you don’t want your sight to die, move 5 feet to the left or become so dim its impossible to see in the middle of that gun fight you wished you never saw in your life, then go for it. Save up those extra couple hundred bucks, save money here and there and get yourself the Aimpoint. An Aimpont Micro T2 may be worth 600 bucks, but a broken Holosun or Vortex is worth 0.00 USD.  Even worse, it may cost your life, and that’s a damn high price to pay.

Ok.. which Aimpoint?

Aimpoint PRO Patrol Rifle Optic $449

So you made up your mind and are spending the big bucks. What about Triijcon red dot? Tirjicon is still rather new to the red dot game, and Aimpoint is still king of the hill. If you want something like an ACOG then sure, Trijicon is what you go for, but for red dot sights Aimpoint is still the best most proven brand.

Aimpoint Micro T-2 2 MOA Sight with Standard Mount $715.99

Aimpoint options are basically Pro,  micro T2 and H2. The Pro is clearly bigger, almost twice the weight but very durable. The micros are almost half the weight, much more compact and yet very durable. This is why you seem them so often being used by guys running nice guns. The H2 and T2 are very similar, look the exact same, but the T2 is night vision compatible and has better water and temperature resistance specs. My advice is to go for the T2 or Pro if you don’t care about the extra weight and size, but if you don’t care about the night vision, the H2 is still tough as nails and wont let you down. Any of the three would make a great purchase if one sale, so maybe just buy the one your see priced best if you don’t care about night vision compatibility.
As the saying goes folks, Buy once, Cry once. Words to live by.
FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”

Should your handgun have a manual safety?

US military new gun, the Sig P320
Fernando,
Your video showing the victims who went for guns that did not have a round in the chamber tells us that they most likely had pistols that did not have mechanical safeties, or if they did have safeties they did not have them engaged.
Either way, they probably thought that keeping the chamber empty was a way to keep the gun from being discharged accidentally by themselves or others who might pick it up.
We have exchanged notes before about the desirability or the undesirability of mechanical safeties on pistols.
While adherents of the no-safety guns make various arguments in defense of their position, a couple of points can be made.
I can send you many articles on many accidental shootings with guns that just “went off” and shot somebody.  These guns were fired by toddlers who somehow got their hands on them (gun owners’ neglect) all the way up to “highly trained” people such as law enforcement officers.  (Interesting that these articles don’t ever disclose the model of pistol involved—wonder if they are worried about legal liabilities.)
But since toddlers probably don’t know how to disengage a manual safety, and competent adults would not deliberately disengage a safety in an unsafe setting, we might conclude that these shootings overwhelmingly are with pistols that do not have a manual safety.
A few months ago, one of the popular gun magazines had an article by a lady firearms trainer who swore that she would never have a pistol with a safety, saying “That is just something else to fumble with” if she had to use her gun.  Strange—you would think that a professional would be trained to the point where there would be no “fumbling.”
Certainly, a gun with a round in the chamber and a manual safety engaged would have been better than the “rack and then shoot” scenarios in your video.
Larry
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Hello Larry,
That’s a good point but you have to keep in mind two words: police and military.
For concealed carry I can tell you one thing; Go with a Glock. Round chambered, no safety.
Your child should NOT take hold of your gun, a safety does not make you a good parent, it does not compensate for lack of training either.
Now for a cop that may lose his gun in a struggle with a suspect, a soldier that may lose his gun in a fight, maybe when handling prisoners, these can be reasons for a safety. I do remember though a cop that had a negligent discharge with his Beretta 92, a gun that has a safety. Safeties do not in any way compensate for improper gun handling. But when it comes to losing the gun to someone that may use it against you (and lack the training to quickly disengage the safety) it may save a life.  Maybe that’s why they required it for their new issued handgun, the Sig Sauer P320.  I bet special forces will stick to their Glocks though, and so should you. A well trained operator, civilian or military, will take the most advantage of a gun without manual safety and a chambered round.
FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”

[VIDEO] Empty chamber and lack of training gets you killed

Home Owner’s son kills 3 Home Invaders with AR-15

 
The three The three home burglars that got killed
23 year old Zachary Peters shot the 3 intruders with an AR-15 rifle after they broke into his home, carrying weapons and wearing black clothes.
The link to the story includes more info and the audio of the 911 call, which is worth listening so as to understand better what happens when talking with 911 during such situations.
This goes to show how important it is to teach our kids safe gun use from an early age. I know of much younger children, even pre teens that have used their father’s gun  to protect themselves and their families.
Also its important to remind everyone about the risks of gun handling by children that are too young or not mature enough to handle such responsibility. Be extremely careful with this given how common that type of accident is when it comes to children and firearms.
If your child is old enough, besides safe gun handling the KEY thing to teach  is proper identification before shooting any target. This right there saves lives and avoids tragic shootings of friendly fire.
FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”.

Robbery video: lessons Learned

Gun Shooter vs Gun Fighter

Teenager shot to death after young girl sneaks him in house

The title of the story linked above is pretty self-explanatory. A girl sneaks a boy into her house, apparently the boy hides in a closet. Dad thinks someone broke in, ends up shooting the boy.
Its one thing to kill someone you are 100% sure you want to kill. Its another, VERY different story, to look down on a person you just killed and realize you made the worst mistake of your life.
I’ve said it a hundred times but I haven’t said it enough: Keeping a loaded firearm for defense without proper firearms training is like getting on a car for the first time, turning it on and getting on the highway. It’s a disaster waiting to happen.
Any clown pulling the trigger is a shooter. Now, someone that has received advanced training and keeps it up to sustain the level of proficiency, that’s who your’re supposed to be. Someone that actually trains to fight with his gun. Not in the sense of the old west gunslinger and professional duelist, but a modern day gunfighter that has trained for the martial use of his weapons.
My old instructor used to say, “we don’t train shooting machines here, we train hitting machines.” Anyone pulls the trigger and shoots, not everyone hits what they are shooting at in a violent dynamic encounter. There’s a big difference. My first firearms instructor when I was 14 or 15 years old insisted on target recognition. “ID the target before you put a round in it”. Till this day, I believe that’s the most important lesson I’ve ever learned regarding firearms. The truth is that for most normal people, far more often than not whatever went “bump in the night” will be something you do not need to kill. Yes it can be a home invader, but far more likely it’s the dog, the cat, one of the kids that went down stairs to get something to drink in the middle of the night. It’s the friend that stayed over for the night. It’s the wife that is a day early back from that trip or the son that “broke in” through a window in the middle of the night because he forgot his keys and didn’t want to wake everyone up.
Lesson of the day folks: ID your target before shooting. Once the round leaves the barrel you can’t take it back.
FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”.

The Venerable Pump Action Shotgun

Gunfight Video: 10 Lessons Learned

1)Carry a gun,  a FIGHTING gun, not a microsubcompactnano pocket carry special in 25 ACP with a capacity of 2+1.
2)Train. A lot.
3)Awareness. Enough of it and you may even avoid the fight entirely.
4)Apendix carry isnt that great. Its more obvious when drawing and that can get you killed. Stick to strong side, 4 oclock.
5)When shooting, shoot to kill and shoot a LOT.
6)If you’re not shooting, get out of the way (like his wife did)
7)Even at just a foot away, you can still miss.
8)Down doesn’t mean dead. Make sure he’s no longer a threat, kick his gun away.
9)Look for his friends, there may be more.
10)Brazilian cops do NOT mess around.
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”.

Home Invasion: 13 year old vs Armed Gang

Home invasion in Moreno, Buneos Aires leaves one dead.
The typical Argentine nightmare: Mom arrives home and a gang of criminals force their way in. At least 5 men, wearing body armor labelled “Police” and armed with SMG, shotguns and .45 pistols. They start beating the mom and her son, 11 year old Nicolas. The other son, 13 year old Lucas, is inside the house in one of the bedrooms. He sees that that they start beating his mom and little brother, asking where the money is. Lucas gets dad’s 9mm, with a round in the chamber, takes aim from the hallway and opens fire. Lucas shot one of the criminals twice in the armpit, killing him instantly. The rest of the gang escapes. One of them opens fire with a .45, the ricochet of one of the rounds wounding the younger child in the head but only cuts the scalp, doesn’t go through.
Now, the nightmare of this family just beings. Lucas doesn’t fully understand what he did, he’s receiving psychological support. The entire family is scared, worried about payback from the gang. It’s the 3rd time the family suffers a home invasion. They now have to sell the house and move to another town, maybe out of the province.
FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”.

Shooting Video: 5 important Street Survival Lessons

Just a few days ago this happened in down town Buenos Aires.

After attempting to rob a man that had just left the bank with a significant amount of cash, two criminals take off in a motorcycle as the man draws a Glock and shoots five or six times, killing an innocent bystander, a locksmith that was just walking by.

• Laws change from one country to another, even from one state to another. Keeping that in mind, it is still safe to say that in most jurisdictions its practically impossible to claim self-defense when shooting someone clearly escaping from you. Again, different laws, but in general you don’t want to shoot a bad guy in the back as he moves away from you.
• Elemental rule of firearms safety: Know your backstop. A gunfight is a very dynamic situation, but still you should maintain a level of self-control and avoid opening fire in areas full of innocent bystanders in the line of fire.
• This incident happened in the financial district of Buenos Aires. Notice how just seconds after dropping practically dead everyone just keeps walking around him as if a dead guy on the sidewalk was the most normal thing in the world. The normalcy bias is a strong psychological safety mechanism.
• Today there are cameras everywhere, even without them shootings leave plenty of evidence around, from ballistics to blood splatter patterns, it is fairly easy to tell who got shot in what circumstance.
• Many of the bystanders attempted to do the right thing in this type of situation: When you hear gunfire, take cover! The two on top drop to one knee or lower their bodies although it would have been much better to go prone, the one on the right attempts to get behind the wall of a building entrance, but fails to do so fully which would have been much better. Oh, and one more thing. It is estimated that half the motorcycles in the down town area with two people are driven by criminals. There’s even been laws proposing to ban more than one person in them in the capital.

FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”.

Arrive home to an ongoing robbery …

Henderson County man Arrested After Shoot-out With Homeowner

This guy came back shooting. Crazy!
C-
Thanks for the link.
Notice a couple things,
1)The window of opportunity. The two most vulnerable moments of the day in high crime areas (and the most vulnerable even in safer ones) is when leaving or entering the house. That’s when you’re more likely to be attacked, that’s when you should be extra careful and aware of what’s going on around you.
2)The legality of the shooting. The attacker threatened the victim first with a gun. The home owner didn’t rush in guns blazing. While in some States you can use lethal force in defense of your property, in others you are required to be in legitimate fear of your life. In this case there’s no doubt about the house owner being threatened with a firearm and the justification of the shooting. It could have easily been a very different outcome with the victim in jail instead. Make sure you know your local laws and make sure you know them well, especially when it comes to the legal status of the use of firearms, self-defense and the use of lethal force.
I'd rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6. Sure, no argument there. But you know what’s the reality-based survival twist to that saying? If I’m getting judged by 12, I sure as hell want a “not guilty” verdict.
Counting on WROL working in your favour is as wise as counting on getting away with doing something illegal, its just a VERY bad idea.
FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”.

Reply: WROL? You better know your Local Laws

Fernando,
Hey amigo. I haven’t heard from you for some time. Good to know you’re still out there writing excellent, realistic articles like this one. I think in any Argentina-like inflationary situation cash, especially in the form of gold and silver, would rule.
I agree with you that WROL is unlikely to occur (failing a truly catastrophic event that shatters all infrastructure). The U.S. government and most State governments have “continuity of government” plans to insure their survival and ability to remain in power. They even have plans for dealing with such horrifying events as a massive or nuclear EMP. Note that I don’t claim their plans will be effective but they do exist. So a total collapse of police or fire protection, or medical services is unlikely–though a severe decline in or corruption of such services is possible.
About shooting looters or home invaders. In most States, killing someone is deemed justified if you feel like your life (or that of a family member, etc.) is threatened. Colorado has a “Make My Day” law that allows a person to use deadly force to defend their home and that has been held to apply to “on their property” not just “inside the house.” The law you cited is that “Make My Day” law and anyone who kills someone under paragraph 2 of that law is immune from prosecution (paragraph 3) or from civil liability (paragraph 4).
Still, not all States have such laws, so it is wise to know the laws of the State in which you reside.
I have enjoyed reading your books and found them very informative. My own are fictional and envision a total societal collapse caused by a massive asteroid impact. If you haven’t got around to reading them yet I’d love for you to click on my website link and check them out.
Ray
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Hello Ray,
That’s why its so important to know not only exactly what the law says, but also what it means. For this last part most folks will need to have a conversation with a lawyer or attend a shooting class which includes legal advice.
Fearing for ones life for example, means there has to be a believable threat. This usually does not include shooting people in the back while moving away, especially when outside private property. This is why it’s a VERY bad idea to chase criminals. Its practically impossible to claim self-defense when the criminals are traveling away from you while you chase them.
FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”.

SEALs go Glock: Naval Special Warfare to adopt Glock 19

It had already been in use by several special forces units but its now official and the Glock 19 will slowly replace the venerable SIG226.
Personally I think it’s the best choice they could possibly make. In fact, the Glock 19 is the handgun I specifically recommend in my book “The Modern Survival Manual”, both for novel shooters and experts. In my opinion it combines reliability, compactness, accuracy, light weight, ease of use, ammo capacity and ease of maintenance like no other firearm in the planet. Of all the people I taught how to shoot, without exception all of them, men and women, large hands or smaller ones, they all shot considerably better with the Glock 9mm than with any other gun. At the same time 95% of expert shooters that I consider worthy of taking note of what firearm they carry, they all choose Glocks.
As a one and only firearm I have a tad of a preference for the slightly larger full size Glock 17 (the smaller Gen 4 is just perfect IMO), but I understand that for special forces operators that already carry a rifle and considerable weight, the lighter weight and more compact model 19 is better suited as a small yet fully capable, full capacity secondary firearm. The shorter barrel of the Glock 19 also means that the addition of a sound suppressor does not excessively extend the overall length of the firearm, which is yet another desirable feature. The Glock 19 is perfect for covert operations where better concealment is important, while still retaining the same firearm used as a sidearm along with their long arm during training.
FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”.

WROL? You better know your Local Laws

Colorado homeowner robbed at gunpoint may face charges for killing suspect
"...any occupant of a dwelling is justified in using any degree of physical force, including deadly physical force, against another person when that other person has made an unlawful entry into the dwelling, and when the occupant has a reasonable belief that such other person has committed a crime in the dwelling in addition to the uninvited entry, or is committing or intends to commit a crime against a person or property in addition to the uninvited entry, and when the occupant reasonably believes that such other person might use any physical force, no matter how slight, against any occupant." 18-1-704.5 Use of deadly physical force against an intruder."
One of the things I constantly remind people of is the importance of reality-based survival and preparedness. It’s hard to think of another field of study where fantasy and reality get mixed up so often and to such extent. I participate in various forums and always look forward to people’s thoughts and concerns. It is amazing to see how many times people take fantasy as facts, make unfounded assumptions or even prepare based on completely fabricated suppositions.
A favourite classic of mine: “When SHTF no one will care how much silver/gold is worth”. Really? What makes you think that? Based on what exactly are you making such assumption? Do you have examples of this ever happening? These are just some of the questions such people have no answer for.
In the case of firearms and self-defense shooting, another myth I work hard to dispel is the idea of “WROL”. The weekend survivalist, uneducated other than his Master’s degree in The Walking Dead Sciences, gets on his tactical soapbox and begins: “cuz.. after SHTF… you know… there aint no police… cuz everyones on his own and the law don’t matter no more.. cuz dat’s WROL.. ya know… without rule of law”.
OK, so maybe this is a mild exaggeration but dear God its concerning how many people out there go for a slightly more polished version of what I just quoted.
The reality is a tad more complex. For those of us that have been through what self-claimed experts theorize about, and have gone a step further beyond just having personal experience and spent literally years seriously studying and researching these topics, we know better. The simple truth is that society doesn’t disappear, it may get chaotic at times but it’s still there, and more relevant to the topic the laws don’t go anywhere the day you’re brought to justice and asked to answer for your actions.
The problem with all these fantasies about going out shooting raiders and looters is that there are real looters and real criminals out there. Before the world goes Mad Max and you start kidnapping people and using them as walking blood banks because the world run out of food (but somehow managed to retain the ability to build the most insane custom vehicle with horrible fuel efficiency) before any of that happens you will have to go through very hard times. You will have to avoid getting kidnapped in parking lots or carjacked, defend your home from home invaders, somehow make your home safe when away, find ways of defending your income, you will have to survive for REAL, not Man vs Wild but REAL SURVIVAL folks, do you understand what I mean by this?
Argentina is a country where unbelievable things have been happening for years. It’s a country where those that manage to survive have to go through their own trials in more than one occasion and many fail to make it through every day.
I’ll give you an example. Argentina has suffered an 80% inflation since 2014. 40% for 2014, 40% for 2015. That’s official World Economic Outlook numbers. That’s the second worst inflation in the world after Venezuela, where people kill each other over a pack of food. That’s double the inflation of Iran and almost four times the inflation of Ukraine. Just ask yourself, how would you cope yourself with prices going up 80% in two years? Where would you be, how would you support your family?
And yet, the world hasn’t ended. No Mad Max, just the same crap as always, only worse. When it comes to crime, you better know how to avoid trouble, you better know how to defend yourself, but you better know the law as well because the minute you screw up they will come after you.
This is true for Argentina and its true for America as well. Before you prepare for Mad Max, before you ride eternal, shiny, and chrome, you have to survive the real world. You have to survive the looters and well organized criminals yes, but before that you have to survive the carjacks in parking lots, the meth heads, muggers and home invaders, and you have to survive them within the margins of the Law. Sorry friend, no WROL for you. The law is still very much there, not to protect you, but to answer to. And if you fail to be prepared to do so, if you’re not prepared to fight armed with your firearm but also armed with the knowledge of your local laws, you won’t have to bother with preparing much because you’ll have the State housing you and feeding you, in prison.
FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”.

5 important Street Survival Lessons

During a verbal altercations, stay out of range. This is particularly important when interacting with strangers during arguments and discussions. Think car accidents, altercations with neighbours, etc.
This happened in Argentina just a few days ago. The fat guy hitting the victim is a “trapito”, these are gangs of semi-legal criminals that charge you a fee, sometimes pretty high, for parking in public, no charge areas. The victim suffered a fractured jaw, hit his head when he fell and is still in critical condition.
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Notice a few things.
1)The victim is a pretty big guy. Taller, muscular and more fit than his attacker. Given that he continued the interaction rather than just getting in his car may indicate that he’s used to having the upper hand during arguments. This takes us to the main lesson, which is never to engage in a fight unless you have to. Insults, verbal taunts and gesturing means nothing. If you get into your car and just leave you won the fight. Lesson#1: The best outcome is avoiding the fight in the first place.
2)The attack is clearly overweight, and seems shorter than the victim, but none of that matters. Check out the speed. Turns out he’s got a black belt in karate. He’s very fast for his size and knew exactly the mistake the victim made by stepping too close Lesson#2: Never underestimate your opponent, big or small, fat or skinny. A bullet in your head or blade through the ribs kills you just as well.
3)A concealed carry firearm or knife or OC spray would have made no difference in this case. It’s not all about the weapon you carry, or even how good you are at shooting it. Its about fighting and being smart about it. Lesson#3: Gun fight, knife fight, fist fight. Fight is the key word. The verb is what matters, not so much the noun.
4)Keep out of punching/grabbing range. Distance gives you time to react, deploy weapons, get behind cover or simply run. Big, strong, being armed, even being a trained fighter, none of that matter if you get KO. Lesson #4: Keep your distance.
5)Lesson #5: Bring your hands up during a discussion. This is essential to avoid getting sucker punched and would stop 95% of the sucker punches you see in videos of attacks. Rarely will you see a perfect straight punch, let alone one with enough power to KO. Its rare enough in pro boxing and UFC, even more so in a street fights. A boxer stance may seem intimidating and probably escalate the level of violence. The boxer stance is what you do when you’re in the fight, not when trying to avoid it. It is usually recommended to bring the hands up to face level, palms forward in a “wow, calm down dude” attitude. This isn’t bad, a) it brings your hands up, face level in front of your which is what you want b) it is a stance more likely to deescalate the level of violence. c) It is instinctively perceived as conciliatory body language “Look, I’m unarmed, look, I mean you no harm”. In my experience it is very likely to deescalate the violence unless the attacker already made up his mind about attack you no matter what. The problem with this stance is that if this is the case, it leaves the underside of your wrists exposed. A sudden knife attack would damage your Radial and Ulnar artery as well as tendons, disabling the use of your hand and causing life threatening bleeding. You don’t want that. I suggest the “old lady stance”. Hands up but palms facing towards you. Imagine and old lady pleading with her grandsons “Boys, can you please stop fighting!”. Either that or the “lying fisherman” stance, perpendicular palms facing one another. It doesn’t protect your wrists as much but may seem more natural and would be faster for striking or grappling.
FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”.

Why you ALWAYS shoot to Kill